《Herald of Steel》
Chapter 1 Glossary (Mild Spoilers)
Beware of mild spoilers. ( But nothing too serious)
1. Thesos- A region inhabited by an ethnic group called Thesians. The region is littered with hundreds of various-sized city-states. The two most prominent and powerful ones are Cantagena and Exs, who share no love for each other.
2. Cantagena- A city-state heading the Cantagenan alliance. Used to be the overlord of Thesos, before being officially overthrown by Exs in the War of Flowers. Cultural and economical capital of the Thesian world.
3. Sycania- A mid-sized city-state famed in Thesos for possessing the finest cavalry.
3. Exs- The current hegemon of Thesos and the leader of the Exs alliance. A city-state that spends its time only going to war, preparing to go to war, or training for war. It''s dependent on its sister states for most of its civilian needs like clothes, timber, metal, etc, and doesn''t have an economy to speak of.
4. Adhania- Neighbours of the Exs alliance to the east. Considered the strongest nation of the east, its rtion with Exs is surprisingly good. Supports and finances Exs to suppress the Cantagenans.
5. Tibias- A rich, fertile country south of Adhania. Mortal enemies of Adhania, who covets its fertile, delta banks. Just a strait of five kilometers separates the two nations. Friend of convenience of Cantagena.
Chapter 2 The Battle
"Keep those spears steady and march!" Alexander heard hismander Nestoras order as the 240-man phnx slowly advanced on the open field to meet the opposing wall of spears.
Yes, this was a battlefield. A ce where the coalition army of Cantagena was determined to defeat the Kingdom of Adhania once and for all.
"Shields up, protect your sides and ...thrust!" Nestoras led from the front as the two formations closed on each other.
Dust clouds were whipped up like a hurricane as and soon screams and howls drowned the battlefield as men driven by bloodlust tried to skewer one another.
Atop a hill, Agapios, a grizzled 60-year-old veteran and the leader of the Cantagena coalition hawkishly surveyed the kilometer open battlefield fenced with wooded trees. The coalition army outnumbered Adhania almost 3 to 1 and in such an open-pitched battle, victory seemed sealed to him.
"Look, even the king has decided to grace us with his presence." Agapois mockingly pointed to a man at the rear.
Atop a white horse, d in golden armor with arge red feather sticking out from his helmet, was Amenheratf, the current ruler of Adhania.
"That mouse dares to call him the son of Ramuh with a puny army like that! We will soon parade his head throughout the streets of Cartagena." From his side, Adapios''s adjutant Samaras replied waving his sturdy hand, his voice filled with bloodlust and mockery.
He wasn''t simply underestimating Adhania. Butpared to Agapois''s force of 50,000, the Adhanians numbered only about 20,000. And even those were mostlyposed of the weak, old and infirm- local peasants forcefully conscripted, given a pointy stick and a wooden shield, and told to go and fight.
Not even a contest against the battle-hardened 30,000 Cantagenans and the 20,000 mercenaries.
While Agapios had arranged his troops in three echelons, Adhania struggled to make even one. The fact that the ruler of the most powerful nation on this side of the world was leading such a paltry force seemedical to many.
"Don''t disrespect the gods, Samaras." the deeply religious Agapios lightly chided him.
"And remember, had the 100,000-strong Adhanian army not been lured away by Tibias, we could not have so easily marched to the capital." Agapios reminded his younger subordinate.
"Yes, gotta give credits to the Tibiasians. They got balls to hold off Adhania with only 70,000 men." Samaras nodded his head, sincerely praising Tibiasian''s courage. Not many would dare to face Adhania''s elites outnumbered!
"That''s why we must win today''s battle! We must stop the king from reaching the capital and y him here. Today, and now. He cannot be allowed to escape." Agapios announced his ultimatum with iron determination.
It took Agapios quite some cunning tactical maneuvering to get between the king and his capital, effectively trapping him. And now the prey would be finally in.
"Sir, rest assured, with our forces and the enemy lured to our trap, victory is guaranteed. Even the son of Ramuh can''t create soldiers out of thin air." Samarasforted the old man.
"Yes, you are right. Finally, Cantagena can get rid of this thorn once and for all." Agapios breathed a sigh of relief. Adhania had been the source of his nightmare for all forty years of his military service. It had cost him countless brothers and even his own wife and son.
"That''s right sir. Today, Adhania will be puppeted and with its fall, the Exalos alliance will lose its biggest backer. Then, Cantagena can once again regain its throne as the hegemon of Thesos." Samaras answered with a wide smile, his voice overflowing with enthusiasm.
Agapios ignored his colleague''s grand ambitions and then turned his gaze towards the bear-like man to his right.
"I paid good money for those 20,000 mercenaries, Damious. I hope your men know how to earn their keep." He icily reminded the tall, bearded, middle-aged man about his duties.
"Rest assured, sire. Fighting is the only way we know how to earn a living. We will fighte heaven or hell." Damious soothed his temperamental client. The tall, armored giant was chosen as the representative by the various mercenary groups and he spent thest few days constantly reassuring this grumpy general.
"For two and a half thousand tustas a month I expect it!!" Agapios sternly replied, making a point to remind Damious about the pay.
It had to be said that a regr mercenary was paid twelve to fifteen hundred tustas a month normally, two thousand tustas if the fighting was far away. Paying 20,000 mercenaries double the regr amount - two and a half thousand tustas a month each meant that Cantagena and her allies were willing to empty their coffers for this war.
And in return, they wanted results. Agapios himself was under a lot of pressure from the senate to perform well, hence his ill-temper thest few days.
Today, however, Agapios''s mood improved as he observed the battlefield. He believed with such a clear sky and open battlefield, and with the numerical superiority he held, he could counter any tactics the son of Ramuh coulde up with.
"Damious, your soldiers will lead the front. My army will bring the rear and protect your nk. Your job is to keep the opposing phnx in ce as my cavalry outnks them." Agapiosid out the basic battle n.
"Yes,mander" Damious nodded in agreement. Although he didn''t like Agapois exclusively using the mercenaries for the frontal attack, such was the life of a sellsword.
"I hope sir can cover my army from any archers" Damious requested earnestly.
"Don''t worry. My archers will suppress theirs." Agapios tapped on Dameous shoulder reassuringly.
As Agapios observed the army get in formation and engage the enemy, he recalled thest 10 days of the campaign. It had gone pretty well for him. Despite fighting in an unknownnd 1000 km from their homnd, he had prated deep into the hearnd of the enemy and won a series of battles. He had pulled off a masterful stratagem to position his army between the king and capital and a win here would ensure the final coup de grace of the 2000-year-old country.
"Please let everything go smoothly today." Agapios sped his hand together and made an earnest prayer.
Soon an hour passed.
Most of the outnumbered Adhanian infantry had been pushed back about two hundred meters and Agapios''s army seemed to be closing in on Amenheratf''s camp.
Despite being outnumbered almost 3 to 1, the Adhanians strangely had decided to march to face the Cartagena alliance, instead of holding their ground. Although Agapios found this weird, he chalked it upto to Amenheratf being too green of amander.
"Good, keep up the pressure and in an hour or two we can breach the main camp," Agapios ordered with satisfaction, being pretty happy with the battle so far.
,m The 15,000 Adharian infantry was overwhelmingly outnumbered and its 5,000 archers were suppressed by Agapios''s own. In fact, it could be said to be that the Adhanian army simply not dissolving was a miracle itself. Only Amenheratf''s presence on the front line held the army for the time being.
"Let''s see how long your beliefsts, Adhanians!" Agapios muttered with a chilly light in his eyes.
Chapter 3 A Modern Soul
Of the many mercenary teams on the front line, there was an unassuming 1,000-man team led by a Srcian named Nestoras. But in this group, resided a very special person named Alexander.
Currently, the eighteen-year-old boy was drenched in perspiration, his muscles aching in pain, and he was heavily panting.
They had marched the whole day yesterday, even through the night to outnk the enemy and now after an hour of fighting, they had pushed the Adhanian phnx two hundred meters back.
But such results came with a price. For particrly those in the first line, like Alexander, were dog-tired.
"Switch" barked Nestoras as a horn was blown and soon people from the back switched ces with the first 5 rows.
Usually, phnxes fought as a fixed unit, with the first 5 line soldiers fighting and the rest of the soldiers pushing them forward from behind.
But Alexander had devised a way so the back lines could be rotated with the front ones, so everyone could fight and fatigue could be evenly distributed. As such thest 5 rows usually rested and did not push.
It took a while to pull off the maneuver but finally, Alexander''s line was able to rece thest row and get some much-needed rest.
"So you haven''t gotten stabbed yet doc, eh?" A hand rested on his shoulder as a hoarse voice came from his side. This was Camius, a fellow mercenary and a close friend of Alexander. Alexander met the man bleeding out on the streets and after he saved him, Camius nicknamed him "doc."
"Not yet. Looks like the gods favor me one more day." Alexander nonchntly replied, smirking a little.
"With the knowledge you have shown, maybe the gods really do favor you!!" Surprisingly this reply was not from Camius but Nestoras himself.
He and Menes, a tall, ck man, were dragging someone by the leg. Apparently, the unfortunate guy got stabbed in the guts and was being dragged to the back.
"You think he will live?" Menes pointed towards the man clutching his stomach, groaning in pain.
After passing a nce, Alexander replied in a t tone "Get him to the medical camp before he bleeds out. Such wounds are usually treatable."
As the poor guy was put on a stretcher and carried off, Nestoras pped Alexander on the back and praised him unreservedly, "I don''t even know how anyone coulde up with the idea of bringing a hospital to a battlefield! Baffles me to this day, boy."
"He has sure saved our asses time and time again, that''s for sure. And your daughter''s too." Menes added praise from the side, a wide grin stered on his face.
Nestoras nodded in agreement, and then looked at the boy with a mischievous glint "Alexander you sure your mother didn''t get it on with a god?" Nestoras asked with a vulgar grin.
The knowledge Alexander had shown at such a young age made him seriously half consider if such an urrence could be true. And Nestoras''s thinking wasn''t too strange for this time period, where gods, myths, and superstition ruled human society. Many in the team even gave Alexander the moniker of ''little godly sage''. In this age, anyone who could rise above others could be considered to be favored by the gods.
"Never met her" The orphan shook his head, answering the question about his mother with an unnatural amount of detachment. He then continued "And like I told you, one day a sage came to my orphanage and taught me about those things." Alexander gave Nestoras the standard answer he had given him every time.
"Bullshit." Nestoras spat out. "When did sages start going out to orphanages to teach little kids such things? If you wanna lie, at least think of better ones." Nestoras didn''t buy the boy''s story for a second.
"Maybe he is telling the truth." Came a rough rebuttal. That was Aristotle, the previous group leader and the most senior veteran in the camp. "Or do you seriously think the gods speak to him in his sleep?" He questioned in a deep voice.
This old man had weaned and trained Nestoras from his childhood. He was the closest thing Nestoras had to a father figure and Nestoras was quite scared of this 30 years battle-hardened warrior.
But this time he plucked up the courage, put his hands on his hips, and resolutely dered "I don''t care what others think. I will not buy the boy''s story even if you beat me to death."
Then he hastily diverted the topic, pointing his hand to the front, " I have a battle tomand. Octavius is all alone and he could make a mistake." Saying that he rapidly made his way to the front, sessfully running away from the old man.
"Such a wimp." Aristotle shook in his head, chuckling in amusement.
In reality, he was no different from any other soldier under Nestoras. He had handed over his authority as campmander 5 years ago due to his ailing health.
In order not to undermine Nestoras''s authority, he even refrained from advising Nestoras. But it seemed the shadow he left him as a child was still too great. Nestoras would lose all hisposure in front of the old man.
Aristotle then turned his gaze towards the boy at the center of all this conversation and said " Remember to survive today. You''ll be a free man tomorrow."
Yes!! The boy in question, the one who had been praised to the high heavens was not a free man but a mere ve. How absurd!
"I''ll try my best." Alexander answered respectfully, slightly bowing his head.
He then silently surveyed his surroundings, fighting the urge to fall asleep as he took long, deep breaths to regain some stamina.
Many might find a soldier resting in the middle of a battlefield absurd, but the truth is ancient battles were not at all like how Hollywood portrayed them.
Armies did not just smash into each where each soldier fought against another in a melee with no formation or cohesion. If that happened battles wouldst minutes, not hours.
In practice, battles were somewhat boring. Those at the back simply stood in formation with shields held high as those in the front few rows tried to stab each other. Once those at the front got tired or injured or died, they would be switched out for those from the back.
Thus most soldiers usually spent hours just standing there, waiting for their time toe, sweating and cooking in their heavy armor.
As the carnage around Alexander unfolded. his mind drifted to the recent conversation.
"The big oaf isn''t usually very bright, but he seems to have a good head when ites to judging people," Alexander chuckled in amusement as he recalled Nestoras refusing to buy his story.
He was impressed by hismander''s astute observation. Because he was right. No sage ever taught him anything. He had learned it all in his previous life.
Yes, he was a transmigrator. Someone originally not from this world but Earth. Someone who has taken over an orphan boy named Drako 10 years ago.
Ten years ago, Drako''s city was attacked and sacked. The orphanage was burned down and Drako died from smoke inhtion. It was sometimeter that the modern soul from earth took over. He woke up amidst a pile of rubble and as he made his way out he was promptly captured, shackled, and sold as a ve along with the rest of the city.
In the early days, he had not fully assimted Drako''s memories and as such when his new owner asked his name, he had trouble remembering and hence made up the name Alexander on the spot.
Yes, not the most imaginative name, but that''s the name that came to his mind. The name of the greatest general of the ancient world.
The one who asked him his name was of course Nestoras, who had bought a whole batch of ves as menial workers, to cook, wash, and clean.
Over the next 10 years, Alexander went from cleaningtrines to the camp''s physician to Nestoras''s exclusive ve. He used some of his modern knowledge to slowly climb up, prove himself over and over again and finally gain Nestoras''s recognition. And all of it was for today because today he would be free... or die trying.
As he stood on the battlefield, Alexander clenched his fist tightly, his eyes filled with a zealous determination. Freedom or death, he would have one or the other soon.
But s, as the saying goes, "Man proposes, God disposes." Events would soon ur that would not only make Alexander a free man but also change his trajectory from struggling to be a free man to establishing the most powerful dynasty the world had yet seen.
It would seem this time Nestoras was wrong. Because Alexander might truly be blessed by the gods.
Chapter 4 Amenheratf
"Your Majesty, Captain Beihrut can''t hold on much longer." A clean-shaven, well-built bald man rushed to Amenheratf on horseback, his eyes filled with worry.
He was Manuk, the archpriest of the Temple of Ramuh and the king''s right hand.
"Once the enemy cavalry defeats him, we are finished. Please save us my liege." He implored, his requestced with trepidation
The Cantagena army was rapidly cutting through their ranks and morale was quickly plummeting.
Many phnxes had casualties verging on being catastrophic. The worst ones like Captain Beihrut''s had close to 30% dead.
Amenheratf carefully listened to hismander''s report and then nodded in satisfaction as he replied in a regal voice "Beihrut has done very well. Tell him to hang on a bit longer and bait the enemy a bit closer."
Amenheratf could not gather any cavalry for this battle, hence he tasked the job of protecting his right nk from enemy cavalry to Beihrut, the captain of the royal guards. The significantly stronger left nk was left to Kefka.
Captain Beihrut was given Adhania''s best of the best, the elite ''king''s royal guards'' topensate for his numerical inferiority. The royal guards was widely considered to be the most prestigious unit in the entire army and entry required not only peerless skill but also fanatical loyalty.
For Adhania, to lose even one such warrior would be a tragedy, but today, in less than two hours this most glorious unit had been almost wiped out.
Manuk''s heart sank when he heard the king deny his request. But even then he decided to try again.
He got off his horse and bowed before his lord. He then raised his sped hands above his head, and pleaded again "Your Excellency, Captain Beihrut might notst that long. The situation over there is catastrophic. Please let us spring the trap now or there might not be a trap to spring!"
By how Manuk was emphatically beseeching the king to act it was clear the situation in the front lines was beyond desperate.
Adhania''s most elites were getting ughtered and Manuk could not just stand still and watch, not when the leading them was his own brother.
But realistically such losses were hardly surprising. The soldiers were outnumbered and out "horsed."
No matter how elite you were, fighting cavalry with short spears was a death sentence for anyone.
Although there were ways for infantry to counter cavalry using various polearms such as the pike- which was a longer spear, the opponent cavalry had javelins with them that they could use to punch holes in the spear wall and then charge into the openings.
In addition, few carried the longer 4-6m long pikes, mainly because of theck of training of the conscripts that made up the bulk of the army. The longer pike needed much more skill and discipline to use inrge formations without skewering allies.
Armed with mostly 2-3m spears, fixed in a static formation and vulnerable to nking attacks, the Adhanians seemed like dead men walking.
"Beihrut will hold the line for as long as Imand it, or die trying. Don''t question my decision again, Maluk." The king shed his right hand in front of Manuk and dered in an absolute tone, unequivocally dismissing all of Manuk''s pleading.
" Your Majesty....!!" Manuk felt crushed. He simply raised his head and looked at the king, his eyes locking with his. And in return, Amenheratf stared back at his subject, his cold icy eyes meeting Manuk''s teary moist eyes.
The two men stared at each, neither one willing to back down.
Amenheratf atop his horse seemed like a deity staring down at the pleading mortal Manuk. Time seemed to have paused as the men engaged in a silent battle of will, both unwilling to concede. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity one relented.
It was Amenheratf!!
Yes, the god-king was the first to break eye contact and tacitly acknowledge defeat.
"Sigh..." Amenheratf stepped down from his horse and slowly approached Manuk.
The 40-year-old veteran politician had a keen sense of observation. This short exchange finally made him wake up to his mistake and he decided to make up to his friend.
He then gently ced both his hand on his loyal subject''s shoulder and kneeled down. Amenheratf''s eyes met Manuk''s as he consoled him in a soothing tone " I understand your worry about your brother, Manuk. I really do. We three grew up together and trust me when I say I consider him as much a brother as you do. But he must hold on a bit longer, Manuk, he must. Our country, our people, our wives, our children, are all depending on him. Ramuh is depending on him."
He then took a deep breath before continuing in a low voice "It''s not yet time to reveal the trap. He has to draw the enemy in closer. We have sacrificed Adhania''s entire cavalry to arrange it and we cannot let it fail. It''s our one and only trump card."
Amenheratf tried his best to convince Manuk, his tone changing from authoritative to almost pleading.
By the end of his speech, Amenheratf''s stone-cold countenance had changed to that of a martyr, his icy eyes now filled with infinite determination.
Manuk stared back at his king, visibly shaken by such pleading. Unknowingly, tears started flowing out of his eyes.
"It''s good to have you back. "Manuk said in a choking voice, embarrassingly wiping away his tears as he stood up.
''Finally, he was back. His friend was finally back. What a relief!'' Manuk refreshingly thought as his mouth involuntarily curved into a smile. His king was no longer the tyrannical despot from a few days but the friend he once knew. The one he used to always beat at sword practice.
Amenheratf also looked at Manuk, now not as a subject but as a friend. He couldn''t remember thest time someone talked to him in such an informal intimate tone. Even his wife, even in their bed was always deferential.
Although he ought to reprimand Manuk for not following proper etiquette, Amenheratf strangely felt refreshed. It felt good to be sometimes treated as a friend instead of a deity.
Looking was the huge bald man desperately trying to wipe away his tears, cheeks all puffed up, Amenheratf suddenly had the uncontroble urge tough at such aical sight.
"Haha.. of all people in the world, to think I would see you cry one day. Hahaha. Today is a good day. Today is a great day." Amenheratf roared in delight, tearsing out of his eyes as he struggled to remain standing.
Manuk''s face in turn grew redder and redder as the king continuedughing.
"To think a grown man like me ended up crying in front of everybody. How embarrassing" Manuk thought as he wished for the ground to split open and swallow him then and there. "The king and my brother will never let me live down." Manukmpooned.
Manuk decided to swiftly exit this embarrassing situation. So he rapidly got on his horse, ced his left hand across his chest, and said in a formal tone "I will go and tell Beihrut the news, Your Majesty. But please hurry."
Then he quickly turned his horse and galloped away to the front lines, eager to forget this exchange.
"Wear your helmet. We don''t want an arrow sticking out from that magnificent mirror of yours, haha." The king shot back in a jovial voice from behind.
"And tell Beihrut to hang on just a bit more. Victory is within our grasp" Amenheratf added, his voice echoing through the Adhanian camp.
Chapter 5 Desperate Situation
After the exchange, Amenheratf was in a really good mood. He could not remember thest time he hadughed like that. It seemed like an eternity to him.
Recently, Amenheratf had been under tremendous pressure. He felt like his entire world had copsed.
He was tricked out of his capital by an ingrate with the false promise of a herb that could supposedly cure his sick father.
His long-time sick father had died just a week ago, most likely poisoned by that snake he called queen mother.
His half-brother Ptolomy had revolted and seized the capital.
His army was nowhere around.
And a 50,000-strong hostile army was in front of him.
One after another, disaster after disaster had hit Amenheratf in thest few days, putting his nerves on the verge of copse.
He was scared. Deathly scared. But he couldn''t show it. He wasn''t allowed to show it! Not even the slightest of it!
Because he was the king.
''The son of Ramuh doesn''t feel fear'' Amenheratf''s father always told him.
This meant that as king he must not show the slightest sign of weakness in front of his subjects.
Everyone in the kingdom was allowed to show fear. But not him.
As such, thest few days were brutal for him. He was forced to increasingly put on a tough front and give the impression that everything was okay.
But in reality, Amenheratf was really staring down the abyss. He and his country was just the slightest push-off from failing into ruin and despair.
Even his much acimed ''trap'' was more of a dice throw rather than a concrete guarantee.
And he and his generals all bought the n not because it was solid but because they wanted it to be. All of them were in a quagmire of darkness and that trap gave them the slightest bit of light.
Just a mere chance, a sliver of hope to overturn this absolute death sentence.
Faced with almost certain doom, Amenheratf decided to portray himself as a strongman. He wanted to show that he and only he could get everyone through this ordeal. Everyone else was ipetent and they were the reason for this predicament.
Hence he became more and more tyrannical, finding faults over the most trivial matter, dismissing all outside advice, and overruling any orders he didn''t like.
But after looking at Manuk''s face just now, Amenheratf came to his senses. He had made a grave mistake.
His tyrannical attitude had not only failed to inspire confidence in his subjects, it had only managed to alienate him from them.
If he continued this any longer, Cantagena might not have the pleasure of beheading him. His soldiers might very well do it for them to appease Ptolomy.
"It''s a good thing I woke up in time. I really owe Manuk a big one this time." Amenheratf muttered to himself.
Suddenly as Amenheratf was lost in thought the sky let out a bellow as thunder cackled and lightning streaked through the sky.
"Oh, great Ramuh have you finally decided to help your kingdom on earth?" Amenheratf unconsciously muttered as he dazedly looked at the rapidly darkening sky.
And this time it would seem Amenheratf was right. Because Ramuh- The god of thunder and lightning had truly decided to help his believers.
As Manuk made his way to the camp, a lieutenant suddenly appeared before him and saluted, "Archbishop, Captain Beihrut has been moved to the back. He told me to inform you to meet him as possible as you can." This was Nfzam- Beihrut''s personal aide.
"Has anything happened to my brother?" Manuk asked as he felt his heart sink. His brother always led from the front.
"The captain is fine. Allow me to take me to escort you to him." Nfzam reassured him and gestured to follow.
Soon they saw Beihrut at the back, surrounded by a few men, one wrapping bandages around his right shoulder.
"Alright my ass!" Manuk involuntarily cried out as soon as he saw the state his brother was in.
Beihrut''s shoulder bandages had be red and next to his right footid a bloody javelin, a gift from the Cantagena cavalry no doubt.
"You call this alright, you imbecile?" Manuk pointed to Beihrut and then roared in fury at Nfzam.
"..*Silence*.." Nfzam fearfully lowered his head and only returned a wall of silence as a reply.
"Don''t kick up a fuss here, it''s a military camp. And I told him not to tell. I knew you would make too much noise." Came Beihrut''s deep, calm voice. The Captain of the Royal Guards had a booming voice that made everyone want to submit to his authority.
Then Beihrut, seemingly unconcerned about his own health asked Manuk, "So when''s it happening?"
The military man always hated small talk and so he asked about the report in the most straightforward manner, with a fierce gaze that seemed to prate Manuk.
Manuk seemingly ignored his brother''s question and turning his head to the right, he concernedly asked the man tending to the wound, "How bad?"
"The wound is fortunately not too deep. There''s no risk of infection. He will fully recover...."
" Just a scratch. Will be gone in a day." Beihrut cut off the man brusquely.
In fact, the wound was quite serious. The physician had deliberately downyed it in front of everybody. The wound had torn several shoulder tendons and muscles, basically crippling his right hand. After today, one of Adhania''s greatest soldiers could never fight again.
"Answer my question, Manuk." Beihrut clenched his jaws as he pressed his brother again for the answer.
Manuk stared at his brother''s expectant gaze, feeling a heart-wrenching ache.
"His Majesty believes the time is not yet right," Manuk replied in as a steady voice as he could muster, though his face and trembling body betrayed his indignation.
"Motherf***er, you wasted all that time to only tell me this!" Beihrut roared in anger, spit flying everywhere. Beihrut was utterly livid.
"Tell that idiot I can''t hold on any longer. Tell him Lamiz is dead. Go, tell him that Lamiz is dead." Beihrut repeated, screaming his head off as if he had lost his mind.
Manuk almost had a heart attack when he heard his brother call the king "idiot."
His brother was known to have a mouth that charitably could be described as "loud and honest." In reality, he had no tact, pping out anything and everything that came to his mind. But no matter what, no one was allowed to insult the king.
Not like this, so publicly!
Not even the "Royal Mad Dog."
Fortunately, there were only six people around and all of them knew how to keep their mouths shut.
"What?" Manuk asked in a low, confused voice, He had nked out after he heard the word ''idiot.''
Beihrut stayed simply silent, hanging his head low.
"Commander Lamiz bravely died along with his entire unit. Not a single man ran." It was Nfzam that answered Manuk''s question.
''How could Lamiz die? How could that Lamiz die?'' The same question thunderously repeated inside Manuk''s head.
Previously his heart had almost given out but now he felt his head spinning and he struggled to keep standing.
Lamiz was the king''s cousin but he had a much more important identity. He was ''The sword of Ramuh.'' The title given to the strongest warrior in the kingdom.
Mauk had known him for thirty five years and never saw him lose a duel.
Yet even the "Invincible" Lamiz had fallen today.
''Oh great Ramuh have you truly abandoned?'' Manuk muttered as he stared nkly at the sky, ruminating if he should bypass the king and spring the trap now.
Suddenly a bright blue light shed in front of his eyes as the entire battlefield was briefly dyed azure and a thunderous boom smashed his ears.
Manuk stared at the sky in awe as he saw the clear sunny sky transform in a moment to a pitch ck color.
The autumn rains hade!
.
Chapter 6 Battle Progress
"Hooonk", the loud metallic sound of a horn jolted Alexander''s attention. This signaled the time to switch hade.
"I am a metallurgical engineer, not a soldier" Alexander sighed dejectedly at his current circumstances, as he tried moving his aching limbs, pain running throughout his body. The less than an hour of "rest" was barely enough to get back some of his strength.
"My feet are killing me." Camius groaned, using his spear as a support to lean on. "Howe those bastards haven''t run yet, huh doc?" He thenined offhandedly, clearly frustrated by the tenacious enemy
"....." Alexander ignored his chatty colleague as he focused on the changing formation.
The ways the rows switched ces with each other was quiteplex and required highly trained soldiers.
First, the soldiers in thest 5 rows would move away from each other so that a gap the size of a man is created between each other.
The middle 5 rows would then rapidly march backward and fill up the created gaps.
Simultaneously, thest rows would march forward to rece the middle rows, hence sessfully switching ces with each other.
Then theplicated maneuver of switching with the front 5 rows would begin.
First, every even-numbered soldier in the fifth row would retract their spears and start slowly backing away.
At the same time, every odd-numbered soldier in the sixth row would put up their spears and engage the enemy while simultaneously advancing to rece the front half.
This process would be repeated then with the odd-numbered soldiers in the fifth row and hence the fifth row would switch ces with the sixth one.
This entire process would be repeated with the other front rows until thetter rows became the front rows.
When the very front rows are being switched, javelins are thrown from the back to suppress any enemy attack that might try to take advantage of the dispurted formation.
Such a maneuver in the middle of a battlefield was extremely risky as the front would be drastically weakened during this time and hence needed soldiers with years of experience to withstand the pressure.
As Alexander was performing this byzantine maneuver with the first rows, a sudden sh briefly blinded him and an ear-splitting boom made him almost jump up.
The weather had just changed and thunder and lightning now ruled the sky.
And this little distraction could not havee at the worst time possible.
Because many soldiers were busy changing rows, this thunderous sound made many lose concentration and they bumped into each other, disrupting the phnx formation.
The Adhanians didn''t lose this opportunity andunched a flurry of thrusts intending to break the weakened front rows.
And in this moment, within this storm of attacks, it happened. A lucky spear strike suddenly managed to get inside the formation and pierce Nestoras''s only son Octavius in the heart.
The boy was dead before he hit the ground.
"Nooooooooo." A painful howl roar echoed across the battlefield. It was Nestoras
He had just lost his only heir and sessor and from this day onward he would be without a sessor.
His only daughter had no right to his wealth and without a male inheritor, Nestoras would have to give all his possession to his son-inw.
What was worse that he had suffered a skin infection a few years back and his whole male organ had to be chopped off. A procedure that still haunts to date.
Nestoras had gone red-eyed at and could barely fight off the urge to leave everything and run to his son''s side. He was in no position tomand a battle.
"Stop the ....boooooom." A roaring thunder suddenly manifested, drowning out whatevermand he was about to give.
Without clear instructions, the soldiers in the middle of changing rows soon lost cohesion, many bumping, tripping and falling and destroying the neatly packed array.
The Adhanians clearly had no intention to let go of the enemy when they were in such disarray and hence pressed the offensive even more. giving them not a moment''s respite to regroup.
Faced with such a furious counterattack, instead of forming lines. many soldiers chose to desert. These running soldiers collided with the soldiers at the back and disrupted those formations and a chain effect followed. If this continued the whole phnx would be finished.
The Adhanians seeing this fought even harder and soon the front two rows were turned into minced meat. They had managed to kill more enemy soldiers just now than they had done in thest two hours. The copse of this phnx seemed imminent.
"This is bad. Follow me, Camius." Alexander said urgently, sensing that the front was buckling.
"Ahhhhh '''' Alexander screamed as he sprinted forward, bulldozing anyone in front of him andunching wide thrusts into the enemy formation.
"Stooop, you''re hitting our brothers, you lunatic." Camius shrieked in horror. Alexander''s spear made no attempt to evade the fleeing soldiers, stabbing a few of his own allies.
This act horrified everyone on the frontline and many howled and cursed at Alexander.
"I will whip your skin off, you rebellious ingrate." Even Aristotle hadpletely lost his cool and attempted to throw a javelin towards Alexander.
"These are only cowards and deserters. Anyone who turns his back on his brother is no brother of mine." Alexander roared in reply, drowning out anyint.
"Fight with me brothers,e fight with me" He roared again as he marched forward, trying to galvanize the disordered troops
"Fight to win, fight for your brothers, fight to live, fight for glory! To me!" Alexander''s thunderous roar galloped across the formation and bought all soldiers to their senses. They had finally found amander and decided to follow him, leading a coordinated counteract, finally reinforcing the copsing front and getting the formation in order.
Even Nestoras was snapped out of his daze from hearing Alexander''s outburst and hurriedly screamed "Follow Alexander''smand, everyone follow Alexander''smand."
"Ahhhhhh....." All the soldiers cried out in unison and began to fight back as a team.
But the mercenary group was not the only ones to hear Alexander''s promations. The Adhanians heard it too. Particrly themander of the formation took notice and at once set his sight on the young boy. The brat had just ruined the copse of an elite phnx formation and immediately his irended on the boy.
"Kill the leading brat." Hemanded his front row to focus on Alexander and even he himself began to target the boy.
"There''s themander," Alexander muttered as he looked at the man in a golden helmet with a red plum stuck to it like a proud peacock
Coincidentally, he also had decided to kill themander to cause some confusion in enemy ranks and get some breathing room for the troops. So he sprinted towards the very first row, keeping themander in the right corner of his eyes.
Soon the two men came close enough to lock eyes and Alexander''s cold, chilly blue eyes crossed the furious ck ones.
''*Shooou*....*Thrust*''. Multiple spear tips wereunched towards Alexander to stop him but he deftly parried them mid-sprint.
*ng, ng* As Alexander continued to block the wooden thrusts and charge forward, suddenly a spear tip broke through Alexander''s defenses and aimed to pierce his chest.
The sprinting Alexander had no time to stop or dodge, so he ducked to the side, lowering his upper body, and letting the tip go over his shoulder.
Simultaneously, he let go of his shield and quickly stood up. Seeing there was no time to equip the javelin from his back, he held his spear in his right hand, took a firm stand and then threw the three-kilogram mass of wood and iron like a javelin diagonally at the right side of the enemymander.
The spear flew straight as an arrow, evading all defenses and going past the myriad spears blocking its way to find its mark.
"Pierce." The spear made a soft, dull sound as it punctured through the Adhanianmander''s mail and leather armor, prating the kidney and sticking 6 inches inside it.
The shield in his left hand had no time to cover his right side and he was fatally hit.
As themander fell, there was no anger in his eyes, only astonishment. He looked at the boy in utter disbelief, his eyes filled with incredulity.
He never even considered the boy would be so gutsy to discard his own shield and throw his spear in the middle of the battlefield, essentially bing defenseless, just to kill him.
"Killed, Alexander killed the enemymander, ohhhhhhh." Camius howled in jubtion and started madly charging towards him, parrying off any spear thrusts made towards his now defenseless friend.
"Brat''s got balls like none other. Haahaa....nice kid!" Even the usually stoic Aristotle unreservedly praised Alexander as he joined Camius.
"Fight!." The soldiers also all madly shrieked, furiously trying to protect Alexander.
''Crackle...boom....boom''. Just then, as if to celebrate Alexander''s kill, the sky suddenly roared, rapidly turning pitch ck and soon a torrential cocktail of rain and hail began to fall.
Alexander too felt the fist-sized hails bruise his body night and his hot sweaty body was now being drenched in freezing cold rainwater.
Visibility had be almost zero and the howling winds were rapidly sapping away his body heat.
And just when he thought it could not get worse, it happened.
First, he heard the low sound of a trumpet, and then he saw it. From the woods they appeared, shadows carrying something in their arms.
This was an ambush!
Chapter 7 Unveiling
"What''s taking so long? The famed Sycania cavalry can''t win against some infantry?" Agapios snapped at Samaras, clearly unhappy with the rate of progress.
His cavalry could move unchallenged throughout the battlefield, yet after two hours, they hadn''t still managed to destroy the wings of the enemy.
This made the aged general quite cross.
"Sir, it seems they came across the royal guards. The enemy must be truly desperate. The line will likely fall anytime, have just a little patience" Samaras provided his analysis in a soothing tone.
"And besides, sir I got good news. They killed the butcher." He then added with a huge grin.
This news made Agapois wide-eyed, and his grizzled face visibly lit up, his face flushed with happiness.
Finally the killer of his son and one of the rapists of his wife was dead. Finally, they could have some peace.
"Is it true Samaras, have you confirmed it?" The general asked visibly shaken. That brute had been one of his anathemas for years.
"The Sycarian''s described the unique armor to the tee and besides, there isn''t another his size in the whole of Adhania" Samaras reassured hismander.
"Good good. Those cavalry has really done a great job." Agapios loudly cheered that brute''s death.
So, who was this butcher Cantagena was celebrating killing?
It was Lamiz-The sword of Ramuh!
Years ago Lamiz and Kefka were sent to Cantagena to kill Agapois.
Using a spy they managed to easily infiltrate his mansion at night with a few soldiers and swiftly took care of the suspiciously few guards. But soon they found out why it was so easy. Agapios wasn''t home!
Agapios had suddenly decided to go out drinking that night, taking arge contingent of bodyguards with him as he had received intel that an assassination attempt might soon be made against him.
Unable to aplish the mission, they did the next best thing. They killed his son and took turns raping his wife. They gang-raped her the whole night before escaping at dawn, leaving her alive to make Agapios face the ultimate humiliation.
This incident shook Cantagena to the core.
The fact that the family of their most esteemed general was attacked in their own residence sent shockwaves throughout the city-state and a witch hunt was soon initiated to root out Adhanian spies.
The senate authorized arresting anyone with the slightest suspicion and soon the streets of Cantagena were bathed in blood, mostly with those of the innocent.
The senators used this opportunity to purge their own rivals and gain more political power, ultimately severely weakening Cantagena for several years.
This was one of the main reasons why Cantagena lost the War of Flowers, losing its hegemonic status to Exs.
"Boooommm...crackle....." As the two men were looking forward to the imminent victory, suddenly, a bright sh and a loud bang smashed into them.
Soon the sky turned dark, visibility became almost zero, and hail and rain started to drown the battlefield.
As the two men were trying to find a way to cope with this change, a runner rapidly dashed towards them, panting andpletely out of breath.
"General, the soldiers can''t neither see nor hear in this weather. We have lost allmunication with our front lines." He reported.
Agapios frowned at this news. But he was not really surprised.
Communication and coordination between units were done mainly by whistles, drums and trumpets, all now drowned out by the booming thunderstorm.
Even the rare signal gs were of no use.
"Dammit," Agapios cursed under his breath.
This could not have happened at a worse time. They were at the cusp of victory.
"Let''s withdraw for now, sir," Samaras prudently suggested, anxietyced in his voice.
As a superstitious man, he suddenly felt that Ramuh had descended.
"Hmmm." Just as Agapios was about to make a decision,
"Hooonk." his ears were greeted with the low sound of an ordinary trumpet.
But for the veteran of a hundred battles, his instincts were screaming that this signaled anything but ordinary.
Amenheratf had finally decided to reveal the trap.
Amenheratf blew the trumpet the moment the first raindrops fell, and then he roared in a crazed pious voice "Men, this thunderstorm is the divine gift of Ramuh. The drought is over. Now show these heathens why the flowers here bloom red. Ramuh blesses us all!"
Momentster they appeared, from the wooded side of the battlefield.
First a few hundred like little dots. Then a few thousand seemed to form a line. Finally, their numbers seemed to swell to more than ten thousand as they formed proper battle formations.
But these were not ordinary soldiers. No, they weren''t even infantry.
Their unique attire instantly gave away who they were.
They were one of the most feared units of Adhania - slingers!
Wearing a simple tunic with no armor, pair of pants, and sandals they carried a small buckler in their left hand, and a simple sling in their right. A small bag slung across their shoulder carrying their ammo- stones.
"H...how....how can they be here?" Agapios asked incredulously. These elites were supposed to be still hundreds of kilometers away. Even after seeing them right in front of him, it was hard for him to believe that they were really there.
"Has the Adhanian army alreadye back and was just waiting to ambush us?" Samaras interjected with his own horrible premonition.
His conjecture sent shockwaves through Agapios''s heart and he almost felt faint. If that was true, they were finished.
Even if Agapios could somehow escape the battlefield, the Cantagenan senate will surely hang him to appease the public.
"No, that shouldn''t be the case. They wouldn''t dare to send even the royal guards if they had such a force. Even if they wanted to bait us in to encircle us, Manuk would never allow his king to be left unattended. The fact that even that brute left Amenheratf''s side showed just how dire the situation was." Agapios said in a confident voice. It was unknown if he was trying to convince Samaras or himself.
As a matter of fact, Agapios was right. There were only the slingers.
How the slingers got here could be said to be an even more impressive strategic feat than the one Agapios used to position himself today.
Adhania had fifteen thousand cavalry in its army. Slingers with just their clothes and sling, with no armor, no shield, not even any ammo were put on these horses and made to ride day and night to reinforce the king''s army.
To save weight, the slingers didn''t even carry any food, just a small pouch of water.
This was all done to make the horse as light as possible and reduce their burden.
War horses had extreme pain tolerances and could simply run themselves to death, their heart simply giving out in the middle of a gallop.
To alleviate this, horses on long journeys had to be put under as low a load as possible.
And that''s why the heavy, armored cavalry that rode these horses could note.
Even with all these precautions, the two days and two nights straight journey had killed almost all the horses through exhaustion. When a slinger''s horse died, he would hitch a ride with another, if both horses dies, they would simply march.
Using this draconian march the fifteen thousand slingers had finally managed toe to the king''s rescue.
They restocked at the king''s camp and then hid themselves among the trees surrounding the battlefield, waiting for the prey to step in.
And who was the architect of his utterly up to the balls move?
Manuk!
When his spies reported the king had left the capital and Ptolemy was arresting all the heads of the royal faction, his instincts started ring.
Coup! The king''s half-brother was actually starting a coup!
Manuk could no longer sit still, acting as a mere head priest of the army. He had to be beside his king. He had to help him.
But what good could he do alone? He was just one man. He needed an army.
So, using his status as the archbishop of the temple of Ramuh, he threatened the general of the army with eternal damnation and made him hand over the cavalry and slingers to him.
And then hemitted one of the gutsiest moves ever recorded in history, destroying a country''s most powerful and expensive military unit- the cavalry, all in a bid to save his king.
And it worked. He had made it in time to save his king or at least give him a fighting chance to pass this abyssal predicament.
Chapter 8 Adhania’s Counterattack
"Sou sou sou" Soon stones started raining through the air, bringing death and destruction to the Cantagenans.
The fifteen thousand slingers had arranged themselves evenly on both sides of the forest and started shooting devastating volley after volley, particrly shredding the unarmoured enemy light cavalry.
These slingers had greater range than the primitive bows of the time- which were made of softer wood rather than the hardwoods ofter times.
Although less urate, when hit at arge formation inrge numbers, these volleys were frighteningly effective, breaking bones and causing concussions.
The cavalry was particrly in a bad position. They had no shield unlike the infantry and the stirrup hadn''t been invented yet. Hence horses hit by stones would buckle and throw off their riders and many would be subsequently trampled.
The tide of battle seemed to have suddenly turned towards the Adhanians.
"Have the infantry form the testudo. And quickly split the cavalry and charge at the slingers." Agapiosmanded Samaras hurriedly.
The testudo was a shield wall formation where the soldiers would lock their shields at the front, top, and both sides, forming a packed formation that was nigh imprable to projectile weapons.
But it had a huge drawback. It made the unitpletely immobilized and stuck in one ce.
"Sir, ourmunication lines have been cut. We can''t transmit orders!" Samaras reminded the general, repeating the words the runner said just a few moments ago.
It seemed age was finally catching up to the valiant general.
"You think I don''t know that." Agapios snapped. "You go yourself. Tell Xenophides I personallymand it."
"Sir, spitting the cavalry and charging in this weather into a wooded forest is not something a prudent man would do." Samaras tried persuading the general on his tactics.
To do a cavalry charge inside a forest in darkness went against even the most basic cavalry doctrine.
In his own opinion, Samaras thought they should withdraw, or at least pause all offensive till the weather cleared up.
"I understand your worry. But look, those slingers have no infantry protecting them. They are defenseless and the Sycanians will just have to blindly charge and this trap will vanish into smokes." Agapios confidently imed.
"Okay, but let''s not split the cavalry. We can take care of them one at a time." Samaras suggested apromise.
He felt there would be strength in numbers if the Adhanians had any more nasty surprises.
"No, I want them destroyed at the same time. They could retreat if we give them time. Now go!" Agapiosmanded decisively, shutting down any more of Samaras''s objections.
"It seems the general is getting impatient," Samaras thought.
"Yes, sir." He then performed a military salute and quickly rode off to carry out themands.
"The infantry will hold ground by forming a testudo while the cavalry attacks the slingers." Samaras ryed the general''s orders to Damious and themander of the cavalry- Xenophides.
"Joke¡.don''t get over yourself, Cantagenan, what are we, your servants?" Xenophides angrily snapped at Samaras, waving his hand and dismissing themand.
"My cavalry can barely see anything in this weather. All my horses are bruised from the hailstorm and now you wish us to charge into a forest? Fat chance!" He then turned his horse and seemed ready to ride off.
Hemanded the most elite cavalry of the Cantagenan alliance- strong, sturdy and capable of fighting for a long time, each one of his horses was precious and he would be damned if he lost them by such foolish tactics.
"Please wait,mander!" Samaras pleaded from the back.
This cavalry wasn''t Cantagena''s own but from her sister city-state Sycania and so Samaras simply could not force them to obey.
"The slingers are not defended by anybody. You can smash right through them in one single charge." Samaras exined the situation. "In this rain and mud, the enemy infantry hasn''t been able to yet arrive to support the slingers. If you attack quickly, you can smash this Adhanian trap and be the hero of this war." Samaras enticed Xenophides.
Hearing such honeyed words, Xenophides paused, clearly moved.
If what Samaras said was correct then those slingers would be just fish on the chopping board.
With minimum effort, he could take care of them and have his name enshrined in the history books for eternity- as the hero who destroyed Adhania.
Who wouldn''t want that?
It had to be also said that Sycania was not rich by any stretch of the definition.
Its only resource were the several strong, sturdy native mountain horse breeds that lived in its area.
So if he could contribute greatly today, the modest Sycania itself would also bag untold riches and greatly improve the lives of its citizens.
So his eyes lit up with zeal.
"Okay. I will get it done." Xenophides nodded affirmatively.
As Samaras saw the cavalrymander ride off, Damious gruffly interjected from his side " We have already formed the testudo formation, even before yourmand. But now our infantry is just sitting ducks. And our front line is not solid. The Adhanians can simply march into these gaps and wreck our lines. I advise we withdraw."
Samaras internally agreed with the giant. But he was a soldier and his superiors were the ones making the ns. And they had other ns.
"With all the slingers around? How? You will be torn to shed the moment youe out of your testudo." Samaras exaggerated.
Then he put a hand on Damious''s shoulder andforted, "Don''t worry, the cavalry will take care of everything. The Adhanians are in the same boat as us and won''t be able to see the gaps any time soon. Just make sure you hold the line."
After that, he quickly turned his horse and left tomand his Cantagenan army.
From his hilltop, Agapios impatiently waited for the cavalry charge, praying his gamble to destroy the enemy''s scheme would work.
And after some time, he finally noticed a formation of horses near the woods, seeming to speed into the forest.
At first, the charge seemed to go as nned, the running horses looking like a smooth dark line from the top.
But suddenly, he noticed that the smooth streamline had be disrupted. Now it looked like it was bing a crude circle.
Agapios had difficulty seeing anything from the top in this darkness but it seemed that the cavalry was unable to prate into the forest.
His heart sank at such a thought and just as he was contemting on sending a herald to get a hold of the situation, a panicked Samaras galloped towards him.
"Sir, Xenophides is dead." He informed Agapios panting, the shock still lingering in his voice.
"What?" Agapios eyes went wide as asked in a shaky voice.
"How can themander of a cavalry corp die? Are you sure brat?" He fiercely interrogated Samaras,pletely forgetting military protocol as he addressed Samaras informally.
"I was there to personally see the cavalry charge. I saw the unique armor fall to the ground and subsequently get trampled." He confirmed the news.
He further added, "It seems he had decided to lead the cavalry charge by himself. But the Adhanians had dug a ditch along the entire forest and filled it with wooden stakes. The charge he led ran straight into the ditch and he fell."
It seemed that Samaras''s persuasion was a little too effective. The veteranmander had let illusions of grandeur go to his head and decided to personally lead his troops to cement his position in the history books.
But instead, he couldn''t leave even a dot, bing only a pile of mangled flesh and bones.
"Good, its good that he died." Agapios angrily vented. "Anymander that leads a cavalry charge in the dark without checking for traps is better off dead."
"...." Samaras simply lowered his head in front of the livid general.
"So who''s the other wing cavalrymander?" Agapios asked after calming down, eager to forget this unpleasant setback.
"Ummmm, there is no other wing cavalry. Xenophides refused to split his cavalry." Samaras stammered the answer, avoiding eye contact with the general.
"...¡"Agapios simply stayed silent, cool anger taking over his boiling rage.
"You go and take over. Take some infantry to fill the ditch and then attack the right and then the left. Go now!" Agapiosmanded in an icy voice, his eyes almost bursting with fire.
Samaras was terrified of the state the general was in. But he still plucked up the courage to offer his two cents.
"Sir, I doubt the Sycanians will listen to me. I am no cavalrymander. Let them pull back. My infantry can do the job alone."
Agapios wordlessly red at Samaras, the majestic aura of the 60-year-old veteran almost crushing Samaras''s presence.
Then he let out a long sigh and pointed his index finger to the battlefield, "You see the battlefield. We are fighting at the foot of a hill. So all the water will flow downwards and soon the fields will be a swamp. The cavalry will soon be unable to charge and our soldiers will not be able to move in formation. The pride of our army, your heavy infantry will sink in the mud and be shooting targets for the lightly armored slingers." Agapiosid out his analysis of the battlefield.
"Sir there''s still time to order a retreat." Samaras suggested again. He was desperately praying for Agapios to agree.
But the general unequivocally dismissed it.
"No. We can''t withdraw. That''s what Amenheratf wants. If we withdraw now, the battle will end today. Our soldiers are too exhausted and once they return to camp the adrenaline will run out and exhaustion will settle in. By tomorrow the Adhanian will have built forts and just wait for the main army. So we need to win now. And we need the mobile cavalry to do it. Now go and take charge of the Sycanians, cavalrymander or not." Agapiosmanded in an absolute voice.
"I will try my best sir." Came a tired, unenthusiastic reply.
Chapter 9 End
While Agapios wasying out his ns, the Sycanians were doing their own thing.
Although theirmander was dead and theirst charge failed, they weren''t out of the fight yet.
Xenophides''s second inmand, a veteran of the ''War of Flowers'', took the helm and vowed, "Revenge for themander!"
Famous for always redeeming any defeat, these mountainous riders were skilled, brave, fierce, and bloodthirsty, valuing honor and victory above everything.
They were trained from birth for this one thing and they fought not only with supreme skill but also with unmatched zeal.
That''s because lending their cavalry to Cantagena was Sycania''s only real source of ie. Itsnds were too poor and the mountainous terrain made trade difficult.
As such Sycania rose and fell with their cavalry''s performance.
"We can attack though there." A scouting cavalry reported to the newmander.
"Okay, form up! It''s time to show the Cantagenans our worth!" Themander ordered.
Hence, the cavalry was soon ready for a second charge.
Now, although the previous charge had been disastrous, the one silver lining of it was that. the dead bodies of men and horses had filled up the ditch, forming a small grotesque bridge of flesh.
And the Sycanians intended to ride through it and deliver righteous vengeance,
So without permission, likely in an attempt to prove their worth to the Cantagenans, they massed their cavalry and charged again into the hailstorm of stones, ignoring the lives each stone volley reaped.
"Charge," as the tightly packed cavalry bulldozed into the forest, the goddess of fate, in all her whimsy, decided to y her first card.
"Bang." A lightning bolt suddenly hit a tree next to the charging infantry, instantly exploding it and sending deadly shrapnel into the middle of the cavalry.
"Niggghhhh" Almost all the nearby horses screamed in terror at the sound of the explosion, bucking and jumping to try and throw off their rider and escape.
"Ambush! Ambush!!" Some of the riders screamed in the confusion and broke formation to try and escape the imaginary encirclement.
The calmer and more experienced riders tried to calm things down but the chaos and confusion in there were too much.
The beasts also started to get out of control, ring and agitating each other as the sight of the burning tree frightened them beyond any control. They crashed into one another in this tightly packed formation, with the trees acting as a barricade and preventing them from dispersing.
Hence the incidentter known as the "Stampede of the thousand beasts" urred.
The charging cavalry lost cohesion in the dark forest, riders randomly driving their horses in different directions and mming into each and causing a stampede. Thousands of riders fell off their horse and were trampled to death.
The ones that managed to exit the forest fared no better. They all ran like headless chickens in the rain, trying to return to the base camp. On their way they rammed into the Cantagenan infantry nks, smashing their testudo formation and trampling countless hapless allies. Some even started spreading panic by shouting phrases like:
"It''s over. Ramuh has descended."
"The gods have abandoned us. Run, the gods have abandoned us"
"Lost, lost, we have lost! "
"Run for your lives. Save yourselves! Save yourselves!"
These phrases were first spoken by only a few but soon these spread like wildfire.
Many god-fearing soldiers saw the burning tree, standing alone in the rain and darkness like a lighthouse, and took it as a sign of Ramuh''s divine intervention. They simply dropped everything and ran.
Others saw the horses running wildly through the battlefield and mistook them for the Adhanian cavalry. Thinking that the enemy cavalry had broken through their nks, they also ran.
"Stop, don''t run."
"Halt, anyone who runs will be tried as a deserter!"
Damious and Samaras screamed their throats out to try and stop the copse but it was of no use.
This was a rout.
Of course, The Adhanians didn''t let go of this golden opportunity. They immediately counter-attacked, morale soaring to high heaven as they truly believed that Ramuh hade.
The slinger and archers were particrly effective,unching volley after volley of devastating strikes to smash the fleeing soldiers. They had been unable to do much damage to the infantry while it was in a testudo, but now, these twenty thousand troops seemed like the grim reapers, harvesting lives by the hundreds.
In just a few minutes, the Cantagenans had somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Alexander was also retreating, or more urately running like all the others in this hailstorm of stones, arrows, and actual hail.
Like almost all other soldiers, he too had heard the "bang" of the lightning striking the tree from his testudo formation and witnessed the burning husk of the tree.
And soon afterward he felt the ground shake as there came a cacophony of horse neighing, human moans, and shouts.
Alexander felt all this happen around him and a chilling thought crept into his mind. Either the enemy cavalry had outnked them or their own cavalry had lost control!
Soon histter fears were proved right. ck shadows riding horses seemed toe out of the forest but they were all disorganized. Many ran without any sense of direction, running into their allies'' formation and trampling them, and even smashing into their own supply lines.
Some of the idiots were even shouting morale-destroying phrases.
It was at that point Alexander concluded, "We lost."
Alexander wasn''t the only one toe to such a conclusion. Almost everyone did. And so everyone ran, and the front started to copse like a house of cards
Fortunately for Alexander, this scattered cavalry seemed to mostly run towards the rear camp and not towards the front. Hence the formations in the front were not hit as hard and they could withdraw in an orderly fashion.
"We are retreating. Stay in close formation and proceed as we practiced." Nestorasmanded in a heavy, unwilling voice. To lose when they were this close to victory made his heartbreak.
"No, we shouldn''t retreat like we practiced. Instead, we should disperse and run." Suddenly Alexander''s young voice pierced the ears of the soldiers.
"....."For a moment there was pin-drop silence within the phnx.
And then came Nestoras''s enraged roar "Brat it was you who designed the retreat n. And now you don''t want to follow it? Is this all a game to you?"
It was true that Alexander had designed aplex retreating maneuver that he copied from the Romans. The idea behind it was that since almost all the casualties an army suffered were during retreating, so by devising a proper retreat maneuver, casualties could be minimized.
"That maneuver was designed to be carried out in a proper retreat. Look around you, this is not a retreat, it''s a rout! We are running away!" Alexander shouted, revealing the limitations of his n.
He then exined "If we move in thisrge formation we will be painting the biggest target on our back for those slingers. Without the testudo, they will tear us to shred in no time. And that''s not even mentioning the crazy horses that are running across the battlefield, They can easily smash into our formation and demolish it."
Alexander then gave his own suggestion "I suggest we break off into groups of three. The center man will protect the front, while the two at the side will cover the nks. Be sure to keep your shield at eye level so you can see any stray horseing towards you."
This was Alexander''s genius, to be able toe out with detailed ns in no time under critical conditions.
The n seemed quite sound. The three-man team was big enough to protect from all sides but small enough to evade the slingers and agile enough to dodge any charging horses.
As the soldiers were murmuring and evaluating the n, an aged, booming voice spoke out, "I agree with the boy. Let''s follow his n." Aristotle firmly approved of Alexander''s proposal.
His consent wiped away any objection to the n and so Nestoras quickly finalized it "Okay, let''s follow Alexander''s n. I will go tell our other formations to do the same." Nestoras then quickly sent heralds to the four other phnx formations under his mercenary group.
Soon the unit broke off and after a treacherous march, Alexander''s group of three finally managed to make the perilous journey back to the camp almost a kilometer away.
They, fortunately reached the camp in one piece, managing to evade the mad horses and missiles thrown at them.
Alexander had Camius and Bartholomeo on his sides to help him run the gauntlet of stones and arrows and as soon as they reached the camp all three copsed in exhaustion.
The brutal march, the intense fight, the freezing rain, and the knee-deep mud had sapped every bit of energy of the three men and they were barely conscious.
And, this scene urred over all the allied camps, meaning Cantagena had lost all offensive capabilities for at least the next day.
They had lost the battle!
Chapter 10 Aftermath
Agapios watched the scene unfolding in front of him with shell-shocked horror.
Even now he could not understand where things had gone wrong.
One minute they were on the cusp of victory, the next minute they had been defeated and routed.
The shock was so great for the old man he felt his heart almost give out. He simply sat atop his horse in silence, not uttering a single word as he seemed to have aged ten years.
The shock he was experiencing now was only second to the shock had experienced that day.
After a night of drinking and merriment, he hade back in the morning to find his son''s head ced on the mantle of the firece and his mutted corpse lying on the floor.
Next to himid his wife, naked, beaten, broken and raped. Her face had been beaten ck and blue, her breasts were chewed off at various ces, her lower half had been destroyed and her entire body reeked of piss. But she was still alive, left to groan in pain and humiliation.
As a veteran soldier, Agapios was not green to such sights. He even ordered such acts against his enemies.
But seeing his own family like this, the realization that his family was being tortured and humiliated while he was out partying was a blow that eternally scared him.
"Does the heavens have no eyes?" The general muttered mournfully as brought himself back to the present,ying witness to his soldiers getting massacred in the field.
The agile slingers hade out of the forest and outnked the retreating soldiers, forming a cauldron and trapping anyone escaping.
Agapios estimated more than twenty thousand soldiers were trapped in the encirclement. The best fate for these soldiers would be being sold into very.
Although most likely they will either be crucified or sacrificed at the temple of Ramuh.
"Sir, sir, we need orders." Samaras''s screaming brought the dazed general back to earth and he looked back at the adjuvant with equal parts confusion and uncertainty.
But soon his training kicked back in and his eyes regained their sharpness as he ordered "Have¡."
Boooom! Agapios never got to finish his words.
Because fate had decided to y its second card.
A stray bolt of lightning hit the general atop his horse and sent him hurling across the air, forming a perfect arc as he handed squarely on the ground, twitching in pain as hundreds of millions of volts of electricity coursed through his body.
"Nieegg" Samaras''s horse bucked wildly in terror at the cataclysmic boom and violently threw off Samaras as it attempted to run off and in a profound twist of tragedy, directly ran over the fallen general''s head, smashing it under its hooves.
The general''s skull cracked open like a squahed grape and the insides neatly flowed out like red jelly, mixing with the mud and rain to form a grotesque red puddle.
Agapios died without even understanding how he died.
How tragic!
The Cantagenan who devoted all his life protecting his state, who sacrificed his family for it, one who vowed to destroy the devils that haunted all Cantagenans dreams died in such a way.
Not in a warm bed surrounded by a loving family, nor on a battlefield gloriously defending Cantagena but in such aical way.
Maybe the heavens really have no eyes.
Amenheratf, on the hand, felt like he was living in a dream. The battle that should have been like ying dice with the devil ended up in andslide victory for him.
The trap had worked better than he could have ever asked for even in his dreams. The battle that should have been fought tooth and nail, ended up being aplete lopsided victory for him.
The soldiers that threatened to push his country to the abyss just some time ago were now running away like headless chickens, their panic-stricken screams sounding like music to Amenheratf''s ears.
"Ramuh has truly blessed us. Praise be to the divine son of Ramuh. Praise be to King Amenheratf."
From his side, Manuk prayed to Amenheratf with utmost reverence, his hands stretching out to reach the sun.
Then he plopped to the ground, prostrating in front of him and gently kissing his shoes, his eyes streaming with tears of joy and deference.
All the retainers around Amenheratf followed suit, prostrating in front of their king and swearing their fealty once again.
All of them felt a ponderous weight lifting from their chest as they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Thest few years of Amenheratf''s rule hadn''t been smooth. Adhania was experiencing its worst drought in recorded history, with no rain for over three years.
Hunger and destitution overran the country and its people resorted to unimaginable acts just to put food in their mouths.
On the other hand, the royalty refused to lower theirvish lifestyle one bit, only increasing taxes to fuel their extravagance.
At first, some grains were imported from Tibias to relieve the crisis, but soon even that stopped.
Understanding the peril its greatest enemy was in, Tibias raised its export grain prices to astronomical heights.
The Adhanian nobility was also unwilling to use up all its wealth to feed its citizens whom it saw as little more than chattel.
Only the army was kept barely fed to prevent it from rebelling. But soon even that amount of food proved to be too much.
So what do to do when you are starving but your neighbor has silos full of grains?
War!
Adhania was soon embroidered in a massive three-year war in an effort to feed itself. This only spread even more ruin and destitution as more and more lives were lost and more and more"war" taxes were imposed.
All this caused the citizens to reach their tipping point and many were ready to rebel. They started to question the legitimacy of Amenheratf''s rule, stating he had lost his divine mandate.
They said that as the son of Ramuh -the god of thunder, lightning and rain, this drought was a divine sign that Amenheratf was unfit to rule.
At first, this rhetoric was only limited to ordinary citizens. But soon it began to infect the lower nobility and over time it climbed up to the highest position of power, the royal family!
This was how the groundwork for Ptolmy''s rebellion wereid.
But now, such ims would vanish into dust.
The king had saved Adhania from certain doom. At the critical moment, Ramuh had blessed him with rain, lightning and thunder to help him in battle. Such events were witnessed by all and left no one in doubt as to Amenheratf''s right to rule. The biggest threat to his crown was no more.
As the archpriest, Manuk was overwhelmed by such a thorny issue solving itself so easily.
The zealot truly believed that the gods had a hand in this battle and he could only prostrate in front of his king''s divine radiance, in awe of the divine miracle he had just performed.
Amenheratf''s heart was also filled to the brim in glee at the result of the battle. But as a seasoned politician, he kept a stoic, dignified face.
He slowly raised his hands and piously proimed " Rise my loyal subjects. This battle was ordained by my Father as a test. So rejoice, for He has informed me all of you have passed. As my most loyal retainers, you shall have a ce beside me in Aaru. Praise be to Ramuh!
"Praise be to Ramuh. Praise be to the owner of the world, your Majesty Amenheratf."
All his retainers chanted in unison, their zealous promations revibrating throughout the battlefield.
Chapter 11 Encirclement
After sometime, the religious fervor calmed down and Amenheratf turned his focus to the battlefield. The rain had begun to subside and though lightning still ruled the sky, it started to slowly brighten, finally revealing the true extent of the carnage.
Corpses of men and horsesy strewn across the battlefield, their blood, guts and entrails decorating the muddy ground a dull red. The muddy ground clutched the wounded and screaming soldiers in its bosom, embracing them to return to where they once came from.
Amenheratf could clearly see that the retreating Cantagenan soldiers were having great difficulty escaping. The rain and the footsteps of fifty thousand troops had turned the battlefield into a swamp making the heavily armored soldiers sink into the mud like quicksand.
The ten-twelve kg bronze cuirass each of them wore, in addition to the helmet, arm and leg greaves and the ten kg bronze ted wooden shield they each carried made walking through the mud feel like parting the red sea. The constant barrage by the slingers and archers also made sure these soldiers were unable to discard their equipment, making them get bogged down in the mud even more.
"The slingers and archers are the heroes of this battle. '''' Amenheratf praised the soldiers with a light smile on his face. "But we can''t let the Cantagenans escape and regroup. Beihrut, you lead the infantry to pursue." Amenheratf dictated hismand to the Captain of his royal guards.
"Your Majesty, our soldiers will get stuck in the mud just as the Cantagenans. Also if we send our soldiers the slingers and archers will have to stop shooting." Beihrut disagreed.
Amenheratf frowned at his general''s objection. The thought of letting these soldiers escape to fight another day did not sit well with him.
In addition, such strong men would make excellent ves. Adhania had lost too much poption in thest three years and these captured ves would prove to be a tremendous boon for it.
"My king, perhaps I have a solution."
As he was contemting his options, Manuk''s mellifluous voice rang beside his ears.
The king turned his head with an expectant gaze towards his right-hand man, eager to listen.
"We can use the slingers to form a cauldron. They can outpace the soldiers to form the head of the cauldron while the infantry can follow from behind to form the mouth."
"What! Send these defenseless slingers to engage in meleebat? Manuk, has your brain been eaten by maggots?" Beihrut''s screamed in retort even before Amenheratf could reply.
Manuk lightly smiled at his older brother''s objection and replied in a knowing tone "Isn''t that what we originally intended to do? To have the slingers melee attack the nks of the phnx. We even gave them swords instead of spears just to hide that."
"That was just a desperate move we came up with as ast-ditch effort," Beihrut revealed. "Why should we risk our precious slingers over such a risky n now that we have won?" He questioned Manuk.
"Don''t underestimate Agapios. The old lion still has a few teeth left in him." Manuk chided his brother for being toocent.
"Remember, we may have won the battle but not the war. If we let him regroup, he might still win this war. We are still outnumbered." Manuk reminded his brother, his gentle tone changing to a didactic one.
He further continued "And we still need our army to take back the capital and capture Ptolemy. Do you want us to fight a two-front war?"
By the end of his reply, Manuk seemed to have turned from a younger brother to an elder, pointing out the obvious things missed by a "junior."
In response. Beihrut simply turned his head, tacitly conceding to Manuk.
Amenheratf silently watched the verbal duel between the brothers with besumed amusement.
This wasn''t the first time these two crossed words.
In fact they did it quite often.
But what was fascinating about it was that although Manuk always thrashed his brother, Beihrut never knew when to quit, alwaysing back for a second round soon afterward.
Having had his entertainment and unwilling to waste more time simply bickering, Amenheratf decided to intercede.
"I mostly agree with you, Manuk." He said. " But there are a few concerns I have with using the slingers."
"First", he raised his index finger and asked, "How will you stop the soldiers from running if the slingers stop shooting?"
"Second", raising his middle finger he continued "If these soldiers attack the slingers head on, what will you do?"
"And third" with his ring finger up he questioned, "What if the slingers are counter attacked by the soldiers from the camp?"
These were all very genuine questions and needed to be seriously addressed before any such offensive could be made.
But as if already knowing the answer, Manuk lightly smiled at the king and spoke, "The slingers can still attack as they maneuver. And besides, the enemy soldiers are scattered, stuck and out of formation. How can this mob be a threat to our soldiers? Our agile slingers can run circles around them all day long."
Then suddenly his eyes started emitted a cunning glow as he chuckled, "As for the soldiers at the back, I hope they attack. Hehe."
Amenheratf gazed softly at the pleased Manuk, a gentle smile lingering on his face.
This war''s one pleasant surprise had been discovering Manuk''s talent as a genius tactician.
Adhania nevercked first-ss generals, and with it being one of the most prosperous and powerful countries in the world, its generals were never foundcking.
Until now.
When this apocalyptic crisis fell upon Adhania, the one to rise up wasn''t Lamiz or Beihrut or Kefka or Namuzim, but a mere civil minister - Manuk.
Amenheratf would wholeheartedly agree that the one who won the battle for them was not him but Manuk.
Adhania had found itself a once-in-a-century grand strategist.
"Good, let''s follow Manuk''s n."Amenheratf was convinced by Manuk and approved the attack.
And soon events folded just as Manuk predicted.
The slingers and archersunched missiles aftert missiles against the fleeing soldiers, who hindered by the mud were like fish in a barrel, barely able to move forward before being pelted by a hailstorm of stones and arrows.
And so soon a cauldron was formed and the noose slowly tightened, suffocating the allied army.
If something wasn''t done soon, if they did not receive reinforcement as soon as possible, the fates of these men would not be pretty.
Amenheratf, who was witnessing theplete defeat of his enemies right in front of him, felt a deep change started taking ce inside his heart."
"I am truly Ramuh''s chosen divine." He muttered, now absolutely convinced of his divinity.
Chapter 12 Shelter
Alexander fought off the crippling exhaustion lulling him to sleep on the muddy ground and with a herculean effort sat up, his entire body screaming in pain.
Then, with a painful grunt, he yanked off his helmet, shoulder guards and arm and leg greaves and with fumbling hands untied the side and shoulder straps of his cuirass, finally throwing off the hunk of metal.
"Dammit." Alexander cursed loudly, still indignant at the loss.
They were so close, yet so far.
Afterward, he turned his head to check the state of his two mates and found one snoring and panting on the ground.
"Camius get up. You will freeze to death if you fall asleep out here." Alexander lightly shoved the ck-haired boyying on the ground
"Uggghh." The young man only groaned in reply, unable to move or properly reply.
"You stupid loudmouth! Get up!" Alexander shoved again, this time much harder.
Still nothing.
There came only the groaning of a dying man.
Seeing no other option, Alexander with great reluctance pulled Camius up and made him sit up like him.
"What do you eat, idiot? Lead?" Alexander cursed.
Somehow Camius felt ten times heavier.
Then with much difficulty, he helped him take off his armor, finally freeing the boy of his heavy gear.
"Now get up! We need to get out of this rain, quickly." Alexander pulled on Camius to stand up as he himself used his spear as a support to get up.
"Uggghh. Leave me. Take Bartho instead." Camius whispered out of his mouth, exhaustion dripping out of his voice.
Alexander ignored the man and put his arm around his shoulders as he tried to drag him up to his feet.
It felt like dragging up lead.
"Bartho is already asleep. I can''t drag that lumbering hunk. Now shut up and move those legs if you want to live." Alexander replied with panted breaths.
"Ugggh, but what about our armor? Are we just leaving it out here?"
"Forget the armor. Tens of thousands of them are littered all across the field. Now shut up and move those damned legs, you thering fool."
"Sorry but I can''t. Can''t feel¡.*panting* feel my legs anymore."
"Motherf**ker, I didn''t stitch you up just so you could die in a shitty rainstorm. Now use that spear and walk."
" *Panting*"
Camius silently listened to Alexander''s tirade as he leaned on his spear and summoned all his willpower just to get his two useless hunks of meat to move.
It seemed the battle had managed to knock the breath out of even the eternal therer.
As they moved across the camp, supporting each other by the shoulder, they passed hundreds of bodies strewn across the field, all soaking in the cold rain.
Many were like Bartholomew, simply asleep, while others had sumbed to their injuries and justid on the ground, waiting for mother earth to reim them.
A few medical staff frantically ran to and fro to get these wounded to the medical camp, but they were far too few.
"Get all the soldiers out of the rain and feed them warm sweet water." Alexander barked the same order to the all medical personnel he came across.
He was the one in charge of the medical camp after all, havinge up with the idea and then introducing many of its practices.
The reason why he told them to do so was because these soldiers were all in danger of hypothermia, which happens when the body cools down too much.
They had fought a grueling battle while being baked under the hot, humid, 40¡ãC sun. Then they got soaked by the freezing rain and had to run through knee-deep mud to escape.
All this had sapped every ounce of strength out of their body, making them unable to generate enough heat to keep them warm.
The best thing that can happen to them is catching a cold. Most likely half of them will get a fever, and an unlucky few will die. Every second they spent under the rain, they came closer to death.
"This fucking rain destroyed us, doc. Maybe the gods are really against us¡"
"*Panting*."
"Hey doc, do you think Ramuh is real?"
The banter bus had returned.
"Shut up and move," Alexander replied grinding his teeth, clearly exasperated.
Camius sensing his partner about to blow wisely decided to stop talking.
For a while.
"By the way, where are we going? That''s not the way to our tent." Camius broke the silence once again. He finally took the time to notice where they were going.
" Nestoras''s tent." Came Alexander''s curt reply.
"What! We can''t enter there. Well maybe you can but not me."
Alexanderpletely ignored Camius''s objection and soon dragged him to the entrance of a huge tent at the back.
The tent that usually bustling with activity was now eerily empty of any soul, save a sole lonely "guard" left behind.
"Alexander, thank goodness you are alive. Are you hurt?" Shouted a young voice.
"Romeus, go find Bartho and get him to the medical camp. He fainted near the edge of the camp over there." Alexander pointed his finger. "Also both our equipment is next to him."
Hearing this, the short boy suddenly closed his mouth and exaggeratedly shook his head, "But Alexander, I am the only one left guarding the leader''s tent. Cambyses has already taken Remus. I can''t leave my post."
"Romeus, our brothers are injured and need urgent help. I am too tired. Now go, Camius and I will guard the tent." Alexander tried to convince the boy.
"But...but, I have been ordered by leader personally to not leave my post."
Alexander slightly frowned, seeing the boy being reluctant to leave. Then Alexander decided to y his trump card.
"Romeus you should act ording to the situation. We are too short on men. Your brother understood it, that''s why he followed Cambyses." Alexander said in a persuasive tone.
This statement got the boy riled up.
Romeus always had an inferiorityplex towards his twin brother and shouted, "Okay, okay, I will go help Bartholomew. But just be sure to not let anyone in."
As the boy walk away, Camius chuckled, "Too easy."
Romeus and Remus were raw recruits who had joined the group just two years ago. These two had moved out of their orphanages just as Nestoras was finishing a contract nearby and both took the opportunity to join the group.
Very soon, Remus proved himself to be a prodigy and was taken under Nestoras''s tutge. He was so good that he finished the six-year training course in less than two.
Nestoras had half a mind to debut him in this very battle but reconsidered as there were too few left to guard the camp.
On the other hand, his twin brother Romeus was the exact opposite- charitably described as average.
While Remus was smart, strong, quick on his feet, and very personable, Romeus was introverted, slow, timid, and weak.
In terms of ability, they were like chalk and cheese.
Two identical-looking people with vastly disparate skills of course drew manyments.
Naturally,parisons were made between the two, with only praising one brother and ignoring the other. This hit the young boy hard, causing him to lower his self-esteem even more.
"Let''s go in." Alexander urged Camius and hurriedly entered the huge tent.
Chapter 13 Brief Respite
As soon as they stepped inside, the first thing that they felt was "warmth.
It felt like being embraced in a warm, motherly hug and both had a brief sense of profound bliss.
This tent had a portable firece that had a cracking fire going, being managed by a girl.
"Who¡..?" The little ve immediately turned around in shock as she felt someone enter the tent.
"Oh, it''s you, Alex. Thank goodness you''re safe. We were worried sick." Seeing it was Alexander, the girl patted her chest and let out a sigh of relief.
This was Mean- a ve like Alexander. Or more specifically, she was Cambyses''s personal ve.
The tanned girl dressed in a white chiton barely reached 140cm. Her raven ck hair was tied in a bun and she hadrge ck eyes and a cute, oval face.
Only one word could be used to describe her- cute.
"Mean, isn''t this a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?" Alexander asked in a jovial tone. After all, he knew the girl for ten years.
"All the other camps sent people to get our medicine. Now mistress wants me to try and find some from master''s private stash." Mean replied sinctly.
"Anyway Alexander, why are you here? You know even you aren''t allowed to enter master''s tent without permission. You even bought that good for nothing Camius with you." Mean put her hands on her hips and red.
Ah, there''s the Mean he knew. He understood he would get an earful the moment she changed from calling him Alex to Alexander.
Mean might look like a cute doll but she was anything but.
The phrase "the shorter ones are the feistiest" couldn''t be more true for this girl. She had a temper as spicy as hot pepper.
"Little sister, please don''t be mad. We are only looking for some food and medicine." Camius wagged his silver tongue to try and cate the angry munchkin.
But this only seemed to rile up the girl as furiously shot back, "Shut up you snake! Get out right now before I call the guards."
Normally a ve talking like this to a free man would not end well for them.
But the phrase "look at the master''s face before beating his dog" seemed to apply in this world as well.
Mean was the only personal ve of the daughter of the mercenary group''s leader. She was also close friends with Alexander, meaning she was above most ordinary soldiers in the camp.
Also, she particrly hated Camius because of a harmless prank he yed on her that got out of control caused her to humiliate herself in front of everybody.
"Mean, you know how short supplies are right now. Please let us stay." Alexander pleaded to the enraged lioness.
"Of course you are more than wee to Alex. But why this snake?" Mean ground her teeth in rage.
"Treat him like air. Now could you give us some warm sweet water? We are freezing."
What was this sugar water? It was just beetroot juice boiled, filtered and then mixed with water.
Invented and patented by yours truly.
As Mean was working the indoor stove to boil water and serve the drinks, the men skitted around the interior edge of the tent, careful not to wet the carpet and they soon arrived at a corner of the tent separated by a wooden panel.
This was the private shower room, with all the necessary plumbing present. It even had a bathtub filled with water, probably there to be used by Nestoras when he got back.
Ignoring to ask why there was a conveniently filled bathtub waiting for them, the men promptly stripped into their birthday suits, discarding their muddy, wet chiltons and then using arge mug started to pour warm water over their bodies, washing away any grime and mud.
As the warm water cascaded off Alexander''s body, he felt a moment of profoundfort as if all his exhaustion was washing away.
"Ahhhhhhh." He let out a happy involuntary moan.
"This tent is fit for a king. Still can''t believe you designed it, doc." Just as Alexander was starting to enjoy it, Camius''s crass voice shattered the serenity of the ce.
But at least this time Camius couldn''t be fully faulted for hisment.
Because the tent was really one of its kind, with amazing facilities truly fit for a king and not just a mere mercenary leader.
Along with the usual assortments, the tent had a firece to keep the ce warm, a stove to cook, an armor station to properly store armor, a private washroom and even a shower room.
It had marvelous innovations of the time like a small chimney ced at the top of the firece to allow smoke to escape, a portable woodentrine and nted panels and drainage pipes in the shower room that drained all the water to an outside ditch.
It was more like aplete house rather than a makeshift tent.
And it was all single-handedly designed by Alexander, taking inspiration from a few trips he had taken to the MIddle East, where he spent a few nights out in the desert at a luxury tour.
"...." Alexander simply ignored his talkative colleague and concentrated on getting all the grime off of him.
As he bent over to scoop up more water, he caught a hold of his own reflection.
A strong face with a well-built nose and a prominent jawline, his pitch ck eyes mirroring his ck shoulder-length hair. A face in the midst of transforming from a boy to a man.
Alexander kept staring at the reflection for some time. Even now, he could not fully get used to his new face, asionally being caught by surprise by his own image.
Just as Alexander was mired in his own thoughts, a bellow rang out behind him.
"Ahhhh, I just filled that."
Mean in the hustle and bustle of her work had missed the men sneaking behind the wooden panel to take a bath.
? She had assumed they would at most use a wet towel to clean their body.
To think they would be bold enough to use the bath water reserved for the camp leader to take a bath. Water that she painstakingly carried over. What gall!
"You wastrels, I am gonna...."
"Don''t worry Mean. We will fill it up for you in a moment." Alexander noticed the little girl ring up and quickly interjected.
"You bozos can barely carry yourselves, how are you gonna carry the water?" Mean sneered in reply. "Step out right now!"
"Okay, okay we are done anyway. Don''t get mad." Alexander quicklyplied and stepped out of the shower room, making his way to his trunk nearby.
He took out a towel from it and then handed a guest towel nearby to Camius.
"How many sets of clothes do you have?" Camius asked in surprise, while vigorously rubbing himself.
He wasn''t surprised by Alexander having clothes both here and in his tent. He was Nosteras''s ve and a soldier after all.
What he was surprised by was how many clothes he had.
The mercenary group wasn''t rich by any stretch of the word. Here a normal ve would have likely one cloth- which he would wash and wear at the same time. Special ves like Mean had two, at most three.
But from what he had seen here today, Camius conservatively estimated that Alexander had four sets of dresses along with various towels and undergarments.
A ve was richer than most soldiers in the group!
"He''s got another at the medical camp." Quipped Mean, happy to dig a deeper pit for Alexander. She was still angry about the water.
Camius look in awe at Alexander, then said with a wry smile, "As expected of you, doc. Common sense doesn''t work with you." His voice distinctly had a touch of sourness to it.
After all, in this era ves were just breathing tools. No free man would ever want to be outdone by a mere "it."
"They are all gifts," Alexander exined. Then he warned, "Don''t spread this."
It would not be good for him if rumors about his wealth spread. Don''t look at how the people seemed to like and follow Alexander.
In private many of these hot-blooded men detested the ve that seemed to be better than them.
"Hehe .. spread what?" Camius asked in a mischievous tone, feigningplete ignorance.
This was why Alexander and Camius were friends. Camius might seem to have a loose tongue but in reality, he never spilled any real secret.
Camius could talk for hours on end and not reveal a single piece of useful information, always thering useless banter. A trait he picked up as a street hustler.
Alexander was the opposite of Camius. Socially introverted, he preferred to keep his conversation as concise as possible.
This little trait had caused problems for him because people assumed him to be stuck up and arrogant.
Thus, with Camius keeping the talks going, and Alexander asionally pitching in, an unlikely duo thatplemented each other was formed.
Chapter 14 Cambyses
During the entire time they were drying themselves, Mean seemed totally unfazed by the sight of two naked men in a tent alone with her.
This was a sight asmon as the sun rising and setting to her.
After all, in this era, for a roaming band of mercenaries, personal privacy wasn''t at the top of their priority list.
And that was doubly true for ves, who were treated as chattel. There was nothing shameful to hide from them, just as one wouldn''t hide anything from a chair or table.
The men would bathe fully naked in rivers andkes, leaving everything bare to mother nature. Many times the women and female ves would follow suit.
She had seen it all. But luckily for her, from the time she came of age, she had ess to her mistress''s personal quarters, protecting her own dignity and shame.
Alexander soon dried himself and then put on a tunic and a pair of pants above his loincloths. Camius followed suit, courtesy of Alexander lending him a set of his dress.
Just as the two men became decent, a feminine voice rang out from outside the tent.
"Mean are you in there? What''s taking so long?"
Without waiting for a reply, the owner of the voice parted the tent ps and casually stepped inside with powerful steps.
She appeared to be 160 cm tall with chestnut hair tied in a long ponytail. She had a small well-ced nose, thin lips and a pointed chin giving her face a sharp look. Dressed in blood sttered linen armor, she appeared like a heroic general right out of a painting.
Cambyses scanned the tent for Mean but when she found Alexander, her emerald eyes lit up in joy.
"Mistress I am¡.."
"Thank Gaia you are safe," Cambyses said beaming with a smile, totally ignoring Mean.
Her smile bloomed like an exotic flower, drawing all light to it.
"Only by mistress''s grace." Alexander bowed and replied in an unusually servile tone.
"Um, you did well my knight. This princess is pleased." Cambyses praised in an animated tone.
Seeing this yful exchange, Mean and Camius felt like awkward third wheels.
For once in his life, Camius decided to show some tact and resisted the urge to shout "Go get a room," or ask "What''s a knight?"
Mean also felt quite ufortable watching her mistress show such an open disy of affection, especially in broad daylight in the presence of others.
"Mistress, I am sorry. I was held up helping Alexander." Mean loudly voiced her reason for beingte, in an attempt to steer away the conversation.
"Um, you did well." Cambysesmented in a dismissive tone, barely looking at her.
"Groan." Seeing this Camius silently rolled his eyes in his head.
There were rumors that the daughter of the mercenary leader was in love with a ve.
But it seems the rumors were false.
She wasn''t in love. She waspletely infatuated with him.
Up until now, she hadn''t even acknowledged his presence in the room.
Despite her failure, Mean wasn''t deterred.
"Alexander, Camius here." Mean tried again, this time loudly calling Camius by name to draw attention as she handed each of them a mug of warm sweet water.
"Thank you, little sister." Following Mean''s cue Camius also loudly said his thanks.
Finally, this seemed to work as the girl realized where she was and was momentarily stunned as her cheeks turned red in embarrassment.
In fact, Cambyses cannot be fully faulted for such behavior.
She was alive today only because of Alexander. So when she heard that the battle was lost and Alexander was on the front lines, she felt her entire world go dark.
She didn''t dare to ask anyone in camp about Alexander specifically for fear of spreading rumors.
Hence when she saw Alexander alive and well just now, it felt like dawn had arrived in her world and she barely controlled herself from running over and hugging him.
"Thanks." Alexander looked at Mean with a grateful gaze as he took big gulps of the beverage.
It tasted bitter.
For the native people, who didn''t know of either sugar or honey, this drink might seem like a taste of heaven, but for Alexander, who lived in a world of processed sugar and carbonated drinks, it tasted mediocre at best.
There were unfiltered microfibers, scum, and various organic acids in the extracted juice and even the water tasted stale.
But still, it was the best way to regain his strength and it actually tasted leagues better than anything else he could have at the moment.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp." Both men swilled down the drink, bringing relief to their patched throats.
It felt like rain had finally arrived after a long drought as their throats sang chorus of joyous hymns.
"Ahhhhhhh, another." Camius loudly requested a refill.
Meanplied and soon bought refills for both of them along with some hard tack.
"Here mistress, you haven''t eaten anything since morning." Mean also handed the same to Cambyses.
As everyone ate, a strange, ufortable silence filled the tent as each was lost in their thoughts.
Alexander thought of what will happen next?
Mean thought of her next job.
Cambyses thought what would be appropriate to speak about next?
Camius the simpleton thought of his next bite.
Finally, after the men had mostly had their fill, it was Cambyses that broke the silence.
"What will happen next?" She asked in an uncertain voice.
"..."
Silence.
These were the four golden words that upied the minds of every being in this field.
What will happen to them next?
very? ****? Death? Or worse?
Everyone was trying to figure out their fate.
Seeing no one speak up, soon three expectant pairs of eyesid on Alexander, looking for his guidance.
"How would I know anything? I am as lost as you guys." Alexander silently cursed in his mind.
But his confident face bellied any such fears.
He wrinkled his forehead, as if in deep thought and asked "Mean, how much food have we got?"
"Ummm, about a week''s worth."
"It will take at least a month to get to Cantagena." Camius chipped in.
"We need food." Cambyses worriedly pointed out.
This was also the problem Alexander was brainstorming all this time.
How to get more food? How not to starve?
As he felt the gears inside him turning, suddenly an epiphany hit him.
That was it!
He pped his thighs in excitement, "Horses! We will eat the horses!"
"What? What horses?" Camius asked totally confused.
"The dead horses. The thousands of dead horses lying in front of us" Alexander spelled it out.
"That ¡that.." For the first time in his life, Camius found himself tongue-tied.
"That can work. Yes! That can work." Cambyses said excitedly.
"I agree mistress. If we can get the horses before they start rotting, we can make jerky and smoked sausages." Mean added noddingly.
"Haha, Adhania might have Ramuh but we got Alexander." Camius loudly cheered. Just like that their biggest problem was solved. Alexander was truly blessed by the gods.
"Keep this quiet for now. We don''t want it to somehow enter Adhanian ears." Alexander cautioned. "And Mean pointed out one very important thing I forgot. We need to get the horses before they start rotting. In this weather, it might have already started. We will go tonight. How many men have we got?" Alexander posed thest question specifically to Cambyses.
"*Sigh* We got a lot wounded. Loads more than we can handle. But fortunately, most of it is only cuts, bruises and swellings, gifts from the peltasts. They can still fight."
"That''s good then. By the way, on my way here I saw many soldiers of different colored armor running through our camp. What''s that about?" Alexander asked.
"The others noticed our medical camp and its facilities. Now they are all flocking here. We can''t even dare to reject them!" Cambyses sighed.
"Hmmm, are they paying for the treatment?" Alexander pointedly asked
"The only word they utter when asked about it is ter", *sigh*. Cambyses shook her head.
"Hmmm, okay keep treating them. Not like they can run." Alexandermented. Then he looked at Cambyses''s blood sttered armor and asked "DIdn''t I tell you to always wear clean clothes in the clinic? So who repainted your armor?"
Cambyses looked down to see the "paint" and shrugged, "Who knows? Didn''t even notice till now. Many desperados try and grab me to save them. I can only prioritize."
She spoke in a t, disinterested tone that certainly didn''t befit a 16-year-old.
"You did the right thing. We aren''t magicians. We can only try to save as many as we can." Alexander tried to offer her somefort in an awkward tone. He was never good at consoling people.
A girl like her in his world would be still in school, enjoying the best time of her life. Not listening to the death throes of dying soldiers.
These ten years had hammered home again and again just what kind of privileged life he once led.
Chapter 15 A Messy Family
"Now then, that''s enough resting. Ugh, let''s get back to our tent, Camius." Alexander stood up with a small grunt.
"Yea, we should be going too. Mean, you grabbed something to eat?" Cambyses asked as she too got up.
"Yes, I did. I also got everything we need here." Mean held up her right hand to show the bulging bag. In there was dry food, alcohol, rolls of bandages and beetroots.
"Good. Let''s go then." Cambyses said.
"Camius, remember to take our chiltons. They need to dry." Alexander reminded the man at thest minute.
"Yea, yea." Came a tired reply.
As they exited the tent, they found the sky had mostly cleared up and the rain had transformed to a light drizzle, peppering them with only tiny refreshing droplets.
Suddenly Cambyses turned around to look at the tent and asked wrinkling her eyebrows, "Are we just going to leave the tent unguarded? Where is Romeus? He should be standing guard."
"Oh yeah, now that I think about it, how did you guys get in? He should have stopped you." Mean too pressed the two men.
"Haha¡.." Came Camius''s only reply.
"We sent him to take Bartho to the clinic. The hunk fainted in front of the camp " Alexander exined.
"That buffoon! Remus must have taken sucked out all his intelligence in the womb." Mean cursed, shaking her head.
Only an idiot would leave the camp leader''s tent unguarded at a time of war. Not only were there ssified information in there but there have been records of assassins hiding inside amander''s tent andter assassinating him. This was a major breach of protocol.
Fortunately, it was just Alexander this time.
"He must have been conned by you two. If father found out, he would have chewed Romeus out." Cambyses red at the two.
"We need every hand to help with the wounded. Besides, there''s little of value in the tent. The good stuffs nice and secure." Alexander sinctly replied, defending his action.
"But still rules are rules. He disobeyed orders and left his post." Surprisingly this was spoken by Mean. The fiery little tiger was quite a stickler for rules, even more than most soldiers.
"Forget the tent and let''s get going. We are going the same way." Alexander urged.
Seeing their "leader" leave, the trio followed.
As they meandered through the snaking muddy path betwixt the tents, suddenly Alexander asked, "Hey Cambyses, have you heard anything about Octavius?"
He only knew that Octavius was stabbed. After that, he had neither seen nor heard about him.
Maybe Cambyses met him in the clinic.
"Did anything happen to young master?" Mean also inquired, but her voice strangely had an unmistakable gleeful anticipation.
"Father bought the body just before I left. They say that he carried it over his shoulder even as he escaped. Fool even begged me to treat that corpse." Cambyses answered with a disdainful smirk. "I left saying I needed to find Mean to get more medicine."
No wonder she so readily sat down to have a meal with the boys. She was stalling for time. A puzzle in Alexander''s heart was finally solved.
"My condolences for your brother." Camius respectfully said, paying his dues to the dead.
"Half brother. And good riddance he''s dead!" Cambyses corrected Camius, venom dripping from her voice.
"Mmm, that''s the only good thing that came out of this war." Mean unequivocally agreed with her mistress.
Saying that rtions between Cambyses and Octavius were bad would be the understatement of the century.
Octavius detested his far more talented sister. He always felt an irrational fear that his sister might take over the mercenary group with Alexander''s help and thus tried to make things difficult for her at every opportunity. And being his only heir, Nestoras often turned a blind eye to such, in his mind, "petty" actions.
And since Octavius hated Cambyses, hence by proxy, he also detested Alexander and Mean.
Once in a drunken fit, he had tried to forcibly take Mean, she only being saved at the nick of time by Alexander and Cambyses who were fortunately nearby and heard themotion.
In fact, it could be said the reason Cambyses, Mean and Alexander were so close to each other was in part due to Octavius.
"Forget it. He''s dead. Pay your proper respects and don''t let anyone spread rumors." Alexander said in an unusually assertive voice. "Especially you Mean. You might not keep that tongue for long if you keep spewing such nonsense. Know your ce." Alexander warned the little ve girl.
"Hey, don''t bully her. She didn''t say anything wrong." Cambyses jumped to protect Mean like a mother hen.
She then asked, "Don''t tell me you feel sad?"
"I forget grudges with dead people." He replied coldly.
"And you pamper her too much. There are things a ve can and cannot say aloud. She''s gonna get herself killed one of these days." Alexander chided his mistress.
"Hmph, my Mean can say whatever is right. If anyone doesn''t like it, they can take it up with me and I will knock their teeth out." Cambyses said wildly swinging her dainty arms.
"Not everything can be solved by fists, you gori woman. Learn some tact." Alexander spat out.
"You''re the gori! You''re fourteen generations are all goris! Ekk ¡.how dare a mere ve call his mistress gori!" Cambyses erupted like a super volcano, absolutely incensed, spewing spit and curses all around.
She stomped her feet, bared her teeth and her nostrils red like an enraged bull, almost wanting to strangle Alexander.
It seemed Alexander himself forgot his own advice from just a few moments ago, ''There are things a ve can and cannot say''.
Calling any girl a gori would be extremely rude but it was particrly taboo for Cambyses.
She was unanimously considered the second strongest fighter in the camp after Menes. She was so strong that she could even overpower her "in his prime" father. God only knows where she hid all that strength in her slim body.
In addition, she was a prodigy of the sword arts. Her speed. sense of bnce and footwork enabled her to run circles around her opponents and her thrust and parries could cut ordinary soldiers to ribbons in no time.
If she wasn''t born a girl, she would undoubtedly be next in line to be the leader.
But, because she was, it drew both sad sighs and jealously towards her.
Particrly the jealous and far less talented Octavius started calling her "gori" in spite.
Once, after being beaten soundly in a sparring match, Octavius mocked her using that and she beat him to an inch of his life. With a broken nose, jaw and two ck eyes, Octavius had to be spoon-fed liquid gruel for the next month.
She was not a girl you messed with. And if it was anyone other than Alexander, he would have ended up like Octavius.
It had to be said Alexander was no lightweight himself. Standing at 180cm and weighing 80kgs, he could take on almost anyone.
But not Cambyses. Against her, he almost had no chance of winning.
She was just that unnaturally strong, possibly having to do with her gics.
p "Haha, have you vented enough? Bottling up stress isn''t good." Alexander simplyughed at Cambyses''s outburst.
He could sense the young girl burying a lot of emotions under her normal facade.
From seeing many so many people she knew die in front of her crying her name to save them, to losing the battle, to the worrying situation about their food, the trauma she suffered in such a small time was enormous.
"You¡you¡you rogue! How dare you make fun of your mistress!" Cambyses turned visibly red as a tomato as she understood she had fallen for Alexander''s little prank.
"Heeeeheeee." From the side came Mean''s incessantughter.
"Stopughing!" Cambyses shouted visibly threatening Mean but that only made her increase the volume.
"Hey, you two, Imand you to stopughing!"
"Haaaha Hahhaaa."
"Heee Heee."
The more Cambyses protested, the more the two''sughter increased, each seeming to spur the other more.
In this gloomy situation having a good heartyugh seemed to melt away all their worries.
As the disinterested Camius observed the entire thing, it looked to him like a bickering couple taking a leisurely stroll with their daughter in tow.
"Happiness can be so elusive yet so close." Camius thought.
Chapter 16 Into The Command Tent
After some time, the group amidst all its bickering made its way to an open clearing.
This was the center of the camp and it was bustling with activity. Men ran with purpose over the muddy ground, carrying the wounded to their tent, bringing water and firewood and cooking food.
The noise and the hustle and bustle here made the peaceful serenity the group enjoyed just a while back seem like a dream.
"Well stay safe you two." Alexander said, bidding farewell to the girls. Their roads split here.
? "Yeah, you ¡.."
Just as Cambyses was saying her bit, a bombshell hit everyone''s ears.
"Ramuh has killed themander and vicemander!"
A scout repeated this as he ran past them.
"What the fuck? Hey nitwit, what the fuck you spewing out of your ass?" Camius cursed, violently yanking the scout from the back.
The man looked visibly offended at being so rudely treated and turned around sharply, with half a mind to punch the rude Camius, but recognizing who it was, he pressed down his anger and quickly said, "Camius, didn''t you hear? It''s over all the camps. Both general Agapios and vicemander Samaras were struck by lightning."
"What? Who did you hear that from?" This time it was Alexander who started the interrogation.
"Everyone''s talking about it. Those at the hilltop all saw it. One moment the general and the vicemander were chatting on horseback, the next moment they were turned to crisp. Look," he said pointing his index finger into the sky, "lightning in the middle of this clear sky. We have truly offended the gods."
All of them subconsciously looked up at the sky and saw it nketed in a gentle amber hue, the red sunset tenderly caressing thend with its loving light, nary a cloud in sight.
This was a true example of "a bolt out of a clear sky."
"Fuck, flying fucking fuck." Camius unhanded the scout and burst out cursing like no one''s business.
Alexander too deeply wrinkled his eyebrows.
What luck! One stone, two birds.
Out of all the people to hit in this entire battlefield, that strike took out in one hit two of the most important people here. What were the odds?
Certainly, lightning strikes the tallest thing around and those two were at a hilltop, wearing metal armor that might have acted as a lightning rod. But still, there must have been a hundred people around them. Just what were the chances? And it was even both at once.
"Dammmit." Alexander subconsciously spat out.
"Let''s head to themand tent." Alexander changed course and sped up to get some authentic information.
"Take the medicines to the clinic," Cambyses ordered Mean, then started following Alexander.
All along the way Alexander kept thinking only one thing, "Just what were the chances?"
As the trio approached the tent at the front lines, they cast their eyes off into the battlefield and were stunned by what they witnessed.
Cambyses even let a frightened gasp escape her mouth.
Because about a kilometer ahead of them, a white wall had appeared, preventing any fleeing soldier from reaching the camp.
These slingers, on their white chiltons, had their backs to the camp and carried swords as they formed a cauldron trapping the fleeing soldiers.
"They have actually sent the unarmored slingers to intercept the infantry!" Alexander''s pupils shrunk to the size of a needle at the sight of this.
What a fearsome general!
Alexander didn''t yet have enough time to appreciate the magical move that got the slingers here but the demonstration in front made it sink in a little just what a fearsome opponent they were facing.
It seemed as if the opposing general was able to pull off mind-blowing maneuvers time and time again like pulling rabbits out of a hat.
"They are gonna finish us here and now!" Camius eximed in horror.
With all the soldiers he estimated to be trapped, this war was effectively finished.
"Boy!" As Alexander was letting the probable consequence of this tactic sink in, he heard a strong, loud, excited voice.
He quickly turned to find the voice, spotting a 2m giant, ck man in full gear grinning and waving towards them.
"Menes!" Alexander called out in reply, his voice equally as enthusiastic he rushed to meet the man standing in front of themand camp.
"Boy, hahaha¡ thank goodness your safe. I was worried sick! Where were you?" Menes started to approach him and then gave him a bear hug as they met
"It''s great to see you unscathed too. Hahaha." Alexander replied full of smiles, patting him on the huge back.
Among all the higher-ups in the mercenary group, he got along with Menes the most, who once was a ve like him.
In fact, without Menes''s open support, he wouldn''t be where he was today.
"Well, your little tactic helped us a lot. The other camps weren''t so lucky." Menes offhandedly praised Alexander. "I was just looking for you. Come into the tent, we will fill you in the details." Menes signaled with his head to follow.
Just as he was turning, his eyes suddenlynded on Cambyses.
"Ah, I am sorry about your loss. My deepest condolences." Menes said his regards.
"Thank you. In this profession, death hounds us all. He died a proud mercenary. I am blessed to call him my brother." Cambyses replied in a choked voice, almost shedding a tear as if grief-stricken.
Alexander felt proud looking at his student, while Camius was dumbstruck.
"These two are meant for each other." Camius appraised.
Menes silently patted the girl''s shoulder to console her and then guided the group towards the tent, soon reaching the tent door.
"Is that you Menes? Come in quickly." From inside the tent came Nestoras''s booming voice. It had a tinge of urgeness to it.
"Themander is back! Hopefully he knows what really happened." Menes eximed, excitedly. "Let''s go! Let''s go!" He urged.
Menes was dying to know the actual situation of the army.
"Stay with the mistress until Ie back." Alexander ordered Camius.
In terms of rank, he was Camius''s squad leader.
But contrary to Alexander''s order, the little miss ignored the three men and haughtily led herself straight into the tent, eager to see her father.
Looking at those swaying, pear-shaped curvy hips, Alexander had an intense urge to spank the disobedient girl.
"*Sigh*." He let out an exasperated sigh.
He perfectly knew why she was doing this.
To gloat!
To gloat in front of her father that the heir he so treasured, the heir he always protected and pampered, the heir that he paid so much attention to, to the point of almost neglecting her to death was dead.
Like Alexander, Menes too was visibly displeased by Cambyses wanting to participate in a discussion she had no business being in.
But thinking how the girl had lost her brother and how out of sorts Nestoras was acting, he decided to concede.
Maybe seeing his daughter will get Nestoras to straighten his head.
Hence, leaving Camius to stand outside, with two wet chiltons hanging from his arm, the trio entered the tent.
Chapter 17 Father And Daughter
Five pairs of expectant eyes greeted them as they entered the spartan, brightly lit tent.
The men, dressed in full armor, stood around a massive table, going over therge crudely drawn mapid over it, trying to strategically cerge wooden carvings on it.
It appeared they were strategizing their next move.
"Girl! Why are you here?" Nestoras ignored the two men and pointedly asked Cambyses in an angry booming voice.
He was in no mood to deal with his daughter''s antics now.
Cambyses seemed steady as a rock in the face of her father''s wrath.
"I am sorry father. Earlier in the medical camp, I was too shocked to see brother like that and ran away." Cambyses said in a choking voice, shedding tears and drooping her head low.
"The padawan has be the master." Was Alexander''s first thought seeing this charade.
Even he couldn''t shed tears at will.
Anyone can force augh. But crying at will requires once-in-a-generation talent.
Alexander had the urge to nominate the girl for the Oscars.
Nestoras was visibly taken back at such a disy. "I am not angry dear." Nestoras quickly changed his tune to a gentle, loving, fatherly voice. "But we are in a war right now. Once I am finished here, I wille to your tent as soon as possible." He promised mellifluously.
Nestoras didn''t buy the tear works for a second. He perfectly knew why she was here and he knew very well the kind of thoughts she held towards Octavius.
It could be said that not throwing a celebration party was showing restraint on her part.
But he could not juste out and say it.
He was someone who cared greatly about his image and prestige. And two brother and sister at each other''s throats would reflect poorly on his parenting skills.
Hence he decided to sprew such insincere honeyed words.
But unfortunately for Nestoras, this y wasn''t performed for him, but for the six other people in the room.
The captains present all knew about the feud between the two brother and sister but always chalked it up to childish infighting.
Cambyses was always careful to disy herself as a brash, hot-headed but ultimately virtuous, good and even slightly naive woman.
Alexander taught her to always try and make her opponents let their guard down. And what better weapon is there for that than a woman''s tears?
"Commander let her stay in the corner. She clearly just wants to be close to you." Menes the softie spoke out.
"This is a war council Menes. How can we allow civilians in such a sensitive meeting? Military discipline should be maintained at all times." Nestoras gently chided his second inmand.
He really did not want to see her face right now.
"Heh, who''s a civilian in a mercenary group? Are we living in a city-state? And military discipline in a mercenary! Joke! When have you ever enforced that when they steal, ****, drink and brawl as they wish?" Alexander silently rolled his eyes as hempooned Nestoras in his head.
Alexander always felt Nestoras was a paradoxical man.
On one hand, he fought hard to maintain this image of a fair, just and lovingmander. Yet, he, again and again, covered for Octavius''s mishaps, without any concern for his social standing, which greatly eroded his leadership.
Same with Alexander. He greatly appreciated the boy''s skills but also disliked him for getting too close to his daughter and the influence he had over the group. But in fear of the influence Alexander wielded, he let him do as he pleased, even promising to grant him freedom.
He was someone who wanted the best of both worlds but frequently ended up with none.
"Ahem, I am not sorely here because I wanted to see you father. I know how hard all this has been for you, forced to take the helm of the group without even the time to grieve for your "only" heir, Cambyses paused, giving particr stress to the word "only".
"Ah, there''s the gloating. Never misses an opening that one." Alexander smirked in his mind.
Cambyses then continued, "But there are grave issues with our supplies that the captains should be aware of."
"We will get deal with itter." Nestoras curtly cut the girl with a wave of his hand, clearly irritated and suppressing his anger.
"Let the girl say her piece. I too am curious about our logistics." Came Aristotle''s wizened, gruff voice. The old man was holding a piece of parchment and strangely, looking at it with some fear.
"We have run out of medicine and food willst at best a week- even with rationing." Cambyses reported the dreadful news.
"So we HAVE run out of food. ...*Sigh*..." Aristotle remarked, looking back at the parchment. "But we should have enough medicine. Our wounded are not that many." Aristotle asked, puzzled.
"None of the other groups have medical facilities like ours. They have all stormed in to get treatment in our camp. I believe themander witnessed it firsthand." Cambyses exined.
Nestoras did see it, but he was too distracted by Octavius''s death and assumed the wounded as theirs.
"What! You are just giving our medicine for free?" An angry voice roared into existence. The owner of this sonic boom was Pallidus, a tanned man of medium build with curly hair and wide shoulders. He was the capital of the second phnx.
"There were too many. We couldn''t refuse them. What if they got violent? Wounded soldiers are rarely the most rational." Cambyses tried defending herself.
"So you just let them bully you out of all "our" medicine. What about our soldiers? Should we let them just die? Like your brother?" Pallidus asked with a particrly nasty jibe at her brother.
Of course, his words made no sense. The group''s wounded were being treated well and Octavius didn''t die out of ack of medicine.
So what was the reason for this tirade?
Well, Pallidus was to Alexander what Octavius was to Cambyses. Someone who hated him for his sess. And like Octavius, his hatred spread by proxy to anyone close to Alexander.
"Ahem" Alexander made a small cough to draw attention.
He could see Nestoras about tombaste Pallidus for hisment about his deceased son.
Hence he decided to interject to prevent this council from devolving into a contest of shouting, cursing and scuffling.
"I believe mistress did the right thing." Alexander started.
"Really? How do you figure that out, brainiac?" Pallidus sneered.
"Let the boy speak, you fucking turd." Aristotle loudlyshed out cursing, clearly losing patience over this juvenile bickering.
This put the much younger captain in his ce, as he lowered his head and backed down.
Alexander gave a grateful nod to the old man and continued, "We have lost a lot of good men in thest battle, to the point we are heavily outnumbered by the enemy. Every soldier is precious to us now. If our medicine can save one soldier, then we can add one soldier to our ranks."
Alexander paused to see everyone nodding to his words.
He then continued, "Captain Pallidus said we are just giving away our medicine for free. We are not. Nothing in this world is free. Mistress has told us of the food storage. We can exchange medicines for food. Our medical staff are taking care of their wounded. Surely they deserve remuneration, such as food and money. I believe that medicines exist not to be hoarded but to be used to save lives. By healing their soldiers, I believe we can build goodwill among many mercenary groups." Alexander finally finished his reasoning.
" *p* *p* *p*" Menes was so impressed by his speech that he broke out pping. He even pped Alexander''s back in excitement.
Other than Pallidus, everyone in the room also started showering Alexander with praise.
"Nice idea, boy."
"Our food problem is solved, hahaha."
"Nothing is a problem for you."
"Thank you." Alexander lightly smiled at all the praise.
But then he said, "But you are praising the wrong person. I didn''t do anything. It was all done by the mistress. She and her alone. All my contributions should go to her. This time she has contributed enormously to the group, saving us from certain doom."
He then started pping in honor of her.
But strangely his ps seemed to ring hollow. It seemed that no one had joined in.
Sometimeter, following Alexander''s lead, Menes chimed in but the others stood still, making a face that looked like they had swallowed a fly.
"*Cough*, yes Cambyses did a great contribution this time." Nestoras reluctantly squeezed out the words. "And she will be rewarded appropriately at a suitable time." He ambiguously promised. "But we have wasted a lot of time and need to get this council going." He hurriedly announced in an effort to shift the topic.
"Yes, yes."
"Oh, look at time."
"Let''s get started."
Everyone else also suddenly changed their tune and agreed with Nestoras.
They would rather praise a ve than a women. Such were the prevailing customs of the time.
Seeing this tant injustice, Cambyses did notsh out, on the contrary, she only dropped her head with a rueful smile on her face.
But Alexander was incensed at this. He would generally describe himself as a mild-mannered, nonviolent person. But this time, this act, somehow made him boil in rage.
He wanted to walk over to Nestoras, grab him by the cor and punch him in the face for the bigot he was.
How could a father favor a ve over his own child just for being born the opposite gender?
Alexander fought very hard to keep a calm facade, when suddenly a light kick to his ankle jotted him out of his thoughts.
Seemingly sensing Alexander''s rage, Cambyses had kicked him to snap him out of it.
As Alexander turned his head to look at what hit him, his eyes came across a gorgeous tanned face, painted with a teasing, mirthful smile and eyes twinkling in delight, seeming to say, "Who cares about these old coots? You cared. That''s enough for me."
Alexander rarely saw that side of the usually brash, haughty girl and he was once again reminded why he fell for her.
It took all his willpower to keep a poker face and not kiss her then and there.
Fearful that his self-control might notst, he quickly straightened his back and hurriedly strode over to the council table to listen to themander''s next instructions.
"Still got it" Cambyses proudly smirked.
Chapter 18 Clash Of Words
"So, to recapitte for Menes and Alexander, I have been to the headquarters and met with both Damious and Samaras. They said that General Agapios was struck by lightning but is alive and recuperating.
In the meantime, we are to counterattack and help the trapped soldiers break out of the cauldron." Nestoras concisely gave the summary.
? What! Attack again? So soon?
Alexander was appalled by this. When he came in and saw the captains move the wooden figurines he thought they were nning an orderly withdrawal.
But to think that they were gearing up for a new offensive.
"We should be running you imbeciles!" Alexander wanted to scream.
Most soldiers could hardly stand, andmand wanted to use them to attack?
Absurd!
"It''s good that the rumors were false and both themanders are alive." Menes sighed a breath of relief.
Seemingly he was unconcerned about the orders for an immediate offensive.
But contrary to the simple-minded giant, Alexander didn''t buy that everything was fine and dandy.
Nestoras didn''t see Agapios with his own eyes!
Like they were hiding him from others.
Alexander feared the worst.
But at this moment, the cogs inside Alexander''s mind were turning rapidly to try and figure out how to solve the immediate crisis.
How to convince them to stop this insane offensive?
"Commander, do we have enough soldiers tounch such an attack? Most of us are too wounded or exhausted." Alexander tentatively prodded Nestoras''s stance.
"I am well aware of our situation. But Samaras threatened to not pay us a single coin if we refused. ''Breach of contract for disobeying direct orders'' he imed." Nestoras sighed in exasperation.
"We have been only paid one month''s coin. And we used all that up for this campaign. Now, we don''t have two coins to rub together." A calm, mature voice exined.
This man was Theocles, captain of the fourth phnx and more importantly, the quartermaster. He and Cambyses helped Nestoras keep the camp running.
"We are too exhausted. If we fight now, we won''t be alive to spend those coins." Alexander cried.
"What, haven''t had mom''s milk today?" Pallidus mocked with a sneer.
"At least I ..."
"Alexander, do you see someone missing here?" A gentle, deep voice echoed across the tent. This was thest person in the room- Xanthine.
"Constans isn''t here. The entire third phnx isn''t here¡.we have no choice here." He announced firmly, locking eyes with Alexander.
"If I could give a hand and a leg to save them, I would do it in a heartbeat. But Xanthine, are you willing to sacrifice all of us to save your brother?" Alexander passionately implored.
" *m*, how dare you, brat! I built and served this team even before you were born, you nose milk dripping pup." Xanthine cursed. smashing his fist fiercely and looking at Alexander like he wanted to swallow him whole.
The instant change from a gentle, amicable character to a hormone-induced raging bull was always quite a shock for any neer.
The old man could go from zero toplete bonkers at the drop of a hat.
"Heh, why is a coward like even allowed here? You are a shame to us all, boy" Pallidus sanctimoniously pronounced.
"He is here because Nestoras wanted him here. You think you know better than themander, Pallidus?" Menes pointedly asked, stepping forward and shielding Alexander with his back, like a father protecting his son.
He wasn''t at first opposed to this attack but started to sway after Alexander expressed his opposition.
He trusted the boy''s intuition and insight much more than his own.
"Shut up, you low born n¡." The raving racist started.
"*Bang*" Nestoras suddenly turned and in full fury squarely smashed Pallidus''s jaw with a supreme uppercut, hitting him before he could utter the n-word.
*Thud*..*thud*..*thud*, Pallidus struggled to stay on his feet as started seeing stars and felt his entire world spinning.
He held his jaw and slowly lowered his head, bing quiet as a church mouse and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
He knew he had crossed a line with that.
"Try and speak that word again, and I will sew your mouth shut, fu*ker" The enraged Nestoras threatened.
As the atmosphere in the tent turned heavy, Nestoras finally looked at Alexander and said, "Look, Alexander, we don''t have to defeat the Adhanians. We just have to break the encirclement.".
He then nodded his head in agreement and said, "Yes, we are wounded, exhausted and demoralized. Yes, it will be dark soon. But", he sneered, "are you saying we are to leave our brothers to die because we are afraid to take on some slingers? That general believes that we are out and thus allowed his troops to break formation and chase the fleeing enemy. Ha, now, outside the formation, can kill these chickens in our sleep. Has one loss broken your resolve boy?" His question was dripping with clear sarcasm.
He was absolutely enjoying seeing the boy genius fail at something for the first time.
Suddenly, without giving Alexander a second to retort, his voice then turned cold and dictatorial, "The attack has already been decided. Command has decided it and it''s not up to you or me to judge it. I will not tolerate any such cowardly defeatist talks, you hear. You were not summoned here to argue tactics. You were summoned here to receive and follow the orders we give you!" Nestoras dered, narrowing his eyes at Alexander, seeming to want to sendser beams out of them.
Alexander simply stared down the gaze, unmoved and unperturbed.
Because all that talk of ''we do what the higher-ups tell us'' wasplete bullshit.
They were mercenaries for god''s sake.
In essence, they were businessmen pedelling their muscles for coin.
And as such, they would certainly disobey anymand that directly threatened their existence- like this one.
So, Alexander kept asking himself, "Why is Nestoras so eager tomit suicide?"
"Now," Nestoras''s booming voice cut off Alexander''s thoughts, "for the reason why we called you, Alexander. You are to convince all the others to get ready and get in formation as soon as possible. You hold considerable esteem among the group and we believe, you, being much closer to themon soldier is the perfect man for the job. In return, we will make you captain of the third phnx tomorrow." Nestoras spoke thest sentence with considerable honey mixed in.
"I thought the third phnx¡." Alexander tried to rify.
"Constans is dead." Xanthine curtly cut off.
So that''s why he wentpletely bananas just now.
By his previous wording, Alexander presumed Constans was either trapped or captured. But now it looks like Xanthine witnessed his brother dying.
The second Nestoras uttered the words "captain of the third phnx", Alexander could feel the joy and excitement radiating off every pore in Menes''s and Cambyses''s bodies in the back.
They could hardly stop themselves from congratting him in advance.
He particrly felt the girl''s fiery gaze scorch his back in delight.
He could tell she could barely hold herself from screaming and hugging himself in joy.
"Dangling a carrot and a stick. Not bad Nestoras, you are less of an oaf than I thought. Did you think of all by yourself, or did Aristotle help" Alexander sneered in his mind, keeping a poker face.
Credit where credit is due. It was a pretty big carrot to dangle. Captain of a phnx was realistically the pinnacle one could attain in this mercenary group through hard work.
Bing the leader or quartermaster needed a lot of elbow grease.
For a ve to be free and reach the apex of his career in a single day was a feat unheard of in history and will remain unheard of in the future.
If Alexander was not a transmigrator but a simple ve, no matter how talented, he would have swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker.
"You think I was born yesterday, you rotting coots. You think I don''t see the loophole." Alexander sneered disdainfully.
He started coolly, "Commander, you called me cowardly and defeatist. Do you mean the person who charged alone headfirst into the Adhanian ranks and killed their captain is a coward? Do you mean the one who singlehandedly stabilized a copsing front line is a defeatist?"
He then changed his tone to an inquisitive one. "Oh, why did the front copse you ask? Is it because of the fierce enemy attack? Or, it is because that phnx''smander left his post to save his son and leave all his brothers to die? That cost us thirty-three good brothers. Thirty-three. And now, that very samemander is saying that he wants to save all our brothers. What a joke!" Alexander openly jeered, a disdainful sneer stered on his face.
*...* Silence. Pindrop drop, absolute silence.
Everyone, even Pallidus, looked at Alexander wide-eyed and mouth slightly agape, as if they had just seen a ghost.
Cambyses was even worse. She had literally gone from sanguine rosy to deathly white.
No one and I say no one dared to taunt amander this openly and live to tell the tale, much less a mere ve.
Chapter 19 Master And Disciple
*Smash*. Two herculean fists mmed down on the table as if wanting to snap it in two.
To think a bug would dare attack him using his son. A bug he fed and raised.
"*ng*, I will murder you, you fucking ingrate." Nestoras had gonepletely red-eyed and pulled out his sword, bullishly charging at Alexander, fully intending to cleave him in half.
"Kyahhhhh." Cambyses screamed in terror and tried to madly dash in front of Alexander to shield him from her father.
She felt as if her heart was being squeezed out of her.
"Stop." A single dull, deep sound rang across the tent. And as if by magic, Nestoras seemed to be frozen in ce, his puppet strings cut off.
It was Aristotle.
And with one word he bought the insane Nestoras back.
This was the level of control he had over his protegee.
He then addressed Alexander, "That''s enough out of you, ve. You are not a freedman yet." He made a naked threat.
But Alexander was past caring.
He shrugged his shoulders and said, "So what? We will all be dead in a few hours. Me and you in the same pit, you old fart. You want me to lead my brothers to death. Not gonna happen! Find someone else."
After venting and seeing these blockheads were dead set tomit suicide, Alexander simply turned and stormed out of the tent, fuming with rage.
"Anything Alexander has ever said, is yet to be proven wrong. I would give some weight to his words. " Cambyses turned to face the council and made a simple statement.
Then she too left the tent to chase after Alexander.
"I will get the troops ready." Menes also found an excuse to exit this shit show, and quickly left, leaving the five bitter men free to bicker to their heart''s content.
"What are you lot waiting for! Get out now." Nestoras barked, waving his sturdy hands furiously and heaving in frustration.
As the three men left, each sporting a different expression, Nestoras simply ignored them and was instead upied by something that seemed much more important and urgent to him.
He vowed to make the ve know his ce. And teach that disobedient daughter of his her ce. How dare she fall in love with a mere ve!
Nestoras conveniently forgot that he was praising the very same "mere ve" as God''s blessed just some time ago.
"This ve is very hard to deal with. I thought I had sufficiently overestimated him, but still, I fell short. To not even take the captain bait. What fearsome self-control! I need to nip out the bud now. He can''t be a free man." He tightly clenched his fists in iron determination.
But these were not Nestoras''s thoughts but Aristotle''s!
He had always wanted to remain the group''s leader, the mercenary group he built using his own two hands along with Xanthine and Constans till the day he died.
But s, the mind is willing but the body is failing.
From training troops, meeting with the captains, settling both major and trivial disputes, keeping inventories of existing stocks, nning to buy new stock, finding new work contracts, the work list of a mercenary group leader is endless.
And age had caught up with the old man and he just could not bear the high physical burden such a post put him under.
So, he let his protege Nestoras take over, while he ruled from the shadows.
That was the n anyway.
But the arrival of one ve threw everything he had nned intoplete disarray and even till now, he couldn''t really find a good answer to Alexander.
He felt that the boy was gaining too much poprity too quickly and if this was allowed to continue, soon, both he and Nestoras will be under his thumb.
If he was to be a freedman, he suspected it would only be a matter of time before Alexander became the sole captain, helmsman and quartermaster of this ship.
His ''son'' would be dethroned even before his death.
The mere thought of that filled Aristotle with dread.
He would not, he could not let happen.
No matter what.
Publicly killing him was not an option. That would produce too much of a bacsh and after the recent fiasco, Nestoras would certainly lose his leader status if he did that.
His pampering of Octavius had left his rule too fragmented, with each captain basically could controlling their own phnx. Even his own first phnx was divided into two factions, one led by Nestoras and Aristotle and the other by Alexander and Menes.
Aristotle was even in the first phnx just to prop up Nestoras. Otherwise, he feared the rising stars Alexander and Menes would have swallowed him already.
That was also why Alexander and Menes weren''t transferred to another phnx. Only Aristotle, with his vast years in the group and using Nestoras''s group leader authority could contend with the young upstarts.
Hence he wanted to use today''s opportunity to drag down Alexander''s poprity.
He nned to systematically sabotage and weaken the third phnx through a range of schemes he came up with after Alexander tookmand, thus slowly eroding his authority in the camp.
After all, at the end of the day, for a mercenary group winning was the end all be all, all other things being secondary.
Because that was how they put food on their tes.
Of course, Aristotle would be the first to admit that it was no foolproof n. But this was the best he coulde up with, this was the extent of his abilities.
But, all the scheming was naught.
Because the fish had tly refused to swallow the bait. He even somewhat managed to turn the tables back on them.
Xanthine and Theocles both seemed very displeased hearing Nestoras''s ipetence.
Death at any time was something all mercenaries epted and embraced.
Death of friends, families and loved ones were baggage every single of them bore in their scarred hearts.
But Nestoras not being able to such clear distinctions and leavingmand in the heat of battles just to look at his dying son and killing thirty-three in the process, made everyone seriously reconsider if he was still fit to be their leader.
Aristotle would again have to wipe Nestoras''s ass in the dark and appease the two.
"He wasn''t always like this at all. *Sigh*" Aristotle muttered in a mncholic voice.
In the past, he was once smart, strong and decisive and thus was able to be Aristotle''s prot¨¦g¨¦.
But one thing ruined him.
Love.
He fell in love twice. He fell in love first with Octavius''s and then with Cambyses''s mother.
And when both died during childbirth, it seemed they took his intelligence with them.
Because he turned from a brave, charismatic and charming leader to a dull, boorish and egoistical brute, too busy maintaining an image than doing actual work.
His character took an even more drastic change when an infection imed his manhood.
That was the nail in the coffin that pushed him above the edge.
His fear of being heirless and pampering his son, the crystallization of his love, took precedence above all else and it cost him crucial allies, like the various captains of the phnx, whom he chose to neglect or ignore.
Of course, he conveniently forgot about his other crystallization of love, Cambyses. He threw her in a cold, dark, dinghy closet somewhere and simply abandoned her, like a careless toddler discarding his toy after bing bored with it.
If not for Alexander finding and rescuing her, the girl named Cambyses would certainly be six feet under by now.
Nestoras only held onto his leadership by Aristotle''s support from the dark and by Alexander''s marvelous discoveries,, which he could tout as being the owner of as he was Alexander''s master.
Else Theocles would have be the leader by now.
Of coarse, i wasn''t only Nestoras that changed.
Aristotle too had changed in the meantime.
Whereas at one time he wanted a strong leader to lead the mercenary group to greatness, he now wanted a malleable one he could bend to his will.
But to keep the facade of a strong, independent leader, he publicly kept a distance from Nestoras, whereas in reality, nothing happened without his say-so.
This weak leadership and infighting proved fertile ground for ambitions to grow and flourish. From Xanthine to Pallidus, to Theocles and Alexander, to even Menes it spread like wildfire.
The proof was in the fact that a freed ve could be second inmand in just eight years, sidestepping arguably the more experienced veterans.
"*Sigh*, if there''s one good thing that came out of this fiasco is that he won''t be bing free anytime soon. I bought myself some time." Aristotle consoled himself.
He could use Alexander''s behavior today to punish and dy his freedom.
"Next time, bing free won''t be so easy." He promised to himself.
But prolonging the problem wasn''t the same as solving it.
Fortunately, the job of a mercenary had a high turnover rate.
And in these treacherousnds, thousands of kilometers from home, running from a relentless enemy, who knows what can happen?
"Let''s see how long you can run, little fish," Aristotle smirked with a crafty glint in his eyes.
But what Aristotle had forgotten in all his scheming was that he was a mercenary too, with the same turnover rate.
And the fish he wanted to bait wasn''t an innocent shrimp, but a ravenous shark.
Chapter 20 Alexanders Counter-Attack
Alexander found Camius standing outside the tent, fear written all over his face.
Clearly, he had heard everything.
"Let''s go." Alexander ordered in a hard voice, takingrge strides to get away from this circus.
Camius had never heard him speak in such a harsh tone and it made him instinctively shiver.
But soon the motor mouth recovered and started talking.
"Those were some choice words, doc. Haha...you sure showed them." He praised.
"I shouldn''t have ranted like that. Lost my cool there." Alexandermpooned.
"Yeah, I guess. Particrly at the end. I wanted to rush in to stop Nestoras but I figured it was all part of your n to get him all riled up. Heh heh¡" Camius seemed to praise himself for figuring out a masterful n.
"Bullshit, that was really dangerous for a moment. Didn''t think I would let my mouth run off like that. If not for Aristotle, I would be likely dead." Alexander internally cursed.
"No, it''s more likely Cambyses would be dead. I need to re-educate that idiot." He subconsciously clenched his fist as he felt his heartbeat momentarily increase.
Somehow the thought of her death was scarier than his own.
"Camius, next time you get such feelings, use your gut and not your brain," Alexander advised.
And it would turn out that this simple advice would one day help Alexander survive an assassination.
"Alexander, wait¡.." A distant, high-pitched cry wafted through the air towards the men.
"Boy, don''t do anything stupid. Calm down." A calm, concerned voice also urged him to stop.
The voices seemed to get louder and louder and soon the owners of the voice caught up with them.
It had to be noted that it was very strangely convenient that the ce they caught up was a secluded part of the camp, away from prying eyes.
Like someone had deliberately chosen this ce.
"Alexander please¡.." Cambyses cried out.
"Don''t worry, I will convince the troops to oppose Nestoras¡" Menes tried to exin his n.
"You''re all here. Good. I have tasks for all of you." Alexander suddenly stopped and said in a loud, cheerful voice, a bright smile stered on his face.
"What¡?" Menes asked confused, clearly a bit slow on the uptake.
They had never seen Alexander disy such mercurial mood swings.
The trio looked wide-eyed in shock at Alexander, finding it difficult to connect the amicably smiling gentleman to the raging maniac from a few moments ago.
But Alexander paid no heed to the extra attention and started giving out orders.
"Menes, rally the troops as Nestoras ordered. Do it quickly before it gets dark. Make sure to emphasize it''s themander''s orders."
"What? But just now you¡" Menes asked, perplexed.
"Just get everyone in formation." Alexander urged, cutting him off. "Now go, quickly."
"Okay, okay. Just don''t do anything stupid, alright? Nestoras is out for blood." Menes warned as he quickly turned around and sped towards the soldiers'' tents.
"Camius, I believe you heard everything, right?" Alexander turned his head to look at him.
"Yes. Caught every word." Camius gave a clear reply. This wasn''t the first he spied for Alexander.
"Good. I want you to spread these three rumors over all the camps."
He raised his index finger and said, "One -The gods have struck twice. We have offended them and thus we shouldn''t fight."
Raising his middle finger, he continued, "Two -The mercenary contract was signed by General Agapios and only he can give us orders. We demand to see General Agapios, Samaras is a cheat trying to scam us."
Lastly raising his ring finger, he finished, "And three, we want ourst two months'' pay. No silver, no sword."
Listening to what Alexander wanted him to do, Camius stared at hismander dazed and confused, as if his soul had been sucked out.
This task was nothing like the petty spying, snitching and rabble-rousing he did before in his own group.
This was instigation over the entire army.
"You got it?" Alexander asked, forcefully gripping Camius''s shoulder with both his hands.
"Alexander, these words are very dangerous. Are you nning to disobey direct orders?" Cambyses suddenly interjected, fear coursing through her question.
She had always thought of herself as brave and fearless, capable of snatching the very moon for Alexander, but now, when she was actually witnessing Alexander y with fire, she found herself afraid.
After all, defeated and stranded in enemy territory, thest thing that they needed was an internal power struggle and rebellion.
"Yes. I am. They want to push us into the abyss. We can''t just sit still and see our heads get decapitated." Alexander very inly stated.
"You know I will follow you to the ends of the world, doc." Camius dered. "But tell me, why are you so against this attack? Attacking the nks of some defenseless slingers and rescuing our brothers seems pretty easy. Even this exhausted we can so handily."
Camius seemed to share the same optimistic view as the higher-ups.
He was also afraid. If he got caught, he would be lucky to keep the skin on his back.
"If we can see such a w, so can the opposing general. He must have a counter n." Alexander confidently hypothesized.
"I highly doubt it, doc. He must have assumed we have been routed and can''t counterattack and so got greedy. At least I can''t think of a way to save both the slingers and keep the cauldron closed." Camius gave his opinion.
"Just because you can''t think of a way doesn''t mean others can''t, or that it doesn''t exist." Alexander tried to persuade him.
"Then you tell me how he could do it." Camius asked, putting his hands on his hips and pointing his chin upward.
"Can you tell me how he got those slingers who were supposed to be hundreds of kilometers away here? But it happened." Alexander pointed out.
"That''s different. There are no trees to hide behind now." Camius simply dismissed the question.
Seeing this exchange going nowhere. Alexander understood something very important.
He realized that his method of reason and deduction wasn''t suitable for everything.
Being a man of science from the 21st century, Alexander instinctively tried to use the Monty Python method to get his point across.
But this way wasn''t always useful, because people of this time were inherently different.
No matter how everyone liked and respected him, to make them do anything against their superior would not be easy.
They were not his loyal followers, but interested observers and beneficiaries.
Even Camius, whom he foundying across a ditch, the street tout who was stabbed multiple times in the stomach, and whom he stitched back to life was not his sycophant.
They were all pragmatic people who would follow the one who gave them the greatest benefit.
Understanding this, he decided to change tact. Instead of reason, he decided to use emotion.
"Maybe you''re right, Camius. But if I had to exin my reason in one word, it''s this - instinct. Do you trust my instinct¡friend?" Alexander asked with a light smile on his face.
Camius was stunned for a moment. Never had Alexander before argued without reason.
"Well, you should have said so sooner, doc. If it''s your gut, then it must be true." Camius let out his big teeth to form a huge grin. "Okay, I am going right now."
"Wait, go to the medical camp first. Bartholomew should be there. Take him with you." Alexander advised.
"Camius, Remus is there too. Tell him and Mean to spread it there among the wounded." Cambyses added.
''Right! The wounded and the extra personnel from all the different camps are there. How could I have forgotten that? Darn, I must be too tired to think.'' Alexander cursed in his mind.
"Great idea." Alexander praised. "Now go, we haven''t got much time."
"Gotcha doc." Camius responded sprinting ahead, without turning his head back
Chapter 21 Heart To Heart
Alexander observed Camius scamper off, when Cambyses suddenly spoke up, "You know, this is the first time I heard you use that word."
"Huh, what word?" He turned to look at her.
"Instinct. Never heard you say that before. It''s always reason and logic with you." She pointed out.
"Hmm, you''re right. Needed the right tool for the right job I guess." Alexander admitted.
So why had Alexander''s irrational approach worked? Because this was a different time.
In Alexander''s time, people were naturally suspicious of each other and always wanted reasons, proofs and evidence to convince them.
But here and now, people tended to trust the people they had an emotional tie with. Emotion and not reason moved most people.
"You''ve changed." Cambyses made an observation.
"We all have. You''re no longer the sickly cripple and I''m no longer the helpless ve. It''s called growing up." Alexander replied.
"That''s not what I meant." She shook her head.
"When I first met you, you had this invisible aura around you. Like you were not part of this world. It''s lessened now."
''What fearsome observation power! Is this what they call a woman''s intuition?'' rm bells started ringing inside Alexander. She had somehow managed to stumble into his biggest secret.
Rapidly trying to think of a rebuttal, he decided not to outright dismiss it, but to bend the truth. "I guess I am different. I think and act differently. That''s why I always had trouble mixing with others. Now I guess I am starting to adjust myself."
"No, that''s not it." She again shook her head. "You have a kind of walk to yourself that feels like nothing can hold you. That you could just fly away if you wanted to. I know it because I once felt it too. When I was in that closet, I too felt not attached to anything. But yours is much stronger."
"That¡"
She suddenly grabbed his wrists and asked, "Hey Alexander, what are you? How do you know so much? Are you Gaia who came down to save me from that Hell?" Her misty, emerald eyes gazed longingly at her lover''s almond ck eyes, eager for an honest answer.
Looking at those earnest eyes, Alexander knew he couldn''t give his usual "learned it from a traveling sage" cookie-cutter answer.
He would totally lose her trust if he did that.
But what could he say?
Saying he was a god was far easier than trying to exin to her that he was an alien soul from a different a few thousand years in the future who took over the dead body of an orphan.
Even the raving mad wouldn''t believe this creatively bankrupt exnation.
So he tried to dy the answer.
"This isn''t the time or ¡.."
"This is exactly the time. Who knows if we willst the night." Cambyses almost shouted, shivering in anger.
Seeing this Alexander realized that recent events had really shaken her.
It was easy to forget that she was merely sixteen years old. And that in this world, she really had only him to rely on.
He also understood had to give her a straight answer here. There would be no weaseling out of it if he still wanted her as an ally.
"Okay, you want the truth? I will tell you the whole truth." Alexander finally relented. "Not right now but I swear by today I will tell you the truth. I just need to organize my words."
*Hug*. Cambyses simply hugged him in reply.
"You!" Alexander was shocked as he hurriedly tried to pry her off of him.
To think she would openly hug him in public. If someone saw them, it wouldn''t end well for either of them.
This wasn''t the 21st century.
This was an extremely conservative society where such an open disy of affection could have grave consequences.
The names and jeers an unmarried woman could receive if she was found out were enough to drive one tomit suicide.
Fortunately, this part of the camp was quite secluded and everyone was too busy with their own work.
Cambyses on the other hand was totally unconcerned of such considerations and just hugged Alexander even tighter as he tried to pull her off.
"*Sob* *sob*, I was so scared when he came at you. It felt like my heart would burst, *sniff*." Cambyses suddenly burst out crying.
Alexander was stunned. He felt like today alone he received more surprises than in thest ten yearsbined.
Because he had never seen the girl cry before. Not even once over the ten years he had known her. Not even after all the horrific things that happened to her.
She was abandoned in the corner of a tent, malnourished and developing rickets.
Alexander coincidentally found her one day when he was cleaning Nestoras''s tent and from then on poured his heart and soul into treating her.
He would share his meager food with her, drag her outside to sunbathe and even help her exercise.
At meals, he would tell her little stories to coax her to eat.
He even used his little influence to get Mean to help him look after her.
And among all these things, although she showed great reluctance at first, she never ever shouted or threw a tantrum, much less ever shed a drop of tear.
She once proudly said, "I left my tears in that dingy corner."
But now that proud, strong girl was crying, no bawling for him.
It made his heart ache and swell.
In reality, she saved him as much as he saved her.
When he came to this world he was much like her- lost, scared and alone.
Being sold as a child ve to a roaming mercenary band, war, hunger and death hounded him at every step. For a man of the 21st century, it felt worse than hell.
So when he found her, it felt like he found himself. And saving her felt like saving himself because it gave him a reason to live and helped him forget the abject misery he was in.
He tenderlyid in hands on her head, lovingly caressing it and gently cooed in her ears, "Silly girl, I would never leave you."
"You promise, *sniff*?" She asked coyly.
"I promise."
"Good. You''re not allowed to die without my permission then." Cambyses finally let go of the embrace and proimed majestically.
"As you wish princess," Alexander replied, cing his hand across his chest and bowing.
"Hehe" Cambyses simply giggled.
Chapter 22 Trying To Gain An Ally
"So, out with it. What''s my task?" Cambyses asked after calming out a bit and wiping her tears off.
"Let''s go to the medical camp first. I wanna inspect the wounded." Alexander replied in a seemingly unrted note and started quickly making his way to the clinic.
"Oh, don''t you have more important stuff to do?" Cambyses asked in surprise, hastily following in tow.
After all, it was Alexander that specifically instructed to spread the information as quickly as possible.
"Camius is more than enough. His mouth never stops moving." He assured. "Now, what do you think of the offer they made me?" Alexander asked somewhat cryptically.
Cambyses frowned at the question.
She personally thought it was a great offer. She thought that finally all his hard hard work had paid off.
But if he was asking her, it probably meant she was wrong and that there was something off.
But what was it?
"You mean they were lying?" She asked, confused.
"Umm... yes and no. It''s a bit more nuanced than that." Alexander hinted ambiguously. "But, carry on. borate. What do you mean by lying?"
" Uhhh, that they would find a reason not to make you captain. Like manpower or supplies shortages. Or give you bad and wounded soldiers or¡..okay I don''t know." Cambyses confessed, clearly finding faults with her own reasoning.
"That''s a good theory." Alexander nodded. "But any such measures would be temporary. Do you really think supply and manpower problems or subpar soldiers can stop me?" He asked with a big grin on his face.
''Of course not. Anyone who knows anything about you would know just what kind of knack you have for turning trash into treasure.'' Cambysesmpooned internally.
"So what could they do?" Cambyses straightforwardly asked.
"Well, I don''t know for sure. But here''s what I would do. Disband the third phnx."
"Disband the third phnx¡..?" Cambyses repeated, confused and horrified.
What does ''disband the third phnx'' mean? Even if the entire phnx is killed, a new third phnx will be made.
The only theoretical way to do it would be if they only ever have two phnxes.
"I can see you''re having some wild thoughts there¡.hehe." Seeing Cambyses''s incessant frown, Alexander chuckled. He could almost see the mental gymnastics she was doing.
"What I mean is that the survivors will most likely be added to the four other phnxes in the short term.
In the long run, a new sixth phnx will probably be formed using them. And what will happen to the third phnx you ask? ''The third phnx will forever be dedicated to the memory of our founder, Constans and the soldiers he led'', will be the slogan. What do you think?" Alexander inquired.
"I think you haven''t slept in a long time." Cambyses curtly replied, absolutely not convinced.
"Haha, I too wish to sleep, my dear. But, it is not being paranoid if someone is out to get you." Alexander reasoned.
"Just think about it. Constans was the muscle that formed this mercenary group. Isn''t it romantic to have the memory of ''an eternal warrior'' dedicated to a unit? A brave warrior that died in battle and had his deeds immortalized. Is it really that impossible?"
"Yes, it is. Your idea of a unit dedicated to Constans being purely decorational is absurd. As a matter of fact, it should be the strongest unit to honor his legacy." Cambyses rejected his rhetoric.
Such practices were almost unheard of. It had only happened to a small number of kings and even then the chosen unit would usually not be in active military service but something like the royal guards.
For such a thing to happen in a mercenary group was unthinkable. Especially not if it meant such tantly cheating someone as popr as Alexander.
"Alexander you yourself should know how far-fetched this ''exnation'' is. There''s no way that''s going to happen. Are you sure you''re not reading into this too deeply?" Cambyses tried to convince Alexander.
Alexander will be the first to admit his theory of turning the third phnx purely decorational a bit far-fetched.
He came up with it while talking to Cambyses and didn''t have the time to think too deeply about it.
But the aim of this conversation was not to determine if there really was a scheme to get him.
It was to convince Cambyses that there was a plot to get him and to bring her to his side.
Frankly, even Alexander himself was not too sure if there really was something or if he was just imagining things.
But it didn''t matter.
Whether or not there actually was a scheme to deny his freedom was irrelevant.
What was relevant was that Alexander suspected there was a scheme.
And since there was a chance, he chose to attack first.
Alexander was by nature an aggressive individual who believed in the first strike advantage and preferred to be the attacker than be the defender.
But, for his attack to seed this time, he needed to convince Cambyses and get her to his side.
So he stated, " That was just one way they might do it. There are several more."
"And I very much wish I am wrong," Alexander wished. " But do you remember the exact wording of the offer? They said ''we will make you captain tomorrow.'' The keyword here being ''tomorrow''. Why tomorrow? Why not today or now?"
"Semantics Alexander, semantics. They just said so because you will be freed tomorrow. There''s nothing more to it than that. I think you''re finding holes because you want them to."
"Nothing would make me happier than to be wrong." Alexander proimed. "And you''re wrong about one thing. I most likely won''t be freed tomorrow. The exact condition was if we won this battle, I would be set free. Everyone just simply assumed victory was in the bag and started celebrating early. Now, they will find a way to keep me."
"That¡I don''t believe they will do that. Everyone knows just how hard you worked to get your freedom. They just can''t take it off at thest minute on a technicality. Not everyone is out to get you, you know."
"Maybe not Nestoras, but what about the old geezer? That geezer has always hated my guts but still puts on the face of a saint because I am useful to him. Don''t tell me you never noticed?"
"That¡okay, Alexander, what''s the point of telling me all this?" This time her tone changed into a sharp one. She could feel Alexander was leading her on to somewhere dangerous.
"Say if a sword was ced against your neck and asked to choose between me and the geezer, who would you choose?" Alexander asked in a mysterious tone.
"...*Silence*..."
She simply walked slowly forward with a dazed look, trying very hard to remove the image that subconsciously appeared in her mind.
How could she not understand the hidden meaning behind his question?
"Alexander, what are you intending to do? Aristotle is considered by everyone¡"
"Hold on there, I never said anything about doing anything, But just think about it. Just think about it." Alexander emphasized in a reassuring tone.
But far from being reassured, this only rmed Cambyses to no end.
By how Alexander seemed to refuse to talk about it and denied everything, it most likely meant he had already made up his mind and was merely informing her.
"Alexander, don''t do anything stupid in a moment of rage. I of all people know just how hard you worked to get your chance at freedom. But rashlyshing out won''t do you any good. Cambyses changed her tone to a pleading one.
"When have I ever done anything rashly? Don''t worry, I know my limits. " He assured in aforting tone.
This alleviated Cambyses''s worries to an extent. She knew Alexander wasn''t anything like the hot-blooded boys of his age. In fact, most times he was unnaturally cool-headed.
This, paired with the fact that she could think of no way that Alexander might secretly off Aristotle, somewhat eased her mind.
"That''s good. Just be a little more patient, okay dear?" Cambyses lovingly soothed her lover.
She breathed a mental sigh of relief as she put the matter off to the back of her mind, chalking it off as Alexander merely venting, half because of rationalizing it, half because she wanted to.
Chapter 23 Medical Clinic
The duo soon arrived at the back of the camp, a kaleidoscope of painful moans, hushed groans and urgent shouts greeting them at their arrival.
"We ran out of space inside," Cambyses said, pointing out to the wounded left under the open sky.
They simplyy on the muddy ground, the lucky having a thin reed mattress to separate themselves from mother earth, some asleep, some groaning in pain, most with a nk look of dejection.
As Alexander scanned the unfortunate souls thaty beside the path, he took note of all the variegated clothes present. It seemed almost every mercenary group had sent their wounded here to get treated, resulting in the mayhem he was witnessing now.
Various people ran to and fro like headless chickens, clothes spattered with blood and exhaustion written all over their faces, as they tried to offer some kind of medical treatment to the suffering soldiers.
The different colored clothes they wore indicated these helpers were from all the different mercenary groups and having never worked together, they were totally disorganized in their effort.
They were pretty unskilled as well, most seemed to be missing even the most rudimentary medical skills and could only provide momentary relief such as cleaning the wounds with a wet towel, rubbing herbal ointment on them or giving them some water to drink.
The fewpetent ones were seen correctly dressing wounds with properly knotted alcohol-soaked bandages, while the most experienced ones, like those from Alexander''s group, were seen stitching wounds or pulling out bone fragments using specialized tongs.
But despite the best efforts of everyone in the clinic, they were sorelycking in experts, leaving most to duke it out with death alone.
"*Sigh*." Cambyses let out a tender sad sigh at the sight of these helpless men.
She was not still able to steel her heart to such scenes.
But unlike her, Alexander was inured to such sights and after coldly surveying the situation, he spoke up, "Go to Theocles''s tent and get all the beetroots you can. Then order the medical staff to give sugar water to everyone."
This order made Cambyses''s eyes visibly get bigger in surprise and shaking her head, she replied, "There''s no way he will allow that. You know better than me how precious that stuff is and we have barely enough tost a week ourselves."
"That''s why you will go now. He shouldn''t be there now." Alexander pointed out.
Cambyses scowled at this.
She didn''t like doing things like this behind someone''s back. And she also didn''t like giving what little precious medicine they had out for free.
Yes! Normal sugar water- i.e- glucose was treated as medicine in this backward era. This is because the sick could easily digest it and it could energize the body.
Alexander seemed to sense her dissatisfaction and so he pointed his finger at the wounded soldiers and said, "They have spent too much time in the rain and their body is getting too cold. If we don''t give them food to warm them up quickly, most will catch a fever and die. We can get food from the other campster, but they need the sugar water now. And we need these soldiers to escape Adhania."
This grim reminder of the present made Cambyses refocus her attention on the greater picture.
Yes! For now, they were in the same boat together and needed each other''s help.
She nodded heavily and said, "Okay, I will do what I can."
She then started west towards the quartermaster''s tent, but not before repeating a warning, "Don''t do anything stupid, Alexander!"
Alexander in turn silently watched the first part of his n to deal with Aristotle sessfully unfold with grim trepidation.
"Now for the second part," Alexander muttered inside his head.
He then started swiftly walking past the hordes of wounded, trying to make his way to the main medical tent.
But as he was walking past, his eyes suddenly caught sight of a few fully armored soldiers tending to a small number of the wounded.
From what it looked like they were likely from the same mercenary group tending to their mates.
Though what really caught Alexander''s attention was not theirradery but their get-up.
Because, unlike most helpers who wore simple tunics or chiltons, these guys were in full armor and looked like they were returning from the battlefield or heading into one.
Alexander thus decided to check it out.
"Guys, please go battle with no worry. I am from Nestoras''s group and will personally look after your mates." Alexander casually greeted, ying himself off as a medical staff- which as technically true.
All of them spun towards him expectantly hearing this and a shabby-looking middle-aged man - seemingly the eldest of them stood up and replied, "Thank you, brother. The medical skills of your group have been a lifesaver for many of our brothers. But we decidedst moment we won''t take part in the uing attack!"
Thest sentence sounded like music to Alexander''s ears.
He could bet everything he had to guess the reason behind his statement.
But still, he decided to keep a poker face and shouted incredulously, "What? Didn''tmander Samaras order a counter-attack to free our brothers? Is your entire group disobeying?"
Alexander tactfully avoided the word "mutiny" as it had too strong of a negative conation.
"Bhah, when does that cheat get tomand us? We are not his ves." A thin-faced man from the middle retorted.
Alexander was quite pleased to hear the discontent in his voice. So he decided to press on.
"Cheat? Commander Samaras? What do you mean?" He asked acting confused.
This time the shabby man replied, "Samaras threatened not to pay us if we don''t attack. Even though he owes us two months of pay. If that''s not a cheat, what is? No silver, no steel."
"No silver, no steel, huh. That''s very apt brother. I never would have guessed you were such a talented poet." Alexander smiled, seemingly praising the man for his rhyming skills.
"No, no, that wasn''t me. It''s what I heard." The man replied honestly, not taking any credit.
"Heard? From who?"
"Everyone''s talking about it. They say that only General Agapios can cancel our contract and Samaras is trying to scam us."
"Really? That''s some bold im!" Alexander eximed in seeming disbelief.
"It is." The man nodded in agreement. "But it also makes sense. So we decided unless we meet General Agapios, we won''t attack."
This made Alexander finally understand the get-up. They were prepared to march at any moment but only at Agapios''smand.
Alexander was internally ecstatic that his words had been carried with such uracy. and speed.
Even he didn''t expect it to be so widespread so soon.
He then decided to ask the most crucial question to test the ultimate strength of their resolve. He asked, "But are you going to just leave all the other soldiers to die?"
This caused all their faces to be visibly darker. But then the middle-aged man retorted in anger, "If we could we would have. But tounch such an attack when dusk is so near is suicide. I have a responsibility to take care of my men." He reasoned.
This genuinely surprised Alexander, because at face value many tended to think Samaras''s n was solid and a win was still possible.
But this guy seemed to have doubts..
"I agree with you. Tounch such an attack now does seem imprudent." Alexander nodded in support.
"By the way, howe you don''t know anything about all this brother? Everyone here seems to know." The man suddenly inquired, his tone abruptly turning suspicious.
After all, it wasn''t unheard of for spies to slip past enemy lines and directly infiltrate camps.
And now that he took the time to observe Alexander again, he didn''t seem dressed like a medical staff.
He was too clean, with no blood on his hands, no dirt under his fingernails and most critically, no medicinal or alcohol smell on his body.
This was of course because Alexander had just taken a bath.
Alexander easily understood the meaning behind his question and decided to formally introduce himself.
He pronounced, "Ah, how rude of me! Let me introduce myself, I am Alexander. Until now I was with captain Theocles organizing the medicines for the medical camp and wasn''t around."
"Ah, so that''s it, I understand." He said noddingly. "I am Melodias by the way, the leader of the ws mercenary group. Please send my regards to captain Theocles for all the medicine he has provided. Even though he himself was injured."
Thisst sentence made Alexander suddenly wake up and take a good look at the man.
Because what he said was most likely a trap. It was probably meant to check if Alexander really did meet with Theocles and was not just using his name.
In this era, unlike Alexander''s previous one, people tended to easily believe someone if they could produce a familiar or famous name.
But this man here seemed different.
This very much piqued Alexander''s attention.
"Fortunately captain Theocles is unharmed and well," Alexander replied with a smile, deftly dodging the trap.
"Ah, yes, I remember now! I must have gotten mixed him with someone else, apologies. Haha, I met him some time ago and it''s been too hectic recently." Melodias smoothly yed it off.
Alexander simply knowingly smiled and nodded, sharply observing the unusual man.
It was unlikely that he knew Theocles before today''s battle as mercenary groups tended to stay within themselves.
As the leader of a mercenary group, he would have at best only known Nestoras as another group''s leader.
But this shabby, unremarkable-looking man, with a small stumble under his chin and a medium build, seemed to correctly identify the man behind the medical supplies and contact him just after the battle.
He was even here personally looking after his men.
This made Alexander form a very high opinion of the man. So he decided to leave a good impression.
He looked around until he spotted a familiar face and shouted, "Hey Adrias,e here. I want to take special care of these men." He ordered, pointing to the wounded sh mercenaries.
"Oh, Alexander! Okay, I will do what I can." Came the hectic reply.
Alexander then turned to Melodias and advised, "Please make sure to keep them and do not let them catch a cold. I have to go now. Take care."
"Thank you, brother. May we meet again." Melodias replied in a grateful tone and saw Alexander stride off into the main medical tent.
Little did he appreciate the fateful encounter that happened just now.
Chapter 24 Overstretched And Buckling
As Alexander entered therge medical tent, his nose twitched uncontrobly as he was assaulted with the pungent smell of a mixture of blood, sweat, alcohol and medicinal herbs, and his ears were bombarded with shrill cries, hectic barks, and eternal low groanings.
The chaos here seemed to have reached its zenith as the most critically wounded were being treated here.
Various ves and helpers swiveled around each other in the narrow spaces as they walked with determined intent to reach their destination.
Alexander could see that most of his own medical personnel were in here and hence the treatment being given here was significantly better.
At least the help here, however small, actually benefited the wounded.
But s, this clinic was designed with the mind of handling the casualties of a small one thousand mercenary group. Not for ten thousand.
The clinic here was too small to house all the wounded rushing in and the single tent became a cage filled with the death throes of the dying.
As Alexander scanned the tent for the person he came for, he cursed internally, "They simply let anyone and everyone in. The idiots!"
He could clearly see the disorganized people trying and failing miserably at any type of coordination. This not only didn''t help but it even obstructed those trying to help.
People would scream endlessly for something like bandages or medicine or stitches or even ask for assistance from somebody, only to be overridden by an even louder scream.
The people handing out supplies would also lose their way. Many lost track of the people they were supposed to find in the crowded space, many forgot the thing someone wanted because of all the noise, some simply misheard the request and some had their supplies snatched up by others on their way to their destination.
It seemed like a fish market rather than a clinic.
Alexander hence decided to do something about it.
But first, he had to find the person he came for.
After a bit of head swerving, off in the distance, Alexander spotted a small, slender shadowy figure slipping past the chaotic mass and trying to give medicines and orders to the medical staff.
Her face was flushed with sweat, her slender arms were slightly shaking and Alexander could hear her hoarse voice all the way across the tent.
There she was - Mean, the current de-facto leader of the clinic and Alexander''s current person of interest.
"Mean, over here," Alexander called out, gesturing her toe towards him.
Hearing the familiar voice and seeing Alexander''s silhouette, Mean''s face lit up like a Christmas tree and her mouth subconsciously burst into a wide grin.
"Finally someone who can take over from me." Mean gleefully thought as she assumed both Alexander and her mistress were here to take the helm.
"Alexander, thank Gaia you''re here. I am about to lose my mind here." Meanined loudly as she briskly walked towards him, strongly shoving anyone in her way to the side.
"This ce is a mess. Why did you let in some many wounds? We can''t treat so many." Alexander pointed out.
"It''s because that shit-eater came and took all our extra men. The helpers from the other groups are nowhere near as useful." Mean cursed.
Shit-eater was Mean''s term of endearment for Pallidus.
He must havee here personally to force all the volunteers and lightly wounded of Nestoras''s group to go into battle.
"Where''s mistress by the way?" She then asked, after looking around and seeing no sign of Cambyses.
"I sent her to try and squeeze some more medicine from Theocles," Alexander answered half truthfully.
"Oh, that''s good. We are running really low." Mean cheerfully replied.
"By the way, Alexander, what about your fight with Nestoras? Will you be alright?" Mean then asked, her question dripping with worry.
"*Smirk*, everything''s fine." Alexander brushed off any worry as he curled up his lips and waved his hand like he was clearing the air.
"Besides you have already enormously helped me by spreading the rumor. It''s already started working." He proimed
"Well, it was mostly Remus. The moment he heard it was from you, he turned into a canary. That boy is loyal to a fault."
"Mmm," Alexander nodded with a slight smile. Then he added, "We need to clear the tent. There are too many wounded and we have to prioritize. We will try to save the more lightly wounded first."
"I agree. We sometimes can''t even get to a patient because the path is so congested. And in the back, there''s little lighting due to the overcrowding. There''s not even much space to light candles there and it will be dark soon." Mean pointed worriedly.
And then she asked, "But Alexander, how are we going to that? We don''t have the men to forcefully throw most of them out."
"You''re right. Hmmmmm¡.." Alexander put his hands on his chin and began to think.
Without muscle, it would be impossible to force many of the wounded to leave the clinic.
As he was brainstorming, suddenly a new, unfamiliar face began to surface inside his mind. It was shabby with an unclean stubble, droopy eyes and sunken cheeks -Melodias!
The ws''s mercenary leader had left a good impression on him and he thought it was worth a try to ask him for help.
"I might know someone who can help. Let me check it out." Alexander imed. "But I got a job for you in the meantime. You know the trunk I keep in the clinic. I want you to get it for me. And some fresh beetroots."
Why did Alexander need these? Mean didn''t see a need to ask.
"Okay, no problem. I am getting it now" Mean readily agreed and without wasting any more time, sped off into the tent.
Alexander too turned around to search for Melodias and soon found him in the same ce.
As he approached him, he noticed that the patients Melodias was tending to seemed to have gained some new bandages and a few lucky ones even had thin nkets on them.
It looked like Alexander''smand had worked.
Noticing Alexander''s arrival, Melodias turned around and stood up in joy, eximing, "Alexander, haha, thank you, brother. You really helped our men this time."
"No no, we are all in this together. I only did what was right." Alexander humbly smiled.
And then continued, ''Listen Melodias, I came here to ask for a favor. The medical tent is getting too crowded and I was hoping to clear some space. Can your group help?"
Melodias instantly understood what he was implying. He wanted his help forcefully throwing out some of the wounded.
He certainly was not fond of this idea as some of his own men were there.
But Alexander did do him a favor and rejecting him to his face would be too rude. So he asked in a neutral voice, "What do you want us to do exactly?"
Alexander clearly sensed the careful, probing tone and decided to inform Melodias of the dire picture.
"Our tent is so crowded that we can''t even properly move there. Our medicine is severelycking and we don''t have the men to take care of everyone. We are losing people we could have saved because we are being overwhelmed."
This revtion caught Melodias slightly off-guard. In hindsight, he was too busy taking care of his men to really think about the logistics of the medical camp.
"Oh, I had no idea things were so bad." He eximed. "Now that I think about it, I do remember seeing arge group leave just some time ago. Okay, let''s go. Like you said, ''we are all in this together." Melodias dered.
Hearing the overcrowding was actually killing soldiers, Melodias-the ever pragmatic man decided to help Alexander.
"Boss, we have many brothers¡" A concerned voice rang out from behind Melodias.
"Of course they can stay," Alexander interjected reassuringly.
"No, this is war. We will try to save those we are confident in saving." Melodias raised his sturdy hands and decisively shut down any protest.
This pleased Alexander very much. Because now they could lead by example.
"Please follow me." Alexander gestured.
"Androus, go and tell everyone to meet me in front of the medical camp. ASAP!" Melodias turned and shouted orders to a thin-faced man.
Then he faced Alexander and smiled, "Lead the way."
As the small group made their way towards the clinic, all of them distinctly felt the situation getting worse.
They came across more and more wounded left unattended and uncared for and more and more idlers.
They could hear considerably more grumbling and even saw some small groups crosswords with theirmanders who came to recall them back to battle.
It seemed that further men were being pulled away for the new attack, while some started using the rumor as an excuse to not work but idle.
If something was not done soon, the treatment of the whole medical camp could soon stop.
Hence it seemed that Melodias''s arrival was like timely coal in the winter.
Chapter 25 A Teapot
"Alexander, over here!" A thin hand waved up high as a short cry called out from far.
Over in a small clearing to the side was Mean, waving her hand.
She held a small round linen bag in her right hand and next to her on the groundy a small unassuming trunk, presumably the one Alexander wanted.
"Mean, let me introduce you to leader Melodias. He has been kind enough to agree to help with the situation in the clinic." He introduced once he met up with her.
"Thank you Master Melodias for your assistance. We are truly in desperate need of help!" Mean slightly bowed and humbly expressed her gratitude to the shabby-looking man.
Though inwardly she was asking, "Who''s this dead fish-eyed drunkard Alexander dragged in? And if he is a leader why is he back here?"
"Melodias is the leader of the ws mercenary. We met through the hands of fate and in the short time I have known him, I havee to fully trust him." Alexander borated, trying to dispel some of Mean''s doubts.
Tranted into English, what Alexander meant was- ''I just met him but he doesn''t seem to be a total asshole. This is the best I could do. Sorry!''
It was unknown how much of Alexander''s exaggerated ims Mean truly bought but at least outwardly she enthusiastically replied with a bright smile, "I have long heard of the ws mercenaries and leader Melodias''s exploits in battle. With such an esteemed leader here, we can certainly restore order to the camp soon."
Mean didn''t bother to ask why this mercenary group was not getting ready for battle.
It was none of her concern.
She desperately needed men and would not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Melodias on the other hand could almost feel the ttery being rubbed all over him and lightly smiled at the exaggerated praises.
It seemed they were truly desperate.
"We are all in this together," Melodias repeated the hackneyed remark.
Then he decided to show his sincerity and said, "Now let us not waste any more time. Alexander told us the tent is too crowded and we are ready to help vacate some of our own men to make space."
This deration clearly demonstrated his goodwill and helped Mean shed a lot of her doubt.
It seemed he was there to truly help and not be afraid to be the bad guy.
"Yes, yes, please follow me." Mean nodded this time with genuine crity.
But just as she was getting ready to set off, she suddenly turned and handed the bag in her hand to Alexander, "There''s everything you wanted inside."
And she added with concern "Just be careful, okay."
"Thanks." Alexander gratefully smiled. "Mistress should be here soon with more sugar water. Until then I leave things here up to you. Be sure to prioritize helping the lightly wounded first. And keep everyone warm. Make sure they don''t catch a fever." Alexander started ranting off somest-minute advice to Mean like a concerned older brother.
,m "Yes, yes I get it. Now go!" Came Mean''s impatient reply.
He then turned to Melodias and solemnly said, "Leader Melodias, I leave the fate of the clinic and the wounded to you."
"Haha, Alexander you are being too serious. Rest assured I will do my best." Melodiasughed and thumped his chest loudly.
"I would be more worried about you. This attack doesn''t seem right." He added with concern.
"Yea, you and me both." Alexander inwardly thought.
But he showed no reluctance outwardly and simply smiled, "I will try my best. Let Gaia guide us.''
"Let Gaia guide us." Mean sped her hands and repeated. Then she turned to lead men to ''clean up'' the camp.
Alexander too wasted no time picking up the trunk in one hand and then started towards his own destination.
As Alexander set off, he felt that the outside had turned into the perfect autumnte afternoon.
The warm sun, gentle amber-hued sky and the cool weather after the torrential rainstorm made one want toy out a nket outside, sit down and just have a nice, rxing pic.
That was if not for a literal war that was going on a stone''s throw away from here.
Alexander speedily zigzagged his way past the meandering narrow walkways, as if he was being hounded by the rays of the softte afternoon sun.
To him, this gentle ambiance felt even harsher than the midday summer sun.
Because it reminded him that dusk was rapidly approaching.
As he sped across, he noticed that the camp had be mostly deserted by now, save for a few ves and soldiers left behind to guard the valuables.
So there were few to monitor where Alexander was going.
Though asionally Alexander dide across a few who were frantically getting ready or a squad hurriedly sprinting towards the front, none of them stopped him.
Either they were too busy, assumed that he was on a supply run for the medical camp or simply didn''t care.
And so soon Alexander found himself in front of a small unassuming tent.
So what was this tent?
It was Cambyses''s tent, now open and left unguarded.
It seemed that Nestoras wanted almost all able-bodied men for this attack to make up for lost numbers and had pulled out most of the guards.
Alexander took advantage of this convenience and deftly parted the tent ps and strode inside the tent, without Cambyses''s permission or knowledge.
There he was greeted with the familiar yet a bit changed scenery.
The tent was sparse as it always was, but little things like thebs, mirrors, jewelry and vases were missing.
Presumably, they were moved to a more secure position, possibly with all the other treasures.
But the most striking feature of the tent still remained though- a punching bag fixed into the ground by a wooden peg.
Alexander made this fifty kg sack of sand from cowhide to help Cambyses recover from her rickets.
It was hard to hang it from the ceiling of a tent, so he made it sit on the ground with arge peg driven into the ground to stabilize it.
He also made her custom-made gloves from goat leather and she would and still does spend hours kicking and punching this, mostly as a measure of stress release.
Beside the punching bag were several crude weights, which because iron was too expensive, was made of stone and wood.
Like the punching bag, Alexander also made these to help her grow muscles and strengthen her once soft bones.
Andst of all, next to the wardrobe, in the middle of the tentid the centerpiece - a bed.
A normal, hard, twin-sized bed she sometimes shared with Mean, a luxury afforded to her both because of her status and her childhood illness.
And this was the thing Alexander was now most interested in.
He briskly approached the bed and bent down beside it.
Then he open the trunk to reveal a cacophony of misceneous objects - clothes, shoes,bs, various oddly shaped tools- presumably surgical tools, small pots and pans, a few bits of metals, etc.
But all the way at the bottom was something strange, something that looked like a straw ball.
Alexander carefully took it out and gently unwrapped it.
He slowly peeled the straw padding, revealing what was inside it- a teapot.
It was an ornately decorated drinking pot and it was nothing like anything in the market.
Firstly, I had no top lid to open and fill the pot.
Instead, the liquid was filled using a hole at the top of its handle.
It was something Alexander made from memory and an identical one existed in Nestoras''s room.
Except that one had only one hole at the top of its handle, but this one had two.
Alexander carefully hid the pot under Cambyses bed, cautiously cing it behind the junk she had brushed underneath beforehand.
He then followed the same procedure for the beetroots.
Afterpleting this arrangement, he got up, simply packed everything up in his trunk and left the tent with his trunk as quietly as he came, with none the wiser.
So why did he do all this in Cambyses''s tent and in such secrecy?
Because the pot and the beetroots were the second part of the puzzle to deal with Aristotle. And he needed to hide them somewhere till nightfall.
His own tent was too obvious and too exposed. He shared it with seven others and it was impossible to keep any secret there.
But Cambyses, due to her status, her position as the quartermaster and being a young maiden had the fortune of owning a personal private residence.
One that was impermeable to most members of the group- on the ount of most of them being male.
Hence there was little chance of someone identally bumping into and discovering it.
And even if Cambyses or Mean, the only two allowed free passage in and out of the tent were to discover it, Alexander could easily exin it.
Thus this was the perfect hiding spot.
Coming outside, Alexander nced at the cloudless sky and muttered, "They should be almost ready to march now."
His eyes shed a peculiar light and then he hurriedly started towards the front of the camp, determined to stop this foolish charge.
Chapter 26 Theocles And Cambyses (Part I)
While Alexander finished collecting his second piece of the puzzle, the one collecting his so-called first piece ran into a spot of trouble.
Cambyses found herself inside Theocles''s tent, being stared down by the tall, bearded man with a cool, cold look in his eyes.
It seemed Alexander was wrong.
Because Theocles didn''t actually leave the tent to participate in the battle.
Instead, he chose to stay behind.
"So why did Alexander send you?" Theocles asked in an interrogative tone.
"To get more beetroots. Like I already told you." Cambyses repeated the answer to the question she had been already asked multiple times.
"No, I mean why did he really send you?" Theocles pressed again.
From his tone, it was clear that although both he and Cambyses shared the title of quartermaster, he felt undoubtedly the superior.
"What do you mean "really"? What''s real or unreal about wanting to give medicine to dying soldiers?" Cambyses cried. "I am in charge of the medical camp and I need those medicines."
"I am in charge of the whole camp and I think we need to save them for more important times." Theocles retorted.
It had to be said, the position of the quartermaster was quite strange in this mercenary group.
Within a small thousand-man group were two quartermasters, one in charge of the medicines and one in charge of the overall camp.
This system was brought about by Alexander, who pushed Cambyses to get an important position.
But this inevitably caused friction between her and Theocles, who saw this as an encroachment on his "territory."
Thus the bad blood.
"I believe Alexander has already told you why we should treat the others. It''s best for all of us." She reminded.
"I am not stopping you from treating them. I just think you should use other medicines. This one is too precious." Theoclesmented.
"We need it to save them, NOW. Others won''t work. Alexander himself said so." Cambyses asserted.
There was a reason she bought up Alexander. It was because when it came to medical knowledge, he was considered the end all be all by most in the group.
Because he was yet to be proven wrong.
Though it was mostly not because of Alexander''s outstanding medical skills- his skills would be considered very crude by modern standards but because the people they called doctors in this time period were little more than licensed butchers.
Most of the time they did more harm than good.
Like trying to freeze fever patients and not letting them have nkets because they thought the cold would counteract the hot body.
Or not letting cholera patients not drink water because they thought drinking excessive water was what caused the disease in the first ce and the excess "emissions" was the body''s way of bncing itself.
There were many more such examples, not even mentioning the so-called supernatural methods which included beating the devil out, burning the devil, etc, where these so-called doctors actually helped patients die faster than they would have if they had simply left them alone.
"Soldiers have survived wounds from battles before Alexander and his "miracle" medicine. And many more will continue to do so in the future. I''m sorry. We have many advanced techniques and unique medicines developed by him. Please feel free to use those." Theocles diplomatically answered, shutting down Cambyses''sst-ditch effort.
It seemed even Alexander''s rmendation was not enough to fleece the vegetables out of him.
"Fine," Cambyses spat out in enraged dejection.
Theocles had refused her t out and there was little she could do.
Although they were both quartermasters, in name equal, it was only on name. In reality, she was more of an assistant to the quartermaster and not even an assistant quartermaster.
After all, the traditional, ultra-conservative Nestoras would never really hand any kind of real power to a woman.
Cambyses knew full well she was only put here as a way to appease and motivate Alexander.
Just as she turned around on her heel, ready to storm out fuming, a pleasant voice suddenly rang out from behind her, "Now, now, don''t be hasty. I never said I wouldn''t give it to you, now did I?"
It was Theocles, though only listening to his voice, one would wonder if he had been body swapped.
Because now, contrary to his earlier stern, mart voice, it sounded sweet and mellifluous, as if he was talking to his doting daughter.
Hearing the voice, Cambyses suddenly screeched to a halt, stunned! She had known this man from birth and never once did she hear this kind tone.
Unsure what to do, she stood for a while with her back to him, half expecting her to be hallucinating from overwork, half expecting him to jeer at her for actually believing him.
But neither of that happened.
So slowly she turned, meeting with a now kind-looking, lightly smiling face.
"I never said, I wouldn''t give you the beetroots, now did I?" Theocles repeated.
This was technically true in the loosest sense possible. He never uttered the exact words, ''I won''t give you the beetroots''.
"No one with more than a single brain cell would think like that." Cambyses cursed him inside her head.
Though outwardly, keeping a stoic, poker face with great difficulty she voiced out in confusion, "What do you want really?"
,m This was a first for the girl. Because although she had always shed with the boorish Theocles, this was her first time meeting the scheming Theocles.
"I can give you the beetroots. But I need something in return." Theocles slyly suggested, his eyes narrowing to a crescent.
"If you want to know ''why Alexander wants those?'' I don''t know.'' Cambyses guessed the information he wanted.
"Hmmm." Theocles frowned.
He had a gut feeling that Alexander was surely doing something but couldn''t put his exact finger on it.
He had no leads.
He studied the boy in secret and understood him very well to know he wasn''t the type of guy to take things lying down.
Theocles was dead certain Alexander would soon do something.
But what!
Even squeezing Cambyses, supposedly the person closest to Alexander got him nothing.
It seemed she truly didn''t know anything.
Chapter 27 Theocles And Cambyses Part II
"What do you know about the rumor?" Theocles then asked in a roundabout way.
He would pay every coin he ever earned to bet Alexander had something to do with it.
Cambyses subconsciously furrowed her brows.
Normally she would vehemently deny any knowledge of such things.
Spilling anything out would be dangerous for her and Alexander.
But she sensed that Theocles was absolutely sure Alexander was behind it and if she didn''t give Theocles something, anything, right now, she would have to return empty-handed.
She didn''t want that.
She didn''t know why Alexander wanted to feed all the wounded soldiers the precious sugar water right now, whether he was being truly altruistic or if he had any hidden agenda.
And frankly, she didn''t care.
All she wanted to do was not disappoint him.
"Alexander, Camius and Menes." Cambyses spelled out three names, omitting Mean and cleverly recing Remus with Menes.
What she implied with those names was that they were the ones that masterminded the spread of the rumor.
Though she left it intentionally vague enough to not directly implicate them.
It was after quite a bit of deliberation that she decided to tell the truth or mostly the truth.
Her reason being- even if it got out, it would only be the words of a quartermaster of a small mercenary group, one that has a record of altercation with both her and Alexander and socks credible authority.
Thus given Alexander''s in-camp reputation he had a chance to shed or deflect me onto others.
"I see." Theocles nodded, expecting as much.
Those two were with him when they left the war tent after all.
He thenmitted the two names along with Cambyses to memory as part of Alexander''s inner circle.
"What else? I need more." He pressed.
It was gonna take a bit more than something he could have reasonably guessed to please him.
There was a reason he yed the whole charade of first rejecting and then offering to ept Cambyses''s request on a few conditions.
A person who gets something after thinking he just lost it is much more malleable to persuasion.
Theocles believed that Cambyses would have never opened up so frankly if he simply offered the deal- ''Tell me about Alexander and the rumor and I will give you the things.''
"He did it to stop the attack. He believes the gods are against it." Cambyses replied solemnly.
"What? Did he say those exact words?" Theocles suddenly raised his voice, clearly agitated as he stared at Cambyses with engorged eyes.
"I swear by Gaia herself, he told Camius these exact words, ''The gods have struck twice. We have offended them and thus we shouldn''t fight." Cambridge repeated word by word the rumor that Alexander instructed Camius to spread.
Strangely this rumor didn''t catch on with the soldiers like how "No silver, no steel" did.
Funny how people have predilections for rhymes.
"*Silence*" Theocles sat as if petrified, trying to process the implications of Cambyses''s words just now.
He did not suspect Cambyses''s words for a second. She had sworn to the gods, and although it is hard for people of modern times to rte to or even understand such swears, for people of ancient times such promations were considered as good as written in gold.
No one dared to lie while swearing to the gods.
Theocles was not a superstitious man, at least he was much less superstitious than his fellow men, an extreme rarity at this time.
But he did believe in the existence of a higher power, one omnipotent and omnipresent.
And if someone asked him to choose if Alexander was blessed or not, he would gravitate towards ''being blessed.''
Many of the skills disyed by Alexander seemed of divine origin to him.
So when Cambyses swore by the gods to inform him that Alexander believed the gods are against them, he seriously felt a need to reconsider this offensive.
He had already gotten several reports of many soldiers and even entire mercenary groups refusing to participate in the counter-attack- using various excuses such as a need to see Generally Agapios, demanding back payment, suffering too many casualties, or simply being too tired.
And he felt they should follow suit.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of staring nkly into the distance, Theocles, atst, snapped back to reality.
"Take everything you need. And get Tal and Sal to help you with anything." Theocles suddenly announced as his eyes regained their usual eagle focus.
In an apparent change of heart, he not only gave Cambysesplete ess to his stores, he even gave her ess to his two ves to assist her.
"....." Cambyses simply stared ck-jawed at the man, like she had forgotten how to close her mouth.
She and Theocles were always at loggerheads.
So hearing Theocles give her such free reign, she had a hard time understanding what was really happening.
What Theocles was giving her permission to do was the same as a homeowner telling a thief who came to rob him to help himself to anything and everything he wanted from his home.
And not only that, the homeowner even lent him his ves to help him carry his stolen goods.
Absurd!
But Theocles seemingly did just do that.
And he didn''t even seem to notice Cambyses''s unusual state.
After that, he continued, "And tell Alexander that I too believe we shouldn''t attack. I am going to try and convince Nestoras now."
Saying that he abruptly got up and briskly walked past Cambyses out of the tent to find the leader, leaving her all alone in with full permission to collect all the booty she wanted to her heart''s content.
But, in all this time, even until Theocles left, Cambyses simply stood still like a block of wood, confused and in disbelief.
How did she go from having ''no beetroots for you'' to ''have all the beetroots you want''?
Even many yearster, Cambyses would have a hard time understanding what really happened here.
How her simple words ''I swear by Gaia'' caused the usually skeptical Theocles to associate Alexander with divinity and change the course of his and many others'' lives.
Chapter 28 Samaras And The Leaders
"How many have we got," Samaras asked in a low growl, trying hard to suppress his raging fury.
"About half." Came Damious''s t reply.
"*Grit*" Samaras ground his teeth in frustration.
They were already outnumbered and now a quarter of his total forces had rebelled.
"Not one fucking cent to these animals." He cursed out loud.
This all started with that abominable rumor. It spread like wildfire throughout the ranks so fast that themand had virtually no time to react.
Even before they knew what was going on, Damious was confronted by a group of mercenary leaders demanding to see general Agapios.
"We would like to offer some of our medicines to the general." They imed.
And when Damious wanted to ept those on behalf of thete general, they insisted that it be them who gives it to him personally.
After Damious categorically shut them down, they demanded, "We want some of ourte payment."
This time it was Samaras''s turn to be in the hot seat.
He came to meet the group after learning about themotion and reassured them that all dues will be paid by the end of the campaign as stated in the contract.
He swore no one would be cheated out of a single coin.
This seemed to cate the group a bit but still, some doubt kept gnawing inside the heads of a few leaders.
They felt Samaras was hiding something and not telling them the entire story.
Being mercenaries they had little to no loyalty to Samaras, especially when they were losing, so they decided to use the things said in the rumor such as the contract being between them and Agapios to demand either arranging a meeting with Agapios, getting some of their dues back or drawing up a new contract.
"The contract will be what it is." Samaras unequivocally rejected drawing up a new one. Then he threatened, "You have sworn an oath to the gods, do you intend to break it?"
"The gods witnessed the contract between General Agapios and us. We have broken nothing." A hot-headed mercenary leader name Petricuno shouted.
"Yeah, you are just a cheat trying to swindle us." Another one chimed in, fanning the mes even more.
"Who said that?" Samaras roared like an enraged lion and furiously started searching the group for the voice as if someone had just stepped on his tail.
Of all the things that the rumor spread, that particr usation got him the most.
Because he was actually innocent of any such embezzlement.
He swore in his heart if he caught who started this rumor, he would tear him limb to limb.
"Please calm down Commander Samaras." A wizened, mature voice spoke out from the crowd.
He was Menicus, the oldest mercenary leader in the group.
"Alcmene didn''t mean anything by it. We are all hungry, cold, and exhausted, so some of our tempers are running a bit high. Please forgive him." He soothingly said.
Although this seemed to mollify the enragedmander a bit, he still kept looking at the man as if he wanted to swallow him whole.
"Hmph, all of you get your troops ready, now!" Hemanded in a harsh tone.
"Ahem, about that," Menicus coughed, preparing himself to make his case.
"We have no intention of breaking our contract. But many of our soldiers feel dejected after today''s loss. A small part of the remunerations now would greatly boost morale and motivate the soldiers to fight." He politely stated.
In essence, Menicus wasn''t asking to be paid back in full right now, but only a partial repayment.
"Everyone will be paid ordingly once the campaign is over."
But Samaras refused even thispromise, again repeating the same hackneyed words he spoke before.
In fact, Samaras could not really be faulted for this.
Because he was broke!
Like truly broke.
The original n was to use the mercenaries to win the battle, meet up with Ptolomy and have him bear the cost or let the mercenaries sack the capital.
Whatever meager sum Samaras had at his disposal, he gave all of it to Damious to win his loyalty.
He had hoped Damoius''s prestige and muscle could quell all dissents from the other mercenary groups and make them follow him but he had grossly overestimated the mercenary representative''s hold on the other groups.
Hearing Samaras reject even this loweredpensation, Menicus did notunch a counterargument.
Surprisingly, he just nodded and asked to be excused politely, "I understand. Then please grant us some time to gather our soldiers and get ready."
"What! He¡"
" Let us get ready, Regias." Menicus sternly cut him off, ring at the short man.
Regias in turn only lowered his head in indignation.
Soon the leaders made their exit under Samaras''s fierce eyes, exiting Samaras''s camp in silence, a heavy cloud of dejection hanging about the air around them. most sulkily looking at Menicus on the way.
"All of you are ming me, thinking that I simply bent my spine and epted whatever Samaras demanded, isn''t that right?" Far away from the main camp, Meniscus finally turned his face to the crowd and asked them in a knowing voice.
"*Sigh*, some of you youngsters are too rash." He shook his in disapproval, letting out a long deep breath.
"What if Samaras had decided to take us hostage? Or worse simply yed us then and there? Have you ever paused to think about that?" He asked.
"That..old man, aren''t you being too paranoid. How could he do that?" The one who called Samaras a cheat and scammer- Alcmene asked in a bewildered tone.
"People have done far stupider things in wars, especially in losing wars, boy" Menicus stated in an experienced voice.
"And why do you think he could not do it, huh? He could have taken us hostage, and threatened to execute us if our soldiers refused to take part in the attack. Or he could have executed us and forcibly integrate the mercenary groups into the Cantagenan ranks. I personally would have executed the leaders and elected new leaders from each mercenary group''s ranks with the promise of huge rewards if they fought for me." Menicus stated some ominous oues.
"That ¡that." This time it was Regias who started to stammer, finding it hard to find the words to counter the old man.
"Don''t expect a losing man to do things rationally. Samaras is a drowning man, and a drowning man clutches at a straw. That''s why I said the things I had to say in front of him. To appease him and get us out of that ce as quickly as possible. Do you understand me, you little pups?" Menicus rhetorically asked in a triumphant voice.
In fact, it was quite scary how close Menicus was to the truth.
In truth, Samaras did have half a mind to arrest or execute these mercenary leaders and then force the soldiers under him to fight for him.
But there was also the risk of the mercenaries turning around and attacking him just like he wanted to attack them.
These men were no sheep but fierce warriors.
There was also his concern with Damious.
How would he react to him doing such things?
What if Damious chose to stab him in the back at the critical moment?
The man was a mercenary after all.
And even if he could do all this sessfully, he stillcked the necessary time.
He would need days, if not weeks to finish integrating and consolidating his new forces and by that time the cauldron would have been closed, its upant liquidated and the Adhanians would probably have packed and gone home.
The risks far outweighed the rewards and so he chose not to take such drastic actions.
Because failure would mean the literalplete destruction of his army.
"So what do you suggest we do now, old man?" A third voice, that of Petricuno chimed.
Since Menicus got them out by promising Samaras aid in battle, the crowd by default looked at him for what to do next
"*Shake*, I don''t know and that''s up to you to decide individually." Menicus shook his head, anti-climatically drowning everybody''s expectations.
But before anybody could re up and curse him, he craftily suggested, "If you are worried about the promise to attack, just say your soldiers refused and you can''t do anything about it."
This drew a lot of knowing smirks from the mercenary leaders.
But the old man wasn''t finished yet. He started again, "Although I can''t tell you what to do, let me offer you my two cents. General Agapios is most probably dead and Samaras doesn''t have the coin to pay, not even a small part of it."
The leaders weren''t too surprised by the first part. They were smart people who could read the clear signs.
If just meeting Agapios could quell all the dissent, Samaras most certainly could have arranged it long ago.
But thest part drew astonished gazes from all the others.
Because their employer was Cantagena who was well known to be always generous to their mercenaries and always paying their dues on time.
So it was generally acknowledged that being employed by Cantagena was a safe option and many mercenaries here chose to heed Cantagena''s call because of its good reputation.
Hence it seemed unlikely to them that Cantagena would be willing to damage its reputation for decades just for a one-time gain.
But as they would find out soon, this time Cantagena was indeed willing to do so!
Chapter 29 Leaders Decide
Cantagena hired twenty thousand mercenaries, knowing they themselves could never pay them if they lost.
Why?
Because the Cantagenan senate never even considered losing.
The drought, Tibias''s scheme, and an internal royal coup had set up such a perfect storm that the entire senate believed that Adhania would fall no matter what.
The rewards were so attractive and the risks so low that they had to bite.
So although their coffers were empty and they were in no state to finance a war, they decided to do it anyway.
They determined that everything would go ording to n and that this little trick would leave none the wiser.
To ensure their sess, they even appointed their best general, Agapios, and their most prominent rising military star- Samaras inmand.
But, unfortunately, ns tend to not always go as nned.
And this was one of those ''sometimes''.
Which brings up the elephant in the room, why did Cantagena- supposedly the richest city-state of Thesos have no money?
Because it lost the "War of Flowers" sixteen years ago.
After its defeat and the subsequent loss of its hegemonic status of Thesos, the once economic powerhouse began to rapidly lose its markets due to a variety of reasons, some internal, and many external.
But although its ie began to nosedive, it never reduced its expenditure.
As a matter of fact, its spending actually increased because of things like bereavement and support payments for soldiers killed in battle, disability stipend for soldiers suffering an injury in battle, building a new army, repairing and building new fortifications to withstand future attacks, helping allies prop up their economies and a whole host of other things.
Even more, to lock down the Exs army and prevent it froming to Adhania''s rescue, Cantagena dug from the bowels of its coffers whatever it had left and raised a second army, and attacked Exs at immense cost to itself.
As such, the fact of the matter was Cantagena was dead-ass broke.
No way were they ever going to be able to afford the kind of expenses twenty thousand elite mercenaries demanded.
So, they did not really bother to argue with the mercenaries over their asking price, letting them charge whatever their hearts desired.
And then they instructed Agapios to make Adhania and Ptolomy pay for it or have the mercenaries sack its capital- Adhan.
Although Cantagena had yed such underhanded cards behind their backs, but unfortunately, the poor mercenary leaders werepletely unaware of this, of the true extent of Cantagena''s economic woes.
So they began to bicker with Menicus over his ''wild conjectures, some greatly doubting his credibility, though not necessarily because he was wrong but because they were unwilling to ept his im.
"What makes you say that?" Petricuno, one of the ones doubting Menicus raised his voice in frustration.
He didn''t like what the old man was saying and really hoped Menicus had finally gone senile.
But still, the ability Menicus disyed until now had earned him his respect and he felt that he at least ought to give the old man a chance to exin himself.
"The reason why I asked for a partial payment was because I wanted to check the status of Samaras''s treasury. But he refused to spare even a single coin. He must have given everything he had to buy Damious, that''s why his group is so quiet." Menicus reasoned.
This shrewd old man was once again correct, he was three for three by now.
All the leaders hearing the exnation frowned hard, each trying to find the best possible exnation for this without considering the worst.
The most likely alternative they could think of was Samaras stealing the money.
But a bit closer look revealed this was unlikely.
Because even if he did steal it, if he could not win the war, it was unlikely he would live long enough to spend it.
Even if he only wanted to escape Adhania, he would most likely need their help.
The other less probable scenarios ranged from Damious holding Samaras hostage to Samaras being a traitor to him being simply an idiot.
But atst, all the leaders in their heads agreed that Samaras running out of money was the most usible exnation.
Because if they were in his position and had the money, even if only some money, they would have gone with Menicus''s suggestion and used some of it to appease and motivate the exhausted and dejected soldiers.
They all thought, "Samaras''s staunch refusal was quite telling and Damious''s enthusiastic support probably means that he has swallowed thest of Samaras''s coin."
"Hmm, I believe you are right. Samaras''s recent actions do indicate that." After some time of silence, Petricuno was the first to admit his belief towards Menicus''s statements.
"But if what he said is true then what? What do we do now? Surrender?" Regias asked full of anxiety.
"I will again repeat what I said, ''I don''t know and that''s upto you to decide individually'', Menicus spoke up looking at the crowd.
"But surrendering is impossible. Don''t forget what we did at Acme and it is well-known what Adhania does to enemies like us. Death is a hundredfold better option." He gravely warned.
He then finished atst by saying, "I have decided that my group won''t fight in the uing battle no matter the coin. This was a bad investment and I am going to take the loss. All of you make sure to take your decisions wisely. Your and your soldiers'' lives depend on it." Saying that, the old man slowly walked away from the group and towards his camp.
The leaders silently observed the old man leave and then briefly looked at each soon to see if anyone else had anything to say.
But seeing no one speak up, they too chose to disperse in silence.
As they made their way to the camp, each group leader was doing a myriad of calctions inside their head.
Some felt Menicus was exaggerating and decided to take part in the battle anyway, willing to roll the dice to win big or go home.
Some, like Petricuno chose to believe Menicus and decided like him to not deploy and chalk this up as a loss.
Some believed Menicus, but their financial situation did not allow them to take such a huge loss.
So they decided to take part in the attack, in the hopes that it will somehow miraculously recuperate their loss.
Thus, this was turned into something akin to a game of poker where one''s back was pinned to the wall and they had to choose- cut their losses and quit or double down and go all in.
And all the mercenary leaders now had to decide which option to pick.
Decisions! Decisions!
Chapter 30 Samaras
The final decision made by the mercenary leaders produced about half the expected number of soldiers, as reported by Damious to Samaras.
"Go, tell them that if a single soldier from a mercenary group doesn''t fight, the whole group won''t get a single fu*king coin!" Samaras burst out in a tirade. .
"I advise you not to do anything so stupid." Damiousmented. "It was already hard enough to convince the ones we did and even when threatened with beatings and pay cuts from their group leaders many refused to go. Most were just too tired." Heined with ironically a tired voice.
"Win! We just need to win! A win today and now and we can feast away all our fatigue inside Adhan." Samaras dered in a crazed tone.
To this man, only victory mattered now, for him and his love.
Understanding the mental state of his superior, Damious decided to inform of something that might cheer him up.
He said, "We got some solid leads on who started the rumor."
"Who?" Samaras''s eye suddenly turned sharp as he turned to face the giant and he uttered just a single word from the depths of his soul.
The hate he felt towards the one who started this rumor was probably at the moment higher than hisbined hate for the whole of Adhania.
After all, if it was not for that ursed rumor this attack would have been ten times smoother.
"I don''t know exactly yet. But it''s pretty much confirmed it spread from the mercenary Nestoras''s camp. Particrly from that medical clinic." Damious gave the full details.
"I heard almost all the mercenary forces sent their wounded there," Samaras recalled a report with some difficulty.
That particr report came to him because a few of his soldiers, who wanted to get some treatment from the clinic, had gotten into a brawl with some of the mercenaries, who were supposededly blockading the clinic, saying it was reserved for only mercenaries.
Such petty disputes were dime a dozen and at that time, Samaras had bigger fish to fry
So he threw the report into the dustbin of his memory, only to recall it with great arduousness just now.
"Yes. Even many of my men are there. But that ce is now a chaotic hodgepodge of people, so finding out exactly who started it is proving difficult." Damious exined the challenges.
But then he offered some reassuring news, "But we have a pretty good suspect. It''s likely to be the ws mercenary leader-Melodias."
"A mercenary leader, huh? I suspected as much." Samaras agreed with the erroneous Damious.
In his mind, only a mercenary leader had the guts and the manpower to spread a rumor so quickly.
"But do you have any proof? Even I can''t deal with a mercenary leader without proof." Samras said.
"Not yet. But, it seems Melodias never had the desire to deploy. I didn''t see him when Menicus came to see me and he has been supposedly treating the wounded inside Nestoras''s camp all this time. A prime opportunity to spread the rumor." Damious conjectured.
"Hmm, that is pretty suspicious. Once we get back, have your men arrest him and then hang him for plotting against the military."Samaras off-handedly signed off on a death warrant.
"Don''t worry sir. I will bring him to you with irrefutable evidence soon. I just need a little bit more time." Damious offered a sweeter deal.
" Time, huh? *Sigh*, if only we had a bit more time we wouldn''t be in this mess!" Samaras deeply exhaled as he was again reminded of his situation.
Time!
The thing most precious to them now.
The thing all of them were short on.
If they had a bit more time, they could have rested. Then maybe more soldiers would have joined them.
Maybe they could have even convinced, cajoled and strong-armed all the mercenary groups into the attack if they had the time.
But s, the enemy won''t stop for them.
"Sir, all the soldiers are almost in position. You are needed tomand them." Just at that moment, a runner came dashing towards Samaras to ry the news.
"Hmmm, I will be there soon. Go." Samaras ordered.
"Wait, before you go, I have to ask, it was you who was pleading to Agapios to retreat. But now it is you who wants to so recklessly attack? What changed?" Damious questioned.
"Ophenia changed," was Samras''s answer in his mind.
Though he would never admit this, but this attack was greatly motivated by his personal feelings- to obtain the love of his life.
Hiding this fact, instead he decided to guise it as one of strategic importance, which in fairness it was.
"When I pleaded to the general we had our entire army then. We could haveunched a second wave even after our retreat. We could have even feigned a retreat and caught the Adhanians out of formation like they are now." Samaras theorized.
"But now, retreat means death. We can only win by attacking and rescuing the soldiers." Samaras spoke with an unmatched in his voice. "But do idiots see that? No. They only see gold and silvers. Not realizing all the gold and silver in the world doesn''t matter if you''re dead. Fu*king idiots." Samaras finished onest rant before the battle.
This situation was in fact a ssic example of looking at the same thing in twopletely different ways.
While Alexander believed they had lost all offensive capabilities and should cut their losses and run, Samaras still believed they had a chance to rescue the trapped soldiers and do aplete uno reverse and win, much like Adhania did to them just some time ago.
"Remember the Cantagenans will be the one to take the vanguard this time and the mercenaries will follow behind." Damious reminded hismander of the deal the mercenaries struck with him.
"Um, that''s fine by me." Samaras readily nodded his head in agreement.
After all, he really didn''t have a choice in the matter.
And besides, in actuality, the mercenaries were really too tired and his fresh Cantagenan troops would most likely be much more useful.
He then advised Damious on the tactics, "It''s almost dark. We will just m straight into the mouth of the cauldron in one giant formation and open a gap to allow the soldiers to flee. Remember to concentrate on keeping the mouth open and not chasing fleeing enemies." He emphasized.
"Yea, I understand. We don''t have the energy to run after them anyway, hahaha." The giantughed out loud and then urged his horse to his station.
Samaras soon followed suit.
But it had to be said that Samaras, in all his nning, consciously or unconsciously assumed the slingers would simply run away at first contact.
He never bothered to ask, ''What if they didn''t''.
What if they had a countermeasure?
What if the slingers were reinforced by regr infantry?
And this oversight woulde back to bite him hard.
Chapter 31 God’s Favoured?
After leaving the medical camp, Alexander quickly made his way to the front of the camp, where the soldiers were ordered to meet and get into formation.
But as he approached the clearing, a different sight greeted him.
Instead of the neat rows of orderly soldiers he was expecting to see, he was surprised to see the soldiers had divided themselves into two different crowds, the muchrger one headed by Menes and Theocles and the other much smaller one headed by Nestoras and Xanthine.
The four men appeared to be in a standoff, each ring at the other menacingly with a divide between them that seemed like the red sea had just parted them.
Off to the side, Aristotle and Pallidus seemed to be trying to say something to Nestoras and the man was furiously shaking his head as if to reject it.
As Alexander approached closer to the clearing, he could hear a cacophony of shouts, swears and curses flying around with the two loudest voices being Nestoras and surprisingly Theocles.
He even picked up words like treason, betrayal, dog, rumor and surprisingly his own name.
It was pretty easy to infer what these men were at their throats for.
The imminent attack.
"You,.. you cursed ve!" Nestoras was the first to notice Alexander''s shadow, and he roared, incensed at the sight of him.
After all, in his mind, this scoundrel was the mastermind of this entire shit show.
"*ng*, I am gonna kill you right here and now." Then in his rage, Nestoras suddenly unsheathed his sword and attempted to approach Alexander, deciding to get rid of the troublemaker once and for all, regardless of any kind of bacsh.
"*ng*, just try!" Roaring Menes too drew his sword and stepped in front of Nestoras, pointing his meter-long bastard sword at his leader''s cheat.
" You, damn n****! How dare you point a sword at your leader?" Nestoras cursed using the worst possible ng.
The red-eyed bull apparently forgot the warning he himself had given to Pallidus about using that word just a while ago.
"He is not yours to kill." The giant replied in a calm tone, not moving an inch and seemingly unperturbed by the gross derogatory remark.
"I am his master and he is my ve. I can kill him whenever and however I like." Nestoras screamed.
"We are at war! He is a squad captain now. You can''t kill a squad captain whenever and however you like," Menes reminded in a hard tone.
Then he issued a naked threat, "Now back off or I will end you."
His jet eyes seemed to light up with a fiery glow as he gazed into Nestoras''s eyes with steely determination and the leader understood the giant wasn''t bluffing.
He really would attack him if he tried to move forward.
And given Menes''s skill, he was willing to bet his own money that even if both he and Xanthine were to join forces, Menes would likely cut both of them off.
After all, Menes was unanimously considered the best warrior within the mercenary group, a group full of people whose job was to be a warrior.
The only one who might have a chance against Menes would be Cambyses, who might be able to use her light footwork to dodge and parry his attacks and slowly tire the giant down and then use her agile speed to nk and prate the slower, heavier man''s defenses.
Note the use of the word ''might'' because that scenario would still rely on Menes making mistakes and even then the encounter would likely be in his favor.
Hence, understanding his chances and seeing no one step up to help him, Nestoras wisely decided to back down, and sulkily returned to the head of the crowd.
And this little disy of force had an unintended devastating effect on the people following him, as many began to waiver and doubt if they chose the right side.
Alexander saw and heard all of this as he approached the crowd and as he got closer, Menes strode over to him inrge steps and gave him a giant hug.
"It''s great you are here, boy. I was just about to send Remus to find you." He said, patting Alexander''s shoulder enthusiastically.
"What''s happening here?" Alexander asked.
He expected the soldiers to be ready to march and his original n was to make a big speech in front of them to try and convince them to stay.
But now it seemed that someone had done the job for him.
But before Menes could exin, a known yet kind of strange voice greeted him from the front, "It''s good to see here." Said Theocles mellifluously.
Alexander craned his neck to see the man and was surprised to see he was standing- on Menes''s side and even more surprised to hear the man speak so politely to him.
Because, due to his frequent shes with Cambyses, if Alexander were to choose if his rtionship was good or bad with Theocles, he would have to choose- bad.
So why was he on this side and why was he being so polite?
Seeming to sense Alexander''s apparent confusion, Theocles said in a sweet tone, "I met Cambyses a while ago and gave her everything you wanted."
He said this in order to demonstrate his support for Alexander.
Alexander, though not quite understanding what was going on, seemed to get the hint and replied in kind. "Thank you. It will help the wounded very much."
"Theocles here has been amazing." Menes started. "He made a huge speech in front of the soldier, iming that you Alexander had gotten divine revtion. He said you started the rumor to stop the attack because the gods told you they were displeased. He was even the first captain to state he would not lead his phnx to battle." Menes finished his long recount.
And then he asked the million-dor question everybody here was waiting for, "So is what he said true?"
Alexander was internally incensed that Theocles revealed he was the one who started the rumor.
But it seemed Theocles had said it to help him stop the deployment.
Hence, he was still unsure of Theocles''s motives, whether he was pulling him up into the sky or pushing him into a pit.
And he considered iming divinity here and now.
It had its advantages- like instantly gaining effective control over the mercenary group and massing arge blind following.
But there were massive drawbacks too.
They were trapped in a foreignnd and no one could tell what was going to happen in the future.
If he imed divinity now, everyone would defer to his judgment unconditionally over every issue. And not just in this one camp but all over the various camps.
It will be alright if his decisions are correct but what happens if he makes a mistake?
After all, he could never im to be right all the time.
Will the peoplebel him as a fraud and lynch him?
There certainly was such a possibility.
It was a double-edged sword.
Hence, after considering it for a bit, he decided not to ept the moniker of "God''s Favoured.".
But he did not want to unequivocal reject it either. Because the perks were just too lucrative.
Hence he decided to take a book out of the fortune tellers and soothsayers from his previous life and decided to be vague and answer in general.
"Well, what''s taking so long?" Nestoras impatiently shouted, seeing Alexander be silent.
This bought Alexander''s attention back and after getting a bit of time to organize his thoughts, Alexander answered, "The god of lightning- Ramuh has struck us twice, destroying our cavalry and killing our General. "
Here he made a bold leap and imed Agapios was dead.
Because although there was strong circumstantial evidence to support his conjecture, he still wasn''t hundred percent sure.
"Yes, I am afraid our general is dead. That''s why none of us have seen him andmander Samaras has hidden this news from us."
"Samaras is a cheat."
"Liar."
"Thief."
Hearing this, some of the hot-headed men started cursing Samaras, the same men who were seemingly ready to march under Samaras''smand.
Seeing their behavior, Alexander was once again reassured that he did the right by not epting the im to divinity.
"Brothers please." Alexander raised his hands and signaled to the agitated crowd to calm down.
"By striking at us twice, Ramuh has told us to leave Adhania. You all know I have been always deferential to the gods. That''s why I believe we shouldn''t attack."
"Yes, yes, the gods must be respected."
"p, p."
"Whistle."
Thunderous apuse and cheers of approval echoed through the crowd.
Alexander could even hear some utter, "Son of Gaia."
Alexander again gestured to the crowd to calm down and said, "Please, I am not finished.
Then he continued, "But that is not why I started the rumor. The reason why I started it was because I looked around to see my wounded brothers, my exhausted brothers, I saw their suffering and I saw how tired they were and I was convinced they needed rest. We need to rest. We need to eat. We need to sleep." His octaves kept increasing rising with each sentence and by thest one, it reached a crescendo, climaxing in a huge roar.
"p, p."
"Whistle."
"Yes, yes, you''re right."
A second, ear-deafening cheer rocked the camp.
Chapter 32 Spiraling Nestoras
Alexander was no great orator and his speech just now wasn''t particrly articte or special.
But it yed to the soldiers'' hearts.
It plucked at the strings of their desire to rest and eat.
Because they have been awake for more than thirty-six hours, were on a forced march, and had little to nothing to eat.
Then they had to fight a battle in the sweltering heat, get doused in freezing rainwater, and then run through mud and grime to escape the enemy.
Even for these hardy folks, it was a miracle they could stand, let alone again fight.
So it''s little wonder that they were eager to return to their camps to rest.
"Boy, you said the gods spoke to you. So who was that sage you kept mentioning?" A deep booming voice cut through the roaring crowd, putting a damper on the celebrations.
It was Nestoras and his face seemed like someone had just painted it ck.
"Obviously he said it because until recently we would not have believed him. It might have even amandment from the gods." Even before Alexander could answer, Theocles offered an exnation.
Alexander again looked at the man with a profound gaze, and thought, ''What has Theocles been eaten today?'' and ''When did we be so close?''
But regardless of past happenings, today and now he seemed to be squarely in team Alexander and he wouldn''t push him away until he showed signs of otherwise.
That being said, Alexander was reluctant to be called a god, at least for now.
So, although grateful for Theocles stepping in, he decided to rify the matter.
"Ahem, you misunderstand Nestoras. I never imed to hear the gods. "He pronounced shaking his head. "I only said that Ramuh has struck us twice and we should respect the gods and not attack again."
"That''s the same thing."Nestoras red illogically.
But Alexander decided to ignore the mad idiot and decided to address the crowd again, "Brothers, hear me. I, Alexander do not im to be God''s favored. I only spread the rumor because we are too tired and don''t have the strength to attack now." He stated in as clear a term as possible.
Of course, Alexander confessing to spreading the rumor that caused a small ''mutiny'' was no joke.
Samaras would be well within his authority to severely punish him.
But since Theocles had already let the cat out of the bag, there was little use denying it.
And if what he said did be true, he could reap immense rewards.
And what if he was wrong?
Well, there''s nothing called a perfect y.
You can only y the odds.
Alexander believed in his own judgment and deemed the attack highly unlikely to seed and thus decided to roll the dice and confess.
In this way, if he was proven true, people could quote the first part of his speech as him receiving divine guidance, while the people could quote his second part to say he is mortal.
But why would some people consider him divine even after he clearly said he wasn''t?
Because sometimes people believed what they wanted to believe.
Because at times of strife and danger, many people sought out god.
Because knowing or being close to someone close to god and drawing associations with them was an irresistible temptation to many, even if that person explicitly denied it.
In Alexander''s previous life, there were scores of such examples.
The fourth Caliph of Im- Ali is considered to be Ah by a minor sect of Im, even when he in crystal clear terms told everyone he was not.
Buddha is considered to be God by a sect of Buddhism, even when Gautama imed to be only human and he himself was unsure about the concept of God.
In India, many people who have not imed to be god is worshipped like one by some people, from politicians to movie stars to cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar.
The list could go on.
(Author Disimer: The above examples are not in no way a generalization. I did not, nor do I intend to say all the above groups follow the given example. I said only a small/minor number of people im to do it.)
"Rest this and tired that. You fu*king pansy. Why don''t you just say that after losing one battle you lost your marbles, you stupid coward. Seeing Alexander slip his trap, Nestoras started to unrestrainedly curse at him.
"Soldiers! When did a ve be your leader?" He tried to foment the crowd.
"He will be treated as a squad captain when we are at war! It was you who promised him that, remember?" From the back, Menes spoke out.
"I promised him, I can take it back." The irrational leader exploded.
Not wanting to rely on Menes, Alexander decided to take a shot himself, "Heh, you mean the coward that ran through a barrage of spears to y the enemy captain and stabilize the phnx while the "brave" leader left hismand to go see his son and killed thirty-three of our brothers? That coward? "
Alexander returned the favor with venom coated in sarcasm.
"*Crunch*" Nestoras simply silently clenched his teeth.
In fact he clenched it so hard that he shattered it, producing an audible crunch.
If Nestoras was still in of good, sound mind, he would not have attacked Alexander the same way he did just some time ago and got figuratively thrashed.
But he did do that.
And this little phenomenon didn''t escape the six main people there and they began to finally understood just how far gone Nestoras was.
But these people were not Nestoras''s only worries.
Because Alexander''s little rebuttal also generated a lot of murmur among all the soldiers, who deferred to their mates in the first phnx to verify Alexander''s ims.
Within this tight, small, thousand group, the soldiers considered each other brothers, and when they learned of the veracity of Alexander''s words, many were saddened and outraged that thirty-three of their good brothers were sacrificed in such a callous manner.
The trust the group following Nestoras had in him diminished even further as they began to openly criticize him.
Seeing the soldiers get unruly, Aristotle decided to quickly throw his protegee a lifeline.
"Calm down," he roared, "What are you? Some civilians?"
This old roar calmed the restless waves as the soldiers silently turned to look at the tall, old man.
Seeing he got the crowd''s attention, Aristotle said, "In life, there''s always ups and downs, highs and lows. Nestoras is currently at his low. He has just lost his only heir but the gods won''t give him even the time to grieve. He is cold, tired, and hungry just like all of you but he has no time for such luxuries. Because it''s upto him to find an escape from this treacherous ce. It''s in his hands that resides the fate of more than a thousand souls. Anyone in his ce, anyone ced under such a burden would surely have faltered long before him. So please try to understand his position."
Aristotle appealed to the crowd to not get angry with Nestoras but to try and empathize with him.
And it mostly worked. Many angry scowls turned into piteous and understanding looks.
Then he tried to chisel away thest bit of dissatisfaction, as the old man dered, "Yes, I admit Nestoras has made some mistakes. But to err is human. Name one among us who hasn''t made a mistake. But we should always try to rectify our mistakes. And so I now announce that all families of the thirty-three killed soldiers will be given a year''s wage of payment aspensation."
This drew arge cheer as such a huge bereavement payment had never been paid in this small mercenary group before.
Theocles even staggered a bit back in shock, thinking, ''How the hell are we gonna afford it?''
Usually, almost all mercenaries sent some of their money to their families, mostly through trusted merchants or friends. who looked forward to the coin their brother, father, or husband would send them to maintain their livelihood.
And if one died, all his possessions would be returned to their family, along with an extra month''s pay.
Hence, Aristotle''s promise of a twelve times greaterpensation to make up for Nestoras''s mistake was enough to convince most soldiers to forgive him.
Credit where credit is due, Aristotle really knew what to say and how to cate a crowd.
In one swift motion, he stopped the angry tide from swallowing Nestoras.
Fearsome!
After all, he had been in this business for close to forty years and this was not the first time someone blundered on his watch.
Seeing the crowd cool down, he gently offered Nestoras an exit ramp, "I believe we are all too tired to attack today. Let''s do it tomorrow."
But instead of taking it, fortunately for Alexander, Nestoras crassly broke out "You can attack by yourself tomorrow old fart. We are attacking today," absolutely rejecting Aristotle and also smashing the goodwill he had just managed to create for him.
Nestoras, due to recent events was tired, grieving, and very cranky.
He was extremely agitated and would argue with anyone that disagreed with him, regardless of if it made sense or not.
Hence he even insulted Aristotle openly, something he never dared to do.
But Aristotle on the surface did not seem at all fazed by this.
He instead decided to ignore the ramblings of the raving lunatic, judging him to be a lost cause and chose to target his other half, Xanthine.
Chapter 33 March Off
"Xanthine, why don''t you back down? Many of the mercenary groups have decided not to participate. We now evenck the soldiers to attack. You should know this." Aristotle appealed.
But Xanthine replied in an unequivocal tone, "Don''t bother, Aristotle. The bastards killed my younger brother. I am not letting these bastards get away. Even if I am all alone, I will still go."
Aristotle knew the hard-headed bull for more than thirty years and understood he had made up his mind.
But still, he tried to convince him onest time to back down,
"*Sigh*, such is the life of a mercenary. Death hounds us all. Today was Constans, tomorrow could be me, the next day you. Such is our fate." Aristotle said in a deep, mncholic voice.
"If it''s my fate to die on this battlefield then so be it. I much prefer to die there surrounded by my foes than in a soft bed, weak and frail, unable to control my own shit and piss." Xanthine gutsily retorted.
Seeing that there was no way of getting to either of them, Aristotle finally gave up.
"Ohh, it seems both of you have made up your minds. Then go. I shall pray for your victory" Aristotle said in a pained, disappointed voice.
"Instead of praying why don''t youe to battle with us? What good will praying do?" Nestoras sarcastically asked.
"We have had this conversation before my son. You have made your decision and I have made mine. We both did it thinking it was for the best of this group and I hope I am wrong and you are correct."
Finishing his sentence, the old man seemed to age ten years and his frame seemed to shrink, as he simply turned and walked away, his spine bent and shoulders slouched, like a defeated lion who had been exiled from his pride.
"Hmph, I AM right." Nestoras shot back, indifferent to his master''s sadness.
Then he shot back at Pallidus and asked, "And you? What''s your excuse for not fighting?"
Pallidus returned a cold reply, " I trust Aristotle''s judgment."
"You mean when it suits you. Heh, craven worm." Nestoras cursed.
"*Silence*" Pallidus didn''t even bother to look at the mad dog.
Then. atst, he turned to, in his eyes, the betrayer - Theocles.
"Why?" Nestoras spoke a single sybus that seemed to contain a mountain of questions, inquiries, doubts and emotions.
Because Nestoras really could not think of a reason why someone usually at odds with Alexander would side with him and even defend him so strongly.
It seemed like he had turned into Alexander''s sycophant overnight.
It just didn''t make sense to him.
"I believe in Alexander more than you." Came the short, curt reply.
"I thought you believed in money? I thought you said we had to take follow the order because our treasury was empty." Nestoras asked, agitated.
"Birds die for food, humans die for wealth. An empty treasury is better than a filled grave." Theocles answered in metaphors.
"Now you are poet, huh, schmuk." Nestorasshed out again, furious at not getting a straight answer.
Then he turned to face the crowd, pointed his finger at them and shouted, "All of you bastards remember this- ''This is not the end.'' Once Ie back, there will be reckoning."
The crowd simply stared back at him with stony silence.
After that, he turned to face his entourage, "Now loyal soldiers follow me. And I promise to lead you into victory. Those who follow me now will also get to keep everything you loot from Adhan." He enticed.
But his little "recruitment" speech did little to inspire the soldiers.
Maybe the promise of wealth could have attracted some greedy and stupid ones, but he had to offer it just after Theocle spoke the poetic words, ''Birds die for food, humans die for wealth'', which was still pretty fresh in everybody''s memory.
And after the recent show of force by Menes, the revtion of Ramuh''s will by Alexander, Nestora''s performance in thest battle, and his general state of mind, few soldiers felt optimistic about following their leader to battle.
As such, the crowd around him not only didn''t get thicker after his deration, it instead dispersed, leaving less than a hundred men scattered around him.
It was humiliating and Nestoras face looked darker than a ck hole.
But instead of going off like a super volcano, he just simply turned and signaled the men, whose numbers were not enough to even make half a phnx, to follow, as they made their way to the battlefield.
So, how could Nestowas use this small number of men to make a difference?
How will he deploy them?
Nobody knew, not even Nestoras.
Alexander saw the troops who were ''too small to be called a procession'' march off to battle, when suddenly an immature, high-pitched shrill pierced ears, "Alexander, you gotta stop him."
He slowly turned around to locate the owner of the familiar voice, a strong, medium build boy of 160cm, with curly back hair and big doe eyes.
This was Remus and he was currently running towards Alexander in full armor with panic written all over his face.
"Remus! What''s gotten you worked up about, boy?" Alexander greeted him calmly, in pr opposite of Remus''s urgency.
"It''s bad Alexander. Really bad. Romeus went to the battle with Nestoras. You gotta stop him." Remus pleaded.
"Hmm, Romeus is Nestoras''s guard. It''s only natural for him to go." Alexander logically pointed out.
"But he can''t fight. He can''t still remember the formations. And with so few that followed Nestoras, he likely won''t survive." Remus cried in fear.
"Well if you can figure it out, why can''t he? "Alexander asked almost sarcastically.
"Alexander, you know how he is. I tried talking to him but it only spurred him on. They haven''t gone far. Please, I beg of you. Just talk to him. He has always listened to you." Remus pleaded for his brother''s return with tears in his eyes.
That was not true.
Romeus didn''t always listen to Alexander and was a gross exaggeration on Remus''s part. He simply listened to Alexander a bit more than others.
"If I go in front of Nestoras now, I will bet the sun and moon that he will leave me at the first chance." Alexander lightly said.
Then his voice turned serious, "Everybody listened to what I had to say. And some chose to stay some chose to go. They each made their decision using their own mental faculties. What''s more is there to talk about?"
"Fine, if you won''t go, I will." Frustrated at Alexander''s indifference, Remus attempted to rush toward Nestoras''s group by himself.
Chapter 34 Remus
"Wait, you brat." Seeing the boy essentially about tomit suicide, Alexander hurriedly pulled the boy by the arm and stopped him.
"Let, me, go. I am also Nestoras''s guard. I have to join him." Remus spelled out.
"Idiot, you want to die with them that badly. Why didn''t you go earlier then" Alexander scolded the boy for his poor logic.
Then he sternly said, "Now, listen to me. You going there isn''t going to help Romeus at all. In fact, it will have the opposite effect. Do you get it?"
"But still I gotta try," Remus said in a pained voice, as he still tried to slip out of Alexander''s grasp.
So why would Remus being there have the opposite effect?
Because Romeus was a jealous, talentless piece of a hack.
Even though Remus was light years more talented than Romeus, he never treated his brother differently.
In fact, he always tried to share his spoils with him as much as possible.
He would try to teach Romeus the swordy that Nestoras taught him.
He would share the extra food and money he got.
He even got him a cushy job as Nestoras''s guard, for which he had to do a bucket ton of chores.
But he was happy to do this, to help his brother-his only kin in the world.
But did Romeus see and appreciate these efforts?
No, not for a second.
Because you see, the thing that''s worse than having an overachieving brother is having an over-achieving brother who likes to gloat and show off.
At least, that''s how it appeared in Romeus''s eyes.
Every time Remus would share something, instead of looking at it like something Remus was doing to help him or just sharing it with his brother, he would look at it like Remus was unting his achievements, taunting him and saying that he could never be equal to him.
As such, Romeus slowly began to change.
After all, sometimes. familiarity breeds contempt like no other.
He began to despise the ''charity'' given by Remus and would actively try to ignore or do the opposite of it.
Although he did take that cushy guard duty job. In that case, Romeus was more than happy and willing to exploit and ept Remus''s gift because it suited him.
Alexander, of course, pointed this out to Remus but still, he continued to do this because he felt that his brother was just foolish and ignorant and it was his job to take of him, even if he did not want it.
As the boy relentlessly against his vice grip, Alexander decided to use his trump card, the god card to get him to calm down.
"He chose his fate. The gods have written it. Who are you to challenge the gods?" He said.
"But, I can''t just let him die without doing anything." The boy repeated like a broken recorder.
"Yes, you can." Alexander felt his temper rise and snapped.
"You,¡ you,.. how can you say that?" Remus stopped struggling and turned to look at Alexander incredulously.
How could he tell him to just watch his brother die?
Seeing his red, snot-dripping face and the anger in his sky-blue eyes, Alexander was suddenly reminded of something.
It was not his problem.
Certainly, he liked the boy. He had talent, was quick-witted, and even funny.
But at the end of the day, this didn''t concern him.
It was between them brothers, between family.
As a stranger what right did he have to obstruct them?
So he suddenly let go of the boy''s hand and solemnly said, "I am sorry. Please do what do think is best."
"What?" Atst free, the ecstatic boy was about to run off when Alexander''s solemn apology made him stop in his tracks.
He had never heard Alexander speak like that before.
Alexander repeated, "It''s not right for me to stop you. You want to go to your brother, please, go."
Although this sounded like good news, Remus was actually more concerned.
"Why are you speaking like that Alexander?" He asked, his extremely sharp senses picking up the now cold detached tone from the previous warm, concerned one.
It seemed like Alexander stopped caring about him.
"It is very possible your brother will die today. I don''t want you to me meter that I didn''t let you save your brother. Go, if you want to go." Alexander fully disclosed.
"Will he really die?" Remus asked, shivering in fright.
What Alexander said was gonna happen, usually tended to happen.
"Most likely." Alexander coldly replied.
"Will me going there help? Remus asked a question he knew the answer to.
"No. He went there to prove to you that you are wrong and he is right. You going there will only spur him on to be even more reckless." Alexander confirmed his suspicions.
The boy, expecting such an answer, simply stared at the ground for a while and then dered in a steely voice."Alright, I won''t go. As you said, I can''t help Romeus. He has chosen his path and I shouldn''t stop him. The gods have written his fates and who am I to challenge them?" He finished with a quote Alexander told him.
"Are you sure? You can still catch up. Don''t let it be a regret for the rest of your life." Alexander pressed.
"Umm, I will that pray you are wrong and the gods have written blessed fortune for my brother." He said in a choking voice, now tears suddenly streaming from his eyes.
Then he turned and started running towards the camp, his tear drops staining the soil.
Remus felt that if he stayed there any longer longing at his brother''s back, even if his brain told him not to go, his heart would force him to go.
Such a situation would not be favorable for either of them.
So he decided to shield his sight from his brother''s image and retreat into the silently observing crowd.
"*Sigh*, this war is tearing us apart" From the side, Menes let out a long breath after silently witnessing the conversation.
And Alexander could not help but agree.
A mercenary group whose leader goes to battle with less than a hundred soldiers while most chooses not to follow doesn''t likely have a bright future.
Regardless if they win or lose, this mercenary group''s days were probably numbered.
ncing at the back of Remus, Alexander muttered, in admiration "Such immense willpower. To want to do something so much yet stopping oneself from doing it. I wish I had one-tenth his willpower when I was his age,"
And although no one knew it, today''s incident would stay with Remus for his entire life, shaping, moulding and sculpting many major decisions of his life.
Chapter 35 Alexander, Slave Or Free?
Casting his eyes off Remus, Alexander turned his attention to another man, who seemed to have taken the wrong medicine today.
It was time he had a talk with him.
"Theocles, I wanted to talk about our supplies situation. Cambyses tells me it''s really dire." Alexander said, approaching the bearded man.
"Ah, Alexander, I wanted to get your advice on that as well. She is right, we are in a bit of a pinch. Let us go discuss this somewhere quieter." Theocles enthusiastically gestured to follow.
? Many might find a freeman being so cordial to a mere ve surprising.
But this was not a unique case for Alexander only.
Because, unlike the pitiless, racist, extremist of the American south where very was determined by the color of your skin, here very had no barriers.
Race, sex, religion and even social status held no say if you could or could not be a ve.
One could be a ve by being in debt, being captured as a prisoner of war, being conquered, or because ofmitting a crime.
If one''s luck wasn''t good, even the sons and daughters of nobles could be ves.
And because of this potentiality, though punishing and beating a disobedient ve was considered normal, society as a whole tended to look down upon anyone who would kill ves without any reason.
Of course, a ve master could legally beat a disobedient ve to death in public just as well as he could do it to a fully obedient one.
But this was the social equivalent of putting your feet up on the table during a dinner party or wearing a bikini to a wedding.
Technically legal, but you won''t be making any friends this way.
And in this age of strict social hierarchy, one''s social standing meant a lot.
Much, much more than it does in modern times.
One''s business, social contacts, friends, and even ess to good food and drinks all depended on your social status.
And thus, most people who made it there were careful to toe the line and not stray far for fear of being turned into a pariah.
As most ves looked like them, though they had no legal rights, they could surprisingly set up shop, earn money, hold official posts and even be tutors for their master''s children.
A ve could give his own opinions and even argue with his masters over things such as business, work, investments, etc.
And most of the time, if their masters were reasonable, would take heed of their judgment because many times a ve would know more about a particr topic than them.
Some ves were even paid wages by their masters and could buy back their freedom.
And, it wasmon to see rich masters free ves in their wills, almost the equivalent of modern-day charity donations.
As such, though not legally seen as humans, society viewed them as one.
It was just that society didn''t believe all humans deserved the same rights.
Hence it was not at all strange for Theocles to Alexander treat amiably, who was far from being ordinary.
Invited to get away from curious ears, Alexander agreed, "Then please lead the way.".
Soon, under the curious gazes of the crowd, who stayed behind to witness the battle about to ur at the foot of the valley, the duo made their way toward the middle of the camp.
"How long do you think this group willst?" Alexander offhandedly asked as he followed Theocles meandering through the tents.
"If Nestoras doesn''t die soon, then not long. Most likely this campaign will be ourst." Theocles ominously predicted.
"Hmmm," Came the silent hum of agreement from Alexander.
He too shared Theocles''s view.
A leader who charges into battle alone, against the advice of all his phnx captains, with less than a hundred people following him was of no sound mind to lead anyone.
In his mind, Alexander, who has skeptical about the existence of god, silently prayed for Nestoras to not return alive today.
The rest of the walk passed in silence, as the duo atst reached the ce Theocles was leading them to, his tent.
"Tal, Sal, did you finish helping Cambyses?" Theocles asked the two standing guards as he approached them.
"Yes, we helped mistress carry everything she asked for. She''s at the medical camp now." Tal answered nodding his head.
"Good, good, great job." Theocles exaggeratedly praised. "Now, I am sure both of you are tired today. Return to your quarters and I shall call you when I require it." He said.
The ves looked at each a bit confused at this order, and then Sal suggested, "But, sir your tent will be left unguarded. Let at least one of us stay."
"Go, now!" Suddenly Theocles''s amicable tone turned fierce as hemanded the ves to leave.
Hearing the hard tone, the two ves quickly lowered their heads, turned around and left for themunal ve quarters, leaving the two men out of any prying ears.
"Please, kindly enter." Theocles softly invited Alexander to follow him inside the tent.
And after they entered, he pointed to a chair and gestured, "Please sit here and make yourselffortable."
"I will stand. Your attitude is making me sick." Came Alexander''s freezing reply."
"Hehe, I just want to know I am on your side." Theocles wasn''t at all bothered by the rude answer.
Even he would be on guard if someone he didn''t get along with suddenly started getting all chummy.
"Right¡." Came the slow drawn reply.
"You are right to be suspicious. I can even guess what you are thinking, ''What''s he plotting?'', ''Did someone put him up to this to get my trust?'', ''What''s his angle?'' Well, let me exin." Theocles said, spreading out his arms.
"This ought to be good." Alexander thought, as he silently stared at the man.
"To make a long answer short, it''s because you are the only realistic choice," Theocles revealed.
Then he started to exin in excruciating detail his entire reason, "You see me siding with you was not an impromptu decision. As a matter of fact, I decided to mend our bridges after long and careful deliberation." He revealed.
"I will admit I didn''t pay a lot of attention to you at first. All those new things you showed in your childhood, I chalked it up as you being a bona fide boy genius or that sage story you made up. It was only after Nestoras reced Constans with Menes as second inmand did I vaguely started getting a sense of your ambition. Tsk, tsk, so low yet so ambitious, you are." Theocles said in a surprisingly praising tone.
Sensing the tone of his voice and knowing the various powerys inside the group, Alexander had an inkling where Theocles was going, and so decided to open up a bit.
He revealed with a crafty grin, "Nestoras was my absolute master and hadplete control over me in my first eight years. I had to be very obedient and carefully toe the line. But with my talent revealing itself, Nestoras began to appreciate me more and more. He began to slowly trust me more and more and even let me indulge in some of my fancier whims. All to keep the golden gooseying good,rge, golden eggs."
This golden egg was a euphemism for all his innovations, from food to tactics to medical skills.
He then raised his fist and said, "But using this trust, over time I managed to manipte him more and more to my way. My magnum opus till now is the Menes-Constans thing that you pointed out. I simply hinted to him that if Constans remained second inmand, it may be hard for his son Octavius to smoothly take over and he bought it hook, line and sinker.
"I then pointed him to the only viable candidate who could go toe to toe with Constans here- Menes and Nestoras looked at the ck giant with love in his eyes. After all, Menes had little reputation in the group, had the low status of a former ve and his previous master was Octavius. A perfect subservient second inmand in Nestoras''s eyes, who would not only not challenge Octavius but could even help and protect him, as he did before¡ heh."
That little ''heh'' he said at the end with a disdainful smirk carried almost an infinitude of mockery towards his master.
Because it was after that did Alexander suddenly seem to gain wings and now, protected by Menes, his demure towards Nestoras began to rapidly change.
He started to do things his way, in ways that benefitted him, regardless of his master''s wishes.
Menes too changed from the dumb, loyal giant they all thought of him he was.
He left Nestoras and Octavius''s faction soon, finding his own faction with Alexader and the two began to openly consolidate their position in the soldiers'' hearts at an astronomical pace.
And because of Nestoras and Constans''s rivalry, who were more focused on each other than Alexander and Menes, the two youngsters could grow and flourish to this day.
Chapter 36 Puppeteer
Listening to the ve before him gloat, Theocles, even though he was on the same side, felt a bit acidic in his heart.
He let out a sigh in vexation, "*Sigh*, Nestoras and Aristotle should have killed you at the beginning when you were still just a normal albeit a bit popr ve. No matter the potential future loss!"
"It''s easy to find mistakes in hindsight." Alexander pointed.
"Yes,.. yes, it is. I can''t im to have done much better, myself." Theocles dejectedly admitted. "As you said, ''we all wanted the golden goose to keepying good, everrger, golden eggs''.
"We must have thought things like, ''how can we adults be unable to deal with a brat whose nose milk is yet to dry?'' and ''are we going to be afraid of a mere ve who is yet to grow hair down there?'' and ''we can kill him any time anywhere''. Hehe, boy were we proven wrong." Theocles unreservedly ridiculed himself.
"Greed and overconfidence. Greed and overconfidence." Alexander spelled it out twice to highlight its importance.
" Yes, two certain things that lead all men to ruin." Theocles nodded heavily.
"We should have been more careful about you and we should have never overlooked Menes just because of his skin color." He emphasized.
It had to be noted that even among ves, ck ves were discriminated against as being big dumb brutes, a stereotype originating from how the ck ve trade was run.
Ironically, born-free ck people were not treated as such, being treated as equals like all other races. It was only the ck ves that were subjected to this bigotry.
"You know", Theocles informed." after Constans lost his candidacy to Nestoras, he genuinely took the defeat graciously. He never had a motive to usurp either Nestoras or Octavius. It was you who nted that baseless seed of suspicion in Nestoras''s head and the fool watered it, fertilized it, and let it grow. And it was only after Nestoras showed his hostility to Constans did Constans also start showing hostility to Nestoras. That behavior was of course seen by Nestoras as confirmation of his suspicions, not even considering that it might have been his recent actions that provoked him. So he doubled down on Constans, and Constans retaliated in kind, ultimately fracturing the once harmonious group."
"Hehe, if the group was harmonious and united, how could a lowly ve like me ever rise?" Alexander ridiculed him with a chuckle.
The example with Nestoras and Constans was one of the most simple examples of human psychology.
If someone, suppose- Man A, thinks that another man, Man B is hostile to him. So in response, he shows hostility to him, Man B, who was in reality just minding his own business now sees that Man A is bing hostile to him. So to protect himself he also turns hostile to Man A. And this behavior, Man A sees as confirmation of his suspicions and bes even more hostile.
This creates a vicious positive feedback loop where both men be increasingly hostile towards each other because they believe it is the other person that''s bing hostile when in reality neither of them really wants to be hostile to one other.
A real-life example would be a global arms race.
Theocles seemed unperturbed at being mocked by a mere boy.
He simply sighed and said with a deep look, "Yes, you are like a puppeteer conducting his show. It''s absurd to think that this was orchestrated by an underaged boy."
"Your little stunt meant that the camp divided itself into three factions, me, Xanthine, and Constans in the neutral sometimes anti-Nestoras faction and Aristotle, Pallidus, and Nestoras joining forces to contain your faction.
"And this worked for the time being. A delicate bnce with each other acting like a three-legged stool kept the group stable. To further strengthen the group, we even selected a legitimate sessor- Octavius- to discourage coups from you or Menes." He revealed.
"But today everything has changed. Today''s battle killed Octavius and Constans and made Xanthine suddenly decide to switch to Aristotle''s side. Our delicate bnce of power has been shattered." Hemented.
"That''s very good. Although the battle was a fiasco, I will admit a few positive things happened for me." Alexander gloated.
"Yes, I am sure it has," The middle-aged man gently smile.
"After today''s result, How could you, the ever-opportunist, let go of this golden opportunity? I understood a battle for the control of the group was inevitable. With Constants and the sessor of the camp- Octavius dead, the likely sessor candidate would be the strongest warrior- in this case, Menes or following the tradition of the leader''s prot¨¦g¨¦ bing the sessor, you or Remus. All three candidates are someone neither Nestoras nor the old coot, Aristotle can ever agree to." Theocles exposed.
Alexander lightly smiled.
That was his conclusion as well.
Alexander voiced out his thoughts then, "I do agree Constants dying was an immense boon for me. That monster was the only one who could go toe to toe or muscle-to-muscle with Menes. And Remus is too young and greatly under my influence. Realistically, it would have to be me or Menes, who is.."
"Under your thumb." Theocles snatched his words.
And then quickly added, "Sorry, could not resist," as Alexander simply stared back with an icy stare.
"But, you can see my options." He then proceeded to end his long exnation, "Choose either the old decaying side of Nestoras supported by the old farts- Aristotle and Xanthine who both have one foot inside the grave or choose the vibrant, young andpetent side of you and Menes. And with Nestoras bing increasingly deranged after his son''s death, the choice was made even easier. He is no longer fit to lead us." Theocles, atst, finished his long answer.
"You forgot the word ''scheming''." Alexander reminded him to add that to his description. "Heh, I schemed so much. You aren''t afraid I will scheme against you? He then smirked.
"That''s why I chose you. You can scheme against me. Nestoras can''t." Theocles returned a chuckle.
Chapter 37 Side Chosen
While Theocles and Alexander discussed Nestoras, Xanthine, Constans, Menes, and Octavius, keen readers might wonder, ''What about Pallidus?''
Why did neither men bother to discuss him?
Because they disdained even mentioning him.
He was one of those people who were not good enough to be useful but not terrible enough to be fired.
p He was okay as a captain but more importantly, he was the loyal attack dog of Aristotle, doing things unsuitable for either him or Nestoras, which is why they still kept him.
But when it came to managing or ruling people, the ipetent fool was not even qualified to run as a vige chief, let alone lead a mercenary group.
His own phnx was entirely managed by his deputy- Ignomus.
The buffon just had muscles and knew only how to bully the weak and fear the strong.
Although Theocles seemed to portray as Alexander the only viable option, Alexander had a different thought, "You say you only had two options, me or Nestoras. But what about the third option- you?"
"Hahaha, it seems you don''t know me quite as well as you like to think." Theocles let out a jovialugh.
"Did you know that I was in line topete with Nestoras for the mercenary leader position? Yes, Nestoras, Constans, and I all vied for the mercenary leader position. Sure Nestoras was the favorite, supported by the then-leader Aristotle, but Constans had Xanthine, both of them were founders and Constans was older and more experienced than Nestoras. Hence they were pretty well matched." Theocles recounted.
"But where was I you ask? I was the wild card! I represented the neutral or ambivalent soldiers, much like I do now. Although I could not realistically win, I would influence who won. Because whichever side I joined, would have their scales heavily tipped in their favor."
"All of them knew this. And all of them enticed me with various perks. Atst, Aristotle used his authority as the mercenary leader to make me an offer I couldn''t refuse. He offered me the quartermaster position in a backroom deal in exchange for my support for Nestoras. And I took it, much preferring to use my mind for taking inventory rather than for plotting and scheming."
After that, he finished by asking Alexander, "So, tell me, why would I want to be the leader in my old age when I gave it up in my youth?"
"Maybe, because you have an actual shot now. Maybe after tasting power for so long, you want more. Maybe you want to personally screw over Aristotle who used me and Cambyses to erode your power. Or maybe everything you said was a lie." Alexander graciously gave several possible answers.
"Heh, nothing escapes that little head of yours, huh?" Theocles only smirked in response. "If I wanted to be leader, I could have teamed up with you in exchange for your emancipation from Nestoras and reced him some time ago. Why didn''t I?" He asked rhetorically.
To Alexander, this did seem to make sense.
Theocle then let out a heavy sigh, "I am already pushing forty now. I may have a good ten, maybe fifteen years if I am lucky, of fighting left in me, I can already feel my body squeak and creak when I do any heavy exercise. I don''t have the strength to be a leader anymore. I just want a cushy job and I think you are my best bet to getting it." Finally, Theocles showed his selfish motive.
"Hmm, I see. Okay, you have convinced me and I will trust you for now." At longst, Alexander finally let his guard down.
In fact, if Theocles had only said that he didn''t want to be the leader and only wanted a cushy job, he could have won Alexander''s trust much sooner.
After all, call Alexander a cynic, but he never believed anyone ever did anything altruistic, at least not people in power.
He was much more reassured when people in power told him they were doing something for personal gain rather than for some grand good purpose.
"Thank you, you won''t regret it. And don''t worry, after Nestoras returns, I and Menes will force him to release you. With you bing a freedman, doing many things will be a cinch." Theocles eagerly offered, wanting to make himself appear valuable.
Hearing Theocles''s offer, and the implications of it made Alexander have mixed feelings about it.
On one hand with Nestoras returning alive he would be free by today, but as they had discussed before, Nestoras still breathing would likely mean the death of this mercenary group or at least a deep schism.
This did not sit well with Alexander who saw the mercenary group as one coherent group of muscles that he would need to get his grand n off the ground.
He had even picked out a few suitable locations for him to nt his dream.
But then Alexander suddenly remembered, Nestoras''s fate was not in his hands.
At the end of the day, it would be the gods that would decide if he returned or not.
And if he did return, Theocle''s support woulde in very handy.
So he politely epted the offer, "Thanks, I will not forget this help."
Then he asked, "But do you have any n for Aristotle."
"Don''t worry too much about the old man. He has hidden it very well, but he is not very well. Took some medicine for headaches and nausea from me just a while ago.." Theocles revealed an important piece of news. "We can make him do what is best for the group, announce you or Menes, the sessor or better yet the leader."
Alexander was surprised by the news of the wizened warrior stealing medicine.
Medicines were usually Cambyses''s department but it seems the old man didn''t even fully trust his god-daughter, hence he came begging to Theocles for some.
"It seems the old lion can''t outrun death forever. Thanks." Alexander expressed his gratitude for this new revtion.
"Don''t mention it." Theocles quickly returned.
Thinking that the conversation was over Alexander turned to leave the tent when Theocles suddenly spoke in a surprisingly pleading tone, "There is onest little thing I wanted to know."
Chapter 38 Loyal Zealot
Alexander turned back to look at the man, who seemed to be finding it hard to form words.
"A little thing. A tiny thing. It''s really no big deal. " He started to stammer and beat around the bush.
Alexander had never seen the always eloquent man lose himself like this and subconsciously a frown formed on his face.
Noticing this, Theocles finally plucked up the courage to straightforwardly asked, "Are you really not blessed by Gaia?"
His tone and expression were wildly different from what Alexander had ever seen before. Instead of the usual rough, deep voice, it was deferential and he looked at him with almost puppy dog eyes.
Alexander instinctively wanted to deny this, but stopped himself.
This could be an opportunity, he thought.
So he said, "I will deny ever saying this, but the goddess Gaia has told me not to reveal myself yet. Her whims are fickle and I can only get glimpses of what she wants to show me."
What Alexander really meant by that was ''The knowledge I have with me might or might not help us out of this predicament. So don''t count on it too much.''
But Theocles interpreted it as ''Goddess Gaia does speak to me. But she sends things ording to her will, not ording to my needs..''
Upon hearing Alexander tacitly confirm his connection to divinity, Theocles practically leaped up in joy, his hooded eyes lighting up as he promised, "Don''t worry, your secret is safe with me. If I utter a single word about it, let me be damned to the river Styx for all eternity."
It had to be said that Theocles was not a god-fearing man.
He could even bebeled as being closer to being atheistic rather than theistic.
That was until he met Alexander.
The young boy had disyed knowledge and maturity that in his eyes really would onlye from the gods.
As such, his theist views started to overtake his atheistic ones, and although Alexander himself always denied it, he still held the view of him being rted to the gods.
So getting an explicit confirmation of his beliefs was enough to send the man over the moon.
But, what about Alexander saying he could not see the messages properly?
How can someone im to be able to talk to gods and not understand what they are saying?
Wasn''t that just fraud?
Well, how can it be easy for mortals to understand a god?
Given the gods'' infinite knowledge, it''s only natural for any human to feel overwhelmed and not be able to fullyprehend their messages.
The faulty not with the gods in their infinite power, but with the frail human minds'' inability to amodate andprehend them.
Of course, this belief was not Theocles''s but spread throughout the ancient world by soothsayers.
,m Soothsayers were a real thing in this period and ce, holding positions of power enough to affect every policy of a nation.
They did not only exist in small or medium city-states but also held immense power in ces like Cantagena, Adhania, and even in the broken royal court of Mikana.
The things they said when they were put in a trance and made to participate in an annual ceremony were heard and interpreted by the ruling ss and the city''s next year policies were decided based on this.
Once a soothsayer of a small city-state prophesy was interpreted as the ruler''s newborn son one day growing up to overthrow him.
Hearing this the ruler did not abandon, exile, or simply kill his new flesh and blood.
No, that would have been far too humane.
He cooked and ate the boy.
Such was the immense power soothsayers held over those who chose to believe them.
Hearing Theocles''s passionate vow, although Alexander kept a poker face, internally he was happy as a punch.
He had just obtained a blindly loyal, god-fearing zealot with ess to all the camp''s resources.
So he decided to y the part of a divine being, "Gaia has witnessed your vow and is impressed with your pure heart. She said never to lose that purity and never to lead someone astray."
What Alexander meant by that was- ''Don''t ever fuc*ing lie to me.''
Hearing Gaia had talked to Alexander about him just now, Theocles felt an overwhelming surge of emotions and he simply prostrated onto the ground,pletely surrendering his heart and soul to Alexander.
Then he solemnly dered, " I hereby dere to follow the son of Gaia till my death. May the goddess witness me and save my soul from damnation."
Responding to his first follower''s promise, Alexander quickly replied in a deep, pious tone, "Work hard, and Gaia will surely take you in her gentle embrace."
"I will. And I still remember the Holy son asking me about the food crisis before. Please let your faithful servant manage it. I promise to not disappoint you."
He then looked at Alexander with zealous mes burning in his eyes.
Seeing someone so eager to work so hard for him, Alexander consented, "Okay, I will leave it to you then. And remember to call me Alexander as you did before. The goddess still doesn''t want me to reveal myself." Alexander reminded.
"Yes, a thousand apologies. I will be sure to remember it." Theocles swiftly replied.
"I will leave you to your work then. I want to see how the battle is going." Saying this, Alexander strode out of the tent,
"Then please take care. And I will always be avable if you require even the smallest assistance." Theocles shouted from the back as he showed him out with the utmost deference.
As he left, Alexander muttered in his heart "I can see the appeal.", referring to the many examples of people in his previous life who imed to be gods and created their cults.
Just the power and pleasure he felt with only one follower prostrating before him was so intoxicating.
Alexander''s heart throbbed in both fear and excitement at the thought of what it would feel like if an entire nation did this.
Chapter 39 Battle Begins
"Your Majesty, arge Cantagenan contingent, estimated to be around fifteen thousand strong is heading straight towards us." A scout cavalry informed Amenheraft.
Although this report wasrgely redundant.
Because such arge force assembling so near was impossible to miss.
Even if they were asleep, just the sheer noise of all those people marching and singing together would have probably woken them up.
"Looks like you were right, Manuk. Hehe, the bait just looked that delicious, huh Agapios? Hearing his scout''s report, Amenheratf let out a small chuckle as he taunted Agapios, still unaware of thetter''s demise.
Agapios had always been a thorn in Adhania''s eyes.
Though Cantagena was a naval superpower, with its sailors regarded as being the best of the best and only matched by the Sybarsis, in contrast, Cantagena''snd forces were just above average, a far cry from the absolute elites wielded by the likes of Exs and Adhania.
And unlike thetter two''s army made up of mostly loyal, professional soldiers supplemented by conscripts, Cantagena''s army was made up of mostly conscripts and mercenaries, supplemented by a professional core.
But even with such a mismatch of quality of forces, it was the genius of Agapios that enabled Cantagena and her allies to hold off thebined aggression of Exs and Adhania for so many years.
As such, to be able to trick one of the greatest militarymanders of his times not once but twice caused the king to be very pleased.
"It seems the old lion is really desperate. If he wasn''t at the end of his ropes, he would certainly not haveunched such a risky attack at the dawn of dusk." Manuk replied with a pleased, knowing smile.
The words ''desperate'' and ''at the end of his ropes'' had double meanings here that few around them could understand.
It did not only refer to the battlefield situation right in front of them but also to the situation back home.
Manuk knew that depending on how the battle went for Agapios, it would positively or adversely affect his illegitimate daughter, Ophenia, back home.
A daughter graciously gifted by Adhania to the general on that fateful night twenty years ago.
But unaware of all theplex web of intrigue, the captain of the royal guards from the sides said, "His soldiers must be at the end of their ropes with the long march, yet he dares to attack so soon. The lion has turned into a senile old cough, cough."
But before he could finish mocking the enemy, suddenly he let out a series of ear-splitting coughs.
"Brother¡," Seeing his elder brother cough up blood, Manuk rushed to hold him in panic.
"I am okay, I am okay, Something just got caught in my, cough, cough." Beihrut tried to y it off as nothing.
"Beihrut, Manuk and Kefka can take it from here. You have contributed greatly to the defense of Adhan. Now, go rest." Amenheraft witnessing his royal guard captain''s pale face asked him to retire in concern.
"How can the captain of the royal guards leave to rest for himself when his king in the battlefield?" Beihrut loudly imed, visibly offended at the idea of leaving his king alone.
He dered, "I will leave your side when I am dead."
Knowing the man since childhood, Amenheraft understood he had made his decision and arguing any longer would be a practice in futility.
He was called the ''Mad royal dog'' for a reason after all.
So he simply consented, "Okay, you can stay. But only next to me. You are not allowed to fight in a battle normand it. Just rest here. We will camp soon and you can rest then."
Receiving themand, Beihrut simply sat atop his horse, sulking.
He felt the king was being unnecessarily careful.
He had been injured before and recovered just the same.
And he will damn sure recover from this one as well.
But what Amenheraft, Manuk, Beihrut, or anyone else in the camp failed to notice, all being absorbed in their work, was that Beihrut''s face was rapidly bing pale and he was running a raging fever.
Usually, even with the kind of injury he took, the strong as a bull man should have been able to easily recover.
So the question was, why was his situation deteriorating?
Seeing the battlefield develop just as Manuk predicted, Amenheraft decided."Manuk, you go take personal control of the battle from Kefka. This was your n and you should be the one to execute it."
"Thank you, Your Highness. Please wait for my triumphant return." Manuk quickly thanked and then turned his horse.
"Wait." Suddenly Amenheraft''s concerned voice rang out from behind. "The report said ten thousand troops, but by our estimates, it should be twenty thousand. Be careful of anyst tricks that old lion might have." He cautioned.
"*Nod*, I will keep it in mind, Your Majesty." Reassuring the king for the second time, he quickly rode off.
"March straight ahead and as quickly as possible." Samaras gave the simplestmand possible, knowing that followingplex orders would be impossible for soldiers in the dark.
"Hahhh." Came the collective cheer.
In this marching formation, in one phnx of no particr specialty were about a hundred very special people.
Yes, there they were, Nestoras, Xanthine, Romeus, and co.
Because they were too few to form their own unit, they were put in another rag-tag phnx led by Rigias''s mercenary group.
This mercenary leader had chosen to heed Samaras''s call at thest moment.
As the army waded through the knee-deep mud to engage the enemy, Samaras kept barking at them to walk faster.
It seemed no matter how fast they moved their two feet, it was never fast enough for the new general.
Though, in all due fairness, Samaras could not really be faulted for his haste.
Dusk was dawning fast and he wanted to engage the enemy before the light faded.
Also, just before the cauldron became sealed he sent runners inside it to ask the soldiers trapped inside to resist and fight and not surrender, promising them they would be relieved before dusk.
He made the oath by the names of the gods and he had to keep it.
"If it wasn''t for that rumor, I would have had more time." Samaras cursed and cursed the same words inside his mind.
Though, this was in fact true.
They had wasted a lot of time convincing and even forcing soldiers to join the offensive, which severely put them behind schedule, which led them to this brutal forced march and made the already exhausted soldiers even more tired.
"Will these men be able to even lift their spears once we meet the enemy?" This thought ran across Damious''s mind after looking at the dead-eyed, panting, exhausted faces of the marching soldiers.
It seemed that a stiff breeze would knock them over.
And Damious wasn''t the only one to notice this.
Almost all the captains sensed this.
But they were all also aware of the reality and hence were forced to ept the situation.
They had no choice but to march at full speed in such treacherous terrain, expending enormous stamina to meet the enemy, just to have a chance at winning.
As they were approaching to sh with the enemy, suddenly a horrifying thought crept into Samaras''s mind, "What if there''s an ambush waiting for us just likest time?"
This single thought shook him to the core and he rushed to Damious, "Damious, there might be an ambush waiting for us. I want you to send two thousand soldiers from each nk into the woods to check for any."
"What? What ambushes? All the slingers are here engaging in melee." Damious asked incredulously.
"We fell into a trap before because we didn''t scout properly. Do you want to do it again? Do you know if all the soldiers were used to make the cauldron? Adhania could hide fifteen thousand soldiers once, they can do it again." Samaras made a dark prediction.
He was somehow in his mind convinced there was a second ambush waiting for him.
After all, if it works one time, why can''t it work a second time?
"Why are you saying it now? What''s the use? We already gave them themands." Damious argued, reluctant to issuepletely newmands when they were so close to the enemy.
"I forgot about it okay." Samaras frankly admitted. " I was too busy and I have never led an army before and it just slipped my mind."
"If you had forgotten it, It would have been better if it had stayed forgotten." Damious spat out in exasperation, though he was more mad at himself than Samaras.
"Dammit, how could such a simple tactic slip my mind. My brain must have been eaten by dung worms." He cursed himself.
Though in his defense, hunger, fatigue, and sleep deprivation were not known to produce the best-thinking minds.
Both his and Samaras''s thinking capabilities had been severely degraded over thest two days and it was showing itself here.
Disaster!
Chapter 40 Fish In A Barrel
Damious was caught between a rock and a hard ce.
Although, he did not want to split his forces and his mind kept telling him to ignore Samaras, a small doubt of ''What if'' lingered at the back of his mind.
As Samaras had pointed out, it was true they didn''t do the proper scoutingst time, though it was mostly because it was Adhania who had approached them to engage, leaving them no time to do it.
It was also true that they didn''t know where all of Adhania''s forces were.
If Samaras was right and there was an ambush waiting for them, to fall for the same trick twice, they would be lucky future generations only called them donkeys.
As Damious was busy contemting a myriad of things, seeing him dally, Samaras pleaded again, "Damious, I am convinced there is an ambush waiting for us. I am begging you, tell your mercenaries to intercept them. There''s still time."
Samaras had changed his words from wanting to scout for an ambush to confidently proiming there was an ambush.
Hearing, Samaras''s plea and his confident tone and thinking back to his own earlier experience, Damious, atst, became convinced really might be something.
Because if there really was an ambush waiting for them, for them to have even a molecule chance of winning this battle, they had to foil it NOW.
"Okay, I will send a thousand soldiers to each nk." Damious finally relented.
"No, send the two thousand I requested." Samaras objected to the halved number of soldiers.
"We are already outnumbered. And now you want to split our forces even more?" Damiousined with some certain anger in his voice.
"We need to send the two thousand. " Samaras imed. "Our soldiers are very tired and I fear if theye across some strong units, they might simply break at contact. With two thousand, they will at least have some depth to fall back into." Samaras spelled out his reason to choose the number two thousand.
From this little exchange, it could be seen that Samaras was no ipetent greenhorn and whatever minor foibles he had was a result of inexperience leadingrge armies and not because of ack of skill.
For example, to use this particr incident, he had taken into consideration the soldiers'' physical state and fighting capabilities and prepared an appropriate mass of force to ensure their survival.
As a matter of fact, Samaras was recognized as a genius in Cantagena and this fame was not undeserved.
The brilliant move Agapios used to catch the Adhanians off guard was in reality jointly developed by the master-disciple duo.
He was Agapios''s prot¨¦g¨¦ who was apanying him in this campaign as a way to gain experience and eventually take his mantle.
He was also to be Agapios''son-inw, though, s, that prospect now seemed unlikely.
Hearing Samaras''s reason, Damious was a bit taken back at the in-depth thinking and quickly agreed, dividing the twelve thousand-strong army into three parts- the eight thousand-strong central core of mostly Cantagenans and two nks of two thousand each sent to scout both sides made up of mercenaries.
Although this tactic seemed sound on paper, if they were a bit more patient, they would have realized that Adhanians splitting up to ambush them did not really make sense.
The battle was happening at the foot of a valley and Samaras had camped atop a hill, meaning any and all troop movements could be clearly seen from the vantage point.
Also, ambushes were typically done by outnumbered enemies to surprise and deal critical damage to the enemy.
Why bother waiting for the enemy to get into the appropriate position and then attack them when you can amass yourrger force and directly take the battle to them?
But Samaras had made a rash proposal in the heat of battle, letting his doubt and over-thinking get the better of him, and Damious too, seeing they were so close to engaging the enemy had no time to properly think and so in a blind moment of panic, decided to defer to Samaras and split the army!
This would prove to be a big mistake!
"Kefka, His Majesty has sent me to take over," Manuk informed his long-known colleague, cing his horse behind him.
"You''rete. So, I have already started the n." The blonde, shy man replied in a crafty tone, as if happy to be able to pull one off the star of this war.''
"Good then. I wasn''t too optimistic about the cunning fox to bite, but it seems I over-estimated him." Manuk replied in praise, unconcerned about the unauthorized deployment.
This ''wasn''t sure'' statement seemed to rile up the thin-faced face as heined, "You¡you know how many good soldiers we lost because youmanded them not to close the cauldron too quickly."
"A true tragedy. My heart beats for them all." Manuk replied in a pious solemn way.
Though Kefka knew his colleague as the archpriest at the temple of Ramuh had long ago perfected the art of appearing to bleed for the masses while in reality not feeling the slightest emotion for them.
"But it was worth it wasn''t it? I was afraid we would need to fight multiple battles but Ramuh has blessed us. The enemy has swallowed the bait hook, line, and sinker." Manuk justified his approach.
"Hmph, don''t count your fish until you caught them."Came Kekfa''s displeased reply.
Nestoras was moving left, along with Rigias''s mercenary group who were tasked with scouting that side.
Nestoras still could not understand why they had received ast-second order to change course from marching straight ahead to marching left, in a northwest direction. and although he wanted to resist, he was reminded he was no longer a mercenary leader here but a mere grunt.
As the group traversed the extremely muddy ground, they soon found out that the closer they got to the forest, the drier the ground became.
This was because the forest was a bit elevated from the open field down below, allowing the soil to drain better.
The soldiers were ecstatic that they could finally properly ce their feet on solid ground and not have them sink a few inches and quickly proceeded to the forest.
The head of the formation entered the forest to check for hidden soldiers and fortunately found no signs of an ambush.
Which was good.
What was less good was whaty instead in front of them.
They were stunned at the new nasty surprise waiting for them there, which was no hidden army but just a mass of white!
In their eyes, the forest floor had turnedpletely white, or more urately it got fully covered in white fog.
The fog had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and was rapidly filling up the forest floor and it seemed it would soon engulf the entire foot of the valley, where the battle was urring.
As if the darkness wasn''t enough, now they had to fight in the fog too!
Impossible!
Regias decided on the spot he had to inform Samaras of this and then order a retreat.
But just as he was about to order a 180-degree turn to return, a discord of panicked and fearful screams hit his ears.
Because, just five hundred meters to their right all of them saw it, a contingent of Adhanian heavy infantry rapidly closing in on them, determined to smash right into their exposed right nk.
"So this is how it ends, huh."
This was Regias''s first thought after seeing the ck mass approaching them, wielding, to him what seemed like not spears but the scythes of death.
But, how did such arge force sneak up on a force of two thousand men?
Well, it was already dusk and visibility wasn''t the best.
The approaching orderly soldiers seemed to have meshed perfectly with the tall, neat tree lines and the sound of the two thousand men drowned out the approaching march of the enemy.
If anyone did hear anything unusual, most would think it came from their own side.
But many may ask, did none of the four thousand eyes or thousand ears catch a glimpse or hear the sound of so many men?
Well, it is very hard to hear anything with the heavy leather-padded bronze helmet on and even if someone did hear it, there was no way to if whose side it came from.
That''s why using unique horns and trumpet sounds that soldiers beforehand memorized was the only effective way tomunicate in battle.
As for seeing the enemy, imagine trying to see anything out of a thing that has slits about the size of your eyes.
And not only that the soldiers were always arranged in as tight a formation as possible, without any gaps, to prevent the enemy from exploiting those.
Now, picture yourself in a queue where everyone is almost squashed together and then you try to see what''s in front of you.
The only thing you would be able to really see is the hair of the person in front of you and nothing more.
If it''s too crowded even raising your head to look up would be difficult as your head might hit someone else''s head.
So, although it seemed impossible for an entire army to sneak up on a formation, it was actually possible.
And by luck or by superb strategy, Adhanians managed to pull exactly that off.
Chapter 41 [Bonus Chapter] Heroic Men
As the Adhanian right nk rapidly closed in on the unprepared right nk of Regias''s mercenaries, a thousand thoughts ran through his mind.
"Is this the ambush Samaras was talking about? Did they anticipate our scouting and hide beforehand? What do I do now?"
Surrender was the first option that crept into Regias''s mind.
It was supremely alluring but he then remembered Menicus''s warning, ''Don''t forget what we did at Acme and it is well-known what Adhania does to enemies like us. Death is a hundredfold better option.''
And he agreed.
The creative ways the Adhanians killed their enemies who massacred their people had been almost turned into an art form.
He did not want to die like that.
So Regias''s only real option was'' fight or flight'' and he struggled to choose between the two.
Running was a tempting option.
But then he looked back at the dark, viscous gooey earth thaty behind him and seriously doubted if his soldiers'' had enough energy to run through the mud again.
Out of formation, they would be easy pickings for the pursuing Adhanians, especially if these Adhanians had ranged units like archers and slingers.
Then he looked around the forest that surrounded them.
For a second he contemted running through there but then understood it was an even worse option.
Heading there in this deep fog, meant getting lost for certain and in this cold weather, to spend a whole night with no food, water, or shelter, in a ce festering with wild beasts looking to stock up for the winter and the inevitable chasing of the Adhanians meant that the forest was as much a death trap as the mud
To Regias, the encroaching thick white fog seemed to have wrapped the entire forest in white funeral clothes, beckoning them to the other side.
Fight!
Seeing their escape route cut off Regias understood his only option was to fight.
Using his experience, he ballparked the Adhanians to be around a thousand strong and judged them to be an early scouting force
"Form up, form up. Don''t run. There are only a thousand peasantsing!" He shouted.
He was confident that his two thousand battle-hardened troops could withstand the attack of only a thousand conscripts, even if they were attacked in their nks.
"Hurrah." The mercenaries answered.
Any lesser unit would have broken formation and ran at their current predicament, but these veterans didn''t.
They chose to stand their ground and fight.
Because, many of them, especially the phnx captains came to simr conclusions as Regias and thought fight, not flight was the correct option.
"Quick, order the phnxes to get ready. My first and second phnx will hold the Adhanians for now." Regias ordered in desperation.
For five hundred men to hold off against a presumed a thousand-man force was a daunting task for any unit, elite or otherwise, but Regias was desperate.
The cause for this was Regias was caught exposing his right nk to the charging Adhanians and he simply could not order all his phnxes to just turn 90 degrees clockwise to turn their nks into front sides.
This was because the soldiers were jammed packed together and the soldiers would need inhumane coordination to all turn at the same time or risk bumping and tripping into one another.
If soldiers and phnxes were able to instantly turn to their sides, then there would be no such things as nks because the soldiers could simply turn on the spot to whichever direction the enemy was attacking them from, simr to a tank''s turret.
But nks did exist, meaning such coordination was impossible to get across the entire army.
Even in Alexander''s previous life, there was no historical record of such on-spot formation maneuvers, and the famous hollow squared formation was invented specifically to counter nking attacks by the enemy, especially the cavalry because that formation had no exposed nks to be taken advantage of.
The only real way for a phnx to change directions was not to turn on its heels like a human did but like a car, in arge curve, almost semi-circr shape.
Hence the turning of a phnx neededrge space to maneuver, space not avable in apact formation like in an army.
And thus each phnx needed to spread itself out, isting itself and leaving itself vulnerable to enemy attack.
As such, Regias nned to hold on his own with just two phnxes units, who quickly turned their front sides to the Adhanians while the other phnxes would spread out and slowly turn.
This sounded solid on paper, but it had one catastrophic oversight.
Their force estimation was grossly wrong.
Obscured by theing dusk, the thick fog, and the rapid pace of the Adhanians, they erroneously estimated four thousand troops to be only one thousand.
A four-fold difference!
Even at full physical strength, in perfect formation, and on ideal t ground, these mercenaries would have had a very hard time against double their numbers.
And now? Facing four thousand heavy infantry with essentially only two phnx units, totaling five hundred troops?
Disaster!
As the Adhanians closed in on the mercenaries, it was only at fifty meters did Regias who led the first phnx personally and as luck would have it, Nestoras who led the second phnx managed to get a true look at the real size of the Adhanian force and understood their mistake.
Both their hearts turned cold and they felt their world spinning as the two men understood the gates of death had just opened for them.
There was no way they could win or even hold off against this enormous force.
There was no time to sound the retreat either or even run.
But befitting their long battle-hardened careers, the mercenary leaders decided not to try and run and then be hunted down like stray curs by the Adhanians.
"Soldiers, the gates of Elysium have opened for us! Gaia beckons to us! Charge." Regias howled.
"Brothers, it would be rude not to invite the Adhanians to heaven with us. Fight." Nestoras roared.
"For Constans, for all our brothers." Xanthine flourished his spears.
"Hurrah, hurrah." Came the fearless roar.
The five hundred soldiers decided to fight and die like men rather than run and be hunted down and paraded like animals.
But although their bravado was unmatched by any, in the face of the unstoppable momentum of the marching Adhanians it mattered little.
The enormous line far exceeding the mercenary''s lines on both sides seemed to swallow them whole as spear attacks from all sides overwhelmed the paltry five hundred men.
Nestoras and Xanthine were both fighting like caged lions, parrying, deflecting, and countering strike after strike, but no matter how many they warded off, more and more seemed to manifest out of thin air.
To them, the strikes seemed toe from all directions and they even suspected that some wereing from the sky.
And soon, these two men started to feel their ranks thin.
Friends, sub-ordinates, and familiar faces soon began to fall one after another and the ground began to stack up with their corpses.
Romeus was one of the very first to go.
Craven, unskilled, and ced in the front echelon, he was killed in the very first strike.
Seven spear strikes sped towards him and two each were deflected by the soldiers on his sides, but three made it through.
But Romeus instead of standing his ground and defending, let go of his spear and shield and turned to try and flee and was caught by all three spears in his back.
One strike managed to evene out the other side, fully skewering him.
He fell, violently spasming in pain as he bled out, quickly dying and, his dead body being stepped over the next person filling his position.
The boy who wanted to live by discarding his spear and shield and ditching hisrades was the first to die.
How fitting!
Soon came the other two men''s turn as well.
A lucky spear thrust managed to pierce Xanthine''s left thigh and he fell on his knees, losing his bnce and a space opening up between him and his shield.
Not even the untrained Adhanians farmers would let go of such an easy opportunity and three of them charged, determined to rip Xanthine''s soul.
"Oh no, you don''t." Turning to see Xanthine be defenseless, Nestoras let out an animalistic roar as he ran to try and cover his senior and subordinate.
*Pierce*, *Pierce*, *Pierce*,*Pierce*.
But this loss of concentration made him miss the four strikesing to greet him.
The spears struck his left arm, left rib, left kidney, and the fatal strike, that pierced right through his throat.
"Agghh, agghh"
He fell like a broken puppet, blood foaming out of his mouth as he gurgled incoherently and soon the light faded out of his eyes.
"Boy!" Xanthine cried out a name he hadn''t used in over twelve years.
But even before he could turn his head to look at him, a cruel spear streaked through the air, passing through his head and killing him instantly.
Xanthine fell next to his leader, Nestoras''s lifeless static eyes staring right through Xanthine''s gaping hole in the skull.
Dead! The two men, with so much dreams, and so much ambition were dead just like that!
And this situation was not anything unique.
People were falling left and right, including Regias and his men.
The overwhelminglyrger Adhanians made quick work of the numerically inferior two phnxes, and in just a few minutes, they crushed them like a small bug.
Then, without losing any momentum, they smashed into the center of the rest of the mercenaries, snapping the whole formation into little chunks and effectively destroying them.
The Cantagenan mercenaries tried their best to resist, some fought, some ran, and some surrendered, but all in all, out of the original two thousand mercenaries, less than fifty would return to camp!
The Cantagenan''s left nk had been destroyed.
And in a symmetrical twist of fate, their right nk had also suffered, though lesser but simr defeat.
Now the Cantegenan center was like a sitting duck, with both its wings clipped off.
Chapter 42 Manuk Tightens The Noose
"Commander our right-wing ims to have destroyed the Cantagenan left wing." A runner reported to Manuk
"So soon? Are you sure?" Kefka asked from the side.
He was more expressing his surprise and disbelief rather than doubting the runner.
"The details are still not yet clear but Captain Nfzam has personally told me." The runner exined, thinking Kefka was doubting his integrity.
"Hmm, that''s¡" Just as Manuk was about toment, another runner interrupted him.
"Report, our left wing has broken through the enemy''s right wing!"
"What?" Manuk let out a gasp of astonishment.
He did assume the Cantagenan would eventually be defeated, but how could both their wings be broken so soon?
Could it be a trap?
"This fog is obscuring our vision. Maybe our troops only defeated the vanguard and thought they smashed through the entire wing." Kefka came up with a usible exnation.
"Hmmm, maybe you are right." Manuk nodded.
Then he ordered, "Both of you go again. Confirm the details with your own eyes and then report back."
"Remember to report back only what you see, not what Nfzam or Akashy tells you." He again emphasized.
"Yes, sir." The two runners answered in unison and then quickly run off in opposite directions.
"Archpriest, this fog, what do you think, is it a blessing or a curse from the gods?" Kefka asked in a surprisingly teasing tone.
It was well known within Adhania''s inner circle the disdain Kefka had for the gods or anything rted to religion.
The only reason he hadn''t been branded a heretic and burned at the stake was because he knew when to stay his tongue and when to wag it, and the even bigger reason was because he was the king''s uncle, sharing the same father but different mother with Amenferaft''s father.
"Hmmm" Manuk hummed a reply as he traced his chin and seriously surveyed the encroaching fog trying to submerge everything.
Visibility was rapidly deteriorating and he expected to soon get reports about units having difficulty maintaining proper lines ofmunication.
"Has Ramuh descended on this mortal n?" Manuk seriously thought of the possibility.
In their religious scripture called the Takqa, it was said that Ramuh rode on a misty cloud, wielding a lightning staff in one hand and an orb in the other.
In actuality, the real reason behind the fog was the scorching afternoon sun and the freezing rainfall afterward.
The chilling rain cooled the blisteringly hot ground, causing it to release heat that warmed the air around it, making it less dense and causing it to rise up.
As this hot air rose through the rain, it absorbed some of its moisture and pushed the colder denser air down.
As time passed and more and more rain continued to fall, the ground got cooler and cooler, until all its heat was taken by the warm, moist air above and now the colder, denser air resided near the ground.
But this warm, moist air above and the colder, denser air near the ground did not simply sit still.
Soon due to convection, they began to mix, and uponing into contact with the colder air, the moisture in the warm air began to condense into tiny water droplets suspended in air, a phenomenon we call fog
And since the fighting was urring at the foot of the hill, all the fog began to roll in there, slowly creating almost a white cage around the soldiers.
But Manuk did not know this.
Limited by his dogma and the knowledge of his time, he had no idea of theplex science behind the creation of fog and believed it to be another one of Ramuh''s divine interventions.
"Blessing." He replied with a big grin.
"Then how will our soldiers fight in this condition?" Kefka asked impatiently.
He seriously did not want to ask this zealot why he said it was a blessing so he just pointed out the difficulty soldiers soon would face
"The soldiers can fight. They just need to swing their swords in one direction." Manuk answered straightforwardly.
"What?" Kefka asked totally confused.
It had to be pointed out that both Kefka and Manuk were civilian ministers who were thrust into militarymander positions in this dark time to need because there was no one better or more trusted by Amenheratf.
Although both men had campaigned before and seen up close how battles were prepared andmanded, they had never actually fought or led any unit until today.
Before today Manuk''s duty as the archpriest was to bless the soldiers before battle.
Kefka was Amenheraft''s spymaster, who would advisemanders and generals on the number of enemy forces, the nature, and habits of the opposing generals, the situation in the enemy''s country, etc.
Thus, although close to the front lines, they would not actively take part in the fighting.
That was until today when both men were thrust into the fiery crucible of battle.
And though Kefka''s performance here was not bad by means, it was Manuk who distinguished himself as a once-in-a-hundred-years genius.
As such, seeing Kefka, the plotter and maniptor so confused brought quite a bit of satisfaction to him, and thinking of Ramuh''s recent descent he was in a cheerful mood.
So he decided to indulge his colleague a bit.
He exined, "Our n was that once the approaching Cantagenans were detected, eight thousand of our heavy infantry at the back of the cauldron would disengage and split into two nks of equal strength and proceed along the edge of the woods to attack the enemy''s nks and reinforce the slingers."
"And let it be known that I objected to it. There is no way our soldiers can march through the mud and intercept the Cantagenan army before they destroy our slingers and open the cauldron." Kefka reminded.
"And I have already told you that I have personally looked at it. The woods are a bit higher than the field and it is connected to the field by a nt. The water will drain quickly and because that part has not been trampled by tens of thousands of soldiers, our soldiers can march much faster through the drier ground. It can be done."
"Well, the Cantagenans seemed to have anticipated your strategy and sent their nks to intercept you."Kefka somewhat gloated.
"And the reports say we destroyed them." Manuk countered.
"So, what, we still haven''t reinforced our slingers." Kefka shrugged.
"The cauldron is still holding. We have yet to get any reports of any breakthrough." Manuk reminded.
But just as Manuk finished his sentence, a worried runner came to him and said, "Sir, the slingers can''t hold their positions much longer. Please allow them to retreat."
"I knew this would have happened. I told you we should have closed that cauldron when we had the chance. Now because of your greed, we will lose both." Kefka almostunched himself into a screed.
"It''s nothing too serious. I have anticipated this and already have a n." Manuk coolly answered.
Though in reality, he was rapidly turning the gears in his head to think of a solution because he did indeed not in this possibility into consideration.
He forgot to take into ount that the Cantagenans might split their forces and form wings to stop any relief attempts of the slingers.
Then Manuk quickly made up his mind and gave his first order to two nearby runners. "You two go and urge the two nks to march with haste. If they are engaged with the enemy nks, try to have some rear units break off and attempt to relieve the slinger."
He then turned to the runner who gave him the news and said, "Go and inform His Majesty to order the remaining six thousand infantry to slowly open a small path at the back cauldron, allowing the trapped soldiers to pass through there.."
"What? Manuk, did you suffer brain damage" Kefka cut off Manuk and cried out in terror. He even began to suspect if Manuk had turned traitor.
"Let me finish." Manuk icily shot back.
Then he turned his head back to the runner and said, "Tell His Majesty that opening a gap will break the soldiers'' morale in the cauldron, and instead of fighting to the death, they will run through the exit thinking it''s their allies that have opened the gap. But in reality, they will run not towards the Cantagenan army but be funneled through a corridor guarded by our eight thousand infantry into our camp. We can then butcher them in the ''corridor'' like sheep." Manuk finished his exnation.
"Yes,mander!" The runner performed a perfect salute after receiving the order and exnation and quickly ran off.
Manuk then simply turned to look at Kefka with a smug shine in his eyes.
"Hmph, your talents are wasted in that temple." Kefka jealously grumbled.
He also understood now why Manuk said that his soldiers would have to only strike in one direction.
With all the Cantagenans being funneled through a narrow corridor, the soldiers will recognize anyone in front of them as an enemy and anyone besides them allies.
Genius!
And though Kefka didn''t know it, It had to be pointed out that Manuk had thought of the entire strategy on the spot!
Yearster, some historians would im that in the ''Battle of the Two valleys'', the Cantagenan''s biggest obstacle wasn''t the lightning strike or their general dying or the fog, but Manuk!
Chapter 43 Warning
Sir, I have personally confirmed the Cantagenan left wing has been broken through. Our soldiers are now marching to attack the Cantagenan center but this fog has slowed down their advance." A previous runner he had met before reported to Manuk.
Manuk silently nodded and reasonably assumed that since the right wing''s report was true, most likely the left''s one is as well.
But as he was absorbing this good news, Kefka worriedly spoke up, "They won''t be able to reinforce slingers in time."
What he meant by that was by the time the runner Manuk sent to Amenheratdt got there, received the king''s permission, ryed the order to the heavy infantry and the heavy infantry actually pulled off the maneuver, the slingers will most likely have been defeated and the cauldron opened.
"Hmm, okay, order both our nks to slow down their march and not lose cohesion. In this low visibility, it would be disastrous if they got separated and then attacked or got attacked by our own forces." Manuk prudently ordered.
"Sir!" The runner receiving the order frantically ran off.
Then Manuk pointed to a nearby herald and tasked, "You go tell the slingers to slowly open the cauldron by dividing themselves into two lines and then slowly start retreating."
This order seemed to reverse every previous order Manuk had issued and Kefka had an overwhelming urge to try and strangle Manuk.
But he held himself back and warned in a voice suppressing his deep anger, "Manuk, I will not question this tactic of yours. You have proved yourself to be Adhania''s greatest general. But remember, although you have won this war for us, you will rapidly use up all that goodwill if the cauldron breaks."
"Haha, Kefka you thinking too hard about this. Do you think just opening the cauldron will cause the birds to fly away? What do you think the trapped Cantagenans will see when the cauldron is opened? A wall of spears charging towards them. Without the fog, they certainly could have recognized their allies. But now? In this fog, most of these stressed-out soldiers will see soldiers brandishing spears and think it''s us! They might only not run but even attack them! Haha!" Manuk joyously chuckled.
"That''s pretty wishy-washy thinking on your part. What if they can see through the fog and do recognize the Cantagenans? Are you going to just pray that they don''t?" Kefka sneered back.
"Even if they do recognize, it''s no big deal." Manuk shrugged. "These soldiers will then, feeling like being released from hell, will likely break rank and try to get out of the encirclement. They will then storm in front of the Cantagenan front lines, meaning the Cantagenans won''t be able to attack as freely as they would like. The fog won''t certainly help them in this. Th¡"
"But the Cantagenans don''t need to attack and defeat us. They just want to make us retreat far enough so all their soldiers can escape." Getting impatient with Manuk''s long-winded exnation, Kefka interjected midway.
"Yes, that would have happened under normal circumstances, if they were only facing a frontal attack. But this fog was most likely hidden from them that both their wings are gone and a massive force of twelve thousand is about to sh into the nks of their center. If they knew that they would have certainly run by now." Manuk postted.
"So you are saying those escaping the encirclement will simply smash into our approaching wings?" Kefka seemed to understand Manuk''s strategy.
"Yes, unless our wings lose their way in the fog. That''s why I told them to slow their march and not stray too far by mistake in their haste." Manuk nodded with a smile. "We also have a thousand archers in each of our wings and even our slingers who although are now using swords can switch to their slings in a singlemand and thus chase down any escaping soldiers."
Manuk in his genius had created a trap using both the front and back exits!
Kefka simply shut his mouth and thanked in his heart that this fearsome general was on their side and not the Cantagenans
He also vowed to not pick any fights with him from now on.
Samaras felt like his whole world had copsed.
Two devastating news saying both his wings had copsed almost destroyed his will to fight.
Even until now, he chose not to ept this report, thinking there''s no way a force of two thousand veteran mercenaries could ever be defeated in such a short time, and so he kept sending runner after runner again and again to authenticate the news,
He still believed the nks existed and that these news reaching him were due to themanders unable to properly judge the situation because of the fog.
But even if those wishful thinking were toe true, even his own central attack wasn''t going to n.
He had assumed that just gently tapping the slingers would cause them to copse and run away, but these battle-hardened warriors, even with just a sword and no shield showed no sign of simply backing down.
The much more agile and nimble slingers rapidly closed the distance between them and the Cantagenans, got in between their spears, and attacked them at so close range that the Cantagenans could not freely move their spears, dealingrge damage to the outnumbered Cantagenans.
This tactic was not anything new to the slingers.
After shooting their limited number of stones, all slingers were expected to get their swords out and go and join the melee.
Even then, currently, the ever-battle-testedbination of shield and spear was proving its mettle again and it seemed the Cantagenans were slowly gaining ground against the slingers.
But this progress was too slow for Samaras''s liking and this fog was rapidly turning visibility to zero.
So he seriously contemted on cutting his losses and running, not wanting tomit the same mistake as Agapios.
But at such a time, a piece of pleasant news greeted his ears.
A runner came to him with a smile on his face informing him that the slinger had been separated into two lines and the cauldron had been broken.
Sess! They could finally rescue their fellow soldiers.
Samaras''s heart ballooned in ecstasy and he immediately ordered his center to press the advantage and open the mouth even more.
But as the soldiers enthusiastically fought to erge the escape route, some of the more keen-eyed began to notice a weird little detail.
Some of the soldiers attacking seemed to have uniforms simr to theirs or at least they did wear Adhanian.
But in the fog, most only managed to catch a nce of the uniforms ad all of them chalked it up to their eyes ying tricks on them.
After all, there was no way their own brothers would be attacking them right?
But such a thing was indeed happening, exactly prophesied by Manuk.
The trapped soldiers in Cantagenan uniform and mercenaries in their own ones were mistaken because of the fog to be Adhanians and Samaras''s center, which was supposed to rescue the trapped soldiers was now actually killing many of them.
Some managed to evade the iing attacks from both Adhania and Cantagena and escape to the outside but many were killed.
It was only after quite some time did some observant Cantagenans notice the undoubtedly Adhanian slingers attacking both them and the soldiers in front of them and it was only then they realized to their horror that they had been massacring their own brothers!
As the Cantagenas tried to rectify this mistake and properlymand and coordinated their trapped brother''s escape, suddenly a horse galloped upto Samaras, its rider''s voice booming in fear, "Samaras, order the retreat."
It was Damious, and when Samaras turned to look at him, he was horrified to find that the mercenary leader''s right eye was gone, being reced by a wooden stick that was sticking out!
A lucky arrow had managed to get through his helmet and pierce his eye,
Not only that, his entire face looked like a canvas had been painted red, the blood showering his eyes, nose, and mouth and slowly trickling down his chin onto his horse.
The fact that this man did not only lose simply consciousness but could still talk and ride proved just how strong he was.
"Damious! What happened to you? And how?" Samaras asked, looking horrified at the bloody giant.
"My troops got ambushed by the Adhanians and werepletely decimated. And they areing for your nks now! Run!" Damious manically shouted.
"What? How many areing? How did you lose so quickly?" Samaras tried to stay as calm as possible as he attempted to get all the useful information from Damious.
"Don''t know. Couldn''t see anything through the darn fog. They simply appeared in front of us like ghosts and snapped our nks like a twig." Damious replied with a certain fear in his voice.
Samaras was stunned by the recount.
He never thought he would ever get to see the boisterous giant be afraid
But without giving Samaras the slightest chance to speak, Damious then announced in an absolute voice, I am ordering my soldiers to retreat. The rumor was right. The gods don''t want us here. This damned fog is their curse!"
Chapter 44 Finish
Samaras was stunned upon hearing Damous wanted to just quit.
Quit when they were so close?
He had given the man everything he wanted, every penny he had just to get him to take part in this battle, and now he wanted to run?
Just like that?
How could he ever ept that?
But he knew snapping off at hisrgest supporter right here in the middle of a war was not the best course of action.
So with a herculean force of willpower, he kept his cool and said, "Damious, we have already opened the cauldron. We just need a little more time for all the soldiers to get out."
"If you don''t run now, none of you will ever get out." Damious roared in frustration.
"Damious, you are injured. Let me get you some medical treatment first." Seeing the two-meter bear was adamant about leaving, Samaras tried to change the topic.
But it didn''t work.
Damious simply ignored what Samaras said and shouted, "Brat. I just lost two thousand good men right now. To verify it, I even personally went to the front lines and lost my good eye. Yet, you don''t believe me? Fine, if you want to stay, then stay. I am leaving."
Then, he addressed directly his soldiers, "Men, we are retreating. Right now!"
After that, without listening to even a single thing Samaras had to say, Damious decisively left the battlefield field taking around three thousand of his soldiers with him.
Samaras''s grand army of fifteen thousand had now been reduced to a mere eight thousand.
Just as Samaras was about to also order the retreat, he saw the mercenary leader Alcmene rushing to meet him.
"Sir, I think Damious is exaggerating. Don''t order the retreat." These were the first words the leader said to Samaras. Then he exined, "I don''t think leader Damious saw everything clearly in the fog. Think about it, if he can ride to and deliver the news to you before your runners could, it means the Adhanians are not yet close enough to be spotted. And in this fog who knows how long it will take." He intelligently pointed.
Though Alcmene had his own agenda for saying this.
Because if Samaras did order a retreat, he likely will get zilch from him, and given his mercenary group''s financial situation, it will likely cause him to bust.
That''s why when he confirmed that Damious was pulling out, he feared Samaras might too and thus ran all the way from the back to meet him.
And Alcmene''s words worked.
Because Samaras seemed to share his views, "You do make some good points. Okay, let''s wait a bit longer." He agreed.
Though some might say he agreed a little bit too easily.
This was because Alcmene was the voice of ''reasonable possibility that Samaras needed to convince himself that he still had time to rescue all the soldiers.
He nned to let them safely return to camp while his army slowly retreated, acting as the rear guard to protect them from the pursuing Adhanians.
Also, another reason he didn''t believe Damious but did Alcmene was because he wanted to.
Because if Damious was indeed right, then he was royally screwed.
Retreating now would be tantamount to losing the war.
And then his only realistic option would be to surrender.
Thus, the young man, not wanting to do that, decided to bury his head in the sand and hope Alcmene was right and the injured man was wrong.
And good news!
Because the injured bear was indeed wrong.
Decimating the right nk of two thousand troops consumed quite some time for the Adhanians, and in this fog and mud, their march slowed down to a crawl, as they proceeded slowly to keep unit cohesion.
And Samaras, being apetent general, although dismissed Damious, nevertheless chose to pay some attention to the im as he sent multiple runners to look out for any iing attacks to their right nk.
And that''s where the good news ended.
Because although the Cantagenan right wing had managed to put up some fight before being obliterated, its left nks just vanished like a puff of smoke at mere contact with the enemy.
Also, what''s more, the left side of the battlefield was significantly less muddy than the right side, meaning Ashania''s left wing was rapidly gaining on the Cantagenan central left nk, a blind spot that Samaras overlooked because hismunication lines with the left wing had been cut off and he assumed they were still there, though he was unsure of what they were exactly doing.
Thus with having all their eyes in just one direction and forgetting about the other side, they never saw what hit them.
As the doom procession silently approached, Samaras and co. were kept none the wiser but instead, they kept receiving good news after good news, saying how they were pushing back the Adhanians and how many of their rescued brothers were rejoining their ranks to participate in the fight.
But a small nagging did creep into some captain''s mind, mainly that much fewer than anticipated people were running towards them.
This was of course because of Manuk''s tactic, which caused the soldiers at the back, who due to the fog could not properly identify directions, to run through the opposite ''exit'' into the Adhanian camp.
And this was missed by the Cantagenan captains, who, without proper visibility andck ofmunication, chalked up such doubts as human error.
It was amidst this euphoric high, did a runner all of a sudden ran up to Samaras, white as a sheet of paper, and give him the unbelievable news, "Commander, the Adhanians are behind us and they are attacking our rear, The escape route is cut off!"
"What? Which Adhanians? Where are the Adnanians?" Samaras, expecting another pie to fall from the sky, seemed genuinely confused at the report.
The best his mind coulde up with was that Damious had chosen to return and rejoin the battlefield.
Sensing hismander''s disbelief, the runner reported again, "Commander, the Adhanians are behind us. Leader Alcmene is dead and our escape route is cut off. I confirmed it with my own eyes."
It had to be said that Alcmene was the one who negotiated with Damious to be ced at the back in exchange for joining this battle.
And in a cruel twist of fate, it was because he positioned himself at the very back, thinking that if things did go south, he would be the first to bail that he was the first to bail.
Just not in the way he intended.
Upon hearing the confirmation of the disaster, Samaras felt faint and he struggled to stay atop his horse.
He had a strange deja vu feeling that this exact thing had happened just this afternoon.
But he was still a trained militarymander, so he bit his tongue to regain hisposure andmbasted in an enraged voice, "What the f*ck are those runners and scouts doing. I specifically told them to pay attention to the right nk. Where are they, I will personally behead all of them before I die. Traitors! All of them are mother f*cking traitors."
Samaras cursed out ngs that he, as the eldest son of one of thergest noble houses in Cantagena, had never ever uttered, nor ever thought that he would have to.
"No, sir, you seem to misunderstand." ." The runner understanding hismander''s confusion tried to elucidate, "They didn''te from the right. They came from the left."
Yes! This was the same group that butchered Nestoras and co.
Hearing the runner''s exnation, Samaras felt that he had turned deaf, with sound managing to enter his ears but his brain not being able to process them.
"The left nk, the left, left, lefttttt¡" Inside Samaras''s head, only the word ''left'' kept ringing.
And then he started cursing himself, ''I forgot about the left. I forgot about the left. How could have I made such an amateur mistake of forgetting my right and left.''
"...order, your order¡.Commander, what is your order?" After what seemed like a long time, did finally Samaras began to feel some coherent sounds entering his ears, which apparently were the incessant shouting of the herald and he, atst, snapped back to reality.
The herald had noticed hismander simply daze off into the distance after his report and so to snap him out of it, he kept repeating asking him to give them their nextmand.
It was only after his third shout did Samaras''s gaze finally return.
Samaras then turned to look back at the expectant runner with a mournful smile and uttered in a shaky voice three words, "Order the surrender."
"Yes, sir." Surprisingly, the runner kept a professional face as he received the order and didn''t argue with hismander.
Because even the most basic student of military tactics knew that once your enemy can attack you from both the front and back, the battle is over, you know you have lost.
So how did the wing that was ordered to attack the nk of the centre end up attacking the rear?
Because as the Adhanian slingers slowly retreated, the Cantagenans chose to push their advantage and advance, so the ce where their nks were before the fog set in now became their rear.
As per Samaras''smand, the order for surrender was passed down from captain to captain, who were informed of the situation, who then passed it from man to man.
Thus the war between Adhania and Cantagena had effectively ended, with Adhania against all odds triumphing decisively above Cantagena.
Chapter 45 View From The Top
The sound of the horn of surrender reverberated throughout the battlefield as the Cantagenans blew it to signify their loss, while the runners all ran to individual captains to inform the precarious situation they were in and told them to do what they thought best.
All this was witnessed by the mercenaries from atop the hill with grim, somber countenances as all of them felt their heart shatter at the sound of this distinct, unmistakable sound, hammering in the reality that they truly lost the war.
"Congrattions. Your warning came true." Menes said to Alexander in an almost sarcastic way.
"Thanks." Alexander shamelessly replied, seemingly unable to detect the sarcasm.
After all, if his warning had failed, he would have been very lucky to keep his neck.
When the fog came rolling in, it had caused quite amotion within the entire camp.
People like Camius immediately imed it to be the warming foretold by the blessed son of Gaia and his old-time friend, along with a few others, even started praying to Alexander, as one would to statues in a temple.
The appearance of the fog even shook Alexander at first.
Wild thoughts like ''Maybe gods really do exist?'' and ''Am I in a supernatural world'' began to appear in his mind.
Thetter was really, not at all as preposterous as it sounded because Alexander personally knew the existence of at least one ''supernatural'' being- him.
After all, he had no idea how he got here, why he got here, who bought him or who put him in this body.
And as a bonus, he also had no idea where he was.
He had yet to see a map with any real detailed maps bigger than a city-state, so had no idea if he was on earth from a different time period, on earth from a different timeline or if he was on apletely different altogether.
He didn''t even know if he was in the same universe or in a parallel one.
And if he was on a different in a different universe, then, the existence of supernatural beings was certainly not out of the question.
Alexander certainly read Chinese wuxia and xianxia novels, where immortals existed, cold and aloof beings, disinterested in the mortal worlds below, viewed as mysterious beings, and worshipped as gods by the unaware, ignorant popce.
Thus, there certainly was a small possibility that Ramuh really did exist and so did Gaia and every other god.
But soon rational thought began to return to Alexander and they snuffed out the ridiculous, irrational thoughts that spontaneously surfaced in his mind.
There certainly was a scientific exnation behind the appearance of the fog and its appearance on the battlefield was likely a coincidence.
After all, Alexander reasoned that if the fog was truly magical and created by a real Ramuh to help the Adhanians, then it would have affected only the Cantagnans and the mercenaries.
But from what he could see, both sides were having problems with visibility.
And even if Ramuh was somehow real, Alexander had already dug a hole for himself that he was unable the extricate himself from.
After all, the potential rewards were too great and hence Alexander could only dig deeper, hoping he was in a normal world, identical to his previous life.
Or else his only option was to draw the ire of a god and perish.
Thus, fixing his mind on this course of action, he immediately noticed the current situation as a prime opportunity to cement his position in the hearts of the soldiers and so he instructed Camius, likest time, to spread that it was Alexander from Nestoras''s mercenary group that forewarned about the impending disaster.
And Alexander wouldn''t be disappointed as the mes of this rumor would soon touch the heart of almost all the soldiers, making him almost untouchable.
"Alexander, I heard Damious is seeking treatment in our camp. I am gonna check it out." Suddenly, from the side came Theocles.
Though his tone sounded as if instead of informing Alexander of a decision he made, it sounded more like the man was asking for his permission.
"Sure," Alexander uttered a single reply and Theocles soon sprinted off.
Alexander was aware that Damious had decided to run mid-battle and back then it had caused a huge ruckus when the observing soldiers saw Damious abandon Samaras and leave the battlefield with his three thousand troops.
Many booed and jeered him from the top and some in camp even med him for their loss in hushed tones.
Although Alexander didn''t think Damious did any major strategic mistakes, him leaving the battle prematurely provided a golden opportunity for him to exploit.
He intended to knock down and if possible even kill the mercenary leader to wrestle control of all the mercenary groups.
And he believed this was the time to strike.
Yes, this ve was that ambitious.
He didn''t just want to rece Nestoras or Aristotle to be the leader of a small, now less than a thousand men mercenary group.
He believed that only he was capable enough to lead all the survivors out of Adhania with the least amount of casualties and he aimed to lead everyone.
So he decided to rescind the previous order of, "Menes, Nestoras is likely dead. Even if he is not, this loss will be enough to oust him as the leader. I want you to prepare the soldiers to get them to nominate me as the next leader."
Instead, as the giant was about to carry it out he said, "Wait! Scratch that."
This made Menes halt and wordlessly turn his head to get new instructions, which were, "Spread across the troops that Damious has been bought out by the Adhanians and that''s why he abandoned Samaras at the critical moment. And he now feels threatened by the divine son of Gaia and intends to kill him.``
This made Menes give Alexander a long, deep prating look.
He understood that with Alexander''s rising fame it was inevitable that it would sh with Damious''s authority sooner orter.
And that it was very much Alexander''s style to preemptively strike rather than wait for the other party''s attack.
Menes on the other hand felt he did not have a scheming nature and though he could detect pitfalls, he wasn''t apt at creating ones.
Even when Alexander had tried to teach him political intrigue, he struggled to keep his eyes open.
He had always felt much happier letting Alexander deal with theseplex issues while he could just turn off his head, follow orders and win.
And it was because of such convenience and trust that Alexander won''t screw him over was he loyal to the boy.
Alexander, on the other hand, liked Menes because he waspetent, loyal, and most importantly ambitionless.
He on the other hand didn''t actually dislike Damious for throwing Samaras to the sides.
Alexander understood that this was a typical risk anyone ran when using mercenaries.
Using mercenaries had its benefits- you could get very good, experienced men for frankly a small amount of gold. If one wanted to produce elite units of simr caliber to mercenaries, one would need to be fanatics like Exs or pour gold that was not really possible to afford for anyone except the likes of the super-rich Adhania or Cantagena.
But the downside was that mercenaries were only good when you were winning wars, not when losing, or even when showing signs of losing a war. Because, in the eyes of mercenaries, a losing employer may not have the coin to pay them or worse yet not be alive to pay them.
Thus it wasmon for mercenaries to backstab their employers when things were going south for them, either in an attempt to steal valuables from the employer''s camp or to gain favor and pardon from the opposite camp.
And many times they would get it and even be paid gold, because the other side would want to set a precedent so that others would switch sides in future battles too.
So, in Alexander''s eyes, Damious not switching sides was already generous in his eyes. Alexander was not sure he would not have done so in Damious''s ce.
And as for the soldiers ming Damious for the loss or iming Samaras could have retreated with the army if Damious had stayed, Alexander found them to be solely delusional.
They all witnessed the incident from above when the much thicker Adhanian wings crashed into the Cantagenan ones and shattered them, and the veterans in the camp understood the battle was over.
And they all correctly med Samaras for splitting his already meager force in the dark, even after knowing how hard it would be to keep proper coordination with the individual units in such an environment.
When the Adhanians were approaching the unsuspecting Cantagenans, they had been detected by the Cantagenan mercenaries atop the hill and some in desperation screamed at the top of their lungs from atop to warm their fellow brothers below, but how could human voices travel so far or make it through so much noise?
The only thing these soldiers seeded in doing was getting a sore throat.
They also resorted to sending people to inform those below of the imminent attack but they were toote.
Obscured by the fog, many runners who believed the warning were actually unable to locate the formation nor were they able to determine when the formation was attacked.
The people from above were also unable to determine the exact details due to the fog, and hence as a precaution, they sent people to inform the runner to tell Samaras to order a retreat.
But without concrete information, these people only received scorn from the fighting soldiers.
No one simply believed that a contingent of two thousand soldiers could be defeated so quickly without their knowledge and they even thought that these ''rebels and traitors'' who disobeyed orders and chose to not fight with them were just trying to incite them to lose, just to save face.
Thus four thousand good men were lost due to human hubris.
Even now, as Alexander nced below, he could see chaos and confusion with the Cantagenan ranks as they struggled to absorb the fact that their wings were gone, four thousand of their brothers were dead, and Adhanian right wing had manifested itself at their rear and the Adhanian left wing was on an imminent coarse to destroy their center nk.
They had effectively lost.
Manymented for letting their ego and anger blind them from trusting their brothers but there was little anyone could do for them.
Their fates rested on the hands of Amenheraft.
Chapter 46 Rewards
While to the Cantagenans on the battlefield, the sound of the surrendering bugle felt like the cruel footsteps of death, the same sound, to the Adhanians, sounded like the sweetest piece of music.
Won!
Against all odds, they had won!
They were ecstatic.
"Your Majesty, All praises belong to you, we have won." Manuk rode up to Amenheraft as he officially delivered the good news.
Then he got down from his horse and prostrated in reverence.
"All glory belongs to the owner of the world." All of AMenheraft''s retinue followed suit, including Beihrut and Kefka, as they congratted the king on his win.
Seeing his retinue piously prostrate before him, Ameheraft spoke, "This war was won by the blessing of Ramuh! All hail to our god of thunder, lightning, and rain, Ramuh! He has blessed us today, he has blessed us with rain, he has blessed us with thunder, he has blessed us with lightning, and he has blessed us with this fog."
"And most of all, he has blessed us with his divine son, me and he has blessed all my loyal followers. And I swear to lead all of you to prosperity. For your loyalty to Adhania in its darkest hour of need, I promise you eternal salvation." Amenheraft then spread out his arms as wide as possible as he magnanimously dered.
"Most Gracious is our lord, Most merciful is his rule." Everyone chanted in gratitude.
All of them were feeling an enormous sense of relief wash over them as they understood that this war was finally over.
Previously they had won the battle, but now they had the won war, effectively knocking Cantagena and her allies out of Adhania and securing their capital and by extension their country.
Soon their main army would be back, Ptolomy will be captured and Tibias''s little scheme will disappear into smoke.
Then they will settle scores with every single one that kicked them when they were down.
This was the joyous feeling in everyone''s heart.
It had to be said that even now, many of Amenheraft''s retinue and even Amenheraft himself felt it kind of surreal that just a few hours ago they thought they had lost everything, and now, within the time that for many of them seemed like just the blink of an eye, everything was firmly in their grasp.
Many felt like pinching themselves to prove to themselves that this was all real and not some dream.
And almost all attributed this miracle to Ramuh and Amenheraft, god''s divine son on earth.
"Manuk, you are the one who contributed the most to his war. Your bravery and strategy in leading the fifteen thousand slingers to reinforce us will be written in history books and be praised by generations till the sun is swallowed." Amenheraft felt it was time to reward his mostpetent retainer.
And what a reward it was.
It would be the first time in Adhania''s history that an archpriest would be mentioned in any history books by name. Because every priest, from the lowliest acolyte to the highest archpriest was subordinate to the royal family and particrly to the king.
That meant that, ording to the Takqa, any of their achievements were in fact the sole achievement of the king, and they were just mere tools used by the gods to achieve that goal.
As such, to hear the son of god, make an exception for him and give him credit for an achievement that originally belonged to the king, sent Manuk over the moon.
But he maintained hisposure and humbly said, "I am unworthy, Your Majesty."
Hearing Manuk''s self-demeaning reply, Amenheraft didn''t stop.
He then announced his second reward, "For your unmatched courage, valor, and mettle in trapping thirty thousand soldiers, I announce that his year''s divine mistress will be your daughter Mak."
This made Manuk look up at the king stunned and shocked, his eyes tearing up at the immeasurable honor.
Only a member of the royal family such as a princess or a queen consort could be the divine mistress.
To allow his daughter, the jewel of his eyes, to have the honor of taking a ce beside Ramuh, was an unmatched reward that was almost impossible to find an equivalence for.
In fact, many could argue to allow a mere mortal to be a divine mistress was tantamount to sphemy.
So, although eternally grateful, Manuk attempted to turn down this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He prostrated and prayed, "Your Majesty, this humble ve has no words to express his gratitude. But I believe a mere mortal like Mak is not suitable to be the divine mistress."
But Amenheradt blew such objections away, "Nonsense. I am the son of Ramuh. I judge your daughter to be worthy. Who can defy me?"
This answer made Manuk so pleased that he felt and he felt so much happiness course through his body that even if Amenheadt were to rip out his heart right now, he doubted he would feel any pain.
With tears streaming down his face, he thanked the king, "This unworthy worm and his daughter will toil for all eternity for this grace,"
"Um, rest assured, you and your daughter will have a ce beside me in Aaru." The king promised.
Then he turned to his second retainer, Kefka, and said, "Kefka, despite being a civilian minister, you havemanded the troops, especially during the first battle with remarkablepetency. Without your valiance in holding the right nk, we certainly would not have this victory today."
"Only by your grace, Your Majesty." Kefka thanked.
"But," Suddenly Amenheraft''s amicable voice turned hard, "As my head of intelligence, you have failed in your entirety to gather any kind of information about the coup d''¨¦tat. You should be beheaded for your ipetence."
Yes, it was Kefka''s gross negligence that enabled the coup to take ce, but in fairness, although Kefka did reveal to becking in this particr circumstance, he did warn Amenheradt to not leave the capital about a week ago, saying many of his sources were giving suspicious and contradictory news and he suspected something foul about it.
But who was going to me the king for that?
The king couldn''t be wrong, he could only be led astray by blundering subordinates.
"*Silence*," Kefka simply lowered his head in shame and embarrassment.
A spymaster who could not spy on a coup that was happening right inside his house, a coup that was attempting to usurp the very people he was tasked to guard was an enormous failure for him.
And Kefka did me himself, if not fully, but at least partially for the enormous mishap. After all, this coup didn''t just one day appear out of nowhere. It was nted and slowly grew right under his nose with him none the wiser.
It would not be at all excessive to execute him for such a mistake.
Spymasters had been offed for far less.
"But given the countless sacrifices you have made and the enormous benefits you have brought Adhania in the past, along with your contributions here today, I judge you worthy enough to be pardoned for your crimes. I will excuse your head today," Amenheraft graciously decided to pardon his uncle.
And then he announced," You will be removed from your post from today and I will assign you a new post with the chance to redeem yourself. Work hard."
Amenheraft''sst two words were code, meant to convey to Kefka that he would be soon reinstated as spymaster but right now he would be sent somewhere away till the dust settles, to prevent those with jealous eyes from targeting him for being ipetent enough to allow the coup to ur right under his nose.
Kefka understanding the code. replied humbly, "This ipetent ve shall strive with all his body and soul to try and pay back His Majesty''s infinite mercy, even if I can only return just the smallest grain."
Done with Kefka, Amenheraft turned atst to his third retainer, Beihrut,
"My loyal Royal guards Captain, your heroism does not need to be said in words, that bloody bandage is all the proof one needs. You have fought till your body almost broke and bleed till you had no more blood to spill."
"Without you holding the left nk for as long as you did, taking punishment after punishment from the elite Cantagenan cavalry, they would have certainly broken our wings and destroyed us today. For your bravery and sacrifice, you will be made lord of Ankook and be given Hellma as your concubine."
"Your generosity knows no bounds, Divine son of god." Beihrut quickly kneeled and expressed his gratitude,
Even the usually tactless brute at least had enough sense to know what to do here and understood just what kind of rich reward he was being offered to him.
Ankook was among Adhania''s top tenrgest cities and Princess Hellma was said to be among the most beautiful woman in all of Adhania.
Chapter 47 Beihrut
Beihrut was very pleased by the reward Amenheraft announced.
Although he could not care less if he was made lord of Ankook or lord of the slums or even the lord of Adhan, because he had absolutely zero interest in ruling, he was very very pleased for being awarded the Imperial princess Hellma, whom he had always lusted over, but never thought would actually get the chance to hold.
Because Beihrut, for all his martial prowess and gantry, was by nature a scum, the lowest of the low.
He was a born sadist and pervert who took pleasure in sexually assaulting underaged children and particrly enjoyed hearing them cry and scream.
In fact, he had forcibly taken many children, had many child brides, and killed scores of them, all under theplete immunity of his royal guards captain title and even under the much bigger umbre of protection of the previous king.
His victims ranged from innocent civilian girls who simply went outside with their parents when they caught his eyes while he was traveling, to underaged daughters of various nobilities he visited to even fresh acolytes of the temple.
As such, it wasmon knowledge among citizens in Adhan and even in some minor nobility circles to hide one''s children whenever Beihrut was near.
Some even went as far as to smear ash and dirt on their children''s faces and clothes to make them appear less attractive.
As a matter of fact, many noble houses decided to participate in the rebellion for revenge for their daughters, who were humiliated and sometimes even killed by untouchable Beihrut.
Many of them had petitioned before again and again to Amenheraft''s father to punish the brute or at least discourage him, but the king simply paid no ear to such drones of lesser beings, stating, "It is the right of those serving close to the son of god to partake in pleasures forbidden to themon mass. Beihrut. choosing your daughters is their greatest luck in life."
This was not at all surprising because it was well known among the nobility that Beiheut would, along with indulging himself, regrly gift Amenheratf''s father with simrly underaged children, whom the previous king quite enjoyed having.
But it had to be pointed out that for all his so-called tactlessness and immunity, Beihrut never crossed one line.
He never attacked anyone from the royal bloodline, not even the illegitimate ones.
For a mere mortal to attack the descendant of a god was unthinkable, even to him.
But this did not stop him from lusting over them.
Especially the current king''s half-sister Hellma.
The abnormal lust he felt toward her was nothing like he had ever felt towards any other girl.
The imperial princess was just 140cm, had exotic wheat-colored skin, and was just fourteen, the perfect age in his opinion- no longer a small girl but not yet a grown woman.
And Amenheratf had just given her to him, the girl of his dream just like that.
And what was more he had given her not a bride but as a concubine, as a mistress with no social status.
That meant that he could do many things to her that otherwise as his legal wife would have been not possible to do, things that might leave marks on her and be problematic.
Just thinking about the depraved things he would do to the golden-colored porcin doll made Beihrut''s loins hot.
Amenheratf was of course aware of everything. He had even specifically given the rewards to Beihrut knowing this.
Hellma was Ptolemy''s own sister and this was his way of punishing the rebels.
And because of Beihrut''splete disinterest in governance, the huge city and lush pastures of Ankook would still be effectively in his hand.
After rewarding his three highest retainers, Amenheratf surprisingly bought up the name of a fourth dead retainer.
"There is one more person I would like to reward. He had sadly left us today, fighting bravely without equal- Lamiz. And for his unmatched sacrifice, I will have Lamiz be entombed and buried with me as part of my eternal guard." Amenheraft dropped a bombshell.
This bought an enormous chatter among the crowd as the ''Eternal guards" were stone statues of only living royal guards who were buried with a king''s dead body to protect him through the journey to the afterlife.
A very key important point to being the eternal guards was to be alive.
Manuk tried to exin this to his king and tell him why a dead person could not serve as an eternal guard, " Your Majesty, only the living, from the ne of the mortals can protect your soul from the dangers of the Path. Lamiz''s soul is already in the underworld. He cannote to your aid."
" I have made up my mind, Manuk. Lamiz will apany me through the Path. It''s my soul and I will protect it as I wish." Amenheratf dered majestically, with a tint of anger in his voice.
"As you wish, Your Imperialness." Manuk sensing the king''s mood prudently retreated.
After dealing with his most important retainers, he then turned to all his lesser entourage and spoke, " It''s night, and let us return to our camp tonight. I shall reward all of you richly in due time."
"Your Majesty, to serve you is our eternal reward."
"I have witnessed Ramuh in action today. My soul is at peace."
"We exist only to serve you."
Various ttery and humble promations rang out from the crowd after Amenheraft''s announcement, each eager to outdo the other to praise their king.
? As the king seemed to be retiring to his tent for the day, suddenly Manuk posed a question, "Your Majesty around twenty-five to thirty thousand Cantagenans have surrendered. What do you intend to do?"
This was was a very important question because depending on the king''s answer, he would have to make many arrangements, such as a ce to keep the captured, give them food, schedule guard routines, and many more.
"Hmmm." Came the long drawn-out reply of Amenheraft.
Chapter 48 Manuks Proposal
Amenheraft seemed to pretend to think for a while about the question, though in reality, he had made up his mind hours ago.
"Our Adhania has suffered too many men and material losses in thesest three years. These strong ves will be a great asset to our mines and farms." He revealed the cruel fate of the captured soldiers.
State-owned captured ves had an average life span of less than five years, being worked off to the bone under the cruelshing of their supervisions, nourished by subsistence barely fit for animals.
Many would argue crucifixion that took three to seven days was a much more preferred way to go.
But some may wonder why surrendered soldiers were being treated as such?
Because in this time period, surrendering to an enemy did not mean a guarantee of survival or being treated like a prisoner of war ording to the Geneva convention.
A captured or surrendered soldier''s fatey entirely with his captor and it ranged from being simply let go to very, to various creative ways of dying.
When anymander ordered a surrender, it did not mean waving a white g andying down one''s shield and spear, and then standing in an orderly line to be captured and bound, like in modern times.
It simply meant all the soldiers were now discharged from the military chain ofmand and they were to do what they themselves thought was the best for their own survival.
So they could try to run and risk being killed, they could try and fight out or they could simply give up and let themselves be captured with a promise from their captors that they would not be killed, a promise that their captors had no obligation to keep.
Even if the individual soldier to whom one surrendered would promise not to kill him, if the military highmand ordered it, that soldier would have to obey.
And even if he didn''t want to do it, well, there were always other soldiers who made no such promises.
On the surface of it, Amenheraft''s proposal was very sound.
But Manuk seemed to disagree.
He said boldly. "Your Majesty, I fear I cannot quite agree with his arrangement."
"Oh, why?" Came the curious reply.
Amenheraft knew something was up when Manuk had decided to ask him about the fate of the captured soldiers, something that should have been quite clear to him.
But Manuk had never objected thoughtlessly before, so Amenheraft decided to hear the man make his case,
"Your Majesty, as you have said, this war was won due to Ramuh''s blessing. I believe we should show our appreciation." Manuk proposed.
"Yes, I do know that. That''s why I chose Mak as the divine mistress." Amenheraft noddingly reminded.
"I''m afraid that''s not enough, Your Grace. Six months is too long. The divine mistress ceremony is in March, we are only in September. It is imperative that we show Ramuh our appreciation as soon as possible." Manuk implored.
"Hmmm, so what do you suggest?" Amenheradt asked with a slight wrinkle in his brow.
As an expert on the Takqa himself, he was pretty sure what Manuk was going to say and he didn''t like it one bit.
Manuk of course understood his king''s displeasure, after all, he had served under him for almost twenty years and knew him for even more.
So he decided to decorate his reasons a bit, "Your Imperial Majesty, our supreme Lord Ramuh blessed us with three blessings today. First, with the thunder strike that destroyed the cavalry charge, second with this fog that trapped the Cantagenan soldiersing to the encircled soldiers, and third is a lightning strike that killed Agapios."
"What! Agapios was struck by lightning? Where did you hear it?" It was Beihrut that suddenly interrupted Manuk who was speaking to the king, proving once again the man had little more than muscles for a brain.
"A spy in the Cantagenan army ryed the report even before the start of the second battle. But I didn''t tell anyone because even I didn''t believe it that time, assuming that the spy had been discovered and was being used to mislead us." Manuk said.
"But you believe it now. So show us the evidence." This time it was Amenheraft that asked Manuk eagerly.
Because if that thorn in their side was truly dead by Ramuh''s will, then he might really have to follow Manuk''s proposal.
"Yes, I did some basic interrogation of some of the newly captured soldiers. They all spoke the same thing- ''General Agapios was struck by lightning and is now recuperating. And their currentmander is someone named Samaras."
"Samaras?" Amenheraft quizzically asked, feeling like he had heard the name before somewhere.
As Cantagena''s mortal enemy, he was actually quite well acquainted, at least by name to all their famous generals and admirals, but he could not quite recall this particr name.
"He is Agapios''s protege. Eldest son of the Kashbu house, he is heralded as Cantagena''s rising star and Agapios''s sessor." Kefka eagerly said the details, likely in an effort to show his usefulness to the king.
"Was. My soldiers confirmed his death." Manuk corrected Kefka.
Then he continued," I also met some different clothed soldiers. Most likely mercenaries. They told me something even more interesting. They said that Agapios was dead and Samaras was hiding this. They believe the reason for this hasty attack was because Samaras wanted to win before people could figure out their general was dead and surrender."
Manik then added his own opinion, " I find this exnation much more believable. Agapios would not have likely made the rookie mistakes we saw in the second battle."
"So what do you propose we do to show our appreciation to Ramuh?" Understanding where this was going, Amenheraft asked with a deadpan expression.
He knew what Manuk was going to say and he knew Manuk would likely convince him.
But it still stung him to lose so many good, free mules.
"Your majesty," Manuk started, "Ramuh has blessed us three times. The first blessing can be equalized with you being his son. The second blessing can be equalized by Mik as the divine mistress. For the third blessing, we need something more. We need to give him the Cantageneans! Only the blood of these heathens will sate Ramuh." He proposed.
Yes, Manuk here proposing live human sacrifice!
The live human sacrifice of almost thirty thousand humans!
Chapter 49 [Bonus Chapter] Losing Cool
Amenheraft knew this wasing but he was really reluctant to just kill all these good, strong men.
Adhania had been devastated by the drought and was facing acute manpower problems, especially because almost all able-bodied men had decided to join the military as that was the only service that could give them at least some consistent source of food.
And after the two-year war with Tibias, the country was left with a massive manpower vacuum.
"I understand the need to show reverence to the gods. But I am god on earth. And I need these able-bodied men. The war has left us with a severe shortage of men and if we can''t find recements soon, most of our farnds will be left unattended." Amenheraft surprisingly said this in a way that almost sounded like him exining himself to his followers.
Because he knew even he could ignore his retinue collective desire to appease the gods.
"Your Majesty, I am not ignorant of the country''s plight. There are reports that during the war, driven mad by hunger, scores upon scores of peasants, disobeyed orders and. repeatedly charged head-first into well-fortified Tibias fortifications, just because they thought those garrisons had some food. I very well understand our tender desire to feed, clothe, and nurture your subjects." Manuk seemed to empathize with his king.
"But, please remember, the person who is truly responsible for feeding your subjects. The person who is truly responsible for clothing, nurturing, and protecting your subjects. That person is your divine father Ramuh, who has blessed you in his stead. And we must please him.
"It is because he has decided to end the three-year drought by blessing us with rain, thunder, and lightning at our most critical time can we have the luxury to talk and debate about cultivating our farnds and feeding our people."
Then Manuk asked a question, "Ask yourself this Your Majesty, if someone a few hours ago offered you the condition that he could win you the war and secure your throne, but in exchange, you would have to give him all the captured soldiers, would you have agreed?"
The question was rhetorical and everyone present knew the answer.
''I would have agreed in a heartbeat.'' Amenheraft spoke in his heart.
But the issue was he had mostly secured his throne now and next he wanted o turn his focus on keeping it.
Amenheraft thus tried again, "Everyone here knows if I was given such an offer a few hours ago today, I would have taken it without a second''s consideration. Because at that point my main goal was to just get my throne back and nothing else. But now that goal has mostly been. Now we have to turn our attention on how to keep it."
He looked around to see his followers still hanging to his words and said, "These past few weeks have been eye-opening for me. My eyes have been opened to who are my friends and who are my enemies. My eyes have been opened to those who arepetent and those who are ipetent. And my eyes have been opened to the suffering of my people."
Then in a mncholic voice, he recalled, " I remember seeing children fighting over scraps of food with dogs. I remember mother''s having no breast milk to feed her infant and I remember men too weak to even stand and walk, onlyying beside the road, eyes half closed as vultures circled above them waiting for their rotten feast."
Amenheraft''s voice turned shaped as he questioned his followers, "Is this the country you all want to rule? A sick, decaying country where its people are too weak to even work? A country with no vitality? A weak country ripe for the taking by the Tibiasians? By Cantagenans? By the barbarians? When did we be so weak to be bullied this like?"
These hard questions caused jolts in the minds of many of Amenheraft''s followers.
Many felt their egos bruised and though most of them didn''t care one hoot if these peasants lived, died, or suffered, being intelligent people they did wonder things like, ''If this country falls what will happen to my family?'' and ''Can we maintain our lifestyle if these peasants don''t work?'' and ''Can we maintain your lifestyle if we are conquered or if the peasants have nothing to pay taxes with?''
Thus Amenheraft''s speech seemed to sway the people to want to enve and not outright kill the prisoners of war.
Among them, Kefka, being among the highest echelon of the ruling ss and a part of the royal family decided to speak up for the king, "Manuk, we believe the king is in the right here and that his will should be followed. None of us here would ever dare im to be disrespectful to the No we should always show how grateful we are. That is a must. But we also believe we should look at reality."
"We? Who''s this ''we'' you talking about You speak only for yourself." Suddenly Manuk interjected with a deep growl, anger simmering in his voice.
Kefka expected this much.
After all, although Manuk was very reasonable when it came to civil matters, he was apletely different beast when it came to matters regarding religion.
Dogmatic, extremist, and fundamentalist would be apt adjectives to describe his beliefs, and trying to reason with him on religious matters was as useful as talking to a block of wood.
But nevertheless, Kefka decided to use his silver tongue to try and change his mind, "*Sigh*, I believe what His Majesty is trying to say is that Ramuh has blessed and saved us because he cares about us and he cares about this country. But without these ves, we risk losing our country even after winning the war. Our peasants are too few and too weak and without these ves, we won''t be able to cultivate all ournd. That means the food shortage and famine will continue even after the drought has ended. More of our people will then continue to die and we will continue to be weaker. Can you ept such an oue archpriest?"
It needed to be pointed out that Kefka being so eager to argue with Manuk and defend the king was not purely altruistic.
Arge part had to do with the fact that Amneheraft had just said that in thest few weeks his eyes had been opened to those he foundpetent and those ipetent, which Kefka took as a direct jab at him.
Thus Kefka was eager to win back some favor.
Manuk was ready to retort back Kefka''s question, when an enthusiastic voice from the side rang out, "Your Excellency Kefka has made some great pints."
This was one of the few nobles still loyal to Amenheraft who hadn''t been arrested by Ptolomy.
That man said, "We are in September, the prime season for nting wheat. Our much-awaited autumn rain hase but we must hurry. But over the three years of drought, most of our farnd has been left empty and uncared for. We need as many men as possible to quickly prepare the field, till the soil, and start nting seeds. Time is running out and the faster we nt the better. Archpriest Manuk, we need these ves. We need them to live." He implored.
But extremists and fundamentalists are called extremists and fundamentalists for a reason. They are blind to logic.
Manuk was getting irritated at having to repeat time and time again the same thing. So hembasted, " Everything you have now and today is due to the blessing of the gods. Now that you are out of danger all of you want to just shirk your responsibility? Because it''s too inconvenient for you? Because it''s too hard for you? You ungrateful, backstabbing curs!"
Manuk roared out thest sentence in indignation.
*Silence*
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the archpriest who seemed to have lost his mind.
For a priest of the temple to go as far as to call the king, who was also the head of the temple such words so openly, was tant sphemy!
His soul had no way of redemption.
p This little scene seemed like a rey of Beihrut''s little episode just a few hours ago.
Guess hot-bloodedness ran in the family.
Amennheraft also felt a tinge of anger rising through him as he was running out of patience for dealing with this unreasonable fool.
The only reason he was even arguing about this and did not simply decree his decision was because he respected Manuk and valued his opinion.
But that felt increasingly hard to do as Manuk seemed to be in no mood to be reasoned with.
Just as Amenheraft decided to ignore Manuk and decree his decision, the deep booming voice of his royal guards captain bellowed out,
"Stupid brother, what nonsense are you spewing out of that mouth of yours? Has a single victory gone to your head, you pig with muscles for brains?"
Beihrut cursed a saying often Manuk threw at him.
And this was probably the first time in Manuk''s whole life that Beihrut ever scolded him, usually, it was always the other way around.
And this weird,ic happenstance calmed both Manuk and Amenheraft down.
Chapter 50 Sacrifice
Sensing his tempers were running high, Amenferaft took a deep breath, calmed down, and then slowly sped his hands behind, "Manuk we understand your position. And we all know you just want the best for all of us here. And yes, ording to the Takqa we are supposed to offer sacrifices to the gods in exchange for their favor."
"Okay fine, you want some people to offer the gods, we will give you half of the thirty thousand- fifteen thousand men to appease the gods." Amenheraft proposed a perfectly reasonable middle-ground solution to their argument.
But Manuk was a fundamentalist and not someone reasonable when it came to religion.
He was someone who would follow the book to the tee and no way was he going to ept anything short of a full sacrifice
This bullheadedness many would argue ran in the family, Beihrut was widely known for his stubbornness, but few who met Manuk would associate him with such a quality.
Because usually, Manuk was very level-headed and reasonable, until it involved religion. Then he would suddenly turn into aplete manic zealously and extremely aggressively defending every single word without exception.
But Beihrut''st roar, like with Amenheraft, also bought some coolness back to Manuk''s head and he understood rashly thatshing out would not convince anyone, especially when keeping the soldiers alive as ves had so much tangible benefits for everyone.
Hence he decided to appeal to their soul.
"Let us recount our god''s blessings today" Manuk proposed. "Without the first blessing, the first thunderstrike, our slingers would have had to fight tooth and nail to destroy the Cantagenan cavalry. By that time our outnumbered infantry might well have been overrun and destroyed, losing us the war. The second blessing urred out of our sight, a lightning bolt struck and killed our most hated general- Agapios, throwing the Cantagenan highmand into chaos. The third blessing urred just now- the Cantagenans were close to breaking the cauldron and rescuing their trapped soldiers when a fog disoriented their sense of direction and disrupted their lines ofmunication, trapping all of them in."
Manuk then lifted his thumb, "The first blessing can be said to be because Ramuh decided to help his son on earth."
Then he raised his index and middle finger, "But without the second and third blessings, without Agapios dying and the fog trapping the soldiers, none of us here would be debating what to do with the captured soldiers. We have only captured the soldiers because the gods designed it such. This gift is theirs and yet you mortals dare to steal from the god?" He asked in a hard, furious voice.
"The king is a god too." The noble that spoke before retorted.
"Yes, His Majesty Amenheraft is a god. No one can ever deny that." Manuk admitted with a nod.
"However, it should not be forgotten that technically His Majesty is yet to be coronated. The previous king''s funeral ceremony is still pending and His Highness is yet to be king in the eyes of the gods."
"But even if we forget that technicality, remember, King Amenheraft is a god amongst mortals. He has been granted authority to do whatever he wants in this mortal ne to mortals. But not to the gods. Remember, even the god-king cannot take what belongs to his divine father Ramuh."
Then Manuk asked, "All of you want to use the ves to farm. They will help end the famine, you say. They will help produce food, you say. They will save our starving popce, you say. We only need them till the autumn rain ends, you say. Have you ever stopped to ask if it rains no longer?"
"What if, out of your greed, you do not offer the gods their rightful gifts, instead use them to nt crops, only to find out that the gods in their displeasure have decided to resume the drought? Does any one of us have the power to make it rain when the gods deny it?" Manuk finished his inquiry.
The questions raised by Manuk bought back fear to many present.
Yes, theing of rain usually signified the end of the drought.
Usually.
There have been many records where heavy rainfall urred amidst droughts and many thought the drought was over only for it to be prolonged for years.
Manuk''s questions had moved even Amenheraft.
Although he was a very pragmatic leader who mainly viewed his so-called divine right to rule as nothing but a convenient political tool, still in his heart, in a small, hidden corner, resided a genuine fear and reverence for the gods.
There have been many rumors about the origins of the drought, many saying this was a curse by the gods to the Amenheraft family.
It said that this was the gods signaling that the Amenheraft family had lost their divine right to rule.
They pointed to the excesses the precious king, Amenheraft''s father indulged in and med every misfortune urring around them on him.
Now in fairness, even Amenheraft would agree that his father regrly went too far.
Even as his son Amenheraft would sometimes be disgusted by some of his father''s practices, such as forcibly taking the wives of various nobles openly in front of them, taking his concubines inrge open parties, sharing his various wives with other nobles, raping young boys and various other turpitude too many to list.
But although disgusted and understanding the severe consequences of his father''s actions, Amenheraft, even as the crown prince, had almost no power to do anything about it.
As king, his father was god, and crown princes had been executed for far fewer infractions in the past.
A few of his own brothers had been killed by the king for minor foibles.
As such the best Amenheraft could do was try and mitigate the damages caused by his father from the shadows, without drawing the ire of the king.
But clearly, his efforts were not enough as the rebellion urring now proved.
But Amenheraft, although didn''t learn from his father how to be a good king, at least did learn how not to be a bad king.
And the two biggest way to not be a bad king was to one- to heed his loyal retainers'' advice and two- to not upset the gods.
And if Amenheraft was to forcibly stop the sacrifice today he would be viting both points.
He feared that if he stopped the sacrifice and the drought returned, it would be the end for him.
He suspected even his most loyal retainer Manuk would likely abandon him.
Hence with a heavy heart and a tired voice, he asked "Manuk, is there really no other way?"
He had suspected such an oue just as Manuk bought up the topic, and although he fought the good fight it seemed the inevitable was going to happen.
"I am afraid not Your Majesty. Even if you decree such a decision, I willmand the troops to execute all the captured troops. And if I am killed for my actions, I will dly die a martyr. At least, the gods will bear witness to my intentions and save my soul from eternal damnation." Manuk fearlessly dered.
Amenheraft listened to Manuk''s determination with a deadpan expression and then conceded in a t tone, "Haaahh, then do it. I am tired and I leave the ritual and ceremony to you." He then finished by waving his arms dismissively,
"Yes, Your Majesty." Manuk promptly replied.
Right then an ear screeching, coughing sound sted their everyone''s ears, "*Cough*, *Cough*, *Cough*."
It was from Beihrut and he kept coughing and coughing while everyone started till phlegm mixed with blood was vomited out and he couldn''t stand anymore.
"Brother!" Seeing the giant be toppled, Manuk quickly ran up to the kneeling man, eyes filled with concern.
And just as he touched the man, it felt like he was touching a hot frying pan.
Beihrut''s entire body seemed to be on fire.
"You, you have a burning fever running. Why didn''t you go rest, idiot?" Manuk eximed in horror.
"Nfzam, Nfzam, where are you?" Manuk then started looking around for Beihrut''s adjuvant for help.
But surprisingly he was nowhere to be found, absent from his to-be post.
And not only him, arge part of Beihrut''s retinue seemed to be strangely absent.
Manuk if he was still cool-headed as before would have certainly picked up on this discrepancy but he was too upied and simply chalked up the absence with them being somewhere else for the moment.
After all, in an army of twenty-five thousand, it was all too easy to lose track of a few men.
But, although Nfzam didn''t answer Manuk, his manic calling was soon answered by the people around, who picked Beihrut to his camp, assigned some doctors, and reassured Manuk that his brother will be looked well after.
And so Manuk, leaving his brother at capable hands reluctantly left to perform the ceremony.
He prayed that the ceremony will be enough to appease the gods and help obliterate all obstacles in their life and even help cure Beihrut.
,m With this in mind, Manuk soonmenced the ritual, where all the soldiers chanted in unison after him as they stabbed and executed the captured soldiers, turning the night sky into a mournful chorus of screams and howling and painting the ck ground bright red.
But what of Nfzam and others you ask?
Well, they were currently in front of the city gates of Adhan, shing a strange seal to the gate guards!
Chapter 51 Schadenfreude
The mood in the other camp, Cantagena, was, understandably, the pr opposite of that in the Adhania camp.
In contrast to the jubnt atmosphere in that camp, here hung the gloomy stench of dejection, helplessness, and the mournful cries for the dead.
Many many brothers, fathers, and friends had died, and those alive were still drowning in their remembrance, some fondly recalling past good times, somementing for them for not listening to their advice and choosing to participate in the attack anyway and many howling for their loss, believing that they will never see their loved ones again.
They were not crying because they won''t be able to see them in this life, no.
They were crying because they believed the souls of their loved ones were eternally damned, never to enter Elysium and thus never being able to see them again.
This was because of the brutal ritual sacrifice carried out by the Adhanians right in front of them that they were all forced to bear witness, where they massacred tens of thousands of their brothers to their god Ramuh, meaning they will be eternally bound to Aaru as deathless ves, forced to toil away till the end of time in indentured servitude.
This was a potent psychological weapon Adhania regrly used to make people fear fighting against them as others believe that losing may lead to perpetual damnation.
Alexander himself was also affected by the scene.
The visceral horror of having to watch twenty to thirty thousand men be brutally hacked to pieces in such a packed space and hear them squeal and shout and moan in pain and agony as they slowly bled out shook him and dug up some unpleasant memories that he had previously tried to repress, memories about the butcher of Acme, which, sadly he was forced to take part in.
Alexander thus decided to stop watching this macabre show and made up his mind to go find Cambyses instead.
On his way to the medical camp, he recalled the initial rumor going on about the casualty estimation.
It said that of the original fifty thousand they started with, forty thousand were dead, wounded, or captured and less than ten thousand remained!
An eighty percent casualty rate!
Such huge casualty rates seemed surreal to Alexander, because usually battles ended with twenty to thirty percent casualty rates, as unit cohesion tended to break down above this point and soldiers just surrendered.
Alexander''s mind floated topare today''s loss to the Roman''s famous loss at Cannae where the Romans suffered, ording to many historians a casualty rate of ny percent.
But even though Alexander left the top of the valley disgusted at the brutal butchering happening in front of him and was saddened by such a high death toll, he had a weird schadenfreude feeling about this loss and particrly about how they lost.
On one hand, this loss reduced their avable soldiers left to escape Adhamia, from twenty thousand to less than ten thousand, less than half of their original numbers.
And the Adhanians bolstered by the win could decide to finish off the stragglers once and for all by attacking their camp in the morning.
These were disadvantages.
But on the other hand, his prophecy could not havee true in any better way.
He at best thought that the Cantagenans would be again defeated in battle and forced to retreat.
But now, just thinking about how the battle ended made Alexander''s mood be lifted up to cloud nine.
''Ah the fog, the fog, the fog.'' Alexander hummed a nonsensical tune in his mind praising the fog.
Because even before the battle ended, just when the soldiers atop the hill started seeing the fog rolling in, many people began to im the fog as the divine wrath foretold and forewarned by Alexander and those that chose to take part in the battle had forsaken the protection of Gaia and were doomed.
And as the battle went from bad to worse, this news of the manifestation of his prediction, fueled by Camius began to spread like wildfire.
Bearing witness to the cold hard evidence unfolding right in front of them, many began to see Alexander in a different light.
While previously his boyish face and young age would have only drawn scorn as a rookie, now it only drew adoration, as soldiersmented that only a person blessed by the divine power could be so young yet so erudite.
And as Alexander made his way toward the medical camp, he could even see a small group form behind him as they inconspicuously tried to tail him, to observe him.
Deciding not to pay attention to this crowd, for now, Alexander brusquely walked passed the scenery and soon burst himself into the hustle and bustle of the medical camp.
Here he was pleasantly surprised to see that the previous chaos outside the camp hadrgely subsided, making the camp now seem much leaner, cleaner, and more organized.
It seemed the presence of Melodias''s muscle and prioritizing the lesser wounded over the ''not so hopeful in making a recovery'' soldiers had worked wonders as now the physicians actually had the time to properly diagnose and treat their patients instead of just running about trying to help everyone.
As Alexander was passing through the outer circle of the medical camp, suddenly he saw something amazing.
In the middle of the camp, there was an enormous roaring fire going, and atop it sat a huge earthen pot with water boiling inside its belly.
Around it were ves and soldiers, all working furiously washing, peeling, cutting, squeezing, and filtering beetroot juices and then dumping it all into the boiling pot.
Two strong ves kept constantly stirring the water and mixing the juices and from to time, someone would take huge jugs of the sweet water out to feed the patients.
Alexander squinted to see the shadow of a person who appeared to be the leader, screaming orders, listening to orders, and wildly gesturing to others to hurry it up.
The shadow rapidly gave away to an unmistakable silhouette, short, sweating, and red with exhaustion- Mean.
Seeing how busy the girl was, Alexander decided not to run up to her and have a chat.
Instead, he shouted from afar, "Mean, you know where the mistress is? It''s urgent."
Listening to the all too familiar voice ring her ears, Mean felt a huge rush of pleasure and relief.
She had heard by now of the disastrous defeat they again suffered just now and also knew that Alexander and most of the mercenaries in her group didn''t participate in the attack, only Nestoras and a few madds did, but still, it was one thing to hear a person you care about being safe and it''s a whole different story seeing that person safe.
"Alexander! Thank goodness you stopped us." Mean ran over, glee overflowing out of her face.
"*Sigh*, if only our leader had listened. " Meeting the girl, Alexander heavily sighed, shaking his head in apparentmentation.
Although internally he was ecstatic.
Yes, Nestoras dying didplicate matters a bit regarding his emancipation, but still, the rich rewards he got and stood to gain, many times offset such minor inconveniences.
But Mean was not aware and even did not care about such intricacies. She simply paid her respects to the dead, "Yeah, let Gaia embrace him into Elysium."
This put Alexander in an awkward position.
Because it seemed that Mean was unaware of the ritual sacrifice going on some distance in front of her or else she would not have said such words.
Maybe because the ceremony was still ongoing so the news had not reached here yet or maybe she was among the only few left unaware, but it was widely considered by everyone in the group, including Alexander that Nestoras and everyone else had been captured.
This was because it was believed till now that the entire Cantagenan army had been surrounded and captured, with only Damiou''s two thousand soldiers dying and three thousand returning to camp.
No other credible report of additional soldiers returning to camp had yet been verified.
But instead of letting Mean in on such details, Alexander decided to whitewash it a little.
He said in a heavy voice, letting out a sigh "I heard they fought to thest man, hahhhh."
"Mean, we need a little help over here." A strong, robust voice suddenly cut through the mncholic atmosphere, urging Mean to return to her duties.
Both turned to look back at the man frantically waving at her and Mean instantly blurted, "I saw mistress inside the main tent. I gotta go."
"Wait, please bring me a few sleepknot leaves and some limestone." Alexander suddenly remembered the two crucial ingredients.
"Oh, here, there should be some." Mean readily handed him a leather pouch tied to her hips, seeing no need to ask for any further questions or details as the things asked by Alexander were verymon. and then without saying, rapidly turned and elerated towards the waving man.
Sleepknot leaves weremon medicines used to help insomnia and limestones were used as a disinfectant.
It was no formaldehyde but it was the best Alexander got.
Thus, acquiring the fourth and final piece of the puzzle, Alexander tied the pouch to his hips and made his way inside the medical tent.
It was time to prepare the present for Aristotle
Chapter 52 Damious And Alexander
The medical tent like the camp outside seemed to have gained back its seemliness and order, with none of the chaotic ripples now cascading through it.
As Alexander approached the tent, he was eager to get a closer look at the inner workings of the tent and find Cambyses, when his eyes wandered to a strange ''clot'' of people that seemed to have formed near the mouth of the tent.
He could not see too clearly in the dark, but he could make out a body on a bed being surrounded by several shadows and he knew this was the man Theocles was talking about.
Alexander had heard of but never seen the man in the flesh, and was interested to check out how true were the rumors saying he suffered grievous injuries.
If he was really as injured as they said, maybe he wouldn''t have to kill him after all.
With this cheerful thought, Alexander slowly approached the tent, the faces of the people lit by candlelight bing clearer and clearer to him as he got closer and closer and soon he could make out the silhouettes of people there.
He identified quite a surprising few, Aristotle, Pallidus, Theocles, and even Melodias along with a few physicians from his group.
But no Cambyses.
"Halt"
"Identify yourself!"
Two strong voices from the front of the entrance unpleasantly barked at Alexander as he attempted to approach the tent entrance and Alexander thought, "Yep, I am in the right ce."
"I work here." Alexander inly introduced.
"State your name." Came the aggressive reply.
"I am¡"
"Alexander!"
Before he could finish the sentence, from the back came an enthusiastic shout.
It was his self-proimed most loyal follower, Theocles and somehow managing to identify Alexander even within this low-intensity lighting, he quickly made his way toward him.
"He''s Alexander?" One of the guards spoke in surprise.
"He''s younger than he looks." The other one muttered as he craned his neck to try and get a better look at the face illuminated by the fire torches around them.
It seemed that Camius was doing a fantastic job as the rumors of Alexander''s ''exploits'' had reached even these lowly grunts.
"Come,e." Theocles quickly approached Alexander and gestured to join them.
Alexander gently smiled and followed, saying on the way, "Quartermaster, I have seen the beetroots you allowed us to use being put to good use. It will be your merit for all the soldiers'' lives we save."
"Haha, don''t mention it. This is what I should have done. As you said, ''We are all in this together''." Theocles loudly proimed.
This little exchange was done so publicly to advertise their contribution and remind everyone that it was they that arranged for the treatment of all the wounded soldiers.
Done with this little charade, Alexander saw the ws mercenary leader Melodias, who chose to tow closely behind Theocles.
Before Alexander could get a word in, Melodias spoke up, strongly patting his shoulders, "Alexander, we are alive today because of you. You could have told me before, you know!"
Melodias was referring to how Alexander yed a clueless medical staff the first time he met him to determine how well his rumor was spreading.
"Hehe, I suspect you might have lived even without my help." Alexander modestly said.
In truth, Alexander was very close to being right. Melodias was having second thoughts about obeyingmands the moment Samaras dered them and was teetering between following or not following them.
Alexander''s rumor only helped to make the choice easier.
"No, no, this credit belongs only to you." Melodias rejected any such praise.
And then he gratefully said, "Thanks for rmending me to this ce. Instead of needlessly dying, I got to help clean this ce and take care of all the wounded soldiers."
This touched Alexander because he had met very few people and especially not any mercenaries who took genuine pleasure in helping others.
"You have saved a lot of lives." Alexander simply said from the bottom of his heart.
"Hehe, well, I gotta go actually. Damious told me to arrange the night patrol." Informing Alexander, Melodias then quickly left.
And thus finally, after a bit more walking, the duo finally met the small crowd and Alexander got close enough toy his eyes on the bandaged man, sitting upright and giving orders.
The man they called the bear ''The Bear''.
And Alexander had to admit whoever came up with the name did a very good job because it suited the man perfectly.
Muscr and tall as a mountain, with broad shoulders and long thick sideburns, the man seemed to exclude strength and power.
His bare upper torso was bandaged and his right eye seemed to have be unfunctional, judging from the bright red color the bandage covering it seemed to have taken.
But his left one still seemed feral, glowing with strength and ferocity.
It seemed that the rumors about him being injured though true were grossly exaggerated.
As Alexander was checking the man out, the fierce beast also seemed to be checking out the so-called divine son.
Damious had been getting some unsavory news about this boy and even more unsavory rumors iming that he was intending to kill him.
"You the brat who ims to be the son of Gaia?" The bear gruffly spoke, his tone seeming to beced with anger and malice.
Alexander almostughed at this question.
"I have explicitly said in front of everyone that I am not a god or the son of any kind of god. Everyone in this camp can bear witness." Alexander coolly replied.
"Yes, yes, we have all heard it." From the side, Theocles seemed to passionately nod his head in agreement.
This made Damious frown a bit and he shot a quick, almost imperceptible re at Aristotle, one that Alexander didn''t fail to catch.
"Now the show begins," Alexander muttered in his heart as he was eager to see what the rotting old coot had cooked up for him this time.
Clearly, he had egged Damious to mark Alexander as a threat to his authority without giving him all the details and the bear had taken the bait.
Damious was really caught a bit off guard by Alexander''s answer. He was ready for a series of questions, rebuttals, and mockery when Alexander imed to have divinity, but what to do now?
Damious was a fighter and not a schr.
He much preferred to just use intimidation, loud shouts, and his physical size to get his way.
But such tactics seemed unusable currently because of his injuries and the ce.
He thus found himself in a bind. thinking the boy was two steps ahead of him.
Not only did he deny such ims, but he had also done so much earlier in a public space in front of an audience, thus automatically refuting anyone iming that he was scared and was only lying to weasel out of the way now in front of the current default leader.
Well almost anyone.
The not-so-bright Pallidus tactlessly used, "Then why are soldiers calling you Gaia'' blessed? How could all the soldiers have done it without you knowing?"
"*Silence*" Alexander simply closed his eyes and moved his head, disdaining to even offer a reply.
He believed any human with a modicum of intelligence coulde up with the answer by themselves and those who couldn''t were just not worth talking to.
But Thoecles seemed eager to discredit this fool in front of Damious, so he replied with a sneer, "What does soldiers calling him a god have got to do anything with him? You were there when he rejected all divine ims. Is the earwax too much back there?" He sneered.
"I believe all of us just wants to know how you knew." Aristotle''s chirpy voice came to Pallidus''s rescue.
"Knew? Knew what?" Alexander inquired innocently.
"About the fog. Why didn''t you tell us about the fog?" Came Damious''s angry roar as he flexed his muscr triceps.
''Rash and prone anger. Easier than Aristotle.'' These words floated into Alexander''s mind.
Then he said "I only told everyone that we were tired andcked the energy to attack. I never uttered the word ''fog''."
"So do you know how the fog appeared?" A man from Damious''s entourage asked.
"Surely ''I know everything in the world'' does." Pallidus sarcastically sneered.
As a matter of fact, Alexander did learn in junior school how the mixing of warm, moist air with cold air formed mist and fog.
But he suspected none of them wanted that answer.
They just wanted an excuse to attack him.
Unwilling to y this charade for longer, Alexander blurted out. "What do you want me to say? That I knew about the fog but didn''t tell you for some reason but did tell everyone that they were too tired and so shouldn''t go?"
"Hehe, Alexander, you misunderstand. We only wanted to know if you could offer any more advice on how to avoid pitfalls. It''s a long way to Cantagena." Aristotle craftily imed.
"Sorry, I don''t. I am no general." Alexander curtly replied.
"Yet, you can act like one. You went against orders to try and even seed in preventing a full deployment."Damious coolly pointed out.
Then surprisingly he said, "Don''t worry, I am not mad. In fact, I am quite relieved that you managed to prevent so many deaths. Aristotle here has told me all about your exploits upto today and I must say, am very impressed. So I would like to invite you to join my group." Damious magnanimously offered.
''This dangling a bait in front feels weirdly familiar.'' Alexander thought in his head.
Refusing to bite, he gently, but firmly rejected. "Sorry, this group is my home."
"Hahaha, yes, I did hear about your strong loyalty. Tell you what, as your master is dead and as the overallmander of the mercenary groups I can set you free. I will even make you one of my personal guards!" Damious swung an even more delicious bait in front of him.
But Alexander swore in his heart, ''With your soldiers destroyed, you aremander of jack.''
He replied in the same hackneyed tune, "My master is dead. And now I exist to serve only my mistress and her father''s group."
"Oh, that''s good then. Because as her godfather and guardian, I have arranged for Cambyses to marry Damious!" Aristotle said in a crafty voice with a damn smirk, as if he had nailed Alexander once and for all.
Chapter 53 Aristotles Regret
Women of this time were little better than ves.
Some may argue they were actually worse because a ve at least had a chance to be free and an emancipated male ve had more rights than a woman.
Free women of this time were always under the control and supervision of a male rtive, who wielded absolute power over her life decisions.
First and foremost was her father.
If he was absent, then it was her brother.
If she lost both of them then it would be her uncles.
If she was married, then it was her husband.
If she became a widow then it would be her son, and if the widow had only daughters then it would be her son-inw.
And if she could not be ced into any of these categories, she would be handed over to a godfather or a guardian, chosen by her father at the time of her birth to guard and guide the fairer sex in his absence.
That godfather could hence arbitrarily dictate any and all aspects of her life- including of course marriage.
The only women who could escape this twisted societal structure were either powerful noblewomen or very rich businesswomen, who were very very lucky to have the stars align for them to create the perfect opportunity for them to escape.
But Cambyses was neither lucky nor rich or powerful.
As such, Alexander knew full too well a long time ago that if he wanted to get her it would have to be through Nestoras, Octavius, and Aristotle.
So, Aristotle''s deration though unexpected did not shake him too much.
But it did shake his new follower, Theocles who bellowed in rage, "Aristotle! Have you gone mad? We don''t even know if Nestoras is dead on not!"
*Plop*.
But before this scene could develop any further, Alexander suddenly dropped to his knees and kneeled, submissively proiming to Damious, "ve greets his new master. May my life be useful to him."
"Alexander, you, you.."Theocles eyes bulged out to the point of almost bursting open and his mouth hung open in shock.
''How can a blessed of the gods ever lower his head to anyone? Did I choose wrong? But what about the fog?'' Theocles''s mind seemed to almost overload trying to think of an exnation for the phenomenon urring in front of him.
Even Damious and Aristotle were shocked by this.
Damious didn''t think the so-called legendary rebellious ve described by Aristotle would submit to him on his first word and was delighted by the disy of what he took as his own power cowering the ve to submission.
He started to believe these peoplecked the ability to control this ve, while he, the leader of ten thousand mercenaries had the charisma and reputation to gain his loyalty and obedience.
Aristotle on the other hand was disturbed.
Very disturbed.
He had long cherished the thought of seeing Alexander''s face ashen at having his lover snatched and he had even prepared a sarcastic speech to gloat at his misery.
But now, he seemed to get an inkling of the kind of monster he just annoyed.
Because a strong enemy was not scary but a flexible and willing to patiently endure humiliation was.
p Revenge was a dish best served cold after all.
He felt Alexander had submitted to his little n a bit too ''easily'' and did not feel assured at all because his rough understanding of the boy told him there was no way Alexander would ever go down so easily without a fight.
Aristotle was fully aware of the kind of feelings Alexander and Cambyses shared for one another and he expected him to at least show some shock on his face if not throw a tantrum over his woman as Cambyses did over him.
When Aristotle had told Cambyses of his decision to use her marriage as a way to obtain protection, food, and money for the group, the girl had burst into a tirade, screaming, stomping her feet, and even threatening to beat him.
She even begged him in a torrent of tears not to do this.
But this disy had only hardened Aristotle''s resolve as he felt sure this was Alexander''s one weakness and the only way to deal with the boy and save his position in the group.
By making Alexander someone else''s problem.
But right now, Aristotle was having second thoughts.
Because he finally began to look at the holes in ns.
When he first thought up this n, he did not think too deeply about it because at the time he was still reeling from the shock of the news that the Cantagenas had gotten lost in the fog and got captured themselves.
He was deathly afraid of the meteoric rise Alexander would have in the group once soldiers saw his warninging true and so when he heard Damious was injured and seeking to get treatment in his camp, he ran to him to find a way to use him to suppress Alexander.
And as they talked, from the losses they suffered to their supplies situation to how they were gonna run away, the talk evidently drifted toAlexander.
There Aristotle fed the bear a mixture of truths and exaggerations to try and get Damious to deal with the boy.
But Damious''s reaction was lukewarm at best.
Though Alexander''s little inventions pricked his interest a bit, he did not yet believe everything Aristotle was spewing and found it hard to believe that an eighteen-year-old ve could be the schemer told by Aristotle.
He felt that instead of Alexander being the criminal mastermind as made out by Aristotle, it was more usible that the old man was just senile and ipetent.
Aristotle too sensed Damious''s disinterest and felt he was underestimating Alexander like they did before.
But he found it hard to convey this to the injured man.
But then, Damious''s attitude suddenly u turned after a runner whispered something in his ears.
All of a sudden the mercenary leader started taking great interest in the boy and was eager to deal with him.
This was because the runner had informed him of the two rumors.
As they talked and nned and schemed. Aristotle suddenly noticed something, suddenly he struck it big.
Because, by the hands of the goddess of fate, he noticed that the mercenary leader seemed to have taken quite a liking to the young girl attending to him, Cambyses.
Aristotle could not have asked for a better coincidence in his dreams.
He thought ''why deal with the boy by myself when I can make it someone else''s problem.''
And so, reasonably assuming Nestoras to be dead, he introduced himself as Cambyses''s godfather and proposed to give Cambyses''s hand in a marriage alliance and her ve Alexander as dowry in exchange for food and security for his group until they got out of Adhania.
And Damious all too happily epted, thinking of a hundred different ways he could off the traitor that lost him the battle and getting a beautiful wife to boot.
But now in hindsight, Aristotle felt he had been too hasty.
Because he forgot to take into ount Alexander''s now new status in the soldiers'' hearts.
And he felt that the boy could have used his influence to put up a decent fight against his proposal.
Even Theocles who stood right beside him seemed ready to go to war on his behalf.
Thus sensing something not quite right about Alexander just folding to his request, Aristotle tried to backtrack, "Alexander, you don''t have to so readily ept this. Nothing has been set in stone yet."
But Damious''s loud, boisterousughter drowned out any of Aristotle''s words.
"Hahaha, good, good. Aristotle told me you had abnormal feelings for your mistress, but it''s good you are intelligent enough to understand reality."
Then, acting as if the marriage was already done, he crassly assured, "Don''t worry, as long as you follow mymand, you will follow lead a life ten times better than you did under father-inw. But..," with his voice turning dangerous he warned, "I am concerned about the rtionship Aristotles says you had with my wife. Although I am grateful to you for saving her, you are not to have any more contact with her. And after the ceremony, to ensure the safety of my bloodline, you will have to be castrated!"
This was an insane proposition because such procedures had a fifty-fifty percentage of survival chance at the best of times.
And now, not to mention the bleeding and risk of infection, just the fact that they would have to march tens of kilometers a day would be enough to kill Alexander if he was subjected to such a procedure.
"Damious, you think you cane here and spew such nonsense? You are just a loser dog."Theocles was utterly incensed at this proposal and if there were not several men protecting Damious, he certainly would have taken his chances.
"The words ''loser dog'' struck a nerve with the twice in-one-day defeated mercenary leader and in a fit of rage, he bolted out of the bed and squarely punched Theocles in the sr plex, knocking Theocles clean off the ground.
Even tired, injured, and exhausted, the bear was nothing to scoff at.
But this disy of strength and ferocity, though very impressive, failed to impress two very important men, Aristotle and Alexander.
Alexander was very happy to see his initial impression of Damious as more brawl than brain was true, understanding the brash, hot head would not be too difficult to deal with.
Hence he didn''t even take the threat of castration seriously, as in his eyes, Damious was already a dead man walking.
He could find a hundred ways to take care of this one-eyed cripple.
Aristotle too began to understand more and more that perhaps he had chosen the wrong partner.
Because Alexander could not be dealt with raw muscle.
Or else Xanthine and Constans would have been enough.
So he tried to back out again, "Damious, Alexander is like my son and an irreceable part of our camp. I can never agree to such a dangerous procedure. Let us talk about the marriage allianceter."
These shallow, insincere words moved no one.
"The marriage between me and my sweetheart has already been set. We will perform a simple ceremony tomorrow and have a grand feast once we return to Cantagena." Damious unterally dered, treating Aristotle''s words as fart.
Chapter 54 Damious In Love
Damious had been smitten with Cambyses the moment he hadid eyes upon the young girl, working tirelessly to clean, disinfect and bandage his wounds.
He felt the warmth of her hands, he smelled her sweet scent and he could feel the tenderness she treated him with.
He had also found the girl''s demeanor very different from every other woman he had met.
Unlike most women who turned meek and submissive at first sight of his face and huge frame, he found her to be brave, strong, and independent, even running towards him eagerly to administer treatment.
And this was not even mentioning her body and figure.
Tall and slender, with a beautiful sharp face jeweled with soft, caramel eyes and long ponytailed chestnut hair, she was dressed in full-body tight-fitting leather armor making her look like a heroine right out of a portrait.
The armor hugged and entuated her beautiful body, especially her curves, and made her thighs and hips stand out.
But the most prominent ce that drew every man''s eyes towards was her butt.
p Because her rear was truly divine.
Possessing a pear-shaped body, Cambyses had a slender torso with modest breasts but wide hips and a huge, jiggling ass, sculpted by the gods.
And that was also the very first thing that Damiousid eyes upon when he was bought first into the medical tent, her bending over and preparing some medicine.
He found that sweet ass to be mesmerizing andter interactions with her only made his love for her grow.
Damious had fallen in love at first sight with Cambyses and he was determined to get his woman as he felt only someone aplished as he was worthy enough to possess such a jewel.
So, while Damious was thinking of ways to take Cambyses, yes, take, because Cambyses''s own opinion or consent did not matter, Aristotle offered him a far easier way out, a marriage proposal.
It seemed that the girl was effectively an orphan and the old fool wanted to give him his goddaughter and a so-called, ''problematic super ve'' in exchange for food and protection.
He on the surface agreed, because, though he had always intended to take Cambyses one way or another, he figured doing it this way would produce the least resistance from the girl.
He had judged, from the brief period of contact with her, that the fiercely independent girl would not likely be keen on the marriage and he felt he could use the welfare and security of her father''s mercenary group as a bargaining chip to tame the feisty tigress.
The mercenary leader had no qualms about using such ckmail to get the girl''s heart and decided that the help given to this mercenary group would depend entirely upon his mood and his new wife''s ability to please him.
As for the ve, normally he could have just killed one without anyone caring one hoot.
But this proved to not be an option under current circumstances as he had somehow magically ced himself as the cornerstone of belief in many of the soldier''s hearts.
So he intended to use the excuse of castration to make him die from bleeding or infection and remove his thorn from his side once and for all.
He had no interest in a ve, useful or not, obedient or disobedient, who he found a danger to his rule and his wife was said to be in love with.
And he will be damned if an old senile fool from a puny mercenary group was going to stop him from doing anything.
"Quartermaster, please do not worry. I fully understand and support my master''s to carry out the procedure. And don''t worry, with my medical skills, I have an absolute guarantee to survive the castration." Alexander calmed the furious Theocles down.
"Haha, that''s good, that''s good." From the side, Damious joyously cheered.
"Alexander, you¡.." Theocles finally had the time to calm down and think about what Alexander was doing.
Judging from what he learned about the boy, it felt like Alexander had already decided what to do and was just setting the stage up for his final move.
''But what was that move?'' Theocles internally asked.
Damious was too closely guarded and his bodyguards kept an ever-vignt eye on anyone trying to reach for their weapons and they even tasted all the food and drink before giving it to their leader.
Assassination seemed out of the option.
But if Damious did not die, how could the blessed of Gaia live?
''Am I just going to wait and see the son of Gaia die?'' Theocles cursed himself for his powerlessness.
Alexander stopped paying attention to the internal fight he could almost feeling from Theocles and decided it was time to make his exit.
He had better things to do and it was time to close this little clown show.
He said, "Master Damious, although you will be my master tomorrow morning, until the time the marriage ceremony has taken ce, I am afraid I am still the mistress''s ve and have to report to her. Thus I am unable to follow yourmand of not anymore meeting with her. Forgive me."
"...." Damious frowned at the well-thought-out argument and unable to counter it, began to find Alexander even more irritating than before.
Alexander, on the other hand, hearing no rebuttal, proceeded, "I was originally here to find mistress and deliver the news that her father, our dear leader has indeed died in battle."
"Who did you hear it from?" Aristotle sharply asked, almost jumping toward Alexander.
Without Nestoras and Xanrhine, Aristotle suddenly didn''t feel safe in his own camp!
"From an Alcmene mercenary who somehow managed to escape and make it into the camp. He described Nestoras to the tee, saying he fought with him in his ranks and saw him die to a spear." Alexander made up the story as he went.
"What about the others? What about Xanthine? Why didn''t you say this earlier?" Aristotleunched these questions in rapid-fire mode.
Although he suspected Nestoras''s death, he still felt as if his body was on fire when Alexander seemed to confirm it. It seemed the old man was alone in this ocean of malice.
"That mercenary could not tell anything about the others, most likely because they were too few in numbers to form an independent phnx unit of their own. They must have been scattered across different units " Alexander bullshitted again.
"What''s the name of the mercenary? What does he look like? Where is he?" Aristotle impatiently asked, absolutely unsatisfied with Alexander''s answer.
"He said his name was Hannibal Barca." Alexander pranked the old man. "He was Caucasian, had a full beard, and was ye high" Alexander raised his left hand upto his chin, "and I saw him run towards Alcmene''s camp." Alexander gave him a random description of a man with words that just popped into his mind.
"Follow me then." Aristotle quicklymanded Alexander to help him find the soldier amongst the sea of humans.
"I have to give the news to mistress. She must be very worried. Do you know where she is?" Alexander had no intention of going on a wild goose chase with this old fool.
"You.." Aristotle spat out in rage,
Damious on the other hand looked at the exchange with bemused amusement.
But listening to Alexander mention Cambyses suddenly made him yearn to see his sweetheart.
So he fondly reminisced, "I heard my wife has returned to her tent, apparently upset at the marriage proposal. *Sigh*, the little girl must be scared that having just lost her brother, and father and now forced to wed a stranger. If I wasn''t injured, I certainly would have gone to console and assured her and tell her that things will only get better from now on."
"Thank you, Master, for telling me. I am sure mistress is just overwhelmed by everything that''s been happening around her. Once she calms down, she will naturally see that you are the best person for her. But this lowly ve has one small, selfish request that he would like to make if you permit it." Alexander asked with the utmost servility.
"I allow it." Came Damious''s almost regal reply.
"Aristotle, the so-called godfather of my mistress has sold her for food and security, I do not me him, that is the reality we are in now. But I can see Master truly loves her. So it is my minor request to you that you do not make things too hard for her. She has had a difficult childhood and my only wish is to see her happy." Alexander pleaded.
"You don''t have to worry. I love my wife with all my heart." Damious gave a passionate but ultimately t reply.
After all, in his mind, why does anything a ve with less than twenty hours to live say matter?
But Alexander appeared to be very pleased by the reply, as he burst into a huge grin, "Thank you, sir."
Then asked his permission to be allowed to leave, " Now, if you will excuse me."
But just then Aristotle broke out, "Wait, you stay!"
Chapter 55 Meeting The Bride
Aristotle didn''t know why but he felt that letting Alexander leave this ce would be very bad for him.
So he repeated, adamant about not letting him in his sight, "You stay. As her godfather, it''s my duty to inform Cambyses."
But Alexander didn''t see this old cripple as anything amounting to a real threat anymore.
So, he defiantly proimed, "I am afraid you are thest person my mistress wants to see right now."
He then bowed, "Now, she has personally urged me beforehand to tell any news of her father, so if you will please excuse me."
Seeing there was no way he could really stop Alexander, Aristotle signaled with his eyes to Damious to help him.
Damious too didn''t feel good about a male ve, presumably his to-be wife''s lover, being alone with his sweetheart.
So, he said, "Boy, I need a guard here. You stay."
But Alexander simply shot back, shaking his head, " I still belong to Nestoras''s mercenaries group. I am not under yourmand yet."
This made Damious''s face go ck and a huge frown formed on his face.
He couldn''t remember thest time a freeman, much less a ve had been so rude to him.
He had originally wanted to use his men to forcefully restrain Cambyses, but Aristotle talked him out of it, saying taking the group leader''s daughter with such force so openly would likely cause the other groups to view it as Damious trying to annex other mercenary groups.
So, he could only let her go, with Aristotle promising she will be ready for marriage tomorrow.
But, now it seemed that the ve he hated would get to spend time with his wife.
"The leader hasmanded you to stay, ve." Angry at the insolence, one of Damious''sckeys decided to step forward in hismander''s stead, gripping his sheathed sword and blocking Alexander''s way.
"*ng*" From behind Theocles directly drew his sword.
But Alexander only drew jeers, "You want to restrain me by the sword? Here? In front of all these people? Hahaha¡go ahead punk! Make my day!"
This made the man feel perturbed as he looked around his surroundings, identifying hundreds of pairs of eyes from all over the tent and even from outside scanning him, particrly from a little crowd that seemed to formed to look at Alexander.
He was then reminded that they weren''t in their own camp.
"Let him go." Came Damious''s imperiousmand from behind, understanding that there was little he could do without causing a scene.
But this exchange also made Damious finally empathize a bit with Aristotle over his concerns with Alexander.
He began to believe that maybe Aristotle really did not exaggerate the abilities of this ve and this made him want to kill him even more.
Given the permission to leave, Alexander did not immediately scamper off.
Instead, he turned around to face Damious and smiled, "Master, is being too paranoid, I simply want to deliver the news of my previous master''s passing to my mistress. Nothing more, nothing less."
He then put forward, "Master, let me convince mistress to bring you something to eat. It will be soon dinner time and I am sure you are getting hungry."
This improved the mood of the grumpy giant who suddenly yearned to be fed by his new love.
So he uttered, "Umm, you do that."
"Thank you. Then brother", Alexander turned to look at the man who almost had drawn his sword, "pleasee with me. I am aware how seriously master takes his security and I want you to oversee the food preparation."
This made both Aristotle and Damious quite pleased because the person Alexander chose was Damious''s most loyal captain and blindly loyal to him.
Thus, believing that they would have at least some supervision over the ve, both men nodded with encouragement, and the trio of Alexander, Theocles, and the mercenary soon exited the camp, making their way to Cambyses''s tent at the back with haste.
"What''s your name, brother?" Alexander tried to make light conversation along the way.
"Gratz," Came the terse, rough reply.
"Brother Gratz, do you have any tips for pleasing master? I believe I can be quite useful with the right guidance" Alexander pretended to be very eager to start his new life of servitude.
"I''m no brother of yours. I''m a freeman and you are a ve." Came an angry retort.
"Haha, yes, yes, then please sir Gratz, may you share some of your wisdom on how to serve master Damious." Alexander corrected himself in the most patronizing way possible.
"No." Gratz clenched out the words through his teeth.
Alexander simply smiled and nodded, understanding the tight-lipped man had no intention of saying anything to him.
''They are already treating me as a dead man walking, huh,'' Alexander smirked in his heart. ''Well, the feeling is mutual buddy.''
Soon under the curtain of the moonless night, their path illuminated byrge fire torches lit at small intervals, the trio approached Cambyses''s tent in silence, stopping some distance from it, in arge,rgely empty space.
Here Alexander eloquently said, "Theocles, why don''t you entertain brother Gratz here with some of your stories, while I deliver this very personal obituary to her."
Theocles instantly got the hint to keep Gratz here and before the man could say anything, he started "Gratz, let me tell you about the time I ¡"
Leaving the two men to ''bond'', with Gratz shooting a resentful look at Alexander''s back, he made his way to the entrance of the tent, which was, strangely, making loud thudding sounds.
Alexander precisely knew what this was because he had heard it lots of times before, as Cambyses was known to do this when she was frustrated.
He deftly parted the tent and as his eyes adjusted to the low candlelight, he could make out a shadow, whirlwinding around the punching bag,
Her cheeks were puffed up and the engaged lioness seem to make each punch and kick with even more increasing power and precision, as if wanting to smash the punching bag to pieces.
"You will tire yourself out before you get a chance to hit Damious at this rate." Alexander joked.
"You¡." Cambyses, only now realizing an intruder had entered was frightened and then stunned at the voice.
She turned around like a frightened fawn to see her beloved at the front gate and then uncontrobly bolted towards him, spontaneously bursting into tears along the way.
"Alexander! Wahhhhh." The always strong-on-the-outside girl cried uncontrobly on the shoulders of her ve.
"There, there, silly girl. Everything will be alright. Look, you even bruised your hands." Alexander cooed as he patted the girl''s chestnut hair.
But Cambyses seemed inconsble as she just bawled over him.
"Haha, what''s this? Didn''t you say you left all your tears at that corner?" Alexander then light-heartedly poked fun at the girl.
This seemed to wound the prideful girl, as she quickly gained back herposure, and then as if suddenly remembering something, Cambyses screamed, "Quick, leave. You, you shouldn''t be here. Damious will kill you."
But Alexander simply drew a loose smile, "Rx, tiger. He said he will wait till tomorrow to kill me."
"What?" Came Cambyses''s befuddled reply.
"Let''s sit down first. You got something to eat?" Alexander nonchntly asked as he strode forward towards her bed.
"No, Mean took everything other than a few hard tacks," Cambyses answered, still confused with the line of dialogue.
"Well, then boil some water and serve some hard tacks woman." Came Alexander''s quip.
Cambyses still felt she was missing a lot of things in the conversation, but seeing Alexander make himselffortable beside her bed, she nevertheless decided to follow Alexander''s request, figuring she could ask questions in detail as they ate.
So she lit up the kindling already present in the indoor stove designed by Alexander and then put an earthen pot with some water in it to boil.
Alexander always tried to drink boiled water whenever possible and this little habit had even rubbed off on Cambyses.
Setting the water to boil, she took a candle to the back and produced some hard tacks from a small wooden jar.
But as she was returning from her little trip, she almost frightened herself to see Alexander somehow magically sitting in front of some beetroots that seemingly had appeared out of nowhere and a drinking pot that used to belong to her father.
"Sweetwater and hardtacks. Not a bad dinner considering our circumstances." Alexander beamed a bright smile at the wide eyes girl as he patted the ground, gesturing for her to sit down.
This calm, darn care for the rest of the world had a profound calming effect on the girl and instead of the bubbling and simmering rage she was just feeling, Cambyses now felt that as long as she was with Alexander, everything would be alright.
"Where did you get the beetroots? And I didn''t see you carry the drinking pot" Cambyses asked the two obvious questions.
"Everything in due time, my dear. Everything in due time." Alexander rhymed. Then he pointed, "Now help me prepare these beetroots."
So the duo soon sat opposite each other, the woman using a dagger and the man surprisingly using his sword as a makeshift knife to peel and cut the beetroots into bite-size pieces.
Alexander was the first to break the silence.
"Congrattions on getting married," He almost managed to say it without smirking.
In reply, Cambyses only red and points her dagger, saying "Your jokes are not funny. Don''t try me."
"Hehe, what''s the use acting all tough now, you eighteen-year crybaby." Alexander mocked undisturbed.
"Enough. I have been patient enough. Now, speak ve, your mistress orders you." Cambysesmanded in an almost regal tone.
She usually spoke like this with Alexander when they were alone and she wanted something from him.
In other words, this was her way of begging for something from Alexander
"Hehe, okay okay, let''s talk." Alexander sensing the depressed girl about to snap, figured it was time to get serious.
Chapter 56 Barbed Alexander
"First of all, my condolences, Nestoras is most likely dead." Alexander delivered the heavy news. to Cambyses
And she seemed to take the news pretty well.
"Um," Came only a slow, single nod.
There was no sign of shock on her face, no crying, not even a yelp.
After all, she figured as much when Aristotle, not Nestoras had arbitrarily arranged her marriage.
A while of silenceter, she muttered a small question, "Who told you?"
"You misheard. I said ''most likely'' dead. We have yet to receive confirmation. But the Adhanians have surrounded and then killed or captured almost everyone. Only Damious and his soldiers managed to survive." Alexander exined.
"No one would have missed him if he died," Cambyses said grinding her teeth.
Then came a hopeful interpretation, as she looked at Alexander with pleading eyes, "But that means he may be alive, right?"
Alexander stared back at the pleading eyes, which were begging to agree with them.
But Alexander heartlessly dashed her little me of hope, "We will have to wait till at least tomorrow morning, to say anything definitively, but if he was alive, he should have been back by now. Or at least someone from our group should have."
"Hahhhh." Came a long, heavy sigh, that seemed to contain an endless mix of emotions.
The girl had lost both her brother and father within a few hours and although she did not get on well with either of them, sometimes even to the point of hating them, they were still her kin, sharing the same blood.
Now, she felt all alone in this wide, cruel world.
"Well, let''s be honest here, Cam," Alexander endearingly called her to break her out of her mncholy.
And then dropped a bombshell, "Him dying was not really that bad. It might be actually quite good."
The balls on this guy to say such a thing to a poor girl that had just been orphaned!
"....*Silence*....." Cambyses only looked at Alexander cidly, choosing not to even dignify that statement with a response.
"Come on Cam, don''t look at me like that. Octavius, Nestoras, and Aristotle, these three only saw you as a convenient tool to appease me. They never cared for you." Alexander again poked Cambyses insensitively.
"Is this your grand n?" Finally having enough, came Cambyses''s low roar. "To make me so angry that I kill you and then I follow you out of guilt?"
She then burst out, "You homeless stray cur, that''s my father you are talking about. Your parents might have left you to die by the ditch, but at least my father fed, clothed, and reared me. Don''t you dare talk about him like that!"
By the end of her tirade, Cambyses was so angry that she started brandishing her dagger in front of his face.
But Alexander seemed to not even notice this disy of hostility.
He simply pointed, "Oh, then what about Aristotle? Would you feel the same way if he died?"
The surfacing of that name seemed to cool the girl, drowning her just anger for her father with endless loathing.
She also felt that this was Alexander''s true objective and that everything else he had said was just a smokescreen to get her to answer this question.
She had felt like this before, like being a puppet, merely controlled by Alexander to get what he wants
And she hated the feeling.
So she decided not to y this game and directly asked, "What''s your n out of this, Alexander? Cause the best I could think of was a double suicide."
"Oh, my, I did not think you were that determined my love. But I would hate to leave this earth without first tasting that ass, hehe." Alexander made an obscene joke with a vulgar smile.
This caused Cambyses to flush with embarrassment, and she shouted in frustration, "You rogue scoundrel. If you don''t want to tell me, then fine. Don''t tell me. "
"Haha, when did I say I won''t tell you? You are the star of my n, of course, you have to know." Alexander informed.
"Me?" Cambyses was understandingly confused. Then her eyes turned sharp and her voice hardened, "What do you need me to do?"
"What do you think you are doing?" Alexander returned the question.
"Huh?" Cambyses seemed to have not understood the question.
Alexander repeated, "What do you think you are doing, here and now?"
"Umm," Cambyses looked at the peeling on the floor and the cut beetroots pieces on a cloth she had spread across and said confusedly, "Cutting beetroots?"
"Yes, cutting beetroots is part of the n," Alexander nodded enigmatically.
This only drew a displeased look from Cambyses, unhappy with not getting a straight answer.
"Don''t be like that. It will be just easier to show you." Noticing such, Alexander reassured the girl.
Then he bought up an older question, " You still haven''t answered me, ''Do you see Aristotle like you saw your father?'' It''s important."
"Why? You intend to kill him?" Cambyses asked calmly and then quickly followed up with, "How?"
Alexander was surprised by the eagerness with she asked thetter question and so decided to reveal his list of targets.
"Him, Pallidus and Damious." He told.
"Did you decide to kill him all the way back when you came out of themand tent? Was that why you tried so hard to convince me that Aristotle was trying to kill you?" Cambyses suddenly seemed to have entered zen mode as she felt she could barely make out the stretches of Alexander''s n.
Alexander was genuinely feeling a bit proud that his disciple could see so far and so he decided not to insult Cambyses''s intelligence.
He frankly revealed, "In order to marry you, both Nestoras and Aristotle had to go. I nned to convince them but yes, I did have a backup just in case."
This nonchnt reveal, especially with how casually he admitted to nning her own father, almost crashed her soul.
Yes, she and her father had their differences.
But still, he was her father and her own lover had ns to kill him.
Who could bear such a news?
She felt so hurt that even her tears refused to flow, almost freezing inside her eyes.
Seeing the wounded woman, Alexander surprisingly did not try and exin himself.
On the contrary, he seemed to add salt to it, "In some twisted way, I was quite happy to hear that Aristotle had arranged a marriage for you. And with Damious nheless. Now you have no incentive to protect the old fart. The stars have aligned to help me."
"Because you can get close to them using me and then kill them?" Cambyses asked in a robotic voice, eyes nkly staring into the distance as if she could see Alexander''s n.
" Close. You" He said pointing his finger to Cambyses, "will kill them."
This statement seemed to bring back color to Cambyses''s eyes as she turned to look at Alexander and repeated, puzzled, "Me?"
She could think of no way she could kill all three men simultaneously.
"Yes, you. Why do you think I spent so much time trying to convince you Aristotle was an enemy? Because I needed your permission? No, it was because I need your help." Alexander heartlessly revealed.
*Silence* Cambyses was so shocked by the barbed wordsing out of his mouth, that she literally had no response.
,m ''Was she just a tool for him?'' She asked herself as she just nkly stared at Alexander with teary, out-of-focus eyes.
Looking at the rapidly plummeting loyalty stat of Cambyses, Alexander decided it was time to exin some things to the still a bit na?ve woman.
He started with a heavy breath, "Hahhh, Cam. Let me tell you some hard truths we didn''t tell you."
"ves can be killed by their master''s anytime for any reason. This is a reality that''s very hard to understand for anyone who is not a ve. This fear of dying anytime anywhere made me do things. Things I am not proud of."
"But I did do them. And sometimes I did use your influence to do them. But I never did it just for me. How do you think you managed to protect Mean from Octavius? It wasn''t easy for me to protect her from the shadows. But I knew how much she meant to both of us."
"And so I bore the hardship and did it. But as I struggled, I faced the impossible obstacles ever-present for a ve and understood that for a ve to survive, to live, to truly have any real chance at being treated as a human being, I would have to earn my freedom and be a freeman."
Cambyses here decided to interject Alexander, "What did you do to protect Mean?" She asked curiously.
"Ancient history," Alexander lightly brushed off.
But she insisted, "I want to know."
So Alexander gave a very brief summary, " I had a few people always follow and look out for her. I told her never to be alone. And I asked Nestoras to restrict Octavius and ensure Mean''s chastity as a reward for my continued innovations."
This was news to Cambyses because even as Mean''s mistress she was unaware of the danger her beloved ve was.
"I didn''t know anything." She said mournfully.
"She insisted that you were not told anything. She was afraid you would pick even more fights with Octavius." Alexander disclosed.
This revtion made Cambyses think that maybe there were things in the back she was unaware of and she decided to backtrack on the thought that maybe Alexander was not just using her to get his freedom.
Chapter 57 Convincing Cambyses
"Let''s get back to the topic," Alexander''s voice bought Cambyses back from her thoughts.
He then resumed, "I understood that I would have to be a freeman to have a chance at living like a human. And I tried to do that honestly. I worked myself to the bone and I almost seeded. And, if we had won today, we wouldn''t be having this conversation right now."
Here Alexander let out a heavy sigh, *Sigh*, but that''s not what happened. We lost and I quarreled with Nestoras and then started the rumor. And I don''t regret anything one bit, because if I hadn''t done what I did, I would be dead by now."
Here he switched his pitch to a low, pleading one, "But that gave my master the perfect excuse to forever deny my freedom. But anticipating such a possibility, I had long before taken steps to ensure my freedom, through blood and death. Cam. I swear I had no intention of harming anyone as long as they gave me what rightfully belongs to me. The thing that I rightfully earned and they swore would give me."
By the end of Alexander''s speech, he was choking on his own voice.
This rare disy of weakness from, in Cambyses''s eyes, the omnipotent Alexander melted the girl''s soft heart and she began to look at the situation through Alexander''s eyes and started to empathize with the reality he faced.
It was us or them, eat or be eaten, kill or be killed.
She then softly said, "You didn''t kill my brother or father. That''s why I will forgive you. And I have no qualms about killing Pallidus."
"But" here her tone turned inquisitive and even a bit puzzled, " Why is Aristotle doing this? He is old, has one foot in the grave and all his supporters are dead"
Alexander was very pleased to see Cambyses asking such questions.
Shaking his head, he said, "Aristotle does not believe he is old, weak, and alone. He believes he will live forever. He thinks by ousting you and killing me, somehow he and Pallidus can win against Theocles and Menes. The senile fool."
In the end, Alexander gave a disdainful snort.
"Theocles? Oh, yea, he was acting a bit strange. He gave me all the beetroots and I even heard he defended you against father. What''s up with that?" Cambyses''s attention was drawn to the unusual addition to their team.
"It''s a long story, but the gist of it is that he believes me to be the blessed of goddess Gaia."
"Hmmm, a lot of people seem to think you are a blessed of Gaia. I heard everything while I was in the clinic."
Then Cambyses eyes turned into a crescent, "And I seem to remember asking you about it and you promised me that you will tell me by today. Well now''s as good a time as any."
She then folded her arms, waiting for Alexander''s response.
This put Alexander in an awkward position.
He had been far too busy to think of a good way to answer the girl and now felt torn between saying the truth or making it a bit malleable.
In the end, considering the future implications, he decided to do thetter, choosing not to outright lie and to cleverly evade.
He knew a simple, ''I don''t know'' or ''Now is not the time'', will never satisfy the girl.
It might even cause her to lose faith in him permanently.
So he figured he would have to decorate his answer very borately.
So borately that she does not even detect that he did not answer her question.
So he started, "You are asking me if I am god or mortal, huh? Well, let me tell you a story. It might not make sense at the start, but you will get it once I finish it."
Taking a deep breath, Alexander then started his recount, "There once was a girl who lived with her mother. The girl was born blind and thus had never seen color.
One night the mother was giving her milk.
But the mother was having a hard time getting her to drink it because the daughter did not like the taste of milk.
So, to coax her, the mother said, "If you drink milk, you can see again, dear."
This made the girl very excited and so she asked, "Really mother? Then what does milk look like?"
The mother replied, "Milk is white in color."
The girl being blind had never seen any color.
So she asked confused, "Mother, what does white look like?"
This stumped the mother for a bit but she quickly came up with a witty reply.
"Clouds are white." She said.
But the girl had never seen clouds.
So she asked, "What is a cloud?"
The mother said, "Clouds float in the sky."
Then came the predictable question, "What''s a sky?"
The mother still patiently answered, "Skies are where birds fly."
"What''s a bird?" Chirped the girl.
Seeing that this was going nowhere, the mother began to feel frustrated, thinking her daughter was just trying to stall for time and not drink her milk.
So she cunningly said, "The heron is a bird."
And when her daughter asked, ''What''s a heron?'', the mother thinking she had finally won said, "Heron is white in color. And it snatches the eyes of naughty children who don''t drink their milk."
But hearing this, the daughter started screaming in terror, saying, "Oh my god! The milk is going to snatch my eyes. I''m not drinking any milk."
"Hahahaha." As Alexander finished his story, came Cambyses''s pearlyughter as she bent over and clutched her belly.
Sheughed for a while and finally after the girl stoppedughing, Alexander asked, "So do you understand the moral of the story?"
"You mean to say I am that blind girl and you are the mother?" Cambyses intelligently got the point.
"Yes," Alexander nodded. "The mother had the best intentions for her child. But their perspectives were so different that it was very hard for the mother to convey her message in a way her daughter could understand."
"Herons are white and attack human eyes because to the heron, the cloudy, translucent, moving eyeballs look exactly like a fish swimming underwater. But the daughter equated white to milk and the mother just trying only to scare her as being actually real."
He then craftily said, "My answer is very much like this example. That''s why I asked for some time so I could think of a way to exin it. But now that I think about it, it''s very hard for me to give you a straight yes or no answer."
After that he decided to give some sketchy details, "But the best example that I can give you is when I sleep I feel like I am in a hazy dream-like space, where I float and various ''things'' engraved with strange markings float around me. I don''t know where I am and I certainly can''t talk directly to any god, but I can sometimes, somehow read the engravings on these floaty things. Sometimes they have useful information, like how to make sweet water or cure your constipation. Most times they contain things illegible to me."
"You did not have to bring up that." Cambyses blushed at being reminded of her embarrassing history.
What Alexander had described was roughly his memories floating inside his head.
But seeing how Cambyses was blushing and not asking further questions, she seemed to have taken it as some kind of mythical space.
This signified that she had atst bought the story.
Sess!
And although Alexander did feel a tad bit sad that he would never be able to share his past experiences with his new love, he had chosen to hide the truth after a bit of deliberation.
Because he was afraid that, she might leak it identally.
Even if she said it only at home, the many ves and servants around may spread it.
Alexander did not want his true origins to be known by anyone.
Also, even if she never told anything to an outsider, she might tell their children and Alexander was afraid that in such a case they might not look up to him, thinking everything he had ever done was because he had the knowledge beforehand.
But in practice, possessing knowledge and knowing how to apply it were two very different things.
There''s a reason why the derogatory saying ''bookish knowledge'' exists, which has the meaning that just reading a book does not equate to being able to apply it in practice.
Just like the sweet water example, Alexander was surprised to find the juices to have sour and bitter notes, because he didn''t take into consideration proper filtering.
Alexander would himself admit that this consideration was pretty far-fetched and unlikely, but he didn''t see an urgent need for Cambyses to know this and he did not want to take any chances with the future of his sessor.
Or at least that''s how he justified his borate little white lie.
Chapter 58 [Bonus Chapter] Cambysess Rights
The duo finally finished chopping the vegetables and then Cambyses bought out a crude juice extractor.
Its design was crude among crude- just a wooden piece with a funnel on the top where small pieces of beetroots could be mashed by a mallet and a collector at the bottom to catch all the extract.
As Cambyses started ''grinding'' the beetroot, she asked while keeping her head down, "So Aristotle dies, huh?"
She seemed to have finally epted the reality that the old man, her godfather, had to die.
And although she didn''t share much love for the man, she did spend herst eighteen years knowing him.
Thus it made her sad to think that he will be killed.
But Alexander did not seem to share the same sentiment.
He pointed out, "With your father dead and him leaving no heirs behind, you are legally entitled to all his property, including me. But you are a woman. And women in Thesos can own very limited property. That means byw you need a guardian or godfather who will look after them. Currently, that guardian is Aristotle and after you get married, it will be your husband, me." Alexander said, already dering Cambyses his bride.
This marriage proposal sounded crude, insensitive, and tactless even to someone living in an ancient, patriarchal society and thus somewhat irked Cambyses
She cut off Alexander with a shout, "Bah, who said I was gonna marry you? Keep dreaming ve."
"Hahaha, so which man are you gonna marry, mistress?" Alex teased.
"Why marry a man? I heard that in the east, even two women can marry. I will marry Mean." Cambyses tried her best to win the argument.
And this unconventional answer somewhat amazed Alexander.
Because in this time period, marriage itself was seen as a sacred, invible concept that existed solely between men and women to produce babies and form a family.
Homosexuality was quite prevalent at the time, Alexander was even well aware that Cambyses and Mean did not just innocently sleep in the same bed, they frequently crossed scissors.
But such practices developing into marriages for the people of this time was as absurd a concept as turning water into fire.
So to hear such ''modern talks'' out of someone essentially in the earth''s ssical times, two and a half thousand years before her time, made Alexander feel quite impressed.
But he also knew that Cambyses was not really serious, she only said to win an argument.
"The water has boiled." Alexander noticing the rolling water informed Cambyses.
Hearing this, she quickly dumped all the extracted beetroot juice, along with the mashed beetroot pieces into the hot water, to get all the sucrose to dissolve in the water.
Done with that, she asked, "So you intend to get me to poison them? Using this sweet water? And father''s drinking pot?"
With the few clues Alexander had given, the clever girl seemed to have mostly figured out the n.
"Yes." Alexander lightly smiled. "Aristotle is currently your owner. And by extension my owner. Unless he dies, we can never be free!"
"Fine" Came Cambyses''s sigh of resignation.
Then abruptly her voice turned icy cold, and she talked in a tone Alexander had never heard before, "You said, as a freeman, I couldn''t understand what a ve felt like. Well, then why in my life have I never felt free? Why did I feel like a ve to my father? Why did I feel like a ve to my brother and why do I feel like a ve to Aristotle? "
Then Cambyses demanded in an absolutely domineering way, "I will help you poison everyone. And I will set you free afterward. But you have to swear to the gods that you will also get me free. Swear to me that I will be able to do things I want."
Alexander was ecstatic that finally, all the pieces were in ce.
So he enthusiastically agreed, "Sure. I will make you a freeman. Not a freewoman but a freeman, with all the rights a man has. You don''t have to pay me any dowry, you can keep all your father''s property, you can work and earn money, you can keep all your earnings, you can buy and sellnd and property at your will and you can divide your assets to your children as you wish. Will that suffice?"
"No, I don''t need th.. that much." Cambyses strangely stammered.
It seemed that she thought the deal was a bit too good to be true and was afraid that Alexander might misunderstand her as if she was trying to ckmail him during a crisis.
She then proposed a revised agreement, "I can ept all the offers, but I also want to be able to sleep with Mean without your permission."
"Okay," Came a quick quip. Alexander trusted Mean as much as he did Cambyses and he knew long ago that both of them were more ''bi'' than ''straight''.
But strangely, as far as Alexander knew, they only seemed to get it on with each, even though both had other female and even male ves around them.
So Alexander saw no problem with this.
"But I will give you all my father''s property as my dowry. And I also promise not to buy any male ves without your permission." Cambyses offered apromise by herself.
Alexander was in fact very pleased by thetter proposal.
When he had offered her the right to buy any property, he was concerned about this. But chose to just trust Cambyses.
So Cambyses restricting her by herself made Alexander think that his trust in her was not misced.
But the former proposal did not sit well with him.
Alexander detested the concept of dowries, "You should keep the property. It''s your birthright."
But Cambyses reasoned, "No, think of it as a gift or even an investment. I know you have big dreams. Dreams so big that I can''t even see them right now. But I want to see you build them. And you will need money for that. A penniless freeman is worse than a ve. At least a ve doesn''t need to worry about his food."
This thought did cross Alexander before and he was truly in need of money. So reluctantly he decided to ept and promised, "Okay, in exchange for your help, I will show you a life you couldn''t dream of."
"I will hold you onto that promise." Cambyses grinned.
Chapter 59 High School Chemistry
The water had been boiling and cooking the beetroots for some time now, its steam escaping through the makeshift chimney into the dark sky.
Seeing the beetroots essentially cooked, Alexander took the heavy, hot pot off the stove and slowly emptied the contents through a cloth strainer into anotherrge pot.
Then Cambyses cleaned the strainer and helped Alexander repeat the process multiple times, switching the sweet water multiple times between the two pots, to try and filter out as much of the scum and debris as possible.
Normally, it would be at this point that they drank the water.
But today, Alexander decided to process the water even more.
He took out some of the limestones from his pouch and holding the crushed powder by his fist, he put all of it into the hot sweet water.
He then quickly ced the pot again on the stove and started vigorously stirring it with arge wooden spoon.
This move surprised Cambyses, but she did not react too strongly.
After all, she had seen Alexander do plenty of strange things before, and it usually produced something amazing.
So she patiently waited by his side, holding arge candle to better illuminate his surrounding.
What Alexander was doing was basic high school chemistry.
For him to get the people to drink the bitter poison he had prepared, he needed to first refine the sweet water more and increase its sugariness to hide the bitterness.
To do that Alexander asked the question ''Why does my sweetwater taste bitter and sour? And not sweet like juice?''
And he came up with two different reasons.
He reasoned that most of the bitterness was due to improper cleaning and from the unfiltered micro-fibres.
So to reduce the bitterness, he decided to thoroughly clean the beetroots beforehand.
Also, he used a cloth strainer multiple times to slowly filter out much of the micro-fibres.
Usually, like how the sweet water was being prepared in the medical camp, they used arge strainer with wooded holes to just catch therge beetroot pieces. and let all the small fibers into the drink.
But he hoped that the cloth will capture everything and only filter the water.
In this way, he hoped that these two additional steps would reduce the drink''s inherent bitterness.
As for the presence of sourness, Alexander reasoned that most likely it came from the organic acids present, as he remembered acids being sour.
So he decided to use an acid-base reaction to neutralize it.
Limestones also known as Calcium Carbonate was avable to him and he knew that he could use it to make lime water, chemically called calcium hydroxide, which was a base, and make it react with the present acids.
To make this, he would need to dpose, under heat, the insoluble and nonreactive with organic acids, calcium carbonate into calcium oxide, and carbon dioxide.
The carbon dioxide would bubble away as gas and the calcium oxide would then react with the hot water to make the base calcium hydroxide.
This base would react with the acids to make salt and water, thus neutralizing the sour taste.
That was the theory anyway and when Alexander put the limestone powder into the sweet water, he intended to put his high school chemistry knowledge to the test.
The reaction soon started taking ce, characterized by the bubbles of carbon dioxideing out of the water, which drew an astonished gaze from Cambyses, and after some time the bubbles died down, signaling the dposition reaction was over.
Understanding this, Alexader stirred the pot for a while longer letting the base and acid have enough time to react, and then, finally after some time, took the pot off the stove and filtered the water onest time.
Two pair of curious eyes soon cast their gazes on the new product and from the color alone Alexander could tell it was a sess!
Alexander''s theory had been proved right and even under the poor candlelight, Cambyses could see a marked difference between this sweetwater and what she usually had.
It was much clearer.
Alexander then gestured for the girl to have a taste, and so without further ado, she took a small spoonful, blew on it to cool it down, and sipped it down.
"Honey! It tastes like honey!" She screamed in joy, thinking she was drinking pure honey.
Cambyses had only ever once managed to taste a bit of the crazy expensive liquid called honey and this taste reminded her exactly of that.
And felt ecstatic while drinking this, both because of the taste and because she knew that from now on she could drink such a delicious product from such amon product as beetroot.
"It tastes passable." Alexander, on the other hand, from the side unfeelinglymented.
To him, it was, though a lot lesser, still a bit bitter and sour. And now it tasted a bit salty from the newly created salts. It was a far cry from the store-bought white granr sugar he usually bought, but he figured that the sweetness had increased just enough to be able to hide the poison''s bitterness.
"Passable? You mean you tasted something sweeter?" Cambyses asked with incredulity.
But only received Alexander''s enigmatic smile.
Alexander then nonchntly put his hands inside the pouch and bought a few sleepknot leaves Mean had given him, rolled them into a ball, and squeezed them, dropping a few drops of the leaves'' juices into the sweetwater.
"*Gasp*" Came Cambyses''s huge gasp as she looked at Alexander in disbelief.
She had finally figured it out,
She had been asking herself how could Alexander possibly poison those men, who were quite likely on high alert.
And only now she understood it.
The sleepknot leaves juices he used were regrly administered in small quantities as sleeping medicines.
This property had been known for thousands of years and the lethal effect of taking it inrge doses causing a heart attack in sleep was also well understood.
So, it would be impossible for Alexander to make anyone drink a bitter drink.
''This was why he made a sweeter drink, to camouge the poison'' A light bulb went off inside Cambyses''s head.
But this was only half of his genius.
Chapter 60 A Spoonful Of Sugar
Alexander was not done yet.
Because it was time to reveal his masterpiece.
He drew Cambyses''s attention, as he put the piece on the table, "This might look like your father''s drinking pot, but it''s not."
This surprised the girl and she squinted in the low light to see better.
And Alexander was right. Because she could see that her father''s one had one hole at the top of the hand, but this had two.
"Let me show you," Alexander offered a demonstration, "I will pour some of the poison water through the lower hole, and I will pour some cold, normal drinking water, through the upper hole."
Hence after he theatrically said, "Now look at the magic! When I cover the upper hole with my finger, warm, poisoned wateres out. Touch it but don''t drink it." Alexander passed the mug he poured the poison in, towards Cambyses to judge for herself.
"But if I close the lower hole, now only the cool, normal drinkes out. Here," Then Alexander gulped down the water he poured and said, "See?"
This little demonstration astounded Cambyses.
She was both absolutely amazed and properly scared.
Amazed that Alexander had thought of such a magical way to deliver the poison and avoid security.
Scared because she understood this n did not manifest in just a few days or weeks.
Alexander had made and gifted the very simr-looking drinking pot so long ago that she could not even remember it.
But it only hit her now that maybe he had been nning this even before she started properly putting on clothes.
Monster!
For a child toe up with such a n, years in the making, only that word could describe him.
She suddenly felt the man in front of her might not be human.
But still, gathering up all her courage, she nced at Alexander like a prey would submissively stare at a predator, and meekly asked, "How many years have you been nning this?"
Alexander certainly did not miss the shift in tone and simply smiled, "Hehe, why ask questions you don''t want the answers to? But if you are so curious, I had it specially made without anyone''s knowledge three years ago."
His voice then turned jovial, as he asked, "So you want to know how it works right?" Alexander seemed like a child showing off his new toy to Cambyses.
This was something called the "Assassin''s teapot" and Alexander in his previous life had an antic replica of it as a party piece.
The teapot was supposedly invented in China and was rumored to have been used for assassinations.
He started exining, "It''s inside ispartmentalized into two, one for each of the holes near the handle."
"When the upper hole is covered, air pressure prevents the liquid in the toppartment from flowing."
"When the lower hole is covered, air pressure prevents the liquid in the bottompartment from flowing."
"When both holes are covered, nothing flows, and when no hole is covered both liquids flow simultaneously."
Cambyses really did not understand the concept of air pressure but she did understand the gist of how the mechanism worked.
Finished exining his new toy, Alexander afterward took out an ornate silk cloth and lightly wrapped it around the handle and the small hole, hiding it, and cautioned, "Always remember to keep your finger on the bottom hole. Think the holes are like doors. When the bottom hole is covered, the door for the bottom liquid, i.e- poison is closed. And when the upper hole is covered, the door for the upper liquid, i.e- normal drink is closed. Remember to always keep your finger on either of the holes at all times."
Then he offered, "Here, you practice for a bit. There will be food and drink testers for Damious''s and you will need to keep your finger on the lower hole and serve them normal sugar water.
But when serving Damious, Aristotle, and Pallidus, you will need to seamlessly move your finger from the lower to the upper hole, and serve them the poisoned sweet water from the bottom."
"Here you practice a bit." Alexander offered.
Cambyses thus took the small drinking pot and spent a few minutes practicing the fluid motion she would need to make it appear as natural as she could as she slid her fingers from one opening to the other.
The technique she figured out was one where she would use her right hand to hold the handle and ce the left hand on top of it, thus obscuring anyone''s vision from detecting her finger''s movement.
Satisfied with how the silk cloth hid the lower opening, and how her ovepping hands obscured her finger movements, Alexander urged, "Well let''s go give Damious his dinner. He must be getting restless."
Saying so, he emptied the upper part of the drinking pot and refilled the lower poisoned part, ced it on a wooden tray along with some cups and hardtacks, and gave it to Cambyses to hold.
"We are not gonna fill the upper part?" Cambyses asked confused.
If the drinking pot only had the poison, there would be little point in such an borate setup.
"In time dear," Alexander said with a light smile.
After that, he informed, "You see outside the tent, there''s one of Damious''sckeys who came with me to ensure that I don''t do anything funny with his leader''s to-be bride. He is called Gratz and Theocles is currently keeping him busy. We will refill the upper part in front of him from the sweet water in the medical camp. That should somewhat throw off the suspicion off of us."
Cambyses soundlessly nodded she said, "Well, here to hoping it all works. And if it doesn''t..*cling*" She determinedly put her hand on a short sword, with a look of martyrdom on her face.
"Easy tiger." Alexander soothed.
In times of war, Alexander made everyone wear full armor and carry their weapons even in camp because he felt that in such a tense situation a sneak attack by the enemy or even a greedy ally was always a possibility.
But this had the negative effect of some trying to solve all problems by steel and not words.
Some hotheads like Cambyses and Mean.
"Everything will work out just like I nned," Alexander tried to cool her.
"Now take the tray and let''s go. I have lots of things to do after they die."
Alexander''s casual attitude of thinking of things to do after the assassination and thus belittling the dangerous endeavor worked to soothe the frayed nerves of the young girl and she silently picked up the wooden tray with a firm look.
Chapter 61 Makes The Medicine Go Down
The duo came out of the tent and spotted Theocles off in the distance, animatedly trying to exin something to the block-faced Gratz.
Clearly, thetter had no intention to take part in this dialogue and was begrudgingly tolerating the ''talkative man'' while he waited for the soon-to-be dead ve to convince his mistress to apany him.
And the man was relieved to find out that he would need to wait long, as he greeted, "Master Damious has sent me to apany you, madam."
"Um, then please escort me." Cambyses tly epted.
So, with the lead of the mercenary, Cambyses followed, towed by the two men behind, across the dimly lit camp that was saturated by dejection and forlornness.
"Wait." Cambyses cried out as they were passing the huge pot of sweetwater outside the medical camp. "I would like to take some sweet water to serve to Master Damious." She said her practiced line.
Then right on cue, Alexander sprinted up to get a jug of sweetwater for his mistress.
Gratz did not find this strange because he had not seen Cambyses make any food or drinks while he was there.
Traditionally cooking was done over an open fire outside and he did not think a tent could have a stove inside it
Moreover, he was also being distracted by Theocles, and against the backdrop of the night sky, he had failed to notice the smokeing out of the chimney.
As Alexander approached the sweet water pot, he was somewhat relieved to see Mean not there, because he was sure the fiery chipmunk would not let go of the news of her mistress''s marriage without a fight.
Alexander reasoned that Aristotle probably had a hand in suppressing the unpopr news to avoid unrest in the camp.
But surprisingly he did meet someone he had not seen since the first battle, Bartholomew.
"Alexander, what''s all the rush?" Came the unusually cheerful inquiry from the man who was helping others fill jugs of sweet water.
"Bartho, where were you? I didn''t see your shadow till now." Alexander eximed.
"I was in my tent sleeping. Only woke now." Came a slightly embarrassed reply.
After Romeus had found the unconscious man, thezy pig did not take him all the way to the medical clinic. Instead, he dumped him in his tent which was much closer.
"Say, are you free now? I could need you soon." Alexander off-handedly asked as he filled up a jug.
"Sure, I cane." Bartho enthusiastically nodded. "What do you need?" He then ced his hands on his sword handle aggressively.
Bartholomew was the sh-first-ask-questionster kind of guy.
"Just follow me." Alexander gestured. And then ominously muttered to him out of everyone''s earshot, "And be ready to cut Damious when I give you the signal."
This made Bartho go a bit wide-eyed, but then he just nodded and grinned.
Alexander had decided to do thisst moment because, although he was quite confident in his poison n, he always preferred to have a backup.
And although it was not the most elegant n B, Alexander figured the total surprise factor could catch them off guard.
Alexander filled the upper part of the drinking pot under Gratz''s watch full eyes, and then after taking a swig of the leftover liquid, he offered Gratz the jug.
Feeling parched the man did not refuse and gulped the entire contents down.
"Ahhh" He let out an involuntary joyous moan.
"I hope you can say I made it myself to master Damious." Cambyses requested the mercenary.
Understanding where she was going, the man of little words nodded and uttered, "Of course."
Done with this little ''detour'', the team of five made their way into the medical tent.
Along the way, no one questioned the addition of Bartho, who introduced himself as a medical staff.
Not to mention Cambyses, Alexander, and Theocles, who vouched for him, even Gratz, who saw him handing sweet water, thought him to be a doctor and verified the im.
"My dear! I have missed you so much." Just as the group approached the guarded bed, headed by Cambyses, Damious eximed in jubtion.
If he was not injured and strictly told by the medical staff that suddenrge movements would open up his wounds, the bear would have certainly gotten up to hug his to-be bride.
"Greeting, master." Cambyses bowed slightly bending her knees.
"I hope master would be kind enough to overlook my previous discourteousness. I have no excuse." She humbly pleaded.
"Haha, no no, forgiven, forgiven, I can forgive all your whims, my darling," Damious shouted exaggeratedly.
"How can I ever be mad at you, sweetheart? Instead, I am sorry that I got injured and could not be there for you at such a time. Poor girl, poor girl." Hemented shaking his head.
The two love birds seemed to have wiped out the existence of everyone around them as they flirted.
And this disy pleased most of the people present, even Melodias who seemed to there reporting something to Damious but it confused one- Bartholomew.
But he did not outright cry out because he saw Alexander lightly smiling and remembered his warning to wait for the signal.
Thus he patiently waited, the bloodthirsty warrior''s blood silently boiling at the thought of fighting and killing so many people.
But it would seem, it was not yet his time, as Alexander simply watched the y unfold.
"Master, as an apology, I have made some sweet water for you. It''s meager but please have some with these hardtacks." Cambyses offered, cing the tray by his bedside.
"Yes, leader, I saw madam prepare the sweet water in front of me. It would be remiss not to have some." Gratz sprouted from the side, essentially saying in code that the food was safe.
"Haha, then please, please." Damious warmly gestured.
He had his eyes on the tray from the moment he saw Cambyses carrying it and could not wait to taste his wife''s homemade cooking.
But there was one person who was very concerned by Cambyses''s one eighty-degree turn- Aristotle.
He knew Cambyses and felt there was something wrong with how eager the girl was to serve the drink.
So he decided to be a party pooper,
"Wait, let the ve drink." He eximed in a crass voice that seemed to burst the serene environment.
Having the sweet lovely dovey atmosphere destroyed, infuriated Damious and he bellowed, "Bastard! Get this fu*king old coot out of my sight!"
"Master Damious, leader Aristotle did not mean anything by it. He was just being cautious." Pallidus tried to defend his old master.
''Master Damious, huh. So you have already switched sides.'' Alexander thought as he did not miss the small change in address.
"He wants to let a mere ve taste my wife''s cooking. I will have that old bastard''s and that ve''s tongues cut out!" Damious roared in indignation, as hembasted Pallidus.
"Apologies my lord, a thousand apologies." Palllidus went down on his knees and begged "But leader Aristotle may be right, Why don''t I taste it?" He asked as apromise.
Even Pallidus found Cambyses''s tamed acting a bit suspicious.
"There will be no need for that. Both I and the ve tasted it before offering it to master." Came Gratz''s reassuring voice. As Damious''s most loyalckey, he felt personally attacked that they doubted his credibility orpetency.
This was also the reason Damious reacted so strongly. Because he was more than a hundred percent sure, a hundred and a ten percent sure that because Gratz said it was safe, then it was safe,
Seeing the two parties in an ufortable position, Melodias bravely stepped forward as a mediator.
"Since Captain Gratz said it was safe and both he and Alexander tasted it, then it must be safe," He praised the mercenary.
"But since leader Aristotle has expressed his distrust why don''t I have a little sip, to put everyone''s mind at ease? I am sure all of us here would not mind something to wet our throats." He suggested.
Damious was reluctant at first but decided to allow Melodias to do this as a face-saving for Aristotle.
So the shabby mercenary stepped forward and held up a small y cup as Cambyses deftly with both hands poured the normal sweet water.
As Melodias quaffed it down it with a satisfying "Ahhhh", Cambyses deftly and without anyone noticing, switched her finger from the lower hole to the upper hole and quickly filled another cup, which she then offered to Damious.
The mercenary leader snatched the cup like a hawk snatching its prey and chugged it down in one swift gulp, feeling the heavenly taste wash down his throat.
This sweet ''medicine'' was the best thing he had ever tasted and somehow this one made by his wife seemed to taste even better than the one he had before.
It tasted sweet, sour, and a bit salty, which seemed to elevate the drink to another level, with the bitterness much reduced.
So he demanded, "Another!"
Cambyses obeyed and this time, remembering Alexander''s advice to try and distract the mercenary leader from noticing her covering the hole, she choose to look at him directly in his eyes as she poured, even letting out a small shy smile.
Damious was smitten and felt that even if he was served animal food by her, it would taste like heaven.
He finally stooped after three cups and a bit of the hardtacks, strangely feeling a bit sleepy which he chalked up as his body''s exhaustion finally taking over after having a hearty meal and decided to close his eyes for a bit.
And that was thest would he would ever close his eyes, passing away peacefully in his sleep, no one even aware of it until the next day.
Chapter 62 Aristotle Rests
Alexander breathed the biggest sigh of relief up until this point of his life when he saw Damious take a second cup of the poison.
It meant his n had worked and Damious could not detect the extra bitterness over the extra sweetness.
Atst, the main antagonist in his path was dead and everyone and everything else could wait.
But what if Damious still did not die?
Well if Alexander''s poison was so shabby that even after two drinks one did not die, well then he deserved to get cucked.
Cambyses was even more relieved.
After all, she was the one actually doing the poisoning and she smiled gorgeously at Damious chugging the second drink down.
Of course, Damious saw this as his new bride happy that her husband was enjoying her cooking and even asked for a third round.
This created the image of a tombstone inside Alexander''s head and he knew he had won.
Not even Rasputin could survive three massive overdoses of slipknot juices.
After taking three drinks in quick session, with a bit of hardtack that Cambyses offered, the leader then stated he was feeling full and asked to be excused, as he shut his eyes for a bit, promising Cambysesst minute that their wedding will be as grand as a king''s.
''I don''t need a royal wedding with the likes of you. I only need you to die.'' Cambyses sneered in her heart, though in reality she lightly patted her ''husband''s'' hand.
"Leader has fought two battles today and was injured in thest. I am sure he will apany you all day tomorrow." Gratz spoke to his to-be madam from behind.
"My only hope is that he gains back his health." Cambyses yed the part, though internally she was cheering, ''I hope he apanies the ferryman as soon as possible.''
"Then please stay the night in our camp. We have prepared ves to help you get ready for the wedding." Gratz suggested.
"I have my own ves to help me." Cambyses tersely shot down the suggestion.
"I am sorry, but master has instructed us to help you get ready." Another mercenary spoke up, though his tone was more authoritarian than suggestive.
"Your master is sleeping. And seeing how your master is in love with me, as your mistress, you would do well to stay on my good side." Cambyses showed no sign of backing down.
"Hey, if thedy does not want to go, she does not need to go." Floated Bartholomew''szy voice,ced with malice and aggression.
The ck, short, warrior had his hands on his sword, looking manically at the, in his eyes, distasteful mercenaries.
"Ahem," Alexander''s small cough echoed from the tent, "This is a medical clinic. A ce for healing and not killing. So let''s not draw swords here." He politely urged.
Then he smiled knowingly, "I believe we all know why this issue is being raised. Master Damious, quite rightly, is concerned about his bride''s safety with us."
He euphemistically said that Damious was afraid of being cucked.
"But since mistress is unwilling to go, and this gentleman here," pointing to the mercenary to wanted to take Cambyses, "is adamant about escorting her, why don''t we reach a middle ground?"
"This will likely be thest night mistress spends with her father''s mercenary group, with people she has been with for eighteen years. So why don''t we let her stay in her tent? But she will be guarded, by one from our camp, one from leader Melodias''s group and two from your group." Alexander suggested.
"Yes, that seems very fair." Melodias was the first to jump on the bandwagon.
"I myself will protect the chastity of the to-be bride." He heroically dered
"Then if mistress has no problem, we nominate Bartholomew as our candidate." Alexander quickly joined in.
Seeing they were politically outnumbered, Grantz nominated himself, and that forceful mercenary named Heliptos as their candidate to guard the bride.
"Great, why don''t we have a round of drinks to celebrate." Cambyses happily suggested.
She offered a second round of normal drink to Melodias, then turned to Aristotle and poured "Grandpa, this is thest of my drink. Please have some of your granddaughter''s handmade drink on her marriage night."
Alexander knew that the drinking pot could hold upto six small cups of drink, but he did not make thepartments equal.
The upperpartment was smaller than the lower one, meaning the teapot could hold two shots of regr drink and four shots of poison.
That meant that Cambyses, using up three of her shots, had only one left, which she was offering to Aristotle.
Aristotle''s instinct still screamed that something was wrong with the drink and snapped,
"Hmph, feed it to your ve lover. I am sure he can''t wait to have a taste."
"If you don''t want it, I will." The fiery Heliptos greedily reached out to grab the very delicious water.
He had never tasted anything so sweet before until today, and if it wasn''t a critical medicine, he would have drank everyst drop of it.
But as he was about to swallow it down, a strong firm hand gripped his arm, freezing it in ce.
It was Alexander!
"That drink is from my mistress to her godfather." Alexander slowly spelled out in a growl. "It''s not yours to drink."
Heliptos stared back at Alexander with equal ferocity, tugging his arm to get it free.
This back-and-forth cascading of forces was evident by how the water in the small, y cup was shaking, threatening to spill out.
Alexander was not doing truly out of selflessness.
He was afraid if two people from the same mercenary group died, it might draw too much suspicion.
Also, the bigger reason was he really wanted to kill Aristotle.
He even had the mind that if Aristotle did not want to really drink it, he would throw the drink all over him to humiliate him for not drinking something his own goddaughter had made on her marriage night.
With this thought, as the two men were locked in a weird arm wrestle, a wizened, rough voice suddenly decided the match, "Enough, give it to me" Aristotle said.
He could see the looks everyone was giving him and decided, ''If my goddaughter wants to kill me then so be it.''
And so begrudgingly Heliptos let go of the cup and Alexander took the cup to Cambyses who presented it to Aristotle with both hands.
Cambyses was tearing herself inside over the drink.
''Just drop it. Damious is dead. Let the old man who raised you live out the rest of his life in peace.'' A part of her heart screamed.
But then the image of her love Alexander surfaced and it drowned out all her doubts.
''For my happiness, please die.'' Cambyses roared in her heart as she offered the small cup with hands steady as a rock.
Her limpid, caramel eyes showed no fear, no hesitation, and no anger as she stared into the experienced, haggard, ck eyes.
''So that''s how it is.'' Aristotle took the cup with a mournful sigh in his heart.
''You have decided to offer me a poisoned drink after all, dear granddaughter.'' Aristotle came to the surprisingly correct conclusion.
The reason why the veteran came to this conclusion was not because Cambyses revealed something, but because she did not reveal something- anger and scorn!
Knowing the girl from the time she was weaned, of course, Aristotle knew her personality.
He knew without a shadow of a doubt that this marriage proposal would break her heart and possibly doom her to lifelong suffering, but for his own benefit, he did it anyway.
But now he could see none of the anger, helplessness, or even scorn in her eyes when she looked at him, only tranquility and happiness.
That probably meant she was sure that Damious would never wake up again.
Having figured this out, Aristotle surprisingly did not fight.
He had gambled onest time to try and somehow save his life''s work from falling into a ve''s hand and he had failed.
Damious was dead and faced with the reality that he was all alone and even the girl he had raised from birth had turned against him, he felt his old bones creaking and his will to live quickly fading.
Of course, he never med himself for making Cambyses turn against him. As a woman, her entire existence''s worth was to fulfill her male rtives'' desires.
So, taking onest at the clear liquid, he raised it and roasted, bidding goodbye to this world, "To my goddaughter''s eternal happiness. May she and her children be free from all worldly concerns."
Then he downed it in one gulp, drowning himself in the happy memories he once shared with the little girl.
"Well, it''s been a long day, please excuse me." Aristotle then slowly turned to return to his tent, intending to pass away in his sleep like Damious and at least spare her goddaughter from watching him die in front of him.
As the withered old man slowly walked out into the dark night, his bronze cuirass reflecting the candlelight like a lighthouse in the dark, Cambyses stared at the lonely, strong back, a lone tear unknowingly falling out of her eyes.
When today''s sun rose, could she have known that today she would lose her father, and brother, and have to kill her godfather?
Chapter 63 Looking Forward
Alexander finally felt the exhaustion catch up to him as the burden of his existential crisis was atst lifted.
With him reasonably confident that Damious and Aristotle would soon die, he decided it was time to make his exit.
"Well leader Melodias, I will leave the mistress to you." Alexander cheerfully bid his goodbye and casually picked up the wooden tray with the drinking pot and cups, eager to get rid of the evidence as soon as possible.
"Don''t worry, you can leave her to me!" Melodias thumped his chest in reply. "But are you sure you don''t want to stay a little longer? Have something to drink?" Melodias politely offered.
"No, I am too tired and can barely keep my eyes open," Alexander revealed his exhaustion with a wry smile.
And he was not alone.
Almost everyone had been awake for close to forty hours, forced to march, fight, soak and run.
? The fact that these men could still operate at such extremes was a testament to their peak physical fitness and how bullishly strong they were.
But now even these men seemed to have reached their limits.
"Yeah, me too. Don''t know how much guarding I can do." Melodias frankly revealed he too was at the end of his ropes.
"Say, Melodias," Alexander softly called out, dragging Melodias to the side," how much food does your group have? Cause my group has run out."
"Well, brother, don''t worry. All of us know how hard your group has worked to provide all the medicine for us. You will not go hungry while we have even one scrap of food." Melodias solemnly promised, thinking Alexander was asking for food.
"I very much appreciate your offer, but that''s not what I meant." Alexander corrected. "What I mean is that how long will our foodst? Can we make it out of Cantagena with what we have?" He posed the grave question.
"Oh, that!" Melodias eximed with a smile."Yes, your quartermaster Thecoles bought up the exact issue with leader Damious a while back. He suggested we send some of our soldiers in the night to scavenge some horse meat to make something called smoked sausage."
This news surprised Alexander because he was once again reminded he might be the most knowledgeable fish in the pond, but likely not the smartest.
Other people could tooe up with ingenious and creative ideas to solve a problem.
Melodias paused after saying this. swinging his head to see if anyone was eavesdropping and resumed, "I am not supposed to say this because apparently there are a lot of spies within our ranks but what the heck, I trust you."
He then revealed a secret, "Remember when I told you I was organizing patrols? Well, I was actually assembling men to get some meat. And just now we got some of the meating in. That''s what I was reporting to Damious. It seems that the Adhanians were too tired and too busy with their ritual to notice our men."
"And if they were not, we would be dead," Alexander quipped.
"Yes, but maybe were saved because the son of Gaia blessed us." Melodias strangelymented with a small smile.
But Alexander treated it as if he had not heard it and reminded, "Well if you do go to sleep, please remember to switch your watch with someone."
"Your mistress will be safe with me." Melodias thumped and reassured Alexander for the second time.
Then Alexander turned to the bloodthirsty warrior and holding the wooden tray with one hand, he ced his right hand on the boy''s shoulder and apologized, "Sorry, I made you keep awake all night. I promise you can sleep all day tomorrow."
Though the reason Alexander had chosen him was because Bartholomew had slept the entire afternoon and was now likely as awake as a night owl.
"I am just disappointed I could not kill anyone today." Came the fierce reply.
Bartholomew''s ''father'' said that he had found the boy amongst a pack of wolves who had attacked his caravan at night and was left behind because he fell off the wolf he was riding on. He imed to vividly remember the naked boy riding on a wolf, smiling and giggling all the way, nary a concern for himself as the bloodthirsty beast charged at them,
And even though, a lot of the sharp edges had been smoothed out after joining the mercenary group and spending time with Alexander, his raw animalistic thirst for violence seemed to have remained.
Or it could just be that Bartho is by birth an aggressive individual.
Who can tell?
"Well, you can kill as many as you want as we scoot. I doubt the Adhanians will just let us go." Alexander offered some weird words offort.
Usually, an army chasing after you was not a pleasant thought.
But this seemed to cheer the long-haired warrior up, who grinned and nodded.
As Alexander was leaving, Cambyses too decided to make herself scarce.
"All of you," she turned to address the medical staff still frantically running around, and as their boss, shemanded, "stop everything, have a bite to eat, and then go to sleep. If you work any harder, you will die before the patients do."
This order seemed like a divine revtion of salvation from the heavens above and the ves, servants, and volunteers all quickened their pace to finish their immediate job at hand and then get some shut eyes.
Many were up until now running on pure sheer will and likely on the verge of copse, so this instruction came in the nick of time.
After delivering this, Cambyses almost regally said to her assigned four guards, "I too am sleepy. Escort me to my tent."
Then she addressed her ve, "And Alexander, send Mean to me."
''You are getting into your role a bit too much Cam.'' Alexander grumbled in his heart.
He did not miss how Cambyses chose not to use the word ''please'' when addressing the guards or how dismissively she called him.
But he still yed the role of a perfect servant, bowing and saying, "I will find her right away."
"Madam, we have a few ves master has specifically prepared for you." Gratz offered.
But faced a quick rejection.
"No need." Came Cambyses''s almost reflexive answer.
"Wait, send the most beautiful one." Suddenly Cambyses changed her mind.
Thisst sentence produced an almost imperceptible twitch in Alexander''s face as he swore, ''Cam, the deal was you could sleep with Mean anytime you want. Not every other woman!''
Alexander suddenly remembered a funny saying he heard he could not exactly recall where, ''If a woman turns lesbian, it''s the man''s fault.''
Though Cambyses''s own reason for changing her mind was far more altruistic.
She simply feared that after a hard day''s fighting, these soldiers might choose to vent their desires onto the ves and female servants.
Cambyses did not have the power or the space in her tent to save all of them.
And she, shaped by the thoughts of her time, also believed some rewards like sexual relief should be given to the soldiers.
So she chose to save the most beautiful one, which in her eyes was the most valuable and was thus most worth saving.
"Then I will send all and madam can choose to her liking." Gratz cleverly proposed.
This pleased Cambyses and she felt this Gratz might not be a half-bad ve.
But she ruefully remembered the man was a freeman and she had just killed his master who he is fiercely loyal to.
Not a prime candidate for a loyal ve.
And then she suddenly started looking forward to seeing how Alexander would gain their loyalty and make them follow him.
Alexander watched with a cid look as the girl left the tent under the care of four strong men and then casting his nce onest time at the ''bear'', whose chest Alexander could no longer see moving, he along with Theocles made their exit.
As the duo walked out of earshot range of all prying ears, Alexander congratted, "Melodias has told me how you solved our food crisis. You have proved to the son of Gaia why you deserve to be quartermaster."
"It was only through the wisdom Gaia bestowed me." Theocles humbly bowed.
"I am very pleased. But there''s something I would like you to do." Alexander then handed the tray with the drinking pot and cups to Theocles and said, "Destroy the pot. Smash it into as small a piece as you can and bury the pieces separately over different ces. Then retrieve the identical-looking piece from Nestoras''s tent and bring it to me."
Being assigned this little job sent Theocles over the moon.
Because he finally understood it.
He had been strangely silent during the second part of the meeting with Damious because he wanted to see how the son of Gaia would ovee this titanic challenge.
And now he understood that the answery with the drinking pot.
Theocles had no idea how but he was sure somehow, some kind of poison had been delivered using this.
And then he remembered the identical-looking one in Nestoras''s room, which until now he thought was this one and understood just how far back the boy started nning it and a chill went down his back.
But this was not a chill of fear, but a chill of ecstasy.
Pure, undiluted pleasure at being trusted with such a crucial information and at being able to serve such apetent master.
''He intended to switch this special pot with the ordinary one all those years back!'' Theocles excitedly thought.
He made up his mind then and there to sell his daughter as a ve to Alexander or to Cambyses or if that was not possible even to Mean!
Selling a freewoman as a ve to a ve!
How ludicrous!
Theocles swore, "Unless a godes down to earth, no one can find the smallest traces of it. If I fail, may I be smitten out of existence," then disappeared into the night.
But why did Alexander not discard the evidence himself?
Because the one downside of being considered divine was the constant presence of the ''paparazzi'' i.e- themon soldier dying to get a look at him.
Even this particr secluded spot only existed because most of the soldiers were out scavenging horse meat, but Alexander would bet anything once he went somewhere suitable where he could bury the pottery, a thousand eyes would greet him.
So, delegating his task to the much less conspicuous Theocles, Alexander made his way to the outer medical camp to look for Mean and after a bit of asking around found out she had gone to another camp, to supervise the curing of the meat into smoked sausages.
That''s why he didn''t meet herst time and that was also why she did not yet get the news about her mistress''s marriage and kick up a storm.
Following Cambyses''s order, Alexander thus sent a messenger to Mean, telling her to return to her mistress''s side as soon as possible.
While he was there, Alexander coincidentally saw his mistress stopping to admire the earthen pot and then as if noticing him even through the night''s dark background, shed him a big, happy grin.
Cambyses stopped there because as she was passing therge earthen pot, she was struck by a sudden realization.
The realization that Alexander had sent her to get the beetroot all the way back then just to set the stage for his ultimate y.
And theprehension of just howpetent her husband was sent the girl''s heart reeling and she felt herself wet her pants in excitement.
And as fate would have it, her eyes by coincidence caught hold of the man in question, and so she involuntarily grinned, her smile hidden from the guards behind her.
Yet, Alexander did not quite understand the meaning of this but deciding it was finally time to get some sleep, and determining anything and everything else could wait till sunrise, he made his way to his tent to get some much-needed shut-eye.
He was dog-tired and he had a big day tomorrow.
Chapter 64 Ptolomy
While Alexander was getting some much-needed shut-eye, Amenheraft entertaining a few strange guests, and Manuk busy overseeing the funeral rites of the dead and the sacrificed, Nfzam and a few others found themselves almost sprinting through the deste, wet, pothole-ridden streets of Adhan.
Only the stars blinked overhead, their minuscule glow shading the pitch-ck night in an eerie glow, the light making the city appear to be a necropolis, all its vitality sucked out.
The dingy, narrow streets that the men traveled by were jeweled by mostly ruined, barely standing shabby houses, many of them missing doors and windows, and even their upants, most homes had turned to tombs and mausoleums for their dead upants, whiles some housed people sprawled across the bare, floor as if they were dead, their hand and feet caked with mud and dirt.
Some could even be seen sleeping smack in the middle of the road, their faces half submerged in a dirty puddle, likely fainting after drinking from it.
These people slept with nary a care in the world, leaving everything bare to the elements for the drought had snatched all their possessions long, long ago.
Now, they lived only by the robotic instincts of their body to live.
The group had little fluctuations in their mood at this scenery.
They had grown inured to such disy over thest three years and even before then, as soldiers campaigning to foreignnds, they had seen and arguably done things much worse.
But for Nfzam, where it did hurt was that the jewel city of the east, Adhan had been reduced to this dried husk of a skeleton in just three years.
And it stung him even more that he probably would never be able to see this city again.
The group quickly crossed the city''s outer ring into the inner ring, one reserved for the ones with not red, but blue blood- the nobles.
Nfzam still would sometimes be astonished by how crossing just a simple wall could make such a big difference in one''s experience.
There were no signs of the hunger, destitution, poverty, and desperation here that he had seen just earlier.
Everything here was clean, prim, and proper, with wide roads for carriages, magnificent architecture, and nice, clean air.
The inner circle wall seemed to have filtered all the unpleasantness out, separating the reality of being rich from the reality of being poor.
These things did sometimes ring inside the dubbed by the nobles- oddball Nfzam, but not right now.
He had much more pressing concerns, concerns about his master- Ptolomy.
The group naturally made their way to the most magnificent architect piercing the skyline, the pce, shing their unusual seal at every checkpoint to gain ess.
As they approached the royal pce draped in the night''s shadow with its spires reaching to the stars, these hooded men inconspicuously made a right turn, evading the main entrance and choosing to enter the pce by a secret passage.
It should be noted that secret passages were not all like what Hollywood liked to portray them as, ultra-hidden, narrow passages that attackers could sneak through to attack and take down an otherwise impregnable castle.
Although such things did happen, it was once in a blue moon urrence, aided by lots of additional factors.
Usually, though secret passages were narrow, they were rarely ''secret''. Instead, they were mostly guarded and protected by both men and materials like gates, used to get things in and out of the castle.
It could be mundane things like food and livestock for the kitchen which would otherwise clutter the main entrance,
Or it would be prohibited or shameful goods like whores and goods officially banned by thew.
It could be even a way to secretly pass information without the knowledge of the prying eyes of so many of the servants.
The uses for a secret passage were endless and so to prevent their exploitation by the enemy, they were designed with narrow choke points, made to funnel soldiers into narrow corridors and thus negate the attacker''s numerical advantage and so allow a small number of castle guards to hold off against a veryrge number of enemies.
Nfzam''s group made their way to one such passage and were quickly let through into a dimly lit room.
Here the group stooped and Nfzam alone was gestured to enter the heavy wooden door at the other side of the room, which he with practiced motion pushed open and enter.
The familiar room was dimly lit, with another heavy wooden door on the opposite side and empty, save a table and two chairs that decorated its center.
On the tabley some bread and a ss of water, refreshments for the spy as he waited for his master''s arrival.
The famished man quickly sat down and started to wolf the meal, determined to finish it before the king and soon-to-be the ex-king arrived.
It would be a major breach of etiquette if a man of royalty was made to wait for his subordinate to finish his meal to hear a report.
With his meal quickly done, a few momentster, the heavy wood soundlessly opened, to reveal a thin, clean-shaven man with sunken cheeks and curly ck hair, Ptolemy.
"Greetings Your Majesty," Nfzam did a full bow toward the simply dressed man.
"I am no king." Came a young voice.
This hurt Nfzam more than it did the boy in his mid-twenties.
"This servant was useless and had no excuse." Nfzam hung his head in apparent shame.
"And what could you have done differently?" Ptolomy asked almost with self-derision.
''Nothing'' was the reply that formed inside Nfzam''s heart.
He suspected even if he were to back in time, he would be able to do nothing differently to change the oue of the battle.
So he replied to his master with a wall of silence.
"Hahhh, well it seems Ramuh has truly blessed my brother." Seeing Nfzam wallow in self-pity, Ptolomy let out a sigh of resignation.
He could realistically only me his loss on luck.
Then he asked, "Tell me in detail what happened. I did hear bits and pieces, but I want the full details of the battle, both the battles."
"Yes," The spy started his recount, "We met the Cantagenan force of fifty thousand with our twenty thousand, but Manuk had hidden an additional fifteen thousand of the elite Raskun slingers in the woods to use as a pincer force.."
"So the Raskun slingers are really here! Do you know how Manuk bought them? And how did he get here in the first ce?" Ptolomy asked a question he just could not find an answer to.
"I heard he put them on the cavalry horses and rode day and night," Nfzam informed.
"Horses? Cavalry? Is the heavy cavalry here too?" Ptolomy had gotten no report of Adhanian cavalry being present.
"No, he only used the horses from the cavalry. I heard most died from the march." Nfzam said what he knew.
"I see. Then tell me about the lightning strikes." Ptolomy asked the thing he was most interested in.
"It''s like I reported. The sudden lightning strike destroyed the charge of the Sycarian cavalry and it somehow then both destroyed itself and its infantry. The Raskuns only picked off the leftovers." Nfzam revealed the tragic news with bitterness almost dribbling down.
"*Sigh*" Ptolomy heavily sighed and shook his head, ''So close yet so far.'' his heart muttered.
In some unknown corner of his heart, he had hoped maybe Nfzam''s recount would contradict the report he sent via a spy.
"And the fog?" Ptolomy again asked, wanting to know just how much did Ramuh bless his half-brother.
He was still unclear on the details of this particr ''magical'' phenomenon as it happened just a while ago.
"Yes, but before that, I have confirmed a stray lightning bolt had killed general Agapios just after the first battle ended." Nfzam delivered another heavy news.
And this, as he had suspected, sent the young ruler''s mind into a tumble.
He did not doubt the authenticity of the report for a moment as Nfzam would never in a million years report something so grave without a hundred percent guarantee,
And he did not particrly care about Agapios''s death either.
But he did care how he died.
Of the all things he could have been killed by it had to be a lightning strike.
Up until now, he had still hung onto the barest, thinnest hope that maybe, even with the appearance of two miracles, based on the terror Amenheraft''s father had submerged the nation in, he could somehow fight it out.
Or at least negotiate some kind of peace settlement where he would give up all political power, in exchange for Amenheraft swearing in front of the gods to not hurt or kill him.
It was admittedly a long shot, but now, with Adhania''s most hated general killed by a divine strike from Ramuh, even that possibility seemed to turn to ''fog''.
Noticing his young master dazed and dejected, Nfzam could not really find words offort.
What words offort could someone say to a person who had the keys to controlling the strongest superpower in the east almost in his grasp, only to lose it not because of bad decisions or being outyed by the enemy, but because of fate?
Hence he decided to carry on with his report like a drone, providing his master with the most urate depiction he could draw of the peril he was in.
"The Cantagenans seemed close to breaking the cauldron when the fog rolled in and they lost their coordination, resulting in being caught by a counterattack that saw all of them captured."
Nfzam delivered the hard news.
"Um, and I have seen all of them being sacrificed Ramuh," Ptolomy revealed an information even Nfzam did not know.
From atop his chamber, he could see for tens of miles and he spotted the distinctive ritual taking ce just outside the city.
"So what do we do?" The tall man then asked his spymaster.
Chapter 65 Flight
Ptolomy had already understood his time on the throne was up.
What he was really asking Nfzam was ''How to escape?''
"Master, if we want to have any chance at survival, we must leave now. My sister will take you with open arms." Nfzam offered.
Then the man urged his master "I have already noticed strange gazes whileing here and many soldiers tried to ask me about the details of the battle. The winds have already changed and they are not in our favor."
Ptolomy let out a heavy sigh and determined said, "Then let''s go now. We are ready."
After that, he knocked on the door and it was pushed open by a fair, dainty hand, revealing a beautiful young girl in amoner''s cloth.
Behind her were two burly men, each carrying heavy sacks on both their hands and back.
As the small, gilded shoes soundlessly trekked across the stone floor, Nfzam bowed and greeted, "Greeting, Princess Hellma."
The wheat-colored girl, with a simple ornament adorning her dyed ck hair, soundlessly nodded and then stood beside her brother, her limpid eyes seemingly unconcerned by the perils thaty ahead.
"From this moment on, we are no longer royalty. Do not bow to address as such in public." Ptolemy instructed.
And though such amand, wounded the spy''s heart, he still understood andplied, "As you wish, master Ptolomy."
Amenheraft would surely send his armies to hunt down his father''s killers, and escaping would be much harder if they stood out like sore thumbs among the general popce.
"I am also no longer Ptolomy and she is no longer my sister, Hellma. From today, I am Ankesh and this is my ve Numean. I am the heir to a small noble family in Leguna and I came to Adhan to secure some food from Pundit Muazz. And you are my family''s guard." Ptolomy exined his cover story.
"Understood, lord Ankesh. Then please follow me." Nfzam did not spare much more words, as he almost herded the people out of the pce through the passage.
He had felt it when he wasing here and knew it was rapidly turning dangerous for the rebels, especially the royal siblings.
Many nobles who rebelled might choose to defect once more and hand the two to Amenheraft for amnesty.
Thus, once the most powerful man in Adhania and his sister- the famed beauty of the kingdom- were forced to tuck their tail between their legs and run from the very city they once ruled.
In addition, they could take almost nothing of value they owned with them, afraid such glitter will attract the eyes of bandits or worse the mercenaries still outside the city.
So, with a handful of coins, and little food and water, they appeared outside the secret passage where now a contingent of about fifty riders awaited them.
Out of the tens of millions of people he once lorded over, out of the hundreds of thousands hemanded as the army, this was the entirety of people considered loyal by Ptolomy, a mere fifty, not five thousand, not even five hundred but just fifty, less than many merchants would have to protect their wares.
But Ptolomy had little time to wallow in hisck of influence and after he and the spies donned their armor, they straddled their horse and rode.
Waving the banner of the royal family, they rode like the wind, not one checkpoint daring to stop the mass of fifty soldiers waving the g of Ramuh.
As Nfzam felt the rush of wind in his face, his eyes all of a sudden spotted arge trail of smoke on the horizon, which he found most unusual.
Because the smoke seemed toe from the inner district which housed the nation''s elites and was an unlikely ce for a fire to start as there were protocols that were in ce to stop any such urrences.
This was added to the fact that it had just rained and most ces were still damp and wet, miserable conditions for a fire to start.
So in Nfzam''s mind, only one word appeared- sabotage.
''But who? And were they friends or foes'' He asked himself.
The group of riders managed to escape the shadowy clutches of the city at the nick of time, because while they were busy running, Amenheratf was entertaining a few unusual guests.
These ''guests''y prostrated on the ground in front of him, crying, pleadings, and asking for his forgiveness.
Many even offered their own life in exchange for amnesty for their families!
Yes, these were the rebels, some of whom sneaked here to swear fealty to their new king, after bearing witness to the miracles he performed.
Amenheratf looked at these craven despots with unfeeling eyes and an unmoved heart.
But as much as wished, unfortunately, he understood the reality that he could not kill them all like he actually wished to.
Because such drastic measures would inevitably push these and other nobles who were on the fence off the edge and with nothing to lose, they would fight him to the bitter end, only prolonging the suffering for everyone, with nothing but personal satisfaction to gain for Amenheratf.
A lesser, more impulsive lord, like Amenheratf''s father, might have chosen such a course of action, but not him.
So he was now left to figure out how to properly punish them.
He racked his brain to arrange the appropriate level of punishment that maximizes their pain and suffering without causing them to rebel and soon came up with a blueprint.
"Whoever brings me Ptolomy and Hellma will receive special consideration." Amenheratf made a standard deration.
None of the rebel nobles were surprised by this ssic move, a move so ssic, that calling it ssic would be considered ssic.
But ssics were called ssics because they worked.
Capturing the rebelling royals would essentially decapitate the rebellion as the nobles would have no one legitimate to rally behind.
And understanding this these nobles had already asked their forces in the city to capture Ptolomy if the situation presents itself, though they did think such a scenario was highly unlikely.
They had all assumed that Ptolomy would hole himself inside the pce and choose to defend his city to his dying breath and never considered the young rebel would so decisively simply leave the nest and fly away.
The reason why Ptolomy had done so was because he was under no illusion that once the soldiers learn of Amenheraft''s three miracles, most will desert him at the drop of a hat.
Only Nfzam and the fifty people who followed him were ideologically and personally motivated enough for him to trust them.
Add to the fact that Amenheraft had an army and the army sent to help Ptolomy had been defeated twice by Amenheraft himself, flight was the only real option for Ptolomy.
But without having the time to consider such minor intricacies, and not knowing their prey had already escaped to the woods, each of the nobles made more grandiose ims than the other, ming everything on Ptolomy and trying to wash themselves of any guilt.
It seemed the fault of their rebellion was everyone else''s except theirs.
But such thering did not move Amenheraft one bit.
"We were coerced, Your Majesty."
"We were threatened, Your Majesty."
"We were forced, Your Majesty".
"Ptoloy held our ess to food and water as hostage, Your Majesty."
"We were bewitched by that sorceress Hellma, Your Majesty."
Everyone had an excuse for everything, except the true excuse, except the true reasons they all threw their dice with Ptolomy.
And Amenheraft wanted to hear them say it from their own mouth.
Fed up with this nonsense, the king spokenguidly and almost dismissively, "I have had a very long day and I am tired of hearing these trites I have heard a million times before."
"So unless you are interested in telling me the truth why you rebelled, then leave. I will decide your punishment once I take back my city." He issued a naked threat.
This frankness surprised the nobles.
Usually, veteran politicians like them spoke in a roundabout, equivocal way because it left all the participants with multiple ways to interpret a saying and thus enabled them to circumnavigate anyndmines they might identally set off.
So they were caught off guard by the king''s demands to so openly incriminate themselves.
Noticing the nobles'' reluctance but not a total rejection of his proposal, Amenheraft pushed them more, " Whatever you say as your reason, I will not treat you any differently for it. I swear it by the name of my father Ramuh."
Then he openly said, "You all rebelled because you thought Ptolomy could give you things I could not. I am more interested in knowing the things you desire anding to an agreement to prevent such uprisings in the future."
This disy of political foresight moved the nobles, many of who had grown disillusioned with the previous king''s rule and considered Amenheraft to be the same bad apple from the bunch.
But it seems they were wrong, because this time, the apple had likely fallen far from the tree.
They also were aware that if Amenheraft truly decided to look into it, he would be able to uncover most of their skeletons in the closet.
So a few of them decided to reveal these themselves and try and earn some browny points.
"I did it for revenge for my wife and daughter." A middle-aged noble blurted out.
"A lot of us did." Another joined in.
"I believed the king had lost the mandate of heaven."
"Ptolomy promised me the hilly mines."
"I smuggled ores into Tibias and they ckmailed me."
Once one confessed, it seemed the floodgates had been opened, and all their dirty desires and wishes came pouring out to wash Amenheraft''s feet.
And the king listened with relish as he demonstrated the ability to manipte and channel his will into the minds of his subjects.
The sign of a true politician,
Chapter 66 The Kings Decision About The Mercenaries
The reasons for the rebellion were just as Amenheratf expected.
Though a few had chosen to participate out of greed and lust for power, most had done so because the royal family had lost their trust and confidence.
Instead of Ptolomy being some genius able to sway the hearts and minds of nobles and the popce, or the rebellion being a result of the appearance of the drought- a divine sign that foretold the end of Adhania as many people imed, it was really fueled by the ipetent ruling of his father.
Many things he did had the effect of pushing the nobles out, allowing Ptolomy and foreign powers like Tibias to infiltrate and with a bit of help from mother nature erge the cracks and ultimately instigate a full-scale rebellion.
Listening to the reasons, Amenheraft thus decided it was high time for major reforms, or a repeat of the situation was inevitable.
As Amenheraft was swimming in all his ideas, from his next move after he took back the throne, to how to punish the rebels, to how to deal with the foreign powers, and even about what to do about the mercenaries a few kilometers away from him, a herald''s loud from outside the tent suddenly snapped his concentration.
"Report! Your Majesty." A familiar voice from outside the camp called out.
"Enter." Came the king''s regal reply.
The man entered the opulent tent and was the cream of the crop of his profession as he did not even nce at the prostrating nobles.
He simply saluted and addressed the king, "Archpriest Manuk has sent me to deliver an urgent message."
Amenheraft was surprised by this as he could not think of a real situation right now that would require his involvement and one that Manuk could not solve by himself.
So he asked the nobles to excuse themselves, "I have heard all your reasons and ims. Stay the night here and I will escort you back to the city tomorrow."
The nobles all breathed a collective sigh of relief at this statement as it signaled that there was still room to negotiate with the king.
With Amenheraft not choosing to execute them outright, but instead taking them hostage, it likely meant he would heavily punish them, even executing some of them but not weed out their roots.
At least, their bloodlines would be allowed to continue, though almost inevitably their standing in Adhania would likely plummet.
But for rebels, even this result was highly sought after.
Amenheraft''s father would not have likely even granted them such.
So all of them said some ttering titudes and then quickly got their sore appearance out of the king''s sight.
"What is it that could not wait till morning?" Amenheraft raised his tired voice.
"Your Majesty, I am sorry, but the Captain of the royal guards, Beirut has sumbed to his injuries and died just moments ago." The messenger then performed a hand gesture done for the safety of the soul of the deceased.
Amenheraft did not expect to lose both his sword Lamiz and his shield Beihrut within a few hours. At least he did not expect to be alive while losing both men and it put a damper on his euphoric mood.
But such was life and after silently following the messenger''s hand gestures, he excused him with a heavy, sad sigh.
The mature statesman then dragged his tired, unwilling body up from his chair anding out of his tent instructed his four royal guards to escort him to offer his condolences to Manuk and personally bless the warrior.
He had his ws, but no one would deny his loyalty to his king and post.
''Tonight will be a long night'' Amenheraftmpooned in his heart as he recalled these past memories.
But even with this heavy heart apanying him to his meeting with Manuk, fate decided it still was not enough.
Because a second scout coincidentally intercepted the king on his way and delivered an infinitely stronger soul-crushing news.
Without obeying any protocol or etiquette, the messenger rudely almost screamed, "Your Majesty, our spy''s in the city are saying all three of our granaries are on fire. Look!"
The ashen-faced soldier then pointed to a part of the horizon that had three distinctively darker shades than the rest and almost appeared to be moving.
It was smoke, threerge, dark plums of smoke!
Witnessing this, Amenheraft felt as if it was his heart that had been set on fire and finally empathized with the kind of despair Agapios and Samaras must have felt just today.
He even had half a mind to kill the messenger to stop this news from spreading but on cooling his head a bit understood there would be no point.
Even a one-eyed cripple would be able to see the chimneys of smoke and if the winds blew in the right direction, even the deaf and blind would be able to smell the burning wheat.
Amenheraft was so shocked by this sudden turn of events that he did not ask the messenger any follow-up questions, but instead almost started sprinting towards his mostpetent advisor, Manuk, hoping the man could pull another rabbit out of the hat and rescue him once again.
On the way, he desperately prayed to Ramuh to bless them with another bout of ran, because without this grain, Amenheraft might lose the throne even after winning the war.
Those were the seeds that he would have nted to grow new crops.
And this was not to even mention his starving army whom he had promised unlimited free meals the day they entered Adhan.
Amenheraft feared that robbed of their prize, these soldiers blinded by hunger, may start a riot. ]
Hungry men and swords were not a healthybination.
While the news of the potential possibility of starvation spread throughout the army, Manuk was off to his own world
He seemed heartbroken at his brother''s loss and even when Amenheraft entered the brightly lit tent, Manuk did not offer even a simple bow.
He did not even get up or turn around.
"He was poisoned" Were the first words he choked out, his back around towards the king.
He just sat crouched by his elder brother''s body, caressing the dead man''s swollen arms and crying and grinding his teeth
Amenheraft paid his condolences and then patiently waited for the veteran archpriest to regain hisposure.
And soon the old Manuk was back.
"His arm is swollen and blue. And his bandages are ck. Laced with poison no doubt." Manuk analyzed.
"Probably facilitated by Nfzam. Now we know who the spy was." Amenheraft expanded on the analysis.
"I presume he is missing?" Manuk asked a question he felt he almost certainly knew the answer to.
And a silent nod from the king stamped his suspicions true.
Done with the ''pleasantries'' Amenheraft could no longer dilly dally and revealed the real reason why he was here, "Our granary is on fire." He said with a dark face.
And this seeded in making Manuk''s eyes the size of golf balls.
"How many?" Came a hopeful question.
"All three," Amenheraft replied quickly.
Then the two men strangely stared at each other for some time, Manuk slowly digesting the implications and Amenheraft eagerly waiting for his magical solution.
But it seemed that Manuk had used up all his magic points before on the battlefield and was out of spells.
He was unable to offer any real solution.
"Perhaps the Cantagenans have some." He hopefully directed.
But Amenheraft simply shook his head as he understood that it was unlikely that they would have enough to feed his army for any real period of time.
Compared to the huge stocks of the three granaries, these poor soldiers would likely have little.
Also, Amenheraft had other ns for therge number of free mercenaries at his doorsteps.
"I have decided to hire the mercenaries to attack Matrak province and depose Farzah. Kefka told me that he was the one who supplied the poison which killed my father. I can forgive all others but not him" Amenheraft informed Manuk, clearly stating he could never forgive regicide.
"What about our armies?" Manuk asked puzzled, viewing it as a waste to use mercenaries when their armies could do the job perfectly well.
"They will help with preparing the fields. We need our men to grow wheat." Amenheraft dictated.
Of course, it urred to neither man that perhaps the people whose friends, fathers, and brothers they just sacrificed to their god as eternal ves might not be open to taking them as their client.
For all theirpetency, they still possed some hubris, believing mercenaries to be little more than money-hungry mindless brutes who would do anything and forget everything for gold.
This was mainly because Adhania with its strong army never employed or really interacted with mercenaries, resulting in the information gap.
Seeing that snatching food from their to-be allies was not an option, Manuk then revealed a bitter smile, "The nobles always haverge stocks of grain. After we take the city, maybe we can make them hand it over for amnesty."
But even he knew this was a bad n because it would set a precedent that rebels could be pardoned if they gave enough food to the king.
This did not sit well with him or Amenheraft, but Manuk felt that desperate situations call for desperate measures.
Of course, an alternative option was for the imperial forces to storm the inner ring and snatch the food by force from the nobles.
But this would likely cause rebellions to sprout up all across the nation.
Because the nobles that stayed in Adhan were not the true bigshots of Adhania but their representatives- families, and rtives.
The real ones lived in their fiefdoms, almost as kings, while swearing fealty only to the crown.
These Pashas were the true arms and legs of Adhania, and like how the head could not survive if its limbs decided not to obey its orders, Adhania could not survive if all its Pashas decided to rebel.
Hence, such a course of action did not even cross the two men''s minds.
"No, we will do no such thing." Amenheraft was not pleased by the suggestion.
He ordered, "Tell the army to turn back and march towards the ''Horn of Tress. And sent an envoy to Tibias to tell that we are willing to return the ''Horn of Sands'' in exchange for grain."
This order stupefied Manuk so much that he could barely keep standing.
The conditions Amenheraft offered Tibias would see them regain all the territories they had in the two-year war with Adhania.
"Your Majesty, such an order will be uneptable to anybody. The army might even rebel!" Manuk almost shouted in fear.
But Amenheraft remained unmoved, "Then say it was because Ptolomy set fire to the granaries and the nobles hoarded all the food, letting the blood of all the brave soldiers go to waste."
He instructed, "You are the archpriest of the Temple of Ramuh. Use your priests to spread the news. Let these rebelling ingrates bear the wrath of the army and the peasants."
"I can do that no problem, Your Highness. But are we really going to let Tibias go scoot free after what they did?" Manuk asked with just indignation all over his face.
"I understand your frustration Manuk. And I too would like nothing more than to punish everyone who instigated this rebellion severely. But reality has forced for to pick and choose your targets carefully." Amenheratf sighed.
He then imed loudly, "I would rather let a foreign power like Tibias off than those traitors. As Adhania''s enemy it''s only natural for Tibias to attack us when we were down. We would have done the same to them."
"But those nobles, why did they attack Adhania? It was their duty to protect Adhania, but instead, they backstabbed us in our moment of need. I will never let those greedy pigs benefit." He voiced menacingly.
Seeing the king had made up his mind, Manuk could only nod in reluctant eptance.
,m Perceiving this, Amneheraft then offered some words offort, "Don''t worry Manuk. In a few years, we will take everything back, with interest."
This put a smile on the priest''s mouth as he understood, ''Yes, this humiliation was only temporary.''
Chapter 67 Next Day
The sun finally rose over the horizon, like it always did for millenniums, signaling the start of another day as it released its radiant rays and illuminated the vast world thaty in front of it.
Its sparkling rays cast aside the mist that tried to snuggle the ground and exposed everything the mistress of the night tried to conceal for the whole world to bear witness to.
The citizens of Adhan finally understood the extent of the damage caused by the fire and they also saw their god-king entering the city in a magnificent procession, finally deposing the usurper Ptolomy.
Nfzam and Ptolomy rode through the forest, bee-lining for Matrak, the warm, gentle sunlight feeling like the hot iron brands on their skins.
They knew the greeting of the sun signaled the start of their relentless pursuit by Amenheraft.
And atst, the true carnage of the battlefield, especially the killing and burying of the tens of thousands of soldiers, wasid bare for the mercenaries and Cantagenans to witness.
A strange striking mound had appeared on the t ground between the two valleys that seemed to be emanating a strange smell and was being guarded by giant vultures and hungry wolves.
It did not take a genius to figure out what was underneath.
The Adhanians had buried the sacrificed and killed, both theirs and Cantagenas, in a giant pit and left after simply covering it.
Alexander had himself seen the mound and ruminated how in just a few months, mother nature will likely transform this grotesque mass of mangled flesh, bone, and blood into a meadow of trees and flowers, removing most signs of the carnage it once witnessed.
''How significant is living, if everyone ends up the same?'' It was a question that haunted philosophers and thinkers since humans could think and it drilled its way into Alexander''s mind too.
The boy had woken even before the sun had, his body refreshed and his mind eager to witness the things today likely held.
The excitement in him was so strong that even after the brutal physical exhaustion of the past few days, his body seemed back to its peak with just a bit of sleep and food. ready to take on the world.
Maybe it was the organic foods, or the clean air, or the constant physical exercise, or just in gics, but after using this body for ten years Alexander knew exactly just how superior this body was his old one and he cherished it.
This one seemed to be an upgraded version, stronger, faster, and better.
''A lot of good things will happen today,'' He cheered himself as he performed calisthenics in front of his tent, even before the light prated the darkness.
Then at the crack of dawn, just as the first thin white line appeared on the horizon he decided to start gathering his forces, and hence he went to wake his master, who to Alexander''s ''horror'' discovered him dead.
He used this excuse to quickly wake up the soldiers in his mercenary group, after which they were hastily assembled to perform a simple funereal ritual for their founder, then buried him on a hill near his tent.
The entire thing went off like a rehearsed y, with no one raising the question about how he died.
Fever, exhaustion, and age were Alexander''s expert analysis.
And no one questioned it, or at least no one whose voices mattered.
For those whose voices mattered all knew or did not care about the old man, save for Pallidus who was left all alone.
Thus the death of Aristotle caused little stir and Alexander had essentially be free.
Done with this practice run, Alexander then turned his mind to the real prize, Damious.
Since the camp was still in rtive tranquility, he guessed that Damious''s cold body had yet to be discovered and he decided to beef up the defenses of his camp before his minions inevitably came looking for blood.
Alexander had little doubt these people will hold their medical camp responsible for their leader''s death with or without evidence and he wanted to be ready.
So, after the funeral rites, he urged the soldiers to prepare breakfast and then quickly assembled his army, reinforced Cambyses''s tent, increased the guard in the medical camp, and gained himself a full contingent of bodyguards.
Alexander was ready!
And soon things unfolded quite textbook style.
The bodyguards beside Damious had also fallen asleep due to exhaustion, and when one of them was woken by the sting of the sun rays hitting his eyes, he finally noticed the pale, cold, unmoving, body of their leader.
He immediately went into panic mode, shouting and screaming as he tried to wake his fellowrades.
And right on cue, Alexander who was already there acting as a medical staff came to his rescue, apanied by his entourage of Menes and Theocles along with a few others, all fully armed.
"It seems leader Damious has sumbed to his injuries. My condolences" Theocles pointed out the elephant in the room.
"Bullshit. You," one of the mercenaries menacingly pointed to Alexander and said, "killed him."
Alexander only sneered and replied, "We all saw you sleeping while you were supposed to guard your leader. It was your negligence that killed your leader. Now you want to me it on me? Is that the best could you coulde up with?"
At this point, Menes spoke out his rehearsed line, "Alexander is right. We suspect you to be guilty of derision of duty or worse spies from Adhania. Come with us!"
"Joke! Who do you think you are?" Naturally, the mercenaries refused to back down.
"*ng*" At once all the soldiers following Menes drew their weapons, unsheathing swords, and pointing spears at the outnumbered mercenaries.
"If you do note quietly with us, then we will treat you as spies." Menes issued onest warning.
But even against such bad odds, the loyal, veterans did not budge one bit, determined to rather die than be humiliated as pawns in a conspiracy.
As Menes was about to order the massacre, Alexander suddenly turned himself into a mediator.
"Wait, wait, we don''t want to capture and kill you or anything!" He shouted to try and defuse the situation.
He then continued, "Menes is not quite good with words, brother. You just misunderstood him. What he meant to say was that you should all stay here and we will call the various leader who can listen to both sides of our story and determine who is at fault here."
Thispromise seemed to cool the bodyguards and so they waited, in the meantime sending their own messengers to inform all their brothers of their leader''s death.
They did not have to wait for long, as hearing of Damious''s dead and understanding a leadership crisis was at hand, thest three remaining mercenary leaders- Menicus, Melodias, and Petricuno quickly presented themselves in the medical camp.
Along with Melodias also came Damious''s once-to-be bride, Alexander''s mistress- Cambyses with Gratz, Heliptos, and Camius in tow.
Alexander had relieved Bartholomew to get some sleep at dawn and switched in the talkative merc.
With all the required party present, the show began.
Menicus, being the eldest here was given the honor of starting the question but his opening statement was weird.
Instead of taking witness ounts, he looked at Alexander, carefully burning the boy''s image in his mind, and addressed, "So you are the ve that everyone calls the son of Gaia. Yes, yes, only someone blessed by the gods could do what you did. Your warning saved his old bone''s life. Thank you." He afterward performed a slight bow.
This disy of a freeman bowing to a ve showed just how partial Menicus was willing to be towards Alexander and all the faces of soldiers from Damious''s camp seemed like they had swallowed a fly.
The other mercenary leaders also seem to understand the hint that Menicus had already made up his mind.
But, Damious''s soldiers still made up more than a third of their remaining force and all present here knew that they had to give them at least a semnce of a fair trial.
So the hot-headed Petricuno jumped in on the conversion, "They say you are the one who came up with this medical camp, and that your skills are unmatched." He addressed Alexander.
"So tell me how do you think he died?"
"I have not gotten to examine the body, but my guess is he caught a cold and died. Look" Alexander pointed to the bare man and said, "I instructed all the patients to properly cover themselves so they don''t catch a cold. But he does not have a single piece of cloth on him."
"Bullshit. The leader could swim in frozenkes naked and not even sneeze. Who are you kidding by saying he dies from a mere cold? He does not even have a runny nose!" Gratz shouted in an enraged voice.
Of course, he and his brothers as a whole were not buying it.
But hisst sentence had the inadvertent effect of directing everyone''s sight towards Damious''s nose which was leaking ck fifthmon in a dead body.
There was no way to verify the im and many shot suspicious gazes toward Gratz, doubting his credibility
Chapter 68 Cambysess Challenge
"My men were all here the entire night. No one saw or heard anything strange. I believe Alexander''s exnation that Damious died of natural causes." Melodias expressed his own judgment.
This crushed the Damious mercenaries but they seemed unable to retort.
Many present also began to think that maybe Damious had just died from illness or injury.
He was human after all.
But someone who was absolutely convinced that something was up was Gratz.
He did not, could not ept the death of his master.
So he screamed, strangely pointing his fingers toward Cambyses, "Our leader was killed by that woman. The witch wanted to marry her ve, so she killed him with magic. Witch! She''s a witch I tell you."
''Close, but no dice.'' Alexander sneered in his heart.
But this irrational screaming had the strange effect of actually swaying some minds.
,m Because the people of this time did not believe in germ theory which had not been invented yet but instead believed that death and disease were caused by supernatural entities.
These supernatural entities included only gods and goddesses, but also demons and devils, and various mythical beasts and human-like apparitions and entities.
As such many ignorant people started lending their ears to Gratz''s absurd ims.
Spurred on by this outburst, another mercenary also chimed in, "Yes, it must have been when she fed him. She ced a spell then."
A second one joined in, "Poison. The witch must have used poison."
This single word seemed to jolt awake something inside Gratz''s mind and remembered a funeral taking ce in this mercenary group over the death of Aristotle.
He also remembered feeling a bit confused back then because he wondered how the marriage was going to proceed with the bride''s godfather dead.
But he then threw it to the back of his mind, because he believed his leader could easily solve this little inconvenience.
But now all those feelings came rushing back because he felt they could connect the dots.
"Yes! Poison!" He shouted excitedly.
"The witch poisoned the two men trying to get her married. That''s why both the old man and leader who drank from the pot are dead." At this point, he started howling in grief and even drew his sword, roaring, " Men! These scums killed our leader."
Alexander had watched this farce until now with bemused amusement, even thinking Gratz might not have made a bad detective in his previous life.
But now he felt the whole circus was rolling towards a dangerous cliff.
If this frenzy spread was not stopped soon, a riot of three thousand very angry soldiers was imminent.
As such, he decided to step in, when a gravelly voice outstripped him.
"But I also drank front the pot. Twice." Said the voice, the sound waves cascading through the air, striking the eardrums of the bubbling crowd and causing them to simmer down.
It was Melodias and he appeared fearlessly in front of the hysterical Gratz and coldly asked again, "Well, then tell me why I am alive? What was the poison magic?"
The harsh tone and physical intimidation made the manic man calm down and he struggled to think of his next reply.
But how could Alexander allow the man such breathing room?
He struck, from the side, "The contents of the drinking pot were personally verified by Gratz. Everyone one of you" Alexander addressed Damious''s mercenaries, "bore witness to it. So what does he mean the drink was poisoned?"
Then he addressed the crowd in general, "And why does he nder us by saying we killed our founder? All are still deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of our leader and founder in a single day. This is tant mudslinging."
"Brother Alexander, Gratz is just tired, fatigued, and grieving. He did not mean anything by it." This surprising statement came from an unlikely source amongst unlikely sources- Heliptos.
And the person most surprised was not ALexander but Gratz who turned to face the man with eyes in danger of almost falling out.
This betrayal seemed like a bolt out of the blue for him and Graatz immediately understood Heliptos was trying in get on their good books to get their help in seeding Damious.
To think the vultures would be feasting on his leader''s body even before it cooled, sent Gratz''s blood boiling and he barely held himself back from stabbing the traitor.
"You scum. After all he had done for you¡." Gratz dragged the words between his teeth.
Alexander too made his judgment about the man named Heliptos after his surprising change in stance.
Alexander recalled how he had tried to grab Cambyses''s drink and now his disy of jumping ship at the opportune moment, and hencebeled as greedy and power-hungry but not too bright.
''Not a bad candidate for someone looking to fill up a discardable position." Alexander wrote in his heart journal.
"I believe Gratz is personally too involved to make truthful statements." Theocles craftily said.
"I believe so too." Feeling himself left out, Petrucino weighed in as well.
But Gratz was a demented man on a mission.
He screamed again, "Don''t let them fool you. I never drank from the pot, only the sweet water before it was poured. Yes! The poison must have been in the pot. Bring the pot." He demanded.
"But Melodias also drank from the pot." Alexander reminded.
"Bah, the witch must have cured him." The deranged man spat out.
"Pot! Bring the pot!" Some mercenaries from the back started chanting.
"Quite! This is a ce of healing. It''s not a ce to shout and cause a ruckus." Menes yelled at the top of his voice to dampen the boiling crowd.
But that seemed to only fuel the mercenaries even more.
"Pot!"
"Pot"
"We want the pot!"
They started chanting with even more vigor.
Alexander''s mind suddenly drifted out of this serious situation and wondered if he should find some joints for them to enjoy
Aa Alexander was lost in a tangential thought, a wizened voice rang out,
"And what will you do if you find the pilot?" It said.
This simple question again took the wind out of the mercenaries, returning the chaotic clinic to one as calm as the windless summer afternoon.
Menicus''s voice continued, "The pot that you ask for, if it did contain poison as you say, must have already been washed, cleaned, and dried. How are you gonna find the poison?"
But insane people were called insane because well¡they were insane, imprable to logic.
As such Gratz said, " Bring the pot first. We will determine everything elseter."
It was at this point a sharp voice pierced everyone''s ears.
"Enough, why don''t you just say what you want to say? That you want just someone to me your leader''s death. You want money!"
It was Cambyses and she just opened another can of worms!
A woman speaking like that was a first for many and everyone turned to look at the beautiful heroic girl, standing proudly with her left sword on her sword hilt, ring at the mad dog.
"Witch!" Gratz simply looked at the girl with pure loathing, utterly only a single word.
He believed, no he was convinced that the girl had something to do with his leader''s death and he wanted blood.
"Four times. You have called me a witch four times. Well, if I really was a witch, you would do well to stay out of my way." Cambyses menacingly threatened.
"Your powers don''t work on me." Gratz simply growled.
"Well then, let the gods decide if I am innocent or not," Cambyses smirked
"*ng*, I challenge you to a Trial bybat. Right here, right now." She drew her sword and offered the man a duel before the eyes of the gods to determine who was right and who was wrong.
"I ept." Gratz gleefully took the offer in a heartbeat, barely holding back his excitement.
After all, what could a mere woman do to him?
They belonged in the kitchen, cooking, cleaning, and rearing children.
"*ng*, I''m gonna enjoy butchering you, witch!" He then likewise drew his sword.
''No, I am gonna injure her first, maim her, **** her, make her squeal, make her confess'', Gratz could barely keep his grin on his face, as he thought of the myriad of ways he was gonna enjoy this.
After all, a Trial bybat was sacred, that took ce under the sight of the gods and no kind of interference by anyone was allowed.
It could only end when one side was dead.
Alexander was disturbed by this turn of events.
If he was a betting me, which he was not, he would certainly put his money on Cambyses.
He did not know how good a fighter Gratz fighter was, but chances were he was likely not as good as Cambyses.
This was not even mentioning the tant discard and underestimation he showed for his opponent.
Cambyses would likely cut him to ribbons before he could understand what happened.
But even then just because Cambyses was favored to win does not mean she will win.
She could lose and the thought of her dying very disturbed him.
So he intended to step in and nominate himself as her champion.
But Menicus''s aged voice beat him to it, "The challenge has been epted by the two under the sight of the gods. Clear the space and let the battle begin!"
Chapter 69 Cambyses Vs Gratz
"Wait mistress, let me be your champion." Alexander still tried at thest second to switch with his to-be wife.
It felt too dangerous.
But the feisty girl shot him down, "What champion? The idiot called me a witch. Did he call you a witch? Stay put and let your mistress do her job, ve."
Thest sentence drew an imperceptible twitch to Alexander''s face as he felt slightly insulted at being talked to like this in front of everyone by his soon-to-be bride.
''Looks like I will need to give her a proper spankingter.'' He thought with some spite in his heart.
"The challenge was issued by the challenger by herself. I am afraid only she can participate." Meniscus from the side interjected, rifying the rules.
"Brother Gratz go easy on her." From the side, Heliptos urged, already showing whose side he was on.
''This level of sycophancy¡'' The mercenary leaders all had mixed emotions about this guy.
Soon, the space around the entrance of the medical tent was cleared and a dueling ring with the mercenaries as the walls was created.
Shields were not allowed in Trial bybat, so bothbatants faced each other holding swords in both hands.
Most soldiers from Damious''s group jeered and booed Cambyses, expecting the duel to end soon.
If gambling had not been strictly forbidden for any trial bybat, many would likely have opened gambling booths with their money firmly on Gratz.
After all, Gratz was one of their bestmanders and the most trusted man of theirtemander, so how could he lose to a mere woman, no to a girl!
Menicus was chosen as the arbitrator of the match, and the old man, surprisingly had a loud bark as he shouted,
"Start!" and signaled the beginning of the duel.
"Get her."
"Show her what is a real man!"
"Witch!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
The crowd cheered the man on and urged him to finish it quickly, while Cambyses''s side silently watched.
But neither party attacked, instead, they simply started and started to circle one another like ravenous sharks.
Because duels in reality were not all like what Hollywood tended to portray them as.
In actuality, duels were a bit boring asbatants would wait and observe, thrust feints, and like they were doing now circle one another to try to find a weak point in another''s defense.
Duels were a test of nerves as much as a test of skills as it was possible to let the pressure get to one and make a premature strike thinking he had found a weakness while it was all along it was just a feint the opponent had created just to lure in an attack.
This could see one get parried and counterattacked and likely killed.
So one had to be patient.
To wait and observe and try to figure out which weaknesses the opponent revealed were fake and which were real.
? Usually, this was done by short thrusts to try and open a gap in the defenses and then take advantage of the opponent''spse in judgment to deliver the killing blow.
Note the use of the word- ''usually.''
Because in this particr unusual instance, Gratz soon lost his patience and partly egged on by the crowd and partly because of overconfidence, charged.
''I was defending just in case the witch had some strange powers, but she''s just a scared brat. Hah, I will enjoy this.'' The man simply did not put Cambyses in his eyes, and with a manic grin bought his sword straight down the middle, intending to spill her into her skull in two.
Alexander breathed a massive sigh of relief at this move because he was now almost sure of Gratz''s skill and determined that Cambyses would win.
The move was so textbook that Cambyses could bet that she would be able to parry it blindfolded.
She expertly brushed the sword onto the right using her sword and then used her footwork to get to his left side to nk him, which caused Gratz to make a wide swing to try and catch her.
"Too easy!" Cambyses smirked at the man, as her sword caught the iing sword mid-way in the air and parried it towards the ground, nting it in the soil.
Simultaneously, as Gratz was reeling from the shock of having his swords strike the ground and tried to get back his stance, Cambyses retrieved her sword, used her agile speed to get from Gtatz''s left side to his back, and then¡
Well, there was no more, "and then."
Because it was over!
Cambyses did a little dance as she spun on her heels and using her momentum spun the sword one-handedly, cleanly chopping off the head and creating a little red fountain for the crowd''s entertainment.
From the time Gratz made his attack to when his head got graciously separated from his body, it took less than ten seconds.
And this was how Cambyses won her first-ever duel.
This abrupt conclusion of the match stunned most soldiers.
Because the duel had ended quickly as they expected but not in the way they expected.
The reason for their shock was also exacerbated by the ease Cambyses ended the duel, almost effortlessly and many felt confused by how quickly Gratz lost the duel.
This was because they all knew Gratz as a good captain and a formidable opponent to face on the battlefield but they had forgotten to take into consideration his individual fighting skills.
Skills that the man had neglected to keep sharp and thus had allowed to be rusty over the years.
After all, the man usually had a literal army to do his battles for him so why bother?
While the soldiers were still digesting the sight of the headless corpse, Alexander was making his own evaluation of the match.
''Cocky.'' Was the grade he awarded.
He had always taught Cambyses to kill her opponents as quickly and as efficiently as possible and felt that Cambyses really did not need to do the little dance and chop off his head.
A far less waste of movement would have been to simply stab him through the much wider back into the heart.
Instead, the girl chose to attack the much smaller and thinner neck just for the theatrics.
''I will need to lecture her on this,'' Alexander thought as he did not want to see his beloved head cracked like an egg by giant hands because of hubris like in that show.
"The gods of spoken." Menicus dered the end of the match.
And with the all soldiers, though many were unwilling, epted the judgment of the gods, and the matter of Damious''s death was finally put to rest.
Damious had officially died of cold!
Chapter 70 Freedom At Last
As Gratz''s body was being dragged off to be buried, Cambyses, instead of exiting the arena, decided to a offer few words of her own.
She shook off the blood from her sword, sheathed it, and said, "It was only by the blessings of Gaia that I won today. For that, I am eternally grateful to the mother goddess." She then sped her hands and offered a silent prayer.
Then she dropped a bombshell, "In order to show my appreciation, I hereby dere both my ves, Alexander and Mean to be freedmen from today!"
The freeing of ves before the gods was a very practiced custom but the news of the emancipation of one particr ve, sent a thunderous chorus of apuses rang across the group.
"p, p, p." A myriad of apuses rang out of the group.
Even the medical staff from the back and many of the injured cheered.
The announcement was a surprise even for Alexander and he knelled and gratefully said, "I will always be at yourmand, Mistress." "Haha, finally, finally." Menes strongly pped him on the back, ecstatic that the man who helped him get where he was was also now free.
"Nothing can hold you now, doc!" Camius congratted.
"I hope to receive brother Alexander''s assistance in our times of need." Melodias came up and personally shook his head.
Heliptos even went a step further. He said, "Alexander, our group needs a leader. Please guide us in our decision."
This was asking Alexander to tantly interfere with another group''s internal politics or if someone took the invitation too literally, could even be its leader.
Alexander politely replied to everyone, even to Heliptos, saying a few insincere words such as, ''It is in the best interest of all of us to have strong leadership and once done with the greetings, bought up the real reason why everyone was here - ''What now?''
This open question caused some darker shades to appear on the leader''s face because all of them had asked themselves the same question, "What now?"
"Do you have any thoughts?" Menicus probed Alexander.
Here Alexander smiled and suggested, "I believe we should choose a new leader soon. Let Damious''s group have the day to elect their new leader. We have also lost ours and need to elect a new one. What do you say we vote on it tomorrow at dawn?"
"That''s good. My troops are too exhausted and need a day or two to recover." Petricuno enthusiastically agreed.
"Ours too." This time it was Menes.
"Okay, then it''s decided then. The remnants of Alcmene and Regias also have yet to choose a leader, so will hold the vote on the east side clearing tomorrow at dawn." The natural arbiter of the group Menicus finalized the agreement.
With this decision reached, Melodias raised another concern, "We have all seen the Adhanians enter the city today. What do you make of that?"
"It means both our employers are dead," Petricuno answered with a bitter smile.
"From what I could see, their camp was empty. It looks like their whole army entered the city." Melodias revealed some address information.
"That''s good, isn''t it? Petricuno asked in a cheerful tone.
"They didn''t even leave a contingent to guard us? Weird!" Menesmented.
"Perhaps there are behind-the-scenes things we don''t know." Alexander offered his own exnation.
"Hmm, whatever it is we should still reinforce our guards. Who knows if they are preparing a sneak attack." Menicus suggested prudently.
"Yes, I will see to it." Petricuno quickly took responsibility.
"A lot of our scattered soldiers are still returning, especially Cantagenans. What do we do about them?" Melodias showed another problem.
This drew universal frowning, as how to use these conscripts was truly a tricky problem.
The Cantagenan highmand had been literally ughtered down to a single man, first in the battle conducted by Agapios and then in the second battle led by Samaras.
Now, a power vacuum had appeared within those ranks, with no one to lead these frankly stupid soldiers.
Integrating them into the mercenaries existing formation would only reduce the quality and effectiveness of the mercenaries fighting force, and so that wasn''t a real option.
Here Alexander suggested the solution of kicking the can down the road, "Let the leader we choose decide how to use the Cantagenans."
And this drew the nods of eptance from all the mercenary leaders.
Why solve a problem yourself now, when someone else can do itter?
With this, the leaders decided to end their mini-conference and after saying a few token titudes, they chose no longer to dally and returned to their respective camps
As the extra personnel left and the crowd around them dispersed, the medical tent soon returned to its earlier tranquility and the people started to go back to their usual duties.
Alexander was one of the few who did not leave but chose to stay and smell the air.
Alexander could not remember how many years it has been since his mood had been this good.
Somehow even the air he breathed felt different, somehow better, somehow fresher and sweeter.
Was this the taste of freedom they talked about?
As Alexander was letting his body finally soak in the feeling of being free, Theocles suggested, "Nestoras is likely dead. Let us choose our new leader."
"Yes! I vote Alexander." This overly enthusiastic, almost obsequious sound from Pallidus of all people.
Though in hindsight, it was really in keeping with the craven opportunistic nature of the man.
"Alexander." Menes too joined in, though not before throwing Pallidus a look like he was looking at a bug.
"I too vote Alexander." Theocles made the predictable vote and thus with the support of the three most influential men in the group, Alexander finally obtained the position he had been salivating for over ten years.
Theocles then congratted his new leader, "We look forward to your leadership and guidance."
"We look forward to your leadership and guidance." All the others present like Menes, Pallidus, Camius, and even Cambyses greeted Alexander.
And Alexander greeted back, "I swear to do what is best for the group. So please lend me your strength."
And thus Alexander today took one of the most significant steps towards fulfilling his dream, obtaining an army.
Chapter 71 Celebration Party
As the new leader, Alexander quickly started giving orders.
"Cambyses, you are to secure our food. Go take inventory of how much meat we managed to getst night and how much-smoked sausages we managed to make."
"I will try to secure as much as possible for us," Cambyses promised with a determined face.
Then Alexander addressed his second inmand, "Menes, go tell the soldiers about me bing their leader. Also convinced them to support me tomorrow at the voting."
"It will be easy." Menes grinned with a nod.
Anyone who could oppose Alexander was either dead or cleverly chose to jump ship.
"Camius, you do your usual thing. Spread rumors about my deeds. Especially among the Cantagenans and Alcmene and Regias''s troops. Nudge them towards voting for me."
"No problem. Last night those guys were eating up anything and everything I said about you." Camius slyly smiled. "I promise they will see only you as the rightful candidate." He solemnly imed.
"Remember to tell them the scavenged meat and the smoked sausage as his idea." Theocles selflessly added, which got him a grateful look from Alexander.
Such a im was not easy to give up and it would really help Alexander tomorrow.
Alexander then tasked Theocles with his most important task, "Theocles I am entrusting you with collecting the most important thing for us- money. The Cantagenans are decimated and I want you to secure as much loot as you can from their dead."
"I will try to put a corrupt puppet leader in exchange for their gold." Theocles happily smiled.
Nestoras would have never been able toe up with this order and Theocles was once again pleased that he chose the right person.
Done with receiving their instructions, the men and woman headed off to perform their respective duties, and Alexander, free and finally his own boss after ten years, with no one to tell him what to do, strangely felt a bit lost on what to do next, and so decided to go check out his new tent, the tent reserved for the group leader, the tent he designed for Nestoras.
So, with the assistance of some helpers, Alexander moved his little belongings out of his old tent and into the new one, and then with nothing left better to do, and that big bed looking mighty inviting, he decided to take a short nap, just a bit of shut-eye to re-energize the body.
But his short nap actuallysted till sunset when he was woken up by the nking of footsteps and human ins and goings.
As the leader, his tent was supposed to be off-limits to almost everyone and any assassin would not make so much noise, so Alexander was puzzled by what could be making such a ruckus.
He opened his groggy eyes to see men moving things into his tent, things he could identify even in this soft candlelight as belonging to Cambyses.
''What is the girl doing now?'' Was Alexander''s first question.
And the person in question was there to answer it.
"You''re awake! Great! The guys have prepared a feast for you. Let''s go." Cambyses eagerly shouted.
Alexander still groggy from just waking up felt confused and wondered if he had heard it wrong.
Because as far as he knew, they did not even have enough to feed themselves, so where would they get the food for a feast?
But even before he could ask such questions, or why she was moving her stuff into his tent, he was dragged by his hand out of his tent and into a small opening, where arge bonfire had been lit and meat of various shapes and sizes were being prepared beside it.
Alexander was the chief guest of the party and when he entered with Cambyses holding hands, it drew quite a few knowing smiles as the duo made their way to the center of the party.
"Any new information from the goddess?"Menes was the first to greet Alexander with a smile, yfully making fun of him for sleeping the entire day.
Alexander only gave a shy smile in reply.
It was really not a good look for a new leader who had taken post just that day to onlysleep the whole day while everyone worked.
He had intended it to be just a power nap of at best an hour and not the solid almost twelve hours of sleep he took.
''Looks like I was more tired than I thought Alexander ruefully reminisced.
"Haha, don''t worry." Seeing Alexander embarrassed, the giant strongly pped him on the back. "You are the leader! Who''s gonna me you, hahaha." He ended the sentenceughing boisterously.
"Hey, leader, join us here." A loud, warm voice from the front then beckoned Alexander to them, allowing Alexander to escape this awkward encounter.
And Alexander approached them to see the faces of Camius, Batholomew and Remus, and a few others, illuminated by the bonfires, as they sat on the ground enjoying their meal.
"Sorry, we started without you, here have some." Camius enthusiastically passed some cooked meat to Alexander who graciously epted.
"It''s good to see you here, Remus. My condolences." Alexander then offered his sympathies to the boy, who surprisingly did not look too down.
"*Nod*, I tried my best, but he chose his path." Remus let out a heavy sigh as he drowned arge sip of his drink.
"The one silver lining is our people did not get sacrificed," Bartholomew added.
And this drew Alexander''s attention and naturally asked for rification.
"I met two mercenaries from Regias''s group in the medical tent who told me." A feminine voice from behind him rang out.
Alexander turned around to see a short, raven-haired girl, holding a wooden te with some meat on it, apanying her ex-mistress.
It was Mean!
The girl then expounded, "They told me Regias And Nestoras were ced in the left wings and were the very first to be killed by the Adhanians."
"May Gaia guide them to Elysium." Alexander made a hand gesture with his hands.
Then, choosing not to continue this conversation about the dead and the deceased, he diverted the topic, saying with a smile "Congrattions on your freedom, Mean. Finally, you are a freedman."
But strangely, he did not receive the usual ''Thank you'' or simr titudes.
Instead, he got a sneer, "Only a disloyal snake like you would be happy to not serve the mistress. I will have you know Mistress has bought be back!"
Mean reported this ''recapture'' of her with infinite pride in her voice as puffed her nonexistent chest in smug satisfaction, clearly viewing herself as superior to Alexander.
"I said she can work for me as long as she likes and can quit whenever she feels like it." Cambyses offered a clearer exnation.
Then she added, "I even offered her a wage."
"Hmph, as if I would stoop so low as to ept money for serving my mistress. Getting to serve you is my greatest reward." Mean said these usual words of ttery with genuine feelings.
She truly loved serving Cambyses and vehemently rejected it when Cambyses offered her money for the work, even feeling vaguely insulted.
Though if one were to understand the history between the two, one would not find it so strange.
Because in Mean''s eyes Cambyses was not her master lording over life.
She saw her more as an older sister or even a mother/guardian, who cloth, fed, reared, and protected her.
They even slept together, sharing intimate acts together meant for only lovers.
So in her eyes, being free was almost equivalent to being disowned by her family or being dumped by her girlfriend.
That''s why when she heard of her emancipation, instead of joy she felt horror, pure unadulterated terror thinking she had done some extreme, unforgivable crime and was thus banished from her mistress''s life.
And so she went to Cambyses like a gale, with tears and shot running out of her face as she asked for forgiveness.
It had made quite a scene in the camp and after spending a considerable time calming her down, Cambyses finally understood what happened.
And then, although Cambyses tried very hard to convince Mean of the perks of being a freedman Mean would hear none of it, even threatening to end her own life saying, ''If I can''t serve mistress, I don''t have a reason to live.''
So, the two, atst, reached apromise, where Mean could continue doing what she was doing and Cambyses would from now on pay her a wage.
"I told her if she did not want to take the money, I would hold onto it and give it to her descendants." Cambyses rified that she was not using Mean as a ve, even though she would like to be treated as one.
"Hmph, then mistress will have to hold onto it forever, cause Mean''s never marrying." The short girl shot back.
"Not even Alexander?" Cambyses teased.
This statement caused the girl to flush in embarrassment as she stomped her feet, "Mistress, mistress is bullying me."
"Hahaha." Came the group''s loudughter.
It was not a particr secret in the group that Mean liked Alexander, a rumor Alexander started to save her from Octavius.
Per the rumor, both of them were in love, but in reality, Alexander loved Cambyses, and Mean loved them both.
She loved Cambyses the most, but she also loved Alexander, who had done much for her, though she was very shy to ever admit it.
And like this, amidst the merriment andughter, the meat was eaten and wine drunk, and jokes were told as the living tried to forget the pain of losing their loved ones and tried to appreciate thepany of those who still apanied them.
Chapter 72 Cambysess First Night (R18)
Alexander returned to his tentte at night, patting his belly in satisfaction, it filled for the first time in weeks.
It seemed they had managed to scavenge a lot of meat, a lot more than anticipated, and had the happy problem of not having enough cooking facilities to turn them all into smoked sausages in time.
So rather than see them rot and go to waste, each group was given some excess meat to organize a party.
It seemed it was Melodias''s idea as a way to boost morale and dull the pain.
Thus, after the merriments and rtively delicious dinner, Alexander returned to his tent, took a quick bath, and then changed into a clean pair of clothes, getting ready for bed, when suddenly an ''uninvited'' guest entered his tent unannounced.
Cambyses!
And she was wearing something vastly different from her regr attire.
Instead of her usual leather armor, she wore a ck peplos, a single, body-length garment upto the ankles, with one shoulder open.
Her tiny feet were adorned with golden gilded shoes and her ankles were dressed with thin golden brackets.
Her chestnut hair had been released from its binds, now draping over her smooth, olive shoulders and reaching her magnificent buttocks, swaying with glorious cascading ripples as she approached the bed.
Her face appeared flushed and her hair was slightly wet and glistening, clearly, she had taken a bath just now.
As she approached Alexander under the dim candlelight, she seemed like a goddess that had descended onto the mortal realm and Alexander swallowed a dry gulp at the scene.
There was no need to ask why the girl was here.
Both of them had been waiting for this night for as long as they could remember.
Without uttering a single word, Cambyses threw herself over Alexander onto the bed, hugging him strongly, and locking lips with each other in a hot, sensual, animalistic kiss.
Their tongues twined together, tasting one another, sucking one another, trying to devour one another as they greedily took in the other''s vor.
Cambyses tasted sweet, sour and hot and sticky to Alexander and he felt that he could never get enough of her juicy lips
Cambyses used her tongue like a brush, painting her lover''s mouth with her taste as she aggressively pushed her tongue into Alexander, trying to reach as far as possible.
And Alexander let her in, sucked her in, as he tasted every nook and cranny of her tongue.
"Hah hah.." With panted breath, finally, the girl let go of the long kiss.
But Alexander did not let up.
He started kissing her neck, cing hickeys around her nape and shoulder as he tasted her sweet skin and took in her natural fragrance.
"Ohh yeah," Cambyses moaned in ecstasy as she copied Alexander by cing her hickeys on him in return.
Soon Alexander was not satisfied by just making out.
He pushed her into the bed, his azure eyes gazing lovingly into her caramel ones as he boldly undid the pin holding her peplos, and brushed off the garment hiding her naked beauty.
Cambyses wore no underwear and now her upper body wasid bare before Alexander''s eyes, her cherry nipples perking themselves up aftering in contact with the cool air.
"Don''t stare," Cambyses whispered coyly as she attempted to cover her wless breasts with her arms.
Even though Alexander had seen her naked multiple times before, somehow she now felt embarrassed.
"Hehe, what''s the use ying the innocent sheep now," Alexander smiled vulgarly as he took off his own tunic and then wrestled Cambyses''s arms off to reveal her naked glory.
He started raining kisses around her left breast, even softly biting on her beautiful corbones, and sucking on the soft skin around them.
"Mmmmm, don''t, you are gonna leave marks," Cambyses moaned shyly at all the hickeys Alexander was leaving but her actions did not match her words.
Because she kept using her arms to strongly hug Alexander''s head in ce.
Cambyses''s moans seemed to energize Alexander as he then proceeded directly to her breasts.
His wolfish hands sank themselves into the modest, soft, pillowy marshmallow goodness and he squeezed and kneaded the tender flesh to his heart''s content, relishing in the exquisite, warm feeling and the sweet scent.
"These puppies are something else. So soft." Alexander salivated over the meat globules.
"Ahhh, yes, harder." Cambyses moaned the request.
And Alexander obeyed, more forcefully reshaping her breasts, while also moving to pinch her small, delicate pink buds.
These ripe cherries had risen themselves to attention in excitement and they felt hard and squishy to roll them between his fingers as Alexander yed with them.
He strongly pulled, pinched, and rolled the soft pale pink cherries, while Cambyses responded with sensual moans and joyous cries, "Yes, do it more."
Surprisingly the girl liked it rough!
Understanding this, Alexander decided there was little need to treat the girl like a tender virgin.
He pinched both her nipples and then gave them a strong tug, pulling and twisting them with enough force to make them hurt.
But Cambyses only made an earsplitting moan, "Oh, god, yes!"
"So you like it when it hurts huh?" Alexander said with a smirk, which made Cambyses go red with embarrassment.
He then kept doing it, even more, pulling the nipples in different directions, yanking them harder and harder, and making Cambyses roar louder and louder.
"Oh,ing,ing, ughhh" The girl, atst, howled in bliss, her legs straightening up and her body spasming as her head went pure white.
She had an orgasm just from having her nipples yed with.
"She''s that sensitive huh!" Alexander thought in surprise as the girly in a mess, her mouth drooling and her eyes misty and unfocused.
She was takingrge, deep breaths, her twin pink flowers now swollen red, and feeling as if it was on fire.
But soon the flowers felt a cool, sticky, rain blessing them as Alexander took them inside his mouth, now sucking them, biting them, rolling his tongue around them.
They tasted sweet and smelled of cinnamon and Alexander felt he could suckle on them all day.
"I¡I just came¡huh..be¡huh..," Cambyses panted.
Understanding the y might have been a bit too rough, Alexander decided to slow the tempo down, now ying with her snowy breasts gently, carefully massaging them inside his hands and treating them with loving care.
Then he started going down, trailing his tongue down her chest into her midriff, marking her with his scent until he encountered her cute navel.
"Hehehe, it tickles," Cambyses giggled as Alexander started smooching and licking and sucking her little belly button.
Then, atst, done with the appetizer, Alexander decided to move on to the main course.
"Ah," Cambyses let out a yelp, as he deftly stripped her, throwing her peplos with a suspicious wet crouch onto the ground and, atst, making her appear in her birthday suit.
And what a birthday suit it was.
wless olive skin with a healthy reddish hue, exquisite lovely breasts, a willowy waist, and wide hips.
But her most attractive feature was her thighs, creamy, soft, and thick, and the forbidden garden that was nested in between them.
Alexander gazed lovingly at the innocent fawn, once again smitten by how beautiful a piece of art she was as his eyes naturally went gravitated towards her secret ravine.
Feeling Alexander''s burning gaze, Cambyses made a shy retort, "Why am I the only one naked,? It''s not fair." as she tried to cross her legs to hide her crotch.
"Hehe," Alexander chuckled, and feeling a bit ufortable with his male organ straining itself against his pants, decided to take them off,ying his magnificent specimen bear for Cambyses to witness.
"That..that''s.. so..big!" Cambyses gasped in apprehension. She had seen Alexander''s penis lots of times before, but it had been alwaysid.
This was the first time she was seeing it fully hard and although she knew the phallus grew in size when men were sexually excited, this was the first time she understood just how much.
"Will it hurt?" She asked like a scared little rabbit.
She had expected that cute little thing hanging off Alexander to prate her, not the bulbous engrossed beast currently staring at her.
''How will that big thing ever fit inside my tiny hole? It''s going to tear me apart,'' Cambyses thought in fear.
"Oh, Cam, I would never hurt you." Hearing the frightened fawn''s voice, Alexanderforted her, stroking her back and kissing the girl strongly to calm her nerves.
"Umm, be gentle okay," Cambyses moaned.
She knew that the first time hurt but she also knew it was a ritual every girl had to go through to be a woman.
Then finally, Alexander felt it was time to feast his eyes on the grand prize.
He gently but strongly parted her legs, letting the cool air atst kiss her beautiful tiny, wet cut slit as it glistened in the mellow candlelight.
"You are just divine, Cam," Alexander whispered enchanted, as he beheld the magnificent pink garden.
Chapter 73 Teasing Cambyses (R18)
Cambyses''s garden seemed to have been sculpted by the gods.
Its wless pink petals were tightly shut, making it appear like a single line running through her, like a crack in an otherwise wless jade, with short, wispy raven hairs adorning it.
Clear love liquid was ceaselessly flowing out of the entrance and flooding her groin, a testament to just how much she was enjoying herself.
Cambyses shyly covered her eyes as Alexander stared at her wet entrance.
Even though Mean had done simr things to her, somehow Alexander doing it here and now made her bashful.
But she did not close her legs.
Instead, she even spread her legs even more, almost into an M shape to allow Alexander better ess.
"Who cut you down here? Mean?" Alexander joked as he lightly pulled on the sparse hairs guarding her entrance.
Recently, every time Alexander had seen Cambyses naked before she had a thick, ck bush underneath.
After all, being a traveling mercenary left little time or personal space a girl needed to properly groom herself.
"You scoundrel, you rogue," Cambyses shouted angrily at Alexander''s crude joke.
She had gone through all the trouble to prepare herself for her special night only to beughed at.
"Haha. don''t get angry. I like it. In fact, always keep it short." Alexander chuckled as he yfully twisted and pulled the short hairs.
He genuinely preferred short hairs down there because it made licking easier.
"Ahhhhh," Cambyses gave a short moan at the slightly painful y.
Then feeling her pussy itching, said in a frustrated tone, "Just put it in."
But Alexander was not done ying. In fact, he was just getting started.
So, he bought his face closer to her flower garden and took in a good, audible whiff.
"*Snifff*", he loudly breathed in and the ce smelled as good as it looked- strong, sweet, hot, and musky.
As Alexander was relishing in the healthy odor that hit him, Cambyses felt the hot, heavy air along her entire crack and let out an embarrassed cry, "Kyahh, no, what are you doing? You pervert!"
Cambyses had assumed Alexander would now prate her, and so was surprised to see him smelling her garden, something most girls would feel embarrassed about.
Not even Mean had done that.
"You smell wonderful, Cam. Like flowers, *sniff*." Ignoring her protests, Alexander again loudly smelled her, now touching his nose to the entrance and taking in the much stronger smell.
A part of him was doing it to punish the girl for some of the things she did during the day.
"Kyah, no, stop pervert!" Seeing Alexander ignore her protest and being so close to her private ce, the shy girl again screamed and bought her meaty legs close together to try and stop Alexander, sandwiching him between her thick thighs.
But this became a reward and not a punishment.
Alexander felt his face sides being enveloped by two fleshy, creamy, soft jellies and could not be happier.
He had always loved staring at those fleshy muscles of goodness and now being smothered by them felt like pure bliss.
He wrapped his hands around the thighs, locking them in ce, and said, "Rx, if you are not wet enough, it will hurt. We need you to get wet enough to drench your asshole."
"My..my..butthole?" Cambyses shyly repeated as her struggles died down a bit.
Alexander then decided that just smelling the outer portion was not enough.
He parted the closed petals with his nose, exposing the red organ, and plunged it directly into her hot hole, moving it up and down inside her, taking in the much stronger smell.
"Ahh, no, it tickles," Cambyses weakly used her hands to try and push Alexander away.
But Alexander was like an addict, stubbornly smelling the much more concentrated heavenly scent.
To him, it smelled like true love.
Then he decided it was finally time to taste the garden and, *slurp*finally, gave the entrance a hot lick.
And it tasted just like he thought it would.
Sweet and sour with a bit of metallic taste to it and Alexander loved it.
He felt he could subsist on this as nourishment for the rest of his life.
"Cam, you taste so sweet," Alexandermented as he then started raining kisses on her hot pink petals.
"Ahhh, yes." A sensual moan escaped Cambyses.
Although Mean had done simr things to her, somehow it felt many times better when Alexander did it.
So now, instead of using her hands to try and push Alexander away, the girl used them to push Alexander''s head into her hot entrance, pinning him in.
"Yes, ahhh, do it more ve. Ahh, pleasure your mistress even more," She moaned the order, pressing his head against her garden.
Cambyses loved getting eaten out and seeing Alexander in such a submissive position thrilled her.
"As youmand mistress," Alexander voiced out between his licks and kisses, making her hole vibrate from the air pressure.
Her hole was hot, moist, and sensitive, and its flesh kissed him every time Alexander''s tongue went inside it.
He started with long, slow licks then started rapidly thrusting in and out, at the same time kissing her peachy flesh outside
"Mistress, your pleats are red, swollen, and wet. They taste so sweet," Alexander said, while strongly kissing and sucking around her hole.
"Ohhhhh," Cambyses just pulled Alexander''s hair in response, seemingly too overwhelmed by pleasure to speak.
Alexander thus kept on going, making loud *slurp*, *slurp* noises.
He not only kissed the hole and its surrounding area, but he also moved onto Cambyses''s tiny urethra.
"How''s this mistress?" He asked cheekily as he poked the little urine hole with his tongue.
It tasted faintly of ammonia but Alexander did not mind.
"Ohhhh, no, not there," Cambyses screamed in pleasure.
No one had touched her there, not even Mean and the peculiar feeling felt too much.
"As youmand mistress," Alexander made a sly smile, and then instead of removing his tongue, he doubled down.
He gave the ce a stronger poke, but now his nose nuzzled against her hooded bead.
"Ahhhh, disobedient ve, stop" Cambyses squealed again at the overwhelming pleasure.
But Alexander had no intention of listening to his mistress and kept on doing it, even more, poking, kissing, licking, and sucking it, while also stimting her sensitive red bean.
"Ahhhh, unruly ve, ohhh rebellious ve," Cambyses knew this was Alexander''s way of punishing her and she loved it.
Soon she felt a tingling sensation down there and moaned, "Yes, mnmning,ing."
Her toes curled up in anticipation of the massive orgasm, but then suddenly,... suddenly the sensation disappeared.
"What,..why, why did you stop?" Cambyses asked in confusion, almost tearing up as she looked pleadingly at Alexander.
She was so close to release, and the itch felt unbearable.
"Hehe, mistress, let this ve pleasure you even more," Alexander darkly repeated themand Cambyses had given him.
She certainly did not miss the hidden undertone and it sent a little chill down her spine.
Maybe she had teased him a bit too much.
So, she tried to quickly back down and stammered, "No, there''s no need for that."
"Hehe," Was Alexander''s only reply.
He was not going to let off Cambyses that easily.
To shut the girl up, he decided to up the pleasure even more and directly bit on her hooded bean.
".....", Cambyses bent her head backward and opened her mouth as wide as possible as a silent scream escaped her.
The air in her lungs seemed to have been knocked out and she felt dizzy from the intense sensation.
But Alexander did not care about this.
Like a good ve, he pressed forward to provide even more pleasure to his mistress, just as she asked.
He bought his fingers closer and used them to part the hood covering her most precious pearl and finally reveal it to the world.
It was magnificent- red, moist, swollen, and almost pulsating.
"Ah," Cambyses gave a little yelp as the cool air for the first time hit her ultra-sensitive bean.
Here Alexander decided to ominously say, "Mistress, let this ve pleasure you even more," and directly bit down on her sensitive protrusion.
"Ekkkkkkkk," A bellow like never before left Cambyses throat as her legs shot up in the air and her fingers clutched the sheets in desperation.
The pleasure was too much and Cambyses felt she was floating as the insides of her head went pure white.
She had thought that maybe because of her prior experience with Mean, she could somehow bully the virgin Alexander.
But now, came to the brutal conclusion that she would notst much longer if Alexander continued to tease her.
Thus she decided to do what any wise person would do and surrender.
"I¡ am¡ sorry," She spoke out in broken english.
But Alexander feigned ignorance, "What''s mistress say? Is the ve not pleasuring mistress enough?"
Cambyses, even in her delirious state, picked up the constant use of the words, "ve" and "mistress" and screamed in almost desperation, "I am sorry for calling you a ve. I am the ve and you are my master. I learned my lesson, so please no more."
"Oh, Cam, you''re making it sound like I am hurting you! Here let me lick you a bit more. " Alexander snickered
"Nooo, no more. Please, It feels weird, it feels too good," Cambyses frantically shook her head and implored.
"Then have you learned your lesson?" Alexander seriously asked, though it looked quiteical with his head between her legs.
"Yes, yes, I will be a good girl." Cambyses eagerly nodded, desperate for the teasing to end.
"Good, here''s your reward then," Alexander wolfishly grinned and resumed the attack.
She was not getting off that easily!
Chapter 74 Cambyses Becomes A Woman (R18)
Alexander was not only Cambyses''s lover, but he was also her friend,panion, and most importantly her teacher.
And as her mentor, Alexander did use to punish her whenever she did a grave mistake or something he did not approve of.
And after numerous punishments, Cambyses learned something.
,m She learned that whenever she did do something bad, if she sincerely apologized and promised not to repeat it in the future, usually Alexander would forgive her.
So, it was baffling to her why the same technique had not worked this time and she howled in almost anguish, "No,... why? Stop."
Alexander had again nibbled at her sensitive bud.
Then fearing the girl will lose consciousness and not be able to feel her punishment, he decided to slow down and moved to teasing her hot hole and drinking her sweet nectar.
He used his fingers expertly to stimte her pink garden and it soon became soaking wet to the point it even muddied her puckered hole below.
Alexander felt he could even take her backside without any lube.
"Ah, it itches, do it more," She was again very close toing and so pushed her waist towards Alexander, almost begging him to make here.
But just then Alexander slowed down the tempo, again denying her release.
"Noooo, hey do it more,e on, stronger, ahhh," She almost had tears in her eyes as she tried moving her waist on her own to grind against Alexander''s face.
Alexander then resumed anew, repeating the process and denying her orgasm at thest moment again.
"Ohh, mmmm¡nooo, why? I apologized didn''t I?" The girl cried at Alexander''s cruel game, drooling out of her mouth and eyes clouded by lust.
Looking at the lewd and debauched face, Alexander wondered how much she could actually think except for sex.
He then asked her, "Why are you apologizing? Say it!"
"I, I should not have called you a ve, I am sorry," She begged.
"Good," Alexander gave her bean a flick as a sign of approval.
"Ahn," a sensual moan echoed.
"And what more?" Alexander abruptly stopped the stimtion.
"What?" Cambyses looked confused as she could not think of any other thing to apologize for.
So Alexander reminded her by pressing on her pee hole with his index finger, "Why did you speak so rudely to me in front of everyone at the arena?"
Cambyses knew there was really no point defending herself.
So she directly yielded, "Ekkk, I let my excitement get to my head, I am sorry."
"Um, good." He kissed her urethra in exchange, sending shivers tingling down her spine.
Then with his middle finger scratching her inside walls, he asked, "And what more?"
"Mnnn, I don''t know. Please tell me." The clever girl understanding the rules of the games quickly replied with no resistance.
"When I asked you to stay outside themand tent yesterday, why didn''t you?" He pressed.
"I am sorry I didn''t," The girl hastily epted her mistake.
"Good," He put another finger inside her, doubling the pleasure.
Alexander was having quite a bit of fun with this little y and so decided to see how much he could push her.
"Now, from on you will call me master," Hemanded.
Normally a strong girl Cambyses would never address him like that. but the girl was too lust driven to clearly think.
So, she almost instinctively replied, "Yes, master."
Alexander was very thrilled by hearing this.
Hearing his previous owner now call him master, filled him with a weird sense of pride and achievement and so he decided it was finally time to end the game and reward the girl.
"Good," Alexander slowly smiled, now cing his hands on both her two cheery buds adorning her milk jugs.
"Now,e my hot little minx,e." He then strongly twisted her nipples and firmly bit on her red pearl simultaneously, sending the girl to heaven.
"Kyaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Cambyses''s spine lifted itself in an arch and her voice turned hoarse as she screamed her throat out, a hot torrent of clear fluid gushing out from the hole and spraying Alexander.
''A squirter! Mmmm, gotta love those,'' Alexander thought as he licked the delicious fluid off his lips and looked at her disheveled girl.
Finally being offered her release, Cambyses seemed to be on cloud nine, her mouth open and drooling her eyes were unfocused, and she was taking heavy panting breaths.
"I¡I..sorry¡peeing," The girl absentmindedly apologized in iplete sentences.
Having been denied her orgasm so many times, she, atst, came so hard that she squirted for the first time in her life and thought she had peed herself.
"Hehe," Alexander chuckled at the amusing misunderstanding.
He then got up from his prone position and sat on his knees, positioning hisrge, thick organ straight at the mouth of Cambyses''s hot hole,
He intended to take her suddenly while she was still ''flying'' to minimize the pain.
Then, taking onest look at the dazed eighteen-year-old virgin, he rammed half of his thick meat shaft in one go, ripping the thin membrane in one powerful thrust.
"Urggghh," He made a low grunt as intense pleasure assaulted him and a thin trickle of red dyed his organ.
Proof that Cambyses had be a woman.
"O," A painful, screeching howl also instantly echoed across the tent as Cambyses was brought back from heaven to what she felt like hell.
She felt like her lower body was being torn apart and looked at Alexander with using eyes as tears welled up underneath them.
Forget moving, the hurt was so intense that even just breathing sent paralyzing pain coursing through her body.
"Congrattions, on bing my woman, Cam," Alexander clenched the words out of his teeth.
Alexander was also not in a good position, though for different reasons.
Cambyses''s canal was first ss, hot, wet, and tight as hell, and his hips wanted nothing more than to furiously pound the hole with his long spear.
After all, Cambyses had gotten two amazing orgasms, while his little brother got nothing.
But his brains told him to hold off.
The look Cambyses sent him made his heart ache as he had never seen the strong girl cry from physical pain and could only guess how much it hurt her.
So, he could only stand still as a statue, gritting his teeth, as Cambyses''s hot fleshy wall kissed and danced around his little brother, teasing him to move.
The urge toe inside was overwhelming for Alexander.
"You, bastard, what did you eat growing up? Horses? Ouuuu" Cambyses was in no mood for congrattions as she cursed in pained gasps.
"Cam, just breathe, the pain will end soon," Alexander advised the inexperienced girl.
And so she did what Alexander told her and took inrge breaths, though even moving her lungs hurt.
Cambyses recalled Gelene telling her that first times always hurt but she was not expecting anything like this.
She considered herself a strong girl, at least physically, and was no stranger to cuts, brushes, and even the asional sprains.
Also, she and Mean regrly fingered and scissored each other and thus she had brushed off her experienced ve''s advice as Gelene being a weak and soft woman.
But the pain now was like nothing she had ever felt before.
It felt like being repeatedly stabbed with a hot knife down there.
And from the looks of it, Alexander had not even put half of it in.
"Rx, and your hole will naturally expand. Just stop squeezing me tightly." Alexander almost pleaded.
The pleasure was really bing too much for him and he just wanted to madly ravage her hot hole.
"I told you it would not fit. Why''s it so thick? Ouuuu." Cambyses whimpered in pain.
The length was not a problem for her, but it was really girthy and felt like it was cutting her in half.
Alexander did feel a bit guilty about the pain he was causing but in his defense, he had tried his level best to prepare her.
But the fact was his organ was really well endowed, much better than the one from his previous life and any normal girl would have trouble taking the beast, much less an inexperienced eighteen-year-old.
There simply was no way to avoid the pain.
He could not even move over to kiss Cambyses because the movement would hurt her and also because he feared if he started moving, he would not be able to stop.
So he could only clench his buttcheeks and wait for the girl''s canal to adjust itself.
And soon he could feel the pressure off his ns decreasing a bit.
It looked like the walls were diluting a bit.
"Yes, that''s it, Cam, you are loosening. Just breathe and rx." Alexander encouraged, eager to soon taste the magnificent canal.
"Ah, don''t move. I should have starved you, lousy ve." Cambyses again cursed as she tried to distract herself from the searing pain.
Alexander''s mouth twitched a little with him being called a ve once more.
It appeared the punishment had not been strong enough.
"Cam, I going to go all in at once. Okay!" Alexander decided that if the girl had enough strength to be cheeky, she had the strength to bear the pain.
"No, no, wait, I am so¡..ow," Another pained mixed with pleasure howl graced the tent.
Chapter 75 Magical Night (R18)
Alexander finally felt like he was in heaven as atst he was buried fully balls deep inside her.
Finally, that extremely ufortable feeling of having half his organ outside and cold and half of it being hot and being pleasured inside was gone.
Finally, he did not have to fight his hips instinct to ram it in, cause he had done it.
And like he had guessed, Cambyses''s inside was every bit as delightful as he had guessed.
The canal was wet and hot and like an inverted cone, got narrower and narrower as he went inside, her moist walls tightly mping his thick shaft.
"God, you are so tight, Cam." Alexander painfully panted as her narrow walls squeezed his meat shaft so hard that he felt it might snap off.
Any kind of smooth movement was impossible.
"Ouuuu," Cambyses also groaned, arching her head backward and trying to squirm her body away.
But Alexander did not let his prey escape, firmly holding her by her hips.
"Endure it, Cam. It''s something every woman needs to go through," Heforted, hoping the walls would dte soon.
But it did not.
"Ow, bastard. Are you trying to kill me? Aghhh," Cambyses was just getting used to the precious size, when the entire shaft suddenly entered her, filling her to the brim and bringing back the pain.
"Your holes will widen slowly, just rx and let your hubby please you." Alexander was also in pain and so almost in a desperate move, started to tease Cambyses''s pink buds.
She was particrly sensitive there and the pleasure of her nubile buds being squizzed, pinched and flicked slowly made the pain less.
"Ahnnn," Soon a pleased moan escaped Cambyses''s mouth and Alexander could feel the pressure lessen.
"Yes, that''s it, now tease your pearl down here yourself, Cam," Alexander encouraged and took her empty hand and ced it on her swollen nub.
Cambyses then started pleasuring herself, vigorously rubbing her love button, pinching, rubbing, and rolling it around and the results were soon apparent.
Atst, the walls stopped biting Alexander''s little brother and started pleasuring him, squeezing and cascading around his shaft with loving care.
At this point, Cambyses suddenly remembered that it had been only Alexander pleasuring her.
She had done nothing for him and this selfish act made her feel a bit guilty.
So, even though she was still feeling sore, she coyly said, "Move and make me a woman. Make me your woman."
And Alexander needed no more than that.
He started with slow, deep thrusts, scraping his hard rod against Cambyses''s bumpy wall as pulled out to the edge and then slowly prying open her walls as he inserted himself back inside her.
"Ohh Cam, your insides are hot and tight. It''s squeezing me all the right ces," Alexander huffed.
The way her walls stimted his exposed ns was particrly enjoyable to him.
"Yes, do it more," Cambyses was also finally feeling some pleasure with the way Alexander''s tip was pushing against her walls.
Alexander hence gently sped up, feeling the exquisite taste of her walls pressing against him harder the more he went inside went him.
Her walls were warm, moist, and bumpy and they attacked him at all the right spots from the ns to the root.
Few would believe that this was the inexperienced pussy of a recent virgin girl.
"Yes, open my pussy more, make it yours," Cambyses sang. She really loved the tingling sensation of Alexander pushing her walls open with his hot rod and it made her toes curl up.
"*k*, *k*," As Alexander''s thrusting increased, his hips started strongly colliding with Cambyses''s wet crotch, and making an obscene noise.
This lewd sound made Cambyses flush.
"Don''t make those noise. It''s embarrassing," she said with a red face.
"Hehe, it''s the music god has given lovers to listen to during their intimate acts. How can we not hear it? Alexander personally loved this sound because it further reinforced the fact that this was real, all this was real and he was really doing such things with his most beloved person in the world.
So instead of lowering the sound, he increased it by deliberately swinging hisrge ball sack into Cambyses''s wet pleats.
And soon his family jewels were bathed in the sweet, sticky love juices.
"Ahh, Alex you rogue, you turn me on so much. Harder," Cambyses was also feeling it listening to the debauched sounds.
*k*, *k*, as the shameful music yed in the background, soon Alexander felt close to release.
"Cam, I''m going toe." He warned.
Just as he spoke those words, Cambyses''s leg magically appeared behind him and locked him in ce.
He could not pull out!
"Inside. Come inside," Cambyses begged with a lewd face. It appeared she was desperate to bear Alexander''s child.
But Alexander was reluctant to have a baby in such troubled times and in such uncertain situations.
So, he tried to back out, "Cam, now is not the time. I promise I will get you pregnant as soon as possible. But after we escape."
But Cambyses did not budge and cooed, "It''s okay. I had my bleeding about a week ago and today''s my safe day. I calcted it like you taught me."
Alexander taught Cambyses how to keep track of her periods and calcte her safe and fertile days, something he learned in sex-ed.
Hearing this good news, Alexander did not argue.
He switched from his slow deep thrusts to fast shallow prations, grinding his sensitive ns against the rough walls and he was soon approaching salvation.
"Yes, ohh, I aming too. Let''se together," Cambyses too was near the edge as she strummed her swollen nub like a guitar string.
"Cam, here Ie. Take it all, *ugghh*," With a grunt and onest mighty thrust, Alexander smashed against Cambyses''s cervix and released his huge load inside her baby room.
"Coming,ing, ahhhh, you areing inside my womb," Cambyses had another mind-shattering orgasm.
She could clearly feel Alexander''s stiff rod pulsating and spewing out his love essence, the hot white magma hitting her walls and painting her insides white, marking her as his.
Yes, she was his, Alexander''s, and this thought suddenly sent a shiver down her spine and all of a sudden she felt an uncontroble urge to pee.
"Ekkkk, *Ssh*", Cambyses had a second consecutive orgasm, and this time she squirted again.
''Ah, I peed myself again,'' She almost sobbed, mortified at how she seemed to be wetting her bed at such an age.
In the meantime, Alexander had not simply pulled out the hole which was leaking thick, jellylike white liquid.
Coming just once was simply not enough, and he intended to start round two.
This time heid behind Cambyses, in a spooning position, and hugged her, making her rest her head on his right arm.
Cambyses, too snuggled towards him, thinking the night was over.
She was more than satisfied with tonight, with it being even more magical than in her wildest imagination and the exhausted girl was ready to hit the bed.
But then suddenly she felt the hard thing poking her.
''Why is it still hard'' Cambyses thought in confusion.
Gelene had told her that, unlike women, after orgasms, men turned soft and needed some time to again continue.
So, why was Alexander not turning soft?
Unless he..!
It was then she felt Alexander''s strong, sturdy left arm lift her left leg to give him better ess, and a thick, musky growl whispered into her ears, "Mistress, let this ve pleasure you even more."
"Noooo, Alex, no, hubby, no, master, please this ve¡ohhhhhh" Cambyses howled in ecstasy and never got to finish her sentence, not that it would have mattered.
Alexander had no intention to listen to anything the girl had to say, only her sensual roars.
Hemenced the coption with no slow thrusts, but with solid, rock-hard pounding, almost as if wanting to destroy the delicate hole, showing absolutely no mercy to the poor girl.
He had been gentle enough, pleasuring her excessively and slowly guiding the girl through her difficult first time.
But now, it was time for him to enjoy himself.
It was time for her to please him- with this finest pussy.
And what a pleasurable organ she possessed!
As Alexander rapidly gouged her insides out, Cambyses reacted by mping down on him even more, tightening around his shaft and trying to keep him inside forever.
Clearly, despite what her upper mouth said, her lower was much more honest and she was enjoying the rough pounding to the maximum.
And what was her upper mouth doing?
"Ahhhh, Ekkkk, Ohhhhh, Yessss," Cambyses seemed to have lost herself to pleasure and was now alternating between different pitched moans, from high squealing ones to low grunts.
Alexander looked at the drooling, disheveled, debauched face and she looked absolutely stunning to him.
He felt as if he had fallen in love with her all over again and Alexander bought her face towards him as he gave her a strong, almost feral kiss.
"*Mwah*, you are mine and mine alone. For now and forever." He fiercely dered.
Chapter 76 Voting Begins
Alexander''s sweet sleep was interrupted by a sharp cry that kept repeatedly calling out his name from outside the tent.
"Alexander, it''s almost time for the voting. Wake up! Quickly!" The familiar raspy voice of Camius kept on urging.
This rooster cry in human form forced Alexander to get up from his sleep and with great reluctance, he opened his sleepy, weary eyes.
"Yea, I am up. Let me freshen up a bit," Alexander groggily replied.
It was then a few stray strands of long chestnut hair got inside his mouth and his nose twitched at the sweet, feminine scent of his lover, Cambyses.
The girl slept naked, her back snuggled into him, transmitting her warmth and fragrance directly to his skin and exposing her long, fair nape to her lover.
The soft, once fair, olive skin was now encrusted with red hickeys all over, and Alexander thought it looked ravishing,
"*Mwah*," He could not resist leaving another fresh one, greedily sucking her sweet and salty skin.
"Ah," Cambyses gave an unconscious moan.
Alexander''s little brother had also woken up by now and a soft, wet, and velvety feeling started to throughout his lower body.
He then recalled the activities ofst night and how he had to stop just after round two as Cambyses became unresponsive and seemed to be almost on the verge of losing consciousness.
So, then he only reluctantly could stick his hot rod inside her warm, moist cave and cuddled and spooned together to sleep.
But as his newly awoken little brother was saying to him,st night had been enough, not even close to being enough and he wanted nothing more than to start round three.
But with great unwillingness, he decided against ruthlessly pounding the hot hole to oblivion and he pulled his spear out.
"*Plop*, *plop*,rge dollops of milky goodness mixed with Cambyses''s love juices soon started flowing out of the uncorked hole and further stained the sheets.
"Mmmmm," Cambyses again moaned at the tingling sensation, as in her sleep she felt the hot baby batter inside her escape and her widened entrance slowly closed by itself.
Alexander sat up on his bed and took onest look at Cambyes''s fat, creamy, white ass and the pink, wet snatch snuggled in between the fat globules, tantalizingly inviting him inside and
with onest spurt of immense willpower, turned his head around and got up from the bed.
As much as he would have liked to tell Camius to go away and then sleep with his lover, foregoing the opportunity to be the leader of the group, he knew there was no room in his world for such whimsy.
''Hah, it''s always work,'' Hempooned in his heart with a sigh.
He then snuggly tucked the sleeping girl in with the nket, making sure nothing was showing, and with onest kiss on her forehead, decided to get ready.
He quickly picked up his pants from the floor and put them on, washed his face with a basin of water,bed his hair, and brushed his teeth using ash and a twig.
"Hurry up! You can sleep with Cambyses all you wantter." Camius crudely joked from outside the tent.
''That bastard,'' Alexander cussed while subconsciously also looking back at the closed tent ps to see if the loudmouth could see anything inside.
Alexander was relieved to find out he could not.
"I''m done. Just one minute!" He yelled with an unmistakable hint of angerced in it.
Alexander then quickly put on his full set of armor, something he always did out of habit and precaution, fastened his scabbard to his hips, and stepped out of his tent.
The sky was still dark and the air chilly as Alexander took in the cool air and felt his drowsiness wash away.
Camius the motor mouth had a big grin stered on his face as he greeted Alexander and digging his elbows towards Alexander''s ribs, asked, "So, how was it? Hehehe."
Alexander chose topletely ignore the idiot.
He instead decided to address one of the mercenaries guarding his tent, "Hemicas, go to Cambyses''s tent and get Mean. Also, tell her to make sure Cambyses does not walk today."
"Hahahaha," This bought rambunctiousughter from Camius as he then repeatedly patted Alexander''s shoulder in celebration, "Brother, only you could have tamed that tigress. Congrats!Congrats!"
"Let''s go." Alexander only cidly replied, him being used to Camius''s antics by now.
Hemicas also went on his way after giving his leader a slight nod.
It had to be said the two mercenaries had a tough night yesterday, forced to hear Cambyses''s lust-filled moans for hours, while unable to relieve themselves, their little brothers straining painfully against the leather pants.
On their way to the ''election venue'', Camius informed him in detail how they had prepared to win today.
For example, he told Alexander that yesterday Cambyses had given Remus and Bartholomew quite a bit of money to ''convince'' the swaying soldiers to vote for Alexander.
Those two had supposedly fed much exaggerated truths about Alexander, iming he had even prophesized the death of Agapios in advance, when in reality Alexander only deduced it muchter on from the information Nestoras had provided.
Camius also proudly said that with his help, Heliptos had managed to take the helm of Damious''s mercenaries, though his position seemed temporary at best.
Theocles had been working hard to bribe the Cantagenans to his side and Menes had managed to convince everyone from his group to vote for him.
Theprehensive report quite pleased Alexander as he felt much more confident about his chances of winning.
The duo fast approached the clearing where arge crowd had already gathered and the mor and din of arge number of people filled the air.
The crowd seemed to have precipitated in front of arge, decorated, high table, that had been ced there, for what to Alexander seemed like a makeshift podium.
The mercenary leaders and the candidates had all seemed to arrive and they appeared to be chatting freely among themselves.
"Sorry, I''mte." Alexander greeted his seniors.
"Brat, we were about to start without you!" The hot head Petricuno said waving his strong fist.
"Haha, no problem, no problem, we just got here." Melodias on the other hand eagerly greeted him.
"Hehe, it''s normal for youngsters to enjoy their youth. But don''t overdo it okay." From far back, the gruff-aged chuckle of Menicus rang out, the old man having a surprisingly perverted smile stuck on his face.
Alexander clearly understood that everyone knew why he waste and after throwing Camius a hateful look who was no doubt the prime perpetrator of the crime, he could only embarrassingly smile and nod.
"Haha, let''s not tease the boy. Come on let''s start." Heliptos from the side helped Alexander.
"Yes, yes, the soldiers are getting restless. So who''s first?" Melodias too enthusiastically urged for the voting to start.
The way this ''voting'' would be done would not be like soldiers casting their votes in a ballot and then picking the winner.
Instead, the process was for every candidate to get up on the makeshift podium, aka- table, and tell the soldiers how he would lead them and how he would get them out of this situation.
The louder the soldiers cheered for the candidate at the end of his speech, the better would be his evaluation, and the one who gets the loudest cheer would be chosen as the ''Representative Commander of the Army.''
"I will go," Replying to Melodias was the easily agitated Petricuno, who powered his strong body up onto the table andmenced his speech.
"Brothers of Thesos, I am Petricuno of Zantoria. Some of you may know me, some may not. But you should know I participated in the War of Flowers from its very beginning neen years ago." This produced a bit of hubbub among the mercenaries as those who survived the entire three years of that brutal war were seen as tough-as-nails people.
Exs had managed to cut the Cantagenan army down to less than twenty percent in that war and so anyone that survived that ughterhouse for that long was either supremelypetent or massively lucky.
Both good traits to have as amander.
Petricuno began again, "For three years we fought the Exolites. We fought them in the ''Battle of Shobug Rock'', on the banks of the Sypug and on the ins of Fijkyle. And even though we lost, we rose again, and again, we never broke and we never surrendered."
This was technically true, though it was not because Cantagena never wanted to surrender, but because Exs had rejected all of Cantagenan''s appeals for surrender.
Exs demandedplete unconditional surrender from the Cantagenans which thetter deemed uneptable.
Petricuno then finished his speech by saying, "I will admit that we are not in a good position. But I have been in worse situations and I have survived. I believe only under my leadership, only with my experience and wisdom can we ovee this challenge. So what do you say to me being yourmander?"
Petricuno asked thest sentence while raising his arms to the sky like an orchestral master directing an opera.
But despite his zealous delivery and theatrics, the cheers he received from people other than in his mercenary group were lukewarm at best.
It was time for the next candidate to make his case.
Chapter 77 Becoming Commander
"*p*, *p*", Melodias politely pped at Petricuno as the man made his way back to the group.
He walked with slumped shoulders and a drooping head, pretty disheartened at theck of support, because Petricuno truly believed he was the most qualified.
He did not buy Alexander''s little story and thought of the boy as being capable but ultimately just lucky.
"Well, then senior, please take the stage," After Petricuno''s turn, Melodias cordially gestured to Menicus, the eldest of the group to make his speech.
"Let the boy go and let''s get it over it quickly." Menicus roughly retorted.
This was because everyone could hear asional shouts like,
"Alexander, we want Alexander."
"We have already made up our minds."
"Son of Gaia."
''Either the soldiers really want me as theirmander or Cam really paid them well,'' Alexander''s mouth twitched at the slightly embarrassing situation.
There was something such as being too popr, where people put unreasonable expectations on somebody they idolized and then instantly turn on them if they failed to meet such expectations.
Alexander felt his problem might have changed from not being popr enough to be seen as a god who could do wrong.
There was also the possibility of the other leaders banding together in fear of Alexander''s poprity.
But whatever it was, there was little he could do to change that right now.
''Camius will be busy,'' Alexander ruefullympooned as he decided he would have to spread some malicious rumors about himself.
A strong p to his back woke Alexander from his thoughts as Melodias boisterouslyughed, "Haha, well go on brother. Looks like the soldiers are calling for you."
Thus Alexander slowly made his way to the top of the table, where the instant his face appeared, the crowd burst into a sky-shattering cheer and started enthusiastically discussing among themselves.
"That''s him, that''s him, ooh hoo,"
"He once bandaged me. The son of Gaia bandaged me himself."
"So young!"
"Of course, he is. How can the son of a god be old like us humans."
"Right, right, this proves he is blessed by Gaia. How else could he be here today?"
"Hehe, he might not be as young as he looks. I heard he drank from the fountain of youth."
"Ohhh, who did you hear it from? Hmmm, but it could be certainly true.
"Maybe he only disguised himself as such but in reality is hundreds of years old."
"Sage, Hasurite told me he''s a sage in disguise."
"Right, I heard he invented the smoked sausage."
"Mascus told me the sweet water is made from fruits made by his magic."
"As expected of the son of the goddess of providence. He has saved us from starvation."
"If not for his warning, we all would have died."
"Yes, Samaras did not listen to him and was eternally damned"
"Oh, father why did you not listen to the divine son?"
"We must follow him if we want to live."
"Yes, follow Alexander!"
"Alexander formander."
"Alexander, Alexander,"
"Commander Alexander, Commander Alexander,"
"Alexander, Commander Alexander,"
"Son of Gaia, son of Gaia,"
"Alexander, the divine son of Gaia,"
Even before Alexander could start his speech, the crowd spontaneously burst into a rave, chanting his name in unison.
There was no doubt about the candidate chosen by the soldiers.
The zealous revelry of the soldier''s shouting could be heard from even past the walls of Adhan, where some of the curious sentry guards atop their watchtower craned their necks to see what themotion was all about.
Alexander simply stood on the table, facing the joyous crowd with shaking clenched fists and a rapidly pounding heart that almost wanted to break out of his chest out of sheer excitement.
Looking at the throngs of excited mercenaries at hismand, he recalled an interesting fact from his previous life.
He remembered that Julius Caesar had stopped a mutiny by addressing the mutineers with a single word, ''civilians."
And Alexander felt he had matched and arguably trumped that today, by gaining control of an army without uttering a single word.
Alexander loved drawing parallels between himself and the most famous Roman ever to live.
Whenever things got too tough for Alexander, he used tofort himself by thinking that Julius Caesar too was once captured as a ve by pirates.
But he had managed to escape and then returned with an army to kill his captors.
Alexander regrly fueled himself by thinking, if an ordinary boy like Caesar could do it, why couldn''t he, he who possessed knowledge these people could only dream of having.
But Alexander''s ambition was not to only parallel Caesar but to exceed him.
Where the roman senator failed to be emperor, Alexander fully intended to seed.
And today and now was his second real step.
Because today, he had finally done it.
After ten long years of struggle, he had finally gained some control over his life as he could use the ten thousand-strong army to guarantee his safety.
Being able to taste the sharine taste of sess after so many years of brutal hardship made Alexander so emotional that he felt like choking up and his nails dug so deep into the palms of his hands that they started bleeding.
But Alexander did not feel any pain, only pure unadulterated pleasure.
After allowing some time for the perfervid atmosphere to quench the soldiers, Alexander used both his hands to gesture to the mercenaries to calm down and said,
"Brothers thank you for choosing me as your newmander. I swear to use my actions and not my words to convince you that you have indeed chosen correctly."
This produced a second round of vociferous shouts.
"Well, I guess it saves us the time," Melodias ruefully smiled.
He would be lying if he did not feel a little acidic in his heart that a ve freed just one day ago was so much more popr than them.
But the soldiers had chosen theirmander and he had to ept it.
Alexander slowly got off the table and approached the group of mercenary leaders with steady footsteps and when near slightly bowed, "I pray seniors can provide me their help and support in these troubled times. And please feel free to offer me any advice you may have at any time.
I am not without errors and I hope to receive your guidance."
This humble and very down-to-earth attitude extremely pleased the leaders and they felt their small dissatisfaction melt away.
They had expected Alexander to be domineering and bossy like Damious given his poprity, but this soft approach somewhat cated them.
''This nose milk-dripping pup might not be totally ipetent. Do those rumors actually hold some water?'' Petricuno ruminated.
It had to be said that the reason some were happy was not because of Alexander''s modesty, but because they took his gentle manners as a sign of weakness, a weakness they believed they could exploit for their gains.
After all, how hard could it be to deal with an eighteen-year-old boy?
A boy who was a ve until yesterday and whose hair down there had not probably grown properly.
"You do what you have done until now. You don''t need an old bone like me telling you what to do," Menicusmented.
"Haha, right, right. You are blessed by the gods. You don''t need us. Just say and it will be done." Melodias chimed in.
''Is this a test? Are they trying to test my narcissism,'' Alexander inwardly frowned and he felt a weird kind of deja-vu of facing Aristotle and a much morepetent Nestoras.
''I have decided that I really dislike old men,'' He atstmpooned.
He then responded, "No, no, please, I am no god''s son. Esteemed leaders will all know that I made it very clear I am no divine being."
Here he then admitted, "I did spread the rumor about it though because after three consecutive natural disasters hitting us so quickly, I feared without this im, without this mental support most soldiers would simply surrender or run away. So, please do not take that im seriously."
Even though it was an open secret among the higher-ups, this frank reveal managed to garner quite a bit of goodwill for Alexander.
His warm attitude also won the hearts of many, particrly Menicus and Melodias who inwardly decided to follow any reasonable given order without causing too much fuss.
At this point, Melodias reminded, "We have yet to formally recognize Alexander as our new Commander. The decision has to be unanimous, so does anyone disagree?"
Naturally, the answer was a resounding affirmation and so Melodias nodded happily, "Good, let''s go up to the podium and announce the result then."
So the five leaders- Alexander, Melodias, Menicus, Petricuno, and Heliptos all got up on the sturdy table and Melodias lifted Alexander''s right hand into the air and cheered, "Soldiers, here''s your newmander, Alexander."
"Alexander, Commander Alexander," They chanted for the third time.
It seemed that these soldiers were really into chanting.
And with this formality done, the soldiers were dismissed, and the leaders got off the table that had been turned into a makeshift podium,
"So, what''s our next move," The no-nonsense Petricuno directly asked Alexander even before his feet could touch the soil.
Chapter 78 Alexanders First Orders
Alexander felt the expectant gazes of the other leaders, particrly the four main ones pierce him, waiting to see how he would respond.
Luckily, he had his ns mapped out inside his head since yesterday.
But he did not want to reveal military strategy out here, in range of prying ears.
So he gestured, "Let''s go to mymand tent. Military matters should be discussed in secrecy."
And thus under Alexander''s lead, the four main leaders and the two new leaders of the left behind Alcmene and Regias mercenaries were escorted to the same tent Nestoras had once tried to kill Alexander.
The two new mercenary leaders were very weak and had very little prestige among the other five. In fact, they were so weak that they were not been even invited to the election as viable candidates.
These two men, understanding their position thus chose to cleverly shut up and just observe the conference unfold.
"So, to begin, let us take inventory." Alexander took charge.
"Inventory?" Petricuno asked confused. He was a military man who usually left the supply side of things to others.
"Yes, inventory. Do all of the leaders know the exact situation of their individual groups? That means how many soldiers they have, how many are wounded, how many ves they possess, how many pack animals they have, number of carts under them, amount of food and water with them, etc. I need those numbers to know how many soldiers we have, how many can fight, how many days we can march, and many more."
"Ummm¡." The eager Petricuno became a bit tongue-tied and even a little red with embarrassment. Here he was a veteran of the War of Flowers being talked to like a child by essentially a child.
"Yes, I know. I have under me two hundred and¡."
"That''s excellent, leader Melodias. I hope you can give me the details in writing. This will help me tally up everything with the other groups." Alexander cut him off.
Then he quickly grabbed some reed parchment and started writing, saying, "Here let me give it to you in writing so it''s easier to remember. These are the list of all the things I need to know."
And after some time, he handed the rough paper to Melodias and it was basically the same list as the list of things Alexander had asked Petricuno
During the entire time, the other leaders simply stood still, a little bit in awe at how fast the former ve could write.
Most of them doubted if they could write half as fast and even then their handwriting would not look anything neat like Alexander''s.
Alexander pretended not to notice the surprised gazes, but instead addressed, "Let me give each of the leaders a copy."
Once thisbor-intensive, tedious job was done Alexander set a deadline, "We should leave Adhania as soon as possible. So, please give an urate count by tomorrow morning."
"You can count on memander," Heliptos quickly said.
This voice snatched Alexander''s attention and recalled that this greedy man up until now had just spoken two times.
''Is he being shunned by the other mercenary leaders,'' Alexander wondered about the man he took in his faction.
Following Heliptos, the others too agreed.
Then Alexander bought up the issue of what to do about Adhania.
This was mostly symbolic as everyone had already decided on ''escape and no surrender.'' and the unanimous decision was once again officially said.
At this point, fearing the other mercenary leaders might me him for taking too much of the spotlight, Alexander asked for input from someone else, "Leader Menicus, as the eldest here what should we discuss next?"
This secretly pleased the veteran as anyone likes having their opinion heard and their words taken heed of.
But the experienced mercenary hid his pleasure and gruffly said, "Hmph, you brats have not even determined the route."
"Yes, that is a very big concern. Should we go back the route we came or should we look for another route? Melodias poignantly asked the men in the room.
"Do we have a map of the way we came?" Alexander hopefully asked.
But received a predictable shake of the head from all the men.
After all, maps were absurdly difficult and expensive to make and were considered national treasures of extreme strategic importance by the people of that area.
Alexander held no hope for any real map with any real details.
"So, how did we get here in the first ce?" He pressed.
"We were led by guides. Cantagena had bought them with their army." Heliptos offered the information.
"And are these guides alive?" Though Alexander doubted he would be so lucky.
"I don''t know," Heliptos replied, slightly embarrassed.
"Then find out," Alexander said in exasperation.
Then he showed his trust and also assess Heliptos''spetence by delegating this extremely crucial task to him, "I am giving you the job Heliptos. I''m counting on you."
"I will scour the Cantegenan camp man to man. If there''s any guide left alive, I swear by the gods I will bring him before themander by tomorrow." Heliptos understood only by disying his usefulness could he hope to gain the approval of the other leaders and have them support his im as Damious''s sessor.
"Good, I will await your good news," Alexander nodded.
Then continued, "But we must be prepared for the worst-case scenario that all the guides are either dead or have run away. Leader Petricuno, what''s your opinion then?"
This rash mercenary had not said a single word after his embarrassing failure some time ago and this was Alexander''s way of allowing him to smoothly enter the conversation again.
So he folded his arms onto his chest and said, "I think we should just south and ask the locals for directions."
"Will we even find any locals after we burnt their viges to the ground? And even if we did, what makes you believe anything they say is credible?" This was Menicus, mercilessly jabbing at Petricuno.
But the fiery mercenary was not to be outdone.
He shot back, "We can just take them with us."
"Haha, great idea. Let''s take in more mouths to feed when we are already short on food. And pretty soon we can have the whole of Adhania following us, begging us for food. What an idea!" Menicus''s barbed tongue took no prisoner.
"Even if we could take them, once they do lead us the wrong way, what them? Even if we killed them afterward, it would not change the fact we would be still lost." Heliptos pointed out.
The flushed mercenary had no reply.
Seeing the man being figuratively mercilessly beaten, Alexander attempted a rescue, "I actually quite like leader Petricuno''s idea. I believe with a little improvisation, it could work."
Alexander''s words carried a lot of weight around here and so instead of outright making fun of him, the four pair of eyes turned their gaze towards him.
"We will first transform some of your pack horses into scouting cavalry. These cavalries will disguise themselves as Adhanians or merchant escorts and ask the locals for directions. We can give each scout some coin or food to use to loosen the tongues of the vigers." Alexanderid out his n.
"Excellent, excellent." Alexander''s sycophant Heliptos was the first one to shout out, even shaking his arms animatedly to show his overwhelming support.
And for the first time, this act did not displease the other mercenary leaders.
They even somewhat approved of it, though maybe not quite to the extent Heliptos was making up to it.
"I will lead this scouting party myself," Petricuno aggressively appointed himself.
"You are a fighter, not a talker. Let the smooth talker Melodias do it." Menicus shot him down.
Alexander too was not in favor of having this ill-tempered mercenary lead the delicate task of information gathering.
He feared the quick-to-act armed mercenary might simply kill any civilians if he did not like their answer or attitude.
So he too politely said, "Leader Petricuno is a warrior among warriors. I am afraid most vigers might simply run away if they spot you approaching them. On the other hand, leader Melodias is much more ¡ummm..effeminate. So they will likely be much looser with their tongues with him."
Alexander could not think of a good way to describe Melodias as weak other than using the word ''effeminate.''
This was not a nice word to use to describe a man, much less a mercenary soldier and so immediately after speaking, Alexander secretly shot a look of apology to Melodias.
Melodias only returned a wry smile.
And Petricuno could only sulkily watch as ''his idea'' get used by Melodias
"I will send by men to try and gather as much information as possible as soon as possible," Melodias promised.
,m "Good, then I believe we have just onest thing to discuss before concluding the meeting, the Cantagenans."
This was the problem all the leaders had kicked down the road yesterday to decide ter.''
Well, today and now was that ter.''
Chapter 79 Carvers
How to handle the remaining Cantagenans was basically divided into twopeting camps.
"The Cantagenans are wounded, weak, andck discipline. I say we leave them. Let them fend for themselves," Petricuno strongly advocated just ditching them.
"We are already low on manpower, and you want to decrease our numbers even more?" Melodias objected, believing having more troops, regardless of their ability, was better than having fewer.
"These undisciplined peasants will only hold us back. You said it yourself, the path ahead will have tough battles. Can you expect these low-morale, leaderless troops to hold their ground when the going gets tough? What if they break formation and decide to run at the critical point? Do I need to remind you in the first battle if was them that broke ranks first?" Petricuno made some very fine points to strengthen his case.
Melodias did not expect such eloquence from the usually brash mercenary and even his smooth tongue found it hard to refute him.
Alexander too conceded that Petricuno made some very good points.
But his thoughts leaned more towards Melodias and was unwilling to just leave these men behind.
So tried to convince everyone in a roundabout way, "Leader Petricuno has made some very good points." Alexander seemed to agree.
Then heid out his own views, "But I tend to share leader Melodias''s view that leaving such good men is a waste. Even if they are unskilled and untrained as leader Petricuno ims they are, we can still use them as vanguards to absorb the first blow of the enemy, while we take all the gloryter on. We can even use them as hardborers and collies, have them carry our staff, cook, clean, and maintain the camp for us, and do other menial tasks. And if all that fails, let us sell all of them as ves to suitable customers. If we just leave them here that''s what they will be anyway, so why give them to Adhania for free?"
Alexander spoke thest two sentences with cold, detached emotions as if he wanted to only sell chicken or geese and not living human beings.
This nonchnt tone even surprised Alexander himself, who ruefullymented how the harshst ten years changed him.
He certainly was not so cold-blooded in his previous life.
But his inwardmentations were interrupted by a joyous cry of support, "Yes, I believe themander is right." Heliptos loyally parroted.
The others also seem to like thispromise, including Petricuno.
Then Alexander decided on a long-term move, "Ahem, as leader Petricuno has pointed out, these Cantagenans are really low-quality troops. So, if you do not have any objections I would like to train them to make them at least somewhat useful.
Everyone was happy to dump the extra work on Alexander and thus it was decided that these leftover Cantagenans would go to Alexander.
And Alexander was happy to take this extra load because he thought the Cantagenans would be useful.
This is because although Alexander was chosen as the leader, the troops directly under him were pitifully low and he hoped to shore up some of the deficiencies by having the Cantagenans under his wings.
He also had the motive of convincing some of the young Cantagenans to formally join his mercenary group to bring his group back to its full strength.
Done with deciding the usefulness of the Cantagenans, now all the leaders decided to turn their attention to the meat of the issue.
The real reason they wanted to discuss Cantagena.
"So, how do we deal with the things in the Cantagenan camp?" Surprisingly it was Menicus who could not hold his patience.
The phrase ''way to deal with the things in the Cantagenan camp,'' was everyone''s euphemistic way of saying, ''how are we gonna divide the treasures in the Cantagenan camp?''.
After all, the was not only the gold and silver that Cantagena had bought with it for everyday expenses but also the treasures it took when they sacked Acme and all the personal possessions such as pots and pans, clothes, boots, bags, etc. of all the dead soldiers.
Alexander had roughly estimated there were less than a thousand of the original twenty-five thousand Cantagenans left and so, he was eager to take secure this defenseless booty quickly.
"Leader Menicus, I have never encountered a situation like this. As the eldest among us do you have any advice?" Alexander cleverly threw the pot to the eager Menicus, trying to use his seniority against him.
Alexander was curious to know how much the individual leaders wanted, whether they wanted an even split or a split based on the number of soldiers they eachmanded, and he prudently decided to prod Menicus to feel the answer.
But the clever old man did not bite.
"I remember it was you saying to leave the problem about how to deal with the Cantagenans to the one selectedmander. I believe that is now you." Menicus said with a sly smile.
''Darn old fart,'' Alexander lightly cussed at the old man.
Then seeing no one else join in, not even the ''loyal'' Heliptos, Alexnader could only propose his n, "I believe the five of us here have sacrificed a lot and bear very heavy responsibilities. Such high-stress jobs should have adequatepensation to keep our spirits high. So, I propose dividing the loot evenly in five ways. What do you think?"
"Hmm, I have no problem. Is everyone else okay?" Melodias was the first to voice his consent.
"Yes. The Cantagenans are too few to protect this great treasure horde. It is our duty to guard it so Adhania can''t take it." Menicus shamelessly justified the theft.
"As expected to the wisemander," Heliptoos did not forget to oil Alexander a bit.
"Sure, let''s do it like that." Petricuno nodded.
The reason for such a quick, unanimous agreement was because usuallymanders, as the highest ranking member, took twice what others took.
So, Alexander''s offer was seen as very good by the others and even a bit generous.
It could even be argued that Alexander had suffered a little loss here, because he did not yet know many of the unwritten conventions of the mercenaries, such as how money was proportioned among various ranks.
The two new leaders of Alcmene and Regias mercenary groups unsurprisingly got nothing and though they were angry, they could only bear with it.
To attenuate this, Alexander decided to offer them a deal, "Brothers, both the Alcmene and Regias mercenaries have lost a lot of manpower and even their leaders in this war. A strong leader is needed to fill this position and we believe you two are the ones capable enough to do it. So, how much do you want it?"
What Alexander was offering was his support for the two''s mercenary leader position in exchange for them formally foregoing their stake in the Cantagenan booty division.
This offer made one of them''s eyes light up like a light bulb and he excitedly said, "I can use the funds left behind by Alcmene to secure my position if the other leaders help me."
This was him asking others toy their hands off the things in his group, especially his former leader''s stack.
"Haha, of course, of course. We would never think of putting our hands in another group''s coffers." Alexander loudly assured.
Seeing himself as allyless and alone, the other mercenary leader also joined in for the promise that he could get to keep his group''s treasures for himself.
"Then let us conclude today. I will send Theocles to help with the Cantagenans and best of luck in your day, gentlemen." Alexander then called for the meeting to end.
And thus the leaders after saying a few niceties left Alexander to himself.
And Alexander decided to call his captains to give them new instructions.
"Theocles, I want you to give me a full inventory of our supplies in writing by tonight. And more importantly, I want you to make sure we get our fair share from the Cantagenan loot," Alexander ordered.
"Yes, leader," Theocles promptly replied.
He was still a little peeved at not being able to aplish his earlier task of putting a puppet as the Cantagenan leader and was eager to redeem himself.
"Menes and Pallidus, we have been tasked with training the remaining Cantagenans. Gather our troops and have them participate in drills with them. I want them to be useful in three days." Alexanderid out a deadline.
"I will try my best," Menes grimaced at the short time while Pallidus wordlessly nodded.
Three days were nothing when it came to training untrained peasants.
Here Alexander decided to cut them some ck and instructed, "There''s no need to teach them anything overlyplex. Just things like marching in formation, obeying orders quickly and properly, maintaining basic disciple, knowing one''s left from right, things like that."
This bought a low sigh of relief to both the two men''s faces as this was hard but at least doable within the time limit.
"Now, I have some things to say to Camius in private. Please excuse us." Alexander gestured towards the tent ps.
And soon, the tent was emptied save for the two friends.
Chapter 80 Camiuss First Task
Once alone, Alexander gestured for Camius to take a seat.
By this point, the sun had well and truly risen into the sky and Alexander feeling peckish, decided to order some breakfast and invited Camius to join, "Let''s talk over breakfast. Have you eaten?"
"No, not yet. We did drink a bit to celebrate your win though. Congrattions doc." Camius revealed a huge smile.
He was still amazed by how easily he had won today.
Alexander on the other hand was thinking something quite different.
He wasmpooning in his mind, ''Drinking first thing in the morning, really guys?''
In this period, where water tended to spoil easily, basically any and all time was drinking time but Alexander still found it weird.
Outwardly though he hid all this and revealed a grin and simply replied, "Thanks."
Once the meals were bought in by the guards, Alexander started wolfing it down while also addressing Camius in a hushed tone, "Your first and foremost job will be to slowly form a secret informationwork within the various mercenary groups. I want to know what the grassroots soldiers say and think about the whole situation."
"Well, I have already made some good contacts. But I will need some gold to grease the wheels of some," Camius reported.
"You will get it, don''t worry. Also, spread some malicious rumors about me. I am too popr and that''s not a good thing." Alexander instructed.
"Don''t worry, who do think spread that rumor about you sleeping in because of ¡hehe..you know?" Camius proudly revealed with a sly smile.
"So, that was you, bastard!" Alexander joked with feigned anger.
Then, him being used to the loudmouth''s antics said with an exasperated voice, "*Sigh*, just keep the maliciousness in check, okay. Don''t spread stuff that''s too potent."
"Rest assured, I got loads of embarrassing but harmless stories about you," Camius seemed weirdly enthusiastic about bad-mouthing his boss.
The fact that Alexander did not need to exin to Camius why he needed to do such things went on to show the intelligence of the former street hustler.
Because despite his apparentidback attitude, Camius easily understood being too perfect was not good for any militarymander as it tended to alienate the soldiers from theirmander and ce unrealistic expectations on him.
"You do that. Just remember nothing about malicious about Cam or Mean," Alexander gave a warning
"Oh, darn, there goes half my stories, huh," Camius let out an animated, exaggerated sigh while shaking his head in regret.
Alexander did not even pay attention to this theatric as he then again spoke up, "There is one more thing I want you to do."
He then slowly moved his mouth to near Camius''s ear and in a low growl whispered, "I want you to give me an excuse to dispose of Pallidus!"
This produced wide-eyed Camius who seemed to be still digesting themand.
"*Guip*," drinking a ss of water, Camius asked, "What do you want me to do? Specifically, I mean."
Sensing Camius being a tad ufortable and unsure about what to do, Alexander borated, "You of all people should know how Pallidus has tormented me. And now that Damious and Aristotle are both dead, the craven worm thinks he can make up for everything just by sucking up to me? Huh, fat chance!"
"That ingrate will stab me in the back the first chance he gets. But I can''t deal with him too openly¡..."
"Because he still has the second phnx," Camius snatched the words from Alexander''s mouth.
Giving Camius an equable look, Alexander nodded after a little pause, "Yes."
"So, how do you want me to do it?" Camius asked for specifics.
"I will leave the details upto you. It can be anything like finding ropals in his room and charging him with being a spy or suspecting him of attempting a coup or branding him as a thief for stealing food from the army. Use your creativity, my man." Alexander waved his hand.
"Hmm, attempting a coup is too big an offense and might draw the attention of other mercenary groups. And stealing food would be difficult for him as ess to those are limited by Theocles and Cambyses, both our people." Camius prudently analyzed.
Then he reasoned, "But the thing with ropals might be doable."
Ropals were Adhania''s unique currency and Camius seemed to like that idea better than the other two.
Here Alexander added, "Remember we took a lot of ros when we burnt down Acme, so you have to make sure he can''t weasel out using that excuse."
"Forged letters maybe? Leaking military secrets to the enemy is a capital offense." Camius brainstormed.
"You decide. Remember it''s your job to present me with hard ''evidence'' that can get me to execute Pallidus. Think of it as me testing your skill. Pass and I will use you for lots of critical tasks in the future."
"Hmmm, by when?" Camius asked for a deadline.
"Preferably before we start the march. But at the verytest, before we escape Adhania. I don''t want him breathing in Cantagena." Alexander fiercely said
"Okay," Camius did a simple nod.
As this conversation was wrapped up and the two men finally started enjoying their meal, a herald quickly appeared outside his tent and announced he had urgent news.
And when the soldier was ushered in, he informed Alexander that a messenger from Adhania hade to meet him.
The arrival of an emissary was not totally out of Alexander''s expectations as he did expect Adhania to make calls for their surrender.
So, he directed, "Hmm, okay bring him in here."
He then added, "Make sure to check that he carries no weapon."
And, thus very soon a tall, tanned caucasian man was escorted into the tent, who strode in with an undisguised haughty facade on his face, as if he owned the very earth he walked on.
He gazed imperiously down at the young boy sitting on the chair and after the initial shock of seeing someone so young as the newmander, his look of disdain only increased, even giving birth to faint disgust.
The undisguised scorn in the messenger''s eyes made Alexander inwardly chuckle and he greeted the man with unrestrained mockery, "Hey, buddy, be careful. Your nose is so stuck up in the air, it might soon reach the moon,"
"You..you, what did you¡." The man was at first so stunned that he seemed not to know how to respond.
He had done many negotiations before and never once in his life had he been addressed so rudely.
In the past, he had been even threatened with imprisonment and death during negotiations, but he had never been so personally insulted, something the high-hanking Adhanian noble took as being thousand times worse than death.
He usually considered it beneath him to even talk to such plebs and wanted nothing more than to strangle the boy right here right now, but held off in that thought because he was here today not for himself, but under the king''s orders for the good of the nation.
His professional experience also told him that it might be a ploy by the opposition to rile him up and make him slip.
So, he decided to try and do the same, "Heh, why is a brat here? Come on, this is not a ce for kids. Why don''t you go y somewhere else and get your mama here. I hear she''s expecting me.''
But how could a sophisticated noble ever match the street smarts of someone like Alexander, who said in pretended surprise, "Ehhh? Mama? Mine?"
Then his mouth turned to a huge grin and sneered, "But why do you wanna meet my mama, when your mama calls me daddy!"
"You, you, uncouth barbarians,... you.." The messenger roared in anger, shaking his fist in fury and looking at Alexander with unmatched fury, lost for words.
But Alexander did not pay heed to this.
Instead, heughed boisterously, "Haha, yes, yes we are barbarians, so please save your breath and don''t expect us to surrender." Alexander unequivocally made his intentions known.
"Surrender? I''m not here asking for your surrender. I''m here to hire you, you fool. Or I was. Hmph, now Ramuh''s wrath will destroy you!" The man was ready to storm out of the tent.
"Hire us? Why hire us? And who wants to hire us?" Alexander seemed confused by simple english.
Alexander could envision no scenario where Adhania would want or even need to hire them.
And here and today, Alexander was once again reminded that just because you cannot think of a reason, does not mean others cannot think of one or one doesn''t exist.
Usually, the messenger would not have bothered to reply after the kind of insult he received, but today, he chose to bear it, because he was here for his own gains, but for the king and nation.
They needed the mercenaries and he could not let his personal prejudice derail the future of his nation.
So, despite his raging fury, he drowned it with the crushing pressure of responsibility and started delivering the message sent by the king.
Chapter 81 Deadline For The Departure
The messenger pronounced in an impable regal tone, "I, Arazadm, hereby represent the ruler of the worlds, the summoner of thunder and fury, the conqueror of the wilnds, the bringer of life and provider of subsistence, the divine son of Ramuh, the god on earth, His Royal Eminence Amenheraft."
''These royals sure have long titles behind them. How long does it take to write their names? Do they sign using their full name or do they use seals?'' Alexander had lost himself in thought after hearing just the first two titles of the king, mocking him in his head.
In reality, the use of such long names was a type of phycological trick meant to intimidate the opposition by informing them of the various aplishments and thus the very dangerous foe they were facing.
And it mostly worked, especially againstmoners who held reverence against all kings, even opposing ones.
But too bad this time they met Alexander, who simply cidly waited for the messenger to get to the meat of the issue.
The messenger, thankfully, did not know, of Alexander''s disdain and continued, "My liege wishes to employ each of you for five hundred ropals a month for the next six months. The details are military secrets and can be discussed once you ept themission."
Hearing the order, Alexander was internally surprised and then became very weary.
He saw it as an Adhanian plot to get them to lower their guard and lure them out of their defensive position, to massacre them.
But he did not let a thread of such thoughts surface.
"Five hundred ropals! Really! For six months?" Alexander''s eyes almost started glowing green, as a ttering smile formed on his face.
Then he immediately got up and pulled a chair towards the messenger, "Hehe, so it was you esteemed sir! Please, sit down sir here, please. And please forgive this fool for having eyes but failing to see Mount Tai," he said while rubbing his hands together in an oily manner.
The ingratiating attitude and the toady smile stered on Alexander''s face only drew even more scorn and disgust from Arazadm, as his idea that thesemoners only cared for money and knew nothing of honor was reinforced.
While for Camius, after initially thinking, ''Where''s Mount Tai,'' eagerly looked forward to the performance because whenever Alexander yed the role of a clown, somebody was going to get scammed.
"Hmph, so do you ept it or not," Arazadm asked impatiently without bothering to sit down.
"Hehe, well we are mercenaries. And the Cantagenans don''t have the coin to pay us. So, if it was upto me I would ept it now."
Then Alexander told him about some difficulties, "But, I will need some time to discuss it with the other leaders. How about esteemed sires back a weekter."
"A week? Seems a bit long." Arazadm scrunched up his eyebrows in apparent displeasure.
"Esteemed sir, please understand. A week is not a lot of time for us," Alexander implored, "We will need this to regroup from our recent loss, choose recement officers, pack our supplies, and most importantly convince the soldiers to ept themission. After all, many had their loved ones sacrificed in the ritual."
"You heathen infidels were the ones to attack us. You got what you deserved." Arazadm waspletely unapologetic and even proud of the act.
"Yes, yes, sir is right," Alexander answered sycophantly. "But these stupid soldiers will not understand that. But worry not, sire, give them three-four days to mourn and they will soon remember their one and only friend, gold."
"Hmmm, okay, I will bring the contract then." Arazadm agreed.
Truthfully one week time was not a big deal for him as it would take much more than that for even the Adhanians to n everything for the attack.
Then he asked, "How many are you?"
This was to know how much he would have to bring the next time he visited as mercenaries were usually paid their coin in advance for the first month to cover various preparation expenses.
"Hehe, actually we still haven''t taken a proper man count. Why don''t I give sir the number next time youe." Alexander honestly offered.
"Hmm, can you give an estimate?" Arazadm pressed.
"Fifteen to twenty thousand, I would guess." Alexander gave an exaggerated number.
"Okay," Arazadm didn''t contest the numbers and then wordlessly strode out as if speaking to
Alexander for a second longer than necessary was torturous for him.
Once the tent became empty, Alexander snapped an order to Camius.
"Get me the leaders. Now!"
And soon Alexander informed them of the encounter.
"Is it a trap?" Melodias came to the same conclusion as Alexander.
"Why do they want to hire us?" Menicus prudently asked.
''Right, why did they want to hire us?'' Alexander asked himself as he just remembered he had forgotten to ask Arazadm why exactly did he want to hire them when they had a perfectly good functioning army themselves.
As he was contemting on what lies to sell, Petricuno came to his rescue, "Hah, obviously they think us nothing more than amoral brutes who can''t see nothing but gold. Those bastards think they can just throw some coins in front of us, and we wille wagging our tails like some dog. Fuck!"
Clearly, Petricuno had his own experience of discrimination and prejudice.
"Maybe they ¡" Heliptos piped up to offer an exnation.
But his words were suppressed by Alexander, who quickly jumped in, "Petricuno has excellently said my thoughts. You should have seen the way that man looked at me. You don''t look at even stray dogs like that."
He was afraid that if they kept on discussing this topic, the greedy mercenaries would actually choose to ept the offer.
Five hundred ropals was a lot of money, almost equal to five thousand tustas, which was twice the amount the Cantagenans were willing to give them and certainly enough to entice some of them to take it to recuperate their recent losses.
This would be disastrous for Alexander who would not be able to escape Adhania on his own and thus be forced to ept themission.
"Hmm, it seems the Adhanians truly take us for fools to use such a cheap trick." Melodias sneered.
"Hmph, those rich assholes think only they have brains and all of us are lesser beings with dung for heads." Petricuno vented.
The mercenaries began to think that Adhania, inted by its recent sesses, simply was underestimating them and soying such an obvious trap.
After all, would they need to hire mercenaries when Adhania had its huge one hundred thousand army to take on any challenge?
Alexander was very pleased by how the conversation was being directed and decided to remind the mercenaries, "We will have a lot of gold from the Cantagenans. There''s really no need for us to gamble here."
"Yes, I believe the gold from the Cantagenans will more than makeup for all the loss I have taken here." Menicus, being the eldest was most adverse to taking risks, preferring to end his life on a bed rather than a field.
With the reminder that a free gold pile was directly under their nose, these mercenaries finally cooled down on the offer and though the Regias and Alcmene mercenaries wanted to ept it, Alexander decided to quickly end the conversation, without giving them any chance for input, "I have decided to stall for time and agreed to meet the messenger in a week''s time. So we will leave six days from today, sooner if possible."
"I have no problem," Menicus''s gruff voice echoed and other leaders'' consented.
And so, with the date of departure set, Alexander saw off the mercenary leaders and could finally catch up on some actual work.
He first started by inspecting Nestoras''s books for ounting irregrities, calcting their disposable ie, and making a rough estimation of how much money he would have to give the dead mercenaries'' families.
He then nned the shuffling of the officers and captains in his group, particrly demoting Pallidus and the squad captains (men in charge of ten men) and toon captains (men in charge of fifty men) favoring him and promoting men loyal to him, like Remus, Camius, and Bartholomew.
And atst, he drew up training ns for the verdant Cantagenans, to maximize their output within the short time.
He sent these written orders to Menes, telling him, in addition to ironing out the cowardice of the Canagenans and instilling in them an eagerness to fight, he was specifically to focus on teaching them how to charge, throw javelins and dig ditches quickly.
Alexander handed Menes the power to choose toon captains for the Cantagenans and told him to choose seven promising men as potential candidates for the phnx captain, from which Alexander would choose four or five.
And, atst, Alexander finished the address by saying that he will inspect the soldiers'' improvement three dayster, and their performance would directly reflect Alexander''s own evaluation of Menes''s capabilities.
And while doing all this heavy paperwork, the evening slowly crept up on Alexander, the candles were lit, and after tidying up thest bit of work, he decided to turn in for the day.
Chapter 82 Ophenia
After a long day''s hard work, Alexander slowly returned to his tent, eager to see his lover''s face again, when upon just entering it, he was immediately hugged by an over-enthusiastic Cambyses.
"Alex!" Cambyses squealed in joy as she rocketed towards him, wrapping her arms around Alexander''s neck and her legs around his back and turning herself into a ko that was hanging off Alexander.
"Mwah," She thenid a heavy kiss on her man, sucking his lips and mixing her tongue inside his mouth, recoating her lover''s insides with her scent.
Alexander too was parched for this nectar, and responded in kind, pulling on Cambyses''s tongue and lifting her by her butt to embrace her more tightly.
It was a whileter that the out-of-breath couple finally unlocked their lips, atst allowing them to offer their greetings.
Cambyses was the first, "Alex, congrattions on bing themander. I could hear the soldiers'' chanting your name all the way from here!"
She had a huge, beaming smile on her face as she gazed at Alexander with infinite love and pride in her eyes.
"I would not be here today without you, Cam," Alexander grinned in reply.
This led to another round of kissing.
Finally, after both were satisfied, Cambyses decided to free her legs and stood up on her own, allowing Alexander to notice the three other people in the tent with them for the first time.
"So, mistress has finally left Mean, uwuu," The short girl cried in an exaggerated fake manner as she felt Alexander''s gazend on her.
Beside her, a sharine voice wafted through the air into Alexander''s ears, " That''s only natural! Master is a god and only someone like him deserves an angel-like mistress,"
The voice belonged to a raven-haired beauty, curvy, mature, and graceful, she had a diamond-shaped face and appeared to be in herte twenties.
This was Gelene, a ve originally gifted to Octavius by his father to celebrate him stepping into adulthood and now Cambyses''s property.
But Alexander''s attention skipped both these people and was instead drawn to the third person, a woman that in his eyes was quite the abnormality because she had blonde hair, a hair color he was seeing for the first time in ten years.
Sensing a curious gaze fall upon her, the tall, fair woman immediately kneeled and prostrated, "ve greets Master, the divine son of Gaia."
Alexander''s mouth imperceptively twitched at such a formal greeting and especially at the address she made and he sent an inquisitive look towards Cambyses, wanting to know why a stranger was calling herself his ve and iming his to be divine.
"Ophenia, please get up and exin your situation to your master," Cambyses said with a light smile.
"Yes, mistress," The ivory-skinned blonde got up and introduced herself, "My name is Ophenia, master. I was born in Cantagena, to the wife of General Agapios neen years ago. As you know, Cantagena was going through its most tumultuous times during that time, and because of my noble birth, illegitimacy, and mostly my golden hair, I was seen as a curse from the gods that brought down ruin upon my city-state."
"Illegitimacy? What do you mean?" Alexander found it hard to keep up.
"Apologies, it seems master is not quite familiar with Cantagena. My story is known to every man, woman, and child there. You see, though my mother was General Agapios''s wife, my father is not him. Twenty years ago....." Here Ophenia retold the story of how her mother was raped and actually got pregnant with her that night, and then howter she died during childbirth.
Alexander was quite surprised by the story, not by its contents but by how easily the young girl was able to recount such painful memories
It seemed the girl was either immune to such pains, or much more likely, she hadpletely closed her heart to the outside world.
,m Ophenia continued her story in a nd, monotone voice, "...I never got to know my real father and I never got to spend any time with my mother. But General Agapios..my adoptive father, loved me more than any real parents ever could. Even when the Cantagenan senate was pushing to burn me at the stake as a witch to appease the gods, it was my father that bore all the pressure and refused to budge."
Here Ophenia''s voice finally changed from its robotic t tone to being slightly pitched and agitated, "Although I did nothing but bring him pain upon pain, he never ever med me. He only med himself, saying it was because of his mistake that my mother died and that I was the greatest gift from the gods to him because I reminded him of his beloved."
By the end, the girl''s voice was choking into sobs.
Alexander''s mind drifted a bit hearing thest sentence as he asked himself, "Could I do the same if Cambyses suffered such a fate and her daughter was in front of me?''
''Probably not,'' Was the answer that formed inside Alexander''s mind.
But then Alexander pulled his mind to the present and finding it hard to connect the admittedly tragic story to him bing her ve master, said, "I very much empathize with you, but what does it have to it with me?"
"Oh yes, I got sidetracked." Ophenia snapped out of her mncholic trance and started again, "The Senate was unable to kill me, but after my first bleeding, they did manage to force father to send me to the Temple of Shiva in Peirinion for three months a year, where I apprenticed under a Cleansing priestess."
Ophenia correctly guessed that Alexander might be unfamiliar with the term, ''Cleansing priestess'' and decided to borate, "Oh, a cleansing priestess is a woman who gives sexual gratifications to men on behalf of the temple for money. They are called such because they help release the male body of its white, wicked desires and purify their sins by taking it inside her body, thus cleansing them of all evil.
"The temple is a brothel?"Alexander asked incredulously. To him, a sacred ce of worship such as the temple seemed the furthest thing from a sinful ce like the brothel.
"Yes, it is," It was Gelene''s mature voice that answered. "The goddess Shiva is the god of love, lust, and pleasure, and the Temple of Shiva was originally built by a few working girls to pray and worship the goddess on the outskirts of a small vige. Legends say that the goddess blessed the women there such that men and women from all over Thesos came to the temple to have a taste of the divine skills. And once they experienced the divine pleasure, they were said to be so enamored that many chose to stay, and thus the city of Peirinion was founded, or so the story goes." Gelene finished.
"Sister here is quite knowledgeable." Ophenia nodded with slight amazement. It was very impressive for a ve, an illiterate to know this story with such uracy.
Then she added a bit of detail, "Though some say the temple was originally built by both men and women, thus we have both cleansing priests and priestesses."
She then continued, "The Cantagenan senate argued that because I was born by the mixture of essence of many men, it was a sign from the gods that I was destined to serve many men and be dyed white in their releases. My golden hair was seen as further proof that my destinyy with the Temple of Shiva as their Sacred High priestess."
Blonde hair was mostly associated with prostitutes, as many would dye their hair blonde using nt extracts to appear different and it was also the main reason Alexander was so surprised to see her first.
"Sacred High priestess!" Gelene made a little yelp of terror at this mention.
"Yes, they saw me as the divine manifestation of goddess Shiva and wanted me to be their leader, and serve the highest echelons of Thesos as theirfort pot." Ophenia almost nonchntly added though the anger in her voice was hard to musk.
"But my father did not agree. He detested the perverse actions of the Temple and used his martial influence to make the priests swear to the gods that I would only be taught the scripture and theoretical knowledge and never be made to entertain any guest or participate in their rituals. And so for thest eight years, I was rigorously taught all the pleasure techniques from the sacred scripture and the procedure on how to conduct all their rituals."
"But with time, my father grew weary at how the Temple was relentless in their pursuit to have me. Even when he arranged a marriage for me, the Temple seemed adamant. He feared that his deterrence might notst enough and it might be only a matter of time before the Temple made me initiate as a Cleansing priestess. So when this opportunity came to destroy Adhania, he made a deal with the Cantagenan senate for my release from the temple in exchange for his service." Ophenia revealed.
"But though the senate agreed, father was afraid they might go back on their word, or simply do something while he was gone. And so with the excuse to see his daughter before setting off, he cleverly switched me with a doppelganger and bought me secretly as his ve with me."
"But with your father dead and Cantagena defeated you came to me to hide." Alexander finished her sentence for her.
Chapter 83 Talayin
Alexander was honestly emphatic to the girl''s plight.
She was orphaned and stranded all alone in a foreignnd, penniless and with no ce to call home.
This was a cruel fate for a girl of this time period as almost all women needed a guardian to survive, whether it be their kin, husband, children, or even their superiors.
Even Cambyses had a guardian- Alexander.
If Alexander turned Ophenia away, her only fate would be death, very, or to be used by countless men like some living fleshlight.
Even if thest ten years had hardened Alexander''s heart, he had not yet turned into such a beast that he would turn away such a person in need, especially when the risks were so low.
But Alexander was in a position where he not only controlled his life but also the lives of many other people.
And this made him a bit apprehensive about how this potential time bomb might implicate the others.
"How powerful is the temple in Thesos? How many soldiers do they have?" Alexander attempted to gauge the strength and thus danger of the temple.
"They have no military of their own, their borders being mainly protected by mercenaries and armed devotees," Ophenia informed. "But they do hold considerable sway over other city-states. As the spiritual nucleus of arge number of city-states, they can influence others to mobilize troops on their behalf to punish heretics. But that''s only within their neighboring vicinity."
"Hmmm, so how hard will they look for you? Aren''t you their god in human flesh?" Alexander asked stroking his chin.
"Under normal circumstances, their chase would be relentless. But I''m in Adhania, a country where their faith does not exist. And with my father''s death, they will mostly assume that I am dead too. The chances of them actually finding me is close to zero." Ophenia assured.
"Except for your hair." Alexander pointed out.
"Yes," Ophenia nodded in agreement, but then also countered, "But hiding my hair color is easy. Father bought me a wig and even a herbal extract that turns my hair pitch ck for three months. And, worstes to worst, I can simply cake it with mud to disguise myself."
"Huh? If you have such a hair dye, then why is your blonde? Didn''t you disguise yourself till now?" Alexander asked puzzled and considerably more rmed.
Sensing his agitated state, Ophenia reassured, "Rest assured master, I have always worn a wig outside my tent. The people in this tent are the only ones alive to see my blonde hair."
Then she exined, with a hint of sadness tinting her voice, "The reason for me not dying my hair ck was because father nned to get me married to my fianc¨¦ after he took Adhan. And he wanted me in my natural hair during the ceremony."
"I see, my condolences." Alexander almost mechanically replied.
Then almost reflexively he inquired, "Who was your fianc¨¦?"
"Samaras. He was the only one who did not look me with those eyes." Ophenia replied with a heavy air of loss and mncholy around her.
"I..see," Alexander awkwardly stammered. "By the way, what will happen if I do get caught hiding you?" Alexander attempted to change the topic.
"*Shake*, I don''t exactly know." Ophenia rocked her head. "They could reward you for finding me, demand money from you for the services I provided, or simply kill you for hiding me."
"Hmmm," With all his inquires answered, Alexander once again began stroking his chin as his brain tried to calcte the risk and benefit of this otherworldly beauty''s offer.
And Ophenia was a city ruining beauty no doubt about it.
With thick, lush blonde hair upto her thighs, sparking cial blue eyes, and a dimpled chin, all encrusted in a heart-shaped face. she could certainly tug at any man''s heart, including Alexander''s.
''Her reputation as a god in human form is not undeserved,'' Alexander thought.
But although Alexander always had a thing for blondes, he did not let such physical attractions derail his judgment.
His mind instead thought of a way her presence could be made useful.
He felt down the line, maybe after a few years or even tens of years, he could use Ophenia to pick a fight with the temple and her allies.
He reasoned that if the temple''s obsession with Ophenia was as strong as she said it was, then it would be likely that they would still want their lost ''Sacred Priestess,'' years down the line, and even go to war to retake her.
Given Alexander could y his cards right, he could use their casus belli against them to win and conquerrge swaths of theirnd while appearing righteous and just in the process.
Alexander would admit that his n was a long shot among long shots, but the risk for harboring Ophenia was so low that even if nothing happened, he would not be really losing out on anything.
Also, Alexander nned to dere himself divine at some point and he predicted this might not go down well with everyone, especially with the various temples, who saw the gods as their exclusive ''property''.
''Since conflict with them is likely inevitable, then why should I turn this girl away? If she wants to survive, realistically her only option is to sell herself to very, so why not it be me?'' Alexander finally made up his mind.
"Okay, you have convinced me. I will protect you." Alexander said with a thin smile.
"Thank you, master." Ophenia bowed and returned the thin smile.
"Congrattions, sister Ophenia." Mean, who had been unusually quiet till now yipped in joy.
"See, I told you hubby take you in," Cambyses puffed up her chest in pride.
"Hoho, only master deserves a beauty like her. Congrattions master!" Gelene smiled showing her pearly teeth.
"So, how much did you pay for her Cam?" Alexander was curious.
"Hehe, two thousand tustas," Cambyses spoke as if she got the deal of the century.
"Only two thousand tustas! That''s too cheap!" Alexander eximed in surprise, feeling Cambyses had somehow scammed the sheltered girl.
An ordinary ve, like when Nestoras bought Alexander cost two thousand tustas. A slightly strong ve, to be used on the farms would cost five to six thousand tustas, while a literate ve may go for more than ten thousand tustas.
As for a beauty like Ophenia, even twenty thousand tustas may not be enough. If a sufficiently wealthy individual took a liking to her, Alexander did not doubt she could fetch two hundred thousand tustas.
So how could she be bought for the same price as a child ve?
"Master is overlooking something. With my golden hair, only someone blessed by the divine like you can own me. If I stayed with ordinary people, I would only bring them harm and misfortune." Ophenia, indoctrinated at a young age, truly believed her hair and thus her to be cursed and the harbinger of misfortune.
This made Alexander look at the girl with genuine pity as he could not even guess the kind of discrimination and abuse she had had to suffer to make her like this.
But at least, up until now, she had her father to rely upon.
She had even lost that today, but instead of breaking down, the kind of strength and determination she disyed until now impressed Alexander and he felt confident that with his help the girl can have a normal life.
"That''s right, Alex. I first met Ophenia when they sent her to my tent on the night Damious died to prepare me for my wedding. There, it was Ophenia who offered to sell herself as my ve," Cambyses was a bit offended by Alexander''s insinuation that she somehow cheated the girl.
"Initially, she wanted to do it for free, only wanting food, cloth, shelter, and protection in exchange. It took a lot of haggling to convince her to take the bare minimum- two thousand tustas." Cambyses sighed with a bit of helplessness in her voice.
"Hmm, I see."
Alexander personally disliked very- the act of buying and selling humans like they were somemodity.
But he also understood that in the context of this time period, it was legal and morally and socially eptable.
So although he did not like Cambyses buying ves, he had given her the right to own property, which included ves and Alexander did not want to break his own words.
"You bought the ve, so why is she calling me her master," Alexander atst noticed a slight discrepancy.
He did not want to own any ves if he could help it.
"Because she''s my gift to you. A beauty like her deserves to be tasted by only someone great as you. Think of it like a congrattions gift on bing themander." Cambyses beamed her white teeth.
"Mistress is correct. Only master with his divine providence can shield against my curse. If mistress were to own me, she would only suffer misfortune, like my father and Samaras." The way this war had ended, absolutely convinced Ophenia that she was unwanted by the heavens itself.
Understanding her mindset, to soothe the girl''s frayed consciousness, Alexander consented, "Okay. you will belong to me from today."
Then he thought of a way to sever her from her tumultuous past, "But since you are hiding, Ophenia, it is not wise to use that name anymore. Thus, as your master, I now bestow upon you a new name, Tyin."
This came from the word ''tyi'', which was Persian for golden.
"Thank you master for your blessing," Ophenia gratefully bowed.
"Now, Tyin, for your firstmand, as your master Imand you to strip!" Alexander sternly ordered.
Chapter 84 Talayins New Life
Alexander had just remembered something important amidst all the talking, something he had somehow overlooked.
He forgot to check for any identifiable marks on Ophenia''s body, like a birthmark or a scar, that the temple could use to identify her.
It was a tiny, tiny possibility, but Alexander did not want to take any chance.
"Yes," Ophenia, hearing Alexander''smand, without a single thought immediately threw off her one-piece chilton and bore her bare skin for all to see, hiding nothing from the world.
She was sculpted wlessly, with a perfect hourss figure, adorned with two huge jugs, a thin, smooth waist, and a huge, meaty rump.
Her wless ivory skin reflected a golden sheen off the candlelight and her garden was hidden by a dense patch of golden forest.
Her beauty was almost devilish and even made Cambyses look pale inparison.
And it made Alexander''s loins wake up just from looking at the sinful body.
"Sheesh, have some self-control and at least wait till we leave." Mean jeered in an exasperated tone.
"Hehe, it looks like master like his present," Gelene let out a sultry chuckle.
Alexander ignored the misunderstanding and asked Ophenia, "Tyin, do you have any special birthmarks or other distinctive patterns on your body the temple might be able to use to identify you."
"Ah," Ophenia''s eyes lit up in realization and confirmed, "Yes, I have one on her left arm. Here," she then pointed to a small patch of dark skin just above her elbow.
"Hmm, good, is that all?" Alexander asked for confirmation.
"Umm, I think that should be all," Ophenia answered uncertainly.
This confused reply did not satisfy Alexander and he ordered, "Cam, Mean, Gelene, grab a candle and search her body for any distinct marks. And Tyin, spread your legs, I can''t see your inner thighs."
And so the trio scanned her body for any such signs and fortunately found none.
Alexander on the other hand searched every inch of her body for any signs of rash or skin infection, which wasmon to develop during campaigns, where ess to clean water or baths was very limited.
Alexander shamelessly feasted his eyes on her bare skin, from her milky white breasts, her slightly chubby tummy, to around her groin area where such infections were especially prominent.
"*Sniff*, when did youst bathe?" Alexander whiffed a strong, pungent odor of sweat and ammonia from her privates when he went to examine her inner things.
The very personal question and its implied meaning made Ophenia shiver in embarrassment and with a flushed face she meekly whispered, "I don''t remember."
"Huh?" Alexander seemed confused by the answer.
Nearby Gelene helped exin, "Aristocats don''t like to bath master. They think taking baths will widen the skin pores after bath, allowing the infections in the air to easily enter their body. They rarely bathe in their lifetimes."
"widen the skin pores after bath, allowing infections in the air to easily enter their body? What nonsense was that?" Alexander asked in disbelief.
"Yes, master." Gelene delineated while nodding, "Instead of bathing, nobles frequently change clothes because they think the clean clothes, which are always in contact with the skin, will absorb all the filth. If they ever take bath it''s usually as a therapeutic procedure, likely rmended by a doctor."
The reason why Gelene was so knowledgeable about this topic was because she was once the daughter of a noble.
Twelve years ago, while on one of her travels, she came under a bandit attack, and her entourage was all killed, while she was captured.
After being brutally raped, the bandits sold her to very, where she was eventually bought as s low-ss prostitute by a brothel.
Six yearster, by the machinations of fate, Gelene had the fortune of popping Octavius''s cheery when Nestoras took his son to her brothel to make him a man, as was the custom among mercenaries.
After sleeping with, by that time, the high-ss courtesan, the kid immediately fell in love with Gelene, and to indulge him, Nestoras using both coin and strong-arming the owner, bought her as a gift to Octavius.
And now she fell into Cambyses''s hands and by extension Alexander''s.
The revtion of the unclean hygiene practices somewhat disgusted Alexander.
In his previous life, Alexander always tried to take showers twice, once in the morning after waking up and once before going to bed.
He loved the feeling of cascading water on his skin and was generally very hygiene conscious, a habit he carried over his transmigration.
Even here, where his wandering mercenary life and constantck of easy ess to fresh water made it very difficult to take baths, he would at least try to wipe himself with a wet towel every day.
This was also because of medical reasons, as without modern antibiotics, Alexander feared even a mild rash or skin inflection could be the end of him, like how it almost ended Nestoras.
So the revtion that Ophenia might not have even taken a bath birthed a strange sense of revulsion inside Alexander and he quickly stood up and moved his hands away from her.
Ophenia certainly felt Alexander''s repelling gaze and in a panic blurted out, "Master I have taken special baths while studying the various religious rituals. Thest one was about six months ago."
Then in a frightful, almost sobbing voice cried, "Master, please don''t abandon me. I will change. I will take as many baths as you want. So, please don''t throw me out, *sniff*, *sniff*."
By the end, the girl hadrge teardrops wetting her cheeks.
Seeing this made Alexander suddenly feel a bit guilty as he felt he might have overreacted.
"Alex, look at what you have done," Cambyses slightly scolded Alexander and then went forward to console the girl, hugging her and saying, "There, there. No one''s throwing you out. Your master was just a bit surprised. You see, Alex is a genius doctor and he makes us take baths every day. He says it is very healthy."
"That''s right. ording to him, bathing helps ward off diseases," Mean supported Cambyses.
"Yes. So Gelene and Mean, I want you to help Tyin take baths every day from now on," Cambyses instructed, "Help her scrub every part of her body. And if a full shower is not possible, then use a wet towel to vigorously rub her body.".
"Mistress, don''t worry, we will keep her clean. We will also pay extra attention to her hair and remember to properly oil and wash it." Mean cleverly added.
"Yes, I will also help sister Tyin apply her hair dye. Rest assured, mistress, not a single strand of gold color will be visible on her head," Gelene joined in, not wanting to be outdone.
"Good," Cambyses nodded satisfied. And then seeming to remember something Alexander said to herst night, said, "Tyin, your master likes the pubes kept short."
She pointed at her crotch hair, "Eitherpletely shave them or if you want to really keep them, just keep a small trimmed patch around your privates. And remember to dye them like your hair."
"As you wish mistress," Ophenia obediently replied.
"Good. Also, you are very beautiful and will easily draw attention. We will need to disguise you. Hmm," Cambyses put her hands on her hip and contemted.
"First of all, you need to lose weight. Regr ves are not so ..um..meaty as you, especially around here," Cambyses said pulling on the bby meaty ps around Ophenia''s tummy. "I have some tools in my tent to help you, so please have Mean teach you." Cambyses was referring to the various exercise equipment Alexander had made for her.
"I will try my best," Ophenia nodded.
"And then, hmmm," Cambyses again began to rack her brains.
Alexander watched in silent amazement and approval as Cambyses really take on the role of the mistress of the house, making ns, issuing orders with confidence and authority, and being not afraid to take charge.
Alexander had taught her to be a leader and she was doing a fine job.
Alexander decided to weigh in, "Tyin, I see you have plucked your eyebrows. Never do that from now."
The women of this time thought arge clean forehead was very attractive and thus practiced the act of thinning out their eyebrows, which gave them a distinctive look.
"I have something that can draw fake eyebrows," Gelene quipped.
"Then use it on her," Alexander approved. Then he turned to speak with Ophenia, "You can put on your clothes now."
After she was done, Alexander announced, "Tyin, from tomorrow you will be helping out in the medical clinic. We are short-handed and need every able body we have."
"It was always my wish to help those wounded soldiers. Thank you, master," Ophenia gratefully answered.
"Don''t worry, sister Tayin. Mean will teach you everything." Mean who had a habit of shortening names enthusiastically backed her up.
Alexander then further said, "Cam, also tomorrow announce that there to prevent the spread of a new disease, all medical personnel are to wear masks. Say that it''s mymand."
"So, all of you are to cover your mouth and nose with a cloth. This will help hide Tyin''s face."
"Good idea," Cambyses praised.
Ophenia was truly touched at the length these people she had just met were going to shelter her.
At longst, she felt her cold heart stir a bit.
"And now for thest unpleasant part." Alexander suddenly ominously announced.
He then out of nowhere took out a small dagger, coated it in alcohol from a nearby jar, and put it over the fire burning in the indoor store, sterilizing it.
Once the steel started glowing red hot, he took it out, and walked over to Ophenia, "Tyin, I will burn away your birthmark. Are you ready?"
"Ahh!" Mean put her little hands on her mouth and let out a scared gasp.
Alexander''s question also reminded the others that there was the birthmark issue to deal with, something they had forgotten when their conversation got derailed.
The drastic question also caught Opheniapletely off caught and she became a bit frightened of the potential pain.
She had assumed she would have to just cover the mark.
But soon, her determination and hatred for the temple took over and she clenched her teeth, "Please do it master. I am ready."
And as soon as she said it, Alexander grabbed her left arm in blinding speed, located her birthmark, and before Ophenia could understand what was going on, pressed the red hot metal again the mark, burning it away.
"Aghhhhhhh," Ophenia let out a continuous painful scream at this, but amazingly did not pull her arm away.
And after an instant, Alexander pulled off the knife, a white patch now recing the former dark patch of skin, a painful stinging sensation permeating from it.
"Good, girl. Brave, girl." Cambyses cooed near Ophenia, attempting to lessen her pain as Alexander douched the affected area with cool, refreshing water".
"You did well." Alexander praised. Then he bandaged the burn, saying, "Don''t add any oil or cream to the burn. And don''t break the blisters."
These were also same the instructions Alexander got from a doctor in his previous life when he had identally burnt his hand during cooking.
"Thank you, master," Ophenia slowly gasped out.
Thankfully the pain was slowly fading.
"Okay, we are done here. Gelene, Mean please escort Tyin to her tent." Alexander gestured. "And be sure to help her apply her hair dye today," Cambyses again reminded.
"We will do it right away," Gelene reassured.
As the trio was exiting the tent, Alexander called out from the back, "Tyin, I want you to forget all the unpleasant things that has happened to you till now. You are no longer Ophenia, the girl that was all alone and hated by the world. You are now Tyin, and you have people who love and care for you."
Alexander felt the mentally frail girl needed some encouragement.
"That''s right, we are all sisters here, Tayin," Mean joyously said, grabbing Ophenia by her right arm.
"Um, I hope you will not let the past shackle you, Tyin, And once the situation bes a little less dangerous, we will have a proper feast to celebrate you joining our family," Cambyses spoke like the mistress of the house.
"Thank you," Ophenia let out a genuine big grin that seemed to illuminate the world around her.
For the first time in a long time, Ophenia felt truly happy.
Chapter 85 Cambysess Hand Skills (R18)
"Well, how have you been? Any pain still?" Finally alone, Alexander could, atst, spend some intimate moments with Cambyses.
"No. It hurt a bit in the morning after I woke up, but after Mean rubbed some ointment on it, that soon subsided." Cambyses cheerfully said.
"That''s good. So, what did you do the rest of the day?" Alexander curiously asked.
"After breakfast, I wanted to go and congratte you. But Mean was adamant about not letting me leave the bed, saying you personally told her to stop me. Also, Camius came to tell me you were in an important meeting with all the other mercenary leaders. So with nothing to do, I again slept till noon. After lunch, I was finally let out and went to check on the clinic and then got Mean, Gelene, and Tayin to help me clean your tent."
At this mention, Alexander looked around to see that the tent was indeed free of much of the dust.
"So, how was your day? How does it feel to be one step closer to your dream?" Cambyses had a light smile on her smile.
"Work! Lots of work!" Came a tired response.
"Hehe, it seems my hubby needs a little encouragement." Cambyses''s voice all of a sudden turned sultry and erotic,
"Cam, you!"
But before Alexander could react, Cambyses''s hands boldly grabbed Alexander''s jewels and whispered, "Shush, take off your clothes and let me serve you."
Cambyses then expertly started stripping Alexander of his armor, till very soon he was just in his loincloth.
"Cam, I haven''t taken a bath yet." Alexander feared he smelled.
But Cambyses hushed him, "Just sit on the bed and enjoy, hubby. It''s your present for bing themander."
And so with Alexander sitting on the edge of the bed, Cambyses kneeled in between his legs and with a strong tug, finally freed his meat spear.
"Ah!" Immediately, after seeing the engrossed stick of meat, Cambyses let out a yelp of surprise.
Because although she had glimpsed at it before yesterday, it was dark, and only now, was she able to closely and carefully observe therge beefy rod.
And, the more she looked, the more she became astounded by the size of it.
Thick, veiny, and throbbing, it was fully turgid and its red engrossed head was peeking out of the foreskin.
''Had I truly taken this mammoth beast inside of me yesterday? How did it ever fit inside my tiny hole?'' These questions involuntarily floated inside her mind.
"Cam, are you alright?" Seeing Cambyses stare unblinkingly at his rod, Alexander called out to snap her out of it.
"Ah, yes," The call broke Cambyses out of her trance and she lewdly smiled looking at his penis, "It was such a cute thing. When did it be such a beast?"
She then used an index finger to poke and prod the standing tower, yfully pushing it all different sides and giggling as she watched the thick rod return to its original standing position no matter how much she bent it.
"Hehe, this is so fun," Cambyses tittered.
"Agh, Cam," Alexander grunted, finding the teasing unbearable.
Cambyses could see the veins throbbing in anticipation, so using her fair, dainty left, she firmly grabbed the root of the hot rod and breathed on it, "So, this is the naughty boy that skewered mest night, huh? It really hurt you know."
Then in a mock admonishing tone sneered, "Naughty boys should be punished, *p*."
Cambyses had flirtatiously pped the meat stick.
"Cam,, you,,," Alexander blurted in surprise at the sudden action.
But Cambyses was too engrossed with her new toy to pay attention
"Bad boy, *p*, naughty boy *p*. Bad boy, *p*, naughty boy *p*". " She kept repeating this as she hit the hard rod from left to right, and then from right to left.
"Ahh," Alexander could only moan as the rough y sent waves of pleasure coursing through his body.
"Wow, I can feel your cock getting bigger in size." Cambyses eximed in glee, "Alex, you pervert, does hitting you make you excited?" She asked obscenely.
This made Alexander blush a bit, but still, the pleasure he felt was undeniable.
"Then, here, *p*. Let mistress discipline you even more, *p*. You perverted ve, *p*, hehe" Cambyses let out a burst ofsciviousughter as she started hitting him harder, her face contorted into that of a lewd bitch in heat.
"Cam, ahhh..where ah..did you ..ahh,, learn this?" Alexander squeezed out the question amidst the mind-numbing pleasure.
Cambyses today seemed so different, so aggressive,pared to yesterday.
It was as if someone had reced the pure girl with a subus and that contrast turned Alexander so on.
"Hehe, do you like your present hubby?" Cambyses only chuckled in reply.
The reason why Cambyses was so bold today was because herpetitive spirit was pushing her to do more as she felt she had been entirely passive yesterday.
This was also why, contrary to what she said to Alexander about how she spent her day, in reality, she had spent the entire day in the tent, recounting her experience to Gelene and learning tips and tricks from her on how to take charge and pleasure men.
And now, like a good student, she was putting her new skills and vocabry to practice.
"So, this is what they call precum?" Cambyses curiously pointed to the clear fluid that had started leaking out, scooping it with her finger and forming sticky stings between her fingers with it.
"Hehe, it almost looks as if your cock is crying! Aw, did it hurt too bad?" She mockingly cooed at it like consoling a baby.
Alexander felt a strange sense of humiliation and at the same time arousal at this novel y.
He had not experienced such a thing even in his previous life and this act caused even more precum to sprout out.
"*Lick*, mnn, it tastes salty and bitter. And it has a strong smell" Cambysesmented as she put her precum-coated index finger inside her mouth. "But, I like." She added with a vulgar smile.
"So, let mistress make you feel all better." Cambyses grinned and then started gently but firmly squeezing the base with her left hand, while at the same time started moving her right hand up and down the shaft.
This was a proper handjob.
"Ah, yes, faster," Alexander urged as he felt he was close.
Cambyses silently nced up to give Alexander a sultry look and with a smirk, rapidly started pumping with both her hands.
Her palms were wet, soft, and warm, and the way they massaged his delicate organ, how they moved in synchronization with one another, and how they squeezed all his sensitive spots, all felt heavenly to Alexander.
"Cam, it feels..ah..too..good," Alexander groaned.
"Haha, then here''s more," Cambyses beamed as she then boldly used her fingers to peel back the foreskin and finally reveal the red bulbous head underneath it.
"Oh," As the sensitive head was exposed to the cold air, it sent a chilly stinging sensation running all over the body, making his thick organ immediately spasm in joy.
"Ehhhee, it''s twitching so much. So cute," Cambyses giggled as she started massaging the delicate, soft head within her right palm while continuing to pump up and down the shaft with her left.
The creamy, elegant hands and the hot,fy palms soon edged Alexander close to salvation as his organ started twitching.
"Hehe, your cock is quivering, are you ready toe?" Cambyses could also feel the rod quiver in anticipation.
"Ah, yes,ing," Alexander grunted as he could feel the fluid rise through the tube, his release imminent.
Cambyses then increased her pumping to short rapid strokes as she attempted to send Alexander over the edge with onest burst of speed, "Then,e. Your mistress permits you, ve. So,e!"
"Ah,ing, *spurt*, "spurt*. *spurt*." And then, with onest grunt, Alexander, finally let it all out, as his rod continuously shot out thick white ropes of cum into the air.
"Kyah," Cambyses reflexively let out a whimper as the exploding white, hot essence directly hit her face, painting it white.
The amount sprouted was huge and it managed to cake Cambyses''s entire face, from her lips to her cheeks to even her forehead in a gooey, creamy colour.
And soon, some of it even began to trickle down her face and drop onto the ground.
She looked gorgeous to Alexander.
"*Lick,* so that''s how you taste like, mmmnn," Cambyses erotically licked off the dense white fluid off her thick, red lips like a cat finishing its milk, her red tongue dyed a sinful white.
"Cam..,," Alexander could not believe how sexy his lover looked.
"Hmm, it tastes fishy. A bit like the precum, but much stronger."
Cambyses then in an obscene act started to use her fingers to scoop up all the cum off her face and eating them,"It''s also a bit slimy and chewy, I like it!"
Cambyses had an unmatched lewd,scivious smile stered on her face as she shamelessly devoured the objectionable fluid.
Alexander had never seen such a vulgar show and it made his little brother wake up immediately.
But he pushed down the lust with rationality and hurriedly said, "Cam, you get cleaned up and ready for the bed. I am going to take a bath."
Then without giving Cambyses a chance to input her thought, Alexander quickly ran to the back to get a shower.
And when he got back, his head a bit cooled, the scene that greeted him again immediately sent back all the blood to his loins.
Because there on the bed was Cambyses, with nary a thread on her, her legs spread wide in an obscene M shape.
She looked at Alexander with her limpid, chestnut eyes and then in an act of absolute profanity, spread her drooling cave using both her hands and shamelessly moaned, "Master, breed me!"
Chapter 86 Exploring Cambyses (R18)
The sudden transformation of the once pure Cambyses into such a seductress made Alexander''s blood boil with lust, and he almost lost all his rationality.
"You temptress! You better be ready," Alexander growled in a low deep voice as he sped towards Cambyses, intent on fully fulfilling her wish.
She appeared to be fully lubricated from the previous y and so without wasting any time, Alexander strongly gripped her hips, aimed with weapon directly towards her hole, and in one mighty swing of his hips, jammed it all in.
"Ohhhh, yes!" Cambyses let out an ecstatic howl as she felt the hot, rock-hard rod skewer her, ripping open her insides and kissing her cervix, sending electrifying pleasures to her brain.
She relished having her hole filled, feeling as if she was finallyplete, and loved how the huge organ put pressure around herher region.
"As tight as ever, Cam," Alexander groaned at the vice-like grip of the flesh tunnel, a tunnel that seemed to get hotter and narrower the deeper one went.
It seemed even tighter than yesterday and much more enthusiastic as the soft, wet walls continuously pummeled his engrossed spear.
"Ohh, Alex, move. Fu*k me." Cambyses lewdly demanded, as just being filled did not feel good enough for the girl.
"*Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*," So Alexanderplied, fiercely pounding the lewd hole with strong thrusts and erging the tunnel.
"*Squelch*, *squelch*," The dirty water from her cave wetted the two hips and they regrly collided with such force that it produced an obscene sound, reverberating throughout the tent and fueling the two''s lust even more.
"Ah, yes,..so good. Pound your mistress harder, ve!" Cambyses cried in sensual moans, loving the feeling of her cave being gouged out as he pulled back out and then again pushed back in as he fiercely rammed her.
She had also developed quite a bit of liking for the master-ve y and so egged Alexander on to punish her even more.
"Let me show you who is a ve," Alexander lustfully growled and started thrusting with more speed, while rotating his hips and changing his attack angle every time to hit all the different spots.
"Kyahhh, it feels so good. I didn''t know I even had such ces," Cambyses yelled in rapturous joy at the new feeling.
Her cave also began to respond to this prodding by spasming around Alexander''s member, violently biting into it as it discharged more and more sweet water, drenching even the girl''s puckered, pink hole down below.
Alexander methodically explored all the nooks and crannies of Cambyses''s cave, with shallow thrusts, with long thrusts, with quick thrusts, and with strong thrusts, slowly savoring the taste of the different texture and suction of her bumpy folds and driving Cambyses almost insane with pleasure.
"Ohh, Alex, ohhh, I love you. I love you so much," Cambyses bellowed the promation, spreading her arms open towards Alexander and asking for a kiss.
"*Mnnph*, *Chupa*," Alexander and Cambyses crossed lips like lust-filled beasts, strongly sucking on each other''s tongues, and lips and drinking each other''s saliva.
"*Chupa*, *Pah*, *Squelch*, *p*," A carnal cacophony of crass music filled the air as the couple engaged in primal, almost bestial coption and seemed to drown in each other''s lust.
They fiercely ravaged each other, entangling their tongues together, biting and pulling on each other''s lips like marking them as one''s territory, and devouring each other''s musky odor, all while Alexander pounded Cambyses''s tiny, wet cave ruthlessly.
It was a supreme tunnel of flesh- hot, wet, and incredibly tight, and the lower mouth kissed and sucked Alexander''s little brother even more fiercely than Cambyses''s upper mouth did to Alexander.
And soon, the pleasure was too much for Alexander to bear, as he grunted, "Cam, I am gonnae."
"Umm, me too. Let''se together." Cambyses''s cave was also twitching, ready for her first orgasm.
Alexander sped up and soon, with onest long thrust, hitting her deepest cave, "Aghh,.." with a short moan he let it all out.
"Coming,ing, ekkkkk," Cambyses too came in an ear-splitting scream, as she vividly felt the hot magma erupt inside her and dye her cave a beautiful white.
"Cam, you subus!" Alexander clenched his teeth, his sensitive organ almost crushed by the rapidly spasming walls, those folds hell-bent on milking him dry as he sent out his second batch of essence.
Cambyses''s cave seemed to havee alive as she orgasmed, violently massaging and squeezing Alexander''s spear at the root and greedily sucking out all his fluids into her womb.
"Yes, fill me up." Cambyses rejoiced in the sensation of her inside being flooded with Alexander''s baby batter and she was in paradise.
"Haah, haaah," Cambyses let out panted breaths after the release, swimming in the cozy, warm feeling, as she felt a surge of drowsiness ovee her.
But just as she was about to close her eyes, she felt Alexander''s strong arms suddenly grab her hips, and in a swift violent twist, she was flipped around and made to lie on her belly.
"Khay," Cambyses let out an involuntary yelp of surprise as her vision spun and she felt Alexander silently lift her ass high up in the air and expose her most precious parts to his eyes.
A deep tint of red colored Cambyses''s face as she had never before felt so naked and ashamed, with both her holes fully exposed to Alexander''s burning gaze.
And no doubt Alexander was carefully recording the magnificent scenery in front of him.
The lewd hole was slightly pulsating, continuously leaking an obscene mixture of Cambyses''s love juice and Alexander''s discharge that overflowed out of her tight cave and trickled down her thighs.
Above it, Cambyses''s dirty pink hole wasid bare for Alexander to clearly see, to the point he could count the individual wrinkles on the small, puckered hole.
But those were not the most magnificent sights in Alexander''s eyes.
It was in fact the twin, fat, creamy spheres of exquisite meat that hid these holes that attracted Alexander''s eyes the most.
It was Cambyses''s ass!
Cambyses had a pear-shaped body, meaning her breasts were a modest B cup, but what had always drawn Alexander''s eyes were her meaty things and huge ass.
Alexander had always found her disproportionately bigger ass extremely attractive and if he had one regret yesterday, it was that he could not fully savor it.
A regret he vowed to make up today.
So, he immediately pounced on the soft, wless, rump with his wolfish ws, kneading it, massaging it, pinching it, and squeezing it, taking in the supreme feeling of the squishy flesh and leaving long, deep, red marks on the fair skin.
"Alex, ohh.." Cambyses bit her lips to suppress a moan as she had a light orgasm at the shameful rough y.
''She''s that sensitive?'' Alexander was surprised at how quickly she came and continued the y, even more, loving seeing her ass ripple and jiggle under his hands.
Alexander kneaded the cheeks like he was kneading dough and Cambyses loved every second of it as she moaned and cooed and came under his touch.
But soon, just touching was not enough as Alexander prepared to start the main course and ced his red, hot poker at her entrance.
"Alex, what are you doing?" Cambyses''s voice quivered in both fear and anticipation as she understood the roughest pounding of her life was about to begin.
"*m*, Alexander used his actions to answer, as his beefy rod violently smashed inside, easily prating the hole once again and making Cambyses howl in pleasure.
"Yes, soo deepp," She screamed as the spear went deeper than ever before, stirring up her insides and turning it to mush.
Alexander felt the friction between him and her walls was even greater now due to the new position and it allowed for greater stimtion as he pounded against her walls, bumping against the rough folds and reaching even her deepest and narrowest corners.
The lewd lubricant of love nectar and semen made the tunnel smooth and slippery and it allowed Alexander to directly hit Cambyses''s cervix, pushing against it and sending mind-shattering pleasures to her brain.
"Ahhhh," Cambyses continuously elicited lust-addled roars of joy as she kept on having light orgasms after orgasm.
"*Pah*, *pah*, *pah*," Cambyses''s sensual moans were like the greatest opera to Alexander and he kept on the attack, relishing in the sight of how Cambyses''s ass shook, rippled, and wobbled under his mercilessly attack.
His member''s bulbous red head kept repeatedly hitting the solid wall of the cervix, wanting it to break it open like a battering ram and invade her baby room, while his shaft was being massaged by the continuously orgasming hole, its fleshy folds wrapping around the thick rod like an octopus and sucking it in.
But Alexander was not yet satisfied, he wanted more pleasure.
He then looked at the creamy white ass floating in front of him and it looked so alluring, so defenseless and so tasty that he just could not resist.
"*Smack*", He spanked her.
"Mmmmm," Cambyses immediately moaned, as Alexander felt her cave twitch uncontrobly.
She hade again!
''I thought her boobs were sensitive, but her ass is on a different level.'' Alexander excitedly thought as he found his new toy.
"*Smack*", He again struck her, with even more force this time.
"Mm," Cambyses bit on her fingers this time to suppress the moan.
This did not please Alexander, as he started to hit her two, magnificent globules even more relentlessly.
""Count ve, *spank*" Alexander ordered.
"Ahh, one," Cambyses screamed in sweet agony.
"*Spank*."
"Two, ohh."
"*Spank*."
"Three, yes."
Every time Alexander hit her, he could feel her hole shiver and spasm, squirting out little jets of shower, as she continuously came.
This heavenly sensation filled Alexander''s mind with even more lust as he rapidly started to pound her while ying her ass like it was a drum, alternating between her two ass cheeks, the sharine sound of his palms hitting her wless meat making him even harder.
Cambyses was also on cloud nine, as she spread her legs apart and arched her back downward, effectively raising her ass to allow Alexander better ess to her hole as she sang like a lust-filled canary.
"*Spank,*
"*Uwuuu," Atst, Cambyses seemed lost in heat, and forgot the count.
"Insolent ve, *spank*, count," Alexander yfully growled.
"Yes, master, harder. Punish this lewd ve even harder," Cambyses moaned, each of Alexander''s hits making her almost roll her eyes in pleasure.
"*Spank*, what a naughty ve," Alexander grinned after giving a mighty p, mesmerized by how the flesh wobbled and rippled as the shockwaves traveled.
"Yes, Alex, I am a naughty ve. I am your naughty ve," Cambyses cried.
"Haha, *spank*, *spank*. Good, ve, do you know who your master is?", Alexander had lost count of how many spanks he had given her and his palms felt a bit sore, while Cambyses''s ass had turned from porcin white to a bright red.
"Yes, Master Alexander. I am yours and yours only. My lips are yours, my tongue is yours, my boobs are yours, my ass is yours, and my pussy is yours. I am your slut, master¡ ohh" Cambyses seemingly came from her own naughty talk.
Alexander too was surprised by this level of lewdness and continued the y, "*Spank,* excellent ve. Master is very pleased. Master will mold your cunt into his own personal pussy, *spank*. It will only fit his size."
"Thank you, master!" Cambyses said, thrusting back.
Alexander was soon close to the edge when his eyes suddenly caught something amusing.
"ve, what''s this?" Alexander jeered as he poked at her wet, glistening butthole, which was staring at him the entire time, opening and closing as if it was breathing.
"Ahh," Cambyses let out a sensual moan and thought, ''No way! There!"
"Hehe, it looks like one hole is not enough, you lewd ve." Alexander vulgarly sneered.
"Alex, that.." Cambyses broke out of the y a bit scared.
But Alexander had other ns.
"Let''se together, ahhgh," He then suddenly stuck his middle finger inside her asshole as he ejacted for the third time.
"Ekkkkkkkk," Cambyses too came, squirting everywhere, the sensation of having her butt invaded sending her over the moon and her face distorting into that of a lewd,scivious, lustful woman.
''So this a woman''s bliss,'' Cambyses thought as her consciousness floated out and she fell asleep exhausted.
Chapter 87 Loss Statistics
Alexander woke up at the crack of dawn, surprisingly the crackling boom of thunder that was ying outside.
And soon, the pitter-patter of raindrops started atop his leather tent, as a torrential rainfall greeted him first thing in the morning.
"Mnnn," By his side, the nude seductress moaned as Alexander''s movements disturbed the beauty''s sleep.
And this sensual sound drew Alexander''s attention to his partner sleeping beside him, and the erotic sight that greeted him immediately made his little brother wake up, which was almost a perfect rey of yesterday''s happenings.
Cambysesy asleep bare, her face down and peaceful, as she exposed the sexiest part of her body to the heavens above, unhindered to Alexander''s gaze- her glorious ass.
The unblemished, fat piece of meat was no longer the previous wless white, but the brutal spanking had dyed it with a red hue and Alexander could even see tiny blisters under her skin, as a turbid puddle of holy nectar and white goo pooled around herher region, her petals and inner thighs decorated with crusts of white dried nks of his essence.
This erotic scenery once again reminded him of the magnificent time he had with this hot piece of ass, how he had kneaded it, how he had spanked it, how he had abused it, and how it made Cambyses sing the mostscivious songs and his hands could not resist coping a feel again.
"*Squeeze*," Alexander relished in the springy, bouncy feeling as memories and sensual sensations came flooding back and his little brother urged him to start his morning exercise.
"Master, mmnnn," Cambyses cooed in her sleep as the pleasurable stinging sensation appeared again and she unconsciously started drooling down there.
This siren''s call made Alexander feel getting up in the morning was bing exponentially more difficult as he resisted the urge to just pound the sexy subus here and now.
But just like yesterday hempooned how reality got in the way of his whims and fantasy and so, with a yful,"*Spank*, naught ve," he got up.
He covered Cambyses with a nearby nket as it was getting a little nippy and then refreshed and dressed himself, ready to take on the long day.
Alexander came out of the cozy tent, being immediately sted with the chilly, moist gust of the approaching winter and after giving Hemicus the same order he had given yesterday, to go get Mean, he made his way to themand tent, escorted by a guard who held a primitive umbre or more urately a parasol above him.
Soon, the five leaders representing their individual mercenary groups and Menes now representing the Cantagenans gave attendance in front of Alexander and submitted their written report, detailing the condition of their respective groups.
"Hmmm, the numbers are as bad as I thought," Alexander sighed loudly after viewing the parchments, making the others cast a gloomy shadow on their faces and silently agree with this assessment.
Seeing this, Alexander did not choose to sugarcoat the matter to boost morale.
He had always believed instead of lying and beingforted with made-up statistics, it was better for the higher-ups to confront the truth so that they can better prepare for the future, "I will now read aloud thebined report, so all of you can get aplete picture of the situation." he stated.
He then spoke, "The losses for the first battle are as follows: First the Cantagenans- They started the war with neen thousand (19,000) infantry, five thousand (5,000) archers, and six thousand (6,000) cavalry."
"In the first battle their losses were catastrophic, their entire cavalry and sixteen thousand (16,000) infantry and archers were lost. So, they lost twenty-two thousand (22,000) in that fight." He calcted.
"Moving on to Damious- They started the war with seven thousand (7,000) infantry, Heh, so much for the leader of a ten thousand mercenary team." Alexander could not help but taunt thete mercenary leader who usually called himself such mostly as an advertisement strategy.
But he quickly returned to track, "Anyways, in the first battle he lost two thousand five hundred (2,500) as killed or wounded."
"Afterwards, Alcmene had three thousand (3,000) and lost a thousand (1,000), Regias had three and a half thousand (3,500) and lost a thousand (1,000), Meniscus with two and a half thousand (2,500) suffered five hundred (500) casualties, Petricuno with two thousand (2,000) lost five hundred (500), Melodias with a thousand (1,000) men had seven hundred and fifty (750) killed or wounded and then, atst, I had thirteen hundred (1,300) men and lost four hundred (400)." Alexander finished.
"The Cantagenans suffered so much in the first battle. I wonder why?" Petricuno asked puzzled, a frown decorating his forehead.
Alexander quickly gave the answer, "The reason for the Cantagenans suffering such a hugely disproportionate number of casualties was because, one" he raised his thumb, "they were much less trained and much less experienced than us, so they were less disciplined and broke formation too quickly. And two" Alexander said raising his index finger, "the more important reason being they were in the middle section of the army which was most hit hard by both the fleeing cavalry and the Adhanian slingers, absorbing the bulk of the damage."
"Yeah, those poor guys were indeed unlucky," Heliptos had a tinge of sympathy for the innocent conscripts.
''Oh, the greedy pig has actually a heart?'' Alexander thought in surprise as he was reminded that humans were not cupboard cutouts of just one trait.
"Heh, better them than us," Menicus''s gruff unfeeling sneer countered Heliptos.
Alexander here refocused his attention on the data and decided to tally up the results for everyone''s convenience, "So, in summary, we had fifty thousand (50,000) at the start and lost twenty-eight thousand five hundred (28,500)."
"Amazing,mander!" Melodias let out an abrupt cry of disbelief at the speed Alexander was able to give such a precise number.
"Huh?" Alexander looked confused at the sudden, out-of-nowhere praise.
"Hehe, only someone blessed can do suchplex calctions so quickly," Menicus smiled and agreed.
''Oh, I forgot these bumpkins can probably at best only identify and copy numbers. Simple mental arithmetic is considered advanced calculus to them,'' Alexander had an undeserved, smug feeling rise up in his heart.
Though his inherent advantagey in his advanced learning thanks mostly only due to living in the right time, Alexander did quite like being praised for his intellect.
It was a vain feeling, but even Alexander was human and not immune to such ttery.
But he kept the fa?ade of a professional poker face and continued, "Now, for the second battle: "Cantagenans had eight thousand (8,000) remaining, of which two thousand (2,000) were wounded and unable to participate, so six thousand (6,000) were killed."
"Damious retreated with two and a half thousand (2,500) after losing two thousand (2,000). Alcmene lost one thousand and five hundred (1,500), Regias suffered two thousand (2,000) men as casualties, while five hundred (500) men from each of their camps chose not to follow them. And atst my camp lost around a hundred (100) men."
Alexander then looked up to see the silent dark faces and continued,
"So to tally up, the second battle had around fourteen thousand (14,000) men and about two thousand five hundred (2.500) survived. *Sigh*, almost five out of every six men died." Alexander could not helpmpoon at the imprudent attack, though in the long run, he was its greatest beneficiary.
The others too took some time digesting the horrifying losses and Menicus joined in with Alexander''s sigh, "Haaahhh, these numbers are really something. In my thirty-five years of fighting. I have heard of such numbers but never seen them."
"Out of the fifty thousand, we lost forty thousand. Those Adhanian bastards really showed us," Melodias cussed with clenched fists, both praising and cursing his opponent, a sentiment seemingly shared by all in the tent.
Alexander too felt a bit surreal announcing these numbers aloud, being even a bit bbergasted at their eighty percent loss rate.
Even though he had mentally made simr projections, it was still arge shock for him to witness the loss of forty thousand souls within a span of a few hours.
Even in Alexander''s previous life, where countries possessed weapons of far greater lethality, such huge losses within such a small time frame were almost unheard of.
But Alexander did not let his mind wander for too long as his eyes regained their sharp focus and said, "So to recap, we have, counting the wounded, around ten thousand troops in total left.
Heliptos has- Two thousand five hundred (2,500).
Petricuno has- One thousand five hundred (1,500).
Menicus has- Two thousand (2,000).
Regias and Alcmene mercenaries have- Five hundred (500) each.
Melodias has- Two hundred and fifty (250).
And I have - Three thousand (3,000)."
Alexander counted the Cantagenans as his own.
This raw number was known to many, so they only nodded, though some had a tinge of pain in their heart as Alexander, who was already so popr, at least on paper have the highest number of troops.
They had all assumed the Cantagenans were at most a thousand men and even then most were wounded, but with two thousand of them, even if only fifty percent of them werebat worthy, it was still arge number.
A few leadersmpooned that if they had known this earlier, they would have split the Cantagenans among themselves, and now could only console themselves by saying these green conscripts were no match for their veteran troops.
Chapter 88 Food And Route
Alexander was not aware of the salt inside some of the leader''s hearts, not that he would have cared anyway even if he knew.
He had somewhat predicted this, but he had already eaten it, and there was no way he was gonna spit it out.
So, what if some of them were a bit sour in heart?
What could the leaders realistically do to him anyway?
Nothing!
Done with delivering the unpleasant report, Alexander felt he should give some good news as he then shuffled some parchment over andmented, "On a cheerier note, our food situation seems to have improved. It''s now quite good."
"Hmm, let''s see," Alexander confirmed the numbers on the parchment and said, "We have managed to collect about four hundred tons of horse meat from roughly two thousand dead horses. That should be enough tost four-five weeks."
The report that the leaders gave him also contained ves and pack animals that too needed to be fed, which Alexander took note of, particrly therge number of Cantagenan ves and servants but did not loudly announce their numbers.
Alexander arrived at the four-five week number by estimating that the ten thousand men and the various ves servants would get about one kilogram of meat a day.
p "Hmm, eating so much meat for so many days¡that''s.." Melodias frowned a bit.
Even these ancient people knew such a meat-heavy diet was certainly not healthy.
It was devoid of any carbohydrates like grains and vitamins from any fruits and vegetables, and would likely cause constipation and even scurvy.
"Thank the stars you are not starving, brat," Menicus scolded Melodias, unhappy at this nit-picking.
"That''s right, It is because of the divine knowledge frommander that we have escaped hunger and starvation. You are being too greedy, leader Menicus," Heliptos enthusiastically joined Menicus berating Melodias.
"Yes, yes, my bad." Melodias, being the mild-tempered man he was, quickly backed down.
"We do have some grain," Alexander interjected the lively discussion, "But, I have decided to feed it to the animals instead."
"Commander is prudent. We very much need those animals and they cannot eat meat. They should get the grain," Petricuno remarked at the correct decision.
Others too had looks of approval at the decision.
Alexander here added, "But do not worry, all of you will get grains in your meals. We can spare a bit and your health is very important for the proper functioning of the army."
"Haha,mander is truly the best," Heliptos let out augh of genuine praise at this good news and many others followed.
But one Melodiasmented, "*Sigh*, if only we had carried more grain at the beginning," which drew simr sympathetic sighs from others.
Alexander noticed that Melodias, the usually carefree spirit was somewhat agitated and nit-picking today, so he joked, "Leader Melodias, you seem to be in a bad mood today. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed today? Hahaha,"
Others too joined him, which produced a slight flush on Melodias''s face as he nervouslyughed Alexander off, "N..nomander, it''s nothing, ha..haha..ha, it''s nothing," He repeated to emphasize.
Though Alexander could clearly sense something was definitely the matter, as if Melodias was holding back something.
But he chose to respect Melodias''s privacy and not pry.
Instead, his mind floated to ask the question, ''Why did we have such an acute shortage of grain?''
And the answer was ''Because we did not carry much in the first ce.''
The reason for this on the surface bad nning was because the goal of this campaign was to take advantage of the royal coup in Adhan and enter the capital at lightning speed and thus reinforce the weaker Ptolomy, who had prayed for the alliance''s intervention for massivend and wealth concessions.
To achieve this great speed, Agapios had, rightly, in favor of speed and maneuverability, discarded anyrge supply lines, instead choosing to carry just five days of rations and deciding to forage and steal from the local popce to make up for any shortages.
But Agapios had grossly misjudged the severity of the drought Adhania was facing and quickly ran out of food.
His only saving grace was that at the very start he had managed to sack the prosperous port of Acme, which- being a major trade and supply hub hadrge stores of grain hordes by the rich merchants and local nobility, rich merchants and local nobility who Agapios had promptly ughtered and relieved them of their possession,
That grain had tidied them over till now, but Alexandermpooned how even that stock was running critically low.
But he knew there was little point moping about it, but instead chose to return his focus to the meeting and addressed, "Fellow leaders, the grain situation is bad, but we can survive. One tiny silver lining of losing forty thousand men in one day is that we now have much less mouth to feed." He stated in a schadenfreude tone, which made the others draw rueful smiles.
Alexander then advised, "I hope each of you will try to reduce the number of mouths even more. Especially the female ves and servants, who are of little value now, and will only slow us down."
"In my case, I have noticed Cantagenans bought a huge number of ves and servants, and I intend to let go of most of them, as they are nothing but a burden now. And I hope all of you can follow." Alexander issued a heartlessmand.
And Alexander''s loyal follower Heliptos agreed immediately, "I agree,mander. I will keep the bare minimum, and dismiss all the extra freeloaders."
Though the others gave an anemic response as they were not keen on discarding their ves.
In reality, this was not because they disagreed with Alexander, but because mercenaries typically contained no or very few nonbat participants and almost everyone in there had a role to fill.
For example, taking Alexander''s case, he was both a squad captain and a ve under Nestoras.
Mean was Cambyses- the leader''s daughter''s ve, and a skilled medical staff by her own right, in addition to being also proficient in household chores.
The various female ves present were also needed to maintain the proper working of the group, from cooking, to sewing, to cleaning.
Many female ves also helped relieve stress, particrly for the captains and the leader.
Like Gelene was Octavius''s exclusive ve but she had also asionally served Nestoras before his groin infection.
Alexander had even seen the father-son duo in a devil''s threesome with her, which inwardly disgusted him, not particrly by the act, but by the incestuous nature of it.
Next Melodias reported a second good news, "Commander, my scouts have reportedly found a viable route to Acme. A few locals seem to have given them simr directions."
This brought some much-needed cheer into everyone''s hearts as they felt flight was still possible.
"Good, assign those riders double the food rations today," Alexander decided to reward the scouts.
He also noticed Heliptos''s face droop low in shame, clearly indicating he had failed in his promise to find any guides among the Cantagenans.
Petricuno did not let go of this opportunity and taunted, "Leader Heliptos, how about you? Hehe, any luck?", which only managed to draw a cold, freezing look from the greedy mercenary.
Noticing his own faction''s man in a dilemma, Alexander here decided to help him out a bit, "Leader Heliptos, you have only looked at the soldiers, Also remember to check the servants and ves. Some of them are very capable and likely held significant positions before."
Being helped out of his predicament, Heliptos immediately praised him, albeit a bit exaggeratedly, "Thank youmander for your sagacious advice," he loudly proimed.
All present men observed, recorded, and analyzed this little exchange, and each drew their individual conclusion.
But Alexander himself ignored this bootlicking and issued further orders, "Leader Melodias, remember to not just scouts south. Send scouts also north. Thend bridge to Cantagena is up north."
They had previouslye via south,nding and taking Acme, and now, because they were unfamiliar with the terrain, they intended to return via the same route, hoping to catch or steal ships from Acme or its nearby cities and then sail to Cantagena.
"Commander, are you thinking of going north?" Petricuno eximed in surprise and a little afraid.
The north of Adhania was very treacherous, full of marshes, and rocky terrains, and around winter like now, prone to massive snowstorms.
It was not a nice ce to march to.
But Alexander alleviated the panicked mercenary, "Rest assured, Perticuno, if nothing changes we will surely march south. But the south is a penins and I don''t like the idea of being trapped in a foreignnd surrounded on three sides by the sea. So, the northern route is just a precaution."
He then revealed his fears, "Remember, we sacked Acme just two weeks ago and I am afraid of the number of ships we will find there or around there."
This cold analysis bought the leaders back to reality as they began to ruminate that maybe just reaching Acme will not achieve salvation.
"Is thismander''s intuition?" Menicus asked cautiously.
''If he was right about thest battle, what''s stopping him from being right a second time,'' The veteran mercenary thought prudently.
"Haha, I just want to keep my options open. It even could be Adhania is waiting with an army up north, waiting to catch us off guard as we march south, haha." Alexander chuckled at the unlikely hypothetical scenario.
"Okay,mander, I will send half of them today north," Melodias was convinced by Alexander''s reason.
Chapter 89 Reorganizing The Command Structure
Alexander was pleased by Melodias''s quick consent and so about to move on to another topic, when suddenly his eyes caught a small detail missing from one of the reports, the one from Menes.
The ck giant had stood beside Alexander like a towering, granite statue, unmoving and mute the entire time, as if trying to make himself one with the air.
"Menes, there''s no report of the number of animals the Cantagenans have. Why?" Alexander gently inquired.
"Commander, the Cantagenans have too many animals and no one knows the exact number. I had assigned a few people to count them, but they could not finish in time." Menes sinctly exined.
Then he promised, "I will give the numbers by today afternoon."
"Okay, have it by lunch," Alexander said understandingly.
Right then, Melodias piped, "Commander, I know the rough numbers."
"Oh, how?" Menes quickly jumped in between, a bit shocked that someone else had finished the work assigned to him.
"Hehe, captain Menes, let me first apologize. You were unable to find anyone who knew the number of animals likely because of me."
Then Melodias expounded, "You see, after themander had ordered the formation of a scouting regiment, I went to the Cantagenan camp and chose the appropriate horses. But I also had recruited the horse trainers there because they were skilled riders themselves, much better than my own men. Hehe, sorry."
"I understand," Menes, the usually quiet man, replied tly.
"So, what''s the number? Don''t be shy." The ever-impatient Petricuno''s rough voice echoed.
"Ahem," Clearing his throat, Melodias reported, "We have about three thousand pack animals, with one thousand five hundred horses and mules each. "
"So, much?" Alexander eximed.
He did not really have a first- hand experience managing logistics at such a huge scale before and was truly surprised by the numbers.
He had assumed they would have at most a thousand animals.
The reason for this discrepancy was because he had assumed the Cantagenans to be like the mercenaries, lean and mean with their supply lines and opting for soldiers to carry most of their own baggage and not be so wasteful.
But he was wrong.
"Why do we have so many horses?" Menicus asked puzzled.
This point had also been noticed by others who were simrly confused by the disproportionate number of horses present.
Horses were usually too precious to be used as pack animals and usually would carry less weight while eating more grain.
So, using them as beasts of burden was certainly an abnormality.
Melodias himself had this very question and also got the answer, "Because the Sycarian cavalry had bought extra horses with them and had even used some of their war horses as pack animals. The original number of pack animals is said to have been close to seven thousand."
"They reced the mules for horses, beasts who can both fight and pull. Impressive," Menicus, even with all the years under his belt was impressed by this move.
But impressive or not, this new number possessed a dilemma for Alexander, who was now faced with the unique problem of having excess horses and mules.
Usually having excess beasts was a very good thing, but now, it caused Alexander to frown, "Hmm, we don''t need so many animals, We also don''t have the grains to feed them."
"We also don''t need more meat now."Heliptos reminded.
"Hmmm," Alexander hummed as he stroked his chin,
And then, as if he found a solution asked, "Melodias, how many scouts do you have?" He wanted an exact number.
"One hundred and six," Came Melodias''s almost memorized reply.
Alexander then closed his eyes, did some math, and said opening his eyes, "Okay, here''s what we will do."
He issued the order, "Every ten men will be given a horse to pull their cart. After we let go of excess ves and the wounded who cannot march, we will have at best twelve thousand men with us. And that''s a high estimate. So that''s twelve hundred horses."
Alexander then looked around to see if everyone was still following and was greeted with faces that seemed amazed at the simple mental math.
Seeing everyone was still paying attention, Alexander continued, "Two hundred will be made into scouts and cavalry. Does anyone have experiencemanding cavalry?"
He looked expectantly around at the leaders, only to be disappointed with shaking heads.
Although such was to be expected.
Horses were supremely expensive to breed, grow and maintain, and thus any cavalry was far out of the financial capabilities of most mercenaries.
Many only had a few exclusive horses for their higher-ups and to send messengers over vast distances.
Although Alexander was a bit disheartened at this, he immediately thought of a way to exploit this great opportunity.
"Ahem, I remember Meldias saying he had taken some Cantagenan horse trainers as scouts. They should know a thing about cavalry tactics. Please have them teach us how to effectively use them." Alexander cunningly said.
"That''s a great idea,mander." Melodias grinned at this idea.
Then Alexander unveiled his trap, "Yes, Menes reported to me there were a few Sycarian servants within the Cantagenan ranks. You should all know the fame of Sycarians cavalry. These people learn to ride before they are weaned. So, please those instructors to me." Alexander said with a big grin.
Everyone could see Alexander was about to form his exclusive cavalry corp, and though they wanted to stop him, they could do little to stop him.
After all, it was them that gave Alexander the Cantagenans, thinking they were not worth the trouble.
So Melodias, with an ufortable "Okay," gave in.
But Alexander did not simply swallow the whole pie and said, "The twelve hundred horses will be used both as pack animals and for battles. So, each leader must send two hundred people each to learn cavalry tactics by breakfast. Yes, even you two," Alexander said, looking at the new Alcmene and Regias mercenaries.
"Ohh, thank you,mander," Their faces lit up like the Christmas tree as both of them understood how lucky it was for them to have equal quotas as the other big groups.
Though in reality, Alexander did it because he did not want to give more cavalry to the other, much stronger mercenary leaders and enable them to oppose him.
The other mercenary leaders were too pleased with the suggestion, as being able tomand any cavalry was almost the modern equivalent of being the captain of an aircraft carrier strike group or bing the head of the special forces, the sign of a true elite.
"Haha, If it''s themander, I am sure he can make the finest cavalry. I will give you two hundred of my finest men," Petricuno''s glee was practically overflowing, which was also an urate representation of the other leaders'' feelings.
"Themander''s ns are as deep as the oceans," Heliptos praised.
"Having fourteen hundred cavalry will enormously boost our strength," Menicus analyzed with a smug smile.
This sentence suddenly reminded Melodias of the horses Alexander had left out,
"Oh, Commander, what about the remaining hundred?" He asked, curious.
"Yes, yes, I have not forgotten them, I have just decided to use them for something different." Alexander smiled.
This enigmatic smile made all the others look at him with held breath, so he started, "You see, when I was in the front lines, my captain was with me too. And in the middle of the battle, something had caused him to lose concentration and it got thirty-three of my brothers killed."
"That incident kept haunting me in the past few days as I kept asking myself, ''What could have been done differently to make my captain keep his cool?'' And then, yesterday, I came to the answer," Alexander paused to take a breath.
Then continued, "I understood that phnx captains are too vulnerable at the front. They are easy to spot, with them constantly yellingmands and if they are killed, it causes chaos in the ranks."
"Even if there''s an assistant to take over, sometimes it''s not clear if themander is dead or wounded. All the soldiers also will not immediately know that theirmander is dead andmand has been passed on to a different person. So they might be confused by receiving orders from someone else. Worse still, there''s a possibility that even if themander is wounded he might be able to still fight or issuemands."
"Such nuances can be very hard to determine in the middle of the battle. and thus can lead to either assistant not picking up themand quickly enough, or picking it up too quickly, resulting in the phnx being issued two different, many times contradictorymands."
Alexander then brought his hands in front of his face, interlocking the fingers together, and said, "So, to protect them, from now on, all phnx captains willmand from the back. And so that they can have a better view of the surroundings, they will all ride atop horses."
After Alexander finished his speech a silence settled in the tent for a while, which was broken by a joyous cry of Heliptos, "Sage! Commander, you are a sage!"
The mercenary''s body was literally shaking with excitement as his eyes shot up in happiness and a huge smile formed on his face.
"Hmm, Alexander, I never believed that im about you being a god." Menicus had an unusual seriousness to his voice. "But, after interacting with you, with the way you speak, with the way you think- unrestrained by convention, and with the way you carry yourself, I am forced to rethink my stance."
The veteran mercenary had a strange glow in his eyes as he gazed at Alexander with a profound gaze.
Chapter 90 New Cavalry Units
Alexander was quite genuinely surprised by this sudden turn of seriousness among the leaders.
He did not think his idea was not too radical or revolutionary, as he had copied it from the Romans.
So, he tried to y down his brilliance: "Leader Menicus is too kind. But I am just a humble, ordinary mercenary." Alexander shed a shy smile.
"*Shake*, no." Menicus shook his white-haired head. "You are humble, I will give you that. But you are the furthest thing from ordinary."
Then without giving Alexander a chance to stop him, Menicus continued, "In my thirty-five years as a mercenary, I have seen and met many people. I have even met some Cantagenan senators. But people like you, with your kind of intellect, I can count them on one hand. And those were all old veterans."
Then he kept on going, "And this is all the more impressive when considering your backstory. How could a ve from a tiny mercenary group, with no ess to proper education be so erudite?"
Menicus then cryptically finished, "Such thoughts are worth thinking over."
To Alexander, it seemed the old man was saying this not to others but to himself.
''Are all old men so scary?'' Alexandermpooned as he felt a simr feeling from Menicus as he did from Aristotle.
Their power of observation and making a solid conjecture based on that observation was frightening.
"Haha, I have always known themander was special from the day I met him. I believe without a doubt he is Gaia''s chosen." This time was Menes, who could not hold his silence when it came to praising Alexander.
"Commander is singr. My previous leader would just bark orders if he wanted something done. But themander takes the time to patiently exin the reason for hismand before issuing it. He treats us like actual humans," Heliptos too praised him from the bottom of his heart.
The other two leaders were also nodding in concert, while Melodias was silently staring nkly at Alexander as if his mind was lost in some deep thought.
''I have made up my mind,'' Melodias clenched his sweaty palm as he spoke in his mind, like he had reached a pivotal decision.
But, then, Petricuno spoke up to point out a potential problem of Alexander''s newmand, "Commander, if the phnx captains are not the in the front line, sharing life and death with the soldiers, I fear morale will decrease. Many soldiers might feel discontent at the captain''s rtive safetypared to them."
"That...Petricuno with the captain safe, naturally he can better maneuver the formation and thus keep the phnx safe." Heliptos hurriedly jumped to defend Alexander.
"But, the captain might alsounch reckless attacks," Petricuno argued.
Here Alexander decided to intervene and stop this from bing a debate, "Petricuno has made some excellent points." He praised.
''Oh, here ites..'' This thought shed inside many minds as they had understood a bit of Alexander''s speech pattern by now and sensed a rebuke of Petricuno wasing.
But surprisingly there was no rebuke as Alexander instead suggested, "Let''s do some military drills. I''m sure the soldiers are bored in their tents anyway. Have one side lead the traditional way and another my way. Then you can decide."
Alexander finished with a smug smile as he was confident about the results.
"Thar''s right. Let''s do a full-scale exercise. It''s always prudent to test new formations before using them in battle." Menicus readily agreed.
"Yeah, my soldiers are just sitting idle. A bit of exercise will be good for them," Heliptos was excited to try this novel approach.
"Good, then let us meet in the clearing once the rain stops," Petricuno decided,
Then thinking the meeting was over, seemed ready to say his goodbyes.
But, "Ahem" Alexander then coughed a bit to tug their attention back to him, "Fellow leaders. I am not done yet."
He announced, "We have around ten thousand men. With each phnx being around two hundred and fifty strong, that means we will have forty captains and need forty horses."
"Also each of their heralds will be given a horse so they can quickly deliver messages. I have found that delivering messages running on foot is too slow. Many times it takes so much time that the captain finds the situation haspletely changed so that the previous order is no longer valid."
Atst, Alexander added, "The remaining twenty horses will be used by the stratos (thousand-man leader) and their heralds. Ten stratos and ten heralds- so twenty horses."
Alexander did not count horses for the leaders and their heralds because all of them already had a few horses with them from the start.
"So that''s where the number hundred came from," Heliptos, who was illiterate, was amazed by how Alexander was able tobine seemingly random numbers to get a nice whole one.
"Haha, to assign horses to even heralds. We sure are being generous," Petricuno had a good-naturedugh at their extravagance.
"Leader Petricuno, with all our recent misfortunes, we have earned this. Don''t be a killjoy! Rejoice, haha, rejoice," Heliptos boisterouslyughed.
"Yeah, I guess you are right. Who knows when we will get a chance like this again," Petricuno formed a reluctant, rueful smile.
If they were not in such trouble, such extravagance would have called for celebrations.
"Hehe, it seems themander had thought of everything," Atst, after a long time of silence. Melodias opened his mouth.
"Almost," Alexander lightly smiled, "There''s still the matter of how to deal with the mules."
"What does themander n to do?" Heliptos understood that since Alexander had bought it up, he must have already thought of something.
"If no one has any objections I would like to give them to the ves we will leave behind. I do feel bad about just leaving in such a ce."
Alexander really did feel sorry for them.
But what could he do?
This dire situation called for such actions.
"Sure, we have no problem," Menicus consented on behalf of everyone else.
After all, they could not carry them, had no one to sell those to, and had no need for their meat.
After Menicus finished, a sweet, sugary, sycophantic voice floated into the tent, "Commander has a kind heart. As expected of a divine being, full of benevolence."
This sentence was not uttered by Heliptos as one might expect, but by Melodias!
''What has gone into Melodias today?'' Alexander asked himself.
And such simr questions were also asked by the surrounding others, who all gave Melodias a weird look.
But Melodias seemed disinterested to exin himself.
And so Alexander decided to ignore it and chose to ask about thest topic of the day.
"So, thest topic how''s it going with the. re-possession of the Cantagenan properties. How much have we got?" Alexander asked with a bit of eagerness mixed in his voice.
After all, he too was looking forward to therge loot
"We are still counting, but conservative estimates put the total numbers at around a hundred million tustas." Menicus had a very happy undertone to his voice.
"Oh, that much!" Heliptos felt his greed rise. Divided five ways it was twenty million for him.
Enough for his two thousand mercenaries tost for about half a year.
"So, how much is it in coins?" Alexander suspected most of this value was in stuff like leftover clothes, carpets, tents, small gold ornaments, cooking pots, etc.
Otherwise, if Samaras had so much cash, he would have already paid them some coin to get them to join the second battle.
And this suspicion was proved true, as Menicus said, "We have found both ropals and tustas. Tustas are about only twenty million. Ropals..which we took from Acme....well when converted to tustas, would make around another twenty-twenty-five million."
"Those bastards never intended to pay us in the first ce," Petricuno cursed aloud.
Twenty million tustas divided by twenty thousand mercenaries was one thousand tustas per person.
While Cantagena owed them five thousand tustas each as two months of unpaid wages.
Even when only counting the ten thousand mercenaries, it was still not even a month''s pay.
And even when Damious, with his five thousand alive troops, had forced Samaras to hand it all over, Samaras still was five million tustas short.
"It seems the Cantagenans have gone as poor as a temple''s mouse," Menicus sighed, adding, "Thesos will not be peaceful."
The veteran mercenary had the vision to understand that Cantagena would not have such an act that tarnishes their reputation so much if they were not desperate.
And with their current loss in Adhania, this desperation will turn into weakness.
And when a superpower bes weak, the states under its influence will start getting ideas of their own.
Treaties will be broken, new alliances will be made as client states seek out new protectors and war and hunger will spread as the big tries to eat the small to get bigger and stronger, while the small might try to bite a chunk of the big to get bigger and stronger itself.
All this biting and ripping will soon cause bleeding and then the sharks wille smelling the blood.
And this is especially true if that shark is called Exs.
Alexander, whocked the proper geopolitical knowledge did not understand Menicus''sst sentence, but he had little time to pay attention to such cryptic sayings anyway.
Because, he was instead busy calcting how much stuff would he realistically be able to carry, and how much he would have to leave behind as ten thousand men carrying the stuff of fifty thousand men would create such a huge baggage train that it was in no way feasible.
He would have to pick and choose what to carry and what to leave behind.
Chapter 91 Quartermaster Theocles
Alexander did not let the slight problem of over encumbrance let his stump him for long, as he soon came up with a way to maximize his cargo-carrying capacity.
But for now, he kept that to himself.
And addressed, "Well, I guess that wraps it up for today. Please try toplete the possession and tally of the Cantagenan treasures by today." And as onest note, I know that morale is kinda low. So, I hope leaders can pay some of the soldiers'' dues from the Cantagenan loot."
Quickly, Alexander then offered apromise, "If you are unable to pay them for the full two months, then give them at least a month''s pay. And if you are unable to offer it in coin, pay them with goods."
"Themander makes a good point. I will do it," Petricuno seriously nodded at the genuine advice.
"Hehe, the soldiers have no idea what a magnificentmander they have got," Heliptos ttered.
So, having covered almost all the topics he wanted to, Alexander finished, "Well, then here''s the summary of today''s meeting,"
"One- Melodias will send his scouts north, Ohhh, and don''t forget the double rations for those who got us the Acme route," Alexander again reminded.
"Two- Melodias will give re-assign the Cantagenan horse trainers to me."
"Three- Each group will send two hundred men for cavalry practice."
"Four- We will try toy off excess ves"
"Five- We will try to finish the loot collection by today."
"And six- We will have drills to test out the newmand structure."
"Ohh," Alexander eximed, seeming to remember something, "The rains have yet to stop huh?" Alexander looked out through his tent ps to see that the rain had not only subsisted but also seemed to have even increased its intensity.
"The soldiers might get sick in this rain," Petricuno chimed in caution.
But Alexander was not fazed, "Hmmp, the drills will ur whether the rain subsides or not. If our soldiers are afraid of a bit of water, then how are they gonna stand up to swords and arrows?"
He thenmanded with gusto, "Leaders, other than Melodias will gather five hundred of their troops by lunch. All of you are to obtain your horses by then."
"And, since the soldiers will work hard today, assign them double the portions. We have the meat and I doubt any willin after getting to eat so much meat in one day."
"Okay,mander." A chorus reverberated.
"Then let us finish today. Thank you leaders, and see you tomorrow same ce same time," Alexander signaled the end of the long meeting.
But as some of them were about to exit, Alexander in a dramatic fashion cried out, "Ohh, I had almost forgotten."
"There''s this tiny thing. Minor really. You see, currently, each of the groups control their own logistics with their own quartermaster. This is very inefficient and wasteful."
"So, since we will be fighting together as one army, I was just thinking of making one centralized logistics core with one main quartermaster and two assistants."
"So, how about Theocles as the quartermaster and one assistant from Menicus and one from Heliptos?"
Alexander finished this long talk under one long breath.
The reason why he had decided to bring such an important topic, a topic he had described as a minor one, which it certainly was not, at such ate time was because of a negotiation technique he had learned from his previous life.
The idea was to make a long,plicated offer just at the end of a, preferably long discussion, just as when everyone, exhausted from the meeting was eager to get out and get refreshed.
This had the phycological effect of catching the opponent off guard most of the time as they are usually too distracted by their wanting for the meeting to just end.
And luckily for Alexander, it worked like a charm here, as Heliptos practically jumped in joy, "Yes, that''s an amazing idea,mander."
Menicus too did not contest Alexander''s proposal, as he found the idea good for the army and also thought Theocles, who he hadmunicated with several times before, was apetent man to get the post.
And though Petricuno wanted to, he understood that alone, he stood no chance and so bitterlyplied.
And thus, almost in a matter of moments, Alexander had managed to gain control over the food, medical, and wine supply of the camp.
He was ecstatic at the ease with which he had gained such massive control over his army and with a big smile saw the leaders off, "Esteemed leaders, please be careful on your way. And remember to use the rain to replenish your water supply."
Alexander then noticed that Melodias was having a hard time leaving the tent as if a strange force both kept pulling him into the tent and so pushing him out.
To Alexander, it was as if he was contemting whether to get out or stay.
But atst, the mercenary leader seemed to have made up his mind and after giving Alexander a deep gaze quickly strode out.
''He''s been acting so weird today.'' Alexandermented in confusion and then a weird thought prated his mind, ''Don''t tell me he''s in love with me,'' which sent goosebumps through his body.
Homosexuality wasmon in this era and many people he knew even regrly practiced it, to which Alexander was usually indifferent to.
But in no way did he swing that way and had absolutely no interest in that
But soon he cast away this ridiculous thought and thought about simply asking Melodias
if there was any problem and if he could help in any way,
But, chose to refrain at thest minute as Alexander felt he was not yet close enough to make such personal inquiries.
And so with this, themand tent became empty, save Menes who stayed behind.
But as soon as the leaders vacated, the tent space was again upied by Alexander''s own captains and a few new faces.
Along with the usual Camius, Theocles, and Pallidus, there was also Remus, Bartholomew, and a few more fresh faces.
They were all here to give their own reports or get new orders or both.
So Alexander took Menes and Pallidus''s report about the training of the Cantagenans and patiently heard the typical frustrations that usually apanied training green recruits- unruly, undisciplined, dumb, cowardly, the usual lot.
And after Alexander gave them the pep talk of- ''do your best'' and ''hang in there'' and ''be strict with the troops'', he chose to listen to his much-anticipated report- the report from Theocles.
He then listened to Theocles''s report about the progress of the Cantagenan looting and carefully cross-referenced with the numbers Menicus told him.
Thankfully the numbers were close enough.
Alexander also noticed the dark circles under Theocle''s eyes and joked, "Tough night?"
"Hehe, for twenty-five million tustas I could stay awake a week." The smell of the potential money seemed to have reenergized Theocles as although his body showed signs of fatigue, his spirit was high.
Also, ording to Theocles, the figure Menicus had given them of a hundred million tustas was too conservative. The much closer figure would be around hundred and twenty to hundred and thirty million.
But, Alexander did not hold this against Menicus as he did say the one hundred million was a conservative number.
Also, it had to be said that just a small initial difference in price assumption, something like only a few hundred tustas for something like a vase, can produce estimates differing by millions when the value of simr vases numbering by the tens of thousands is estimated.
Although Menicus could be underreporting the value and scheme to take the difference though Alexander chose to believe the former as there was no evidence of thetter.
"Hehe, they were up all night trying to finish the looting as soon as possible. They are still going at it now. Camius decided to tell Alexander some further interesting news.
Alexander simply smiled and praised, "You have done an enormous service for the group. Please continue your excellent work, Theocles."
"It is what I should do," Theocles humbly replied.
Then Alexander gave some good news, "You have secured veryrge funds for us, helping us in our most trying times. As such, in light of your massive contribution and dedication to the group, I have some very good news for you.
He then offered. "Congrattions. All the leaders today have decided to form a centralized logistics department that will control all the supplies of the army and they chose you as the quartermaster. Congralutions, *p*, *p*."
Following Alexander''s action, the whole tent also broke into thunderous apuse as many different versions of congrattions such as good job, nice and amazing were thrown at him.
Theocles was almost overwhelmed by the praise and he kneeled in front of Alexander and prayed, "I thank themander for giving me this chance in his infinite grace. I swear as long as I possess this body, I shall strive to serve you."
"Um, I will continue to rely on your patronage," Alexander almost imperiously replied.
But there was one person who was not so thrilled.
''If only I had been smart enough to switch sides quick enough,'' Pallidus thought, watching this disy with bitterness in his heart as dark, treacherous thoughts sshed in there.
But, unfortunately, Alexander was so high up and so powerful now that any schemes Pallidus could think off would likely appear less than trivial to him, and could be blown away with the easiest of ease.
''Who could have known that ve could have be this powerful in mere three days? What a monster! Dammit, why did I have to offend this cursed star." Pallidus sorely regretted his past action.
But as they, ''There''s no pill for regret,'' and Pallidus was finding that out first hand.
Chapter 92 New Promotions
Alexander finished dering Theocle''s new appointment and then warmed, "Remember, I will not tolerate any corruption or hiding supplies or any favoritism, not even towards us. I want you to always do what is best for the army. If the army needs something, you should be able to provide it."
It was unknown if Alexander was just saying it as a show in front of everybody or if he really meant it.
"I swear by the gods to upload my task to the highest degree of scrutiny," Theocles vowed.
"And I want you to get along with the two assistants that will be working for you, while also keeping them in line."
"I will not let them harm us," Theocle nodded.
"Umm, that''s your future job," Alexander then paused a bit before starting, "But now, your job is to get the best deal for us from the Cantagenan fortunes. I want you to get as many small, easy-to-carry valuables as you can. Our baggage train will not be able to carry much bulky things."
"I will ..try," Theoclees said this sentence with a bit of difficulty,
Because everyone faced the same problem and so everyone wanted the same things.
"Um, do your best."
Then with a nod, Alexander turned to Menes, "Your report said we have five thousand Cantagenan servants and ves- from ordinary cooks, cleaners and washers, to artisan jobs like cksmiths, armorers and bookkeepers, right?"
"That''s right,mander," The giant nodded.
"Good. Your job today is to recruit the two thousand male servants and ves. But if they have artisan skills like the ones I mentioned, they don''t need to join. They are far more useful maintaining the army than fighting."
"As the remaining three thousand are women- we don''t need them. Tomorrow¡no day after tomorrow, we will make them leave the camp. It is cruel but such is reality, *sigh*." Alexander let out a heavy breath of regret
"Commander, some of the women are married," Camius chirped, implying Alexander''smand would throw out the wives of some of the men he wanted to recruit.
"They can stay." Alexander gave the exception. "But, use today and tomorrow to properly vet who are truly married and who are just saying it stay in the camp." He ordered.
"Them, it would be prudent to keep this news secret," Camius spoke out aloud as if reminding those there to watch their tongue.
"Okay, so Camius will be responsive for gathering the men. He will do it by today. And Menes will organize and oversee the training of all Cantagenan recruits." Alexander gave clear instructions.
He then took water from a nearby pitcher and after killing his thirst, in a sober tone, addressed everyone, "Our group has changed unrecognizably just in thest three days. We have lost three of our most experienced captains, five hundred brothers, and even Nestoras- our dear leader."
"And in a twist of fate, we are now being tasked withmanding almost five thousand troops, along with two hundred cavalry."
Alexander then took a deep breath, "Thisrge increase of troops has produced challenges that will need the effort of strong,petent leaders to manage and ovee."
Alexander was basically saying he would now announce promotions and appoint new captains.
"So, first with our own group- we have around eight hundred men, mainly in the second, and the fifth phnx, while the third is gone, and the first and fourth are below strength."
"So, the second will be split in between the first and fourth, and the fifth will be renamed third." Alexander decided to break up Pallidus''s supporters, whom Pallidus led in the second phnx.
This was almost uneptable to Pallidus who could barely keep his tone steady, "Commander, I must protest. The below strength first and third could be merged to make one unit."
Pallidus made a very solid point, but Alexander was not doing this because of military reasons but political.
So heughed, "Stratos Pallidus, the first and thirds have lost their most valiant soldiers in battle. So they need soldiers from the second to teach them courage and bravery."
But Pallidus did not hear most of what Alexander had said as only one word kept buzzing inside his mind, ''Stratos'', ''Stratos'', ''Stratos''.
''I am stratos? Alexander promoted me?'' Pallidus thought incredulously, as he had written off any possible promotion under Alexander.
He would count himself lucky if Alexander did not demote him, which in fairness Alexander had a mind to, but was yet to find a suitable recement.
"Congrattion, stratos Pallidus, haha congrattions," Theocles patted him on the shoulder,ughing loudly.
Pallidus too shared the smile and then promptly bowed, "Thank you, Commander. I will lead the soldiers through heaven and hell for you,"
"At ease, We have five thousand troops to lead. We need people like you to lead the green Cantagenans to victory." Alexander smiled.
But only a few like Camius noticed the darkness in Alexander''s azure eyes.
''This is not a promotion, dumbass'' Camius cursed Pallidus in his heart.
"Commander our phnxes are about two fifty strong. So with three phnxes that still leaves fifty," The very clever Remus did not let the math deceive him.
"Haha," Alexander chuckled, "The excess will be under Menes. We should have some veterans to teach those greenhorn peasants."
"Thanks, I really needed the extra hand," Menes gratefully smiled.
Alexander then chose new captains for his group, "The first phnx captain will be Bartholomew, the second ¡the new second phnx captain will be Azmesh, and the third captain will be Ormoth."
These were people all close to him and Menes.
After these people thanked him with the usual titudes, Alexander announced new stratos, "The Cantagenans will be around three-four thousand, so that Menes will lead one thousand, Camius the other, and like I already mentioned Pallidus the other. Thest stratos will be chosen by me from the Cantagenans day after tomorrow,"
"Also I was to choose new captains for the Cantagenans tomorrow. That will be dyed to the day after. Every stratos are to choose eight candidates from which I will take four."
"And thest of all, Remus will be themander of the two hundred cavalry."
Alexander''sst statement produced an ufortable silence as many looked at one another, signaling and urging the other to object.
But Alexander''s prestige was so high most did not have the guts.
But atst, one brave soul, picked up the courage, "Commander, isn''t Remus too young," Menes expressed the group''s collective concern,
"That''s right,mander. I think captain Menes will be a much better pick," Even the sixteen-year-old Remus did not have confidence in him.
"Remus has never been to war, let alone lead others to one. cing him as the head of such a big, expensive cavalry unit is reckless." Pallidus did not hold back his criticism.
? ''You were so meek till now. And now, just because I gave you a small promotion, you returned to your usual state huh?'' Alexander sneered in his heart, happy that he will not have to rescind that order about framing Pallidus to Camius.
In face of the fierce protest, Alexander defended his decision, "Very few of us have the horse riding experience Remus has and none his talent."
This cooled everyone down a bit as they recalled Remus''s past.
He was an orphan in Zantralia, a city renowned for its livestock produce.
So from the age he could walk, he learned to herd sheep and cattle, either of nearby farms or those the orphanage kept.
Thus from an early life, he grew ustomed to riding ponies and horses, giving him an innate sense of control over the animal.
This was opposed to many others like Alexander and Menes, who as ves, had little practice with a horseparatively.
"Commander, perhaps Remus could join the cavalry for now and slowly be the leader as he umtes prestige. Horse riders, thinking the elites they are, are always very haughty." Camius also gave his advice, thinking his friend was not quite familiar with the temperament of many cavalrymen.
And there was a precedence to Camius''s words, as evidenced by the Sycarians acting independently to Agapios.
The concerns raised by Camius gave Alexander pause as he reconsidered his appointment.
He had only thought of the boy''s raw talent and skills and forgot to take into the innate hostility he would inevitably face.
But he was reluctant to rece Remus, because he believed the boy could shine very brightly in the cavalry corp.
So he stalled, "Hmmm, I agree all of you make some very good points,"
''But'' Camius seemed to telepathically know the next Alexander would say.
"But, the cavalry drills willst a few days. Let us judge Remus then based on his performance. If it''s not satisfactory we will choose a new captain." Alexander proposed
And as such everyone consented.
"Oh, Remus, I want your unit to prioritize practice throwing javelins, and not on spear charges." Alexander gave him the order, and then detailed, "The purpose of your unit is to be skirmishers, to harass and disturb the enemy and not necessarily engage and kill them."
"Okay,," Remus slightly bowed, his body a bit shaking during it.
This was because he was still a bit shocked by his new post.
A cavalry captain''s status was far above that of a regr phnx captain and neared that of a stratos.
And somehow he, who had never fought a battle in his battle was suddenly made into one.
He was first overwhelmed at the news, then excited at the prospect, and atst a bit afraid that he might not be able to live up to the expectations hismander and mentor had put on him.
''I must work hard,'' The boy said to himself with determination.
Chapter 93 Finally A Bit Of Wealth
"Okay, now for the most exciting part," Alexander then smiled enigmatically which made many wonder what could be more important than promotions.
Alexander began his speech, "We have not had any coin for thest two months. And so morale is running a bit low."
"But, as many of you know, by the grace of the gods we have managed to acquire some. So, I believe the soldiers deserve some." He lightly smiled.
"Themander is the best," Remus unable to hold his excitement loudly cheered and was joined by many others.
Alexander let the murmurs decrease and gave the exact numbers, "All eight hundred of will get our full pay, five thousand tustas, two thousand in coin, and three thousand in goods."
"Each ordinary soldier will also get an additional five thousand tustas as a gift from me," Alexander transformed the things he ''stole'' from the Cantagenans into presents, turning him from a thief to a phnthropist.
This made many cheer things like, "Themander''s heart is boundless like the sky," and "The soldiers shall drink to themander''s health."
"Now, for the higher-ups." Alexander lightly smiled and made many anticipate the numbers.
"The three captains will get an additional fifty thousand..."
"Ohhhohhh," Bartholow did not let Alexander finish and began cheering.
But Alexander raised his voice and pushed through,"..will get an additional fifty thousand tustas, five thousand in coin, rest in loot."
"And if Remus can be the captain, because he is so young and in the cavalry unit, he will get a hundred thousand tustas, with ten thousand in coin.
"I will try hard," Remus answered excitedly with steely determination.
Alexander then continued, "The three stratos will each get two hundred thousand tustas, twenty thousand in coin, rest in loot."
"Thanks," Camius casually smiled, not standing in grand ceremony with his friend.
"And atst, Theocles, who has managed to make the quartermaster of the army will get half a million tustas, fifty thousand as coin."
"I thank themander," Theocles deeply bowed.
"Um," Alexander hummed and then said, "I remember you telling me that the transfer will finish by today. So, I want everyone paid by the day after tomorrow. Work hard."
"Yes," Theocles nodded.
"So, I guess this concludes our meeting.." Alexander attempted to terminate the meeting.
But Camius interjected, "Commander, you have not announced a reward for yourself."
This made Alexander turn to Camius and give a light smile, conveying he was internally pleased by this.
In an effort to not appear greedy, he had intentionally omitted himself, even though he wanted a part of the loot.
So, he had hoped someone else would raise the issue by themselves.
And thankfully Camius, with his high observational skills did.
"Haha, I don''t need any reward. Working for the good of everyone is enough of a reward," Alexander attempted to turn down the offer with fake modesty.
"Hehe,mander is too humble. But if themander feels he needs no reward then I don''t need it too," Theocles announced.
"Yes, me neither,"
"None of us do,"
A chorus echoed.
"Okay, okay, I will take it." Alexander had a fake helpless tone to his voice.
And then he asked the all-important question, "But how much?"
Here Camius again took the lead, "Everyone, you should all be aware by now of all the things themander has done for us. So many that we can''t even begin to list them all down. Over thest ten years, he has produced miracles after miracles and we owe a debt to him we can never hope to repay."
"Yeah, he helped me get my freedom," Menes spoke up.
"His medicines cured so many of us," Theocles shouted.
"He saved my life," Remus chimed.
Camius looked around everyone, nodding his head, and then said, "I heard that the total worth will be tens of millions of tustas. I propose we give a quarter of everything to themander."
''Five million tustas!'' Alexander almost jumped in fright. He had assumed he would be able to at best fleech a million.
"Yeah, let''s give him even more. Let''s give half," Menes who had a bit less sense of money cheered for even more.
"Hehe, since one insisting then I will not be polite and take the quarter offer," Alexander had a sly smile on his face.
''I wonder how much of it was staged,'' Pallidus darkly remunerated.
"That''s great,mander. Besides you might need that money, given your new family, hahaha" Camius loudly joked which spread throughout the tent while Alexander cidly looked at Camius.
If it was anyone other than him, he would have been shoveling shit out of thetrine for the rest of his life.
But Camius had earned this privilege.
"Okay, then let''s finish today." Alexander again called for the meeting to end, again reiterating, "Remember everything that was discussed, and also, all military exercise and training will take ce, regardless of the rain or not. And today, because of the rain all soldiers participating in the exercise will get double rations."
"So again, congrattions to all the new captains and stratos. I pray all of you will strive and struggle to your utmost limit to help us stride through these difficult times And see you all tomorrow."
The crowd returned a "Have a good day,mander," and then all left, except Camius who Alexander specifically told to stay behind.
"Thanks for getting me at least five million tustas," Was the first time Alexander said to his spy, grinning ear to ear.
With this wealth, Alexander could afford to never work a single day in his life.
"Haha, you deserve every single copper of it," Camius returned the smile, "Without you, I would have died on that street."
This sentence made Alexander reminisce about the fateful meeting of this unlikely duo.
Years ago, Alexander with a few others was sent to the market for some grocery shopping. There he witnessed an altercation between a street hustler and a rich merchant, where the hustler was caught by the merchant''s guards and then promptly stabbed in the guts multiple times, before being left to bleed out on the streets.
That hustler was, as you have guessed- Camius.
Seeing no man had the slightest bit of intention in helping the criminal, and all were content to let him just die on the dirt road tugged at Alexander''s heart who quickly approached the bleeding man, used the water in his leather pouched to wash away the dust and grime around the wound and made a bandage over the wound with his own tunic.
Then he made his entourage carry the poor soul all the way to their camp, sew up his wounds, and feed and shelter him as he recovered.
All for free.
Such phnthropy was naturally not well received by the others, to say the least, and Alexander even got an earful from Nestoras, who made him do many extra chores.
Alexander also had to do even more chores to make up for the cost of Camius''s lodgings.
"Hmph, if I had met you now, I might not have saved you," Alexander was a lot more tender-hearted then, still holding on to some of the naiveties of his past life.
But his hard work did pay off as if not for Camius''s espionage, he would have likely died by their scheme.
"I would not have got caught now. As you should know," Camius smirked, meaning that the skills he use to spy for Alexander are the same skills he used as a street hustler.
Camius had been moved by the way Alexander cared for him and chose to join the mercenaries, one to pay back the medical bills and two to help Alexander.
"So, what''s new? Got any juicy news?" Alexander asked for his daily security report.
"Nothing interesting. I am still working on Pallidus though," Camius slouched back on the chair.
"These things take time. Be patient and don''t rush," Alexander advised.
"Yeah," Pausing Camius then said, "...yesterday the soldiers learned a few new stories about you, like how you don''t sleep and how you like all kinds of women."
''So, that''s what the family joke was about,'' Alexander''s mouth twitched a bit.
Then he finished the exchange, "Okay, I will not keep you any longer. You have a lot of things to do today and be careful not to catch a cold."
"*Nod*, see you tomorrow doc."
As Camius left, Alexander was greeted by a surprise guest who wished an audience with him- Menes.
"Any problem?" Alexander cut to the chase fearing something major has happened.
"No,mander everything is okay," Menes reassured and then got to his point, "Commander, I am actually here for a personal reason."
Here he paused to look at Alexander and then after calming himself down a bit said, "Commander, I heard Gelene is with you. Is it possible to give her to me?"
"Gelene?" Alexander was surprised by the mention of this unrted woman but soon connected the dots.
She and Menes were both owned by Octavius, who sometimes the ck woman to Menes to reward him.
He further remembered the woman saying ''how she made the strongest boy in the camp into a man."
Alexander suspected the giant fell in love then.
So with a light smile said, "Yes, it is possible to release her. But tell me do you love her or do you want her?"
"Huh, of course, I love her and want to be with her." Menes seemed to not understand the question.
He even further said, "Alexander, I would owe you for the rest of my life if I could have her."
''Oh, you poor man,'' Alexander ruefullymented at his friend.
Chapter 94 Meness Love And Alexanders Day
Alexander found himself in a bit of a pickle with the request made by Menes.
Because technically Gelene- the ebony beauty was not his, she was Cambyes''s, as he had promised the girl her freedom to own property.
Though it would be hard to exin this to Menes, who might think Alexander was just making excuses, as legally, in the eyes of thew, Gelene was Alexander''s property, as was Cambyses.
So, Alexander thought of a different n, "Menes, it seems you have not understood my question."
"When I meant was, do you love her so that you will respect her wishes and let her decide if she decided to be with you? Or will you keep her as a ve? A sex object to vent your lust?"
"I¡." Menes appeared stumped by the question as he asked himself, ''Do I want her as my willing wife or ve?''
Gelene was always ''nice'' to him, so up until now, he had assumed she would juste when he called her.
"You think if you free her from me, from very that she will be so grateful that she will just marry you, right?" Alexander hit Menes''s thought with pinpoint uracy, which made the giant speechless.
"Haah," Alexander sighed after looking at Menes, "As your friend let me tell you some things you were not privy to."
"Haven''t you wondered how I could know so many things about Octavius, things even you a close ve to him did not."
"Don''t tell me¡Gelene.." Menes seemed to understand where Alexander was going.
"*Nod*, yes," Alexander confirmed, "She has been working for me for quite some time. You can confirm it with Camius if you don''t believe it."
"And she in return for her spy¡ cooperation Gelene has asked for many things, things like the freedom to choose the men she sleeps with."
Alexander was telling Menes in a roundabout way that Gelene had chosen Alexander as her man and not Menes.
"*Plop*" Menes, understanding this clenched his fists so hard that a few of his knuckles popped.
He was devasted by this as one of the reasons for his acquisition of power was to free and then marry that girl who had so tenderly shown him the best night of his life.
So, right now he felt as if nothing else mattered.
Alexander noticing the mournful look on Menes''s face, a face that seemed to say that his heart just died, with great reluctance decided to extend a lifeline to him, "It seems you are truly in love with herm huh."
"*Sigh*, what kind of a friend would I be if I let you leave my tent with that face," Alexander said shaking his head exaggeratedly.
"Okay, you win. After we reach Cantagena, I will break my word to her and give her to you, if you should still desire her."
This made Menes feel torn about if he should be happy about getting his girl or sad and ashamed about making hismander, nay friend, break his word.
And luckily for Alexander, thetter won, as among the people of Theocles, keeping one''s words was seen as a sign of a human, and breaking it a sign of a breast.
? Menes would dly be a beast his love Gelene, but his heart could not bear to let his friend be one for him.
"Alexander¡you¡I," Menes stammered for a while as he found it hard to pronounce the correct words, but atst he regained hisposure and said, "No, as long as she is happy, I am happy."
As Menes said those brave words, Alexandre did not fail to notice the sadness in his tone.
''Ah, first loves. So bittersweet,'' Alexander ruefully thought.
But Menes was not done, "I hope you can treat her and her children fairly." He added as he was afraid that Cambyses, as Alexander''s main wife, might bully Gelene and her children.
"Children? What children? Didn''t you know Gelene can''t have children? She''s barren." Alexander eximed in surprise, amazed that Menes did not know this about his lover.
This was not a particr secret among the higher-ups.
"Barren?... She''s barren?" Menes repeated the same words stunned, his mouth full agape.
He never imagined such a scenario even in his wildest dreams.
"Yea..why do you think she could sleep around so much and not have a single child?" Alexander pointed.
"ording to her, the brothel she worked in fed her a poison that made her infertile. That was also why Nestoras paid so much for her, forty-three thousand tustas, and that''s after intimidating the owner a lot. Because one could release inside her all day long without all the worry and hassle."
Menes stood thunderstruck at this revtion, ''So, that''s why she let me finish inside her. And here I thought she loved me, hehe.''
In Thesos, usually, only couples and lovers finished inside, while casual ''get-togethers'' finished outside.
And so, with this single piece of information, Menes''s undying love for Gelene turned to apathy and even a bit of hatred as he felt betrayed by the girl.
"Thank you,mander, for telling me this, And thank you, Alex, for what you were willing to do for me as a friend, I will never forget it. But you can keep that ve." Menes now felt even saying the name Gelene revolting.
He then quickly excused himself, "I have lots of things to do, so I will see myself out."
As Menes stormed out, Alexander asked himself if what he did was truly necessary.
And the answer he came up with was, ''Yes, absolutely.''
This was because Gelene was an extremely ambitious and maniptive woman,
If she wasn''t, she would not have been able to be a high-ss courtesan within a mere six years and likely would not have survived till now.
So, Alexander, quite rightly feared that Menes would not be able to resist her charms and be a puppet between her finger, turning from Alexander''s mostpetent captain to his most treacherous one as Gelene would push her ''husband'' to gain more and more power and influence.
But although Alexander had managed to stop the worst-case scenario, he was struck with another bad one.
One where he was the one who had to deal with the ambitious, maniptive woman instead of Menes.
''Huh, so I somehowtched myself to that poisonous snake, eh?'' Alexandermpooned at the thought of adding Gelene to his haram.
And he had to add her after his talk with Menes, as he would likely have to frequently be in contact with Menes at least for the foreseeable future, and thus would be vulnerable to any scrutiny by Menes.
Even if Menes detested Gelene now, Alexander was afraid of the mercurial nature by which Menes had decided to change his feelings and feared that once the ck giant had calmed down he might change his stance again, especially if his girl was still avable.
''Well at least she''s pretty,'' Alexander understanding there was still he could change, decided to look at the bright side of things- things like Gelene''s subus-like figure.
And that thought immediately produced some raunchy images inside Alexander''s head, which, understanding it was far too early in the day to be thinking about such things, he forced down and got to work.
He first rechecked the various reports, re-reading them so as to make sure that he did not miss anything, redid the various maths, had breakfast, and then decided to go on a camp tour.
He first visited the Cantagenan camp, which was huge, bigger than all the mercenary campsbined, and witnessed the collection that was going on.
Literally, thousands of people were there, running through the rain and mud as fast as possible to get everything of value out of the Cantagenan camp and into theirs.
Along with them was arge number of armed mercenaries who were stationed there, to keep discipline and more importantly protect the loot.
Alexander had gotten the report that many of the Cantagenans and people from its sister cities were, predictably, not very happy with the ''reallocation of resources'' being carried out by the mercenaries, and had attempted to stop them, resulting in even a few brawls, though no one had been killed.
Alexander witnessed mountains of fabric, carpets, and drapes, carts full of china, shiny piles of gold coins, and many other wondrous treasures adorn the Cantagenan camp and he drooled at the thought a significant part of that would be his.
He then spent some pleasant words with Menicus and Theocles, and then with some of the soldiers there, asking about their day-to-day and other mundane stuff.
Then he located Camius who was gathering the servant and ves to be made into new units, asked him about his day and next went on the huge military drill that was taking ce in the same camp and cherished the sight of how the formation using his reform of cing the captain at the back on a horse crushed the traditional phnxes.
This was because the captain, now at the back and free from the burden of fighting, had better decision-making capability and the horse gave them greater mobility and an elevated vision, thus allowing them to make rapid, urate changes to the formation, enabling them to more effectively open and exploit gaps in the opponent''s lines.
Pleased that he had managed to convince the nay-sayers, he exchanged a few words with Heliptos and Petricuno, who seemed over the moon at this new tactic, and then Alexander moved on to his camp where the cavalry practices were happing.
Here Melodias greeted him and informed him of some three hundred Sycarian who had fled the battlefield had returned to camp once again and were teaching others how to ride.
Alexander praised Melodias for his quick thinking and after some pleasantries moved to hisst destination, the Cantagenan training ground where he met Menes.
By the time he was done with that, it was already dusk and thus Alexander''s busy routine ended for the day.
Chapter 95 Time With His Women
Alexander returned to his tent after work to find Cambyses sitting in front of her a small mirror, getting her hairbed by Mean, while she munched on some crackers and chatted with Gelene and Ophenia.
She looked like a real mistress of an aristocratic house, being served on hands and feet by an army of servants.
"Alex, you are back!" She greeted him with a huge smile as he entered the tent while Gelene rushed to him with a towel.
"Um, you been well?" Alexander asked casually as he took the towel and dried his soaking body.
It had been raining continuously the whole day, without showing any signs of letting up and Alexander got soaked while he toured the camp.
"Why didn''t you use an umbre? You are as wet as a sponge." Mean, with her usual temper berated him.
"Because my dear chihuahua, if amander shows up to a battle in an umbre while the soldiers are soaking themselves, it alienates them and spreads discontent around." Alexander was vigorously drying his hair.
"Don''t call me that..*grrrr*," Mean hissed at her nickname.
Although she had no idea what a chihuahua was, she could understand from the context that Alexander was making fun of her.
"Hehe,...Tyin, the new color looks good on you." Alexander brushed off Mean''s hostile looks and instead addressed Ophenia, who had changed from a blonde to a brte.
"Thank you, master. Sister Gelene was very helpful," Ophenia differentially replied.
"Alex, we have decided that Tyin is too long. So it''s Tayin from now," Cambyses informed him of the name change.
"Oh, okay." Alexander tly nodded, unconcerned by this minor change, and asked, "Is the bath ready?"
"Yes, master, the tub has been filled with warm water," Gelene gestured with her dainty, chocte, arms.
Alexander then took his bath and sat down to dinner with everyone else, when he noticed how his tent was bing like Cambyses''s one.
Various of her clothes were on the rake, there were her perfumes, make-up kits, mirrors, andbs on the table and it generally had the feel of a room touched by a caring woman.
"So, have you decided to stay with me?" Alexander smirked.
"You, don''t want me?" Cambyses raised one of her eyebrows,
"Hehe, no that''s not it. I just thought you liked your tent, with that kicking bag being your favorite and all." Alexander bit on a piece of bread thered with butter.
The Cantagenans bought some good food with them.
"We will be moving soon anyway. So, I can go without it for a while. And Mean, Ophenia and Gelene can use my tent till then." Cambyses sipped some fine wine.
"Alex, when are you gonna marry the mistress?" Mean bought up the issue of marriage.
"After reaching Cantagena. Hehe, why my dear Mean? Do you want me to marry you too? Alexander teased the petite eighteen-year-old.
"Bah,..who would want to marry you, you pervert?" Mean had a flushed face as she spat out her usual venom.
''Ah, the ssic tsundere! Overused yet so powerful'' Alexanderughed in his heart.
"Hehe, this pervert assures you he can make you feel better than those thin fingers ever could. Just ask your mistress." Alexander vulgarly taunted the girl.
"Huh, only a beast like you equate those ¡acts to marriage. Marriage is about love," Mean was surprisingly holding herself well against Alexander.
"Love? Haha, you should hear your mistress at night. She seems to love me quite a bit. Tell me." Alexander''s smile here turned very vulgar, "Yesterday, Cam told me you licked herself clean down there. So how did it taste?"
"You ..you..you are so nasty. I never did such a thing." Mean was so angry and flushed at this baseless story as attempted to storm out of the tent.
"Alex, stop teasing Mean," Cambyses''s sweet-voiced filled the air, calming the short girl down, "And Mean, stop getting so easily riled up by Alex. You know he likes teasing you."
"But, mistress he''s too much," Mean pleaded to her mistress for judgment.
"He''s your master Mean. And I won''t hear any more of you saying you won''t marry him." Cambyses was unusually stern with Mean this time.
"But¡but," Mean was almost teary-eyed.
"*Huh*," Cambyses let out an exasperated sigh and then said, "Look, we both know you like him. So there''s no need to be coy."
Then Cambyses threatened, "If you truly don''t want to marry him, then fine. I will choose a man for you."
"Like Camius," Alexander could not resistmenting.
"*Hisssss,*" Mean only hissed and red at Alexander at the mention of that distasteful man.
If Mean was a cat, her tail and fur would all be standing up by now.
Cambyses only silently ate her dinner while enjoying the banter while Ophenia observed the exchange with unmatched curiosity.
Seeing a ve so loudly and openly arguing and even cursing her master made her feel like she had arrived at a different, especially when the master in question was the head of a ten thousand men army and for the first time, a desire to know more her owner grew in her heart.
After dinner concluded, Alexander gave them the good news about his share of the loot and told Cambyses to go and personally verify things tomorrow.
"Treat yourself, Mean, Gelene and Tayin with anything you like from the stash. I''m sure they have will some good things," Alexander decided to reward his women.
"Hehe, hubby is the best." Cambyses chuckled.
Then after a few pleasantries, Cambyses hurried the others to leave, "Well, then, it''s gettingte. Everyone let''s retire to our tents."
SheHer lower mouth was already drooling and she couldn''t wait for her daily dose of vitamin D.
But Alexander interfered, "Mean and Tayin can go. Gelene, I have some things to discuss with you."
"Ohh," Gelene was first surprised at the unusual request, but then made a bold guess as she let out a sultry smile, "Anything for themander."
Alexander''s request also raised a few eyebrows, with one literally- Cambyses''s, but ultimately no one spoke up about it, and soon the tent was vacated save for the three- Alexander, Cambyses, and Gelene.
Alexander then wordlessly sat on the bed, pointed to his crotch, and gave a singlemander, "Suck!"
''Hehe, it looks like my guess was right. The little girl couldn''t satisfy him,'' Gelene sneered her heart as she shed her sexiest smile, "Yes,mander."
Cambyses, on the other hand, was shocked to her core, "Alex, you¡you."
They were just three days into their rtionship and he was already tired of her?
She felt her body shaking and her legs grew weak as she wanted to rush out of the tent.
"Cam, Gelene is very experienced. Stay and learn from her," Alexander gave the order in a stern tone, omitting the usual ''please.''
"Yes, mistress, please stay." Gelene shed a smile at the Cambyses, a smile that seemed to tell, ''He''s my man now.'' and said, "As women, we must worship our husband and satisfy all his desires."
"He''s not your husband," Cambyses hissed at this brazen word, eyes burning with pure hate.
"Hehe, now mistress please watch carefully."Gelene only giggled,
''As I steal your man right in front of you, hahaha'' Shepleted the second part of the sentence in her heart as excitement flooded her veins at the feeling of snatching someone like Alexander from literally in front of his girl.
Cambyses simply stood there with a face so frosty that the tent''s temperature seemed to have dropped by a few degrees while her eyes disyed only pure animosity and loathing and her heart seemed to be shattered at Alexander''s betrayal.
''Do your worst Alexander,'' Cambyses swore in her heart with boiling venom as she decided to stay and witness this perverse y.
''Ahhh, look at that face, she''s so cute when she''s jealous,'' Alexander did not miss the fumes of rageing out of Cambyses and joked in his heart, fully knowing the misunderstanding she was having right now.
But he did not think it was still the right time to interfere, as his n required Cambyses to genuinely express rage, fury, and indignation at him and Gelene.
''And it looks like I was right about her as well,'' Alexander gazed at Gelene who was kneeling between his legs and gazing lovingly at him with her matt ck eyes.
''She''s truly an ambitious woman, with boundless dreams and aspirations and more scarily an iron will to get those. If I let her get her hands on Menes, it will be disastrous for me,'' Alexander warmed himself in his heart.
Gelene was ready to start her service and with a, "Then please excuse me,mander," she put her hands on Alexander''s breaches, and in one strong pull freed the chained monster inside.
"Oh, mymander¡" Gelene let out a sultry gasp of amazement at the sight of the huge, veiny member that stood proudly upright, letting the world busk in its glory.
"Commander, this is the biggest, baddest cock I have ever seen in my life. It''s so big." She whispered on his member, letting her hot, wet breath brush against the sensitive organ as she exaggeratedly ttered the size.
While it was certainly true Alexander was big, even quite big, he was nowhere near the title of being the biggest.
But all men liked to have their egos stoked, especially down there and Gelene noticed that Alexander too twitched and swayed under her honeyed words.
''Hehe, men are so easy and base creatures.'' Gelene scorned in her heart as she zed with raw ambition, ''Hmph, so what if youmand ten thousand men? Here Imand you.'' she sneered.
Chapter 96 Gelene Into The Harem (R18)
Gelene then grabbed therge organ with her immacte sepia left hand and with the touch of a professional, expertly pulled down his foreskin in one smooth motion, exposing Alexander''s red, swollen ns out of its cozy home into the cold world.
And as it twitched and shook, as if angry at being cold, Gelene disyed hersciviousness, "*Chuu*, Nice to meet you, littlemander."
She ced a sloppy kiss on it, letting her thick, moist red lips caress the sensitive skin of his ns.
"Guh..Aaagh," Alexander could not resist a moan at his lewd y, his pleasure multiplied by the way Gelene''s sweet voice was addressing his little brother.
''So, this is a pro?'' Alexander''s hip buckled at the brand-new sensation he was experiencing, even taking into both his life.
"Then mistress, watch how to really pleasure a man," Gelene could not keep the gloating hidden in her voice as she seriously began her service.
Her pillowy, red lips wrapped about the grand and started to slowly descend, her burning hot mouth enveloping the whole organ within a moist, fleshy cave.
"Oh, it feels good," Alexander moaned as Gelene made obscene sounds to signal her progress in eating his meat.
"Mmmmpch¡Mnnnch..Chhbb," Gelene made no effort to hide her sounds, as she rolled her hot tongue around the head, while bobbing her head up and down the shaft.
"Shhllp¡Shlllp" Gelene deliberately mixedrge amounts of her saliva as she sucked, amplifying the sound she was making and turning Alexander even more excited.
"Mmh,mander, how ish it? Feelsh good?" She talked with the whole thing inside her mouth, letting bursts of her hot breath hit Alexander''s shaft and making him moan in joy.
"Yeah..its insane how good this is," Alexander filled his head back in pleasure.
"Fufuhu..I can feel your hips shaking under me..Mmmmch,."
"Shhlp..ahh..your spear ish trembling in my mouth, hehemander, you really like this, don''t you..Omph..Mmmmch," Gelene kept up the relentless attack, sucking and bobbing her head down the entire shaft.
"Ohhh," Alexander was only able to shout joyous cries.
"Commander, let me show you something interesting," Gelene after a while said, her eyes swimming with mirthful, lusty intent.
"How do you like this? Mnnnch..Nmmmch,"
Alexander suddenly felt a warm, slimy thing with bumps on it poke at his urethra..it was Gelene''s tongue!
"Yo¡ahhgg," Alexander grunted in ecstasy as Gelene drilled into his urethra with her tongue.
She was firm one second, soft the next as she mixed up the sensation of her tongue''s shape and texture on the hole with each movement.
The experienced girl was not just poking with her tongue, of course, she also kept up the suction on her mouth, coaxing more and more Alexander''s clear fluid as she went.
"Mnnnn,mander''s hipsph are shap..king even more..Chuunm" Gelene could feel Alexander''s hole spazzing under her tongue like a girl''s does.
"Ge..ne,..I..m ..gonna..agh," Alexander''s pleasure-absorbed brain was being overloaded as he felt the urge to climax swell up in him.
"Yes,mander,e in my mouth," Gelene then started a fresh new offensive as Alexander''s waves of orgasm started to build up.
A rhythmic sound began toe out of her mouth as she sucked even harder, rubbing the bumpy, moist insides of her cheek against his shaft, while simultaneously poking at the urethra with her tongue.
"Gelene, I wannae on your face," Alexander expressed his desire to soil the russet brown beauty''s oval face between panted gasps as he felt release was imminent.
"Okay,mander. Now, don''t hold back and let it all out..Ommp¡Mnnch," Gelene turned up the vacuum onest time.
"Coming,,,arhg," Finally Alexander felt the orgasm hit in waves as he quickly pulled himself out of her mouth and sprayed his essence all over Gelene''s cute face.
"Ah,mander''s cum is so thick and hot, mmm," Gelene took the white, hot ster without flinching a hair, only moaning lustfully at her new face over.
Alexander marveled at the white turbid fluid painting the dark brown canvas that was her face and loved it.
That''s why he wanted to cum on her face.
Gelene was not satisfied with just being spray painted on as she scooped up some of the white goo and sniffed it, "Ahh..the smell...mmnn..this is themander''s smell."
She even stered it on nose, making the most obscene face Alexander had ever seen, "*Sniff*..it smells so thick and rich....ahhhh..my face is gonna smell like jizz for days, ohhh."
This shameless, filthy disy made Alexander''s little brother immediately stand up again, proudly showing he was raring to go again.
"Hehe, themander ''s energy is boundless. You got ready so quickly, *chup*," Gelene ced another lewd, heavy kiss on his ns, forming a vacuum and sucking out all the fluid inside.
"Gelene, that''s too much..arhg," Having juste. Alexander was super sensitive, and this violent attack so soon made his hips twitch and buckle.
Gelene sucked out all the remaining cum in his urethra and pulled her head back, but instead of directly swallowing it, she swirled the lewd fluids inside her mouth, making loud gurgling sounds as she mixed them with her saliva.
Then in a scious act yet to-be trumped, opened her mouth to show Alexander its filthy contents, the gooey, lumpy mess swimming on her vermillion tongue, a little of it spilling over as she made a wide, obscene smile, "Ahh,mander, see¡ahh.."
*Gulp*." she then swallowed the mixture in front of Alexander, making loud *gup-gup-gup* sounds as she coated her throat with the fluid.
"You sexy bitch, where have you been all my life," Alexander eximed and even though he had juste, seeing this he immediately got hard.
"Ahhhh." Finished drinking, Gelene stuck her tongue out to show her work.
"Come here," Alexander could not wait any longer as he fiercely grabbed her head and shoved his thick rod all the down her throat.
"Urgghh," Gelene''s eyes widened at the sudden rough y, as she gagged at her huge organ hitting the throat.
She was having a hard time fitting it all in.
But Alexander was not gonna care about this as he started furiously humping against her throat.
"*p*, *m*, *Squelch*" Alexander''s pubic hairs tickled Gelene''s nose as Alexander rammed his member in and out of the hot hole, eager to sate her lust.
But soon, Gelene''s experienced mouth began to adjust itself, as her lips locked themselves onto the base and her breathing turned heavy and ragged, as she intentionally let the ns hit the moist back of her throat.
"Chuupt¡Chhhlp¡Chhhbbb," She started making sloppy noises and moved her head by herself, taking the entire shaft inside her.
She also did not let her hands idle this time, letting her nimble digits greet Alexander''s family jewels.
She lovingly started to fondle the sack caressing them under her warm palms as she rolled the soft, big balls between her fingers.
"Arh,..." Getting his most delicate part squeezed and massaged initiated grunts of delight from Alexander as he stopped humping and let Gelene suck him off.
Gelene worked fast and hard, taking the thick shaft all the way inside her narrow, moist throat, brushing the soft, squishy wall against Alexander''s ns as saliva dripped out of her mouth.
"*Cppht.. Chllpt..Chbbb," After a while, Alexander felt Gelene ramp up her ferocity more as he could see her throat contract and rx, telling him toe.
She took him to such a deep part that made Alexander feel like he had entered apletely different hole, a hole that felt like the lower mouth of a woman.
Soon the pleasure was too much and Alexander released his second load with a grunt, "Argh..I ing,"
"Gulg¡gulg..gulg.." The cum being deposited deep inside her throat was wobbled down by the greedy mouth, while Gelene voiced strained sounds.
"Mmmmmmm," she was clearly ecstatic about the hot load filling her belly because she opened her throat''s entrance and ced her tongue underneath his shaft, pressing it hard against the meat and pressuring the tubes to empty everything.
Gelene swallowed every drop Alexander released and he could not help but let his sperm be coaxed out by her inviting tongue.
The erotic sight of a woman between his legs, having her mouth filled upto the balls with his hard rod, as her cheeks puffed up with his cum gave Alexander a supreme sensation of domination and satisfaction.
And atst, with all his fluids securely deposited inside the girl''s belly, Alexander reluctantly pulled out of the heavenly upper hole.
"Commander, ooohhh, you taste so young and smell. I want more, mmmnnn," Gelene''s face ckened, while her body shuddered in orgasming pleasure.
Gelene loved drinking cum, especially of young men as she believed it would help retain her youth.
"ve, let me see if you have drunk it all?" Alexander then pulled her tongue out of her mouth and started rubbing his thumb on it, feeling the slimy texture rub onto his thumb.
"Yesh,,.. ahhh...," Gelene obscenely opened her mouth wide, letting Alexander inspect the fleshy hole that had made him feel so good.
"Hmm, good, you have drunk it," Alexander could see no traces of the white goo, while a musky scent wasing out of her.
Alexander gazed at the drooling sepia-brown oval face, decorated with a curved little nose and thick, luscious lip and his eyes drew themselves onto her rosy, chubby cheeks.
Those cheeks were her most beautiful features and he could not help but y with them, "*p*," He pped her right cheek with his dick and grinned, "You did well, now get up."
"It was my pleasure,mander," Geleneughedsciviously at being hit and then bowed.
Then she turned to Cambyses, and sneered a taunt, "Hehe, mistress, did you learn everything?"
Cambyses''s face did not flinch an atom at this mockery, her face as cold as ever, like it had been set in stone.
Chapter 97 Convincing Cambyses
Alexander experienced a few moments of rity, experiencing sage time after releasing twice consecutively.
And then he noticed Cambyses''s face, wooden and cold, and Alexander feared she was reaching her limit.
''If I go on any longer, she might really stab me,'' Alexander shivered a bit as she looked at Alexander with eyes so dark that they seemed to swallow all the light around.
"Gelene your mouth was heavenly. I will be sure to call you again." Alexander, with a bit of reluctance in his voice, decided to dismiss the woman.
Though he was a little down that he could not enjoy Gelene''s most precious possession, her giant, marvelous breasts.
"Hehe,mander, you can call me anywhere, ..anyytimme.., day and night," Gelene''s silky, melodious voice ced particr emphasis on the word ''night'' as she bowed and showed herself out, but not before shing Cambyses a victorious smile.
Once, the duo was left alone, Alexander turned to the stony girl, who looked like she wanted to eat Alexander alive.
"Oh, Cam, have a bit of faith in your husband, would you?" Alexander lightly smiled as he pulled up his pants.
"....." Cambyses was in no mood to talk.
"Haaah, it looks like if I don''t exin myself soon, I might not have a wife," Alexander sighed ruefully.
"Or, I might not have a husband," Cambyses said in a freezing voice.
"Haha.." Alexander chuckled at his joke.
Because the only way for Cambyses to make herself not have a husband was to kill him as while women could be divorced, they could never ask for a divorce.
"Okay, tigress, here''s the reason, Menes today came to me.....So you see, I need to make Gelene appear as my woman, at least for the time being, or Menes might take her."
Cambyses''s stance softened to putty after Alexander''s exnation as she too understood the danger of letting Menes fall under Gelene''s spell.
In fact, the reason she was so angry at Alexander was not because he was sleeping with other women, which was a given with Alexander''s status, but because it was Gelene he was sleeping with.
And that they were doing it so openly right in front of her.
"Haaah, you did the right thing. Menes will be eaten whole by that snake." Cambyses spookily sighed.
"But why did you do it in front of you?" She then asked with a tinge of anger in her voice.
Even though she understood the reasoning, she still felt her skin crawl when she recalled the kind of looks and smiles Gelene was giving her.
''That bitch!'' Cambyses cursed in her heart.
"Because I wanted to let her think she has a better chance with me and than with Menes. And without seeing your real rage and sadness, she might not think she has a chance with me. And given how ambitious that woman is, she will definitely switch to Menes if she doesn''t think her prospects are good here." Alexander exined.
"It''s good that you know that woman''s true nature," Cambyses smirked, relieved that Alexander would not be taken for a spin by that woman.
She was afraid that Alexander, a recent graduate from the virgin academy might fall in love once he experienced the skills Gelene had to offer and be manipted by the poisonous woman.
"You know, I am wondering if we did the right thing allying ourselves with that woman," Cambyses let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Without her, we would be dead. Octavius would have gotten us with one of his schemes," Alexander defended his actions.
"Yea, I guess¡." Cambyses trailed off, lost in thought
"Don''t worry, it''s only a temporary thing. I''m working on getting rid of her." Alexander shed aforting smile at the down girl.
"Hmmm..by get rid you mean kill?" Cambyses raised an eyebrow as she turned to Alexander.
Alexander only gave her a thin smile.
"*Sigh*, don''t." Cambyses made a request that made Alexander look at Cambyses in confusion.
He thought she would be the first person to gloat at her beheading.
Watching the all-knowing Alexander be puzzled, Cambyses felt a strange tide of pride in her heart, as she said, "If your dreams are as big as you say they are, then ambitious people like Gelene will always exist around you. What are you gonna do then? Kill all of them?"
"That,..." This simple statement made Alexander speechless as shes of enlightenment went off inside his mind.
Yes!
Because he had tasted a bit of power, he was now beginning to think all problems could just be killed away.
''Someone who wields a hammer thinks all problems are nails'' Alexander remembered a saying from his previous.
Thankfully he had an amazing woman beside him that helped him avoid bing a tyrant.
It was as they said, ''Behind every sessful man was a sessful woman."
Alexander''s gaze turned soft and infinitely more loving at Cambyses, as he grabbed her by the cheeks and screamed, "Cam¡you sexy girl. I love you so much, mmmnnn."
This sudden disy of affection caught Cambyses off guard, who only passively took Alexander''s love.
And after Alexander finally parted their lips, she thought Alexander was trying to bed her to make up to her for earlier.
''Hmph, I am not that easy of a woman,'' Cambyses moued in her heart and decided to tease him a bit as a punishment.
"So was she good?" Cambyses asked with a smile that was not a smile.
''Is this one of those trick questions? Damned if you do, damned if you don''t?'' Alexander pasquinaded.
So, he decided to answer the question in a way befitting the kind of question she asked, "Cam, let me ask you, "How many years have you been practicing swordy?"
"How''s that relevant," Cambyses wrinkled her brow.
"Just answer me." Alexander urged.
"Umm, I don''t know, seven-eight years," Cambyses found it hard to ce an exact number.
"Right. Now imagine if Gelene- someone who has never held a sword in her life were to challenge you to a duel after just practicing with it for two days. Who would win?" Alexander made the analogy.
".....,you are getting better and better at avoiding my question," Cambyses made a little pout, understanding the point Alexander was trying to make and a bit peeved that her little scheme did not work.
"Haha, with arge haram to manage, a good tongue is needed," Alexander grinned.
"Ohh, so you have a good tongue huh? A nice, long, thick tongue huh?" Cambyses''s voice suddenly turned like that of a hungry subus as she got closer to Alexander.
Then he lightly bit on his ears and sexily whispered, "Then why don''t you use that silver tongue to please your mistress, ve."
"Kyah.." Cambyses giggled a little as Alexander immediately flipped her down, tore off her clothes, and exposed her bare ass.
He then raised her sexy fatty rump up to his face and noticed how drenched she was down there.
"*Spank*, you perverted ve. Why is your lower mouth this wet, *spank,*?" Alexander teased as hard smacks rained down on her round flesh.
"Ahhhh," Cambyses could only sensually moan as her heavenly nectar flowed even more at his y.
"*Squelch*, *squelch*, *squelch*" Alexander then directly inserted his first two fingers in her hole, which gobbled them up like they were nothing.
It was hard to believe at this was the same hole Alexander had a hard time getting just one finger in only three days ago.
"Did you get turned on watching your husband get blown in front of you? Haha, you filthy pervert, *squelch*," Alexander shamed Cambyses even more as he inserted a third finger and started scratching inside her.
"..." Cambyses''s face went beet red at thest bit, as she could not believe she had found that act enjoyable.
"Oh, your insides just twitched, haha" Alexanderughed out loud.
He then mocked her even more, "I now understand why your face was so cold then. It''s because all your heat went here, right?"
"....." Cambyses only buried her flushing face on the pillow too ashamed of her new fetish.
But Alexander was not going to let this fun y end so easily.
"*Spank*, answer me, ve," Alexander gave a mighty p, while all three fingers curved up, hitting her G-spot.
"Ekkkkkkkk," Cambyses roared in a euphoric release as she swung her head back and rolled her eyes back, squirting jets after jets of clear fluid and turning the white sheets almost transparent.
"*Spank*, what''s this? A grown eighteen-year-old can''t hold her pee? *Spank*. This is the third day in a row, *spank*," Alexander was being particrly rough on Cambyses today.
He was a bit salty at Cambyses for not having a bit of faith in him.
Cambyses only moaned, groaned, and howled at these spanks, her mind still reeling from the new kind of climax.
''What was that?'' Cambyses asked her lust-fueled mind.
But Alexander was not interested in waiting for an answer as he mmed his organ inside Cambyses, ruthlessly pounding her and repeatedly spanking her for doubting her husband, till her olive-colored ass cheeks became as red as money''s butt.
"Hubby, forgive..*spank*...ahhhh¡no¡master..have mercy..*spank*..on this lowly ve, ahhhh," Cambyses cried howls of rapturous pleasure as Alexander carved her hole into his exclusive toy, molding it in his shape.
And when Alexander finished unloading his third load inside her, she was a drooling mess, her legs spread out with a frog''s, constantly twitching and spasming as streams of obscene white fluids leaked out of her leaking hole.
"*Smack*," Alexander pped her fluffy ass onest time, loving watching it jiggle and shake.
"Uwwuww," Cambyses only moanednguidly under Alexander''s assault as she drifted into slumber.
Chapter 98 Melodias Joins
Alexander woke up the next morning, got dressed as usual, and was very annoyed to find that the rain had not subsided one bit.
''Maybe I should start building a boat." Hempooned and then slowly made his made to themand tent.
He received the usual reports, the highlight of which was that each group was to get around twenty-five million tustas and then, as he dismissed them.
As everyone was leaving, Melodias, strangely asked for a private audience with Alexander, "Commander, this war has destroyed my group and left me with a paltry one-phnx formation.
Facing such realities, I have decided that it is no longer possible for us to act as an individual group. Hence I formally ask to join your mercenary group."
''So what''s why you were so jittery yesterday?'' Alexander finally solved the little puzzle.
Alexander was a bit surprised by the reason Melodias provided and probed, "Leader Melodias are you sure? With the twenty-five million tustas you got, you could build a ten thousand mercenary group."
"Hehe,mander, I don''t feel like building anything anymore. All my men died because of me, all because of me." Melodias let out copious amount of sighs of regret.
''The guy''s usually so cheerful,'' Alexander would not have thought that the sharp, cheerful man held such heavy responsibility and guilt over the death of his soldier.
''Is he suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?" Alexander wondered,
"But this is war. You should know better by now," Alexander reminded him, with a bit of admonishment in his tone.
"Haaaah, I know. But two of my sons died that day. And I didn''t even have the time to grieve for them." Melodias''s voice turned teary as he confessed, "I have lost the zeal for this life."
"Then why don''t you use the money you have to leave this life and settle down? With this amount of money, your family won''t have to work for generations," Came the natural, next question.
"Haaah," Melodias seemed to be in a sighing mood, "Because I just cannot leave my men alone. Everyone that could lead them were killed four days ago. And I believe you are the one most qualified to lead them."
''His troops must be very loyal,'' Alexander took note of that.
And then smiled, "Melodias if you want to join me, you will be an ordinary captain, and all your wealth- including the twenty-five million tustas will be to the group. Are you okay with that?"
"Thatmander that is my personal property," Melodias formed a little wrinkle on his brow at this brazen grab.
But Alexander only smiled, "The twenty-five million was given to individual groups. Since your group is joining mine, naturally its wealth will belong to us."
"...." Melodias''s wrinkle turned into a full frown,
He had thought, cleverly by his definition, that he could keep the entire stash while making Alexander foot the bill for the ''new soldiers.''
Alexander noticed the mercenary was having second thoughts and he being interested in buying Melodias, decided to sweeten the deal before he changed his mind, "Melodias, I very much value you and your men, and would love to have them in my team. So, I can offer you a ''signing bonus''."
"Signing bonus?" Melodias looked confused at the modern word, while Alexander exined,
"Yes, signing bonus. It means giving someone who starts a new job some coin. Like a present!"
"Ahha, I see," Melodias nodded understandingly and asked, "So, how much?"
"How about I pay each of the soldiers six months of their current sry- fifteen thousand tustas, your second inmand two hundred thousand tustas, and you a million tustas," Alexander offered.
"Hmm, how¡," Melodias wanted to test Alexander''s limits.
"Sorry, that''s my final offer," Alexander raised his hand to stop the little haggling procedure. "Take it or leave it," Alexander had amanding tone as he held the absolute upper hand in this negotiation, Melodias needing him so much more than him needing Melodias.
"You drive a hard bargain,mander," Melodias made a forced smile and then nodded,
"Okay, you have a deal."
"Excellent, I will have Theocles draw up a contract by today," Alexander then got up and shook Melodias'' hand, "Wee, brother."
"Haha, thank you, leader." Melodias let out a relieved grin
When this news was announcedter that afternoon, it caused a little disturbance among the mercenary leaders, especially Petricuno.
"What!! Are you sure leader Melodias?" Petricuno roared loudly, jumping up and down, and shaking his clenched fist after hearing the news.
"I have made this decision after deliberating over it long and hard, leader Petricuno. Please don''t try to dissuade me." Melodias held up his hand to cut off the agitated mercenary.
''You think I care whether you join his group or not?'' Petricuno screamed in his heart.
The reason for his objection was because he was ultimately unhappy at the even split of the loot.
His one thousand (1500) mercenary group was six times bigger than Melodias''s two hundred fifty (250) and so they had essentially each got one-sixth of his ie.
This did not sit well with the mercenary who had been hounding Melodias behind the scenes to try and get some of the pie for himself, as he reasoned that since Alcmene and Regias mercenaries with five hundred men each did not get a share of the pie, why puny the leader of a puny two hundred and fifty get it.
But now all money was gone, safely inside Alexander''s hand.
In fact, a reason that Melodias had hidden from Alexander was he was not confident in holding onto all twenty-five million tustas from greedy hands.
"Commander, the loot was supposed to be divided evenly among mercenary leaders. But now that there are only four of us, we should divide again," He demanded.
"Hehe, leader Petricuno you are being unreasonable. If one of us died, should we re-distribute our loot again?" Alexander argued.
"That¡." The illiterate mercenaries'' debating skills were clearly not good as he got stumped by this wed logic and kept looking at Alexander with both anger and confusion.
"Haahh, fine. Since leader Petricuno wants it so much, let''s have a vote to decide it." Alexander had a magnanimous fake smile on his face.
"All in favor please raise your hands," The only hand that rose was Petricuno''s.
"All not in favor please raise your hands," He called as he raised his hand, followed by everyone except Petricuno.
"Well, I guess that settles it," Alexander had a gentle smile that masked his sly voice.
He had foreseen this eventuality and had paid the other two a million tustas to get him on his side.
''The game was rigged from the start, hahaha,'' Alexanderughed out loud at the eighteen million he had made just like that.
"Leaders, this makes no sense. Why?" Petricuno could not wrap his head around the result.
In his mind, if the loot was re-spit, everyone would benefit- except Alexander.
"Themander''s argument convinced me. If I die will you take my loot? And if you die should we take your loot?" Heliptos sneered at the quick-tempered mercenary.
"Petricuno, we have decided and the votes have been cast. Have some self-respect," Menicus scolded the youngster which made the buff leader drop his head and sulk.
Alexander was also surprised by that he could buy the two leaders with just two million.
He initially offered a three-way even split, but Heliptos ttered him by saying he would support any of his actions and Menicus just wanted one million.
But, Petricuno was not the only one causing trouble as in the afternoon even some of his soldiers joined in.
When Alexander''s regr troops came to know of the fifteen thousand tustas their new brothers were getting instead of their ''mere'' ten thousand, a few started grumbling and asking the same as them.
This made Alexander fly into a rage few had ever seen, as even Cambyses who happened to be nearby looked at Alexander scared.
Alexander clearly smelled this was a plot to shake his authority and he immediately ordered Camius to catch the ringleaders of those spreading the rumors to be gathered in front of hismand camp.
He also gave him several names, all Pallidus loyalists to be rounded up.
Then Menes was ordered to get the garrison in front of hismand tent where Alexander began his very first trial over the group of ten.
He first addressed the crowd, "Some of you have been asking why you are getting ten, while the new soldiers are getting fifteen thousand tustas. It''s because they have bought us twenty-five million tustas. And if you can bring us that kind of money, you too can get fifteen thousand tustas"
This produced a few chuckles and smirks.
Then he pointed to the group standing in front of him, "These men are guilty of sedition as proven by multiple witnesses (all paid by Camius.)."
"And now I ask Stratos Pallidus to administer twenty canning onto their bare buttock. And as stratos he can choose to pardon two people of his choosing" Alexander craftily gave that option.
''What! How did he know it was me?'' Pallidus was a bit shaken at the mention of his name.
But was relieved that he could relieve his two closest confidants.
And like the fool he was, he took the bait- hook, line, and sinker pardoning two and leaving his other three loyalists under the merciless beating of the cane, which caused a deep fracture to appear between the six men.
The idiot never thought to say,'' I will punish them all equally as per the leader''smand.''
Alexander only watched Pallidus excuse the two main ring leaders, from the side, ironically happy by this event.
Chapter 99 Capturing A Big Fish
Alexander introduced Melodias to his group the day he made the request to join his group and was greeted with open arms by everyone.
Alexander then promoted him to a stratos of the Cantagenans and transferred his unit to reinforce the thousand-men unit.
Alexander also asked Camius to secretly find possible recements for Melodias, Petricuno and Helptos should the need to rece them arise.
And like that, while Alexander was busy performing his day-to-day work, he didn''t even notice how dusk crept up on him.
As Alexander was busy tidying up for the day, suddenly Melodias strode up to his tent and shouted, "Commander, our scouts found someone important! Come quickly."
"Hmm, what''s the rush?" Alexander slowly came out of the tent, intrigued.
"Let us talk on the way. They are at the medical camp," Melodias gestured.
"Okay, lead the way," Alexander nodded.
And so as the duo sped towards as Melodias bought him upto speed, "A few hours ago, one of our scout teams, the ones sent to the north, came across something unusual. They noticed a group of about twenty horsemen being chased by a continent of Adhanian riders."
"Presuming that the only people who would be riding horses and be attacked by the Adhanians would be the Sycarians, they intercepted and chased off the riders."
Melodias then revealed a rueful smile, "It was only then they realized these were no Sycarians. They were in fact Adhanians."
"Adhanians?" Alexander asked confused. Given the drought had imed arge number of Adhania''s livestock, the only people who would be riding horses would be nobles and rich merchants.
So, why was Adhania attacking its own people?
And very soon Alexandernded himself on the answer as his face lighted up inprehension.
"It seemsmander hasnded on the answer by himself, haha, as expected." Melodias noticed the look of understanding dawn on Alexander''s face and confirmed his suspicion.
"The rebels are so still so close? Why?" Alexander had expected them to have vanished into the wind by now.
"Well, you can ask that answer by yourself. It seems we have caught the biggest fish of all," Melodias chuckled.
"Ptolomy?" Alexander asked boldly and incredulously.
"Hehehe, it seems so," Melodias nodded and smiled.
And as Alexander arrived, the crowd that had gathered around the clinic parted like the red sea, letting him be escorted right to the bed that contained a thin, gaunt man.
The man was clearly haggard, with sunken cheeks, dry lips, and weary eyes.
As the frail man turned to look at Alexander, he could be seen shaking and struggling to stay awake.
"Are you Ptolomy?" Alexander wasted no time as he asked the trantor with him to trante.
Yes, the people of Thesos and Adhania spoke close but ultimately differentnguages.
This was also how the scouts managed to understand that these were not Sycarians.
And as a footnote, all the scouts that one or two trantors with them.
"As I have repeatedly told you, I am Ankesh. I am the heir to the Zantum family in Leguna and I came to Adhan to secure some food from Pasha Muazz." He softly repeated, his voice rough and coarse.
"Heh, you came to ask for food riding on food?" Melodias sneered.
Logic dictated that if you were truly starved for food, you would kill thergest consumers of food first, like the horse the man was riding.
"A noble without a horse is not a noble," He tried to y it off as a pride thing.
"Well, where''s the food then?" Alexander pointed out that they found no food with them.
"*Sigh*, we would not get any." The man dejected shook his head.
"Hmm, then why were you attacked?" Alexander asked the most important question.
"They were bandits!" The man shook his body in anger as he said the word.
Then loudly thanked, "Commander, I haven''t got the opportunity yet to thank you for saving me. The Zantum family will never forget this favor," He excitedly added.
"Hmm, my men told me the ones who attacked you were around fifty horsemen. Tell me, when did bandits horsemen start running round Adhan, the jewel of the East?" Alexander sneered.
"....." The man opened and closed his mouth like a fish trying to breathe but no word came out.
Alexander had hit it right on the head- how could there be bandits rich enough to own and operate horses so close to the capital of the East?
"What? Cat got your tongue?" Melodias sneered at the man, mimicking how the man was pping his mouth.
"Ahaaa haaa," Finally the cadaverous man let off a nervousugh and said, "Themander has immacte eyes. I too was surprised by this. Bandits so near the capital! Who would have thought."
*Sigh*" He then let out a heavy sigh, "This drought has destroyed Adhania. Even the capital is not safe."
This poor disy of acting and coherent storytelling did not impress anyone, especially Alexander who only tly looked at the man and said,
"Is the story you are going with? I had thought the man who dared to rebel against the son of Ramuh would be more...impressive,"
He uttered thest word with a smirk and noticed the veins on the man''s twitch uncontrobly at this as if he was trying to bottle down the anger.
''Darm, plebeian monkey," Alexander''s disdainful gaze made the royal''s blood boil.
He was always ustomed to looking at others like that, and had never he thought would be on the receiving end of it.
"What I said is the truthmander," This time instead of looking directly at Alexander, the man hid his eyes.
''Timid, ipetent and a fool,'' Alexander made his evaluation of the man.
Timid because the man tended avoided eye contact when talking to Alexander. He had expected a royal to look him directly in the eye and stare him down, something that disyed confidence and conviction.
Ipetent because of the lousy story he was spewing to save his hide. If you are gonna tell a story to save yourself, make it a good one, one that doesn''t burst with the slightest bit of scrutiny.
And third, a fool, because even when he understood he had lost and his lies were exposed, he continued to perpetuate them, risking drawing the ire of his captors.
''How did this guy pull off a coup?'' Alexander asked in bewilderment in his heart.
And the answer was because the rebel needed a figurehead, a symbol to rally behind.
And that someone needed to be of the royal bloodline and thus Ptolomy was chosen, who was not stupid, but also not the sharpest shed in the tool.
"We have also found arge, golden seal, what''s that?" Melodias was getting a bit fed up with the lies.
? "That''s my family''s seal, Please give it back. You will be handsomelypensated," The man seemed strangely agitated by that mention.
"It''s not the royal seal?" Alexander smirked as he felt he had hit the jackpot.
If Ptolomy had stolen the seal in an attempt to carry on the rebellion,nding it in Alexander''s hands meant he could issue formal orders in Adhania just like Amenheraft could.
".....Never¡" The noble clenched out the words.
"Hmmm, okay, I believe you," Alexander looked at the man with a smile and the man looked at the sunny grin with a look that seemed to say that his lord and savor had finallye.
"Thank mander, thank you. I knew you were a reasonable and trustworthy man the first time I met you. I was surprised by how young you were the first time Iid my eyes on you and thought how could the mercenaries choose such a young brat, but I can see why they did it. You are almost a noble," Ptolomy grinned and nodded, feeling extremely proud at the diversion he had in his mind managed to pull off.
"Your ttery skills need work, Your Majesty," Alexander gave an angry snigger.
No one would use the words ''a young brat'' and ''almost a noble'' to tter anybody.
"Wha¡?" The unkempt man widened his eyes and mouth.
"A guy named Azaradm came to us to negotiate. Do you know him? We can just show him to you, " Alexander had a sly smile and a guileful glint in his eyes.
"Wha¡." Ptolomy''s blood ran cold at the mention of this name.
Of course, he knew Azaradm, Amenheraft''s most trusted negotiator, and someone he had imprisoned himself.
''What''s that guy doing here? Is it a bluff?'' He tried to think of the best-case scenario.
Seeing even this did not break the man, Alexander attacked onest time, "You know, seems like a high noble pish posh asshole who probably wipes his butt with gold leaves kinda guy. Tall, has a mustache, tanned skin, and looks at you like you are a bug under his shoes," Alexander vulgarly described the man that walked as if he owned the very ground beneath it.
Thisst description was enough to break the man''s delusion once and for all, as he confessed, "Don''t hand him over to me. I will confess everything."
He then took a deep breath and his meek tone turned all of a sudden to that of an imperious, regal one as he introduced himself, "Yes, I am Ptolomy. And as the rightful king of Adhania, I thank you for rescuing me from the rebels."
''Able to spew such nonsense even if this situation, what a guy? A true politician'' Alexander was half impressed at how the guy was able to spin the story.
Chapter 100 Why Rebel
Ptolomy''s formal reveal of his status, caused a littlemotion in the medical camp, as many gathered around him, trying to get a glimpse of the ''god on earth.''
Alexander even noticed Mean, the four feet-eight-inch petite adult standing on her toes and craning her neck to get a look at the man.
But the bulky men smooshing her together made that action impossible.
"Mean, the king needs some water. Bring it here," Alexander thought he should fulfill the maiden''s little desire.
And soon the girl came holding a pitcher, literally shaking with excitement as he poured the drink for the king, a grin so big cut on her face, Alexander feared it might never close.
"*Gulg-glug-glug*" Ptolomy was dying of thirst and drank three full cups before finally putting down the earthen cup with a satisfied, "ahhhh".
Alexander then signaled for Mean to leave, which she did a bit unwillingly, though not before leaving Alexander with a grateful look.
"Now, let us move to somewhere more private, Your Majesty," Alexander then gestured to the guards around to escort the failed rebel to hismand tent.
"Leaders please make your way to the tent, I will join you shortly. Melodias too." Alexander urged them to apany Ptolomy.
Alexander also ordered the leaders and Ptolomy to be served dinner, while they waited.
Alexander decided to do something else, as he called Camius who was nearby, and asked him, "How many of Ptolomy''s people are there?"
"Sixteen including Ptolomy," Camius was taught to always give the exact number.
"Arrange all of them to be interrogated. And during the whole time make sure they are allowed not to talk to each other and coborate on their story. The guy''s a pathological liar and who knows how much of what he says will be the truth?" Alexander ordered Camius.
"Okay, but there''s a girl with a high fever. Should we interrogate her too?" Camius asked for permission.
"What?" Alexander was confused by this question.
And then it dawned on him the misunderstanding taking ce here.
Usually, interrogation meant beating people up, breaking their bones, and other nasty stuff, so Camius was asking if he should beat up the girl too.
"Noo, you idiot," Alexander scolded the man, "By interrogation I mean ask questions to them like: their names, age, family, home address, where are they from, where they were going, who is their leader, how they ended up here, etc. and write them down." Alexander gave a few examples.
"Don''t use violence or hit them. Just ask normal questions and write down the answer. I want the full report by tonight," Alexander demanded.
''Again with the writing,'' Camiusmpooned in his heart.
If there was one thing he hated about working with Alexander was all the writing he had to do.
What Camius didn''t know was that his hatred for paperwork was not singr but universal, a hate shared by all, across all worlds and timelines.
So much so that almost every working adult in the modern world could empathize with Camius to some degree.
But still, everyone did put up with paperwork because it made doing things easier and even Camius had found that out and so only grumbled an anemic, "..kay."
Then Alexander looked for Cambyses, who was caring for a little, nubile girl. The girl had an exotic wheat-coloredplexion and striking bright red hair.
"I will likely be workingte tonight. Be sure to tuck yourself to sleep early and don''t pressure yourself." Alexander quite sinctly told her of his work schedule and after receiving an "Umm, take care," from the supremely busy girl, he excused himself.
When Alexander arrived at the tent, he found that everyone had finished their meals, evidenced by therge stack of tes on his table, and was chatting among themselves.
They greeted him warmly and after a few pleasantries, the real talk began.
"Now, mister Ptolomy, why don''t you tell us how you got here? Let''s start from the day the king defeated us," Alexander made a point not to call him king to lessen his importance and make him more amicable to opening up.
Ptolomy too noticed the disrespectful address, but what could a prisoner like him do?
"*Sigh*" He opened his answer with a heavy sigh, "The night Amenheraft won, we took fifty riders and rode north to reach Agnirat. The ruler of that city is the sister...was the sister of a loyal subject of mine and the n was to take a ship to the Matrak province and meet up with Pasha Farzah."
"But, who would have thought that we would run out of food for your horse? The sacks we had bought ourselves, had only a few bits of food on the top, the rest were filled with stones. We had been sabotaged."
"And I was not just one person. Even among the fifty of my most trusted people were multiple traitors," Ptolomy gnashed his teeth as he said those words, hateful murmursing out of his breath.
In fact, the ''fifty most trusted people'' was a misnomer as a lot of them sided with Ptolomy because of convenience and not out of loyalty.
They saw Ptoloty not as a good alternative to Amenheraft but as a better alternative.
Until thetter won two death-defying battles back to back within a few hours.
This made some of these people re-think their alliance, either due to convenience or because they were got fearing, and decided to sell out Ptolomy.
They did not directly kill or capture Ptolomy because they had taken an oath to be loyal to Ptolomy and could not vite it openly, as it would make them a pariah among the nobles, even if the action was sanctioned by the king himself.
So, they sabotaged and even leaked Ptolomy''s whereabouts by leaving clear signs for the Adhanian trackers to follow.
After Ptolomy centered himself with a little pause, he continued, "On the second day, one of those ingrates managed to lure to a small ambush and even got close enough to kill Nfzam¡he''s the one whose sister rules Agnirat," Ptolomy introduced as he ground his teeth.
''My man, you won''t have any teeth by the time you finish,'' Alexander thought yfully at the sound.
"We managed to escape that ambush but lost twelve men, and four revealed themselves as traitors," Ptolomy recounted,
"The third day continued with them hounding us. Constantly on our tail and never seeming to attack us, just trying tire us out, like a pack of wolves like they knew we had little food."
"We had tried to lose them, but they knew our destination and had blocked them all off. We were like caged rats. So, desperate, we thought of going south, but even then we were caught."
"Thatst ambush was meant to be the end of us, but it looks like the heavens still have a grain of pity in them for me." Ptolomy shed a sad smile as he finished his story.
"Why did you rebel?" Alexander was curious,
And Ptolomy told them the various atrocitiesmitted by Amenheraft''s father and how so many of the nobles were all fed up with him.
"I couldn''t let my dear Adhania be destroyed by the actions of a mad king," Ptolomy justified.
The horror stories told by Ptolomy, though a bit exaggerated, certainly painted the so-called god''s blessed in a grim, hedonistic light.
Many leaders there left gazes of sympathy and even admiration towards Ptolomy for having the guts to rebel against a god.
But Alexander, though surprised, was not particrly moved by the stories.
Even if true, they would be only simr to the cruel practices of some of the kings of his time, like d the Impaler.
Instead of focusing on the past dead man, Alexander decided to focus on the future, "I see, so what now?" He asked Ptolomy about his future intentions.
Here Ptolomy broke into arge smile as his tone did aplete one-eighty, "Commander Alexander, the heavens have decreed that we meet. I believe our fates are intertwined. Help me get Adhan, and I will make you my most trusted general."
"Ohhh. the owner of the world''s most trusted general, how ttering!" Alexander said in an exaggerated mocking tone, "If you trusted me so much, if our fates are so intertwined, then why did it take me so much effort to get you to admit who you were? Was it all a test?"
Even Ptolomy understood sarcasm this obvious and simply made an awkward face while going silent.
"Well. if you have nothing more to add, then let''s end here." Alexander had decided to dump this ticking time bomb and kick him out of the camp before dawn.
"Does anyone else have any questions?" He asked the other leaders present who shook their heads.
"Wait,mander, please. Okay, you don''t have to fight for me, just escort me to Agnirat and I will pay you handsomely," Ptolomy was desperate.
"Didn''t that Nfzam die? Why should they let you into the city?" Alexander raised an eyebrow.
"No, they will. Because Inayah poisoned Beihrut, the captain of the royal guard. And she helped Pasha Farzah deliver poisons to the former king for years as his mistress. That''s why he went mad. And that''s why Amenheraft and her cannot exist under the same sky." Ptolomy revealed some earth-shaking news.
The news was so shocking that many leaders went ck-jawed at learning that all the atrocitiesmitted by the king can be actually attributed to this Farzah guy.
Alexander too grew curious about this man and about Ptolomy''s rebellion in general and so asked, "I think all of us would like to know how your rebellion Start from the first day the word rebellion was uttered within the halls of the royal pce."
Seeing all seven pairs of eyes zone on on him, Ptolomy knew they wanted a good story and sighed heavily as hempooned, ''I should have be a storyteller instead of a rebel. My life would have been a lot smoother.''
But he knew he had to satisfy these overgrown children with a good story, his life was on the line, "I was always a pretty mediocre prince. Amenheratf far surpassed me in all categories- Prestige, martial arts, bravery, and academics."
He then let out a rueful smile, "So, imagine my surprise when eight years ago I got an invite to a private ball party at Pasha Farzah''s mansion in Adhan. Those letters only ever went out to people of actual importance, and I never thought one would evere for me. So naturally, ecstatic and over the moon at this honor. I epted and joined."
Then his face turned a little bright as he seemed to recall happy times, "And this was the first of many times. Balls, banquets, and hunting expeditions, I was part of it all. The finest food, the softest clothes, and the most beautiful were all gifted to me."
"And slowly I was shown the corrupt side of the court, I was shown how the king abused and tortured people. How he taxed them and how his army bullied them. And how Adhania, the greatest country in the country was being pushed into abyss and ruin."
Then Ptolomy''s voice turned high pitched, "We are god''s kin yet there was a member so low and debase. And his ce was so high in this mortal world. How could the gods allow it?"
Then his pitch lowered itself to a low octave, "I was mortified. I could see no way to help my beloved Adhania."
"And then Pasha Farzah approached me and said if I wanted to make a change, the only way was for me to be king. Only a king, a god on earth could help Adhania. And he said he was ready to help me." Ptolomy finished introducing his biggest backer.
''Fool, half the things he showed you must have been nned by him,'' Alexander could only curse the good but na?ve man.
Chapter 101 Story Of A Failure
Ptolomy rebelled out of genuine pity for his country, but Alexander wondered how much he understood still now that the nobles were just using him.
Ptolomy''s story continued, "The first few years were very hush-hush. There were only a few of us. But it all began to change three years ago when the drought hit."
''I wonder if that Farzah guy knows ck magic and caused the drought. At this point it would not surprise me,'' Alexander had grown weary of this Farzah.
"The drought devastated Adhania, and although it was a tragedy for Adhania, it was a boon for us. The drought gave us the rallying cry we needed and our numbers swelled, But it could not still hope topete with the royalists."
Ptolomy then produced a different smile, a slightly ashamed smile, "So we asked for foreign aid. And Tibias and Cantagena responded."
"But," his octaves roared again, "it was to save my Adhania, To save it from the clutches of a deranged lunatic."He justified his actions.
"I see," Alexander seemed to uncharacteristically agree with Ptolomy.
And then asked the question that crept up in his mind, "So, this asking for foreign aid, was it you that bought it up or¡.." Alexander trailed off.
"It was Pasha¡ Farzah." Even the slow Ptolomy began to see the pattern and smelled something was not right.
''Oh, you poor naive child, the Cantagenans and Tibiasians were already there. You didn''t call them, they called you,'' Alexander made a bold assumption that the coup''s real intention was to carve up the nation by these three factions and Ptolomy was just the scapegoat.
Alexander noticed Ptolomy half connect the dots, but didn''t give him the luxury of time to think. "So, the Cantagenans and TIbisians, they wanted to help you out of the kindness of the heart? Because the people were suffering and they felt it was heaven''s will to help you?" Alexander found himself to be in a sarcastic mood now.
When asked about the details of the negotiations Ptolomy turned a bit red, "Those are secret negotiations. Nothing had been set in stone."
Alexander was displeased with this avoidance, "You are in our hands. To ensure that you do stay in our hand, and not end up in the king''s, it''s in your best interest to satisfy us," He growled.
Feeling the weight of the many eyes cast their cold gazes on him, Ptolomy could not hold it, he buckled, "Farzah said that our army was vastly outnumbered and that it was no match for Amenheraft''s elites."
''Of course, it was Farzah- why was that guy not king, but this waste,'' Alexander moaned in his mind.
Ptolomy was still talking, "So he said only hope was to take advantage of the fact that they were away campaigning and gather reinforcement before they had the time they could soon return to retake the city."
"And so we sent for the Cantagenan reinforcement-you while Tibiasunched a suicidal attack to the south to draw the army''s attention away."
"It was a very good n, with the real hard part of it getting to the capital before the army could. And we did do that. But somehow the king beat us anyway." Alexander drew a rueful smile.
And it infected everyone in the room.
"Yea, maybe he really is blessed by Ramuh," Ptolomy had a dejected tone to his voice.
"So, the n was to use the Cantagenans to fight the Adhanians? But doesn''t Adhania traditionally crush Cantagena innd battle?" Alexander seemed to find a ring w in the n.
"No, no, we have intended to fight in them in open ground." Ptolomy raised with hands and waved them around to deny this tactic.
"The n was to have your''s and my forces use therge walls of Adhan to repel any sieges and essentially starve the besieging army. We have already gathered all the food from nearby ces so they can''t forage and we knew they had little food with them. And even if they did have a lot of food that would make their supply chain huge and slow, and be unable toe to their king''s aid immediately. That would give us more time to consolidate our power." Ptolomy was forced to reveal his n in its entirety.
''Hmm, I see. The n is pretty solid. Due to the still infantile development of proper siege technology at this time, breaching the ten-meter-high walls would be almost impossible. Adhan by its terrain is nigh impregnable, situated on a cliff and having one of its sides facing the ''Life Sea.'' Alexander onlympooned the fact that ''Man proposes and God disposes.''
"*Sigh*, If you don''t have luck on your side, all the nning in the world means nothing," It was unknown if Alexander was saying it to Ptolomy or himself.
"Maybe the gods do exist," Ptolomy released a dejected sigh for the umpteenth time.
"So, what did Cantagena and Tibias want in return?" Alexander wanted to know what he had offered them, especially Cantagenan thatunched a war even when they could not afford to.
Ptolomy forcefully smiled, "We promised Acme and the Zanzan province to Cantagena and a few southern provinces to Tibias."
"Heh, you sold your country? Didn''t you want to save it?" Alexander taunted unreservedly.
This seemed to hit Ptolomy''s sensitive spot as he red up, "Don''t assume stuff you have no idea about, brat."
But this outburst didn''t faze Alexander as he only chuckled, "Tell me, did you n to take them back once you took the throne?"
"That¡that.." With his intention to break his promise totally exposed, Ptolomy started another round of pping his mouth like a fish, but he eventually recovered and shouted, "I would never do that."
But Alexander read him like a book as he avoided eye contact while saying that, which was a tell of him lying, something Alexander had noticed quite early on.
"Heh," Alexander didn''t bother arguing with him and only gave a snigger.
"So, how did you pull off the coup, like upy the actual city and take the throne," Alexander asked off a tangent.
Ptolomy again looked around to find the curious gazes and replied, "First we arranged for Manuk to leave for the army under a false pretense. Then, a merchant from Tibias came to Amenheraft saying he knew of a herb to cure father and only someone of divine blood was qualified to pluck it. Amenheraft left the capital with a paltry force and with the forces Pasha Farzah had smuggled into the city, we took it in his absence. Our only mistake was letting Kefka escape and alert the king early. Ohh, that merchant is with us- he is called Kalopsus." Ptolomy named someone to help corroborate his story.
"Hmmm, tell me more about this Farzah?" Alexander was intrigued by this scheming old coot and wanted to know more.
"Pasha Farzah," Ptolomy seemed to be correcting ALexander for calling a noble with his honorifics. After that, he delineated, "He is around fifty years old. His territory- the Matrak province is huge and borders Exs and because he trades with both them and Cantagena, his riches are second to only the royal family. But he is not arrogant. He treats everyone, even a neglected prince like me..."
Ptolomy then turned into a simp fanboy as he droned on and on about how good and kind and all the other supetives this guy was and Alexander failed to get much of anything other than the things that were publicly known.
Alexander then impatiently raised his hand to stop with sycophantic drivel and asked, "Okay, now let''s return to the topic why should we keep you? You are very dangerous to give refuge to and you have no money to pay for our services."
"I can get you.." Ptolomy almost shouted.
"We want it upfront. We have been cheated too many times with this ter payment promise to fall for it again," Alexander shut off Ptolomy''s proposal.
"Why are you being like that? You are going in the same direction anyway? What''s the harm?" Ptolomy almost turned nagging and grumbling.
"Who said we are going north?" Alexander was curious why Ptolomy made that guess.
"Heh, you think I''m that easy to fool? Where are you gonna go anyway, south?" Ptolomy spoke in a disdainful tone.
Their destination Cantagenay west to Adhania, and north, north-west, and south, south-west, were their only options as Adhany to the east and directly westy marches and jungles that were very hard terrain.
"Why? What''s to the south?" Alexander had an ominous feeling.
Understanding these fools were about to march to their doom, Ptolomy burst into hysteria, "Hahaha, you fools were really gonna march south? Haha, then forget what I said. Please go ahead, hahaha," Ptolomy found the entire situation so funny that he found it hard to keep himself seated, almost rolling into the floor.
"Why what south?" Alexander asked in a harsh tone, not finding the situation at all funny.
The lives of ten thousand men were at stake.
Understanding angering the mercenaries was not in his best interest, Ptolomy stoppedughing and turned his eyes into a gleeful crescent, "Let me guess, you want to travel south, enter a city and catch a ship to Cantagena, am I right?"
And was Alexander''s n.
"But you see, in winter, the sea winds south of our country reverses. So no ship leaves for Cantagena. Ships cane from Cantagena, but the opposing winds are too strong to make the return trip."
Then Ptolomy let out a huge grin in glee, "Hehe, it looks like you are stuck with me. Escort me to Agnirat and I will find ''escorts'' to take your home,"
The remaining audience did not find his rhyme funny.
Chapter 102 Arazadm Comes
The group of leaders soon confirmed what Ptolomy said by asking around a bit and after a bit of discussion came to the same conclusion as Ptolomy- they had to march north if they wanted to leave Adhania anytime soon as the winds would only change directions back around March- April, where it was now was just the start of September.
Agnirat was also only hundred fifty kilometers northwest of their current position as opposed to Acme, which was around three hundred fifty kilometers southwest of them.
So, although the leaders and Alexander found Ptolomy not very reliable, they begrudgingly epted his request to escort him in exchange for him helping them charter ships.
The other extreme alternatives were to march literally a few thousand kilometers on foot to reach Cantagena or take over a city that has a port and force the sailors to sail them there.
Neither very appealing options.
As Alexander escorted the king to the former tent of Agapios, he asked in an offhand manner, "Who''s the girl?"
"She''s my ve Nu¡..she''s my sister Hellma," Ptomoly deciding that lying to this sharp mercenary was a bad idea, came clean.
"I see. She has a high fever. I hope she gets well soon," Alexander offered some general words offort as he wondered why he escaped with his sister in particr.
Making sure Ptolomy wasfortable in his tent, Alexander did not retire to his quarters but called Camius to get the interrogation reports.
And he personally went over them one by one, looking for any discrepancies.
And although he noticed some trivial ones, what bothered him most were how the questions were all over the ce, jumping from topic to topic and not following through on the answers.
Like someone answered the question, ''How many days were you out?'' with ''Two days.''
This was not possible, but instead of following through and asking further questions like, ''The king won four days ago, what did you do the extra two days?'', the interrogator just wrote the answer and moved on to the topic of what food they ate for which meal.
''Haaah, I will need to make a standard questionnaire for interrogations or at least teach them some basic conversational techniques.'' Alexander sighed in his heart and then called Camius to show him some of the ws with the questions asked and how they were asked.
"I will need to arrange for someone to turn your street knowledge into a book to teach new spies," Alexander was already making ns to form his security service.
''You do you doc,'' Camiusmpooned at the thought of even more paperwork.
It took quite a while for Alexander to read the transcripts of all fourteen people (Hellma and Ptolomy included made sixteen) and cross reference and gleam the truth out of them, after filtering out the lies.
And by the time he was done, it was already midnight and he was ready to turn himself in when a golden glint hit his eyes- the royal seal.
Melodias had taken it from Ptolomy when he searched him and then passed it on to him.
Alexander picked up the smooth, round, solid piece of gold, intricately decorated with the sword and thunder coat arms of the Adhanian royal family on one side, and the engraving of Life Sea on the other.
''I too will one day be king!'' Alexander''s heart burned with pure ambition.
As Alexander was psyching himself up to one day sit on a throne, a herald suddenly called out to him in the dead middle of the night to say that a messenger from Adhania was here to see him.
''Ptolomy''s location got revealed so quickly? Fuck! How many spies do we have among ourselves?'' Alexander could write it in gold why the messenger- most likely Arazadm was here.
But for once, Alexander was wrong in his deduction on how the Adhanians knew where Ptolomy was.
Because the horsemen that were chased off reported to their higher-ups that it was the mercenaries that got in their way of killing Ptolomy.
And this quickly made up its way to the ears of the highest levels of power in Adhania and soon reach the ears of the most powerful man in the country, Amenheraft, who could not sit still for a second knowing the murderer of his father was just a few kilometers in front of him.
He immediately ordered the deployment of twenty thousand of his twenty-five thousand army in the middle of the night and ordered Arazadm to go bring Ptolomy from the mercenaries and retrieve the royal seal or dere war.
"Esteemed noble Arazadm, such night calls are unbing of a man of your status, hehe" Alexander mocked the moment he saw the familiar mustached tall tanned man.
"You¡.." Arazadm hated this mercenary to his guts and wanted to go off on a tirade but held his tongue, knowing his mission.
"You are guilty of hiding the royal traitor, Hand him over along with the royal seal," His voice was peremptory and absolute.
"Ptolomy? We do have a soldier by that name, but why does Adhania want a low-level grunt?" Alexander yed dumb.
"Our soldiers confirmed that you attacked them when they were about to capture Ptolomy. I know he''s here. Don''t y dumb." Arazadm was still a bit cranky at having been woken up in the middle of the night and forced to go talk with that abominable brat.
He thought the mercenaries'' heads had to have been eaten to shit to choose this milk-dripping pup as their leader.
And the incessant rain on the way did not help improve his mood.
"Haah, ..wait, and let me get the other mercenary leaders. We will decide on it together." Alexander felt any further flowery talk was just dumb.
They knew what they wanted and hade to him with the full intention of getting it.
"What''s there to talk about? Give him to us or there will be war?" Arazadm gave the ultimate.
But Alexander remained calm and told him to wait.
And soon the leaders were woken up and made to seek an audience Alexander, where they meet Arazadm.
"This is Arazadm, he is here to demand Ptolomy from us?" Alexander told the gist of the situation which made all the leaders frown.
"What does the esteemed lord have to exchange him with?" Menicus, who had years of experience negotiating with people politely asked.
But this soft tone fell on deaf ears as Arazadm only snarled, "Heh, we not simply killing you for harboring god''s enemy on earth ispensation enough. Don''t get greedy, you pigs!"
Menicus was very well respected by the mercenary leaders and this rude behavior angered many, though they kept their mouths shut.
"Hehe, please calm down esteem messenger. We are not saying we will not hand this Ptolomy you im we have over. But we are interested in knowing what he has done. If he is really a rebel as you say, we will hand him over. Going against a god''s will is the greatest sin on earth and we certainly will not associate ourselves with him if what you say is true." Alexander was trying to get Arazadm to talk so that he could form an emotional bond with him.
''If I had known this I would have been nicer to him,'' Alexander regretted his earlier cavalier taunts.
And Alexander too was now learning about the bitter pill called regret.
"Everyone knows about the rebel, Stop wasting my time." Arazadm only screamed.
The reason for his drastic change in behaviorpared to the first was because the king had deployed twenty thousand men against the mercenaries if negotiations failed.
So Arazadm- who already hated the mercenaries, had little incentive to negotiate.
But Alexander still tried, "I am sure they do. But great lord, we are only illiterate mercenaries from foreignnds. Mindless brutes who only came here drawn in by the smell of coin. So please enlighten us."
Alexander even fully bowed to the noble.
''Wow, Alexander sure can oil when the situation calls for it.'' Melodias smirked in his heart, while Heliptos sneered, ''Themander is a better ass-licker than me.''
Seeing the insolent brat debase and lower himself before him, Arazadm felt his heart cool a bit and so spoke, "Ptolomy attempted a coup and failed. Now he needs to stand trial."
This concise answer was not what Alexander was looking for and asked, "Ahem, high noble sir, perhaps you could tell us a bit how he did it, what atrocities hemitted while bing a rebel, and how this man escaped the clutches of justice this long."
? Seeing Alexander describe Ptolomy in this negative light, Arazadm''s mouth loosened a bit and he started his recount.
And although he was reluctant at first, but under Alexander''s cajoling, he revealed the entire rebellion plot as seen through the lens of the other party.
And though the events were decorated and told differently, like how ording to him the actions of Amenheraft''s father were right, how the nobles simply did not have the money to pay for the food the popce needed, and how the nobles were just living mouth to mouth and could not afford to lower taxes, the general information about the rebellion was consistent with Ptolomy''s version.
Though there were additions like the involvement of Cantagena and Tibias long before Ptolomy called for them and how Ptolomy tried to burn down all three granaries of the city and seeded in two, while the third attempt failed, but instead spreading fire to the nearby houses, mostly housing by nobles and killing close to a thousand of them.
He also framed the drought not as a punishment but as a test from Ramuh to separate the chaff from the wheat, the believers from the non-believers, and those that remained steadfast would be granted eternal residence in Aaru.
''Wow, you guys are really selling the religious thing seriously huh?'' This reminded Alexander of the exact things some people in his previous life used to say when disaster hit them.
"So, are you satisfied with the reason now?" Arazadm was running out of patience.
"Okay, we will hand over Ptolomy." Alexander nodded, managing to eke out a tiny smile from Arazadm.
Chapter 103 Declaration Of War
Alexander had no qualms about handing Ptolomy over, the man was a fool and a liability.
"But we want safe passage by ships to Cantagena before the winter," Alexander stated his condition.
"Are you dumb? Hand over Ptolomy or be destroyed. There will be no negotiations." Arazadm shouted.
"And besides what do you need ships for?" He asked, "Aren''t you gonna be hired by us?"
"Heh, you think we are fools?" The quick-mouthed, fiery mercenary- Petricuno could not hold his tongue any longer, "You just want to lure and kill us"
"What who told you that?" Arazadm was genuinely confused by this usation.
Adhania really wanted to hire the mercenaries in good faith, because they needed their men to nt wheat instead.
"Then why does Adhania need to hire us when they can threaten to kill us?" Alexander asked with a sneer.
"That¡.," Alexander''s argument made it difficult for Arazadm to exin his position.
It''s unlikely they would buy the farming story.
"It seems we have reached an impasse," Seeing Arazadm give no reply, Alexander sighed heavily.
Then he gestured for the messenger to leave the tent, "Please enjoy some refreshments while wee to a decision."
The ''enjoy some refreshments'' was sarcasm as Arazadm had been just told to wait in the cold rain, which he did, but not before sending a look of pure loathing towards Alexander, as if wanting to eat him raw.
Alexander then called a guard and told him to get Camius.
"Run as fast as you can. And tell Camius it''s a code delta situation," Alexander gave the crypticmand.
As the guards scampered off, Alexander turned to look at the concerned faces of the leaders.
Meniscus was the first to speak up, "War it is then."
He said this fiercely, grinding his teeth in anger.
Surprisingly the old bones still had a lot of spunk left in them.
"*Sigh* can we win?" After losing two battles consecutively so decisively, Heliptos had grown somewhat afraid of facing the Adhanians, who seemed to be protected by the heavens themselves.
"We have to win," Melodias shouted raising his clenched fists in determination.
Alexander was very happy to see them not discussing folding or running away as he too felt that running now would be a mistake.
"What? Seriously? We can''t fight them. Let''s run away." Petricuno thought everyone else had lost their mind.
"Leader Petricuno, didn''t you hear how they boxed Ptolomy in? If we run, it could also happen to us. It would leave our nks open to attack as the Adhanians will be able to use the roads and cities to move around, while we would have to go around urban centers, vastly slowing us down. They can attack us in waves and slowly whittle us down." Alexander showed the w in Petricuno''s reasoning.
"But¡" Petricuno attempted to defend himself.
But Alexander cut him off, "Yes, what you mentioned does make it possible for some of us to leave Adhania. But how many? As themander, I have a responsibility to my troops and I will not leave them." He heroically dered.
"If we fight them, we will all die. Some alive is better than none." This was not Petricuno, but a buff, strong man named Zumahun.
He was the one who had taken over Alcmene''s camp.
"Being in under a sword is a much kinder death than being hounded like dogs and slowly bleeding to death over days. We are mercenaries, we aren''t afraid of death, just of an undignified one." Menicus had the tone of a martyr.
"Leader Petricuno if you fight now, there is a chance you can win. Nothing''s been set in stone yet." Alexander ced his hands on Petricuno''s shoulder. "But if you run, your loss will be. Can you take responsibility for the death of many of your men,"
"I..we..Then we can over the marches. We marched over them right?" Petricuno pointed with his hand to the west, his eyes full of a hopeful glow as he felt he hade across a brand new option no one had thought of.
"That was originally a massiveke that had its water drained due to the drought, Even then we had to wade through knee-deep water then." Melodias reminded Petricuno of a piece of information we conveniently had forgotten.
"And now it''s been constantly raining for two days. It will have returned to ake by now," Alexander chimed in.
"With no nearbyrge trees to make boats. Because of the drought, remember?" Meniscus added sarcastically.
"I¡then¡," Petricuno stammered, but ultimately just hung his head, grabbed a fistful of hair and spat, "Augh fine. If I am gonna die anyways, dying with you guys is not the worst thing that can happen."
"Good, then it''s settled¡" Alexander did not get to finish as a sharp cry interrupted him.
"I''m here. I''m here. What''s going on?" This was Camius who had barged into the tent, sweating, soaked, and out of breath.
Code delta was Alexander''s way of saying drop anything and everything you are doing ande meet me.
"Camius, it''s good you are here. Now, there''s a messenger outside the tent as I''m sure you noticed. When he leaves the tent, on his way I want him to hear this multiple times, ''Wake up! Adhania is gonna attack us in the morning. We gotta run at the crack of dawn.'' Got it?" Alexander whispered the words so Arazadm can''t hear.
"What? The Adhanians are attacking?" Camius jumped up in fright and yelled in horror, even letting Arazadm hear it.
''Wasn''t the negotiations supposed to start three days from today? Why is the Adhanian messenger here now? Is it because of Ptolomy?'' A million questions ran through Camius''s head.
"Go now! Time is of the essence. We will make a formal announcement in two hours." Alexander ignored Camius''s question and sternly ordered him.
And though Camius was confused, he trusted Alexander, so with a silent nod, he exited the camp.
"So, we are unanimously in not handing over Ptolomy even at the threat of going to warm right?" Alexander even looked at the two new mercenary leaders: Zumahun and Agnosh.
And all unanimously nodded.
"Good, then let''s call Arazadm in."
And so the news was delivered and Arazadm left huffing and puffing, though he had a weirdly satisfied smile on his face.
And as if the heavens were smiling on him, by chance he had even heard some soldiers shout calls for running away right at dawn.
''So, that man was called to get the soldiers ready to run. That brat isn''t totally ipetent.'' Arazadm identified Camius and praised Alexander.
Then he sneered in his heart, ''But our army is already ready. The moment dawnes, we will be at your doorsteps, hehe.''
Arazadm was ecstatic that he was able to gleam this ''secret information.''
After Arazadm left, the mercenary leaders look at Alexander with baffled looks.
He was the one who advocated going to war, yet going by what he had told Camius, it seemed he wanted run?
That made no sense.
"Hehe, our n is simple. We will fake a retreat, making it appear we have left our camp, and with a little bit of luck the Adhanian will charge up the hill and right into our ambush."
Alexander sinctly exined the n.
"Commander, did you already think of it while we were discussing if we would go to war or not? Is that why you called for Camius just as Arazadm left?" Heliptos asked incredulously, finding Alexander''s thinking operating on a whole different level from his.
"Hehe," Alexander only chuckled a bit.
"It''s my great luck to be able to meet a youngster like you. Ohh, only if I was a bit younger," Meniscus praised Alexander in his own, unique way.
The amazing part was not the strategy but the time he took to devise it and the little scheme he pulled off to pretty much guarantee the Adhanians will attack them, and not suspect it is an ambush.
"Please, store your praise after we have won." Alexander reminded them that the battle was far from over and they were still in a bad situation.
"Does anyone have any good estimates of their forces?" Alexander looked around.
"They had fifteen thousand (15,000) infantry, five thousand (5,000) archers, and fifteen thousand (15,000) slingers. Out of the thirty-five thousand (35,000), we killed around ten thousand (10,000). Particrly before the first ambush and when Samaras had forced the slingers to retreat. So twenty-five to thirty thousand (25,000- 30.000) would be a good estimate," Melodias made quite an urate prediction.
"So, around double our forces," Alexander had a small frown but found the situation though bad, but not hopeless.
Hannibal beat eighty thousand (80,000) Romans at Cannae with forty thousand (40,000) men.
At Agincourt, the English with (8000) beat twenty-five thousand (25,000) French.
At the Battle of Bard, 300 Muslims beat 1000 pagans on open t desert, by sheer determination.
Compared to them, Alexander''s position was extremely enviable.
So although he felt pressured, he wasn''t discouraged.
"Go and prepare your men for battle. It will dawn in about three hours, so you have two hours to get your soldiers to pack their things, arrange them in fullbat formation, and then report with them at the clearing. I will address them there" Alexandermanded the leaders to take action immediately.
"Ohh and do not tell them about the ambush. But have them dismantle their tents and pack everything. They won''t be able to do this in time and that''s okay. We want to give the Adhanians the impression that we left so quickly, we only had the time to take the barest necessity." Alexander gave detailed instructions.
"Hehe, themander''s thought of everything," Heliptos let out a chuckle.
And with this, because of a negotiator''s own personal feelings over the dislike of a particr mercenary group''smander, because of his one''s own hubris to notpromise an inch, a war that could have been easily avoided was started.
Chapter 104 Dawn Of Destiny
The call to war sent the camp momentarily into panic as many were confused to be woken in the middle of the night by their friends, squad captains, or even captain and told them to get dressed for battle.
Some thought the camp had been breached and started spreading panic, especially the Cantagenans, but after a few good punches from nearby people, these people calmed down.
But all in all, the mercenaries were all veterans and so after a small moment of shock, their mechanical training kicked in and they started diligently obeying orders.
They hurriedly put on their linen armor, equipped their bronze-ted wooden shield and iron-tipped spears, and then started taking down their tent in the midst of heavy rain.
They also started filling their leather sacks with drinking water, packing as much food as they could, readying the carts by attaching the mules to them, trying to decide what smallest thing that has the highest value to carry with them, and doing all things within the time frame set by theirmanding officer.
The medical clinic also went into emergency mode, as whatever wounded that could hold a shield and spear were forcefully equipped and told to report to theirmander.
The women were then allmanded to prepare meals for close to fifteen thousand within two hours as who knew when they could have a hot meal next and all male servants were told to report to Menes.
Alexander also met with his captains, and gave them instructions on what to do next, but didn''t even tell them about the full n.
He spent some with Menes, urging him to get all the ves and servants motivated with the promise of freedom if they win.
Then he met his spymaster, "Camius spread among the soldiers that the reason why Adhanians knew so quickly about Ptolomy being here was because there is a high-level spy among us. And also spread the rtion about me and Pallidus, what he did and how he treated me." Alexander''s motto was always to use the best of the worst situation,
Then, because of the time crunch, he gave his stratos the power to choose temporary phnx captains for their thousand-man formations, though he did rmend some names he thought were promising judging from the inspection he had done the day.
And while all this was happening, time slipped past everyone in a blurry whirlwind of activity, and just as the thinnest thread of dawn pierced the sky, the sky opened its eyes by a sliver as if waking up from its slumber to reassure the world dawn and life was on their way, Alexander got up on the podium, the same podium that was used to elect him as themander just four days ago, and addressed the fifteen thousand men and women, that were gathered in front of him.
"Men! Rejoice! Because you have me," The very first thing Alexander did was give a huge hurrah, ying his god''s blessed card.
And this worked, as most of the fear and anxiety that the soldiers felt was washed away.
"Yeah,mander! We have themander."
"Gaia''s blessed. The Adhanians are not the only ones who have gods with them."
"With themander with us, we can''t lose."
"Yeah, themander can see the future. We are invincible."
Soon, joyful cheers began to infect the crowd, as more and more soldiers joined the celebrations and left behind the doom and gloom thoughts such as, ''We are outnumbered,'' ''They defeated us twice,'' ''Capture means eternal servitude in Aaru.''
Alexander then raised his hand to pacify the crowds, and like a maestro conducting an opera, the crowd''s octaves disappeared the moment Alexander raised his hands.
''He holds such control over our men,'' Some mercenary leadersmpooned.
But they were also d to have him as theirmander as more control over one''s army meant more obedience and less chances of soldiers breaking ranks and running when things go rough, which very well might go in this situation.
"Men, many of you might know why we have to fight. But for those who do not know or are not sure, let me tell you: The reason for this fight is because Adhania wanted someone from us- someone most of you heard of and many of you have even seen- The rebel Ptolomy."
Hearing himself be referred to as a rebel and not a king made Ptolomy quite angry, but what could he do but only endure?
''Be careful that the ship you get on doesn''t sink,'' He cursed Alexander.
But Alexander was absorbed in his speech to know or care.
"And we wished to hand him over to Adhania in exchange for letting us charter ships. Ptolomy had told us if we escorted him to a city just a hundred and fifty kilometers from here, he would help charter ships for us. And we wanted the same thing from Adhania as we did from Ptolomy, To go home. Is that so wrong, men?" He shouted thest sentence.
"No." came a unified chorus.
"We even offered to pay for the ships," Alexander exaggerated. "But these stinky Adhanians told us we would get nothing."
"Booooo," The crows jeered.
"They also came to me four days ago to hire us. Imagine that! Hire us after what they did to our brothers, fathers, and friends."
"They think we are just dogs."
"Revenge. We want revenge."
Many felt their fear be reced with the desire for revenge as Alexander drenched up their sorrow.
"Their real intentions were to lure us out and then ughter us. Have they not killed us enough," Alexander fanned the mes of hatred even more.
"Fight! We must fight! Revenge for our brothers," The crowd was whipped up into a frenzy, their blood boiling, eager for a fight, just as Alexander wanted.
"Yes, brothers. Fight! We must fight! Goddess Gaia had decreed we must fight the devils of Ramuh!" Alexander roared and held up his arms towards the sky, wanting to envelop it within his arms and paste the raining sky into his chest.
"Hoooooo, revtion, this is a revtion, hoooooo!" The soldiers were driven into such ecstasy, over the dered crusade that the very ground began to shake and vibrate under the zeal of fifteen thousand men and women.
''He really knows what buttons to press to make the soldiers do as he tells them to.'' Menicus told himself that he could do the things Alexander did if he was mademander, and sighed in regret he had not met the kid sooner.
''Oh, how I wish to see how he will bloom in the future,'' He thought regretfully.
''He is a better leader than me,'' Petricuno at that moment fully submitted to Alexander.
''We can win,'' Heliptos seemed to prophesize.
''I didn''t choose wrong,'' Melodias had a light, content smile stered on his face.
The soldiers cheering even reached the Adhanian army that was assembling in front of the fates of Adhan in preparation for the battle, who thought the Cantagenans had lost their minds and mutinied.
Thus they were even more eager to attack them the moment the sky brightened.
But mutiny was in fact the furthest thing the soldiers had in their minds for the time.
"Now, soldiers! All who are not cavalrymen, please follow your superiors as they lead you to your battlefield. And do not be surprised by where they are leading you. We have all ryed to them the correct information, so keep calm and follow orders. And the fifteen hundred cavalry please report here with your horses as soon as possible." Alexander thus finished his speech.
Then, the soaked Alexander, with water dripping out his body, met with the leaders and gave them somest-minute reminders, "Leaders please be sure to hide your troops so that the Adhanians can''t spot them from afar. And be sure not tounch the attack too early. Let the Adhanians in as deep as possible. I will blow the trumpet myself to signal the attack."
Their n was to hide behind the slopes of the huge valley, using trees and foliage, andunch a two-prong attack once the Adhanians reached the top of the hill, one from the front left, the other from the bottom right, enclosing the enemy from both sides and destroying them.
"Yes, yes,mander. You have told us this three times already. We even have lookouts to ensure the force is not just a scouting party, but the real army." Petricuno impatiently answered, a little frustrated at being treated with a greenhorn little no battle experience.
"Well then, life or death, let there be no regrets between us brothers," Alexander then strongly hugged each of the six leaders, counting Melodias.
With each of the leaders leading a group of soldiers, they then headed to their destination, with mules pulling carts to make realistic tracks on the muddy ground, their tents strewn about, and shiny stuff glittering inside, giving the impression they left in a hurry.
But Alexander did not immediately follow.
He was yet to givemand to the cavalry.
The reason the mercenary leaders had no cavalry was because horses did not stay quiet for very long and Alexander feared the neighing of the horse would give their positions away.
Also, horses didn''t like riding inplete darkness.
So Alexander wanted to dy the deployment upto thest second.
Soon the clearing was filled with the braying of a thousand five hundred mares and stallions.
"The one hundred riders of the scouting groupe forward," Alexander ordered and it was very quickly carried out.
"Good. The other fourteen hundred will divide themselves into two groups, And then you will ride down the valley west and then change directions east to hide yourselves in the forest," Alexander pointed to the woods the Adhanians had used to hide themselves.
"Seven hundred will hide on the left and the other seven hundred on the right," Alexander detailed.
"Haha, themander is gonna make the Adhanians eat their own medicine," Remus could not help himself be excited.
Alexander only smiled and nodded. "Yes," then warmed, "Be sure to hide yourselves deep in the forest so the sound of fourteen hundred horses doesn''t alert the Adhanians. That would be disastrous."
"Yes,mander," A chorus rang.
"Good, Remus will lead the left group and Grahtos the right," Alexander selected a Sycarian he found verypetent at yesterday''s training.
"Now, go, ride through the dark carefully and position yourself secretly. Once you hear the trumpet blown, emerge from the forest and strike behind the enemy lines and if you can kill the king! Don''t worry, I, the blessed of Gaia have received permission from the goddess." Alexander reassured the group that killing Amenheraft was okay as killing a king was viewed generally as being eternally damned.
"I promise to cleave the head from the body as soon as I get the chance," Remus promised.
''For brother!'' He swore in his heart.
"Um, go now," Alexander then saw off the riders.
Then he turned tomand the remaining hundred, "Split into two fifty-men groups and go behind each part of the army to act as a reserve. And remember to keep your voices down."
"Yes,mander," Came the obedient reply and the horses rode off.
''Just a hundred horses over such arge valley won''t likely be detected,'' Alexander reasoned in his heart.
He then slowly made his way to his lookout post, feeling the sky getting brighter by the second, signaling the time for battle drawing in ever closer.
He was both nervous and excited, believing unless the enemy was overwhelmingly huge, he could win.
And with his pep talk to himself, he readied himself to battle, confident in the prey taking the bait.
And so, with all the preparations done, all the men in ce, the sky bright and clear, the stage was set to determine the fates of the mercenaries and who knows maybe even Adhania''s?
Chapter 105 War Of Destiny
The sun finally rose in all its magnificent glory after two whole days of relentless rainfall, finally signaling to the world it still existed.
"Haha, looks like dawn hase early, Your Majesty. Ramuh blesses us again," Kefka credited the king for driving away the two days of relentless rainfall to give them the brilliant sunshine they were basking in.
"Those rats will not be able to run," Arazadm growled menacingly, eager to kill the mercenaries and if possible personally y the mercenarymander or better yet capture and torture him.
Alexander also had a simr reaction to the rain stopping.
Remembering that Ramuh was the god of lightning, thunder, and rain, he remarked sarcastically to the nearby soldiers, "The rain has stopped. This signals that Adhania has lost Ramuh''s favor." And only time would tell how right or wrong he was about this seemingly mundane statement.
The Adhanian army was led by Amenheraft, with its two generals being Kefka and Arazadm.
Manuk was not able to participate because of the immense workload he had to deal with as the archpriest, mainly overseeing the restoration of the Temple of Ramuh, which had been partly damaged during Ptolomy''s brief rule.
Also, the greater reason was that Amenheraft saw no point in dragging him to battle when he outnumbered the enemy by double and they were reportedly running.
''What kind of a god can''t beat a running army halve his size?'' He pompously reasoned.
"Your Majesty, the army is ready. We are ready to march at the breath of yourmand," Arazadm who was a primarily military man, said giving a military to his king.
"Then, charge. I will personally behead that kingyer." Amenheraft regallymanded, his eyes looking with imponderable hatred at the cliff Alexander had camped.
And soon the Adhanian army of twenty thousand (20,000), ten thousand (10,000) infantry and ten thousand (10,000) slingers marched to meet the Cantagenans, camped just four kilometers away.
And in just under an hour, the army crossed the t in where they had decimated the Cantagenans twice just five days ago and arrived at the foot of the valley housing their enemies.
Or so they thought as they could see the tents that likely housed their enemies, but no enemies, the tent''s only inhabitants being misceneous paraphernalia.
Some of them even glittered with gold and silver, piles of tustas and ropes left strewn about, them shining back the rays of sunlight to all corners of the earth, enticing men from all over the globe like a siren to grab and possess them.
They had clearly run and run very recently given the state of things.
"Heh, craven cowards!" Sat atop his horse, Arazadm let out a snigger, which drew a simr expression from his king.
"Forward! Their supply wagons will slow them down. And I want them caught soon" Amenheraft felt every second Ptolomy lived, the more sin spread throughout the earth.
And so, like a firefly drawn to a me, the entire army made its way up the valley, their eyes fixated not on their sides or around the slopes of the valley, but on the shiny prize waiting for them at the top, just begging to be taken.
So soon, without arranging any vanguard or rear guard, the entire army found themselves inside the ''abandoned'' camp of the mercenaries.
And soon, some of the army began to lose cohesion as many began to break rank and take part in the looting of the tents.
These were not the regr armies of Cantagena, but mostly conscripts, and so discipline among them was low to begin with.
"Haha, we are gonna drink tonight, brothers."
"Oh, Meleka how long I haven''t tasted that body."
"Look at these clothes. *Whistle*, fucking fancy."
"These uppity bitches have some good thing,"
At the sight of the unprotected riches, some soldiers threatened to turn into an unruly mob.
"Why are the soldiers breaking rank? Commanders, what are you doing?" Arazadm who was used tomanding professionals felt incensed at this shabby show of basic discipline.
"These are pathetic peasants. What did you expect?" Kefka only sneered.
"There''s there a pile of gold right in front of them. They wouldn''t be peasants if they could keep their greedy hands off of them," Amenheraft joined in on the taunt.
"Herald!" Amenheraft them sternly called for his messenger, and imperiously ordered, "Tell themanders to kill two men from each of their phnx formations and restore order." Amenheraft gave the cruel order.
"Yes¡Yo.." The herald didn''t get to finish as the sound of a loud trumpet being blown smashed into the ears of twenty thousand men.
And as if sparked by that sound, a second trumpet was blown, and hearing that a third trumpet and then a fourth and so on, almost like the musical version of lights turning on one after another and Amenheraft got the same sinking feeling he had given Agapios just five days ago.
"Shit!" was the chosen curse word Amenheraft uttered out loud.
Immediately after the signal, the air was filled with roars of jubnt cries screaming, ''Charge!'' which collided with pained howls of ''Ahhhh.''
"Get in formation! Get in formation!" Arazadm screamed.
But the sight of twelve thousand armed men, with their shields up, wielding three-meter spears and charging at them both from the back and front sent panic into the hearts of the spread-out soldiers.
"Ambush!" They immediately started screaming and started running haphazardly.
This trap sent the highmands'' and particrly Kefka''s into blind panic as he realized in horror that the king was with them, in the thick of it.
''I need to get His Majesty out of here. If anything happens to him¡,'' Kefka shuddered to think further.
"Your Majesty! Run! We have to run!" Kefka then stupidly shouted this at the top of his voice, causing the shrill cry to spread to the ears of all the soldiers, especially the nearbymanders.
"The king''s leaving, the king''s leaving!" Hearing this, some of themanders started shouting in rm and broke off to pave their own destiny.
"The king''s gone, the king''s gone!" The phrase changed a bit as it spread among the soldiers.
"The king''s dead, the king''s dead!" Then the phrase changed to a deadly one.
This rumor spread like wildfire, as it was human nature to spread the worst news in times of crisis.
"Let''s go," Understanding the morale of the army destroyed, Amenheraft decided he would fight another day and escorted by eight hundred of his guard, attempted to leave the battlefield.
And the Adhanians, seeing their banner fall and the royal horse d in gold turn tail and run, their formation melted like butter.
Thus, even before fighting, even before first contact was made, a brutal rout began, and just like that the war was over!
Seeing the mercenariesing at them both from the northwest and southeast and their nkspromised, the Adhanians started running down the east and west slope of the valley in a blind panic to escape the encirclement.
This caused many to trip and fall over the steep slope, and when they did, they rolled down the hill like a bowling ball, smashing against tens of their brothers on the way, forming a chain reaction and causing a grotesque avnche of flesh, blood, and gore as many impaled themselves on the very spears they once carried, their own weapon seemingly turning against them.
"They are routing, We have won!" Some of the mercenaries shouted in ecstasy.
"Kill them all! Break rank and charge!" Seeing the battle finish even before it began, Alexander screamed in rapture andmanded his men to give up the bulky phnx formation and just go and engage in melee to kill as many men as possible.
And the bloodthirsty mercenaries did just that, dividing them into small groups of five and ten and stabbing and shing at the back of the screaming enemy.
Some tried to resist, some used theirrades as body shields, and some surrendered, but in front of the fierce omnidirectional attack by the mercenaries, the disorganized mob was ughtered like pigs as many mercenaries lost their minds to grief, thinking what these animals had done to their loved ones just five days ago.
The muddy ground beneath them soon turned like the floor of a ughterhouse.
"Hold! Hold the line, men." Somepetentmanders tried to rally their troops and the stand out among them was Arazadm who had not fled with the king, but vowed to hold back the mercenaries as long as possible to buy time for the king.
And under his cry and prestige, they actually managed to gather some around them, mainly the trained slinger.
And soon these pockets of resistance began to spread and finally coalesce into arge contingent equivalent to a quarter of the total force, about five thousand (5,000) men around.
But these soldiers were the wrong type of people to join and fight on their own.
Because, they were slingers and not infantry, meaning theycked the most important weapon in an ancient battlefield- the shield.
Thus all alone, with no shield support, theirrge numbers and constant attack soon drew the ire of Menes, who led Camius and Pallidus to crush the five thousand men with their three thousand, with Arazadm being in by him and Camius, one through the stomach, other through the back.
Alexander saw everything unfold and although he was ecstatic inside, he didn''t show.
Instead, he spoke to Menicus, who due to his age decided to take part in the melee, "If the Adhanians had held together and dug themselves in, even with this ambush, cracking them would have been hard."
"Because of the cowardice of a few men, a usible victory was turned into an utter defeat." Menicus''s sharp eyes had caught the precise moment Amenheraft had fled.
"Yes. And I intend to catch that coward! You are in charge," Alexander then rode down the valley followed by the hundred horsemen, intending to catch the biggest fish in the world.
Chapter 106 The Chase
Alexander had sent word to his cavalry the moment the battle started to get in formation and attack the rear camp of the Adhanians, destroying their supply base and hopefully even capturing the king of Adhania.
But he had not expected the Adhanians to rout at the very sight of them, and so the battle had progressed so quickly that the cavalry that had hidden themselves deep in the forest to not let their horses alert the Adhanians, had yet toe out of the forest and arrange themselves in formation.
But this had a butterfly effect Alexander could have never predicted,
Because, the king''s escort, burdened and slowed down by its eight hundred, slow, on-foot infantry had the good fortune of meeting the fourteen hundred cavalries that were getting ready to charge the Adhanians rear side.
Remus instantly recognized the golden man on the golden horse as the King of Adhania as he had seen the very same man, wearing this unique apparel givingmands to the Adhanians from the opposite valley five days ago and immediately sent word to both groups that the Adhanian king was all alone and trying to escape.
So, the cavalry abandoned their previous orders and started encircling the contingent, trying to break through and kill the great ruler.
But although they had encircled him, the bristle of steel-tipped spears held strong and steady by the escorting troops made any breakthrough impossible.
These soldiers were the very best trained as they could march in the hollow square formation where the spears covered three hundred sixty degrees and yet not reveal gaps in the formation thus pulling off this supremely difficult technique wlessly.
They were also blindly loyal and would never gonna break as evidenced by now.
Even after being almost encircled by double their numbers, they simply pointed their spears forward and fearlessly advanced, taking javelins shots to the face and dying without even a bit flinching as another from the back stepped over the corpse of his brother to get a chance at entering Aaru.
So, the cavalrymen could only circle the tightly packed contingent, keeping their horses from the pointy ends of the stick and throwing their limited supply of javelins into the center of the circle, in the hopes of scoring a lucky shot, and preferably a kill, and more preferably a king kill.
"Protect the king!" The horsemen around Amenheraft understood the danger these projectiles possessed and hugged and squeezed themselves together against the king, raising their shields and trying to act almost like human shields.
Amenheraft sorely regretted not just riding with his horse escorts and dashing for his city as he would have been home sweet home by now, but that chance had evaporated to thin air.
Even if he wanted to break away, their horses only numbered twenty, and knew the moment he exited the safety screen of the infantry and theirrge spears, the enemy calvary men would destroy them.
And thus, he was forced to stay put, under the bodies of hispanions, hoping the javelins don''t get lucky as the eight hundred men slowly but surely crawled and inched toward the city and where their assured salvation waited.
Alexander rode like the wind and soon caught up like the king and his own cavalry.
"There''s the king! On the golden horse!" Alexander confirmed to his riders what Remus had already hypothesized.
"Do not let him escape. Kill him and all our loved ones will be released from Aaru," He screamed words of fantastical encouragement.
"Ohhhh," The men roared, and renewed by the presence of their godmander, charged again, in the hopes that the soldiers would break and run at the sight of a two-meter-long pointy stick making its way straight towards them.
But no matter how many times they charged and from whatever direction and in whatever numbers, the soldiers held their ground and scared the horses away with their pointy sticks.
"My liege, quickly! Switch clothes with me. You stand out too much," Kefka shouted fearfully when he heard a voice identify the king using his armor.
The reason why unique and eye-catching armor was worn bymanders and leaders was that it acted as a beacon for their soldiers to listen to and rally to.
This was especially true of a god-king like Amenheraft whose very presence would lift the soldiers'' mood and alternatively him leaving would destroy it.
As such this was a double-edged sword as it could not distinguish the types of eyes it attracted, like now and many times drew enemy attention as they could easily identify the high-value target.
And so understanding this phenomenon Amenheraft even amidst this battle, under the flesh canopy made by his entourage, switched his golden armor set with Kefka''s dull, matt ck armor blending in with the rest of the eighteen men.
And so, unbeknownst to Alexander and how his simple cry had caused such a change, how his prey had changed color, the chase continued.
''They are gonna escape into the city!'' Alexander''s heart sank as he could see the silhouette of the city''s gate getting clearer and clearer every second as the infantry crawled towards their destination slowly but surely.
In about an hour they would be home free.
Of course, the reason why the Adhanians would need an hour to cross just one kilometer was courtesy of Alexander and the formation they deployed.
But slow as they were, nevertheless, they were inevitables gonna reach it if things stood as they were.
This realization stuck Alexander hard, as he was so close yet so far to capturing the grand prize to upend all grand prizes.
And the regret that filled his heart was scarcelyparable to any he had felt recently because he doubted he would ever have the chance to catch the forty-year-old king ever again.
''Wait? The city? He''s gonna enter the city?'' Alexander suddenly began to see Amenheraft entering the city as not being a bad thing.
In fact, he began to see it as being a very good thing.
He quickly began to evaluate the feasibility of his n and soon thought it was ny percent possible.
"Remus,e here!" Alexandermanded and then said, "Take ten men and go to Menicus. Tell him that I have taken over Adhan and need reinforcements."
"What?" To Remus, it sounded like Alexander was speaking in tongues.
''When did he take Adhan, we are still a kilometer from its walls?'' Remus was befuddled by Alexander''s im.
But Alexander didn''t have the time to describe everything, he just fiercely ordered, "Soldier! Learn to obey orders. Not what! Yes!"
This loud shout frightened Remus and he understood what Alexander really meant, ''It is not a soldier''s ce to question hismander, especially in the middle of a battle.''
"Yes,mander," He loudly shouted.
But as he was about to set off, Alexander beckoned to him, "Wait! Take this."
He then handed the golden royal seal he had kept with him to Remus and gave further orders, "Show this Menicus if he doesn''t believe you. And tell him that he is to leave behind a contingent of two thousand men and march the rest of them as quickly as possible so I can actually hold the city."
"Okay, I will be back in ten minutes," Remus promised with a grin and set off.
And although the time he stated was a bit exaggerated, it wasn''t totally bonkers.
Their camp was just three kilometers from here and a horse could cover that distance at full sprint in about three-four minutes.
So that''s eight minutes to and fro and in Remus''s mind, he needed just two minutes to give the message.
With Remus gone, Alexander then called Grahtos andmanded him, ''Find everyone who can speak fluent Azhak (thenguage of Adhania) and bring them to me."
"Yes,mander," He said and then quickly passed it down the chain ofmand.
And by the time, a group of forty people gathered around Alexander, they were just a few hundred meters from the city gates.
Remus had alsoe back by now with good news and Alexander could expect a ten thousand men reinforcement within the hour.
Alexander then addressed the group of forty, "Ride east to the forest. Then turn back and head to the gates of Adhan and start screaming. ''The king ising! The king ising! Open the gates''," Alexander gave the boldmand which made the forty bulge their eyes in shock.
Alexander ignored this and further emphasized, "Remember! You must give the impression you came from a different direction than us and are from Adhania. If it works each of you will be heroes, and I swear by the gods I give each of you a million tustas."
"Commander, instead of all forty of us going together, how about we do it in small batches of five to avoid drawing eyes," The squad leader very intelligently suggested.
''Dammit it! Why didn''t I think of that?'' Alexander was very impressed by the n and then asked the leader''s name which hemitted to memory- Laykash,
And he then proposed that small groups can set off in different directions and converge on the eastern forest and then travel to the gate together.
? ''It''s a long shot but stray groups of five men leaving a group of fifteen hundred should not draw too much attention. If luck is on my side, hopefully, the soldiers will be more interested in gazing at that golden armor,'' Alexander seemed to pray for the first time in his life, though even he did not know to which deity
But, noticing how praying was not his thing, he shrugged in his mind and consoled, "Even if it fails, no great loss. We will blockade the city gate and wait for the infantry toe and destroy them.''
''Amenheraft, no matter what happens, you have an hour to live. And I will personally y you,'' Alexander swore in his heart, it burning with greed as he feasted his eyes on the grand two-thousand-year-old city.
Chapter 107 Alexander Vs Amenheraft
Alexander hawkishly watched the battlefield, repeatedly turning his back to see if Menicus was near and then swinging around to see if the horsemen had arrived at the gates.
''Time''s running out!'' Alexander''s heart began to beat with anxiety as the small group was only a few football pitch lengths away from the city gates.
Then, with the grace of the heavens, he spotted the riders riding towards Adhan, screaming the phrase he had taught them, ''Open the gates, open the gates! The king ising.''
This loud shouting coupled with the fact many experienced soldiers could see the all too familiar golden armor they had seen their king on just four days ago when Amenheraft re-took the city was enough to convince them.
They had long spotted their god-king being surrounded by the enemy and were praying to Ramuh to save their king.
Arge number of the city watch and the garrison, numbering around two thousand strong were also assembled just behind the gates and they were about to set off to rescue their king from the horse vultures.
So, when the messengers of the king arrived with the order to open the gates, and seeing their king was only a few hundred meters away, they didn''t ask questions and immediately released theplex mechanism holding the gate.
Alexander was ecstatic by this but it was very short-lived as he experienced a brief moment of tion followed by plummeting depression.
Because standing right in front of them were two of the five thousand men Amenhearft had left behind and their numbers were swelling by the minute as more and more of them were being woken up from their slumber and told to join the formation.
Alexander wasn''t the only one confused as the forty men were also nonplussed.
Their original n to just cut down the few men manning the gates and then take control of it was no longer possible. So they just kinda stood there, dithering.
Then he began to return as if to show they were going to rescue their king.
''Dammit, of course, the Adhanians would gather their forces to rescue their king, they had hours to do it. My brain must have been eaten by shit," Alexander was infuriated at himself for not considering this simple tactic.
If he could, he would court-martial himself.
But there was little use crying over spilled milk and soon Alexander took a deep breath to calm himself, "*Sigh*, calm down, calm down. Center yourself and think. There must be another way."
And like a light bulb going inside his head, it came to him.
"Men, to me! Form up! Form up for a charge!" Alexander roared with all the might he could master, ordering to form a line with him and to do a cavalry charge!
And soon, the cavalry gravitated around him and thus relieved the Adhanians of the encirclement.
Seeing the calvary disperse, the Adhanians were ecstatic and their tion turned to rapturous joy when they saw the city doors open with two thousand men behind them, eager to greet their king.
But then. just like Alexander, they also experienced ''a brief moment of tion followed by plummeting depression''.
"Charge! They are forming up to charge the open gates." Amenheraft was the first to realize the danger and screamed in terror as he turned his turn his head to the right to see the mercenaries form up in a line.
"Our men haven''t realized the danger! They are still in the middle of changing formations and must be getting ready to march toward us." A noble beside the king gave his analysis with equal horror mixed in his voice.
"We can''t let them do that. Their spears will not be positioned correctly and will have no time to point them forward," Another military veteran, him quiteposed, pointed out a simple fact.
They were just three hundred meters away and the horses could cover that distance within less than a minute.
"The garrison thinks the enemy horses had given up and are retreating and regrouping. They don''t know they are under threat" Kefka shouted so loudly that it seemed he wanted the garrison to hear his voice.
"Kefka, you take the lead. Now the siege has been lifted and they are forming lines, it''s the perfect time to break up and charge into the city!" Amenheraft could not let bear the thought of being so close and failing.
Thest few hours had been brutal for the mental physic of Amenheraft and he wanted this whole ordeal to be just over with and so ordered Kefka to act as bait while they charged.
"At once, your Majesty!" Kefka nodded and then began to form a wedge-shaped charging formation.
And then, *Whoosh*, they were gone.
The front lines of the hollow square formation magically seemed to copse as the soldiers seemed to break away, while from the center came a screaming, blind gallop of twenty horsemen led by a magnificent golden horse like one out of a painting.
''The king is running!'' Alexander''s heart sank to the inky depths of hell at seeing the golden sun-like horse starting to disappear into the horizon.
He thus frantically raised his spear to the sky and screamed a chase, "Charge!"
And so the epic horse chase of the century began, with twenty horsemen kicking up dust clouds as they tried to outrun the fifteen hundred horsemen led by its viciousmander Alexander.
"Faster, faster," Alexander whipped his horse, even causing him to get out of formation and be in danger of being caught isted.
Amenheraft too nced back to see which man had managed to push him so close to the abyss and his deep, ck profound eyes met the furiously blue steely eyes of Alexander.
But Alexander did not know he was looking at the king, his focus was instead squarely ced on the golden armor worn by Kefka.
Then Alexander noticed the forty men that were returning from their half-sessful mission and shouted, "The gold! Kill the gold!"
In his mind, the forty horsemen could easily stop the twenty Adhanians or at least kill the very leading man, which happened to be the king.
''Hahaha, the heavens are still smiling at me,'' He hystericallyughed in joy at this happenstance.
But how could anyone hear a tiny human''s voice over the galloping of a thousand and a half horses?
And even before the men could understand what theirmander was moving his mouth about or even who was charging at them, *whish* they had gone past them.
''Fuckkkkkk,'' Alexander''s disappointment was immeasurable and his day seemed to be ruined.
But, luckily, there was one sharp man who managed to understand the situation and screamed, "The king! There''s the king!"
This was Laykash, who immediately turned with his horse, and started galloping.
''Shit! We were so close,'' He cursed himself as he tried to catch up with less than two hundred meters remaining.
As such, a strange scene developed just outside the biggest city in the East.
Twenty horsemen led by a golden horse led the front, followed by a solitary horseman behind, and then a thousand and five hundred men even more behind them, whipping up plumbs of dust storm in the process as they charged.
Laykash maneuvered his horse very skillfully and even started to gain on the Adhanians as, as a Sycarian his horse skill were top-notch, much better than the likes of Kefka and the others.
But it was too little, toote.
The distance was too small and the twenty horsemen finally reached the gates of Adhan.
They were safe.
The king was safe.
''It''s over!'' Alexander bitterly cursed his heart, ''The king will now disappear into the city and the soldiers immediately will point their spears forward to stop the cavalry charge and then close the door within minutes.'' He told himself.
Or so he thought!
Or so everyone else thought!
But this was not what Laykash thought!
Because, unlike Alexander who had started to slow down his charge, he showed no signs of stopping.
Instead, he spurred his warhorse, his buddy to speed up and galloped full speed ahead
And because as twenty Adhanian men inevitably slowed down nearing the gate to not smash into their own men and thinking there was no lunatic stupid enough to still keep charging at them, they couldn''t see thising.
Even in their wildest dreams, they didn''t expect what would happen next.
Laykash zipped past everyone, ignoring the other neen tired men gasping and panting and leading their horses through therge city gate, and keeping his spear pointed directly at the back of the golden armor.
And then *Pierce.*
The steel tip, powered by the momentum of the horse and man, pierced Kefka''s heart like butter, killing him even before he could a sound, even before anyone could understand what was going on.
Everyone just saw a shadow, arriving behind their lead man, and piercing him with a spear out of nowhere, and then, because Laykash hadn''t bothered to slow down, the golden horse their ''king'' toppling over.
For a moment, that seemed to run towards eternity, the nobles, the soldiers, and even the horses seemed to have hit the pause button as they all went wide-eyed and just kept staring at the golden armor slowly being dyed red and the Catagenan whose femur bone seemed to be sticking out of his thighs.
All seemed paralyzed by fear.
"The king is dead! The banner has fallen!" This howl was not from the Adhanuian but from Alexander, who being just thirty meters away from the gates saw everything clearly.
And because of the pin-drop silence flowing through the Adhanians right then, every peasant, soldier, and noble heard it as clear as a day.
And they routed!
Chapter 108 Inside Adhan
"The god-king is dead! The god king is dead!" Alexander screamed in tion as he thought he had finally done it.
After experiencing such a myriad of emotions with such a small amount of amount, it was finally over.
Finally, Amenheraft was dead.
Or so he believed as he took the lead in the charge through the gate.
But fortunately, Alexander wasn''t the only one to believe in this erroneous conclusion.
Because the Adhanians also believed their king was dead.
And although some of the nobles and even Amenheraft himself wanted toe out and exin the situation there was no time.
Alexander was literally just tens of meters behind them and charging at full speed with his spear pointed toward them.
"Your Majesty, run!" A noble screamed at the thought of another daredevil charging towards them with no regard for his life and then spurred his horse to smash through the densely packed garrisoned soldiers.
Seeing the nobles attack them to save their own hide, the ''king''ying dead in front of them, and a group of cavalrymen charging at them, the soldiers saw no reason to keep fighting.
They threw their shields and spear to the ground and started running, exposing their back to the spears of the horsemen and opening massive gaps in the formation.
Alexander himself led the charge, his spear scoring the first kill when it pierced a young man''s heart threw the heart and because the momentum was so great, threw the man several meters off the ground as he flew like cannon, smashing against the people behind him.
"Kill them all! For King Ptolomy!" Alexander had a cunning reason to dere this.
But the men needed no such encouragement, as they were all very eager to paint their steel tips red.
And thus a one-sided massacre began, as the horsemen, ripped more and more lives by the minute.
They seemed almost spoiled for choice, as the horde of tightly packed men, with their backs, turned to them, presented themselves like gifts wrapped exclusively for the horsemen to collect and they were not rejected as the cavalry showed no mercy and took no prisoner.
And the horsemen weren''t the only danger the fleeing Adhanians faced.
The fleeing two thousand men, also smashed against each other, screaming, pushing, and hitting against each other as they tried to escape the deadly situation, creating a brutal stampede.
Later, when the body counts would be taken, it would even be revealed that only a tiny fraction had any gaping spear wounds on them, most deaths being due to crushing and asphyxiation.
After the first kill, Alexander didn''t continue leading the charge, as it was a very dangerous thing to do, especially within an urban environment with narrow streets that restricted horse mobility.
Instead, he stayed behind and issued orders to capture the gate.
"Commander, you are truly blessed by Gaia. Please ept my humble prostration," The Sycarianmander Grahtos approached him and ovee with emotion and even got down from his horses and did a full prostration toward Alexander.
Alexander was surprised by this action and thought themander''s actions were excessively humble.
But he misunderstood the level of emotion running through the other men, especially the Cantagenans.
Because to these men, Adhan had an almost mythical status- the superpower of the East which was nigh unconquerable.
Their king was said to live in a pce that had been sculpted by the gods, protected by walls thick enough to host chariot races on them.
His soldiers were said to be immortal and when in, they would rise again at night, ready to serve their king again.
And this feeling was reinforced by the two, miraculous defeats they had suffered just five days ago, where even when all mortal conditions seemed to be in their favor, the gates of Adhanid open to them thanks to the revel king Ptolomy, and they were led by their war-general, by the machinations of fate and the hand of god, they had lost.
And not only that, they had lost miserably and their brothers were sacrificed to Ramuh as eternal ves.
But now!
Under the leadership of an eighteen-year-old boy, in just five days, they had done it.
They had done the impossible.
They had killed the king, taken Adhan, and freed their loved ones from the unending servitude of Ramuh.
If this was not a sign of divinity, then what was?
And this sentiment was shared by many as some twenty men, enlightened by Grahtos''s actions followed suit.
But the one who killed Amenheraft was not Alexander but Laykash, and Alexander was not the type of person to take credit for others'' work,..generally.
"Captains, please! The one who killed Amenheraft here," Alexander pointed to the man whoy smack right in front of the gate, groaning in pain and barely conscious, as his femur had been broken when his horse fell on him.
"Yes,mander, he did kill the king. But it was you who positioned him. As themander, it is your glory as Gaia used his hand to further her blessed''s cause." Grahtos so elegantly pointed out.
Alexander was very surprised by this man''s eloquence, peasants did not speak like that, but then he remembered who Grahtos was- a cavalryman.
More importantly, he was a cavalry captain, meaning he was likely a noble and from the looks of it a religious noble.
But although he nicely gift-wrapped the im for Alexander, Alexander insisted, "The military records will show Laykash killed Amenheraft,"
He had his own sense of integrity, and could not steal credit that was not his.
It might sound hypocritical for him to not do this, given hemitted worse crimes, but men were not made of a single defining character, but a myriad of emotions.
For example, a sadist might love and cherish his family.
Many serial killers have excellent friends and family.
And vice versa, a kind person, who very much loves helping people, which enjoy animal cruelty.
And for Alexander, he detested taking credit for others, a feeling he developed due to a certain incident in his previous life.
But Grahtos was insistent, "Commander, look at him. His femur is broken, meaning he will die soon, or be a cripple. How can give kill a god? Take the credit!" He enticed.
But Alexander only answered, "How says he''s gonna die? Men, get Laykash up and bandage his legs. I will fix his legs tonight." He boisterously imed.
"Commander, you giving me this honor is enough tost a lifetime." From the ground, Laykash weakly spoke with panted breaths.
"But, you don''t have tofort me. Even a child¡.a child knows that femur injuries are fatal. We Sycarians learn this the moment we ¡we start riding." He groaned and gasped with pained moans.
"That''s rightmander. The number of Sycarians who have died or been crippled by femur injuries is endless," Grahtos chimed.
"Yes, captain Grahtos is right. Somander, please use your name instead of mine," Laykash pleaded with teary eyes.
"Okay." Alexander seemed to agree, but added, "I will do it when you die."
Then, without giving him a chance to retort, he barked, "Men, why are you not bandaging and moving him to safety."
As the men were moving him, the glint of the golden armor hit Alexander in the eye and he grew curious about what the man who imed to be god looked like.
So, he ordered, "Take the helmet off. Let''s see if a god is different than a human."
And Grahtos personally took off the armor, super excited himself to undrape a god.
But the moment the head was revealed, the sight of it made all the men around freeze their blood in horror.
"This is not him," Alexander eximed involuntarily at the golden-haired man.
Alexander had never seen Amenheraft, but even he could bet all the money in the world to promise that he wasn''t blonde.
He had heard the Agapios in his speech before the battle describe Amenheraft as the ck-haired devil so he was sure of it.
Also, thinking back now, it seemed strange to him how the Adhanians had just left the body of their godying behind to be desecrated.
And, subconsciously Alexander''s floated to remember the deep, profound eyes that gazed at him that time.
''That was the king! He switched armor!'' Alexander hit on an epiphany.
"This is bad! The king is alive and could still organize his forces behind the inner wall," He shouted.
And the other men all went pale at the confirmation of this dreadful nightmare.
"Commander, what now?" His men all looked at him, expectation dripping out of their eyes.
"....." Alexander was thinking so hard, he feared his brain might cook off in the immense pressure he was putting on it.
But nothing came to him, when suddenly the re of the shiny armor hit his eyes.
"That''s it," Alexander roared in jubtion and shook his fisted hands in front of him.
Then giving no opportunity to anyone else to say anything, he got off his horse, while screaming, "Quick, take off his armor. Quick."
Then men were a bit slow to act as they were confused by the order, but seeing Alexander start stripping his own armor, the smarter ones immediately got the n.
"Quick, help me. Quickly," Grahtos screamed to his men s he started to slip off theplex leather bands that held the bronze armor.
And soon, Kefka was left with only his tunic and pants, while Alexander was dressed head to toe in gold, golden helmet, cuirass, thigh and leg greaves, and boots.
In his hand,y the golden royal seal, and from afar the disguise was perfect as the small hole in the front and back, which had been cleaned off any blood was really not visible.
And Alexander nned to use this to enter the inner ring, with acted as a citadel, and this time ughter the king for real.
Chapter 109 Inner City
The citadel or the acropolis was a kind of huge castle or temple, usually built on a hill that was used as ast resort to hide inside if the city was taken.
The idea was to barricade the narrowly designed entrance and wait for reinforcement while taking refuge inside the tower which would typically be always stocked with food and water for the citizens or at least the nobles tost for weeks.
Such as now, where the Adhanian main army was said to be just a few hundred kilometers from the city, and even if bad road conditions were taken into ount, they would be here in at most a month.
Regarding the citadel, Adhan was special because it didn''t have a citadel like the other cities per se.
Instead, the royalty had turned s small part of the city into a permanent fortress, for the nobles to stay in and enjoy themselves.
This massive enclosed structure housed all the important buildings of the city- the pce, the Temple of Ramuh, lots of noble houses, and the various administrative buildings and was called the inner ring.
The six-meter high walls that barricade thend, its tops manned by sentries, had the important job of keeping out themon rubble from mixing with the noble blood as much as it had the job of keeping out any external threats- which it had yet to face in its recent history.
Until now.
Because for the first time in three hundred years, an external threat had appeared.
And that external threat was now devising a way to get past thest line of defense and enter the soft underbelly of the city.
"Remus, I leave the job of guarding this gate to you. You will have two hundred men to do this and tell Menicus to head straight for the inner ring the moment he arrives," Alexander first addressed the boy.
"Yes,mander!" Remus quickly replied, finding the prospect of fighting two thousand men with only two hundred horsemen not a problem, as the former had turned to a fleeing mob.
Then Alexander turned to Grahtos and asked "Can you speak Azhak?"
And he got an affirmative reply.
"Good, we will charge straight towards that building." Alexander pointed to the spire of the pce, "And you are to shout ''The king ising, the king ising, open the gates on the way. Got it?"
"Yes,mander!" The strong, chiseled man was shaking with excitement at being a part of this ndestine operation.
"Good, order twenty men to get around me and the rest are to follow me behind as if they were chasing me!" Alexander intended to give the wall defenders the impression that their king was being chased through the city and urge them to open the doors as quickly as possible without asking too many questions.
Alexander did fear the real king might have made his way inside by now and intended to use the chase, his armor, and the royal seal to bluff his way inside.
''Please let it work!'' Alexander prayed in his heart.
Then he blew his trumpet signaling to all nearby cavalrymen to disengage with the enemy and rally towards him.
And soon the scenery of a group of twenty horsemen being ''chased'' by thirteen hundred Cantagenan cavalry manifested itself on the narrow streets of Adhan, as they made their way straight towards the spire in the horizon, following a simple straight road that led there.
''The king ising, the king ising, open the gates''. This phrase soon entered the ears of the guarding soldiers who ran up the walls and witnessed their ''king'' d in golden being chased by what seemed to be a cloud of dust being driven up by an imponderable number of horsemen.
The man in golden armor ran while the very ground underneath him shook under the trembling hoofs of so many horsemen, as he held up a small golden round thing, which looked like the famed royal seal high up in the sky.
"His Majesty! His Majesty! Open the gates quickly, His Majesty ising!" Some of the men shouted in surprise and started to open the gates as they had practiced doing.
But some of the sharper ones, particrly a young boy called out, "Wait, we just let in a group of nobles just now. And we were sternly told not to open the gates for anyone."
"Bah, snort-nosed brat," The leader of the watch, a wrinkled, veteran, shut the boy down.
"Don''t you get it, those nobles turned tail and ran from the battle, leaving their liege behind. And now they want to cover their own asses," He who had put up with a lot of the noble''s bullshit over his long career thought he had figured it all out.
But one of the reasons the nobles had not shown Amenhearaft to the guards was because the guards were unlikely to recognize the king even if they saw him.
How many knew what the king actually looked like?
Another reason was they felt no need for it, as ording to them the soldiers had been given orders and they were expected to follow them. To the poor soldiers what difference was there between a high lord and a king?
And the final and biggest reason Amenheraft had not shown himself to them was because he didn''t trust them.
Ptolomy''s rebellion had ended just a few days ago, and he had switched and killed a lot of royalist watchmen to gain hold of the city, resulting in a manpower shortage that Amenheraft had not been able to fully make up within the short time, thus resulting in many guards with unknown allegiance still keeping their post.
''I should have been faster with the purges.'' Amenheraft swore in his heart, berating him for spending thest few days being too busy punishing the nobles, readying the farmers to reim the farnds that had fallen to the wayside, and reorganizing the army.
So, he didn''t know who to trust and hence kept his identity secret, lest any of the watchmen got any stupid ideas.
"But, leader, they say the king is dead!" The young boy tried to reason.
"*Smach*" And he got a gut punch for his efforts.
"The king is eternal, you got! There..there is the proof" The religious old man shouted frantically, pointing his wizened arm toward Alexander.
He spoke with religious fervor, "If been said the king is immortal. Even if he is in he can rise again. Look, he even has the royal seal! How can an imposter get that?"
And his sentiment was also shared by his deputy who joined, "Look, the king is riding on a different horse." He pointed to the fact Alexander''s horse was not draped in gold canvas.
And offered his own hypotheses, "His Majesty''s horse must have died. And the nobles and the soldiers must have then thought he was killed."
Then he barked, "What''s the holdup? Didn''t you hear the leader? Open the gates quickly!"
And so, to Alexander''s utter glee, he could see the strong bronze doors five meters high open themselves to invite him in as he felt the approach of the crossroads of fate behind those gates.
''Once I cross that gate, my destiny will irrecoverably change.'' He swore in his heart.
And to catch that new fate, Alexander rode like the wind and atst, passed thest hurdle.
He was in!
"Ohhhh." Him and his surrounding soldiers let out triumphant cries of joy which the surrounding soldiers took it to being a result of having escaped the enemy and joined them in cheer.
But the very next second, thetters'' enraptured cries turned to wails of horror as Alexander smoothly pierced the throat of the veteran leader sprinting to greet his king and screamed, "For King Ptolomy!"
Then without stopping to listen to the sweet dread-filled cries of the Adhanians, he bashed his shield against another soldier, while his horse stood up on his hind legs to kick a man who stood right in front of it.
"Enemies! They are enemies!" Finally realizing what had happened, the young boy screamed in terror and then heroically turned tail and ran.
And following this model soldier''s retreat, and under the bloodthirst spear points of the aggressive soldiers, others ran too and the gate was secured within seconds.
''These Adhanians have no spine! Only fighting fiercely when they are winning and running the moment things go a bit south for them,'' Alexander sneered in his heart.
The watchmen here considerably outnumbered his paltry force of twenty and could have put up a decent fight if they tried.
But instead, they ran, treasuring their own life for a few more precious seconds, not understanding that the soldiers they ran from would destroy his city and then most likely kill themter.
"*Hoooonk*" Alexander blew the trumpet once again to signal to the rest of the cavalrymen to meet up with him and when they assembled he ordered, "Fifty men are to guard the gates."
Then he turned to the Sycarian, "Grahtos, take five hundred men and storm the pce. Kill anything that moves. And if you want to keep your head, keep shouting, "By King Ptolomy''s orders!'' all along the way."
The intelligent noble immediately understood what Alexander meant by that, that he could kill, ****, and plunder with impunity if he did it in the king''s name and thus shift all responsibility to him.
So, he returned a gleeful grin, "By the blessed of Gaia''smand."
"Um, just be careful of Ptolomy''s wife and children. Anyone iming to be rted to Ptolomy is to be spared. And no fires. Besides that you can do whatever else you want inside the pce," Alexander gave a very ominous permission which got an immediate cheer from the men.
Chapter 110 Temple Of Ramuh
Alexander watched the lucky five hundred cheer and get jealous looks from the other eight hundred with nonchnt coldness even after knowing the brutal fate that was to befall the mostly innocent men, women, and children.
He particrly felt bad about the women and especially the young girls as these brutes will pounch on them with hyenas on meek sheep, and tear their dignity to shreds.
Most had never seen girls so beautiful, so fair, so tender, so noble and so sheltered, and under the hands of these brutes, death might be a better alternative for the women than to survive the ordeal and live with the trauma for the rest of their lives.
But although Alexander was certainly moved by the thought of their tragic fate, he remained unmoved about the order.
The pce had to be taken, Amenheratf was most probably there and even if Alexander forbademitting any atrocities he could write it in blood that it would have to effect.
These men were ruthless and after the little stunt Adhania had just five days ago, they were out for blood and no amount of order and Gaia''s blessed''smand was gonna stop that.
And so since this was inevitable but hecked the stomach to witness it, he gave the order to Grahtos to do it, himself being content with only knowing what was happening and not wanting to see it first hand the true scale of it all, the distinctive reaping of clothes, the screeching screams, the painful grunts and the doleful howls of husbands and brothers.
Alexander watched the five hundred cavalry storm towards the defenseless castle with mute indifference, the castle guards being mostly absent, just waking up or having been already sent to the front line.
Then he turned to address the eight hundred or more precisely seven hundred and fifty men left behind (Fifty were left behind to guard the inner gate), "Men, you may be disappointed that your brothers got to taste the finest flesh. But do not be saddened."
He then pointed to the temple of Ramuh and shouted, "Because the world''s greatest riches lie await for you."
In ancient times, people did not have banks but instead stored their money in temples, the idea being the temples were the dwelling of the gods and thus invible.
And for most cases, this belief held true, as even the most barbaric soldiers usually refrained from looting the temple, even if they sacked the whole city.
But the key point was ''for most cases'' as it implied there were some exceptions- like now.
Alexander''s deration caused a shallow tide of uneasiness to rise in the hearts of many as Alexander''s sharp eyes caught his men fidgeting and hesitating but seemed to be too afraid to say anything.
Alexander decided to wipe this uneasiness away, "Men, do not worry, Goddess Gaia has blessed us with her champion and I will lead you. The mother goddess has fought god Ramuh for the past two days, evidenced by the continuous downpour, and finally today she won! This is why the rain stopped just before the battle and this is why we stand where we are!"
He spoke these spokes with such confidence and authenticity that even he began to feel they might be true as soldiers let a triumphant, "Hurrah."
''Hehe, I missed my calling in my previous life. I should have be a snake oilman.'' Alexander chuckled at his own bullshit.
This was why he couldn''t go to the pce to kill Amenheratf and let Grahtos take the temple.
To take the temple would need some lone blessed by the gods.
Alexander blew his horn to signal to the horsemen to form up and they charged!
They beelined straight towards the magnificent white temple, overlooking the beautiful pink waters of the sea of life and standing majestically on its sixty huge, thick, intricately decorated white granite pirs, them being carved and chiseled to perfection.
Its walls were twelve meters high, made of the same wless granite as the pirs, and decorated with borate friezes that depicted epic battles between the gods, various stories and parables from the Takqa, and even the names of famous Adhanian kings and heroes.
To add to the luxuriousness of it all, the fringes of the friezes were embroidered using gold threads and each depiction of Ramuh had jewels embedded in him, while the names on the wall were set with ck granite and embroidered with the same golden threads.
The temple''s roof was a huge dome, on top of which stood the golden statue of the god of lightning himself, nting his feet on a canvas of exquisite painting of gold and blue as the whole dome seemed like a golden mirror reflecting the magnificent azure sky above.
It was an architectural marvel and could go toe to toe with any of the seven wonders of Alexander''s previous world.
But Alexander''s eyes did not linger on this magnificent spectacle as he barged into the lush lower courtyard floored with white marble and then galloped up the ten-meter-wide marbled stairs with hundreds of men trailing behind him, emitting a bloodthirsty aura intent on destroying all.
Alexander kept his gaze fixed on the open bronze temple doors and his heart bled with greed when his eyes were hit by the glittering riches inside.
"By I, King Amenheratf''s orders." He shouted in broken Azhak when he finally reached the top, chanting the same thing he had heard Grahtos say, just cleverly switching out the name of Ptolomy for Amenheratf.
This was also chanted by the rest of the men behind him minus the ''I'', their chorus finally drawing the attention of the many priests and priestesses that were just about to start their day.
All of them, having just woken up and due to the rapid blitzkrieg conducted by Alexander, had little cognition of the mortal danger they were in and only looked at the golden armored warrior holding the royal seal and speaking in a thick Azkak with curiosity and confusion.
''King Amenheratf? He''s here?'' They wondered as the golden armor and the little golden circle held by the man iming such seemed authentic.
Thoughts like ''Does the king need us to do something?'' And ''Why is he here with so many men?'' were produced in the minds of the priests.
But Alexander was not gonna wait for these helpless fools to figure things out as he went forward and spilled first blood on sacred grounds when he speared a priest and followed it up with an urate javelin throw to a young priestess.
"Urg¡, Your..Ma¡," Even as they fell, they weren''t able to understand what had happened and theirst moments were filled with not anger and unwillingness, but by confusion and a desire to know what they had done wrong so they could ask for forgiveness.
The audience was also frozen in shock, seemingly unable to even believe their beloved god-king, their master, their god, was capable of doing such a thing.
''Those two must havemitted sphemy'' They tried to rationalize themselves.
But this notion was quickly shattered when the men behind their king also started ughtering them en mass, reaping their lives like they were harvesting wheat, all the while chanting the phrase, ''By King Amenheraft''s orders'' like a broken record yer.
"Nooo, Your Majest..aahhh,"
"Mercy, mercy...urgh,"
"...our crime. What''s our crime?"
"Mad! The king has gone ma..argh!"
"Urg¡you insane lunatic. Ramuh will not let you off fool." An old priest kneeled on the ground clutching in bleeding stomach as he gazed fiercely not at the golden armor, but at the royal seal, held up high in the air by Alexander as he kept shouting, "By I, King Amenheratf''s orders, die!"
He had picked up thest word while listening to the Adhanians charge at them, and because of his infantine grasp of Azhak, the grammar was wrong.
But these priests were too busy dying or running for their lives to actually give one hoot about why their king was suddenly speaking in half Azhak, half nonsense.
Alexander watched impassionately as the people and priests inside and around the temple screamed and run in horror at the white floor being given a fresh coat of paint, their routes disorderly and chaotic, many even jumping into the life sea and trying to swim to the other side for safety.
Some of Alexander''s men seemed eager to hunt down these stragglers but Alexander ordered, "Let them go. They will spread fear and panic among the popce."
Then he got off his horse and shouted, "Into the temple,e men!"
And so the sky under Alexander soon changed from a clear, sunny day, to one lit by huge, golden candle chandeliers as Alexander was dumbstruck by the sheer opulence on disy.
Thick luscious red carpets draped the floors, making one feel like he was walking on snow as the red fabric hugged and kissed one''s foot, lovingly taking away all the pain and exhaustion. Luxurious golden curtains with strings of rubies flowing off them decorated the side walls and huge golden chandeliers containing hundred of thick candles swayed gently in the wind let in by the four huge doors ced on four sides of the temple.
And then, there was the center masterpiece, right in the center of the temple.
A huge ten feet statue made of solid gold, depicting a strong, muscr man with a long beard, holding an orb in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other.
''The god of lightning, thunder, and rain- Ramuh,'' These words subconsciously appeared in the mind of even the most illiterate soldier there and for a brief moment, the greed in their eyes was suppressed by the sheer magnificence of the scenery.
But only a moment, because their eyes not only detected the golden statue but also the enormous, literally hundreds of tonnes of ropals that were piled up around the feet of the statue, creating a stack that rose up to cover even his ankles.
This was the collective acmation of the Adhan and the Adhanian royal family!
Chapter 111 Justifying Looting
The enormous wealth that literally was beneath Alexander''s feet was not the result of a single generation but the relentless toil of multiple consecutive ones.
And the enormous wealth that literally was beneath Alexander''s feet was not the property of one single individual or an organization or even a family, but the entire savings of multiple generations of the people of Adhan, from the poorest peasants to the richest merchants to the highest nobles.
Alexander estimated the total to be several billion ros, or several tens of billion tustas!
A sky-shattering amount by any stretch of the imagination
And now it was all his!
Well, at least he wished it was, as Alexandermpooned at his own powerless at being offered quite possibly the greatest known collection of wealth in the current known world but being unable to eat it.
He understood that realistically he would only be able to get a fraction of a fraction of the total amount, both because he had little political capital to hold anyrge chunk of this hot potato and because hecked the muscle to protect it.
The men under him were not his but a collection of groups formed under the threat of imminent destruction.
And now that that threat was gone, how many would still obey Alexander?
He didn''t know and could not risk stealing such arge amount of wealth without concrete information.
"Imposter, you are not the king!" A young feminine voice suddenly entered Alexander''s ear as the vacant hall was quickly upied by some fifty or so priests and priestesses who entered through the back door that led to the sandy beaches of the Life sea.
This angry, chirpy voice piped Alexander''s attention, not because of the sound but because of thenguage used.
It was Thesian!
So Alexander widen his eyes and immediately spotted the ravishing beauty who had called him out.
She was a stunning young woman- a smooth, goose-egged face with dark arched eyebrows, a delicate nose thin pale lips, and ocean eyes that were simmering and bubbling with rage.
She was tall, almost six feet, with beautiful curves and obsidian skin that made one feel like she was a goddess statue given life
But her most defining features were twice- her silver tinum hair bundled up like floating clouds and that she had an exact clone of herself standing beside her.
They were like identical twin ck elves.
And like her sister, the next girl too had the exact expression on her face, making Alexander doubt if he was seeing double.
"Hehe, what gave it away!" Alexander answered in his native tongue, disinclined to keep the charade going any longer as it had served its purpose well.
"Hmph, as if we would be deceived by such a childish trick," The girl next to her, her sister answered the question for her.
"*Snigger*, so where were all this time?" Alexander was surprised by the sudden appearance of these priests.
If they had run away it made no sense for them to return.
And if they were the religious zealots type, then it made no sense why they weren''t here to guard the temple in the first ce.
"Hmmph, viin, we will never talk," The girl valiantly dered.
"Heh, bold words! I wonder if you spoiled brats ever had a cut in your life. Alexander vulgarly jeered and mocked the girls, as only spoiled brats would dare to say such things in this situation.
This made the girls'' anger even sore higher as they swore, "You¡you..bad person."
The two sister''s naive and sheltered upbringing in the church had resulted in a severe deficiency in their ng vocabry and caused an eruption ofughter to roll out of Alexander''s men as some even vulgarly whistled at the fresh, cute girls.
Even Alexander found these angry little bundles of pepper endearing.
Alexander then barked, "You old coots, why are you hiding behind two girls? Has cowardice eaten your balls?"
This great roar caused a bit of movement in the gathered crowd, as a simple, dirty tunic wearing old man with unsteady steps stepped in front of the girls.
"Grandpa," The girls happily chirped.
This old priest looked at Alexander and spoke with a thick, ented Thesosian, "Esteemed leader, this temple is a sacred ce of worship and the dwelling of the gods. You have already spilled blood on these hallowed grounds. Do not further your sins any longer. Leave or be forever cursed."
The wizened, shaky voice had a kind of gruff echoing effect as his words sounded more like a prophecy rather than a statement.
But Alexander was ready with his counter, "Our goddess Gaia and your god Ramuh has fought a divine battle, evidenced by the rain the past two days. And today, by showing the clear sky, the goddess has shown herself as the victor. And thus your god Ramuh''s temple, his home belongs to us, the followers of goddess Gaia."
"Balderdash!" The old man suddenly went out of character and shouted out, utterly livid by Alexander''s bullshit, his ethereal, wizened voice shattered to a crass, grinding tone.
"That''s right! You are lying," The two girls too shouted and nodded in unison, shaking their tiny, clenched fists in a synchronized motion that made Alexander doubt if they had choreographed this.
''These two twins are quite cute- fresh, lovely, and innocent, like a flower that has just bloomed in the morning.'' Alexander''s heart fluttered as he flirted at the idea of making these girls for his own.
''After all, why let them waste away in this dump when they could be with me, warming my bed,'' Alexander joked in his heart.
"Heh, you guys make for sore losers." Alexander gave a pointed smirk, "Isn''t the very fact, me- a Cantagenan is standing where no other from my city-state had ever done before proof enough of my im? What kind of a god do you worship that can''t even protect his own home from intruders?... Unless ¡he was injured." Alexander deliberately said thest line in a long drawn-out way, giving the people there the time to think.
And it worked as Alexander could see the religious zeal that burned zealously in many''s eyes just a moment ago be reced with fear and uncertainty.
''Could it be true?'' Many started asking themselves as they struggled to find an exnation for how both the outer and inner city walls could have been breached.
Their pirs of faith were faltering!
Well almost all of them, as the two sisters still red at Alexander unblinking and with unmatched hostility which only made Alexander find these two silver-haired sables even cuter.
This im also made many makes guess about the man in the golden suit.
"Who are you?" The old priest asked in a voice equally mixed with curiosity and fear.
"Heh, who do you think I am? I know you know." Alexander returned the question with a mysterious smirk and then stared profoundly at the old priest, who then started changing color every few moments, from flushed red, to pale white, to a dark frown, to sunny radiant.
It was as if the old man''s face had been turned into a canvas by Alexander and he could paint on it using his gaze.
Alexander had deliberately given a vague answer and let the opponent''s imaginatione up with their own wild and imaginative conclusions, letting them conjure things Alexander might never be able to even imagine as viable answers.
"You,,,you..are," The priest seemed to be shaking in fear, only him privy to the actual conclusion his mind had made up as Alexander only smiled and nodded.
"Grandpa, don''t tell me, he''s¡" Seeing their father figure so distraught, the twins who also had an active imagination were stimted to make up their own stories, while Alexander just chuckled in his heart, ''Too easy! Nothing can dream up gods and demons better than a good imagination.''
But Alexander was on a time budget and he had other ces to conquer, loot and burn.
So he stated, "I''m in a bit of a time crunch, so I will be brief, ''We have taken considerable risks and losses to be here. And we have already killed in a god''s temple. So realistically, there is no way we are gonna go back empty-handed."
"But this is a temple, a¡" The old priest shouted at the suggested mention of the sphemous act.
But Alexander cut off by raising his palm and saying harshly, "Shut your trap old man! I''m not done."
Then in a mercurial twist of tone, his voice turned into a friendly sharine one, "In the interest of saving both our times, I will offer you two choices," Alexander then made a ''V'' sign to show the number two.
Then he closed this sign and raised only his index finger,
"One- We take the coins, the carpets, the curtains, the golden utensils, and chandeliers. Basically, anything that''s not nailed down. But we leave the golden statue intact. And in exchange, you tell us where you guys just came from." Alexander was very interested in this information.
Then he raised his middle finger and continued,
"Or two- You don''t tell us where you guys just came from. And we take the coins, the carpets, the curtains, the golden utensils, the chandeliers, etc, etc, anyway. But we also take your beloved statue. And because you defied us, we make an example out of you. The women are raped and killed by my men and as for the priests, hehe, we will have our horses have fun with your assholes."
Alexander gave a horrifying picture of their fate if they were to defy him.
And so not the horror is not diluted by thenguage difference, he made the entire speech be also said out loud in Azhak.
And he finished the offer by saying, "You do not have the right to bargain or change any of the conditions. You can only say, ''We agree'' or ''We do not agree''. You have one minute to decide. If you cannot decide within this time, I will take it as you don''t agree"
"Now choose and choose wisely."
Chapter 112 The Kings Whereabouts
Alexander''s ultimatum immediately caused the crowd of priests and priestesses to boil over into a chorus of opinions.
Shouts like ''Let us negotiate'', ''At least we can save some of your temple'', and ''It is harder to lower one''s head than to be off with it'', were thrown in favor of option one, while these were countered by impassioned cries of, ''Traitor'', ''sphemy!'', ''Eternal damnation'', and ''Martyrdom is better than surrender.''
Because the time limit set by Alexander was so little, everyone spoke at the same time to get their opinion across, resulting in a hodgepodge cacophonous mixture of useless gurgles, utterly nonsensical to the human ears.
''*Sigh*, I should have nned this better,'' Alexander watching the chaotic mor and din produced by the crowd stored the lesson in his heart.
Although he couldn''t understand what these priests were shouting about, he could make an educated guess.
The one-minute time allotment blitzed passed but the priests seemed nowhere close to bing to an agreement.
So, Alexander decided to sweeten the deal.
After all, he didn''t really want to kill or **** them.
It was just a threat and what he really wanted was information on their whereabouts.
"Ahem," Alexander cleared his throat to draw attention and said, "I never said the choice has to be unanimous. Any single one of you who wants to take option two cane forward, and we will leave your statue alone."
This juicy condition immediately produced results as quite a few ran forward with crity, shouting, "Me! I know everything," "First option. I choose the first option", "Spare us!" and many simr promations.
"You!"
"You scoundrels!" Seeing this apparent betrayal the twins cursed these men and women, but their protests fell on deaf ears as somewhere between fifteen to twenty men and women volunteered to share their information as they gathered themselves in front of Alexander eagerly.
"Good, you have made a noble choice," Alexander nodded in a pleased tone. "Though many of your more hard-headed colleagues may call you traitors and sphemers, they are wrong.
They are fools- deaf, dumb, and blind to the horror they just escaped and you should pay no heed to them. All of you are heroes, unsung heroes who might never be appreciated for your sacrifices but are heroes nheless. Hold your head up high and be proud."
He gave an awe-inspiring speech to these ''apostates'', mostly to loosen their tongues.
But Alexander didn''t expect the next reaction, as many broke into tears after the trantion of Alexander''s speech finished.
It was no easy decision for many of the priests and priestesses to make, but they did it anyway, even while knowing the infamy they would suffer the rest of their lives because they believed this was the only way to protect their beloved god.
So, when their conqueror and presumably oppressor praised them for an action even their close friends did not seem to understand, many were moved to tears.
"He, what''s he saying, sister?" The eloquence with which Alexander said those words even made the two girls start whispering to each other.
After Alexander finished his speech, he pointed to a random man in front of him, "You! Come closer."
And the man skipped towards him with unconcealed glee.
"Men, grab his two arms." Alexander then gave an ominous order which made the priest scream,
"No, why? I will tell you everything,"
"Scoundrel! See, we told you he was a scoundrel" The twins bared their cute canines in anger.
"Rx, I won''t hurt you." Alexander lightly said, and exined, "This is to ensure you don''t get any funny ideas when are so close to me."
He then chuckled, "Killed with a sneak attack by a priest. I don''t want to die in such a stupid way."
This level of prudence moved both Alexander''s men and the priests.
''That''s ourmander'' and ''What a fearsome foe'' were the thoughts of the respective groups.
But Alexander wasn''t done with his precautions yet as he then told his men, "Bring him to the center of our group. And keep a strong hold on arms. If he breaks free, it''s your ass!"
"Yes,mander!" The two cavalrymen, who had grown to worship Alexander squeezed the thin arms of the man even more tightly as he was dragged inside the sea of soldiers.
Alexander expounded his actions, "The reason for me doing this is so that he can''t lie. We will hear what he says and then again pick one of you to hear your piece. And if your stories don''t match....hehe." Alexander chuckled in a dark, menacing way.
''This guy is too careful.'' Many sighed spookily as this eliminated much of any chance of lying.
"Mmm, so get your story straight." Alexander was pleased to see the dark shades appear on some faces as their n to spew nonsense was foiled even before it could begin.
"Make sure they do not talk among themselves." With thisstmand issued to the front soldiers, Alexander turned and went to meet this detractor.
"I presume, you have heard everything. So, speak." Alexander asked the priest whose each hand was securely bound by a soldier.
Understanding there was no point in lying the priest sang like a canary, "Yes! We were out escorting the king!"
The very first line that priest spoke was a bombshell and when Alexander''s trantor finished tranting it for him, it sent Alexander''s head spiraling.
''The king! He''s escaped through the Life sea.'' He immediately understood what the priest was talking about.
''That''s how they knew I was an imposter!'' Alexander then connected another dot and began to at once berate himself for not just ughtering the priests the moment he saw them and then issuing a chase.
If he had done that sooner, instead of taking part in idle chit-chat with them, maybe he could have still killed the king.
But it was toote now.
"Did you do all this on purpose? Did you talk so much just to buy time," Alexander cursed as he looked venomously at the priest.
"Hehe," Was the sound produced by the very smug-looking priest, relishing in looking at Alexander''s very visibly distressed face.
This made Alexander grind his teeth in frustration but he soon calmed down,ing to terms that there was no use crying over spilled milk.
"Speak," He then ordered in a cold voice.
"The king came to us about two hours ago, alone, riding a solitary horse. He rode straight into the temple with his horse, panic written all over his face as he convened a meeting with Archpriest Manuk. He told him that the outer ring of the city had been breached and enemies were pouring in. Worse, many seemed to think he was dead."
"The archpriest hearing this immediately told the king to gather his kin andmanded us to ready the boats and supplies. These were always kept near the Life sea as an escape route for the royal family in times of crisis."
"The king argued to barricade the inner ring and wait for reinforcements, but the archpriest reasoned that theycked the forces to guard the walls and if it was somehow breached, they would be finished."
"He suggested that a far more prudent action would be to escape via the Life sea and then link up with the iing army and then besiege and retake the city."
"And so His Majesty gathered his family and a few guards and along with archpriest Manuk, sailed south.
"And while most of us were busy seeing him off you came. But fortunately, they managed to escape in time. Hehe, the heavens truly bless my king." The priest made a wide-beaming grin as he looked at Alexander with absolute triumph written on his face.
This gloating made many of the soldiers around the priest angry and they could hardly keep their itching hands from beating him up.
But how was Alexander supposed to know that while his men were busy killing useless priests and priestesses, his most prized prey was just a few hundred meters within his grasp and all he would have to stretch his arms a bit to grab it?
Alexander had assumed Amenheraft had returned to the pce which is why he split some of his forces to raid the pce.
Thus given how Amenheraft was able to escape death time and time again, both when facing Agapios and Alexander, thetter began to wonder, ''Is this guy loved by the gods or just in lucky?''
But then he smirked, ''Well maybe not that lucky. He did lose his most precious city to an unknown nobody.''
So he sniggered back, "Hmph, good for you. Your king has managed to tuck his tail between his legs and run away, leaving all of you to die. What a good god-king!"
This taunt incensed the priest who shouted, "Our king will be back, And then will be your reckoning. Reckoning I tell you!"
"Hmph, then keep praying," Alexander understood he had squeezed everything he could out of this man got and was disinclined to waste any more time with him.
Instead, he called his soldiers to get a female this time to know her version of the story.
And when the priestess was bought before him, the same way the previous priest was, hands locked by sturdy men, she verified everything Alexander already knew.
Understanding the information was truly authentic made ALexnader release a big sigh of regret as he felt that he was so close, but yet so far.
He subconsciously turned his head to the side and towards the Life sea, where he seemed to have spotted a few dots on the swaying water and though it might have been his imagination, he could have sworn his eyes crossed gazes with the same prating, profound eyes he had seen during his horse chase.
''Amenheraft, although I missed you this time. if you are really going to meet up with your army, our paths will cross again. Let''s see how many lives the lucky cat has!'' Alexander was keen for their next battle to begin.
Chapter 113 Legitimizing The Steal
Alexander gazed at the body of water called the Life sea and marveled at the unnatural wonder.
It was a saltke, and like the dead sea of his previous life, its salt content was so high that people could not sink in it.
But unlike how the people of his world called the Dead sea dead because people could float on it like a dead person, here they called it the Life sea because the people swimming on it would not die by drowning, which symbolized birth and life.
For the Adhanians, in their holy scripture Takqa, it was even said that the birthce of all life on earth was in this sea and it was because the life energy there was so strong here that people could not drown.
But this was not the most magnificent spectacle of the sea.
It was the fact that it was entirely pink!
Yes, the entire one hundred kilometers long, twenty kilometers wide at its widest point sea was not blue but pure pink, making it appear like a giant shining jewel when viewed from above.
This phenomenon was caused by a rare nkton that was native to this ce, but the people of Adhnaia did not understand this.
Inside they imed it to be the blood of Ramuh, which fell on earth when he fought against the other gods, and many Adhanian rituals and ceremonies, and festivals were based around this sea.
To them, this was the equivalent of the Muslim''s Kaaba or the Catholic''s Vatican city and because of the Life sea, this city meant so much to everybody.
Whoever held Adhan, held Adhania.
This was the spiritual heart of the country and tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the country woulde each year to perform their pilgrimages here.
In this way, Adhan almost defined Adhania.
And hence, although Alexander had not managed to kill Amenheraft, by taking away his seat of power, he had crippled him for eternity.
Even if the king could somehow take back the city, he would still be forever known as a failure who let the city of pilgrims fall to a foreign force.
At least that''s what Alexander told himself to soothe his aching heart, such words acting as a balm to relieve some of the pain.
Snapping himself out of such thoughts, he then strode forward to the priests and priestess and smiled, "Thank you for choosing wisely. Now both of us don''t have to witness any unpleasant sights."
Then he barked vulgarly, "Soldiers, touch any of them, and I will tear out a new asshole, you assholes."
This was the way most soldiers spoke to each other and if themanders used too formal or soft words, it was seen by most as either a weakness or as being rich and pompous.
''Too high and mighty for us,'' Many soldiers would think.
And so this was the way Alexander normalized his exchange with the soldiers as
"Hehe,mander, you got it!" Came the reply.
Then Alexander gave a sly smile, "Now, why don''t you guys help us carry some of the loot!"
He wanted them to be aplices to his crimes!
"What! You¡scoundrel..." One of the twins shouted at Alexander like he had just stepped on her tail.
"Esteemed leader, we have already fulfilled our promise. Why are you making things hard for us? The treasures are here, take it." The old priests pointed to the coins and gestured to Alexander to have it all.
"Haha, so we are going strictly by the condition I stipted, huh?" Alexander let out a cackle.
"Then remember that I never said anything about letting you guys leave unscathed. I only said that the statue would be left untouched. And remember these men have fought very hard the past few hours and are in dire need of some entertainment." Alexander made a subtle but very direct threat.
"*Whistle*"
"Commander''s the best."
"I want those silver-haired witches,"
Cheers, jeers, and lewd looks were immediately thrown at the women and even the men just as Alexander finished, making them shiver involuntarily at the thought of what would happen to them.
They were once again reminded that they were still at the mercy of these cruel, barbaric men.
"You...scoundrel, you promised," Another of the twins felt driven up the wall by Alexander''s antics as she copied her sister, though because of theirck of ng vocabry it was starting to get repetitive.
"Haha, and what did I promise? I only told my men not to harm you to show my goodwill towards you for cooperating with me so quickly" Alexander reasoned.
"But, how were my good thoughts repaid? With curses and insults," Alexander somehow turned the me to them as he pointedly stared at the two girls.
"That¡this.." This clever wordy caught the twins tongue-tied as they struggled to give a decent reply.
All their life up until now, they said whatever they wanted and the others obeyed.
"Hey, you two, what''s your name?" Alexander was by now starting to get curious about these zealous twins who were scolding him at every opportunity with no regard for their safety.
"Azira." The left one sang.
"Azura." The right one sang.
"You look like adults, but your behavior is like children." Alexander then turned to the old priest standing beside them, and asked, "Why is that?"
"They are the twin princesses. They have led sheltered lives and are not familiar with the way of the world. Esteemed leader, please forgive them. They know no better!" The priest then politely bowed.
He himself was in quite a pinch as he could neither forcefully restrict these young ancestors nor make them scarce and could hope they held their tongues and Alexander was a reasonable man.
Alexander was quite surprised seeing Amenhearaft''s so close kin, his own daughters still here, and asked the next natural question, "What are they doing here? I thought Amenheraft had escaped with all his immediate family?"
"His Majesty implored the princesses to get on the boat with him. But the Highnesses were adamant. They refused all coercion, choosing rather to die in the temple than abandon it."
"Heeh" Alexander smirked and then gave a prating scan of the twomenting, "I thought you two were fearless. But it seems I was wrong. You two are in stupid."
If it was not Alexander here, but any other person, the fate of these twins would have been tragic.
"Bahh, we are not afraid of anything." One of them spat out in anger.
"That''s right. The only one we fear is father and God Ramuh," The other nodded in agreement.
Alexander was impressed by this defiance and this made his male ego want to break them to his will.
So he said, "Yosh, I have decided. I want you two to hand over the first coins. Now bring it."
Alexander then held out his palm and gestured to them to fill it with coins.
But how can mere words from a man break these fanatics'' will, who despite the urging of others spat out, "Hmph, you wish. Do your worst."
Alexander seriously wondered how much bravado the girls would have once their clothes started getting ripped off and the scalding pain of being invaded unlubricated went rippling into their bodies.
But he did not want to do such things.
Instead, he smiled and pped, "*p*, *p*, *p*. As expected of someone of royal lineage and carrying divine blood." He praised, drawing somewhat pleased, somewhat confused looks from everybody else.
Then he continued, "The two highnesses'' courage and fearlessness have even moved this poor soldier''s heart and made him gain immense respect and reverence for you two. Please ept my bow." Alexander said as he performed a perfect bow.
This act of respect and worship somewhat cooled the anger of the sisters as they began to feel good about themselves for not bowing to a bully.
But Alexander''s next line destroyed such feelings.
"But I wonder if your grandpa shares the same conviction as you two. He is quite old and it could be quite the tragedy if something were to happen to his bones." Alexander found himself ying the role of a second-rate viin in a B movie.
"Did Your Highnesses know that it can take months for someone to die from a broken bone injury?" Alexander yfully asked.
Then he began to give an exaggerated and very inurate portrayal of a leg injury, "First, the leg swells up. Then it bes deformed. Then ck pus starts toe out. Then the entire leg bes ''eehh'' big as pus continues to form under the skin, turning the leg ck and making it look like the size of an elephant. Then the festering and the rotting starts. And atst, maggots begin to crawl out of the leg as finally, after so much agonizing pain for so long, after months of unspeakable torment, atst, it ends."
And he finished the threat by saying, "Now, you don''t want that to happen to your sweet old grandpa, do you?"
This dark portrayal of the to-be fate of their beloved teacher, instantly moved the girls'' hearts as they looked angrily and with tears in their eyes at Alexander.
''To think that we ever thought that this scoundrel had a bit of goodness in him,'' The girls cursed themselves for their naivety.
The sheltered princesses were very soft in their hearts and had even spent the entirest three years working diligently handing food rations andforting all the people who came to the temple in search of sce, regardless of their status.
The two princesses were called the ''Saintesses of Ramuh,'' by many and were adverse to any pain and suffering.
So, Alexander''s threat hit them at their weak spot, and although the old priest said, "Your Highnesses, please don''t worry these old bones." the twins could not defy Alexander any longer.
So, with venomous mes billowing out of their eyes and a sad, nk look of despair and dejection stered on their face, each picked up a hand full of ros and then approaching Alexander almost threw them onto Alexander''s two waiting palms, all while keeping their heads down and not even bothering to look him in the eyes.
But Alexander only chuckled at this, as he clenched his hand full of coins into a fist and did a triumphant banzai pose, "Let the gods witness that, I. Alexander have not stolen anything from the temple of Ramuh. But instead gifted its riches by its guardians."
This promation made the girls and every other Adhanian turn white-faced in horror at the realization that they had fallen for Alexander''s scheme.
They had sold out their god!
But Alexander paid no heed to this as he shouted, "Now, let the looting begin."
"Ooohhh." Came the enormous cheer that echoed off the high walls of the temple.
Chapter 114 Uppercut [Bonus Chapter]
Alexander''s little scheme was very simple.
Produce enough smoke to draw everyone''s attention there to keep the eyes from the real fire.
All the threats and information gathering he imed were true, but the real thing he was after was a kind of permission from the priests to take their riches legally.
This was for him to have a way to retort when they would inevitably im Alexander sacked the Temple of Ramuh, the most sacred ce in Adhania.
Of course, there were plenty of holes in Alexander''s ims that any decent orator would be able to point out.
Like how he made them do it under duress, how they gifted him with only a handful of coins, or how they never expressly said anything.
But Alexander was not interested in building a rock-solid argument.
He was only interested in an excuse.
And for that, this ''symbolic'' gesture was adequate.
But Azira and Azura didn''t seem to think so.
They looked as if their soul had been sucked out of their body as they nkly stared up, looking at the fresco of Ramuh that decorated the interior of the ceiling, almost like asking him to take them up to the heavens to be judged.
Alexander feared whether these two would be alright!
Alexander turned his attention to the priest who simrly had wooden or spacy looks and decided to break them out of their stupor by ordering them to help with the looting.
With the first stone thrown, these people saw no point in resisting and decided to obediently obey.
"Get the horses to help carry the loot and dump it on the courtyard." He ordered.
Then he split up his forces more, "Two hundred of stay here and loot. The other six hundred go to the nearby houses to get food. Say it''s King Ptolomy''s orders," Hemanded which drew an ear-splitting cheer from the men.
None of them were stupid enough not to understand what Alexander meant by either of those orders.
Alexander had a poker face as he assigned many men and women to a cruel fate, as he instructed Azura and Azira to follow him, who did it in a mechanical, puppet-like way, both of them having lost all will to oppose Alexander.
As Alexander made his way into the courtyard, he was pleasantly surprised to see that his main force had also arrived, led by Menicus with Ptolomy beside him.
"Congrattions on bing king, Ptolomy," Alexander boisterouslyughed as he strode forward to greet the thin, gaunt man on the horse.
But instead of reciprocating the gesture, Ptolomy seemed very angry with Alexander and shouted, "Alexander, what are your soldiers doing? Tell them to stop this immediately!"
Alexander was thrown a bit back at the harsh tone of the voice and after Alexander''s tranted it for him, Alexander pointed his right hand to Ptolomy and then turned to his trantor, "Ask him what he is so angry about. I got him the city so what''s with the attitude?"
"You want to know what I''m angry about? Your soldiers have ransacked both the pce and the temple! The pce and the temple, you barbaric brute!" Ptolomy spat out masses of saliva from atop his horse onto Alexander''s face below.
Ptolomy''s little tirade drew very displeased looks from the soldiers around him as none of them liked seeing theirmander getting berated even after aplishing virtually the impossible task.
Some blind followers like Menes and Camius could be even seen putting their hands on their sword buckles as if contemting whether to cut this thering fool down.
Alexander too felt his temper rise.
He had woken up at the crack of dawn, worked the whole day, pulled an all-nighter to n for a war, directed the war, won the war, had a heart-pounding, nail-biting chase with the fleeing king, invaded a city, nned and carried out the capture of a city and atst robbed the city''s greatest reserve of treasure.
So, one might forgive Alexander for wanting at least a pat on the back for a job well done.
But instead of his hard work being appreciated, this thering fool was castigating him in front of all his troops and acting as if he was already king.
The cranky Alexander hence decided to do something about it.
"Get this fool off his horse," Alexandermanded the soldiers, and Ptolomy in spite of his protest of, "You! What are you doing? Unhand me or I will have you executed!" was swiftly made to stand in Alexander at equal ground level.
Alexander''s blue eyes prated the ck, hazy, shaking eyes of Ptolomy, fear surfacing on his fear and quivering lip and Alexander sighed in his mind, ''This guy is no good.''
Compared to Amenheraft''s calm, deep gaze that looked steady and unmoving even in times of mortal danger, this fool was shaking like a leaf in a storm in front of him.
"You¡yo..what.." Ptolomy stammered and moved his eyes away to break eye contact.
It was right that moment that Alexander clenched his fist, twisted his hips as he firmly ced his legs on the ground, and bought up his right, armored hand squarely on the lower jaw of the,nding an uppercut so hard that it knocked Ptolomy off the ground, making him fly in the air in a smooth arch as he thennded on the pristine marble floor with a dull thud.
His eyes went all white and a white foam, mixed with tinges of red started flowing out of his mouth as he was knocked out cold.
"Your Majesty!"
"You..what are you doing?"
"*ng*"
Furious roars burst out of the retinue following Ptolomy, as they were appalled by the sight of their king being hit in the face like that, and some of the more hot-headed ones even drew their swords, wanting to charge up to Alexander and cut him down.
Alexander chuckled at this show of bravado, and darkly warned, "Your king is still alive. Touch a hair on my body and every man, woman, and child in this city will not be."
The reality of their and their subjects'' fate squarely lying in the hands of these extrinsic mercenaries bought Ptolomy''s entourage back to earth and the more leveled-headed ones quickly shouted, "Fools! Sheath your swords. You want our king to die?"
Alexander then pointed to the man lying sprawled like an eagle and addressed the fifteen in front of him, "Tell me, why do you support this fool?"
"The fool cannot realize the simple reality that I have twelve thousand men at my fingertips and he has got zilch. Yet he dares to act like a king in front of me, berating and insulting me in front of my soldiers? Is this the kind of liege you guys follow?"
Alexander''s acquisition drew some shamed and flushed faces as many turned their head and avoided looking Alexander directly in the eye.
But an old man, Alexander presumed he must have some close rtion with Ptolomy from his birth attempted to defend his king. "Esteemedmander, King Ptolomy was just expressing his objection at the atrocities the soldiers aremitting in the city. Worse they are chanting ''By King Ptolomy''s orders'' iming it was you who told them to do so."
''Haha, good. Those guys are doing mighty well!'' Alexander chuckled ominously at the ''good'' news in his mind.
But outside he put on a fa?ade of indignation, "Whateverints he may have, is this how to greet a general that has captured the greatest city in the world? Is this how Adhania rewards sess? With insults and beratement for itsmands and the brave soldiers that died for them?"
This passionate cry drew even deeper scowls on the foreheads of the soldiers as they felt their efforts were being so thoroughly trampled on.
The experienced old man certainly felt the anger of the people around him, as he had an imaginary feeling of his surroundings getting hotter and quickly spoke up to shield Ptolemy, "No, no, esteemedmander, we do not mean any disrespect! For getting us back our city we owe you a debt that can never be repaid. In gratitude for getting our city back, please ept this bow from this small man."
He then performed an immacte bow reserved only for nobles and royals.
''Hmm, so this is Ptolomy''s ass wiper," Alexander identified the man who likely took care of and managed the idiot''s messes.
The old man was not however content to just take Alexander''s infractionying down as he asked, "Butmander, what do you say about the soldiers'' ims that you told them to ****, kill and plunder while chanting ''By King Ptolomy''s orders?"
His voice was sharp and pointed.
But Alexander only chuckled in his heart, ''Hehe, they are right!"
On the outside, he exined, "I entered the city with only fifteen hundred horsemen who rapidly dispersed themselves to chase the fleeing enemy, Of course, they are gonna shout. ''By King Ptolomy''s orders'' as they struck them down. Didn''t King Ptolomy want these enemies killed? Didn''t King Ptolomy order the destruction of all enemy forces? What were the soldiers supposed to chant, ''By Commander Alexander''s orders''? That would make me a usurper!"
Then he addressed the atrocities, "And if any soldier told you that I ordered them tomit such any atrocities they are lying. Simply using my name tomit vile acts of filth to fulfill their own animalistic desires and escape justice. Bring anyone whomits such crimes to me and he will be judged ording to militaryw."
Alexander''s eloquence stunned the crowd as the old man sighed spookily in his heart.
''He''s a tough cookie,'' The aged manmented.
Chapter 115 Snake Tongue
The old man was no greenhorn to politics or warfare and knew the things the soldiers were doing now were natural and to be expected.
But what he really wanted to do was to hold Alexander ountable for all the atrocities and then have Ptolomy sacrifice him to save the royal reputation.
But with the stirring speech Alexander gave just now, that event seemed unlikely,
''Didn''t they say he was a ve just five days ago? How is he such a good rhetor?'' The old man and the group''s de-facto leader spookily asked in his heart.
He did not need a trantor as he spoke Thesian quite well and hence the real, raw speech felt even more powerful to him.
And he started to grow even more fearful of the former ve who was said to be blessed of Gaia.
Although he didn''t buy those ims, he even considered the Adhanian royal family''s im of divinity as nothing but more than a convenient tool, he did begin to recognize Alexander as a man of extraordinary means.
Sensing this potential starlet, the old man named Barzan tried a new angle of attack, "Commander is most likely right about the soldiers- those peasant scums of the earth were probably trying to besmirch your shiny name. How can a noble like you be everpared to them, hehe?"
Barzan tried to wedge a divide between Alexander and his men.
But Alexander quickly fill this vulnerable spot as he defended his men, "Do not paint all my men the same colors using the example of few rotten eggs. There will always be some ck sheep in any organization. But most of my men are exemry soldiers."
This passionate speech moved many men as all their lives they were either seen as faceless drones who worked the fields or greedy bastards who would sell their souls to the devil for money.
Few had dared to so openly credit and praise them, especially in front of royal authority.
Running out of cards to y, Barzan decided to y hisst card, "Themander maybe be right about his soldiers, especially given that he could take a city of a million with just fifteen hundred men." He seemed to praise.
Then he turned his words to attack, "Butmander it is still inexcusable for you to hit a member of the royal family. King Ptolomy was just over-passionate and overly concerned about the lives of his people and their well-being. So, how could you hit a man in whom divine blood flowed?"
''Divine blood? This idiot? Heh, if I were one of the gods and I have a descendant like that, I would have smitten him at birth.'' Alexander cursed in his heart.
Openly he only smiled, "Senior asks why I hit him. Well. you have given the answer yourself, didn''t you? Because he had be over-passionate and over-concerned and was not thinking straight. I was afraid that one of my soldiers might not take his outburst too kindly and out of blind loyalty to me, might do something untoward towards the king ..or you." Alexander''s sweet melodious voice instantly changed to a hard, cold tone as he uttered thest two words.
''This guy, this boy, has no fear of kings or gods. He must be dealt with as soon as possible.'' Barzan made up his mind to oppose Alexander the moment the opportunity presented itself.
Alexander too felt like cutting down thispetent man to make Ptolomy more dependent on him and since he held the absolute advantage now, lording over the lives of the fifteen men and one woman, he decided to do it now.
But first, given his eyes caught something interesting, he decided to y a bit.
"Old man, you have been acting all high and mighty all this time. So, I believe it''s time I got my chance to question you." Alexander held absolutely no respect for the man as he uttered these words, drawing a slight, almost imperceptible frown from the old man.
"You all seem to be very smart men." He started by addressing the crowd. "So tell me why follow a guy like Ptolomy? I believe none of you can be stupid enough to not know who is the real power, the shadow king behind Ptolomy is."
Alexander emphasized, "I believe none of you can be blind to the fact that Ptolomy is just a puppet for the nobles to erode the royal authority and get their own way. And to do that the nobles and one particr Pasha even tricked Ptolomy to get foreign powers to intervene in their civil war and even proposed to tear his beloved country to shreds."
"And I believe none of you can be oblivious to the fact is grossly unqualified to lead you against his much morepetent brother."
Alexander strategically paused to see how the expressions of the various men and one woman changed. Some were shamed, some afraid, some ambivalent, and some steadfast and dogged in their belief, with Barzan being their most staunch supporter.
Alexander then continued to paint a grimmer picture, "Tell me, when Amenheraft returns to this city in a month, can you reliably expect Ptolomy, who has never even led a phnx formation and has no army to speak of, to fend him off."
"And even if he can miraculously aplish that, will Amenheraft just give up, let him be captured, and then kindly hand over the throne to the one he views as a usurper."
Alexander vigorously shook his head, "No! Even if Prolomy can somehow win this time, it will not be the end, but only the beginning. The beginning of a brutal civil war."
"Ask yourself, do you think your liege will be able to win the civil war? Can he win the war so decisively that the royalist nobles will rejoin him? Can he do it without bing a puppet for Pasha Farzah and the other nobles? Andst, of all, can he go all this without letting other foreign powers like Cantagena and Tibias or even Exs from taking advantage and rippling his country apart?"
Alexander raised his octaves each time he pronounce the phrase, ''Can he,'' which to many of the Adhanians felt like him hammering a nail of doubt and confusion deeper and deeper into their hearts each time, as by the end many felt their throats parched and their hearts filled with dread.
And Alexander finished his speech by saying, "Do not answer me and lie. Answer your heart and at least have the decency to be truthful to yourself."
This was a clever phycological trick by Alexander.
By not letting anyone speak, he made sure those intractable hardliners who could never be reasoned with or made to switch over cannot make passionate pleas and dilute much of the dread and confusion Alexander had worked hard to build up.
Instead of being drawn into a crowd mentality, Alexander let each of the fifteen use their head and let eache to their unique conclusion.
And although Barzan opened his mouth so say something along the lines of, "King Ptolomy is the only real heir," Alexander simply raised his hand and cut him off by saying, "Senior, whatever you think about your liege, you are free to do so. But keep it to yourself."
Then Alexander gave a little smirk looking at Ptolomy pretending to be knocked and not doing a good job at it.
His eyes were incessantly twitching and his lips quivering as if he was having a hard time keeping his mouth shut.
"Get up! I know you heard everything." Alexander ordered and the thin,nky man obediently did so.
He looked at Alexander with aplicated expression, unsure of how to feel about the man in front of him.
Was he to be angry for Alexander hitting him and for the atrocities he told his soldiers tomit?
Or was he to be happy that Alexander got his capital back for him and for telling him the truth?
He had never thought of the situation like that.
He only thought the nobles were trying to help him and that it was Amenheraft that was always harming him and his country
But now, with this new information, he was equivocating.
Alexander on the other hand knew exactly what to do.
And he had an unequivocal feeling towards one man who he had decided to kill here and now.
So he addressed Ptolomy starting with a perfect bow, "Your Highness, please ept my apologies for letting my temper get the better of me. These things happen in the heat of battle, hehe." Alexander himself excused him of any wrongdoings as he brushed the incident as a minor foible.
Ptolomy too had learned his lessons and just kept quiet.
Alexander was pleased by this obedient disy and soothed, "Your Highness, I''m sure you have heard everything I said. And the fact that your most trusted retinue did not stop or contradict me proves its veracity."
Then Alexander changed his tone to an understanding one, "Don''t worry, Your Majesty. I understand none of this is your fault. You were tricked! It''s all your retinues fault. It''s all their fault!" Alexander directly pointed his index finger to the fifteen people while feeding poisonous, honeyed words into Ptolomy''s ears.
"What! Lies, your Majesty, lies. This Barzan has always spoken with the utmost integrity to you," The old man immediately jumped up after hearing Alexander''s scandalous rhetoric, his face red with anger as he looked at Ptolomy with impassioned eyes to believe him.
But only got a look of utter mistrust in return.
Chapter 116 A Thorn Removed
Ptolomy was chosen as the head of the rebels just for being born in the right womb and not because he was the best choice.
Hence he was not the sharpest tool in the shed, not by a long shot.
So, it was easy for Alexander to twist Ptolomy''s mind, especially when his narrative fits thetter.
"Brother, you can''t be seriously thinking that uncle Barzan was tricking you right?" From atop a horse chirped feminine voice, trying to defend the old man.
It was Hellma and having recovered from her fever, she had rode into the city on horseback.
"Women should stay out of men''s business," But Ptolomy just shed his palm to shut the girl down.
Alexander was also not about to let anyone sway Ptolomy''s mind.
So he taunted Barzan, "Old man, you im to be always truthful to Highness Ptolomy. Then why didn''t you warn your master that he was being manipted? Tell us, we are interested to know."
Alexander asked with a smug look on his face.
''Because the idiot wouldn''t have listened anyway. He had already fired or killed any detractors that tried to counsel him. The only thing I could do was stay with him and try to minimize the damage as much as possible.'' Barzan cursed in his heart, knowing that he would never be able to say this out loud.
So he lied, "The nobles manipting my liege is aplete lie. They serve their liege with utmost loyalty¡"
Alexander here quickly cut him off, "Utmost loyalty? Heh, then why did they not send their armies to defend their king? Why did His Highness need to call us, the Cantagenans? The very fact that I am here is solid proof that your ''outmost loyalty'' quote isplete horse crap."
Barzan realized toote that he had a slight mistake by lying and Alexander had him by the throat by now.
And Alexander knew this as he attacked, "Hehe, Barzan, for someone who ims to be so loyal to Highness Ptolomy, you sure are apologetic towards the nobles. Why is that?"
"That¡" Barzan attempted to speak but got cut off again.
Alexander swipe his hand across and scolded, "Shut up! Don''t insult our intelligence. Everyone clearly knows why you are defending them. It''s clear as day to even a three-year-old child. You took bribes!"
"What! You¡you!" The old man became so angry that he was having a hard time forming coherent words.
"Is it true? Barzan, did you take bribes?" Ptolomy asked in a wounded voice, finding it hard to believe the man who cared for him from his birth would choose to betray him.
While Alexanderughed darkly in his heart, ''Haha, ohh, you so sweet na?ve child!''
"Your highness¡." Barzan''s defense was again cut short.
But this time not by Alexander but by Hellma!
"Come on, brother! This is uncle Barzan we are talking about. Are you going to trust a man you just met over him?
This reminded managed to restore some of Ptolomy''s confidence in Barzan while he looked at Alexander in askance.
''Smart girl,'' Alexandermented.
Then he said, "Okay let''s say you didn''t take any bribes. This is unlikely, but let''s just say it is."
Alexander made a point to drive home the fact that Barzan likely had his loyaltypromised.
After that, he continued, "Then you have to concede that you somehow did not notice how the nobles were just using His Highness Ptolomy. Somehow you managed to miss how the nobles tricked him into allowing foreign powers into thends, Somehow you managed to miss how the nobles made King Ptolomy sign away his country''snd to its rivals. Something an illiterate who was a ve just five days ago can see."
Alexander then quickly made a point not to me Ptolomy, "Of course, His Highness is to not to be med for any of this. He is still young and no one could have performed the way he did in times of such crisis. To be able to bear such great responsibility takes great courage. And any padillos he might have is only due to his retinues not beingpetent enough."
Atst, Alexander finished his attack, "So, you have two choices Barzan- One- you say you took bribes to help the nobles, Cantagena and Tibias carve up Adhania. That will be treason and you will be made an example of."
"Or second - you can im ipetence and that you truly had no idea about anything. In that case, you are guilty of negligence of duty, and that punishment lies with the king."
"So choose." Alexander then folded his arms as he anticipated a response.
But no such response came.
Only an ufortable silence.
"Well, what''s your response Barzan? Are those things Alexander said true?" Ptolomy the impatient could not hold his temper any longer.
But Barzan only gave a rueful smile and said, "I will leave Your Highness to determine my guilt."
To be suspected of such grave crimes at such an age, when he had done so much and sacrificed so many things for his boy, broke the poor man''s heart.
He did not feel like defending himself, partially because there was nothing to defend against, everything said against him was wishy-washy and made up, and also because he felt whatever he said would not ultimately matter.
He knew the boy from the day he was born and understood he had already proimed him guilty.
But just because Barzan didn''t want to defend himself, didn''t mean others didn''t want to defend him.
Particrly it was Hellma, along with the urging of other retinues who raised their voices to Ptolomy, reminding him it was all just baseless conjecture and he shouldn''t be hasty.
And credit to Ptolomy where credit is due, he did seem inclined to follow their suggestion.
For a brief moment.
Because Alexander instantlyunched a deadly counterattack, "Your Highness, let me paint for you two pictures."
"In one picture, I stay behind with the army, train the popce and help you sessfully defend against Amenheratf''s assault, thus securing you the greatest city in the world."
''In the second picture, I leave with loot from the Temple of Ramuh and march upto Agnirat. It''s only a hundred and fifty kilometers from here and even in bad conditions, we can make it in at most two weeks, far earlier than Amenheratf can ever hope to catch up."
"We then dump the billions of ropals we took from the temple in front of the city and ask for ships and safe passage to Cantagena in exchange for giving city lord Inayah the ropals, which we are confident she will agree to."
This was a naked, unmasked threat by Alexander saying he could leave Ptolomy to hang out in the open to dry.
Then Alexander gave a light smile to Ptolomy and said, "I would very much like the first picture toe true. But I cannot do the things I said I would do if I am constantly judged and interrupted at every step."
"Did you know Barzan tried to frame and beseech my name by saying I hadmanded the soldiers to ****, murder, and plunder! What a liar!"
Then not giving anyone the chance to intervene Alexander presented his sheathed sword to Ptolomy, "It is time to choose your fate, Your Majesty."
"Choose him and you will be a puppet of the nobles and be slowly reced by Pasha Farzah as the true king of Adhania."
"Choose me, someone, who has no roots in Adhania, someone who has no political support, someone who can only rely on you and you will gain a powerful ally who will not betray or rece you."
Alexander then shook his sword in front of Ptolomy to tempt him to take it and kill Barzan,
"What! No brother. Don''t trust Alexander. Trust Uncle Barzan," Hellma literally cried tears as she pleaded with her brother to have mercy.
"Shut up!" Ptolomy snapped, at his sister''s incessant meddling in men''s affairs.
Then he fiercely grabbed the sheath and *ng*bought out the naked de in a single motion, the clean steel reflecting his maddened, red-eyed countenance.
Ptolomy had made up his mind.
"Hehe, young master is doing the right thing," Barzan seemed to be surprisingly taking it well as he even started addressing Ptolomy by the title he used to endearingly call him before, ''young master''
Then he turned his head full of thick white hair to Hellma, "Princess, please do not me your brother. He is only doing this becausemander Alexander has demanded my head in exchange for this support to the young master."
"For this poor old bones to be able to die for young master''s cause is my life''s greatest honor. So please do not cry." He then lovingly ced his hand on the young girl''s head, making the fourteen-year-old break into sobs and tears.
"Oh, my only wish is that I would not be able to see young master''s great aplishments in the future. I guess I will have to settle for seeing it from Aaru." With onest sigh of regret, Barzan got off his horse and then turned to Ptolomy and said, "Then, please do it, young master."
Ptolomy on the other hand was unmoved by these theatrics.
He had already made up his mind and clutching the steel sword tightly to the point his hands had gone white, he approached Barzan with bloodshot eyes and got ready to behead him.
''Hehe, naive fool,'' Alexander gleefully danced in his heart at Ptolomy''s stupid decision.
Chapter 117 Sacking The Inner CIty
Ptolomy was actually a bit reluctant to ''deport'' this trusted or more urately until very recently trusted retainer.
But Alexander''s words, coupled with threats had managed to convince him otherwise.
As Ptolomy gazed imperiously down at the old man, his ice-cold voice rang out, "Nobles fight among themselves all the time. And we from the royal family turn half a blind eye to it as long as it is not too serious. But you colluded with foreign powers to undermine and destroy our great country. This is uneptable."
Ptolomy had decided to indict Barzan with the first usation and this caused the old man to only let out a light smirk.
Ptolomy didn''t seem to notice this as his monologue continued, "Normally you would be killed by quartering (using four horses to dismember the four limbs). But given your immense contribution to rearing and raising us, we have decided to show leniency. We will give you a quick death. Now, lower your head so we can behead you!"
"Hehe," Barzan obediently followed with a chuckle, though not before sending a little quip towards Alexander, Well, I will be going ahead. Today was me, tomorrow maybe you."
And then Ptolomy swung therge sword in a mighty arc and with a sharp-pitched scream by Hellma apanying the dull thud, the head was separated from the body, staining the red marble strawberry red.
Alexander watched this execution with a cid face, his mind thinking back to what Barzan had said as he whispered to himself, ''I am well aware I might be creating the next Joffrey. But you, old man seem to be under the mistaken impression that I want to serve Ptolomy. Heh, if I didn''tck the political capital now, all sixteen of you would have been cut to ribbons. And mark my words when I say that this is only a temporary fix. Ptolomy must die. The question is not when but how soon.''
Alexander was slowly revealing his monstrous ambition to the world, and he was never gonna back down.
Death or apogee, he would reach one or the other.
"*p*, *p*, *p*, you have done the right thing, Your Majesty. Your throne is now secure." Alexander said while giving an enthusiastic but fake apuse.
Then he said "Now, there is just onestmand for you to give,"
Alexander afterward handed Ptolomy back the royal seal and asked, "We are very low on food. So, please give the orders for the soldiers to collect food from the houses in the inner city. I''m sure the nobles have huge stockpiles of them."
This insane order Ptolomy instantly shout out with utter incredulity, "What? There''s no way I will allow that! Have you gone mad?"
This reaction was because even the slow Ptolomy clearly understood what it would mean for him if he were to take food from the nobles by force.
His entire rebellion might very well fail the very next day if he were to antagonize so many nobles at the same time.
And this was not even considering that collecting food was actually a euphemism for, ''****, loot, and murder.''
If so many nobles were humiliated like this, he would be finished.
''Yes, that''s what I want. For you to be utterly dependent on me and me alone!'' Alexander whispered the n in his heart.
But he presented a reasonable exnation to Ptolomy, "The reason you lost the rebellion the first time was because of those nobles. Those traitors catapulted the second they smelled a weakness from you. They are nothing but traitors and deserters and deserve no mercy from you. Showing them any resiliency would only disy cowardice and weak resolve."
"That..." Ptolemy''s lips quivered in anger as he recalled just how quickly those that used to kneel before suddenly rose up to backstab him.
Alexander then asked with a taunt, "Do you believe that those nobles would ever be grateful to you for saving them, No! They would only think it''s natural for them nobles to be above thew, to be above justice, to be above even the royal family."
Alexander''s speech was starting to make more and more sense to Ptolomy as he felt his anger grow.
Alexander continued, "They will think that they can defy the crown and go scot-free anyway. And they will continue to defy you regardless, ignorant of your generosity. The only way to show one''s generosity is by first disying his cruelty."
Alexander''sst sentence moved Ptolomy very much and he started seriously considering punishing the nobles to make an example out of them.
But here, Hellma, who had finally gotten herself together after experiencing that traumatic sight, screamed, "No, brother! What about the nobles who support us?"
This question bought Ptolomy back to square one as he asked the same question to Alexander.
And Alexander was ready with the reply, "Please remember that any staunch rebel nobles mostly like have been either executed or imprisoned in the dungeons awaiting trial." Alexander made an educated guess.
"The only nobles who used to follow you that would be released would be turncoats. Do we want turncoats? Didn''t they swear allegiance to you and then break it? They are oath breakers and deserve no mercy."
This made Ptolomy''s blood boil again.
Alexander then soothed the frayed nerves of the distraught young king, "Do not worry Your Majesty. All your true kin and supporters must be in the dungeons captured by Amenheraft. The only ones out and free are traitors and opposers. They are your enemies anyway. So why bother with the consequences?"
This made sense to Ptolomy as he weakly nodded in agreement.
And atst, Alexander told him the reality, "If we want the million people in the city to not start rioting, we need the food. You burnt all three of the granaries after all remember?"
This reveal of secret information made Ptolomy go wide-eyed as he never wanted others to know of this shameful act of his and looked at Alexander with dread and panic.
''What, how does he know? How much does he know? What to do?'' Such thoughts raced across his mind as Alexander so openly revealing this secret caused arge amount of disturbance among the soldiers.
Many, especially from the back whose faces were hidden hurled derogatory remarks like ''scum'', ''wastrel'', and ''low-life'' toward him.
"Brother, is this true?" Even Hellma asked in a shaky, voice of disbelief.
"That was just a strategic move to slow down Amenheraft. It was me or them," Ptolomy came up with a decent kind of excuse after some trying amongst all the taunts and jeers.
And instead of trying to discredit him, Alexander praised him, "Yes, it was a very good move indeed. As expected of His Majesty."
And this got some color back into Ptolomy''s face.
Alexander noticed this and finished by saying, "Because we have a shortage of food and the surrounding has nothing left to forage, we must obtain from somewhere or riots will start sparking up."
"And we will need to stock up on grain both in case of emergencies too, like if Amenheraft decided to besiege the city and try to starve us out. We will also need enough grain leftover to nt so we can feed our poption the next year."
"And the only people who have so much grain with them are the nobles in the ring city. These nobles are hoarders who care not one iota for the popce."
Alexander tried to y Ptolomy and the nobles off of each other.
He finally added, "And if things turn bad during the battle with Amenheraft, which it very well might, then the nobles could stage a rebellion to try and save their skin. We will then be facing a two-pronged attack, both from outside the city and inside the city and that would be a disaster. We would be finished." Alexander stressed.
And thest line that managed to tip Ptolomy to side with Alexander was, "And I have not even started on the securities ount. How many nobles do you think spy for the fleeing king?"
The fear of spies telling everything about him to Amenheraft terrified Ptolomy and so quickly he raised his arms and ordered, "Soldiers, I hereby order you to gather all the food in the noble''s residences as soon as possible. In the name of the King, Divine Son of Ramuh- Ptolomy, I also order you not to harm any of the residents of the house, especially the women and children." He proimed.
"Noooo, stop brother. That snake has poisoned your mind," Along with Ptolomy''s other retinues, the one that made the loudest imploration was Hellma.
''Hmm, I got rid of Barzan, now it seems I will have to get rid of her,'' Alexander ced another name in his imaginary kill list.
Although Ptolomy had given the order with quite some pomp, shouting regally and holding his seal high into the air, strangely, not a single soldier moved from his position.
Because Ptolomy was not theirmander and they had not been hired to fight for him.
Instead, the men waited for Alexander''s explicit instructions which soon came with a heartyugh, "Haha, you have heard His Majesty. Go and collect the food. You have three days!"
Thisrge time limit instantly drew an astonished "What" from Ptolomy who understood that Alexander had basically given the men three days time to sack the inner city.
But as Ptolomy looked at Alexander''s smug, confident smile beaming back at him, unconcerned and unafraid, Ptolomy began to get a vague feeling that maybe jumping ship with this man was even more dangerous than the ship with the nobles.
But what could be done now?
The dye had already been cast and Ptolomy could only let out a heavy sigh as he braced for what was toe in the future,
Chapter 118 Shedding Weight
Alexander''s generous time limit caused a booming cheer to erupt from the soldiers as they rapidly dispersed like ants on a hot pan, eager to wreak unimaginable havoc on the ancient beautiful city and its inhabitants.
As the file of soldiers in front of the temple rapidly thinned out, there was a small contingent requested to stay behind by Alexander.
And if one were to look closely the soldiers there were from Alexander''s original group, plus Melodias''s.
Alexander shouted, "Men, I am sure you want to know why I stopped you from having fun, instead forcing you to guard the inner gate and the temple gifts."
"Ahem," Alexander cleared the phlegm in his throat and resumed, "That is because this a different kind of mercenary from Nestoras''s or Aristotle''s. A kind of mercenary where there will be no looting or killing of innocents and certainly no ****."
This was like telling someone who loved starting the day by cracking open a cold one that he had to give up drinking and be sober immediately.
Unless that person had a spiritual rebirth or his liver was dying he was unlikely to even consider it.
"*tter*, *Hub-hub*" Alexander''s speech instantly and predictably caused a ruckus among the group and many looked confused and even a bit angry.
Alexander keenly noticed this was from mainly the men from Melodias''s group, those who had just joined and hence did not have much loyalty toward Alexander, to begin with.
He was very pleased by the fact that his own men were mostly surprised but remained patient, knowing Alexander never spoke without reason.
Only a few like Pallidus joined Melodias''s men, and Alexander even heard Pallidus personally shouting, "Heh, the brat''s gone mad after one sess," thinking Alexander would not hear it, but he did.
Alexander didn''t let the soldiers hang for long, "All of you have two options to decide from. Option one- you can join the others and take part in the collection of loot and booty, taste the fine things Adhan has to offer, and make general merriment. That is an option." Alexander repeated.
''But,'' Everyone used to Alexander''s way of speaking knew the dreaded three-letter word wasing,
"But, you will not be a part of my mercenary group." Alexander dropped a threat that made many go wide-eyed.
Alexander then quickly moved to reassure the men, "Don''t worry. Don''t worry. This is not a punishment. None of you will be kicked off the army. Only out of my mercenary group. You can still fight and plunder as while we are in Adhan"
"And when you decide to leave the army, all of you will be given the promised ten thousand (10,000) or fifteen thousand (15,000) tustas. Not a single coin will be deducted from your pay as indemnification. And for all of your hard work and loyalty for all these years you will be even given a severance pay of twenty-five thousand (25,000) tustas in addition to your previous reward."
"Uhhhoohh," This immediately caused a loud cheer and some of the more impatient and unruly men even detached themselves from the crowd and started running toward the city, not even bothering to listen to Alexander''s second option.
These men had done the math in their heads, and they liked the results.
Each of them would get anywhere from thirty-five thousand (35,000) to forty thousand (40,000) tustas and since a family of four needed around a thousand five hundred tustas a month to live, this meant that these mercenaries would not need to work for two whole years!
And that was enough for them to not even hear what Alexander what to offer in his second option.
These were mainly from Melodias''s group and although Melodias shouted and implored them to just stay a while longer and at least listen to the man who had won this city for them, the men''s heads were only filled with one single thought, ''If we don''t hurry, all the fair one''s will get used. Hehe, I wonder how much different a noble''s one is different from the regr whores''.''
These beasts could hardly keep it in their pants.
Alexander watched this desertion with a mixture of pleasure and insight.
Pleased that he had identified these disobedient bad eggs and will never have to deal with them and felt insightful because he had learned just how hard it was to control men.
Melodias was very well respected by his men as he had sacrificed so much for them, but even his words fell on deaf ears when such soft and sweet bootyy in front of them.
''*Sigh*, it is so hard to stop men frommitting atrocities." Alexander inwardly let out a heavy breath.
He then remembered reading a report in his previous life that even after the United States of America had spent tens of billions of dors on morality and ethics sses to teach its soldiers how to treat the residents of US-upied territories, there were still many cases of rogue soldiers raping and killing innocent civilians.
And that was in an era of mass surveince and high degrees of awareness among the people and so these cases were able to be caught.
So how was Alexander going to stop his soldiers from doing such things in an era so backward that they hadn''t still mastered making steel?
Alexander could even see some of his own men, men he had gotten well along with before, men he had thought were loyal, dithering on what to do next.
''Should we stay with themander and his new ways or take the money and go? We can easily find another job with any other mercenaries,'' Alexander could almost hear these thoughts forming inside the minds of his men as many started contemting switching mercenary groups.
And given that most of the mercenaries were in dire need of new recruits right now, these experienced veterans would be taken in with open arms.
So, seeing this, Alexander felt that the original conditions of option two that he had thought up in his mind might be a little too harsh and decided to modify them.
"Now, option two." Alexander slowly said.
"Option two is you stay here and guard the loot and gates. It''s not glorious and it''s not fun. But in exchange, you will all be given a fixed sry of two thousand tustas regardless of employment or not. But that''s not your biggest perk."
Alexander then shook his head animatedly, "No, your perk is the fact that you will get to bemanded by me and share in my sess. So if you have confidence in me. If you feel like I can lead you to victory, If you feel like that I lead you to greater wealth than thirty-five- forty thousand tustas. And if you think you have the willpower and discipline to control yourselves, then and only then stay."
"Haha, of course, we will stay with themander."
"Leader for life."
"We are yours tomand."
Thinking Alexander had finished, many mercenaries cheered and started boisterously making big ims.
But Alexander was not finished as he then issued a penalty for breaking the conditions of option two, "And remember, if you stay and stillmit such crimes. Then not only you will be discharged with no pay, but you may also then be handed over to the nearest city lord or even the king to be judged and put to death and sold to very!"
This threat of death or very scared many as many soldiers started having second thoughts again.
Alexander sighed heavily in his heart when he saw some of them, many great fighters, leave to start plundering the city.
But, he did not regret it.
He wanted a clean corp of soldiers absolutely, blindly loyal to him which he nned to use as a kind of seed to grow his new army.
And to make sure this new army grows strong and healthy it was vital that he cut off the bad, rotten parts from the very start, from its inception, so it does not spoil the whole structure and cause it to rot from the inside.
Interestingly, Alexander also noticed Pallidus leave for his group and make towards the city, which made Alexander remember the shout the former gave.
He knew that this scum was never gonna stop scheming against him and Alexander swore in his heart, ''Heh, you think you can leave this group, Pallidus? Haha, how can you be allowed to get off so easily after everything you put me through?'' while his eyes shed a chilly blue light few noticed.
''Who''s he nning to have me kill now?'' Camius was one of the few who did. andmpooned in his heart.
"Commander, every other mercenary and army does it. So, why are you not letting us?" One of the mercenaries who quite looked up to Alexander said with a tone of just indignation, feeling as if his hero had just betrayed him.
Alexander gave a kind smile at the young boy about the same age as him, "Umm, very good question."
"It''s because what I want are soldiers that follow orders, kill enemies, and take over ces with as little destruction as possible so that that ce can be used to generate wealth.".
"What I do not want are soldiers like the ones we faced today. I do not want soldiers who break discipline at the first sight of gold and make them vulnerable to ambushes. I do not want soldiers that burn and raze cities, making it totally useless to both sides."
"In essence, what I want is a professional army with strict discipline. And those who stay behind will be the pirs of that army."
Chapter 119 Somber Reflections
Alexander''s speech moved some but confused most.
They knew the word professional- which meant someone expert and army which meant, well an army.
But what did a professional army mean?
Although in their defense, their confusion was justified as the concept of a professional army did not really exist at the time with only Exs being the exception.
Even Amenheraft''s so-called elites were originally just farmers that regrly received just two weeks of training per year during the winter when the peasants had nothing better to do.
Of course, the war over thest two years had transformed many into seasoned veterans.
Seeing the quagmire of confusion his soldiers were in, Alexander expounded, "Our employers hire us to either to protect theirnd or capture new territory. And the biggestint both of them have is mercenaries are destructive, mercenaries spoil thend that they conquer."
Alexander then clenched his fist and pronounced, "I want us to be different. I want us to be elite soldiers that fight and kill, but do not steal, loot or ****. This means the cities we capture will be intact for our employers and so be more valuable."
Alexander then gave a light smile, "Of course, such services wille with extra costs. Our regr rates will be what the Cantagenans offered and there may be other perks along the line."
Alexander added mysteriously.
Alexander then finished in an understanding way, "Don''t worry, none of you will have to make the decision right now. You have three days. Think it over."
"But remember, though the payment will be higher, the training and discipline will also be harder. Dismissed." Alexander warned and then dismissed them, ordering one hundred to guard the inner gates, two hundred to follow him, and the rest to go back and escort the rest of the camp back to the city.
After all these orders, Alexander sighed in his heart, ''My original condition had no additional pay. Just the chance of being with me. If I had done, probably less than twenty would have stayed.''
Alexander felt that his thoughts might have been a little naive when he figured that because he had just won them the city, they would be more susceptible to coercion.
But he was wrong!
Mercenaries were inherently unruly and Alexander understood that when he campaigns in the future, tragedies will surely ur under his name.
The social and political structure was such that it would be impossible for him, a single man to go against this tide of inevitability, at least in the near future and all he could do was try and minimize the damage.
With the soldiers set to sack the city, Alexander then suddenly remembered about a person.
And asked some of his soldiers, "There''s a Sycarian by the name of Laykash who was injured and is probably near the gates. Go get him into the pce and then inform me immediately. Go, do it quickly."
Then Alexander asked everyone else that was present to join him in the pce and soon this small group made their way through the streets in silence, though for very different reasons.
Ptolomy was a bit sad about Barzan and seeing his city be molested while his entourage was going through a crisis of loyalty.
Alexander''s group was silent forpletely different reasons.
They were tired from staying up all night and then fighting in a melee and then marching here.
And now they were immersed in a kind of dreamlike state as they still couldn''t believe that they had managed to capture his magnificent city as they soaked themselves within the grand, imposing, architecture that adorned both sides of the city.
The roads were cobbled with stones and each side was decorated with beautiful homes and expensive spires and minarets - made of the finest timber and stone, giving the whole ce a feeling of majesty and mobility.
The only caveat was that some of these beautiful structures seemed to be smoking and their ears would be at times sted by the screams of men dying and women being humiliated, sometimes literally in front of them as they made their way to the pce through the wide road.
Many houses they crossed seemed to be entertaining guests, though likely not willingly as it was clear as day what the soldiers were doing to the men, women, and children.
Alexander turned aplete blind eye to the burning and plundering taking in front of him, because even if he could stop the things happening right here, what about the fact that the same thing was repeating all over the inner ring?
Was he supposed to ride throughout the city and stop everyone at the same time?
And even if he was capable of this superhuman feat, even many of Alexander''s own men, men he considered very loyal to him had refused to listen to him when given the ''controversial''mand.
So how could he expect others, who respected him but ultimately only followed him because of necessity, to heed hismand?
And that was beside the point that this destruction had strategic value for Alexander.
The killing was restricted to mostly the inner ring, because all the best loot and women were here and because his force of ten thousand was grossly inadequate to rampage throughout the entire twenty square kilometer city.
This meant it was the nobles, rich merchants, and their servants, totaling around thirty to forty thousand who were ultimately bearing the brunt of the assault.
And given how hedonistic these privileged groups were by Ptolomy''s description, which Alexander believed, thetter felt not a shred ofpassion for them.
These people had let themon mass suffer brutal hunger and destitution for three whole years while they lived in thep of luxury, refusing to make an inch of concession to their lifestyle, and although many individuals might have been innocent, as a whole the group deserved to be punished.
''The lesser the number of nobles, the better the world will be,'' Alexander said to himself, trying to justify the atrocities he was in part allowing to happen as he saw a woman literally be thrown out of her house and into the road, get her clothes ripped off and then be humiliated right in front of him, while the soldier doing this seemed so out of it that he had even noticed therge contingent of people approaching him, only shouting, "For my brother. You bitches sacrificed my brother."
The group soon made their way to the pce ''enjoying such delightful scenery,'' some producing sadness in their hearts seeing these events, some feeling anger, some like Ptolomy having ambivalent feelings like angry at the plundering taking ce but also happy seeing the nobles punished and some feeling nothing - like Menicus who had been long inured to such scenes, having seen, participated and even replicated such horrors in his long mercenary career.
And the pce was no rosy side of the picture as well. Even well before entering even the outer gates, the same, horrific sounds could be heard emanating from the pce and Alexander knew the five hundred men were enjoying the best time of their life right now.
"Protect the princesses. These men have gone half mad with pleasure." Alexander warned as he moved the three of them- Hellma, Azura, and Azira into the center of the group and made thirty bodyguards be the vanguard.
As they slowly approaches the pce, they spotted only a few pce guards'' corpses sprawled across the walkways and gardens, as most had run away at the first sight of five hundred men charging on horses straight at them.
Now, instead of soldiers patrolling the grounds of the magnificent castle, bloodshot, lust-addled brutes roamed the premises, hungry for their next victims.
Some of these in their craze even attempted to attack Alexander''s group but after getting booted squarely on the chest by Alexander''s bodyguards and knocked back to their senses, they managed to recognize Alexander and after bowing and thanking him, promptly turned around to carry on their mischief elsewhere.
The group finally made their way to the pce entrance and the scene here was even more horrific.
The number of corpses was much more numerous here, likely because the inner guards were chosen more carefully and had more loyalty, so they didn''t break and run, instead choosing to stand their ground and defend the pce to thest men, only to be ughtered by the Sycarians.
But the tragedy was not over with the deaths of these men as many women tooy with them, either dead or on the verge of it, many with their lower parts destroyed, many having their breasts chewed out, and many sufferingcerations of various degrees.
Some were being raped even when Alexander appeared, being dragged out of the pce by their hair, their screams drowned out by the cackling of beasts in human skin as the men threw the women into the pristine stone walkway and vited them, many times multiple men preying on a single woman.
In this way, Alexander was greeted into the pce, with the walkways dyed red and decorated with the bodies of its defenders, with the mournful tragic music of women being humiliated in the background.
''If this is just the front gates, what''s happening inside.'' Alexander felt an uncharacteristic chill in his heart seeing the scale of the atrocities.
''*Sigh*, If god exists, will I be judged for these crimes? Or will it all be written off as an inevitable product of the time?'' Alexander could not help but ask himself, knowing if he were to try and make his ambitionse true, such events will be repeated many times over.
Chapter 120 Into The Dungeon
Alexander''s vanguard kicked the men off the pathway to clear which caused them to scamper off, but not before dragging the women they were on top of by the hair to continue their act elsewhere.
"Alexander, this is insane! At least, spare the pce!" Ptolomy pleaded with themander of the army, fearing for the lives of his own family.
"I have asked my men not to touch anyone who is rted to you," Alexander assured though he doubted the men were in any position to listen or remember anything given what he was seeing unfolding in front of him.
Because as he had gotten closer, he could now see better what was happening inside the pce, on the very outer grand hall.
The thick oak doors were opened ajar and on the thick, luscious carpets were many women and maids, all being vited by hundreds of men.
Many screamed and pleaded, many grunted and whimpered, while some seemed to have lost their voices as they obediently took the punishment, fearing more resistance would only mean more pain.
A very few had no men on them, likely because they had either died, lost consciousness, or be too loose.
But whenever these women stirred and tried to run away, some lucky ones even managing to crawl up to the gates, they would be immediately pounced on by the hungry beasts all around looking for fresh meat, whereupon the next round would begin, most of the time at that very same ce.
"Menes, find Grahtos and tell him to gain control of his men. We will be staying here." Alexander said in a t tone, and received a loud "Yes" in return,
"Let''s go to the dungeon and see the prisoners," Alexander told Ptolomy to lead the way as he figured a lot of Ptolomy''s supporters should be there.
And soon, therge number of people made their through the outer hall, and into the inner courtyard, and then turned left, traveling along the winding pathway to reach a small, unassuming iron gate.
There seemed to be no one around, the guards likely having run away and the Sycarians also seemed to have not found the ce yet as this ce still held its tranquility, forming a jarring contrast to the rest of the screaming environment.
The vanguard found the iron gate not locked, its lock neither picked nor broken but likely opened with a key and from the narrow tunnel, echoes of muffled shouts, cries and groans could be heard.
This sound made Ptolomy have a very bad feeling, while Alexander took an educated guess of what was happening and ordered, "Men, lead the way. And remember to keep shouting ''Those who surrender peacefully will be shown mercy.'' in Azhak."
"Commander, you¡you..," Princess Hellma stammered as blood ran out of her face because she vaguely understood why Alexander had given the order.
Alexander helped finish the sentence for her, "Many pce guards must have hidden themselves in the dungeon to escape when the pce was taken. And now I''m afraid they have taken a liking to the inhabitants of the cells."
Alexander then defended the Sycarians, " It is likely not my men because otherwise, we would have met some of them on the way and because the lock would have been broken, not opened with a key. My men don''t have so much patience."
"That, that¡I..gottamander please hurry!" Captain Slow Ptolomy finally understood the implications behind Alexander''s orders and with a pale face and shaky voice urged him to hurry.
Alexander thus sent his vanguard forward, who proceeded down the spiraling staircase chanting the phrase Alexander taught them, and when they reached ground level, the scenery down there was even direr.
The doors of the cell doorsid wide open and just like Alexander had predicted, the Adhanian royal guards were now ''feasting'' on the people they had been assigned to guard and protect.
Countless bodies, mostly noble men judging by their attire, were thrown out of their cells and onto the cold, damp, pot-riddled prison floor while the nobledies in their cells, were being forced to know the taste of themon rabble.
People they disdained to even look at most of the time, were now on top of these high-ssdies, most being made to serve multiple men at once.
"Kill them! Kill them all!" Ptolomy screamed in a furious voice Alexander had yet to hear, his voice hoarse and his entire body shaking with rage and unfiltered fury.
The fact that the pce guards, the people entrusted with the protection of the pce were doing this enraged him, but what really set him off was the fact that these nobles were part of his factions and vital to his effort to gain control of the country.
And with them now dead or humiliated, Ptolomy''s job had gotten a hundred times harder.
Although Ptolomy had given the order, it was Alexander''s say that actually meant anything to the soldiers and they soon received clear instructions from him, "Get all the prisoners out and escort them to the pce rooms above. Cover the women with clothes and treat any injuries that they may have if possible."
Alexander then told them what to do with the pce guards, "Those guards that surrender are to be locked up in the cells. Those who resist are to be killed immediately."
"What, locked up? Kill them. I want them all dead!" Ptolomy was incensed that Alexander was proposing to let go of these rapists and demanded swift and brutal executions.
"Calm down! I have a n," Alexander only cidly replied as his men started rounding up the guards in this huge, sprawling underground structure.
"n? What n? What can these ingrates help us with? Tell me! Tell me now!" Ptolomyunched himself into a harangue, anger taking over his rational mind, as balls of spit started to pepper Alexander''s face.
Ptolomy had be livid as he witnessed the scenes in the dungeon, and vowed in his heart to feed every one of the guards to the dogs.
But now that Alexander seemed to be showing softness to these criminals, his fuse had blown off and he had lost his cool.
Alexander on the other hand kept his cool and slowly turned to his trantion while pointing his index toward Ptolomy, "Tell him, if he doesn''t want to get hit, to shut the fuck up."
The trantor did not need to trante as Ptolomy had already understood what Alexander was eluding to by the gesture while the pain of that strike surfaced back up, reminding his jaw of the pain.
So, Ptolomy instead decided to look for his immediate family members- his wife and three daughters and his queen mother.
And soon his eyes caught the sight of a dimly lit cell in the furthest corner of the dungeon, whose door seemed like hadn''t been opened.
He sped towards that corner and shortly after let an eruption of joyous cry, "Oh thank Ramuh, you are all still alive! Oh, thank Ramuh!"
Clearly, his closest kin was still alive and it appeared unharmed.
"Ptolomy? Ptolomy, is that you?"
"Father!"
"Daddy!"
Cries of joy also erupted from in the cell.
And his jubtion soon infected the others in his entourage who also quickly went to congratte their king.
"Mother!" Alexander could hear Hellma''s happy cry and this jovial atmosphere amidst the otherwise tragedy formed a stark contrast.
Alexander was surprised that these women seemed to have escaped the fate that fell on all women around and was about to go ask them when he got his answer as Ptolomy asked them, "Are you guys alright? None of the soldiers harmed you?"
And got this reply, "We are divine beings on earth. Would those mongrels ever dare to touch us?"
The reply was cold and its haughtiness seemed to have been generated from the very bones of its speaker.
The fact that even these rabid pce guards hadn''t dared to touch, let alone humiliate the royal family was a testament to the kind of control the royal family exerted on its citizens.
''*Sigh*, taking over this city will be hard,'' Alexander felt a slight headache when he thought of his ns to one day take over the city.
How was he to wipe away the brainwashing of the royal family from the popce?
ughter them to thest one?
But branch families will always exist.
And so, for the time being, Alexander could see no good answer.
These thoughts swam inside Alexander''s mind as he quietly watched as his men round up the guards, who had been literally caught with their pants down and under the threat of points steep tips could only surrender.
They had thrown their swordbelt along with their pants to perform these acts and now found themselves defenseless, though some desperadoes tried to grapple and tackle their captors, only to be swiftly cut down with practiced efficiency,
Alexander wondered if these were stupid for trying to fight armed mercenaries bare-handed or smart because they knew what Alexander nned to do once he caught them.
"Ptolomy, how are you here? And what''s all the ruckus about?" Alexander could hear a concerned voice ask.
But Ptolomy only reassured them without going into detail, "Don''t worry, everything is all right. I will exin everything in time, But now, let''s get y''ll out of here."
He then opened the cell door which was surprisingly not locked and urged, "You guys are all cold! Come out quickly and let''s get you warmed up. Everything is alright now!"
And so each of thedies slowly came out, drawing Alexander''s attention towards them.
Chapter 121 Ptolomys Family
Thedies looked curiously at the differently colored armored soldiers rounding the guards wearing the familiar pce armor and then turned around to spot a man, d in unblemished golden, armor staring back at them.
This was Alexander who was half eager to meet the family of his ''temporary'' liege and see what the roulette wheel of natural selection could produce when Ptolomy''s genes were mixed with likely a beauty.
But before he could get even a cursory look, a terrified shrill of a young girl rang that was addressed to him, "Ahhh, the king! Why is he here?"
This made Alexander let out an involuntary chuckle, as he remembered he still hadn''t taken off Amenheraft''s golden armor.
So, he took his helmet and walked up to thedies, addressing them with a bow, "Greetings, Your Imperial Highnesses. My name is Alexander and it pleases me to the utmost that you are safe."
This was tranted for thedies who were very confused seeing aplete stranger wearing the unmistakable armor of Amenheraft, speaking Thesian and bowing to them.
Stunned at this new development all thedies didn''t know how to react and so only stared wide-eyed at the man, no boy!
''Who''s this boy impersonating Amenheraft,'' Ptolomy''s wife thought, while the one Ptolomy called queen mother turned her head to give Ptolomy a deep look and then scanned Alexander up and down.
Alexander too stared back and was a bit taken aback by the five beauties standing in front of them.
Even in the dim lighting, Alexander could tell each of the women were all city-destroying beauties, the very best the gods could produce, and thus fit to serve the Adhanian royal family.
In the lead was a mature, busty,dy in a full, ornamental dress who looked like the older, adult version of Hellma, with bulging breasts, and full, thick red hair that reached her waists.
Alexander guessed this was the woman Hellma cried ''Mother'' and appeared in her early thirties, with adult charm oozing out of her body.
A bit behind her was a fair brte with long curly hair upto her shoulders, she too dressed in luxurious clothing, though the fabric seemed to have be dull due to her captivity.
Alexander presumed this was Ptolomy''s wife as surrounding her, hugging her sexy waists were her most precious possessions, three cute kittens that looked at Alexander wearily.
These triplets, who looked the spitting image of their mother, only a bit younger were the ones that caught Alexander''s attention the most.
''Twins and triplets, you guys sure are busy.'' Alexander made a light joke in his heart at both Ptolomy and Amenheraft having identical children of their own.
"This ismander Alexander. He saved my life, and has helped me retake the city," Ptolomy gave a concise introduction.
"Thank youmander for saving my husband and our family." Ptolomy''s wife gave a slight bow, and hearing her voice, Alexander could not match it with the cold, haughty voice of earlier and thus designated that voice to Hellma''s mother.
''Will she be a problem?'' Alexander remunerated.
But Alexander outwardly disyed only cordiality and humbleness as he yelped in fake surprise, "Your Highness, please, please. I do not dare ept any bow from a royal. I am a lowly mercenary. I do not dare ept such praise."
''You don''t dare ept a queen''s bow, but you dare to hit a king. Heh, hypocrite much?'' Ptolomy felt he was beginning to understand Alexander''s mercurial side by a tiny bit and couldn''t decide if he should be scared of this mercenarymander or if he should be happy that he is on his side.
Maybe a bit of both.
Alexander''s humbleness pleased the queen and even Hellma''s mother''s icy looks seemed to have thawed a little, while the three princesses looked at Alexander now with less hostility and more curiosity.
"Azura, Azira, what are you doing here?" The redhead suddenly noticed the unmistakable silver hair around the back and sped toward the twins.
"Oh, yea, I forgot to ask, why are my nieces here? Shouldn''t they be in the temple? Or better yet, with their father?" Ptolomy asked Alexander lightly.
"Hehe, Amenheraft left them behind. And would you feel safe leaving these beauties at the temple? With all those men around?" Alexander gave a dark chuckle.
"....." Ptolomy didn''t know if these two falling into Alexander''s clutches was a better or worse fate.
"What! Has anything happened to the temple, daddy?" One of Ptolomy''s daughters asked in an innocent that managed to draw a rueful smile on Ptolomy''s face.
What happened at the temple, how he was coerced to kill Barzan- the uncle of his wife and the queen mother''s caretaker, were all events that would shake his family to the core.
But his thoughts were broken by a mature, terrified voice who shouted in concern, "Azira, Azura, what''s wrong? It''s your queen mother. Why aren''t you talking?"
The mature beauty''s distressed calls echoed in the empty chamber and this made Ptolomy look at Alexander inquisitively asking for an exnation.
''Hmm I have heard of people sometimes going mute after they experience something particrly traumatic, but this is the first time I have heard time I have seen it myself.'' Alexander thought to himself as he stared at the almost soulless, nk, zombie-like eyes of the ck beauties.
Alexander only returned a smirk to Ptolomy''s questioning look and said, "My king, please escort your family to their quarters. I am sure they are exhausted after their terrifying ordeal and require rest."
This was Alexander''s way of saying to fuck off and Ptolomy had at least that much IQ.
"Azura, Azira,e with me," Hellma''s mother tugged at the girls and under Alexander''s silent nod was allowed to.
As the group was leaving, Alexander picked by a side bit of information due to the echoey nature of the dungeons, when Ptolomy asked, "Howe your cell doors were open?" and his wife was heard answering, "One of the guards opened the cell door and attempted to ¡.., but one big scolding from queen mother made the soldier realize who we were and they fled without locking the door."
Then Hellma''s mother added an addendum, "We thought of running out. But when we got out of our cell, we saw the dungeon crawling with guards who were killing, raping, and viting everyone in the cells. We feared in the darkness, those brutes would not be able to recognize us, So, we closed our cell doors and waited for an opportunity once the soldiers left."
''Smart woman! Looks like that Hellma inherited the brains of her mother,'' Alexander made a note.
Alexander then continued overseeing the round-up of the pce guard, as his two hundred men made quick work of the guards, capturing most of them and securely putting them behind bars.
Then they started escorting the nobledies and a few men that were still alive upstairs, while the dead were nned to be bought up and properly buried with a funeralter.
Alexander too soon exited the dungeons, leaving just a few of his men to guard the captured soldiers.
He then made his way to the outer grand hall, where Menes and Grahtos were both seen ordering the men to clean up the pce, moving the ''injured'' women to the servant quarters, and burying the dead in the backyard.
"Captain Grahtos, excellent job in securing the pce. You and your men have performed immactely." Alexander congratted Grahtos with a huge smile.
He was not na?ve enough to discard reality and chide him for the atrocities his soldiers and Alexander would bet any money even hemitted.
? He aplished his mission and Alexander only cared about that.
"Thank you,mander," Grahtos had arge smile, but then his tone turned a bit sad as he shook his head, "Unfortunately, we found no traces of the king."
This time it was Alexander''s turn to be sad as he drew a rueful smile, "It''s not your fault that the king has run away. It''s mine."
This produced surprised stares among all the soldiers and captains present and after Alexander had finished exining how he let the king slip between his fingers, almost everyone drew sighs of regret.
"*Sigh*, if we could have killed him, this war would have been over," Menes said with remorse.
"To be able to escape from death so many times, even changing his armor, what luck! Maybe he is really blessed!" Grahtos was a superstitious man.
"Well, maybe not that blessed. He did lose his most precious city after all," Alexander joked which drew hearty waves ofughter from his men, driving away the slight regret they were feeling.
"Haha,mander is right. Under hismand, we have done the impossible," The soldiers congratted him.
"Oh,mander, I just remembered. Our camp has arrived and is making their way to the pce even as we speak." Grahtos told him of the good news.
"Oh, that''s good. That''s very good." Alexander was uncharacteristically a bit too enthused, though in his defense he was just a bit eager to show off his newly acquired toy- the city of Adhan to his beloved.
Chapter 122 Thomas Splint
Alexander had in the past eight to ten hours put himself repeatedly in danger, sometimes even under situations where he was all alone in the front leading a cavalry charge where just a stray arrow or a lucky spear strike could have ended him.
But he still did it, one- because it needed to be done and two- because the adrenaline was flowing right through him and he let his body make many decisions, not the brain.
But now his head was colling down and exhaustion taking over and he wanted the warmth of his lover tofort him who was likely near.
This filled Alexander''s heart with warmth.
Alexander then looked around and soon gave Grahtos instructions where to house the thousands of servants, "Tell the servants to upy the servant quarters. If there is not enough space, then move them to the many empty rooms in the pce. Nobody is using them and leaving them empty is a waste. And even if that''s not enough, relocate some of them to the barracks."
"As youmand."
Grahtos then seemed to have remembered a piece of information, "Oh,mander, that boy- Laykash. We have brought him. He is over there," he then pointed to a side of the grand hall.
"Um, I will call you when I treat him," Alexander smiled a reply.
Then as if a light bulb had gone off inside Alexander''s head, he made a strange request, "Grahtos, remember the blonde man that disguised himself as the king. Bring his body to me. I have use for it."
''Does themander practice necromancy?'' Grahtos made an absurd assumption but chose to follow it anyway as he ordered a few men to bring back the corpse.
With this done, Alexander then ordered Menes who was beside Grahtos, "The eight hundred that were sent to escort the camp. Call them back right now. Feed them lunch and then send them to the barracks to sleep. They have the night watch and they need to sleep as soon as possible."
The war had started at around five o''clock and because clocks hadn''t been invented yet, Alexander estimated that it was around two o''clock now, meaning even if the soldiers were to be fed as soon as possible, these men would have at best around four-six hours of sleep in their fate.
"I''m on it," Menes then quickly ran out of the pce to gather the men.
"So, you are alive!" As Menes was leaving a sharp, soft voice addressed Alexander, and the silhouette of two girls, one short and rectangr, the other with a ponytail perched high above her head presented themselves against the white backdrop of the outside pce.
"Cam!" Alexander immediately produced a huge grin as he bolted to meet her.
"Hmmp, so have all your limbs attached. And here I was looking forward to getting a new husband," Cambyses was unusually acidic to Alexander in their first meeting, which caught him a bit off guard.
Fortunately, Mean was there to provide somementary, "Alex, mistress was overjoyed when she heard of your aplishment, She was so happy she had lost her voice for a few hours."
"But when she got to know the danger you put yourself in, she almost wanted to grab a sword and follow after you. Please don''t worry us like that!" Mean pleaded pitifully.
"I..." Alexander was about to defend himself when suddenly he was hugged by Cambyses who sobbed and sniffed, "I was so worried, so worried. *sniff*."
Alexander could only soothe the girl by rubbing her back.
But Alexander''s eyes suddenly caught sight of the man that had made it all possible- Laykash and knew the boy needed treatment right away.
He thus let go of Cambyses and asked her. "Cam, get me a few pieces of bamboo, rags, ropes, and a few sticks. They should be among the things we keep at the back of the medical clinic. I am gonna make something to help a soldier. He''s injured."
This something was a ''Thomas Splint.''
Alexander in his previous had been forced to wear one, when due to a crane malfunction, a few rods fell down and a stray piece of rod bounced off against his left thigh, snapping the femur cleanly in half, and making his thigh have two white horns poking out of them, one at the front and one at the back.
The pain had been excruciation and he had to live with that splint and the abominable cast for months.
But he had lived, whereas just a hundred years ago, without this simple contraception, he would have died eighty percent of the time.
Cambyses soon got him these and Alexander gave her instructions to help him.
"Cam take these and make them into a ring of ''eh'' size," Alexander made the size with his hand and Cambyses took the thin pieces of bamboo, and used ropes to tie the ends together, all while not bothering to ask questions.
Alexander too started making a ring, muchrger than the size he had shown Cambyses, and the couple was soon done, having obtained arge ring bigger than Alexander''s head and a smaller ring about the size of Alexander''s legs.
Alexander then took two strong pieces of wood, about an inch thick and a meter long, and attached the two rings to each other via the two sticks, tying one at the top of the wooden stick and the other at the bottom, holding them in ce using sturdy ropes.
Thus a rudimentary ''Thomas Splint'' was formed.
Alexander then heavily padded the upper ring with soft fabric to make the splint feel soft andfortable as it rested against the thigh, and then marveled at his ''own'' thirty-minute invention with sparkles in his eyes and grinning at Cambyses.
Cambyses only looked at Alexander curiously, trying hard to think of a way this could be used to save anyone.
Alexander could almost hear Cambyses think but knowing it was unlikely that the girl could be able to figure it out on her own and noticing a curious crowd which even included Grahtos gathering around him to see this new contraception, Alexander gestured, "Come, I will exin it in front of the patient."
Alexander found Laykash asleep on the floor, a thin nket separating him and the cold marble floor, with his thigh tightly bandaged, panting and huffing as the boy clung on to dear life.
Alexander then turned to face the crowd and held up the wooden contraption, "This is called the ''Splint'' and is used to treat femur injuries.
Then he started his exnation, "The reason why femur injuries are so deadly is because when the bones snap, the strong muscles of the thighs contract and pull the broken pieces towards them. So the upper thigh muscles pull the broken lower bone up and the lower thigh muscles pull the broken upper bone down, crisscrossing the bones," Alexander formed a cross with his hands to show the alignment of the broken two parts.
"This pulling force is sometimes so strong that the bones can even sometimes pierce the thick flesh ande out the other side, sticking out into the air, like this," Alexander pointed to the protrusion on Laykashe''s thigh that was sticking out even through the bandage.
"Now to fix that, what you do is this," Alexander held up the splint to show it to everyone.
"You put your broken leg through it like this," Alexander then put his leg through therger top ring "You fully stretch your leg, which will hurt like hell but it''s better than dying, and then you tie your leg to the bottom ring so that the thigh muscles can''t pull themselves back."
The people there noticed that the lower ring extended much further down his feet and they had been confused by that.
"So, the bones are now set in ce like this," Alexander then showed the bone''s new position by connecting his knuckled fist while keeping his arms perfectly horizontal, and said, "and the bone can then heal by itself."
"Amazing,mander, amazing!" Grahtos was the first to praise Alexander and then many others followed.
"Only a blessed of Gaia can be so erudite of the human body," Many cheered while Alexander only lightly smiled.
But one person that was strangely absent from making much noise was Cambyses.
But not because she was unimpressed but because this was Alexander after all, and making impressive things was his thing.
Cambyses had long stopped being surprised by his creations and even felt that if Alexander one day made a carriage and said it could take them to the moon, she would most likely calmly get inside it and spend the entire journey listening to Alexander exin how the craft actually works.
''There''s no need to squeal like a little girl at every one of his creations. He might think I am easy to please,'' Cambyses smirked a little in her mind.
Alexander finished with his lecture, then proceeded to carry out the treatment.
First, he tightly bandaged Laykash''s thighs and then added thick padding to the sides.
Then the boy was then fed strong spirits to dull the pain and a small alcohol-soaked cloth was ced inside his mouth to stop himself from biting out his tongue.
After that came the screaming part, as several people kept him pinned down and his leg was slowly stretched and straightened by Alexander, while the splint was quickly put over the leg by Cambyses and then hurriedly tied to the bottom with stings.
Laykash had been delirious the entire time and the pain just now had tipped over his consciousness and his groans and pained grunts quickly died down, to be reced by a low snoring, as he temporarily left this painful world to the world of dreams.
Chapter 123 Lunch With The Royals (Part-1)[Bonus ]
The one most moved by Alexander''s ''new'' creation was not Laykash or even Alexander but Grahtos.
He did not have the time to praise Alexander because Alexander had quickly moved on to treat Laykash but Grahtos understood the significance of this invention, particrly for horsemen
His own brother had died from a femur injury and that was how he hade to know firsthand why femur injuries were considered basically death sentences, but now knowing that such a simple cure existed, he felt the future of all horsemen had be brighter.
''I will join themander''s group,'' Grahtos made a fateful decision, truly believing that Alexander''s future was limitless.
The man that upied Grahtos''s mind had finished securing the injured leg with the splint and then checked the boy''s temperature, only to find it scorching hot.
Laykash was running a terrible fever.
"Put a wet towel on his head, And get someone to feed him thin gruel," Alexander ordered of the medical personnel who hade to listen to Alexander''s lecture.
As soon as he was finished, Alexander noticed a waiting soldier whisper something to Grahtos and soon Alexander was informed that the body of the blonde man was here.
Alexander then followed Grahtos to observe the corpse and as heid his eyes on the dusty, dirty blonde man wearing a gorgeous tunic, his wound by now turning ck and producing small amounts of pus, Alexander asked, "Does Ptolomy know this guy?"
He asked this because he was curious about the identity of the in man, as he assumed it had to be someone pretty high up the chain ofmand, someone who had Amenheraft''s absolute trust and confidence and was willing to put himself in the striking armor and draw all aggro towards him just to save his king.
Alexander certainly admired such bravery and hoped one day to gather a group such fiercely loyal to him.
"I''m sorry,mander. But I wasn''t there when King Ptolomy entered the city." Grahtos said with a lowered head, reminding Alexander.
"Oh yeah! I forgot you were at the pce." Alexander fixed his mistake with a light smile.
Then he asked Grahtos, "Please put the corpse in a cold, dry ce. I will disy it to the public the day after tomorrow and so it can''t be allowed to spoil."
"Disy it to the public?" Grahtos repeated Alexander''s words.
But when quicklyplied as he pointed out. "Commander, how about the dungeon? It''s cool there."
''It''s also damp there,'' Alexandermented to himself.
But he soon thought of a workaround and gave the order, "Tie the body very tightly with dry clothes. Use multipleyers so no moisture can enter. And then put the body on the bed in an empty cell."
"I will do it personally," Grahtos reassured.
Alexander was pleased by this and then he issued a differentmand, "Grahtos, before you do that, take half my bodyguards to rece the current guards. Those guys are tired so feed them and then order them to sleep. They will have the night shift."
"Yes,mander!" Grahtos saluted.
"And order the outer city gate to be closed immediately. Under no circumstances is it to be opened again. I don''t care if Ramuh himselfes in person to demand the gates be opened. Before tomorrow morning, before they receive explicit orders from me and me only, the gates will remain closed. If a messengeres, tell him to either send the letter under the door or wait till I wake up."
"If the gate is opened at night, the guards there will be personally judged by me." Alexander threatened some grave consequences and then let Grahtos leave,
With all this done, Alexander decided it was time to have lunch.
He invited Cambyses and a few of the leaders who were not too busy, and with each of them carrying their own rations of bread, cheese, and meat, along with some wine from Agapios''s personal collection, made their way to the royal dining room.
As they pushed open the door, here the assemge ran into a bit of an awkward situation as they had seemingly caught the royal family having their lunch.
Alexander, the leader of the group found out the eightdies had cleaned themselves up and changed out of their old, dirty clothes, which made their elegance truly flourish.
Like how the dust covering jewel can be washed away to reveal the pristine shine below, these head-turning beauties were now in their most glorious bloom and they were a stunning sight to behold.
There was Hellma''s mother- the queen mother with her adult charms, wearing a white strapless one-piece that snuggly bound her bountiful breasts.
Ptolomy''s wife wore a ck conservative full-sleeve dress, with only her neck and beautiful corbones being allowed to enjoy the light, while she let her long curly hairs drape over her shoulders.
Her three daughters all wore matching outfits- a gorgeously decorated white gown with beautiful red rubies studded on them, and their raven ck hair tied up in a bun with an ornate silver hairpin holding it in ce.
Hellma wore a simr one-piece like her mother, with her red hair being styled straight with a simple hairpin at the ck, while her mother''s fluffy red hair decorated her head and shoulders.
And atst, there were the twins, who had changed to a pure white chilton with ck onyx pearls embroidered on them, that seemed to make their unblemished, chocte skin glow in contrast and make it appear even more prominent.
Seeing such a concentration of beauties in one ce, momentarily, knocked Alexander''s concentration out as he became momentarily dazed.
But he regained it just a momentter, as he shed a charming smile, "Your Majesty, it is quite the fortune that he can meet under these auspicious circumstances. We will likely be working closely together for a very long, and what better way is there to deepen our rtionship than to have a meal together."
Finished saying this, Alexander then promptly plopped down on a chair and gestured his followers to follow, without any permission from anyone.
This tant disregard for royal etiquette was a power y from Alexander, designed to disy to the royal family the change in the power structure that had urred and to destroy the innate haughtiness of the royal family, thus making them treat him as one of his equals."
To achieve this, Alexandermitted grave crimes such as entering the dining room while the royal family was eating, interrupting the royal family''s meal, sitting at the same table as them without permission, and inviting guests to join them without their consent, just to name a few.
And although this caused a frown to form on all but one man''s face, who had learned his lesson when Alexander hit him, because the man of the house- the king had not said anything about his table being shared with uncultured brutes, thedies, although very angry, chose to keep their mouth shut.
They had also been told the full story of how the man, no the boy, had managed to steal the city right under Amenheraft''s nose and knew he had the muscle to do anything he wanted here, at least for the time being.
Alexander relished at the sight of these snobbish pricks wanting to curse at him, but being forced to hold their tongue and decided to poke them a bit, "Your Majesty, I heard Adhania was experiencing a dreadful drought and its people were dying like flies. But seeing the type of food on your te, I am relieved to know that is not the case."
The lunch these royals were having consisted of full roasted chicken,rge thick pieces of fish, soft, luxurious white bread, and many types of vegetables, all likely cooked in butter orrd or something simr by the smell of it.
''And this guy says he is fighting for the people. What crap!'' Alexander sneered in disdain.
Alexander such openly mocking him right in front of his family both embarrassed and angered Ptolomy and his family, but had no choice but to grow a thick skin and smile shamelessly, "Hehe,mander, this is just an exception. They had been locked up in their cells for days without any food and this is for them to recover their energy."
''Bullshit! The only meal they missed might have been today''s breakfast.'' Alexander scolded the king in his head as he could clearly see thedies were although a bit exhausted but mostly fine.
Spending days inside that damp, cold, and moist ce with no food can''t produce the rosy cheeks Alexander could clearly see.
And as Alexander guessed, everything Ptolomy said was untrue as though Amenheraft had captured the women for rebelling against the crown, he had taken special care to make sure even in captivity, these women''s basic necessities such as good food, nice beds, and proper clothes were met.
They were royals after all and treating them asmon criminals would tarnish the reputation of the royal family itself.
And this was why Ptolomy had found the women in rtively healthy condition with even their attire being quite gorgeous.
"Haha, my apologies, my apologies." Alexander let out a loudugh at Ptolomy''s shabby excuse.
And then got to the core of the issue. "It is vital for the royal family to eat and be healthy. After all, Amenhearaft will be attacking the city in about a month. And we will need the royal family to lead us to battle against him."
By the end sentence, Alexander''s eyes had turned into a crescent as he sent a prative reminder of the imminent danger to Ptolomy.
Chapter 124 Lunch With The Royals (Part 2)
Ptolomy was feeling incensed.
He didn''t much care when Alexander disrespected him in private, as he knew he had no army, no money, and few loyal followers and thus was utterly dependent on the mercenaries and Cantagenans for protection.
But Alexander so tantly insulting him, the king, right in front of his family finally managed to form a frown on the middle-aged''s man forehead.
"Alexander, I would appreciate it if you could give our family some private time," Ptolomy asked Alexander, though the hard, frosty voice he said it with made it sound more like amand.
"Hehe," But Alexander only chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, I remember you promising me making me your most trusted general if I could get you Adhan. If that offer stands then it is natural our families should get to know each other."
After that, Alexander let out a sly smile and asked, "So, tell me, does your still offer stand?"
''Bullshit! You think I don''t remember how you mocked my offer?'' Ptolomy had the urge tosh out.
But could only give an awkward smile and promise, "Of course, you are. That''s why I am depending on you to save my city from that rebel."
Both of them knew this promise was hollow and Alexander wondered how long would it be before Ptolomy found his recement.
''I gotta make the most of the current circumstances,'' Alexander promised himself.
"Are we sure Amenheraft is going to attack us? Maybe he is still in the city?" The mature, regal voice of the queen mother asked Alexander, still holding on to an imaginary thread of hope that the battle can be avoided.
"They can answer that," Alexander replied sinctly, only pointing at the twins who were ringly at him hatefully.
This caused an awkward bit of silence at the dinner table as the six looked at the twins who helped the man they wanted to kill escape and now wasing to kill them.
The twins were also in the same ufortable position as the people they were sharing a meal with wanted to kill their father.
This strangeness could have been noticed by anyone with a modicum of social skills but only someone as crass and insensitive as Alexander could have called it out so openly.
"Haha, this is quite the unusual gathering I should say, Your Majesty why don''t you formally introduce us," Alexander was genuinely interested to know how these people who should despise each other on paper were, at least, on the surface so cordial.
"Commander Alexander, this is my wife- Nanazin, and these are my three daughters- Afsarah, Afsanah. Afsahah." Ptolomy introduced the women Alexander had already guessed as his immediate family.
''Do both you brothers name your children by rhymes?'' Alexandermpooned at the very simr names of the triplets and the twins.
Ptolomy then pointed his right hand and said, "This is the Queen mother, and next to her is my half-sister- Hellma. And you have already met my two nieces- Azura and Azira."
Ptolomy seemed content giving this concise introduction but Alexander wanting juicy gossip, dug deeper.
"It is my greatest honor to have a chance to meet such esteemed royals. Again, I am a humble mercenary named Alexander." He stated humbly.
Then he started asking the real questions, "Your Majesty, what''s a queen mother?"
"It means the favorite consort of the previous king. Queen mother has..had served my father for twenty-one years." Ptolomy proudly imed.
"Ohh? Shouldn''t the preceding queen be the queen mother? Howe the title belongs to a consort?" Alexander cleverly pointed out.
"The previous queen is dead." Hellma''s mother had a sweet smile on her face as she said this.
"Oh! Did you kill her like you killed the previous king?" Alexander very lightly made a very serious usation as he sent a small smile toward the redhead.
The reason for this bold assumption was Alexander believed this was likely the biggest reason she was locked up with the others for treason.
"Alexandeeerrr..." This nder instantly incensed Ptolomy, who stood up and roared in a full burst of fury so loud that his daughters even yelped in surprise, while the solid wooden table shook under the intense jolt.
But although the six women around Ptolomy showed some kind of shock and fear at Ptolomy''s ebullition, one woman barely stirred- The Queen Mother.
Instead, she simply turned to gaze directly into Alexander''s mirthful azure eyes with her bold matt-brown ones and then produced a soul-stirring smile, "Yes."
She confessed to double regicide so lightly that seemed like she was exhaling air.
Alexander was a bit surprised by the light tone the queen used to give the reply.
''Not twitching a single nerve at either the usation or the confession. A fearsome woman.'' Alexander determined as killing a king, who was seen as a god was a big taboo at the time.
"Mother..that''s," Hellma quickly spoke up in shock, not at the act her mother had done but at how she had so easily and so openly confessed her grave crimes.
"Hehe, what''s wrong with speaking the truth? Asmander Alexander said, we will be working together for a long time and should treat each other like family. And there shouldn''t be any lies between families," The queen mother even sent a flirtatious smile towards Alexander as she said this.
''Heh. Is this the famous honeypot? Does she think I am stupid enough to touch her with a ten-foot pole after she just confessed to killing a king and queen?'' The smile only produced fear at the fearless woman in Alexander''s heart, though he was also impressed by this woman''s boldness.
"Haha, His Majesty told me the kind of animal his father was. Him dying is a boon for the human race. Please ept this cup in honor of your bravery." Alexander then raised and took a big gulp from his cup.
The queen mother had expected Alexander to further humiliate and mock her and Ptolomy for killing their kin.
So this ''kind'' gesture caught the experienced, scheming woman a bit off guard.
''Fearless cub,'' The queen mother judged Alexander, as few had the guts to toast a regicide so openly.
"Commander Alexander is open-minded and clear of the facts," The experienced vixen nodded appreciatively.
Alexander then sprung the trap, "But, I remember His Majesty saying that Agnirat city lord Inayah slowly poisoned the previous king that drove him mad. So was he mad or was he driven mad?" Alexander had a big smile that was not really a smile on his face.
And finally, this earth-shattering information managed to produce a bit of reaction from a veteran of court intrigue, not to mention the others'' reactions, which ranged from pale white with terror to dark fury in indignation.
Hellma''s mother sent a deathly re toward Ptolomy as her face went stonecold, but only for a moment.
Not to insult Alexander''s intelligence by outright lying, the woman quickly decided to spin the usation, "Commander, Ptolomy is young to politics and doesn''t know all the facts urately. Yes, miss Inayah, I and Pasha Farzah poisoned the previous king." Not knowing what else Ptolomy had babbled about, the queen mother decided to reveal some genuine, shocking truth so as not to discredit her credibility in front of Alexander and appear like a fool.
"But our poisoning didn''t cause the madness. We only started the poisoning because the king had gone mad." She imed, which Alexander had no way to verify.
''Clever women, clever, clever, woman.'' Alexander praised her for so easily escaping his trap.
"I see, I see. Yes, that makes sense," Alexander nodded and smiled.
Then asked, "Please send a sample of the poison to me as soon as possible. If you don''t have it, I presume Lady Inayah should have some in stock."
"I will send it by tomorrow," The Queen mother agreed, being smart enough to understand that Alexander wanted it so that they couldn''t pull the same trick on him.
"Excellent! I knew the Queen Mother was a woman of infinite virtues the moment Iid upon your grand magnificence." Alexander ttered.
"After all, few would have the guts to keep poisoning a king for years at the risk of being caught any day. Tell me, was it really out of fear for your life or just spite?"
"Spite of the moment you were sold as a ve to the royal pce!" Alexander''s eyes turned into a thin crescent as he poked at the reverse scale of the woman.
This remark made her face turn so frosty that Alexander suspected even seven hells might have frozen over.
This revtion of dark history also snapped the other women who were still absorbing the shock of how their previous king might have been manipted to be mad out of their thoughts and re at Alexander for saying such a rudement.
"Uncultured brute," Hellma burst out in anger.
But Alexander ignored the scowls and curses, and instead pressed on, as he was determined to show them his fangs so they would not backstab him the moment a chance appeared.
He chuckled and said, "I mean, you were sold as a ve right? Your skin tone is not from Adhania!"
Chapter 125 Lunch With The Royals (Part 3)
Seelima- the queen mother could not remember thest time she had been so angry.
Even when she was captured by Amenheraft, he had been cordial and respectful, at least on the surface.
But now a lowly mercenary, a brat, was openly mocking her, her skin, her race, her people, her pride.
She had suffered countless abuse from jealousdies of the haram and from many in the court because of her exotic skin tone that made her stand out.
She was seen as nothing more than a toy the king would get soon tired of after ying with her for a few days and many were eager to make the twelve-year-old know her ce.
But she proved those jeerers wrong, as she did stay under the king''s favor for a long time, slowly winding her finger around the king, and over twenty-one long years gained power in the shadows step by step, slowly and methodically gaining allies and influence to the point she could do such things as kill the king and queen.
And along the way she had not spared those who had spurned her, making them die hideously, either by her hand or by the king''s under her maniption.
And thus, she had thought she had escaped the fate of being judged by her skin.
But now, a street urchin who didn''t know up from the down was insulting her just because he had some men under him.
"*Screech*," Seelima stood up with a mighty push of the chair, making an ear-crushing noise, and seemed ready to storm out.
Ptolomy too followed as he addressed his family, "Let''s go."
But Alexander was not finished with his talks andmanded a single word, "Sit."
And with strong, muscr men guarding the entrance, the royal family saw no way to leave and could only reluctantly return to their seats, though their rtions with Alexander seemed to have reached a freezing point.
Alexander turned to smile at the frosty faces and said, "There seems to be a misunderstanding. When I said the Queen mother was likely a ve because of her skin tone, I didn''t mean it as being derogatory or an insult."
"I meant it as praise because I was a ve as well," Alexander frankly disclosed.
This reveal had an immediate reaction as the frosty face melted to form ciers of surprise and intrigue.
"You..you were a ve?" Seelima asked incredulously.
Ptolomy had told her of Alexander''s aplishments and his eloquence and she couldn''t believe such a person was a ve.
Seelima had presumed Alexander to be likely a noble whose home city had been destroyed and the mercenary group he belonged to be made up of soldiers that were once his family''s guards.
Such stories were rare but not unheard of.
But now the man¡ the boy was himself iming to be a ve?
How?
Alexander quite enjoyed seeing the surprised looks on people''s faces when he told them he was a ve.
It made him feel vindicated that thest ten years of his struggle were not in vain.
In reply to Seelima''s question, Alexander chortled, "Yes, I was a ve until four days ago when my master Nestoras was killed in battle with the Adhanians."
"My ownership was then passed on to my mistress," Alexander then gestured to Cambyses who was silently enjoying her lunch along with the others while enjoying this delightful show.
"And she was kind enough to give me my freedom and well¡.the rest is history," Alexander lightly exined the story of his emancipation.
"He has always been an unruly ve. Though now I do regret a bit setting him free," Cambyses softly said her first words, while taking a big swing of her cup to hide her yful smile.
''Darn woman, just because I haven''t spanked you one day you let your ego swell so much?'' Alexander sent a re to Cambyses.
''Heh, if you don''t like that,e discipline me,'' Cambyses''s mirthful eyes sent flirtatious looks toward Alexander.
This little subtle teasing y went under the radar of most people as they were more stunned by the revtion of his former ve status.
Even Ptolomy, who knew Alexander was a ve didn''t know for how long he was a ve and had assumed the boy was a freedman for a few years.
And thus was left speechless after knowing he was a ve just five days ago.
"Battle¡which battle?" Ptolomy''s wife Nanazin still seemed confused about the time frame.
"The battle where Amenhearaft destroyed us just five days ago. To be more precise, my master died at the second battle that urred at dusk." Alexander rified.
"And I gave him his freedom the next morning, four days from today," Cambyses helped the noble woman do the math.
Alexander then cheerfully recounted the events of the past few days.
"Oh, how fickle fate is."
"Just five days ago, Amenhearft was flying in the clouds thinking his capital was safe and the rebellion was over."
"Just five days ago, I was a mere ve, worth less than a stone on the road."
"Just five days ago, we were dejected and wrapped in grief about our loss."
"Just five days ago, Your Majesty was running for his life."
"And now, just five days after, we control Adhan, Amenheraft has run away with his tail tucked between his tail, and a mere ve is dining as equals to gods in human form."
Alexander then couldn''t stop him from quoting dimir Lenin, "Sometimes there are decades where nothing happens. Sometimes there are days where decades happen."
This deep quote drew astonished and shocked looks from everyone, even his own people as many were sent into their own thoughts and started recalling what they were doing and how their lives were different just five days ago.
And the answer they all came up with was that it was vastly different from the situation they were in now.
So different that even if they were to be told of the things about to happen today yesterday night, they still would not have believed them.
Alexander then finished his reasoning, "So, you see, with me being a ve, I can empathize with the kind of struggle and intelligence one needs to possess to survive and thrive in a royal haram for twenty-seven years."
"For that, you have my respect." Alexander then downed another gulp of wine.
This show of respect softened Seelima''s heart a bit and she decided not to appear outright hostile to Alexander.
Instead, her hostility was reced with both curiosity and a bit of dread and she made up her mind to grill Ptolomy for more information about Alexander.
Alexander then asked Ptolomy raising his eyebrow, "Your Majesty, howe you took Princess Hellma with you and left your family behind when you escaped?"
Ptolomy flushed at this question but his wife quickly saved him, "Because I told him to. Husband''s mother died young and he was basically raised by the Queen mother, who looked after him like a real son."
"So, when we thought the rebellion was lost and only one person could go with him, we unanimously chose it to be Hellma, so Queen Mother''s bloodline wouldn''t die." Nanazin said, though to Alexander it seemed the woman was speaking so quickly to hide something.
''Heh, I bet the real reason is because he''s in love with his half-sister, but is too ashamed to say it. Hmm, he probably loves her more than her family,'' Alexander sensed a weird tension between Hellma and Nanazin but decided to keep quiet about this useful information for now.
Instead, he asked, "Oh, yeah, weren''t the royaldies captured by Amenhearft? How did your royal highnesses survive?"
"*Sigh*, we don''t know. We were caught immediately after Amenheraft entered the pce and was thrown into the dungeon. As to why he didn''t immediately execute us, only he can say." Nanazin was still having traumatic shes about spending her days in that cold, dark ce with no sunlight.
"Perhaps he wanted to use us hostages or bargaining chips. Or get confessions. Or maybe publicly execute us. Who knows." Seelima gave a whole bunch of reasons.
"Well, I am very d the royaldies are safe." Alexander only lightly smiled.
"And that leaves just these two," Alexander pointed to Azura and Azira, "And what''s their story?"
Ptolomy felt a headacheing as he struggled toe up with a way to exin Azura and Azira''s backstory and why they were allowed to eat lunch at the same table as them and not locked up.
"Azura and Azira are priestesses and apolitical." Seelima gave an on-the-surface reasonable answer.
But Alexander only sniggered, "The king is the head of the temple. The king is also the head of politics. How can a princess priestess be apolitical?"
Ptolomy knew someone as sharp as Alexander could never be duped by such shallow lies and decided toe clean about Azura and Azira, knowing he will likely soone across it anyway, "Queen mother and Lady Inayah wanted to kill the king because he was unpredictable and could kill them at his whimsy."
"But you will remember the poison used by Lady Inayah being made by Pasha Farzah. One of the reasons he wanted to kill the king was because the previous king had killed his daughter, Amenheraft''s previous wife, and ....their mother!" Ptolomy sent a sad look at the downcast twins.
"They were just eight!" Seelima said, choking a bit.
''*Whistle*looks the king was really mad before the positioning!'' Alexander whistled in his heart.
"Amenheraft did not have any desire to avenge his wife. And so Pasha Farzah turned to husband," Nanazin gave the motivation behind the shadowy man''s obsession.
"You royal families sure are messy," Alexandermpooned loudly on theplicated, hodgepodge of a rtionship.
Chapter 126 Lunch With The Royals (Part 4)
Alexander sighed in heart as he felt a headacheing knowing he would have to deal with more such bullshit if he wished to be a part of the Adhanian upper ss.
Messy familiar rtions were part and parcel of the upper ss and Alexander knew he had little chance of avoiding them.
But then Alexander suddenly looked at Nanazin''s im from a different angle.
"Don''t tell me Amenheraft left his daughters in the hopes the soldiers attacking the temple would vite them, and help form a permanent schism between Pasha Farzah and Your Majesty!" Alexander''s loud deduction sent chills down everyone''s heart.
"Father..Royal father would never do that!" This was the first time the twins opened their mouths since they handed the coins to Alexander.
"That''s right¡.brother¡Amenheraft and I may have our differences. But he would never use his daughters in such a way." Ptolomy spoke up to defend his half-brother.
"Hehe, what does the queen mother think?" Alexander passed the question to the most intelligent person in the room.
"Themander''s thoughts are good as mine," She sent a t smile to Alexander, neither confirming or defending the im.
"Grandma¡" Azira spookily trailed off.
"Tell me, your highnesses. When did your royal fatherst seriously listen to your request? Why didn''t he forcefully board you into his boat even when bloodthirsty soldiers were just a few hundred meters beside you? Was he unaware of the harm that could befall upon you two?" Alexander tried to show them the real picture.
"That¡that¡" Azira stammered.
"Clearly Amenheraft didn''t expect you to harm even the priests!" Ptolomy naivelymented.
''Heh, if your brother was this naive, things would have be a lot simpler,'' Alexander mocked in his heart.
"Speaking of expectation, how do you expect to beat Amenheraft?" Alexander decided to switch topic.
"That¡we will raise an army," Ptolomy said as if it was as easy as saying ''Abracadabra'' and an army would appear.
"Oh,..how?" Alexander was happy to let Ptolomy dig deeper.
"Umm¡well,... as my general I leave that upto you," Ptolomy quickly designated the vital task of recruiting the army to an outsider.
Before his preferredmander would have been Barzan, but he was now a bit¡predisposed.
"Good, how many do you want?" Alexander asked for a number.
"Um..as much as possible," Ptolomy gave a vague answer.
"Well, how much poption does the city have? How many men, women, and children?" Alexander wanted to know the potential pool of people he could pull soldiers from.
"Um¡the city had a million men before the drought. But now...perhaps less than half. Some died, and many moved to the countryside where there was more foliage." Amenheraft tried his very best to recall some of the reports he had gotten.
Alexander had still not gotten how big of an army he was supposed to make and so asked, "Who are your advisors?"
"That..most are dead and the few ones I have mostly held low positions," Ptolomy by now had started avoiding eye contact with Alexander, a clear tell that he was getting nervous.
"Then, how much is Amenheraft''s force? I heard it was a hundred thousand strong." Alexander hoped the rebel at least knew the strength of the people he was rebelling against.
And here Alexander, atst, had some luck, as Ptolomy gave him some concrete numbers.
"The hundred thousand strong is just something we say to scare our enemies. It was once a hundred thousand strong, but over thest two years, hunger, desertion, and multiple gues coupled with battlefield losses have reduced that army to a skeleton of his former self."
"Even with reinforcements and recements, my spies in the army told me that it was about eighty thousand strong. But this is not counting the fact that we have lost most of our most experienced troops in the past two years or how the troops are exhausted and malnourished." Ptolomy who appeared totally ipetent at civilian matters seemed at least to know something about the military.
Ptolomy further gave Alexander some good news, "But the total army will not be eighty thousand. Amenheraft had used his fifteen thousand horses to reinforce his army with fifteen thousand Rakushan slingers. So, his army will not have any cavalry and be numbering around sixty to seventy thousand."
"Not having to deal with cavalry is good news," Alexander nodded.
Then he asked, "How long will it take till they get here, any idea?"
Because it was vital for Alexander to know how long he had to prepare.
"Thest report said they were about six hundred kilometers away. So around three weeks." Ptolomy set the deadline.
"Is the n still to use the city walls to repel Amenheraft?" Alexander asked how the king nned to deal with the iing attack.
"Yes! Given the walls are properly manned, we can repel a million men for a thousand years," Ptolomy exaggeratedly said with gusto.
''Fool,'' Alexander said in his heart in disdain and decided to teach the naive king a lesson.
"Do you remember how I mocked you for having good food while the rest of the city starved? You all looked at me like was jealous. Well, I wasn''t."
Alexander was speaking the truth as, even as a civilian, he had feasted on delicacies these royals could not even dream of.
Though the people in the room did not believe him, thinking he was just calling the grapes sour.
But Alexander did not waste time trying to convince them.
Instead, he continued, "I simply wanted to remind you that the food we have might not be enough."
"Commander, is being too paranoid, I have checked the pantry myself and we have lots of food," Seelima reassured Alexander in aforting tone.
''Well, at least she is halfpetent,'' Alexander couldn''t really fault the queen mother for only taking into ount the royal family''s consumption, instead of the whole army or even the whole city.
Bolstered by Seelima''s im and eager to prove himself right Ptolomy too chimed in, excitedly saying, "Yes, the original n was to use the walls and starve the army out. In preparation for that, we had stockpiled a lot of food."
Alexander here decided to remind the fool of something, "Yes, your original n was that. The n also involved not burning all three granaries."
Alexander revealed Ptolomy''s dark secret, while intentionally choosing to hide the fact that only two were actually burnt.
"That¡..''" Ptolomy''s excitement was brutally punctured by Alexander''s barbed retort as the king sat down, flushed and deted.
The otherdies also looked at their king with a mixture of anger, disappointment, and surprise, and feeling their usatory gazes, Ptolomy only meekly peeped out, "It was a way to slow down Amenheraft and hopefully cause a riot."
"Well, congrattion, now you can have the honor of hosting the riot yourself," Alexander gave a sarcastic reply, which caused Ptolomy to dete even more.
Right then, the Queen mother''s stern, sharp voice addressed Alexander, "There will be no riot here. That''s why you are heremander Alexander, right? With your troops?"
"In normal times, yes," Alexander replied with a slow nod.
"But when Amenheraft sieges the city, my men will have to deal with constantdder rushes and siege towers. If the starving people then start rioting and somehow open the gates, it will be game over." Alexander prophesied a grim picture.
"That¡then what do you propose," Ptolomy was getting a bit scared.
"When Vizivan was besieged while I was there, Pasha Ankut had round out all the street gangs and miscreants and executed them." The queen mother offered a solution.
But this was promptly shot down by Alexander, "My men do not know any of these street rats. And most that did, are either dead or hiding. And they are unlikely toe out of hiding anytime soon."
"Thatmander just capture a few random peasants and make an example out of them." Seelima heartlesslymanded.
''*Sigh*, there''s the woman that uttered those haughty words in the dungeon,'' Alexander wanted to remind Seelima that she too was once a mere ve.
"My men will not go to the streets randomly murdering people." Alexander unequivocally shut the queen mother down.
"Even if we don''t consider the moral implications of it, our army will be made of mostly men from the city. And if we go randomly killing civilians, many of them who might be the next of kin to the soldiers we are nning to recruit, Amenheraft will not need to attack the city. The peasants will put out heads on a spike and hand over the city to him like a nicely wrapped present." Alexander exposed the ws in the queen mother''s suggestion.
"Well, what do you suggest thenmander?" Seelima asked in an exasperated tone after being shut down.
"Don''t know. Still thinking." Alexander only mysteriously smiled.
Then he quickly changed the topic, "Your Majesty, do you know the man that changed armor with Amenheraft?"
"His name is¡was Kefka, Amenheraft''s spymaster." Ptolomy informed Alexander, telling him that he had managed to kill a big fish, a very big fish."
"Hmm, looks like we managed to hurt Amenheraft a bit even if we couldn''t kill him," Alexander sighed andforted himself, though it would be years from now when Alexander would truly understand just how significant the blonde man''s death was.
Chapter 127 Foes And Allies
Kefka was Amenheraft''s eyes and ears, seeing what the king could not observe, hearing what the king could not perceive, and then letting the master of the nation know what was going on in the shadows, behind his back and out of the light.
He was a genius spy, able to form aplete picture of the situation from bits and pieces individual spies would feed him and had built an intricate web of rtions all over the country and even abroad, using bribes, cohesion, ckmail, and even intimidation to get the information he wanted.
His intelligence web was massive and other than him, no one really knew the true extent of his reach or the total number of people under him.
For example, he was the mastermind behind the Agapios incident twenty years ago, where he was able to organize, infiltrate and smoothly exfiltrate one of the most secure houses in one of the most secure neighborhoods in the world of the time, which was in no way a small feat.
And if Amenheraft had listened to Kefka''s intelligence report, the rebellion wouldn''t or more urately couldn''t have happened.
But now, with him dead and most of his men either killed or scattered, this precious, almost priceless spywork structure was doomed to shatter into pieces and disappear into the dark recesses of history, with not even leaving a single piece of official document behind to verify its existence.
The spies would soon stop receiving orders, their pay would disappear and the contacts would never meet anyone with matching secret passcodes.
And so these gold mines of information will remain forever untapped and will slowly fade into obscurity, making Amenhearaft if not fully blind, but at least partially so.
But Alexander did not know such things at least yet, instead, he had ns to use Kefka''s body to aplish something and tried seeing if Ptolomy coulde up with the same answer as him.
"Your Majesty, I remember hearing of Adhan''s famed immortal- loyal, undead soldiers who would die and then again raise from the dead at night," Alexander smiled questioningly at Ptolomy.
"Haha,mander, you don''t still believe in children''s stories do you? That''s only what mothers tell to lull their children of sleep," Ptolomyughed at Alexander, both because of the oundish ims made by Alexander and also a bit relieved that this formidable man was not perfect.
''He''s still a boy in many ways,'' Ptolomy gleefully thought he had found Alexander''s weakness- a superstitious nature,
Alexander returned theugh with a grin and shook his head as he said. "No, no I do not believe such fairy tales. But the people in the city might."
This confused everyone, even Seelima, so Alexander spoon-fed them, "How does this rumor sound, ''The king in his golden armor was in at the city gates in front of all the soldiers. But the gods decided it not to be so. Hence they revived him like the immortals, and sent him an army so that he can take back the city from the heathens."
Ptolomy and the other five literally went pale white in fright hearing this potentially devastating rumor and the weak-willed king even began to shake and quake in fear.
"That¡is there such a rumor?" For the first time now, Alexander could clearly detect fear and panic in the mature woman''s voice.
"No,... but if Amenheraft deres this with his army in front of the gates, the Adhanians in my army would likely mutiny. And Amenheraft is only three weeks ago. I don''t have the time to drill loyalty to the soldiers for King Ptolomy in such a short time." Alexander pointed out arge gap in their defenses.
"....., then,,,,then we can only pray and hope that he doesn''t say it," The Queen mother said in a helpless tone with clenched fists.
''Heh, if prayers and hopes were the ''be all end all'' of things, then the world would have been ruled by priests and pastors.'' Alexander sneered at the mentality of just giving up after a bit of trying.
His evaluation of the threat the Queen Mother posed also dropped, as an enemy prone to giving up was no real enemy.
Alexander then raised the issue of allies, "Your Majesty, are we to fight alone? Didn''t you im that many nobles supported you? Where are they and their armies in your time of mortal need?"
This was a part that genuinely stumped Alexander, as, if Ptolomy''s ims that the nobles were fed up with the king were true, he should at least have a decent-sized army with him.
? But Ptolomy had zilch.
Ptolomy had an embarrassed look on his face as Alexander hit him in his soft spot and he mumbled almost incoherently, "The nobles that supported me have suffered too much from the drought and are currently unable to provide me with any significant help."
"You mean they ditched you when they determined Amenheraft had regained heaven''s favor by defeating us twice." Alexander sneered and tore off any shred of civility.
"Yes, that''s part of it. But also because it''s really true and more importantly they are scattered all across Adhania and many will have to cross territories of nobles loyal to Amenhearft to reinforce us. And the time they would take is simply too long." This time it seemed Alexander was partly wrong in his assumption as the Queen mother pointed out.
She then quickly epted her side as the weaker one, trying to spare Ptolomy from further humiliation at the hands of amoner as she pleaded, "And that''s why we have turned to you,mander Alexander."
Alexander for a moment felt a bit awkward as he thought that he had let his bold thinking get the better of him and did not keep his tongue in check.
But thissted only for an ephemeral moment as he quickly asked, "Then what about that Pasha Farzah?"
He did not believe that man would capitte too and was eager to know his excuse.
"That... Pasha Farzah''s territory is all the way up north and his army is already busy defending it from any potential attack by the neighboring two provinces. Also by this time of the year, the water in his ports starts to freeze so shipping bes difficult."
He, atst, added, "This is also why we asked Cantagena for help, and then you guysnded at Acme."
The mention of Acme reminded Alexander of something as he asked,
"Oh yea, what was up with Acme? When hended near it, we fought a small skirmish, and then, as we approached the city, its gates were suddenly opened and we walked right inside it, after which we sacked it." Alexander asked with a raised eyebrow, finding the situation a bit strange in hindsight.
"I don''t know much about that thing." Ptolomy shook his head in denial.
"It was all nned by Tibias. I heard the n was to bride the city guards with food and have a contingent of Tibias spies infiltrate the watchtowers and take control of the gate mechanisms. But, only they can tell you the real details," Ptolomy subtly hinted to Alexander that he was unlikely to know how Acme was sabotaged.
Alexander sighed with heavy regret, as he still didn''t understand the strategic significance of sacking that city and wasting valuable time when their true goal was to reinforce Ptolomy as soon as possible.
And it was likely like Ptolomy said, he would probably never know the truth as all the higher-ups of the time- Agapios, Samaras, and Damious were dead, while the lower mercenary leader only knew the order, not the reason.
Perhaps the general let greed blind him, perhaps he needed supplies or perhaps he had simply lost control of the army.
Whatever the case, it resulted in the killing of close to seventy thousand men, women, and children, a massacre Alexander had been forced to be a part of, lest he disobeyed military orders and increased the casualties from seventy thousand to seventy thousand and one.
But Alexander did not let these unpleasant memories bog him down.
He had done those acts under duress, under the threat of steel, and under the threat of death.
He had done what he had to do to survive and if gods really do exist and they find him guilty of trying to survive by murdering innocent people, then so be it.
Alexander would enter hell with his head raised up high.
Alexander snapped himself out of the unpleasant quagmire and then asked Ptolomy about Agrinat, "What about Lady Inayah? Can she provide men?"
Ptolomy again produced the same awkward look and said, "That¡ I will ask. But Agrinat is a small city of just thirty thousand men. And that was before the drought."
Thus Alexander understood that he was basically alone against the god-king.
Chapter 128 Conclusion Of Lunch
By this point, everyone had finished with their meals long, long ago, and were only waiting for Alexander to finish his chat.
Which Alexander seemed rather unwilling to finish as he raised another topic.
"Your Majesty is it possible to get the nearby nobles to bring him to your side now that you have Adhan?" Alexander asked.
"That ¡is unlikely. Most will think Amenheraft can retake the city as I have no army and very little time to raise one." Ptolomy exposed his vulnerable position.
''*Sigh*, I wanted to send some of the temple loot to the nobles to convince them to capitte. But there''s probably not enough time to send it far away and the nearby nobles might not care for it as they believe Amenheraft will be the ultimate victor. Looks like this will have to wait after I win,'' Alexander reanalyzed and readjusted his n.
He kept these ns a secret for now but asked, "Do you know if the forces Pasha Farzah smuggled in or some of the forces of nobles sympathetic to you are still present?"
Alexander here was searching for experienced lower and mid-levelmanders that could lead troops.
But such optimistic hopes were soon dashed, "When we were in that ambush, one of the spies gloated saying that that the first thing Amenheraft had done was purge the city of all forces loyal to me. The nobles were acquitted but their soldiers had been sacrificed to Ramuh. If not, the army and the city guards you would have had to face would have been much greater."
Understanding he was all alone in this, Alexander contemted ditching Ptolomy and running.
But the rewards he could swindle off Ptolomy if he won made him stay and reconsider.
If he could win, he could shave off years, if not decades from achieving his dream.
The upsides were too much, and Alexander felt good about his chances of winning.
In his mind, it wouldn''t be easy, but nothing significant in life was.
So Alexander first reassured Ptolomy, "Your Majesty, I can easily raise a seventy thousand army in two weeks. Do not worry. I took the city with fifteen hundred men, I can hold it against even fifteen hundred thousand."
Alexander''s over-the-top im soothed the king a bit but such relief was fleeting as Alexander poked with another problem. "My liege, the nobles that we rescued from the dungeons. Many were killed and humiliated. What does Your Majesty wish to do about that?"
"Obviously kill the bastards who did it and hang their bodies in the city square for all to see," Ptolomy was shaking with anger and disgust as he thought back on the horrific scenery he hade across.
Then he sent an usatory look at Alexander and sulkily said, "But, you seem to be against killing them."
This made Alexander chuckle, as he enigmatically said. "I am not protecting them. They have their uses."
"What uses?" Ptolomy could not hold back his curiosity.
"You will soon find out soon," Came the mysterious reply.
Alexander then continued, "And you seem to have misunderstood, I did not mean what you were going to do with people whomitted the crimes, but to the people who were affected. What do you intend to do to the nobles?" Alexander rified his question.
But Ptolomy seemed a bit confused by this, "What do you mean by that? Why should I do anything to those nobles? They support me and are die-hards."
''Is he going to force me to kill them too? Like Barzan? No, I have to resist this time. I can''t let myself get pushed around by him like this. I am the king!" Ptolomy produced a steely resolve in his heart.
This was promptly shattered by ALexander''s next statement, "The nobles that have been killed and raped by the pce guards. And the nobles that are being¡having their food collected by the soldiers. Do you think when other nobles hear of these, they will be able to distinguish which partymitted which crimes? Or do you think they will believe it was done by the invading force? A narrative far suited to the influential Amenheraft."
By this point Ptolomy was feeling faint at the myriad of problems Alexander was throwing at him, many problems he had never even imagined could exist.
So, he only dispiritedly asked, "What does themander suggest?"
But Alexander gave no concrete answer, instead saying, "Perhaps the king can discuss with his other counselors and advisors toe up with a solution. Say by tomorrow."
''He''s testing him.'' Ptolomy was not smart enough to notice how Alexander was basically giving him homework, but Seelima could, who chose to stay silent and decided to gauge the capabilities of the two men.
"Good, then I will try to find a solution by tomorrow," Ptolomy, unwittingly, happily took the challenge.
And then Alexander, atst, raised the issue of farming, "Your Majesty, this is thest topic. Have you thought about how to restart cultivation? The farnds will need to be tilted and nted as soon as possible if we want to have any food next year. But...."
"If we pull too many men from the farnds into the military, we will starve next year," The queen mother was quick to catch onto what Alexander was asking.
"That¡hmmm, prioritize the army. If we lose the city there will be no next year for us." Ptolomy made up his mind.
"As youmand, Your Majesty," Alexander nodded in agreement and then excused himself and his men by saying, "Well, we have taken a lot of your time, Your Majesty and it''s time we showed ourselves out. Please enjoy your time with your family."
Alexander, Cambyses, and the few other captains along with all the guards performed a bow and then exited the royal dining room, freeing the privacy of the royal family.
"*Sigh*, how old is he?" The queen mother was the first to break the silence, letting out an exasperated sigh.
"They say less than twenty." Ptolomy quickly answered.
"He does not talk like a ve," Nanazin pointed out.
"He does not talk like amoner either," Seelima voiced out.
"He talks like he is our equal," This time it was Hellma.
"If that was all, then it would have been alright. But sometimes he talks to us like he is our superior," Ptolomy made a rueful, helpless smile on his face as he said this.
The others turned to look at him at this statement, and seeing the purple bruise underneath his jawline, couldn''t help but agree.
"The soldiers say he is Blessed of Gaia." Azira squeaked out the words.
"Hmmph, the delusions of the peasant rabble. The fools will believe anything," Seelima snorted in disdain.
"But he has not the slightest bit of fear when he talks to us," Nanazin told everyone what she had observed,
"And I have heard only a few talk as elegantly as him," Ptolomy now had a slight frown on his face
"Right, he talks like grandpa," Azura said with an enthusiastic nod, referring to Pasha Farzah.
Thisparison, to one of the best schemers in the kingdom, ticked Seelima a bit off, who pped the table and said, "All of you are giving the boy too much. Anyone can behave like that when there are ten thousand men under you, and the opponent has zero."
"But did those ten thousand men also teach him to talk like that?" It was Hellma who now confronted her mother.
"That saying, ''There are decades where nothing happens. And there are days where decades happen'' is still ringing in my ear," Nanazin praised in adoration.
Provided with such ''hard'' evidence, Seelima found it hard to refute Alexander and so chose to acknowledge some of it, "He certainly has demonstrated very impressive qualities. Far far surpassing anyone close to his age."
Then she downyed the aplishment, "But it''s not right to jump to conclusions. There is an exnation to how a ve is so erudite and we will find it."
"Perhaps the exnation is he is Blessed by Gaia," Hellma chirped at her mother, but only got a very big re for her efforts.
Ptolomy could see Seelima being biased against Alexander and felt a headacheing.
Before this exchange, he would have believed that the queen mother could have used her vast court experience and the royal family''s political leverage to keep Alexander in check as Ptolomy believed Alexander to be a very good mercenary with little social skills.
But that myth had been squarely shattered as Alexander revealed himself to be a supremely and in Ptolomy''s eyes almost omnipotent city governor, able to pick up problems he did not think existed.
"*Sigh*, queen mother, he has told us of hidden problems such as a risk of a riot, how Amenheraft might incite the crowds, the nobles'' reactions, and many more. Also, this is the first time I saw you lose to a battle of words other than with Pasha Farzah. Why are you being hostile to him?"
Ptolomy sincerely wished for these two to get along.
The im of Ptolomy that she lost a battle of wits with a meremoner made Seelima quite angry and she shouted, "Hostile? You are asking me why I am hostile when he killed Uncle Barzah!"
At the mention of Barzah, Ptolomy''s face hardened and he said, "Barzah was killed by me because he was a traitor. As the king, I advise you not to defend that turncoat!"
Ptolomy''s tone was unusually imperious,cking the usually respectful tone towards the queen mother.
They had this conservation before and Ptolomy was getting tired of it.
"Fool, he is just using you. The boy is greedier than the demons and trickier than the devils." Seelima shouted angrily and stormed out of the room in rage.
A fissure had thus been created in the harmonious family courtesy of Alexander''s handiwork.
Chapter 129 Ophenias Outfit
Alexander was not yet privy to the schism caused by his maniption yet.
He also did not yet know just who Barzan really was, other than the fact that he seemed very loyal to Ptolomy.
And Alexander will only find out in the future that if the old man hadn''t made himself a target at such an opportune moment that Alexander boldly capitalized on, it would have been very hard to kill the manter.
But fortunes favored the brave, and although he hadn''t realized it yet, he had removed a major obstacle to making Ptolomy into a puppet.
At the moment, Alexander was nk to such consequences, and instead was looking at the dark skyline from his balcony on the third floor, as he had finished for the day.
After ordering the servants and a part of the soldiers to bed, organizing patrol routes for guards, taking a bath, and finishing his supper, he could finally rx, soaking in the monumental day he had.
From nning for a war to winning it, to capturing a city, to stealing billions of ros, to having lunch with royalty, as Alexander gazed at his surrounding it all felt surreal.
The room he was in was one of Ptolomy''s rmendations- the royal guest room, which was usually reserved exclusively for Pashas and their families, who were the European equivalent of dukes.
And the room was decorated luxuriously to justify its high status- lush white fluffy carpet draped the aged oaked floor, rich red tapestry embroidered with golden threads hugged the walls decorated with magnificent mosaics,rge ornate lit candle stands stood on all sides of the room, driving away all the darkness of the night to bring divine illumination.
Furniture such as cupboards, beds, tables, and chairs, all made of the most expensive wood with the highest level of human craftsmanship filled the royal suite, giving the room a heavy, noble feeling.
The huge four-poster bed at the back of the room was made of fir and padded withyers of soft, smooth mattresses stuffed with light, goose feathers, and covered in velvet furs.
The bed was raised almost a meter high and the inhabitants of it could hide from outside eyes using the thick, smooth, white curtains attached to the posters.
A huge, ornate mahogany table was next to the balcony, marvelously crafted with golden drawer handles andplimented with exquisite chairs of matching carving.
The soft cushions of the chair were made using soft bird feathers and covered in red linen embroidered with golden intricate designs to match the tapestry.
The cushions were so soft that anything on it sunk and the chair''s lumber and back support wereparable to some of the best chairs Alexander had sat on in his previous life.
The table also had silver trays containing ornate jugs and cups of gold and silver, filled with the highest grade of wine, which Alexander was tasting as he overlooked the slightly burning city, while the cool, wintry breeze from the Life sea prickled at his skin, brushing off against his warm body and cooling his head.
It was already night and the city would have long gone to slumber by now normally, but tonight was not normal.
Even from here, Alexander could pick up the joyous roars of the soldier as thin plumbs of smoke could be seen against the backdrop of the dark sky.
"What are you doing out there in the cold?" Cambyses, in a ck peplos with her chestnut hair in a ponytail, entered the suit with a creak of the door and Alexander was surprised to see she was apanied by Ophenia.
"I was thinking about what I was doing yesterday right about now. And could have I ever imagined that in twelve-fifteen hours I could be here." Alexander said, approaching Cambyses after closing the door to the balcony.
Alexander''s utterance made Cambyses also look around the room andment, "These royals are really something else, huh? How much do you think all these costs?"
"It''s alright," Alexander tly replied, nothing here really impressing him.
Yes, the wood carvings and furniture would have earned quite a bit even in Alexander''s original timeline, but it was nothing special and the amenities in the room were sorelycking.
To start with there was no bathroom.
Instead, it was substituted with a wooden screen, behind which was a chamber pot which was just a y jar to do your business in.
There was a small mirror, but it was hazy and cloudy as clear, transparent ss hadn''t been invented yet.
Andst, of all, there was no firece and so no internal heating, making the room be chilly at night.
"Hmmph, I hope you can show me better!" Alexander''s unenthusiastic reply made Cambyses think he was being just snobbish and she spat out a bit sulking.
Alexander only make a light smile and then turned to look at Ophenia, "Tayin, is there something I can help you with?"
"Hehe, she is here to show you her appreciation," Cambyses answered for her.
"Appreciation?" Alexander was confused as he turned to look at Ophenia''s navy blue eyes swimming in glee.
When did he do anything for her?
"Hehe, you will understand soon," Cambyses giggled in a mysterious tone.
Then she turned to Ophenia and ordered, "Tayin, strip."
Cambyses gave the girl the exactmand Alexander had given her a day before.
And like that day, Ophenia wordless dropped her white chilton and became nude.
Though not quite so as her body was notpletely bare this time.
Instead, she was decorated with lewd chains, ornaments, andrge piercings that made her look like the goddess Shiva on earth.
Both her nipples had arge golden ring, connected to each other by a pearly, golden chain.
From each ring, held by silver chains hung arge teardrop sapphire, ocean blue and glinting and sparkling, they swung to and fro with the rhythm of her chest, drawing all eyes to her huge, magnificent melons.
Below her breast, her midriff was also decorated.
Her navel was encrusted with a giant, round, crimson-red ruby, from which extended golden chains, embedded with gems of various shapes and colors.
The top chain, wrapped around her willow waist from both sides, each link of the chain decorated with small diamond-shaped sapphires.
The lower chain hugged her wide, sexy hips, entuating her curves, asrge oval sapphires hung off them like heavenly fruits.
And there were two chains from the very bottom of the red ruby that traveled further down, passing her shaved pubes, fencing her lower mouth between them, and then going up her delicious butt, finally ending on the lower chain at her back.
But the true masterpiece of the entire outfit were not these, but the divine fruit that was hung from her lower mouth, arge dazzling azure sapphire swaying in the breeze, unting to the world to look at it.
Seeing this lewd dress, Alexander immediately got a hard-on as he felt his rod bulge and his breath fasten.
Alexander had never expected such a sight to actually exist outside a porno.
"Hehe, look like your master like what he sees ve," Cambyses noticing therge protrusioning out of Alexander''s pants chuckled and then strongly grabbed his family jewels, sping them in her palms and rolling them around.
"Ahhh, Cam," Alexander moaned at the sudden stimulus.
"Ssshh, bad boy! We are not done with the show," Cambyses immediately shut Alexander up with a strong squeeze down there.
Her dirty vocabry was rapidly increasing day by day and she was starting to take charge in initiating their intimate moments.
Seeing Alexander obediently be quiet, she gave another squeeze as a reward and cooed next to Alexander''s ears, with a silky, musky voice, "Good boy."
Shen then turned to Ophenoa and gave the next order, "Tayin, turn and show that,"
Hearing this, in an act even more daring than the former, Ophenia turned and bent over, and forgetting all shame, used her hands to part her twin ivory cheeks, exposing both her secret holes to Alexander in all its glory.
Well strictly, Alexander could see only her cave hole, as her pink, wrinkled hole was blocked by a huge heart-shaped ruby, plugged in snugly, glistening, and reflecting the candlelight out of her butt as if she was a firefly.
And as Ophenia was turned around and bent over her knees, Alexander''s eyes bulged because he could now clearly see the ce where therge sapphire swinging around her cave was attached to.
"That...is your clit pierced?" Alexander asked incredulously, amazed that the temple would have a girl go through such a painful procedure.
Most women in his previous world only pierced the outer hood.
"Yes, is it," Ophenia spoke up from that position.
"Tayin, get up and face your master," Cambyses ordered, even as she continued to tease Alexander..
And after sheplied, Alexander asked, "But didn''t your father make the temple promise not to do such things?"
"The temple didn''t break their words. As my father asked, they neither initiated me, nor did they make me take part in their rituals, But they did train me." Ophenia''s body involuntarily shook when she said the word ''train''.
Given the state she was currently in, with even the most sensitive part of her body pierced and vited, Alexander could not even imagine the things they made her do.
Chapter 130 Two In One (Part-1) (R-18)
Looking at Ophenia''s sinful body pierced and decorated with jewels and ornaments, and thinking of the brutal things she must have suffered through, Alexander could not help butmpoon, ''Looks like Agapios wascking in the negotiation skills department,''
Was Agapios a bit more of a shrewd negotiator, perhaps his adopted daughter would not have suffered so much,
Alexander then asked Cambyses, "So, why is she dressed like that?"
"This is to show my gratitude and submission to master," Ophenia answered in Cambyses''s stead and bowed.
"Exin," Alexander grunted out as Cambyses had turned on the teasing by now.
"Yes! I am grateful to master for killing and ousting the devils that harmed my mother and brother and for getting revenge for my father, finally letting his soul rest in peace in Elysium." The happiness she felt when she heard that Adhan had been captured and Amenhearft was dethroned was nothing like she had ever experienced as she felt the colossal amount of resentment she had built over years being slowly washed away.
She had med them for all the abuse and scorn she had to suffer in her life and now finally these animals were facing judgment.
"Umm, no problem. They were my enemies ..urgh..enemies too," Alexander was having a hard time keeping his attention under Cambyses''s skillful caresses.
But Ophenia didn''t pay attention to this.
"Also, I heard master order the killing of Kefka. He is likely the one who got my mother pregnant given he was present that day and was the only one with blonde hair. Finally, that scum is dead." The hate when she uttered the word Kefka was palpable in the air.
This new information made Alexander look at Ophenia and try to link the dead blonde man''s hair to Ophenias''s he had seen two days ago.
And Alexander found it remarkably simr.
"But, Tayin, the one who killed Kefka was a soldier named Laykash." Alexander did not steal another''s credit.
"Yes, the soldiers under master..." Ophenia reasoned.
For Ophenia it was far more easier to let Alexander take the im than some unknown peasant.
"And that''s why she wants to show her appreciation," Cambyses giggled beside Alexander''s ears.
"That is right, master," Ophenia nodded with enthusiasm.
"You see, this was what I was wearing underneath when father visited me at the templest time. He had made the visit so suddenly I didn''t get the chance to change and when he switched me, I bought them with me."
She then told him about the outfit, "This outfit is worn exclusively by the sessor of the Sacred Priestess and is said to be blessed by the goddess herself."
"Each of the jewels are of the highest grade in terms of cut, rity, color, and carat and have been ced on their gold prongs with immacte craftsmanship."
"And this divine artifact set can only be used to serve master, who is blessed himself." Ophenia was utterly convinced by the fact that Alexander could take Adhan and that he is the blessed of Gaia.
She then fully prostrated in front of Alexander and said from that position, "I pray the divine son will ept my humble offering."
Seeing such a head-turning beauty being so submissive toward him turned Alexander even more and he groaned out, "Okay, do what you want."
Cambyses had certainly nned this and Alexander was honestly looking forwards to it all.
Getting Alexander''s permission made Ophenia instantly turn her face up in magnificent glee and soon the pearlyughter of Cambyses echoed, "Well, quickly take off your master''s clothes, Tayin."
And so Alexander was soon unclothed and then led by the now naked Cambyses to the bed.
On the way, Alexander was mesmerized by the curvy, swaying buttocks of this young girl and resisted the urge to pin her down and have his way then and there.
"Hubby, you have fought all day and must be tired. So just lie down and let us do all the work," Cambyses strongly kissed Alexander as she pushed him onto the bed,ying on top of him and letting their bodies melt.
"*Chump*¡.*Mnnhn*.." The couple strongly sucked, tasted, and devoured each other.
Cambyses felt she could never get enough of Alexander''s manly, musky taste, but for now, reluctantly decided to separate their lips.
She then turned to Ophenia and said, "Tayin, your master is lonely there. Please him."
"Yes, mistress," Ophenia quickly climbed onto the bed and under Alexander''s curious gaze bought her lips to his engrossed cock.
"*Chup*," Shended a hot smooch on the covered head, slobbering it with her hot saliva and making Alexander groan at the hot disy.
"Haha, Tayin, looks like your master is enjoying it," Cambyses had by now put Alexander''s head on herp, allowing her man to better observe the sensual service.
Pleased by the praise, Ophenia lightly smiled and in a silky voice purred, "Master, let this ve show off her technique!"
Alexander distinctly felt Ophenia''s servile, obedient tone change to a lusty, predatory one as if her switch was flipped and this silent whisper sent a shiver of excitement towards Alexander''s spine.
Ophenia boldly and firmly took a hold of hisrge balls, rolling and squeezing them while she blew on his penis, "Don''t worry little master. I''ll suck all the bad things right out of these painful swollen balls and make you feel all better soon enough. *Chuuuuu*."
She was not talking to Alexander but directly to his cock as she ced another warm kiss directly on his head, coating her lips with Alexander''s clear fluids.
And the dissonance between her caring, soothing, motherly tone and the lewd y made Alexander''s penis twitch in anticipation.
"Haaa..haa..hurry," Alexander had been relentlessly teased by Cambyses for a while and now Ophenia''s slow stimtion was driving Alexander almost insane.
"Hehe, no need to be so hasty. The more master holds it in, the better you''ll feel when you let it all out." Ophenia''s seductive voice calmed Alexander down.
But he still couldn''t find a way to connect this lusty, voracious subus to the quiet, servile girl of before.
''Who''s the real Ophenia,'' Alexander wondered.
"*Snifff*" Ophenia pasted her cute small nostrils on the hard shaft of the huge cock, and ran her entire face up and down across it, making loud breathing noises and making it look like she was ying the harmonica.
"Ahhh, master''s smell. Ahh, so thick and manly. Ahh, what a fabulous aroma," Opheniasciviously sang.
Then in her lust-filled stupor, Ophenia directly put her nostrils on Alexander''s urethra and started strongly inhaling the clear fluid, like she was sniffing cocaine, coating her lovely small nose in the glistening turbid fluid, while screaming, "Ahhh, master¡, smells so good, *sniff*...ohhh"
"*Splurt¡splurt¡splurt.* This otherworldly lewd disy was enough to send Alexander over the edge with a grunt, as his rod, stimted by Ophenia''s hot, moist breath directly entering his hole, spewed out white hot magma into Ophenia''s beautiful face, painting her ivory skin a creamy, milky white.
"Ahhh, master''s essence. So rich and creamy. Ahh.. master''s gracious divine essence," Instead of being put off or even surprised, Ophenia only rejoiced in jubtion, taking in the smell and letting the white goo coat her angelic face, making her appear devilishly erotic.
"Hehe, too much?" It was Cambyses who sniggered at Alexander, gazing down at Alexander in mock disdain.
Alexander went beet red at Cambyses''s usation of him being a quick shot and could only avoid the sexy woman''s mirthful eyes.
Ophenia too joined in the fun, as she unsheathed Alexander''s bulbous red head from his foreskin and started to gently scratch it using her long, sharp nails.
"That''s no good little master! We have so much fun left to do!" Ophenia said thest words at the same she scratched the head with enough force to leave an indentation, making Alexander''s little brother stand in attention in no time.
Alexander felt like Ophenia had turned into a lustful fiend.
"Show no mercy, Tayin. We gotta train that bad cock." Cambyses yful mocked Alexander, even softly smacking Alexander''s erect member and making it hit Ophenia''s face.
"*Smirk*, yes mistress!" Ophenia sniggered in a licentious way Alexander didn''t know was possible.
Then in a husky, raunchy voice, which made warning lights go off in Alexander, said."Master, brace yourself."
Ophenia opened her mouth and, like ascivious serpent, swallowed the entire huge member in one smooth gulp, taking the whole thing down her throat and making her wet, sticky nose kiss his pubic region.
She had started the blowjob with a deep throat!
"Mnnnmm," Alexander moaned in ecstasy.
"Hehe, you squeal like a girl," Cambyses giggled seeing Alexander''s distress.
Then suddenly a cruel, chilling light, imperceptible to anyone shed in Cambyses''s eyes and she whispered to Alexander, "Say, Alex. You had a lot of fun teasing me that day with my nipples, didn''t you?"
"Cam¡that," Alexander had a bad feeling looking at the concupiscent, grinning face.
"Hehe, I wonder if men are as sensitive there as women," Cambyses''s smile only widened, and then, "Argh," Alexander moaned in pleasure as Cambyses strongly pinched his left nipple.
Alexander''s sweet and agonizing night had just begun.
Chapter 131 Two In One (Part-2) (R-18)
Alexander was already having a difficult time with just dealing with one front- Ophenia.
But now with Cambyses opening a second front, things had wrong very hard for Alexander.
Because it was not just Cambyses''s unusual teasing that made Alexander''s rod twitch in pleasure, but Ophenia seemed to also have be rougher and stronger with her sucking, presumably because her master was ignoring her incredible feat of deepthroating in one go.
So, pouting a bit inside, she decided to teach her master where to look.
Alexander felt the warm temperature around his penis change as Ophenia skillfully guided his penis head into various parts of her throat, almost using the engrossed bulb like a paintbrush to paint her soft, pulsating, inside walls with his taste and smell.
"Ahh, ohhhh!" Alexander moaned and screamed as Cambyses turned on her nipple y while Ophenia tried to swallow his dick whole.
Thetter moved her head back and forth against the shaft, using her cheery, perfect lips to stroke it as she bobbed back and forth against it, while using her tongue to paint every inch of the rod with her rich, sticky saliva.
A viscous mixture of precum, leftover cum, and saliva bubbled out from her lips and coated her mouth and chin, but Ophenia seemed fixed on only one thing, squeezing Alexander out as soon as possible.
This stimtion caused his nipples to harden and thus became vulnerable to Cambyses''s attack.
"Hehe, your nipples are standing up! Just like a women''s, hehe," Cambyses was having massive fun with her newfound toy, pinching, twisting, and pulling the brown small bud while giggling her heart out.
"Ahhh, stooop you vixens¡ohhh..it''s too strong!" If this kept up, it would be impossible for Alexander tost much longer.
"*Plop*..ahhh," Hearing Alexander''s pleading, Ophenia freed therge member from her mouth with a loud, wet sound and seemed to have paused her attack.
And for the moment, it seemed Alexander''s request had worked and he would be allowed a breather.
But even before he could have a small sigh of relief, Ophenia strongly grabbed his shaft and admonished him like a mocking taunt, "That''s no good little master! You need to train harder if you want to please all of us sisters, *chuuuu..mnn*."
Ophenia loved the act of kissing Alexander''s member and she looked at Alexander with a crazed, predatory expression, making Alexander understand that even taking Ophenia in bed alone would have been arduous, but now with her and Cambyses, the two of them would put him under their mercy.
And soon this prediction woulde true as after scolding Alexander, the lusty snake had swallowed her prey whole again, intent on training it with the harshest of practice regimes.
She became more voracious, much more voracious the second time, as the girl shamelessly pursued her carnal desires, pistoning back and forth even faster thanst time, while keeping her lips pursed tightly over the hot member, strangling the prey in her wet, hot mouth.
"Mnnnn, slurp¡shhlp..chhpt," Ophenia blew Alexander with her might, as her tongue even started to flick Alexander''s frenulum, the most sensitive part of any male.
"I wonder how these tastes," Over in the front, Cambyses had grown bored of just ying with his nipples by her hands, so she did the next best thing.
"Mnnnch¡Chhbb;" She bought her ponytailed head down and started sucking on his nipple, licking it, flicking it, nibbling it, and making Alexander moan in sensual pleasure.
This two-pronged attack was too much and soon the dam holding back the oceans of white, murky fluid began to crack, as the transparent precum oozing from the urethra was now turning turbid and pale as tickles of milky, creamy semen began mixing with them.
"Ahhh, I am gonnae," Alexander grunted out.
And hearing this, Cambyses now started pinching the nipples along with the licking, while Ophenia had sensed this a while back as she started pistoning back and forth even faster while moving her tongue away from the frenulum to the urethra hole, prodding and hitting it with her rough tongue and trying to coax the semen out.
"Ohhh, here ites! *Splurt*...*splurt*." Alexander hit by a wall of pleasure could no longer resist and the gates of the dam were released, letting his huge second load loose inside Ophenia''s mouth.
"Mmmmmm?! Mmmmm!" Ophenia was a bit surprised by the sheer force of the shot hot load and her mouth started to overflow a bit with Alexander''s creamy goodness.
But she recovered momentster and started sucking it all down, adamant about not wasting a single drop, "Mmmmm! Mmmmm! Gulp. gulp¡"
Alexander could feel with extreme precision the way the girl was guzzling down his fluid, how his load was hitting her throat walls and sshing around, coating it all white, how throats were expanding and contracting as she pulled the divine liquid down, how her nostrils had red up to take in more air and even how she was pushing his entire spear even deeper to pipe the hot, magma directly into the gullet.
Alexander would bet every coin he has to say that every man loves watching a woman swallow his load and he was no exception, and he relished the disy of Ophenia so eagerly quaffing down his ejaction.
And Ophenia was not done with just the released load as like a diligent woman she started sucking the rest of the cum still in the pipes like a vacuum and swallowing it down her throat inrge chugs like it was fine delicious wine.
"Haaa! Haaa! Haaa," Alexander panted sighs of relief as he finally let out thest drops in his balls and felt his orgasm subside.
"Sluuurrrp, ahh" With onest great suck to get all the leftover cum from out of the urethra and finally with nothing moreing out, Ophenia finally freed Alexander''s rod from her cave of sensual torture and let out a satisfied purr, like a kitten that had a hearty drink of milk.
This subus kitty had sucked all the energy out of the rod and turned the once, mighty, turgid rod into the small,id piece of meat thaty unconscious on Alexander''s groan at the moment, uttering defeated and exhausted.
Alexander''s little brother was spent.
But Ophenia was nothing but.
"Gulp¡phew," Ophenia had drunk all the released fluid and was now scraping her mouth, the insides of her teeth, and the back of her tongue for any leftovers that could be still stuck while scraping up any cum around her lips and savoring it with the utmost relish.
"So how does it taste, Tayin?" Cambyses asked curiously, as she had yet to taste her husband, although he had tasted her the very first night.
"Oh, mistress! It''s the greatest delicacy in the world! Young ones are always the best but master is delish!" Ophenia eximed in exultation.
"Always! Young ones?" Cambyses was confused by these words in this context, but Alexander had a pretty good idea of what the girl was talking about after seeing Ophenia''s outfit.
That kind of outfit cannot be worn by anyone and given what Gelene and Ophenia had said about the Temple of Shiva, there was no their Sacred Pristress chosen sessor would be a clean as a white paper, chaste virgin.
Given her profession would be pleasuring the elites of Thesos, she would have to be a woman dyed in carnal pleasure and bathing and drowning in men''s essence.
"Yes, mistress," Ophenia said with a nod, having no intention of hiding her past.
"Two years after I entered the temple, after I had learned their basic scriptures, my practical studies began."
Ophenia''s body involuntarily shook as she uttered those words but she continued.
"The very first thing they taught me was to get used to the smell and taste of semen. ''It will be your greatest nourishment'', they said as they made me get used to it."
Ophenia then recounted her training, "For a few years after that, multiple times a day- at dawn, noon, and dusk, I was made to service several priests at the same time. I would be made to sit on my knees and be surrounded by priests of various ages and then be required to pleasure organs of all shapes and sizes- from long, thin ones to short thick ones, from curved, stout ones to straight bulbous ones, from smelly old ones to young virile ones, from white, pink. innocent ones, to ck, dark. grotesque ones. I have sucked and tasted them all!"
Ophenia continued without any shame, "They would use my hands, mouth, breasts, armpits, and even hair to release their seed all over me, dying both by insides and outsides white. Sometimes they would simply rub their dicks on my skin, on my shoulder, on my nape, and on my back, painting the ivory canvas cloudy with their red meaty heads. Other than my vagina, there''s probably not a single hair of skin in my body that hasn''t been drowned in semen."
Ophenia then let out a rueful smile with tinges of sadness in it, "So does master want such a dirty girl?"
Chapter 132 Two In One (Part-3) (R-18)
Alexander though expected such but was still very surprised by what Ophenia had gone through.
If what she had said was true, then she had drank that liquid literally hundreds if not thousands of times.
"Your father didn''t know about all this? Your piercings and all the¡.these," Alexander was curious how much a thing could have gone under the radar.
"The temple didn''t break their word." Ophenia shook her head
"They neither initiated me nor did they take my virginity or made me participate in any of their rituals."
"This was the deal father had agreed upon and they followed the agreement to the letter."
"But they were able to exploit loops in the agreement that father did not foresee and do such things."
"It took all of father''s political influence he had acquired over his lifetime, to get the deal the first time."
"And it would be impossible for him to do it a second time."
And if I were to say what was happening, I have no doubt he would have tried anyway and then failed inevitably."
"That would have crashed him and given his temper, he might have done stup¡unwise."
"I did not want that, and what made it a bit bearable was I only had to spend the summer three months in the temple and I was allowed to spend the rest at home as I wasn''t an initiate, though that did not stop them from trying to convince me to be one."
"Did the temple convince you that telling Agapios would be of no use?" Alexander asked with intrigue in his voice.
"Yes, and I didn''t dare verify it," Ophenia informed him.
"Hmmm," Alexander sighed in his heart after hearing Ophenia''s story and he knew what she said was most likely the short, edited, censored version of a tiny part of her whole story.
He dreaded even to think what they made her actually go through.
''*Sigh*,'' Alexander looked back on the religions of his old world and thought, ''There''s a reason paganism died out on earth and got reced by mostly the Abrahamic faith.''
In Alexander''s opinion, those three faiths might have their own controversies, but in general, they were free of the many cruel practices many pagan rituals contained.
At the time of Moses, for example, the pharaoh iming to be a god was a tyrant who spread oppression throughout hisnd.
Around the time of Jesus (around two hundred years earlier), Carthaginians used to sacrifice their children to a raging fire for good harvest. And fifteen hundred after Jesus''s death, the Spanish came across the Aztecs that used to sacrifice live beating hearts to their sun god.
And before the time of Muhammad, it was normal for the Arab pagans to bury infant girls alive out of shame.
Even the ideas perpetuated by the temple of Shiva and the things that were being done there were nothing new and were even quite prominent in the ancient times of Alexander''s previous world.
In Assyria, which is modern-day Iraq, it was sociallypulsory for a woman, regardless of status to sleep with a stranger once a year inside a certain temple.
In Cyprus, there was once the tradition of performing sexual activities for Aphrodite.
There was also the existence of many cultic brothels across the Hellenistic world that performed various rituals like having intimate physical rtions in front of a roaring fire, burning various incense during intercourse, etc.
And these were just the recorded ones.
How many nations and cultures and beliefs have been lost to the annals of history without leaving a shred of evidence? Without so much as a name?
For example, the histories of native north and south America are sparse and barely existent but Alexander would bet his money that many would have practiced many morally deviant practices.
So, as Alexander knew simr practices had once existed in his world and thus could very well understand them existing in this world as well.
While Alexander was strangely distracted by philosophical thoughts in the middle of sex, Ophenia looked sacred like a cat about to be abandoned and she thought Alexander was nning to discard her.
After all, in Thesos, women were generally expected to be chaste and virtuous.
Noticing Ophenia''s fear, it was Cambyses who addressed Ophenia''s fear of being unchaste.
Cambyses''s pearlyughter echoed across the room, "Haha, sister, instead of looking at his face, I think you should look down there!"
She pointed out to Alexander''s little brother which had regained its vitality and standing proudly ready to engage again.
"Oh, my! Little master, did you be excited hearing my story?" Ophenia said in a surprised, silky, seductive voice, covering her smiling mouth with her fingers.
"Hehe, actions speak louder than words, right sister? "*Smack*, Naughty cock," Cambyses sneered at Alexander and again gently pped Alexander''s erect penis.
Ophenia was truly happy seeing Alexander''s reaction and the gloomy cloud of low self-esteem in her heart began to fade away.
Also the way the Cambyses called her sister and not Tayin or ve, made her heart swell with joy as she felt she had found a second family.
Cambyses hitting his rod made Alexander a bit embarrassed at this awkward encounter but also turned on.
He truly wasn''t turned on by hearing Ophenia''s dreadful treatment, but in the context this was said, with Alexander imagining Ophenia in that position and with him being surrounded by two hot, nakeddies, it was only natural that his little brother was going to soon stand up, especially when he was fully naked.
"Hehe, if master is enjoying my story so much, well then let me finish it," Ophenia sent a seductive smile towards Alexander as she said so.
"At first I was disgusted by the smell and taste of semen. But how old and experienced was the temple? How many centuries had they existed? They knew how to break a girl down. They certainly knew very well how to break a girl down, especially a young girl like me."
"They made me drink it the moment I woke up, and right before I went to sleep. I was only allowed to take baths once every three days and a thick, mixture of musky scent always hung around my body like I was a bitch in heat."
"And sometimes, they would even mix it with my food and drinks to make me be more ustomed to it."
"And slowly but slowly I acquired a taste for it. I started to love it. And this is how I became the cum guzzling slut I am now, hehe," Ophenia''s face twisted into ascivious smile that seemed to have transformed her fully into a subus as her long, crimson tongue licked her lips hungrily.
"Mistress, I remember you asking me how good master''s cum was. You are really missing out on a delicacy if you don''t have it," Ophenia lustfully sang.
"It was absolutely delicious. So sticky that it got caught in my throat and the rich, creamy taste still lingers in my mouth. I also just loved how thick it was and it even got a little lumpy at times.
The salinity was just right and even though it was master''s second time, it was as viscous as honey."
"And that''s not even talking about the smell. Ahhh, the fishy, velvety scent! It seemed to permeate throughout my entire body, and is even now making me shiver in organismic bliss!" Ophenia body literally shook as remembered the strong, familiar smell.
"Ohhh, I have tasted a lot of cum in my year, from young boys to experienced men, to skilled old geezers. But master''s cum is the best, ahhhh, I can''t get enough,"
Ophenia reviewed Alexander''s essence like a true semen sommelier and gave it the best rating possible, not hiding a bit of her shameful history.
Alexander did not know if Ophenia was exaggerating and just saying this, or if she truly felt it that way.
But at least, to him, it seemed sincere, unlike Gelene''s one.
Maybe this was the psychological effect of doing this thing out of love and not being forced to.
"Tayin, your master seems to have quite enjoyed the story. Look!" Cambyses poked the erect member with her digit.
"So, why don''t you use your breasts this time? You have decorated it so nicely, it would be a pity if your master can''t see them in action," She teased.
"Hehe, mistress has a good sense of sex," Ophenia chuckled and then lifted her giant D-cup puppies right onto Alexander''s groin.
"*Plop*, the fleshy mountain of softy goodness, fell down on Alexander''s erect dick with a wet pping sound, bringing the towering monstrosity down and almost squashing it under her heavy, mountainous sack of flesh.
The feeling of the soft, creamy, marshmallowy goodness spread through Alexander''s groin as the warm flesh caressed his sensitive area, making his little brother twitch and struggle to get up against the heavy mass of flesh.
"Hehe, little master, this might be a bit too tough for you," Ophenia giggled as she could feel the fleshy rod struggling against her breasts and trying to get up, but failing utterly miserably, its fate to be crushed and drowned in the ocean of soft, pillowy flesh.
Opehnia''s breasts were otherworldly, ivory white with a soft pink undertone that glistened in the light, making her wless soft skin glitter in the dark and drawing eyes to her magnum opus- the ornaments.
A golden chain of pearls connected her, big, cherry nipples, from each of which hung a massive blue sapphire, making her breasts jiggle and sway in unison.
"Master, I love it when my nipple rings are pulled!" Ophenia licked her lips and purred to Alexander, anticipation bubbling out of her eyes.
Chapter 133 Two In One (Part 4) (R-18)
Alexander felt both fear for and love for his life right now.
Because Ophenia had positioned herself between his crotch to begin her third round, with his erect member snuggly in between her corpulent breasts, and the tip barely peaking out from the top of her cleavage.
"Haaaa!" Alexander breathed out with pleasure at thefortable sensation of being enveloped by her thick breast meat.
"Is it to master''s liking?" Ophenia asked in a motherly concerned voice.
And Alexander could only wordlessly nod to her question.
"Hehe, I''m d. But now it will get better," Ophenia then rhythmically started moving up and down along the pole.
Her speed was different from before, no longer the hungry, aggressive type, but a soft gentle caress, making Alexander lose him in a gentle, affectionate touch.
But only for a moment.
As a lustful moan escaped Ophenia because Cambyses had found a new toy- Ophenia''s nipple jewelry.
Cambyses started to strongly tug on Ophenia''s left breast, using the sapphire as a handle to stretch and pull the pale pink bud, making Ophenia cry out in joy.
Cambyses was also not mindlessly pulling on it, but doing it in a slow, deliberate, rhythmic manner, tugging on it as Ophenia raised by boobs up and cking it as she came down, maximizing the tension between the girl''s breast and nipples.
"Oh, yes, mistress. You are a natural, mmmm," Ophenia howled in pleasure.
"Hehe, Alex, this is so fun. You grab the other one too," Cambyses urged and Alexander could not resist.
He took therge, exquisite cut of gem and clenched it in his palm and then like Cambyses had urged, started to gently tug on it.
"Ahhh¡master..harder. Do it like mistress¡ twist my slutty nipples¡harder¡ohhh," Opheniasciviously pleaded as she found Alexander''s gentle caresses boring.
This ticked Alexander a bit off, and so he became rougher, alternating his pulls and cks with Cambyses, and making sure one of Ophenia''s nipples was always under tension.
"Hehe, it feels like we are milking a cow," Cambyses giggled at the strange y.
"Well, she certainly has the tits," Alexander smirked at Ophenia''srge beautiful orbs.
"Haha, you are right, *pinch*," Cambyses then directly pinched Ophenia''s left stretched nipple, making the girl scream in pleased agony, "Kyaaahhhh."
"Hey cow, why has your boobs stopped moving? Come on, move," Alexander mocked Ophenia in a jocr way and twisted and tugged her breasts using the nipple ring, urging her to continue her service.
"Ha,,,ha..ha¡master and mistress are bullying this ve...oohhh," Ophenia gasped and panted with a fake tone of anger in her voice but her eyes and face only flowed with even more lust at this y.
As she said, she loved when her nipples were yed with.
But she knew she couldn''t just take, she also needed to give, and soon her training kicked in.
Alexander saw the girl regain herposure even with his and Cambyses''s relentless teasing and then stick out her soft, warm tongue to make saliva dribble from the tip directly onto the engrossed, bulbous head waiting below.
The warm, sticky liquid sliding off the head and slithering down the shaft made Alexander shiver and soon returned the rough pounding of his sex against Ophenia''s breast, the subus intent on milking him dry.
Ophenia had bought her arms together and was now using them to squeeze her breast together, capturing the thick rod even more tightly and wanting it to make it be one with her fleshly globules, as she took the shaft inside her mouth once more to make it reexperience the sensual pleasures of her mouth.
But this time Alexander did not take this new offense lying down as he too started his attack, tugging, twisting, and pulling Ophenia''s nipple stronger than before.
And soon, the duo were close to release.
"Yesh, master, pinch me one more time¡" Ophenia signaled she was ready to cum.
"Mnn, I am close too!" Alexander groaned.
And very soon, with onest pull of the delicate buds from the couple and onest lick on the frenulum by Ophenia, a simultaneous duel orgasm was achieved.
"Soo¡good," Alexander''s body shook in ecstasy with each sessive wave of semen shot out and Ophenia loving and dutifully swallowed it all, forming a perfectly sealed vacuum with her lips to suck everything Alexander''s balls had gathered.
"Ahh, delish," Ophenia purred for the second time as only after she was sure not a drop was left behind did she finally let go of theid piece of meat out of her mouth.
"Mmmmm," After the third release, Alexander felt exhausted and all his energy spent.
After all, he had been awake for close to forty hours, fought and won a war, and then spent the whole day organizing the troops.
Now, he was ready to hit the dreands.
But these vixens had no desire to care for Alexandr''s well-being and let him rest.
Ophenia wanted at least one more round as her lower holes hadn''t been used yet and Cambyses hadn''t even started yet.
Alexander''s night was far from over.
"Well, mistress, it seems master is a bit tired," Opheniamented as she found that Alexande was having trouble getting his brother up.
"Hmmm, you''re right" Cambyses seemed to agree, as she grabbed the shrunken,id flesh pole and started toying with it, pping it around and smacking it around Alexander''s groin.
"This thing looks so cute now. Who can believe such a small thing can be sorge and dangerous." Ophenia looked lovingly at the cute monster that seemed asleep.
"Alex, get it up. We are not done yet," Cambyses almost scolded her lover for not being virile enough and this critical attack on a man''s pride finally produced some results as Alexander''s little brother stirred a bit, albeit only a bit.
Seeing this Cambyses thought of a different, much more naughty n.
"Tayin, were you nning to lose your virginity today?" She asked.
"Yes, mistress. Is there a problem?" Ophenia didn''t seem to get Cambyses''s line of questioning.
"Hmm, don''t lose it today. Virginity should be lost in lovemaking, and not in the kind of lust-filled threesome were are having now. I will arrange for it tomorrow," Cambyses was a romantic herself and did not like the idea of someone close to her losing their precious one-time experience in such a flippant manner.
"Then, what do you suggest we do?" Ophenia felt Cambyses had a n.
"Hehe, we women have two holes," Cambyses the virgin just five days smirked as she made the unusual suggestion.
"Ohhh," Ophenia''s eyes widened a bit, and then she put her hand in front of her mouth and giggled, "Hehe¡.mistress I had no idea you were so naughty."
"Okay. I am very experienced with my ass," Ophenia showed no shame at the request and was even quite a bit enthusiastic.
"Oh, did the priests also use your bumhole?" Cambyses had guessed such from Ophenia''s earlier recount.
"Yes, for thest three years, they stretched and molded it do one thing, to take cocks, to take,rge thick cocks," Ophenia loudly and intentionally talked dirty as she noticed Alexander''s little chap twitch in anticipation at this topic.
"Hmmm, good, but today and now, you are about to experience something I doubt you experienced there," Cambyses mysteriously said which made Ophenia a bit confused.
Because in that temple she had experienced almost anything and everything she could imagine that was considered lewd and degenerate.
''What else could there be left?'' Ophenia wondered, a bit puzzle but also quite excited.
"Tayin, turn your butt towards Alex''s face and slowly crawl back towards his face." Cambyses gave the unusualmand.
And so, Ophenia did just that, slowly backing her huge, meaty rear towards Alexander''s face.
And though Ophenia could not see it, the scenery from the other side was heavenly.
Because from Alexander''s point of view, he witnessed the twin, ivory cheeks slowly lumber toward him, threatening to smother him in their heavenly goodness, jiggling and shaking along the way.
He could clearly see Ophenia''s pink, perfect snatch sped between the wless buttcheeks, soaking wet and sshing fresh spring water onto him every time Ophenia''s marvelous ass jerked, coating his abs in Ophenia''s lusty, lewd water.
The pink flower''s petals had fully bloomed and her lewd cave could be seen contracting and expanding by itself, like it was a living breathing animal, begging someone to stuff it and pound it to high heaven and back.
And while normally, the wless, huge, heart-shaped ass and the swollen, crying pink flower hole would be the most magnificent scenery of this situation, this time it was different.
Because this time Ophenia wasn''t nude per se, but wearing some jewelry.
Alexander could not keep his eyes off the piercing that made Ophenia''s red bean protrude out of her outer hood and even her slightest movement made therge sapphire hanging from it sway and glint in the light, inviting Alexander to tug and twist at it as he had done to the nipples.
Andst of all was the huge red, ruby butt plug that was stuffed in her asshole, shooting reflected lights out of the hole where the sun does not shine and making Ophenia look like a firefly.
Ophenia made herself into the most delicious and exquisite meal a man could want and both Alexander''s upper mouth and his little brother who had regained his strength by now were drooling.
''Ass or pussy.'' Alexander asked himself the eternally debated question as he contemted which would be the starter and which the main.
Chapter 134 Two In One (Part 5) (R-18)
While Alexander was debating where to start, Cambyses made the choice for him.
She bought Ophenia''s fleshy rump near Alexander and then used her dainty hands to pull apart the twin buns of deliciousness, making Ophenia''s heart-shaped anal-plug stare Alexander right in the face.
"Alex, look how well Tayin has prepared for you! She even corked her dirty whore hole to keep it fresh, *spank,*" Cambyses hit the snow-white skin hard, leaving a red imprint.
"Kyahhhm, mistress, that''s¡," Ophenia had an uncharacteristically shy tone to her voice.
Making her shameful holes be so close to someone she loves was giving rise to a feeling she thought the temple had stripped away a long time ago.
"Tayin, open your hole for your master, *spank*. Show him your most filthy ce, *spank*," Cambyses was hitting Ophenia every time she spoke, decorating her wless white butt with her handprints and making the girl sing in pleasure.
"Master,..hah,, hah.. Please witness the grand opening of this sacred whore''s most lewd hole," Ophenia in an excited trembling voice recited the words the temple had taught her as the neen-year-old then used her dainty fingers to, *plop*, unsheathed the dirty hole with a small pop.
And just as the hole was freed, a gust of thick, musky, fruity scent hit Alexander on the nose and made Alexander stiff in ecstasy.
"Hubby, look, look, this is the tight dark hole that is gonna swallow your little serpent," Cambyses mockingly introduced the pink puckered hole, using her hands to strongly part the asscheeks and leaving nothing to anyone''s imagination.
Alexander took a big whiff of the perfumed scenting from down there, as Ophenia''s musky sweat, fruity nectar and natural sweet body odor mixed to form a redolence of heavenly goodness.
"*Sniff*smells like a bitch in heat." Alexander grinned at the sweet, sour scent.
"Yes, master! This bitch is your bitch," Ophenia moaned at this y.
"Hehe, Alex, this hole is gonna do a lot of work for you. So don''t you show it some love!" Cambyses urged Alexander to kiss Ophenia''s asshole.
"Mistress¡that''s ¡no master¡it''s dirty¡kyahhhhh," Ophenia was mortified by Cambyses''s suggestion to make a divine being lick her most dirty ce.
She had assumed it would be her pink cave.
But before she could fully voice herint, Cambyses shut her down with a "Shuushh," as she pulled her clit chain down, making Ophenia''s eye be white in pleasure.
Cambyses then turned to Alexander who seemed to be hesitating and said, "This hole is out of service today," as she then covered Ophenia''s pussy with her right hand.
"So, hubby, start licking there," Cambyses had a little malicious twinkle in her eyes as she smirked at Alexander.
''She''s doing this partly because of what I did to her with Gelene,'' Alexandermpooned at having such a petty lover, but strangely this only made him love her even more.
And seeing such a delicious meal so exquisitely served before him, Alexander decided to dive in, mouth open, tongue out.
"Oh¡master¡that''s..ahhh," Ophenia screamed at the first sensation of her shameful hole being painted in her master''s warm, sticky saliva.
The feeling that her honored master was serving her in such a debased manner had Ophenia lightly cum.
"It tastes salt, sour and sweet. And this strong, damp, musky smell. Tayin, only a goddess can possess such a hole," Alexandermented on the taste.
Then Alexander scoped up the nectar that was dripping out and thered it on the hole, before going to town on the small, fleshy pink hole.
Alexander probed and prodded on the closed entrance with his rough tongue while alsonding hot, wet, sloppy kisses around it, gently licking and sucking around the warm, damp hole and making Ophenia howl in bliss.
"Ohh, yeesh, master, so good," She arched her back and raised her head in unmatched jubtion.
Alexander soon broke through Ophenia''s defenses, his tongue ramming open the castle gates of her shameful hole, and started to taste the insides.
It tasted like the outside, salty, sweet and a bit metallic and Alexander began to invade more and more of her territory, using his tongue to pry open the stic, moist caves of her filthy hole.
"Master¡ooohhhh¡.he''s inside me! Master is eating ¡.eating my asss," Ophenia screamed at the top of her lungs his rapturous joy, as if trying to let the world know that her master was servicing a lowly ve like her like this.
Ophenia also subconsciously closed her splinter muscles as she howled, causing her tight hole to contract fiercely, squeezing Alexander''s with a vice-like grip and forcing him to quickly retreat as he pulled out.
The invader seemed to have been defeated for now.
"Even with this all this, she not lubed enough?" Alexander whispered incredulously.
Alexander grew a bit fearful of the pleasures still toe.
And he grew a bit fearful of the pleasures still toe, ''If this tight hole swallows my dick, it might get snapped clean off,''
But those were future concerns as for now, he had to please this hole.
"Alex, is she too tight?" Cambyses asked from the side seeing Alexander pull out.
"Yeah," Came Alexander''s short reply.
"Hehe, then watch this," Cambyses was a lewd grin on her face as she proceeded to stretch open Ophenia''s bumhole and then started drool on it, forming long, thick, chains of hot saliva that smoothly began to drip inside the dark hole.
"Kyaaahhh, mistress, that''s¡" Ophenia made a small yelp, but swung her butt slowly with a dog, to show clearly how much she was enjoying this as some of the salivae missed its mark and was now starting to slide down her lower hole and towards her pussy.
"Hehe, hubby, here you go, now you can taste me and Tayin," Cambysessciviously grinned at Alexander, inviting him to drink this obscene concoction of her and Ophenia''s fluids out of this filthy flesh cup.
And Alexander was all too happy to oblige as he rammed his tongue again in one go, going as deep as it will go and then starting twirling it around.
"Ohhhh, master''s tongue is dancing inside my ass," Ophenia could feel every millimeter of Alexander''s tongue invading her, the hot, rough bumps scrapping against her colon walls and twirling inside, sometimes in the clockwise direction and at other times in anti-clockwise direction, trying to screw her ass like a screwdriver.
On the sideline, Cambyses found herself bored just watching her husband and her new sister y, but fortunately, a sudden sharp glint hit her eye at that exact moment and soon she grinned devilishly.
"You guys seem to be having much fun. So let me join in," Cambyses sultrily spoke.
But this pleasant tone sent shivers down Ophenia''s body as she felt Cambyses grab the jewel connected to her clit.
"Mistre..¡.kyaahhhhhh," Ophenia never got a chance to utter even the first word as Cambyses began to brutally tease Ophenia''s clit using the jewel attached to her sensitive bud to gently pull and twist it, making Ophenia scream in blissful pained pleasure.
And under Alexander''s skillful tonguing and Cambyses ying directly with her most sensitive bean, Ophenia soon passed the breaking point and came.
"Ahhhh,..yesing." She screeched in lusty euphoria.
As soon as the initial bliss of the orgasm ended, Ophenia didn''t take a moment to rest, but instead seemed even more energetic, as if her lust-fueled me had been stoked by this release.
"Master, thank you for showing Ophenia something she had never experienced," Ophenia had a twisted, lewd smile on her face as she stood up to face Alexander.
And this smile broke into a dangerous,scivious grin as she put her left pinky on her cheek and in a crazed, daze said, "Now, let this ve make you experience something you have never experienced before,"
Ophenia then quickly turned around and positioned herself right above his erect member as she bent over, squatted down, and spread her asscheeks to show her lewd, glistening, dirty hole again to Alexander.
Ophenia then in a musky voice lustily sang, "Master, do you see this dirty hole? This hole which you so diligently cleaned. Honestly, it''spletely filthy."
"When the temple understood they could not touch my pussy, they started to develop the next best hole, my asshole."
"During the morning, along with my usual blowjob, I would be pounded by multiple people in the ass."
"And for the rest of the day, they would have me wear a thick, wooded dildo to make me get used to anal."
"It walked with a dildo inside me, I ran with a dildo inside me. I read with a dildo inside me, I ate with a dildo inside me and I slept with a dildo inside me."
"So, you see master, this dirty, cheating hole that you so lovingly kissed has had liters of strangers'' cum poured into it."
"Doesn''t that make you feel disgusted? Doesn''t that make you scorn me? Doesn''t that make you want to punish for being a loose girl?" Ophenia cried in lust and pain.
"No. Because you were forced," Alexander gave a quick, serious answer.
"Haha, as expected of master," Ophenia instantly broke out giggling.
Then she finished, "Hehe, master, I have tasted all kinds of cocks- young cocks, old cocks, long cocks, thin cocks, ck cocks, andrge cocks."
"But I have never experienced a divine cock."
"Until now!"
Ophenia then instantly sat down on Alexander''s member, making a pleased, "Ooooooh," howl as the entire member entered her in one go while her thick, flesh ass lewdly pped against Alexander''s thighs.
Ophenia was going to give Alexander anal in reverse cowgirl!
Chapter 135 Two In One (Part 6) (R-18)
Alexander truly did not mind Ophenia''s past sexual history,
She was just an innocent girl that had been abused and now, Alexander could finally get a glimpse of the broken woman named Ophenia.
Alexander understood, Ophenia so loudly saying the things she said was a way to test Alexander, a way to see if Alexander would ept her even though, ording to her, she was an unchaste, dirty woman.
She had an inferiorityplex caused by the circumstance of her birth and the environment she was bought up in, further exacerbated by her hair and the temple she was sent to.
So, this resulted in the almost duel-like personality that was being disyed in front of Alexander, the first- a quiet, submissive personality which Alexander named the ve, and the second- a free, sexually active go-getter type Alexander named the subus.
And these two wouldpete for affection and warmth from Alexander, switching personalities depending on Alexander''s preference.
''*Sigh*, Ophenia, since you have fallen under my responsibility, I will try to make you as happy as possible.'' Alexander made a vow.
But Alexander did not have time to remunerate on the physiological condition of his new¡well Alexander was not still sure what Ophenia meant to him but whatever,..he did not have the time to think about that.
Because under his careful scrutiny, he saw this erect rod be swallowed by the gaping maw of that snake Ophenia called her butthole, as the fleshly walls effortlessly parted themself and let in the entire huge, thick, hot spear into them, until Ophenia''s fleshy ivory butt cheeks were kissing Alexander''s roots.
"Nnnngh, I..it''s so..tight," Alexander felt his dick slide in and fit the tight, dark hole like a glove, as the insides of Ophenia''s ass viciously pulled him in and sped onto his thick shaft.
"Argh, master''s cock....a god''s cock is inside me," Ophenia rolled out her tongue in unmatched excitement.
And then began to move her ass with the speed of a jackhammer.
"*p*, *p*, *p*," Her heavy asscheeks smashed against Alexander''s toned muscr thighs as a loud, lewd echo started to spread across the room, which fuel the two to make it even louder.
Alexander had a front-row seat at how Ophenia''s heavenly snow-white ass, was pounding against Alexander''s sex.
The dirty hole would tempt the bulbous head with the promise of sweet release as Ophenia would raise her ass upto Alexander''s ns and then cruelly deny it as she would bring her heavy hammer of ass down, crashing against Alexander''s groin and make her butt jiggle and wiggle due to the shockwaves.
*Smack*! *Smack*! *Smack*!
Ophenia showed no tenderness or care for Alexander''s pleasure, her only intention being to milk the dick dry and have her insides coated with the essence of, in her mind, a god.
"Argghhh, too fast¡slow down," Alexander''s ns rubbed against the soft, rubbery walls of her ass and the pleasure jolted his body to release quickly.
The ass waspletely different from the pussy, because while thetter had a warm, pulsating, moist wall with varying thickness and sometimes even twists and turns, the former was simply a rubbery tube that knew how to do just one thing, squeeze and clench!
"Mmmmm, ahhh, master..so..good," Ophenia''s ass had by now turned red as Alexander''s hard crotch muscles pped the bubbly, heart-shaped butt repeatedly, showing to the world just how hardcore Ophenia was attacking Alexander.
If this kept up, Alexander would be finished in a few more moments.
But fortunately, Cambyses came to his rescue for the moment.
"Tayin, turn to face your master now," Cambyses said, her this time being behind Alexander''s erect member facing both him and Ophenia.
Hearing this instruction, Ophenia obediently turned around, making Alexander marvel again at the supreme beauty he was nailing in the ass.
She had a perfect face, dyed ck hair, and a perfect hourss body.
Her huge D cups had pierced nipples with sapphires hanging off of them and a chain of golden pearls attached the two breasts, making them sway in unison.
A giant red ruby was stered on her navel, out of which extended various golden chains along her belly, hips, and her pussy, and of course from her clit hung the giant round sapphire.
The temple of Shiva was not wrong to call Ophenia a goddess in human form.
"Tayin, start moving," Cambyses whispered into Ophenia''s ears as she got behind her and grabbed her bountiful breasts.
"Yes, mistress," Ophenia now hugged by Cambyses could no piston Alexander as fast as she would like and settled for a slow, rhythmic pounding.
But why had Cambyses done this and why was she behind Ophenia?
The duo were about to find.
Cambyses grabbed Ophenia''s two hanging jewels and just like during thetter''s blowjob, started to tug on them, alternating between the left and right nipple, like she was milking a cow, making Alexander witness how Ophenia''s pink delicate buds stretched and extended under tension.
"Ahhhh, mistress,...my nipples are gonna get all puffy," Ophenia sang at her nipples getting stretched and twisted while her ass was being screwed by Alexander.
She was in heaven.
Cambyses ignored Ophenia''s mockint and suddenly grabbed Ophenia by the hair and yanked her head backward,nding a smoking, hot kiss on her lips, and knocking the air out of her.
"Mnnnnn!" Ophenia was surprised for a moment by this girl-on-girl action but soon reciprocated the action with an even hotter kiss, pushing her tongue inside Cambyses andtching onto thetter''s crimson glossa, stroking it, sucking it, and loving it.
"Chuuu¡.Mnnnn¡Shulllpt¡" The lewd sound of the girls kissing each other reverberated across the room.
Alexander was mesmerized at the sweet, lewd scene unfolding before him- Ophenia''s huge milky beasts were swinging up and down, making the diamond-shaped sapphires attached to them sway with them, as the girl slowly rode him, nailing her filthy hole with his divine spear.
This was while Cambyses and Ophenia were tonguing each other loudly, eyes closed and lips locked together, the two girls seemed lost in their own world as they savored each.
"Ahhh, sister¡.you taste so sweet," Cambyses gasped out between the short intervals as she then started pumping Ophenia''s nipples using the ornaments.
"Mistress,...master¡ahhh¡mistress," Ophenia seemed drunk on Cambyses''s vor as she again increased her pace of the attack.
And soon Alexander was bought close as his precum started to coat the insides of Ophenia.
"Mmmh! Master''s cock, I can feel it. It''s leaking and twitching," Ophenia screamed in joy.
And then to get her reward faster, clenched her splinter and started to pump harder, "Master, cum. Please let my ass drink all of your cum. Cum! Cum on!"
p! Squelch! Smack
She started going sometimes deep, sometimes shallow, and twisting her hips in all directions and angles, making her thin ass walls scrape and scratch Alexander''s sensitive head, pushing him over the edge.
"Ooohh, Ta¡Tayin, I''m gonnae inside your filthy tube. Take it¡spluuurt, spllluurt, gussh," Alexander exploded inside Ophenia''s puckered hole as cum shot up from his balls and through his urethra before spurting all over the fleshy walls of her ass.
"Ahhh, so hot¡it feels like master''s sperm is gonna burn my ass. Ohhh, it''s washing away all my previous filth." Ophenia moaned and arched her back, while continuing to tighten her small hole and buck her hips, trying to milk everyst white, creamy goodness of the tubes.
"Ghaaagh¡Tayin, I''m still¡too sensitive," Alexander moaned as he felt Ophenia''s hole grip his member in an iron-vice grip, forcing it to shoot everything Alexander had.
"Ahhh, I can feel master''s hot load sploshing around inside me. Even though it''s master''s fourth round, it''s still so hot. Ohhh, I love it," Ophenia squealed in evesting joy at finally getting stuffed up, even though it might have been in the wrong hole.
Her lust finally began to subside as her mes of passion were doused by Alexander''s white fluid and she decided to atst free the poor little guy that had tried so hard to please her.
But simply releasing like that would be too ordinary.
No, no, no, that could not happen.
So onest naughty y came inside Ophenia''s mind.
She turned around again, and bent down, using her hands to part the ass-cheeks, letting Alexander exactly see how her perfect little hole had been soiled to be muddy white and thin trickles of his cum had started to leak.
"*Plop*," Ophenia then let go of Alexander''s brother, uncorking her lewd butthole, making it appear as a gaping maw and saying, "Mmmh" My ass ate up all of master''s thick cum today. Master can definitively see it, can''t you? The white goo swimming inside my filthy hole..."
She said this putting her ass up in the air while putting both her index fingers around the already wide hole and stretching it to her limits, allowing Alexander to gaze directly into her bowels, making him smell the thick, fishy, musky odor of his cum and see it sparkling toward him as it caught the light in the room.
"Tayin¡you..sexy..subus!" Alexander was hypnotized.
Chapter 136 Two In One (Part-7) (R-18)
Alexander, for the first time in both his life, watched his ejected fluid ssh and slosh around a meat canal in real life.
And the level of degeneracy that was being disyed drove Alexander to new levels of pleasure.
Even Cambyses''s mouth went a bit wide at this.
But momentster, she let out a devilish grin as she bought her mouth close to Ophenia''s leaking hole and said, "Sister, I remember you telling me how delicious hubby''s sperm was. So let me have a taste."
"Mistress¡kyahh," Ophenia let out a short-pitched squeal as Cambyses long, rough tongue directly invaded Ophenia''s butt, following the exact same path Alexander''s had, and started sucking out all of Alexander''s release.
"Cam¡that''s oohh," Alexander moaned for the umpteen time as the surprises he was getting tonight seemed never-ending.
Squlech! Suck! Chuuu!
Cambyses vacuumed out Ophenia''s butthole with unmatched lewdness, making loud noises as she sucked out the fluid mixed with Ophenia''s intestinal juices and gulped it down like a depraved whore.
Squelch! Schhttt! Ppphmnm!
The vulgar sound soon drove Ophenia to new heights as she screeched in pleasure, "Ahhhh, it sounds like mistress is eating my farts! Ohhhh,ing,,,"
Ophenia''s body shuddered and she arched her head back as she came just from making her ass eaten out.
And Cambyses wasn''t the only one pleasuring Ophenia, as Alexander, finally being given a chance to double-team someone else for a change, took this opportunity and pulled at Ophenia''s little bean using the hanging clit ornament and caused Ophenia to again shout in pleasure.
"Noo¡too..much..ohh," Ophenia''s brain seemed to overload with pleasure as the room began to echo with the lewd music of Ophenia''s moans and Cambyses''s loud sucking.
"Ahhh," Cambyses finally, with her cheeks all puffed up, took her mouth off Ophenia''s ass and then, in a y copying what Gelene had done the other day turned to Alexander and opened her mouth wide, "Alexch¡look¡ahhhh."
She was letting Alexander look at the filthy mixture of her saliva, Alexander''s cum, and Ophenia''s juices all swirling, mixing, and bubbling in her mouth, and even causing a thin trickle to stream out of her mouth and stain her thin lips.
"Cam¡you," Alexander was made literally speechless by this.
And then as her grand finale, Cambyses gulped the turbid fluid down noisily and smirked at Alexander, "Alex, I have never tasted you before. So, how did it feel watching me taste you out of Tayin''s ass, hehe?"
Cambyses burst out a pearl of giggles as she said it and then informed, "Hehe, I never congratted you on winning the city. So, how was it? Did my little show please you?! Cambyses almost have pink hearts in her eyes as she said this.
"That¡" Alexander couldn''t believe this the same Cambyses who was a virgin just five days ago and this y made his member even more turgid than he thought it was possible.
But what Alexander did not know is that this was not only because of him getting the city but also because of his little stunt with Gelene, as Cambyses vowed to be as lewd and vulgar as possible in bed to satisfy Alexander and not let any other vixen steal her man''s heart.
For that, she was ready to do anything.
"Little master seemed to have quite enjoyed it, mistress. hehe," Ophenia chirped as she grabbed Alexander''s huge rod and started pumping it.
"Tayin, you enjoyed yourself a lot. It''s my turn," Thinking Ophenia might start a fresh round, Cambyses quickly got up and positioned herself on top of Alexander''s meat stick.
"Hehe," Standing in front of Alexander in full of her naked glory, Cambyses grinned and spread her legs, and pushed her hips forward, showing him her dripping cave.
Afterward, she hooked her index finger around the pink pleats and pulled open the flower for Alexander to witness the cave it hid in its full glory- wet, hot, and almost pulsating, and licentiously chuckled, "Alex, Alex, look! Look how my hole is crying for you!"
Then Cambyses squatted down and gazed lustily directly into Alexander''s eyes, "Now, look how I eat you, ..*squelch*."
She immediately sat down and took the whole meat in go balls deep.
"Nnhhhaaahh, Mmmmm, finally, here it is¡ohhhh," Cambyses arched her head back. looking up into the heavens as if to thank the gods for this pleasure.
Alexander also groaned in pleasure as the familiar yet very pleasurable feeling of skewing open the tight meat canal hit him.
"Ahhhh, I can feel you getting tighter and narrower as my rod pushes in deeper." Alexander moaned.
"Yes, I can feel your cock¡ spreading me apart¡all the way in¡Mmmm," Cambyses relished at finally having her itch scratched.
Then she began to ride Alexander furiously, gyrating her hips up and down and letting Alexander witness with hypnotic memorization the way her creamy thighs moved as she worked them, how her small, breasts with her perky nipples danced as Cambyses moved and how her chestnut hair tied in a ponytail, whipped and swayed in the air as Cambyses looked at Alexander like a starved subus.
"Ahhhm hah, yahhh," She moaned at the top of her voice as she felt tasted her lover, the inner walls pulsing and squeezing rhythmically, refusing to let Alexander go.
.Then, Cambyses suddenly bent forward and started kissing Alexander, extending her tongue into him and sharing each other''s taste.
Chuuppp¡Schllpp¡Mnnnn
It was not just Cambyses taking Alexander in, Alexander also was thrusting inside Cambyses as he bucked his hips to match the girl''s rhyme, hitting her uterus and causing her to moan.
"Aaaah, so good! Mnnnch...So good!" Cambyses howled as she soon drove Alexander to release.
"Cam..I...I''ming¡splurt¡splurt..splurt..!" Alexander''s bulbous red head pressed against Cambyses''s uterus and sprayed it directly there.
"Ahhh, this is the bessstt¡it feels amazing to feel your cum scorching my deepest parts," Cambyses loudly screamed as she too squirted on Alexander.
"Mistress is a squirter? That''s surprising!" Ophenia who was wisely letting the lovers have their moment till nowmented in surprise.
"Yes, she looks all prim and proper on the outside, but in bed can''t hold her pee," Alexander teased Cambyses.
This was a bad idea as Cambyses pouted a bit and then, without giving Alexander a second to rx from his release, started to aggressively stroke his penis still inside her.
"Wait, Cam¡argh,," Alexander painfully moaned because he had not such a strong response.
This was because he was unaware of the fact that after he had mocked Cambyses as a girl who could not hold her pee, she was very ashamed of herself and went to ask Gelene for advice.
After she had exined her embarrassing situation with Gelene, thetter in halfughter and half jeers informed Cambyses that it was not urine, making the girl leave the tent flushed and abashed.
And this remark just now by Alexander reminded the girl of her dark past and so she wanted to punish Alexander for his prank.
The hole now extra lubricated by Alexander''s release helped glide the meat stick in more easily, helping Cambyses speed up even more, and letting Alexander experience even greater pleasure.
"Cam..it''s too rough," Alexander felt he wouldn''tst much longer.
"Haha," Cambysesughed, "What are you saying? You''re moving your hips now to¡Mmmmm" Cambyses felt Alexander was hitting her baby room now ever more strongly, trying to break it open and deposit his seed directly into the womb.
"I can''t help it. Your insides feel so good," Alexander drowned himself in the pleasure.
"Let let me show master something even more interesting," Ophenia was finally tired of being ignored and then stood up with her legs around Alexander''s head, letting Alexander have a clear view of her wless crack and therge jewel handing off it.
She then gently swayed her hips to and fro, making the shiny blue sapphire dangle and flutter in front of Alexander''s eyes as she tempted him, "Here, master! Here is your most favorite toy. It sings when you pull on it,"
Alexander did not need any more convincing as he immediately clutched onto the jewel like a drowning man clutches onto a straw and the toy quickly began to sing.
"Kyahhh, sooo goood, I love getting the clit bullied! Pull it stronger master," Ophenia''s legs started shaking like a newbornmb while her juiced began to fall onto Alexander''s face as he yed with her pierced red bean.
"Ahh, your cock''s twitching. I can feel it''s going to cum," Cambyses announced as she sped up.
"Me too master," Ophenia whined to Alexander for release.
And soon the dam was released and Cambyses''s insides were painted again as she joyously groaned, "Arrhh, the head of your cock is grinding all the leftover semen into my cervix. Mnnnff, the womb''s never gonna forget the taste of your cum!"
Ophenia too loudly announced her organism and lost her bnce and sat right on top of Alexander panting and gasping in exhaustion.
And as for Alexander, done with his sixth release, he felt the world around him go dark and he drifted to sleep, uncaring and unconcerned about everything else for the moment.
''If these subi join with Gelene, I''m dead,'' were hisst thoughts about tonight''s unforgettable celebration.
Chapter 137 Start Of Another Hectic Day
By the time Alexander woke up, the sun had risen well high up into the sky, signaling a significant part of the day had passed.
''Crap, I overslept,'' Alexander quickly sat up from his bed as a strong, ring ray of light hit his eyes, piercing the veil between the dreand and reality.
Bright unfiltered light streamed out of the open wooden window doors, making the opulent room glow with the luster of luxury and decadence as the shiny metals and exquisite gems gleamed and sparkled under the sunlight.
"You''re finally awake. You looked so tired I didn''t want to wake you," A fully refreshed and energetic Cambyses cheerfully called out from the balcony.
"Urggg, what time is it?" Alexander still felt a bit groggy as he tried to look out of the window to see where the sun was and get an approximate determination of the time.
"Almost midday," Cambyses answered the question as she handed Alexander some water from the silver pitcher.
" Glug, glug, glug," Alexander drank off the cup withrge gulps to quench his parched throat.
Then he dipped his fingers in the water and began to rub the cool liquid around his nape, in an effort to drive away the drowsiness, a technique he had learned from his years in college where he had had to pull all-nighters to finish projects.
"If you are tired, sleep a bit more," Cambyses asked in a concerned voice, as she gently caressed Alexander''s bare body.
"And whose''s fault is it that I''m so tired, you subus?" Alexander yfullyined to the woman who had shown him heaven and hell both at the same time.
Like she had promised, Alexander didn''t need to do anything thest night, but that had left himpletely under their mercy, who squeezed his milk dry to the point that he was sure by the end he was shooting nks.
Alexander knew intense pleasure could turn to pain, but it was only yesterday night that he experienced it firsthand.
"Hehe..." Cambyses only giggled, showing her pearly whites at Alexander''s int.''
This caused Alexander to get a bit hard, but soon a sharp prickle of pain from his little brother made him know he was still out and it was a bad idea.
''I wonder if this world has the equivalent of Viagra? Or else, with all these subi around, my kidney might notst.'' Alexandermpooned in his heart.
Finally, with his drowsiness abated Alexander could take the time to survey the surroundings and under the full light of the sun, could finally appreciate the grandeur in disy in its entirety.
He wondered if this room could bepared with one in Buckingham Pce or the Pce of Versailles.
And he guessed it could fit right in, minus all the modern amenities of course.
But, then he noticed someone missing- the tall, sinful subus fromst night.
"So, where''s Tayin?" Alexander while looking around.
"She just woke a bit before you and left to get some breakfast," Cambyses said.
Then asked, "You want me to get some?"
"*Gurgle*", Alexander''s stomach gave the answer for him.
"Okay, you stay and rest. I will get you something immediately," Cambyses then hurried out of the room.
Or she was about to when Alexander called out, "Wait! Call Hemicus first."
Soon the guard was summoned and Alexander instructed, "Tell all the mercenary captains, Grahtos, and His Majesty to join me at the royal dining as soon as possible, Say that it is vital to the defense of the city."
"Yes,mander!" Hemicus with a salute epted the order and quickly left.
"What vital defense of the city? You look so tired, rest today." Cambyses again urged Alexander as she had overheard the order.
"*Sigh*, I very much wish I could, my dear. But I fear that corpse will start smelling soon," Alexander made a reference to something Cambyses had no idea about.
And the girl, though confused, cleverly chose to ignore Alexander''s cryptic reply and instead made thement, "His Majesty? Hehe... and here I thought you would kill Ptolomy the moment the chance presented itself."
Cambyses had a dangerous, almost unhinged smile on her face.
"Darn, woman, not so loud!" Alexander went wide-eyed as he whispered r.
"Hahaha, you didn''t even deny it, hahaha," But this only caused Cambyses to burst with a burst of uproariousughter as she clutched her stomach and bent down, having a hard time to even keep standing.
Alexander failed to see what was so funny and only cidly looked at the almost by-now kneeling girl.
"What''s so funny?" Finally, Alexander asked out of curiosity.
"Haha, your scale of ambition astounds me even to this day, Alex. Anyone wouldugh if a ve said he wanted to take over the biggest country in the eastern world." Cambyses had finallyposed herself.
''You don''t even know what lies past the eastern endless desert. and you call Adhania the biggest country in the eastern world?'' Alexander sighed at the people of this time''s tendency to just assume stuff.
"But, Alexander, I don''t think it would be prudent to do it now. Youck the men and the support," Surprisingly Cambyses came to the same conclusion as Alexander had.
The teacher had taught the student well.
"Of course, I know that. That''s why I don''t n on doing anything for at least the next five years while I establish myself, That''s also why I''m working so hard to keep that fool in power for now. He is much easier than the others to manipte," Alexander reassured Cambyses that he would not do anything rash.
"Haha, Alexa, you sure you don''t want to serve Ptolomy and be a power in the shadows? After all, rebelling is dangerous," Cambyses had a bit of fear in her house.
''*Sigh*, she has tasted a bit of luxury and already wavering,'' Alexandermpooned a bit, though he could not really me her.
She had been raised in abject poverty and was now experiencing the highest of highs, it was only natural she would want to protect this status.
So Alexander calmed her, "Cam, remember how I told you if you fly too close to the sun, you will get burned? I haven''t forgotten my own advice. Five years is a long time. Too many things can happen. Don''t worry, I will not let greed blind me."
Though inwardly Alexander said to himself, ''Ptolomy killed that old man just by the words of a stranger. And he might as well do it to me in the future.''
He furthered reasoned, ''And that''s especially true once that Farzah guy gets inside his head. Ptolomy might be a fool, but that Pasha certainly isn''t. He will recognize me for the threat I am and given the kind of fanboy Ptolomy is of him, it won''t take long to poison his mind.''
''Serving him with loyalty and devotion is the manifestation of utmost stupidity,'' Alexander made up his made and vowed no matter what, not to change his mind on this topic.
"Alexander you know I know when you are lying through your teeth right?" Cambyses had a prative pointed tone in her voice as Alexander noticed how Cambyses changed from calling him Alex to Alexander, a clear tell that she was very angry at being lied to.
But whether Cambyses was livid or not, she did not show any of it on her face or tone, as she advised, "*Sigh*, I never told you not to be Icarus. But to make sure you build better wings than one''s made of wax,"
What she meant was to warn Alexander to not be greedy and rush things, but instead to have the capabilities to match his goal.
''Heh, this woman is really my kryptonite. What fearsome woman''s intuition,'' Alexander only smirked at her and then turned his head away to look out of the window, not denying anything.
Cambyses then left Alexander alone to his thoughts, sooning back with a serving of thick white bread, a meaty soup with vegetables mixed in, cheese and fine wine.
Alexander had always preferred alcoholic beverages over water, not because he hated his liver, but becausepared to the unpurified drinking water avable at the time, which was the nesting grounds for countless diseases, wine and alcohol were sterile and hence much safer to drink.
Afterward, Alexander finished his breakfast in bed, feeling like a king as he did- an experience he had almost forgotten about under the brutalst ten years of hardbor,
By the time he was done, Cambyses had a few guards bring him a tub of water, which he used to dip himself in, ignoring all health regtions that say not to jump in a ''pool'' right after eating and scrabbed his body clean.
Cambyses then helped him dry up and even made a few suggestive squeezes on certain ces that made Alexander''s certain ce stand up in attention, but ultimately was forced to cease when a guard from outside the door informed the couple that all the personnel had been gathered in the main dining hall.
So, Alexander quickly put on his armor and strode out to begin his day.
Chapter 138 Fake Amenheraft
Alexander pushed open the door to the meeting and was greeted with expectant gazes by all the people present, starting from the king who was seated at the head of the table to all the mercenary leaders.
They all seemed to have seated themselvesfortably, leaned back and arms on the armrest, and were likely engaged in small talk before Alexander had entered.
"Sorry, I amte," Alexander addressed the group.
"Haha,mander, you have given the soldiers three days to enjoy themselves. As the hero who has won the city for us, you at least deserve thirty days to enjoy yourself." Alexander''s usual sycophant Heliptos immediately jumped up to defend hismander.
And soon, following his lead, many others followed as Alexander was ushered to his seat right next to the king.
''This bootlicker seemed to have upgraded himself.'' Alexandermented on Heliptos as he sat on his chair.
"Thank you for your understanding everyone." Alexander started with a smile.
Then he urged, "Now, please let us start. A lot of the day has been lost and we have a lot of work to do."
Seeing Alexander move onto the real meat of the business, the others sat up straight and turned serious, after all, they were still at war.
"First, the most important thing," Alexander pointed out, "is determining how much food we got. Menicus, I want you to take inventory and then assign guards to protect it."
"Yes,mander," The old mercenary nodded seriously.
"Ump," Alexander nodded with a small shake and then again emphasized, "Make sure to capture the food from the nobles and don''t let the soldiers destroy them. And if there is a shortage of space in the granaries, bring the grains directly into the pce and store them in the inner hall. It''s empty and no one is using it."
"I will see it done," Menicus nodded seriously for the second time.
"Then the next topic is about the war." Alexander moved on.
Then he turned to Ptolomy and asked, "Your Majesty have you thought about how to deal with Amenheraft if he makes that im?", referring to how to deal with Amenherafting to alive in the people''s eyes.
"I¡I¡have.. thought of a few..but they..don''t seem to match our current circumstances. What about you?" Ptolomy very diplomatically said he failed and then quickly deflected the topic to Alexander.
"Hehe, by the grace of Your Majesty, I might have found a way," Alexander let out a small smile.
He afterward turned to the curious men and said, "Today, we will inform the people that tomorrow there will be the funeral for the deceased king- Amenheraft."
"Whaaat?" Ptolomy almost jumped out of his chair at this ridiculous statement, while many there were also confused.
Alexander exined, "The peasants have never seen the king. So, we will dress up the man we killed...what was his name..ahh...Kefka in the king''s armor and invite all the people to pay their respects to him."
"We will im that Amenheratf has tragically died after he was driven insane by the archpriest¡.ahhuh¡."
Alexander had a strange memory condition where he could remember urately volumes of text, but always had trouble remembering names.
So he looked at Ptolomy for the name.
"Manuk," Came the quick, quiet reply.
"Yes¡.ah..Manuk." Alexander nodded.
Then continued, "We will say that the archpriest had intended to rebel and thus poisoned the king, trying to kill him. But as the son of Ramuh, the poison couldn''t kill him. And only drove him insane, causing him tomit the massacre in the temple."
Alexander then turned a bit high-pitched, "But by doing so. Amenheraft had lost the mandate of heaven and under God Ramuh''s orders, the heroic king Ptolomy, along with the gant heroes he bought with him. stopped this by killing Amenhearaft and avenging the god''s servants!"
Finishing his tall tale, Alexander looked around to see the other''s reaction, he saw everyone looking around confused and unsure how to react.
''Poison? Rebel? Ptolomy killing Amenheraft? When did all this happen?'' They asked themselves.
But soon, Alexander''s ever-reliable yes-man Heliptos started apuding with thunderous ps, "Superbmander¡simply superb. This will make us look like we never attacked the temple, but only reached it after Amenheraft had already killed all the priests."
The greedy mercenary''s first thought went towards the money in the temple and how to safely steal it.
And his reasoning also moved others.
"Hmmm, that is not a bad n¡no it''s a very good n," Ptolomy approved with a smile.
But then he asked with a small frown, "But, many mistook Kefka as Amenhearaft at the gates. What about that?"
Alexander readily answered. "That''s easy! That was just a scapegoat that Manuk had used to deceive the army and attack the brave king Ptolomy, while the real king was trapped by him in the pce all along."
"And this is when," Alexander raised his index finger, and said, "While everyone was distracted, he tried to poison and kill the king, but the poison failed and only managed to drive him mad."
"And recognizing he had been plotted against, Amenheraft, with a sliver of lucidity left in him, charged into the temple to kill the traitor but ended up massacring innocent priests while the rebel ran."
Alexander finished the story with a flurry of nods and acmation that he graciously epted.
"Hmm¡ Manuk is bringing a rebel army to take over the city and defeat the royal family and so we must defend ourselves'', that is a story that the peasants will buy. It will never be able to fool the nobles but it will be enough for themon masses." The veteran Menicus, who had the most weight in the room after Alexander and Ptolomy, analyzed and praised this cooked-up story.
It was believable and solid on the surface, with enough details to make it sound real enough, but vague enough so people could spin and add their personal touches- like how the story only said Manuk had rebelled and trapped and poisoned the king, but the hows and why were left to the individuals to figure out.
Alexander''s made-up fable also impressed Ptolomy very much as he nodded his head vigorously, "Yes, yes, this is good. Very good. It is Manuk who is responsible for everything and I was only forced to act. The people will buy that."
Then he added. "And although, it is against custom to show the dead body of a king of themon people. We are supposed to be gods after all. But it will be only Kefka so that''s no problem."
Atst, he asked, "Where will the body be disyed?"
"At the temple courtyard," Alexander stated as a matter of fact.
This formed a small frown on Ptolomy''s face, "But letting the peasants into the temple is against customs."
''I need to kick this ''because it''s custom,'' reason out of his head'', Alexander thought and said waving his hand, "Rebelling is also out of custom. But Your Majesty did it anyway. So why should you be held by them in other areas?"
Then, before Ptolomy could show his anger, Alexander said assertively, "The peasants that wille to pay their respects to the dead king will also meet their new king," Alexander turned to Ptolomy and said, "You."
"Me?" Ptolomy frowned as he did not think the peasants were worthy to look at him.
"Yes," Meniscus, supporting Alexander, gruffly reasoned with the king, "With this, the peasant will definitely think of His Majesty other than Amenheraft when anyone says the word, king. After all, it is time the people must know who their rightful king is."
Thest sentence pleased Ptolomy very pleased much and with a grin, nodded, "Hahaha, yes, yes, it is time the people must know who their rightful king is. Good, good, haha."
As Ptolomy celebrated his impending poprity, Alexander was sharp to notice that he- the originator of the n got no praise.
''This really is a donkey, can''t think of anything and can''t properly reward those who do,'' Alexander cursed Ptolomy in his heart.
Hiding all his discontent from his face, he instead turned to Grahtos, "Captain Grahtos, I remember giving you the responsibility for storing the corpse of Kefka. It is still in one of the cells?"
"Yes,mander. It''s in a dry locked cell, wrapped in dry clothes just as you ordered." Grahtos gave the answer.
"Thank you," Alexander smiled and then ordered, "Today you will take your men out to the outer ring and ride through the streets announcing that tomorrow at dawn the funeral for the previous king will be held. All are to be present with a food bowl. A bowl of porridge will be given to anyone with a food bowl- to every man, woman, and child!"
"What! That''s too much food!" Even before Alexander could fully finish his sentence, Ptolomy mmed his fist on the table in shock and red at Alexander, unable toe to terms with the amount of food Alexander was willing to ''waste'' tomorrow.
"I have not finished. Your Majesty." Came the suppressed low growl, filled with simmering anger.
Alexander hated being interrupted.
.
Chapter 139 Planning And Preparations
The way Alexander said the two words, ''Your Majesty.'' conveyed not a shred of respect but only anger and contempt that was clear to everyone in the room.
Alexander hated being interrupted and the idiot jumping up to obstruct something he had no idea of, made Alexander ticked off.
So when Alexander calmly, with ice in his eyes said those words to Ptolomy, thetter shrunk in fear.
"As I was saying," Alexander started again, repeating, "Everyone whoes to see the two kings, the dead one and His Majesty, will get a bowl of porridge."
He then asked Grahtos, "Now captain, since time is short and you have the whole city to cover, you are excused from this meeting. So please take your men and spread the word. The defense of the city depends on you."
"Yes,mander." Grahtos promptly got up hearing thismand and after performing a military salute, turned and left with hurried purposeful steps.
This action prompted Ptomoly to subconsciously frown a bit as the captain paid no attention to him, but for now, he kept it to himself.
Alexander afterward turned his head to another man, "Heliptos, the servants will needrge earthen pots to cook and store all the porridge. You are to take whatever men you can find and raid the noble houses to get as many huge pots as you can get. Send them all to the pce- the servants will cook here. Now go." Alexander then excused Heliptos the same way he did Grahtos.
With another gone, Alexander turned to Menes, "Menes, you will be responsible for arranging the security around the temple."
He here gave him a detailed n of the route people will use, "The people will enter the temple through the inner gates and make their way towards the temple''s outer courtyard. Here they will get their porridge. Then they are to go through the back of the temple towards the beaches and then turn left to make their way out of the inner city."
"You are to make sure this path is followed and the people don''t wander about or break the queue. Also, make sure the soldiers in the inner city don''t attack the people."
"Yes,mander," Menes saluted as he stood up, knowing his time in the meeting was over.
Alexander here gave additional instructions, "Take the eight hundred men from our group as your security force. And remember to survey the route I nned out to look for obvious weak spots."
"I''m going to do it right now," Menes reassured and hastily exited.
With the room drastically thinned out, Alexander turned to Melodias and said, "Leader Melodias, I n to make fifty queues to feed four hundred thousand people in twelve hours. I will need your men to be in charge of serving the food. This will include not only pouring the porridge but also making sure the pots containing the porridge are always there so the line keeps moving."
The huge numbers uttered by Alexander took everyone a bit back, but Melodias quickly reced it with a smile and epted the order graciously.
After which he left in haste to gather his men.
And although feeding four hundred thousand people and fifty queues might sound like a lot, one had to take into ount that the temple of Ramuh was a huge structure designed exclusively to entertain Adhania''s elites. The temple alone was about the size of a football pitch - 100 meters long and about 40 meters wide.
And the outer courtyard was even bigger and wider, around a few hundred meters long and 100 meters wide.
Alexander nned to ce fifty feeding stations in the outer courtyard, each two meters apart from the other, and estimating that it took five seconds to dump the porridge into the bowl, he calcted he would be able to feed thirty-six thousand people in an hour or if itsts from dawn to dusk, about four hundred thousand in around eleven to twelve hours.
This was half the total poption of the city pre-war.
Alexander then atst turned to Menicus and apologetically said, "Leader Menicus, I know I asked you to take inventory of the food. But, I am afraid I''m gonna have to task you with another task."
"Please,mander, anything! I can handle two jobs, no problem," Menicus waved his still-strong hands to reassure Alexander.
So Alexander instructed, "Amenheraft''s army will be soon here and we need to start preparing. We already have ten thousand. I n to recruit roughly another fifty thousand."
"How does themander intend to do it?" Menicus had an inkling it would have something to do with the event tomorrow.
Alexander exined the procedure, "Tomorrow, I want your men to say to the mening to the temple that all artisans will be given two meals a day for them and their families if they report to the pce the day after tomorrow. And any man willing to fight will be given three meals a day for them and two meals for their meal if they decide to join the army. The recruiting will ur at the barracks."
Menicus perfectly understood the need to recruit artisans as they would be vital to making, maintaining, and repairing all war materials such as weapons, shields, shoes, armor, arrows, etc.
Even potters and bakers would be needed for logistics.
But to give so much food to the soldiers hurt his heart and so decided to object to Alexander, although in a polite way.
"Hmmm, that is a good way to recruit soldiers." He first praised.
He then bought out hisint with a worried frown, "But that''s a lot of food,mander. Can we afford it?"
Alexander released a long sigh at Menicus''s concern which he too shared.
But he reasoned, "I know that. But the original n to defend the city using the walls to oust Amenheraft is no longer viable because much of the stored food got burnt."
Here Alexander paused to shoot a nce at Ptolomy who could only turn his head and treat as if he did not see Alexander.
Alexander then turned his head back and continued, "We cannotst in a siege against Amenheraft and he knows it. So we will have to defeat him in a pitched battle. And to win against his battle-hardened troops, we will need better than thin, malnourished, starving peasants. We have three weeks and hopefully, it will be enough time to grow some meat, if not muscles on those skinny cadavers."
Alexander thus managed to convince Menicus why the soldiers needed the food but the veteran old man asked, "But why are well also giving two pots to their family?"
And he was right to ask this as there was no military reason to give it.
This was only proposed out of Alexander''s own selfish desire to win the soldiers'' hearts and have them join him instead of Ptolomy.
But he hid these and gave Menicus the excuse, "These men cannot hope to match Amenheraft''s men in terms of skill and ability. And for that, they will need to make up for these deficiencies with courage and sheer will. And where will they get their courage from?"
Alexander paused to look at Ptolomy and wryly smiled, "I''m afraid themon peasant does little care about who sits on the divine throne."
He then shook his head and raised his clenched fists, "No, they care much more about their family. And when they learn that if they lose, not only will they die, their families will also starve, they will fight harder."
"*Sigh*, it feels like I''m the eighteen-year-old and themander is the one who is fifty," Menicus ruefully smiled at Alexander''s methodicalness.
And then cheerfully saying," It seems themander has truly thought of everything."
He then without requiring any other prompt, got up saying, "So, please excuse me as I start inventorying and sending the food to the servants to start cooking, Then I will arrange for my men to get the barracks ready to ept the influx of recruits the day after tomorrow."
Finishing this Menicus bowed and left, leaving Alexnader thinking, ''It sure is nice to have an experienced militarymander.''
Alexander said this because Menicus, over his long mercenaries career, Menicus had to do the jobs Alexander assigned hundreds of times and knew very well the ins and outs of the procedure and its hidden challenges.
With Menicus gone, this left only three people and Alexander addressed Petricuno, "Leader Petricuno, tomorrow, the soldiers in the prison cells will be executed for harming the nobles. I will have to rely on you to get them to the temple safely and execute them."
"As youmand,mander," Petricuno said, and then understanding he was no longer needed made himself scarce.
This only left the two men alone in the huge dining room and Ptolomy looked at Alexander with sparkles in his eyes, beyond impressed by thepetency he showcased right now.
"Alexander, I want you to be my prime minister." Ptolomy made an offer he didn''t think any sane man would refuse.
Chapter 140 A Random Encounter
Ptolomy looked at Alexander pleased as punch, with a smug look ofcency that seemed to congratte himself foring up with this brilliant n.
The brilliant n where he can just sit around and eat and shit, while Alexander worked himself to the bones wiping his butt.
Alexander did not bother to dignify that offer with a response.
In fact, he was having a hard time not retorting, ''If I''m gonna do all the work, why would I need you?''
Instead, Alexander changed the topic, "Ahem, Your Majesty, tomorrow the peasants will know why you rebelled, but have you thought how to justify your rebellion to the nobles?"
"Isn''t it obvious that I rebelled because my brother was corrupt and because he lost heaven''s will?" Ptolomy gave the same hackneyed answer.
Alexander shook his head and informed, "That was before the drought. The nobles know that the drought ending and the crushing defeat of the Camtagenans urred at the same time. I doubt they will buy that story."
"Then what do you suggest?" Ptolomy had a slight frown on his face.
"We have a lot of money from the temple. Maybe some of the nobles can be bought off." Alexander suggested.
"That is a good idea, Commander Alexander. But I don''t think any significant noble will take the bait. Not yet at least. They fear we will lose the battle against Amenheraft and then everything we pledge will be for naught. And not only that, but they also fear retribution from Amenheraft." Ptolomy gave an unusually insightful answer.
''Hmmm, did the queen mother put these thoughts in his head?'' Alexander wondered.
But regardless of the case, Alexander understood the reason, the nobles were afraid to take their side because they felt they were too weak and unreliable.
This was the same as if some random person gave you a hundred dors to go hit a police officer.
No sane man would take the offer.
But if the person offering the same money was the policemissioner or the president, many would jump at the chance.
''Welp! Looks like all negotiations will have to wait till we win at least the first battle,'' Alexandermpooned in his heart.
Then he moved onto, in his opinion the most important issue of the topic.
"Speaking of money," Alexander sent an expectant look to Ptolomy, "We have yet to discuss the issue of payment."
Ptolomy''s face visibly changed from a deep, remunerating facade, to a bit pale one hearing this, understanding that Alexander will likely skin him alive with the price tag.
"Hehe,mander Alexander, what are you talking about? Didn''t I already make you my prime minister?" Ptolomy almost had a toady smile on his face as he turned his head to Alexander.
But because he had never had to curry favor with anyone, this smile appeared cramped and unnatural.
"Hehe," Alexander only chuckled and said, "Let''s go and see a map of Adhania. I want to look at where Amenheraft''s army ising from."
Then he got up and gestured to Ptolomy to lead.
''*Sigh*, it seems the queen mother was right. He has no interest in serving me, but wantsnd." Ptolomy sighed helplessly in his heart.
Then with great reluctance, he got up from the chair, making it look as if the chair was a giant ma intent on keeping Ptolomy attached to it, and afterward proceeded to lead Alexander towards the royal study.
The duo nked by Alexander''s five guards were quickly making their way across the luxurious pce whose marbled floors were covered by thick, lush, intricately patterned carpets, the walls of the hallways held many beautiful paintings andrge windows at regr intervals let in the sweet, soft sunlight of early autumn.
As the group was getting near the study, a sudden rude voice interrupted Alexander who was thinking about how much meat he could cut off Ptolomy, "Hey you, don''t you know you are not allowed to carry swords in front of the king?"
The voice was young and brash and as Alexander''s trantor tranted the saying with an apologetic face, Alexander turned to see that the voice matched the face.
The boy was tall, with baby fat still hanging off his rosy dimples, and was dressed in spick and span armor, without the slightest of grease or dirt and certainly no dents in the golden, bronze cuirass.
He could certainly be described as handsome but this handsome, fair face currently was now twisted into a deep scowl as he looked at Alexander with fury in his eyes.
"Who are you?" Alexander raised rise eyebrow as he asked in a monotone voice, while simultaneously taking a hold of his sword pommel.
"I''m Fartaz and in the name of the king Imand you to disarm yourself and surrender yourself for punishment." The pompous boy shouted as he pointed his right hand towards Alexander.
"Commander Alexander, he is just a boy. Please excuse his rude behavior." Ptolomy quickly stepped in, concerned and afraid that Alexander would lose his temper.
But it was already toote.
Alexander shouted, " Guards, capture this traitor!"
"What! No, let go. Lowly peasants, do you know what..arghhh.." Fartaz shouted and struggled as two sturdy hands grabbed his arms and then to shut him up,nded a punch squarely on his sr plex.
" Commander, please, he was just following customs. He didn''t mean anything by it," Ptolomy pleaded for Alexander to let this go.
But the ''fearless'' young noble showed no sign of contrition.
"My king, don''t debase yourself. This swine doesn''t dare toy a finger on me," Fartaz growled as his look changed from anger to malice and hatred.
Alexander gazed directly into the young pup''s eyes thinking, ''Are these nobles really so stupid as not to realize the slightest bit of reality? Even if you can''t live under the same sky as me, at least have the awareness not to antagonize me all alone in a corridor with so many enemy guards.''
Alexander recalled Barzan had done it too, his status of nobility blinding him to reality.
In fact, most Adhanian nobles suffered from this idiosyncrasy where they considered themselves superior to allmoners and felt any and all things they uttered ought to be treated as gospel.
*ng*, Alexnader directly pulled out his sword and pointedly asked the boy, "We are at war and there might be assassins hiding in the pce. So, tell me, why are you telling themander of the army to not carry weapons for self-defense?"
Finished, he ced the sword tip right under the boy''s throat as he coldly pierced the boy''s gaze.
"That¡.it was ¡custom," The boy stammered as his head finally cooled down and he began to understand the predicament he was in.
Alexander''s dark stare made the boy shiver in fear as he got the same feeling as he did when his grand-uncle would look at him.
"Heh, traitor, you just wanted to kill me and make the army rebel, didn''t you?" Alexander sarcastically sneered as heid down a baseless usation that made the boy''s eyes widen in terror and horror.
It was then instantly switched to burning fury as hembasted, "Stray cur, how dare you! You are the traitor! You are the one who took the His Majesty hostage, And once my granduncle gets here he will chop off your hand!"
"Fartaz¡shut up you stupid imbecile," Ptolomy roared like an enraged lion, sending a look of utter fury at the pampered boy.
It didn''t take a genius to guess who this ''granduncle'' the boy mentioned was and this reveal made Alexander want to kill the boy even more.
"Granduncle?" Oh, is your granduncle even more powerful than the king?" Alexander sniggered at the shaking boy.
"That..of course not," The boy stuttered and then looked at Ptolomy for help.
Ptolomy only avoided the eye contact and instead turned to look at Alexander, a trace of curiosity swimming in his gaze.
"Then, why didn''t you say the king will save you? His Majesty Ptolomy has been right in front of you, pleading for you. Why didn''t you refer to him, but bought up Pasha Farzah?" Alexander by now was yfully hitting the boy''s throat with the sword de, breaking the skin and causing a thin red trickle to color his steel sword.
The boy didn''t seem to react to the graze as he had much bigger concerns.
If he couldn''t answer properly, it might not end with just a little cut but with his entire neck cut off.
"That¡.of course¡.I never meant any ..disrespect to the king..I," The boy only mumbled and spluttered as he felt Ptolomy''s warm gaze turn cold and hostile, making his body feel cold and unmoving.
"Let me tell you why you really bought up Pasha Farzah and not His Majesty Ptolomy," Alexander now held his sword with both hands.
"It''s because you consciously or subconsciously think your granduncle is stronger than King Ptolomy. Right?"
Chapter 141 Alexanders Land
Alexander spelling it out so clearly hit both Ptolomy and Fartaz hard.
Ptolomy was finally opening his eyes to how much of a puppet he had been turned to and Fartaz was furiously thinking about how to refute it convincingly.
"That¡I only¡I didn''t mean anything by ¡." The noble who never had to talk out of anything, a characteristic shared not by all but by many nobles was manifesting itself.
Neither Alexander nor Ptolomy was interested in any of his half-baked excuses and tired of the boy''s incoherent mumbling, thetter soon silently witnessed with clenched fists as Alexander swung his sword and beheaded the screaming boy, staining the red carpet a dull rusty color.
As Alexander''s guards started removing the corpse and cleaning the surrounding with practiced familiarity, Alexander cleaned his sword with a clean piece of rag and nced at Ptolomy, "This is what the nobles really think of you, Your Majesty."
Ptolomy only clenched his teeth and his face hardened even more, his thoughts only known to him.
Many might feel what Alexander did for a frankly minor infraction was petty and excessive.
And certainly, without a doubt, Alexander with so much power in his hand was on a warpath, killing whoever slighted him, left and right.
But this was not the real Alexander.
Or else he could have survived ten years as a ve.
Alexander''s actions were being dictated by the fact that he now had a rtively small window where he could do whatever he wanted he wanted without almost no repercussions.
He knew he would soon lose this power as the noble and Ptolomy would in the near future start rising their own forces and so Alexander intended to maximize his profits right now by killing as many political opponents as possible while suffering the least bacsh.
This would make the king, stripped of hispetent advisors, be more dependent on him and thus allow Alexander to expand his influence in the court more easily.
And those were not the only reasons he killed Fatrak.
Exposing the nobles'' true thoughts to Ptolomy was only a happy ident, but the real reason Alexander killed the boy was because he was not only stupid but powerful too.
A very dangerous, self-destructive characteristic to have.
Alexander didn''t fear intelligent people, as these people usually acted on logic and thus could be predicted and countered.
But stupid people would not do these, but instead, perform acts detrimental to their self-interest just to fuck someone else.
For this reason. Alexander hated stupid, powerful people.
And Fatrak had made himself into the biggest, juiciest target why being both, topped off with him hating Alexander unhidden and undisguised
It was like he was begging Alexander to kill him and Alexander dly obliged.
Putting this slightly unpleasant experience behind them, the group soon arrived at the heavy oak doors to the study.
Normally these gates would have been guarded by sentries twenty-four, seven.
But now, due to the recent coup, ess to his huge repository of forbidden knowledgey unprotected, though notpletely defenseless as it was still locked with a heavy padlock, the key to which remained firmly in Ptolomy''s hands.
The king quickly utched the lock and pushed open the huge, creaking door, managing to produce a small gust of dust through this effort, and the duo and their trantors soon upied the space called the study.
And Alexander, for the first time since entering Adhania was disappointed by the grandeur of the architect.
Up until now, Adhan had managed to impress him with its opulence and engineering feats for its time.
And for a two-thousand-year-old country, with a few centuries-old royal family at its helm, he had expected the study to be grand and imposing.
But it was tiny, about the size of a typical school library, with a few wooden shelves scattered about containing some dusty parchments.
What Alexander had missed here was that it was not the real library.
Because most of the valuable books and scrolls were stored in the Temple of Ramuh.
What was in the royal study was either of immense importance or of no importance.
The exnation for this almost paradoxical collection was that the information that was of immense importance were things like maps, secret messages, secret codes, various secret treaties, and deals, etc.
Things that were ssified information vital to national security and thus should really not be avable to some random priests in the temple.
The other category ''of no importance'' were basically things like love letters, amateur poems, short stories and other scribbles done by past royal family members.
Things that may be embarrassing but of no strategic or academic value.
As Alexander was taking in the view, Ptolomy walked up to a shelf and like he had done hundreds of times before, bought out a worn-out, yellow-tinged papyrus scroll parchment and unfolded the magnificent map of the whole of Adhania to Alexander.
Well magnificent for their time, as Alexander who was used toputer generated, color-coded maps found it to be akin to a map drawn by a child.
There were only the names of some cities, a long line, presumably a river running straight down the middle of the country, and some arrow-type squiggly bits that were most probably mountains.
Oh! And there was also Tibias on the map, which revealed to Alexander that the country he had heard so much about was a penins with the main body attached to a city the map was calling Zanzan.
"Zanzan." Alexander ced his finger on the map and looked at Ptolomy, "This is what the Cantagenans wanted?"
"Yes, they wanted the Zanzan province- which is the name of the city and the province," Ptolomy rified.
"Hmmm, I''m guessing all these other cities are also really the name of the provinces?" Alexander intelligently asked.
"Yes," Ptolomy nodded.
Alexander then started counting the number of provinces, which, including Adhan totaled twelve.
And amidst the counting, a very familiar name caught Alexander''s eye- Matrak.
This made him think about how Ptolomy addressed that Farzah guy, always calling him Pasha Farzah.
"Are all the other eleven provinces ruled by their respective Pashas?" Alexander asked a second question.
"Yes, they each have their ownnd and army and are sworn to defend the crown," Ptolomy confirmed Alexander''s deduction.
''A ssic feudalistic society, with nobles answering to higher nobles, to them answering to even higher ones, till the highest one answers to the crown." Alexandermented in his heart.
Then he made his demand, "I want to be the Pasha of Zanzan!"
As Alexander said this, he had expected Ptolomy to be horrified and then fuss and huss about his excessive demand.
But the king only calmly nodded and consented, "Okay! That was what Cantagena originally wanted, So you can have it."
The ease at which Alexander was made from amoner to the european equivalent of duke surprised him and he began to smell a rat.
Alexander was a firm believer of the motto- If its too good to be true, then it probably is.
So he asked Ptolomy about the details, "What can Your Majesty tell me about the city and province?"
Ptolomy sent a sly smile towards Alexander as he informed, "I have never personally went there, but I am told that the city and the province as a whole is hilly and the soil is infertile. Not only that, but because it''s right next to Tibias, there are frequent border shes, and banditry ismon. And this was before the drought."
After pausing for a second to take good at Alexander''s face, hoping to see some regret and second thoughts surface on it, but ultimately disappointed by Alexander''s nonchnt facade, Ptolomy continued, "I have heard the province has been hit particrly hard by the drought and when the army went to fight Tibias for grain, they most certainly had snatched whatever meager food the popce had stored to replenish their supplies, leaving then even more destitute."
Ptolomy was feeling generous with his tongues right about now, and so even gave Alexander some more information, "In fact, the situation had gotten so bad that the Pasha of Zanzan had moved his entire family to Adhan to escape the dire circumstances. He''s that Pasha Muazz I told you about, and now he is either dead or escaped with Amenheraft."
"Hmm, I see. Thank you your majesty for telling me this. But I don''t want to be greedy and so I still want that province," Alexander appeared adamant.
The reason for his decision was simple, he could use the Zanzan province to attack and take over Tibias, thus expanding his territory.
This expansion will not step on the feet of other nobles, or at least too much and so Zanzan became the only viable choice for Alexander.
This was added to the fact the city was a port city, highly advantageous to trading, not to mention the other provinces also had their Pashas still ruling over them and Alexander would need to fight and defeat them to rece them,
So Zanzan it would have to be.
(Adhania''s map in thements)
Chapter 142 Three Weeks
While Alexander stuck to his word for once, which was a rare urrence for sure, Ptolomy instead of gloating or even being happy, looked at Alexander with a deep wrinkles on his forehead.
''This is all wrong. That''s not how the script was supposed to go!'' Ptolomy cursed inside.
What he had expected was for Alexander to backtrack and then he would swoop in with an offer he couldn''t refuse.
Ptolomy had intended to give Alexander somends around the banks of the river Naher, which was prime, fertile farnd while keeping him close to him, primarily to use him to get all the jobs done.
In just two days, Alexander had proven himself to be a hyperpetent administrator, and not even mentioning his military sess, just the former quality would have been enough for him to be a Jamidar (Earl), if not a Matbar (Marquis).
But he could not do this if Alexander became a Pasha (Duke) as he would then be required to see to his ownnds.
Thus Ptolomy tried to dissuade him, "Commander, I would advise you to reconsider. Zanzan is really not good. Its poption and economy have been decimated, both from the drought and from how the army would frequently recruit from the local poption and use them as front-line fodders."
He further added, "And this is why I didn''t mind giving it Cantagena. Because it''s a wastnd, with itsnd being rocky and hilly, and even the t pieces only have heavy y soil that grows nothing. If you nt a hundred turnips, less than three will grow, and even then those threebined will not be equal to a signal turnip you can grow in Jibatoo, which lies on the bank of river Naher. That''s here," Ptolomy pointed to a ce on the left bank of the river that ran through the center of the country.
"Hehe, Your Majesty''s willing to give this poor soldier such prizednd warms this soldier''s small heart." Alexander chuckled at Ptolomy''s offering.
But then he got upto his old tricks, creating reasons where none existed, "But Your Majesty, Zanzan is not just any province. It''s a very strategic ce."
This ''revtion'' caused Ptolomy to look at Alexander with interest and intrigue.
And seeing the fish had taken the bait, Alexander decided to reel it in, "Your Majesty, think about it. Zantan is right next to Tibias. So why did Cantagena want it and not Tibias?"
"That¡" Ptolomy too had found it strange but didn''t think too much about it.
How Cantagena and Tibias divided their loot was upto them.
Alexander shook his head saying, "We certainly don''t know why they wanted to do this, but we can definitely say for sure it was not something good for Adhania. And so we must stop it."
"But Tibias is our ally!" Ptolomy blurted out confused.
Hearing this, Alexander''s tone turned didactic, "Your Majesty, please understand that Tibias is no longer your ally. In your original n, Amenheraft would have lost his army and his city, and with the ongoing drought, that would have been his final nail in the coffin as the nobles would abandon him."
Ptolomy was stunned by how urately an outsider, a mereyman, no, a former ve was able to dismantle theplex inner working of their schemes with no inside information.
And it made him unconsciously shiver.
But Alexander did not notice this subtle change as he continued, "But now, even if Amenheraft loses the city, many nobles will still regard him as the man who ended the drought. And then Amenheraft, under their asylum can give Tibias and Cantagenans the same if not better conditions to turn against you."
"That.." Ptolomy tried to counter.
But was shut out by Alexander.
"And if your Majesty gives Tibias and Cantagena thend you promised, Amenheraft will certainly call you out for selling out Adhania, Even the small number of nobles that support you will them turn against you because they will view the selling of their country as the ultimate betrayal."
"But,mander..ording to the original¡" Ptolomy mumbled.
"I have often wondered how Your Majesty could have agreed to give his country''snd away." Alexander finished Ptolomy''s sentence for him.
Then he gave his own thoughts, "And I reasoned that the three powers that orchestrated this probably would have discarded you as a scapegoat after they had finished carving up the new territories".
"No noble can tolerate a king that gives awaynds to foreign powers to help him usurp the throne. Certainly not the nobles of a proud and strong country like Adhania.
Alexander had spoken quite some dangerous things and used some choice words such as ''usurper'' to describe Ptolomy.
But instead of being offended, the king now sighed in amazement, saying, "*Sigh*, Alexander. I have confirmed from hundreds of people that you were truly a ve. And even then I still have a hard time believing it. I think you are even more intelligent than my brother or even Pasha Farzah."
"You honor me too much," Alexander bowed with fake modesty.
Then Alexander asked a question that had crept into his mind some time ago, "Your Majesty, Adhania seems like a huge country. So the drought should not have been as severe as it was. Even if crops in some areas failed, it could have been supplemented by food from other provinces. So what happened?"
Ptolomy here drew a rueful smile and said, "The drought did truly hit the entire country. ces like Adhan and Zanzan were hit particrly hard, but most of the country was too hit."
Ptolomy with a nod then said, "But yes, as you said the drought should not have been as catastrophic as it was."
"And the reason why it did was because the various Pashas refused to provide aid as a way to punish father."
Ptomoly looked at Alexander saying, "We would not have rebelled if he didn''t have the tacit approval of all the major powers."
Alexander was honestly surprised by how the previous king had managed to antagonize all his major retainers.
''These powerful people certainly had their own frictions, and to get them to unite together to hate you unterally is really something,'' Alexander somewhat praised the previous king.
Atst, Alexander asked about the excuse with what he bought Ptolomy here, "Your Majesty, where are Amenheraft''s troops now?"
Ptolomy here gave a detailed report, "Three weeks ago, just before my rebellion, my spies reported that the army was here- The horn of tress." Ptolomy pointed to a penins at the eastern southernmost edge of the map.
"So, they should be here by now today." Ptolomy ced his hand a bit upper to the city of Zanzan.
"What is the scale of this map?" Alexander asked curiously, intrigued to know the true size of Adhania.
"Scale?" Ptolomy pronounced in confusion.
This word was said not in Azhak but in Thesian as both Ptolomy and his trantor seemed confused by the new term.
So Alexander elucidated, "How big is the mappared to the real Adhania? How much does one centimeter in the map represent in real life?"
The duo was even then confused by Alexander and it took a bit more effort to make them understand the novel concept Alexander was rewarded with a giant shake of the head for all his effort.
"Commander''s ideas are truly revolutionary. I had never thought of that!" Ptolomy praised.
And then he gave Alexander the information he wanted, "The Horn of Tress is around two hundred kilometers from Zanzan by sea. And Zanzan is an additional eight hundred kilometers from us. It''s been twenty days since by rebellion and that''s why I believe they must be around two hundred kilometers past Zanzan by now."
"A twenty-kilometer-a-day march- average," Alexander loudlymented.
And then stated, "So, it will take a month for Amenheraft to attack us!"
Alexander was not pleased but not too unhappy as he could cobble together some army in this time frame.
But for the first time, Ptolomy corrected Alexander''s mistake, "I''m afraid it won''t take that long. The road between Zanzan and Adhan is very good. I would even go as far as to say it''s the best road in the whole of Adhania."
This made Alexander look at the man in askance as roads between cities weren''t really a thing at this time.
And so, with immeasurable pride in his heart. Ptolomy borated. "Zanzan was built basically as a fortress to deal with the threat of Tibias posed to us, with it being so close to the capital. So, the royal family spared to cost to build and maintain this road so that the fortress could be reinforced and resupplied at the quickest time possible."
Ptolomy then reminded Alexnader, "That was how Manuk was able to bring the slinger. He put them on the horses the cavalries used and rode through the open road like the wind."
''This Manik guy is formidable,'' Alexander made a mental note and then asked the critical question, "So how long?"
"Three weeks. Tops." Ptolomy gave Alexander his deadline.
Chapter 143 Freedom Of Religion
Alexander felt that Ptolomy might have underestimated the speed of the army on the paved road and he made his own calctions.
He used the top marching speed the Romans achieved- thirty-six kilometers a day, and got the result that the army would be here in twelve days!
This was wholly insufficient, as just recruiting, arming, and forming proper formations for fifty thousand raw recruits, with all the squad captains, captains, stratos, and legigus (ten thousand men leader) would take a minimum of a week.
But there was nothing Alexander do about that now.
It was what it was.
So Alexander decided to make the most of a bad situation.
He decided to ask for more stuff.
"Three weeks is really short Your Majesty. I''m afraid the soldiers will need more remuneration," Alexander euphemistically raised the question of payment
"You mean you want more from me. Well, go ahead then," Ptolomy in a rare disy of foul mood, curtly tore off the shred of pretense.
"Hehe, well I''m a soldier too," Alexander appeared not the slightest bit offended as he slightly guffawed.
"Well, since His Majesty has torn off the shred of pretense, it will be easy for me to state my demands." Alexander smiled in a way that looked to Ptolomy like the way a devil would.
Alexander then raised his index finger and said, "I want my province to be an autonomous zone. This means that I will swear fealty to the crown and defend it if it''s attacked, but will have no other obligations. So no taxes, no tributes, no donations."
"Okay." Ptolomy nodded in agreement as this was pretty standard stuff with all the pashas.
But Alexander added an additional use that Ptolomy agreed to without understanding its true implications and something that he woulde to regret soon.
The use was, "I want to be able to set up my own governance structure, my own taxes, my own policies, my own religion, and my own judiciary system."
"Own religion?" Ptolomy''s eyes bulged in shock as he remembered the soldiers calling Alexander the divine son of Gaia.
''If I give him this freedom, what difference would there be between him and me?'' Ptolomy asked himself, justifiably rmed that Alexander could im divinity and rece the royal family.
Which in fairness Alexander very much nned to do!
"No, that''s impossible! The religion of Ramuh is the one and only religion eptable in Adhania," Ptolomy vehemently rejected this proposal as in his mind Adhania needed only one patron god, not two.
"But Your Majesty, I''m a believer of Gaia. And I need a temple to pray," Alexander''s eyes seemed to glow with religious fervor.
But this did not move Ptolomy, who said in strong words, "I''m sorry. All other religions are banned in Adhania. If you want to pray, change your belief and pray to Ramuh."
The reason Ptolomy was so staunch in his stance was that the royal family''s legitimacy to rule came from their im that they were the descendants of Ramuh, which was the only god Adhania believed in.
If other religions were allowed in, with their own gods and pantheons, the followers of those religions would have no reason to fear and obey the progenies of Ramuh, as he was a god that they don''t worship.
Even Ptolomy, who was a bit stupid, was not that stupid.
But Alexander was not deterred.
Ptolomy was currently weak, allyless, and fully dependent on him for protection.
If it really came down to it, if push came to shove, Alexander was determined to strong-arm him
But before going to such extremes, which had the potential to easily backfire and make Ptolomy hostile the moment thetter gained enough strength to oppose Alexander, Alexander decided to try the diplomatic route.
Alexander first shook his head widely as he bitterly said, "Your Majesty, I''m sorry but what you are proposing is impossible for me to do."
Then he passionately announced, "I was captured as a ve at the age of eight, And toiled away, risking life and death for the next ten years till I was finally given freedom. In these ten years, there have been multiple times I thought I would die but was miraculously saved by various extenuating circumstances."
"I have always believed these circumstances to be the divine intervention by the goddess, who must have been looking out for me."
Here Ptolomy said to himself, ''Bullcrap. There are millions of child ves like you. So why would the goddess pay special attention to you? Does your goddess have a special taste for young boys?''
But he kept these thoughts to himself and put on a facade of rapt attention to Alexander''s speech, who was now saying, "And that is not even before taking into ount the events that transpired yesterday. Without the goddess''s help, I would not have been able to enter the city of Adhan and I certainly would not have dared to attack the Temple of Ramuh."
Then Alexander asked Ptolomy, "So Your Majesty, tell me, how can I turn my back on the goddess after all she has done for me? I would be eternally damning my soul," he finished with an exmation.
Ptolomy though impressed by Alexander''s eloquence, which he would admit Alexander was very good at, still remained adamant.
"Your soul will not be damned, Ramuh will protect you. As the son of Ramuh, I will personally guarantee your soul enters Aaru," Ptolomy reassured Alexander.
But Alexander had a counter even to that, as he shook his head again, "Your Majesty, I''m afraid that''s no good. My heart will not allow that."
Alexander''s voice then trembled with fake fear and terror, "Treason is a heinous crime and those criminals deserve to be burnt at the stake. But that''s at least against a mortal. How grave s sin would I bemitting if I betrayed a god?"
And atst, Alexander loudly asked, "And even if I did change my faith, can Your Majesty really trust someone who had once turned his back on his goddess after she had done so much for him?
Would I be reliable and trustworthy in anyone''s eyes if Imitted such sphemy?"
Ptolomy let out a heavy, sigh after Alexander''s impassioned cries, understanding that his man would never look at him as a god.
But failed to do this, Ptolomy, in a rare moment of genuine ingenuity gave Alexander a tricky proposal, "Fine, although all over the Zanzan province is too much, you and your family can believe in the goddess Gaia in private. I give you permission."
''Finally! A crack!'' Alexander was not the slightest disheartened by the new trick Ptolomy employed, but overjoyed.
"Your Majesty, I can very well understand your misgivings about giving permission for the Adhanians to worship another religion. The single religion of Ramuh is the core strength and pir of legitimacy for the Adhanian royal family and allowing it to loosen is tantamount to striking one''s own foot with an axe." Alexander had a soothing, understanding tone to his voice.
"If you know it, then why are you harassing me to change it?" Ptolomy asked in anger and frustration.
"Hehe," Alexander let out a small chuckle, that Ptolomy had grown to hate, and asked, "Then, how does Your Majesty n to convince the nobles that the man who raided the temple of Ramuh, killed its priests, and then looted it, is not only alive but is also being rewarded withnd and even the title of Pasha, a nobility rank only below the king himself?" Alexander had a cool, slight smile as he looked at Ptolomy for his answer.
"That¡.Amenheraft¡" Ptolomy pped his mouth like a fish at this new critical question.
Alexander had hit him in his weak spot and he had no answer.
The ''Amenheraft going mad'' story would be only enough to deceive the ignorant masses and not the well-connected and well-informed nobles.
The only way Ptolomy could think of to sate the bloodlust of the zealous nobles was to kill Alexander, but that was currently impossible.
"What do you suggest?" Ptolomy drew the words out with great difficulty through his clenched teeth, understanding Alexander was about to rip him off.
"Your Majesty, name goddess Gaia a second patron god that protects Adhania. Say that the goddess and Ramuh have decided to jointly oppose the pantheons of Cantagena, Tibias, and Iyizarid. And then build a statue of Gaia next to the statue of Ramuh in the grand temple," Alexander said with a beaming smile.
"That¡that''s too much! The Takqa clearly states that Ramuh is the leader of the gods and is singr in existence. He has no partners or allies, so it''s impossible to allow the statue of another god to be ced on equal footing as him, much less a woman. Even as the king, I cannot changes these core beliefs so tantly." Ptolomy decided to put his foot down and told Alexander in no uncertain terms he would be unable to fulfill these demands no matter the cost.
Thus Alexander was forced to think of apromise.
Chapter 144 Getting Zanzan And More
Alexander took note of how Ptolomy mentioned the word ''woman'' in a belittling way while rejecting his proposal, making Alexander understand that the status of women must be really low in Adhania.
He wondered how much of it was religious dogma and how much of it was culture and the result of times.
But whatever the reason was, the little word Ptolomy had uttered carelessly made Alexander want to spread his own religion, which would have many feminine liberties.
This was certainly not a purely altruistic motive as, although locking women inside their houses was a vition of basic human rights, from Alexander''s pragmatic lens, it was more of a waste of humanbor and resources.
Women generally made up around half the poption and so locking them up in houses and having them do menial jobs was just a waste of precious resources.
Understanding what was at stake, Alexander decided not to eat the cake in one bite, recognizing the fact that changes took time to take ce and so toned down his demands.
He proposed apromise, "Fine, then, Since Your Majesty is so adamant, let''s do it this way. The goddess Gaia, because she is a woman, will be revered as a subsidiary god of Ramuh, with her statue ced a head below Ramuh to show her lower status. The statue will also be made of stone to disy her mundanity aspared to the golden statue of the god Ramuh."
"Andst of all, her temple, next to the temple of Ramuh will be much smaller and less grand."
This new, more submissive portrayal of the goddess and hence her followers pleased Ptolomy and he was of the mind to grant Alexander the person.
But the fact that the people would see Ramuh and Gaia at the same time gnawed at his heart as he felt he would remind the people every time that there was another god other than Ramuh.
So he proposed, "I can give you the permission to build Gaia temples in Zanzan and one small one in Adhan. The people of these two provinces can also worship Gaia without persecution."
"Your Majesty is magnanimous," Alexander thanked Ptolomy with a bow as thetter gave the permission to worship Gaia in two provinces when the former had asked for only one.
The temple at Adhan was meant by Alexander to be purely symbolic.
But for Ptolomy this was not a big deal as he doubted if even a single worshipper of Ramuh would change faith to a small, unknown, foreign goddess when they lived right in the hearnd of Ramuh''s faith.
And only the future would tell how right or wrong Ptolomy was to allow this.
For now however, Ptolomy was unaware of the future and was instead busy proposing a new restriction, "But there is no need for the goddess to be next to god Ramuh. I believe gods should reside in their own temple." Ptolomy imed.
This new condition was not a deal breaker for Alexander, as the reason he had proposed it was just as Ptolomy had predicted, ''To make the remember Adhania had a second patron god.''
And he could let it go if Ptolomy was beingpletely obstinate, but Alexander felt he could pry this concession out of Ptolomy.
He chuckled, "Your Majesty, you are still stuck in the past times. Remember you are not the only one who is iming the title of ''Divine son of Gaia. Amenheraft is doing it too."
Ptolomy wrinkled in displeasure at his thought as Amenheraft''s im was and would continue to erode his authority in the future,
? "What does that have anything got to do with this?" Ptolomy had an exasperated tone to his voice as he knew Alexander never said anything without reason.
"Your Majesty, Amenhearft ims to be the descendant of one god. Why don''t you im to be of two!" Alexander had a sly smile as he said this.
"Two?" Ptolomy asked in surprise.
"Yes, two." Alexander nodded, "If God Ramuh is your father, then proim goddess Gaia as your mother. After all, even the gods need a partner to produce a son."
Alexander imed this as if he was an expert in god biology,
And then he quickly added, "Of course, the mother''s status is much lower than the father''s."
Alexander''s new proposal moved Ptolomy as he thought it was a good way to differentiate himself from the ''imposter''.
And so Alexander got to keep his statue next to Ramuh.
Alexander was mostly pleased with this result, although sighed a bit in his heart, ''Welp! Looks like I was being too greedy,'' at the thought that he was unable to get full, equal status of his religion aspared to the religion of Ramuh.
There was also one more important thing, arguably the most important thing that Ptolomy had missed in Alexander''s proposal.
Ptolomy had paid too much attention to the religious im and he even took into ount the tax and judiciary system demand, which he consented to as all this was standard practice as well but he missed Alexander''s hidden masterpiece- the ''own governance structure'' that Alexander had demanded.
This was mostly nced over by Ptolomy as he understood it as being Alexander''s ability to appoint his own nobles and peerage.
This was also very normal and raised no red gs for Ptolomy.
But in Alexander''s mind, it was something wholly different.
He had his own ideas about governance and statehood that if revealed, would cause major earthquakes throughout the ruling ss of Adhania.
And for that reason, Alexander chose to keep that a secret for now.
Getting these concessions, Alexander opened his mouth for more, "Your Majesty, after I take over Zanzan city, there are bound to be nobles rebellious to me. I, therefore, ask you to grant me the permission to kill any noble that disobeys me!"
"That¡" Ptolomy hesitated at Alexander''s bold demand.
This was one of the powers exclusive to the royal family and more urately the king and not even a Pasha could kill a mere shordar (baron) without the king''s consent.
Of course, the nobles, being the creative murderers they were always found ways to get around it, from poisons to assassinations to forced suicide, but at least on paper, they could not formally try and execute a member of the nobility.
This was in fact one of the core strengths of the royal family that allowed them to rule Adhania, as any noble in favor with them was unkible, and any not, just a dead man walking.
This ethereal hold on the nobles'' life was what allowed the king to project his will all over the country and Ptolomy wanted to absolutely deny this request.
But for Alexander, it was vital that he could do this as without it his ''own governance structure'' would be useless.
So he reasoned, "Your Majesty, the nobles that do not submit to me, in return do not submit to you. In other words, they are rebels and traitors. They deserve no mercy."
Ptolomy frowned a bit at these words and then, "Okay, you can punish them. But remember you can only do it to the nobles of the Zanzan province and no one else. And even then remember to exercise restraint!" Ptolomy after repeatedly emphasizing and warning Alexander atst relented understanding that he would unlikely be able to retaliate against Alexander even if he did kill some nobles.
At least that was the case for the time being,
And so, since it was inevitable, Ptolomy didn''t bother wasting his breath arguing and just gave it to Alexander.
Alexander was happy with the meat he had managed to get till now.
And with these privileges whetting Alexander''s appetite, he decided to open his mouth a bit wider, "Your Majesty, I have noticed that the three provinces of Adhan, Matrak, and Zanzan will have to fight the other nine provinces. I propose that I get to keep any province I conquer!"
This proposal, though many would expect Ptolomy to blow his top, was met with rtive coolness.
Ptolomy held no illusions that Pasha Farzah and Alexander would not want morend for their assistance in helping him keep his throne and knew there was no point in trying to deny this.
So he haggled, "That ¡that''s too much. I''m already giving you Zanzan, I can at most give you another."
But Alexander''s appetite was too small to be satisfied with just one province.
He started by reminding Ptolomy, "Your Majesty, you are not giving me anything. You are exchanging Zanzan for Adhan, which going by your own word, is a steal for you."
Then he then out a dejected, forlorn sigh, "But what can I do? This is reality, this is the fate of the weak and powerless."
And afterward, in a swift mercurial shift, Alexander''s tone chirped up as he demanded, "Your Majesty, let us divide the nine provinces evenly among the three of us- Your Majesty, Me, and Farzah!"
Chapter 145 Laying Foundation
Dividing the loot evenly three ways between the three factions might sound like a fair move, but to Ptolomy it made no sense.
Why should the royal family get the same portion as a former ve?
Was the question that popped up in Ptolomy''s head.
So he denied Alexander''s request and countered, "Three provinces is too much. I can give you Zanzan in exchange for Adhan. I can give you Kuleef for helping me defend Adhan and I will give you Abu Hamam once you help me win the civil war."
Ptolomy offered by pointing to the two coastal provinces south and southeast of the country.
This proposal sounded generous on paper, but Ptolomy conveniently left out the fact that Alexander would still have to fight and conquer them, which were a thousand and two thousand kilometers respectively from Zanzan, and this was not to mention how those two provinces bordered Ankoot and Aqliah- two ultra-royalist provinces.
Alexander was not happy being denied a whole province, but also not unhappy with the proposal as this was adequate to keep him busy for the next ten to twenty years.
He however chose to hide his pleasure and insteadment in mock sadness, "Fine, two it is. I certainly can understand Your Majesty''s concern about letting too muchndnding in the hands of nobles."
Then using this jumping point Alexander opened his maw gaping wide and taking the most important bite, "But then Your Majesty, I want the legal permission to add territories of other countries as my own without any repercussions!"
The brazen, almost ludicrous proposal stunned Ptolomy and for a moment he became muted in shock.
''If I grant him that, then what will be the difference between him and me? Separate taxation, judiciary system, religion, ability to appoint nobles, and now the freedom to annex other territories. All these add up to make a free country!'' Ptolomy at least had that much IQ to understand what Alexander was proposing.
So he roared out in anger, "What! Has power driven you mad? I always knew you were ambitious but this is reaching for the trees and trying to grab the moon!"
"Denied! Denied! Absolutely denied!" Ptolomy burst like a raging, broken record yer.
Alexander only sneered at the tirade and got Ptolomy to calm down, "Your Majesty, then tell me how do you expect to win the civil war that will inevitably happen?"
"That¡" In a swift mercurial change of mood, Ptolomy''s face began to change to various colors as he contemted the problem of opposing nine provinces with the strength of three scattered ones, with one being a cripple.
But even faced with his reality, Ptolomy understood it was a supremely bad idea to give Alexander this power, "That¡ we can defeat them on our own. Anyway, there''s no point giving you that power as you would then be a free country."
"Haaaah," Alexander let out a heavy sigh.
If he couldn''t get permission to annex foreign territories, Alexander would seriously contemte leaving Adhnaia with the temple loot.
But before that unfortunate finality could ur, Alexander offered hisst tender, "Your Majesty, it seems we have reached an impasse. So let me provide two options- I want five provinces for helping you- Zanzan, Ankoot, Kuleef, Abu Hamam, and Jahruba."
"That¡" Ptolomy red up but was stopped by Alexander raising his hand, and saying, "Let me finish."
Alexander then continued, "Without me, you would have nothing. No city, no throne, nond, and likely not even your life. When Arazadm, wanted you, there were many that wanted to exchange you to avoid the war, just ask Petricuno if you don''t believe me. But I went to war for you."
"Alexander that''s¡" Ptolomy awkwardly stammered.
But Alexander paid no heed, "Giving five provinces away to rule over the other seven provinces is a deal you would have taken in a heartbeat when you were running away. But now, you don''t want to?"
Alexander when gave his ultimatum, "Give me five provinces or give me the power to annex foreignnds."
Then after showing the stick, Alexander decided to sweeten the deal, "Choose thetter and I will give you the billions of ropals I got from the temple."
"That¡when did that loot be yours?" Ptolomy asked incredulously.
And Alexander replied with narrowed eyes, "The day I decided to take it from the temple!"
He then asked with a sneer, "When did that loot be yours?"
"I¡that¡" Ptolomy had just assumed it to be his as the loot of hundreds of tons of gold coins was being stored in the pce.
Alexander here decided to clear Ptolomy''s confusion, "Your Majesty never hired us for a specific price. So the loot is the mercenaries'' properties."
"When did mercenaries start costing billions of ros?" Ptolomy raged in indignation at this daylight robbery.
Alexander quickly quipped, "The day the mercenaries captured the jewel of the east and helped a stray, pauper rebel sit on the throne. From that day, they started costing billions of ros."
Ptolomy''s face darkened like the moon clouds at Alexander''s mockery and he felt immeasurable fury at how, in his mind, was being ripped off.
But Alexander ignored the king''s foul mood and restated his demand, "So, Your Majesty, please choose- five provinces or billions of ropals and the permission."
After Alexander finished, a song of silence and quiet descended upon the room, as Ptolomy struggled between the two options or the potential third one of firing Alexander.
And while Ptolomy thought, allowing his brain to calm down, he began to think that the second option might not be as bad as he thought it to be.
Alexander would be given a poor, underpopted, malnourished, and infertile province, surrounded by hostile nobles and provinces.
For him to just protect his existing territory would be a huge challenge, so expanding his territory seemed almost out of the question.
Thus Ptolomy, with a fake mask of reluctance, said, "Fine, I want my billions of ros."
"Hehe, you have made a decision you won''t ever regret," Alexander congratted, though in his heart he sneered, ''Hehe, you have made a decision you will sorely regret.''
Ptolomy then asked Alexnader, "Alexander, how do you intend to give me all the money? That money byw belongs to the church. Many nobles, even many pashas won''t like this."
Alexander though had a perfect answer for this, "Rest assured, Your Majesty, I never really stole from the temple. That wealth was given to be as a gift by the temple!"
"What?" Ptolomy wondered if he was having hearing problems or if the trantors had got it wrong.
So Alexander told Ptolomy the full story, "Over fifty priests and priestesses, and hundred of my men bore witness that it was Azura and Azira who picked up the coins and put them in my hands."
"They did what?" Ptolomy for the second time in a row thought he was having hearing troubles.
So Alexander reassured him, "That''s right Your Majesty, you can ask them if you doubt me."
"That..that..tha.." Ptolomy''s grin widened with the utterance of each syble, as he could not believe such a difficult problem had been solved so easily.
''*Sigh*, if only the boy could be tied down to me.'' Ptolomympooned.
Then he loudly cheered, "Excellentmander. With this, we can say that they were giving the coins to you, who really was my representative. And thus I can get the money with no problem. Hohoho" Ptolomy burst into boisterousughter.
Alexander only lightly smiled and then raised another issue, "Your Majesty, speaking of money, there is still the issue of payment for the mercenaries- both for yesterday''s battle and for the battle three weeks from now."
This mention of to be expenditure rapidly deted Ptolomy''s mood, who sulkily asked, "So, how much do you want?"
"One hundred million ros," Alexander gave a huge number.
"Haaah, why don''t you ask for a billion," Ptolomy almost screamed and felt like storming out of the study instead of being forced to listen to such absurd words.
But Alexander remained cool and collected and reasoned, "Your Majesty, the number is really not thatrge once you think about it."
"Oh! It''s not really thatrge, huh? Pray tell,mander! Pray tell!" Ptolomy sarcastically urged Alexander.
Alexander, who didn''t seem to get the sarcasm, seriously gave the answer, "One thousand ros shall be given to the fifteen thousand brave men that helped win us the war. That''s fifteen million ros".
"The sixty thousand men that will fight Amenheraft will also be given a thousand ros each. That''s sixty million ros."
"The various supplies and logistic personnel will cost ten million ros. Thates to a total of eighty-five million ros."
"The rest of the fifteen million will be used by me to reward my officers, captains, and the other mercenary leaders."
Alexander gave the full breakdown of the expenses.
Then finished by slyly saying, "So, you see Your Majesty, one hundred million ros is not an excessive amount. In fact, it''s barely enough."
Chapter 146 Buying Insurance
Alexander on the surface very neatly gave his reason for the hundred million ros price tag.
But Ptolomy, having at least a basic sense of prices, only sneered, "Heh,mander, are you sure you are not confusing tustas for ros?
Then he sarcastically added, "Let me remind you in case you have forgotten, one ropal is equal to ten tustas."
"So, in essence, you are asking for a billion tustsas! Has themander turned into a wastrel just because you don''t have to foot the bill?" Ptolomy scathed Alexander.
But Alexander appeared unperturbed by this attack, understanding that swindling so much money even from a baby would be hard.
"Your Majesty is looking at it the wrong way. Amenheraft''s forces are probablyrger and definitely more trained than ours. And two to three weeks is impossibly short for any mortal to turn a group of peasants into a contingent of battle-hardened veterans. So, we need that money to boost morale and make the soldiers fight out of greed." Alexander cleverly made his point.
But even this appeared inadequate to convince Ptolomy, "We are already giving them three meals a day even when we have a chronic food shortage. What more can they want?" He asked.
"And a thousand ros for each of them! Have these peasants ever seen a thousand ropals in one ce?" Ptolomy eximed in incredulity at the high prices quoted by Alexander.
"Thirty million, The drought has depleted the treasury and that''s all I can offer." Ptolomy gave his offer.
Of course, Ptolomy conveniently left out the billions of ros lying literally on the floor inside his pce right now.
In response to Ptolomy''s vehement opposition, Alexander wagged his silver tongue, "Your Majesty, you have a few billion ropals which I doubt any of your forefathers had in raw cash. So what is a mere hundred million out of a few billion? A few small percentages. Remember Your Majesty, all the money in the world is of no use if it is locked up inside a safe gathering dust."
Alexander then warmed, "If you do not spend this money, and we lose, then this money will not save you. As a matter of fact, it will then only end up in Amenheraft''s hand while you and me will likely end up dead."
He then enticed "The next war will likely be the hardest battle of your life, Win and you will experience a meteoric rise. Lose and you will be thrown into the abyss."
"Can you take that risk just for a mere seventy million ros?" Alexander asked perhaps the most important question of Ptolomy''s life.
This clear way of representing the fact was a novel concept for Ptolomy and it really put things into perspective.
Could he ever forgive himself if he lost his life because he skimped out on a few tens of millions of coins, a sum he could more than makeup in about a year?
Could he ever forgive himself if he lost in such a way when the heavens gave him back the city he never in his wildest dreams could have thought he would get back?
The answer that Ptolomy came up with was- No!
"Will we win if I give you the money?" Ptolomy asked with a pointed stare.
"Winning is up to the gods. But it will maximize our chances," Alexander gave a diplomatic, evasive answer.
"Heh, I wish I could talk like you," Ptolomy sniggered but ultimately agreed to Alexander''s proposed budget.
"Well, I presume that''s all?" Ptolomy''s head was starting to hurt a bit with all the haggling.
"Yes, almost everything I wanted to talk about is done," Alexander said with a light smile.
"Almost?" Ptolomy asked in surprise.
''What more ways can he cheat me'' He wondered.
Alexander then brazenly said, "Your Majesty, let''s do away with the superfluous, polite bullshit and talk frankly for once."
"You don''t trust me and I don''t trust you, So I want some guarantees that the conditions I negotiated will be respected. To that end, I want Azura and Azira as my concubines an¡." Alexander did not get to finish his sentence as Ptolomy interjected.
"That''s not upto me to decide," He curtly cut off Alexander.
Then Ptolomy quickly added, "Amenheraft doesn''t really care about them, but part of Pasha Farzah''s reason for this rebellion is to ensure their well-being. Whatever you want, discuss it with him. I am too weak to help you."
Ptolomy made his position crystal clear and Alexander understood this was really upto to the former to decide.
So, Alexander proposed, "Then let them remain in my custody till Pasha Farzah demands otherwise."
This Ptolomy assented to.
And then thinking it was over, attempted to say his closing statements.
But Alexander peeped, "You cut me off before I was finished, Your Majesty."
He then continued, "I wanted Azura and Azira to check against Amenheraft and Farzah. But I still want someone to check against you."
Next Alexander slowly spelled out his arguably greatest demand, "I want, Princess Hellma and the Queen mother as guests!"
BAAANNNGGG!
Ptolomy smashed his fist on the hard oak table with everything he had, wanting to really connect that fist with Alexander''s face and seriously contemting if he should try to.
The force of the hit was so great that his fist got bruised and if one looked closely enough, one could even figure out that the table had be a bit darker red, stained by the small amount of blood smeared on it.
Alexander''s trantor even jumped up a bit in fright at this aggressive action, while Alexander only chuckled in his heart, ''Hehe, found his weak spot.''
Done with this show of force, Ptolomy cursed out profanities, while flinging his arms wildly, "Fuck off. No deal. Just fuck off!"
In the face of this vituperative tirade, Alexander remained cool as a cucumber and steady as a rock, Ptolomy''s outburst only strengthening his resolve to get those women.
After allowing some time for Ptolomy to tire himself out and cool down, with Alexander even going as far as to ask his trantor to offer the king some cold water, Alexander coolly said, "I remember when I met you two days ago, in that tent. There you said that you intended to take back some of thends you promised to the Tibias and Cantagena.."
"I never said that," Ptolomy hissed in anger at the unjust usation.
But Alexander pursed his lips and corrected, "Maybe not in so many words, but certainly you implied it."
"I didn''t imply anything!" Ptolomy violently tried to defend his integrity.
But Alexander wasn''t buying it, "Perhaps not. But that is what it sounded like to me and I''m afraid that I must take that possibility into ount."
Then Alexander made something clear that Ptolomy seemed to have missed, "Your Majesty probably stopped listening after I uttered the words Princess Hellma and the Queen Mother. But unlike Azura and Azira, I didn''t ask for them to be concubines, but instead be guests in my home."
This nuanced change in status produced a nuanced change in Ptolomy but even still he was livid.
"Guests? Haah, you mean hostages!" Ptolomy huffed out in anger.
Alexander only slightly smiled and nodded with a single word, "Yes."
"No, absolutely not. You can have anyone but not those two," Ptolomy decisively rejected Alexander''s demand.
Then he countered, "If you don''t trust me that much, you can marry one of my daughters."
"Yes, marriage," Ptolomy repeated, thinking he had found a way out.
His eyes began to shine like a light bulb and he started vigorously shaking his head, "You can have all three of my daughters and even my wife if you want!"
Ptolomy had a crazed, almost demented look on his face as he made the absurd offer willing to sell his entire family just to get those two.
''Heh, having a milf and her three identical daughters suck me off at the same time is a fantasy I would be willing to die for.'' Alexander joked in his heart.
And thenmpooned, ''But s! The naive offer has just exposed how much he loves those two and I would be a born fool not to take advantage of it."
Alexander afterward gently rejected Ptolomy, "Your Majesty, although being able to marry just a single princess is not even a dream I would ever dare to have, much less three, it is an offer that I will sadly have to forgo."
He then offered his exnation, "Your Majesty ran away with princess Hellma instead of your family, even at the threat of their execution. And now you have made the offer to exchange your family for her and the queen mother. Will they have any use as a bargaining chip?"
"That¡" Ptolomy appeared a bit flushed at being essentially called uncaring.
But Alexander continued with an even more dangerous statement, revealing Ptolomy''s deepest, darkest secret, "It''s clear that you are madly in love with your sister and adoptive mother, much more than your wife and even your daughters. This is why you so readily offered your daughters and wife and this just goes to show how little binding the offer would have on you."
"And so I can''t ept it." Alexander made his position clear.
Chapter 147 End Of Negotiations
Ptolomy was more than double the age of Hellma, thirty-two aspared to the princess''s fourteen and just a year younger than the queen mother who was thirty-three.
And him being in love with his half-sister and adoptive mother was a secret only to him.
To the rest of the women around him, it was in as day.
That''s why Nanazin had so quickly jumped to defend Ptolomy when Alexander asked him why he chose to save Hellma and not his daughter, in an attempt to keep this shameful secret hidden.
Seeing there was no point in hiding it, Ptolomy stated to Alexander, "Yes, you are right. I''m in love with Hellma and Seelima. And I only married Nanazin because of political reasons"
"And one of the reasons why I fought for the throne was to be able to marry them which normally I couldn''t. So, you see, me exchanging them for the crown makes no sense. Without them, the throne is meaningless." Ptolomy revealed his mindset.
Alexander didn''t mind Ptolomy loving the queen mother.
But as for his feelings toward Hellma, he could only call him that eleven-letter word that starts with a p and ends with an e.
However, Alexander hid these thoughts and instead seemed to empathize with Ptolomy, "Your Majesty, loving the person your heart desires is nothing to be ashamed of. The queen mother protected and raised you and it''s only natural to be in love with a person who cares and dotes on you."
"And simrly for princess Hellma, I''m sure you have watched grow up right in front of you. You certainly helped rear her, care for her, and even yed with her. So, it''s only natural to develop feelings of longing and attachment to such people."
"I, Alexander certainly won''t judge you." Alexander loudly proimed which managed to draw looks of slight gratitude from Ptolomy.
Alexander then nodding his head in an understanding manner said, "Since Your Majesty is so adamant then let''se to apromise that satisfies us both"
Alexander then offered his new terms, "Instead of them being a guest in my home indefinitely, they will stay only for seven years, And they will each write a letter to you once a month confirming their well-being. I believe that should satisfy us both."
These much mellower terms softened Ptolomy but he still grumbled, "Seven years is too long. Two years is the maximum I can give."
But Alexander would not budge that much, "Your Majesty, you have said that you fought for the throne to get the two women. Tell me, since you waited almost thirty years is a mere seven really that much? Are you willing to throw everything that you already have just for a pittance?"
Alexander then raised in palms, "I''m sorry Your Majesty, but two years is too short. Five years is the minimum I can ept. Anything less and I fear all the agreements we have reached in thest few hours will be for naught as I don''t believe you will stick to all of them."
"You don''t trust your king?" Ptolomy had a tinge of anger in his voice at a mere mercenary making such acquisitions.
Until now, nobody had dared to so openly call him a liar.
"Hehe, of course, I do Your Majesty. I trust you with my life," Alexander said animatedly in an exaggerated way.
"But I also believe in the phrase, ''Trust but verify''," Alexander spoke a phrase he always lived by.
Listening to Alexander''s ultimatum and thinking back how he would likely lose everything if he refused this, Ptolomy''s face went through a myriad of kaleidoscopic shades of colors as his heart burned and ached at the thought of not being able to see his most beloved two women.
For Ptolomy it felt like a part of his soul was being ripped apart.
But, fortunately, the man did not let his emotions rule him and instead let his brain make the decision, and so he finally agreed to the proposal, albeit with a small modification, "Fine, they will stay with you for five years as guests. In the meantime, you are not to touch a single hair on them or by Ramuh, I swear it will be immediate war." Ptolomy threatened in a menacing way.
And given how crazed Ptolomy was about the two, even willing to go as far as to sell his own family to get these two, Alexander didn''t doubt Ptolomy''s resolve, and so quickly promised, "I wouldn''t dare, Your Majesty."
While in his heart Alexander swore, "That bitch poisoned and killed herst husband. You think I''m gonna touch her with a ten-foot pole?''
"Ummm," Ptolomy curtly nodded and then added hisst addendum, "And they will be required to participate in the Sacred Jtaama (Pilgrimage) held in early September every year "
"Of course, Your Majesty. I will personally escort them to Adhan," Alexander quickly promised in joy, not knowing what he was getting himself into.
"Good, then I will hold you onto that promise," Ptolomy heavily nodded.
And with this, the negotiations came to a close,
Alexander''s fears of Ptolomy not following through with some of hismitments werergely abated, which in all fairness were true as thetter really did intend on reneging on some of them, which was, at least for the time being, not possible due to the Achilles heel in Alexander''s hand
And so the duo walked out of the study, one ticking almost everything he wanted off his wish list and the other barely managing to save his dignity.
''Ahh, Christmas hase early,'' Alexander sang in his heart.
The talks hadsted quite a few hours and after Alexander came out of the study and gazed outside, he noticed that the sun had moved from the east side of the sky to the midwest side, signaling that morning had passed and even noon was nearing its end.
Alexander estimated that it was around two to three o''clock.
Feeling hungry, Alexander made his way to the main hall of the pce downstairs, where he felt the whole floor being wrapped up in the sweet, earthy aroma of cooked porridge.
The cooking to feed the hundreds of thousands of people tomorrow had already begun.
Alexander followed his nose and the hustle and bustle to pinpoint the center of the chaos and was soon taken to a part of the pce he had not yet visited.
It was past the inner courtyard, through a secondrge corridor, which then opened up to a grand hall even bigger than the front one.
And the opulence and grandeur disyed here were on another levelpared to the former hall.
The huge hall was located right next to the Life sea, with one small door leading to the pce that Alexander entered by and the three other sides only barricaded by magnificent pirs, allowing everyone to bathe themselves in the warm breeze and the sandy shores of the sea.
The structure was more than a hundred meters going by Alexander''s eyeball estimates, made of ck onyx floors and white marbled pirs giving it a dissonant feeling using the contrasting colors and making one feel reverence and diffidence once inside.
The marbled pirs were huge and craved with golden mosaics halfway up, making them sparkle in the golden sunlight like they were made of solid gold.
The ceiling was domed shaped, with many colorful religious depictions of Ramuh decorating the inside walls and with huge golden chandeliers hanging off it to illuminate the ce once the sun set.
There was a raised white marbled tform at the end of the hall, right at the edge of it, just bordering the sandy beaches and all along the border of the hall. at regr intervals, there were many small pools filled with water.
Next to these were velvety, translucent curtains, hidingrge beds next to them.
The whole architecture and the painting made the ce feel like a ce of worship while the pools and the beds made it feel like a ce a noble would bring his concubines for some sybaritic fun in the water and bed.
''Is this the royal family''s temple or the king''s personal haram?'' Alexander asked himself as he noticed both the ritualistic and hedonistic motifs.
Little did he know it was both and he would soon be forced to be a part of it.
But right now, the ce was neither as it was being mobbed by literally ten thousand people.
Currently, next to each of the forty or so pools was a huge burning log fire, on top of which sat a gigantic pot of boiling porridge, bubbling away.
Several ves and servants attended to each of the huge pots, stirring the gruel inside, putting fresh wooden logs to keep the fire going, cleaning the umted ash from underneath, pouring the water from the pool into the pot and mixing it with the grains to make the porridge, and once cooked, removing the huge heavy pot off the fire by cing thick wooden sticks under the neck of the pot and lifting it up with the help of several men and then recing it another one to start the process again.
The whole ce screamed one word- Busy! Busy! Busy!
Chapter 148 Preparation For Tomorrow
Alexander came here to see how the preparation for the great ''feast'' that was about to take ce and was quite satisfied by what he saw.
All the people seemed to walk with purpose and determination and although there was some chaos, overall the situation seemed orderly and organized, albeit a bit noisy.
Carts full of grains and firewood were being transported to each cooking station by donkeys and then dumped right on the floor.
Buckets full of water were being taken out of the jacuzzi-type pools to fill the pots, while some had run out of their pool water and were now being serviced with barrels of water drawn by donkey carts.
After each batch was done, the earthen pot would be reced by a simr-sized one, while the former would be covered with a piece of cloth, Alexander suspected them to be curtains, and then put on carts to be stored in the temple.
''Looks like Cam is doing well,'' Alexander praised, as although he believed others might have done everything he was seeing right now, that covering the food was something only people close to Alexander whom he had taught them to do, would have followed.
After all, personal and dietary hygienes were very low among all strata of society in this time period.
Alexander, after looking around a bit, finally found his mark- Cambyses and went to greet her.
"So, how''s it all going?" Alexander asked the woman who was talking to a servant about some water shortage.
"Alex, finished with the meeting?" Cambyses greeted him with a smile, while off-handedly gesturing to the servant to make himself scarce.
"It was good. I will tell youter," Alexander yed down his victory with a t tine and pursed lips.
And then asked about the preparation, "So, any problem with anything?"
Here Cambyses let out a tired sigh, "You dumped us with so much work without any warning. Honestly, it''s overwhelming."
"I''m sorry. I shouldn''t have overslept," Alexander apologized while at the same time taking a dig at Cambyses, for which he was rewarded with s stinging pain on his foot as Cambyses stepped on it, sending a menacing look at Alexander.
She did not appreciate the fact that Alexander, after thoroughly enjoying himself with her and Ophenia, was now ming them for his blunder.
"Easy tiger," Alexander only chuckled.
And then asked, "How much are you cooking?"
"When Menicus came to me, saying I was to lead the servants to cook enough food to feed four hundred thousand people in less than twenty-four hours, I thought it was a joke," Cambyses informed Alexander.
Then continued, "But other doing a bit of math, I figured it wasn''t that bad. Well, it was bad but not THAT bad." She emphasized.
Cambyses afterward showed her working, "Four hundred thousand people will each eat around, talking generously, two hundred grams of grain. That''s eighty tons. And since grain to water in porridge is around one is to two, that makes each serving six hundred grams or two hundred forty tons in total."
Cambyses further added, "We have ten thousand people working here, five thousand of our own, and an extra five thousand Menicus snatched from the ve dealers in the city. So thates to twenty-four kilograms of food to be cooked per servant. Granted not all of them are cooking but still, this number is doable."
Alexander was very impressed with Menicus, for his quick thinking, as getting so much help within a few hours was no small task.
It required cunning, decisiveness, guts, and most of all experience.
Right after exiting the hallway, Meniscus understood the mammothness of the task, and so sent a phnx unit into the city to get all the ve dealers to ''donate'' their ves to the pce for three days.
Some agreed immediately, and some needed some steel, pointy encouragement, but in the end, they allplied and within three hours, the pce had five thousand extra pairs of hands.
Alexander was also impressed by his pupil''s mental math capacity, "Your math skills have not gotten rusty. Good,"
And this praise made Cambyses smile a bit.
Alexander then asked, "What are you cooking? And how much can you make in an hour?"
Cambyses gave the menu, "We decided to keep it real simple, Just water, grain, and salt. Thankfully, due to Adhan being literally next to a sea, the pce warehouse that mountains of the white stuff."
"As for how much in an hour, we are limited by how many pots we have to store the food. You see those pots?" Cambyses pointed to the huge cooking pots and said, "Each of those can feed a phnx of around three hundred, So around a hundred kilograms. We have a total of sixty cooking stations and those pots are quickly filling up. If Heliptos did not send more from the nobles, we would have been in trouble." Cambyses revealed her bottleneck.
Alexander calcted that around two and a half thousand pots of simr size would be needed to store all the food, though, in reality, it would not be that much as the cooking would continue along with the service, meaning many pots will be freeter on.
But still, that was a lot of lots.
Cambyses atst finished her speech by iming, "The majority of the cooking time is taken just boiling water. So a batch takes around half an hour, so that''s twelve tons an hour and thus we will be done in around twenty."
Alexander nodded approvingly at this speed as it meant that they would be done before dusk tomorrow, which was the deadline for the service to end.
So Alexander first praised Cambyses for a job well done while in his heart he thanked himself that he had suchpetent people working under him.
At first, he was quite afraid of the immense task he had undertaken, doubting if he had bitten more than he could chew, but due to Menicus''s quick thinking, Cambyses''s organizational power, and the servants'' willingness to quickly obey orders, the apparently insurmountable task had be manageable.
''*Sigh*, no matter how able the king is, he can''t do anything without an army ofpetent advisors,'' Alexnader reminded themselves.
After praising Cambyse for her hard work, he instructed, "Cam, these servants will have to cook throughout the night and then till dusk tomorrow. There''s no way any human being can work for so long. Feed half of them and get them to sleep. They will switch with the remaining at midnight."
"Half! We might not finish if we let so many men rest," Cambyses seemed reluctant to follow the orders.
But Alexander insisted, saying he will try to find some soldiers to pick up the ck.
And so Cambyses gave the order and soon some of the cooked porridge was being served as lunch to the servants.
But here, Alexander ran into an unexpected problem, where there were not enough bowls to serve the porridge on!
''*Sigh*, some problems are not apparent before one starts doing a job,'' Akexnadermpooned, as, like any normal person, for this kind of event. he was more worried about cooking the food than serving it.
Then he quickly ordered them to get all the pottery in the pce and use them.
Alexander also thought of the problem if some of the people tomorrow are so poor that they don''t even have a bowl to bring them with them.
And so he ordered all the extra pottery to be given to the temple to be used tomorrow in case of emergency.
This would,ter on, bring an enraged Ptolomy to Alexander demanding to know why he was just giving away priceless china to filthy peasants, to which Alexander would respond with the convoluted reply of, "Your Majesty, this is to reduce the chance of revolts. These people are unlikely to riot knowing if Amenhearft wins and enters the city, all this precious stuff will be taken away."
Then Ptolomy would simply turn away and leave, leaving Alexander to wonder whether the former bought the lie or was just exasperated.
After Alexander had done all these, and dusk was being to approach, he asked a question that had slipped out of his mind, "By the way, Cam, how did you find this ce?"
"It was the queen mother that told me about here," Cambyses revealed with a smile.
"Queen mother?" Alexander was first a bit surprised and then found it natural that that shrewd woman would intervene.
"Yeah, her. At first, we were going to do it in the courtyard in front of the pce." Cambyses revealed.
"But who knows where she heard it from, but after hearing of our n, the queen mother sought me out and told me of this location, saying it was much closer to the temple due to an emergency backdoor between the pce and the temple, and that the ce had a roof, so rain won''t be a problem." Cambyses had a cheerful tone to her voice as she recalled this happy encounter.
"And then you found that the ce also had drinkable water inside!" Alexander finished her sentence on her stead and got a nod of affirmation.
"Great, well, keep up the good work," Alexander praised Cambyses again, and then excused himself by iming, "I will have to thank the queen mother myself."
With this done, he went to find the four women to tell them about their new habitat location.
''I wonder how each of the four will react? I''m particrly interested in seeing those twins'' reactions,'' Alexander whistled in his heart as he made his way up the stairway toward their room.
Chapter 149 Convincing The Twins
Alexander first made his way to Hellma and Seelima''s room, where the mother-daughter duo seemed to have taken the news rtively well.
Though Hellma scowled at Alexander the entire time, the bigger, mature version of her only smiled sweetly and assured Alexnader that they understood the circumstances and neither of them had any problem with the arrangements whatsoever.
How much of that was true and how Alexander actually believed the dangerous women were simr in quantity- minuscule.
But Alexander''s next pair, proved a lot more hostile, as Azura and Azira only screamed and hissed at Alexander after he made the proposal.
"Huh, as if we will go anywhere with you, bad man!" Azira screeched.
"That''s right. That''s right. We are priestesses of the Temple of Ramuh. We will stay and die here," Azura who appeared a bit more mature reasoned with Alexander.
"Heh," Alexander only sneered, "What kind of priestess gives their temple''s wealth away?"
"*Hisssss*, that''s only because you tricked us, grrrr," Azira stood up on her feet like her tail was stepped on and ground her bare teeth at Alexander.
But instead of being intimidated, Alexander only found the tall girl''s reaction cute and endearing.
He then told the girls, "Whether I tricked you or not is upto the king and the people to decide. But let me tell you something your uncle and I have decided. Tomorrow you and the priests will be made to swear in front of all the people how you handed me the riches of the temple and how I stole not a single coin from there."
"That¡we will never do that. You threatened to hurt grandpa if we didn''t," Azura loudly used Alexander.
"Haha, did I," Alexander only chuckled and then brushed his hands, "Then tell the people that. Or just lie and say that you never did such things."
"We don''t lie." Azira looked even angrier at being used as such.
"That''s right! Mother taught us that lying is a big sin," Azura had a bit of sadness in her voice.
''Ah, so pure,'' Alexander was liking these two even more.
Then he informed, "Well, princess, it doesn''t really matter what you say. The king wants the billions of ros in the temple and he''s gonna get it."
"And the only way he can take it without suffering immense bacsh from the nobles is by saying that I was gifted the wealth by the priests of the temple and then gifted it back to the king."
"To that end, we have made preparations to have the twenty or some priests who told us about your father''s escape swear in front of everyone that you gave the temple''s treasures away when I demanded them of you."
"That''s a lie.." Azira shook her dainty, ebony fists in rage.
"Oh, is that really so? I thought lying was a huge sin?" Alexander taunted with a pointed smirk.
"Well, umm, it''s not fully ..true..it," Azira began to dawdle her finger as she found it hard to articte her thoughts.
But Alexander cut her off, "Whatever the truth is doesn''t matter. Not in the face of billions of ros."
Then he asked a question, "Now, tell me, princesses, what do you think the nobles and people who stored their money in the temple think when they find out that you were the ones that gave away all their hard-earned cash?"
"They¡they¡will" Azira had a shaky, scared voice as she tried to say what came to her mind.
"They will kill us!" Azura gave sound to her sister''s fears.
"Yes. And the king will agree because he will need a scapegoat," Alexander ominously predicted.
"You,,,you are lying," Azira shouted, though the certainty in her voice was distinctly missing.
Alexander picked up on this and chuckled, "Hehe, looks like even the princess doesn''t believe herself."
"Father,..father will save," Azira stammered as she tried to grasp at thest straw like a drowning man.
"No, sister, he won''t," This was Azura, who said it with a heavy mncholy in her voice.
"Sis, what do you mean?" Azira looked at her other half in shock.
"I mean, whatmander Alexander said at the dining table was probably right. Father has probably abandoned us," Azura said with choking sobs.
"That¡that¡that''s not true. Father left us because he respected our wishes." Azira almost screamed at her twin,
And then she pointed her immacte digits towards Alexander and used, "You, what did you do to my sister? Your forked tongue killed Uncle Barzan, Brother Fatrak and now it''s poisoning Azura!"
''Well she isn''tpletely stupid,'' Alexander chuckled inside that the girl had managed to get sixty-six percent of the answer correct.
Though he didn''t do anything to Azura, he certainly had was up to his elbow with the other two.
Alexander responded to the usationsid before him with a smirk, "Your Highness, your father doesn''t love you. The proof is in the fact that he left you under theplete mercy of some ruthless mercenary while he made his getaway. If he truly cared for he would have forced you onto the boat and thus saved you."
Alexander then asked, "Tell me Your Highnesses, if the person you met yesterday was not me but any other person, what would have been your fate?"
"Did you think your status as a priestess would have saved you? We massacred hundreds of priests in the temple before getting to you. And that''s not even mentioning that we don''t even worship the same god as you."
"Or did you think your status as royalty would have saved you? Surely you can''t be blind to what''s happening to the nobles in the city, can you?"
Alexander''s poignant questions deted the spunky Azira while the mncholy on Azura''s face only darkened.
But Alexander wasn''t finished, "And even if you believe that Amenhearft left you here truly respecting your wish, even then the proof that your father cares not for you, is given by the fact that Pasha Farzah rebelled partly due to the unjust death of your mother."
"Why would he have rebelled if Amenhearaft had privately given morepensation for his lost daughter?"
"That,,, that." The twins found it hard to give an answer.
They had always suspected their father had grown cold and distant in recent years, much more preferring to spend his time with their new stepmother and baby brother than them, but the duo never took that into their hearts.
Instead, they were even happy that their father was finally showing a bit of happiness after their mother''s death and the pair also particrly liked seeing their father dote on their youngest sibling,
Alexander then finished his argument by saying, "The only one who can protect you is now Pasha Farzah and me. But if Pasha Farzah does shelter you, the religious nobles of his territory will likely revolt."
"So that leaves only me," Alexander thumped his chest proudly.
Though inwardly hempooned, ''Because the nobles under me are already rebelling.''
Alexander''s words made the usually energetic twins visibly downcast and Azura, who appeared to be the maturer of the two, said, "Commander Alexander, please let us think for a while. The date of departure is not until a month and we will give you the answer by then."
Alexander was pleased to see that his efforts were not in vain and that they had managed to produce quite the effect.
The twins'' attitude had changed from outright hostility to a poignant, somber reflection of their circumstances.
So Alexander bid his goodbye, "As your wish Your Highness. Please tell me your decision before we leave. If you want to go I will take you. And if you want to stay, I will also respect your wishes."
Then with a bow, Alexander excused himself.
And as he made his way, he could make out the twins screaming and shouting at each other, clearing each having strong opinions about the matter.
"We did steal their money. So, if the people want us dead, then let them kill us," Alexander heard Azira roar out.
While this was countered by Azura yelling, "I will not die that the hands of a mob for a crime I didn''tmit."
And then Azira sneered, "Heh, when did you start fearing death sister?"
To which her sister retorted, "The day they burned mother right in front of us."
''Well looks like the girls have a lot to unpack here,'' Alexandermented as his cat-fight reached his ears.
Of course, inwardly he had already made up his mind about the duo as their personal choices were just an illusion.
Not mentioning the fact he found the girl fresh and charming, their facial expressions pure and refreshing to his eyes, even without considering that the fact that they were rted to all three great powers of Adhania, Amenheraft, Ptolomy, and Farzah, made them a vital chess piece Alexander could never let go.
If the princesses'' refused to apany him, he nned to simply tie them up and kidnap them.
And with these thoughts in mind, Alexander made his way toward his bedroom,
Chapter 150 Propaganda Drive
As Alexander made his way to get some much-needed shut-eye, he by chance spotted a familiar but unlikely figure- Camius, snooping around the third floor.
"Camius, what are you doing here?" Alexander asked with a smile as he noticed Camius''s strangely bulging pockets.
"Stealing all the things I can get away with, doc," Came the kleptomaniac''s honest answer, which caused Alexander to roar out inughter.
"Haha, fine, fine, don''t let me stop you," Alexander brushed his hands at the ''innocent'' act and attempted to enter his room.
But then suddenly, a lightning bolt of thought sparked inside Alexander as he remembered something and hurriedly instructed, "Camius, quick. I want you to find and arrest Pallidus. Now."
"Pallidus?" Camius seemed confused as he remembered the man had left the group.
So Alexander elucidated, "Yes, Pallidus. Tomorrow a few soldiers will be executed to please the nobles. And I want Pallidus mixed in there as well."
"*Whistle*, you are one vindictive man,mander," Camius grinned and then quickly left to carry out the order.
Though it was upto the individual to determine if Alexander was vindictive or somewhat too cautious as he attempted to snuff out any would-be detractors before they had a chance to grow.
Pallidus would never be on his side and so Alexander thought it was better for the man to die.
And in this way, tomorrow Pallidus would leave for a new ne.
As Camius, left, the exhausted Alexander finally managed to catch some sleep, the night being a peaceful one, as Ophenia too was tired from a hard day''s work, couldn''te to attack him.
And right around, midnight, he felt a warm, soft body hug him and the sweet, familiar smell told him it was Cambyses and then, even before the dawn broke, he felt the warmth disappear as Cambyses most likely went off to work.
Alexander too woke shortly after, right at the crack of dawn, and quickly got dressed to get to the temple.
As he and his bodyguards made their way to the temple, escorting the king, the day before them promised to be a glorious one.
The light blue sky showed nary a cloud in sight, as a cool, northerly, salty wind graced the people of Adhan with its presence, the still early, dim sun shining gloriously in the eastern sky.
Alexander was looking forward to the day but a report fromst night did cause him to frown a bit.
He was told that when Grahtos had told the people that free food would be given at the temple tomorrow, a crowd immediately began to gather right at the edges of the inner city gate as early as noon the day before, and many even attempted to break in.
The crowd had swelled to such heights by dusk that a riot seemed imminent and Menes quickly sent the eight hundred men from Alexander''s group to suppress any unruly behavior and then promptly shut the gates.
''*Sigh*, hopefully, we can maintain order,'' Alexander wished in his heart as he recalled the report.
And his heart was calmed by the knowledge that around five thousand armed soldiers were on standby to crush any attempted uprising.
With this reassuring thought, the entourage quickly made their way to the temple, where they were greeted by various priests and priestesses.
After the pleasantries were said, and what the priests were supposed to say double-checked, Alexander began to inspect the various preparations that were made for this day.
The inner temple was now literally covered end to end by several rows of huge, covered pots, ready to transfer their contents to the hungry bellies of the popce.
The Temple of Ramuh''s inner courtyard was raised at an elevated position, which housed the temple itself, essible on all sides by a twenty-meter wide, fifteen-meter high, four-way staircase.
Below the actual temple, was the outer courtyard, around a hundred meters long and a hundred meters wide, epassing the inner courtyard within its center.
The king sat on his throne, under a glorious parasol, right on the edge of the staircase, imperiously overlooking the outer courtyard. as he was nked by Alexander, who sat on top of his horse and both were protected by a hollow square formation of elite spearmen.
Below, in the outer courtyard, Alexander could see there were fifty, evenly spaced cooking stations, each holding a pot with a slow simmering me to keep its contents hot and bubbling away.
A squad of armed soldiers, numbering around five guarded each pot, so as to deter any idiots from doing anything stupid, or causing any trouble while two were responsible for handing out the actual food.
Alexander also noticed that each of the cooking stations had a cart full of very expensive-looking pottery beside them, as wanted by Alexander in case of an emergency.
He was pleasantly surprised by the total number of extra pottery present as he didn''t believe the pce had so many reserves, and so guessed correctly that Cambyses had likely ''requisitioned'' them from the nobles.
And after finishing surveying these secondary preparations, Alexander ced his eyes on the main showpiece of today, the main character, the person for whom all this was arranged- Kefka!
The blonde man, who had gone significantly paler, had been taken out of his sealed wrappingtest night, and given a bath, heavily perfumed to disguise any smell of rot, which thankfully wasn''t there much to begin with due to the cold weather, then dressed in the golden armor he had been killed in and atst ced in an open casket for all to see.
The open mausoleum of the king was smack right in the middle of the huge outer courtyard, made of a magnificent golden casket that Ptolomy had gifted Alexander from the treasury the previous day, and guarded by twenty armored men.
Alexander was then informed that the two mercenary leaders had bought with them the Adhanian soldiers who had been locked in the cell two days prior due to their crimes and ordered them to be ced at the foot of the temple stairway, to be soon executed.
Alexander was also secretly informed by Camius that he had sessfully managed to lure Pallidus and his close group into the cells and because the others were busy sacking the city, this group would not be missed by anyone any time soon.
This pleased Alexander because he could finally get off this thorn without much huss and fuss, as no one was likely to notice five extra men out of a hundred.
And by the time anyone who truly cared noticed, the body would have vanished into thin air and Alexander could chalk up the death as just missing.
Being satisfied by all the preparations, Alexander, atst, ordered the gates to be opened, and soon a tsunami of hungry, impatient peasants assaulted the temple.
But after the expected initial chaos, order was quickly established under the expert guidance of the four thousand soldiers that had been deployed just for this purpose.
These mercenaries might be unruly, but they were also professional fighters, who had long dealt with having to tame wild recruits and this experience was now being put to use here.
They used loud whistles, ear-splitting shouts and barks, and thick wooden clubs to quickly get the mob to separate into fifty separate queues, and afterward, the food distribution began in earnest, with the server loudly chanting, ''Praise be to King Ptolomy,'' as he poured the hot gruel on to the awaiting empty pot.
Alexander could see all of the fifty queues literally extending from the temple to outside the inner city gates, making him give a true sense of the scale of the total number of people that hade for food.
And as the popce waited for their turn to receive their ration, entertainment in the form of news was provided by the priests and even some soldiers, as they walked between the queues, loudly proiming the ''true story'' of the events that had folded two days ago and educating the public about the things that had really transpired in their city in the recent days.
They were both surprised and horrified to know that archpriest Manuk- the gentle, caring man that had always appeared in front of them in times of need was actually a usurper and a rebel and then were pleasantly pleased to learn about the magnificent exploits of the new king- Ptolomy.
Theymented and cursed that the twin saintesses had been corrupted and gave away all the temple''s riches and then rejoiced when they heard the king had managed to get them all back.
The popce also witnessed the hundred or so, weak, naked men being beheaded and their corpses dragged away formitting crimes against the nobles, though they were not made aware of what those crimes were.
Menicus''s men were also present, loudly trying to recruit artisans and soldiers, which caused many cheers of joy to erupt when the remuneration in food was dered.
Many excited voices could be heard wanting to join the army and this way the temple feast continued.
Chapter 151 End Of The Feast[Bonus ]
The peasants were also overjoyed when they were informed that the body of the previous king was right there in the middle of the courtyard, to be viewed and paid respects to, and when they realized that it was only observable to the few lines close to the center, many attempted to switch queues, even at the cost of dying their food collection, just to get a glimpse of a god, even of a dead one.
But soon the thick wooden clubs and the wooden lower ends of the soldiers'' spears managed to break their determination and they had to be content with just getting food.
Though all the people did have the fortune of getting to see the divine face of the living god- Ptolomy, whom, they could not fully make out with all his distinct facial features, but could still make out his royal silhouette.
''How can god be so easily viewed in the flesh so up close?'' The popce reasoned as to why Ptolomy sat so far away from them.
Time quickly rolled on, and dawn soon turned to noon, but the ocean of people seemed never-ending.
While the servers almost mechanically plopped off the liquid onto the bowls using argedle, a near-constant stream of people kept going in and out of the temple, to quickly rece the rapidly diminishing serving pots.
This was very natural as, at a rate of six hundred grams served per five seconds, the hundred-kilogram capacity pot would be empty in less than fourteen minutes.
And then multiply that number by fifty, the numbers produced would be truly horrific.
To the people carrying the heavy pots down the stairs and carrying back the empty ones, it felt like they were pouring food into the mouth of a bottomless abyss, as the previous one they just delivered would be empty by the time they bought a new one as fast as their feet would carry.
Alexander was also d that he ordered those extra bowls, as he saw many without any bowls, being so destitute that they intended to carry the scalding hot porridge on their bare hands.
This made Alexandermpoon at the absence of the magic material called stic and more specifically disposable containers, though Alexander doubted such a thing would exist in his lifetime.
As the serving was performed with almost machine-like repetition, amongst all of them, two incidents caught Alexander''s eye.
One was when a small child tripped and sshed her hot food onto the foot of a guarding soldier, which got her kicked in the stomach, and caused her to vomit as she quickly tried to scamper off with tears in her eyes.
Seeing this made Alexander absolutely incensed and for a moment he even wanted to execute that particr soldier, but instead got Hemicus to reassign that soldier to carrying the food pots up and down the stairs, while he made sure that poor girl had two servings.
After that incident, the soldiers became a lot more behaved with the popce, reducing minor harassment by the soldiers.
The second incident was not one of action but a memory for Alexander, as he watched a thin, almost cadaverous mother with an infant tied to her chest, and with three, dusty, soot-faced children trailing behind her given therge, generous serving.
The mother had no bowl with her and when she held out her hand to get the porridge but was given a crystal bowl instead, her disproportionately big eyes seemed to be in danger of popping out of her skull.
That bowl was worth more than a hundred of hers.
And her shock intensified when several simr more bowls, all part of a set were given to her children as well, making her choke with sobs while she epted the warm food.
She had only expected to be given a single serving as the only adult and could only thank king Ptolomy and God Ramuh in suppressed cries for being able to receive five servings, one for even the infant.
The mother and her children then gulped down the simple, piping hot liquid as fast as they could, not bothering to care one bit if they burned their tongue or throat, as they were afraid the food might be snatched by gangs or strong men when they left the safety of the temple premises.
Alexander watched this from atop his perch with interest and satisfaction, as even though he the orchestrator of the whole thing got no recognition, instead it going to Ptolomy, he was happy nheless.
Alexander, even in hisst life, was a cold guy, but never cruel.
He showed little emotion on his face and bodynguage, but that didn''t mean he was cruel or mean.
He never enjoyed hurting anybody and would feel happy at others'' happiness and sad at others'' misery like any other normal human being.
And even though his edges had roughened over thest ten years, the core of his heart remained the same.
Alexander had also anticipated the problem that the mother and many others like her feared and had taken steps to ensure that.
So to ensure the queues were not broken and strong men and gang members could not cut ces, he had made Grahtos and his men guard the lines from horses, catching anyone cutting lines and then sending them back to the very edge of the line, and in some case even beating the snot out of them.
After a few such demonstrations, these ruffians, under the threat of fist and steel, understood what was good for them.
Though the rich and the powerful ones, with high social skills, still managed to bribe some of the guards to get some favors.
Alexander was powerless to stop this kind of corruption as it was endemic and almost cultural and him stopping one here was futile and meaningless.
But this did make Alexander vow to make structural changes to crack down on these kinds of behavior.
The security at the back was also as tight as the front, with soldiers nking the crowd as thetter made their way out through the back of the temple using the beaches, the guards ensuring no one hid themselves in the inner city or tried to cause any disturbances.
In this way, noon soon rolled over to dusk, and the inner city gates were closed under Alexander''s orders to prevent any more people from joining the line.
Thest service ended an hourter just as the fire braziers were beginning to be lit and finally,
the duo that had sat like statues on top of the staircase, save for the asional bathroom breaks, atst, got to retire to the chambers, with both of them suffering from painful cramps.
Alexander particrly felt like his back was on fire and about to snap off, as unlike Ptolomy who got to spend the day on a cushy,fy pillow, he had to sit atop a horse for the entire day.
He had had to even change horses multiple times as the beast had gotten hungry, while he ate his meal atop the animal.
And thus his next night was spent with aching back pain as there was no one to even rub some oil on him.
Cambyses and the others had been working themselves like dogs like yesterday and when the strong, tired girl had entered the roomte at night, long after Alexander did, she could barely keep herself standing.
She had gone to bedter than Alexander yesterday and woken up before him, and this applied to almost all the servants and ves.
And the royals were not left unscathed either.
Hellma, the Queen mother, and Ptolomy''s family all helped out in instructing the servants all day long, while Ptolomy had never had to sit in one ce for so long.
Many times he grumbled and even attempted to leave the seat, but a strong re from Alexander was all it took to make the meek man sit down.
Another two notable royals that were hurt badly were Azira and Azura, who, it would not be inurate to say got their hearts figuratively crushed.
When they were made to say what had happened to two days, they spoke truthfully and although they repeatedly emphasized that they were tricked and threatened to do it, the people didn''t seem interested in such excuses.
This broke the pure hearts of the two, as, during the drought, they had served temple food reliefs to many of these people, who had epted it with joyful cries and proimed them as saintesses.
And now those same people were cursing them as fallen angels and witches.
Howmentable!
The twins would spend the night in their room crying, only holding onto each forfort and kinship.
But while the day did have its few bitter moments, overall it was an almost unmatched, triumphant sess.
There had been norge-scale disorder, no major food disruptions as the food kept smoothly pouring in, and no people that came went home with an empty bowl.
The propaganda piece worked wlessly and thus, all in all, the day sessfully ended.
Chapter 152 Ordering The Pilla
Alexander woke up the next dayte in the morning, still tired from yesterday''s hectic day, and was surprised to find Cambyses still sleeping like a baby next to him.
''Thest two days really wore her out,'' Alexander said looking at the sleeping beauty and gently caressing her face and then being careful not to wake her up, slowly got up and got dressed.
After freshening up, he was informed the artisans he wanted to meet were all waiting outside the pce which jolted his mind awake.
He quickly ordered them to be let inside the hallway and instructed the kitchen to give porridge to them, to which theyplied by serving yesterday''s leftovers.
Alexander then called over Theocles and ordered him to take inventory of the pce armory and take count of the weapons and armors left, so he knew the required amount he needed to order, as he feared the armory might be empty with all its equipment being in use with Amenheraft''s army.
Alexander estimated that this would take two-three days, and so in the meantime, he got Menes to assign the few thousand artisans that hade drawn by the smell of food, new homes in the inner city previously owned by nobles.
They were then instructed to move in with their families as only then they would get the promised rations although this seemed redundant in many eyes, as most artisans had their workshop right next to the house and this order did nothing but increase themute time to their work, Alexander had his reasons.
Alexander also remembered to send his captains and stratos out to start calling back all their soldiers and have them report back to their barracks, as the three days were up and if they didn''t return soon, it would count as desertion.
Heter met with the leaders of the cksmith and carpentry guild, and after ordering as many as possible at most 4mm thick steel wires, he presented them with a few strange drawings, which he demanded to be made by tomorrow.
And atst, he went to the barracks, where the recruitment of fifty thousand soldiers was taking ce under the supervision of Menicus and because almost every man that could hold a stick had applied, drawn in by the promise of food, the old man and the thousand soldiers under him were busy separating the wheat from the chaff.
The simplest way was making them walk under an elevated horizontal stick of around five foot two height, and anyone who did not need to lower their head to pass through it was disqualified.
This automatic failure caused many to plead to the supervising soldier to let them pass, but after a few exemry strikes to the bum, such time-wasting practicesrgely disappeared.
There was also the simple strength test where a wooden, makeshift monkey bar had been ced and recruits were required to keep themselves off the ground for ten seconds to pass, though even this easy test proved to be a watershed for many of the malnourishedmoners.
"Half these wastes are struggling to hold their souls in their bodies, where are they gonna find the strength to hold shields and spears?" Alexander could hear the loud, gruff grumbling of the frustrated mercenary leader.
Menicus informed Alexander that given the quality of the recruits, he would need at least a week to select, arm, and form formations using them, and only after could the training begin.
And with a helpless sigh, Alexander could only urge the veteran mercenary leader to do his best.
''Ohh, I remember that the Romans needed four months or seventeen weeks to turn a recruit into a soldier. So what can I do with just three?'' Alexandermpooned heavily.
But it was what it was and thus the fourth day after his conquest of Adhan ended.
The fifth day was a special one for Alexander, as he had received the final tally of the total loot of the temple, which came to a grand total weight of two hundred tons, giving an overall haul of ten billion (10 billion) ros.
Most of the coins were not in ros but in a much bigger denomination called the ''intas'', which was a thousand timesrger than ros.
This new coin was made of twenty grams of solid gold, unlike the ros which was a smaller coin made of silver and bronze and just two intas would equal a farmer''s annual pay.
In context, Adhania''s yearly taxes were only five billion ropals, which was split among the temple, the twelve provinces, and all its nobility.
Even in his twilight years, when Alexander''s nation would be known for its trade andmerce, this would still be a sky-shattering number to Alexander.
And now, this ridiculous amount of money was currently at Alexander''s fingertips and he could only let out copious amounts of heavy sighs that he would have to give almost all of it away.
So, after cutting off the hundred million ropals as promised by Ptolomy to him and embezzling an additional fifty million as his ''sry'', which would remain the record amount of ''sry'' anyone took for a thousand years, Alexander ordered the rest of the literal mountain of coins to enter the belly of the royal treasury.
After personally supervising this, Alexander had lunch and then met up with Grahtos.
He then asked about Laykash and was pleased to know that the boy was well and walk using a crutch.
He afterward asked the cavalry captain to form a scouting party and have them ride south to detect and survey Amenheraft''s forces.
He specifically demanded that the scouts be able to warm him as least a week before the assault began the true position and the strength of the opposing army.
He also wanted detailed reports about the terrain, about specific locations of brooks, streams, rivers, swamps, viges, and particrly hilly and rocky terrain where marching speed would be severely limited.
After seeing Grahtos receive the orders with a military salute, Alexander then went to meet with the cksmiths.
Theocles was yet to give him the inventory list, but he still had other things he could have these artisans create.
He particrly intended to task the men into making mainly two things- the pilum and chainmail.
The pilum was a Roman-style javelin, around two meters long, consisting of an iron shank around 7-8 mm wide and 60mm long, attacked to the wooden shaft using two nails.
Alexander designed the pilum to be attached by only one nail and reced the other with a wooden peg, which weakened the connection and helped serve its purpose.
And what was its purpose?
To prate phnx shields and make them useless.
This magnificent capability was achieved by manipting several factors.
First, the javelin was thin, with the iron part being only 7mm in diameter, meaning it had more prative power with the same force as the area was less.
Next, the triangr tip was hardened using a technique called quenching, where the iron tip would be heated till it became red hot and then immediately dumped in cold water.
This would make the tip hard and brittle while keeping the rest of the iron skank soft and bendable.
Thus, when the thin iron piece would hit any hard surface, like a shield, the hard, thin tip of the pilum would slice through the shield and embed itself into the shield, pinning the arm of the soldier into the shield.
At the same time, the force of the impact would snap the thin wooden nail holding the shank to the wooden handle, destroying it, and causing the soft iron shank to bend at a ny-degree angle, thus preventing the soldiers from simply yanking the stuck piece of iron off their shield.
The Romans had used this to great effect in their thousand-year history, especially during its early years, where this tactic devastated opposing phnx formations that relied on theirrge, round shields to stave off opposing phnx attacks.
With their crucial defensive weapon, the shield taken out of action, the phnxes would be left naked and vulnerable, and much more susceptible to enemy attacks.
And although this alone would not win the war for Alexander, it would certainly help level the ying field a lot.
The rest would have to depend on the tactics at the battlefield and Alexander had already thought of which to employ.
But all these thoughts were unknown to everyone but Alexander, much less the confused cksmiths who didn''t know what to make of his half-spear, half-javelin thing.
But the design and manufacture were simple enough and so they assured him that with thousands of them working around the clock for more than two weeks, even a hundred thousand would not be an issue.
Alexander was very pleased by this, and though he would not need so many as he only needed to hit the front rows, he intended to take these extra supplies to Zanzan with him.
Pleased that his wonder weapon will be ready and be soon ready in bulk, Alexander then proceeded to present the cksmiths of this time with a much more difficult challenge, making a chainmail armor!
Chapter 153 Chainmail And Last Minute Preparation
Chainmail was a superb type of armor made of interconnected steel rings that provided very good protection from sword, spear, and arrow strikes.
This type of armor had not been invented yet and it was also not something that was going to be used in the uing battle as it was too time-consuming to make a lot of in the short time they had.
On the contrary, this was more of a pet project of Alexander, as he wanted to have the presumably the best cksmiths in the country try their luck on making this very good, but also prohibitively time-consuming piece of armor.
He wanted to see how viable it was to make such armor with the existing technology and the unforeseen challenges that existed.
So, he got a few cksmiths together and first showed them the basics he had learned while he was working for a proppany sometime earlier in his previous life.
Thatpany specialized in making urate historical reenactments of medieval weapons and armor for movies, TV shows, and medieval hobbyists and Alexander had worked there for a few years as one of their steel makers and quality ensurer.
So, he knew how to make chainmail.
Which he was now demonstrating to the armorers.
First, he took the long, about 4mm thick wire and started passing it through a draw te.
A draw te was a small metal or in this case, wooden rectangr piece, which had several small holes drilled into them, ascending from bigger to smaller, through which steel wires would be drawn, first through the bigger ones and then progressively through the smaller ones, till the wire was the desired diameter.
Alexander wanted the wires around 1.5 to 2mm in thickness, and so using the tongs as a vice, he forced the steel wires through the smaller and smaller holes till he was satisfied with the size.
Afterward, he took an L-shaped wooden mandrel, about 8mm in diameter with a hole in the lower end of it, and put the wire through that hole, intending to make a spring.
Once he started spinning the mandrel using the L-shaped handle, the wire spun along with the mandrel, winding against it and bing a spring.
After the spring reached around 10cm in length, Alexander removed the spring from the mandrel and then using the tongs started cutting the individual rings of the spring, while leaving an ovep.
Next came the real armor-making part, as Alexander took a ring, using the tongs to slightly open the cut ends of the rings, and then put four more rings through the center ring to make a 4-1 shape- i.e- One ring containing four others inside it.
This pattern could be repeated as many times as one would like, attaching additional rings to the side rings to make the structure bigger and bigger until a whole shirt of small rings or as they were called chainmail was manufactured.
Chainmail came in mainly two types- categorized by how the open ends of the rings were closed.
The first was one where the hammer was used to beat the two ends together and make them t and just stick to one another.
This was called butted mail and it really was not good against sword or spear strikes or really anything substantial.
Though butted mail was historically urate in Alexander''s previous times, it was really not that effective and one might even be able to tear a butted mail using his bare hands.
The far better way to make chainmail was using the second option- by riveting the mail.
Riveted mail was made when after the two open ends were hammered t ovepping one another, a small wedge-shaped hole would be punched through them using a chisel, and then a thin steel wire was put through the hole to hold the ends together.
The ends of the wire would be flipped up to prevent it from slipping out and thus would act almost like a nail, holding the ring together.
All the individual rings would have to be riveted like this, which increased the workload by a few times as opposed to just hammering the ends together, but also had the benefit of producing far, far stronger armor, many times better than butted mail.
And this was also what Alexander was making.
After Alexander showed the first few riveted rings and the mechanism to attack new rings to the existing matrix structure, the cksmiths felt like they had seen the sunrise from the west.
They were all amazed by this innovative use of steel as the primary metal of this time was bronze, which couldn''t be manipted like steel as they bought crack underrge deformations.
Alexander gave his size and then ordered the cksmiths to make as many full shirt chainmail as they could, knowing that it would be unlikely to be many.
A full shirt mail would have anywhere between thirty to fifty thousand individual rings depending on the size of the rings and would take an average person hundred and fifty hours to make one piece.
To put that into perspective, that was working more than ten hours a day for two weeks nonstop, just to finish one piece of armor.
And if one wanted to equip an army of tens of thousands, well, one would need a smaller army of cksmiths to do it.
Leaving the cksmiths to do their work, Alexander retired for the day, and the next day he met with another group of artisans, the sculptors to discuss the making of the statue of the goddess Gaia.
He presented them with a drawing of his statue, which he had madebining Ophenia''s face, Gelene''s breasts, and Cambyses'' waist and thighs.
This produced a beautiful, but also incongruous body shape, but Alexander didn''t seem to mind as he reasoned that a goddess shouldn''t have the same proportions as a human.
The stone masons gave a deadline of a year for the statue which Alexander expected and thus epted.
Alexander in the meantime had also convened a meeting between the mercenary leaders, where he announced the payment of a thousand ros to everyone, an additional two thousand ropals to the fifteen hundred cavalrymen, and ten thousand ropals to the captains, fifty thousand ros to the stratos and two hundred thousand ros to the mercenary leaders.
This generous payment made the soldiers cheer and in general Alexander''s loose purse soon made him very popr in the army and Menes even reported to him afterward that many Cantagenans and some even from the other mercenary groups were applying to join his mercenary group.
This pleased Alexander very much and he quickly instructed Menes to ept them all.
Alexander also gave an advanced payment hundred ropals to the new recruits, which was close to an average month''s pay for the people of Adhan, and promised an additional two hundred ros if they won against Amenheraft.
But that only added to up three hundred ropal.
Didn''t Alexander promise Ptolomy a thousand ropal per soldier?
Of course, he pocketed the rest of the seven hundred as a risk fee.
He was after all taking a lot of risk by betting on the dark horse.
Alexander also told the mercenary leaders of his deal with Ptolomy and Zanzan, and asked if they wanted to join him and though Menicus and Melodias said yes, Petricuno, who was a Cantagenan and knew of its war with Exs, politely declined as he intended to fight there next.
But, one surprising man that didn''t immediately say yes was Heliptos, who had family in Thesos and was confused about whether to immigrate.
Alexander''s days passed like this, in a blurry whirlwind as he would wake up early in the morning and then make his way to the barracks to train with the recruits.
He would mainly focus on teaching them to march in unison and how to throw the pilum.
He also made them perform a retreating or backing-up maneuver and this was done in the same ce the three battles had taken ce.
The soldiers would throw their pilums and then in orderly formation back up to the hilly slopes, all the while ensuring to keep unit cohesion.
This strange training tactic confused hismanders, but Alexander insisted.
Later in the day, Alexander would spend his time reading military reports, ensuring proper stock of supplies, listening to Camius''s intelligence report about both the army and the city, and knowing about Amenheraft''s whereabouts.
Alexander had also ordered the walls of the city be reinforced, its gates properly manned and any secret passages blocked or guarded.
Finished doing this all day, Alexander would then burn the midnight oil in the royal study studying Azhak and trying to grasp the newnguage as soon as possible.
And given its close resemnce to Thesian, within three weeks, he had grasped the basics well enough to hold a half-baked conversation
Eighteen days passed like this, after which his scouts informed him that Amenheraft was spotted near the city.
War was imminent.
Chapter 154 Brutal Contest
Alexander was notified of Amenheraft''sing about a week in advance, just like he wanted.
This was in part due to Grahtos''s scouting, and also due in part due to Amenheraft not bothering to hide his approach, hoping to scare and exert some kind of physiological control ober Ptolomy.
Alexander was given the size of the opposing army to be around seventy thousand with almost all infantry, just like Ptolomy had said, with all the cavalry horses being used up by the slingers in the battle a month ago.
Fifteen thousand heavy cavalry was an enormous number, as it is estimated that even the mighty Roman army only wielded ten thousand cavalry, and if Amenheraft had that many horses, Alexander could have only hidden behind the city walls and hoped that Amenheraft would starve first.
It would have then been a brutal contest of willpower and Alexander let out heavy sighs of relief that he would not have to deal with a brutal siege but instead coulde out of the city and defeat the former king in a pitched battle.
Amenheraft led his army straight down the road, intent on reaching Adhan as fast as possible and this made Alexander deploy his skirmishers, as he sent all his three thousand cavalry (fifteen hundred horses were obtained from the nobles) to harass and disrupt the huge, lumbering army.
Under Grahtos and other simr Sycarians'' leadership, they chose to attack the baggage trains, the supply wagons, and the pack animals,unching lightning-fast attacks out of the woods bordering the road and then promptly disappearing into them after killing a few.
This tactic continued for two weeks, turning Amenheraft''s seven-day march into fourteen days and buying precious time for Alexander.
Alexander kept up the pressure constantly, dividing his cavalry into small teams and rotating the skirmishers into day and night assault troopers.
Aided by the Adhanians who knew the terrain, and the absence of Amenheraft''s own cavalry meant the huge army was not able to chase off these annoying bugs and although this harassment had negligible casualties for the huge army on the whole, at best a few hundred dead and wounded, it achieved its intended effect- to slow them down and keep the entire opposing forces on edge.
By thest few days, the nerves of the soldiers had been frayed to a breaking point by thoughts of the sudden arrival of opposing horsemen and their rain of javelins.
The appearance of ghost-riding horses had upied their thoughts as they marched, as they eat, and even as they slept, leaving them tired and panic-prone.
Alexander''s night attack had even involved some ming javelins that managed to set fire to a few tents and spread chaos and confusion throughout the army, meaning the soldiers got little sleep and rest before the fated battle.
"Who''s leading the rebel army? Ptolomy? Barzan? No, such cowardly tactics are not their style," Manuk, currently, the apple in Amenheraft''s eyes, and the leader of his army, asked in frustration.
The best way to deal with skirmishers was to ignore them, as they were rarely capable of dealing any real damage to the army on their own and could only annoy the opponent.
But being annoyed for two weeks meant Manuk''s forces were not in the best shape.
Though, even then, Manuk and Amenheraft, while being concerned, were not beating their heads over this.
They were instead busy being surprised and then rejoicing over the fact that Ptolomy''s forces hade out of the city to meet them in openbat, meaning that they would not have to engage in a lengthy siege.
"It must be that mercenary leader," Amenheraft replied from the side to Manuk''s question, still recalling those cool, azure eyes.
Then he sneered, "The lowly mongrel thinks he can beat my divine army outnumbered and using a rabble of peasants? Heh. fat chance."
Manuk too shared this sentiment, as he could see no way to defeat these battle-hardened veterans with green recruits.
While he had lost his contacts with the spies in the city, but even then he reasoned that Ptolomy had likely not gotten any significant new armies from any of the surrounding nobles and likely had built it from the raw citizenry.
This produced a trace of disdain in Manuk''s heart for Alexander, as he felt that using such people against a properly trained army in openbat was suicide.
And credit where due is due, Manuk was correct in thinking this, assuming that Alexander did intend to challenge them head-on.
So, where was Alexander currently?
He was camped atop a hill, around ten kilometers from the city.
He had marched out the day before and unlike his opponents, his soldiers were rested and ready for battle.
The city was left in the hands of Ptolomy, with two thousand of Alexander''s men left behind to guard the city, along with five hundred to guard or more urately keep Ptolomy hostage.
The leader of the pce guards was Cambyses, who had Alexander''s secret orders to kill Ptolomy and his family if a revolt urred and then light the pce on fire as a smoke signal.
With such guarantees in ce, Alexander led his army nked on both sides by the cavalry down the valley and into the open field, initiating the contact.
"Men! The devil rebel has appeared! Are you ready?" Alexander asked while riding his horse up and down the front lines, trying to motivate the men.
"Yes!" Came a thunderous roar.
"Good, show them what you got. God is with us," Alexander kept his speech short.
And the battle began shortly after, at around midday, as Amenheraft''s army crossed a deep river to meet Alexander''s forces head-on, shaking the sky with the cries of close to a hundred and fifty thousand men.
The centers and the wings fought each other head-on, as Manuk''s tactic was simple- to use his experienced and battle-hardened warriors to snap the center of the enemy army and cause a rout.
To do this, Manuk, having the superior force number in addition to possessing the better-trained army, thinned out his nks, with just enough soldiers to hold the nks, and started to strengthen his center.
Alexander''s center was around forty thousand strong and the wings an even ten thousand on both sides, while Manuk had fifty-five to sixty thousand in the center, while each of his two nks were held by his most experienced veterans of five to seven thousand each.
The idea was to use his much thicker center to ram into Alexander''s mostly evenly sized center, breaking it, and causing his army to be split in two, forming two unguarded nks and thus initiating a rout.
And till now, the battle was developing exactly like that.
Although Alexander''s novel creation the pilum caused some confusion and death during the first few minutes of the fight, Amenheraft''s experienced troops soon understood that the opponents needed some distance to throw his new kind of javelin and so ran quickly to close the distance and initiate the hand to hand melee.
Amenheraft''s forces decisively proved to be the better at this, as even when many soldiers were deprived of their shields, they still proved to present a deadly challenge to the fully shielded green recruit.
If Alexander hadn''t sent his cavalry to reinforce his wings, thus forcing Manuk to move some soldiers from the center to strengthen his own nks, the battle might have been over even before Alexander could have put his n into action.
But even with the help of the cavalry, with was only enough to slow down the eventual defeat, not stop or reverse it.
This brutal contest stabbing contest quickly passed its two-hour mark, with Alexander''s forces being pushed further and further behind.
And instead of standing their ground and fighting, Alexander''s forces let themselves be pushed around, letting the enemy ever closer to their camp.
No one, not even Manuk found this strange and in hindsight, if Alexander was in his shoes, he would not have either.
After all, it was only natural for an army of green, outnumbered soldiers to be defeated by a much,rger, experienced force.
Alexander too did not seem concerned by the approaching defeat he allowed, as he freely allowed his soldiers to retreat to the hilly, mountainous terrain behind.
This was his n, and to make it easier for the royalist army to press on the attack, he even began to recall his cavalry and thus thinning out the nks.
As Alexander''s forces retreat towards the hills, the royalist army naturally followed, eager to color their spear tips in the blood of the rebels.
And then it happened!
The phenomenon that Alexander had described and asked the stratos and captains to look out for had begun to manifest itself in the opposing army, especially on the sparely manned nks, which contained Amenheraft''s finest.
These were the cream of the crop of Amenheraft''s army, consisting mainly of nobles and heavy cavalrymen who had lost their horses and were being forced to fight as infantry.
They were highly skilled and extremely motivated, and in their zeal to stamp out this rebellion once and for all, they soon began to recklessly chase the nks of the enemy that seemed to be returning.
And this was the phenomenon Alexander tasked his officers to look out for.
Chapter 155 Phalanx Vs Terrain
The phnx was a magnificent formation in many ways.
Made of around two hundred and fifty men, the soldiers would be usually armed with a bronze helmet, a bronze cuirass, and leather hands and legs greaves, while being packed as tightly together as possible to enhance unit cohesion.
They would be armed with around two meter-long spears andrge, around a meter in diameter, shields, making their frontal attack capacity devastating.
The spears from the first four to five rows would point out of the front of the formation, intended to skewer the enemy, while the rest of the rows would point their spears upwards at a nted angle, in an effort to ward off any iing projectiles.
This bristle of spears were nigh invincible in frontal attacks, except against other phnxes and the formation proved so effective that it was the standard and mostly the only infantry formation of the time.
But like any and all other things in the world, this thing also had its disadvantages.
While it was unmatched in frontalbat, the tight packing of the soldiers meant that it was virtually defenseless against nking and rear attacks.
It was also not possible to reduce the packing of the soldiers as it would dilute the forest of spears and thus lower its deadliness.
Of course, the people wielding these formations were not stupid and knew of these shorings, and topensate for this, they made sure to add more and more phnxes together, to cover the nks and make the whole army act in concert and with cohesion.
And that was the key word- cohesion.
Because while a phnx with cohesion was one of the deadliest military formations of its time, a phnx without cohesion was like a pack of loose sands.
And this phenomenon where the phnx started losing cohesion was what Alexander asked his subordinates to look out for.
As the royalist army was lured into rocky, uneven terrain, the individual phnxes were unable to maintain the same kind of packed cohesion with their neighbors as they would on t ground, and soon, gaps began to appear between separate phnxes.
This was particrly evident in Amenheraft''s nks, which wereposed of zealous nobles eager to hunt the ''fleeing'' enemy down quickly.
To encourage this chase, Alexander had purposefully thinned his wings by recalling his cavalry and instructed the rest to orderly retreat like they had practiced, giving the impression that they were close to routing and only needed onest attack to break them.
And the enemy took the bait, hook, line, and sinker, as soon the bloodthirsty nobles began to veer off on their own, leaving the safety of their brother units and opening their soft underbelly or more urately their soft nks to the enemy.
And though most in Amenheraft''s army missed this, as all were on the same level ground as the others, the captains of Alexander''s army, with their elevated positions on top of a horse, did not.
Two particr people who had been hawkishly looking for gaps and spotted them immediately were Grahtos and Remus, who were the leaders of the two cavalry wings Alexander had created.
After Alexander had called them back from the nks to regroup, they were instructed to wait and then on their initiative lead their cavalry into the opened gaps of the phnx and jump on the defenseless sides of the soldiers.
Remus recalled Alexander describing the phnx as an ''armored fist'' that is used to punch through the enemy, with its strength being derived from how closely the units or in this analogy the fingers are clenched tightly together.
Alexander said that if the fingers were tight andpact, it would be a devastating punch, but if the knuckle became loose or gaps formed between the fingers, just like how a punch would lose its power, simrly, the phnx would be vulnerable.
And to Remus, it appeared that the phnx, at least those in the nks of the enemy had be just that - vulnerable.
So he took his fifteen hundred horsemen in a lightning charge towards the right nk of the enemy, while Grahtos followed suit with the left nk, slipping in between the gaps of the enemy''s ''fingers'' and slicing each down.
And the result of all this was as Alexander had expected.
These horsemen appeared to the royalists like hyenas pouncing on them, smashing into their undefended nks and cutting them down by the hundreds per minute.
Many died without even understanding how they died, by what magic their brother units that were supposed to protect their side had disappeared, or even where these horsemen hade from.
While the massacre of the nks was urring, the center of the royalist army had also begun to lose cohesion.
Because of therge concentration of soldiers, it had taken them a bit longer to be sufficiently spread out, but once they did, the individual captains of Alexander, from their horses, recognized the weak points immediately, and then skillfully led their men through these narrow gaps, causing devastating losses to the royalist army.
The royalistmanders and especially Amenheraft watched this horror show unfold with stunned disbelief as he repeatedly urged hismanders and particrly Manuk to find a way to save his army.
But the king...former king, only got a wall of silence and a look of terrified, dejection from thetter as Manuk informed the king with a slow shake of his head that there was nothing he could do.
Manuk was truly helpless to stop the copse of the army, as, from his perspective, the events of the war folded like this- they were winning one moment, and then suddenly a bunch of horsemen had somehow got in between their phnxes and now they were getting mowed down.
As Manuk confirmed the enemy prating themselves within his own army''s ranks, he understood the battle was over and with Amenheraft''s permission, blew the horn of retreat.
Though it wasrgely redundant by that point, as the army had already begun to rout.
Amenheraft, Manuk, and his royal entourage then swiftly evacuated the battlefield, soon crossing the river and running not south toward Zanzan but east, toward Ankoot.
But while this small amount of people on horseback could run away without much problem, the rest of the army could not.
Alexander''s army, especially the light cavalry had a field day chasing down the fleeing infantry, they being spoiled for choice on who to stab in the back next.
But it was not Alexander''s men that imed the most lives- it was the deep river that Amenheraft had crossed to meet Alexander that did most of the killing.
Soldiers in blind panic waded into the deep, river in full armor, only to be swept off their feet by the blinding current of the mountain river.
Three dayster, Alexander would be informed of a dam formed of metal, leather, and rotting human flesh that had built itself downstream and he would order the clearing and proper burial of the deceased.
But that would beter, as currently, the soldiers were erupting into jubnt cries of ecstasy.
They won!
They had finally won!
The Cantagenans rejoiced at finally having vindicated themselves after their two consecutive defeats and the Adhanians rejoiced at being able to drive away the ''evil rebel.''
Alexander too breathed the biggest sigh of relief to date as he felt bing andlord was just around the corner.
In his eyes, the battle was closer than it appeared and there were a few times he feared the battle might be lost.
Amenheraft''s wings, even when outnumbered had threatened to break his own multiple times, and only by sending his best units, the mercenaries along with people with Menes and Menicus to inspire the troops could he hold the line till the fated time.
Alexander could find little fault with Manuk''s strategy as using a stronger center to break the opponent''s one was a time-tested ssic.
His decision to put his most experienced troops on the nks was also practiced regrly, the idea being to use the experienced soldiers to break the opponent''s nks and then mp down on the nks of the center,unching a three-pronged- left, right, and center attack and destroying the enemy
The only small criticism that could beid on Manuk was not using his best troops in the center, or not giving the nks enough support to scatter Alexander''s.
But thetter could be countered by the fact that if Manuk had done that, his center''s attack power would diminish, meaning Alexander could redeploy some of his troops from the center to the nks, bncing the forces out.
The arguments against the former could be that elite units work best in small numbers.
For example- a knight could kill a simrly armed and armored peasant any day of the week, a hundred percent of the time.
But if that number would be increased to hundred vs hundred, it is likely the knights will suffer some casualties.
Change that to a ten thousand-man battle, the battle would be much more even, as the peasants together would be able to far better make up each other''s deficiencies.
So, ultimately Manuk lost this battle, not because of poor tactics, but poor terrain.
Chapter 156 After Battle Celebrations
The basic mopping up took until dusk, as the killed were gathered and buried in a giant pit.
To kill or capture any fleeing stranglers, Alexander sent out his cavalry to hunt them down, which he estimated to take a few days, while he and the bulk of his victorious army made their way into the city, along with their captured ves and loot.
He and the soldiers entered the city under a cacophony of cheers and joyous cries by the jubnt public, and even Ptolomy and the royal family hade out to congratte Alexander, nked by his new pce guards led by Cambyses.
The long procession of soldiers, along with the new ves and the huge number of carts full of grains caused the crowd to shout in rapturous tion as they watched their victories brothers, fathers and friends enter the sacred city with their heads held high.
In their minds, this victory signified the son of Ramuh emerging triumphant over the evil kingyer and thus restoring the kingdom to its proper inheritor.
A further reason for their celebration was Alexander''s announcement that to celebrate the win, the day after tomorrow free food would be given at the temple, which made the popce chant his name.
Yes, his name.
Not Ptolomy''s name but his name, i.e- Alexander''s name.
This caused a frown to form on Ptolomy''s face, but remembering that this dangerous fiend would be voluntarily handicapping himself with that waste of a territory, Ptolomy decided to let go of his treasonous action.
The root of the people chanting Alexander''s name was the result of the hard, back-breaking work of Camius, who had worked tirelessly thest month to form at least the basic skeletal framework of an embryonic spywork.
He had arranged for criers in the town square to repeat what was said in the temple, he helped the people know more about themander of the army- Alexander and he bought gangs and street rats under his payroll to better control the city.
And under this incessant propaganda, the fruit of thatbor finally materialized itself as the popce now put Alexander just below Ptolomy.
After Alexander led the soldiers into the city and had them return to the barracks, he immediately called for a tally of today''s loss and got an initial estimate.
Further, more urate reports in the preceding days would make Alexander that today''s battle had not been just the defeat of Amenheraft''s forces, but it had also significantly hurt his political standing, crippling him in the fight against Ptolomy as a lot of the nobles that supported him were in the nks of his army and got cut down to ribbons.
The losses suffered by Amenheraft, in general, were catastrophic, out of the seventy-three thousand he hade with, he had only managed to take with him a paltry five to six thousand, with forty to fifty thousand dying by Alexander''s hand or drowning in the river, while the rest, numbering around twenty thousand were captured as ves, with Alexander''s losses numbering less than a thousand.
But what was worse was how the losses were disproportional for Amenheraft.
The six thousand that escaped were mostly green recruits who had run earlier and faster than most, while Amenheraft''s creme de crop- his nobles, his heavy cavalrymen, his experienced officers, and captains got either killed or captured.
And Amenheraft''s misfortunes did not end there as his losses were not just limited to personnel, but material too.
Particrly, as evidenced by Alexander, Amenheraft had left behind massive amounts of grain that Alexander oh so graciously epted.
A total tallyter would reveal the number to be close to fifty thousand tonnes of grain, enough to feed the city of half a million for six months.
The origin of this grain was it being looted from Tibias and also forcibly requisitioned from the popce of the Zanzan province, along with the generous donations by various nobles, which Amenheraft had the intent to use to feed the starving capital once he retook it.
And now all this hadnded in Alexander''s hand.
The night after the battle was a joyous one for Alexander as he held a private feast and drinking binge with the mercenary leaders and his captains.
They all congratted him on his genius, sang songs, and generally made merry.
The celebrationssted till the crack of dawn, and everyone there woke up the next day, by earliest at noon, with none spared the massive aching headache that came apanying such reckless drinking.
But although these people were spared more pain drinking pains, Alexander was not, as he was immediately invited to another great feast, in the evening, this time thrown by the royals, inviting him, his close family, and the few nobles still alive to eat, drink and enjoy themselves.
The nobles present there all congratted and spoke titudes of cajoling ttery, first to the king and then to Alexander, particrly thanking them for executing all those pce guards, and once again taking their oath to their liege.
Speaking of ''liege'', the one currently being referred to one- Ptolomy, had drunk himself till he was wasted, bing so inebriated by the end of it that he even started professing his love for Alexander.
This prompted the Queen mother to quickly and forcibly remove the king from the dinner table and escort him to his chambers before he could humiliate the royal family any further.
Though some might forgive Ptolomy for letting his hair down as the man for the past month had lived in constant fear and anxiety.
He had vehemently protested Alexander''s decision tounch an attack on Amenhearft, even when he had been provided with ample reasons why it had to be done, instead insisting on using the walls to repel the attackers.
Alexander had unequivocally shot these down, which he could do as he was the sore militarymander in Adhan, and then to keep the king busy, made Ptolomy personally write hundreds, if not thousands of letters to send to every tin-pot noble out there, exining the ''real'' situation to them and then tempting them to switch sides by promising rich rewards.
Though the reception then had been lukewarm at best, now Ptolomy drank like a fish knowing the nobles understanding how the winds have changed, would soone flocking to him, to pledge their allegiance.
But the one offer that made Ptolomy particrly happy was the offer sent by him to the pasha which proposed to give each pasha a one-time, cash payment of five hundred million ropals if they swore their allegiance before the battle with Amenheraft.
And though that particr offer wasn''t taken, causing Ptolomy to let out constant sighs of regret, now he was drinking himself to high heaven at the thought of how those pashas must be kicking themselves.
After Ptolomy was removed from the dinner party, many of the serious and fake smiles got removed as well, as many began to mingle among themselves.
Alexander noticed that the light smile Hellma had had disappeared, reced by a t, almost unfeeling look as she probably contemted her fate having been changed from being killed by Amenheraft to being abducted by Alexander.
''Zanzan is a wastnd. Perhaps it would have been better to have my head chopped off than die slowly and in agonizing pain after being struck with a disease.'' Hellmampooned while cursing her mother for not fighting with Alexander to revoke his absurd proposition.
On the other hand. the triplets - Afsarah, Afsanah, and Afsahah and their mother were in theplete opposite mood of Hellma, with huge grins stered on their faces that seemed to threaten to tear their cheeks open, as they immersed themselves at the thought of being from now on called queen and princesses.
While Azira and Azura had a distinct air of awkwardness around them, not knowing if they should feel sad about their father''s loss or rejoice that the man that didn''t care for them any longer didn''t seed.
Alexander left these people to their own devices, as after the sumptuous feast, he was soon treated to a different kind of feast- a carnal feast consisting of Cambyses, Ophenia, and the most surprising of all, Gelene.
The three hungry subi quickly drained Alexander, using their various orifices to pleasure Alexander and bring him to release after release.
Ophenia had dressed exactly like she had done before, but this time, under the hands of the experienced Gelene, she was bought to even greater heights as her piercings were pulled with just enough force to make the girl experience both pleasure and pain.
Ophenia sang with unrestrained roars as Alexander pounded her tight hole while her clit and nipples were pulled and twisted by the other two.
Cambyses seemed even wilder than before as after sucking out Alexander''s release from the other girls, she then shared it with them via hot kisses, letting Alexander have a clear view of the milky fluid being swirled inside their mouths.
But there were two special highlights of the night for Alexander.
One was when he received a double titjob from Ophenia and Gelene.
The white pure angelic face of Ophenia contrasted perfectly with the dark, devilishly beautiful countenance of Gelene, and the two girls'' skillful use of the tongue, made Alexander release the fluids multiple times in their mouths.
The second was the girls lining up with their butts toward Alexander and shaking them toward him, tempting Alexander to choose them.
This made Alexander have a nosebleed, as the sight of three huge, magnificent asses- pure white, tanned, and ck, all tempting him to choose them, made his blood boil.
And he enjoyed all three with unrestrained zeal, drowning himself in prurience till the crack of dawn.
Chapter 157 Pasha Farzah [Bonus ]
The next day proved to be a busy one for Alexander, as he was informed midday of a five thousand army making their way toward Adhan.
Alexander immediately ordered the gates to be strengthened and then asked Ptolomy if he could identify the forces as friendly or hostile.
Both were possible, as they could be either friends who came to pledge their allegiance to Ptolomy, or they could be hostiles who intended to reinforce Amenheraft but had not managed to join the king in time.
Ptomloy soon confirmed them to be the former as he identified by symbol as Pasha Farzah''s coat of arms, which made Alexanderment to Ptolomy, "Revealing himself just after all the fighting has been settled. Heh, what a snake!"
Ptolomy gave a silent reply.
Alexander soon ordered the gates to be opened and though he was reluctant to let five thousand soldiers loyal to someone else enter the city, Alexander understood that his free reign over the city of Adhan wasing to an end as more and more nobles with their forces woulde to support Ptolomy.
Pasha Farzah had bought a lot of food with him, which pleased Ptolomy greatly as both he and Alexander received the great noble from the pce doorsteps and cordially invited him inside.
But the most pleased to see the close to seven feet, thick bearded, very muscr man were none other than the twins Azira and Azura.
They sped towards the thickly padded man, giving him a mighty hug and shouting joyous cries of "Granddad, granddad."
"Haha, I''m so d to see the two of you safe," The giant bear-like man let out a burst of uproariousughter as he hugged and then effortlessly took the two adult girls up in his arms.
''He''s strong.'' Alexander remarked as he scanned the famed schemer.
Tall, wearing a heavy jacket with fur boots, with a heavy mass of silver hair on his head and face, the square-shaped, chiseled face emanated strength and stability.
Alexander failed to find a wrinkle old wrinkle on the man''s face and unless he had seen it for himself, he would not have believed that his man had two adult granddaughters.
While Alexander was sizing his potential adversary or potential friend up, the shrewd lord naturally detected the curious gaze andunched his own curious gaze.
It didn''t take a genius to figure out who Alexander was, as he could think of no other who would be standing beside the king to greet him.
But what did surprise the lord was how young the armored man looked.
Farzah had read the reports, but even then he was surprised by baby fat still hanging off the man, or more urately the boy.
''He''s younger than Azura and Azira,'' Hemented in his heart, which made him all the more impressed by the boy''s aplishments.
Even if everything else was false, just how he managed to win against Amenheraft with an outnumbered and outmatched force, impressed the tall, white man.
"Your room is ready, Pasha Farzah." Ptolomy gestured for him to enter the pce and soon his entourage of eleven people were seen to their rooms.
Arge feast was arranged to be served at night, where the Pasha mingled with the nobles and got to know the true situation of the city.
And once these were done, instead of going off to bed, Farzah arranged for the king and Alexander to have an informal discussion.
''The man sure has energy,'' Alexandermpooned as he had spent the whole day arranging everything, from cing the soldiers in the barracks, to ensuring the security of the pce, to overseeing the food relief he had promised the popce today and was now eager to hit the bed.
''Instead, now I have to lock heads with the possibly most dangerous man in Adhania,'' Alexanderined as he found himself in Ptolomy''s personal study with the other two men.
Pasha Farzah spoke first, in a pleased diffident voice, "Your Majesty, let me again congratte you on your victory. Adhania finally belongs to its rightful ruler!"
"Yes, thank you. Too bad you could not have joined us in our fight," Ptolomy''s acidic tone was not lost on Farzah.
Though this particr allegation was not fair toward Pasha Farzah, as even though Alexander and Ptolomy would never believe it, Pasha Farzah really did want toe to Ptolomy''s aid.
But bad weather and initial confusion on who really held the city- Ptolomy or Amenheraft or the Cantagenans caused inevitable dys which made him unable toe to his king''s aid on time.
But the pasha had lived long enough to know these excuses if spoken would be treated like water under the bridge and so the man only lightly smiled at the usation, "Your Majesty should be aware of my difficulties. We had discussed them before, and hence why we asked for Cantagena''s help."
Then he turned his head to look at Alexander and said, "And thankfully our friends have not disappointed us. Though were there a little hup in the way, everything worked out perfectly in the end, haha."
"All by the grace of His Majesty," Alexander humbly smiled, till now content to feel the opposing man out.
"Yes, everything worked out just like Pasha Farzah said," Ptolomy nodded approvingly.
And then added, "But, you''re mistaken on the assumption that they were Cantagenans. Instead, they are mercenaries."
"Ah yes, yes, my mistake," Farzah apologized with a smile.
Of course, he was aware of who these forces were and just wanted to figure out Ptolomy''s stanch on them.
''Looks like he wants to use the boy to bnce me. The brat is unlikely to havee up with this. So is it Seelima?'' The noble contemted in his heart.
"Yes, it was Alexander and his mercenary forces that helped me get and defend Adhan," Ptolomy repeated.
And continued, "So, I''m thinking of rewarding them with Zanzan. What do you think?"
Pasha Farzah understood that that was not a question.
The king wasn''t asking, he was telling.
"Excellent! Excellent! I think that is an excellent idea," Farzah stood up excitedly while shouting cries of approval and consent.
Alexander was surprised by the crity disyed by the noble as he had expected the high noble to be snobbish and disdainful at the idea of an ex-ve being thrust into the highest echelons of nobility in one swift step.
But from Farzah''s point of view, he understood that the king had already made up his mind, and since there was no point in arguing with him, he reasoned that he might as well express his full support for the decision and try and win some brownie points.
Pasha Farzah even added, "Your Majesty is truly a genius. With Pasha Muazz''s betrayal, it is certainly an apt punishment to strip him of his rank. And with Tibias bordering Zanzan, having one of our own will mean that region of the country will once again be peaceful.
This was a naive and foolish thing to say and the trio in there all knew about this, but as this was just Farzah paying lip service, none bothered to point it out.
"Thank you for your eptance, Pasha Farzah. I''m truly honored," Alexander sincerely bowed.
He had at least the lord to grumble that thend being offered was a bit too much and was so really surprised by how well the lord took it.
''A flexible man,'' Alexander evaluated, though he understood that no schemer can be a hard stick.
"Haha, no, no, it''s only natural. For Pasha Alexander to achieve the things he has done at such an early age puts his old man to shame. You deserve it, you deserve it." Farzah roared loudly as he praised Alexander.
For him, it was really not that much of a concern if Alexander became a pasha or not.
Zanzan was a poor, underdeveloped region, while Matrak was called the second capital of Adhania.
They were also literally two thousand kilometers from each other, with two other provinces Adhan and Rusti in between them and so it would be unlikely that they would have any conflicts with each other.
Andst of all, Zanzan was already supposed to go to Cantagena, so Pasha Farzah was a bit happy knowing that now it would still belong to them.
And since they were already short on allies, having a new friendly pasha was not something he was averse to.
"Pasha Farzah tters me. Compared to your legendary exploits that His Majesty has recounted to me, I''m nothing," Alexander lightly smiled.
And then humbly asked, "I''m very unlearned of the ways to navigate the Adhanian nobility circle and I very much hope Pasha Farzah will be able to offer his insightful guidance in the future,"
"Haha, of course, of course. Just ask, just ask anytime," Farzah swung his strong arms as he repeated.
"Hehe, it pleases me greatly to see my two most important retainers getting along so well," Ptolomy had a fake smile on his face.
And then he turned to Farzah and asked, "I believe my two retainers should be joined by blood. In order to achieve that effect I''m thinking of getting Azura and Azira married to Alexander! What do you think?"
As soon as the words left Ptolomy''s mouth, the warm, cordial atmosphere instantly disappeared as to Alexander it felt like a heavy blizzard had started emanating from Pasha Farzah''s body while his face hardened up.
"What?" A low, piercing growl escaped his hoarse throat, indicating that he was clearly not amused.
Chapter 158 Meeting Of The Young And Old
Azira and Azura''s mother was Farzah''s eldest daughter and his favorite.
Being the pearl of his eyes, Farzah hence pushed for her to marry Amenheraft, who was the crown prince, intent on making his daughter the queen.
But tragedy struck when under the machinations of the previous mad king, she was burnt to death.
It irrecoverably soured the rtions between the two houses and was one of the primary reasons for his rebellion, along with the desire to snatch and protect his granddaughters who looked the spitting image of their mother.
So for Ptolomy to suggest that the twins be snatched from him when he had finally obtained them naturally incensed him.
He spoke in a low, menacing voice, "Ptolomy, I didn''te here to congratte you. I came to gloat over that rotting piece of shit they called a god and to witness how well that waste I''m forced to call son-inw has been thrashed!"
The sneer and disdain with which he said it and the scorn that the man disyed for the king seemed to surpass even Alexander, as even thetter was not so vocal about his thoughts.
This level of derision surprised Alexander, as he started to understand that maybe getting those twins would not be so easy, while Ptolomy became like a wooden statue, the shock sending him to a stunned silence.
But the fifty-five-year-old was not done yet, as, aftermbasting Ptolomy, the huge man turned his attention to Alexander, pointing his thick arms at Alexander and cursing, "You pathetic cur that swam out of the sewer. You think you low-born low lives deserve the right to even breathe the same air as us. Do you think you have reached the moon after winning just a single battle? How dare a toad like you have the gall to even think of tasting swan meat? Go back to the shit hole you climbed back from, you delusional fool, you waste of space."
Farzahunched a torrent of vituperation against Alexander, insulting him and all his fourteen generations and disying in clear terms what he thought of the proposal.
Alexander, however, unlike Ptolomy was not really offended by the tempestuous screed.
On the contrary, he was ted because the strong emotion shown by the man meant he truly cared about the girls and this meant he had a weak spot.
After the brimstone of insults had ended, Alexander lightly chuckled and calmly said to Ptolomy, "Your Majesty, please forgive Pasha Farzah. It''s just that he is very tired after his long, perilous journey and he is not thinking straight. He did not mean anything by it."
He then quickly turned to the pasha and chuckled, "Haha, the lord''s love for his granddaughters is really heartwarming. I''m sure the esteemed pasha has not been able to spend much time with the princesses since he got here and must be eager to know about their well-being."
Alexander then gestured the man toward the door, signaling the end of the meeting.
Farzah was also not in the mood to talk anymore and so, swiftly picking up his body, he got up and then mmed the door behind Ptolomy, leaving without showing any courtesy to the king.
Alexander sent a silent, cid look at Ptolomy, who returned a rueful smile.
''I''m truly a pathetic king,'' The young kingmented on his powerlessness.
With the man actor gone, Alexander also chose to see himself off, performing a perfect bow toward the king and then retiring for the night.
He slept like a baby, unconcerned and unbothered by the recent harangue or the insults, as he knew that this was just Farzah venting.
Reality had made Farzah all bark and no bite as the great pasha would have no choice in the matter.
And this proved to be the case, as the next day, Alexander was called to a private meeting with the pasha alone in his room.
There the man of great stature sat alone, wearing a simple, linen shirt that seemed to be under the threat of being torn apart by the massive, bulging muscles underneath.
"I have gotten the gist of the situation from Ptolomy and Azura and Azira. It seems I have underestimated you," Pasha Farzah greeted Alexander with these words from behind his chair.
Alexander humbly bowed and smiled, "In front of a warrior who dared to fight a god, I''m nothing."
"Hahaha, good, good. They did tell me your tongue was something else." Farzah roared a pleased grin.
Farzah''s smile then abruptly stopped, and immediately his aura turned menacing, "It would be a shame if someone were to cut it!"
Alexander didn''t take this threat with one iota of seriousness and only smiled, "My lord is being too courteous, He only needs to say the word, and I will cut it myself."
"Hah, you have a quip ready for everything," Farzah sneered.
Then asked in a serious voice, "What do you want here?"
Alexander knew he had to give a good answer as the noble was sizing him up, and so he gave a frank and mostly true, but a rather sinct version of his ambitions, "For now I want to use Amenheraft''s and Ptolomy''s infighting to make a name for myself and cement by position in Adhania. Next, I want to expand my territory, and take Kuleef and possibly Abu Hamam. Lastly, I want to be a strong enough lord that the crown, whether it''s Ptolomy or Amenheraft can''t rece on a whim."
Alexander made some grand ims.
"Haha, Zanzan, Kuleef and Abu Hamam- that''s two thousand kilometers long. Your ambition is sure not small." The pasha half praised, half mocked.
''You have no idea,'' Alexander remarked in his heart, as the goal he revealed was just a tiny fragment of his grand ambition, while outwardly he just smiled and nodded.
For Pasha Farzah, the ambitions of the small mercenary leader, of the boy, of the peasant ve, seemed like the ravings of a deranged fool, as he could never see how the boy who had no administrative experience, would be able to achieve the things he said with such a poor territory and such a low poption.
But the prudent man did not simply brush off Alexander''s dreams into the wind just yet.
He was very well aware of what a skilled general could achieve with even a small army, as evidenced by the history of Adhania.
This was evident even in Alexander''s previous life, the most famous example being when Alexander the Great started with around ten thousand men and in the next thirteen years, went on to conquer a territory spanning from Greece to Afghanistan- a length of three thousand miles.
And here Alexander was proposing conquering just half the distance, which was very much possible, even within a decade.
So although a bit dismissive, the ever-cautious pasha pointedly asked, "If that was your goal, then why ask for the ability to annex other kingdoms?"
This time Alexander gave the answer truthfully, though only half of it, "It''s three against nine." Here he was referring to how it was Ptolomy, him, and Farzah against the others.
Then continued, "I want to conquer and annex Tibias. That region has always been a throne on the side of Adhania, and conquering it will greatly boost His Majesty''s prestige."
Alexander said it like he was doing it for Ptolomy, conveniently leaving the fact that thend would belong to him out.
This irony was not lost on Farzah, who burst out into his characteristic loud bombastic pleased roar, "Hahahaha." as if he had heard the most amusing joke.
He was not justughing at Alexander''sme excuse, but his na?ve thoughts as well.
''Hah, the little pup has won two battles and now thinks he can take on Tibias. Truly the young cubs are the most fearless¡and ignorant,'' Pasha Farzah remarked in his heart.
The reason for thinking this was not just out of hubris and underestimating Alexander, but because of knowing the true difficulty of the task.
Tibias was a penins, with a very narrow and quite mountainous terrain connecting it with the maind of Adhania.
This made fighting inrge numbers generally difficult, with the effective use of phnx formations being almost impossible, and made Adhania unable to deploy its greatest weapon- its heavy cavalry.
And that was not even going for the fact that the whole region was heavily fortified, with variousrge forts dotted from thend, containing high thick walls manned byrge forces.
Adhania had never been able to break through that choke point and its navy was never strong enough to siege the coastal cities.
Knowing these difficulties, Pasha Farzah tried to offer Alexander some words of guidance, "Haha, it''s good for young ones to dream. But let this old man be the party pooper and remind you that one''s means and methods should match."
''Give up on Tibias,'' was the main message the giant, buff man was giving to Alexander.
Alexander gave a little nod and smiled, "Thank you Pasha Farzah for your advice. I will surely heed it."
Though internally hemented, ''You guys used phnxes and no siege engine to try and take such a defensible position? Huh, of course, you were going to fail.''
Alexander''s concern wasn''t if he could conquer Tibias, only how soon.
Chapter 159 Pasha Farzah Educates Alexander
Conquering Tibias was the dream of many an Adhanian king, and most new kings wouldunch at least one expedition in their lifetime to try luck but reality would soon bring them crashing down every single time.
Tibias was to Adhnia what France had been to Ennd or what Vietnam once was to the Chinese.
In fact, the act of conquering Tibias was turned into almost a meme in thenguage of Azhak, as there was a saying, ''Go conquer Tibias,'' which basically meant ''fuck off.''
Thus one could forgive the pasha for his thoughts on Alexander''s ambitions.
After giving some genuine advice to Alexander, the pasha started using his thick, right index finger to gently tap on the grey Cornell wooden table as he slowly spoke, "I have ambivalent feelings about you, you know. On one hand, I''m very d by how thoroughly you thrashed that waste Amenheraft. I don''t know if you know but the people you killed in the battle has almost decapitated his highmand, crippling him for years, if not decades."
Pasha Farzah, with his vast intelligencework, naturally knew much more about the specific losses suffered by Amenheraft than Ptolomy or Alexander.
He continued, "Even if Amenheraft does somehow manage to take back Adhan now, he would have a very difficult time gaining control over it any time soon. The base of loyal nobles he had inherited is gone and he will need decades to build it up again from scratch."
The pasha then stopped tapping his fingers and sharply looked at Alexander, "This is a result even I didn''t dare dream. And for that, to show my appreciation, I''m willing to overlook how you killed Fatrak¡if you give up on that stupid proposal."
Alexander was impressed by how quickly the pasha was able to get his hands on Amenhearaft''s casualties.
This was not the twenty-first century with its satellitemunication, meaning spies must be buzzing around Amenheraft like flies.
? But what he was not impressed by was pasha''s insistence for him to give up Azira and Azura.
That was a no-go for Alexander.
And he made it clear to the pasha, "I''m a poor, weak mercenary with no roots in Adhania. As such I might very well be thrown away like garbage once I have lived by usefulness. To safeguard against that, I need some guarantees. I need Azira and Azura"
He then emphasized, "I can''tpromise, not on that."
"You don''t trust the words of your king and his retainers?" Pasha Farzah changed his tone to a hard, harsh one.
But Alexander gave his usual, memorized reply, "Of course, I do. With all my life, But I also believe in the words, ''Trust but verify''."
"Heh, words to live to by," Pasha Farzah sneered back.
Then his tapping on the wooden bench returned as he asked an off-hand question, "Why did you kill Fatrak? I liked Fatrak."
Alexander returned the question with one of his own, "Do you know how he died?"
This caused a frown to form on the noble''s face as he was still unclear of the details.
So Alexander decided to fill him in.
"The fool confronted the king and me along with five of my soldiers in a dark corridor alone, demanding that I take my sword off and then ''surrender'' myself for punishment. And when my soldiers apprehended him and held him down, instead of taking the name of the king who was literally there pleading on his behalf to me, the idiot instead shouted your name, saying how you will kill me the moment you entered the city."
Alexander then shrugged his shoulders, and said nonchntly, "So yeah, I killed him. I killed him for the sin of being stupid."
After finishing, Alexander had expected the pasha to shout and roar.
But to Alexander''s surprise, Pasha Farzah showed no anger.
There was not even a scowl on his face over Alexander''s frank admission.
Instead, Farzah only sniggered, "You think the boy''s true nature was unknown to me? You think that haughty, pompous idiot could have gotten anywhere without shitting all over the ce?"
He answered his own question shaking his head, "No, the reason I wiped his ass, the reason I liked him¡well pretended to like him was because of his father."
"His father?" Alexander was intrigued.
Alexander could think of only a handful of positions that could draw a pasha''s attention.
''I will bet a million dors he is rted to the royal family.'' Alexander swore.
"Yes, Djoser. He is a pasha and Amenheraft''s eldest brother." Pasha Farzah confirmed Alexander''s suspicions.
And then gave him a bit of history lesson, "Alozmer had many boys. But other than three, all others are either dead or married to the daughters of other pashas. They have the title of Emir and somend but are generally weak, holding mostly ceremonial positions. There are two exceptions but generally, that is so."
"But that is not the case with Djoser, who is almost as old as me and is the pasha of the biggest port in Adhania. And that should be of particr interest to you as he is your neighboring pasha- The ruler of Kuleef!" Pasha Farzah finished his sentence with a bit of dramatic ir in his voice, hoping to see some kind of amusing reaction on Alexander''s face.
But only got a thoughtful, almost poker face, causing him to curse in his heart, ''Fool, doesn''t even know how fucked he is!"
But Alexander didn''t think himself screwed.
Instead, he was rejoicing ober the fact that he would not need to generate conflict with Kuleef, they woulde to him, giving him a perfect casus belli.
Though Pasha Farzah was disappointed to see Alexander''s nonchnt facade, he still continued, "Djoser, is a good man. And a caring father. But he has always been bad at showing this as he had always been strict with Fatrak, cing a lot of expectation on his sessor."
Pasha Farzah here paused to let out a small sigh of pity, "This excess pressure might have twisted the boy, making him be rude and confrontational, always throwing a tantrum if not getting his way. And this caused a fracture between the father and son."
Farzah then said with a small smirk, "I coincidentally saw this crack when I went to visit Kuleef on a business trip and decided to exploit it. I indulged my grandnephew''s tendencies, allowing him to do what his heart desired, which forced his father into many embarrassing and at times even difficult positions for his son''s recklessness. Haha, I managed to get quite a few trade concessions from Djoser that way." Pasha Farzaah fondly recalled.
The frankness with which Pasha Farzah revealed these secrets astonished Alexander, as he was not anyone close to the man.
Alexander also noticed how although the other pasha did not directly participate in the rebellion they tacitly and indirectly showed their support, as evidenced by the fact that a sessor of a pasha was in the retinue of Ptolomy.
''Looks like this rebellion has manyyers to it,'' Alexander took a mental note.
Pasha Farzah, then finished his speech, "So as I was saying. Djoser was a man who showed tough love for his son. Even though they appear estranged, he would not have made the sacrifices he made if he didn''t truly care for his son. He wille for your blood." Pasha Farzah warned.
And atst, added sarcastically, "Also, you killing the boy has removed a card I could have yed against him and Kuleef. So thanks for that."
''Darn, I could have used that boy. I was too hasty with the sword,'' Alexander understood that even he was not immune to the corrupting nature of power.
He swung the sword recklessly because he could, not because he should.
But soon he recovered and smiled at Pasha Farzah, "Well the past is the past. There''s no use crying over spilled milk, or in this case cut head."
Alexander spoke cheerfully, in a breezy, light tone that seemed oblivious of the danger ahead.
"Haha, that''s not a bad thing to have, an easy-going spirit," Pasha Farzah chuckled at Alexander''s ability to not agonize over past mistakes.
And then got to the main point he was trying to make, "So, boy, in return for the valuable lesson I gave you, I was hoping that you might cancel that ridiculous arrangement with my granddaughters. I''m requesting...Again."
The tone with which this giant man said the word ''hoping'' and ''requesting'' did not mean those words, it meant he was ordering.
The man''s eyes had narrowed into a crescent, like that of a wolf and his whole body had tensed up like an animal ready to attack his prey.
''He isn''t going to take a nk ''no'' very well,'' Alexander concluded.
So he made small talk, "Pasha Farzah, your obsession with your granddaughters, surely you cannot be oblivious to how vulnerable that makes you. Is it really prudent for you to be showing such weakness during negations?"
Alexander was truly curious about this as the noble did not strike him as stupid.
Chapter 160 Fight Over The Twins
"Tap, tap, tap," Pasha Farzah silently tapped his fingers at Alexander''s question.
Alexander soon figured out that the pasha would subconsciously tap his finger when he was thinking or saying something important, the sound acting as a kind of beacon for the audience to focus their attention on him.
"Do you know why I rebelled?" Pasha Farzah asked Alexander a straight question.
"No, I don''t," Alexander gave a straight reply.
And Alexander really did not know why the man rebelled.
He had theories and conjectures, but not one single solid evidence.
Pasha Farzah then turned his head away from Alexander and looked out of the window, gazing into the horizon beyond, "Then let me tell you!"
"Many think that I instigated the rebellion because I wanted to rece the royal family and that''s why invited foreign powers into the country."
He perfectly caught on to what Alexander and the others were thinking about him.
And he expressed a mocking sneer toward them, "Heh, the fools. They have no idea what the royal family means to the nobles and the popce. The faith of Ramuh has prated deep into the marrow of every citizen in the country and I''m not that big of a fool that I would attempt to supnt them."
Then he congratted Alexander, "And on a side note, that''s why I''m so impressed by how you were able to get concessions from Ptolomy to practice your faith of Gaia in Adhania. In addition to getting the right to build temples, you even managed to put a statue of the goddess in the Temple of Ramuh. Impressive youngster, impressive." Farzah praised
Alexander only lightly smiled at the apuse as the pasha then proceeded to snigger at the king, "That fool Ptolomy is too overconfident in the hearts of the people. He thinks that they will not switch beliefs when given the choice out of loyalty. Well, time will tell how true that is."
''Very impressive insight,'' Alexander remarked as he recalled that the problem the pasha could foresee just by his years of experience was something that had historical precedence in Alexander''s previous life.
''The Japanese learned it the hard way.'' Alexander recalled how in the 15th century when Christian missionaries were firsting into Japan, the Japanese emperors seemed unconcerned about it.
They failed to see the danger of the popce being converted from Shintoism, which proimed the emperor to be the god on earth, to Christianity, which believed in the son of god, Jesus.
They finally woke up to the danger in the 16th century, realizing the kind of threat the new religion possessed to the royal authority and they promptly banned it in 1614, brutally persecuting anyone found practicing it afterward.
Pasha Farzah however was naturally unaware of these and instead continued his speech, "Well, going back to the topic. The reason why I rebelled was to kill that pig and punish that waste." He was referring to Amneheraft''s father and Amenheraft respectively, the disgust for them almost solid and opaque.
"And now, that has been achieved. I am satisfied with the current result, and now, I only want to return to Matrak with the only two people that have La''s soul in them, Azura and Azira."
Then gave an ultimatum to Alexander, "So, this is the third time I am asking. Give up on Azira and Azura and I swear by Ramuh that I will not touch you. And I will also not let Ptolomy touch you."
''Heh, I''m sure you took a lot of oaths to the previous king as well. I would be a fool to trust even half of what you said.'' Alexander sneered in his heart, still unconvinced.
If the pasha''s true nature was so frank and upright, he could not have rebelled.
But the pasha''s stubbornness was proving to be an obstacle for Alexander, who then reminded, "You must have heard how the king got his hand on a few billion ropals. Azura and Azira are involved. How do you intend to deal with that?
"Haha, yes, Ptolomy did tell me about that." Farzah first lightly chuckled. "He ims that you got him five billion ropals. Which means you got him ten billion ropals." The pasha knew his king well.
"But," The pasha spoke, "If you think that, that little trick will get you anywhere, you are deadly mistaken. You called Azura and Azira my weakness. And you were right. Which is why I''m going to take them with me to Matrak. What kind of an idiot would I be if I left my weakness at the hands of others when I was so close to securing it?" He scoffed.
He made a very convincing, which made Alexander put on an intrigued face, and ask, "Oh, then the lord is not concerned about the bacsh from the nobles? Do you think they will ept their lord sheltering temple thieves?"
The pasha did not appear offended by Alexander calling his granddaughters thieves. But only mocked Alexander without disguise, "Heh, whatever bacsh I receive, do you think a weak, poor man like you can protect them better than me? Will they be more secure than in my own territory?"
Alexander gave the answer with a light smile, "I think the pasha is misunderstanding something. The king can pardon Azura and Azira''s life with the excuse of them being young and being tricked. And as a punishment, he can then banish them to Zanzan, which is a wastnd. This, along with hefty bribes will be enough to cate the nobles."
Then Alexander pointed out, "What will not appease the nobles is if the girls are sent to Matrak, the province of their doting grandfather. So, you see they ''will'' be more secure with me."
Alexander put an emphasis on the word ''will'' to answer the pasha''s rhetorical questions.
This sound argument put a deep scowl on the noble''s face.
''Looks like Seelima wasn''t exaggerating when she said that I might have met my match,'' Farzah bitterlyined at Alexander''s eloquence.
And so, with his hands almost empty, he yed hisst card, "I might cut a deal with Amenheraft to be neutral in the war in exchange for amnesty."
But instead of feeling threatened, this only managed to cause an involuntary guffaw from Alexander, "If you are seriously suggesting this, then go ahead. I have nothing more no say."
He then slouched back onto the chair and just kept smirking at the man, indicating that the conversation was over.
But Alexander spoke more volumes by not talking than he would have done by doing so.
Because only a fool among fools would actually try to do what Pasha Farzah was suggesting.
The noble hadmitted regicide.
No, it was worse.
Because he didn''t kill just a king, but a god-king.
He killed a man who was supposed to be a god in flesh.
The entire royal family''s authority was based on the fact that they were god kin and thus untouchable.
But this man had broken that illusion, he had shattered that myth, and if that man was allowed to go not only scot-free, but also get an official pardon, it would shake the royal family''s entire legitimacy to the core
And Pasha Farzah knew this as his face turned a bit pale for the first time when after a while Alexander broke the silence, "Do you think Ptolomy will ever forget you killed a king? Do you think he will fear that you could kill him just like his father?"
The question was rhetorical as both men were smart enough to know the answer- ''Yes. Absolutely.''
''They told me he was a ve just a month ago. So how does he know so much about us nobles? Why am I struggling so much against an illiterate?" Pasha Farzah was both annoyed at himself and felt a bit cautious of the boy.
After noticing the subtle change in pasha''s facade, Alexander spoke in a soothing tone, "Pasha Farzah, seems to be misunderstanding something. I''m sure you are apprehensive about your granddaughters'' well-being if they go with me. Which is understandable," Alexander said understandingly.
"But," Alexander pointed out, "Please recall that I did not harm your granddaughter when I first met them inside the temple. I did not even know of their identity at that time, so if I wanted to hurt them, that was my greatest chance...."
"Because you didn''t hurt them then, you won''t hurt them now." Pasha Farzah finished Alexander''s sentence for him in a t, monotone voice, indicating that he was not moved.
The muscr white man roughly retorted, "You not hurting Azira and Azura is not a credit. It''s only natural."
He then pointed his thick index finger towards Alexander and in a low voice snarled, "If you hadid a finger on them, it would have been war. So, your reward for keeping them safe is the conversation you are having with me and the fact that you have me as an ally, ..for now,"
He then slouched back on his chair, as if to say ''The ball''s in your court, brat.''
Alexander understood that the whole alliance with Pasha Farzah was hinging on the cement of the two and he was seriously contemting whether it was worth it to pursue the twins.
''Yes, it is. I will forever regret this if I let go of his dangerous man''s Achill''s heel," Alexander determined.
And thus he too slouched in his chair and smiled, "Well, it looks like we have reached an impasse."
Both understood the girls'' importance and neither was willing to back down.
Chapter 161 Twins Resolution
Pasha Farzah determined that even the danger of internal rebellion and attack by the royal forces was worth it if it meant getting his granddaughters.
And he expressed such sentiment by saying, "Yea, it seems that we have reached a stalemate."
"And does the pasha have a preferred way to resolve this deadlock?" Alexander raised an eyebrow as he asked this.
"Give me Azira and Azura and I promise to help your economy. I will even donate five hundred million ros to jump-start your economy," Pasha Farzah made a sky-shattering offer that sent Alexander''s heart beating wildly.
And the pasha thenplimented his carrot with a stick, "Refuse, and you will have turned an ally into an enemy, the very anthesis of what you wanted."
Alexander went silent for a while after hearing the proposal, his brain furiously calcting the pros and cons.
But ultimately, the astounding amount of five hundred million ros served to only strengthen his resolve to get the twins.
''If you are willing to dish out so much for them, they must even more valuable! I won''t let my greed blind me,'' Alexander''s eyes shed with a chilly light.
"I have ten thousand men," Alexander then sent a naked threat.
He was done ying nice.
But this only made Pasha Farzahugh uproariously as if he had heard the biggest joke in his life, "Hahaha, is that the best you got brat?"
His full-bearded grin then turned to look like he was an enraged bear as he smashed his thick as logs arms on the table and snarled, "Well, thennky brat. We are all alone in his room. How long do you think it will take me to snap that tiny little skull of yours? Huh?"
The pasha then started clenching his huge palms, big enough to cover Alexander''s face, open and closed, in a menacing gesture as if to emte crushing Alexander''s head.
"Haha, the pasha is being too polite," Alexander only let out a light chuckle, unafraid and unperturbed, "All the esteemed lord do is express his desire and I will snap my tiny, little skull myself."
This was the same answer he gave when Farzah had threatened to cut off his tongue.
But unlike before, now his light joke didn''t lighten the atmosphere in the room.
On the contrary, it only engaged the pasha even more as he felt he was being underestimated and belittled.
He really was contemting killing this cub in the crib.
But Alexander''s next bought some sense back to him, "What will killing me get you? Do you think that after I die, all the soldiers under me will forgive and forget just because you will be dangling a coin purse before them? Just because they are mercenaries?" Alexander sneered.
And then the mercenary leader changed his voice to a t, monotone octave as he recounted, "When I went to battle Amenheraft outside the city, I left five hundred of my guys to guard the pce and put my wife in charge. Do you know what myst words were to her?"
Alexander posed a rhetorical question.
"At the first sign of a revolt, kill the entire royal family and set the pce on fire as a smoke signal," Alexander no longer had the warm, cordial face he had always maintained, but instead reced it with a hard, crazed look.
"....." A strange, ufortable silence descended on the room, as the two men were locked in a menacing death gaze at each other, the air smelling like it had be saturated with the smell of gunpowder and the tiniest spark could send the whole thing to kingdome.
"So, you see, you have much more to lose than me," It was Alexander who broke the tense atmosphere as his fierce countenance swiftly changed to that of a friendly, gentle demeanor and he sent a cordial smile toward the pasha.
''I kill him, he kills them and me. One for three,'' Pasha Farzah did the simple math.
So, he straightened his hunched back and tried to call Alexander''s bluff, "The battle''s already over. And you seem to trust that your men will follow the orders of a woman."
But Alexander called it, "Then do it. Maybe you can give them more than the literal billions of ros that''s just downstairs."
"..." Another round of stifling silence followed as the pasha tried to use his vast years of experience spent dealing with others to look for signs of weakness in Alexander.
But Alexander appeared steady as a rock.
Half because he was that good, half because he trusted his pupil to know what to do.
Cambyses was no sheep, but a wolf in pig skin.
The silencested for a while, with neither side willing to back down.
But the soldiers advantage was on Alexander''s side, so ultimately, it was Pasha Farzah who broke first, unable to take that chance against his two precious pieces of heart.
He had been over the moon when Ptolomy had written to him saying Azira and Azura were not only with him but also unharmed and well.
He was so excited in fact that he made the almost two-thousand-kilometer journey like his butt had been set on fire, rushing to secure his granddaughters as fast as possible.
The reason for this urgency was because he had never been able to devise a good enough strategy with which he was confident in being able to force Amenheraft to give up Azira and Azura.
And so, now that through the machinations of fate and a bit of Amenheraft''s cruelty, he had finally managed to get his hands on his beloved granddaughters, he was not stupid enough to gamble the safety of them against a deranged, half-sociopathic, lunatic.
"You wanted apromise. So let me offer you one," Pasha Farzah clenched out the words as if he was having a hard time speaking.
But the man persevered, "Instead of Azira and Azura, let me offer you someone closer to me, my daughter. She hase with me here, maybe you have noticed."
And then quickly added, "And I''m aware one for two is not a fair trade. So I''m willing to offer her two maids as an additionalpromise."
The pasha made a face that seemed to imply that his heart was being ripped apart by the ''tough decision'' but Alexander did not grace that offer with even a sneer.
Instead, he replied in a robotic voice, "That''s not apromise. That''s not even an offer."
His octaves then rapidly picked up with each sessive question, "Does your daughter call Amenheraft father? Does your daughter call the king uncle? Did youunch a rebellion to save your daughter?"
He then sneered, "And besides, haven''t you heard the saying, ''Children are what you have only to get grandchildren? The clue is in the name- ''grand''."
"Pffff,...hahahaha," This time pasha let out a genuine cry ofughter, finding the joke truly funny as the tense atmosphere slowly melted away.
"Brat, I''m starting to like you, hahaha" Pasha Farzah admitted with a candid smile.
Of course, it was just not this joke, but Alexander''s eloquence, frightening insight, and how he brushed off his hundred million ropals bribe.
The pasha doubted himself if he could have done what Alexander had done if their positions had been switched.
This amount of willpower had gained the old noble''s respect.
"So, what''s your offer?" Pasha Farzah asked as he tapped his table.
"I''m sure the lord has heard about the arrangement between princess Hellma and the Queen mother," Alexander started with a light smile.
"I''m willing to propose a simr arrangement with them, five years as my guest, a letter a month and I will not let anyoney a finger on them." Alexander gave his counterproposal.
And this softer condition,bined with the current reality finally pleased the pasha enough as he consented with a nod, "Good, that works."
But then, he quickly added, "But I want my daughter and her two maids to apany them. To ensure you keep your word."
"That''s fine," Alexander had no problem with that, though internally hempooned, ''I hope that manor has enough bedrooms.'' as by his count his house would have twelve members. with eleven of them being women.
"And remember that if anything happens to them, it''s war!" The bellicose pasha finished with a threat.
But Alexander, instead of replying with hackneyed sayings like ''I won''t let any harm fall on them,'' he instead said, "Life and death is up to the gods. No one can predict how and where one will die."
And then he solemnly imed, "But I can promise you that they will stay in the same house as me, sharing the same roof, the same food, and the same space as me and my family. So, any fate they share, me and my family will too."
In this way, Alexander left himself a way out if by some unknown cosmic forces something were to happen to the twins.
"Hmmm, good. I will hold you onto that!" Pasha Farzah pursed his lips but ultimately nodded.
Then he added, "Well, it''s gettingte and I have a few things I need to attend to,"
By saying this, he signaled that the talks were over, and so with a bow, Alexander showed himself out, saying the Adhanian saying, "Till we meet again, let health and joy keep youpany."
And as Alexander thought back on the past few hours, he remarked, ''Sigh, that old fart was one tough cookie.''
But ultimately he was very happy with the deal he got and was eager to get supper.
Chapter 162 Strengthening Oneself (Part 1)
The next week went in a blurry whirlwind for Alexander as he had to juggle two very important thing at the same time.
The first thing was getting prepared to leave for Zanzan.
To do this, he stocked up on all the food he could get his hands on, both by swindling it off Ptolomy and by buying it in bulk from him and Pasha Farzah.
He also got Pasha Farzah to promise him to send thirty thousand tonnes of grain over the next year at a rate of three ropals per kilogram.
This was almost a rip-off for Alexander as the market price for grain was two ropals per kilogram before the drought, but what could he do?
He was desperate and also he had to pay the transportation fee as the journey by sea from Matrak to Zanzan was close to five thousand kilometers.
''A fifty percent markup huh? I will remember to return the favor!'' Alexander acidly thought in his heart though it was unknown how much of it he meant as he understood that the price he quoted was before the drought, while the current price of grain was virtually infinite.
People who could get their hands hoarded it and the people who couldn''t get it were not able to acquire it no matter how much money they offered.
After all, one cannot eat gold.
Over the past few days, after their initial frosty start, Alexander and Pasha Farzah had surprisingly warmed up to each other, growing closer, and even signing a few secret treaties.
This was because Alexander did not sense any outward hostility from Pasha Farzah in theter days, while thetter was impressed by the former''s quick-wittedness and the ability to instantly get a grasp of things.
And because their territories were so apart as to make border conflict an impossibility, in addition to the fact that they had amon enemy who was much bigger and stronger, such close ties certainly made sense.
''I''m d he is not a slimeball,'' Alexander remarked about Pasha Farzah.
He did not fear schemers as every noble was a schemer to some extent.
What he did fear were wishy-washy flippant people who changed sides regrly.
Those types of people thought themselves to be extra smart and tried to have a foot on both boats thinking that this will guarantee them a win either way.
And most of the time these over-smart people would fail in their objectives because most of the time they did things half-assed.
Alexander feared Pasha Farzah might have been those kinds of people, where he would try to y off Alexander, Ptolomy, Cartagena, and Tibias against each other and then somehow try to eke out an advantage.
And hence he was d to see the silver-haired man was nothing like that and his ambitions were really grounded to reality.
Thought this was not because the pasha was unambitious, but because he felt juggling the four powers together had too great a chance to backfire.
After all, they were not mindless puppets of his, but free people with their own individual minds. thoughts, desires, and aspirations.
There was little guarantee that they would all dance to his exact tune.
The secret treaty between the pasha and Alexander discussed economic, political, and defense matters.
Economically it was a one-sided exchange as Alexander had little of value to offer the Pasha at the moment.
So, he spent everything he had to buy as much stuff as he could- horses, cattle, mules, and various other livestock animals like chickens, goats, sheep, etc, clothes and bundles of linen, ves of all types, females, males, skilled, unskilled, etc, various merchant ships to carry his goods, few types of ores, good timber, stone, and so many other things.
The exhaustive list had been made by Theocles and Cambyses over a period of three days as they were told by Alexander to assume that Zanzan would have nothing.
Thus in a single day, the pasha had earned more than five hundred million ropals, about the annual ie of his territory, leaving the man grinning from ear to ear for the rest of the day.
But whereas trade was just a one-sided affair, on the side of the defense, it was a much more even exchange.
Alexander learned of the various tactics and military traditions of Adhania, how they liked to organize their army, their preferred tactics, their way of calling up people to form an army, etc, while the old pasha felt his eyes opened as Alexander pointed out how he defeated the phnx formation by exploiting its weakness, how he ced his captains at the back of the line on horseback to give them better visibility and situational awareness, and how his medical tent at the back helped drastically reduce casualties.
However, the thing the pasha was most impressed by was the Thomas Splint which Alexander showed while he was introducing the pasha to Laykash as the man who killed Kefka.
The pasha''s t territory up north was the dream paradise for cavalrymen and he naturally employedrge numbers of heavy cavalry,
Thus he was very excited by the prospect of how Alexander''s invention would surely save many lives who usually died of leg-rted injuries.
But the most important of these matters they discussed was rted to politics, where the two men swore to oppose Amenhearaft while also limiting Ptolomy''s influence, preventing him from seeking third-party support.
And perhaps the most important secret of the secret treaty was how the pasha had asked Alexander to open some temples of Gaia in his territory, in an effort to unshackle his popce from the iron grip the royal family had on them.
Of course, there was no way Ptolomy could tolerate the unsanctioned practices of another religion in another territory.
So the two men prudently decided to hide the temples, understanding that such things would need years, if not decades to show their result.
For the time being, the two men were content to just figure out the basic framework of their alliance and decided to add on more thingster, depending on how well the trust between them developed.
So the deal was reached that Pasha Farzah would use his significant influence within the nobility circle to help Alexander gain recognition with his peers, assist Alexander in making treaties with third parties, and in general, take Alexander''s side in the event of a conflict with any other third party.
In exchange, Alexander would do the same to the best of his abilities for Pasha Farzah as well, while also training some of the pasha''s men on his clinic''s medical techniques and the most important thing of all, sending some priests and missionaries secretly to Matrak to spread the good word of Gaia.
Alexander naturally did not spend all his time just in conference with the pasha.
He first bought two thousand personal ves from the ve traders in the city, intending to use them to start some businesses he had in mind.
He also bought a huge amount of ves, about twenty thousand of them from Ptolomy, with most of them being former soldiers which he captured the other day.
He did this because Camius told him that these prisoners were mostly conscripts levied forcefully from Zanzan and so Alexander felt that they should return to Zanzan with him.
Of course, he had done this not purely out of altruism, but also because he hoped doing this will boost his poprity with the people of Zanzan when he became their lord.
And sensing this, Ptolomy decided to exact a small bit of revenge on Alexander as he demanded a price tag of eight thousand (8,000) ropals per ve from Alexander, which was simr to daylight robbery as unskilled ves like them were typically traded around at three thousand (3,000) to four thousand ropals (4,000).
Alexander had little choice but to ept this, which heforted himself by telling, ''Welp, after swindling off so much from him, I guess it''s only natural that it would happen to me,''
Alexander also settled the payments of the soldiers who won him the war.
He gave each of the ten thousand mercenaries and the Cantagenan soldiers a thousand ropals (1,000), the five thousand Cantagenan ves and servants that fought were each given five hundred ropals (500), and the native Adhanians three hundred ropals each (300).
The captains and the various officers were givenrge bonuses too, with captains getting two thousand ropals (2,000), stratos getting five thousand (5,000) ropals and legenus (ten thousand men leader), which were the mercenary leaders got twenty thousand ropals (20,000) each.
The cksmiths, carpenters, and other artisans were paid another few million for their service and for the supplies they provided.
All in all, Alexander had spent around forty million ros in this war and pocketed the rest, earning a total of hundred and ten million, sixty million from the war funds, and another fifty million that he had outright stolen.
He had also gotten a cut out of the ten billion ropals he helped Ptolomy steal and then there was the loot he got from sacking the inner city.
Thus in total, in just about a month, Alexander had gone from a pauper ve with nothing to his name to being worth around a billion ropals!
An astounding amount and an astonishing fairy tale!
Chapter 163 Strengthening Oneself (Part 2)
Alexander''s job was not finished with just discussing treaties with pasha Farzah and getting his people ready, though just that would have kept him on his feet all day.
No, in addition to those, Alexander had to also devote time to many other things.
He met with the artisans, especially cksmiths, stone carvers, carpenters, and tanners, where he personally offered them extraordinary sries to tempt them to join him.
Whereas an artisan typically earned two hundred to two hundred and fifty ros a month he offered them a fixed sry of five hundred ropals.
And even promised them two and a half hectares ofnd after ten years of service.
This produced a lot of eager volunteers, thorough there were some that still refused, citing familiar, personal or even religious reasons.
Among them, there was one who had been involved in the making of chainmail for Alexander for whom he found the rejection to be uneptable.
This project had been kept at the highest level of secrecy by Alexander and the whole thing involved just five people in total and he would be a fool to let one escape.
The individuals involved had been told that this was the secret weapon to be used to defeat the evil rebel and because of suspected spies everywhere they were instructed to not speak a word of it to anyone, not even to their family.
And because of the shortbor force, and thebor-intensive nature of the work, coupled with theplete novelty of the whole thing, till now, in about a month just four full-sleeved chainmail had been produced, and even then they were of quite poor quality.
A skilled chain maker would mix different-sized rings together to make the whole thing flow smoothly with the body.
For example, they would userge, thick rings on the front to better protect against enemy thrusts, while using smaller, thinner rings that mesh well together on the arms and fingers to make movement easier.
But the cksmiths and armorers here had not done these at all, instead just using the same sized ring for the whole body, resulting in a much stiffer armor.
Though, in all fairness, it was not fair to criticize them for something they had never made before.
So, even with the shoddy quality, Alexander was pretty pleased with the result as these men had demonstrated it was very much possible to make chainmail with the existing technology.
What he was not pleased by was that one cksmith''s refusal even after Alexander''s repeated offer to migrate to Zanzan with him.
And so, in a cruet twist of karmic fate, while the man and his eldest son, along with a few of his apprentices who were busy working in their workshop, a group of ''rebel'' spies suddenly got wind of the secret armor being developed by the Ptolomic forces, and to stop its production, raided the workshopte afternoon, killing all inside and burning the whole shop down.
How tragic!
And to make it even more heartbreaking, that cksmith''s entire family got assassinated that very night, the ruthless spies attacking them inside their house as the phantoms somehow managed to infiltrate even the inner ring to carry out their sanguinary n.
Oh! How even more tragic!
Or at least this was the way Alexander portrayed the events after the orchestration of his macabre n.
And since this ''attack'' was made in the inner city, supposedly the most secure part of the city, against a patriot and his family nheless, this sent Alexander flying into fury, as heunched a city-widebing search for any suspect spies and Amenheraft sympathizers, and managed in two days to catch around a hundred suspected individuals and then got Ptolomy to promptly execute them for the crime of espionage.
In truth, if anyone bothered to look closer, they would have found all the suspects to be either high-level artisans such as guild leaders who had refused Alexander''s offer or members of rival gangs who had not submitted to be on Camius''s payroll.
This was not just in the heat of the moment n.
No, Alexander had already taken into ount that some of the cksmiths would not go with him and thus thought of a contingency more than a month ago.
The n started when he had asked the artisans to move into the inner city and take over the many recently emptied nobles'' abodes, even though it did nothing but increase the artisans''mute time to work.
On the surface, the excuse he had given was to provide better security and amenities for the artisans and their families in exchange for their services.
In reality, what this allowed Alexander to do was to easily spy and survey these people, hence always keeping them under surveince.
He also had hoped that these people would recognize him for the ''generous and benevolent'' lord he is and thus choose to move to Zanzan with him.
And for those who didn''t...well tough luck.
Alexander had little intention to leave Ptolomy with any significant production capabilities and this was his way of ensuring it.
Thus Alexander had managed to keep his secret armor secret, cripple Ptolomy''s industry, while also making the capital of the country, the base of power of his king and a likely rival, into a gold mine of information, all with the help of the king- Ptolomy.
But in all fairness, Ptolomy really could not have been med for this.
How was he supposed to know that Alexander was developing a brand, new, revolutionary armor in the backyard and he had one of its makers killed just because the cksmith had refused to go to Zanzan with him?
In Ptolomy''s eyes, for Alexander to kill a perfectly ordinary cksmith seemed as significant as him killing a fly or a bug, utterly pointless.
No, instead to Ptolomy, the ndestine murder appeared to be a genuine attack by Amenheraft''s royalist forces, designed to sow chaos and fear in the city and so when Alexander had handed him a list of suspects on a silver tter, he saw no reason to doubt it.
He even thanked Alexander for taking the time to deal with the city''s internal issues even though the former mercenary leader was so busy getting ready to leave.
Speaking of leaving, this exodus proved a bit of a challenge for Alexander''s spymaster Camius.
He had spent thest month working tirelessly, almost sixteen hours a day to expand Alexander''s reach into the bowels of the city and until now had managed to at least create the skeletal structure of an intelligencework in the capital.
But he naturally could not stay here in Adhan as he had to follow Alexander to Zanzan, which made him a bit muddled on who to choose as his representative here.
He had not had enough time to get to know the various gang leaders well enough and so after much deliberation he had decided to leave thework at the hands of a man called Goruk, who was the leader of one of the biggest gangs in Adhan.
How right or wrong was Camius to choose this almost unknown man?
Only time would tell.
But this was not Camius''s only job as he had also been tasked to convince the soldiers to join Alexander and immigrate to Zanzan.
This proved to be a mixed bag, as some were eager, some ambivalent and some outright said no way.
The first party mostly consisted of Alexander die-hards- people like Menes, Camius, Batholomew, etc.
People whose agreement was a no brainer
There was another group that was very eager to join, which was the Cantagenan ves and servants.
Almost all of them agreed toe with Alexander when he had promised to set them free in exchange for living in his territory and Alexander epted his first five thousand foreign immigrants.
The next group, those unsure whether to ept the offer made up the majority of the people.
They ranged from men from the various mercenary groups to even Alexander''s own group.
The main excuse of these people was mainly that they had family in Thesos and although Alexander offered to bring them here using his own money, many were reluctant to leave their homnd.
Even some of the soldiers from Alexander''s own group deserted, and all in all, out of the original ten thousand, Alexander only managed to retain four thousand.
The majority of them have from Menicus''s original group of twenty-five hundred, followed by Alexander''s and then Melodias''s.
Thergest percentage that ''deserted'' was not from Petricuno as Alexander had predicted, but from Heliptos, who had, atst, decided to stay, but his mercenary group had not.
Heliptos''s control over his mercenary group had always been weak and most of them were born and raised true Cantagenans.
So for them to leave their homnd and serve a country they had been at war with for so long was unthinkable.
These people formed thest group, people who didn''t even entertain the notion of settling in Adhania, which included Petricuno, the other two mercenaries, and the bulk of Damious''s group.
All wanted to reach their mothend and protect it.
But surprisingly, most of the Cantagenans decided to stay.
Alexander wouldter find out the reason being these men were primarily from Cantagena''s sister states and had little love for their big brother, who ording to them was overbearing and dictatorial.
''Hmmm, looks like even Cantagena''s allies don''t like her very much,'' Alexander was now more interested to know about this frequently mentioned city-state.
Chapter 164 Forcing A Truce
While Camius was busy recruiting soldiers from the mercenaries, Alexander also remembered to make recruitment drives in Adhan itself, offeringrge cash prizes to anyone willing to join him.
He particrly targeted the Adhanian army that fought with him, and the army officers.
Hence, out of the four to five hundred thousand men in the city, about fifty thousand agreed to move to Alexander.
But such a huge exodus managed to rm Ptolomy and so Alexander had to settle for just seven thousand, even then he had to pay Ptolomy a prettymission.
But Alexander dished it out, for he feared the poption in his territory might be non-existent.
Done with all, Alexander had one final job to do, where he tasked the artisans to make some new things for him.
The first and most important thing he ordered was the making of a heavy plow.
Ptolomy had told him Zanzan was infertile because of its heavy y soil, which was true when using the light, wooden plows the world used today.
But with a heavy plow, which was a light plow with a metal wedge attached to the back of it, heavy y soil, which had a tendency to hold water and stunt nt growth, could be effectively drained and cultivated, even producing much better yields than the light soil prominent in Adhan.
To keep this a secret, Alexander had the plow made separately.
He tasked the carpenters to produce the wooden part of the plow, which was just a light plow with wheels attached to it and a strange hole at the back.
While the cksmiths made the metal wedge that would actually turn the soil and tilt it.
Because iron was expensive, he had the wedges made out of bronze, though in the future, they would be reced with high-quality steel.
The second thing he had made was a horse cor that was attached to the plow.
The current straps wrapped around the trachea of the horse and constricted it, making them push against the horse''s throat the harder they pulled the plow, thus restricting the plowing speed.
But the horse cor circumvented this problem by wrapping around the horse''s shoulder, allowing the beast to pull with much more force.
Of course, the cor was not just for horses, it worked on mules and donkeys as well.
As Alexander was busy with these preparations, the second important thing that took up Alexander''s time was him asionally checking in on Pasha Farzah and Ptolomy, who were busy preparing the groundwork for the peace negotiations that were just a week away.
Amenheraft was camped just a hundred kilometers from Adhan, in a city called Harik, and his delegation was scheduled to arrive in five days.
Strangely, it was not Amenheraft that was willing to initiate peace talks but Ptolomy.
But this was in hindsight to be expected, as Ptolomy was undoubtedly the weaker side in the war, and thus needed the time much more urgently than Amenheraft to shore up his forces.
Just because Amenheraft had lost a battle didn''t mean he was out.
Even with his highmand in tatters, it was still possible for him turn it around as he had ess to much more resources.
Amenheraft was of course aware of this and was adamant about not epting any kind of truce and was eager to begin round two shortly.
But reality seemed not to favor the previous king this time.
As by abination of diplomacy and military strong-arming, Ptolomy, or more urately Alexander and Pasha Farzah had managed to force Amenheraft toe to the negotiating table.
First, the military defeat, particrly the mid to high-level personnel lost really hurt Amenheraft, just as Pasha Farzah had predicted, and it made him unable to raise another army quickly enough.
But this was Amenheraft''s lesser of the two problems.
A far, far lesser problem, as the much graver circumstances, presented themselves when Alexander proposed a n to capitalize on Amenheraft''s weakness.
And like a hyenatches onto its dying prey and starts eating it when before the prey is fully dead, the shrewd mercenary leader let the experienced Pasha Farzah set about making the trap.
The esteemed lord began this by removing the firewood from underneath and threatening to dismantle Amenheraft''s whole base of influence.
Using his vast experience he immediately pointed out the nobles loyal and critical to Amenheraft and quickly sent letters to these noble families, offering amnesty, huge bereavement payments, and even huge sums of money as bribes in the form of economic subsidies to switch sides, an offer that the poor as a church mouse Amenheraft could never hope to realisticallypete with.
He also very smartly made Ptolomy personally write these offers as a show of sincerity, as the king was forced to write letters for twelve to fourteen hours a day, while his heart bled unceasingly at the huge cheques he was forced to hand out.
''*Sniff*, was the throne worth it?'' Ptolomympooned as he gazed at his bandaged thumb, which had started to bleed after holding on to the quill for so long, his heart aching as the astronomical windfall he just gained as rapidly vanishing in front of his eyes.
But if it was some form of constion, the nobles, who were living in constant fear after realizing that they might have chosen the wrong side, quickly epted the presented the huge cheques and promptly capitted, greatly furthering Ptolomy''s cause.
And few could me them, as along with Ptolomy very politely forgiving them for all of their crimes, the money he offered was truly huge.
Even by huge standards, they were truly huge.
This amount was determined mainly by Pasha Farzah, who poured over all the financial records the royal family had of other houses and made the appropriate offer.
Usually, the targeted noble would be offered at least the equivalent sum of twice his annual ie.
If the noble was big or important enough, or particrly loyal to Amenheraft, this offer could have extended to thrice or even four times, along with a written exnation of how the money was legitimate and not cursed as this money was presented by the two saintesses to the armymander Alexander as a sign of loyalty to the rightful king Ptolomy.
The exnation went on to further say that the saintesses have been punished for their indiscretions, but as their heart was in the right ce even if their actions were not, and the king being moved by the piety shown by the two, had decided to spare their lives and simply exile them to Zanzan.
Thisme excuse fooled almost no one, as how could such an easy way of just giving away everyone''s money exist?
If it was so easy, how could the people have enough trust to store their hard-earned money there?
But what that piece of paper with some ink on it did was give all of them the perfect usible deniability and in front of such a huge amount of money, nobody was willing to look the dead horse in the mouth.
Well, almost no one, as a few ultra-hawkish and particrly zealous devotees still called for the ''witches'' to be burnt at the stake but no one took them seriously.
Everybody knew that the city had been invaded and most likely sacked, meaning the twins were just scapegoats for Ptolomy to clean off the dirty money he got from the mercenaries, who gave it to him in exchange for Zanzan.
This was the consensus reached among most of the nobles regarding the events that transpired inside Adhan and it hit surprisingly close hit to home, as it went on to prove that the Hollywood caricature of a dumb, brutish noble was just that, a movie troupe.
In reality, most nobles, receiving the best education afforded to them, were smart, resourceful, andpetent, with only a few ck sheep mixed in with them.
And being smart people, they chose to ept the money and let the royals tear each other apart, as most believed that both the royals would try and bring them over to their side, with gifts, benefits, andnds.
The nobles were not adverse to the civil war.
But they were unwilling to resume it right away, as the drought and the two-year fierce war had depleted a lot of their manpower, and they needed to get their farnds and economy in shape.
And so, like Ptolomy''s letters urged, the nobles around Amenheraft pressured the king for a truce, which, as his die-hard loyalist base was mostly dead, Amenheraft was forced to assent to.
Thus, with a grumpy heart and great reluctance, he sent Manuk and Pasha Muazz, the two most high-ranking officials still with him to Adhan, to negotiate ceasefire terms.
Ptolomy naturally had promised these delegates safe passage through the city and ten dayster the battle took ce, the two men, one representing the divine powers of Amenheraft and the other the nobles that follow Amenheraft, entered Adhan to meet with the rebel king.
Chapter 165 Truce Negotiations (Part 1)
A key point to be noted was that the negotiations were called a truce or an armistice and not a peace treaty.
It meant that both sides would only cease hostilities for a set amount of time, and resume once the time passed.
And currently, that very amount of time was being fiercely discussed.
Across arge simple table sat two of Amenheraft''s delegates, while to their opposite sat three men- Alexander, Ptolomy, and Pasha Farzah.
"We demand that the city of Adhan be returned to the rightful king and in exchange, we are willing to overlook the transgressions of the rebel," Manuk made the opening statement.
"Hehe, archpriest Manuk,e on," Pasha Farzah chuckled at the absurd demand, "There''s no need for this tired dance. Let''s stop wasting our time, and get on to the real business."
He talked to Manuk like one would to a friend after meeting him after a long time, in a soft and vivacious tone.
"Oh, but Pasha Farzah, this ''is'' real business." Manuk returned with a smile, cing a particr emphasis on the word ''is''. "
"It''s only a matter of time before Adhan is back in our hands. So, I''m giving the rebel a chance to redeem himself,...his one and only chance," Manuk said these words as his eyes narrowed toward Ptolomy.
"It may be Adhan will fall to your hands, ¡it might even fall tomorrow" This was said by Alexander in a low voice, who then added, "But only the gods and prophets know what''s in the future. For us mortals, it''s best to make decisions based on reality."
"...." Alexander''s speech drew Manuk''s gaze toward him as the archpriest burned the memory of the boy who snatched his beloved city from under him, and then deal with a crushing defeat to him in openbat.
If Manuk wasn''t unarmed, he might have tried to kill Alexander then and there even at the risk of his own life just to vent his anger.
The hateful, menacing re escaped no one''s notice as Alexander shed a provocative grin toward the archpriest.
"So, this is the famed divine son of Gaia," Manuk slowly spelled out, the mockery in his voice unmistakable.
"Haha, well I did defeat the son of Ramuh," Alexander returned the taunt with an extra helping.
And this hit a very sensitive nerve for Manuk, as he was once again reminded of his failure.
Thest battle casualty list still made Manuk have nightmares, and now the man who orchestrated the whole thing was mocking him so openly.
Hateful!
"Pasha Alexander is a bit mistaken here. You defeated the fake son of Ramuh. The real son of Ramuh is right here beside us, hahaha," Pasha Farzah burst intoughter at his own joke.
"Right, right, my bad, my bad..¡.hahaha." Alexander too joined him for a chuckle, while Ptolomy tried very hard to stifle augh as he tried to appear regal and imposing.
"*Smash*," Manuk simply mmed on the table in thundering fury, as his eyes lit up in rage.
A single action spoke a thousand words about how utterly incensed he was.
He could take personal insults all day.
He wouldn''t likely care even if they cursed his family or parents or ancestors.
But the moment they touched Amenheraft, the moment they mocked him- the moment they made fun of a god, all cards were off the table.
Manuk had personally ordered the executions of tens of thousands of heretics and it filled his heart with boiling-hot rage that he couldn''t do the same with the three people that sat before him, who in his eyes were the greatest of sphemers.
But although Manuk''s little disy had drawn the attention of everyone, for Alexander and co.. it failed to produce even the tiniest bit of fear and they roared even louder at the childish tantrum thrown about.
"My lords, it was you who wanted not to waste to time. So can we stop wasting time and get to business?" This voice was deep and oily and came from the fat, no, obese man that sat next to Manuk.
Pasha Muazz was a man whose body width seemed to exceed his body length, as the stubby man walked with the aid of a cane, the ps on his face bouncing and shaking with every step he took.
His nk was so huge that when he sat on the provided chair, Alexander had half the urge to congratte the man on aplishing the near-impossible task of somehow bncing his whale-like bber body on such a small, four-legged piece of furniture.
"Do you people have any pre-requisite conditions you would like to put forward,....any realistic conditions?" Pasha Farzah asked, pointing thest three words to Manuk.
"You people are the ones who are screaming for peace talks. You people are the ones who spent billions of ros to invite you here. So you start," The experienced Pasha gave off the vibe that it was the Ptolomic forces that need this armistice and not them.
Which was true, and because they were the ones who called first for the truce, this put Ptolomy on the back foot at the negotiating table.
"Well, first we want Amenheraft to recognize Ptolomy as a king equal¡" Pasha Farzah didn''t get to finish his sentence as he got cut off by Pasha Muazz.
"Hold on, I thought you said realistic demands," He interjected.
Alexander then looked at Pasha Farzah, who gave him the signal with a slight nod and so Alexander offered:
1. Ten years of cessation of all hostiles between the provinces of Matrak, Adhan, Zanzan, and all other provinces.
2. One hundred thousand tonnes of grain by the end of next year as war reparations
3. The expulsion of Pasha Muazz as the pasha of the province of Zanzan and the recognition of Pasha Alexander as its new ruler.
4. Free passage for the movement of people and goods among all the territories for the discussed time frame.
5. The release of nobles held in captivity by Ptolomy.
As soon as Alexander finished, Pasha Muazz swung his inted white arms around as a gesture of brushing off the offer as he snarled, "You call that an offer? Are you people drunk?"
"Here''s our counter offer," Manuk had returned to the conversation,
1.Three years armistice
2.Five billion ros aspensation for all the nobles killed by Ptolomy.
3. The third point is null and moot. Pasha Muazz was, is, and will always be Zanzan''s rightful ruler.
4. Goods entering the three discussed territories will not be subjected to any additional tolls, but goods leaving will be.
5. The release of all nobles held in captivity by Ptolomy.
6. All nobles, including the king and his family, be permitted into Adhan, and their security assured during the entire week of Jtaama.
7. Execution of the mercenary leader Alexander for the looting and killing of nobles in the inner city.
Andstly,
8. Immediate release of the princesses Azira and Azura from captivity and their return to their rightful guardian- their father, Amenheraft.
"Hah, and here we thought you guys came here in good faith to negotiate," Pasha Farzah scoffed, not bothering even to point out what he found absurd about the proposal.
"Five billion ros aspensation? You want us to pay you?" Alexander asked in incredulity at the ludicrous demand.
"Has being defeated by me cooked your brain? Or did you conjure up an imaginary world where you won? " He then sneered at Manuk.
"Frankly I''m impressed by your shamelessness. I always knew were a slimeball, but this is a new low even for you, Manuk." Ptolomy opened his mouth for the first time, jeering at the priest.
To wage war against someone and then defend payment from when they defended themselves.
It took a special kind of shamelessness to demand such.
"Heh, if anyone is shameless and a slimeball, it''s you people. Rebelling against the king, killing priests and stealing from the temple! You think we don''t know how you got all that money?" Manuk sniggered in reply, not thinking there was anything wrong with his demands.
And then he pointed at Ptolomy and shouted, "Aren''t you afraid of divine retribution for stealing from the gods and killing his messengers?"
Pasha Farzah quickly jumped in to defend his king, "Neither of these usations are true. As said in the letter, which I''m sure you have read, the priests were killed under the orders of Amenheraft as witnessed by all the surviving priests. And the money was given as a show of loyalty by the temple in recognition of the king as the true son of god." He recited the memorized script.
"And I never killed or looted any nobles. This was done by a few rioting scoundrels and they have been identified and executed," Alexander had decided to pin the death of all nobles onto those unfortunate pce guards.
"Bullshit," Manuk spat out at this preposterous im but didn''t argue it as it had been tacitly agreed to by all.
Chapter 166 Truce Negotiations (Part-2)
The pinning of all the nobles'' death on just a hundred or so handful of guards was just a paper construct, beautiful to look at from far, but it would crumble at the slightest poke of scrutiny.
Although there were many nobles who came forth as eyewitnesses as to the guilt of the executed pce guards, and this was verified independently by neutral parties, the most ring w of that recounting was that all these nobles were staunch supporters of Ptolomy.
Of course, this inconsistency was exined by iming that nobles belonging to Amenheraft''s faction were all absent from Adhan for the following three reasons.
One- Many died in the first battle when Amenheraft tried to capture Ptolomy.
Two- Many fled the city with Amenheraft when the city fell.
And third- Many were killed in the melee ten days ago.
And all this was true, as many nobles did die in those instances, but it was also true that Alexander killed many of them in their homes, as evidenced by the presence of arge number of dead women and children who never fought in battle.
But for now, it seemed that the nobles were willing to turn a blind eye to this, retracting their fangs and closing their eyes, as they waited for their venom nds to fill up.
They didn''t buy the cooked-up story and only bid their time to strike.
Responding to the list of ''shooting for the moon and hoping itnds on earth'' demands made by Manuk, Alexander pointed out his side''s objections,
"Three years is too short- eight years is the minimum we can do."
"And it will be you who will have to give us sixty thousand tonnes of grain."
"Zanzan will be mine, no questions asked."
"Tariffs for the provinces can be discussed."
"The captive nobles can be released as a show of goodwill¡ if you are willing to assent to some of our demands."
"And killing me and taking the twin princesses are not something we will bother discussing."
"If you insist on Azira and Azura, then let''s stop here. There''s the door," Pasha Farzah pointed to the way out, showing his true feelings about that particr demand.
"That''s right. Amenheraft should have taken them with them when he had the chance. The princesses will stay with us. Where they are safe!" Alexander bolstered Pasha Farzah''s stance.
"Fine, we are willing to temporarily let the guardianship of the princesses be passed onto you," Manuk in a fake reluctant voice relented.
"But," he quickly added, "we want you to give up that stupid idea about Zanzan."
"Our stance of Zanzan is absolute. From now, till the end of time, Zanzan will be the fief of Pasha Alexander and his family." Ptolomy spoke in an imperious, absolute tone, showing they will not budge a bit on that point.
"Hah, you think I will ever let a filthy ve rule my territory? The territory my forefathers have poured their life''s blood and sweat into?" Pasha Muazz bellowed in indignation.
He turned to re menacingly at Alexander and sneered, "Do you know that I hunt your kind for sport! The miserable squeals they make when my dogs tear you mongrels apart, hehehe."
Drool started coating the fat, slimy mouth as the man cackled in delight.
"Then why don''t you go and defend Zanzan from my army? And then we will see who hunts who?" Alexander said this without even bothering to look at the overweight man, instead paying more attention to the nails on his hand.
"You¡." Alexander''s reply made the Pasha immediately choke on hisughter and he found it hard to control his temper.
Being a religious fanatic, he considered all people outside of Adhania heretics and sphemers.
He also found anyone of not nobility to be base and irrelevant, and he saw ves as just inanimate objects. no different from the rocks and stones scattered all over Zanzan.
And congrattions to Alexander, for he was all three, thuspleting the holy trinity of hatred for the Pasha.
As to why the Pasha was here and not defending his territory, well because almost all the men that he could have defended the city with were here, in Adhan, either captured or buried.
This, he had no one to defend the city with!
So, embarrassed and incensed, the Pasha only huffed and puffed at Alexnader, unable to throw any real threats toward the man.
"Pasha Alexnader, shouldn''t bother hunting this waste. You have a much bigger target, that pretender that dares call himself the son of Ramuh," Ptolomy smiled and joined Alexander, taunting not just the Pasha but his lord too.
"¡..we can understand reality." Manuk spookily started.
"And although we vehemently oppose it, we will allow that lowly mercenary leader govern Zanzan¡. for the time being¡until the dayes we can overthrow and rece him with its rightful ruler." Manuk let out an exasperated sigh as he said this.
And he was joined by the man beside him, who looked both furious and helpless.
They hade to the negotiations having a basic idea about what Ptolomy wanted and they knew the opponent''s primary focus was on Zanzan.
And although they tried to halt this with all their might, the groundwork set by Ptolomy and others for this particr maneuver had been too solid.
Amenheraft could think of no way to dismantle it.
Using the astronomical money Alexander had stolen from the temple, he had made Ptolomy bribe all the pashas, all for the purpose of pushing this armistice and recognizing him as the ruler of Zanzan as opposed to Muazz.
And although the other pashas didn''t outright ept the second demand, neither did they outright refuse.
They tacitly agreed to let Alexander be a pasha, though openly they said they would never recognize him as one of their own.
In this way, they intended to make Alexander be a pariah while also expressing their displeasure at the king for so casually recing one of their own.
This was because civil wars in Adhania were not umon, in fact, the current royal family had gotten into power when it reced the previous ruling dynasty with its branch family, very simr to how Ptolomy was attempting to rece Amenheraft, but, even if the nobles chose the wrong side in such conflicts, they wouldn''t lose their title, at least the big ones.
Some may have to pay reparations or even might have to concede some territory, but death was usually spared unless they perpetrated some heinous crimes.
And even then, only the small and minor nobles would be executed, just as a warning to others to get in line.
So, for Ptolomy to so tantly tear up this unwritten rule angered the pashas and although they didn''t outright oppose the decision, all of them decided to emunicate Alexander from their ranks, meaning trade with him would be restricted or totally banned, they wouldn''t make any treaties with Alexander and they would exclude him from all their social gathering, restricting with social connections and partnership opportunities.
This they reasoned would shunt and cripple Alexander as the way noble houses grew and became stronger was by trading and forming alliances with other houses.
And if Alexander was unable to meet the nobles, unable to go to various parties to know who was who, and which nobles did what, then he would simply wither away and die.
Or at least, that was what they thought and only time would tell how right or wrong they were.
The group was unable toe to any amicable terms about Zanzan, and the issue was left in limbo, with Alexander vowing to take over the city, while Pasha Muazz vowing to make life ''hell'' for him.
With these hot words exchanged and tempers flying, the men decided to take a small recess, where they breathed in fresh air, ate some snacks, and talked among themselves to devise strategies.
And soon, the men met again.
"About the money,.¡.we are also willing to give Amenheraft a loan." Pasha Farzah opened the next round with the issue of money, tapping his finger on the table as he said so.
"Loan?" Pasha Muazz frowned at the word.
Loans meant loan sharks and although he was one and quite liked being one, he didn''t like the idea of owing money to one.
"Yes, loans," Alexander repeated. "We are aware of the financial difficulties of Amenheraft. And although they are enemies, King Ptoloomy is boundless in mercy and benevolence and someone who never forgets familiar¡."
"Get on with it," Manuk voiced in frustration.
"Hundred million with a ten percent interest." Alexander offered.
"Five hundred, no interest," Pasha Muazz raised all five of his stubby fingers.
"We will sell two hundred million in Legumum. And two hundred million will be loaned at two percent" Pasha Farzah stated in a final tone.
Legumum was a contraceptive nt that was highly desirable, and grew only around the Life Sea, meaning Ptolomy had aplete monopoly on it.
And thus him willing to exchange it for ordinary goods made it a very profitable trade for Amenheraft.
"Fine, but the two hundred million must be given first," Manuk cleverly demanded the loan first, his intention transparent.
"We will give you the half loan after the first hundred million ros worth of trade is done. And the rest after thepletion of the trade," Pasha Farzah wasn''t to be swindled.
"Fine, but we want fresh Legumum. Not from stock years ago," Manuk demanded, which was assented to.
"Now, the topic of Jtaama¡" Pasha Muazz turned to Ptolomy for his decision.
Chapter 167 Treaty Of Unease
Jtaama was a week-long pilgrimage for the followers of Ramuh performed centering the Life sea.
This included praying, chanting, and various other ritualistic activities,bined with celebrations like dancing, bathing in the sea, sacrifice, and much more.
It was the most holy asion for the followers of Ramuh and whoever had the means and way to get to Adhan would surely try to get there.
Almost all the nobles or their representatives would attend the festival and many nobles, even pashas whose territories were thousands of kilometers from Adhan would asionally personallye to take part in thest day afterparty.
And as Amenheraft and his retainers were mostly religious in nature, barring them from performing their pilgrimage was impossible.
Just like Ptolomy and his forces would not take a no in the acquisition of Zanzan, Amenheraft saw no point in a ceasefire if they couldn''t have ess to their holy site.
"I''m willing to allow protection and safety to all allied, neutral, and belligerent parties during the week of Jtaama. But they won''t be allowed to bring any weapons into the city," Ptolomy stated his condition.
"No weapons? Is this a joke!" Pasha Muazz red up at the absurd condition.
"No harm wille to them. We swear in the name of Ramuh," Ptolomy sincerely proimed.
He really was serious about not harming a single pilgrim, even his mortal enemies in that time period.
"Hah, you people are priest killers, temple looters, and king yers! Do you think your swears mean anything?" Manuk bellowed in rage, brushing off Ptolomy''s promation as garbage.
''Smart man,'' Alexander smirked in his heart.
Even if Ptolomy had no intention to kill these men, Alexander didn''t think he could let such defenseless ducks go.
After all, he never gave made any promises to these men, and he would a fool to let go of this golden opportunity.
"Then we will allow them to carry a single-sheathed sword," Alexander offered thepromise with a smile.
"We are not warriors. And you outnumber us." Manuk frowned as he revealed their problems.
He then wanted, "A contingent of a thousand soldiers as bodyguards must be allowed to apany us."
"If you people are so scared toe to perform pilgrimage, then don''te," Pasha Farzah blew away all of Manuk''s whining as he brusquely waved his hand.
"That''s right. We are already showing courtesy of the highest level by not charging you a premium to enter the city. It''s our city after all," Alexander loudly reminded.
"The city of Adhan will be a safe sanctuary for all pilgrims during the week of Jtaama. I swear it!" Ptolomy solemnity promised again.
Manuk gazed deep into the king''s eyes and could see no pretense, only sincerity.
But still, he hesitated.
He didn''t like the idea of letting Amenheraft be unguarded.
Seeing this Alexander reasoned, "Bringing bodyguards will make us bring bodyguards. And those soldiers tend to be overzealous about their masters. If it''s just the nobles, they will think twice about starting a conflict without theirckeys there to do the fighting for them."
This made Manuk go silent for a bit, as he ruminated on Alexander''s words, huddling up with his partner and whispering something.
And after a while, he nodded, "Okay, we agree,"
And thus, with the major issues done, after a lot of grumbling, recess, and haggling, the day-long meeting finally ended at dusk, whereupon, even with the insistence of Ptolomy to rest and spend the night in Adhan, Manuk and Pasha Muazz decided to leave the city and soon met up with Amenheraft three dayster.
In the end, these were the terms that were agreed upon:
1. An armistice of six years wouldst between the forces of Polomy and Amenheraft.
Any noble may enter a covenant with either party, Ptolomy or Amenheraft. Whoever enters into any one of the parties will be considered part of that party. Likewise, any sort of aggression against them will be considered aggression against that party.
2. Four hundred million ropals will be paid to Amenheraft, with half exchanged for goods and half given as loans.
3. Adhan will be a safe sanctuary for all during the week of Jtaama.
4. Tariffs between provinces will follow their pre-conflict time rate.
5. All captured nobles were to be released.
This came to be known as the Treaty of Unease as it failed to address a huge problem- Zanzan.
Although Amenheraft agreed to acknowledge Alexander as the city''s ruler, they refused to recognize him as its pasha, and the matter of how the nobles under him would be treated couldn''t be agreed upon.
While Ptolomy argued that Alexander had the full right to demand the loyalty of the nobles of Zanzan and even execute them if refused, Manuk pointed to the fact that those nobles had a covenant with Amenheraft and thus that would vite the ceasefire as stipted in the first point.
Ptolomy refused to recognize this argument saying that a Pasha could appoint new nobles and since Alexander as the new pasha did not recognize any noble who didn''t swear fealty to him, they were not nobles, and thus the first agreement didn''t apply to them.
Manuk naturally refused to ept this argument as they saw Alexander only as an upier and unable toe to any written terms, the debate was finally left with an uneasy verbal assurance that Alexander would not harm the nobles and vice versa.
Hence came the name ''Treaty of Unease'', as both sides knew it was only a matter of time before Alexander or the nobles in hisnd became the belligerent party and destroyed the ceasefire.
The treaty also subtly proved just how weak Ptolomy''s faction was.
Even after they had won so decisively, the terms of the treaty greatly favored Amenheraft.
He got all his captured nobles back bolstering his image and weakening Ptolomy''s.
He got the highly desirable Legumum and also two hundred million free ros, which, although on paper a loan, neither side expected Amenheraft to pay it back.
He even got to attend Jtaama andstly he managed to effectively half the desired time of truce by Ptolomy.
Whereas Ptolomy, for all his efforts, for all his victory, and for the five hundred million ros he spent on each of the nine pashas, and two and a half billion on the hundreds of nobles and priests, just bought himself six years of peace and a few minor nobles to his side.
Even the question about Zanzan was left decided, which could be the powder keg to start the conflict at any time.
''*Sigh*is this how Hannibal felt after his victory at Cannae?'' Alexander ruefullymented as he gazed at the thin piece of papyrus where the agreement was written, thinking back on how the Carthaginian general had killed fifty to seventy thousand out of eighty thousand Romans in that battle, and still, lost the war in the end.
To put into context how devasting Cannae was, Rome only had a poption of four million at that time, which meant that the country had lost around two percent of the entire poption in just a single day and a fourth of its adult male poption.
But the Romans fought on undeterred and unfazed,
That''s how tough the Romans were, and if Amenheraft and his retainers of fanatical loyalists had such zeal, Alexander was fucked.
But fortunately for Alexander, it didn''t seem to be the case as they came to the negotiating table after a bit of setback and some heavy bribes, meaning Alexander would just need the time to slowly carve off the meat from the giant creature and devour it slowly.
And with those calming thoughts, Alexander retired for the day.
And soon, three dayster the date for his departure hade.
The day after the negotiations concluded, Alexander attended the king''s coronation where priests appointed by Ptolomy proimed him king.
The ceremony wasckluster at best with just one of the original elven pashas attending, and no other high-ranking noble present.
The priests looked very lonely as they douched the king with holy water, performed various rituals, burnt incense, and rubbed mer (a kind of balm), before proiming him divine and putting the crown on his head.
This ceremony was also where Alexander was officially announced as the Pasha of Zanzan and a great feast was held.
Here he finally got to formally meet Pasha Farzah''s entourage and met many of his retainers.
There he also met the city lord of Agnirat, Inayah, the famousdy who was one-third of the piece that poisoned the previous king.
She was tall, with an ebonyplexion and a mature oblong face, her auburn hair draping over both sides of her ornate, pearl-white dress.
And next to her was a silver-haired, fair maiden introducing herself as Pasha Farzah''s daughter Mikaya, wearing a full-sleeved ck dress with a pearled ne, the one who would be apanying him to Zanzan.
He exchanged some general pleasantries with them and then went to socialize with the other men, little knowing that he would the meeting the twodies again tomorrow and under much different circumstances.
Chapter 168 An Awkward Encounter (R-18)
The next day, during the afternoon, runningte for his lunch and feeling famished, and thinking that it was a shortcut, Alexander took a few unknown turns and got lost on the second floor while trying to return to his room on the next floor.
And as the man wandered through the twisting and unfamiliar corridors, trying to find a way out of the maze of rooms and hallways, suddenly the sound of low grunts and the distinct, rhythmic noise of flesh hitting flesh caught his earsing.
Alexander could never mistake that sound for anything else and the curious man decided to follow the sound to find out exactly who could be performing these acts in such broad daylight, which led him to a room at the furthest end of a corridor.
And as he approached the wide open door, expecting a see a tryst between a maid and a soldier, and intending to lightly scold them for doing these at work time. Instead, the scene that unfolded before him literally stunned him beyond words.
Alexander could have confidently sworn that he was never been so surprised in his two lives.
For in front of him was not an innocent little tussle under the bed, but a full fledge orgy in open disy, as he witnessed three ravishing mature women being swarmed by eight or nine men, with each of thedies sucking multiple rods while some were being impaled in their lower orifices, the shaking from below sending shockwaves through their voluptuous bodies and making their plentiful jugs jiggle with ecstasy.
Alexander recognized none of the men and thus judged them not to be from the pce guards as only soldiers from Alexander''s mercenary group, which were his most trusted soldiers and whom he knew by at least face if not by name.
And that wasn''t the most concerning part, nor was seeing such a scene in such an open way, but it was the participants that appeared in front of Alexander that knocked the words out of his mouth.
Because in the room, with the door shamelessly left ajar, was a ck beauty with her auburn hair tied neatly in a bun who Alexander recognized as the city lord, Inayah, there was a pale white bombshell with silver hair who had just yesterday introduced herself to Alexander as Pasha Farzah''s daughter Mikaya and thestdy that Alexander could barely believe as being her, ady he would regrly meet in passing in the hallway, sometimes multiple times a day, thedy who had magnificent curly locks that reached her slender shoulders, it was the queen- Nanazin!
The group hadn''t spotted Alexander yet as they immersed themselves in unrestrained carnal pleasure, giving Alexander an unobstructed view of what was happening inside.
Lady Inayah was in the center, sitting on her knees on the thick, fluffy carpet and busy stuffing her mouth with the two thick rods that stood in full attention next to her, greedily devouring one and then quickly switching to the other as she took them deep inside her mouth like an experienced courtesan.
The men serving her also seemed very experienced as they stood in perfect attention, with their hands sped behind their back, uttering nary a sound as theirdy deepthroated them.
Thedy had kept her luxurious one piece on her as she did this, the strapless red smoking dress showing off her deep cleavage, as down below, the hem had been parted by another man, whoy beneath her and seemed to be diligently licking her tiny flower nestled between her slightly opened legs, his hard rod standing proudly in front of the city lord, leaking like a faucet with precum.
On her left was Pasha Farzah''s daughter Mikaya, and very nearly Alexander''s fiancee.
She, like thedy next to her, too had her mouth filled with thick, meaty lollipops, which she seemed to be enjoying licking very much as she made pleased nasal groans while bobbing her head up and down.
She also had two extra bulging sticks behind her, who were wrapping themselves on the silvery, almost snow-like hair of their mistress and vigorously rubbing them.
Mikaya did not have a single string of thread on her, as she let everyone soak in her full ethereal beauty, disying her silver-white hair, her wless fair porcin skin, her thick silvery bush below, and her glorious peaks to all.
Thedy seemed to be very absorbed in the act, as she sucked on the rods vigorously, while also enthusiastically jumping up and down on the turgid rod below her, causing her magnificent melons to swing wildly, and making the room echo with the ''p,'' ''p,'' sound of wet flesh hitting each other.
But these two women were not in the mostpromising position in Alexander''s opinion.
No, Alexander felt that that dubious distinction should belong to thedy on the right of Lady Inayah.
For unlike the other two, that busty woman didn''t even have her feet on the ground as she was split roasted into the air by the two, huge ck men that were stuffing her two holes.
The queen, Nanazin wore only ck high heels and a matching tight corset that hugged her midriff, entuating her bare breasts and making them appear even more full as the soldiers filled both her ass and mouth.
Because she was facing Alexander sideways unlike the other two who were directly facing him forward, Alexander could clearly see how the queen was being lifted off the ground with just two thick, ck rods stuck inside her and couldn''t help but appreciate how her breasts would swing and sway under the rough pounding she was receiving, while she could only moan and groan.
And she was receiving a rough pounding no doubt about it, as the muscr, almost like carved-out-of-granite thighs of the man behind her were fiercely pping against her meaty, exquisite rump, jiggling it everything it was struck and making the queen arch her back in pleasure.
p! p! p!
The hard pounding echoed through the room as it made the queen''s fair butt bright red, while she held on for dear life.
Because she wasn''t being attacked just from the back, but from the front as well.
The muscr man with his hands sped behind his back rapidly humped inside the royal''s mouth as the queen hugged the strong man''s waist like a ko, letting her lose herself in the sensation of this double pration.
Nanazin had her eyes closed and her mouth filled, unable to make even a tiny bit of noise as she hung in the air using the phalluses like she was a wet cloth hung out to dry.
Alexander didn''t know much about the other two other than their name, but for Nanazin, the image that he had of her, that of a calm, refineddy, soft-spoken and always dressing conservatively, had been irrevocably erased away, only to be reced with the picture of a depraved woman.
He knew would never be able to forget what he had seen today, of how the queen looked like as her sticky saliva drooled out of her face, while white stingy love juice hung off her snatch and fell like raindrops onto the white carpet under the rhythmic pounding.
Alexander didn''t know how long he had been there, but it was a sweet, sultry voice that snapped him back to his senses, "Ah, Pasha Alexander, is there something you need?"
It was Lady Inayah who had finally noticed the intruder''s presence and sent a charming smile towards Alexander as she asked the question, not bothering to stop for a second what she was doing while she made the inquiry.
This caught Alexander a bit off guard if not only for the fact that thedy seemed totally unconcerned and unabashed by the acts she was performing right in front of him.
Alexander had never encountered such a situation in both his lifetime and seemed unsure of how to respond.
''Confront them?''
''Smile and greet them like everything is fine?''
''Close the door and walk away?''
''Pretend that I don''t understand Azhak?''
''Exin how I got lost?''
''Turn and run?''
Alexander''s brain seemed to have jammed and overloaded as he tried to think of an appropriate response.
"Oh my, he seems to have stunned beyond words, how innocent, hehehe" This time it was the pearly giggle of Mikaya that addressed Alexander as the woman finally stopped bouncing and took the time to have a good look at Alexander.
"Kyahhh, Alexander! What are you doing here?" Themotion finally bought the queen''s attention back to this world as she quickly let go of her favorite meat stick and screamed at the man.
The look that Nanazin had was one of pure terror as she looked at Alexander like she had seen a ghost.
''Ahhh, finally a normal reaction,'' Alexander was atst d to know that it was not him that was crazy but those other two women.
Chapter 169 Lesson In Adhanian Customs
As Alexander was racking his brain on how to respond to the peculiar circumstances that greeted him, Nanazin in the meantime had swiftly gotten the other rod out of her butthole and then rapidly proceeded to hide behind Lady Inayah, crouching and shaking in shame, as she tried to curl herself into a ball.
But the rest of the group was not interested in the queen''s bashful behavior as all of them stopped what they were doing and stared pointedly at Alexander, eager to know, "What was he doing there?"
"Haha, I seemed to have gotten lost. Sorry for the intrusion!" Alexander attempted to brush off the entire thing as a minor foible and then quickly turned to leave.
"Hehe, since you got here, then stay. After all, it must have been fate that guide you here," Lady Inayah''s soft,nguid voice seemed to have a hypnotic effect on Alexander, as he felt spellbound to stay like he was being drawn in by an invisible ma.
"Right, right, we will be very d to have you join us," Mikaya chirped in a fresh voice.
Despite her mature demeanor, thisdy had a very high-pitched, almost childlike voice.
But to Alexander, this seemed like the call of a siren and he felt that he would fall to his doom if he epted it.
So, with all the willpower he could muster, he squeezed out, "I deeply apologize for any inconvenience I might have caused. Please let me close the door and let you get on with your day,"
"Hahaha," Just as Alexander finished these words, a huge roar ofughter ran across the room, as it was not just not thedies, even the men didn''t seem to be able to contain theirughter.
Alexander even spotted the shoulders of the queen who was hiding behind Lady Inayah shaking, as if she was trying very hard to stifle a burst ofughter but failing miserably.
''What''s so funny?'' Alexander asked himself as he failed to understand the joke.
"Ohh! What a cheery boy! We will have so much fun in Zanzan!" Mikaya lustfully sang toward Alexander as he was reminded that this promiscuous woman would be upying his house for the next five years.
''Maybe I should allow Azira and Azura to return home,'' Alexander felt a headacheing.
"Hehe, it seems Pasha Alexander is not quite yet versed in Adhanian etiquette." Lady Inayah had stood up by now as she put her left hand on her hips.
She then exined, "In Adhania, nobles usually build at least up to two floors, because thest few rooms on the left side of the second floor are usually reserved for such purposes. And to prevent anyone identally walking in on them, the doors are usually kept open so the sound can reach them before any awkward confrontations can ur. Like this!"
"Why not just do the thing in secret with doors closed," Alexander pointed to a much simpler solution.
"Hmph, it seems the rumors were true, you truly are a bumpkin," Mikaya taunted from behind, as she rotated her hips in a circr motion and ground against the helpless man''s pelvis below.
While Lady Inayah offered some actual helpful advice.
"Haha, Pasha Alexander although it is understandable as you are a Thesian, it would be best if you could learn our ways to better fit in. And the sooner you do it, the better." She gave counsel with a sweet smile.
She then further exined, "I know in Thesos women are valued for their chastity and sole loyalty to their husband. But in Adhania, things are a bit different. Although the general popcergely follows these rules, the noble women can fraternize with men just as men do with other women!"
Lady Inayah didn''t miss the shocked look on Alexander''s face, as too didn''t Mikaya, who chimed, "After all, if you men can do it, why can''t we women?", which was a surprisingly sound and modern argument.
Yes, if Alexander can sleep with multiple women, why couldn''t Cambyses do the same with other men?
"But¡" Alexander blurted out.
"But what about the bloodline?" Lady Inayah helped Alexander finish his sentence with a prophetic tone.
And she gave the answer, "In Adhania, around the Life sea grows a unique nt called Legumum. I''m sure you heard of it. Its juice can prevent pregnancy with almostplete certainty. And even if one conceives, the royal family has a secret recipe using the processed juices that can induce evente-stage abortions."
The special nt only grew around the Life Sea, thriving in the unique ecosystem created by the special nkton that came to give the sea its distinctive pink color.
''So it''s like the roman Silphium.'' Alexander thought about the contraceptive nt Romans used to prevent their own conception, which they used so much that the nt had be extinct in Alexander''s modern times.
But fortunately for this Legumum, unlike its other dimensional brother, it was zealously protected and hoarded by the royal family, as it was one of their greatest source of ie, and due to the short supply, restricted its use to only among the nobility.
This had created a huge ck market for the stuff, as its properties were too desirable to let go and even small vials of the stuff would go for astronomical prices as people like rich merchants, well-off artisans, and even foreign powers fought for it.
And that''s also why Amenheraft was so happy to get two hundred million ros of it in exchange for ordinary goods.
Lady Inayah still continued, "So, you see, in Adhania, women, or more specifically noblewomen have much more freedom in certain aspects of their life than in Thesos."
"Of course, there are some caveats as women are not equal to men." She then quickly stated while pointing out some examples, "For instance, the woman must ask her husband''s permission before she can sleep with another man, ¡though this is more of a custom than a rule, for as long as she proves that she will use contraception. not granting it is seen in poor taste."
"But" Lady Inayah raised her index finger in a didactic way, "this rule doesn''t apply to the ves. For a ve is a thing and a noblewoman has the full right to relieve her sexual frustrations using that thing, as long as she does not get pregnant."
"And to make sure the child is her husband''s, to show that she is using contraceptives, the noblewoman does this acts in a room with the doors open so the husband can check on her anytime. In this way, there''s no snooping around in the back or cheating," Inayah gave a very pragmatic reason behind the open-door custom.
''Why not do this in the first ce,'' Alexandermpooned inwardly.
"Thank you, Lady Inayah, for sharing this invaluable knowledge. I will be sure to repay this kindness in the future," Outwardly, Alexander performed a small bow in gratitude and then attempted to leave.
"Hehe, then Pasha Alexander might be able to help with a little itch I have done there," The city lord immediately caught onto Alexander''s perfunctory reply and made a suggestive wordy as she shed a sultry,scivious smile.
''Hell no. You want dicks, pick others!'' Alexander cursed in his heart at the licentious request.
He then shed a professional, fake smile, the one where one excessively curves his lips upwards, and said, "I''m afraid I might not be the man for the job."
"See, Lady Inayah, these Thesians are such prudes!" Mikaya charmingly pouted at Alexander for his refusal.
"Hehe, the Pasha says so but his little brother seems to disagree. Men are always more honest down there," Lady Inayah tittered, showing her nice, even teeth while pointing at Alexander''s bulging crotch below.
Alexander flushed a bit at this reveal, though this was only a natural reaction after witnessing the scene he was exposed to.
"Haha, it would be an insult to you three such beautifuldies if this didn''t happen," Alexander awkwardly smiled as he tried to back out.
"Hehe, I can fully understand the Pasha''s shyness," But Lady Inayah''s understanding smile stopped him.
Somehow thatdy''s voice seemed to always stop Alexander, or perhaps it was because Alexander subconsciously wanted this, but his sense of value and modesty was preventing him from outright saying it, and Lady Inayah''s voice acted as an excuse for him to stay.
No one knew for sure, not even Alexander and it was unlikely anyone ever would.
Thedy then went to offer, "Come, for today, we will do it the doors closed."
But Alexander had no intention to crack so easily.
"Madam, it would rude for a junior like me to join you. Please forget about this little unpleasant distraction and continue enjoying yourself!" He quickly spelled out and then determinedly turned around, swearing to himself that short of being physically restrained, he was gonna walk out of this neeh''sir.
But this supposed iron will of Alexander proved to be actually a soft putty as Lady Inayah purred, "Pasha Alexander, I heard you were leaving for Zanzan soon. Are you in need of ships?"
And Alexander would have very much liked some ships.
Chapter 170 Nanazins Standard Pose (R-18)
The distance from Adhan to Zanzan city bynd was eight hundred kilometers.
And because the roads were so good, Alexander expected to reach it in about a month.
But if he used ships?
Alexander knew shipping was magnitudes cheaper and faster thannd routes, sometimes as far as thirty times cheaper and seven times faster.
So when Lady Inayah hung the bait, Alexander couldn''t resist biting.
He closed the door behind him as he entered the room and shed a smile, "Lady Inayah, please delineate the deal for me."
Alexander knew what the vixen wanted from him, but the payment she had eluded to was just too juicy for him to say no to.
"Hehe, Pasha Alexander is a smart man," The maturedy let out a sultry, victorious smile at him as she stated her terms, "The sea route from Agnirat to Zanzan is around three thousand kilometers, which given the strong northerly wind can bepleted in less than two weeks, in around ten days by my estimate."
This made Alexander''s eyes bulge out a bit as this reduced time not only meant saving time, but also food, and cost.
''Darn, this optionpletely slipped my mind,'' Alexander cursed himself.
Because Adhan was an ind city and because Amenheraft hade from Zanzan using the road, he naturally thought that he must use the roads to get to Zanzan.
And besides, even if it did, it was not like he knew any ship owners.
He had basically met Lady Inayah just now.
But still, Alexander himself would be the one to admit forgetting such a critical thing was not one of his finest moments.
"How many ships do you have? I have more than forty thousand men (40,000) including ten thousand (10,000) tons of grain and five thousand (5,000) pack animals," Alexander listed some huge numbers that finally caused the infallible smile on Lady Inayah''s face to falter.
"So much? Are you going to war? Didn''t Muazz leave the city?" Lady Inayah asked in disbelief.
"Haha, so can you?" Alexander smirked, pleased at finally seeing a different kind of face from thedy.
The numbers Alexander said were all real.
"Hehe, Pasha Alexander, here''s little advice from your senior. Never assume you are the smartest person in the room!" Lady Inayah narrowed her eyes into a crescent as she gently chided the boy with a smirk.
She then exined, "I wasn''t surprised because I wouldn''t be able to amodate your people. I was surprised thinking that the port at Zanzan might not be able to fit them all," Lady Inayah touched the locks of her hair as she corrected Alexander.
''That¡darn, I have gotten too cocky as things have been going so smoothly for metely,'' Alexander was both embarrassed and angry at himself after this chastisement.
He was being over-smart.
"I will give you a hundred ships. Eighty for personnel and twenty for the animals. Happy?" Lady Inayah sent a sly smile at Alexander.
"Haha, happy, happy", Alexander was thrilled by the offer.
Even if Zanzan''s port waspletely destroyed, Alexander could still makendfall using small boats, in batches.
The time and money he would save using the ships made this little potential problem irrelevant.
"So how much do I owe you?" Alexander asked for the price of the charter.
"Nothing," Thedy put her pinky on her lips as she smiled.
"Nothing?" Alexander was surprised.
He had expected that Lady Inayah wanted a taste of him in exchange for just making the ships avable for hire.
After all, lending out so many ships at a time meant that her trade would significantly drop or altogether stop.
"Hehe, let''s say that the price will be lower the more you have please me." Lady Inayah sent a charming, almost predatory smile at Alexander, eager to taste the boy.
"Haha, I might not be that valuable," Alexander felt a tiny prickle of terror looking at that smile.
"Ohh, you underestimate yourself, Pasha Alexander," This was said by Mikaya, who finally got up, releasing the rod inside her with a ''plop'' and causing a dollop of juice to fall out of her and darken the carpet as she approached Alexander intending to escort the man in officially.
"A boy, once a ve, became a pasha in less than two months at the age of eighteen. Oh, even fairy tales are more believable." She gazed at Alexander as if looking at the rarest piece of art in the world.
"That''s why I was so disappointed when father told me you rejected me for my nieces. I was so looking forward to knowing how the divine son of Gaia would taste like." Mikaya pouted cutely as if wounded by the rejection.
But she quickly chirped in delight, "But it''s alright, I can taste you now. And since we will be staying in your home, hehe, maybe we aunt and nieces can even please you together." Mikaya simpered as she kneeled in front of Alexander
"....." Alexander only smiled, finding the drivel she was spewing utterly irrelevant.
And then, with practiced motions, Mikaya helped Alexander release his lower part, with his pants falling to the floor and his shoes leaving his feet.
"Oh¡it''s big," Mikaya''s silver iris shone with genuine glee at Alexander''s thick member.
"Hehe, he''s certainly blessed down there," Lady Inayah too looked impressed.
And this made Alexander feel quite proud as he knew these women were not saying this to make him feel good.
From what they were doing, Alexander determined they had quite high standards for men, and these truepliments boosted Alexander''s self-esteem.
"Good, Mikaya you attend to the pasha," Lady Inayah softly ordered.
And then she turned to the woman hiding behind her.
"Now, Nanazine here!" Thedy''s sweet, mirthful tone abruptly changed to a sharp, bitingmand.
"Whh..what?" The queen who had been desperately trying to hide behind the much tallerdy, trying to make her white, fair body mesh perfectly behind the tall, ckdy was confused by the sudden mention of her name.
And so she raised her lowered head up, where it met the towering, glowering head of the much taller woman.
"Come here and stand in standard form," Lady Inayah''s voice remained cold and authoritarian.
"What¡no¡Lady Inayah¡I..," Nanazin looked horrified at themand as she stammered incoherently.
"Lady Inayah? No?" The mature beauty''s face darkened like thunderclouds were brooding over it as she sent a deadly re to the shivering woman below.
"Sister, quicklyply and get in position," Mikaya urged Nanazin, concerned and rmed.
"What¡no,,, I''m the.." Nanazin was about to say something but stopped when she saw Lady Inayah wiggle her index towards one of the men and they soon fetched her a tiny riding crop.
"No, not that¡I''m doing it, doing it," Nazanin screamed in terror at the sight of the tiny wooden, leather-bound tool gracing Lady Inayah''s grip and quickly assumed the standard stance, arms crossed behind her head, legs spread, chests out and eyes down.
Alexander was stunned by this shameful position, as the front side of the royal queen, the most honored woman in all of Adhania, was exposed for all to see.
Under the bright glow of the midday sunlight, in a room with all its windows and balcony open, Alexander could see every inch of the full, mature, curvy body of the woman he once respected, her full ripe milky breasts, her sheathed inverted nipples, the pitch ck, diamond-studded corset hugging her midriff, her exposed wless crack that was wet and sparkling, her long, wless legs and the ck straps of her high heels that bound themselves to her beautiful ankles.
Her posture, with the arms behind her head, showed off her smooth armpits- shaved and glossy, with the meat pits glittering as small beads of sweat trailed down them, making the air around smell sweet and fruity.
"Inayah¡stop¡this¡," Nanazin pleaded in heavy pants, her oval face flushed in embarrassment.
Alexander could clearly see she was actively trying to avoid eye contact with specifically him.
"Shooooosh," Lady Inayah cooed next to Nanazin''s ear, her inch-wide crop trailing down the queen''s sparse pubes.
"No¡I''m the queen," The bashfuldy tried onest to stop what was about to happen, her statement sounding more like a whimper than possessing any authority.
But she still didn''t break her posture, she didn''t dare to.
"Are you done being disobedient?" Lady Inayah''s voice hardened like steel and she swiftly bought her little crop down to the queen''s bare pubes.
"*Smack*...arghh....one," Nanazin automatically recited the number as she had been trained to do, grunting in pain as her legs buckled under the hit.
But she still maintained her posture.
After the strike, Lady Inayah turned to look at Alexander, her hard face instantly melting into a charming, soft countenance, as if the earlier look was all an illusion.
"Pasha Alexander, to celebrate you joining us, let us show you something special," Lady Inayah sent a lovely smile towards Alexander.
"Yes, yes, just let me massage you down there while you enjoy the show!" Mikaya giggled excitedly as she gently took Alexander''s thick rod in her palms and started to slowly pump it.
She then longingly added, "Oh, I haven''t seen this y in more than five years!"
Chapter 171 The Rotten State (R-18)
''In five years?'' Alexander was confused by that sentencing.
''Did they regrly do these things?'' Alexander found this thought a bit incredulous.
But then thinking back on how these people had reacted seeing him, on second thought he found it to be very likely.
And soon his conjectures were not only proved true but also shattered for being too prosaic, as Lady Inayah exined, "Pasha Alexander, in Adhania, it''s customary for nobles to offer women to other nobles as gifts when they visit their homes. And it''s a special sign of closeness and familiarity for one to offer their concubines or their wives, especially their main wife!"
In Adhania, concubines were identical to the European monarch''s various mistresses.
And just like their European counterparts, they too had few rights and privileges.
Their and their children''s position would be considered low and how they were treated would depend entirely on their master''s whims and how much he favored them.
Some concubines like the Queen mother Seelima had more power than the queen, while most of the time they would be little better than ordinary maids, just women that the master of the house would asionally snack on to refresh his taste buds, a fleeting distraction from the main wife.
An example of Alexander''s concubine would be Gelene, a woman he kept around because letting her go was too dangerous.
Wives were women officially married to the noble and although women in Adhania had no rights, usually these women would have influential families backing them, meaning their and their children''s lives would usually be better.
An example of Alexander''s wife could be Ophenia, who was from a noble family.
And the main wife was as the title suggests, the main wife.
In Adhania, nobles could have many women partners, but traditionally the children of the main wife, first boys and then girls would inherit the title.
Like Amenheraft was the son of the queen and automatically became the crown prince after two of his older brothers died.
For Alexander, his main wife could only be Cambyses.
Alexander felt like vomiting after hearing the customs of Adhania from Lady Inayah.
He had already assumed the nobility of Adhania to be rotten and decaying as was evident by how they refused to aid the country even during a drought-like crisis.
But this level of excess, this level of pruriency left Alexander both shocked and disgusted.
''Darn, it seems I won''t be able to form any meaningful rtions with my retainers,'' Alexander figured as giving his women to others as a way to gain favor or loyalty was an absolute no for him.
He didn''t mind his women having past experience and he wouldn''t discriminate against anyone just because they slept with others at one point in their life.
But if they were to be his women, this was a red line they would not be allowed to cross, not even with ves.
This was Alexander''s personal choice and if the women wanted to be with him, they would have to follow it, or they could go their way.... no hard feelings.
So, this prevalent Adhanian custom of the nobility was totally ipatible with Alexander''s mindset and he made up his mind not to follow it.
And for this, Alexander woulde to be known among the Adhanian nobility as prudish and selfish.
Yes, selfish!
Because in the eyes of the Adhanians, sharing wives was simr to how kids shared their toys, a sign of socialness and familiarity.
? It was like how a kid would excitedly show off his new toy to his friends and y with them using it, so too a noble would unt his wife, letting others have a taste of her so that they could appreciate how lucky her master was to own her.
And so, Alexander not following his custom would be seen as antisocial and rude, and be given many names- miser, barbarian, hick, etc.
But those were in the future.
For now, though distracted by these thoughts, his lower half didn''t seem affected as it never wilted a bit.
After all, it was still being expertly stroked by Mikaya, who kept Alexander right on the edge by skillfully mixing her speed and technique, always encouraging him to cum and never letting him, showing just how adept she was with her hands.
As Mikaya pumped Alexander below, the show promised by Lady Inayah was about to begin in front of him.
"Now, Nanazin, why don''t you properly say your greeting?" Lady Inayah gently asked.
Though everyone in the room understood it was not a suggestion, but an ironmand.
"...." Nanazin only silently clenched her teeth and lowered her head as a sign of defiance.
"Haah, you always did this when we first started,!" Lady Inayah let out an exasperated sigh of disappointment, "I thought I had managed to kick this bad habit out. But it seems the disease has returned¡," Lady Inayah shook her head ruefully as her voice trailed off.
"Nanazin, quickly do what madam says!" Mikaya shouted in rm at this gesture, even forgetting that Alexander''s delicate member was in her hand, and squeezed it too hard by mistake.
"Mmmm," Alexander clenched his teeth at the rush of pain, swallowing the sound so as not to appear weak.
"Don''t bother Mikaya," Lady Inayah held up her palms to cut off the silver-haired girl.
Then her eyes shed a dangerous gleam, "She has forgotten everything."
Alexander was surprised by how Lady Inayah was treating and addressing Nanazin, and how Mikaya was calling the city lord, ''Madam.''
It seemed Lady Inayah had a special status among them.
And soon his guess was proved correct as Lady Inayah turned to Alexander, "Pasha Alexander, within Adhanian nobility, it''s customary for noble families to employ a teacher experienced in the art of sex for their noble children when theye of age."
"For boys, usually an experienced priestess from the temple is selected to teach them. The reason for this is because priestesses can''t hold political positions like priests do and so even if the boy were to fall in love, nothing woulde of it."
She then subconsciously bought her crop and started poking Nanazin''s nipples, "And as you may have guessed, noble girls end up being taught by noblewomen. These special noblewomen know the challenges that a young noble girl might face and educates her on them, something a priestess might not know....special noblewomen like me."
Lady Inayah then trailed the crop around the queen''s belly, "Of course, I''m a bit unique. Because my family has been employed for generations to train royal wives!"
She turned to gaze directly into Alexander as she exined, "You see pasha, royal women¡royal wives are very special. Because they are required to perform service to the highest echelons of Adhania and please them. This not only refers to their royal husband but also to the pashas or emirs (adult princes of the king-i.e-their brothers-inw)."
"And naturally, these people expect this service to be of very high standards. After all, it would be a disgrace to the royal family if others thought their own women were better than what the gods could have."
Lady Inayah then took her crop in her hand and slowly started caressing it, "To achieve that effect, my family has been tasked as royal trainers for centuries. My mother had taught the previous king''s harem including the current queen mother, my elder sister has taught both of Amenheraft''s wife, Mikaya''s eldest sister and his current wife, and I have taught Nanazin and many wives of the emirs."
"And since the standards for the royal family are set so high, naturally their training is much harder and harsher."
"Isn''t that right? *smack*," Lady Inayah this time hit the queen''s lush buttocks.
"Yes¡three," Nanazin had a flushed face as she recalled her time at the hands of Lady Inayah.
"She taught me too!" Mikaya chirped from below, her hands had never stopped pumping for a moment till now.
She then added, "Daddy pulled a few strings to get Lady Inayah as my master. Although each of the pashas have their personal sex trainers, or as they are called Bliss trainers, it is generally epted that Lady Inayah''s family is the most prestigious in all of Adhania."
"Mikaya was a very good student, unlike this one," Lady Inayah red at Nanazin, who just kept her head lowered.
"Always too proud, always defiant, always troublesome." Lady Inayah called her.
Lady Inayah then poked at Nanazin''s inverted nipples with her crops, drawing a moan from the woman, "But, that is not the reason for your defiance is it, little minx? Tell us the truth," Lady Inayahmanded.
"That... it''s because of Commander¡Pasha Alexander is here," Nanazin loudly confessed with a red blush on her face, lowering her head and focusing her gaze on her toenails to avoid eye contact with Alexander.
Alexander was caughtpletely off-guard by the mention of his name.
''What do I have to do with this?'' Alexander asked himself dumbfounded, as he couldn''t recall having any meaningful conversation with her outside that one time they all had lunch together a month ago.
"Haha, look how confused you look, Pasha Alexander! Nanazin talked the whole night yesterday only about loving you!" Lady Inayah giggled as she spilled the queen''s secret, causing thetter to shiver.
Chapter 172 Nanazins Confession (R-18)
Lady Inayah wanted to hear Nanazin confess all her feelings for Alexander.
So, with a short strike, she urged, "Look up and exin, *smack*."
Lady Inayah hit Nanazin on her drooling crack, urging her to exin her confession to the confused Alexander.
"Yes,..four," Nanazin raised her embarrassed head and looked squarely at Alexander.
"Commander¡Pasha Alexander, I fell in love with you the moment Iid my eyes upon you, in that dark underground dungeon." Nanazin blushed even harder as she said this and left Alexander confused about how to respond.
She was the queen and married with three daughters and it was impossible for Alexander to give a positive answer to that.
And Nanazin knew that.
But still, she decided to do it.
Because even if it could never materialize. she at least wanted to let the world know that she had once fallen in love.
She wanted to let the world know that she once had a heart.
Because in her current marriage she felt like she had lost hers.
Nanazin, like many, if not most of the women of her time, lived a loveless empty life.
She had gotten married just as she reached puberty and after a few initial days, Ptolomy rarely touched her.
Maybe it was because he felt no love for the politically chosen wife of his, or maybe he was disgusted by how she had given birth to three useless daughters at the same time.
Or it could be because Ptolomy''s real lovey for Hellma.
Whatever the case was, Nanazin had expected her life to end like that, in a boring, caged, loveless marriage, till both her body and heart died.
But it seemed that fate had a different story written for her, as on that fateful day, her heart beat a different rhythm.
On that fateful day, it beat in a way that Nanazin had thought her heart had forgotten to beat.
On that fateful day, it beat because of a man, no, a young boy that could be her son.
On that fateful day, it beat like it was set on fire when sheid her eyes on the boy who stood gantly in that dank, dark prison, d in golden armor, with a crowd of fierce soldiers behind him, like a hero who hade to rescue her and her daughters from doom.
And her husband?
Her dear husband just ran around like a headless buffoon, shouting and screaming and opening the already unlocked door cell door, like the errand boy that amander would send to retrieve his possessions.
A powerless and helpless wimp in Nanazin''s eyes.
And if this magical encounter was not enough,ter that day, at the dinner table, Alexander had proved himself to be erudite, taking charge of the conversation and subduing even the queen mother.
Unlike the bumbling fool she was forced to call her husband.
Nanazin had always dreamed her husband would be a strong, confident,petent man, and Ptolomy was anything but those.
She had fallen in love with the boy that day and that feeling only grew and blossomed over the next month as the boy reorganized the army and dealt a crushing blow to Amenheraft.
But she also understood the reality that Alexander probably would never look at her.
She was already a married woman and furthermore the king''s woman.
So, she had buried these thoughts deep inside her and told this only to her closest confidants, Lady Inayah and Mikaya yesterday.
And to make her forget this painful rejection, her two friends arranged the current little tryst for her today, to wash away all the sadness with a rough fuck.
But by the twist of fate, somehow this had ended up being revealed to the one man she had least hoped would know about it, Alexander.
She knew Thesians preferred chaste over unchaste women and now the image the man she loved would have of her would forever be of a loose, depraved woman, as she knew what she would be made to perform soon.
It was a special show she would do when Ptolomy wanted to entertain certain close guests of his and with Lady Inayah here, she understood that today''s one will be especially lewd.
That thought mortified her.
But in some twisted way, it also excited her.
Because she felt that this way she could reveal her true, depraved self to her beloved, not the fake, modest facade she was always forced to put on.
And with that thought, and with her confession to Alexander done in no ambiguous manner, her juices began to flow out like spring water.
"Hehe, Pasha Alexander it''s alright. You don''t have to answer Nanin." Mikaya quipped from below.
"Nanin understands that it''s impossible for the two of you to be together. She just hopes that from time to time you could fuck her¡rough," The girl had a mischievous look as she turned to look at Nanazin, who only curled her lips in glee at the assist.
"Hmph, if that girl thinks she can so easily get the love of her life to take her after disobeying me, then think again," But Lady Inayah shattered that lewd romantic moment with her hard voice as she red at Nanazin like a master would re at an impudent ve.
"What? No,...I..was just shy¡it was¡love..it wa..." Nanazin seemed genuinely flustered now, and very scared.
She didn''t think Lady Inayah would not understand her circumstances and still move to punish her.
"Got, Tot. Prepare her!" Lady Inayah seemed disinterested in Nanazin''s pleading and gave a shortmand to the buff, huge, ck men that had been plowing Nanazin earlier.
"No, no, madam, Please, please don''t let others touch me, at least not in front of Alexander," Nanazin almost wept and begged, as she felt the two giants silently stand beside her, each of their huge hands roughly grabbing her huge knockers and cruelly twisting them, making Nanazin clench her teeth in pleasure.
"Shoosh, girl, *smack*. When did you get to tell me what to do?" Lady Inayah chided the grown woman with a soft hit on her belly covered by the ck, jewel-studded corset.
She then snarled, "You are just a toy. To be used and yed with by men as they please. Now, know your ce, *smack*!"
This time the hit was on her clit.
By this point, Nanazin had lost her voice as Got and Tot had begun to ''prepare'' her with practiced mechanical precision, making the woman use her all might just to swallow the moans.
She didn''t want to let Alexander hear her lustful moans as other men pleasured her
As Nanazin fought tooth and nail to swallow her moans, Lady Inayah turned to Alexander with a smile, "You see Pasha Alexander, Nanazin has two weak points," she exined.
"First- is her sleeping nipples" She pointed to Nanazin''s inverted nipples using her crop, which were being expertly plucked out of their cozy abode and roughly pulled, twisted, and rolled around by the thick, ck fingers of Got.
"Second is her armpits, she''s very ticklish there," Lady Inayah revealed a surprisingly weak spot, which was also, just like her nipples, being pinched, pulled, and massaged.
The pits were being kneaded, its loose skin tightly pulled and the meaty flesh massaged.
The sheer amount of mind-bending pleasure Nanazin was experiencing was evident by how her body was shaking like a leaf in a storm, as her legs wobbled like a newborn''s.
"*Smack*, stop holding back the moan," Lady Inayah struck right on Nanazin''s sensitive bean again, displeased at theck of music.
And this managed to produce an ear-splitting howl out of Nanazin, "Ekk¡Aggggrh¡Ohhh."
"Hehe, Nanin, loves to sing out loud," Mikaya giggled as she found the moans very arousing and stepped up her own pumping tempo, understanding Alexander nearing his limit.
"*Smack*, say your greeting you rebellious pleb," Lady Inayah hit around the crack again, Nanazin''s pubes by now turning from a glossy, milky white, to a burning, shing red.
"Argh¡Master Alexander, please watch this slutty minx''s lewd, little show, conducted by Madam Inayah," Nanazin somehow managed to gasp out the memorized words between the moans.
"*Smack*, count," Lady Inayah was hitting Nanazin around her lower half, around the pubes, her inner thighs, and even her butt.
"Argh..two,"
"*Smack*,"
"Three¡oohh too much,"
"*Smack*"
"Four¡mmmhhh,"
"*Smack*, tell me, do your daughters also have nipples like this?" Lady Inayah had this time struck the protruding cherries.
"Five,...yes..ohhh," Nanazin howled as the tiny crop left a tiny red dash on her white skin.
"Hehe, good, I will have fun training the three," Lady Inayah gave an ominousugh.
And then ordered, "Got, Tot let''s finish this."
And upon hearing this, the giants stopped just simply massaging the armpits and started to lick and suck them, making Nanazin let out a burst of moans.
"Ohhh, arrhhh, mmmm," She roared, as Lady Inayah uped her attack too,nding strike after strike at her sensitive areas, sending jolts of electrifying pleasure coursing through Nanazin''s body.
She was close to her ending act and Alexander couldn''t wait.
Chapter 173 Nanazins Performance (R-18)
Nanazin had been made to perform this very y a few times before, before a few pashas and emirs.
And twice before the previous king and Amenheraft.
The tiny crop would be wielded by someone called the conductor, usually appointed by the royal family and they would be one to make Nanazin sing.
This crop was designed to sting when hit, but never to hurt or leavesting marks.
And because of its versatility, it could even be by rtively inexperienced personnel.
So many times the men would use it themselves to make Nanazin moan, or such in the case of Amenheraft let his wife do it.
Sometimes multiple people would use it at the same time, overloading Nanazin with pleasure as all her weak points were hit simultaneously and letting her grace them with the magnificent finale.
This particr y was something of a specialty of Lady Inayah, and many pashas would eagerly look forward to seeing one of the royal women trained in it perform it when they visited the capital.
Smack. Smack. Shhtt. Chhhmm. Argh. Mmmm
A lewd cacophony of sound filled the room as Alexander waited eagerly for the mysterious show to reach its climax.
"Argh,ing," Nanazin gasped out the words as she felt her fluids pool inside her.
"Hehe, here ites. Pasha Alexander, let''s make youe too," Mikaya chuckled in anticipation as she gave Alexander a fewst pumps to make him release his dam at the same time Nanazin did hers.
Smack, Argh, Mmm, Ohhh
And soon the time came, as Nanazin went a bit bowlegged and shouted, "Master Alexander, please witness like slutty minx''s lewd waterworks, *piss*."
.Just as she did, the mature, married fair woman, with her hands behind her head and wearing a ck corset and high heels, let out a clear gust of liquid, along with a thick, steamy yellow stream out of her hole, creating a tiny rainbow as golden sunlight reflected off of it while the jet traveled through the air in a smooth parab andnded on the white carpet, forming a small puddle.
"Argh, spurt, spurt, spurt," The whole act was so obscene that Alexander immediately burst out thick ropes of white fluid, rocketing out of his member andnding squarely on the yellow puddle just created, mixing with the thin fluid and creating a sauce ofsciviousness.
Alexander''s ejection was helped by Mikaya, who strongly squeezed at the base of the rod, helping Alexander draw out all his fluid.
Spurt, spurt, spurt, even more of Alexander''s seeds fell uselessly on the ground.
"Mikaya, why are wasting all that goodness?" Lady Inayah''s displeased voice addressed Pasha Farzah''s daughter.
Usually in this y, one was supposed to drink the cum and so Lady Inayah was angry at Mikaya for letting it spill.
But Mikaya only replied with a giggle as she pointed, "Hehe, look at the puddle, Lady Inayah. Pasha Alexander''s fluid has mixed with Nanin''s urine, like two lonely lovers, trying to get together but never able to form a bond. Don''t you think it''s poetic?"
Mikaya was quite a renowned painter, and when she was not upied with acts like these, the pieces she would create would be highly desirable to many collectors.
So, the reason why she had let Alexander release into the air was simply because she thought it would produce a nice piece of art.
Lady Inayah let out an exasperated sigh at this weird student of hers, but before she could scold her, Nanazin''s broken voice interrupted her.
"Madam, please, mmmm, tell them to stop¡it''s, argh.. too much!" She begged as Got and Tot had not stopped teasing her even after she hade, making her body re up with pleasure once more.
But Lady Inayah didn''t seem to be in any hurry.
"Tell me, disobedient minx, your daughters have be adults this year. So, why haven''t you referred them to me yet *smack*?" Lady Inayah instead asked as she swiftly hit Nanazin on her perky cherries.
"Argh, because their husbands have not been chosen yet," Nanazin panted out.
"*Smack*, tell the truth!" Lady Inayah sharply shouted, knowing this was a lie.
"Mmmm, it''s¡it''s because it didn''t want them to go through what I did." Nanazin quickly said, revealing how much she loved spoiling them.
Hearing this Lady Inayah only let out a deep breath and shook her head, "Foolish girl, as royal girls it''s their destiny. If it''s not me and then it will someone else, who will likely be even stricter."
"*Smack*, you spoil them too much!" Lady Inayah was angry at Nanazin for being so naive.
Nanazin very well understood the fate that awaited her daughters and the training that they had to through with the Bliss trainers.
But she felt that every day her daughters could be spared from that was one more day of blessing.
Because she knew her cute, innocent daughters would no longer be the same after the two-year education.
Just like she wasn''t.
And this selfishness had caused Nanazin to dy this and Ptolomy being the careless father he was, simply didn''t bother.
This incensed Lady Inayah as this overprotectiveness had actually hurt the girls.
Nobles usually got married afterpleting this course and if the girls did not finish this soon, all the good bachelor candidates would get taken, making the girls suffer for the rest of their lives.
So she decided to teach Nanazin a lesson, "*Smack*, dumb girl, you think I would never hurt your daughters. Huh, do you, *smack*?" Lady Inayah let out a few flurry blows and caused Nanazin toe lightly again.
Seeing that Lady Inayah was truly angry at Nanazin, Mikaya quickly intervened.
"Okay, okay, teacher, Nanazin got just muddled." Mikaya swiftly caught Lady Inayah''s arms and added, "She only meant good for her daughters."
This cated the mature, ck woman as she let out a low grunt and turned away.
Mikaya then quickly schemed to divert her attention, "Madam, forget about that and look here. It would be rude to keep Pasha Alexander waiting."
"He has already recovered!" She said as she pointed her wless finger to Alexander''s already standing in attention little brother.
Any man would recover immediately if they were put in the situation and Alexander was no different.
Seeing the new rod return to its strength, Lady Inayah switched her focus there.
"Ohh my! The young ones are really built differently, mmnn,", Lady Inayah licked her lips with a predatory glint, and her lips curved to a licentious grin.
"Hehe, Thesians are usually small down there. But this one could, ohh," Mikaya too lustilymented, sharing a simr look as her teacher.
"Yeaahhh." Lady Inayah trailed off a bit as her eyes burned with lust at the sight of Alexander''s engrossed penis.
And then she quickly ordered, "Mikaya, undress me."
Thus soon theplicatedcings of her strapless one piece came undone and Mikaya gently pulled down the intricate dress, letting it pool to the floor and like unveiling a magnificent art piece, revealing Lady Inayah''s wless, sexy body to Alexander to feast upon.
The city lord''s face and body said nothing about her age, making her appear to be in her early to mid-thirties, with an oblong face and smooth cheeks.
She hadrge, voluptuous breasts with perky, pink nipples contrasting beautifully with her chocte skin.
Her tummy was t with no extra fat and below her wide curvy waist, was a trimmed mass of curly pubic hair.
Clear honey was leaking out of her plump center underneath, rolling off her juicy, meaty thighs and falling onto the carpet below, forming little dark circles.
Seeing Alexander mesmerized, Lady Inayah teased, "Like what you see, boy?" as she smirked and put her left hand on her left waist and lifted it up like a model on a catwalk.
"Hehe, his thick cock sure does!" Mikaya pointed out with a chuckle at Alexander''s twitching member.
"Haha, oh, what a cute boy!" Lady Inayah let out a coy chuckle as she kneeled before Alexander, sending a sultry grin at Alexander from below and making his cock jump for joy.
After all, which man doesn''t enjoy having a dominant, powerful, authoritative woman submissively kneeling between his legs and sucking his rod?
"You are not a virgin by any chance are you?" The maturedy''s deep, mirthful eyes matched Alexander''s azure, excited eyes as she noticed therge twitch.
"...." Alexander only gave a light smile, not bothering to answer.
"Haha, looks like not. Sorry, teacher, looks like this cherry has already been plucked," Mikaya giggled from behind, recognizing that a virgin would have flushed or tried to answer quickly.
The fact that Alexander calmy did nothing meant that he was unbothered by this question, a sign of an experienced man.
"*Sigh*, it seems so," Lady Inayah let out a yful sigh, and added sultrily, "And here I was wanting to gobble up the divine son of Gaia''s first time."
Then, irked a bit by this missed opportunity, Lady Inayah grabbed the thick member with her beautiful hands and decided to go all out.
''Hehe, I hope I can see you make the most miserable face, twisted in pain and pleasure, cherry boy!'' Her lower mouth drooled in anticipation.
Chapter 174 Lady Inayahs Service (R-18)
Lady Inayah was truly impressed by the calmness disyed by Alexander.
In her experience, very few men could keep their cool when a beauty like her was in such a vulnerable position, kneeling and gazing at them like they were gods.
Most could hardly wait to start humping and even some pashas did this.
But here was amoner, a pleb, a recent ve that only showed tranquility and steadfastness, even when a powerfuldy, a noblewoman, and a city lord was offering her services to him in such a servile manner.
And this was from an only eighteen-year-old boy!
''What fearsome willpower!'' Lady Inayah thought shocked as most men of that age would have just grabbed the servingdy''s head and started mindlessly thrusting the moment they got the chance to.
''Clearly, his body wants it very much. This much is evident with how much his cock is twitching. But he doesn''t show it one bit on his face. Ohh, his sess in life is unwarranted,'' She remarked as she gazed at the stoic face.
And this strangely lit a fire in Lady Inayah''s heart as she wanted to see Alexander writhe and moan under her service, making his calm, collected face twist into that of a lustful animal as he mindlessly pounded inside her.
"Pasha Alexander, be careful. Lady Inayah is one of the most desired women in all of Adhania. Not only was she the previous king''s consort, but she was also courted by many of the pashas. Even my father couldn''t keep his hands off of her," Mikaya chirped the warning.
"Mikaya instead of running your mouth, why don''t you teach your senior a small lesson? She seems to have forgotten some things!" Lady Inayah tightly chided her student for being too idle.
"Hehe, yes, madam," Mikaya giggled in excitement as she picked up the crop from the ground and turned to look at Nanazin who was currently being molested by the two men.
Her breasts were being kneaded, cherries stretched, and her armpits licked as she clenched her teeth to endure the mind-bending pleasure.
"Mika¡ please¡" Nanazin pleaded through her clenched teeth as she noticed the tall, naked woman approaching her holding that dreaded crop.
"Hehe, sorry Nanin, madam''s orders," Though Mikaya didn''t sound sorry, only cheerful and eager.
And she then added, "Don''t worry, I will go easy. Nanin. We are friends after all."
But the sadistic glint in her eyes and wide grin spoke a different story.
However before Nanazin''s new torture of pleasure could begin, Mikaya abruptly pointed to a man in the background and haughtilymanded, "You,e and suck my asshole. I love that while I torture¡I mean y with Nanin."
Mikaya wasn''t even trying to hide her true intentions.
So soon, the room started echoing with a new, even lewder tune as Nanazin howled in pain and pleasure at Mikaya''s expert strikes, while the silver-haired woman stood with her legs parted, a man kneeling behind her and worshipping her glorious, pale white ass- kissing it, licking it and even putting his tongue inside the pink, puckered hole to in an attempt to please his mistress.
Alexander watched this beautiful depraved show in lustful awe, but soon his attention was bought back to his own little brother as he felt Lady Inayah carefully unwrap his foreskin and reveal his sensitive red bulbous ns to her.
She then started to slowly caress it, almost as if she was admiring the beautiful artwork.
"Ohhh. so young and yet so thick and long. And the way it curves upwards, simply divine!" Lady Inayah''s eyes sparkled in delight at the beautiful meaty structure.
"And it even smells so nice. So strong and musky!" Lady Inayah excitedly sniffed the exposed head, letting her warm, lewd breath envelop the sensitive head as she tookrge, audible breaths around Alexander''s member.
"Mmmnn," Alexander moaned in pleasure as this y, which was eerily reminiscent of Ophenia''s y.
Alexander wondered if the temple of Shiva and Lady Inayah''s family were connected, but such thoughts were quickly interrupted.
"Hehe, well then Pasha Alexander, please try tost as long as you can. Remember the more pleased I''m, the less the fee," Lady Inayah gave onest huge grin and then, like a python gobbles its prey, swallowed the whole, huge member in one giant gulp.
Alexander felt immense pleasure coursing through hisher regions as he felt the thick rod enter the warm, pulsating, moist tunnel as Lady Inayah''s tongue caressed it inside.
"Ohhhh, so good," Alexander couldn''t help but groan as his entire girthy penis entered the hole.
Lady Inayah didn''t bother with any slow, gentle forey, but immediately started a brutally fierce attack, thrusting the rod in and out of her skilled mouth, sucking it, licking it, and pushing her tongue against the most sensitive part of the organ, the frenulum, intent on making Alexander cum in the shortest time and subduing the young boy.
Alexander''s body shook with pleasure, while his eyes were nailed to Lady Inayah''s huge breasts, which heaved and swayed in unison as their owner pumped her hot mouth against the hot cock.
Lady Inayah naturally noticed this and then curling her lips, she bought her two idle hands on her breasts and started kneading them herself, pinching her pink nipples and twisting the fat globules between her hands.
This visual sensual view only heightened Alexander''s pleasure, while Lady Inayah coupled this with her main attack, violently moving her head back and forth as her tongue worked dexterously to cover all of Alexander''s sensitive areas.
"Slurp, slurp, mmmm," A wet, lewd sound came out of the mature, ck woman''s mouth as she savored the strong, musky taste of the magnificent organ.
Alexander had already begun to release copious amounts of precum and it was truly delicious, which made Lady Inayah look very forward to how the real thing would taste like.
Thus, eager to make the semen break out of their caged testicles and paint her mouth, Lady Inayah held nothing back, pursing her lips sealed shut against the shaft of the penis and forming a deadly vacuum designed to suck everything out.
"Arghhh," Alexander''s sensitive hard rod writhed in pleasure as it danced wildly inside the city lord''s mouth, being battered relentlessly from all sides by the all-out assault.
And soon Alexander''s defenses began to crumble as he felt his balls swell up and his fluids line up in the root of his member.
Lady Inayah obviously sensed the signs and so she sucked faster and faster, while Alexander, letting himself be lost in pleasure, also started thrusting his hips against her mouth, hammering the pretty mouth with all his might.
Each time his penis was dragged in and out of Lady Inayah''s mouth, Alexander''s entire body was ovee with rapture as severalyers of pleasure invaded his head at once and as each second passed, he edged closer and closer to release.
Until finally, "Argh,..here ites." Alexander grunted, thrusting his spear deep into the narrow canal andunching his cum deep inside the gullet.
Lady Inayah disyed no difort as the thick phallus skewered her throat and deposited its hot, creamy sauce directly into her belly.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp,"
Simply keeping her lips locked to the root of the thick cock, she casually quaffed therge amount of seminal fluid down.
''Ohh, she''s sucking me dry!'' Alexander silently moaned as Lady Inayah didn''t even bother breathing out, as she maintained a constant intake vacuum and greedily sucked out the heavy goo from Alexander''s tubes.
The semen tasted as good as Lady Inayah had imagined.
No, it was even better, as the jelly-like viscous cream stuck to her mouth, tongue, and throat, coating them in a manly, fishy scent and sending herher regions into estrous.
Even amongst her long, experienced career, she could count on one hand the number of times she tasted something so good and Lady Inayah relished in this exquisite feast.
Finally after making sure nothing good was left behind, Lady Inayah separated her thin red lips from the deted meat stick and then out a grin of contentment, "Ahhhh, thanks for the meal."
Noticing Lady Inayah''s service had ended, MIkaya took the time to stop tormenting Nanazin and addressed Alexander, "Pasha Alexander, congrattions. For you tost so long against Lady Inayah''s frightening skills is very impressive."
Mikaya gave her heartiest congrattions.
The time, length wise, wasn''t anything great.
About seven or eight minutes.
But the conditions under which those seven or eight minutes were apletely different matter.
The pleasure had been truly hellish.
Under those kinds of technique, most never passed the three-minute mark.
And just four had ever crossed the ten-minute mark.
So, for Alexander to be so young and yet produce such a good result impressed the two women very much.
After all, no girl liked a quick shot.
"Hehe, Pasha Alexander is a dragon amongst men," Lady Inayah sultrily smiled as she stood up, pleased with the snack she just had.
But this happy mood was immediately shattered by Mikaya''s brazen taunt, "Or, maybe madam''s skills have dulled. Maybe Nanin is not the only one that needs training, hahaha!"
This made Lady Inayah furious.
Chapter 175 Enjoying The City Lord Fully (R-18)
Mikaya was the youngest daughter of Pasha Farzah and as the little princess of the Matrak province, she was spoilt rotten.
She could do almost whatever she wanted and like now say almost whatever she wanted with close to total impunity.
Because of her eldest sister''s death, her father had given her whatever she wanted and this produced the abnormal personality disyed in front of Alexander.
Mikaya indulged herself in all the excesses avable to her and her father even after knowing about these, chose to keep his eyes shut about it.
Because though Mikaya was spoilt, she was not stupid.
On the other day, she was quite shrewd, inheriting her father''s good brain, and had proved herself to be an adept governor and schemer.
But the biggest w in her character was her excess libido and sadistic tendencies, both of which were on full disy currently.
She acted like Lady Inayah''s bad mood didn''t exist and after getting no interesting response from the woman, Mikaya asked a different question, "So, madam, how was it?"
The city lord of Agnirat was inwardly feeling a bit defeated that a young boy had managed tost so long against her and it stung quite a bit when her student mocked her for that.
But the question asked by Mikaya gave her a chance to retaliate, "Ohh, Mikaya, for a cum-guzzling slut like you, you missed a great feast!" Lady Inayah sang the fluid''s praises, while also calling Mikaya names.
"Ohhh, is it really that good?" Mikaya didn''t seem bothered by her new name and instead was more concerned whether Lady Inayah was telling the truth or just teasing her.
But given how the city lord had thanked Alexander for the meal, she was inclined to believe it really was and thus produced a tinge of regret in her heart for letting that goodness spill.
Lady Inayah decided to gloat over her student even more, "Um, even though it was his second time, and the vor must have been diluted, it was¡" Lady Inayah''s attempt to describe the release was suddenly cut off.
"Wait, wait, wait. Don''t tell me. I will taste it myselfter," Mikaya quickly interjected, not wanting to give Lady Inayah the pleasure of celebrating.
"Hehe, okay," Lady Inayah smirked a victorious smile.
Mikaya then turned to a different topic.
"Lady Inayah, Nanin seems to have snapped. She''s just drooling!" Mikaya had a bit of a concerned tone in her voice as she pointed to the queen.
Nanazin had gone ssy-eyed and seemed to be only uttering iprehensible moans as she stood bowlegged, supported only by Got and Tot''s thick arms.
"Don''t worry. She always does this during the middle part of the training. She will return to normal soon. Continue," Came the t, nonchnt order.
And this made Mikaya produce a wolfish grin as she this meant she could y with her toy for longer.
Having received permission from Lady Inayah to continue the training, a sudden thought cross Mikaya''s mind when she felt the warm, wet tongue of the man worshipping her thick ass invade her dirty hole.
"You," Mikaya pointed to one of the many men at the back who were left idling after Alexander had decided to monopolize the girls, "The queen''s rear hole is lonely. Go greet it with your tongue!"
And thus, Nanazin was quickly brought back from heaven to hell, as a fresh new offensive wasunched against her, this time with four people, instead of the previous three.
Her lusciously, heavenly buttocks were parted and her dark hole kissed, her boobs and armpits kneaded and herher region felt like it was on fire with all the constant hits.
As if to douche the mes, Nanazin squirted jet after jet of clear streams, experiencing intense orgasm after orgasm, to the point the carpet directly beneath her had literally turned into a puddle.
But still, the pleasure seemed never ending as her body climbed and climbed ever higher along the spiralingdder of bliss.
While Nanazin flitted between heaven and hell, Alexander''s own pleasure was about to begin anew.
"Pasha Alexander, please lie down and let this olddy please you. After all, it would be a disgrace for a pasha to serve a mere city lord," Lady Inayah gestured gracefully.
Though what she really wanted was to try and break Alexander again, this time using her lower mouth.
Alexander didn''t know these and he didn''t mind Lady Inayah taking the lead.
On the contrary, he was looking forward to just skilled the experienced woman was with her lower cave.
As Alexandery down on the thick, lush carpet, Lady Inayah stood above his hard rod andsciviously grinned, "Pasha Alexander, please grace your eyes on the pussy where your cock is going to go," as she then used her fingers to spread open the plump lips to better show off her genitals.
It was raw pink in color and pulsating like a living being, while her petals glistened with the overflowing juices.
The city lord''s dark skin entuated her pink lower half and made it appear more beautiful.
"I hope Lady Inayah can take the entirety of my dragon," Alexander gave a provocative grin, making a reference to how she had called him a ''dragon amongst man''.
"Hehe¡" Lady Inayah too returned the same provocative grin.
She then slowly lowered herself onto Alexander''s raging member, using her hands to guide the tip to her slit and teasing it by slowly rubbing up and down against it.
"Ahhhh," The hot and soft sensation on the sensitive ns made Alexander leak out a moan as each rub of his head against thebia made his spine shiver.
Lady Inayah had changed her strategy from her previous round, taking a softer, slower approach this time, teasing Alexander, edging Alexander, and frustrating Alexander.
"Hehe, what do we have here? All I did was put the tip against by slit and you are already leaking spermy pre-cum! Where did the dragon go?" Lady Inayah mocked and sneered at Alexander.
She was very much enjoying this slow y, letting both their fluids mix together and coat the huge bulbous head in a vibrant sheen.
"Mnnn! Ahhhh!" Alexander relished this new kind of y.
"Do you want to stick it inside me?" Lady Inayah sneered as she continued the teasing.
"Yes, please. Hurry," Alexander felt a faint want of release grow inside him.
"Hehe, good. I like honest little boys." At some point, Lady Inayah had started treating Alexander like a junior.
And then as if to reward Alexnader, she slowly sat down on the hard rod, letting Alexander look with crystal clear rity how his rock-hard penis was sucked into her womanhood as the hot, moist, indescribable feeling gradually spread further along Alexander''s shaft.
"Haha, look, your dragon dick is inside my pussy," Lady Inayah returned the taunt with a wide smile.
And by her urging, Alexander focused on how her youthful-looking, clean, wet, bushy pussy had just devoured his dragon and a sublime pulse of pleasure encased his lower body.
"It''s..so hot!" Alexander felt the pleasure assault him like never before as it was unnaturally hot inside her, like scorching hot.
"Ohhh, Pasha Alexander''s dragon is quite the fierce beast," Lady Inayah lustfully praised as she felt the big thick rod stretch her inner walls to the utmost limit and the head hit her cervix.
''This is almost as good as Got and Tot,'' She subconsciouslypared the young boy to the mature men who had been trained for years and fed many drugs to get their unnatural size and it made her almost mad to want to taste it.
"Well, I''m going to start moving, please enjoy!" Lady Inayah couldn''t wait for a second longer.
Her original n to slowly tease Alexander and make him squirm under her had gone out the window and now she only wanted to use the huge cock to destroy her tight pussy.
"Squelch, p, smash," Her meaty butt pped against Alexander''s thighs as she violently ground her hips, making her wless breasts dance with her as she rode Alexander like a horse.
"Kaaahh," Beads of sweat formed in every pore of Alexander''s body as his rod was assaulted by one of the most intense pleasures he had ever experienced, as the steaming hot walls of Lady Inayah''s cave wriggled and contracted around his member like they had a mind of their own.
"It feels like my penis is melting," Alexander announced his pleasure as every time his ns rubbed against her walls, it felt like every erogenous zone in his body was being stimted.
This pleasure continued to build up more and more as time passed, until the urge toe became overwhelming. and Alexander grunted, "Mmmp,ing, spulrt, spulrt, spulrt."
He thrusted all the way against the tough, bumpy walls of Lady Inayah''s baby room and let go of this creamy load directly into it, making Lady Inayah throw her head back and utter an ear-screeching howl of pleasure.
"Ahhhhhh, yesssss," Lady Inayah let out a jubnt cry as she came for the first time in his session.
Chapter 176 Exploring Nanazin (R-18)
Lady Inayah felt like she was floating on clouds after her first orgasm of the day.
Nowadays, she rarely experienced such mind-melting pleasure and she didn''t want to snap out of it.
Got and Tot had been with her for years and had long gotten stale and boring, while the various dignitaries she would serve were mostly sub-par by her standards.
And those that were, were rarely avable.
? ''Ohhh, I want him. Ahhh, I want him so bad,'' Lady Inayah screamed in her heart.
If Alexander didn''t have such an exalted status, even if he was a Jamidar (Earl), Lady Inayah was confident that she could have used her status in the court to have him, either by force, through marriage or by making him one of her retainers.
''But s, snatching a Pasha is a bit too much even for me,'' She ruefully thought.
"Is he that good, teacher?" Mikaya asked, surprised that her teacher would let out such an animalistic roar of pleasure.
Usually, she was the one making others roar, grunt, and even cry.
"Hehe,.." Lady Inayah only gave a mysterious smile.
She then reluctantly got up, releasing theid little stick with a plop asrge dollops of the murky fluid rained down on the carpet, while small white streams formed around her inner thighs.
"Sorry, Pasha Alexander, your dragon has opened me too wide. It might have gotten too loose to take anyone but you," Lady Inayah giggled unabashed and unconcerned by her leaking lower mouth.
She then kneeled down and performed a cleanup blowjob, diligently sucking out all the excess semen, while also cleaning the rod off of her juices.
And soon, Alexander was back up for round four.
"Pasha Alexander, please get up. Nanazin''s y has not finished," Lady Inayah gestured.
And hearing this, automatically Got and Tot let go of Nanazin and stood back, as did the man licking Nanazin''s bumhole.
Without this support, Nanazin was unable to keep standing, and finally, out of physical exhaustion, she let go of her held posture and fell to the ground, panting.
But fortunately, or unfortunately for Nanazin, the second part of the y didn''t need her to be standing.
"Nanin, you know what to do, get in the puppy position," Mikaya ordered as her lips curled up in anticipation.
Nanazin understood there was no point in resisting, not that she wanted to anyway, so she obedientlypiled,ying down on her back, and separating her legs, like a puppy does when it gets a tummy rub.
She then raised her legs high into the air and bought the knees next to her head, lifting her beautiful ass into the heavens and exposing both her shameful holes for the world to see.
When Alexander was escorted to Nanazin by Lady Inayah, he found the queen in the piledriver position, her white body strewn with thin red marks, her lower half flooded and crimson red while her face was dyed a bright blush.
Alexander was impressed by how none of the strikes had broken her skin, but his gaze was naturally drawn to the two beautiful holes, the smaller, tighter, wrinkled one, and the shaved, plump, engrossed, flooded one, as his cock twitched in anticipation.
"Pasha Alexander, please have a look here," Lady Inayah came up from behind and then pried open Nanzin''s pussy with her fingers, letting Alexander have a clear view into the queen''s canal, all the way to her womb.
"This is the pussy that gave birth to her three kittens." She introduced, "But, Nanazin dislikes being prated vaginally, much preferring her ass to her cooch, so it''s still pink and tight." Lady Inayah added, causing Nanazin''s hole to pulsate and squirm.
"Heh, she hasn''t used that in so long it might have cobwebs growing inside it!" Mikaya sneered at Nanazin, finding Nanazin''s fake celibacy risible.
Nanazin usually argued that her ''real'' hole belonged to her husband and preferred to take in phalluses only inside the other, which Mikaya disdained because she knew the truth about her friend.
"Haha, yes, I do remember it now. It doesn''t stink down there does it?" Lady Inayah too joined the taunt, shooting a mocking taunt at her student as she bought her nose near the private part.
"No¡ no, I make sure to wash it every day," Nanazin answered, flustered at having her personal hygiene questioned in front of Alexander.
"Haha, now greet your master *smack*," Lady Inayah gave the order with a hit on the fair butt, having retried her crop from Mikaya.
So Nanazin greeted like she was taught to.
She opened her overflowing cave using her fingers and pleaded, "Master Alexander, this is a hole made exclusively to house a penis, your penis. So, please use that thick, hard cock to brutally pound this lewd hole to oblivion, *squelch*, *squirt*."
Nanazin then involuntarily squirted an orgasm at her own lewd talk.
"She came! Haha, she actually came!" Mikaya couldn''t hold herughter.
"Hehe, it looks like Nanazin can''t wait to have her lover pound her," Lady Inayah joined Mikaya with a chuckle.
Then she beamed at Alexander, "Well, please enjoy your feast, great pasha."
Alexander didn''t need any encouragement and since he had drunk the poison, he might as well finish the sk.
He fiercely grabbed the raised legs by the calf, aimed his spear straight toward the opened hole, and rammed all of it in go.
"Arghh¡so strong," Alexander only now understood what Nanazin meant by saying ''a hole made exclusively to house a penis''.
It was hot and moist like Alexander had expected, but also had a rough ceiling that felt like herring row, and best of all Nanazin''s Kegel muscles used sheer muscle power to squeeze on the shaft and ns.
"Ahhh, yes, so thick and bigggg, *squirt*." Nanazin came again as she felt like her walls were destroyed and cervix battered.
But the orgasm didn''t cause her to loosen her grip on the girthy spear.
On the contrary, she bit down on it even more.
"Mmm, too tight. Loosen up a little, urghhh" Alexander clenched his teeth at the fierce vice-like grip.
He was having a hard time believing that this woman had been married for neen years and given birth to triplets.
The tightness wasparable to a virgin''s, which made him think that neither Nanazin took very good care of her body, or more likely Ptolomy was not performing his marital duties properly.
Alexander''s plea to Nanazin went over her head as she just kept on sucking and squeezing his member inside her, only intent on making him cum as soon as possible and flooding her womb.
"*p*, *p*, *p*," Alexander too had gotten his act together after the initial shock and started fiercely thrusting his hips against Nanazin''s.
"Ahh,,,so good,,,ohh so deep..mmnn there..ekkkk so nice," Nanazin sang lustful songs with wild abandon, her heart filled with joy at being able to copte with the man she loved.
The bliss in her heart threatened to burst out of her chest, as she had never dared imagine being able to do what she was doing now.
Alexander navigated through the tight cave with expertise, changing the speed and direction of his thrust with each cycle, and hitting ces yet untouched by a cock, causing Nanazin to squeal in joy.
The couple seemed to be immersed in their world.
But soon that exclusively was destroyed by the summoning of two subi- a fair angelic one, and a caramel devilish one.
And what was worse was that both of them wielded an identical-looking crop.
"Enjoying yourself, little slutty minx?" Lady Inayah sneered disdainfully at Nanazin from above.
"Ohhh¡ yes,,so nice.." Nanazin answered between pants, loving Alexander''s thrusts inside her.
"Haha, you always act all puritanical at the start of these events, but in truth, you love performing these shows, don''t you, *smack*," A solid hitnded directly on Nanazin''s shaved pubes.
"Arghhh," Nanazin was struck by electrifying pleasure as her mind nked out for a while.
"Answer, madam! Don''t you? *smack*," Mikaya barked as she hit the same ce as Lady Inayah, inserting herself into the y.
"Yeshhhh¡three," Nanazin arched her head back as she screamed her answer, while also remembering to urately keep count of the strikes.
As much as she would like to pretend that she was against doing these things, just as Lady Inayah had said, she actually enjoyed it.
"Good," Lady Inayah smiled with her lips curled up as she slowly massaged Nanazin''s reddened pubes with her crop, pleased at how well she had taught her student.
Then her eyes turned a little malevolent as she started poking Nanazin''s exposed armpits with her crops and smirked, "You know Nanazin, the queen, the real queen will never be made to do such things. Just like Akhemisa was taught to but was never made to perform this and Ptolomy''s queen too won''t have to."
This revtion made Nanazin a bit pale as she remembered that she was only Ptolomy''s wife, but not the main wife and hence not the actual queen.
But the dread onlysted a moment as her lips curled up in disdain, "So, what! All that limp dick can do is rub himself alone thinking about Hellma."
"And then he even pretends to not know that the girls are not his!" Nanazin grinned and casually revealed an earth-shattering secret!
Chapter 177 Nanazins Reveal (R-18)
Alexander was stunned beyond words at this revtion, and momentarily even stopped pounding the tight snatch.
It appeared that Ptolomy was crazy for Hellma beyond words and Alexander was really taking a second to think if Ptolomy might dere war on him just to get Hellma back from him.
And Ptolomy''s craziness seemed to have paired perfectly with Nanazin, who must have gone crazy to reveal such a secret so openly.
"Haha, look at you, Pasha Alexander, haha. This is the first time I have seen you so scared, haha" Mikaya chuckled from the side.
Lady Inayah too joined with a giggle, "Haha, rest assured Pasha Alexander. This will be our little secret!!" as she put a finger on her lip.
''Nanazin told these two!'' Alexander reasoned in shock.
"Haha, that''s right. He loves only Hellma and doesn''t even bother to touch me most days. And whenever he gets that micro-penis out, he only humps like a dog, while panting Hem," Nanazinughed at her husband with malice and scorn, hurt at being denied the love she so craved.
She was wedded to the waste prince due to political machinations far beyond her control and the lottery prize she drew was bad.
What could she do?
Unable to meaningfullysh out, Nanazin put on the facade of an obedient woman whilst harboring dark fantasies like this one.
And now that it came to fruition, she held nothing back as she vented, "He only kept me around to entertain his guest. You have no idea how many cocks I had suck for his rebellion, haha," There was no sadness in Nanazin''s voice, only disgust and derison.
"Oh, don''t act like you are some saint Nanazin. I know you regrly put sleeping medicines in his drinks so that he won''t touch you," Mikaya decided to stop Nanazin from appearing as white as the driven snow.
"Heh, do you have any idea what it feels to hear the name of a child being whispered into your ears as your so-called husband tries to do whatever little, pathetic he can do," Nanazin snapped back at Mikaya, this time truly angry.
She venomously gave the answer herself, "Hellma was just six when he started doing that. I was a married woman with three daughters older than the girl he lusted over."
"Yet my husband fantasized about a mere child. I lost to a mere child." Nanazin screamed her hearts as she squeezed her inner muscles, even more, to urge Alexander to restart his pounding and drown her sorrows in carnal pleasure.
Alexander''s lower half was energized by the squirming of the soft walls and started piledriving the woman hard, while the two women stopped teasing Nanazin and started their own attacks.
Lady Inayah and Mikaya made swift, sharp, strikes on the helpless curvy below, strategically hitting her armpits and boobs, creating more red lines on her wless skin and causing Nanazin to experience a few new orgasms.
Each time Nanazin came, her walls would spasm erratically around Alexander and bite on him even harder, making Alexander feel like his rod might snap.
And after some time of enjoying this world-ss pussy, Alexander finally reached his limit, and with a strong grunt and onest mighty ram strike, released his fourth load into the waiting womb below.
"Ahhhh, yes. Ptolomy could never do this, my prince. Please impregnate this lowly sow," Nanazin screamed as she mixed her dreams with reality and her eyes rolled back and went white in pleasure.
Alexander too very much enjoyed this and after making sure he had released everything, he finally pulled out, letting go of Nanazin''s legs, and allowing them to powerless fall to the ground as the royal swam in organismic bliss.
As for Alexander, he entered sage mode for a while, where he suddenly regretted what he had done.
He had inadvertently, after being swept up in the frenzy by the other two women, slept with a married woman behind her husband''s back.
And this struck him as wrong.
He also found it very funny at how he was nning to backstab Ptolomy without any guilt, yet suddenly sleeping with his family was a red line for him.
But it was what it was.
Later Nanazin wouldter inform Alexander that Ptolomy had been a sickly boy when they had gotten married, and although the marriage had been consummated in a way to guarantee Nanazin''s pregnancy, it had failed.
But thinking she was pregnant because she had by chance missed her period that month, she was soon whisked away to her home because the weather in Adhan didn''t suit her at first.
And in an attempt to hide this failure and because Nanazin''s father desperately wanted to have a prince call him grandfather, forced her to copte with a servant and after confirming she was pregnant promptly executed him, the father of his granddaughters.
"But I disappointed him." Alexander would remember for a long time just how much bitterness Nanazin had in her voice when she said those words.
"I not only failed to produce an heir but gave birth to daughters, I even gave birth to three at once. And for my crime, I was banished to here." Nanazin revealed.
And as for Ptolomy, even after he knew about the deception, he could do nothing.
He was a weak prince and so as not to draw the ire of the Matbar (marquis) family behind Nanazin, he could only pretend not to know anything.
Instead, he would vent his anger by making Nanazin entertain various pashas like this.
Alexander would produce a heavy sigh in his heart after hearing this, ming the two families involved rather than the misfortune couple.
But currently, Alexander was not concerned by these.
Instead, his sage mode was quickly shattered as he felt his member be grabbed and escorted into a warm, moist tunnel where a rough, bumpy carpet invited him inside.
"Slurp, slurp, slurp," Alexander looked down to see the silver-haired beauty giving him a cleanup blowjob with much crity, her tongue-work as exquisite as one would expect.
Mikaya kneeled in front of Alexander by wildly parting her legs in an obscene M shape, letting Alexander clearly see the lewd spring water dripping out of her excited, trimmed cunt and making him marvel at the size of her twin peaks.
Noticing Alexander''s excited gaze, Mikaya''s eyes turned to a gleeful crescent, as she grabbed hold of Alexander''s hand and then squished it against her breasts, inviting him to give these magnificent melons a squeeze.
And they felt as good as they looked, full, warm, and soft, Alexander''s hands sunk into them like pillowy marshmallows.
As Alexander yed with these marvelous puppies, Miky''s digits went down to her own snatch, furiously fingering it and making a loud, lewd *squelch*, *squelch* sound.
Mikaya loved the current situation she was in, with her boobs being kneaded, her nipples pulled, and her pussy being serviced herself.
She also savored Alexander''s taste mixed with Nanazin''s juices.
Just as Lady Inayah had said, although the vor had been diluted and contaminated, the thick, rich manly, musk still lingered.
Mikaya now truly regretted wasting it.
Under Mikaya''s caring ministrations, Alexander''s member soon regained its hardness and he was ready for round five.
"*Plop*, Ohhh Pasha Alexander, your cock is just as good as they say!" Mikaya praised, letting go of his engrossed penis and standing up.
Then she did something Alexander never sawing.
Standing upright, Mikaya raised her right leg vertically all the way up until her knees could touch her head, revealing her plump, soaking lower lips with a busy forest, and invited, "Well don''t keep me waiting."
This ballerina-like move made Alexander wide-eyed and as the soaked, silver hair on her pubes glittered in the sunlight, he approached the inviting crack like a moth drawn to mes.
Alexander quickly made towards Mikaya inrge strikes, swinging his arms around the slim waist of the adult woman, and then jamming his stick in one go.
"Oh, yes. So, how does it feel to whore yourself out just for some ships, boy? Hahaha" Mikaya had a sadistic sneer on her face as she gazed straight into Alexander''s eyes.
This made Alexander quite furious and he vented by fiercely pounding Mikaya.
But this effort only managed to get heartyughter from Mikaya, "Haha, ohhh, did me pointing it out hurt? Haha,"
Alexander only clenched his teeth and moved faster, theughter acting as fuel to urge him even faster, striking his hips so hard against Mikaya''s that it seemed almost like he wanted to break it in half.
"Haha, it''s almost like I''m being fucked by a monkey, ohhh," Mikaya seemed to take this pounding with no problem at all, even swinging her hips to match Alexander''s and drowning herself in pleasure.
p! p! p!
Alexander very much enjoyed this new organ,
It was not at all what Alexander had expected.
Instead of the terrifying biting and squeezing he had mentally prepared for himself, the cave was warm andfortable, and it massaged Alexander softly like he was a weary traveler in need of a rest.
Mikaya''s organ gave a cozy, warm feeling, and after a while, Alexander emptied his fifth load in less than an hour
Chapter 178 Thoughts And Struggles (R-18)
Alexander felt exhausted after his fifth release.
But the girls were nowhere near done.
It seemed that Alexander was just the appetizer and finished with him, they moved on to the main course, eagerly devouring the other men in waiting with bursting ball sacks.
Lady Inayah straddled a man, then lowered her front onto the chest of the man below, allowing another to pierce her pink asshole, while a third grabbed her hair and shoved his thick organ inside her mouth, making the city lord fully airtight.
The three men worked in tandem to please their lord, swinging their hips to strong m against the defenseless woman. and soon each of Lady Inayah''s holes was filled with their thick, creamy goodness.
Mikaya too was not about to be outdone.
She bent over and parted her beautiful, meaty ass to reveal her wless dirty hole and soon a man pierce her rear hole from behind.
He then raised her off the ground by her legs, as if helping her pee, and then started the pounding.
And soon, Mikaya emptied her dder, letting Alexander have a front-row seat to the beautiful golden shower and proving herself as Lady Inayah''s student.
But she was not done with just this, as just after her release, another man with practiced movements pierced her pussy, causing Mikaya to scream, "Ohh yes! It''s not fucking if it''s not in both holes."
Clearly, her sex with Alexander had not been satisfactory enough.
And then there was Nanazin.
Underdy Inayah''s silent directions, the two giants were instructed to restart Nanazin''s training.
Her limp body was pulled up from the ground, made to bend over, and then pieced in her asshole again by Got, who then resumed the thrusting.
Not to be outdone, Tot afterward took her helpless mouth and made Nanazin greet his thick member with her mouth, and thus venerable queen was back to being split-roasted.
And this time, the pounding seemed to be even more fierce.
As his thick member stretched Nanazin''s puckered hole to its limit, Gotid outrge, heavy spanks on the already reddened ass cheeks, making her ass jiggle under each strike and threatening to snap her willow waist in half.
Tot too attacked in his own way.
He used his strong hips to rapidly move in and out of the warm tunnel while his fingers grabbed the heavenly fruits hanging off the twin mountains and started tugging and twisting them, almost like milking a cow.
"Mmmmm," With her mouth full, Nanazin could only make nasal grunts, the only sign that she was loving this was the constant thin jets of streams she would let off from her tiny hole.
Alexander''s brother soon regained turgidity seeing this orgy, but the thought of having to do these acts alongside other men was a mental hurdle too hard for him to ovee, at least for now.
So he only silently watched as the three women drain the men like subi, switching men between releases to ensure perpetual hard rods were stuffed inside them at all times, as the women assumed multiple positions at different times to facilitate the extraction of their desired fluid.
These positions included lining their asses up and having all nine holes filled and pounded, taking two rods in one hole, licking each other''s pussy and sucking out the fluid inside while getting railed in the ass at the same time, and atst, performing a synchronized water show for Alexander where the three women were put in the ''child peeping'' position and then released their fluids at the same, creating three beautiful arcs and drenching the carpet below in a thick, ammonium smell.
''Are they crazy or is this normal among the nobles?'' Alexander asked himself at his prurient disy.
By the time it ended, all three reeked of semen and body fluids and had very content smiles on their faces as thedies enjoyed themselves to high heaven.
White turgid fluid freely flowed out of their two holes, a clear sign that they had been overstuffed, while their chins were caked with the creamy stuff.
Their breasts and face naturally had their own whiteyer, while the sticky fluid even appeared in their hair, adding a kind of nasty, lewd sheen to it.
Lady Inayah and Mikaya were still standing, but it seemed Nanazin had enjoyed herself a bit too much, as, by the end, Nanazin directly fell asleep, spreading her exhausted body on the carpet and drifting off into slumber.
The other twodies'' conditions were a bit better and they called the men to get a tub full of clean water as thedies scrubbed themselves clean.
After the awkward, embarrassing but also very pleasurable encounter was over, Alexander awkwardly put on his clothes, avoiding eye contact with everybody while also thanking the heavens that these men were all Lady Inayah''s personal guards and not one of his own.
And then quickly excused himself.
"Pasha Alexander, if you want to be a part of Adhanian nobility, swapping wives is a must!"
This statement rang behind Alexander, uttered by Lady Inayah and it stuck with him.
Lady Inayah had given the advice out of the goodness of her heart but the reality of it very much hurt Alexander.
He knew the Romans used to swap wives as a political tool to advance their careers, so he wasn''t too surprised by the existence of such practices.
But that didn''t stop him from feeling disgusted.
Just the mere thought of Cambyses being held and touched by another man made his blood boil.
But then the cool, rational part of him took over and he thought realistically.
This practice might be considered immoral but even in Alexander''s modern times, it existed and was even prevalent in some parts of the world.
He specifically remembered how surprised he was when he read a headline iming a quarter of Italian couples swapped partners.
So were they immoral?
Yes, in some people''s eyes they were.
But who decided what was moral and immoral?
In many countries, something as harmless as wearing a bikini is considered immoral.
In many Muslim-majority countries, drinking alcohol is seen as immoral and antisocial, while theplete opposite is true for some other countries like Japan, where the corporate culture is such that you are expected to drink and serve drinks with your colleagues and boss.
While in the Indian subcontinent, the evil culture of forcing a widow to jump into the burning pyre of her dead husband was followed for centuries until the British stopped it.
So who was right and who was wrong?
Where did one draw the line between harmless culture and harmful malpractices?
And who was the one that drew that line?
A short answer would be if everyone thought an act was okay, then it was okay and if not, then it was not.
As such, as all the nobles in Adhania were practicing this, if he too did not, he would be a pariah.
There was a reason why the saying went, ''When in Rome do what the Romans do.''
And he was already a pariah by the pashas, but if he did this too, he would be virtually alone.
And no matter how resourceful and ingenious Alexander thought himself to be, he doubted he could take on the entire noble society on his own.
Maybe he could withstand against them militarily, but if they did not trade with him, if they restricted his ess through their rivers andnd, then his life would be very hard.
Butpromising on his principles also seemed impossible.
The conflict between his modern soul and this ancient practice seemed too strong to ovee.
Hence he struggled to bnce his love with his ambition and he was caught between a rock and a hard ce.
On one hand was love, one of the major driving forces for doing all these.
On the other hand was ambition, the thing that would enable him to hold onto the things he loved.
So, does Alexanderpromise on love and hold onto it for longer, or does he not risk losing it all?
Neither decision was easy.
And when he told Cambyses about this, she answered with a firm tone, "I will do whatever it needs to take your ambition to seed."
This did not help. as Alexander was rather hoping for Cambyses to vehemently deny this or even punch him to make the choice easier
And so with these troubling thoughts, with his modern soul shing against the practices of the ancient world, with expectant desires toward his territory, and with many challengesying ahead, Alexander left Adhan and finally started his journey toward Zanzan.
[Author''sment - For anyone fearful of the dreaded NTR, rest assured it will not appear. This practice will be merely used as a tool for conflict generation and to generally make life harder for Alexander. At best some of Alexander''s lesser concubines like Gelene, who shares no love for Alexander will be used, though even that is very very unlikely.
But as always you canment [here or in my discord] to let me know just how far you guys arefortable with this - from pure vani to slightpromise to full-blown NTR.]
Author''s thoughts- Well this is the end of the first volume. Congrattions to all who made it this far.
Personally, I doubted whether I could reach this far. English is not my firstnguage and being an engineering major, my entire prior experience of writing English consisted of just 3 essays, one in my O level almost ten years ago, one in an English course I took at Uni and thest was in my recent GRE.
All of them were average at best, ( I got 4 out of 6 on my GRE) and so I really doubted my penmanship.
And because I never wrote a story, I was also unsure how to begin a story.
And I think those problems show.
Other than the spelling mistakes (mostly pointed out by ByeSpirit- shout out to him/her) and some grammatical mistakes, I will be the first to admit my first 50 chapters haverge ws, as manymenters have pointed out, from the weird POV changes which I abandonedter, to many not liking my tactics to some not liking the harem tag.
Some were genuine, some trolls and some weren''t sure how they felt about my novel.
Taking that into ount I did once think of rewriting those chapters but decided against it.
I thought all those who read my book should get the same experience and prior readers should not have to reread previous chapters.
I hate retconning.
But overall, the reception to my novice novel has been overwhelmingly positive.
And the support I received has been phenomenal, special shout-out goes to BossJohnny, Astemal_Meridous, Astemal, and Voltic_Ranger who regrly like,ment, and discuss things with me.
So, all in all, though a bit bittersweet, I''m satisfied with what I made.
And, I hope I can continue to receive you guys'' support in the future which will allow me to continue to give you guys your 5-minute daily dose of entertainment.
Cheers, FerriticMatrix.
End of Volume-1. [World map in thements.]
Chapter 179 First Hurdle
The day to leave for Zanzan came on the first week of October, with the party first making toward Agnirat.
The huge possession consisted of more than forty thousand people, consisting of the twenty-two thousand (22,000) ves Alexander bought, four thousand (4,000) mercenaries, and one thousand (1,000) Cantagena soldiers who decided to move to him to Zanzan, the five thousand (5,000) freed Canteganan ves and servants, the seven thousand (7,000) free Adhanians and around one thousand artisans (1,000) and their families..
There were also enough supplies tost them almost a year, with ten thousand tonnes of grain, five thousand animals, and many tonnes of other misceneous goods.
"Please take care of yourself, Your Majesty," Alexander bowed to Ptolomy as he said his farewell.
"Um, I''ll leave Hellma''s and the Queen mother''s safety to you. Please take care of them," Ptolomy had a sulky, reluctant tone to his voice.
"Rest assured your Majesty, I will protect them to myst dying breath," Alexander thumped his chest in assurance as he shed a smile to his liege.
And then he reminded, "This is only temporary my king. The princess and her mother will be allowed to stay with you for six months after the Jtaama. So, please have patience."
This cheered up Ptolomy a lot and he nodded his head vigorously to show his support.
The reason for this change was because after that incident, where Alexander came to understand a bit about Ptolomy''s craze for his sister, and fearing he might do something stupid, Alexander promised him that instead of the agreed upon five years, they will now split the time with Alexander and Ptolomy, with Nanazin and her daughters taking their ce.
Ptolomy naturally was overjoyed by this and quickly epted.
Alexander then turned to Pasha Farzah who was standing beside Ptolomy, "Prime minister please rest assured Azira and Azura are in good hands."
"Hehe..." Only a slight chuckle rang from the man-made prime minister as he knew he didn''t need to say anything.
Alexander was smart enough to understand what that smile meant and for the first time in his life, Alexander appreciated just how much meaning a singleugh could carry.
Done with the pleasantries, Alexander, with his entourage finally made their way towards Agnirat, where a hundred ships awaited them to take them to Zanzan.
As Agrinat was a major port city, the hundred-and-fifty-kilometer road between the two cities was very well maintained. Alexander crossed the journey in five days, averaging thirty kilometers a day.
Lady Inayah too had traveled with them to return to her city and acted as a generous host to Alexander and co.
Like Adhan, Agnirat seemed to have suffered its share of the drought and the scars of empty. deste streets, abandoned farnds, and general ruinid bare for all to see.
But Alexander did not pay much attention to this, instead more focusing on overseeing the unloading of men and cargo into the ships awaiting at the port.
It took two days, working night and day to get everything onto the ships, and then, bidding farewell to their host, Alexander stepped on board the ship and seven dayster finished the three thousand kilometer journey.
Because of the strong northerly wind, the ship traveled almost twice its average speed, and although the journey was choppy and bumpy, it was rtively uneventful.
Alexander spent most of the time in his cabin with Cambyses, while also making various ns and lists of what to do once he reached Zanzan.
As Alexander approached Zanzan''s harbor at around dawn, he found it deste and empty, but surprisingly in pristine condition, not at all like the shabby, decrepit, ruined structure Lady Inayah had once described it as.
Alexander wouldter find the reason for this discrepancy was because this port had been used as a major supply hub for Adhania against Tibias during the two-year war and was thus renovated to fit the logistics requirement of the hundred thousand troops.
But for now, Alexander didn''t seem too concerned about why the harbor condition was so good and instead told his men toy anchor and moor their ships to the harbor.
And thus soon, the ships were unloading their cargo, assisted by the twenty thousand, mostly native Zanzan ves.
Alexander also tasked a thousand men to go inside the city and see what was the situation there as a hundred shipsing to port and not causing a ruckus was definitely strange.
There was not even a dock worker in the harbor, which only added to the strangeness.
"gue,mander! It''s the gue!" Soon the frightened cries of the men Alexander sent to gather news.
It seemed that because of the massive recruitment carried out where almost every able-bodied man was conscripted into the army, there was no one to take care of the town''s sanitation and this induced a gue outbreak.
And Alexander''s heart sank when he heard this news.
''The goddess of fate really loves fucking me,'' Alexander cursed and swore in his heart.
He had barely taken his first step and was already hit with such a massive challenge.
The news of the gue spread like wildfire among his rank and file and with it so did panic.
"gue! It''s the gue!"
"Run, we gotta run."
"My family, what about my family."
"Leave, let''s leave."
Hysterical frightened shouts echoed across the harbor as many wanted to turn around and board the ships immediately while some of the natives wanted to run in the opposite direction, into the city and to meet their families.
Even the royaldies panicked and approached Alexander to ask him to hastily retreat to Adhan.
''Joke, if I go back to Adhan, Ptolomy will beughing for days,'' Alexander blew off these concerns in his heart.
But openly, heforted, "Rest assured, Your Highnesses. My medical skills can deal with this gue no problem."
But to side with caution, he quickly escorted thedies on a ship and had it sail twenty kilometers off the coast of Zanzan, well out of any infection range.
The women were promised that they would only be called back tond once the gue had subsided or be set free after two weeks.
Afterward, he gave Menes a shortmand, "Menes, get the soldiers and calm the people down."
Menes didn''t need any furthermand, as being the experiencedmander he was, he skillfully ordered the four thousand mercenaries to restore order to the harbor.
The panicking ves became quiet after a few hits with the wooden parts of the spears, while the freedmen wereforted with tales of Alexander''s past experiences and the sight of a medical camp being built right on the wharf.
Cambyses led the construction of the camp and using her experienced crew, she got it up and running by next day.
In the meantime, Alexander gave out several orders.
First and foremost he ordered the men to secure safe drinking water, which was quickly obtained from a few nearby wells.
Thankfully the gue started due to sewage left in the open and not because it had seeped into the underground drinking water.
Even then as a precaution, Alexander ordered all drinking water to be boiled.
To facilitate this, he issued a few thousand ves to cut the nearby trees and get firewood while huge burning open stoves were set up at various points in the camp, to be used not only for boiling water but also for cooking.
The camp was ordered to be set up by the rest of the ves, who led by the artisans had tents up all around the huge harbor, along with the most important feature - designated restrooms along the sides..
This was revolutionary for its time, though they were just huge pits in the ground with a shed around them, covered by a wooden nk with a hole in them.
But the most innovative feature of the camp was the creation of so-called soap points- which were just bowls of ash ced at regr intervals with a bucket of water next to them.
The idea was to have the men regrly wash their hands using the ash which was strongly alkaline and thus kill any germs.
In fact, ash and water mixed to make an almost causative liquid that could ruin the skin and was not rmended to use long term.
But when there was a gue going on, a little rough skin was a negligible price to pay.
Of course, Alexander and the higher-ups had ess to market soap, and didn''t need to use this low-quality soap.
In this way, by promoting cleanliness, Alexander hoped to stymie the spread of the gue as he didn''t know the exact cure for the gue, the disease been driven to extinction by his time.
Thus, with all these preparations done, ended Alexander''s first day after his ''conquest of Zanzan'', while Alexandermpooned, ''If this the first day, I wonder whatys ahead''.
Chapter 180 Entering Zanzan
The next day, the entire poption of the city almost crashed into Alexander''s camp.
They came hearing the announcement- seeking food, medicine and to meet their loved ones who had been conscripted by Amenheraft.
But although a bit overwhelmed, fortunately, the poption of the entire city seemed rather small, less than forty thousand, and so Alexander''s armed men had no problem keeping order.
They had gained rich experience hosting the temple feast twice and were very adept at making mobs follow instructions.
And under their directions, the mob was made to line up in queues and the hungry were given food, the sick were quarantined in a separate part of the camp and the ves were allowed to meet their loved ones.
An interesting thing of note was that the crowd was almost entirely devoid of any strong males, consisting only of women, children, and the infirm.
Amenheraft and Muazz had bled the city and the province dry.
During the food service, for several days a huge propaganda drive, headed by Alexander and overseen by Camius wasunched targeting the locals, as they were informed of their new lord, his exploits, and generosity and a few even managed to catch a glimpse of him walking around the camp.
The food servers all shouted ''All hail to Pasha Alexander.'' every time they served the gruel and the locals were told that the lord''s wife was personally caring for the sick.
Then a few dayster Alexander gave a stirring speech in front of the crowd, promising them two meals a day till the spring harvest, medicine and healthcare, relief from the cold, and a vow that their enved loved ones will be set free after five years of faithful service.
This produced a huge cheer from the thirty to forty thousand city dwellers along with the twenty thousand enved along, while the sour moods that many people had toward the nobility over their many transgressions, the drought being just thetest among them,rgely subsided.
This was in part due to the promations and particrly because Alexander had backed up his ims with actions.
He had given them free food, while the other nobles greedily hoarded thest morsel of grain, provided them free medical care when they came to him being the gue, while other nobles would have kicked them away if they were lucky or beaten them to death if not, and even let them meet their loved ones.
And best of all, during all this time no soldier harassed or bullied them.
This made the people see Alexander in a favorable light and although they were still a bit weary and skeptical of their new boss, they were not outright hostile to him.
After about a week, new gue victims started to drastically decrease, while the infected, treated with warm food, rest and medicinal herbs showed signs of getting better.
In the meantime, Alexander ordered a massive cleanup of the city where all the overflowing filth was collected and then buried in the nearby fields to act as fertilizers.
The streets were then thoroughly scrubbed by the thousands of women who came to get food, using water mixed with crushed limestone which acted as a mild antiseptic to try and kill whatever germs possible.
The people were also instructed to wash their hands after restroom breaks, particrly using lye which was just wood ash mixed with water, and advised to drink boiled water and generally keep themselves clean.
And the most important order was not to throw garbage out in the open streets so as to prevent the resurgence of the gue, with the punishment being not allowed food that day if they did.
With the recent deadly epidemic still fresh in the people''s minds, and a few made example of by being denied food, even the unruly peasants decided to strictly follow their lord''s instructions.
Instead of just throwing out the filth into the streets, they would give their garbage to a sanitation unit set up by Alexander, consisting of a few hundred men, who would go into the city every day at dawn to collect all the waste produced, load them into huge horse-drawn carts and then bury it in a field several kilometers away from the city.
With all these done, finally, after ten days since makingnd, with the admission of new gue victims finally stopping, and the city rtively clean and tidy, Alexander called back the ship carrying the royals and then, with his entourage in tow officially made his way into the city of Zanzan.
As Alexander snaked his made through the narrow, winding streets on his way to his new home, the staggering amount of work that needed to be done started to dawn on him.
To Alexander, the city looked entirely dead, the drought, war, and gue having turned it into a rotting, festering carcass.
It was dirty and congested, with narrow, muddy, pothole-ridden roads, crumbling infrastructure such as dirty and contaminated wells and ramshackled marketces, and the ever-present dingy, dpidated slums strewn all over the city.
These half-ruined structures of wood and straw could barely hold back the elements, with leaky roofs and cracked walls allowing free passage of the freezing winds and cial waters through them, much to the dismay of their inhabitants.
Such exposure, coupled with little thick clothing and almost no heating in ce caused sicknesses such as cold, fever, and hypothermia to be a constantpanion of the citizens, reaping many lives and crippling many more.
The administration of the city had also copsedpletely, as anyone and everyone who had the means and method to leave the city had already done so, including all the nobles and their servants. who had left the city either with Amenheraft or when the gue hit, leaving the poor, weak, and defenseless to fend for themselves.
And so now chaos and disorder ruled the streets, with gangs and underground mercenaries fighting over the putrid corpse called Zanzan, as they shed over territory, food, and water.
Lawlessness was endemic throughout the city as strongmen took whatever they could and if Alexander hade a few monthster, the city called Zanzan might have been already turned into a ghost town.
Alexander had already sensed the existence of these gangs and other unsavory elements in the harbor, their prying eyes scanning him like rats, who would scurry off the moment Alexander would ce his gaze on them, like cockroaches put under fire.
And although they had not taken any actions against him yet, Alexander had no illusion that they wouldn''t.
They were probably weary of confronting the armed, veteran soldiers in an open ground like the harbor which wasn''t their turf, and because Alexander hadn''t yet expressed any hostility toward them.
Pasha Muazz had employed them as city guards to keep the people in check and they were likely hoping tond that cushy job with Alexander as well.
This wasn''t anything umon as this was the same case in Adhan too and Alexander had even managed to form a greatwork there.
But the problem would ur when they would find out that Alexander had no intention of doing such things, when they would find out they were out of their job of exhorting and ckmailing the poor people, reced by uniformed men called police officers, who did no such things.
It would be then that things were bound to get ugly.
''Camius and Cambyses will have their job cut out for them,'' Alexandermented as he rode through the streets, sensing curious and even slightly hostile gazes from some of the surrounding crowd.
But although these rats were annoying, in Alexander''s eyes they were really just small fries, as among the close to eighty thousand people in the city, forty belonged to him, and forty were harmless women and children and only a few hundred to at best a thousand were problematic men.
Alexander didn''t know how they managed to escape conscription, but since almost every able-bodied man worked for him, anyone who didn''t was a hostile entity.
Instead of these scum who had no idea who they were picking a fight with, Alexander was more worried about the amount of work he would have to do to revive the city.
From infrastructure projects such as roads sewage works, aqueducts, public baths, public schools, and million other things, to inventions like cement, st furnace, paper, printing press, etc, to better agricultural techniques and new code ofws.
Alexander felt dizzy just thinking about it and these were just things he came up with off the top of his head.
And even just these were making it hard for Alexander to determine what to prioritize and what to hold off on.
It was at this moment he cursed his manpower shortage and even more cursed the agrarian society he was in which took ny percent of hisbor force as farmers just to feed the other ten percent.
''*Sigh*, I wish a day was forty-eight hours long,'' Alexandermpooned, wishing his worker could work twice as hard, as he finally made it to his destination.
Chapter 181 Alexanders New Home
Alexander and his entourage had decided to take up residence in the western part of the city, reserved exclusively for the nobility.
It was a hilly part of the city, and being higher than the other parts meant cool air and a much better view.
The location also blew all foul smells away from them, keeping its residents sweet and fresh.
Alexander''s militarymanders and various artisan leaders took up residence in the many empty noble houses, while the ves and soldiers were ced in the various barracks and servants'' quarters attached to the noble house.
Alexander, apanied by the royal entourage naturally took over Pasha Muazz''s estate, which proved true to its status in grandeur and opulence.
The total area it epassed was huge, almost two square kilometers in its entirety as the manor estate extended well out of the city.
It had its own little vigemunity that oversaw the sixty hectares of farnd around it. It had lush forests surrounding the estate, which was used as hunting grounds by the pasha and his friends in their leisure, with small game animals and as Alexander would find outter, even humans.
The entrance to the beautiful estate was a huge arch made of granite, with ornate cast iron gates acting as doors, its beautiful walkways paved with the highest quality stone and curtained with thick, luscious bushes of flowers, an imposing statue of Pasha Muazz''s ancestor standing magnificently at the center of it.
There were two lovely gardens with vibrant and beautiful flowers, rare and beautiful trees with delicious fruits, and exotic birds and butterflies adorning them on either side of the mansion.
The gardens themselves were designed like a maze so walking through them was always exciting, while the back of the mansion was a beautiful open space for the nobleman to host open-air parties, furnished with swings, ornate benches, and even a small horse race track.
And of course, there was the centerpiece of it all, the jewel around which all thesendmarks were built, the marvelously luxurious mansion.
The mansion was three stories high, with magnificent spires and windows, made of the highest grade stone and timber, and coated in pure white limestone that reflected the sunlight almost like a mirror, making it look like a heavenly construct on earth.
The mansion stood directly atop a hill, haughtily looking down on the peasants below, while its grandness and regality left none to question who were its inhabitants.
And naturally, the interior matched, if not exceeded the outer extravagance as the insides were huge in scale, more than thirty thousand square feet in area and with over a thousand rooms including the servant quarters, multiple kitchens, halls, ballrooms, and many more.
Just beyond the exquisite front oak doory the huge grand outer hall, carpeted in a thick, red carpet with golden embroidery, furnished with huge,fortable couches, ornate tables and chairs to entertain guests, and two massive fireces.
The walls had pompous oil paintings of various men, women, and children hanging off of them, along with long fabulous frescoes and intricate mosaics decorated into them.
At the end of the hall, tworge spiral staircases from either side led upstairs, guarded by ornate staircase rails made of gold and silver on both sides and with a canopy of chandeliers hanging above them, like the person climbing these stairs was passing through a royal procession.
And the most beautiful structure of the outer hallwayy overhead, where a huge ss chandelier hung off the ceilings, the biggest in Adhania and possibly in the world, like a princess wearing her tiara.
Alexander hade to this ce in the first week of Zanzan but found it to be deserted, with no staff in sight and a thickyer of dust coating the natural radiance of the ce.
So, he had sent his servants to clean the ce two days earlier, and now that they had sent word that the mansion was prepared, he decided to move in with everyone.
"This ce is too grand." Cambyses subconsciouslymented.
Even after having lived in unanimously the best house in Adhania, the shock Cambyses was experiencing was not any less.
The pce belonged to Ptolomy, which was another man''s house, a stranger''s abode in which she had taken refuge for a few days.
But this house, this house was her''s.
And as the mistress of the house, she would reign over all those who resided inside, save for one, and the thought of having dominion over such a beautiful, magnificent mansion made Cambyses go over the moon.
After all, which girl didn''t want a lovely house to call home?
And this was a very lovely house no doubt about it.
Like the traditional Adhanian style, the house was divided into two parts, the outer guest part for reception and general guests and the inner personal part for one''s own use and for entertaining close friends and rtives and for the cooks, maids, gardeners, etc, to their job without ever the guestsying their eyes on them.
This second part was situated behind the outer part, being essible by doors located inconspicuously around the hall, and was where the life of the house existed.
There were the kitchens and servant quarters to the left, the entrance to it was via a solitary door at the far end corner of the outer hall, below the staircase in a dark part of the room, its location chosen as such so as not to draw any attention to it.
In the center back portion of the house was the central hall, where surrounded by high ceiling porticos stood a giant, magnificent statue of Ramuh at the very center of it.
The statue was ced in an open roof square, so as to allow the god to see and feel the world around him, and surrounding him was a huge basin filled with water.
This basin collected the rain which fell through and was a manifestation of Ramuh''s domination over thunder, lightning, and rain.
The central hall was the most important part of the house, as this was where one entertained one''s important guests, from close friends visiting for a chat, to secret trade deals, to even meeting one''s enemy to discuss treaties.
This hosting of one''s allies and enemies was mainly done in a study room essible through the right portico, which also doubled as an art room.
This was Pasha Muazz''s personal study and likewise decorated to befit its owner''s status.
Rich expensive tables and velvet chairs acted as furniture, couches, and dining tables served as means of entertainment, while hugging the entire walls, huge bookshelves filled to the brim with scrolls and manuscripts showed off the pasha''s personal book collection.
The walls had golden mosaics and jeweled frescos all over them, while Pasha Muazz''s true masterpieces hung off them.
Magnificent paintings, collected over generations, made with exquisite, expensive colors and painted by the most renowned artists of thest few centuries, depicting the most realistic pieces of art- from the pasha''s various ancestral figures in dazzling armor to beautifulndscapes to beautiful women all graced his personal study, while the sunlight from the open square made the golden frames they were encrusted upon sparkled with radiance.
The room even had a primitive type of central heating below it, using smoke and heat from a furnace below to keep the room warm.
It seemed Pasha Muazz really liked this room.
While on the left side of the portico was another dining room and a ce designed to recite poetry, make paintings, and debate philosophy, withfortable couches, beautiful benches, and ornate table stools to facilitate the practice of such art which was viewed as the pinnacle of high ss and nobility in the eyes of Adhanian nobility.
Backing away, on the right of the outer hall was the storehouse, filled with all sorts of mischievous things like food, cooking supplies, various tools, etc, with this room being connected to the kitchen on the left by an underground tunnel so as not to disturb the guest in the outer hall.
The second floor consisted mainly of guest rooms on both sides, with a second even more massive grand hall in the center of it.
The primary purpose of this hall was to host balls and end-of-year parties, while the lower outer hall was mainly used for receptions.
And then on the third floor were the personal rooms, another ballroom, and the attic.
It went without saying that all these rooms werevishly furnished and decorated with no expenses spared.
In addition to these extravagances, throughout the house, there were many small doors and ess points, dotted across the entire mansion as a way to move people without others'' notice.
This was done to keep the sight of servants away from the guest, for family members to quickly get to far away rooms, and to move unsavory elements in and out of the building without the notice of prying eyes.
All in all, the whole mansion radiated an aura of excess and nobility and Alexander was quite pleased with his new abode.
Chapter 182 Three Crop Rotation
Alexander sat in the second-floor outer hall, where he was holding council with his advisors, two days after he had moved in.
"So, where are we with the farmers?" Alexander asked Menicus from sitting at the head of the table.
Food was the most important resource for Alexander to secure right now and overseeing its production was his first and foremost priority.
"We have done as you have instructedma...pasha," Meniscus replied, slightly calling Alexander by the wrong title.
And then continued, "The surroundingnd had fortunately been already titled by the women folk under the instructions of the nobles and so the twenty thousand ves had little problem nting the wheat and rye."
This instruction to nt seeds was given five days into his stay in Zanzan, when the city had mostly been cleaned and so Alexander had charged Menicus, the most experienced in his group, to lead the twenty thousand ves out of the city to immediately start nting wheat, rye, oats and various other vegetables following a three-crop rotation system.
And almost a weekter, it seemed that the seeds of the most important carbohydrate were in the soil.
Menicus continued reporting his progress, "As you have instructed, we have followed the new three-crop rotation n, nting twelve thousand hectares with wheat and rye by once plowing the field, we also n to soon nt another twelve thousand hectares with legumes such as peas, lentils, and oats after plowing the fields areplete, and the rest of the field will be plowed twice and left to fallow." Menicus finished.
"Hmm, okay!" Alexander lightly smiled.
And then praised, "You did well to get the grains in the ground before November. Ideally, it should have been nted by September or early October, but even nting itte October like now is okay,"
"Hehe, no, no, this old man deserves no such credit. In fact, it''s Pasha Alexander who deserves all the praises," Meniscus humbly chuckled.
And then exined, "The reason we could do so is because of the heavy plow and the horse cor. These are revolutionary tools invented by the divine son of Gaia. The ves and farmers almost have foamsing out of their mouths singing their praise."
"They say they have never seen the soil part so easily. It''s like drawing hot knife through butter. And they say horses and mules could never work as hard as they did before. These credits only belong to the great lord," Meniscus had an excited, almost squealing tone to his praise as he sincerely expressed his admiration toward Alexander.
"..." Alexander only lightly smiled at these expected results as many others joined Menicus to tter Alexander.
"Haha, of course, of course, it''s the great Alexander we''re talking about," Menes roared uproariously.
"His inventions are always amazing," Theocles added.
"With the great pasha at the helm. Zanzan will be the greatest city in Adhan," The leader of the cksmith guild Harun praised.
But the man being praised didn''t show much tion on his face, instead being careful not to be washed by the oil of ttery that came his way, as he knew Menicus had certainly embellished the truth.
Even with the heavy plow and having a beast of burden to pull, plowing a field of heavy y was no ''drawing hot knife through butter''.
It was back-breaking work with the plow requiring to be both pulled by the horse or mule and pushed from behind by the man to maximize speed.
There was another man that didn''t share the other''s enthusiasm, Melodias, who had a rather worried frown on his face.
"Ahem," Melodias coughed a bit to draw attention towards him and then first praised Alexander, "Pasha, it is no doubt that these inventions are revolutionary."
But afterward, he revealed his misgivings, "But the amount ofnd we are cultivating is too small to feed us till next year''s winter!"
He then delineated. "The native farmers tell me that a hectare can make about three hundred kilograms of wheat. With the twenty-four thousand hectares we n to cultivate, that''s only about seven thousand tonnes of food. With its current poption, Zanzan will use that up in less than four months, while the crops nted in spring will take six months!"
Menicus too joined to share his concern, as he then spoke up, "I too share Melodias''s fears, pasha. Even if we assume the new plows will increase yield, even if we assume it to be double, we will still be in trouble. Remember Pasha that more people wille to the cities once the news of the free food spreads, so food will run out much faster," Menicus warned.
Alexander was very pleased by this exchange.
Not by the prediction of a shortage of food, that was terrible.
But what Alexander was pleased by was that the people around him were not boot-licking sycophants, constantly trying to suck up to him, but actual thinking, using their brains people.
They were not afraid to point out his mistakes and even criticize him on points they thought him to be wrong and many had learned Alexander''s preferred way of arguing and started to emte it.
Like how Melodias had used maths to make his case, and even though the math was very simplistic and a bit wrong, like assuming every crop would have the same yield as wheat, it still made its point.
The numbers spelled out by Melodias were also spoken from a piece of papyrus, meaning Melodias had done his homework and came to this meeting prepared.
This made Alexander inwardly very happy as it meant that Melodias was very serious about his job and Alexander made up his mind to delegate various crucial jobs to the ex-mercenary leader.
Alexander was also pleased by the dynamic discussion going on as he felt that he could just draw a vague outline of a n and then leave these people to figure the rest of it out on their own, thus drastically reducing his work burden.
Alexander gave a light smile towards the worried faces of the people around the table and spoke, "I''m aware of the problems you stated. And I even know that each farmer can cultivate around two-three hectares ofnd by himself. Thates to close to sixty thousand hectares of potentially arablend, whereas we are only cultivating less than half."
Alexander then paused to see the others nod in agreement with his statement and then stare expectantly for his exnation.
"The reason for this is simple- we don''t have enough plows and pack animals. And more importantly, there is no time. November is upon us and any grain we nt now will only die and rot. That''s also why I put twenty thousand men on a ten thousand man farm, to get the seed into the ground as soon as possible."
Alexander''s reasoning convinced his entourage, while some drew rueful breaths at the challenges thaty ahead.
Among the rueful ones was Menicus, who drew the heaviest breath, "*Sigh*, the pasha is right. We only have a thousand heavy plows and even with the horse cor, we can only get about a hectare done in a day per plow. If the pasha hadn''t ordered the tilting be done even at night with shifts, I''m afraid we wouldn''t even have what we nted."
Due to time and cargo capacity constraints, Alexander could only bring a thousand plows with him which was proving to be too few and inadequate.
"So, that''s why the vegetables have not been nted, yet!" Melodias connected the dots.
"Yes. Although the horse cor has literally doubled the amount of work a horse can do, it''s still not enough," Menicus drew the same rueful smile he had begun his speech with.
But for the doom and gloom that was going on, Alexander himself was not that worried.
He knew the effects of heavy plow on heavy y soil and was confident that it would not just be a double increase, but a triple one or possibly even a quadruple one.
Heavy y soil was problematic because it held onto water too well and didn''t drain properly, obstructing the breathing of the roots of the crops.
But when titled properly, it would transform into a very fertile form of soil, capable of producing yield far greater than the light soil dominant in Adhan.
Alexander expected the wheat to be close to a ton per hectare, and to boost yields even further in the future, he had begun to make the sanitation unit dump all the natural waste into the emptynd that had been left to farrow, which would act as a natural fertilizer.
This a-ton-per-hectare yield was which was nothing impressive as, in his modern world, four tons of wheat per hectare was easily possible, though that was with the help of modern fertilizers and pesticides.
But for now, Alexander decided to stay quiet about this new tool, and reassured the men another way, "We have brought a lot of food when we came and that shouldst for some time. Furthermore, Pasha Farzah has also promised to sell us even more after the spring harvest, so, the food situation is not dire yet."
This bough a bit of relief and color back to the men and then Alexander moved on to his next topic- the military.
Chapter 183 Roman Legions
"How are the city defenses?" Alexander turned to Menes.
"No problem." Menes waved hisrge palm to reassure Alexander, adding, "As you said the city was built to resist Tibias. Its walls are still high and strong and we will have no problem defending it with so many soldiers at our hands."
"Hmmm, that''s good." Alexander nodded, pleased that there was little chance of his city being sniped out under his nose.
With the defense secure, he then turned to focus on the offense.
He then raised a critical issue about the military, "The phnx has shown some serious ws in ourst battle. And Zanzan is even more hilly than Adhan. So, this w will continue to manifest itself even more in the future. How do my militarymanders intend to fix this?"
This very hard question drew nks from everyone.
All understood that the phnx had be obsolete but what Alexander was asking them to do was close to impossible.
They were asked to draw up apletely new, effective infantry formation from scratch right in front of him right now Parting the red sea would be easier.
"Ahem," Menicus was the first to break the awkward silence with a cough, "The pasha''s concerns are certainly justified." He admitted.
And then pointed out the problem with Alexander''s expectation, "But the phnx has been in use for thousands of years, and proved itself over countless battles. So, changing to a new, more effective formation is no small task. Perhaps the militarymanders need a bit of time to test out new battle tactics and then let the pasha judge its effectiveness," Menicus asked for more time.
"Yes, a year should be enough. In the meantime, we can use the phnx defensively and notunch anyrge campaigns." Menes offered a time frame and apromise.
All this sounded very reasonable to Alexander and he was also very d to see his militarymander rise to the challenge and face the difficulties instead of mopping about the virtues of the phnx.
And even the time wanted by Menes was not at all long, in fact, it was very short.
But for the current Alexander, even that one year was too long.
So, he proposed, "I have thought of a new formation. Please give me your thoughts!"
This made everyone turn to Alexander while the same thought came to them, ''Is there anything he doesn''t know?''
They gazed at him as Alexander handed out a piece of papyrus to each of them, with various numbers and words written on them, a paper that Alexander had worked on while idling during the cruise.
Alexander gestured using his palms, "As you can see on the papyrus, the new structure of the army is detailed on it. But, let me exin,"
He then gave a detailed breakdown, "The smallest unit of the new army will be a squad- made of ten men- eight soldiers and two servants with a mule. The leader of this squad will be chosen from these men and be called a squad leader."
"Ten squads (10) will make up apany (100 men), led by a leader called the sergeant."
"Sixpanies will make up the base unit of the army- called a battalion (600 men) led by a captain."
"And this battalion, consisting of four hundred and eighty soldiers and one hundred and twenty servants will be the smallest armybat unit instead of the two-hundred-fifty-men phnx."
Alexander paused to see if everyone was keeping and noticed everyone was looking at the papyrus, trying to match what Alexander had written to what he said.
So Alexander continued, "And ten battalions will bebined to form a legion led by a Legion leader. And this legion of six thousand men (four thousand and eight hundred soldiers and one thousand and two hundred servants) will be our basic deployment unit during any war. A legion should be able to travel, fight and maintain itself independently in any engagement and its leader must be able to carry out the will of Zanzan and its people."
By this Alexander meant he would directly issue orders to the leaders of a legion and then they will be expected to carry them out.
This brand new infantry structure was all too sudden for everyone and without even trying it out in a mock battle, the militarymander didn''t know whether to praise it or find ws with it.
Even the usual sycophantic Helliptos didn''t seem to know what to say.
After another repeat of the awkward silence, as usual, the most experienced veteran there spoke, "Pasha, there is a reason a phnx is two hundred and fifty men big. It''s because amander can reliablymand only that many men without losing control," Menicus said with a little frown.
But he was immediately corrected not by Alexander, but Menes, "No, leader, I''m afraid you are not counting properly." The ck giant spoke up.
And then pointed out, "In the phnx formation, a captain had around twenty-five squad leaders under him. But now, with the formation of ..ummm" Menes looked down on the papyrus to look for a specific word.
"Company," Alexander helped out.
"Yes,pany," Menes repeated.
And then continued, "With the formation of the new sub-unit, thepany, the captain will have to deal with only six people under him. And even sergeants will have to deal with just ten squad leaders."
"So, you see the work will not double but be quartered!" Menes finished his reasoning.
This drew very impressed looks from everyone, including Alexander who liked Menes''s use of maths, something he had taught the man to use.
Menicus too nodded understandingly, tacitly admitting his oversight.
But then another man, Melodias, spoke up about his own concern, "Pasha Alexander, the number of servants seems pretty low for an army. Usually, a servant can at most serve two soldiers and even that''s very difficult. My lord should know this!"
On the surface, many might feel even twelve hundred servants is too much, much less the two thousand being demanded by Melodias, but it should be remembered that an army needs a lot of logistical support to operate.
It needs food to eat, firewood as fuel, maintenance of weapons and armor, and proper care of the pack animals.
And to do all these, extra help is essential as a single soldier can''t fight and alsoplete everything else.
Alexander being a ve in the mercenary group was of course aware of the burden ced on a servant and gave his reason, "There won''t be the need for so many servants because we will do away with therge, cumbersome baggage train pulled by slow animals and instead require individual soldiers to carry his own gear!"
Alexander''s seemingly innocent suggestion made everyone who understood what he suggesting go wide-eyed and some even visibly paled in fright.
"Thatman¡Pasha, that''s too much!" This came from the most unlikeliest of sources- Helliptos, who had always supported Alexander, but now felt that Alexander was asking them to do the impossible.
And even if Heliptos felt that way, it could be imagined could the others felt.
But Alexander snorted in disdain, "What too much? I have carried close to fifty kilograms every day for years and I was a child then. Are you saying that my army can''t do what a child can?" He chided Heliptos.
Alexander did carry such weights sometimes when the baggage carts were full and there were no spare animals, forced to march for hours with the heavy load on his back.
But doing it for years was clearly an exaggeration.
This was a fairly umon practice and it was rarely done, unless in dire circumstances.
But few knew about this and Alexander''s strong rebuttal made Heliptos sink a bit and he quickly lowered his head in fear.
And seeing this Menicus quickly jumped in, "Pasha Alexander, we are mercenaries. We are professionals and of course, even carrying another man is no problem for us." He exaggerated.
But added, "However, this is the army you are talking about! And those untrained, conscripted peasants won''t be able to take such heavy loads."
Usually, an army consisted of ten percent professionals and ny percent levies. Even the famed Adhanian army was such, with the nobles making up the professional core and the peasants the main body of the army.
And without training, ordering the army to carry such loads and then expecting them to fight was a recipe for mutiny.
Hence Menicus''s fears were very justified.
But Alexander had certainly thought of this, "There will be no conscripts or levies in my army. My army will be an entirely professional army!"
This statement sent his militarymanders into another quagmire of confusion and a meek voice from Grahtos asked for rification, "Does the pasha mean like a permanent mercenary army?"
Alexander lightly smiled and nodded, "Yes, like a paid mercenary army, But it will be loyal to only us."
This drew some murmur from the crowd as this was not a new idea but in most eyes a stupid idea.
"Ahem, Commander, I think that''s a very bad idea." Menicus strongly gave his opinion.
And reasoned, "What you are proposing is something only simr to what Exs has, and because of their permanent army, they have virtually no economy to speak of and are forced to rely on its sister city-states to provide for all its essentials while it provides the muscle and security to them."
Menicus as an experienced man who had traveled all over Thesos certainly knew a thing or two about the major city-states.
He also knew why the demand for his services were in so high demand and why no one wielded arge standing army.
Because it was stupid.
Chapter 184 Professional Army
Alexander understood what Menicus was implying and understood the angle he wasing from.
There is a reason why there was rarely a standing army in ancient times, the notable exception being the Romans.
But since the Romans could do it, Alexander asked himself why he could not do it too.
So he decided to educate his militarymanders a bit, "It is true that most of the time, soldiers are levied in times of war and disbanded when the war ends." He started.
"But why is that? Why does the government let go of such experienced people? Why can''t we have a strong standing army like Exs and a strong economy like Cantagena? Why do we have to pick and choose," He asked passionately.
And then answered his own question, "This is because we live in an agricultural society, where the primary product is food. And a farmer can typically only produce a surplus of ten percent.
This means that nine farmers are needed to feed just one non-farmer."
Alexander then raised his index and said, "So, you see, you have ny percent of the poption engaged in just producing food, while the other eight to nine percent are artisans like potters, cksmiths, jewelers, tailors, carpenters, bakers, etc who make everything else that''s man-made. That leaves the society with a manpower surplus of only one to two percent, which also includes the nobility - who don''t work."
"So, fielding arge permanent army is very hard as one needs to sacrifice his economy and tax revenue and thus allow one to take the most healthy and most productive people of the workforce out of their jobs and basically have them do nothing for almost the entire year."
As Alexander gave his long speech, all stared at Alexander, hanging onto his every word and letting him continue, "And yes, remember armies do nothing as armies do not produce anything. They do provide the service of protecting the products that are being produced- food, clothes, people, medicine, etc, and the cities that produce them."
"But this is really needed if these products are being threatened. City and farnds are unlikely to be under the threat of war every single day for the entire year."
"So having a standing military all year long doing almost nothing but waiting on their asses for an enemy to attack them is not a good use of manpower."
Alexander seemed to be arguing against himself as everything he said was detrimental to him.
As he said an army may loot and plunder produce from others, but stealing was not production.
And even if one were to argue that stealing was production as it adds value to the economy, armies rarely pay themselves with solely the loot they collect.
What they do is help one take control of generators of production, such as farnds, livestock, mines, etc, that then help fund the army.
But these generators are still run by the other ny-nine percent, ie- the conquered people who work and pay taxes to keep their conquerors in power.
And this problem is further expounded by the fact that it takes at least fifteen to twenty years to produce a good soldier from birth, while it takes only a second to destroy one.
And this was not even considering the fact that killing a soldier was the equivalent of killing one''s most valued, most productive, and the best part of thebor force, a man in his prime capable of adding a lot of value to the economy.
Alexander didn''t finish there and continued after smiling a bit at hismander, "And this is where the existence of mercenarieses in. Mercenaries are veteran soldiers who can turn up anywhere to resolve any conflict. Although a city or a country might have one or two big wars per year, there are countless battles happening all over the region. And being mobile, these mercenaries can go to those ces of conflict and fight on one side for a fee, hence they are rarely idling and doing nothing."
Mercenaries usually would set up camp next to their employer until the job was finished and would stay there until a new one was acquired.
And although it sounded like this might take a lot of time, typically, as Alexander said, a new job wouldnd within two to three months.
Everyone there, including the mercenary leaders was amazed by Alexander''s insight.
Although they were mercenaries, they never so clearly understood their role in society, a role that an eighteen-year-old boy such glean so easily.
''What frightful insight!'' Theymented.
But then almost simultaneously the same question rose in many hearts, "If he understands all these so well, why does he want a standing army?''
Alexander seemed to read their mind and asked, "You must be all asking why don''t we employ mercenaries then?"
"And the reason is because mercenaries fight for you when you have the money and are winning. They are not loyal to anyone and they will be with you as long as you can pay. But if someone with a higher bides, can we guarantee their loyalty?" Alexander asked.
And then pointed out, "There are many instances of employers being unable to pay mercenaries, and they turning on their employers, attacking and sacking the city to get their remuneration. And if a battle is about to be lost or the chances of winning are not good, many might cut their losses and run."
"But a standing army, an army created to protect Zanzan will not. Because they have arge stake in the city, their homes, families, and friends, unlike the mercenaries." Alexander gave his reasoning.
This reason impressed most, and they bought Alexander''s exnation.
Except for Menicus, who had personally seen the state of Exs and didn''t want Zanzan to follow in its footsteps.
So, he raised his gruff voice, "Pasha Alexander has raised some good points. Personally, as a mercenary leader, I''m guilty of the things he described. I did run from my employer and I did sack cities when they withheld my pay. And as with Samaras, we all refused to go to battle when we thought the chances of winning were low."
"But," Meniscus''s voice hardened, "We fought better and harder than anyone on the battlefield when we were treated properly. And in any battle, our losses were always on the high side. We never ran when the going got tough. The first to break were always the untrained peasants," Meniscus had a heavy tone of pride in his voice.
"I too agree with leader Menicus. Instead of spending so much money on maintaining a standing army, would it not be better to save it and then employ mercenaries using that fund? It will be far cheaper!" This was spoken by Theocles, who as the quartermaster of the army had always had a good nose for money.
"That''s right. Maybe the pasha should reconsider. After all, everyone uses mercenaries and they are all fine." Melodias voiced his support.
Alexander lightly smiled at these suggestions.
They had spoken this out of their own knowledge and experience, and although it sounded convincing, Alexander believed he knew better.
A standing army was critical to any nation''s survival and a mercenary army could never be the alternative.
After all,nd belongs to the one with the biggest muscle, and a mercenary leader could very well snatch it using his bigger muscle.
Alexander feared that a mercenary leader would get the idea to rece him just as Alexander had the same idea about Ptolomy.
But he did not brush off these suggestions like an imperious lord.
Instead, he decided to let actions do the talking, "Please remember that we are at war. We only have six years till the conflict restarts and very likely even less."
Alexander felt Amenheraft, being the much stronger side, might decide to tear up the agreement early, possibly after two years as originally requested by Manuk.
This drew a few worried faces while Alexander continued, "And also remember that we have a lot of hostile nobles around us. We are rulers of the Zanzan province in name only, while in reality we only control the city and its surrounding area."
"The pasha is right," Grahtos nodded seriously, adding, "There are too many enemies around the city. In addition to the nobles, there are roaming bandits everywhere around the city and that''s not to even mention the constant threat of Tibias."
"Hmmm, I too believe we should have a standing army." Heliptos chirped up,
"Instead of hiring expensive mercenaries, we should expand the army using our citizens." He imed.
Of course, these people didn''t have apletely altruistic motive when supporting Alexander.
Being mercenaries, none of them wanted to go back to farming but wanted to look for glory on the battlefield, unlike the old Menicus, who just wanted to peacefully retire.
This presence of a constant threat and strong peer pressure finally managed to convince the old man of the necessity of a standing army and so he grumbled, "Fine, fine. Let''s do it as the lord suggested."
Chapter 185 Money And Equipment
Menicus didn''t simply fold under everyone''s pressure and ept the proposal.
But instead chose not to oppose it for the time being because coincidentally the proposed legion was around five thousand soldiers strong, almost equal to the total number of mercenaries and Cantagenans, and even he would agree that letting these men be farmers would be too much waste of talent.
In addition, given their likely numerical inferiority in near-futurebats, they would almost undoubtedly have to depend on the quality of their troops to win battles.
But even then, though Menicus epted it for the time being, he still disliked the idea of a standing army.
Menicus''s vehement dislike for a standing army was rted to his upbringing.
He was born in Exs, and saw firsthand what the policy Alexander was suggesting had done for the city-state.
Because of its fanatical approach to its army, it rarely did anything else, leading to very poor standard of living for anyone other than its soldiers.
Menicus had lost his mother and three sisters due to the poor conditions and theck of healthcare and he med the Exs''s way of living for their death.
That was also when he had decided to switch sides with Cantagena.
And in this way, in his mind, the word standing army came to be equated with poverty and destitution.
However none present there knew the thoughts harbored by the old man and instead chose to move on.
Alexander spoke again, "Going back to topic, the professional soldiers will be expected to carry food for at least five-seven days, pots and pans to cook the food, entrenching equipment such as pickaxe and saws, ropes and baskets for misceneous things, while the mule will carry the tent, the mill to grind wheat into flour and various other things along with its own food." Alexander gave a detailed list.
And then added, "Of course, the soldiers will also have to bear their arms and armor. This will include a helmet, full upper chainmail armor over a linen thorax, leg greaves, two pilum javelins, a spear, arge rectangr wooden shield with a bronze center, a short sword for thrusting, and atst a dagger as a secondary weapon. So, all in all, he will have to carry thirty-five to forty kilograms while on the march."
Everyone was a bit shocked at the so detailed list of things said by Alexander and thinking back on his previous aplishments, many felt it might be a divine revtion.
After all, this was a brand new concept, but somehow Alexander was already listing specifics.
"I think this is a very good new infantry formation. And I think we should give the new formation s test to find its capabilities," Melodias diplomatically said, not rejecting anything, but also not blindly epting everything, instead preferring to let the results speak for themselvester.
Others also liked this, as Menes spoke, "Yes, let''s do that. Things like the pilum javelin has proved its worth in thest battle as without it the center might not have held. But I am worried that recing the spear with the sword will put us at a serious range disadvantage. So, we will have to test it out and see."
Alexander too wasn''t sure how the Romans, whom he had copied this from, dealt with this.
Butter mock battles would help him produce a standard manual on how to take on the phnx.
First, the pilum would be thrown to kill or disable the phngites by pinning their arms to the shields.
Then the two sides woulde closer, the five protruding rows of the phnx spears iming many legionary lives at first.
But once close enough, the legionaries would charge, trying to close the gap between the spear tips by either locking shields and brushing the spear points away using them or by feinting low to bait the spears into pointing upwards, and then rushing under the pikes, where the phngites would be almost useless and the legionaries would be in their element.
In this close-quarterbat, the spear''s long reach would act against the phngites, turning the pointy stick to just a wooden stick, while the shorter sword could hack and sh in the narrow melee.
And in this strategy, changing the shield from a round one to a rectangr shape was seen as essential as the shape allowed it to be locked onto each other without gaps, unlike the circr ones, and thus prevented stray spear strikes from killing the legionaries.
In this way, the legion could hold its own against the phnx.
And although in a frontal attack, a phnx was still superior, Alexander and his highmand would decide to implement the much more versatile legion, capable of fighting in all terrain rather than the one-trick-pony phnx.
But all these were in the future as right now Alexander agreed to his militarymanders'' suggestion and only nodded. "Okay."
But just as when he was about to move on to another topic, an unfamiliar voice spoke up, "Pasha Alexander''s reforms are extremely detailed and well-thought-of. This old man''s eyes have been opened."
This praise came from a well-dressed, middle gentleman whose biggest identifying feature was hisrge, callused hands.
The huge bearded man was called Harun and he was the representative of the cksmiths, sitting here on Alexander''s invite.
And until now this civilian along with his fellow artisans who had been invited here was happy to let the military men discuss their military affairs.
But there was something that Alexander said that drew his attention and he had to say it out aloud, "Please forgive this old man for speaking out of turn, but I seemed to have heard was something that I wanted to rify."
Harun then added, "I heard the pasha say that each of the soldiers will be armored with chainmail and linen thorax. But this will be very good, but arming so many soldiers could be a challenge."
He exined why, "As you all know making linen thorax needs special tanners to process the linen and glue them together. And the end result is an armor even better than bronze cuirass as thetter tends to be brittle under attack. But this needs a lot of time and manpower to manufacture, meaning they are very expensive."
Harun further pointed out, "And this is not even talking about the chainmail. That thing is almost imprable, but it is also prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to make. That thing makes the linen thorax look cheap."
He thus ended by saying, "So, what I''m saying is that equipping all the soldiers will take very long and be very costly."
As soon as the bearded man stopped speaking, Menes chirped happily, "That''s easy. We''ll make the soldiers pay for their equipment."
He was very confident that he had found the magic solution as this practice was followed almost universally, in varying degrees.
Soldiers most of the time would only be given the weapon- the spear and the shield, and the question about armor and sometimes even food would be left upto the individual.
This created a very heterogenous army with various gear as each soldier bought whatever they had the means to buy and for Alexander, who was obsessed with creating a homogenous, coherent unit of form such an arrangement was of course impossible to ept.
And he made that clear, "Soldiers will not be responsible for their gear. All equipment will be standardized and be provided entirely by the state."
And before anyone could raise their objections, he quickly added, "Of course, I''m not blind to reality. We will only equip our soldiers with things within our means. I will expand the artisan guild in multiple magnitudes as soon as manpower bes avable to help cope with the demand and if even then both full chain armor and linen thorax are not possible, then we will provide with only one and ask the soldiers to procure more on their own."
Thispromise suited everyone and they nodded in assent.
Then Grahtos quickly asked, "Pasha, what about the cavalry?"
The Sycarian had a worried tone to his voice as the new legion made no mention of any cavalry.
Alexander lightly smiled and assured, "Of course, the legion will have its own cavalry. Otherwise, how will the short-sworded legionaries defend against the prevalent Adhanian cavalry?"
He then announced, "Each legion will have five hundred cavalries with five hundred servants apanying them. These will include a mix of scouts, skirmishers (light cavalry), and heavy cavalry."
"And just like the innovations in the infantry, the cavalry will also be upgraded to better suit the new battles." Alexander mysteriously promised.
"Oh! What are they?" Grahtos excitedly asked, his eyes sparkling like a kid that''s been promised a shiny new toy.
"Haha, it will be easier to show you," Alexander chuckled as he gestured for the man to be patient.
He intended to make his cavalry like the medieval knights, a fully armored horse and man, charging into battle with ance.
As Grahtos forcefully simmered his excitement down, the worried voice of Theocles sounded, "But Pasha, how are we going to afford all these?"
And this was a question that haunted not just this council, but every man who had an army tomand.
Chapter 186 Peerage And Policy
Keeping a standing army was expensive.
In fact, it was bloody expensive.
And a very simple math could be used to demonstrate that.
The average peasant would earn a hundred fifty ros per month.
A soldier would need at least two hundred (200) a year because of the dangerous nature of the work.
And cavalry would demand at the bare minimum three hundred (300).
So in a year, a legion of four thousand eight hundred men and the five hundred cavalries would consume more than ten million ros!
And this was the lowest estimate, with little said about the servants, food, equipment, and pack animals.
A more realistic number would be twice or close to three times that amount.
And for context, a pasha from his entire province, which was on average roughly three hundred thousand square kilometers, would get in the ballpark of two to three hundred million ros, whereas the area around Zanzan under Alexander''s control was just a thousand square kilometers.
Even assuming Zanzan was an enormous, productive city (it was not), still, Alexander would consider himself very lucky to get ten million ros in annual tax revenue, meaning he couldn''t even afford to maintain a single legion for the entire year!
Even his entire remaining fortune of around three hundred million ros will onlyst him just nine years.
And this was considering a mere five thousand and three hundred soldiers, which was nothing.
Any real war would require twenty to thirty thousand, while the major ones, like the ones with Amenheraft that were bound to happen at one point, would need twice or thrice the numbers.
This was certainly not sustainable.
And fortunately, Alexander had already thought of a way to shore up his ie.
But it was a risky proposition and Alexander would confess being a bit nervous saying it out aloud.
But he decided to do it anyway, "The issue of money is certainly a big one. And we will need to quickly start earning money." He eased himself into it.
And then quickly bit the bullet and said, "Thus I propose a one percentnd tax to everyone!"
"What, this is not what you promised us, Alexander." Melodias angrily stood up and pointed at Alexander, feeling incensed and betrayed.
"That''s right, that''s right. Why should we have to pay taxes?" This time it was Heliptos.
When Alexander had decided to put his hand on the greedy mercenary''s treasure stash, all loyalty the man had flown out of the window.
"Commander, I implore you to reconsider," Grahtos, a religious zealot who had converted to the faith of Gaia, also asked Alexander to retract this dangerous statement.
Alexander scanned the table and saw all had some varying degree of displeasure etched on their face, except Menes and Theocles.
He expected this much resistance as not having to pay taxes was one of the biggest allures to being andowner.
But Alexander couldn''t back down as he intended everyone in hisnd to pay taxes.
But he also couldn''t antagonize his militarymander.
So, he cleverly bought time, as he gestured for the men to calm down using his palm, "Please, please, calm down. I never said the tax will be forever. It will only be for six years, till the armistice ends. By that time we will have the businesses running and it will be the business tax that will ride us through."
This cated the men a bit but the time still seemed too long.
"Pasha, six years is too much. Please decrease it." Menicus, the de-facto leader of themanders asked Alexander, supported by the others.
Alexander however had no intention of doing this but didn''t outright dismiss the plea.
Instead, he appealed, "Gentlemen, all of you are misunderstanding what this tax will do. This tax is not like the tax you paid before. Before, your taxes would go to the state and its rulers, faceless, unknown men who cared nothing for you."
Alexander then raised his index finger, "But, remember, you are the rulers now, Whatever taxes you pay will benefit you. Your taxes will be used to fund the army that will not protect some unknown nobody, but they will protect you, your family, and your wealth."
Alexander then revealed, "I have spent close to eight hundred million ros on Zanzan, from the ves to the grain to the animals to the ships¡the list could go on. And the reason I did this is because I saw Zanzan as an investment. And it is my wish that all of you will do it too. Because your fortunes will rise and fall with Zanzan''s fortunes."
This inspiring speech swept away the little acridness many had in their heart as they doubted they could ever earn eight hundred million ropals in their lifetime, much less spend it in one go.
Since Alexander was willing to do so, and since the arrangement was temporary, they finally consented.
"Good," Alexander lightly nodded and smiled, "Since we already discussed administration, I believe I should address your peerage." He decided to offer some sweet after dishing out the sourness.
This made everyone sit up straight as this was the prize for which they had left their home country toe to Adhania.
Even as they spoke, a ship containing these men''s letters to their families asking them toe to Zanzan was making its way across the sea.
And many harbored the wish to greet their loved ones as a lord and a noble.
And so Alexander pronounced, "I name Menes, Shordar(Baron) Menes, I name Melodias, Shordar(Baron) Melodias¡.."
In this way, the military leaders and Theocles were made nobles.
"Thank you, my lord," They all then kneeled and proimed their loyalty to Alexander, swearing, "We vow to serve you loyally and faithfully till our bloodlines end,"
And then Alexander returned their vow with his own promise, "And I, Alexander, hereby swear to protect and guard my retinues with the utmost sincerity against all threats and stick by them through thick and thin."
After this ceremony, Alexander chuckled and used his hands to gesture, "Now, get up, get up." adding, "This is only an informal announcement. We will soon hold a feast and let the city know to make it formal."
"Hehehe," The crowd was full of smiles.
Alexander then decided to bring them back to earth a bit, "Please remember that all of you are only shordars (barons) now. That is the rank all noble families start at and I expect all of you to work hard to improve your rank."
Alexander was clearly an exception to the rule but usually, that was how noble families usually started and through time, conquest and proving their loyalty slowly made their way up the chain.
"Yes!" A unified chant was produced as the men''s eyes glowed with zeal at the prospect of a better rank.
But then Alexander decided to dampen the mood a bit.
"Ahem," He gave a fake cough, "As you know thend around Zanzan city is too small, only around a thousand square kilometers. And so I will give you the title now, but yournd will be given a bitter."
And this certainly dampened the mood a bit, but they also understood reality.
"Pasha, how long will it take to expand our territory?" The greedy Heliptos asked impatiently.
"Hmm, with the treaty in ce we can''t go recklessly attacking the other nobles too," Melodias had a displeased tone to his voice.
And the others shared simr feelings.
"Haha, don''t worry, I have a n," Alexander''s cheerful chirp prated the acerbic atmosphere.
He then exined, "The nobles that left the city during the gue will certainlye back to take back their house. And when we refuse, it is likely they will plot against us."
"And then we can use the excuse of self-defense to annex those territories!" Heliptos in his excitement finished Alexander''s statement for him.
"Um, that''s good, that''s good," Melodias nodded his head in appreciation.
"Yes, and even if they don''t do it, remember that the king has given us the right to annex foreignnds. And Tibias is right next to us," Alexander hung even more bait.
And the men took it hook, line, and sinker as Menicus quickly asked, "Com¡Pasha when do you intend tounch the attack? This winter?"
It seemed that the men were a bit too excited.
''Hold your horses, old man,'' Alexandermpooned a bit at the over-eagerness.
Alexander thenid out his rough n, "This winter is too soon for any offensive actions. I estimate that the new legionary concept and the new cavalry techniques will take at least a year to perfect and building all the weapons and armor will also take that long."
"There is also the case of building siege engines and gathering intelligence." He added.
"So, if there is no outside threat, we willunch an attack past the Cisrian hills next November," Alexander set the deadline.
This produced wide smiles across the men''s faces, as they were relieved to know that the treaty would be of no hindrance to them.
And next came even better news, as Alexander announced, "And, let it be known that as long as it''s possible, we will beunching a winter campaign every year for the foreseeable future."
And in this way, this promation would be Zanzan''s policy for many years, very simr to how the Romans did it.
Chapter 187 New Appointments
Done with the military matters for now, Alexander raised another concern - concern about governance.
"The city administration posts are all empty and it''s not possible to run a city with so many vacancies," Alexander said with a frown.
And then dered, "So I have decided to temporarily assign you some administrative positions until proper recements can be found."
The military leaders all looked at each other at this announcement, wondering what they knew about outside fighting.
And the answer they came up with was not much.
But Alexander didn''t seem to think so as he first turned to Menicus, "Menicus, you have done a fantastic job securing the fields before winter, *p*, *p*, *p*." Alexander apuded.
"And so I intend to hand over the administration of the farms up to you," Alexander designated.
"I will work by my hardest, Lord Pasha," Menicus crossed his arms on his chest and bowed a bit, his voice somber and serious.
"Um, good." Alexander nodded and then emphasized, "Food is our most important resource and all of Zanzan city will depend on you."
"I will not fail you," Menicus again seriously vowed.
Alexander lightly smiled, pleased, and then asked Theocles, "Theocles, the temple of Gaia needs an archpriest. Are you interested?"
Theocles body visibly shook and his eyes widened in glee.
Plop.
The man then immediately prostrated himself before Alexander and cried, "It would be my life''s utmost honor, my lord, my savior."
"Haha, good, good. Then I will rely on you to spread the faith of Gaia," Alexander grinned in glee.
"Yes, I swear to bring salvation to all the lostmbs," Theocles zealously dered.
"Um, we will discuss the detailster. For now please sit down," Alexander gestured, while internally he wondered if Theocles might be a bit too enthusiastic.
Only time would reveal that, but for now, Alexander decided to move on to his next candidate.
"Heliptos, you will be in charge of the coin and t will be your job to oversee the economy." Alexander made a controversial appointment.
Giving the greedy mercenary the responsibility to oversee the state''s money might sound like asking the fox to guard the chicken but Alexander saw it differently.
He saw it like giving money to a miser, who will think thrice before spending a single coin.
And given the current situation of the economy, Alexander needed such a penny-pincher.
Also, Heliptos was realistically the only man for the job.
Because ording to Heliptos himself, he was once a peddler, who made his fortunes supplying goods for Damious and his mercenarypany.
But after a few unfortunate incidents he had gone bankrupt and so, using Damious''s goodwill, he joined the mercenary group to escape his creditors.
Though here he imed that his entire incident was orchestrated by Damious and a few corrupt officials in his city-state because they were jealous of his wealth.
Alexander of course had no way to judge the veracity of this information but decided to take it at face value nheless.
Actions spoke louder than words and if it was all true, then there would be no problem.
But if he lied, if Alexander found Heliptos to be ipetent or corrupt, he would simply sack him.
Hearing Alexander''s appointed Heliptos produced a huge grin and his eyes lit up in glee, making Alexander wonder if he could see illusory dor signs in his eyes.
"Thank you, pasha. I will guard the vault with all my life!" Heliptos said giving a military salute.
"Umm, remember your job will be hard," Alexander decided to put some pressure on the over-enthusiastic mercenary.
"You will have to oversee the tax collection, enact policies to attract businessmen, find ways to boost the economy, work out trade deals with various third parties, and many more." Alexander gave Heliptos a list of things he was expected to do.
"That¡." Hearing what the actual job entailed made Heliptos stammer a bit as he didn''t know half the things Alexander asked him to do.
In fact, he didn''t even understand half of what Alexander had said.
''What does ''enact policies to attract businessmen,'' and ''boosting the economy'' mean?'' Heliptos asked himself.
Alexander understood these were all brand-new concepts to everyone in the world and seeing Heliptos look at him dazed and confused, he reassured the man, "Don''t worry, I will teach you what to do. All you need to do is follow my instructions."
This produced a happy smile on the man and Heliptos thanked Alexander for his troubles, overall very happy at being offered his dream job.
Alexander then addressed three men, "Menes, Melodias, and Grahtos, all of you will be in charge of the military. You will be our bulwark against all external threats."
"Yes! Pasha Alexander," The three men cried in unison, extremely d that they would not have to dip their toes in civilian matters but instead could continue to do the things they were the best at.
There was also the selfish reasoning that it was far easier to umte merit in the military than in the civilian sector.
"Um, remember we have four thousand mercenaries and thousand Cantagenan soldiers. That means we need to recruit three hundred more," Alexander reminded.
A legion was after all five thousand three hundred soldiers strong with seventeen hundred servants.
The servants could be taken from the recently freed Cantagenan ves, but currently, there was a small deficiency in the number of soldiers in the unit.
"Hmm, some of the Adhanians who came with us fought pretty well in thest battle. How about them?" Menes asked for Alexander''s consent.
"Good, then I will leave the recruitment up to you," Alexander easily handed over the job to his general, adding, "Prioritize those that were officers."
After getting an affirmative nod from Menes, Alexander turned to Grahtos, "Captain Grahtos please take your best five hundred cavalries to be in the army and change the others into infantrymen."
"As youmand, pasha," Grahtos easily epted.
Alexander then atst turned to the three new men that were invited to join this meeting for the first time.
These were the representatives of the various artisans and normally civilians like them would never be allowed a seat at the conference between a noble and his retinue.
But Alexander was no normal noble and thus this meeting fell upon them.
"cksmith Harun, I heard the mines around the Zanzan are very rich in ore. And I want you to be in charge of them!" Alexander made an announcement that shook everybody in the room.
This was a very heavy responsibility and nobody expected Alexander to hand it out to a rtively unknown person.
Even the man being offered the job was bbergasted and attempted to turn it down, "My¡my lord, ¡I¡I''m not confident that I''m¡.not the man for the job."
The artisan was so overwhelmed that he was having trouble forming coherent speech.
But this time, Alexander didn''t need to convince the man as soon the characteristic gruff cough echoed across the room
"Ahem, since the pasha has chosen you, ept it. The pasha has a good eye for people," Menicus addressed Harun.
And as soon as this senior veteran expressed his explicit support, the other military leaders also voiced their assent to Harun''s position.
"Haha, Brother Harun, you used to oversee the mines of Adhan too. Only you can do this," From the side, Harun''s colleague, a tanner named Krishok too expressed his support.
And thus the cksmith was ushered into his new role.
"Lord¡lord Pasha, this lowly ..this cksmith will spare no effort to keep the mines going," Harun still couldn''t believe that this huge pie had fallen out of the sky and directly into his waiting hand.
When Alexander had called them to attend the meeting, they reasoned that it would be to issue them some new projects.
But who knew it would be to make him oversee the mines, the most important sector of a country after agriculture.
Although Harun had experience in running mines, such a critical sector was usually kept close to a noble''s heart and not given to any random person, no matter the qualifications.
Not to mention even skimming off a tiny portion of the mined ores or the ves'' food would make one rich, filthy rich, but some of these mines were gold and silver mines too, meaning Alexander had put the man literally in charge of a money printing machine.
And this fact was not lost on anyone as Harun distinctly could feel the jealous gazes of his colleague, even Krishok''s, for this grand prize.
But strangely, for Harun, these gazes didn''t seem to offend him.
He would have felt jealous too if one of the other two were to be chosen.
Instead, he felt proud to get such gazes as it only made the reality even more pronounced, a validation that it was all real and not one of Harun''s delusion.
Harun looked at Alexander full of smiles and infinite gratitude in his eyes, while thetter sang in his heart, ''Haha, nothing in this world is free my man. nothing in this world is free.''
This was because he nned to make Harun work to the bones to pay for his promotion.
Chapter 188 Mine Management
The im that Harun had overseen the mines in Adhan was a bit of a misnomer as although he did do all the work, it was under a noble, who took all the glory.
This was one of the reasons behind Alexander''s decision to choose Harun as coupled with the man''s vast experience, he was also clean, and unconnected to any nobility.
This was a crucial factor for Alexander as he had enormous, super projects in mind, particrly the st furnace, and secrecy regarding them was paramount.
Thus he needed a man who was bothpetent and reliable to spearhead them and Harun seemed to fit the bill.
A second reason for choosing Harun was because he hoped that this would encourage others to work even harder, using Harun''s status as a precedent to set their goals as they desperately worked to emte him.
"Mister Harun, I will leave the mines to you. Work hard and soon Adhania will have a new shordar (baron)." Alexander''s enticement drew another round of ttery and puffery.
His deration of the possibility that even Harun could be a noble also made others understand something very important.
They understood that even civilians would be appreciated by the new lord as long as they could prove their worth.
This lit a me of ambition in the hearts of the other two artisans, while the tiny dissatisfaction held by some of the militarymanders for being moved to civilian matters was wiped away.
Alexander then turned to Harun and like the others proceeded to give him some advice, "Mister Harun, your job will be the supervision and maintenance of the smooth operation of the mines. Primarily this will involve overseeing the ves and ensuring¡"
"Rest assured, Pasha, I will get those ves toplete their daily quotas no matter what." Harun quickly added himself to Alexander''s sentence, thinking himself to be very clever.
"No, you won''t," But Alexander''s rebuttal immediately shattered this thought.
Harun went a bit wide-eyed and his mouth gaped by a small amount at Alexander''s curt dismissal and for a while, he didn''t know what to say.
`Don''t all nobles want their mines to produce more things?'' Harun was visibly confused.
Alexander then helped the man rectify his mistake, "Those ves have been promised freedom andnd after five years of service. And I want to give them that. So, I don''t want any deaths," Alexander warned.
"That¡as you wish." Harun obediently nodded though he was no less confused than before.
Even the militarymanders were confused as they heard of nond gifting before.
Seeing this Alexander elucidated, "I know that you are all used to driving ves to death. But this is not how we do things in Zanzan. In Zanzan ves will have a lot of the rights that a freedman has."
"Pasha, what rights are you thinking about?" This question was asked by the most appropriate person in the room, Menes, who was a ve once, as was Alexander.
Hence he was interested to know how a fellow sufferer wished to reduce the hardship of people once like him.
"I will give you the detailster, but basically a ve will have to be given adequate food, cloth, and rest to sustain himself. ve masters will be fined if they are found to have beaten or killed their ves without cause and in serious cases, such as torturing ves for entertainment, they can even be imprisoned." Alexanderid out some very ''harsh'' conditions.
At least harsh in the people''s eyes, because in their worldview. what Alexander was proposing was akin to threatening to punish them for destroying their furniture.
The modern equivalent of such an order would be like the government threatening to prosecute someone if he is careless with his cell phone.
Utterly absurd.
But all the people here were aware of Alexander''s past and coupled with likely Menes''s support, there saw no point in objecting to the decree.
Save one.
Harun.
Although the man did not outright object to Alexander''s n, the man didn''t have the guts to, he told Alexander about the problems of such an order, "Pasha Alexander, the mines are inherently a dangerous ce to work in, There are frequent cave-ins, the heat is sometimes blistering and injury from falling rocks and debris areman and expected. I''m afraid some ves will die no matter what."
"I''m not blind to reality. I just want you to do your level best to ensure the safety of as many as you can. As long as you are not found to be negligent of your duty, there will be no me on you," Alexander gestured using palms to reassure the man.
Mines were a dangerous ce to work even in the twentieth century, with heat, dust, and cave-ins an everyday urrence.
So, in such backward times, deaths were part and parcel of the mining trade.
Alexander''s frank flexibility relieved Harun and he was bing very pleased with his new boss, who was generous and understanding, not at all like the boorish snobs he had been forced to serve before.
''I made the best decision of my lifeing to Zanzan,'' Harun remarked in his.
While many shared Harun''s relief towards Alexander''s flexibility, there was one thing that Alexander said that bothered someone.
Heliptos asked Alexander, "Pasha, are we really going to givend to ves?"
To him, this seemed the pinnacle of foolishness.
But Heliptos was Heliptos and not Alexander because he thought like that.
So, first Alexander corrected him, "No ve will be givennd. Thend will be given to those freedmen that are the citizens of Zanzan."
Then Alexander exined, "The reason for this is simple. Because men work far harder when there is a reward at the end, rather than to escape theshing of a whip."
Alexander turned to gaze directly at the people sitting around the table and then asked, "Tell me, which motivates you more, ''Me threatening you and your family with death if you don''t win the next war.'' or ''Me promising yound and riches if you win the next war''?"
The answer was obvious and everyone''s faces lit up in enlightenment when Alexander presented them with such a clear example.
Alexander himself found this out during his high school years when he realized that he would study really hard if his parents promised him a reward like a vacation or a new game if he did well, aspared to just avoid getting scolded.
"The pasha is sagacious," Harun said with a heavy breath, somber and serious.
This example by Alexander resonated especially deeply within him as simr to the ves, Alexander had promised him a reward too, a title. if he worked hard enough.
Also as a cksmith and a mine overseer, he could appreciate more than anyone how much different a willing ve was from a disobedient orzy one.
And he believed with Alexander''s enticement of not just freedom but alsond, these ves would be d twice as hard and still feel nothing.
''I too need to work hard,'' Harun reminded himself.
And then Harun suddenly remembered something important.
"Pasha, where will I get my men?" He asked as the mines were currently empty, with zero production.
"Within the next week, I will transfer ten of the twenty thousand ves that are farming the fields to the mines. You will get them then," Alexander promised.
And then turned to Menicus to ask, "Will that be a problem?"
"No problem. The legumes and oats can be nted in time by the ten thousand alone," Menicus assured Alexander.
"Good." Alexander nodded pleased.
And then further instructed Harun, "All ves must be fed three times a day, morning, noon, and night. And any injured ve is to be moved immediately to the medical clinic that I will set up there."
He added, "Also all ves will be required to wear helmets, and leg and arm greaves and must cover their faces when they work. We have a lot of surplus military gear in the barracks, so I will have some of them transferred." Alexander finished.
He had scavenged a lot of spare equipment off of Amenheraft''s defeated forces which he had bought to Zanzan as an emergency reserve and now decided to use some of them elsewhere.
"As youmand," Harun did not object to Alexander''s instructions.
In his mind, since the pasha had said they needed it, then they needed it.
The reason for the helmet was obvious and the cloth was intended to reduce the damage to the lungs from all the dust over the years, the results would bear testament to the sagacious move.
The mines operated by Alexander would have the record of being very productive but also being rtively safe, an almost paradoxicalbination in many''s eyes.
Done with securing his ore supply, for now, Alexander switched to the next topic of the day, construction.
"How goes the kilns and brick making?" Alexander asked the man left to Harun, who was thin and tall with no facial hair- Jazum.
Chapter 189 Brick And Cement Kilns
Alexander had given the schematics of brick and cement-making kilns to the stonemasons during the first week of thisnding.
And they had been at it for a week, entering the city far before Alexander had decided to move in himself.
Now. with seven days past, Alexander was eager to know about their progress.
"We have finished building twenty of the two brick-making kilns and can start production any time," Jazum reported.
"And we are using the cksmith forge to make the cement kiln. It should be done within the week." He assured.
"Good, good, keep up the good work," Alexander was very pleased by the reported progress, evidenced by his saying the word ''good'' three times in a sentence.
The task set to them was no easy feat.
They were instructed to make three types of kilns and make as many as they could.
The first two were brickmaking kilns, with one being used to dry the raw, wet, brick-shaped y, which operated at around 100 degrees Celsius, and the other was used for the actual firing of the bricks which could reach as much as 1000 degrees Celsius.
These kilns made been designed by Alexander while on the ship and from the outside looked like rectangr houses on raised tforms.
The first kiln used for drying the bricks looked like a house having only its sides and roof with both the front and back open.
Green bricks would be put into his ''house'' carpeted with hay and various kindling like sawdust, logs, crushed and chipped wood, then be lit alight, slowly cooking the bricks.
This burning would continue for a day or two depending on the y and moisture content. with the temperature being between one hundred (100) to two hundred (200) degrees Celsius.
Alexander had intentionally made the kiln very open and prone to heat loss to achieve this low temperature, as too high a temperature would crack the raw bricks.
This would happen because, at too high a temperature, the water around the surface of the bricks would evaporate too quickly and cause the surfaceyer to shrink, while the inneryer would remain the same volume, and will resist the shrinkage, thus cracking the outer surface and disintegrating the brick.
The second brick kiln, to be used for firing, was like a huge dome, standing on a raised tform.
The tforms were hollowed in the middle and top and thus allowed air to pass in and out of the chamber above it through small porous holes in the floor.
The bricks would be put into the kiln from the top along with all the necessary kindling, like the previous kiln, and then closed with a heavy bronze top to reduce heat loss.
Periodically the top would be opened to add more kindling.
This firing process would also continue for one to two days at around a thousand degrees (1000) and once firing wasplete, the bricks would be further allowed to cool inside the kiln for at least a day.
In this way, a batch of bricks, numbering around a hundred could be made in three-five days.
The third kiln was a bit more special as it need to reach fifteen hundred degree celsius to achieve its purpose.
It was to be used to make cement and the chemical reaction that produces concrete would ur only at around temperature.
But the problem was that the temperature using firewood and normal kindling could only achieve around a thousand degrees.
To ovee this, a blower or a bellow had to be used, which blew fresh oxygen into the fuel and increased the burning rate enough to reach those temperatures.
And so Alexander had to design a brand new kind of kiln to do this, a design he came up with in his head after years.
His first innovation was the material to be used.
Usually, kilns were made of mud and earth, which were fantastic refractory materials and highly resistant to high temperatures.
But they had two very big drawbacks.
First, theycked the structural integrity to reachrge heights, usually capping out at six to seven meters.
The way to ovee this would be to use a reinforcing material, but there was no appropriate material to be found.
Such long iron rods existed only in the realms of fantasy and wood would dpose and break down in the extreme heat of the kiln.
The second drawback was it took very long to make a mud kiln.
A simple brick took Alexander five days to make, and so the time needed to dry, fire, and cool a ten-meter kiln could be imagined.
So, here Alexander decided to use his first innovation, making the kiln out of stone.
And astonishingly, the mortar that he used to bind the stone was cement, the very thing he was trying to make, which he got using the cksmith''s forge.
He did this by getting sand, crushed limestone, and y and mixing them into appropriate proportions (around 1:3:1 respectively).
Then he put this slurry inside the forge, heating the raw materials using the blowers for twenty to thirty minutes.
This made an intermediate product called clinkers which looked like small pebbles, which was then mixed with three-four percent gypsum, which was a white, naturally urring mineral, and ground into a fine powder.
And thus, the world''s first pornd cement was manufactured.
The only drawback to this manufacturing was the very small scale of it and thus the need for arge-scale kiln.
Alexander''s second innovation regarding the cement kiln was the design of the kiln itself.
Unlike the usual dome shape, it was conical, with a vertical height of twelve meters and a diameter of four meters at the base and one meter at the top, with the charge (raw materials)ing from the top.
The reason for this design change was due to his third innovation, the position of the firing chamber.
While conventional wisdom dictated that the fire should be ced at the bottom, he ced the heart of the kiln at the sides, as it beat furiously with fire and me, as if wanting to devour the whole structure.
The fuel chamber was six meters high and protruded one meter into the kiln, thus the necessity of making the structure conical as otherwise the raw materials might fall directly into the fire and extinguish it.
Alexander''s fourth innovation was the design of the fuel chamber.
The fuel chambers had an upper opening through which firewood and kindling would be constantly fed into the burning inferno.
But they also had threerge concrete pipes protruding out of them and each of them was vital to the kiln''s function.
Two pipes growing off the sides were the air vents.
They had huge blowers, about the size of a man attached to them that would constantly throw fresh oxygen into the fiery me, spurring it to burn even brighter.
Thest pipe was situated at the bottom of the chamber and this was the waste pipe, through which the ash that would umte at the feet of the fuel chamber could be easily removed.
And Alexander''sst innovation was the design of the lower floor.
Instead of being t, it was curved, almost spherical in shape, causing anything on it to slide off it.
This was done to facilitate the exit of the finished product as the kiln was designed like that.
The way it would work was that it would be first fully filled up with the charge and the fires would be lit, allowing the gases to slowly rise up through the charge, depositing their heat to the raw materials and allowing a number of reactions to ur at different temperatures.
In this way, the raw material would change from a slurry-like mixture into small chucks in a step-by-step process and then would smoothly roll off the curved surface, exiting the kiln through therge holes at back and front of the kiln and into the waiting horse cart outside.
Once outside, these clinkers would be taken to a different location, mixed with gypsum, and then manually crushed byrge hammers to make the all-elusive concrete.
And the main bottleneck that was preventing Alexander from getting his hands on this magical powder, ording to Jazum, was the manufacturing of the blowers.
They had never made such huge blowers, which were to be made out of bronze and leather, and it was taking some time to process the necessary amount of leather to make them.
"I truly apologize for the dy," This was said by Krishok, who as the lead tanner was mainly responsible for processing the hide.
"It''s okay, I don''t mind," Alexander lightly smiled and reassured the flustered bald man, adding, "Take your time and make sure the thing is sturdy. It will be a pain to rece it frequently."
"Yes, lord Pasha. I''m confident that the finished product will please you," Krishok was eager to please Alexander and snatch a noble title for himself.
All in all, Alexander was very pleased that his trump card would soon be ready.
Chapter 190 Internal Challenges
The next half an hour of the meeting went by with Jazum exining to Alexander the various operational and situational challenges he was facing, while Alexander gave them some of his own input.
These nuggets of insight made the artisans feel their eyes had been opened and they began to feel that Alexander might not be the divine son of Gaia, but the divine son of Azeyma, the god of metal, iron, and craftsmanship.
They had already been astounded by the magical powder called cement and its ability to seamlessly bind anything to it and now this expertise by Alexander helped to ''cement'' this thought even more.
But for Alexander, the questions asked by these people were just elementary questions, mainly concerned about the proper setting of the cement, something Alexander believed these men would be able to answer themselves in a couple of months.
As they had never done this before, naturally, they were unsure about how to treat the structure made using this material, particrly about how long to water the structure, something Alexander as a materials engineer knew very well and recited to them from his heart.
Done with this little troubleshooting, Alexander nodded understandingly to Jazum and said, "Prioritize the cement kilns. Once we have that everything can start. And use any leftover cement to make more and more brink kilns. Ten is too small."
The brick kilns were also made with stone and cement as mud kilns would take too long, and the twenty brick kilns (two were needed per batch) that Jazum constructed meant a maximum weekly production of only twenty thousand bricks, which came to a daily production of around three thousand bricks.
This was nothing, as for context, a four-walled room of 3 meters by 3 meters would need eighteen hundred bricks (1800) and could be done in a day by four men.
"Pasha, I can do a lot more if I have more men. The few thousand under me is barely enough." Jazum pleaded to relieve thebor shortage.
The people assigned to Jazum were all already upied with their own jobs, making bricks, hauling sand from the nearby beaches, crushing limestone, and cleaning the dug y from all types of rocks, roots, and stones. thus leaving Jazum with almost no spare manpower to expand his operations.
Alexander understood the chronic manpower the stonemason faced and assented to his request, "In a month winter will settle in and the peasants will have nothing to do. I will assign all of them to you for two months."
"Thank you, my lord, thank you," Jazum was ecstatic at this new injection ofbor.
Although two months was a bit too short for his liking, but still Jazum believed in his mind that with this new manpower, he would be able to prove himself more useful to Alexander and thus snatch himself a noble title.
And if Jazum would prove himself worthy, Alexander would have no problem giving himnd and rank.
He had ns to improve his infrastructure by a thousand years through various huge mega-projects and he knew that this cement was his trump card to achieve this.
Thus anyone that could boost its production would gain Alexander''s favor.
But what Jaazum was unaware of was that just hard work alone would not be enough for him to get much far along the road.
Loyalty to Alexander was paramount too.
And this was, even more, the case for something as revolutionary as cement.
And for that reason, Alexander had decided to keep its manufacturing method strictly confidential.
Every day Alexander would make the raw slurry using his trusted ves and servants and then send it to the cksmiths by horse-cart.
In this way, although the cksmiths knew the ingredients of the powder, as Alexander would task them with collecting them, they didn''t know of the properposition.
In addition, once the clinkers were formed, they would be moved to a secured location and as far as the cksmiths were concerned be crushed to powder.
They were kept unaware of the addition of the gypsum or its percentage, as this was procured and stored by oblivious ves who thought they were just crushing and mixing ordinary rocks with white rocks.
Although gypsum was only a small percentage of the cement, it was critical to the manufacturing process, as it was this mineral that made cement into cement.
Without it, the cement would immediately harden once mixed with water and make the whole thing pretty useless.
Consequently, by controlling the amount of gypsum in the cement, one could control the setting time of the cement, and thus vary many of the properties of the cement.
Alexander had given Camius instructions to strictly secure the forme for the cement and to make sure none of the ves ever met any of the artisans.
Of course, Alexander was very much aware that such a secret would be impossible to keep hidden for too long, especially when he intended to mass produce the stuff by employing a few thousand or ten thousand staff.
But he would damn well try.
With the promise that the cement production would begin in a week and brick production set to ramp up, happy Alexander decided to ask them about the construction projects on which he would use these materials.
"Have you made blueprints about the things I asked?" He asked the next tost person in the room, a man who had kept himself quiet till now, Uzak.
The buff, bald man who was another expert stonemason hastily endeavored to answer Alexander, "The sewage system design is done. We just need the materials. Same with the aqueducts. And we can start on the roads but we don''t have the men."
The chronic shortage of men was a constant headache for Alexander.
The twenty thousand ves that he had bought from Pasha Farzah were scheduled to arrive inte January, almost three months from now and so for now he would have to make do with what he got.
"Where are we using our men?" Alexander asked with a small frown, hoping to find a way to scrap something up from the bottom of the barrel.
"The twenty thousand are in the field, some are in the military, some with Jazum, and many are in the quarry, while the rest are cutting trees and preparing the wood for the houses you ordered. There''s no more," Came the quick answer, a trace of helplessness attached to it.
"Hmmm, what about the women and children? What are they doing?" Alexander asked, stroking his chin and thinking he might have found a way.
"That¡.they are at home," Uzak slowly spelled out the obvious, unsure why Alexander was asking about this.
"Then take them to make the roads. We are giving them two meals a day anyway, so what are they doing idling at home?" Alexander gave the order.
"That¡" Uzak was a bit ufortable employing women in men''s work.
But facing the harsh reality, he knew he had to ept, "As youmand, Pasha."
Alexander''s roads were nothing like the men had ever built.
All roads in Adhania were just dirt roads that had been hammered into a t,pact shape.
But Alexander''s roads were magnitudes moreplex.
First, he instructed a wide area to be cleared of any vegetation and to remove the topsoil until a solid soil base was found.
Then markings using wooden nks were to be ced along the curb to mark the chosen width of the road
Next,rge stones would be ced between the curbs to serve as the foundations of the roads.
On top of them woulde ayer of smaller rocks all mixed up with fine aggregates to fill the gaps.
Finally, ayer of concrete would cover everything up, making a smooth, pristine road.
Seeing Uzak''s consent, Alexander then advised, "There should be ten to fifteen thousand of them. Have them dig the curbs and fill them as per the blueprints I gave you. Do you have enough stone and gravel??"
This time fortunately the answer was affirmative as Uzak reported, "Yes. Because Zanzan was the main supply hub for the war, it hadrge stocks of ores and stones in its warehouses, used to construct fortifications on the front lines. Juzam has also been using them."
Alexander had chosen Zanzan because of its mines and thus this news wasn''t too surprising to him.
But he knew that the stocks would notst forever, especially as construction was scheduled to ramp up very soon, and thus instructed, "Hmm, okay. Uzak, you are to oversee the quarries'' stone production and make sure they can keep up with demand. We will need very much very soon."
"Yes, my lord," Uzak saluted.
Then Alexander returned to Harun, "Harun, you are to assign nine thousand to the limestone mine and the rest to the iron mine. Also, you are to map all the different ore deposits in the area."
"As you wish, Pasha," Harun followed the same gesture as Uzak.
And atst, Alexander greeted thest person in the room, the carpenter- Diaogosis
Chapter 191 Public Homes And Sewage System
The man Alexander addressed had a fierce scar on his face, a memento from a childhood bear attack, and a menacing, prative stare, making the man appear scary and unapproachable.
But in reality, the man named Diagonis was humble and soft-spoken and one who Alexander had appointed to oversee the lumber production within his territory.
"How are the tasks I assigned you?" Alexander lightly smiled at the man.
"We are on schedule. As you instructed, we have started collecting and processing the lumber. Once we have the cement, we can start building the new homes," Diagnosis sinctly replied.
Alexander had decided topletely renovate the slums by recing them with four-story buildings and he gave this job to Diagonis.
"Good, you will get your mortal in a month. For the time being, make the foundation and the scaffolding," Alexander told Diagonis to get everything else ready so that he couldmence construction as soon as the cement was made avable to him.
These slums had been made of wood and straw and offered few protections against the elements.
They were so prone to catching fire that the people couldn''t even start a fire inside, seriously limiting their defense against the cold.
Alexander decided to rectify this by making a brand new residential district to the west of the city, right next to the nobles'' estate.
Though no civil engineer, Alexander, with the help of the experienced artisans hade up with a design that he was quite pleased with.
The four-story buildings would be made of wood and stone or brick, with cement acting as mortar.
It would be sixteen by sixteen (16x16) in dimensions and eighteen meters high with a two-meter deep foundation.
It would be divided into eight ts per floor, each with a fifty square meter area, bigger than many Tokyo apartments.
Each of the ts woulde with two bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, and a balcony.
The kitchen would be connected to amunal chimney running vertically through the four ts and thus all the cooking smoke would be taken outside through the eight total chimneys.
There would be twomunal bathrooms on each floor, which would double as a shower and Alexander estimated that around a hundred and fifty people could be housed in the thirty-two t house.
Alexander then remembered something vital, "Diagonis, each of the buildings are to have a well and to be connected to the sewage system. Have you considered that?"
"That¡! That was¡Uzak''s job¡so.." The fierce man stammered a bit.
Alexander then turned to Uzak to know his response and was pleasantly surprised to see that the man had one, "Worry not, lord pasha. The site you chose for the residential district has a very good underground sewage system as it is close to the high district. All we need to do is build the pipes to connect each of the houses to thework and make a few renovations such as connecting the water from the nned aqueducts to regrly flush the system and all the filth will end up into the sea."
Uzak had surprisingly given the project much thought.
Competent men always pleased Alexander and he lightly smiled towards the stonemason, "You have great insight, mister Uzak,"
"No, no, I''m just doing my job." Uzak humbly bowed.
"Good, then that''s solved." Alexander said in a pleased tone, and then asked, "What about the wells?"
"My lord, I''m afraid the wells are not a good idea!" This time Diagonis was prepared.
"Ohhh?" Alexander raised an eyebrow as a gesture to elucidate.
"We have found many the groundwater here is too deep for conventional wells. I believe it will be far better to use the aqueducts to make water fountains from which people will be able to collect the water." He sincerely advised.
"Hmmm, okay, let''s do that!" Alexander was persuaded.
Then he reminded Diagonis of another very important task, "Diagonis, the few hundred buildings to be made will all need doors, windows, chairs, tables, and much more. Have you thought about that?"
"That¡lord pasha, that''s impossible." Diagonis sounded a bit desperate.
"My men are already upto their necks cutting and processing the lumber, digging the foundation, and choosing the sites for the stone pirs, And soon we will start making the building. We don''t make the time to make furniture." Diagonis repeatedly shook his head as he pleaded to Alexander to reconsider.
Seeing the man''s vehement opposition, Alexander understood there really was no way to make this happen.
"Okay, okay, ..just concentrate on the buildings," Alexander ruefully said, deciding to leave the furnishing to the individual tenants for the time being.
"How long will it take?" Alexander atst asked the most critical question.
"As long as I can have enough stone, timber, and cement, the initial hundred houses can be done in a month," Diagonis promised, making a rough estimate that fifty people working twelve hours a day for thirty days should be enough toplete each building.
This was a bit of an underestimation, but it had to be reminded that all the workers were untrained and inexperienced, and even the artisans had never built anything like this at all.
There was also the fact that Diagonis did not want to over-promise and then fail to deliver, thus making himself look bad in front of Alexander.
The speed was something Alexander found a bitcking as it meant that only fifteen of the fifty thousand would have adequate shelter when winter would truly set in, but understood that there was little more he could do to speed up the works.
"Okay, try your best," Alexander encouraged and with this, he was ready to dere the end of the morning session.
Or so he thought he was as Heliptos asked him with a bit of sourness to his voice, "My lord, are we really going to keep them giving free food, medicine, heat, and housing? That''s too much!"
"Pasha, I too share Heliptos''s sentiment." Melodias joined in, "Although it is true that we need to take care of them as our people, but the cost of everything we are doing and nning to do is astronomical!" He had a worried tone to his voice.
"Of course, it is not free. Nothing in this world is free," Alexander lightly refuted the men.
"This is an investment. And we will recoup everything by increased taxes and by using these men to im morend." Alexander pointed out.
"Pasha, I can understand using these men to increase our military and then taking over other territories. But I''m afraid the small merchant tax will never be enough to cover the hundreds of millions of ros we are spending. Not in this lifetime!" Theocles, who had a good sense of money advised Alexander.
"Theocles is right that taxation will never be able to cover these costs," Alexander frankly admitted.
Then imed, "But it won''t have to. Because there will be many sources of money, you will see,"
"We will use these men to make products that we will sell to the world. So, the world through trade will pay for all these expenses. Alexander said ambitiously.
"But these men can''t work if they don''t have good housing, heat, and health. So please be a bit more farsighted," Alexander asked his retinues to be visionaries and not miss the forest for the trees.
He then gave some examples, "For example, the house we are building will be free for the first three years and then a monthly rent of thirty ros will be charged. There will also be a small yearly road tax and utilities like water and sanitation will also cost money."
"As I said, nothing in this world is free," Alexander repeated.
"The pasha is wise and prescient," Heliptos quickly praised Alexander for his money skills.
"Well then let''s ¡oh I almost forgot." Alexander suddenly remembered a piece of critical announcement.
"Remember that all the free workers will be paid a monthly sry of hundred and fifty ros. Even the women," Alexander dered.
"That¡." After just praising Alexander for his money sense, this announcement made the others not know how to react.
They already had zero ie and this move would make them hemorrhage millions of ros a month, not to even mention how many were bbergasted by the thought that a woman could be paid the same as a man
"Pasha, we are already giving them free food and a three-year rent-free house. Do we have to give them money too?" Theocles tactfully expressed his skepticism.
"Pasha, these people might think you are too soft and generous, if you keep giving away such free stuff. And then when you will want them to pay, they willin and cause trouble," Menicus who had seen and experienced how the general people thought warned.
And this was a legit concern.
Even in Alexander''s time, some people begged not because of necessity, but because it was easy and lucrative,
But now, for Alexander this policy was vital.
"The reason we will give them is to jump-start the economy." Alexander smiled at his retinue, who were confused by Alexander''s reasoning.
Chapter 192 Ten Commandments
Alexander took economics in his A levels and there he learned something called the multiplier effect and this was something critical to the functioning of an economy.
Seeing the understandably befuddled faces of the much senior men, Alexander decided to teach thisplex topic in an easy-to-understand way to the men around him.
"Let me give you an example," He started.
"Imagine we pay a farmer a hundred ropals. He will then go and spend this money on things he needs. For simplicities sake, let''s assume he goes to a cksmith to buy tools worth a hundred ros."
"The cksmith will then will takes this new money to .., let''s say buy clothes from a tailor. The tailor might then use the money to buy furniture from a carpenter. The carpenter might then buy pots from a potter, And atst, the potter might buy food from the same farmer."
"So, in this way, just one hundred ropals would change hands five times, and appear as five hundred ros."
"And in this way businesses will thrive." Alexander finished.
If the economy was to be modeled like a human being, then the multiplier effect would be its beating heart, pumping money throughout the economy, keeping the cash flowing from one''s hand to the other, and stimting businesses.
The people around Alexander were reeling from this brand-new concept and they looked at him like he was the world''s eighth wonder.
They didn''t even know how to praise Alexander as they were still having trouble processing what Alexandar had exined, though all of them could understand it was something bloody brilliant.
"Pasha, I¡I think I''m not qualified to be in charge of the province''s coin," Heliptos had almost a paradoxical tone to his voice, both admiring Alexander''s grasp on matters about the money and also feeling a bit dejected at being so thoroughly thrashed at a craft he had known for thirty years.
But this was an unfairparison as although Alexander knew much more about the theories of economics when it came to knowing the ins and outs of the daily operations when it came to street smarts, it was Heliptos who trumped Alexander.
"You can learn from me," Alexander lightly smiled and rejected Heliptos''s resignation.
"Haha, yes, yes. It is truly envious that Shordar (Baron) Heliptos can learn from the great pasha himself," Menicus chuckled and was then joined by the rest.
And it seemed that Alexander''s knowledge didn''t only affect Heliptos, but another person as well and much more strongly.
Harun was smitten by Alexander''s schrly talent and dered, "Pasha Alexander, I have been truly moved today by your sapience. Being so young and yet so erudite, I truly believe you to be the divine son of Gaia, just as the rumors im."
Harun then solemnly vowed, "As such, I have decided to convert to your religion!"
This straightforward deration caught Alexander momentarily a bit off guard, but quickly he smiled, " Wee to the path to Elysium, Let the goddess''s light guide you to salvation."
"Haha, wee, wee. Wee to the path of enlightenment." Theocles was the very next to congratte the man.
And then true to his status as the archpriest, invited Harun, "Pleasee to the temple at any time and we can discuss the virtues of the goddess and her son at length."
"I will be sure to make the time," Harun cordially epted.
It had to be said that Harun''s conversion was not driven purely by theological motives, but by some ambitions as well.
In his mind, he believed that believing in Alexander''s religion would ease his way to the top and although he didn''t know it yet, Harun''s actions today would set a precedent where promotion among the high levels of government would not only depend onpetency but faith as well.
This would produce both good and bad consequences for Alexander and his country, a problem he would have to solve in the future.
But for now, after Harun was given hisplimentary pleasantries, Alexander decided to dismiss the council, atst, bringing the almost four hours long meeting to a close.
Well, almost everyone, as Alexander addressed, "Theocles, you stay. I have some more things to discuss."
After the two men found themselves in the now empty hall room, Alexander asked about a task he had given Theocles three days ago, "Has the temple location been chosen?"
Theocles quickly replied, "It will be done today. I have already checked some quite good manors, and I will pick one today. Does the Pasha want to join?" Theocels invited.
"Haha¡sorry I''m far too busy," Alexander politely declined, thinking he had far better uses for his time than looking at some noble''s abandoned house.
But then he advised, "Try to have it as close to the center of the city as possible, so it''s easier for everyone toe. And have it as big as possible so it can fit arge crowd."
"Yes, my lord. I will bear it in mind," Theocles nodded in agreement.
Alexander then changed the topic, "So, has the temple of Ramuh done anythingtely?"
"For now, nothing." Theocles said shaking his head, adding, "As youmanded we have not antagonized them and it seems they are smart enough to know not to pick a fight with us¡ for now."
The significance of Theocles''s repeating and emphasizing the two words were not lost on Alexander, who too subconsciously repeated, "For now."
He very well understood that it would only be a matter of time before these priests shed not only with Alexander''s Gaia faith but also with Ptolomy''s new religion, which was a branching sect of the original monolithic Ramuh faith.
This would be like the battle between the catholic and protestant states, or the crusades, brutal and merciless and Alexander knew there was no way to avoid it.
Also, Alexander was not really averse to such conflicts as this would allow him to gain more territory.
But not now.
He was not yet ready and his faith was too infantile to put up any resistance against the Goliath that was the Ramuh faith.
But as the city lord, he could do a lot of things to suppress other religions while promoting his own.
"The temple of Ramuh is a threat to us," Alexander stated, "not only because it controls the faith of a vast number of people, but because they can set these people against us at any time."
"Hmmm, does the Pasha wish to banish them," Theocles asked in a probing tone.
"No,...the people here have too a deep-rooted faith, The bacsh would be too much," Alexander, though tempted, rejected such an extreme act.
Then he took out a scrolled piece of papyrus from his pocket and handed it to Theocles,
"Read this,"
As Theocles nced down onto the thin scroll, he could see numbered points written on them, ten in total, with a new instruction written next to each of them.
Yes, this was Alexander tantly ripping off the Ten Commandments, while also making slight modifications to adjust them to his circumstance.
Themandments read:
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt notmit sphemy.
3. Thou shall offer your prayers on time every time.
4. Thou shalt serve me with your soul, and with your devotion, not with extravagant offerings.
5. Thou shalt not kill the innocent and the defenseless.
6. Thou shalt notmit adultery. ¡ª a husband belongs only to his wife and the wife only belongs to her husband.
7. Thou shall not bear false witness, cheat, frame, or break promises.
8. You shall not envy or steal what is rightfully others.
9. Honor your father and mother and love thy children, sons, and daughter equally.
10. Thou shalt look after yourpatriots and help the poor, needy and destitute.
Credit to Alexander, he did not simply copy-paste the tenmandments but had given it a bit of thought.
The first three rules were obvious and the cornerstone of any religion- belief, loyalty, and prayer.
The fourth was a way to prevent the temples from bing too rich and decadent.
Alexander knew what the churches in the middle ages had be, funding wars, creating works ofvish art and architecture, and leading an opulent lifestyle by various exploitative means, which was a huge factor in leading to its decline yearster.
Thus Alexander hoped that by discouraging spending money on the temples, such practices could be, though not stopped, at least curbed and his faith might escape the same decline the church faced.
The next four were simply illegal or immoral things that the people were barred from doing.
The sixth point was one that particrly stood out for Alexander, as he included it not only so that the familiar ties would be strengthened by following thismandant, but also because he hoped that soldiers wouldmit fewer atrocities after being reminded of this.
And thest two were familiar and social duties expected of any decent human being.
Chapter 193 Ongoing Renovations
Theocles read and re-read the piece of paper, holding it so gently that it was like it was his newborn son in his hand.
"Is¡is this the goddess''s revtion?" Theocles asked in a hoarse, shaky voice, excitement dripping out of his voice.
"....." Alexander only lightly smiled, sending a profound gaze at the man.
"I want you to start writing a bible regarding a new religion. It will be the faith of Gaia and these topics must be the centerpiece of the book." He instructed Theocles.
"Yes¡.yes, my lord. I will see it done immediately," Theocles literally jumped up from his chair and stood up, shaking his clenched fist in tion.
He looked as if he was going to start writing it right now.
"Wait, wait, calm down," Alexander gestured for the man to sit down.
"Ah,,,yes. My apologies, I got a bit distracted," Theocles quickly plopped down, a bit flushed.
"Haha, never mind. It is natural for a true believer to act like this when presented with a god''s words. One of little faith could never have that reaction," Alexander genuinely praised the man for his crity, because this showed that Theocles was truly serious about his belief.
Alexander''s unreserved praise also greatly pleased Theocles, evidenced by his wide-grinning mouth.
Alexander then told Theocles, "The nobles can use the temple and the priests to foment the people against us. But simply kicking out the priests will antagonize both the people and spur the nobles to unite against their theological foes."
Alexander then waved his hands, "The nobles are not our concern. They are destined to be our foes and conflict is inevitable."
"But we need the people. And it will be your job to convert as many people as possible as soon as possible." Alexander gave Theocles his task.
"Yes, pasha." Theocles zealously nodded.
And then cleverly asked, "Do you have any advice on how to do it?"
Theocles had picked up on Alexander''s tendency to give detailed instructions on how to aplish the task he would assign his retinue and in this way, Theocles made the conversation appear more natural.
Alexander certainly understood this little tactful y and nodded appreciatively, "I will allocate some food and money to you. For the first few weeks. distribute it normally, while preaching the gospel of the new faith."
"Then increase the food rations to three times a day for those who regrlye to the temple to pray."
"And remember to give a small amount of money to the really needy who convert to our religion."
Alexander intended to buy and bribe the faith of others, particrly those at the lowest strata of society.
"My lord, I don''t think this giving free money away is a good idea. These people will simply swindle it out of you," Theocels pointed out a very obvious w in the rtively crude n.
"That''s your problem to solve, to find the appropriate people to give the money to, people who are needy and faithful," Alexander would not spoon-feed the solution to every tiny problem.
"I will try my best," Theocles heavily nodded.
"Also, I intend to force the priests to follow Ptolomy''s branch of the faith. Once the cement production ramps up, I will order the creation of the goddess''s statue which will be ced all over the city," Alexander dered.
"That''s an excellent idea, Pasha," Theocles joyously cried, relieved that a problem that had kept him awake at night was solved.
''Without a form, how can the people pray,'' Theocles had asked himself regarding the absence of the goddess''s statue.
"Umm, it will be soon and is sure to stir up some trouble. We need to be ready," Alexander repeatedly emphasized.
"I will start writing the bible immediately," Theocles showed his willingness to work hard.
"Umm, I''m giving you two weeks to write the basics. Use the tenmandments I gave you as a guideline. And I will assign you Taiyin to help you. The temple needs a priestess after all," Alexander additionally informed Theocles.
"Taiyin?" Naturally, Theocles was not acquainted with Ophenia, their paths never crossing and so was confused by this new mention.
"You will meet her tomorrow," Alexander waved his palm, thinking that showing would be better than telling.
With all this done, and feeling that he had given Theocles enough homework for one day, he decided to excuse the man, "Well, that''s it for today. Let us meet again tomorrow."
"I await our next meeting with bated breath, Divine son," Theocles reverentially prostrated and then saw himself out.
The reason why Alexander talked to Theocles separately was because theological conversations were a bit of a sensitive topic as Alexander''s and Ptolomy''s goals fundamentally shed with one another here.
So Alexander felt the less the people knew, the lower the chance of anyone thering anything out, either intentionally or by a silly slip of tongue
It was already midday by the time Alexander had finished with his meetings, and he was feeling hungry by now.
But he still had two other very important people to still meet.
''Argh, they can wait. I want lunch,'' Alexander was feeling a bit heavy-headed with the endless talking and decided to take a recess.
He then exited the hall room and spoke to Hemicus who stood outside as guard, "Tell Camius and Cambyses to meet me for lunch in my study. And ask Taiyin to join me there too."
"Yes,mander," Hemicus had yet to throw out the outdated address, not that Alexander really minded.
As Hemicus began to instruct people to go and deliver Alexander''s message to their intended recipients, the pasha himself was strolling through the hallway and down the enormous spiraling staircase, surveying the renovations that were taking ce.
Yes, as the new owner of this ce, it was only natural for Alexander to renovate the huge ce.
ves could be seen taking down all portraits of Pasha Muazz and his ancestors, leaving only the ones with beautifulndscapes or still art, and safely storing them inside wooden boxes.
"I wonder if I can sell them to Pasha Muazz?" Alexander seriously considered swindling some money off that rotten man.
Much to his chagrin, he had found the manor treasury to be mostly empty, the handiwork of the pasha''s goons no doubt, and so Alexander was very much eager to ''take back what was his''.
He had also decided that he didn''t need a literal thousand-roomed house and vast parts of the house were ordered to be closed off and locked.
This was done to save costs on repair and maintenance as Alexander calcted he would need an army of a few hundred servants just to keep rooms operational, with having to regrly clean and dust them and keep away any bugs.
It was said that owning a castle in the medieval ages was almost as expensive as building it and Alexander was experiencing that saying firsthand.
''It''s far too wasteful to have his massive pce as a house. Once I build a suitable house, I will turn it into an administrative building or a university,'' Alexander decided as he made his way into the central hall.
Even here the renovations were taking ce, for more extensive renovations in fact.
In addition to the various paintings being taken down, the one particr act that stood out was how the huge Ramuh statue that gantly stood in the center of the portico was being smashed.
Yes, smashed.
Not being taken down or removed, but being smashed into pieces byrge hammers.
This was because Alexander would certainly not tolerate a statue of another god in his home, especially not one with whom he was directlypeting for faith.
But even then he would not have destroyed a holy symbol if he could have helped it, much preferring to sell the beautiful sculpture to the temple for a pretty penny.
The problem with that though was that the statue was muchrger than the doors, them being built after the construction of the statue had finished.
And so, Alexander was left without much choice.
The ves that were destroying the statue naturally produced thunderous booms each time the iron hit the granite and Alexander understood that it would be impossible to be in the study while this ''deconstruction'' work was going on.
''Darn, I forgot they were doing it today,'' Alexandermpooned.
Then he turned to go back when suddenly a thought hit him.
''Do I send servants again to tell of them the new location, or do I wait for them here?'' Alexander asked himself.
And after a bit of rumination, he decides on thetter, while alsomenting, ''Oh, how I wish there were a cellphone.''
These types of thoughts were frequent for Alexander, as it was only aftering here did he begin to truly appreciate the privileged life and lifestyle he had.
Even basic things like tissue paper and wet wipes produced fond feelings of nostalgia inside Alexander.
While Alexander was immersed in his bubble offort, Alexander''s first guest quickly made himself avable -Camius, soon followed by Cambyses and a bitter Ophenia.
"Let''s have an outdoor lunch," With everyone present, Alexander decided to have a lunch party in the backyard garden, while also intending to discuss the future of this city.
Chapter 194 Faith In Thesos (Mass Release)
Alexander andpany sat around a small table in the garden, enjoying slices of bread, cheese, and meat, with a bowl of sd dressed in olive oil,plemented by fine wine from Pasha Muazz''s storage.
"So, how are you liking Zanzan?" Alexander asked a generic question while he thered some butter on his bread.
"gue," Came Cambyses''s monotone and tired answer, as the girl took a sip of her wine.
She had her hands full with running the clinic for the past two weeks, treating the sick, and overseeing the operations, which required her to work almost fifteen to sixteen hours a day.
"Well, the good thing is that''s almost gone now. And it''s all thanks to you," Alexander appreciatively smiled at her.
"Hope your policies work and we don''t have to deal with another one ever again," Cambyses spookily sighed.
She never wanted to deal with what she had to deal with in the first weeks.
"It will, it will," Alexander reassured her.
And then turned to Ophenia, "How are you liking it in Zanzan? Are you having any difficulty settling in? He asked.
"No, everything is fine. Mistress has been taking good care of us," Ophenia sweetly replied.
"Good, that''s good," Alexander nodded pleased.
And down with the small talk, he moved to the real topic.
"Taiyin, I assume you studied a lot of religious scripture?" Alexander looked expectantly at the beautiful woman.
Ophenia was a bit taken aback by this question.
This was not anything secretive but she failed to see its relevance in this context.
But nevertheless, she said quickly, "Yes, I was taught quite extensively."
"Good, then I have a vacant job for you," Alexander lightly smiled at Ophenia, who had sat up straight upon hearing there was a job Alexander wanted her to do.
"The temple of Gaia is currently in need of a sacred priestess. Are you interested?" Alexander dropped a bombshell of an offer at Ophenia''s feet.
The sacred priestess would be in charge of all the priestesses and more importantly, would be tasked with conducting the various rituals and ceremonies of the temple.
It was a supremely prestigious position, above all but the pope and the archpriest and Ophenia didn''t know even know how to respond to such an honorable offer.
Such a position was usually given to priestesses in their twilight years, those that had served the temple faithfully for decades, or to a king''s blood kin, like how Azira and Azura were made saintesses.
Ophenia never even in her dreams dared want such a position and so when this pie fell from the sky without any warning, she lost her voice momentarily.
"So, will you?" Alexander lightly asked again as he was yet to get a response.
His mild voice finally broke Opehnia out of her stupor and she quickly faced Alexander, her eyes bulging and lips shaking, "I¡I don''t dare. That position belongs to mistress," Ophenia cried.
This produced a hidden but light smirk from Cambyses.
The amount of adoration and respect a sacred priestess would get from the popce was something very hard to resist.
It would be a lie if Cambyses said she didn''t want it.
"I''m not asking Cambyses. I''m asking you. I want you to be the sacred priestess," Alexander this time did ask but stated.
"That¡" Ophenia sneakily nced at her mistress to see her reaction but saw her only nonchntly nibbling on her bread.
Then a momentter Cambyses let down her food and gave her approval, "I know nothing about religion or rituals. So you take it."
"Yes, I chose you for your experience," Alexander gave his reason.
"Then¡although I''m unqualified, I humbly ept, my lord," Ophenia then stood up and fully bowed at Alexander, finding it difficult to keep her emotions in check.
When she hade to Alexander two months ago seeking refuge, it was an act of utter desperation and the best scenario in her mind at that time was just being able to eke out a living.
She had epted her life would be brutal from then on, with hard, back-breakingbor from dawn till dusk and with hunger, disease, and death a constant threat around every corner.
So who would have thought that not only her master would be a pasha almost overnight, but even choose her to be one of the leaders of his religion?
''My lord is truly the divine son of Gaia, infinite in his grace and mercy,'' Ophenia cried in her heart at Alexander''s trust toward her, while warm tears of joy and gratitude streamed down her perfect face.
"Hahaha, no need to stand on ceremony, sit, sit," Alexander lightly chuckled as he gestured for the girl to return to her seat.
"Congrattions, your grace," Camius too greeted Ophenia on her new status, who quickly rubbed off her tears and returned a smile, "Thank you, captain Camius."
"Our faith is still only infantile. I pray sister will work hard to spread it," Cambyses also paid herpliments with a light smile, though she made a point not to congratte the girl, a subtle hint that she was not pleased by the arrangement.
"Thank you, mistress. Rest assured, I will spare no effort," Ophenia grinned a reply, not catching the hidden wordy.
"Taiyin, you are the sacred priestess now. From now on, you have no mistress, only a master. Be mindful of your words," Alexander lightly chided.
But although these words sounded like it was directed at Ophenia, in reality, it was a way of getting back at Cambyses.
Because even though Ophenia had missed the clues, he certainly didn''t and Alexander did not like when others questioned his appointment of people.
So, he decided to punish Cambyses a bit by stripping her of this little title.
"Yes, master," Ophenia seriously nodded.
"Umm," Alexander then instructed, " I have already chosen the arch-priest, Theocles. You will meet him tomorrow. And help him write the bible that I instructed."
"Bible? We are writing a bible?" Ophenia was both surprised and a bit confused.
It had to be noted that the religion of Gaia was not anything new or unique.
It already existed in many parts of Thesos, with thousands of temples and millions of followers, making it one of the biggest beliefs in the region and also why everyone rted Alexander to it.
Ophenia had thought Alexander would just follow those scriptures with a little tweaking.
But it seemed that her master had much grander ns! The people in the city-states of Thesos were very varied in their beliefs, with hundreds of city-states believing in a myriad of pagan gods and deities, each with their own cultures and rituals.
Sometimes the differences were huge and apparent, while at other times, they were utterly inane, like one faith drinking wine from a round goblet and another from a tapered one.
This meant that many of the practices were very opaque and imprable and many were shared among multiple religions, which made it very hard for theologians to get any urate information about any religion.
In fact, this job was made even more difficult as priests of one religion tended to copy or emte another religion and after a while, that practice would be made canon, meaning the pagan religions were always evolving, growing like the branches of a tree.
And that''s why it was very hard for the Thesisans to export their religion as different missionaries would speak different things about their different gods following different editions of their scriptures, and any potential convert would find himself too overwhelmed.
Thus the faith in a particr god usually tended to stay restricted to that region, unless that region''s influence expanded primarily via conquest and the citizens of the newly conquerednds were forced to change their belief.
And thisck of depth of knowledge about a particr religion was what Alexander was looking to exploit.
Ptolomy had permitted Alexander to be able to preach and practice the religion of his choice, which Alexander imed as the faith of Gaia, which was already prolific in Thesos.
But what Ptolomy did not permit was to allow Alexander to set up a new religion with him as a god.
And this was what Alexander was attempting to do.
Knowing the fact that no one in Adhania really knew much about the faith of Gaia, other than that it was a foreign religion, Alexander intended to create a whole new branch of that religion, one where he was divine and a godkin- the son of Gaia, with an entirely new book, rituals, and practices.
And given that Adhania''s conflicts with Cantagena were not theological but trade and territorial, with disputes mainly over trade routes and contested inds, coupled with the general ignorance, was confident in his ability to get away with inventing a new religion and passing it off as the Faith of Gaia,
Alexander also recalled that Theocles had asked no questions regarding this which clearly demonstrated that man''s IQ and Alexander remarked, ''Looks like Theocles is better than Ophenia,''
But this also made him feel better that he had chosen his archpriest well, who was tasked with overseeing the entire temple and the faith that it wielded.
Chapter 195 Prayer And Ritual (Mass Release)
Ophenia was still looking at Alexander expectantly, waiting with bated breaths for his answer.
And so Alexander decided to elucidate, "The goddess has spoken to me and decreed all other branches of this faith is null and void from today. Only our faith and our faith now is the one true path and through the revtion of Her Tenmandments She has ordered the creation of the holy scripture," Alexander grandly dered.
This new information produced a variety of reactions from the three surrounding humans, intrigue from Camius, surprise, and a bit of sourness for not telling her about it first from Cambyses, and naturally ecstasy from Ophenia
"That¡.that¡has the goddess really sent her revtions down? May..may I see it?" Ophenia''s body was literally shaking in excitement as out of sheer delirium, she was having trouble even forming coherent sentences.
"I have given the text to Theocles, but it said this¡" Alexander then repeated his tenmandants.
"Ahhh, so the goddess has really spoken. And so clearly! Ohhh, master, you will be the ruler of the worlds," Ophenia cried in ebullition, her face flushed and her eyes glowing with fire, her heart aze with absolute conviction for her new religion.
Cambyses and Camius were also very surprised by the detailed instructions and by how the rules were simple and easy to understand and follow.
Usually, religious scriptures would be winded and vague, with theirws being scattered all over the ce.
Thus such clear and concisemandments also impressed the two.
"So, can you write the book using them?" Alexander smiled as he asked.
"Yes¡Yes, this is enough. No, more than enough. I had thought that I would have to write everything from scratch. But with this, with the tenmandants, I can write ten books no problem," Ophenia spoke so quickly that she was almost foaming out of her mouth, her excitement being almost infectious.
"Good, there are a few more details I want you to include," Alexander said, which made Ophenia immediately give her utmost focus to the man.
"It''s mainly about the prayer time and ritual." He began, "People are to offer prayers twice a day, just after dawn and just before dusk. The prayers can be offered at home but praying at the temple in congregation should be encouraged. And a grand mass will be held every Thursday at dusk," Alexander detailed.
"Does master have any specific phrases you want them to recite?" Ophenia wanted to know.
"Nothing particr. The usual exaltation of the goddess and her deeds will do." Alexander wasn''t particrly interested in the exact text.
But then Alexander suddenly remembered something.
"But don''t make any mention of me, it''s not time yet." He warned.
And Ophenias immediately understood the implications and cleverly added, "Yes. We can add it inter editions."
If Alexander was to publish a book that so tantly made himself equal to Ptomoly, by that point, Alexander was just asking to be struck down.
"Umm, I will also show you how to perform the ablutions and prayerster," Alexander promised.
"Ablutions?" Ophenia understanding was that ablutions were done during only ceremonies, by only priests and priestesses, so was confused by Alexander''s wish to ce them before prayers.
"Yes, ablutions. The goddess is pained by the frequent recurrence of the gue, caused by uncleanliness, and generalck of hygiene, and thus has decided to advocate ablutions for all her followers." Alexander covered his own reasons using the name of a god.
"Praise the goddess and her benevolence," Ophenia crossed her arms in reverence.
Her faith in Alexander had already been boosted when he cured an incurable disease like the gue so easily, as she believed only the blessed of the goddess of life could know how to treat such a deadly disease, so it seemed natural to her that the goddess would want to eradicate this pestilence.
"Praise the goddess and her benevolence," Alexander too repeated the phrase.
Later that day, Alexander showed Ophenia how to perform the ablution, which was just simply washing one''s hair, face, mouth, nose, and ears, the back of the neck because it helped one drive away fatigue and drowsiness, and the arms and feet.
He also decreed that followers would need to take a full body bath at least every three days and girls needed to take one every day during their period.
Alexander then went on to show Ophenia how to perform the prayer, how to stand, sit, bow, and kneel before the goddess, and how to lead a congregation.
But these were der, as for now, finished instructing Ophenia, Alexander turned his attention to Camius.
"How are things in the city?" Alexander asked his chief intelligence officer.
"Stable. The people have food, medicine, and work, so their moods have improved." Camius gave a concise report.
"That''s good. When we first came to the city, they seemed one step away from rebellion," Alexander recalled.
"Yes, the gangs and street rats are also mostly quiet. It seems they too want the free food and medicine," Camius knew Alexander what topics Alexander wanted to know about.
"The free food and medicine will notst forever. What then?" Alexander had a small frown on his face.
"*Sigh*, I tried approaching some of them. But it seems they are not much interested. And from what I can gather, they want their old job back," Camius let out a heavy sigh as he recalled his small failure.
"Their old job is gone. The city has a new ruler and he will appoint neww enforcers," Alexander curtly made his position clear.
"So, how does the lord intend to deal with them?" Camius probed.
".....I intend to make a brand-new city guard, called the Police Force. You will be in charge. And your first job will be to arrest these hooligans!" Alexander ordered.
"That¡.executing so many natives might cause some problems," Camius opinioned.
"Execution? Who said execution? Why would I execute good, strong men?" Alexander asked incredulously, as he wondered where Camius got the absurd idea from.
"Huh? Ummm, aren''t we going to kill them after capture?" Camius was also a bit confused.
Locking up men and giving them free food made no sense to him.
"No! We will send them to the mines. Harun isining to me every day that he has no men, so we will give them to him," Alexander waved his sturdy hand as he said this.
"Ohh. Well if it''s only envement then there should not be much unrest," Camius breathed a sigh of relief.
"Unrest? What unrest? We are giving them free food, medicine, and housing, Which lord has ever done for them? Why will there be unrest?" Alexander pointedly asked why the popce would still want to rebel after he gave them so much.
"That¡.there have been whispers that you are the devil, and that''s why you could cure the gue. And they say the food is dead human meat magically transformed to look like grain." Camius avoided eye contact with Alexander as he said this.
''Wow, human meat magically transformed to look like grain, that''s some creativity,'' Alexander didn''t know whether tough at this absolutely bonkers im or be impressed by the sheer outrageousness of it.
"Is it the temple?" Alexander lowly growled, his eyes turned dark and menacingly.
Words like ''magic'' and ''devils'' were almost trademarked and copyrighted by them.
"That¡I''m not sure. I am still new to the city," The time Camius was in Zanzan was too short to form a good spywork.
But quickly added, "These are just rumors and murmurs. Crazy talks by a few lunatics. You know how people like them always exist. It''s nothing." Camius attempted to brush it off as nothing.
And it could very well be nothing, just some harmless grumbling.
But it could also be that the temple of Ramuh and the various gangs with affiliations to many of the surrounding nobles, were trying to stir up trouble.
And for Alexander, he had to assume it was thetter.
So he went silent for a while, his face cold and expressionless.
And everyone at the table understood that he was thinking up a new scheme.
"Hmmm, I have changed my mind about your appointment," Alexander said after a while, looking directly at Camius, "I will create a spy agency named National Intelligence Agency or the NIA for short. And you will lead it."
"Na¡ National Intelligence Agency?" Camius could understand the essence of what Alexander said, but still not grasp its exact meaning.
"Yes, this intelligence service will be responsible for domestic and foreign espionage, including both civilian and military, and will be directly under me." Alexander intended to make his own all-in-one spy plus secret police force.
He hadn''t intended to set this up so soon because he thought that he didn''t need so immediately.
But it seems he was wrong.
He had barely settled in and yet, the snakes were already bearing their fangs.
"Sure," Camius dly epted his new assignment.
Chapter 196 Police And Secret Police (Mass Release)
Camius was in fact much happier with what his new job entitled, as he much enjoyed snooping around and collecting intel than leading the city guards, which would likely be monotonous and involve more paperwork.
''God, I hate paperwork,'' Camius ruefully remarked.
While Camius assumed he had escaped the dredges of paperwork, Alexander filled his spymaster on his duty.
"The NIA will start with fifty men. And you have till tomorrow evening to recruit them." Alexander gave Camius a deadline.
"Okay, that''s easy," Camius certainly knew fiftypetent men he could turn to decent spies.
"Choose carefully. You will have to train and turn these people into spies that serve our interests. So they must bepetent and loyal, not just people you get along with well," Alexander warned the man about his cavalier attitude.
"...I will take notice," Camius sobered up a bit after Alexander''s warning and slowly nodded.
"Umm, I trust in your ability," Alexander said taking a sip of the wine.
And then he gave the NIA''s first task, "Tomorrow night you will lead an attack on the temple and¡..well you understand,"
Alexander didn''t bother speaking the whole thing out.
"That¡okay," Camius seemed like he wanted to say something but ultimately swallowed it.
But Alexander was interested to hear what he had to say and urged, "Say it. Say what you were going to say."
"It''s nothing. I had a question and found the answer myself," Camius shrugged his shoulders.
"Okay, then. Perform it well and I will officially dere you as a shordar (Baron)," Alexander shed a smile at Camius.
This naturally motivated the former street tout and pickpocket, who kneeled and vowed, "I swear to serve you with my heart and soul,"
"Haha, get up, get up. There''s no need for such formalities among friends," Alexander chortled and gestured for Camius to return to his lunch.
Then he started, "The existence of the NIA will not be known to outsiders. Officially you will be the deputy chief of the police force. Unofficially you will lead the NIA and be my eyes and ears," Alexander gave Camius his cover story.
"Deputy¡ of the police force?" Camius repeated the name of his new post, thinking about who will be the chief then.
After all, if he had a superior, that person would want to know where his immediate sub-ordinate was, which could be problematic.
Alexander had already thought of that and gave Camius his answer, "The Police Force will be led by Cambyses, with Bartholomew as her right-hand man. So, one will question your absence."
"Me?" Cambyses yelped in astonishment before anyone could say anything.
She was feeling a bit let down after losing to Ophenia on the priestess position and so Alexander''s announcement came as a bit of a shock to her.
She had assumed Alexander wanted her in the house to manage his harem, but that didn''t seem to be the case.
"Yes, you," Alexander confirmed, adding, "Originally I wanted you to be the chief judge. But from today, you will lead the new city guards- the Police Force. And not only the Zanzan police force, once we expand our territory, all our police force in all our cities!"
Cambyses was a bit taken aback at the amount of promised power and stared at Alexander a bit goggle-eyed.
Even by her lowest estimates, just Zanzan would have a hundred men, and likely much more.
Multiplying that with more cities that she had no doubt they would conquer, she estimated she could wield a small army.
This realization wiped away the small dissatisfaction she had with Alexander''s appointment and she sent a coy smile toward Alexander.
''I will reward youter,'' Her mirthful eyes seemed to say.
"Congrattions sister. I have no doubt ournds will be the safest in all of Adhania under yourmand," Ophenia was the first to chirp her goodwill.
"Haha, Your Grace, please go easy on this poor sub-ordinate," Camius chuckled a joke about his official posting.
"Hehe, but Shordar Camius, as my deputy I need you 24/7," Cambyses too joined in on the fun with a light smirk.
"It''s good that all of you are eager," Alexander smiled.
Then ordered, "Cam, have Bartholomew pick two hundred good, obedient men from my mercenary group. After tomorrow Camius does his thing, you will need to lead these men the morning after to capture all the gangs in the city."
"Okay," Cambyses sinctly replied.
After Cambyses finished, Ophenia spoke the words that were in all three''s minds, "Master, what to do with the temple after its priests are kil¡gone?"
This was a dilemma, which was why he opposed doing any harm to the priests when Theocles eluded to it.
But the situation had changed now and Alexander managed toe up with a patched solution, "Until recement priests can be found, the temple will be run by volunteers and led by the saintesses Azira and Azura."
"This¡but the princesses have been emunicated..that''s.." Ophenia was hesitating to openly say the exact word, as it would make his master look bad for suggesting it.
And that exact word was- sphemy.
Letting anyone who''s been emunicated into the temple, let alone have them lead it was sphemy.
And Alexander knew this, which is why he hadn''t thought of it before.
But hard times called for hard choices.
"If they have been emunicated, they can be un-emunicated," Alexander waved his hand to blow away Ophenia''s concerns.
And added, "These people don''t know that they have been emunicated. And they don''t need to. They will be told that the saintesses havee to Zanzan to preach and that''s that."
Alexander finished the sentence with an air of finality to it and Ophenia could only nod and agree.
But not everyone was meek like the blonde bombshell.
Like Cambyses, who loudly voiced her concern, "Even if we decided to reappoint the twins as priestess without Ptolomy''s knowledge, will Azira and Azura agree? They seemed to be pretty sticklers for the rules, especially the religious ones."
This was a concern for Alexander as well, which is why he didn''t want to do this.
Even if he could reinstate them into the temple, the amount of time he would need to write a letter, sent it to Ptolomy, and get a reply would have been too long, much longer than the two days time limit of Camius.
And Alexander didn''t want to wait for a second longer to stomp out the snake that was already spewing its venom.
"I will convince them....somehow," Alexander said slowly, his sentencecking the same level of confidence and strength that it would usually have.
"Well, anyway, we will do it when we do it," Alexander then instantly perked up, not bothering to wreck his head with anxiety, and changed the topic.
"Camius, do you remember the information you read about Zanzan?" Alexander asked.
"Yes, ording to the records in the royal library, there are four major cities around Zanzan, ruled by their individual nobles." Camius quickly endeavored to answer the question.
"To the north is the nearest city, Jabel, about thirty kilometers from us and ruled by Talukder (Viscount) Kisham. It''s a small city, less than ten thousand, and that was before the drought. I talked to some of the natives and they say that now it might not even have two thousand inhabitants," Camius unted his homework.
And it worked as Alexander was pleased by this additional information.
Camius then continued, "East to us lies a lot of farnd, marshes, and forest. There are a lot of scattered viges, hamlets, and small manors and towns. that''s all Pasha Muazz''s personalnds, i.e- all ours. We don''t know exactly who''s in charge of them but I can do it in a week. The nearest city west is Bashana, two hundred kilometers away and ruled by Matbar (Marquiss) Uhmek."
"Andst of all, there are tworge cities to the west, one northwest about seventy kilometers, called Harki, under a Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq and another a bit south, eighty kilometers from us called Kquem, also under a Jamider(Earl) Tikba." Camius finally stopped reciting his memorization.
"Umm, good," Alexander was pleased with Camius''s disy of mental acuity, a vital skill for any spy.
Then gave him his medium-term goal, "I want you to find everything about these ces. Their poption, their defenses, their army, their trade produces, their alliances, everything,"
"Yes, pasha," Camius easily epted.
"Umm, okay, that''s it for now I guess," Alexander slowly stood up from his chair, announcing the end of the meeting.
And along with his rise, the others did too.
"Cam, you go to Bartholomew and start recruiting," Alexander handed out somest-minute orders.
"Okay, see youter then," Cambyses then waved and simply turned and headed towards the barracks.
"Camius, you start too," Alexander dismissed his spymaster.
"Umm, look forward to tomorrow," Camius promised.
"And Tayin,e with me so I can show you the prayer and ablution rituals" Alexander gestured Ophenia towards the house.
"Yes, master," The girl followed.
Chapter 197 Kitchen Fiasco (Mass Release)
Alexander spent the afternoon showing Ophenia how to pray and do ablutions, using a mixture of practices he had observed in his previous life.
He also chatted with her about the various theological beliefs held by the Temple of Shiva and made suggestions about what to include and exclude in his own scriptures.
And by the time they were done, dusk was approaching and supper was near.
But this time, when the thought of supper came to Alexander''s mind, the same monotonous menu of bread with cheese, and meat induced a bit of loss of appetite within Alexander.
''God, I''m so sick of bread,'' Alexandermpooned about the absolute state of the culinary cuisine of this word.
It was hearty and filling but also nd, their skill in using spicesckluster.
Most dishes were just made by putting everything in a huge pot and boiling it, with a bit of salt and pepper added at the end as seasoning.
''Sigh, well if I''m gonna revolutionize everything else, might as well do it for cooking as well,'' Alexander thus decided to make himself one of his favorite dishes, one that was simple yet elegant- carbonara,
And with that thought in his mind, he excused himself from Ophenia and made his made towards the kitchen.
He found the ''hidden'' door that led to the kitchen underneath the staircase and pushed it open and immediately found himself inside what he thought was another world.
Because the hustle and bustle here was almost aplete anthesis of the peace and quietness that ruled the outer hall behind the heavy oak door.
Literally hundreds of ves and servants were running to and fro across the room, all carrying or moving something, as screams, shouts, and orders shot across the massive room, making the huge kitchen reverberate with the mor and din of life and liveliness.
Off in the distance, Alexander noticed the leader of them all.
Wearing a simple red chilton and leather sands, the girl''s petite body had no ornaments or embellishments, and only a golden hairpin tied her raven hair in a bun, a present Alexander had given her after his victory against Amenheraft.
To make up for her short stature, the short girl was standing on a stool, and what shecked in physical imposingness more than made up for using her shrill voice, screaming and pointing orders constantly at a manic pace.
The scene reminded Alexander of those cooking TV shows that showed just how chaotic the back kitchen of a restaurant could be, while making the dining rooms be calm and still like the waters on a pond.
Mean''s tiny body shook and swayed every time she used her dainty, small arms to direct someone to somewhere, and given how the chair underneath wobbled everything she turned her body, Alexander was worried if it was safe for her to do this.
Nobody had yet noticed that the master of the house had arrived among themselves and got on with their own work, feeding the royals and the two thousand exclusive ves was no small task.
These servants worked constantly from dawn to dusk, with little rest in between.
The moment one service ended, they would start preparing the next meal, almost as if they were the heart and blood of the estate, constantly feeding nutrients to the ever-hungry cells.
Although Alexander hade here with the intention of making pasta carbonara, he didn''t know even where to begin.
Where were the ingredients, the flour, the eggs, the bacon, the cheese?
Where were the equipment such as the rolling pins, the t table, and the knives?
Where was even the stove?
With all these questions in mind, Alexander decided to ask to help.
And the only person he knew to ask for help was standing on a chair way over there- Mean.
And so, under the illuminance of heavy candlelight, Alexander made a beeline toward the girl in charge.
"Hey, brat, get the fuck out of the way,"
Or he was about to as the moment Alexander started to make his way towards Mean, a rough, gravelly voice hit him, its owner, as Alexander turned left to see, a buff, squared-faced woman, holding arge boiling pot of something, likely porridge.
Seeing this, Alexander quickly leaped back to make way, but thedy didn''t seem to pass.
Instead, she just narrowed her eyes and looked at Alexander full of suspicion, "Hey¡you¡I''ve never seen you before. Who are you?" The strong woman asked, no, barked at Alexander.
"I¡." Alexander became a bit tongue-tied at her question.
''Will she believe me if I said I''m the pasha?'' Alexandermpooned at his not-very well-thought-out excursion into the kitchen.
This servant or moremonly known as mama likely had never seen Alexander before and because he had worn a simple jacket over his tunic and pants with no distinctive features, she would not likely believe him if he told her so.
Instead, she might be more hostile if he said such an ''outrageous'' thing.
While Alexander was racking his mind on how to introduce himself, the mama was getting even more and more suspicious.
''Madam Mean warned us to look out for unknown individuals. She said there could be devils and spies intending to poison the great pasha.'' This mama name Julkain recalled.
And so she, seeing Alexander was looking at her awkwardly and a bit ufortably, screamed at the top of her voice, "Intruder! Guards..there''s an intruder!¡Spy!"
The mama then flung her earthen pot away to her sides with abandon, letting the boiling gruel coat the stone floor, while she pounced on Alexander, grabby his right arm by both her hands and trying to pin him in ce till the guards coulde to capture him.
Such an abrupt change caught Alexanderpletely off-guard and he subconsciously tried to free his hand from the surprisingly strong grip, which only served to validate the mama''s thought that this was a no-good-for-thing person.
And so Julkain clutched even harder, kneeling and almost hugging Alexander''s entire arm as she tried to bring Alexander down to the floor.
And all this time she had not stopped screaming for a moment.
The crash of therge earthen pot and the shrill cries of the ''distressed'' woman immediately caught the attention of all the hundreds of the servants and they all turned their focus to see one of their own kneeling on the ground, screaming and hugging a boy, while theter tried his hardest to set himself free.
''Fuck¡Cambyses and Mean willugh at me for the next three months," Alexander cursed at the thought of what will happen next.
And events unfolded just as he had predicted.
"You¡who are yo¡yach¡Alexander. ¡I meanmander!... I mean¡plop!" The guard captain who had dashed towards themotion with his sword drawn, intent on killing the so-called intruder, literally jumped up with fright when his eyes fell on the face of the man used of such, so much so that he called Alexander by name out of habit, and once he realized his mistake, he became, even so, more scared that he couldn''t even fully correct himself, and simply kneeled to the ground as an apology.
''Which idiot called the pasha an intruder. If he''s an intruder, then what are we?'' The kneeling man cursed in his heart.
After all, among the thousands of upants in and around the house, the one person that could not be called an intruder would be Alexander.
The reason why the guard captain could recognize Alexander was obvious.
The guards posted inside the kitchen were certainly among Alexander''s most trusted ones, selected from his original first phnx and thus knew him by face.
Which was proving to be a both boon and bane for them now.
Boon because they knew the pasha by face meaning they were close to him.
Bane because if they didn''t know him, they could have just chalked this situation up as being just ignorant.
"What! You guys look like you have just seen a ghost." Alexander sneered at the rest of the standing guards who were equally shelled-shocked the appearance of their leader in such a ce.
Alexander didn''t sneer to mock the soldiers, but this was a way for him to vent, as he dreaded the ridicule that would inevitablye from the merciless Cambyses and to a lesser extent by Meantter.
"Alex, what are you doing here?" The tweet of a graceful bird graced Alexander''s ear which he recognized as Mean''s, who had immediately identified the familiar silhouette.
"Hello, Mean. Is everything okay?" Alexander shed a fake, professional smile as the girl quickly hopped down from her table and rapidly rushed towards him.
"Alex, has something happened?" She asked quite concerned.
After all, why else would the lord of the house be in the kitchen, a ce unfit for a noble to enter?
"No, no, everything fine," Alexander shed another smile again, finally managing to wrestle his right arm out of the cked grip, though the awkwardness in his voice was palpable.
''Ohh god, the faces Mean will make when I tell her the truth,'' Alexander racked his brain on how to exin this awkward situation without embarrassing himself.
Chapter 198 Making Carbonara (Mass Release)
The awkward situation today would go on to teach Alexander some realities about his house.
He would learn that without the proper escort or any identifying features, even he could not ess all parts of his own house and this would lead him to introduce some uniforms and color codes, particrly the use of the color purple to represent this family.
But those were his future ns as for now Alexander was trying to think of a way out of this situation.
And to that end, he tried to make small talk, "So, how are things at your end?"
"It was okay. Until now," Mean put her hands on hips as she raised an inquisitive eyebrow towards Alexander.
She wanted to know what he was doing here and why he was being called an intruder in his own house.
"Hehe, well it''s a long story," Alexander awkwardly chuckled.
"Julkain, you can let go of him. He''s Pasha Alexander," Menes let out a small sigh at the shell-shocked woman, who had gone pale as a ghost, aghast and appalled at her own offense.
''He¡he''s the pasha. I ..I..physically assaulted ¡ assau¡ohhhh,'' Julkain didn''t have the mental strength to finish her own sentence as she felt the world around her go all dark, the light in it all sucked away, and then she lost her visionpletely.
She had lost consciousness out of sheer fright.
''I''m not that scary am I?'' Alexander remarked as he heard the head hit the solid stone floor.
"All of you, what are you doing gawking? Return to work youzy assholes!" Mean swung her tiny fists and barked her order.
Though she very much wanted to mock Alexander, Mean used all her strength to hold it back so as to not humiliate Alexander publicly.
''Wait till mistress hears about this,'' Mean''s eyes twinkled as she stared down Alexander like a hawk eyes it''s prey, causing Alexander to easily understand the meaning.
''Oh, god!'' Alexander could onlympoon.
Mean''s scream seemed to un-pause time in the kitchen as its workers immediately lowered their heads and returned to their work, fearful of drawing their boss''s wrath.
Or at least pretended to as the same thoughts ran through all their minds, ''Why is the pasha here? Did we do something wrong? Are we gonna get punished? What did we do?''
None could concentrate on their work until such questions could be answered.
"Juminus, think nothing of it. Now, go back to your post." Alexander too gave hismand as he waved his hands as a ''you are excused gesture,''.
And added, "Oh, and take thisdy with you and sprinkle water on her face."
The guards didn''t need any more encouragement to escape their faux pa and after saluting and wishing Alexander well, the guards endeavored to make themselves incognito as soon as possible, eager to forget the time they raised their swords against their own lords.
''Thankfully Ale¡the pasha is magnanimous,'' The leader of the guards Juminus said in his heart, relieved that Alexander didn''t even say anything to him for blurting out his name, which was almost a capital offense against the nobility.
And with all this done, Mean gestured for Alexander to follow her to a quiet part of the kitchen.
"So, why are you here?'' Once there, the tiny girl imperiously asked him, with her nostrils ring and chins pointed up.
''How do I feel like she''s gazing down at me, when in reality she''s looking up?'' Alexander asked himself.
"I wanted to make a new dish," Came Alexander''s simple answer.
"New dish? What is it?" This was not the first time Alexander created a new cuisine and so Mean didn''t discredit the man.
Instead, she was actually quite intrigued.
Alexander''s dishes were either very useful like smoked sausages, or very tasty like the beetroot juices.
"It''s made with flour, eggs, bacon, cheese, and water," Alexander gave a very rough and a bit wrong description.
"Okay,e with me. I have all those," Mean signaled Alexander to follow her,
And so under the watchful eyes of the curious and frightened servants, who lowered their heads the moment Alexanderid eyes upon them, Alexander was escorted to a bit of clean, small table with two earthen stoves next to it.
"What do you need first?" Mean inquired.
And after hearing Alexander''s answer, presented him with some ground floor, eggs, olive oil, and a small wooden spoon.
"Watch. The dish I''m about to make is called carbonara," Chef Alexander instructed Mean, who was very curiously standing beside him.
"First, we will make something called pasta," Alexander started.
"We will take the flour, make a little hill out of it and then make a little well in the center." Because there were no measuring tools, Alexander decided to go by feel on the amount of flour.
"Then we add three eggs into the well and add a dash of olive oil, and then we beat it real well," Alexander then used the small wooden spoon, though he would have liked a fork, to thoroughly mix the yolk and whites together,
"And then we knead for a solid ten-fifteen minutes," Alexander said as he then proceeded to squeeze the two ingredients thoroughly, using his hands to evenly coat the flour with the eggs.
"And once the dough has be smooth and stic, we let it rest for about thirty minutes," FInished kneading he ced therge dough aside.
Usually, Alexander would stic wrap the dough to prevent any contact with air, but he had no such luck here.
Instead, he decided to wrap it in a clean piece of cloth which was better than nothing.
"While the dough rests, we can move to make the other stuff. Get me some ham and cheese, and lots of ground pepper please" Alexander asked and after some time, Mean personally procured them for him.
"The dish usually uses cured poked jowl (Guanciale) but the belly (Pancetta) can also be used. I like both," Alexander informed Mean as he cut both pieces of meat, in a fifty-fifty ratio into tiny, bite-sized chunks.
Cured meat was a bit hard to find in Alexandre''s time, but here, in this time period, such meat was a penny a dozen.
"Then we make the sauce." Alexander then grabbed some cheese and started grating it with a wooden grate.
Usually, pecorino or Parmigiano was used in carbonara, but Alexander used whatever cheese he had on hand.
"And once we have enough grated cheese, we add four egg yolks and three egg whites to the cheese. This will make our sauce richer," Alexander cracked and dumped the eggs into the cheese mound while taking the time to separate the white from one of the eggs.
"And then we mix the whole thing together, remembering to add the ck pepper. Lots of ck pepper, like a lot!" Alexander said it thrice to emphasize just how much pepper he was gonna add as he added a copious amount of the powder.
Alexander then put a pot of water on the stove, saying to Mean, " The water should be as salty as the sea," as he added almost a fistful of salt.
The dough by then had enough time to rest so it was just a matter of rolling it into thin sheets using the rolling pin and then using a knife to cut it into thin, vertical pieces, thus making the world''s first pasta.
"We will cook our pasta and the pork at the same time," Alexander said as he put the pasta into the boiling, rolling water while he ced the pork on another stove next to it, advising Mean, "We cook until the meat is fully cooked, letting the fat out, but not making it too crispy,"
Once the pork was cooked, it was taken off the heat and then the cooked pasta was added to it, as Alexander added, "You will want to work quickly now. Vigorously stir everything so the pasta soaks all the nice porky fat."
"And add a bit of pasta water if you think it''s too dry," Alexander said as he added half a cup of hot water.
"And then quickly add the sauce and stir even more quickly. It will be the residual heat of the pasta and the pork that will cook the egg and cheese slurry so it''s vital to work quickly," Alexander again emphasized on speed as he worked the wooden spoon, mixing everything together.
"And then, after tasting for salt, we add even more ck pepper, to top it all off," Alexander finished his dish by transferring it to arge bowl.
"Have a taste," Alexander gestured and handed Mean a spoon, while he himself spun the pasta noodles around his spoon and took arge helping.
It was good..ish.
Because he didn''t use the right cheese, it felt a bit weird, and the charcoal fire gave it a smoky, barbeque feeling that seemed to sh with the cheesy, eggy vor.
But it only didn''t taste good to Alexander because he had a different vor in mind.
Mean on the other hand had yet to make herment as she was too busy going to seconds and thirds.
She liked this new dish.
No, she loved it.
The rich saltiness of the pasta perfectly bnced the spiciness of the ck pepper, while the creamy richness of the egg and cheese and the chewy, meaty vor of the guanciale and pancetta made her tongue dance in joy.
''Alex does have some good points,'' Mean said to herself, as she wolfed down huge portions of the meal.
Chapter 199 Dinner With The Guests (Part-1)
Alexander watched quietly Mean wolf down arge helping of the pasta, only taking the time to briefly blow at the steaming hot dish so as not to scorch her mouth.
She had been working non-stop from midday and it was already time for supper, so few could me her for her ravenous appetite.
Finally, after taking close to tenrge spoonfuls of the carbonara, Mean finally let out a content moan, "Ahhh, Alex you sure know how to make some good dishes."
"I''m d it''s to your liking." Alexander sent a light smile and then gestured, "It''s already gettingte. So let''s make enough more everyone."
And so, an hourter, the duo along with some additional help managed to produce enough carbonara to feed his family and the guests.
Then under the expectant and curious eyes of the eight awaitingdies sitting around the table, Alexander and Mean entered the dining hall, carrying a veryrge bowl of streaming carbonara.
"Sorry for the wait," Alexander smiled apologetically at the dyed dinner service as he ced therge bowl at the center of the table, letting everyone indulge in the rich aroma.
"Hehe, it seems Pasha Alexander is a man of infinite talents," The most senior of the group, queen mother Seelima praised Alexander as her eyes fixed themselves on the heaping pile of pasta in front of her.
"That''s right. That''s right. The smell is heavenly. And it looks delicious too" Across the table, the white-haired subus Mikaya, as Alexander hadbeled her, nodded with a big smile, her eyes twinkling with anticipation at the beautiful food.
And it was indeed very beautiful to look at.
From above, the golden pasta looked like a rich and luscious dome, being gorgeously decorated usingrge amounts of pork pieces, seasoned heavily with pepper, and sprinkled with tiny, cut parsley.
The colors of gold, ck, charred red, and green all adorned its piquant crown, making it a delicious spectacle and the heavenly aroma that wafted out of it tingled everyone''s appetite.
"Well serve us then. We have all been waiting for a long time you know,," Cambyses excitedly smashed her fist on the table, holding forks in both her hands and salivating at the hot dish.
''This girl¡.'' Alexander couldn''t help but let out a little guffaw.
"Master, let me," Ophenia, the obedient girl she was quickly stood up to help with the service.
But Alexander simply smiled, "It''s okay, Taiyin. There''s a technique to serving this."
So, Ophenia quietly sat down, though she still had an ufortable look on her face, feeling distressed by the fact that her master was serving her food.
But such concerns didn''t enter Alexander''s mind as he took arge carving knife and by spinning it around, wrapped arge portion of the pasta around it, then quickly deposited it onto the tes below.
"Ahhhh, being served by the great pasha himself. Even my husband will not treat me so well," Mikaya giggled as Alexander filled her te with the dish.
"...." Alexander only smiled and quickly went back to serving the food.
To be honest, Alexander was a bit scared of this half-unhinged, absolute stunner of a woman.
He was not of course scared as in ''life is threatened'' scared.
But as in socially scared.
Mikaya was so different from all the women he had met and so free with her speech, that Alexander found her difficult to talk with.
And this was coupled with the fact as Pasha Farzah''s youngest daughter, the apple of his eyes, she was basically untouchable.
So, Alexander tended to avoid her at all times if possible.
"Thank you," Fortunately Mikaya''s two nieces were much more behaved and mannered than their aunt and sweetly thanked Alexander for the meal, though he could still feel the coldness from Azira and Azura''s voice.
Alexander noticed that when the twins sat on the nks of their aunt it produced an interesting picture for him.
Because while their aunt was white to the point of being pale, almost with a pinkishplexion that made her skin look like a beautiful diamond, the twins were almost obsidian ck, their smooth skin absorbing all light falling on them.
This was a racial contrast impossible to miss.
Even their grandfather was white as fallen snow and although he had never met their father, judging from Ptolomy''splexion, he was also pretty sure Amenheraft was not ck.
But this did not make Alexander question the twins'' lineage for a second.
Pasha Farzah wasn''t a fool to such an extent that he wouldunch a rebellion just for two unknown brats.
And besides, the twins still had the characteristic white, silvery waist-long hair that Pasha Farzah seemed to have.
''So their mother and grandmother must have been ck,'' Alexander came to the logical conclusion.
Alexander''s service did not stop while such thoughts ran through his mind, and soon everyone was served, including Mean.
Alexander then took arge helping of his own and then urged, "Please start. Please start."
He said this because everyone was waiting for Alexander to take the first bite, and so he instead gestured not to bother with such etiquettes.
And thus the meal began.
As the girls imitated Alexander spinning the silver fork and twisting the pasta around it, they let out a chorus of praise and pleased moans when the rich, creamy pasta finally entered their mouths.
"Mmmmm, it tastes better than it looks. So rich, creamy, and spicy. Mmmm," Mikaya was the most vocal about her praise, twirling her fork with her wless jade fingers and taking inrge mouthfuls of therge pasta as she shed a wide grin at Alexander, seductively using her small tongue to lick the tiny droplets of the sauce off her lips.
''*Sigh*, she''s truly beautiful,'' Alexander didn''t miss the signs as hemented in his heart about the silver-haired, wless beauty, sitting there gloriously wearing a heavy, golden dress with a set of silver jewelry on her.
In Alexander''s mind, of all the women he had met till now, he felt that the only girl that couldpare in beauty with her was Ophenia.
No one, not Azira, Azura, Nanazin, or any other, including Seelima who was the previous king''s favorite concubine, was as beautiful as the mature silver-haired bombshell.
''Ohh, if only she wasn''t¡.like that,'' Alexandermpooned as he could never forget what the real Mikaya looked like.
"Pasha Alexander might really be blessed. Because I doubt anyone but the gods can produce something this good," The queen mother Seelima was the second to express her pleasure, shooting Alexander a pleased smile as she took another mouthful of the creamy pasta.
For the inexperienced, this praise was just high praise.
But for shrewd people like Alexander, this was a direct probe into his deepest strategic n, religious autonomy.
''Bringing her here might have a double sword,'' Alexander remarked in his heart.
Outwardly Alexander let out arge smile, "Hahaha, I''m ttered that you like it, Your Highness. But it''s a simple dish of flour, egg, and a bit of pork and cheese. I doubt the gods will bother looking at it twice," He easily brushed off the im.
"Ohhh, Pasha Alexander is truly humble. So young and aplished, yet so modest. Truly a model for us nobles." Seelima sang his praises.
But Alexander had no idea if the queen mother was being genuine or sarcastic.
This was because she and Alexander did have a little tiff on the first day theynded on Zanzan after the news of the gue had reached her ear.
She was one of the staunchest supporters advocating to return to Adhan, and after unsessfully spending almost an hour with her trying to convince her, Alexander had famously said, "If you die, rest assured we will give you a proper burial. But we are not leaving."
This predictably produced a very displeased queen mother, who had huffed and puffed away from Alexander and in fact, today was the first time she was talking to Alexander since that incident.
"This food is really good. Even our chefs would struggle to make something half as good," The queen mother''s daughter Hellma too heaped on the praise.
Like her mother, she also had vehemently opposed staying in Zanzan.
And Alexander even heard that when he called their ship back ten dayster to port, she had thrown such a tantrum hearing it that the captain seriously considered stopping the ship fearing the royal might do something foolish like jumping overboard.
But ultimately it was Mikaya that had somehow managed to convince the extreme VIPs to dock at Zanzan.
''If she''s anything like her father, she no doubt will want something from me in return at some point,'' This was another reason Alexander wanted to avoid Mikaya.
"That''s right, that''s right," Mikaya also strongly nodded her head at Hellma''s praise.
And then mocked, "Pasha Alexander, if you ever need a job, I am always willing to hire you as my personal chef."
The cheerful atmosphere around the table instantly froze at this rude joke.
Chapter 200 Dinner With The Guests (Part-2)
Despite her cheerful and lively exterior, Mikaya loathed being here in Zanzan, being forced here by her lord father.
Even after she had thrown a tantrum about Zanzan being a dump, her usually indulgent father remained adamant, leaving her no choice but to board the ship.
And true to her words, she found Zanzan to be one huge dump if there was one.
In fact, it proved to be even more of a dump than she had originally thought.
She had nothing to do here, no friends, and no fellow nobles to talk and chat to and the new pasha and his family were all hicks who did nothing but work, even freely mixing themselves among the servants, which she found disgusting.
Even now, seeing how Gelene and Mean were sitting at the same table as her and eating the same food out of the same tes made her skin crawl.
But these were not her biggest grievances.
What she dearly missed were all her boy toys back in Matrak.
And she especially regretted the time being wasted right now.
Because, as her father was made prime minister, it meant that he could no longer be in Matrak to supervise her, meaning she could have been having the time of her life right now.
Winter was the time to party and her heart ached at the thought of missing out on all thevish feasts, huge huntingpetitions, extravagant costume parties, and gorgeous balls that were taking ce, all apanied by wild sex orgy parties for days.
Usually, her father would curb her prurience to some extent, but without him she could have gonepletely wild, even running through the streets naked if she wanted to.
Just thinking about how those strong, powerful men would melt under her coy look, how they would crawl and kneel underneath her please their Queen just at the flick of her finger, how they would lick and kiss her shameful holes to gain a tiny bit of vor from her, and how they would hump like monkeys against her, their strong rods filling both her holes, their long, hard spears hitting her deepest point each time they thrust inside her, making her roar and roll her tongue out in pleasure, the thick phalluses almost rubbing against each other as they moved in and out of her two holes with just a thin membrane separating them, theirrge sacks smashing against her wet cunt, their muscr thighs colliding fiercely with her fleshly ass, and atst the feeling of being topped up with the white, thicky goodness in both her holes, just thinking about all these made her almost cream herself.
But instead of taking part in such pleasures of the flesh, instead of repeatedly having her mind fucked out of her for days by men she wouldn''t remember the faces of, she was sent here of all ces, forced to nanny her two nieces.
Worse still, the men here seemed like wooden blocks, dickless and spineless wimps in her opinion as all the guards would run away or simply outright refuse her advances saying it was the Pasha''s directmand.
The pce guards here were after all Alexander''s most trusted ones and they did not want to ruin their bright future because of one ill-advised fling.
They were also fearful of Mikaya as Alexander, remembering Mikaya''s proclivities, had held a special meeting for his guards and male servants, informing them who Mikaya''s father was and telling them that he had a tendency to kill all servants that did such deeds with her precious daughter.
"You are not to respond to any advances that the nobledy makes towards you. Even if the act is consensual, remember that nobles are unreasonable and so if her father finds out about you, I cannot help you. This is your one andst warning," Alexander gave them an exaggerated warning,
And it worked as evidenced by Mikaya''s displeasure.
''Arghh..I need some strong, thick cocks to destroy my pussy and ass or I''m gonna lose it,'' Mikaya was almost going through a withdrawal syndrome as she felt as if her body was always kept on the edge but never able to have a release.
It was driving her crazy.
Then she swore, ''Hmmmp, just wait till I write next month''s letter,'' as she made up her mind to write her heart out in the letter, almost trying to make it look like that Zanzan was a dead city with shambling gue zombies roaming the streets.
After Miyaka''s rudement,paring Alexander to a simple cook, the warm atmosphere around the table felt like it had turned into a frozen snowscape.
Like Cambyses and Mean, who were in the middle of taking the stringy pasta into their mouth were made frozen as they looked quiteical with their mouth wide open and their eyes bulging.
Ophenia was much worse, as the girl went almost deathly pale, then almost instantlyter, color returned to her face in the form of hot red rage.
"Your lordships, Mikaya didn''t mean anything..." The Queen mother quickly spoke up in a bit of a panicked voice.
There was being spoiled and then there was being rude.
But she was quickly cut off by Alexander''s boisterousughter, "Haha, to be able to cook for the princess is the greatest honor of this small mercenary. Once this civil war is over, I will certainly try to take that post. I hope Your Grace''s offer will still stand till then."
Instead of being offended or defending himself, Alexander just shamelessly epted the offer.
And this made Mikaya stumble for the first time as her smile froze for a fraction of a second and her lips twitched in astonishment.
''So shameless. Lacking any honor of a noble,'' She swore in her heart as she shed an awkward smirk and then quickly went back to eating, bing quiet as a church mouse.
Alexander''s reply also helped to destroy the tense atmosphere as his own self-deprecatingment was followed by Cambyses''s, "Your Grace should be careful. Alex is a very disobedient ve. That''s why I let him go."
"That''s right, that''s right. Alex always acted like he was the master when he was under mistress. He''s incorrigible," Mean too happily dumped on Alexander.
Mikaya only silently her meal, the creamy dish feeling like rubber to her.
The sarcasm thrown at her felt like the biting winds of winter and she couldn''t remember thest time she was humiliated like this.
The only reason why she was still sitting there was because the Queen-mother had sent a deathly re to her, signaling her to stay put and she didn''t dare antagonize that dangerous woman.
After this ''light-hearted'' banter, Alexander decided to move the conversation elsewhere.
"How has it been settling in Zanzan Queen-mother? Any problem?" Alexander asked Seelima.
"Oh, everything''s been fine. Not to mention the hospitality, just the fact that the great pasha is cooking us such heavenly dishes is enough to overwhelm us. We are honored beyond words, beyond words," The Queen-mother exaggeratedly praised Alexander, only she privy to the knowledge of how much of it she actually meant.
"Where, where, this is too poor. Too poor for god-kins such as yourselves," Alexander let out some empty puffery.
He then turned to Hellma to ask the same question, and only received a wall of silence as the girl pretended to be engrossed in her meal.
"Pasha Alexander, I do apolozize. It''s just that everything is so new to her," The Queen mother quickly said to Alexander, shing an awkward smile.
"Haha, no, no, it''s okay. It''s my fault for serving dinner sote. Of course, she will be hungry. My apologies, my apologies," But Alexander made it look like he was at fault for not getting the answer to his question.
This humbleness both pleased and a little embarrassed Queen- mother Seelima.
They were supposed to be nobles who were supposed to be teaching Alexander the virtues of being a noble- valor, courage, and humility.
But up until now, it was him that was teaching them humility.
Alexander treated such cold shoulders as harmless breeze, nice to brush your skin against but nothing more.
The reception he was receiving was everything he had thought it would be and in fact, everything he was hoping it would be.
After all, even Alexander would feel a bit bad backstabbing a good friend or ally.
With these thoughts, he turned to thest of his guest, the twins.
"Are the twin Highnesses having any difficulty fitting in? Any problems with the weather? Or troubles sleeping?" Alexander asked in a concerned voice.
"No, we are fine," Azira curtly replied.
"Yes, we are fine," Azura emted her sister.
"That''s good, that''s good," Alexander nodded happily.
And then raised a topic he was angling towards, "Do the two Highnesses miss the temple? Do you want to return to the temple of Ramuh?"
The moment Alexander said that the twins froze in ce in shock, as momentster their eyes looked at Alexander with a burning hatred.
''How dare he says that to us?'' They screamed in their heart.
Chapter 201 Seelimas Past
The twins were first amazed and then appalled by Alexander''s gall.
First, using tricks and threats he stole from them.
Then he made them recount the entire thing in front of an entire crowd as they got booed.
And then atst, he got them exmunicated which for them felt worse than getting stabbed in the heart.
So, for Alexander to suggest such a thing made them incensed as Azira spat out, "And why are we in this ce in the first ce, you scoundrel?"
"That''s right, that''s right. It''s because of you bad man! You...cheat," Azura nodded to her sister''s words, equally furious that the culprit behind everything was teasing them about this.
Alexander was not all offended by this disy of hostility.
On the contrary,pared to the passive-aggressive disy by the others, he quite liked this frank disy very much.
He even found their anger a bit cute as among all the facades and fake smiles, it was always refreshing to see such honest feelings.
But someone who didn''t find it funny was the Queen-mother Seelima.
"Azira, Azura, manners!" The Queen mother sharply red at the twins, as she felt a migraineing from having to manage the three adult children and one actual child at the table who seemed to have forgotten all noble etiquette.
''Never be rude to even your most hated enemy,'' was the motto of all Adhanian nobility, meaning there was no room for ill manners and discourteousness in the noble circle.
A motto that all four of herpany had failed to live up to today.
''Thankfully Alexander is mild-tempered and easygoing. I certainly would not have stood for such coarseness,'' The Queen-mother thanked the stars that the pleasant meal atmosphere had not yet been destroyed.
And then swore, ''After dinner, I will have to teach these scoundrels how to talk and act in front of a noble, in front of a pasha,'' The Queen mother''s eyes subconsciously narrowing looking at the four miscreants.
But ording to Alexander, the Queen mother was overreacting, as he let out anotherrge grin and chuckled, "Your Highnesses are right. I did get you emunicated. And for that, I apologize."
After that Alexander slightly bowed his head causing the twins to be at a bit of a loss for words.
They had thought Alexander would snap at them for being rude or mock them for being weak and gullible.
And so was surprised and also a bit pleased at his apology.
This didn''t change anything but at least it was a kind of spiritualfort.
But this presented a new problem for them, as now, they didn''t know how to advance the conversion.
And neither did anyone else at the table who all looked at Alexander with different thoughts.
Up until now Alexander hadughed and brushed off all the insults thrown at him, bending his head and spine every time.
Some like Mikaya and Hellma sneered and disdained at Alexander, ''A mere ve dares call himself equal to us. Craven worm,'' They thought.
Azira and Azura didn''t know what to think as they found Alexander too mercurial to fit into any archetype.
People that knew him well like Gelene, Cambyses, and Mean had thoughts like, ''Alex is really a slimeball. He can spew as much nonsense as he likes without batting an eye.''
While Ophenia with her zealous devotion to Alexander saw Alexander as a victim of the old bullying the new and young.
''One day master will take ten times the revenge on all of you,'' Her eyes burned with a scary me.
And atst, there was the Queen-mother, who had a very different reaction to all others.
Her reaction was a little unusual feeling, as it was one of fear.
Yes, fear.
Because she saw in Alexander what she had in her- the ability to take humiliation without batting an eye.
The Queen-mother Seelima did not be Queen-mother Seelima out of nowhere.
No, the amount of work she had to put in was almost mind-boggling.
After all, just surviving twenty-one years under a mad king would have been a herculean task, not to even mention surviving under a mad king as his favorite ve, a status that could evaporate in less than the blink of an eye.
But Queen-mother Seelima had done exactly that, remaining under the king''s constant gaze from the age of twelve and yet not losing his favor for a single time.
She had in reality done more than that as she remained the king''s favorite toy even after she had given birth to a girl, a sub-species to many.
And she did not do this through pride and hubris.
No, she did it through perseverance and flexibility, seeing the challenges that came along her way not as an obstacle to defeat and ovee, but as a test for her to change and adapt.
And Alexander was exactly doing that here, avoiding direct conflict with his much stronger opponent, letting himself be humiliated and losing the battle, just so that he would still have the chance to win the war.
''Fearful,'' Queen-mother Seelima saw her in Alexander, just a more refined version, while her thoughts drifted to her own ordeal.
Serving the mad king was no easy feat.
And she had let herself be humiliated, bullied, and stepped on, just so that she could live to fight another day, to make others belittle her, to make others underestimate her, to make others lower their guard against her.
And to do that she regrly put herself in the most humiliating position possible.
Not that it was very hard doing so as the mad king regrly loved to put his favorite toy up for show and since the age of fourteen, Seelima was made to perform for the highest echelons of Adhania.
And to help her aplish that she didn''t have just a single bliss trainer, but multiple, who all pushed her to her absolute limits, making her perform depraved acts few would dare imagine existed.
She believed she had done everything one could do rted to sex on this god''s earth, and some that even god might not know.
She had been bound, gagged, and hung while the sadistic men and sometimes even women enjoyed her exotic body.
Her pink nipple had been licked, pinched, sucked, pulled, bitten, twisted, mped, and pierced.
Her clit had suffered the same too.
Her ass had been spanked till she couldn''t sit for the next week, pierced by multiple cocks, and stretched to the point she wondered if people would be able to see what she ate that day.
Her pussy had been pounded to oblivion by what she assumed was a horse dick that god had mistakenly attached to a human and the amount of cum her hole had taken in could fill a pond.
She had been many times made to perform with her other sisters and those would be a bit more bearable as they could bear some of the brunt and thrusts.
But the king usually enjoyed her solo performances and those would always take a toll on her body, especially if there were multiple men to please, which there usually were.
The men would roughly grope and molest her, tugging and pulling at her sensitive parts with wild abandon, sticking their phallus inside all her holes whenever they felt and treating her pained moans and gags as entertaining music.
Usually, by the end of those things, she would be barely able to stand.
And this would take a turn for the worse if the king''s wife, the queen, was there to take part in the festivities.
She hated Seelima with a passion and made sure to make life as difficult as possible for the young ve girl.
Not to even mention how she would egg the other girls in the harem to bully Seelima, the queen would make her kiss her puckered hole in the morning as a greeting, making Seelima give her a rim job every morning.
She also loved to spank Seelima using a solid wooden paddle that she carried, wanting to keep the girl''s butt nice and red and she would always try to urge the king to show off his new toy to his guests, in hopes that the girl would catch one their eyes and the king would gift this eye sore to them.
And whenever Seelima would perform shows such as the water show, she would lead her cronies of nobledies to specifically target Seelima, using their crops to always hit Seelima where it hurt her, but never broke her,
And whenever Seelima would lose control of her dder, there would always be ady with a chamber pot under her, making her rehydrate herself with her own fluids.
Sometimes even the guests would fill her three holes with this stuff, or just shower her in general, including the king and queen, for which Seelima earned the nickname, ''King''s flesh toilet.''
But the Queen mother survived through all this, burying her ambition deep inside as she toiled away, slowly removing the earth under her detested foes.
Until the day, she managed to kill the two people she hated the most, the king and the queen.
Chapter 202 Dinner With The Royals (Part -3)
The queen-mother Seelima''s first big breakthrough came when she managed to make the king send one of the queen''s cronies in the harem to a sadistic noble using some false allegations and honeyed words.
And after her first triumph, soon more sess followed.
Later, another one of her bullies would mysteriously fall off a window.
Another would somehow earn the king''s ire and be torn by the dogs limb to limb.
In this way, she would use the fact that she had the king''s ears and even his eyes to exchange favors with the nobles, helping her eliminate her targets while she whispered little suggestions, telling an event a certain way, and even knowing about various secret treaties.
Hence, slowly and carefully she made the king''s harem her own kingdom, kicking out the queen and relegating her to a sideshow.
And after that came her revenge arc, where she made every single woman that harmed her taste their own medicine, the best example being the queen herself.
Just thinking about that, her masterpiece would make Seelima''s lips curl up in joy any time of the day.
She did this by first orchestrating the deaths of Amenheraft''s two brothers, framing them for sphemy through Pasha Farzah''s help and seeing the two brats who made her suffer so much burn at the stake, their own mournful howls made only the sweeter by their mother''s.
She would never forget the amount of happiness she felt the day the haughty queen came to her begging for her sons'' lives, and how Seelima had made the queen kiss her feet, suck her butthole, lick her pussy, drink her piss like the cruel woman would make her do.
And then, once done, Seelimanded a brutal kick on the kneeling, once majestic woman''s nose, her high heel digging into the beautiful face and destroying it.
"How dare you ask me of anything after everything you made me go through?" Seelima, that day, for the first time in her life had screamed out her true feelings.
Leaving the bloody queen clutching at her broken nose, Seelima had haughty walked away, and a fewter took part in the show she had dreamt of not for years but decades.
Seelima watched with relish as the fire peeled off the skin from the flesh of the two brothers, the fire burning a dazzling white as it came into contact with the fat under the skin, climbing up their writing body as the crispy, crackling sound and the pungent smell of flesh being cooked soothed her bruised soul.
''They deserve it. No, this is not enough, they should suffer more!'' Seelima swore in her heart.
And sometimeter the queen would die from cholera, which was Seelima''s idea of irony and a joke, a disease she would make the queen get by dipping her food with the loincloths of an infected man.
In this way, the ''King''s flesh toilet'' came to be known as ''The spider'', ever patient, ever careful, and ever weaving her webs of plot and intrigue.
And seeing Alexander''s malleable spine, this spider was feeling cautious and a bit rmed, seeing a lot of herself in the young boy, her ''spider senses'' honed over twenty-one years of facing constant danger telling her not to antagonize the man or if it must be done, to use everything and even some more to try and destroy him.
And among the dread and rm, there was intrigue and curiosity, the woman wanting to know why her senses were giving her such signals against a young boy.
Alexander was not aware of the Queen-mother''s state of mind, and frankly, he was not interested.
His current interesty in convincing the twins to join the temple so that he could carry out his ndestine operation.
So after the twins stopped looking at him awkwardly and slowly went back to eating, Alexander again asked them, "Your Highnesses, you still haven''t answered me. Do you wish to join the temple of Ramuh?"
"Because I can help if you do!" Alexander sent a light smile that made him look like the devil tempting them in Azira and Azura''s eyes.
But what made them even more fearful was that they felt like they couldn''t refuse.
The twins had been bought up in a religious, faith-centric household and suddenly barring them from practicing it felt like a part of their soul had been torn away.
The twins cleverly hid it, mostly because they didn''t want to give Alexander the satisfaction of gloating in their misery, but inside they were very bruised.
So, when Alexander gave them the option to return to the temple, even if it was a trick, they were tempted to try.
"Wha..what are you talking about? Don''t..don''t you know¡know what you did to us?" Azira stammered her rejection, while her eyes darted everywhere.
Her reluctance to say those words and the desire to actually say yes was something clear to even a child.
''Haha, these two are cute,'' Alexanderughed in his heart.
And so he dangled the fruit even lower, "Your Highnesses, your exmunication was done by His Majesty Ptolomy. But many people also follow your father Amenheraft''s doctrine. And if you follow that then you will no longer be rejected by the church!"
Alexander''s statement bought astonishment and shock to everyone in the room.
''Is he trying to convince Azira and Azura to betray him? Why? What''s he nning?'' Mikaya had finally decided to return her mind to the conversation at the table.
"That¡your lordship¡isn''t¡." The Queen mother too was confused.
''Wasn''t the n to try and diminish Amneheraft''s faith and rece it with Prolomy''s ''two gods'' faith? Why''s he proposing this?'' Seelima asked herself.
After Ptolomy, spurred by Alexander announced the new faith, naturally many priests and clergy left and set up their own temples to practice their old one god Ramuh religion.
And under the terms of the new treaty, Ptolomy was helpless to stop this, even more when most of the popce showed little interest in associating their god Ramuh with a woman.
So the king and his two advisors came to the joint decision to try and suppress the old Amenheratf''s religion and promote Ptolomy''s.
But what Alexander was proposing ran antithesis to this as employing the famous twin saintesses would cause a flood of new converts or make believers even more staunch in their belief.
Alexander didn''t miss the inquisitive look, "I can understand your confusion Queen mother. But I believe I owe the twin princess at least this much as an apology."
And then he turned to the dithering two women and informed, "Don''t let that exmunication or switching faith concern you, Your Highness. You will all be protected by the first point in the treaty which guarantees the safety of all members belonging to either party."
"N..No. We have been thrown out of the church and we will abide by it," Azira somehow managed to clench out the words through her teeth, her eyes almost tearing up as she again rejected the golden proposal.
And her sister joined her too with a nod.
But Alexander was not about to take a no for an answer.
He couldn''t.
So he pushed again, "Your Highnesses, I believe you should reconsider thinking about the general popce."
Seeing this new statement draw the twin''s attention, Alexander further detailed, "I believe it is the duty of any saintess to guide the people to the right path. So, I would advise you to put your personal feelings aside and do it for the people."
"That¡that¡" Azira faltered to give a strong rejection.
And Alexander immediately capitalized on it as he snatched the words from the girl''s mouth, "Yout Highness, in life, we have too many times do things we don''t want to. So, I will talk to the priests in the temple tomorrow. And the two royal highness can join the temple the day after."
"That¡" Azira shot a sneaky nce at her sister.
"Good¡we will do it. For the people," Azura nodded slowly, though the happiness that spilled out of her mouth was unmistakable, evidenced by her curved lips and how quickly she devoured her carbonara.
"Um, I will write to His Majesty to exin the situation. I''m sure he will understand." Alexander smiled a reply, though he didn''t miss the weird looks being sent his way.
He was too forceful with the twins and after tomorrow, the smart women in the room would easily connect the dots.
''Ehh, whatever. They are on my side anyway,'' Alexander shrugged.
By this point, dinner was almost finished for everyone else and so Alexander decided to concentrate on his meal, and sometimeter, their tes were empty.
"Pasha Alexander''s cooking was truly heavenly," Queen mother Seelima again praised.
"Haha, I''m d my humble skills could please such refined tongues," Alexander lightly bowed and received the Queen mother light smile.
"Well, it''s gettingte. So let us adjourn today" Alexander then announced the conclusion of the eventful and almost fiery supper.
Chapter 203 Home Security (Mass Release)
After the Queen mother andpany bid their goodbyes, Alexander addressed his own people, "Mean, Cam, Gelene, pleasee to my study," He asked.
This sudden request made up of the unusualbination drew a bit astonished looks from all of them, but they nodded in assent nevertheless.
"Master, I have something to say as well. May I join too?" Ophenia asked
"Sure," Alexander easily consented.
Though he did wonder, ''What could she want?''
As the five people made their way to the study, Mean couldn''t help but let Cambyses fill in on
how Alexander had made a fool of himself in the kitchen.
And it was every bit mortifying as he thought it would be.
"You should''ve been there mistress. There Alex was, grabbed and almost pinned by a mama, and then Juminus went, ''You¡who are yo¡yach¡Alexander. I mean.mander! I mean¡plop''..." Mean very animatedly used faces and bodynguage to reenact the whole ''y'' eliciting guffaws and giggles from the trio.
Even Ophenia bit her lower lips hard so as to not appearughing at her master.
"Haha, Alex, when did you be so weak? Pinned down by a girl, hahaha," Cambyses held back no punches as she mocked Alexander, making Alexander swear in his heart, ''Just wait! I will show you who is weak.''
The five reached their destination amidst all theughing at Alex and were led inside the study, which due to the floor heating was nice and cozy, making all five of them stretch their bodies infort.
The servants had already finished renovating the portico, and many noticed the statue that could have been usually seen through the window was nowhere to be found.
"Please sit everyone," Alexander gestured to thefortable leather couch as he bought a pitcher of wine and some sses with a few tangerines.
"Master, let me," Ophenia quickly then poured the drinks for everyone while the other trio sat like princesses.
''These girls really love making her work,'' Alexander half-joked in his heart.
And then moved to the real topic,
"Now, why I brought you here," Alexander began whichmanded the other''s attention.
"Today''s ¡fiasco at the kitchen has made me realize that even I cannot ess my own house without an escort. And so I intend to assign uniforms to the guards and servants. What do you say?"
Alexander looked around for their opinion.
"I too have run into this problem a couple of times. So, I think it''s a good idea. No, a great idea," Cambyses nodded to disy her approval.
"Yes, we can have different uniforms for different kinds of servants. There have been many times where I mistook a maid for a cook or a cook for a sweeper."Gelene gave her own input.
"Yes! That''s tight. Different uniforms for servants. They can have specific colors too. Like ck for maids and white for cooks" Mean excitedly added.
''Wow. you girls sure are full of ideas today, aren''t you?'' Alexander half-jokinglymented in his heart, internally very pleased that the three basically came to the same conclusion as him on their own.
"Haha, well you have said basically everything I wanted to say." Alexander chuckled.
Then turned to Ophenia, "Does Tayin want to add anything?"
The tall, dyed brte only smiled and politely shook her head.
So, turning to Mean Alexander said, "Okay, then, I will give designs for the clothes to Mean. And then you can order them in the appropriate numbers."
"Okay." Mean agreed.
Alexander afterward raised another issue, "Now, there is another issue about the kitchen that caught my eye, that is it''s too big."
This analysis by Alexander caused Mean to furrow her brows a little as she asked Alexander, "Alex, why are you saying the kitchen is too big? You yourself saw that we needed the whole space to do our job!"
"Oh, you misunderstand." Alexander gestured using his hands, saying, "What I meant was that the kitchen was too big for us, as in for me and the guests. As demonstrated by¡me, such a big kitchen leaves holes for spies and saboteurs to exploit." Alexander warned.
And then proposed, "So, I want to build a secondary much smaller kitchen staffed by only a few people and led by Mean in the backyard."
This wasn''t anything major and the others happily epted.
"But who will then run the big kitchen?" Mean couldn''t oversee both, especially when they would be in different buildings.
"You will be in charge of all the servants. For specifically administering the big kitchen, you can choose among the loyal,petent servants under you," Alexander gave Mean the power while also stressing the point of loyalty.
Then he heavily emphasized another point, "Remember, you must personally oversee the food that is made for us and the guests. And I mean personally, as in seeing the food being prepared and cooked with your very own eyes."
Such repeated underscoring made the others think Alexander was being too cautious as they reasoned that although poisoning one''s hated rival was not unheard of, it was not as if nobles were falling like flies all around them.
In fact, such urrences were really once-in-a-blue moon happening.
But Alexander didn''t feel it that way.
After the dinner conversation, he was again made aware that the guests living with him were not harmless, innocent beings, but scheming spiders who had little love for him.
And he shared such worries with the girls, "All of you have seen what happened at the dinner table just now. So who knows if they will get some ideas out of spite or bitterness? Remember, Mikaya''s two maids have free ess to the kitchen!"
Cambyses too helped build support for Alexander, "Alex is right. It''s said Ptolomy is madly in love with the Queen-mother and Hellma. So, it''s possible he might do something stupid to get them back more quickly. And also don''t forget, the previous king was also poisoned by the Queen-mother."
Gelene too jumped in with her own warning, "I have seen the food preparations for us when we were in Adhan. Its security was exactly like how it is ours. If the Queen-mother can prate that, she can prate ours."
"Fine, fine. I get it. I will be extra careful." Mean promised in a bit irritated voice, annoyed that the others were questioning her capabilities and work integrity,
"Ahem, master," A mellifluous voice that had yet to speak rang out.
It was Ophenia.
"While I was in the temple, I noticed that the supplies meant for the higher-ups like the archpriest and the sacred priestess were always bought and kept separate from the rest of the kitchen supplies. Also, special attention was given to make sure that the two supplies were never interchanged,"
Ophenia made her suggestion using some of her own shared experience.
And continued.
"Furthermore, the cooks were every day stripped and their clothes and bodies were thoroughly checked for any contraband before they could enter or leave the kitchen."
And even then, the kitchen would at times get surprise visits from some special priests that would check the kitchen for any dumped or hidden goods that might have escaped inspection."
The food security in the temple was no joke.
This level of prudence shocked everybody hearing such, as Alexander asked the question everyone had in their minds, "What happened at the temple that they took such draconian measure?"
Ophenia obediently answered, "Historically, during its adolescent years, the temple of Shiva had suffered a series of high-profile poison assassinations from rival temples which almost destroyed it, This then led the archpriest at that time to develop such security methods. And a hundred yearster, they still strictly adhere to it."
"Hmm, such things shouldn''t be known to even insiders in the temple." Cambyses was basically asking how Ophenia came to know such a secret.
"As their intended sessor of the Sacred Priestess, I was taught to cook for the higher-ups and thus had ess to the kitchen." Ophenia gave her reason.
"Ohhh? Taiyin can cook? I must taste her homemade meals one day," Alexander joked with arge smile.
"It would be my greatest honor, master," Ophenia humbly lowered her head.
After a small chuckle, Alexander then made the final decision, "Good, we will do it as Taiyin suggested."
Later adding, " Taiyin, give Mean some tips on how the temple did it and help her emte it."
Done with that, Alexander was about to move on, but then a thought came back to him.
"Ohhh, Mean, I almost forgot. What''s the name of that mama? I want to reward her." Alexander asked.
"That¡I''ll ask," Mean said after a bit of pause.
It was after all impossible for the girl to know the name of all the hundreds of servants under her.
And this little exchange suddenly reminded Alexander of something vital,
"Names! The uniforms don''t have names! " Alexander eximed.
And then even more loudly said, "The uniforms must have names."
And the ID was born.
Chapter 204 Chief Of Staff (Mass Release)
Mean''s little ignorance reminded Alexander of the importance of identity and specifically identity cards.
And so he decided to make each of the ves and servants and even the pce guards wear name tags.
Thus he informed to Mean, "I have decided to add something to the uniforms."
And added, "Each of the uniforms must have an extra piece of cloth attached to them, On that cloth, sewn will be the wearer''s name and the name of his or her immediate superior."
And further added, "And from next Sunday, there must be a roll call for all the staff at the start of every shift in the morning and another one at the end of the shift in the evening. And anye or absent must show appropriate cause or receive the appropriate punishments like pay docks, reduced meals, more work hours or in the most severe case imprisonment and even death."
Alexander gave arge number of instructions that Mean had a hard time keeping up with.
So, Alexander asked for a piece of papyrus and wrote everything down marked using bullet points, while giving Mean another additional task, "I also want you to make a primary list ofmon mistakes a staff makes, and the kind of punishments each of the infractions should have. Submit it to me for review on the first of December."
"I...I will see it done," Mean said with a slow, heavy nod, the amount of work and responsibility on her slowly beginning to dawn.
"Haha, Mean thought she could just boss around the servants all day and have it easy. Hahaha," Cambyses who knew the petite girl very wellughed at her ''misfortune'', which made Mean let out a shy smile after having her secret exposed.
Alexander too let out a small smile as he turned to Mean and patted her shoulder. "We are entrusting the managing of this house to you. It will not be easy and you will have your job cut out for you. But I believe in you."
Alexander looked Mean straight in the eye as he said this, causing the petite girl to flush and turn her head away in shyness.
"A, look what you did Alex. You made little Mean blush, hehe," Cambyses teasing caused Mean to blush even more furiously.
"Congrattions, sister. We will be depending on you!" Ophenia was the first to apud Mean on her new responsibility.
Followed by Gelene, "Haha, with sister Mean''s diligence, we can all eat our meals in safety."
"Hehe, Mean don''t let some servant kill me under your watch," Cambyses giggled, she being the only one who would talk to Mean like that.
But one word said by Cambyses made Alexander remember something.
So clearing his throat with an, "Ahem", he drew attention toward himself, "Please note that the House of Alexander will not call the people it employs ves or servants. I detest those words."
Alexander had a stern tone to his voice and it didn''t take a genius why he felt that way.
"You want us to call them staff?" Cambyses cleverly made the connection.
"Yes." Alexander nodded, saying, "As part of my house, it is my wish that you will address all that work for us as staff. The ves will be called bound staff and the regr people just staff."
"Haha, master already treats us ves better than those princesses staying in the manor. Anyone able to work under him as the luck of ten lifetimes," Gelene ttered.
"Yes, only someone as kind as him is fit to call himself blessed by the gods. What Ptolomy or Amenheraft?" Alexander for the first time saw what a haughty and disdainful Ophenia looked like.
"We have no problem with it," Cambyses, as the leader gave her consent, representing all others.
"Good," Alexander nodded with a smile.
Then formally dered, "From today onward, Mean will have the title of ''Chief of Staff'', This post will earn her a yearly sry of ten thousand ropals (10,000) ropals."
"For this, her responsibilities will include managing the staff employed in the house and ensuring the hospitality of its inhabitants, from food, to clean clothes, to proper bedding and all other house-rted activities."
Given the average peasant made only two thousand ropals a year for his entire family, the sry offered by Alexander was veryrge, especially when considering Mean would have basically no living expenses, as not just her food and shelter, but even her clothing, medicine and transportation would be born by Alexander.
The ten thousand ropal was just an ''extra.''
Hearing therge mary reward, instead of jumping for joy, Mean stammered a little, "Th¡that. I can do all the work without the money."
Then as if she had finished convincing herself, Mean vigorously nodded her head as she repeated, "Yes, that''s right. Everything I could ever ask for is given to me even before I open my mouth. I know that money is tight for us now, so¡really I don''t need it."
Although Mean made some good arguments, Alexander would not rescind it.
"We don''t make anyone work without pay. That''s not how we do things," Alexander unequivocally stated.
Then added, "Don''t underestimate us too much. Although coin is somewhat short right now, but this small amount of money is not enough to make or break us," He brushed off Mean''s economic concerns.
Then reasoned, "And it''s always nice to have some spending money with oneself. You will have hundreds of staff under you. And there will be asions where you will want to reward some of them for a job well done. Then you might feel inconvenienced to ask me or Cambyses for money. So it''s better that you have some of it."
Alexander made some very solid points, but even after hearing them, Mean was reluctant, feeling the money was toorge for her to ept.
Until Cambyses stepped in.
"Mean, just ept it. Think of it as Alexander''s dowry to you," She joked causing the short girl to flush a bit.
''Mistress bullies me too,'' Mean shylyined in her heart, while also thinking, ''And it''s a girl who pays the dowry.''
But she did not have the guts to correct her mistress nor did she want to resist Cambyse''s suggestion.
So, with a lowered head, she cutely nodded, "Okay."
"*p*, *p*, *p*."
Seeing Mean assent to her new post and pay, first Ophenia and then all others again congratted Mean on her new post.
"Thank you, I will do my best." Receiving their adoration, Mean promised them.
While in her heart the tsundere considered, ''Hmm, Alex isn''t too bad a man. Maybe being with him wouldn''t be too bad.''
This was because what Alexander had given her was not such empty promises or honeyed words, but money and power.
The money was actually secondary.
Because the ten thousand ropals (10,000) thoughrge in number was not even worth mentioning in front of Mean''s real prize, actual tangible power.
Alexander had given her dominion over the house, letting her rule the thirty thousand (30,000) square feet, more than a thousand-room pce, with hundreds of men and women at her beck and call.
From today she would be their master, their judge, jury, and executioner, and the feeling of having such power at one''s fingertips, such control over another''s life and ability to employ such power till the day she died, made Mean''s heart throb to high heavens.
And this was not even her greatest gain.
Because by making her oversee his food security, more importantly, Alexander had disyed just how much he trusted Mean.
And by extension, by giving her such a critical job, he had made Mean someone he couldn''t piss off in fear of retaliation.
Such trust and reliance by the master of the house, no, the master of the city was something priceless.
Who needs coin if they were friends with the guys who literally has the power to mint coin?
After Alexander said finished his congrattions, he was about to move on, when Cambyses suddenly in a teasing tone reminded, "Alex, aren''t you forgetting something?"
''Forget? I don''t think so,'' Alexander said to himself.
"What?" He asked curiously.
"You once asked about that mama''s name, remember?" Cambyses showed off her good memory.
"Ohhh, right! I hadpletely forgotten about that!" Alexander eximed at his forgetfulness.
Then he quickly turned to Mean and said, "Remember to get me that woman''s name by tomorrow. She''s very diligent in her work and has sharp eyes."
"I will ask Junicus about her. He is bound to know her," Mean said with a nod.
"Umm," Alexander hummed a reply of approval.
And then said, "Also, make sure to employ her in the small kitchen once it''s built."
"Okay, I''ll employ her as a guard then. She''s got sharp eyes, and the courage she disyed when she was willing to confront an unknown intruder even bare-handed is very admirable." Mean took her own initiative.
"Um¡I will write a letter of excellence about her and you will read it aloud to all the servants. This will help motivate others to work harder." Alexander finished by saying this.
Chapter 205 Lingerie (Mass Release)
After Alexander was done dealing with the kitchen matters, he turned to Cambyses, "How''s the recruitment going? Is Bartholomew doing his job okay?"
Cambyses replied with a smile, "Yes. I asked him to make a list of the teams and their captains.
We also talked to Menes about it and he consented to the transfer."
But then she added with a touch of concern, "Though his grumpy face said that he will take it up with you tomorrow."
Alexander simply brushed off such concerns, "Menes isn''t hard to manage. The man has a good heart and he will understand."
Gelene and Mean didn''t understand what the couple were talking about and although curious, they knew it wasn''t their ce to ask.
After this short exchange, Alexander turned to Gelene, his main interest for the day.
The ck beauty had been rtively quiet up until now, mostly due to the stunning sess of Alexander that med her ambition and by extension dampened her desire to leave him for Menes.
But Alexander feared if he did not give her any tangible benefits soon, she will start having second thoughts, especially when she would see Alexander favoring the other girls and not her.
So, Alexander decided to give the tall girl something to keep herself busy with.
"Gelene, how goes your day?" Alexander asked with a smile.
"Oh, they would go much faster if the pasha would favor me more," Gelene sultrily said, sending a coy, wounded look at Alexander.
''Ungrateful bitch! Alex stuffs your three holes full every three days and it''s still not enough?'' Cambyses cursed at Gelene in her heart.
While she and Gelene would regrly share Alexander, having very intimate moments together and showing each other their most shameful sides, neither woman liked each.
No, they were just one level from disliking each other as at best they tolerated each other.
Gelene because she wanted to wrap Alexander between her fingers and Cambyses because she knew the kind of poisonous ck snake Gelene was.
But unlike his wife, Alexander seemed to agree with Gelene. "Haha, yes, yes, I have been favoring the other girls more than you. My apologies, my apologies." He bowed.
But this sentence of apparent humility didn''t please anyone, especially Gelene, who felt a shiver down her spine at Alexander lowering his head.
She had known Alexander long enough to know when this man would be real with his modesty and when he would be fake.
And as Gelene felt Cambyses''s narrowed, gleeful eyes taunting her, she knew she had said too much.
''Darn, seeing the other girls get so much made me too jealous.'' Gelene cursed at herself and quickly wanted to rectify her mistake.
"Master¡I..did.." She blurted in a half-panicked voice, but she was quickly cut off.
"So to make it up to you I have decided to make you run a business for me!" Alexander announced with a light smile.
"...." Gelene''s mouth went silent for a bit as she let her brain process the words.
''Wait, this isn''t like Alexander,'' She suspiciously muttered in her heart as she had assumed Alexander would start to taunt her.
Outwardly though, responding to Alexander''s words, she sat up straight, her eyes sharp and focused, and asked, "What does master want me to do?"
Alexander looked at Gelene with a light smile, thinking to himself, ''Only you can save yourself Gelene.''
Hearing Gelene was interested, he then got up to get some papyrus scrolls from his table drawer, which he gave to Gelene.
Alexander then asked, "How much do you know about designing clothes?"
This out-of-the-blue question confused Gelene but thinking Alexander was going to put her up to make a clothing shop she enthusiastically said, "I can make clothes. I can sew lots of clothes. No problem!"
But the next, this excitement turned to bafflement and a little bit of horror as Alexander simply shook his head, "No, no. Not making clothes. Designing clothes."
"Designing?" Gelene repeated the word, knowing the meaning but understanding little about designing.
"Umm, designing. You will design and make new clothes. And moreover designing a new kind of cloth." Alexander elucidated
He then gestured, "Open the scroll and look."
Hence, Gelene unveiled the scroll under the gaze of curious eyes and the unfamiliar pictures on them caused her eyebrows to frown a bit.
In the first scrolls, there was a picture of what looked like a bare-breasted woman with an arrow next to her pointing to two semicircr-shaped fabrics with some strings attached to them at the ends.
Then immediately below the two pictures was the woman wearing this fabric on her chest, with the description, ''Wearing a bra.''
Gelene then switched to the next scroll which had the picture of a woman''s crotch and next to it a triangr piece of cloth with the same kind of strings as before.
And then below it the woman wearing it with the description, ''Wearing a panty''.
After Gelene scanned and re-scanned the few pictures several times, and read the variousbels that named what was what, she intuitively understood the purpose of the clothes and tried to visualize how this new kind of cloth would work.
Then, feeling confident that she had understood the general purpose of the clothes, Gelene with a big grin, Gelene giggled, "Hehe, master is truly goddess Gaia''s blessed. That''s why he takes care of us women so well."
This was a double innuendo joke towards Alexander, both praising his new invention and joking that he had made such a personal piece of feminine clothing.
Alexander only smirked at Gelene and then asked, "So, have you understood what these are?"
"Yes, the picture and the description were quite clear," Gelene cleverly said with a nod.
Then asked, "Does master want me to sell these bras and panties?"
Gelene had a bit of surprise at her tone as selling underwear was notmon at this time
Nobles had the corset which they would specifically order, but normally women would wrap their chests with a piece of makeshift cloth when doing work to prevent the tits from bouncing around, and underneath they would just wear a kind of loincloth, used mostly as a crude sanitary napkin during their periods.
This absence of the two most erotic pieces of women clothes had bothered Alexander since he got together with Cambyses and he wanted to introduce them right away.
"Yes, particrly the bras." Alexander pointed.
Then he gave his reason, "The corset that''s in use nowadays, with all its wires, padding, and metal bracings is too expensive for the general popce. And it is far too constricting for everyday use in real life."
"And that''s where this cheap butfortable braes in. Unlike the breast wrapping that obstructs blood flow to the mammary nds and constricts its growth, this new design snuggly wraps around the breast and helps with blood cirction, letting the breasts naturally grow bigger."
"In addition, wearing this will alleviate neck pains, reduce skin irritation and itching and also prevent sagging of the breasts." Alexander gave a perfect salesman''s pitch.
"Wow, Alex, you sure you weren''t a woman in your previous life?" Cambyses joked hearing Alexander, though the admiration in her eyes was unmistakable.
"Heh, now that I think about it I remember once seeing Alex crossdressing while wearing a corset," Mean too joined her mistress with a sneer as she said thepletely made-up story.
She was especially salty about this ''bra'' because Alexander''s new invention was of no use to her.
No, she felt like it was an insult to her, who, despite being older than Cambyses had a washboard for a chest, with just two small, perky nipples attached to her chest.
"Hahaha," Mean''s fabricated story had the intended effect as it produced a string ofughter even from Ophenia.
Hearing the girlsugh at his expense, Alexander yfully swore in his heart. ''This pipsqueak and her mistress! Just because they got no frontal asset¡hmmmp.''
After being done with theughs, Gelene, atst, returned to the topic at hand, "How does master want me to sell these?"
And Alexander gave the answer, "I will give you fifty ve seamstresses. First, you are to have them make some practice ones and test them within the pce. You can give them as free samples to the various staff, and ask them about the size,fort, and general feeling of the underwear."
"Then, like clothes you will have toe up with the different sizes of the bra. Since breast sizes differ quite a bit, the choice of cup volume must be varied enough so people can easily buy one without needing to order one specifically for them." Alexander pointed out.
"And after all that''s been done, you will have to contact cloth suppliers, make enough stock of the thing,unch an advertising campaign to let people know what the brand new thing you are selling, and after all that can you open shop." Alexander gave a general road map to Gelene''s shop.
Chapter 206 Educating The Girls (Mass Release)
Alexander''s ''simple'' n for the business had Gelene tongue-tied.
"Alex, slow down. Not everyone is quick as you," Seeing Gelene in a difficult position, Cambyses decided to help her out as a gesture of goodwill.
"Ahh, right." Alexander let out a light smile of realization.
Then handed Gelene a piece of papyrus and told, "Write. I will dictate the points."
And after Gelene finished, Alexander gave her further tips, "My suggestion is you make the bra sizes differ by an inch, i.e- therger cup of the bra should be one inch deeper than the previous one."
"And let me now show you how to calcte the breast size," Saying this Alexander got up and from the back of his table bought a wooden ruler and some strings.
Then he signaled to Ophenia, "Tayin, stand before me and raise your arms."
Once Ophenia got in position, Alexander got behind her with the string and looked at Gelene, "First you measure what is called the under-bust size. The name gives you the clue about what it is. To do this, you take your string and wrap it around the bust just below the breast." Alexander showed as he told.
"And then you take the measured string,y it next to a ruler, and note the corresponding number. For example, Tayin''s underbust is thirty-four inches." Alexander said the measured number.
"Afterward, you measure the breast size." Alexander then wrapped the string lightly around Opehnia''s perky breasts and using the previous method got thirty-eight.
"And then you subtract the breast size from the underbust size, or the bigger from the smaller number and you get the bra size." Alexander finished his demonstrations.
"Alex, you sure weren''t a girl in your previous life?" Cambyses asked the question that had crept into many''s minds.
''Well, I did once have people to buy lingerie for if that''s what you''re asking?'' Alexander muttered in his heart but answered Cambyses with only a smile.
Then quickly he turned to Gelene, "Can you do substractions?"
"...." Gelene awkwardly avoided eye contact at this question.
This was not anything surprising as Gelene had only learned to read and write from Alexander, but never bothered to learn maths, unlike Cambyses and Mean.
Her brain could subconsciously do it when money was involved but whenever it was something else and it exceeded her twenty fingers, like many, Gelene struggled.
"Heh, Alex, you sure you want ''her'' to run a business," Cambyses could not resist the taunt.
"Don''t think yourself too highly Cam, you aren''t much better either," Alexander shot Cambyses a prating look, causing the girl to shrink a bit.
''Hey, don''t me me for your bad choices,'' Cambyses sulked.
Alexander then turned to look at all four of them, "Forgetting Gelene''s mathematical deficiencies, one thing that has irked me is that all of you use Thesian even when you talk to people who don''t understand it as you cannot speak or understand Azhak."
"This is not eptable. Zanzan will be our home till we die and all of you need to be able tomunicate with the people living in them."
Alexander then turned to Ophenia, "Tayin, as the sacred priestess, how will you preach if the people don''t even understand you? Use a trantor?"
"You think the people will trust you preaching a foreign religion in a foreignnguage?" Alexander pointedly asked causing the beautiful girl to lower her head in shame.
Done chiding Ophenia, Alexander turned to his next prey, Mean.
"And you Mean." Alexander red at the now-turned-timid girl.
"Other than the odd twenty handfuls who used to work for our mercenary group, the hundreds of staff under you are all Adhanias. Do they speak Thesian or Azhak?" Alexander sneered.
"And that''s not to mention the two thousand ves we have in the servants'' quarters." He added.
"When I went to see you in the kitchen, half the time you used your bodynguage, and half the time you had someone else trante the order. Is this how you run the house? By dancing and using a trantor like a clutch?" Alexander scolded, causing the small girl''s face to shrink like a dried grape.
Alexander''s harsh tone then changed to a soft, understanding one, "Mean, you have been chosen by me as the representative of this house. And in the future, there will be many guests such as nobles that stay here. As their host will you speak to them in Thesian? Or do you expect them to speak Thesian?"
"....." By this point, Mean had done quite as a church mouse.
"Alex, you are being too hard on her. It''s been just two months since we came here. She hasn''t learned yet but will learn." Cambyses jumped in like a mother hen seeing Alexander bully her favorite girl.
"....." Alexander just pursed his lips as he consented to Cambyses''s sound excuse.
Thus, taking a deep sigh, he said, "Okay, you don''t know but must now. Tayin needs it to preach properly, Mean tomand the staff under her, Cam to talk to the general popce, and Gelene to talk to the customer."
Alexander then gave them his study routine, "Thus, from next week, you will practice Azhak every two hours, five days a week. I will get an instructor and join you too. My mastery of it is also very weak.
Alexander''s rigid routine caused some girls to sigh inwardly.
They felt that thenguage difference was really not that big of an issue and didn''t want to learn this newnguage.
And even in Alexander''s previous life, there were many historical precedents, one of the most prominent being King George I of Ennd, who couldn''t speak English and so he and his Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole,municated in very bad Latin.
But Alexander would not look at George I as his role model and follow his route, and noticing the girl''s demeanor, he said an Arab proverb, "Learn anguage and you''ll avoid a war."
The smart girls of course understood its meaning, i.e- them being a foreign, mostly unweed force, people would look for any kind of excuse to attack them.
And thus it would be wise to try and mix with them.
So, they reluctantly but understandingly nodded.
But Alexander was not yet done setting the hours for the girls.
"After the two hours, the next hour, I will teach all of maths and other stuff. All of you arecking a lot of basic knowledge and must gain so to run the fiefdom efficiently when I''m away," Alexander nned to teach them basic physics, chemistry, and biology, in addition to some more advanced business and humanities things like economics, sociology, and ounting, many of those that Alexander took in university as supplementary courses.
"Haaah, Alex, you sure have energy." Cambysesmpooned with arge sigh at the three hours of additional work.
"You should have been born a donkey. Cause you can work like one!" Mean was even more acidic in her remark, still sulking that Alexander had scolded her.
"*Smirk*" Alexander only smirked at the slight, saying, "A dream does not be reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work."
"We will try our utmost master," Ophenia solemnly bowed and others too expressed simr thoughts.
"Hmm," Alexander hummed in approval.
Then as he tried to think back on what he was discussing, he lost track and asked, "So where were we?"
"Umm, subtractions," Gelene said pointing to the papyrus that had Ophenia''s measurements.
"Ohh yeah. Bras and panties! I was giving you tips about the new underwear," It all came back to Alexander.
Then turning to Gelene, he said, "Pay more attention to the bra. The panties are much simpler. You should have no problems with them."
"Master, I understand the bra, but the panties seem just like a loincloth. Why make them?" Gelene pointed out.
And her point was very valid as the panties were more of a fashion choice rather than a necessary one.
So why did Alexander invent them?
"It''s because panties are erotic." Alexander passionately dered.
"Huh?" Gelene audibly gasped in confusion at Alexander''s answer, thinking it was a joke.
But it wasn''t as Alexander went on to exin, "The loincloths are too simple and unattractive. The square cloth wraps the entire lower region and doesn''t tantalize the male sense."
Then clenching his fist, he announced to the world, "But the panty! The panty''s shape is divine."
"It covers just the secret ce, but not the creamy thighs that nestle it. Its thin seam wraps around the sexy, wide hips of the woman drawing attention to them but does not unt them shamelessly."
"Andst of all, at the back, the panties hide the most shameful parts of the butt, the crack, but not the fleshy cheeks, letting the man marvel at the beautiful globules from behind and tingling this desire to cop a feel, squeeze them and conquer them." Alexander had an almost crazy, zealous look as he talked about the panty.
And letting his passion get to him, he even shouted, "Viva panties!"
Chapter 207 Gelenes Challenges (Mass Release)
Alexander was an ass man, though he loved boobs as much as the next man, finding the mammary globules rising out of the chest and their way of bouncing and jiggling very sexy.
But he had always felt the way a woman would swing her butt was much more hypnotic and much more erotic than boobs.
And while he very much enjoyed kneading and sucking breasts of all shapes and sizes, for him, the butt offered all those and something more, a hole to mate with its owner.
And it would be a rough, raw, brutal, animalistically mating that was kinky and somewhat immoral, something that seemed absent with breasts ording to Alexander.
That too was one of the many reasons for Alexander to fall in love with Cambyses, who had a pear-shaped body which he found very attractive.
And thus, as a connoisseur of beautiful, sexy lingerie, Alexander wanted to see Cambyses and by extension, all of his harem girls in panties of all colors and shapes, decorating their creamy butts and also their breasts with such sexy fabric.
Alexander''s passionate and articte lecture on the virtue of a simple triangr loincloth surprised the girls for a moment, especially his ''Viva panties'' deration.
"Phhfff, hahaha, oh Alex..hahaha," Cambyses was the first to break, as she couldn''t hold back herughter at Alexander''s fetish.
"So is that what you are into, hahaha?" She then asked while rubbing tears from the corner of her eyes.
"Hehe, master is a man of great taste," Gelene too tittered.
"Now that I think about it Master took my rear before my front, hehehe," Ophenia too giggle with a sly smile.
The only one left was Mean, who due to her petite size had little assets and just pouted and sulked.
"Hmmph, we will see who''sughing when you actually put on the clothes," Alexander swore to the girls with a ''wait and see'' look which caused even more strings ofughter.
After the girls had finally finished finding Alexander''s particr preferences risible, and the room calmed down, Alexander again addressed Gelene, "Who do you think we should target these clothes towards?"
"Hmmm," Hearing the question, Gelene put her hand on her chin and ruminated with a small frown.
Because, unlike modern times, where clothes were quite cheap, clothes of this time were expensive.
For context, in the US, one could buy a decent T-shirt for fifteen (15) dors, something that would cost just half an hour of someone''s minimum wage.
But here, a simple tunic would cost hundred and twenty to hundred and thirty ropals!
Almost an entire month''s pay!
Even just the raw fabric to make the tunic, without any stitches or tailoring would cost half as much.
When Alexander had first seen the prices he had a minor heart attack and it was only then he could really rte to his knowledge that people long ago would have one or two good clothes, and they would repeatedly mend clothes rather than buy new ones.
And this was what Gelene considering, which people would buy this fancy ''dress''.
Farmers? Peasants? Dayborers?
''No, too poor,'' She estimated that just buying and tailoring costs of the two pieces would be sixty to seventy ropals.
And then there was the dyeing, transportation,bor, and rent.
Plus taxes.
"Ny to one hundred," Gelene subconsciously muttered loud the price of the twin clothes.
Then turning to Alexander, Gelene replied, "We will target primarily nobles and high-level government employees. Also, rich merchants and affluent townsfolk like well-to-do artisans."
"Umm," Alexander nodded, then asked, "And?"
"And?..." Gelene looked in askance, trying to think which category she had missed.
"Priestesses and whores!" The answer came from an unlikely but also reasonable source, Ophenia, the girl having spent her time with many girls to were both and herself too almost bing one.
Alexander turned to give Ophenia a slight smile, and said with a nod, "Yes, Tayin is correct. The temple and by extension the priestess'' have a lot of money and will certainly want these fashion essories. And the brothels are self-exnatory."
''Fuck¡I can''t believe I forgot about the brothels,'' Gelene cursed herself.
Her innate desire to forget her past had subconsciously made her forget about the red-light district''s existence.
Alexander started again, addressing Gelene, "Since we will be targeting the upper echelons of Adhania, the rich and the uber-rich, the product must be equally worthy."
"The quality of the clothes is a must, but also have to be of beautiful design. The bras should be very sexy to look at, drawing one''s eyes to the breasts and the panties should hug the hips, attenuating the curves. And all this must happen withoutpromising onfort." Alexander gave Gelene a list of criteria that the underwear must qualify for.
"And that''s why I asked you at the very beginning if you knew how to design clothes. Because you will need to design new and sexy lingerie regrly to attract these customers repeatedly." Alexander finished.
''*Sigh*, so detailed and far-sighted,'''' The four girls began to understand that Alexander''s sess was no fluke.
Behind every actionid many hours of rumination.
"I will try my utmost. Please guide me, master," Gelene had a steely, determined look as she said such.
"Haha, sure," Alexander smiled, adding, "I will give you twenty thousand ros and two months to test, advertise and then make the final product. So your shop opening deadline is the day after New Year''s day."
"Thank you, master," Gelene stood up and gave a full bow just like amoner would give to a noble, truly grateful for giving her the opportunity.
Done with the product, Gesturing to get up, Alexander then asked the ebony beauty, "So, how much of the business do you want?"
''How much?'' Gelene wondered.
Then she spoke with a smile, "I''m happy with whatever master gives me."
"Gelene, don''t give me that diplomatic crap. Speak a number that you want!" Alexander firmly instructed.
"That¡" Gelene''s eyes darted around as she hesitated to say the number in her mind.
''Should I ask for so much? What if he takes everything back?'' Gelene feared.
But then inwardly she convinced herself, "No, no, this is a negotiation. It is normal to ask for more and then reach an appropriate amount by bargaining.''
Greed having won the struggle, Gelene, with anticipation and a trace of fear in her voice, said shakily, "That¡.then¡ five percent?"
The statement sounded more like a question than a demand.
''You money-grabbing ungrateful whore'' Cambyses''s heart burned with rage at the huge demand, Gelene''s image in her head changing from a human to a greedy shark.
ording to her reasoning, it was Alexander who was doing everything, giving her a brand new, very lucrative invention, the start-up capital, thend, the shop, and thebor.
What was Gelene giving unique to Alexander?
Nothing.
She was just an ordinary woman that Alexander happened to find near hand.
''One percentage. No, half a percent. Alex should give her half a percent,'' Cambyses clenched her fist as she cheered for Alexander in her heart.
"Five percent?" Alexander repeated, raising an eyebrow and looking at Gelene in askance.
"..." Gelene fought her instinct to look away from Alexander''s prative gaze and instead gazed directly into his azure eyes, and answered Alexander with a nod.
The stand-offsted for what seemed like an eternity to Gelene, though it was only for a few seconds.
And Alexander was the first to break it off and then smiled at Gelene, "Five percent is too small. I will give you fifty percent!"
"What!" This was shouted by Cambyses, who was outraged at Alexander''s offer.
But before she could get off on a tirade, Alexander sent her a scary re that made the girl shut up and obediently sit.
''It is my decision and you are not to interfere,'' The zing eyes told Cambyses.
"That¡master, fifty is too much. I¡I''m happy with five," Gelene stammered, not knowing what Alexander''s game was.
He was being uncharacteristically generous to her.
"You will get fifty percent of the profits because I said so." Alexander firmly asserted.
And added, "What''s more if you make me a million ros in profit I will set you free. If you make me a further ten million ros I will make you a shordar (Baroness). And if you make me a further hundred million, I will make you a talukder (viscount) and sell the business to you."
Alexander''s terms were so attractive that they left not just Gelene but the other three as well with gaping mouths.
Alexander let the girls slowly work the terms he offered, who found the eleven million ropal price for freedom and nobility a steal.
Especially Gelene, who had more business experience than the others and knew the kind of profit boundaries she could run serving nobles.
A hundred percent to even a thousand percent was not impossible, and so she conservatively estimated that in twenty years she could go from a ve to being part of Adhania''s top one percent.
A preposterous thought even a few minutes ago.
Chapter 208 Gelenes Choice
Gelene was feeling very overwhelmed by Alexander''s offer, so much so that she seemed to have lost her voice even when she wanted to express her gratitude towards Alexander, just looking at Alexander with zed, grateful eyes.
This was what Gelene had always wanted, no her dreams were smaller than that, only wanting totch herself onto a powerful enough man who would not treat her like dirt and let her live a dignified life.
A life where she would not have to wake up at the call of the rooster, work her back off the entire day- tending to the house, cooking and cleaning, taking care of the brats around her, helping out in the fields, and a million other chores, all for her to drag her exhausted body back to bed at the end of it all.
And what would be her reward for all her work?
To be able to barely meet her needs at the end of the day and to be hounded by cold, hunger, and disease all her life, her beauty destroyed, her spine bent and her hands and feet callused.
And this fate would be if she was lucky and her husband a good man!
If he was an alcoholic or a sadistic¡her life would be hell.
This was something Gelene would never willingly ept and vowed to change it.
And this was why she was so scheming and maniptive.
Because if her default fate was to suffer, she would do anything to change that, no matter what.
And if that meant stepping over other men and women to achieve that, if it meant lying, cheating, and backstabbing them, then so be it, better them than her.
This was also why she and Cambyses were like fire and water.
Because while Cambyses would make any kind of sacrifice for Alexander, Gelene would only sneer at the thought.
She would even mock Cambyses in her heart, ''Heh, do you think Alexander would make the same kind of sacrifices you are ready to for him? No!'' feeling Alexander was just like her, a super ambitious individual willing to get his hands dirty to make his life better.
And whenever Cambyses would make an innuendo that she was a lying, maniptive, poisonous snake, Gelene would fight the urge to retort, ''You just described your husband too you know''.
She was right in saying such of course, as Alexander was far bigger of air than her, histest lie letting him steal ten billion ropals.
He was a master maniptor as evidenced by him turning Ptolomy, the king into a puppet.
And his poisonous hand was one of the deadliest in the world, as Aristotle, Damious, and Pallidus could testify, along with all the innocent artisans and noble women and children.
What was even more hypocritical in Gelene''s eyes was that it was Cambyses who had poisoned her own godfather to death, which was an open secret among the higher echelons of Alexander''smand, yet she had the gall to call Gelene scheming and ungrateful.
''You are the snake that bit the hand that fed you, all for your lover. So, where do you get off with that holier than thou attitude,'' Gelene would retort to Cambyses''s hostility in her heart, feeling she was only doing the same things Cambyses and Alexander were doing.
Hence she felt nothing but disdain for the mistress of the house,beling her as a hypocrite just as Cambysesbeled her a snake.
But now all these could change.
All these could change if she would just ept Alexander''s offer, which would let her very soon be no longer a ve but a freedwoman.
And sometimeter she could even be a noblewoman with her ownnd!
This was an attraction irresistible to her.
In fact, it would be difficult for any modern person to rte to an ancient person on just how strong the attraction for the offer was.
Modern people might like real estate, but because they have alternative options to invest in, they were not obsessed with it.
This was not the case for ancient people, for whom acquiringnd was like acquiring the money printer, a source of infinite wealth.
This was because the agrarian nature of the society meant that the manufacturing industry was not really there, and so thend was the primary source of ie, mainly through farming.
And as only as thend remained, the crops would grow, people would buy and the coins would keeping.
If Gelene took Alexander''s offer she could do what she had once craved, reach financial and even legal autonomy, unfettered by the whims of any man.
"Mas¡master''s offer is too generous. Gelene''s only desire is to be your ve and serve you." Gelene had said theplete opposite of what her heart desired.
Absurd!
Or this is what seemed to all three others.
''Is she really loyal? Have I been mistreating her?'' Cambyses found herself confused.
Even Alexander was astonished by the reply, though for different reasons.
''She''s smarter than I gave her credit for.'' Alexander remarked.
Because he could vaguely understand Gelene''s reasoning behind her answer.
After Gelene would be a freedwoman, she could no longer by default stay with Alexander, meaning she would lose her proximity to Alexander.
Thus Gelene rightfully feared that she would lose Alexander''s favor, which was Alexander''s n all along, to set up Gelene as a civilian and let her live her life on her own.
Alexander would give her enough means to enjoy her life as she wanted, and as long as she stayed put enjoying her wealth and didn''t scheme against him, Alexander couldn''t care less what she did with her time.
So to be able to see this well-hidden trap, intentionally or by fluke, certainly impressed Alexander.
If he could trust her more, she would not just be a mere merchant but part of his ruling ss.
"So, what are your terms of the business arrangement?" Alexander asked Gelene in a t tone.
"Master, I can ept all the terms, but I don''t want to be free. I like being your ve. Besides women can''t bendlords with a man''s approval," Gelene dered, though she knew thetter part was moot, as Alexander, being the owner of thends could change thews on a whim.
Gelene''s head had told her to take Alexander''s initial offer and run with it, but her heartmanded her to stop.
Her instincts screamed that losing Alexander''s ears, the ears of the miracle boy who went from a ve to a pasha in less than two mouths, the miracle boy who could make revolutionary, epoch-changing inventions like pulling rabbits out of a hat, would be a very bad idea.
And so Gelene decided to stay with Alexander for now.
Because she felt she would gain much more from being his ve than she would gain from being free and all by herself.
"Hmmmm," Alexander hummed thinking this was not how the script was supposed to go.
In his mind, Gelene would gleefully ept the offer and a few yearster, he would be able to get rid of this troublesome entity.
But hearing Gelene''s counteroffer, Alexander then replied, "Okay, let''s put the topic of emancipation off for now. Earn me the million in profit first and if even then you don''t want to be free, we can work out some other kind of arrangements."Alexander promised.
"I will not leave you, master," Gelene repeated the words, her tone firm and strong.
Alexander lightly smiled at Gelene and then soon the duo had drawn up a contract.
As Gelene finished signing the contract, Alexander decided to tease the soon-to-be rich beauty.
"Haha, so have I favored you enough?" Alexander hadn''t forgotten that jab as he smirked.
This immediately caused Gelene to blush and she then let out an awkward smile as in her heart Gelene cussed, ''I knew he was that vindictive bastard,'' as the thought of Alexander as a kind, magnanimous man evaporated.
Alexander had done this intentionally as he did not want to let the other girl and also Gelene get the wrong idea that he would favor her infinitely.
Gelene certainly understood this knowing what Alexander had asked was not a question or a jab, but for proof of her loyalty, Gelene silently got down, kneeled, and then prostrated, "I swear to serve master with utmost loyalty and devotion. If I break it may the heavens damn my soul for eternity."
Gelene solemn deration pleased Alexander.
''And here I was about to go on about how if you betray me I will do such and such,'' Alexander now found it inappropriate to bring up such threats.
So he only nodded and said, "Good, I will hold you onto that promise. If you are loyal to me, I will loyally treat you. If you are not, I will not too."
And only time would tell if Gelene would be loyal or if would she let the shine of gold and silver tempt her to break her promise.
Chapter 209 Ophenias Gift
After ironing things out with Gelene, Alexander moved on to hisst interest of the day, Ophenia.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked turning to the fair woman.
"That¡" Ophenia''s eyes darted ufortably at the question, and then finally picking up the courage, she said, "Um, master. I want to tell this to you alone."
This predictable raised some eyebrows as people like Cambyses wondered what could be so important that Ophenia couldn''t say out aloud in front of them.
Cambyses and Ophenia usually got along very well as thetter didn''t have twists in her heart, unlike someone else, a person that recently got a deal that Cambyses found too favorable.
Alexander too was surprised as he couldn''t think of anything Ophenia might have to say that would necessitate such secrecy.
But deciding to respect Ophenia''s wishes he gestured to the other three, "It''s getting a bit stuffy in here. So, why don''t you three take a small stroll? I will call you when done."
Thus the three vacated the room, with Cambyses even saying with a bit of sneer, "Let''s go girls.
The divine son wants to enjoy his sacred priestess."
''It was Tayin that wanted you out. Howe I became the bad guy?'' Alexandermpooned, while Ophenia looked even more guilty, though she did not stop the exodus.
Once alone, Alexander turned to Ophenia and asked with a raised eyebrow, "So, what''s the secret?"
But instead of getting an answer, he saw Ophenia get down and start scribbling on a piece of papyrus.
Alexander looked at the papyrus with curiosity, wondering what information could be so valuable, and noticed Ophenia writing what he supposed to be mostly ingredients, and their preparation.
Soon after, the girl was done and handing over the scroll to Alexander, Ophenia exined, "Master, remember I told you that the Temple of Shiva was famous for its aphrodisiac medicine? Well, this is how it''s made!"
Alexander''s hands subconsciously jerked at this explosive news as he couldn''t believe such a gold mine had fallen in his hand.
Instead of asking further questions, he immediately pointed his eyes to the papyrus, trying to read and memorize its contents as soon as possible.
And he found both the ingredientsmon and the manufacturing process nothing too difficult.
There was cutting and mixing the nts, boiling them at a low, simmering temperature, leaving them to fermentation in a cold, dark ce for some time, again boiling them to drive all the water away, and atst mashing the leftover pulp and adding it another ingredient.
This solid would then be mixed with wine and sold in batches.
"Ho¡how did you get this?" Alexander''s voice had never shaken ever since he had transmigrated.
And thus it was a testament to how valuable this information was.
In his previous life, men had done crazy things to obtain greater mastery over his sexual prowess, ranging from eating ordinary things like raw ginseng, and other herbs and nts, to bizarre things like cooked and in some extreme cases raw animal penis and balls, including those of domestic animals like bulls and horse to exotic ones bears and tigers, to insane things like cannibalism because these mad men believed that it would make obtain the other''s prowess as his own.
And from what Ophenia had told him about the riches of the Shiva temple and how powerful men would tend to curry favor with it, it seemed this world was no different.
"Once I was offered a reward of my choice for my good performance." Ophenia said the word ''performance'' with heavy quotations implying what kind of performance that was and continued, "And I asked them to teach me how to make the Divine Nectar."
"Oh? As I recall you were never officially part of the temple. So nobody objected to letting you learn their most treasured secrets?" Alexander asked the obvious question.
Given the cooking security of the temple as described by Ophenia, Alexander didn''t find them to be the type to be flippant about such matters.
"Of course, some objected." Ophenia nodded and then with a sly smile added, "But after I spent a bit of time convincing them in private, they assented."
It was clear as day what Opehnia did behind some doors.
''*Sigh*,'' Alexander let out a mouthful sigh inside his heart hearing this, not ming Ophenia for what she did to survive, but only feeling pity.
Then Alexander asked his next question, "But why did you want to learn the technique? You didn''t know you were ever gonna escape."
"I simply felt that knowing their secret would be a good card to have," Ophenia did this when she was fifteen, showing the girl was far smarter than she was given credit for.
Ophenia might be simple, but no idiot.
Or else the temple would have imed her long ago.
Alexander was impressed by the foresight disyed by Ophenia and then asked her on how to properly use the stuff, "So, tell me how does the medicine work? And how potent is its effect? And how does it have any hidden dangers?"
Ophenia answered after a slight nod, "The medicine is ingested orally, about a spoonful before sex, by the man. And it makes them harder than usual and prevents wilting for hours, while also reducing the rate of release. Regr usage also boosts the size of the male organ, the volume, the richness of the release, and even its taste and smell."
Alexander raised a suggestive eyebrow at Ophenia''s detailed exnation, making an educated guess on how the girl was able to know so much about a very personal man''s product.
But Alexander did not need to guess as with a tither Ophenia gave him the answer, "Hehe, master seems to have correctly guessed how I know so much. Yes, it''s because I personally experienced it." She confirmed with a grinning nod.
And then delineated, "Promising acolytes, whom I would have to serve, would be regrly given the medicine and these are the changes I observed over the few years I did so. They went from tiny phimosis pee-pees to monstrous, horse-like cocks. And I mean real, manly cocks." Ophenia''s eyes twinkled teasingly at Alexander as she said so.
Then she sultrily added. "I mean master has impressive stuff down there no doubt. But in front of them, it would be considered small, hehe."
Ophenia never hid her past from Alexander and would always honestly tell Alexander of her past experience, whether Alexander found it to his liking or not because she felt confident that she would never have to hide her true identity from her master in fear of being shunned.
It was unknown if Ophenia was saying this to demonstrate the drug''s capabilities or just egging Alexander on to regrly ingest the drug by brushing his ego, whose ultimate beneficiary would be her.
Maybe it was a mixture of both as she certainly craved an ever bigger Alexander to carve out her insides and make her ascend to high heaven.
And to say this tactic didn''t work affect would be a lie.
No man in the world wanted to be called small and innately craved the self-gratification of being called big or even better, somewhere along the lines of the biggest in the world.
Believing that Ophenia would not lie to him just to tease him, Alexander decided to console himself by saying stuff like those were all artificial, ''steroid'' pumped fakes, while he was all natural and real and that it was not the size that mattered but how one used it, and much more.
Was it like calling the grapes sour?
Maybe.
Alexander''s slight pout didn''t escape Ophenia as she let a torrent of pleased giggles at the disy, finding his master''s reaction quite cute.
Ophenia sometimes, albeit a little guiltily, thought that the death of her father and his fiance was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Because if they were alive, she would never have met Alexander, a man she truly fell in love with.
Ophenia used to think she loved her deceased fiance Samaras, but as her heart bloomed for Alexander she began to understand what true love was.
True love was one where just hearing the name of the beloved would set one''s heart fluttering.
True love was one where you didn''t need to think if you loved the beloved, you would know it in your heart, in your body, and in your soul.
True love was one where just seeing the other''s face would make your day.
And for Ophenia, Alexander was that kind of true love.
Unlike her finance, who, being raised in a chaste society, would have certainly looked at her with disgust and repulsion if he were to ever know the truth, Alexander would only smooth her by lovingly caressing her silky hair when she would recount her various abuses, all his disgust, and hatred directed towards the temple, with her only receiving pity and love.
Chapter 210 Ophenias Plan
Ophenia''s description of the drug matched very well with Alexander''s knowledge of the various erectile-dysfunction drugs in his previous life, though this medicine seemed to have some even more potent benefits.
The erectile-dysfunction drug market was a multi-billion dor industry in modern times and that just made one hard for a long time.
So, if a one-in-all-wonder drug were to be invented that could do all the things Ophenia had described- make one harder, bigger, and better tasting, then Alexander had no doubt that the market would be worth hundreds of billions of dors.
As Alexander''s realization of this possibility dawned, out of cautiousness he re-read the scroll and then repeated one of the inquiries, "Does the medicine have any harmful effects?"
Ophenia with a shake of the head answered negatively.
Alexander did expect this as if there was some major disadvantage, then someone smart enough would have connected the dots over thest few centuries the Shiva temple had existed.
"So, how do you think we should sell this miracle drug?" Alexander tested Ophenia.
The question made the girl go silent as she gave herself some silence to think and then after a bit, said, "I originally wanted our temple to sell this as the divine nectar of the goddess. But the Temple of Shiva is very over-protective of their product. If such a thing were to appear...." Ophenia sent Alexander a meaningful look.
"Hmmm, you are right. Although we are in and hostile to Thesos, nothing brings enemies closer than money and mutual benefit," Alexander mused out aloud.
The temple might not be able to attack him directly, but they could certainly bankroll forces hostile to him to do it for them.
And although Alexander was not averse to the idea of others attacking him, he wanted such things to happen on his terms, where he would hold the initiative and could stir the situation to his liking, which would be mighty difficult if a foreign, unpredictable power, whose strengths were unknown to Alexander was to join the fray as he doubted his capability to keep a hold on the situation while juggling so many unknown variables at the same time.
People might view Alexander as a scheming mastermind, but the man himself didn''t hold himself in such high regard, thinking himself to be smart but not any Sherlock Holmes.
And so, he always believed in the maxim of keeping ns simple as the more new elements were included into one, the more steps would be introduced and the moreplicated it would be, and the more chances there would be of an unpredictable development.
Alexander already had his hands full with Adhania and soon-to-be enemy Tibias and he was even worried that Cantagena woulde knocking on his door wanting Zanzan back.
So, he really didn''t want to antagonize another power unless he absolutely needed to.
"Hmmm, for the time being, we will sell it secretly in the ck market or as bribes to nobles," Alexander made his decision.
And then added, "A few yearster the goddess will officially bestow the divine nectar to her believers."
Thest sentence was basically said to soothe Ophenia, who certainly felt a bit sour that the drug couldn''t be sold openly right now as she believed that Alexander''s religion would skyrocket if they could, just like the Temple of Shiva did a few centuries ago.
But unlike Ophenia, Alexander was not obsessed with preaching his religion and instead, his mind wandered to an interesting conclusion, ''I wonder what will happen when Adhania''s Legumumes into contact with the Shiva drug.''
One was primarily e contraceptive designed to prevent conception and the other was a sex performance enhancer.
And so he posed the question to Ophenia, "Does the medicine increase fertility? Can a woman get pregnant even if she uses the legumum contraceptive?"
Ophenia immediately understood Alexander''s concerns.
Because if it did, it would be very hard for Alexander to sell the stuff, especially to the nobles, who liked to participate in Adhania''s unique tradition and would thus find themselves unable to do so if they ingested the medicine.
The drug might even not be too popr with the general popce as they wouldn''t want to knock up random flings.
Ophenia did not know the answer to Alexander''s question as legumum was strictly kept within Adhania, and even if the temple of Shiva did get manage to get their hands on the stuff, the results were not within her knowledge.
"I''m sorry I cannot answer that question," Hence Ophenia informed her master.
"Umm, then we will need to find out. We don''t want to be responsible for a wide-scale scandal," Alexander prudently decided to hold some long-term tests.
Ophenia silently agreed to this with a nod, her zeal for immediately starting the sale of the drug dying down a bit.
But then quickly she thought of a way to speed up testing, "Master, I have an idea. Please let me set up a brothel!"
This request made Alexander open his eyes in shock as he feared for the reputation of his temple, ''A sacred priestess running a brothel? Ridiculous!'' he thought incredulously.
Those were basically two diametrically opposing professions, one that symbolized purity and chastity and the other immorality and lust, and to have a person be both seemed paradoxical and even sphemous to Alexander.
Seeing Alexander''s almost scared expression Ophenia would not help butugh, "Hehe, master''s reactions are too funny. And to think I once thought master would keep that calm, stoic face even if the sky fell on him, hehe."
Alexander wasn''t in the mood to beughing and only thundered, "Exin!"
Although he was sure Ophenia could not just make random demands, if she did now, Alexander fully intended to punish the girl.
"Haha, why does master seems to think the sacred priestess cannot run a brothel? After all, aren''t almost all the prestress of the Temple of Shiva both priestesses and whores?" Ophenia corrected Alexander''s worldview.
''Yes, that''s right! I was thinking with my old values.'' Alexander felt his eyes open as before he had always subconsciously equated the priestesses to nuns, who were always officially chaste and pure, and thus this grave reaction.
So, he asked for details, "What are your thoughts?"
With a sweet smile, Ophenia elucidated, "Master, I will be the sacred priestess by the day. But after dark, the priestesses under me can run a brothel."
"They can give a special drink to the customers that will be the Shiva drug will they use the legumum themselves. And in this way, we can find the results very soon."
Ophenia came up with a surprisingly good n.
And further bolstered her n by saying, "And as such the customers will be unaware of anything specific and the girls will always be under me."
Alexander found many parts of the n to be a genius masterstroke.
It was far better than his n which was to use prisoners as forcedb rats and thus decided implement go with this n instead, albeit a bit differently.
But before he said his own revised n, he wanted to know how much more ahead Ophenia had thought of her n.
"ording to you, the priestesses will have to work both day and night. Won''t they get tired?" He asked an obvious question.
"Of course not every priestess will work both shifts. They will be rotated," Ophenia gave a very simple solution.
Alexander satisfied with the answer then asked another probing question, "Hmmm, priestesses engaging in such activities. What do you think the people will think?"
"Hehe, master worries too much. The people will think nothing at all." Ophenia waved her hands brusquely as she giggled.
And then gave her reasoning, "The temple of Shiva also had those concerns but found that instead of stunting their growth, the prietresses''s whoring themselves only made the belief spread faster."
"After all, themon peasants don''t ever even dare dream of touching the mighty priestesses, much lessy with one in bed."
"And so when this opportunity was given to be in exchange for changing their faith, people came in droves."
Ophenia certainly made some very convincing arguments about her n and Alexander would admit her proposal what a very high chance to work.
And he expressed such thoughts with a pleased smile, "Your proposal is very good. And I''m very pleased that you coulde up with such a robust n in such a short time."
Alexander''s praise produced a shy, coy smile from Ophenia.
But then Alexander gave some of his nitpickings. "But for me, it seems a mistake to tantly copy the Shiva temple''s strategy for Adhania."
This made Ophenia look at Alexander in askance, as thetter delineated, "The people of these two regions are very different. While Thesos is a hodgepodge of different gods and beliefs, its people mostly pagans, Adhnaians are all monotheists, and they already have a preconceived notion of a priestess."
And with the following words, Alexander gently rejected Ophenia''s ns "And I think it would not be wise to shake that."
Chapter 211 Ophenias World View
Alexander''s main real objection wasn''t that people would find priestesses giving such services repulsive, in fact, he believed that Ophenia was right in saying that such practices might boost the poprity of his religion.
No, the real reason why he didn''t want his priestesses to be involved with such work was because he didn''t want his temple to be involved with such institutions, at least too openly.
But he didn''t say this out loud so as not to shoot down Ophenia too strongly.
Instead, he used Adhania''s sense of convention to propose a slightly different method, "Your n was quite good, and we can keep almost everything with only a little bit of it tweaking." Alexander said smiling at Ophenia.
He then gave his own n, "Instead of using the priestesses we can employ regr girls who will serve the men like usual."
"And we can have special ves that hand out the drinks. That way these ves will never see the effects of the drinks and so they will never make the connection."
This new n suited Ophenia, no problem, as she consented with a nod.
Alexander then delegated, "I will leave you in charge of setting up everything. You will get the girls, choose the building and set up everything. And it will be you responsible for safeguarding the secret."
"Yes, master." Ophenia replied and then knowing Alexander asked, "Does master have any advice for me?"
Alexander debated a bit over whether to give Ophenia any tips or to let her figure everything out on her own.
And after thinking it over a bit, Alexander decided on thetter, both because he felt knew better and because he had more resources in his hands to make the establishment flourish faster.
So he addressed, "Because of the war, there are a lot of orphan girls in Zanzan who have no one to take care of them. Choose the young beautiful ones from them. For now, about ten will do. And favor those who convert to our faith."
This was a no-brainer for Ophenia who intended to do just that anyway, making a mental note to pay particr attention to such converts during the day.
She even said to herself, ''Master said not to employ priestesses, but he never said anything about acolytes or those that fail to be priestesses. And besides, just because I cannot make a priestess cannot be a whore doesn''t mean I cannot make a whore be a priestess.''
What Ophenia meant by this was as the sacred priestess Ophenia could use her power to make promising, beautiful acolytes engage in this industry or else make fail them their evaluation tests.
And even if she did nothing so extreme, even if she was to only show favor for those with experience for promotion, Ophenia was confident that girls would be falling at her feet for the slightest opportunity.
The situation could also be yed in reverse as Ophenia could favor the working girls who are regr practitioners of the Gaia faith and those that volunteer in the temple in their free time.
Was this abuse of power and position?
Absolutely!
But in Ophenia''s neen-year-old consciousness, this was the way the world worked because this was what she had observed while her stay with the Temple of Shiva.
There, hundreds of priestesses and priests would fight tooth and nail over just the yearly thirty spots in the temple''s two sanctioned pleasure houses, each of them finding insanely creative and convoluted ways of ''bumping'' into the selection priests and priestesses, hoping to get inside their pants and show off their skills to these higher-ups personally, all in the hopes of reaching some kind of backroom deals.
In fact, this practice had be somon that these people on themittee would have nightly orgies consisting of around twenty people to determine who to choose.
Ophenia also had many other ideas sprouting inside her about ways to integrate her red-light establishment into the temple without breaking Alexander''smand, which she intended to implement as long as there was no Alexander''s explicit objection.
She even had made up her mind to copy the temple of Shiva in its pricing policy, with devotees of Alexander getting discounts and priorities to choosing girls.
Of course, ording to her, all these were purely altruistic as she saw such activities as only a means to propagate Alexander''s faith and for now she kept these thoughts to herself, deciding to surprise Alexanderter.
As she returned her attention to her master, she heard Alexander use his ess to much greater resources to say, "The underwear made by Gelene will also need to be advertised. And your girls can do that. So, have them wear it outside the building to attract customers."
"Oh, that''s fantastic master. I didn''t think about that," Ophenia vigorously nodded her head in praise, her eyes glinting in excitement.
"Umm, I will also design some special clothes for the working girls. And give you ten ves and one hundred thousand ropals as start-up capital." Alexander promised.
"Thank you, master. I will work without fail," For Ophenia, failure was not an option when so much hung on the bnce.
"Mmn, it will be tough for you to work as a priestess in the day, and then as a madam in the evening, but I believe in you," Alexander offered his words of encouragement at the end.
"When it''s for master, no amount of work is work. Only pure delight," Ophenia announced her zeal for the work with fanatical burning eyes.
"Okay, then let''s call back the girls," Thinking they had discussed everything that needed addressing Alexander said to Ophenia, but thetter gently shook her head in denial.
"No, master, there''s something you have overlooked," Ophenia began and then pointed out to the confused Alexander, "You didn''t ask me why I didn''t give the forme sooner!"
"This¡why?" Alexander asked only when Ophenia reminded him as he hadn''t thought about it before because to him it seemed irrelevant.
But it didn''t seem irrelevant to Ophenia.
In fact, it seemed vitally important to her as she slipped out of her long one-piece, revealing her perfect body jeweled with the nipple and clit piercings, and prostrated in front of Alexander in apology, "Master, I didn''t give you the forme because I didn''t trust you enough until today. Only after did you make me the sacred priestess did I think to give it to you. So please severely punish this ungrateful ve."
"This¡I don''t think that''s necessary. You must have had your reasons. And besides, I also hide things from you, so it''s natural." Alexander attempted to brush off Ophenia''s fears as being too pedantic.
But the beautiful girl was having none of it, "No, master, you and I arepletely different. You as my master can hide everything from me. But I as your ve must hide nothing. So please punish me."
As Alexanderid his eyes on the prostrating nude girl right in front of his feet, he suspected that he had detected a kind of anticipatory tone in Ophenia''s voice, instead of an apologetic one.
''Does she want this? Is this a kind of new y to her?'' Alexander wondered.
And so he decided to test his hypothesis out.
He slowly undid his right boot, took off his socks, and then gently stepped on Ophenia''s head, feeling the silky hair slip under his soles as he officiouslymanded, "Tayin, tell me what you really want! Your Lordmands you."
Alexander addressed himself not as the master, but as the lord, as in the god that Ophenia believed in.
Alexander didn''t need an answer as Ophenia involuntarily let out a slight moan, "Ahhh," when she felt Alexander step on her.
And then, since her lord had asked, she gave an explicit answer nevertheless in panted gasps, "I...I want master to step on me harder. Using his boots, preferably,"
She said this while grinding her head against Alexander''s soles, urging Alexander to put more force on his legs.
So, Alexander did, pinning Ophenia''s forehead to the carpet as he slowly skidded across the smooth, silky hair, "How should I punish you more?"
Alexander was curious to know how Ophenia wanted to be treated.
"Ma..master hasn''t taken a bath yet, right? Let this pathetic bitch use her useless tongue to clean your feet, then." Even when Alexander could not see Ophenia''s face, he knew Ophenia was salivating over the prospect from her voice.
So, he decided to indulge the girl in her little fantasy, as he took off his feet and ordered, "Do it."
"Ahhh, yes," The flushed girl raised her head in rapturous joy and immediately grabbed Alexander''s feet, marveling at it like it was the holy grail.
She then quickly bought her nose onto Alexander''s stuffy feet that had been inside his shoe for the entire day and took in a big, audible whiff, "*Sniifff*, ahhhh, master''s smell¡*sshhhh*." Ophenia orgasmed the moment the concentrated smell hit her nose, dirtying the carpet underneath her.
Chapter 212 Ophenias Request
Alexander was surprised by how easily Ophenia climaxed, her body spasming as she clutched Alexander''s feet like it was her greatest possession in the world.
''Does she have a smell fetish,'' Alexander wondered as he remembered that Ophenia had smelled his little brother too on their first night.
By this point, Ophenia had regained her focus, and returned her nose to Alexander''s feet, repeatedly and loudly sniffing it, as her lower cave let out streams of lewd water.
And soon just smelling was not enough as Ophenia started to lick his feet too, first his toes and then all the way to his soles, taking in his little digits and twirling them inside her mouth.
"Stop, enough!" After some time Alexander ordered Ophenia which made the girl break out of her trance and look at Alexander with a bit of fear in her eyes.
''Have I done something to upset master?'' She dreaded.
But it appeared to be only her over-active imagination as Alexander sneered yfully, "It won''t be a punishment if you enjoyed it too much, will it?"
This produced a twinkle in her eyes as Ophenia grinned, "Then how does master wish to punish this disobedient ve?"
"Hehe, turn around and raise your ass to me." Alexander sniggered at the hopeless girl.
And soon Ophenia not only stuck that exact but even parted her cheeks on her own, inviting Alexander to choose whichever one he preferred, her heart leaping in joy at the expected pounding she was about to receive.
Poke!
But she was disappointed as it was not Alexander''s bulbous little brother that greeted her puckered hole, but his right toe.
"As I said, it won''t be a punishment if you enjoy it too much," Alexander teased Ophenia as his thick toe pushed against the butthole and traced the closed, wet slit. "Ahhh¡master," Ophenia swung and swayed her butt at the vapid stimtion, craving for more.
"Tell me, I remember you calling my stuff small. What was that about?" Alexander was now pping the soles of his feet against Ophenia''s delicious butt like he was moving to a tune, making a dull, pping sound.
"Ahhh, master, you can pound my cunt to the heavens any day. But my butt always felt like something was missing. Like it wanted something to stretch it beyond its limits and destroy it, ohhh," Ophenia started to grind her butt against Alexander''s feet as she teased him about his package.
This was not the first time Ophenia had done such as even at other times she would tease him about how other men had done such and such to her, edging Alexander to do the same to her.
And this would work every time like a charm, as Alexander wouldpetitively strive to do more, wanting to overwrite the work of all other men and dye Ophenia in his color, making Ophenia experience pure bliss in the process.
But this Alexander didn''t immediately pounch on Ophenia, instead, he took off his other shoe and sock, and ced his left foot on her smooth, wless butt while his right toe grabbed the clit piercing.
Then giving Ophenia''s most sensitive spot a little tug, Alexander sneered, "Oh? Aren''t you afraid that your butt might be so loose that you be incapable of holding your bowels?"
"Hahaha, if master can do that, then I will dly ept the result." Ophenia genuinely taunted Alexander.
And then gave Alexander a recount of what her butt had been made to go through, "Because they couldn''t touch my pussy, the priests and priestesses at the temple focused all their energy on developing my asshole."
"From early on my butt would always have a wooded dildo in me even when I slept and slowly they increased its size till I had trouble walking too quickly"
"And this was not mentioning the numerous thick, hard cocks that would pound me religiously in the morning, afternoon, and night. By theter days, I would even have two horse-like cocks inside me at the same time, gorging out my insides as my asshole would be stretched to fit an elephant inside."
"So, try your hardest, master. I believe in you." Ophenia sneered with disdain as she said this, making Alexander see such an expression for the first time.
If there was one thing Opehnia in life her proud out was her rear hole and she would not let anyone, even Alexander mock her capabilities.
Ophenia''s little recount and smug look irked Alexander, causing him to give a stronger tug at the jewel and making Ophenia moan in delight.
''Hehe, it''s so fun to tease master with all the stuff I half make up,'' Ophenia squealed in her heart, as Alexander tugged and pulled at her clit jewelry, stimting her engrossed, sensitive bud and making her howl in delight.
"Ahhhing,..*ssh*,"
Atst, arching her head back like a bow, with a deep moan, Ophenia got her second orgasm, her body shuddering in pleasure.
Finished entertaining Ophenia, Alexander got up to get his own enjoyment, as he pulled down his trousers ready to insert, when suddenly a knock sounded from the door and a voice rang out from outside the room, "Alex, are you done? What are you talking about so long?"
This interruption immediately destroyed the pink atmosphere in the room as Alexander cursed, ''Dammit Cam, I can''t believe you of all people are blue-balling me!''
He really regretted that the study was so well sound insted, designed as such so that prying ears could not glean any confidential information being passed around in the room, as, if Cambyses could hear Ophenia''s moans she would have left them alone.
Cambyses''s inquiry also made Ophenia raise her head and look back at Alexander with puppy-dog eyes, indicating him to tell Cambyses to go away and pound her slutty butthole to heaven.
Alexander too was half of mind to do that, after all, it was not as if what he doing to Ophenia was anything secretive or that Cambyses would object.
But thinking back he still had a few minor things to say to the girls, he decided to put work before pleasure.
"Just a minute, Cam." Alexander loudly shot back as he pulled up his trousers and signaled Ophenia to get dressed.
And though pouting a little, Ophenia quickly obeyed and the three girls were let in within a minute.
"What did you talk about for so long?" Cambyses walked in hurriedly, shooting a smallint as she looked at the two.
"Ophenia gave me something that will make us a lot of money," Alexander revealed the tiniest information making the trio look at the girl sitting on the couch, all prim and proper in askance.
"..." But only got a light smile and a wall of silence.
Understanding the duo intended to keep whatever it was between them a secret, the trio didn''t poke around, and instead, it was Alexander who spoke, "Gelene, Ophenia has decided to start a pleasure establishment. So, please show her the ropes."
"Wha..t?" Gelene''s eyes bulged as she thought her hearing had gone bad.
''Wasn''t Tayin the sacred priestess? What''s she going to do running a whorehouse?'' Gelene almost blurted this out.
"I said,..." Alexander repeated his words seeing Gelene''s stunned face and then told her about his advertisement strategy.
"Ohh! Master should have led with that!" Finding that her own business could flourish by helping Ophenia, Gelene needed no more encouragement.
She also cleverly didn''t ask why such a business was being set up, knowing Alexander did not like nosy people.
Alexander then addressed the three of his girls with thest topic of the night, "Because you all will be working outdoors and because of your rtionship with me, all of you must wear the chainmail armor and the linen thorax under you. I hope I will not have to hound you for your own protection."
And understanding where he wasing from Cambyses, Gelene, and Ophenia all consented.
Finished with all this, Alexander said hisst-minute pleasantries, "Okay, that''s all. Goodnight and thank you." and excused the girls.
"Alex, there will be a surprise for you tonight. Look forward to it," Cambyses suddenly enticed Alexander with a wink as she trotted out of the study, making Alexander''s heart flutter in anticipation.
And soon Alexander was left alone in the room.
Or he thought he was as Ophenia was yet to leave.
Thinking the girl had stayed behind for some hard D, Alexander had to disappoint her, "Sorry, Tayin, there''s no time today."
He then promised to make up to her, "I will fill you up tomorrow."
But to his surprise, Ophenia shook her head as she said, "No, master, I want a different reward now."
Saying such, without giving Alexander a chance to say anything more, the girl immediately kneeled down in front of her master, pulled down his trouser without saying anything, and looked at him with pleading eyes, "Master, as Tayin''s reward for giving you such a precious form, please fill her mouth with your other fluid, ahhhhh."
Taking a moment to understand what Ophenia meant, and looking at her gaping mouth, her tongue swirling in anticipation of his dirty fluid, Alexander could not help but curse, ''Fuck¡how long is your fetish list girl?''
At first, Alexandre tried to dissuade the girl. "Tayin, such fluids are not healthy. Sperm is harmless, but ¡not the one you are wanting now."
But Ophenia was adamant, "Even if it''s poisonous, I hope master will parch my thirst with it. Just this once. Please," she begged.
Seeing Ophenia''s imploring gaze, and remembering he was leaving the girl unsatisfied tonight, Alexander could not find it in his heart to deny the request, "Okay, remember, just once.''
And so, after a few minutes, Ophenia walked out a very happy girl, her throat singing in warm satisfaction.
Chapter 213 Cambysess Surprise
After exiting the study and taking a hot bath, Alexander finally decided to return to his chambers, the day being quite eventful.
As Alexander made his way up the spiraling staircase, holding a burning candle stand by himself, he felt the air get colder and colder as he made his way up, till the cold pricked through his cloth and skin and hit his bones.
''I didn''t realize it with all the heating on the first floor, but tonight''s gotten really cold.'' Alexandermented his heart, while he walked across the unheated hallway, his thoughts floating to whether the town''s people had adequate winter clothing.
''Probably not. And there''s little I can do about it anyway,'' Alexandermpooned a bit as he was already doing everything he could and it still wasn''t enough.
But he quickly threw such distracting thoughts away as there was little point in agonizing over things he could do nothing about.
Alexander then atst approached his room and once inside, found it to be properly heated, with a roaring fire going on in the firece, though there was no one working it.
Very few people were allowed to enter this room, with two guards posted at the entrance at all times, and so Alexander assumed that Mean had likely set up the fire and went to rest in her room two doors to the left.
Thus, he put down the candle stand, poured himself arge ss of wine, and opened the window to let in a bit of fresh air.
And as he gazed down the open window, he was a little awe-struck by whaty in front of him.
Because just below, where the city of Zanzan used to exist now had turned into a blob of white smoke.
Or that''s how it looked like to Alexander as the night mist had entirely swallowed the city of eighty thousand, fully nketing it with a thick, almost imprable mist that formed almost a dome-like shape around it.
This marvelous sight looked almost like god had put a white conch over the city, concealing it from the rest of the world as he attempted to turn the city into a frosty winternd.
And the chilliness of the almost sub-zero night that assaulted Alexander certainly seemed to imply that intent, as Alexander felt the warmth in the room being rapidly sapped away through the open window and being reced with a bone-shattering coldness.
But strangely Alexander didn''t dislike this cold.
On the contrary, for the moment he quite liked the cold stinging sensation that pricked his body, letting his still slightly damp body cool itself in the frosty breeze while he tookrge sips of the sweet wine.
But there was someone who didn''t like being cold and miserable.
"The fuck you doing opening the window?" Came Cambyses''s annoyed voice, making her displeasure known very clearly.
Alexander, who was lost in his thoughts did not hear the girl enter the room and so turned around to greet her.
"I was just¡" Alexander was about to exin himself and the surprise appearance of another guest made him lose his focus- Mean.
''So, this is the surprise,'' Alexander smirked in his heart as he properlyid eyes on the short girl.
The petite woman looked like she had just taken a bath, her long hair still damp and glistening, it parted sideways by two golden peacock hairpins with studded rubies on its tail, wearing a bright crimson dress, her cute toenails painted ruby red and shyly peeking out of her matching high heels.
Mean literally looked like a fairy, one of those red fairies that Alexander read about in his nursery rhymes.
Alexander had thought the surprise would be a new kinky y and so Meaning here was quite surprising for him.
Usually, it would be either Ophenia or Gelene that would apany Cambyses at this time of night and this had bemon to the point that Alexander no longer found threesome too surprising, an almost sphemous statement that Alexander never thought would ever say in his life.
Alexander was not so stupid that he didn''t understand the implication of Mean being here all dolled up.
But he didn''t know exactly how to start the conversation either.
And so said with a smile to Mean, "The dress makes you look like a fairy from the heavens. So beautiful."
This was the first time Alexander saw Mean turn so red so quickly as she only lowered her head with a deep flush, clenching her tiny fists in embarrassment.
"So, what''s the asion?" Alexander gave an impish smile at Cambyses.
"Oh, don''t y coy, Alex." Cambyses only rolled her eyes at Alexander.
But nevertheless answered him, "It''s your present for making me police chief, and cooking that delicious dish."
"Heh, those are all things I did for you? So why is Mean here?" Alexander had a mischievous smirk on his smile.
"Well, you did make her head of staff, didn''t you? And besides, as my ve, she must serve her with mistress," Cambyses gantly dered with her hands on her hips.
Seeing Cambyses almost arbitrarily decide Mean''s fate, Alexander turned to ask her for her own opinion.
"Do you want to do it?" He asked Mean a serious question.
If Mean truly didn''t want to sleep with Alexander then he would not.
And he would even stop Cambyses from forcing her.
In response to the question, Mean only lowered her head even more, refusing to make eye contact.
"Alex, don''t be daft. You are humiliating her!" Cambyses''s air of easiness dissipated as she said this, scowling at her Alexander for doubting Mean even when she hade all the way here.
Cambyses''s words made Alexander give an awkward pause and then, as he nced at the almost thirty centimeters shorter girl, Alexander let out an worry that had always concerned him, "Cam, Mean might be a little... you know...young!"
"What young? I''m older than you, brat!" Mean spat out in rage.
She really hated it when people underestimated her age due to her short stature.
"Haha, okay, okay." Alexander chuckled at the fiery response.
And then stated with a teasing smile, "Guess I will take your first time today then!"
"Bah! Who''s giving you my first? I already gave my first time to mistress," Mean raised her voice, a bit flushed, as she quickly lowered her head.
"Now Mean," Cambyses sent a re at the small girl for ying difficult, which made the girl a bit flustered at displeasing her mistress.
"Come undress me," Cambyses then suddenly gave an unrted task.
The room had been again turned cozy by now due to the roaring fire and Cambyses felt like being naked.
And so soon, the young girl had her clothes stripped and her beautiful figure revealed, the moderate peaks, her curvy waist, and her beautiful thighs.
Cambyses then walked past Alexander, letting him have a full view of her nude, swaying ass as she did so, and she poured herself arge ss of wine from the nearby table.
Afterward, she made her way to the bed, sitting at the edge of it, her beautiful legs dangling over the thick carpet, as she parted her legs wide open, revealing her already drooling garden to everyone, and then with one of her hands started teasing her quivering quim, her body also quivering in anticipation of the show about to happen.
Taking a sip of her sweet wine, she then ordered Mean in a hard voice, "Now, Mean, stop being disobedient and go ask your master."
And hearing her mistress''s dictatorialmand, Mean, like an obedient girl, with her head lowered slowly tip-toed towards Alexander using her small exquisite feet and once close enough, with a reddened face and in a weak low voice mewled, "Ma¡master Alexander, please unclothe this naughty bunny and devour this tiny¡. this tiny slut to your heart''s content!"
Alexander''s mouth went a bit agape at hearing such lewd wordsing out of the raven-haired tsundere, made even cuter by how she had stammered the words, her head lowering a bit more each time she said the next word.
''Cambyses''s handy work no doubt,'' Alexander remarked as Mean would never say this on her own and received his confirmation when he nced at the chestnut hair girl, who gave him a nodding smile as she pleasured her little sister, letting out small pleased moans even before they had started. ''This girl is bing morescivious by the day,'' Alexandermented as he felt Cambyses was losing her inhibitions with each passing day.
But Alexander quickly returned his attention to the girl standing immediately in front of him, Mean.
So without further ado, Alexander silently approached the beet-red girl, and using his hands raised her chin to stare directly into the dark eyes, flushed with shyness and anticipation.
Alexander could tell she very much wanted this,
"Ahhh, my cute Mean..my cute slutty little Mean," Alexander smiled a wolfish smile at the short girl and then stole a hot kiss, his thick lips enveloping the cheery thin lips of the girl.
Mean''s fiery night was about to begin.
Chapter 214 Means Night (R-18) (Part-1)
Alexander grabbed Mean''s lips fiercely making the girl taste a kiss like she had never done before, forceful and animalistic.
"Mmmm," Mean moaned as Alexander''s thick tongue invaded her mouth and grabbed her tiny tongue, wrapping against it and sucking it strongly.
She had a warm and sticky vor that Alexander found intriguing and as their lips devoured each other, Alexander fed her copious amounts of his thick, musky saliva by pooling them inside his mouth and dumping them inside Mean, intent to mark her mouth as his territory.
"Mmmmm," Mean moaned at this hot fluid entering her gullet as she greedily devoured the manly-scented saliva, her chin strongly held in ce by Alexander''s iron grip.
"Chuuuu, mmnnn, suuuuc," The duo lovingly kissed and tasted one another, locking and unlocking their lips multiple times as they freely exchanged their individual tastes, sometimes Alexander invading Mean, other times Mean trying to conquer Alexander''s mouth with her tiny cute tongue, making Alexander taste her unique vor.
Finally, after making Mean breathless and a bit disheveled, Alexander atst let go of her lips, letting Mean catch her breath, as some of her hair strands freely flowed in front of her face.
But not for long as Alexander suddenly directly put his fingers his Mean''s mouth and pulled out the beautiful tongue, pinching and rolling them between his fingers andmenting with half a sneer, "So, this is how the barbed tongue of my little pepper Mean tastes,"
Mean only let out incoherent moans.
Alexander atst let go of the tiny tongue and slowly started to peel off the clothes off of Mean, undoing theces at the back of her dress and then lovingly using his both hands to smoothly roll it off her olive body, letting it pool to the floor and revealing the nubile body for all to see, a t chest with tiny, perky cherries, toned abs, a hairless crotch with a tiny crack in the middle and creamy fleshy thighs.
Alexander wasn''t a stranger to her body but it still excited him to no end as his little brother twitched in excitement.
And to share that excitement Alexander grabbed the shy girl by the shoulder and started raining kisses on her petite body.
He first smooched, licked, and sucked her nape, finding it sweet and salty, while Mean let out low moans, "Mnnn, mmmm, ahhh,"
Alexander then moved to her small buds nted on her t hills and started pinching and kneading them with his skilled fingers, causing Mean to increase the volume of her moans, "Arghh."
Alexander used his hands expertly, squeezing the almost nonexistent bulge and pulling it, kneading the tiny protrusions under his palms and enjoying the hard, springy feeling it gave.
"Stop..teasing me," Mean groaned at the new type of pleasure.
But Alexander just continued with his inspection.
His hands roamed all over her body, her straight back, her tiny belly, her cute belly button, her dainty arms, and her smooth shoulders, as he caressed them, pinched them, and kneaded the soft, silky flesh on them.
"Mmmmmm , good," Mean slipped out a delicate moan of approval at Alexander''s gentle touch kissing her warm body.
Alexander, after a while, finally finished his exploration of the upper level, and so kneeled down to explore her lower half, the half of a woman that had always captured the imagination of men.
And Alexander found it to be absent of any trees or shrubs, with her secret cave leaking fresh spring water, nested tightly between two fleshy creamy pirs.
Alexander first parted the twin milky white guardians that nested the hidden cave, feeling the fingers sink into her meaty thighs as he did so, also pinching and kneading the magnificent piece of flesh on the way.
Until finally, Mean''s beautiful flower, coated in honey was revealed to Alexander.
"Nooo, don''t lo..look so closely," Feeling Alexander''s burning gaze, Mean coyly bought her tiny, wless hands to block the view of her entrance.
But it was not even a symbolic gesture of reluctance, as at the same time she was willingly parting her legs.
"Hehehe, what are you so shy about? It''s so beautiful," Alexander easily pushed away the dainty hands and finally got to see his prize for the first time so close.
It was pale pink, contrasting beautifully with the sun-kissed olive skin, with her tiny petals curling a bit inwards and letting out gushing streams of heavenly nectar.
Alexander then spread open the thin lips with his finger, feasting his eyes on the small, tight canal that was pulsating in anticipation, and decided to give it a hot kiss.
"Chuuu," Alexander''s and Mean''s lips, albeit different ones greeted each other once again, exchanging their fluids with each other as Alexander sucked on her flower cave, making Mean''s body shudder with pleasure.
It tasted sour and salty with a fruity aftertaste that Alexander quite liked, and so he increased his disy of love.
He rained kisses not only directly on the cave but also around it, sucking on the thin, beautiful petals, licking the hairless pubes, and nibbling on the flower bud.
"Ahhhh, that¡ohhh, yess," This wasn''t Mean''s first time getting eaten out, Cambyses had done it to her many time, but this was certainly very different from all the previous times.
Alexander''s tongue was much thicker and rougher than her mistress''s and his fuller lips stimted more of her pleasure centers at the same time, making her body wriggle and sway under the pleasurable experience.
She especially enjoyed Alexander attacking her tiny red pearl, licking it, sucking it, and biting it, while Alexander''s thick fingers explored her tiny hole.
And what a tiny hole it was.
Alexander had difficulty even sticking one finger fully inside, as the walls constricted fiercely to try and snap the intruder in half.
''Fuck, if I stick it in there with my dick, either I will split Mean in half, or she will snap me in half,'' Alexander genuinely wondered if his beefy meat stick would fit inside such a tiny tunnel.
But nevertheless, he endeavored to make that happen, as he tried to expand the meat canal by slipping in another finger somehow.
"Ahhh," This seemed to please Mean, as she started grinding her hips against Alexander''s mouth, wanting to have her first orgasm of the night.
But just then when she came close, the sensation seemed to disappear.
''Ehhhh?'' Confused, Mean gazed down to see what was the problem and found Alexander looking up to give her a mischievous smile.
"You didn''t it was gonna be that easy did you?" Alexander said in a teasing tone, which elicited a bit of a giggle from Cambyses, who had experienced a simr thing on her first night.
''Alex sure is vindictive,'' Cambyses smirked in her mind as she knew Alexander was doing this to punish Mean for her sharp tongue.
Mean still didn''t understand what Alexander meant and he didn''t give any exnation either.
Instead, he just spun the petite girl around, making her small, tight butt face him, and then parted her peachy, lush tushy.
"Alex..that''s," Mean felt a bit ufortable when her butt cheeks were parted, and not being able to see what Alexander was doing only increased her fear of the unknown.
And this proved to be true when suddenly she let out a high-pitched screech of terror, "Ekkkkkk!" as she felt something slimy crawl up her shameful hole.
Alexander had just pushed his tongue into her rear hole.
"Alex, no,,nooo, not there. It¡it''s dirty. Mis,, mistress! Alex..Alex is in butthole, ahhh," Mean tried to squirm her way out of the embarrassing situation while asking for Cambyses''s help, but only got giggles from the nude girl on the bed.
For Cambyses, Mean''s flushed face, with the slim girl''s body bent forward and trying to wriggle her way out of Alexander''srge hands that held her hips in ce was too funny to look at.
Alexander on the other hand didn''t pay attention to Mean''s objections.
When he hadnded a smooch on the perfect little hole, her cave had squirted a small jet of approval and he knew Mean liked this.
She was just too ashamed to admit it.
Feeling the girl trying to squirm her way out, Alexander, a bit annoyed, decided to teach her to be a bit more obedient.
"*Smack*, stop struggling," Alexander smacked Mean hard in herpact ass, making a thunderous sound and leaving deep red in print.
"Ahhh," Mean let out arge moan at the both painful and pleasing hit and then obediently stopped moving.
"*Smack*, And stand up straight. Don''t bend your back." Alexander delivered the same love to her other soft cheek.
Mean thus stood up straight up, her spine in full attention as she felt Alexander explore her most forbidden hole, her face getting more and more flushed. while she moaned out token titudes of resistance, "Ahhh, noo, Alexander¡stop¡it''s too shameful."
But her gushing cave told her real feelings.
In reality, she loved the dominating feeling of having her powerful master service her dirtiest hole.
Chapter 215 Means Night (R-18) (Part-2)
Alexander continued his inspection of the pink, forbidden gate, finding the puckered hole a detectable treat, tasting sweet and musky, while it cutely expanded and contracted under Alexander''s kisses.
He would roll his tongue around the beautiful wrinkles and then push inside, wriggling the long, hot organ like a snake burrowing into its nest and making Mean squeal in joy.
He would also try to make his fingers experience the warmth of Mean''s tight rear and sometimeter, Mean''s ass was entertaining three thick digits at the same time.
"Kyahhh no¡you are stretching me too much¡argh..too thick," Mean moaned with pleasured pants as Alexander''s three fingers wiggled inside her, scratching her rubbery walls and making her body shake with ecstasy.
"Haha, what too thick? My dick''s much thicker and you are gonna have to take itter!" Alexander smirked as he pistoned his finger quicker.
"Noooo...my butt...your cock is gonna destroy my butt," Mean sounded like she was fearful, but the tone of her voice only gave one the impression of excitement and anticipation.
And under Alexander''s ministrations, soon Mean was close to another orgasm, this time just from being teased in her asshole.
But again it was denied at thest second, causing Mean to cry in frustration.
Like Cambyses on her first night, Alexander vowed to teach Mean a small lesson.
His teasing went on for some time, making Mean''s moans change from pleasured cries to pleading whimpers.
"Pl..please¡please, stop teasing me Alex, ahhhh, not again¡ohhh," Mean almost had tears in her eyes as Alexander denied her another release, making her feel like her body was on fire.
Worse still for Mean, usually getting eaten out would happen while a girl wasying down or in some other kind of lowered position.
But Alexander had ordered her to stand up straight, making her body wobble and shake at the extreme pleasure.
"*Smack*, so have you learned your lesson?" Feeling he had teased the virgin enough, Alexander asked with a spank.
"Ye..yesh..yes. Yes, I have. I will be a good girl...I promise..so.." Mean desperately wiggled her butt to tempt Alexander.
And Alexander decided to finally let the girl have it.
"*Smack*, good." Alexander left anotherrge handprint of the fair flesh making Mean mewl out a moan.
"Now, bend over and spread your butt by yourself," Alexander ordered.
Mean had by now thrown all shame and shyness out of the window, as the moment she heard Alexander''smand, she immediately lowered her back, thrusting her ass up, opening her buttcheek, and even swinging her butt invitingly to entice Alexander.
"Haha, impressive Alex. In less than an hour you made the shy Mean into your willing slut," Seeing Mean''s new position Cambyses let out a pearl ofughter, causing the former to go beet-red with embarrassment.
"Heh, not everyone is incorrigible like you." Alexander shot back at the ''disobedient'' girl with a smirk.
"Oh..and I thought you liked a wild mare. Doesn''t it make you hard every time you discipline this naughty filly?" Cambyses taunted in a deep, silky voice, as she put aside her wine ss and made herself toward Alexander, letting him be hypnotized by her swaying hips.
''The girl knows her me too well," Alexandermpooned at the tease.
But Cambyses did not get up to tease Alexander.
She had gotten bored of just watching and decided to take part in the show.
And so she got up to tease Mean.
"Have you forgotten who you belong to Mean?" Cambyses grabbed the bent-over girl by her chin and asked with a sneer.
"Mis¡mistress," Mean was almost tearing up as she looked up at her savior.
"Here let me remind you," Cambyses smirked and then pushed the two wet finger thered with her honey into the tiny mouth of the girl, making Mean''s tongue ept the dual guests inside with the utmost courtesy, wrapping against and sucking on them like it was dew from the heavens.
''Ahhh, mistress''s vor. Mistress''s divine vor,'' Mean cried in joy in her heart.
And in her state of euphoria, Mean subconsciously let go of her butt and clutched at Cambyses''s willow waist like a drowning man clutches at a straw.
But the moment Mean did this, "*Paaa*, when did your master give you the permission to let go of your butt, ve?" Cambysesnded a very strong p on Mean''s face for disobeying Alexander.
The sound was thunderous and by the way, Mean''s head spun, Alexander could clearly tell that Cambyses had held nothing back.
This strike puzzled Alexander for a bit as he knew that the feelings between Cambyses and Mean was so close that sometimes he wondered who Cambyses liked more.
So such a huge reaction to such a little thing seemed too excessive
''..Unless..'' Alexander a momentter came to another conclusion, a conclusion supported by evidence, as Mean quickly returned her hand to spreading her butt, as she let out in a distinctly sharp, happy pitch cried, "Yes, mistress."
And even further evidence presented itself when Alexander recalled that Mean had let out a jet of fluid when Cambyses had hit her, a phenomenon Alexander had missed the first due to the shock of Cambyses hitting Mean so hard.
"So she got the orgasm I have been denying her so long by that, huh? Hehe...interesting¡that spicy Mean..who would have thought?" Alexanderughed in his heart as he felt he was pretty sure about Mean''s particr preferences in bed.
So he decided to test his hypothesis.
"*Smack*, diding feel that good?" Alexander asked with a hard spank.
But with her mouth upied by Cambyses''s finger, Mean could only let out muffled moans.
And Alexander didn''t stop with just one, raining strike after strike, turning the small, fair butt to look like it was glowing red, while Mean only shook her ass signaling for more.
"Ahhh, so good," Finally after Cambyses pulled out her fingers from Mean''s mouth, could the girl let the world know of her joy.
And her joys were to be multiplied even more soon, as right after freeing her finger, Cambyses pulled Mean''s head by clutching her silky, raven hair and arching it back.
"You came like a slut even when your mistress is yet to. What should be your punishment?" Cambyses sneered, her mirthful eyes looking yfully at the ''distressed'' maiden.
"Bea..beatings. The disobedient ve should be beaten, spanked, pped, and taught a lesson." Mean had a half-crazed look on her face as she shouted her answer, the anticipation in her voice palpable.
''Fuck¡this is another Taiyin. A reverse Taiyin,'' Alexander half swore in his heart,paring Mean, a brass, crass tsundere who would turn into a masochist slut in bed to Ophenia who would turn from a meek, obedient girl to a sex-crazed subus in bed.
Alexander had never seen Mean and Cambyses get it on before and so never knew about Mean''s proclivities.
Hearing Mean''s answer, Cambyses cooed her praise, "Good..good answer." as she slowly caressed Mean''s cheek to rub away the pain.
"But that will have to wait. First, you will have to please your mistress, won''t you?" Cambyses then asked with a smile.
"Ye..yes. Anything for mistress," Mean replied with unmatched crity.
"Good, ¡then suck," Clutching a handful of Mean''s hair, Cambyses then threw Mean''s mouth against her drooling cave,manding Mean to eat her out.
And at the same time, Cambyses signaled Alexander with her eyes to attack Mean''s rear.
Alexander didn''t need much urging from his lover, as Mean had still kept her butt parted like hemanded to and so he swiftly dove in, resuming his tasting of girl''s bumhole but this time also giving some love to the cave below.
Alexander this time managed to get three fingers in the tight snatch, proving just about how her canal had widened in the short time frame as he furiously worked the hole, using his finger to wriggle inside the cave, poking and snatching the hot, moist walls, stimting her G-spot by curving his fingers up and sometimes even pinching her sensitive bud.
Cambyses too was not just getting her pussy eaten out.
In exchange for the magnificent work Mean''s tongue and mouth were doing, licking, sucking, and nibbling her cave and red pearl, Cambyses rewarded her ve by strongly teasing her nipples, pinching, pulling, and twisting them enough to turn pleasure into pain.
For any normal person anyway.
As for Mean, this only made her leak even more honey and let out muffled moans into Cambyses''s hollow cave.
"Ahh, Mean''s screams are echoing inside my pussy and making me all tingly," Cambyses chuckled as she felt the vibrations reverberate inside her.
And soon, the duo were ready for their release.
"Ahh¡yes, good girl¡nice girl¡that''s it," Cambyses moaned to signal her orgasm was imminent.
And in response Mean increased her service speed as ast-minute spurt, while she also felt Alexander do the same for her.
And then, it happened,- release.
"Ahhh,,, fuck," Cambyses came hard, pinning Mean''s head against her hole, arching her head back, and shooting her jets of squirt inside her with blissful abundance, while Mean also reached nirvana as her hips shook, her pussy quivered and some fluids sshed out.
Chapter 216 Means Night (R-18) (Part-3)
While the girls swam in their orgasmic relief, Alexander had yet to even start getting his pleasure.
His clothes were not even undone and his turgid member strained against his pants, making Alexander feel quite pained below.
But he did not take his clothes on his own.
Alexander had a preference for wanting the girls to undress him, as it gave him a sense of power and achievement.
So, Alexander simply watched, as the girls slowly recovered from their ecstasy state,
Finally, Cambyses noticed Alexander''s tent, and pped Mean on the butt, "Bad girl, why haven''t you undressed your master yet? Get up!"
"Hii..ye..yes. Yes," Mean quickly scrambled up due to Cambyses''s love and then got to work.
She was too short to remove Alexander''s tunic, so Cambyses helped her with that, but the pants were pulled down by the Mean herself, letting her see for the time the enormous thick beast that will im her.
She went a bit pale-faced at the sight of the size, as she stammered in half horror, "Tha..that..why¡I...It''s too big!"
"Hahaha, did you think it would like that cute thing that you used to sneak nces at while Alexander bathed?" Cambyses teased.
"That..mistress...I never.." Mean flushed as she tried to deny the allegations.
But Cambyses would not have it, "Heh, you think I didn''t notice? Your face would always flush every time you saw Alexander naked."
This was news to Alexander as he had never noticed that before.
"Now, you''ve been rude enough. Go greet your little master," Seeing Alexander''s member be left unattended, Cambyses ordered.
So, Mean obediently kneeled in front of Alexander, looked at Alexander with upturned, lusty eyes, and greeted his long, curved spear in a high-pitched innocent voice, "Little master, slutty minx Mean greets you, *chuu*."
Alexander''s cock throbbed in pleasure.
Mean then opened her mouth to take the huge monster but other than a few unsessful small insertions, she was unable to make much advances.
"Mean¡stop joking and take it seriously. What''s with this half-assed effort?" Cambyses scolded Mean.
"Cam¡I''m maybe too big. Let''s not push her," Alexander felt Mean was truly trying, but her mouth just wasn''t able to open that wide.
"Hmmph, don''t give support to her Alex. The disobedient slut knows what she''s doing and I do too," Cambyses snarled as she red at Mean.
The petite girl only lowered her, though Alexander at first it was because Mean was sacred, he had managed to catch a glimpse of the impish smile of the girl as he bent her head, letting him know that that wasn''t it.
''She''s expecting this!'' Alexander remarked with surprise in his heart.
And to help Mean get what she wanted, Cambyses sternly ordered, "Get on the horse position."
And with surprising enthusiasm, Mean got on all fours, taking the otherwise moremonly known as the doggy pose, and almost started panting in anticipation.
"*Spank*, say what you want your master to do?" Cambyses gave a sharp hit on the reddened butt.
Mean didn''t need any more encouragement.
Opening her mouth she lewdly pleaded the words Cambyses had taught her. "Master, with your thick, hard cock, please use this minx''s mouth pussy to skull fuck her to oblivion."
"Argh.." Hearing such submissive words from the usually spicy Mean set Alexander''s loin on fire and he immediately pushed his member into Mean''s waiting mouth, hisrge sacks hitting Mean''s chins with a wet plop.
Alexander then grabbed Mean''s long hair by the fist, clenching them between his fist to pin her mouth to his crotch, and then started manically thrusting in and out of the small hole, showing no concern for Mean''s well-being.
"Mmmmm," Mean could only let out muffled moans, her eyes bulging as she felt her lips stretch painfully beyond their limit as Alexander''s hard cock pounded her hot throat with abandon, making her cheeks budge to budge and causing her to gag and cough.
But because Alexander was gripping her head with an iron grip, Mean was unable to pull away, and could only bear with it, as she rolled her eyes to the back because of theck of oxygen.
But this was exactly what she wanted as evidenced by Mean''s rear, which had almost turned into a sprinkler, letting out short bursts of fluids with each of Alexander''s thrusts.
"Ahhhh, Mean¡I always wanted to do this. To destroy that bitchy throat of yours," Alexander shouted as forcefully deepthroated the tight canal, pleasure welling up from Mean''s foamy, wet insides as her tongue coiled around his flesh shaft and pulled back his foreskin, letting his sensitive ns leaking precum to paint the warm, moist, tight tunnel of pleasure as his personal territory.
"Mmmm...Hmmm¡Aghhhh.." Mean only had whites in her eyes as she moaned with each thrust, while she screamed inside her head in ecstasy, ''Yes! Alex yes! It feels too good. The precum is so thick and tastes so strong and musky. And the cock is so hard and fat that it feels like it''s gonna destroy my throat. Ahh, yes, harder! Use my mouth as your cock-sleeve and pound it even harder.''
Mean was loving every second of this painful experience while drool and snort spluttered out of her mouth and nose.
And soon, Alexander was ready to release as he started rapidly thrusting against her, "Mean, here ites. Take everything."
With this warning, Alexander jammed his mouth against the cute twitching of the helpless girl underneath, pushed his ns all way into Mean''s throat like he always liked to do, and with a grunt deposited his load directly into Mean''s belly, "Arghhh¡splurt, splurt¡splurt."
"Ghoo¡.! Mmmmgh?" Mean could only bulge her eyes even wider while letting out another wave of moans as she felt the hot, steamy cream slip down her throat, filling her body with scorching pleasure as it spasmed with another orgasm.
Mean instinctively widened her gullet to let the thick, ropy river flow inside her and gulped the delicious drink down as soon as possible, her body shivering in delight at the amazing richness of the semen.
Alexander held Mean''s head tightly to his crotch as he dumped everyst bit of fluid in his pipes, painting Mean''s insides and making her gag at the extraordinary amount, causing the extra sperm to drip out of her lips or bubble out of her nose, staining her flushed face.
Her insides had be a swamp of saliva, pre-cum, and cum and the exquisite mixture made Mean drown herself in the exotic vor, ''Ahhh..Alex''s sperm tastes divine- bitter, and musky, my mouth is gonna smell like cum for weeks.''
''More! I want more!'' Mean pushed her tongue against the shaft and sucked out all the leftovers.
Finally, after feeling like he had fully emptied himself for this round. Alexander let go of the cute head, slipping his hard cock out with a pop and letting Mean have a much-needed breather.
"Mmmm¡cough...Ueeh...Ahhh," Mean coughed and belched, heavily panting and causing some of the leftover milk to ooze out of her mouth and nose.
"Ahh, letting all the good stuff go to waste. Here let me clean you up," Seeing Mean spill such ''precious'' goods, Cambyses quickly came up and then started licking Mean all over the face, cleaning up all the snorted-out cum, and letting Mean moan again in joy.
And the two girls even started kissing at one point, Cambyses finding the smell of Mean''s breath mixed with Alexander''s scent extremely alluring.
"So, was Mean a good enough surprise for you?" Cambyses then asked Alexander with a sly smile on her.
"Yes. Very much so." Alexander grinned a reply, feeling Cambyses had over delivered on her promise.
So he praised, "Who would have thought that the usually feisty Mean would be a masochistic pig in bed? This is such a gap between characters!"
"Right! Right! I was also surprised about it at first," Cambyses nodded approvingly.
And then she turned to Mean.
"And, how was it for you? Did my little ve enjoy herself?" Cambyses asked in a yful tone.
"Haaa, haa, ye..yes mistress," Mean answered between panting, describing, "Mean loved master''s stiff thick cock. The veins on the shaft were so hot and throbbing and the way master pounded Mean''s tiny mouth-pussy with no mercy made Mean cream herself god knows how many times."
"And then there was the sperm. Ahhh, the sperm," Mean had a reminiscent look on her wide grinning face, ''It was so thick and creamy. And so filling that my belly feels full now."
"Ohhh! I wonder if I will get pregnant from eating so much of it," Mean had an enormous grin on her face as she said it, with almost pink hearts appearing in her eyes.
"Haaahaahaa," Cambyses giggled hearing Mean''s report.
And then turned to Alexander with a teasing smile, "So, does Alex love his small, masochistic fuck-pig?"
His turgid little brother gave the answer.
He was ready for round two- taking his prize.
Chapter 217 Means Night (R-18) (Part-4)
After the girls finally snapped out of their ecstatic pleasure, Cambyses helped Mean get up from her kneeling position and made her stand up.
"Alex, go sit on the edge of the bed," Cambyses then gestured, who followed the instruction with teeming curiosity in his heart.
''Does she have more surprises for me?'' Alexander expectantly thought.
With Alexander sitting down, Mean was then instructed to go sit on Alexander''sp, which soon caused Alexander''s groin to feel a soft, warm, squishy sensation as Mean''s adorable, tiny butt made Alexander''s crouch her chair, her wet slit kissing Alexander''s hard little brother and slobbering it with her honey.
Alexander''s nose twitched as he took in the earthy smell of Mean''s jet, ck hair and the fruity odor emitting from her nape, as she subconsciously grabbed the girl by the waist to steady herself, while his little brother hit excitedly against Mean''s seal flower, impatient to taste the heavy tunnel.
"Hehe, it feels like I a have cock growing out of me," Mean giggled as she closed her beautiful thighs, trapping Alexander''s cock in between the creamy flesh, and started grinding against it, making Alexander moan in pleasure.
While the couple was flirting with each, Cambyses was making her own preparation.
"Meaaan, look at what I got?" Cambyses called out the name with a long drawn-out cry as she slightly swung the thing she had bought out from her trunk.
It was a thin, ck crop, bound in leather!
And it suspiciously looked simr to the ones used by Lady Inayh and Mikaya.
''Where did she get that?'' Alexander wondered.
The sight of the ck small instrument had a far greater effect on Mean, who although never experienced it, certainly could imagine the pain and pleasure it could dish out.
"Th..that!" Mean''s voice quivered in anticipation and her eyes twinkled in delight as her cave sshed itself onto Alexander''s hard member, causing Alexander tobel Mean as a ''Pervert''.
Cambyses floated towards the two like a lewd fairy, and finally, at her desired ce, she put her hands on bent hips, twirled the crop in her hand, and smirked a devilish smile at Mean, "Ready?"
"Ye..yesh," Mean was so excited that her olive skin had be flushed to be pinkish red and she had difficulty even forming coherent words.
"Good¡" Cambyses slowly let out a purr as her crop slowly caressed Mean''s nubile body, starting from her slim, beautiful neck, going over her delicate corbones, exploring her exposed chest, poking her perky nipples, caressing her lean midriff, rubbing her tiny cute belly button and atst ending at her hairless pubes.
"Ahhh," Just imagining the kind of pleasure the tiny crop would give her made Mean moan and she came again.
Sending a smirk at the hopeless masochist to her dreams, Cambyses decided it was time to get the party going, and so she asked her, "Now, beg your master for it, *smack*!" with a hit on her left nipple.
"Yesss," Mean huffed in joy as the strike was even more pleasurable than she had imagined.
And then following her mistress''smand, Mean started grinding her flower even more strongly against Alexander''s hard organ as she begged, "Master, I beseech you to take that long, fat cock and pound this little bitch''s pussy to hell, *smack*"
Cambyses rewarded Mean''s right nipple with a kiss with her crop for her nicenguage.
Thus Alexander decided to do just that as he slowly started to insert himself into the tiny hole, taking care to make the experience as painless as possible.
But this act was quickly opposed by Cambyses, "Stop Alex!"
And as Alexander turned to look at Cambyses to know what was the problem, he meet a grinning face highlighted with an almost sadistic glow, "Alex, to im your prize you must push down the hopeless slut in one go!"
"Wha,,,,?" Alexander was rmed hearing this.
Mean''s hole was really small and even if she enjoyed pain, there was a difference between pleasurable pain and harmful pration.
If Alexander''s giant spear really were to skewer the petite girl in one go, he truly feared for the girl.
And thus it made him all the more astonished by Cambyses''s advice as he knew the girl would never make such a rudimentary mistake.
"Stop thinking about it too hard and just do what I say." Noticing Alexander''s reluctance, Cambyses repeated in a hurried voice, she being the only one knowing Mean''s true capabilities.
"Yeah, destroy my pussy in one hit, you sissy," Mean taunted.
Thest word lit a me of rage in Alexander, ''If you want it to hurt so bad, then let me hurt you as much as possible."
So, he lifted Mean up by grabbing her under the armpits, positioned her pink treasure above his upright cock, and then gritting his teeth, in one swift motion fiercely bought down the light body on his thick rod, impaling the petite girl on his sharp spear.
"Ehhaahhha," Mean let off an ear-splitting, high-pitched cry that made Alexander''s ears ring like the church bell, while at the same time, she lost control of her sphincter and cummed at the same time, the fluid mixture wetting the carpet just in front of Cambyses''s feet, with a thin, tiny trickle of blood snaking out of the ce they were joined, the proof of Mean losing her maidenhood and bing a woman.
''Ahhh, yes. My pussy feels like it''s on fire. Ohh,,,god I can''t breathe ..haaaa. It''s feeling me up so much'', Mean screamed with ecstasy inside her head, as she arched her back like a bow and her eyes turned white with pain and pleasure.
Feeling the thick rod pry open her sealed cave doors and pierce her entirely in one go, Mean enjoyed the mind-bending sensation of ripping open her insides and destroying her tight canal.
For her, it felt like she was both in heaven and hell and it made Meane again and again.
But unlike Mean, who considered herself to be in high heaven, Alexander considered himself to be in high hell.
''Fuck¡ it''s too tight,'' Alexander cursed as he knew this would happen as evidenced earlier by the trouble he was having fitting just one finger.
But still, the true extent of the tightness caught Alexander off-guard as he clenched his teeth in pain.
For Alexander, this level of tightness exceeded what was enjoyable and entered the range of painful, something, unlike Mean, he didn''t enjoy.
''Arggh, it''s too small and the walls are too strong. They want to snap me in two¡no, they are gonna snap me in two,'' Alexander agonized in his head.
But contrary to what he was feeling, his little brother was also loving his new environment.
Mean''s insides were nothing like Alexander had ever experienced, tight to the point of being oppressive, hot and moist like a steam cooker, and the pi¨¨ce de r¨¦sistance, the walls, that had, what to Alexander felt like tiny, bumpy, cilia like hairs on them, which gave overwhelming pleasure to its invader.
These cilia-like bumps served their guest with the utmost hospitality, caressing along the shaft, squeezing the ns, kissing the urethra, and most of all tickling the frenulum, driving Alexander quickly towards a release.
Only Alexander''s sheer pride as a man and the morbid fear of being called a quick shot by Cambyses kept him from releasing his seeds early.
But this dilemma also managed to prove something else to Alexander.
It proved that though Mean might becking the sheer physical assets aspared to his other girls, in terms of the quality of pussy, she was unmatched.
The tightness, moistness and the ability to squeeze the cock using the cilia-like bumps almost like an acupuncture treatment convinced Alexander of that fact.
Cambyses patiently watched the couple snuggly fit themselves inside each other, her hands itching to start conducting the real show.
But for now, she forced herself to hold back, knowing if she were to start it prematurely, it would not be enjoyable to anyone.
Instead, she focused her attention on the state of the man and woman currently inmunion and found both of them to be ravishing.
Mean had her head arched back, her spine bent like a bow, her cute, red tongue rolling out and moaning in agonizing pleasure.
Her bottom looked like a leaky faucet, washing away the red proof of her innocence, and preparing herself to receive her first pounding.
On the other, the owner of the thick club that was supposed to be the one doing the pounding seemed to be in pain, his breathing rugged and deep, as if he was trying to hold back his release, while he tried to adjust himself to the extreme vice-like grip on his most sensitive part of the body.
''If Alexes from this so quickly, I will not let this go a month!'' Cambyses sneered in her heart.
Soon, after about a minute or two, the duo had managed to steady themselves as Mean hade back to earth and Alexander could again think without immediately risking an embarrassing ejaction.
Thus it was time for Cambyses to step in.
Chapter 218 Means Night (R-18) (Part-5)
Cambyses relished the scene of Mean being impaled by Alexander.
Finally, the two sisters were bound for life with one man.
It seemed so beautiful to her that she wanted to make a sculpture of the event.
But s, she would now have to break this beautiful moment to make an even better piece of art.
"Alex, start ramming Mean without any concern. Don''t stop!" Using her crop in the air, she instructed Alexander.
Alexander was also starting to feel a bit frustrated with just being inside the cave and not doing anything.
His instincts screamed at him to move.
And so he obeyed, as she started swinging his strong hips against the small cave, sending mighty thrusts against the defenseless cave and making Mean scream in rapturous joy, "Yess¡.harder, deeper. Pierce my womb and fuck me to death! Arghhh."
Cambyses also started giving her blessing to the couple, albeit a bit differently than how it was usually done.
Smack! Whip! Crack!
She started raining blows down on Mean''s smooth, pristine skin, leaving beautiful, red decorative marks and making Mean cry even louder.
"Yes..mistress, *smack*. Punish me. Punish this masochistic pig for her existence *smack*," Mean felt pleasure explode inside her each time a strikended on her chest, cherries, or belly, the crisps sound of the hits and the stinging, burning sensation making her lower half drool without restraint.
Cambyses held little back as she pleasured Mean, soon turning the little body into a canvas where she drew one of her best works- crisscrossed red lines against an olive background, and Mean enjoyed everyst second of it.
"Ohhh, my body¡my body feels like it''s on fire. Hiiiii¡mnnn.. my womb aches with every strike. Ahhh, mistress more, Mean...Mean loves you so hit me more," Mean begged as the tiny crop whipped across her smooth skin.
"Hehehe, my cute Mean, ohhh, my piggy Mean," Cambyses grinned hearing Mean''s moans as she did exactly as asked, making delicate, crisp sounds, while finding the new power she got wielding the tiny instrument intoxicating.
Alexander too stepped up his game, moving his arms up from the willow waists to Mean''s cheery nipples, and bringing them under his mercy, twisting them, pulling them, pinching them, and kneading them as he fiercely pounded from below, each thrust feeling heavenly.
"Mean¡you tight little bunny. Where has your dirty, little cunt been? It''s too good." Alexander growled as he nibbled on her adorable earlobes, loving the pleasure he was feeling down.
"Ahhh ¡yes¡so hot ¡" Mean moaned in delirium as Alexander made Mean''s tight body bounce on his fat cock for god knows how long, loving the sensation of the tiny ass hitting his pubes as they made a nasty, wet, smashing sound, each time producing a jubnt cry from Mean when Alexander thrusted deep into her tight, slimy tunnel, hitting her most delightful spot.
"Ahhhh, so rough Alex! Ohhh, and you are kissing my baby room every time. Mmmm, do you want to see a tiny girl like me with a full pregnant belly so badly, hehe," Mean giggled lecherously as her pussy squelched and echoed in euphoria.
And the image conjured up by Mean''s dirty talks only spurred Alexander even more.
Finally, after some time Alexander was finally ready to release his load inside Mean''s most precious part and im her as his own.
"Ahhh,ing," Alexander grunted as Mean felt the rod inside her get even bigger inside her sodden tunnel.
*Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*
Alexander made rapid, brutal thrusts as he approached thest spurts, while Cambyses began to target Mean''s pubes with her strikes, making Mean howl, "Ahhh! Ahhh! So, rough. Yes¡it''s throbbing¡yes¡it''sing."
Atst, Alexander''s hips buckled and released, *splurt*, *splurt*, *splurt*.
Mean''s body began to spasm as she reached orgasm too, shooting her fluids and feeling overwhelming ecstasy spread through her body.
Her body arched upward while Alexander''s meat stick swelled inside her and deposited its hot load, thebined pleasures of the climax and the sperm filling her up making her scream, "Ahhh¡sooo hot. It''s filling my womb to the brim."
Alexander kept Mean pinned to his body, cherishing the waves of pleasure assaulting him as his organ spasmed, and endeavored to pump Mean full of the good stuff, coating her insides pure white.
"Huff¡huff¡huff,"
Both gasped and panted in joyous exhaustion as they attempted to catch a breath, Alexander still keeping his little brothers inside the snug, warm oven as he hugged the tiny body within his firm, muscr arms, lovingly caressing the flushed skin and soothing the burning sensation from all the strikes.
"Ahhh¡master¡love Mean more," Mean muttered with a zed voice, for which she got another hot, wet kiss from Alexander.
"Chuu...Mmmm...Suuuck," The duo tongued each other.
"Ah, I want to do too," Cambyses got a tad jealous at the lovey-dovey scene and touted.
Compared to the other two, she had gotten no love and her snatch was feeling empty and frustrated.
Sensing this Alexander pulled off the kiss and asked, "Both of you minxese here and stick your tongues out."
"Aaaaaaahhh," And the girls obeyed without question, squishing their cheeks together and rolling out their tongues fully.
And then Alexander sent out his own tongue to greet the twodies as their three tongues licked, sucked, and kissed each other, producing a lewd cocktail of three different vors that each of them drank with abandon.
These acts soon had Alexander''s little brother up and roaring and Mean squealed in delight, "Ah, Alex is up again."
"Hehe, let''s go in the ass then," Cambyses grinned in anticipation.
But Mean pleaded, "Mistress, Mean wants it again in my pussy. I want to enjoy it another time."
She had fallen in love with the sensation of the sperm fountain hitting her walls and scalding them with the white, hot fluid and wanted it again.
Cambyses did not object to this want and smiled, "Good, let''s go another round."
And so Alexander began thrusting from below soon, causing Mean to experience another round of carnal pleasure.
And after Alexander shot his second batch, Mean became so tired, she fell asleep on hisp, making Alexander''s conquest of Mean''s rear not possible today.
So, he lifted the girl up, his penis making a dirty plop sound as it exited the warm cave, and gently tucked the girl into bed, wrapping her warmly in the woolen nket.
"So, how was it?" Cambyses had a victorious smile on her face as she asked if Alexander had enjoyed her little surprise.
"It''s not over yet is it? I haven''t still done you, have I?" Alexander replied with a smile, his little brother ready to mate with Cambyses''s muddy cave.
"Hehe, so you have at least decided to remember poor old me?" Cambyses had a fake wounded tone to her voice, though her eyes twinkled with joy.
And Alexander decided to give her exactly what her heart desired.
"Lay down, raise your ass high and open your cheeks for me?" Alexander imperiouslymanded.
And Cambyses eagerly posed the most shameful position, letting Alexander not only see the pink flower and also separating her huge ass to reveal her tiny, dirty hole.
"*Smack*, now greet your master, ve!" Alexander started the y,nding a loud spank on Cambyses''s most beautiful part, the butt.
But the cheeky Cambyses proved that she will always be cheeky.
Referring to her butthole, Cambyses in a hot, husky, tone teased Alexander, "Disobedient ve, you started your life cleaning the stuffing out of his hole. So, worship your mistress''s filthy hole and praise it for giving meaning to your life."
Cambyses''s intention was simple, to push Alexander to spank her severely.
But this y went a bit off script, as instead of the powerful strike, Cambyses felt a warm breath on her hole and then a wet sensation.
"Kyaahh," Cambyses squealed, never thinking Alexander would actually do that.
So she pleaded guiltily, "No, Alex, punish me. I''ve been naughty today. I got jealous today when you gave Tayin that post, I was salty when you offered Gelene that new business, and I mocked you when you said things I didn''t like."
"So, hit me, beat me, punish me," Cambyses decided on her own punishment.
But Alexander wasn''t that petty and these minor infractions went over his head.
He knew that it was a woman''s job to get jealous and so, raising his head out of Cambyses''s musky, salty butt, Alexander cooed, "Silly girl, you worry too much. Remember you will always be my favorite."
"Ahhh, no, Alex, don''t be so gentle. Ahh¡you can''t say such words and then just push your tongue inside. Ahhh, pinching my clit too¡eeehhh, cumming!" Stimted by Alexander''s words and action, Cambyses squirted her first orgasm.
And then for the next while, putting Cambyses in the doggy pose, Alexander grabbed her ponytail and rode her like a horse, fiercely tugging the mass of hair as he pounded the wet pussy mercilessly, pping his strong waist against Cambyses''s slim waist, her butt hitting him every time he thrusted inside and creating a lewd echo in the room.
They changed positions multiple times from doggy to missionary to cowgirl during their lovemaking, until Cambyses had three shots in her baby room, stuffed to the brim.
Chapter 219 Council Meeting (Part-1)
Alexander attended the next morning''s meeting with his advisors and there were little surprises for him.
The various advisors gave them their usual daily reports and Alexander found nothing he needed to address himself.
Thus Alexander decided to give some additional instructions to them which he didn''t get the time to address yesterday or amend a few given ones .
He first addressed his militarymander.
"I have noticed that my lords are all speaking in Thesian." Alexander began and then basically said the same things he told the girls.
He said, "But remember our soldiers will be Adhanians, our enemies will be Adhanians, and our homes are in Adhania. So, I hope you gentlemen can take the time to learn Azhak. It will be our officialnguage from now on."
This did cause some grumbling, but they understood Alexander''s point, that from the day they choose toe with him to Zanzan, they were no longer Thesians but Adhanians, and that it was imperative that they tried to ustom themselves as Adhanians.
As many relished the memories of their homnd, suddenly Melodias''s thought jumped to a relevant topic regarding Thesos, "My lord, what about our families in Thesos? When will we get to see them?"
Alexander did promise to bring their families to Zanzan safely and free of cost and they were eager to know the progress of that endeavor.
"ording to Lady Inayah, the letters and the few men that you selected to deliver them to your family have likelynded in a neutral port of Thesos. From there, these men will have to travel to each of their individual locations to deliver the letter and to let the recipients know that the contents of the letter are true and not fraudulent. They will also need to answer any inquiries the families might have about Adhania, Zanzan or other general questions."
Alexander further added, "Because of this, these people cannot hand over the letters to third for quicker delivery and so we estimate it will take around two months to deliver the letter, get the families ready and then bring all of them to a port city to board the ships."
Alexander then made others focus on the ships, "Lady Inayah said the same ships we used toe to Zanzan will be used to bring your rtives. By her words, because the ships will travel against the wind on their return trip, they will take thrice as long to return to Agnirat, and then they will need to restock and resupply there will need some more time. After which they will start their journey for Thesos, which we estimate to be around mid-December."
"These ships will travels along the coastline of Thesos, and stop at every neutral port to take any of the families there to Zanzan and collect the roughly twenty, twenty-five thousand people. Once a group of ships has been filled, they will make for Zanzan and so you can expect to see your families anywhere from the end of January to the end of February. So at most four months from now." Alexander gave an entire status report to calm everyone''s nerves down.
He had spent an enormous amount to arrange for the families of the four thousand mercenaries and one thousand Cantagenan and Sycarians, estimating the bill toe at around five-hundred ropals per person and praying to god that no too big of a fuck up happened.
This money was spent on giving the messenger enough money to cover all costs during the journey, from ordinary expenses like food, lodging, and transport to extraordinary costs like bribes and gifts. They were also given enough money to pay for the migrating families'' costs, while also being paid a handsome sry.
Then there we the ships, which took the lion''s share of the expense.
Lady Inayah had only given Alexander the ships for free only for a single use, and so this time he had to charter the ships.
And though the beautifuldy had not ripped him off, Alexander for the first time understood just how damn expensive ships were to have.
But Alexander still coughed up the price because the price was worth it.
"Hehe, does Lord Melodias want to meet his family as a shordar that badly?" Menes yfully poked Melodias for his impatience after Alexander''s speech, causing thetter to give a shy smile.
"Haha, Lord Melodias is a familiar man. That''s good, that''s good," Heliptos too joined the conversation with a chuckle.
And Alexander too jumped in, inquiring, "Does Lord Melodias want to officially be a shordar before your family arrives, or after?"
This being a question and being asked by the most important person in the room, Melodias turned to Alexander and gave an unsure answer, "This¡I¡umm..before would.."
Seeing Melodias dither, Alexander made the decision for him, "We will hold the official ceremony in March, using the spring harvest. Everyone''s family will be hopefully here by then and such happiness is better shared with those closest to you."
With Alexander having spoken about the matter, no one found it appropriate to challenge it and thus the date became decided.
Done with dealing with this tangent, Alexander then bought up another issue about the military, something ording to Cambyses, Menes had found some fault with.
"Some of you might already know, but for those who do not, I have decided to create a new internal security force to rece the city guards called the police force."Alexander shot a nce at Menes as he said this and found the giant paying all his attention to what Alexander was going to say.
So he continued, "The force of a thousand men will be led by my wife Cambyses with Camius as the assistant chief of police and Bartholomew as the deputy."
Putting a girl in charge of a man''s job bought some scowls from ultra-traditionalists like the old man Menicus and they had a mind to protest.
But after knowing it was Camius and Bartholomew running the show, any such objections disappeared as these smart men understood this way of putting a puppet as the leader was Alexander''s way of ensuring the loyalty of the men to his house.
No one ever dreamed of the possibility that the situation could be reversed, with Camius being an absent puppet, off doing his own thing, while Cambyses ran the whole show.
But such concerns were not within their consideration, as the immediate concern for Menes was for Alexander to solve the manpower transfer issue.
And Alexander did just that, "The first five hundred will be taken from the veteran mercenaries. And thest five hundred will be taken from the Adhanians that havee with us and from the free,w-abiding Zanzanians."
The reason why Alexander didn''t choose the police force to be made up entirely of mercenaries was because he feared that the people might not like foreigners enforcing thew and order.
And the reason it was notposed of only the natives was obvious, theycked the skill and more importantly the loyalty.
Thus the mixture.
Alexander then turned to Menes and instructed, "So, you will need to recruit not three hundred, or eight hundred as you might have thought, but due to reasons I will exin next, thirteen hundred."
Menes knew about the personal transfer and seemed dissatisfied with it, the reason for which he let Alexander know, "Lord Pasha, having five hundred prime, veteran soldiers do nothing but catch petty thieves and scoundrels seems very wasteful. I urge you to reconsider."
"I too agree with General Menes." The senior old man Menicus gave his support for Mean.
While he opinioned, "I understand that this new police force will need some people to show the ropes to the green recruits. So, the five hundred can be employed in the civilian sector for some time."
"But once they have finished teaching the novices, I advise the pasha to let them back into the army. Such good troops should be on the battlefield." Menicus stated.
But although Menicus and Menes made some great points, Alexander saw the problem differently.
"My militarymanders have made some great points and I''m very happy to see that you are taking the initiative to think on your own and saying what you think is right, That is great!" Alexander first praised them for engaging in such fruitful dialogue.
''Therees the but,'' Knowing Alexander''s speech pattern, everyone in the room
was experienced enough to know what wasing.
And it came just as they had prophesied, "But I believe these five hundred men as vital to our security," Alexander stated.
And then elucidated, "This is because, in the future, many times our army will go for distant campaigns, leaving only a small garrison stationed in the city. And if somehow our city is attacked or besieged then, these five hundred veterans will be our trump card."
"Under their calm leadership, the hastily gathered, poorly trained, and likely low morale city defender will not break easily, thus enabling us to hold on in case of such an emergency."
Chapter 220 Widow Marriage Policies
Alexander''s detailed reasoning disyed that he had given the decision far greater thought than the detractors, causing Menes and Meniscus to nod in defeat.
"The pasha is always ten steps ahead of this old man," Menicus exaggeratedly praised.
"Haha, senior tters me," Alexander humbly smiled, though didn''t outright dismiss the im.
Instead, Melodias chimed in with an even bigger im, "My lords, I believe the pasha is even more intelligent than that!"
And as the men turned to look at him, Melodias exined, "I say this because these five hundred soldiers can also be used as instructors to raise, train, and send reinforcements to the front lines if the need ever arises. So, I believe these soldiers must stay in the new police force."
Melodias expressed his support for Alexander.
Though hearing Melodias praise him, Alexander had half a mind to say this out aloud, ''You are giving me too much credit here, man. That thought never crossed my mind.''
But since Melodias was so graciously offering, and feeling that saying this would embarrass the man, Alexander just shut up, smiled, and nodded.
Melodias and Alexander''s reasoning convinced the tall general for the necessity for the transfer, but that gave another problem for Menes, "Pasha, where should I find thirteen hundred good, strong, men? Everyone is working on something or the other?"
"Hmmm," Humming a bit, Alexander tried to think of a solution and finding one answered, "I will sell the military one thousand of my ves. And if they fight for us for four years, they will be set free. Is that okay?"
Using ves as armies were not without risk as giving the oppressed the weapons one would need to free themselves was not a good idea.
But examples of such did exist in Alexander''s past life, the most famous being the Ottoman Janissaries and this life, and because the number Alexander proposed was rtively very small, only one-fifth of the total army, with even the promise of emancipation in a short time, the chances of rebellion was quite small.
"The pasha is wise. With the ves outnumbered and given an easier way out, they can be trusted not to revolt," Menicus said out loud Alexander''s thoughts, showing the old man''s deep grasp on human phycology.
"Yes, that''s right. Rebellion urs either when one is ced in an abject situation with one hope of salvation or when the governing body is perceived as being too weak. We must be neither." Alexander advised his retainers, which drew understanding looks from them.
With the manpower problems solved for now, Alexander then raised a topic that hade to him yesterday night while discussing the business with Ophenia.
"My lords, it hase to my attention that there are a lot of widows and orphans in the city, their male rtives dead or missing. How do you n to rectify this imbnce?" Alexander tested his advisors.
Because women were traditionally not allowed to work and because one needed to stay in the house to cook, clean, and take care of the children, it was imperative for these women to find a partner.
"You are very correct that this is a problem, pasha. Many of these girls you mentioned have as such turned to prostitution. They even shamelessly show their bodies off in broad daylight." Heliptos, a traditionally conservative man found such open disys of promiscuity scandalous as he eximed to Alexander.
"My lord pasha, they even try to entice my men during work hours. It is affecting their speed," Diagnosis, who was in charge of making the housesined.
"Many in the army also visit these girls. It''s affecting army cohesion," Melodias gravely warned.
"Hmm, I have also noticed these problems mentioned by everyone." Menicus had a worried frown on his voice as he said so, adding, "And the situation is not just bad for us. It is in fact even worse for the girls. With no one to take care of them, they have nothing and are desperate."
"Indeed." Menes nodded in agreement, saying "And such a situation makes them quite vulnerable to opportunistic men. Without a man''s protection and having no will of their previous husband or guardian to go with it, any man has the legal right to snatch their property or worse the women themselves."
Menes rightly pointed out how dangerous the situation was for many women, as many ve traders operated in such ways, kidnapping innocent, defenseless women and selling them elsewhere.
In fact, Menes and his mother, who died shortly after capture, were made ves like that.
And the reason why women were particrly so vulnerable, besides being physically weaker, was because byw women had no real right to inheritnd, money, or property.
They could do it if a male guardian left it to them in an explicit will, but unlike the sons, who would by default inherit their father''s possession upon thetter''s death, the mothers and daughters could not.
As a matter of fact, a woman''s existence was barely acknowledged in the eyes of thew, which allowed such tragedies, along with much more horrific ones to ur.
Alexander thought about the legal aspect of it when Menes bought it up, making a mental note, ''I should make aw about that.''
But immediately afterward, the next musing that came to him was, ''But will anyone follow it?''
Alexander felt that due to the cultural norm of such practices in Adhanian, trying to bind people with thew might be simr to the US''s prohibitionw, utterly ineffective and so he intended to first raise the female standing in the society through employment and education before passing, ording to many males in the society, such harsh propertyws.
"The army should have a lot of bachelors. We can encourage them." Grahtos joined the conversation and gave the same, easy answer that Alexander had thought of.
"Also many of the freed Cantagenan ves are looking for a girl," Jazum, who employed a lot of them in brick making, informed Alexander.
"Hmm, good. Then how should we encourage them?" Alexander asked his second question.
"Perhaps the pasha can lead by example," Menicus half teased, half seriouslymented, his lips curling up at the yful jest.
"Haha, yes, yes. We are all very eager to meet the young pasha as soon as possible," Melodias too supported Menicus with a loudugh.
And soon the others too chuckled and teased Alexander using the joke.
Alexander could only purse his lips and gave a shy smile at these fun-hearted banters while thinking, ''I should set up a date for my marriage with Cam.''
"My lords, thank you for your well-wishes. It touches the deepest part of my heart that you express such enthusiasm for my unborn son," Alexander did a small bow.
"But, now is not the right time to marry a native. Maybe sometimeter."
Nobody realistically expected a pasha like Alexander to marry amoner, it was all some light fun, and so Heliptos gave the serious answer, "My lord, I don''t think they need any encouragement. Only the fact that they can inherit all the woman''s property should be enough to entice the men. What more can they want?"
As usual, the penny-pinching Heliptos gave a way to avoid spending any money.
And this time Alexander agreed with him.
And the others seem to too as Menicus voiced, "I think so too. The only reason the men have not done so is probably because they have not yet thought about it."
"Hmmm, so is that what all my advisors propose? To make it an official announcement, urging the men to marry Adhanian women?" Alexander gave a t, exaggerated wide smile as he asked.
"Yes...unless the pasha has anything to add?" After confirming Alexander''s statement with a nod, Menicus sent him another cautionary inquiry.
Usually, such a question by Alexander would be seeded by him pointing out a fact the others had missed.
But this time, something different happened.
This time, Alexander decided not to spoon-feed the problem he had noticed.
.Instead, he smiled and said, "There is a tiny problem with the policy proposed by the lords. But it is nothing major and will likely manifest only after a few years. So, it will be a good lesson for us all then, reminding us that even we are fallible in our decision-making."
Although Alexader used ''us'', everyone understood he was just being polite and it meant ''you''.
This statement, indicating Alexandre would not tell them the fault surprised many and so, all the leaders, both military and civilian racked their brains to find the so-called w in their seemingly wless n.
And it would be four yearster that this issue would rear its ugly, where many instances of women being married for their money and then being prompted divorced by their new husbands, with all their wealth being transferred to their ex-husbands and thus them bing penniless in the process, woulde to light, prompting Alexander to pass a neww decreeing, ''All marriages mustst eight years for such wealth transfers to take ce.''
Chapter 221 Council Meeting (Part-2)
Alexander''s foresight regarding this incident would help him gain much political capital four yearster when his governance would extend over a much greater area, with more lords under him, with all the veteran lords saying ''The lord can think of things in seconds that we can''t think of in years.''
But all these were future events as for now Alexander turned to the next topic of the day, something that was in the department of Grahtos.
"Grahtos, how is Laykash?" He first asked about the brave boy that basically got him the city and thus his position,
"By the grace of the pasha, he is recovering well." Grahtos knew Alexander had a special liking for the boy and so he had always kept a close eye on him, regrly checking up on his health.
He further added, "His bandages are regrly changed to prevent any infection as youmanded and the doctors are confident that he will be able to walk in another month and ride in another further one to two."
Alexander had attached the medical clinic to the army and because Cambyses or Mean could not always be there, put a freed ve woman by the name of Jupetus and her husband Hiperteom as the chief physicians, with special instructions to look that the Sycarian boy.
"Good, tell him that I hope he recovers by spring. I have a special job for him." Alexander enigmatically smiled as he said such, drawing many curious and thoughtful faces.
Not giving them much else to go on, Alexander then went back to a topic he had eluded to, as turned to Menes and said, "Remember the five hundred Sycarian horsemen that I told you to transform into infantry? Well, they will be used in a different theatre and so that order will have to be rescinded."
Alexander hade to this decision after yesterday''s talk with Camius and decided to use these men as special forces.
''So that''s where the thirteen hundred number came from! No, it''s more than that because Alex took some for his pce guards.'' Menes did the math in his head after Alexander''s exnation and found the manpower shortage irritating.
When Alexander bought up the matter of horsemen, Grahtos could not help but ask, "My lord, when will we get to see the new cavalry tactics you have been eluding to?"
''Calm down mate! I only said it yesterday,'' Alexander grumbled inside his heart, though he couldn''t fault Grahtos for his passion.
Instead of giving a direct answer, Alexander gave a light smile to Harun and Krishok who he had put in charge of the new equipment and these men apologetically said, "Sorry, my lord. Harun is making the bronze pieces for the blowers and Krishok the leather."
"So, the thing you called the stirrups, the huge horse armor, and the special armor with the hook will be dyed by at least two weeks."
This answer deted the cavalry captain a bit, as he was eager to know what these things were and how they operated, while Alexander consoled, "Good thingse to those with patience."
Alexander felt like he had addressed everything that needed to be done regarding the military and then decided to move on the civilian matters.
Here he was told everything was going well which pleased him and then instructed, "Jazum, Uzak, the women that are in the streets selling their bodies for a pittance. Employ all of them by this week. Have them make bricks and dig ditched instead of wasting their days doing such useless things."
"Yes, my lord," The men replied in a chorus.
Alexander had given them simr instructions just yesterday and they were still implementing them.
"Also," Alexander was not finished, as he turned to Jazum, "Jazum, employ the children. Have them do physically less intensive work like cleaning the dirt and molding the bricks. We don''t have the luxury to allow them to just y all day."
ording to Alexander''s estimation. the demand for bricks will be enormous in the very near future, as they would be needed for all the construction projects, from the huge residential buildings to therge aqueducts, to the sewage systems to the huge roadwork and unless Alexander wanted to be supply constrained, he needed to build up a huge stockpile now, no matter the method used.
"As youmand, pasha," The man in charge of the brick manufacturing nodded at the order.
While many mightin that Alexander was employing childbor while in fairness he was, it wasmon for this time period and even more so when it was such desperate times where Alexander need every able pair of hands to pick up the ck.
Pleased with the thought that brick manufacturing will speed up, Alexander then instructed Harun, "Mister Harun, please remember to look out for coal mines within ournd. It is vital for our national interest."
Alexander said this because he would need coal to make coke which was vital for iron smelting in the st furnace and though if he was left with no other choice he could use charcoal in extreme situations, the resultant product will be very poor, requiring much more refinement and so he was quite worried whether they would have it or not.
In fact, this was one of the primary reasons he choose Zanzan as his city of choice as he hoped the mineral-rich hills will contain this elusive ck diamond and he hoped day and night thatdy luck would smile on him.
And Alexander would know within one or two weeks if the goddess would.
"I will send as many people as I can to look for them," Harun promised Alexander that if minable coal existed within hisnds, he will get them.
"Okay, I think that''s all for today." Alexander felt he had finished everything he wanted to talk about today and with a, ''Hope you have a good day, gentlemen,'' he ended the meeting.
And soon the men left, save one, who like yesterday, was told to stay behind, Theocles.
"So, how goes the temple hunting?" Alexander smiled as he asked about his temple''s situation.
And with arge smile, indicating sess, Theocles replied, "By the grace of the goddess and my lord we have indeed chosen a manor suitable to call our temple. And by the guidance of Gaia, its location is also just as your excellency wanted, close to the city center."
He further detailed, "The manor belonged to one Jamidar(Earl) Harkiv who controls the nes of Limaq which is three hundred kilometers from us, around the edge of the province."
Then focusing on the building, Theocles said, "The building is a huge two stories high manor, with high ceiling, arge number of rooms and ample space. And I have already made ns to renovate the lower floor to fit the altar, the goddess''s statue, and to make ce for the congregation."
Atst, Theocles sent a charming smile to Alexander as he pleaded, "My lord, after the renovations areplete, I pray your magnificence will grace our little ce of worship with his divine presence."
"That''s only natural," Alexander promised while waving his palms as a gesture to blow away such concerns.
He further assured, "The goddess''s statue will bepleted as soon as cement production starts in earnest. And once the demand for cement falls, we will start work on an ultimate grand temple for the goddess that will put the main temple of Ramuh to shame."
This im made Theocles''s eyes burn with religious fanatism, as he gazed at Alexander with utmost reverence, not a shred of doubt in his mind about Alexander''s im.
Alexander did not doubt if he were to stab Theocles with a sword right now, he would ask him to please do it again.
''Having loyal fanatics sure is nice,'' Alexander would not deny the immense personal gratification he got from having such blind followers at his beck and call.
But snapping himself out of such tangential thoughts he got to the point of why he had asked Theocles to stay.
"Theocles, as the pope, I made you the archpriest. And I have decided to make a ve of mine called Tayin my sacred priestess." Alexander informed his man.
And then turning to the door, he loudly called out, "Enter."
And immediately afterward, the door was pushed open, and the long-haired beautiful silhouette of a girl came into both man''s view.
It was naturally Ophenia, wearing a gorgeous, golden, full-sleeved one-piece with a full matching set of exquisite golden jewelry, her hair bundled up into a bun and encrusted with golden chains that looked like heavenly floating clouds, her ankles bound by anklets, and her feet raised off the ground with a luxurious pair of golden high heels.
She made her way to her master with her hips swaying in the breeze seductively, the long dress trailing behind her, making the two men too stunned to be momentarily lost for words.
Chapter 222 Ophenia And Theocles (Part 1)
Alexander had always considered Ophenia to be the most beautiful woman in his harem and she had always proved such by looking breathe taking in whatever she wore.
But now that she had actually decided to doll herself up, Alexander understood to just what extent her beauty truly went when Ophenia put in some actual effort.
Looking at her perfect, heart-shaped face, with a tiara on her forehead, Alexander was taken back by the beauty that he had rarely evere across in both his lifetimes as he was once again reminded why even one of the powerhouse of Theos wanted her badly and had schemed toy their ws on her.
''I wonder how beautiful she would look if she wore the dress with her blonde hair,'' Alexander pondered as heid his eyes on the dyed ck hair, realizing Ophenia could be even more beautiful.
And so, he tried to imagine just that, substituting the ck dye with the same color he had once seen in that tent two months ago.
But he failed to do a good superimposition as he had seen the hair under candlelight and the colors were not so vivid then.
While Alexander was in his thoughts, Theocles too was in his, though he onlymented, ''Only someone blessed like my lord deserves such a beautiful woman.''
"Good morning, master," Ophenia performed a perfect bow, letting Alexander have a good look at her luscious, milky flesh and the deep cleavage that held a tiny pendant snuggly housed between them.
Ophenia''s melodious voice finally broke Alexander out of his stupor and he said with a wide grin, "Tayin! Were you waiting long?"
He had asked Ophenia to finish her breakfast and then wait for his call outside the hall room door.
"No, I just got here," Ophenia politely hid the innocent truth.
In fact. she had gotten here just after Alexander had started his meeting because she was mortified at the thought of Alexander calling her name and her not being present.
As a matter of fact, she was so early that Hemicus had gotten his mistress a chair to wait until Alexander finished his council meeting.
"Good, good." Alexander did not pry into such insignificant detail and gestured, "Please, sit, sit."
And once Ophenia took the sit right next to Alexander, even shuffling the chair to get a bit close to Alexander, he introduced the two.
"Tayin, this is Theocles, our archpriest and your senior," Alexander gestured with his palms, causing Ophenia to give a light smile and a tiny nod toward her fellow believer.
And then Alexander introduced Ophenia. "Theocles this is Tayin. The goddess has chosen her as the sacred priestess and designated her as my ve."
After ALexandaer finished his piece, it was Ophenai who initiated the conversation, "I will depend on your guidance, your eminence. Please correct any mistakes I might make," Ophenia politely addressed the as-yet-unfamiliar man.
"Hohoho, Your Sacred Holiness, is being too polite. I don''t dare to dictate a favored chosen by the goddess herself and under the protection of the divine son himself," Theocles courteously returned Ophenia''s greeting, adding, "But I will be avable anytime for any advice if your holiness should ever wish to consult with me."
"Have to two ever met?" Alexander made general, small talk.
"I had seen the sacred priestess in the clinic at our old camp once or twice in passing before. But, we have never been officially introduced till now," Theocles answered with a light smile.
"I''m sorry for not remembering you, Your Eminence," Ophenia had not really paid attention to Theocles until today.
"Um, Tayin here is very special. And as my archpriest, I believe you should know about her," Alexander didn''t think it would be wise to hide Ophenia''s past from Theocles, both because he felt otherwise Theocles might underestimate the girl who was less than half his age but made almost equal to him and because if Theocles ever found out about Ophenia''s past in the future, he might feel bitter about Alexander hiding it from him.
And thus he gave a short and very concise summary about the girl, leaving most of the personal details and only saying that she was taken into the Temple of Shiva to be their prioresses and taught all their scriptures but managed to escape with the marching Cantagenan army due to her father Agapios.
"*Sigh*, your father was a good man, mydy. He didn''t deserve to go like that." Hearing she was Agapios''s daughter, Theocles could not help but give a sigh and reminisce how the general had died, not on the battlefield fighting valiantly but by a freak ident.
For a warrior, this was such a tragedy.
"Thank you, your eminence," Ophenia lightly thanked, her voice calm andposed.
The death of her father was more of a boon than a curse for her.
Even in the alternate best-case scenario, Ophenia would not have the kind of freedom she was enjoying right now.
Theocels then eximed about the temple that Ophenia had ''graduated'' from, "But still, the temple of Shiva is a huge organization. So to have one of their priests join us just goes to show how powerful our goddess Gaia is. She really is the strongest god in the pantheon."
Theocles looked admiringly at Ophenia, finding her to bepetent enough to be his colleague.
''At first, I was surprised by her youth, but as expected, the goddess favors whom she chooses.'' Theocles warned himself in his heart never to question Gaia''s will or ever have simr sphemous thoughts.
"I''m really not as great as you are making me out to be Eminence Theocels, I''m very young and I look forward to your guidance," Ophenia had certainly learned how to butter up her superior.
And although she could have been as bossy as she wanted with Alexander''s support, the girl wanted a harmonious rtionship with her counterpart.
After all, they were of the same mind, pursuing the same goal of propagating the faith of Gaia, so there was no need for internal division.
"Your Holiness tters me. I was only once a small priest in the small Temple of Hellsfa, before I was emunicated for marrying my wife." Since Ophenia had told her past, Theocles felt he needed to reveal some of his too.
Then humbly added, "So, in terms of theological knowledge, it is I who look forward to your guidance."
Alexander was pleased to see the two get along with such civility, at the very least on the surface for now.
Done with the pleasantries, Alexander then instructed Theocles, "Please show Tayin to our temple and help her recruit the priestesses."
"That goes without saying, my lord," Theocles quickly and eagerly replied.
"And also Tayin has the secret forme of the famous medicine made by the Temple of Shiva." The moment Alexander said this, Theocles felt he had gone deaf as he was shocked to the point he questioned his hearing.
''Wha...what did I hear?'' Theocles incoherently mumbled as he wondered if what Alexander was referring to was the same legendary medicine Theocles was thinking about.
The medicine made by the temple of Shiva was legendary across Thesos and Theocles couldn''t believe that Alexander was iming to have it in his possession, gifted by the young girl sitting next to him.
"Truly the sacred priestess is chosen by the goddess. This old man is humbled," Realizing the significance of the drug and what it would mean for Alexander''s faith, Theocles then performed a perfect bow at Ophenia, his respect, and reverence for the girl genuine and palpable.
He didn''t ask how Ophenia had gotten the forme.
For Theocles, the exnation was simple, ''By the grace of god''.
Nor did wonder if it was real or not.
Because since Alexander had said such, then it must be true.
"Eminence Theocles is overreacting. It was all due to the guidance of the goddess and her son. All praise belongs to the goddess and her son." Seeing the bow, Ophenia heaped all her sess on Alexander and his as-yet imaginary forces.
And Theocles too believed such, as he chanted, "All praise belongs to the goddess and her son."
''*Sigh*, Am I the leader of a cult?'' Alexander wondered as he observed the convoluted reasoning of these two.
Then, because he didn''t want to witness even more bizarre happenings he quickly inserted, "To hide the existence of the medicine for now, Tayin will run a brothel at night. I hope you can lend her any assistance she might require," Alexander left the actual details for Ophenia to delineate to Theoclester.
"Of course, of course. Anything and anytime," Theocles grinned the reply, not asking any further questions.
He had agreed to Alexander''s request without thinking too deeply about things like how these two, seemingly opposite institutions were rted, mostly because he didn''t care.
''Since Lord Alexander has deemed such, then it must be for a reason.'' Theocles reasoned with himself.
Such was the power to convince oneself, which was unique to a zealot.
Chapter 223 Ophenia And Theocles (Part-2)
Theocles''s thoughts about Ophenia wereplicated.
At first, he thought the girl to be just a pretty face that managed to somehow win Alexander''s favor.
Of course, he didn''t think it was in any way inappropriate to do such, as being beautiful was perhaps the most criterion for a sacred priestess after piety.
But then his worldview was shattered, not once but consecutively twice.
First, he was surprised to know that they had a potential sessor to the Temple of Shiva as a convert.
Although Alexander had made Ophenia''s escape seem trivial and easy, being an ex-priests he knew very well that it was anything but.
And though he was eager to know the details, he knew not to pry into such personal information.
But this first surprise seemed innocent and trivialpared to the second.
Even now, even with his utmost faith in Alexander, Theocles was having a hard time believing they had the forme to the legendary Shiva drug.
Any decent Thesian knew of its fabled properties which went from near realistic ones like being able to let a man enjoy for a whole night without wilting, to fantastical ims that it could make any woman fall madly in love with any man using it.
And Theocles was certainly interested to know in what spectrum of truth did those ims lie.
But what he was more interested to know was how Ophenia had managed to get her hands on the stuff.
''*Sigh*, beaten by a girl,'' Theoclesmpooned in his heart, as he clearly knew the significance of the drug and its would-be effect on the new faith.
And this produced a bittersweet feeling inside him, happy that fellow followers will soon flock to the new belief and also bitter that he was not the one that bought Alexander the miracle drug.
''I can''t lose to a junior, much less a girl.'' Theocles''w heart burned with apetitive zeal.
Alexander was not aware of theplex thoughts of Theocles, and neither would he care as he always believed a healthy bit ofpetition was always good.
Rather, Alexander raised another important factor, in fact, it was in many''s eyes the critical factor- Money!
"The operations of the temple will require a lot of money, so do my two spiritual leaders have any idea on how to collect it?" Alexander probingly asked.
Theocles was the first to give his answer, "My lord, temples usually gain money from donations, patronage from very wealthy devotees, and thend that it owns."
"But for now we have nothing." He said with a rueful smile.
Then he lowered his head and in a pleading voice asked, "So, we must shamelessly ask the pasha to pay patronage to us a bit longer."
"Umm, my new business might be able to chip in a bit..oh.. but ...." Ophenia''s hopeful octave turned lower and lower as she said her answer, even she understanding mid-way her answer that the n she was proposing was full of holes.
Her establishment alone will never be able to cover both its expenses and the temple.
''That''s why I asked master tobine the two,'' Ophenia pouted a bit in her heart at Alexander''s refusal.
Seeing the man and woman stuck, Alexander then promised them a way out, "I will give two very lucrative businesses to you to handle. Something that will enable the temple to ride on a wave of gold till the next century."
The bold words drew the interested stares of Theocles and Ophenia, who then heard Alexander say, "What they are you will knowter, but know that you must guard their manufacturing secret with your life, at least for the next few years. And if they somehow get out too soon, then don''t bothering to me to apologize. Justmit suicide!"
Alexander''s grave words and ultimate warning made the man and woman involuntarily sit up straight with a serious expressions and they both swore, "We will guard them even more closely than we guard our hearts."
"Umm, good." Alexander nodded pleased, and then proposed, "The profits from the two businesses will be divided into such- Twenty percent (20%) to me personally
Twenty percent (20%) to my house
Fifty percent (50%) to the temple
Five percent (5%) as taxes to the state
And thest five percent (5%) as dividends among all the priests and priestesses as year-end bonuses."
"Are the dividends to your liking?" Alexander then asked mainly Theocles if there was anything he wanted to add.
"My lord, the temple and everything in it belongs to you and the goddess. We do not have any demands, and will feel blessed regardless of the way you proportion the money." Theocles had a cordial smile as he said such, finding no faults or giving no additional advice to the distribution.
Ophenia too had no problem, though, unlike Theocle, she was brave enough to make an inquiry, "Master, what''s the difference between you and the house? Aren''t they the same?" She asked curiously to learn the subtle difference because to her they felt the same.
"Um, good," Alexander liked being asked questions as it meant the opposite party was actively trying to engage with him, of course, providing they were relevant questions.
And he gave the answer, "''I'' refers to me ''Alexander'' personally," He said this by pointing his right index to his chest, adding, "which in this context means the money is for my personal use and I can use it any way I want and after my death, I can will it to anyone I desire."
Then he exined what the house meant, "And the house refers to my post as the Pasha of Zanzan. Hence this part of the money will belong not to me Alexander the man but to Alexander the pasha. And once my sessor takes the fief it will belong to him and so on to every pasha of Zanzan afterward."
The other three were self-exnatory.
Hearing Alexander''s detailed breakdown, Theocles could not help but let out a sigh of admiration, "My lord is far-sighted, too far-sighted."
He was amazed that Alexander was already thinking about session rules even though he had taken the fief literally two weeks ago.
And he was only eighteen!
''Oh! What great deed did I do in myst life to get such a great master?'' Theocles eximed in glee in his heart.
Ophenia too shared such thoughts though she asked another question politely, "Master, why are you taxing yourself?"
She was of course referring to the five percent (5%) temple tax that Alexander had voluntarily imposed upon himself.
''Nobles did not pay taxes'' was almost an irond maxim in not just Adhania but virtually all over the world and so not just Ophenia, even Theocles was interested to know the reason, though thetter didn''t think it was necessary to question the blessed.
Alexander gave a very simple answer, "Because a leader should lead by example. The shordars (barons) under me are paying taxes and so should the temple."
This statement of self-sacrifice would eventually make its way all the way into the ears of all his advisors, who would remark sincerely and genuinely in their hearts, ''Alexander isn''t a hypocrite. As long as I''m loyal to him, he will not leave me out to dry.''
Alexander felt he had addressed the money for now, and then promised them again that he will provide them with food for the opening of the soup kitchens and enough money to cover all initial start-up costs.
This was said to urge Theocle and Ophenia to hasten their recruitment drive so that they could have enough men to run these programs.
Afterward, remembering an important thing. Alexander asked Thecoles, "Oh, I have also shown Ophenia some ritual procedures about how to pray and do absolutions that you should collect."
"Yes, my lord," Theocles readily nodded.
"Mmm, and I have also told Tayin to help you write the book. She has read a lot of religious scripture and I believe she will be of great inspiration to you." Alexander in addition ordered the coboration.
This suited Theocles fine as he addressed Ophenia, "Your sacred holiness, this unlettered blind will be under your guide."
Due to hisck of in-depth scriptural knowledge, Theocles humbly called himself blind and illiterate in this endeavor.
"Your eminence, this junior''s textual knowledge is simply pebblespared to the knowledge you have gained throughout your life. It is I who must ask you to guide me," Ophenia was not to be outdone in politeness.
''I hope you two will actually write the book instead of engaging in such empty words when I''m not around,'' Alexandermpooned at the exchange.
And then to break this monotonous exchange up gave Theocles hisst instruction of the day, "Also remember the marriage policy we decided on today, Theocles? Announce that anyone of our faith who gets married will get five hundred ropals as a gift from me."
? "As youmand my lord. And I will write the marriage rituals and sayings as soon as possible," Theocles promised.
"Excellent." Alexander approved.
These were everything that Alexander felt he had to address the two about now and so after a fewst small talks, concluded the meeting.
Chapter 224 Ophenias Seduction
Theocles was the first one to excuse himself, saying he needed to go oversee the temple renovations.
"Your sacred holiness, I will certainly invite you to the temple, once we are finished with the remodeling," Theocles promised Ophenia as he made his way out.
And so soon, the girl and her master were the only ones left all alone in the giant room.
"What may I do for you, Tayin?" Alexander wondered if Ophenia had stayed behind for any more inquiries.
And he was right.
Because Ophenia did have more inquiries, though not the kind of ones Alexander thought she would have.
"Master, I got up even before dawn to prepare my dress," Ophenia said in a sultry voice, moving her lips closer to Alexander''s ears as she then whispered, "Do you like them?"
Alexander''s body tingled and shivered at the husky, moist breath that hit his ears and as he moved his eyes to the heavily embroidered, golden dress and felt the sweet, perfumed smelling from Ophenia, he gulped and said dryly, "Very."
"Hehehe," Ophenia let out a string of pearly giggles at Alexander''s answer, the single word containing an infinite amount of praise, admiration, and lust.
"Does master like me more with clothes or without clothes?" She hotly breathed into Alexander''s ears as she slowly moved her hands over Alexander''s groin, waking his little brother up.
She had been denied her ultimate prize by Cambyses yesterday and had to spend the rest of the night in frustration as she found to her dismay that the trusty dainty fingers that had always worked before could never rece Alexander''s fat weapon.
And so she was determined to scratch that itch right here and now.
Ophenia''s question of ''with or without clothes'' put Alexander in a dilemma.
Both had their charms, but right now the image of a gorgeously dressed Ophenia with just her boobs out and her lower part exposed certainly tickled Alexander''s heart.
He even imaginedying Ophenia on the very table in front of them, spreading her high-heeled legs and pounding her, as her mountain peaks swayed under the thrust, the tiara on her forehead gently swaying under the lustful moans of its mistress.
"Tayin, have I told you that you are the most beautiful woman in my harem? The other threebined can''tpete with you in charm," Alexander was now gently rubbing his hands over Ophenia''s clothed breast, finding Ophenia''s physical allure irresistible.
Alexander truly meant what he said, in terms of sheer physical charm and attractiveness, Ophenia was not just beautiful, she was earth shatteringly beautiful.
This was not to say the other three girls were ugly, of course not as they all had their own, unique charms.
But Ophenia was really in a league of her own.
Even if one were to make discounts on the fact that the other three were working women who were constantly exposed to the sun, rain, and snow, Ophenia would still win out.
"Hehehe, master, aren''t you afraid of mistress hearing of this?" Ophenia teased with a wide grin, though the happiness in her voice was unmistakable, her eyes twinkling in delight.
And then to reward Alexander for saying the correct thing, she expertly untied the small knots on the fly of his trousers and bought out his awakened little brother.
"Hehe, Cambyses doesn''t need to know everything, now does she?" Though Cambyses had even own charms, but Alexander knew better than to praise another girl in front of the one he was already with.
One should always tell the girl one was with as being the prettiest, even when it might be slightly bending the truth, just as Alexander wished to be called the best lover even if that was doubtable.
"Hehe, master, is such a womanizer, always knowing that to say and unsay," Ophenia was now slowly pumping Alexander up and down as a kind of reward for the right answer, skillfully moving her finger over the shaft like she was ying the flute, squeezing him, massaging him and caressing him.
Then to tease Alexander even more she purred into Alexander''s ears, "You know, master, back in the temple, whenever there would be a big, long meeting, we would be made to do under the table and pleasure the priests and priestesses so they would not be bored."
Ophenia then sped up the pumping as she sultrily continued, "Master, just imagine, all the high priests and priestesses, both men and women, all seriously sitting around the table and talking about hugely important things, while underneath, they are bare, with their legs spread wide as both girls and boys serviced their genitalia, licking them, sucking them, kissing them and producing a dull, humming *suck*, *suck*, sound in the process, unmistakable to even a child about what was going below!"
Ophenia was by now squeezing out the Cowper fluid from Alexander''s hot rod, scooping them in her palms and then thering it along the shaft like a lotion, giving the white shaft a glossy sheen.
"And oftentimes, we would have to please them for hours, our tongue and cheeks sore with all the sucking and licking, And many times these priests and priestesses would not just release their white fluids but also their yellow fluids, which we would be required to drink without fail or be severely punished. Worse, sometimes the meeting would go on for so long and there would be multiple helpings for us to devour."
Ophenia then sent her tongue snaking into Alexander''s ears causing him to moan excitedly as she then continued, "Andst of all, once the meeting finished, we would all be put on the table and fucked with multiple cocks till our brains fried."
Finished with describing such a lewd scenario, she then enticed Alexander, "Master wants to do that right? To eagle spread me on the table and pound to heaven. To dye me in his exclusive color, washing away even the tiniest evidence that another man had ever touched me, right?"
At the end of her speech, Ophenia with a lewd grin, gave a strong pinch to Alexander''s frenulum, the most sensitive part of his cock, making Alexander almost release his seed.
''Damm subus, she really knows what buttons to press,'' Alexander shouted in his heart, feeling like a puppet under Ophenia''s hypnotic voice, dancing to the tunes of this siren.
Ophenia would regrly recount her experiences with the temple during their intimate moments, knowing such words would spur the jealous andpetitive Alexander to pleasure her even more in an effort to prove himself better than the men that had her before.
She had discovered this on the very first day of their intimacy, and from then now Ophenia would mix her true experiences with some of her own imagination to tell events that would tease and spurn Alexander in the bed.
Alexander too suspected this, but the events described were always just that bit believable to prevent him from outright dismissing them.
One great example would be the story Ophenia just said.
Alexander was pretty sure it was made up as he felt that there was no way someone could be simultaneously pleasured and still have the mental capacity to pay attention to the meeting, think, and propose new things.
But even then, there was a nagging feeling in Alexander''s heart that though such a thing was not very usible, it was certainly possible.
"You dirty girl, you want your master to punish you so badly?" Alexander gritted his teeth as strongly grabbed the giggling girl and then bent her over the table.
"Ahhh¡master¡nooo," Ophenia gave a very exaggerated fake cry of reluctance while her butt shook in excitement.
Alexander quickly flipped up the long gown, removing the curtain that hid Ophenia''s most precious spots andying his eyes upon them.
"*Smack*, naughty girl, why are you bare? *Smack* And why do you have a buttplug there? " Alexander spanked the smooth, almost like freshly peeled boiled eggs butt on both cheeks as he observed the red-heart-shaped jewel embedded in her butthole, her drooling cave, and her clit piercing.
Ophenia wore nothing under her cloth, letting her curves spill out of the dress while her clit piercing swung in the empty air below, sending a tingling sensation every time Ophenia walked or moved, causing her lower half to be eternally wet.
And Ophenia preferred it this way, one because if she stopped wearing the piercing for any length of a period of time the piercings could close and two, more importantly, she wanted to be always ready for Alexander any ce, any time.
"Ahh¡master." Ophenia lustfully moaned at Alexander''s strike and then answer, That¡that''s because my butthole is your''s to uncork."
"Then let me uncork it and punish the dirty hole, *plop*" With a nasty, wet sound, Alexander quickly took out the plug and aimed his spear for the invasion.
When suddenly, "*Knock*, *knock*, Master, lord Camius is here!"
Came Hemicus''s robotic report.
"Fuck.. yesterday was mistress. And now is that idiot motormouth. Cockblocked twice in less than twenty-four hours, fuck¡" Came a sound Alexander never knew ever existed.
It was Ophenia''s!
Chapter 225 Talks With Mikaya (Part-1)
Alexander had always known Ophenia to be his most gentle girl, always soft-spoken and obedient.
She loved to act spoilt when she was alone with Alexander, but Alexander had never seen her ever raise her voice, much less get angry.
And hence Ophenia''s outburst right now made Alexander gape in disbelief.
The way she called Camius motormouth and with the amount of cuss she said the word ''fuck'' was something Alexander never thought was possible from Ophenia and he could not help but let out a guffaw, "Hahaha, so even my dear Tayin has such a side."
Ophenia was in a really bad mood as she felt that the universe wasprising to prevent her from gettingid and it took thest shreds of her rationality to not just shout at Hemicus and say, ''Tell Camius toe backter. We are busy.''
Hearing Camius was waiting, Alexander with great reluctance pulled up his pants and then ruefully said, "Come on girl, get up and get decent. We have work to do,"
He then helped pull down the uplifted long gown from Ophenia''s hips and pulled up the bent-over girl, her stiff body showing Ophenia''s implicit resistance to themand.
And after giving Ophenia a moment to straighten her clothes, Alexander called, "Come in,"
Thus for the next hour, Camius gave his intelligence report while also having some fruits and wine with Alexander, much to the irritation of Ophenia who wanted the man out of her sight as soon as possible and so she sent daggers at the clueless Camius who wondered what he had done to piss off this gentle girl.
"Remember to be careful about tonight. Fucking it up will not be good for us," Alexander again emphasized to Camius.
"I have already scouted the temple personally yesterday. And even now I have men keeping an eye on it. So, please rest assured, doc." Camius used his previous term of endearment for Alexander to cate the paranoid man.
"Um, okay. Just be careful," Alexander dreaded to think the kind of shit show it will be if Camius bulged the job.
Then after a bit of idle chat, Camius was excused.
"Masterrr¡" The moment Camius closed the door behind him, Ophenia tried to jump on Alexander.
But Alexander ruefully said, "Sorry, now is toote and I have some urgent things to do. I will make it up tonight."
And then seeing Ophenia fidget and cutely pout, he pinched her soft cheeks and cooed, "You also have a lot of work to do. Now be a good girl and go."
"Yes master," Ophenia really did have a lot of work, particrly she had to set up a way to attract beautiful girls to apply for her establishment and so she bowed and went out to find the relevant personnel to help her with that.
Alexander too exited his room, and made his way towards the study, while taking the time to look at the scenery outside and see the time.
''Close to midday already,'' Alexander murmured after looking at the sun.
From his study, he retrieved a stack of papyrus, cut into small, neat rectangr pieces with pictures, symbols, and numbers that any modern person could recognize as being from ying cards, and put them inside a small leather bag.
Alexander had made them five stacks of the fifty-two cards when he was on the ship to Zanzan and now they only needed to be colored, something he was unable to do because the ship he was in didn''t make any usable paint.
But now conveniently there was a famous painter staying in his house at the moment.
''I really don''t want to meet her,'' Alexander said to himself as he was not looking forward to dealing with Mikaya, someone he found to be very belligerent towards him for reasons unknown to him.
But still chose to do so as she was Pasha Farzah''s most favored daughter and he wanted to maintain if not a cordial, then at least a neutral rtionship with this guest.
And he felt getting her to color these cards would be a good way to build a rapport.
And with those hopeful, eager thoughts to mend their rtionship he made towards this youngdy''s room in the guest wing of the house.
"*Knock*, *knock*, Lady Mikaya, I was wondering if I may have a bit of your free time!" Alexander politely knocked on the heavy wooden door once he reached his destination.
And within a few momentster, a slow,nguid voice reached out, "Ohh Pasha Alexander! Pleasee in, the door is not locked."
This act of not locking the door was not really anything special, after all, which servant would have the guts to enter a noble''s room without permission?
In fact, it would sometimes prove to be a boon as sometimes a noble could injure himself in his own room and be unable to get help.
So, an unlocked door would then mean a faster response time.
Receiving his permission, Alexander gently pushed open the door and peered inside, and was surprised that he did not immediately see its inhabitants.
"My lord, I''m sunbathing on the balcony. Pleasee," Hearing Alexander enter the room, Mikaya''s melodious voice further invited him in.
''What''s she up to now?'' Alexander groaned as he gentlyid down the leather bag on a nearby table and craned his head to look inside the balcony.
And, ''Fuck!'' was Alexander''s chosen curse at the sight that greeted him, his eyes fixated on the fair, beautiful woman that he hade to meet.
Of course, it was not as bad that the scene in Adhan, Alexander didn''t believe there could be a scene as bad as that scene, but still, the sight made Alexander a bit ufortable.
Because right in front of him, in the open for all to see, there was Mikaya, lying on her belly over a soft nket, with a fluffy pillow under her chin, being fully nude.
On either side of her were her two maids, also wearing nothing as they diligently rubbed olive oil on their mistress, giving her skin a beautiful, glossy shine, which sparkled under the gentle sunlight.
''Well it''s just sunbathing this time,'' Alexander remarked half-relieved.
He had no problem with this innocent act, as in his previous life, even he too had done so in his private home, away from any eyes.
Mikaya''s little recreational act especially was not a problem when her room was intentionally chosen by Alexander to be in a somewhat remote of the guest wing, him rightfully fearing the promiscuous nature of this woman.
And so all that her room overlooked were the rolling hills and wide, green meadows, too far to be seen or recognized by anybody.
"Oh! It seems the great pasha is pleased to see me. I''m honored," Mikaya smirked as she turned her head to look at Alexander, paying particr attention to the tent he was pitching.
"Haha, any man who doesn''t feel excited seeing such a beauty like Lady Mikaya in all her glory is either blind or impotent," Alexander chuckled the reply, not bothering to hide his natural reaction.
He was not at all embarrassed by this, instead, he would have been far more concerned if he did not have a reaction after seeing an absolute stunner of a woman, lying fully nude all lubed up in front of him.
Mikaya had her silky, silvery hair tied up in a bun, letting Alexander see her slim, wless nape with a cute mole on it, while the two maids, paid no attention to Alexander as they concentrated on kneading, and massaging their mistress''s beautiful, lush,rge butt, thering it with olive oil and turning the porcin-like skin into a healthy glowing red.
The hedonistic disy was certainly very pleasing to look at and Alexander evenmented inside, ''If she was not such a nympho, I wouldn''t have objected to marrying her.''
"Hehe, why thank you!" Mikaya curved her eyes into gleeful slits as she epted Alexander''s empty praise with a titter, and then simply uttered, "Tajia, Nafia."
Hearing their mistress''smand, the two maids immediately understood what it meant, and so with practiced movements, one sister spread Mikaya''s cheeks, letting Alexander see Mikaya''s most hidden hole as it shone under the sunlight, while the other sister took arge dollop of the oil on her two fingers and starred lubing her up, sensually moving her fingers up and down the two holes, sometimes even going inside them for a bit.
"Ahhhh¡yes," Mikaya moaned sultrily in approval, making the sisters curl their lips up and continue their ministrations.
Alexander watched this disy not with lust-filled eyes, but with cold detached disdain.
This was Mikaya''s way of insulting him as no self-respecting human would do this in front of anyone they had the modicum of respect for.
''Coming here was a mistake,'' Alexander med himself for being too nice and felt like storming out.
Chapter 226 Talks With Mikaya (Part-2)
Alexander hade to Mikaya with genuine goodwill in his heart.
He could empathize with the feeling of the girl who had been forced by her father toe to a ce she never knew about, with a man she had never met and with no friends or family.
So he wanted to make her life here a bit more bearable.
But what Mikaya was doing, showing such tant disrespect greatly irked him.
But still in the end Alexander managed to keep his cool, his logical brain overriding his emotional heart and telling him, ''You need Mikaya more than Mikaya needs you.''
This was very true as whatever Mikaya wrote in her monthly letter to Pasha Farzah would greatly affect his standing with his only ally.
And because he didn''t want to fall out with this great power unless absolutely necessary, he could only suck it up and watch Mikaya climax herself in front of him.
"Ahh¡faster, yesing..ohhh," With onest great moan, Mikaya bent her ass up as both of the maids worked each of her holes, fingering her with zeal and practiced efficiency, and finally made her squirt a pleasured stream.
Alexander watched Mikaya''s body quiver after the release and her hole twitch in joy with indifferent nonchnce, finding the entire performance demeaning towards him.
"I''m d Lady Mikaya is finding the weather of Zanzan to her liking," Alexander made a snarky reference to how she was doing such things right in the open, and got an equally biting reply,
"Yess. It''s the only good thing in this ce."
Matrak was a cold, damp province, in the northern hintends of the country, with the sun rarely shining on its inhabitants for more than three months a year and so Mikaya loved to sunbathe whenever she got the chance.
After Mikaya recovered from her blissful stupor, she decided to tease Alexander even more as she then turned over to show Alexander her front side, letting him marvel at the huge, firm knockers with their delicate perky nipples her smooth belly with a cute piercing on her bellybutton and her shaved pubes as her maids got to work once again rubbing oil on the beautiful body.
"Haha, yes, there is little to do here aspared to other ces." Alexander didn''t seem to mind the curt reply or gave any attention to the new revtion of her assets.
And then got to the issue of why he was here, "And so I was thinking of developing some new games to relieve the boredom."
"Oh? Games?" Mikaya had thought Alexander had simplye to chat or even chastise her in private.
So this out-of-the-blue turn of conversation interested her as for the first time since Alexander had entered her view she looked at him seriously.
"How''s it yed?" Mikaya asked with a tingle of curiosity in her voice, though internally she told herself, ''Well I wouldn''t be interested anyway. The only game I want to y is the farming game where men plow my fields and sow seeds in them,"
"It''s a brand new game that I n to show to everyone tonight," Alexander said with a smile.
"And you want to invite me?" Mikaya tried to guess Alexander''s intention.
"Yes, that too," Alexander nodded at the partially correct guess, and then revealed, "But more importantly I was thinking mydy would be able to help me paint some of the essories for the games."
"After all, Lady Mikaya''s painting skills are legendary throughout Adhania," Alexander applied a thick coating of ttering.
"Ohhh?" Came a long drawn-out tone thick with intrigue.
Mikaya felt her curiosity about the new games truly tickled when Alexander said this and she was truly interested in knowing more about them.
But the moment this thought surfaced, along with it came Alexander''s hateful face.
''I don''t want to help this detestable man,'' Mikaya swore with spite at the man she deemed responsible for robbing her fun.
So, to tease Alexander even more she deliberately spreads her legs wide open to give Alexander a good view of her perfect slit while at the same time sending a signal to her maids.
Mikaya had done this very same thing loads of times before where she would excite a man she disliked by doing this, with the intention of blue-balling him.
And after getting their mistress''s signal, the maids went to work to do just that, as, like they did it with her butt, one of the maids pried open the pink slit while the other maid rubbed oil on and even inside the drooling hole, intentionally making a wet *squelch*, *squelch* sound as she worked the shivering, lewd quim.
"Ahhh¡Pasha Alexander¡I''m honored that¡ahhh¡you thought of me. But¡.mmnn¡ as you can see¡.oh yes, pinch my dirty clit¡can see I really don''t have the¡arghhhing." Mikaya didn''t even bother giving Alexander a decent rejection as she was more focused on getting another orgasm and squirted another stream of fluids.
"I see. Then, I will not disturb you any longer. Please take care not to over-exert yourself, mydy," Alexander did not show any signs of dejection or rage even after being insulted so thoroughly as he sent only her a professional smile and a slight bow.
Then sprouting that ufortable tent, he turned around and made his way towards the door, thinking, ''Welp! I tried. Anything that happenster happens.''
Any goodwill that Alexander might have had for Mikaya had been turned to dust after this disy and he swore never to bother himself with this unmannered girl.
But just when Alexander was about to grab the door handle and see himself out, a slightly high-pitched voice, with a bit of panic in them called out to him, "My lord, great pasha, please wait."
This was an unfamiliar voice, and when Alexander turned to look at the woman to which it belonged, he found it to be one of Mikaya''s maids- a fair, silvered beauty with a cute oval face, modest breasts, and bushy pubes, with very nice, healthy thighs.
Seeing the characteristic silver hair on her, he remembered that Mikaya had once introduced the maid as sisters who were distant cousins of hers, their father being a shordar(baron) of Matrak.
This sister was called Nafia and was hastily making her way to Alexander, her twin bunnies bouncing excitedly as she did so.
"My lord, please let me apologize for my mistress''s rude behavior. She''s not usually like this," Nafia bowed her head a full ny degrees as she got close to Alexander, her body shaking slightly in fear.
''Why is mistress picking a fight with the pasha even after he expressed such goodwill,'' Nafiampooned at her mercurial master, afterward swearing, ''Looks like yesterday''s chastising was not enough. I will need to report this to the Queen mother before mistress brings a bigger danger upon herself.''
"Haha, don''t worry, don''t worry. I too was once a servant and I know firsthand just how difficult it can be to serve a master, especially one as demanding as your mistress." Alexanderughed off Nafia''s apology with a gentle chuckle, consoling the girl to not think too much.
To many Alexander''s cordial attitudes might indicate that he truly did not take the incident to heart.
But not to Nafia, her frayed nerves were not at all soothed by Alexander''s gentle demeanor.
As a matter of fact, Alexander''s reply only managed to aggravate it, as the clever, experienced Nafia instantly picked out that Alexander had not in fact epted her apology,
If Alexander had said things along the lines of, ''Don''t worry, I understand'' or ''I didn''t take anything to heart'', Nafia would not be so distressed.
But instead, he had only talked about her and her troubles, while treating the issue about the Matrak princess like he had never heard it.
''*Sigh*, of course even the gentle pasha will be angry after what mistress has done. Even I would have been angry.'' Nafia thought Alexander had much better self-control than her as she knew she would be livid if this was done to her.
"My lord, I will admit Mikaya has been spoiled too much by the pasha. And this has made the brat think she can get away with anything and everything does." Nafia dropped the patronizing tone about her mistress and addressed the issue openly.
Alexander was about to walk off regardless of what the maid was going to say but this manner of address stopped him.
''It look''s like Mikaya''s maids are not her mindless puppets. Interesting,'' Alexander felt it was worth his time staying a bit longer and listen to what this nude, bunny had to say.
"Pasha Alexander, what I am about to say is not necessarily a secret, but I still would appreciate it if you kept it to yourself," Nafia pleaded.
And then revealed, "Actually you see my lord, due to reasons I will exin now, Pasha Farzah has really sent mistress here as a kind of punishment!"
Chapter 227 Mikayas Past
Nafia''s words made Alexander quite curious.
He knew next to nothing about Mikaya and so was curious to know why Pasha Farzah would want to punish the pearl of his heart.
The aged, silver-bearded man seemed like a sentimental person who doted on his kin and so Alexander guessed that Mikaya had to have pissed off her father royally for him to do this.
As Alexander was considering this, Mikaya''s impatient voice called out, "Nafia, what are you doing back there?" as she found her maid''s absence irksome.
To this Nafia loudly ordered her younger sister, "Tajia, entertain the mistress properly, girl."
Then turning her scowling face to Alexander, the frowning face immediately dissolved to form a differential one as she borated on why Mikaya was being punished.
Nafia began with a bit of history lesson, "Pasha Alexander, as you probably know, mistress being master''sst child was always doted on by him. And that doting turned to especially spoiling her when eldest mistress, Azira and Azura''s mother..died."
"Master was heartbroken over not just the eldest mistress''s death but also by how she was killed. And so to soothe his aching heart, he indulged mistress too much." Nafia had a tingle of sadness in her voice as she said this.
"And for the most part, mistress lived up to master''s expectation. She is extremely smart, cunning, and has a good business sense. Not to mention her fame as one of Adhania''s best painters." Nafia had a proud tone as she listed her mistress''s noble qualities.
Then immediately her voice went a bit downcast, "But all this changed after master introduced her to Lady Inayah as her Bliss trainer, eight years ago. And thus mistress, who didn''t know anything about sex suddenly got a taste of the pleasures of the flesh and she immediately fell in love with it. She becamepletely obsessed with it."
Nafia then quickly added, "Of course, I''m not ming Lady Inayah. I don''t dare to. Her family is renowned throughout Adhania and no one else has be like the mistress."
She then returned to the topic, "Anyway, afterpleting her course with Lady Inayah, my mistress seemed almost like a different person. It made me think as if somehow the previous beautiful, innocent angel Mikaya had been somehow body switched with a devilish, lewd subus." Nafia reminisced with fear and disapproval.
"Then," Nafia described, "My mistress, who was already considered the most beautiful maiden in Matrak, started to use her charms and skills she had learned to bed different men."
"At first, it was nothing serious, just a little making out here, a quickie there, and an innocent little tussle under the sheets. Nothing umon within the circles of nobility." Nafia lightly brushed off the acts.
Her voice then suddenly turned a bit high-pitched, "But, slowly and slowly mistress began to push the boundaries. She slowly moved from her usual men of choice- second and third sons of low-level nobles like shordars (barons), who had little social standing and opportunities in life, to men of higher and higher standings, sons of very rich merchants, men next in line sessors to various houses and even to some actual incumbent nobles!" Nafia had a hint of fear in her voice as she said so.
"And not only that, but she also started experimenting with not just having one partner at a time, but multiples. And this degradation continued for multiple years, gradually turning the small, innocent act into a regr massive orgy gathering." Nafia revealed.
She then with a slightly bitter tone continued, "What was worse she had managed to form a little group of fellow-minded young and even marrieddies, who would then attend secret balls hosted by sessor nobles or even by the nobles themselves, where she and her friends would be passed around like cheap whores, prated in all three holes by men they barely knew and showered with liters of cum." Nafia said with a small scowl on her face.
"And although at first, it was all hush and hush, in recent years, this particr activity has picked in frequency a lot. In fact, it has increased so much that it even drew the attention of the pasha, who until then had beenrgely unaware of his daughter''s nighttime activities, thinking them to be just his little princess making a bit of harmless fun." Nafia had a regretful tone as she said this,menting the fact that if Pasha Farzah had detected this sooner, maybe things would not have gone so far.
''Hmmm, even the most shrewd man will have his blindspots,'' Alexander felt he could not really fault pasha Fazah for this oversight, as he likely never even imagined such a thing could ever happen.
And because Pasha Farzah never thought of that possibility, he naturally paid little attention to it, letting the danger fester and grow.
Nafia further continued, "Master first came to know about this when he was looking for a suitable groom for my mistress and one of the suitors identally let slip that he had already slept with his potential to-be bride, along with several other men in a giant orgy." Nafia produced a rueful smile after she said this, while Alexander could barely hold off his urge tough out loud.
''Hahaha, good, good. What goes around,es around.'' Alexander felt his heart vent after hearing that Mikaya had gotten her justeuppance, while also wiping a cold sweat from his eyebrow thinking, ''Fuck! And to think that once I considered taking her as my bride!'' as he reminisced about the offer Pasha Farzah had made.
And it was only now that he understood just what kind of pitfall the shrewd man hadid for him then and appreciated just how lucky he was to avoid it by chance, ''Maybe I''m really blessed by the gods.'' he thanked the heavens.
Nafia ignored Alexander''s gleeful and relieved expression and continued in a t, robotic voice, "Master was of course furious when he learned what was going on. In fact, master was furious after knowing just the abridged, toned down, cut out version, something that the mistress came up with the help of all other nobles that were trying to save each other''s hide."
''Hmmm, I doubt any ramshackle story those nobles could havee up with would have held up to that brilliant man''s scrutiny. Maybe it did because Farzah wanted it to.'' Alexander came up with his own guess.
And afterward, he quickly returned his attention to Nafia, who said, "And that was when the rebellion happened. And then, by many twists of fate, master was made the honorable prime minister. And it was then master feared the kind of excesses mistress might get up to even if he could not be around to curb her activities. And the great pasha is aware of everything else seeding that."
Nafia, atst, finished her very long recount, looking apologetically at Alexander with her,rge, brown eyes.
"So, what does that have to do anything with me?" Alexander found the story intriguing but utterly irreverent to him and unmoved by the nakeddy''s pleading gaze.
"Ahem" Nafia gave a small, awkward cough and then, feeling confident that she had built enough groundwork for the thing she was about to say, picked up the courage and said, "Great pasha, as I said, my mistress is addicted to sex. And suddenly being deprived of it has made her irritable and grumpy. And this, coupled with the great ns she had as a result of her father no longer being in Matrak to restrict her ruined, mydy is particrly hostile to you, ming you for all her frustrations."
"So¡" Nafia''s said thest word with a long drawn-out breath while moving her eyes skittishly.
"So, you want me to fuck her!" Alexander was unimpressed.
"Yes," Nafia turned a tinge red as she made the suggestion, making her look dazzling under the gentle winter sunlight.
''Farzah''s family sure has some good genes.'' Alexander couldn''t help butment inside.
But then his thoughts returned to what Nafia had suggested, which produced an almost spontaneous disgust and a resounding answer in his heart, ''No!''
Returning to the real world, suddenly a small glint caught Alexander''s eyes, which caused him to smirk, "And what about you? Do you want to get some too?"
He said this because he noticed a thin, stream of lewd water running down the meaty things of the girl, clearly showing just how excited the girl had be recounting her mistress''s story.
Nafia became flushed as Alexander pointed this out, she being not as quite shameless as her mistress as she muttered an excuse while avoiding direct eye contact, "That¡we have been mistress''s childhood ¡so¡umm..it''s just."
The reasoning was simple, as Mikaya''s friend and maid, she too had been roped into their mistress''s misadventures and when Nafia had recounted the story, naturally the memories of those parties she had mentioned Mikaya and thus by extension her attending those had floated to her mind.
''Birds of a feather flock together,'' Alexander only coldly looked at the slut pretending to be a saint.
He wanted no part of this filthy group.
Chapter 228 Alexanders Thoughts About Mikaya
Alexander had mixed feeling about the concept of ''Bliss trainers''.
On one hand, he felt that sexual education was certainly very important.
Without it, things would develop like they did in the European middle ages, where the nobles, who were especially sheltered from such things in childhood due to Christianity''s emphasis on modesty and chastity, would have almost no idea of sex until marriage.
Sometimes they would be so sheltered that even men would be unaware of something asmon as male masturbation.
And for the women, due to the oppressive societal structure of the time, some would even consider masturbation to be in the realm of fantasy.
Thus, the secrecy regarding such a normal and almost critical act of life gave rise to many problems and many bizarre traditions, like the wedding ceremony where close friends and family might witness the consummation of the couple''s marriage, both as a way to make the marriage legal as women were supposed to give their chastity to only their husband and as a way for older, more experienced members to give tips to the two virgins.
As a matter of fact, in Europe, using the guise of Christianity, sex was vilified to the point that it was seen only as an act done for procreation, and doing it for any other purpose other than that, doing it because one enjoyed it and wanted to take pleasure in this act was seen as sinful.
And the consequences of all this can be seen with one great, historical example involving one of the most famous couples in history - The French king Louis XVI and his bride, the famous Marie Antote.
In that case, the couple had been married for seven whole years without any children, causing great chaos in court.
Hearing this, atst. Marie Antote''s brother Joseph, the Emperor of Austria, came to investigate.
He chatted with the king and discovered the source of the issue as he wrote in his diaryter. "Louis has strong erections, he inserts his member, remains there for perhaps two minutes without moving, withdraws without ejacting, and while still erect, bids good night. He''s satisfied, saying he does it only out of a sense of duty but has no desire for it."
And, so Joseph, older and more experienced than the adolescent king, exined the mechanics of sex to Louis.
And vo!
Within a year of Joseph''s visit, Marie was pregnant.
Louis XVI wouldment soon after, "I delight in the pleasure, and I regret that I wasn''t aware of it for so long".
While Marie Antote described her experience of a "most fundamental pleasure" in a letter she wrote to her mother.
So, using this example, one could see the backward of Christian Europe regarding sex, whereas the Imic Middle East wasparatively much more progressive about it, viewing it not as a tool but as a means for a healthy marriage and so not only wrote many books about it but even tranted famous ones like the Indian Kamasutra from Sanskrit to their ownnguages.
And thus, Alexander did not find the very concept of what the Adhanian nobility was doing distasteful.
In fact, he even approved the core concept of it.
But that was where his agreements ended.
Because he vehemently loathed what they were doing next.
To teach and make girls do those kinds of things, things which Lady Inayah had only eluded to and barely touched the surface of, even such vague descriptions made Alexander''s skin crawl in disgust.
He believed that even the Scandinavian countries, who were the most free about sex and nudity in his previous world, with a very strong and open sex education program and with most children having seen their parents, rtives, and even many strangers naked by their teenage years, even them would find the kind of practices going on with the Adhanian nobles very objectionable.
Because although Adhanians called the bliss trainers sex educators, they were anything but.
They did not teach about safe, enjoyable, consensual sex, but turned girls into meat puppets, depraved sluts with no shame or modesty, used only to entertain and pleasure lustful men and be devoured by them.
And from Nafia''s description, it seemed like that was the case with Mikaya, where Lady Inayah''a teachings had twisted the girl into something else, a girl who could not understand the significance of sex and took part in recklessly, and by the time she grew up enough to fully appreciate the gravity of her situation, it was already toote.
She was in too deep.
''That''s why child sexws are so important,'' Alexander found a real-life example of a victim of unrestricted, unsupervised sexual content.
But this did not mean his heart bled for Mikaya.
He did feel some pity but Mikaya''s responsibilityy with her and more importantly her father.
Yes, Alexander felt that Pasha Farzah, for all his achievements had failed in this particr test of life, though Alexander did not really fault him.
As a pasha, he had a huge number of responsibilities to take care of, from managing thend to overseeing the nobles under him to keeping up with recent events.
And besides, in Pasha Farzah''s mind, this was something everyone was doing, his forefathers had done so, he had so and many of his children before had done so.
So, why should Mikaya turn out any different?
And then there was also the fact that Mikaya wasn''t his only child.
So, naturally, as the father and even grandfather to many, his attention was split across a lot of people, making it impossible to keep his daughter under his ever-watchful eyes every second of the day.
Also, Mikaya was still her own person, with her own thoughts and capacity to differentiate between right and wrong.
She was as much, if not more at fault for going astray than anyone else.
And thus Alexander, though he understood Mikaya''s position, did not feel any goodwill towards her.
In fact, though he did not show it externally, he was furious with Mikaya, and if she did not have such a critical position in Adhanian olitics, Alexander would have made her life very miserable.
Something as simple as making the room she was in a bit less windproof or giving her damp firewood or changing the beds to a bit harder and more ufortable was child''s y for Alexander.
But he could not really retaliate in such a way and the girl likely knew it, which was likely why she did such things.
And Nafia''s little sob story did nothing to change his feelings.
In fact, on the contrary, it only managed to increase the disdain he had for Mikaya as well as associate the same feeling for her two maids, who Alexander had previously some sympathy for.
And although Nafia had not said it explicitly, Alexander figured out that they, being not only Mikaya''s chambermaids but nobledies too, had likely attended Lady Inayah''s course with their mistress, which means they were at the very least silent witnesses to their mistress''s gradual corruption.
And from how Nafia was leaking like an open faucet down there, Alexander would bet his money they were more than just innocent, oppressed observers who were cowed by the forceful Mikaya to join her in her misadventures.
And Alexander was right in his assumption as while Nafia recounted her mistress''s misdeeds, her own apanying carnal memories came with it, memories of activities like getting rammed by multiple cocks in the same hole, memories of activities like being made to drink questionable fluids, memories of activities like being teased and whipped in from a jeering crowd to release her fluids and the memories of activities like being having cum thered all across her body like a lotion, giving her skin a nasty dull sheen that reeked of a musky, fishy odor.
Looking at Nafia portray Mikaya as just an errant child gone a bit astray while making it seem like she was just a victim of the higher noble ss privileges, Alexander only sneered in his heart, ''If you were so concerned about the moral degradation of your mistress, then what stopped you from tattling about it to Pasha Farzah before everything went to shit? You have that ''holier than thou'' attitude, yet, in truth, you have the same level of pruriency as Mikaya don''t you?''
Nafia reminded Alexander of a proverb that literally tranted to English as, ''Prim and proper on the outside, like the harbor on the inside,'' referring to the harbor as such ces were traditionally muddy and dirty and chaotic.
And so the preverb described something or someone that looked very nice and presentable on the outside, but that just a little scrutiny would reveal it to be full of ws.
And with how muddy Nafia''s lower half was, Alexander felt that proverb was made to just describe this woman.
''As if I would ever want to have anything to do with you whores,'' Alexander rolled his eyes inside his head at Nafia''s request again.
Chapter 229 Talks With Mikaya (Part-3)
Mikaya''s example would be a very good lesson for Alexander to learn.
It would teach him that children were not cookie-cutter copy-paste of one another, but unique, individual people who had their own quirks.
This was why Mikaya turned twisted while no others did.
But Alexander kept these thoughts to himself and instead turned his attention to Nafia, who he saw little point in humiliating for just some venting.
And he really could not care less to whom these immoral women lent their holes to as long as it did not affect him in any way.
And with this thought, he was about to reject Nafia, when suddenly the words got stuck in his throat.
''As if I would ever want to have anything to do with you whores.''
This was the thought that came to Alexander and this sentence had one word that was of particr interest to Alexander.
And that specific word was- ''whore''.
The moment this word came to Alexander''s mind, it mysteriously made a connection to apletely unrted conversation Alexander recently had with apletely unrted person.
Yes, he was thinking about Ophenia and her little establishments.
''Wait. I need whores. And if I could get these three.....'' Alexander''s eyes shed a cunning glow as they burnt green with greed at the bold, very bold thought that suddenly formed inside his head.
Alexander knew that the girls Ophenia could likely recruit would likely be skinny, malnourished, and cadaverous skin and bones, courtesy of the city of Zanzan being a starving hellhole for thest two years.
But, if he could Mikaya and her maids...Alexander''s thoughts ran wild.
The three girls'' faces, figures, and demeanors were nothing themon peasant could evere across and this was not to even mention their techniques and experience.
And from what Nafia had described and what Alexander himself had tasted firsthand if Mikaya''s maid were even half as good as her, the amount of money and fame his establishment could gain what Alexander''s heart beat wildly with anticipation.
"Let me talk to your mistress," After a long time of silence, Alexander replied to Nafia''s initial request.
This made Nafia produce a dazzlingly big grin that seemed to make Alexander think that the sunlight in the room had be brighter as she bowed, "Thank you, great pasha. Ohhh, thank you, I will never forget your generosity."
This made Alexander who was nning to do the exact thing Nafia hadined to him about, darkly chuckled in his heart, ''Haha, oh I''m sure you won''t''.
And with these intentions, Alexander returned to the balcony and the first thing he saw was Tajia massaging Mikaya''s thick, wless thighs.
"So, did you enjoy Nafia''s story?" Mikaya had a cold, detached tone to her voice as she asked.
Naturally with the conversation taking ce inside one room, she had heard every single word of it.
"She is just looking out for you, you know," Alexander crossed his arms as he said such, the fake courtesy he had shown before nowhere to be found.
"Hmmmpp, she ps her mouth too much," Mikaya was very angry that Nafia had shared her such close, personal history with aplete stranger, even if Nafia had done so with the best of intentions in her mind.
And to show her disapproval, Mikaya snarled, "If you think you will get to touch a hair on me, think again!" finding intimacy with Alexander absolutely detestable.
"That''s right, that''s right. Sister stepped too out of bounds this time," Tajia too joined her mistress in support of her decision, shaking her head vigorously to emphasize the point.
''Woman, I could not touch that dirty coochie of yours with a ten-foot pole,'' Alexander rolled his eyes inside his head.
"Haha, mydy seems to be misunderstanding," Alexander smiled the reply, and then said this real piece, "The reason I came here was not to fuck you but to propose a way for others to fuck you."
Alexander intentionally made the offer as crass and vulgar as possible, making Mikaya produce a look of confusion after hearing this.
"What?" Mikaya fiercely turned her head and barked in a short, high-pitched voice.
''This brat''s nerve!'' Mikaya shouted inside her head.
Alexander was not daunted by this little overreaction, instead calmly said, "I''m opening a high-ss, primarily male-focused entertainment business and I was thinking if you would be interested in being one of the girls there?"
"Pasha Alexander, have you gone mad?" This was Nafia, who squealed in abject horror and disbelief.
Her mind felt numb just thinking about what Alexander was suggesting, and in desperation, she even tried to think of alternative meanings as she refused to consider that a pasha would suggest that a daughter of another pasha, moreover an ally pasha, to engage in such businesses under him.
But only one word kept shing inside her mind- whorehouse.
And this was the same thought train that went inside the other two''s minds as they came to the conclusion that aftering with the intention to bang Mikaya and being harshly rejected by her, Alexander was now venting and cursing at her, a retaliation to what Mikaya had done to him before.
''Heh, plebian!'' Mikaya smirked triumphantly in her heart, that one single, simple word containing an endless amount of disdain and derision, as she congratted herself for aplishing what she had set out to do, that was to make Alexander furious.
Mikaya would not have even minded if Alexander had raised his hands on her, as it would have given her more content to attack Alexander within her letters.
"Pasha Alexander, how dare you suggest such a thing? We demand an apology or the pasha will hear about this!" Tajia bellowed at Alexander with her threat, ring at him like an enraged lioness.
"Nafia, see the pasha out. Clearly, the sun is messing with his head," Mikayanguidly waved her palm and slowly turned her forward, indicating this conversation was done.
Mikaya might be a nympho, but she was a true, blue-blooded nympho.
And no peasant scum was going to ever touch her, much less do anything more.
Yes, Mikaya did asionally enjoy herself with ves, like the time with Lady Inayah in Adhan, but those were not the norm, as Lady Inayah''s ves were a special breed of their own.
And besides, ording to her, ves were at best dildoes that ate and breathed.
They were not human and so they did not count.
But for Alexander to suggest that she copted with themon rabble, those sub-humans, irked Mikaya just as much she had irked Alexander.
Though Mikaya seemed like she was done with Alexander was not done with Mikaya.
He understood that the trio had assumed he was just cursing and insulting Mikaya in retaliation and not actually making a real offer.
And so he repeated, "Lady Mikaya may have misunderstood. When I made the offer I was not insulting or demeaning you, but making a real, genuine, sincere offer!"
"......." A long silence followed following Alexander''s statement.
His exnation did not manage to thaw the tense atmosphere.
On the contrary, it caused the freezing atmosphere to be even colder.
Because to the girls, it looked like Alexander was not just cursing Mikaya but insisting that she really was what he was cursing her to be.
This would be like if someone threw the curse, ''Son of a bitch'' and then tried to exin it was not a ng because that man''s mother was really a female dog.
Anyone who heard it would feel like that person was double cursing his opponent.
"Alexander, you lowly ve pleb. Don''t think just because you got a scrap ofnd that''s worth less than shit, you are something impressive. You have no idea what Pasha Farzah is capable of. Now get out of mistress''s face," Nafia blew her top as if a super volcano had blown inside her head, as she threw her right hand towards the door to indicate that Alexander shows himself out, her eyes shooting fires out of them as if trying to burn Alexander to cinders.
She originally had a pretty good impression of Alexander before, not discriminating against him because of his background and even finding him handsome and charming.
This was because Alexander waspletely different from all the rest of the nobles Nafia had met or mated with, with him being so young, gentle, and always very well-mannered.
She even had a little crush on the up-anding great lord, hoping to snatch a golden goose for herself as for a daughter of a shordar(baron) to catch the eye of a pasha was likending on the moon with a single jump.
But with Alexander''s little stunt, this had all now been nuked out of existence, with all the admiration and adoration reced with hated and disgust.
Ironically, this was also the exact route that Alexander had traveled with regard to his feelings about Nafia, albeit minus the crush part.
And if Alexander could read Nafia''s exact thoughts he thought have said,'' The feeling is mutual babe.''
Chapter 230 Corrupting Mikaya (Part-1)
Alexander calmly nced at the zing girl with venomous hatreding out of her eyes with the most tranquil expression Nafia had ever seen and spoke in a mild, aged voice, "Youngsters these days are so impatient."
The way Alexander said this and the vicissitudes of time and experience that this sentence seemed to contain caught Nafia off-guard whose magma-spewing eyes faltered in their job of showing the utmost hostility to Alexander.
To Nafia, who was bearing the brunt of Alexander''s calm, cool, collected gaze, it felt like she was a little girl being red at by her father.
"*Sigh*" Giving a very audible heavy sigh, Alexander again sincerely looked towards Mikaya who still had her head turned away from him, and said, "Lady Mikaya, I was very serious when I made that offer. And I will say it again, I want you to work as a whore in my brothel. What do you say?"
"....." Another round of ufortable silence followed, Mikaya disdaining to even respond to such an absurd offer.
''I will have to tell father that the man he privately so praised is a raving lunatic,'' Mikaya made her decision.
But Alexander was not done yet as he started throwing his to catch the rare, exquisite fish called Mikaya.
He first began, "Ahem, Lady Mikaya might find it beneath herself to even entertain such a thought, but please. I implore you to just give the thought a moment''s time."
He nced to see Mikaya, unmoved and uncensored, her eyes closed as if she was asleep.
But undaunted, Alexander continued, "As Lady Nafia has informed me, you are very¡ free with your sex life. And from what I am told you were sent her as a punishment for that."
He then pointedly asked, "But what was your crime? What grave crime did youmit that made your loving father exile you to this ce with no friends or family or loved ones?"
Then in a gentle voice gave his own reply, "The answer is nothing. You did nothing wrong. You simply enjoyed an act that gave you and your participants pleasure. And just because of this, just for the fault of being happy, you were punished!"
The moment Alexander said these honeyed words, these poisonous, honeyed words, Mikaya snapped open her eyes and fiercely turned to look at Alexander, now gazing at him not with even a shred of the previous hostility, but with a twinkle in her eyes, feeling great interest towards what Alexander was saying.
Alexander did not miss this gaze, as he sneered in his scheming heart. ''Hook, line and sinker,''
Feeling that the fish had bitten, now he had to be careful to not lose it as he slowly reeled in the catch.
"N..no, you''re wrong." Nafia, the most sensible of the three, plucked up all her courage and stammered a reply in an attempt to oppose Alexander as she seemed to somewhat smell his schemes.
She of course could not know the true extent of Alexander''s almost malicious intentions but her experience of dealing with a lot of people told her that Alexander was attempting to lead Mikaya towards a very bad road and so she tried to save her mistress, "Mis¡mistress is not¡not being punished for her being happy. Master only wants mistress to lead a happy, normal life," Nafia reasoned.
"Normal!" Alexander sneered, as he unnaturally felt incensed after hearing that word.
After learning of the rebolting cultures of Adhanian nobility, Alexander knew nothing that a married noblewoman was made to do was normal.
And he posed this exact question to the maid with a snigger, "Is your definition of normal being made to stand nude with your hands behind your back and being beaten with a crop in front of a group of men till you entertain them with a golden shower? Where is your sense of modesty and chastity then?" Alexander spat.
"That¡that''s for married woman. That''s not immoral!" Nafia''s voice rose up a few octaves as she very strongly stated her reasoning, convinced in her rebuttal.
Alexander could not hold back hisughter at this risible argument.
"Hahaha, what does marriage have to do with anything?" Alexanderughed loudly as he brushed off the argument, saying, "The only thing marriage does is force a woman to fuck men her husband wants her to, rather than to allow her to fuck men she wants to!"
Hearing Alexander''s answer, Nafia''s mouth went agape and her eyes wanted to bulge out of their sockets.
This frank and brutal answer had dealt critical damage to Nafia who went into a minor shock as she processed what Alexander had said.
And though she racked her brain to give a good rebuttal, she came up nk.
"Hahhaha,...My, my, it seems I was dead wrong about you, my dear Alex," Mikaya by now had sat up and looked at Alexander grinning like a Cheshire cat, lipping her lips and gazing at him like he was the most precious treasure in the world.
''Finally, someone who gets me,'' Mikaya screamed jubntly in her heart, feeling that her long, arduous search had ended.
She had, atst, found the one.
The one who shared the same worldview as her.
Because these were the same thoughts she had harbored deep inside her but whenever she had revealed even a tiny fraction of them, even to her most trusted friends and rtives, they would either simply outrightugh, attempt to divert the topic, or if they were really polite, just smile and nod withoutmenting.
Even her doting father had refused to understand and chose to chastise her for a harmless act.
No, he didn''t just chastise her, he essentially exiled her for a few years.
All for the crime of sleeping around, a harmless act by any stretch of the definition.
She did not rob anyone, she did not kill anyone, she did not rape anyone, she did not coerce anyone and no one was harmed while sleeping with her.
Yet she was punished for this entirely consensual act by her own, dear father.
And so imagine Mikaya''s glee when she finally found a kindred spirit, here of all ces, and moreover, it being not a woman, but a man!
''Ahhh, is this what love feels like?'' Mikaya felt herself getting wet just thinking about it.
"Nafia, shut up!" Mikaya then gave a curt, bitingmand to her maid who seemed to be gearing up for another argument.
And then producing a coy smile as she licked her lips, she said, "Now, Alex, what was that offer you were saying about?"
This was the second time Mikaya had addressed Alexander using that abbreviated name that only his women were allowed to do, the sound of which was so soft and mellifluous that, instead of getting angry, Alexander felt his bones turn to butter.
''Subus. A Tayin level subus,'' Alexander cursed himself for being smitten at this loose woman.
But at the same time could not help but appreciate the amount of charm and appeal that this silver-haired gorgeous bombshell could emit at will.
''She will be my greatest whore,'' Alexander''s heart burned with desire, the desire to reduce this loose woman into only a living meat.
It was an evil thought, but it was not like Mikaya was any saint either.
And besides, whatever pruriency Mikaya would get herself involved with will be purely consensual.
Alexander would never use his power or influence to force any girl to perform any kind of sexual acts on anyone whatsoever.
The mere thought of raping a girl or enabling others to do so disgusted Alexander and he vowed to always stay away from such immoral and illegal acts.
And with those thoughts in mind to soothe his guilty conscience, Alexanderid out his trap.
He started, "Miss Mikaya, from Nafia''s recount, I''m told that you had grand ns nned in Matrak now that your father is not around. And although Nafia has not delineated the details of those ns to me, I can make a reasonable guess and say that it would have involved a lot of men and women and a whole lot of fucking."
"Yes, that''s right, Most of all I nned to try and break my own record of whoring myself out for three days and three nights." Mikaya had a slight pout in her voice as she said so, and then with ascivious grin, voluntarily revealed even more parts of her nned depraved misadventures, "The party would have had so many things I dreamed of doing. There would have been timedpetitions like who can suck the most cock in an hour, who can drink the most cum without spilling it, who can fuck the longest, who can remember the smell of the most number of cocks and so many, many more." Mikaya almost had a drooling face by the time she finished listing off all her desires.
And atst, she said with a giggle, "Of course, the winners of each of thepeting would get more pounding, hehe."
Alexander''s lips twitched looking at this nympho and swore, ''She might be overqualified,''.
Chapter 231 Corrupting Mikaya (Part-2)
As Alexander was looking at the giggling, lust-filled face of the subus, he was having some serious thoughts, ''''She won''t do something stupid for sex right?''
Mikaya''s abnormal level of desire for sex gave s giving Alexander some serious pause for thought.
And then the dreadful thought of ''If Pasha Farzah finds out¡'' came to his mind as he shivered a bit to think what that bear of a man would do to him if he found out that he was using his daughter as a flesh puppet.
But the greed for the amount of money he could earn using these three and the desire to punish Mikaya made Alexander take on this very risky endeavor.
From a logical point of view, the risks were not worth the rewards, but for Alexander, this was an emotional decision and so he nevertheless went ahead with this perilous thought.
"I apologize for any inconvenience I might have unintentionally might have caused you, mydy. It was never my intention to cause you to miss your party," Alexander in a fake tone apologized and performed a bow.
The artificiality of this was not lost on Mikaya, who smirked, and asked in a teasing tone, "So how does my dear Alex want topensate me?"
It seemed Mikaya had found a new word to tease Alexander with.
"Hehehe," Alexander chuckled and narrowed his eyes darkly in anger at her use of this word reserved for the women he liked.
But he didn''tsh out.
He would have enough time to do soter.
And Mikaya knew that and was actually looking forward to it as she had intentionally said the word three times already.
Alexander then started his answer, "Lady Mikaya, up until now you have had only nobles as your partner. But have you not wondered what amoner would taste like?"
But Mikaya shot him quickly down, "Why would I want to have something that tastes nasty?" Mikaya frowned in disgust.
Then she made her position on Alexander''s proposal very clear. "Pasha Alexander, I''m only interested in nobles. If you want me in your brothel, I will only serve nobles."
Tajia too stepped up her support for Mikaya as she gave an analogy, "That''s right! We have only eaten white bread in our life. Does it mean we shouldment that we never had themon brown bread?"
Seeing such a staunch resistance, Alexander tried a different approach to convince the girls.
"Haha, mydy, just like a true foodie does not pass judgment by simply looking or hearing about a dish, as a true sex connoisseur, I think you should at least sample the good before making the decision." Alexander tempted.
"Oh? And who said I didn''t?" Mikaya asked raising an eyebrow, and then smirked, "I did try a stable boy once but found him to be scrawny, and a quick shot with no technique. No thanks."
Mikaya raised her palms at the end of recalling her memory, producing a little pout after having to remember that unsatisfying experience.
What Alexander really wanted to say to her as the counter was, ''Should I also judge every noblewoman to be just as loose just by looking at you?''
But, though the thought surfaced to his mind, he didn''t due to politeness,
Instead, he argued, "Mydy, I believe it is wrong for you to pass judgment on every singlemoner just based on a single experience, especially when it was with a boy of all people,"
But Mikaya was not convinced by his argument as she turned her head andnguidly said, "I have eaten nobles and they all tasted fine. So, I don''t want to taste the nasty stuff."
She did not want to change her ''eating'' habit and Alexander''s persistence was beginning to bore her, and so she began to lose interest in Alexander and her demeanor was starting to revert back to the previous one.
The fish was starting to lose interest in the bait and attempting to swim off.
And Mikaya''s preference for nobles could not really be faulted.
Because in a society where food was generally scarce, the well-fed nobles tended to be much better nourished than themoners, making them taller, stronger, and more muscr.
And Mikaya''s choice was aided by the fact that the young nobles that she targeted were usually of military age and thus very fit.
And thus it meant that on average they were bigger and fatter down there.
"That''s right. With the kind of skeletons that are running around the city, mistress would feel more from a needle prick," Nafia sneered at Alexander, her heart leaping with joy that Alexander''s n had failed.
''For a moment there I thought my heart would burst,'' Nafia breathed a sigh of relief that her mercurial mistress had lost interest in that insane proposal.
But as Nafia would find out just momentster, she was celebrating too soon.
''It is true that these malnourished peasants would normally be able to do nothing,'' Alexander seemed to agree with Nafia''s statement internally.
But then ominously added in his heart, "The key word here being ''normally''.''
Alexander was truly interested to see the effects of the Shiva drug firsthand.
But naturally, he could reveal the existence of the shiva drug to Mikaya for security reasons, and besides, he suspected that Mikaya might think that Alexander was just pulling her leg by spinning these tall tales.
Instead, he revealed his ultimate attraction.
"Lady Mikaya has said herself that the reason you are displeased is because you couldn''t attend the party you wanted to and by your own words, quote: ''I nned to try and break my own record of whoring myself out for three days and three nights'' unquote." Alexander began.
"So, let me offer you my brothel as an alternative."
Alexander then quickly raised his palms and shed them in a ''hold on'' gesture and quickly said, "Before you reject me, let me say that the brothel will not be anything like you experienced."
He then raised his index fingers as he gave the description, "First of all you will be able to choose all your clients, save one mandatory partner we will choose for you once a week. So technically you can have sex just once a week."
Alexander''s first offer seemed very generous at first nce, and it was in fact really generous, provided that it was not given to a sex-loving addict.
From what he had heard and seen, Alexander was sure Mikaya would not be even able to restrain herself to just once a day.
But regardless of the quality of Alexander''s offer, it seemed to have little effect on the snow-colored beauty who was beginning to close her eyes and turn silent as a sign of disinterest.
And this was when Alexander said his magnum opus, "And once a fortnight, there will be a special charity event. Here Lady Mikaya will be put in a wall butt and be made to service cocks for twelve hours straight!"
This new word and the long time frame drew Mikaya''s interest like a moth is drawn to a me and she could raise her head again as she curiously asked, "What''s a wall butt?"
Alexander dly exined with a smile, "A wall butt is literally what it sounds like- a wall that a female''s naked butt sticking out of it. Basically, a hole is carved out of a wall and a woman bends over and sticks her butt out, and¡hehe, well I will leave the rest to Lady Mikaya''s imagination." Alexander gave a sly smile.
And listening to Alexander''s novel y had sent the ever-adventurous Mikaya''s eyes sparkling with ''Waku, waku''.
And oh how she wished she could grow wings and fly to Matrak to try this out for herself
"Haha, oh Alex, I wish I could have met you sooner!" Mikaya giggled.
"But..mistress," Nafia tried to jump in quickly to stop her mistress but was promptly cut off by a single sound from Mikaya, "Shuush,"
Then the beautiful girl have a sultry smile at Alexander and to his surprise still shook her head in rejection, saying, "I''m sorry, pasha Alexander. Although I found your idea very innovative and I will pay you back for the knowledge, butmon scum just doesn''t interest me."
Alexander did not find Mikaya''s address of themon masses as scum as this sentiment was prevalent among the nobility.
But he did find the rejection so.
''Her pride is her so high!'' Alexander made a correction to his evaluation of Mikaya.
And then he quickly came up with more features which he introduced, "Lady Mikaya, I was not done. Because a wall butt is not just a butt, it also has a front side. A ce where a hole exists for men to stick their sticks in."
This new dimension made Mikaya think again and she began to be finally interested.
''Maybe I could try it just for once'' She said to herself half-convinced.
Chapter 232 Corrupting Mikaya (Part-3)
As Mikaya slowly worked out how the novel thing that Alexander called the wall butt would work, Alexander was busy wagging his forked tongue.
"So, mydy just imagine. A cock you will likely never know enters a hole in the wall and directly into your warm, waiting mouth to enjoy, while you get railed from behind by men you even don''t know."
He then produced a crafty glint in his eyes as he continued, "They could be your grocers, fishmongers, potters, stableboys, and servants, people who would not even dare to look at you, and now, unknowingly could be nailing and getting sucked off by their mistress."
Alexander in a whisper then asked, "Tell me? What would they think if they knew that it was their mistress they were fucking? Will they look at the drooling slutty hole where they had discharged their semen with disdain? Will they regret the actions that they had done? Or perhaps, they''re going to be thankful for the opportunity to be able to embrace you, or maybe even regret that they didn''t manage to savor the taste carefully...?"
Mikaya had gone red at the thought and was slightly panting in excitement.
The things that Alexander had said made her heart beat in many ways that it had not beaten for years.
She thought thatpared to Alexander''s ideas, her grand n seemed tame, with nothing she had not done before and with no other men she had not been with.
But this was different,pletely different.
And she loved the sound of it.
Mikaya looked at Alexander with both quivering excitement and some fear, as she remembered the teaching of her religious scripture, ''It''s said that at the gates of judgment, god will judge the sinners. And the sinners will try to excuse themselves by saying. ''We did nothing wrong, it was the devil that led us astray''. And then the devil will appear in front of them and pronounce, ''I held no power over you. I could have never forced you tomit any wrong. All I could do was call and tempt you. So, every sin you did, youmitted out of your own free will. I will never benefit you and you will never benefit me''.''
And Alexander felt like that devil to Mikaya.
He held no sway over her and if she refused, he could do nothing to her.
But the tempting lure that Alexander had cast was too strong for her to resist.
Even if she knew epting this proposal could push her to the abyss, she knew she had to try at least once.
Because just imagining having hundreds of thick, hard cocks use her for hours, drenching her two holes with not just cum but also likely the yellow fluid, while her sore throat drank liters of the stuff made her have butterflies in the stomach.
''Maybe those brutes will put the coins in my butt and then have their way with me,'' Mikaya was already thinking up more extreme scenarios.
"I¡I will do it once," Mikaya panted the reply, basically saying that Alexander would have just one chance to convince her.
''Sess! Hahaha,'' Alexander did a cartwheel inside his mind hearing this as he believed with the use of the shiva drug, Mikaya would never be able to say no once she tasted it.
But the one person, who was still sane- Nafia, saw the offer for what it was and tried for thest time to stop this very bad idea.
"What! Mistress..that''s¡master would¡" Nafia seemed to have lost her ability to form coherent sentences as she just opened and closed her mouth in disbelief.
''This..this can''t be happening. Master sent the mistress here to stop this an¡and now ..now,'' The loyal maid felt faint as she screamed inside her head in despair at her mistress''s wrong decision.
"Sis, just shut up," It was who Tajia snapped, finding her older sister''s nagging irritating, and then smirked, "You are the one who screams the loudest during sex, so stop trying to act all innocent."
Nafia went silent after this, both in shame and by the realization of the eventuality of it all while this new information made Alexander smirk along with the younger sister with the thought, ''It''s like they say, the introverts are always the closet perverts.''
"But Nafia did raise a good point, what about my father? Or the Queen mother?" Mikaya asked with a small frown.
Her father''s anger was no joke.
And if anyone was ever in doubt, one only needed to look at the fact that he had destroyed a king and his sessor for enraging him.
And Alexander was also weary of this, but externally downyed the risks.
"Mydy, please leave your security to me." He smiled while pounding his chest to reassure the cautious girl.
And then delineated by raising his index finger, "First of all, no one really knows your face Zanzan, with Matrak being literally the two thousand kilometers away. And you really have no one here except the ten guards and the six women that apanied you."
Then came his middle finger, "Secondly, no one will ever dare use you of being a prostitute. There are easier ways to kill oneself than that. At best they will remark about the spitting image of a famous whore in a famous brothel and demand for you will only increase."
After rose the ring finger, "Thirdly, you will be disguised. Particrly your characteristic silver hair will either be dyed ck or you will wear a wig. And obviously, you will have makeup such as eyeliner and powder to change your facial color."
And then came up the pinky, "Andstly, before the client is selected, you will have a chance to look at him from behind a translucent curtain or using mirrors. So there will be no nasty surprises of meeting someone you know in your chambers.."
Alexander then finished by asking, "Woulddy Mikaya like to add any suggestions of her own?"
"..." A small breeze of silence blew through the man and women as thetter three looked in awe at Alexander''s methodicalness.
''I probably could havee up with the three too. But not so fast,'' Mikaya said to herself, feeling a bit defeated at Alexander''s speed and the multi-faceted considerations that he took so quickly.
While the fourth point really opened her eyes to give a tiny insight into what kind of a rigorousness individual Alexander was.
And this produced a bittersweet feeling in Mikaya who found herself bested by someone she considered to be basically below her but also d that it was somehow who was of a simr mind to her.
It had to be said Mikaya was far from being just a pretty face and was quite apetent administrator, with hernds that were gifted to her by her father being very profitable and letting the pasha earn quite a bit of revenue from them, and so making her feel defeated was so mean feat.
''Oh. if I could use him as my assistant,'' Mikayampooned that she could not hire Alexander to manage hernds, while she partied all day and night longed.
Maybe she would have even asionally let him have a tiny nibble.
"*Sigh*, the pasha is very one of a kind," Mikaya frankly admitted her loss with a little shake of her head.
But then quickly cheered up, "But if you were not, you couldn''t have employed me as your whore could you? Hehehe." Her pearlyughter rang out as she slowly stood up to match Alexander''s eye level.
Mikaya was in fact a bit taller than Alexander, exceeding six feet and as she stood up, she intentionally teased Alexander by putting her hands on hips and bending them at an angle, letting him marvel at her perfect proportions.
Alexander certainly found the pose very sexy and could not help butmpoon at letting such a beautiful woman slip through his fingertips, ''Oh, if only she was a bit more modest.''
Alexander did not need his women to be prudish blocks of wood, but he did demand loyalty, something he doubted Mikaya possessed or even produced.
Mikaya seemed to notice Alexander''s rueful gaze and gave a coy smile while licking her lips, and thinking, ''Ahhh, I love that expression. That expression of countless men that wants to have me, possess me, bind me, but ultimately decided they can''t deal with all the dirtiness, nastiness, and filthiness thates with it. Ohhh, so delectable.'' Mikaya had a light, suppressed orgasm.
She had always found it the height of hypocrisy that men could sleep around with no problem, but if she ever did it, it was wrong and immoral.
So with that sneering thought, Mikaya came to the issue of secrecy from prying eyes.
"And I''m sure you know how to manage the queen mother?" She asked.
This was certainly a great obstacle and Mikaya was interested to know how the magic answering machine Alexander would answer.
And she was not disappointed as Alexander gave a very bold statement, "Whether the queen mother finds out or not does not matter!"
Chapter 233 Convincing Mikaya
In Alexander''s books, Pasha Farzah, though had a few shorings like any human does, was a good father, a very good father.
He hadunched a rebellion just to avenge his daughter and save his granddaughters, risking everything in the process and when he found out that Mikaya had gone astray, he took the hard steps he thought were necessary to rectify that problem.
But here was Alexander, like the devil from the scriptures, attempting and also seeding in leading Mikaya down that crooked road.
Alexander''s answer made Mikaya think in what world could the queen mother knowing this would not matter and she could find none.
And so, as the girl sent an inquisitive look toward Alexander, she heard Alexander say. "First of all, it is unlikely the Queen mother will ever know about your work."
"The manor has lots of tiny secret passages and so mydy will never be seen by anyone that is not meant to see you. Also, your time will be always selected deep at night, so the queen mother will be asleep by that point."
Alexander further added, "I know Miss Mikaya very much appreciates the Queen mother''s deduction capabilities and is afraid that the Queen mother will be able to sniff something is wrong."
"But let me remind you that the Queen mother''s ability is very dependent on her spywork, from maids, to guards, to nobles, And here in Zanzan, she has none. And it will take her years to build any meaningful one."
"So, even if she can guess something was wrong with you, the real answer will be too far-fetched for her to even consider."
Mikaya raised her eyebrows in surprise at the sound argument, but Alexander was continuing,
"And even if the Queen mother does somehow figure the whole truth out, it is unlikely she will reveal your secret to your father."
"First and foremost, because the truth is so absurd, Pasha Farzah might not even believe her, instead thinking the queen mother was trying to destroy our alliance and make Ptolomy the strongest partner in the alliance."
"And secondly, if she does prove to be true that I am using by ally''s precious youngest daughter as a whore, our alliance is sure to break apart. And that would give Amenheraft the perfect opportunity to attack and destroy us. So by revealing this secret she could be writing her death sentence!"
''.....How does he think of these reasons like he has memorized them?'' Mikaya found Alexander''s quick thinking almost prophetic in nature.
But then quickly posed a question to an answer she had a good guess of, "My great pasha, as you said yourself, making me be a whore might destroy you. So why are you taking such a risk?"
''Because this is my way of conquering you,'' Alexander said the truth in his heart, while he gave the following answer to Mikaya, "Because, I want to help you, mydy. Someone who has been so unjustly treated."
''Heh,'' Mikaya only smirked with disdain at this fake courtesy, fully sensing Alexander''s desire to taint her.
But she did not reject it because if Alexander could really give her the pleasure he alluded to, she would not mind jumping into the abyss for him.
Mikaya vowed not to screw over Alexander as long as he could let her experience continuous pleasure.
And with thismitment, Mikaya suddenly dictatoriallymanded, "Nafia, Tajia, you will speak nothing about this to anybody. And naturally, you will prostitute with me as well! Any objections?"
"Yes, mistress," Tajia had always loved sex and saw no problem with the order.
And though Nafia was reluctant, she obeyed nheless, agreeing with a small nod.
Nafia might appear to not like Mikaya''s actions, but she was also not a strong woman, and usually, Mikaya could arm-twist her way around this maid.
This was why Nafia never had the guts to secret tell on her mistress to her master.
In fact, even after the pasha had found out on his own, when he asked about it to Nafia, under her mistress''s directions, she lied and hid the critical information.
Finished with this, again, in the typical, mercurial Mikaya fashion, she ordered, "Now, you girls stand near the railings and bend over!"
This pose was very revealing but the maids nevertheless obeyed, letting Alexander marvel at the assets of the two beautiful women.
On the right, was the smaller, tighter ass of Nafia, the dark hole, and the wet cave all revealed for Alexander to fully savor. Although Nafia was the elder sister, she in stature looked like the younger of the two, with long hair reaching her butt, a lean body, a shorter height, and smaller breasts.
Tajin on the left was taller, with breasts rivaling Mikaya''s and with an ass to die for. she had a healthy darkerplexion and shorter hair that just crossed her shoulders.
Alexander found the younger sister to be more his type.
Mikaya approached the two bent-over girls and started lovingly caressing their butts, "Nafia is a screamer, Alex," She introduced as she kneaded the baster butt under her palms, and then added, "She always seems reluctant at first but once she starts going, she''s the sluttiest of us three."
Alexander found anyone to be more shameless than Mikaya hard to believe but when he observed Nafia only blush and lower her head in silence, he felt Mikaya might not be just teasing him.
Afterward, Mikaya gave the same love to Tajia, saying, "Tajia, is much more honest and obedient. She loves sex and particrly loves to jump on men and dominate them."
This reference subconsciously drew Alexander''s eyes toward Tajia''s leg and found her to have beautiful toned, healthy thighs, the result of her intense workout no doubt.
Done with the introductions, Mikaya then dabbed bother her hands with olive oil and whispered in a raspy, heated voice, "Now, let''s get you girls all nice and lubed up."
"Ahhhh,"
"Ohhh..yes,"
Almost simultaneously came the two sisters'' lust-filled songs as Mikaya started rubbing the oil over their sensitive holes, mixing their lewd juices over their own holes and giving them a shiny polish.
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
Alexander watched with a rock hard-on as Mikaya sciously swung her naked butt while working the two sister''s holes, repeatedly going inside them and producing a nasty, lewd sound in the process.
"Ahhh¡so good mistress, quicker," Tajia was honest and unreserved.
While Nafia tried to bury her head even lower and pleaded, "Ahh, no mistress, not so fast....mmm¡the shame¡ekk...ing."
The sudden shuddering of Nafia''s body and the wobbling of her feet provided evidence that Nafia had climaxed.
"Haha, Sis is a real slut. She especially loves it when others watch her," Tajia chuckled at her loose sister, while thetter only blushed even harder that the truth.
Mikaya then slowly retrieved her finger and started lewdly sucking the juices using her thick tongue,scivious grinning at Alexander and asking, "So, are we three whorish enough?"
"Too much," Alexander dryly replied with a gulp, his lower half wanting to tear out of his trousers.
"Haha, good, good," Mikaya giggled in approval and then shed a lewd smile, "Well, Alex, it''s time aunt rewarded you!"
Alexander soon found out what that reward was as Mikaya ced herself between the two sisters and presented a heavenly view for Alexander.
Out on the balcony, under the gentle winter morning sun, surrounded by green, rolling hills and a sweet, warm breeze, there were three beautiful, fat asses swinging temptingly in front of him,
Mikaya''s was naturally the most beautiful, with a magnificent heart shape, the fair, wless rump was all oiled up and glittering in the golden sunlight, both her secret cave and pink, puckered hole lubed-up and inviting Alexander sciously to pound them into submission.
But the two sisters nking her were no slouches either, with both Nafia and Tajia''s oiled butts also gleaming beautifully off the morning sun, tempting him to taste the exquisite rumps.
And Alexander''s heart certainly moved to want to have a taste, especially when Mikaya lewdly tempted, "Now, Alex, take that rock, hard cock and pump these holes good and full."
But Alexander didn''t.
His heart told him to, whispered like the devil that there would be no harm in just doing it once, for only having a little nibble, that he would be just testing the product.
But with a herculean amount of willpower, he resisted like forbidden fruit.
''Stupid son of a bitch, think with your brain for once instead of your dick. Who knows what kind of STDs these three have?'' Alexander cursed his biological reactions.
But then a lightning strike went off inside his head, "Wait! STDs! What about STDs?"
Alexander suddenly became terrified of this concept he had overlooked before out of his sheer excitement.
''Do STDs even exist in this world?'' Alexander seriously wondered as he observed the three wless slits presented in front of him, which were all bright and pink, tightly closed, and looked to be without any blemishes.
Not that Alexander was any expert, but the girls looked very healthy.
So he decided to ask, "Miss Mikaya, as a doctor, I was interested, have you ever seen warts on either male or female genitalia?"
Chapter 234 Alexanders Finding On STDs
Alexander was one thousand percent sure that if did do what he promised Mikaya he would do, all the girls will catch STDs.
And if Mikaya did and then somehow died...
The image of Farzah snapping his neck like a twig surfaced in this mind as he shivered.
Alexander could deal with Pasha Farzah finding out about Mikaya''s misadventures by iming he had no idea and saying he only thought it was someone else who looked like her.
He could even deal with idental pregnancy with no problem using the legumum.
But contagious diseases like STDs were a whole different beast.
They would be not only a hazard to the girls but also to the men who slept with them.
And if Alexander let it spread, the whole city might be infected.
He did not want that nightmare of a scenario in his head.
But looking at the three women''s genitalia, he found them to be like a virgin''s, which was surprising given how likely they had been roughly used by possibly hundreds if not thousands of men.
He would have expected them to be at least partially ckened.
Mikaya was a bit caught off guard by Alexander''s questions, but answered nevertheless, "Sure I have. Does my lord need help treating someone suffering from that?"
Mikaya had a confused but concerned tone.
''Treat? You guys can treat STDs?'' Alexander thought incredulously.
He knew that STDs were so feared because they were either very hard or almost impossible to cure.
The bacterial ones like syphilis could be cured through advanced antibiotics, but the viral infections, which were spread by viruses as opposed to bacteria, were basically death sentences, as evidenced by the most famous virus HIV, which caused the incurable AIDS.
The reason why HIV or AIDS cannot be treated. even by our modern antibiotics, is because our medicines can only attack and destroy bacteria but are useless against viruses.
This is evidenced by the fact that we have yet been unable to eradicate themon cold because it''s caused by a virus.
What our antibiotics can do at best is destroy the bacteria which are used as incubation pods for viruses to reproduce, as viruses, being entities considered to be between the living and dead, are not able to reproduce without a host.
Thus once their medium of reproduction is destroyed and they can no longer replenish their numbers, the body''s immune system can swarm and with overwhelming numbers destroy them.
And that is the only real way to kill a virus on earth, by using the body''s natural immune system, and no other way exists.
Many scientists even think that it might be the only way to kill a virus in the universe short of throwing it into a ck hole, as they have such a strong protein coat surrounding them that some posit that they might be even able to survive inside the core of a sun.
So imagine Alexander''s surprise that Mikaya was iming they had the method to do just that!
Alexander must have made a very scary face as looking at it Mikaya turned around and in a high-pitched, concerned voice asked, "Alexander, hey, are you okay!"
This voice broke Alexander out of his thought as he quickly shed a smile "Ah..yeah, yeah, I''m fine. Just thinking," He brushed it off.
And then quickly asked, "So how do you treat it?"
"Umm, just simply rub a legumum salve on the affected area or drink it with boiled water," Mikaya felt it hard to keep up with Alexander''s line of question.
One moment they were about to bang, the next moment they were talking about warts.
''Strange minds work in strange ways I guess,'' Mikaya said to herself.
"And does it work on other things like rashes, blisters, and boils?" Alexander wanted to be thorough.
"Yes, anything rted to the private parts," Mikaya affirmed with a nod.
"And have you personally experienced it?" Alexander then asked.
This time Mikaya answered shaking her head, "No, though I have seen it but I never had any. It''s because I have always rubbed the salve every time after sex. It''s what we are taught to do."
The shape and color of her genitalia finally made sense to Alexander and he could not marvel at the miraculous nature of the herb.
''If this drug can really destroy viruses then it is worthy to be called a magical herb.'' Alexander praised the white nt in his heart.
And then added, "Hmmm, the shiva drug is also quite miraculous. This world''s metals and physics seem the same as my previous world, but the flora and fauna, some of them have pseudo-magical features.''
And following this train of thought, Alexander''s mind started to drift toward the realms of fantasy and some words associated with it.
But soon he restrained and retracted such daydreaming words as he had no evidence of such existence and so it was pointless to conjecture.
''If it exists, I will deal with it then,'' Alexander said to himself.
He also then remembered to remind himself that STDs of this world might not be viral in this world.
Because many diseases are created when a pathogen usually jumped species.
For example, the pathogens which cause measles, smallpox, and tuberculosis all live inside cows but these animals barely feel anything, simr to ourmon cold.
But when these germs jump into us, what they do to make a cow a little sick, makes us very sick.
And this jumping species is a monument leap in a pathogen''s evolution.
It is simr to humans diving into an ocean and then automatically developing a set of lungs that would enable them to live on bothnd and sea.
Such an evolution would take us hundreds of millions of years, but because pathogens reproduce so quickly, they canplete this evolution within centuries or even decades.
Thus it could be that there are no viral STDs or even any STDs in this world because the gems have not evolved yet.
''I need to do more research on this,'' Alexander made the decision to make this project a top priority but thenmpooned over the fact that he only had the basic A-level biology knowledge, and thus sorelycking in expertise.
Even his entire lifetime might not be enough to unravel all the secrets of the Legumum.
Finished with these thoughts Alexander returned to the world of the living, and found the three women looking worriedly at Alexander.
Seeing the focus return to Alexander, Mikaya quickly asked in a bit of a panic, "My lord are you feeling alright? Should I get the guards?"
Alexander''s ssy eyes staring into the horizon had really scared her.
If anything happened to Alexander, not only her ticket to freedom would go with him, but also the people that follow Alexander might not let her off easily.
Especially that wife of his Cambyses.
That girl had always struck her as being dangerous.
And so when Alexander returned to normal, blood seemed to have finally re-entered her heart.
"No, I''m fine. I just recalled something," Alexander felt a bit embarrassed as he answered.
Such had also happened In his previous life, where he would lose himself in thinking about a problem, even sometimes during conversations, and then be bought back to earth by the urging shouts of the people around.
"That''s good." It was unknown whether Mikaya had epted that answer or just thought Alexander was ying tough.
But nevertheless, she urged with a gesture, "Maybe the sun is too hot for the lord. Let''s go inside,"
Alexander too had no reason to stay on the balcony and so followed.
And as he entered the room, his eyes suddenly caught hold of the leather pouch he had bought with him and reminded him of the original reason he came here.
And so he addressed Mikaya, "Miss Mikaya, I believe you still owe me a reward."
Arge, happy grin shed across Mikaya''s face as sheughed, "Yes, yes, let''s get started now," and attempted to take Alexander''s clothes off.
"No, no, you misunderstand," Alexander shook his head to correct the misunderstanding and then slowly walked up to grab the leather bag.
"This," He said shaking the bag in his hand.
"Oh? Was it cards you said?" Mikaya tried to recall.
"Yes. And I want them all painted abination of ck and red, preferably before supper. I want to y some games after," Alexander sinctly replied.
"Hmm, well, let me see if I will be able to finish them all by then," Mikaya''s curiosity was drawn.
And so Alexander opened the bag and let Mikaya praise the diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades shapes and marvel at the king, queen, and joker.
"My, my, aunt Seelima was right. My great pasha, your talents are endless," Mikaya praised using familiar terms as her eyes sparkled at the beautiful shapes and figures.
Alexander then spent a little time showing what part to color what and finished with this, seeing Mikaya get busy, Alexander performed a courtesy bow and then excused himself with the words, "Well, then, please have a lovely day, mydy."
Chapter 235 Takfiz
Alexander walked away from Mikaya''s room feeling quite a different emotion from how he felting to it.
He was apprehensive and a bit reluctant back then, while now his heart seemed set aflutter.
''It was quite the conversation,'' Alexander hummed in glee, thinking back on the myriad of emotions he had felt in that room, from fury to intrigue to scheming to astonishment.
And at the end of it all, he managed to catch a fish he did not even think could be caught.
Alexander turned to look up at the sky and found it to be leaning west, indicating a time of around 3 in the afternoon.
''I was there for almost three hours,'' Alexandermpooned at the blistering speed that time seemed to flow.
It had always fascinated him that time seemed to move faster or slower depending on your mood and actions.
''Time is rtive,'' Alexander quoted Einstein as he decided to skip lunch and meet up with his ves.
He thus quickly exited his house, got on a horse, and rode to the servants'' quarters about a kilometer away.
Along the way, he saw all the ves and servants stop what they were doing and bow or prostate towards him.
This did not sit well with him and made up his mind to bring that issue with Takfiz, who was an elderly ve he had appointed as the two thousand ves'' representative.
"My lord, this lowly ve greets you." Speaking of the devil, the old man with a mass of white hair ran as fast as his weak legs could carry him to greet Alexander the moment his horse stopped and the second Alexander nted his feet on the ground, the hunched-back man bent his back to kneel and then kiss Alexander''s shoes.
"Takfiz, I told you repeatedly not to do this," Alexander had a helpless tone to his voice.
He certainly did not like the idea of a man old enough to be his grandfather who such things.
But even when he repeatedly expressed his dislike, the old man would give the same hackneyed reply, "Hehe, this old bone does not know any other way to serve lord master,"
Alexander only pursed his lips but did not say anything.
What was he going to do?
Punish an old man for respecting him?
Thus, since the old man liked it so much and refused to budge, Alexander had little choice other than to agree, unless he wanted to be tyrannical enough and use force to make himply.
Seeing no point continuing this conversation, ALexnader told the man to stand up and moved on, asking "How is K?"
"Good, good," Hearing the namee out from Alexander''s mouth seemed to make this old, wrinkled man''s face light up with glee as he then turned to look back and shouted, "K, boye here." while at the same time gesturing towards a small boy who was ying by himself with some wooden toys.
The boy seemed to sense his grandfather''s call as he looked to see the waving hand, and recognizing Alexander standing next to him, quickly ran towards him.
The short, scrawny boy was K, and his story was both tragic andmon.
He was born deaf and so once his parents found out, they heartlessly sold him to a ve trader to get rid of this burden.
But his grandfather did not have the heart to lose his grandson like that.
He did not have the heart to live with the knowledge that his own flesh and blood, because he could notmunicate, would most likely live the rest of his life in a mine and die a death worse than a dog''s.
And so to look after him, he sold himself along with the boy and then, by the twists of fate, somehow ended up being bought by Alexander.
And even more miraculously he ended up being one of the servants on the ship Alexander was on.
Then one day, while out on a walk to stretch his muscles, Alexander heard the cries of a small child aboard the ship and thus met the deaf boy.
He still remembers the look of abject horror Takfiz had when he came to find his grandson climbing up his master''s back, almost stumbling against the wooden door as he shivered and cowered.
And it took ALexnader an inordinate time to reassure the old man that he was just here to y with the boy.
In theter days, Alexander, feeling pity for the boy, decided to asionally teach give some signnguage to make his life a little less hellish.
And yes, it was hellish, like being trapped in a world where no one understands you and you understand no one, with your only mode ofmunication being to shout or cry.
Alexander in his university years had done some voluntary work and among them, for a year he had taught some physically challenged, not-so-well-off children.
And to more easilymunicate with the kids, he had back then taught himself some basic signnguages from online courses.
The little bald boy quickly crossed the distance by the pitter patter of his small feet and then gave a full bow in front of Alexnader, something which Alexander found very cute.
"So, how are you?" Alexander gestured this saying using hand signals and got the reply,
"I''m fine, my lord," in the same abstractnguage.
The duo then spent a little time practicing and conversing and after Alexander taught the boy two new signs, excused him, which the boy did after a small bow.
"He is very smart. I hope you will continue to converse with him and help him grow," Alexandermented to Takfiz about his grandson, which drew a smile so big that seemed to threaten the old man''s cheeks as he heavily nodded, almost tearing up.
He never imagined that his deaf and dumb grandson could grow to be so clever and he gave all the credit to his master Alexander.
''Praise be to lord master.'' Takfiz praised
Yes, for the old man wearing a thick padded jacket, just his grandson being able to carry on the most basicmunication was seen as a sign of genius.
And this was not too wrong of a mindset to have as the boy who was close to seven years old, previously had themunication ability of at best a one-year-old, an infant basically, while now it was more of in the range of three to four years.
Takfiz had be one of Alexander''s earliest converts, changing his belief back when he was on the ship.
To this day Alexander did not from where the old man had heard of his religion, but suddenly one day the old man hade to Alexander and proimed himself to be a believer of Gaia.
And because of the old man''s proactiveness in epting Alexander''s religion, and because Alexander could feel the zealous loyalty flowing out of him, he was made the leader of the ves and given a better house, better clothes, better food, and better pay.
Alexander also took into consideration the fact that he had a grandson he very much loved and binding someone using the people they loved was a time-tested tradition that Alexander loved to follow.
Other than just pity, that was also why he paid so much attention to the boy.
And thus, for Takfiz, the word betrayal had been removed from his dictionary.
Done with the pleasantries, Alexander then gave his ve handler some instructions, "Takfiz, whileing here I saw the people stop work to bow to me. And while I greatly appreciate this gesture, you are to make them understand that they are not pausing work for anybody passing through the road. And I mean anybody- me, my wives, the guests, other lords¡nobody." Alexander emphasized.
And then added, "And if anyone asked them why, then they are to say my name. Say that I ordered such. Understood?" Alexander pointedly ordered.
"Yes, my lord. I will see to it." The old man only had the option to nod and obey.
"Umm, now how are my fields?" Alexander then asked about the private farnds surrounding his manor.
"Yes, sire." Takfiz stood up taut and gave an almost mechanical report, "As you ordered we have nted beetroots in the forty hectares ofnd after single tilting. And five hectares have been nted with dandelions. And the rest have been double tilted and felt to follow,".
The reason for the beetroots was very evident, making sugar.
But the dandelions also had a veryponent that can be produced from them, something Alexander nned to use in his panties to make them a bit more than just a triangr piece of cloth with strings.
"Where are all the ves now?" Alexander asked next and Takfiz quickly answered, "Some are in the field as master saw, some are in the city working, and ¡a few are in the secret shops."
The old man subconsciously lowered his voice when he said thest part.
Chapter 236 Paper Making (Part-1)
Alexander had a few secret projects he had given Takfiz to oversee.
Of course, the old man wasn''t appointed to oversee the production, but the operational security of the projects.
He was there to make sure the ves involved in the project did not p their mouths to anybody.
"How''s the security around those houses?" Alexander asked even though he knew the answer.
"We have done as you asked, my lord. The ves never discuss anything rted to work to anybody and all their various activities like entry and exit time during work and even where they go between work is recorded." Takfiz loyally recorded.
"Umm, good," Alexander nodded pleased.
Alexander knew it was unlikely that these ves, that were bound to his estate would really find a way to divulge these secrets to anyone.
And anyone infiltrating, essing the information, and then leaving with it right under his nose, inside Alexander''s privatends was close to impossible.
And besides, the people of this were much simpler and honest, without the infinite number of knots in their hearts as modern humans do.
So, this might seem excessive, but Alexander by nature was a paranoid man and he always preferred to make ns for contingencies.
And so the ves that worked were constantly monitored by a few strong men under Takfiz, lived in separate quarters from the rest of the men, and generally were given a better standard of living with bigger, better rations, ess to better medicine and healthcare, and also better housing and clothes.
If a ve was married, his family would also be given better privileges than the rest of the ves and those bachelors even had ess to women for entertainment, all to keep them happy, tight-lipped, and working quietly.
Alexander was not satisfied even with all these precautions as he even nned to make a separate counter-industrial espionage force or CIE to oversee the protection of his core technologies.
But thetter''s formation was still just an idea as today he was here to officially here to see the start of production of four of his businesses.
"Let''s go see the paper shop first," Alexander gestured Takfiz to lead the way.
Alexander had seen the paper-making process once in a television show which featured how a Vietnamese family was keeping this old tradition alive and the steps were so simple that he had remembered them even after his transmigration.
So, during theter days of the gue, while Alexander was still camping in the harbor, he had gotten a few of his ves together and did a little test run.
In that show, they used the branches of mulberry nts, which were thin and long, but the test run showed that Alexander could basically use any thin long nts as a substitute.
So, naturally, right after he got his new home, he employed some of his ves to scale up production and start making the thing, nning to substitute papyrus with it, use it as wrapping paper, and as a major export.
And Alexander was here today to see how the production process of this valuable good was going on.
Hearing Alexander''s desire, the old man quickly trotted ahead and soon Alexander, his bodyguards, and the old man came to arge wooden house that had been converted from originally arge stable
There, about one hundred ves, both men, and women were busy working away.
The first batch of ves was busy sorting a bunch of thin, dry, long twigs and branches, slowly and manually taking the barks off them.
The next batch of them was busy taking these cleaned bits of trees and using a wooden mallet to smash and crash them, basically with the intention of separating the branches into the long, individual fibers that constituted them.
The third group was taking the smashed wood, manually separating any leftover fiber with their hands, and then dumping them into a boiling pot of hot water and stirring them.
Once the fibers were cooked for an appropriate amount of time, a fourth group would take them out and then again mash them using a mallet, this time for hours if needed, until the individual fibers were broken up so much that they all lumped together to basically look like a small ball of brown colored dough.
Afterward woulde the work of the fifth group, who would take the small paper dough and leave it to dry, either over a firece or simply under the sun.
And once dry, these doughs would be chopped into small pieces using arge butcher''s knife.
This was done to turn the singr, long, stringy fiber that was formed by the fusion of all the individual fibers in the previous process into bite-sized pieces.
And then to make them even smaller, they would further be slowly pulled apart with hands, producing small balls simr to look like the ones would make if he were to pull some cotton from a whole ball.
''Hmm, I should invent scissors,'' Alexander said to himself as he observed the paper butchers turn the paper dough into mincemeat, the *bang*, *bang* ruckus, stinging his eardrums.
There were things called scissors in this time period, but they were very different from the scissors Alexander was used to.
These so-called scissors looked more like tweezers with des, made from two bronze des connected at the handles by a thin, flexible strip of bronze a€" which served to hold the des in alignment and to allow them to be squeezed together, and to be pulled apart when released.
They were slow and ufortable to use for an extended period of time and so Alexander opted for the butcher''s cleaver.
With this thought embedded in his mind, he turned to observe thest step of the process, the actual paper-making process.
The sixth andst group was responsible for doing as they first took these small bits of fibers and dumping them into a rectangr tub of water. Then they would use a rectangr cloth mesh tied to a smaller wooden rectangr mold and sink it into the water and after giving the mold a little shake, quickly bring it up, along with a thinyer of the fine suspended fibers that would be caught up in the mesh cloth.
The mold would be then inverted and this wet paper would fall into a dry piece of cloth below and then a worker would use a heavy wooden roller to press the fine fibers together and squeeze out all the water.
Afterward, this cloth containing the paper would be taken to be dried either over a fire or under the sun, and in a few hours to a few days depending on the drying process. a white, sheet of paper would be produced.
This paper was around A2 size, so around forty (40) by sixty (60) cm and after drying, it could be cut to smaller, desired sizes.
As Alexander toured the ''factory'' naturally all the ves bowed or kneeled in front of him as he passed their station, while everyone chanted some variations of the same thing, ''My lord,'' ''Master.'' ''Great Pasha.'' etc.
"Okay, okay, now please return to work," Alexander tried hard to keep his exasperation in check.
He certainly was happy to see the ve fear and respect, and he also did not want to appear too friendly in front of them fearing that the ves might mistake his kindness as a weakness.
But getting repeatedly bowed certainly bored Alexander.
"Here, master, please," Alexander was handed a recently made, cut into about A4 size piece of paper by Takfiz and as he moved his fingers over the processed fibers, its texture was as he had expected, rough and coarse by any stretch of the definition.
And this was something very much within Alexander''s expectations as, of course, his handmade product would be nothing like the fine paper he was used to before,
But then again, it was certainly wrong topare the exquisiteness of using an industrial shredder to turn the fibers basically into a paste to manually cutting the fibers into small pieces.
This was also why so many of the processes were dedicated to making the fiber pieces as small and fine as possible.
But there was always a limit to human capabilities and Alexander certainly could not expect his workers to work for weeks turning a small piece of paper dough into as fine a paste as possible, as that would make the speed of production abysmal and the cost astronomical.
Thus Alexander was prepared to make thispromise, saying to himself, "If humans could produce as fine a paper as the machines, then what use would be there for the machine?
There was also the fact that paper making was a delicate art requiring years if not decades of training and experience and since this was literally the first time paper was being made, and no one knew how to make it before, naturally, its quality would becking.
But overall, Alexander was quite pleased with the product, evidenced by hisrge grin while caressing the paper.
Chapter 237 Paper Making (Part-2)
Alexander''s new invention drew the amazed stares of his bodyguards, their eyes sparkling, except for Hemicus who kept a t, poker face.
Seeing the apprehensive man, Alexander passed the paper on to this trusted man, and asked, "Hemicus, what do you think? Give me your honest opinion."
"Hmmm," The guard captain took some time feeling the product, bending and folding it, and then said, "Forgive my ignorance pasha, but this looks like a lot of work to make a more expensive papyrus or parchment."
Hemicus''s frank and honest reply made Takfiz jump in fright, as he would never even dream of talking to Alexander like that.
And so looked at Alexander with an apprehensive face, fearing even the always gentle lord might not like his inventions being discredited.
"Hahaha," But it only drew a burst of boisterousughter from Alexander who could understand where the muscr, chisel-faced, bearded man wasing from.
So he decided to show his point of view, "You are right that papyrus is much cheaper and more avable. But it is also hard to write on using some ink and ruins too easily when exposed to water and even air. The reason for thetter is because the wood fibers in papyrus are kept intact, unlike in our paper,"
Alexander then moved on to show the problems with parchment.
"And as for parchment, to get that you need to ughter an animal like sheep, deer, or cow, and then process its hide. And if killing a few thousand ropals worth animal just to get something to write on is not the epitome of waste, then I don''t know what is. And this is not to even mention that leather has a million other uses.
"That''s right, that''s right. As expected of the all-knowing, all-erudite, sagacious lord master," Takfiz''s eyes shone like the sparkling sun at Alexander''s victory over Hemicus, praising him to high heaven usingvish words.
''Heliptos can learn from this guy,'' Alexander was lightly amused by the old man''s depth of vocabry used in ttering him
Alexander then said, "I want to try making a sheet of paper, can I?"
Of course, Alexander was not asking for permission as there was no one who could deny him such, and so Takfiz hastily replied, "Yes, yes, please, please," he endeavored to arrange it as fast as was humanly possible.
"You! Move, lord master ising. Get out," The old man immediately turned from a meek little kitten to a ferocious tiger as he addressed the ves working the molds, spitting and waving his wizened arms to emphasize his point.
But Alexander wanted this worker and so he softly said, "Let him stay. I want to listen to his advice."
"Ohh...yes, yes, of course, master," After a moment of shock, Takfiz quickly retracted his order and "You! Why have you not thanked master yet?"
And so after another round of bowing, during which Alexander found it hard to keep a straight face, Alexander was finally handed the mold.
"What''s your name?" Alexander asked the worker.
"Azijak, my lord," The lean man quickly replied.
"And what did you do before being captured?" Alexander inquired.
"I was a papyrus maker, my lord. Before I sold myself during the drought," The worker answered, his story nothing special.
His employment here was certainly no coincidence, as Alexander had specifically instructed Takfiz to ce such types of people here.
Alexander afterward asked, "Hmm, can you tell me the technique you use to make the paper sheets?"
"That..it is hard for me to tell in words, " Azijak began and then said, "but there is a specific technique to taking the mold out of the water with the paper pulp on it so as not to form bumps on the surface, the depth the mold was to be ced in the water, the speed at which it was submerged and taken out and the amount of shaking done to spread the fine fibers all around." Azijak tried to give Alexander his answer.
And then summarized it, "Basically, the technique is moving the wrists quickly but not too much."
"Umm, then let me try," Alexander with a nod then tried it and found it not easy, with the end result being amateurish.
"Amazing! Amazing, lord master," As soon as Alexander dumped the paper on the dry cloth, Takfiz jumped up in empty praise, saying, "To produce such an excellent piece of paper on your first try, you truly are divine!"
And following his boss''s example, Azijak, too joined in puffery, "Yes, yes. It is truly a great piece of paper."
Alexander of course did not buy this ttery but neither did he care to stop them.
Instead, he was busy thinking, ''Hmm, skilled workers.''
It seemed that he would not be able to just scale up production as he wished, for he would be constrained by the supply of skilled papermakers.
"Azijak, do you have any suggestions about ways to speed up production?" Alexander asked the expert.
And understanding this was his chance to shine, Azijak''s floodgates for words came loose, "Yes, my lord, I have some," He replied with crity.
"First," He pointed to the dry cloth and said, "Master, using the cloth takes too much time. Sometimes we have to stop making paper, because of shortage of clothes."
"Instead we can justy the sheets on top of one another and use a cheap tree sap coating to stop them from sticking together."
Azijak then pointed to the roller, "Also we can use mallets to beat the water out of a stack of sheets, instead of using the roller which is very slow."
"Andstly, I feel like the pulp-making can''t keep up with my sheet-making. If I had enough pulp, I could make much more paper a day," He eagerly expressed.
Alexander was very impressed by this man''s insights and since he wascking a dedicated individual to oversee the paper production, he said, "Umm, okay, let''s do it as you said. And I''m appointing you as head of this workshop!"
"Thank you, master." Immediately after Alexander said this, Azijak was kneeling in front of him as he answered, "I will produce all the paper you desire."
"Um, good," Alexander with a regal bearing lightly nodded, and then added, "You will be given a monthly quota and be expected to fulfill it or provide proper reasons why you could not."
"Rest assured, master. As long as my heart beats, you will get your papers on time," Azijak had a slight tone of martyrdom to his voice.
To keep his position, he was willing to die.
Alexander then turned to Takfiz and instructed, "Try to fulfill all reasonable demands of Azihak. Like if he wants additional men and materials, give it."
"Yes, master," Takfiz quickly nodded, though not before sending a cold re at the mentioned man.
The ve that was invisible just minutes before that now won Alexander''s favor and this naturally stung the old man who saw it as an encroachment on his territory
? Of course, the old man did not have the guts to say it was Alexander''s fault, and thus his anger could go only toward the man who was slightly in simr authority to him.
But the old man was also clever enough to know that if he tried to make difficulties for Azijak and cause him to miss his quotas, it could cause Azijak to tattle on him.
And so the old man begrudgingly decided to give Azijak everything he wanted.
Alexander was naturally unaware of this little rivalry and neither would he care if he knew.
Instead, he gave Azihak hisst instruction, "Azihak, look here," He called out.
And then under the lean man''s careful gaze, on a piece of paper, he drew what was the picture of a modern scissor.
"This is a new kind of scissor," ALexnaer said and briefly described the drawing, " The two bronze des are like swords, with the inner edges being thinner and sharper. The two pieces are crossed like this," Alexander formed a cross with his fingers to show the alignment, "and then a small hole is drilled through and a metal peg is driven through them.
"And then using the finger inside these handle holes, one can easily move these small des like shears and cut stuff, like nt fibers," Alexander gave the basic gist of the tool and then atst added, "Ohh, and make sure the handles are covered with leather, or it will be very ufortable."
"Does master want me to order them?" Azijak cleverly could deduce why Alexander was showing and telling him this.
"Yes, you will be in charge of exining this to the cksmiths, ordering the required numbers, and then disturbing them to the workers." Alexander gave him his first task.
"Yes master, I will show it to you as soon as possible," The workshop head promised,
And with all these done, Alexander then said a few more words and decided to move on to the next shop.
Chapter 238 Glassmaking (Part-1)
As a freedman turned ve, Azijak naturally yearned for freedom and his new appointment was undoubtedly a giant leap in that direction.
It was customary and an unspokenw in Adhania to free a ve of high status or one who earned his master a lot of money looking after his business after around a decade of service unless hemitted any heinous crimes, and so Azihak naturally got to work, making the orders for the scissors, nning the expansion of the business and etc, eager to get back his freedom
But those were forter, as Alexander now hopped to another nearby veryrge shed, this one had been converted from a cksmith''s forge into making ss.
As a metallurgist. Alexander certainly knew the in-depth process of making ss with the most interesting thing about ss being that it was neither a solid nor a liquid but an amorphous solid, which was a state between those two states of matter.
This was because the atoms in ss were not ordered like a solid but also could not flow like a liquid, giving it the nickname superliquid- that is a liquid that was solid.
Alexandre, of course, was not just taught the theory of ss but as a practical course, he was once given the task of designing a factory with the capacity of making ten thousand pieces per day of any ssware of his choosing.
And thus for the next week, every day after ss, he had to go to a nearby ss foundry and see how they ran their operation, what equipment they used, how they used it, how each of the machines were connected to the next relevant machine, what the workers there specifically do and how the end product was finally produced.
The ss manufacturing nt that Alexander chose made a variety of thing, primarily they made bottles of various sizes which was fully automated, but also beautiful art pieces such as intricate paper weight and showpieces that could be custom ordered and thus had to be handmade.
And over the week, Alexander basically had an industrial idea about how ss was made and then manipted to give shape.
And after the week-long visit ended, he had to draw the full ntyout of his factory on a software, and list the name, model number, and quantity of every single piece of equipment he would have to use, ranging from huge,plex furnaces to the most simple ss blower, which was just a hollow steel rod.
He was then required to design their cements of the factory floor properly and sequentially, estimate the total equipment cost, and then estimate the total factory setup cost, fromnd, andbor to raw materials and even electricity costs.
And Alexander was then expected to finish writing this entire report just in the two-day weekend he was given and those seven days were hell for him.
(P.S. Author- Yes, that was me.)
But at the very end, Alexander could say confidently he knew the basics of ss making,
And though such basics had not helped Alexander in his previous life as he majored in steel production, in this life, it swore to be very useful.
As Alexander approached the shed, he found this shed to be much quieter than her next-door neighbor, the paper maker.
"Master, please," Takfiz gestured as the two guards guarding the door opened it to let their master inside.
And Alexander and co quickly entered.
The inside was bright, courtesy of therge windows on all sides, and inhabited by less than twenty men, all working away.
This number was certainly on the low side as the simrly sized paper-making shop had five times the number.
And the reason for this was obvious, ssmaking needed much more skill and was much harder to master.
So less qualified personnel was avable.
"Master, wee," The leader of this small group, a man named Gajopk quickly came forward to greet Alexander and after the usual small talk, Alexander got to the meat of the issue.
"So, how goes the ssmaking?" Alexander asked expectantly.
"Fantastic! Fantastic!" The slightly short man with a gorgeous mustache heavily nodded as he said so, praising Alexander exaggeratedly as he did, "My lord''s ss-blowing technique is the greatest invention of this millennium. It has changed ssmaking forever!"
Alexander only gave a light smile at the sincere praise, thinking that the traditional way Adhania made ss was simr to the likes of ancient Egyptians or Babylonians.
They look sand or quartz and mixed it with nt ash, which was just the stuff that would be produce every time firewood was burnt, and then heated the mixture to a fairly low temperature of around seven hundred and fifty (750) centigrade in a y pot, until it formed a ball of molten material.
This material, called faience, was then cooled, crushed, and sometimes mixed with coloring agents to make it red or blue. After coloring the ss would be funneled into a cylindrical container and heated a second time at a higher temperature.
Once the container cooled, it would be broken and the thick ss ingots that formed during the cooling process were removed.
This ss was very expensive and impure, looking like colored beads or marbles instead of the clear, transparent look one conjures up when one thinks of the word ss as they had not learned to separate the impurities from the sand like various metal ores that gave them a dull color, which was why they preferred to always color their ss.
And because of its impurity, and because it was really hard to shape the ss without the ss blowing tubes, it was really only affordable to the ultra-rich, who used them for window panels by putting multiple ss pieces together, used as small mirrors and even worn as jewelry like brackets and nes.
In fact, Alexander''s neighbor, the Kuleef province was actually the ss-making capital of the country and even in this part of the world, allowing it to be the third most prosperous province of Adhania.
They made colored ss used in mosaics, iid into furniture, or formed into figurines.
Many colorful amulets were also created using semi-precious stone and small pieces of polished ss set into gold and embellished with enamels.
And the decorative ss pieces and figurines they made of Ramuh and other such gods, which were sometimes carefully carved to include details such as facial features, hair, and clothing were the region''s specialty and a major source of ie.
An ie Alexander was deliberately trying to take a chunk off.
The Kuleefians also used another, more advanced method to makerger objects which was called core forming.
In this process, first, a mold would be made of y and then wrapped in thin tubes of molten ss.
Then the mold would be heated as each tube of ss was added so the pieces would fuse around it.
Sometimes metal tools would be used to create patterns in the molten ss such as zig-zags and scales.
And once the vessel waspletely encased, the outer ss would be polished smooth and the y mold scraped out.
These intricately designed ss vessels were made to hold oils and perfumes, iid with metals that formed designs in the translucent material and were the exclusive possessions of the uber elite.
The olive oil that Mikaya was using came from such a bottle, its worth being thousands of times more than all the olive oil she will ever use in her lifetime.
In this way, ss often had the same value as semi-precious stones, its value only diminished by its problems of fragility, as a ss vase or figurine was very likely to be broken in transport.
But Alexander had a n to solve this problem, by simply forming the ss into small, thick ingots and moving it with minimal threat of breakage and then selling it to artisans, who could melt them down and form the ss as they desired.
But before he could carry out his masterful n, he first needed to make the ss.
And for this, he had set up this foundry inside a cksmith''s forge and gathered the raw materials.
First was the sand, more urately the quartz, that was crushed and sieved multiple times to try and remove as much impurity as possible.
Then came the sodium carbonate from wood ash which was used as a flux.
Flux is a substance added to lower the melting point of another substance.
In this case, it was added to the quartz to lower the melting temperature of the ss from a mind-boggling two thousand degrees Celsius, (2000) to a more manageable twelve hundred (1200).
And atst came the limestone, which, while also acting as a secondary flux, primarily was used to prevent the ss from bing water soluble and to increase its chemical structure by variousplex means, making the ss, forck of a better word ''better''.
These three ingredients mixed in the seventy-twenty-ten (70% quartz, 20% wood ash, and 10% limestone) proportion, along with traces of ground metal oxides like lead or iron for color, and thus came Alexander''s ss.
Chapter 239 Glassmaking (Part-2)
Gajopk was a ssmaker for thest twenty-five years of his life, taking over the family business from his father, who took it over from his father.
He had lived all his life in Adhania, but when the drought hit, he saw his business rapidly dwindle, and with it his savings.
And after his wife, and two children died of starvation, the rest of the family and along with some of his other fellow ssmakers sold themselves to very for food.
And in this way, when Alexander asked the ve traders for high-quality, highly skilled ves, Gajopk and his bunch were chosen.
Once they got to Zanzan, and somehow managed to avoid catching the deadly gue, Alexander had tasked them with setting up shop here, which they did about a week from today.
And because their lord hade to Zanzan with almost all the ssmaking tools pre-made, all they had to do was get used to making this new ss, which required them to learn how to control the furnace temperature, process the ingredients, and how to use the tools.
Learning the furnace temperature controls was always a hassle because every furnace, being handmade, was unique in how much heat it gained and lost in a certain period of time and so, it always took a ssmaker a bit of time to get used to a new furnace.
Next came the processing of the raw materials.
Alexander insisted on using quartz which was a type of whitish-colored sand some rocks were made of.
Wood ash or soda ash came from burning trees and leaves, dissolving the leftover ash in water and then boiling it, to get a white powder.
This was the flux.
Alexander also made the ssmakers try out two other types of flux.
One was borax, which was a naturally urring mineral, white in color, usually found around the salt ins like the Life sea and Alexander had bought a lot of it.
The other was natron, which was also naturally urring and white, and found around the banks of some rivers.
The type of flux used had a definitive effect on the rity of ss, and Alexander was interested to know the effects.
And atst came limestone, which thankfully, did not need any more work other than crushing it to a fine powder.
But the wide range of unknown tools was what stumped them the most.
And although over the week, they intuitively figured out how to use some of them, they were still novices over their mastery and half the time they had no idea if they were using the tools their intended way.
And that''s why Alexander was here today, to see how they were doing and show them how to use any of the tools they did not understand.
But first Alexander asked, "Gajopk, the fluxes that we used, which ones got the best result?"
He was curious to know.
"Master, it was the borax. Here, look" The short man very excitedly answered and then quickly ran towards a small corner table and showed Alexander three simple ss bowls, one with a greenish tint, one a bit muddy and translucent, and thest almost transparent.
"The green one is the wood ash, the next is natron and the best one is the borax," The ssmaker gave the introduction, his eyes sparkling in delight at the creation of this, in his opinion, this century''s marvel.
And he remembered to let Alexander know of his praise as he imed in a high-pitched, excited voice, "Master, it has been the dream of every ssmaker in the world, to be one day able to produce clear ss. But for many, this dream had turned into a fantasy, something they took inspiration from and looked and worked towards, but also understood that such a thing was likely not possible."
The man then put his right arm on his chest and slightly bowed, "I will admit that I was one of those disbelievers. But now....now my eyes have been opened."
He then turned emotional, fighting hard to hold man his tears, as he then said, "And to think that master would choose me, or us, to make the world''s first clear ss, we are overwhelmed."
As he said so, the ssmaker plopped down on his knees, followed by all neen of the others who had lines themselves behind their Gajopk.
''The world is a big ce. So, it''s quite the bold im that this the world''s first ss,'' Alexander self-depreciatingly said to himself.
But outwardly, he kept a calm, poker face and in a soft, heavy voice said, "Mmn, I hope you can master making it as soon as possible."
Looking at the not-too-shabby clear ss, Alexander drooled at the astronomical prices he could charge for clear ss, especially clear ss panels and it made him giddy with pleasure.
Adhania''s nobilities obsession with ss was pretty evident to Alexander, as the house he lived in had ss window panels that were basically opaque and could not let light in through them, but still, Pasha Muazz had spent an obscene amount installing them anyway.
The craze for ss in the Adhanian upper ss bordered on obsession.
And then Alexander started thinking about making stained ss windows, which he estimated might cost as much as a small city if were to be installed in arge building like a temple.
In fact, in the middle ages, ss-making was so highly prized and lucrative that many regions that could produce it saw it as a state secret and the leader of the European ssmaker Venice, which was the heart of European ssmaking kept its ssmakers under constant surveince and protection to safeguard their secrets.
And when a few ssmakers had managed to slip through their fingers into France under the temptation of the French king Louis XIV, to build his Pce of Versailles, the Vians sent hired assassins after them, fearing their trade secret might be lost to the French.
And though the assassination failed, it went to highlight just how countries and states were willing to keep ssmaking a secret.
And learning from history, Alexander already had ns to safeguard his workers and their families from enemy spies and saboteurs.
Lost in these thoughts for a moment, Alexander finally bought his attention back to the men standing expectantly in front of him.
And so he decided to address them.
"So, how are the new tools?" Alexander asked the most important question.
Naturally, Gajopk was the first to answer, "Miraculous master, miraculous. We never could have imagined such a thing a hundred years," he exaggeratedly ttered.
And this time some of the others joined too.
"Yes, yes, we are still learning, but with master''s inventions, we will be able to make things we could have only dreamed of before," From the back a man imed.
"And the techniques that master has talked about. We tried some of them and it was revolutionary!" Another chimed with glee and gusto.
"Also, the addition of limestone, too." A third voice was raised, who then said, "Before, the moment we took out our ss from the furnace it would either be too runny like honey or too hard like softwood. But now, it''s got the perfect consistency like dough or putty."
"What I most liked was how different powered metals could be used to make the ss colorful and stronger. Such knowledge must reside only in the realms of the divine." A fourth ttered Alexander, the amazement and worship in his voice palpable.
Thisst instruction came from Alexander''s knowledge that adding trace amounts of various metals gave the ss various, new properties.
For example, adding powered lead in the ssmaking process created a more brilliant finish that was also harder, and as a result of this increased hardness, it could be engraved to produce sharp images and designs, something that was not possible with ordinary ss.
Adding gold to the molten mix of ss created a beautiful but expensive ruby-colored ss, whereas small amounts of cobalt oxide produce the much sought-after cobalt ss,monly known in Alexander''s world as Bristol Blue.
Cobalt oxide, which was amonly found metal ore mixed with rocks, did not actually add color per se, rather it altered the pattern of light as it passes through the ss and block certain colors in the spectrum.
Such a unique property was very desirable for Alexander because knew that he would be able to sell these unique products for astronomical profits.
This ''divine knowledge of adding metals to ss'' also paved the way for Alexander to advance toward his desire to make stained ss, where different colored ss could be created by way of adding different metals and then joined together by using the soft metal lead and putty, all held together in an iron or bronze framework, allowing the creation of such striking pieces of sswork that had adorned the windows of churches and cathedrals in his previous world, all having profit margins thousands of times their production costs.
Alexander drooled at the thought of such profits.
Chapter 240 Glassmaking (Part-3)
Alexander kept a light smiling face as he got the ssmakers'' feedback and praise, while his mind drifted to ways he could sell this ss.
And once the ssmakers finished, he decided then got to the point of why he was here, "Okay, let me see you guys make something, and in the process, I will show you how each of the tools are used. Some are quite obtuse to look at and their purposes might not be obvious at first nce."
"Yes, yes, master. We also have a question on one or two of them..so," Gajopk quickly agreed and then led Alexander to one of the many furnaces burning hot and bright, hot ashes escaping through the chimney.
Then under Alexander''s curious gaze, using his blowpipe, he spun it to twirl the molten ss around it and the took out a ball of molten ss from the crucible, atst bringing it to his station.
This station was just a chair between the two raised rails, where the ssmaker would put his pipe on them, allowing it to freely roll forward and backward.
After bringing the ss ball to his station, Gajopk then started to blow someparatively cool air into the tube, pushing it into the ss and causing the trapped air then to heat up and expand, making the ss blow up as well.
Alexander keenly noticed there was not much huffing and puffing with the blowing, something that was also emphasized even in his previous life, while being also impressed that the man could keep such an immacte mustache doing such work.
''Should I ask for his hair routine?'' The baby-faced Alexander mused with amusement,menting that a single hair was yet to grow on his face.
Seeing Gopajk that prepared the ss dough for him, Alexander asked for the blowpipe, "Here, let me show you how to do the rest," as he intended to show how to use the new tools by shaping this semi-molten ss.
Alexander himself was a novice at this, having only seen how ss was shaped and never having actually made a ss product before,
So this was like him reading a cookbook and thinking he could cook.
But Alexander was fine with that.
Because his goal was not to show them how to a beautiful ss piece but to show when and how to use the various tools.
So even if the end product is horrendous, as long as the ssmakers learn what was the purpose of the different weirdly shaped tools, the lesson would be a sess.
If they wanted to master the use of each tool, they could then hone their craft over the next few years and perhaps even find new uses for it.
Or develop entirely new ones.
All these thoughts made Alexander very excited to think about what his ss industry would look like in the next decade.
But Alexander was getting ahead of himself and soon bought himself back to earth.
And so he showed them the first technique,
"I''m sure you have done this but this technique of making ss products is called mold casting." Alexander started and then ced the molten ss inside a nearby prepared y mold of a bowl and started to blow on it.
Alexander had instructed the mold to be made of durable material, and was thus made with baked y but sometimes wood or if one was feeling like spending money metal could also be used.
It could be opened in half to let the molten ss in and the product out and had a small hole on one side for the insertion of the blowpipe.
And although this particr mold was simple and undecorated, many of them could be designed quite intricately shaped and decorated, with the designs usually carved into the mold in negative, so that on the ss they appeared in relief.
A mold could be used multiple times, though it did have a finite life span and could be utilized only until the decoration deteriorated or it broke and was discarded.
After Alexander inserted the molten glob of ss, he blew into it, inting it to adopt the shape and pattern carved therein, thus making, in case a small bowl, the same they showed to Alexander sometime ago.
He then quickly removed the vessel from the mold and bought it to Gajopk''s station, cing the blowpipe on the rails and rolling it back and forth.
As he did this, Alexander continued to work the ss while still it was hot and malleable, using an almost all-purpose forming tool called the jacks, which looked like a giant pair of tweezers to make the rim by rolling the glob of ss against the t part of the tweezes and even adding a handle by pulling some of the ss from the top side and bringing it down to the bottom.
"This tool is called the jacks and you are to master it," Alexander said as used the butt of the tweezers to make wave-like patterns on the rim, and then continued, "Because it will earn you your bread and butter."
Though it was Alexander''s first time, he found the process very intuitive, like he could feel the current malleability of the ss and how much force he would have to give to deform it to just the right amount.
And so he remarked, ''Well, it looks like I missed by natural calling, haha.''
And then jokingly said to himself, ''Well, looks like I will not starve even if I lose Zanzan.''
Afterward, Alexander showed another tool, arge pair of shears, that he used to cut the handle off the bowl.
And then showed thest piece of equipment that confused Gajopk and the others, a wooden semicircr shaped mold with a long hand that was always kept in water.
"If you think your entire shape is ruined, then use this wooden mold to return the ss to its original shape by rolling it around on it," Alexander did so as he exined, turning the ss bowl into its previous blob shape, making it look like an incandescent light bulb.
"And that''s basically all the tools." Atst finished, Alexander then gestured Gajopk to return this ss piece to the furnace while also saying, "And if you feel like you have a tool on mind that can help shape the ss better, feel free to tell me or Gajopk or Takfiz."
This produced a few nods and promises from the worker, after which Alexander stated, "There''s also a variation on this process, called "pattern molding. In that process, the gob of hot ss is first partly inted into the mold to adopt its carved pattern and then removed from the mold and free-blown into its final shape."
"So, if any one of you want to do that, you can," Alexander encouraged.
And feeling he had finished everything he had to say, he said his final words. "Well, that''s all there is to ssmaking, You can make various things out of ss by shaping them and can make bigger things by attaching hot bits of ss to each other, and then working them with cool metal tools."
"Easy right?" Alexander gave a yfulugh, which drew some wry chuckles.
And after done with all these, Alexander looked out to see dusk was imminent and so excused the ssmakers, who all were eager for supper.
"Gajopk, a word, please," Alexander gestured for the short man to follow him outside the shed and once there. Alexander smiled and smiled, "I am very pleased with the current quality of the products. You have learned the new techniques very quickly, I''m impressed."
"All by the grace of the lord," The ssmaker humbly bowed.
"Mmm, I will give you two more months to further refine your techniques and get used to the new tools." Alexander said and then urately set the deadline, "We are approaching November now and so, you must to ready before January."
"No problem, master. Two months is a lot of time. And I assure you by then our products will not disappoint you," The ssmaker promised.
"Okay. I will be counting on you," Alexander lightly smiled, further adding, "We will specialize in cups, goblets, and figurines at first. I will give you some designster to practice on. And so be sure that you have mastered these products by December."
"As youmand master." Gajopk obediently nodded, and then quickly inquired, "Master, which flux do you want us to use?"
Alexander thought back to the three bowls, and then with a light smile answered, "We will make ss using all three of the fluxes, with the prices varying ordingly."
Naturally the cleaner, clearer ss would be more expensive.
As Gajopk nodded, Alexander bid his goodbye, adding at thest moment, "And if you need anything tell me or Takfiz. And if you want to recruit more people, prioritize potters. Their hand dexterity can be used in ss making too."
"Yes, master," After saying this, Gajopk was excused, and thus, the ss workshop tour ended.
Chapter 241 Texas Holdem
Alexander looked at the setting sun, its gentle orange hue cloaking the expansive, lush meadow with a rueful expression.
"Looks like the other two shops will have to wait till tomorrow," Hemented, a bit frustrated that he let the day slip by so quickly, though he tried to be as fast as possible, even skipping lunch to make up time.
And this had the effect of producing a silent rumble, "Grrrr," from his stomach, expressing its displeasure over not being fed in ten hours.
"Do you wish to then meet them, tomorrow master?" Takfiz wanted to make time for him tomorrow.
"Yes, tell them, I will meet them tomorrow after lunch," Alexander announced the reschedule and then excused the old man after a fewst pleasantries like telling him to take care of his body, not to catch a cold, and take care of his grandson.
And with all these done, Alexander rode back to his home, thinking back on the day.
From the pretty mundane morning council session to Camius interrupting him in the most inopportune moment, to the meeting with Mikaya that Alexander was sure wouldst with him for a lifetime, and atst to the two workshop visit.
And for Alexander personally, the highlight of the shop visit was the most mundane and insignificant thing imaginable, his envy of Gajopk''s mustache.
Alexander at the age of eighteen had no facial hair, which was not unusual, and was not too out of ce for his age.
But the big, burly, powerful, bear-like image that was conjured up when the title of grand title of pasha was uttered deeply contrasted with the face that was presented in front of them, one which closely resembled a boy.
Thus Alexander certainly wished for some facial hair, at least a stubble, or if even that was possible, even a light mustache would do.
With these ''agonizing'' thoughts Alexander soon reached his house, and found a group of ves manually lighting up the thousands of candles needed to keep the entire house and its front walkway lit.
''I need to invent gas lighting,'' Alexander was reminded of another important invention to add to his list and hempooned at the ever-increasing, seemingly infinite amount of stuff he needed to get done.
"My lord, wee,"
"Good evening, master,"
"Your lordship,"
These maids and servants all bowed as Alexander made his way into the house, while Alexander politely smiled and nodded.
And after Alexander had a warm bath, changed into hisfortable evening attire, and had his dinner of roti with fish vegetable soup and sds, apanied by the usual fine wine, Alexander invited, "Ladies and Your Highnesses, if you would please follow me to the art gallery, I have arranged a new kind of games for you."
Mikaya had given him the cards just before starting dinner and Alexander found them to be very beautifully painted, just as he wanted, causing him to exim, "It seems Miss Mikaya''s skills are not only exaggerated but understated."
"Hehe, I hope the game pasha has devised is interesting enough to make me paint for four hours straight worth it," Mikaya curved her eyes into a crescent as she giggled.
.And Alexander would now have the chance to prove it to Mikaya as he led the women to the central hall and then invite them to his art gallery which was on the right side of the portico.
This art gallery had been renovated into Alexander''s game night room withfortable couches, soft chairs and cushions, small table stools with fruits and wine on top, and a fewrge circr wooden tables for ying all kinds of games, all ced above a thick lush yellow carpet and heated using a roaring firece at the end of the room.
With all thedies seated around the table, Alexander took his seat at the head of the table.
And then introduced, "Today, I asked Miss Mikaya to paint me some ying cards. Here, they look like this."
Alexander then passed the cards around and introduced the names of the cards, letting the eleven girls familiarize theses with them.
And then the next few hours went by in a sh, as Alexander taught them Texas Hold''em Up, with all thebinations written on a piece of parchment for the women to check anytime.
Alexander was naturally the dealer and after an hour of practice rounds, where Alexander showed them the ropes and told them somemon terms like check, and fold, the next two and a half hour was yed seriously, with the starting bet opening at one ropal and each maximum increase limited to just two ropals.
Some like Mikaya certainly groaned at the low amount of money, but since none of thedies bought any coin with them, naturally it was Alexander who had to foot the bill and thus this restraining measure.
"Pasha Alexander, as a man who''s got a billion ropal, a one ropal limit is unbing of you," Mikaya pouted in a fake voice, her glittering, gleeful eyes exposing her true intention.
She was a bit apprehensive at first about the game, finding the rules and more importantly thebination a bit hard to remember, requiring her to look at the chart repeatedly and causing her to lose concentration.
But once she got the hang of it, she loved it.
In fact, her love for it was probably second to her love for sex.
This is because she was a natural at it, with a natural poker face that made her bluffs almost unreadable from her real hands.
This was in much contrast to people like Mean and more evidently the twins, who very theatrically grimaced at any bad hands and lit up like a Christmas tree at any good ones, letting others read their faces like a book.
And what made Mikaya like it even more was that she was ying against some really good yers, probably some of the best in the country.
The queen mother was a given, keeping that slight, sly smile eternally hanging off her wheat-colored face.
Then there was Hellma, who had picked up simr skills from her mother.
After that came Ophenia who learned to hide her emotions for years while in the Temple of Shiva.
Gelene simrly was a scheming woman who could lie through her lies like breathing air.
Andstly was Cambyses, Alexander''s protegee and someone he had taught how to lie as actual ssroom lessons.
This made a dynamic game of bluffs, calling bluffs and losing to bluffs.
Mikaya was very aggressive in her y, while the much more experienced Queen mother was much milder and cautious, Hellma being young was quite mercurial in her ystyle, and Ophenia preferred to think things over, whilst Gelene was the most ambitious and greedy, always trying to get the most money, followed by Cambyses, who was a bnced yer.
The game really revolved around these six, newly inducted gambling addicts, while the other five were basically ceholders, and the girl''s yed the new game to their heart''s content.
At one point, they even invited Alexander join the game, with one of them offering to switch ces with him, which Alexander politely epted.
And then he promptly got thrashed by the Queen Mother and Mikaya, causing them to giggle, ''Hehe, so even the great pasha has weaknesses.''
''You bitches have masks for faces,'' Alexander could only sulkily say, and then quickly went back to being a dealer.
This game went deep into the night and it took Alexander quite a bit of pushing to dislodge these girls from the table.
For the first time in more than ten years, Alexander was once reminded of the true meaning of the phrase, ''Just one more game,'' which really meant ''Three more at least, much more if I lose''.
And with each of the girls separately shouting ''Just one more game,'' it took Alexander close to four hours to finally end the game, with his ultimate threat being, "That''s it, I''m calling the guards."
"Pasha Alexander, remember to im your reward for showing me such a great game. We will show you a great time." Mikaya gave a sultry smile and a very suggestive wink as she swayed her butt suggestively while walking away from Alexander, leaving the room a very happy woman,
This was because Alexander had pronounced her the winner of the game night, with a grand total haul of twenty-five ropals.
Of course, twenty-five ropal was not even worth the dirt between her eyes, but what made it worth it was who she had won it against.
The victorious feeling she was feeling right now could almostpare to or even surpass the fun she had imagined she would be having back at Matrik.
"It seems Mikaya has taken a liking to you. Thank you for being patient with her," The Queen mother gratefully smiled at Alexander, thanking the heavens for the fact that Alexander was not a petty and vindictive.
''Oh, you have no idea, hahaha,'' Alexander manicallyughed inside his heart at the queen mother''s innocent remark, but outwardly only said, "It was nothing, your highness. My pleasure."
None of the girls found Mikaya''s suggestive poses the slightest bit surprising, as the white-haired subus was always like that.
And once Alexander was alone in his bedroom with Cambyses and Ophenia, thetter there for her reward, he asked the former, "Is everything ready for tomorrow?"
"Yes, I instructed Bartholomew to arrange for a drill at dawn tomorrow and we will set out then," Cambyses naturally was referring to the killing of the Ramuh priests that was likely taking ce as she spoke.
"Um, good, Remember to wear proper armor when you set out," Alexander again reminded Cambyses to be cautious.
And with all this done, his eventful day came to an end
Chapter 242 Temple Killing
As Alexander was having a fun night devouring the two thirsty minxes, their lovely voices turning the room into a carnival of carnal opera, at the same time, another more sanguinary opera was taking ce in the center of the city, sanctioned by its very ruler.
Camius and his small group made joined in front of the temple at around midnight, their surroundings illuminated only by some distant fires and the few, small torches they carried.
The temple of Ramuh, being in the capital city of a very religious, conservative province was naturally very grand, arguably exceeding even the pasha''s own residence in terms of cost per square feet, decorated ornately in frescos, murals, and tapestries, and made with the best building material avable such as granite, onyx, and oak.
It was a huge two-story building, around ten thousand square feet per floor, and inhabited by exactly sixty-nine priests and priestesses.
(Note Author- Yea, I''m that childish.)
Previously it used to hold close to a hundred and fifty clergymen and women, but recently, some were transferred to other temples around the province, a handful drew disillusioned by the religion and secretly left, while most died, either from malnutrition, disease or even by participating in the war, with the vow to ''Bring justice to the infidels'', referring both to the Tibisians and to Ptolomy and Alexander.
Previously, during the rule of Pasha Muazz, the temple would be usually guarded by some men, though even then it was seen as a waste because no one even dared imagine that there would be a fool foolish enough to anger the gods in such a way.
But with Alexander''s ascension to power, these men naturally were relocated to more productive ventures, leaving the temple as defenseless as an infant baby.
But this drew negligible bacsh, at least openly, mostly because the temple was in no position to haggle with Alexander over anything, as evidenced by the fact that Alexander had not even received a single priest from the temple personally, instead letting Theocles deal with them, and also because no in the city seriously thought the temple was ever in the danger.
Even when the literal biggest temple robber in the world was the leader of the city, this thought did not enter the heads of these dogmatic buffoons.
And even if it did, other than abandoning the temple, they would have little recourse anyway.
Alexander had a hundred ways to make the destruction of the temple look like an ident, one of which he was using right now.
''Right, you all know what to do. Let''s go,'' Camius wrapped in full ck camo, had already briefed these men on what to do and so signaled the start of the special military mission.
These men naturally were all from Thesos, had participated in the sacking of the grand temple of Ramuh in Adhania, and were all believers of Gaia.
And so, they held zero reservations about killing priests and burning temples.
Hearing theirmander''s order, and knowing from whom these orders originally came, these blindly loyal fifty or so cloaked men rapidly spilt into groups of eight to ten, and then drawing their swords from their sheaths and equipping their shields from their backs, directly invaded the temple.
The temple''s front doors were naturally always kept open to allow any believer tomune with Ramuh any time of the day or night, and so the men could simply barge into the temple with no problem.
The temple was dim and dark at this time of the night, with less than five clergymen awake and active in the main hallway, mostly praying or doing other misceneous chores, when suddenly some ck-cloaked men wielding swords invaded their sanctions, causing one of them to cry out in terror, "Wh..who are you peo..argh,"
A simple stab to the stomach and a second strike through the skull was enough to shut up the priest.
The others were simrly cut to ribbons even before they would give a good cry for help, making some die confused at what had actually happened, the dim lighting by the candle providing the ideal environment for these assassins to hide under.
These men and women were not warriors and even if they were, caught off guard, they would have never had a chance anyway.
Once the awoke priests were sent to meet with death and reaffirm whether Ramuh really existed or not, the men rushed upstairs, where the bedrooms were.
Because the lighting was inadequate, some of the men lit their torches, which was just a rag soaked in animal fat tied to a piece of wood, and led the way, allowing all the men to see their targets.
The second floor started as a hugemunal bedroom space and most of the assassins started their massacre here, pouncing on the sleeping, defenseless priests and priestesses like a pack of hyenas, killing many in their sleep with a simple slit of the throat, and letting them pass on to the next world peacefully and painlessly, no huss and fuss involved.
These were arguably the lucky ones, as some light sleepers were woken up by the heavy steps, bright light, or the muffled screams and grunts, only to have theirst memories be of a masked, hooded, cloaked assassin, staring menacingly at them before slicing their throat open.
"Arghh.."
"Ohhhh.."
"Coughhhhhh"
The dull sound of men and women dying by the droves, unable to even scream properly because their throats had been severed, reverberated across therge room.
There was even no possibility of escape for these men and women.
This was because Alexander had given Camius the idea during the day to send a fake convert into the temple to scout all its entrances and exits, and Camius had already posted men to guard these entrances, with the orders to kill anyone attempting to escape.
If it was daylight and the priests were on the lower floor, maybe some quick ones could have escaped because Camius had the time to secure all the passageways, but themunal bedroom really had only two exits, one was down the stairs from which the assassins came from and thus crawling with them, and the other was a passage to their right, which connected the private chambers of the higher bishops and cardinals through a corridor, a corridor infested with soldiers led by Camius himself.
All the temple windows were also tightly locked to keep out the cold winter air so, unlocking the wooden windows and then, because the temple''s first floor was naturally much higher than the regr house, jumping almost forty feet down to escape was also impossible.
Thus the soldiers ughtered the men and women like pigs, showing not a hint of mercy, many of their hearts burning with pitch-ck hatred as they recalled the memory of theirrades, their fathers, their brothers, and their kin being sacrificed under the direct supervision of their boss Manuk, just two months ago.
That wound was still fresh and stung when touched in the hearts of many of the men.
While themunal room was being cleansed, Camius and his group were busy busting down the doors of the private bedrooms past the corridor with a few well-ced kicks, barging into the room, and then swiftly offing the groggy owner of the room.
There were only a few upied bedrooms and with the team split into multiple groups, this macabre act took less than five minutes.
In fact, the entire operation took less than fifteen minutes, as the men simply barged in, killed whoever they found in sight downstairs, ran upstairs, killed the sleeping and half-sleeping man by splitting up, and then got out.
Fast and clean.
They took no valuables, hid no bodies, and set fire to nothing
And once outside, the men dispersed along prenned routes, and just like they were gone like the wind, as elusive as they came.
Camius and his men were fully sessful in their mission, with not a single priest or priestess unounted for, though even if they did survive, Alexander had ns to try them as traitors using theme excuse ''Since so many died, the only way you could have survived was if the enemy lets you. Hence you are saboteurs.''
And since Alexander was the judge, jury, and executioner in this town, who could have stooped him?
No one was left none the wiser to Camus''s deed for the whole night and it would be only after the crack of dawn, once some of the more devout followers would starting to the temple that this tragedy would be known to the world.
"Guards, guards, the temple, the temple." One old woman, who was a regr patron of the temple, ran to one of the city guards, leading a group of simr distraught-looking crowd.
And then in broken sobs and pants, finally managed to report to him, "De..dead, dead. The priests and prestresses in the temple are all dead! All dead," she howled in ultion.
And thus began another eventful day for Alexander.
Chapter 243 Cambysess Investigations
The tragic and totally not already known report of the old woman soon trickled up the chain ofmand until it reached the ears of Bartholomew and Cambyses, who were conveniently about to start a drill and thus had all five hundred men ready to go.
"Chief, we must inform the pasha at once," Bartholomew suggested to Cambyes, performing his role immactely.
"*Sigh*, yes, send a messenger immediately," Cambyses too performed the rehearsed y, putting on a fake voice of trepidation.
With a runner sent to inform Alexander of themencement of the y, Cambyses then addressed the men, "Guards, there has been a change to your schedule. Although this was supposed to be your orientation today, it seems that the gods are too impatient for your service. Now gear up! We have a job to do!"
This speech had been written by Alexander and practiced by Cambyses and thus the y moved on to its next scene.
The five hundred men infantry, equipped with shields and short swords, axes, and daggers, all suited for close-quarter street melee, soon made their way through the narrow winding streets, led by Cambyses and Bartholomew on horseback, until they arrived at the scene of the crime.
"Bartholomew, get all the civilians out of here and ask them what they saw." Seeing the ce by now crawling with devotees, Cambyses gave the order that Alexander had taught her to give in such a situation.
"Yes, at once!" The short ck ex-mercenary then quickly got to clearing the crowd from the temple, while Cambyses took a part of the force, and ordered, "Men, into the temple!"
And once inside, she found that most of the things had remained intact, the people not daring to vite the sanctity of the ce, while the most obvious attraction being the five dead bodies.
"Gather them in a pile," Cambyses ordered to two of her men and then led the rest of the men upstairs.
The scenery here was much more hemic, the floor and bed sheets imbrued with the dull color of ckened blood, the sticky, red liquid giving the sacred ce an unholy feeling.
By an eyeball estimate, about fifty corpsesy strewn in thismunal bedroom, some leaning over the bed, a scant fewying somewhere around the floor, and most ''sleeping'' peacefully on the bed, thest group all sharing a thin, long, ne of dried up of blood around their ck.
''The poor bastards never knew what killed them,'' Cambyses half-pitied the clergymen.
"Open the windows, it smells disgusting," Cambyses then ordered, pinching her nose in revulsion
Though the recentness of the murders and the cold weather meant that the bodies didn''t smell too bad as dposition was yet to set in, the blood spilled certainly gave off a metallic smell.
But the primary source of the smell was the fact that some of the corpses had soiled them, either in fear or because the muscles that held back their wastes had cked due to death, giving the stuffy room a putrid, stinky, ammonia smell.
And after letting the outside air circte the room for some time, Cambyses told the men, "Gather the corpses and take them downstairs. And keep your eyes open for any type of clues."
Thus began the clean-up, as the men not only dragged the bodies from themunal bedroom but also from the private one.
"Chief, we found something interesting," After a little while, one of the men approached the red-armored girl, showing a torn piece of bloodstained cloth with an insignia on it.
"Hmm, where did you find it?" Cambyses asked, taking the linen cloth into her hand and slowly rubbing it between her fingers.
"There," The man pointed to a bent-over corpse lying next to a bed, "He was clutching it between his hands."
"Mnn, good work, soldier." Cambyses lightly smiled at the discovery of this critical clue, and then raising the evidence above her head, shouted, "Men, look! A clue has been found. Keep your eyes open more."
And just like magic, soon a few more different insignia, and two blood-stained daggers were recovered from the crime scene.
Naturally, all these were ced by Camius''s men as incriminating evidence against the city''s various gangs.
This cleanup, from dragging the bodies down, to ''collecting'' evidence, to burying the bodies in the backyard took close to two hours, after which Cambyses asked Bartholomew, "I have something to tell the crowd. Use the men to let them know."
"Right away," Bartholomew then quickly got to preparing the crowd, making them gather together and drawing their attention to the front of the temple.
And a few momentster, Cambyses addressed the crowd, "People of Adhania, devotees of Ramuh, I am Cambyses, the wife of your Pasha."
The moment Cambyses gave her identity as the mistress of their lord, the crowd, who was still a bit murmuring among themselves after seeing a woman, no, a girl, speak, instantly turned quiet as a church mouse.
The title of pasha naturally held much reverence for the people, and after the project that Alexander had undertaken, especially giving them free food and a job, the people had gained a special respect for him.
And along with him, by extension, the people close to him too shared in that respect.
Cambyses was still speaking, "The moment your lord heard of the news, right at the crack of dawn, he immediately ced the matter as his greatest priority.
"And then appointed me to gather five hundred men and ordered me toe to the temple as soon as possible to investigate the crime scene."
"And I can tell you with confidence that we have found evidence to the identity of those responsible for these heinous crimes."
As soon as Cambyses said this, the crowd''s emotions reached a boiling point, as they shouted,
"Who? Who?"
"Names! Names"
"Kill! Kill!"
They were out for blood.
But Cambyses, with the help of the on-the-ground police officers, soon cated the crowd, "Calm, calm. We will apprehend the culprits in the shortest time possible." Cambyses loudly imed.
And then gave them a deadline, "Gather here tomorrow morning, and you will have your answers."
This calmed the surging waves of grief and indignation in the crowd and then, under Cambyses''s orders they dispersed, many going to their work.
As the temple premises because a lot quieter, Cambyses ordered to get maids to clean the ce up while she and her men moved to catch the ''culprits''.
The men formed swiftly and in formation, many carrying bundles of ropes and even some manacles with them, their destination- the more shadier parts of the city.
Once there the men broke up into small groups and started to arrest all the men in the entire neighborhood
"*Bang*, *bang*, open up, city guards," One of Cambyses''s men smashed on the door of the house known to contain the city''s biggest kingpins.
It was s small inconspicuous house, but Camius had somehow managed to get the address.
"Wh..who?" The door was slightly opened by a thinnkyd, peeping cautiously out the small crack, when suddenly the entire door was kicked open with a mighty boot strike, sending the boy flying.
And the men swiftly barged into therge expansive, expensive room, its interiorpletely contrasting its decrepit exterior, and found their target.
"Yo..you..who are you, people? Do you know who I''m?" This thunderous voice belonged to one of the men Cambyses was here for, a pot-bellied, muscr man, who was currently naked, with three womenying beneath him in a simr state.
Cambyses bravely stepped forward from the crowd and showed him the evidence "This piece of cloth was found clutched between in the hand of a dead priest, today. Can you exin?"
As the huge manid eyes on the design on the piece of cloth, a design he would recognize even if he were to be blind as it was his gang''s insignia, his body trembled both in fear and fury.
''This..this is too fast. How did he react so fast?'' The kingpin shivered, vaguely understanding the kind of plot he was being framed for.
''Dammit, I shouldn''t have taken the temple''s side,'' He then intensely regretted his choice.
"You..you..who are you, people?" He stammered the question, though understanding very well who these people in front of him were.
The fierce look in their eyes, their armed to-the-teeth get-up, and with a woman as their leader, all were telltale signs.
"City guards. Nowe with us," A very strong-looking man stepped in front of Cambyses and fiercely ordered the gangster.
"Heh, if you want to take the boss, you will have to go through us," One of the fat man''s bodyguards, twirling a dagger menacingly threatened the men, and was joined by three others.
But his threat actually produced the opposite of the intended effect.
"*Sling*," Taking out the short sword, Cambyses ordered, "I only need the fatso alive. Kill any other who resists,"
And this was repeated multiples time during the day, in multiple ces, until all the wanted men were either killed or captured.
Chapter 244 Camius Demoted
Cambyses took her third life today.
She personally charged the menacing bodyguard using her quick feet to close the distance from the right, intent on striking him with her right-handed short sword, and when the man tried to go for a horizontal sh towards her head, she swiftly ducked, while simultaneously flicking her sword from her right to left hand and then brought the weapons into his chest by using a wide, left-handed arc, putting all her mass and momentum into the sharp steel point by using her heel as a pivot and driving the steel point all the way into the heart.
"Arghh¡" The man fell in disbelief, his brain still processing how he went from being a healthy, strong, living breathing man just seconds ago to now dying.
Cambyses was that fast.
The ten men behind her also charged and soon the four bodyguards were killed and the gang leader captured.
While Cambyses was busy cleaning the streets, Camius, who had so graciously given Cambyses the name of the street was being grilled.
The ''assistant police chief'' sat on a hard lone, chair in front of arge table, being stared at by Alexander and the military brass.
"Camius, what happened at the temple?" Alexander growled, staring pointedly at the man.
"I have no excuse, my lord," Camius only lowered his head in shame.
"Darn right you have no excise." Alexander snarled, "How could you let unknown assassins into the city and kill the priests? What am I going to say to the people?" Alexander smashed his fist on the table with a dull thud.
"My lord, I will resign from my post as assistant police chief," Camius in a guilty voice announced.
"Heh, resign? You think you are fit to be a police chief after this fiasco?" Alexander sneered, his eyes turning with a crescent of rage and ridicule.
"My lord, Camius is new to the city and is still getting the hang of things..so¡" Menes, the man''s good friend tried to intercede on his behalf.
But Alexander naturally brushed his top general off, "No, the temple is too serious, The people will want someone to be held ountable. And it must be important enough!"
"But.." Just as Menes was about to try and convince Alexander, he was cut off by Menicus, "I agree with the pasha''s decision, Although the death penalty seems a bit too harsh, I suggest demoting chief Camius for his negligence."
Menicus certainly found the situation too bizarre, with Alexander being unnaturally strict for a ce that he never really cared about before.
When did the love for the temple of Ramuh ever grow in Alexander?
"Lord Menicus read my mind." Alexander was happy that at least someone could keep up with the y and he would not have to waste time convincing his generals.
And then turning to Camius he pronounced, "Normally I would have executed someone in your position. But taking into ount our past friendship and your services to me, you will be demoted to the leader of a small patrol unit. Do you ept?"
"The lord is infinitely magnanimous," Camius deeply bowed his head, thinking it was here Alexander would ask him to leave the room and thus end the y.
Or at least that was how the script in the rehearsal ended.
"Mmm, and because you are my friend, you will be made Shordar (Baron). Work hard as a patrol officer,"
Alexander casually dropped a bombshell in a seemingly mercurial twist of mood, making everyone there, even Camius, open their mouths agape in shock.
''This was not part of the y, doc!'' Camiusmpooned at this curve ball and knew this was Alexander''s way of making a bit of fun.
"I thank the lord for this peerage. And I swear to work hard to keep the streets clean," Camius quickly adjusted himself and bowed, with the addition of the second sentence said as a euphemism, the clean streets referring to enemy spies.
"Um, you are excused," Alexander said with a light smile and Camius quickly dismissed himself, relieved that he would not have to be stuck behind a desk.
This little y did not fool any of the militarymanders.
Camius''s fame as Alexander''s spy was already well known among the higher-ups, having seen him work in the camp, in Adhan, and even in Zanzan.
And hence they would have never believed that Camius was just an ordinary retainer under Alexander.
But it was also not meant to.
This y was not done for them but for Alexander''s enemies, who would not easily know the ins and outs of his rtionship with Camius and thus draw prying eyes from him.
With Camius removed, Alexander then asked his council, "Camius''s post will have to be filled,..what do my lords think about Bartholomew?"
"I think he is perfect," Menicus jumped up at the suggestion, understanding that Alexander had already made the decision.
And following his approval, the others too gave their support.
"Um, good." After giving a small nod, Alexander then informed them. "As we speak, my wife Cambyses is leading the police in the investigation. And she has just informed me that she was rock-hard evidence to show that it was the hostile nobles of Zanzan using the various gangs as their arms are responsible."
''When did your wife get to inform you? You were here with us the entire time.'' This simple thought ran through all the men''s minds and was coupled it the fact that they remembered it had been just a few hours since the crime was reported.
Alexander''s wife might be fast, but this was too fast.
So, either she was a prophet with presage as her ability or the more likely exnation, this was all likely staged.
"Excellent! As expected of the pasha''s consort, she is as extraordinary as the lord himself," Melodias felt he too had to join the tter train, as he nodded heavily at the news, smiling wildly.
And the others chimed in too, each with their individual quips.
"We must attack these scoundrels the moment we are ready," Menes bellicosely dered.
"Our fights should be on the battlefield. To think these men are so low," Menicus said in a disgusted tone.
"We must teach them a lesson soon," Heliptos shouted while rolling up his sleeves.
Alexander''s little y fooled no one, but it did not need to, as the men yed along nevertheless.
Thus even when it was full of holes, because no one had the guts to point out these holes, the story remained airtight.
"Mmm, this vile act will not go unpunished. And we will attack as soon as we are ready," Alexander loudly imed in an indignant voice.
And then he turned to his archpriest, "Theocles, Cambyses has told me that the Ramuh temple is currentlycking in security. So, please move the coins from the temple to the temple of Gaia. The wealth of the people must be protected."
''Another temple heist!'' Alexander''s intention was clear to everybody as they all asked, ''Why not deploy some guards to the temple itself''.
"At once, pasha." Theocles too naturally understood the meaning behind Alexander''smand and eagerly agreed.
And with these issues addressed, Alexander then moved on to the general situation and after listening to them say that everything was going ording to schedule, the meeting was called to an end.
"So, what do you think about today?" Melodias asked as he walked quickly to keep pace with the old man Menicus.
"What do I think?" Menicus seemed uninterested in the conversation.
"I mean attacking the temple, it''s bing a habit of his," Melodias sounded like he wasining.
And then pointed out, "And then there was Camius, what was that all about? We all know he is his spy."
Menicus simply kept silently walking, seeming as if he was deaf to Melodias''s words.
But after a while, in a gravelly voice asked, "Are you dissatisfied with the pasha?"
"Wha..what! No! No, no, no. no. Who said that? I never said that" Melodias seemed very defensive about this grave usation.
And quickly buttressed that by saying, " Alexander is the one most fit to be pasha, I don''t dare have such thoughts."
"Then why are youining?" Menicus asked in a raspy voice, by now the men that exited the house and were standing in front of their personal carriages.
"That¡I''m not¡I just wish he told us a bit more. The temple business.."
"Is none of your concern," Menicus interjected, finishing the sentence for Melodias and then saying, "Whatever Alexander has done till now, he had shown to have the best of intentions for us. If you don''t doubt that, then shut up and do what he tells you to do."
? And Menicus then finished his speech with the words, "And show some tact from next time. You''re badmouthing the lord in his own house, are you stupid? Next time, if you can''t keep your trap shut, I''ll sew it shut for you."
With these threatening words, and a *hmmp*, Menicus then got on his carriage and headed off to his work.
Chapter 245 Soap Making (Part-1)
Melodias did not mean anything when he was discussing Alexander.
It was just some lighthearted banter and a way to bond between colleagues.
After all dissing one''s boss was always a true and tested method to form bonds between workmates.
''I was just making casual small talk, old man.'' Melodias gave a wry smile as he watched Menicus''s carriage speed away and then decided to forget the insignificant incident.
"Time to test out the legion''s performance against spears," Melodias murmured his n aloud as he too quickly got on his carriage and sped off to the barracks.
Alexander, done with his morning work, found that it was already close to noon, and thus asked the meal to be served, which was revealed to be a kind of meat curry with beans, taken with bread.
''All these people know to do is put everything in a pot and boil it,'' Alexanderined in his heart as he ate his meal, not at all satisfied with its quality, as all the tastes became blended together through this method of cooking.
The thing that Alexander missed most about hisst life was a proper bathroom.
But the second thing that he missed was the good food.
''I should get on with the design of the new kitchen and get Takfiz to start on it,'' Alexander made a mental note and then decided to finish that shop visit he could not yesterday.
After meeting with the old man and the usual small talk, suddenly Tafkiz informed Alexander, "Oh, master, I wanted to tell you earlier and but today at dawn some of the men while working the fields found a mass grave in the field over there," he pointed to his right.
"Mass grave? Soldiers?" Alexander did not find the discovery too surprising, thinking it might have been the corpses of some rebels or invaders.
"Perhaps. But there were also children," Takfiz additionally informed.
"Hmm, where are the bodies now?" Alexander''s curiosity was drawn at the mention of children and so soon he was led to a shed that was being filled with skeletons, while next to the shedrge, deep proper graves were being dug to soon house them.
The skeletons, in addition to having broken or pierced bones which were likely their cause of death, also had other various marks on them, showing just a trace of therge abuses they must have suffered while they were alive.
And this made Alexander think back on something the fat Pasha Muazz had said to him, ''I hunt your kind you know''.
"Pasha Muazz used to hunt ves and the townsfolk for entertainment. And the skeletons are all his and his cronies'' victims," Alexander said this loudly, letting the fifty or so ves working around him all clearly hear it.
And then he loudly proimed, "This is why the pasha lost the mandate of heaven and lost hisnd. He is an evil man and the heavens demand justice,"
Alexander said this in such a way because he wanted these ves to talk and spread the vileness of the previous lord and thus in contrast make him look good.
"That''s right, that''s right. And the heavens have sent the lord to punish this degenerate," Takfiz then loudly added, nodding his head strongly as he did.
Alexander then quietly told the old man, "Mmm, send three skeletons to the manorter, Takfiz," thinking up of a new way to use these tortured bones.
And then after dealing with this little distraction, finally, sometimeter, Alexander was atst taken to his third shop.
This shop was much further than the other two, about two kilometers from the manor, and a few timesrger, the wooden shed having been converted from a secondary servants'' quarters.
The reason for this was because the production process demanded arge space and also because one of the raw materials used was very stinky.
Yes, this was a soap factory and the stinky material was animal fat.
It might sound weird but as a metallurgist, Alexander knew how to make soap.
He knew it very well.
In fact, he knew more about soap than many soap makers knew about the stuff.
This is because soap was a critical ingredient in ore extraction, particrly in the step where the ore is separate from dirt.
This step can, among other methods, use the method known as the froth floatation technique and what this technique did was basically put all the ores and dirt in a giant washing machine, add water and soap to them, and then spin it.
This separated the lighter dirt that floated to the top from the heavy metal ores that sunk in the bottom, which can then be easily collected.
But for this process to properly happen, the use of the correct soap was vital as different types of dirt reacted differently with different soaps.
Sometimes even custom-made soap just for that extraction sites with its unique dirtposition would be used.
So Alexander knew not only how to make soap, but also the mechanism of how soap worked, its individual ingredients, how each of the ingredients worked, and even some of the thermodynamics of the stuff.
And thus, Alexander had decided to start a soap factory using this esoteric knowledge.
The basics of soap making were very simple, use any kind of fat and mix it with a type of alkali while using water as a mixing medium.
When this mixture is heated, the fatty molecules react with the alkali to make soap molecules and glycerin.
And the type of fat used determines the kind of soap one made.
Alexander had decided to make both two types of soaps, an animal-based soap, and a nt-based soap.
The animal-based one used animal fat, mainlyrd from pigs, but anyrge mammals could do.
The nt-based one came from olive oil, though any nt oil was viable.
Alkali was usually gotten from ash.
In fact, alkali is an Arabic word thates from the word ash.
But in addition to using ash, which contained potash (potassium carbonate, K2CO3) and was extracted by dissolving it in water and boiling it, Alexander had decided to go fancy and use four other alkalis to get a total of five different types of soap.
These other four alkalis were sodium carbonate (Na2CO3 or soda ash), which we got from the mineral-rich streams running through the ore-rich hills of Zanzan, limestone, lye(sodium hydroxide, NaOH), and caustic potash (potassium hydroxide, KOH).
Thest two alkalis were derivates extracted from the potash and soda ash using basic high school chemistry.
First, limestone was heated till it dposed to form calcium oxide, CaO, while the carbon- dioxide flew away.
Next the calcium oxide CaO was mixed with water to make calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2, also known as cked lime or limewater.
And when this lime (Ca(OH)2) reacted with potash( K2CO3) and soda ash, (Na2CO3) they produced caustic potash (KOH) and lye (NaOH) respectively.
"Master, all these things that the men are doing, what it is?" Takfiz asked curiously, pointing to the men doing all types of various, in his eyes, weird things.
Some were throwingrge amounts of limestones into a huge earthen pot and healing for an hour or two.
Then it was being taken out and dumped into separate pots of water by others.
Potash and soda ash were then being added to the desired pots and the water was seen turning from clear to murky.
This was happening due to the formation of the precipitate of calcium carbonate (Ca2CO3), with potassium or sodium hydroxide (KOH and NaOH) dissolving in water.
This waste precipitate was then being strained with a piece of fine cloth and separated, while the water with the product in it was being added to a vat of boiling, either animal or nt oil, and then stirred.
Alexander really did not know of a good way to exin these plex'' reactions to Takfiz and only said, "Making soap."
''I have seen soap making, but nothing like this,'' Takfiz said to himself, but outwards only smiled, "As expected of master, even the simple soap you make is using divine knowledge. This old man''s eyes have been opened."
Alexander ignored the usual bootlicking and moved on to the real topic, wanting to know how his soap-making was going on, "Who did you put in charge? I forgot his name."
"It''s Haquim, my lord. Here let me lead you to him," Takfiz quickly trotted ahead to find the man, though the anger and frustration at the soapmaker for noting to meet the pasha by himself was evident.
''Wait till I size you,'' Takfiz swore under his breath.
He had informed the man that Alexander would being today, and to be prepared to greet him immediately, but it seemed that advice went over the workaholic head.
And so finally, a bitter, he led them to a cleaning a bit away, to meet the man who was personally stirring a huge pot.
Chapter 246 Soap Making (Part-2)
Haquim had a huge imposing stature, being a tall ck man and chiseled to the point he looked like a statue carved from granite.
His upper body was bare, and glistening with sweat as all the toned muscles worked the pot.
Just by looking at his body, it would seem to be a waste to put him anywhere else but the military.
But the man was a born pacifist and because he refused to enlist in the army under Amenheraft''s levies, he was sold to very.
"Haquim, get here, the lord is here to meet you," Takfiz fiercely ordered and soon the half-bare man stood in front of Alexander.
"My lord, I was just showing the men how to stir the pot, hehe" He reasoned for his tardiness with a foolish smile showing all his pearly whites.
"Haha, it''s great to see such an eager worker, good, good," Alexander did not hold anything against the honest man.
And then asked, "So, how is everything doing?"
"Fine, fine. We have just started the heating yesterday, and like master said it will take another day of cooking." Haquim enthusiastically replied.
"Are the pots kept heated and stirred?" Alexander inquired next.
"Oh, yes, we are working in shifts to always keep the pot always stirring. We change men every hour so they don''t get tired." The muscr men grinned the reply.
"And firewood is always kept nearby so the heat does not die," He added.
"Umm, good, so which pots have which alkali?" Alexander asked and was shown tenrge pots, the same kind of pots Alexander used to make food for hundred people, two of each containing the same alkali.
"Mmmm, when done remember to spread each of the solutions separately over a clean floor about an inch thick. It will take a day to cool and then you cut it into two inches by one inches rectangles." Alexander gave the soap dimensions.
"Yes, master," The man nodded.
"Mmm, and remember to use a scale when you cut the soaps, we want all of them to be identical in size," Alexander further told the nodding man.
And with this, after a bit of talk about the operations and inquiring about his demand for men and materials, Alexander let the man get back to work.
Soap making was a very time-consuming process and Alexander knew it would take around two months to get the soap to the market.
This was because, after cutting the soap, workers would have to hammer in Alexander''s shop logo using a special mallet with the logo on its head and then stack up these soap bricks into giant pyramids for four to six weeks to dry and cure.
Then they could be wrapped in paper or just sold over-the-counter bare.
During the inspection of the soaps made using different alkali, Alexander would find the lye(NaOH) soap to be the most solid soap.
Very hard and strong, with a unique smell. he would inter batches add dried and crushed additives like rosemary,vender, and thyme to the soap to give it a flowery, sweet lingering smell.
The next hard soap would be the soda ash (Na2CO3) soap, being a bit less hard.
The caustic potash (KOH) soap would be rtively soft, one would be able to make a thumbprint on the soap just by pressing on it a bit hard.
The potash soap woulde as almost as a liquid.
And atst, the quick lime (CaO) soap would be a fully liquid soap, like a shampoo.
Alexander nned to sell these soaps exclusively to the nobles and the well-to-do people.
Because by his calctions it would be too darn expensive for ordinary people to afford.
And he did some simple math to figure this out.
The cost of one liter which was about one kilogram of olive oil was fifty (50) ropals.
And in arge, about two-hundred gram(200g) bar of soap, it would make up half, or one hundred (100g) of the weight, which came to five (5) ropals.
Then came the cost of the alkali.
The cheapest one was soda ash, taken directly from the edge of rivers and streams.
While this might seem free, one had to remember that to get the mineral the water was dissolved in had to be boiled out.
And on average one hundred kilograms of water, after removing all the other impurities and misceneous minerals got him just ten kilogram of soda ash.
And with ten kilograms of firewood costing one ropal, this boiling process was not cheap.
Alexander thus put the cost of one kilogram of soda ash at one ropal and even that was on the low side.
While the most expensive ones like lye and caustic potash, due to the much moreplexity involved, was put at four ropals a kilogram.
And then there was all thebor cost, the biggest being the ves, who did ny-nine percent of the work, with the other one percent were the shopkeepers who sold the thing, the clerks who kept the record, and other people who did the odd jobs like guarding the door and keeping the shops clean.
It would be very wrong to argue that ves were freebor, as it had to be remembered that Alexander paid four thousand ropals on average for them and their three meals a day cost him two ropals, which had to be included in the cost.
There was also the cost of heating, clothing, and housing them.
Then came the setup cost, the various pot, and stirrers, the soap-cutting tools, the hammers used to brand the logo, the wrapping paper, etc, the list could go on.
The transportation cost was next, which had the cost of the purchasing the wagon, the sry of the man driving it, and the feeding and maintenance of the horse pulling the cart.
And atst, there was thend cost, as thend they were using to make soap could have been used to make something else,
Alexander estimated that even the cheapest nt soap, one made from soda ash would cost him close to ten ropal per bar of soap.
While the more expensive lye soap could be close to double.
And thus he found that this cost, even the cheapest soap would be an astronomically luxurious item for a hard-working peasant.
Because at the end of a month, after paying all their expenses, peasants are usually able to only save up to ten to fifteen ropals a month, in case they need it for any emergencies.
And none of them would be foolish enough to use their entire month''s savings on a bar of soap, which, even if the family used them to wash their hands two times a day at meal times, without using them for bathing or cleaning, wouldst them may be a fortnight.
If they had such ability to splurge on luxuries, they would rather spend the money on meat and fish, which was eight ropals a kilogram.
And the peasants only ate such delicacies during special asions, like the new year of religious festivals or during butchering seasons when the prices of meat would fall.
Even the cheaper soap, one made from animal fat, was not still affordable to them.
Because to get the fat, a whole animal had to be killed.
Granted its other bits could also be sold, but even after all that, even when using the fattiest animal known to mankind- the pig, per kilogram of fat came to five ropals.
This came to four ropals for a bar of soap which was the price of two kilograms of wheat.
Thus, due to the inherent expensive nature of the ingredients used to make soap. instead of a ''for themon masses'' product. Alexander decided that his target demographic would be the nobles and well-to-do merchants.
It would a luxury product with a profit margin of at least ten times instead of an everydaymodity.
And this was the case even in Alexander''s previous world.
Soap belonged almost exclusively under the use of nobles and only became avable to the regr public after industrialization,
And some cultures like the roman did not use soap, but rubbed their body with olive oil, used sand as an abrasive medium to rub the dirt out, and then used a special tool to scrap off the oil.
And in Adhania, because of the prohibitive cost of soap, the public did not use it.
If one came from the fields after working the whole day and wanted to clean his greasy hands, he would just take a pinch of ash, rub it on his hand and clean the hands using water.
And because of this, as ash was very caustic, many farmers would have burnt like hands or even die from various skin-rted diseases.
The only ce where soap was used outside of nobility was by tanners to clean hide, especially wool.
And as such, Alexander would sell his animal fat-based soap exclusively to them, as that soap would have a slightly, stinky, fatty smell to them that the nobles loathed.
And with these thoughts embedded in him, Alexander moved to hisst shop.
Chapter 247 Instant Bow (Part-1)
Alexander''s fourth shop was his most special one because the product it was making would revolutionize warfare.
It was also his most skill-based shop, employing only carpenters and smelters.
"Master, here," Takfiz invited Alexander into a workshop, the smallest in size of the four.
It looked ordinary and inconspicuous and if one were to walk by it, no one would think to nce at it twice.
As Alexander and his bodyguards were invited in, he found the shop to be dirty and dingy, with wood shaving and small bits of metal bit strewn all over the floor
Therge windows let in copious amounts of light, letting Alexander see the thirty men that were tolling way, all too busy to properly pay attention to him.
Some were shaping the wood making it into a bow.
Some were shaping the wood to make a crossbow, drawing grooves on the wooden stock, and using a tool called the in to make the wooden ends narrower than the head.
Some were seen working the forge, making iron to make the crossbow bow.
And some were seen assembling the whole product.
It was a special kind of crossbow-making factory, making both a crossbow and another what Alexander liked to call the instant bow!
"Faziz, how''s the bow''sing?" Alexander asked with a light smile, being more interested in thetter''s production.
Engrossed in his work, this head carpenter, who had not till noticed Alexander quickly turned from carving the wood, arge smile forming on his face as he greeted. "Oh, my lord, wee."
And then, without showing much courtesy, very excitedly showed Alexander theirpleted bows, saying, "My lord, here! Your ideas are truly like nothing out there. I have made thousands of bows in my life, but nothing like this one."
The reason why he said this was because this instant bow that he was showing Alexander looked like a regr bow but with one difference, it had a horizontal wooden block-like mechanism stuck to it,
It was made of two nks of wood, one able to slide over the other and the part that was not able to slide was tied to the bow shaft using ropes, while the second movable part had a slot in it that housed the bowstring and a wooden trigger to engage and release the string.
This slot was on the bottom and had a little notch on it, while the top part was hollowed out and could hold five arrows,
How this almost over-designed bow worked was one would horizontally grab the wooden handle attached to the back of the slidable panel, pull back the horizontal wooden trigger at the side of the handle using his thumb to open it, and then use his arm to push the slidable panel forward.
This would cause the stationary string to slide over the notch in the lower slot, which was there to avoid the string from catching the arrows on top of it and once the string moved past the notch it would raise itself up, moving parallel and in contact with the body of the arrow and ultimately the string would move itself to the space behind the trigger at the back.
At which point the trigger would be pushed down and the heavy wooden piece of crescent-shaped wood, would close itself, locking the bow string behind it.
Then the slidable panel would be pulled back, and due to the courtesy of the trigger, the string would follow with it, thus effectively loading the bow.
To ensure that the string could not push the trigger open by itself, the crescent-shaped wooden trigger would sit in a groove inside the nk and it was even advisable to push against the trigger with the thumb when pulling back the slidable panel to keep the trigger locked.
And although this prototype used a wooden trigger, Alexander couldter use the much more abundant iron to make the trigger out of iron to make it heavier.
Once the slidable panel had been pulled back to its limit, then it would be the easy job of releasing the trigger, and as the string raced to return to its original position, without the notch it would catch one of the arrows from the chamber, and shoot it out of the slotted opening.
And then the cycle could be repeated by again pushing the slidable part forward, and vi, you could send five arrows in five seconds, whereas a traditional archer would take a minute to do that.
This was a toy that Alexander got to y with when he worked for that medieval reenactmentpany, where one of his colleagues had made this for fun.
And surprisingly when the product got so popr after the man uploaded it to the inte, he sold it to many medieval enthusiasts even though it was not medievally urate.
And when some of the medieval purists whined that it could not have been using ancient technology, that colleague made a video using only medieval techniques to shut them up.
And fortunately, Alexander got to be a part of that process because that man needed a helper, and Alexander happened to be the closest one avable.
Alexander took the bow and tried pulling the hundred-pound bow several times and though his strong arms struggled a bit, after bending a bit and putting his back muscle to work, he could do load and unload the bow several times.
Of course, the bow was nk and he did not shoot any actual arrows.
Alexander was impressed with the build quality and found that the wooden panel smoothly slid over one another without much friction, giving the movement a slick feeling.
"You did a good job, it mustn''t have been easy," Alexander smiled in delight, handing the bow back to the man.
"No, no, we only followed master''s instruction." Faziz humbly replied, then added, "We could have never even dreamt up such a thing in a million. It must be what is used in the heavens."
Alexander only politely smiled at the man, while saying to himself, ''You guys have no idea what is used in heaven. Neither can you imagine even if I were to tell you," Alexander could imagine how mind-meltingly difficult it would be to make these people understand the concept of modern firearms from tanks to aircrafts to drones.
He had also always found it weird that many ancient religious scriptures imed that gods fought with swords and arrows, and would always ask himself, ''If gods really did exist, then why do they use such primitive weapons?''
Alexander kept these thoughts to himself and instead said to Faziz, "I have heard that you converted to the faith of Gaia. Wee to the path of light."
This was one of the small tidbits of extra info Takfiz had shared with him while they wereing here.
"Yes, yes," The carpenter let out a huge grin at the knowledge that his master was taking the time to remember him as he eagerly and zealously announced, "The things you taught us have convinced me that you are truly divine, master. And that''s why I have decided to convert to the faith of Gaia."
Alexander lightly smiled and nodded, while thinking back on the things he taught them.
He did teach them quite a few number of things while showing them the design of the wooden mechanics of the bow during the gue week.
First of all, he taught them mechanical drawing which was about drawing and properlybeling all the dimensions of the drawing written next to them.
This sounded easy, but for these men who could barely read, it was no joke.
He also taught the to properly measure things.
For example, there was no standard on how to measure the distance between two circles in a straight line.
Some of the carpenters measured it from end to end, some from the center of each of the circles, and some even used different ends of the two circles, giving three different measurements for the same distance.
Same case for a circle with a smaller hole in it.
They did not know if they should measure both the circle or measure one circle and then add or subtract the thickness of the material.
Next Alexander gave them the design and manufacturing of a new drill.
The people of this time used the cord drill, which had a cord attached to a stick and by pulling the cord to both sides, the stick would spin, and with it, the metal drill attached to the end.
And in this way, a hole could be made.
But this was veryborious and inefficient, leading to very slow work.
To rectify this Alexander invented the crank drill which was exactly what it sounded like, basically, a hand-powered crack with a drill bit attached to it.
And this could not only make holes a few times faster than its primitive brother, but the holes would be of more urate dimensions too, as unlike the cord drill, the crack drill would not wobble and move around so much.
Chapter 248 Instant Bow (Part-2)
"Master''s hand-crack has made our work hundreds of times easier," Faziz exaggeratedly praised and then even prostrated on his hand and knees as he loudly proimed, "And so for this invention of the century, please ept this bow of respect on behalf of all craftsman in this world. We are eternally grateful."
Faziz''s loud promation drew many interested looks from his fellow artisans and many of them emted, and though Alexander kept a t, cid look throughout it all, internally he wasmpooning.
''*Sigh*, being a pasha is not easy,'' Alexander did not feel overjoyed at this show of reverence, instead asking himself how much of the respect was genuine and how much bootlicking, or maybe both.
The shop visits of thest two days had made Alexander find it increasingly hard to distinguish genuine praise from the fake.
Everywhere he went he would be showered with praise and adoration, and although he found it natural for everyone to want to curry favor with their lord, he still found the whole situation tiring.
In fact, he thought it might not be good even if the adoration was too much among the craftsman as he feared it could mean that all his designs would be seen as divine artifacts and any changes to it hence heresy.
This would certainly stimy invention and innovation.
But as the pasha, as a noble, he also could not tell them to skip such formalities either as it would make these people feel close to him.
Too close to him.
And that would be too close forfort to him.
Why?
Because if the people start getting too close to him, what would be stopping them from thinking, ''Hey, he is the same as me. He has the same two eyes and nose, mouth and ears, and eats and breathes just like me. He even bleeds the same color blood. So what''s stopping me from recing him''.
This was why nobles would im themselves to be blue-blooded and woulde up with all those ridiculous punctilio and etiquettes.
All in an effort to make themselves appear as different from themon masses, to appear more civilized and thus better.
And if they are sessful in this endeavor, if they can make the people think that those at the top are better, well then these peasants will never rebel.
Because they will believe that whatever the situation they are currently in is the best-case scenario for them under the present circumstances, and even if they were to rebel and somehow seed, things would only get worse for them, as if the better people could not make things better, what chance did they have?
And to promote this thought, consciously or unconsciously, the nobles would act in a very refined way, talk in a sophisticated way and carry themselves in luxury and opulence, all to give the impression that since they have all these good things, the way they lead their lives is the correct way and everybody must follow them.
And circumstance forced Alexander too to do the same, leading to his current situation, where the carpenter remained prostrated towards him.
"It was nothing, please get up," Alexander lightly asked, not feeling too overwhelmed the inventions were not really his.
And after everyone got up and dusted the dirt off their knees, Alexander then lightly asked, "Did the crank work properly? Were you able to make the holes properly?"
"Oh, yes, it was no problem. As easy as cutting butter," Faziz reported enthusiastically with a nod.
But why did Alexander need to make holes?
Because the manufacturing of the wooden mechanism demanded it.
To make the slidable part of the mechanism, the nk had to be cut and the individual insides had to be chipped off to make the slots.
Then the two parts would have to be put together to make the three-dimensional structure able to house the arrows,
And this joining was done by using two methods.
First by gluing the two parts together using deer tallow.
And then by drilling holes through the two parts and pushing a wooden peg through it, thus locking them in ce.
Multiple holes were made along the wooden structure to hold the two pieces together and Alexander found the structure to be very sturdy.
And then he asked the question he had been dreading all along, "How long did it take you to make this?"
"Ahem, three of us worked all day for thest three days to make the bow and the mechanism," Faziz meekly said, feeling ashamed of his work speed.
But in fairness, Faziz really did it at quite a good speed.
Maybe not in record speed, but as a skilled carpenter with decades of experience at bow making, this was about the speed Alexander would expect from the men.
Not to mention they were all novices at making this particr type of bow.
But all this did not stop Alexander from feeling like his heart had dropped.
Because although it was something he had expected, it did not mean he felt happy at such a slow speed.
For context, a regr bow would take around three days or around thirty hours for one bow maker to make from scratch.
This would include everything from cutting a suitable piece of wood from a log, making it into a nk, using a small handaxe to chip off therge bits of that nk, using a chisel to then slowly give the bow its iconic crescent shape and atst using a in to smooth out the edges.
Then the sting would be attached to the bow and using a piece of special equipment it would be pulled back incremental, increasing the tension on the wood and slowly bending it, until the iconic curved shape would be achieved.
This would be done to see if both ends of the bow were evenly thick and whether the bow could take the stresses put on it.
And sometimes, if the ends were by chance made too thin, or if the wood was not of good enough quality, then it would simply snap, wasting a full day or even two days'' work.
And worse, there was really no hard way to tell if a nk of wood was good bow material or not.
Even when using the same species of wood, from the same area, from simr-looking trees, the quality of wood would differ between individual trees.
And thus, even when a bow is just wood with a string attached to it, it could cost a peasant his week''s pay to afford one, at forty (40) ropals.
And given that ording to Faziz, three men worked for three days or ny hours (90) in total to make the instant bow, it meant that Alexander''s bow would cost at least one hundred and twenty (120) ropals.
And did was not ount for the extra wood materials needed, from the rope to bind the mechanism to the bow, the glue to hold the two pieces together, the nail used to attach the trigger to the nk, the metal drill used to carve out the hole, and the wooden peg used to lock in the holes.
And then was the cost of skilledbor, as this specialized equipment could not be made by just anybody.
? Taking all these into ount, Alexnader estimated the darn thing to cost around one hundred and forty to fifty(140-150) ropals, around four times a regr bow.
And this number scared Alexander so much that he asked his bodyguard captain Hemicus about it, hoping that the man of few words would be able to point out some kind of w with Alexander''s calctions.
"Hemicus, what do you think of the instant bow?" Alexander asked for a second opinion.
"Master, this is an amazing invention. With this super weapons I think with this we''ll be able to defeat enemies multiple times our size no problem," Hemicus was quite voluminous in his answer, the joy and amazement in his voice unmistakable.
It had to be noted that Hemicus was a man of few words.
Throughout the day he would not on his own ord utter more than ten words and even a lot of those would be grunts and groans like ''Hmmm'', ''Mmm'', etc,
The joy that Hemicus was showing was also very uncharacteristic of him as he would have an almost eternally poker face on him, showing almost no emotion.
In fact, Alexander had chosen him for his bodyguard position because the man was like that, as Alexander determined that such a man would not have a loose tongue.
And up until now, he had lived up to Alexander''s expectations, standing guard loyally by his side through everything, seeing and hearing many secrets that most were not privy to but nevermenting much less tattling.
So for such a hard man to lose his emotions like that proved the impact that this instant bow had on the military man as he could barely imagine would this invention would change the battlefield.
Chapter 249 Crossbow (Part-1)
As a former mercenary, Hemicus certainly could appreciate the significance of what this bow would be able to do and he had a hard time imagining what the battlefield would look like when this was used en masse.
"I know what you are thinking you know," Alexander gently broke his guard captain from his fantasy, and then spelled out what this stoic man was likely thinking, "You are probably thinking that a thousand soldiers using this bow would create almost a literal wall of arrows for the enemy, where even if they were to form a testudo, a few of them would be able to find the gaps and reap lives by the minute."
And by the look on Hemicus''s face, Alexander was sure he had hit the bullseye.
So, Alexander asked him the next question, "What do you think would be the cost of the bow?"
Hemicus gave himself a bit of time to think at the question, and then in a low voice said the estimate, "Ummm, well¡about one hundred ropals."
"Hmmm, yes around that," Alexander nodded and then asked, "So tell me, at one arrow costing around one and a half (1.5) ropals, and assuming one archer takes one second to shoot one arrow, how many much would it cost to have a thousand archers shot arrows for one minute? Take the time to reload the bow to be five seconds."
"That¡." Hemicus was known for his ferociousness on the battlefield, not in the field of mathematics and so naturally he stumbled at the long-winded question.
"Forty-five thousand (45,000)." Alexander gave the answer, and then repeated it, "Forty-five thousand ropals per minute."
"What? We can''t afford that!" Alexander for the first time in his life saw the stoic man be frightened.
"Yes, we can''t," Alexander nodded with agreement, and then asked in a teasing tone, "So, where will we use then?"
"That¡." Hemicus drew nk at that question.
"Okay, tell me about it once you thought of it," Alexander lightly smiled and then turned to Faziz.
But before he could say something, Faziz quickly said before him, "Master, I''m willing to give up my sry to see the bow work. I know it''s minuscule that still¡"
Faziz found the thought of this super bow not being able to be used due to money troubles a great shame.
One keynote of the sentence was Faziz''s use of the word sry, as he was not like the other ves that Alexander had bought.
He was an expert bowmaker of Adhan that came to Zanzan with Alexander as a freeman.
And once here, recognizing the man''s talent, Alexander offered one hundred acres ofnd to the man to sell himself for ten years.
What this basically meant was that Faziz was contractually obligated to never leave Alexnader''s estates without thetter''s permission within this time frame, while he was required to fulfill a quota for the product throughout the time period, after which he would be given thend.
Of course, another small same caveat was that he never disclosed the secrets of the bow to anyone, which would risk him forfeiting all ims.
And so what Faziz was asking Alexander was that he was ready to sell some of hisnd to fund the bow.
"Haha, mister Faziz''s devotion to Zanzan makes me very happy," Alexander chuckled at the suggestion, but then politely turned it down, "Mister Faziz, the best way for you to serve Zanzan is by making the bow. We will somehow manage to find the funding."
This deted the bowmaker a bit, but his mind was quickly distracted by Alexander''s next question, "So, how goes the crossbow making?"
''Another bow?'' Hemicus wondered.
"It''s going well." Faziz gave arge nod and then added in a worried voice. "But that bow will likely also be very expensive, almost three times the instant one!"
''How can a bow cost five hundred ropals (500)? Is it made out of gold?'' Hemicus thought incredulously at the stated price tag and was interested to know what kind of bow could cost so much.
"Mmmm, I expected it as much. Both the bow and the stirrup is made of iron after all." Alexander nodded understandingly, knowing that the price of iron was astronomical.
But the only alternative to iron would be animal horns and the time that would be needed to grind and polish a horn into a bow would make the weapon as much, if not even more expensive.
Unlike the bow, the crossbow that Alexander had designed was just a normal crossbow.
It had a wooden stock, a cut groove to ce the bolt in, a trigger mechanism at the bottom to unhook the string, an iron bow, and a stirrup at the head of the crossbow.
The stirrup was a D-shaped iron product and how it would be used was that the crossbow would be ced vertically on the ground with the stirrup hitting the earth, then a foot would go through the stirrup, stabilizing the vertical crossbow, which would allow one to employ not just his arms muscles but also all his back and leg muscles to reload the crossbow, thus making the reload much more manageable.
Because reloading even a light crossbow, which had a draw weight of around three hundred (300) pounds was no joke, even when using all the muscles avable to one, and not just the arm muscles.
"Where is the crossbow?" Alexander was interested to see the real thing and thus, Faziz quickly led Alexander to near a furnace, to the side of which, on a wall hung the crossbow.
And as Faziz trotted ahead to retrieve the bow for his master, Alexander''s eye''s wondered to the man working the furnace and silently watched as the man turned iron ore to iron and steel.
In this time period, the process of getting iron, or more specifically mild steel was an arduous one.
It started with acquiring the iron ore.
This might havee in a variety of forms, from ore-rich iron sands (typically found at river bends) to "bog iron" formed by biological processes in swamps to veins of ore mined from underground.
This had to be purified with a variety of processes, like being repeatedly washed to remove loose non-ore particles (often in a ribbed trough, where the heavy iron ore would collect at the bottom, allowing lighter fractions toe to the top to be removed), heated to burn off other impurities, and crushed to help with the other processes.
Once the ore was suitably purified, it would then be put into a charcoal-fired furnace heated to a high temperature.
Once heated to about metallic iron would separate from thepounds it''s chemically bound to; some of those would escape as exhaust from the furnace, though others plus remaining impurities from the purification process would remain as g.
This would create a soft but not liquid "bloom" of wrought iron.
Ironworkers would then pound the bloom with hammers to force out the g inclusions, thus making steel, i.e- iron mixed with carbon.
The reason why the g could not be removed by melting the iron and allowing the impurities to rise to the top was because furnaces could only reach the temperatures necessary to smelt iron (that is, produce metal from ore at around 1250oC,) but not the significantly higher temperatures (about 1538C) necessary to melt iron.
In fact due to the practice of beating out the iron, at this time cksmiths had a misconception that the more one hammered the bloom, the better the quality of the steel.
But this is actually not true, as too much hammering would not only drive out the bad elements, but also the good impurities like carbon which gave the iron its strength.
Without the addition of carbon, pure iron is a soft, ductile material that is pretty useless in every case imaginable.
Thus about 0.04% to 0.3% carbon was desirable in most iron products.
As Alexander saw the cksmith, to put in coarse words, ''beat the shit out of the bloom'' to make extract the iron and shape it into a bow, he could not wait for work on the st furnace to start.
And then he added, ''If only these poor sods knew of the double-acting position bellows,''
Double-acting piston bellows were a type of bellows that had the property that air was blown out on both strokes of the handle (in contrast to simpler and moremon bellows that blow air when the stroke is in one direction and refill the bellows in the other direction), allowing for getting a much higher temperature, high enough that possibly molten iron could have been produced.
And this was also the bellow that Alexander had given Krishok and Jazum to produce, which due to itsplexity and novelty was taking the man a few days to produce.
"Here, master," Faziz''s loud call broke Alexander''s inner thoughts, and he quickly turned to see the crossbow being offered to him.
Chapter 250 Crossbow (Part-2)
Alexander carefully inspected the crossbow that Faziz made, then asked, "Have you tried shooting with it?"
"No, sire, I couldn''t manage the time," The man honestly replied.
"Um, then let''s go outside for the test," Alexander invited as he was interested in testing out its uracy and build quality and soon the group was outside the workshop, with Alexander carrying the weapon and Faziz carrying five freshly-made bolts just for the crossbow.
The group moved themselves to a small clearing and quickly chose their target- a cut tree stump, about a meter width and reaching up to Alexander''s thigh.
Alexander quickly loaded the crossbow, took aim at a distance of around ten meters, and with trepidation in his heart let loose, the feel of the trigger making him feel like he was abat sniper, the slight recoil of the crossbow giving Alexander a realistic feel.
Loosen by Alexander, the arrow sped in the nt direction towards the target and in a spectacr way¡Thuk!, it missed, burying itself into the soil next to the tree stump.
For all of Alexander''s ''feeling'' he had missed the quite close target.
This drew a few shocked looks from the others while Alexander was a bit embarrassed at having missed such arge, easy target.
He had never shot a bow in his life and for the first time found shooting an arrow was really not that easy.
He had shot guns before in gun ranges for recreation and he had assumed that both should have some simrities to them.
But even if they had any simrities, Alexander could not find them.
After all, the ballistic of a bullet and an arrow was vastly different as the former spun as it traveled through the air while thetter bent and flexed as it moved.
"The lighting is not good at all. It''s really hard to see in the distance," Takfiz quickly tried to save Alexander from the embarrassment, making up ame excuse.
But this only made Alexander curse himself, ''What light problem! It''s onlyte afternoon and everything is clear as day,''
And then to divert the me Alexander started to diss a whole different entity, ''Fuck¡in the movies they made archery look so easy,''
Then, to quickly make everyone forget this embarrassment, Alexander hurriedly reloaded, aimed by making sure he was looking at the center of the tree stump while making sure to keep his eyes parallel to the crossbow, and pressed the trigger.
Thuk!
Another miss!
Frustrated Alexander tried again,...miss.
By this point, Faziz had gone a bit pale as he feared Alexander mightsh out at him for making a defective product.
But Alexander did no such thing.
Instead, he took the time to notice interesting phenomena.
He noticed that all the arrows hadnded a bit right off his target.
And thus, ounting for that, he adjusted his aim a bit to the left, and *Thud*!
A hit.
And then he quickly followed up the sess with another one.
"Perfect! Perfect shot master," Takfiz was more relieved than overjoyed as he did not have to think of ways to make excuses for Alexander, something that his master did not seem to particrly enjoy.
"Hemicus, you try." Alexander did not pay attention to the cheering fangirl and instead handed the weapon to his guard captain.
And then gave a short piece of advice, "The arrow seems to go a bit right to where you are aiming. So adjust ording."
"Mmm," Hemicus gave a curt answer, and after the bolts were retried, by following Alexander''s advice, he managed to hit all five on target.
"Lord was right. The arrows do veer to the right a bit," Hemicus confirmed Alexander''s findings.
"I...I will fix it immediately," Faziz quickly jumped up to offer the promise, a bit flustered at having handed Alexander a slightly defective product.
But Alexander only gently said, "No need to need to get worked up. This is your first time making this and such minor ws are to be expected."
This made Faziz draw a sigh of relief as he had been in the past still unsure about Alexander''s true temperament.
Sure he had met Alexander before and the man seemed very polite and cordial, but Faziz had also met simr nobles even before, and some of them would show apletely different face when work got involved or when things were not to their liking.
"Bring me a hammer," Alexander out of the blue asked, and without asking questions Faziz swiftly presented him one, though a small part of him was afraid that Alexander might hit him with it.
But fortunately, he avoided that fate.
"A crossbow does not shoot straight when the two halves of the bow are not symmetrical, that is one end is a bit longer than the other." Alexander gave some know-how as he epted the hammer from Faziz and then said, "And there is a simple way to rectify that problem."
At this point, Alexander showed them the hammer and said, "What you do is take a hammer and softly hit the bow on the side that the arrow is deviating to. So if it''s going to the right you hit on the right side of the crossbow and if it''s going to the left you hit on the left side of the bow."
And saying this he tapped on the right side of the bow several times and then handed it over to Hemicus, "Here, try now."
Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit!
Five perfect bullseyes.
"Pasha''s knowledge is infinite and immeasurable," Faziz imed in awe and reverence, a thought that was soon shared by many.
Alexander did not feel like responding to such ims and instead turned to ask, "So, how much does it cost to make?"
"Mmm, I don''t know the exact value, but iron is five hundred ropals a kilogram and there''s a bit about one and a half kilogram there. Andpared to the iron, everything else is cheap. So.." Faziz did not need to spell out the rest.
"*Sigh*, around eight hundred ropals (800)" Alexander said the figure aloud himself.
The iron bow was around sixty centimeters in length, five centimeters in width, and five millimeters in thickness, so that weighed around one kilogram and then there was the stirrup that wright close to half a kilogram.
So it seemed that when Faziz said that the crossbow would cost three times the instant bow, he was grossly underestimating the price.
It was double that estimate at six times the price of the instant bow.
But there was light at the end of the tunnel for Alexander as he knew that once the st furnace got itself up and running, the price would fall by several factors of ten, and he estimated for one kilogram of pig iron or wrought iron to go for ten to twenty (20) ropals, while proper steel iron, made using the Bessemer process might go for around fifty (50) ropals.
"You do not need to worry about the cost Faziz," Alexander reassured the man as he knew that prices were scheduled to nosedive shortly.
But to the carpenter, it only sounded like Alexander was consoling his worried worker.
''I must work harder,'' The loyal man pumped himself up.
And if Alexander could hear the thoughts he would not know whether tough or cry, finding the man''s misunderstanding and consequent zeal to work both hrious and unnecessary.
It was at that point Alexander instructed his worker, "Faziz, since the iron is too expensive, just concentrate on making the crossbow body, that is the wooden stock. I will try to make cheaper steel somehow."
Alexander naturally did not share his st furnace ns with someone not rted to it.
"As you instruct master," Faziz had no objection.
"Mmm, and also make ten of the instant bow by November. I wish to show them to the military then." Alexander added another task that Faziz obediently received.
Making one bow every three days was in fact quite a generous time limit as Faziz knew that through practice he would be able to bring down the manufacturing time by at least a day.
But this slight happiness did notst long as Alexander dumped another task at Faziz, "Also, you are to hire and employ specialized people to make the arrows."
He reasoned, "Both the crossbow and the instant bow have specialized bolts that are not the same as regr arrows and as you also know how to make arrows, it will be your job to find, hire, and train men to produce these arrowheads."
Alexander then expressed his desired numbers, "I know that a fletcher can make ten arrows an hour and so by the new year, two months from now I want to be able to make ten thousand arrows a day, that is - one hundred men each making one hundred arrows a day. Any questions?"
''I should have stayed at Adhan,'' Faziz only silently cried in his heart at the spartan demand.
Chapter 251 Talks With The Twins (Part-1)
The demand that Alexander made a tall one.
A very tall one.
Because making arrows was a very specialized job.
Here was in detail how to make one arrow.
First, the wood would be split and cut to the right length and then ned with a t ne at first, followed by a rounded one. And then the wood would be smoothed with sandstone. A notch would have to be cut at one end for the bowstring and filled with cow horn or deer antler to prevent the arrow from splitting when ced against the bowstring.
Next, the fletcher would whip and fletch the shaft. Whipping was done to wrap a string around the shaft, which was waterproofed to stop it from warping in storage, and then the feathers would be split and applied to the shaft. These feathers would be cut from the quills or turkeys and ced in grooved or notched lines at the back of the shaft and would then be then sealed in with glues based on animal fat.
An important detail here was to add specialpounds to the animal glues that were used which deterred rats from eating the arrows in storage.
Also, there would be only three feathers on an arrow instead of being on all four sides. as because the side that was going to be in contact with the bow had to have none.
And finally, the arrowheads would be fitted into the other end of the arrow which were produced by arrowsmiths.
There were mainly two ways to attach the shaft to the head.
One was to make the arrowhead tail hollow, stick in the shaft, and hammer the tail close.
And the other way was to make the tail sharp and pointy, heat it up, and then push it into the shaft, by burning a hole in the process.
To save time, arrows would be made in batches, with the nock and arrowhead being added to the shaft one day, and then being left to dry for a while, before the fletcher went to work.
And in this way, on average it took about two hours to make each arrow, where half that time would be used to cut the shaft, while each arrowhead took about half an hour to make,
Of course, this was the total man-hours needed to make an arrow.
Thus theoretically one hundred and twenty men could make an arrow every minute.
But in reality, the number was six minutes for every arrow, achieved by working as a group and using the division ofbor, where one man did only one very specialized job.
It took some time for the ck-jawed Faziz to return to his senses, as he possibly suffered a minor heart attack at the monumentalmand.
"Master¡that''s¡" Faziz wanted to let Alexander know just how hard it would be to train one hundred men to make ten arrows an hour in just two months.
This would be a tough task even if that was Faziz''s only job, not to mention he had a myriad of other obligations,
But Alexander paid no heed to it, "I demand such because such speed will be needed to keep up with demand. Thus it needs to be done."
Alexander paid Faziz the big bucks to make such things happen and Faziz would find out that Alexander was a very generous, but also very demanding lord, his rich rewards locked behind a high-difficulty curve.
Alexander''s tough stance left Faziz no room to argue and so the man could only reply, "I will try my best master."
"Mmm, good," Alexander lightly smiled and then decided to give Faziz a few extra perks to help in his endeavor, "You can recruit anyone from my ve pool as you like."
"And if you have any special request, inform Takfiz or evene directly to me. And it does not have to be just a hundred, if you want, if you think you need more, hire more. Just remember to tell me." Alexander gave Faziz such power.
This amount of relief made Faziz let out a small breath of relief and he expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, master. Your grace is boundless."
"Mnnn, Takfiz, remember to give him whatever he needs," Alexander reminded the old man not to y factional politics and after a few such small exchanges, with dusk imminent, Alexander finally decided to return to his manor.
''I wonder how Cam''s day has been,'' He thought eagerly about the prisoners and fresh ves to be had.
Thetter was especially very attractive to him as Alexander had felt like his ears were rotting away at all his lords asking him for the same thing, ''More men'', ''More men''.
They all were critically short on men.
''If I keep hearing them asking for more men, I bet I will start dreaming of the word ''more men''.'' Alexander half-jokingly, half with irritation said to himself as he sometimes fought off the urge to shout to the men, ''If you want men so much, then why don''t you go home and make some''.
With these bittersweet thoughts in his mind, Alexander approached the manor, finding the ce peaceful and tranquil as ever, withrge braissers being slowly lit up.
All the staff naturally bowed as Alexander made his way into the house, and after a bath, he sat down for his supper- boiled chicken basted in butter with a lemon-based sauce, fried salmon, and sd with white bread.
"I''m sure you have heard about the incident at the temple, your twin highness," Alexander addressed as he had his meal, noticing that Azura and Azira had barely touched their te, their faces pale and downcast.
"..." The twins were so hurt that they did not even reply.
And so the eldest guardian, the Queen mother made the conversion, "*Sigh*, yes. We were all so shocked by the news that all of us felt like being paralyzed for the whole day. I could barely get up from the bed after getting such vile news."
The queen mother said this in a very melodramatic tone and even seemed to tear up a bit.
This caused Mikaya to silently roll her eyes, ''Bullshit. You let the news of the priests'' killing go in through one ear and out the next. And then you spent the rest of the day ying cards with me!''
Mikaya had lost all of her yesterday''s winning to the Queen mother and certainly wanted to expose this crocodile tears-shedding woman.
Hellma too had seen what her mother had actually done the entire day and she said to herself, ''You said that it was likely that Alexander did it. So what''s with the theatrics?''
The queen mother did not know for sure whether Alexander had any part in it, but fortunately for her, she took a stab in the dark and it hit the bullseyes.
"It is certainly a bad look for any lord if the temples in hisnd are desecrated and their priests killed." Mikaya gave a gentle smile as she sent a potent jab at Alexander.
''Bitch!'' Cambyses cursed at this detestable woman, barely holding back the urge to say it aloud.
"Haha, yes, miss Mikaya is right. I''m ashamed of my ipetence as the lord of Zanzan. And it is evident that as a former lowly ve, I really dock talent in governance. Thus I pray that your lordship may guide me on what to do next," Instead of ring up or cursing Mikaya, Alexander only returned the taunt with an even more self-deprecating remark, sarcasm dripping like honey.
Alexander''s answers made Mikaya''s lips twitch and she then swiftly lowered her head to get back to eating after cursing in her heart, ''Honorless scoundrel''.
She had always found it hard to insult or mock Alexander because he was very much unlike any noble she had ever met.
All the nobles that Mikaya had ever met were many things, ranging from courageous and honorable to meek and timid, to even unscrupulous and a low-life.
But they all had onemon trait- pride.
Pride as a noble that they would never let anyone trample.
But Alexander did not seem to have any pride.
Whenever Mikaya or for that case anyone else mocked him for something, whether it be his administrative skills or his low birth lineage, instead of hiding it or defending himself, Alexander would unt it, and even go as far as to demean himself even more than the person attacking him.
Alexander''s answer produced a slightly awkward silence, but was soon broken by Azira''s meek tone, "Does your lord know who is responsible?"
"My spies informed me that various city gangs were involved. And we have captured all of them for interrogation," Alexander gave the girl some uplifting news.
"That''s good." Azira seemed to cheer up.
"Don''t let them die too easily," This scary sentence was immediately said afterward by her sister Azura, who had a menacing look on her after knowing the culprits were caught.
''You girls really hide some sting don''t you,'' Alexander was surprised to see this side of the usually innocent and pure girls.
Chapter 252 Talks With The Twins (Part-2)
Every person in the world had things that ticked them off, their reverse scale.
And for Azira and Azura it was their belief, the temple, and its priests.
As people who were once saintesses, naturally, their faith and piety belonged to among the highest tiers of believers and thus anyone who attacked their institution of faith was viewed with utmost hostility.
Thus it was not really too surprising for the pure, innocent girls to order a painful death to the, in their eyes, infidels.
For them, these people deserved no salvation, only the utmost suffering.
"We will burn the leaders." Alexander soothingly informed them and then reassured further, "And we will send the rest to the mines till they die."
"Umm, that''s good, that''s very good," Azira very approvingly nodded, a dazzling smile forming on her face, which was soon apanied by her equally beautiful sister.
This pair of cute, pure smiles very much contrasted the dark subject that they were happy over.
Even the ultra-sheltered princess knew of the horror stories of the mines, horrific temperatures, back-breaking work, long, brutal hours, and polluted, dusty air.
A man strong as a bull might the mines ande out in a year as just bags of skin and bones.
"A fitting punishment for these scums," Azura nodded along with her sister, very enthusiastic and approving of Alexander''s disciplining.
For the twins, infidels were not humans and as such did not deserve to be treated as such.
''Master, she called you a scum,'' Ophenia could barely keep a straight face, knowing that the twins were gleefully thanking the actual mastermind for trying the find the supposed mastermind.
The situation was so funny that Ophenia had to takerge mouthfuls of her bread to keep her fromughing out loud.
"Your highness, now that many of the priests are....gone, the people of Zanzan, have no one to lead the temples." Alexander then began the second stage of his scheme.
Saying, "So, like I said the day before said yesterday, I was hoping that you could not just join the temple but lead it!"
After this, Alexander quickly added, "Of course, I''m sure that His Majesty will understand the special circumstances."
Azira and Azura had an innate desire to join the temple and so when Alexander gave them the perfect excuse, of course, they did not argue.
"Ummm, well¡if it''s for the people¡" Azira made it look like she was thinking it over.
"Mmm¡since it''s for the people,...then it can''t be helped I guess," Azura helpedplete her sister''s little y.
"Yes, it''s to help the people after all, haha," Alexander too buttressed the twin''s desire for an excuse.
But then added, "Though Your highness, I will need to insist that you now follow King Ptolomy''s version of the religion."
"What!"
"How dare you!"
The two little kitties were predictably enraged.
"That''s not what you promised them yesterday, Your Lordship," The Queen mother also felt Alexander was trying to swindle them and she stepped in defense of the girls.
Even though she was only the twin''s guardian in nominal terms, she felt that she could not just let a mere noble bully the royalty.
That was reserved only for the royal members themselves.
She was also apprehensive about what Alexander had nned for the girls.
Sure, she would love to see Amenheraft''s religion be reced with Ptolomy''s version of the faith of Ramuh.
And with the famed saintesses from the grand temple of Adhan themselves endorsing it, the Queen mother was sure that the numbers of this new religion would swell exponentially in the blink of an eye in Zanzan.
But, Alexander stank of raw, unadulterated ambition, a smell she was very familiar with as she too emitted the same pheromones and thus felt that letting this dangerous man seed in any of his ns, even in ns that on the surface might seem to be beneficial for her was not a good idea.
Seelima had no proof of any existence of Alexander''s schemes against the crown, but it was a gut feeling of hers, a woman''s instinct.
And that was enough for her, as that same supernatural ability had saved her butt countless times.
But Alexander was not going to let anyone stop him.
"Haha, the Queen mother is misunderstanding me. Yesterday''s offer was made taking into ount the realities of yesterday. Today''s offer is being made taking into ount today''s realities." Alexander lightly chuckled while narrowing his eyes.
"..." Alexander''s disy of his current clearly superior position made it so that the Queen mother could only form a t look.
After all, she had little way to counter him in his own city.
Alexander did not pursue this matter with the Queen mother any longer.
Because it was not up to the Queen mother to decide but ultimately Azira and Azura.
Thus, without giving the former Queen enough time to think of a rebuttal, he turned to his real prey.
"Princesses, I know that you are hesitant to ept the new version of the religion." Alexander began, saying, "But please rest assured that it really is not that different from your current version, with the only difference being that god Ramuh has a wife now who rules jointly with his consort, the goddess Gaia." Alexander downyed the significance.
"Hmmp, we don''t want any of your Thesian gods."
"Yeah, we believe in only god Ramuh and no other god can be mentioned in the same breath as him."
Azira and Azura were staunch supporters of their faith and would not let it be tainted by Alexander''s evil ideas.
"Haha, the twin princesses'' pure faith makes this lord feel impressed and touched," Alexander gently smiled at the unequivocal rejection.
"What the princesses said is true. Or rather was true." He then gently corrected Azira and Azura with a light smile, exining, "Ramuh as the leader of the pantheon of gods did once have no challenger that could be mentioned in the same breath as him. But the key point to that argument is the word ''did''. He ''did'' have no challenger." Alexander repeated to emphasize the point.
"But that is not the case now," Alexander said while gently shaking his head, causing the twins to twist their faces in anger.
''There he goes with that baseless usation that Lord Ramuh has lost against that goddess in a divine battle,'' The twins'' cursed in their hearts, feeling anger re at the sphemy words frequently uttered by Alexander.
If Alexander was not so powerful. they certainly would have turned him into pristine barbeque by burning him at the stake as a heretic.
"We have heard your im before and we will respond the same way we did before- Ridiculous!" Azira spoke for both of them in a high-pitched, firm voice.
"Hahaha," Alexander did not seem to mind the rude rejection, as he reasoned, "Your Highness should not be so quick to dismiss such ims. After all, not one but two temples of Ramuh have been attacked."
Alexander then raised his index finger as he imed, "The temples are supposed to be the bastions of the gods. Invible sacred ces that mere mortals dare not sully. Yet, not once, but twice, they have been attacked, their wealth sacked and the inhabitants killed."
Alexander''s voice rose a few octaves as he listed, "In just two months, tens of billions of ropals have been stolen and hundreds of priests and priestesses have been in. Weren''t these clergymen supposed to be Ramuh''s favored? Weren''t they supposed to be under Ramuh''s protection? Weren''t they supposed to be the most privileged ss in Adhania?" Alexander posed the series of questions to the twins.
"You are the one who stole the tens of billions of ropals from us!"
"And you are the one who killed the hundreds of priests in Adhan, scoundrel!"
"To think that you will y the victim! Shameless!"
"That''s right. Shameless!"
Azira and Azura naturally red at Alexander posing as a sheep in wolf''s clothing.
Though they had not connected Alexander to today''s events, they were not foolish to the point that Alexander could hoodwink them about Adhan too.
Alexander only gave a shy smile at the true usations and then shamelessly admitted, "Hehe, all of Your Highness''s ims are right. I did take from the grand temple of Ramuh in Adhan and many priests did die under mymand."
"But," Alexander added after this frank admission, "Your Highness should not be asking why I did such a thing. They should be asking how."
"How could a mortal like me have the guts to rob the gods and not only get punished for it but instead be rewarded for it? I was a mere ve, a being not even worth as much as dust in Your Highnesses'' eyes just two months ago."
"And look at me now?" Alexander grandly spread out his arms as he said so, causing the twins to subconsciously look at the opulent surrounding that all belonged to Alexander.
''Could he be telling the truth? Is Lord Ramuh too weak to punish him?'' These dark thoughts started to taint the twin''s pristine belief.
Chapter 253 Talk With The Twins (Part-3)
Though Azira and Azura hid it well, they were concerned by the weak state their god supposedly was at.
Alexander''s ims were backed up by evidence and facts and in the less than two months that the twins knew Alexander, they had not forgotten how the boy younger than them had managed to make himself appear as a supremely skilled general, orator, and administrator.
The gods seemed to favor him as their favorite child, gifting him multiple divine gifts, any one of which would have made others green with envy.
In Azira and Azura''s eyes, it was the gods that gifted Alexander supreme tactical knowledge that enable him to triumph not once but twice over his father''s outnumbering forces.
They had given him a supremely skilled tongue that enabled a mere ve like him to go toe-to-toe and even beat the best politicians of Adhania in verbal contests and even beat them.
And his administrator skills did not even need mentioning.
Though the twins would never admit it, they doubted even their grandfather, whom they most looked up to, could have done what Alexander had done in Zanzan.
Stopping the gue, preventing a rebellion, and getting everyone jobs- any of these tasks would have been a monumental achievement.
And it would have taken anyone else months to aplish that.
But Alexander had done so in days.
And the twins believed that it was only due to Alexander''s blistering speed at which he solved these problems that he could stay in Zanzan as their lord.
Or else, he most likely would have had to tuck his tail between his legs and return to Adhan as the city would have be a ghost town.
With such boisterous des under the young boy''s belt and having met him personally and experienced his charm firsthand, the twins were having ambivalent feelings about the Pasha''s ims.
"Are you saying that Lord Ramuh hasprised with your goddess after he suffered some minor setbacks?" Azira asked spookily in a low voice, dressing up the events nicely.
"Yes," Alexander did not burst the bubble of politeness and instead quickly added, "Your Highnesses don''t have to preach about the goddess. You can continue to exclusively preach the words of Ramuh."
"What we only ask is that you do not actively object to the goddess''s presence," Alexander pleaded.
"....." The twins furrowed their brows in contemtion, while the adults around them, namely Mikaya and Seelima only silently watched, respecting the twins'' right to make their own choice.
"Your Highness, please remember that the two attacks on the temples are the only ones that we know of," This was said by Cambyses, who spoke up to support her husband, advising, "It would be the best for all the devotees of Ramuh if an additional god was there to protect them."
These honeyed words sent the twins into a second round of rumination, after a long while of which, Azira, understanding the reality of the situation in a whispering tone spoke up, "We will allow the goddess''s statue into our temple."
"But we will personally not acknowledge its existence," Azura quickly spoke up.
"Hahaha, that''s okay, that''s okay," Alexanderughed heartily at the conditions, saying, "As long as Your Highness does not actively stop others from acknowledging the goddess Gaia, all''s okay."
"Umm¡then we have a deal," Azira nodded curtly.
"Mmm, and don''t forget to tell the king about us. We won''t let you swindle us by sneakily re-instating us and then denying it when you get caught," Azura very cleverly said, feeling very pleased with herself for foiling one of Alexander''s potential pitfalls.
Though ording to all the real clever people in the room, they felt that Azura was concentrating on being clever at the wrong thing.
"Hahaha, the twin Highnesses'' intellects are sharper than the best swords. I would never dare employ such underhanded tactics," Alexander slyly chuckled, finding the twins'' naivety very endearing.
"Mmm, you better remember that," The twins were very happy that they had managed to at least eke out a tiny victory against Alexander.
As their aunt, Mikaya had only silently watched this show with a cid fa?ade, though internally she wanted to p her forehead repeatedly at the naivety of her twin nieces who were being yed like a fiddle by Alexander.
But ultimately, because of what Alexander had promised her, she kept her mouth shut and obediently eat her food.
Instead, she had restricted herself to only rolling her eyes, saying to herself, ''You idiots deserve to get swindled.''
But the twins did not have the time to notice the subtle change and instead were distracted by other things, mainly their rumbling bellies.
Both the sisters could not find the will to eat anything since the morning but now that this cloud of depression had been cast out over the happy news of them re-entering the church, hunger returned to collect its debt.
And so, out of happiness, they began to tearrge pieces of the bread and started quickly swallowing it down apanied by a varied assortment of meat, fish, and wine.
Alexander then continued to make various small talk during the rest of the meal and like that, eventually. the dinner reached its happy conclusion.
After the dished were cleared off the table, Alexander decided to head off to his study, skipping the card night the girls were going to shortly have after.
This was because he still had a lot of work to do, mostly the interrogation.
As Alexander made his way through the central hall, he was not alone though, nked by the police chief herself, Cambyses on his left, and the sacred priestess Ophenia on the right.
The former was there because Alexander was eager to know how big of a haul she managed to catch.
And thetter was there because Alexander wanted to form a new spy agency under her.
As the trio entered the study, they found it upied by a guest, not an unfamiliar figure by any stretch but certainly an unconventional one.
"So, how are you liking your new title, shordar (Baron) Camius?" Alexander asked the man he had instructed to wait here with a little smirk.
"Doc, that little y was not funny," Camius sent Alexander a wry smile while shaking his head at the mischievous y.
"Haha, but your face was funny" Alexander chuckled as he sat down opposite his spymaster, with the two girls beside him.
"With this others will guess that I''m your spymaster¡won''t that be a problem?" Camius felt that this oue was antithetical to the whole n.
"Let them. They already know that you spy for me, so there''s no point hiding that from them," Alexander simply brushed Camius''s worries off, and then gave the real reason for the y, "The point of that y was to deceive the enemy who are not yet aware of you. As long as you don''t exist publicly, most will not think too much. And that''s what really matters."
In this era where it was hard for information to propagate, naturally, any outside force will focus on Alexander and his council members.
Who would have the time to dig the list of all the people who had on the surface lost Alexander''s favor and then thoroughly investigate them on the off chance that one of them was secretly being heavily favored by him?
"Whatever you say doc," Camius shrugged his shoulder at Alexander''s reason while taking a sip of the wine.
Alexander then turned to Cambyses. "So, how did your catch go? Any problems?"
"No. It went well, no problem," Cambyses shook her head as she answered.
And then added in a slightly regretful voice, "We caught about eight hundred, though two hundred managed to escape. But we will catch them in two-three days."
"Those that ran were all only small fries." Camius quickly chipped in, informing, "All the big targets were caught. I checked,"
The reason why Camius knew this was because Alexander had sent him to identify all the gang leaders after their capture as the others did not know these people by their faces.
"So, where are all the prisoners being detained?" Alexander asked.
"We converted a small part of the barrack to a makeshift holding cell. Well, Bartholomew did," Cambyses gave the answer.
"And the interrogation?" Alexander was most interested in this.
"Like you asked, we have taken the leaders, stripped them, separated them, and put them out in the freezing outside, while regrly dousing them in cold water. They should be talking soon," Camius reiterated Alexander''s technique.
Compared to the conventional beating, breaking, and nail pulling, this method seemed tame to Camius, and so he was curious about its efficacy.
"Umm, good. I will go with you to personally question them. Hopefully, my technique will not be too much of a disaster," Alexander himself was not sure how much his method would work.
He had only copied this technique from a movie he had seen, the only difference being there was that the cold Zanzan night was substituted by a cold freezer, with the thought that a slow-burning suffering was more intolerable than physical beatings and torture.
And only today would he find the empirical proof of that.
Chapter 254 Camiuss Gift
Alexander in his free time had once read the biography of Hanns-Joachim Gottlob Scharff, who was a German interrogator during the Second World War.
He had been called the "Master Interrogator" of the Luftwaffe, and possibly of all Nazi Germany and he was also praised for his contribution in shaping U.S. interrogation techniques after the war.
And the primary way he made even tough captured GIs andmandos speak things beyond their name and serial number, was by portraying himself as their closest ally in this predicament, telling them that while he would like nothing more than to see them safely deposited in a POW camp; his hands were tied unless the prisoner gave him some more details that he requested to help him properly identify the prisoner as a true POW, or he would be forced to send them to a vebor camps or worse, the gas chambers.
And usually, these details would be confidential information like the name of the soldier''smander, his unit''s strength, their gear, their logistic capabilities, etc.
The list would be endless.
And even after all the information had been extracted, Scharff would continue to act as a good friend, including sharing jokes, homemade food items, and asionally alcoholic beverages, to help these men spread his good word, in preparation for the next batch of POWs.
Hanns''s method also influenced many modern interrogation theorists, who reasoned that physical pain, in addition to being barbaric and uncivilized, also tended tost only while the beatings were being done and would ebb away a while after the beating stopped, while a slow, constant pain would eventually build up, gnaw at one''s resistance, and after hours of enduring it, suddenly the dams of resistance would break and all kinds of confessions woulde in one giant burst
And while Alexander never really experienced the sensation of getting his bones broken and then being stepped on it, he did once read an article about captured French partisans by Nazis who imed that even when they beat these prisoners severely, it was very difficult to get anything useful, which prompted him to believe more on Hanns''s philosophy.
And his conviction was further bolstered by the fact that the US army used these techniques and he certainly wanted to emte the greatest military of his time and even of all time.
Thus he had always nned to write a spy manual book for Camius, using stuff he had read, heard, and seen,
And one of the sections in that book was bound to be about effective interrogation, that is, getting the desired information swiftly and urately.
And today, Alexander was nning to use the gang leaders to put his movie and theoretical knowledge to the test.
And if even the best military in his previous world, the US army, had moved themselves from most physical tortures, switching to rtively mind techniques such as waterboarding, which left no explicit scars, then Alexander was pretty confident in his chances that his ''non-violent'' technique would be useful.
But for now, Alexander decided to let actions speak louder than words.
"Okay, Camius. I think that''s it now." Alexander seemed to have finished the topic about the prisoners for now.
But instead of dismissing him, Alexander told him to stay and then went over to his table to bring out a small parchment from his locked drawer.
"Here, read this," Alexander then handed them over to Camius, who quickly started to scan them.
The parchment contained ten points and seemed to be a new kind of wine recipe.
It read
1. Pick only well-ripened early grapes and discard any that are mildewed or damaged.
2. Drive forked branches or stakes made of rods tied into bundles into the ground at a distance of about 4 feet apart.
3. Lay reeds across them and spread the grapes out in the sun on top.
4. Cover them at night so that the dew will not moisten them.
5. When they are dried, pick the grapes off the stems and put them in a jar or pitcher.
6. Add some unfermented wine until the grapes are just covered.
7. After six days, when the grapes have absorbed it all and are swollen, put them in a basket, then put them through the press, and collect the resulting liquid.
8. Next, press the mass, adding fresh unfermented wine made with other grapes which have been left in the sun for three days.
9. Stir it well, and put it through the press again.
10. Bottle the liquid of the second press in stoppered jars so it will not turn sour.
11. After 20 or 30 days when the fermentation is over, decant it into fresh vessels.
12. Coat the lids with ster and cover them with leather to avoid spoge.
This was a homebrew recipe for making wine that his grandmother would asionally use, preferring it because this wine did not have hops in them which thedy did not find the taste favorable.
As a wine connoisseur, she had always advocated for the purity of wine, preferring to use only the main ingredients.
"Doc! This! This! This!" Camius eximed with trembling hands at this information before him, stammering and shaking in sheer joy.
Wine recipes were zealously guarded by their owners, to the point that many times there would only ever be one copy of it, under the exclusive privy of the writer, and would be only passed on from sessor to sessor, with even the other children of the owner unaware of the recipe.
And in some extreme cases, it would not be even written down, but be passed down orally.
And so for Alexander to just hand over such a gold mine made Camius shiver in both joy and fear.
Joy at getting possession of such a lucrative recipe.
Fear at the massive trust that Alexander was cing on him and thus the pressure to live up to that.
"Hahaha, don''t take it too seriously. Think of it as a gift for bing shordar (baron)," Alexander chuckled in an easy, downying the value of his present.
What he said about it being a gift for bing a lord made no sense as Alexander made him a noble in the first ce for being his friend.
The title was the gift.
And thus Alexander''s im made it sound like he was gifting Camius a gift for getting a gift from him.
And this irony did not escape Camius who gave a wry smile, "Doc, you never give anything for free? So what''s the catch?"
Knowing Alexander, he dreaded what he would demand of him as he understand that with such a huge prize, naturally the challenge must match or even exceed it.
''Dammit, if I had known he hadid such a trap for me, I wouldn''t have ever read the darn thing in the first ce,'' Camius even started to regret that he had learned to read, something that Alexander taught with much effort.
"Haha, you would not be my spymaster if you couldn''t have figured out at least that much," Alexander chuckled a small, sly smile.
Then his voice quickly returned to a light breezy tone, "But don''t worry, it''s not a trap. It''s a tool."
"A tool?" Camius failed to make the connection with the word wine, the word tool.
"Yes, a tool for you to use," Alexander repeated the saying with a nod.
And then delineated, "You will be given a select street of the city to patrol. And that will be a very special street because on that street will be one shop that will sell a special kind of wine. All its staff will be your men and the building above the shop will be your spy headquarters."
Pausing a bit, he continued, "The official story will be that you are a corrupt official that took advantage of a winemaker''s weakness and made him share his secrets with you. And in this way, you wille to own a share of the shop. And ording to that story, the building above the shop will be your and that shopkeeper''s residence."
Alexander thus gave Camius a very solid alibi as such an arrangement was the norm in the city, a shopkeeper''s shop would usually double as his dwelling.
This was because of several reasons like:
1. Halving the rent he would have otherwise had to pay if he owned two pieces of property.
2. Free security at night as the owner himself could guard the ce instead of relying on the city guards who were usually the biggest thieves out there.
3. Lessmuting time to work, ability to give a nice ce for frequent customers and suppliers to rest and give refreshments.
4. And the existence of freebor like his wife and children to help out in the shop if the need arose.
Camius was jubnt at the powers and conveniences he was being provided.
But instead of saying the same hackneyed titudes of gratitude that Alexander had heard a million times before, he decided to make some teasing remarks, referring to his back story of a corrupt official.
Chapter 255 Camiuss Task
"Doc, today you pronounced me ipetent, and now I''m corrupt too!" Camius had a yful, wry smile, finding his cover both funny and a bit demeaning.
"Heh, what''s the matter? Afraid no girl will ever want to marry you!" Cambyses could not help but join in, sending a mirthful taunt at Camius.
Alexander too said his part, "Haha, yes, yes. As a lord, you must get a few little devils as soon as possible. I look eagerly forward to it."
Alexander''s yful teasing did not deter Camius, as not to be outdone, Camius also countered, "Well said, doc. I was thinking about Mean. What do you say?"
Camius said this knowing the duo''s rtionship; thus, this was an attempt to poke at Alexander and Cambyses.
"Hahaha," This was Cambyses, who found the mere mention of it belly-hurtlingly funny, and began tough so hard at his ridiculous proposal that she almost fell off the couch.
"Hehe, I would love to. But I don''t want to arrest Mean for murder," Alexander too knew this was simply Camius''s harmless banter and so answered with a light-hearted joke of his own.
Mean hated Camius''s guts and Alexander dreaded how that short spicy pepper would react if he seriously said this.
"Haha, Mean will likely kill you after she''s killed Camius," Finally getting her breath back, Cambyses said this to Alexander.
"Or master and Lord Camius can share Mean. Like in a devil''s triangle," Ophenia also gave in to the temptation of joining the fun and made a lewd innuendo.
And this got another round of boisterousughter from Cambyses while the two men grimaced at the mere mention of it.
It took a while for the crowd to settle down after which Alexander urged, "Anyway, let''s get to the topic."
"The reason why I''m giving you this wine recipe is because it will have multiple benefits for you,"
Raising his index finger, he began, "First, and in my opinion, the most important benefit is that this business will let you get into contact with a type of group we have little ability to spy on right now- the merchants."
"Sure, we can glimpse at other nobles using Pasha Farzah''swork of maids, butlers, and stable boys," Alexander admitted, "But this only gives us the look at nobles, not on their territory and more importantly it''s people."
"And that''s what I want, a moreplete picture of the entire situation. And for that, we need to link our spywork with the kingdom''s tradework." Alexander imed.
''There he goes again. It''s not even the first point and he''s wanting ridiculous things,'' Camiusmpooned at Alexander''s tall demand, knowing his ambitious master was just getting started.
Alexander''s orders for Camius to tap into the kingdom''s trade hub as a means to spy on others was one of his greatest motives for making Camius a businessman and he emphasized this greatly.
Because Alexander knew that merchants were the best way to gather information at any period of history.
These people, with their horses and carts and trade caravans, could cover vast distances swiftly, inconspicuously, and easily without much barriers to entry to towns and cities, drawing more attention to the goods they sell rather than to actual themselves.
And in this way, through the process of making this journey, they could build strong and natural interpersonal rtionships with a vast number of people from all walks of life, getting others to easily spill secrets that would be monumentally hard to urately get using force,
A merchant by the nature of his job would have to deal with a myriad of people along his journey, from the lower strata from whom he would usually buy his product, to the a bit more affluent members like artisans and guards, to even the nobles themselves if his product was desirable enough, thus letting him touch every social ss in the society.
And every people that a merchant interacted with, was a potential source of information.
Alexander thus finished by ordering Camius, "The vast untapped mine of information that the merchants possess, we must get that capability. We must tap into that vastwork. And so you are to use this wine as a springboard to help Zanzan achieve that."
"You are the boss doc," Camius replied in a cid, nonchnt voice. having by now grown numb to Alexander''s exorbitant demands.
In this time and age, bing a merchant was easier than it sounded.
Because there were no real maps, and roads were few and far between, mostly between veryrge cities, one would basically have to find a trade route by himself.
This trade route would have to contain people that want one''s product, is rtively easy to ess with one''s horse and cart, preferably has nopetition, has adequate lodging and replenishment facilities, and ideally also sells a unique product one can buy to sell somewhere further along the way.
And they would have to do this all using the shortest route possible, as the length of the route, would drastically affect the price of the product.
Thus ticking all these criteria was never an easy task and so those handfuls that were lucky enough to figure one such out would naturally zealously guard them,
''Where am I gonna find a trusty, loyal merchant willing to share his trade route with me,'' Camius felt a headacheing.
Listening to Alexander''s demands, it was clear he did not want him to just set up shop and sell wine there but export it through a train of ships and caravans.
But that was a problem for Camius to solve, not Alexander.
"If he is going to be a businessman, is there a need for him to be a policeman? Will he even have the time?" Cambyses asked slightly worried.
"The entire business will be done by Camius''s men, and led, on the surface, by the shopkeeper he chooses. That man will be the public face of thepany while Camius will always be in the shadows." Alexander announced.
Further saying, "Remember, Camius is a lord now. So, he will only need to be the patron of the business and nobody will ask questions."
"Hmm, yes. That does make sense," Cambyses was convinced as this was the norm.
Nobles typically saw themselves beneath their status to engage in trade, especially peddling wares, by themselves, and usually sponsored various merchants to do it for them.
And merchants were happy to give a portion of their earnings to such people because being able to call oneself under patronage, and thus protection of a noble was like wearing a bulletproof social vest.
Their entry into any friendly and neutral city would be minimal or even free, city guards would give them a wide berth, and bandits seeing a caravan with the house emblem of a noble house would think thrice before attacking it, as opposed to a lone, statusless merchant.
"The wine shop will not just help you gather more information." Alexander began again, and raising his long finger, he listed, "Secondly, it will also help you legitimize your recruiting process. You could take people in the name of hiring workers for making wine but train them as covert operatives."You could also make them start as workers and if they are loyal and skilled enough, invite them to be spies, and no one will be none the wiser."
His ring finger rose at this point, "Thirdly, your wine business will make many ces previously not essible open. Entering and leaving cities, and even other countries will be made much easier if you have an iconic product to sell. Not to mention that if you have a branch shop in another city, spies and coborators might be able to seek refuge at these ces."
Pausing to see if Camius was still paying attention, Alexander then said, pointing the pinky up, "Fourth, the money from the business can help fund the organization. The profits will be split forty percent to me, twenty percent to you, and forty percent for the men to cover all their expenses."
"Twenty percent for me is too much. And you not taking fifty percent is too little," Camius wanted to change the terms to make it more profitable for Alexander.
But Alexander simply said, "Forty percent is enough for me, And if you want less money, then you can use the remaining money to expand your spywork even further."
Camius only lightly smiled.
Alexander then finished by raising his thumb and saying hisst point, "Also, once you have made enough contributions, I can use the excuse of you introducing me to such a good wine to promote you, to Talukder (Viscount). So work hard!"
This bait worked wonders as Camius gave a wide grin and nodded, pleased at the promise of his promotion.
"I will try my best," Camius promised.
Though the amount of work Alexander had sneakily dumped on him was not lost on the man.
Hence the clever mercenary internallympooned, ''It''s my first job and he''s already set up grand goals for me to achieve. What luck to work under him,''
.
Chapter 256 Alexanders Wary About Camius
The scale of Alexander''s demands for Camius was not lost on the man.
Camius, though might one him to be rowdy and boisterous externally, was always a calm man on the inside, and when he thought back on the challenges he would have to ovee to get that promotion and be a talukdar (viscount), his zeal for work substantially withered.
This was only his first real task as the chief of the NIA (National Intelligence Agency) and it was already such a tall order.
So, who knew what tall mountains he would be called to climb in the future for Alexander?
But then Camius remembered who his boss was.
This was ssic Alexander, always handing out rich rewards, but also demanding the utmost excellence in return.
"Remember to choose a suitable street to set your shop at, and employ a trustworthy merchant." Alexander gave somest-minute advice and feeling he had basically said all he needed to say, he decided to excuse the man for the time being.
"Well, then, I will not keep you here any longer," Alexander said, adding, "And I will join you for the interrogations a few hourster."
"Okay. I will let Cambyses know the street I chose for my shop, so I get my patrol in that street," Camius made a suggestion by himself which Alexander nodding approved.
"Well then take care, my lord," Camius afterward performed a noble''s bow, and promptly showed himself out.
As the memory of Camius leaving the room still lingered in the minds of the remaining people, Alexander suddenly asked his two women, "So, what do you think of the conversation just now?"
"..." Both of them were confused by the question.
What did they think?
They thought it was all pretty normal.
Seeing their confusion, Alexander decided to elucidate, "What I mean is that with the powers I gave Camius just now, he will have total control of what my eyes see and what my ears hear. What do you think about that?" He asked with a light smile.
"Alex, if you are thinking that Camius will betray you, you should throw that filthy thought right out." Cambyses almost shouted this out with a very exasperated tone, finding even the mere mention of the possibility distasteful.
"Of course, I''m sure Camius is willing to die for me a thousand times," Alexander in a breezy tone soothed Cambyses.
But then ominously added, "...For now."
"Is master worried about the future?" Ophenia asked with a light frown.
"Yes," Alexander nodded, asking "Who can say if he will feel the same a decade from now or two decades from now?"
"Tha¡" Cambyses seemed to want to say something but was interceded by Alexander.
"Time has a nasty side effect of warping people to unimaginable shapes." He said, adding, "When Camius will remain in power for decades, having the eager ear of the most powerful man in the kingdom, and all such sensitive information at his fingertips, who can say the embers of ambition will not smolder?"
And he then very heroically said, "And I must stop that from ever happening."
Alexander had handed the NIA all the power to spy on the civilians, military, and nobilities mostly because he was shorthanded.
But after rethinking for a day, Alexander felt that handing Camius so much unteral power was not right.
He had given the man the means, the right, and the opportunity to grow his spy empire as he wished, and though he had given it only because he very much trusted Camius and was very confident that the man would not back-stab him, who would see the future?
"Alex, just as you said, the possibility of it happening is decades in the future. So, why are you talking about it now? Why are you talking about taking actions against something you literally just created." Cambyses had begun to find Alexander''s over-cautiousness, bordering on paranoia irritating.
Alexander certainly did not miss the annoyance in Cambyses''s voice.
But he who learned from history knew better.
Particrly there was the example of the Ottoman Pargal? Ibrahim Pasha, who was the first Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire appointed by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
He was born a Christian who was enved during his youth and not much unlike Alexander and Camius''s story, he and Suleiman became close friends in their youths.
Thus after Suleiman''s ascension to power, he was appointed by the king as the Grand Vizier and remained in office for the next 13 years.
Ibrahim particrly showed off his skills on the diplomatic front, his work with the Western Christendom being aplete sess, evidenced by such as convincing Charles V to turn Hungary into an Ottoman vassal state and making a deal with Francis I that gave France favorable trade rights within the Ottoman Empire in exchange for joint action against the Habsburgs.
Ibrahim did this by using a variety of tactics to negotiate favorable deals with the leaders of the Catholic powers, the most effective tactic being by portraying himself as "the real power behind the Ottoman Empire".
And as his power and wealth grew, attaining a level of authority and influence rivaled by only a handful of other grand viziers of the Empire, so did his arrogance.
And he behaved as if he were in charge, not the Sultan.
This was most evident by the fact that the Vian diplomats even referred to him as "Ibrahim the Magnificent", a y on Suleiman''s usual sobriquet.
And when this reached Sulieman''s ears, this deeply troubled the Sultan.
And after trying a few times to curb the man''s arrogance to no avail, one day, after finishing dinner with the Sultan, when Ibrahim Pasha was about to go to bed, he was suddenly seized in his bedroom on Suleiman''s orders and promptly executed, with all his property (much of which was gifted to him by the Sultan) confiscated by the state.
Thus ended the life of this ambitious man and a friendship that should havested for a lifetime.
It took Ibrahim only thirteen years to turn from a loyal friend to threatening his lord''s position.
So how could Alexander be sure that Camius would not turn the same?
? If thirteen was not enough, what about twenty-six, or even thirty-nine?
Camius after plenty of time on his hand after all.
He was just twenty-one, and justifiably, Alexander dreaded to think the kind of power his spymaster would be able to attain at the age of sixty.
With so much at one''s fingertips, it would take only a tiny spark, an insignificant egging from any malicious forces, or even a causal suggestion to doom Camius and Alexander along an irrevocable path.
And Alexander wanted to stop that before such a possibility could even take birth.
But Alexander did not give such detailed exnations to the girls.
Instead, he only said, "True I made Camius the head right now. But I also want cover for ''what if'' scenarios."
"You can say what ifs all day long. What if this happened? What if that happened?" Cambyses was very vocal about her displeasure, saying atst, "What if the sky fell tomorrow?"
She certainly did not like this ever-suspicious part of Alexander''s nature.
Alexander only gave a helpless smile as he believed being the man of the house he certainly had to take the worst-case scenario into ount.
He did not have the luxury of being as wishy-washy as his wife.
But he chose not to pour more fuel into this topic by debating with Cambyses.
Instead, he switched topics, "Cam, in addition to leading the police, I want you to form a spy branch attached to it. It will be called the detective branch and it will investigate crimes and potential criminals."
Alexander''s use of the word potential criminals left a wide degree of interpretation as all innocent men could be potential criminals
Yes, this was Alexander basically asking Cambyses to form a secret police with the authority to arrest anyone, something that he had also told Camius to do.
And thus, by creating duplicating agencies, Alexander hoped that he would not be only reliant on Camius for his intelligence.
"Potential criminals? You mean spies?" You want me to do the same job as Camius?" Cambyses was certainly no fool.
"Yes, but not exactly." Alexander lightly smiled, exining, "Camius will mainly spy on foreignnds, while you will only focus on our people."
This made sense to Cambyses and she nodded in agreement.
But what Alexander did not tell her was how blurred such definitions could be.
A simple example would be a traitor leaking information to a third party.
If that person was a citizen of Alexander, then as a citizen living under Alexander''s rule, he would fall under Cambyses''s jurisdiction.
But it could also be argued that as the information was being leaked to a foreign power, naturally it should go to Camius.
Thus a rivalry will develop between the NIA and the detective branch, where these people willpete with each other over resources such as money, political clout, glory, and peerage.
And when there''s such an enemy, naturally all the energy will go towards fighting the other, with no time to n any rebellions.
Chapter 257 Alexanders Worldview (Part-1)
Alexander''s reason for creating duplicating spy agencies could be described using a single sentence, ''Some spies are needed to spy on the spies.''
In this way, Alexander hoped that in the event of a rebellion, it would be very likely that ns of such treacherous actions will be leaked by spies within that spy agency, each ratting out the other for glory and honor.
This was the same case in his previous world, where all countries had multiple duplicative spy services that did very simr things and who were actively encouraged topete for funding and favor.
For example, the USA had so many letter intelligence services, CIA, NSA, FBI, DIA, the list could go on, who did a lot of the same thing and thus could be much more efficient if everyone worked under one giant organization.
But then that organization might get too much power.
And thus this was broken up and each of the intelligence services zealously protected their intelligence so others could not steal credit for themselves.
And when the intelligence service was not broken, like in the Soviet Union''s KGB, they could oust leaders and even stage coups, like they tried to do by arresting Gorbachev and attempting to grab power in ast-ditch attempt to hold the Soviet Union together.
Alexander kept these lessons of history to himself and did not delineate such harsh realities to the young eighteen-year-old girl for now.
She would have her whole life ahead of her to learn it after all.
Alexander thus then turned to Ophenia, "Tayin, I also want you to tell the girls under you to keep their ears open for information. Men are especially loose mouth in bed."
Using prostitutes for spying was the oldest trick in the book and as a time-tested method, Alexander would certainly make use of it.
"Of course, master," Ophenia had no problem with this, adding with a little giggle, "Even master is no different."
She was of course referring to what Alexander told her about Cambyses in that council room.
This drew a rueful smile from Alexander who was finding Ophenia getting bolder and bolder by the day, finally breaking out of her polite, refined, fake facade.
Alexander was certainly very happy to see this, though he would have preferred it if Ophenia had chosen to do it a different way.
"Oh? What did he say? Tell me Tayin!" Cambyses''s eyes were sparkling at the potential dirt.
Alexander was usually very tight-lipped so the girl was certainly interested to know what he had let slip.
"Hehehe," Ophenia only giggled, showing all her pearly whites as she withheld the potential bickering topic.
And seeing the situation about to worsen, Alexander quickly decided to divert the topic, choosing to use a piece of very juicy news.
News about Mikaya.
"I could not find the time to tell you yesterday, Tayin, but I promised Mikaya she could work for you," Alexander said.
"Work for me?" Ophenia naturally did not understand this without context, causing a slight frown to appear on her forehead.
"Yes, work," Alexander repeated with a small nod and then filled in the two women on the conversation he had had with Mikaya yesterday.
"....And that''s what I meant by that," Alexander finished to the absolutely stunned looks of the two girls.
"Y..you...can''t be serious." Cambyses could not even imagine that a noblewoman or for that fact, any woman would be willing to do the things Alexander promised her.
She was even looking forward to it!
''Crazy bitch,'' Cambyses gave the silver-haired beauty this nickname.
If she did not know Alexander better, Cambyses would have thought that Alexander was pulling her leg.
On the other hand, Ophenia, who had seen much more of such stuff, was much calmer, "If master wishes, I can arrange that." She promised, adding, "In the temple, I have seen simr things happen."
"Some free women would hide their identity toe to the temple and either because of being frustrated, not loving their husbands, or just wanting to experience the thrill of it. They would drown themselves in the bodily pleasures the temple offered, and there are many tales of women who would even permanently join the temple afterwards."
Ophenia then finished by saying. "They would even pay the temple money for the chance, sleeping with not just priests, but regr devotees too. In fact, this was an open secret."
Alexander raised an eyebrow at this and wondered, "Oh? Then how did they hide their identity? What kind of disguise did they use?"
Because Mikaya would certainly require one and this was Alexander''s biggest worry regarding her- hiding Mikaya''s identity from the public.
Alexander then listed what his preferred disguise should be able to do.
"Mikaya''s hair needs to be dyed. And preferably it needs to be able to be washed very quickly, within a few hours, max. Any ideas? Alexander asked Ophenia.
This was because he didn''t want the twin princesses or worse the Queen mother questioning why she colored her hair ck.
"Mmm, no problem master. This request was also made by many of the women in the temple and I know of a dye that does not wash with water but instantly does with alcohol." Ophenia promised.
"Really! That''s fantastic!" Alexander was very pleased by this convenient solution.
Hearing the duo so casually discuss Mikaya and being dead serious about allowing her to perform the things Mikaya wanted to, Cambyses felt her eyes being opened and she felt nothing but disdain and disgust for Pasha Farzah''s youngest daughter.
"Heh, where does that whore get off chiding you when she''s like that?" Cambyses loudly cursed Mikaya.
She still had not let Mikaya off for mocking her husband at the dinner table tonight, and after knowing how base Mikaya was, naturally she considered her to be very low and degrading.
"Did what Mikaya''s said bother you that much?" Alexander asked with a cid smile.
"Well..yeah," Cambyses said in an obvious tone, and then, thinking that she had noticed a pattern, she asked, "Alex, I noticed it even before. You never defend yourself, why?"
Cambyses certainly did not enjoy seeing her husband getting bullied and wondered why Alexander did not put Mikaya in her ce.
"Hahaha," Alexander gave a very frankugh at the question, and lightly asked, "Defend from what? From who?"
"Do I re up when they call me a bumpkin, or ve, or peasant?
"Do I hiss and puff when they snigger and backbite behind my back?"
"Do I throw a tantrum when they deride and mock me?"
Alexander then turned to Cambyses and asked simply, "Why?"
"....." Cambyses and Ophenia were silent.
Alexander then advised, "Listen Cam, and I want you to remember what I say very well. ''The world will never let us forget who and what we are. So wear it like armor and no one will be able to hurt you''."
Alexander took this quote from a famous TV show.
This deep statement sent the two girls into a poignant thought as they remunerated what Alexander had just told them.
And the more they thought about it the more they understood that no matter what they did, they would always be seen as outsiders by the Adhanian nobility.
People of low birth, barbarians, and Thesians-the enemy, thesebels would always be stered to them and it seemed ording to Alexander, the strategy was not to bother.
To treat the insults like water washing of the skin, harmless and irrelevant.
The reason why this not did bother Alexander was because as a modern man, someone from the 21st century, he, a bit arrogantly, saw all the people here as less civilized and less knowledgeable than him.
There were smart people, much smarter people than Alexander even, but he didn''t think anyone was as knowledgeable as him.
Thus whenever anyone mocked him about status and bloodline, he only thought, ''What do you know about my status? I lived in a technological world you people could not even imagine, ate food you could not even fathom, and had ess to luxuries you people are unable to even grasp the mere concept of.
''So, how dare you people living in mud huts, eating barely hand to mouth and still shitting under the sun think you pass judgment on me?''
Alexander would taunt and mock them in return.
To him, whatever these people said went in one ear and out the next, as other than handful ones, most were non-existent in Alexander''s eyes.
A good analogy for Alexander would be like if a person hit someone for no reason.
Naturally, that person would be very angry and most likely remember the incident for the rest of his life.
But if a mosquito bites him, he would struggle to remember the incident a minuteter.
Why?
Because that mosquito and its bite both were insignificant.
And this was the same way Alexander saw the people here.
He simply did not care that the people were saying such things, because, ording to him, the very things they were using him of, he also considered to be that- Base, ignorant, and barbaric.
Chapter 258 Alexanders Worldview (Part-2)
It was not only Alexander''s thoughts that were very different from everyone else''s but there was also the fact his worldview about the status of nobility and bloodline was also vastly ipatible.
While the people of this time saw the status of being a noble as a god-given honor and believed in the superiority of bloodlines, Alexander was half a technocrat, believing that the more knowledgeable a person was, the more respect and recognition he deserved.
He put science and reason on a pedestal, not dogma and ignorance.
Thus Alexander simply saw his noble title as a tool to control the popce and thus improve his life and those close to him.
So naturally, he would not fight over such a trivial thing as a nobleman''s honor.
And the only time Alexander would try to defend himself from being mocked would be if he was attacked publicly, as his prestige among the people was paramount.
"So, should we just let them hit us? Wearing only armor makes one into a punching bag, Where''s our spear?'' Cambyses was reluctant to just take the beating.
And though Ophenia did not say anything, she too seemed to share Cambyses''s mindset.
"Haha, of course not," Alexander chuckled, and then said, "What you should do depends on the context."
Raising his index finger, he detailed, "If you are in a private setting, with just the two of you, call them names as they called you. I''m sure you know some choice ones that those stuck-up nobles have no idea of," Alexander smirked, knowing that these refined nobles might not even understand some of the curses the lower-ss people use.
Afterward came up his long finger, "If it''s in a type of social gathering like a party or banquet, or one like the dinners we have, simply ignore that person. Let them say their piece."
Andstly came his ring finger, "But if it''s in front of your subordinates, if it''s in the public or in a ce where people other than the nobility is watching, simply say, ''We will talk when you have learned to talk like a noble'' and then simply terminate the exchange and walk out."
And Alexander then gave his reason for this kind of action, "The reason why you must do thest option is because you must never appear weak or insulted in front of people who follow or idolize you."
"Why, you ask?" Alexander himself asked the rhetorical question, and answered, "Because such a thing will eat at your powerbase."
''Powerbase?'' The girls wondered, where the word powerbase came from
And so Alexander rified, "Remember Cam, you or I or anyone else at the top for that matter, they are only able to givemands and instructions, but they can''t do much else."
He listed, "Leaders don''t wield swords, shields or spears. They don''t collect taxes, they don''t build roads, they don''t police the popce and they don''t even farm their own food. These are all done by men and women who the leadersmand."
Alexander then posed a series of philosophical questions, "But then why do men and women, fear, respect and obey yourmand? Isn''t anything you say just different vibrations of airing out of your mouth? Everyone can blow air out of their mouth, so why should the men and women under you follow your voice and not any others? Why are you so special?"
"..." Neither Ophenia nor Cambyses had ever thought about it like that and these questions made them ask themselves, why they, possessing the same two eyes, hands, and legs, were any different from the ves that ved away in the fields under their orders.
Cambyses and Ophenia thought about the answer for a while but could not really figure out what made them special.
And so Alexander gave them the answer they were searching for, "People obey you because the people believe you are special. They obey because they believe you have the power to make them do it. They believe you are right and they must obey!"
He then pointed his thick fingers at Cambyses, "And the key point is -''Believe''. They believe that the nobles are special."
Alexander atst finished by saying, "But that belief will be shaken if they see their noble lord being bullied and humiliated by another. And if they lose respect, if they think their boss is not any different from them, if they will lose the reverence, they might begin to see the nobles as receable."
"And then rebellion would soon follow!" Alexander gravely warned, causing the girls to shudder.
They also began to appreciate Alexander''s ability to deeply prate a core issue, past the flimsy outeryer of a circumstance, in this case, a noble''s seemingly vain way of life which had much greater social implications than one would imagine, and began to understand that this was one of the reasons why Alexander was able to break free of his shackles.
It was not just because he knew many things, but because he saw himself as not too different from his masters.
Whereas other ves saw their masters as the end all be all, Alexander knew these so-called masters were just flesh and bones like him, and thus had a mindset to free himself.
Alexander believed the chains were only on him for the time being and so he worked to unshackle himself and vo, he was made free.
And this mindset was at y even now, as evidenced by his rtionship with Ptolomy, whom he only saw as a transitionary master until he eventually usurped him.
Whereas the girls, who were also once subservient to others, always did whatever their superior told them to, without any questions or thoughts.
Even now, Ophenia and Cambyses, although would asionally argue with Alexander, they would never dare to disobey one of his directmands, even if they did not agree with it.
Thus, today''s lesson was a priceless lesson for the girls.
"*Sigh*, to think such simple things were soplicated," Cambyses felt a slight headache at the intricacies of the nobility.
"As expected of master, to see such deep thought in such seemingly shallow actions. Tayin''s eyes have been opened," Ophenia was very impressed by Alexander''s detailed analysis.
Alexander had managed to see things Ophenia, even as a noble was unable to see.
And knowing his background, naturally reinforced the girl''s belief in Alexander''s imed divinity.
Alexander then continued for a while longer. teaching the girls a few more nuggets of life lessons and then suddenly pivoted to a topic that was swimming in his mind for quite some time.
"Ohh, Cam! So when do you wanna get married?" Alexander casually asked.
"Married?" Cambyses was confused because she had assumed that they were already married.
She did mate with him after all.
"Yeah! The ceremony," Alexander rified, saying, "I know that we consummated but I was still hoping for an official ceremony."
"It would not only cement our rtionship in a formal way but also let others know about us. The poption would know you as my main wife, the nobles would know that your children will be my sessors and it would be a special day for us." Alexander very eagerly said.
ording to the culture of Thesos, there were basically three types of marriage.
The first type was the known to all type, where a woman''s father would choose a suitable partner, pay her dowry to the man, and without any kind of opinion from the girl, would be shipped off to live with her inws.
All high-level marriages were of this sort.
The second type was the most unique one and would ur if a man fell in love with a woman and wanted to ask her hand in marriage.
The man would go to the woman''s father, ask for his daughter''s hand in marriage and if the father found the boy to his liking would name a price for his daughter.
The two would haggle and once the price had been set, the daughter would be ''married'' off to the man.
The reason why this time the man paid the dowry was to prove to the father that he was financially capable of supporting his daughter and this money would be that woman''s exclusive right, unable to be touched by anyone- not her husband, nor her father or even her sons.
This was specifically a big deal in Thesos, because, without this exception, women were not allowed to own any other type of property.
And thus finding love marriages in Thesos was as rare as finding true love.
And thest type was called a marriage of convenience.
In this type of marriage, a couple would start living together in the same house and if they had continuously stayed together for more than a year, then they were dered as husbands and wives.
Almost all lower-ss marriages were such because, well, they were cheap.
After all, poor peasants were already struggling to make ends meet and so expensive marriages were not exactly on their wish list.
Chapter 259 Interrogation Camp
The third type of marriage was particrly preferred by the lower sses because if the couples were not married there would be no exchange of wealth even as gifts and in case the marriage fell out for some reason, there would be no hassle regarding the redistribution of the given money from either side.
And going by the descriptions of the three marriages, Cambyses and Alexander would have to be put in the third type of marriage.
But Alexander had one big objectionable point with this type of marriage.
And that was the use of the word ''continuous,'' in the use.
A couple had to continuously stay together for more than a year to be considered married.
And this ''loophole'' was not unknown to the people of Thesos.
On the contrary, its use was so prevalent that it was in fact actual couples that were extremely rare among the lower strata of Thesos.
How they exploited this legal loophole was by making the girl stay at her parents'' house three days every year, to avoid getting formally married.
This might seem antithetical to the whole endeavor, but such was done because it favored the woman''s father.
This was because before a daughter was married, all her wealth belonged to her father, while after marriage it belonged to her husband.
And thus, by not marrying off his daughter, a father could hold onto all his daughter''s wealth.
Hearing Alexander wanted to hold a party for her, Cambyses was naturally overjoyed and did not stand in ceremony.
So she very eagerly asked, "Ohhh! When do you have in mind? Soon?"
"Mmmm, how about the new year''s day," Alexander felt the first of January was an auspicious date.
"Sure, no problem," Cambyses beamed a huge grin, looking very forward to her special day.
"Congrattions, mistress, master," Ophenia quickly wished the couple her best wishes, though saying she too did not wish for such an event would be a lie.
And her wishes were instantly answered as Cambyses strongly hugged her and turned to Alexander, "But Alex, what about Tayin? And Mean?"
Cambyses did not want to leave these two out.
"Haha, of course, I will marry Tayin as well. She is my sacred priestess and must be married to me," Alexander promised, causing Ophenia''s eyes to shine like the stars.
Which girl never dreamed of being dressed in a beautiful bridal gown?
"ve is unworthy," She humbly bowed, causing Alexander to chuckle and say,
"Haha, do need to be such. You and I are bound by fate and I will marry you in spring."
Then he added, "The reason why I do not n to marry you all on the same day is because I want each of your marriage days to be special."
"Master''s grace is truly gracious," Though Ophenia had kept managed to keep a straight face, inside her heart had squealed in joy at Alexander''s consideration.
As a girl, she naturally had a selfish desire to monopolize her man.
But since realities would never allow her to do that, she at least wanted to do it at least once a year.
"I will marry Mean alsoter," Alexander then reassured Cambyses, though the matter of Gelene was left tactfully unsaid.
He then raised another issue, this time rted to health.
"I noticed we have been eating very rich foodtely. So, have you girls been exercising properly?" Alexander asked.
"That...." The awkward pause gave the answer.
So Alexander instructed, "You must regrly exercise. It not only keeps your body beautiful but fit and healthy as well."
Having suffered from rickets in her childhood, Cambyses did not need more encouragement and so obediently replied, "We will make time from tomorrow."
"Mmm, good," Alexander then discussed few minor details with the two girls and after noticing the time, felt that he should meet up with Camius by now.
And thus he excused himself.
Alexander made his way to the barracks holding cells and soon found what he was looking for.
Because just outside the barracks, there were close to twenty stumps dug into the ground, all containing a man tied to them.
These men were bound and upright, standing up with both hands and feet securely fastened to the wooden stakes and shivering.
This was because they were totally bare and soaking wet, courtesy of a few uniformed men who would asionally and very liberally throw buckets of water at them, causing the former to scream in agony.
"My lord," Camius came up to greet Alexander and he soon invited him inside.
"Any talked?" Alexander casually inquired as he made himselffortable inside the room.
"They are squirming...but not yet," Camius reported.
"Mmmm, keep it up then," Alexander was confident that these men would talk.
They might be tough men who were no strangers to violence, but having to be naked outside soaking wet for hours was a whole different kind of torture.
But why was Camius interrogating them though it was the police who had captured these men?
Because under Alexander''s directive, Cambyses had sent the men visually selected by Camius to this outpost of the barracks, where they were being made to sing.
As Camius and he talked, suddenly, a thought made its way to him.
He thus instructed, "Take three of those men out and ce them inside. And then instruct your men to loudly say this, ''We already got what we needed from those three, so why do we need the others?'' That should loosen some tongues,"
"That''s a great idea, my lord," Camius happily praised the proposal.
And then cleverly added his own idea, "Oh! What if we also switched some of the men with ours, so they will shout and promise to give up everything? This will no doubt cause some of the real ones to defect as well!"
Camius had learned this from a simr trick Alexander would use, where thetter would hire people to his gathering to act as cheerleaders and stir the crowd.
"Oh? Will that work?" Alexander found the n quite good, save for minor details.
"Yes, I''m confident." Camius nodded heavily, exining, "It''s dark now so nobody will really notice, and besides, it''s not like the gangs know each other to the point they can identify the members just by their voice."
This sounded very good and so Alexander gave the go-ahead.
He then stayed for a while seeing the operations unfold and casually talking to Camius, and even sitting down for two interrogations, though he just quietly sat and let the interrogation officer do his thing.
And the gist of the information was just like he had expected, it was the temple that egged them on and when Alexander did not seem interested in hiring these gangs, they naturally chose that side.
In one particr interrogation, Alexander oversaw the intelligence extraction of one very fat and oily prisoner.
"Tell that Jakqum ve that his days are numbered," He fiercely barked at Alexander, not knowing who he was.
This was also by coincidence the very same man Cambyses had captured, and the word Jakqum in Azhak means a nobody or a vagabond, kind of like a John Doe, but with a much worse connotation.
He was clearly referring to Alexander as a stray and thus got rewarded with being sent back to ''chill''.
After some time of that, the night began to deepen and sleep was beginning to attack Alexander.
So he decided to excuse himself. "Okay, I think I will be heading back. Keep up the good work."
"Yes, pasha, please take care." Camius gave a heavy bow.
In such formal settings, Camius was always very deferential towards Alexander, much different from his private manners.
"Umm, I will give everyone tomorrow off. So give the confession report by dawn," Alexander casually hummed a spartan deadline as he saw himself out, causing Camius to subtly grimace.
''F you, ve driver,'' Camius cursed inside his heart but did not fight it openly, instead only nodding in agreement and saying, "Yes, my lord. It will at your desk before dawn."
Camius knew that he couldplete it if he pulled an all-nighter and thus, since it was possible, if Camius were to grumble to Alexander, thetter would only raise his palms and say the hackneyed words, "If you have the time to argue, you have the time to get the job done."
And so it was more prudent for Camius to start making the men squeal and sing as soon as possible.
While Camius was doing just that, Alexander and his bodyguards were quickly riding back to his estate, a thick nket of fog, almost imprable to the eyes beyond a few meters shrouding them all the way, as the biting cold winds cut through even their warm, heavy woolen coat, causing many men to subconsciously tighten their thick jackets.
''I wonder if I could have done any better than those poor sods,'' Alexander shuddered at the thought as he off-handedly wondered if he could have withstood the torture Camius was administering.
He had always been weak to the cold.
In his previous life, he would love to slip under his nket with a hot mug of cocoa the moment the temperature dropped below freezing, curling up like a cat and refusing to get out unless absolutely needed.
''Probably not,'' Alexander thus concluded, feeling withstanding the cold might have been too much.
In fact, the design of this interrogation was also based on Alexander''s perceived notion of the difort that extreme cold caused, feeling that since he could not withstand it, maybe many others could not too.
And with these apanying thoughts, the entourage soon reached the manor and Alexander quickly made his way to the room, where a surprise was waiting for him.
Chapter 260 Claiming Mean Fully (R-18)
Alexander entered his room close to midnight but strangely found it lit.
It was unusual because when Alexander would bete to bed, usually Cambyses would go to bed before him.
? She used to insist on staying up before, but after Alexander''s repeated scolding, and due to her own body''s lulling, she decided to follow such.
"Mean? Where''s Cam?" Alexander asked as he got rid of his heavy clothes, finding some patches of his clothes wet and damp, possibly due to the extreme fog outside.
"Mistress is in my room," Mean lightly pitter-pattered her way to Alexander, helping to collect and properly store the expensive clothes.
"And why are you in my room then?" Alexander sent a teasing smirk at Mean, causing Mean to blush furiously.
She was gorgeously dressed in a pink tutu, with just two thin strings holding it over her beautiful, smooth shoulder as the small dress tightly hugged her petite figure, with the skirt ending at half her thigh, thus letting Alexander marvel at her creamy legs, gleaming like ivory.
Neither was in any doubt over why she was there.
"Does my little minx want me to destroy her asshole today?" Alexander in a husky voice whispered beside Mean''s ears.
"....." Mean only clenched her teeth as her ears turned even redder at Alexander''s vulgar words, fueled even more by the fact that Alexander had fiercely grabbed her naked butt under the cloth and started poking her puckered hole using his middle finger directly.
Alexander was being much rougher thanst time and Mean leaked like a broken faucet in anticipation.
"Filthy girl, why are bare there, *smack*" Alexander grinned and gave a hard spank causing Mean to clench her moan.
"¡ve wanted to be ready for master," Mean wiggled her butt coyly to tempt Alexander.
And so with a smirk, Alexander said, "Naughty girls like you need a good spanking."
Alexander then picked up Mean in a princess carry and sat on the edge of his bed, making Meany over hisp.
"Kyaahh, no," Mean felt his child-like position quite humiliating, especially when she felt Alexander flip up her skirt to reveal her butt.
"*Smack*, what an ass you have, my horny bunny," Alexander pped the beautiful flesh, soaking in the tight shape, thin, wet crack, and beautiful dirty hole.
"No..nooo, so embarrassing¡don''t look," Mean could certainly feel Alexander''s scalding gaze on her most shameful holes and such close scrutiny made her mewl in shame.
But Alexander''s heart zed at being able to discipline this small, exquisite rump.
"So this is the naughty little butt that does not like to wear clothes," Alexander grabbed the small cheek and after giving it a good couple of squeezes, and loving the springiness of it, gave it a tight p.
"*Smack* Mnnnn," Mean moaned at the rough y.
Alexander then in a hard voice ordered, "Count, *smack*"
"Ahhh...one," Mean squealed with shame and joy at the sound and stinging sensation, feeling like her butt was on fire.
"Do you enjoy it ve?" Alexander asked as he gave her another good smack, turning the flesh red.
"Yes..yes, so please more," Mean pleaded with haggard breaths.
Alexander''s strong domineering strikes fueled her inner masochism and she wanted more, harder and faster.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
And thus came a rain of blows, threatening to snap Mean''s hip as Alexander showed no mercy, loving how the little body would shake and sing under the hits, the fragrant little butt dancing under his palms.
"Mmmm, ahhhhh, oohhhhh," The hard spanking was mixed with Mean''s own lewd moans and shouts to produce a lewd note that turned the room into a lewd cavern, each edging Mean closer to release.
Each of Alexander''s strikes seemed to make Mean moan even louder.
This was because the position Alexander had inadvertently put Mean was one of her deepest fantasies, to be spanked on thep like a naughty girl.
This yearning stemmed from the fact she had always had a parentplex.
She had been sold as a ve by her own father under the urging of her stepmother, whom he had remarried after Mean''s biological mother''s death.
And thus deep down she had always longed for a father''s love.
So, Alexander''s strong, musky smell and tall, muscr stature had always attracted Mean, as she tried to fill that void using her lover.
"Yes, daddy, hit Mean''s slutty tush. She''s been a very bad girl," Mean moaned in joy as Alexander increased his hits.
''Well that''s new,'' Alexander said to himself at Mean''s urging, and then continued to do not only that but also massaging it, kneading it, and caressing it, ultimately turning the butt red and hot.
And then to turn up the y even more, Alexander decided to entertain Mean another way.
"Ekkk, my butt..urggg it''s going in my butt," Mean yelped in shock as she felt Alexander''s thick middle digit poke directly into her pink hole and slowly invade herher hole.
"What a tight hole!" Alexander marveled as he wiggled his finger in, loving the exquisite silky, hot squeeze.
"Noo¡ahhh¡don''t¡don''t scratch inside my butt," Mean cried out in shame, getting a weird itch as Alexander''s nails squirmed forward.
"*Smack*, don''t clench your butt. We need to get you loosened up," Alexander ordered with a crisp hit.
"Arhhh¡" But this only caused Mean to clench harder.
"Bad girl! Naughty girl!" Sensing the pressure increase, Alexander started raining blows on the wless flesh, making her moan especially loud and maddening.
"Ahhh..no. Getting spanked and fingered in my butt feels too good, ahhh! Ekkkk, the finger is poking up¡ohhhh!" Mean lewdly cried and clenched her butt even more, which caused Alexander to speed up his ministrations.
Alexander loved Mean''s crispy butt, which was much more tight and stic than the other girl''s, giving his hand a stronger reaction.
Finally, after one too many spanks, Mean arched her head back and screamed, ing from my butt getting fingered and spanked..ohhhh!" and reached release, shaking and screaming at the huge release.
"Ha..ha..ha," It took a while for Mean to steady herself as she let out relieved pants of pleasure.
But Alexander was yet to start getting pleasured and so he quickly flipped Mean upright and adjusted his spear right atop her wrinkled hole, slightly poking it, teasing the iing onught as he asked, "Now, tell me what you want my slutty rabbit?"
That little orgasm was certainly not enough to douche Mean''s lust and so she excitedly wiggled her butt, lewd water wetting her rear hole, "Ha..ha...Master, take that fat cock and turn this ve''s asshole into your exclusive asspussy,"
"Good girl," Alexander lightly smiled and then, like that day, in one go skewered Mean, causing the girl to howl in pain and pleasure, to the point that she peed herself.
"Slutty minx, loosen up," Alexander felt the all too familiar sensation of Mean trying to snap his thing and he urged with clenched teeth.
"Ohhh¡so thick¡ahhh¡my ass, it hurts. It feels like on fire¡ahhh...more," The masochist girl flitted between pain and pleasure, letting out even fluids.
"Then have some more," Alexander then started immediately jack-hamming Mean''s ass, causing Mean to sing at the top of her voice.
Alexander found Mean''s turned to be tight and hot, and the rubbery, silky walls squeezing him tighter than anyone else had, requiring Alexander to fully concentrate to hold back his release.
"Your horny little bunny! You really are a piece of meat made to be fucked," Alexander talked dirty as he widened and explored Mean''s canal, making the girl lose herself in the mind-bending pleasure.
"Ahhghh, so good¡my ass feels so good. It feels like my butt is being scraped out," Mean roared lewdly as she bounced on Alexander''sp, very eager to take in the huge rod to her deepest part.
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
A lewd, wet sound was made by the mixture of Mean''s honey water. intestinal juices and flesh hitting one another made the action audible for all as Alexander used his little brother to fiercely pound the rear tunnel, hitting the smooth stretchy walls with his bulbous red and making Mean constantly give a weird, lewd ''being filled-up feeling.
Finally, after a long time of exploring the newnds, Alexander decided to mark them as his exclusive territory.
"Arghh, cumming," Alexanderunched his heavy, creamy load into the tight ass, causing Mean to give onest howl of pleasure.
"Arhhhh, me too¡ohh..your cum is making my tummy feels so weird.." Mean felt that her belly was being inted by the immense amount of cum released inside her and she came too.
As the two paused a bit to take a breather, Alexander lightly picked up Mean, releasing his dick with a distinctive *plop* sound and then with a little sadistic voice said, "Here! Now taste your own ass."
This was followed by Alexander grabbing Mean by the head and shoving her face into his groin, and fiercely face-fucking Mean momentster.
Mean very eagerly slurped up the nasty mixture, sucking down the remaining thick, fishy load and not minding the taste one bit.
And so soon Alexander deposited his second load into Mean''s cute tummy.
Afterward he turned her over to taste her lewd cave and after savoring that he again moved to her ass.
In this way Alexander ravaged Mean for over two hours, the petite girl having all three of her holes filled multiple times, by the end of which Mean was just shivering and quivering under Alexander, letting out only incoherent low groans.
And by the time Mean fell asleep, she was eagle sprawled on her belly, her rear almost wide enough to fit a small ball and constantly leaking the creamy goodness, while a very content smile hang on her face.
"More daddy¡mmm," She whispered in her sweet dreams.
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Chapter 261 Judging The Kingpins
Early next morning was a joyous day for the people of Zanzan.
Because the criminals that had killed the priests had been found.
"So, quick! Our pasha is truly blessed," A few of the moles in the crowd hired by Alexander stirred up the crowd, pointing to the rows and rows of soldiers at the entrance of the temple that held the criminals, in front of whom stood their sovereign.
"Greetings my people," Alexander loudly addressed the sea of devotees below, surprised by the sheer number of them that were there even when dawn was still waking her from her slumber.
"Citizens and ves," Alexander began with a loud booming voice, "as you know, yesterday was a tragic event for us all." "When I heard the news, I doubted my ears at first. Because I did not believe such acts were possible by humans!" Alexander howled in fake agony as he yed the supernatural card.
And then loudly proimed, "And I was right. Because right then the goddess sent me her revtions, saying that the battle between her and god Ramuh has weakened them both, allowing an evil power to infiltrate Zanzan."
Then gesturing towards the sixteen bound men behind him, held tightly by the soldiers, Alexander grandly imed, "And these are the evil men, that the goddess pointed me to. They are devils in human forms, tempted by the ruinous powers and deserve to be burned."
"Burn"
"Burn"
"Burn"
The chant came.
The crime of sphemy could only have one punishment- burning at the pyre.
Alexander knew that the people would not ept anything less.
But his speech was not yet done,
"These people will burn," Alexander assured, and then issued by raising his fist into the air, "But remember my people, these people are only minions of the true devil. One who now takes on the skin known as Pasha Muazz."
"Burn"
"Burn"
"Burn"
The chant was even louder and more enthusiastic.
If the people of Zanzan were to be asked who they wanted to burn more, the sphemers who supposedly desecrated their temple or Pasha Muazz, most would choose thetter.
He was hated that much.
Alexander relished that the crowd simply took him at his word.
This would have never flown in his previous world.
Yes, Pasha Muazz was a hateful criminal, but even he was not the devil.
But here, people of authority could spew anything and people would buy it.
And that was the real allure of being a noble- the power to effortlessly convince others, the power tomand others, and the power to use others to benefit oneself.
And that was why Alexander''s ambition was the gathering of ever more power.
As Alexander reinforced these thoughts, he saw the crowd simmering and boiling with rage, and decided to add some seasonings.
"Here is a letter sent by Pasha Muazz we have retrieved from one to one these scoundrels." He took out a small rolled papyrus from his jacket pocket and showed it to the crowd.
"Here, let me read it aloud for you," Alexander offered.
"Leader Quagg,
I hope this letter finds you well. I''m vacationing in Ankoot for the moment and am well,"
Alexander then paused toment with a smirk, "The fatso lost his city and province and says he is okay, hahaha."
This naturally caused the crowd tough with him.
After the crowd calmed a bit down, Alexander once again resumed, "I know that the city is in the hands of the great Pasha Alexander. But I''m convinced that your loyalty remains unshaken. After all, it was you who helped me bury all those ves and citizens in my estate, whom I used for devil worship!"
This reveal predictably caused a considerablemotion.
"We had heard the rumors, but¡"
"Burn him¡burn him,"
"My child¡he killed my child!"
"Devil¡as the pasha said, he''s the devil!"
"Death to Muazz, death to his family,"
The crowd seemed to reach an even higher frenzy.
And Alexander added even more fuel, "After interrogating Quagg, we have discovered several such mass graves in mynds, And in the temple, we have left three such corpses such that you may bear witness to the vile acts performed upon the people of this great city."
This got a huge, triumphant cheer from the crowd, who chanted,
"All hail the great pasha. All hail the righteous pasha,"
This drowned out the impassioned cries of one desperate man, the man being framed for all this.
"Lies¡all lie..ughghh¡" The man named Quaff, the same plump man that had called Alexander a Jakqum, tried to defend himself but got a square hit to his sr plex by the guards for his efforts, his cries falling to deaf eyes.
Alexander waited again for the crowd to simmer down a bit and atst, finished the letter,
"Now, Quaff, I must hand you another task. You are to gather all the gangs of the city and kill the priests of Ramuh. And then frame it on the great pasha. So, when the people oust that great leader, we can start killing those fools again, hahaha.
Regards,
Your master and eternal lord- Pasha Muazz."
The end of the letter predictably made the crowd swear and curse the man and soon, under the urging of a select few suspiciously eager men, began to chant,
"Only Pasha Alexander can save us."
"Pasha Alexander is our savior,"
"Great leader Alexander, fight the devil"
"The ruler of Zanzan- Pasha Alexander,"
Alexander watched the crowd dance like a puppet to his tune and the power felt intoxicating.
''Haha, fools. If you call the power that killed your priests the devil, then he is standing right in front of you,'' Alexander darkly chuckled.
He did have some reservations when he forged that ridiculous letter, but it seems that he was giving these peasants too much credit.
Even when in that letter the so-called pasha Muazz neatly and so conveniently confessed to all his crimes and worse, always referred to Alexander as great, not a trace of doubt crept up in the hearts of the general people.
They simply blindly believed it because their lord had said so.
Thus it was only today that Alexander understood why the nobles held such disdain for themon masses.
Because they really had little capacity for thought.
With the exception of a few bright ones, most were little different from sheep, requiring others to dictate orders for them to aplish anything.
No wonder in his previous life the era of nobility only ended after the advent of the printing press, because it made it much easier for knowledge to spread.
And no wonder the people of the hermit kingdom still haven''t revolted.
Information control was paramount.
"Well, let''s see them burn then," Seeing the crowd had reached its peak, Alexander decided to push them over the edge and ordered the finale to begin.
And thus very soon the sixteen men were thrown into the huge makeshift pyre, and lit, causing all the men to writhe and howl in agony.
"Arghhhh," They sang with pained cries, feeling the mes lick off their skin and char the fats underneath, giving the air a bad, smoky smell.
And very much contrary to the agonizing screams of these sixteen men, the crowd onlyughed and danced and cheered.
"Look¡look! Look how the devils burn,"
"Haha¡fire¡only fire can kill them,"
"Burn! Burn to a crisp!"
The people below found the act of burning sixteen people alive hrious and entertaining.
''These barbaric, human-skinned animals will do the same to me if they get the chance,'' Alexander held no illusions that these people would bend the way the wind blew, throwing the fact that he had given them free food, housing, and medicine worth hundreds of millions of ropals to the wind like a fart to save their hide if the situation ever rose.
There have been many precedents in history both in his world and this world and Alexander had no reason to think he would be any different.
Alexander silently watched the men suffer in the mes, their screams filling the skies every passing moment, causing the crowd to cheer even louder, noticing that people of all ages and cultures had a weird fascination with fire and the people here were no different.
It was not like as if Alexander had no pity for the dying men.
They might have been criminals and scums who caused misery to thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, but still, if Alexander had a choice, he would not have burnt these people, but simply beheaded them.
Because it was said being burnt to death was the most painful way to die.
Some even posited that that''s why people will be burnt in hell.
And in some religions, it was forbidden to kill others by burning because such a punishment was reserved for only God.
But Alexander knew that if he did not show such a strong response, these people might throw him to the pyre.
And so these criminals had to die in his stead and so they did, their cries roaring even higher with the passage of time.
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Chapter 262 Twins In Action
"The lesser devils are dead!" Alexander loudly imed as the fires slowly simmered down to flickering embers, getting a huge cheer from the crowd.
"Hahaha, the evil has been vanquished."
"God Ramuh has triumphed."
"Safe! We are safe!"
"Praise the goddess!"
The men, women, and children all breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at the jubnt crowd, Alexander still had a hard time connecting the happy, radiant atmosphere to the thing they were celebrating over - the charred remains of the sixteen bodies that had melted and fused together to form a grotesque lump of human bones and flesh.
Even someone with a very strong stomach such as Alexander felt the sight hard to digest, even when the people there were no good gang leaders with the blood and tears of tens of thousands on their hands.
But these people did not seem to mind it one bit, treating it as just an apt punishment.
And these were the same people bawling their eyes out just three weeks ago over the sickness and death of their loved ones.
Alexander had noticed this before too, the cultural disconnect he had with the people of this time and it would always intrigue him.
He had acutely felt that the people of this time were very close to their kin but also strangely apathetic to others.
After the burning had concluded, the crowd started to get restless and many attempted to disperse now that the entertainment had ended.
This made Alexander quickly snap out of this remuneration.
He did not have the luxury of getting all sentimental.
For he still had an opera to conduct.
"My citizen," He again pronounced which made all the murmuring crowd go silent and all wondering eyes re-focused their attention to the man dressed in shiny armor.
"I''m aware that though the criminals have paid the ultimate price, many of your''s heart still burns will pain and fury," Alexander said this while hugging his arms together as a sign of empathy.
"Many of you worry that such a tragedy will repeat itself."
"Many of you worry that the temple might be shut down."
"Many of you worry that without the priests you will lose your way."
"Many of you worry that you will have no one to lead you now."
"But fear not," Alexander imed by raising his hands to the sky, "Because Ramuh and Gaia had foreseen this and thus sent with me their chosen champions to lead you lost sheep."
"Now, bow! Bow to the twin saintesses from Adhan."
With this grand deration, Alexander exaggeratedly gestured to Azira and Azura, who in synchronized steps made their way to the front of Alexander and revealed themselves to the crowd.
As the crowdid their eyes upon the twin obsidian princesses. for a brief moment, the low buzzing undercurrent of mutteringpletely disappeared as all the men, women and children looked up at the two goddesses in human form in reverence and awe.
They were stunned at the twins'' beauty and, more importantly, at how simr the two girls looked, making many ask themselves whether their eyes were ying tricks on them and making them see two.
To the people, it felt like they were looking at the mirror reflection of a single person as if the gods had split a single girl into a pair to represent both of them.
Azira and Azura stood next to each other shoulder to shoulder and wore an identical golden gown that looked very simr to the Persian Qashqai, and was decorated to represent the highest height of opulence.
Bright, red rubies were studded on the neck cor to disy the twin''s beautiful slender neck and the heavy decorations trailed down with a cascading pattern all the way to their midriff, showing off their magnificent figure.
Clear, blue sapphires lined the sleeves and cuffs of the dress to entuate the girls'' wless, chocte hands, and green, verdant emeralds embroidered around the hemline as if the gemstones were bowing in surrender to the women''s dainty, exquisite feet.
Their slender waist was guarded by a procession of thin stands of immacte golden chains and the skirt of the gown was gloriously lined with various colored gemstones, all shining and glittering under the dawn''s gentle golden sunshine.
Azira and Azura had done their makeup identically- with lightly powdered faces, a thin mascara dashed along the eyeshed and a touch of red dye as lipstick, allpleted by a glorious hairstyle, where their silky, silvery curls were tied up in a bun upwards using thin chains of diamonds, giving the exquisite hair an otherworldly sparkle that made it look the gods had ced the clouds as their locks.
They were so beautiful that the crowd had forgotten to bow.
"Ahem! Bow." Alexander again ordered with a light cough.
And as soon as he said such, almost as if the entire crowd''s string had been cut, the crowd lost all their strength on their legs and plopped down to the ground in supplication.
"Greetings, Your Sacred Saintess," They cried in a unified chant.
Azira and Azura''s title of saintess was a singr, unique title, meaning every single Ramuh believer had, if not seen them, then at least heard of them.
And though the saintess was always a singr post, with their grandfather, the previous king very much doting on the girls, this unconventional appointment was made.
And thus the twins were even more famous than all their predecessors.
As the crowd bowed and expressed their reverence, a myriad of thoughts ran through each of them.
''To think that our lord pasha would be able to get even the twin saintess from the Grand Temple! His powers are truly boundless.''
''Hahaha, with the twin saintesses here, all devils will be smitten.''
''Oh Ramuh! To think this poor soul would have the luck to witness the sacred saintesses with her own eyes. Blessed. We are blessed.''
"Rise, lost sheep," The twin''s voices were unlike anything Alexander had heard from them before, deep and imperious, they excluded authority and divinity.
This was the umpteenth time Azira and Azura had done this and in front of a crowd, in public, they were nothing like the pure, innocent girls Alexander hade to know.
Being royalty and ording to them, of divine blood, they always appeared dignified and invible to the mass and radiated confidence and sacredness.
Most people did not dare meet their eyes and any lecherous thoughts would be wiped out even before its creation, their hearts shivering in fright at the mere thought of such, as the twin''s figure only demanded respect and reverence, and to soil them with such filthy thoughts would be sphemy.
"Flock of the faithful, these sixteen lesser devils that you saw were only the vanguards that the great devil Muazz had sent us," Azira imed loudly, reading the script provided by Alexander.
This was one of the conditions Alexander had put forth towards the twins in exchange for convincing Ptolomy.
"And a thousand smaller devilsy captive with us, who by the joint order of god Ramuh and goddess Gaia will be sent to the mines for eternity!" Azura joined her sister.
"Praise Ramuh!"
"Glory to Her Excellence Goddess Gaia,"
The former chant was much louder and naturally came from the natives, while thetter was from the Thesian immigrants.
Though many in the crowds wanted the thousand to also burn, hearing that it was an instruction directly from the gods and dictated by the saintesses themselves, all such reluctance naturally washed away.
Azira spoke afterward, "As the pasha has said, this tragedy was caused because an evil power had managed to infiltrate Zanzan."
"But why did it infiltrate now? Why could it infiltrate now?" Azura picked up her sister''s words.
"It was because these priests did not follow the king''s orders!" Azira answered.
"Yes, that''s right!" Azura nodded in approval, saying, "Our Lord Ramuh has joined forces with the goddess Gaia to protect us from the ruinous powers."
"But these priests in their arrogance did not call upon the goddess Gaia''s protection." Azira imed.
"The ruinous powers have recently be stronger, causing even our Lord to form an alliance with the second strongest god, Gaia " Azura very cleverly dressed Alexander''s im, hiding his popr rhetoric of Ramuh being beaten and weakened, to instead iming that the evil power had be stronger.
''These girls...,'' Alexander was not told about this change and honestly, he was impressed by the girls'' story.
''They might be totally inept in their everyday lives, but when ites to religious matters, they are surprisingly shrewd,'' Alexander felt he got to know something new about the twins today.
Azira then finished the speech by saying, "And that''s why from today onwards, the temple of Ramuh in Zanzan will have a second, subordinate, lesser statue of the goddess Gaia to help bolster the thaumaturgical defense of the city."
As she finished saying so, the twins then raised their hands to the sky and chanted, "May the gods witness our resolve."
"May the gods witness our resolve." The crown chanted back.
Chapter 263 Twins Appointment
Alexander watched with muted awe as Azira and Azura steered the crowd like a skilled oarsman steers a boat.
He had always assumed that the twins had gotten the job by relying on their father, but it seems he was wrong, the girls did have some substance to them.
They might be totally inept in day-to-day life, but when it came to matters of religion and the temple, they were surprisingly very skilled, as evidenced by how they had managed to sugarcoat the matter regarding the addition of Gaia to the temple of Ramuh on their own.
Perhaps that''s why they missed working at the temple so much, because they were good at it.
The roar of the crowd by the twins caused a few other thoughts to form in Alexander''s head.
He could have written it in blood that if he had said the same thing, if he, as an outsider had proposed that the natives worship a Thesian god along with Ramuh, there would not have been an insignificant chance of rebellion among these people of the city who were ardent believers of Ramuh.
And though it might seem that Alexander had managed to get away with killing the priests and looting the temple scot-free, it was in fact really an intricate dance that required exquisite cement of the pieces.
If he had failed to take rapid, decisive action, if he had not managed to capture arge number of suspects, if those suspects had not been known criminals, and if Alexander did not have a very popr, almost singr entity of Ramuh''s faith on hand to bolster his im, if he had not managed to gain any one of these things, or if something unforeseen had happened in the meantime, things could have gotten very ugly.
And if this was a real case, where Alexander certainly could not have responded so quickly, it also would have been very troublesome to handle.
Thus Alexander believed that he had managed to hoodwink the public only with the help of Azira and Azura''s fame and by presenting the people with the culprits within twenty-four hours of the crime, hence managing to assail the perilous waters of potential revolt.
Finished with their speech, Azira and Azura stepped back, letting Alexander once again take the help.
"Citizens," Alexander again addressed the crowd.
"We are aware that though it was the evil powers that caused this tragedy, some responsibility cannot escape the people that were appointed to ensure the peace and order of the city."
Then with a bit of a pause, Alexander said. "I am of course referring to the city guard. It was due to the negligence of a few errant guards that evil could spread so quickly."
This produced a hubbub of muttering and buzzing as many talked among themselves to evaluate the pasha''s words but was soon drowned out by Alexander''s announcement.
"And hence I decided to rece the leader of the city guards with my wife, Cambyses." Alexander swing his arm behind, gesturing to the chestnut-haired armoreddy.
As Cambyses heroically strode to Alexander''s side, a few loud voices echoed out of the crowd,
"Oh! That''s Lady Cambyses."
"Yeah! I saw Lady Cambyses leading the guards yesterday."
"That''s right, that''s right, I saw her too. She was the one who bought the guards to the temple."
"She also promised us that the culprits would be caught by today."
"I personally saw her capture Quaff, the head devil."
"I heard she single-handedly killed ten of the smaller devils yesterday. I saw the Jaynim street colored red under her de."
"Good then! Very good,"
Some of these came from people on Alexander''s payroll, while most of the oundish ims were from the real public.
"Most of you should know mydy by now, but for those who do not, she is Cambyses and she was the one who led the capture of the criminals."
"And she personally found the letter Muazz had written to Quaff, hidden under a false floor in his house."
As Alexander introduced the girl to the public, under the direction of the few moles in the crowds, all the people joined in the chant, "Glory to the new head guard. Glory to her and Pasha Alexander."
Alexander was d to see that Cambyses''s appointment had gone without much trouble, though he suspected it was likely due to the perceived notion that she had shown hyperpetency in catching the criminals and also because she was being endorsed by Alexander, a man.
After the crowd had some time to calm down, Alexander said his penultimate piece, "And aspensation for the killings, all affected families of the priests and priestesses will get a lump sum of fifteen hundred (1,500) ropals."
"Glory to the pasha."
"All hail the magnanimous lord."
"Alexander the Great."
This time, Alexander''s mole found themselves to be redundant.
Because the people had spontaneously burst into this cheer.
And such was quite natural for the time, as anything rted to money would get the public pretty riled up and happy.
''Haha, what are you so happy about? That money wille from your pocket,'' Alexander ominously chuckled at the jubnt faces.
This was so as Alexander intended to use the money he looted from the temple to fuel this expense.
And then, atst, Alexander finished his speech, "As your lord, I am also aware of your need for guidance in divine matters. And we are aware of the perilous road ahead of you."
"Hence from today onward, the two saintesses of Adhan will lead the Temple of Zanzan!"
As soon as he finished, Alexander''s proposal got a huge cheer from the crowd, much bigger than the few previous ones, as they talked among themselves,
"Haha, to think we get to be led by the saintesses themselves."
"Providence! This is Ramuh''s providence."
"Ramuh looks after us after all."
And with this, Alexander dismissed the crowd, with the words, "Now, that the criminals have been dealt with and your priestesses'' chosen, please return to work."
"Word hard to make Zanzan great again." Alexander then said the catchphrase he had shamelessly reaped off.
"Yes, my lord," The crowd replied with a synchronized bow, and soon the temple premises were vacated, save for the soldiers and Alexander''s guests.
While the soldiers got to work quickly dismantling the makeshift pyre and burying the leftover human bits, Alexander invited the royal guests inside the temple for some light refreshments.
"Pasha Alexander''s oratory skills are truly divine," The Queen mother Seelima opened the dialogue as she made herselffortable in one of the private rooms upstairs.
The fact that this room had been the location of a grizzly murder just yesterday seemed not to even enter the royal''s consideration.
Though it was very normal as the pce she lived in was perhaps the single greatest murder house in Adhania, racking up kills in the thousands, if not tens of thousands.
And it had to be also remembered that Seelima herself was a proficient murderer, with the blood of even a king and queen in her hands, not to mention who knows how many maids and various concubines.
So in fact, for the Queen mother, she felt right at home.
"And you said it all in Azhak. Very impressive," Mikaya chimed in.
She was truly impressed by how Alexander had yed the crowd and his particr attention to detail.
For example, given how naturally resistant to outsiders the people of Adhania were, she was sure the speech would have been taken much differently if Alexander had said it in Thesian.
"Haha, where, where!" Alexander politely replied, and then quickly diverted, "I think the most impressive people today were the twin princesses. I was truly impressed by Your Highnesses eloquence, marvelous!"
This frank admiration produced a touch of embarrassment from the girls who quickly
countered, "Hmmp, of course. Don''t underestimate this princess."
"That''s right. That''s right. We are saintesses after all."
The twodies puffed up their chests in pride.
"Haha, of course, of course. This lord was foolish, very foolish." Alexander dly yed along, finding their natural reaction cute.
Alexander had always indulged the twins and such an action had been noticed by Mikaya multiple times.
''Could he be interested in my nieces?'' Mikaya postted.
''Interesting!'', she then licked her lips at the potential fun thought,
But for now, she decided to just wait and see how things developed, hoping that an interesting would opportunity presented itself in the process.
Instead, she focused on what Alexander was saying, which was, "Your Twin Highnesses, as you know that our temple of Gaia is due to open soon. And I was hoping you would lend your vast experience in helping us get off the feet."
Alexander said this because he wanted to avoid any immediate sh between the two faiths.
"Hmmmm," Under normal, Azira would have thrown back the words Alexander said to his face.
But after yesterday, she began to understand that an absolute ''no'' was not possible.
And so, learning from Alexander, chose a diplomatic approach.
Chapter 264 Shordar Cambyses
Azira diplomatically replied to Alexander, "As the pasha said himself, both the temple of Ramuh and the temple of Gaia want the same thing: peace, and prosperity for Zanzan. And thus, though we are currently understaffed, we will try to do our level best."
This was a politician''s way of saying, ''We don''t want to help you, and this is our excuse.''
Because the excuse of being understaffed was moot as the temple of Ramuh could just let the priests of Gaia watch their day to day to observation.
It was not like the Gaia priests had to be sat down and taught in a seminar.
Alexander was impressed by this very professional answer.
It was much better than the simple ''no'' or ''never'' he had expected.
''Hmmm, looks like these two are capable of learning,'' Alexander could easily tell that Azira had picked this up from copying him.
"That''s good, that''s good." Alexander showed a very happy, content countenance to the twins'' answer, appearing to buy their excuse.
And then, after a bit of banter congratting the twins for their reinstatement to the temple and urging them to uphold the values of the faith of Ramuh, Alexander excused himself to attend the council meeting.
But this time he was not alone, because he intended to introduce a new member to the council, the first-ever female member, the chief of the police, Alexander''s wife- Cambyses.
"Anything I need to know beforehand?" Cambyses asked inside the carriage as they rapidly made the short journey to their house.
"No, not really. Only that I will announce you as a shordar (Baroness)," Alexander lightly replied.
The out-of-the-blue bombastic news naturally shocked Cambyses.
And then, instead of being overjoyed, strangely she began to feel a bit irked.
She was of course not irked by her peerage, she was in fact very happy about the acquisition of a noble title.
But what had irked her was Alexander''s habit of dropping blustering news very casually, in a light breezy tone.
"And you only remembered to tell me this now?" Cambyses asked in a slightly frustrated voice.
"Hahaha," Alexander only chuckled, only finding his wife''s reaction funny.
"You...." Cambyses yfully kicked Alexander''s ankle with her shoes, understanding that he had done this just as a bit of fun and to see her reaction.
"Why do I need a peerage anyway?" She then off-handedly asked, adding, "It''s not like I''m gonna leave you to manage some unknownnds," while she gazed out of the window.
She asked this because as Alexander''s main wife, legally, it would be Cambyses''s children who would inherit his position, and in the event that Alexander died prematurely before his children came of age, it would be Cambyses who would rule as regent, making her a kind of a lesser pasha right now, just below Alexander and above all others.
And so Cambyses could see little use for hernds as a shordar (baroness).
Thend would likely be managed by Alexander''s staff anyway, so what was the point?
"Firstly because it''s very normal. How can the wife of a pasha be a regr woman with nond?" Alexander started his answer.
Cambyses immediately understood why Alexander would say that such would be too demeaning.
"Because in the eyes of the public, the Pasha''s wife must be someone greater than them?" Cambyses answered by recalling the lessons Alexander had taught her just yesterday.
"Yes." Alexander nodded, exining, " If the public thinks that even an ordinary woman can be the pasha''s wife, then not only they might not see revere us, it could also make the more ambitious ones start buzzing around me."
"Oh? So it''s for you?" Cambyses sent a teasing smirk, causing Alexander to give a wry smile.
"There''s also the second reason," Alexander did not bite into Cambyses''s trap and moved on, saying, "When I go on expeditions it will be you who I will leave in charge. It will be you who will lead the council in my absence, it will be you who will deal with the day-to-day running of thends and it will be you who will deal with any and all emergencies."
"And to do that, tomand all the lords under me effectively without my presence, you will need a noble title... even if it''s in name only." Alexander reasoned.
Cambyses had not thought about it this way and so hearing Alexander''s reasoning nodded lightly.
Alexander then gave hisst reason, "And thirdly, both Gelene and Ophenia have been promised peerage, so it would look too bad if I did not give one too."
It had to be said that Cambyses did not covet the fact that Gelene and Ophenia had been promisednds.
Because neither of the women''s children had any im to Alexander''s position and so giving their mother''s inheritablend was one way for Alexander to favor his own children.
"I see." Cambyses smiled and then breezily assented, "Then I will not be polite and ept."
By the time, the couple had finished this exchange, the carriage was already parking itself in the walkway, signaling they had arrived at their destination.
"Darn we''rete," Alexander muttered when he saw the few carriages parked on his walkway.
While all his retainers had immediately made their way here after Alexander''s speech had ended, thetter''s little discussion with the royals had made himte.
"Hmmp, let them wait," Cambyses felt her husband was being too pedantic with time.
In her eyes, it was very normal for retainers to wait upon their master, as opposed to what Alexander usually did, which was usually waiting for the others toe.
This viewpoint was very different from Alexander who, due to the influence of his previous life was always very punctual.
"Sorry, I''mte," Alexander casually apologized as he hurriedly entered the council room on the second floor and took his seat at the head of the table, surrounded by all his retainers.
And Cambyses who was trailing right behind took the empty seat right next to him.
"No, no, my lord, we just got here," Heliptos was the first to butter Alexander.
"Yes, yes, we have all heard the lord''s speech and it was magnificent," Menicus was the second to join in.
"The way our lord so casually handled this crisis has been a true eye-opener," Melodias praised.
"Haha, those scheming rats must be pissing their pants after today, hahaha," Menes, the least educated of the bunch, showed his appreciation in his own, albeit a bit vulgar way.
Alexander let these empty talks enter through one ear and exit out the next, and instead introduced Cambyses by gesturing his palms toward her, "I''m sure many of you are already familiar with each other but as a formal introduction, she is Cambyses, my wife, and the police chief."
"It''s a pleasure to meet you formally, Mydy," Menicus as the de-facto leader of the council members lightly nodded, to which Cambyses shed a polite smile, and said,
"The pleasure is all mine. We have seen each other a lot, but I''m d we finally get the chance to properly talk."
This casual introduction happened with all the leaders, and though Cambyses knew all the military leaders, Alexander took the time to introduce the civilian ones:
Diaogosis who in charge of lumber and housing.
Uzak oversaw infrastructure such as roads and sewage.
Harun was the head of mining.
Jazum was charged with making the kilns.
And Krishok was the chief tanner, processing not only hide but also linen for cloth.
"Cambyses will be joining us from today on. I hope the senior members of the group can help her get used to things around here," Alexander lightly smiled as he said, to which came an overwhelmingly positive response, with each of the council members urging Cambyses toe to them for any problem rted to their field of administration.
After Cambyses gave a polite reply to each of them, Alexander informed, "For the great achievement of catching a thousand criminals within just a day and preventing widespread chaos to the city, I have decided to reward Cambyses the title of shordar (baroness). What do you think?"
"Fantastic! That''s fantastic my lord," Menicus being the most experienced of the group read the clues the fastest and with much crity supported Alexander.
This was because Menicus easily understood that Alexander was not asking for their permission, he was telling them.
And the others seeing Menicus naturally followed suit, with Melodias''s praise being considered the best by Alexander, which was, "Lady Cambyses''s ability to hunt down traitors to thend has made this poor man feel assured. With her at the helm of the city guards, Zanzan will be our fortress."
In this way, at least on the surface, all enthusiastically congratted their mistress.
And the reason why no one objected even when they knew Cambyses''s achievements were a sham was because granting peerage was a right of Alexander, and he needed no reason to do such.
Finally, after being done with all these distractions Alexander finally could start the morning''s council.
Chapter 265 Legions First Target [Bonus ]
The morning council proceeded without a hitch... until Alexander raised one new issue.
"It''s been two weeks since we started giving out free food. And the news of it has likely reached the surrounding areas. What should we do?"
People from surrounding viges were bound to soon know that the gue had been dealt with, and food, the greatestmodity for them now, was being handed out for free.
This act of generosity was bound to attract a huge crowd and so Alexander was basically asking his council on how to deal with this impending refugee crisis.
"We should close the city gates," Heliptos, true to his nature, was the first to suggest to greedily hoard the food.
"These people belong to forces hostile to us. As such feeding them seems counterproductive." Melodias also expressed explicit support for this n.
"I agree. Giving them anything will only be strengthening the enemy," The military man Menes saw was already viewing these men as potential enemy conscripts.
As such, it could be seen that Alexander''s militarymanders were very much in favor of denying these starving masses even a morsel of food.
Alexander listened to these logical points attentively and then keenly noticed that Menicus and Cambyse, the two smartest people had yet to answer.
And so he sent a curious gaze at the neer Cambyses to hear her thoughts.
"Ahem," Cambyses cleared her throat and drew attention to herself, postting, "As the rulers of Zanzan, I believe it will reflect poorly on the lord if he were to deny his starving subjects ess to food."
"I too agree with Lady Cambyses. These are not other noble''s people, but ours. They just don''t know it." Menicus in his distinctive gruff voice opinioned as everyone agreed as they knew that Alexander was destined to throw these nobles off theirnd.
"Mmmm, good. That''s my thoughts too," Alexander supported, reasoning, "If we shut the doors in front of these destitute peasant''s faces, they will have no choice but to join the nobles'' side for survival."
"So, some of yours''s argument that we should not feed them because it will just strengthen the enemy is not only moot, in fact, it ispletely antithetical to our cause."
Alexander''s reference to ''some of you'' was naturally directed to the three military leaders, who only gave a look of understanding apanied by a wry smile.
"So, we should let them just eat our food and leave just like that?" This was Grahtos, who had a very bitter tone to his voice.
And this sentiment was shared by many in the council who felt that Alexander was advocating too much in favor of these outsider peasants.
These people might be potential subjects of Alexander, but currently, they were squarely in the adversaries'' quadrant, ready to take up arms if their lordsmanded them to.
"Of course not." Alexander shook his head at the question, and then instructed, "And that''s what I wanted to ask you to solve."
"...." A calm, stifling silence wrapped the room as all his advisors went into Zen concentration mode.
''This is a test,'' They all understood.
Alexander had frequently done this and up until now, it was Alexander all, them nil.
So naturally, these much older men were eager to prove their worth to their much younger boss.
The silencested for some time, and it was so quiet that Alexander was able to appreciate the various ambient noises present all around him, which till now were drowned out by all the tter of mor and din bursting against his ears all day long.
Alexander picked up the subtle sound of a human inhaling and exhaling, the clock-like *tap*, *tap* of Melodias''s fingertips against the hardwood, someone''s foot tapping against the wooden floor, the slight rustling of the clothes as some people moved to make themselvesfortable, the different melodious songs of a number of exotic birds right outside the meeting hall, the gentle susurration of leaves slowly falling and the inexplicable sound of metal gears whirling that Alexander imagined he was hearing from all the people who were thinking.
"Okay, time''s up. We don''t have all day," Alexander finally announced, when seeing no one was willing to speak first, breaking everyone out of their rumination.
"Menicus, what''s your solution?" Alexander then formally called his chief advisor to present his solution.
"That¡.hmmm, these people might not want to stay in a gue city, even if there is food," Menicus answered with a bit of doubt in his voice.
"Mmmm, you maybe right." Alexander nodded and then proposed, "But we cannot give them food for free. So will make them work."
"Does anyone else have a proposal that he feels is better?" Alexander then looked around, but no one provided an alternative.
"Good," He then attempted to move along when Menes opened up,
"My lord, I propose that we pressure the leaders around these settlements to submit to you or be removed."
He reasoned, "Clearly they are unable to take care of their popce, so what right do they have to lord over them?"
"Oh? Haha, Lord Menes speaks well," Alexander lightly smiled in approval, understanding that this might be his way of wanting to gain credit.
Alexander then casually looked around the table, ncing at the various faces and these men had been with Alexander long enough to know that this look meant that.
He was silently asking them if they had any objections or suggestions and this time, it was Theocles, who spoke for the first time, "Lord Menes''s n is very sound, but do we know who rules these parts?"
He then expounded, "The gue has sent most of the nobles nearby to us to the variousrge cities of the province like: Bashana, Kquem, Harki, and Jabel."
"Jabel, which is only 30 km from us, had a pre-drought poption of only ten thousand (10,000) and is so small that before was almost an auxiliary to Zanzan."
"And the east of the city was supposed to be directly under Pasha Muazz''s control and with him ousted, we do not know who rules these parts."
"So, what I''m saying is that these people are ruling without any authority. And so¡"
Alexander gave a slight smile to Theocles''s proposal, really not expecting that his archpriests, a man who was supposed to promote peace and harmony would be so bellicose.
Theocles was proposing a much simpler course of action than Cambyses- to simply take over thends of the to-be refugees as their actual owners were absent.
"My archpriest does speak a lot of sense, haha" Alexander liked the n, drawing a humble nod from Theocles.
"So we send the military?" Menes had sparkles in his eyes, eager for a fight.
? "Well I was thinking of arming these people and then inciting them for rebellion. What do you think?" Alexander proposed.
But this drew a very scary look from Menicus as he warned, " My lord, you must not! If these regr people get a taste for rebellion, they will not stop at one."
"I too agree, with lord Menicus. These people might not be reliable." Menes naturally preferred to use the soldiers under him.
"It will take too long to train these peasants. And so it''s likely the ns will easily leak," Grahtos chimed in.
"There will also certainly be turncoats among those peasants," Atst it was Cambyses''s turn to express her opinion.
"But attacking them so tantly...." Only the cautious Melodias hesitated.
Seeing his retainers were mostly in favor of armed intervention as opposed to a covert infiltration, Alexander frowned.
But then as he thought more of it, he began to see that an armed conflict might not be too bad, especially if it was near enough and could be done quickly enough.
But the key was near enough because the cover-up might not work otherwise.
"Okay, then. We will use the military to take over the various scattered hamlets, viges, and small towns east of us. They are likely at best ruled by a Talukder (Viscount) and one or two Shordars (Baron) and they will provide good practice for our legion." He ominouslyid out the basic n.
And then asked Menes, "How goes the legion training?"
"We are still setting up the primary tactics my lord." Menes quickly replied, and then promised, "I can assure you that the formation will be ready for a mock battle by New year."
"Mmmm, good." Alexander lightly nodded.
And thus the date for the legion''s first test was set.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 266 Legion Training Manual (Part-1)
Alexander originally nned to train his legion for a year before employing them on the battlefield.
And this was the order he gave at his first council meeting three days ago.
But, unfortunately, it was in the afternoon of the very same day that Camius had submitted his report on the temple and various gangs in the city, which led to him taking the drastic measures that led to the events of today and yesterday.
Hence, though before he wanted to pretend to get along with the lower peerages scattered around the city till his army was fully ready, now, with the destruction of Amenheraft''s faith in Zanzan, these staunch fanatics were unlikely to be diplomatically coerced, leaving only military conquest as the only viable option.
Listening to Menes restricting his training period to only two months made Alexander subconsciously frown a bit.
He knew Menes likely said this due to the impatience Alexander had subconsciously disyed and he felt that getting the army fully ready might actually take double or even triple that amount.
After all, this was apletely new type of infantry formation for them and two months was definitely too short to develop any sort of tactics using the new battalion (600-men unit) military system.
After all, even the experienced Roman army needed four months to train a legionary.
Though in fairness this was for training raw recruits and not veteran soldiers like the former mercenaries under Alexander.
"Take your time. And don''t be hasty. We can wait a few months if needed." Alexander advised Menes, wanting his general to iron out the details first beforemitting the new formation to battle.
"Two months will be enough for the men. They don''t need to be babied." Menes was confident about his men''s capabilities.
"That''s good then," Alexander gave a light smile and then bought out a piece of parchment from his breast pocket.
"I wrote the basic training n for the legion, please have a look," Alexander passed the piece of animal hide to his general, while also giving several copies to others.
"Thank you, my lord," Menes quickly epted and nced down on the detailed writing there.
The parchment read:
Each recruit must undergo roughly four (4) months of training before being called a soldier or in our case a legionnaire.
The training for these four months will be broken down into the following three categories:
* Weapons training,
* Armor training and
* Marching and drills
1. The weapon training will include:
i. Training with the sword, like how to thrust, parry, and riposte while also learning the basic footwork of swordsmanship.
ii. Training to throw the new kind of javelin called the pilum.
iii. Training how to hold and use a shield, both in individualbat like shield bash and parry and in various formations like the testudo.
iv. Training on how to use the bow, especially the crossbow and instant bow, and by the end to be able to hit a target hundred meters (100m) away with a hundred-pound bow (100lb) at least five times out of ten.
The way this training will be done is to have the to-be soldiers equipped with a wooden shield, a wooden sword, and a blunt pilum that weighted twice as much as a real one and be made to memorize its usage.
They will be made to thrust their swords and throw their p at a wooden dummy or stake, which will help them perform these moves without conscious thoughts by building up their muscle memory.
And every alternative day, the legionaries must practice shooting at least a hundred pound (100 lb) draw weight bow for two hours at a hundred and fifty meters (150m) target to hone their skills.
Soldiers must do this weapons training every day for at least two hours during the entire four months and though the hours can be much longer if the instructor deems it so, it must never be less.
*The armor training
This will teach a soldier the basics of his armor. This will include:
i. How to properly equip armor- This will include how to properly and securely tie the various leather straps all around the armor, including the cuirass and the arm and leg greaves, and how to quickly wear and dislodge the armor.
ii. How to maintain armor- Each soldier will be responsible for maintaining his gear and this will be a soldier''s most important task, just after fighting. The armor that will be given to the soldiers will be considered state property and hence any undue damage to it will be considered vandalism.
iii. Therefore a soldier must properly oil and polish his armor to make sure no rust grows on it, properly take care of the leather straps and buckles to ensure that the armor can be quickly and securely fastened together and in the case of damage due to training or during battle, must promptly inform his superior with details of how it happened and request for repair or if the damage is too severe, a recement.
It will be up to the individual squad leader (10-man leader) to ensure that all the men under them have their armor in tip-top. pristine, condition and anypses found will mean fifty (50) strong strikes with a wooden club for all both the soldier and the squad leader, issued by the sergeant (100-man leader).
This punishment will be carried out under Pasha Alexander''s name and such severe consequences must exist for an army is only as strong as its weakest soldier.
Every soldier must be aware that a badly maintained armor will inevitably produce weak points along the metal piece, which might cause the death of its wearer, causing openings to appear in the tightly knit formation and putting the lives of adjacent soldiers and even the entire army''s existence at risk.
Thus any soldier who does not properly look after his armor will show that he has no concern for his brother-in-arms and should be severely reprimanded.
And vice versa, a soldier who properly takes care of his armor should be seen as a role model who values the lives of the brothers in the army.
This specific training willst only one day, but recruits will be expected to properly wear and maintain their armor for the entire four months duration.
Note: No soldier will be punished if the damage to his armor is due to reasonable circumstances like training and fighting.
*The Marching and Drilling
his part of the training will be responsible for turning an individual soldier into part of an army and will be divided into four (4) drills:
i. Mental Conditioning Drills
ii. Marching Drills
iii. Formation Drills
iv. And Mock Battle drills
i. Mental Conditioning drills- This is the very first step that a recruit must pass on his path to bing a legionary. Because this is where the newbie''s mindset will be molded from a civilian to a soldier.
In this stage, the citizen part of the recruit must be smashed and ground to dust, and reced with the spirit of a soldier- that is, a man who follows orders without questions and marches to battle leaving his wives, children, and wealth behind, just for hisnd and lord.
Thus passing this training step means that he is no longer a man, but a warrior, a fearless being who is no longer beholden to the fear the grim reaper casts.
He must be like a force of nature, capable of withstanding all that the enemy is capable of throwing, from arrows to javelins to cavalry charges and still keep fighting regardless.
And for this transformation to happen, the soldier must be strictly disciplined by his instructors, all individuality must be stripped out until the soldier reces "I" with "Us". Because that''s what an army is, a coherent fighting force made of "T"s thatbine to form an "Us".
The time period of this training will be for the entire duration of the training, i.e- four months, during which the instructor will constantly make sure the recruit obeys the rules and discipline of the army while cracking down on any unruly behavior.
ii. Marching Drills- The soldiers of Zanzan must develop the skill to rapidly move from one point to another, in formation and with all the needed equipment.
To be able to achieve this, an individual soldier will be required to be able to march thirty-two (32) kilometers in under eight (8) hours while carrying a 30 to 35 kg equipment load.
Individually he must be physically fit enough to run 5km in less than 18 minutes, do 100 sit-ups in two minutes, and perform 20 pull-ups In 3 minutes.
Such strict requirements are needed because this mobility will be the core strategy of the Zanzan army, to be able to outnk and outmaneuver its opponent and thus- ''Defeat the enemy by simply outmarching them.''
Alexander''s manual had reached the end of the first page at this point and so pausing a bit, Menes then turned it around to find the same detailed writings on the opposite side.
Chapter 267 Legion Training Manual (Part-2)
Alexander by nature loved giving detailed instructions.
And since this was for his army, the most important base of his power, of course, Alexander would be detailed to the point of being pedantic.
As the parchment was turned over, Menes, and others who were given the parchment too for that matter, all grimaced the same way when they saw that the other side of the page also had the same amount of voluminous writing, with all the words squeezed together to look likepact rows of apartment blocks.
''Just how detailed are the instructions?'' Menesmpooned at the huge swath of instructions as he noticed that the instruction picked up from the previous page and said:
Due to the army''s ability to march rapidly and in formation being at the core of our strategy, such skills, though hard to master, must be drilled with the utmost importance.
Thus the soldier must be taught the following things in his marching drills:
I. How to march with all of his equipment- A soldier must know how to march in synchronization with the army while carrying a thirty to thirty-five kilogram weight with him.
He must be capable of keeping up with the army so as not to slow down the entire procession or be at the risk of being left behind.
II. How to properly pack equipment- A soldier must be able to pack and unpack his equipment quickly. He is expected to properly maintain and look after his belongings and must remember to have everything that the highmand expects him to be equipped with.
The total list of equipment a soldier must have are:
i. A dagger- A de around 18 to 28 cm long and 5 cm wide with a thickness of about 3 mm, this multifunction tool is to be used for all kinds of purposes. Other than functioning as a secondary,st-ditch weapon, it can also used be for things like preparing meat, fish, and vegetables during cooking, opening the cork of wine barrels, slicing food like chess and bread, cutting branches off trees for firewood, cutting strips of linen to prepare bandages, and much more.
ii. A Sword- The primary weapon of the legionaries, this almost meter-long (100cm) weapon sword is to be worn on the right hip. For obvious reasons, It is hoped that no legionary will ever forget his sword.
iii. Two to three javelins- The primary ranged weapon of the soldier, this special javelin, also called the pi is around two (2m) meters long and weighs two to three kilograms. Soldiers will be ordered to throw two volleys of this special javelin just before contact with the enemy, while keeping the third in reserve in case of enemy cavalry.
iv. Shield- The most important weapon for any soldier. He eitheres back with his shield or on it.
v. A Crossbow or An Instant bow- A select few soldiers will be expected to carry these specialized ranged weapons along with sixty arrows.
v. Six Plumbate- This is a lead-weighted throwing dart meant to be shot after the enemy has been softened up and deprived of his shield using the pi, and a soldier must carry six of them, usually by clipping them to the back of the shield.
vi. Caltrops-This is a weapon made up of four sharp nails or spines arranged in such a manner that one of them is always pointed upward from a stable base, and designed to slow and discourage the advance of cavalry charges, war elephants, and human troops
vii. A spade- For digging and moving earth, like for constructingtrines.
viii. A wicker basket- To carry the earth.
ix. A pickaxe- For digging entrenchments like ditches and trenches.
x. A small scythe- To easily cut through the overgrowth, reap crops and collect grass for firewood and animals.
xi. The full armor set- This will include the helmet, the upper and lower body armor, the four arm and leg greaves, the boots, and any other essory issued to the soldier.
xii. Ordinary clothes- A soldier must carry with him at least one spare tunic, a pair of trousers, a pair of sandals, a woolen jacket in case it gets cold, a neck scarf to prevent the torso armor from chaffing against the neck, a double-folded cloak to protect the wearer from the elements, and spare loincloths.
xiii. A leather military pack containing a number of items in and suspended from off it. They are:
xiv. A leather satchel for carrying misceneous things like gold coins, pendants, personal memorabilia, etc.
xv. A waterskin for carrying water for the day''s march.
xvi. Two to three days of food- Though the army on the move will typically have a baggage train of mules or simr to carry supplies such as food, legionaries are expected to carry about 3 days worth of basic food supplies with them.
xvii. Cooking equipment such as a metal or ceramic bowl for eating, a cooking pot, and a skewer for roasting.
xviii. Stakes to be used for the construction of camps.
xviii. A trumpet measuring almost three meters is to be carried by some.
xix Andstly, The Standard of the army is to be carried to battle by one distinguished man.
This specific part of the training willst one day.
III. How to march in formation- A soldier must remember to maintain a loose formation during the march, with around two meters of space on all four sides, and is expected to be able to rapidly form up into close battle formation at a moment''s notice from hismander''s order. The soldier must always remember to keep coherence with the group and never be caught alone.
IV. What specific trumpet signals mean- The variousplicated trumpet signals are to be memorized and burned into the hearts of every legionary, so they can follow such orders almost subconsciously. There will be two mainly two types of trumpet signals- in battle signals and marching signals, and during this exercise, thetter must be learned, which will include orders like to speed up or slow down the marching speed, to start or stop marching, orders to set up camp, to get into battle formation and many more.
Developing these skills will not be easy and thus, in addition to strict enforcement of training and discipline, the soldiers must be given a nutritious diet to build up muscle and strength.
They are to be fed a bnced, nutritious diet made up of around 75% grain and 25% non-grain food produce, two times a day, once in the morning, and again in the evening, though extra rations might be included if recruits are deemed too weak due to factors like suffering from famine or are too poor to feed themself properly.
The grain will typically consist of wheat, though barley might be issued as punishment, or if supplies are low.
Various types of cut meat such as pork, beef, and mutton depending on the local avability will need to be given to the soldiers twice a week, though alternative sources such asmb, venison, rabbit, and in some areas, elk, wolf, fox, badger, beaver, bear, vole, ibex, and otter meat can also be consumed.
If meat is not avable or in short supply, fish can be introduced as an alternate protein source, which can range fromrge fleshy fishes like trout and salmon to various small fishes to mollusks such as shellfish, crabs, and lobsters.
Vegetables such as beans, carrots, tomatoes, cabbages, lentils, peas, fennels, etc. as per seasonal and local ess, alongside seasonings like garlic, pepper, thyme, and rosemary should be part of the soldier''s diet.
Cheese made from goat, cow, or sheep should be made avable to the soldiers and olive oil is to be supplied to be used both as a condiment and a cooking supply.
Liquor such as vintage wine and sour wine should be reserved for rewarding good behavior and battle aplishments andstly salt is to be included in small amounts to provide the body with crucial minerals and vitamins.
It is the expected goal of this training course that the rigorous exercise ordained upon the soldiers, supported by the nutritious meals provided to them, will produce strong, hardy soldiers, who will be able to easily win against their much weaker and less trained counterpart one-on-one.
* Formation Drills-
This is the mostplex step of the training process, and just as the title suggests, it will involve teaching the soldiers how to properly receive and carry out the orders being given to them through the use of trumpets, whistles drums, and sometimes even gs. In this way, he will be taught to work as a cohesive unit in the army.
The training at this stage will include:
i. How to form a specific set of formations- The soldier must be able to quickly and smoothly form the formation being asked of him, such as testudo, hollow square, and checkerboard to name a few.
ii. How to identify the trumpet signals and gs for each formation- Aplete andprehensive memorization of each of the unique signals for each of the formations must be achieved.
iii. When certain formations are used- A soldier should have the good sense to form the formation that makes the most sense depending on the circumstances. For example- A testudo should be formed when enemy missiles are encountered, a hollow square should be deployed in case of an ambush or encirclement, while a checkerboard formation is rmended during pitched battles on t ground, which would enable tired soldiers to be switched out from the front lines and be reced by fresh troops from the back.
This training willst three months.
With this, the third point ended and only one remained- The mock battles.
Chapter 268 Legion Training Manual (Part-3)
"Only one point remains," Menes gleefully thought about the end nearing.
The huge, detailed manual that Alexander had written had made Menes feel his energy getting sapped out of him the more he read, and to finally find that the finish line of this vast bundle of instructions was very near was something the tall giant very much looked forward to, a sentiment shared by the rest of the military as well.
And so he quickly turned his eyes to thest point.
* Mock Combats Conditioning:
This will be the final phase of the training and will take ce during thest month.
The trainees will be required to perform mockbats with wooden equipment that weighs as much as their real equipment, in an attempt to simte real-life battles and give the men some experience in real fighting.
Every alternative day, they will be required to march twenty miles in five hours, immediately fight a pitched battle and after finishing, should be able to set up a fortified camp, equipped with wooden walls, embankments, ditches, sentries and watch towers.
In these mock drills, the soldiers will be tested on everything they learned until now and the tests should be designed to make the soldiers face a variety of situations, such as pitched battles with an outnumbering enemy, ambushes, nking attacks, night raids, and many more.
And once the four-month training is over, they are to swear an oath of loyalty to Pasha Alexander and after that, they will be proimed Zanzan soldiers.
Finally finishing reading the, in Menes''s opinion, booklet, the general let out a small, almost imperceptible sigh of relief, ''Ohh¡atst it''s over.''
Though, the others were far less tactful, drawingrge sighs as they slowly digested the huge info dump.
Of course, they were not expressing their displeasure towards Alexander, they would not dare.
Instead, it was more like they were making these sighs towards themselves, as the magnitude of the difference in skill level between Alexander and them was once againid bare in front of them.
"The Pasha is so great that any praise seems perfunctory," Menicus slightly ruefully said this as heid down the parchment on the table, the light animal skin feeling heavier than lead to the aged mercenary.
To him, the information contained in the small, rolled-up parchment seemed to be from the gods, because he could think of no other way that Alexander could have made up a detailed and meticulous list without trying the new, theoretical formation first.
Menicus even had the urge to kiss and bow, not towards Alexander, but at just the mere parchment his lord wrote on.
And if this was the reaction of the most experienced, stoic man, naturally the others were much more expressive of their praise.
"Haha, lord Menicus is not overstating. The lord''s capabilities seem almost divine," Melodias lightly chuckled and such simr praises soon sprouted off the mouth of all others, primarily true and genuine, with only a few embellishments hung to them for illustrative purposes.
"So, are there any problems you can think of with this training manual?" Sometimeter, Alexander asked the thing that really mattered.
"Not at the moment," This rapid reply came from Menes, who was hawkishly scanning the parchment again, exining, "We will need to conduct some battle drills to see if some things need adding or subtracting, or if the time period for each of the training steps needs to be adjusted."
Menes''s very short, almost cutthroat professional answer pleased Alexander and produced a nod of approval from the eighteen-year-old, who said, "Yes, those are my thoughts too. The time periods I stated are only ballpark numbers and they can be molded to the instructor''s wish to fit the training regime."
"I will give you the report regarding this as soon as possible," Menes suggested this by himself, promising to let Alexander evaluate the training schedule for himself.
"Okay, give it at your leisure," Alexander lightly replied.
It was at that point, one person raised the issue of time.
"But will the brand new formation be ready by the end of December?" Heliptos asked concerned.
Alexander himself gave the training timeline to be four months and so naturally this former merchant was skeptical about Menes''s two months im.
"No problem." Menes decisively waved hisrge hand to brush off these worries, pointing, "The four months of training is designed for new legions, for turning raw recruits into soldiers."
"Mmmn, I too agree with Menes," Melodias, who was also in charge of overseeing the implementation of the legion system alongside Menes, supported thetter, reasoning, "We can skip the first and second point, the mental conditioning and the weapons training and even many of the formation training."
"From what I read we need to only really develop the new legion formations and mostly the stamina." Menicus gave his own opinion, emphasizing, "Marching with thirty 35 kilograms of weight is no joke."
"Hmmm¡." The reminder about the weight produced a bit of a headache for Menes.
"My lord, ¡.about the¡" Menes attempted to raise the issue.
But was promptly shot down by Alexander who had already guessed what his top genital wanted to say, "The requirements for the army will not be lowered."
"If anyone thinks it''s too hard, they can quit no problem. We have lots of vacancies in the civilian department and they will be more than weed in any of those departments." He then added.
Though this might appear as Alexander providing an alternative, in reality for any soldier to switch from a military career to a civilian sector was generally seen as shameful, barring impediments such as injuries and sickness.
"...As youmand, pasha," Menes reluctantly nodded the reply, knowing that with the staunch stance disyed by Alexander, there was little point in arguing.
This hidden unwillingness did not escape Alexander''s notice and so he addressed, "I understand the reservations you have, Menes. You fear that the soldiers might find the training too demanding."
And this produced a slight nod from the general.
It was such a case with Menes, and even other military officers, though they never said it aloud.
So Alexander instructed, "But you only need to implement these reforms as I stated in the manual. I will visit the army around the next month and I will address the soldiers directly about any hidden resentment they might have, as well as announce new benefits for them."
"Hahaha, the pasha is wise and just," Hearing the soldiers will be getting new financial support, Menes instantly grinned.
Menes being a former mercenary himself, knew that as long as enough money was dangled in front of them, the men under him could walk through hellfire, no problem.
And Alexander did too.
And hence the scheduled announcement.
After Alexander fInished cating the slightly frayed nerves of Menes, another rose to take his ce, though forpletely different reasons.
"My lord, I had a few questions regarding the manual," Grahtos politely started, and then he pointed to the first page, "In the weapons training part here, it says the words crossbow and instant bow. What are these?" He looked in askance at Alexander.
Naturally, these things were brand new weapons to be developed in this world, and so outside the manufacturers, only a few of Alexander''s bodyguards had seen them.
Grahtos''s reasonable question also made many others think about what these could be.
They were familiar with the concept of the bow and after reading the manual about how a soldier was supposed to be a decent shot, these smart people could roughly figure out that these were some kind of handheld weapons that shot projectiles much like the bow.
''But then why was it called a crossbow?''
''Where does the word cross fit?''
''Is it two bows stuck to one another?''
These questions were asked by some of the people present.
While in others'' heads, they asked questions regarding the instant bow.
''What is an instant bow?''
''Is it something like an instant death now? A kind of bow that kills instantly and hence the name?''
''How is it different from the crossbow?''
All kinds of weird questions and hypotheses swam inside the heads of the military leaders.
"Haha, the crossbow and instant bow are different types of bows." Alexander sinctly replied.
And then quickly reassured, "Don''t worry, all the different types of new weapons that are mentioned in the manual will be revealed to the army when I visit them next month. They are being manufactured in secret now and once they are ready, not only the new types of bows but also the other new things like the plumbata and caltrops will be introduced to the men."
Everyone, including Cambyses, was surprised that new weapons were being developed without their knowledge.
Some were even a bit peeved that they were told nothing about them.
But not Menicus, who as the representative of the collective military leaders quickly praised, "As expected of the lord! We very much look forward to seeing them."
"Mmm, I too am confident you will like them," Alexander replied with an enigmatic smile.
Chapter 269 Cambysess Point
Finally finished ironing out the creases in the legion infantry formation, Alexander remembered to double back to the original topic that started all this- the to-be refugee crisis.
"My lords, we seem to have gotten off track," His voice drew everyone''s attention, after which said, "Because we have yet to decide on what to do about the people who enter the city for food."
"Ahem," Alexander''s speech was immediately seeded by a low cough, though the sound was not gruff like a man''s, but a high-pitched feminine one.
Cambyses had decided to take the stand, and proceeded, "My lords, I did not say this before, but I believe that we are looking into the refugees all wrong!"
This was a bold statement by Cambyses, but she said it regardless because she thought her opinion was correct and also felt that by proving herself right and even Alexander wrong, she could prove her mettle to the council and make the men recognize her as an individual and not someone just riding on Alexander''s coattails.
"Oh? Then please exin?" Alexander did not mind getting corrected if he was truly wrong.
"Mmmm," Getting permission from her boss, she hummed with a short nod and began.
"My lords, first let mey out the situation in the near vicinity of Zanzan," Cambyses pointed, saying, "I am sure all of you have witnessed it already by now, but for any who missed it, please recall the fact that it has been close to two weeks since we started giving out the food, and still no refuge hase to us."
"This is very unusual." She then proimed, "Usually people flock like ants even if the food is only being sold at a discounted price."
"So what does it mean when free food is given out during not just normal times but during a drought and no onees?" Cambyses pointedly looked at the men as she asked.
Then she herself gave the answer, "It means that there are not really many people in the near Zanzan. They have all either moved into the city already, left for the further countryside where foraging is easier, or died."
Afterward, Cambyses posited, "Hence, the people you are expecting will being from far away ces. ces where they are still unaware that Zanzan''s gue has passed and likely just started the journey after getting the confirmation."
Hearing Cambyses''s very logical argument made Alexander realize she was right.
''I did not think about it like that!'' The thought dawned on Alexander as he understood that he hadpletely misread the situation.
He had thought that the refugees were noting because of the gue, but listening to Cambyses he began to understand this was not correct.
This was because when one is starving, when the stomach acid is slowly eating out the stomach lining because there is no food there to digest, and when one is having hunger pangs that produce intensive stomach cramps, fears about catching secondary diseases are pretty down the priority list.
And this was very evident even in Alexander''s past life, where people would go to unimaginable lengths just to get even one morsel of food.
There were records that even during mild droughts, peasants would wait expectantly for the spring grass to appear, which they would eat with relish by making a soup out of water and grass.
Yes! Just water and grass boiled together and it was many times not only drank with great satisfaction but even sometimes fought over.
And in case of a worse drought, the situation would go from tragic to horrific or descending into utter madness.
Entire cities bing devoid of cats and dogs were not unheard of, and in some instances, people would fight over not just human vomit, but animal ones too.
Even cannibalism of small children was not unknown in some hellish recounts.
Such are not the actions of a normal human, but a man sufficiently hungry enough, pushed to the edge of insanity by his body''s innate desire to live, could be made to do such extreme acts.
And fortunately for Alexander, he had never had to experience this feeling firsthand, neither in his previous life nor after his transmigration.
In the past ten years, even when things were the toughest for him, even when his body was tested close to its limit, he at least never starved.
Yes, sure, there were some nights where he went to sleep with an empty stomach, there were days he would tie stones to his rumbling stomach to fool the brain into thinking that the belly was full, and there were many days he finished a meal with half a belly and feeling unsatisfied.
But in general, being professional mercenaries, though they were not swimming in gold, they were also not starving, and Nestoras had generally tried to provide all the men with at least two hearty meals a day, ensuring the soldiers kept up their strength and physique.
And for that reason, without suffering from abject hunger, Alexander''s thoughts drifted to the reason that people wereing because they were afraid, not because they were really far away.
And it seemed that his council thought the same way too, leading them to almost adopting a wrong strategy.
The only exception being Cambyses who took that into consideration and was still speaking, "When these refugees get here, having traveled on average fifty to sixty kilometers from all directions to get here, they are not gonna just pack and leave after getting their meal. They are gonna stay and live here."
"That''s great! The manpower issue is solved," As soon as Cambyses said this, implying that more workers were going to be soon avable, a very enthusiastic and happy voice cried out from across the table.
This premature celebration was called by Harun who felt that he had gotten the magic cheat code to solving thebor shortage.
But the others, especially the military leader were less enthusiastic.
''That''s not the important thing here.'' Alexander said to himself, a little peeved that he had missed such a crucial.
And so, when he along with many of the military leaders give Harun a t, unimpressed look, the man''s grinning face instantly deted, and his flushed.
"Ahh, sorry, my bad for interrupting," Harun immediately apologized, as he lowered his head in embarrassment and quickly zipped his mouth tight.
After seeing Harun go silent, Alexander gently turned his head and gestured to Cambyses, "Go on. We are listening."
"Mmmp," She gave a slight nod and resumed, "As I was saying, these people will probablye to stay in the city. And even if they are thrown out, they will likely gather outside the city and beg or try to smuggle out some food." Cambyses seemed to have given what she was saying quite some thought.
After saying this, she paused for a bit to let everyone evaluate what she was saying, and after finding no one was finding faults with her, she then said, "So it will not be as easy as the previous n of sending the soldiers. In the previous action, we assumed that the soldiers will be operating near the city''s vicinity and so did not take logistics into ount."
Cambyses then finished by saying, "But now, the soldiers will have to march around sixty kilometers and likely take part in many small skirmishes. So they will need enough food for at least a month."
"Hmmm, yes, I guess you are right." Alexander traced his chin as he spoke, and then frankly admitted, "I hadn''t thought about it like that."
Afterward, then suddenly turned to his council and chuckled, "Hahaha, looks like we men got beaten by a girl."
This produced some wry and dey smiles from the lords, who were then quick to praise Cambyses.
"Hehe, as expected of thedy chosen by the Pasha. She''s both graceful and talented."
"Lady Cambyses''s insight is truly one of a kind. We have surely avoided a disaster."
"Hohoho, looks like even our great Pasha is no match for his wife,"
Various types of praises and sobriquets were given to Cambyses, as all everyone tried to suck up to their madam as subtly pointed out by their lord.
Though for a small minority, who considered themselves to be over-smart, thought that Alexander might have orchestrated the whole thing, to boost his wife''s image.
But no matter what thoughts the individuals shared, they all kept it to themselves and instead focused on trying to find a solution to the problem.
"Given that Cam has pointed out the real situation," Alexander addressed, "The situation on the domestic front bes on where to house these refugees and militarily on how to reim the easternnds."
"What are your suggestions?" He thus posed this question to the decision-makers.
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Chapter 270 Land Shortage (Part-1)
Hearing Alexander''s question, Menicus took the lead to express his viewpoint of the situation, "I too agree with Lady Cambyses. Even if we assume that the soldiers will be able to march twice as fast as those starving men burdened by women and children and the baggage train, it will still take us some time to finish this campaign."
"Or the campaign might not even happen." Melodias posited, cautioning many of the bellicose men, "We should not break the treaty so soon."
"Melodias is right to weary. We paid a lot to get this peace and to tear it up so soon will not only inconvenience us, but it will also cause our allies extreme displeasure." Alexander nodded approvingly at Melodias''s warning.
But this had the side effect on many of the men, especially the military leaders bing visibly deted.
All of them save one were in their prime and so were eager to earn glory, booty. andnd.
Not to mention it was the fasted way to rise through the ranks.
"But we must do it anyway," Just as the men were starting to feel a bit down, Alexander then, in many''s eyes, suddenly u-turned on his announcement and dered that the campaign will ur regardless.
"My¡my lord, that''s¡umm¡" Menes went a bit ck-jawed at this mercurial response.
This was because though he would be a bit disappointed if this deployment could not ur, he certainly did not want tomence if it meant tearing up the treaty.
This was also the only real reason they were even debating about using the military and not simply going to greet the rebel with the men.
Without this restriction, Menes could confidently say his army could have curb-stomp any opposition the nobles of Zanzan might be able to pose, as thetter''s men and material were severely depleted through the drought and the two years war with Tibias, whereas Alexander not only had five thousand elite warriors but also had the freed Cantagenan ves, many of the Cantagenans that followed him to Zanzan and most of all the twenty thousand ves he bought.
In all, Menes could wield close to forty thousand experienced men, enough to be more than a match for any army or even armies that the lords of Zanzan could throw at them.
As Menes and along with him the other men too, tried to figure out Alexander''s angle, the eighteen-year-old gave the answer, "The answer is simple -Because we need morend."
''Morend? But we are not even using the total of our existing farmingnd!'' Menicus just barely stopped himself from blurting it out, telling himself that Alexander must have his reasons.
But even if he could do it, did not mean Cambyses could, who said the exact same thing.
"*Shake" Alexander produced a gentle shake of his head and then waving his palms said, "Let me show you the maths."
Alexander thus began, "Currently, we have around eighty thousand (80,000) men in Zanzan. And in the next two to three months, all the families of the men from Thesos, numbering around thirty to forty thousand (30,000 - 40,000) will be entering the city. And that will bring the total to roughly around one hundred and twenty thousand (120,000)."
He then paused to see if everyone was keeping up, as for many of these half-educated men, even such simple additions were considered hard.
But fortunately, finding that no one was just nkly staring at him, he decided to proceed, "Then there are the twenty thousand (20,000) ves we purchased from Pasha Farzah. They will also arrive in around January, raising the total to one hundred and forty thousand (140,000)."
"And after that,es the refugees. Though we do not know their exact numbers, let''s be generous and assume a bit bigger number of sixty thousand (60,000) to make the total city''s poption a nice, whole two-hundred thousand (200,000)." Alexander pursed his lips as he said.
"And because all these people need to be fed, it nicely brings us to the issue of food," He sub-consciously frowned as he said it, finding the number that was produced in his head very distressing.
But one does not just hide the answer because the numbers are too inconvenient, and so he let the men know the situation they were in.
"The two hundred thousand (200,000) men will eat around seventy (70 kg) kilograms of wheat per year. For ease of calction, we will assume that children and women eat the same amount as a grown man, though, in reality, they each eat half (?) and three-quarters (?) of a man respectively. And so thates to fourteen thousand (14,000 tons) tons of grain a year."
Alexander then nced at the old man Menicus, "My agricultural minister informed me that thends of Zanzan produce on average two-fifty to three hundred kilograms of wheat per hectare, (250-300 kg/ha). Now with the use of the heavy plow, and using the three-crop rotation, let us say that the yield will almost triple to around seven hundred kilograms per hectare, (700 kg/ha)."
"So to feed the two hundred thousand (200,000) men, we will need twenty thousand hectares (20,000 ha) or two hundred square kilometers (200 sq. km) ofnd."
This number strangely produced a light smile on many, which Alexander noticed and addressed, "I see many of you are very pleased with this number. After all, in many of your minds, we control around a thousand kilometers (1,000 sq. km) around Zanzan."
"But," Alexander tapped his index finger on the table wood, "Remember that one cannot live off just grain. A man also needs fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, and eggs."
"Thus, given that grain usually consists of a quarter (25%) to at most a third (33%) of one''s diet, we can calcte that we will need to at least quadruple the calctednd."
"As a matter of fact, realistically we will need to make it five or six times because things like rearing sheep, goats, and cows, and husbandry of other animals like horses, mules, and donkeys will need more space than nting crops."
"So that brings us to around one thousand two hundred square kilometers (1,200 sq. km) of requirednd, that is, much more than the thousand we have now." Alexander atst finished, making everyone draw poignant looks.
"And not to mention we can''t use every inch ofnd to just grow crops," Menicus spookily added.
This thought had not even crossed anyone''s mind and so they could not even think how Alexander had managed to not only notice there might be a potential problem on the spot but also do suchplex maths in his head to evaluate the extent, all while he was talking to them.
In fact, over the past few days, Alexander had disyed suchpetence and foresight, that the men here had gone from being surprised to amazed to finally numb to it all.
''Sigh, perhaps that''s how a god''s mind works,'' Some came to peace with Alexander''s abilities.
But just as they were about to go on another round of puffery, a familiar, feminine cough rang out, "Ahem," It was Cambyses, who said, "I''m afraid my lord''s calctions might be a little off."
"....." This was a first for everyone in the room, as Alexander had yet to be proven wrong, and other than darting their nervously or in befuddlement, so one really knew how to react.
''Darn, I''m really out of form today,'' Alexander cursed himself as after looking at Cambyses''s sly, grinning face, he knew he had fucked up.
"Mydy, perhaps you are mistaken. I don''t usually do mistakes, hehe," Alexander yfully tried to dissuade Cambyses.
And if Alexander was seriously asking her not to embarrass him, she would have listened.
But as the girl knew that Alexander was just pulling per leg, she too mirthfully chuckled, "Hehe, well there is a first time for everything."
''Could you two couples stop flirting and take this seriously,'' Seeing this yful exchange, the others had the urge to shout at them to take the situation seriously, but could only hold it off because it was their boss who was doing it.
And so with cid faces that they managed to keep with great effort, they patiently waited till the duo finished their little recreational teasing.
"Ahem," Finally done, Cambyses then signaled the return to the topic with a gentle cough, and began, "So, as I was saying, the twelve hundred square kilometers (1,200 sq. km) is a gross under evaluation. And there are several reasons why."
''I am gonna get my ass handed to me ain''t I?'' Given how confident Cambyses sounded, Alexander could smell that he likely had messed up majorly in his calction, and Cambyses was going to give him a good thrashing.
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Chapter 271 Land Shortage (Part-2)
Cambyses was over the moon that such a golden opportunity had presented itself.
Usually, Alexander was very astute and methodical with his maths, but today it seemed he was having one of those days where nothing seems to go right for oneself.
Days where people have hugepses in concentration, leading to mistakes that would normally never happen.
And this fortunate urrence had happened by coincidence on her orientation day, presenting Cambyses with a silver bullet by which she could cement her mark on the council.
''Hahaha, the heavens have truly blessed me today,'' Cambysesughed out in her heart, ecstatic that she could increase her reputation and not least bother that she would have to do it by stepping a bit on Alexander''s reputation and proving him wrong.
Noticing that all the men were expectantly looking at her for her exnation, she decided to longer keep them waiting.
Tapping her index finger on the table, Cambyses began," The first reason the twelve hundred square kilometers (1,200 sq km) answer is wrong is because it does not take into ount the three crop rotation into ount."
"From what I''m told, in this farming method, one-third (?) of thend is left fallow, meaning only two-thirds (?) of the total avablend is used. So. we will actually need one thousand sixteen hundred square kilometers (1,600 sq. km) ofnd, and not twelve hundred square kilometers (1,200 sq km)."
Then without losing any steam, she ced her long finger on the table and continued, "Secondly, the lord''s math assumes that the entirety of the obtainednd will be good arablend. That is clearly wishful thinking, as only a tiny fraction of the total ownednd is actually farnd. "
Cambyses then waved her palmed and said, "For instance, let''s take thend surrounding Zanzan city itself. Yes. we might control one thousand square kilometers (1,000 sq. km) on the map, but the majority of it is the hilly, barren area in the Cisrian hills, full of rocky thin soil, totally unsuitable for cultivation."
"So we must find out how much of Zanzan''snd is actually suitable for farming." Cambyses proposed.
Then she continued, "We know that even in good, fertile provinces, the amount of arablend would not exceed a third (33%) of the totalnd avable. But for a barren ce like the Zanzan province, even half that amount might be optimistic. A more likely figure will be one-tenth (10%). And that puts the requirednd at sixteen thousand square kilometers (16,000 sq. km)."
"But" Cambyses reminded, "Since we will be nting crops twice a year, this drops of eight square kilometers (8,000 sq. km)."
Cambyses here paused a bit to savor the faces of the men around her which ranged from pleasantly surprised to bbergasted, and one particr one who was very flushed and embarrassed.
''Hmmm, Italy also only had a pre-industrial arablend of just 10%,'' Alexander thought of a tidbit of information as he tried to distract himself from the huge embarrassment he was suffering at Cambyses''s hands.
Cambyses, after a bit of basking in her own glory, then sinctly finished the third and ultimate point, "Andst of all, in the first calction, there is no consideration of ck. ording to the previous calction, we will only be able to produce the bare minimum, whereas, in reality, we must produce some excess to store for times of emergency."
"So the total requirednd area should be at least ten thousand square kilometers (10,000 sq km)."
As Cambyses finished showing her workings and sent a ''Praise me!'' look at Alexander, the men around the table simplymented, ''Another monster''.
They were aware that Cambyses ran the medical camp before and all of them were very impressed by how she had managed to stymie the spread of the gue by following Alexander''s orders.
But giving instructions to a few ves and doctors was in no wayparable to making state-level decisions.
Thus they had assumed her to be just another pretty face that Alexander had bought here to bolster his own faction.
But it seems they were wrong in that assessment.
Very wrong.
The young girl seemed perfectly capable of holding her own against them and even Theocles, who was Cambyses''s former boss was caught surprised by this disy.
But instead of feeling down or even jealous, Theocles only piously thought, ''As expected of the lord''s consort. How can we mortalspare to a vessel chosen by the gods?''
While these men were having their thoughts and musings, Alexander was himself thinking and evaluating the whole urrence.
For many this instance might seem like a simple math calction gone astray, after all, Alexander was actively engaging in a conversation while he multitasked the solution inside his head.
But still, it was not like it was just an innocent little miscement of a zero or a decimal point or the error margin was small and within a rounding error.
That could have been forgiven.
Bu the numbers were orders of magnitudes off.
Almost by a factor of ten, a one thousand percent (1000%) discrepancy.
This was never going to be eptable to Alexander or anyone else for the matter, and so he repeatedly chastised himself for not being careful enough which led to this huge error percentage.
He had missed not one, not two, but three crucial points.
''ck! Oh god, I can''t believe I forgot about ck!'' Missing the third point particrly stung Alexander and hempooned for making such a basic error.
ck was the amodation one made in the mathematical calctions to correct for any assumption error and usually, it involved multiplying the value with a factor greater than one.
For example, the most famous of ck would be the safety factor which was 2.5 times the calcted value, and every engineer who has ever made anything structural, i.e- designed to support weight, would use this value.
And thus this practice became pretty basic knowledge for every engineering major which made Alexander''spse all the more egregious.
It was gross negligence on his part no doubt.
''I''ve been getting too cocky,'' He self-reflected as he recalled that he had experienced the same feeling in Adhan with Pasha Farzah.
And so he repeatedly berated himself for making the same mistake twice.
On the other hand, Alexander did not doubt Cambyses''s mathematical result.
In fact, he found them to be very urate.
Though Cambyses had seemingly assumed and rounded off many things, the answer of ten thousand square kilometers (10,000 sq km)nd for two hundred thousand (200,000) people was surprisingly spot on.
In fact, it was scarily spot.
And the reason was because the province of Zanzan''s totalnd area was around three hundred thousand thirty to three hundred thousand fifty square kilometers (330,000 - 350.000 sq km).
And it was said that it had a poption of around six and a half to seven million people (6,500,000 - 7,000,000).
This gave a poption density of 20 per square kilometer (20 men per sq km), just like in Cambyses''s calction.
As a matter of fact, this could be extrapted to all of Adhania, which had a total area of around four million square kilometers (4,000,000 sq km) and a poption of around seventy to eighty million (70,000,000 - 80,000,000), which gave the same rough poption density of 20 men per sq km.
And this was not even the most remarkable part.
The most astounding part was that this value of 20 men per sq km was even followed in Alexander''s previous life, as evidenced by the Roman empire.
At its peak, the Roman empire was around four million square kilometers (4,000,000 sq km) in area and had a poption of seventy to seventy-five million (70,000,000 - 75,000, 000), which, as you guessed, produced the magic poption density of around 20 men per sq km.
So from this example, it could be seen that the averagend really could only feed up to twenty people per square kilometer, or one man per five hectares.
Some ces might have excess food, like the good arable farnds around the banks of rivers and deltas, which can then grow into cities, as evidenced by mostrge, ancient cities situated by the banks of rivers and near the coasts.
And some ces might have no agricultural value, like hills, mountains deserts, swamps, and marshes and the poption around it would be mostly small and tribal.
But on average, one man per five hectares was the food-producing capacity of thend, even when ''advanced techniques'' such as the three-crop rotation, horse cor, and natural manure were used.
And the only way to increase that capacity would be to industrialize and use heavy machinery to quickly cultivate vast swaths ofnd, while at the same time using copious amounts of various synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to boost the yield.
Or, if such high-tech solutions were not possible, the only low-tech option avable would be to introduce potatoes.
These little buggers had insane yields, and historically, after they were introduced to Europe, the poption density went from 20 men per square kilometer to 100 hundred per square kilometer and in some ces to even 120 men per square kilometer.
And knowing this Alexander in the past years had searched high and low for these little globules of goodness, searching desperately for even the tiniest sniff of the thing.
But s! It was to avail.
No traveler, no merchant, and certainly no one he knew that ever seen or heard of the famed potato.
Chapter 272 Manpower Distribution
As Alexander swam inside his own mind bubble, almost ying 3D chess with himself using the various math calctions, everyone else decided to it was to get their lord back to earth.
"Ahem," Cambyses took it upon herself to break Alexander out of the trance-like state and then asked, "Does the pasha find anything wrong with my workings?"
Alexander almost could not keep a straight face when he looked at Cambyses''s almost cat-like smug expression, her eyes twinkling with delight.
''How does it feel to get beaten by a girl?'' It seemed to say, which seemed to produce a wry, shy smile.
''Ahhh, embarrassed Alex is so cute,'' She chuckled at the contorting face.
But Alexander momentster recovered and decided to turn the tables around.
He was no greenhorn to being corrected after all.
It might be a novelty for him in his life, but in his previous life there had been numerous times when he was corrected and he corrected other.
And along the way, he had picked on a myriad of ways on how to both admit being wrong without actually admitting being wrong and also not admitting being wrong while actually being wrong.
And now, he decided to use one of the techniques belonging to thetter category.
So he cleverly retorted, "Haha, excellent, excellent. It''s said that a lord''s ability can be judged by the ability of his retinue. Hahaha, good job. Immacte calctions."
Alexander tried to make it look like this was all his credit because it was he who bought Cambyses here.
Cambyses was unimpressed by this showing to say the least.
''What a sore loser,'' She swore, feeling that she had learned a new level of level of shamelessness about her husband.
Alexander knew this was a low blow to use and so tried to quickly move the meeting forward.
"As my lords can see, Cambyses has perfectly pointed out why this campaign needs to happen. Though we are not in critical need of grain as we have some stock that we bought from Adhan and Pasha Farzah will be providing us with more, we still need to acquire thend if we want to be self-sufficient."
Then he raised his fist into the air and gently mmed the table with a dull thud, he dered, "And now is the time optimum time to strike. Because as soon as springes, the total men at our disposal with vanish like the morning dew vanishes under the radiant rays of the sun."
The men and one woman raised a look of inquiry at his incongruous statement, as Alexander was just saying that he did not have enoughnd to feed so much people and now he was saying he won''t have enough men?
What did it mean?
So Alexander elucidated, "As a farmer can take care of two to three hectares ofnd by himself, the two thousand square kilometers or two hundred thousand hectares of farnd will need to be plowed by seventy to eighty thousand (70,000 - 80,000) men."
"And to support these farmers, to cook for them, to do their household chores, to sew clothes for them, and to do a hundred different misceneous things, there needs to be a woman, i.e- his wife." He pointed out.
"That brings the people just producing food, from grain to vegetable to meat and fish to rearing various animals to around hundred and fifty thousand (150,000)." Alexander calcted.
"And then there are the infants and infirm, theme and the physically disabled. Let''s say allbined is ten thousand (10,000)."
This number might seem too low because each farmer alone could have five-six, and even ten kids.
But one should look closely to see that Alexander used the word infant, not children.
This is because in this time period, children were seen as just small men and women and expected to perform their part of the duties.
Young boys, aged as small as five or six, would apany their fathers to the field at the crack of dawn and perform back-breaking work alongside their parent, while young girls of simr age would help with household chores, cooking, cleaning, cleaning, and mending.
There were only three stages of life- babies, children, and adults, with no concept of the word teenager, which was a very modern concept.
In fact, some even thought that there were only two stages- babies and adults because children worked just as hard as the adults, ie- close to their physical limits.
Life was crude and hard, and every member of the family who could walk and talk was required to chip in just to survive.
"That leaves us with just forty thousand (40,000) people," Alexander loudly said the number.
"From there ten to fifteen thousand (10,000 - 15,000) will have to work in the mines to feed our massive need for stone, iron, and limestone, all needed to make various products and fuel the infrastructure projects we areunching."
"And then we are keeping a standing army of six thousand (6,000) infantrymen, five hundred (500) cavalrymen with five hundred (500) servants, another five hundred (500) cavalrymen which I have a secret use for, and one thousand (1,000) city guards, which gives us the number - eight thousand five hundred (8,500).
"Let''s say another five hundred (500) more are noblemen and women, city administrators, doctors, judges, teachers and priests, and priestesses."
"That leaves only us with a mere sixteen thousand (16,000) people that are the real city dwellers. It would be only these sixteen thousand (16,000) people, that would form all the entire different kinds of upations unique to a city."
"Most will be artisans like cksmiths, potters, bakers, tanners, tailors, carpenters, and the list could go on, some will be merchants and shopkeepers, and a few will even be mercenaries, thugs, and criminals, with a scant number even bing prostitutes and beggars."
After Alexander finished, the men could easily figure out why Alexander said now was the time to strike.
Because now, only a fraction of the men were engaged in farming, living off the food stocks that Alexander bought and so many hands that would not otherwise be avable were open to them currently.
Meanwhile, Alexander was saying to himself, ''God, I hate eating,'' as he could scarcely believe that the two hundred thousand people had magically transformed into just sixteen thousand (16,000) urban people, a more than ny percent decrease.
All because people needed to eat.
And this also illustrated perfectly why no one kept arge standing army.
Not because they were stupid, but because they were smart.
Like in the case of Alexander, if he disbanded the army, the urban people''s poption would go up by a third, to almost twenty-four thousand (24,000).
Of course, the total number of city dwellers would not be really as low as twenty-four thousand (24,000) as Alexander calcted.
Because though some farmers with farnds too far away from the city will leave in viges and around small manors ruled by Shordars (Barons), everyone within a fifteen-kilometer radius usually tended to live in the city.
It was this particr number because it took a man around three hours to travel this distance.
And thus such a journey of walking for three hours, working the whole day tillte noon, and then being back by dusk using the same three-hour-long trek was hellish but certainly doable.
But why did people go through so much trouble just to live in a city?
Because a city had a certain allure to the people.
For peasants, it provided the allure of nightlife like bars, gambling dens, and brothels, a better range of food, a more varied social life, and most of all, security.
The security of the city''s tall walls.
Alexander would calcte that since Zanzan was a port city, thend portion of the city formed a semicircle, and with the soil east and north of here being fully fertile, once taken over, around twenty thousand (20,000) peasants including their family members could live in the city.
Another ten thousand (10,000) fishermen would also call the city home, setting out to the Mad Sea to catch their living, thus bringing the expected inhabitants number to around sixty thousand (60,000).
This was not a shabby number, as the city had a pre-drought and pre-war poption of one hundred thousand (100,000).
And in Alexander''s previous life, London in the 1500s had a poption of around fifty thousand (50,000).
But it was still a far cry from the original two hundred thousand (200,000) and it made Alexander bleed.
But Alexander knew he could not mope, everyone was in the same boat as him, some much worse, and so he mightily said, "As we have the numbers now, it is the perfect time to attack east. Though we can''t conquer the entire ten thousand square kilometers right away, we will aim to take over at least a third of it, around three thousand square kilometers."
Chapter 273 Eastern March
Alexander breaking down the situation for them set many of the military leaders'' hearts aze.
They understood that abiding by the treaty will result in their slow death and knew attacking was the only option.
"Do we simply charge and kill the ruling nobles?" Menes wanted to know Alexander''s strategy.
"No, not that," Came the reply.
But hearing this answer made some people almost jump in fright.
Not because of its contents.
But because of the owner of its utterance.
For this was not said by Alexander but by Cambyses!
''The brat needs a good spanking tonight.'' Alexander getting his thunder stolen could barely keep the gentle smiling facade.
He had been worried that due to Cambyses being a woman she would be underestimated or shunned by her fellow council members.
But it seems he should have been worried about Cambyses making him feel irrelevant.
Cambyses did not pay attention to Alexander''s wounded heart, and instead, after snatching the figurative microphone from Alexander, quickly said, "We have basically two options."
Then raising her thumb listed:
"One- We dress up the soldiers as civilians and portray the take cover as a popr rebellion to join us"
"Or two" With her index finger up, she said, "We take some of the refugees with us and have them take the lead, thus installing a puppet."
''...Aren''t you too good at this,'' Alexander felt like he was seeing Cambyses grow wings as she took charge of the nning and policy-making.
And the initial acridness, he was beginning to like this.
Having apetent underling to wipe your butt was a blessing to have.
If it was anyone else, Alexander might have been a little fearful that the person could try and usurp him.
But with Cambyses, his wife and student, he only felt impressed,...and relieved.
Yes, relieved because it meant that he would be able to dump arge amount of the work on her.
"Haha, well you heard thedy," Alexander chuckled, "So which one?"
Alexander''s question generated a mixed response.
"I believe we should use the first option. Civilians will only get in the way," Menes presented himself as a staunch supporter of only using the military.
"I agree," And he was supported by Grahtos, who nodded and added, "The legion formation is already a very new tactic. To use civilians would onlyplicate the matter."
But they were opposed by Menicus, "I like the second option better. I believe we should try to preserve the treaty as much as possible, or at least the illusion of it."
Melodias too preferred the old man''s approach, "I too want the civilians in this deployment. It''s good to have scapegoats to help take the me if anything goes wrong."
Melodias, the ever cautious, had a much darker reason.
"No, we should make the people see the army as reliable. So no civilians," Menes argued.
And was countered by Menicus, "The civilians should help the army achieve its goal."
The two groups had two very different philosophies regarding this matter.
And thus this fencing of words went on for some time, with both sides presenting good, robust points.
And then atst, understanding they were unlikely to reach a consensus within themselves, turned to Alexander to adjudicate.
But Alexander instead of picking and choosing a side, decided to do things differently.
"Hehe, well let''s have a vote then," Alexander suggested with a light smile.
He did this because he did not want to show open support for either Menes or Menicus at the cost of the other and thus draw a wedge between the two.
So he chose the diplomatic route of letting the people decide.
"Vote?" Melodias asked raising an eyebrow.
The studious man had read quite extensively about Adhania''s court culture while in Adhan and this suggestion was certainly an abnormality.
Usually, a lord wouldmand and his retinues would obey.
"Yes. vote," Alexander repeated.
Then he turned to look at both his military and civilian leaders and said, "Well gentlemen, you have all heard what both sides have to say. Now vote for the group who think made more sense."
He thenid down the rules, "The voting will be unanimous, meaning you will just write your answer on a piece of papyrus and nothing else. No names or anything like that."
"After everyone is done writing in, you will drop the piece of papyrus on this bowl," Alexander showed a bowl that once contained some fruits as refreshment.
"And that you are done, I will tally the results and dere the winner."
Alexander then finished by saying, "As I''m the judge, I will not vote."
The instructions were quite easy and clear, and so after Menicus and Menes both agreed to it by saying, "We have no problem," the voting process began.
Alexander cut a few pieces of papyrus with a fruit cutter and all the people drew one or two lines, ording to their answer.
And after a while, Alexander finished counting the ballots, and announced,
"The results are in! And the winner is¡." He then paused for dramatic effect, "....Menes!"
The results were close, with Menes winning by just two votes, but it seemed that more people trusted the military to get the job than getting the civilians mixed up in all this.
Menicus was, of course, a bit deted at losing, but he was gracious enough to have no intention of challenging the results.
Instead, he was more fearful of the consequences that option one might bring.
And he tried to make Alexander share theses as he asked, "My lord, will it be alright? If the treaty is¡." He trailed off.
So Alexander soothed the old man''s nerves, "My lord Menicus, I do understand your concern. You fear this rash military incursion so soon after signing the treaty will make all our efforts turn to water."
"*Nod*," Menicus felt exactly that way.
"But don''t worry, that won''t happen," Alexander very confidently stated.
And finding Menicus give him an inquisitive look, he exined, "Because I''m afraid you are looking at it all wrong."
He then posited, "You fear that the recentness of the treaty is what makes it so fragile. ording to you, we should wait a while and let the treaty mature a bit, so as to make the other party less wary of whether we will keep our promise or not."
Until now, everything was as Alexander said.
Menicus felt exactly this way.
So Alexander attempted to show the ce where he thought Menicus was wrong, "I believe in the opposite. I believe that the treaty is the strongest right one and will be more fragile as time goes by."
"Now why do I say this?" Alexander asked a rhetorical question.
"Because the demands Amenheraft made during the negotiations pointed to such." Alexander clenched his strong fist as he said it.
"He has demanded from His Majesty Ptolomy huge war reparations in the name of loan and various other goods."
"Why? Because he cannot afford it financially. His purse strings are too tight now."
"And that means that once he gets it, once he is sufficiently solvent enough, the former king will have no reason to keep his promise. And the annulment of the treaty will then only be a matter of time" Alexander warned.
So he again emphasized, "And that''s why we must strike soon, The sooner the better. The sooner we attack, the more they will be unwilling to break the truce."
Alexander made his grand statement very forcefully and was quickly joined by Theocles,
"My lords, please remember that it was they that struck first. This was they who killed our priests!"
The archpriest had an indignant tone to his voice.
"That''s right, that''s right." Menes nodded heavily, "This is just retaliation."
And he was soon joined by many others, all ying along despite knowing the real story.
''Well, we did steal the nobles'' houses when we entered Zanzan. And the soldiers will be wearing civilian clothes. So I guess we won''t be tearing the facade too tantly,'' Menicus tried to reason with himself.
And given most were in support of option one, he nodded and consented, "The pasha is wise."
"Mmm, good, "Alexander lightly smiled at having resolved the disagreement.
And then turned to Grahtos, "Captain Graptos, you are to arrange and send fifty covert scout riders to the east and fifty to the north of Zanzan respectively."
"I want to know the terrain and defense around there. Who rules what piece ofnd there, and most importantly if there are any hidden roads we can use tounch a sneak attack" He instructed.
"At once my lord, " Grahtos had no problem with this practiced act.
"Mmmm, you will have one month," Alexander set a time frame.
And then turning to Menes, he said, "After Grahtos gets the information, you are to use that to n an offensive n. And submit it to me for evaluation before mid-December."
"And by the first week of January, we will march east." Alexander dered.
"Yes, my lord." Menes nodded.
And so the revised military campaign was set.
Chapter 274 Latest Heist Earnings
Alexander then spent the rest of the meeting talking about general misceneous things.
For example, he asked Menicus to n setting up more food stations to amodate theing refugees.
He asked Harun to start making more bronze des for the new plows they would neede March.
And Diaogosis was instructed to start making the wooden plows.
"Speaking of plows, we will need enough daft animals to pull them. Eighty thousand (80,000) of them to be exact." Alexander spoke out aloud.
Then turning to Heliptos ordered, "I''m putting you in charge of acquiring more. We only have twenty thousand (20,000) in total so you are to acquire an additional eighty thousand (80,000)."
Hearing this mammoth task, Heliptos turned deathly pale and struggled to keep his frightful scream from emanating outward.
"My lord...that¡ummm¡" He squirmed and bent his head and neck as his sycophantic instincts and his realistic instinct fought on how to try and exin to Alexander the impossibility of acquiring such huge quantities of animals within March, which was just five months away.
"You don''t have to do it this year. You have till spring of next year." Alexander was not a tyrant and this timeline bought some water back to the economic minister''s heart.
Though it was a lot a ton of time, it was still generous.
"I will try my hardest," Heliptos dutifully nodded.
"Mmmm, seek out anyrge merchants and guilds as you wish. Even foreign ones will do." Alexander gave the permission.
And with this, he finally noticed that it was well past noon already, almost approachingte afternoon, with the meetingsting almost eight hours.
So finally, much to the other''s relief decided to end the meeting, "Well gentlemen, I think that''s it for today."
"Sorry for taking up so much time today, and thank you for bearing it with me." He finished.
"No, no, it was our pleasure." The men naturally politely replied.
"Mmm, then that''s it for today," Alexander repeated.
"And tomorrow I will being on a tour of the city with all my civilian ministers. That includes you Harun, Krishok, Diagnosis- the whole lot of you." Alexander listed.
"It will be our greatest honor," Harun as the representative quickly said.
"And so there will be no council meeting," He announced, which to the men felt like the teacher was saying there will be no school tomorrow.
Joy!
Utter joy!
"Then we will see you the day after tomorrow."
"Please take care, my lord,"
These saying were quickly uttered by everyone and after giving Alexander a bow, they showed themselves out.
Except for Theocles, which by this point had be a normality.
But by now Alexander was in no mood to listen to his archpriest''s report on the temple''s state. His head was feeling jammed and his stomach was very angry.
This was because though he had eaten a hearty breakfast ofrge slices of freshly baked bread, cheese, and eggs with an assortment of various fruits right at the crack of dawn, nothing had entered his stomach afterward to rece them till now, close to a whole twelve hours.
And all while, he had been constantly at work or going to and fro from his work, from the morning speech in front of the temple to entertaining the guests at the temple, to the long council meeting that just finished.
And so instead of continuing the conversation, Alexander with a cordial smile invited Theocles, "I know it''s veryte, but join us for lunch."
By ''us'' here Alexander was of course referring to him and Cambyses.
"It would be my honor, Your Holiness." The offer was quickly and graciously epted by Theocles, as evidenced by using the words Your Holiness.
He would always address Alexander as such whenever they were alone, away from prying eyes and ears.
With this invitation epted, the trio quickly exited the second-floor hall room and was escorted downstairs to a guest dining room where delicacies such as roast chicken, sulent trout, boiled eggs, and a bevy of both cooked and raw winter vegetables such as broli, beans, and lettuce slices were at once presented to them.
"So how much did we get from the temple?" Alexander greedily asked as he formed a makeshift sandwich containing shredded chicken, small slices of egg, and a variety of vegetables.
"Not much I''m afraid Your Grace," Theocles had a regretful tone to his voice, "Only around thirty million ropals."
"Oh? That is quite low." This was said by Cambyses, who in a surprised tone asked, " I thought we would get more. Wasn''t Zanzan suppose to be the provincial capital and Pasha Muazz''s city?"
It seemed like her husband, Cambyses too had gotten a taste for banditry.
"Yes, we were surprised by it too," Theocles admitted, saying, "Though we never expected the haul to be even close to Adhan''s ten billion, Adhan''s grand temple''s status is in a league of its own after all, but it''s still too low. A billion would have been a more appropriate amount, or at least five hundred million."
Theocles seemed very puzzled by this amount and worse, it was not like he could ask the temple priests or priestesses about it on the ount of them being dead.
And even if he had the supernatural ability to talk to the deceased, he doubted the clergymen would have looked too kindly seeing their money being stolen.
"Hmmm, I guess we have to thank Muazz''s goons and all the people who left the city to thank for that." Alexander hypothesized where all the money went, regret filling his voice.
Then he thought, ''I should arrange an auction for those damn paintings of Muazz and his ancestor to recoup some of my losses,'' though he knew hosting such an event and attracting the required personnel with sufficient heavy pockets would take at least a few years.
This was because a minimum of that amount of time would be needed to transform the current tattered city of Zanzan into something respectable enough to hold such a grand asion.
"I believe that Your Holiness is most likely right," Theocles too shared Alexander''s thoughts and expressed his support with repeated nods.
"Well I guess some money is better than none," Cambyses tried to look at the bright side of things and this drew wry smiles from both the men.
Afterward, Alexander asked about general things regarding his religion to Theocles, ranging from the temple renovation to the progress of writing the religious scriptures, to policies regarding attracting new believers.
"Do notpete with the Ramuh faith regarding followers," Alexander instructed Theocles to keep his religious zeal in check for the time being, saying, "For now, concentrate on forming a small but very loyal and pious group of followers. They will be the seeds we will use to spread out religion in the future and so emphasize quality over quantity."
"As you wish my lord," Theocles took heed and replied affirmatively.
"Umm, but also this does not mean we should not try to spread our faith." Alexander rified, saying, "We will of course try to gain new followers by providing perks and rewards to new converts."
"For example, the thirty million ropals we got will be given to the refugees as a merciful grant from the goddess. That will get us some new followers," Alexander cunning nned.
Hearing such huge financial support was on the way, Theocles was naturally enthusiastic and so smiled and replied, "Your Grace is wise and the goddess is boundless in her mercy."
"Umm," Alexander gave a short hum at the expected answer and then promised, "I will personally open the temple on the first day of next month, and hold my wedding with Cambyses there on the first of January."
"....." Therge news was shocking enough to make Theocles lose his words for a moment, causing Cambyses toment, ''There is his bad habit again, saying hugely important things like he is simply breathing air.''
"Hahaha congrattions! Congrattions! Congrattions my lord!" Recovering himself just a little bitter, Theocles quickly and very animatedly apuded Alexander, saying the word congrattions repeatedly to emphasize the point.
Although Alexander and Cambyses were considered a couple, and everyone knew about it, they themselves never explicitly dered it, and so hearing the confirmation of it filled Theocles with joy.
A wide grin forced on his face at this announcement, as he was happy not only that the humble building he chose would be the ce that his lord would be making his marriage venue, but also over the fact that marriages were usually followed by children.
The mere thought of seeing a god''s offspring, the thrill of being soon able to look after and take care of a god''s descendant, and the thought that his god''s bloodline on earth would soon be secure was a feeling Theocles could confidently say he had not experienced ever before.
And then, quickly thinking about the person who will actually be giving birth to them, Theocles said the same thing to Cambyses, "Congrattions mydy. Congrattions, for the gods have answered mydy''s prayers."
As Cambyses''s former boss, Theocles certainly knew of the girl''s desires towards Alexander and thus knew that this was dreame true for her.
"Thank you, my lord. Please keep us in your prayers," Cambyses replied with a gentle smile.
And in this way, amidst this warm atmosphere, the luncheon ended, with Theocles bidding his goodbye, saying, "Well my lord. Please let me excuse myself."
"And once again congrattions on your engagement. I''ll make sure the marriage ceremony is a perfect sess."
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 275 Gelene (Part1) (R18)
After the veryte lunch was finished, the couple finally alone, decided toze in one of the many secluded gardens.
"So how did I do today?" Cambyses sent a charming smile to Alexander as she bit into a thick, juicy grape, its juices staining her pale, thin lips.
"Mnnn, better than I expected," Alexander kept a straight face as he said so, taking arge gulp of wine to hide any facial expression.
This little trick was immediately detected by Cambyses, whoughed, "Hahaha, you mean I kicked your ass."
After hearing which Alexander could not help but burst into a chuckle, "Haha, well I beat your ass every night."
"Shameless," Cambyses flushed at the crude joke and yfully elbowed Alexander''s arms.
"Whaaat? I do, don''t I, hahaha?" Alexanderughed even harder, as Cambyses elbowed him even harder.
"In all seriousness, your ability leaves me at ease," Alexander said after the little teasing, feeling confident about leaving Cambyses in charge during his campaigns.
"Mmmm, I will try hard," Cambyses seriously nodded, promising to guard her house fiercely when Alexander is away.
"In addition to working, you should also keep up your swordsmanship. Exercise is important," Alexander stressed another point.
In addition to not wanting his girls to lose their shape, in this period of almost nonexistent healthcare, one''s fitness was his or her greatest asset against sickness and disease.
"I will start practicing for an hour every day from Sunday," Cambyses knew from Alexander the importance of a healthy body andtely she had started noticing some thin ps on her belly.
This was uneptable to her.
The couple then talked about various other misceneous things and in the blink of an eye, the sun disappeared and dusk greeted them.
Dinner was served a whileter, which was various fish stews, a few vegetable sides, and a whole roast chicken, with bread as the staple carbohydrate as usual, after finishing which the girls were eager to get the card game going.
But not Alexander.
"I''ve got a few things to do, so you go ahead," Alexander told Cambyses as he decided to skip tonight''s games night.
He had built up a backlog of a whole host of things that needed to be done and we wanted to catch up on some of that.
These ranged from designing a few concept arts of bras and panties for Gelene, to designing the priestess uniforms for Ophenia, to designing a wedding suit for himself and a wedding dress for Cambyses, to writing a spy manual for Camius, to writing various policies,...the list was endless.
"Mmm, okay, then. Bye," This was a regr urrence and so Cambyses hummed a nonchnt farewell and quickly left to y some cards, finding the game very addictive.
Thus Alexander was left to spend the next few hours alone in his study, finishing some of the work.
And it was only close to midnight when to decided to return to his room, finishing an almost sixteen-hour work day.
And once inside was surprised to find it devoid of any inhabitants empty, for Cambyses was nowhere to be found.
This was strange as usually, the sexy bunny would be already half-naked and crawling up all over his body by now.
And just as he was wondering if he should order Hemicus to ask around for Cambyses,
Knock! Knock! Knock!
A gentle, but crisp tap was posted outside the door, along with the mellifluous sound, "Master it''s me."
The voice was soft and deferential but contrarily not pure and innocent.
It was sultry and tempting, thick with anticipation, and almost had an animalistic hunger to it.
''Oh, I forgot. It''s her turn today,'' The mystery of Cambyses''s disappearance was quickly solved inside Alexander''s head as the girl usually preferred to avoid Alexander''s partner for tonight.
"Come in," Alexander gave the permission and at once the door was pushed open, letting in a girl Alexander had quite ambivalent feelings towards.
She was tall, graceful, and frontally very well endowed, possessing long, raven braided hair and shiny ebony skin that glistened under the light.
She wore a turquoise-colored traditional peplos extended all the way up to her ankle, the one-piece linen cloth hanging off her neck with a circr knot in a v- shape and showing her beautiful shoulder.
Her neck was decorated by a beautiful emerald studded ne that matched her dress and bangles, and every time she walked, the payal jiggled and chimed, heralding her arrival.
She was Gelene,
The ck beauty entered therge room swaying her hips like it was being blown around in a storm, letting Alexander very much appreciate the willow waist and its magnificent curves, making his anticipation rise at the expected night ahead.
But what attracted Alexander most was the huge milk jugs that swayed precariously within the one-piece, threatening to tear out of it and greet Alexander.
They looked firm, soft, and mighty juicy.
''Horny bitch! How many guards sprouted a tent seeing your outfit,'' Alexander could clearly see therge nipple protrusions along the thin fabric and felt his lower body waking up.
Gelene approached Alexander with her back held high and when close enough, gave a full noble''s bow, making sure to give Alexander a perfect view of the deep, fleshy ravine as she greeted, "Greetings my lord. ve Gelene is here to serve."
"Mmmm, you are looking more beautiful day by day, Gelene" Alexander tried to give a cool reply, hiding his lust.
He had always held aplicated feeling towards the woman and did not want to appear too smitten.
"All by the grace of My lord pumping me full of his seed every day," Gelene shed a sultry smile apanying the lewd reply, turning Alexander''s innocent praise into a lewd innuendo.
"Haha," But Alexander onlyughed the answer off, instead pivoting and asking, "Is anyone else gonna join us? Tayin or Cam?"
Usually, these nightly visits would be done in pairs, one because the girls would get more time with Alexander in this way and two, which was the more important reason, because Alexander preferred it.
"No," Gelene shook her head, her heart very happy that she had managed to snatch such an opportune moment with Alexander, saying, "Sister Tayin said she has a slight cold and wants to sleep in early today. And mistress seems to want to enjoy the night with Sister Mean today," ''Well that''s Cam for you,'' Alexander understood that since Cambyses''s first lover was technically not avable today, she had decided to y with her second one.
''Ahhh, I would love to peep at what those two get up to,'' Alexander lustfully imagined.
Though he could enjoy them together anytime, anywhere, there was certainly something very hot about seeing two girls get it on, especially if it was all natural and not something they were doing to put on a show for Alexander.
But he soon put those fantasies aside and concentrated on the beautiful woman looking hungrily at him.
And then without further ado, he decided to start the night.
"*Squeeze*, your''s are the biggest among all my women you know Gelene," Alexander''s wolfish ws sank into the youthful lumps of perky goodness, the soft, resilient fat setting his heart flying.
"Ahhh, yes, master. These are only yours. Only you can enjoy them," Gelene lovingly moaned as Alexander started to pinch her engrossed cherries through her clothes, squeezing them repeating as the pleasant, youthful tautness bounced and filled his hand with pleasure.
''Gelene''s boobs are even better than Ophenia''s or even Mikaya''s.'' Alexander thought to himself as the boobs sank back further under his squeeze, inviting him to fondle the pillowy cushions again and again.
"Ahhh, so strong," Gelene shuddered and moan in delight at having her breasts kneaded, feeling like Alexander was going to crush them.
Fueled by Gelene''s lusty calls and because of Alexander''s own need for pleasure, he then unhooked the small pin that held Gelene''s peplos together and let the humongous titties grace Alexander''s eyes once more.
They were like huge smooth chocte globules, with tworge pink cherries on top, which stood proud and erect, eager to be tormented by their master.
Grope, grope, grope.
The buxom flesh spilled out from between Alexander''s fingers as he handed the boobs with abandon, drawingrge, red finger marks on them and making Gelenes twist her body in pain and pleasure.
''Ahhhh, these breasts are my weak spots and he''s always rough with them,'' Gelene felt the pleasure assault her under Alexander''s fondling and could only passively take the onught, letting out a deluge of mewls and moans as her master shortly after started to encroach upon her nipples.
"Kyaahhh, master..please¡ don''t stretch my boobies¡ahhh," Gelene moaned as she felt an orgasming.
"Hahaha, and why not?" But Alexander only yanked the beautiful tits further, pinching them by the nipples and pulling them apart, turning the perfect semi-circles to eclipses as he did so, and making Gelene go from moaning to howling.
"Nooo¡too rough¡ahhhh," Gelene could feel her breasts being pulled to the point it felt like they might tear apart.
"Hehehe, your melons are so naughty, slut," Alexander sneered as he twisted and spun the boobs around, whispering, "Say it! Say you love this rough y of having your nipples toyed with this."
"Yes, master. I do master. So turn my nipples into your slut hooks," Gelene screamed and nodded her head fiercely, her lower cave gushing in pleasure.
"Good! And here is your reward," Alexander then with one strong pinch stretched the pink, hard cherries into dirty oblong shapes, rubbing them between his fingers and causing Gelene to scream, "Ahhhing."
Twitch¡.twitch¡.twitch
Her body spasmed after achieving orgasm.
But Alexander did not stop the teasing with just that.
On the contrary, he started a new offensive, this time taking one of them into his mouth while pulling, twisting, rubbing, and kneading the other tiny, sensitive beautiful protrusion.
"Master please, I''m still sensitive, hyakk," Gelene was yet to recover from her previous release, but was already having one of her cherries sucked and kissed.
"Chupp¡chup¡chup," Gelene hadrger than average-sized nipples, and Alexander found them veryfortable to suck, loving the salty, fruity, and almost milky smell of it.
"Ahhh¡master, don''t suck so much¡ohh¡now you are biting," Gelene could feel Alexander''s teeth grind against the springy cartge, leaving small bite marks all around the pink are as Alexander made wet, lewd sucking sounds.
And a whileter, he began to bite on therge, lovely cherries and then pull his head back, deforming the boobs and making Gelene shudder as she experienced her second release.
"Hahaha, mas¡master," Gelene was a bit ss-eyed from this much stronger than usual release.
Having her nipples bitten and pinched at the same time was really a great turn-on for her.
"Hehe, then have some more," Alexander loved to see his girls be pushed past pleasure and be haggard from excess orgasms, and he was intent on doing the same to Gelene.
And so he started again, pooling the boobs together and putting both the protrusions inside his mouth together.
"Ahhh, master¡no milk is gonnae no matter how hard you suck, arghhh," Gelene grunted as Alexander strongly bit on the cherries and tugged them, turning the fatty globules into oblongs, and making Gelene orgasm again.
This went on for some time, as Alexander at some point switched to not just biting her nipple, but her entire breasts, leaving little hickeys and bite marks on the entire sack of flesh.
"Ma¡mas¡master, mercy, no more¡ahhh, too much." By the end
Gelene went from being a confident woman who seemed in control, to begging Alexander.
The ebony beauty could barely keep standing, and her smooth, rich legs shaking like a newborn fawn as she
had who knows how many orgasms.
She could only keep upright because Alexander was supporting her.
Seeing Gelene fully tamed for the time being, Alexander decided now he wanted her to pleasure him.
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Chapter 276 Gelene (Part-2) (R-18)
While Alexander pleased the ck busty beauty, his pitched tent had formed a spear that was poking against her lewd cave.
But with the trousers caging it within, it was stuck inside, making Alexander feel very ufortable.
"Ma¡master¡I''m sorry. Here let me help," Feeling the hardness hit her, Gelene understood Alexander''s predicament and quickly kneeled down and in one swift pull, freed the imprisoned organ, causing the long spear to immediately point upward.
This was the most desirable part of Alexander in her eyes- the thick, hard, curved sword adorned with two heavy balls, and the strong scent it emitted made her lower cave drool.
"*Chuuu*, Nice to meet you again young master," Gelene greeted Alexander''s cock as she always did, and the turgid rod responded with a mighty twitch.
"Hehehe, I''m happy to see you too, *chuu*," Gelenended another sloppy kiss, and then used just one roll of her skilled tongue to pull back the foreskin to reveal Alexander''s engrossed ns.
"Mmmmm, nice," Alexander loved the sensation of the wet, slimy organ dancing on his sensitive part and the way the experienced woman used it was something to marvel at.
Gelene then in a yful way called, "Ohhh, look here master! What do we have?" in a voice not that one of rm, but of immense joy.
"Dickcheese! Yummy, yummy dickcheese!" She pointed to the thin ck ring around the base of the pulled foreskin, her eyes sparkling with joy at this supposed delicacy.
There was a prevalent myth in Thesos, most probably perpetuated by men, that this thin crust of oils, skin cells, and moisture was the essence of a man''s superiority and women eating it might be able to acquire some of their power.
And so the ambitious Gelene loved it.
It was certainly an acquired taste, and though she at first hated it, after being forced to eat much stronger iterations of it at the brothel for days, she came to love the musky, salty taste of it.
But unfortunately for her, Alexander was very health conscious about keeping his penis clean, and so to much of Gelene''s chagrin, she had never got to taste any of his.
Thus to identally stumble upon this treasure today filled Gelene with rapturous joy.
''Ohhh, today is really my day! Not only do I get to enjoy him for myself, but I also get to taste the elusive heaven''s curd.'' Gelene rejoiced, thinking eating it will bestow upon her some of Alexander''s powers.
Meanwhile, Alexander flushed at being pointed this out.
He had taken a shower in the morning, but because today was particrly hectic, he skipped the nightly bath, leading to this embarrassing hygiene situation.
But before he could utter a single word of resistance, Gelene had already taken the meat lollipop inside her mouth, eager to clean out the day''s umted stress.
"Here, master, let this ve clean you all up," Gelene sultrily breathed on the hard cock, before,
Chuuu, suuuck, ummmm.
She gobbled up the entire organ and started repeatedly rolling her tongue around the frenulum where all the goodness was.
And then she began to audibly chew the delicacy, finding it to have a mild, salty musky taste.
"Mmmm, so good¡so manly," Gelene loudly praised as she ate, after finishing which she let out the shining, sparkling dick with a plop.
"Here master, arggg, see..all eaten up, hehehe." Shesciviously grinned while opening her mouth to show Alexander her work.
This lewd show lit a lustful fire inside Alexander and so fiercely grabbed Gelene by the hips and growled, "Sexy bitch,e here."
"Kyahhh," Gelene yelped as Alexander then threw her onto the bed and got up on it himself, sitting imperiously on her chest and sandwiching his spear between the warm inviting valleys, ready to hump it.
"Hahahaha¡does master like by boobpussy?" Gelene only giggled at this y, and even squeezed the boobs together with her arms to form a tighter seal.
''Fuck¡the boobs are so soft and Gelene has such a sultry look that I almost came,'' Alexnader only clenched his teeth in reply, finding it hard to take the lead as he nced at Gelene''s angelic face with a devil''s countenance.
''Hehe, you are gonna have to do better than that, boy,'' Gelene could easily see Alexnader struggling and feel the hot rod give that characteristic twitch one gives just before cumming.
She had done far more demanding and demeaning ys than this, and so if this was Alexander''s of asserting dominance, this was too small too tame.
But Alexander had to try anyway.
And so started to quickly thrust between the creamy mountains, finding their valleys warm, soft, and lush.
And every time he came out of the flesh tunnel, his little brother was greeted with a hot, moist reception as Gelene stretched out her tongue like a red carpet to greet the iing VIP, lovingly kissing, sucking, and licking him as a way of showing her hospitality.
"Mmm, more master. Squeeze my boobs more. Pound my mouth harder. Turn my entire body into your exclusive pussy," Gelene roared in joy as Alexander humped her, to which Alexander respond by starting to pull her nipples up as hard as he could, twisting the breast into obscene shapes and making Gelene howls roar louder.
"Your boobs are so thick and fleshy. It feels like my dick is plowing through jelly. Ahhh..so nice," Alexandermented as he then pulled the breasts up by the nipples, and then crisscrossed them, his release edging closer.
"Ohhh¡not by nipples¡ahhh¡my boobies are feeling weird! Hyeh! Cumming," Having her weak cheery buds bullied, Gelene soon announced another release.
"Me too. Take it on your face, ve," Alexander grunted, and then quickly, and simultaneously both achieved their peak.
Squirt, squirt, squirt.
While Gelene''s body shudder and shook, Alexander painted the ebony beauty''s face and breasts pure white- thick, ropy cum staining the ck canvas.
"Ahhh, master essence. As thick as always! And the smell is so manly..mmmnnn" Gelene gave a lewd, blissful smile, loving her hot new facial.
She had always believed that the sperm of young men would help retain her youth and thus loved drinking and pasting the turbid fluid on her skin.
And so to make sure she got everything, she even squeezed the boobs together using her hands, enclosing the sensitive stick inside her warm flesh pocket and lettingrge amounts of leftover cream flow out.
"Ahhh, your whole body is like a pussy," Alexander moaned as he relished in the afterglow.
Then after recovering a whileter, Alexander instructed Gelene to take his favorite position.
"Now get on all fours like the bitch you are," He lewdlymanded, which the woman did with much crity.
"Hehe, here master," Gelene giggled as she raised her ass up high and shook it invitingly, lewdly tempting, "Master, take any hole you want and pound them to hell and back."
While in the meantime, Alexander soaked in the magnificent view that was presented to him.
The drooling closed cave was hidden by a patch of sparse bush, giving off ascivious fruity smell, while the dirty hole above was expanding and contracting like it was breathing, beckoning him to taste its smooth, silky walls of pleasure.
"*Smack*, you sexy whore. I will destroy both," Alexander fiercely spanked the huge ck butt, letting it jiggle and wobble magnificently as he was put in a dilemma over which hole to pound first.
But finally, he decided to fill Gelene''s baby room first.
And so bringing his huge organ in contact with the puffy lips, he hungrily growled, "Take it!"
He then immediately prated Gelene all the way in one thrust, going balls deep till his head hit the cervix, and soaking in the heavenly sensation.
"Arghhhh. yes¡.master¡ohhh," Gelene let out an ear-splitting howl of pleasure at this sensation, swaying her bubble butt in happiness as she soon began to rhythmically move her hips to match Alexander''s thrusting.
"As usual your pussy is first ss Gelene. So hot, soft, and cozy," Alexander thrusted rapidly to pleasure himself using his lewd cave of pleasure, while Gelene was being sent to the high heavens with each strike again her walls
"Yes! Master''s penis feels good too. So long and hard. Ahhhhh, it even scrapes by my clit, ohhh soooo good!" Gelene raised her butt even higher to let Alexander have a better angle of attack, while moaning at the top of her voice, her boobs swinging wildly under her like divine fruits hanging from the heavens.
Seeing such juicy fruits, Alexander naturally could not control himself and began a third round of fondling, growling,
"Your cow udders are really something else."
"Ahh¡master that''s so meannn," Gelene yfully pouted at being called names, but that was soon reced by a higher-pitched prolonged wail as Alexander strongly pinched the already bruised nipples, bringing a fresh new round of pleasureful torment.
"Ahh...no, my nipples are gonna get destroyed, My boobs are gonna get destroyed. My pussy is gonna get destroyed." Gelene ecstatically shouted, her walls rapidly contracting and spasming in joy.
She had another light orgasm
Squeeze. Pinch. Knead.
Alexander continued to manhandle the boobs, stretching them like one milks a cow, while his hips hit Gelene''s plump ass fiercely, producing a loud, wet, nasty sound and leaving a deep print on the flesh, turning the beautiful rump red like pepper.
Hisrge, balls swung and hit Gelene on her revealed red bean constantly and soon Alexander was close.
? ing," Alexander warned, to which Gelene responded by having her mature walls envelop Alexander even more and coaxing him to release quickly.
"Yes, master, cum! Cum inside this ve pussy. Mark her as yours" Gelene urged by rocking her hip, making Alexander thrusted faster and kneaded her breast rougher.
"Here, hmmp, take it," Then with a grand thrust against Gelene''s butt, Alexander struck the girl''s cervix, and directly deposited the baby batter into the baby room.
"Yes¡ohhhh, make me pregnant master. Make me you breeding bitch, my lord," Gelene arched her head back and wailed and howled until she because hoarse, her lewd promations even reaching Cambyses two rooms away.
''Slutty whore,'' Alexander''s main wifemented as she sat with her legs wide open, having Mean diligentlyp up her juices like a cat, licking, sucking, and biting her little sister until Cambyses got a release.
Back to Alexander and Gelene, after filling up the demanding woman up, still not satisfied with just two releases, Alexander picked her up, made her sit on hisp, and then *Bam*.
He skewered her bum in one go.
"Ahh¡master is particrly fierce today, hehe. Go on then, pound my asshole till it can''t close anymore," Gelene did not find his action the least bit ufortable, only infinitely pleasurable as she started to jump up and down along with Alexander, matching his rhythm.
While Alexander moved his hands to her red bean and started directly pinching it, treating it like it was her third nipple and causing Gelene''s pleasure to again soar to cloud nine.
"Hyak! Master really loves pinching me, don''t you?" Gelene rapidly shook her ass, finding the hot, thick rod molding her ass while her clit was being turned inside out very desirable.
"Gelene, you lewd cow. I could pinch you to death," Alexander growled his hands caressed all over the ck, mature beauty''s body like roving bandits, pinching, kneading, and pulling at all kinds of different ces- from the usual erogenous zones like nipples and clits, to some esoteric options like her armpits, nose and the slight bs on her otherwise smooth tummy.
"Yes, master! Pinch me! Pinch this slutty cow as much as you wish," Gelene moved her ass faster.
"Argghm cumming,.. *splurt*, *splurt*," Alexander soon deposited another still thick and creamy turbid fluid into the fat ass, the amount so much that some of it to leaked out and dyed the pink puckered hole white and muddy.
And in this way, the carnal mayhem continued for close to another two hours, until finally the man and woman were exhausted enough to go to sleep, with Geleneying sprawled on top of Alexander, his rod still plugging her lewd cave, while her pink hole leaked a nasty but beautiful white sauce.
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Chapter 277 Mikaya And Seelimas Talks
On the other side of things, the girls had finished another of their exciting game nights and as they retired to their chambers, Mikaya and Queen mother Seelima were having a little alone talk in thetter''s room.
"So, what do you about Azira and Azura bing priestesses again?" The Queen mother asked in a casual, off-tone voice.
"I could barely stop myself from pping my forehead at those idiots. Seriously! Did my nieces grow up eating grass?" Mikaya answered in an exasperated tone, in disbelief that the twins had not been able to see through this simple n.
But she was still not done as she grumbled, "They even went and made up that ridiculous story about the so-called ruinous powers! When did we have ruinous powers?"
"Hahaha, maybe it''s also because they wanted to believe Alexander''s excuse. They miss the temple very much after all," The Queen mother simply chuckled seeing Mikya''s fuming reaction, taking arge bite out of an apple in the process.
"..." Mikaya only pursed her lips, finding Alexander ying her nieces like a fiddle displeasing.
And every time she met the twins yesterday, she had the urge to shout, ''You idiots, he is the mastermind, the culprit you are looking for. He killed the priests and then used their deaths to purge the gangs, both factions which were not loyal to him. And now he is using you to take control of the temple.''
But the one thought that stopped her was this- ''Am I so different?''
Mikaya was well aware of why Alexander was offering her the chance to do the things he promised.
But like a drawn to the mes, she epted nheless, much like his niece.
While the Queen mother did not speak against Alexander because there was no point.
She had no proof and it was simply her words against Alexander''s.
And though this act was an open secret, saying such a thing out loud would be a serious breach of noble etiquette.
"Well, Alexander is unlikely to harm the twins outright, so there should not be too big a problem," Seeing the silent, pouting MIkaya. the Queen tried to console the silver-haired beauty, herself not too concerned about the twin''s safety.
"Hmmm, I guess," Mikaya seemed to agree with a small nod.
Then the Queen mother suddenly changed the topic, "So, what do you think of Alexander? You seemed to like his speech," Seelima probed Mikaya.
It had to be known that though the two women were personal friends, some friction did exist between their houses.
Particrly, each viewed Alexander''s presence differently.
Mikaya and particrly her father saw him as a vitalponent to bing the top dog of Adhania.
While Seelima saw him as a dangerous, unpredictable element, and a potential threat to the royal family.
In Seelima''s eyes, the royal family and Matrak were two equal forces who could bnce each other and keep stability.
But Alexander, he was the wild card that could make whichever force he threw his weight under triumph.
And Seelima was sure that Alexander would never support Ptolomy.
"Hmmm, he is not half bad," Mikaya hid any sign of praise, only nonchntly saying, "His Azhak has improved quite a lot."
She knew the angle the Queen mother was attacking from and so only pretended to show that she was mildly impressed by Alexander''s linguistic skills.
"Yes, for a boy he has skills." The Queen mother did not seem to notice Mikaya''s little trick and like her younger friend, hid her real thoughts behind a thick facade of nonchnce.
Though in reality, she certainly was very impressed by how Alexander had conducted the crowd, even if she would never admit it aloud.
Seeing Alexander on the stage, Seelima felt like she was witnessing an expert musician perform a grand opera, each of his words masterfully pronounced like a heavenly note, to which the crowd cheered with the exact emotion Alexander demanded.
She was mesmerized by how Alexander yed the crowd like a fiddle, hitting all the strings exactly at the correct time, and making the crowd experience dance, sing, and howl to his tune.
The people expressed joy went he wanted them to, sorrow at some points, and anger when the situation demanded it.
For an ambitious woman like Seelima, who had always pursued control and dominance over others, seeing someone else enthrall so many people so effortlessly made her both amazed and jealous.
And with thetter emotion trumping the former, she thus sulkily added, "But looting temples and killing priests is bing a habit of his,"
"Not His Majesty''s temples. But Amenheraft''s," Mikaya in a soft voice reminded, knowing a bit about her father''s n regarding religion.
"For now," The Queen mother curtly replied, the two words containing vast inferences.
Seelima feared that if Alexander could kill one type of priest, he might see killing all priests as fair y.
"Haha, the Queen mother is being too paranoid," But Mikaya brushed these concerns off with augh, adding, "We are allies. Matrak will hold the north, Adhan the center, and Alexander the south. And remember, Alexander also has Tibias to contend with, He isn''t going to be a threat to us,"
"Hmmm, then what do you think about what he said about god Ramuh and Gaia," This was the real stickler of a point for the woman.
Seelima had scolded Ptolomy for letting Alexander have religious freedom and though Ptolomy had no choice in the matter, he certainly could have done more to curb Alexander''s demands.
But Ptolomy had confidently replied. ''The faith of Ramuh is eternal. We have resisted Thesian influence for thousands of years and one brat is not going to change that.''
"I think he just said that to erode Amenheraft''s influence. If he really wanted to bolster his religion, he would have imed that only Gaia could save them." Mikaya downyed the act, both because she truly saw it like that and because of her family''s interests.
And then quickly added, "And besides with Azira and Azura as the priestesses, things will not get any easy for him."
"You of all people should know how zealous those two are of their faith."
The Queen mother too knew of the twins infamous intolerance and thus felt that she was being overly cautious.
And another further reason was that even if Alexander wanted to plot against the royal family and usurp Ptolomy, Pasha Farzah would never allow that.
And she could not presage any scenario in the nearby future where such a scenario was possible.
"So, how you liking Zanzan?" The Queen mother then decided to change to a much lighter topic.
"Hmmp, boring," Mikaya snorted, though the contempt in them seemed to be much lesser than before.
And then feeling the Queen mother''s teasing look, she sulkily added, "Well, maybe the card game isn''t too bad."
''And that whorehouse,'' Mikaya added in her heart, very much anticipating that establishment''s grand opening.
"Haha, so what do you say we spice things up a bit?" Suddenly the queen mother''s voice turned husky and she sent Mikaya a sultry look.
"Ohhh?" Mikaya shed a grin in glee.
This was not the first time they had engaged in a girl-on-girl little tussle.
"Did you bring it?" Mikaya very excitedly asked about one of the Queen mother''s most famous pieces of equipment.
"Check my trunk! See for yourself!" The Queen mother invited, gesturing with her hands to arge, inconspicuous, wooden storage box in the furthest corner of the room.
And so Mikiya, like an excited little girl, trotted over and very eagerly opened the treasure chest, and found the object thaty in front of her every bit as beautiful as she had remembered.
It was a leather strapon, with a huge curved bronze phallus, studded with tiny, baby-smooth gems.
This was something the previous queen had made, reportedly using the king''s organ as a blueprint, and used to regrly use on the harem girls, especially on Seelima.
This tool would many times be used to train new harem girls too, before they presented to the king, and so the wooded phallus had literally tasted the dews and juices of hundreds of women.
And even some men, as the former queen, sometimes would peg the guards and ves.
And after her death, this became Seelima''s spoils of victory.
"The thing always impresses me," Mikaya''s eyes seemed to be sparkling as she lovingly caressed the incredible upward curve.
"Well, then put it on me," The Queen mother had stood up by now, and was looking down imperiously at the white beauty.
"*Smirk*, but I''m not sure only one will be enough," Mikaya did not feel any pressure from the prative gaze sent by Seelima, but instead made further demands.
She was more concerned about acquiring a minimum of two as anything less would just leave her frustrated.
"I got three," The Queen mother returned the smirk as she held up her three fingers, causing Mikaya to beam in glee.
"I''ll get Nafia and Tajia," Mikaya''s feet barely touched the carpet as she skipped out, the anticipation in her voice thick and voluminous.
And soon, the room echoed with the sounds of flesh hitting flesh.
If one were to peer inside, they would have found Mikaya on all fours, with three metal phalluses inside her three holes.
The rear end was being fiercely gorged out by the queen mother, and her wet cave was being heavily pounded by Nafiam, while above, her mouth was being vited by Tajia, who strongly held her mistress''s head and humped her with abandon, constantly hitting her mistress''s throat and making her moan.
The queen mother was showing herself to be especially skilled, rotating and gyrating her hips to hit Mikaya''s various known sensitive spots as their hips repeatedly mmed against one another, while Nafia strongly uppercuted from below, trying to hit her mistress''s womb with as much force as possible.
''Noooo, this isn''t it. It''s not enough,'' But Mikaya only moaned in frustration at the trio''s attempt, while moving her hips faster to try and get a more intense feeling.
The lifeless, cold metallic objects could never replicate the hot, raw feeling of the real thing, and the smooth, slick surface just could not scratch the same itch as a throbbing, veiny cock.
''Ohhh, when will that damned pasha open his business,'' Mikaya cursed as she herself furiously strummed her little reddened pearl even amidst the pounding to try and help douse that me of lust, but ultimately found no relief.
And thus like that the session ended, with Mikaya having experienced a few orgasms, but still left ultimately unsatisfied and frustrated, with a prickling itch down there remaining nheless.
And it took a long time for her to let herself be finally carried off to the dreands.
Chapter 278 Cement Kiln Operation(Part-1)
The next two months for Zanzan were a hectic one.
In just those two months, the city had experienced arguably more changes than it had in the past two hundred years, possibly in more than two thousand since its inception as a small fishing hamlet.
And Alexander was there to document all these changes firsthand.
The first change was the initiation of the first-ever cement kiln, located to the south of the city, near the port.
Alexander was there to personally light the first kindling that lit the furnace for the kiln and as heid eyes upon the tall, conical structure, Alexander remembered feeling a huge surge of pride.
''This is mine! I designed it! And it works!'' Alexander shouted with joy in his heart.
This feeling of invention and discovery was quite the novelty for him, for though he had introduced many new things to this world, things which all the people rightfully named him as the inventor of, deep down Alexander knew that none of those were his.
He did not feel guilty for taking credit, but he also did not feel a sense of achievement, for there was no sense of discovery for him in those.
These things had been made and tested before and so if he were to copy them properly, naturally they would perform the same way.
But not this kiln.
It was nothing like the rotary kiln usually used in the previous world and other than the core principle of mixing the ingredients and heating them, there was nothingmon between the two kilns.
And the reason why the rotary kiln was not used was because not Alexander did not want to use it, but because it could not be used.
That particr kiln was basically a nted horizontal tube through which the cement slurry flowed while being heated from the outside.
This tube had to be rotated to slow down the descent of the slurry and give it enough time to properly cook the mixture and because there was no way Alexander would manufacture or spin this huge metal tube without the use of a steam engine, he opted for the new kind of kiln.
''Once I design the steam engine, I will rece it with the rotary kiln.'' Alexander had said to himself during the design of the kiln.
He said so because the rotary kiln was much better with more capacity and ease of use than his custom-made kiln.
And the only reason he had not invented the steam engine is because, one- he did not know its design for not being a mechanical engineer, and two- because the material, i.e- the steel needed to make the thing was not there.
To be more specific, the forging techniques needed to shape a block of steel into theplex shapes need to make a steam engine was not there.
Otherwise, even if Alexander did not know the specifics of how a steam engine worked or know all the detailed inner workings, he was confident he could have jerry-rigged something.
After all, even a child knew the basics of a steam engine- that is, using thepressed, pressurized steam to drive a piston up and down, which can then be connected to a flywheel, thus providing mechanical energy.
But Alexander knew he was getting ahead of himself.
? For to even think that a basically bronze-era civilization could leap into the industrial revolution within a few years or two was a pipe dream among pipe dreams.
''Welp, I guess a few decades will be needed,'' Alexander conservatively estimated.
Because obtaining the ability to shape and install air-tight steel pieces that smoothly and seamlessly slid past each other was no easy ask.
For these cksmiths would could not even make a t piece of steel just a meter long, this would be a monumental leap that would require at least an entire generation''s effort to study and experiment to obtain and master.
''Put thy foolish ambitions to rest.'' Thus Alexander could only helplessly say this to himself, as he then shelved these thoughts into deep storage for the time being, deciding to revisit them at a much, muchter date.
Instead, he decided to focus on the cement kiln right in front of him.
It looked very simr to what he had in his mind, except for a few small structural additives.
First was that there was a type of cowl at the top, very simr to what a chimney had, and it served the same purpose as that- to keep out the rain, hail, and snow.
The only difference here was the size, which, due to being made of wood, made it seem almost like a small shed.
Its roof was dome-shaped to deflect any unwanted debris falling directly on it, while its walls were solid with only many little inch-like slits carved out of them to allow the smoke and soot to leave.
Thus gases would easily escape but the entry for moisture such as rain, hail, and snow, or such debris as fallen leaves and small rocks and stones would be severely restricted.
This shed was very well built and had only one small opening on one of the sides to allow the workers to dump the raw slurry in through the open chimney.
And that bought Alexander to the next innovation- the thing that would allow the workers to get to the top to input the cement slurry.
Jazum had ordered the construction of supporting scaffolding and inclined stairs that surrounded the kiln in a semi-circr shape and went all the up to the top, providing ess to the workers to input the raw materials into the chimney.
The scale of this wooden structure was huge and Alexander was informed that it took a worker only two minutes toplete a full cycle- i.e- from starting off the base of the stairs with his wooden te full of the wet mixture to climbing the twelve meters high stairs to depositing the load into the furnace to then returning back the stairs where he would be issued a new batch.
To make this process as efficient as possible, management had ordered the workers at the base to not only mix the sand, limestone, and y in the appropriate amount and then fill therge wooden tes that the worker would ferry up, but they would also ce it on the heads of the workers so that thetter would not have to waste time and energy bending over.
This made it so that the transport workers would be able to catch a brief respite as they awaited their refill and did not have to strain their back muscles, thus making them less fatigued.
Alexander was very impressed to see how pragmatic these workers were as they all wore a kind of makeshift t turban on their heads, made from anyrge, loose piece of cloth that these people could get their hands on, ranging from towels to even rags, which was used to cushion the effect to carrying such a heavy load on their head for so long.
And thest innovation added to the kiln, or more specifically dug around the kiln were tworge ditches which were dug around the back and front of the kiln and connected to ramps that led upward.
These two ditches were just below the exit portals of the kiln through which the product fell and to collect them, on the ditches were two awaiting horse carts.
Once filled, these horse carts would be driven out of the ditch using the ramp while two new empty ones would take their ce.
These semipleted products would then be taken to a nearby warehouse, where they would be ground to a fine powder using massive hammers, and then be mixed with 4% crushed gypsum thus making pornd cement.
"Umm, you did well Jazum and Krishok," Alexander had praised the two men, getting a synchronized, "Thank you, my lord," from the men.
Alexander then asked, "Who designed the nice way for workers to take the slurry up? It''s very efficient."
"That was me, my lord," Jazum imed, a humble but pleased smile pasted on his face.
Alexander nodded with a slight smile and then turned to Krishok, "And how did you like the design of the double-acting bellows?"
"My lord, it''s amazing!" The bald man replied, who then used his arm to point to the four huge, almost two-meter-long bellows connected to the two sides, each being operated by a small team of extremely buff ves,
"I have designed many bellows in my life, but none has ever blown so much air so easily," The tanner plus carpenter eximed.
This was natural was this blower was basically two blowers stuck together and was designed in such a way that it would blow air during both phases, once during the pulling phase when the lever was pulled down, and again during the pulling phase, when the lever was pushed up.
And this action was in full disy in front of Alexander who focused his attention on the men working the blowers just a bit ahead.
They were on a slightly elevated two-storied t scaffolding and were working in teams of two on each blowers.
The one on the lower floor would yank down on the bellow using ropes, which would cause arge amount of air to be sted into the furnace, after which the one at the top would yank another rope up to pull the blowers up, thuspleting the cycle.
And thus the fire would be fed and the cement produced.
Chapter 279 Cement Kiln Operations (Part-2)
Alexander stood for a while, watching the men furiously work the bellow, perspiration running down theirrge, strong bodies like small streams.
Though it was the middle of winter, these men''s upper bodies were bare, evidence of the heat being generated by the hard work.
In fact, it was such strenuous work that these workers would regrly switch ces with others in their team who were waiting to take over the helm, while these exhausted men would drink some water from their waterskins and sit down a while to rest their aching arm muscles.
Clearly ''as easy as blowing air'' was not always the case, especially when blowing suchrge amounts of air.
"I assume Jazum, you did the scaffoldings?" Alexander then remembered to ask about the ''grand architecture'' surrounding the kiln, something he had forgotten about.
"We both did my lord." The stonemason chirped up while gesturing to his colleague, and saying, "I drew the designs, while Krishok made them. He is a great carpenter, you know, my lord."
The stonemason''s frank praise caused thetter to blush.
"Oh? That''s good. I will call you for some more projects then," Alexander said with a light smile, not finding the twin mastery of tanning and carpentry too surprising.
There was a reason artisans were called artisans and usually not specifically cksmiths, stonemasons, carpenters, etc.
Because though most would specialize in just one job, they would often have a decent grasp of a second or even third art.
This was because usually most products could not be made using just one skill, necessitating familiarity with a few adjacent ones.
Alexander then atst asked about the real issue.
"So how much are we making per day?"
He knew that a rough estimate was one cubic meter volume of capacity produced one tonne of cement per day.
For example, the very early kilns in his previous life were 1.5m in diameter and 15m in length and could make around 20 tonnes per day.
Thus Alexander calcted that the twelve-meter conical kiln with an internal radius of two meters could make around fifty tonnes a day.
And this was easily possible as it would mean a feeding rate of only around 35 kg of slurry per minute.
Something the workers that were climbing up and down the stairs in rows and rows, each carrying a twenty kg load, almost like ants, would be easily able to achieve.
"A lot any lord! A lot!" Jazum gleefully cheered, "Almost twenty-five tonnes a day!"
''So small!''
Contrary to Jazum''s ecstatic reply, Alexander''s feeling was much gloomier and he could help butmpooned, finding the only fifty percent efficiency damning.
And this too gave him another concrete proof that rotary kilns were explicitly better than his jerry-rigged one.
But why was Alexander so peeved about such arge amount?
Because though twenty-five tonnes a day might sound like a lot, it was a drop in the bucket whenpared to Alexander''s insatiable demand.
To give a context of how little this was, a room made of five walls, each 4m long, 4m high, and 15cm thick would need close to one and a make tons of cement, along with around four and a half tons of sand.
So, using a whole day''s worth of production, Alexander would be able to produce, just around thirty rooms of 35 square meters in area.
Now, twenty-five tonnes was not bad in any way.
For example, this amount of cement could be used toy about one hundred thousand (100,000) bricks.
And though this might sound like a lot, this amount of bricks could only be used to make just only 2 four-walled perimeter walls and two roofs of the buildings Alexander designed for the residence.
Nowhere near enough to satisfy his current demand.
But it seemed the other two artisans were, rightfully too engrossed celebrating to notice Alexander''s tiny scowl.
"It''s true my lord. I have never seen so much of something being produced so quickly." Krishok said with much crity, his face flushed with pride and excitement.
But his more attentive partner soon did notice Alexander''s slightly sour mood and asked in a fearful, almost ''going to the ughter-housemb'' voice, "Is something the matter, my lord?"
''Damn. I shouldn''t be disappointed. These guys did an amazing job,'' This sound instantly made Alexander remove his slight scowl and he then immediately turned to give a big grin to the two men, "Hahaha, no, no, you did a great job, great job. Well done, well done."
This made the two men breathe a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat off their brows as they were reassured to find that Alexander was not looking to pit-pick at them.
"Is the kiln working also through the night?" Alexander wanted to confirm.
"Yes, lord." Jazum nodded, while Krishok delineated, "As you ordered my lord, we have formed two teams, working alternatively, thus making the cement 24/7."
He then pointed to one of the manyrge braisers and said, "And we light those during the night! And when all of them are lit, it almost bes as bright as day."
"Mmm, that''s good then." Alexander tlymented as he already knew about it and only wanted to confirm it, and then asked, "So, what are the challenges you faced when making the kiln?"
"My lords, other the blowers, everything else was not too hard. It''s all because of the cement!" Jazum imed, quickly adding, "With this magical glue, we can make anything we want as long as we have enough stones."
This was followed by Krishok''s statement.
"The blowers were not too hard either. We had a little bit of trouble designing the thing because it was all new to us," He admitted, "But once we figured that out, the problem was just getting the leather tannedrge enough and making the metal hinges strong enough to hold the wood nks together.
"Haha, I see, "Alexander gently chuckled, and then in a mysterious tone asked, "I remember that this kiln needed around two weeks to build, am I right?"
"Yes, my lord," Jazum nodded, though his heart uncharacteristically skipped a beat hearing Alexander''s tone.
And his instinct proved to be correct, for Alexander dered, "Good! Given that you have gained much experience building the kiln, then the next ones should be easy."
''Darn,'' Jazum''s and Krishok''s heart''s leaped up to their throats, as Alexander''s gentle, but to them, devilish voice entered their ears.
"So, I want ten new kilns within three months!" Alexander dropped the bombshell, proving the two men''s instinct right.
"Tha¡that¡" Jazum was lost for words, while Krishok literally jumped back a bit.
Alexander had directly dropped the average allocated time from around 14 days to 9 days, literally a 35% drop.
But Alexander was unfazed by this subconscious disy of unwillingness.
"You two should be aware of the infrastructure projects going on. And you of all people know the best just how much cement is used up just how quickly," Alexander said, reminding, "Remember, this one rtively small kiln took you four tons of cement and twelve tons of sand."
"...We will work hard, my lord," Jazum could barely hold back sighing in front of his lord and breaking etiquette as he replied in a deted tone.
''Welp, and here I was thinking of celebrating the new year with the kids,'' Hempooned.
But he decided to suck it anyway, for Alexander''s reminder made him and also Krishok, understand just how much cement would be needed for the close to a thousand huge four-storied buildings, the aqueducts, the sewage, the roads, and the many other kinds of projects waiting to be made.
''We might be making cement kilns for the rest of our lives,'' The two men in unisonmpooned.
"Mmm, I look forward to it," Alexander legally nodded.
But then hearing how anemic the reply was and knowing that the men were likely saying yes because denying his request was not really an option for the two men. he still decided to sweeten the spartan deal for the two.
"If you can meet the deadline, I will make both of you Shordars (Baron)," Alexander did promise them peerage for great achievements and decided to fulfill them.
This produced the expected excitement and jubtion as the man gave the standard reply of bowing and kneeling and swearing the oath, "We swear to serve you loyalty and wholeheartedly for all eternity."
"Hahaha, work hard," Alexander was always impressed by how fatigue, pain, and unwillingness could be wiped away through the application of enough rewards.
Some might feel that offeringnd and an inheritable title to be overly generous for what was basically them making something that Alexander designed.
But Alexander had decided to give them it anyway.
This was because these two were already in the council seats and there was little point in haggling over something that was inevitable.
It was not like they would remain civilians for their whole life.
And besides, he will have grander projects in the future, projects which will need its higher-ups to be tight-lipped about them so as not to attract prying eyes, and for that, in addition topetence, loyalty was paramount.
There were manypetent people under Alexander.
And there were also many loyal people under him.
But finding a man sharing both qualities was like fishing for one rare shiny pocket monster.
A very hard and elusive search indeed.
So how to search for or in case develop such loyalty among subordinates towards oneself?
Alexander''s answer was- To try and buy it of course.
He nned to throw money,nd, and benefits at the problem and hopefully ensnare them to his boat.
Chapter 280 Clinker To Cement
Alexander was aware that with his background of being a Thesian, gaining the Adhanian''s loyalty would be very hard.
And to promote it Alexander had three basic grand strategies set up.
The first strategy was to make himself a god by promoting his religion.
The second strategy was to be generous with his rewards.
This was the reason Alexander had the reputation of having a loose purse.
Because for a man with the lowly background of a ve, that was the fastest way for him to gain loyalty and respect.
Alexander knew that while in his previous life individual abilities and achievements were looked up to and honored, here, in this time period, bloodline trumped all.
And so his strategy to ovee this handicap was simple, increase the benefits of people following him and thus make it unprofitable for them to jump ship.
And the third andst strategy was tied to the second point, which was to increase his total wealth, thus enabling him to hand out better benefits.
And to do that, Alexander nned to increase trade, introduce new and unique products and establish new trade routes as a means to finance these expenditures.
Or that was the n way.
For only time would tell of their efficacy.
After bidding farewell to Jazum and Krishok, Alexander then moved to see the warehouse where the product from the kin, called clinkers, were being stored.
The small pebble-like semi-cement would be pulled by twin horses, each carrying two tonnes of the stuff until it was deposited into the warehouse where they would be made into pornd cement.
And so Alexander was interested to see its operation.
This was because the process of turning the raw clinkers to cement was something Alexander had the intention of fiercely guarding as, though he knew that he could not keep the manufacturing process of cement a secret for much time, he could easily hide the addition of 4% gypsum.
And though that 4% might sound not like a lot, it was a criticalponent and the only thing controlling the hardening time of the product when water was added.
Thus a sly smile broke out of Alexander as he looked forward to seeing his opponent toil away to recreate the product, only to find that the ''so called'' miracle powder instantly turning to solid after adding water, making the thing pretty useless.
But for this to work, it was imperative that the secrecy regarding the addition of gypsum needed to be kept under the strictest of security.
And that''s why Alexander was going there, to judge the security of theplex.
Alexander was greeted by the caretaker of the warehouse right at the gate of the enclosed structure, a short, thin man with two huge buckteeth by the name of Yemin, who was nked by tworge, muscr soldiers.
"Wee, my lord, wee." The man wearing a grey, worn-out oat had a wide grin pasted on his face as he bowed to Alexander.
This unassuming man, hand chosen by Camius himself, was among the select few who knew the real recipe, something not even Jazum and Krishok were privy to, and his get-up was thus very intentional, designed not to draw too much attention to himself.
And to ensure that he did not say anything to anyone, by his own permission, all his movements and conversations were strictly monitored and recorded.
The two bodyguards with him were as much his protectors from potential kidnapping as they were his jailors, making sure he kept his tongue in check.
"Yemin, how goes the product sale!" Alexander gave a gentle smile at the loyal man as he patted familiarly on the man''s shoulder.
This man was once in the first phnx and one of Camius''s and by extension Alexander''s best snitches.
"Haha, by the grace of my lord, well," The man with a wide smile replied, and then invited them in, "Please, Your Grace, please enter."
As Alexander entered the huge enclosedplex, the dull thudding sound from the outside had turned into an ear-splittingly loud boom, constantly and almost rhythmically hitting his ears.
This was because outside the actual huge wooden warehouse. all around the entire premises was the ear-smashing sound of hammering going on.
Alexander spun his head around as he observed the operations for himself while on his way to inspect the warehouse.
He saw workers swarming the recently arrived carts, using small shovels and even their hands to get the clinkers onto small buckets, which then they would dump into various small nearby pits, surrounding which were two to three strong men holding huge bronze sledgehammers.
Once the pit was filled, these men would get to work, lifting their huge, heavy sledgehammers high into the sky and then bringing them down with a mighty smash, progressively turning the small, innocent pebbles to dust under each merciless hit.
"How many people we got working here?" Alexander asked¡no, shouted at Yemin.
"About fifteen hundred, my lord," Yemin shouted back, and then gave the breakdown,
"We have a thousand men working the two hundred and fifty pits in two-man teams, both day and night. all day long."
''Hmmm, that''s fifty kilograms per shift per team. Not bad,'' Alexander gave an approving nod at the speed, understanding this might be close to their maximum limit.
Yemin was still saying, "We have another fifty men crushing the gypsum. But they don''t work here, my lord. They work at the mines where the gypsum is mined and we directly bring the crushed product along with our everyday supplies like food and drinks."
"And because the two powders look the same, even the mixers don''t know what they are mixing. They think it is the same powder, and are told that to make the cement, the raw powders need to be thoroughly and finely mixed, like kneading a dough," Yemir had a crafty tone to his voice.
"Smart," Alexander had not ordered this and was impressed by the man''s cautiousness.
"Thank you, my lord," Yemin bowed with a light smile, and afterward continued,
"And the rest are for doing all the misceneous work. They do everything from driving the carts to unloading the carts to filling the pits to mixing the powder to everything you can around you sire." Yemin finished by swinging his right arm wildly to draw the Pasha''s attention to his surrounding.
And thus Alexander, urged by his subordinate, once again scanned his surroundings to see all the various hectic activities taking ce around him.
Some workers were emptying the pits by scooping up the finely ground powder to then carry it into the warehouse, some were loading the finished Pornd cement onto carts to deliver them to various ces, well only two ces for now, either to Diaogosis to finish his house construction or to Uzak to make his roads, and some were there for misceneous tasks like feeding the horses, serving meals for the men and doing other odd jobs like cleaning and various errands.
"Master here," Atst at the entrance of the warehouse, Yemin gestured for Alexander to enter before him, though it wasrgely unnecessary.
For the previously used grain silo''s huge door was fully ajar and people flowed in and out of the structure like lines of ants, all either carrying the white powder or carrying the empty bucket that used to carry the white powder.
Surprisingly Alexander''s arrival did not cause too much upheaval even at the mouth of the warehouse.
This was because, one- he did not want to cause any and kept his identity secret, and two, which was the more important one- because none of the workers here really knew Alexander.
They of course knew who he was, but only by reputation, i.e- they had heard of him but never seen him.
And with their own boss having armed escorts and many people like Diaogosising to him for more cement, who had their own entourages, Alexander''s small group of bodyguards did not attract much attention.
Alexander nced inside the huge two-story high room and found it to have no windows, which was perfectly normal given grain used to be stored there.
But now, this supposedly dark, damp waspletely transformed as its doors let in huge amounts of golden sunlight while the insides were too lit by massive torches and brasiers.
And the reason for that was at the center of the room a very curious action was going on.
He could see hundreds, if not thousands of barrels being rolled around on the ground, being kicked and shoved by what Alexander estimated to be around a hundred people.
"Just as you instructed lord Pasha, those barrels are first filled with gypsum of the appropriate amount and then a premeasured amount of the freshly ground clinkers are added. After that the barrels are sealed and rolled by hand¡or feet for a few minutes, thus properly mixing the mixture." Yemin exined the entire act.
"Then the barrels are then emptied and the powders are stored there," He finished by then pointing to the huge mountains of cement near the walls of the warehouse, which were constantly being nibbled at by workers carryingrge buckets and then loading them into waiting carts.
"Hmmm," Alexander formed a tiny scowl as he observed this highlybor-intensive, but very inefficient process.
Even though it was Alexander himself who had designed this process, on seeing it firsthand, he was beginning to understand that perhaps this was not the best method.
''Isn''t there a better way?'' He then asked himself, wanting to speed up the mixing process.
Chapter 281 Cement Shortage
"So how much can you mix like that in a day?" Alexander decided to know his cement producing capacity.
"Ahem, using the hundred men under me, only about the amount the kiln makes, my lord. We are already at our limit," The caretaker answered in a slightly bitter tone.
Clearly processing such arge amount of the stuff was testing his resources.
Alexander''s little frown deepened upon hearing this.
''Hmmm. perhaps I should halt the formation of the new kilns,'' He then seriously reconsidered, understanding that it may not be his production capacity that was his bottleneck, but the ability to process the clinkers to cement.
And the realization that he might not have the men to process the huge amount of cement even if he could make them made Alexander displeased.
For he sorely needed the cement, as Diaogosis had been constantly hankering him for more.
But going by Yemin''s numbers, if he were to increase the kiln number to eleven as he had instructed Jazum to do, it would mean he would have to employ fifteen hundred times eleven (1,500 x 11)- sixteen and a half thousand men.
And with the currentbor shortage that was clearly impossible.
So Alexander deliberated for some time on whether to temporarily stop making more kilns.
''No! The kilns must be made!'' But he decided.
This decision was made based on the fact that his demand for the white powder would only increase in the future, with the most recent one likely when he conquers the surrounding areas around Zanzan.
There was also the fact that he nned to base all his kilns in Zanzan, at least for the time being, to protect their secrecy and so the kilns here would have to support his construction works all over the province.
But making more kilns was a must.
He was not unaware of the soon-to-arrive additional workforce.
There was the imminent arrival of, by his estimate, sixty thousand (60,000) refugees, and shortlyter the twenty thousand (20,000) ves, followed by the almost forty thousand Thesians (40,000).
But he also remembered that a lot of them will be needed in the farnds.
In fact, by his own calctions, only sixteen thousand (16,000) men would be avable in total within the city.
So reality was beginning to make Alexander''s n of operating eleven kilns seem like a pipe dream.
''*Sigh*, using so many men to do such repetitive tasks is so wasteful!'' Alexandermpooned at this conundrum, wishing that if only he could build a steam engine.
But as soon as he said so, a light bulb lit up in his head as the image of a stream engine spinning a wheel coincided with the image of another certain medieval construct.
''Repetitive! It''s repetitive! Of course! Why didn''t I think of that?'' Alexander pped his forehead metaphorically as his heart squealed in joy at the image conjured up in his mind.
If he could build that, and build it quickly enough in sufficient quantities, his cement production could soar to new heights.
''I will need to divert Diaogosis to that immediately,'' Alexander promised.
Feeling pleased as punch with himself for solving such a critical issue, Alexander finally returned his attention to what was happening around him and then turned to Yemin to ask him about other misceneous things.
"My lord, those sledgehammers are proving to be inadequate," Was one of Yemin''sints, saying, "They frequently crack or outright shatter after a few days of use. And then we have to waste a lot of time collecting the shattered pieces, remelting, and reforming them. Our cksmiths can barely keep up with all the work."
Alexander was not too surprised by this as such behavior was natural for bronze.
In fact, being inherently weak, brittle, andcking structural integrity. bronze was not a good metal, its only redeeming quality being its low melting temperature, which allowed these primitive people who could not attain a high temperature in their furnaces to smelt the alloy.
And this was why in Alexadner''s earlier life it got reced by iron as soon as thetter got avable.
And perhaps all these weaknesses could be exemplified by studying the famous Egyptian sword Khopesh, which was a sword designed like a sickle.
And the reason for that was that there was a very specific motive behind the very particr design.
Because a long, straight piece of bronze was too weak to be used in heavy melee, and thus would be at risk of snapping in the middle ofbat, they made the sword carved, so that the sword could be made shorter while still concentrating the same amount of force on its outer rims.
But Alexander could not really do the same for the hammers, and so under the exertion of the hugepressive forces, which were simply too much for the copper and tin alloy to handle, they would bend and crack.
"Does the lord know of any way to help?" Yemin, seeing Alexander in deep thought, then hopefully called out.
He was one of Alexander''s original followers and having witnessed much of Alexander''s knack for inventions, was kind of familiar with that thoughtful look.
''I need to get the st furnace running,'' Was Alexander''s straightforward answer to the problem As other than recing the bronze with iron, there really was no way to make the sledgehammers better.
Forpared to that junk bronze, iron was close to a super metal, one which could be manipted to nearly infinite degrees by alloying it with different elements.
But then why had Alexander not yet started therge-scale production of this super metal?
Because ofck of cement.
Because ofck of blowers.
And because of theck of coal.
''I need to check up on Harun as soon as possible,'' Alexander again reminded himself as he thought back on this problem and then turning to Yemin reassured the caretaker, "Don''t worry. I will solve this problem by spring. So until then please bear with it."
There was really no difference between the st furnace and the cement kiln, and so with the cement production already underway, he was confident about getting the st furnace up and running by February.
"Thank you, my lord, thank you!" Came a wide relieved grin, the thin man''s fists shaking in excitement.
Alexander then spent some more time with the man, had a few drinks in his house, and as dusk fell, decided to end his tour of the warehouse.
"Then I will set out Yemin. Work hard and keep the recipe secret," Alexander bid his goodbyes and returned to his manor. feeling a great sense of achievement at his cement production.
A feeling that instantly disappeared when he went to visit Uzak a few dayster.
Uzak was in charge of making the roads, and the first thing that the man informed Alexander was that there was no cement for him to do his job.
In fact, his allocated cement was so low that it was work was not just slow, it hadpletely halted.
"My lord, look," The stonemason pointed to a few meters of road covered by concrete, "That''s all we could do till today. Please, I need more!" He whined.
He then further went on to say that his workers were almost finished digging all the curbs and then filling them up with the appropriate aggregates and only needed the cement to make the concrete and give the road a finishing touch.
"But I can''t do that if I don''t have the cement my lord," Uzak repeated his difficulty.
Alexander too felt a slight migraineing as he saw the abysmal speed of the road construction.
''Darn, I forgot about this,'' Alexander med himself.
Being swarmed with all kinds of responsibility, because he really did not have anyone to help him, he had made a huge oversight by forgetting to calcte the required amount of cement for the road.
And now he was about to fall into a pit.
Reminded by Uzak, Alexander did the calctions on the spot, and the number that popped up inside his head made even the usually mentally resilient Alexander feel faint.
Because the number was not justrge, it was astronomicallyrge.
In fact, to Alexander, it appeared almost horrific
''I hate multiplication,'' Then Alexander cussed and cursed at the answer, attempting to redo the maths again to double-check the answers.
And this time he decided to do the math for just one kilometer of road.
Going by the dimensions he had set up for Uzak, eight meters wide and five centimeters thick with a sub-base of ten centimeters thick gravel, he calcted that the volume of concrete needed would be four hundred, 400 Cum (1000 x 8 x 0. 05).
And since the concrete was made of cement, sand, and aggregate in the ratio 1:2:4, long answer short, the answer was about one hundred and thirty tons of cement per kilometer.
Yes, tons, not kilograms, with three zeroes at the end.
The confirmation of the answer made Alexander feel faint as he felt almost an overwhelming hatred for the number zero, a feeling simr to what many kids might have felt after getting their test papers.
Given that tens if not hundreds of kilometers of roads would be required to be made per day, there was no way Alexander could make roads at such an expenditure.
Not now, not next year, not even in the next few decades.
Even if Jazum and Krishok were to keep making cement kilns for the rest of their lives, they still would not be able to cope with the demand of just making roads, let alone anything else.
Chapter 282 Changes To The Roads
Other than the huge material demand, Alexander had to also include the cost of cement.
Alexander found that it took around five hundred kilograms of firewood to make just one ton of cement.
With firewood being ten kilograms a ropal, that came to fifty ropals per ton.
Then there was the cost of raw materials.
Those were very cheap.
Sand was everywhere so Alexander just needed to pay for the cost of collecting it.
Limestone and gypsum both came from the same ce and being soft rocks they were easy to mine.
And y was well y, just dirt that needed to be washed and cleaned.
In total, their cost was about ten ropals a ton.
But the most expensive part of his production was the milling process, which cost him one hundred and fifty (150) ropals per ton in total.
But that would soon be cut by ten times as Alexander nned to introduce some new types of machinery to do all the heavy lifting.
So, in short, one ton of cement would cost Alexander seventy-five (75) ropals.
And that gave the cement cost of one kilometer of road to be almost ten thousand (10,000) ropals.
And remember, this was just the cement.
The road would be made actually of concrete, which was a mixture of cement, sand, and gravel.
And then there was the cost of earlier preparations such as clearing out the vegetation and digging the curbs.
So Alexander estimated conservatively per kilometer would cost him eleven to thirteen thousand (11,000 - 13,000) ropals, or a farmer''s six to seven years of pay.
Now, while this might sound like a lot for just one kilometer of road, this was in fact, not arge number.
For context, in the US it takes around eight to ten million (8,000,000 - 10,000,000) per mile, which is also six to seven years of median ie pay of seventy thousand (70,000) dors a year.
A surprisingly simr number.
But it was the demand for the cement that put Alexander off.
Zanzan was about the size of Japan, which was not big, but not tiny either.
But if he were to form an extensive roadwork that connected not only therge, prominent towns but also every tiny vige, fishing hamlet, and hut, as Alexander intended, he would need a daily production capacity in the tens of thousands of tons a day, just to make roads.
And though one might say, ''Well just build more kilns then,'' there was the milling bottleneck where the cement could not be processed quickly enough, the raw material bottleneck where the limestone could not be mined fast enough or the firewood cut quickly enough and thebor bottleneck where there would not be enough men to work kilns without everyone starving.
And even if more people were to be hired, well some of that new hires would have to farm to feed these new people.
So if Alexander wanted to actually do such a thing, they would need to be making one thing and one thing only - cement, and nothing else.
This was clearly impossible.
That''s why, instead, after giving himself some time to think it over, Alexander decided to look back on how the Romans did it and decided to emte that.
The Romans too had concrete, though it was not the Pornd concrete, but a kind of concrete made from volcanic ash which used a natural volcanic mineral called pozzna.
And the way they used it to make roads was much different from Alexander''s.
Alexander nned to use the concrete to form a t, smooth, pristine road, much like the highways of his previous world.
Whereas the Romans used their concrete as a kind of mortar or glue to bind the stones together that formed the road.
So, while Alexander''s road was a true concrete road, i.e- a road made of concrete, the Roman roads were stone roads that used concrete as only a binding material.
The disadvantage of thetter would be self-evident to anyone who has ever traveled on a stone road before.
Because the wheel travels over little stones instead of a smooth surface, there is a constant shaking and jerking motion that ys havoc on one''s hips and spine and Alexander''s desire to build a concrete road was because he wanted to mitigate that.
There was also his consideration that there is less wear and tear on the wheels on a concrete road and the attainable speed is much higher.
And atst, for merchants traveling on a stone road carrying fragilemodities like ss and ssware, as Alexander intended to sell, or drinks like wine, it was always perilous.
The constant vibration of the carts made it so that there was a greater chance of breakage or spige, which made merchants reluctant to trade these goods or necessitate the use of padding, which decreased cargo capacity.
A problem that would have been absent in Alexander''s road.
And for anyone iming that Roman concrete was way superior because it hassted two thousand years while modern concretests only a few decades, this is a facy.
Roman concrete never had to deal with the kind of forces modern concrete has to face, and although roman concrete had been found to get stronger with time due to aplex reaction that happens with water and the volcanic mineral, it is nowhere the magical thing that some make out it to be.
Faced again with another harsh reality as he did with Yemin, Alexander decided to make the road stone roads for the time being, vowing to slowly switch them with concrete ones once cement production caught up.
In this way, he hoped that though not every little road could be made out of concrete, at least the connections between the major city and trading hubs could be.
"Hmmm, okay, we will change tactics here," Alexander atst addressed Uzak, dictating to the man his decision.
? He first stated, "ording to you, much of the roads are already halfpleted. There is already ayer ofrge stones as the foundations of the roads and on top of them is ayer of smaller rocks all mixed up with fine aggregates to fill the gaps. Right?" Alexander asked for confirmation.
"Yes, my lord, that''s right," The road maker nodded, adding, "ording to you, this is where we are to then add ayer of the concrete to form the finishing surface."
"Mmm, I did say that," Alexander admitted, "But due to material shortages we will do things a bit differently," Alexander imed.
And then delineated, "Instead of using a concreteyer, the surface with be made of fine y and gravel, with only a thinyer of just a millimeter of concrete to be used to bind everything together. In this way, our cement consumption will reduce to a fraction of the current need."
"You think that''s possible?" Alexander then asked the experienced artisan for his opinion.
Uzak ced his hands on his chin and thought about it for a while.
"....., Mm, yes, I think so," Finally with a jerky nod, Uzak answered affirmatively.
"Good, good, good," Hearing the very ''good'' answer, Alexander repeatedly said the word good, feeling like a ten-ton weight had been lifted off his chest.
This was because Alexander believed that if he could not form a robust roadwork, he was fuck.
And this belief came from studying the Romans.
Alexander believed that the Romans'' secret to sess in controlling such a huge empire was their extensive roadwork, which allowed not only formerce to flourish and thrive, but also enabled their army to rapidly march to any part of the empire, thus giving them the ability to rapidly attack or defend against any threats.
And he wanted to emte that.
"My lord, there was something else," Alexander was yanked out of his happy, relieved mood by Uzak''s chirpy voice, and this made the new pasha very frustrated.
''What now? Don''t tell it''s another problem,'' Alexander snapped inside his head as the dread of seeing more problems had turned to anger.
But he still managed to keep a straight face outwardly and in a bit of an apprehensive voice only asked, "Yes?"
But fortunately for the young boy, this time it was not bad news.
In fact, it was quite good news as Uzak pointed out a feature that Alexander had missed.
"My lord, I suggest adding about two meters by two-meter ditches around twenty feet away from the road on both sides." exining, "In this way, not only would the drivers have a wide peripheral view of the road, but also wild animals and more importantly high way robbers and illegal merchants won''t be able to use the road."
''Well some things you can''t learn from reading a book,'' Alexander praised in his heart, knowing he could have never thought about this on his own just using his bookish knowledge.
"Is this how the roads are Adhan?" Alexander asked.
"Yes, my lord." Uzak confirmed, saying, "The roads were made such after decades of many such tragic incidents,"
"Mmm, then I will leave it up to you. Good job," Alexander gave an appreciative nod.
After which he asked, "And what about the aqueduct? And the sewage system?"
Though Alexander could vaguely presage the negative answer.
"I''m sorry my lord," Uzak replied bitterly shaking his head, "But we can only start building them once we get enough cement."
''Figured'' Alexander cidlymented to himself.
"The road will not need much cement now. So concentrate on the aqueducts from now on," Alexander thenmanded the man to switch priorities.
"Yes, my lord," Came the quick affirmative answer.
Chapter 283 The Four Districts (Part-1)
Uzak then excused himself, by very straightforwardly bidding his goodbye, "My lord, then please excuse me as I prepare the necessary equipment and men for the new construction,"
"Umm, work hard." Alexander gave the permission with a curt nod.
And then hung the same bait he had hung for Jazum and Krishok, "And once the three projects arepleted, I will make you a shorder (Baron)!"
"As long as I have enough cement I won''t need sleep, my lord," The stonemason gave a wide grin as he bowed, his zeal for work tripling.
"Mmm, I will increase production drastically soon. So be ready," Alexander promised the man and thus finished his tour for that day.
Over the next days, Alexander would observe tipper carts, carrying y and gravel moving along the already halfpacted roadyers, and dumping their contents behind them that would be used to form the road''s outeryer.
After these materials were felled on the road, the heaps of material were spread out with nks by workers and then a thinyer of the cement would be sprinkled on top.
Soon afterward a second horse cart, carrying water barrels would be used to drizzle the road, wetting the cement and causing it to start reacting with the surrounding sand and gravel and binding them together.
And finally, horse-drawn rollers would be driven over the wet road to evenly spread out the cement and smooth out the surface, thus producing a smooth stone road.
With this production process, one extra care had to be taken which was to make sure that the final geometry of the road had slightly sloping sides, to allow for rainwater to be drained outwards and away from the road.
"My lord, I can confidently say that there exists no road in Adhania as beautiful as this one," Uzak would confidently im, then going even further to im that no road in the world was so beautiful.
"And to think that you intend to make all the roads, as beautiful, no even more beautiful than this one! Ohhh!" Uzak cried out in happiness, his artisan spirit singing at being not only able to witness but also contribute to the constitution of such a milestone project.
Alexander only smiled and nodded at the fanboy, instead his mind catching on the word ''all the roads''.
The fact was even Alexander did not know the exact length of the roadwork he hadmissioned.
Only the rough paths along which they were to be made.
But even then it would not be wrong to praise the roads not only for their quality but also their quantity.
For to say the length was anything less than grand would be a gross understatement.
These roads were not just simple straight roads that connected point A to point B.
But more like city block roads, with each straight line containing multiple branches of roads, who themselves had many splits attached to them.
So if seen from above, the roads would not look like the straightforward, single lines one would typically expect in a medieval city, or the narrow, twisty- turny curves of apact, dingy city, but much more like a modern city''s roadwork- rectangr and grid-like.
And achieving this intended effect was not easy for Alexander.
Previously a house might be situated on a one-man alleyway that the people living there would call a road, whereas Alexander''s renovations aimed to make the houses have roads on all four sides, or at least two, much like modern-day apartment blocks.
And this was certainly an ambitious project as space inside an ancient city was really minimal.
For example, ancient Rome housing a million people (1,000,000) was just 40 square km, and people were able to cover the end-to-end of the city in about an hour on foot.
Compare that to a modern city like Das with a simr poption which has an area of 1000 square km,
And this was the same case for Zanzan.
Small dingy houses, huts, and shacks littered the side of the streets, asionally supplemented by shops and workshops of various kinds, all trying to edge closer to the buildings opposite of the street and, choking out the road in between them.
There were open ughterhouses, fishmongers, and all kinds of unspeakable filth littered the streets, from animal guts to dead animal bits to various house wasters to even human excrement,
And to rectify these problems, Alexander knew he had to remodel the entire city.
There was also the consideration of nning for the future, where, ording to optimistic projections by Alexander, the poption would balloon soon after, and so, now that Alexander had the opportunity with the poption being rtively low and docile, he decided to apply extensively urban reworking to this haphazard, chaotic city.
Thus heid out his first set of instructions to Uzak, who was in charge of making both the roads and sewage system, and itmanded him to demolish the many slums and dpidated houses all around the city and start making roads through some of them.
And though some objections were first made, they did not rise up in arms for being made homeless as many would expect.
Instead, these voices very quickly died out.
And there were basically threerge reasons for this.
First, it was because Alexander was the one giving out free food, medical, and even jobs to everyone. So the people either obeyed him or starved. And it very much helped that the pasha had a literal army under him to silence any detractors.
Second, it was because a huge number of the houses demolished were ownerless and thus by default owned by Alexander.
This happened because the owner either died, left the city, or was captured as a ve
And the third andst reason was because Alexander had promised all of them new houses. This promise was easily verifiable as they could personally go and see the construction works going on, and many even worked on them, which reassured the popce.
And thus,bining the three factors, the popce was generally peaceful about all the infrastructure developments.
But how extensive were these renovations?
Well, quite a lot actually.
First and foremost came the roads.
ording to Alexander''s designs, there would be four main roads, with each of them having manynes, streets, and walkways connected to them, like branches of a tree.
These four huge main ways would be like the arteries of the city, connecting the four major parts of the city all to the city center.
One of the arteries, being connected to the most number of smaller tributaries, came from the west, where the new residential district was being-made.
This western road had many branches, one on each side every twenty meters, which themselves were connected to others, forming the characteristic grid-like city roads.
This made the western part of the city have the most amount of roads and was Uzak''s current sector of operation, as directed by Alexander.
Another road went from the port on the southern side of the city to the center.
This would be where all the ships docked and loaded and unloaded their supplies, and Alexander nned to build the road to reduce congestion of all people and horse-drawn carts entering and leaving this part of the city.
This was also where the industrial district of the city was nned to be located, to be littered with workshops, kilns, and furnaces, intentionally chosen for its proximity to the sea for ease of transport of goods and services.
There was already some evidence of that, as both the cement and brick-making kilns were here, and Alexander nned to ce the industrial and production hearnd of his city here, and make it be littered with workshops, manufacturing nts and kilns, and furnaces.
And to help with that, Alexander had ns to build tens of huge warehouses along the port to store all the raw and manufactured materials.
The next road, ording to Alexander''s ns came from the east, which ran through the part of the city famously known as the city underbelly.
It was the ce where the dregs of society would umte and was home to all kinds of immoral establishments, offering pleasures of both the flesh and mind.
Entertainments like gambling dens of all kinds, ranging from ying various kinds of dice games to animal fighting bets, to many drinking parlors that doubled as brothels, so housing the city''s famous red light district, this part had it all, making it the immoral party center of the city.
No self-respecting woman would be caught anywhere here, while most male bachelors would be.
But currently, this once ''great'' part of the city was close to ruin.
The war and famine had hit this entertainment district particrly hard, and business was almost non-existent.
For example, before Alexander came, there was no food to host the drinking parlors, people would listlessly y dice to pass the time or distract themselves from the crippling hunger pangs, money having lost most of its value and women would only whore for food, not coin, something few would be willing to part with.
And so Alexander had decided to capitalize on this momentary weakness and destroy it.
Yes, not remodel it, but destroy it, with his official reason being the sector suffered from the same problems as the rest of the city, too narrow streets, congested buildings, and squalid conditions.
And while the real reason was much more strategic- to root out the rats that had lived there for generations out of their holes
Chapter 284 The Four Districts (Part-2)
The prosperity and well-being of that part of the city was certainly among Alexander''s considerations,
But not the most important consideration.
For when Alexander conceived this n, his priority for the eastern sector was to eliminate all the actors there and make himself the sole owner.
And Alexander did have some good reasons to want to be such, as he felt apprehensive about these people.
And the justification for this caution could be understood when one studied the history of the ce.
Because through these very recent booming businesses, the disagreeable parts of the society had managed to umte quite a fortune for themselves, which was evident by the fact that this part of the city was in quite a good condition even after the city and province had been ravaged by disasters for such a long time.
These heavy weights took care of the ce they lived and worked in and this could be seen in the surrounding architecture, most of which were of stone instead of the usual wooden buildings, with grand spires, domes, and minarets on top, as per the artistic style of this era.
The hotels, inns, and pleasure houses owned by these people were also of quite high quality, some even better than the ones in Adhan, which was not too surprising given the amount of money being thrown around there, and it was this disy of affluence in such a part of the city, nicknamed the underbelly, was what had drawn Alexander''s attention to it in the first ce.
And this curiosity had turned to first unease and then apprehension as he got to know more about the ce.
He had always known gangs, drug lords, and organized crime was associated with many of the shady and objectionable ways of ie, whether it be in the twenty-first century or in this time period, but always imagined the ces they operated in to be like the image one conjures up when one hears ''the city''s underbelly''- a shabby, rough, and dpidated ce, with thugs ready to snatch your money around every corner.
This was certainly wrong as these people wanted repeat customers, something that was hard to get if one tended to rob them every time.
And so, they set up various establishments to fleece one''s money not just once, but multiple times.
Hence the articte architecture.
But Alexander had missed these considerations because of erroneously superposing his previous life experiences on this life.
In his previous life, it would be the poor and less privileged neighborhoods that would usually have gang problems, where many times poverty, destitution, and ack of opportunity would lead one to gravitate toward that life.
And so, though individuals in thatmunity might be very rich, in general, that neighborhood would have a low level of ie on the whole.
But here it was quite the opposite.
In here, many a kid''s dream was to join a gang and rise through the ranks.
This was because here many of the gangs and street rats were not scums of society in the eyes of thews, but part of the ruling ss!
For generations, the rulers of this city, Pasha Muazz, and his predecessors would employ these
kingpins and gangsters as guards andw enforcers of the city, making them not rogue actors or enemies of the state but under the payroll of the crown.
So this eastern district was really the home of the former city guards and their associated businesses.
And to supplement their ies, these busy bees would even sometimes triple as mercenaries, offering fantastic services such as killing, looting, burning, kidnapping, and all other manners of macabre hospitalities.
A service that seemed to have an inexhaustible demand.
They serviced clients from all walks of life, ranging from the lowest dregs of society like a beggar jealous of a corner piece of road that is upied by a widow and her starving children, to merchants wanting to remove apetitor by burning their shop down to all the way up to the nobles, who fought with each other over everything, from simply being jealous of the other to liking a woman who might have caught both their fancy to having conflict over tangible benefits like a lucrative real estate for shops in the market ce.
This gave rise to the culture of many nobles having their own small city gang as hired muscle to protect their property and investments and as a way to attack others, thus resulting in regr shes between various groups bing amonality.
Hence it could be seen that these people that dwelled in the eastern part of the district were armed and dangerous, and though they might appear weak right now due to having their strength eroded and eaten by the drought and war over thest three years, one would be very foolish to underestimate their power, for once given the breathing room they needed, their recovery would be rapid and violent.
But of course, it was also important not to overstate their danger.
Alexander was not afraid that these human-shaped rats and snakes would be able to harm him directly in his own city.
He had eight thousand (8,000) trained men at his beck and call after all.
But what he was afraid of was that these men, spurred on by the nobles from the outside and the temple from the inside, both of whom they had served for generations, and motivated by the fact the new owner of the city had no intention in employing their services and was even actively trying to cut their business of gambling, extortion, and prostitution, would be able to pose as a significant thorn in Alexander''s eyes, like a fishbone that''s stuck inside oneself, not fatal, but hard to dislodge and extremely ufortable to live with.
And their area of expertise certainly allowed them to possess that capability, acting as partisans and saboteurs to undermine Alexander''s authority by protesting and rioting, providing refuge to criminals, obstructing people''s work, strong-arming businesses into bankruptcy or preventing their set-up, spreading lies and rumors or even just rying intel to hostile forces.
All such acts would weaken Alexander''s hold over the city and hamper the peace and order of the state.
Alexander could never let that stand and gasping the prime opportunity the current times presented, with almost all the actors absent- being either dead, missing, or running from the gue, Alexander, in the name of renovation, decided to take over that part of the city.
But what did Alexander mean by ''take over''?
Didn''t he already control the city?
It meant that he would take these private properties and thend they were on and remodel them to his own wish.
And he intended to do this remodeling by knocking down most of the buildings here.
Thus the more appropriate word would have been demolition.
This was a drastic measure and had expectedly generated some ck from his council members who were understandably reluctant to see such high-value pieces of property be destroyed and reduced to dust.
But Alexander was adamant, citing, of all things, the issue of safety, saying that if a fire were to ever catch in just one of the buildings, due to the close proximity of all the buildings and many of them being made partially or entirely of wood, it could rapidly fan out in all directions, endangering thousands or tens of thousands and even causing a city-wide disaster in the worst case scenarios.
He further reasoned that due to the congested nature of the streets, firefighters would not be able toe to the rescue in time, and so, by saying, quote, ''Thus considering the safety of the city and its residence, I have decided to demolish the eastern district'', he overruled his advisors and went ahead with his n.
And seeing Alexander be so adamant about this, the other council members could only hide their exasperation and ept, powerless to stop their boss in this endeavor.
Alexander didter tell them what he intended to build in ce of the destroyed structures, which made many of them pleased, but still, this example went on to heavily illustrate the distribution of the power dynamic between Alexander and his retinue.
For though Alexander on the surface appeared very diplomatic, and would usually heed his advisors'' suggestions and advice, and change strategies ordingly, the reality was that he did not really need to listen to anyone.
He had the right and power to unterally run the city and there was really no one to challenge him of he did choose to do so.
This was because, firstly, having been granted the title by the king himself, he was basically untouchable, at least by his advisors, who did not have even a morsel of legitimacy to Alexander''s seat.
Secondly, because he enjoyed widespread support among the general popce.
Alexander''s policies and generosity and even his supposed ability to catch criminals had won the hearts of many, thus making a popr uprising not possible.
These people might not jump up to defend Alexander, but making them turn their torches and pitchforks against him was also unlikely.
And the third reason was that Alexander had the support of the army.
Although a significant bulk of the army was made up of former Menicus and Melodias''s loyalists, but Alexander too had his personal forces from his mercenary group and the Cantagenans, led by Grahtos were squarely on his side, thus bncing out the equation, and making any armed take over not possible.
Thus Alexander could have ruled the city as a tyrant if he wanted to.
Chapter 285 The Four Districts (Part-3)
Alexander, though capable of bing a tyrant, had no intention of bing one.
He believed the maxim, ''Absolute power corrupts absolutely,'' and had already gotten a bit of a taste of it when he killed the boy named Fatrak in haste.
And so he usually refrained from doing things with an authoritarian approach, preferring to get the consent of advisors before acting.
Usually.
But this time he had arbitrarily chosen to demolish the eastern district.
Why?
Why did he take such drastic measures?
Well, there were three main reasons.
One was simply because Alexander was petty and wanted to remove these establishments as a way of making a political statement to all the hostile nobles.
They owned a lot of the property there and it was his way of sending a very simple message- ''I''ming for you bitch.''
For if Alexander had even the modicum of the intention of making any kind of concessions with these nobles, he would have at least tried to use these properties as a bargaining chip for their loyalty.
Two was because Alexander''s advisors were not crying over him taking over the establishments, but that they would not be able to possess some of the expensive buildings they were drooling over.
And this was a way to teach them to keep their greed in check.
And third was because Alexander had ns to build simr establishments elsewhere and wanted nopetition from these pre-existing, already-known ces.
He feared, even if the management were to change, people might feel morefortableing around to the same ce than go to his new establishments.
So the thing had to go.
The entirety of it.
Alexander did feel a twinge of regret tearing down most of the structures.
But consoled himself by saying that he would soon build buildings bigger, better, and stronger.
But then the question arose, ''if Alexander nned to demolish the whole neighborhood, what did he n to rece with?''
And the answer was surprising.
Because what he intended to do with the new district was perhaps quite the opposite of what it had been used for centuries.
Whereas previously this part was famous for its crime,wlessness, and den for criminals, Alexander''s new role for the district would see it clean, safe, and a glowing example of a model society.
For he intended to turn it into the army barracks!
Alexander''s proposal naturally generated some talks, both of slight disagreements and of tions, the former from the civilian sides, and thetter from the military.
But Alexander squashed any dissent with the words, "The army will expand in the future. They will need a ce to live, eat, and train. So the eastern district will go to them"
Thus, though currently the army was situated in the western district, their lodgings being in the barracks of the various empty noble houses, they were scheduled to be soon relocated to the opposite side of the town.
Alexander had nned to do it slowly and quietly, so as to not rattle the people who lived and worked there too much.
But the temple killing had inadvertently sped up that process exponentially.
This was not the n at all, but after arge portion of the eastern part had been cleaned up by Cambyses by arresting the thousand men in a blitz operation, and after Alexander proimed that the eastern districts decadence and immorality had be a nesting ground for devils, the people were very eager to see it get demolished.
And so a few days after that incident, Alexander sent out his army to reim thend, who then started the extensive demolitions, transforming some of therge structures like warehouses into barracks, building new ones over the top of old ones, and tearing downrge swaths of thend to make ground avable for things like offices, stables, weapons storage, and training grounds.
The army also had its own team of engineers to do this and under Alexander''s directive, they even started on the roads, connecting the central district to them.
While the ordinary soldiers took residence in the newly constructed or refurbished barracks, many of the officers made some of the best buildings in the district their homes, making a few former inns, pleasure houses and residences of kingpins now grace many of the high-ranking leaders of Alexander''s military.
This was tacitly approved by Alexander himself, as a kind of remuneration for moving from the luxurious noble district to the kind of lower district, and now possessing these nice, spacious dwellings, these men''s little acridness towards Alexander had disappeared.
There were reasons why Alexander had chosen to drive out the army from the western district, away from his close proximity, to the opposite side of the city.
The first was due to future considerations of space.
Alexander knew that he would have to expand the civilian residential districts by magnitudes in the future, and he decided to get ahead of the problem by clearing space beforehand, before such arge number of soldiers could entrench themselves with their friends and families here, making future removals close to impossible.
And the army would not have just taken up living space, but training and storage space too.
Then there was his consideration of the fact that he did not want the soldiers to be in so close proximity to the civilians.
He feared that this could cause bullying by the former and information leak by thetter.
It would also cause the people to forget their fear of the military.
What did he mean by that?
Well, this phenomenon could be easily exined by citing the kind of dread and terror one felt hearing the phrase ''the military has been deployed,'' as opposed to simr phrases for the police, SWAT, or even the national guard.
And one of the reasons for that was armies were generally, and intentionally, kept distant from the civilian, so that civilians did not get too chummy with them.
That was the police''s job, which was also why ''militarizing the police force'' usually had a bad connotation.
And Alexander shared that mindset, for he wanted the army feared so that their presence would deter any thoughts of rebellion.
And thest reason was because he did not want the soldiers to get used to luxury.
The nobles'' houses were naturally very beautiful andvish, and Alexander feared once these men got used to the sweet things of life, they would have difficulty adapting to the harsh conditions of a campaign.
This was the detailed in-depth view of the easter district, thorough which ran the eastern road, leaving only one artery of the city- The Northern road.
This great road came from the north of the city, which was the original residential or more aptly the slum area.
It was generally where the regr popce lived, in squalid, unhygienic conditions, the situation deteriorating as one moved closer to the gates, while the wealthier inhabitants such as merchants and artisans tended to live closer to the center.
It was, by andrge, the least developed part of this ancient city, and the living conditions here were appalling.
There was a perpetual stink of rotting ammonia around the area and the people here were shabby and filthy, likely never taken a bath in their lifetime.
The houses, built of wood or mud, were close enough to touch each other, making the surroundings dark and damp even in broad daylight and there was virtually no road between them, just a thin spit of alleyway which was usually so tight that even just two people could not use the road side by side.
So if they encountered another personing from the opposite side, they would have to turn sideways till their shoulders became parallel to the road and shuffled past each other with their chests rubbing against one another like ying some kind of vertical version of the Limbo- How long can you go, or in this case, Limbo- How thin can you go.
And the challenges for crossing these streets were not just 2D, just 3D, as many times the people from the top floors would simply dump their garbage onto the heads of the passersby, resulting in frequent exchange of hot and fiery words between the residents.
All these made living in the northern district not suitable for any human and Alexander''s ns were renovations were the most extensive here.
He nned to thoroughly demolish this part of the city, build roads, dig a proper sewage system and connect aqueducts to transform this part of the city into themercial district, turning the dankest part of the city into its liveliest, it''s beating heart.
The entire district was nned reced with rows and rows of two-three story buildings, which would serve as markets, stalls, bazaars, inns, and various other entertainment establishments.
These regr buildings would have eight-meter-wide roads running through both the back and front of the stores, with a small two-meter gap in between them, enabling them to withstand huge gatherings.
And they would have to be able to as Alexander did not just want to make the usual shops, markets, and malls, but also include the arts and dance into this part of the city, making a part of it into the theatre district with arge permanent stage, an amphitheater and shows to be held every night.
Andst of all, Alexander nned to make a huge stadium, simr to the circus maximum, where various sports like horse and chariot racing and other athletic events like sprinting, pole vaulting, and javelin throwing would take ce.
Chapter 286 The Fifth District
The huge four major roads would be connected to the central district of the city, a ce that Alexander intended to make his nerve center of the city.
This part was previously the marketce, intuitively chosen, because it was at the center of the city and so people could easilye and go as they wished from all four parts of the city.
And Alexander had intended to keep it that way at first, instead cing the administrative buildings to the north of the city.
But it was Menes who raised an objection to this, citing it would be dangerous to ce such important buildings so close to the gates, as in the case of a siege, these important buildings, with all the important heads of the city, alone with carrying thousands, if not tens of thousands of precious documents, everything would be vulnerable to enemy siege weapons.
And after thinking about it a while, Alexander agreed.
So, he ced all the important buildings in the middle of the city, so that even in the event that the city walls were breached, the leaders and decision-makers were not immediately in the crosshairs.
And to decrease the probability of that ever happening, Alexander ced one of the city gates, the eastern gate under the hands of the army, while the northern gate was to be protected by the city garrison.
The southern portion did not have anyrge gate, for it faced the ocean, while the western part was made up of steep hills that would make any attack unassable and any attacker visible for miles.
ording to ns drawn up by Alexander, the central district was to house the following buildings for the time being:
There would be the police headquarter, plus the residential quarters of the servicemen, all one thousand members, and possibly more in the future, with all their family members ced here.
In the daytime, these men would be ced all over the city, but at night they would sleep in the central district, the idea behind the decision being that these armed men would have more motivation to protect the district they lived in, thus ensuring the security of this vital part of the city.
There would be the central bank that Alexander nned to soon set up, which would be the country''s first but certainly not thest one, as Alexander was sure that others would soon emte him to set up simr financial institutions, making the central district be a financial hub for the province and possibly the country.
There would be a huge public library that would house tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands books and manuscripts.
Work was scheduled to begin as soon as Alexander found the time to invent the printing press.
There would be several state-sponsored public schools and universities here, designed to teach the younger generation the basic knowledge, who would then be expected to use and contribute to the public library.
There would be all kinds of administrative buildings that would handle all the paperwork for the entire city and slowly extend to the entire province.
Some of the buildings that came to Alexander just from the top of his mind were the usual ones anyone coulde up- the agricultural building, the mining building, etc.
But some were a bit more special like the marriage registration and immigration building and two werepletely new kinds of buildings called the ve management building- responsible for, as the name suggests, registering and looking after the well-being of the ves and the citizen record building which Alexander nned to use to keep a detailed track of the poption, by issuing something simr to the US social security card.
And then there were the judicial buildings, which would settle both criminal and civilian matters for individuals, businesses, and even the state.
They would not only judge and enforce their ruling but also make, study, evaluate, and interpret thew.
But what did it mean by interpreting thew?
Wasn''t thew what was written on the parchment?
No, because, even the most versatile and knowledgeablewmakers could not make aw that will be true for all eternity.
And so it was awmaker''s job to not only read and memorize thew but also understand the appropriate context of its implementation.
Alongside these administrative and judicial buildings, Alexander also nned to make the central district the spiritual hub of the city.
There already was both the Temple of Ramuh and the Temple of Gaia here, disying that even the people before knew of the location''s convenience of travel, and Alexander nned to make many more temples in the vicinity.
And atst, there was the big one.
The single piece of building that would make all the other buildings appear secondary, casting a shadow on all of them.
The one that would legitimize the central district''s title- The nerve center of the city.
A building called- The Senate.
The current senate''s address was Alexander''s home, more specifically the second-floor hall room.
But that ce was only chosen as such because of convenience, and out of necessity.
It could never be the norm.
The setting was too informal for his liking, and Alexander did not look too kindly to so many mening and going out of his house every day.
And in the future, there would be even more traffic as more and more people would be invited to join the meetings.
So it was soon bound to get crowded.
This was not a problem for the previous pasha as he kept only a few men around him, letting his subordinates oversee all the work.
But that was not how Alexander operated, as evidenced by his invitation of even civilians into his meetings.
He liked to be informed and in the thick of things and so the number of his advisors was bound to keep increasing in the future.
So the parliamentary building was a necessity, which he nned to design exactly like the Roman one, with a central tform to address others and give speeches, and all the lords seated on raised tforms all around like a gallery.
Alexander also contemted moving the noble''s district, which was currently to the west of the city, and one that he was transforming into the civilian residential district to the center of the city.
But he was yet to make his mind up on that one.
And the veryst thing that Alexander nned to build was a triumph.
It was basically a Roman invention and it was a huge arched gate that one paraded through to celebrate military sess.
And like the Romans, Alexander too nned to hold grand parades to celebrate his military sesses.
And thatpleted Alexander''s ns for the city.
Most of these ns were still in their infancy, and it would take a few years to get all the buildings up and running, but Alexander had decided to reserve the plots for those buildings from now.
For now though, Alexander was concentrating his efforts on getting the basic infrastructures going.
And his first priority were the roads.
Though even this simple n had been met with, not opposition exactly, but some grumblings.
Theints were as expected, his advisors felt that building such massive wide roads, capable of amodating two double horse carriages as excessive.
Given the already small size of the city, they felt that thend could have been better used to make more productive structures such as shops, buildings, and offices.
But Alexander knew perfectly well how important the smooth flow of traffic was to a city and he was well aware of how quickly transports in a city could balloon.
And he did not want to deal with the kind of congestion that could create.
After all, traffic jams were after all not just a modern thing, but existed even in ancient times.
And many times it would be even worse.
One only needed to look at the Roman empire to know the kinds of congestion a misnned city could create.
First, horse-drawn carts from dawn to dusk were banned in Rome, because they caused too much noise and confusion on the streets, and harnessed horses contaminated the city.
And then people were ordered to move around the city only on foot.
And atst, when even this did not totally work, women were not allowed to move with carts.
And simr traces of congestion was already beginning to show themselves in Zanzan even by now, in a cityrgely empty.
This was because there were only a few important streets wide enough for two carts to cross each other while most of the streets were narrow with a width of 1 to 2 meters.
This meant that horse-drawn carts carrying construction materials such as cement, bricks, and stones would face huge problems maneuvering in such small, tight spaces, especially if there were many crowds in the streets.
To remedy this, usually, the coachman would send a man forward to pave the passage or properly instruct another oing driver, for example, by forcing a temporary stop.
This could never be a long-term solution and so Alexander decided to build the roads as wide as possible since he had the chance to do so now.
As a matter of fact, he wanted to build the main roads 10m wide but found it difficult to do within the confines of thepact city.
So, he settled for 8m.
And he handed these ns to Uzak and told his men to get to work, tasking them with creating a roadwork that measured close to a hundred kilometers.
And all that for a city of just two square kilometers.
Chapter 287 Residential District
Uzak quickly got to work using the army of workers under him to dig not just the roads, but also the underground sewage system for the entire city, the total work spanning more than a hundred kilometers.
While Alexander decided to meet his next, very important advisor- Diagnosis.
The man had been put in charge of the public houses and Alexander was eager to see how much progress he had made.
He also nned to give the man with a fierce scar some critically important additional work rted to the cement manufacturing and so the two met up at the construction site in the morning.
"My lord, good morning," The man had greeted Alexander and after the usual polite exchanges, Alexander got to know about the extent of the construction works.
"My lord, I have said it again and again, I need more cement." Diaogosis repeated his request, and then he pointed to a few men some distance away, "Look, many are starting to idle. If my lord had not asked for all those plows, they would have had nothing to do."
This was the um-teemed time the man had asked him for more cement, as with the amount allocated to him, he was barely able to make just four outside perimeter walls (16m x 4m x 0.2m) and one roof (16m x 16m x 0.4m) per day.
In fact, he could not really even do that.
So by this point, he was bound to miss his deadline of making one hundred homes by December, leaving the people to spend the cold winter nights in their rundown shacks.
"I instructed Jazum to make ten more kilns in three months. You will get enough soon," Alexander promised in a tired voice.
He had promised the men that all infrastructure projects would be able to go full steam ahead once the first cement kiln was built, but was finding that even working 24/7, with a production rate of over one ton per hour, it was but a drop among the ocean of demands.
Being not a civil engineer, Alexander had no idea of this freakish rate at which cement could be consumed, a realization he was only waking up to.
When Diaogosis had first informed him that he was running out of cement within the first hour, all fifteen tons of it, Alexander''s only thought was that the man was certainly incorrectly using the thing.
And so he had personally gone on a site visit to confirm his fears and the scene there gave Alexander a slight trauma.
He was not appalled by the bricying though.
Oh no, on the contrary, that was happening exactly as Alexander had instructed and in fact, he was even very impressed by the smooth, slick, technique by which the workers wereying brick after brick on the walls.
Alexander watched with muted appreciation as the workers would scoop up the bit of the cement with their small wooden spade, expertly flick the tool to deposit the gray, spongy solid onto the bricks or stones, and then spread it over the bricks in one swift, practiced motion,ying four hundred to five hundred bricks per day individually.
This speed very much impressed Alexander.
But what impressed Alexander less, or more specifically what made him fearful, was the amount of cement they were using, even when they were applying just the appropriate amount.
He was astounded to find out that 25% of a brick wall was mortal, which it self was one-seventh (1/7) cement.
And when he did the math using what he saw, he found that around a ton of cement was needed toy about four thousand (4,000) bricks.
In fact, one ton was usually not enough, as spiges and wastes were bound to ur, bringing the number closer to eleven hundred kilograms of cement.
So using Diaogosis''s allocated daily amount of fifteen tons of cement, the limit of the number of bricks he couldy was around fifty-five thousand (55,000).
This might sound like a lot because that was around a hundred and ten tons of materials a day.
But such an amount could beid by just a bit over hundred men, much less the five thousand under Diaogosis.
His demand was not fifteen tons per day, but more like fifteen tons per hour, and possibly double that.
This realization had made Alexander''s stomach unnaturally squirm as he let out his usual curse, ''I hate multiplication''.
He knew beforehand that even small numbers would swell to huge figures when multiplied, but it was only after he became the pasha that he was beginning to get a real example of it.
And he hated it.
But along with this frustrated feeling, Alexander also began to appreciate the industrial revolution of hisst life and the huge production capacity that people in his previous life had managed to achieve.
And then thought back on a certain county, realizing just how terrifying its production ability was that earned it the nickname- ''The world''s factory''.
The numbers that must have been needed to meet the ever-hungry, insatiable demand of the eight billion people of his previous life must have been gargantuan, a number that surely would have hurt Alexander''s head just seeing it.
Andpared to that, here Alexander was, struggling with just making enough cement.
In fact, theck of cement was also not Alexander''s only headache.
"My lord, we only get two hundred bricks a day. That''s as good as not getting any, "Diaogosis againined, "And that''s why we are using stones instead."
Afterward, he warned, "And though the huge stockpiles from before and the production from the quarries is enough to ride us through right now, if cement production bes more than ten times as you promised....I''m afraid we will face shortages within days."
"..." Alexander only gave a t, cid look, feeling like he had bitten off more than he could chew.
After just bing pasha, and being given the full rein to do whatever he wanted to do, heunched every infrastructure project in his mind simultaneously, wanting to transform Zanzan in one fell swoop.
But reality had nowe knocking on his door, reminding him that he had forgotten to take into ount the issue of raw materials and manpower.
So Alexander felt that all these construction projects were stretching his efforts too thin, resulting in none of them beingpleted on time.
And so he decided to scale back his ambitions by some scale.
"I will go see the issue of brick making and find out why the speed is so less." Alexander weakly addressed the man''s firstint.
Then he informed the man of his decision, "Taking into ount the acute manpower and raw materials shortage, it is clear we are not able to proceed with all the projects simultaneously at the speed I had hoped."
"As such, understanding the realities of the situation, I have decided to decrease the extent of some of the works."
As soon as Alexander said this, Diaogosis could understand where he was going and he quickly interjected, "My lord! But why? These the people''s homes we are talking about!" He cried and even pointed to the many dug-up plots ofnd that had hollowed wooden pirs sticking out, ready to be filled with concrete, and said, "Look, sire. We have already done so much of the work. All we need is the cement and we can start building the houses immediately!"
And atst, he pleaded in a shaky voice, "Think of the people my lord. It''s the middle of the winter. They need these houses!"
It appeared that Diaogosis''s heart was bleeding for the poption.
But his true intentions were certainly not so altruistic.
The real reason why he was whining so much was because without these projects he feared he will not be able to distinguish himself, without building all those residential buildings he was worried he would not be able to make contributions to Zanzan, and without control of the thousands of workers under him, he knew he would see his power and influence in Zanzan dwindle.
And all thesebined would mean that there will be nothing to show for his work and without any aplishments, there can be no peerage of him. something he knew Alexander had already promised Jazum, Krishhok, and Uzak.
Seeing his colleagues move up in life and be bona fide nobles while he trudged in the obscurity of themon mass was a mortifying thought for the man and something he would never be willing to ept.
And thus the hysterical outburst he was currently disying, even before Alexander could really say anything.
Alexander knew very well why Diaogosis was being so defensive about his project.
But he was also a bit angry that he was interrupted even before he could really say everything he wanted to say.
The man was worrying about nothing because Alexander intended to give the man alternative tasks which he could do to earn credit and acim.
And Alexander was very much in the mind to give him the same peerage he had given the other three.
Was.
Alexander was going to give him.
But the outburst right now displeased Alexander and he decided to hold off on it for a while.
So, instead of directly giving the man his new job, and then promising the peerage, he decided to dy his noble title.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 288 Convincing Diaogosis
Alexander''s decision to drastically reduce his ns for the residential buildings was based on pure maths.
Something that Diaogosis seemed unable or unwilling to consider.
So he decided to show the man that wanting to continue with this project regardless was an exercise in futility.
"Diaogosis," He gently called out, and in a fake understanding tone said, "I understand your passion for your work, But it is simply not possible toplete the constructions at the pace I imagined." He said so shaking his head.
"Let us see why." Alexander then raised his index finger dictatorially.
"ording to what I have observed from being here with you, a worker can use up to 500 bricks or a ton of stone''s equivalent and close to a hundred fifty kilograms of cement a day."
"So, with the men people under you, only you will need two and a half million bricks and seven hundred and fifty tons of cement per day."
"And that''s only for you. Even that will take years to reach that capacity," Alexander had a slightly fearful tone to his voice as he said these numbers.
He was not only fearful of the numbers but what these numbers meant in the grand scheme of things, nothing much really.
For example, just four (16m x 4m x 0.2m) walls and one (16m x 16m x 0.4) roof which made up the outside perimeter of the apartment blocks used up more than fifty thousand (50,000) bricks and fifteen tons (15 tons) of cement and it represented just a hundred workers'' output for one day.
Thus Alexander dreaded to think the kind of numbers that would have been needed to keep up the infrastructure projects in his previous life that employed tens of thousands of workers.
Alexander''s analysis dampened Diaogosis''s resistance to the cuts, but he was still unresolved to lose much of his power, knowing, though Alexander had not explicitly mentioned the cutbacks, they were bound to be drastic.
And so, suddenly remembering a bit of something else, he quickly piped up, "My lord, didn''t you say we would be having more than a hundred thousand men (100,000) soon? What about them? They can work!"
Diaogosis had a huge grin as if saying he had found the magic form.
"Men, women, and children. That''s what I said," Alexander gently chided, feeling a bit frustrated he was having to waste so much time on the man.
So in a bit of a disy of anger, Alexander stated brushing his arms, "As we discussed a majority of them will be employed in farming. And even much of the rest will be needed in other projects. They cannot be given sorely to you."
And besides, Alexander''s main issue was not the manpower shortage but the raw material deficit.
"I understand what you are saying, my lord," Diaogosis atst bowed to reality, though the unwillingness in his voice could not be missed.
And then as a side note let Alexander know, "But please know that if we wait too long, the wood and ropes that''s been used to mark the plots and make the outlines of the pirs will rot and we will have to start over again."
"Mnnn, I understand," Alexander could only helplessly see those things get wasted.
"Your Grace, then what about all the homes? Where will all the people live?" Diaogosis did not forget to remind Alexander about his promise to the people, a promise it seemed Alexander would be unlikely to keep.
And then further said, "And sire, without the northern district cleared, we will also not be able to make themercial district too. What about that?"
"..." Alexander had little answer to this problem as he put on a thoughtful or more aptly, confused face.
He was thinking about how he was gonna sell it to the people.
''Fuck.'' Alexander cursed himself for getting over-eager and over-promising to the public.
This decision not only would damage the fragile reputation he had managed to build up within the short time, it would also hamper one of his critical strategies:
A god who promises something and then is unable to deliver on it was no god.
But he soon forced himself out of such a self-deprecating state.
Mistakes were made but what had to be done, had to be done.
And as the leader, he knew he should always appear confident and confident in front of his subordinates.
So regaining his hawk his azure eyes, Alexander spoke, "As far as I recall, you have ten thousand (10,000) men under you, right?"
Diaogosis knew this question was the preclude to Alexander relocating his men elsewhere.
And though he thought about hiding some of it for a split second, he quickly understood that that would be a very bad idea and in the end answered truthfully.
"Yes, my lord, Half in the quarries and half in the constructions. Though most are now making the plows you wanted for farming,"
*Sigh*, if these 10,000 men could work at full capacity, even assuming each floor with all the individual ts, rooms, and stairs used a total of six times the materials, which came to around three thousand thousand bricks and close to a hundred tons (100 tons) of cement, they could have built four four-storied buildings each day.'' Alexander could not help but let out copious amounts of sighs as he ruminated over what could have been.
But Alexander quickly returned his attention to address the man currently in front of him.
"The issue about the houses can wait," Alexander began, stating, "We will continue with the demolitions of the northern districts as nned and move the people to the western district."
"The military has been ordered to clear the eastern district and move there, so many of the barracks and noble houses will be made avable soon."
"My lord, that will still take some time. And won''t the military setting up all those buildings also use up bricks and cement?" Diaogosis was very quick to point out that Alexander was basically suggesting that the army get more construction materials than him.
"No," But Alexander rebutted, "The army will get cement muchter. For the time being, they will live in the various inns and houses in the eastern district. And once the winter is over, they will demolish the district and live in tents."
"And it is unlikely the men will get any significant amount of concrete next year. Only the year after," Alexander added.
Then he soothed Diaogosis''s further grievances, "And though it is certainly unfortunate that we will not be able to finish the houses in time, we willpensate the people by building huge bonfires as heating spots so no one suffers from the cold."
"And that''s what the people really want don''t they - To not suffer from the cold? It''s not like they really want the house!" Alexander reasoned.
"I suppose the lord is right," Diaogosis finally epted his fate.
But what did Alexander mean by people didn''t want houses?
Well, the people of this time lived in their houses very differently aspared to people in the 21st century.
Modern humans tended to see their apartments as permanent residences to live in, ces where one cooked, dined, slept, and rxed.
It was their abode, their sanctuary, and as Winston Churchill put it, "Their castle."
But for the people of this time, houses were not like that at all.
For them, especially those who lived in cities, they basically lived outside.
They had a lodging of some kind, like a small shack, hut, or a loft atop the family''s workshop or shop, which was small and very minimal, with almost no furniture.
There might be a chest or two there which was used to ce valuables and stored clothes, several pegs where to hang clothes in use, winter capes, and other things, probably a couple of stools, maybe a bed (those who can''t fit on the bed can sleep on a mat or mattress on the floor), and a brazier that would be used to heat the room in winter and to warm up or even cook food.
Even the rich lived simr lives.
They had their differences of course.
For example, they lived in multi-room homes which were reserved exclusively for the rich.
This was also why Alexander''s ns, which promised even the peasants such houses had garnered such attention.
But other than the size, theyout was very simr.
People, both poor and rich tended not to cook inside their houses, but would rather use argemunity stove that usually belonged to a baker or an affluent member of the society.
This was because owning and running an earthen stove was expensive.
And since cooking for a great number of people and running a hot stove for a long time was economically cheaper, in addition to the fact that a baker''s oven would sit idle after he had finished baking all the needed bread by morning, the people naturally gravitated to that option.
In this way, the people cooked outside, worked outside and because there was no artificial lighting and candles were expensive, tended to socialize outside, meeting up, in small inns, shops, or other public ces, like gardens or even on the terrace, drinking, chatting and even ying small games like dice and other board games.
So, the people of this time lived in their city just like modern people did in their homes, eating, ying, and partying, while only returning to their houses at night to sleep, essentially treating them as their bedrooms.
Thus Alexander was confident that as soon as their night''s werefortable, the people would not too much bemoan the dy of the houses.
Chapter 289 Waterwheel (Part-1)
Having decided to hold off on the residential buildings until he could bring his capacity up to scratch, Alexander issued the task he came here for.
"Diaogosis, let''s get to the real reason I called you," Alexander said, drawing a surprised look from the stonemason, who thought about a few alternative situations about why Alexander would make such a statement.
But he did not get too far into his thoughts as Alexander handed him a piece of paper with some drawings.
"Here, read this. And see if you can understand them," He instructed.
"Oh! Is this the famed ''paper'' that the lord has invented?" Diaogosis quickly epted the white sheet, rubbing it between his fingers and eximing, "So soft! And so sturdy! Nothing like the papyrus."
He seemed more interested in the novelty of the paper than what was actually written on it.
"....," Alexander simply waited and gave the man a bit of time to check out the new invention.
Diaogosis savored the smooth texture and gazed at the pristine white sheet, and even sniffed the new paper smell for a while, after finally which the feeling of novelty ran out and he decided to focus his attention on what was written on the paper itself.
He knew wherever his lord would hand over things like this, it almost always be about new inventions and gadgets, and he felt giddy thinking about what new contraption and contrivance the pasha had cooked up this time.
And as he eagerly turned his eyes to the paper, he found it was just as he had predicted- it was a new invention.
More specifically it was the blueprints of what seemed to be a huge wheel over which water seemed to be flowing causing this huge spooked circle to spin.
And below it was thebel- Waterwheel.
"The flowing water will cause the wheel called the millwheel to spin." Alexander began his exnation, "Which can be attached to something like a wheat milling wheel so it will spin with it, and thus milling the wheat automatically."
Alexander''s short description was enough to make the artisan understand the invention''s significance and he eximed, "Oh my lord, this is fantastic! With this installed near rivers and springs, we will be able to mill wheat like we were breathing."
Diaogosis was able to instantly grasp where the waterwheel was supposed to be ced showing the man''s skill and expertise.
And thenughed out, "Haha, using this we can half the price of wheat. The people are certain to rejoice,"
He was happy that he had found the excuse by which the people will forget Alexander''s little dy with the houses.
And while he certainly exaggerated about the price fall, the waterwheel would certainly be used like that.
But Alexander''s intention to use the thing was far more industrial.
"Mnnn, the waterwheel can certainly be used and will be used to grind wheat..ter" Alexander said thest word with a bit of a pause, adding with this his characteristic ''but''. "But for now, these ones will be used to crush the clinkers."
"Crush cement?" Being thergest consumer of cement he certainly knew the products from the kiln needed to be crushed.
That was not what surprised him, but this, "My lord, I don''t think simply substituting the stone clinkers for wheat grains in the mill will work."
And then he reasoned, "Those tiny stones are much harder than the grain and will either not break, get stuck between the wheels, or the powder will not be fine enough."
There was certainly logic behind Diaogosis''s skepticism.
And to understand that one needed to understand how a millstone worked.
The way this simple but vital machine worked was that there was a stationary stone wheel called the static bedstone sitting at the base, with a moving stone wheel called the runnerstone was ced on top of it.
And almost counter-intuitively, these two millstones did not touch when in operation, and a small gap was kept in between them that was adjustable and was determined on a day to day to basis depending on the size of the grain.
The runnerstone had a small hole in the center of it called the eyes through which grains could be inserted, and as the stone was spun, an intricate system of groves known as furrows distributed the grain across the millstone''s bottom surface, and also served to ventte and cool the millstones.
These grains would then be crushed using an intricate pattern on the millstone''s surface that was between the furrows and once ground the flour passed along narrow groves called cracking, and was expelled from the edge of the millstones.
Hence, Diaogosis rightly feared that, though the weight of the moving stone and the friction between the two surfaces was enough to crush the rtively soft grains, the solid, stone-like clinkers would get stuck between these narrow channels or even outright ruin the thin grooves due to the clinkers inherent hardness, thus posing themselves as too hard to milled by traditional means.
"Mnnn, you are right," Alexander too agreed with these fears.
But then added, "That''s why we will not do it like that."
The confident tone in Alexander''s voice gave the clue that he already had the idea about how to ovee this challenge and so Diaogosis kind of jumped the gun and eagerly asked with anticipation, "Oh, then how will the clinkers be crushed?"
His eyes seemed to be sparkling as he asked this.
"Hahaha, first let me tell you how to build the waterwheel," Alexander decided to finish the waterwheel topic first before moving on to the new topic, thus keeping the shroud of secrecy around the new crushing technique around for a little longer.
"Ah! Yes, yes, my lord," Diaogosis quickly replied, letting out an embarrassed chuckle, "Haha, I seemed to have gotten too ahead of myself."
"Mmm, then regarding building the waterwheel," Alexander thus began, "This type of waterwheel, where the water flows from the top is called the overshot waterwheel. And if the water flows horizontally like from a river, it is called an undershot waterwheel."
"We will build both. But first, let''s look at how to build the overshot waterwheel." Alexander pointed at the paper.
"To build this type of waterwheel, first you will need to build these things," Diaogosis saw Alexander''s fingers direct his eyes to small lines that he presumed to be t wooden nks between the rims.
"These might look like wooden paddles, but really they are buckets," Alexander rified, exining, "The water will flow from the spring or dam, fill up the empty buckets which will cause them to be heavier and fall down, pushing the empty, lighter buckets at the opposite of side up top"
"Once the filled buckets reach the bottom, the inertia of the wheel and the force of the water will tip the buckets over, causing them to deposit their water out and make the buckets lighter, which can be again pushed up by the seeding heavier buckets, thus repeating the cycle." Alexander gave a simple, generalized overview of how a waterwheel worked.
"To think Your Grace would have thought so deeply. I at best could have made the buckets like solid panels, simr to oars in a boat," Diaogosis let out a genuine exmation of praise, wholeheartedly conceding that Alexander was a superior artisan to him.
He had observed even before that Alexander could not only think of new inventions but also make small adjustments within those inventions that might seem insignificant additions to a yman''s eyes but improved the performance of the contraption by significant margins.
But it would be too wrong for Diaogosis to disparage himself too much as he was no slouch either, for few possessed the ability to tell at a nce or just from hearing the description, why using buckets instead of straight des or paddles were better.
Diaogosis, though did not fullyprehend the existence of gravity, could intuitively understand this type of structure will not only use the speed of the water striking the wheel to spin but also use the additional weight of water going down, making the wheel spin faster.
Alexander had learned the details about the waterwheel, both the overshot and undershot from a science project in his high school, a topic got handed to him by a ss lottery, one which asked him to explore some real-life examples of the usage of gravitational potential energy.
And the project had been quite extensive, making him learn much about watermills, how they worked, what kind of equations were used to calcte their output, their factors of efficiency, and hundreds of other peripherally.
"So where does my lord what to build this? And how big? Diaogosis was very enthusiastic about the whole thing, understanding this was Alexander''s way of giving him an alternative path to making contributions.
"I have not finished," Alexander gently chided, feeling a bit peeved at being interrupted.
"..." Diaogosis only produced a little flush and quickly stooped down his head to hide this as he deeply concentrate on the paper he was holding.
" Now, these buckets" Alexander once again started, "They will be stuck to each other at a 45-degree angle," Alexander showed this by tilting his palms, forming his fingers that resembled a military salute.
The concept of angles was something these people understood very well, and so Diaogosis nodded understandingly, though this time did not open his mouth for fear of going off-topic, only looking down at the diagram to confirm what Alexander was saying matched the instructions that were already written on the paper.
Chapter 290 Waterwheel (Part-2)
Alexander''s choice of angle 45 was easy- Because it was the most optimal one.
This is because any less and the water would fall out before reaching the maximum bottom of the wheel, thus losing out on some of the gravitational potential energy.
And any more and some of the water will be leftover even when the bucket reaches the lowest point, making the apparatus waste energy by again bringing the water up.
"That''s all there is to the milling wheel- just take some wood, make them carved on the inside to make them like buckets, attach each of them at 45 degrees with one other, and then hold the entire thing together with thick wooden panels," Alexander finished exining the most important structure of a waterwheel.
"*Nod*," Diaogosis signaled the understanding with a gentle nod.
"Then there is the transmission system, which is the thing that will transfer the rotation of the wheel into work," Alexander then moved on to the second topic as he indicated with his fingers to flip the page.
"The transmission will be pretty simple, just a log which goes through the center of the milling wheel, which will be attached to the structure usingrge, thick wooden spokes."
Alexander then twirled his fingers as a visual aid and continued, "So as the wheel spins, the cylindrical structure spins with it. And anything could be attached to the other end to make that spin with it too."
Diaogosis very attentively listened to these, taking mental notes as Alexander said, who then finished his first point by suggesting, "These spokes will go through both ends of the log, and attach itself to two points on opposing sides of the wheel. They will be the ones making the log spin with the wheel and so needs to be made of very good lumber.
"We will also need to use thick lumber then," Diaogosis subconsciously added, as he thought not only about the spokes but also about the challenges of drilling suchrge and deep holes through wood without cracking it.
"Use thick ropes to tightly bind the log together," Alexander suggested, understanding the artisan was worried that drilling suchrge holes mightpromise the structural integrity of the wood.
"And once iron bes more avable, we will have the transmission fully out of steel," Alexander promised.
If anyone would have said this Diaogosis would have either politely smiled and nodded, while calling the man a lunatic in his mind, or had just outright said so.
But after what Alexander had disyed he was capable in such one short month, Diaogosis knew if Alexander imed so. it was certainly possible and so eagerly waited to see how Alexander would do it.
So he smiled lightly, and said, "Then I look forward to it, my lord."
"Mmm, hopefully, I will be able to show it soon," Alexander replied with the same smile.
"Now, about the undershot waterwheel," Alexander then moved to the next diagram, as he bought out another piece of paper, "It will be like this and ced on rivers, and other horizontally moving bodies of water."
Alexander then handed it over to Diaogosis so that the man could better read it and said, "Here is how to build that."
As the stonemasonid his eyes on a waterwheel ced on the banks of a river, the ssic picture one imagines when thinking of a waterwheel, he found the blueprints to be much moreplicated.
There was much more text and even some veryplex math.
Wellplicated for him, as evidenced by the scrunched-up eyebrows and the confused gaze.
Alexander knew the maths of this time was not advanced enough for most people to be able to read this and so decided to help out.
"First, you will need to measure something called the ''head''. This is basically the distance the water would have fallen if it was a spring and not a river," He began.
"To find that, the primary thing that you will need to know is the speed of the flowing water that will be hitting the wheel."
"This can be calcted by setting two strings of known length near the banks of the water. Let''s say it''s 100m. Then corks or chips of wood can be thrown on the water and then measure the time taken to travel between the strings. Afterward, simply dividing the distance by the time should give you the speed of the current." Alexander spelled out the experimental procedure.
And then quickly added, "Oh, you will need to do this several times at several points along the stream. and take the average velocity. And remember to do it meters. Not in feet or centimeters." He emphasized.
Diaogosis only silently listened and nodded, understanding most of it, though not why he would need to repeat the procedure several times, and take the average.
This was normal as things likepensating for experimental errors were concepts literally thousands of years of his time.
But for now, he kept his mouth shut and just listened.
Alexander was still speaking, "Once that is done, you will need to take that number and multiply it with itself. And then divide that number by 19.62. That will convert your velocity into the so-called ''head''."
Alexander did not exin where these seemingly arbitrary numbers and procedures came from.
And Diaogosis did not bother to ask.
And even if he did, Alexander would have just instructed him to follow the procedure.
Because the derivation of the forme used here- v2/2g (velocity squared divided by twice of gravity) would take even a college student some ten-twenty minutes to understand, much less a man with the math skills of a middle schooler.
Another point of consideration was taking g = 9.81m/s2.
Alexander had not measured the gravity of this, but he felt that gravity here seemed identical to earth and decided to plug in that value.
After giving Diaogosis some time to digest the ''heavy'' maths, Alexander started again, and then spent almost the full next hour exining in detail the rest of the mathematical procedures in its entirety.
"So, the optimum diameter of the milling wheel will be between three to six (3-6) times the head." Alexander drew attention to that fact, saying, "Any smaller and we will not be using all the energy of water. And any bigger, we will not be getting any additional benefit."
''Just multiply the head with six,'' Diaogosis simplified the procedure to himself, as he loudly said, "Understood my lord."
Whatever Alexander said, Diaogosis took as gospel, as, for all he cared, the goddess Gaia might have whispered them to the pasha.
"Okay, next is the spacing between the paddles," Alexander then moved to the next topic, giving the answer, "That will have to be equal to the head."
In the overshot watermill, the buckets were joined together, with no gap, but here they needed to be spaced.
Alexander then reminded, "Oh, remember, here we will have to use paddles and not buckets."
Diaogosis needed no exnation why as the reason for this was obvious, the procedure of making the bottom heavier would be the very antithesis of how a water wheel worked.
It would only make the waterwheel heavier and obstruct movement.
"Andstly the waterwheel needs to be submerged into the river equal to the head length."
With all these instructions, Alexander finally finished the topic that was a waterwheel, making Diaogosis feel his head heavy with all the math.
"I...I will strive," The stonemason felt this simple structure will not be as easy as it looked to build.
"Mmm, that will be the basics. And I will leave the rest to you," Alexander decided to let Diaogosis figure out the rest of the details on his own.
Done with the waterwheel, Alexander then moved on to the thing that would actually do the work- the structure that would be used to crush the clinkers.
To show this, he brought out a third blueprint, and said, "This will answer your question of how to crush the clinkers."
Diaogosis looked down at the new paper and found the new drawing to be much simpler than what he had expected.
It was simply the picture of a huge drum whose diameter read 3m, about one story, with a length of 10m.
And the only thing that was slightly different was that the walls of the drum seemed to have small internal horizontal protrusions.
Below thebel read ''Ball Milling machine''.
"The grinding procedure is simple," Alexander reassured, "We will put the clinkers inside and then add many small iron balls with it."
"So, when the drum rotates, these iron balls will rise up riding on those small tforms and then fall from above once it reaches a certain height, smashing against the clinkers and breaking them apart."
Alexander exined.
"Oh! That''s ingenious," Diaogosis praised with repeated nods.
"....." Alexander only lightly smiled and gave onest bit of advice, "Make sure to tilt the drum at a slight angle. It will help in the milling."
"I will be sure to remember it, my lord," Diaogosis nodded.
"Okay, that''s all there is to the construction for now," Alexander said, though the ominous ''for now'' did not escape Diaogosis.
''There''s more? What could there be even more? The stonemason dreaded and hoped he was reading too into this.
But Alexander pretended to not see the look of slight horror on the man and simply instructed, "You are to first build a small 5m diameter waterwheel as a prototype. And then I will give you something additional to build." Alexander mysteriously added.
Chapter 291 Brick Manufacturing (Part-1)
Alexander having confirmed there was something missing from the waterwheel design first made Diaogosis grimace a bit and then he felt stumped.
He thought back again and again on what could be added, but to him, the entire structure looked finished andplete.
''I guess I''ll have to wait and see," Diaogosis thus finally gave up and decided to wait for Alexander''s answer until the time came.
"Does my lord have a specific ce where he wants to build the waterwheel?" Diaogosis asked.
"The Cisrians hills to the back of us will do. After all, I know of at least three huge springs that run through there. You can choose whichever springs you like," Alexander knew this answer because he had certainly scouted the ce where he nned to build the waterwheel beforehand.
And in reality that was really the only ce to buildrge-scale waterwheels as Zanzan city did not have anyrge rivers near it.
"And should I build the umm¡." Diaogosis looked down at the paper as he had forgotten the name and read, "The ball milling machine too?"
"Hmmm," Alexander remunerated on whether it was necessary to also build a prototype of the rtively simple structure.
Its operation was pretty simple as it worked by taking in the required amount of clinkers and gypsum chucks and simply spinning it to grind the pebbles to a fine powder.
And conveniently this rotating motion would also finely mix the two minerals, producing Pornd cement in the same process.
ording to his design, it would have a capacity of 20 tons of cement, with an additional 2 tons of iron balls (the total capacity was around 45 tons, but the drum could be only filled up half so that there was enough space for the tumbling action to happen) and would take 5 hours toplete the cycle, i.e- from filling the drum up, processing it and emptying the product.
This meant that it would have a production output of around 90 to 100 tons a day, or about 4 kilns worth of product.
Alexander felt that it would be good for the workers to get some practice on making the grinding mill, as they will be making a few veryrge ones in the future, and so said,
"Yes, build one smaller. One meter dia and just three meters in length will do. And make the walls ten centimeters thick (10cm)." Alexander gave the dimension, and atst added, "And make it out of concrete."
"Okay, my lord. I can finish the prototype in a week with a hundred men," Diaogosis set a very ambitious deadline for himself as he was eager to show off his abilities and snatch a peerage for himself.
"Mmmn, then inform me when it''spleted and I wille for a visit," Alexander gently finished.
A significant thing to note here was unlike the others and a bit to Dioagosis''s dismay, Alexander did not promise the man peerage.
He was still a little angry at the little tirade the stonemason hadunched when Alexander even hinted at a slowdown of his projects and so Alexander felt the stonemason was a little too ambitious for his liking.
Instead, he decided to let the man get back to work, and was about to leave after bidding his farewells, when suddenly he called out as he remembered something vital, "Oh, I almost forgot. "How much stone does the quarry produce per day?"
Alexander knew the speed of the construction workers, but not the miners.
So he wanted to get that information.
"Mining stones is difficult my lord," Diaogosis rubbed his hand that had gone cold in the chilly weather as he said so, "Each worker can haul 20kgs, to, on a good way, 25 kilograms of stone. That''s also what is produced elsewhere."
Thisst sentence was quickly added noticing Alexander''s slight scowl as if he was unhappy with the numbers.
And Diaogosis was right.
Alexander did find the numbers too low.
ording to the stonemason''s numbers, his quarry could only make one hundred to hundred fifty tons of stone a day.
Whereas his demand for the stuff was in the thousands of tons.
And if one did the math for per worker, each men man was making the equivalent of just ten bricks a day, or one brick an hour.
Calling this snail''s pace would be an understatement.
''I will need to go see what''s up with the two hundred bricks a day thing," Alexander recalled Diaogosis''sint and decided his next visit would be to find out why brick production was so low.
And so that was where he went next, passing through many dug-up and marked plots that had been originally designed to build therge residential buildings, but would soon be reced with makeshift tents and veryrgemon log houses.
Though Alexander hadmanded the popce to be moved to the noble houses in the western district, he knew the nearly two hundred thousand people''s lodging would be unable to be met solely by the vacate premises, and such measures would be necessary.
''I need to get more people to cut firewood,'' Alexander thus nned to burn huge bonfires around these camps to help the peoplebat the cold a bit better.
With these future ns, Alexander and his bodyguards soon arrived at the brick-making site, which was outside the eastern gates.
The reason this production facility was outside the city was simple.
Because brick-making took up a lot of space.
From gathering tons and tons of y to stacking the bricks over huge swaths ofnd to therge number of furnaces that Alexander had designed all took up arge amount of space that was not avable inside the small city.
"I have seen the lord, wee," As Alexander made his way into the premises, he was greeted by a messy-haired, thin boy with a big grin on his face.
He was dressed in immacte clothes, with nice shoes and a pair of trousers with no creases, while the eight golden rings on his fingers glittered and sparkled under the sweet winter sun, dazzling Alexander.
''This guy is no good,'' Alexander instantly made up his mind to change this boy just after ncing at his get-up.
This was not the uniform of a hard-working leader.
"Are you in charge of the brick-making? Where''s Jazum?" Alexander skipped the formalities and got straight to the point, a clear sign of his displeasure.
"Ah, father said he was too busy with the kilns and the armors Your Grace instructed to make. So he left me in-charge," The boy let out a pleased, proud smile.
A smile that looked like that of a fool''s to Alexander.
"Oh? Are you Jazum''s son? What''s your name?" Alexander gave a cold, fake smile.
"Yes, I''m his eldest son. My name is Jafor," The introduction was filled with pride and self-gratification.
''I need to root out this practice in the weeds,'' Alexander only silently nodded while he promised to make an example out of the boy and his father for this abominable practice.
He would never let officials get posts based on familiar ties.
Not on his watch.
"Jafor, I havee to see how the brick production is going on. Please lead me," Alexander instructed as he gestured his arms forward as a sign to lead the way.
"Umm¡ehh..yes, yes. Right away my lord," After dithering for a bit, the boy quickly invited Alexander to observe theplex, and provided additionalmentary along the way.
Alexander let this foolish youngster''s words enter through one ear and go out the other, as he was appalled by the working inefficiency thaty bare in front of him.
There was no division ofbor.
One man would do everything.
He would use his shovel to dig earth, painstakingly clean it of any useless debris like broken roots, rocks, stones, and sometimes even broken pieces of pottery, add the appropriate amount of water to soften the y, and then use a wooden mold to turn the y into green brick.
He would theny these raw bricks in front of him, after a while of which, once he had made a sizeable amount of the stuff, take these bricks one by one by hand to a nearby open kiln, and ce them inside for preliminary firing.
"Why is one man doing all everything?" Alexander in a deep voice asked, cutting off whatever Jafor was saying.
"Ehhh?" Being abruptly interrupted, Jafor was a bit stunned at the question.
"What does my lord mean? So many men are working here. right?" Jafor then quickly retorted, looking at Alexander as if thetter was drunk.
''Idiot!'' Alexander scowled at the dim-witted boy.
"I mean why is one man doing all the different tasks? Why are they not specializing?" He then spelled out the question for the boy.
"Specializing? What does the lord mean?" This seemed like a new word to Jafor.
"...." Alexander kept silent for a while, as he seriously considered whether to continue this conversion or to find someone actuallypetent.
He was very angry at Jazum for putting someone in charge of something that Alexander had not only not approved of but did not even know about.
''Some people think just because you don''t talk like shit to them, they can get up on your head and dance on it,'' Alexander very angrily cursed as he could slightly empathize with some of the nobles who behaved quite roughly with themon popce.
Because behaving cordially and pleasantly would make some of these ingrates get ideas.
Chapter 292 Jazum And Jafor
Alexander was osciting between chastising Jafor or nurturing him.
Now, the reason for thetter was certainly not because he had a sudden change of heart and somehow decided to show the boy the error of his ways.
No, it was because he had taken a leaf out of Pasha Farzah and decided to emte what that man had done with the boy named Fatrak, though it was in Alexander''s best interest to make sure Jafor did not end up like Fatrak.
Using a son that always causes trouble was a fantastic way to bind a loving father.
But thistter consideration was challenged by the fact that leaving such a vital piece of the civil sector to such an imbecile was not a good idea.
''Well let''s try and see anyway. It''s only brick making anyway,'' Alexander felt that brick-making was a fairly simple process, one so simple that Alexander felt even if one wanted to, there was only so much way he could fuck-up.
There was also the other consideration of getting some practice with these kinds of schemes and maniptions.
"Specialization means that one man does one or a very few number of tasks. Not all the tasks like the men they are doing now," Alexander elucidated, giving the example, "For example here, instead of a single person doing all the individual tasks, one man could have dug the earth, one man could have cleaned the y, another could have shaped the bricks while thest man could have taken the bricks to the primary kilns."
"But my lord, aren''t the men doing the same amount of work? The same amount of work will be done by the same number of men regardless of the processes right?" Jafor theoretically assumed.
''Well, his head might be full of shit, but at least it''s not empty. Fortunately, he has something to work with,'' Alexander said to himself half-impressed.
Though Jafor was wrong, he did have some theoretical arguments for his im.
And so Alexander decided to use the same example the grandfather of economics, Adam Smith had used to exin the concept of division ofbor.
"No, they will not do the same amount of work," Alexander refuted Jafor''s im while shaking his head, saying "And let me prove it to you by an example- the example of a sewing pin."
"Now, imagine an individual set out to create a single sewing pin." He started.
"If he decided to make everything from scratch, he would first have to mine the iron ores by himself."
"That means he would have to take his pickaxe and go a mine or worse, search for some iron deposits by himself."
"Then he would have to carry these iron ores back to his ce, build a furnace, cut the firewood needed to run the furnace, and finally smelt the iron ore into steel."
"He would then have to forge that steel into a thin wire, cut that thin-shaped wire, and finally
sharpen it to a point to make a needle."
"And after all that he will only have a sewing pin which won''t be of much use without fabric to sew."
Alexander atst asked, "Do you see the problem?"
This produced a look of realization on the boy''s face and wordlessly nodded.
"Mmm, and that''s why we don''t do it like this," Alexander emphasized the point, further exining,
"Because it''s much easier and more efficient for some people to focus on mining, some people to focus on smithing and some people to run the shops that sell the sewing pins."
"In this way, all these people can take a small profit from the value they have added to the process and use that profit to buy more sewing needles than they would have been able to produce themselves,"
"Or anything else that they want to purchase for that matter."
And here Alexander made his point of refuting Jafor''s im, "So it can be seen the same amount of people, each doing one specific job will make more ''stuff'' than individuals doing all the things by themselves."
"Understand?" Alexander atst pointedly asked.
"...Yes I see! I see my lord! You are right," Jafor fully agreed with Alexander as he repeated the words and then excitedly said, "Okay, from now on I will assign one man to only one task!"
"Mnnn, you are thinking in the right direction." Alexander nodded appreciatively.
But then added, "But it''s not that simple. Remember not all steps of the job is equally hard. So equally dividing the tasks will not be efficient."
"If you did such a thing then some people might have too much work while others would have nothing to do and sit idle." Alexander pointed out.
"For example- in brick making, it takes a lot longer to dig up the earth than it takes to just simply take a lump of y, throw it into the mold and produce a rectangr brick."
"So the workers must be distributed not evenly but depending on which part of the job needs the required amount of workers," Alexander suggested.
"So, how does Your Grace suggest I divide up the tasks," Jafor lightly asked for Alexander''s expert input.
But Alexander was not going to give him a straight answer so easily.
Why would Alexander need to spoon-feed every tiny detail?
That''s why Alexander waved his hands dismissively and said, "That''s your job to find out,"
But as soon as he said it, he felt a tad bit bad about leaving the boy hung out to dry, as Jafor''ster performance had melted a bit of Alexander''s anger.
So he scattered some nugget of advice, "I will only say that you make sure none of the workers are idle. So there must be enough diggers to keep supplying the brickmaker with enough y so that he can continuously keep making bricks."
"You must also make sure the bricks are taken to the primary kilns for sting as soon as possible with as few men as possible." Alexander suggested, and then pointed out some of the other few ws, "Also I see that the men are taking the bricks individually by hand. This is too inefficient."
"Use something like wheelbarrows or better carts. And that goes for the dug-up y too. Use wheelbarrows to transport them to the brickmakers."
Alexanderid out a series of verymon and easy steps to increase productivity.
"Yes, yes, my lord. All these will be done as soon as possible," Jafor rubbed his hands together as he promised so, letting out a toady smile.
"Mmm, I wille to inspect it in a few days." Alexander nodded and then asked, "Is your father at the cement kilns?"
"Ummm, yes. He should," Jafor was not 100% sure.
"Okay, I will see then," Alexander waved his goodbye.
And then just as he turned around, he sarcastically added, "Oh, I can see you have so many expensive rings on you. Would you mind lending me some? I''m too poor to buy one you see!"
"..." The boy furiously blushed as he turned his head down, furiously taking off his rings as he did so.
The sneer at which Alexander looked at him felt like being under a scalding fire.
Alexander then in a hard, harsh voice fiercely said, "You are here to work. Not to get married. Dress appropriately."
Saying this he turned on his heels and with heavy, imperious steps marched out.
And soon met up with Jazum who was busy making the blowers in a part of the southern district.
"My lord! Good day! How are you?" Jazum immediately gave a noble''s bow as soon as he saw the pasha.
"Mmmm, I''m good. How goes the work?" Alexander then spent a little while getting to know the general progress of the new ten cement kilns.
"Jazum, a little word," After the cheery greetings subsided, Alexander then called the stonemason to a rtively quiet and secluded part of the construction site, a ce where he nned to verbally hammer the over-inted stonemason.
"I went to visit the brick site today. Haha, I''m assuming you were too busy with the kilns and the horse armors, right?" Alexander started the discussion cordially, in fact, it was almost too cordial.
But the stonemason did not seem to pick up on Alexander''s simmering rage, and instead, almost emting his son, or may his son was emting him, gave a simr foolish big grin and said, "Oh, has my lord met Jafor? He''s my eldest son. How was he?"
The stonemason seemedpletely unable to grasp the tone of the conversion, thinking Alexander had called him here to praise his son.
''Not much EQ,'' Alexander updated his evaluation of Jazum.
"Yes, I did," Alexander said in a very t monotone voice, "I went there because Diaogosis hadined to me that he was getting only 200 bricks a day. Do you have any idea about this?"
Thest sentence was asked in a very pointed tone.
"Ahhh, that," Jazum pronounced in a slightly pitched tone, nodding and saying, "Yes, Jafor must be getting used to his new position."
Then he brushed his hands and reassured in a breezy manner, "Don''t worry my lord. Brick production will go up soon."
This casual and flippant attitude infuriated Alexander and the fact that such an irresponsible man had the nerve to wave his hand right in front of him made it very difficult for Alexander to keep his cool.
And this in turn made him fully re-evaluate this previously very highly regarded retainer, demoting him to not-so-reliable.
''This son-con might be trouble,'' Alexandermented about Jazum.
Chapter 293 Brick Manufacturing (Part-2)
Alexander was not the only one that found Jazum''s obliviousness distasteful.
And as if infected by his rage, Alexander''s bodyguards too radiated anger and displeasure, finding such uninhibited casualness with their lord very inappropriate.
But all these subtle and even not-so-subtle clues seemed to go over the son-con''s head, who seemed to be immersed in his proud son''s memory.
"The brick kiln was supposed to be under your jurisdiction by mymand." Alexander''s voice was deep, his eyes narrowed, as he then clenched the words, "So who gave you the permission to pass that duty to another?"
This tone of questioning finally woke Jazum to the direction Alexander was steering the conversion, but instead of being scared and apologizing for this gross misuse of power, he on the contrary defended himself, saying, "Oh, my lord, but Jafor is a good kid. He is just figuring himself out and I''m sure he will work very hard and contribute much to Zanzan very soon."
Jazum, for all his intellect and architectural prowess, saw no problem with him arbitrarily cing his son in such an important position.
To him, it was all natural.
And this made Alexander helplesslyment, ''It''s like we are speaking two differentnguages."
Of course, Jazum was not stupid.
But the reason why it looked like he was acting like an idiot was because he was fundamentally misunderstanding the question.
He simply did not share Alexander''s concerns nor did he understand why it was a concern for Alexander/
To him, it was only natural that he would put his family in key important positions over the sectors he had jurisdiction over.
And this was because such was the prevailing custom of Adhania.
Sensing how deep the rabbit hole went, Alexander''s azure eyes darkened like ck thunderclouds had covered the sky and he said to himself, ''This has to be stopped.''
He was finding this repugnant practice arguably even more repulsive than the concept of bliss trainers.
Thus, to wake this delusional man from his illusions, hembasted the stonemason in a loud booming tirade, "What do you mean your son will work hard! Who told him to work hard? When did you get to decide your son gets to work hard?"
Micro droplets of the enraged beast''s spit showered over the bbergasted face of the quivering stonemason, as the vituperation continued.
"I remember putting you in charge of the brick kilns. Did I put that brat in charge of the kilns?"
"How dare you appoint someonepletely unqualified to oversee such a criticalponent of Zanzan?"
"Who gave you the guts to do so?"
"You are still a mere civilian and yet you dare override the pasha''s words!"
"What will happen when you be a shordar (baron)? You already think you can appoint whoever you want without my permission. Next will you appoint yourself as Pasha?" Alexander''s eyes glowed with rage as he finished his diatribe.
"I¡I¡I don''t dare. I don''t dare," Jazum answered shaking like a leaf, his eyes darting back and forth in confusion.
He just could not understand why Alexander found this natural act objectionable.
And hence he still did not apologize, but instead provided excuses, "My lord, I¡I was too busy with all the work. And I just did not get the time."
"I¡I will go to the brick kilns today. And I promise to increase brick production by tomorrow." He hastily promised.
Theck of an apology very much irked Alexander, and because he did not get the answer he was looking for, he just curtly excused the stonemason in a brusque tone, "No need. It seems you are too busy. I will find someone else. Dismissed!"
Alexander swung his sturdy arms in a high arching motion to signal Jazum to get out.
"...." Seeing the red-up Alexander in such a foul mood, Jazum simply lowered his head, wordlessly bowed, and quietly and quickly dragged his body out of Alexander''s sight, eager to escape the wrath of the usually gentleman Alexander.
And on the way out his mind swam with many thoughts, one of them being gratefulness that Alexander did not chastise him in his workce, in front of all his workers and colleagues, but had tactfully chosen a remote corner of the grounds, away from most prying eyes and ears.
But this gratefulness was soon buried by the anger of Alexander bad-mouthing his son.
He was the apple of his eye, the peart of his heart and he would absolutely not let anyone disparage his pride and joy, not even the lord of thends.
''*Sigh*, my mood for the entire day is ruined,'' Jazum ground his teeth hatefully as he returned to bark orders at the worker on the new kilns.
And Alexander would the next day say this following note of caution at the council meeting, "My lords, I have a tiny bit of advice to share with you all." He would begin with that characteristic slight smile,
"Though I do not have a son of mine yet, I believe that sons can be just as much our pride as they can be our shame."
"And hence it is imperative that as lords, we all strive to guide our sons to the right path. They will be our sessors and inheritors after all."
And he then finished the short speech with this ominous warning, while making a clear dig at Jazum, "Or else we will be exposing our weakness to our enemies and rival."
It would take the council a bit of time to understand the context of Alexander''s advice, but after finding out about Jazum''s little adventure of jumping above the pasha''s directive and doing things his own way, resulting him in losing the brick-making facilities and getting basically demoted, the others would remember well to heed Alexander''s advice.
But those were tomorrow''s events, as right now, Alexander was talking to the man he had chosen to rece Jazum, his colleague, and a close co-worker, Krishok.
"How can I help, milord," He eagerly asked, meeting the pasha at the same ce Jazum had met.
"Jazum has told me that he is feeling too overwhelmed with all the tasks he has been given. And feels he does not have the time to also manage the brink manufacturing nt." Alexander stated.
And with a light smile then asked, "So do you think you are qualified?"
"Yes, yes, of course. No problem," This tanner''s reply was instantaneous, without a shred of any other consideration given, only producing a cunning glow in his eyes as he readily said so.
How could he not smell that something had happened between Alexander and the stonemason, resulting in thetter''s dismissal from this post?
After all, he knew his colleague well enough to know that the man would never voluntarily give up such power and authority.
"Haha, good, I''m relieved," Alexander slightly chuckled at the expected answer.
Though Krishok was a tanner, Alexander was confident he could oversee the rtively simple construction of the new brick kilns.
He did build part of the cement kiln after all.
Thus as soon as Alexander finished praising Krishok, he took out the dread piece of paper and handed it over, "Here."
And stated his goals immediately afterward, "We will soon need to increase brick production to at least a million pieces per day by next year. And up to ten million within five years." Alexander''s ambitious numbers seemed ludicrous for Krishok and it made him shake involuntarily in fright.
But in Alexander''s eyes, this was not really much.
After all, the current five thousand workers under Diaogosis could already use 2.5 million bricks per day.
And this was just bricying.
When concrete manufacturing, which was abination of bricks, sand, and cement, was taken into ount, even the impressive number of ten million would start to look pretty inadequate.
"My lord, how big will the furnaces be? And how many?" Krishok had a wry, helpless tone to his voice.
Knowing Alexander, since he said it, Krishhok knew the Pasha also had thought of a way to do it.
And then it would be the tanner''s turn to work day and night and bring that creation to life.
Hence he decided to skip the melodramatic phase, and simply and straightforwardly ept his fate.
''Hehe, I like the obedient ones,'' Alexander was also pleased that he could skip the coaxing and reassuring phase for once.
"Read," Alexander simply gestured for him to open the folded paper.
Krishok thus did so and contrary to the horror he was expecting, he found the drawing to be rtively simple, just that of a huge dome, with six stoves simr to the ones used in the cement kilns that protruded inward attached to them, which had a type of connected pipework running below the six of them which allowed fresh air to enter the dome.
"The dimensions are already there. You just need to charge the bricks, seal the entrance with brick and cement, and fire the stove. And vo, after four to days, you will get the bricks." Alexander provided some simplementary on the already detailed written instructions.
Krishok too found the drawing,beled the dome kiln easy to understand as he repeatedly nodded his head to express his understanding.
The new furnace was just a huge dome with a diameter of 11m and a one-story (3m) height.
It was arge entrance through which about 100,000 pieces of bricks or 200 tons of charge would be ced inside, after which the entrance would be sealed with bricks and mortar, and the stoves fired.
And once done, the seal at the entrance would be smashed open with hammers, and the products slowly retrieved.
Chapter 294 Dome Kiln
In Adhania, the bricks would be fired in small batches of ten to hundred pieces in tiny furnaces.
This was because the rulers of his country never bothered to industrialize brick production.
One, because it was a somewhat capital-intensive process, and two, more importantly, because they were rich enough to afford stone.
Hence bricks were relegated to the sidelines, only produced by poor individuals who usually produced them for their personal kilns using small homemade furnaces.
Alexander let these micro kilns operate for the first few weeks to get the workers used to the brick-making process and also because he needed the initial building material.
But he had little idea the production rate would be so abysmal, and hence decided not to wait any longer and chose themencement of the dome kiln.
His current design of the kiln was capable of producing 20,000 pieces of bricks a day, and ording to his calctions, these bricks would be far cheaper than stone.
He came to this conclusion by first estimating that the kiln would have a fuel consumption rate of 500kg of firewood per ton of brick.
Alexander could get this theoretical value because he had a rough idea of the energy used to make a ton of bricks and the energy density of dry firewood.
Hence, given such consumption, and knowing 10kg of firewood went for 1 ropal, that came to 50 ropals per ton in fuel cost.
And then after taking into ount all other costs, ranging from the raw materials to manpower to the kiln construction cost, Alexander got the cost of one ton of brick at around a nice whole 80 ropals.
Which was quite cheap, about one-fifth the cost of stone, which sold for 350 - 400 ropals a ton.
The reason for such a high price of stone was because a miner had to be paid a minimum of 6 ropals a day and could only extract 20-25 kgs of stone a day.
And if one used vebor, excluding the cost of buying the ve, his master would also have to at least spend 3 ropals a day feeding the man to enable him to do such physically tiring work.
Thus the dome kiln was a huge step forward in the branch of civil engineering.
Though it could be argued Alexander''s choice for this particr brick kiln was not the most optimum one.
A far better alternative kiln existed called the Hoffman''s ring kiln, which was in many ways better- being faster, more fuel efficient, and one which did not need its entrance to be smashed open every time.
But Alexander had skipped on that for the time being due to theplexity of its design, and its much greater requirement for time and construction materials, both of which Alexander was short of.
And though the dome kiln was inferior to the ring kiln, it was still not a bad kiln and certainly adequate for his current needs.
In fact, given the simple operating procedure of the dome kiln, the reverse argument that it was in fact the superior choice could be made.
And the operation of the kiln was indeed very simple.
The way the kiln worked was at first, the brick would be ced in stacks inside the kiln.
This stack would not be just bricks ced parallelly atop each other, but in a perpendicr way, with some gap between adjacent bricks.
Such a method was needed to allow the hot gases inside the kiln to properlye into contact with all the sides of the bricks and cook them evenly.
In fact, the reason why bricks would have holes in them was exactly for such, to permit the passage of air through them and enable them to be cooked more quickly and evenly.
Once the bricks were properly stacked, the entrance would be sealed, and the stoves fired, slowly bringing up the kiln to firing temperature in this preliminary stage called the preheating phase.
This phase, even with all six stoves running, would take approximately ten to fifteen hours (10-15 hrs) as the area inside the furnace was huge, thus slowly bringing up the temperature up to the appropriate range.
And this time would not be wasted as within this time period, the green bricks would dry and relieve themselves of arge portion of the moisture.
p¦Á§ád¦Á §«?¦Í¨º|,§ã¨°§® After this, much more firewood, sawdust, or even coal would be added to alleviate and keep the temperature at a much higher level, and the bricks would be burned for thirty to forty hours (30-40 hrs) at around 700 to 900 degrees Celsius at this stage.
This wouldplete the firing, and the stoves would be turned off, after which the bricks would be allowed in the kiln slowly for an additional one to two days.
Throughout this entire process, the sealed dome would be provided with fresh oxygen through awork of pipes connected to a chimney on the outer walls of the dome, the pipes themselves connected to the six stoves which would draw in air by a natural draught.
And this natural draught would be created because there would be a tunnel right below the dome that connected to anotherrge chimney some distance away through which all the hot, pent-up flue gases would escape to the outside, thus creating a low pressure inside the dome which would suck in fresh, cold air from the outside.
This additional chimney performed another critical job, as without it letting all the gases escape, the dome would be one giant sealed pressure cooker, thus turning it into a giant time bomb.
And onest keynote here would be that unlike in the cement kilns, there would be no need to use blowers here as such application would raise the kiln temperature too much and overcook the outer surface while keeping the insides raw, destroying the bricks.
This would be because blowers could raise the temperatures to almost 1600 hundred degrees Celsius, whereas the optimum temperature for brick burning, i.e- the temperature along which vitrification or the reactions that turn y into bricks takes ce in the range of 700 to 900 degrees Celsius.
Receiving Alexander''s direction, Krishok got down to knowing about the details.
"My lord, how many men will I have? And how fast do you want me to finish it?" Krishok asked.
"I have ordered the five thousand miners in the quarries to switch to other jobs. You can employ a part of them," Alexander spoke, adding, "By my estimate, the dome will need 100 tons of materials and can be constructed by a hundred men in a few days."
His voice then turned casual and breezily, a clear indication he was about to say something absurd, "So, you will choose a thousand men for now and simultaneously build ten of these within the next week."
"...." Krishok went silent for a while as Alexander certainly delivered on his promise of being absurd.
''There he goes again with these ludicrous deadlines,'' Krishokmpooned at his demanding master.
This new master of his was perfect in every way- generous, pleasant, courteous, and supremelypetent.
Well almost perfect as his one w was that he drove those under him like ves, setting absurd goals and expecting all others toply.
Krishok thus tried to squirm some more time for himself, "Your Grace, I also have the cement kilns and experimental armors to make. So..."
But he did not get to finish his request as Alexander curtly interjected, "If you are too busy like Jazum, just say so. I will find someone else."
Alexander''s brusque tone and damn care attitude made Krishok feel that Alexander could easily choose another over him if he failed to deliver on time and so he immediately changed his tone, making aplete u-turn as Krishok hastily replied, "No, no, milord. It''s alright, it''s alright, I will get started on the kilns as soon as possible."
"Mmmn, good," Alexander approved with a nod and a light smile, advising, "Diaogosis will not need the stones anytime soon. So, use those to make the kilns."
Alexander nned to build the initial kilns using stone and then switch to bricks once they became more readily avable.
"As youmand." Krishok this time obediently replied, and then cleverly asked, "Is there anything else?"
"Yes, in fact there is." Alexander gave a light smirk that made Krishok involuntarily shiver.
"One is the number of brick kilns," He began,
"As I said before I want to have the capability to make one million brick pieces a day. You must build enough kilns to get me that capacity. I estimate it would be around 50 kilns."
The confirmation of Alexander''s desire turned Krishok a little pale, as it would mean the processing of 2,000 tons of y and 1,000 tons of firewood.
Never an easy task.
And Alexander certainly noticed this, and so decided to soothe the man with some easy maths,
"One million bricks might sound like a lot, but even a decent brick maker can mold 6 bricks a minute. Experts can even do 9-10. And that means a minimum of 3,500 bricks can be made by each worker per day,"
"So, you will need only 300 brickmakers to make a million bricks."
"And thenes the diggers. Given that they can dig close to 2 tons of dirt a day, let''s say another 1,700 will be needed to do everything else, from the digging to cleaning the y to running the kilns."
"So, don''t get scared by therge numbers. It will be very easy." Alexander helped alleviate Krihsok''s fear by patting the man''s shoulders repeatedly, to which the man agreed with a weak, anemic nod.
Chapter 295 Mine Inspection (Part-1)
Alexander spent some more time with Krishok ironing out the details.
"My lord, will I be provided fuel or should I get it myself?" The tanner raised another issue.
"Hmmm, how should I do this," Alexander hummed thoughtfully for while, asking himself what fuel he would use in the kiln- firewood, charcoal, or coal and how should the logistics of these materials be.
And after a while, taking various things into ount, and feeling that brick production was a criticalponent to the prosperity of the city, decided to give it independent fuel logistics capabilities.
"For making a million pieces of bricks a day, I will give you one hundred and fifty lumberjacks (150)." Alexander promised, reasoning, "One lumberjack, working in a team can cut one ton of firewood in an hour. So these men will be more than enough to cut and transport the 1,000 tons of firewood you will daily need."
In this way, Alexander would be able to make 2,000 tons of bricks with only 2,200 men, which was less than half the 5,000 men used in the quarries that only produced a hundred tons (100 tons) of stone a day.
"Thank you, my lord," Krishok bowed heavily as if weighed by the mammothness of the task, and asked to confirm, "My lord, I intend to use the y diggers to construct the kilns initially, is that okay?"
"Yes, you can use your judgment on that." Alexander left that up to Krishok''s discretion and then after a few more pleasantries, excused the tanner.
Or he almost did.
As he added at thest moment, "Oh just one more thing. The brick fields are being run by a boy named Jafor. Coordinate with him to build the kilns. Because although you will build the kilns, he will operate them."
Alexander wanted to give that silk pants one chance to prove himself so that Jazum could not use Alexander of never giving his son a chance.
This directive surprised Krishok because he was under the impression from now on he would run the brick fields, as Jazum did.
But Alexander did not appear to give him such powers, which made Krishok a bit less enthusiastic about the work, but he kept such thoughts to himself, and only obediently bowed, "Yes, my lord."
With this, Krishok soon trotted off to carry out his responsibilities and Alexander was left with only onest great major site inspection.
The mines.
Alexander then spent the next month and a half getting his iron production up to speed and then on one fine morning inte December, he decided to visit all the facilities.
"Greetings my lord, greetings. Please watch your step along the way," Harun enthusiastically greeted Alexander at the foot of the mines and then gestured for him to climb the mineral-rich hills.
Alexander graciously epted this invitations, lightly chuckling, "Haha, how are you?" as he was nked on both sides by his bodyguards.
The two men casually chatted with each other about the various mining operations and took in the surrounding sights as Alexander climbed therge hill, taking in the scenery around him.
The many mines on these hills were one of thergest and most productive metal production in all of Zanzan and even in the whole of Adhania, and why Adhania guarded it so fiercely from Tibias ruled and worked by Pasha Muazz and his ancestors for generations and the surroundingndscape around Alexander attested to that fact.
The very first thing one would notice when one looked around was the total absence of any vegetation.
The huge hills and all the surrounding hills for that matter were stripped of any and all green, removed either to dig mines, used up as firewood for the workers and ves or to simply clear the forest of any dangerous animals and reptiles.
This bald, barren look of the hills did not impress Alexander, whomented, ''Hmmm, without anything to hold the topsoil, chances of a mudslide are inevitable,'' he rose up the slopes.
And so he instructed, "Harun, you are to nt trees like pine and white oar on these hills. This will prevent disasters like mudslides during heavy rainfall as the nt roots will bind the soil together."
Alexander''s directive surprised and impressed the miner very much.
He knew from the workers such a thing usually urred once or twice a decade and he had intended to raise this issue with Alexanderter, but listening to Alexander give the answer by himself, made Harun once again marvel at Alexander''s abilities.
Harun, being an expert miner himself, had certainly seen his fair share of mudslides back in Adhan.
In fact, he was even once caught in one but had always believed it was divine punishment from Ramuh for being too greedy and digging too deep.
''So that''s the reason mudslides only happened in hills where there were humans,'' Harun felt his eyes open as Alexander stated the real reason behind this disaster.
"At once my lord," Harun then quickly and humbly answered, skipping the endless hackneyed praises others always used to dole out to Alexander.
As Alexander kept up going up the slope, the next impressive structure that caught his eyeid beneath his foot- the road.please visit
This sloping road they were climbing was huge, with it being wide enough to amodate two fully loaded double horse carts side by side without any problem, and was made of very good, high-quality stone, making it very smooth.
Clearly the despot Pasha knew where the moneyid and understood that it would need good roads to smoothly flow down to his greedy, awaiting palms.
And then there were the actual mines themselves, their entrances being huge holes cut into the faces of the hill.
These led to huge, twisting caverns inside the hills, which were supported byrge wooden scaffoldings and were where all the precious ore veinsy.
And atst, outside the mines, over t pieces ofnd, were scattered hundreds of huge shared logs houses, acting as lodging for the workers and miners, each capable of housing a hundred men.
Space was sparse in these and hygiene non-existent, as the fifty meters long, and eight meters width houses packed the men in double-decker amodation in two rows, each row facing the other.
There were no sanitation facilities and the workers could not even take a bath at the end of a day of working in the scalding, hot mines.
"Harun, you are to slowly rece these wooden logs withrge concrete buildings," Alexander thus decided to improve the appalling conditions of the workers, and then gave Harun the dimensions of the buildings, "Build them 12m high with three stories and a three-meter foundation. And keep the length the same but increase the width three times to 24m meters."
He further added, "These buildings should have four entrances, one each at the back and front and two in the middle, and all must have stairs that go upstairs."
"*Nod*," Harun kept attentively listening, as Alexander spoke,
"Andst of all, I see there are no publictrines. So you are to build forty individualtrines outside these buildings. They should also double was shower facilities, with the water supplying from the small nearby springs via aqueducts."
"Yes, my lord," Unlike the others, Harun did not moan and groan about Alexander''s directive like the other, because after working under this lord for close to two months, he got a general understanding of his boss''s nature.
When the Pasha wanted you to do something, he would give you all the material and manpower as requested, but you would be then expected to deliver.
Because failing to do so will mean getting sidelined by someone else at the snap of a finger.
This young lord had no patience for ipetency and generally disliked pufferies, so buttering him up usually had the opposite effect.
Harun''s docile attitude also had to do with the fact that Alexander had not set some strict deadline for Harun but told him to slowly rece the lodgings one at a time, thus giving him some breathing room.
"My lord, how many men will I get to make these houses? And what about the stone and mortal?" Harun asked about the tools he would need to aplish his task.
"These buildings will be rtively simple. You will just need to build the outer perimeter walls and then install the door and windows. The inside will be entirely hollow," Alexander announced.
The workers would not have any real privacy, as Alexander nned to follow the sameyout currently, which was just cing double-decker bunk beds side by side with a little bit of free space between them so that the workers could ce something like a trunk containing personal belongings there.
Alexander then said the maths for the building out aloud, "So including the foundation, a million pieces of bricks and 250 tons of cement will be enough, So I will give you a hundred men to do these constructions."
"And, notwithstanding shortages of raw materials, each of these buildings, including thetrines, should not take more than two weeks." He issued his expected speed of work.
''Haaaaa,'' Harun struggled hard to keep his emotion in check, feeling the way about Alexander as Krishok did.
In fact, it was a running gag to refer to Alexander as the ''vemaster'' between the artisans when they got together to drink.
All of them were quite satisfied with Alexander in most cases, their only sticking point with him being that Alexander liked to assign them huge amounts of work, stretching their capabilities to the utmost max.
Harun then asked hisst question, "And master how many will people will each of these buildings amodate?"
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Chapter 296 Mine Inspection (Part-2)
Harun''s question about the number of upants in a building was a roundabout way of asking Alexander how many buildings would he have to build.
And this tactfulness was certainly noticed by Alexander, who internally evaluated Harun as a better statesman than his peers who were much more direct and blunt with their questions.
Then he did some simple internal maths.
''The current lodgings give each worker a space of just 4 square meters (4m2). So, dividing this by the building''s new dimensions of fifty by twenty-four (50m x 24m) gets me a number close to 300.'' Alexander concluded.
"Two hundred and fifty (250) men per floor,es to a total of seven fifty (750)," Alexander answered, letting the workers have almost an extra square meter.
How generous he was!
''*Nod*'' Harun nodded at this number as he then quietly started to calcte the required number of buildings.
''With the ten thousand (10,000) men under men, thates to a bit more than thirteen. So instead of fourteen, should I cram a bit more and settle for thirteen?'' Harun wondered if he should skip out on building thest one.
But soon back backtracked, "No, it won''t work. Judging from the pasha''s attitude and the possible future projects, his demand for ores and minerals will only increase. So, more and more workers are bound to join.''
"I will get to choosing the suitable ces and start building them as soon as possible," Harun promised.
"Mmmm, I will rely on you," Alexander cidly nodded, and continued the climb.
And as Alexander was approaching the top, where the st furnace was supposedly operating, he suddenly said to the mining leader, "I want to go inside one of those caves and see the conditions for myself."
"..." Harun''s eyes darted a bit in slight fear at this request as he silently signaled Hemicus to discourage this dangerous act.
And this stoic gentleman seemed to understand what the miner was worried about, which he rted to Alexander, "My lord, as you well know, mines are not safes. The temperatures inside are extreme and falling debris and even cave-ins are not umon. So, may you should reconsider."
"That''s right, that''s right," Harun chirped up loudly, saying, "It''s really dangerous lord Pasha. Every day a few workers will be injured or even die in these cursed ces."
This vehement opposition made Alexander feel slightly displeased.
He felt it was necessary for him to inspect the mines and check if Harun was following the safety procedures diligently, and not just putting on a show.
Hemicus knew Alexander long enough to know when he would do things his own way regardless, but nevertheless, this usually silent guardian felt he had to step in and discourage Alexander from venturing into such perilous ces, "My lord, please heed mister Harun''s advice. If something were to happen to you, a thousand deaths would not be enough to save me. Or Zanzan."
".....*Sigh*, fine, I will not too deep. Just fifty meters," Seeing the pleading eyes of his two retainers and feeling that risking his life for some dumb mine inspections was not worth it, Alexander relented.
And this drew if not a full sigh of relief, but at least a half one from his entourage.
Alexander was soon led into an iron min, at the entrance of which Hemicus pointed to two men at the back and said, "You two stay out here and guard the entrance. And if anything untoward happens, immediately go call for help,"
"Yes, sir." The disciplined soldiers shouted in chorus.
As Alexander went deeper into the mines, the wide external mouth of the mine soon tapered off into multiple narrow tunnels all clinking with the distinctive sound of pickaxes hitting the hard ore veins, joined by the ever-present rhythmic dripping sound of underground water.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
Drip! Drip! Drip!
Alexander''s ears yed this strange mix tape as he witnessed the men in linen tunics, all wearing helmets and arge wicker basket on their backs, tolling away in these dark, damp caves as they constantly hit the solid rock face with their bronze pickaxes.
These workers worked very hard, going deep inside these tunnels and working for twelve to sixteen hours a day, slowly chipping away at the rock-hard walls in the darkness, illuminated only by the low, soft glow of lit torches.
And for all that back-breaking work all day long, what would they have to show for it all?
A measly fifteen to twenty (15-20kg) kilograms of good iron ore.
Because manually, using just a pickaxe and a bucket, that was the extent a man would carve out of the rock-hard ore veins.
Alexander stayed inside the mines for only a little while, casually inspecting the mines and finding its architecture adequate with the tunnels being securely supported using thick logs and being appropriately lit usingrge torches every few ten meters.
"Harun, these bronze pickaxes are too weak. Since iron production has started, slowly change all bronze tools into iron," He ordered.please visit
"As you order my lord. I will ask the cksmiths to slowly start recing them," Harun promised.
Alexander did not stay in the mines for long as he said, "Well, you people seem very concerned about a possible cave-in. So let''s end it here."
Alexander used the excuse of safety to quickly exit the mine, though the real reason was because he was already feeling very hot and beginning to sweat and could not wait to get out.
And along the way, he dreaded to think what would one hour feel like in here, much less ten hours.
And to do that every day for the rest of his life.
''I was lucky to be sold to Nestoras,'' Alexander thanked his lucky stars, as the dangers and perils of a battlefield were far more pleasant to him than toiling away in the mines and dying slowly over years if not decades.
The workers here worked in scalding hot temperatures caused by the underground heat from the rocks, or in cold, damp, miserable conditions caused by leaking underground water, and if fate had made Alexander a ve miner, Alexander felt he would have contemted suicide.
But these ''what if'' scenarios only haunted Alexander for a little while, as once he made his way out of the mines, Alexander pushed such thoughts out and instead focused on work, asking
"How many workers have we got here in total?"
And Harun replied, "My lord, you gave me ten thousand (10,000) men who were farming till November."
And then he gave the breakdown,
"Among them, three thousand (3,000) are in there mining iron, my lord."
"Another one thousand (1,000) is digging the open pit coal mine we fortunately discoveredst week."
Alexander had been extremely relieved to know that Lady Luck had at least smiled a little bit at him, by letting him get a huge coal deposit right in his backyard.
This was because, although he could have refined iron with charcoal, coal would make his job a few times easier.
Harun was still speaking and atst, finished, "And the rest of the six thousand (6,000) are in the Faika hill mining limestone."
The Faika hills were a small part of the huge Cisrian hills and housed one of thergest deposits of limestone in not only Zanzan but the whole of Adhania.
The numbers of workers and their subsequent delegations were already known to Alexander as it was he who had set them up based on his needs
In fact, heter even revised his numbers as initially one thousand (1,000) men were supposed to work the iron mines while nine thousand (9,000) would extract limestone.
So this was only a way for Alexander to confirm that Harun was following his directives.
And then he asked the seeding question, "And how much are the daily outputs of these mines?"
Harun quickly in a memorized manner readily replied, "We get around fifty-five to sixty tons (55-60 tons) of iron ore per day, sire."
"As for coal, we get a lot more. That''s because we mine in an open pit and all the coal is extracted just by digging up the ground. So we get close to 2,000 tons a day of the stuff."
"Andstly limestone. That is much softer than iron and the Faika hills are literally made of it. That''s why we get around 600 tons of it daily."
"Hmmm,..." Alexander hummed as he did some maths regarding the forecast of future demand for these minerals and found the current production to be adequate.
"Good, you did well," Harun waited with baited breaths as Alexander finally gave a praise of approval, making the mining leader let out arge grin and say, "All by the grace of the lord. I will strive even harden in the future."
"Mmmm, work hard. I will put another five thousand workers into the mines soon," Alexander revealed his further ambitions.
And this number though initially surprised Harun, he quickly got an inkling where they might be allocated.
"Does my lord intend them to work the silver and gold mines?" He cleverly asked.
"Yes," Alexander said with a nod, reasoning, "Zanzan must soon print its own currency, And leaving such lucrative sources of money empty and without production is stupid."
Zanzan being the home city of a Pasha for generations certainly had its own huge silver and gold mine which had fueled the extravagant expenses of their and their family''s ancestors for generations, and though the veins had been reduced significantly, there was still enough for Alexander to chew on for a while.
Chapter 297 Traditional Smelting
The two men made all sorts of small talks and minor decisions along the way, with Harun additionally promising to start making appropriate arrangements for the silver mines.
In this way, Alexander finally got to a veryrge, t piece of the hillside, around the middle section of the hill, where the apple of his eye stood- The st furnace!
It was close to fifteen meters high with a belly diameter of two meters, and a hearth size of one meter, and was in full swing, with hundreds if not thousands of workers around the massive industrialplex.
Its size, and capacity though nothing whenpared to the standards of Alexander''s twenty-first century, was enormous for the time being, and knowing what did structure represented, made Alexander''s eyes glow with desire and longing as heid his eyes on this magnificent hot, roaring beast, finding the stretched part of the furnace''s belly almost as beautiful as the curves on his women.
In his mind, this was the greatest invention that he would use to change his and his city''s fate and that''s why he had spent more than twelve hours a day every day forst thest month and a half overseeing its construction.
And it was not just the st furnace that need constructing, but many other periphery equipment and furnaces, an effort that need the muscle power of close to ten thousand men, and was onlypletedst week.
"Even though it''s been almost a week since it started, the amount this thing can produce still blows my mind," This unreserved praise was awarded by Harun, who looked at the beautiful white structure with sparkling eyes.
And there was justification behind this praise as the current civilization had barely learned to smelt iron, much less mass produce it at such a scale.
"...." Alexander only lightly smiled at the man as his mind drifted to the extremely primitive way iron was currently extracted.
In this time period, to smelt an iron product, first, a miner had to collect the iron ores.
And the primary source of this was from surface pits or from deposits just a few meters underground, which could be extracted by simple shovels, or even just by human hands.
This type of iron ore would be called bog iron ore and the iron smelted from it bog iron.
Large, deep mines that would be the norm inter times existed only in major deposits and were owned by men who counted among the richest men in the world.
This was because constructing mines like the ones in Zanzan, one that went deep into the mountains, with multiple stories below and above the surface was very expensive to not only set up but also to run.
And if one did not have an enormous army of workers ready to smelt the extracted iron which was a snail-paced process using the traditional method, even recouping the running cost would be difficult.
And this problem waspounded by the fact that it was not the supply of the iron ore that was the bottleneck for iron production, but the smelting technique.
Once this bog iron was collected, the processing would move into the next step- Roasting the iron ore for ten hours.
This process was really simple and just involved digging arge hole in the ground, putting the pieces of iron ore into it along with the necessary kindling, firewood, and sawdust, and then lighting it on fire, while adding fuel from time to time as necessary.
This had two basic effects.
One was drying the iron as all the water content of the iron ore would be released, and its structure would be looser, making it easier to smelt.
Two was a bit of desulphurization, i.e- removing some of the sulfur bonded to iron as iron sulfide (FeS) by reacting with oxygen to form sulfur dioxide (SO2).
Though this would not remove all the sulfur, it would help, as sulfur was toxic to steel, making it weaker and more brittle.
Next came the smelting process.
But before getting the now roasted and crushed ore into the fuel, the fuel that would be used to run the furnace- the charcoal, that had to be manufactured.
This step involved, chopping wood into small pieces, cing it into a pit with a chimney in the middle, and then coving the surrounding area with ayer of leaves and soil to make the pit, not impermeable, but restricted to oxygen.
The charcoal pile would then be ignited through the chimney, and through pyrolysis (the process whereby wood bes charcoal by losing its water content) charcoal would be slowly created over one to a few days.
This charcoal would be then transferred to a furnace, built using y mixed with sand, and with tuyeres, or the nuzzle used to connect the bellows and the furnace, built into them and be used as fuel.
One side note to note here would be the tuyeres would also be made of y and required a lot of skill and experience to build, thus making furnaces generally very expensive equipment.
And with all these done, finally, the actual smelting could start.please visit
At first, the furnace would be pre-heated by filling it up with burning charcoal over which ayer of roasted bog iron ore would be ced and then anotheryer of charcoal alternately.
After this, the furnace entrance would be closed using mud and y and for the next several hours the mixture would be constantly heated using the blowers and by adding fresh charcoal through the chimney.
This would cook the ore and produce a thinyer of g, primarily non-iron substances from the iron ore and some iron that could not be reduced from the ore and would be tapped from the furnace through a g-tapping hole built near the entrance of the furnace.
It is important to note here that, unlike modern steel-making, the iron stays in a solid state throughout the smelting process, only changing from the solid rock-like state to a kind of sponge-like structure called the iron bloom which formed in the hearth of the furnace.
This sponge iron would be full of g impurities and be removed once the smelter felt it had berge enough by breaking open the sealed entrance.
This would then move the iron smelting to thest step, the forging.
cksmiths would use heavy, repeated strikes to shape the iron bloom into a piece of iron by wieldingrge hammers and it would take hours of slow, tedious, and back-breaking work to produce a single piece of iron.
And ironically, for all that work and effort, the cksmith would not have a very good piece of iron to show for it, as due to all the g inclusions, it would not only be much more difficult to forge a piece of iron than modern steel but also because these iron contained harmful impurities that would make the iron very weak and brittle.
This huge presence of so many impurities was the reason cksmiths were not able to makerge pieces of iron, as making the structure long would many times cause the iron to split and open up during the forging process, resulting in cracks in the material.
In this way, about 20 kg of bog iron using 30 kg charcoal would be obtained from the smelting process in about 10-12 hours, which was almost equal to a rounding error whenpared to the tens of tons of steel Alexander was capable of producing per day.
And hence, Harun''s admiration for the white, zing beast was very understandable.
As the two men silently observed the workers working like tiny ants all over the huge nt, an assistant of Harun suddenly appeared, bowed to Alexander, and then whispered something into his master''s ears
The information did not seem to be something untoward, as Harun''s face lit up not with concern but surprise, as he quickly ordered, "Okay, you go escort the lords. And tell them I''m here with the pasha."
Then he turned to Alexander with a gentle smile and ryed, "My lord, it seems the military and civilian lords that you invited are waiting at the foot of the hill."
"Mmmmn, then let us wait here for them before starting the tour," Alexander suggested.
He had asked his retainers toe and bear witness to Zanzan city''s capabilities and to discuss future policies by taking into ount such changes.
As the two men chatted, Harun raised, "My lord, it is quite rude that you should arrive before them. This is a great breach of etiquette,"
It was an Adhanian tradition for the lower sses to wait upon the upper sses and such duties were even applied to the nobility, with the lower ranks serving those above them.
"Haha, no worries," But Alexander simply waved these concerns while fanning hisrge palms, and excusing the others by saying, "It was I who arrived early because I was too eager. They are actually on time."
Alexander was never a slicker for such stuffy rules and regtions and unless the other side tantly disrespected him, he would usually turn the other cheek.
The two then further continued the small talks, until finally, therge group of all the council members had managed to catch up with them.
And the real tour could finally begin.
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Chapter 298 Coke Bed
"We are terribly sorry that we arete, Your Grace," Menicus lightly bowed as he greeted Alexander, followed by all the others.
"Haha, no worries, no worries. I just arrived too," Alexander lightly replied and then decided o to skip the tedious greeting ceremony as he hastily instructed, "Harun, the day is not getting younger. So let us start the tour."
"Yes, yes, my lord." Harun quickly answered and then gestured, "Then let us go this way please, my lords."
Harun''s direction of gesture surprised the newly arrived men as it pointed not to the st furnace but somewhere adjacent to it.
Sensing this confusion, Harun elucidated. "We will start from the very beginning of the iron production process, and it starts from there.."
''There'' pointed to a huge shed, with a waterwheel attached to it, as Harun introduced not the building, but first the waterwheel.
"My lords, as I''m sure you all know, this is the waterwheel invented by the pasha and it is what enables us to do anything at all here." Harun ttered Alexander.
This got a unanimous nod from the whole group, who, when first introduced to it had been astounded by the simplicity and ingeniously of the wooden structure.
"Of course, I know. It was me who the pasha first showed it to. And I have also built two that both make this look like a toy!"
The loud, boastful remark was made by Diaogosis who puffed up his chest in front of all the others, pride dripping out of him as he reminded the others of the two 20m diameter waterwheels he had built and that operated 24/7, processing 200 tons of Pornd cement per day.
"Yes, I also know you are scheduled to build five more simr ones to process not just the cement, but also to grind the bricks into small pieces to be used in concrete," Harun had a condescending tone to his voice, and then he sarcastically asked, "So what are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be working?"
This bad blood between the two had started when Alexander had transferred arge part of Diaogosis''s ten thousand men to Harun to work in the foundry, which did not involve just the st furnace, but three other major devices as well.
There was also the fact that in addition, Diaogosis was also jealous of what the cksmith had aplished and felt acrid in his heart at the man''s sess.
Now Diaogosis did not have the guts to me Alexander, and so took his anger out on Harun, who, not being a man to take a beatingying down, alsounched his own counter-attack, resulting in such frequent shes of words.
"Haha, both of you are doing an excellent job in helping Zanzan, and all its people. So there''s no need for animosity," Alexander chuckled as he yed the benevolent mediator, pretending to put a stop to this bickering.
He knew that in addition to Diaogosis not liking Harun, this boastful remark was a way to draw Alexander''s attention towards himself and remind the pasha of his achievements, which was ultimately a roundabout way of asking Alexander to grant him a peerage, something the pasha had yet to promise him.
''Hehe, I don''t like impatient men,'' Alexander darkly mused about this little covert y, his displeasure about Diaogosis''s character growing even more, as he decided, ''Stay a civilian for a while and cause some more trouble.''
This internal thought was the exact opposite of how he appeared outside and he did not truly oppose such barbed exchanges too much and even indirectly supported some of them.
And the reason for this, reason why Alexander somewhat approved and even encouraged such behavior was because if the nobles and high-ranking officials under him were too busy with petty squabbles among themselves, they would not have the time to plot against him, thus making this life on the seat much safer.
Of course, Alexander would step in if these small arguments red up into full-scale hostilities, but a ''healthy'' bit of animosity among his retainers was something desirable for him.
Alexander''s intervention instantly made the two men shut and Harun''s smirking, taunting face flipped to that of a wide, ttering grin in the blink of an eye who quickly addressed the crowd, "Haha my lords, then please enter the shed and let us observe it''s operations."
With this invitation, therge number of people entered the enormous and enormously busy shed, eager to see its function.
A function that Harun, like the diligent guide he was, gave quickly, "My lords, this shed is used for two things, both hugely important."
"First," Harun pointed to one of the two huge t, open concrete beds thatbined covered 80% of the huge shed and introduced, "This first bed is the coke production bed."
This exnation was self-evident as right in front of them was a truly enormous field of coal,id out horizontally across the entire structure, and being heated up via a zing inferno that burned underneath.
To help facilitate this, there were numerousrge firing holes underneath the bed to allow the entry of firewood and coal as fuel, while the simultaneous removal of soot ash.
There were small porous holes, around a centimeter (1cm) in diameter punched into the bed which allowed the hot gases to escape through the bed and into the air, while in the process also heating up the coal that is on it.
Harun gave the others a very sinct version of the exnation Alexander had given him, "Here coal is heated for twelve to fifteen hours to drive away all the water present in it and thus turning it a substance called coke." Harun imed, and then gave its use,
"We need to do this because this coke burns much faster and hotter than coal and is ideal to be used to produce the heat needed to melt iron in the st furnace."
This exnation produced an understanding nod from all the visitors.
The news about molten iron did not cause anymotion within them as they all came here knowing that a process for producing liquid iron had been discovered by the pasha and that the lord wanted all of them to see exactly how it was done.
While for one man named Alexander, it reminded him of many things currently wrong with this method of coke production.
First was the open bed design.
Normally the coke would be made in an enclosed furnace like the brick kilns where the temperature would be raised to 900 degrees Celsius by trapping most of the air.
This created the oxygencking atmosphere needed to turn the coal into coke through pyrolysis.
But Alexander had chosen this open-air design for the time being because of a couple of reasons.
The first and biggest one was because it was adequate for the time being.
It was cheaper, easier to operate, and because the coal extracted here was of exceptionally high quality, hence the current design was enough to get the job done.
One major problem that Alexander had faced while designing a closed furnace was the loading and unloading of the charge.
Though the loading would be done by making the entrancerge enough for horse carts to directly enter and dump their load inside, unloading the furnace was a lot more difficult.
The hot furnace had to be allowed to be sufficiently cooled, and then the tons and tons of materials had to be manually ced into carts using shovels.
This was not only very slow and time-consuming but also very inefficient fuel-wise, as the furnace had to be stopped, cooled, and then reheated from scratch again in the next cycle.
Hence, due to the periodic nature of these types of kilns, they were called periodic kilns and were generally quite inefficient.
It was not such a problem in Alexander''s previous life, as then, the load could be mechanically loaded and unloaded using mechanical hydraulic levels, so even if the furnace was turned off, it did not have to be cooled down to room temperature.
The next problem with this method was Alexander using big lumps of coal in the coking produce and not crushed or even partially crushed ones.
This was highly inefficient as the ground-up coal would have had much more surface area and hence needed much less time to turn to coal, making the process much more time and fuel efficient.
And even more, was the fact that Alexander would have to grind this coke anyway before cing it into the furnace.
But Alexander did not do it because he was afraid that these crushed coals could fall into the small pores that let the flue gases out or do so as the coals shrunk in volume when transformed into coke.
And thest w with this open bed design was that producing coke not only drove away the water vapor but also vtile natural gases like methane and ethane, which currently he was just letting escape into the air.
And this was because Alexander did not have any way of collecting and storing gases.
For that, he would have to invent rubber which could then be used to make gaskets and produce an air-tight seal, an endeavor he was already working on.
''If I can get rubber from that, I won''t need to look for any rubber trees. And I can then invent gaslighting,'' Alexander ambitiously thought.
In this way, as Harun continued with the tour, showing the marvels of Alexander''s creation, the chief guest of the tour was already busy making other ns.
Much, much grander ns.
Chapter 299 Ball Milling Machine
Alexander knew the significance gas lighting could have on a civilization as it was capable of transforming the dark, economically useless night into a productive time almost equal to the day, and almost doubling it''s industrial output.
He also knew that none of the challenges of collecting the gas by heating coal through pyrolysis was nowhere substantial enough to be unassable.
But the main reason why he was using such a crude method was due to the time constraints Alexander faced when building this facility and also because there was nopetition forcing him to lower his prices.
The setup was simple and it worked for the time being.
But the key point was ''for the time being'' and as Alexander was not the type to sit on hisurels, he said to himself, ''I should design a new coke oven as soon as possible, with all the improvements.''
And soon a blueprint began to take shape inside his mind, the schematics of which contained facilities to trap the precious flue gases.
But the true shape of that invention would, even by Alexander''s optimistic estimate would have to wait a few months, and so, deciding to shelf the project for a little while, Alexander returned his attention to the tour being provided by Harun.
And he caught Harun almost at the end of his exnation of the coke bed, who was saying, "Once the coke is made, it is then collected off the hot bed intorge buckets using long rakes by workers, while the bed is refilled by pouring buckets full of coal from above."
"This hot coke is then cooled by pouring water from a spring using aqueducts over there," Harun atst pointed to a huge pit of coke on one side of the shed over which a torrential stream of water was gushing over, and then being discharged through dug drainage pipes.
Harun then moved on to a second simr bed just beside the coke bed, and introduced, "This step should be known to us all, it''s the roasting bed where the iron ore is heated."
And then since this step was done in the original process, Harun simply skipped to the next step, saying, "Now, let''s move to thest function of the shed."
With this said Harun gestured to the elephant in the room, something that everybody noticed the moment they entered the workshop.
"My lord, I''m sure you are eager to know what this is," Harun very grandly pointed to a giant drum that was slowly rotating at the far end of the shed and the crowd responded with an eager look.
"This is called the ball milling machine, as I''m sure many of you might know. and it''s used to grind rocks into powder." He introduced.
The lords had heard of this new gadget too and knew this device could turn stone to powder in a matter of minutes.
But they were also not too clear on the details of how it worked, and looked expectantly at Harun for an exnation
But here they were disappointed as under Alexander''s directive, Harun could only ruefully shake his head, signaling further information was restricted.
Alexander had instructed Harun before on what to reveal and what to conceal, even from his own council members.
So Harun only gave them its function, but only how it worked, "We use it to grind our three main ingredients, iron ore, coke, and limestone into small chucks."
"We do this because ording to the pasha this smaller size aids in faster iron production."
Alexander''s reason for the secrecy was obvious, to protect his core technology.
In fact, he had even strongly debated on whether to give his retainers this tour and finally relented because of several reasons.
The first and foremost was because Alexander understood that to try and hide all the secret technologies and innovations being applied here, a ce where close to ten thousand men worked in and around was utterly futile.
But though some leaks were inevitable, that did not mean Alexander would give detailed descriptions of the machines here to help his rivals and enemies.
And so, with that thought, Alexander decided to change strategy and only try and protect the core of these new inventions, while leaving the less technical aspects out for everyone to study.
And it was this less technical aspect that Alexander was showcasing his retainers, with the additional intention of making them understand Zanzan''s potential and increase their loyalty to the city, the province, and to him.
And an example of such a technique being applied could be seen right now, as was the case with the ball milling machine.
These ball milling machines might look very simple, like simple rotating drums, but their inside did hide a few secrets.
For one, there were small internal protrusions that helped carry the balls up and dropped them from a height, thus providing the smashing action that made the mill actually grind the minerals ced inside it.
Without such a benign-looking, but actually vital piece of architecture, the entire thing would be useless, and therge bronze, concrete, or steel balls that were used to crush the minerals would just harmlessly tumble around with the rocks inside.
Then there was the number of balls to be ced in proportion to the ores.
Too little and the grinding would take too long or be iplete.
Too much and the balls would smash against each other and not the rocks, thus decreasing efficiency.
Seeing Harun being tight-lipped about this device''s inner mechanisms, the lords very well understood under whose orders he was behaving as such and thus, instead of pressuring the still civilian, they focused their attention on watching the operation of this marvelous device of both mechanical and civil engineering.
"Is the drum rotated using the waterwheel?" Menes inquired.
"Yes, my lord. I''m sure you have noticed all the aqueducts outside. We used them to divert the water supply from nearby springs. It took a lot of effort," Harun exined.
"I see," The ck general nodded in understanding and then focused on therge drum.
It had a capacity of five tons, was made of concrete, and had the rear end prated half a meter by the wooden transmission system of the waterwheel.
To securely connected the machine to the wooden log, long thick steel spokes that went all the way out of the walls of the machine were used and the whole connection gave a sense of strength and robustness.
This huge drum was ced on two elevated pirs about one story above the ground, ced in a slightly nted alinement, with the rear end a bit higher than the front, designed as such so that the ground-up material would automatically empty out of the machine when the door was opened.
These supporting pirs were very strong, made using the same techniques used to make reinforced concrete, with the only exception being the steel rods substituted with strong pieces of cut oak instead.
A very notable feature of the two pirs was the surfaces on which the drum sat were baby bottom smooth, designed as such so that the drum would slide over them with ease, an action which was additionally facilitated by a constant stream of a mixture of olive oil and water applied by workers.
"How is this huge thing stopped?" Came the curious inquiry of Melodias, who additionally asked, "I presume it needs to be stopped to empty and refill the thing?"
"Lord Melodias has discerning eyes," Harun produced arge smile, and then answered the general''s question, "The drum is tuned on and off by turning the waterwheel on and off. And that is done by operating the sluice gate installed outside."
Harun further exined, "When the sluice gate is opened, water is allowed to flow over the waterwheel and turn it, thus turning the ball milling machine with it."
"But once the gate is closed, the water can no longer flow over the waterwheel and is instead redirected to an adjacent channel through which the water harmlessly bypasses the waterwheel and falls into the ground, thus turning off the waterwheel and with it the machine.
"I see. That''s quite the ingenious approach. As expected of the great pasha." Melodias loudly cheered.
"Ohh, look, it''s stopping!" Suddenly the excited exmation of Grahtos rang out as he drew everyone''s attention to the machine that was slowing down.
"Oh, it seems the lords will be able to fully see how the machine works," Harun sounded pleased with this coincidence and thus waited with everyone else to observe the unloading and then loading of the structure.
So for a while, the men stood and watched as the workers worked like busy bees, their first task opening therge thick door of the machine.
This concrete door was closed tightly shut by using two thick wooden bars that went in front of it and into the tworge handles situated at the opposite ends of the door, very simr to how ancient gates were closed using massive wooden nks.
These wooden nks appeared to be very heavy, as evidenced by the need for multiple men on the scaffolding to remove each of them, after which the door would swing open by itself, pushed open by the weight of the huge amount of powder that is a nted angle.
"This batch was the coke," Harunmented, as the now dried up during the grinding coke fell below into a huge, custom-made eight-wheeled wooden cart reinforced with iron and was then pulled away by six, strong horses.
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Chapter 300 Blast Furnace
The product of the grinding would not right away be taken to its destination, for this product still contained onest impurity.
And to remove this, the cart would be taken to a separate station a bit further from the machine and about fifty workers would scamper into the cart, carrying buckets on their backs, and then start quickly shifting through the crushed ore.
They did this to retrieve the make iron balls that were used to grind the ore and though some balls were inevitably lost, close to 95% retrieval was possible for these expert men.
''Hmmm, I should invent the ma. I will need it to make thepass anyway,'' Alexander made a mental note as he watched the diligent workers shifting through the ck coke and turning their faces and hands pitch ck in the process.
While this was going on, the empty machine was being filled up in a novel way others had never seen before.
It was being done by cing one end of a hollowed-out log into the center of the machine, while the other end rested atop the scaffolding built much taller.
Using this hollowed-out log like a slide, the iron ores, limestone, or cokes would be easily deposited into the machine, with workers usingrge wheelbarrows to rapidly transport thesemodities.
''So, that''s why the machine is nted and ced so high,'' The mystery was made clear to all as the council members continued to observe theplete operations of the ball milling machine.
Once the machine was filled, the necessary amount of iron balls was added, the door pushed closed, the wooden nks reinstated, and the whole cooperation would start again.
"Hahaha, to think one day we would be able to produce so much of anything," Heliptos would sleep in his sleep thinking of all the money that could be made using
"How much can we grind in a day?" The aged Menicus was more interested in their capacity and so pointedly ask.
"....." Harun shot a nce at Alexander and after seeing the nonchnt look on his boss''s face, he got the message.
"I''m sorry, my lord. But that is ssified." Harun had wondered if Alexander would make an exception for the most senior and powerful council member but it seemed the pasha was adamant about keeping his secrets.
"Enough for the foreseeable future," Alexander decided to at least give this amount of respect to the senior statesman, and it got an understanding nod from Menicus.
The daily capacity of the machine was twenty to twenty-five tons a .day, and there were three such simr machines in workshops simr to this.
And the reason why it was so lowpared to those at the cement production which could process a hundred tons (100 tons) a day was because the currents and amount of water in the springs near there were extremely high, allowing for the spinning of much greater loads.
"Now let us go to the actual furnace where iron is made," Harun finally decided to lead the group to the ce all these people hade to witness.
The crowd hence moved quickly, ignoring the scores of workers moving about the ce like ants with no time to waste, and instead focusing on the huge tower that stood against the skyline, like a proud peacock, Alexander''s pride and joy.
The white st furnace had been made using stone and concrete, with a thickyer of y lining to resist heating, and was of the same design as the cement kiln, the only difference being that the dimensions were a bitrger.
No, scratch that, a lotrger, particrly the height, reaching close to sixteen meters, as opposed to the cement kiln''s measly four.
But it was a lot leaner too, designed as such because many of the reactions needed such a tall design to allow different temperature gradients to appear.
There was also the difference in how the double-action blowers were operated.
Instead of being manually driven by human hands like it was with their sister furnaces, the two enormous blowers were operated using pistons driven by two waterwheels on both sides, these giant wheels themselves spun by water transferred via aqueducts from nearby springs.
"As you can see my lord, this is where the magic happens," Harun did not really need to point out the obvious as everyone had already disregarded the miner''s existence and instead focused on the huge, roaring structure whose belly was full of fire and who was connected to a myriad of scaffolding, aqueducts, pipes, and waterwheels.
They could see huge cranes situated next to the st furnace which were being used to fill the enormous, hungry beast, as the load would be raised using ropes pulled by animals and then the special buckets would be tipped over by the few strong men on the scaffolding around the mouth of the st furnace.
"We always keep the furnace full, and run the furnace 24/7," Harun added somementary, but did not reveal in what arrangement the charge inside the st furnace was kept.
This was to be kept secret under Alexander''s order, as the way the charge was introduced into the furnace affected the final production.
The correct way to do it was not to mix the three ingredients, iron ore, coke, and limestone together and then dump it all in, but to do it inyers.
First, ayer of iron ore would be deposited, followed by ayer of coke, and then ayer of limestone, after which the pattern would repeat itself.
And theseyers could not just be of equal amount, with the proper proportions being 1.6 tons to 500kg of coke to 150kg of crushed limestone, or any amount maintaining this ratio.
These particr numbers were used because to produce one ton of pig iron, this amount of raw materials formed the perfect bnce.
Any less, and some of the numerous reactions that take ce in the st furnace would remain iplete.
While any more, and the excess would interfere with the reactions taking ce during the next phase.
This chain of reactions were vital to steel production, and it all started at the very top.
This was facilitated by the design of the st furnace which was a counter-current gas/solids reactor in which the descending column of burden materials [iron ore, coke, and limestone reacted with the ascending hot gases and produced the desired products.
These numerous reactions were a continuous process and were kept constantly running by adding new raw materials to the top of the furnace and molten iron and g being tapped from the bottom of the furnace at regr intervals.
At the very top part of the furnace, any free moisture would be driven off from the burden materials and limestone (CaCO3) would dpose into calcium oxide (CaO).
A bit below, some of the iron oxides would be reduced by carbon monoxide produced due to ipletebustion of the coke, and this typically urs at 700-1,000¡ãC.
In the middle part of the furnace, called the bosh, was the ce iron starts to soften and melt and where the real smelting took ce.
And it was also here that heated, hot air, at around a 1,000 to 1,300 degrees Celsius was blown into the furnace by blowers,busting the coke and raising the temperature to around 2,000 degrees, making it the hottest ce in the furnace.
This heat would cause the iron to finally melt and being denser, it sinks down, causing the less dense pool of impurity formed by various reactions with the limestone, called the g to float to the top.
The two liquids would have different tap holes and these would be periodically opened and the products extracted to the outside.
That was the basics of a st furnace, but Alexander did face onerge issue while designing this, and that was the tap holes.
This was because whereas in modern times, such ess points would be electronically operated by opening and closing the doors, currently he was required to design a kind of manual switch that would be opened and closed repeatedly without having to go too close to the burning inferno.
And after thinking for a while, the solution he came up with a both simple and ingenious.
What he did was design a horizontal L-shaped concrete plug, with the lower part of the letter driven into the plug hole, while the other part of the structure was attached to pirs that connected torge wheels ced on concrete rails.
In this way, draft animals could be used to move the L-shaped plug, thereby opening and closing the tapping holes.
These concrete plugs were not too heavy, as the holes they plugged were really not thatrge, only about 15cm in diameter or half the shoulder width of an average man and these would be opened for about 30 seconds every two hours, letting out 4 tons of pig iron, along with around 800kg of g
The g would be taken away to be used as fertilizers in Alexander''s personal estate as the amount of the stuff was nowhere near enough to be useful inrge-scale productions, while the molten pig iron would be taken through a concrete channel right below the tapping below into a Bessemer converter situated at an elevation 6m below the st furnace some distance away to be converted into steel.
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Chapter 301 Bessemer Converter
The st furnace was responsible for transforming iron ores into merchant iron, i.e- iron with 4% - 4.5% carbon, which was also called pig iron because the originally, the cooledrge, central, and adjoining smaller ingots resembled a sow and suckling piglets
This pig iron had too much carbon content to be made into anything useful and so had to have its carbon content and other impurities reduced.
In the current timeline, this was done by repeatedly hammering the iron and thus literally beating the impurities out of it in the form of g.
While in Alexander''s previous time, the first industrial process of carbon removal was done by the puddling process, where workers called puddlers would use long oar-shaped tools to stir the molten iron like one would stir a pot of curry.
The molten liquid would thus slowlybine with oxygen and fly away as carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide over many hours of slow cooking, while, as the carbon content decreased, the iron''s melting point would increase, and so masses of iron would start to agglomerate and float to the surface.
These masses of iron would be removed such as one would remove scum from the side of pots when cooking some dishes, and this iron would finally be strong enough to be forged with hammers by cksmiths into shapes such as swords and structural rods, or for making less loading structures such as manhole covers or decorative wrought gates.
In this way, usable iron was first mass-produced.
But though it was much faster than the traditional method, it was still very fuel and time-consuming, not to mention the toxic environment around the workce it created.
In fact, it could be argued the toxicity of the environment around the pudding process wasparable to that of near Chornobyl.
This might sound excessive but the puddlers that worked in these factories were enormous men, fit, hale, and hearty, as very high strength was needed to stir molten iron, but these strapping men, all in their early twenties only lived on an average of three to five years after they started working in these puddle furnaces.
This was because every day they breathed in enormous amounts of toxic gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide and it destroyed their lungs.
And that was where the Bessemer process came in, which did not make wrought iron, per se, but steel, otherwise known as mild steel. with a carbon content between 0.02 to 0.2%.
And this was what Alexander had also built.
Alexander''s Bessemer converter was directly charged with molten iron from the st furnace using a sloping channel that was covered on the top by a wooden shed to keep out the rain and snow, while also allowing workers ess to it so that they would be able to fix problems such as the iron solidifying midway through the flowing process quickly.
Though this was never too big a problem as the flowing distance from the furnace to the converted was quite short and the 4 to 4.5% carbon in the pig iron helped to lower the melting temperature and make the molten iron quite runny.
He had designed the Bessemer converter in the traditional shape, as a pear-shaped furnace about 6m in height and 3m in diameter, made of concrete, with an inner lining of y bricks to resist heat.
There were numerous small air holes at the base of the structure that allowed entry of hot sts of air into the furnace by two giant blowers manually operated by strong men.
The reason for using human muscles was because there was no space to build the waterwheel and the apanying aqueducts.
As soon as the molten iron would enter the converter, crushed limestone would be added using cranes to allow the removal of phosphorus.
This step was critical, as even amounts as small as 0.04% would increase the tendency of steel to be cold-short, that is, brittle at reduced temperatures, making weapons such as swords much weaker at room temperature.
Once the Bessemer converted had the two ingredients, hot continuous sts of air, rich in oxygen would be pumped into the mixture and this would oxidize the impurities present in the pig iron, such as manganese silicate and silicon into their respective oxides, and form a thinyer of g atop the iron.
The more vtile oxides such as carbon monoxide formed from carbon would get expelled out of the furnace in the form of a gas which would burn with a blue me at the mouth of the converter.
At this point, as the blue me would die down, signaling the end of that particr reaction, a measured mixture of iron craps, carbon, and manganese called spiegeleisen was supposed to be theoretically added to the mixture.
The reason why iron and carbon would need to be added was because the Bessemer process would eject too much carbon from the iron through the hot sts of air, and thus some was needed to be added back.
This was because it was the carbon that gave iron its strength and without it, just pure iron would be a very soft, weak metal, one that could be bent just by bare hands and hence pretty useless.
And Alexander would add some molten pig iron right at the end to achieve this.
But while this could be easily added, the critical manganese could not.
The addition of manganese was critical to making steel because it reacted with the leftover oxygen in the molten steel to form an oxide that separated itself in the form of g.
And unfortunately for Alexander, he was unable to find manganese, which looked very simr to iron ores but was quite brittle.
And this meant that his steel, once cooled, would have small, micro-voids of air bubbles,prising the metal''s strength and making it more brittle.
Of course, this was not as big a deal as one might make it up to be.
Such micro defects would only really matter once one started making huge structures like skyscrapers and ocean liners, while for small steel products such as swords, armor, and pots and pans, the things Alexander nned to make for the time being, it was negligible.
And thus Alexander had decided not to lose much sleep over it.
"Oh, finally we can see the final product," Menes impatiently called out as the group had waited for more than an hour to see this, from waiting for the st furnace to be tapped, to finally the Bessemer process to be finished.
As soon as Menes pointed this out, the g tapping hole at the top was first opened by the same process as in the st furnace, and all the waste was let out into argedle, after which the lower tapping hole would be opened, letting the molten steel flow out to the sand ingot molds below.
Such a sequence was necessary because unlike in the st furnace, the Bessemer converter was not kept full all the time, and as the converter had to be drained of all the products, if done the other way, the g woulde out mixed the steel and basically render the whole process moot.
It was also why Alexander had designed therge furnace with a bit of tilt, kind of like the leaning tower of Pisa, so that so molten iron or g would remain there as leftovers.
Once the steel cooled a bit, these molds would be broken, the small strips of steel connecting the ingot cut out using chisels, loaded into horse carts to be then transported to workshops to be made into all kinds of weapons, armor, and tools.
"How much can we make in a day?" Menicus had a hard time keeping his emotion in ce as he watched the enormous quantity of pure steel solidifying right in front of him.
Though he had heard it from Alexander himself, still, the amount of steel that was produced right before him was truly mind-boggling to him.
"About thirty-five tons a day. Give or take," Harun subconsciously produced a very smug look as he said so.
He too had a simr feeling of incredulity as Menicus, and in conjunction with the others, when he had first seen the volumes produced.
"*Shoooo*," Many of the people audibly sucked in air at this huge number.
"And how much does it cost?" Heliptos''s very eagerly asked as his eyes seemed to have turned into gold coins and he was literally drooling at the thought these ingots could fetch, spraying small bubbles of spittle everywhere.
A kilogram of raw iron ingot cost one hundred to hundred fifty (100 - 150 ropals) ropals, while a g-free ingot went for five hundred.
And if that iron ingot was worked on and transformed into a usable product like a sword, the price would literally jump ten times, as a good steel sword could cost anywhere from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred ropals (1,200 - 1,500 ropals).
This meant that the steel in a sword weighing 700 -800g, went for 2 ropals per gram, or the equivalent of one kg of wheat.
Harun felt numerous curious gazes as Heliptos made his inquiry and the mining chief then directed this gaze to Alexander because he himself had no idea of the price.
And fortunately for him, Alexander did.
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=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 302 Price Of Steel
Alexander''s calction for the price of steel had been a long and detailed one.
First, he had to calcte thebor cost, which was subdivided into various categories.
There were three thousand ( 3,000) men that worked the iron mines, among which two thousand (2,000) were ves that were promised freedom in five years, while thest thousand (1,000) were hardened criminals with no chance of freedom.
Thetter had all been captured by Cambyses in her raid and in the following subsequent days as the city guards hunted down all that escaped, a task made much easier by the fact there were very few young or adult free male Adhanians in Zanzan, most either dead, missing or enved.
These captured ves were of rtive low maintenance, costing Alexander around only 2 ropals a day in food.
Much more expensive were the two thousand (2,000) soon-to-be freed ves.
Alexander had paid a grand sum of ten thousand (10,000) ropals per worker for them, a sum that still stung when remembering how Ptolomy had skinned him on this deal, and he had to transfer these expenses to the produced product.
And to recuperate this expense within the next five years, given that the workers will have a few days of rest like the new year and other religious holidays, Alexander calcted that he would have to add six (6) ropals per worker per day that was in addition to the regr two (2) ropal food expenses.
And then there were the equipment costs- the shovels, the pickaxes, the ropes, the torches, the cost of firewood, the cost of lumber that was to make the scaffolding that held the caves, all these Alexander estimated to be around 2 ropals.
So in total, per day, just the three thousand (3,000) miners cost Alexander twenty-four thousand (24,000) ropals.
After that came the coal miners, who were all war prisoners and thus would be free in five years, and so the same math as the former two thousand (2,000) applied to them as well.
Alexander used a thousand coal miners, and so that came to a daily total of nine thousand ropals (9,000), assuming two ropals for food, and one ropal for equipment, less because the open pit did not have much logistics support.
Limestone was next and as cement production used it too, Alexander halved six thousand (6,000) to get thirty thousand 30,000 ropals for three thousand workers (30,000)
And thus only the raw materials cost Alexander fifty-three thousand (63,000) ropals per day.
And then were around a thousand simr veborers who worked on actually producing the steel, from operating the coke bed, to roasting to operating the various furnaces, and atst to driving the horse carts.
Thus only the running cost of the steel nt came to seventy-three thousand (73,000) ropals per day.
As for the fixed costs, or more urately the setup cost, Alexander had no idea, and just decided to make it seven thousand (7,000) ropals to make the total cost an even eighty thousand (80,000) ropals per day.
To put that into perspective, assuming eighteen hundred (1,800) ropals were the equivalent of the American median ie of seventy thousand (70,000) dors per annum, that gave the steel nt a daily bill of around three million (3,000,000) dors.
And since Alexander produced around thirty-five tons of steel a day, it made the price of steel ingot a bit over 2 ropals per kilogram, or about seventy times cheaper than the original hundred fifty (150).
"It costs each kilogram of ingot 3 ropals," Alexander gave the much-anticipated answer, hiking up the price that little bit more.
"*Shoooo*" Came another huge gasp of surprise, as the same two words were uttered by everyone in their minds, ''So cheap!''
In fact, the actual cost was much lower, because Alexander had made some prettyrge errors in this maths.
In actuality, Alexander per day only used a fraction of the mined two thousand (2,000) tons of coal, the actual number only being around thirty (30) tons, while only 12 tons of the total mined 600 tons of limestone was used for steel, the majority of that actually going toward cement production.
Also, the seven thousand (7,000) ropals per day for the setup cost was a ludicrous number, as, given the structures wouldst well over thirty years, made the entire project''s cost close to eighty million (80,000,000) ropals.
Alexander probably spent a hundredth or even a thousand of that.
Alexander certainly knew about these discrepancies but did not bother with such nitty-gritty details as even with such over-inted values, the price was fifty times lower, and of much higher quality than every other steel in existence.
"My lord, that''s too cheap!" Heliptos cried out not in joy at the quoted number.
And then suggested, " With this steel being of the highest quality in the world, then we can sell it double¡no triple the price of a regr ingot." Heliptos''s eyes shone green with greed, as he held out his five fingers and said, "Five hundred! We should charge five hundred (500 ropals) per kg, my lord."
''Hmmm, this guy might not be suitable to run the economy,'' Alexander only cidly looked at the man proposing such a brain-dead price point
He then let out a cheerfulugh as he asked, "Hahaha, Lord Heliptos has made some good points. Does anyone object to this new price?"
"..." The others looked at each other as Alexander scanned the crowd for any potential detractors.
"You¡how about you, Cambyses?" Seeing no one speak up, Alexander atst pointed to Cambyses with his chin.
"My lord, I don''t think it''s a good idea." Cambyses quickly spoke up, "At the cost of 3 ropals per kilogram of steel, we will spend more than one hundred thousand (100,000) ropals every day producing the thirty-five tons."
"In other words, we will have to sell more than one hundred thousand (100,000) ropals worth of steel per day."
"And if we set such a high price of steel, that will be impossible."
"......." Cambyses''s answer made the veteran merchant blush.
''Darn, The cost! Of course the cost!'' Heliptosmented that ovee by greed, he had momentarily forgotten about the cost and made himself look like such a fool in front of Alexander and everyone else.
While the others pped themselves for noting up with the answer soon enough.
"Excellent answer, Lady Cambyses," Alexander always addressed Cambyses very formally in these council meetings, and then asked with a light smile, "So how much do you think we should charge?"
Cambyses paused for a while to think, and then reasoned, "Hmmm, considering the quality, and since the cost of the steel ingot is one-fiftieth (1/50) of others, let''s charge one-fiftieth (1/50) of Lord Heliptos''s suggestion, 10 ropals a kilogram."
Alexander was pleased with this number, and so he nodded, "Umm, then 10 ropals for the raw ingot it is," adding, "We will charge 7 ros from our allies the king and pasha Farzah, and its export will be banned to our enemies."
"The pasha is wise," The others agreed.
But Alexander was not finished, as he quoted onest price, "And the price of it for the pasha of Zanzan will be five ropals."
This weird statement produced some confused looks as Melodias chirped, "My lord, what do you mean?"
And so Alexander elucidated, "This steel foundry bes to me, Alexander the citizen. And so, if the Pasha of Zanzan and the head of house -Alexander wants to buy it from me, I will charge him 5 ropals per kg."
This might sound very much like taking money out of one''s right pocket and putting it into the left, but it was nothing like that.
"My lord I believe the price is too low. We believe you should charge 20 ropals for Zanzan! After all, you have already spent so much, upwards of 600 hundred million." Menicus quickly suggested.
"That''s right, my lord. The taxpayers of Zanzan cannot leech off you forever," Melodias joined.
And such sentiment was shared by most, at least outwardly, as they remembered everything up until hade from Alexander''s own pocket.
This was because until very recently, Zanzan did not currently really have an economy to speak of, with almost the entirety of its male poption enved, and its production capability very nearly zero.
Of course, it was not all goodwill and altruism, as Alexander''splete monopoly over the economy meant he wielded almostplete power in the city, and most importantly, as he controlled the pay of the soldiers, hemanded the military, something the lords and high-ranking officials were reluctant to see continue for too long.
This was simr to how the kid in the yground who had the ball got the first say in most matters, he got to be the captain, got to choose his team first, and scoring disputes usually favored him.
And Menicus and the other lord were basically trying to wean off this influence by sharing some burden.
Because by spending the taxpayer''s money, it would give Zanzan a voice, a voice that would be spoken through the mouths of the lords.
Alexander knew this and though he did not oppose it, as he could never run the military by himself in the long run, still decided to this favorable price, as even at this price point, he would be making a hundred and fifty to two hundred percent (150% - 200%) profit.
"Haha, lets it at that for now. We can discuss changing itter," Alexander chuckled the reply.
Chapter 303 Too Much Of A Good Steel
Alexander''s daily production of thirty-five (35) tons of steel was both a blessing and a slight curse because he needed to, on paper, sell 100,000 ropals of it a day, which came to at least 36.5 million ropals annually.
This was equivalent to a Jamider''s (Earl) annual ie or about one-tenth the earning of an average pasha.
And this amount would still be nowhere near his capacity.
"My lord, all these steel produced, what are were going to do with them? Currently, we do not need that many. Nor can we process so much," Harun asked.
And he was right.
Normally, because iron was so expensive, it would strictly be used for weapons, but for Alexander even a week of current production would be enough for Alexander to equip not used the current six thousand (6,000), but about double that.
The greatest amount of iron went into armor production and considering Alexander nned to issue full-body chainmail to his soldiers, which covered the entire body, from head to toe, including the hands and feet, that weighed around 20kg.
So the total steel that would be needed to fully equip his soldiers- 120 tons.
Inparison to this, the weapons such as swords and spears used really small amounts of iron. Alexander estimated the total to be only around 10 tons for the 6,000 men.
So, less than four days of production was enough to fully equip, and some might argue overequip one entire legion.
And this was a bit of a problem for Alexander not only there was not so much demand, but there were also not so many cksmiths to transform these steel ingots into steel products.
In this previous life, when such mass production techniques were first invented, the demand for high-quality steel had gone through the roof, primarily needed in construction, making railway lines, railcars, and steamships.
As a matter of fact, it could be argued that it was this demand for steel that necessitated the discovery of such techniques.
And thus, with Alexander having jumped the tech tree, he was finding himself that he might not really need this much steel.
Because to process such vast quantities of steel, he would need the steam engine, to run the massive machines such as rollers and forging hammers.
After all, there was only so far mere waterwheels can take you
"Hmmm, I might have made the steel foundry a little too big," Alexandermpooned, as the daily production gave Zanzan city a per capita steel production of 60kg, whereas even in the Roman empire, this value was 15kg.
Alexander had taken office for less than two months and in the meantime, as he adjusted himself to the positon, one particr sector he was having trouble with was judging the required scale of his industries.
First, he had made his cement and brick industry too small, and then fearful of making the same mistake twice, he overpensated and made the steel foundry too big.
''Should I reduce production?'' Alexander considered, but found the idea distasteful.
There was an ecosystem to the whole production, from the mining to the grinding to the melting, and to change one, he would have to change everything else.
"We will rece everything of bronze with steel. And whenever possible, we will also switch from wood to steel," Alexander answered the military leader, further adding, "This will be good for us. It will not only save the trees, but it will also be cheaper and faster as manufacturers will be able to just melt and cast the product, instead of the tedious process of slowly shaping the wood."
Alexander said so with a smug look on his face as he then immediately instructed Harun, "Harun, you are to build more waterwheels downstream. They will be attached to forging hammers by flywheels and so we will be able to forge the raw ingots into products much more easily."
"Yes, my lord." Harun quickly replied, excited by the new possibilities.
"Ahem, my lord, if we do this, banning iron exports to our enemies will be pointless," Heliptos cleverly pointed out, making Alexander take critical damage.
Alexander instantly understood what his finance minister was saying and it banged against his heart hard.
But not everyone was so quick on the uptake and so Heliptos helped them catch up, "If we rece bronze with iron and some of the wooden stuff with it too, and if the products are as cheap as Lady Cambyses suggested they be, then these products will be dirt cheap in Zanzan and absurdly expensive outside of it," Heliptos did not forget to take a snipe at Cambyses as he pointed out the w, and then warned,
"Then the result will be obvious. A ck market will form the next day and we will never be able to stop it."
''Fuck!'' Alexander, along with everyone else cursed, knowing the finance minister had hit a bull''s eye with this one.
Even if they were to assume a 1-kilogram finished product like a sword would cost 50 ropals, and the smugglers would charge 100 ropals for it, the demand for them would still be virtually endless.
And the same went for the pots, pans, and everything else.
''Fuck, I made the steel too good,'' Alexander had built this facility with the prime intention of making te armor and thus making his army virtually invincible, able to simply shrug off stone throws, arrow fire, sword hacks, and spear thrusts, and only vulnerable to maces and hammers.
But now it seemed that he might have to scale down on production.
And this made Alexander squirm with pain, as at 10 ropals a kilogram, Alexander knew this steel would sell like hotcakes, earning him three hundred and fifty thousand ropals a day, which was the same as ten pre-drought days of tax revenue of Zanzan city.
And annually that came to more than one hundred million ropals, more specifically about 130 million, or one-third of a pasha''s annual ie.
''What ss! Just from this one iron foundry, I canunch fund all kinds of projects and all the military campaigns my men could ever handle.'' Alexander said to himself.
The cost of production was in actuality one-tenth of the price as so Alexander disregarded it, while this value also only considered raw steel ingots, and not iron products, which would multiply this number by magnitudes.
And hence, when presented with such a potential mountain of gold, one could forgive Alexander for being greedy and not wanting to sh production.
The upsides were just so much.
Which was also why in the event of a ban, the creation of a ck market was guaranteed.
"Lord Heliptos might be right. This steel is too cheap. Maybe we would raise prices like he originally suggested," Menicus, as a representative voice of the other council members spoke out, making Cambyses pull an ugly face.
''Fuck you, geezer,'' Cambyses inaudibly muttered under her breath, though she was unable to find a good retort.
And even the usual Alexander supporter Grahtos said, "Forgive me pasha, but I personally doubt the efficacy of the export ban. Any iron products we might sell to third neutral parties, even those that we export to other countries might be resold to our enemies."
"Lord Grahtos make an excellent point. It''s not like we will ever be able to monitor such transactions," Menes was vehemently against his enemies from obtaining such high-grade steel.
"......." Alexander was being torn apart in deciding whether to give up suchrge amounts of gold or to displease his retainers.
For the former case, he reasoned, ''Just because someone can obtain the steel does not mean they will be able to make good steel armor from it. It''s simr to how the same ingredients will produce two vastly different quality dishes when given to a professional chef as opposed to an amateur.''
In steel production, how the steel is forged and shaped matters, as a structure''s property depends not only on its chemicalposition but also its atomic arrangement.
A real-life example from Alexander''s previous life would be how cars changed from the 70s to the 2000s.
70s cars were much heavier than their 2000s counterpart, for the reason that much thicker steel had to be used to make them as thinner steel tended to crack during the shaping of the car.
But with advances in material science, and better steel and steel forging techniques, stronger, thinner steel was discovered, which resulted in much lighter cars.
And Alexander too nned to employ some of the new forging techniques to forge his armor and sword, thetter beingparable to the famous Damascus steel used by the Muslims during the first Crusade.
''But even if their forging technique iscking right now, it will still be adequate just based on the grade of steel. And besides, it''s not like they can''t learn over time,'' Alexander presented a counter-argument to himself.
And then finally decided on a solution.
"My lords, all of you have raised some very good points," Alexander lightly smile, and this made all the lord grimace and swear, "Please don''t say but.''
There was no way they were going to allow such high-grade weapons steel to fall into the enemy''s hands.
Not when they would be the ones fighting against them.
"And so I decided to make some adjustments," Alexander''s words, though did notpletely reassure them, at least made them let out a small sigh of relief.
"What does my lord have in mind?" Then Menicus cautiously asked, interested to know what Alexander had in mind.
Chapter 304 Civilian Steel
Menicus was sharp-minded enough to notice that Alexander''s answer did not specifically say that he was going to reduce production.
''How is he going to squirm out of this one,'' Menicus asked himself.
And Alexander gave a pretty good answer, "We will decrease steel quality. The lower-quality steel will be called normal steel, while the steel we are currently producing will be called military grade steel."
"Oh! That''s a great solution my lord," Heliptos was the most excited about this best-of-both-worlds solution, meaning they will get both the money and maintain their state security.
"How much will the steel differ?" Menes half-pointedly asked.
"I will design a demonstration," Alexander simply promised.
He intended to make this normal steel for civilian use by simply not roasting the iron ore and not adding the flux during the Bessemer process.
This would make the steel have sulfur and phosphorus in them, making them alright for casting pots and pans, but terrible for making weapons.
This is because sulfur mainly causes something called hot-shortness, which is a phenomenon where the steel turns brittle and cracks and breaks when heated to high temperatures, like the temperatures used to forge a sword.
While phosphorus mainly causes the opposite effect, called cold-shortness, which, as you might have guessed, turns steel brittle at low temperatures, around up to three to five hundred degrees celsius.
This means that such a steel could not be worked at either temperature range, making it quite terrible for making anything that required strength and toughness, like a sword or armor.
And it had to be pointed out that sulfur and phosphorus also had other detrimental properties, making the existence of such elements very detrimental to any kind of structural steel.
In fact, Alexander even nned to add trace amounts of these elements intentionally to make the civilian-grade steel extra bad.
But just as Alexander thought so, he cursed, ''Darn, now I will have to design tests for these two types of steel, and then train the workers on how to make them.''
Alexander was learning the hard way the saying, ''The devil is in the details.''
Later, he would design a tensile experiment, where a piece of steel of specific dimensions would be mped horizontally between two vices, and loads in the form of weights would be ced on it until it broke, thus roughly judging the steel''s strength.
And the military grade steel would be always found to be able to take more weight than the civilian one.
And this he would demonstrate to the others, thus making the lords relieved, along with Alexander''s reassurance that this steel could not be forged into any type of good weapon.
"Then we will do as the lord says," Returning to the current time, Menicus voiced and then after a little bit of small talk, decided to end the tour.
"Oh, Your Grace, if I could have a little word," Harun remembered something very important as he asked for some of Alexander''s time.
"Well, then my lords please go ahead. It seems mister Harun has some more things to say," Alexander then waved the other lords off and then expectantly at Harun.
''What more does he have to say?'' Alexander wondered.
"Ahem, I think it will be easier to show you, my lord," Harun then gestured to follow and soon the duo, followed by Alexander''s bodyguards were shown to rows and rows and wooden warehouses.
"My lord, see all these loghouses?" Harun pointed and then said, "These are all full of coal. And we are rapidly running out of space to store them."
Alexander''s coal extraction had far surpassed his demand and this created such a problem.
''These are surface coal. That''s why they are so easy to mine,'' Alexander told himself the reason for the daily production of more than two tons of coal per worker.
"Such production will notst. And getting deeper deposits will be hard," Alexander said, telling Harun that thisrge amount of coal might be their entire supply for the foreseeable future.
"Then does the lord want me to build more such warehouses?" Harun prudently asked, though he next added, "Please remember that currently all the bricks being made are all being used for other projects by your order my lord. That''s also why all these warehouses are made of wood."
Alexander had put most other construction works to almost a total halt to build this iron foundry, and those works had just resumed, meaning he could not just again stop them without drawing frustrations from its leaders, the council members.
As Alexander was considering this, suddenly a very important fact that had up until now escaped him, entered his consideration.
"Wait, are the coals stored in there like how we store ores? In gigantic mountain like stacks? Alexander had a loud, scary tone to his voice, one of fear and trepidation.
"Ye...yes my lord. Is something wrong?" Alexander''s fear had infected Harun too, who had never seen the man ever show the slightest hint of fear at anything.
''What did I do wrong?'' Harun involuntarily shivered with dread.
And soon Alexander let in the man on the reason for his hysterics, "When storing coal in bulk, the gases it gives off can catch fire by itself and cause selfbustion of the coal, resulting in huge explosions."
Alexander then pointed out to the same warehouses as Harun did and with a pale face shakily said, "These warehouses are just waiting to blow up, along with anyone and everyone nearby!"¦Ñ¦Á§ád¦Á `n?¦Í?| §ãom
Alexander''s scary look and how he was excitedly spraying little droplets of spit on Harun''s mouth, made Harun wake up to the dangers they were in.
And so in a panicking voice shouted almost hysterically, "My lord, leave! We must leave here at once."
And Alexander did not need more encouragement as he quickly evacuated the premises, his bodyguards bringing up the rear.
This warning of Alexander might have sounded excessive, but there was truly a significant chance of an explosion back there.
This was because, in such coal stockpiles, gases such as methane could be emitted by microbial metabolism, oxidation of carbon at low temperatures, and by absorption or desorption of water by coal due to the differences in moisture content between it and air.
All such reactions are exothermic and release heat, which might give rise to certain spots in the coal stack called hot spots, which are parts of the stack that are so hot that they can ignite themselves and the surrounding gases, resulting in a huge boom.
"My lord, what should we do?" Harun looked at Alexander with fear and askance.
"....." And Alexander stayed only silent, giving himself time to think.
But Harun''s pleading eyes, which seemed to dart between confusion and worry were quite distracting for Alexander,
It was like a teacher was staring right into his answer script during an exam.
And so he decided to bring a bit of time for himself.
"Don''t worry. The warehouses will not catch fire any time soon," Alexander first soothed the frayed nerves of the man as it seemed that his warning had been a bit too effective and then bluffed, "I know of a way to make use of all the excess coal."
This made Harun break out a grin, listening eagerly for his solution, feeling relieved at having escaped death.
He was not naturally a timid man.
But after getting caught up in a mudslide and almost suffocating a few years ago, he had developed a fear of death as the very mention of his demise would have the man have shbacks to that traumatic near asphyxiation.
Alexander was not aware of these thoughts, and neither would he care, as he bought time for himself to think while instructing Harun on the proper storage of coal.
"Harun remember, when storing suchrge coal, always prevent any airflow around it."
"*Nod*," Harun heavily nodded.
He did not ask why as he did not care for the reason, but the logic behind it was simple, -any air flow would provide the coal with a continuous stream of oxygen, aiding in the oxidation reaction and more importantly helping the air burn.
Alexander further said, "Also, try to use the coal as quickly as possible. The longerrge coal stockpiles are kept, the more likely the spontaneousbustion process bes."
Later he advised, "Never mix too old coal with new ones."
This was because old coal tended to be powdery and morebustible.
But they were less likely to spontaneously catch fire as most of the vtile gases had been driven out.
Whereas, new coal was theplete opposite.
Hence, when the two were stored together, disaster was waiting to happen.
And atst, Alexander advised, "And periodically water the whole stack, to cool the whole thing down."
This was done because coal did not only burn with a zing inferno.
It could also burn with a smoldering ember.
In Alexander''s previous life, there were multiple asions where entire warehouses thought to be full of coal were opened to find that the coal had turned to ash, as it silently burned down in weeks or even months.
"My lord, how about we build an aqueduct? Like the one at the coke pit," Harun was basically proposing having a continuous stream of water pour into the coal stack.
Alexander was impressed by Harun''s idea.
p¦Á§ád¦Á`no¦Í?1`§ão§® Though wed, as a constant downpour of water would take away with it a lot of the coal with it, it was still a n in the right direction.
And just then, linking the image of coal dust washing away in the water gave him an epiphany- coal briquettes
Chapter 305 Winter Slice Of Life [Bonus ]
Alexander was impressed by the initiative shown by Harun, a vital quality in Alexander''s eyes.
So he quickly approved the idea, albeit with a bit of modification, "Follow the n as you wanted. Just keep the water periodic instead of continuous, like lightly drizzling it."
"Then my lord I will do it every four hours or so," Harun very enthusiastically replied, quite happy at his core idea getting approved.
With that order, Alexander then addressed the issue of coal storage scarcity, simply ordering, "Three days from now, send all the excess coal that you don''t need to my estate. I will use them in something else."
Alexander nned to make coal briquettes using them to make salt by boiling seawater.
Harun did not ask Alexander what he needed two thousand (2,000) tons of coals daily for, for he did not really care.
He was only relieved that this potential time bomb problem would soon be solved, and he expressed his pleasure by shing a slight grin and saying, "As youmand, my lord. I will send them to your manor as soon as youmand."
With this done, Alexander spoke to Harun about a few more general topics and finally decided to bid goodbye, the entire tour havingsted from morning to near dusk.
''Well that was a long day,'' Alexander said to himself as he made his way back to his manor, looking around the surrounding while doing so.
And anyone would be surprised by how drastically everything had changed around here in thest one and a half months.
Landmarks andndscapes that made remained unchanged for centuries were undone by the ever-industrious hands of the workers appointed by Alexander and the once lush forest around the manor was in the process of being stripped clean, to be reced with structures that its current owner found dear to his eyes.
This was the result of Alexander expanding his workshops and businesses, resulting in the requirement for more space.
More space for working, more space for amodating the workers, and more space for their families to live in.
Hence came Alexander''s orders to clear the entire one square kilometer of forest that surrounded his manor into residential andmercial areas and transform it into his sweatshops, a ce where tens of thousands of families would work, eat and live, serving Alexander and his ever-growing thirst for ropals.
And the reason that Alexander had chosen to do so so near his home, much to Cambyses''s annoyance as she saw so many people moving in and around the vicinity of her house as disturbing the tranquility of the surrounding, was because of security.
There were many inventions and technologies here that Alexander did not at all feelfortable leaving out in the open city and thus birthed the necessity of building the huge, striking wooden wall that everyone could see the moment they approached the manor.
It perimetered the left side of the manor, as if designating the boundary between the owner and the workers, and worked to keep secrets secure, for within the total one-and-a-half square kilometers right in his backyard, Alexander could enforce draconian security measures that would be impossible to implement on arge scale.
This was also why Alexander had not merged this small industrial district with the official southern industrial district.
''I will visit the ce tomorrow,'' Alexander said to himself, intent on checking up on the various workshops'' progress which included not only the four original ones of ss, soap, paper, and weapons but also two more,- the sugar production nt and Gelene''s tailoring shop.
Thetter was of particr interest to Alexander as he had given his unofficial concubine a few simple inventions to help her spin her threads much faster and to protect such innovations, had ordered her to relocate her production facilities inside the securepound.
He had also ordered a few new types of dresses to wear during the marriage ceremony that was two weeks from now and wanted to confirm how they were carrying along.
Andstly, he now had the new task of designing the production process of coal briquettes and a salt production nt.
''*Sigh*, so much work,'' Alexandermpooned as he dragged his tired body into the huge manor, eager to have some much-needed shut-eye.
After a nice hot bath, Alexander dressed himselffortably and then joined the rest of the nobles in his house for dinner.
"Oh! Is this another new dish Your Grace has prepared for us?" Mikaya cried out in delight as she gazed at the new dish ced on her silver ce.
It was a pasta dish, golden and round with a bulge in its center, presented with a sage on top and garnished with shredded cheese.
"Yes. It''s a pasta dish called ravioli, made using egg yoke, ricotta cheese, and spinach," Alexander lightly smiled as he answered.
''Hmmm, seems pretty simple,'' Mikaya like many others made the ssic mistake of underestimating this ssic Italian dish.
The list of things need to make ravioli might be fairly simple, with eggs and spinach readily avable and ricotta cheese being made using milk, cream, salt, and some kind of acid like lemon juice.
But as a matter of fact, ravioli was a deceptively hard dish to make.
The challenge of this dish did not lie in procuring or processing the ingredients but in bringing these ingredients together and most importantly securely cing them inside the pasta, making sure that the pasta did not break even ced into the boiling water.
An effort that had taken Mean and her team over a month to master.
"Hehe, Pasha Alexander seems to be full of new ideas every day. I guess that is the difference between a genius and us poor folk," Seelima very melodramatically praised Alexander, her lips pursing to a smirk.
In the minds of these highdies, a noble involving himself in the affairs of women, especially in the department of cooking was seen as unmanly and even wimpy.
Neither she, nor Mikaya or anyone else in Seelima''s entourage for that matter had ever entered the kitchen in their life, a ce that was universally seen by the aristocracy as base and low.
And so for Alexander, who was a pasha and among the highest rank of nobility, to frequently visit such a filthy ce bought shame and disgrace to all of the nobility in Seelima''s case.
But with that being said, the dishes that Alexander made were truly mouthwatering.
Very much different from the dishes the pce chefs made, which were only slight variations of existing dishes, Alexander''s cruises were brand new, using ingredients in ways others had never thought of it, and introducing new styles of cooking that were revolutionary, to say the least.
If Alexander was not a noble, or even if he was a low one, Seelima was sure she would have hired him as her personal cook.
"Haha, well then let''s dig in before it starts getting cold." Alexander turned a blind eye to this slight barb by the Queen mother, such a thing of not any importance to him, and instead cheerfully urged to start the supper.
"Yes, yes, they look delicious." Azira excitedly agreed with Alexander3 her eyes sparkling at the delicious food.
"Mmm, I am also interested in using this spoon called the fork," Azura frankly agreed with her sister, and then without further ado dug into the heavenly soft pillow of pasta.
Forks had not been invented before Alexander and the addition of this new cutlery had garnered such amazement from the royals.
"It''s so easy to pick up food with!" The Queen mother had for the first in Alexander''s eyes let out a genuine exmation of praise at this three-pronged silver spoon and then showered Alexander with supetives of variouspliments.
Soon everyone followed Azura''s lead, and cut into the pasta, and immediately afterward slight gasps of awe and looks of amazement bloomed around the luxurious dining table, as they witnessed the egg yolk flow out like liquid gold from the broken pasta.
"Oh, how beautiful!" Azira let out a candid scream of delight at this culinary art and then emting Alexander, cut a chuck of the pasta containing the ricotta chess using her knife, basted it in the beautiful yolk, and then bought it into her mouth using her fork.
"Delicious! Truly heavenly," Azura was already having her second helping as she said so, her cheeks cutely puffed up with the pasta dough inside.
The tanginess of the cheese cut straight through the richness of the egg yoke and the beautifully cooked pasta wrapped the two heavenly vors around its soft, pillowy doughy texture, inviting its eater toe for seconds and thirds.
And for seconds and thirds did everyone go, as for some time, the usually chatty dining table being reced with the hurried clinking of silver hitting silver and the silence but rapid munching of the delicious pasta.
"Alex, I want to hire you as my cook more and more now, hehe," Mikaya, having had a few of the delicious dish, took arge gulp of the wine as she made this seemingly rude remark again, letting out a sultry smile as she did so.
Though this time the reaction was much warmer, with the Queen mother only sending Alexander an apologetic look after ring at Mikaya.
Mikaya had made simr statements a few times already and Alexander had seemingly brushed them all off as harmless banter.
There was little point in getting angry when he would get to humiliate this spoiled princess soon.
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Chapter 306 Seelimas Probe
Mikaya''s rude remark had not generated the scowl one typically would expect from the Queen mother, as she had witnessed such simr situations a few times already and because Alexander had not red up during any of those, she finally epted this matter.
''This girl is such a rogue,'' The Queen mother had given up on trying to stop Mikaya from picking a fight with Alexander and could only silently thank Alexander for being the better man and not stooping to Mikaya''s level.
Seelima was not the only one that was somewhat irked Mikaya''s antics.
Even her nieces scowled at their aunt''s unprovoked taunt, saying to themselves, ''This viin might be thick-skinned, but why does aunt always go poking him? He isn''t easy to deal with,'' thus simultaneously praising and demeaning Alexander.
But little did thesedies know the real reason for Alexander''s lukewarm retaliation, for it was far more insidious than they could ever imagine.
"Haha, I''m afraid Mydy is praising the incorrect person here," Alexander answered Mikaya''s taunt with a chuckle and then pointing to Mean said, "It was Mean who was responsible for preparing both this and the next dish."
Then turning his head towards the petite, simply dressed girl, Alexander praised, "And I must say, she cooked this ravioli to perfection. This dish might look very simple to prepare, but in fact, it takes quite a bit of skill to properly cook the pasta while keeping the egg yolk creamy and runny."
But contrary to his beaming exterior, Alexander thought darkly in his heart, ''Oh, I can''t wait for Ophenia to start the brothel.'' as his heart yearned with trepid anticipation at seeing how he would degrade this princess into public property.
This was why he had let multiple of such jibs slide, his body being energized with excitement every time he thought of the imminent humiliation of the Matrak princess and the thrill of how he would be there to witness everything.
''Ahhh, I can''t wait,'' Alexander repeated his desires to himself, the electrifying sensation fully manifested itself in how quickly he cut into his egg yolk and roughly jammed the pasta into his mouth after Mikaya''s remark, a subtle action that did not escape the silver-haired beauty.
''*Smirk*, he can''t wait,'' Mikaya was of course aware of Alexander''s dark desires, which was also why Mikaya said such things, to poke the proud man, or in her eyes boy, to even more anger.
For the things Alexander would consider degrading, Mikaya relished in them.
And she could only hope that Alexander did not disappoint in his promise.
"Master, I have finished properly decorating the establishment and hiring the appropriate staff. We can start any day at yourmand, " Ophenia, who was able to sense this slight, invincible tension between the duo quickly chirped up, intent on delivering the good news.
"Haha, good, good. When can I meet the trainee priestesses?" Alexander chuckled and asked about the newly hired prostitutes in coded terms.
The term acolyte priestesses were designated to be used for real priestesses, while trainee priestesses were used to refer to his social workers.
The reason for doing this was obvious, as Alexander did not want anyone remotely close to him or Mikaya to know that he ran such a low establishment.
Such knowledge would not debase his status in the nobility circle, but also, if by some chance Mikaya got caught, he would have a very hard time escaping the loose around his neck.
"Master can visit the future priestesses of Zanzan anytime." Ophenia let out a charming smile, very excited to show her master the toys she had chosen for him.
And they were his toys no doubt about it, as Alexander could taste the ten new girls in any and every way possible anytime and anywhere he wanted, and even discard them to his heart''s content.
"Good, then Ie to test their faith tomorrow afternoon," Alexander grinned the reply, his euphemism actually meaning checking the young women out.
''Finally! Took them long enough,'' Mikaya was one of the few ones who could keep up with the actual meaning of the conversation between the two, and her heart beat frantically at the imminence of the promised novel y, which Tajia shared with her mistress, while her sister''s stomach squirmed at the thought, feeling torn between the imminent pleasure and shame that she would be made to experience.
''Well at least they won''t see our faces,'' Nafia consoled herself with such words, as she finished her portion of the meal.
With the ravioli dish done, the next portion of the meal, and in some eyes, the main dish was served- a thick slice ofsagna.
Made from fresh pasta with cheese, beef, pork, and because Alexander could not find tomato, diced spinach, the heavy pasta dish was capable of bringing water to anyone''s mouth.
"This is a very warm and hearty food," Hellma finally decided to join the conversation as she eagerly dug into her slice, finding the differentbination of meat with cheese and pasta a very novel taste.
Hellma''sment produced a second round of nods and hums of approval, with everyone really enjoying such warm food in the biting, freezing winter.
"Hmmmp, you viin can cook really good food. We princesses are impressed," Azira, happy and content at the delicious meal, gave this tsundereplement in a haughty tone as she leisurely, and in anguid manner wiped her thick red lips with a napkin, a gesture that Alexander found very endearing.
With supper''s conclusion, and the participant''s tes eaten clean, and belly full of sweet wine drunk, the girls then moved on to the next itinerary on their list- their games night.
This had be a regr urrence for thedies, and today, Alexander too found himself to be in the mood for some poker.
"Lord Alexander, for helping us women find such a clever way of spending our time, let me thank you on behalf of all womenfolk," The Queen lightly bowed as she so, remaking to herself that even if she hade to Zanzan just to learn these very fun card games, it would have been worth it.
Alexander had not only taught them the moderately difficult poker, but also the rtively easy ckjack and rummy, while also showing them the pretty skilled intensive 4-yer game of bridge.
"Is this the new papyrus that Your Grace has made? It''s so smooth!" Mikaya let out a very rare genuine cry of exmation as she carefully caressed the freshly minted cards between her fingers, finding the thick, cardboard-like paper very slick and sturdy, much different from the coarse papyrus product.
"It''s called paper mydy.'' Alexander introduced as he nced down at his hands to inspect the craftsmanship of these new cards.
Painted bright red with blue stars on the back, the paper for these cards was custom ordered by Alexander which required them to be made extra thick.
And then he asked Takfiz to find some women to draw and color the 52 unique beautiful patterns in each deck, which took them a fortnite to finish.
And the reason why he had sought Mikaya''s assistance on these was because Alexander nned to sell these cardsmercially and wanted his to be employees to familiarize themselves with the innovative designs.
''*Sigh*, I really should get around to making that printing press,'' Alexander tiredly reminded himself, while absentmindedly brushing his thumb against the smooth surface of a 9 of hearts.
Alexander aftward graciously offered Mikaya, "I can give you somerger, thinner sheets to paint on if you would like. They should be easier to paint on than papyrus or parchment."
Alexander knew that Mikaya''s only real interest except for sex was in painting and hence he made the offer.
"Haha, Your Grace, if you can regrly provide me with this new papyr...ummm paper, I will not ask for any dowry," Mikaya sent a coy look as she beamed arge grin at Alexander''s offer, her eyes narrowing into crescents at genuine glee.
Papyrus and parchment were not mediums conducive to painting as the oil tended to slide and not stick properly to the surface, a problem that the experienced painter was confident this new material called paper would not suffer from.
''It''s a girl who pays the dowry,'' Alexander remarked on Mikaya''s haughtiness, while his heart did aplete summersault at the genuine, candid smile shot at him.
''If only she was not so promiscuous.'' Alexandermpooned for the umpteenth time at the beautiful smile as he produced the same thought, and then answered, "Haha, if Your Grace wants, I will deliver a fresh stack every day."
"I wonder if Your Grace is willing to sell how to make them?" Seelima had decided to insert herself into the conversion with a sweet but sharp inquiry, sending a curious but pointed look at Alexander.
''*Sigh*, it has not been even two months and greed is already starting to bubble up,'' Alexander knew that this was not the Queen mother just asking about the paper-making method, but in actuality all his other inventions too.
The majestic changes happening around Zanzan had not escaped the hawkish eyes of these noble dignitaries, no matter how sheltered lives thesedies lived and this was Seelima poking Alexander to see his attitude towards some of the technology transfers.
''Hmmm, how should I respond?'' Alexander remunerated as he sent Seelima a cid stare.
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Chapter 307 Schemes And Idle Chatter
Alexander was well aware that he would never be able to protect all his secrets.
One or two might have been manageable.
But Alexander was not making one or two new things.
He was making a myriad of new things employing not thousands, but hundreds of thousands of people.
Paper, soap, iron, cement, cheap salt, lingerie, weapons, sugar, and clear ss were the names of only a few inventions that were birthed in Zanzan, and they were merely the start.
The printing press, ships made of cement, gas lighting, beautiful mirror, cheap linen, and thepass were some of the new things scheduled for future unveiling.
And many more wouldeter.
This sheer amount of new and extremely valuable things being produced in Zanzan meant that not only his enemies, but even his allies would alsoy their covetous eyes on this city.
And Alexander was not strong enough to fight the eleven provinces of Adhania by himself.
In fact, it was actually twelve provinces, as he controlled only one city in Zanzan province.
And this was not even taking into ount any foreign intervention.
So, when Alexander''s one city produced goods of enough value to rival that of a few provinces, he was like a half-nude, defenseless girl strutting through the most dangerous part of town alone in the middle of the night.
And if she did not want to get vited in every possible way, that girl would have been wise to get some bodyguards for her.
In the same way, if Alexander did not want to get conquered and annexed by the greedy pigs all around him, he knew he needed to learn to share and y nice.
''Welp, I guess I will have to share some of the easier and less valuable inventions.'' Alexandermpooned as reality made it so that he would never be able to monopolize the fruits of hisbor and hence decided to address Seelima positively on her inquiry.
"Oh, master, I almost forgot. I finished all the little details about the underwear designs and can start selling soon," Just as Alexander was about to give a definitive answer, Gelene decided to cleverly intervene, steering the conversation towards her as she voiced out her im in a very excited manner.
"Ahhh, so the bras and panties are officially ready? I can''t wait to try them!" Cambyses too exaggeratedly eximed at Gelene''s words, catching onto her n and ying along.
The girls certainly did not want to let one morsel of this exotic know how to escape Zanzan.
"Oh really? That''s good!" Alexander momentarily got distracted by good news, as he was very much looking forward to seeing his women in naughty lingerie.
''Seeing this, Queen mother darkly said to herself, ''So that''s how it is,'' thinking this was Alexander''s way of implicitly denying her request.
Then her eyes shone green, as she drooled, ''The new things being created here are fabulous. I will have to inform Ptolomy about it in my next letter.''
The Queen mother''s reasoning was simple, if these things could not be had by negotiations, she nned to use the royal authority to fleece it out of Alexander.
''After all, he is a retainer of the crown. Hence it is his duty to serve the kings in its best interest,'' She rationalized the theft.
Alexander was not aware of this misunderstanding and because he nned to sell the knowledge anyway, nothing much woulde from Seelima''s scheme.
But if he were to be aware of the Queen mother''s thought process, he would seriously rethink the viability of keeping this ck widow alive.
"Haha, Lady Gelene has also shown us these new pieces of cloth. And they were lovely!" The Queen mother externally put on a jovial facade as she praised the inception of modern underwear.
Though calling it a facade might not be urate as she was not faking it when she apuded the invention of this new type of cloth.
Being the lecherouste king''s favorite concubine, the Queen mother certainly had the looks and body to go along with what that title entitled, having all the right curves and bulges in all the right ces.
Her frontal assets were particrly impressive, and could even rival Gelene, reaching, even by Alexander''s conservative estimate E cup, possibly a bit more.
This was a racial trait of hers and was one of the reasons she was sold to the king''s harem.
But one drawback of possessing such magnificent globules of flesh was that they tended to put a strain on her neck muscles, necessitating the use of the corset at all times.
Which came with its own set of problems, from being stiff and ufortable to wear to the coarse linen rubbing against her sensitive bud.
And when she had been pregnant with Hellma, she used to leak in herter months, making the use of a corset especially ufortable.
All problems that the bra seemed to solve in one go.
The fabric was soft, very intuitive to use, and veryfortable, with ample room for the breasts to expand and breathe.
"Yes, if we did not know any better, we might have mistaken the gifting of such personal clothing as Lord Alexander courting us, hehe" Mikaya joined the conversation with a giggle, not forgetting to make a pass at Alexander at the same time.
She too had suffered simr problems as Seelima and thus when Gelene had gifted all of them with free samples, the princess had instantly fallen in love with the clothing.
And then to show her appreciation for the product, like the Queen mother had ced the order for a few dozen more then and there.
Yes, not a few bras, or even a dozen.
But a few dozen.
Because that was how the rich lived their lives, simr to how in Alexander''s previous life the king of Ennd, Henry VIII had reportedly 800 pairs of shoes.
"Oh, my, to think the young, handsome Pasha would be interested in an old woman like me!" ying along with Mikaya, the Queen mother very dramatically spoke up, putting her hand over her mouth as if to hide her aging face while she shot a teasing look at Alexander.
No one at the dining table was unaware of the sheer charm the 32-year-old had oozing out of her every pore, and if not for Ptolomy''s craze and the inherent danger of getting close to this woman, even Alexander would have certainly nibbled at her.
Alexander ignored such yful jokes, and instead smiled at Gelene and sinctly said, "That is very good. I will visit the workshops tomorrow morning."
Discussing business details over the dining table in front of guests was neither safe nor polite and so Alexander made a scheduled appointment with Geler.
And then he quickly turned to the twins and asked, "Have your Highnesses received the reply for this month''s letter?"
The three main nobledies had written their letters by the end of November, which were sent to Adhan, some 800 kilometers away, by homing pigeons.
Capable of covering almost 100 kilometers an hour, these beasts of flight could carry more than two ounces of weight and reach Adhan in less than a day.
And since the letters were sent on the third day of November, and because Alexander did not know what was written on them, he was curious about the reply from the capital.
"It was normal. Grandpa only said he was busy and misses us very much," Azira seemed tight-lipped about the contents of her letter.
"Mmm, he also congratted us on being reinstated as priestesses and urged us to help the poor and faithless," Azuraplimented her sister.
''Hmmm, pretty standard stuff I guess,'' Alexander only saw Farzah''s letter like what doting grandfather would send his granddaughters.
Though the mention of the word ''priestess'' reminded Alexander of how he had gotten a very angry letter from the prime minister after he wrote to Ptolomy about the temple attack.
The shrewd pasha was not fooled by Alexander''s charade and had properlymbasted thetter for his reckless move, and even threatened to cancel the deal with him if Alexander ever did such dangerous things without the former''s prior knowledge.
A warning that Alexander had put through one ear and let go by the other, as he nned to do something even more daring, which was the imminent new year offensive.
"I wonder how his Majesty is doing?" Alexander posed this question to the Queen mother, who only smiled and curtly said, "Fine."
She was still peeved with Alexander for not enting to the technology transfers.
Sensing a solid wall of reluctance, Alexander did not push further, mostly because he had a rough idea of the situation in Adhan, both of the court and the city through both official and unofficial channels.
Officially he, Pasha Farzah, and Ptolomy usually exchanged letters once a fortnight as a way to keep up to date
Unofficially, the various gangs in Adhan, headed by Goruk kept Alexander in the know about the changes in the city.
And ording to thetter, the city was slowly getting its vitality back after Pasha Farzah''s generous distribution of food.
"Oh, my middle brother will being near the end of January with all your goods," Mikaya decided to let Alexander know this on her own initiative, which had the side effect of making Azira and Azura cheer with excitement at getting to see their uncle.
"Mmmn, then please thank Pasha Farzah for me. Such rapid delivery will really help us," Alexander politely replied at the good news, and through more of such idle chatter, the games night came to an end.
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Chapter 308 Ophenias And Gelenes Dress
As Alexander entered his bedroom, he knew his nightly routine visit tonight would be especially demanding drawing from past instances, for it involved both the subus under him, the ck ebony one with massive knockers, and the white, blonde with piercings in all the right ces.
''Come to think of it, Gelene has not slept with me for thest two weeks, saying she was too busy making the underwear and our wedding dresses,'' Alexander asked himself what that was all about as he poured himself a pint of wine, waiting for the two toe and serve him.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
And he did not have to wait long, as a gentle but expectant knock chimed from outside the door, and soon the two beauties were let in.
"Oh?" Alexander raised an eyebrow as heid his eyes upon the new outfit of the girls, quite taken aback by their garments.
It was not because they were vulgar, but because they were very beautiful in every sense of the word.
Ophenia wore a jet ck, strapless gown that bound her beautiful breasts, hugged her willowy waist, and flowed down like cascading water down to her feet, the linen fabric around her lower half decorated like the waves, crashing against the sea.
She wore golden bangles on her dainty arms, a matt ck pair of shoes with golden flower embroidery on top, and the most eye-catching feature of all, a ck choker with a golden opal at the center.
Ophenia''s fair white skin perfectly contrasted the dress that seemed to merge with the night, as her ck dyed hair was tied up in a bun, looking like floating clouds and jeweled with golden hairpins and chains.
And right next to Ophenia, Gelene wore the exact same outfit in the exact same style, except the color white reced ck, and emanated very different but at the same time the same level of charm as her counterpart.
This contrast was produced because while Ophenia''s dress appeared prim and proper and seemed to be able to house all her assets safely and securely, Gelene''s dress appeared far more promiscuous, with her strapless front seemingly at risk of bursting open, courtesy of her huge twin mountains, a testament to how well Gelene was endowed.
Standing side by side, they appeared like the twin embodiment of purity and lust.
Alexander''s pitched tent was all that needed to be said about his thoughts on the girls'' dresses.
But Alexander at the same time did wonder, ''Why do girls like to doll themselves up so much when they are going to be stripped bare anyway?''
He had noticed the same pattern even among Mean and Cambyses, who took no small amount of time and effort to prepare themselves before visiting Alexander''s chambers, only to be soon stripped bare and mewling under his relentless pounding.
Though he quickly answered his own question, ''Because seeing a beautifully dressed woman is sexy. Because a beautifully dressed woman turns a man on.''
"Did you spend thest two weeks making this?" Alexander asked about the two dresses with a smile.
He had not seen this dress before and as he was sure no rich cloth merchant had visited the girls in the meantime, Alexander quickly deduced that the in-house seamstress Gelene was the architect behind this beautiful masterpiece.
"Among some other things master," Gelene sent a mysterious reply, which produced a slight giggle from Ophenia, but before Alexander could ask more, Gelene quickly added, "We n to wear these in master''s wedding ceremony. So does the lord like them?"
Gelene asked so by putting her right hand on the right hips and curving her butt up, letting Alexander have a perfect view of her deep ravine.
This seamless mixture of sexiness with candidness was something only a very experienced woman was capable of and Alexander could not help butmpoon, ''Mean and Cam have a long way to go.''
When it came to charm through gestures and movement, Gelene even trumped Ophenia, who more relied on the gap between her pure, saintly exterior and her lewd,scivious interior to entice Alexander.
"Yes, very," Alexander dryly answered with an empty gulp, his eyes being maically drawn to the creamy, choctey flesh.
"Sister, master might not be referring to your dress, hehe," This obvious ogling was noticed by all, as Ophenia let out a pearly giggle at Alexander''s frank reaction.
"Haha, this ve is ttered, master." Gelene''s lips curved up in delight and to tempt Alexander even more jiggled her proud peaks and asked, "Does master want a taste right away?"
Ophenia''s mirthful little wag quickly broke Alexander out of his trances, as he straightened up his back, and, "Ahem," after clearing up his throat, said in a forced dignified voice, "I like the design very much and I think the color scheme in ingenious. Great job Gelene."
Alexander really did find the design very elegant, not too far away from some of the high-end fabric sold in supermalls in his previous life, and was quite impressed that Gelene was able to design, order and produce such high-quality fabric in just two weeks.
"Thank you, master," The ebony-colored beauty lightly bowed at her master''s praise, and then made a boldly asked, "Master, to me the seams of the dresses seem tock ir. That''s why I was hoping to add some gemstones to them. So..."
Gelene trailed off, her inquiry quite obvious.
She was asking for some precious stones from Alexander.
"That''s right, master. Some jewels will definitely make our dresses shine more!" Ophenia too very enthusiastically supported Gelene at this request.
She was a girl who enjoyed the finer things in life, good food, nice houses, and beautiful clothes, and so Gelene''s request was right up her alley.
"Haha, okay, okay, I will manage some for you," Alexander had gotten a literal small pile of gemstones when he had sacked the noble houses in Adhan that were just sitting there and he did not mind giving some of those.
But then he yfully added, "Though how much you get will depend on how much you can please tonight."
Alexander was of course not serious about this as he would not deprive his women of nice clothes for his very first wedding.
But it was only a fun way of spicing up the night.
"Hehe, well then sister Gelene, I guess we should try extra hard today," Ophenia very eagerly said so, her eyes sparking with excitement.
While Gelene shot Alexander an almost predatory glint at the challenge, her heart set aze at the challenge.
There were very few things the two girls had inmon, but their skills in bed were one of them.
And since Alexander had asked them to show what they got, they were sure as hell going to show the boy how to really squeeze a man dry.
''Crap, I forgot tonight it was these two subi and not the innocent Mean and Cam,'' Alexander subconsciously shivered as the two pairs of carnivorous eyes.
He had made the challenge by subconsciously having the contestants as the other two girls but the blunder had been done.
And he would not be able to call himself a man if he backed out now
Hence Alexander knew he was in for a rough night, one of those nights where he flirted between intense pleasure and teeth-clenching pain at having to hold back his orgasms for fear of releasing too quickly.
"Hehe, sister Tayin is right. I was unable to serve master thest two weeks and must make up tonight," Gelene produced arge grin that to Alexander seemed like a cougar opening its maw to develop an innocent fawn as the ck beauty subconsciously let out a small drool.
Two whole weeks of abstinence had left her pretty pent up and she nned to make it up by squeezing Alexander to the point he is not able to stand up tomorrow.
The opportunity of getting more gemstones seemed second to her.
"Well then, does master have any specific ys he wants to start us with?" Ophenia did not immediately pounch on Alexander but instead politely asked, for he was their master, and his wants trumped all others.
They could not start anything if Alexander had other things on his mind.
And as it would happen for Ophenia, Alexander did have a sexy y he wanted the girls to perform.
"Yes, I want you girls to get out of your outfit in front of me. First Tayin, and then Gelene," Alexander had always found the act of a girl stripping, that is slowly chipping away her shame one piece of cloth at a time very sexy and wanted the two girls to do just that.
And he wanted each of them to perform his striptease one at a time so that he could savor both of them fully.
"Hehe, a master is a man of great taste," Ophenia had no problem with this and quickly got to undoing theplicated bindings behind her.
While at the same time, Gelene cleverly approached Alexander and offered, "Master, let me get youfortable."
"Mmmn, oaky," Alexander gave the reply, immediately after which Gelene started to help him take off his tunic and then with one swift practiced tug, helped her young master get out of his pants.
"Ahhh, it''s been so long," Gelene stared longingly at Alexander''s little brother, while Alexander himself focused on Ophenia.
The fiery night was about to begin.
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Chapter 309 Ophenia And Gelene (Part-1) (R-18)
"Good to see to again young master, *chuuu*," It was Gelene''s signature way of starting all their sessions, with a kiss on Alexander''s cock.
And this time it was no different, as right after helping Alexander get out of his clothes, the ebony beauty kneeled down and used her thick red lips tond a hot, wet smooch on Alexander''s sheathed ns, marking the tip with her musky saliva.
And then, as if to make up for the missed sessions thest two weeks, shended a second one and then consecutively a third one, to the point Alexander''s turgid member had three distinct red lipstick kisses on it.
And Alexander certainly enjoyed such loving caress, as his spear twitched with excitement.
This prompted Gelene to open her tiny mouth as she intended to administer a mind-melting blowjob while Alexander enjoyed Ophenia''s strip tease.
''Hehe, sorry little girl. It seems I will have the first load of the day,'' Gelene licked her lips in anticipation, hungrily eying the slit that was already leaking precum.
She and Ophenia were both crazy over Alexander''s white seed, the former because she believed it helped her maintain her youthfulness, while thetter believed it to be divine.
"Gelene, not yet. Go help Ophenia," But just as Gelene was about to get one over Ophenia, Alexander, who was aware of these petty bedroom politics intervened, instead ordering Gelene to help Ophenia with theplicated knots on her back that the sacred priestess was having trouble undoing.
And while Alexander''s order generated an imperceptible pout from the sexy ck women, it also managed to give birth to a big grin on Ophenia, who was very happy to see Alexander favor her.
But Gelene did not let the slight acridness from her n getting ruined dampen her mood, as obeying Alexander''s instructions, she quickly got behind Ophenia and said, "Sister, here, let me help." while carefully helping her slide out of her gown, revealing her corset.
Or so Alexander thought, as in fact, it was a ck strapless bra, perfectly containing Opehnia''s shapely breasts.
The white girl particrly liked this piece of garment, even going so far as to think it was a divine gift sent by Gaia particrly for her, as finally, she could have a piece of cloth that not only stopped her piercing from scratching against her dress and hurting her, but was alsofortable enough to wear all the time, unlike the corset.
"The bra was a nice touch Gelene. I like it," Alexander sent an approving smile at this new addition, making a link to the ck beauty''s previous mysterious answer and making Gelene give arge smile at him and say, "Thank you, master."
With the gown shed up to her torso, Ophenia did not simply let the cloth fall down and reveal her body.
No, she did not do such as she knew her master wanted a bit more ir.
So, she twirled around and showed Alexander her sexy rump, after which she swayed her butt from side to side, slowly and steadily, as Ophenia then revealed her creamy flesh inch by inch, unveiling her forbidden crack and marvelous curves with a risque movement that seemed to fuel Alexander''s fire of lust to the utmost.
And finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Alexander, Ophenia let the ck gown fall to the floor and her white, almost pinkish buttcheeks were made open for their master to see.
"Does my new underwear suit me, master?" Ophenia asked as she bent her butt up and jiggled it temptingly at Alexander, letting him carefully observe how the thin ck garment hid her two most shameful holes.
And with how defenseless Ophenia appeared, bent over and twerking her ass, Alexander could barely stop himself from striding over, grabbing her by the soft globules and spanking them till they became red, or even start fingering her hot holes.
But Alexander practiced a herculean amount of effort to stop himself from doing such, as Gelene''s performance was yet pending, and he looked at her suggestively, indicating for her to start.
"Sister, help me this time," And so Gelene decided to do as her master wanted, soon too had her torso bare, with the huge knockers being only held together by a white strapless bra, that seemed to be in imminent danger of feeling torn apart by the magnificent mountains.
*Jiggle*, *Jiggle*, *Jiggle*
As Alexander drooled over the two choctey flesh, which was Gelene''s most charming features, thetter purposely bent forward and rocked her chest, tempting her master toe and take a bite.
And after Alexander held off on that, Gelene with a smirk, like Ophenia turned around and bent to produce her buttced with pure white underwear to Alexander, thus producing a sensual scenery where a white butt wearing ck lingerie and a ck butt wearing white lingerie was presented to Alexander, inviting him toe and have a taste.
"Master, spank whichever you think has been naughtiest," Ophenia cooed sultrily, a wet spot appearing on her underwear.
She just could not wait to feel Alexander''s strong strikes against her innocent rump.
And Alexander, being the ass-loving man he was could hardly decline, as he happily strode forward and kneeled down in between the two butts, contemting which peach to devour first.
"Ahhh, yeah...master mmnnn," Alexander soon made his decision as evidenced by Ophenia''s euphoric moan, who felt Alexander digging his nose against her secret cave and nuzzling at it through the wet fabric.
It was no secret he liked that Ophenia more than Gelene which coupled with the fact that Ophenia carried more toys down here than her counterpart, made Alexander ultimately choose her first, causing Gelene to imperceptibly pout.
"*Sniffff*," Alexander fiercely grabbed Ophenai by the butt and took a loud, audible whiff of her sex, while the girl wiggled her butt against Alexander''s face as if trying to smother him.
"Mmmm, smells like a bitch in heat!" Alexander loved the damp, musky smell as he traced his nose all along the slit up to Ophenia''s butthole, where a hard surface bumped against him, her precious buttplug no doubt.
"Ahhhh, master, smell me more, ohhh, *ssh*," Ophenia had a smell fetish where she loved smelling others and getting smelled by others.
And with the conscience awareness of her own powerful master sniffing her two moist holes, it was enough to send the girl over the edge.
She quivered and shook at the assaults of pleasure, while Alexander''s nose got sshed by a spray of lewd water.
"Naughty girl, *spank*, how dare youe before your master," Alexander retreated from between the buttcheeks as he said so, creating a lewd stringy bridge between his nose and the wet underwear patch while doing so, as hended a tight spank on Ophenia''s bubble butt, making Ophenia moan with ecstasy.
"Yes, master, punish this lewd ve," Ophenia stuck her butt even higher, waiting for Alexander to undo her panties and smell the hot, raw sex directly.
At this gesture, Alexander created a second handprint on her other butt with a hard strike as he whispered, "Now, stay still and endure that itch, my sexy ve."
This got a whimper of reluctance from Ophenia, who felt Alexander''s warmth leave her and soon the canarios cry of Gelene rang out as Alexander took the same position as he did with Ophenia.
"Ahhhh, master, do you like it?" Gelene slowly moved her butt up and down, letting Alexander feel the unique odor that was far more aggressive than her counterpart.
While Ophenia''s sex smelled fruity and sublime, Gelene gave off a far more raw and hungry odor, one which smelled of a mature pent-up woman looking for a good, hard fuck.
This was natural as Gelene being twenty-six was seven years older than Ophenia.
Alexander moved his nose up and down for some time, loudly sniffing Gelene''s pussy and asshole through the linen garment, while at the same time he massaged Gelene''s buttcheeks, loving the feeling of his hands just sinking into the choctey flesh.
"Sexy cow, you are leaking like a faucet down there. Were you looking forward to it that much, *smack*,?" Alexander struck the thick fleshly rump as he started licking Gelene through the underwear, until he found the little bean and directly bit, making Gelene give an animastic howl and cum.
"Ekkkk,ing," Gelene shuddered as her white underwear became so wet that it turned nearly transparent under the orgasm, letting Alexnader fully observe the engrossed sex.
"*Spank*, another disobedient ve," Alexander struck hard, as he then started to hit the butts of the two beauties who stood side by side, turning their butts red and making them sing a duet.
*Smack*, "Spank*, *Smash*
As Alexander spanked the two asses rhythmically like a drum, the two girls constantly moaned and wiggled their butts, clear fluids dripping through the underwear and into the floor.
"Ahhh, master, harder," Ophenia lewdly called out, loving how her master was turning her snow-white butt red, while Gelene used her hands to part her cheeks and pleaded, "Master, my asshole. Hit my asshole."
And Alexander fulfilled both their requests, as he relished in the crisp sounds of the spanking, the soft feeling of their flesh, and the jiggling of their lewd asses.
They were his possessions and he could do whatever he wanted.
And right now he wanted to turn the two pairs bright red like hot pepper as he rained down strike after strike, until finally he shouted, "Now, cum!"
With onest great strike, Alexander hit the two asses, making Ophenia and Gelene simultaneously cry out in pleasure, "Ahhh,ing." as they released their fluids once again.
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Chapter 310 Ophenia And Gelene (Part-2) (R-18)
As Gelene and Ophenia heavily panted while trying to recover from their joyous release, Alexander gave onest look at the now reddened butts bent towards him as he then yfully gave the two another hard spank and dictated, "Now, be good ves and pleasure me."
He afterward peremptory sat on the edge of the bed, like it was his throne, spread his legs wide open like they epassed the very heavens and imperiously looked at the two women, his desire manifested clearly to them.
"Oh my!" Gelene let out a sultry chuckle at this assertive Alexander, finding the new attitude cute.
And it spurred them to give Alexander the best suck of his life, as they immediately scampered off to Alexander''s side and submissively kneeled down between his legs, their heavenly faces now worshipping Alexander''s raised tower.
"Does seeing two beauties like us so beneath you turn you on, master?" Ophenia could tell Alexander was excited by this arrangement as she quickly undid her bra, letting the beautiful fruits pierced withrge jewels finally grace Alexander''s eyes.
And Gelene did the same, until finally two pairs of fat creamy goodness, one vani, and one chocte were swinging right under Alexander''s balls
Alexander noticed that Ophenia''s nipples were smallerpared to her breasts, while Gelene''s pink cheery buds were much bigger and upright, her pink are spreading across the brown ins.
As these two pairs of fruits hung beneath him, Alexander savored the beautiful color contrast and his cock twitched in anticipation, while Gelene soon sent a ravening smile, "Well then master, try not to cum too soon."
Immediately after saying so, the two beauties dug into their meal, with Gelene taking the head, while Ophenia concentrated around the shaft and base.
Suuck, chuuuu, schulk.
And soon a cacophony of obscene and lewd sounds reverberated across the room, as Ophenia moved her lips across the shaft and base like she was ying the flute, while Gelene inserted her tongue into the foreskin, and started rolling it around, looking for some of that delicious, cheesy, smegma.
But much to the chagrin, she came up empty, with Alexander having properly washed his penis this time.
''Mmmnn, these two really know their thing,'' Alexander trembled with pleasure as he felt the wet tongues service his lower body, the girls using their lips to caress his hot rod, which caused many times for them to brush their lips against one another, exchanging their fluids and drinking in Alexander''s hot, musky odor.
"Ahhh, master''s cock..ohh how I missed it," Gelene sang as she skillfully bought out Alexander''s ns from his foreskin and started to loudly suck out the precum, finding the bitterness very appetizing, while Ophenia rubbed her tongue and nose along the shaft while indulging in smell fetish.
This sensual administration by the girls went on for a while, by which point Alexander had started letting out copious amounts of Cowper fluid, and then the girls then decided to up the ante.
Ophenia moved her mouth down to the sack and started licking Alexander''s balls, engaging her nimble tongue to softly caress the precious jewel, while also gently nibbling at it.
"Ahhh, master''s soft wrinkling really taste different," Ophenia cried as she loved the texture and smell of this part, and she then started taking therge balls inside her mouth whole, rolling them around and gently tugging the sack everything, thus making Alexander groan at the hot stimtion.
At the same time, Gelene let out an insidious smile and plunged the entirety of the organ inside her hot mouth, bobbing her head up and down violently as she skillfully rolled her tongue, bringing Alexander ever closer to release,
Gelene showed off her huge experience here, as she used her tongue to constantly hit Alexander''s frenulum during the blowjob, flicking it, brushing it, and wrapping around it with her long hot organ as she moved her head in a circr motion while purring like a cat.
It seemed neither she nor Ophenia was looking to take any prisoners, as Alexander''s entire organ soon got a thick coating of hot lewd saliva and was glistening in the light.
"Arrgh,ing," This twin stimtion soon proved to be too much for Alexander as he indicated to the girls of his imminent release.
But just as he was about to spurt out his seed, suddenly Gelene stopped the caressing, her tongue idling and only gently rolling around the ns, while Ophenia used her lips to strongly bite down on Alexander''s roots, making him unable to cum.
"Arghhh¡" Alexander clenched in frustration at getting denied his release, as the two girls soon resumed their double blowjob after Alexander''s urge to cum had passed, tuning this y into a sweet torture for the pasha.
Only now was the reason behind Gelene''s insidious smile made clear to Alexander, for the two women soon proved themselves to be inplete control of the situation, making Alexander edge closer to release multiple times but deny him every time, as they seemed to be able to sense perfectly well when he was about to cum, and slowed down at those moments on purpose in order to stretch the pleasure.
''I knew this would happen. These two are not human, but subi,'' Alexander moaned in both delight and pain at his bittersweet experience, knowing this was the girls'' way of pleasing him to his fullest.
And Alexander was not sure how long he could withstand such maddening y as he grunted, "Arghh, you disobedient bitches," at the two girls'' ministration, which got a smile to form on both of them.
Finally, after feeling like they had cockteasing Alexander for long enough, Ophenia, with a triumphant look, suggested, "Master, why don''t you get up on the bed and lie down. We will make you even morefortable then." ''
Though it was really not a suggestion, but an order, for if Alexander wanted to cum, he would have to follow it.
And so Alexander obediently did so, expectant of what else these two minxes had in store.
And he was not disappointed as soon Ophenia and Gelene put this hard member between their breasts, snuggling them between their heavenly mammaries and letting Alexander''s cock be engulfed in a pillow of warm, soft, marshmallowy goodness.
"Does master like his reward?" Gelene grinned at Alexander as she pressed her boobs closer, covering the entirety of Alexander''s organ except for the head with her tits.
This question was unnecessary, as looking at the two beauties in reverence of his cock, feeling their sweet, warm breath on his sensitive ns, and seeing the chocte and vani-colored boobs ssh against each either as the two pairs fought to embrace the engrossed member within them was a heavenly visual stimulus.
And then the scenery got even better, as Ophenia spoke, "Master, now enjoy this," and soon the girls started the double titfuck.
"Ahhhh," Alexander could not help but moan at this new y, feeling the exquisite sensation of his cock wrapped in double titties while the girls lewdly double kissed his ns, sucked his clear fluids, and licked each cock clean.
And while doing this, the girls also did not forget to give some love to each other too.
"Master, watch this," Ophenia called in a very showy, provocative way as she then french kissed Gelene right in front of him, with his cock still in between the two girls'' lips.
"Mm¡Mmmm," This sudden move caught Gelene a bit off guard, but only for a moment, as she quickly epted and then started reciprocating the act, letting Alexnader have a front-row view of how their lips devoured each other with his shaft in the middle, how their tongues danced and tangled with each other over his ns, freely exchanging the flowing precum between themselves, and how they exchanged their saliva, relishing taste of the musky concoction made from the three ingredients.
*Mmmm*, *Chuuu* *Schuclkk*
As the girls rocked their boobs and pleasured Alexander''s cock with their hot tongue, lips and mouth, this hot y soon proved to be unbearable to Alexander, as he started to hump his hips between the twirling tongues, eager to get stimtion for his release.
"Arhhh,ing," Alexander felt an impending release like never before, and this time the girls finally let him achieve his peak, which he did with a grunt.
*Spurt*, *Spurt*, *Spurt*.
The hot load was deposited inside Gelene''s mouth, who did not immediately swallow it like she usually did, but instead let the hot, sticky load umte inside her mouth until the cheeks became so puffed up that she resembled a squirrel.
"Sister, argghhh," And the reason for such an action was made soon clear, Ophenia opened her mouth wide and stuck out her tongue at Gelene, asking for her share of the load.
And though a bit reluctant, Gelene ultimately chose to do so, as she french kissed her counterpart, and dumped a part of the white, murky fluid into Ophenia''s gullet, leaking a tiny trail of the liquid through the corners of their mouth in the process.
And then, as if show her master who was his real bitch, Ophenia gave some of the fluid back through another kiss, thus producing a lewd y where the two girls for some time constantly exchanged his cum between themselves, gurgling and purring as they kissed each other repeatedly.
''Ahhh, so hot,'' Alexander felt these two girls were really in a league of their own, as finally, after quite q bit of back did not the girls decided to swallow his sperm, doing it withrge, audible gulps, as if to let Alexander savor the show for longer.
Chapter 311 Ophenia And Gelene (Part-3) (R-18)
"Did master enjoy our little show?" Gelene sultrily asked as she flicked a bit of leftover cum from Ophenia''s nose, the two girls gazing at Alexander with lust-filled yonder.
"Hehe, master''s cock certainly seemed to have," Ophenia giggled the answer for him, as she had noticed Alexander was already ready for the next round.
And this presented Alexander with the same dilemma he had faced a while back- who to choose first.
And the exact question was asked by Ophenia, who inquired, "Master, who do you want to eat now?"
And then, as if to help Alexander make that decision she sat up on her knees and started grinding her wet snatch against his cock, with his ns hitting against her clit piercing through the underwear, and making him moan.
''Arggh, her pussy is so wet,'' Alexander could not help but remark, as clear, warm fluids soon started drenching his member even through the ck fabric.
"Hehe, then sister you can go ahead," Knowing who was Alexander''s favorite, Gelene knew it was pointless to battle against Ophenia, and thus appeared to graciously let Ophenia get the first meal of the night, hence appearing magnanimous in front of Alexander.
"Then I will not reject," Ophenia epted quickly, not caring for such petty bedroom politics, not when the upside was her long-awaited hard fuck.
But then, as if to assert who was higher in the hierarchy, Ophenia sultrily asked, "Oh, sister, could you help me take off my underwear?"
A slight dark sh ran across Gelene''s eyes at hearing this, as she felt Ophenia was using her like a maid, and while trying to think of a way to retort to this request quickly, she quickly hit on a solution.
"Ahhh, sister you are asking the wrong person here," Gelene produced a wide grin and then turned to Alexander with a teasing look and said, "I believe that honors should belong to the master."
"Oh yes," Ophenia cried out in joy, remembering how Alexander had eaten both of them just a while ago, and also how he had tasted her during her very first night with Cambyses.
And so, putting her fleshy ass towards Alexander''s face, Ophenia slowly crawled backward, swinging her reddened butt towards her master''s face, as she then wiggled it lewdly in front of his face and mewled, "Here, master, dinner is served."
Seeing this kind of y was a first for Gelene, who noticed Alexander grab the peachy, red ass with great crity, widely grinning and giving a loud spank, "*Smack*, lewd girl, haven''t you been spanked enough? How dare you make your master work!"
This yful admonishment only caused Ophenai to lustfully moans, "Arggh, yes, master, spank my naughty ass more," as she moved her butt even closer to Alexander until her lewd fluids dripped onto Alexander''s nose even through the ck underwear.
This heat and smelling from her sex proved too much of an allure for Alexander, as he then, atst, brought down the ck curtain with a single, strong tug, was immediately graced by the beautiful sight, and sted by that raw feminine smell of sex.
"*Snifff*," Alexander took in arge whiff of that familiar but much stronger heated smell of raw pheromones as he once again appreciated the beautiful organs presented before him.
Ophenia''s vagina looked like just a slit, tightly closed like a flower petal and absolutely flooded, while her asshole was plugged by that all too familiar buttplug.
Andstly, her clit was peeking out of its sheltered hood and tempting Alexander to bully it with the chain hanging down from it.
"Ahhh, Sister Tayin''s buttplug always looks so cute. I really want one too," Gelene could not help but marvel, as she then poked it, getting Ophenia to moan lightly.
But Gelene''s light touch was not what Ophenia was looking for, as she hence danced her butt temptingly at her master''s face, asking him to uncork her asshole and have his tongue twirling inside the hole or better yet, use his thick fingers roughly gouging her insides out.
''Ahhh, just thinking how master will love my ass and pussy makes me want to cream myself,'' Ophenia expectantly thought.
But she got none of that.
"Kyahhh," She instead cried out in surprise as she felt a strong tug at her clit piercing, followed by a loud spank, and then another tug and a spank, as Alexander sneered, "This is your punishment, disobedient girl."
He hence evolved this into a rhythm, causing Ophenia to maddeningly howl, "Argghh, master ..Ohhh¡too rough. My clit¡my clit feels like it''s on fire."
Ophenials ecstasy cries at this rough y only fueled Alexander''s lust even more, as he turned to Gelene with a smirk and said, "Gelene, Tayin''s buttplug seems insufficient to please her dirty hole. Help her with that, won''t you."
And this caused Gelene to return a simr smirk, as she insidiously grinned, "My pleasure master," and then did not forey stuck two of her fingers inside Ophenia''s puckered hole, with her buttplug still in her.
"Argghhh, bitch," Ophenai grunted at this slightly painful insertion, which produced a sadistic glee on Gelene''s face as she screwed her digits even deeper, while melodiously cooing, "Ohh, but sister, your asshole seems to be sucking me in."
And it was true Ophenia''s experienced ass soon adjected itself to the two fingers inside and seemed to be ready for more.
Her butt had taken stuff much bigger than this after all.
*Pah*, *Pah*, *Shuckkk*
And thus the man and woman tormented their helpless victim, spanking her beautiful butt till it began to glow red, scratching inside her asshole till it began to leak juices, and bulling her clit until it looked like an engrossed bean, thus making Ophenia sing the lewdest songs out there.
And then, noticing that her actual sex organ was empty, Gelene whispered, "Ahh, sister, you pussy seems to be crying with loneliness. Here, let me help," as she then stuck her two fingers inside and started pumping in and out of there, causing the octaves of Opehia''s roars to rise to newer heights.
''Ahh, my butt feels like it''s on fire. Every time master spanks me, it makes my intestine walls scratch against Gelene''s long nails. And also that bitch is constantly poking my G-spot, ohhh, soo good'' Ophenia''s eye rolled back in undiluted pleasure.
And soon she roared, "Ahhinging¡ehhh???" Just as she was about to get her sweet release, Alexander suddenly decided to do what these girls had done to him just a while ago, and he stopped the y right at the edge.
And just as Ophenia felt the stimtion disappear, she cried out with tears eyes, "Ohh, no, no, master. Please, ahhh, I was so close, ahhhh, a bit more please," as she attempted to grind her ass against Alexander''s face to achieve thatst bit to stimulus, as she seemed to be in physical pain at having been denied her pleasure.
Ophenia''s entire lower half was reddened up like it was fire, and her entire body was flushed a sexy pink hue as if the lust goddess herself had possessed her.
And that lust goddess wanted her orgasm.
Alexander only sent a smirk at the pleading, pouting face as Gelene giggled at her master''s sadistic disy. "Master is such a bully. She was so close too,"
"Now, you know how I felt," Alexander thus replied, after which he gave onest spank on Opehnia''s sore butt, causing a loud *pahhh*, and said, "Now, get up and use that drooling hole to please me."
"Hehe, okay," Ophenia giggled at thismand, relieved that her pleasure was about to soon continue, as she then slowly moved away from Alexander, still on all fours and being sure to let her master get a perfect view of her two holes all the while.
Alexander watched hypnotically as the white, or more urately reddened globules move away from him, the clit piercing swinging lewdly under as she did so, as she then turned around, and slipped off her now drenched panty out of her legs, before adjusting herself over Alexander''s cock.
"Ahhh, how I wanted this," Ophenia let out onest longing moan as she adjusted herself over Alexander''s hard member, rubbing her pussy lip onto the ns and letting Alexander''s little brother have a hot lewd shower.
And then without further ado, mmed her pussy against the rigid member, skewering herself fully with Alexander''s spear, as she out in rapturous joy, "Arhh¡so deep, it''s directly hitting my womb."
And immediately afterward, Ophenia started to bounce on her fat thick reward, roaring with utmost joy as she tilted her head back and let her body be assaulted with waves of maddening pleasure.
And Alexander too was in a simr state, his dick twitching uncontrobly inside the wet, warm, flesh, feeling the exquisite bumps caress all his sensitive spots.
And this made him want to taste her more, as he started to il his hips wildly, making Ophenia let out shrills of lewd ecstasy, "Aghh¡so hard, so big¡ohhh, master fat cock is destroying my tiny pussy. Yes, pound her harder."
*Pahhh*, *Pahhh*, *Pahh*.
And Alexander did exactly that, grabbing Ophenia by the hips and smashing into her, thus making the room reverberate with the lewd music of wet flesh hitting each other, as the two hips kissed and sprayed dirty fluids onto each other, while Ophenia''s obscene nipple piercings danced wildly along with her magnificent boobs, turning his raw, act into a beautiful dance.
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Chapter 312 Ophenia And Gelene (Part-4) (R-18)
As Alexander and Ophenia ravenously devoured each, smashing their hips against one another, a small pout formed on Gelene''s face.
Being left out while the two drifted into their own world was not something she was willing to ept passively.
And so she decided to bring her master''s eyes back to her, as she whispered to Alexander with a sensual breath, "Master, watch this."
Saying this she stood up, standing right above Alexander''s face while still wearing her white panties, and then wiggled her ass.
This simple scenery was beautiful enough to captivate Alexander''s attention back to the beautiful treasure dancing above his head, as he could see that Gelene''s white underwear was soaked to the point that it had be transparent.
And thus he could not stop himself from poking his fingers through the fabric, as he marveled at the beautiful, translucent flower.
"Ahhh, master. Please undress your bitch," This gentle stimtion did not satisfy Gelene, but only fanned her desires even more, which was why she pleaded for Alexander to touch her directly.
And after feeling Gelene''s dew coat his finger, Alexander consented, as he tugged down the garment to her knees with one swift motion, revealing Gelene''s raw sex to the world.
"How is it, master? Beautiful enough?" Gelene shook her hips confidently giggling, letting Alexander see the marvelously blossomed pink flower and the damp puckered hole.
"Beautiful," Alexander dryly gulped as he looked up at the hot snatch decorated with downy pubic hairs.
"Is it wet enough?" Gelene squeezed her pelvic muscles as she asked, letting some of her juices fall like raindrops off Alexander''s face.
"Mmm, yes," Alexander moaned as he licked off the juices, finding them sweet and musky.
"Hehe, then have all of it," Gelene thirstily growled at Alexander''s answer, as she then imperiously sat on her master''s face, causing Alexander to let out a muffled moan in surprise, "Hmm... Ahh.... Nnnph!"
While Gelene let off a low groan of ecstasy, "Ahhh! Mmmmm..." as she soon felt Alexander nuzzle his tongue up close to her backside, licking at the small public hairs before popping his tongue into her tight little entrance.
''Her taste is so strong,'' Alexander remarked, while his tongue began to slither along her slit, causing a powerful tingle of pleasure that began to roll into Gelene''s body,
Alexander buried his hot tongue deep into her slippery cunt, licking and sucking her insides, making sure not to leave any part of her untouched as he savored the thick, mature taste of a female ready to be bred.
But while two of the participants were very happy with this new y, one wasn''t.
"Sister, that wasn''t so nice," Ophenia sharplyined, while at the same time constricting her pussy walls even more and speeding up her humping.
She did not like the sneaky y Gelene used to block her master''s vision and wanted to get her master''s attention back.
"Hehe," Gelene only innocently giggled, and then offered, "Sorry, sister, but here, let me make it up to you."
Saying this Gelene quickly grabbed Ophenia by her nipple piercings and started to tug on both of them, while melodiously cooing, "Argghh, sister, I love these jewelry of yours."
"Ohh, yes," Ophenia loved getting her nipples teased, and as her breasts were pulled by Gelene and seeing them turn into oblong shapes, Ophenia was very turned on, causing her vaginal walls to squeeze even harder.
And then, feeling she should return the favor, Ophenia also caught Gelene''s buds with a pinch and started strongly pulling them, saying, "Sister, your nipples are so big and obscene. Master would love to see them pierced and jeweled."
"Ahhh¡sister, so rough," Gelene momentarily winched at how roughly Ophenia was handling her cherries.
So to retaliate also, Gelene too began to getter wilder with her tugging, twisting Ophenia''s nipples and whirling them around.
And this caused Ophenia to respond in kind, as a lewd y of two naked girls pulling each other''srge breasts and moaning whilst straddling atop a man yed out.
These girls were really pulling hard at each other, their nipples turning red and their breasts elliptical, while making them scream with ecstasy.
Hearing these lustful screams and moans, and feeling the flesh tunnel he was in clutch him even tighter, Alexander felt he was in heaven.
And thus to reciprocate this feeling, he decided to begin his own assault, as he then switched from simply licking and drinking Gelene''s juices to directly nibbling on Gelene''s sensitive bean, sending ecstatic shivers down her spine.
"Ahhhhh, master, more. Bite on it harder," Gelene cried out while squeezing her meaty thighs against Alexander''s face, loving the sensation.
And what she loved even more was the feeling of her powerful, stoic master sniffing and sometimes even licking her ass.
''Ahhh, how I wish I could show this to the world,'' Gelene said to herself, as Alexander''s rough hands kneaded her round butt cheeks and her meaty ass gently pped against his face.
And soon, Alexander was ready for release, which Ophenia could sense, and cried out, "Ahh, master, I felt your cock just swell and quivered. You are about to release aren''t you?"
"Arghh, yes," Alexander grunted as he thrusted rapidly as he neared.
"Master, lick me too. No¡ bite my clit¡ahhh, it''sing¡.Mmmmmm" Gelene was the one toe first, sshing Alexander''s face with her cum, and was soon followed by Alexander himself and then Ophenia,
"Ahhh, master''s sperm is the best," Ophenia arched her back at Alexander''s release, better angling the sprouting cock and letting it hit her walls, dying them white.
"Sister, it''s my turn now," As soon as Gelene recovered from her orgasmic bliss, she said this to Ophenia, basically telling Ophenia to stop hogging the prize and get up.
''Ahhh, I really want to go for another round,'' Ophenia internally pouted, but reluctantly still getting up, letting Alexander''s spear fall out with a wet *plop*.
"Ahhh, finally," Gelene rapidly scampered over to his freed organ, which was already starting to harden, as she was eager to finally get her prize.
But just as she was about to sit to devour her meal, Alexander''s husky voice rang, "Wait, Gelene, not yet. You stand up."
"Eh?" Gelene was at first a bit confused by this, but nevertheless still obeyed.
And as soon as she stood up, her confusion was cleared, as she felt Alexander''s strong muscr presence behind her, and heard the animalistic grow, "Ready?"
"Kyah," Gelene hardly had the time to let out a surprised yelp, as Alexander scooped her up by the thighs, making her assume a child peeing position and pointing his hard spear against her wet snatch.
And then without any further talks, lowered her into the waiting spike, making Gelene jubntly cry out, "Ahh, yes, it''s skewered my womb."
Gelene loved getting pounded hard and rough, and Alexander knew it.
"I''m gonna start moving," Alexander then stated, as he started to explore the unplumbed depths of Gelene''s hot pussy, loving the bumps and creases of her hot moist walls.
''Argghhh, this girl really knows how to squeeze. Her pussy is killing me,'' Alexander found the Gelene''s experienced canal was really nice, not too oppressively tight, nor loose, but with just the perfect amount of squeeze and heat to it.
The only oneparable to it would be Mikaya''s.
While Gelene too was loving Alexander''s strong thrusts, her tongue rolling out at having her cervix repeatedly getting hammered.
The position that Alexander made her take, with her legs swinging off Alexander''s hands, and all her weight on Alexander''s cock meant that each thrust hit that much harder, causing her to moan and drool, "Ehhh, yes¡yes, master, harder. Breed your bitch harder. "
And soon she felt a cool sensation in her lower parts, as she looked down to see Ophenia was there, licking between the two joined parts.
"Mmmh nnnmm, there''s so much juice. So yummy," Ophenia desperately licked the juices off Gelene and Alexander, finding the taste lewd and lecherous.
"Ahhh, no sister..ohh not there," Gelene soon felt Ophenia attacking her clit and the stimtion sent her spine-tingling.
But this only made Ophenia only do it even more, driving Gelene to even higher peaks of pleasure.
And then her tongue started exploring downwards, as she began to again chomp on one of her favorite treats, Alexander''s sack.
*Suck*, *Clench*, *Pound*
As the obscene sound decorated the room, after a while, Ophenia, giggled, "Hehe, master, your sack just tightened. Are you ready to cum?"
Alexander was close to another release and so he grunted, "Gelene, clench your fanny, I am going cum."
And Gelene rejoiced with sheer joy, "Ahh, yes, master. Paint this ve''s dirty cunt with your divine sperm."
*Splurt*, *Splurt*, *Splurt*
Even though it was his third load, Alexander had shot enough to spill out of Gelene''s pussy, causing Ophenia to gleefully announce, "Sister, you are licking master''s precious cream. Here let me help clean you up."
Alexander sent spent a few more rounds with these ever-hungry subi, tasting them in various positions.
He skewered them in their asses while the other sucked the other''s sperm, he sandwiched them and plowed them while regrly switching between the two cunts, and he made both of them give him clean-up blowjobs, at the end of all of which, all three of them were totally and utterly exhausted.
They were in fact so tired that they did not even bother properly going to bed, but instead just haphazardly slept sprawled all over the bed, without a thread on them and with nary a care in the world, a deep contended smile stered on all three of them.
Chapter 313 Workshop Security (Part1)
Next day, Alexander was scheduled to visit the workshops around his personal estate, which were the future lifeblood of hisnd in his opinion.
And to protect this precious blood from being stolen by greedy mosquitoes, Alexander had decided to enforce truly draconian security measures, which were almost reminiscent of some of the measures employed around US military bases like Area 51.
"Good morning, Lord Pasha," As Alexander approached the wooden walled boundary with his entourage, the two on-guard soldiers, both of whom were from Alexander''s original first phnx and had not participated in the sacking of Adhan, which was part of the reason they got the job, greeted Alexander with a bow.
"Good morning to you too," Alexander greeted as he then handed over a rectangr piece of iron te that looked very much like an ID card.
"Thank you," The guard epted it with another light bow and then quickly read the information.
Engraved on it was Alexander''s name,
His designation that read Pasha of Zanzan,
The words P-A3-6, which was coded to read, P- for pasha, A3- for ess to all avable information, and 6- which was a special security level clearance that allowed one to visit all the workshops.
A 16-digit unique code number, and
Last of all, a thin strip of paper mped to the iron card, on which was Alexander''s fingerprint, next to which was Takfiz''s signature with the word, ''Attested''.
"Umm, everything seems okay," These two knew Alexander very well and only nced at the card, without bothering to verify every little detail, and passed it back to Alexander in a way that he found to be callous.
This flippancy and disregard for the protocols and procedures he had set made Alexander furious and if these men''s loyalty were not unquestionable, he would have sacked them on the spot.
But since they were not, he decided to be patient and teach them how to properly do their jobs.
"Galipsos, remind me how to read the 16-digit code?" Alexander asked in a t, neutral voice, his eyes calm and pointed.
He had designed the numbers to be unique and tamper-proof, or at least tamper-resistant, by using a simple mathematical trick.
The soldier who faced this emotionless stare felt his heart skip at this inquiry, understanding he had messed up by not following the instructions properly.
''Damn, I hope I don''t get licked too badly,'' He prayed as he endeavored to quickly reply to Alexander.
"My lord, the trick is that the addition of the first 13 digits must match thest 3 digits," He hastily answered, hoping that his fast answer would help stymie a little bit of Alexander''s displeasure.
"Mmmn, and do my first 13 numbers match thest 3?" Alexander cidly asked while flooding his arms in front of him, a gesture that further rmed Galipsos.
At Alexander''s question, Galipsos and his partner quickly started to add up the numbers and predictably found that it indeed did not match.
''Damn, this is an inspection,'' Both the guards only now woke up to the surprise evaluation, and cursed themselves for having flunked it so miserably.
"We are very sorry Lord Pasha. We have neglected our duty," The two knew that asking for Alexander''s forgiveness was their best and quickest way of getting out of this situation, so they quickly kneeled and apologized to their superior.
''Hmmm, at least you are not irredeemable,'' Alexander nced darkly at the two, finding their repentance sincere enough.
And though he had decided from the start he would not fire them, he would not let them off without a stern scolding.
But at first, he decided to show them other errors that they had missed as he said, "Not only have you missed the verification number, but you also failed to check me for my fingerprint."
"Andstly," Alexander pointed to Takfiz''s signature and said, "If you were sharp enough, you would have noticed that both Takfiz''s signature and handwriting are fake, not matching with the other cards."
"...*Silence*..." The guards remained silent in shame.
Hearing no retort, Alexander then started by saying, "I employed you two as guards here because I trusted you two. Because I have known you two for a long time and believed that you were sincere enough in your jobs. Sincere enough that I could trust you to guard my most precious treasures."
Alexander paused at this point, ncing down, and noticing the heads of the two kneeling men droop even further.
After which he again resumed, "I have always thought you two were sincere enough to follow all my instructions of the tee. And it was my understanding that you two were meticulous individuals. People who would not let anypses ur in their line of duty."
Alexander started by listing all the presumed good qualities of the men, while in his mind he remarked, ''These mercenaries are unruly by nature. And it will take some time to beat them into loyal, blindly obedient men.''
After which he pointedly asked, "So exin what happened just now?"
"My lord, it was only because it was you that we did not feel the need to go through every one of the procedures." Alexander''s question was answered by Galipsos''s partner, Jynumin.
And this statement was quickly followed up by Galipsos who promised, "That''s right my lord. If it was anyone else we would have certainly gone all nine yards. We swear."
This flimsy excuse did not sit well with Alexander as hembasted them in a harsh tone while swinging his arm, "Enough of these excuses. From the first day I told you that if the card number does not match, no one gets to enter the premises. I don''t care if it''s me, if it''s Takfiz, if it''s the king, or even if it''s the gods themselves, no one means no one. Which part of those two words do you not understand?" Alexander asked fuming with rage.
"..." The two men knew it was in their best interest to just keep quiet and take this chastisement.
And Alexander''s chastisement had not yet ended, as he continued, "I pay you two-three times the regr amount, six hundred (600) ropals a month. All to just stand there and guard a ce that will likely be never attacked. And all while your fellow soldiers are out there in the training grounds working their ass off."
Alexander''s tone then changed to a ruminative one, as he posed, "You know, many of them would jump at the opportunity to get your cushy job. Many would love to stand there and just check a few cards each day, and vo, 600 ropals at the end of the month."
As soon as Alexander indicated that he might be considering recing them, the pair cried in panic at losing this easy job.
"My lord, we are sorry."
"Please give us another chance. We will never do it again."
They begged for Alexander''s mercy.
''Well you guys are really not as easy to rece as I made it seem out to be,'' As the guards groveled at Alexnader''s feet, hempooned at the fact that the number of men under him that possessed both the traits, educated and loyal, were as rare as phoenix feather right now, and he really could not rece them at will.
The current two guards were rtively well educated for their time, and that was why they demanded such exorbitant wages, not only because Alexander trusted them, for this checkpoint employed some pretty extensive bureaucratic measures.
After the two profusely begged Alexander, he gestured with his palms and simply ordered"Get up."
And after the armored part stood up and nced at Alexander before quickly lowering their gaze, Alexander gave them an ultimatum, "Galipsos, Jynumin, this was your first error. Mistakes happen and so I will forgive you....this time. But never do it again."
Alexander said thest sentence in a cold, harsh tone, his azure eyes darkened as if it was covered by thunderclouds, sending a shiver through the hearts of both men.
"Thank you, my lord. You are ever magnanimous."
"We promise to never let this repeat itself,"
The pair cried out in fear and relief, vowing to regain the trust Alexander had once in them. "Mmmn, good," Alexander softly nodded, his harsh tone disappearing into the void, as he then instructed, "Now, verify my identity as per protocol."
After saying this, he handed over a new iron te from his pocket, which was the real ID, and the guards quickly started going over it.
Galipsos quickly verified the card number against arge ledger that he carried, first matching the number in the ID card with the one in the recorded ledger.
This ledger also had a lot of other names of them, arranged alphabetically, and contained the same information as in each of the ID cards.
After confirming the name, number, and clearance level matched, Galipsos wrote Alexander''s name and code on a second ledger, the time of day he was entering, and then gestured at Alexander saying, "My lord, please ce your fingerprint here,"
Responding to this, Alexander strode over and found a small box covered with a thick cloth coated in ck ink next to the ledger, on which he pressed his thumb and then again pressed on the column on the ledger, thus producing his fingerprint.
Galipsos afterwardpared this pattern with the one on the ID card, and only then did he say,
"Okay my lord. Everything matches and you can enter."
This was the full protocol and this was only the first perimeter of Alexander''s defenses, as more were enacted inside.
Chapter 314 Workshop Security (Part-2)
Alexander was pretty pleased with theyers of security he had created if he said so himself, feeling like the chances of anyone sessfully stealing his technologies from here being close to zero.
This was because to do so one would require to attain a set of things that Alexander felt was very very unlikely to obtain.
First, he would need to get the iron te, which was neither easy nor cheap.
Next was the name and designation, which, granted would not be too hard to forge.
But the next three hurdles seemed impossible to ovee without internal support.
The 16-digit number issued to each individual was not only unique, but it also had a trick to its numbering that few would find out, and even if they did, they still would have to match with the number in the roster.
Then there was Takfiz''s signature and handwriting, which all the guards were familiar with.
Andst of all was the thing next to this writing, the fingerprint.
Even if the other two were possible, even if somehow anyone had managed to get past the two hurdles by stealing or even memorizing the card number of someone else and perfectly or nearly perfectly copying the signature, Alexander was pretty confident that thest obstacle would be impossible to ovee, - The fingerprint matching.
Alexander had first shown this technique to Takfiz and all his retainers, and that had created quite the buzz as he recalled.
Instead of exining how the fingerprint was formed due to reasons ranging from dietary to just the tiny movements of the infant in its womb, Alexander had simply dered, "From today, we will this method to identify others," as he stamped his fingerprint on a piece of paper and asked if anyone else thought they might be able to produce the same pattern.
"You can try all ten fingers, and even your toes if you would like," Alexander had smugly proposed after which, the men, and one woman, Cambyses, did try to their credit, each using a few of their fingers, only to find that each of them was vastly different from all the others, and even with their own.
After some time, they finally decided to concede, at which point Alexander said with the same smug face, "The prints of your individual finger are unique. None will ever match another human being in this world. Not now, not until eternity," and thus showing off his vast knowledge.
The theoretical variation in the number of fingerprints was 7.47e+275, which, to give some context was 10^193 times greater than there are individual atoms in the universe for that stood at a paltry 10^82.
In fact, fingerprints are so unique that even clones and identical twins who shared the exact same DNA did not share this.
"Oh this must be why we are called god''s unique creations. Truly my lord is blessed," Alexander recalled Theocles being particrly moved by this disy, feeling this revtion about the human biology to be a gift from Gaia, the goddess of life, while the others, who were much less religious, marveled at how a simple method could be used to uniquely mark people.
Speaking of the gods, Theocles''s rant about them made Alexander remember a colleague of his, who was a devout Muslim who had preached to him, ''You know the existence of the fingerprints was revealed to us 1400 years, in the verse that says, "Does man think that we shall not gather his bones? Yea Verily. We are able to restore his very fingertips!" which, ording to that man was a verse addressing the Day of Judgement and god''s ability to perfectly recreate men even when he had turned to dust.
Alexander had then only politely smiled and nodded, which was the same thing he had done with Theocles as he then went ahead with the implementation of this identification system.
He knew that names could be faked, numbers could be guessed and Takfiz''s signature forged.
But as long as the rosters were not tampered with, and the guards at the gate were not bribed, passing the fingerprint test would be impossible.
At least, Alexander could not think of a way to make all three, the one in the ID, the one in the roster, and the one a person would stamp on the visitor''s ledger to enter, to match without significant insider help.
And only a very few handfuls of people currently had that kind of power, and Alexander trusted all of them to the extent that he was sure that they would not sell the technology out.
For he made sure that those people knew the risk of failure and earning his ire would outweigh any kind of reward for seeding.
Many might argue that only the fingerprint method would have been enough for his cards, feeling the unique code to be redundant.
But Alexander had learned from that annoying two-factor security authentication which he used to get whenever he freshly logged into his email to know that relying on just one method of identification was not always foolproof.
And hence, to upgrade his security that bit more, he also introduced this numbering system which was helped by the fact that Adhania''s numbering system was much like the Arabic numerals instead of theplicated roman numerals.
And even the way he would produce this number was quite unique, as for this endeavor, he had first ordered the specific creation of a ten (10) sided die, with the faces numbered from 0 to 9, corresponding to each of the digits.
Then the person being issued the card would roll this die thirteen times in front of a clerk, who would note down each of the results, and once this was finished, wouldter add all of them to get thest three numbers, thus easily producing a unique 16-digit digit code.
As Alexander thought back to all these, in many''s opinions byzantine procedures, while he stamped his right and left thumb on the entry roster, his eyes wandered to look at the details of everyone who had entered and exited the premises that day, as indicated by the date on the top right corner of the page.
And on the veryst column of this detailed record was written their reason for doing so.
For example, one name read Galiqk, next to which was his designation- Food deliverer, proceeded by all the other details, after which was written the time he entered the workshop district andstly a short inventory of what he had carried inside and how much of it, which was in this case, a few tens of tons of wheat and a variety of vegetables.
And right below it that read the same name and number, except the time was changed to a bitter and now thements were, ''Delivered. Empty cart.''
In this way, this camp was supplied with only a very few trusted men, who were told to stick to a very specific set of paths, so that they would not see anything they were not supposed to see, nor hear something they were not supposed to hear, or even smell something they were not supposed to smell.
As Alexander read the entry something that caught his eyes was the description of the time, the first of which read, "Just after dawn," instead of what a modern man might expect like 6 am, while the next one simr to its predecessor read ''Just after breakfast.''
Of course, this intuitive method was used due to clocks not being a thing yet.
''Hmmm, a pendulum clock should not be too hard to make,'' Alexander absent-mindedly mused as he felt that the mechanical clock was a pretty simple tool, having just two gears representing the hour and minute hand in the ratios 1:12, that were attached to a moving object.
And he did this all while he flipped back the pages of the roster, looking for any discrepancies as he nced at the various names that had gone in and out of his estate.
Yes, not only entering but even exiting the premises needed valid reasons, which were either issued automatically by the nature of one''s job, or given out by a select few men, like the heads of each of the workshops.
Alexander was pleased to see that there were no ring ws in the roster, which helped to mitigate some of his anger, aspleted his part of the roster by writing his reason for entering the district which was ''Touring the premises'', and then before went to enter through the gate.
But just as he was about to, Alexander paused and then asked the two men onest question.
"I will enter the workshop district with my ten bodyguards. How should that be done?"
Galipsos understood this was Alexander testing him, as he quickly answered, "My lord, you can enter the premises with them. But please be aware as they do not have any ID cards of their own, they cannot stray away from you or enter any ces unless with your express permission."
His warning was not a problem with Alexander''s bodyguards as they would not leave his side anyway, but this protocol was specifically designed for any guests that might apany Alexander in the future for a tour.
"Mnnn, good," Alexander nodded with pleasure, and after reiterating onest time about not letting anyone without the proper credentials in, even if it was god, he finally entered his personal workshop district which he liked to call ''The Rhinnds'', named after the famous industrial part of Germany.
Chapter 315 New Paper Plant
Alexander was greeted by a waiting Takifz the moment he entered the boundary of the estate.
"Wee my lord, wee," The old man bowed at Alexander, to which Alexander smiled and replied, "Takfiz, it''s good to see you. How are you, my man?"
"Good, good, all by the grace of milord," The old man with a head full of white hair repeatedly nodded to emphasize his answer.
The two then continued with conversation for a while, making small talk as Alexander asked about his caretaker about various things like the general situation of the workshops, the extent of the ongoing renovations, andstly about his personal life and his grandson K.
"K is good, thank you for asking your Grace." Takfiz was excited when the topic of his grandson was bought up, as he quickly informed, "He can talk a bit now and even do some simple maths,"
Alexander noticed how Takfiz''s eyes sparkled with joy and pride as he said so, the old man''s heart ballooning with happiness as he reminisced how much the boy had improved.
K of course could not talk as Takfiz stated.
But only use some simple signnguage to perform a few basicmunications.
Alexander was also pleased about this, though for different reasons.
He was happy not specifically because of K''s improvement, but because of the love Takfiz had shown for his grandson.
For it meant that Alexander would have even more leverage over the old man, and thus he would feel even more secure about letting him supervise this site.
"Hahaha, good," Alexander softly replied, and then moved on to the real reason why he was there.
"Takfiz, I want to tour all the workshops and see how things are going," Alexander announced and then gestured, "You lead the way."
"Yes, yes, my lord, right away," Takifiz hurriedly replied and he quickly strode ahead of the group to lead the way, with their first destination being the paper-making shops.
While Alexander made his way through the huge, busy, enclosed estate, he took some time to observe all the changes that had taken ce in the month and a half under his directive.
He noticed that the most eye-catching change to the estate was the much-reduced presence of greeny, as much of the one square kilometer hunting ground was cut down and cleared to make space for all the new workshops and lodgings for the workers who worked in those workshops, with the wood gotten from those trees being used to make those very lodgings.
This cut wood was also being used for another major construction effort, which Alexander could see the presence of all around him, and that was the wooden walls.
Theserge, tall walls were not just ced along the perimeter in a single ring, but, as per Alexander''s order, there were also several smaller wooden walls constructed inside therger outer wall, forming several, almost concentric circles inside the premises.
And on each of these wooden walls, was painted a number painted, with the lowest number on one of the walls being 1 and the highest being 5.
This numbering procedure hade about when Alexander had decided to separate each of the workshops into independent zones, constructing a wooden palisade around each of the workshops to enforce such boundary and then designate each workshop with a security clearance level corresponding to the amount of importance Alexander thought that workshop was to Zanzan''s future economy, with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest.
For example, the paper workshop that Alexander going to visit was deemed to be of ordinary significance and as such ced lowest in the security level bracket, which was 1.
In Alexander''s mind, the reasoning was that though paper might be a revolutionary invention, its manufacturing was verybor intensive, but contrarily had low-profit margins.
This meant that to makerge profits, one would have to rely onrge volumes, hence making papermaking mainly a quantitative business as opposed to the more lucrative, profit-heavy qualitative businesses like ssmaking.
Hence, as Alexander had the alternative to use his workers to produce things with far greater profit margins, thus he downgraded papermaking to a level- 1 craft, and was willing to sell its manufacturing procedure to certain people at a price.
While Alexander observed all the changes around him, and saw all the workers and ves running with a determined purpose, his feet soon carried him to near his destination.
"Good morning, Lord Pasha, Sire Takfiz," As the group approached the walls that barricaded the paper workshops, the two men guarding the entrance greeted them, and then performed a slight bow.
They both were in full armor and wielded spears, and were tasked with overseeing the traffic in and out of the gate.
After epting the two men''s bow, Takfiz stepped formed, mechanically took out his ID card, and then handed it to the guards with the gruff utterance, "Here."
The guards also epted the ID card with the same kind of mechanical rigidness, perhaps because Alexander was there and they wanted to show him their best side, and then performed the same routine that Galipsos had performed with Alexander, noting down everything about Takfiz on a roster, taking his thumbprint, stating that his reason for visiting the paper workshop was to apany the Lord Pasha, and finally, only after doing all that, did they allow the group to enter the papermaking workshops, with theirst words being, "Please enter my lord and have a nice day."
Tafkiz as the chief caretaker was given the security clearance code, CC-A3-6, in which the CC stood for Chief Caretaker, A3 was ess to All Avable information, and 6 was Level 6.
This was almost identical to Alexnander''s own card, with A3 and Level 6 allowing free ess to all the information about all the workshops, and the only restriction for the old man was that he could not bring guests to a tour without Alexnader''s prior permission, as his security clearance was that of a Caretaker and not the Pasha.
Consequently, other than Alexander, only Cambyses was given that privilege, as evidenced by the ''P'' in her clearance level.
As Alexander entered the peened enclosure, heid his eyes upon the once small shed he had designated to make the paper in, he found that it had been demolished and reced with several huge workshops sprawled all over the huge area, with each of them seemingly dedicated just one step of the paper manufacturing process.
Homes
Alexander first observed that in one corner of the clearing, a huge pile of small branches and twigs was being dumped into huge barrels filled with water, after a while of soaking, once they had be soft enough, they would be taken out by a bunch of womenfolk, who would then very expertly use a carving knife and their nails to separate the barks from the branches, thus cleaning them.
These cleaned bits would then be taken to a clearing a bit further ahead, their fate to be pulverized, which would ur by using a new, innovative kind of wooden device invented by Alexander.
This wooden device was just like a seesaw, with the only significant difference being that one end was attached to an iron stump, which acted as the hammer, while the other end was operated using the feet.
The way it worked was that a person would press down on his end of the device and cause the hammer end to rise up, after which the man would let go of his feet and the iron mallet woulde crashing down due to gravity, and thus sttering anything beneath, which was, in this case, the branches and twigs.
This was the basic idea, to which a few life-convenient additions were made.
First was the design of the feet end of the special seesaw, which was shaped almost like a slipper, thus allowing the feet to be inserted inside, and preventing the legs from moving around too much during the operations.
Next, was the shape of the iron mallet, which differed from the traditional cylindrical shaper to look more bulbous, made such to maximize contact with the twigs and branches.
Andstly, to prevent the twigs from scattering all over the ce after each strike, a small pit was dug underneath the mallet end of the wooden seesaw, allowing for quick and efficient breakdown of the twigs.
After Alexander had installed these special seesaws, a few dayster Ajijak hade running to him, singing its praises, in which he had said, "My lord, this special seesaw that you designed is amazing. Not only can it smash the twigs faster, but it can also even be used by women. We have tripled our output using it!"
Such a jubnt reaction from Ajijak was reasonable when one understood just how cumbersome the previous way of doing things was.
Before, to smash the literal tons and tons of raw materials to wood pulp, a sledgehammer needed to be used, which was slow, tiring, and even dangerous.
Slow and tiring because to use the hammer one needed to raise it high up and then bring it down again, and repeat, tiring one''s arm and back muscles.
While it was dangerous because smashing one''s toe caused by inattentiveness or just fatigue was a frequent urrence.
Two problems that this device simultaneously seemed to solve.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 316 Different Clearance Levels
Alexander''s special seesaw was made all the more special as it was not in any way restricted to just papermaking.
And in fact could be used to grind a variety of other substances, which given how expensive and location dependent the ball milling machines were, as it was required to be built near a water source or necessitated the construction of aqueducts to bring the water source near it, was a heaven send substitute.
Additionally. with its paddle-like mechanism, one could use their much stronger feet muscles to do the work, which was much faster and safer, as the toes were literally 10 feet away from the mallet.
Hence with this device lowering the physical requirement for the job of grinding, even women would be employed, thus freeing up the more precious resource, i.e- men for far morebor-intensive work.
Alexander''s eyes lingered on this contraption of his for a while as he fondly ruminated on it, after finally which he moved on to observe the next step, the boiling of the mashed wooden fibers.
This he saw was being done in giant vats of boiling water, which were being constantly stirred by strong, muscr men, and would have to be done so for several hours.
Alexander observed that these men profusely sweating as they performed this physically demanding task, which was natural given they were moving what Alexander conservatively estimated to be a few hundred kilograms of water and pulp, all while being steamed by therge amount of water vapor being given off.
After this mixture was cooked for enough time, the pulps would be taken out of the vats andid out inrge open mats to cool in the open.
After which, as Takfiz led Alexander and his entourage inside arge new shed to see, the long dry fibers would be shredded usingrge, industrial scissors by arge team of womenfolk.
Alexander observed these women expertly bundling the fibers into small stacks and cing their cuts in such a way that the maximum number of small fibers would be produced using the least number of snaps, as they worked with such speed and precision that Alexander felt would put any barber to shame.
He hence could not help but marvel at how quickly these women were able to turn the long, windy strips of fibers presented to them into short, clean stacks, which they would pile up next to them, that then would be collected in use buckets and carried to the next workshop by specific workers present inside.
Alexander followed one of these workers into the next shed, which he could see had been lined with rows and rows of tables, atop of which was a series of water-filled shallow wooden rectangr buckets, next to which stood a team of workers 2m apart from each other.
All of them were seen hard at work, as they ced a sieve into this bucket, shook it, and then brought it up again, this time with ayer of wood pulp on it, which they would flip to deposit on a piece of linen and let it dry to form a sheet of paper.
Alexander had always found thisst step of scooping the te up filled with wet pulp very simr to the scene about the gold rush seen on TV, where prospectors would take a sieve or just a metal te and shift through river water to look for that elusive yellow metal.
As these workers used up the wood pulp in the water to produce this wet, white thin sheet of not as valuable as gold, paper, the worker carrying the dry wooden pulp would regrly go past these tables, grabbing a fist full of his pile of very short wooden fibers and dumping some of it into the many of the rectangr buckets, thus replenishing their supplies.
"My lord, wee. I didn''t know you wereing," This was in this Azijak, the head of the papermaking workshop and who was currently supervising the most technical part of the papermaking procedure.
And he greeted Alexander with much crity, as he ran up to him and bowed, presenting a wide grin to Alexander.
He had genuinely pleased to see Alexander, as after the pasha had put him in charge of the papermaking process, his status around here had had a monumental change, changing him from a basic nobody, to among the elites in Zanzan, with even the ability to directly converse with the ruler himself.
And he had never forgotten the truth that it was all thanks to Alexander who appreciated his abilities and gave him the chance to shine.
''Well it would not be a surprise visit if you knew, now would it?'' Alexander internally mused about Azijak''s greeting, while outwardly, he chuckled, "Azijak, it seems things have changed a lot here. So many people and it''s so busy,"
"Haha, indeed my lord, for the demand for paper has shot up the roof, all by the grace of my lord" Azijak replied with a light joke.
"Hahaha," This managed to get a small chuckle from Alexander.
The case was indeed like Azijak said, as in the past month and a half, Alexander''s appetite for this thin, dried wood pulp had increased to a ravenous degree.
Just the creation of twenty or so roosters was quite arge order, and this waspounded by the fact that many of Alexander''s reforms in the civil and administrative sector demanded far more paperwork and written records now, all of which had to be met by this sole paper nt here.
As Alexander chuckled, his eyes darted to the iron-ted ID card swinging by Azijak''s neck which hung by a string, and as he observed it closely, the te contained all the usual information along with his security clearance- GM-P-A3-1.
This meant that Azijak was a GM which stood for General Manager which was the highest designation for any worker in a particr workshop, P- to designate he worked in papermaking, A3 because he had ess to all avable information, and 1, which meant that he was allowed to enter and exit all level 1 workshop.
A fine point to note here would be that someone with level 2 clearance did not mean he was in any way superior to someone with a level 1 man.
The individual 1-5 clearances only meant that person could ess that clearance-specific workshop.
For example, Azijak could only ess the level -1 paper-making shops, Gajopk, who had level-5 clearance would only ess the ss-making shops, and like that, all the other GMs could only ess their own shops, with only people with level 6 clearance, like Alexander and Takfiz having the ability to ess all the workshops.
So it could be seen that the only real difference between the different clearance levels was how much Alexander evaluated each workshop, as the security around all of them was equally strict, with none of the heads of the individual workshops being able to ess any other workshop in the district..
And even in one''s own workshop, a worker''s ability to obtain more information was determined by his A clearance, which ranged from A1 which meant regr info to A2 which meant in-depth expertise, andstly to A3 which meant all the information.
Of course, there were people who had no ID card, and they were mainly the ves and manualborers, and that ced them with A0 clearance, hence restricting them to only the general parts of the workshop district.
All these thoughts ran like lightning inside Alexander''s head, after which Alexander turned his eyes from Azijak''s ID with only a split-second dy, as he then quickly asked, "How are you coping with the demand? Can you keep up?"
And the papermaker hastily reassured, "It''s all right now, milord, thank you for your concern. Though we were a bit overwhelmed in the first new weeks, with having to recruit new people, expand our workstations, and build new houses, all at the same time, now that has all been settled."
"That''s good, that''s good," Alexander nodded pleased, further asking, "How are the new recruits? Having any problems?"
"No, no problem sire." Azijak shook his head, saying, "These refugees are pretty docile now that they have a full belly and a job."
Alexander''s dreaded refugee crisis hade at around the start of December, numbering close to fifty thousand (50,000) which was pretty close to his original estimate of sixty thousand (60,000), but due to early nning and preparing, in addition to Alexander''s voracious appetite for more manpower, the shock of absorbing so many people was quite mild indeed, with all of them being snatched by him and his retainers into various sectors with a few days.
"That''s good," Alexander breathed an invincible sigh of relief, and he then decided to move on to his next tour shop, he patted the papermaker''s shoulder and said, "Well, Azijak, I''m pleased with the shop''s condition. Keep up the good work."
But as he was about to leave the shed, Alexander was stopped by Azijak''s voice, who proposed, "My lord, we have built another new shed. Why don''t youe visit it with me? It''s the bookbinding shop!"
Alexander turned to see Azijak was very enthusiastic would showing this new shop, and with himself being interested too, Alexander agreed, as he nodded and said, "Sure, lead the way."
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Chapter 317 Price Of Paper
Alexander never knew exactly how the individual paper sheets were bound together to form books, notebooks, and such
And thus his interest was piqued at Azijak''s request.
"Then lead the way," Alexander hence agreed to Azijak''s invitation and was led to anotherrge shed, located right next to the sheet-forming workshop.
"Please my lord," As they approached it, Azijak stood at the door and gestured for Alexander to enter inside first. to which Alexanderplied with a light smile.
Inside Alexander could see the whole operation going on at full speed ahead, as arge team of women, were hard at work.
The first team would take the dried sheets and cut them into appropriate sizes, mostly into A3 and A4 sizes from the original A2, using knives and rulers, and then pass them to the next team.
This team consisted of a group of women sitting facing each other with a row of tables in between.
One row was seen stacking the fresh dried pages into a neat pile, then punching holes one at the top and one at the bottom of the papers using a special hammer and chisel.
After this, they would pass these punched stacks forward to the opposite row, where the women there would bind these papers by passing a string through the top hole and bringing them up from the bottom, and repeating this procedure a few times, until the string was tightly wound to the papers, after which they would tie the string ends with a knot.
This stack of paper would sometimes be used as is, with the top few pages acting as the cover page.
While at other times, for things like rosters and diaries, a hardback cover would need to be ced.
To do this, the bound paper stacks would be taken to another station, and then using glue, made mostly from animal fat like deer, a hard paperback, or even a leather covering would be installed over the thin paper, protecting it and giving it a better finish.
"Azijak, how many women work here?" Alexander had noticed up until now the majority of the paper nt was run by female workers.
"Here, about sixty. In total about a thousand my lord." Azijak seemed to know the number by heart.
And then, mistakenly assuming that Alexander was criticizing him for employing women in the workce, he grumbled a bit to him, "The others had taken all the good men before me, so I could only get the women. If he had not, we would not have the hands to meet the higher demands."
The others here of course referred to the heads of the other workshops and in this way, he hoped to show that he was circumstantially forced to employ these women in the workforce.
Alexander was of course not ming him, in fact, he was always d to see more women representation in thebor pool.
Hence Azijak was pleasantly surprised to hear Alexander praise, "Mmm, you did well. Papermaking requires not much hardbor. So, women are perfect for this. Employ more if you need."
"I...I will my lord. Of course, I will." Azijak stammered a bit in his haste to reply, as he clenched his fist in relief and happiness.
"Mnnmm, so many paper sheets can you make?" Alexander then moved on to the next topic, now interested to know his production capacity.
"About hundred thousand (100,000) sheets of paper a day my lord," Azijak puffed up his chest as he said so, feeling the number to be astronomical.
And then, to show off his men''s productivity, he further added, "Each of my men can make one thousand (1,000) sheets per day of that A2 size paper my lord gave the dimensions to."
An A2 page was round about 40 x 60 cm in dimensions, and to be able to produce a hundred of them an hour, or around 1 and a half of it per minute might sound impressive to someone who had no idea about the scale of demand for the product, but for someone like Alexander, he could only spookilyment in his heart with two words, ''So low.''
For some context, a modern American used around 200 kgs of paper per year, which came to 28 such A2 paper sheets a day.
And if such a value was to be ced on Zanzan with its current poption of hundred and fifty thousand (150,000), the daily need would be 4 million sheets of paper or 40 times the current capacity.
Alexander could not helpmpoon at this realization, though, to be honest, these numbers were not totally unexpected for him.
Alexander knew that paper had spread to Europe by the 1300s, but it was not before the advent of industrialization, that paper was made avable to the masses.
The evidence of this could be found in that many of the books around this time were made from a mixture of paper and vellum, which was processed cow skin that was soft to the touch and thin, used because thetter was not as expensive as paper.
And thus the Hollywood troupe of noble lords anddies crumpling up and throwing a paper away just because of a small mistake was a tant historical inuracy.
They would have never been such a wastrel in real life, as in actuality, rag paper, whichsted quite a long time would be regrly recycled and when written on it, typically the writings on it would be really small, as the writer would want to maximize the space provided to him.
"100,000 sheets of paper is not bad, Keep up the good work," Alexander''s said so in an anemic tone, his reaction being much milder than what Azijak had expected.
This deted the papermaker a bit, thinking Alexander was not pleased with the numbers.
But Azijak did not have time to swim in these thoughts as Alexander then suddenly asked him a seemingly out-of-the-blue question. "How much firewood do we use every day?"
"Ummm, about ten tons (10 tons) my lord," Azijak answered with a slight confusion in his voice.
He was not sure what Alexnader''s reason for asking this was.
The reason for Alexander asking this was because he was trying to estimate his cost of paper.
Up until now, Alexander had been happy to dump ropals into this paper nt without going into all the maths, but now that everything seemed to have settled, and the workshops were all operating at full capacity, he felt it was time to do so.
Alexander first calcted that on average the daily wage of the thousand (1,000) workers was 6 ropals, with some being paid more and some less.
Of course, Alexander made sure to include the food, housing, and clothing costs within them, so the workers did not actually receive the whole 7 ropals in raw coins.
But, in all, ording to Alexander the workers needed 7 ropals worth of wages and materials every day to work properly.
Then there were the setup costs, which included all the tables, chairs,rge vats to boil the pulp, stirrers, etc. the list could go on.
In fairness, all these things were rtively cheappared to the running costs, and so Alexander decided not to be too pedantic and assume it to be zero.
Next, came the raw materials, which were breaches and water.
They cost nothing.
Andstly, there was the firewood that was used to boil water to cook the pulp.
Taking Azijak''s number of 10 tons of firewood, fuel came to a thousand (1,000) ropals a day.
So, in total, Alexander would spend eight thousand (8,000) ropals a day to maintain this paper nt, which gave him a production cost of 12.5 sheets of paper per ropal.
That meant that a person could buy a day''s meal at 2 ropals or get just 25 sheets of A2 paper.
Or to convert it into A4 sheets, 100 sheets of double A paper.
This was prohibitively expensive, as, if converted into US dors, while assuming the median ie of 1,800 ropals was equivalent to the US median ie of 70,000, the 100 A4 papers would cost around 40 dors.
Whereas one would be able to get 500 pages of the stuff for less than a tenner, making this handmade stuff more than 20 times more expensive than the machine-produced one.
And this was not even mentioning the higher quality of thetter.
For while the modern paper was smooth as a baby''s bottom to the touch, Alexander''s handmade paper was rough and coarse, like the mullet paper that was used to wrap books or used to make paper grocery bags.
And there were two reasons for this discrepancy in quality.
One was simply because a machine was simply more precise, able to shred the wooden fibers to a much finer pulp, and the second because the workers under Alexander were still new to their job, being only around a month old and still learning how to get the perfect amount of wood pulp from onto the sieve.
This was also why the A2 paper they produced was much thicker than the machine-produced ones from Alexander''s previous life, weighing in around 25 to 30 grams aspared to the machine-made 20 grams.
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Chapter 318 Inspecting Adjacent Facilities
Alexander kept the slight annoyance about the quality of the paper to himself, in addition to the sigh thate with the knowledge that the nt was already working to its maximum capacity by now.
Thus it meant that any further improvement in speed and productivity would need the introduction of machines and mechanization, and hence he once again wished, "Oh, how I wish I could start the industrial revolution right now."
But Alexander knew he was being greedy, for it had not been even two months that he had taken over a city that was still stuck in the bronze age, and so he soothed himself by telling himself to be patient and that changes required time.
With such thoughts Alexander bought himself back to the present, and then looking at Azijak, he remembered something this man had proposed before, and thus asked, "Azijak, I remember you saying something about using a kind of tree sap to prevent the wet paper sheets from sticking to each other. How is that going?"
"Oh, it has worked marvelously my lord. Please let me show you," Azijak then gestured to Alexander to follow him to another room, which he introduced as they entered it, "My lord, this is the drying room."
Alexander set foot inside therge wooden structure to find that this new room was stered with wet sheets of paper all over the walls, as the workers there were even usingdders to reach the higher parts of the structure.
He observed these men would ce one sheet of paper on the wall, the dampness of it helping it stick to the wall, then apply a coat of the tree sap that Azijak had mentioned, before cing another sheet of paper over it, thus repeating the process.
"My lord, this sap helps not only prevent sticking, allowing the paper to be easily removed once dried, it also helps give the paper surface a much better finish," Azijak informed Alexander as they watched the workers work.
These sheets would stay on the wall for a week as they dried, after which they would be taken to the bookbinding shops or be used straight away as loose paper.
"Mmmm," Alexander nodded as a sign of his acknowledgment to Azijak''smentary, as he took in the damp, thick, papery smell of the ce, being there for some time to observe how the team of workers worked like busy bees to cover the walls with one hundred thousand (100,000) new sheets of paper every day, while at the same time taking down the same amount of dried ones.
"How many such sheds do you have?" Alexander then asked, making this inquiry after doing some maths.
Alexander calcted that as ording to Azijak it took about a week for the paper sheets to be ready, hence he had to have the ability to hold seven hundred thousand (700,000) sheets of paper at any one time.
And with each of them weighing 25 to 30 grams, this equated to around twenty tons (20 tons) of pulp stered on the walls.
And that was just the dried amount.
The wet paper would likely weigh twice or even thrice that amount, which came to around fifty tons (50 tons).
There was no way one shed could hold that much paper.
"We have thirteen such sheds my lord," Azijak replied, adding, "At first we had wanted to dry them in the open. But we found that the morning dew forms on them, And in the summer, there will always be the issue of rain. So, we built these sheds."
"Mmmm, you did the right thing," Alexander approved.
He had not ordered any of these, letting Azijak handle the expansion of the paper nt as he wished to test him.
And to Alexander''s delight, the man had up until now passed it with flying colors.
"I have also seen that you sessfully made the scissors. I''m d," Alexander afterward apuded, remembering seeing the women in one of the sheds using them.
To this Azijak humbly replied, "No, no, my lord, I only followed your instructions." further adding, "It is only thanks to the lord inventing such high-quality, cheap steel that the cksmiths were able to rapidly process so much steel into pairs of des. They said it was like hammering through butter."
Alexander was sure Azijak was exaggerating thest im about his steel being as easy to mold as butter.
But he nevertheless gave the man a soft smile.
Encouraged by this gesture, Azijak further went on to say, "The scissors have helped us a lot, my lord. It''s much faster and easier to use, and even less noisy. Truly a revolutionary invention," He ttered Alexander.
"That''s good," Alexander nonchntly replied to this puffery, and as he quickly moved on to another topic, "Azijak, have you taken the necessary fire precautions as I requested?"
"Oh yes my lord," Came the affirmative reply with a vigorous nod, followed by an eager. "Please let me show you."
And thus the group exited the paper drying room and was taken to a nearbyrge well, around which were several huge wooden drums filled with water.
"As you instructed lord pasha, we always keep arge amount of water at hand. So that in the event of an emergency, we will be able to quickly put the water onto the carts and get wherever necessary." Azijak showed.
Horse-driven carts all around the workshop, bringing in and taking out various things all the time, so they were readily avable, which was why Alexander did not bother to dedicate a horse just for firefighting.
There was already a severe shortage of draft animals in Zanzan, as animal-pulled carts were used to transport all kinds of materials every day, from hundreds of tons of bricks, cement, coals, etc. And so letting a horse just stand idle and eat oats and grass in the hopes that one day it mighte in useful was the epitome of wastage in Alexander''s eye.
No, a far better usage would be to employ the horses around the vicinity of the workshop doing work, which would be rapidly transformed to carry water in the event of an emergency.
"That is good," Alexander was d to see that Azijak had heeded his advice, as in this time period, most neglected to practice fire safety procedures.
Thus he reminded the man again out of caution, "Azijak, remember that every day might be a normal day where nothing happens. But it takes only one day and a single fire, to burn everything here to ash. So always be very careful of even a tiny spark."
"Yes, my lord. I will keep my eyes open," Azijak seriously replied in a steely tone.
Alexander gave a short hum at this, and then further informed the paper maker, "Also, once the bricks and cement be more avable, I will rece the wooden sheds with fully concrete sheds. That will not only make the structure fireproof but also much more durable."
Alexander had decided this because fire was not his only worry.
Storms such as typhoons and hurricanes, blizzards and snowstorms, and even earthquakes were all possible natural disasters that could greet the workshop, not to mention being near the coast additionally exposed oneself to tsunamis.
"Well let me thank you, my lord, in advance. We very much look forward to it," Azijak was very enthusiastic about this proposal.
This was because being able to work in a ''stone building'' was certainly a dreame true for many, as in their minds, it signified something simr to working in a lord''s mansion.
"Then Azijak, for yourst task of the day, could you lead me to see the workers'' homes? I want to see their living conditions," Alexander made this final request by raising his palms as he gestured to the paper-maker to lead.
He made such an inquiry because Alexander had ordered Azijak to make sure that his workers were given good, sanitary, conditions to live in.
And so wanted to confirm this.
Though it had to be said that Alexander had not done this out of a bleeding heart but to make sure these precious resources did not die prematurely,
Thest thing that he wanted to see was another gue outbreak caused by squalid working conditions.
"Right this way then, my lord," Azijak thus led Alexander to the very edge of the penned enclosure, where rows upon rows ofmunal houses were constructed, much like the ones seen around the mines.
The groundwater around these parts was rtively near the surface, so there was no need to divert water through aqueducts.
Instead dug wells were dug that let one enjoy clean, clear, pristine water straight from the source, as well as letting them use it for cooking, cleaning and even boiling the pulp in.
Speaking of cleaning, Alexander was pleased to see at certain points were small clusters of restrooms dotted around the site, meaning all the filth was dropped underground.
''So that''s why the air smell so nice,'' Alexander happily remarked, d that his nose did not sting with that spicy odor that he would asionally get.
With thisst inspection, Alexander felt he had inspected all the necessary parts of the workshop, and finding almost everything around the workshop to his liking, he praised Azijak,
"Good. I''m overall very pleased with this paper shop. You did an excellent job,"
And this managed to get a wide grin and an internal sigh of relief from the man d to have passed the test.
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Chapter 319 Commercial Uses Of Paper
Alexander overall was very pleased with Azijak after touring all the different workshops of the paper nt, finding everything to be to his satisfaction.
The only thing that he had ruminated about changing was instructing Azijak to rece the log cabins with buildings simr to what he had told Harun.
But on second thought, after finding the living quarters of the workers to be adequate for the time, and thinking that the bricks and cement could be better used elsewhere, he decided to hold off on that for the time being.
Alexander himself would be the first to admit that themunal worker quarters were no symbol of benevolence and generosity, as lots of families were still cramped into argemunicable space, with many husbands, wives, and children having to stay in that one huge shared space.
But still, it was at least better than what most others provided and not the abject horror show that many of the other ces were.
Alexander would even be somewhat confident in saying these conditions were the best in Adhania.
And it was not like the workers had not found a workaround for these problems.
When Alexander had toured these currently mostly empty sheds, as almost everyone had gone to work and only left a few women to take of the children and infants, he had an additional decoration in many of them
They were huge curtains that were hung between many of the beds, acting as a kind of screen and thus allowing the family inside them to have some time alone away from prying eyes, while also making it possible for a couple to have some privacy and get intimate.
And so Alexander decided to let the workshop carry on with this slight inconvenience.
With these thoughts inside his head, Alexander was about to move on to the next workshop, when Azijak raised onest concern from the back, saying, "My lord, there was onest thing I wanted to let you know. And it is that we have mostly met all our orders. So, we really don''t know what to do with the all paper we are now producing."
"Hmmm, this is indeed a problem," Alexander loudly admitted with a nod, as he then voiced out his thoughts, "At 10 A2 sheets a ropal, it is too expensive to sell to the regr public. And so our customers can only be wealthy merchants and the nobles."
Though, it had to be said that the regr public was never the target customer for this product.
Most of them werepletely illiterate, only being able to recognize some rudimentary symbols for their day-to-day use.
So what use would they have for paper other than to wipe their buttocks perhaps?
Hence, from its very inception, Alexander''s customer base for the paper was the rich and learned, who both had the dough to purchase this fine product, and also the literacy to appreciate its creation.
And thus the problem for Alexander was actually finding these fat sheep, for he was basically an outcast among the nobility, while the merchants were only just starting to trickle in as the news of the gue abating had slowly begun to spread.
''Hmmm, I should get to making that printing press as soon as possible,'' Alexander once again reminded himself to not dilly dally and get on with that epoch-changing invention.
He just had not just had the time to design that new machine until now as he was so busy with everything else.
And he knew that once this machine was invented, the demand for paper would skyrocket, as instead of manually writing on it, entire pages could be stamped on it, making printing books magnitudes times easier.
While Alexander was spinning such new ideas, Azijak ruminated on his lord''s loud musing, and then thinking Alexander was stuck on how to sell this brand new product, he thus decided to input his own thoughts about all this.
Azijak consoled, ''Master, I believe we only need to find the appropriate buyer for this paper," afterward adding, "As a former papyrus maker, I know better than most how well this new paper will sell. So please trust me when I say that we just need to get this new thing out there and we will be able to sell it like hot bread."
This was a local phrase with the meaning being exactly as ''sell it like hotcakes.''
Azijak said the line as he thumped his chest, which admittedly surprised Alexander a bit.
He honestly had no idea about the kind of demand there was for papyrus, and was thus internally relieved that the market seemed to berge enough to amodate his new product.
For ording to the prices Alexander had set for himself, he would need to sell eighty thousand (80,000) sheets of A2 paper or its equivalent every single day just to recoup his running cost.
That was 2 and a half tons of paper products every day, which was no small task.
And decreasing production was also not really an option, as the workers would still need to be paid regardless, and the daily production of hundred thousand (100,000) sheets was very near the base necessity.
"Also, my lord, I think we can charge 5 sheets for 1 ropal. This new paper is that good," Azijak then additionally said, feeling that the rich customers would be willing to fork over much more coin to get this better, lighter, and much more durable product.
"Mmmm, okay, I will be sure to market this product ordingly," Alexander hence promised Azijak.
And then quickly some of that marketing idea came to his head, which he immediately let the man know.
"Azijak," He called to draw attention, saying "My wedding is in two weeks. And I want to showcase this paper in a number of ways."
Alexander then took out a piece of paper from his pocket and folded it like a napkin, as he said, "First I want to make some paper of this size which would be used as disposable napkins."
Then Alexander made a boat, using the skills he had learned at one origami orientation ss, which made Azijak go wide-eyed as he could not help but praise, "My lord, what an ingenious way to fold paper. May I learn from you?"
"Haha, okay, see it again," Alexander chuckled as he showed the folding again, and then made another folding, this time of the famous crane, and then instructed, "I want you to make a few of these kinds of foldings and color the boat blue and the crane red. They will be used as wedding venue decorations."
"Ohh, that''s genius my lord, absolutely genius," Ajiajk literally jumped up into the air as he said this, producing a smile so big that it seemed to threaten to spill of out his mouth.
The reason for such a reaction was not lost to the smart men around, as they all were certainly sharp enough to understand what Alexander had done.
He had taken a thing that was of rtive distaste for the general popce and transformed it into something that was highly desirable.
And this feeling only increased as Alexander showed him more decorative designs, such as festive festoons, curtains made of paper, and vibrant chains constructed of the thin substance and held together by glue.
''These things will sell even better than hot bread,'' Azijak''s eyes glowed with the color of gold, as his ears seemed to hear the nking of silver, knowing perfectly well how much the people would love these new inventions.
This was because, humans being the curious creatures they were, somehow always had a fascination with shiny and colorful things.
This was why gold and silver were so valuable, for they were rare and shiny, and which was also why people tend to decorate themselves and their houses with such objects.
But most did not have the means to decorate as such, leaving them to just suck it up.
Until now.
Now, with Alexnader''s beautiful designs, Azijak was sure paper, which was a much cheaper alternative, would soon be the mainstay of every poor and less affluent household''s marriage.
They could even be festive decorations like the new year''s or other religious holidays, if Alexander pushed for them using his temple.
Alexander also knew these, which was why he soon intended to introduce such shops to Zanzan.
But for now, Alexander decided to show Azijak onest decoration.
"Thisst thing is called a fanush, or a skyntern" He introduced, and then drawing a picture of it, Alexander helped describe it, "Basically it is a cylindrical piece of paper with a hollow bottom. There a wick with some wax is attached using metal wires, so even the wick is lit, the hot air makes thentern fly into the sky."
"Oh, that''s so cool my lord," Azijak could only imagine how nice such a scene would be, as anything that flew had always driven the human imagination for millenniums.
"Mmm, I will send the appropriate people to help you make these. Just be sure to have the right sized paper," Alexander atst ordered, which got a rapid nod from the man.
''With it being the lord''s wedding, I will need to be extra attentive'' Azijak pumped himself up.
And finally, with all these said and done, and after trying to exit the paper workshop multiple times but getting held up every time, atst, Alexander managed to bid Azijak goodbye and make his way to the next workshop, the soap nt.
Chapter 320 Revisiting The Soap Soap
Alexander had to go through the same security clearance when he moved out of the paper workshop and into the soap-making nt designated with level-2 clearance.
The reason behind this level of clearance was because soap was not really a popr substance in Adhania.
Regr people did not have the financial ability to use it, while the rich lords viewed it more as a perfume or for scenting their bath water rather than using it on a regr basis for washing and cleaning.
Hence, with Alexander being not sure of its economic potential, he decided to put it rtively low on the clearance table, thus willing to sell it for a good price.
There was also the fact that soap was not easy to make.
The various reactions that Alexander used to produce the alkali used in the soap were simple high-school chemistry, but for the time period, it was closer to magic.
Copying that was not easy, and that was not considering that an appropriate amount of base would be needed to be added to the fat to start the saponification.
Too less and it will not be soap, just fat.
Too much and the soap will cause itching and even might burn the skin.
Taking all this into ount, Alexander ced the soap industry at Level-2 clearance.
After Alexander and his group showed their ID cards and went through all the procedures, finally they entered the enclosed workshop and found that a simr expansion to the paper shop had urred here too, enabling much more volume of both solid and liquid soap production.
"Haquim, how are you?" Alexander greeted the man in charge of this nt, and after some general pleasantries, he started the tour of the premises.
It was simr to what he had in the paper workshop and found most things to his liking.
The basic structure of the nt had remained the same, with it only expanding in size, with more men, material, and vats being full of boiling liquid.
There were only two additional buildings constructed that Alexander had not seen before and Haquim led them to tour both of them.
"Here is the drying room," Haquim first led Alexander to a huge shed whose wooden floor was covered with liquid soap.
Workers could be seen carrying buckets of hot liquid soap from the huge boiling vats and directly dumping them onto the floor, after which another group would use a long, wooden rack-like tool to evenly spread the liquid, caking the floor with the semi-solid soap about an inch thick.
This shed was huge, around 50m long and 20m wide, with a three-story height, and Alexander could see the semi-finished soap wasid all over the huge area in multiple rows, each row in a different stage of their drying.
"How long does it take the soap to dry?" Alexander curiously asked.
"This is lye (NaOH) soap, my lord. It hardens much faster, in only a few days," Haquim replied.
Then he pointed to one end of the shed and said, "Once the soaps have hardened enough, the dimensions are marked using long strings dripped with ink and then cut using those things."
''Those things'' referred to giant cutter knives, which the workers would use by cing the edge onto the soap lines and slowly dragging the sharp edge through the soap, cutting them.
And this had to be done twice, once horizontally, and the other vertically, thus getting the rectangr product.
"It takes one day to cut the soap, And then a worker uses a special mallet to hammer in the logo," Haquim exined to Alexander.
After this Alexander was led to the storage shed, where literal mountains of soap were stacked in a hollow cylindrical pattern to dry and harden, arranged in such a way as to allow air to pass around them.
The soaps would stay like this for a month or two, depending on the outside temperature and humidity, after which they would be ready to be sold.
"How many can you make per day?" Alexander was a bit taken aback by the amount of soap there was.
"About one ton, my lord." Haquim sounded pleased with the number.
But for Alexander, it caused a slight headache.
He had not had any real sense of the scale at which soap could be produced and so seeing the amount of soap in stock waiting to be sold caught him a bit off guard.
"Of only lye?" Then Alexander asked a bit incredulously.
And was relieved to see Haquim shake his head, "No, my lord, of all the five different soaps put together."
This bought some relief to Alexander, as this amount of daily production was still within his ability to export.
And on thinking it over, Alexander found it foolish that he thought five tons of olive oil would be used every day to make soap.
There was certainly not that much in stock.
''Hmmm, but still, I need to find a buyer quickly,'' Alexander said to himself while gazing at the soap mountain, but the only person that he could think of who might have a big enough pocket seemed to be Mikaya''s brother and he was only scheduled toe in a month and a half at the earliest.
"How many men are under you?" Alexander then decided not to think too much and instead discussed whether to sh production, which is where this question came from.
"About fifty men, lord pasha," The number employed was minusculepared to the thousand men in paper production.
And so Alexander did not think there would be much point inying off some workers.
"Could you let me see one of those soaps?" Alexander then asked Haquim and was promptly fetched a piece.
"*Sniff*" Alexander took a whiff of the bar of soap and found that it was odorless.
''Hmmm, I have heard that olive oil soaps are fragranceless, but will it sell?'' Alexander ruminated.
And found that it would likely not, as for most people, the allure of soap was in its nice smell.
''Is this odorless soap useless?'' Alexander found his heartache when thinking about letting all this soap to waste.
"Could you bring me some water? I want to use the soap," Alexander thus asked, intent on finding how it felt to wash with this neutral-smelling soap.
Thus a pitcher full of water was soon bought to him and water was poured over his hands as he cleaned them using the lye soap, finding the soap not too rough or too soft, after which he rinsed and dried his hand with a towel.
The feeling of the soap was nothing to write home about, neither good, nor bad, just normal.
And thus it came down to smell.
"*Sniff*," Thus he took a sniff of his hands and was pleased to see that there now was a sweet, natural body scent that he quite liked.
''Hmmm, some people might prefer this,'' Alexander reasoned that some would certainly favor the clean, fruity natural body smell over the gaudy, artificial perfumed soap.
But still, he knew that such people would be in the minority, with most preferring the scented ones, and hence asked his chief soap maker, "Haquim, from now on, remember to add some perfumes to the soap during the boiling process. Stuff like thymes, rosemaries, and various flower juices like do."
"Okay my lord," Haquim nodded.
Finished exploring here, Alexander was shown the storage sites of the other soaps afterward, where he found that the solid soaps were stored in huge stacks and the liquids in huge wine barrels.
Alexander tested all of the products and found all of them to have different textures while washing, which please him greatly.
"I can sell all of them using different brands, and thus artificially createparisons,'' Alexander chuckled, knowing providing a variety of choices for one''s customers was one of the basic phycological techniques of business.
Even if there was no difference, even if it was the same product with only a differentbel, the human brain was capable of making up imaginary differences.
"My lord, how are we going to sell these soaps? Like this?" Haquim asked a good question.
As a wholesaler, Alexander had no problem selling the soaps as is.
He could sell them torge guilds, rich merchants, and the temples like this with no problem.
But, there would be problems if he were to sell soap like that as a retailer, to individuals like a noble or a few men.
Or to just give some as gifts.
"Hmmm," Alexander traced his chin as he thought about it a bit, and then thinking back to how they were sold in his previous life, he decided, "I will ask Ajijak to design some wrapping paper and paper packets. The solid soaps can be sold in them. As for the liquids, bottles made of leather, metal, or ss can be used."
In this way, the hard soaps can be wrapped in paper and then sealed with glue, or be directly ced in hard paper packets, while for the liquid soap, depending on how fancy the buyer was feeling, containers of various prices could be used.
"My lord is ever knowledgeable," Haquim cheered Alexander''s decision.
With all these done, Alexander felt he had seen everything there was and so decided to move to the next workshop, the weapons manufacturing nt.
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Chapter 321 Expanded Armory
The weapons shop was built a bit further away from the other two and was designated as a level-3 workshop.
This seemingly low number might surprise many people, as the weapons produced here were a matter of national security and could be said to be one of Alexander''s trump cards.
But the reason for this designation was because Alexander did not consider these weapon production nts to be economically very significant for Zanzan.
Sure, revolutions in armor technology like chainmail were being made here, and wonder weapons like the instant bow and crossbows also had their inception there.
But it was because of their speciality that Alexander could not sell them, or at least in great quantities, limiting their economic potential.
And Alexander was also willing to sell some of the technique because the material that was needed to make them, i.e- good quality iron, was almost exclusively under Alexander''s monopolistic hand.
So even if Alexander were to sell them the technique to manufacture these armaments, to actually produce and maintain them, they would need to buy the steel from Alexander.
At least, they would have to do that if they wanted to make them economically.
In this way, Alexander would always have the ability to cut off the supply of this vital metal at any time.
And thus Alexander was not averse to selling these weapon-manufacturing techniques and was willing to, perhaps not the know-how on how to make the top-tier ones, but maybe of those of a bit lower quality.
Alexander also had another reason for cing the weapons workshop not on the higher levels like 4 or 5.
And that was because he was sure that it was only a matter of time before his equipment got copied by his enemies.
After all, battles of this time period were brutal hand-to-handbats, and so killing a soldier and looting his corpse was much easier than in modern times, where engagements urred at distances measured in kilometers, and thus a dead soldier would likely have anything valuable on him taken away by his retreatingrades.
''Well since I''m bound to get my weapons pirated, might as well pirate it myself,'' Alexander hence reasoned with himself.
"Wee, my lord," Faziz, the leader of this weapon greeted Alexander at the weapons workshop, and then like before, after a few pleasantries and refreshments, was led on a tour of the site.
"So, how goes my weapon production?" Alexander asked as he toured the crossbow and instant bow-making facilities, to which Faziz very enthusiastically replied, "Fine, fine, my lord. We have never seen so much steel in our life. And of so high quality! It''s so much easier to work with!"
A wide grin involuntarily crept up on Faziz as he sang these praises, his mind drifting to the first day Alexander had sent his steel to the workshop.
Faziz would never forget the kind of shock he, and also his colleagues had received that day, as tons and tons of steel, cart after cart full of the stuff was presented to them.
The amount of shock and joy he had experienced on that morning wasparable to the kind of happiness he felt when his son was born and Faziz was sure he would remember that feeling for the rest of his life.
''Easier to work it, huh?'' Alexander remarked to himself.
He had heard this also before and understood that without all the g impurities present. the cksmiths no longer had to waste so much of their time beating the steel and could fold it more easily without the risk of the metal cracking.
Alexander first toured the bow shop, which had expanded to close to ten times its original size.
Arge number of cksmiths were seen here, sitting by their personal forge and beating the heated steel ingots into iron bows to be fitted into crossbows, while others were busy making the stirrup by curving the steel into a semicircr shape.
*ng*, *ng*, *ng*
The mor and din of steel hitting steel was deafening for Alexander., while the heat from the so many forges running at the same time soon made Alexander profusely sweat.
"My lord, let us go there next," Faziz, noticing Alexander''s state soon advised him to move to the next shed, where the assembly process was happening, as the bow, stock, and stirrups were being married to form the deadly crossbow, held together by thick ropes and tied using expert knots.
"My lord, before being made into crossbows all these iron bows are annealed just like you instructed," Faziz did not forget to tell Alexander this additional information, though he had trouble pronouncing this English word.
Annealing was a heat treatment process where the steel piece would be made more ductile by putting it in a furnace at about 900- 1000 degrees Celcius, which was above the ''recrystallization temperature'' and letting it soak at that temperature for a few hours, and then letting it cool inside the furnace slowly to room temperature over time.
This process would cause some physical changes in the steel, with the ultimate result being that it would make the steel softer and much more ductile, and machineable, which were all desirable qualities when making a crossbow, for it would make the bow more springy, allowing it to be bent more and thus shoot arrows faster and further.
This was also an example of how Alexander could protect his weapon''s secrets as even if an opponent were to steal his crossbow design and copy it, they would have no idea about the annealing process, allowing Alexander to constantly outrange his opponents.
"When do you anneal them?" Alexander then asked Faziz out of curiosity.
"We start at around noon and heat them in the furnace until the evening. After that, we douche the furnace and turn it in for the night, keeping the steel inside the furnace overnight, and letting them slowly cool. So they are retrieved the next morning," Faziz sinctly described the whole procedure.
"Mmmmm," Alexander approved with a nod and then moved on to the next shed.
Here the instant bow was being made, though the number of people seen working was much smaller than the crossbow nt.
And the reason for it was simply because it was a much more technical feat.
"Can you make the wooden mechanism out of steel?" Alexander asked curiously, feeling that would speed up production by magnitudes.
"Tha¡that¡might be¡ummm," Here Faziz stammered, as his eyes darted to find a quick answer to Alexander''s question.
As a cksmith, he had a rough idea of how that might be possible, but he was still not sure how to properly tackle this problem.
Because producing suchrge, bs of steel with the proper slotting without any machine tools would be quite problematic.
Casting them would not work, because cast steel was structurally weak and would likely crack under therge stresses.
Meaning it would have to be forged, or shaped by repeated hammer blows, which would be no easy feat.
At least no easier than chipping wood.
''Hmmm, I should build a waterwheel to help them forge the iron,'' Alexander made a mental note, while he reassured Faziz, "Okay, okay, no need to get so worked up. For now, keep making it out of wood. We can think about making it out of iron slowly."
"Thank you, my lord," Faziz breathed a sigh of relief that his young pasha was not going to make some absurd demand.
And then, seemingly not wanting to disappoint Alexander promised the pasha with steely determination, "Sire, we are still learning how this new steel works. Once we get the hang of it, I promise you we can make the instant bow mechanism out of iron."
Alexander certainly liked such ambitious ims and thus smiled and encouraged, "Then I look forward to it,"
Afterward, Alexander was led to the next site, the arrow-making nt which was huge to small the least, employing close to 300 people, all working in small groups.
There were cksmiths making the steel arrowheads.
There were carpenters making the shaft and attaching them to the bodkins.
Andstly, there were fletchers cleaning the feathers and tying them to the ends using thin linen stings.
The whole process reminded Alexander of one of those assembly lines in China where rows and rows of women could be seen during the same thing over and over again with blinding speed, and standing there and witnessing it for himself, it seemed somewhat of a hypnotic scene for Alexander.
"I''m amazed every time Ie here. To think, so arrows could be made so quickly," It was Faziz who said, the appreciation in his voice palpable.
This setup was directed by Alexander, who had taught Faziz the basics of the division ofbor as he had done Jazum''s son Jafor.
Andpared to the previous way of doing things, where one would do much of the work the numbers said it all.
"How many arrows can we make?" Alexander asked expectantly, remembering that he had asked Faziz to obtain a daily production ability of ten thousand (10,000) arrowheads.
"These workers are new my lord. So about twenty-five thousand (25,000) a day," Faziz answered, and then predicted optimistically, "But in a few months, once they be proficient enough, we should be able to make thirty-five thousand (35,000)."
"Mnnn, that''s good," Alexander was pleased by these numbers.
And though making so many arrows per day might sound like a lot, it really was not.
For anyone who has ever fired a gun will know just how easily bullets can be used up.
And arrows were the same.
Once thousands of men started letting these sharp bits of iron fly out, Alexander knew his stocks would rapidly dwindle.
Chapter 322 Sword And Sheild
Alexander for the time being found the arrow-making facilities to be adequate, being able to at least meet his required demand for theing year.
As such, he was next taken to the armor shop, where ording to Faziz, two thousand (2,000) men were employed making chainmail.
This was a huge endeavor and the dimensions of the workshop where these men worked in surely represented as such, with the humongous wooden shed being the literal size of a football field, having multiple doors, numerous huge windows to let in sufficient light, and arge number of thick wooden pirs to hold the giant roof up.
Alexander observed that all the men inside were industriouslyboring away, with some drawing out the steel wires, others turning them to rings, a few were engaged cutting these rings, many were busy linking them with each other while arge number were riveting them.
The small clinking and ttering noise that filled the football pitch-sized shed was surely something to be experienced as the men tried to fulfill Alexander''s order of so many chainmail.
Alexander had ordered his legionaries to be equipped with chainmail that covered up to the thighs, or traditionally by what was called a hauberk with additional head protection, which was also called a coif.
The general soldier''s calves and feet were left rtively unprotected, being only lightly armored by leather greaves made from boiled leather and thick leather shoes lined with thin steel tes.
Their hands were also rtively bare, sheathed with only leather gloves, thus making them vulnerable to enemy attacks.
And the reason behind such decisions had to do with weight, time, and cost concerns, due to all of which Alexander was forced to prioritize the protection of key and vital areas of the body and sacrifice armor over rtively safe ones.
Alexander''s first concern was the weight of the armor that would soldiers have to lug around.
Chainmail might appear light, being made of thin metal wires turned into rings.
But it was still heavy.
For example, a short-sleeved shirt of chainmail typically weighed around 8kg.
While the hauberk, which was a long-sleeved shirt that reached up to the thighs that Alexander nned to use weighed around 12 kg.
Then there was the headpiece, or as it was moremonly known, coif, which came at around 3 kg.
This was already 15kgs of steel.
And if Alexander wanted to add a pair of mail mittens or gloves to protect the hands and fingers, that would weigh an additional 1.5 kg.
The legs would need to be protected by a pair of chausses which would add another 5 kg of weight, thus bringing up the total ultimate weight to protect the whole body up to about nearly 22 kg.
This was a significant increase from the original 15kg.
Now, granted wearing mail would not feel as heavy as carrying a backpack that weighed the same amount.
Because the weight would be evenly distributed around the body.
And to help with that even more. belts at the hip and straps around the arms and legs could be used to bind the mail to the body so that the weight would rather feel like more of the own body weight and not like dragging a huge burden,
Additionally, chainmail weight could be heavily reduced by making the rings really thin, which could help shave off as much as 50% of the weight, though that would have the drawback of decreasing some of the armor protection.
But all in all, these solutions were possible, thus mitigating the problem with weight.
But in attempting to do so, the second and third problems, i.e- cost and time would start to rear their ugly heads.
Making just the hauberk and coif was already a very time-consuming process, taking somewhere between 180 to 200 hrs to make.
And so, if the mittens and legs were to be included, this would easily reach 300 hours.
The reason for this disproportionate increase was because the rings on these two mail armor would have to be much finer, so as to allow them to slide off the skin and not obstruct the body''s movement.
This huge amount of required time naturally tranted to huge costs, and reasoning that the legs would be rtively safe shield the legionaries''rge shield, and the hands and fingers would be protected by the sword guard, Alexander decided that the cons outweighed the pros here.
But that was the case for only the general soldiers.
As for the armors of his officials and generals, Alexander intended to fully protect them to the best of his abilities, covering them head to toe with chainmail, underneath which would be ayer of thorax linen or gambeson.
The reason for this was because these men would be the brains of the army and would be the ones to lead themon soldiery into battle.
And as Alexander nned to make these men highly trained and educated, hence the cost of protecting them would dwarf the risk of losing such a high-value investment.
This type of equipment would be given to all officers above squad leader (10 men team leader), i.e sergeants (100 men leader) and above, which came to exactly 71 officials per legion.
(60 sergeants, 10 captains, and 1 legion leader).
And though Alexander could not afford 6,000 such chainmail, 71 was certainly feasible.
As these thoughts yed inside Alexnader, he then asked Faziz, "How many chainmail can we make?"
About hundred to hundred and twenty (100 - 120) a day my lord," Faziz proudly answered, having never seenrge numbers of iron products made every day before in his life.
"Mmmm, that''s good," Alexander give him a gentle nod of approval to this, appearing neither pleased nor displeased by the speed, for the number was around his own estimate of 180 to 200 hrs per armor mark.
Finished with this site inspection, Alexander then moved on to the melee weapons part of the district, where he observed the production of spears, pillums, caltrops, and swords were being made.
Alexander particrly paid attention to the sword-making process, as it would be the primary weapon of his soldiers.
He had given Faziz the design of the sword that he copied from the Roman dius, with the addition of a sword guard.
This was added to protect the fingers, and particrly the thumbs of the wielders, which was a major source of injury for the Romans.
But those were only the outer changes.
As much bigger changes were happening internally.
Firstly, the swords were being made not quite the same way they were made before.
Alexander had attached a waterwheel to his shed, which reced much of the initial manual hammering, allowing the steel ingots to be more easily turned into sword billets.
Hundreds of cksmiths would then take these billets into finished swords, and the second difference in the production technique would beings.
Instead of simply beating the steel, Alexander had ordered the cksmiths to deliberately dent the edge of the des, creating spiraling patterns on the surface of the sword.
The reason for this was to turn the atoms that run through that ordinarily run straight like the grains in a wood into a swirling pattern very reminiscent of a fingerprint.
In this way, whereas previously any impact energy could travel straight through the steel from edge to edge and break it, now will have to travel all the way along these swirls, thus exhausting more of its energy in the process, before it can break the de.
Only by doing this, by processing the steel a bit differently, the steel can be manipted to be such that the cracks will now have to follow a longer path, and this would roughly double the overall breaking strength of a sword.
And not only that, these grooves would allow the swords to withstand hits from multiple angles equally well, rather than only from only one single direction as was the case with ordinary swords, which tended to be very strong when attacked against the grain, but very brittle when attacked along it.
But Alexander was not done yet, for there was still the heat treatment to be done, which in this case was called quenching.
This was very simr to annealing, as the des would be put into a furnace at around a 1000 degrees Celcius, soaked in the furnace for a few hours, and then, instead of letting the steel cool slowly, they would be taken out of the furnace and immediately bought back to room temperature by cing them into ice-cold water, with the ice, being winter, being sourced from the nearby hills.
This technique would produce a very hard, but also quite brittle steel, making it very good at slicing others but not being able to withstand repeated enemy hits.
And to rectify this, they would again be heated at 300-400 degrees Celcius for a few hours. in a heat treatment process called stress relieving, which would help the steel literally relieve some of its internal molecr stress and finally turn into Alexander''s desired product- strong, tough, and malleable, able to hack, sh, thrust, and parry like no other des.
A sword made from this would be magnitudes stronger than anything anyone could produce and was designed to be the primary tool for Alexander''s conquests.
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Chapter 323 Spinning Shop (Part-1)
"My lord, the strength of the sword being produced here is something I truly never thought was possible. It''s magical," Faziz had a hypnotic, longing tone to his voice, looking at the sword production workshop like a lover would look at one''s partner.
Alexander on the other hand was thinking somethingpletely different.
First, he was thinking these swords, good as they were would unlikely be the wonder weapon that would win him wars.
Sure they would help, perhaps they would even be decisive in particr battles by managing to prate the shield or armor of the enemymander, but overall they were still cold melee weapons used by men.
And then hempooned over the fact that he was still having to produce chainmail.
Alexander was happy with his revolutionary armor no doubt, he also knew that this product was really not the most optimal option.
He had originally wanted to equip his soldiers with te armor, at least their top half for the bare minimum, not only because that was simply better, but because they were also easier to manufacture, as instead of going through all theplicated procedures of drawing the wire and riveting it, the metal sheets could simply be beaten into shape.
But when Alexander went on to implement this n, he soon ran into a huge problem.
And that was that there were not enough cksmiths to go around who would make these curved, shaped tes.
And even those that were there did not know how to forge iron into suchplicated shapes, shapes that wouldpletely cover the body but would not obstruct movement in any way, instead flowing smoothly over the body.
This was a hard ask for these novice cksmiths who had never worked with such steel before. And then to pile on the misery, Alexander''s desire to start an experimental R&D department was also dashed for the time being, as whatever measly good experienced, cksmiths he had under him, they all were desperately needed to facilitate the current production facilities.
Alexander''s hunger for artisans seemed bottomless.
In fact, without the recent influx of refugees, among whom were quite a few good, quality smiths and armorers, expanding the weapons workshops to close to five thousand men (5,000) would not have been possible.
And hence the inception of te armor would require some time, possibly years.
As such realization hit Alexander, he could only sulk and suck it up, telling himself the hackneyed titude, ''All in good time.''
After he visited the huge living quarters of the men and their families, instructed Faziz to pay attention to the sanitation facilities and to make sure the men washed their hands with wood ash after doing their business, especially the number two, made sure there were adequate precautions in ce at the event of a fire, and then moved on the next workshop, situated at clearance level-4.
This was the tailoring workshop set up just a few weeks ago and overseen by Gelene.
"Master, what took you so long? My poor heart has been aflutter in anticipation since morning," The woman sultrily and with tried eloquence greeted Alexander at the gates, causing Alexander to internally roll his eyes at such flirting in front of all his bodyguards.
Though these men certainly had heard Gelene''s melodious moans through Alexander''s bedroom door during their nightly guard duties, Alexander was still notfortable so openly flirting with others, especially when he held ambivalent feelings toward her.
"Sorry, I got held up. The other inspections took longer than expected," He then casually gave an excuse, to which Gelene coquettishly replied, "Ohhh, master, I am sure it could never be your fault. It must have been all these naughty men that deceived you from meeting me."
The teasing look that Gelene sent Alexander''s entourage caused all the men to lower their heads, not out of shame or to blush, but because of who that woman was and who she belonged to.
''So you are trying to show off how much I favor you in front of them and thus boost your social standing,'' Alexander was not impressed with this trite y, but neither did he go out of his way to expose Gelene.
Instead, he chose to do one better.
He decided to turn to his bodyguards and Takfiz and said, "All of must be tired. Get some refreshments. I trust Gelene fully and believe she will never harm me."
This order caused the smile on Gelene''s face to visibly dim, while Alexander birthed a cunning smirk.
What he had done was basically strip her of her audience.
''Don''t y such games with me,'' Seemed to be Aexander''s message.
"Then my lord, we will wait outside the gate. Please call us if you need anything," It was Takfiz, who said so this, misunderstanding Alexander and thinking that he wanted some alone time with his concubine.
But Gelene certainly got the message, for even after they were left alone, she changed her tone from a more casual and familiar voice to a more professional one, as she waved her dainty arms and proposed, "Ahem, let master, please allow me to give you a tour of the premises. I''m sure you will find it to your liking."
"Yes, let''s," Alexander curtly nodded, and understanding Alexander might not be in the nicest of mood, Gelene silently led him to arge wooden house.
As Alexander approached thisrge structure, even from the outside, he could hear the low droning of wheels being spun, of the rickety noise wooden tools make when they slide off one another, and knew exactly what this shed was used for.
"Here master," Gelene, standing on the door of the shed invited Alexander in by slightly bowing and gesturing him to enter first, which he did.
And as soon as he entered the shed, the first thing that heid his eyes upon was the tool being operated by scores of women.
And it was this tool that gave this seemingly ordinary tailor shop its Level-4 security clearance.
And this tool was the spinning wheel, or more urately the Ashford spinning wheel.
This Ashford spinning wheel was one of the simplest spinning wheels, once which Alexander''s grandmother used to use in her early life.
And that was what Alexander had decided to copy and gift Gelene.
This simple wooden tool consisted of four mainponents, a spinning wheel, a bobbin that was connected to the wheel using a belt, a flyer next to the bobbin, and a pedal to spin therge wheel.
To start spinning yarn, first, a thread, called the leader would be tied in a knot to the bobbin and threaded through the flyer.
After that the spinner would slowly press their feet onto the paddle, which would be connected by a crankshaft to the drive wheel or spindle, making it spin clockwise, causing the bobbing and the leader attached to it to spin along.
Unspun fabric like wool and linen would then be slowly fed into this leader yarn, which would catch onto them, and make them spin with it, thus turning raw fabric into strings, that would be deposited onto the bobbin body.
This rtively simple action worked by manipting how the spindle and bobbin would be attached to each other.
These twoponents were built such that each could be rotated using the other, but they could also rotate independently from each other.
And due to how the bobbin and flyer were each connected at a slightly different distances from the spindle, they thus spun slightly differently.
And this small difference in the speed of the bobbin and the speed of the flyer was how the spinning wheel worked.
In fact at its core, spinning was just that, spinning different ends of the fibers at different speeds to create a twist.
And when done correctly this would create the spinning wheel''s most useful feature, the draw.
And it would be this draw that pulled the yarn out of the spinners'' hands and wind it onto the bobbin while the spinner simultaneously would let the next fibers twist into the yarn, producing a continuous process.
Spinners would be able to control the thickness of the fiber by controlling the amount of draft feed with the leader and in this way, a ball of yarn called a ''single'' would be produced.
But this would not be usually ready to be called a finished yarn, as they would be not strong enough to make into clothes.
So, the spinner would then take two or more singles, holds them together, and spin the wheel this time anticlockwise, which oncebined, we called "plys."
Plyed yard was much stronger than singles because the two directions of twist make it a lot harder to unravel.
One point to caution to note here would be that when making singles, the wheel must always be spun in the same different.
Because if one were to take singles that were spun in different directions, some to the right, and some to the left, they would be ipatible and would produce a yarn that would bepletely unusable.
But if done correctly, this spinning wheel would be capable of producing multiple times the amount of yarns aspared to the traditional handspun method, allowing Alexander to drastically cut costs.
And hence the Level-4 clearance.
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Chapter 324 Spinning Shop (Part-2)
Spinning was perhaps among the oldest professions in the world, right alongside mercenaries and prostitution.
There were cave drawings of spinning in Alexander''s previous life, there were spindles found in tombs where women would be buried with them, and there even spinning tools even found in Tukanhamen''s tomb.
In the very beginning, humans spun by hand, which was called finger spinning.
In this process, one would take the wool, x, hemp, or cotton, hold it with one hand, and pull and twist it with the other, thus creating weaving yarn
But obviously, this was an excruciatingly slow process.
This was why the drop spindle was invented, and it was also the same tool typically used in Adhnaia and throughout the rest of this known world.
A drop spindle was one of the simplest tools one could envision, just a straight spike usually made from wood, with a circr weight at the bottom.
It was so simple, that some paleontologists even hypothesized that the wheel was invented by studying the motion of the weighted bottom.
A woman would keep a drop spindle in her pocket and at different times throughout the day, whenever she had a bit of time in her hands among her usual duties, she would take it out and spin yarn while she would be gossiping with the neighbors or when she would be waiting for the water to boil, or for the goats toe in to be milked.
In fact, spinning was somon that even prostitutes waiting for clients would pass the time spinning yarn.
And it was from this practice the negative connotation of the word spinster came in, as this job was done during idling andmonly performed by young or unmarried women who didn''t have a household to take care of, and so could give their time to something else such as a trade.
Also, as the job brought in a lot of money, some families would be less inclined to let the spinster (usually the oldest sister) marry out of the family as they would lose that ie, and thus the word gradually began to represent an old, unmarried woman.
And thought it was a simple tool, this should not distract oneself from its usefulness or even its effectiveness.
By using this simple tool, fabrics having 550 threads in one inch could be achieved, whereas the very best modern machines could do at best 350 threads to an inch.
If anything more is gotten, it''s usually twoyers stacked atop one another.
But as stated earlier this was very time-consuming.
This was why the spinning wheel that produced a good bnce between speed and output was so deemed so highly valuable by Alexander.
And there was the reasoning behind the Level -4 designation, i.e- critical to the future economy, for this tailoring ship, or more specifically the spinning wheel, more of which could be understood if one studied history.
If asked about the basic human necessities, most would put clothes after food and shelter. But unlike food and shelter, clothing is one of the easiest statements of wealth, fashion,
and personal identity,
It''s also very easily broken and needs recing often.
This puts fabric in high demand the world over, forever.
And because of this, historically, making clothes was one of the easiest and fastest ways to get rich.
For example: How did the Ottoman Empire finance its modernization?
By growing cotton in Egypt.
What was the actual cause of the US civil war?
Because of the Confederacy''s need for ves to pick cotton.
Why did they need to pick cotton?
Because the USA''srgest export at the time was textiles.
In 1862, 2% of everyone in the entire world worked in the garment industry.
The textile industry was even the driving force of many imperial conquests and subjugation.
For example: Why did the British take over India?
To produce cotton to drive its domestic textile industry.
Throughout history, developing industrial nations made clothing something like a get-rich-quick scheme, almost like a cheat code to get out of poverty.
Because clothes would be always in demand.
All the developed countries once used it, most recently China used it, and Bandesh, Vietnam, and Myanmar were currently using it.
And the kind of advantages clothes held over the other three needs of all human beings made them a million times more easily tradable.
Food was a perishablemodity, required huge amounts of fertilend and fertilizers, was at the mercy of mother nature, was subjected to strict quality control, and its demand was limited by the number of humans out there.
If a poor person gets rich, he won''t eat twice the amount of food, but he might spend ten times on purchasing luxury brand clothes.
As for shelter, it too requirednd, and most importantly it was difficult to export.
And there was the fact shelter were usually durably built,rgely to ensure it does not smash on top of the residents, meaning little repeat business.
Andstly, there was medicine, which was not always an ever-present need, and was a technically demanding substance.
Alexander had always found this fascination with clothes a weird one.
His personal opinion was that people needed three basic necessities, food, shelter, and medicine to live.
What role did clothes y in day to day?
What if one didn''t have clothes?
It would not really affect arge portion of the people.
Sure, for those living in extreme conditions, like the artics or deserts, clothing was vital, as it helped protect them against the hostile environment.
But what about the rest of the world, the ones living in the tropical zones, where temperatures were mild?
Other than a scant few barbarian tribes, every city-state, nation, empire, and civilization that there was a record of, clothed itself.
So what was the real reason why people clothed themselves?
If it''s a sunny, warm, beautiful day, or somewhere that''s air-conditioned like in an office, or it''s a sterile environment like in a clinic, would it be eptable for someone to let his hair down and go all bare?
And people could give only one reason for this being a major vition of all social etiquette, shame.
And what was so shameful about the human body that needed to be hidden?
Nothing.
Every man has what every other man has.
And every woman has what every other woman has.
They might look a bit different, but the basic was all the same.
In fact, if clothes were about hiding differences, then why not hide the face?
The most different part of the human body Alexander would argue was his face.
But even the strictest societies don''t ban face revealing for both males and females.
Alexander had no idea about this, and he could never figure out howpletely different civilizations could evolve this mostly useless need, other than perhaps using it as armor for battle.
But the desire for clothing seemed innate, and the amount of time, money, and effort that humans seemed to want to spend was beyond Alexander''s understanding.
Sometimes, it almost seemed to him that there was a divine entity forcing people to garb themselves.
In fact, in the Muslim holy scripture, it was even written that after Adam and Eve ate the fruit by being deceived by satan, all their heavenly clothes became shredded, and they for the first time felt shame.
"My lord, how do you like it?" Alexander was snapped out of his thoughts by Gelene''s inquiry, and he absentmindedly produced a low "Mnnnn," and then quickly refocused his attention to the scene ying before him.
Rows upon rows of women were seen busy spinning their wheels, their hands and feet at constant movement as they slowly guided the x in, while the distinct chitter chatter of women gossiping hummed around the wooden house.
After all, they were only using their hand and feet to work, their mouth was free.
"How many women have you got spinning here?" Alexander then asked Gelene in a whispering voice.
These women, amidst all the noise, had not noticed their boss or their boss''s boss enter, and Alexander did not want to disturb them.
"Forty-eight," Was Gelene''s exact answer.
"Do you need more?" Alexander then asked, to which Gelene replied,
"Not at the moment. And if I wanted, I can easily employ more."
"Mnnn, okay." Alexander nodded, and made his next inquiry, "Do you make your own linen or buy it?"
"Making linen takes a lot of time and space my lord. So I buy it," Gelene gave her reason.
Linen was made from a nt, which was first harvested, its flowers stripped, and then soaked in water for about a week in a process called retting.
Afterward, it would be dried, threshed to remove the bark, and then finallybed through a hackle, which was basically a hugeb with nails as its teeth, to loosen all the fibers and produce the raw material for the yarn called x.
Linen merchants would sell this flux in braids or turn it into yarns before making it avable in the market.
"Show me the looming," Alexander then asked to see the operations where the spun yarn was actually turned into the underwear and was led to a second workshop some distance away that turned the spun yarn into clothes by arranging the threads vertically and horizontally among each other.
Alexander here witnessed rows and rows of the traditional loop being operated by women doing just them, while in the next shed, the women were busy cutting the clothes and stitching them into underwear, ready to be sold.
Chapter 325 Spinning Shop (Part-3)
After Alexander had finished inspecting the close to two hundred women working under Gelene, who were engaged in spinning yarn, making the fabric, and then finally stitching the underwear, the duo decided to have lunch in Gelene''s office situated a bit further away from the hustle and bustle of the workshops.
From the outside, it appearedpletely normal, no different from a little wooden hut with a small door and few windows.
"Master, please make yourselffortable," Gelene politely gestured for Alexander to enter before her, to which Alexanderplied with a light smile.
Alexander found the inside to be though small, but not tiny.
Instead, there was a cozy feeling.
In addition, it was quite luxuriously decorated, with thick woolen carpet covering the floor, an expensive mahogany table at the back that was likely Gelene''s office table, and two small, but veryfy-looking leather couches in front of it.
"Master, here, you must be thirsty," As Alexander felt his butt sink into the soft leather cushion filled with goose feathers, Gelene quickly fetched Alexander some iced diluted ale, which Alexander epted with a "Thank you."
And then as Alexander took some time to look around and view the mosaics and paintings, he asked a bit surprised, "You don''t have any ves to help you?"
Alexander noticed that Gelene was all alone here.
He had assumed she would at least have a few extra hands to help her, as was the norm among all businessmen.
Alexander had banned his women from owning male ves due to obvious bloodline concerns, but he had allowed them to own female females to help them in day-to-day work.
And thus his surprise.
"Hahaha, how could a mere ve like me dare serve master with one''s own ves?" Gelene turned to give the reply with a charming smile.
While internally she revealed the real reason, ''Hmmp, there are already three bugs around you. What if you get ideas for more?''
Gelene already had enoughpetition in the bedroom.
And that''s why, the few girls that were under her, who worked as clerks and handled the various chores around the workshop., were asked by their mistress to make themselves invincible so that Alexander did not have the chance to even nce at that.
Alexander was not aware of this, and, he would not likely lust after ves anyway.
But he did not have much time to dwell on such issues anyway, as Gelene called out,
"Here master, please have some. I kept it warm for you."
As soon as Alexander had entered, Gelene had quickly taken out arge cooking pot from the cooking cupboard and prepared a cut piece of the pie inside it on a te for Alexander.
"Thank you. And please join me," Alexander politely asked, as he then took his fork to start his lunch.
"Then excuse me, master," By Alexander''s request Gelene too started her meal, as the clink-nk of cutlery sounded from inside the room.
"So how are the seamstresses I gave you?" Alexander asked about the quality of the working women as he cut into the ky pastry of the pie.
It had a venison filling, apanied by chopped vegetables, and spiced liberally with salt and pepper and tasted exquisite.
"They are good. Very experienced." Gelene quickly replied to Alexander''s inquiry, while making sure to hide her chewing of the same, delicious dish.
But then, taking arge gulp to swallow the food, she produced a slight bitterness and added, "But it''s too bad they can only work half the day. Most have families and household chores to take care of."
"Hmmmm," Alexander nodded understandingly.
Alexander had stopped giving free cooked food and instead opted to give out free rations from the start of December.
And the reasons for this were several.
First, he simply did not have enoughrge pots and pans to cook for hundred and fifty (150,000) people two times a day, morning and evening, every day.
Second, the amount of time to distribute this food took too long.
And if he were to increase the number of food delivery points to rectify this, it would take too many men.
Andstly, the free food wasined to be nd by many.
Alexander had chosen that menu due to its simplicity and ease of preparation, and after eating 60 times the same old gruel with some vegetables chopped in, the popce seemed to have grown tired of it.
So, Alexander decided to change it to just giving the raw grains and vegetables to individuals or families on a weekly basis.
And though it solved all the above problems, it inadvertently created another problem, the problem of requiring the women to stay home and cook the food.
But Alexander did not attempt to change his decision after knowing this.
For this was the norm.
Someone had to stay home and take care of the chores after all.
As it would be ridiculous to expect Alexander to arrange restaurant-type meals for all his citizens till eternity.
"But I remember Azijak employing a lot of women to make paper. And they seemed to be working full-time." Alexander then pointed out something different he had noticed.
And Gelene exined this action while waving her hands, "That''s because he has a huge kitchen preparing the meals for the women and their families. And he has employed enough women to make such an arrangement worthwhile."
It seemed that Gelene had done her research.
"Mnnnn," Alexander then remunerated on this problem for a while chewing on the tasty meat, vegetables, and onion mixture.
And after a while, decided to look at his problem from a different angle.
"These women that work for you," Alexander began, "And how much do they earn?" Came his question in a curious tone.
"A lot." Gelene said this with an exasperated tone, elucidating, "The spinners who make the yarn, and the weavers who make the clothes get 50 ropals a month, while the seamstresses get 60 ropals. And that''s for only half a day''s work!" Gelene sounded surprised even when she said it herself, her tone sounding incredulous.
ording to her, making so much money for any woman was almost unheard of.
And she had offered this much because manpower was really short.
''A lot? That''s 100 or 120 ropals a month of full day''s work. Even a farmer makes 150 ropals.'' Alexander only rolled his eyes at Gelene''s stated number, seeming to be able to almost smell Gelene''s stinginess.
A typical male tailor would get about 200 ropals for the same job, it would seem here was the ever-present gender pay discrimination.
Alexander deliberated if he should advocate for equal pay for equal work.
And though ideologically he was motivated, he ultimately stopped himself.
Because he did not want to spoon-feed every single small solution to others.
Sometimes learning through trial and error was the best.
And if the women did not want to fight for their rights, Alexander did not feel he should just give them away for free.
''If I give such raises out of nowhere, instead of being grateful, they will likely take it for granted. And then they wille asking for more.'' Alexander knew how human psychology worked.
''Give them an inch and they will ask for a mile.'' was a time-tried and tested truth.
But also did not want to let these poor women suffer either.
And thus he decided to drop some guidance to help Gelene push in that direction.
Alexander began, "This amount is okay for the spinners and weavers. They likely produce enough yarn for us in that half a day anyway."
He then gave Gelene a suggestive look and said, "But the stitching and tailoring need skill. Perhaps you should rethink your pay scale regarding them."
Gelene took a bit of time to think after hearing this.
She had great respect for Alexander''s abilities and was smart enough to understand what he was pointing to.
And though she did not necessarily agree with what he was proposing, after a little she prudently asked for his input, "Then what does master advise?"
Alexander answered with a light smile, "As I have seen during my shop inspection, it is the tailors who actually need to do the most technical work, which is sewing the clothes. So, pay them as much as the men. In that way, they will she able to afford a ve to do the household chores for them, while they can concentrate on sewing clothes."
"But master, a ve cost a minimum of five thousand (5,000) ropals!" Gelene had an rmed and shocked tone to her voice as she barely stopped herself from jumping up.
ves at this time were almost like modern-day houses.
An average man would need his entire life savings to even begin dreaming of affording one.
So what Alexander was basically proposing for Gelene was to gift her tailors a free house.
And in this context, her reaction did not seem so extreme.
Alexander certainly understood where Gelene wasing from.
And he was a bit disappointed that she was not quick enough to figure out the math for herself.
''Well, she might be scheming, but not very business savvy,'' Alexander evaluated.
Though it was to be expected as Gelene, though by the standards of this world very literate, was still very green with maths and mental arithmetic.
And hence Alexander decided to help her.
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Chapter 326 Spinning Shop (Part-4)
"The amount of money these women will get you by working double the hours will easily offset that five thousand (5,000) ropals ve cost." Alexander pointed out the simple fact.
And as Gelene''s eyes began to bulge with realization, Alexander further added, "And if you really wanted, then you could make these women pay for the ve in installments.
"For example, you can make them pay 50 ropals of the 200 ropals they earn every month and you will recoup that cost in only about eight years."
And then using some more simple maths, Alexander showed Gelene that even after paying 50 ropals for the ve and another 60 to 70 ropals looking after the ve, the tailors will be able to make at least 80 ropals a month of their 200 ropal sry, which would be 30% more than the current 60 ropals.
As Alexander patiently exined this to Gelene, arge, happy smile bloomed on the ve''s face, as she eximed, "Ahh, master, that''s why you''re my lord and owner," and then being unable to stop herself, jumped and hugged Alexander.
Feeling Gelene''s soft, mature body crush against him, Alexander only lightly chuckle and patted her back."Hahaha, okay, okay,"
But then, as if cashing on Alexander''s good mood, Gelene sent a sweet smile and asked, "But master, giving each of the thirty-three tailors under me a ve is too expensive. I can''t afford that¡" she trailed off suggestively.
''Is this where you suggest another form of payment and then proceed to suck me off?'' Alexander rolled his eyes at this y, as he could not help but connect Gelene''s way of talking with the cliche ''plumber x housewife'' scene.
Though in all honesty, he would not be averse to such an arrangement.
"Fine, fine, will two hundred thousand (200,000) ropals be enough?" Alexander decided to directly give the money Gelene was so coyly asking for.
"Yay, master is the best!" Gelene cheered animatedly like a little girl, raising both her arms up in the banzai pose, another huge smile on her face.
Though manpower was a bit short now, she was confident she could get around that amount of ves from the recent refugees.
After this was said, Gelene returned to her seat, and then Alexander further advised, "Gelene, do you think we should also expand the spinning shed? We can sell those spun yarn."
The kind of spinning wheel that Alexander invented could spin a bobbin full of yarn in an hour ¨C which was about 100 grams.
But such yarn would be singles.
To make it usable, they had to be plyed, or spun together with another single yard.
This took about another half an hour.
To put into context, an average tunic, depending on the size and thickness, used approximately 700 grams ¨C 1000 grams of yarn.
And the yarn needed for it required close to 50 hours of traditional hand spinning.
Whereas, with the spinning wheel, it would take just 12-15 hours to spin the yarn for it, reducing the cost by at least 20 - 30 ropals.
"Then I will follow master''s instruction." Gelene was quick to recognize this potential.
But then she then added, "Also master, you said spinning can be done by everyone. But I think that is not true. I once tried it for myself, and after a few hours of pedaling, I found it to be tiring."
"Also, other than having to constantly move one''s feet, they also have to constantly adjust the strength of pinch holding x to make sure that the leader draws the correct amount."
"Or else the yarn will have different thicknesses along different points. It''s all a demanding job." Gelene finished by saying this.
"Hmmm, do you think men would be better then?" Alexander felt that was the reason Gelene was telling him these.
To allocate more even men for her workshops.
"No¡no¡umm¡I was asking if I should increase their wages too," Gelene instead asked about the money issue that they just discussed.
''Hmmm, she seems to be a quick learner,'' Alexander liked this question but decided to let Gelene figure this out on her own.
"Do what you think is profitable for the business." Alexander gave an answer which was not an answer.
And this made Gelene imperceptibly pout before immediately hiding it.
''He is hard to make talk,'' Gelene had known Alexander to be mostly immune to her charms but still felt a bit disheartened that she could not get everything she wanted out of him.
She had dolled up herself all morning for Alexander, powdering her nose, applying her lipstick, and wearing her best dress and jewelry.
But Alexander had not offered a second nce or uttered a single word of praise.
Alexander pretended to not notice the little bitterness in the ebony beauty''s heart, as he instead said, "Gelene I saw the yarn spun and weaved, but where are the dyeing baths? Are they not here?"
All weaved fabric was white until they were put in huge dye baths and then given color.
This dye was extracted from various nt leaves and then soaked in warm water.
And the color extracted depended on the type and even the season the leaves were extracted in.
Additionally, new colors could be made by mixing two different colors, like green was obtained by mixing red and blue.
"Master, dying takes a lot of space and needs to be built near the river or sea to wash away the wastewater. So we send the spun yarn out into the city to get clothed." Gelene told Alexander, adding, "We usually tell the dye house what dyes we would like the day before. The yarn is then mordanted and put into the dyebath by the workers there."
And she finished by saying, "And depending on the color we want and the type of dye we are using, the process can take from several hours to even several days."
"For example, red is particrly hard to dye because the color does not like to sink into the fabrics."
"But once the dyers are confident that the color won''t watch away after a few rinses, the dyed yarns are removed from the dyebath, rinsed, and allowed to dry. And all this, from sending the yarn to getting it back typically takes about a week."
''Huh, you learn something new every day,'' Alexander said to himself as he did not know all these.
Ancient dye houses were huge industrial buildings that looked literally like modern bathhouses, with the only difference being that instead of just in bathwater, the tubs were filled with warm dyed water being heated from below, and instead of people taking baths, clothes were bathed in this colorful liquid.
And this huge need for water was also why they needed to be built near a water source, both for its input, but also as a medium to discharge the dye house''s waste.
"Hmm, so much does dying cost?" Alexander then asked about the price.
He knew that it could not be cheap.
And the evidence was that almost everyone, or more urately about 80% of the public wore white or some shade of that.
This also meant that the colorful clothes that TVs and especially isekai animes liked to show were all inurate.
And the reason for choosing only white was because clothes, even minus the dyes, just by themselves were very expensive.
For example, even a simple tunic, after all the costs of spinning and weaving, and stitching were taken it ount, would cost a hundred twenty to thirty ropals (120 - 130).
And if it was dyed, that could reach 300 to even 500 ropals.
As such the dress Alexander was wearing under his armor, a simple blue tunic, and brown pants that were bought by Nestoras had cost him 6000 tustas (600 ropals).
And that was Alexander''s reward for designing that ''super'' tent.
While the price of what Gelene was wearing, a bright orange full-sleeved gown, that was probably at least a few thousand ropals.
So it could be seen that clothing was a very lucrative business, and Alexander would just need to break into it.
And Alexnader''s spinning wheel was just the thing that could give him the price advantage.
"For the panties and bras, it costs us two to twenty depending on the color," Gelene answered Alexander''s inquiry.
The duo then spent a bit more time discussing a few other things.
Particrly they discussed the wedding dresses Alexander had ordered Gelene to oversee, a suit for Alexander, and a crimson, red gown for Cambyses.
"Master, don''t worry, I''m personally seeing to it," Gelene seriously swore.
She knew how important that day was to Alexander, and any mistake on her part could easily make Alexander turn her life very ufortable.
Soothed by Gelene''s words, Alexander did not pry any further, content to let her handle it, as he said, "Good, I trust you and your expertise."
Gelene smiled at this, and then, as if reminded by Alexander, suddenly asked in a pitched voice, "Ahh, master, about the shop? When should I open it And what will be the name?"
Gelene had the product, but her showroom was yet to be opened.
"I will introduce your business with its name and all during my wedding. And you can open the shop the day after." Alexander nned to use that day as a PR stunt, as he then waved his hands and said, "And I will leave the store design and location up to you."
"Then master can I choose a noble''s manor?" Gelene quickly asked as she already had some ideas on where to ce her shop.
"Sure." Alexander gave his permission and with that, after a bit more casual talks, this fourth shop visit came to an end.
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Chapter 327 Renovating The Glass Workshop
After Alexander finished his lunch with Gelene, he had asked her to choose a name for her shop, to which Gelene replied, "Master, it would be my great honor if you could choose the name for me."
"Okay, I will think of a one," Alexander then promised.
And then leaving her to her work, Alexander called his bodyguards and decided to move on to thest existing workshop, the ssmaking nt.
On the way, Alexander could not help but think back on the Ashford spinning wheel.
But he was not thinking how great it was but in fact the opposite.
He was thinking that instead of the spinning wheel, Alexander could have made the spinning jenny, which was basically a few spinning wheelsbined into one.
One could say it was a spinning wheel on steroids, able to make forty times the yarn a person would make using just the spinning wheel.
In fact, it is said it was the spinning jenny that really gave birth to the industrial revolution as it allowed for the first time to have machine-spun fabric.
The spinning Jenny allowed James Watt''s steam engine to be usedmercially to spin yarn and weave fibers, which could be sold for profit, thus initiating the age of the machines.
And Alexander had seen this device in a museum that hade with a video augmentation and ording to that, the mechanism seemed simple enough that Alexander was confident that he would be able to build one if he really put his mind to it.
So why did not he?
Because he felt giving Gelene such a powerful tool would not be wise.
He was still cautious of her and would only gift her such a revolutionary tool once she had proved herself.
Or perhaps Alexander would start his own clothing brand.
He had not decided.
But for now the spinning wheel was adequate and he felt that he would switch of the spinning Jenny once he had sold the secrets of the spinning wheel.
Alexander had such thoughts running inside him as he approached the ss workshop, which he had given a level - 5 clearance, that represented it as being absolutely critical to the economy and something that Alexander would never sell the secrets to.
The reason for this was obvious.
ss was cheap to make but very technical to make.
Meaning once someone figured out the forme to it they could make a product only they had ess to, thus making them impossibly valuable, and the profits margins astronomical.
They were so high in fact that Alexander could assume that when any ssware was sold, almost the entirety of it could be counted towards his profit, as the cost were negligible inparison.
At the gates of the workshop, the smartly dressed Gajopk with his immactely styled mustache was there to greet Alexander as he cheerfully called out, "Ahh, my lord, wee, wee. We were very much expecting you."
And Alexander responded in kind with the usual greetings, after which he was escorted inside.
"We have practiced how to shape ss for the whole ofst one and a half months my lord. And I can finally say we are starting to get the hang of it," Gajopk informed Alexander as thetter observed the surrounding changes.
Out of all the workshops, the ss workshop seemed to have changed the least, which was expected given the skill-based nature of the job.
"That''s good. I too am eager to see the new ssware," Alexander smiled at Gajopk, and soon they arrived at the workshop.
"Please, my lord," Gajopk gestured for Alexander to enter, and once inside, he found the ce virtually unchanged from thest time he had visited it.
The men were all at their stations, each operating their individual furnaces, having their own rolling tables and set of ss-making tools, and were hard at work shaping and molding the hot, glowing dough.
"My lord, these are the ssware we have managed to produce," Gajopk then pointed to arge table at the center of the workshop where all their manufactured products were disyed and it involved arge number of ss cups, goblets, tes, and dishes.
They were all the same shape and with simr intricate designs of curves, waves, and spiraling twists carved into them, with the only difference being their color, which ranged from a green tint to translucence to beingpletely transparent depending on the type of flux used.
"They are pretty good," Alexandermented as he picked up these ss products and tried to look through them to see how much light they would let pass through them.
He was also impressed by the intricate artwork done on the surfaces, and could not help but trace his fingers along them.
"Thank you, my lord," Gajopk lightly bowed at this praise.
"So how many of these have you made?" Alexander then inquired.
"All the good ones are disyed in front of you, lord pasha," Came Gajopk''s reply.
He had others as well but those were all practice pieces and not presentable.
"Hmmmm, then can you finish all the orders on time? My wedding is in two weeks?" Alexander had asked Gajopk to make arge number ofpleted ssware to disy during his wedding as a form of advertisement.
It would include not only dishwares such as ss, tes, and bowls but also decorative pieces to be put on the table such as a swan, heron, elephant, or some other kind of showpiece.
"That¡.if we push ourselves¡.then ¡we are confident we will be able to do," Gajopk forced out the reply.
''Well you do not sound confident,'' Alexander raised his eyebrows internally.
But he knew he could not reallyin.
Gajopk and his men were trying their hardest and it was already impressive that they had made such good progress in such a short period of time.
Alexander could ask little more from them.
''Hmmmm, what to do?'' Alexander thus mused as he thought out loud while looking at Gajopk, and saying, "Demand for ss is bound to skyrocket after my wedding day. And the twenty-odd men you have under you will never be able to meet this demand on their own."
Alexander''s words made Gajopk nod in silent agreement.
He too shared this concern.
But ording to the ss maker, recruiting more people seemed to be a problem due to security concerns about the ss recipe leaking.
Alexander thought about the problem for a while, and then finally reached upon a solution.
"Okay, we will do it like this," Alexander loudly started, and then delineated,
"The secret to the ss recipe relies on its ingredients and the temperature over which it''s made. So, we will make the raw ss, and then transport this molten ss to various blowing sheds where hundreds, if not thousands of blowers can work on them."
Alexander reasoned that ssblowers did not need to know how to make ss.
Only how to shape and form it.
"That¡um¡.hmmmm, that should work, if we can get the ss quickly enough that it stays molten." Gajopk at first had his reservations, but after thinking it through for a while, found the proposal quite possible.
Gajopk''s concern about keeping the ss liquid was valid because if the ss were to be solidified, most of it would be basically useless.
What was meant by that?
It meant that only ''pure'' ss, i.e- ss made of only quartz sand, and limestone could be melted, solidified, and then resmelted without any changes to the property.
Whereas other types of ss, like crystal ss, or ss to which other substances like powdered metal have been added, they cannot be allowed to solidify or else they would transform back into the regr ss.
This was evident in even Alexander''s previous life, where only ss bottles were recycled but ssware, window panes, or ss windshields could not be as they contained other substances that the recycling process could not separate.
So these types of ss had to go through a new kind ofplex refining process to be made reusable again.
A process that Alexander could not replicate with the primitive technologies with him.
Hence Alexander came up with a way to prevent such solidification.
"That should not be a problem." Alexander dered while swinging his muscr arms as if blowing away all the concerns as he elucidated his setup.
"We will put the molten ss onrge, say twenty- thirty kg concrete crucibles and load them into huge horse carts. These will be special carts which will have heating mechanisms underneath them so they don''t freeze." Alexander proposed.
And then he finished by saying, "And we will make the road from here to the blowing workshops entirely of concrete so that the horse can run as quickly as possible."
All these sounded very agreeable to Gajopk and he very enthusiastically nodded his head and said, "Excellent, my lord, excellent. That will work excellently."
And with this, Alexander''s promised Gajopk that he will get him his special cart and roads as soon as possible while instructing him to start recruiting potential candidates for ssblowing from among the city folks.
And with this, his ss shop visit came to an end.
But surprisingly was not the end of the day for him.
For he still had two workshops to look at.
Shops that were not yet operational, for the raw materials were still in the fields growing.
They were the sugar workshop and rubber workshop.
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Chapter 328 Sugar Plant
Alexander''s sugar nt had not been made yet operational as the beetroots were yet to sprout.
And so today was only Alexander visiting to survey the nt''s setup and equipment.
"My lord, it is my honor," A sharp, thin voice greeted Alexander immediately as he made it inside the workshop.
It belonged to a slim, bare-boned man, the drought having eaten away at his health, who wore the best tunic he had and greeted Alexander with a bow.
"Sassim! How are the fields, my man?" Alexander responded to the man with a light smile the peasant who was in charge of the fields of beetroots.
"They are great my lord. The fertilizers that you gave us really had their effect. You will see it once they mature in February. They will be giants!" Sassim let everything off at the first opportunity, the excitement of being able to talk to his lord palpable in his voice.
"Haha, that''s great," Alexander patted the man''s shoulder as he said that.
And then mysteriously asked, "So, how are the trials going?"
Sassim''s eyes too glowed a slight cunning glow as he replied, "Hehe, let me show you my lord, this way."
And then Alexander was led to a small shed whose only equipment was arge empty pot atop a stove and a few linen sieves.
But the group''s current interest was not in the bare-boned equipment.
Instead, they focused their attention on the small pouch that Sassim was taking out.
"Here, milord, have a look," The peasant then offered as he undid the knots of the bag, letting Alexander witness the treasures within.
They were sugar crystals, small and granr, having various shades of brown and surprisingly even ?white!
Alexander had bought quite a lot of beetroots with him from Adhan, and though most of it had been used to nt the crop over the forty hectares area, he still had some leftovers that he had asked Sassim to experiment with.
His goal- to find out what method of sugar extraction produces which kind of sugar grains.
And Sassim was now reporting his findings.
"My lord," He introduced, "The first one is the most basic one. Made from just boiling the beetroot juices and then filtering and cooling them."
The grains of sugar he pointed to wererge, crude, and dark brown, inching themselves closer to the color of the wood.
This was the way Alexander first made sugar and as he took a few grains of the stuff, he found its taste familiar, bitter and coarse, and not nice to his refined tongue.
Then, Alexander proceeded to taste the next refinement procedure, the process that helped him kill Diamous and Aristotle, which was adding limestone.
That tasted a bit sweeter but was still a bit salty from the neutralization reaction.
And it was still brown.
Alexander was looking for a bit more refinement and so he moved on.
Next was adding woodchips in addition to limestone.
And produced no change that Alexander could discern.
Then Alexander moved on to the pouch he was most excited about.
The grains inside it were crystal white and sparkling, looking very close to the store-bought sugar he was used to.
"Is this the bone char?" Alexander sounded over the moon as he excitedly felt the beautiful crystals on his fingers, and then ced a bit on the tip of his tongue.
Sweet!
It tasted sweet!
A tasted Alexander seemed to have almost forgotten over the past 10 years.
"Yes, my lord, it is the cow bone char that you instructed us to use," Sassim confirmed, then admiringly added, "I almost could not believe that that brown powder could turn to such pearly white powder. It''s amazing!"
And Alexander was inclined to agree with Sassim on this one.
The result of beetroots refined with limestone and then further refined with bone char was indeed amazing.
But how did Alexander know how to use this bone char?
Well, when he was in high school and being taught Napoleon and the battle of Waterloo, his teacher hadmented that the dead soldiers of the battle were cremated and their charred bones were used to make sugar, or more particrly it was used to decolorize the sugar and remove the brownness.
Alexander never found out the veracity of that im in his previous life, but after transmigrating, he felt that there was no harm in trying it out.
Of course, he did not use human bones, but animal ones, mostly bovine.
And the effects were astounding, producing the sugar he was looking for so long!
"Mnnn, this bone char is very really good," Alexander answered the jubnt Sassim with a cid facade, so that the peasant would not know the true value of the technique.
And then quickly moved on to thest test sample, where charcoal was used.
And it too produced a simrly white, crystalline grain, and tasted almost identical.
"Once the beetroots are ready, use charcoal and limestone to refine the juice and make the white powder," Alexander instructed, choosing charcoal over the bone char as it was much more readily avable.
And then added, "And I will get you more men to help with the ntation of the beetroots and extraction of the sweet powder from them."
The people did know the name sugar as it was apletely new product and hence just called it sweet juice or sweet powder.
And thus Alexander also addressed it as such.
But Alexander intended to introduce the word sugar by calling it such when exporting it and even naming the shop selling it ''Sugar''.
Speaking of selling, Alexander was sure that he would be able to charge this elusive white powder 1 ropal a gram at the minimum, and possibly much more than that, and people would stille running over, for Alexander knew that the nobles would find sugar addictive.
And this was at a price that was 5% of gold, which went for 20 ropals a gram.
And gold was a non-perishable good.
And it was because of this discovery of white sugar, something Alexander could call white gold that Alexander designated sugar as a Level -5 product.
But Alexander was also sure he would not be able to protect everything regarding it.
First would be because people would be able to just guess what it was made from.
After all, it would be quite hard to hide thousands and thousands of hectares of beetroot farms.
And even if he could somehow do that, it would not be wise to try and monopolize everything.
For the sugar business was too lucrative.
An example would be Alexander''s very own production, which was right now quite limited.
But even this mere 40 hectares of beetroots promised astronomical returns.
It was known that the yield of beetroots on good, heavy soil like those around Alexander''s estate would get one twenty to twenty-five (20 - 25 tons) tons of the vegetable per hectare.
And Alexander wouldter find that he was able to turn ten to twelve percent (10% - 12%) of the vegetable in weight into sugar crystals, with the rest of the flesh and fiberter turned into animal feed.
This meant a total promised yield of 80 to 120 tons of sugar, or 80 to 120 million ropals, and possibly even more.
This amount of money was already astronomical and moreover, it could be gotten from a rtively tiny farnd of only 40 hectares, which was being done only as a test project for now.
Now imagine what could be done if it was donemercially.
If it was done not over hectares but over square kilometers, which was a hundred times bigger than hectares.
And it was these kinds of benefits that would remind students of history of the number of wars that Europe hadunched in search of sugar, its production, and the procurement of its raw materials.
The European powers hadunched countless battles against themselves to obtain fertilends like those in the Caribbeans to turn into sugar ntations, to acquire ves to grow, harvest and process these sugarcanes into fine sugar, and to protect the shipping routes of these sugar products.
In fact, the Europeans had such a sweet tooth that there are even records of European lords going to war with their neighbor over not sugar ntations but over a few beehives.
And that was over honey which was just a poor substitute for sugar.
So Alexander knew if he were to too zealously the secrets of sugar, he would have a hard time avoiding warunched against him.
Thus to mitigate, if not prevent such an urrence, Alexander nned to sell the name of the ingredient and the addition of limestone which would enable them to produce brown sugar, while he would keep the further refinement with the addition of charcoal to himself.
And this would also have another benefit that Alexander foresaw.
And that was that Alexander nned to buy these brown sugars at a discounted rate and transform them into white sugar before reselling them at a premium.
In this way, Alexander would not have to bother with thebor andnd-intensive process of actually growing the sugar himself, and could only focus on only refining the product.
In this way he could save himself all the headaches thate with cultivating any crops, such as ensuring proper irrigation, recruiting capable farmers, worrying about the weather like proper rainfall and avoiding droughts, and many more.
With all these considerations made, Alexander asked Sassim to properly look after the fields, and then bid him goodbye, moving on to thest workshop on his list, the rubber shop.
Chapter 329 Rubber Workshop
Alexander''s acquisition of rubber might seem strange to many as the former had no ess to rubber trees.
But Alexander did know of an alternative source.
And he was here to inspect the growth of that product.
"My lord, we are honored," The head of the workshop, another peasant named Piash, was at the gates ready to wee Alexander, who after the pleasantries led Alexander inside.
"So how are the flowers?" Alexander asked as he moved along the path, turning his head to look at the vast swathes of dandelions nted on both sides of the track.
Yes, Alexander indented to make rubber from dandelions.
Or more specifically, the roots of dandelions.
"My lord, these weed flowers can grow anywhere, anytime. So, you don''t have to worry about them growing properly," Piash promised Alexander.
Dandelions were considered to be weeds and in Alexander''s previous life, millions of dors were spent on weed killers every year to remove this menace.
And thus, as Piash assured, it took little to no effort to grow these wildflowers.
"That''s good," Alexander nodded pleased, and then asked, "Show me the trial products."
Like the sugar nt, Alexander had asked Piash to use some of the leftover dandelions he bought from Adhan as test pieces to see how muchtex could be extracted from them and then try out the new refining process to make them into rubber.
"This way then my lord," Piash urged Alexander and was led to arge warehouse which Alexander entered to see that it was filled with sheets of white rubber that were hung on thick wooden sticks like drying clothes.
"We have hung them to dry," Piashmented and then strode over to get Alexander a sample.
"Here, please look," Piash then handed over a sheet of rubber he had pulled down to Alexander to inspect, and as Alexander took it using both his hands, he found it to be soft, stic, and wobbly.
Alexander then spent a bit more time twisting, bending, and pinching the product, and it was just like rubber.
To get this product, Alexander had asked Piash to collect the dandelion roots, clean and dry them over the fire and then shred them into tiny chunks, followed by dissolving them in water and then gently heating the whole product for a couple of hours until the rubber floats to the top as a sort of sticky gum.
This suspension would be skimmed off the surface and then again heated over the fire to further evaporate the remaining water vapor, finally obtainingtex.
This end product was the one Piash had handed Alexander, which looked like giant sheets of thick paper.
''Mmmm, not bad,'' Alexander said to himself.
He had read about this alternative source of natural rubber in an article, which touted it as the next big thing in tire manufacturing, and so decided to try it now for himself.
And though he was a bit skeptical at first about getting rubber from the milk of the dandelion flowers, the product in his hand managed to erase much of his doubt.
"You have done well. Good job," Alexander praised Piash, who let out arge smile and silently bowed, though internally he asked himself, ''But what is this thing? I have known dandelions all my life and I have never seen anything like that.''
But he did not have the guts to question Alexander and simply vowed to follow whatever his lord instructed him to.
And further instructions were soon given to him, as Alexander said, "Next, you will take these rubber and mix it with 2% sulfur and heat them for a few hours. And then, you will roll them into thin sheets like this again."
"Yes, my lord," Piash immediately nodded and agreed.
And though he was curious, Piash did not ask why.
Because that was not his job.
But the person issuing the instruction did know, for this process was called vulcanization and it was something Alexander was taught in his A-level Chemistry.
Vulcanization helped rearrange the polymer molecules of rubber in such a way that it made them stronger and more stic, in addition to making them more abrasion resistant, meaning they willst longer.
And the extent of his process could be controlled by varying the percentage of sulfur added,
For example, 2% to 3% of sulfur made soft stic rubber, perfect more making rubber bands, erasers, and the thing Alexander was most interested in, stic bands to be used in men''s and women''s underwear.
And for now, that was what he hadmanded Piash to make.
But if one were to move up a bit, up to 4% to 6% of sulfur, that produced mid-rubber, which was stronger and harder than the previous iteration but also less stic.
This type of rubber was primarily used in making corks, gaskets, sports balls, shoes, and various types of rubber padding.
For now, Alexander nned to use them to make gaskets for storing gas in cylinders, make badminton feather corks, and make balls such as footballs, tennis balls, and basketballs.
Andstly up to 10% of sulfur produced hard rubber, the most wildly produced of the three types, almost entirely used in making tires.
Alexander was still ambivalent about using this type of rubber, as he was still not sure if he wanted to introduce tires to his carriages.
''I can decide on that after knowing my output,'' Alexander decided, remembering that particr article itself had also said that the new discovery of natural rubber would not move the needle of global rubber demand.
Because if the entire world were to switch to dandelion rubber, it would have to be grown over and the size of Australia to meet all the demand.
Hence, though not skeptical of the product, Alexander was still skeptical of the volume of the product.
And he decided to ask Piash exactly that, "So, how much rubber is there? And how much dandelion did you need to make it?"
"My lord, we had around a ton of dried dandelion roots. And from that, we got 150 kg of rubber," Piash gave an exact number.
''A 15% of dried weight,'' Alexander remarked, as he found the yield reasonable.
Later he would find that a hectare of dandelion would him 200 kgs of rubber, which meant that he could get a ton of the stuff from the five hectares he had nted.
This was quite adequate for the time being as there was very limited use of the stuff for the time being, for the primary use of rubber was in making tires, or more urately about 70% of all rubber was used in that endeavor.
And as Alexander did not intend to coat his wooden wheels with this, thus his demand for rubber would be only limited to stic bands to be used for clothes, and some other niche uses like sents and rubber balls.
''Hmmm, I should also remember to tell Gelene to use it on her panties,'' While Alexander was thinking of the rubber uses, he added that thought as a side note.
He also reminded himself to order the manufacturing of football, as he intended to introduce the game soon to the popce.
And with that thought, Alexander also remembered about another product, ''Ohh, I will need to invent an air pump to fill up the ball too.''
As Alexander noted these thoughts down, he then turned his attention to the security clearance of this workshop.
And he had decided to give it the highest grade possible, Level -5.
The reason for this was not because rubber was precious, or because it was rare, but because no one knew about it.
In fact, even in his previous life, this esoteric knowledge was not known until thete twentieth century.
Before that people believed that rubber trees were the only source of natural rubber and because of that, people once upon a time believed that Great Britain had almost a 100% monopoly on the stuff due to all its overseas colonies, and this had allowed the ind nation to dictate the policies of many European nations.
So it could be seen that it was unlikely for others to figure this out on their own.
And as for deriving it from looking at Alexander, well the raw material, dandelion was a flower and a weed growing everywhere.
Alexander could easily hide its acquisition by iming he liked the look and smell of it.
And even if someone was clever enough to make the connection, how would he know for what purpose this flower was being used?
Or which part of the flower was useful?
After all, Alexander produced so many products in his workshops.
Andst of all, there was the addition of sulfur in the correct quantity, and the heating temperature and time.
All of these were critical to getting rubber with the desired qualities.
Figuring all these out by mere guesswork would be pretty much impossible for a single person, and even a group of people would require thousands of iterations to get it right.
And this difficulty in obtaining this knowledge was what made rubber so valuable and hence Alexander''s decision to give it the level 5 clearance, despite its impact on the economy being not as much as the other two current level - 5 products, ss, and sugar.
And with these thoughts, Alexander bid Piash goodbye, finally ending his workshop tour.
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Chapter 330 End Of Workshop Tour
After finishing touring all the current workshops, Alexander looked up to see the sky had transitioned from blue to orange, indicating that the day was almost over.
''Darm! And here I had promised Ophenia I would visit her ce,'' Alexander ruefully muttered while gazing at the setting sun.
Inspecting so many workshops and chatting with the individuals in charge had really drained all the time on his hand.
''Hmmm, should I tell her that I will visit her tomorrow?'' Alexander ruminated, but then decided, ''No, tomorrow I will have to tour the new military barracks in the eastern part of the city and will not have any time then. So, it will have to be today.''
With this thought, he turned to Takfiz and asked, "Get me some ink and paper. And someone to deliver it."
Alexander was worried that Ophenia might wait for him in her new establishment even after sunset, believing that he woulde to her as promised.
Which Alexander did intend to do but after supper.
And he was afraid that this might cause Ophenia to miss her supper,
"Yes, lord," Hearing Alexnder''s request, Takfiz quickly trotted to get this equipment and soon presented the stationeries which was being carried by a thin, spindly boy with droopy eyes.
The boy was also carrying a stool to help Alexander write the letter on, which thetter greatly appreciated Takfiz''s foresight for considering.
And so after a light thank you, Alexander took the paper, bent down on the hard wooden surfaces, and wrote the following short message,
Dear Tayin,
I''m sorry I missed our appointment today.
I seemed to have gotten caught up with some of my previously scheduled arrangements.
Please return to the manor now, and I will go inspect the ''new priestess quarters'' with you after supper.
Signed,
Your master - Alexander.
Of course, the ''new priestess quarters'' was euphemism for the brothel, used as such to hide the building''s true purpose from any prying eyes.
Alexander folded this letter and handed it to the boy, with the instructions, "Take this to the Gaia temple and hand it to the archpriest, Theocles there. Say that it is from the pasha himself and he is to deliver the letter to the Sacred Priestess as soon as possible."
Alexander did not know the exact house address of the new establishment and he also did not want the boy to know where Ophenia was, and that''s why he sent the letter to Theocles.
"Understood, my lord," The boy readily epted the order, and then after a bow, strode out to get a horse and rode off.
And while Alexander waited for the letter to be delivered, instead of returning to his manor, he had onest thing to do, which was to solve Harun''s coal storage problem.
And to do this, he gave Takfiz the following orders, "Takfiz, in three days I want you to gather six thousand thousand men."
As soon as he said so, Takfiz jumped up in fright at the impossible task, and then attempted to loudly voice out his difficulties, "My lord..th..,"
But before he could go too far, Alexander cut him off, and reassured, "I know what you are about to say. And I''m aware of thebor shortage. So let me finish," Alexander held up his palm as he said so.
And then finished by saying, "You can take these men from the woodcutters. The new job will substitute that job."
Alexander intended to use these men to mainly make coal briquettes which could be used as firewood substitutes for cooking.
"....." Takfiz went a bit silent at this huge im, but after remembering what Alexander had aplished, he did not ask any further questions and simply bowed andplied, "As you wish my lord."
"Mnnn," Alexander hummed, and then using the leftover papers, he got down to giving Takfiz some more detailed instructions with the words, "Now look at this."
Alexander then spent the next hour with the caretaker detailing the location, design, and equipment requirements of the coal briquette nt and another workshop that would use most of the coal briquettes, after which he informed the old man that he would visit the site in one week''s time.
"I will try to strive to get everything ready by then," Takfiz promised with a thump on his chest, and finally done with all these, Alexander decided to head back for supper.
Along the way, he thought about his remaining work of the day.
And with these thoughts shed the faces of Ophenia and those three silver-haired beauties.
And as the face of the most problematic girl surfaced in his mind, Alexander was reminded of another task.
''Oh yeah, I nned to have her design some custom wedding cards for me,'' Alexander groaned at the thought of asking that willful girl Mikaya.
But since Alexander was determined to get the best designs on the limited number of cards he wished to print, it had to be her, for her skill with the brush was something Alexander would freely admit and admire.
Mikaya was a genius with the brush no two ways about it.
And with this ufortable discussion looming imminently in front of him, Alexander sluggishly rode to his manor, just in time to see the outsidemps being lit.
''I wonder if Tayin got my message,'' Alexander''s question was answered almost as soon as he asked it to himself, as he met the person in question right on the front steps of the main door.
"Ahh, master, how terrible of you to leave me all alone the entire day!" Ophenia cutely pouted as she whined at Alexander for not making time for her.
''*Sigh*, this girl is bing more spoilt by the day,'' Alexander let out a wry internal chuckle, as he patted the dyed ck hair of the girl and soothed her, "Sorry, sorry. I will visit it after dinner."
This made Ophenia shake her head excitedly and then after exchanging a few general pleasantries like asking about each other''s day, the duo went to their respective baths to shower and prepare themselves for dinner.
Ophenia had be particrly attached to the two times-a-day shower routine, both because Alexander liked it when she took baths, and because of the various hair and body soaps her master had created.
Having a smell fetish meant that thetter point was especially attractive to her, as after each bath, her body would smell like a different kind of flower like roses or dandelions, which she loved.
It was not only Ophenia''s habits that had changed.
In the close to three short months she had been with Alexander, she had changed mentally too, changes which Alexander did not dislike.
Whereas previously she was much more taciturn and wooden-faced, hiding all her emotions, she was now much more expressive and vivacious, at least around Alexander.
Much of her previous facade seemed to have melted away and she appeared much more frank and lively, as she molted out of her fake, polite, charade of a shell to reveal her true self.
This was facilitated by both Alexander''s generous treatment of her''s and by the strengthening of her belief in Alexander, which gave her a newfound purpose in life, which was helping promote and propagate Alexander''s faith.
And with the power and influence that was given to her in the form of the title ''Sacred Priestess,'' it helped her further move away from her previous identity of the weak, defenseless girl trapped in the Shiva temple, and see herself as strong and powerful.
This strong and powerful girl was currently sitting by the dinner table along with the other guests, and trying a new dish her master had created- steamed pork dumplings.
In addition, and in keeping up with his sometimes bizarre entricities, her master had also made two wooden sticks which he called ''chopsticks'' that he was currently using to expertly pick up the hot buns, dip them in a chilly sauce, and gobble them down.
As for her, because she was not yet ustomed to the use of the twin sticks, she was performing the same action with a spoon and fork.
"Lady Mikaya, I have got some of that paper you wanted. Will you have the time after supper so that I might deliver them to you?" Alexander asked Mikaya for an appointment.
To which the reply came with a giggle, "Hehe, oh Alex, you are too good to me. First this new ''dumpling'' dish and then this new papyrus paper. If you continue to court me like this, I might not be able to reject, hehehe."
Her heavyughter caused her abundant peaks to jiggle seductively, though her humorous answer did not seem to impress her audience, and her use of the word ''Alex'' irked Cambyses, as Alexander only cidly spoke, "Then let us meet in your room after supper. I also would like tomission some artwork to Your Grace."
This statement raised some curious gazes, which Alexander did not bother addressing, and the truly inquisitive like the Queen mother did not bother asking, for she could ask Mikaya directly, while the person in question. Mikaya replied with a grin, "Haha, I would be very happy to create anything you want me to My lord. But please remember that mymission is not cheap."
Her lips were curled up in a devilish arch and her eyes glowed with a crafty light, which Alexander very much understood the message of.
And that was that she was tired of waiting and could not wait till Alexander fulfilled his promise.
''Well, it''s good that I will take her on a visit tonight,'' Alexander said to himself, as he replied to Mikaya with the promise to pay her ''just'' dues.
Chapter 331 Visiting The Brothel (Part-1)
After finishing dinner, Alexander found himself escorted to Mikaya''s room, and the very first thing that the girl said after they entered was, "Well, I hope you are ready to pay my ''just'' dues, lord Pasha."
The heavy euphemism was not lost on either of them, as Alexander informed her, "Like I said yesterday, I''m going to inspect the building a bitter. And if everything goes well, it could be opened this week."
This reassurance finally abated some of the acridness in the girl''s heart, as she asked with a slight sparkle in her eyes, "Then take me with you today. I too want to see the arrangements for myself."
She was particrly interested in the so-called ''wallbutt''.
This excitement in her voice was palpable, as by now her pent-up desire was close to the breaking point, and could not wait to get for the opening.
Alexander consented to this, as he suggested, "Okay, then let the night darken a bit more. And we can take Nafia and Tajia too."
The dy was of course suggested to make sure that the Queen mother and her daughter would be asleep by that point, and not cause any unforeseen inquiries.
And this was also something that Alexander wanted to confirm with Mikaya as he asked, "Oh, have you made sure that the Queen mother will not look for you during the night? Because that would be trouble."
"Yes, I have," Mikaya answered affirmatively and then delineated, "After your promise forty-eight (48) days ago," Mikaya made a point to stress just how it was taking Alexander to fulfill his promise, as she then continued, "I made sure to have Nafia and Tajia reject a number of Seelima''s night visits using various excuses, such as saying I was tired, sleeping or busy painting."
"And after the first few times hearing my voice from outside the door, she stopped visiting me at night altogether. So as long as one of them stays behind it will be no problem." Mikaya stated confidently.
The act of visiting others at night was amon practice, as after sundown, even nobles would find it difficult to pass the long twelve hours, or in the case of winter, almost fifteen hours of close to total darkness, save for the soft illumination of candles.
So they would try to spend this boring time with things like reading books, which were extremely expensive to procure and were even in very short supply, pursuing hobbies like painting or writing poems, or the easier activity, which was chatting and gossiping with one''s friends and family.
Alexander was impressed that Mikaya took all these prudent steps on her own initiative, and thus nodded appreciatively at her.
And then to pass the remaining time, Mikaya turned to see that a brand new stack of A3 size papers had been delivered to her desk, courtesy of Alexander.
"So, this is the paper you were talking about? It''s big, and thick," Those were Mikaya''s firstments as she inspected the painting paint specifically made for her, picking it up by the top edges and feeling the quality of it with her fingers.
"If mydy wishes she can try using some colors on it. See how it feels. We do have got some time in our hands," Alexander offered as he took a seat on the nearby couch and enjoyed a sip of apple juice, not feeling like having wine today.
"Then I will not be polite," Mikaya readily epted as she fixed a paper sheet on her easel stand, took out her brush, and color ptes, got some water for the paints, and started trying out this new canvas.
"It feels very nice! So smooth!" She cried out in joy as the paintbrush glided over the t surface, and then for almost the next hour busied herself with her newfound material.
While in the meantime Alexander scribbled designs on the paper to show to Mikaya for some of his wedding invitation card designs.
Off in her own world, it was only muchter that Mikaya remembered that Alexander was still there, to which she inquired, "Alex, why are you still here? We can meet upter, right?" immediately after which she let out a cat-like sly smile and giggled, "Or could it be you are waiting for your reward? Hehehe, go on then, ask. Aunt will satisfy you." Mikaya always loved to present herself as the senior of the two.
''More like you will satisfy you,'' Alexander rolled his eyes at Mikaya hungrily licking her lips, while thinking that her actual nephews might be in danger of losing their cherries to thisscivious aunt of theirs.
Alexander did not doubt Mikaya would be more than willing to have a tussle in the bed with him, or anywhere else for that matter, which he had no intention of taking part in.
"Actually I do have amission for you," Atst given the chance to speak, Alexander said, making Mikaya a bit surprised.
She had thought that was just Alexander''s excuse said in front of everybody.
But it seemed she was wrong as Alexander got up, and showed the various wavy, spirally, and patterned embroidery sketches he had drawn on the paper and then spent some time exining to her the concept of wedding cards and the decorations on them.
"Oh¡that''s quite nice!" Mikaya nodded appreciatively at this new concept, and then inquired, "Does my lord want me to use these designs, or can I make my own?"
''You won''t make anything weird right?'' Alexander''s worry was flushed on his face, to which Mikaya heartilyughed, "Hahaha, I''m not that kind of a prankster, Alex. I know my limits after all."
Alexander was reassured by this, though he highly doubted the second statement, as he consented, "Then, I will have to impose on you."
"Good, then when do you want them by?" Mikaya asked.
"Hmmm," Alexander hummed in his thought and after a while decided to make Mikaya work a bit more to earn her rent.
So he said, "Mydy, I have noticed you have very nice handwriting and a masterful grasp of the words. So might it be possible for you to design the cards and also write the invitation?"
"Ohh?" Mikaya was pleasantly surprised by this request, as after a moment she slyly giggled, "Hehehe, sure, but that will cost more."
"....." Alexander did not take the bait and only gave her a light smile, after which he spent a while exining to her the types of information he wanted in his card and theyout and design of them.
In this way, soon the time for the inspection drew near, which was told to them by a knock on the door.
"Master, is it time yet?" Ophenia''s expectant voice rang out from outside, to which Alexander quickly dered, "Yes, yes. Tell Hemicus to prepare the carriage. We are setting off right now."
And so Alexander soon put on a thick coat, and hurriedly met Ophenia at the front door apanied by Mikaya and her two maids, all wrapped in head to toe with the finest wool, their hooded overcoat hiding almost everything.
Alexander had asked them to dress like this as their silver hair was too iconic, and soon they got into arge carriage and set off to inspect Ophenia''s new business venture.
"Is that hair dye ready?" Alexander asked Ophenia while riding in the carriage, remembering that Ophenia had said that she had a hair dye that could color hair ck and not be washed away with water, only with alcohol.
"Yes, it''s in my room. I will deliver it to Lady Mikaya tomorrow. Ohh and also to her¡umm. guests" Ophenia said, pausing a bit and creatively avoiding using the word maid to address the two baronesses.
An endeavor she did not need to do as Nafia corrected her with pride oozing out of her, "We are mistress''s maids. Not guests."
''You sure are loyal considering what is about to happen to you,'' Alexander felt the things Mikaya had said about Nafia might be true, that she might be the one most promiscuous of the three, as he then added to himself, ''Well, we will soon find out.''
Alexander kept these thoughts to himself, as he then asked Ophenia, "Have you chosen who will run the day-to-day operations of the brothel?"
Ophenia could not certainly look after the establishment 24/7, both because of her work as the Sacred Priestess and because a high-profiledy visiting such a ce regrly would be too scandalous.
Even when nobles owned such properties, it was the custom to let ''the lesser folks'' manage its activities.
"Yes, I have. She is waiting for master there," Ophenia answered affirmatively, adding, "She was introduced to me by mistress. Maybe master knows her? Her name is Kalopi."
"Ohh, her?" Alexander nodded as he recalled the name.
She was one of the ve women in Nestoras''s mercenary group who used to work under Cambyses when she was made assistant quartermaster.
She seemed to be a woman in her early forties, and Alexander remembered she had two sons who were in the army, but other than that Alexander did not know much about her.
Alexander had always assumed her to be in Theocles''s camp, as he was the real quartermaster of the group, but it would seem there was more to it than that.
Presumably, Cambyses found her trustworthy enough to rmend her for such an important post.
"Kalopi''s good." Alexander gave a generic reply of approval, as he then spent the rest of the time in general, light-hearted conversations like talking about the weather until they finally arrived at their destination.
Chapter 332 Brothel Visit (Part-2)
"Mydy, please" Opening the door, a guardsman offered a small wooden portable step to help Mikaya get off, and in this way, once the carriage was vacated of all thedies, Alexander himself exited the inconspicuous wooden traveling box and looked ahead toy his eyes on the establishment in front of him.
He could not see all the details very well in the dark, but the size and architecture was¡well,
unimpressive and ordinary.
Those were the two adjectives that came to Alexander''s mind as he inspected the building in front of him, chosen by Ophenia to be his arguably most dangerous business.
Of course, it had to be pointed out that the building was not shabby or anything like rundown, in fact, it was a perfectly nice-lookingrge house that obviously belonged to a person of quite a status, but it was also not anything head-turning like Alexander''s manor or some of the other structures in the city like the Temple of Ramuh.
It just looked like a generic, posh looking three storied building, the likes of which could be found in many parts of the city.
And this was what pleased Alexander about this external appearance.
For it was exactly what he had asked Ophenia to do, make it discreet among the many rich houses so that few would look twice at it in their day-to-day.
ording to Alexander, this business of his would be kept mostly hush and hush, as it was mainly designed to help Mikaya meet her urges and get her to write nice letters to her father, all so that Alexander would have a reliable partner to trade with.
And thus Alexander''s goal was not to earn money from this, nor did he intend to do such for fear of drawing rich clients like nobles.
And if they somehow recognized Mikaya,...Alexander did not dare think of the shit storm that would raise.
Hence the dull, inconspicuous exterior matched Alexander''s needs just fine.
A sentiment that Ophenia wanted to confirm as she asked, "Is master satisfied this the building? It''s not too gaudy is it?"
But before Alexander could express his approval, a sharp, curt voice retorted, "Looks like a dump! Will anyone want toe here?"
This all too familiar voice was of Mikaya''s, who, having the preferences for not the finer, but the finest things in life, thought her work abode''s appearance was too beneath her.
Seeing the haughty look from the spoilt princess, Alexander could barely stop himself from clenching his teeth as he cursed, ''This girl is such a pain in my ass. I can''t dump her. I can''t bear with her.''
Ophenia on the other hand handled this usation much better, by politely smiling and softly soothing the disgruntled beauty, "Lady Mikaya, I''m sorry that we had not had the time to renovate the outer walls. But I promise you that the inside will live up to your refined taste. We spent a lot of effort on that."
This seemed to cate the girl, and seizing this moment of silence, Alexander quickly diverted the group''s attention as he urged, "Mydies, it''s too cold outside. Let us hurry inside."
And then turned to Hemicus and instructed, "Have the men stay outside and guard all the exits and entrances. I will be fine on my own."
Thismand produced a slightly conflicted look on Hemicus''s face, as he attempted to persuade his lord, "But, my lord, going into an unknown building all alone, that''s not safe¡.So please allow us to apany you."
But Alexander did not want even Hemicus to know the true purpose of this building.
Sure being around Alexander, he might be able to guess what was happening.
But Alexander did not want the man to know everything explicitly.
And so insisted, reassuring the bodyguard, "Don''t worry, it is a ce Tayin knows very well. And besides, I''m armed, *slink*," Alexander then showed the sword hanging by the hips by unsheathing a bit of it.
Seeing Alexadner''s forceful resistance, Hemicus relented, saying, "Then please take care of yourself." but then added an addendum, "And I will check on you every hour."
Alexander did not think the whole visit would take that long, and so epted with the single-worded reply, "Sure."
And so the group of five made their way to the front door, which was opened by the two guards standing in front of therge oak door, and was then immediately greeted by a deafening, enthusiastic chorus, "My lord, wee."
It seemed all the residents of the building were waiting by the door to greet Alexander in two rows and they fully bowed at their master''s arrival, with the leader being none other than Kalopi.
Alexander lightly smiled at this reception, as he then slowly raised his right hand and said, "Haha, I''m sorry to have troubled all of you sote. Please, please rise your heads, everybody."
"No, no, my lord,ing to visit us can never be troubling us. Honored! We can only be honored!" Kalopi humbly replied back, and after a few more niceties, escorted the group to a private saloon where they were served drinks by the woman appointed in charge of the building herself.
Alexander took the served cold wine as he took the time to finally notice the changes that had urred to the former subordinate of Cambyses.
Whereas previously Kalopi was unremarkable with gaunt cheeks, loose skin, bad teeth, and various spots on her skin, currently she appeared to have rosy cheeks, fair skin, and a heavily powdered face to hide all the imperfections, letting Alexander marvel not at her beauty, but at the transformation.
''Hmm, never trust a girl with her makeup on,'' Alexander drew this thought, as he opened the conversion, "Kalopi, it is nice to see you again. How are things going?"
"Great, master, thanks to mistress Cambyses great!" The older woman did not forget to praise her benefactor as she very animatedly answered Alexander.
"Mmmm," Alexander wordlessly only hummed and as it was already deep into the night, got to the meat of the business as he asked, "So I was thinking of meeting the girls. Will that be possible?"
The reason for this impatience was because Alexander was dead tired after touring all the workshops the whole day and wished to finish the tour as soon as possible and return to his warmfy bed in his manor.
"Of course, my lord. At once my lord," Kalopi immediately bolted straight at the request as she then strode over to open the door, and then as if summoned by magic, a group of exactly seven girls walked inside the room in unison.
It seems they were just outside. waiting for Alexander''s words.
The girls were scantily d, with clothing that would at best be considered adequate as a negligee, with all their assetsid out in disy for Alexander to inspect, standing shoulder to shoulder in attention with their heads held high and hands sped to the back.
It was a beautiful sight to behold, but the first thing that Alexander noticed was some of the girl''s skin being slightly blue, likely caused by standing in the cold, almost freezing hallways in such bare clothing.
''Well it''s good the room at least has heating,'' Alexander could onlyment that such was the value ofmon folk.
If Kalopi wanted she could have asked the girls to undress once inside, but such was the general worldview of the time.
Alexander decided not to heckle Kalopi with this for the time being and instead turned his focus to the fleshly delights being shown off to him, as he took some time to scan the girls and their assets.
The girls finally having had some much-needed warmth quickly had their skin return to a healthy reddish glow, while Alexander inspected therge range of options he was being offered, ranging from one short petite girl to mostly medium-built gals to two a bit busty women.
''I can see why most dictators have so-called pleasure squads. The allure is almost irresistible,'' Alexander could not help butment as he scanned the faces of the girls which ranged from being alright, to cute to one heart sharped that Alexander found to be charming.
This procedure particrly reminded Alexander of how so many dictators even in his modern times would have scores and scores of women attending to him, ranging from the North Korean Kippumjo, or pleasure brigade, to Gaddafi''s infamous Amazoness Brigade, to Fidel Castro reportedly having slept with 35,000 women.
And this was not even mentioning the exploits of ancient and medieval kings and warlords, with the most famous, or perhaps the infamous benign Gengis Khan, who vited so many women that 1 in 200 people could trace their origins back to him.
And while Alexander reviled such acts in his previous life, once presented it to him in actuality, he found the act to be very addictive.
As Alexander thought these obtuse thoughts, he noticed that all the girls were trying to sh the best smile of their life as they gazed at him, their lips curving upward almost unnaturally. Perhaps because they were trying too hard or maybe because they were afraid of offending the all-powerful person sipping wine in front of them, their smiles appeared cramped and forced, almost as if they were holding back their tears, causing Alexander tompoon, ''If feels like I''m holding a gun to their head and forcing them to smile. I''m not that scary am I?''
But this disy also made Alexander understand that with these novices, the opening might take a few more weeks. as he noted, ''Hmmm, they need more training.''
Chapter 333 Inspecting The Girls
Alexander originally had very low expectations of his new working girls as he said to himself, ''I was ready to see the only girls Ophenia had managed to scrounge together were bony, skinny cadavers. Ugly to look at and even uglier to be around.''
This was because any girl worth being called remotely beautiful would have likely either already sold herself to very for food, either her parents would have sold her to very for food, or had gotten herself captured into very.
While any girl from remotely a good family or those with the means would have likely left the hellhole that Zanzan had once be.
And since Alexander had strictly forbidden Ophenia from recruiting ve women into this business, and further restricted her choice by asking her to take healthy girls only eighteen and above, he had been very skeptical about the prospects of getting anyone decent to host in his brothel.
Thus he was pleasantly surprised to see there were actually seven such candidates standing in front of him.
''They are not half bad. Though their smiles could use a bit of work,'' Alexander jokingly added thestment.
"It''s a pleasure to meet all of you. I''m Alexander," Alexander then gave a candid smile to the girls as he tried to rx the tense girls.
But it seemed the result was not quite what he had expected, as all seven of them simultaneously started talking in an effort to answer him, their flustered voices being mashed into a jumbled cacophony of nonsense.
"I''m¡"
"We¡"
"Thank.."
Alexander could make little out of the jumbled mess.
Seeing this rude behavior, Kalopi''s sharp scolding pierced the void of chaotic din, as she barked, "Manners girls!"
This loud cry had its intended effect, causing all of the girls to be quiet as a church mouse, after which the madam instructed, "Now, introduce yourself one by one to the lord Pasha."
Obeying thismand, the tallest in the group stepped forward, decorated with jeweled silver bracelets on her forearms and wearing a golden cor on her neck, as she bowed and said her name, while at the same time letting Alexander fully gaze at her deep, lush valley.
And this procedure was followed by the remaining six, as they all presented themselves by saying, "My lord, I am¡", followed by their name.
Alexander then spent a small time asking about themselves, their families, and why they decided to join such a line of work.
And the answer varied from due to food, to earning money for their families, to ''wanting to serve the lord'' for one particr woman.
This answer made Alexander look at Ophenia with a bit of a raised eyebrow as he wondered what she had told the girls to get them to join.
"Master, do you like any girls from here?" Sensing Alexander''s gaze, Ophenia gave a mischievous smile, as she then suggested, " Feel free to choose any one of your likings. Or all of them if you want."
And as soon as she said so, as they had practiced for this scenario before, the girls immediately shed all their few clothes, the rustling of which drew Alexander''s attention.
And as the scenery of seven young, nude girls standing in attention was at once presented to him, it caused a slight twitch to form on his lips, as he said to himself, "Tayin''s handiwork no doubt.''
The beautiful figures had chests that varied from small growing nes to maturing apples, to one overgrown melon, their hips curved beautifully shaped outward with fully shaved pubes.
It seemed Ophenia remembered that Alexander preferred it barren down there.
But that was not the end of the girls'' showing off as soon they opened their legs a bit and used their fingers as hooks to pry open their slightly moist secret flowers, while Ophenia proudlymented, "Look, master, they are all pink and healthy. Just like you asked. So which one would you like?"
It seemed Ophenia could not wait to see Alexander take these girls right here, right now.
"*Gulp*," Alexander could only swallow an audible gulp at this point while staring at the seven holes hungrily squirming for his cock, while his pants formed a distinct tent, rying the message his mouth seemed unable to say.
And noticing this, Ophenia decided to push her master that bit more, as she turned to the girls and breezily said, "Girls, it seems master is unsatisfied with your holes. So show the lord the other one."
This order made Alexander think, ''Are they gonna do what I think¡''
But he did not get to finish that thought as it happened exactly as he suspected.
Hearing their mistress''smand, the girls turned around, bent over, and used their hands to part their fleshly ass, letting Alexander fully savor seven dark puckered holes all at once, all seeming to wiggle and swerve hypnotically in front of him.
''There are fourteen holes staring back at me! All at once!'' Alexander was certainly very excited by this disy.
It went without saying that this was the first time he had witnessed such a sight, as his eye drank in the sight of the mysterious deep holes atop the ass and the drooling slits below, while his nose drowned in the sweet ambrosia of these eager nubile girls.
"Go on master, cop a feel. I won''t bite, hehe," One of the girls, whom Alexander recognized as the first one to introduce herself, rang her voice with a giggle while wiggling her butt temptingly at Alexander.
Situated at the center of the group, she was the most endowed of the seven, possessing a fleshly butt that held an almost irresistible temptation to an ass man like Alexander.
''Hmmmm, she seems different from the rest,'' Alexander recalled she had introduced herself by the name Akisha and her demeanor appeared much different from the rest.
But those distinctions could wait, as Alexander could not help but take the offer and sink his palms into the fleshy rump, and he immediately reveled in the exquisite sensation, causing him to give the beautiful buttocks a couple of squeezes.
This drew lustful moans from the girl, who urged, "Ahh, yes, master. Touch my pussy and ass too."
Her pleadings were sweet as a canary and made Alexander feel soft to the bones, causing him toment, ''Well she is certainly a professional,'' while wondering if she had any prior experience.
After Alexander enjoyed the nice rear for a couple of squeezes more, he did not explore further as requested by the girl, for that was not why he came here today.
Instead, he withdrew his hand, much to Akisha''s disappointment, asked them to stand up straight and then sinctly excused the girls with the words, "Okay, it was nice meeting you girls. I wille to visit you another time. Bye."
This abrupt end to the meeting, even before the festivities couldmence drew a slightly awkward pause, while producing a variety of very subtle reactions in the girls, with some being relieved that they will not have to sleep with this ''scary'' man, some being happy to be able to finally put on back their clothes, and some being disappointed that they could noty with this powerful man and perhaps gain his favor.
But they all tried their best to hide these emotions as best as they could, trying to keep a charming, deferential facade as they bowed, and in unison bid their goodbye by saying, "Then master we eagerly wait for your return."
The girls then left the room in an orderly manner, and once the room was vacated, Alexander turned to Ophenia with a light smile and at first congratted her with the words, "Tayin, I''m impressed with the girls. They are a lot better than I expected."
"Hehehe, thank you master." Ophenia lightly smiled the reply, adding, "Though they were not at all like that when I first recruited them. Back then they were almost bare skin and bones, ugly and scrawny to look at."
"And it was only after making them eat eight meals a day for thest month did they finally grow some meat on them," Ophenia informed Alexander.
''Hmmm, eating lots of small meals in short intervals is a quick way to gain weight. Wonder where she learned it from?'' Alexander nodded approvingly at Ophenia.
While Mikaya eximed in surprise at the frequency of the meals, "Eight times a day!" looking at Ophenia in askance for a bit more exnation.
"...." But Ophenia only lightly smiled and nodded, not bothering to borate further.
It would only beter when she would be alone with Alexander that she would inform him that she learned the technique from the Temple of Shiva who practiced such methods to quickly improve the health of its new recruits.
And the reason why she did not say this out loud was because she did not want Mikaya to know about her connection with the Temple.
Ophenia declining to answer Mikaya produced a slightly awkward pause, one which Alexander quickly endeavored to fill as he asked, "Tayin, that girl named Akisha, she seemed different from the rest. Who is she?"
To Alexander, that girl''s demeanor appeared much more refined than the rest, and her figure was well-fed and thick.
Regr peasants did not have these characteristics and Alexander suspected she was a noble.
Which could mean trouble.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 334 Akisha-Jonaki
Due to the sensitive nature of the establishment, Alexander had asked Ophenia to thoroughly vet all girls to make sure no problem would ariseter.
This was also one of the reasons why he had asked her not to recruit ves as these people''s roots were difficult to trace once they were sold to the ve merchants.
"Oh, her!" Ophenia recognized the girl Alexander was talking about, as she detailed, "ording to her, she was a noble''s daughter some time ago."
"But something had happened to her family during the drought, causing them to fall out with Pasha Muazz. And then it seems they were subsequently killed off somehow." Ophenia very sinctly introduced her.
"Something that caused a fallout? Somehow killed? What are the specifics?" Alexander disliked ambiguous answers and thus inquired pointedly.
Thest thing that he wanted was for a noble rtive toe knocking at his brothel''s door looking for his long-lost daughter, granddaughter, niece, or whoever.
Alexander did not need that kind of attention.
"She couldn''t say." Ophenai unfortunately shook her head, rying, "She says she was not told anything about the disagreements. And the reason she escaped the massacre was because she was away for her bliss training."
Alexander believed the first part of the im.
Women were generally not informed of political matters, which was primarily seen as a male-dominated sector.
And besides, she was likely a child then.
What would she do knowing such things?
As for the second im, it was Mikaya''s interest that was drawn to it, for she asked Ophenia, "Oh? Can sister remember which trainer she tutored under?"
''Sister?'' Alexander was a bit surprised hearing this familiar endearment out of Mikaya who usually talked to the girls using .''You'' or calling directly calling them by their name as she usually saw all of them beneath her in terms of wealth, status, and even beauty.
But it seems that since Ophenia held, at least partially, the keys to her entertainment, she was willing to suck up to her.
''Ever flexible,'' Alexander noted this fact to his remember, while this word also made Alexander remember her physical flexibility, and how she had done the standing splits while he first had her.
"I''m sorry, I can''t recall at the moment." Ophenia again ruefully shook her head as the name seemed to have escaped her, and so she quickly offered, "Let me call and ask her."
But Alexander interjected, saying, "No need. You can do thatter." and then quickly asked, "The more important question is why is she here instead of being with them? Oh, and who was her family?"
"Her family was Talukder (Vicount)..um..let''s see¡I believe she said her father''s name was Talukder Humany." Ophenia first answered thetter part of the question after a bit of memory recall.
And then answered the former, "And ording to her after her family was killed¡ohh¡I remember she said they were burnt in their house. And then her trainer''s house seemed to have been pressured to hand her over. But before they could make their decision, she ran away from them."
"Huh, a lone girl managed to survive outside for so long as a free person? How did that happen?" Alexander, along with the others seemed to find this tall im unbelievable.
If she was really wanted there had to be men looking for her, and being in and ravaged by drought, how could she have gotten food and lodging without detection?
It all seemed too improbable.
As all curious gazes pointed at the Sacred Priestess, she quickly answered the group to alleviate their doubts, detailing "ording to her, luckily Amenheraft''s army was nearby. And so she just started marching behind them and then stayed in the camp by pretending that she was one of the ve chore girls. She did various odd jobs in the days and would sleep around the horses at night." Ophenia recounted, and then continued,
"And this went on for a year until the coup when Amenheraft returned to Zanzan to regroup. And then she somehow escaped while Amenheraft was crazily rounding up the men, causing the security around the camp to momentarily fall," Ophenia finished her speech with this.
While a bitter incredulously added, "Also by some dumb luck, she was not raped in the entire period. Even she seemed to be surprised by that. And I confirmed it."
Mikaya could not help butment, "Well I guess miracles do happen," at thest sentence, a thought shared by all, as Akisha managing to leave unscathed under the circumstances was miraculous no doubt about it.
Even the usually skeptical Alexander found the tale incredible and though convinced for the time being, he decided he would verify the girl''s imter by himself, while saying to himself,
He did not want to have any loose threads when it came to this brothel.
And he was sure that there had to be mention of one Humany in his study if he did exist.
But he decided to put that thought on hold for the time being, for right now he decided to ask the established noble with him if she knew anything about it.
"Does the name Talukder (Vicount) Humany ring any bell?" He asked Mikaya.
But she answered negatively, "No, I don''t much about anyone below Matbars (Marquis). Maybe a few famous Jamidars (Earls), but even those are a handful. Sorry,"
Alexander nodded understandingly at this, for Adhania was a huge country with probably hundreds if not thousands of various noble houses.
Who could remember them all?
The royal family had an entire ministry under it to do just that and it still found it hard to keep track of all of them.
But Mikaya was not totally useless, as she shared her own views on the story, saying, "Personally I think the girl''s im could be true. Thest few years have been very chaotic for Adhania. And acts previously not thought possible like killing off entire noble houses were indeed done in this time period. Especially against small houses like Shordars (Barons) and Talukders (Vicounts)."
"Hmmm, that slimeball does seem like that kind of person," Alexander loudlymented about Pasha Muazz hearing this, though this made Ophenia mischievously retort, "But master, you killed a lot more nobles than him."
"Hahahaha," As soon as she said this, a chorus ofughter rang out from Mikaya and her maids, which was soon joined by Ophenia while Kalopi tried her hardest to stifle herughter, while Alexander could purse his lips.
''This girl¡'' Alexander could only helplessly shake his head at Ophenia and soothe himself by saying that finally the genuine Ophenia was showing herself.
"Master, do you not want her?" After the light-hearted banter ended, Ophenia seriously asked.
If Alexdner did not want her, he could just say so and did not need to go through so much trouble.
''Hmmm, do I throw her out just because of some hunch?'' Alexander ruminated, feeling a bit bad about throwing out the helpless orphan.
If he did do that, without any external help, she would likely be sold as a ve and then possibly end up in the same business with a much worse master.
"No, keep her if she is not a problem," Alexander thus decided, and then quickly added, "But change her name. Tell her Akisha is dead, and from now on she is Jonaki."
"That''s great master." Ophenia''s cheer seemed unusually enthusiastic, an action she quickly exined herself, "Actually when I was first recruiting her, she seemed reluctant. But the moment I said that she could have the chance toy with you my lord, her attitude changed instantly. Though Iter understood that she probably wishes for you to have revenge on Muazz," Ophenia added off-topic.
But then quickly returned to the reason for such an exaggerated reaction, "Anyway, she is really skilled with her mouth. And I thought it would be a shame for master to miss out on that, hehehe."
Such a simple reason made Alexander involuntarily gape a bit, as he realized that Ophenia really liked spoiling him.
But then he could not help but yfully ask, "Oh? And how do you know about that? Did you try it?"
"Hahaha, no, but the guards around here did," Ophenia readily replied, continuing, "And that''s how we teach the girls here. We blindfold some off-duty men and then have the girls try their skills on them."
"I show them using a wooden dildo, while Kalopi instructs them when they are actually doing the stuff." Ophenia finished.
She, being Alexander''s woman did not like to be in the same room when these things were taking ce, thus leaving the job to Kalopi, who by virtue of her age alone and being a former ve had extensive experience with these matters.
And she too supported Ophenia''s im, saying, "That''s right master. Among all the girls, Jonaki is on an another level. She can make most of these punks spurt like a faucet with just a suck. A born whore."
Her vulgar vocabry gave away her low origin.
But Alexander decided not to continue with this conversion as hemented, "Well, it seems the guards here living the dream. Seven literal whores hungry for their stuff."
The slight displeasure in Alexander''s voice was caught on by Ophenia, who quickly said, "Don''t worry master. These guards will not grow attached to the girls. Once their training is over, I will change the men with a fresh batch."
This alleviated the security concerns of Alexander, who nodded and said, "That''s good."
And then finally decided to move on to the building inspection, or more specifically the wall inspection.
Chapter 335 Mikayas Stage (Part-1)
"Okay, enough distractions," Seeing they had gone off-topic, and wasting time Alexander urged the group to refocus and then turned to Kalopi to ask, "So Kalopi, do you know the main reason why I started this business?"
"Yes. ording to Lady Tayin, it was because master wanted to earn some money by using some of the high-quality ves you were gifted by the king." She gave the official answer.
Immediately after she turned to look at Mikaya and the other two as she respectfully said, "And I presume they are thesedies. It is an honor." She slightly bowed.
They might be ves, but they were still noble ves.
Though it had to be noted that Kalopi was not fooled by this story spun by Ophenia.
At least not totally.
Because a few moments ago, Alexander had made the small mistake of asking Mikaya if she knew a noble Hamany and she had answered she only knew Matbars (Marquis) and above.
''What kind of ve knows the name of all such bigshots?'' The clever Kalopi reasoned.
Though of course no matter how clever she could not actually discern the real reasons behind the brothel or the true identity of Mikaya.
ording to her, thesedies were captured former nobles and that Alexander was punishing them by doing this, or more likely, given how chumpy he appeared to be with them, had a strange fetish of watching his women do such activities.
And while very wrong, this rhetoric suited Alexander fine, as it still meant that the woman in charge of the day-to-day of the brothel would keep her mouth shut.
In fact, knowing it was her master''s secret, shameful desire, she might hide it even more for fear of exposing it and drawing his full ire.
''Well I guess you get these illnesses when you be a lord,'' Kalopi tried to find a reason for this deviant behavior using her own limited knowledge.
"Yes, that''s right," Alexander was pleasantly surprised by this innovative answer, sending a look of approval to Ophenia.
And then said, "Let me introduce you to them, Thedy on the left, is Hiya," Alexander pointed to Nafia, and then pronounced the stage names for Mikaya and Tajia respectively, saying, "The one on the middle is Kyaya, and the maiden on the right is Zhee. They are all sisters."
Calling Tajia a maiden could be in contention to the biggest lie of the century, and those in the know had to purse their lips tight to swallow theughter.
Alexander ignored these unprofessional actors and instead continued with his speech, now giving Kalopi some strict instructions, "You will see thesedies two to three times a week in the brothel. They will usually do their own stuff and not generally interact with you."
"But when they do, you are to do as they ask you. If they tell you to jump, you won''t ask why or where. You simply jump. Clear?" Alexander pointedly asked in a sharp, serious tone, his eyes narrowing with slits.
"Perfectly master," Kalopi''s answer had a little shake to it as she bowed deferentially towards him.
She had never heard Alexander speak with such authority and it made her realize messing with these three would not end well for her.
''Looks like he really has that fetish,'' And this reaction made Kalopi even more convinced that Alexander very much loved these women but had a weird preference, a conclusion further reinforced when she thought back on the arrangements around the famous wall.
"Okay, you are excused. I will let Tayin show me the rest of the way," Alexander then abruptly decided to dismiss the building''s caretaker, which drew a slightly shocked face from the woman in question.
And though she wanted to stay a bit longer to fish for some favor for her two sons, she cleverly understood Alexander was in a hurry and not in the mood.
"Then please take care master. And I will be avable any time you require," Kalopi thus bowed to the pasha, further bowed to Mikaya and co, and then swiftly vacated the room, her long gown sashing across the carpeted floor.
And while on her way to her room, a thought that she would have described as totally absurd just some time ago now crept into her mind, for it did not seem impossibly far-fetched, and that was, ''I wonder if mistress Cambyses will ever serve here one day.''
Alexander would haveughed if he could hear that, but for now, he had better things to do, as he asked Ophenia, "Tayin, give a tour of the premises. And we can talk further as we walk."
"Is that why master sent Kalopi away? Because you did not trust her to know everything?" Ophenia cleverly asked as she got up and put on her coat.
The room had adequate heating so the group had shed those heavy garments after entering.
"Yes." Alexander simply answered as he imitated Ophenia''s example, and then asked, "So how much do you trust her?"
''Since she was rmended by mistress I trust her quite a bit. At least enough to her keep eyes, and mouth shut." Ophenia answered, and followed it up with a scary insinuation, "And besides, I heard she has two sons in the military."
''....Well at least Cambyses has a reliable helper'' Alexander found Ophenia''s willingness to use such methods not distasteful but admirable.
A ruler must be kind to his subjects and ruthless to his enemies, both internal and external ones.
"Is shepetent?" Mikaya asked this, for she was worried that Kalopi might have been chosen due to her political reliability and not her abilities.
Mikaya did not want to see any mishap happen here.
"Don''t worry, Sister Mikaya. She will not wreck your yground," Ophenia sent a fake, passive-aggressive smile at the woman, returning the favor of when Mikaya had called her sister.
She did not like having her subordinates'' abilities doubted, especially by someone as snobby as Mikaya.
And she especially did not like being called sister by her.
"That''s good¡sister," Mikaya too returned the exact charming cod smile and further emphasized the word.
''Catfight! Catfight! Catfight!'' Alexander silently cheered in his mind seeing this brutal verbal exchange.
But it appeared that thedies chose to remain civil instead, and so Alexander decided not to poke at them.
Instead, he decided to answer Mikaya on Ophenia''s behalf and alleviate some of the tension, saying, "Kalopi helped Cambyses with the supplies in my mercenary group. So she has enough skills to keep track of the books. She won''t run the business down."
"And if she could keep a thousand brawny men from stealing supplies, she can keep seven harmless women from causing trouble," Alexander reassured her.
This produced a slightly relieved nod from Mikaya, while Ophenia was by this point at the door, and gestured, "Well, master let''s go."
And thus Alexander exited thevishly decorated study, which had been adorned with the usual luxuries nobles of Adhania liked to festoon their personal rooms with, frescos, mosaics, expensive bronze chandeliers, rare and expensive furniture, the whole lot and made his way to the spacious hallways.
And as soon as he stepped into it, "Hahhggg," Alexander could not help but give a shivering moan as the coldness hit his face.
He could hardly believe that such an immense temperature difference could exist between a single door.
Though even his house was like this.
This was because without electric heating, it was generally very hard to efficiently keeprge open spaces like castles and manors fully climate controlled.
For to do such a thing, there had to be either some kind of heating mechanism beneath the floor, such as hot steam or smoke, or a nearby firece.
The former was very expensive to build and maintain, and the results would diminish when drastically applied over such arge area.
Furthermore, these heavy installments were really only feasible to be ced on the first floor.
And thus heating would not be possible on upper floors like the second floor which Alexander was currently on.
As for thetter, cing a firece every few meters around the entire house was just a stupid idea.
There were smoking and fire hazards, cost concerns, and most of all the issue of space.
And hence the nobles wouldpromise and only heat up a select few rooms that they frequented, like their study, bedroom, and dining room.
While standing in the opulent hallway, Alexander was suddenly reminded that he had forgotten to inquire about a pretty important question.
"Tayin, whose house is this?" Alexander asked Ophenia about the owner of the house she had ''annexed''.
"It was the vacation vi of Matbar (Marquis) Kyaum. I''m told that when he visited Zanzan, he used to stay here." Ophenia replied.
"Matbar (Marquis)?" Alexander raised his right eyebrow in a slight exmation hearing this as he again looked around the surroundings to see if the building matched its owner''s high status.
There were only forty-odd of such peerage in the whole of Adhania, three to four under each pasha, and Alexander was curious to see if his possessions matched his high status.
"Hmmm, the interior seems adequate," Alexander found the hallway expectedlyvishly decorated with expensive marble, embroidery, and pottery.
But then asked, "So why is the outer wall so¡drab?"
Given how shy the interior looked, he would expect its owner to make the outside even more eye-catching.
"I too asked that myself. And we found the house as is," Ophenia too shared Alexander''s confusion, causing the duo to look at the expert present with them in askance.
Chapter 336 Mikayas Stage (Part-2)
Mikaya was without a doubt the most learned among the group when it came to Adhanian nobility.
And since she imed to know all the Matbars (Marquis) in the country, Alexander hoped she could help describe the discrepancy.
Sensing the expectant gaze Mikaya produced a very smug look, and in a patronizing tone said, "It seems my dear Alex is stillcking a bit in Adhania''s custom. So let aunt fill you in."
''Sanctimonious bitch,'' Ophenia could not help mutter silently looking at the silver-haired beauty.
But Mikaya pretended to not notice the cold stare directed at her as she exined,
"The reason for this is because when building any manor in your superior''s territory, it is expected your house will always be¡mmm¡forck of a better word shabbier."
"It''s to show respect and kind of give the idea that you are poorer than your lord." Mikaya finished.
"I see. Thank you," This also helped Alexander understand much of the architecture in the western district, where there were very few ostentatious buildings, mostly belonging to the Temple of Ramuh and its higher-ups.
And they were allowed to do so because they directly served the royal family.
While they talked about these things, the group descended from the second floor to the first floor, and was then led through a small, inconspicuous remote corridor to a small door.
"Master, through here," Ophenia gestured for Alexander to go on first, but this opportunity was snatched by Mikaya who could not wait.
"Let''s see!" She excitedly cried out while pushing open the door and stepping inside, eager to see her den of promised pleasure.
But the moment she saw the interior, she involuntarily let out, "So small."
For the room was about three meters in length and width, which was around the size of a typical small bedroom.
But to a princess like her, the room appeared tiny.
"My room is this? Back home my bed is bigger than this!" Mikaya exaggeratedly eximed.
She did not think there could be enough room in here for the scores of men Alexander had promised would vite her.
"Correction, sister. This room is all three of you," Ophenia gave a very familiar smug smile while saying this.
A smile that seemed to incense Mikaya.
"Lord Alexander, this was not the deal!" She stomped her feet while ring at the man in charge, her formal tone of address showing off her displeasure.
Nose red and with a slightly hysterical undertone to her voice, this was the first time Alexander had seen this ever cool and collected girl lose control of her emotions.
A testament to how much she was looking forward to it.
"Mydy¡"Alexander quickly attempted to cate the riled tigress, but he was swiftly cut off by Ophenia, who softly but firmly said, "I would advisedy Mikaya against jumping to conclusions before actually seeing the thing. Everything will be given to you as promised. So don''t insult my master!" Ophenia had a cold, professional voice that Alexander heard for the first time.
"....." After a brief pause of staring into Ophenia''s chilly, somber eyes, Mikaya uncharacteristically apologized, saying, "I seemed to have let my emotions get the better of me. I''m sorry,dy Tayin."
Ophenia produced a warm smile hearing this, and then sweetly offered, "Please let us enter then. And I will introduce to you how depraved this room can be," Ophenia enticed Mikaya as she strode in front of the group.
Alexander entered the small roomst, and curiously inspected the very barren, sparsely furnished room.
It was mostly empty, with the most eye-catching feature being therge firece that was already roaring, while the only notable furnitures were just three small desk-sized beds situated near the left-hand side wall, and three short tables next to them with trays fully stocked with fruits and water pitchers.
It was only these, all of which were brightly illuminated by three huge chandeliers that seemed to drive away the shadow and make one feel awake just from their sheer luminosity.
"Over here please," Alexander''s thoughts were interrupted by Ophenia who called out to the group from near the center small bed and then gave them some background information about the room first.
"This room was a part of the muchrger outer servants'' quarters. And under master''s orders we heavily renovated to fit our purpose. So let me show everyone the result," She lightly smiled while saying this, and then reached her hands up to unhook the twotches on the wall atop the small bed, causing a trapdoor to open up in the middle of the wall.
*Thud*, the small panel softly hit the thick cement wall, as Ophenia introduced, "I''m sure everyone can guess, but this is the ce where the butt goes," and then slyly suggested, "In fact, it might be easier to just show how the whole thing works. Woulddy Mikaya like to try?"
Ophenia had a crafty smile on her as she asked this.
But Mikaya was way past caring, for she readily epted.
"Sure," By the time Mikaya''s answer came, she was already buck-naked, showing her snow-white skin, full perky breasts, heavenly waist, and a mature silver bush that was already glistening with dew.
It seemed she could not wait.
This kind of behavior no longer fazed Alexander, not after all that he had heard about Mikaya. And so he simply observed silence while Mikaya skipped and hopped to Ophenia and positioned herself into the wall.
She first put her body from below the waist and up to above the knees through the cut hole and put her entire weight on the thick wall, whilementing pleasantly surprised, "Oh, the walls are quite thick. There''s ample space to sit. Arghh! And the edges are cushioned! That''s so nice." Mikaya could not help but wiggle her butt as she made herselffortable.
"Yes, we made sure that all the holes were lined with thick padding. Because when we first tested the wallbutt without them, the girlsined the edges dug into their flesh and it hurt," Ophenia informed the group that this mechanism had been prior tested.
"How is it mistress? How does it feel," Tajia curiously asked, wanting to know if the brand-new y promised to her was feasible?
To which the reply came, "It''s very nice. My butt and pussy feels so helpless, hehe. Ahhh, I''m already drooling " Mikayaughed with glee, her body spreading pheromones all over.
"Please stay a bit still. I have to properly fix you," Ophenia asked Mikaya to hold back her excitement a little linger while she bound Mikaya''s midriff and legs with leather belts that were attached to the wall, something that Alexander''s eyes had seemingly missed.
And while doing so, Ophenia exined her work, "The harnesses will helpdy Mikaya stay in position and stop her from slipping out identally or in case of a particrly strong thrust."
"But it is also loose enough that she can withdraw her butt anytime she feels ufortable," Ophenia mentioned a safety feature.
Once securely positioned in ce, Mikayaid her upper body on the soft,fortable small bed, as Ophenia told her, "Lady Mikaya can rx like that. You can also eat the fruits here," She pointed to the tray on the small table next to her, "Drink what you want, and do what you want. It''s the men in the men who will do all the hard work." Ophenia lightly grinned, though she doubted Mikaya would be able to do much amidst the lustful moans and groans.
At least, that was how the girls she tested it on ended up.
But that was for future Mikaya to deal with, as Ophenia still had onest thing to show this lecherous beauty.
She pointed to a small bell on the tray and said, "Finally, if you need to tell us anything, simply ring this bell. It could be anything, from feeling ufortable to wanting to finish early, to simply not liking the person on the other end. Just ring the bell and we will strive to do what conveniences you the most," Ophenia solemnly dered.
And finished the demonstration by saying, "You can also ring it to use the toilet. Though if it''s just urinating, you can let it out as it is. The men seemed to love it when the other girls did it in the open." She lewdly added.
"Of course. I always did it at the parties!" Ophenia''s ploy to degrade Mikaya backfired spectacrly as Mikaya said such in an ''as a matter of fact'' tone, causing even the veteran Ophenia to slightly twitch her lips.
Ophenia felt Mikaya''s pruriency could match anyone at the Shiva temple.
Alexander marveled at the nude woman stuck into the wall, finding the real-life version of this almost fantasy y wildly arousing.
If it was not Mikaya, Alexander certainly would have taken a bite.
But it seemed that the spoiled princess was not yet satisfied.
For sheined with a longing tone, "This is good, but my mouth is free. And I want all three of my holes filled."
''Fucking nympho,'' Alexander had to try very hard to stop himself from cursing this out loud as he felt there was no pleasing this girl.
And even Mikaya''s attendants seemed to think that.
While Ophena gave a much more mature answer.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 337 Mikayas Stage (Part-3)
"Lady Mikaya, such an arrangement would be difficult," Ophenia''s calm reasoned voice addressed Mikaya, and exined, "Because we need to keep your face hidden, we will need to put a wall in front of you too. And when he tried to do something simr with the other girls, they all found the experience too ustrophobic as time went on."
But then quickly suggested, "Why don''t you try this for the time being? And if it''s not pleasurable enough, then we can find a different arrangement. Such as a small booth with holes both in the front and back."
It seemed Ophenia had experiences she had yet to share with Alexander.
This promise managed to convince Mikaya for the time being, who nodded, "I suppose."
Alexander was frankly impressed by the set up, especially the belts.
He had not thought about that detail.
"I want to see the back," Satisfied with the front facilities, Alexander then asked to be shown the ce where the actual work would take ce.
"At once master. This way," Ophenia immediatelyplied as she guided the group out of the room, with Mikaya still attached to the wall, to whom she said, "Lady Mikaya, we will be gone only a moment. If you need anything please ring the bell."
Ophenia had not offered to take her down, not that Mikaya would have gotten down anyway, and very willingly replied, "Okay. But just make sure to fuck me. I want to see how it feels."
"..." Alexander only smiled and did not say anything.
He still had not made up his mind about doing that act with Mikaya.
And so leaving Mikaya to her herself, Ophenia led the crowd out of the small room, and out of the small, narrow corridor and into the outer hall, where she again led the group through a much wider corridor on the same side, making them trek through the twisty, turny passage lighted by bright torches until they found themselves just behind Mikaya.
"That outer corridor is the one men will use to get here," Ophenia showed that the wallbutt was located deep inside the brothel and not essible by random nobodies, thus ensuring the security of the nobledies.
But Alexander felt Oophenia''s words bounce off his ears for he was too captivated by the sight presented before him.
Mikaya''s butt was sticking out from the wall just like that- white, fat, and juicy, the stainless, almost pinkish organ looked like a heavenly art piece.
The tightly closed vertical slit was honeyed with dew, but the hole above this remained hidden by her luscious cheeks, tempting all to uncover its treasures.
Gazing at the beautiful masterpiece, Alexander could fullyprehend how Mikaya was able to enthrall so many men.
This was an ass to die for, a celestial weapon that could make men feel weak in their knees.
Something even Alexander was experiencing as he moved nearer to the motionless marvel to better witness it, and found that the air around it seemed to be enveloped with a kind of sweet, flowery smell which appeared almost like an aphrodisiac to him.
''Fuck, if I don''t taste this, I will regret it for the rest of my life,'' One whiff of Mikaya''s sex pheromones was enough to destroy Alexander''s resolve about not having intercourse with her as a powery.
And the only thing he could think of was the overwhelming urge to vite this defenseless piece of meat and stain it in his color.
And in that endeavor, Alexander grabbed the fleshy rump using his entire palm, to which the butt reacted with a small twitch.
And when he squeezed it immediately afterward, a short, high-pitched moan erupted from the other side, "Ahh."
This song sounded like the mating call of a siren and appeared to hypnotize Alexander, for his hands felt like lead, wanting to be permanently attached to the soft pillowy butt.
One hand appeared grossly insufficient for Alexander and he fiercely grabbed the twin buttcheeks with both his hands, and then pried them open, unveiling the curtain over the puckered hole and making the flower slit below lightly bloom.
"Ahhh, so beautiful," Alexander subconsciously said it out loud, letting the musky smell of the ck hole and the pink cave soothe his nose.
Though he had seen it a couple of times before, Alexander was once again reminded of how perfect a pair of holes Mikaya possessed.
Her asshole was tight and cute, with clean little wrinkles all around it like engravings by a masterful craftsman.
While her thinbia was dyed only in pink color, her clitoris was bright red like salmon roe, and the fleshy pith was a healthy crimson,
She seemed to be the epitomic physical manifestation that the nobles managed to produce through selective breeding over generations.
''Haah..., I can do whatever I want,'' The realization of this power made Alexander pitch a painful tent, as he just savored the sight, feeling like he could just stare for eternity.
He would asionally squeeze and massage the ass and spread the meat around and just loved to watch and see how the genital would change its shape, and how the hole in the middle of the ass above it would slightly quiver and twitch.
And for her part, Mikaya seemed uncharacteristically patient, letting Alexander have his time with her derri?¡§re.
She found this slow y a refreshing change from the brutal mesh of bodies she was used to, and felt in the future that this y could involve guys just licking, kissing, and sucking on the ass and pussy for hours.
Finished with just touching, Alexander deliberated on how to move next.
Preferably he would have loved to kiss and taste Mikaya, but remembering her history, he found the act a bit repulsive.
But the sheer allure of the ce made Alexander soon throw these thoughts out the window.
''Ahh, what the hell! It''s just an ass, not a human,'' He created a flimsy excuse, and moved his lip closer to the entrance of the vagina, using both of his thumbs to pinch thebia and spread it to the sides before gently pressing his lips on the exposed vaginal opening, thus finally kissing Mikaya on her spot.
"Ohh my! Hehehe," Tajia cheered from the side seeing this, chalking this round to her mistress.
To her it seemed Alexander was finally being corrupted by Mikaya.
But Alexander was engrossed in his own world, as he simply loved the tasty juices which had a gentle but thick salty taste and said to himself, ''It''s delicious,''
And so to obtain more, he quickly inserted his tongue inside and swirled it around, and felt the taste of this superb vagina spread into his mouth.
After tasting the pussy for a while, and feeling the warm, moist wall lovingly caress his tongue, Alexander finally pulled out, and decided to let his lower body in on the action.
But just as he was about to pull his trousers down, he atst remembered he had three other audience members, and so blushing a little, he said in a flustered, "Ahem, sorry I seemed to have gotten distracted."
"Hehe, no worries master. Let me get your pants," Ophenia simply giggled, and then without waiting for Alexander''s permission, quickly and expertly undid his leggings, freeing therge, turgid organ.
"Ohh, it''s not half bad. Right sister?" Tajia eximed admiringly after seeing Alexander''s package, and then suggestively asked Nafia, who shyly blushed and lowered her head.
Alexander on the other hand was more interested in iming the fertilend in front of him, as he thrusted into it without any warning, which elicited a joyous cry of pleasure from the other side, "Ahh, yes, finally, after so long."
If Mikaya could have, she would have bucked her ass through the wall to get a greater sensation.
''Aggh, she''s every bit as good as I remember. Hot and soft, she sucks you in and makes you want to stay inside forever.'' Alexander clenched with teeth at the sensation and stabbed inside once more, drinking in the heavenly sensation.
He felt Mikaya''s wall coil around his cock and clench down on it while making peristaltic movement as she seemed determined to squeeze him dry.
And after a few thrusts, Alexander fired his first load with a powerful spurt at the deepest location.
"Arghhh, finally a man''s juices," Mikaya screamed lewdly as her womb was painted by the hot liquid, as her lower half greedily sucked in the fluids, like rainfall after a long drought.
Alexander was far from satisfied after firing just one shot and began the pounding immediately, letting Mikaya cry out, "Yes! That''s why I love the young ones. So virile!"
Alexander soon let out a second batch into the heavenly tunnel and then moved on to the ass, which swallowed his ns with a silent pop and made Mikaya give another moan of delight.
Mikaya''s ass was also top ss like her genital, and it clenched Alexander''s organ tightly at the base, while the rubbery walls gently squished the head and shaft, soon making Alexander let out another load.
In this way, Alexander enjoyed the two holes a total of six times, after which he finally pulled out his by nowid piece, and then marveled at the thin streams of white fluid leaking out of her two holes.
And then, as if to reward Alexander for his hard work, Mikaya decided to reward Alexander with onest disy.
Her lower body trembled and soon a beautiful arch of white fluids was created which came out of her urethra and fell to the cement floor with the pitter-patter of raindrops, like it was signifying the curtain music of the show.
Chapter 338 Mikayas Thoughts On The Wall
"Did Lord Pasha enjoy himself," Tajia cheekily asked as Alexander pulled up his pants and adjusted his belt after the deed, which made the man produce a wry smile.
Currently, in his sage mode, Alexander did somewhat regret his action.
But at the time of doing it, the sight that had appeared was just too beautiful for him to no enjoy. Because it seemed that Mikaya could even pee beautifully.
Sensing her master''s slightly awkward situation, Ophenia, though did not like him fraternizing with of all people, Mikaya, cleverly produced a distraction.
She pointed to the floor and said, "Master, look. We have built the ground slightly angled to help drain the fluids. And we have these water buckets here to clean off any spige."
"Ohh, that''s great," Alexander exaggeratedly eximed to which Ophenia further added, "Yes, we took the inspiration from ughterhouses."
"...." Tajia and Nafia silently watched this shameless way for Alexander to avoid the conversation, after which Alexander quickly urged everyone to get back to the room free Mikaya.
The demo was over.
On the way to it, Ophenia informed, "The corridor''s other end leads to a small alley. So if we want to, we could let men directly from the streets directly experience the wallbutt first before entering the brothel. That could better hide this¡.mechanism." Ophenia struggled to describe what this novel contraption was.
"Or unfulfilled men leaving the brothel could be given the service. People like who came to get some action but could not find the right girls." Tajia very eagerly suggested an alternative strategy.
This attendant of Mikaya seemed just as vocal about such stuff as her mistress.
"...Let''s leave how to manage the men doing these things to Tayin. It''s her brothel after all," Alexander decided to bother this with and relegated the nitty-gritty stuff to his Sacred Priestess.
"Thank you master," Ophenia dly epted the task.
The group by now had released their destination, and as Ophenia opened the small, heavy door with a creak, they were unpleasantly surprised to see that it had gained another resistant - Kalopi.
It appeared that the caretaker had entered the room in the short time it took them to finish the deed and make their way here.
"Ahh, master, I''m sinful for barging in without permission," The moment Kalopi noticed Alexander she profusely bowed, and then hastily gave her reason, "But Captain Hemicus came to me looking to check up on you. And though I said you were busy he insisted to meet you. So, I left him in my office and hurriedly came to see you."
"Ohh, so the hour was up! So soon," Alexander eximed at how quickly time flies as to him it felt like he had seen here for like fifteen-twenty minutes.
"Actually it has been two hours." Kalopi sheepishly corrected him, adding, "The guard captain had alsoe to me an hour before. But I managed to see him off by saying that master was enjoying with all your ves. And that you had instructed me not to disturb you."
Kpi then very suggestively looked at Mikaya hung on the wall and felt that she had hit the bullseye, to which MIkaya gave a wide shameless grin.
Mikaya did not care Kalopi saw her like this.
In fact, she would not have cared even if Alexander''s entire retinue of bodyguards had seen like this.
Because that would have Alexander''s problem to deal with.
"Two hours!" Alexander was surprised by this revtion and understood that he really had taken his sweet time enjoying Mikaya.
"Okay Tayin, you go and tell Hemicus that it will not be long. Just say that I''m getting a massage," Alexander thus instructed Ophenia to say the activity that was almost universally understood as adult services.
"Haha, yes master," Ophenia chuckled and apanied by Kalopi then quickly trotted off.
As the door was mmed behind them, Alexander proceeded to detach Mikaya from the walls by himself, at which point he heard her say, "Alex, why don''t you let your men in? Just you alone was not nearly enough. And also Nafia and Tajia have not had their turns yet."
"That''s right, that''s right. We want our turn too. And Lord Alexander might be running a bit empty down there," Tajia cheekily cheered from behind in support of her mistress.
Alexander only clenched his teeth at this while he quickly worked to undo the belts, and saying, "My men know all three of you by face, figure, and voice. What if one of them tattles to your father? Or what if they let it slip by mistake?"
These men would personally apany Alexander to all ces, letting them have ample opportunities to meet all kinds of high-level people.
How could he take the risk?
"Oh? Alex trusts his personal bodyguards only this much? They must not be very reliable then!" Mikaya taunted as her feet hit the ground, finally free of all constraints.
"Who can guard against greed?" Alexander cleverly retorted, and then with a sneer warned, "And besides, they might choose to only sell you out, not me."
"Hahaha, do you always live in such fear? I have seen your balls, Alex. They didn''t seem so small!" Mikaya simply brushed off these worries and then attempted to bruise Alexander''s ego in an effort to have him order the men to ''punish'' her.
But Alexander did not bite.
Instead, he himself bruised him even more, saying, "If I get caught by your father, I will have no balls. Small balls is better than no balls."
"Hahahaha," This made all three of thedies have a heartyugh, with Mikaya even rubbing a bit of tear from her eyes.
"Alex, when I first you, I was very dismissive of you. But over thest nearly two months, I must say that I have grown to like some bits of you," Mikaya frankly admitted as she got dressed and put on her overcoat.
Alexander was charming, capable, and witty.
Mikaya certainly found certain parts of him attractive.
"Thank you. And I too have grown to like certain parts about you Lady Mikaya. Like your painting and poker skills." Alexander reciprocated some of the sentiment.
"But you see me as a slut right?" Mikaya asked with a smirk while taking a bite of an apple.
"The feeling has only been reinforced over thest two months," Alexander cynically replied with the same smirk, making Mikaya grin even wider.
It seemed that the duo had developed a kind of twisted respect for each other aftermitting this intimate deed.
This somewhat charming atmospherested a few minutes, after which the conversation was initiated by Nafia, who said her first words of the whole evening.
In a concerned voice, she voiced, "Lord Alexander, that Kalopi woman is reliable right? She seems to be pretty clever to have guessed where we would be without us telling her."
''Is she though? After all she knew why I came here. And she saw you guys,'' Alexander did not share the same concerns as Nafia.
But outwardly he did not shoot down the girl.
Because he could feel that unlike the other two, Nafia was genuinely fearful of the prospect of being found out.
"Lady Nafia seems to be concerned that Kalopi will be smart enough to guess your identities. But rest assured that I will personally see to it that your faces remain unknown to anyone who does not need to know," Alexander solemnly promised, his deep, serious tone soothing Nafia''s somewhat frayed nerves.
But in almost anthesis to Nafia''s concern, Mikaya appeared like a free bird, only chuckling to her maid and reassuring her, "Hahaha, Nafia you are such a worrywart. Trust me, once you get on the wall and had a few hard poundings, all your worries will go away. Like me!"
After close to two months of abstinence, Mikaya had finally released some of her stress and was in a very good mood as she patted her maid on the shoulder.
Tajia, her younger sister too joined with her mistress, saying, "That''s right sister. You always appear demure at first, but quickly turn into a vixen. Let Lord Alexander worry about security. You should only care about having fun."
And then she strongly pped her older sister on the back as if to encourage her, emting her mistress.
Convinced by the two silver devils beside her, Nafia calmed down, as she asked, "That..that¡Did it feel that good mistress?"
Alexander noticed a very distinct squirming with her legs as Nafia asked, clearly indicating that she had been turned on.
In fact, because Nafia still had a crush on Alexander, and this was the first time she had watched him ''work'', it had set her loins on fire.
This was also the main reason why she had bashfully looked away when Tajia pointed to Alexander''s weapon.
Nafia had found it to be magnificent.
And for the entire time Alexander had used Mikaya, Nafia had not missed a single of his thrust, burning every movement of his heavenly phallus into her retina.
She had even imagined that it was her instead of her mistress getting railed and it had taken Nafia a herculean effort to hold off on masturbating to the lewd y that had happened right in front of her, a testament to the innate shame she possessed.
A quality that the other two had burned at the stake long ago, and who, if they were in her position would have simply stripped and directly pleasured themselves on the floor.
"Hahaha, well you will have to find out," Mikaya only winked a reply, the glee in her voice palpable.
Chapter 339 Workings Of The Brothel
Mikaya''s answer clearly demonstrated that she found the new experience exhrating.
And thusTajia went ahead to ask her mistress to describe the feelings in detail.
But the usually sleazy Mikaya seemed uncharacteristically tight-lipped about the whole experience, only saying, "It will be best for you to find it out by yourself. It was quite the new experience."
The inability to see, or hear the person behind her was a surprising turn-on for her, and she found the pleasure adequate enough to not miss having a meat stick in her mouth.
Mikaya could not wait to fully experience the pleasure and decided to hide the experience from her maids to better surprise them.
Seeing the out-of-character Mikaya not fuel her fantasies, Tajia instead turned to Alexander and pleaded, "Your Grace, I want to try next. Can I please?", looking at Alexander with puppy dog eyes.
She was just as pent up as Mikaya, and after watching Alexander do the thing, she was really having it hard holding herself back.
The way Tajia looked at Alexander, without the context, many would think she was asking her lover for a new piece of jewelry, and not something so depraved.
And just was Alexander was thinking about how to reject this offer, the room''s door creaked open and Ophenia returned slightly out of breath, likely because she had run toplete the task.
This interruption gave Alexander a convenient excuse as he quickly called out, "Tayin, how was it?"
Taking a moment to catch her breath, Opheniaposed herself, and reported, "Good. Captain Hemicus and the men will not disturb you master for the time being."
"Great," Alexander softly smiled for handling this, afterward which he asked, "So where to next?"
"Well there were Lady Mikaya and her maids'' quarters and dressing rooms. Also all the pleasure rooms," Ophenia offered options.
And then, as if remembering something, she quickly hopped over to a side and opened a second, almost meshed into the wall door, saying, "Also we have a secret door here. This passage leads to the outside, which was likely an escape route."
Ophenia then borated. "But we have modified it so that if she wanted to, Lady Mikaya will be able to enter her ''work room'' directly from the outside without ever setting foot into the building. And it can also act as an emergency escape route."
Ophenia had a proud look on her face as she revealed this alternative path, and her master approved, praising her by saying, "Great! This way her carriage can her parked inconspicuously at the mouth of the passage. Mikaya can then get out and enjoy herself. And then leave via the same passage once she was done. This way no one will be none the wiser."
Alexander had always felt that this endeavor of his was much risker than it was worth it.
And he sometimes kicked himself for trying to do something so dangerous just for the sake of stroking his ego.
But after inspecting the wallbutt room and the various failsafe, he was finally assured that the chances of Mikaya being found out were, though not nil, very very low.
"That will be the best for me too." Mikaya voiced her preference, adding, "Carriages driving into the main gate of such a building always draws eyes. But a lone carriage parked inconspicuously¡not so much."
Mikaya too had an incentive to keep everything hidden and this second passage was ideal for that.
"Then I will station the appropriate guards there and make that passage the main entrance for Lady Mikaya and her maids," Ophenia professionally dered.
This was all there was to MIkaya''s work ce, and so Alexander decided to move on to the site, though not before came Tajia''s while.
"My lord, I wanted a turn. Just one will do!" She had not forgotten their conversion a few minutes prior.
And though no one noticed, even Nafia had sent him a momentary whimpering gaze.
"Lady¡" But just as Alexander was about to turn her down, Mikaya interjected instead.
"Tajia, be a little patient gal. Since I have eaten him, you and Nafia will get the chance too, hehe." Mikaya seemed to be in a very good mood as she sent a sultry, almost predatory smile at Alexander.
She believed that since Alexander had sipped the poison, he would drink the whole bowl.
"Hahaha, okay, okay. I''m sure sister also cannot wait," Tajia heartily chuckled while sending Nafia a teasing look.
Because even though her older sister had hidden it well, as her sibling, Tajia would smell the heating off her.
Alexander did not bother to get into this conversion, leaving the three to their own little world.
Instead he signaled with his eyes for Ophenia to lead them to their next destination as the night was getting older and older.
"Then master let me first show you the first floor. After that we can move to the upper rooms." Ophenia thus proposed, and then led the group into the first floor.
"The outer hall is mainly used for reception, and doubles as a tavern" Ophenia introduced by gesturing at the spacious room decorated with high-quality couches for rxing over one side andrge and small dining tables and chairs on the other side.
She then detailed how this ce worked and how people would choose their girls.
"There are two ways for people¡men to choose their girls for their night."
"First, they could directly tell the receptionist their preference and budget. In case the receptionist will then ask them to have a sit on the couches and after hearing their request, he judge which girls might be suitable to serve the guest."
"Afterward, he will invite the client can then to one of those private rooms." Ophenia pointed to rows of doors on the right side of the room, while continuing, "where they will be able to inspect the girls and choose one to his liking."
"Or secondly," Ophenia suggested, "they can have a sit and have meals and drink fine wine. All the while our girls will tour the floor, showing off their assets. And if one catches someone''s eye, they can book her for a round."
And then finished by saying, "Of course, a customer might also make a demand for a particr girl. In that case, he can skip all the skips and get the girl if she is avable. Or be asked to wait for a ceratin amount of time until she is."
As Ophenia concluded detailing how to choose a girl in a brothel, Alexander thought back on the second method.
This more extreme hooter-style duality of food and entertainment was the standard model for many such establishments.
In fact, many restaurants were also like this, as along with food and drinks, they would also offer pleasures like gambling with dice or adult entertainment.
Thus it was a prettymon custom in this time period to go out for a meal with friends, drink, gamble, and make merry and then have a little fun on the bed afterward to ''help with the digestion'' before returning home.
After understanding how a brothel operated, Alexander nodded slightly and then asked, "Will seven be enough?"
Because judging by the size of the room he was standing in, just seven might not be enough.
For even conservatively estimated therge hall can easily fit fifty or so men. And possibly triple that.
"Yes, that hase to my notice, master," Ophenia heavily nodded, and then told her concern, "But that was all I could find following your strict requirements. But if I could recruit some more girls that were a ¡" Ophenia tried to basically say that she wanted to use vebor but did not get to finish her request.
For Alexander curtly cut her off with the words, "No, we will do it my way. This brothel is simply a side project of mine. So we will not force girls into this profession."
".....Yes master," Ophenia could only hide her slight unwillingness and obediently nod.
She really wanted to turn this establishment into a huge yground for Alexnder, where he could do anything he wanted without the burden of actually having to care for the girls, unlike his wives and concubines.
Alexander could sense Ophenia''s acridness and thus to soothe the girl, he proposed, "Okay, okay, don''t pout. Although I can''t let you use ves. I will give you my secret recipes. In that way, lots of people wille to dine here, and you will then have the budget to recruit lots of expensive girls."
"Yeah, master is the best," Ophenia cheered while saying to herself, ''I knew master wouldpensate me if I slightly pouted.''
She had found that Alexander usually loved to spoil his girls.
Finished with this topic, Alexander then inquired, "So how many men will a girl be able to serve per day? And what''s the rate?"
This was important information to estimate how many girls he could really need.
"When I was in ¡.." Ophenia quickly stopped herself from finishing this sentence in front of Mikaya, and quickly corrected herself after a slight pause, "When I was in my hometown, an experienced girl could have ten to fifteen guys a day!"
This number made Alexander''s heart skip a beat in surprise.
Because even at twelve hours of work shift, that came at one about every forty to fifty minutes.
And this included doing the thing, cleaning oneself up, and then starting once again.
''Did they have multiple ones at the same time?'' Alexander wondered hearing the extremely high number, not putting the act past the depraved Temple.
Chapter 340 The Three Floors
Alexander''s number about the time constraint was not actually correct.
This was because he assumed a working period of twelve hours a day.
But in this type of profession, it was quite hard to work for so long and with so many men as one tended to be sore down there after a while.
So, actual estimates of how many men a girl could serve varied wildly.
This depended on a whole host of factors such as a woman''s stamina, her demand and poprity, and even on how one counted the act, and the result came at ranging from one to three guys a night, to upwards of twenty.
Though it had to be noted that the higher numbers such as twenty and above were usually achieved by also counting easy acts such as fetio and handjobs.
While the girls serving one to three men would go all the way.
So when Ophenia said an average of ten to fifteen guys, she meant all kinds of acts.
And this was certainly possible for a skilled worker.
But why did Alexander make such a mistake?
This was because Alexander had never visited a brothel before, neither in this life nor the previous.
And so he envisioned those buying the girls in the brothel doing things simr to how he did it with his girls.
So he subconsciously assumed they would be like him, ejacting 4 to 6 times and staying in the bed for an hour to two.
This time period was not too umon as the average duration of the entire act of intercourse, from the beginning of taking one''s clothes off, to forey, to the actual act, to finally a bit of cuddling would take around 45 minutes.
But brothels did not work like that.
Here the men were under a time constraint.
This could either be a hard time limit like 30 minutes, in which case the men would usually pounch on the girls immediately and try to do everything that came to his mind as soon as possible to maximize his pleasure.
Or it could be a limit on the number of releases, usually one or two.
And for a skilled worker of the trade, the second method usually did not take long.
Usually ten to fifteen minutes, not counting the premature ejactors which would take seconds, and the asional hunks with might take half an hour to very rarely even an entire one.
In this way, though the number reported by Ophenia was certainly high, it was not really absurd, as evidenced by how nonchnt Mikaya appeared hearing this, whose record was almost triple that.
But Alexander did not know these, and so calming down after the initial shock, he reasoned, ''Well, that temple is crazy.''
And then got down to making some calctions using Ophenia''s number.
''Hmmm, going by fifteen men a day, the seven girls will be able to serve 105 men a day.'' Alexander estimated the maximum capacity for his brothel.
And then calcted his demand, ''But conservatively assuming a new batch of 50 men enters the building every hour from afternoon tote night, or for 8 hours, that''s 400 men."
He thus found his ''supply'' was nowhere enough.
But whereas one would increase the number of girls to meet this supply, Alexander decided to actually to do the opposite and decreased it.
"Each girl will serve a maximum of five guys a night," Alexander dered, shing Ophenia''s number by three.
Alexander did this so that his girls would not be overworked like he assumed those in the temple were, while also reasoning that serving only a few customers will not draw too much attention to the business.
Thus he deliberately stunted his growth.
Ophenia heart''s slightly bled hearing this as she felt that she could have really made this ce into something special, a ce to train superb girls who could pleasure her master.
But not only was her supply of girls severely restricted, but even the girls'' services were also restrained.
''Sigh'' She internally let out an air of dejection.
But what could she do?
It was an order from her master.
And so sheplied, "As you order master."
"Good." Alexander slightly nodded, and then finished by saying, "And I will leave their rates up to you."
Girls could go from half a ropal to hundreds of ropals per night depending on their looks, experience, and skills.
And as the range was so vast, Alexander regted these details to Ophenia who knew the girls much more intimately.
As this conversation came to an end, one person who was surprised by how it went was Mikaya.
She had always assumed that Alexander had made Ophenia the one in charge of this business as a political head or even a showpiece while appointing real,petent people below her who actually did all the work.
But it seemed that that was not the case.
''Hmmm, what''s her story?'' Mikaya poignantly wondered, particrly finding how Ophenia was able to give that number of how many men a woman could serve intriguing.
That was not something a regr woman would ever know.
''Does she have a history like me?'' Mikaya thus could not help but think, though a whileter she concluded that the likelihood of such was unlikely given Alexander''s preference for in her eyes clean women.
But still, since she could not know for certain, this curiosity made her decide to keep her eyes and ears out for gossip about Ophenia.
These thoughts were unknown to both Ophenia and Alexander, who decided to move on to the next part of the tour, with Ophenia saying, "Well that is all for the first floor. The other things on this floor are the staff kitchen, servant quarters, and the storeroom. Not very interesting." and then suggested, "So let us move to the second."
Thus the group left the spacious first-floor hall and made their way to the second floor, a floor they were on some time ago.
"Mater''s already been this way. It''s the way to my study and Kalopi''s office. There is also the ounts and treasury room and some conference rooms, " Ophenia introduced by flipping her palms to the right.
It seemed this wing of the building was the administrative part, housing all the official documents and most importantly the money.
And then Ophenia rotated to the left, and detailed, "And over there is where the girls work," suggesting, "Would master like to inspect the rooms?"
As Alexander had already seen the right wing, he felt he should see the left too, and see how his clients would be served.
And thus nodded, "Sure."
"Then please follow me," Ophenia happily gestured and then proceeded to open several doors of the wing to let Alexander inspect the interior furnishings.
Being a marquis''s room, Alexander naturally found them to be more than adequate,vishly decorated with thick carpets, beautiful mosaics, rge, soft, velvety bedding, luxurious couches, and tables adorned with fruits and wine, topped of with floral decorations in exquisite vases that made each room smell like a perfumed garden.
"Because we know master woulde to visit, we decorated these rooms like they would be if they were being used," Ophenia exined why there was also food in the rooms even though the brothel was yet to open.
"I''m impressed." Alexander praised this thoughtful act, before asking, "I presume these were all previously bedrooms."
"Yes," Ophenia answered affirmatively.
This was all that was there to the left wing of the second floor, just rows and rows of empty rooms ready to fulfill lustful men.
"Then let us head up. That''s the most interesting floor," Ophenia had a strange twinkle in her eyes as she suggested this, causing Alexander to murmur, ''I hope she has not done anything crazy.''
As the group ascended, Ophenia described their route, "There were three staircases up each floor, one main stair in the center which the clients will use, and two secondary ones, one on the left and right which will be used by us."
The group reached the third wing via its left-wing stair, whereupon Ophenia the dedicated tour guide, then introduced the floor, "This part is mainly the girls'' private quarters. They eat, sleep, and dress here."
"Where do they bathe?" Alexander suddenly interjected, noticing that word was missing.
He dreaded to think what the girls would smell like after a day''s ''hard work''.
"Ahh, I forgot to mention. There is a hot bathing shed downstairs. I will take master there once we are done here." Ophenia''s quick reply relieved Alexander.
The reason why it was situated downstairs was self-evident.
Because without a machine to pump water up, getting bath water three stories up would have been a herculean effort.
"That''s good. And make sure the girls take a bath every time they sleep with a customer," Alexander gave the reasonable instruction.
An instruction that Mikaya had much disdain for as she silently made a face.
For her, few things beat smelling like sperm and having a thin crust of it on her skin.
''Heh, cherry boy,'' She sneered at Alexander for being disgusted by such a ''normal'' thing, feeling he had seen nothing of how depraved some of the nobility of Adhnaia were.
"I will do as you ask," Ophenia epted and then continued with her exnation while leading the group, saying, "This floor is primarily used for living."
"The girls live on the left, while I and Kalopi have our own personal quarters on the right. Lady Mikaya and her attendants also have their private room in that wing and most importantly of all, master''s room is situated there."
Chapter 341 Ophenias Preparations
Alexander was surprised to hear that he had a private room here.
He did not know it even existed.
But before he could go visit that, Ophenia suggested, "Before we move on to master''s room, let us visit some other rooms."
She seemed to want to save the best for thest.
Alexander nodded to this proposal, and so they were led out of the left-wing, and to the front door of the inner hall that was directly opposite the central staircase.
Here Ophenia introduced, "The girls are trained in this room." and then proceeded to open therge door.
Alexander peered inside the room with much curiosity and was somewhat disappointed to discover that therge room was only renovated with rows of small, cheap beds.
''Hmmm, that''s pretty simple,'' Alexander had assumed the training room would have chains and whips and various contraptions like special chairs and beams where the girls would be made to practice various ys and learn difficult techniques, simr to the bliss training.
But Ophenia exined the simpleyout, "Here the girls usually practice serving a few lucky guards every day. And these men thenment on how she is and what to improve on. That''s how they improve."
It seemed that Ophenia judged that the best and quickest way to learn this very physical trade was by hands-on practice.
''I wonder if the Shiva Temple did it like that too?'' Alexander wondered, as he remembered that Ophenia''s stories about the temple were mostly about how frequently people there would have sex, Ophenia being the sole exception.
None of the othersmented anything extra about the training hall, and so after looking around for a bit, they were led to their next destination, "Let us visit where Lady Mikaya and her maids will stay."
Saying this they were escorted to the right wing of the building and after passing a few empty rooms, they arrived at a particrlyrge door.
"Here is Lady Mikaya''s room," Ophenia confirmed and then unlocked the door, leading the group inside.
The room was huge and spacious, lit with numerous candles and heated with a firece, it was heavily and ornately furnished with expensive wooden furniture such as a huge bed, tables, chairs cupboards, etc, ornate vases and pottery, and intricate tapestry on the wall.
It was a room worthy of housing the Matrak princess.
"It was probably one of the Marquis''s favorite rooms," Alexander loudlymented judging from the decorations.
To which Ophenia added, "Yes, this was most likely the room the Marquis enjoyed himself."
"Oh? Why do you say that?" Alexander asked curiously.
While such a thing was certainly possible, he could not understand how Ophenia could so definitively state that.
"Because there are two doors on either side of the room that both lead to the harem rooms." Ophenia simply and cleverly pointed using her hands.
It seemed that instead of entering with the girls, the Marquis would choose his girls after he entered the room.
"Hmmm, so the man liked to choose his girls based on the time of the day," Alexander smirked, imagining that in this way the nobleman would not have to choose a girl before entering but pick one based on his mood.
Or even change mid-way.
And this made Alexander certainly want to have one in his own house, wondering why that fatso could not have done that little favor to him.
"There is another motive behind such architecture," In a rare moment of seriousness Mikaya spoke up, and then actually gave Alexander some useful insight, "Rather than to make it easier for him toy with the girls, the marquise probably chose to do so to hide the girls he favored. He could call anyone from the harem after all."
Alexander had not thought about the spy and whisperer angle and certainly found this reasoning credible.
After all, all noblemen had spies buzzing like bees over honey near them.
"Does Pasha Farzah too do like this?" He then asked with a light smile, guessing this was where Mikaya probably learned this trick.
"Yes," Mikaya answered with a single word.
"Does Lady Mikaya find her temporary abode to her liking?" Ophenia then decided to ask about the room itself.
"It will do," Mikaya haughtily answered and then proceeded to check ins and outs of the room, feeling the bed, and sofas, looking out the window to feel the winter''s breeze, and then pouring herself a ss of wine.
Her actions exuded that she was satisfied with the arrangements and had made the room her home already.
"Lady Tayin, we like the room very much. Thank you," Contrary to her mistress''s uppity answer, the natural diplomat of the group Nafia answered Ophenia politely, attempting to soothe this mistress of the establishment.
If Mikaya was not there, she would have directly said, ''Mistress is a bit of bitch. Don''t mind her.''
It was shortly after this that Mikaya''s surprised exmation rang as opening the cupboards to see what was inside.
"Ohh, what''s this?" She cried out as among the various colorful clothes that were already stocked inside, she noticed a huge ck cloak and a wooden mask.
"Ah, that is what we call a ''standard garb''." Ophenia instantly answered, and then exined, "It is what we designed for you to wear on your way here from the manor. The huge cloakpletely covers the entire body and hair, and is very baggy so no curves will show."
"There is also a veil topletely cover your face and below that, there is that wooden mask to hide your face if somehow the veil gets damaged." Ophenia seemed to have thought of everything.
In actuality, this clothing had been developed by the Shiva Temple after centuries of practice with the purpose of allowing married women tomune with the priests in bed without letting their husbands know.
Consequently, the regr working girls around the Shiva Temple too wore this, thus allowing the regr and even noblewomen to blend it.
"It''s quite well made!" Mikaya inspected the heavy garment which had been made by Gelene and then decided to try it on.
"And it''s not constricting. That''s nice" She twirled around a bit saying so, finding itfortable.
Mikaya had no problem with the garb.
Though Tajia seemed to find a small w, "Lady Tayin, I thought our goal was to be inconspicuous. But won''t this garment be the exact opposite?"
Tajia had a point, as such type of clothing was pretty alien to Zanzan, and would stand out likely as a sore thumb drawing curious gaze from all the people.
This was the very opposite of the first rule of blending in, which was to be one with the crowd.
But Ophenia had seemingly already thought about this.
"This cloak will be worn by all the girls when they go outside for work. For example, when rich merchants and nobles will ask girls to be sent to them, they can wear them en route. In this way, after the first few times people will likely even turn their gazes away from these ''low dregs'' of society." She cleverly predicted.
Ophenia made this prediction based on what happened in Cantagena, where like in Zanzan, prostitution was in high demand, but paradoxically, the people actually doing the deed were usually snubbed.
"Good. I will also make it aw that will ask that all brothels must use this clothing when moving their girls using working hours. That will make it even more natural," Alexander promised.
He would easily use the excuse of ''Widespread prostitution is destroying the morality of the youths'' to enforce this restriction.
MIkaya on the other hand made a slightly differentment.
"Sister Ophenia seemed to know a lot about this prostitution business," She could not help but reamrk with a knowing smile,
Ophenia had shown too much in-depth knowledge about this kind of work for Mikaya to brush it off as just being really smart.
"Hahahaha," Ophenia simply gave an emptyugh to this, not bothering to exin anything.
ording to Ophenia, Mikaya could believe what she liked.
But it was unlikely she could find much more about her.
Because the silver-haired woman knew almost nothing about her.
Even her name was fake and her characteristic hair was dyed ck.
But Ophenia''s answer seemed to only spur Mikaya''s intrigue even more, changing it into deep curiosity.
''Now I''m even more interested to know this girl''s past,'' She said to herself, wanting to actively find out more about Ophenia, convinced that she was either once a prostitute or that she lived near such ces.
Time would tell how far she could go in that endeavor.
But for now, this thought was interrupted by Alexander, who praised Ophenia for the costume, "It looks like you have thought about everything. Excellent work."
"Thank you, master," Came the reply, as Alexander proceeded to instruct Ophenia, "Tayin, then I will leave everything about Mikaya to you."
He listed, "You are to arrange her schedule and make sure the men she meets are safe."
"Then you are to manage the guards to ensure that she is bought here safely, that she stays safe and then leaves safely. I don''t want any harm to fall on either three of them."
If had to be remembered that both Nafia and Tafia were also nobles and thus required simr protection to Mikaya.
"I will make sure master," Ophenia solemnly promised, while from the side Mikaya sniggered yfully, Oh, Alex, I didn''t know you loved us so much. We are touched!"
"....." Alexander could not say that it was more out of fear than love.
Chapter 342 Mikayas Play Room
Mikaya''s little wag made Alexander only give a t smile while her maids produced a little chuckle, with Tajia evenmenting, "Haha, looks like mistress''s charms are finally working on the pasha."
While Nafia almost proudly added, "Of course. It was only a matter of time before that happened, hahaha."
On the other hand, Ophenia looked at the exchange with derision and anger for she saw it as them mocking her master''s goodwill.
But knowing she could not re up, she instead broke into the conversation by urging, "Well that''s all there is to see here. Let''s now see Lady Nafia and Tajia''s room. It''s right next door." Ophenia pointed to the door that was in the right wall of the room.
But contrary to just following her, this announcement produced a slight exmation of surprise.
"Ehh? What does that mean? We won''t be staying with mistress?" Nafia asked in a bewildered tone.
It wasmon knowledge that maids sleep in the same room if not many the same bed as their mistress, especially if the mistress was unmarried.
"Well, I thought that you might want some privacy during and after work." Ophenia was almost equally perplexed by the question.
To her, it seemedmon sense that they would want individual private rooms in such a setting, even if only to make it easier to clean up afterward.
As the two stared at each other in equal befuddlement, it was Mikaya who suddenly broke into a fit of loudughter, "Haha, Lady Tayin is too pure. What kind of girls would you think they are, haha?"
What had the girls not done with her?
They had nothing too shameful for them to do in front of the others.
"Thank you for your offer, Lady Tayin. But we don''t need extra rooms. As maids, we always want to stay with the mistress." Thus Tajia let Ophenia politely know their final decision.
The reason why Ophenia thought like was because although she knew of Mikaya''s pruriency, she was unaware of the maids'', assuming they were forced and coerced into it by the much more powerful noble, which was not the case.
"I see. Okay then," Ophenia curtly nodded and then, as there was nothing more to see in the room, stated, "Then let us visit Lady Mikaya''s service room. And arranged it just as you requested," as she then pointed to the left door that was attached to the room, the door that she had stated led to the harem.
"This way." She then gestured.
The service room was as the name stated, a ce for Mikaya to service other men.
Other than the wall, she had demanded other men too, as she had even informed Ophenia of the toys she wanted to make her time more enjoyable there.
Alexander half dreaded in shame, and half anticipated in lust at what the dream den of this silver-haired subus would look like as Ophenia slowly swung open the well-oiled door with the barest of creak.
And as Alexnder could not help but peer forward to peak inside, the sight did not disappoint him.
Because it was a full-fledged sex dungeon.
There were no two ways about it.
Because although he had seen it for the first time in both his lives, he was convinced this was a sex dungeon
The huge room, which housed a marque''s harem was around 100 square meters by Alexander''s estimate and had been now renovated to serve three lusty vixens.
It contained multiple huge beds so that each of the girls could choose one to their liking, while on one of the beds were disyed the various paraphernalia that Mikaya had asked for.
They included high-quality oil, many wooden, and metal adult toys like dildos and strap-ons, gags, bridles, leather crops, and spanking paddles.
"Ahhh, I missed ying with these," Mikaya cheered as she ran over to inspect her toys.
But those were the more tame kinds of equipment at Mikaya''s disposal, because next to them were the reals things that made Alexander give this room the title ''neesh''s den.''
There was a sword disy shelf that had been transformed to instead hold bronze metal bars with leather cuffs attached to them- which were leg spreaders.
Next to that was the very hallmark of any sex dungeon, arge wooden horse, which was an elevated triangr piece of wood, with the top edge being covered by a leather sheet for the time being.
Girls would be made to sit on this and have their bare organ dig into the sharp edge, causing significant pain which would then turn into mind-bending pleasure.
A bit further away was another simr piece of furniture, arge wooden cross, with leather cuffs on its four arms.
It functioned simrly to the wooden horse, though usually less demanding as it was usually designed to only tease and y with bound women.
Then there was arge table with cuffs on his legs and on the edges which was used as a spanking table.
The girls would have their legs with the table''s legs, their hands stretched on the edges and bound, and their bellies pressed against the table, thus enabling the spanking of their bare, defenseless bottom.
Andst of all in the bondage category was a hook off which a knotted rope dangled.
Girls would have their hands bound with the knot and the rope length would be adjusted so that their hands are right above their heads, and their toes barely touching the ground.
This would allow the men to then touch, caress, and feel the body as they liked, especially ces like the armpits and knee pits, and even whip them.
In fact, like a primary tool used by Lady Inayah in her training, as evidenced by Mikaya''s nostalgic reminiscence, "Ahh, I haven''t been one in so long!" when she hopped over to inspect the tool.
Mikaya looked like a kid in the candy store, with a huge grin on her face that Alexander had probably never seen before.
Sex seemed to make her genuinely happy.
"Did sister Tayin arrange this by yourself? Because I don''t remember asking for this one?" Mikaya then posed.
"No, it was already here. In fact most of the equipment you see was already here," Ophenia did not take the marquis''s credit.
It seemed the nobleman had been a man of culture as well.
"Ahh, no wonder everything is so well. And here I was wondering how you could have made these quality furniture so quickly," Mikaya understandably nodded.
But bondage gears were not the only things here.
There were also pleasurable apparatus.
Mainly there was a massage bed where the body could be oiled and a small jacuzzi for bathtub y.
"Okay, then let''s go visit my personal room," After surveying the room for a while Alexander quickly urged.
The reason for this hastiness was because he feared that if they stayed here too long, Mikaya might want to start ying with her new toys.
A fear that almost instantly came true.
"Ahh, but I wanted to stay a while longer. And Alex must not know how many of these work right? Let aunt show you," Mikaya tempted as it was a reasonable guess to assume that a former ve like Alexander would have no idea how these ''noble'' things worked.
And saying so, Mikaya seemed to be on the verge of taking off her pants then and there to give Alexander a live demonstration.
But Alexander was not in the mood for another round of this, mostly because he was dead tired and wanted to hit the bed.
And so in a professional manner he bought up apletely different topic, "By the way Lady Mikaya, have you thought of how many days a week you will work?"
"Of course every day," Mikaya said so in a matter-of-fact tone in a heartbeat.
Alexander had the urge to p his forehead at the ridiculous answer and then gave his own answer that he had already thought of.
"Every day is too much. We can''t keep that secret." He stated tly, and gave his timetable, "You will work two days a week."
"The wallbutt will be held every Wednesday night as Thursday is a weekend."
"And you are free to choose one other day to have an orgy in this room. We can''t amodate more than that," Alexander stated in a final tone that made Mikaya understand that this was man''s final line.
"Fine," So she did not bother arguing, as she was also satisfied with the amount of promised weekly sex.
"Good, then let Tayin know of your chosen day. And you can choose your own rates," Alexander suggested.
"Yes, please do." Ophenia too urged, and then stated, "We also have a special room with a booth from inside which you can survey the men who will sleep with you and ensure there is no one who knows you."
"That''s great," Mikaya smiled with pleasure, and then asked, "So, when are we starting?"
This was the million-dor question for her.
And Alexander passed this question to Opehnia who stated, "We can start the day after tomorrow if we wanted. The men are ready."
This was in fact code for Alexander which meant that she had been feeding the shiva drug to some test subjects and many of the girls had told her that many of the penises had grown too big for theirfort.
Which probably meant just enough for Mikaya.
"Then it''s settled. The day after tomorrow, Lady Mikaya and her two maids will serve the wall!" Thus Alexander dered.
Chapter 343 Finalizing Everything
"..." Alexander was not impressed by the number.
He had thought that Mikaya would choose a number responsibly.
But seeing such damn carelessness, he had half the mind to peddle her as the one ropal cheap whore she so desired.
Though this was only a momentary thought as he knew one of them had to be the adult.
And so said in a cid tone, "Such a low number will draw too much suspicion. Please don''t joke and choose a more reasonable number Lady Mikaya."
Alexander was finding her antics very tiring.
But he only got a sneering reply, "Hahaha, don''t you mean you will not be able to profit of whoring the princess of Matrak, the most favored daughter of the prime minister?"
"And her two maids." Tajia was quick to quip up.
They could see right through Alexander''s charade to his real motive- selling Mikaya and her maids'' otherworldly beauty for profits.
"Haha," Alexander could not keep a straight face at this frank reveal.
But quickly made up the excuse, "No, no, it was of course not like that. You should know that it costs a lot of money just to maintain this ce. I mean look around thevish furniture!" Alexander swung his arm to make a point.
And then with the kind of sleazy smile only a snake-oils man would make, said, "And so this is just trying to make up some of that loss."
But Mikaya only sneered back at this insincere reply, "Heh, Alex, have you forgotten what Lady Inayah told you? ''Never assume you are the smartest man in the room,"
Of course, she did not buy this flimsy excuse.
"That''s right, lord Pasha, You can say the truth. It''s not like we are gonna stop if he knew the ''truth''!" Tajia added to her mistress''sment.
"..." Alexander went silent for a while hearing this and then with a pursed smile answered, "Since Lady Mikaya has reminded me of an advice, let me give you one too- ''A politician should sometimes not reveal the real answer even if everyone knows it''. This is because sometimes it is best to keep a thing an open secret than openly admit it."
"..." MIkaya only made a face and turned her head, a slightly grumpy look gracing her face at having failed to make Alexander confess his true intention.
And Alexander did not poke this irritated tigress for the time being.
Instead, he turned to Ophenia and dictated, "I will leave their rates to you. Don''t choose too high. But also not too low."
"I will make sure it''s not too suspicious," Ophenia promised.
And afterward Alexander instructed, "And remember to give them their payments after each session."
"I don''t need the money. Keep it!" Mikaya snapped the answer.
She really did not care about whatever paltry sum offered to her.
But Alexander did care.
And he would not take no for an answer.
For making her ept the money was a massive part of Alexander''s way of making her a true whore.
If she did not take the money, then it could be described as only a hobby.
But seeing Mikaya''s reluctance, he instead turned to the most gentle, and even somewhat gullible member of the group- Nafia.
"Then Lady Nafia please collect it on your mistress''s behalf. Use it to buy her painting supplies," Alexander politely offered with a smile.
And this handsome grin made the girl unable to say no.
"I¡Umm..okay," She blushed the answer.
Happy with this oue, Alexander then turned to Ophenia and ask, "Is the room where Mikaya will be able to observe her partners of the week unnoticed ready?"
Alexander was very wary of nobles being attracted toe and buy her services after hearing of her beauty and then recognizing her in bed.
"Yes, it is on the first floor." Ophenia confirmed and then detailed, "The special room has a hidden window in the wall. And so Lady Mikaya will be able to observe the men from the next room. And ensure that there was no one there who knew her."
"That''s great. Nafia and Tajia can also view the men with her," Alexander sounded pleased.
It had to be remembered that it was threedies'' identities that needed to be kept a secret, not just Mikaya''s.
"Yes, and we can choose a suitable time of the day or night to arrange that," Ophenia promised.
And then turned to ask Mikaya, "Should I recruit more men for the twodies specifically?"
"I don''t need any man!" But before Mikaya could answer Nafia out of shyness almost instinctually shouted though was immediately shut down by Mikaya with a single *shooosh* sound.
Having returned to normal, Mikaya answered Ophenia''s inquiry, "There will be no need for that. When I said we wanted at least eight men per session, I meant it for all three of us,"
Alexander though that eight might sounded like a lot but then recalled that at that time in Adhan there were also about ten men for threedies.
So the number was probably on the low side.
But then he recalled something that Mikaya had told him and said, "Lady Mikaya, I remember you saying that the Queen mother would sometimes visit you. So I don''t think it would be wise for all three of you to leave the house. Let''s do two."
"Ehh? But then one of them will be left behind that week?" Mikaya seemed dissatisfied with this proposal.
"I can wait a week!" Nafia instantly grabbed this suggestion, and even her younger sisterpromised, thus changing the line up from three to two.
"Then will eight men still be needed?" Ophenia then wanted to confirm, to which Mikaya very enthusiastically answered, "Oh yes. Four is the sweet spot. Keep it."
Afterward, Mikaya asked the million-dor question for her, "So when are we starting?"
"The girls are mostly ready. So we can start next Wednesday if we wanted to," Ophenia gave her opinion and then looked at Alexander for permission.
"Do we have enough men for the wall services?" Alexander''s main concern was that Mikaya would not like the peasant organs.
"Yes. we have. There are a few regrs who came after we advertised using Sister Gelene''s underwear. And now, they sometimes sleep with the girls to help them improve." Ophenia informed.
And then reassured Mikaya of their quality, "Also Kalopi tells me they are good enough to please any noblewoman. Both in the wall and in bed."
Though the real story was that Ophenia would use her Temple connections to give the shiva drug to young men who came to her for food as ''health drinks'' and then have some of the guards covertly entice the men to try out the brothel where the girls would use the legummum.
Thus the trial went on with none the wiser.
"Hmmm, I too hope they are." Mikaya honestly had her doubts regarding the scrawny peasants but decided to try them just once.
Hearing Ophenia''s go-ahead and Mikaya''s noint, Alexander had no reason to object, and thus dered, "Then it''s settled. Next Wednesday, Lady Mikaya and one of her maids will serve the wall!"
Alexander was aware of the experiment and its result and until now there had been no adverse effect reported.
Though ording to Ophenia, many of the girlsined that some of the organs they were serving were too big for theirfort.
And this put Alexnander''s mind at ease because it probably meant they were just good enough for Mikaya.
"Okay, then let''s go visit my personal room, And finish this tour," With all these done, there was only one room left to visit, his mysterious personal room.
But it seemed that Mikaya had other ideas.
She wanted to stay and y a while longer as a way to dy Alexander for not being frank with her.
"Ahh, but Alex must not know how many of these things work right? Let aunt show you," Mikaya tempted to give Alexander a live demonstration on how to use the many exotic furnishings and seemed to be on the verge of taking off her pants then and there.
She guessed that a former ve like Alexander would have no idea how these ''noble'' things worked and thus assumed his curiosity would get the better of him.
But this was not anything new to him, and moreover, he really was not in the mood for another round of this, mostly because he was dead tired and wanted to hit the bed.
However just as he was about to say no, Ophenia of all people jumped up and said, "Oh yes, please. I would love to see Lady Mikaya teach master how to use her."
It seemed that Ophenia saw this as a chance for Alexander to bind and humiliate Mikaya and saw this as an opportunity to get one back at the girl.
"...Hahaha, well then first let me use Nafia to demonstrate how to use them. Cheery boy might not know how," Mikaya too was not to be outdone.
Although she did not particrly care about how Alexander used her, somehow letting Ophenia have a gloating face because of that stung her heart.
She did not want to give the woman that satisfaction.
And thus the scapegoat Nafia was chosen.
"Wha¡mi..mistress??" Nafia on the other hand let out a cry of incredulity at this request.
She certainly felt shameful doing this.
And this gave Alexander the perfect opportunity to interject, "Since Lady Nafia is unwilling, let''s do it another day."
And then quickly ordered, "Tayin now lead me to my room."
And thus the adult y was avoided.
Ophenia was a bit peeved at having her fun ruined, but still obedientlyplied, "Then this way master."
The group then exited the room and were escorted to the very edge of the wing, where stood a huge,vish door.
"This was the Marquis''s personal bedroom," Ophenia introduced as she opened the door and Alexander found the insides were as one would expect, painted with extravagance and luxury.
But though impressed, Alexander did not find anything too extraordinary that matched Ophenia''s crity, an thought that Ophenia seemed to guess.
"The secret is over here!" Ophenia then gestured to a side of the wall and revealed a trapdoor.
"This house is like a rabbit hole," Alexandermented, while Ophenia
described,
"This is the secret staircase that connects to the escape tunnel. But we renovated the space around for something more fun, Come look."
Alexander was now truly curious and as he entered the small door, he was led through a small tunnel into a surprisingly cozy room.
"Here master, you can have the best view of the building from here, hehe," Ophenia giggled as she entered and it took Alexander only a moment to understand what she meant.
Because right in front of him was a window from which he could see the wallbutt!
This was the arrangement Kapoli was talking about.
"Ahhh¡so Alex can see me get humiliated from here. Hahaha," Mikaya only found the situation funny. while Nafia found it slightly mortifying at being seen.
"The window can''t be seen from the room, but we can see the room from here. It''s great isn''t it?" Ophenia sounded very proud of herself.
''This girl'' Alexander could only lightly smile.
He had not asked for this but certainly appreciated this thoughtful addition that would let him watch Mikaya get degraded.
"You did well. I like it," Alexander thus softly praised with a nod.
While Mikaya seemed even more enthusiastic than Alexander, as she said, "Haha, good. From here Alex can see all the other noblewomen that you capture get used too."
And then turned to ask him, "Tell me, do you wish to open a brothel solely staffed by fallen noblewomen? Because that will be incredibly profitable."
And in a rare urrence, Ophenia seemed to agree, "That''s right master. Remember Ak¡Jonaki? She''s so good because of her bliss training. And she did not even finish it."
She was very eager to see it happen.
"..." Alexander stayed only silent, not approving nor rejecting the idea.
And finished with here, thest room was explored, finally the long tour came to an end.
Chapter 344 Eastern Military District
Alexander''s next day visit was to the eastern military district.
"My lord, thank you foring," At the very edges of the district, Grahtos greeted him from his horseback, an excited smile stered on his face.
He had been waiting literally close to two months to see the new cavalry armor and tactics promised by Alexander.
"Haha, yes, it was about time I showed myself to the soldiers," Alexander gently chuckled the reply.
He had been too busy to keep in touch with the men and thought it was past time.
"Then please allow me to show the lord around," Graptos offered and the group was escorted into the former red-light part of the district.
"We have a lot of men working on the renovations. Especially demolishing many of the poor houses and building infrastructures around them," Grahtos informed as they made their way through the streets.
Alexander could see a lot of torn-down buildings around him, while men and donkey carts driven by women moved with haste to remove the stone and timber with haste.
Due to thebor shortage and high demand, women too had been employed in less physically intensive manualbor.
And their presence could be seen also on Alexander''s right side too.
Over to the side of the narrow road, new roads were being constructed, as men moved gravel, sand, earth, and cement with women driving the carts dragging rollers to tten theyers, thusying the foundations of a good, functioning city.
"Are these soldiers working here?" Alexander inquired, as he nced at the toiling workers.
To which Grahtos replied, " Not currently my lord. They are all military servants, some new recruits, and also hired ves and refugees."
"But, yes, asionally we do use soldiers." Grahtos admitted, and then a bit fearfully asked, "Does my lord not approve?"
Due to the manpower shortage, this action was chosen by Menes himself to get the basic construction up and running as soon as possible, and he did not get Alexander''s express permission.
"No, it''s alright."Alexander casually brushed away the question.
And even encouraged the act, "It''s good for the soldiers to get some of this practice. The experience wille in handy asbat engineers."
Every military needed an engineering corp after all, even an ancient military, such as building bridges, damming rivers, and building siege towers.
Graphtos did not know the exact word bat engineer'' but the concept certainly existed in his time and so he understood what Alexander was saying.
Thus he nodded and said, "Yes, learning such construction training wille in handy when making fortifications on the battlefield."
The two men then made other small talks like Alexander asking about the general mood in the military, the housing condition there, etc. and soon the entourage arrived at the heart of the district.
Here was the army headquarters, equipped with all the necessary facilities and buildings.
Some of which Grahtos introduced as they passed, "The officers such as sergeants (100 men leader) usually live in these," He pointed to a multi-storied decent looking building fit for a somewhat well-to-do merchant to live in.
The rooms in them would be more spacious, the walls would be of better quality withoutrge cracks, and there would be usually good cooking facilities on the first floors.
After proceeding a bit further, Grahtos then pointed to a small vi and said, "My lord, from captain onwards (600 men leader) they live in private houses like this, with their own servants and courtyard. We too live in such houses."
Here ''we; mainly meant him, Melodias, and Menes.
Of course it had to be noted that though Grahtos said all of them lived in vis, not all vis were built equally.
It was like saying one lives in an apartment.
It could be in a shitty, third-ss apartment next to a chemical nt, or it could be one next to central park at the heart of manhattan.
And the people in Alexander''s council certainly lived in very nice houses no doubt about it.
Only officers were allowed private residences, as the general foot soldiers resided in the many newly constructed barracks, sharing the space with 7 other fellow soldiers and 2 servants, for a total of 10 men per barrack.
"How often do married men get to visit their spouse? Or their wives get to see them?" Alexander then posed as Graphtos told him about the barracks.
"We divided visiting days for the tenpanies. So from Thursday to Monday, every day, the wives and children of twopanies can visit the barracks. Also, soldiers can take one day leave every fortnight to see their family." Grahtos detailed the procedure.
"I see." Alexander nodded and then asked, "And where have you ced these soldiers'' families?"
Since these men would fight and die for him, he wanted to make sure their families were kept safe.
"They are ced at the outer skirts of the district. In fact, my lord saw many of them working there," Grahtos answered, making Alexander recall the earlier sight.
It also pleased Alexander that the families were not too far in case an emergency happened.
This kind of chat continued while the group proceeded further, until they came across arge wooden fenced-off section, with Menes and Melodias waiting for him at the gate.
This was the main training section and had been quarantined off from the general public to prevent them from seeing what the soldiers were doing.
Alexander exchanged a few general pleasantries with the two men, after which Menes invited inside, "Come my lord, the soldiers are eager to see you."
This was a scheduled visit, and so Menes had prepared the soldiers to show to Alexander.
Originally he intended to show off the entire legion to Alexander by lining them up in full battle formation outside the city.
But Alexander felt such a huge undertaking would waste a whole day''s otherwise productive worth.
So thepromise he worked out was that he would address all the soldiers, and then dismiss all but two battalions (480 soldiers each) who would participate in an exercise outside the city to show off the new legionary system.
"Then let''s meet the soldiers. They must have been waiting a long time," Hearing Menes, Alexander hence urged.
He had gotten back quitetest night and overslept a bit, making him a bitte.
Alexander found the inside to be arge clearing, now filled with fully armored soldiers standing rows and rows in attention, ready to greet theirmander.
And Alexander did not keep them waiting any longer as he quickly got on the podium built for him, and addressed the cheering crowd, "My fellow men, greetings to you all."
With this, Alexander then gave a half an hour speech detailing the various changes in the army that had been agreed on.
"Every new recruit will be given a sry of 150 ropals a month. And each year it will be increased by 10 ropal until it reaches 200 ropals," He promised them better pay, getting a loud roar.
To the men, it seemed a very lucrative offer as in just one year they would earn more than most of their peasant fathers.
And in five years they would earn as much as a good cksmith.
Of course, Alexander skipped the fact that arge part of this sry would be deducted from them as food, equipment, and housing costs.
This was very much different from the professional army of modern times, but after doing the math Alexander found that if he followed the same model of his time, he would be severely handicapped in his ability to increase his army number.
And so, as always when faced with a problem, Alexander tried to find a solution from history.
And like many times before, the Romans were there to save his bacon, as they practiced the method suggested by Alexandr to equip their army.
Early Roman soldiers would be required to pay for their own equipment, whileter legionaries would be given standard equipment which they would have to pay for in installments from their sry.
And this was the model Alexander decided to use, thus using the soldier''s pay to pay for a part of his army.
To do this, he calcted the various expenses behind a legionnaire.
He estimated that food would cost each legionary 70 ropals.
In context, a peasant would spend 60 ropals a month on just his own food.
And given that a legionary''s portions would be bigger and richer, this estimate was actually on the lower side.
The equipment cost included everything from all the armor such a helmet, chainmail, gambeson, etc, to weapons such as the sword, shield, and pilum, to utilities such as shovels, leather bags, utensils, tents, etc.
Alexander tried to calcte the costs of everything but found it too hard and tedious.
And so just made the number 20 ropals per month.
Lastly, there was the housing cost, which was the cost of living on thend where the barracks were situated.
There was also the cost of the bedding, the firewood for cooking, the wood or cement used to make the building, and the cost of buying the ve that would help the squad, and many other misceneous expenses.
Again, because he got it too fussy, Alexander rounded the cost to 10 ropals.
So, each soldier was required to pay 100 ropals per month for himself, leaving a raw recruit with only 50 ropals a month, a bit over half of the 90 ropals a peasant could have after feeding himself.
Chapter 345 New Cavalry (Part-1)
Alexander giving his soldiers an effective sry of 50 ropals a month might sound like sowing the seeds for rebellion.
After all, 50 ropal might not even be enough to feed one''s wife, let alone the many extra mouths that would also be there.
And it was not like food was only the cost of living.
People needed other goods as well.
Essentials like food, clothing, and medicine, needs such as potteries and furniture and wants such as jewelry and luxury wine.
So on the face of it, this paltry sry might seem unsustainable for Alexander.
But there were several caveats to that argument.
Firstly, the 150 ropal wage was the starting wage, i.e for new, green recruits, and so naturally their pay would be low.
These men also would usually be in their mid tote teens, young and juvenile, and normally be not married.
And so for them, 50 ropals a month of essential savings was a lot.
Forparison, the greatest military in earth''s history, the US military paid its newest soldiers E1 privates a base pay of 1800 dors, which was less than a third of the median average of 6000 dors, though they would supplement the teenage recruits with some other benefits.
And this was the case for the best-funded military in the world.
Whereas for cash-strapped militaries like Russia, which had a gdp per capita of around a 1000 dors a month, regr recruits earned around 300-400 dors of base pay, while conscripts did not get even 30 dors.
And this was the situation for industrialized nations.
In this light, Alexander giving his recruit proportionally around the same pay- a third of the national average was pretty generous.
And if one thought about it, this could see as aparatively great deal by the men because a boy in his teens could earn the same amount as an experienced farmer would and more importantly save five times the money as thetter.
Thus the military had a great allure, albeit with a small chance of losing a limb or death.
The second caveat to the pay grade was that this 50 ropal limitation did not apply to most of the men in the current legion.
Most of them had much more than five years ofbat experience under them and hence earned the minimum base pay of 200 ropals.
And even for the few who did not, such as the former Cantagenan ves, they had earned enough loot from the previous two victories to make them quite well off.
And here came the third caveat- The loot.
"We will go on a lot of expeditions. And we will collect loot, booty, and women to our heart''s content," Alexander had red the men up.
He did not n to let the men plunder and pige thends but decided that the nobles would be fair game.
He nned to give the men a portion of the ie and he even made ns to gift some of the captured noblewomen from his future conquest to his militarymanders as rewards, though he had not made up his mind about that as he was still wary of any potential bacsh.
So in this way, Alexander believed that the soldiers would be able to supplement their ie with the asional windfall, and might even make them eager for future campaigns.
Hence the pay strategy.
Alexander then also made descriptions of the new weapons and armor being made and their efficacy in his speech, iming, "Goddess Gaia has gifted you new armor so that you will protect her flock. And graced you with her sword to ughter the devils."
Alexander hence paraded the chainmail and new sword as heavenly weapons.
And penultimately in his speech, he addressed the issue of heavy drilling and training ordained by him.
Though there had been only little grumbling as they were all veteran mercenaries, Alexander wanted to let the soldiers know the reason for their increased work.
First, he told them of the limitations of the phnx using the example of theirtest battle and how it matched their surrounding topography.
And then finished by saying, "The phnx can only be used in t grounds and so we will never be able to win a battle fought on a hill. That''s why we need a new infantry formation, and this is the ''Legion'' formation."
Alexander afterward proceeded to describe the basics of the formation, how it would work, and why it needed such strict training, with a highlight of his points being, ''Defeating the enemy by simply outmarching and outnking the enemy''.
Alexander then atst finished the speech with the words, "Soldiers, the Goddess has informed me that Zanzan is surrounded by devils whose armies outnumber and outsize it."
"And so has tasked me to produce a group of warriors who are equipped with the best weapons in the world, who are fed the best food money can buy, and who are given the best training possible, all so they might defend us."
"Are you those warriors?" Alexander raised his fists into the air as he asked, and got an ear-deafening roar in return.
The soldiers were dismissed after this speech save for twopanies who moved outside the city to show off the various tactical maneuvers and formations.
Here they fought a mock battle with one another, where one was the legion and the other a phnx, as all the military leaders gavementary.
"The new formation is weaker than the phnx in pure frontal attacks. And when in situations like this itsmander needs to be agile and try to outnk the enemy." The ck general remarked.
"That''s right. Also, the spear range is a problem." Melodias said as he pointed his finger at the ongoing exhibition,menting, "Our soldiers will not be as easily prate the dense bristle of spears as they are seen doing now. Real spears don''t have the metal tip removed."
"Hmmm, then soldiers at the front will need to be aggressive. They need to use their shields to bash away the spears and get past the tips. Remove the spear''s range advantage," Grahtos quickly offered an offer.
One which the usual taciturn Hemicus upped one, "Or grab and snap the spears."
This too was a viable technique.
Though very risky and usually a desperate one.
But this type ofbat also seemed to perfectly embody Hemicus''s character.
He was a simple man, who preferred the simple way of fighting, which was using raw, savage power to burst through the enemy''s tactics.
Hearing such analysis, Alexander decided to give his own two cents.
"In a real battle, the soldiers will be armored with chainmail and linen thorax. So they will be able to take spear thrusts a lot better." He reminded them.
And then pointed out, "Also like Lord Melodias pointed out about the spear, let me remind you that the soldiers will use real pilums and plumbatas (huge darts with a steel spike). This will make the enemy front lines significantly weaker, making the spear bristles not as dense as seen here."
But Melodias appeared slightly skeptical of this theory, "Hmmm, maybe my lord." he appeared unconvinced and exined his own thought process, "But I think the majority of those javelins will be deflected by the spears held up high at an angle by the back ranks."
As the cautious man then hypothesized, "Also the soldiers will likely aim for the middle of the group to make sure their pilums hit. So the front few rows might be intact, making breaking them hard."
In this way, the five military leaders discussed the various aspects of the formation and theorized its strengths and weaknesses.
Also, from this exchange, Alexander understood that mock battles could only get him so far.
Battle drills had their limitations and could never rece realbat.
But it still could act as a guiding stick, as the military leaders discussed topics that ranged from how to deploy the legion, how many to deploy, and their daily training procedures to name a few.
The drill ended after about two hours, and then Alexander personally thanked the men, talked to the captains of the twopanies, and heard their opinions about the new infantry formation and what they felt could be done to make it better and other rted topics.
But finally, with all these ''extra'' activities, done, it was atst time to move on to the main reason why Alexander was there.
The thing Grahtos was most looking forward to and something that Alexander had promised way back at the end of October- The new cavalry tactics.
To showcase this, Alexander first moved the group to a kind of horse racing track a bit further away from the ce where the mock battle had taken ce.
This ground outside the city had been built on Alexander''s order, and as the group entered the cordoned off-premises, they saw the tracks had many targets and obstacles dotted around them.
"Grahtos, I know you have been waiting for this," Alexander turned to the cavalryman in a teasing tone as Grahtos surveyed the surroundings, while, he also sent a signal to the militarymander in charge of the area.
And with the permission received, soon the show military parade began, with the first disy being a few of Alexander''s bodyguards riding on horseback.
They were d in full body armor, carrying ance, and strikingly holding a bow on their back.
But that was not the most eye-catching part of their kit, it was that their horses were also armored.
This was revolutionary for the time being.
Chapter 346 Cost Of A Horse
The concept of armoring one''s horse was called barding and in Alexander''s past life history, the practice was thought to have been first extensively developed in antiquity in the eastern kingdoms of Parthia, which was in modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
Meanwhile, in this time period, this had yet to be introduced as though they would dress their horse in colorful clothes, as Amenheraft did with his horse in a start golden color, but the concept of fully armoring one''s horse with leather or fabric had yet to be introduced.
Thus a typical Adhanian cavalry unit would consist of only light cavalry, being recruited exclusively from noble families or those rted to him somehow, either by kinship, peerage or bynd.
This was both because it was a political statement to let only the blue blood ride horses into battle, but also because it was very expensive to own and maintain a horse.
So Adhanian cavalry would consist of nobles, his sons, uncles, brothers, etc, the sons of a lesser nobleman who would be tasked with looking after the horses simr to a knight''s squire, andstly, ves or peasants who had good rtions with their masters and be allowed to practice riding horses and then could contribute in battle.
These riders would charge into battle wearing both functional and decorative equipment, with the higher one''s peerage, usually the shier one''s horse being.
Among the functional equipment, a cavalry would firstly wear a soft kit which they would wear under their armor, consisting of a tunic, trousers (which reached to just below the knee and were worn to avoid chafing when sitting on the horse), a scarf, a belt, socks, and boots.
Next would be the armor, which was just infantry armor, a simple bronze cuirass, and a helmet.
And it was among the helmets that one applied decorative embellishments to show off one''s status.
Cavalry helmets would often be borately decorated with plum feathers, cheek pieces and some even wore helmets with a face te over their own face, as a way to frighten the enemy, while many cavalrymen wore highly decorated leg greaves.
In terms of weapons, cavalry soldiers spent many long hours practicing how to throw javelins urately when riding at speed, while very few skilled units also used bows and arrows to engage the enemy at a distance.
When the soldiers got closer to the enemy, they would switch to using long spears, like the infantry, which was not an easy weapon to maneuver when on horseback, and trying to keep the jittery horse steady while also making sure that not only him but also the beast does not get stabbed.
And to aplish all this, the one advantage the men had was the height advantage, with the cavalrymen able to thrust downward at the infantry.
Alexander imagined at least one of these men had said, "It''s over. I have the high ground!"
Some cavalry also carried a long shing sword which they would draw if their spear broke or was lost, though they had to take care not to hit their horse''s head when wielding it.
Andstly, they all carried the all-important, omnipresent battlefield equipment- the shield, being a smaller, oval-shaped version the infantry carried.
This was what the men wore, but there was still the horse to equip.
Horses would have a saddle, bridles, and straps to aid the rider, which also provided one opportunity to add fancy decoration, such as shiny metal mounts and pendants, and many times even religious symbolism.
First, there was the saddle, with the basic structure being a wooden frame with a leather covering, and it was customary that a saddle cloth, usually with a decorative fringe, be ced under the saddle, right over the horse''s skin.
Then there the four horns at each corner which would be stiffened by metal tes to help give the rider a solid base to control the horse, as stirrups had not been invented yet.
And all these would be held in ce by breast and haunch straps as well as the girth.
Then there was the bridle which was connected to the horse harness worn on the head on one hand and to the reins held by the rider by the other.
This bridle was the iron or bronze bit in the mouth of the horse, which was used to control the horse.
And some of the bits used were quite cruel, as it was more important to a cavalry soldier to make sure his horse obeyed him in battle than it was to be kind to it.
Andstly, horses also wore chamfrons (a mask and headpiece) to protect their head during battle and some even gave their horses metal cages over their eyes to protect them from things like dust, small pebbles kicked off during a charge, and in lucky instances arrows and splinters.
From all this, it would be seen that equipping a horse was no small task.
How expensive exactly?
Well, first there was the cost of a horse.
And though prices varied very significantly from region to region, and from horse breed to breed, but a decently trained war horse would still cost on average as much as a ve, about five thousand (5,000) ropal, while a highly trained one would go for as much as fifteen thousand (15,000) ropals.
And buying a horse was arguably the cheapest part of obtaining a horse.
For the expenses of feeding and maintaining a horse would almost certainly exceed that over its lifetime.
Horses needed a lot of food, and great love and care, something that Alexander he found out the hard way when he was doing the expenses report at the end of November.
It was the first time he did such a thing as in Adhan, it was Ptolomy who footed the bill and so Alexander really did not care.
Thus, when heid his eyes on the gigantic expenses listed for the five hundred (500) military horses he had called Grahtos immediately to help him sort them out.
Of course, he did not think Grahtos had stolen the money but was curious to know how horses could cost that much to maintain.
And Graphtos then graciously let Alexander know how all the expenses came.
"My lord," He had said, "A horse every day needs about 15 to 20 kg of feed. It needs 2 to 3 ropals of bread loaves, 3 ropals of hay, and about 8-10 ropals of oat. That''s about 15 ropals a day right there."
Horses needed to eat about 2% of their body weight every day, which for the breeds Alexander had, came to 20kg per day.
"Next are the equipment costs." He then pointed out.
"Many horses we were using were workhorses, and so they needed a saddle. That was 100 ropals!"
Alexander had a small heart attack hearing the price but before ring up, he thought about it a while and understood the wooden structure had to be carved and the leather seat had to be tanned and sown by an expert hand.
Hence the price.
Graptos then continued listing the prices, "A halter, which was the leather rope used to tie around the horse''s head and lead it, costs 5 ropals."
"Then there are the new horseshoes, which my lord has ordered to be made with iron. Fortunately, they were cheap by the grace of sire and cost only 20 ropals."
Alexander felt another punch to the gut hearing this, and somehow the word ''fortunately'' stung him even more.
Horseshoes were invented because the hooves of horses would wear out over time due to continuous use, and so they needed some covering over their rtively delicate feet.
And in this time period, these coverings would be normally made by wrapping the feet with thick fabric, rawhide, or leather.
Alexander had noticed this practice years ago, but it was only after getting Zanzan and having ess to cheap iron that he had asked Grahtos to rece these coverings with the more ''traditional'' U-shaped metal iron pieces which would be nailed to the horse hooves.
This was done as a long-term cost-saving measure as the other types would quickly wear out.
But the initial cost still hurt Alexander.
"So, much!" Alexander could not help but let an exmation at therge price, which Grahtos quickly justified, "Each of the four horseshoes weighs more than a kilogram, so that''s 3 ropals there. Then there are the costs of shaping the metal, there''s fuel costs, the cost of using the furnace, andstly skilledbor. All that makes it around 5 ropals per shoe. And my lord let me assure you this is on the cheaper side." Grahtos emphasized, making Alexander slump a bit in defeat.
And then the man gave his penultimate category of expenses.
"Also, there are ''grooming'' expenses," Grahtos continued unperturbed.
"Hooves are like nails and hairs. They are growing constantly. So their feet have to be looked after by removing the shoes and cutting the hooves. And then the shoes have to be put on again."
"I asked some hostler (someone who grooms a horse) and they said an idle horse would need to have it done about once every six weeks and it would cost 1 ropal a leg."
And Grahtos finished by saying, "Andstly, horses also get sick and need doctors and medicine. They need regr check-ups and a stable boy to look after them. These expenses are not fixed but in my experience, but usuallyes at around 5 to 10 ropals a month"
Chapter 347 Cost Of Cavalry
"So this is where all the cost came from," Alexander said weakly as he added up the number.
He calcted that one-time equipment cost came at 125 ropals, which thoughrge was nothingpared to the monthly running cost.
ording to Grahtos, vets and grooming came at 10 ropals a month while the biggest expense was food, producing a bill of at least 15 ropals a day, or an astronomical 450 ropals a month.
Thus it gave Alexander an annual spending of roughly 6000 ropals per horse, which was more than three times as much as employing a peasant!
So for Alexander, the cost of owning five hundred horses (500) came to two hundred and fifty thousand ropals (250,000) a month or 3 million ropals a year!
And this was on top of buying the animal which was an average of ten thousand (10,000) ropals per beast if one wanted to get a very well-trained horse, like the ones Sycarians used.
And even if Alexander wanted to breed one from birth, he would still need to hire trainers to train the foals, because war horses were different from regr horses.
Regr horses were prioritized for their strength and high stamina, whereas war horses were prized for their burst of power.
Horses with powerful hindquarters, able to easily coil and spring to a stop, spin, turn, or sprint forward quickly were the desirable breed and this was not avable in all horse breeds, making them much rarer than regr riding horses.
And that was only the physical requirements.
As a concise list, a war horse needed to have the following qualities:
a) could be well-trained to work in concert with their rider
b) not panic in the noise and confusion of meleebat
c) actually be trained to attack
d) actually trust its rider enough that it will go intobat in the first ce
Starting with thest point, much training was required to ovee a horse''s natural instinct to flee from noise, the smell of blood, and the confusion ofbat.
Horses had to be taught to face the weaponry of the enemy and not panic even if it was struck with one, learn to ept any sudden or unusual movements of their riders when utilizing a weapon or avoiding one, and be conditioned not to be scared of unknown sights like a giant ming ball.
Developing the bnce and agility for such activities was crucial, and would be usually done by making the horse ride with as much athleticism as possible while carrying a rider as they did.
These warhorses would be further trained to be controlled with limited use of reins, and respond primarily to the rider''s legs and weight.
They would be made to develop a tolerance for the noises of battle and would be made to be ustomed to any necessary tack and protective armor ced upon it, all while learning to bnce under a rider who would also beden with weapons and armor.
In addition, some war horses would be trained for specialized uses.
For example, a horse used in closebat may have been taught, or at least permitted, to kick, strike and even bite enemies, thus bing weapons in the extended arsenal of the warriors they carried.
Other horses, such as those used for raids or reconnaissance, would be taught to remain quiet at all times, to avoid whinnying to other horses or otherwise betraying their presence.
And all these highly esoteric training procedures would be known only to select breeders and trainers, who would inherit this knowledge from their fathers or teachers on a learning-by-hand basis.
And even after all this, it would onlyplete the training for individual horses.
Who would be pretty useless in a battle all by itself.
For in battles, horses would be employed in massed groups in a cavalry formation or by pulling chariots, where horses would stand shoulder to shoulder with each other.
This would require the animals to learn to work together with other animals in close quarters under chaotic conditions which necessitated further training.
And it was a difficult training toplete as war horses would be usually male (stallions) and they generally tended to not like each other which they would disy by trying to bite or kick one another whenever they got close.
Female horses would be generally much tamer, but stallions were almost always faster, taller, and stronger than their female counterparts and so made for better-fighting animals.
This was why Eupeean knights tend to especially only use stallions, called destriers in battles or tournaments; while for everyday riding he would use a palfrey, and his baggage would be carried on one or two sumpter horses (or packhorses).
And after doing all this, after finally training a horse to not run from battle but stay and fight alongside its other brethren, there was the not-so-small chance of the horse simply dying from illness.
In Alexander''s previous life, horses could live above thirty, but in ancient times, this number was not halved but quartered.
Horses typicallysted 7 to 8 years.
This was because like how a young healthy man might simply die at 30 because of almost an innocuous disease modern humans would just take medicine for, the same was doubtlessly true of horses.
For example, horses would have intestinal worms, lots of them.
These little buggers would be very dangerous and horses would get them by eating worm eggs off the grass or licking them off their coats when they groom each other.
These worms basically chew their way through the tissues or form huge clumps, which was generally not good for any living organism.
And this was present in modern times by regrly issuing medicine to horses so it never got that bad.
Another killer was colic, which referred to certain deadly intestinal issues that could be cured with modern surgery.
Andstly, there was something as mundane as teeth.
Horses'' teeth like humans wore down with age, making them unable to properly chew and hence digest their food, starving them, whereas in modern times there were special feeds for horses called senior feeds.
As Alexander understood all these costs and difficulties, he began to fully appreciate some of the histories of his previous world.
For example, he now understood why chariots came before cavalry.
Because chariots horses did not need much of the individual horse training, which likely developedter.
They also did not need to be stallions, as chariots, being pulled by two or four horses could substitute with females, for speed and power was not the greatest requirement for them
Andstly, it was because the horses could be attached to the chariot much more securely, making controlling them much easier.
And this was ignoring making inventions like the saddle, bridle, and stirrups, and that the general primitive economy with a smaller poption made horses simply too precious to be risked in battle and dying.
There was also the fact that breeding horses only for war was much too expensive.
These would be purposely bred to be a bit unruly and hot-tempered so that they would recklessly charge forward at themand of their riders and so they generally could not be used as pack animals forborious work.
That meant that outside of battle, which there might be onerge of per year andst a few hours, war horses generally ate food and did nothing.
And to use cavalry effectively, a small number of horses did not work.
So one could not just bite the bullet and build a small cavalry force.
They needed to be used inrge numbers to be effective and so breeding them, training them, and finally learning how to use them inrge, orderly formation was very hard.
Humans needed literally thousands of years to learn this, and only then did they transition from chariots to cavalries.
Which Adhania was currently in the midst of doing.
There were some generals who sang the praises of the values of the new calvary system, saying riding atop a horse gave one much more mobility over all kinds of terrains as opposed to the t terrains required by chariots, greater ability to dodge and run away, and more attacking angles from the higher ground.
All of which were true.
While a few stubborn old-fashionedmanders still held on to the chariot, either due to stubbornness, or military tradition, or simply ignorance.
This second group also imed that cavalries cost too much for their worth, and it was more trouble than it was worth.
And the first part was certainly true to some extent, more so when one considered that a cavalryman would usually need multiple horses for him.
Usually, the number would be three to four, one for fighting which would not be ridden on or have any burden ced on it, one for riding, and another one or two to carry the servants and all the baggage.
So in the same way, Alexander''s expenses was actually not 3 million ropals a year on the cavalry but around 10 million, which was about the same as his entire legionary''s cost, but one that gave him ten times the men.
And it was because of such expenses that only the super-rich empires could afford a cavalry, and why when Alexander was trying to do this with his tight purse, it was stretching his budget so much.
But it was because of this high proportional cost that Alexander said to himself as he gazed at the armored horse, ''I need to make them the best cavalry force in the world."
Chapter 348 Reinventing The Cavalry
"My lord, this...this is?" Even before Alexander could begin his presentation, Grahtos blurted out bbergasted, unable to hold back his surprise.
This was the first time he had seen a horse wearing armor and he felt his eyes being widened.
Alexander gave a light smile to the shaken cavalrymander as he then addressed all the men there, "My lords, pleasee forward. And let me show you all the modifications made to the new cavalry."
And as the men closed the distance, Alexander first pointed to the D-shaped iron piece hanging down the belt of the saddle as he said, "As you can see we attached this new piece to the saddle. This allows the legs to be inserted into the metal pieces, which, as you will seeter will improve the riders'' bnce. I call it the stirrups."
The military leaders all felt expectant at the promise as Alexander then moved on to the horseshoe, which Grahtos already knew of, but as the others did not, Alexander them get up to speed, iming this invention would reduce maintenance costs.
But all those were appetizers in the eyes of the militarymanders.
For there was still the elephant in the room, the horse armor, one which Alexander finally got to next.
"And finally this, the horse armor." Alexander said as he patted the horse, saying, "It''s made ofyers of linen sewn together, the same as our soldiers wear. But mail can also be used for more protections."
After the sinct introduction, Alexander then proceeded to give his thoughts on the reason for their deployment.
"I''m sure that many of you have questions on why horses need to be armored." Alexander spoke the question on everyone''s mind, as he began, "So let me exin."
"Currently cavalry on the battlefield is mainly used as skirmishers. They zoom around the battlefield throwing javelins and asionally getting lucky strikes, thus generally harassing the enemy in formation with their main objective on the battlefield being to try and outnk the enemy and strike the rear, thus breaking the army." Alexander gave the primary way a cavalry force was used.
And then added the secondary say, "Or they can be used when the enemy starts routing, where they can then start picking off the slow, out-of-formation defenseless peasants and hunt them down, thus decimating the army."
Contrary to popr belief, in most battles, very few soldiers died during the actual battle.
In fact, the actual deaths urred during the retreating or running away phase where the soldiers would be caught out of formation and thus could be attacked from all sides.
And it was in those circumstances that cavalry would shine, making sure the enemy could not live to fight another day, as Alexander did with Amenheraft.
Saying this Alexander paused a bit to look around, before continuing, "And I know the reason for this. I know why horses are not massed and charged into massed phnx formations. Because those phnxes have huge spears that would make nice horse skewers."
This was the reason Beihrut could hold off for so long against the Sycarian cavalry.
They simply needed to hold on to their spears firmly to scare off any charge, their shields packed close to their body to withstand the javelins raining down and then work hard to prevent the cavalry from outnking them and reaching the rear of Amenheraft''s army.
"But things have changed now," Alexander then imed raising his right fist before continuing, "Because the phnx is no longer the be-all-end-all of all infantry tactics. That distinction will soon belong to the legionary."
"But our legionary equipped with only swords and short spears and will be particrly vulnerable to enemy cavalry. And we will need our own cavalry to deal with that." His octaves turned slow and leading as he said so.
"So we will need horsemen whose job will be not to engage enemy infantry, but defend our legion from other cavalries. And to do that, to withstand enemy javelin throws and strike back, our men and horse will need to be armored." Alexander formed a new role for his cavalry, one where the horses would hang back and protect the infantry, while thetter did the heavy lifting of actually defeating the enemy.
And he finished by saying, "And since the cavalry will remain close to the infantry, the loss of speed and agility thates with the extra weight of the armor can be negated."
Alexander looked for confirmation of his idea as he finished, feeling his armchair generaling to be quite solid.
"Hmmmm," Grahtos only hummed, seemingly like he wanted to say something but was holding off on it.
And even after Alexander sent him multiple looks to urge him to speak his mind, the very experienced cavalry rider did not say anything
But Alexander could clearly see much of the enthusiasm Grahtos had a bit prior was gone.
It seemed Grahtos found the idea problematic but was still trying to articte all the reasons.
Grahtos''s main concern was that the lightly armored opposing cavalrymen would be able to perform many hit and runs on them while the weighed down by armor Zanzan riders would be unable to respond, and thus be slowly worn down and picked off.
But he did not argue this point right away because he did not know just how much the new armor would affect mobility without testing it first.
Maybe the horses would be able to sprint full speed even with the heavy armor, just over a shorter distance and thus engage the enemy before they could run away.
Seeing his cavalrymander busy evaluating the new force deployment in his head, Alexander did not poke him further.
He instead proceeded to address the new weaponry.
Weaponry that addressed much of Grahtos''s concerns.
"Now, let me show you how the rider and his equipment have changed," Alexander announced as he was then handed over a crossbow from one of the riders.
He showcased this new arm, saying, "I''m sure my militarymanders have already seen this new bow. And how it does not need to be pulled back like a traditional bow to be fired."
"My lord, are you nning to use it on horseback!" This was Grahtos who hurriedly jumped into the conversation, his eyes excited.
When he had first seen the thing, he did contemte using it on horseback.
The reason was obvious because horse archers were very, very annoying to deal with.
They could shoot infantry with volley after volley of arrow fire, but infantry could never shoot back without appearing out of formation which would give the chance for these mounted archers to switch to spears and finish them.
And this very effective tactic was used in Alexander''s previous life by Mongols who managed to form thergest continuousnd empire using this.
Such techniques also existed in this world, and it was something that Grahtos hade across.
And he vividly remembered how frustrating one particr battle against a group of barbarians was for his cavalry group.
They were instructed to chase down a contingent of mounted archers but had failed that a few days of exhausting chase as the opponents would be nimble enough to outrun them and their
arrows could outrange Grahtos''s javelins, making closing the distance hard.
And after the encounter, it had made Grahtos want to form a mounted horse unit of his own, but found that the infantry of Thesos was too heavily arrowed for the smaller bows to prate, and more importantly, this skill needed years, if not a decade to develop.
The reason for the higher difficulty of shooting an arrow from horseback was obvious.
Because to shoot an arrow one had to do the following thing.
First, they need to get the horse steady, to minimize the arrow deviation due to the shaking.
This was usually done by controlling the horse with the feet, which without the stirrups was magnitudes harder.
Once the firing tform was readied, it was time to nock the arrow into the bow.
This was easier said than done as the rider needed to hold the bow and horse bridle with one hand, use his other hand to fetch the arrow from the quiver, and then carefully align the two with each other.
If one had not still fumbled until now, then came the challenge of drawing the bow which used not only the arm muscles but also the back.
So, by this point, the rider was doing five things simultaneously.
He was keeping his horse steady with his legs.
Keeping the horse in the right direction using the bridle.
Drawing the bow without letting the arrow or the bow slip from the hand in the process.
And then finally he would have to aim and most importantly shoot urately.
All while making sure the horse did not bump with all the other horses who were doing the same thing as him
Oh! And keeping sure that the enemy did not fire back and hit you.
So six things.
This was hard.
The barbarians up north of Thesos could do it as they lived in the steeps with their horses, and it was their way of life.
But for Sycari or Cantagena, training a man for ten years and then risking losing him in battle was sensibly deemed too high a cost.
Which is why Grahtos had instantly thought of using the crossbow like that as soon as he saw the weapon.
But he soon had found a w with that too.
That reloading a crossbow was no easy feat.
And hence the eagerness when Alexander attempted to show how to use the crossbow from horseback.
Chapter 349 Reinventing The Cavalry (Part2)
"My lord, this new bow you invented has proved to be an amazing weapon," As Alexander was about to show off the weapon, Menes could not help but interject as he continued, "We had our soldiers test it out a few days ago, and the results were fantastic! Just a scant number of soldiers protected by ditches and stakes were able to face off against a muchrger number."
"Yes, especially against cavalry," Melodias added to his colleague''s im, detailing what their mock battles produced.
"We saw that if these new bowmen were behind fortification or protected in some other way where they could shoot freely without fear of getting run over, then they were able to dealrge casualties to cavalries, and even stop them."
And Melodias then finished by iming, "In fact, if we used these new bowmen correctly, we might not even need the armored cavalry."
Alexander certainly agreed with this analysis as he said, "You may be right. Crossbowmen might be able to deal very effectively with light skirmishers."
And then gave what he thought the consequence of that, "But to counter that, they might start armoring their horses like we did. So, we will need the heavy cavalry then to fight those off."
After Alexander said this, he quickly switched to the topic at hand, the crossbow.
"Anyway, now let''s look at this," He said, as he described the weapon. "I made it so that the weapon can be reloaded by a rider even when sitting down, as opposed to using the stirrup which needed one to stand."
"And it is this," Alexander then showed off a curved metal piece with a hangle level attached to two pairs of curved hooks at the front and back which was to draw and span the crossbow''s bowstring,
This was the goat''s foot lever and showing the steel metal piece, Alexander then proceeded to show how it worked.
Alexander pressed the butt of the crossbow to his belly, attached the front pair of hooks to the bowstring, and along the lower pair to two steel pegs jutting out of the sides of the crossbow''s tiller, and pulled the level back to slide the curved rails against two.
This provided a smooth spanning motion for the mechanism, and as the lever was pulled back, the lower hook spun downward using the peg as the center of rotation, pulling the front hook with it. and also the crossbow string attached to it.
"And thus the crossbow is reloaded," Alexander finished by saying, as he then handed the mechanism to Menes to inspect.
This kind of small crossbow would have about 300 poundage and be rtively lethal at close ranges.
"As expected of the great Pasha. He has thought of everything," Menes could not help but let out a smile as he inspected the simple but ingenious mechanism.
Menes could see the cavalry carrying this goat''s lever attached to a belt, and quickly reloading the crossbow after each shot.
And because there was no reason to align the arrow with the bow, but rather the bolts were slotted into ce, it was much easier and faster.
Menes imagined one could beunched every 3 seconds.
Though it had to be said it was not like this crossbow was some kind of wonder weapon.
For example, one drawback that the crossbow had over a regr bow was that it had to be pointed at an opponent, and it could not be aimed.
Meaning the arrow could only go in a straight line, and not in an arc.
But such problems were not deal-breaking, and the mounted crossbow was determined to be a very potent weapon, able to crush opposing light cavalry.
There was also another type of crossbow that Alexander wanted to develop called thetchet crossbow.
This was a small moderately powerful crossbow with a top trigger and most important an inbuilt cocking lever, which was like embedding the goat''s level into the crossbow.
So they would be fast to reload and could be shot with one-handed, perfect for cavalry.
But Alexander gave up on that for the time being mainly due to production difficulties as it was a much moreplex system and the cksmiths would need time to develop the techniques to manufacture them.
Also, such crossbows were much weaker and had poor aim.
Alexander would still produce them, but for now, done making his case for the mounted crossbow, Alexander moved on to the next exhibition, in which he said, "The crossbow will be cavalry ranged weapon. And its melee weapon will be this," as he bought out thence.
Alexander then proceeded to describe the weapon "All of you might think this is an over-erged spear with. But it''s not."
"You see a spear is about 2-3 meters long, and can be usually thrown, something simr to a javelin. It is a very versatile weapon and can be used throughout the battle." He gave the definition.
"But, this stick, thisnce is not this a spear. It is over 4 meters long and is too heavy to be thrown. And the most important distinction is that this is often a one-time use weapon!"
This im garnered some confused murmurs from around Alexander.
The militarymanders seemed a bit confused because ording to their understanding of the sentence, it appeared that Alexander was saying that thisnce would be only used in battle, much like an arrow.
And this naturally raised the following question in their head, ''What use is a single arrow?''
They thought such a foolish weapon could not possibly exist and thus they were asking themselves to figure out where they had made the mistake, assuming things like perhaps their proficiency in Azhak was not high enough and had misunderstood certain words.
But in fact, the militarymanders had not made a mistake, as soon this understanding was reinforced by the following sentence.
"Thence will not be used like a spear, which is used to engage infantry. No, ance''s main job will be to engage cavalry, or more specifically knock off the enemy riders from their cavalry." Alexander detailed.
And then proceeded to exin, "And it is for this purpose that ance is so long, to reach the opponent before their spears can. And that is also why this small circr te exists." Alexander pointed to thence''s lower half, saying, "It is called the vamte and it prevents the hand from sliding up the shaft upon impact and allows you to hold tightly onto thence. Because you will need a lot of force to knock someone off a horse and so get a lot of recoil in return."
Alexander atst finished by saying, "But you see, thisrge force is most times too much for the wooden shaft, and it snaps easily upon impact with the target. Hence thence is single use."
"....." The military leaders were a bit silent after the function of thence.
And Menes even managed to cleverly figure out, "Ohh, this is also where the stirrups coulde into y. You could use the feet to brace for impact."
"Yes, that''s right," Alexander nodded.
Graptos, the main authority in cavalry analyzed the new weapon for a while and then spoke, "Thence is a very good weapon, my lord, I''m impressed," though his reaction was not as enthusiastic as Alexander had expected.
This was because the former had never seen a knight''s charge and so was unable to visualize using mass, fully armored knights to shatter enemy lines and break entire armies with a single charge.
Because Adhanaia generally had a very strong cavalry culture.
And if he wanted to deal with that
And his legions would not be able to effectively deal with them.
Instead, he saw the new weapons as potent horse killers who would be able to secure grounds from enemy cavalry, which was very important but did not inspire the shock and awe of a middle knight charge as imagined by Alexander.
There was also the consideration of terrain by Grahtos.
Cavalry could not operate in hilly terrains.
Because by their very nature, horses needed t ground.
And there really was no good workaround, because cavalry needed t ground like submarines needed water.
So in simple words, you used horses on t grounds or you didn''t, that''s it.
And thus cavalry charges which did not seem to fit the topography of Zanzan.
So, Grahtos was in fact right in this thought, but Alexander''s aim was not to just take over Zanzan, but other provinces too, and for that a highly effective cavalry was essential.
Adhania was in general a country with a strong cavalry culture and if Alexander wanted to counter that he had to start developing tactics from now.
Because his legions would not be able to fight horses effectively.
"It seems the cavalry then will have to carry a main weapon such as a sword or spear toplement thence." Grahtos then added, which got a nod from Alexander.
"Couldn''t we make the armor out of the iron?" As Alexander was about to move on, this was asked by Menes, who reasoned, "That should not break," And steel is cheap or us. Sometimes cheaper than wood."
"That would make them weigh too much," Melodias gave the obvious answer, but was soon countered by Menes with the words, "Make the insides hollow. We don''t need the thing fully solid."
This was a good suggestion and promoted Alexander to say, "Okay, I will see what can be done."
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 350 Showing The Instant Bow
Alexander''s promise to make such ance drew much cheer from themanders.
While it simultaneously produced a headache for Alexander.
Because what he had promised them was the manufacturing of a sealed hollow tube that was also strong and hard.
And that was hard.
For example, the water pipes at this time were made by hammering a sheet of metal until the sides rolled over one another.
And then to seal the ovepping gap, molten lead would be poured over, chosen as the preferred metal because of its low melting point.
This would produce a rtively good seal, adequate enough to transport water, but Alexander doubted if such a weak sent would be able to take repeated shocks a typically reusablence would be expected to withstand.
But that was not to say that a hollow tubednce was not possible.
In fact, the kind envisioned by Menes did exist in Alexander''s previous life.
The Stahlrohnze (German: "steel tubence") was a German cavalry weapon that was 3.2 meters (10 ft) long with a 126-millimeter-long (5.0 in) quadrangr point and was introduced in thete 19th century by the Kaiser.
And it served the German military well until that style of fighting went obsolete.
So such ance could work no doubt.
But the problem was making it.
For that particrnce was made using Industrial Revolution-type technology.
The type where rollers would press the sides of the ovepped sheets together with so much force that the two metal sheets would melt and fuse together into one solid structure.
A type of technology Alexander did not have a fool''s chance of achieving even in the following decades.
But there was another way he could make the hollow tube, albeit a very tiny, unlikely way.
And that was using welding, or the act of using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing fusion.
Now, welding would be a very hard thing to do, but Alexander imagined if he could get the coke gases, store them safely in something like a cast metal cylinder using a pump simr to what he was thinking about making for the football, then have the dandelion rubber produce sealed gaskets which could be used to safely open and close the cylinder valves, then he might just be able to introduce metal welding to the world.
But even if that was possible, it would be a very long way off, so cavalry would have to make do with using disposable woodennces.
And for the case of using solid ironnces, a concept that briefly surfaced inside Alexander, a simple math exercise was enough to kick it out into the horizon.
For a typical woodennce weighed around 8kg, and that was already hard enough for the men to carry.
So, given that iron is about 8 eight-times heavier than wood, that woulde to a weight of 64kg.
Utterly ridiculous.
After this melee weapon''s description, ended, Alexander moved on to hisst weapon, his masterpiece of sorts, the instant bow.
But instead of describing the bow, Alexander this time decided to perform a demonstration.
He wanted to see the shock and awe on the face of his militarymanders.
And so he said, "The next weapon is not something you guys have seen, except for Hemicus. Mainly because I made it in my estate. It is basically another new kind of bow, a kind of a mixture between the regr bow and crossbow."
As Alexander was introducing the instant bow to threemanders, a bit distance from them, a small group of twenty men had lined up in two rows of ten, in a kind of checkerboard formation.
A checkerboard formation could be imagined by thinking of a cheeker board where the pieces are ced only in the same color.
In this way, all the pieces will have the adjacent tiles free and they will be able to move in all four directions unhindered.
Whereas if the pieces were to be arranged in every adjacent tile regardless of color, movement would be possible in only one direction with the only exception being the pieces on the edge, which would have two.
And the reason why Alexander arranged the soldiers as such was so that the back-row soldiers were able to fire without hitting those in the front row.
The militarymanders waited with bated breath as the fiverge, ughtered pigs were set up at a distance of twenty meters as targets, while the bowmen readied their bows.
They have never seen a bow like that, and they also had never seen actual pigs used as live target practice.
In fact, Alexander once had a much darker thought of using live criminals to better showcase his weapons, but quickly threw out the idea because that was just barbaric.
Anyway, back to the current time, all the observers saw the soldiers point their bows at the target, perform a strange action where they slid the wooden panel forward, again slid it backward, and then suddenly an arrow came out.
And this action was instantly repeated, and then again, and then again, as arrow after arrow was magically ejected out of the wooden slot, letting the threemanders be awe-struck at the scenery as it unfolded.
The first ten men let out one arrow every second for five seconds, and when they stopped to reload, the other ten in the back picked up the firing rate.
And by the time the second row had finished emptying their magazine, the first row was ready to go.
So the cycle continued, and for a while, the air was filled with only the dull creak of wooden panels sliding against each other, the sharp twin of the arrow string being released, and the low, thud of arrows sinking into the pig flesh, as the menunched volley after volley of deadly projectiles in a seemingly endless jet stream,
The arrow fire appeared like an approaching solid dense wall of metal and wood to the onlooker as the soldiers fired small, crossbow-like bolts, seemingly capable of mowing down death himself if he stood in the way.
This demonstrationsted only less than a minute, the soldiers emptying their quivers very quickly, after which they quickly turned on their heels to face Alexander and stood silently in attention.
A silence that was observed by the militarymanders who appeared to be in shock at the events that had just unfolded in front of them.
They noticed that the target area had been saturated with chips of wood and arrowhead, while the actual targets had been turned into porcupines, red and dark red blood boozing out of the punctured holes and dying the ground below almost ck, a fate that the military leaders are sure would have befallen too if they had been there.
If they had not seen it for themselves, they would have never believed that such a devastating scenery was caused by just twenty men in under a minute.
In their experienced eyes, it looked like the work of at least a hundred arches, if not a whole phnx unit.
And they did not think that even armor and shield would have helped against such mass concentration of arrow fire, feeling that a few lucky arrows would have definitely found their way from even small openings and would have killed them by inducing bleeding andcerations from grazing the skin at many points.
"Heavens! This is hail fire from the heavens!" Melodias was the first to break out of the trance as he let out a cry of jubtion.
This weapon was so revolutionary that he was almost tearing up.
This was just twenty men and so he could barely imagine what it would look like if it was two hundred men, two thousand.
Melodias felt that with this weapon, there would be no reason for them to use infantry, no reason for them to use cavalry, and no reason for them to useplicated tactics.
Just putting these men behind some cover and letting them do their job would destroy armies many times their size.
And in his such high of surging emotions, the man suddenly kneeled to Alexander and proimed, "Ohh, great divine son of Gaia. please witness by conversation to you. I''m convinced Goddess Gaia is the light to our salvation and that you are her blessed son."
Melodias seemed to have had a profound religious experience right then.
Alexander was taken a bit back at this.
He was expecting a lot of reactions but not this.
And the others were also simr to him.
"Hahaha, wee, wee, brother," Grahtos was the first to react among others and Grahtos being one of Alexander''s earliest converts. made Melodias get up as he embraced his new brother.
And soon this was emted by Menes and atst by Alexander, who patted him on the arms and said, "Let the goddess guide you."
With this slight diversion done, Menes then opened his mouth, "Alex...my lord," In this excitement hemitted a faux pas, which he quickly corrected, and then continued, "With this weapon employed in the battlefield, we will be able to suppress entire sections of the enemy. You have already achieved victory against Zanzan''s enemies even before the war has begun. I''m speechless."
"That''s right. We might not be even needed. Hahaha," Melodias was in a very cheerful mood.
And Grahtos atst joined, "My lord, there was little need for you to invent all that horse armor and crossbow. This bow makes all of them obsolete, hahaha."
The militarymanders seemed over the moon at this weapon.
A bit too over the moon one might say.
Chapter 351 Drawbacks Of The Instant Bow
The militarymanders seemed to be in unanimous agreement that the new bow was an epoch-defining weapon.
And this sentiment was reflected by the fact that their eyes seemed to glow with happiness every time their eyesnded on the bows held by the soldiers
The only exception was Hemicus, who also had a simr initial reaction before it was extinguished by Alexander.
And hence he did not join in the celebrations.
Alexander gave the men some time to discuss the weapon amongst themselves, and in the meantime, he also gloated over his invention.
And then decided it was regretfully time to bring the party down.
But contrary to Hemicus''s expectation, Alexander did not dampen such enthusiasm with the weight of money.
Instead, like the live fire demonstration, he decided to show them the problem of using such a weapon in openbat.
"Ahem," Alexander faked a cough to draw his militarymanders'' attention, and asked, "I trust you have enjoyed the show?"
"Yes, lord! To think you have made such a weapon! It''s ¡ it''s¡," Menes seemed unable to find the right words.
This was both because he was overwhelmed, but also because Alexander had strictly ordered all to use Azhak and only Azhak in all formal settings, anguage that Menes was still not proficient in.
As a side note, Alexander''s instruction had produced great resistance in the army, and even now, Alexander knew that outside ofmunicating with him, Thesian was the primary medium ofmunication among the officers.
The reason for this was two folds, one because the time had been too short for the army to learn thenguage, less than two months.
And also because the Thesians were very proud of their heritage, and were determined to vehemently resist their way of life.
But what was funny was though there was an official version of Thesians which was used in formal speaking and writing, there was also an extremely varied range of dialects that people of different regions of the area used.
And sometimes they could be so different that Alexander would wonder why they were not a differentnguage by themselves.
Alexander ignored these actions for now because there was no better way, and also because he knew the switch would be inevitable.
These people living in a foreignnd would naturally pick up the nativenguage while mixing with the locals who outnumber them maybe two to one just in Zanzan city, and maybe hundreds of times over Adhania.
Alexander also nned to favor officers who spoke thenguage of thend, so if the soldiers wanted better pay and greater social status, they would have to learn to apply themselves to the customs of thend.
This was done because Alexander did not want to deal with an army that spoke a hundred differentnguages.
But such considerations were forter, as Menes''s amazed answer was followed by other simr responses.
"Mmm, I''m d that you enjoyed it," Alexander answered to all the praises with a light smile, and then suddenly proposed, "Now, let us see the same thing while in a battlefield setting."
"....." The others were a bit confused by this and thought, ''Isn''t this a battlefield setting?''
But they decided not to question Alexander, but instead wait and see what their lord meant.
And soon what their lord meant became obvious, as new, now wooden targets were set up, but more importantly, they saw supply wagons being pulled up about two to hundred meters behind the men.
Alexander intended to simte the logistics of delivering the arrows from the back to the front.
And this sight immediately made the veteranmanders have a sinking feeling.
They were battle-hardened enough to understand what Alexander was eluding to even before the start of the demonstration and all their enthusiasm vanished into thin air.
And soon their fears came true and some more with themencement of the demonstration, which began under Alexander''smand, "Start."
At this signal, the soldiers restarted the procedure of letting off their bows and finished their entire quiver in less than a minute.
In the meantime, there were boys, uncreatively named arrow boys running to and fro between the supply wagon and the front, carrying stacks and stacks of arrows with them in an attempt to resupply the archers.
And in this endeavor, they were doing a remarkably good job, somehow managing to run the 300 meters, deliver the arrows, again run back the same distance to the supply wagon, collect an appropriate number of arrows, and then repeat the process.
And with this constant supply, the twenty men were able to keep up the steady stream of fire without great trouble.
But though the archers were having no trouble, the militarymanders watching the demonstration were very much in trouble.
For they noticed what was going on.
They noticed that Alexander had assigned one arrow boy to each archer which was a ridiculous arrangement.
For context, the tooth-to-tail ratio, which was the number of supporting men that were needed to keep a soldier fighting was 1:4 for Alexnader''s army, which was evident by the fact that 1200 servants served with the 4800 soldiers.
And so it was impossible for Alexander or any army for that matter to assign individual logisticians to each and every archer.
There were many other jobs during a battle after all.
Taking care of the wounded, being messengers and heralds, and guarding the camp against enemies and also against looters from one''s own army.
So even if Alexander was Mansa Musa and had the money to throw 45,000 ropals per minute against his enemy, the difficulty of refilling the soldiers'' quivers was too high.
It might be possible in an ideal situation such as a test range and with a very small number of men, but the situation would be vastly different in a real battlefield.
For instance, in real life, the archers would not be arranged in a checkerboard formation, but be bunched together to maximize the concentration of firepower.
And so there would not be just two rows of just twenty men, but multiple rows. maybe more than ten, containing hundreds of men.
This meant that would be very difficult to resupply those in the more frontal sections, and especially those in the middle row, even if there were enough arrow boys to get the arrows from the back to the front.
The experiment ended, or more appropriately fizzled out after a few minutes when the arrow boys be too tired to keep running to and fro between the wagon and archers, causing many of the archers to stand still and defenseless with empty quivers, while others had to significantly slow down the rate of fire to match the delivery speed.
After giving a hand signal to end the demonstration, Alexander turned to face a crowd with a much-downcast look.
The mood had changed very much within the short timespan, transforming the once vibrant and cheery atmosphere into a gloomy countenance of disappointment.
All the men present were smart enough to recognize what had happened and understood the hard limitations this new kind of weapon had.
The constraint was logistics and hard physics and there really was no solution to this.
For the instant bow''s rate of fire was too much to make it a sustainable weapon on the battlefield.
And if the rate was reduced, then why use it over a regr bow which was significantly cheaper?
"My lord, how many arrows can the men carry?" Menes asked in a low unyielding voice.
He was not resolved and wished to make the men carry as many arrows as possible.
"Each of the men carried twenty, ten on each pouch attached to either side of their legs. They also had five arrows in their¡umm¡.bows, for a total of twenty-five shots. Which lets them fire at full rate for 50 seconds." Alexander gave the numbers.
"My lord, regr archers can carry 60 arrows in their quivers. And I have seen that the arrows fired by these bows are much shorter, simr to crossbow bolts. So they should be able to carry a hundred right?" This observation was made by Hemicus, and the fact that the usually taciturn man had spoken so much so quickly proved his enthusiasm for the bow.
And this proposal was buttressed by Melodias who joyouslymented, "That''s right. That''s right. The pounch might be useful for getting the bolts out quickly, but we can sacrifice that little bit of speed, no problem."
But the party pooper Alexander had to burst their bubble before his militarymanders got too ahead of themselves.
Because it would not work.
Even if 100 arrows could be carried, which for the record Alexander did not think the soldiers could carry, but even if they could, the number was too small.
For context, at the battle of Agincourt, it is estimated that the English had 1 million arrows and 4,000 longbowmen.
That gave each archer an average of 250 arrows.
Also, the battlested four hours, which gave the longbowmen an average firing rate of roughly 1 arrow every minute.
While Alexander''s instant bow would fire around 30 arrows every minute.
Now, it had to be remembered that the English archers did not shoot one arrow every minute for four hours.
They shoot in bursts and the actual firing rate was actually a lot more.
Meaning their logistic chain was capable was supplying a lot more than 4000 arrows per minute.
But still, it would not have been 30 arrows per archer per minute, making the instant bow unviable to be used in openbat.
Chapter 352 Use Of The Instant Bow
Let''se to one very important conclusion, That this new weapon, I call it the ''Instant bow'' is not gonna be usable en-mass on the battlefield. Not logistically possible," Alexander gave the answer that made Menes and Hemicus quite downcast.
They already knew that there was no way the men could carry the number of arrowheads required to produce a high sustainable fire rate.
And if they could not, they were just regr bowmen.
But Alexander''s confirmation still hit them in the gut and feel like it was such a huge missed opportunity.
So, though Alexander had cowed Menes with his words, another was not.
"Ahem, my lord, how about using horses to carry the arrows?" Melodias, after Menes wanted to champion his idea, and proposed, "We could make the arrow boys ride horses to carry the arrows. Or better yet, give each of the archers an individual mule carrying a thousand arrows! That should work!"
Melodias clenched his fist and widened his eyes as he said this.
He was desperately hoping for Alexander''s approval.
"...." But Alexander did not respond to this foolish idea.
The first point was idiotic as using horses to transport arrows instead of using them to form cavalry was moronic.
And besides, archers many times were ced on hills and ramparts, which pack animals could not ess.
So that part was not viable.
And thetter part of using mules was also stupid because these mules would be sitting ducks for enemy counterfire.
Not to mention such an arrangement would spread the formation too thin.
And if one wanted to use horses to carry the arrows, why not just be horse-archers?
Why let a perfectly good horse stay empty and idle?
Thisst point was quickly caught by Grahtos who excitedly said, "My lord, we can use this new bow with cavalry. Much like the crossbowmen!"
He was ecstatic at having found a use.
"Yes, it can." And Alexander seemed to agree, and then asked, "Where else?"
".Hmmm...." The men took some to think about the bow''s other possible uses, and Menes was the first to speak up,
"Since the limit is logistics, they can be used in fortifications! On the walls and ramparts! There won''t be any long supply lines then!" Menes said each sentence with a greater amount of force than the preceding one, as if he was discovering each sessive sentence.
He seemed excited when answering.
"Yes, they can be used as such. Using to defend forts and stationary positions where the archers will be able to keep arge stockpile of arrowheads close to them. The weapon will let one man do the job of many, making the assault that much difficult." Alexander again nodded in agreement.
And then implicitly turned to Melodia and asked, "Where else?"
"..." This time the silencested a bit longer, as the men struggled to find other uses.
And many began to cross eyes with one another as if to say, ''Maybe that''s it."
"I can think of another two," But Alexander shattered that thought.
And so the ruminating silence continued for longer, each man eager to show off their pedigree in front of their liege.
They knew being able to answer Alexander''s question was the way to earn promotions.
They might be all shordars (barons), but not all of them will be talukdars (Viscounts), or Jamidars (Earls).
And out of them, Melodias was the one most under pressure because his colleague and friend, Menes had already given one answer.
Meaning the score was 1-0 in Menes''s favor.
And the score soon became 2-0, when Menes said, "Perhaps Lady Cambyses can use them with the city guards...I mean the police. The rapid firing will be useful to kill rats running through the streets." He crassly added.
This thought urred to Menes because he subconsciously remembered how Cambyses had poached men from him, and then somehow he imagined a running con man and how good it would be to have a bow that would not need to be reloaded after each fire.
Policemen in Zanzan were allowed to fire at a fleeing target, albeit with the instruction to take care not to hit innocent civilians and so this seemed a perfectly legit tactic.
"Yes, the bow will be quite effective for the police." Alexander nodded.
And then silently looked around for any other answer.
"...." But none came and after a long time of waiting, it appeared that they had given up.
They could not think of any more uses.
And so Alexander gave his two answers.
"Firstly, I think this weapon can be used in siege attacks, like when assaulting walls," He hypothesized raising his index finger, detailing, "So, when the men are rushing up the wall, a quick volley of intense arrow fire could make the defenders move away or duck behind the wall, giving our men long enough to scale the wall and make a small."
Alexander then added, "And in that same vein, it can be used to clear tight spaces, like the corridors of a manor, or simr choke points. Basically, it could be used to kill lightly armored men huddled together."
Then he raised his third finger, and said with a smile, "And secondly, you all forgot about the navy. This weapon is the perfect tool to use in ships."
Alexander enjoyed with a smug satisfaction seeing the realization only dawn on the men only now.
Though they were no navalmanders, they could still imagine that this burst weapon could be a game changer in the right hands, capable of stopping most enemies from boarding ships through a hail of arrow fires.
And this would make the initial boarding simrly risky as modern-day beachndings and it had to be remembered that boarding an enemy vessel and cutting through its defenders was the main way naval warfare was conducted in this time period.
While the other way ramming the other vessels and sinking them.
"Hahaha, as expected of the lord. You can see things we just seem to miss," Grahtos chuckled an almost defeated reply.
He could not believe he missed such an obvious answer.
And his fellowmanders shared the sentiment, drawing rueful shakes of the head all over.
Alexander politely smiled at this frank praise as he began, "So, we agree can that for now, the instant bow will be used during sieges, by the cavalry, and by the navy when we build one, right?"
"Yes, my lord," Was the chorus reply, followed by Grahots''s question, "But then will the cavalry use the crossbow then?"
"Yes, we will," Alexander confirmed and then detailed what various weapons the cavalry will use and how.
"The regr cavalry will use thence, spear, and crossbow in battle as we have discussed, while the instant bow will be used by an elite cavalry unit I intend to create."
"They will be our scouts, and light skirmishers, lightly armored and engaging at the very vanguard of the army to soften targets for the main force."
"This force, I''m thinking for the moment a hundred men, will also sometimes even act inside enemy territory in raiding and assassination missions."
"They could also be used to cause as much chaos and mayhem as possible behind enemy positions, and being able to rapidly fire so many arrows will certainly add to the confusion and give the false impression of a presence of arge force."
"Andstly, this elite unit can be used to covertly infiltrate a city, through secret tunnels or such, and using this bow, they will be able to engage five targets in rapid session, and likely stopping the enemy from sounding the rm."
Alexander gave the very basic blueprint of a special forces ormando team.
And then finished by asking"Well, that''s all I could think of at the moment. Do you guys have any ideas to share?"
"Hahaha, no, I think those will be enough, for now," Grahtos gave a forced smile at Alexander''s huge list of possible ways of using the weapon, feeling both d at having such apetent master but also a bit defeated for their so outssed by a teenager.
While Melodias had the urge to ask if such a weapon was used by the goddess and that was how Alexander knew so much about it.
"Good, then I leave it up to you Grahtos to choose the hundred men," Alexander then decided. as he stated his requirements for the recruits.
"These men naturally must be great riders, young, strong, and preferably good trackers or hunters."
"And of course, they should be good shots. It takes skills to use those bows on horseback after all."
"And above all, they should be loyal." Alexander dered.
He had determined that the instant bow was not a weapon of mass use.
If he handed this weapon to a peasant, the poor man would likely have no idea how this strange contraption worked.
''Do I pull the mechanism forward or backward first?''
''What''s a trigger?''
All these questions would haunt the poor man.
And if jammed for some reason, which any magazine-loaded weapon was universally prone to doing due to a whole host of things like dirt getting in, or the arrow breaking using operation or the sting getting stuck to a splinter, or some other malfunction, then these inexperienced men would have no idea what to do.
So Alexander nned to let only very trained and very experienced men use this in the front line.
Men who would not for example hit the horse''s head with the bow when switching from right to left.
"Yes, my lord. I will personally see to it." Grahtos promised with a thud on the chest.
And with this the instant bow''s use was determined.
Chapter 353 End Of The Military Exercises
After the conclusion of the instant bow demonstration ended, the military leaders decided to try out the new weapon for themselves.
And found it to be very fun to use as the ability to quickly fire arrows was something very novel to them.
"Ahh, I just noticed something." Melodias called out while using the bow, "These arrows can only be shot by the instant bow. So we won''t have to worry about the enemy shooting us back with our show arrows. Hahaha." The man seemed pleased.
This was a verymon practice, where when archers would be empty, they would pick up the arrows fired at them from the ground and use the free ammo.
And in some gruesome cases, they would even use arrows that hit them, yanking them out of the flesh, and then using the bloody head, sometimes with the torn-out flesh still hanging off the metal head, almost as a kind of sanguinary message.
"Oh really? I never noticed!" Menes had missed that part as he took another look at the arrow to find it so, making the general very.
"My lord, can we fire all types of arrowheads with this?" Grahtos on the other hand asked about thepatibility of the slot of the instant bow with different arrow types.
Now, it had to be pointed out that arrows were not just pointy bits of metal attached to a wooden shaft.
Well, they were that, but they were also something a bit more.
Simr to how bullets were not just metal bits shot out really really fast, but a bit more, like having different sizes such as the 9mm, 50cal, etc, having various types such as regr, armor prating, incendiary, hollow point, etc, there were also different types of arrows, mainly six.
These types were
te Cutter
Needle Bodkin
Barbed type 16
Leaf shape
Swallow Tail
Crescent
Each of these shapes had a particr, specialized use and archers would carry a mix of the top three into the battle, much like a tank crew would carry different kinds of rounds for engaging different kinds of enemies.
Archers would use pate head arrowheads which had a four-faced arrowhead to prate metal armor.
The specific design of the arrowhead was important because if one used a round arrow and then the armor would have to be deformed to the full arrowhead size to allow the arrow to pass, requiring a lot of energy.
Far less energy would be needed if four cuts were made on the arrow and then those panels got bent back to make a sort of four triangr flower petal shape, making enough room for the arrow to pass, resulting in greater pration and a greater chance of death.
The next arrowhead, the needle bodkin was basically a needle-shaped head, made to poke through linen thorax and other leather armor.
The arrowhead got dented by the bronze or other solid metal armor but was really good at getting through fabric armor and also mail.
The type 16 was the typical arrowhead one imagines when asked.
It was a regr arrow not so effective against armor but very good against flesh, the barbed sides sinking into the meat and making getting them out a nightmare.
Those three were the main military arrowheads, while the next three were mainly used for hunting.
The leaf shape arrow was basically a leaf-shaped arrowhead that was good for hunting small and medium game like boar and could also double as a warhead.
The swallowtail was also a hunting arrow, designed like a swallow''s tail and very big, designed to hunt deer and elk.
But because of its size and weight, it was also very slow, with a man being able to dodge the arrow from 25 meters, making them not suitable as a warhead.
Andstly, the crescent head, named also because of its shape, looks like a crescent, designed to catch birds.
"The instant bow can amodate all arrowheads except the swallowtail," Alexander answered to much of Grahtos''s glee.
But there was another person not so gleeful and it was Hemicus, though forpletely different reasons.
"Master, using this bow on the frontline by the scouts. How are we going to ensure that they don''t fall into the enemy''s hands?" He reasonably posed, which garnered the attention of all involved.
The protection of this sensitive technology was paramount.
"We don''t. At least I can''t think of any way to prevent at least losing some," And Alexander gave a very underwhelming answer with a shrug of his shoulders.
Or more urately a shocking answer as evidenced by the looks of his militarymanders.
They had thought that Alexander would have thought of a clever way to prevent this theft, but this frank admittance of his inability caught them off guard.
And they were reminded that Alexander was human as well.
Alexander for his part did try to think of a way to protect this invention.
But in this era of cold weapons, where fighting was hand to hand, how exactly was he to stop an enemy from killing a few of the instant bow users, overrun the positions, and grab the loot?
It was not like in modern wars where the remaining soldiers would have the time to retreat with whatever sensitive equipment there was before the enemy came to their position.
And as the military thought about advising Alexander on possible strategies, they too could find no good way to use the weapon without letting it be copied.
"Forget it. Even if the enemy copies us, we will make ours out of iron, and it will be better. They will not be able to match our quality," It was unknown if Alexander was just saying it, or if he really meant it.
And at least it had the intended effect so making the militarymanders cheer up a bit, as Alexander then called, "Okay, let''s see some exercise."
He wanted the soldiers to perform a demonstration of how all the new tech woulde together in the battlefield.
First was the use of thence.
Here the cavalrymen were made to ride in a straight line to a target which was called the Quintain.
This was about a 3-inch thick horizontal piece of wood attached to a vertical piece of wood forming the shape of a cross.
The horizontal piece could rotate freely about its axis, and one of its ends was painted white, while the other had a heavy sandbag attached to it.
The target of the horsemen was to urately hit the painted white part and with such speed that he could gallop away before the swinging sandbag could hit him in the back.
This was not an easy challenge and many of the riders missed the 3-inch target a few times.
They used the technique of approaching the target while grasping theirnces with the back point under their right armpit, letting the rest of the spear hang low to the left side next to the horse''s neck, and pitching up the spear to point at the target right before impact.
The riders seemed to have found this technique the more initiative, and Alexander did not poke his nose there.
Also, it was here that the stirrups made their showcase, as the riders were able to quickly brace for recoil using the stirrups and quickly regain their posture.
After thence demonstration, there came the crossbow exercise and then the instant bow.
And they went off without any hitch, with results as expected.
The riders managed to move, shoot and reload from horseback with speed and uracy as was expected of them, proving that such a procedure was possible.
The crossbows appeared easier to use but the instant bow had raw firepower.
Afterward, a quick mock battle was set up, where two groups of calvary were made to face off against one another, one equipped with the crossbow andnce, and the other with the instant bow.
And the results were particrly interesting for the military leaders.
They showed that when the cavalries were in the open fields, the instant bow users seemed to have the advantage as they were able to snipe the opposing calvary from longer distances and with more uracy because they were able to fire a couple of shots very quickly to produce a kind of cloud of arrow fire.
Whereas in static formations, crossbows with their constant fire showcased their worth more, able to hold back the enemy lines for longer.
Andstly, the two cavalries skirmished with each other using spears.
Alexander had wanted to use thences, but jousting seemed particrly dangerous to Alexander as he feared these good men might break bones from falling off the horse.
And in this contest, the stirrup again disyed its versatility.
The soldiers could be seen leaning to either their side to dodge the iing spears and then using the stirrups as a level to regain their posture and thrust forwards while staying on the horse.
This meant that there was a lot less chance of soldiers falling off their horses, while at the same time, the could now use their legs almost as a counterweight when striking forward, letting them withstand the recoils much better.
This entire military exercisested till close to sundown, and finally concluded with Alexander thanking all the participant soldiers, while the military leaders all praised their lord for providing them with ''weapons from the heavens.''
And he finally returned home after having supper in the military camp, his menu being pork stew, made from the five pigs used as target practice and served to all the soldiers as a celebration for the pasha''s visit.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 354 New Kitchen (Part-1)
As Alexander made in way back from the eastern military district, having spent the whole day there he reminisced about what happened.
He was mostly pleased that the demonstrations went well and good, but he felt a slight acridness at how the stirrups had been somehow overcast by all the other more blingy things.
He had thought that it would get more attention, but forgot it was on the face of it quite a humble invention.
And the reason for Alexnader''s error was that he knew the effect the humble stirrup had on history.
This invention allowed knights to stay on their horses while inbat and almost single-handedly gave rise to the concept of a ''cavalry charge''.
It has been attributed to the rise of the knight ss in the middle ages and ording to some historians even the whole feudal system.
Now, it had to be noted that there is a popr misconception that before the industrial revolution, the whole world practiced some kind of feudal system.
The idea was that the governing structure was that there would be a king and he would give some of thends to a duke, and that duke gives some of hisnds to some marquis, and so on, with each having almost full autonomy to do what they want with theirnd as long as they could provide the quota of resources, whether it be men or material, set up by his peer above.
And this type of structure definitely existed, especially in the middle ages in Europe, where nobles were basically little kings of their territory, able to makews, mint coins, judge people as they saw fit, and most importantly of all have personal armies.
But this was rarely the case throughout history.
For example, Rome had a very centralizedmand, where the emperor and only the emperor could control the army, only the emperor could mint money and no noble or senator could unterally makews.
In the middle ages, the Ottoman Empire was not feudal, and neither was China.
And so for historicals to suggest that one simple invention caused a whole new kind of governmental structure to rise in a part of the world, was a testament to the importance of that invention.
The stirrups allowed a select group of men, who, when sufficiently trained and equipped, could mow down regr folk like wheat, and thetter could do little about it.
And it was this huge martial prowess that forced European kings to recognize the threat and potential of these men, and to obtain and use them against their enemies, they were even willing to give up control of some of theirnd.
So, few could me Alexander for being very excited about this invention.
Though it had to be also stated that there are also many arguments against the im made by some historians.
Because as magnificent and important as the creation of stirrups no doubt was, it was also not like cavalries without stirrups never existed or that they were necessarily inferior.
For example, the Parthians were one of the earliest adopters of the stirrups, but their opponent, the Romans did not seem to have straight away adopted the stirrup.
While Parthia had them before the birth of Christ, Romans started to use them only at the start of the Byzantine rule which was around the 6th-7th century, a few centuries aftering into contact with the neighboring kingdom.
And it was not like Romans did not copy their opponents.
In fact, Rome was probably the biggest intellectual property thief of the ancient world, stealing everything from his opponents, from weapon designs to entire political systems, to even whole religions.
Romans loved copying, improving, and adapting their enemies'' stuff into their own.
So, for Rome to not have copied the stirrups was especially intriguing, and no one really knows the reason for sure, but it is hypothesized that perhaps the Romans had saddles that worked simrly to stirrups, or they were really good riders who could control their horses just as well without the extra metal.
So, it was not yet written in gold that Alexander''s cavalry with its stirrups would dominate the battlefield.
With these thoughts in mind, Alexander ended his day, while cherishing the fact that tomorrow would be his day off.
And tomorrow soon came, which Alexander celebrated with poached eggs, bacon, and ham, having a hearty breakfast.
And after finishing that, since today he did not have any official duties, decided it was as good a time as any to check out his new kitchen.
He had asked Takfiz to provide the manpower for the construction, and Mean reported to him recently that it had been finished.
And so he made his way to the outside backwn, where a part of the grounds had been renovated to make a new kitchen.
There were a few new buildings, coated with fresh new paint, and as Alexander approached the new cooking facilities, he was greeted by Mean.
"Alex,e, let me show you around," The petite girl greeted him with a wide smile, and then led him inside.
And as he entered the premises, he was greeted by Julkain, the buff mama that had tackled him.
"Mas....master, wee. And thank you, thank you," She stammered the greeting.
Thetter part was because she felt thankful that Alexander had decided not to punish her for attacking him.
In fact, Alexander had actually written a letter thanking her.
Julkain still vividly remembered the day when she woke up in the servant''s quarter that night she tackled Alexander and had spent till dawn entirely shivering in dread, afraid that the soldiers woulde anytime to execute her.
She considered running, but the thought of what she did mortified her and so she stayed put, resolving herself to her fate.
And after the sleepless night, her fate seemed to have arrived, as the soldiers dide, led by the scary Jumminus, and Julkain said herst prayers.
But much to her surprise, the soldiers did not grab her by the arm and behead her as she had expected.
Instead, they solemnly dered, "Mistress Mean wants to see you. Come!"
And thismand inspired another kind of dread within her, thinking it might be a public execution.
And this thought was even more strongly reinforced when she saw that arge crowd, presumably all the kitchen staff had gathered there.
''I''m about to be made an example of,'' Julkain had miserably cried in her heart.
But she was once again disappointed as instead Mean, standing on a chair, called to her with arge grin.
And after Julkain was standing right next to her, Mean spoke out, "I''m sure all of know what happened yesterday- Julkain here stopped the pasha thinking he was an intruder."
Mean politely avoided the exact word which was ''tackled'' as she continued,
"And though touching a noble is a capital offense, the lord is magnanimous. He understands that Julkain did this not to attack the pasha, but because she thought she was protecting the pasha from intruders." Mean exined.
"And hence he has decided to not only forgive her but in appreciation of her diligence, has even decided to reward her!" As Mean said so, she took out a letter from her pocket and unfolded it in front of the crowd.
Then waving it around, Mean exined, "Here is a letter personally written by the lord thanking Julkain for her work. Here let me read it out for you. It says:
From Alexander, Pasha of Zanzan,
Greeting to you Julkain. This pasha is very impressed by the courage andmitment you have shown in your work.
You are a shining example for all other fellow workers to follow.
So as a reward, you will be given a monthly stipend of 200 ropals from now on.
And I hope you will continue to serve this manor wholeheartedly for all time toe.
Farewell, Pasha Alexander."
There came a huge torrent of apuse after Mean finished, while Julkain felt tearing up, as she immediately kneeled in front of Mean and swore, "I wish to dedicate my life to the lord and his family. Let the gods bear witness."
The mama had tears and a bit of snoting out of her nose as she said this, crying drops of happiness and glee.
The monthly wage did not affect her as much as Alexander addressing someone as lowly as her by name.
It had to be noted that Alexander wrote that letter early dawn after asking Jumminus about the mama''s name.
Mean patted the kneeling mama on the shoulder and handed her the letter as a keepsake, and then dismissed the gathering with the saying, "Remember, the lord said that everybody can be like Julkain if they work hard enough."
This was probably the most cliche line in the corporate world, but these gullible, uneducated servants bought it hook, line, and sinker.
They excitedly swore to not disappoint the pasha, as their hearts zed with the determination to be just like Julkain, an endeavor that would prove to be futile for most of them.
And after that, when Mean was picking her team for the second kitchen, she chose Julkain as the head of guards, tasked with keeping the security inside the kitchen, such as keeping an eye on the cooks to make sure they did not add anything unsavory to the meals.
"Hahaha, Julkain it''s nice to see you. Keep up the good work," Alexander greeted the mama enthusiastically and after some more pleasantries and encouraging her to keep up the good work, decided to start inspecting the new cooking facilities.
Chapter 355 New Kitchen And Old Menus
The kitchen that Alexander designed was pretty basic.
The centerpiece of it was a huge firece where meat like boars and deer, and evenrge oxen, could be roasted on spits.
Left of it was a pantry which Mean introduced to Alexander as, "This is where we store the smoked meat." while the guard opened therge door.
Inside Alexander found numerous birds and beasts such as chickens, swans, ckbirds, and ducks hung on hooks, while the room could also house other beasts such as pigeons, rabbits, mutton, venison, and wild boar.
These cuts of meat would be generally stored for winter after smoking and salting them and wouldst the lord and his staff for many months.
Alexander did not enter inside because he found the smell a bit overpowering as he then moved on to the next pantry.
This was situated underground, lined with straw and other insting material, for it was the ice room.
Mean had the guards open the door, and as it was being done, she informed, "As you asked, we made the door of wooden nks with a filling of sawdust between theyers for better instion."
And then led Alexander into the dark room where a guard followed them with a torch.
"This is where we store the fruits, vegetables, fish and naturally the ice," Mean showed Alexander the storeroom filled with various fresh produce, as well the tall stacks of ice blocks."
The ice room was not an invention of Alexander and was known to most of the world as well as how it worked.
There was even a thriving trade where merchants would fully encase a block of ice with sawdust, keeping it solid for literally months, and then transport them to areas where snow did not fall.
For the nobles there would pay astronomical prices for having the ess to cold, soothing drinks in the blistering heat.
The air around inside was very cold, so cold that Alexander found it hard to breathe, and so after a little look around, and finding no ring irregrities, quickly exited the cold hellscape.
And as he ran back, he off-handedly thought, ''I wonder which unlucky soul gets to retrieve all the ingredients every day? And if he has an eternal cold?''
These two pantries were the main storage facilities dedicated for Alexander and his immediate family and guests.
Mean then took him to another side of the open ground, and said pointing, "Here are the barbecue facilities you asked for. Hope it''s okay."
Alexander was a great enthusiast of all things smoked and grilled, with his particr favorite being the Texas-style BBQ.
In his previous life, he had the whole barbeque kit and would sometimes spend more than twelve hours slow-cooking a rib to perfection, just to get that feeling of immense satisfaction when seeing the steak just fall apart and disintegrate when tugged by a fork.
And eager to get that same feeling soon, he quickly hopped to check his new toys.
There was the all-important grill-rge and cylindrical with a body made of bronze and as he lifted up the lid, he inspected the grill mesh to find that it was made of thin strips of iron, along with some of the utensils needed to do the bbq there, such as skewers, tongs, brushes, and spats.
Alexander then out of excitement picked this mesh to peer into the belly of the grill where the coal would go, and was satisfied with the volume of coal it would be able to hold.
He could cook a lot of meat with it.
"It''s good. And I will soon teach you how to use them," Alexander informed Mean after being satisfied with the facilities, and then looked around to see there were four such simr cooking points.
Alexander had built this many with the n to hold an outdoor bbq party sometime in the future.
And as the image of the slow-cooked, Texas-style bbq steak, dressed with simple salt and pepper and marinated with his specialty beef bone butter surfaced inside his mind, Alexander could not help but salivate.
He even thought of putting the dish on his wedding menu.
Though quickly relinquished that thought after understanding that that kind of meat was not designed for formal asions, but for close, informal parties.
"By the way, have you decided what to serve at why wedding?" Alexander asked Mean offhandedly as the thought of the menu came to his mind.
"Ummm, yes¡I have a rough list," Mean nodded affirmatively and then gave her thoughts.
"I asked the cooks about the customs of Adhania and they told me that royal or such weddings have three stages to them."
"There would be the appetizers- made up mainly of fruit and nuts. Some of the popr items ording to them are melon drizzled with honey, pear souffl¨¦ made with eggs, seafood cooked with leeks in white wine, and white fish cooked with raisins."
Alexander had a weird feeling hearing this mishmash of items.
Some of them were okay for appetizers, such as the melons with honey.
But fish with leeks sounded like a main course and all his life he thought souffles were deserts.
Alexander did not doubt these cooks as unqualified because he had bought some of these cooks from Adhan and they used to work in the pce or in other noble houses.
So, it seemed that it was Adhania''s eating habits that were a bit sketchy, and Alexander would have to choose the appetizers that went with his taste.
After Mean finished listing the appetizers, she told about the next course, "The next course- the main is the most varied. Peasants and poor folks have good cuts of pork, goat, chicken, grouse, and rabbit in their weddings."
"Minor nobles would have beef as the center of their dish, and sometimes entire split roasted calves would be presented in a huge bronze tub."
"While some nobles liked to go the opposite route in terms of size and provide their guests with dormice, here considered a supreme delicacy."
Hearing the word dormice, Alexander would help but interject with a pitched squeak, "Dormice? You mean the rats!"
The disgust and revulsion that conjured inside of him at the thought of eating rat meat was very apparent on his face.
Who knew where that rat had been and what it had eaten?
He had never eaten rat, and would never want to either, not at least willingly.
"Dormouse are not rats Alex." Mean corrected Alexnader with hands on her hips, a bit astonished by Alexander''sck of thismon knowledge.
And she then introduced this species to him, "Doemouse live in the wild and are primarily herbivorous, mainly snacking on, berries, apples, and nuts."
"And in Adhania, they are caught from the wild in autumn when they were fattest and kept inrge pits, who are then slowly eaten throughout the winter by either roasting and dipping them in honey, or stuffing them with a mixture of pork, pine nuts, and other vorings."
"It''s said they taste quite nice, almost like squirrels," Mean finished the introduction.
This description softened Alexander''s reception to the new dish, as he thought he could eat squirrels and those alike.
Though he was still a little apprehensive about it.
But what Alexander did not know was that in Adhania, dormouse was one of the staple dishes to entertain guests, and so it was inevitable that he would have to eat the dish at some point, either as the host or the guest.
In fact, the dormice was one of the rare delicacies enjoyed by both the nobility and peasantry, and catching dormouse was a favorite past time of children,
These children would build rudimentary traps such as the hollow-tree trapping method and the t-stone trapping method to feast on these wee protein supplements, while there were even experienced seasonal hunters who would use different types of baits such as fruit and bacon soaked in wine to catch between 200 and 400 dormice a day and sell them as a side ie.
And it was not like the dormice were not caught only for their meat.
But their fat was also used as an ointment.
Alexander listened to Mean''s introduction to this yet unknown to him species, and then asked,
"Okay, what else do the nobles eat besides rats?"
"Dormice!'' Mean instinctively corrected, and then continued,
"Real high nobility like the pashas and kings, do not usually serve these items. But they entertain their guests with fowls and most poprly, the expensive peacock."
"And I asked the cooks how much peacocks cost. It''s around two thousand (2,000) ropals a kilogram. Fuck!" Mean could not help but let out a low cuss, a crime Alexander was too guilty ofmitting in his heart.
Alexander never ate peacock but did read about its taste when he learned about the shah of Iran''svish party which served the bird.
And ording to that article, peacocks tasted to some like a turkey when brined, or like guinea pigs, with most finding it tasting like pheasant or turkey.
"There is no way I''m spending that much on a stupid bird. The guests can curse me all they want," Alexander categorically rejected the peacock off the list.
He was not that much of a wastrel to spend so much on food that did not even taste that good.
And besides he was already hemorrhaging money, and every penny saved was a blessing.
A sentiment that Mean too seemed to share as she answered back with a nod,
"Mmm. Then we will make something out of fowls I guess."
Chapter 356 New Kitchen (Part-2)
These main dishes that Mean described would all have some garden produce apanying them, such as artichokes, beans, asparagus, beets, onions, etc, either roasted, salted, or prepared in some other way.
"After the main course, is the deserts." Mean listed the third andst course.
And the menu was simple beyond belief, as Mean pronounced, "It''s just fruit such as grapes, apples, pears, plums, etc. And it''s customary to give various nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, and pistachios as a gift to take home."
That was it.
Adhanian food customs did not really have much in the way of desserts, and even their wedding cake was more like a bread mixture.
''Well that will need to change.'' Alexander decisively determined about the desserts.
He could not believe that the Adhanian had invented the ice room, but did not have the time to invent some kind of dessert using it.
All they would do was use the ice as a kind of topping to cool their wine.
While in Alexander''s timeline, some sources describe ice cream-like foods as originating in Persia as far back as 550 BC, where using ice houses and ice pools, Persians were able to serve and produce faloodeh (a type of fruit custard made from rice or flour) and sorbets (fruit juice/ shake) all year round.
Andstly there were the drinks portions that Mean left implied.
A variety of options would be avable such as apple and pear cider, cordials from aromatic nts, fermented honey and water, and of course, wine, which was also the most popr.
Though that one was always drunk diluted to make sure one remained sober and did not make sure the party was rowdy, for that would be arge breach of etiquette.
Listening to Mean''s list of courses, Alexander found it not to his taste and almost snobbishly said, "I''m not satisfied with any of the items on the menu. So, in the following week, I will teach the cooks here the dishes I want for the wedding."
Mean kept a cid face to this deration and nodded understandingly, thoughmented in her heart, ''There he goes all acting high and mighty!''
A tiny little pet peeve of hers and Cambyses was that Alexander would many times act unimpressed or even express disdain over things the girls would find quite attractive.
Things like good food, housing, bedding, etc.
And they thought Alexander was just hard to please.
While the real reason was that he had much better expectations and also because the things that were new for the girls, were not new for him.
But Mean kept these thoughts to herself, and decided to escort Alexander into the kitchen, teasingly saying, "Well, let''s go inside and meet the cooks you will be teaching."
Alexander found all the staff standing in front of the kitchen door ready to greet him, and cheered in a chorus, "Wee my lord."
These men and women all wore hais and white overall with a name tag attached to their chest, as asked by Alexander, looking almost like surgeons.
Alexander nodded lightly to the greeting, as Mean invited him inside and gave him a tour of the interior.
It was a veryrgeplex, with multiple chimneys andrge windows, its floor paved with cement and its walls made of wood.
"Here are the hearths and stove," She introduced as Alexander walked past the roaring fireces being manned by women and being constantly fed firewood, cooking the liquids inside the manyrge and small pots.
"And there is the ''pizza oven'' you asked for," Mean showed a bit further into the tour.
It was a semicircr stove with fire raging inside, a stove found all over Adhnaia typically used to bake tbread.
And pizza was that- a tbread with cheese, meat, and other vegetables as toppings.
Alexander nodded in satisfaction at the construction, as he then checked the area around the stoves for dirt and unclean hygiene practices.
And was reassured to find none.
"As you requested, I have instructed that all the cooks must wash their hands with soap before handling the ingredients. And they must pay particr attention to clean their hands after cutting meat and fish," Mean diligently further reported.
"Good. Unclean hands make us sick," Alexander reminded.
Mean then continued her report, "I have alsopiled a list ofmon infractions and the punishments they carry as you asked. It is hung there."
Mean pointed to arge board ced prominently at the center of the kitchen, which was covered with arge sheet of paper.
Alexander walked over there to read the contents of the paper, and it included the types of mistakesmonly made and the punishment associated with them.
For example, Spilling food mistakenly was marked as getting scolded.
Breaking pots was punished by skipping a meal.
Unclean hands were punished by fines.
And much more, with the list appearing exhaustive.
"How did you make the list?" Alexander asked curiously as he read through the list, and Mean answered, "I asked each of the staff onerge mistake they did and how they were punished. That''s it,"
"Clever," Alexander nodded approvingly.
Alexander was satisfied with the hygiene of the cooking area, as he then asked, "Could I see where the pots, pans, and utensils are stored? I want to see if they are properly cleaned?"
"Sure, we store them over on the rack there," Mean pointed at a part of the kitchen and soon took Alexander there.
There on wooden racks there were rows and rows of pots and pans of all sizes, made of earth and stored with their mouth flipped down.
Alexander randomly took picked a few and inspected them for any sign of grime and dirt, and noticed none.
But as Alexander was putting them back, he remarked how heavy they were and how convenient it would be to have them made of iron.
''Iron! I should get to starting to pottery shop!'' Alexander in his busy schedule had forgotten that he had an excess supply of iron.
In his mind, he thought he would sell the raw, impure ingots as is.
"Mean, what do you think of making all these pots and pans out of iron? And those utensils too!" Alexander asked while pointing to all the wooden spoons anddles hung on the side of the rack to dry.
''Huh? Is there enough iron in the world, Alex?'' Mean looked at Alexander incredulously, thinking he might be overworking himself.
Because in this time period, iron was a somewhat precious material, and so to Mean it sounded the same as Alexander wondering if he could make the potteries out of gold or silver.
Fun fact, even thest thought was not an impossibility if one thought about the Aztecs and Mayans, whose civilization thrived due to the presence of gold as they had not mastered metal-working, though it was that same metal that drew the greed of the Europeans and destroyed them.
"Don''t you know about the iron furnace? We can make a lot of iron now!" Alexander also asked a bit surprised, a bit shocked that Mean did not know about this monumental creation.
"I work in the house. And I know what happens inside the house. How would I know what happens outside?" Mean put her hands on her hips and red up her nose as she chided Alexander.
And this made Alexanderment, "Fair point."
To Mean what the servants whispered was more important than what happened to the city outside.
And this made Alexander again aware that without the printing press, it was very hard for news to spread amongst the popce as evidenced by even someone as privileged as Mean had missed such a huge piece of news.
Whereas if there was a newspaper, which new invention would have been headline news for at least a month.
''Tsk, I really should get to making one,'' Alexander again promised himself but found his schedule rtively packed until his wedding about a week and a half from now on.
For within this time period, he had to inspect the wedding venue, oversee its decoration, n how to showcase the various new products to the people attending them, inspect the coal briquettes nt, visit the cement nt, and thetest thing to be added to his itinerary, teaching the cooks here the new dishes to be served in the wedding.
But for now, Alexander put these scheduled visits out of his mind and instead focused on Mean.
"We have invented a way to make iron cheaply and in veryrge quantities. So I was thinking of setting up an iron pottery and utensils shop. And I wanted you to oversee it," Alexander offered Mean another job.
He was sure the shop he was about to set up was extremely lucrative.
Because making pottery was like the tech industry of the ancient world- it was where all the money was.
This might sound a bit strange as potters and vase makers were not the wealthiest artisans, but
people needed pottery for all kinds of things- from cooking pots to drinking, to storage jars, to decorating one''s household.
And although each individual piece only earned a tiny profit, it was the sheer volume that counted.
So, with Alexander being able to offer pottery made of iron atpetitive prices of earthen wear, Alexander was confident about undercutting the earthen pottery industry.
After all, who would want to buy an earthen pot which was heavier than its iron counterpart due to it being thicker, and could break easily, when a perfectly better alternative existed?
Chapter 357 Use Of Gears
When Alexander presented his lucrative n to Mean, instead of taking and running with it, the girl instantly turned it down while waving her hands dismissively, "Alex, I know how to use pots and pans and knives. Doesn''t mean I know how to make them. And besides, I''m already too busy as is. Give it to somebody else."
Mean very clearly was not interested.
But Alexander was unwilling to see this.
Because the shop he was about to set up was not only extremely lucrative but also very secretive.
And his heart would be at ease putting someone he really, really trusts.
But what was so lucrative about making pottery out of iron?
One word- Casting.
Casting to the untrained eye might not seem like much, just a technique of metal fabrication where liquid metal was simply poured into a mold, it took that shape and then solidified, thus making the product.
But it was much, much moreplex than that.
There wererge,plicated forms regarding casting, and it was a very technical, and specialized job.
Without these mathematical forms, making beautiful casting required immense talent and it was almost equivalent to an art.
It was also because of that those artisans who were proficient in the art were revered.
Because they had the sixth sense and intuition to know how the liquid metal would flow into the mold, how quickly it would spread to the corners, and how quickly it would solidify, and then could make designs and molds ordingly.
But this feeling of how a metal worked was a natural ability, and so it would take people literal decades to understand how the liquid metal worked.
Whereas Alexander could rece all that work with maths.
He was taught forms in a 4-credit course that could urately describe how to design a mold to get the best casting for various shapes, and because of this precise calction, Alexander would be able to make his products almost identical in dimension, something not even the best artisans in the world would be able to do consistently.
So it could be seen how he would want to let Mean have these forms.
This was because Alexander would not have the time to be 24/7 in Zanzan, and so, if there was a new design or a simr one with different dimensions, he could let Mean design the mold.
But since Mean was currently uninterested, he decided not to pressure her right away.
Alexander was of the mind that since setting up all the production facilities and hiring enoughbor would take a lot of time, he would have plenty of time to convince Mean in the meantime.
And he replied as such, saying, "Okay. If that''s what you feel like, then so be it."
Alexander then stayed on the kitchen premises till afternoon, visiting and talking to the various staff, finding out little tidbits like the uniform for the staff in the manor would take a bit longer, and decided to have his lunch there, consisting of a tbread topped with chess and vegetables, as a kind of poor version of a pizza, some buns filled with fish and vegetables, and heavily diluted wine.
"Well, I wille to show you some new recipes tomorrow. Then see you at supper." Alexander gave a very informal goodbye and then decided his next destination would be the cement nt.
And why was it the cement nt?
Because he had asked Jazum to have something additional joined to the ball milling machine.
And Alexander wanted to inspect it today.
Alexander approached a part of the Cisrian hills where the cement nt had been relocated and found a few huge, waterwheels rising into the horizon.
These gigantic spinning structures were made of wood and iron, and as they rotated by the rapid descent of mountain springs, they produced a very distinct creaking noise muffled by the crashing of water down below.
All around the site there were busy, busy workers, all purposefully walking, shouting, and working, endeavoring to produce and transport the all-important white powder.
This grinding part of the cement nt worked all day, all night, everyday all throughout the year, with workers given a weekday off on rotation.
So unlike Thursday being a weekend for everybody, some would have their off days on Sunday, some Monday, and so on.
Alexander then looked up to see that three huge hills had been taken over to build the milling nt, and many man-made structures were ced on them.
There were the obvious waterwheels, huge sheds where the grinding urred, log houses for the soldiers, warehouses,trines, and many misceneous structures, all connected byrge, wide, stone-paved roads.
Theyout was almost identical to the steel-making nt.
Alexander spent a bit of time looking around to observe the workers'' day-to-day operation, finding the ce to be functioning properly.
He had arrived unannounced, and because he and his bodyguards were in clothed, wearing a simple tunic over their armor, they did not draw any attention from themon workers and could observe the mill incognito.
After a while of this, satisfied, Alexander decided to go on to the next site, though he had no ns to meet Jazum today because he just wanted to see inside the mills.
So noticing arge of workers who were transporting the finished clinkers from the kiln to the mill, Alexander picked an opportune moment and silently joined them.
And then simply followed them up through the slopping paved road until he found himself in front of one of the many grinding mills.
''Well that was easy,'' Alexander said to himself,menting about the security here.
But as he looked around and observed the bustling workce filled with who knows how many workers, he quickly understood policing such arge number of people would be very difficult.
If he were to issue them ID cards like in his manor, then the number of people he would need to employ to enforce this document would be a significant part of the employedbor force.
This would make the entire point moot because people would spend more time stopping cement recipe from being stolen than actually making cement.
And the only reason it worked in Alexander''s manor was because of its rtively small size and workforce, and because the workers were all ves or forced to live on hisnd.
But the cement grinding nt''s inability to enforce strict quarantine did not truly hamper its security.
Because one could learn little from just watching what was happening.
The actual recipe was known to only a handful of them, and except Alexander, none knew theplete one.
Even the workers there only knew what they were supposed to do, but not why.
Alexander marveled seeing the waterwheel up close and then peeked inside to see observe the operations of the grinding mill.
And they were almost identical to how the coke crushing worked.
With only one caveat.
Attached to this ball-grinding machine were two huge, gear-like structures.
Made of thick solid wood, these gears almost looked like miniature waterwheels themselves.
One of the gears,rger and with more teeth, the body made from dried oak was attached to the spinning wheel of the waterwheel, while the other smaller, but with fewer teeth were attached to the ball milling wheel.
In this way, when therge gear rotated once, the smaller gear had to rotate multiple times.
Alexander had to design this mechanism because the grinding mill worked by rapidly spinning, which would cause the solid balls to fall and smash into the clinkers many times per minute, thus breaking them into powder.
But the problem was that the waterwheel did not spin very fast, at best obtaining 3 rotations per minute (rpm).
Whereas the milling machine required around 20 to 25 rpm.
And this number was not something Alexander made up.
He calcted this figure using mathematical forme, taking into ount the average diameter of the ball, the size of the machine, and the density of the material to be crushed.
So, to get his desired rpm, Alexander could do two things.
One- make the waterwheel smaller, because things with small diameters rotate faster.
But this would reduce the energy a waterwheel could convert from gravitational potential energy (GPE) to kic energy (KE) and so reduce Alexander''s production capacity.
So it would be the same as having a 3 rpm billing machine.
Or two, Alexander could build a gear mechanism, which could make the milling machine spin much faster than the waterwheel.
Gears worked on the principle of conservation of energy, which very simply meant that when arge spinning object was attached to a smaller object, that smaller object would also spin at a much faster speed so that the angr momentum and energy of both objects were conserved.
By this same principle, because the waterwheel wheel was of a much small diameter than the waterwheel, then with the appropriate number of gears were used, the milling machine would spin much faster to expend all the energy of the muchrger waterwheel.
While without the gears, this energy would remain untapped and be wasted.
And this was the additional ''something'' Alexander had said that the waterwheel needed to Jazum all the way back when he had asked the stonemason to first create a prototype of the waterwheel.
Satisfied with the proper instation of the gear system, and after observing how it was being lubricated with oil and water, Alexander then moved to oversee the other facilities, all of whose operations were up to the mark.
And so Alexander retired for the day while thinking of what recipes to teach the cooks tomorrow.
Chapter 358 Uses Of Coal Brisquttes
Alexander spent almost the entirety of the next week teaching the cooks the things he wanted to be served on the wedding dinner table, the most important one being the wedding cake.
Baking a cake without an oven was possible, but a pain in the ass.
And whilst this training, one day he took a day off because Takfiz had informed him that all the necessary facilities had been set up.
The coal briquettes nt wasplete.
So, naturally, Alexander had to go see that for himself.
As he made his way there, Alexander had two options on how to use the coal briquettes.
One was selling it in the open market as cheap fuel, both for civilian and industrial use.
One might think that daily output of 2,000 tons of coal might be too much production for civilian consumption and most of it would go to industrial use.
But one would be surprised by how much firewood, which was roughly equivalent in energy density (Joules per kg) to the briquettes, a regr peasant would consume.
In winter, for heating alone, a family of 4-8 would use an average of about 50 kg dried firewood per day.
With an additional 15-20kg of wood per day was used for cooking.
Though interestingly, despite the high amounts of wood being burned, the room temperatures of these houses would be generally only around 4 degrees Celsius higher than outside temperatures, This was mainly because of the poor instion of the house, and also because burning firewood was an inefficient way to transform chemical energy into heat, its conversion being only around 30%.
So to mitigate this, the peasants would build their huts with really low ceilings and small doors and windows, so that there would be less space needed to be heated up and fewer ways for the heat to escape.
And since the peasants spent almost their entire day outside, and only spent the night, all wrapped up and sitting or sleeping near the firece, there really was no need forrge,vish houses for the poor folk.
Though the size of the short doors would giveter historians the misconception that peasants of this time were short,nky, and malnourished.
Whereas the truth was the quite opposite.
Peasants of this time, due to all the physical activity they were required to do were quite muscr.
Not buff, but strong and muscr.
And they were certainly physically fitter than the twenty-first-century average city dweller.
A peasant would spend about 5 tons of firewood for heating in a year as winters in Zanzan were rtively short, about three months.
While cooking would need an additional 7 tonnes, making the average demand for firewood in Zanzan about 2 tons per capita per annum.
And with a current poption of 150,000, that produced a total demand for firewood of more than 800 tons per day.
Or about half of Alexander''s daily production.
And Alexander could easily sell the other half to all the industries like steel, cement, and brick who used firewood for kindling.
But Alexander was reluctant to follow this path.
One because in the civilian sector, most of the firewood was self-sourced.
And the very simple reason was because no peasant could afford to buy that much firewood from the market.
So, when there was a lull in the work and in seasons with less load, peasants would often go to the woods and cut firewood, then store them in barns for use in winter.
Or they would simply chop off the dead trees in winter, as they would have little work at that time.
This was also the case in Alexander''s previous life, until the medieval times when forests in Europe started to get scarce as people had been hacking away at all the forest areas for generations and over millennia.
It was only then when the price of firewood had begun to rise that people started to seek alternative sources and found coal.
But coal really gained its poprity with the advent of the industrial revolution, when the ck soft rock bes the fuel of the future.
But Adhania had not reached that point, and so currently the civilian market was out of the picture for Alexander, leaving him with only the second option- selling the coal briquettes to the various industries.
And he did n to do, for he had asked Takfiz to transfer some of the woodcutters who used to provide firewood to these industries to his briquettes-making nt.
But that would not be enough to sell 2,000 tons of coal, which turned to briskets would be 2,500 tons.
Maybe Alexander would be able to sell half that amount.
And so Alexander decided that he needed a second way to use these fuel sources.
And then determined he would use them to make salt.
Salt was a preciousmodity of the ancient world, greatly desired by the mass, for to be used as a seasoning, needed to preserve meat and fish, and even prescribed by doctors as medicine.
But contrary to popr belief, salt was not expensive, or more specifically the quantity of salt a person might buy wasn''t particrly costly and valuable.
For example- a kilogram of salt in Zanzan cost about the same price as wheat, at 2 ropals.
So a peasant, who earned around 1,800 ropals a year could afford almost a ton of the stuff.
But he would at best need two to three kilograms for his diet, while the majority of his demand woulde from him requiring the white powder as a preservative for storing meat, fish, and vegetables.
But though salt was rtively cheap, that was not to say that the salt ''trade'' was cheap.
In fact, the salt trade was immensely lucrative as everyone needed salt to smoke their produce and not starve in winter.
Hence it was a volume business.
In this time period salt could only be produced from seawater, but could not be mined from salt deposits as done in modern times.
This was because there was no way to drain the underground water without heavy machinery.
Thus coastal cities could capitalize on this and sell immense quantities of the stuff ind.
Also it was not like all coastal cities could produce salt, causing many of those even living by the sea not necessarily be able to meet their own demand.
The reason for this was because to make significant quantities of salt, one needed to construct salt pans that could take on a great deal of seawater were broad enough to provide a lot of surface area for evaporation and were adequately sheltered from waves and rain so that they don''t get wet again, starting the evaporation cycle over again.
Zanzan did not meet thest criteria, for it rained frequently in there, thus depriving it of a salt industry.
Pre-drought salt would be bought from merchants, while currently, it was through the graciousness of Alexander who had bought arge stockpile of salt from Adhan that the people here did not die of malnutrition.
But those ces that did meet the criteria did be wealthy through the salt trade.
Very wealthy.
Wealthy like Adhan.
In fact, it was because of the salt trade, that Adhan was able to be the richest province in the country.
They would not even need to set up a salt pit to extract the salt in Adhan.
The life sea would by itself graciousness leave huge deposits of salt on its shore every year and all someone would have to do was scoop it up and collect it.
And since the royal family controlled the life sea, it was they who profited the most from this trade, enabling them to be the wealthiest and strongest family in Adhania and thus its rulers.
They would say ''We are blessed by the gods, that''s why we were given the Life Sea.''
Whereas the true saying should have been, ''We control the Life Sea. That''s why the gods favor us.''
And Adhan was not in any way unique to this circumstance.
In Alexander''s previous life, Venice''s first major domestic industry in the Middle Ages was salt. The shallow marshes of thegoon were already halfway to being functional salt pans and so all that the Vians had to do was adequately wall it off and clear out the vegetation, and let nature do its work.
Thegoon was typically sheltered from the worst of the action of the waves and so Venice could make a lot of money off of salt.
Not because salt was intrinsically a very valuable substance, but because the city was in an advantageous position to produce and exportrge quantities of it.
As did Adhan, and as was Alexander nning to.
Alexander''s n was simple, use the coal briquettes to boil off the seawater manually and produce salt like that.
And by his calctions, if could make the ntrge enough, by boiling the seawater off instead of slowly evaporating it, he would be able to sell it in suchrge volumes as he would be able to produce much faster.
This would enable him to take advantage of the economies of scale and underprice the traditional salt.
Because salt trade was a volume trade.
And additionally, Alexander had already transferred the cost of digging up the coal with the steel production because he found all the small considerations tedious, and so he would now only have to consider the cost of making the briquettes.
And that was what he was going to find out today, as Alexander approached the seashore where Takfiz was waiting to greet him.
Chapter 359 Briquette Plant
The briquette-making nt was situated close to the shoreline, on a cliff overlooking the sea.
This particr location was chosen because it was rtively close to the open-air coal pit, and so transportation of the staff, soft rock was pretty easy.
"Wee, my lord. I greet you well," Takfiz bowed as Alexander approached him on horseback.
And after the initial general talk, Alexander got to know about the nt.
"We have started making the briquettes since yesterday my lord," Takfiz gave him the most important part of the news first as he led the lord inside.
There the very first thing that Alexnder saw were coals beingid down onrge, t terraces which were being run over by heavy rollers pulled by horses and crushing the soft rock.
Because the milling machines were expensive and location-dependent, Alexander had decided to use this simple method of grinding the coal, a method possible because of the rtive softness of the material aspared to iron ores and clinkers.
"Once the coal is crushed, we take them there," Takfiz then took Alexander to another part of the facility.
Here the powdered coals were being mixed with y that had been sieved and cleaned by other another group of women in a 3:1 ratio, and then liberally drizzled with water, producing a wet, y-like consistency.
This by itself was basically the briquette, without the appropriate shape.
To do that, this ''coal y'' would be put in wheelbarrows and transported to the real production center of the nt.
Takfiz led Alexander here, where over the huge, expansive space, he spotted over a thousand mostly women workers,boring away to make his coal briquettes.
These women were seen working in teams of two, each with their designated task.
One would take some ''coal y'' from therge heap deposited to her from the wheelbarrow and ce them into an iron cast mold Alexander had ordered made.
The mold was just a hollow cylinder with both of its sides open and the women were seen filling up the mold with the appropriate amount of coal powder, cing a solid metal te over the tip as a lid, and then using repeated hammer blows topact the powder into a solid shape, letting the lid sink as much it could to get the most solid product.
This lid would then be taken off, and a second cast iron lid, this one with 12 spikes, each 1cm thick protruding out of it would be ced over the hollow mold, before again hammering the lid in as much as it would go.
The hammering actions would be done by the second woman of the pair, and once she felt the coal waspact enough, the hollow mold would simply slip off the briquette, producing a 20cm diameter and 30 cm high cylindrical fuel source, weighing around 5kgs with twelve holes in them.
These briquettes would then be stacked in a pyramid and left to sun dry for about a week to remove the excess moisture after which they would be ready to be fired, being able to burn for three to four hours.
This rtively long time period was due to the holes in them, which were quite important to the functioning and particrly the efficiency of the briquettes.
This was because these holes increased the surface areas of the briquettes and allowed oxygen toe into contact with more of the fuel, letting it burn higher and faster.
So if there were no holes, if the briquette was just one solid block, then they would only burn on the outer surface, while many of the vtile materials in the inner surfaces would not be able tobust due to insufficient oxygen and dpose into inert waste products- like ash and soot, reducing efficiency and thermal output.
And that was why the holes were added, and that was why these types of briquettes were called beehive briquettes.
Because the holes made the briquettes look kinda like a beehive.
Alexander observed this almost robotic process being repeated all over the huge facility, as he reminisced how he got to learn this knowledge.
He had learned of this product and how it was produced when was working in a steel mill.
There huge amount of coal would be used to turn iron ore into pig iron.
And in the process of using so much coal, naturally, some coal would be leftover and even be wasted as the soft coal on the lower part of the heap got crushed into powder by the weight of the upper portion.
These excess coals would be collected by the dayborers working there, who would mix them with various other fillers such as sawdust, mill scale, mud, flour, etc. and then bind them using water to produce a briquette.
Which then they would burn in a special stove called the beehive stove to prepare their food.
The reason the workers needed to use coal briquettes or if that was not avable firewood to cook their food was because the steel mill was way out of the urban city and had no gas supply lines.
So, for these people, who lived close to the minimum wage, being able to save on their firewood prices was a significant boon.
''A penny saved is a penny earned,'' was a saying these poor men learned the hard every day all year long.
And it was observing these workers making the coal briquettes in their free time that Alexander learned the technique.
After finishing his reminiscence, Alexander finally bought himself back as he refocused in eyes on the work being done in front of him and mentally counted that it took around 30-40 seconds to create one briquette.
So, with a working day of 10 hours, and generously assuming that 2 hours were wasted in misceneous activities like eating, relieving oneself, a little resting, etc, still just one pair could produce close to a 1,000 briquettes a day, or use around 3.5 tons of coal and 1.5 tons of dirt.
Alexander nned to transform all the coal exacted into briquettes before using them in his industry or making salt.
So, to convert 2,000 tons of coal, he would need around 600 pairs or 1200 workers.
And add another 800 responsible for all the other stuff, like transporting all the coal from the mines to here, crushing the coal, sieving the dirt, creating the mixture, etc, it gave Alexander a total workforce of around 2,000 people.
A number confirmed by Takfiz when Alexander asked, "How many people have we got?"
And then asked about the wages, "So, how much are we paying them?"
"It varies depending on the jobs. The cart drivers are all male and get 5 ropals a day. So does the roller workers who crush the coal." Takfiz readily answered,
"The women sieving the dirt get 2. The one''s mixing and delivering the coal slurry 3, and the two workings the mold 4 ropal, my lord." Then he finished.
"..." Alexander silently noted that the women were paid a ropal a day less regardless of their type of the job.
Which was the norm of this time, and a practice that arguably even persisted in his own modern time.
So, he did not childe Takfiz for this.
He figured that the old man might even harbor the impression that just a 1 ropal wage difference per day was being very generous.
And Alexander was right in thinking this because usually women were paid 2-3 ropals less a day, sometimes even more if the owner was particrly cutthroat.
And that was considering if they were allowed to work at all.
In many cities and provinces, women were not even allowed to have jobs.
Sure they could buy and sell stuff, like by pushing vegetable or fish carts, but usually those produce would belong to, or had been caught by her husband or sons, or other some next of kin.
For a regr woman, there was really only one way to earn money all by herself.
And that was working the oldest profession in the world.
"Hmmm, increase all the women''s pay by 1 ropal. Let them know I''m aware of the plight the womenfolk especially have suffered during the drought and that I''m a generous lord," Alexander instructed Takfiz.
This was done both for a PR stunt and also because Alexander believed that the same work should deserve the same pay, regardless of one''s gender.
He did not strictly believe in the motto ''Women should get as much as men.''
But believed that ''All workers should get as much as they deserve.''
And seeing the women do the bulk of the work, a 1 ropal price increase was the least they deserved.
There was also the third consideration that letting these women get off their feet will help them improve their living standards and they will be able to contribute more to the economy.
After all, living off just 2 ropals a day was very hard.
One might be barely able to just subsist on just bread and some boiled and salted vegetables with that amount of money.
"Yes, my lord. I''m sure the women will be forever grateful for your generosity," Takfiz readilyplied.
Since it was an order from his lord he had no reason who ask for anything more.
And besides, it was not like it was his money.
Andstly the clever old man noted to himself to price the women''s and men''s wages equally, as expressed by Alexander''s preference.
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Chapter 360 Salt Plant
Tafkiz did not attempt to argue with Alexander''s decision, though his heart did have a slight acridness.
For he felt that this young lord was a little too generous.
Takfiz was a well-to-do merchant before bing a ve and he even had certain distant rtions with a minor noble.
Hence, being a man of age, Takfiz had seen a lot and firmly believed in the saying, ''Give them an inch and they will ask for a mile.''
And if Alexander could read Takfiz''s mind, he would have most likely agreed with the old man to some extent.
Giving the people something without them asking for it was a dangerous way of developing greed among the popce.
But Alexander decided to do it this particr time anyway because, one- he felt bad for the women who had almost no say about their wages but mainly because he wanted to portray himself as a generous lord, an image that was crucial for him to maintain as he was a foreigner.
And besides, spending an extra thousand ropals a day was peanuts to him.
"By the way, why are there so many women employed? What about the men?" Alexander then asked curiously, noticing the skewed distribution.
It was not like he disapproved, but just that he found it unusual for someone like Takfiz to follow such an unconventional recruitment process.
"My lord, after your instruction, Lord Menicus suddenly came to me asking me if I could spare some men. He said he needed them to prepare some new fields for the spring."
"And when I told him about your n, he simply took the woodcutters and instructed me to use women instead."
"His exact words were, ''Since it''s not too hardbor, use those good for nothing who do nothing but shamelessly strut around the street tempting men.''" Takfiz even did the old man''s gravelly voice.
Alexander only lightly smiled upon hearing this tale, feeling that was in line with Menicus''s character.
"You did well," Alexander nodded approvingly.
And then he set his mind to calcting the cost of one briquette.
For convenience''s sake, he simply took the average wage to be 5 ropals and then multiplied that with all the employed workers to get 10,000 ropals a day ofbor cost.
There were some other running costs such as feeding the horses and regr wear and tear of the carts and wheelbarrows, which Alexander simply rounded off to 1,000.
And then assumed the set-up cost to be zero because it was rtively negligible.
So, given that around 550,000 briquettes could be produced per day, one would be able to buy 50 briquettes for 1 ropal.
This was equivalent to 250 kg of firewood and that would cost someone 25 ropals.
The massive price difference was because surface coal just needed to be dug up, as opposed to firewood that needed to be chopped, cut, and then dried for weeks before being usable.
The maths really pleased Alexander, as this meant that fuel for boiling the salt would be really cheap.
And so, finished with inspecting this nt, Alexander got to instructing Takfiz about creating another new nt- one which would make salt.
And once that was finished, Alexander went on a tour to visit the important site, the salt producing nt.
The history of salt was as old as time.
In the Iron Age, the British evaporated salt by boiling seawater or brine from salt spri-ngs in small y pots over open fires.
Roman salt-making entailed boiling the seawater inrge lead-lined pans.
In that empire, it was even used as currency, and the roots of the words "soldier" and "sry" can be traced to Latin words rted to giving or receiving salt.
And this traditional way of collecting salt persisted till the middle ages, where the salt would be collected from the evaporation of saltwater, either from the sea or from natural salty springs.
And because of this process of driving out the water to leave the salt behind, it would also leave some other bad residues with the salt.
Because it was not like there was only salt dissolved in the seawater.
Dirt, small bits of organic matter like leaves or dead tissue, organic wastes, and tiny fishes, were just some of the many misceneous stuff that would remain with the salt after this type of extraction.
So this salt would be frequently purified by merchants before sale, or by households before use, by redissolving, filtering, and evaporating it again, though such meticulous care was only given to salt being directly eaten with food, and not when it was being used as a preservative.
The inherent impurity present in this type of salt extraction presented an opportunity for hical salt merchants who could and did add bulk to their product by deliberately mixing in sand.
And unfortunately for people who lived ind, they would need to buy or barter for salt in any way they could and hope that they got more salt than sand in the trade.
In this way, because salt was so precious, in many instances, it''s presence and abundance not only to have determined the site of human settlements and their prosperity but also influenced the social climate.
In ces where salt was plentiful, such as along the shores of the Mediterranean and the North Sea, societies tended to be free, independent, and democratic.
But where it was scarce, "he who controlled the salt controlled the people."
For example, in the ancient river valley civilizations of the Nile, in Babylon, Mexico, Peru, and some parts of China, the rulers and priests monopolized salt and used it to manipte their unfortunate salt-addicted poptions.
And a simr case could be applied to Adhania too, with the royal family''s huge monopoly on salt being a major reason why they could control Adhania.
And it was not only because of the astronomical amount of money they earned.
But more so because Adhan as an ind city had ess to its own salt, and could transport these further ind at less a price than other cities and provinces that produced salt from the sea and hence needed to be coastal.
This way, the royal family from Adhan could project much of its authority way ind than other cities and pashas could, thus letting them exert their will on a much greater area.
In fact, one reason why Pasha Muazz was so loyal to Amenheraft was because the king was his main salt supplier, and hence crossing him would mean death and starvation for the fat noble.
A role that Ptolomy had taken over from his brother over Alexander.
And a monopoly that Alexander was eager to break.
The precious nature of salt and it being taken over by the powerful and the rulers, caused traditions and customs to slowly grow up around salt, giving the white powder an almost mythical quality.
It was used as medicine.
It was thought to increase libido.
It was used in many of Adhania''s religious ceremonies and simr to the Japanese it was assumed to be able to ward off ghosts and evil spirits.
And it was also Adhanian custom to ce salt as the first item ced on the table and thest item removed from it.
Lastly, salt was historically a source of conflict and war.
Since it was universally consumed government found it a great way to tie their taxes to the stuff and when taxes rose, i.e- the price of salt rose, revolutions had a tendency to follow.
For example, anger over the salt tax was one of the causes of the French Revolution.
And in colonial India, only the British government could produce and profit from the salt production conducted by Indians living on the coast, which led to a revolt by Gandhi and had significant consequences for India gaining its independence.
Because of all the significance salt had, Alexander''s decision to produce salt was a no-brainer, even if it would piss off Ptolomy a bit.
And the way Alexander had asked Takfiz to build the salt nt was very different from how the old man knew salt was made.
The traditional way of making salt was to first choose a plot ofnd on the beach and loosen the sand using one''s feet.
Then using buckets, the seawater would be sprinkled on to the sand, wetting it.
Each worker would usually sprinkle 70 kg of seawater per round, for a total of 20 rounds per day.
Thisrge amount of water would be carried by a pair of huge buckets, which would be connected to a wooden rod.
The workers would ce the rod over their shoulders and thus carry the 70 kg on their shoulders.
Or in some ces, thick bamboo would be filled with seawater and then be sprinkled onto the sand through holes drilled in the front.
This procedure would be usually repeated for six days, while each day, workers would use arge rack to shift the sand to help it absorb more water until it became saturated.
After six days, arge wooden box with a pipe sticking out of it near the end would be constructed near the beach.
The saturated sand would be filled with it using shovels and then even more seawater would be added to the sand, after a few rounds of which seawater, or brine as called woulde pouring out.
And up to this point Alexander''s and the traditional way matched.
But diverged radically in the next step.
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Chapter 361 The Salt Market
The traditional way the salt would be extracted was that the brine (seawater)ing out of the pipe in the wooden box would be collected, and then proteins such as egg white, blood, or some other additive be mixed with the brine.
This would be done to further refine the seawater and cause the remaining dirt and residues to coagte so that they could be skimmed off.
Finally, this water would finally be taken torge, lead pans, or even wooden boards, and left to dry with the aid of sunlight and wind, until a somewhat pure salt could be produced.
Alexander''s n was to simply skip the boring evaporation stage, and directly boil off the brine in enormous boilers made from cast iron.
These 600-liter boilers would be needed to be boiled for 6 hours, and as the water level would start to go below the halfway mark, more seawater would be added to keep to water level high, while constantly heating and stirring the huge pot.
This constant addition of brine would go on for a whole week until the entire 600-liter pot would bepletely filled with salt.
After achieving this step, the pot would be taken off the heat, and the resultant salt be allowed to cool and crystallize,ting Alexander around 1.2 tons of salt (salt is around twice as dense as water).
And to get this 1.2 tons of salt Alexander would need around 12 tons of concentrated brine which itself woulde from around 400 tons of seawater with the average ocean salinity being around 3 percent.
And the number of briquettes that would be needed to create this salt would be around 2,000, or about 10 tons of coal, giving the technique a fuel cost of just 40 ropals for 1.2 tons of salt as 50 briquettes cost 1 ropal, or about 3 ropal per 100 kg.
Whereas if firewood was used that would have been 100 ropals per 100 kg.
Which was why nobody used it.
With the cost calctionsplete, Alexander then went on to do the capacity production, and since it took around a week to collect the brine and another week to make the salt, making the production a two-week cycle, he simply divided his total coal supply for a fortnight with coal required per unit cycle.
So, with Alexander deciding to use half of the coal excavated for the briquette, it got him around 14,000 tons of coal or 3.5 million briquettes, capable of making 4000 tons of salt per month.
While producing around 5,000 new jobs, with most of them being the woodcutters Menicus had temporarily borrowed.
Alexander assumed a low price of 2 ropal per kilogram of salt to find that this nt would Alexander annually a minimum of 96 million ropals, and introduce 48,000 tons of new salt to the market.
And this amount of money was based on the price of salt in Zanzan, which was on the low side because it was a major port city and the salt from Adhan could be easily transported to Agnirat and then easily transported by sea, significantly cutting down costs.
This meant that the price of salt ind could vary by up to five and in some remote locations even ten times.
This presented Alexander with a huge market to draw from as he made some reasonable estimates about the size of the salt market in Adhania.
From his experience of ruling Zanzan, and giving out generous amounts of salt to the popce, he found that an average peasant family of 8 people (the husband, wife, children, and the husband''s parents) would need around 40kg of salt, or 5 kg per head.
This amount of salt was the entire annual demand for a peasant as almost the entirety of this quantity would be used to smoke meat, dry fish, and pickle vegetables in preparation for winter.
For example: curing a kilo of meat took roughly 100 g of salt while curing 1 kg of fish roughly took 250 to 350 g of salt.
And the amount of salt that would be used as seasoning or voring was minuscule inparison and the peasants would get the vast majority of their bodily salt needs naturally from their diet of meat, fish, and vegetables, requiring them to buy at most about a kilo or two of salt per head per annum for consumption.
Hence with a poption of an estimated 80 million, the annual need for salt was around 500,000 tons, with Alexander''s new nt capable of meeting about 10% of it alone.
This was an enormous capacity for something that did not exist even a month ago, being rivaled only by a few other salt production centers of Adhania like Adhan and Kuleef, but with the production cost being only a fraction of theirs at 0.25 ropals per kilogram of salt.
With this price, Alexander was sure he would be able to under-price any salt in the market other than Adhan''s, as the salt there was really effortless to collect.
But here Alexander had another advantage.
In the traditional salt pan method, naturally much dust, sand, and dirt would be blown onto the sand, an inevitability of the process.
But Alexander would be much purer because the boiling would be done indoors, and so it would not be contaminated by dust and debris that wind evaporation would inevitably bring.
He would also userge sieves when adding the brine to the boiling pot, managing to catch many types of dirt in the fine.
Hence by quality, Alexander''s salt quality was the finest in the world, pure white and withrge clear crystals, a condiment worthy to grace a noble''s table.
Alexander was sure he would be able to charge a premium for the product, maybe up to twenty times the regr amount.
Or even more given how many of Adhania''s customs revolved around salt, such as how the importance of a guest was determined by how close or far away one was sat from the salt cer.
And how intricate some of these salt cers were, to the point they became an absurdity, used as status symbols in the circle of nobility.
But all these advantages did not necessarily mean that Alexander was stepping on Ptolomy''s toes.
The salt market just in Adhania was big enough for both of them to co-existfortably.
Because even though 48,000 tons a year sounds like a lot, in the grand scheme of things it was really not.
For example, in Alexander''s previous life, in the middle ages, just one single saltern in the Northern German city of L¨¹neburg produced 30,000 tons of salt per year!
A saltern was like one set of salt-producing pools, and a salt-producing city would have multiple such salterns.
But even this did not make the city the center of salt trade in Europe.
That distinction belonged to Venice.
And all of that had to be remembered along with the fact that Europre at that time had around 60 million people, a third less than Adhania.
So Alexander was free of increase significantly without any market restrictions, his only bottleneck- the supply of coal.
And this did trouble the pasha as he knew such easy surface coal would soon run out and he would have to dig deeper to exact the valuable rock.
And digging deeper would mean costs- multiple times the cost, a problem Alexander was unable to solve currently.
Speaking of costs, the major portion of the cost in salt selling came in the form of transportation costs.
Ships were still okay, but the cost of transferring salt ind through non-existent roads in small, merchant carts drove up the prices madly,rgely erasing Alexander''s advantage in lower production cost.
And this was something Alexander would not be able to mitigate for the time being.
Alexander did not know the exact circumstances of roads in Zanzan, but relying on his experience, he was confident in saying that they would likely range from abysmal to non-existent.
And it would take a long time for him to fix these, both because of manpower and material constraints and because thends did not belong to him yet.
And thest part was problematic not just for Alexander''s authority, but because these nobles would be able to put heavy tariffs and even arbitrarily stop and seize any of Alexander''s products traveling through theirnd, stifling his trade.
And given that all the pashas were enforcing a semi-embargo on him currently, it meant that arge part of the salt market was cut off from him.
While Ptolomy for once in his life was in a much better position to capitalize off of this, as his family had spent generations building a huge roadwork throughout the province of Adhan, designed to quickly and efficiently distribute the royal family''s salt.
And because of this, Alexander was of two minds on how to sell his salt.
One was that he would sell most of the salt in bulk to Ptolomy or Farzah.
And then these men could use their vast tradework to distribute it to all over the country.
Or, the second option was that he could export his salt outside of Adhania.
Both had their pros and cons, and Alexander was in flux on which to choose.
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Chapter 362 Wedding Day (Part-1)
If Alexander sold his salt to Ptolomy and Farzah in bulk, then it would be those men who would be the main beneficiary of the lion''s share of the profit.
After all, the most profitable part of a business was being the middleman, having no headache about production, or about selling the product to the customers.
So if Alexander used these men as a middleman for his product, he would not be able to sell the salt at a premium directly to the customers but these men would be.
Though it could also be argued that these men would also have to bear the cost and logistics of selling the salt ind.
As for option two, Alexander did have arge number of candidates to choose from.
There was Thesos with its vast number of city-states, there were the warring states to his south and there was even Thebias who were his immediate neighbors to name just a few.
But the problem with this was that Alexander did not have a strong navy or even a navy to speak off to protect these goods from pirates or other hostile powers, both foreign and domestic.
So if he wanted to do bulk trading he would have to rely on other powers'' protection, like Ptolomy, Pasha Farzah, or even Cantagena.
And all of them would want a slice of the pie, and most likely arge one.
Hence Alexander was left with quite a dilemma.
A dilemma he was unable to resolve before his wedding day came.
On that day, Alexander woke up rtivelyte, around 10 pm, had a hearty breakfast and then started preparing to get ready for the wedding ceremony scheduled to be held in the afternoon as per Adhanian custom.
And funnily enough, when he was having breakfast, he had asked about Cambyses, to which one of the many maids had told him that Cambyses had been busy with her wedding preparations from almost dawn in Ophenia''s room.
''Well I guess that''s women for you,'' Alexander had thenmented, before going to his room for his own preparation.
And in there was Gelene, who happily said, "I''m d these new clothes suit you master," as she helped Alexander put on his wedding dress.
Alexander put on a soft tunic he usually slept in as underwear as his very firstyer of the garment.
Then came the armor- linen thorax, followed by chainmail.
This was standard practice for him as Alexander did not just never leave his manor without his armor.
In fact, he rarely left his room without it.
And he would even force his women to wear such simr protection, sometimes much to the chagrin of some of them, who wouldin about the weight, heat, and general difort.
And one day, when Alexander was chastising Cambyse for not wearing her armor, as the freest of the bunch, she even angrily shot Alexander directly to his face, "For a man as big as you, you sure have a scaredy heart."
This had caused the couple to stop talking for almost a week.
Alexander thought back on these trivial tidbits as after the threeyers of linen, leather, and metal came a light blue full-sleeved shirt.
And as he was putting it on, the happily mused, ''Thank goodness it''s the middle of winter.''
If it had been even spring, not even summer, Alexander had no idea how he would have dealt with the heat wearing so manyyers.
"This shirt is quite good. I''m impressed," Alexander praised as he felt the linen on his skin, while Gelene helped him tie his buttons.
He particrly liked these elliptical-shaped buttons, made of cast iron, and embedded with tiny gemstones, making them sparkle in the bright sunlight.
"Thank you, master," Gelene smiled as she finished buttoning the shirt and then handed him the waistcoat.
Gelene being here helping dress Alexander was an obvious choice as the girl getting married and this ck beauty did not get along.
And so Cambyses was being dressed by Ophenia and Mean.
Alexander put on the jet ck vest, but did not tie the button, as he asked, "Pass me that ribbon-like cloth."
Alexander was asking for his tie.
Gelene had been very curious how a man would use this ribbon when she was making the cloth, and quickly bought it to him, eagerly waiting to see its use.
And Alexander very expertly showed her its use, as he lifted his cor and skillfully put on the ck tie, all while giving a detailedmentary of what to do, how to do it, and when to do it.
"*p*, *p*, *p*," Gelene could only wordlessly p at the expert demonstration.
It seemed that her master had done this a million times.
Which was quite an urate statement as putting on a tie had be a muscle memory or even almost a robotic action for Alexander.
Alexander centered his tie knot using a small, clear mirror in front of him, which was among the very first batch of such products his workshop had produced.
And as he was doing so, Gelene could not help but marvel at the mirror, "To think mirrors could be so clear and pretty!"
Satisfied with the tie''s center, Alexander properly buttoned the vest and then atst put on his masterpiece- the suit.
Navy blue in color and thick, it was a typical suit that snuggly wrapped around the body as
Alexander paid particr attention to make sure thepel or the cor of the suit was dead and centered, before checking his cuffs embroidered with three golden buttons to make sure they did not ovep fully with his shirt, leaving just a bit of the shirt out.
And as Alexander''s top half was dressed, Gelene found her master in his current state very fetching.
She, or anyone for that matter had never seen such type of attire but still found it very charming.
This was in part because Alexander was physically quite handsome, with a strong body, chiseled face, and an impressive aura, making the suit metaphorically fuse with him.
But another part was because the suit was a derivation of the military uniform worn by European nobility, and the full sleeves, the thick clothing, and the tight fitting of the cloth gave off an imposing feeling simr to a suit of armor.
And in this time period, where military prowess was always revered, this naturally attracted the favor of the opposite sex.
After the suit, Alexander then quickly put on his pants over his linen trouser, them being just in navy blue pants, thus matching the suit''s color.
A belt with a silver buckle, and thenstly came the socks and polished leather shoes.
Surprisingly, the shoes of this time were not too different from those of the 21st century.
Nobles wore shoes made from leather or velvet, while peasants would use wooden shoes or even those made from tree bark.
But the basic shape and design were still the same, and as he tied theces, he felt a nostalgic feeling, a feeling that he had returned to his time and that he was about to go to work, or a meeting, or a formal gathering.
A feeling he had missed very much.
"How do I look? Are there any creases?" After being done, Alexander lifted his arms and then even spun around to give Gelene a 360-degree view, asking for her opinion.
Alexander had asked all his clothes be ironed before he put them on.
And for that Alexander had even invented the world''s very first iron.
It was just a kettle where hot water would be poured inside, the lid would be shut and then the t bottom surface would work as a straightening surface.
And it did not need to be hot water too.
Coal, woodchips, or other kindling would work just as well.
"Perfect, master. Perfect. I have never such a dress suit someone so well!" Gelene had an excited, almost squeaky tone to her voice.
She loved the design of this ''suit'' finding it very elegant.
And she was sure that once Alexander showcased this new type of cloth to the public, a market for this among the nobles would be instantly created.
A demand she very much nned to capitalize on.
And this was a part of Alexander''s n, to rece Adhania''s cultures and customs with his own.
But while he liked this very suit quite a lot, he still a bit snobbishly regretted that it was a bit too mono color-ish.
Light blue shirt, ck tie, and navy blue suit were all too close to each other, and though this would be perfectly fine with 99% of the popce, Alexander thought with his too refined a taste the suit was a bit nd.
As he wanted to show off the new clothes, Alexander originally wanted to make the suit much more shy and colorful, with bright reds, blues, and whites.
But time and material constraints, as well as the unavability of many colors made Alexander settle for this deep, almost authoritative color.
"Thank you. You did a great job with this new type of cloth. I''m impressed," Alexander replied with a smile to Gelene''spliments.
Then he put on some perfume made from various exotic oils like frankincense, opopanax, and myrhh,bed his hair back to give himself a sleek look, and afterward, with having nothing to do but wait for Cambyses to finish her dress up, decided to pour himself some diluted wine.
They would be required to go the Temple of Gaia together and so the lord pasha was forced to wait upon hisdy, in a role reversal of the usual.
Chapter 363 Wedding Day (Part-2)
Alexander approached the stairs leading down to the outer hall with Cambyses''s right arm locked with his, the girl wearing a full-sleeved, high-cored smoking red gown, a gold banded tiara jeweled with rubies of all shapes and sizes, ga ear-rings and crimson-colored high heels.
And as she looked down through her translucent veil on the gathered maids and staff arranged in two neat rows standing opposite to one another, she looked with a fairy gracing them with her nce, her powdered white face garnished by a vermillion blush on her beautiful chin and her bright lips decorated with ret lip-stick.
Cambyses had always had a preference for red, as even in her time in the mercenary, she wore a bright red armor.
And her dress on the most important day of her life also reflected that preference.
Alexander escorted Cambyses down therge carpet to the attention of all the dressed and in attention maids and servants, both of having a light smile hanging off their faces.
And trailing behind Cambyses''s long, shing gown adorned with pearls and rubies were Alexnder''s three women, Ophenia, Gelene, and Mean, all wearing the same outfit with different colors.
Ophenia and Gelene had already shown Alexander their wedding dress, while Mean too wore that exact same design but one of pink color with blue sapphires as jewels.
Behind them came the royal and noble guests.
There was the Queen mother who wore an emerald green gown with strings of emeralds sewn in concentric circles, her crimson hair coiled into ringlets and dressed up with golden chains.
And as the mature woman walked forward swaying her hips, the bountiful breasts jiggling seductively, all the servants quickly lowered their heads with a tinge of blush on their faces at the heavenly woman.
Beside Seelima was her daughter Hellma, who wore the exact same outfit as her mother, and looked almost the spitting image of a younger version of her mother, even down to the cold, haughty attitude that the Queen mother conveyed to everyone around her.
The young princess matched her mother''s footsteps, her tiny, cute feet cing their steps with power and authority, giving the little princess a cold, unvible feeling, while her perfect countenance gave no one any doubt that though she was currently unripe, she would too grow up to be a head turner of a woman.
Apanying the two stunning women was the Matrak princess and arguably the most beautiful woman of the group, Mikaya.
This was a tall title to im as the mother-daughter duo were a deadlybination, but Mikaya did have the asset to content with them and as well as having the aid of two of her cousins cum maids.
All three women wore the same jet-ck gown decorated with golden pearls that glittered and sparkled, theyer dress perfectly contrasting with their long, flowing silver hair styled with golden butterfly-styled hairpins.
And when winter sunlight gently caressed their pale white skin, all three of them seemed to shine a diamond pink. making the three sisters appear pure and clear, as if like the very angels hade to grace Alexander''s wedding.
All three of them appeared unattainable to all but the most blessed and powerful men and the sacred and divine aura emanating out of them as they crossed the carpet would make no man suspect their true nature.
Even if Alexnder told them, no one could have believed that these very women had just the night before enjoyed a 10-man feast and that their lower halves were still full of their gifts, their warmth stillforting them.
After the royal and high-level dignitaries was Takfiz and his grandson, the heads of the various workshops, andstly followed by some staff member and other unimportant folks, people whose main job was to tend to the needs and wants of the guests.
But among these guests, observant people might have noticed Azira and Azura missing from the list.
And this was because they were already at the wedding venue, as was customary for the head priest or priestess of the Temple of Ramuh to wait there for their lord''s arrival.
Speaking of customs, Alexander had already broken a great deal many during this short time already.
For example, when Alexander took Cambyses''s hand and led her out of her home, this was actually supposed to be the job of Cambyses''s guardian- whether it be her father, her brother, or as she did not have any, a legal guardian appointed by the authorities.
This guardian was a formal position and all girls of Adhania had one, and he held life and death over the woman or women under him.
And under thews of Adhania, no marriage would be ever considered valid without the express endorsement of the girl''s guardian, especially in the upper ss.
In such sses, women were so sheltered that many would never leave their house before their marriage, and marriages were usually arranged by their guardians meeting their counterpart, or the boy himself, and then discussing the potential union.
And the main point of discussion was rarely about the boys or the girls themselves or theirpatibility, but rather about the economic and political benefits such mergers would bring for the two families.
Trade treaties, defensive pacts, loans,nd development ns, etc. all these agreements were thought to be binding not because of a contract or signing some other legal documents, but because of marriage.
Because in this time period, it was thought that marriages were the one and true of cementing one''s alliance with another, as the act was seen as something witnessed by the gods themselves and considered sacred and unvible.
So, after a marriage urred the two families who were formerly strangers would now be rted, and Adhanians were firm believers in the saying, "Blood is thicker than water."
And generally considered it taboo to harm family members.
But this custom also had also strange and unintended consequences.
For instance, no alliance was eternal, and so when an agreement fell through or alliances changed, it was verymon for there to be a sudden divorce, and an almost shotgun remarriage with another person to cement that new alliance.
Of course, it had to be noted such practices were primarily between the upper sses, with the peasants having their own rules.
And perhaps it was due to such frequent marriage breakups that Adhanian nobility had developed such perverse practices.
On the point of marriage endorsement, legally there were two exceptions that a guardian''s endorsement was not needed.
One was if he was dered legally insane.
And two if he had been a war prisoner for at least a year.
None of these applied to Cambyses.
But since Alexander was the authorities, he used a legal loophole to name himself as Cambyses''s guardian and then naturally endorsed himself to marry Cambyses.
This was slightly unusual, but not unheard of.
Adhanian nobility had lesser reluctance with marrying close to their family, such as between first cousins, and even union between immediate family members was not unheard.
And this type of marriage was not unique of this world, as even in Alexander''s previous life, incest among royalty and nobility was amon thing, fueled by the ideology of a ''pure bloodline''.
The Habsburgs family was perhaps the most famous example, followed by Cleopatra who married her brother to obtain legitimacy to rule over Egypt.
But why did Alexander go through all the legal processes of getting himself named Cambyses''s guardian?
It was because he did not want to give anyone or any faction the excuse of saying Cambyses''s marriage with him was not valid in the eyes of Adhanianw and so their progeny was not the rightful sessor to Alexander.
Alexander led Cambyses out of the long outer hall, and out of the front door, where a red carpet guided them to an open roof carriage.
This carriage was painted ivory white, his expensive oak body embroidered with intricate gold artwork, opulently decorated with fresh colorful flowers and gemmed with various precious stones.
It was something Alexander hadmissioned made, and under the golden sunlight, the carriage seemed to glitter and shine like one a fairy godmother would conjure up to take a princess to the pce.
"My lord, congrattions!" Hemicus, immactely dressed in ceremonial armor over his actual one greeted Alexander stepping forward.
There were two entire cohorts (1,000 men) outside Alexander''s manor, ready to escort their lord and his guests to the wedding venue.
"Haha, Hemicus, it''s a good thing it''s cold today. I''m sweating just seeing you," Alexander chuckled seeing the manyyers his head guard had adorned himself with.
And Hemicus too replied with a light smile, "Yes, praise the goddess."
Alexander was then led to his carriage, a fully armored guard opening the door for his lord, as Alexander first helped Cambyses get up and afterward the couple made themselvesfortable on the velvet cushions.
"This is nice," Cambysesmented as riding a carriage without the top half, and being able to have a 360-degree vision was a novelty for her.
She caressed the solid silver railings and felt the golden handle of the doors, studied the rubies and sapphires studded in and around the exterior and interior of the vehicle, and then turned her head excitedly around to record all the hustle and bustle going on around her.
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Chapter 364 Wedding Day (Part-3)
Cambyses first observed that the carriage she was on was attached to four stong, strapping horses, all adorned with bright blue and golden clothes.
It seemed this was the ''barding'' Alexander was talking about.
Over her sides, she then noticed that arge number of soldiers too had simrly dressed horses which they were mounting, releasing an imposing aura as each of them held a spear and a shield in each hand and carried a crossbow on their back.
These were their escort who would guard them when they passed through the city.
Andstly Cambyses spun her head back to see all the guests get on their own, less shy carriages, all pulled by two horses.
It went without saying the number of horses attached to a carriage delineated its significance.
And today Alexander and Cambyses were the most significant ones.
While Cambyses soaked her eyes with all the beautiful colors, clothes, and jewelry around her, Alexander ced his eyes on his bride, peering into her face through her red veil matching her dress.
And the most significant change he noticed about Cambyses was her hair.
Usually, Cambyses put her hair in a ponytail.
This was both because she liked it, and also because it was the style a maiden was expected to put on.
But today her hair was parted into six strands which were then tied together on top of her head in aplex fashion forming a cone shape, like a pagoda raising into the sky.
Clips and pins made of iron from a sword or arrow used to kill a boar were used to hold her voluminous chestnut, while chains of silver pearls wrapped around each of the six strands.
The reason behind using iron that was used to kill a boar was because in Adhnaia, boars were a symbol of virility so usage of this essory was viewed as a way to ensure a fertile union.
"I like your hair," Alexandermented to Cambyses, drawing a coy smile from the girl.
Although they had been together for months now, and done many intimate acts, somehow remembering it was her wedding day made the girl feel shy at of a sudden.
After all the guests were ready and everything was set, Hemicus bought his horse next to Alexander, and with after receiving a nod from the pasha, signaled the carriage driver to start, thus signaling the start of the long procession.
As the long line of dignified guests exited the personal estate of Alexander and made their way into the main street of the city, the makeup of the procession looked like this.
At the very front were two rows of six soldiers, colorfully dressed and holding Alexander''s standard, a bright red g with the image of a metallic ck flower.
Alexander''s choice for such a design was not done out of his own thought but because this motif was a way of paying homage to his homnd.
In Thesos it was customary to use flowers in one''s war banner, and even the reason the famous ''War of Flowers'' 16 years ago was called such was because both the powers used flowers in the gs.
And so by using such a design Alexander sent the message to his men that they would not be Adhanians by staying here, but be just Thesisans in Adhania.
Behind these standard-bearers were the trumpeters and drummers, numbering around ten on each row for a total of forty.
They were the marching band of the group and wore feathered caps with extremely tall red plums, making them very eye-catching.
Following them were two squads of soldiers on horseback, leading the main carriage that Alexander was on.
nking this carriage were even more soldiers, this time on foot and marching alongside their lord, armed with Zanzan''stest weapons.
And behind Alexander''s carriage were the rest of his entourage, all too guarded by rows and rows of marching soldiers, until the procession''s tail constituted of the various servants of the manor, ves, and even ordinary folk.
Alexander had dered today a city-wide holiday, with only a scant few ves left in the industries as a precautionary security measure.
And as the reason for this holiday was known and Alexander had even invited the popce to join his procession, the roads were packed with a cheering crowd, all huddled together and craning their neck to just have a shing nce at their lord anddy.
And as Alexander''s line passed through the newly paved street, the crowd cheered and whistled and danced on the sides to the matching beats of the marching bands, as onlookers marveled at their handsome lord wearing a strange dress, was mesmerized upon seeing the pretty bride in her veil, awestruck by the magnificent carriage they were riding on, impressed by the beautiful horses pulling them and fearful of therge number of strong fearsome soldiers under theirmand.
"I''m gonna have a wedding just like that! Lady Zanzan is so pretty," Were the thoughts and cries of many an immature girl.
Yes.
From now on Cambyses would be titled Lady Zanzan.
While many an immature boy wished they would be able to pamper their wife just as the pasha did his.
And for others, it was about pointing at someone in the procession and introducing him to the people in the crowd, detailing how that person was connected to them.
"Look, look, there''s my father. He''s the soldier guarding the lord," Small boys would cheer pointing their young fingers at their father.
While some adults would describe how they knew that person who knew a person who ultimately knew one of Alexander''s retainers.
The number of stories, lore, and gossip that this single parade generated would sate even the chattiest housewives gossipping mouths for a month
As a bonus treat for the crowd, it was not as if Alexander and Cambyes were the only attraction of the precession.
The people were also astonished by the carriages that followed the main carriages, smitten by the number of beauties that were on them.
Ophenia was one of them, but the one that drew the most attention was Mikaya''s carriage, she and her cousins'' looks and unnatural hair color standing out by far from the others.
Seelima and Hellma were also beautiful, but their cold looks and haughty demeanor caused many to shiver, while Mikaya and herpany appeared friendly and casual, as the Matrak princess even shot off casual winks at a few of the lucky men.
And for a handful number of especially lucky men in the crowd, somehow looking at those faces and the smiles hanging off the three women, weirdly bought up memories of the past night, and if it was not for these noble women''s pure white hair and their unimaginable status, an absurd thought would have entered their minds.
''To think there are three whores who look just like these nobledies. What are the chances?'' These men rationalized the coincidence.
While Mikaya giggled and licked her lips as the cavalcade continued, saying, "I like some of these. They look tasty."
And though the Queen mother and Hellma did not get the full innuendo, her maids sure did, and could only roll their eyes.
And then fearful of their mistress might run her mouth a bit too much, Nafia quickly asked a question, "Mistress how are you enjoying this new type of ceremony? It is certainly different..and seems fun."
Typical upper-ss weddings in Adhania urred with the groom visiting the bride''s house,mitting various rituals with a priest from the Temple of Ramuh as a witness, followed by a grand feast and finished by a procession where the bride would be taken to her new house, the groom''s house.
But Alexander seemed to have inverted, jumbled, skipped and added a great many steps until the wedding ceremony looked nothing like the original one.
And this seemed to irk the Queen mother a bit, so could not help but interject in a dismissive tone, "Hmmm, parading us like ves. Likes winning botty from a war. How disgraceful!"
"Hahaha, don''t be like that Seelima. This is a fun event. See how these peasants are jumping around. Like cute dogs," Mikaya knew the Queen mother was not really against this ceremony.
Or else she would have not gotten in the carriage in the first ce.
But this was just her expressing her displeasure at Alexander changing Adhania''s customs.
As a side note, Mikaya''sment about the people around showed the true feelings the nobility held for the people.
Even when Mikaya slept around with these people, she saw them as nothing but toys and distractions.
While in the front, Cambyses in a low voiceined to Alexander, "How long do I have to smile and wave? My hands hurt, my teeth are freezing and I can''t feel my lips," as the couple constantly smiled and waved towards the crowd while the parade marched on.
"Until we reach the temple." Came Alexander''s reply as he took out some ropals from a coin purse in the carriage to throw into the crowd, much to the ear-splitting delight of the crowd, "Glory to the lord."
Cambyses knew well that all this opulence around her was not just because Alexander loved her.
But it was also because it was a way for him to boost this image among the people.
Which Cambyses was totally okay with.
And so she hid the face she made and chose to bear with the difort.
''Well I guess I just have to sit and wave,'' Sheforted herself.
The procession preceded as such, with much music, merriment, and delight in the air, cheerful chatter abound, until finally, the carriage approached the huge, recently renovated Temple of Gaia.
Chapter 365 Wedding Day (Part-4)
"We wee the lord."
There was arge gathering of dignitaries and council members at the gate of the Temple, who cheered the phrase even before the parade could fully reach the temple.
Off from a distance, Alexander''s eyes could spot Menes, Menicus, Krishok, and a whole more, all dressed in their best garments waiting to receive him at the gates.
They primarily wore the tunic, made of linen or wool, they were thick and vibrant, with many being heavily designed and decorated with intricate stitches and gemstones and pearls.
Colorful leather belts, oftentimes with golden belt buckles fastened to this expensive to their hips and wrapped around their right shoulders was another outer tunic, appearing almost like a cloak or mantle.
That cloth of a man''s attire would be usually the most heavily embroidered, with all kinds of brocades and patterns in gold and silver stitches worked into them, depicting all sorts of themes and motifs, ranging from beautiful art, eye-catching brocades and patterns, intricate and byzantine symbols, yful arabesques and much more.
Prosiac nobles might even put mundane things like the family crest, while truly the creative ones would even stitch in beautiful short stories on their external cloak using nothing but pictures.
There was even one noble who had written a 6 part story on his cloak, told over multiple balls and parties.
Alexander had found this cultural practice probably the most advanced aspect of Adhania and considered it to be something even the 21st human would find difficult to top.
Below their tunic, the gathered honored guests wore tight, fitting trousers, almost like leggings, sometimes multipleyers if the weather was cold enough, being usually brown or ck, followed by colorful and stylish shoes.
While the women folk wore gowns of various colors, and neck cuts, showing different amounts of the neck and arms.
Married women usually had their hair done just like Cambyses, looking like beautiful pagodas, while the maidens could take on any hairstyles they wanted, sometimes even supplementing their natural hair with false hair to produce gorgeous styles.
All the women, just like men, had beautiful belts around their hips and they covered their feet with expensive velvet or fur shoes.
Andstly, they embellished themselves with various essories of gold, silver, and gemstones on their neck, ear, and arms, with some even decorating their nose.
As the procession finally stopped at the new Temple of Gaia, Menes quickly and purposefully walked towards Alexander''s carriage, with all the council members quickly in tow.
"My lord, wee, wee," Menes had a big grin on his face as he personally opened Alexander''s carriage door.
"Menes! How''s everything?" Alexander made some small talk as he got down from the carriage, before helping Cambyses to do the same.
In traditional Adhanian weddings, all this would have been reversed.
ording to the customs, Alexander and his family would have gone to the bride''s house.
And when they arrived at the front of the house, the guardian of the girl would have led the bride out of her house just like how Alexander led Cambyses out of his manor to greet the groom.
And it would be she who would open the carriage door to help her husband get down, as a symbol of her eternal willingness to aid her husband.
Getting down Alexander waited for all the other guests to join him, and oncepleted, the group was led into the new Temple.
As Theocles had said, the house had been once a noble''s manor, but over thest two months, it had been so heavily renovated that one would find it hard to find the resemnce.
Firstly the simple walkway had been reced with one paved using granite and onyx and mixed in with a special stone that glowed yellow in the sunlight, making the entire length of the path to the temple look like a heavenly bridge under the beautiful winter sun of the afternoon.
Expensive and beautiful flower trees had been nted along the sidewalk, with many colorful paper festoons and designs hanging off them, while overhead were rows and rows of bells andnterns on strings, jiggling in the slight wintery breeze as if heralding theing of heaven''s emissaries.
The couple moved slowly, particrly because Cambyses was not used to wearing such high heels and had to be careful to not step on her own gown, but finally, the festive crowd entered the Temple of Gaia.
Inside, the very first thing that Alexander noticed was the huge statue of Gaia at the altar of the temple, situated at the very edge of the room.
Usually, such a sculpture would take months if not years to make, just as the one he had ordered the construction of in Adhan.
But with the magic of cement, such a thing was aplished in weeks, and it looked to less majestic.
In front of the statue, way at the end of the room, stood three people.
There, in his simple, white, priest robe, wearing a blue chasuble on his right shoulder and a stole on his left side was Theocles.
The chasuble was simr to the cloak worn by the men, being heavily embroidered.
While the stole was a long narrow strip of cloth that Theocles wore about the neck and down to the front of his left chest, almost like a belt.
And this stole was indeed like a belt as the color and workings on it would denote a priest''s rank and power, with Theocle''s ck stole on golden stitch workings showing off his highest authority.
Besides Theocles were the twins, wearing the simr, simple robes they had worn the first time Alexander met them.
They appeared clean and refined, their in clothes not diminishing any of their charms, but instead letting their natural beauty shine.
They appeared like two divine dark elves.
As a side note, one might question why Gaia''s sacred priestess was not there at the altar, and the reason was Alexander wanted the poor girl to enjoy this grand parade instead of their holed up in that temple and so simply made up the excuse, "The sacred priestess should be with her master, serving his needs."
Moving his eyes away the main attraction, Alexander recorded the surroundings of the altar.
The back of the altar was not walled off, but just open.
Large strong pirs with various stone work on them held the roof over the altar, and peering through them, Alexander spotted many circr tables dotted around the garden behind, with one particrly huge, rectangr one in the center.
Over on the front side of the altar, there were sitting arrangements, made exactly how a modern wedding would arrange their seats, parted on two sides, with a walkway or aisle in the middle.
Largefortable couches were ced on the front few rows, designated for the royal members and council members, while after them came many furnished and beautiful chairs.
Overhead the tall roof hung many lit chandeliers, and dropping off them were many stings of pearls and tiny bells, with beautiful paper flowers attached to them, seeming like flowers were blossoming out of the sky.
These huge bright red, blue, pink, and golden flowers mesmerized the crowd as they looked up in awe, and even Mikaya chuckled, "If my marriage is like this, I would not mind doing one too," in a hushed voice meant for only those close to her.
And though the four other women did not say anything out of courtesy for the asion even though they knew what Mikaya was like, they could certainly empathize with the sentiment.
"It seems the pasha really knows how to throw a party. He has spared no expense" A rare token of praise came from the unlikeliest of sources- Hem.
Even she was moved why how much Alexander was willing to spend on Cambyses.
"That new dress he is wearing is also nice. Looks like a clothed armor." Nafia then blurted out.
It was unknown if she said it because she liked the suit, or because Alexander was wearing it.
"I heard from Lady Gelene that His Grace wanted all to gift all the men such a dress. But did not have the time and men to do it," While her sister Tafia let the others know another useless tidbit.
"My dear Alex has certainly done his best for his big day." Mikaya said nodding, and then with a giggle said, "And even if another, even richer man were to try and beat, hehehe,.... he might not have the head for it."
It was in as day who she was referring to in this suggestivement.
Only the king could be said to be richer than a pasha.
And this type of banter poking fun at Ptolomy was a running gag among Mikaya and Seelima.
"Come let''s take our seats. The ceremony is about to start," Seelima did not like such talks in public, fearful of whose ears might pick up on the words, and so abruptly interjected the conversation, then leading the group to the very front rows seats.
And once all the honored guests made themselvesfortable, they saw Alexander and Cambyses walk up to the altar, where Theocles fully bowed to Alexander as the ''Divine son of Gaia'' while Azira and Azura performed a different bow, one that nobles used to greet one another.
Finally, the main ceremony could begin.
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Chapter 366 Wedding Day (Part-5)
At the altar, Cambyses took a little time to observe the new goddess- Gaia.
She was a buxomdy, wearing a loose robe and with arms stretched towards her followers, a gentle smile gracing her face.
Her hair, made of wreaths of wheat, bunches of grapes, and vines of leaves draped over the shoulder and cascaded down to her hips, while around her feet were miniature animals such as
calves, ponies, and babies, seemingly frolicking around, their small size symbolizing the greatness of the goddess.
As Cambyses scrutinized the statue of Gaia, over time, she noted several ''abnormalities'' with the statute''.
The biggest one was that the statue was dressed.
Statues of all kinds, be it the gods or humans were always sculpted in their natural form, both in Thesos and Adhania.
For humans, this was to show off their glory in the most raw form.
And for the gods, it was because they were thought to be of the perfect image and so they would show off their magnificent physics to the mortals.
Just like Ramuh appeared as a great, muscr man in the Grand Temple of Ramuh, every single one of his parts and features sculpted with great care and detail, even the private parts, which were even particrly jeweled.
Whereas inparison, Alexander''s hastily made Gaia statue appeared simple and even somewhat crude, with only little embellishments and jewels embedded here and there over the cement structure.
And the flowing robe seemingly hid the goddess''s power, almost as if the god was weak and shameful to show off her features.
This figure was very much different from the one Cambyses had seen over in Thesos, which was naked with huge perky breasts, a voluminous butt, arge sex in the front, and hair curled up as Cambyses had hers, the perfect image of a married, fertile woman.
Hence, seeing the goddess Cambyses had heard Alexander talk much about all covered up and coy made Cambyses feel slightly disappointed, as she did not like the conservative look.
But Alexander had done this precisely because it was different because he wanted to show his religion was different.
If his religion was all the same as the others, how could he dere himself a god?
If his religion was all the same as the others, then how many imposters would rise up from his very religion calling themselves god?
So, it was natural Alexander would practice customs and religious ceremonies opposite to that of the ''disbelievers''.
Aside from the garb of the statue, another abnormality that Cambyses found was that the statue gave a weirdly familiar feeling.
Somehow to her, the face and the figure of the statue looked as if she had seen them before.
This was natural as Alexander had made designed the statue taking inspiration from Ophenia''s face, Gelene''s bust, and Cambyses''s butt, forming an incongruous but strangely beautiful sculpture.
A design that Alexander kept Cambyses out of the loop about.
At the altar, Alexander and Cambyses stood opposite to each other in front of the Gaia statue, with Theocles as the priest in middle, while a soldier approached them, and ced a small, portable iron stove with fire burning inside in between the couple.
This was the very first ritual of the ceremony and it involved Cambyses.
The bride received various wooden and woolen toy dolls, horses, etc from a pouch the twins carried, all of which she threw into the fire.
Traditionally this ritual was done to symbolize a girl moving from childhood to adulthood, where she would dedicate her toys to the gods, and ept her new status as a woman.
But the toys that Cambyses was throwing into the fire as not exactly hers.
They were mostly newly made, and a few that she borrowed from Mean.
This was because as neglected by her father, she did not have many toys to begin with, but also because the nomadic nature of the mercenary group meant that she had lost a lot of her original toys during all her travels, due to carelessness, miscing them, or them simply being stolen.
But the core idea of the ritual was still there, and as Cambyses slowly threw the objects into the new stove designed by Alexander, Theocles prayed:
Ohh, Great Gaia, Merciful Gaia:
Surely You are All-Knowing:
So we beseech Thee:
Bear witness to the birth of The Consort:
The Consort of the Son whom You have favored.
This and such simr verses were repeated over and again as each article was thrown inside until all that remained was ash.
Completed with Cambyses''s ceremony, it was Alexander''s turn, and it promised to be bloody and messy.
Because it required him to perform a sacrifice.
The iron stove was soon removed, and in its ce was reced arge, shallow bucket, while Azira and Azura led a newborn goat, or a kid by the rope to near the bucket.
"My lord," At the same time, Theocles bought out a sheathed sword from behind the altar and offered the sword to Alexander while kneeling, his head lowered towards the marble floor, and arms stretched towards the pasha.
This sword or other ceremonial knives would usually be offered by the bride''s father as a gift to his son-inw when they would perform this ritual inside the bride''s home temple like the one huge statue of Ramuh Pasha Muazz in his inner hall, which Alexander had demolished.
But since Cambyses''s guardian was Alexander, and the girl had no real next of kin, this act was performed by Theocles.
Alexander epted the sword by gripping thevishly designed solid golden handle which was embedded with huge rubies and sapphires, and then in one swift motion unsheathed it off the scabbard, letting the steel glint of the sunlight light.
It was a double-edged sword with gold etchings done on one side of the de that read
''Beyond life and blood'' while the other side was ''Through the heavens for all eternity''.
The crowd watched with rapt attention as Alexander bought thisrge sword, made using the best techniques in the world, under the soft neck of the baby goat, making it bleat helplessly as he then gripped the soft neck and sliced up the throat in a swift, strong motion, warm blood dying the golden etchings.
The lifeless goat thrashed its soft, weak legs as the blood drained out of its body and pooled into the bucket, as soon another group of soldiers removed these two articles.
The point of this act was to symbolize a man''s willingness to even kill something small and weak, in order to protect his woman.
Alexander had been careful to not get any blood on his suit during the process, and with the two basic ceremonies done, only onest remained- The vow.
In fact, there were many more ceremonies in between depending on which region of Adhania one lived in, such as the couple rubbing color on them, reciting various types of religious chants, lighting candles, and worshiping the statue, to name just a few.
But Alexander had decided to keep the number of rituals to the absolute minimum and restricted them to the mostmon ones.
And thus came the ring, probably the most iconic article in all marriages across all times.
Alexander took out the ring from a velvet box that was in his breast pocket and then presented the iron ring with rubies studded into it and arge diamond atop to Cambyses''s left middle finger.
The reason for the ring being made of iron rather than of other more precious metals was for the same reason Cambyses''s hair clips were made of iron.
It was traditionally made from iron used to kill a boar thus symbolizing fertility.
And the custom behind the left middle finger was because Adhanian doctors believed that during human dissections they had found a vein running directly from that finger to the heart.
So putting the ring on that finger meant a direct ess to one''s heart.
As Alexander put the ring on Cambyses''s finger, a shy smile grew out of the girl, while Theocles in the meantime was busy pronouncing the vows.
And these vows were slightly different from the modern ones, with the greatest difference being that there was no asking Cambyses- ''Do you take Alexander, the Pasha of Zanzan as your rightful husband?''
This was not only Alexander was the pasha and when the pasha wanted to marry you, you did not say ''No'', you said ''When''.
But also because given the time period and the status women had in society, that would have been a joke.
Women had no free will of their own and were considered just tools and properties of their fathers and husbands.
So when Alexander had proposed the former way of pronouncing the vows, Theocles at first tried very hard not to appear too incredulous so as to not offend Alexander.
And then he persuaded Alexander out of it saying such a thing might cause the audience tough out loud, damaging the serious and formal asion.
Hence Theocles instead carried out the vows in the traditional way, addressing the crowd and asking, "Is there anyone among us who thinks this union should not be graced by the gods? Is there anyone who believes they deserve either the man or woman more than them? If there is please speak up! Please speak up now!"
Naturally, there was no response, and so Theoles formalized the marriage with the words, "Then from now on I dere Alexander, the Lord of Zanzan and Baroness Cambyses husband and wife. Let us bear witness. Let all of Zanzan bear witness. Let the gods bear witness."\
And hence Alexander and Cambyses were formally husband and wife.
Chapter 367 Wedding Money
Strictly speaking, all the various rituals and ceremonies that had been performed were not necessary for the marriage to be valid.
Strictly speaking, to make any marriage valid in the eyes of Adhanianw, the only thing that was needed was a public statement from the boy and girl''s guardian, letting the people in the vicinity know that this boy and girl was now man and woman.
But the reasons why the many rituals and ceremonies existed were both cultural, designed to make the day more merry and memorable, and religious, as it was believed that performing such acts would draw the favor of the gods and bestow thier blesings on the newlyweds, resulting in peace and harmony in the house.
And the reason behind Alexander''svish and extravagant wedding was purposed to awe and impress his guests and retailers.
And in this endeavor, he seemed to have been mostly sessful up until now, as along with Theocles''s phrase, came an apanying cheer and apuse, while the couple smiled and held hands.
This would be a day for both of them to remember.
As a side note, the custom behind Theocles''s phrase ''Is there anyone among us who thinks this union should not be graced by the gods'' was rooted in pragmatism.
This phrase had been invented due to a necessity because once there was a rampant culture among nobles to steal amoner''s or peasant''s wife.
And thus this phrase was directed at anyone iming to already be the spouse of the woman in question.
There was also the rare urrence where a woman would run away from her family or lie about her marital status to hitch a ride onto a noble''sp, and this tradition helped curb that too.
The putting of the ring on the bride''s finger was usually the climax of the marriage ceremony, but Alexander had another extra step to add.
So he first addressed the crowd thanking them, "Gentlemen, and esteemed guests," Alexander very conspicuously left the ''Ladies'' part as per the norms of the time,
"Thank you foring and attending this humble wedding of mine out of your busy schedule," Hisst words drew a light smile from the crowd as then Alexander got to the main point of his speech.
"As you know it is customary in a wedding ceremony for the groom to give money to the bride''s father.
"This is done as a symbol of buying his daughter from him."
"And thus a husband is legally like a father to his bride, holding the same authority of life and death over her as her guardian did. He can manage her finances, properties, and inheritance to his wishes."
Alexander finished giving the background of Adhanian, or more specifically the Ramuh''s faith interpretation of marriage and gender norms.
Then Alexander gave his new religion''s interpretation of this sacred act,
"In many aspects of marriage, the rules decreed in our religion of Gaia agree with that of Ramuh."
"A husband works hard all day long and naturally deserves more control of the family. He is the head and leader after all," Alexander made these points clear to show that his religion was not too different from Ramuh''s so as to not cause a strong bacsh from the usually conservation popce of the city.
"But there are small instances where our faiths do differ," Alexander dered in a quick, sharp tone, as in a single breath he described, "And that is that instead of giving the money to the bride''s father, the groom will give money directly to his bride!"
This produced some eyebrows and hushed whispers among the crowd, spreading to even among some of the newly converted council members.
This announcement was quite the controversial one and Theocles hid a breath of helplessness seeing this.
The archpriest recalled that when Alexander said that this was the decree of the goddess, he of course did not dare reject it, but Theocles had asked his lord to hold off on that announcement for a few years, letting the new converts get used to their new way of life before burdening them with this custom.
And the exact word that Theocles used was that, ''burden''.
Because you see, very crude and almost immorally speaking, raising children was a kind of investment for the people of this time.
Sons were so much celebrated because boys could work and earn money, of which they could spend a portion of to look after their parents.
So feeding, clothing, and raising a son was worth it because it was an investment for the parents for their retirement and old man.
Good, strong, healthy sons were the 401k of ancient times.
But for the girls, they were theplete opposite.
They could not work the fields, they could barely earn any money, and worse, when they were of age, they would leave their parents to serve their husbands.
In the twisted, pragmatic eyes of the girl''s parents, girls were the human equivalent of crow''s eggs that they, represented in this analogy as a cuckoo were forced to raise.
So from their perspective, it was a waste of good food, money, and cloth to raise a daughter because she was destined to be another man''s possession, wasting all of one''s investment to benefit an unknown stranger.
These were the sad economic circumstances that gave birth to a lot of gender norms of the time which developed into problems for the people of the 21st century.
Problems such as the convention that women would stay at home and look after the house, as was done for 99% of human history due to the economic structure of the times.
Problems such as pay discrimination based on gender, because throughout almost the entirety of our history, we have been an agrarian society, and so our brain has been wired to think that since women are less stronger than men, they can work less of the field per day, and so they deserve less pay.
Problems such as the birth of the culture of female infanticide both in Adhania and in Alexander''s previous timeline.
And it was a practice that sadly persisted in both the city Alexander currently resided in and the modern times he once lived in, with India being the most notable one, where more than 2,000 babies were aborted every day after they were found to be female.
While in some parts of Adhania, a female girl being born was a cause of great shame and humiliation for the family, as it was seen as a curse and sign of misfortune, and proof that the gods were dissatisfied with that family.
Problems such as only men being on high-level posts, because it would be typically only men who had the time to go out of the house and do other things, as women would be typically needed to take care of the house.
All these conventions, or as the feminists say, ''The rise of the patriarchy'' did not happen because one day all the men got together in one giant hall and had a meeting where they agreed to suppress and oppress the other gender with some grand diabolical mastern in mind.
No, they urred naturally due to the economic hardships and circumstances of the time where each person acted in his own self-interest.
And such hardships gave rise to customs such as the groom giving money to the bride''s father as a kind of reimbursement for all his efforts in raising a good, healthy daughter.
And it even gave rise topletely opposite customs such as in Thesos and India, where in thetter''s case the concept of dowry to this day persisted despite the government''s efforts to ease it.
The reason behind the dowry, which was aplete 180 of Adhania''s custom and involved the bride''s father actually giving money to the groom, was that because the woman cannot work, the bride''s father should give money to the groom to look after this ''burden''.
This was another form of twisted logic pertaining to the economic situation of the times and was followed by many groups and races.
Theocles had exined these situations in detail to Alexander and had said, "My lord, I know many fathers who raise their daughters well because they believe they will get a good amount of money by marrying her. So, this is a form of protection for them."
"And I fear that giving the money to the bride and stopping the father from getting anything might make the treatment of the girls get worse, and even cause female infanticide to rise."
And Theoclesstly finished by saying, "Not to mention that because women have no right to own money or property, it will likely all end up in the husband''s pocket, making the custom quite¡.ummm weak."
Thoecles quickly stopped himself from saying the word ''useless''.
And Theocles made some fantastic points no doubt.
But Alexander gave Theocles the same answer as he gave the crowd, "The reason for giving the bride money is because women generally have no ie of their own, And this will allow them to spend out of their own pockets to buy sweets for their children, give gifts to her parents, and spend on small things on herself such as a ne or jewelry without having no hanker their husbands for it."
"And it could be even a source of emergency funds if the husband is not close by at the moment, such as being at war," Alexander reasoned, which calmed much of the crowd, mostly concerned men who feared what their wives might do with the money.
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Chapter 368 Wedding Feast (Part-1)
Alexander''s reasoning behind the deration of the new customs of marriage ording to the religion of Gaia cated the bubbling crowd for the time being.
Though many questions still remained.
The main one being who would possess the money and if it was the woman, then how would she protect it?
And Alexander, anticipating such questions answered on his own, "I will soon set up a marriage registry department with the city hall, where couples will be able to register their marriage and dere the amount of money given to the bride."
"This amount of money will be stored in the registry department and only the bride will be able to ess it. With no one, not her father, not her husband, and not even her sons being able to spend it without her permission." Alexander dered.
And then finished by saying, "But her husband and father will be able to know how much money is left anytime he wishes by visiting the marriage registry to ensure that the woman is not misspending the money."
Alexander had intentionally added thest part because he feared that the men would not like having their wives'' financial independence and that the men would fear the women spending their money on various frivolous things.
Hence thest part helped to mitigate such fears.
Though what they did not know was that Alexander nned to repel thest part along the line of his rule in the name of ''privacy'' thus giving the women of this time some limited financial independence, and hoping that they would not be like sheep to the ughter under their fathers and husbands whims.
And as for Theocles''s concern about female infanticide, Alexander nned to make social, economic, and legal reforms to curb such practices.
Alexander believed that Theocles''s assumption that the only reason fathers did not kill their daughters was because of the potential money to be too simplified, as it was not like all the fathers in the world were busy sharpening their knives in case their daughter turns out bad.
And so Alexander was confident with the right policies, he would be able to get the best of both worlds.
Alexander''s detailed ount cleared many of the doubts in the crowd, while many unmarried women in a hushed voice said to themselves, ''Oh, I like this,'' and thinking of how to change their faith as they then witnessed a group of soldiers again approach the altar, this time carrying a closed chest.
The jingle and clinking sounding from inside the chest as the wooden box swayed with the footsteps made everyone know of its contents, and when the soldiers ced the chest at the feet of Alexander, the loud thud made everyone certain of therge amount of gold coins stuffed inside of it.
Once the chest was ced, Alexander took out an iron key from his breast pocket and loudly dered, "I, Alexander, the Pasha of Zanzan, here gift my wife, Lady Zanzan 100,000 ropals as her wedding gift." before handing the key to Cambyses, thus signifying the transfer.
The huge amount of money drew gasps of shock and awe from the crowd, as this amount was a Talukder''s (Viscount) annual ie, while Cambyses received the key with arge grin on her face.
And with this finally done, the ceremony bit of the wedding ceremony finally came to an end.
"And now it is time for the feast to start," Alexander dered with a loud p of the hand as the guests all slowly got up to move to the back garden dotted with dining tables.
"My lords anddies, please let me escort you," And Alexander personally addressed this to Mikaya and Seelima and co. as he led the group to therge main table.
This table was special, not only due to its shape and size but also because unlike the other tables in which anyone would sit in any order, this table had individual, particr chairs dedicated to a specific person as indicated by a name tag ced on the table in front of it.
Each of the names was handwritten by Mikaya on a paper card using beautiful andplex calligraphy and using various colors of ink.
The twins Azira and Azura and the Queen mother and Hellma''s names were written in royal Gold.
Theocle, Mikaya, and her maids'' names were written in Silver.
Alexander''s girls'' names were written in Red.
The barons'' and council members'' names were written in Blue.
And finally, the workshop chief''s and Takfiz''s names were written in ck.
Such use of the color scheme was self-exnation, to show off the rank of the person named.
And to get Mikaya to produce this beautiful piece, Alexander had to ''sacrifice'' quite a few young men to the white subus.
It seemed that the only currency she was interested in.
Alexander and Cambyses sat at the very head of the table as was the convention in any wedding, those two seats being reserved for the bride and groom.
And this seat was also special in another way as though there were two chairs, a sheepskin was ced over them, to symbolize that though they were a couple, they were now one.
It appeared many aspects of Adhania were heavy on symbolism.
Right in front of Alexander was ced a salt cer, a very important part of Adhanian culture as the closer one sat to this almost sacred object, the more important he was.
And today Alexnder and Cambyses were certainly the most important ones.
This salt cer was also shaped like no ordinary salt container, its appearance befitting its status of being served in front of a pasha.
In fact, it was so heavily designed that one would find it difficult to describe it as a salt cer at a first nce.
Because unlike the shape one might conjure up when the word salt cer or salt shaker came up, that of a conical or cylindrical tube with holes on top, the salt cer in front of Alexander was shaped like a ship, with the body made of expensive oak, with a deck made of gold and with silver masts.
Yes, a simple salt container was shaped like a miniature ship that was about 30 centimeters wide!
And one would ess the salt by opening the deck of the ship using a small handle and find that its belly was full of the white, good stuff.
Alexander did not know exactly from whom he had looted this ornate piece of absolute extravagance, whether it be from the Cantagenan when he raided Agapois''s possessions, from Adhan and Ptolomy, or from Muazz, but whoever it was, it seemed somehow it had ended up in his wedding table.
And today, left of this beautiful art piece sat Azira and Azura, while to the right sat the mother-daughter duo of Seelima and Hellma.
Alexander had been unsure whether to put the two princesses right next to him as royalty or to treat them as Pasha Farzah''s granddaughter.
This was because Amenhearaft had basically abandoned them and hence, practically cing them further back would be more appropriate.
But since Amenheraft had not yet explicitly made that im, and more importantly as Alexander found these, as he liked to call, ''Twin dark elves'' cute, he made them sit next to him and was rewarded by a blossoming smile from the two women.
They were very happy to be seen treated as royals.
Across the table, the atmosphere was almost the opposite, with Seelima and Hellma putting on somber and dignified faces, as Adhanian etiquette required royals to be, and even making Cambyses, who sat to their left feel slightly cold.
Next to the twins were their aunt and her maid, courtesy of them being rted to a Pasha, while the next two sits to Seelima and Hellma were upied by Theocles and Ophenia as they were the highest bodies of authority of a religion and had status simr to a Pasha.
Then were seated Gelene and Mean, followed by the council member who had been dered barons by Alexander, andstly themoners such as the artisans.
In all, the huge able hosted around 30 to 35 men and women.
And while this strict hierarchy of seating arrangement might seem pedantic to modern people, it was extremely important in this time period where peerage and status was sometimes more important than life or death.
There were alliances that had broken due to improper sitting arrangements and to avoid such a fiasco, Alexander had even asked both Mikaya and Seelima for their input.
After the guests seated themselves, they then turned their focus to the te and cutlery.
Over on the moner'' tables, this consisted of beautiful golden and silver wares, with tes made from alloys of silver and lead, golden spoons and silver goblets.
While on the ''noble'' tables, it was very different.
The dinner tes were made from clear ss and decorated with designs of flora and fauna, a linen napkin dressed like a lotus flower atop it.
Next of that, each of them was given a wine goblet, but it was not made of pure ss.
It had a slight tinge of blue to it as it was made from bristol ss, making it translucent and subtly foggy, yet also dazzling.
No one had seen ss like that and even Seelima would not hold and marvel at the goblet.
And these two marvelous wares were embellished with the usualpliment of solid golden and silver cutlery such as spoons, forks, and knives.
Chapter 369 Covetous Eyes
Mikaya and Seelima were not the only ones amazed by the rity of the ssware on disy.
By now every one of the guests had picked up their goblets and was looking through them to see how the world appeared looking through them and marveling at how the light seemed to both scatter and join together when passing through the ss.
''So ss can be so beautiful! Both transparent and translucent!'' The guests cried out in their hearts.
Serving ss tes instead of ceramics might seem a bit tacky to modern people, but for the people present, even tes made with solid gold would not have amazed them as much as the clear ss did.
Adhania had already an obsession with ss, and if all the people were not in such a formal setting and sitting right in front of Alexander, most would have decided to take them as ''souvenirs'' back home.
After all, each one of these could easily go for prices nearing or even exceeding 5 digits.
Suddenly, while everyone was busy caressing and feeling their new tableware, a sweet voice rang out, "Pasha Alexander, you know Hellma is getting ready for marriage. Might you be interested?"
There was a light smile on the Queen''s mother''s face as she made this preposterous proposal.
"......"The jolly atmosphere seemed to have been hit the pause button by this sound, as everyone turned their heads woodily to find the source of this voice.
And even Hellma seemed to have been stunned with silence at this crude way of her mother asking Alexander to marry her even before the feast for his first wife''s wedding could start.
This was a new low point she was seeing of her mother, a point she quickly reevaluated, when Seelima further suggested, "Of course, if the Pasha feels just my daughter is not enough, I still consider myself young!"
"....." Alexander had to fight very hard to keep a straight face at this shameless behavior.
He knew his clear ss would attract jealousy and coveting, and he was also aware of the craze Adhania had for the stuff.
But he had at least assumed that Seelima would have a bit more dignity than that, especially when she would frequently go off on the ''virtues of nobles''.
So, Alexander was now left with the task of trying to figure out if Seelima was being serious after being dazzled by the secrets of clear ss or if it was her way of driving a wedge between him and Ptolomy to fleece the ss forme out of him through political pressure.
But whichever one it was. to make such a proposal so openly meant that without a doubt this would make its way to Ptolomy, making Alexander feel a slight headache at how to deal with that lovestruck fool.
And the worse news was that Seelima ckmailing him for the ss recipe would not be the worst thing it could happen.
No, the worst thing would be if Seelima was serious about wedding Hellma and herself to him, causing aplete fissure between Ptolomy and Alexander.
Marrying the widow Seelima would not be too controversial even in modern times.
But Hellma, aged fourteen and a beautiful girl by her own rights, might seem very young by any modern standards.
But these were not modern times.
In Adhania, girls typically tended to get married by fifteen, and in fact, there was even aw that heavily fined any girl above the age of twenty who was unmarried.
This was done due to economic reasons, as the faster one could marry a girl off, the faster she would be someone else''s problem.
Health reasons as it was possible for anyone to contract an innocuous disease and simply, almost randomly die, even those in the prime of their life such the teens.
And thus the urgency to start producing children as soon as the body was able.
Andstly, it was done due to social reasons for society generally did not like seeing young, mature, unmarried women, for they were seen aszy, rebellious, and wastrels.
And this phenomenon was of course not restricted to Adhania or even this timeline.
For example: Shakespeare''s famous romance tragedy Romeo and Juliet cast Juliet as a thirteen-year-old, with her mother making mention of the phrase, ''two weeks till her fourteenth birthday'', several times.
This did not mean Shakespeare was a pervert.
But that it was simply socially epted to write such a novel about such a young character because it was the norm of the times.
And Ennd and Europe were not the only ones who practiced this custom.
The Arabs did.
And the Indian Noble Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore even wrote in his diary how distressed he was because he had not yet found a suitable suitor for his two daughters who were crossing the age of eighteen.
An eighteen age old unmarried daughter in the sub-continent was considered a shrew and spinster even aste as the 20th century.
And in the freedom-loving USA, even in the 21st century, in some ces like Mississippi and New Hampshire, the age of consent to marry with parental consent for females are 15 and 13 respectively.
So, the Queen mother seriously offering her and Hellma''s hand in marriage was not out of the question and thus Alexander was momentarily fluxed about how to respond to this.
Not to even mention the political implications, Alexander firstly and most importantly did not like the mother-daughter duo.
Though very beautiful, Alexander found Hellma too arrogant and cold, while Hellma found Alexander too low-born andcking the ''spirit of a noble''.
And though stunning to look at Alexander found Seelima too scheming, and Seelima found Alexander''s potential too dangerous.
There was no way this was gonna work, and so Alexander decided to answer as such, loudly chuckling the reply, "Hahaha¡.I''m d to see the Esteemed Queen mother enjoying herself enough to make jokes. I''m honored, I''m honored."
And as he said this, he internally thought, ''Seelima must know this would be the answer. So what''s her angel?''
But Alexander did not get to finish this train of thought, as just after finishing this, and even before the table could regain their collective breath, Mikaya thought it was time to throw her name into the ballot, and so she chirped up, "That''s right Alex, Seelima and Hellma are meant for King Ptolomy. You should choose me, a chaste and modest maiden. And I will even throw in Nafia and Tajia!"
Those in the know had to clench their teeth to not gape at Mikaya''s words.
''Chaste? Modest? Maiden? Do you even know the meaning of those words?'' Was the thought that ran across their minds.
And for Alexander, if Seelima''s proposal had made his lips twitch, this proposal wanted to make him retch.
The mere thought of sleeping with Mikaya knowing who or a more urate word might be ''what" she was made Alexander visibly ufortable.
This was a 26-year-old who had not been yet able to be married off due to her near infamy in Matrak and was way past the marriageable age in Adhania, a fact that was a source of frequent conflict and chiding by her brothers and sisters to their father who med Pasha Farzah for spoiling her too much.
And additionally, they even med him for ruining Nafia''s and Tajia''s life, because customarily handmaids like them usually married after their mistress.
Alexander did not even bother replying to Mikaya as it was certainly a joke and Mikaya was just jumping on the bandwagon to dilute Seelima''s ploy and prevent her from scheming to get the ss recipe, an act Alexander wouldter thank Mikaya for.
But for now Alexander stopped talking and put on an obedient face because suddenly he could feel a suspicious burst of cold air swirling air around him, and making his hair rise up.
At first, one might mistake it as being due to a sudden gust of breeze in the cold winter afternoon.
But Alexander was sure it wasing from just next to him, more precisely emanating out of thedy sitting beside him.
Cambyses, who turned to give a wide, nice grin, a grin that to Alexander looked like the maws of an engaged beast, was understandably furious.
This was supposed to be her big day, but now those bitches were talking about marrying her husband literally just minutes after their wedding ceremony had finished.
This was the real-life example of the proverbial ''Remarring even before the spouse''s body got cold''.
And thus, Alexander was extremely d to see the waiters arrive with jugs of wine in crystal pitchers.
He could really use a drink, a desire he expressed with a signal to the waiter who poured him a full ss.
And as the pasha quenched his parched throat with wine, and more specifically the wine recipe he gave Camius, the others were more interested in the crystal pitcher.
''Another ss container!'' They said in amazement, now being certain that the Pasha of Zanzan had discovered the secret of clear ss making, a conclusion reinforced by the fact that the waiters started not only bringing crystal pitchers but also trays filled with soup bowls made of ss.
The dining experience promised to be a ss bonanza.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 370 Wedding Feast (Part-2)
"Ladies and gentlemen, today''s luncheon will be a bit different. I hope none of you will mind," Alexander first addressed the guests at the table.
"*p*, *p*, *p*, oohhh, I love it when Your Grace invents new food items." And was quickly greeted with an enthusiastic cheer from Mikaya, who then very naturally added, "Will they be as amazing as this clear ss?"
The cheerful, vivacious way she managed to weave in a question everyone was dying to ask was proof of her cunningness as she was basically asking, ''Where did you get this new ss from?''
Alexander ignored this part of the question, and instead answered the first, "The new dishes are all the products of my kitchen. And I will let our guests be the judge of their worth."
As Alexander said this, the waiters finished pouring the wine into all the goblets and started to bring out the first course- Fresh Pea soup.
This soup was carried inrge bowls on wooden trolleys and was served to individual guests by the waiters.
The reason why it was done like so and not the usual way of presenting a bowl of soup on the table and letting the guests serve themselves was simple.
''What are we, peasants?''
Asking a guest to serve his own food was a cultural taboo, especially on formal asions, and more so an act unimaginable for the nobles.
And hence also why there were no soup bowls on the table, but instead they were given a crystal bowl filled with the piping hot liquid.
This fresh appetizer was made of the simplest of ingredients, just peas, lettuce, and cream, cooked and mashed, and then garnished with some cheese.
And though the true nobles like the Queen mother and Mikaya were a bit surprised by the simplicity of the dish, remembering Alexander''s pedigree, they soon dug into the thick, green, liquid using their golden spoons.
''Mmmm, it''s quite good. Hot and creamy, but also light and refreshing,'' Alexander said to himself after tasting the first spoonful.
And then looked around to see that the dish had been mostly well received.
Warm, hearty pea soup in winter was a fantasticbination and so the dish was consumed quickly and in silence, as everyone focused their attention on the beautiful and rich earthy vors, asionally paring it with the sweet, mild taste of the new grape wine.
After everyone had enjoyed their appetizer course, and the small, ss bowls were empty, it was time for the main course of the luncheon.
The waiters first removed the soup bowls and soon the smell around the dining table began to change as the waiters bought out the first item of the main course- Barbecued Steak!
These had been cooked in the bbq grill that Alexander had made and as the guests ced their eyes on the prime rib cuts, their mouth could not help but salivate.
These huge cuts of meat, had their outer surface charred and grilled, and a smoky, buttery smell was emanating out of them as they rested in a pool of gravy, furnished with a side of two cuts of buttered bun and garnished with sd, consisting of pickle, cucumber, radish, and lettuce which had been dressed with olive oil.
The guests were all very excited to dig into the dish and soon following Alexander''s example, they ced their knives against the soft flesh and felt the meat melt away like butter under them with the slightest touch, as the perfectly cooked meat revealed its still pink core, and dressed the gravy underneath with its delicious meat juice.
The dish looked heavenly, and when it entered the mouth, it tasted arguably better, with all the butter, the salt, the pepper, the thyme, and the rosemary rub amplifying the taste of the charred, smokey vor, making the meat sing inside.
And then came the fresh sd, made of winter vegetables, and olive oil, helping to cut through the richness of the meat and cleansing the mouth, thus making it ready for the next bite.
Alexander only enjoyed the meat and sd, skipping the butter buns and purely relishing in the taste of the exquisite cut of meat, the vor of which also made him reminisce about his past time.
This heavy main course was followed by a second main course, which was a gravy dish named- Chicken fricassee.
This was the French version of the butter chicken, usually made of chicken, onion, mushroom, garlic, butter, and yogurt, but this time the chicken was substituted for fowl.
The guests were given this curry dish in another ss bowl, along with thick slices of soft, white bread, which they dipped into the mushroom and onion curry made from thick chicken stock.
In this cold, afternoon, such a heavy dish went perfectly, and once they were finished, many of the guests were feeling filled and a bit sleepy.
If only Alexander had arranged for them some nice, soft beds.
And with the third course done, there wasstly the dessert- Pudding.
Now, pudding did exist in Adhania, but it was savory, made of meat, flour, and raisins.
They even had their version of ck pudding, made from animal blood, inside containers made of animal intestines.
But Alexander''s pudding was the normal, sweet kind, made from egg, milk, and sugar.
"My lord, this is?" Mikaya was surprised seeing the yellow slice of dessert, topped off with a cream and a single, red cheery.
"It is a kind of sweet dessert. Please try,"
Alexander gestured as he took his fork to dive into this ssic item.
And was pleasantly surprised to find it soft and fluffy, sweet and creamy.
He had been worried that without any oven, it would be too dense.
Alexander overcame the oven problem by simply steaming the mixture, i.e- he put the pudding mixture in a pan, made it airtight by sealing the top using dough, and then ced the entire thing in anotherrger pot that was half filled with water.
So as the water boiled and bubbled, it cooked the pudding mixture in the secondary vessel.
And this was the dish that had the most reaction from the people, for they tasted something so sweet for the first time in their life.
"My lord, what is this? It tastes so sweet! Amazing!" A loud roar rang across yhe table as Menes involuntarily eximed the praise.
It was so loud and the act to rude that everyone turned to look at the dressed general, who felt all eyes on him shortly after went red and drooped his head low.
''I couldn''t help it. It tastes so good,'' Menes reasoned to himself while his hand moved by themselves cutting the heavenly dish while being careful to not take too big a chunk at a time.
He wanted to savor the moment, a sentiment that was shared by many.
As Menes went back to quietly enjoying his dessert, his outburst made the Queen mother and Mikaya scoff at all the ''barbarians'' made nobles, though this momentary thought was drowned by the delicious sweetness they were tasting.
p¦Ánd¦Á---no¦Í?1,§ão§® ''Is this honey? But it doesn''t taste like so. It''s much sweeter." Seelima tried to figure out the mystery ingredient.
''Hmmm, it''s definitely not honey. Alex doesn''t have so much honey. And besides, cooking honey like this would destroy it,'' Mikaya knew a thing or two about cooking because Pasha Farzah liked to eat her dishes, and hence knew why honey was usually zed over dishes, and not cooked by mixing it.
But both the women kept their curiosity in check for the moment, because this was not the ce to be asking questions.
They also knew there were a million more idiots who would ask these questions for them.
So they were a bit disappointed in how anti-climactic it was when Alexander gave the answer by himself, "Hahaha, I''m d everyone likes the new dish. It''s made from eggs, milk, and a honey-like ingredient we have discovered. Many of you might know it as the thing we use to make the sweet-water medicine with."
Alexander frankly revealed this because if he did not tell others he had sugar, how was he going to sell sugar?
Alexander''s revtion made many think back on that brown powder but recalled that tasted only mildly sweet.
It was not like anything they were tasting now.
So, they were unsure whether to believe Alexnder''s im or view it as Alexander''s smokescreen.
But regardless, they nodded and paid many praises andpliments to the new dish, as finally the feast drew its curtain.
But this did not mean the guests left, for there was still the gift ceremony.
So Alexander and Cambyses still sat on their chair, while all the guests came to them to give theirpliments and present them with their gifts, which was received by the many guards around Alexander.
This took some time, though not as long as one might imagine for Alexander had kept the actual number of guests quite short- limiting himself to the people he frequently interacted with in Zanzan, and their family, with only a scant number of merchants Heliptos and Camius had rmended.
And the only ones he had sent a written invitation to was Pasha Farzah and Ptolomy, who naturally could not make it due to the turmoil Adhan was still in, but had sent them their best regards while also promising the appropriate gifts.
And that was it.
No other nobles around the Zanzan were invited and no well-wishes from the nobility around came to greet Alexander, perfectly showcasing the freezy rtionship between the pasha and his neighbors.
Chapter 371 Wedding Lanterns
Alexander met with the various guests, exchanging pleasantries and receiving various gifts after the feast ended.
These were usually wrapped with fine linen or inside beautifully craved wooden boxes and ranged from various pieces of ornate pottery to many types of gemstone, and jewelry for both him and Cambyses, fine clothes of all types, various drinks such as wine of many vors, and even a beautiful fowl from Grahtos.
Among the presents, the merchants that Heliptos and Camius had invented tried to suck up to Alexander the most, presenting him with many expensive gifts just for the chance to get some exclusive trading rights.
One gift from a merchant that particrly moved Alexander''s wife was a pair of shoes, painted bright red and made of bronze, it was ornately decorated with gold and silver, and studded with ss beads.
Cambyses loved anything red and this beautiful, fashionable shoe really tickled the young girl''s heart.
Alexander thanked all the merchants for their gifts and then promised to meet them the day after tomorrow to officially discuss business, thus letting others pay theirpliments to the couple.
"My lord, my father sends you the best wool in all of Adhania," Mikaya presented Alexander with some rolls of wool that came from a breed of sheep native to Matrak.
Reportedly it had the softest feel out of all the wool in the world.
And Seelima presented Alexander with some fresh legummum on behalf of Ptolomy.
In this way, the rtively small number of guests said their congrattions and this part of the ceremony was concluded rtively soon, just before dusk.
Once all the gifts had been collected, and as the approaching dusk made the staff lightrge torches in the background, Alexander got up from his chair to say, "Esteemed guests, the wedding festivities are almost drawing their conclusion. But we still have two more surprises in store for you. Please¡"
As Alexander said so, he gestured to arge trolley being pushed toward himself, hosting the wedding cake, and lit with small beautiful candles.
The cake was made the same way the pudding was made, with each of theyers being steamed in airtight vessels, the filling made of alternateyers of strawberry and lemon curd, then decorated with cream, frosting, and seasonal fruits such as grapes and cherries.
The crowd was both a bit awe-struck and confused seeing this huge tower of concentric circles decorated with candles, and some even wondered how anyone single person would be able to eat such a thing if it was at all a thing that would be eaten.
The way the huge tower was illuminated by its own candles, and shaded by the dim orange glow of the just set sun was a sight to behold, and one of the reasons Alexander had decided to hold off on cutting the cut until dusk.
"Honored guest, this is a new kind of dessert called the wedding cake." Alexander introduced,
"It is something that my chefs made, and it is said that blowing out the eleven candles and then eating it at a wedding will bring good luck."
With this said, he and Cambyses approached the cake that reached their forehead and one by one blew out the many candles, before taking a knife with both their hands and cutting the cake with the words, "May the gods bless us."
"May the gods bless you," The crowd cheered along, and pped as Alexander fed a small bit of the cake to Cambyses and Cambyses did the same.
As this ceremony was finished, and therge trolley was wheeled away to give the waiters to cut and serve the cake, Alexander bought out hisst round of festivities.
He said raising his index finger, "Now,dies and gentlemen, we have onest round of surprise for you. A surprise that will enable you to send handwritten messages to the gods!"
This bold im naturally drew many curious and some even questionable looks, thetter especially form the more religious ones like Menicus.
''How can a mere mortal send greetings to the gods?'' They all asked themselves.
And Alexander soon answered, as he was handed a folded piece of skyntern, and some quill and ink, with which he gently wrote, ''Evesting peace and prosperity to all of Zanzan'' onto the paper.
"This is called a ''Fanuush''. It is made from paper which I''m sure many of already see. And now, it will allow us to send our words directly to the gods." Alexander dered while unfolding thentern with Cambyses''s help, and then lit the little amount of wax underneath the hollow cylinder.
As the fire caught on and burned brightly around the wick, it gave the formally dimntern a fantastic, red glow, and made it appear fantastic, almost hypnotic to the crowd.
To some in the distance, it even appeared like the Pasha was holding a magical, ming ball, which was gently swinging in the breeze.
Alexander and Cambyses held thentern for some time, letting the inside fill up with sufficient hot air, before finally releasing thentern.
And as thentern wobbled and wiggled, but still soared up into the sky, there was a huge, almost defeating cheer from the crowd.
Launching things into the sky had always been a great wish of men, and so seeing the small, glowing dot slowly rise up into the night sky, higher and higher, into the heavens until it became almost one with the stars was a profound, almost spiritual moment for many.
They felt that regardless of all the other new things, regardless of even the so-called ''sugar'', just this spectacle alone would have been enough to make them remember this fantastic wedding for a long, long time.
And the best thing was that it was still not over.
"We have also arranged so that the guest may be able to fly like ''fanuush'' if they so desire." Alexander gestured as stacks of the stuff were carried into the garden by trolleys, apanied by many quills and ink pots.
Though he also quickly added, "But I would also like to urge everyone to be careful and listen to the guides around the garden. Since it involves fire, and all of us are wearing such fancy clothes, we should take the proper precautions and try and avoid any idents."
Alexander was afraid given how manyyers of clothes both men and women wore, and how voluminous and spread out many of the costumes were, a slight carelessness would lead to a part of the cloth catching fire without even them noticing.
And hence, he assigned arge of soldiers who would not only keep an eye out for this kind of thing but also help out with setting thenterns.
They would even coordinate when tounch thenterns so that too many were notunched at the same time, and collisions could be avoided.
"Yes, Your Grace. Please keep holding it like that until you feel thentern wanting to fly away," One of these ''soldiers'' were seen instructing Mikaya and Tafia, both of whom hadrge smiles on their face as they gazed at the skyntern getting brighter and brighter, until finally at the word of the guide, they let go, and watched with glee and anticipation as thentern slowly but surely high up.
p¦Ánd¦Á---no¦Í?1,§ão§® This event was repeated all throughout the garden, as dozens after dozens of this festiventern wereunched into the sky, with writings ranging from personal wishes to well-wishing Alexander and Zanzan, to even wishing for world peace, until the sky around the Temple seemed to have many extra, much brighter stars around them.
And each round of ''fanuush'' release was always apanied by cheers and whistles, as to the people, these sessful releases meant a chance for the gods to read their personal letters.
And where there were sesses, there would always be failures, and these included thenterns mostmonly just not rising up, some being blown off course by the breeze and colliding with othernterns, some having their mes go out and in some instances, due to improper holding of thentern, one side of thentern would nt and the paper would simply catch fire.
But fortunately, Alexander had a lot of men looking out for these idents and even had buckets of water on the side, so all potential sources of fire were stomped out before any major ident could happen.
These failures would of course cause some heartbreak for the people involved, but there were a lot of newnterns nearby and sometimes these failures would be the sources of some of the most fun parts of the experience.
The crowd would hold their breath and even cheer on a tteringntern, urging it to rise up as if it was sentient.
And many would also rejoice seeing theirnterns keep on going even after colliding.
While others would see tion turn to disappointment when theirnterns would catch fire midflight.
This was certainly the most fun part of the wedding, even better than the feast in many''s eyes, as rounds and rounds of the skynterns were released into the night sky.
And soon, the nobles began to notice that there were many more skynterns being released all around them,ing from all over the city.
Alexander had distributed thesenterns to many of the popce and instructed them to startunching them after dusk, and finally, they were beginning to be visible all over the wintery sky, turning the pitch ck cold sky into a warm hearth carrying messages for the gods.
Chapter 372 Wedding Conclusion
Alexander had ordered a general holiday today, and the hundred and fifty thousand people of the city were given a free lunch of chicken, beef, and fish soup with two very thick slices of bread mixed with vegetables.
And as many lucky ones from the group got antern to gift to the gods, their collective effort made Zanzan''s sky be dazzling for a while, a phenomenon that was noticed by all the neighboring areas of the city, with all drawing a variety of reasons for the sight, ranging from the gods descending to bless the city, to the gods descending to destroy the city.
Thentern releasested until most of thenterns were used up, and as the excited guests sat around the dining tables, they were soon served the wedding cake and pitchers full of fruit juices mixed with honey and sugar.
Therge cheesecake slice was white with two red and yellow alternateyers of strawberry jam and lemon curd, topped off with flowers made of creamy with fruits and nuts on top.
And as the guests cut into the slice with their silverware and put a small piece into their mouth, they felt an explosion of vors they never knew existed.
It was creamy, sweet, tangy, and fruity all at the same time, as all the men and women there learned for the first time that bread could actually be so soft and yummy.
"I need to get Alex to tell me how to make this," Mikaya had a forceful, almost crazed look on her face as she blurted this out, her cheery lips zed with white cream.
This ''wedding cake'' was the thing that finally stole her heart.
Alexander too found the cake to be not half bad, a bit dense than he would have liked, but still decent.
''Looks like thest week was not a waste,'' Alexander was relieved that Mean and her team had managed to sessfully pull this off.
By the time the cake slices had been finished and sses full of fruit juice and wine had been drunk, it was already deep into the night, around 8 o''clock by Alexander''s estimate, and finally deciding it was getting enough, he made onest toast, raising his ornate ss goblet,
"Honored guests, this pasha again thanks you for taking the time to attend and partake in this one''s celebrations. This day would not have been the day it was without you. So I thank you." Alexander finished by gulping down the wine, which soon others followed while paying somest-minutepliments to the couple.
And this was followed by the tradition of the groom gifting the guests.
Usually, it would be just simple food items such as nuts and berries.
But Alexander had decided to go the extra mile. gifting each of the guests a nicely bowed luxurious wooden box covered with velvet, inside of which was a small bar of soap wrapped in beautiful, patterned wrapping paper, a hundred grams of sugar in sealed paper bags, and a small beautiful hand mirror inside a steel frame, apanied by the usual assortments of various nuts and berries.
The guests did not recognize the soap and sugar at first but for now, they were captivated by the mirror the pasha had gifted them, finding it hard to believe that their faces were being reflected with such rity.
p¦Ánd¦Á---no¦Í?1,§ão§® Even under the soft glow of the touch light, these people marveled at seeing their faces being disyed with such sharpness across the smooth surface, as they excited thought how it would look in the morning under the bright sunlight.
Alexander had gone through a lot of trouble to produce these beautiful mirrors, using ayer of silver to make them as reflective as possible, whereas regr mirrors would use copper or mercury.
He even thought of using gold but was talked out of it by Cambyses because the wedding costs were already soaring high.
Andter, Alexander gently exined that the one in the colorful wrapping was used to wash the body and made it smell like perfume, while the white powder in the white bag was the sugar he had described, making everyone once again praise how generous and big-hearted the Pasha was.
The sugar especially moved everyone as they could hardly believe that Alexander was just gifting them such precious ingredients.
And with this gift-giving ceremony, finally came to an end of the wedding ceremonies.
Or at least of those to be performed in the temple.
For traditionally, all this celebration would have urred in the bride''s house.
And then, with the festivities concluded, it would be the turn for the groom to take his bride to her new home- to his house.
And so Alexander and Cambyes again made their way out of the temple, this time the walkway lit up by overheadnterns that made the special stones in the walkway look like little balls of fire, as the parade was restarted once again.
And as the carriage marched through the streets, the crowd seemed to have not dispersed not bit, making the journey a brightly torchlit procession while the guests and citizenry threw nuts and sang traditional Adhanian songs which were quite suggestive in nature, making Cambyses lightly blush.
This paradested till Alexander reached his manor, and as the couple disembarked in front of the manor, Cambyses was handed a special torch, called the wedding torch which she tossed into the crowd.
ording to Adhanian tradition, whoever managed to catch it was supposed to enjoy a long life, and Alexander spotted quite a few eager hands wrestling for the chance to grab it.
This was impressive considering the torch was still ming and no doubt a dramatic moment while the modern parallel custom of the bride throwing her bouquet to the crowd seemed a bit tame inparison.
After this, Alexander and Cambyses both rubbed oil and fat on the doorposts of the house and once inside, she symbolically touched around the firece inside the outer hall, dering herself
the guardian of the hearth from now on, andstly Alexander picked her up in her arms and princess carried Cambyses to her nuptial chambers.
Hence came an end to a very long day, but began a very long night for Alexander and Cambyses.
The staff of the manor were prudent enough to provide arge tub of hot water inside the room so that the couple would refresh themselves, and Alexander was helping Cambyses do just that as he took off her clothes one by one.
"So, how did you spend on the marriage?" Cambyses seemed more interested in the cost of the marriage than the fact she was bing naked as she took off all her jewelry.
"Hahaha, the fastest way to be rich is to steal it," And Alexander gave a seemingly unrted answer.
But it basically meant that without him robbing the Grand Ramuh Temple, this wedding might not have been possible, which indicated arge sum even for Alexander.
He had once tried to keep track of all the expenses but gave up mid-way because there were so many and so varied.
"This bra looks good on you," Alexander thenmented seeing the red cloth bind her breasts which he helped to unsp before giving them a squeeze.
They felt fantastic, a little small but firm and perky.
"Mmmm, let''s get into the birth first, we can start after," Cambyses moaned, as she felt Alexander sniff around her armpits, and say, "But I like you just as you are now. The smell is so strong, I can''t wait."
"Nooo¡pervert," Cambyses faked a cry of reluctance as the man then expertly continued to strip off Cambyses''syered clothing one by one, until she was just wearing a red pair of underwear.
And as Cambyses stood with her butt facing Alexander, the red cloth made Alexander charge towards it like a bull, as he kneeled down and growled, "Stand still and don''t move," before diving this nose into the heavenly garment.
"Nooo, Alex, what ¡ahhh¡are you doing¡ oohhh," Cambyses was shocked by Alexander sniffing her butt after using it the whole day, and even felt an electrifying shock run through her spine when Alexander wet tongue licked her flower through the panty.
And Alexander, for his part found the experience almost profound, as the juicy buttcheeks smashed his face in and his nose drank in the concentrated, musky vors.
He even kissed Cambyses''s puckered hole through the cloth and felt that Cambyses taking a bath would be such a waste.
But the shy girl had not degenerated to Alexander''s level and so with a strong push, she freed herself and instead run to jump into the hot tub, douching herself in the rxing hot water.
While seeing his prey escape for the time being, Alexander undressed himself, and promptly joined Cambyses, and then soon started the second round.
He made her sit on hisp in therge wooden tub, rubbing her flower and making her moan, as the girl soon came.
Then the action moved to the bed, as Alexander made Cambyses lie down and push her butt up, while he worshipped the magnificent piece of flesh.
"Ohhh, don''t bite it," Cambyses cried as Alexander did not just kiss and suck the holes, he even bit around the tanned ass, leaving red teeth marks on the ass, while his fingers pumped in and out of the two holes, soon making Cambyses squirt.
In this way, the couple enjoyed almost till dawn, with Cambyses being filled in all three holes, as she screamed lewd songs such as "Ahhh, my asshole, my asshole feels so goood. Pound it harder. Make it yours."
Chapter 373 Infant Trade Routes
Alexander woke upte the next day.
No scratch that, he did not strictly speaking wake up that day.
Because he woke near dusk the following day.
Alexander had peeped open his eyes once in the morning but found the room dark and heard a raging snowstorm going on outside.
Winter had trulye.
So, shivering a bit involuntarily, he pulled his thick nket closer to himself and snuggled the nubile Camybses even more tightly, feeling her warmth brush off his skin as he again drifted off to sleep, reassured that today was his day off.
And once Alexander and Cambyses joined the others for dinner, knowing that the couple had missed both their breakfast and lunch, Mikaya even cheekilymented, "Looks like the Pasha enjoyed his nuptial night very much, hahaha."
The next day was greeted with another blistering blizzard, and though Alexander very much wanted toze away just like yesterday, he did not have that luxury.
Because he had some important meetings to attend.
First, he met the businessmen.
"My lord, it is an honor," A stout, portly man leading the group greeted Alexander as he went to say, "I have been to Zanzan a few times, but it has never looked as vibrant as it does now. Truly Your Grace is a just and capable lord."
This type of puffery was standard procedure and Alexander simply gave a light smile and nod, as soon the others went on to give their unique spin on this greeting.
And after this initial round, came the actual meeting.
"My lord, we have been truly blessed to witness all the unique products that Zanzan has to offer, both yesterday and on your wedding day. It was extraordinary, exquisitely extraordinarily!" The fat merchant, whose name Alexander recalled as Harold, was from Sybarsis.
Adhania and Sybarsis did quite a bit of trade together and it seems that his ship docked in Zanzan at an opportune time for him to be introduced by Helliptos.
"Yes, we could hardly believe our eyes. Truly magnificent," This voice belonged to a merchant named Kit, and he was from the warring states south of Zanzan.
And there were three more present, one from Tibias, and two from different city states in Thesos, rmended by Camius.
Trading with Tibias might seem strange but ''sanctions'' and ''not trading with the enemy'' were hard to enforce when during modern times, and so in these times, merchants could smuggle goods across borders.
It was even something that the authorities would turn a blind eye to because the goods exchanged might be vital to both sides.
Such as one side might need salt and the other iron.
And this trade would likely ur even when both sides knew that the salt they sold would enable the opposing side to live and fight and that the iron they traded would be used to kill them.
Because such was the necessity.
"My lord, the soap that you have is fantastic. I''m sure the nobles of my country will love it," Harold loudly announced as the meeting began, who was quickly followed up by Kit who said, "Ohh, yes, but I particrly loved that paper. I''m sure it will be the new papyrus."
The ones from Thesos even tried to draw rtion with Alexander saying, "To think we would be able to see a fellow Thesian as a lord of Adhania. The gods have truly smiled on Your Grace and thend of Thesos," while the smartly dressed merchant from Tibias added, "Yes, with Your Lordship as the lord, peace, and prosperity will again resume between Tibias and Zanzan,"
This was said because Tibias and Thesos were considered allies.
As the merchants praised and asked about the products, Alexander also asked them about the ces they were from.
Harold was from Sybarsis, which was a great trading power west of Adhania.
"My lord, I trade around the Galosos ind. We have everything for sale, ranging from all types of food to every metal to all kinds of ves. Anything you need I can get," The merchant boastfully promised.
While Kit was from the warring states, which was south of Zanzan.
It was a patchwork of many small states and warring lords who were vying for supremacy.
"My lord, although we cannotpete with Sybarlis over food, and metal, we can certainly give you the best ves, hardy ones who can work the fields from dawn to dusk without breaking a sweat." Kit advertised hisnd''s main export.
Tibias offered Alexander cheaper prices to the closer proximity and many misceneous things, while the Thesians offered simr things to Sybarsis.
The meeting with the merchantssted about two hours, and while they advertised their goods, in the meantime, they also expressed interest in buying all the new things such as soap, paper, sugar, ss, etc.
But the exact sales were not toorge, first because these were all new products and some time would be needed for the market to even know such products exist and thus let the demand grow.
Secondly, because the merchants had ended up here by either chance or a routine stopover, and did not have very much cash on them.
And so the five mostly bought various products in small quantities almost as samples, intending to first see how the market received them before buying them in bulk.
In total, sales for the merchants mounted to only around one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000) ropals, the bulk of which was made up by the rich merchant from Sybarsis.
Harold bought small quantities of paper, soap, ss and even some lingerie.
But the things he was truly interested in- sugar, salt, much more ssware, and iron ingots were mostly denied to him.
Sugar because Alexander had used up all of the remaining bit in his wedding and would have to wait for the beetroots to mature in about a month to process the white powder and refill his stockpiles.
Salt because Alexander had just started making them and had not built up a stockpile to sell yet.
Same reason for ss- the workshop had not expanded yet, and they had been pushed to their limits to fulfill the wedding deadline, the reward for which was Alexander giving them a week off.
So Alexander had only a few premium pieces to sell.
And iron because Alexander wanted to sell pots and pans made out of it rather than raw iron, for the markups on thetter were much higher.
There was also the reason that Harold wanted to use them to make weapons, and even when Alexander told him that, ''These iron ingots are made using a process that makes them unable to be made into weapons'', the merchant seemed to want to take his chances.
Alexander did not like this and stalled the merchants by gifting a few hundred kilograms of the ''civilian steel'', and asking him to try making weapons out of them before wanting to buy from him again.
And this was the same thing he did with the others, who were also head over heels to buy the iron.
In fact, they had been initially enticed to Zanzan in the first ce with the promise of extremely cheap iron ingots and inexpensive ss.
And it was onlyter they found that this city had been ravaged by war, famine, and gue had so many gems being produced here.
Thus, though they were a bit disappointed at not being able to buy everything they wanted, they were ultimately very happy with the purchases they made.
And promised to bring a lot of ves and animals the next time they would visit Zanzan, which ranged from three to nine months depending on the individual merchants and their trading schedule.
And yes, it was ves and animals that Alexander wanted to barter with.
He said that though he would ept cash, he would offer to buy each good ve at 4,500 ropals, or at 11% more than the market price of 4,000 ropals, and each pack horse at 1,000 ropals which was 100 ropals more.
Meaning it would be more profitable for the merchants to do that exchange.
And the reason for Alexander wanting to do this was obvious.
He needed more men and so the demand for more ves.
And more pack animals because he needed more animals to work in the industries and the farnds around.
And he was willing to pay a premium even when bulk buying.
Alexander even wanted to buyrge ships to transport his cargo but decided to hold off on that purchase for now as it was not vital for the time being, and he already had a fleet that Amenheraft used to attack Tibias at the harbor that was just sitting there.
Those ships could double as both cargo vessels and warships as soon as Alexander had a navy to speak of.
One point to note would be Alexander not selling any cement, bricks, or weapons.
This was because current production could hardly meet Alexander''s own demands for cement and bricks, while Alexander was still arming his army with the new weapons.
e¦Áglesnovel`c,om It was unlikely he would be able to sell these products in the near term even if he wanted to.
But all in all, this was a fruitful encounter for both groups as the other merchants discovered a yet unknown treasure trove and Alexander finally found his first channel to sell all his beautiful products.
And best of all for the pasha, it was all out of Adhania, meaning no restriction from the nobles.
''Well, then here is to a long and profitable partnership," Alexander toasted before concluding the meeting.
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=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 374 Jabel Campaign (Part-1)
374 Jabel Campaign (Part-1)
With the meeting with the merchants finished, Alexander was soon thrust into another one, a meeting with his council member, or more specifically the now and ex-militarymanders.
Because it was time to discuss the imminent winter campaign forst-minute checks.
The members soon entered the room once the merchants left, and after making themselvesfortable and some pleasantries about Alexander''s wedding and such, soon started to dive into the meat of the business.
First Menes and Melodias reported the status of the army, saying how the soldiers had been prepared, that enough weapons such as arrows and pilums had been procured and food had been stockpiled.
With the highlight of the report being Menes''s im that "Since our first target is Jabeel city that''s just thirty kilometers north of here, we will not need to carry anyrge food trains with us. Just the three-day ration each soldier carries will suffice."
This reasoning was sound and hence approved by all.
With the readiness of the military done, it was time for Grahtos, who had a scout cavalry squad under him, to give his reconnaissance report.
"We have confirmed that a lot of the nobles who fled Zanzan are currently in Jabel and in its vicinity. Though the truly wealthy ones have taken refuge much further away, within the three Matbar''s (Marquis)nd." He had a regretful expression on his face that they could not catch all fishes at once.
Alexander nodded hearing this, matching it with the intelligence report he got from Camius.
His spymaster had in addition informed him that a lot of the nobles who hadnds around the vicinity of Zanzan were hunkered down at the moment in Jabel, and this made Alexander feel like it was the perfect opportunity to strike.
On previous asions, some of his retainers had asked in a roundabout way what he intended to do with the old nobles, and Alexander usually said, "Haha, I have not been able to give you guys anynd. So I must arrange it as soon as possible to not shame myself."
This usually brought a smile to the one asking him this question, but it also meant Alexander had nothing for the old nobles but offering them a butcher''s knife.
Of course, he would eventually ept swears of fealty from nobles who chose to submit to him.
But the key point being eventually- i.e- not right now.
Because right now, Alexander''s goal was as stated to his retainers, to expand his own controllednds.
And so these former nobles had to go.
And besides, the fact that these nobles lived so close to Pasha Muazz was a subtle confirmation of how much the obese noble trusted them.
And Alexander was sure of this strong fealty to their former master still remained because for those nobles that the Pasha did not trust, well, that worker girl''s parents were the perfect example of what happened to them.
Men like Muazz usually chose trusted men.
And to confirm this Alexander had even talked to that working girl one day to know her backstory and learned a bit about a few nobles of Zanzan.
And that conversion had stimted him not to trust the nobles residing around Jabel.
"As for thends east of Zanzan, that huge stretch of territory all belongs to Pasha Muazz and is overseen by various caretakers who are either shordars (Barons) or Takuldars (Viscounts). I have already given a report to the Pasha detailing who controls what there," Grahtos continued his report.
Alexander nodded to this im as he reminisced about the thick stack of paper, almost like a book that Grahtos had submitted to him.
This report had been created jointly by Grahtos and Camius, with thetter being invited by Alexander after he understood that the NIA (National Intelligence Agency) and the military intelligence that was partly controlled by Grahtos had quite a bit of things inmon with this mission.
Grahtos was initially certainly surprised when Alexander revealed this spy organization to him, though it was notpletely unexpected because all the council members did know Camius spied for Alexander.
Though that was the extent of their knowledge.
So, the surprise came from seeing the organizational level of Alexander''s spywork.
Professional spies and spy schools where people would be taught various techniques of espionage was a no-brainer for modern times, but apletely revolutionary concept for such a primitive civilization.
This spy organization and Grahtos''s scouts together had managed to put quite theprehensive report of the surrounding areas, which even served as a bedtime reading for Alexander sometimes.
For example, Alexander remembered reading Jabel being described as ''and of great greens with great value but grossly misused.''
There were also a great many names, Alexander could not fully recall the exact number but it had to be at least twenty, next to which were written a lot of obscure names ofnd and properties that they controlled.
The way the peerage system here worked was that Muazz would give a shordar (Baron) around a few viges, maybe four or five, each with a pre-war and famine poption of around hundred to two hundred and maybe a small town or just a slightlyrger viger, whose main feature would be the temple and a small number of artisans living there, though not all shordars (Barons) had such a town.
This was the scenery that covered almost 90% of Adhania, just farming viges, fishing hamlets asionally sprinkled with small temples.
And that would be the thing most poor peasants would see in their lifetime.
Which also meant the people directly looking after these peasants made up the majority of the nobility, i.e- shordars.
Above the shordars (barons), Pasha Muazz like the other nobles had appointed the Talukders (Viscounts), who basically did the same thing as the shordars (barons) but on a bit grander scale.
So they controlled the usual farnds just like the barons but naturally much more of it, but also more importantly they all controlled a decent city of around 10,000 to in some abnormal cases sometimes upto 30,000 people.
This city would always have a temple of Ramuh, and a proper temple at that, being able to house something equivalent to a proper priest or even a bishop, whereas a shordar (baron) would maybe have a trainee priest to take care of the day-to-day looking after of the small temple and would only be asionally visited by a real priest from a nearby Talukerdar''s (Viscount) territory, perhaps once or twice a fortnight depending on the distance and road situation.
There were a few Talukders (Viscounts) mentioned around Zanzan and Alexander took notice of them, remembering their names, whilergely forgetting about therge number of barons dotted around.
This was mainly because Talukders (Viscounts) was the peerage from which one could realistically gather an army, as below that the low poption and the poor finances made such an endeavor unrealistic.
Of course, this did not mean Shordars did not fight.
In fact, they fought constantly.
But it was mostly against bandits, others of a simr peerage, or by joining a coalition.
Because individually they would not bring soldiers to a fight, but a mob of peasants.
And hence Alexander only remembered to learn the names of the Talukders (Viscounts), because these Shordars (Barons) would likely fight under them.
And they would fight with their Talukders against Alexander because he also nned to attack them after taking Jabel.
In fact, Jable was just a stopover.
His real target was taking over the fertilends to the east so what was the use of learning the names of nobles who would participate in the battle and soon die?
Alexander presumed in his eastern campaign, only the Talukders who would direct the battle but would not participate in it would survive.
And as Alexander swam in these thoughts, Grahtos finished reporting his scouting report, after which Alexander asked with a light smile on his face, "So how do you think we should deal with the nobles inside the city?"
"If we are going to attack them, it would be better to leave no traces," Menicus in his gravelly voice gave a very frank answer very first.
And was quickly joined by the usually cautious Melodias, "I agree. Since this attack would be breaking the contract, we should not leave any witnesses."
The two men seemed ready to be ruthless to protect their and Zanzan''s hide.
"There are almost no civilians in Jabel. The nobles kicked everyone out to conserve food when they took over the city. So there are only the nobles and their ves and servants in there" Grahtos too expressed his support of such action by assuring Alexander that there would be no innocent casualty.
Alexander was happy seeing his retainer think like he was.
So he began confidently, iming, "Firstly, attacking the nobles will not be a vition of the treaty." which made his retainers ask what kind of convoluted way their lord was gonna justify that.
And they were not disappointed as Alexander in a twisted way reasoned, "Because we are not attacking them for siding with Amenheraft. We are attacking them for rebelling against their higher lord- me, The Pasha of Zanzan."
"....." The others only gave a wry smile at this shameless reason but certainly did not interject.
So Alexander, hearing no objection finalized the decision, "Okay, then. We will raze Jabel to the ground and build a newer, better one."
Alexander thus made the cruel order, before turning to his retainers to ask "All agreed?"
The others naturally nodded in consent and thus in that shorter-than-an-hour meeting, Alexander''s first campaign of annihtion was decided.
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Chapter 375 Jabel Campaign (Part-2)
Alexander''s excuse for the attack was a weak one.
A very weak one that.
Because although a higher noble could attack a lesser noble for refusing him, the main caveat to that rule was that it had to be sanctioned by the king.
Or else any bigger noble could take over a smaller noble using all sorts of excuses.
Now, this would be too big a problem as Ptolomy would not mind Alexander attacking rebel nobles.
He had even given Alexander prior permission to punish any nobles under him without needing to seek Ptolomy''s council first.
But the little snag with this was, firstly, it was still undecided who was the king of Adhania, Ptolomy, or Amenheraft, with the matter being left in limbo for the time being.
And secondly, which was the more important point, it had already been verbally agreed in the treaty between Amenheraft and Ptolomy that Alexander would not attack the nobles of Zanzan and vice versa, with each of the nobles free to choose a side they wished to join without persecution.
So, what Alexander was attempting to do did indeed break the treaty,...but so what?
It was all verbal.
The US once allegedly verbally promised to not expand NATO.
But what did that verbal promise mean?
Nothing.
"We will set out after dark. And attack the city at dawn." Alexander announced, intending to catch the noblepletely off guard.
Usually when an army was approaching a ce, it would make such noise and kick up so much dust that there would be really no way to hide it.
So, marching at night was one of the ways to somewhat mitigate loudly announcing one''s presence as arge number of the enemy would usually be asleep.
Now, night marches were always dangerous.
This was because when an army of thousands and thousands of men moved without light or vision, through mostly rough or even nonexistent roads, even the simple case of tripping and falling were major causes of idents as soldiers would simply walk over their fallenrade and crush him to death over hundreds or even thousands of heavy steps.
And these soldiers would not even know they stepped over someone because each individual will think they just stepped over some patch of wet or soft ground, while the scream of the fallen soldier would be muffled by the marching footsteps of the thousands or tens of thousands of men and animals.
And this was just one, rtively banal risk of marching at night.
Animals were more easily spooked by noise at night, soldiers might graze their spears with others in the dark, deadly animals such as snakes mighte out in the night and then there was the ever-present risk of soldiers losing their sense of direction.
All such dangers and many more apanied a night''s march, which was why generals tended to avoid them.
But just because militarymanders did not like them did not mean they did not happen.
There were many examples of such marches both in Alexander''s previous life and in this life as well, the most recent one being Agapois''s march to outnk the enemy.
There were even records of full-scale night battles which hadsted for hours.
So marching and fighting in the dark did happen, though in fairness, all those were exceptions, not examples.
And Alexander had chosen such an exceptional strategy be of the vital need to catch the nobles off guard and prevent them from asking for reinforcements from nearby areas or worse in Alexander''s eyes, sending a message saying that he was attacking them and tantly breaking the treaty.
And Alexander was confident that his troops would be able to pull this off because they had prior experience in night marching, and because the road between Zanzan and Jabel was well-known and well-traveled, even having a decent, earth-beaten route.
With these thoughts, one brightte afternoon, Alexander went to greet his legions outside the city, arranged in proper formations, in full armor, and ready to march.
Because the chainmails were still being made, Alexander could not equip his entire army with thetest and greatest, and so for now, only the officers had them, while the general soldiers wore their bronze cuirasses.
And those bronze cuirasses shone brightly in the setting sun, as Alexander swept his eyes over his army from atop his horse.
The smallest unit of this army was the squad, made of 8 soldiers, 2 ves, and 1 mule, with the men sharing one tent.
Above them was thepany made of ten (10) squads and led by a sergeant, amounting to one hundred (100) men with twelve (12) mules, and eleven (11) tents.
The extra 2 mules and 1 tent were assigned to the officers, who numbered five (5).
These were:
The leader of thepany-The Sergeant.
This man usually led from the front and was the rallying point and morale support for the soldiers.
He was usually chosen for his intimidating physic and loud voice meant to cower the soldiers and make them follow him unconditionally and was
e¦Áglesnovel`c,om The second inmand- The Lieutenant Sergeant.
He would be usually at the back policing the back of the formation and was tasked with urging the soldiers to fight on and prevent routing.
While in peace times he would help his sergeant drill and train the troops
The third inmand- The Staff Sergeant.
This man would be around the middle of the formation, also policing the formation, while out of battle he was the watchman, distributing the watchword and managing those on sentry duty.
The Standard Bearer carried the g and called men for roll-call, reviewed them, and solved disputes between soldiers.
Andstly, there was The Trumpeter, who signaled the various formation changes, while being in charge of the military clerks who tracked the soldiers'' pay and calcted all the deductions that were incurred.
Apany was the real first fighting unit of the army, and as Alexander moved his horse across the frontline he called out some of the officers by name to boost morale.
And bigger units such as battalions made of 600 men and even legions made of around 6,000 men were created simply adding thesepanies together.
Butmanding this legion belonged to a very high-ranking member- such as General Menes, with Melodias as his deputy and a small army of clerks and officers to help him run the gigantic machine.
And it was a gigantic machine, as the total area they covered in their regr everyday life with all their gear and animals was an astounding 20 square kilometers.
They numbered about 7,000 when counting both men and animals, with the proportion of men to animal being around 9 to 2 when taking into ount the cavalry, and so a lot of men were needed to keep this fighting machine lean and mean.
Alexander''s heart filled with pride as he watched the rows and rows of soldiers standing in attention for him.
He had certainly seen bigger armies, much bigger ones, but this was the first time he felt so overwhelmed- because this was his army.
His tomand and lead.
And so, just before setting off, Alexander decided to give a rousing speech, as he bought his horse in front of his soldiers and loudly said,
"My men, all of you have witnessed firsthand what kind of people the nobles of Zanzan are! These brutes hunt women and children for sport. These men kick out the poor and starving. And these men kill priests and loot temples."
Alexander then dramatically raised his arm to the sky, as if clutching the dim, setting sun, before proiming, "But that ends today! Today we will kill them. Today we will raze the nest of the devils to the ground! Today we march to victory!"
Alexander''s loud voice was joined by an ear-splitting nebulous scream of "Haaaaaa", as soon, under the cover of dusk, the men formed up and began marching north in a disciplined manner.
They were deployed in the following order during their march.
First, ahead of the legion rode a small contingent of Grahtos''s scout cavalry, looking for any signs of ambushes.
Though this was very unlikely in this particr circumstance as the nobles most likely did not even know that an army was walking towards them, Alexander still deployed them as such for he deemed it as standard procedure.
Then there were the vanguards, consisting of mainly cavalry and heavy infantry, who were meant to be the first point of contact with any enemy during the march.
Then were the officers, where even Alexander was, followed by the main legionary body.
After that was the baggage train, which was rtively short for this campaign, andstly the rear guards which protected the back of the marching column.
The men walked with 4 men abreast given due to the rtively narrow road, making the
7,000 men and almost 1,500 animals stretch out over 2 km.
This meant that at a walking speed of around 5 km/hr, it would take almost half an hour for a single legion and its baggage train to pass.
Or at a gallop, it would take a rider going 40 km/hr about 3 minutes to ride across the entire length of the column.
And this was assuming quite idealized conditions, which there rarely ever were.
If roads were narrow and progress dyed for any reason, a single legion could easily double in length and stretch well over 4 km, taking almost an hour to pass, and requiring 6 minutes to ride from back to front.
Chapter 376 Jabel Campaign (Part-3)
Alexander had deployed all his soldiers to this campaign because he wanted to have the greatest amount of mass to smash against Jabel.
And though this had also left Zanzan weakened, with it being currently only defended by Cambyses''s city guards and the garrison, due to Alexander''s proximity to the city, he was not too worried.
And so Alexander''s huge train of trained soldiers moved slowly and methodically without worry across the t ground, creeping up on the unsuspecting nobles, while remembering to be vignt about making too much noise.
And after thankfully an uneventful march, the army could finally see the walls of Jabel at around midnight.
"Looks like they don''t know we are here. That''s good," Menes reported to Alexander while squinting his eyes at the torches lit up around the walls.
"I''m sure they did not think I would be insane enough to attack them at full scale just two months into the treaty," Alexander slightly chuckled at the good news.
While his frank admittance made the council members around him roll their eyes and say in their hearts, ''So you do know that this is a risky n.''
But they had all agreed to it and the dye had been cast.
The only thing they could do was go with it.
And Alexander soon gave that go-aheadmand, saying, "Let the soldiers drink some water and rest for an hour. And in the meantime, covertly send over scouts on foot to look for weak spots around the wall."
"If we can find any, we will scale them using the hooks. And if we can''t, we will have to resort to using the battering ram"
Walls were taken using a lot of techniques, with the simplest one being thedder rush, where a bunch of men would cedders against the walls and simply charge up the wall.
But the simplest technique was also the hardest to get results with as the casualty numbers in these endeavors would usually be enormous.
Because a properly defended wall with motivated defenders would be able to easily push thedders off and with them the soldiers on them, dump stones and other hot materials onto the iing soldiers, or simply kill the soldiers once they got up on the wall by ganging up on them as these enemy soldiers would have to get on the wall one by one.
Ladder rushes rarely worked as seen in the movies if the wall was properly defended.
At least they rarely worked on their own.
So to supplement this, other techniques would be used in conjunction.
eaglesnov?1,§ão§® One of them was the battering ram, which was just a heavy beam hanging off a portable wooden structure used to attack gates.
Andstly was the best siege engine of the day- The siege towers.
These huge, moved with oxen, three to four-story wooden buildings could carry soldiers inside them and once they were ced near the walls by the oxen, a trapdoor could be opened to let the soldiers flood the walls.
And these were the three main options avable to the people of this time, with sapping being a hated fourth.
This technique involved digging a tunnel undeath the walls and then starting a fire around the wall foundations, ultimately crumbling the structure.
But this technique took so long and was so tedious that it was rarely preferred and very rarely used.
And those were it, as siege weapons such as the catapult or trebuchet had yet to be invented.
And though Alexander had ns to build such weapons, they were not yet ready.
Though fortunately for him, it was deemed that they would not be needed.
With the reason being provided by Grahtos who had personally done the scouting a few days prior.
"My lord, Jabel never had any proper wall. This is because it was¡is a rtively minor town, mainly housing and entertaining the peasants and other poor folks who could not afford to go to Zanzan. So these low walls will be easy to scale." He reasoned.
Prior to Alexander''s annexation of Zanzan, Jabel held little strategic value, because the main threat to Zanzan was to the south, through the sea and Cisrian hills by Tibias.
While anynd invasion through the north of the city would mean going through a lot of Pasha Muazz''s retainers, many of whom had much bigger and better cities, and in more favorable geographic terrain, thus making them better ces to defend.
Thus Jabel was left to the wayside under Pasha Muazz who saw it as nothing more than a den of thieves and crooks, while the nobles currently residing there had been here only for two months and did not bother building up too much defense around the city.
One because they never expected to be attacked.
And two because they never nned to stay here for too long, only until January.
And so the walls, which were rtively hard and expensive to build were neglected.
Hence Grahtos''s argument was followed up by Melodias, who expressed, "I agree. We can even have a bunch of crossbows below the walls shooting any soldiers trying to attack the scaling men. This way will be quicker."
Speed and surprise was currently the name of the game.
And thus Alexander nodded and said, "Okay, find a remote corner of the walls, fill up the ditch, and start climbing."
The nobles were at leastpetent enough to dig a ditch around the city, but the problem was that a ditch by itself was useless.
To make it effective, one had actively defend it using missiles and projectiles.
An act the nobles neglected to enforce.
And thus, under the dark moonless night, groups of scouts circled the city, like a vulture circles its prey.
They kept their eye out for potential weak spots, and ces where the wall was rtively lightly guarded, such as a tired sentry nodding off or simply fast asleep.
These scouts looked for signs using their great eyesight, and by also counting the silhouettes of shadows that fell on the stone wall, cast by the burning torches.
And soon Menes came as the bearer of good news, grinning arge smile and saying, "My lord, the scouts have reported several points along the walls they think might be suitable to attack. It seems most of the sentries have gone to their quarters because of this cold."
Menes''s smile was so wide and so much of this pearly whites were showing, that Alexander was afraid the light reflected off of this might alert the enemy.
It seemed the ck general was truly pleased.
"Hmmmm¡." Alexander hummed as he let out a cold, white breath of freezing air while ruminating on which side to attack from or if he wanted to attack from all three sides simultaneously to overwhelm the enemy.
But a whileter rejected thetter thought as it could alert the enemy, and gave hismand, "Good, then start with the left side."
Alexander had decided on that direction after hearing the details of the wall''s structure, and learning that there were rtively fewer torches in that direction, meaning less opposing men and more cover of the darkness.
This initial directive was followed by another order which said, "And also have another group ready on the right side prepared to scale the walls from that direction if the other group gets detached."
"Andstly, arrange the men in the center with their battering ram if all fails."
Alexander wanted to cover all possibilities.
"Yes, my lord," Menes received the order with a military salute and then got to arranging the men in their proper formations.
The first, and primary group was deployed to the left, led by Menes himself, both because he wanted to personally oversee the unit''s sess and for the selfish reason that he wanted to im that it was he who led the capture of Jabel, thus fish for more credit and glory from Alexander.
And in that endeavor, he ced his deputy Melodias to the right, as leading the backup, while Alexander ced himself at the center in case all went wrong.
The right and center forces for now mostly hid themselves in the wooded area about a few hundred meters from Jabel, while a battalion (500 men) of infantry and crossbowmen moved stealthily up to the left side of the city walls.
"Quickly fill up the ditch," Came the hushed order as the men in the front rows dumped the sacks of earth they had carried with them hastily and almost soundlessly, soon creating a solid earthen bridge.
Up until now, there had been no sirens going off which was good.
And so, the n moved on to thest phase, as out came the hooks, with experienced men expertly spinning them by their thick ropes, beforeunching them upward, easily crossing the 5m wall.
*Clink,* *clink*, *clink*.
And instantly after, tiny bells of confirmation came of the steel hooks attaching to the walls, as soon a group of ten men grabbed the dry ropes with gloved hands and started climbing.
These men were very heavily armored, receiving thetest chainmail, and carrying the crossbow, but this weight did not seem to slow them down for it would be seen they scaling up the walls very simr to a red and blue customed superhero.
While below was an armed group of crossbowmen pointing their bows around the wall, ready to snipe off any unlucky sentry, thus guarding the climbing men.
It seemed the fall of Jabel was imminent.
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Chapter 377 Jabel Campaign (Part-4)
Time was of the essence and the men climbed the walls as fast as they could while being as silent as they could.
This was because these men were currently in their most vulnerable position and were thus eager to get up on that wall as soon as possible before the clinking and nking of the metal hooks against the stone walls could somehow wake the guards up.
And, so they scampered up the walls in what to them felt like hours but in actuality was less than half a minute until all ten men were up on the ramparts.
As soon as their feet hit the stone floor, these men equipped their crossbows and quickly swiveled their heads looking for any guards.
Alexander had wanted these men to carry the ''Instant bow'' so that each of the men would have five rapid shots but found that therge bow was too hard to climb up with.
The wooden mechanism between the string and bow would nce against the neighboring soldiers, and so if he wanted to use that, he would have to spread out the men out more, making them more vulnerable to enemy attack as they could be picked off one by one.
As the soldiers scanned the rampart for any sentries, they soon caught sight of a few, near the torches, all dozing off and some even drunk.
*Shoo*, *shoo*, *shoo*,
All were delivered a quick, eternal sleep by multiple arrows fired urately from near point-nk range, killing them as they could utter only a muffled cry of horror, while Alexander''s men mechanically reloaded the crossbow using a ratchet-like those on a cavalry unit would do.
As the squad of men got to work cleaning the scant few men atop, the men on the ground had already presseddders against the walls the moment they saw the ten men sessfully make their way across, and soon reinforcements started pouring into the left walls of Jabel.
But strangely there were no cries of hurrahs and shouts of jubtion from the men, as one might expect them to make forpleting his task.
All these men were veterans from various mercenary groups, and thus they worked silently, and efficiently, without the need to shout orders and directions.
"Enemies!"
"Enemies"
"Run run"
Eventually some of the sleeping sentries were woken up by the scaling soldiers and their thudding footsteps, and the twines of their crossbows.
But it was too little, toote.
Because by that point, more than apany (100 men) had already made a ''beachhead'' on the left side of the wall, and their numbers were increasing by the second.
And so the unprepared outnumbered, and scattered sentries, understanding their position simply ran.
Some got lucky and escaped into the city, while many were killed by shots to the back, as other more tragic ones died in idents, tripping in the dark and breaking bones, in stampedes, and even by being mistaken as the enemy.
"Kajim, you and your men stay clear out the other sections of the walls and then stand by guarding it. Justian, you take the servant quarters. Others follow me to the gates." This order was given to the various sergeants, each responsible for apany by Menes who had atst climbed the walls himself.
And so events unfolded as such, with Kajim''s men fanning out in squads to kill any stragglers atop the wall, while Justain''s men went around the guard quarters in and around the wall, kicking down the flimsy wooden doors, and hacking all the inhabitants down.
Sometimes they would find some of the men with women, possibly prostitutes, and on some rare asions even children, which might as well be their daughter or worse.
But regardless of cast, color, race, and gender, they all received the same fate, for Alexander had given all of them strict orders, "Kill everyone."
"My lord, General Menes reports that the left part of the walls has been secured. And that his men are moving to secure the city gates as we speak," A herald rode to report to Alexander with a military salute.
"Mmm, good." Alexander regally nodded while his heart breathed a sigh of relief, as he then asked, "Does he need reinforcements?"
"No, my lord, it appears the five hundred men will be enough." The herald answered with a slight shake of his, before continuing his report.
"Instead, General Menes suggests that Your Grace starts moving the army forward, and to be ready to charge inside once the gates open." The scout ryed.
"Okay," Alexander replied with a singr utterance, after which, finished with his task, the herald performed a salute and rode back.
Alexander meanwhile ordered a forward march before sending word to Melodias to tell him that he would not be needed to act and ordering him to rejoin the main force.
The main army quickly crossed the small distance andid downrge, thick nks of wood over the dug ditches, forming a makeshift bridge, once again showing that a ditch that is not defended could not perform as a ditch.
Now they only needed to wait.
And Menes, to his credit did not keep them waiting for long, for his three-hundred men bulldozed their way through the defenseless city with ease, making a beeline for the gates.
And on their way, the men made sure to light the various houses and other structures with fire using the torches they carried, until even Alexander could see the plumbs of smoke rising from the city.
''Good, it seems the city''s been captured,'' Alexander said to himself, seeing the smoke as confirmation that the soldiers were inside the city and had started razing it.
There was nothing the defenders could do now to save the city.
And soon, he granted a visual confirmation, as he heard theplex mechanism of the gate being moved and taken part, shortly followed by Menes''s joyous greeting, "My lord, wee."
The fully armored general was nked by a contingent of soldiers, all havingrge grins, and was greeted by a much louder chorus of roars.
Since the city was already burning, what point was there being stealthy?
The soldiers soon flooded the city and got down to feast on it like a bloodthirsty hound feasts on a defenseless rabbit, lighting the city on fire, smashing into houses, and generally piging and plundering the premises.
eaglesnov?1,§ão§® And soon agonized screams and muffled whimpers dressed the airs while the thick, stinging odor of wood smoke assaulted all those inside.
A night of tragedy had begun for the residents or rather temporary residents of Jabel, and there was little they could do to resist.
Seeing the horrors unfold in front and around him, Alexander did feel a tinge of regret and remorse for the few innocents that would be eventually caught up in the zing inferno.
But the vast majority of those residing here currently were people who were tyrants and gues of misfortune, who spread misery and death among themon popce, bringing them hardship and oppression.
And though some might argue that only the nobles were guilty and those around them innocent, though technically correct, nevertheless they were no doubt either
1. Aplices- like the various soldiers and bodyguards who did their master''s bidding and many times partook in it,
2. Enablers- such as various maids and servants who helped the nobles maintain his lifestyle, while also at times serving as his spies, andstly
3. Beneficiaries- who were mainly the wives and children and other rtives, who enjoyed the lifestyle they were provided and profited from it.
And just as a father''s good deeds elevates his progeny, a father''s misdeeds also dooms and curses his progeny.
Of course, rarely did a person fit neatly into only one typical mold but was rather a mixture of two or more, and so Alexander had no problem cleaning the houses, even if the method was crude and barbaric.
"General Menes, you did well. Managing to take the wall with no casualties. Very impressive," Thus as the soldiers razed the city, Alexander and the various high-level leisurely talked outside the city, around the thick, mahogany gate.
Since the city was going to be razed, Alexander did not bother entering it.
"Where, where? We had more troops than the city had residents. And they never expected an attack until our soldiers were opening the gate. It was too easy, too easy," Menes humbly yed down his sess.
The duo then talked for a while about the operation and if there were any problems during the attack and such, and by the natural flow of the conversation, when they were talking about the soldiers razing the city, the issue about the nobles came up.
"My lord, do you not intend to meet any of the nobles? Perhaps even to hear what they have to say? We can kill them any time." Menes gently prodded.
Though this had already been discussed, Menes still had this nagging feeling that meeting the nobles might be a good idea.
And Melodias, who had by now joined the main group, surprisingly supported Menes, saying,
"The information about the surroundingnds and the various treaties and alliances might be a good thing to know." before suggesting,
"Perhaps we could kill them after the interrogations. In this way, we might be even able to get some written confessions."
It appeared the potential value of capturing a noble moved even the cautious man when he was directly faced with it.
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Chapter 378 Jabels Nobles (Part-1)
Alexander thought about the two generals'' suggestions and reconsidered his actions.
Melodias uttering the word nd'' made Alexander remember that he had no detailed maps of the surrounding area, as Pasha Muazz had cleaned his study before Alexander could take over the city.
And so if he wanted to make his own maps, the only way would be for him to send surveyors into the othernds and ask the locals about thend features.
And even then that map would likely be grossly inurate because without having a bird''s eye view, one needed to stay in one ce more a long time to get the scale and positions of the various features correct.
Not to mention, if this was on another noble''snd, this type of action would be slightly short of dering war ording to them, as surveying another''snd was usually followed up by an invasion mostly using the secret routes discovered during this process.
Thus maps were highly prized and guarded, and something that Alexander could definitely use.
This fact made Alexander reconsider his order and was further tempted by the thoughts of what he could make the nobles write and confess.
"Okay, tell the soldiers to not kill anyone iming to be a noble, his children, or his wife." Alexander thus made the decision, and even added, "Anyone who finds a noble or his next of kin and brings them to the military camp unharmed will be rewarded 150 ropals for each of them."
Alexander knew the soldiers were more likely to heed hismand if a mary reward was involved, and even repeated, "Remember they must be unharmed."
This was because he feared the women might be humiliated if a smart soldier decided to think, ''Well enjoying these beautiful fleshes before bringing them to the camp would be alright. After all, I''m not killing them.''
Alexander''s decision to meet with the nobles pleased both Menes and Melodias who quickly had their officers ry the message down the chain ofmand, while cleverly adding the following addendum to the soldiers,
''Remember those people must be able to show proof of their identity.''
In this way, not every Tom, Dick, and Harry will be able to im being rted to the nobles, and also the soldiers will not be able to farm the system.
While the soldier lit the dry, winter houses of Jabel and went around killing almost anything that moved, chaos and carnage, inside therge, central house that dwarfed any of its contemporary buildings and looked over the city from the center, there was a very heated debate was taking ce.
"Who is attacking us? Is it that Jakqum? Has our ns been leaked?" A very fat man mmed his fleshy fist against the wooden ash table, his face flushed with anger, while his fists were visibly pale with fear.
Jakqum was the equivalent of ''nobody'' in Azhak and it was the name Alexander was addressed by among some in Amenheraft''s ranks.
And if Alexander could see the obese man, he would have certainly noticed the remarkable resemnce he had with Pasha Muazz, appearing like a younger version of the degenerate, disgraced noble.
"No¡no Your Grace Maizdy, that''s impossible. We¡we never told anyone!" A lean noble with gaunt cheeks quickly stammered the reply.
It was unknown if he was afraid of the soldiers razing the city, or of the man standing in front of him, huffing and puffing in rage.
Perhaps it was both.
Though for him the more immediate concern was cating the Pasha''s eldest son, as he then reassured, "Please¡please let us be calm. I''m sure whatever is happening outside is just a little ident. Everything is under control."
But the low tone, stammer, and the gulping sounds he made while saying this not only managed to inspire confidence among the group of nobles present but instead conversely managed to reaffirm their suspicions.
''A lot of enemy soldiers are in the city,'' All their hearts shivered.
"ident! You call the city burning a small ident? Tell the truth you mongrel!" Lambasted Muazz''s firstborn, making that noble shiver and go mute, as he heard the threat, "Or I will go see it for myself. And if I see that it is not a little ident, I will personally break every bone in your body."
Kyamin''s heart beat fast and erratically.
Some time ago, his steward hade to him saying, ''There was some disturbance in the city but the soldiers had been deployed,'' but after that, he had not heard anything from the man
Kyamin could not even call the guards too conspicuously for fear of spreading panic.
And while he was raking his mind on how to respond to this hot-tempered spoiled manchild, fortunately for him, another noble quickly stepped up to defend him.
Strong, tall, and with arge beard, he had a ster reputation among Muazz and Amenheraft''s retainers and his intimidating physical features made Maizdy rein down his anger.
Maizdy listened the man say, "My lord, I believe Talukerdar (Viscount) Kyamin is right. The treaty has been only signed for two months and that Jakqum will not risk breaking it soon. It must be some sort of ident or a few rebels causing problems. Let us be calm. We have enough men to take care of any situation."
Thisrge man had a surprisingly soft, soothing voice and the gentle but firm tone calmed many down.
The group of nobles was gathered in the first-floor study of the manor, and as such could not see the full extent of the destruction going on outside.
This, coupled with the fact that they really wanted to believe Jamidar (Earl) Niibar resulted in such a passive action.
But did not any of the soldierse to tell them the bad news?
Well no.
Firstly because none of them had the guts to burst into the room unannounced and uninvited and then report the real situation.
Because think about it.
Would you want to be the one giving your boss the bad news that there were soldiers inside the city and they were razing it to the ground and that there was nothing that you could do to stop them?
Naturally no.
Because in such a case, the best case scenario was the bosses believing you and asking you to escort them out of the city.
While the worst case scenario was they use you of lying and executes you because they find the information too ufortable while using the excuse that you are spreading misinformation.
So, why take the chance, when you can take the best scenario all by yourself?
And this was the second reason why the nobles were still in the dark about the true scale of the disaster.
Because many of the soldiers were abandoning their posts to save their own hides.
While a few staunch ones were engaging Alexander''s invading forces before being swiftly cut down by the outnumbering enemy.
This problem was expounded by the fact it was dead of night, and many of the veterans who would have usually takenmand and led an organized defense were either still asleep or separated from their men.
In fact, the nobles being still up sote was an anomaly, the reason for which was discussing the ''n'' eluded to my Maizdy.
And speaking of Maizdy, he was still among the few still rational, as even after many others bought the absurd im, he said in a suppressed low growl, "Are you telling me the screams and howls I''m hearing are small idents?"
As then swung his thick arms before a reply coulde and dered, "Fine, let them be idents. But I want to leave Jabel right now. Call me after you have dealt with this¡whatever!"
"..." A dead silence ensued, and as the obese man red intensified with each passing second, finally, Kyamin, the timid noble, broke out a mumble, "I''m afraid my lord, we do not know of any secret way out of the city. We only got here two months ago, and never expected to be attacked."
"Attacked!" Maizdy roared at the word, his eyes bulging out.
Kyamin deduced his steward might not being back, ever, as the loyal man should have reported whatever he found out by now, and so, in this fear let out this kernel of truth.
And then realizing his mistake, the thin noble visibly shivered even more.
"Get out! Escape! We need to escape!" No doubt remained in Maizdy''s mind about the situation around Jabel.
And though he wanted to tear apart Kyamin and eat him raw, now was not the time for that.
Now was the time for getting out of the city.
Nothing mattered more.
And Maizdy''s hysterical shout managed to spread fear and panic among the entire group, as many of the men attempted to dart towards the door, some even elbowing others to reach the wooden exit faster and unobstructed.
"Calm!!! Down!!!!" But just as the situation was about to devolve into a brawl or stampede, Jamider (Earl) Niibar''s loud roar, like a lion opening his throat sted the eardrums of the nobles, snapping them out of their confusion.
The bear-like man then loudly and forcibly roared, "As Talukder (Viscount) Kyamin said, the only real escape out of the city is through the main gates. And if you feel you can fight your way through the city, then go ahead."
e¦Áglesn?¦Íel
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Chapter 379 Jabels Nobles (Part-2)
Jamider (Earl) Nibbar''s imposing speech gave the nobles pause.
"..." And thus they stood around the door in flux, not knowing what to do next.
Some consider taking their chances.
While some believed it might be better to stick together.
And as they looked at each in askance, finally, being unable to bear the stifling air, one of the nobles turned around and picked up the courage to ask, "Then what does Your Lord propose? Fight?"
His question wasced with fear and apprehension, meaning if Jamider (Earl) Nibbar made the mistake of saying yes, he would be the first one to bolt.
He very well knew the number of his own men and they were not enough.
"Fight? Without horses? That''s what peasants are for!" Jamider (Earl) Nibbar had an incredulous tone to his voice as he pronounced this, as if finding the very concept beyond absurd.
After all, it wasmon knowledge among nobles that a noble who does not fight on a horse was not a noble, but justmon rabble.
Having avoided this trap, the huge man then produced a wide, reassuring grin, and said, "First of all, let us all remember that we are nobles. Blue-bloods. Pure and saintly. So what are we afraid of?"
This implicit statement was made to remind the men that as nobles they were basically untouchable, decreed as saints or semi-divine by the temple of Ramuh.
And though this status was like wet paper in front of the royal family, against others, even against other nobles, it was a mighty shield.
For outside ofbat, it was a great taboo to kill a noble under most circumstances, except for exceptional cases such as treason, rebellion, or gross military defeats against invading forces, meaning a noble usually got to die in bed.
Jamidar (Earl) Nibbar''s confident demeanor and convincing speech made many of the panicking sheep calm down, and seeing this as he finished by saying, "Whoever is attacking¡whoever that may be, be it rebels, or bandits, or even that Jakqum, nobody will harm us. Because we are nobles. So let us stay calm and wait. Because no doubt the main perpetrator will soone to greet us."
Nibbar seemed to ce a lot of faith in his status as a blue-blooded noble and in its efficacy of being able to stop any soldier from killing him, as evidenced by how he puffed up his chest with pride after finishing.
And just like Kyamin''s panic was infectious, Nibbar''s confidence was too contagious.
And this reasonable speech and his poised demeanor quickly made fear transmute into courage inside the hearts of many of the nobles.
"Tha..that''s right. Lord Nibbar said it well. If any of those mongrels dare touch a hair on us, the whole of Adhania will not let them off," A mustached noble squeaked out the reply like an obedientckey.
And was soon joined by others making simr statements and threats.
It was unknown to who they were saying such words, though most likely it was to themselves in order to boost their morale.
And at some point, a burst of loud, uproariousughter broke out, initiated by Maizdy, who said, "Hahaha, good, good. Just as I said, if we stick together nothing will happen."
The fat man''s skill to so effortlessly and shamelessly make this statement surprised many, though those that interacted with him before knew such was his character.
If anyone thought Pasha Muazz was bad, they should meet his spoiled sons and daughters.
"Hahaha, yes, yes, my lord is most wise, most perceptive. We are honored to have you lead us," Jamider (Earl) Nibbar had been around these wastrels to know how to maneuver around them, and expertly provided the right amount of oil, drawing a big grin from the man.
And as the obese man was pleased with himself for managing to effortlessly steal the credit and as well as being happy with Nibbar for being ''clever'', the real clever Jamider (Earl) also cleverly took advantage of the opportunity to say, "Then my lord, I ask you to allow me to step outside the room for a moment. I want to ask one of my soldiers to deliver our desire to meet the opposing party."
This noble was afraid that him arbitrarily steeping outside would spook the nobles and make them think he was trying to save his own hide.
And hence he asked for permission from his ''superior.''
"Mmm, okay. You do that. I too want to see who had the gall to attack us. I will judge him myself," It seemed Jamider (Earl) Nibbar''s speech was a bit too sessful, as fear had turned into haughtiness for Maizdy.
"I will endeavor to arrange it as soon as possible," Came a gentle smile and an elegant bow, as Nibbar quickly but elegantly shuffled out of the door.
And though many nobles held a tinge of suspicions of therge man being so eager to leave, they knew they could not contradict the man who had appointed himself in charge.
Because those who did did not have happy endings.
Jamider (Earl) Nibbar rapidly walked across the hallways, almost as if he was riding on a hurricane and whipping by a storm, as he soon met up with his head bodyguard stationed at the front gates.
"What is going on? Tell me the truth!" And this was the first thing the Jamider (Earl) asked after he grabbed the strong man from his post and effortlessly dragged him to a corner, his tone hushed and fearful.
The nobles back in the hallway would have been surprised if they could see the look on the big man''s face, for the upbeat, confident facade had been torn to reveal a man just as scared as them, perhaps more.
"T..It''s them. No doubt it''s them, my lord. Many of my soldiers and even other soldiers have said they heard these enemies shout in a foreignnguage. It can only be them!" This bodyguard blurted out, his spit almost hitting the noble.
"Thesian? Were they speaking thesian?" Nibbar instantly understood the implication, as he spat out even more of his spittle, before closing the distance between the two, trying hard to keep his emotions in check and his voice low.
eaglesnov?1,§ão§® He did not want to openly cause a scene, especially not when morale was already so low.
"Ye¡yes. Most likely. Most likely," This was apanied by forceful nods to disy the confirmation.
Although Alexander had pushed for all the soldiers to speak Azhak, it had been only two months since they came to Adhania and there was not enough time.
In addition, many soldiers simply refused, feeling that thenguage was a part of their identity.
They did not outright rebel against the order, but they quietly ignored it.
And for the time being, Alexander ignored them because this transition was inevitable.
While another part of the reason was that when in a battle, everyone subconsciously tended to speak in the tongue one was most fluent in, i.e- his mother tongue.
Hence Alexander''s men were soon identified, though even if they hid their tongues, their uniform and gear would have been a dead giveaway if the enemy soldiers took the time to observe them.
''Darmmm¡'' Nibbar cursed that his worst assumptions hade true.
Even though he knew prior that this was the most likely cause, it still made his teeth grind.
"What about the city? Can we escape?" Came the next logical answer.
Given the chance, Nibbar would dly leave all those imbeciles to the pits.
His and his family''s life was more precious than any of those fools.
"I..I don''t know my lord. I was asleep¡ and ¡and I only woke up some time.. some time ago," This bodyguard''s face had gone from blushed to pale in the span of just one sentence.
Because he had just admitted that he was sleeping on his job.
"Yo¡yooo¡youuu," Nibbar hearing this had the opposite change, his pale face turning flushed red with anger.
This was a man he had trusted to protect his life and he was now openly admitting to sleeping on his job?
This made Nibbar want to knock every tooth out of this guy.
Though in his defense, nobody was expecting such an attack, and it was biting cold, so sleeping seemed a mighty tempting option, a seduction further aggravated by the cushy life he got used to living with the Jamider (Earl).
"So who knows how to get out of the city?" Jamider (Earl) Nibbar was not an impulsive man and decided that chewing his bodyguard out could wait,
For now, the priority was running and he asked for information regarding this by grabbing the armed man by the cor.
"I..I don''t know sire," The bodyguard''s squealed in terror.
But just as it looked like the Jamider was going to snap the poor man''s neck in anger, he squeaked out, "But I heard the soldiers mention that anyone who says he is a noble is being spared. I swear, I swear I heard it, my lord, I swear."
The bodyguard kept repeating this as he felt the grip around his throat tighter, making his tongue almost stick out, and his breath constricted as Nibbar tried to figure out if the soldier was telling the truth or trying to save his hide.
But he was snapped out of his deduction suddenly as a loud announcement was hearding from the outside.
"Which noble is residing in the house? Come out. Our master wants to meet you. We promise you will be treated will respect and dignity."
The option to run had just closed.
Chapter 380 Jabels Nobles (Part-3)
The bodyguard felt the throat-constricting sensation disappear as the Jamider (Earl) turned his gaze toward the door.
The heavy Thesian ent of the statement hammered nail the identity of the intruders.
"What now?" He thus fiercely growled, feeling Alexander''s maw close shut around him.
His gut was telling him to run.
"If my lord orders, I''m willing to cut open a path for you. Just give me the word, Your Grace, and I will do it even if it is me alone." Free of the vice grip, the guard quickly swore in a martyr voice.
But though he sounded staunchly loyal, he was basically saying, ''I''m just one man. Spare me.''
''Craven bastard,'' Jamider (Earl) Nibbar cursed under his breath, fearing for his family''s life, before finally epting the circumstances with pursed lips.
"Come with me! Let''s go see what''s going on!" And then, deciding the best course of action would be to face the situation head-on, he grabbed the guard and tugged him towards the front door.
While the sergeant leading thepany stood in front of the huge door with a smug feeling in his heart.
Even a fool could tell that this huge, unmatched amongst its surrounding mansion housed some bigshot, if not the ''biggest''-shot.
And to catch these delicious prey, this man named Hercinidus had raced against otherpanies to surround this ce and won.
''Ahh, imagine the amount of money I will get from this,'' And with his reward imminent, the man''s mouth almost salivated while ncing at the tall, imposing, magnificent structure, which had turned into a gilded cage right now.
And as his eyes scanned the frightened and scant few guards, each of them targeted with multiple instant bows, he caught sight of two shadows approaching him.
"My name is Jamider (Earl) Nibbar. We surrender. I repeat I''m Jamider¡" The man dressed in fine clothing leading the duo said the two sentences repeatedly, while his guard was signaling to the few men around the front gate to throw all their weapons in surrender, which they did seeing it was an order from a Jamider (Earl).
"I''m Sergeant Hercinidus. How many of you are there inside?" It seemed that Hercinidus, instead of epting the surrender, first wanted to confirm his booty.
Nibbar swallowed the fact that thismoner did not bow to him, as was the tradition when meeting any noble, friendly or hostile as well as the question of what was a ''Sergeant''.
That was not currently important.
"Most of us nobles are here. Once we heard themotion we gathered in the mansion to discuss what to do next. And we have decided to surrender." Jamider (Earl) Nibbar twisted the truth.
"And the women and children? Where are they? Are they also in the house?" The sergeant asked where these human booties were.
Because he wanted to maximize his earnings.
"Yes, yes. Many of them are here. Please do not harm them. They are all innocent," Nibbar''s voice slightly shook as he said this, the real meaning of the word ''harm'' clear to all.
He was not as afraid for their lives as he was for their honor.
Because even though nobles were usually protected by the rules of battles, crazed and red-eyed soldiers identally ''harming'' the women and even children in the heat of battle was not unheard of.
''If only the Lord had notmanded as such,'' And Hercinidus''s heart itched hearing this.
Noblewomen simply tasted different from the regr peasants that he and his men visited in the brothels, except that new one that just recently opened, and the strong man''s loins burnt with desire remembering how he had enjoyed himself for three days and three days when they were allowed to sack the inner district of Adhan.
The number of women and even children he and his brothers had enjoyed those three days made it a memory to relish for years if not decades.
And he very much wanted to replicate that scene here today.
But ultimately he held himself back.
One was because of the mary reward.
150 ropals was not a paltry sum.
But that solely was not enough for many, who figured that though 150 ropals was a lot of money, it was not a noblewoman.
After all, money could be earned any day, and gold can be gotten in any way, but when could amoner ever taste a noblewoman?
Never.
The physical beauty of noblewomen, created by the good food they ate, and the sheltered and privileged lives they lived with no physicalbor or the attack of the harsh sun, inherently gave all of them soft skins and plump bodies, making them all a delectable feast for thesemon sods.
And this was coupled with the fact that they had the charm of nobility, of high status, and being high-born.
This mere fact produced a charm that even a much more beautiful, butmoner woman would never have.
Which conversely also made enemy soldiers all the more attracted to them.
These were also one of the main reasons why any captured or fallen nobleman would automatically fetch five to ten times as a regr ve woman, many times regardless of her actual beauty.
Because people bought not the face or the body, but the status.
And thus, when this was ounted for, when the soldiers of Zanzan were presented with the chance to taste a noblewoman potentially worth 20,000 to 40,000 ropal, 150 ropal started to look like a rounding error.
The maths heavily favored the former.
But still Hercinidus decided to follow Alexander''smand, and even strictly enforced it among his troops.
And it was not because he was foolish or blindly loyal.
But because of the second reason, which was that it was an open secret that the Pasha did not like such types of acts.
And this dislike towards men whomitted these acts was evidenced by the fact that many of those who had not participated in the sacking of Adhan were given first priority when promoting to sergeants and captains (Leader of a battalion consisting of 500 soldiers) in the newly formed legion.
So understanding this, the ambitious Hercinidus decided to sacrifice this short moment of joy for advancing his career.
"None of you will be harmed¡ if all your guards throw down their weapons and surrender. And if all of you follow me to our camp." Hercinidus thus reassured the Jamider (Earl).
''Whew!'' Nabbir very inconspicuously released a sigh of relief, saying, "Thank you, brother, we are relieved." before prodding with the words, "By the way, brother has an interesting ent. Might I ask for your master''s name?"
He dared to do this because Hercinidus''s answer emboldened him to the fact that these soldiers wanted to capture them, and more specifically wanted to avoid killing them.
So he tried to fish for more information before the negotiations.
But unfortunately for him, he failed in this endeavor, and it even somewhat backfired, as Hercinidus only sneered, "Either you are stupid, Or you think I''m stupid."
And then in a mercurial change of mood, his gentle tone turned harsh as he barked, "Now get everyone inside out. Or if my men have to do it, I cannot guarantee idental ''harm'' will not happen!"
This naked threat made many of the defending men go pale, but the noble himself, Niibar kept his cool, only his eyebrows scrunching up.
''Did I misread the situation?'' He wondered, while he quickly thought of a reply to deny this instruction.
He did not want to meet the enemy in his own den.
eaglesnov?1,§ão§® "Esteemed sir, please calm down. I did not mind mean anything by it," Firstly Jamider (Earl) Nibbar gave arge, professional smile to try and diffuse the situation, with the words ''esteemed sir'' said with as much sharine in it as possible.
This ability to change one''s face ording to one''s needs was a testament to the skills of the veteran noble.
And it worked, as Hercinidus''s nose stopped ring, and he heard the noble continue, "We very much want to follow you to meet your Honored master. But we are arge bunch. Full of defenseless women and children. And so are afraid that so many people may not safely cross the chaotic streets. After all, sir should understand the situation better than me." He paused after making the suggestive sentence, before finishing by saying,
"So, why don''t we wait here? Our guards will disarm and surrender to you. And your men can guard us in the meantime. Will not that be the best for both of us?"
The Jamider sure knew how to wag his tongue.
He even posed thest sentence as a question to trick Hercinidus into thinking he was the one making the decision.
Whereas in reality, the decision had been already made.
And the reason for Nibbar proposing as such did have to do with the fact he was afraid that the marauding soldiers might attack therge group during their ''voyage''.
But he was equally afraid some of those imbeciles in the mansion would try to run and make a break for themselves if they sensed an opportunity during the march under the chaos of the dark night inside a burning city.
And that might as well create a blood bath as the enraged soldiers would slice and dice anyone in front of them to pursue the runners.
Nabbir did not trust these soldiers to be reasonable in case of an ident, and he certainly did not trust those idiots that called themselves nobles to react rationally and act considering therge picture when faced with difficulties.
Chapter 381 Jables Nobles (Part-4)
"My lord, we have captured arge number of nobles in the mansion over there," A scout pointed to the spire on the roof of the mansion as he made his report to Alexander, before continuing, "But it seems there are a lot of women and children in there as well. And our men are not confident about escorting all of them safely here amidst all the chaos that''s going on around. So, would Your Grace be willing to meet them in the mansion over there? Or should we assign more men to bring them here?"
The scout looked at Alexander with clear, limpid eyes, waiting over the order.
"Hmm, the streets of the city are too narrow. So assigning more men might not be enough," Alexander loudly said his deduction, and then he ruminated a bit.
He specifically thought about not wanting to spook the prey.
Just like it is said that the meat of an animal that is ughtered when it is in a rxed, stress-free mood tastes better because it has not released various hormones into the bloodstream, Alexander felt that the nobles might be more persuasive to wagging their tongue in their own home, reassured that nothing bad will happen if they just give Alexander that he wanted.
And thus he decided, "Okay, tell whoever is in charge there that I will visit there shortly. And that he is to cooperate with my bodyguards in securing the mansion."
The second part of the instructions was because the regr soldiers were not trained on how to make the premises safe for Alexnder.
For that, Alexander had written a very basic manual based on what he had seen in movies and read in books that he had given his contingent of bodyguards to learn.
And he had even instructed them to add to it as they saw fit.
"At once my lord," Receiving the order, the herald gave a quick military salute and then ran off in the mansion''s direction.
While Alexander turned to Hemicus to order, "Send some of our men ahead. Have them secure the premises. And tell them to separate the women and children from the men and take them into the nearby barns."
"Also make sure to perform full body checks for the nobles. I don''t want any of them to pull a fast one on me." Alexander finished.
Assassinations using hidden des was a technique as old as human civilization.
"Yes," A short reply affirmed themand.
The Pasha then asked Menes to be in charge of the city in the meantime, and as he and Melodias sometimeter were standing in front of the mansion door.
"Wee my lord," Hercinidus ran up to give a full bow in front of Alexander''s horse the moment he saw therge group approach, and stayed obediently still as the Pasha and his entourage disembarked.
"Sergeant Hercinidus, congrattions on a job well done." The very first thing that Alexander did after getting off his horse was greet the sergeant by his name loudly and thennd strong pats on the shoulders with a wide smile.
And then, maintaining his image of a generous lord with a generous hand, handed the soldier a leather pouch which he took out from a side saddle, "Here is a little something for you and the missus. Please ept."
Alexander usually was open with his hands when it came to his soldiers and thus rewarded the man for capturing so many rabbits in one single cage.
And the sergeant took it with a wide grin, bowing once again and pronouncing, "Praise be to the lord."
The fact that someone like Alexander knew his name filled his heart with more joy than whatever was inside the pouch.
In fact, Alexander had learned the name of the Sergeant along the way from Melodias, who said that the sergeant was initially part of his mercenary groups and even added that he had married an Adhanian recently.
Which was also why Alexander prepared the package for the man as he did.
And as Hercinidus received the pouch, he could instantly tell it did not contain coin, and wouldter find it to have some bars of soap, a small beautiful ss showpiece in the shape of a hedgehog, and two hand mirrors.
And this discovery would make him happier than receiving a 1,000 ropals.
Because anybody could gift him money.
But these stuff were unique presents of the Pasha.
Hercinidus was not of high enough caliber to get to attend Alexander''s wedding but he had heard from his battalion captain (500-man leader) that it was the spectacle of the century.
That captain especially bragged about the wedding presents, saying it was worth more than a 1,000 ropals, and he especially loved showing around the beautiful mirror, and saying how he had managed to convince a Zanzan girl he was wooing to say yes using it.
And now Alexander had gifted him not one, but two of it!
How could he not be happy?
While Alexander had done this to add a personal touch and also because this stuff was cheap for him to produce.
Much cheaper than a 1,000 ropals, while their efficacy of inspiring happiness and loyalty was much higher.
And after handing the pouch, Alexander even added, "And rest assured, you and yourpany will get all your due rewards."
This statement sted away thest bit of acrimony that the man had as before, when Alexander''s bodyguard took over control from him, he was slightly afraid that they would lie and swallow up the rewards for themselves.
But with Alexander''s reassurance, his smile erged even more, saying, "No, no, my lord. Being able to serve you is the greatest reward."
Alexander then said a few more encouraging words to the sergeant, before finally being given the go-ahead by his bodyguards and escorted inside.
''Let''s see what were all of you in here,'' Alexander said to himself as he entered thevish mansion.
Alexander did not buy the story Hernicidus told him about the nobles gathering in one building after the city was taken over.
Because when shit hit the fan, nobles were a bunch of people who would always prioritize saving their own hide.
It was their general characteristics and to make them go against their instinct meant that they were either here prior to the ''invasion'' or there was someone in Jabel with sufficient authority and power to make these scaredy-cats want to gather around him in times of need.
And Alexander would soon find which.
Alexander observed the interior of the mansion as he made his way to the hall room where all the noblemen were quarantined, making note of thevish architecture, though it naturally paledpared to his own manor.
But the thing that caught Alexander''s eye the most was that the house strangely followed a very simr design to his very own one, appearing as just a smaller, lesser, poorer version of his house.
And he could think of three reasons for this.
One reason this could be was because it was built by the same man as the one who did Pasha Muazz''s house.
Second was that the owner of the house wanted to copy Muazz''s lifestyle.
Or thirdly, this was the standard architectural structure used by all or most nobles of Zanzan.
But whichever the case was, the simr geometry of the house made Alexander quickly cover the distance with experienced footsteps until he found himself in front of the hall room.
"Ohh, why is this here?" But just before Alexander was about to enter the room, he posed this question as he noticed a small pool of blood on the carpet.
He was afraid that one of the nobles might be injured or killed, thus spooking the prey.
Alexander''s question was answered by one from the group of soldiers guarding the door answered, "My lord, when we were doing the body checks, one noble refused. And when we insisted, he lunged at us, breaking the nose of one of our brothers."
"And then, in the midst of trying to separate the two men, some blood spilled out."
Who that noble might have been would be evident to all the readers, while the sinct answer left out the part where several of the soldiers made sure to make Maizdy''s face swell up by a few times, if even that was possible given the already portly face of the man.
Alexander could tell that his soldiers had likely taken this noble out of the room to give him a good thrashing, extracting multiple times the amount of blood the man had managed to spill.
But he did not ask for details, and only instead said with a light nod, "You did well. Good job," while internally he thought, ''Seems like there are troublemakers there. *Sigh*, it will have to be that then.''
The incident and scuffle must have ruffled the noble''s feathers and it was likely the birds would first need to be cated before they would sing.
Alexander signaled the door to be opened and as the light was allowed to escape from the room, Alexanderid his eyes upon his prey.
While Jamider (Earl) Nibbar tried to get up to greet Alexander the moment he saw him.
"My lord, welc¡.urggg¡" But even before he could a full sentence out, a *shoo* sound hit his ear, like an arrow being released, and a momentter felt a stinging sensation around his neck.
And a secondter he flopped onto the carpet, not even realizing that Alexander''s crossbow bold had prated his throat, and died with an incredulous look on his face.
Chapter 382 Jabels Nobles (Part-5)
The room that the nobles were being guarded in had many soldiers inside, the bright chandeliers making their weapons and armor evident to all, from the shiny bronze cuirass to the dull shields to the short swords tostly the crossbows or Instant bows each carried.
And these men seemed there to protect just nine men, all of whom were seemingly in a fluctuating mood.
Some of them paced around therge, central table with brisque, nervous footsteps, their hands sped together, their head down, eyes darting all about in confusion.
It almost appeared as if they thought that if they looked long enough at the floor, they would be able to read the soon-to-be-sent revtion from god that would tell them how to escape this predicament.
Others did the same thing just sitting, their body asionally twisting and turning to show their difort.
While some had gathered around Maizdy, whose entire face was bloodied supplicating words offort to him, as the fat man fumed in rage.
When the soldiers had barged into the room, he was the first one to greet them with thembasting words, "How dare you swines attack us?" and then attempted to make the soldiers not only leave the mansion but surrender to him.
An endeavor he failed in because Jamider (Earl) Nibbar quickly intervened, saying in a soothing, ttering tone, "Now, now, my lord. Let us be patient. These men are just obeying orders. We need to talk with the Jakqum that orders them to get anything done."
And this managed to avoid an altercation for that moment.
Though it was an effort rendered quickly futile when altercations did break out after the soldiers dered they were going to body search the nobles and everybodyplied except Maizdy.
''*Sigh*, this is called being in a rock and hard ce'' Nibbar said as he sat at the head of the table, thinking how he had to manage both the opposing soldiers and the noble themselves, his mood currently at a nadir.
He also reminisced how the soldiers had moved all the women and children to a nearby barn meant for the horses, and though it was said this was ''to protect them from all any danger'' meaning preventing suicide and such, the act still gave Nibbar a bad feeling.
''I can''t rely on these idiots to do anything. I need to talk to that Jak¡no Alexander personally to eke out an escape, Even if means temporarily switching sides.'' Nibbar was ready to promise almost anything to Alexander toe out of this alive, even betraying his fellow nobles.
And thus eager to show his willingness, and trying to start the conversation before any of the nobles did something stupid, he jumped out of his seat the moment he saw the young man, almost a boy walk in with his entourage.
"My lord", He even addressed the approaching Pasha as ''My lord'' to show his friendliness.
But it was all for naught.
Because even before he could say the word ''wee'', his eyes caught a bow-like thing, held horizontally by the boy, and shortly after, he suddenly felt a stinging, warm sensation around his neck which rapidly turned into agonizing pain.
And as his vision darkened and he slumped over the table, lying in his pool of blood, Jamider (Earl) Nibbar still could not believe what was happening to him.
''Did the bastard shoot me? Was I, a noble shot?'' He thought incredulously as death tightened its grip on him, the reality not sinking in until the very moment the ck wings of the angel of death became apparent to him.
"..." And as Alexander lowered his crossbow, the room sounded like it was a tomb.
No one, not even the people closest to Alexander had expected this course of events, and they all looked at him with shock and fear.
The soldiers were afraid that they had done something wrong to warrant such a move from their lord.
While the nobles were shocked that one of their own was killed in cold blood just like that.
Even in battles, the moment a noble surrendered, from that second on he would be untouchable.
Which gave rise to the strange phenomenon where many battles in Adhania between nobles would seemingly abruptly stop because one side would all too easily surrender the moment they saw things not going their way.
So, if nobles were protected so well even during battles, the shock that one of them, a Jamider (Earl) at that, was killed without nary a word could be imagined.
They looked at Alexander with first stunned horror, before the realization of the reality made them feel cold with fear until finally it transformed into boiling rage for some.
''Since we are going to die, then let''s go out fighting,'' Some thought, trying to jump out of their seats
But these martyr-like thoughts were temporarily extinguished by Alexander''s loud, warm greeting,
"Good morning gentlemen. I am d to see all of you are well." He paired a kind, gentle smile with the light, jovial greeting, as he sat strode towards the table and sat on a chair after he himself pulled it out.
Alexander had been a bit confused at first about how to greet the nobles.
Saying ''Goodnight'' did not feel right as it gave a different meaning.
And thus he thought that since it would be morning soon, it would be more appropriate than a good evening.
But the nobles had much more important stuff to consider than whether Alexander''s greeting was appropriate or not.
Like if he intended to kill them all or not?
And so they watched with weary eyes as the heavily armored man took a seat at the opposite end of therge, long table, but not before very prominently and suggestively cing the thing he used to kill Jamider (Earl) Nibbar upon on the table.
This was a clear, naked threat.
While Alexander looked at the frightened nobles and felt smug, happy that he had seeded in his first step, which was to give himself the impression of being a bit crazy.
And that was also why he had already decided prior that he would kill the first noble to speak up.
To create shock and awe among the nobles
And Jamider (Earl) Nibbar just happened to be the unlucky one.
Because for thest time in his life, this noble would be a bit too over-smart, rather than being just smart.
The nobles were in flux about what to do.
Alexander''s warm smile directed towards them as one of their owny dead with blood pouring blood out from his throat contrasted each other too much, and none of the nobles dared speak first.
And so Alexander said again, his smile widening to a grin, "I said how are you, my man? Well? Or did my men scare you, hahaha?"
He appeared to be half-deranged, with a few screws loose.
Finally, a whileter, understanding that not answering this nut-case might not be the best idea, one of the nobles, felt that he should get up and give a full bow, before greeting,
"Greetings my lord. We are immensely happy to meet you. How can we be of service?"
The tone was gentle and servile.
"Hahaha, well you could have met me at my wedding. It was just a week ago and Jabel''s pretty close. So did you note?" Alexander seemed to have picked the second sentence of the greeting as the most interesting one.
''Because you bastard did not invite us,'' All the nobles you heard this swore in their hearts.
But outwardly another noble quickly chirped up,
"Hahaha, yes, yes, it was our mistake. But Your Grace, see, many of us are still recovering from the gue and so could not make the time. Thousand apologies, thousand apologies." This seemed to a quick-witted one, as others soon followed suit.
"Yes, yes, that''s right. We very much wanted to meet The Lord. But the illnesses¡ really¡ohhh," One breathed a fake sign of resignation.
"Yes, yes..it is truly a shame on us that Your Grace had toe to meet us. But the gue¡ohhh,'' Another involuntarily shivered.
"Hahaha, oh, so that''s it, that''s it. I understand," Alexander exaggeratedly nodded his head as if buying this excuse.
It appeared that though these men were not leaders, they sure could wag their tongues.
"So, what important has made the lord visit us at thiste hour? Is it Tibias?" Atst, understanding the situation was safe, Kyamin opened his mouth, probing Alexander and the man that had silently sat beside him, Melodias
"Hahaha, well as you mentioned, since there was so much gue in Jabel, and we have eradicated the gue in our city long ago, we came to see what was wrong," Alexander gave an improvised joke answer just the nobles had given him stupid excuses.
"*Bang*, Jakqum! Do you know what you doing? Do you not care about the treaty?" It was the noble side the first to crack, more specifically Maizdy, who was no longer able to bear with the farce.
''Fuucckkk,'' While Kyamin internally almost tore his lung out hearing this, as did many of the other nobles.
And if any of them was half as brave as Jamider (Earl) Nibbar they would have shouted a severe scolding, if notnding an outright p on the fat man.
But they were not.
Which was why they were not called Nibbar.
Instead, they could only look on horrified as the current lord of Zanzan raised that new weapon and pull the trigger.
*Shooo*
Chapter 383 Jabels Nobles (Part-6)
Alexander''s attention had been drawn toward Maizdy the moment he had entered the room.
How could it not?
The man was huge, upying almost two chairs and having his face all wrapped and bandaged, with some of the fat around his face even spilling out from between the linen clothes.
Clearly, this was the troublemaker.
*Shooo*
And hearing the loud shout, Alexander simply shot out a crossbow bolt, its sound as it traveled through the air making the nobles imagine they were hearing the joyfulugh of death harvesting another life.
*Thud*
But fortunately for them, this time, the steel bolt only drilled itself into the thick, mahogany table,nding just far enough from the obese noble to miss him but nevertheless close enough to almost make him pee himself.
And made the nobles look in horror at the huge, needle-like steel bolt glinting light out of its smooth, hard body.
Alexander had these steel bolts specifically made for him.
Weighing much more than a typical bolt, these traded the range and distance for deadlier lethality at close range, able to destroy close targets.
This trade-off was perfect for Alexander, because he already had an army of bodyguards who could take care of the far-away threats, and so the only time he would need to act was if the killers had somehow managed to make it through his screen of men and get close enough to him.
Thus for Alexander''s personal protection, the range was not an issue.
The ability to kill any killer reliably was.
"My lord, this is Lord Pasha Muazz''s eldest son, Maizdy. Now, please let us stay our weapons," Seeing the fat man still alive and unharmed, water returned to Kyamin''s heart, and he hurriedly spoke up to introduce the two.
If the ''crown prince'' of Zanzan -Maizdy was to be killed, the treaty would be null and void at that very moment.
"Pasha Muazz? Who is he? Which province is he a pasha of?" Alexander put on a facade of incredulity, while his men at the back promptly reloaded the crossbow for him.
Alexander meant to say that since he controlled the territory, how could they call another person its ruler?
"*Grit*, *grit*" Maizdy ground his teeth in rage and frustration hearing this, a sound that was heard across the room.
But the threat of that weapon and the steel arrows it shot out made him restrain himself, as he could only scream, ''Bastard thief. Zanzan is my father''s! Zanzan is mine! Bastard! F*cking Bastard.''
In fact, he was not only angry with Alexander, but with his nobles as well.
Because he was irritated by how these men were being all differential and calling Alexander ''My lord'' when he was really an imposter and a usurper.
This was uneptable, Zanzan had only one lord, and that was his family.
While Kyamin, not being brain dead like that, engaged Alexander with civility, gently answering, "My lord, under the treaty, the status of Zanzan has been left undecided, with both kings iming different people as its ruler. And for now, both such people are recognized as legitimate. So, until the conflict is resolved, both sire and Pasha Muazz hold the legal title of Pasha."
He had in a schrly tone described the messy situation regarding Zanzan.
And to his credit, he even made it sound half logical.
Because if one thought about it for more than a second, this did not make any sense.
For example, could Pasha Muazz collect taxes from Zanzan since he was also the legal ruler?
Theoretically yes.
But realistically no.
Or could he appropriate anynd of Zanzan to a third party?
Again, Theoretically yes.
Realistically no.
And these examples were just the tip of the iceberg.
So this clusterfuck of a situation, created by the inability of both sides toe to an agreement, gave rise to this illogical situation, while also creating some bizarre loopholes.
"....." Alexander did not bother replying to this absurd situation.
It was as it was.
Instead, he ruminated on why would such a big fish be in this dump.
''Could it be because of him the noble gathered together?'' Alexander found that unlikely given how dumb he appeared until now.
While he missed the fact that actually, he had killed the smartest one, the one because of whom the nobles had gathered together with his first shot.
"I see, so it was Esteemed Lord Muazz''s son! It is an honor," Alexander heavily nodded, before naturally asking, "So, what is Lord Maizdy visiting a dump like this? And meeting with so men sote, hehehe."
The innuendo was clear.
And it had the rotund man''s entire face turn the same color as his broken nose.
To think that an honorable noble would be used of that!
And by a worm!
"The lord is here to meet his rtives. He really loves his niec¡*thud*." An up until now quite noble quickly spoke up before the chubby man would re up.
And then suddenly he was not speaking anymore. he was simply slumping off his chair.
This time the crossbow found its mark directly through the man''s temple, the silverly steel sticking out like the man had be a unicorn.
"If you are gonna kill us, then simply kill us! What''s with the games?" Seeing this finally Kyamin snapped, his nerves snapping.
He had had enough.
With two nobles dead in a matter of minutes, he felt that Alexander was simply there to see them burn.
Which was true, but not yet.
"The liar said that Lord Maizdy hade to visit Jable because he loved his niece. Well, if he loved him so much, why take two months toe?" Alexander asked while he cocked the crossbow.
And then further posed, "Moreover, whye to visit this dump, but not take him to his territory? You know, one that''s not gue-infested. Some uncle he is, am I right, heh?" He smirked.
Then Alexander''s cheerful eyes transformed into a cold, ck pair as he scanned the silent as a church mouse group for an answer, before his light, friendly tone changed to a deep, prating one.
"I''m here to just ask some questions. Answer them truthfully, and you and your family will not have a hair touched on them."
"Lie...and know that there are six others who are just as eager as you. I hate liars." Alexander''s voice made the nobles feel the freezing wintery wind almost warm and inviting.
And this tactic worked, as the slightlyter, the sweet words and even more soon drifted into Alexander''s ears.
"Me¡me my lord. I know everything. Lord Maizdy is here leading the army¡"
"Shuuut! Uuuupp!" But that noble did not get to finish the sentence, as the enraged Maizdy had gotten up from his chair to pounch on that skinny man, as if to crush the man under hisrge body weight.
*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*
For a fat man, this Maizdy was surprisingly athletic, as the shower of fists hended on the noble were either slow or weak, evident by the crisp sound it made with each contact.
It sounded as if bones were cracked and smacked under the strike of heavy muscles.
But unfortunately for the portly man, he could not continue his assault for long, at least not long enough to incapacitate the traitors, as both the soldiers and even the surrounding nobles tried hard to separate the two.
And after the soldiersnded some solid strikes of the attacking man''s face, and even a shield bash, therge, whale-like entity while lost its steam, plopping into the ground, with a bloodied face before being dragged like a sack of potatoes to the edge of the room.
"My lord, Maiz¡Lord Maizdy has been always a bit hot-tempered, a bit impulsive. Perhaps it would be better if he could be moved to a more secluded room," Kyamin then diplomatically asked, while the men helped that skinny noble up, his face bruised and bloodied.
"No need." But Alexander simply brushed off the request while waving his hands, as he then turned his head back, and addressed, "Justas, Sico, Lymat, you three have been standing for a long time. Sit on that fatso!"
Alexander just asked three of his bodyguards to use a noble as a seat!
"Alexander, have you gone mad? Or do you truly not want to let us leave here alive?" Kyamin shouted at the top of his lungs.
He thought he had seen it all.
But this amount of disrespect,..this.. using a noble, a pasha at that, as a chair was an unthinkable act of humiliation.
Kyamin would not have believed it if he had not seen it.
And facing such humiliation, no self-respecting noble would ever not dere war against the other party.
And not just war, but total war i.e- total destruction of the opposite side.
Like how the Allies took over every inch of Germany in world war 2 and forced an unconditional surrender.
Or even more appropriately, how warlords in China used to destroy every enemy city, killing all its people, and razing the city to the ground.
Not conquer, or annex it.
But destroy it.
Much like what was happening to Jabel
And since Alexander''s action would cause a total war if it got out, it appeared the only path was total eradication of the evidence, i.e- killing all the nobles who witnessed it.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 384 Nobles Talk (Part-1)
After Kyamin finished shouting at Alexander, he then looked at the pasha with reddened eyes.
He was still not reserved to die like this.
And fortunately for him, Alexander was still not willing to kill him yet, as he gave him the excuse,
"And why would I not be serious about letting you live? I remember that Lord Maizdy actually died while escaping the city."
"His horse was galloping at full speed, and identally stepped on arge pothole it missed in the dark, breaking its legs, and causing the lord to fall and break his hip."
"And then in the ensuing chaos, under the pursuit of bandits and wide animals, his body was forever lost," Alexander very casually gave this recount, sending a very suggestive smile towards Kyamin as he as so.
And this produced a mixture of happiness and fear among all the listeners.
Happiness at the thought of this troublesome man-child being finally out of their life.
But fear that killing Pasha Muazz''s son and sessor would certainly mean the destruction of the treaty and result in a direct war.
But soon all of them reasoned that since the die had been already cast, they can only jump onto Alexander''s ship.
Because Maizdy''s ship was sinking.
And they were not loyal enough to follow him to the depths.
And besides, they reasoned it was ultimately Alexander''s problem.
They were really innocent, and so, even if the worst came to worse and they were captured by Pasha Muazz, he would likely understand if they told him they only did the things they did because they were forced and under duress.
At least that was the sliver of hope they hung on by, praying that that bad-tempered noble would be understanding.
"Hahaha, I just remembered that we have not been properly introduced by Lord. I''m Talukder (Viscount) Kyamin. My fiefdom is in the Kyash area, around east of the Cisrian hills." Kyamon had an oily smile as he greeted himself, making his choice evident to all.
"You bastard¡you dare! My father will skin y¡*urggg*" Maizdy attempted to go off on a tirade as he understood the nobles were openly betraying him.
But his journey was stopped short after a strong punch to the jaws from one of the soldiers.
While the nobles and the lord basically ignored this howling dog and continued one by one with their introduction.
After finishing which, Kyamin, as the representative of the noble finally asked this with a gentle smile, "Then what does Your Lord want to know?"
"Write!" Was the only word Alexander said.
''Write? Write what?'' The nobles appeared confused, and they looked curiously at Alexander for rification.
But Alexander did not need to, as soon, the soldiers, as they were told before took out a few sheets and ced one in front of each of the nobles.
"I remember hearing one of you say Maizdy was here for something rted to the army." Write about that," Alexander slouched back in his chair in a rxed posture as he said so.
He preferred written statements over verbal ones, because, one- it made it easier to notice logical mistakes, and two- in situations like this, the others could not fix their story on the fly to match the others.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, the nobles examined the new material with curiosity and wonder.
''What''s this? Papyrus? New kind of vellum?'' They wonders as they picked up the paper and felt it against their fingers.
"*Ahem*" But Alexander''s cough quickly made them remember why they were given that, and soon the quill met paper, with the sound of scribbling filling the room.
''Darm it, cunning bastard.'' And while Kyamin wrote all the secret ns, he also kept on cursing Alexander.
Because writing the n meant he could not lie about it as he did not make prior preparation with the other nobles.
And so he could only go the opposite way, and try to include as much information as he knew into the single sheet about the ''army'', and hope that his voluminous recount would please this daring psycho the most.
And after almost half an hour of rapid writing, with many of the papers chuck full of small text on both sides, the men finally let go of their quills and these now almost ckened papers were collected and given to Alexander.
"Here, you read half, I will read half," Receiving this, Alexander divided the paper in half, giving Melodias three, and him taking three.
But if Alexander was hoping to reduce his workload in this way, he was sorely mistaken.
Because Melodias in an embarrassed voice squeaked out, "My¡my lord, I can''t¡I have not yet learned ¡to read Azhak."
The man quietly mumbled this one out, afraid to say it out loud in front of subordinates.
"..."
Well it had been only two months, and Melodias was virtually illiterate to begin with, so ultimately Alexander chose not to criticize his army''s second inmand in front of his employees.
Instead, he only made a t face and pursed his lips showing his disapproval, before taking back the papers and starting to read through them, while Melodias could only turn his head in another direction to avoid the awkwardness.
For Alexander, this reading proved to be quite important.
Because reading six different versions of the same story, he got the main gist of what was meant by the word ''army''.
And after finishing reading and re-reading the pages, Alexander pronounced what was in there so that everybody could know.
He said in a somber voice, "The pages basically say that an army of about forty to fifty thousand (40,000- 50,000) men wille to Zanzan from the eastte this month. They will have ten thousand (10,000) mercenaries and some five to six thousand (5,000 - 6,000) cavalry, and chariots, with the rest being made of conscripted peasants."
"And Maizdy was sent here to be the leader, along with that man called Nibbar being his assistant."
Alexander thus finished sinctly after pointing to the slumped-over, dead Jamider (Earl).
After Alexander finished, the threat of an attack on the horizon did not cause any panic as one might expect.
Because inside the room were veteran warriors who would not flinch at the sound of the words war and battle.
No, instead they were surprised.
"Does Amenheraft wish to break the treaty unterally?" Melodias loudly asked the question which was on everybody''s mind.
''Unterally? You are the one breaking it unterally!'' Kyamin shouted in his heart at this shameless usation, given that it was Alexander go unambiguously threw the first punch.
But outwardly answered in a neutral tone, "The king believes that if he can take Zanzan out of the alliance, then he will no longer have toply with the treaty. And this is why he even hired the famous Jahal mercenaries."
"Hmmmm," Alexander audibly hummed hearing this answer.
Because it created many more questions than it answered,
So he decided to tackle them sequentially so as to not forget any of the points.
He thus started with the first and most important point, "You said that Amenheraft believes that retaking Zanzan will make him no longer bound to the treaty. Essentially meaning that he thinks winning the next battle will win him the war."
"But why does he think that? I only control just one city. Why does he think that destroying one gue-ridden city will destroy His Majesty Ptolomy? Will Adhan and Matrak simply dissolve if I die? Does he think that I''m the king and not Ptolomy?" Alexander believed that this could never be the real reason for this hasty attack.
It made no sense.
Even if Amenheraft was a prophet and somehow got to know about the huge potential of Zanzan, it was still only potential.
To risk breaking the treaty so early appeared suicidal for Amenheraft given his financial situation.
"We don''t know Your Grace. We were only told this." Kyamin answered quickly and in a high-pitched voice, almost sounding like he was squeaking, as he was afraid Alexander might stick a bolt through him thinking he was lying or hiding information.
So he quickly pointed, "The real details might be only known to Lord Maizdy and Lord Nibbar."
"..." Not getting his answer, Alexander pursed his lips and coldly nced at the other five as a way to pressure them.
He doubted Maizdy would talk, and instead of waiting his time there, he wanted to squeeze these men.
But they only cowered and avoided eye contact, drooping their head low.
"My lord, these are only Talukders (Viscounts) and Shordars(Barons). Perhaps they were only instructed to obey orders," Seeing no response, and afraid Alexander might kill another man just to ven, Melodias lightly whispered into the pasha''s ears.
And this seemed to make sense, as Alexander whispered back, "Yea, you may be right." before adding in Thesian, "All these appear to be shrimps. With neither the size nor the spine. No wonder they know much of anything."
Alexander was referring to both their low strength in terms ofnd and wealth and their low levels of loyalty.
Because as much as Alexander did not like Maizdy, and would call him an idiot for not understanding the situation, he would also say the man had spine.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 385 Nobles Talk (Part-2)
Alexander could not figure out the reason behind Amenheraft''s hasty attack.
And he ignored Kyamin''s advice about asking Maizdy because he doubted he could get much information out of the fat man without weeks of brutal interrogation.
Unlike these soft shrimps, who were singing like a canary just in the hope of getting out of here alive.
"So, what does my lord think the real reason is?" So when Melodias then posed the million-dor question.
Alexander gave a very simple, but quite anti-climatic answer, "Don''t know." making Melodias be at a bit of a loss at what to do.
"Let''s keep asking and see what we can know." Alexander then simply addressed as he moved to his second point, "The disasters that hit Adhania must have not been easy for anyone. So where is Amenheraft getting his men from? And who is paying them?"
"....." This was an important question, and the nobles looked at each other inquisitively, but it appeared none knew.
"My lord, it is possible His Majesty might have promised them greaternd. After all, we were also promised such," A noble atst hypothesized, the logical statement drawing nods from the others.
But though logical, it did not make sense for Alexander.
"I remember that all of you swore that you will abide by the treaty. And in exchange, you received a lot of money. So exin yourself." Alexander in a gentle tone asked, hiding his frustration.
"...." There was another pause as the nobles looked ufortably looked at one another as if deliberating whether they should say it.
But finally, understanding Alexander was going to pressure them anyway, one of the nobles picked up the courage to atst say it, "Since, the Pasha said he hatesirs, then let us be frank. A lot of us feel that you have already broken the treaty when you massacred the temple. So we¡"
But this noble was cut off from finishing his usation by a flustered Kyamin, who quickly interjected, "My lord, Lord Jamil I just tired. We all know that the happenings at the Temple were the work of the gangs and street rats. And we thank you for punishing them."
"That''s right, that''s right, we are ever thankful that you destroyed those crooks, They were always a constant menace to us."
Soon, to cover up this Jamil, the others joined Kyamin to try and distract Alexander withvish praises and puffery.
But their efforts appeared mute, as the one currently being rescued suddenly barked, "Bah! You spineless cockroaches. Why are you sucking up to him? I lost my daughter that day! He is my daughter''s killer! Murderer! Butcher!"
Alexander was caught a bit back at this outburst, how the seemingly soft, spoken gentleman turned red-eyed andbative at the snap of a finger.
"Apologies, my lord, thousand apologies." Seeing this vituperation, Kyamin figuratively lunged forward with apologies, saying, "Lord Jamil is still grief-stricken about his loss. And could not control his temple. Please show mercy, my lord pleasure," The lord even sped his hands.
It appeared his daughter was a trigger.
Alexander only performed a light smile hearing this, as he slouched back and in anguid manner answered, "Well, since we are all being frank, then you should also know the reason why the Temple was destroyed by the wrath of the gods. Because some mice dared to use the gifts of the gods as being cursed. Naturally, they would be smitten." He said this while looking at his nails, as if the men he was talking to were not worth his attention.
And Alexander was basically reminding them he killed the priests because they were the first to spread malicious rumors about him.
"....." Another difficult silence followed as Jamil wanted to retort, ''You have no proof,'' but held off on that because neither did he.
And because he was getting death res from all the others who were telling him to keep his trap shut.
''If you want to die for your daughter, you go die alone, Don''t drag us into it,'' Seemed to be the message.
It was atst Kyamin who diffused the awkward silence,ughing jovially and saying,
"Hahaha, yes, yes, the lord is right. We both sides have had our differences. But the important thing is that we look past these differences and move on."
"Yes, let''s" Alexander too answered with a friendly smile, as he raised his third point,
"The number of men you said doesn''t seem to be small. And there are so many horses as well. How will theye? Land. river or sea? What route will they follow? How will they be supplied? Tell me everything about the army." Alexander eagerly asked.
Forty to fifty thousand (40,000 - 50,000) moving was basically a moving town, so these were important questions to be answered.
Would they march through the other areas of Zanzan?
Or use the waterways?
And since Zanzan was hit pretty hard by the famine, how would the army feed itself?
Because foraging would not be an option, as the deadline for the attack appeared to bete winter, meaning before the spring thaw and the sprouting of the nt, shrubs, and even grass.
And all the poor folks of the countryside were basically inside Zanzna, so no stealing from them.
"This we know. In fact, we know quite a bit because this because we were actually asked to help regarding this" This was said by the skinny noble who had first uttered the word ''army'', and who appeared very enthusiastic about reporting his answer to Alexander.
"All the troops will travel by sea, my lord. And they will carry all their supplies with them as theynd at the Hatamum. That''s a small city, almost like a hamlet 40 km east of Zanzan." This noble introduced, before continuing,
"Then they will then march westward to Zanzan, while the ships keep themselves close to the shore, ready to resupply the troops along the way. And once they reach Zanzan, they wouldy siege to it, with the intention of taking it."
He then finished by saying, "And as native nobles, we were approached by the King''s emissaries to help the troops reach Zanzan in any way that seemed necessary."
"Which means showing the troops thend, directing them along proper, easier, or sometimes secret routes."
"While also preparing appropriate amodations for the nobles, arranging appropriate food and entertainment, and all other things. I''m sure My lord understands."
Alexander did understand, as the noble was eluding to having to arrange beautiful women for the officers and nobles.
Sometimes poorer nobles would even arrange for their daughters to serve the nobles in the hopes of climbing through the ranks of nobility through marriage rtions.
And it made Alexander hold nothing but disdain for this custom.
''Are they going to war or a brothel?'' He thought.
Alexander believed that if the mind was upied with the thoughts of beautiful maidens one was going to be served up, or that fresh flower one tasted just the night before, when was he going to have the peace of mind to n for the war?
Never mix business with pleasure.
But Alexander quickly pulled his thoughts out of this and instead asked the more important questions, "Why will the troopsnd there? Why not much nearer to Zanzan? And will there be a naval blockade?"
"Yes, there will be a blockade. Some troops might even try tond at the harbor," This time Kyamin gave the answer, snatching the opportunity from that thin noble.
Because they believed the better they could answer Alexander, the more favor they would be able to earn.
And so following that endeavor, Kyamin further added, "The reason fornding at Hatamum is because in the winter, the waters get choppy around Zanzan. There are also sometimes huge storms and typhoons. They will want to avoid this. And Hatamum is a rtively safe, calm port that is also about 2 days march from Zanzan. It is perfect."
And finished by saying, "And this is also why the naval blockage will likely be only a secondary attack, with few troops participating."
"That''s right. Besides the Jahal mercenaries are feared for their cavalry. They will want thend," That noble, whom Alexander remembered being called Latif added.
''Hmmm, I did think that they had a lot of cavalry.'' Alexander recalled the number as five to six thousand (5,000 - 6,000) and was even amazed that it belonged to a mercenary group.
"You guys keep emphasizing that ''Jahal'' mercenaries. Who are they? Why do you sound so scared of them? And how does a mercenarypany have the money to use cavalry?" Alexander had picked up on that name and was curious.
And more importantly, as far as he knew, using cavalries was almost the exclusive right of the Adhanian nobility.
So how could a mercenarypany use them?
"¡.." The nobles could not believe there was anyone in Adhania who did not know about the Jahal mercenaries.
They were famous to the point mothers would scare naughty children with their names.
''I was impressed at first seeing the brat not even flinch hearing their name. I even thought the boy had balls. But now I see that he is just ignorant.'' All the respect that Kyamin, and all the other nobles had gained towards Alexander was washed away by this question.
And they even added to their hears, ''And even his entourage is just as ignorant. No wonder his nickname is Jakqum. A Jakqum leading a bunch of Jakqum''s.''
Chapter 386 Nobles Talk (Part-3)
In the nobles'' eyes, someone so out of touch with the happenings of Adhania was a dead man walking.
Even Maizdy, who had been quietly simmering up until now could not help but let out a guffaw of disdain,
''To think there could be someone this stupid,'' He spat out in his heart.
And since Alexander did not know about the Jahal mercenaries, and as the nobles held no real love for Alexander, they decided to let him know their true horror on the battlefield.
And so only gave a surface introduction, "The Jahal mercenaries are a mercenary group from Kuleef. Officially they mostly help keep their employer''snd trade routes safe. Hence therge use of cavalry."
"But really they belong to Pasha Djose, the ruler of Kuleef. And they help him maintain his hold over the trade routes around Kuleef. " Kyamin revealed an open secret.
''Djose! Where have I heard that name?'' Hearing that familiar name, Alexander ruffled through the pages of his memory, to finally recollect his conversation with Pasha Farzah he once had in Adhan.
"Hmm, this Pasha Djose, is he the king''s brother?" Alexander asked wanting to confirm this suspicion, and after the nod of affirmation from Kyamin, many of the things he had doubts about this whole thing began to fall into ce.
"So that''s it, heh!" Alexander could not help but let out a smirk at having figured what all this was out
"Did my lord figure it out?" Melodias from the side curiously posed.
Alexander considered hiding his deduction from the nobles as he did not want them to know his hand,, but given that dead men tell no tales, and assuming that if he showed he knew their ns, they would open up more, decided to answer.
"Yes. just now I did." He began with a nod, feeling curious, attentive gazes from all sides, both from the soldiers and the nobles, as he gave his thoughts, "This attack is not one of Amenheraft''s, but came from his brother, Djose, who is Pasha of Kuleef, and for those who do not know our neighbor."
Alexander''s bold im made Melodias raise his eyebrows in surprise, while the most intense reaction came from Maizdy, who actually knew the inside story.
And his shock continued to rue, as he heard Alexander recount, "Back in Adhan, I and the king beheaded Djose''s son. And Pasha Farzah had warned me back then that the man would certainly seek revenge."
Alexander then continued with a shake of his head "But I did not think he would be that impatient. I don''t even believe he has received the money from Ptolomy. What a hot-tempered man, no wonder his son ran away from him, hehehe."
At the end of his speech, Alexander let out a breezily, easy chuckle that surprised the nobles.
Not only because of the clear deduction but also because of how unfazed he appeared to be even knowing he was facing a Pasha.
This was a real Pasha, not the self-styled, ying house with just one city Pasha like himself,
Someone capable of turning their blood freeze with just a sentence.
They did not know whether tobel Alexander ignorant or arrogant.
But what they did not know was that they were the ignorant ones, as Alexnder had fought against actual their king three times just in thest three months.
And he had won two times.
And won decisively at that.
So what was one measly Pasha to him?
"So, the man is impatient to the point of not caring about the treaty? Can he influence Amenheraft that much?" Melodias sounded surprised, adding, "I remember My lord reasoning the former king was broke and would not risk breaking the treaty before getting his money. So who is the real king here, him or Djose?"
Melodias''s frank question made the seven nobles, yes even Maizdy blush.
They had been angered at first by this lowlymoner addressing their ruler so rudely, but then could only feel ashamed by how openly they were talking about his weakness.
This was their god-king he was talking about.
And to hammer this point home, Alexander answered with even more brutally honestments, "Losing so many nobles in thest battle has probably meant that Amenhearft has lost a lot of prestige among his retainers. In addition to that, being broke must have not helped. I suscept he can''t control his men as well as used to. And this war might have been started arbitrarily by a faction without Amenheraft''s express permission."
Alexander''s words felt like nails in Maizdy''s heart, because the situation was just as Alexander said.
Though the nobles still respected Amenheraft, there were signs of some of them slipping, with the once monolithic block fracturing into three particrly distinct groups that were slowly taking shape.
There were the ultra-loyalists who believed in Amenheraft as the God-king and acted exactly as he decreed.
The most popr faction, and one that was rapidly gaining momentum- The moderate or neutral faction, who were primarily tempted by Ptolomy''s promise that they would not be left alone if they stayed neutral.
Andstly, the hardliners who wanted war and as of now, more importantly, revenge.
And though this fracture was not critical yet, the signs were already beginning to manifest.
"Meaning to say that Amenheraft can no longer guarantee the unholding of the treaty?" Melodias expertly picked up on the implications of Alexander''s words.
"Hmm, no, not exactly," Alexander gently shook his head, reasoning, "The money we offered to give would make anyone wanting to break the treaty a lot of enemies. Even from his allies, "
He then hypothesized, "I remember Pasha Farzah saying that Kuleef was Adhania''s biggest port and the richest province after Adhana and Matrak. So possibly he offered Amenheraft personally a lot of money. Maybe even emptying out his entire treasury because he loved his son so much." Alexander said so by raising his thumb,
"Or" Alexander then raised his index finger to say, "And this is the more likely thing, they don''t think attacking me will destroy the treaty!"
This remark made many surprised and shocked.
What did he mean by that?
Alexander was very much an alliance pir of Ptolomy and one for whom his two allies would presumably go to war to defend.
But Alexander exined sinctly, "Because I think Amenheraft believes that Adhan and Matrak are too weak to break the truce even if he tantly crosses the terms. He and his people must believe that Adhan and Matrak can be appeased or even cowered to observing the treaty even after destroying me."
Surprisingly, Alexander found that the imminent attack on him was also due to the same reason he dared to attack Jabel- Because one side believed that the other side would want peace rather than war after fighting for so long, thus securing the treaty.
"They are really looking on down us, huh?" Melodias let out a bitter-toned murmur, as he turned to look at Maizdy and ask, "Is what my lord said true?"
"....." Therge man only turned his head, quite a difficult task given he was pinned to the floor.
While his heart betrayed his stoic facade for it beat frantically, ''What amazing deduction! Father needs to know this. I hope one of these idiots can ry this conversation to him.''
Maizdy had already given up on his life, and now his only wish was that his father would be weary of this cursed star.
While in the meantime, Maizdy''s refusal to answer, was all the confirmation the group needed.
Events were happening most likely as Alexander had described.
"I presume that those ships you were talking about will be Djoser''s?" It appeared that seemingly a long timeter, Alexander had decided to finally let the nobles into the conversation.
"Ye..yes," Came the hesitant reply, which was followed by this question from Alexander,
"Jahal mercenaries and Kuleef ships. You are still telling me that you do not know who is attacking me?" He then sneered, using them of lying.
"My lord, the mercenaries only make up only 10,000 of the 40,000 to 50,000 men. And the only others we know of would havee from Jamider (Earl) Nibbar," Kyamin nted his eye towards the dead man indicating that the number now may vary, before adding, "That still leaves a lot of others we don''t know about."
This noble was at least clever enough to cover his hide.
"Yes, that''s right. For all we know the mercenaries and the ships could have been hired. They are mercenaries and ships after all," And that noble named Latif cover his fellow colleague this time by emphasizing the reason.
He did not want to see another crossbow boltuch.
This all sounded possible, as so Alexander moved to thest topic that was bothering him,
"Okay, onest thing to ask before I release you," He said, "That 40,000 to 50,000 men army. Why that many?"
Alexander''s question appeared iplete as the nobles look at him fluxed, so he expounded,
"What I mean is that though 40,000-50,000 sounds like a lot, Zanzan''s walls are formidable. Seems pretty low for a siege. And how can ships carry enough food for a prolonged one? Can anyone exin?"
A city as big as Zanzan, with high walls and 150,000 people ready to defend it, would be a very nut to crack, especially with the primitive siege methods.
So Alexander was implying that there was a rat here, who likely made the incorrect assumption that Zanzan was the same ghost they had left it and then passed this information on to Amenheraft.
Chapter 387 Nobles Talk (Part-4)
The nobles had no answer for Alexander
"....." And as Alexander was beginning to fume, Kyamin in an oily tone let out, "My lord, we are not the only nobles that know about Zanzan. A lot more of them have already left Jabel for other territories. They all have rtives there."
"That''s right my lord. If you wish, we can even find out who said it. Maybe a week," A smartly mustached man made this daring promise.
"No, it''s alright. Let them make this mistake," Alexander lightly replied with a wave of his hands.
If the enemy wanted to think Zanzan was a vanishing city with about 20,000 to 30,000 men, then let them.
Alexander would hold the surprise for the battlefield.
"Okay, I think that''s it. Does Lord Melodias want to ask anything?" Alexander felt he had squeezed out everything he wanted to know.
"Umm, yes." But Melodias seemed to have a little bit of extra curiosity, as he politely asked,
"My fellow lords, all of you must have your maps regarding the area. And it would be very useful if we could have a look at them. They will greatly help us prepare for theing invasion."
Melodias sounded very respectful and deferential.
"Yes, yes, all of us have them with us," And one noble blurted out, even adding, "I have it in my room. I can fetch it right now." as he attempted to get up from his chair.
But Melodias only raised his hand as a signal, and lightly said, "No, it''s alright, we can find them by ourselves."
''Ourselves!'' Melodias words turned the heart of the noble into a chilly tundra.
"My..my lord, what do you mean by ourselves?" Kyamin screeched out in rm,
Followed up by Latif who turned up the octaves, "That''s right. This was not the deal," while, Jamil barked,
"See, I told you he was a bastard. Fucker never intended to never let us live."
It appeared the cat was out of the bag.
"Ahh,..." Melodias cried out a whoopsie, before turning to Alexander guilty, "Sorry My lord, it seems I let the words slip."
Melodias knew this single mistake could cost him a lot in future promotions.
Would anyone trust a subordinate with a loose tongue?
"It''s fine, don''t worry about it. I was also finished with them," Alexander, at least outwardly and in front of everyone did not me Melodias as he lightly blew it off.
And his confirmation drew another crazed period of shouts from the men, as they said unspeakable things to Alexander and even extended these curses up to his parents and even the previous fourteen generations.
And if not for the soldiers who had stepped closer to them to stop them from doing anything foolish, they would have certainly rushed at Alexander to kill him.
Alexander let these harangues pass through his ears like soothing music.
And after the nobles finally tired themselves out, Alexander decided to see how much further he could take this farce.
Ideally, he wanted to extract a written confession of all their various, because every noble hadmitted crimes.
And if possible, if the sun had risen from the west, even the deeds of theirnds.
"My lord, your manners wound me," Alexander''s surprising opening muted the nobles.
''The bastard is going to kill us and he says ''he'' is hurt,'' They felt Alexander was truly a bona fide politician.
But Alexander was not yet done as he continued, "While it is true I wanted to kill you before, as a way to erase any witness of me breaking the treaty, but now things have changed. Because I alone cannot defeat this great army attacking me."
"So, I wish to ally myself with you." Alexander made his made-up statement.
"..." The nobles only silently listened, not biting.
And this was okay, as Alexander finished by saying, "But just saying you are my allies will not work. I wish to see your sincerity. So I hope that you will write about all the various misdeeds you know about your fellow lords. And then sacrifice it to the Temple of Ramuh as a means of purifying yourself,"
Alexander pronounced this world''s very first Christian-styled confession.
"Bullshit! You bastard! That''s bullshit!" And this was the initial response,ing from the predictable Jamil.
"Lord Alexander, although we had our differences, we both are nobles. And words between nobles are sacred. Do you not fear the gods?" Kyamin was desperate as he pulled out the god card.
The confession was a no-go.
But Alexander very much wanted this, as he said, "If we are speaking of the wrath of the gods, then did you know that we dug up many bones of women and even children in Zanzan? Bones which had arrow marks on them"
This made the nobles turn silent, as Alexander atst posed with a sneer, "Are you going to say none of you what happened there?"
"....That was not us.." The nobles said in unison, vehemently denying any involvement.
This types of acts may bemitted but never admitted.
And Alexander appeared to be understanding, nodding his head and saying, "Yes, I know, I know," before adding, "But the ordinary people don''t know that. So I''m afraid they will not like our alliance until they know you have truly repented."
Thisme excuse did not convince anyone, as they thought, ''What you really want is leverage using our crimes. And since we will not be writing our own ones, we won''t know which to omit.''
Every noble knew a bit about the other, so it was very much possible one or two dark fishes had slipped out of theirs.
"...If we write this, will we live? Do you swear? No matter our previous crimes, do you swear?" Finally, Shordar (Baron) Latif cracked.
''Gotcha! Alexander really did not think this would work.
It appeared this timid noble had quite a skeleton in the closet.
"Of course! Revealing and seriously repenting will absolve you of all sins. The gods are merciful to the weak mortals. I, Pasha of Zanzan swear to the gods that all seven¡um six of you will be allowed to live if you repent!'' Alexander said this with warmth and piety in his voice.
''Is he really going to let them go?'' And his promise sounded so sincere that even Melodias appeared confused.
And so, with Latif as an example, and seeing him start to write the various sins of the other six, the others too quickly capitted.
Even the bad-tempered Jamil joined.
It seemed no one wanted to die.
And when that stack of paper finallynded on Alexander, signed and even stamped by its respective writers, oh boy did it have some dark things.
Though it was not really unexpected, and included mostly things like how one noble had snatched a peasant woman from her husband, how some of them held regr human hunting sports, how one of the noble''s wife loved torturing her ves, how some sadistic loved ying little girls alive, and as such.
The crimes against Maizdy were particrly long both because they were well-known, and because he was gonna die anyway, which included almost all of the above.
But one of the others were too far behind.
For example, Latif, that soft-spoken, timid noble so eager to lick Alexander''s boots, it was said that he was a homosexual and that he hated women with a passion.
In fact, Kyamin wrote that Latif would buy women ves from him whom he would cut their breasts off and then enjoy watching them bleed out.
He had even built a special room to enjoy this.
No wonder he was hesitant to confess.
And it was not to say Kyamin was any better.
He was a ve dealer and was usually the main organizer and supplier of Muazz''s human games.
Every one of these men were rotten to the core.
''Well now I feel much less guilty about killing them,'' Alexander felt that he was doing the world a service by getting rid of these beasts.
And then, though he further wanted to make the nobles write the deeds to hisnd, he found that pushing it, and thus he got up and bowed, saying, "Well, gentlemen, the Goddess Gaia has read your confession. And though you have sinned, she has decided to forgive you¡"
The slight pause made the nobles break out into glee.
A feeling that evaporated almost instantly, as Alexander pronounced, "The goddess says your death in this world will absolve your crimes in the Hereafter. And she will let you then be reborn in her garden as pure flowers. So Die!"
"Noooo *arhg*"
"You can''t do *urgggg*,"
"The gods! Do you not fear.."
The nobles all screamed and thrashed as the guards moved in at the signal, being helplessly cut down by the steel swords
And the bodyguards made quick work of them.
While Maizdy made this clever remark before death, "Hahaha, good, good. Kill us. Break your swear. We will live in the heavens. And you will burn in Hell for eternity."
But who was Alexander?
He only shamelessly grinned, "Break vow? Who is break vow? The one who made the vow is the Pasha of Zanzan."
"But have I ever introduced myself as Pasha of Zanzan?"
"Or have you heard any of the soldiers call me Pasha of Zanzan?"
"No."
"And besides, who do you im to be the Pasha of Zanzan?"
"Is it me?"
"No,"
"Because the one who made the vow ording to you is Muazz, hahaha."
Alexander''s smile gotrger andrger following each question until even his canines were showing, and his smile appeared like the devilughing at their foolishness.
Chapter 388 Return From Jabel
Alexander''s smile appeared like a devil widening his fangs. as he grinned in glee at each of the nobles being beheaded.
"So that''s it¡" While Kyamin could only let out a weak, helpless smile seeing, resigning himself to the loss as he felt the world turn dark and cold around him.
They had tried their best, even resorting to revealing each other most shameful secrets.
But it seemed that had failed.
The cards had always been in Alexander''s hand.
And they had been always banking on Alexander keeping his word.
But it seemed that the game was rigged from the start.
"Bastard¡." The hot-blooded Jamil vomited the curse along with a lot of blood as he slumped over.
The soldiers had not only attacked with swords but crossbows as well, making them all riddled with bolts, looking almost like a porcupine.
And as the man stumbled, his bloodshot eyes never left Alexander, hatred glowing out of them, as if he seemed to curse Alexander''s shamelessness.
In fact, even Melodias had half-blushed with Alexander''s flimsy excuse, along with his bodyguards.
The macabre scenested less than five minutes, and as the muffled grunts died down, Alexander slowly got up from his chair to address the soldiers, "As you have heard, there are maps in this house. I want every inch searched thoroughly for them. There should be nine. Go!"
Alexander was much more interested in the loot than taking care of the bodies.
"Yes," The soldiers shouted in unison before fanning out.
While Alexander turned to instruct Melodias, "You stay here and see that everything of value is collected and properly stored. Pay particr attention to collecting every bit of papyrus. And once you have done this, set fire to the mansion."
Alexander wanted the bodies to turn to ash just as the house.
"At once," Melodias received the order with a salute.
And finally done with this, Alexander atst made his way outside therge mansion.
"*Sigh*, it''s already morning," He squinted at the sky, finding it dull and overcast.
The meeting hadsted close to six hours, and dawn had broken a lot earlier, a phenomenon missed by Alexander due to the heavy curtains and that the wintery sun had yet to wake up.
In fact, it might be very much possible that the sun might not even choose to show its face today.
''Well at least it''s not snowing,'' Alexander murmured feeling the freezing breath escape his mouth, as suddenly a scout appeared and reported after saluting, "My lord, thank goodness you are free. Lord Menes is asking what to do with all the noblewomen and men that the soldiers have captured. They are currently in the military camp.
"And also there are a lot of women and children that you instructed to be moved to the barn. They are asking for food and nkets. What should we do?" The man looked at him with limpid yes.
"....." The thought of killing so many defenseless people, particrly women and children certainly struck Alexander''s conscience even for a little bit and he paused to give the order.
''No, if I let these people go, they will never be grateful. They will only plot tounch attacks against me and my family. Maybe now, maybe few years from now, or maybe even decades from now.''
But ultimately Alexander clenched his teeth and hardened his heart to give the order,
"We have gotten what we needed. Tally which soldier collected how many nobles and then kill all the men, women, and children. We have proof that they are devil worshippers."
The nobles did confess to the fact that they helped spread rumors about Alexander and thus thebel ''devil worshipers'' did have the tiniest bit of merit.
"....Yes, my lord," The scout was a bit surprised that they would simply kill the nobles after spending so much effort and even money capturing them.
The custom was usually to ransom captured nobles.
And the man was sure Alexander could have earned a pretty penny from this.
But he knew this was not his ce to intervene.
So, after a bit of pause in surprise, he quickly bought a scroll, wrote down the order, got Alexander''s sign and then performing a military salute ran off.
While Alexander was escorted to his personal camp at the edge of the city, where he decided to get some sleep.
He had skipped itst night.
And after we woke up the following evening, he joined Menes on supper, "So, there is an army heading towards us?"
It appeared Melodias had filled Menes in.
"Mmm, we can talk about the details once we get back to Zanzan. There is time." But Alexander appeared disinterested in this topic, and more interested in stuffing his mouth with the dried fish with bread.
So the two generals finished the meal in rtive silence, with Alexander asionally asking about the city, and particrly inquiring about the maps.
"We found six of them my lord, of varying detail and depicting different areas. We will need some more time to fully understand them," Melodias was quick to reply.
Six out of nine was a good result.
And also Alexander''s presumption of there being nine was erroneous.
Because Maizdy and Nibbar certainly did not have maps with them, and among the nobles, one or two might have possibly lost in the chaos.
So Alexander nodded happily, "Good. We can read them back in Zanzan." as he finished his meal.
No mentions of the valuables looted were discussed, and certainly, nothing about the frailer nobles killed.
The campaignsted another day, and the marching took another day extra, until the huge column finally entered Zanzante at night,den with many riches.
Seven nobles had all their riches taken, and the soldiers had been careful enough to lick the tiniest scraps of meat from the bones, as evidenced by how some of the men even carried fine timber for 30 km as battle booty.
All in all, this campaign, whichsted four days from its start to finish, was a resounding sess, with a major thorn removed from Alexander''s side, and costing him less than 20 dead, and 30 wounded.
A less than 0.1% casualty ratio.
While the approaching army was dealt a heavy blow they did not even know about, for without the native nobles'' support, these new troops,nding in unfamiliar territory, and without proper amodation and supplies in ce, will certainly find it difficult to operate as easily as they must have hoped.
And without Maizdy to lead the army, or Nibbar to offer guidance, the operation certainly would be dyed or might even be canceled, which would be much to Alexander''s advantage.
The only thing the young Pashacked currently the most was time.
Alexander entered the city with these hopeful thoughts, where, even thiste, arge crowd had gathered to wee back the heroes.
And as the soldiers passed through the streets, illuminated by held torches on both sides, songs were sung, various dancers performed all the sides, and flowers, nuts, and berries were used to wee them back.
''Hmmm, I should build a triumph. That will make these asions grander,'' This n came to Alexander as he witnessed the cheering crowd.
He had found that Adhania already had a custom of greeting its returning soldiers, as they were also greeted as such in Adhan, and thus felt that a Roman triumph, with its magnificent arches, would be quite fitting.
The procession slowly passed through the city, until it made a full circle of the city, and it was finally then Alexander was allowed to return to his manor.
Alexander had noticed his family in a heavily secured part of the crowd, but only after entering his estate did he have the chance to talk to them.
"Wee, back" Cambyses was the first to run and hug him.
This felt like the longest four days of her life.
She had never been away from Alexander for even a day until now, and she had barely the past days, her mind gripped by impossible ''buts and ifs''.
"Hahaha, I''m d to see you are well too," Alexander responded in kind to this overt show of affection, even gripping Cambyses''s back and lifting her up into his arms.
He too had missed her.
And with this done, he turned to slowly greet his other women, which were a lot less passionate, followed by Mikaya and The Queen Mother.
"Alex, leaving your newlywed wife. How horrid you are," The silver-haired girl did not forget to take a jibe at Alexander, while The Queen mother really meant her sting,
"My lord Pasha, how brave of you to destroy the evil nobles. I''m sure the greater devils will be cowered by the valiant victory."
The meaning was obvious, ''Now that you have killed these nobles, what''s stopping Amemheraft from tearing the treaty?''
This was certainly a concern.
And something even Alexander had thought before the campaign, which was ''how to sell the attack to Ptolomy and Farzah''.
And initially, he wanted to make up the excuse of a possible iing attack and that his was just a preemptive strike.
But fortunately for him, Djose had made this exnation much easier.
And so in a masochistic schadenfreude way, Alexander was even grateful to Djose for this war.
Thus Alexander replied to Seelima as such, saying, "Haha, this strike will certainly make the greater devils pause. They might even stop doing anything foolish."
Alexander did not want to give the news of war right after returning and thus made this wordy.
And Seelima seemed to understand, her eyes turning from anger to curiosity.
Chapter 389 Alexanders Jabel Celebrations (R-18)
''Does that mean he has found some kind of plot,'' Seelima was smart enough to understand the wordy, and the anger in her eyes turned to curiosity.
But she resisted questioning him right then and there.
She knew Alexander was tired and it could wait till morning.
While Alexander was looking forward to how Cambyses would greet him in their bedroom.
And he was not disappointed, as she and Mean were there in their bikinis, ready to help him take a bath and destress.
Cambyses wore a ming red biking, the tight panty barely able to hold back her fleshy ass, while Mean was garbed in an innocent white, her petite boobs and ass densely locked inside the clothes.
The spring scenery certainly had a positive impact on Alexander, as he wanted to jump on to this feast then and there, but held up on it in order to freshen up.
"Did you get hurt," Cambyses asked as Alexander made himselffortable in therge, custom-made wooden tub, filled with lukewarm water.
He soon nned to install a permanentrge, concrete bathtub where he could bathe and y with his girls but had not gotten around to it yet.
"Hahaha, you see, one of the perks of being a noble is that you do not have to fight your own wars. That''s what peasants are for," Alexander joked as Cambysesthered his back with soap, her perky cherries brushing against his back even through the water.
"Ahhh, look it standing it," While Mean was in front, taking care of his little brother, as her tiny hands worked to clean all the grime from the past days.
Alexander had not had a hot bath the entire time during his campaign, and could not help but moan in satisfaction as Mean''s soapy hands fondled his sack and caressed his shaft.
"Ahhh, yes," Alexander loved the soothing caresses, as well as the view, for Mean''s white bikini had turned transparent in the water, letting Alexander marvel at the red, rising buds.
And as if encouraged by the moan, Mean decided it was time to pull back the foreskin, saying, "There, let''s get you all cleaned up."
Alexander''s ns twitched at the sensitive part being exposed to the outside cold air, as Mean proceeded to wrap her tiny fingers around the new part, and started wriggling it, cleaning off the smegma.
"Here, let me help too," Shortlyter, not wanting to be left out, Cambyses also reached out, transferring her hands from washing the chest and abs to Alexander''s little brother, until two pairs of hands were giving Alexander a handjob.
They appeared experienced, as they expertly alternated between taking the top and bottom, bringing Alexander great pleasure.
He could feel the one on top rub against his bulbous head, and scratch his sensitive frenulum, while crushing the hard flesh against their soft palms, as the one on the bottom squeezed and tugged his soft balls, as well as pumping up and down the shaft, coaxing him towards the ultimate release.
And Alexander felt he too should contribute, as his eyes could not help but wander off to Mean''s bikini.
"Naughty girl, your nipples can be seen. What kind of clothes did you wear?" He said as he pinched on the delicious sakura buds, eliciting a moan.
Mean''s choice of the bikini was an ident, but it appeared that it was a happy ident, for she lustfully moaned as Alexander strongly tugged on the sensitive, nubile organ.
"Mmmnn no," Mean''s protest went unheard, as Alexander yed with the small breasts, kneading, pinching, and caressing them.
And soon, the stimtion reached its zenith, as the soapy, slimy feeling around his organ and the unceasing four-pronged attack proved too much for Alexander and Mean.
And while Mean had a silent orgasm, Alexander grunted, "Argh,ing."
And the girls ced each of their hands atop the urethra and let their hands be coated with the white sticky fluid.
"Aghh, thick and smelly as always," Cambyses moaned as she licked off the cum, her bright, red tongue eagerlypping up the reward.
At first, Cambyses had not liked eating this, but now, over time the taste seemed to have grown on her.
And Mean did the same, cleaning one finger after the other like it was honey.
And contrary to her mistress, she had always liked Alexander''s taste because it smelled ''manly''.
So she was eager for a second helping soon.
"Well let''s move on to the bed," Afterward washed, cleaned, and dried, Alexander finished his bath, and turned to see the girls were not nude, but had changed into exactly the same styled bikinis, minus the wet part.
"We thought it would be more exciting this way," Cambyses cheekily smiled.
She had not forgotten the passion with which Alexander had hailed the bra and panty.
And she was right, as sometimes being clothed was sexier than purely nude.
This was because one, the body usually appeared more beautiful in imagination than in reality.
And two, the clothes wrapped around the body in such a way that it helped to hide all the imperfections on the skin while entuating the shape.
Alexander matched the cheeky smile, as he asked, "So, how does my dear wifey n to entertain her hubby further?"
"Hehe,y down. You will see," Cambyses giggled the answer.
''Lie down? So whose lips am I gonna suck?'' Alexander wondered who was going to sit on his face as he obedientlyid down, his turgid spear piercing into the sky.
But it appeared he was mistaken in his assumption, for the answer was none.
Instead, the girls had decided to scissor him, as each of them spread their legs beforeing at him from opposite directions and then finally meeting.
"Arghh," Alexander let out an involuntary moan as he felt the warm, dampness of the two bikinis hit his cock, and the two pussy lips kiss him through the cloth.
"Hehe, like it?" Cambyses tittered while grinding her lips against the hard organ.
"Arghh, it''s so hot, mistress," Mean had too joined in, moving her petite hips up and down the entire shaft.
Alexander had never experienced this before, the feeling of the thin linen brush past his most sensitive organ, it separating the lovely organs of two beautiful women.
And these two women appeared to be very turned on, as they leaked copious amounts of fluids even through the garment, spraying the fleshy spear with warm, lewd water, and making it glistening in the soft candlelight.
This was how one really polished one''s spear.
Not with one''s hand, but using two bikini-d, lewd women.
And it was not as if only Alexander was getting off on this.
Because every time the girls moved, they also felt the hot, scalding spear transfer its heat and scent to them, and even their sensitive clit bumped against the veiny shaft.
And soon Cambyses cried, "Ahh, I''m close. I''m gonna cum."
"Yea, me too," Alexander too had his sensitive spots caressed for long enough that he approached release, and thus with a twin scream, the couple reached the apex.
Cambyses achieved it a bit sooner, and as her warm, jet of squirt drenched the hot spear, the sensation of being bathed in his wife''s lewd water and the lustful smell apanying it was too much for Alexander, and soon he too came, shooting multiple globules of the cloudy liquids high up into the sky, before it fell down on the tummy of the girls.
"Agghh, so hot," Mean moaned as she imagined being scalded by this white magma.
Alexander soon recovered from this release, and the third roundmenced immediately afterward.
And it was a beautiful round.
For Meany atop Cambyses, their faces touching, lips smooching, and with both girls providing ess to their two secret ces to Alexander.
These ces were currently being guarded by white and red panties respectively, making the color contrast appear beautiful and heavenly.
"*Sniff*, so beautiful," Alexander ran his nose against Mean''s white panties, feeling the raw hunger, and causing Mean to groan, "Ahh, don''t tease me anymore. Stick it in."
She had note unlike Cambyses previously and desperately wanted something to fill her up.
Alexander too was eager to taste these two after so long, and so without further ado, he pushed past the clothes, revealing the bare, drooling pussy, and then jammed his whole organ in one mighty thrust.
"And yes," Mean let out an ear-splitting howl as she felt her walls being stretched and shortly after her cervix being pounded by the thick ram before her mouth was soon conquered by her mistress, french kissing her.
*Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*,
*Chuu*, *Chuu*, *Chuu*,
And soon the sound of coption, of flesh hitting flesh, of flesh kissing flesh reverberated across the room as Alexander expanded Mean''s tunnel and Cambyses tasted her maid and sister.
"Cuming," And once Alexander was done with her, filling the tunnel with his healthy juice, he moved on to his next prey, Cambyses.
"Let''s try the butt," He wanted to taste this forbidden hole, as he thrusted in, the hole being already drenched by the dew from the top.
"Argh," Cambyses did groan slightly in pain at this sudden insertion but soon felt nothing but pleasure.
The strong rubbery walls squeezed Alexander lovingly, while Mean returned the favor, even cheekily saying, "Ahh, mistress''s face is so lewd. Does it feel so nice to be fucked in the butt? You know you can make babies there, hehe."
While Cambyses could answer in half pants, "Hah, ha, yes. It feels too good. The way Alex''s dick scraps my butt, turning it inside out feels too good. Do me more, ahhhh."
In this way, Alexander f celebrated his return, only going to sleep near dawn.
Chapter 390 Seelimas Rage (Part-1)
Morning came the next day and Alexanderpletely missed it.
The day was overcast and biting cold, which meant it was the perfect environment toze on the bed the entire day.
So, he only managed to drag his body out of the warm quilt at around lunch.
And that too was only because Cambyses had poked and prodded him to get ready for the feast arranged for him.
So after having a warm bath and putting something decent on, Alexander finally joined the small gathering.
And found it consisting of him and the usual girls, and taking ce inside the private dining room they always had their meals.
The only difference was that the meals and ingredients were much fancier, even for him.
There was egg benedict, jam and muffins, various pasta dishes, bird tongue soup, a whole roasted peacock, various cakes, puddings, and much more.
"We thought we would celebrate the whole day. So since you missed breakfast, here''s your breakfast and lunch together." Cambyses exined the slightly weird menu, as Mean heaped the food on his ce.
While Mikaya skipped all the savory dishes and got to eating her strawberry cake and pudding straightaway.
The girl had a surprising sweet tooth, and she had fallen in love with this ''cake'' dish.
"Alex, I really missed your cooking these days. So delish,"
And it seemed that she had no problem equating Alexander with a cook, something he was gotten used to by now as he cut into the perfectly poached egg.
It appeared to be a harmonious table, as the guests all began to enjoy the various rich, vorful dishes.
Until The Queen Mother spoke up.
"This feast is a great and luxurious one. Has Your Grace considered whether he might be able to have one again?" The thirty-two-year-old curtly asked across the table.
Her displeasure was clear to all.
In fact, she had been furious when she learned of the Jabel offensive a day after it wasunched.
She had rudely barged into Cambyses''s chamber and demanded to be escorted to Jabel, and when Cambyses declined saying, "I have no way to arrange that," the enraged woman wanted to send a letter to Ptolomy immediately, for which she wanted ess to the messenger birds.
This too was declined, as instructed by Alexander who had foreseen this, with the words, "Alex, will be back in two to three days. And he will personally exin his action then. So, until then please trust us."
So now that Alexander had returned, Seelima was very eager to hear his excuse.
In fact, she was so eager that barely slept the night prior.
The matter of the treaty and what will be Amenheraft''s reaction hearing about Alexander''s attack kept her eyes from resting, as evidenced by the dark circles under her eyes.
So she spent the entire nighting up with the speech she would st Alexander with if he could not provide her with a sufficient reason for razing and killing so many nobles so recent to the treaty.
And then, much to her chagrin, morning came but no Alexander.
She was told he was soundly sleeping, while she could not get a wink, which added to her sour mood.
And thus she was in no mood to make house around the dinner table.
"*Smile*," Alexander gave a light smile hearing this impatient tone for the first time.
He had assumed this woman to be rock solid.
''Should I tell her the truth? That I attacked only because I felt that Amenheraft would not dare break the truce and that she should trust me,'' Alexander half-joked.
He knew that if he really said so, The Queen Mother might really annul their alliance then and there.
And so he decided not to poke this fuming tigress.
"The reason we attacked Jabel is a long one. Perhaps it would be better to wait after the feast," Alexander politely asked.
"I think now would be best. Because I''m unable to enjoy the feast otherwise," The Queen mother was truly impatient.
Worry had made everything she had eaten in thest few days taste like ash and she really needed the reason.
Because as an insider, she knew exactly how much Ptolomy needed that treaty and respite.
"Mmmm, we are not hungry. So tell us," And Mikaya too, in a rare show of solidarity supported her.
It appeared even she was worried about Alexander''s little excursion, though the way she was stuffing her mouth with cake and cream went quite a long way to hide it.
So Alexander detailed, "We attacked Jable because we heard creditable talks of an impending attack against us prepared from there. And decided tounch a preemptive strike against it. But we were wrong in that¡."
Alexander paused abruptly to see the reaction and was surprised and even a bit disappointed to see that The Queen mother had notshed out at him.
"..." The veteran court woman only kept looking with a silent nonchnt facade, as if to say, ''Go on, tell me more. Because if that''s all that you have to say, then we are done.''
It seemed that Seelima was storing all her rage to explode at once and she decided that if this was the only case, she would not only simply storm out of this dining room but even out of Zanzan.
''Patient woman,'' Alexander praised seeing this and then deciding this was not the time to y such mind games, added.
"We were wrong in thinking that the attack was going toe from the Jabel. Or that its scale would be limited to the native nobles¡"
"What!" The Queen Mother finally could not hold back her surprise.
If this was true, then it would be huge.
"Alex, why do yo usay that?" Even Mikaya was moved, as she asked for proof.
And Alexander was happy to provide them, as he brought up a stack of paper from his thick coat, and passed them to not only The Queen Mother, and Mikaya, but also the twins and Cambyses and the girls to review.
He knew this topic woulde up sooner andter, and hade prepared as he introduced the paper, "When we attacked Jabel, by luck we managed to also capture Pasha Muazz''s eldest son Maizdy along with the other nobles. And then under coercion, one of the nobles then let slip that this big fish was there to lead an army from Kuleef which would beter this month. It''s all there."
Alexander''s nonchnt way of delivering this bombastic news did not in any way detract from its potency.
Both the Queen Mother and Mikaya''s hearts skipped a beat hearing the name Maizdy, and they were shocked to hear that an army from Kuleef would being in around twenty days.
So they read and carefully re-read the piece to confirm the news, while also looking for any obvious discrepancy that would reveal that this paper was forged.
Because oh, how they wished this was a forgery.
For the truth would really be too inconvenient.
".....where¡where is Maizdy," This was the Queen mother''s first concern, and she asked the question with a slight shake of the voice.
She knew very well how much Muazz spoiled his son, and had even met the rotten brat a few times.
Which was also why she was afraid of what would the Pasha''s reaction be if he found his favorite son was killed.
"....Unfortunately he perished in a sudden freak fire that engulfed the mansion right after our talk. We had no time no save him. Or any of the nobles still trapped in there," Alexander gave the memorized shameless answer.
"....Your Azhak has gotten pretty good," Seelima could only spit this out through her clenched teeth in frustration.
She had guessed the answer even before she asked it.
Because if Alexander had captured such a high-profile target, he would be most likely be dining with them.
"Why did you kill a noble? Why did you not ransom him?" This innocent question was posed by Azira.
Who was joined by her Azura, who said, "That''s right, that''s right," with strong nods of her head, and piously adding, "Don''t you believe in the teaching of Ramuh? It''s clearly said, ''It is sinful for anyone to kill a noble outside ofbat. One who does so, is as if he has turned himself from a man to a beast!"
''Should I say that I don''t believe in Ramuh''s faith? Or that this was written by the nobles to control the peasants?'' Alexander jokinglymented in his heart looking at the somewhat angry twins, before actually saying,
"Ahh..hahaha, yes, yes, Your Highnesses are right. I''m still new to the teachings and seems I forgot. Would it be possible to forgive me?"
Alexander even ced his palms together as a sign of sincere apology.
And it worked, as Azira stammered out, "We..well if you are truly repentant.. then we guess it''s alright..just once."
And Azura quickly emphasized this, "That''s right! Remember it will be just this once. We won''t forgive you again, hmm."
"Thank you, thank you," Alexander exaggeratedly praised, while the rest of the table watched this y with dispassionate gazes.
And as Alexander returned to his meal, he particrly felt The Queen Mother''s gaze, which seemed to be smoldering.
It appeared Alexander was again being asked to exin his actions.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 391 Seelimas Rage (Part-2)
Alexander did not feel like exining himself why he killed the nobles.
The real reason why he did so was so that he could take over theirnds without any contending, or at least strong contending ims against him.
While Ptolomy might have preferred these nobles because they would be more loyal to him than
Alexander, which was the cause of Seelima''s displeasure.
And as for killing Maizdy, not to mention his rotten nature, Alexander had already snatched Muazz''s most precious son from him, the city of Zanzan.
This made the two men unable to live under the same sky, so why be lenient now?
Hence, Alexander simply decided to move on, and got down to remind the table of the real problem here,
"The nobles said that a 40,000-50,000 army which has 10,000 Jahal mercenaries will be attacking Zanzan. And they seemed pretty scared of this unit. So do My Ladies know anything about them?"
Alexander posed this question particrly to Mikaya.
Because he remembered that Pasha Djose''s wife was probably her sister or aunt (Pasha Farzah''s sister), though he could not exactly remember which.
But it seemed that there was no need for Mikaya to answer.
"The Jahal mercenaries are Djose''s personal elite troops! I knew this would happen when you two id¡you two killed Fatrak," The frustration and anger in the Queen mother''s voice was palpable as she could barely stop herself from calling Alexander an idiot.
When initially she had learned of what Ptolomy had done, she had spent a good two hoursmbasting him in her private chambers, calling him some very choice words.
"Haha, well I guess there is no point crying over spilled milk,'' But Alexander appeared unaffected by their rage, chuckling the reply.
Which appeared to incense Seelima more, as she shouted out, "No point crying over spilled milk? No point crying over spilled milk, you say? You didn''t spill milk just once, you spilled it many times!"
She then proceeded to list the number of times Alexander spilled the milk,
"You looted the Grand Temple and killed its priests, you killed all the nobles in Adhan, then you killed more on the battlefield, after that you killed more priests from the Zanzan temple, and now yourtest achievement was destroying Jabel and its nobles."
"And all that was in thest three months! Give you a year and Adhania will likely have nothing have peasants!" Seelima''s tirade went on to show just how angry she was with some of Alexander''s actions.
And she barely stopped herself from saying, ''The only thing you seem to not like killing are the peasants, you peasant living scum of the earth.''
''Hahaha, well that is the n,'' Alexander lightly chuckled at the harangue, thinking Adhania would certainly be a better ce without the nobles.
While outwardly he put out a light smile, showing no remorse for his actions, for he did what he thought would be best for him and his family.
"....." Seelima''s vituperation had bought the feast to a screeching halt, as everyone looked across the table with fear and trepidation.
The atmosphere was certainly not what you would call merry.
And it was Mikaya, who had the best rtionship with the Queen mother who tried to soothe her, "Okay, okay, whatever done is done. Let us now focus on the problem at hand. We can discuss whose fault it waster."
But Seelima''s mes were not to be smoldered just yet as she even hissed at her good friend, "Discuss that? We already know whose fault it was. If he had not killed so many people, if so many nobles have not banded together to get revenge, would such arge army even be possible?"
The Queen mother atst massaged her wrinkled temple as she finished with a sigh, "By this point, I''m not even sure Djose has anything to do with it! Because if those idiots pool whatever they have, even if they are broke, together they might get the coin to hire the Jahal mercenaries."
"....." The room entered an awkward silence at Seelima''s frank revtion.
To say that the current course of events had nothing to do with Alexander would be grossly inurate as expressed by Seelima''s half-opinion that the army about to attack them was actually Alexander''s fault.
Even Cambyses had blushed a bit when Seelima tallied Alexander''s achievement of thest three months, silently saying in her heart, ''This is what swinging your sword left and right mindlessly gets you.''
While Alexander said to himself, ''Perhaps I was a bit too eager to resort to the sword in some circumstances.''
Finally, as time passed The Queen mother calmed down after her screed, taking arge gulp of diluted wine to cool her smoldering temper in the process.
''I wonder if its that time of the month for her? Or if she''s just pent up,'' Alexander rolled his eyes at the furious woman onest time, before turning to Mikaya and asking some real question, "I would like to know about the Jahal mercenaries. They seem to be famous."
And Mikaya recounted mostly the same thing as the nobles did, except for one very important thing, "They are expert raiders, using their camel and expert archery to wreak havoc and destruction!"
"Camel archers? Are you sure?" Alexander''s eyes widened upon hearing this.
Camels were bad news.
"Yes. The Jahal mercenaries famously use camels," Mikaya said with a nod, adding, "In fact, camels are not native to Kuleef. But Pasha Djose imports them from Abu Hamam as he has good rtions with the Pasha there. He does it because he says camels scare off horses in battles and that they are easier to train and maintain."
Well the Pasha was indeed right that camels scared off horses in battle.
Their bigger size frightened horses, and their smell made the horse irritated and not want to obeymands.
With the few downsides to camels being one- they preferred dry climate, be it hot or cold, and generally did not deal with humidity too well.
And two, they did not hooves.
Instead, a softyer of skin protected their soft legs, which made them deploying them on hard surfaces difficult, for the beasts preferred sand.
But these disadvantages could be made up in certain conditions, such as with Alexander, who had a coastal city with sprawling sandy beaches and since it was winter, humidity was naturally low.
''Fuck, that means my cavalry is mostly useless,'' Alexander''s original n was to have his much more heavily armored cavalry with theirnces and greaternce smash into the enemy cavalry and destroy them head-on.
But now it seemed that he would now have to find a new way to neutralize this threat.
"Thank you, your information was most helpful," Alexander politely thanked Mikaya with a smile, while cursing the nobles for leaving this vital information out.
If he had learned this only after his scouts reported it to him, Alexander might not have had enough time to prepare countermeasures.
"No problem," Mikaya sweetly returned the gesture, before asking, "So, what do we do now?"
As she asked, both she and Alexander turned to the most experienced woman in the room, The Queen mother, who had finally gotten her nerves together.
She would frankly admit she had lost her calm a while back.
".....We can write a letter to the king, informing him of this. Then hopefully he can put some diplomatic pressure on Amenheraft." Seelima answered after a bit of thinking, adding, "The remunerations of the treaty have not been paid yet after all. Perhaps this way the war can be avoided."
And though she posed this proposal, even the twins picked up on the uncertainty,menting, "Grand..Aunt does not sound too hopeful."
By rtion, Seelima was their step- grandmother, but the young thirty-two-year-old hated that word, much more preferring to be called Mother or Aunt.
"..." Seelima remained silent, as Mikaya for once decided to y the role of an aunt and exined, "Because so many nobles have been killed, there is likely there is no way to stop the war."
She then expounded, "If they have been only captured, then it might have been possible. We could have used them as leverage, and maybe even have some of them testify, thus putting more pressure on the other side.
"But just that paper alone will not get us much further. Because they could easily say it was forged. Or worse, since this paper is a new invention, if shameless enough, they could even say the thing written on it does not count. And that only statements written on papyrus matters." The fact that Mikaya could even consider this unlikely y so quickly went to show the Matrak princess''s intellect.
If she had been born a boy, she could have easily fought her father for influence in the royal court.
And now this intelligent girl was also in the same boat as Seelima, thinking Alexander killing so many useful nobles as a great waste.
They would have been much more useful alive.
"That''s not fair! They are the ones nning to attack. And Alex was just defending himself. So why should the treaty protect them and not Alex?" Atst, Cambyses cried out in indignation.
But Mikaya simply said, "Of course, it is not. But given that so many nobles have died Amenheraft is unable to stop his men even if the treaty is at risk of shattering."
"And there is also the chance that he, thinking that Alexander is unable to get reinforcement, might just double down and attack anyway when he was the upper hand,"
"So, this war is inevitable!" Mikaya finally dered.
Chapter 392 Confession Revelation
Mikaya''s assessment of the war situation was urate.
They were in a weaker position, so Amenheraft could unfairly take advantage of the treaty.
"Bad man, did you really have to kill the nobles? Couldn''t you have taken them hostages?" The disadvantage of the nobles dying was apparent to even the military nobody Azira, who chided him.
But what was done was done.
And Alexander decided it was best to learn from this mistake and focus on the future rather than moan about the past.
So he turned to ask, "Lady Mikaya, I remember you saying that your brother will beingte this month. Would be able to arrive with some reinforcement? Because we might have some extra time before the attack, as Maizdy, who was supposed to lead the army is dead. And they will surely spend a while finding a newmander." Alexander hypothesized.
"If you had kept Maizdy alive you would not have needed any reinforcement!" Mikaya gnashed her teeth at this shameless request, adding, "Pa¡Muazz must have sent that idiot to get some battlefield prestige thinking it will be an easy victory. That fatso alone would have done more harm to the army than a thousand men could."
It appeared that Mikaya knew quite a lot about Maizdy.
This was in part due to the Maizdy''s military records, which though spectacr on paper, were abysmal in reality.
This was a fact that Mikaya''s brother had ryed to his sister after he found out about it when he participated in a joint campaign with Matrak and Zanzan against the northern barbarians.
The short story was that Pasha Muazz, being interested in allying himself with Matrak, wanted to arrange a marriage alliance between Maizdy and Mikaya.
And so had traveled to Matrak with a small personal army, intent on showing off his son''s martial prowess in a battle against the various tribes north of Matrak as a way to gain Farzah''s blessing.
But though they had won, it was simply using sheer mass to crush a tiny tribe, which did not impress the military veteran.
Furthermore, even that supposedly easy battle had appeared dicey at many points, with the Zanzan forces at risk of routing quite a number of times as observed by Mikaya''s brother.
In fact that phrase Mikaya used to describe Maizdy was actually said by her brother, with the tiny alteration being he originally used ''ten thousand'' instead of just one thousand to show his frustration.
And so, stating the obvious, after her brother''s assessment, the marriage proposal fell through.
Though the fact that Maizdy had attempted to force himself on Mikaya in the middle of a feast and got a kick to his crotch for his trouble might have been the bigger reason.
"Both Adhan and Matrak need the men to defend their own territory. We are sorry! But we can''t spare any," The Queen Mother curtly and firmly rejected Alexander''s request for help, and even added, "If my lord is not confident in being able to defend, His Majesty''s previous offer still stands. Thend around river Naher is very fertile and good."
The first sentence was said both because it was true and because Seelima was angry.
While the second sentence was to tempt Alexander to go set up his shop there, for The Queen mother was not blind to the treasures being grown in Alexander''s backyard.
In fact, she had tried a few times to have a look for herself but had been firmly stopped by the guards each time.
Even her famous, ''Do you know who I''m?'' and ''Do you dare defy the royal family?'' sayings, which would almost always get the desired result had failed her this time.
It appeared that Alexander''s chastising of the two guards had its intended effect, with the soldiers only mechanically repeating, "Only guests apanying the Pasha himself are allowed inside. Forgive us."
And this only made Seelima even more convinced of the treasures hidden inside.
So secretly, a tiny part of her even wished that Alexander lost the uing battle.
"Couldn''t we preemptively attack them? Knock them out one by one? Something like what he did in Jabel?" Ophenia atst decided to join in the conversation with her own suggestion making the seemingly sensible on-the-surface advice.
"I''m afraid not," But Alexander shook his head, being the bearer of bad news, and exined, "You are assuming that the men will be collected from near us."
"But it is likely each of the groups will gather at their own noble''s fiefs, before traveling to a port where the Djose''s ships will carry them to us. So, these small armies are all many many miles away from us, deep inside their own territory."
Alexander then jokingly added, "And by the time we get there, those men might be already in Zanzan, or might even be returning home after razing Zanzan." before finishing by saying,
"And that''s even considering we know where all the troops areing from. We still don''t know who all the participants are."
Alexander''s highly expounding exnation made the novice about military affairs Ophenia pick out her ws, as she nodded and shook her head in enlightenment at having never thought about it like that.
While Cambyses further added, "Also we already have a manpower shortage. So taking arge number of men for a month or months will cripple the city."
"Hence, the best option is to build up our defenses and defend the city. We have thick, high walls, so let''s use them for a siege. And we have enough food tost us six months if we ration it properly." She then strategically advised.
Alexander did not say yes or no to this.
He had his own ns and would choose a strategy after discussing it with his generals.
So he smiled, nodded, and just kept his mouth shut for the moment.
Another ''modern'' suggestion that might have been made was to attack the forces before they couldnd.
But contestedndings were really a modern thing, where a few machine nests could mow down tens of thousands of defenseless infantry.
In ancient times, if you saw an enemy waiting for you at the beaches, then you simply took your ships to another suitablending position.
It was not like you needed specialized ports and harbors with deep water tond troops like modern ships.
Mostly any shallows would do.
And then what is the other side goona do?
Ships were the fasted vehicle there was and not even a full cavalry army would be able to follow them for long.
Not to even mention a marching army.
So Alexander''s best bet was either a siege or to let themnd at Hatamum and have a pitched battle somewhere close.
There was also the option of attacking their ships, but Alexander neither had the number of ships nor the adequate number of sailors, or even the weather on his side.
He would not risk his army drowning.
"Thank you for all the advice. Might I trouble Your Highness Queen mother to at least let His Majesty know of my impending battle? So that he may ask for blessings for me from God Ramuh?" Alexander appeared to have finished this conversation.
"Sure," Seelima did intend to do it anyway, though she held off on the urge to remind Alexander that he did not believe in Ramuh.
"Oh, and also tell His Majesty of this. It might help with the negotiations," And as hisst trump card, Alexander bought out a second stack of paper from his coat, before handing a leaf of it over to the Queen mother.
"What''s this?" She instinctually asked while taking the stack.
And Alexander was happy to answer.
"I had asked the nobles nicely to reveal all their dark secrets. And that''s what they wrote. It''s quite the read, haha," He mirthfully chuckled as he handed more of the paper to the others, who eagerly stered their eyes on the curvy words.
And a quick whileter Cambyses was the first to utter a sound of utter disgust, "This..ugghh¡these beasts dies too good..uggg,"
She made retching gestures and even felt the consumed feast mighte back up to rejoin the table.
"Ale¡My lord, is ..is this authentic? Did they really write these?" Even though the Queen mother certainly knew the nobles hid many dark skeletons in their closets, she was still shocked by the revtion,
Because though the crimes were not like a bolt in a clear sky, it was one thing tacitly knowing it, and a whole different thing actually having solid, detailed proof of it.
And the details were particrly rming for her.
And likewise, Mikaya was simrly affected.
She certainly knew things were bad with nobles in general, but the extent of this was an eye-opener.
Previously, she only thought the nobles'' excess was rted to only extravagance, indulgence, and promiscuity.
And she even considered herself to be a rotten apple of the bunch.
But it appeared she was a saint when at leastpared to the nobles of Zanzan.
And her skin especially crawled when reading about Maizdy, even to the point she had mild panic attacks thinking what her life would have been like if she had married that slimeball.
Perhaps she would not have been outright killed due to her status, but just being miserable might have been a luxury.
"I''m new to this noble thing, so are all nobles like this?" Alexander let off this snarkyment as he observed the various colors appear on the noble women, interested to know their take on this.
Chapter 393 Pre-Battle Preparations
The names, dates, and signatures all left the Queen mother without any doubt that these were no forgery.
And as she read and re-read the papers, she grew increasingly incensed not only at the nobles but that Alexander had killed them.
"If you knew about all these, why did you not capture them? We could have gotten so much from them!" She asked with clenched teeth.
What use was ckmail if there was no person to ckmail with?
"....Like I said, a sudden fire killed them," Alexander yed that same broken record, much to the royaldy''s exasperation, before backtracking to his previous question,
"Your Highness, you haven''t answered my inquiry, ''Are all or even many nobles like that?'' I''m curious to know how I should behave in the future."
Alexander''s future policies would very much depend on the answer.
"Of course not. We would never so such things," Seelima vehemently spat out, indignant at the usation, adding, "If we were all like that, the rebellion would have never happened. Alozmer and his father went too far!"
"That''s right Alex. Remember that Zanzan has always been a stronghold of Alozmer. And his rotten behavior most spread to here," And Mikaya was there to help The Queen mother.
It seemed that the girl was surprisingly protective of her family''s name as she did not mind one bit bad-mouthing the former king, which was also ording to them a god.
And her maids joined in too, as Nafia in a rare moment of urrence spoke up around the dinner, reasoning, "Your Grace, if Master did such horrible things, then he would not have been worried so much about Miss."
"That''s right, that''s right. Father would also never tolerate this. I''m sure they are doing this behind his back," Even the twins spoke up to defend their rarely-mentioned father.
It appeared that Alexander had stepped on a proverbial tail when he expressed doubt about the integrity of the three men.
"I see. Then I apologize," Alexander only lightly smiled at this, only he knowing how much of this he bought.
Because talk was cheap.
And although it was true both Ptolomy and Amenheraft were rtively clean, it remained to be seen by how much.
After all, everyone had their dark sides.
Alexander then moved on to asking the women how they had been, and other small talk, with the feast ending as such, on a somewhat mercurial note, with happiness, satisfaction, and merriment mixed with equal parts of anger, fear, and trepidation.
For a victory had been achieved but a war was soon over the horizon.
A topic that Alexander again bought up when he met his military and civilian leaders the next morning.
First, Melodias gave a tally of the loot they had collected, which was not much, only about two million ropals.
And that was counting the various stuff looted from the various households.
This was mainly because those poor seven souls really not too well off.
But hey, even mosquito meat was meat, and Alexander''s earnings did exceed his cost of the campaign, which was less than fifty thousand (50,000) ropals.
After Melodias, Menes then informed the group of the fate of the killed and casualty.
"The families of the seventeen who have been killed have been paid the appropriate rumination. Those who have families in Zanzan have already received it. And those whose families are in Thesos or are on their way on the ships will be paid when they reach Zanzan."
Alexander''s heart shook a bit when he thought about that excited familynding on Zanzan, eager to meet their husband, father, or brother, only to find that he was dead.
He could not imagine that feeling.
"Remember to make sure the widow gets the money. I''m putting you in charge Menes," Alexander thus instructed specifically.
The money of 5,000 ropals, or two year''s sry was not much, but would at least help.
"Yes, my lord," Menes very passionately replied, before continuing his report, this time, reporting the casualties.
"Furthermore, twenty-eight men have received various degrees of injuries. Most are expected to rejoin the army with no problem."
"But those who are really crippled will be given a pension, and if possible, a job in the military, such as a logistician, armorer, cksmith, etc, circumstance permitting.." Menes thus finished his report.
And then the topic made its way to the uing war, which the members already knew about beforehand and so the discussion went about the same way as it had done around the dining table.
With a few exceptions of course.
"My lord, as you have asked, we have transferred most of the armorers and swordsmiths into crossbows and arrow makers," Menicus reported as they sat across the table.
This instruction hade in the form of a note which Alexander had sent via a messenger on the very day he had learned of the imminent attack.
The note began with the word, ''Recent discoveries in Jabel have made me decide to that,'' beforeying out the instructions.
And it was sent to Menicus because he was the most senior council member, as well as being a military veteran.
"Mmm, good. We will need to use the crossbows to counter the camel archers," Alexander tlyid out.
For the uing battle, chainmail or ''super'' swords would not be the wonder weapon, but the game-changing crossbows.
The reason for this included ease of use, ease of training on it,paratively inexpensive ammunition, and the ability to hold a bow at full span for a sustained period, waiting to seize the optimal moment for a shot, while also being much more urate at the same time as one''s arm would not be shaking unlike when drawing a traditional bow.
"We are also preparing the ground outside the city to train ten thousand (10,000) men on the crossbow. The recruits will be mainly from the former Cantagenan ves and the Adhanian who had fought Amenheraft." Melodias then reported his part.
He was followed up by Diagosis, who happily informed, "We are also strengthening and thickening the southern wall had leads to the harbor. Most of the cement is being diverted to add height and width to the walls there. And we are confident of doubling the thickness before February."
The southern walls were Zanzan''s weak spot, and so Alexander decide that this portion should be especially thickened in case of an amphibious assault.
And atst Uzak informed confidently, "The wooden northern, eastern, and southern gates are all being reced with solid wrought iron gates, which will be further reinforced with thick steel bars in the back. Nothing will break them!"
The man genuinely seemed to believe that as in this time period steel was considered the strongest metal.
These were the main four directives Alexander hadid out to bepleted, and hearing them going smoothly, Alexander let out a smile and an approving nod.
But amongst all this good news, there was one not-so-agreeable, which was uttered by Heliptos, "My lord, some of the city folk are weary of war and destruction. They have been gued by it for years now. And have gone weary. Some are even grumbling that the peace you promised them was a ¡not true,"
The finance minister avoided the strongly negative word lie.
"They dare!" Menes was the one to raise his voice.
He was incensed that even after all they had done, these people were still not grateful.
While Alexander was much more calm, and took the opportunity to say, "Hmmm, indeed the people have suffered. Perhaps a siege might be out of the consideration then."
Alexander had no appetite to sit inside the city with a rumbling stomach, hoping that the enemy starved before him, and so this n had always been his least favorite one.
And now that the people''s morales were low, it was the perfect time to suggest that this tactic would be unviable even before anyone else could suggest it.
For it was very much possible for a starving, angry popce to simply rebel and open the gates to let in the enemy if things got dire enough.
"I agree. We have too little food stockpiled anyway. A siege will not be good for us," Menicus too buttressed Alexander, as the agriculture minister tacitly informed Alexander that Cambyses''s estimate of six months was too optimistic.
A fact that she missed as she was not present currently due to a sudden cold.
"Then it will have to be a pitched battle! And I have already sent scouts to map out the area," Grahtos very excitedly said this, eager to find out how his new heavy cavalry would match up against the camel archers.
By Alexander''s instruction, he had sent horse riders to the nearbynds, armed with the maps they got from the nobles, and a clear picture of the terrain was expected soon.
Only after that would Alexander then decide exactly what tactic to follow.
And thus, with these preliminary preparations going on, Alexander then spent some more time discussing the uing campaign and agreeing on the framework of the uing battle, such as asking "How many men can we get in total for total?"
"....About thirty-five to forty thousand (35,000- 40,000) max." Menes had thought about this fact for some time, hence the quick answer.
And he even helped break it down, "We have around sixty thousand (60,000) men. But not all can fight. And some will have to stay behind to guard the city as garrisons, keep order, run the basic things like food distribution, sanitation, and various other things. So 40,000 is our limit."
Chapter 394 Amenherafts Preparation (Part-1)
Going to battle outnumbered was never a pleasant feeling.
The simple reason for this was with arger army, one could form a longer battle line, which would allow them to outnk and envelop the opposing small army from both sides.
This meant that in a traditional battle, the smaller force would be forced to match this extended line, resulting in thinner lines, and more prone to breaking.
Hence, all things equal, usually the one with therger army won.
Which was also why winning with a smaller army was so celebrated and apuded, both in this timeline and in Alexander''s previous life.
"Can we expect any reinforcements from our allies? Amenheraft is tantly breaking the treaty," Heliptos made this request some the third time.
"There will be no reinforcements. We are on our own," And Alexander again very clearly let this be known as he had stated the reasons before, to the disheartenment of many.
"Well, 40,000 against 50,000 is not too bad. It''s hard, but not impossible," So Menicus could only make the best of the circumstances, and tried not to sound too pessimistic.
"That''s right hahaha. The Lord did say previously that Zanzan will always face outnumbering enemies. This is the norm, haha," And Grahtos joined him, appearing unfazed.
This half-fake, half-real bravado soon infected the whole council, as each of them upped his predecessor with even more absurd ims, until finally it got so ridiculous that Alexander decided to end the meeting, "Well then, we are decided. My lords work hard. Because Gaia willing we will not lose."
"Yes. By the grace of Gaia." The reply came in a chorus, and as usual, the council members all left except Theocles.
The archpriest gave a primary rundown of the temple, and the followers gained in recent days, which Alexander nodded to with pleasure, and then followed it up with a gift, which was a few sheets of paper.
"These are the various crimes the nobles in Jabel confessed tomitting. Use this to boost the morale of the people in the city. You can also share it with the Ramuh temple," Alexander gave the short instruction.
And after ending a ncing look at the paper, the smart priest quickly replied, "Yes my lord." with a bow, his heart extremely pleased.
Using this document, he could easily spin the story into ''the devilsing back to harm Zanzan'' in his sermons, boosting the people''s will to fight.
Thus in this way, Alexander''s preparation for the war began in full swing.
While in some other ce, far far away from Zanzan, a heated meeting was about to take ce regarding the same thing.
"*Bam* I will skin that animal myself. I will rape his women, feed them to the dogs, salt¡." These choice words were being uttered by no other Psha Muazz, whose flesh seemed to sizzle with anger and hatred, turning from porcin white to chilly red, as the portly man paced around the room with short, stubby steps.
While the rest of the people in the room had t, somewhat frustrated looks on their faces as this episode had yed itself quite a few times already.
But nevertheless, the events of Jabel had shocked all of them when they first heard of it.
Hence the meeting.
"*Sigh*, to think there woulde a day when us nobles would be killed like that in our own territory. Like some dogs! The heavens are not blind, They will not tolerate Ptolomy!" The deep, remorseful voice came from an aged man.
He was Jamider (Earl) Nibbar''s father, and it had been less than five years since the sixty-three-year-old had handed his fief to his apple in his eye, son Nibbar- a capable, wise lord, worthy of carrying on the family name.
That was until two days ago, when, concerned that his son was three dayste in making his scheduled contact, the veteran noble sent a scouting party around Jabel, where they finally learned of the disaster that befell their beloved lord.
The scouts had not simply ridden to Jabel at first.
At first they asked around the nearby sparsely popted viges and hamlets about the happenings around Jabel.
And in was there they were promptly informed that arge army had entered the city a few days ago and that afterward, all nearby viges had noticedrge, thick plumes of smoke rising from the city across the horizon for several days.
The news of this had made the scouts'' hearts drop.
They were smart people and very well understood what this mostly likely entitled.
Because an unknown army and fire equaled bad things.
For if he was not dead, then a messenger would have surely reached them by now, letting them know of his current state, whether it be injured, or captured and thus demanding a ransom.
But since none of that had happened, only the inevitable option remained.
This news made one hot-blooded man particrly distraught, so much so that hearing this, he even struck the old man telling this, killing him on the spot for the crime of delivering such ''foul'' news.
But it appeared that such foul news was indeed real.
For when the men entered the abandoned city, the smell of burnt wood, and charred animal and human remains were the first things to greet them, followed by the grotesque sight of corpses sticking out of mangled houses, being feasted upon birds and animals.
The delicious smell attracted small animals such as mice, cats, and dogs, to evenrge ones such as foxes which gnawed on the cooked bones while crows and vultures poked and extracted the good, soft bits such as the eyes and the brains,id bare courtesy of the solider who used his sword to crack open the skull.
"These animals killed their own people," One of the scouts spat out seeing Alexander''s cruelty, disgust for this Pasha of Zanzan sprouting and growing as he assumed all of them killed to be peasants when really they were almost all nobles or rted to them in some way.
"I''ve always said these Thesians are barbarians. They did not even bury the dead. Fucking heathens, *pooo*," And his brothers-in-arms were happy to join him in this act, spitting the bad breathe out.
Burying the dead had great significance in Adhania, not only due to religious reasons but also due to health reasons.
Because, although the Adhanians did not have full knowledge about diseases or what caused them, they did know through experience that burying the dead helped prevent the spread of it.
But, it had to be said that the reason why they believed it so was creative to say the least.
The prevalent germ theory would be discovered much, much in the future, as for now, the people believed that all diseases were caused by supernatural factors.
And so the natural leap forward after this belief was the thought that the spirits of the unburied bodies roamed the earth, restless and unfulfilled, hence spreading gue and misfortune all around.
In this way, an incorrect reasoning still led to a correct method, something simr to how even a broken clock shows the correct times twice.
While the reason behind Alexander not burying the corpses were a few pragmatic ones.
Firstly, it was because most of the corpses had been already half cremated after being burnt, thus reducing the chance of a gue spreading.
Secondly, it was winter and freezing, so rotting would be almost static.
And thirdly, which was also the most important reason, the news of the war had made Alexander want to return to Zanzan as quickly as possible.
This was also the reason the city had been left abandoned.
Originally, the city was supposed to be abuzz with construction and other activities by now, but all those men were being trained in military drills.
The scouts bore first-hand eye-witness to the havoc Alexander bought upon the city, while they made their way through the dpidated, muddy streets until finally reached the mansion, the source of the greatest atrocity.
And as they approached the burnt barn, "Argggg," even these seasoned men could not help but hold their noses and step backward at the nauseating, stomach-churning smell.
"*Ugggg*" And one young man even let out his breakfast at the smell and sight of the grotesque mound of flesh, and bones fused together into a small hill, which had started to rot in some ces due to the snow which had fallen and then melted around the heated flesh.
"Women! Children! In a barn! Caged! Like animals!" The leader of the scouts said these words one by one, even rage turning to tears.
Not even a hardened man as he could imagine the terror and fear these folks must have felt in theirst moments.
How these women must have banged and mmed against the barn door or even the walls, even when the zing door would have been burning, scalding their fists, and the ck air filled the barn.
And this was not to even say about the children, who appeared to be in the center of the hill, as the mothers likely tried to protect their babies for as long as their fleshly earthly bodies could, an ultimately futile attempt in the end.
So just looking at only this, without context, people would find it hard to say that Alexander was any better than the ''beasts'' he imed to have killed.
And with these thoughts, this fury and revenge burning like the sun in each of the men''s hearts, they entered the mansion to retrieve their lord''s body.
Chapter 395 Amenherafts Preparation (Part-2)
The scouts did not find Nibbar''s body.
Because Melodias had seen to it that all the nobles'' bodies were properly cremated before the mansion was looted and burnt.
The soldiers even took their clothes, as they were expensive and fine enough to be used just after patching up the few stab, and arrow holes.
The people of this time were pragmatic as such.
Thus the only thing the aged father of the Jamider (Earl) got was an urn full of presumably his son''s ashes.
And such simr scenes were yed out in many other noble houses that had sent their own forces to gather news about their loved ones.
In fact, it was not only those who lost their family members that were grieving from the news..
Because there were also many loyal servants and staff from other noble families whose masters had left Jabel but did not have the time or space to evacuate these workers.
The knowledge of the atrocities and theplete eradication of Jabel and its inhabitants shocked all those affected, for they never even imagined such an act of barbaric cruelty would ever be done to them by one of their own, even if Alexander was only nominally counted as a noble of Adhania.
Hence they convened the meeting as soon as possible, with either all the involved nobles themselves participating or having a nearby representative of theirs do so in their stead.
"This act is not something even Ptolomy can tolerate. We will have to pressure him to execute that Thesian bastard. Adhanians should deal with their own problems by themselves," Amenheraft strongly said the word, half believing his own words, half to cate the crowd in the room.
But it failed to cate one enraged man.
"I don''t care what that idiot brother of yours does. I want to tear apart that fucking Jakqum by myself..arggg," The foul-tempered Muazz felt his rage boiling again hearing the mere illusory mention to Alexander, even going as far as to talk rudely to his liege.
"...." And this particr behavior made the crowd draw a long scowl.
They had somewhat empathized with the grieving noble at first, but now he was bing a nuisance and disturbance.
After all, everyone who had gathered here had lost some loved ones.
But none of them were screaming their lungs out and howling in the air like him.
''Idiot, stop behaving like a woman. Act like a man,'' Even Amenheraft was fed up with him.
He had not even nned on bringing this man into the meeting room knowing his mental state, but therge man had somehow gotten wind of the gathering and insisted.
And Amenheraft could not say no.
"That''s why we are here. To kill the fool and retake your city. So calm down!" Finally, seeing no one else manage the man, this curt, fearless responseced with frustration came out of a young man in histe twenties.
Dressed in a heavily embroidered ck tunic and matching tapered pants, this was Faruq-Djose''s most talented son.
And if he had been birthed from the Pasha''s main wife, without a doubt it would have been him scheduled to take over his father''s fief.
"Yo youu¡.," Pasha Muazz could hardly stop himself from pouncing on this rude remark.
But held himself back eventually, understanding he was no longer the top dog he once was.
And had to be content with looking at him hatefully.
Pasha Muazz did not only hate Faruq for this slight.
Oh no, for their mutual dislike for each other went far back.
Their two provinces of Zanzan and Kuleef were neighbors and so naturally frictions and disagreements had developed over time, resulting in much bad blood, ranging from trade deals, to banditry to even border skirmishes.
They even hadpletely different political alignments as Muazz staunchly supported Amenheraft, while Djose until recently leaned towards Ptolomy.
And among all these conflicts, Faruq would be always the negotiator sent from the side of Kuleef to deal with these, while on the Zanzan''s side, it would be Pasha Muazz himself.
Hence the personal bad blood.
And this rivalry was ignited very recently when disagreements broke out over who would get to be the leader of the allied army.
Faruq argued that it should be him as his father was footing the biggest bill, but ultimately it went to Muazz''s son through some political shenanigans.
But though Muazz had won that battle, it appeared now that victory was moot.
A happy urrence that Faruq did not forget to very vividly show as he stared back at the hateful gaze with a mirthful, disdaining one.
He could no longer see in any point being courteous to this man.
Sure, when he was a Pasha he might have been a formidable force and one to lend an ear to.
But now he was only a toothless bear with no real power and even a tailless dog with no sessor.
So, instead, Faruq focused on what the future held.
''First Fatrak. Now Maizdy. This Alexander must be my lucky star,'' This talented, ambitious man happily hummed about how all these thorny obstacles were taken care of by another man, paving the way for his glory and achievements.
As a signal of the start of his glorious rise to power, he would first take charge of the allied army to crush Alexander, use this to secure his position as the Pasha of Kuleef, then retake Adhan to raise his power, andstly destroy Matrak to be the most powerful man in Adhania.
At least that was the n.
''Haha, Alexander, to thank you for your efforts, I will be sure to thoroughly destroy you,'' The son of Djose heartilyughed at his imminent victory.
While outside his imaginary pce, back in the real world, Amenheraft after being somewhat pleased to see someone put Muazz in his ce, and even sending a favorable look toward the young man, said, "Lord Faruq is right. We have all gathered to discuss the uing attack. So let us not waste time and get down to it."
This former king then looked around therge table to see who would start the military analysis.
And lo and behold it was Faruq.
"I believe that the preliminary n is known to all. But to reiterate again, we are here," The man took charge and used a long stick to point to a ce on a map that had beenid over therge oval table, as he continued,
"The men from the various areas will march or use the waterways to meet up here, the port city of Mouna. Here they will board my father''s ships that are waiting for them and then travel south all the way to this small port called Hatamum. From where we will be just three days march away to Zanzan, where he will crush that scum of the earth.
This rough n had been already discussed so there was no major point of contention there.
"Mouna has been prepared to amodate the army. Large fields have been cleared to ce the soldiers. And sufficient entertainment has been arranged for all the lords," This was said by the steward whose master was in charge of the port city.
He could not be here in person and had sent this experienced servant of his.
The aged steward then further went on to say, "Also, in the meantime, all three of the city''s harbors will be closed to merchant shipping and be solely dedicated to catering to the army. In this way, we hope to finish the entire loading process within five days."
"Five days? Impressive! How many are we?" Another noble from the sidemented.
"Close to 55,000," Faruq had calcted this number a few times.
And he even broke it down, reciting out of the top of his memory how many each of the thirty or so nobles had contributed, and then presented the summarized numbers,
"So, in total we have thirty thousand (30,000) infantry, about five thousand (5,000) archers, four thousand (4,000) slingers, three thousand (3,000) chariots, two thousand cavalries (2,000) and ten thousand seven hundred and ny-two (10,792) camel archers."
Thest number was so urate because it was his own forces.
The attacking force thus consisted of about:
30,000 melee troops,
10,000 projectile troops
5,000 ''heavy'' cavalry and
10,000 camel archers which also had some light cavalry.
On paper this force appeared very forbiddable, and even in reality, it was no doubt formidable.
But it had its problems.
The biggest and most ring w was the mishmash of various factions,
Different nobles had contributed with various amounts of troops, ranging from a few hundred up to more than ten thousand as in the case of Djose, all with extremely varying degrees of skill and disciple.
And they all wanted a say in how their troops would be used.
To make sure that these would not be wasted for the gain of others.
For as much as they hated Alexander, many of the fellows they shared this room with were a close second.
And this feeling went from big-shot nobles such as Jamider (Earl) Nibbar''s father and Pasha Djose who had sent the best of the best, to the lowly smaller nobles that could only afford to send a few raw recruits or lowly peasants.
Because they were nobles.
And getting all of them to work together was a massive challenge, a task even the former prestigious Amenheraft had trouble aplishing, much less now.
And hence the meeting.
Chapter 396 Amenherafts Preparation (Part-3)
The variouspeting factions were not Amenheraft''s only concerns.
For there was also the divergent military thinking factor.
The current times were a season of change for the country, as new technologies, innovations, and battle tactics were sweeping across not only it, but the known world.
This was not orchestrated by Alexander but was the natural evolution of the times.
And this was a change many had difficulty adjusting to.
"I tell you, riding horses to battle is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Not only are they killed too easily, you cannot even carry any javelins with them," This grumble was uttered by Jamider (Earl) Nibbar''s father after Faruq''s report, who was just one of the examples of those being left behind in the times.
He was an old-style military veteran and thought that cavalry was a fad that would die away, and would frequently exaggerate its shorings.
And in his mind, the reason for doing this was many folds.
He considered chariots to be much more economical as they could be pulled by smaller horses such as ponies and even donkeys.
So they were cheaper to use and maintain and as such, a loss of a pony would also hurt much less than a fowl or mare.
Tactically, he also saw chariots as being easier to use as chariots horses did not need to be trained as much, which also saved money on the training.
Then there was the fact that chariots were at minimum driven by two people. So one of them could concentrate on driving, while the other focused on shooting, be it arrows or javelins.
Whereas a horse rider would have to do both on their own.
Then there was the fact that the solid ground of the chariots enabled the use of bigger, stronger, and more urate bows than those on horses, with the additional perk of being able to more easily shoot backward.
Whereas horse archers basically could only shoot at one side because the bows of the time were too long to swing over a rider''s knees andpactpound bows made ofposite materials such as wood and animal sinew, which were smaller yet stronger were a very recent invention, and had not been widely adopted.
Andstly, the old man was of the mindset, ''If it ain''t broke, why fix it?''
Up until now chariots had performed well enough on the battlefields and he saw no reason to change that as evidenced by when chariots managed to defeat the famed Sycarian cavalry thirty years ago in a famous battle.
This was why the three thousand (3,000) chariots came entirety from the old man, and he even insisted, "Faruq, my boy! Those two thousand (2,000) cavalry, turn them into chariots. And their scythes will cut in half that Jakqum. An easy death will be too pleasant for that bastard," The man gnashed with teeth.
"......" Faruq stayed silent at this, as did Matbar (Marquis) Uhmek''s son to whom belonged the 2,000 cavalry in addition to five thousand (5,000) peasant levies.
Because this was not the first time he had asked for this.
It had been done multiple times, and he was rejected every time with logic and reason.
Logic and reason that the old man refused to buy.
Because he had too much colored by the battlefield of yesteryear.
The retired Jamider (Earl) saw horses as expensive, exotic animals, difficult to rear and maintain.
Which meant getting a lot of them together to use as effective cavalry was hard.
And if they managed to do it, they felt that it didn''t make sense to waste them on a ragtag force of skirmishers and light cavalry that most likely wouldn''t have a decisive impact in battle.
Hence they doubled down on the expense, which was making chariots.
For maintaining a fully equipped chariot team¨Dthe horses, the chariot made of expensive wood, and a trained crew¨Dwas ludicrously extravagant by ancient standards, much contrary to the old Jamider''s assumption
But this expense was worth it for its time.
For the major advantage of chariots was their "shock and awe".
Humans who had never seen a wheeled vehicle chugging along toward them at ten miles per hour, being pulled by teams of small horses or donkeys, while warriors aboard chucked spears and arrows were obviously shocked and terrified, dealing them a critical psychological blow.
Plus the lighter infantry units of the time, with their short two-metre spears were unable to pose a major threat to the charging beasts, who could just ram or collide with the formation destroying it.
Hence initially, chariot armies would almost always be superior to non-chariot armies, able to leverage their greater mobility and ability to attack the vulnerable nks of opposing armies and crush them.
And over time, this gave rise to the creation of military elites in a simr way to knights in Medieval Europe, where kings would either fund a standing force of professional charioteers or else parcel outnd or tax receipts to vassals in return for them maintaining a chariot.
Which during wartime could be called upon to be the core of his army, with each chariot supported by infantry levies thus forming a warrior-aristocracy.
In this way, chariots in that time would be as much a weapon as a status symbol, with each chariot on the battlefield unique in its embellishments and decoration.
And Jamider (Earl) Nibbar''s family was one of the first members of this aristocracy, with more than six hundred years of chariot warfare under their belt and a collection of antique chariots rivaling anyone in the world to prove that.
They had started off as one of the king''s charioteers, before slowly moving up the rank until they became a Jamider (Earl), which also made this family about twice as old as the current royal family and one of the oldest noble families of Adhania.
And it was this distinguished identity, of the ''sacred status of the chariot'' that yed another big role in the aged Jamider''s (Earl) reluctance to adapt to the times.
Because as Matbar (Marquiss) Ulmek saw, times were indeed changing.
Firstly, the ''shock and awe'' factor of the chariots were no longer there.
Chariots might have worked when the bulk of the force were levies and blue-eyed peasants.
But as the fighting force be more professionalize and they got used to seeing this weapon, the fear lessened.
And with developments in new ways to counter the threat being discovered every day, it was evident that the chariot would quickly be irrelevant.
For example, it was widely known that chariots needed good t terrain to work.
This was not a problem during its inception as battles of that time would ur in designated ces and times.
This meant that the two forces would decide on a time and ce where they would meet, which would almost be always in an open battlefield, and then duke it out mano a mano.
This was because battles and wars were seen in an idealized light, where individual nobles would fight one another for glory and fame, and any employment of ''tactics'' and cunningness was looked down upon as dishonorable and shameless.
While was also why Agapios''sst maneuver was so brilliant.
Because no one had expected it.
But as time went on, such as now, those few visionaries urately noticed that military organization was shifting away from the heroic sh of elites and towards well-trained soldiers acting as a unit.
Talented Generals of thest century preferred to have a drilled force of light cavalry that could conduct coordinated maneuvers in support of the infantry core of the army, rather than a bunch of glory-seeking toffs careening around the battlefield haphazardly in insanely expensive deathtraps.
And these men would cleverly use their soldiers in a variety of terrains not all of which were conducive to the chariots.
There were problems with particrly the wheels, which would have trouble in rocky or wet terrain, skidding in mud, and bumping on hills.
Furthermore, horse breeding hade a long way to the pointrge, strong breeds were avable, enabling them to be mounted and used in battles.
These horses had a much smaller turning circle than chariots and only needed one rider as opposed to two or more.
Cavalry also took up far less space than chariots meaning easier transport and more effectiveness on the battlefield as more force could be concentrated on one area.
On top of that cavalry was much faster meaning they could outnk chariots.
Andstly, newer horse breeding techniques meant that cavalry was showing the trend of actually bing much cheaper than chariots.
This was why the general trend among Adhanians was a shift towards the cavalry.
And Pasha Djose, in a kind of 4D chess move, even went as far as to get camels from the deserts of Abu Hamam as a way to counter this cavalry threat, disying the man''s military foresight.
And all these had been recited over and over to the bullish Jamider (Earl).
But he refused to see reason.
Only saying ''the scythes of the chariots can mow down men like you brats have never seen''. While not minding the fact that those chariots might not even be able to get close to the infantry before being skewered by the phnx or other spear formations.
And thus he was left to his own devices, the cavalry divided, as Faruq moved on to the most
difficult topic of the meeting, and the main reason they were here, "So Your Majesty, have you chosen who willmand the forces?"
Chapter 397 Amenheraft S Preperation (Part-4)
Faruq''s question created a headache for Amenheraft.
Or rather it bought back his migraine as it reminded him of the previous episode that had ured discussing the same topic.
"I vote that it be Archpriest Manuk. Remember, he is the one who killed Agapois," Pasha Muazz was the first and loudest voice, impassionately making the case for his ''dear colleague'' to the point of even distorting the truth-Manuk had not killed Agapois.
And to some listening, it would appear that Muazz and Manuk were the best of pals, the former looking after thetter.
But this cry of rmendation generalled eye rolls all across the room, even including in Amenheraft.
Because initially, it was Muazz who was the biggest critic of Mauk, vehemently protesting this priest''s appointment in favor of his son.
''He is the criminal who lost Adhan. His ipetence was the thing that ruined so many families,'' He had impassionately cried, ming everything currently wrong at the priest.
And his cries had worked, as some of the powerful men in the faction then pressured Amenheraft to remove the archpriest''s candidacy.
After that the fat noble manipted Amenheraft into handing over the control of the army to his son instead of Faruq with the logic, "Zanzan is mine. And my son should be the one to get it back."
Furthermore, he poisonously added, "If Your Majesty lets Djose get Zanzan, he will surely get even more powerful!"
If the first sentence moved Amenheraft, then the second sentence convinced him.
Amenheraft was still skeptical about Djose''s loyalty, and would far prefer to see Zanzan recover than see Kuleef prosper.
Hence, even when Djose contributed so much to the effort and Muazz so little, Amenheraft quashed any objections as he pushed aside Faruq for Maizdy.
And that was the end of it.
Or so he thought.
For he did not think Maizdy would die at such an inopportune point.
And because of this he was now in a bind.
Amenheraft had used up a lot of his political clouts to influence the previous position of army general, which meant that he had less to spend now.
And that likely meant that it would be very difficult to form a unified army with a single person in charge as there was unlikely to be an unanimous choice.
Unless of course, Amenheraft wanted to lead which would simplify a lot of the matter.
But it was an opinion neither he nor the nobles wanted to seee true.
Him because after two near-death experiences in thest three months, his appetite for on-battlefield presence hadrgely dried up.
Followed by his consideration that it would be too brazen to appear in the battlefield personally and that Ptolomy might use this to, if not break the treaty, at least use this as an excuse to hold back on the ''loans'', something Amenheraft was in very much need of.
After all, the goal of the campaign was to destroy Alexander before the other side could react and then simply feign ignorance.
While on the other side of the coin, the nobles simply wanted to gain glory for themselves and felt that Amenheraft participation would rob them of that.
And hence the dilemma.
"Manuk is upied praying for the nobles who died under hismand. So he will not be avable till Ramuh forgive him. Any others?" Amenheraft did not appear too enthusiastic about the suggestion, as he made up this excuse, before inquiring about alternate names.
Besides Muazz only rmended that name because he did not want Faruq to get the job.
"Perhaps it can be Lord Nibraz. He is the most experienced of the group," A small-stature noble rmended Jamider (Earl) Nibbar''s father.
But the man was old-fashioned and also simply old.
So he was rejected as disyed by the nobles keeping quiet and not showing any enthusiasm.
Then came Matbar (Marquiss) Ulmer''s son, followed by a few more rmendations, all of whom had some ws in someone''s eyes.
Be it age, experience, not good military record, not contributing enough, etc, etc.
It appeared everyone wanted to have a go.
But they also seemed to cleverly avoid the most obvious one.
A phenomenon that arose because outside the great contributors such as Djose and Nibraz and Ulmer, and the lowly nameless one, there was the third group of opportunists and umitted, who only wanted to fish for advantages but not put themselves at any disadvantage.
Theymitted the least or the worst of their troops to simply made up the numbers but had thergest voices.
Such as Pasha Muazz.
And they were the ones seen bickered over everything.
From big things like deciding who would be the army leader and which noble would get to direct which front of the army, to the smallest things, such as trying to shoe in this rtive in that officer position, and that cousin of a friend in that leading position.
And this went on until Amenheraft was of the mind to very much p their traps up.
But he was currently dependent on them, so he endured.
But one who did not endure was Faruq, who had reached the end of his patience with this game of cat and mouse and very simply loudly spoke out, "If I''m not made the general of the army, I will take my armies and ships and go home!"
"....." The murmurs, whispers, and chaos of the room came to a screeching halt at these words as all eyes gathered on the young man.
Faruq appeared like that kid in the yground who says that if he is not made the captain, he is gonna take his ball and go elsewhere.
"The army is not your''s boy. It''s your father''s," Not only the nobles but even Amenheraft appeared offended by this threat which he expressed in this exasperated tone.
One because of the obvious rudement.
And two, more importantly, because it was Djose who had pushed for this offensive.
Amenheraft had not even wanted this attack in the first ce, saying it was too early, and urged the Pasha to wait till he got his first ransom in the name of loan from Ptolomy.
But Djose was too impatient, saying that it would take a few years and he could not wait that long.
Instead, he insisted that now would be the best time to strike using the same logic Alexander had used- ''It is so early and the other side is so weak, they won''t dare to break the treaty.''
And when Amenheraft did not buy it, Djose bribed and coerced his retainers to pressure him into saying yes.
So now, after all the levies had been gathered, all the supplies stockpiled, all the ns made, and all the sacrifices made indirectly because of this, Djose''s representative had the nerve to say he would fuck off if things were not done his way?
Where did he get the guts?
Where was there such an easy meal?
Hence the temperature in the room quickie rose a few degrees, as all the nobles cast very angry gazes on the impetuous young man.
But Faruq did not care.
He saw this battle as his ticket to glory and there was no way he was going to hand the position over to anyone other than Amenheraft himself.
He could get the position or die trying.
So in a brave, bravado-filled voice, Farqu brushed aside Amenheraft''s threat, saying, "I will deal with my father." and adding, "Given what I''ve seen, I''m sure my father would be happy that he did notmit his creme of the crop soldiers in such a haphazard way."
Though the reality was that if Faruq really returned home, Djose would probably skin him alive.
Because few knew how much he loved Fatrak deep down and how much he hated Alexander.
But Faruq bluffed and then went on begin his address to the crowd to bolster the bluff, "Remember gentlemen, almost the entire cost of the campaign is being footed by us."
"We are the ones giving the ships, taking them out of their usual merchant role to serve as transport vehicles."
"We are the ones paying for all the supplies. We are employing entirely of our most feared cavalry."
"And all those men you have hired, it is Kuleef that will pay their wages and even their death remuneration."
"So, the least thing you could do was stop these scheming and bickering nonsense and hand themand to the most contributing!"
"....." There were many points the nobles could contend with Faruq.
But the fierceness of the tirade left many shocked, and even more angry.
''This is not how you talked to a noble.'' They thought, wanting to then resume the quarrel.
But Amenheraft did not share the thought.
He knew Faruq by reputation even before meeting him, as he had won a few battles against some rebelling nobles during the rebellion.
And now the forceful speech impressed him.
''If groomed properly, he might be useful in suppressing the nobles,'' Amenheraft thought of using this young general to cower the rapidly growing in ambition noble faction.
Hence he pped the table with a loud *Bam* and decisively dered, "I have decided- There will be no onemander for this battle. Instead, all nobles below Jamider (Earl), will be subordinated to Faruq, while those equal to or above will control their own forces and take action in conjunction with others after consulting one another."
This was a neither-here nor-there solution that tried to get the best of both worlds but achieved none, but it was apromise.
And that would have to do for now.
Chapter 398 Amenherafts Preparations (Part-5)
As a single general for the campaign could not be agreed upon because of the fragmented and fractious nature of the nobles, Amenheraft''s proposed method seemed to be the best possible solution.
Thispromisedmand structure did not fully please any group, but at least cated most, even Faruq, who viewed his given authority as being adequate.
And as for the obvious question of ''why Maizdy could be chosen'' but ''not Muazz'', ignoring the mindset he was in, unqualified to even lead a vige of peasants, nevermind a full army,
it was because -
One-Muazz had his chance once and chose his son as the general,
Two- he was a terriblemander,
And three, most importantly, the nobles did not want to see this man use their army to get his city back.
They wanted to be the ones to retake Zanzan, and then metaphorically ughter the fat Pasha in exchange for it, using absurd trade deals, hugend reallotment, peerage increases, and even just a huge lump sum of money.
Muazz knew this very well, which was why he tried at the very beginning to get Manuk to be the leader, who would be subordinated to Amenheraft, and one who would likely deal him the most generous terms.
But as it could be seen, that did not happen, much to Muazz''s disappointment.
Anyway, it was what it was.
And with this heavy topic out of the way, the talk about transportation came up.
"These fifty-five thousand (55,000) men¡we will need about 600 ships to carry all of them and the apanying supplies. Can that small port handle so many ships?" A noble raised his concern.
"Also, will that port even be usable? The nobles who were supposed to make that sure are all dead," Another chimed in.
"Or safe? One or two of the cowards might have talked," A third noble hypothesized.
All these were valid concerns that if were true could seriously hamper the campaign.
But Faruq boisterously brushed these off, waving his arm and saying, "None of those are of much concern. I have been to Hatamum, and its water can handle fifteen to twenty ships at a time. So we will be fully unloaded in two to three days."
He then further added, "And even if Hatamum is upied, it will not be too big a problem. I have been to Zanzan a lot of times due to work and know its coastline very well. There are many shallows close around which will do the job just fine."
Faruq sounded very confident about the disembarkment.
After all, the ships of this time did not need deep water harbors to port.
Only some coastline not infested with coral was adequate.
Faruq''s confident speech affected and convinced most, who praised, "Ohh, then that''s good. We are relieved."
But one of the particrly detail-oriented nobles raised the query, "I remember that the waters around Zanzan got dangerous in this season. So if it''s not Hatamum, but some other ce, will it be safe? How will be the weather?"
These were very good questions, but the person to whom this was posed was very weird.
Because it was done not to the experienced Faruq but to Amenheraft!
And Amenheraft very assertively responded, "The oracles say of dreaming about a rooster being there to greet us when wend. So the weather is predicted to be sunny and the skies crystal clear. God Ramuh is with us."
These oracles were priestesses, preferably virgins who would be presented with a question, usually from the king or a high-level noble or even regr folk for a fee, who would then ingest various psychedelic flora or fauna such as particr mushrooms or wild berries or inhale fumes of sulfur or such, to get first high and wasted.
Then they would ramble about whatever crazy hallucinations their minds would conjure up in that state, which would be taken as ''visions and messages from the Gods'' that could be then interpreted by specialized priests to give an answer in the form of a prediction.
And as anyone half smart could guess, these predictions would be 99% garbage.
But, like how even a broken clock shows the correct time twice, they would get lucky in that 1%.
Which would be then used as evidence to defend against anyone daring to bring up the ludicrousness of it all.
Or there was always the simple and time-tested excuse of, ''If the prediction failed, then you must have misread the signs. Do not me the gods. me yourself for your shorings.''
After all, these ''signs'' and ''dreams'' and ''ramblings'' were not clear-cut answers.
You could interpret them in any way you wanted.
And this was an art the priests and soothsayers had mastered over generations.
Take this very rooster prediction for example.
First of all, seeing a wild rooster in the countryside or around the shore was nothing umon.
So the choice of bird was ingenious for the oracle.
Then came the interpreting it.
And it could be read any way you liked.
It could be interpreted as there being a bird on the beaches calling out to signal the rise of the sun, hence the clear weather prediction.
Or conversely, it could be read as the rooster warning the ships to stay away because of bad weather.
So which one was it?
And who decided that?
Well, your answer would be good as mine.
But as a guideline, it depended on the particr priest''s interpretation, his status, as a higher priest could unterally throw his lesser''s prediction out, and most importantly of all, on who was asking the question.
For example, if it was a king looking for the blessing of the gods to start his next campaign, and he had just donated arge amount of gold to your temple, you did not say no.
And vice versa, holding back on a prediction or using its results to fleece coin out of the king was a time-honored tradition.
And an entire industry had grown out of this scamming art, with the oracles even getting lectures on what to say in their dream-like state.
"Haha, good, good. Then there will be no problem. God is with us, God is with us," The issue about the weather wasid to rest with just Amenehraft''s prediction.
Because for the nobles, that was sufficient.
This took care of the transportation, and going by sequence, the next question would be regarding the battle and the tactics to be employed.
But there were too many variables involved, and without knowing the terrain and the opposing force, it would be too hard to talk about.
Besides, most figured there would be norge-scale battle, but that the cowardly Alexander would choose to hole himself up inside Zanzan and start a siege.
Hence the next question raised was the capture of the city.
"My lords, have we decided we are going to retake the city? Will there be a siege?"
This query wasced with unwillingness as if the nobles did not prefer a lengthy siege.
"*Sigh*, it is too bad that this attack could not be kept a secret. It would have been so much easier to take the city then," Ament of regret unconsciously flowed out from one of the nobles immediately hearing this.
They were sure that if they had managed to get the jump on Alexander, leaving him with only two to three days to prepare his defenses rather than the two to three weeks, getting Zanzan would have been a cinch.
But as the nobles assumed that some, if not all of the information regarding the attack had been leaked given Maizdy''s big mouth, that would likely not be possible.
And though they underestimated Maizdy in this respect, they were right in their conclusion.
The loss of stealth was a bit of a downer for many, who had assumed they could just waltz up to the walls unimpeded.
And now that that opinion was gone, the question raised was, "So how are we going to take it? Do we need Siege towers? Because I remember Pasha Muazz bragging how thick and formidable his city''s walls were."
As well as posing this inquiry, that particr noble did not forget to have a poke at the ''downtrodden'' Pasha Muazz.
Because Pasha Muazz could not deny his ims in fear of losing face, but also not brag about it because it will be their soldiers who will be dying under those very same walls.
But though clever, that particr noble had underestimated this former Pasha''s shamelessness.
"Hahaha, indeed Zanzan''s walls were formidable under me. Because it had 100,000 people ready to defend it."
"But now it''s a ghost city with less than 20,000. And even that is made of the weak, infirm, and gue-ridden wastes. Those walls are nothing!" Muazz waved his bby arms in a disy of strength and masculinity.
Only god knew where Pasha Muazz got his information from, but as the Pasha of Zanzan, his intelligence was assumed to be right and urate by all.
"Hahaha, yes, yes. After all, the greatest walls are nothing if not manned. We will be able to simply scale it like a child crawls up to his mother''sp, hehe," One of Muazz''sckeys was there to be his boss''s wingman.
"Fifty-five thousand men (55,000) to take a city of twenty thousand (20,000). That should be enough," Matbar (Marquis) Ulmek''s son Uralmented while tracing the stubble on his chin, feeling a simpledder rush would be enough to overwhelm the defenders.
Chapter 399 Amenherafts Preparations (Part-6)
Ural estimated that they would face around ten thousand (10,000) Zanzan defenders atop the wall.
This halved number came because typically in a siege, about half the poption would be children, the old and weak, and the women, who would be used in logistics like bringing stones and weapons up to the walls, distributing food and water, taking care of the injured, and many more things other than directly participating in the fighting.
And to deal with the ten thousand (10,000) men, a force of fifty-five thousand (55,000) had been gathered, showing the determination of the noble side, and particrly of Djose.
And this ten thousand (10,000) number was gathered primarily relying on Pasha Muazz''s intelligence regarding the city, who initially asked for fifty thousand (50,000) but surprisingly got even more.
Pasha Muazz in turn had gotten his information from the nobles who fled Zanzan some three months ago, and by also extrapting on the disastrous state he had left the city in, dirty, vacant and with no food or jobs.
This meant that Muazz had no idea of the twenty thousand (20,000) extra people Alexander had bought with him when he moved to Zanzan, or that the twenty thousand (20,000) Zanzanians he had lost in battle were recovered by Alexander and returned to their nativend.
Neither did he deem it necessary to find out that about fifty thousand (50,000) refugees had moved to Zanzan after Alexander opened its gates the city gates to them.
This was mainly because of shoddy intelligence gathering on his part, thinking nothing significant could have changed in just three months.
Which was partly arrogant on his part, but also partly true for his time period.
Three months were really too short to do anything meaningful to a city, especially if that city was called Zanzan and stories about it were true.
The fleeing nobles had bought back with them horrifying tales of gue and disease, describing the city as a graveyard, a tomb, and the cursed ns, so much to the point that Muazz in some twisted way was actually d that they had lost the battle with Alexander, for he did not want to go back to that city right now.
He imagined it to be a corpse-ridden, disease-filled, hell hole where men and women beggars roamed the streets like shambling zombies, fighting like animals, and sometimes with animals over scraps of food, not having anything to eat, not having anywhere to go in this biting cold, and not having any way to earn money.
A hell on earth.
And while he thought of it, most times while in his bed, instead of feeling sorry for his people, the sadist would smile in glee, saying ''Those garages deserve it. If they had served me properly, they would not be in this situation. Suffer! Suffer even more!''
After all, everything wrong in his life was always everyone else''s fault except his.
And then he would drift into his sweet dreams, content in the image of that bimbo Alexander not even knowing where to begin fixing this city.
And truthfully, Muazz himself doubted he could fix the Zanzan of his imagination.
Even if he could get the required food, where would be the medicine, the jobs, the economy, or the housing?
Pasha Muazz had no answer for that.
But he did not need to.
At least not right now.
And when the time came, he nned to simply dump it into the defeated shoulders of Alexander, saying that it was all his fault.
And then im that now that the city has returned to its rightful owner''s hand, everything will be alright.
But when will it be alright you ask?
Well, be patient lostmb, and let Pasha Muazz handle everything.
It was the perfect n.
Hence, in a way, even if Muazz got the correct information, it would be almost impossible for him to believe it.
And he might even discard it thinking that the agent had been bought or capitted.
For the transformation Zanzan had undergone in the short three months was truly extraordinary and had to be seen to be believed.
Due to Alexander''s actions, it had recovered from its gue-ridden, filthy, smelly state to bing a bustling city center, clean, vibrant, and with clean water running in almost the blink of an eye, where men did not simply have the time to stay idle begging and loitering as Muazz imagined, but had more work than they couldplete.
And their biggestint was not about their basic necessities- food, medicine, housing, or clothing, but that though the new young lord paid a generous wage, he also sometimes set long hours.
Which was true to a degree.
But thisint was more of the innocent grumbling of any worker rather than an actual grievance.
Muazz''s information blindspot was further created when Alexander simply killed almost all his informants, i.e- the street rats and gang leaders, using the devil excuse, crushing his intelligencework almost overnight.
In fact, the speed and lethality with which this young man had acted made Muazz up until now still not appreciate the full gravity of it all, hence another reason for his gross blunder.
Andstly, there were the dead nobles who would have been more up-to-date with the ins and goings of Zanzan and could have helped them make a more informed decision.
They had certainly noticed the hustle and bustle of the city, and though even they did not have the full picture, they certainly knew that Zanzan was no ghost city, a concern Kyamin had raised with Jamider (Earl) Nibbar.
A concern that sadly went to the underworld without reaching its destination.
Hence came Muazz''s famous saying regarding the city defense, "My lords, I''ve credible reports that most of the people in the city are ready to rebel. And they are being only kept in line only under the threat of sharp swords."
"So, all we will need to do is show up, and the city will be ours, hahaha."
The rotund Pashaughed so gleefully that one would think he had already gotten his city back, the report being pulled out of his rear.
But though he was wrong to the point it would be hard to be more wrong, his confidence and re-telling of the conditions of Zanzan convinced almost all.
Even Faruq and Ulmek''s son Ural were happy by this news.
While Nibraz, Nibbar''s father showed off his military insight by asking, "If it is going to be a siege, why would we need cavalry? Horses use up five times the food, andst time I checked, they can''t climb walls."
He was very correct in this.
Horses were pretty much useless in sieges, as charging against stone walls was generally ill-advised.
And so, during such an event, the rider would have to ditch hispanion and climb up the wall all by himself.
Which made the horse useless baggage.
"That''s right. I believe that I''m correct in saying that the current strategy is to impose a naval blockade and then have the walls scaled using our infantry. So why do we need so many horses?" Amenheraft too posed.
"....." Faruq and Ural could only exchange nces.
Because they knew the simple reason behind this course of action was not militaristic but purely political.
Because Djose simply wanted to use his elite cavalry to crush his son''s murderer.
And when Djose sent his Jahal mercenaries, Matbar (Marquiss) Ulmek went with the flow and sent some of his cavalries, which could act as scouts and foil ambushes, while seeing this trend Jamider (Earl) Nibbar gave his chariots which were his family tradition.
Thus posed with the query from the king, these two clever two people quickly racked their brains toe up with an answer.
An answer they quickly found out when they cast their minds to the tragedy of Jabel.
"My lords, from the speed at which Jabel was taken, we can be reasonably certain that Alexander has some good forces under him. He was a mercenary leader after all. These horses are there to deal with such uncertainties. After all, who knows, god willing, that young fool might be brash enough to attack us head-on, hahaha," Faruq really hoped that was the case.
Then he would not have to worry about the casualty heavydder rush.
While the gathered nobles focused on how Faruq addressed Alexander, not with disdain and mockery, but with neutral respect.
This was because the Pasha''s son had no quarrel with Alexander.
As a matter of fact, he was even thankful for all the help he had provided, intentionally or not.
But such observations of the nobles were quickly cut short by Ural, who also joined on this made-up excuse, "That''s right. Also remember my lords, since our ns have been leaked, reinforcements from Adhan or Matrak might be there. We should best prepare ourselves for any type of surprise."
This was very unlikely given the short time window, but the possibility was there.
"Hmmm, now that you mention it, has there been any official letter from the other side regarding this? If the news got out, we should at least expect a letter deterring us¡" Another Jamider (Earl) present there asked.
"That''s right. If I was in such a position, that''s what I would have done," A second voice supported the inquiry.
"No. Notst time I checked," But Ameneheraft denied receiving any suchmunique.
Which immediately raised the hopeful voice, "So, does that mean our offensive is a secret? That nobody talked?"
The amount of hope in that question was palpable.
Chapter 400 Ptolomy And Farzah (Part-1)
Hope was a dangerous thing to count on.
And something that Nibraz refused to buy into.
"That is unlikely. I do not believe it." The old man tly said, reasoning, "The more likely exnation is that the letter has not arrived yet. After all, it takes some time to get word from Zanzan to Adhan, and then to us.".
And then menacingly added, "If you can wait a month, I can get you another ten thousand (10,000) men. I want to make sure those bastards burn."
The old man was nning to go all out to avenge his son.
"No! A month is too long!" But he was decisively struck down by a noble, who reasoned, "We are already cutting it too close to the spring harvest. And we will need our man back by April at thetest. Or all our crops will go to waste."
And he was soon joined by a few liked ones, "That''s right. Even if this campaign goes perfectly ording to schedule, and onlyst a month, it will still end byte February at thetest. And then it will take another month to get the men back. We are already cutting it too close. We can''t wait any longer."
There was no way the nobles could afford to miss the first spring harvest, especially when it was after a three-year drought.
"Will Lord Maizdy and the others'' unfortunate absence disturb the schedule?" Amenheraft then asked the question to Faruq.
"...Yes." After pausing to think if he should lie about it and push the campaign forward anyway, Faruq decided not to.
Because telling the truth would not put his skin at risk, but lying would.
So he said, "There were a lot of things Lord Maizdy prepared ording to his needs. And now we will have to reorganize them. One such is the appointing of new officers, and then we will need to assume there will not be appropriate amodations in Hatamum, so more winter clothing, more rations, and even more pleasure women. Further¡"
"How long do you need?" Ameneheraft raised his voice to curtly cut off the reciting young man.
This campaign had bought him nothing but headaches and the irritation in his voice was palpable.
"Three weeks," Faruq gave the short answer,
"You have ten days," And got one and a half weeks from Amenheraft.
But this did not mean the returning time was pushed back.
Meaning there was even less time to finish the campaign and no time for a lengthy siege.
But it was what it was.
So with all the major sections covered, Amenheraft decided to give his closing speech as a way to conclude this meeting.
It was short and to the point, "As all my lords can see, this campaign is quite time constrained. But also very important. So I hope all of you will strive to the hardest of your abilities and not let factionalism divide us. Glory to Ramuh!"
"Glory to Ramuh!" A roaring cheer followed the king''s speech followed by the raising of the wine cups, signaling the end of this meeting.
And thus finalized the mammoth task of capturing Zanzan by the end of February, a time frame set up by the nobles themselves.
And though they did not believe it would be easy, they also did not think it would be too hard or that the siege wouldst too long given their overwhelming number.
And so each of the nobles got down to performing their task with purpose but also rxed tranquility.
A feeling that was very much missing with the pair in another part of the country.
"*Bam*, that bastard! How dare he?" Ptolomy mmed his fist against the hard mahogany table as he his eyes looked wrathfully at the letter Pasha Farzah had bought to him.
''Does he mean Amenheraft or Alexander?'' Sitting across the strapping, muscr Pasha Farzah mused in a slouched, rxed posture.
His body showed no difort as if the world was under his thumb while he reminisced about the contents of the letter.
It had been addressed both to him and Ptolomy and though it was convention to always let the king read the letter, Pasha Farzah did not care.
Ptolomy barely had the intellect and more importantly, the will to be of any help to him, and so it him who did the real work.
And hence he had the first look to determine if it was worth letting Ptolomy know.
And oh boy it was.
The letter was quite long, but basically detailed the events of Jabel and the iing attack, with the urging by Alexander to diplomatically pressure the other side to back down.
"What do you think?" Finally finished reading and re-reding the letter, and after regaining hisposure, Ptolomy posed.
Because he had no idea what to do.
"...*tap*...*tap*...*tap*..." Pasha Farzah did not immediately give the answer, but scanned Ptolomy''s reaction, producing his signature tapping on the table.
To see how he would react to this sudden news.
Until finally he answered, "I think killing Fatrak was stupid. Alexander might not have known Fatrak. But you knew. And even then you killed him. And this is the result¡... That''s what I think."
The sarcasm and snarkiness are dripped very heavily over the very open and even rudement, to the point of calling one''s liege ''stupid'' to his face.
"He insulted me! He insulted the king! He said ''you'' were greater than me! You think I should have let him go? Or do you think you are greater than me?" Ptolomy immediately red up hearing such words, looking at the silver-bearded man with reddened eyes and shaking fists.
One liked being called stupid to their face, even if they really were one.
While Farzah only cidly looked back, his mindmenting, ''The moment you became king, your attitude changed. You have be childish, throwing a tantrum the moment things don''t go your way. You think that just because you sit on that throne and I call you king, you are any different? Heh, an idiot is an idiot no matter what''s his title.''
The fact that Ptolomy was never a good candidate for king was known to all, especially to his retainers.
And he was initially chosen because of some of those particrly bad traits as it made him easier to be manipted.
Traits that were bing problematic now that he had actually be king.
"I think that killing Fatrak has caused Djose, who could have been our ally into bing hostile for as long as he lives. And now he going tounch his attack on one of our allies. Which we are left having to deal with it. That''s what I think," Pasha Farzah kept a calm, cool voice as he answered the usation, not getting baited into starting an argument with Ptolomy.
"We will simply not give them the promised money. Or the goods. Or better yet, ess during the Jaatama. They broke the treaty after all," Ptolomy ranted off a few potent suggestions.
Suggestions which were all shot down by the knowledgeable Pasha, "Not giving the money might not matter. Djose should have enough in his coffers to not care, and even reimburse those nobles Your Majesty might deny."
"What! He has that much?" Ptolomy was genuinely shocked.
The amount of money they were talking about was not peanuts.
It reached close to a billion, a huge sum by any stretch of the definition.
"Do not underestimate Kuleef, Your Highness" But Pasha Farzah in a deep tone advised, saying, "Though it is said it is the third richest province after Adhan and Matrak, I have always suspected otherwise. Djose should have more."
"Hmm, why do you say so?" Ptolomy was curious.
Adhania''s three biggest provinces had the following.
Adhan had its salt, its agriculture, its precious minerals, and an annual tithe that all the temples of Ramuh across the nation paid it, making it the richest province.
Matrak had timber, precious gemstones, a thriving ve trade due to the barbarians it bordered in the north, quite a few very popr horse breeds coupled with an advanced animal husbandry industry, some very fertile ins, and a fishery industry.
And Kuleef had a thriving port, a ss industry, and its real gem, its nds, giving it the nickname the bread basket of Adhania.
Because the Naher River, which run through Adhania very simrly to the Nile River, met the sea at Kuleef.
And just like the Nile delta produced a patch of ridiculously fertilend at its mouth, so did the Naher.
"Just the crops produced around the Naher delta should have made Kuleef the richest province. The fact that it is not is based partly because Djose pockets a lot of the bill of Pasha Sharif (Pasha of Abu Hamam) due toplicated reasons and partly because he wants to hide it." Pasha Farzah hypothesized and finished by saying, "Well, that''s my thoughts anyway."
Ptolomy''s eyes narrowed upon hearing this, regret welling up for being so brash back them and losing such a valuable ally.
He trusted this analysis because he knew once upon a time Pasha Farzah and his eldest brother Djose were quite close, though the rtionship seemed to have cooled a bit in recent years.
The first time was when Djose refused to back Farzah openly and directly during the rebellion. And then after Ptolomy''s ill-fated swing of the sword.
"So, money is no longer an option. What about the Jaatama?" Ptolomy hence moved to the next option, posing the question with pursed lips,
Chapter 401 Seelima And Mikayas Persuasion
Ptolomy''s suggestion made Pasha Farzah give a very quick and frank answer.
"If Your Majesty does this, please let me prepare the army"
Meaning it would be war.
And Ptolomy knew that hence the pursed lips, for the religious significance of the pilgrimage was too sensitive to touch.
He would not only be Amenheraft''s enemy then, but of themon popce.
"Then we should do nothing? And let Alexander die?" Though Ptolomy did not exactly like Alexander, it was not to the point he wanted him dead.
Sure that man cheated and swindled a lot of gold andnd from him.
But that man was still useful.
He was a resourceful general no doubt about it, and in times like this, Ptolomy was grossly short of good generals.
And a good general was worth more than ten cities.
Because ancient warfare really depended on individual leadership.
Furthermore, Alexander had even proved to be a skilled administrator in the short time he was in Adhan, impressing Ptolomy.
So much so that the young mercenary had been even offered the position of prime minister, which, the man had foolishly turned down, ording to Ptolomy''s recounts.
And even when putting aside his personal capabilities, the city that he controlled was also quite important.
Zanzan served as a bulwark against Tibias, weakened Amenheraft by denying him such arge and productive port city under him, and in a crude way, even acted as a beacon drawing aggro away from Adhan and Matrak.
So both Ptolomy and Farzah were reluctant to see the city fall and Alexander die.
"Your Majesty, perhaps you could write to him. Make him see reason. Offer him goodnd and arge peerage like Jamider (Earl)," Pasha Farzah thus advised Ptolomy to entice Alexander to abandon Zanzan and return to Adhan.
This was certainly not the best option, as the first thing it would ruin about be their ''new religion'' n.
But it was better than dying and that was the most optimal course of action Farzah could think about.
"Seelima already tried that." But Ptolomy reacted with an exasperated breath, swinging his arms and saying, "But the fool only said to her, and here let me read you the quote," Ptolomy picked up the letter to read the line, "His Majesty tasked me to defend Zanza. And I will do it to my death." Pasha put on a voice trying to mimic Alexander while saying this aloud.
And then an instantter, he red up, banging his fist on the table, and snarling, "Bastard! When did I tell tell him that? I did not even want him to go to Zanzan!"
Ptolomy could clearly tell that this was just Alexander giving a poor excuse.
''Hahaha, so that bastard was directed to Alexander,'' While Pasha Farzah finally got his answer to whom Ptolomy was asking right after reading the letter as well as feeling that kind of unyielding, free-spirited speech to be Alexander''s style.
He knew the boy did not want to be subordinated to anybody.
This conversation between the Queen mother and Alexander urred at ater period following her casual offer at the dinner table, when she met again with him to offer the same option formally in his studyter, starting the meeting by saying, "My lord Pasha, back at the table, I let my emotions get the better of me. I''m sorry."
And after Alexanderughed it off with the words, "Hahaha, where, where, I have already forgotten about it," the beautiful Queen mother got to the real topic, urging him to leave Zanzan for Adhan by saying, "There is no shame in doing this. You took over the gue-infested Zanzan just three months ago, and what you have done in the meantime is already miraculous. But this army is really too big. Let us retreat while you still have the chance. Ptolomy will be more than happy to receive you with open arms."
And if Alexander really did not think he had a chance, he would have certainly taken the offer.
Because only a fool would die defending a city against overwhelming odds when an alternative to live to fight another day existed.
But Alexander did believe he could win.
He was even confident about it.
And so he said in a polite gentlemanly tone, "Your Royal Highness, His Majesty''s concerns warm my heart," before giving a grand speech,
"But I believe victory is not decided by numbers. It is decided on the battlefield after the battle."
"So as long as I stay in Zanzan, I believe I have the chance of being the victor. But the day I chose to leave, I will instantly be the loser, without even firing a single shot."
"This I cannot ept. And I have no doubt that with His Majesty''s blessings, I can prevail!"
Alexander''s speech sounded great, full of zeal, charisma, and chivalry.
It would have been a great rousing speech.
But in reality, it alsocking in any pragmatics or being grounded in reality.
And even Alexander would callrge parts of it pure rubbish.
Life was not anime where ''trying your hardest'' would get you results.
Overwhelming numbers won an overwhelming number of times.
This was a statistical fact that was hard to argue
And that''s why Seelima wanted to shout, ''Bullshit! You think you burned down a defenseless city and some kind of hotshot! Listen to your elders and run, you brat!''
But she ultimately held her tongue and pushed down her anger, as he then patiently further advised, "Your Grace, I can understand your reluctance to leave Zanzan. Though I''m only a bit aware, I have seen how much care and love you have shown this city. This city had never been this likely even in its heyday."
The Queen mother then put her hand on her bountiful chest, and pleaded, "And so please trust me when I say this- Losing Zanzan is only temporary. Once we are powerful enough, Adhan will certainly help you get it back. You will always be the Pasha of Zanzan. And Zanzan City will always be yours. But please, for now, let us retreat."
Finishing her sentence, Seelima looked at Alexander with a gaze verging on bing puppy dog eyes.
This countance was bought on by the fact that over thest three months of staying with Alexander, it had made her convinced that losing him at such an early stage of the game would be too detrimental to her and Ptolomy.
He had disyed very strong administrative abilities which would be very useful for Ptolomy and also she still needed him to give her all the shiny, new stuff he was cooking up in his backyard.
Andstly, she simply liked the boy.
He was smart, charismatic, and very intelligent,
Nothing like the typical image the words ''a mercenary leader'' would conjure up.
He even had a charming air of aloofness that she could not put her finger on.
This was all the same aloofness Cambyses had noticed about her husband all the way in his tent.
And so, deep in her heart, Seelima even had the insane idea to one day kill Ptolomy and marry Alexander if the situation arose to such an event.
Though this was just one of many considerations, not a proper decision.
As the Queen mother tried to sincerely advise Alexander, Alexander was a bit surprised by the frankness of it.
The woman genuinely seemed to care about his life.
He had always assumed this ambitious woman could not wait to see him go underground.
And for a moment he was unsure how to react.
''Should I show the troop numbers and new weapons to reassure her that we have a winning chance?'' Alexander considered but did not feel like discussing top-secret military intel with outsiders.
Even if that outsider was very very unlikely to leak it.
But looking at the wheat-kissed charming face of the mature woman, whose eyes appeared to be crying her heart out for his safety, Alexander almost felt hypnotised.
Only now could he appreciate just a tiny bit of the charm that had managed to ensnare a king who had countless women ready to spread their legs between her fingers, and make him so infatuated that he even died under her without noticing it.
''Subus!'' Alexander clenched his teeth and lightly bit his tongue to break himself out of this dreamlike wondend.
And then ultimately decided not to divulge anything and simply said the words The Queen mother had wrote to Ptolomy.
Though in that letter, The Queen mother had neglected to mention how she had stormed out of Alexander''s study withrge gaits that was perfectly proportional to her irritation after hearing Alexander''s reply.
''Idiot fool. Die for all I care!'' Were said between her gnashed teeth.
And the next day, Mikaya tried her luck in persuading the bullish noble, but the conversation was almost a carbon copy of the Queen mother''s.
Except the fact that the silver-haired woman had also asked, "Alex, if you really have a way to win, please tell me. I shouldn''t have to tell you why I won''t tell anyone."
And when Alexander did not budge even afterward, she even said, "Alex, if this is just a bluff, I will be really disappointed in you."
To which Alexander only responded by saying, "I would never bluff with my people or my family''s life."
Which could mean either he had a bag of tricks with him, or he was just overly confident.
Causing Mikaya to storm out of the study in a very simr way to the Queen mother.
Chapter 402 Ptolomy And Farzah (Part-2)
"That boy is resourceful. I think he believes he can ¡umm¡oust the siege and negotiate a peace settlement, " Trying to give an exnation for Alexander''s bravado, Pasha Farzah came up with this theory.
Though even the most optimistic part of him felt ashamed to say-''Alexander thinks he can win'', feeling that might exceed optimism and enter the territory of miracles.
Because the Jahal mercenaries they would be facing were no joke.
And the number of the army was also too much.
Such huge numbers were usually wielded by Pashas against one another.
Not against a single city, moreover, one which had been gue-ridden and recovering from a three-year drought.
"Negotiate! After what he has?" Ptolomy did not think Pasha Farzah was so naive to believe that Alexander could talk his way out of this alive if he lost.
"The very first thing they will do when they capture him is cut off his tongue. And then get to working on his other bits" Ptolomy frustratinglymented, knowing Alexander had drawn the popr anger this time.
"I told that bastard to not go killing nobles left and right. I told him repeatedly. *Urggg*, why did I give him the right to kill nobles? I must have had my head kicked in by a donkey."
By now Ptolomy had gotten up from his couch and started to pace around the room in anger and regret.
If only Alexander did not have that privilege, he could not have killed those nobles from Jabel.
And if those nobles were kept alive, given their confession of crimes, this entire fiasco could have been easily mitigated.
Ptolomy could have even helped Alexander increase his fiefdom by confiscating some of those captured nobles''nds as punishment for their crimes.
"But no, that idiot that to go kill them! And what was the point?" Ptolomy shot abuses at Alexander, mixing his inner thoughts with his external bursts.
Ptolomy really could see no benefit in doing what Alexander had done.
Only trouble.
Because after killing so many nobles, their wives, and children, plus his already high kill count from earlier, if Alexander thought there was even a chance in hell that he would have the chance to even utter the words ''negotiate'', he was smoking up a unicorn''s butt.
His ''crimes'' even made Ptolomy sometimes want to kill him.
"Then let us pray for a miracle. Ramuh and Gaia are most powerful," Pasha Farzah could also only let out a sigh as he said this.
He knew things were bad for the boy.
''*Sigh*, and I somewhat liked that brat,'' Pasha Farzah wistfully sighed.
Ptolomy gave a pause upon hearing this, taking the time to calm himself a bit, and even pouring himself a ss of wine.
Then he posed his next question, "If he dies, what about all those things?" rifying, "You should know as well as me of the things he has discovered. Clear ss, that sweet thing, and this new papyrus."
Ptolomy showed the letter which was written on paper as he then in a tone of unwillingness asked, "Do we just let all these fall into that ''fallen''s'' hand?''
Fallen was Ptolomy''s official definition for Amenheraft, as in ''Fallen'' from power and the grace of the gods.
Though the word was yet to catch on.
This was also the thing that stung Pasha Farzah the most when he thought about Zanzan''s potential defeat.
Like The Queen mother, Mikaya too had informed of the happenings of Zanzan, of how the gue was eradicated, of the new soaps, the beautiful ss, the new types of clothes, and everything else Mikaya was privy to.
The girl really left nothing behind to tattle, except that little nightly secret of hers.
And so, after knowing about it all, Farzah could feel his body produce actual pain just thinking about all these wondrous inventions would just fall into Djose''sp just like that soon.
In fact, when Mikaya had written to him in her very first letter about the happenings and change of Zanzan, in beingpletely truthful in her letters, the contents of it also appeared somewhat fantastical, and if it was not written by his most trusted daughter, Pasha Farzah would have taken it to be the wild imaginations of a drunk.
And even after all the trust he had in Mikaya, he still considered asking in the return letter, ''Are you trying any weird berries in Zanzan?''
Because he felt that there was no way a single man could realistically invent so many things in so little time.
Thus the saying ''Reality is stranger than fiction,'' once again manifested in the Pasha''s life.
And tempted by all this, in one of his letters to Mikaya, Farzah had even alluded to saying that he considering marrying her off to Alexander.
But his daughter had not addressed this concern in her next address, showing her reluctance.
And Pasha Farzah also knew Alexander might not be interested given his daughter''s proclivities, which no doubt the smart boy would have some clue about by this time.
And so in the deepest recesses of his heart, there resided the will to match Azira and Azura with Alexander.
But it was still a fetal n, something that Pasha Farzah was considering, not deciding.
"Perhaps he is blessed by the gods. And everything will be alright," Again, Pasha Farzah could only give this muddy answer, asking Ptolomy to rest his faith in the gods.
Because that was all they could do now.
While Farzah reasoned to himself that all his actions, achievements, and inventions up until now were too fantastic to be done alone and the agnostic Pasha really hoped just this once the gods were real and that Alexander was really blessed by them.
Because he had a lot riding on Alexander surviving and thriving, for his future and his family''s future.
"......" Pasha Farzah answer''s made Ptolomy feel an unbearable itch as he turned his head away in frustration.
The itch was caused by the thought of the potential loss of such great inventions and by the fact that if Alexander did by some miracle win, then he would be someone simr to him.
"*Snap*, Perhaps we can write to him," Suddenly, as if hitting on an epiphany Ptolomy snapped his fingers, and borated,
"Perhaps we can write to him and say to not let these precious inventions fall into others'' hands. Perhaps he should destroy them and kill all the artisans. Or better yet hand those techniques to us. Yes, to us. So we can get revenge for himter," Ptolomy''s eyes seemed to sparkle with each passing word, and his octaves appeared to increase with each seeding sentence.
Ptolomy was genuinely pleased with himself for having figured out the solution.
''At least then some good woulde of this total fiasco'' He reasoned with himself.
''The naive idiot really thinks it can work,'' While Pasha Farzah only rolled his eyes.
This was not because he thought the idea was stupid.
No.
In fact, he felt that the idea was quite good.
A prudent lord might have indeed done that.
If not the artisans, then at least the workshops just in case.
After all, it took Alexander just three months to build.
So, even if everything was destroyed, it would only take him at best that much time.
And likely it will be much less because of the already experienced workforce.
But it missed a critical factor- the words in the letter.
It missed the fact in the letter that Ptolomy just read, Alexander clearly showed his willingness to fight to thest man to defend Zanzan.
And would such a determined man destroy his golden goose?
There was no way.
Pasha Farzah foresaw Alexander bravely fighting with all avable men, trying to protect everything until a rout began and everything went to hell.
And then there would be no man to demolish anything.
Because that was the kind of person Alexander struck him as.
"Hmmm, that is a good idea. Perhaps Your Majesty should write it. Who knows maybe he will actually pay heed to this one," Pasha Farzah did not feel like arguing with Ptolomy and so simply told him to go with it.
It couldn''t hurt to try anyway.
Ptolomy felt very good about himself hearing Farzah''s positive answer.
It was not easy to get the old man''s greenlight.
A feeling that quickly evaporated, when Ptolomy suddenly remembered another issue as he jolted his head at his prime minister and cried, "Farzah! There is also all that money he stole from the temple. What about that? Will we just let all that money simply fall into Djose''s hand? That can''t happen!"
Ptolomy knew Alexander had around 300 to 400 million ropals with him.
And if all that money fell to Kuleef''s Pasha, he could easily recoup all his expenses and even make a huge profit.
"Perhaps we can also ask Alexander to dump his coins into the sea," Pasha Farzah matched his joke with Ptolomy''s previous method, saying it with a wry smirk.
Because there was nothing else they could do.
Ptolomy did pick up on the sarcasm and understood that his previous suggestion was seen as a joke.
So, he snapped and said in a somewhat regal, deep voice shouted,
"Prime minister! "All you have done up until now is just say no and nothing like they were being given out for free by the roadside!"
"I appointed you to solve problems. Not make jokes. So tell me how can we retaliate!"
It appeared Ptolomy did not like being passive and thrashed upon by his enemies.
Chapter 403 Ptolomy And Farzah (Part-3)
Ptolomy knew Pasha Farzah to be a man of action.
And not the type to take a beatingying down.
"Hehehe," Hearing this assertive demand, at first the aged but strong man gave a little chuckle, confirming he indeed did a n.
"Well, although we cannot reinforce Alexander, we can certainly take advantage of the situation and make Amenheraft pay. For example, there are a lot of nobles around here who follow Amenheraft. We could ''persuade'' them to switch sides." Pasha Farzah made the cunning suggestion.
"Persuade? You mean kill! Revenge for Alexander?" Ptolomy''s eyes did not glow with excitement, but wary.
Killing nobles was a bad thing, a very bad thing.
"Of course not. We are not like wild dogs!" And Pasha Farzah seemed to agree as he uncategorically rejected going so extreme.
It would set a catastrophic precedent following which nobles could start killing each other in broad daylight.
No one wanted to see that happen.
So he expounded on what he really meant, "I meant we could use the army to force some of the nobles to swear loyalty to us."
Making one swear loyalty under the sword and then expect them to follow it might sound wed, but in this time period, swears and promises were simr to binding contracts.
If you sign it, willing or not, you generally had to go through with it, willing or not.
"Oh? Can it be done? Is the army ready?" Ptolomy was certainly interested to erode Amenheraft''s influence when it was right next to his base of operations.
But Adhan''s army was still in shambles.
Whatever improvements had been made by Alexander, he was sure to demolish it then he left, such as taking arge part of the officer corp with him to Zanzan, and severely crippling the weapon manufacturing capacity of the city.
But even without those the army still would not have been much better as what made that army prevail against Amenheraft''s army was the strict disciple andpetent officer corp formed by the experienced, veteran mercenaries.
It was those people who maintained the cohesion and morale of the army.
And even they eventually left, the army crumbled into a loose pile of sand.
And given that that battle was just three months ago, naturally Ptolomy had had no time to fix all these ring issues.
"The army should be adequate. And the peasants have nothing to do anyway," Pasha Farzah reported confidently.
He meant that though the army was in no condition to fight against a peer opponent, it could still take on the small fishes around Adhan.
After all, even a skinny, starving camel wasrger than a horse.
And given that it was smack down in the middle of the winter, this skinny camel could be fattened up as arge number of peasants who had nothing to do could be easily gathered to simply overwhelm the other side using sheer mass.
"Then let''s. I will choose the nobles to target, and you get the army ready," Ptolomy hence very happily agreed.
"Okay,... let us end here," Pasha Farzah epted the order with a deep nod as he felt that the meeting was over.
Instead, his thoughts ran back to the army, and who should be appointed to what.
Because currently, the only permanent fighting force was Pasha Farzah''s own personal soldiers, who would be now responsible for training the peasants on the bare basics.
Also, as a side note, given that most of the officers wereing from his personal guards, it was pretty evident that Ptolomy''s army was actually Pasha Farzah''s.
''Well, I will need to send conscription notices all across the city,'' Pasha Farzah was already thinking about his next task as he got up from thefy sofa, the image of distributing messengers around Adhan appearing in his mind.
And apanying it surfaced the vision of the city itself, Adhan in its all its grandeur.
Adhan was still that city Alexander left it, with beautiful imposing architecture striking up into the horizon, marbled walkways leading up to them, and the magnificent, pink waters of the Life Sea dazzling in the gentle winter sunlight.
But it was also somehow superimposed with the dpidated, crumbling, and shambling ruined parts of the city, where people still lived miserable lives, in much contrast to those residents of the much more fanciful residences.
''A sick old man dressed in immacte clothes.'' Was thement Pasha Farzah made about Adhan''s current state.
Most of the people were still cold, hungry, and miserable, with the recent hot war settling into a cold war hampering the proper recovery of the economy as Amenheraft''s nobles put trade barriers against Adhan.
Some vitality did return to the city after Pasha Farzah started distributing food, but it was nowhere near enough in its scale to be very impactful.
This was because,
One- a lot of the grains were purchased by Alexander.
Two- a lot of it were used for nting, acting as seeds for the spring harvest.
And Three- inefficiency in distributing the food, caused by both ipetence and corruption, something that was almost absent in Alexander''s time because of how he used his army to do everything.
Now, to be fair, Alexander could not have done that for too long, as if Pasha Farzah foolishly copied his sessful predecessor, he would make the army too powerful, with jurisdiction over both military and civilian aspects of the city.
But whatever the reason, it did not change the fact that because of it people were stillcking the basic necessities to survive, meaning they could not work, meaning they could not afford the basic necessities, meaning no work, meaning¡.it was a vicious cycle.
So the city hobbled on, fueled by man''s innate tenacity to keep on living, even when it was mired in the shadow of the drought, and its residents suffered from its effects.
For the people were hopeful of a better tomorrow, even though they struggled to get through the biting winter without proper provisions.
Whereas in contrast, Zanzan had already forgotten that a drought had happened and was getting stronger and stronger exponentially every day, its people having not a second to catch a breath.
Arge part of it was Alexander''s food drive to enable the workers to work, the invention of severalrge industries that sucked up a huge number ofborers, eliminating unemployment, andstly, Alexander generously dumping tens of millions of ropals out of his own pocket just in thest three months to jump-start the economy.
Thest part was something that both Pasha Farzah and Ptolomy could have done but were not willing to.
Pasha Farzah did not because it was not his city.
And Ptolomy did not because one, he was dead broke.
And two, which was the more important reason, because he did not have that economic knowledge.
To him, this was how a city always looked after a disaster, and recovery always took time.
ording to him, once the spring harvest came, things would improve, and over the next two to three years, the devastation would fix itself.
And he was true in that, for the grass root people would work to make their lives better even through all the hardship.
But without a coordinated, centralizedmand, this would take time.
Time in which, the ruler of the city could use the downtrodden, desperate people in their military adventures, almost in a cruel, machiavellian move.
For example, Pasha Farzah had no doubt that when the notices for the levies went out, there would be no shortage of volunteers.
For the poor souls were desperate to earn coin.
And a glut ofbor supply meant cheaper wages, which drew a smile on the aged noble''s face.
''This war should not cost us a lot,'' He was relieved.
But his ruminations were interrupted by Ptolomy''s sharp call, "Wait!" as the new king then posed, "Seelima and Hellma! Will they be alright? Djose''s men won''t do anything to them right?"
The question had panic and fear draped all over it, as Ptolomy cursed himself for forgetting about the most important people in his life in exchange for Alexander.
And the reason for this was not simply forgetfulness or Ptolomy''s lower intellect.
It was because of habit.
Because he grew up with the maxim - ''Nobles are never harmed''.
A maxim that Alexander seemed to challenge and even threaten to shatter.
And so he was afraid that once Zanzan was captured, the nobles might harm the royaldies in revenge for Ptolomy appointing a butcher like Alexander.
And that thought mortified him, as Ptolomy, even without listening to Pasha Farzah''s response, attempted to rush to write a letter to the Queen mother, telling her to take a ship out of Zanzan this very second.
"Djose will not harm The Queen mother or the Imperial Princess. Everyone is not like Alexander." But Pasha Farzah was there to cate Ptolomy instantly, saying, "Seelima is still his Imperial mother, and Hellma his sister. So his men will have strict orders to not touch them. Rest assured."
Pasha Farzah was damn sure about this.
Sure Alexander''s women would get butchered or worse when Zanzan fell, but nothing would happen to the other nobledies.
Pasha Farzah knew Djose and knew he would not raise his des against them.
Because that was not who Djose was.
He was going there to punish Alexander, not the other guestdies.
And also because doing so would break the ''no killing nobles'' contract, risking this civil war escting to a conflict that destroys Adhania.
Djose would not do that.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 404 Farzah And Nanazin (Part-1)
"How can you be so sure?" But Ptolomy was still panicked, as he stretched out his arm and said, "Djose could choose to simplyy the me for the harm on the fact that some soldiers go out of control during seizing the city."
"He could say the tragedy was caused by the fact that nomander could control each and one of his men under him during the chaotic plundering of a captured city." Ptolomy envisioned the worst-case scenario and then pointed asked, "What then?"
''Well it''s good to see you are not totally inept. At least you can recognize Djose might choose to harm them as revenge for you killing his son,'' Pasha Farzah was half impressed that Ptolomy did not take the royaldies'' safety for granted.
Now only if he put that much thought into governance.
"*Sigh*," Hence giving let out an audible sigh, the Pasha Farzah gave an easy solution, "Then we can ask them to move to the Ramuh temple. Mikaya can be with them too. The soldiers will not dare to blindly harm those in there."
This was why the prime minister was only half impressed with Ptolomy.
Because the king in his panic and fear forgot such a ssic technique.
Temples were sacred ces that would never be harmed, and this protection extended to those residing inside.
So hiding inside the temple was a pretty safe tactic.
After all, people were rarely madmen like Alexander- one who attacked everything.
Pasha Farzah further added, "And I will ask Azura and Azira not to let Alexander''s family take asylum there. This will deny the soldiers any excuse to attack the temple. Will this be enough Your Majesty?"
Pasha Farzah seemed to have considered a lot of the minutiae, as he was pretty sure the Temple of Gaia would be demolished after the city''s capture and all its believers killed or enved.
Ptolomy gave a bit of pause at this suggestion, but eventually came the affirmative answer, "Yes," though he instantly added, "But I still feel leaving the city will be safer. Farzah, are you not worried about your people?"
To say that Pasha Farzah was not at all concerned would be a lie.
But life was about managing risks.
And in this particr case, the risk of staying in the city was not too great.
At least it outweighed the alternative.
Hence Pasha Farzah replied to Ptolomy, "At this time of the year, the waters around Zanzan are not great for ships. There are frequent storms and strong winds. So, instead of taking therge risk, it will be best for thedies to take refuge in the temple of Ramuh."
''...I see. Okay then," Ptolomy finally relented to the advice and then decided to end the meeting for today.
And as Pasha Farzah left the king''s private study, he soon asked one of his guards to find his son and join him in his private quarters.
He had instructions for him.
"So, that''s the whole situation," The aged man first filled his fifth son, aged twenty-seven, on the new developments which the man took some time to digest.
''This rebellion was a mistake,'' Contrary to his father, he was much more pessimistic amount winning this civil war as he hid his sigh, but could only go with it.
His family identity meant his side was chosen by birth.
He then heard his father task him, "You are to arrange the collection of the peasant levies and then lead the army. It is an easy job, so do it well."
This son of his was always a yboy and letting him lead the army to squash some poor, unprepared nobles was Pasha Farzah''s way of giving the man an easy way of earning fame and credit in the court.
"But father, wasn''t I supposed to head to Zanzan at the end of the month? To deliver all the material Pasha Alexander bought. The ships are already waiting at Agrinat!" Kayvan reminded Farzah of the previous job he was assigned to.
He could not do both..
To which Farzah just brushed off his hand in exasperation at his son''sck of foresight, "Fool! And who will you deliver those to? Djose?"
Pasha Farzah already considered Alexander a dead man and saw no point in giving free goods to the enemy.
So hemanded, "Order those ships back. Tell the order has been canceled. And then deal with the contract cancetions fees. I don''t want to be bothered by those."
Kayvan''s lips pursed hearing this, and his eyes already felt droopy thinking of the long, tedious discussion he would have to have with the trade guilds to negotiate and re-negotiate the various
fees for breaking the contract.
Since so many goods have been ordered for Alexander and now they would have to go back unsold, the guilds would have to take huge losses.
And this will undoubtedly sour the mood between them and Pasha Farzah for some time.
Kayvan was not looking forward to those meetings.
But he could only obey his powerful father, and so hiding another sigh he answered affirmatively, "Yes, lord father."
This ended the meeting between the father and son, but Pasha Farzah''s adventures for today were not over yet.
Because on his way to the royal dining table, among one of the many hallways, he ran across the queen- Nanazin.
"Good evening, Lord Prime Minister," This curly-haired, beautifully dressed woman bowed toward the man.
But though her actions were graceful, her voice was almost croaked and her countenance ugly.
She seemed to have seemingly lost all her charms and looked haggard and hurt.
"Has he been doing this often?" Seeing Nanazin''s state, Pasha Farzah could not help but ask in concern.
Pasha Farzah clearly noticed the bright, red, marks around her neck, as if a rope had been tied to it, that she tried to hide with a high-cored dress but apparently failed, and much more obviously therge, swollen ck eye she tried to use powder and make-up to appear more natural.
It appeared Ptolomy was abusing his wife.
"Please do not be concerned, Your Grace. He is the king," Nanazin''s throat still hurt from yesterday''s ordeal where she had been hanged as various men entertained themselves in rough and barbaric ways, Ptolomy included.
And so she tried to keep her answer as short as possible.
Pasha Farzah could not help but release a sigh inside his mind upon hearing the helpless, forlorn reply.
He had been clued in about Nanazin and her daughters'' true status by Ptolomy himself who had once raged, "That slut thinks she was leech off me! Make a cuckold! I will show her! I will kill her!"
It appeared after Ptolomy became the king, he finally let out the rage he felt all those years, venting out all the humiliation he had endured.
Previously, as a weak, sickly prince, he had no way to do anything to his high-status, powerful wife, even if her family had nominally disowned her.
So the only he could do was settle for those humiliating ys.
But now, finally, after eighteen years of suffering, he could make Nanazin endure all his pent anger and frustration.
Completely ignoring the fact he would humiliate her at every chance but even then she was loyal enough to use her body to help her husband''s rebellion.
In fact, some could even argue that Ptolomy sat on his throne in no small part to Nanazin, who helped ''convince'' a lot of the nobles to join her husband''s side.
Or there was the fact that even until now, Nanazin mostly faithfully followed her husband.
And thest great injustice done to her was that she was really just an innocent woman who had no control over life, and the true culprit was her father Matbar (Marquiss) Tareeq, who had promptly disowned her after her grave crime and who hadn''t talked to his daughter for almost sixteen years.
But all those did not matter to Ptolomy.
Matbar (Marquiss) Tareeq was too powerful and so he could only vent on Nanazin.
And it manifested by making Nanazin''s life very difficult in various ways, both regr and sexual.
As a matter of fact, Ptolomy had initially asked Pasha Farzah''s advice about straight-up executing the ''immoral'' woman and her three daughters for deceiving the king.
But the Pasha had talked him out of it, saying that such an action should not be taken without Matbar (Marquiss) Tareeq''s consideration and also that he had agreed with Alexander to swap the Queen mother with them every year.
And thetter reason was particrly enough to convince Ptolomy to stay his hand, as he was afraid that Alexander might choose to make the two women stay for longer if Nanazin could not be given.
Whileter, he found that keeping Nanazin was the better alternative, as he could dish out all eighteen years of hurt on her¡slowly.
Killing her would end her suffering right then and there.
"Your Grace, it is most fortunate that I got to meet you here. Because I had a favor to *cough*, ask you," Nanazin spoke quickly, so as to grasp the opportunity as fast as possible, even at the cost of straining her throat.
She then pleaded in an almost sobbing tone, "I know that Lord Kyavan is about to set off for Zanzan. Would it be possible for him to take with him my girls? They are innocent, and I fear for them."
The triplets were currently at Agnirat under Lady Inayah''s tutge, and she knew they would face the same if not worse things once they returned.
And she wanted to avoid that at all costs.
Chapter 405 Farzah And Nanazin (Part-2)
Pasha Farzah clearly noticed how the word ''fear'' had made Nanazin involuntarily shiver as she said so.
Because only she could imagine what the girls would be made to go through if these innocent doves fell into Ptolomy''s hands.
She could not let that happen, and she had to do everything possible to try and make that not happen.
And to her, only Alexander seemed to be the viable option.
Nanazin did not have the opportunity to consider what will happen to her girls after they reach Zanzan, but in her mind, whatever and wherever the girls end up at, it will still be better than what Ptolomy had nned for them.
Of that she was sure.
While Pasha Farzah''s heart shook a bit hearing Nanazin''s request.
He could easily guess what this powerless queen was trying to achieve and he could only imagine how she would feel knowing about Alexander and more importantly what Ptolomy would do to her now that he would no longer have to consider Alexander.
Perhaps he would directly kill her.
Or more likely just increase the abuse now that he would not have to be sure to keep her alive.
Perhaps the abuse had already started.
''Okay, I will," Pasha Farzah did not have the heart to tell the fragile woman the truth about the imminent attack on Zanzan or that Alexander might die very soon and simply lied with an affirmative nod, while quickly thinking up an excuse for why the ships to Zanzan will be ''dyed''.
He said, "But the weather around Matrak has been particrly bad this year and we are waiting for a fewst-minute orders to reach us. That could take a few weeks. We will immediately set off once we get that."
"That''s alright, that''s alright *cough*, *cough*," Just the confirmation of her request immediately made Nanazin produce a huge grin as well wiping away all her previous mncholy with pure, unadulterated joy, and even made her forget about her throat, causing her to break into a cough
But this was not enough to stop her from thanking Pasha Farzah further, as she hoarsely said, "*Cough*, *cough*, the girls still have some months in their training. As long as they can leave before.*cough*...that."
Nanazin was over the moon at having her request granted.
This was honestly just a shot in the dark, a move of desperation that she really did not expect to work.
She was fully prepared to hear Pasha Farzah say something along the lines, ''This is for His Majesty to decide," and reject her.
''Thank goodness. Although I''m already done for, I hope that Afsarah, Afsanah, and Afsahah can get a better life.'' She breathed a sigh of relief internally.
This was the love of a mother.
She did not mind going through hell as long as her children could at least live on earth.
"No problem. And rest assured His Majesty will know nothing about this," Pasha Farzah lied through his teeth tofort this woman, who gave him a beholden look and said in a joyous but still hoarse voice, "Thank you, *cough*. I will be ever grateful. My girls will be *cough* ever grateful."
Even when her throat her hurting like crazy, Nanazin did not forget to thank the man and even looked at Pasha Farzah as if she was gazing at a saint.
A look that quickly changed to rueful eptance as she heard the aged Pasha say immediately after with a sleazy smirk, "But what will be my reward? Hmmm? I''m taking a lot of risks here after all, hehe."
The innuendo was clear.
And Nanazin epted it gracefully, as this was the way of the world- equivalent exchange.
You give me something, I give you something.
Curling her lips up and giving her lips a sensual lick with her tongue, she coyly said, "Then Your Grace has never received one of my special oil massages, have you? Perhaps I could visit you tonight? I''m pretty good with my hands."
Even after Ptolomy''s deeds, Nanazin was still a very beautiful woman, and the roundabout way she suggested the act made it even more enticing.
And surprisingly she managed to do it without coughing.
Pasha Farzah readily epted it with a smile, though in a much more direct and open way, "I will ask His Majesty to let you spend the next week with me. I''m sure he won''t mind. "
The cultural norms of Adhanian nobility made such a request that would have gotten anywhere else that person''s head lopped off somehow appear normal and reasonable.
A solid evidence of the moral decay of Adhania.
"*Nod*," And Nanazin only silently nodded, both because of the finality of the statement and also to spare her throat.
Of course, in actuality, Pasha Farzah had no intention of actually sleeping with Nanazin.
He did this purely out of altruism, just to let Nanazin sleep soundly for the next seven days.
Because he felt bad for the woman and as well feared for well being.
He feared that if Ptolomy was allowed to do whatever he wished with her, the poor woman might not survive for too long.
And this was the only way he could think to help Nanazin survive because there was no way for him to actually make Ptolomy stop his domestic abuse.
Nanazin was not rted to him in any way and besides, Ptolomy was the king, and whatever he did with his wife was his domestic affair.
It was extremely rude for another man to lecture a husband on how to treat his wife, much less for a retainer to advise his king.
No matter how powerful that retainer might be.
Hence, the concerned man could only do this, providing a brief respite for the troubled, abused woman.
And the requirement for that much rest was evident that very night.
When Nanazin came to visit him that night, Pasha Farzah made the excuse that he was feeling a bit ill and just wanted to turn in early, as he then casually invited Nanazin to sleep beside him.
And though Nanazin resisted at first, saying she would return to her room ande back another day, once Pasha Farzah insisted, she finally relented.
And as the tired womanid her mature body on the soft mattress, she was asleep even before properly closing her eyes.
A phenomenon that would repeat itself for all seven of the next days, showing the amount of pressure and stress she was in.
''*Sigh*, brat, I really hope you can survive this,'' Pasha Farzah could only pray against hope seeing this, as he tried his best to avoid a tragedy from unfolding right in front of him.
A tragedy that Alexander had no idea was taking ce as he was more interested in preparing for the war.
Because ording to the original timetable that was only a week away.
And in that spirit, his scouts had, atst, made their way to Hatamum, the presumed site of the fatefulnding.
"The maps are a mess. So finally we found the ce huh?" The leader of this twenty-men scouting party said gazing at the wooden walls of the ce, his voiceced with doubt as he rechecked the map.
This was Laykash, the one who had killed Kefka, and gotten Alexander Adhan, and hence by rtion Zanzan and having finally recovered from his injury this was his first deployment.
And right now the boy was looking at the sight in front and then at the map with furrowed eyebrows.
And the reason for his confusion was expressed by another him. "I thought they said Hatamum was a small hamlet? That it was a fishing vige of about twenty to thirty families. But this ce looks way bigger. Did the map mislead us again?"
Yes, this was not the first ''Hatamum'', they came across.
Although they had followed one of the maps looted from the nobles, maps of this time period were inherently inurate, used more as a kind of guidebook rather than an urate representation of thends.
Hence the confusion.
"Hmm, yeah, you maybe right. No ordinary hamlet has a 10 feet thick wooden wall and a palisade," A third one spoke up nodding his head.
"I see sentries. The ce is guarded. Should we return with more men?" A voice from the back advised caution.
"No, there will be no need," But Laykash ignored these concerns, bravely saying, "These are the lord''snd. And we can go wherever we want. Who''s going to stop us?"
This boy had always had a bit too much courage, something turning it into recklessness and even stupidity.
And this was manifested in the very next second, as right after he said, "Let''s go into the town and ask for details,", the leader of the group strode his horse forward and drew attention to the guard atop with a loud shout, "Hey, you there! What is this ce? And who is master?"
His broken Azhak and weird ent made his identity clear to the few, scantily d in whatever armor they could get their hands on soldiers, or more aptly peasants as they bolted out of their rxed posture to quicklye to the front of the wall.
"Who goes there?" One of the older men shouted the redundant question.
"The soldiers of the lord of Zanzan, Alexander. In his name, open the door," Laykash fearlessly shouted back, his rear by this time reinforced by many of his men.
While all the guards'' hearts shook hearing the name and seeing the twenty strong men on horses, fully armored, with shields, spears, and bows.
Chapter 406 Hatamum
The guards above the wall were vige peasants, not hardened warriors.
And their will to resist without a noble present was very low.
Particrly when they were being menacingly started by twenty men in Corinthian helmets, their eyes glowing like the predatory gaze of a wolf.
"Wh..what now? Lord Haytai''s orders were not to let anyone in or out," One of the youngest men, almost a boy whispered out, this voice spreadly slowly to his nearbyrades.
"Fool! You want to die, go die! Don''t drag us into it!" And his loyalty to his lord was rewarded by a barked scolding from the oldest man of the group, who clenched his teeth at the thought that the boy''s voice would be heard by the soldiers down below.
This man had seen enough of life to know that the Lord had buggered off and left them to die.
And he was not gonna die for a lord that had tucked his tail and left.
A sentiment that was shared by many of the more sensible men, one of whom whispered,
"That''s right. Remember what they did to Jabel. So don''t antagonize them. They worship the devil,"
This man was prudent enough to keep his voice down.
"Mmm, Doga said well," The eldest man nodded, and then ordered first to the young boy, "So Kisha, you go tell the vige head toe as quickly as he can."
And the boy immediately ran off after receiving the order with a silent nod
The old man then turned to the middle-aged man, Doga, and said, "Doga, you go speak with them. Make talks. Drag it out till the vige chief gets here.
The fact that the old man did not go out and expose his own neck showed his cunning.
"Wha..why me?" Doga was naturally resistant to follow this, as the old man was not his superior and more importantly because it was bloody dangerous.
Who knew when one of the impatient men would shoot an arrow through his head?
"Because I said so. Now go!" But the forceful, angry voice of the old man made Doga unable to disobey it, and after a slow nod, he stepped forward to near the ramparts of the wall and spoke out to Laykash, "We have long heard of the great Lord Alexander. And hold great respect for him. But our lord is Haytai. And he has ordered us to hold the gate."
It appeared as if the guards wanted to open gates but were not being allowed to.
Laykash did not know who this Haytai was, and neither did he care.
"Open the gate. We are the messengers of our lord. And we want to talk to Lord Haytai." Laykash again demanded, his arms swinging impatiently.
"Our lord is not in the vige at the moment. But you would try the nearby manor over there," And Doga in response pointed towards the horizon to the east, in a clever attempt to get rid of the soldiers.
But no dice.
Because Laykash had no intention of meeting the lord.
"We are here to visit Hatamum. This is Hatamum, right? So stop wasting our time and open the gates!" A colleague of Laykash barked this out, striding his horse forward in a menacing posture.
It conveyed to the guards that these men were getting irritated.
"...." Doga could only look back at the old man to signal for help.
Until now this ''making talk'' was not going well.
Seeing his ''protege'' fail, the old man grumbled, "These young ones nowadays are useless," as he himself strode towards the rampart.
"Esteemed sirs, our gates are currently locked and we are fetching the key from our elder. We pray that you hold your patient for only a slightly longer, hehe." Clearly the old man knew the art of buttering up, as his choice of words was far more articte than Doga''s.
"Locked? When are gates like these locked by lock and key?" One of the impatient soldiers whispered to hisrades.
For doors such as these, there was no lock big enough.
So all city gates would be locked using braces and bars, not lock and key.
"This is just them telling us to wait for their elder toe and decide. So let us wait a while," The most senior man in that scouting party spoke up to educate these youngsters, and advised patience.
"But how long?" But the impatient ones in the group seemed eager for a fight.
"If it''s too long, you can be the first to shoot an arrow through their head," And knowing this, the senior soldier gave this allowance, thus cating the hot-blooded men.
And fortunately for them, they did not have to wait too long, as they soon saw the gate open and an old leading a group of men came up to greet them.
"Greetings of great messengers of Lord Alexander, ruler of Zanzan. I''m Jaylim, this tiny vige''s leader put in charge by Lord Haytai," This vige elder was quick to let who was backing him as he performed a formal bow.
And then asked, "May we inquire why sirs are here?"
"Is this Hatamum?" Laykash wanted to confirm that first and foremost.
"Yes, it is," Jaylim gave a quick reply.
"I have heard Hatamum was a small hamlet. A fishing vige. So what is all this?" Came the next question.
"Oh! It was all Lord Haiyan''s order. A month or so ago he bought a lot of men and started crazily building houses and cabins here. Gave us no reason though," Nobles did not need a reason to do anything and Jaylim was not brave enough to ask.
Nobles ordered and you obeyed.
Those were the rules of the game.
"How many men? Where are they now? Where''s this Lord Haiyan," Came the natural next questions.
"There were about a thousand men (1,000) men. But now we are down to six hundred (600). As for Lord Haiyan, he said he was going to Jabel. And then we have never heard from him," Jaylim sang like a canary to any question asked.
This man was no thickhead.
"Did we kill him?" Laykash whispered almost inaudibly in Thesian to his men.
The grass root soldiers naturally did not know the name of all the nobles in in Jabel.
"When did your lord leave for Jabel?" Another soldier hence asked in an attempt to use the timeline to figure that out.
"About three weeks ago. I forgot the exact day," But that did not help as the time was close enough that he could have been at Jabel or just ''missed'' the massacre.
"Your lord Haiyan, who is he? Where is his fief?" Laskash atst asked this.
A stray noble was a very tasty treat, as they had received instruction from Alexander to hunt and kill any if the opportunity presented himself, promising them lucrative mary rewards in return.
It seemed that even after everything, Alexander still had not learned his lesson about not killing nobles.
"It''s over there. The Yasman area," Jam pointed in the same direction as Daga had, and Laykash would go visit the manorter to find it unsurprisinglypletely abandoned.
Because the lord of this estate had either been killed in Jabel or had fled for safer pastures.
But for now Laskash only mental note and asked the next question, "Since your lord is gone, why are you here? And what are you doing? How are you surviving? How do have food?"
It appeared Laykash had a tendency to bombard his interrogee with questions, making them unsure which one to answer.
"The lord gave us house-building quotas to fulfill before he left. Said he will be back from Jabel soon to check up on us. Does sire know anything about Jabel?" The vige elder with an innocent look asked.
To which many of the scouts only sneered.
Who was this old man kidding?
What happened to Jabel had spread to all nearby settlements.
Burning an entire city tended to do that.
So the patient man in the scouts spoke first in a deep, solemn voice, simply saying, "Follow our instructions, and nothing like Jabel will happen to Hatamum."
"..." Jaylim''s face went hard for a while as he then turned his back to look at the crowd of peasants standing a bit behind the vige gate, wielding makeshift weaponry of all kinds, from spears to clubs to scythes to various other esoteric weapons.
And the scouts did too, understanding this was a precaution for if they killed the vige chief and wanted to breach the gates.
Seeing the men ready to defend their vige, Jam then felt he that the backing needed to finally say,
"We are Lord Haiyan''s people. We are permitted to only follow him. So, please¡."
Which was saying that the scouts should find and convince their lord before giving them orders.
But the old man was very quick in continuing his speech, as he said without giving the soldiers a chance to re up, "But if is the instruction of Lord Alexander, we will follow as long as our bones allow it."
Which in easier English meant they would consider themand even without Haiyan''s permission if it was reasonable.
And so Laykash gave them the naked truth in as sinct a manner as possible.
"There is an army of 50,000 mening to attack Zanzan, And they intend to makendfall in Hatamum. Those houses you were building are actually lodgings for enemy soldiers. And we are here to destroy them!"
"..." Jam was so shocked that he had no idea if the man was serious or just bullshitting.
Chapter 407 Prelude To The War (Part-1)
Laykash did not need to twist the arm of the old man after saying his piece
Helping the enemy forces was a capital offense and so after screaming the vigers knew nothing, the vige chief quickly convinced his people to migrate to Zanzan.
This would have been pretty easy to do even without the threats as no one wanted to live in a ce where tens of thousands of soldiers were going to bendfall.
Because soldiers were basically bandits with legal immunity,ying their ws on the general poption''s food, homes, and women.
So the vigers quickly packed up whatever clothes and small pots and pans they could fit in their carts, their surprisingly well-stocked food rations which they had managed to swindle off their lord, and with a mncholic face set off on foot for Zanzan.
But not before they were ordered to set alight the vige, destroying all the houses, filling up all the wells, demolishing the port, and dismantling all the defensive structures.
"*Sigh*, and they were so well made too," One of the scouts could not help but regretfully sigh looking at the burning vige.
Hatamum was no dpidated vige as they had expected, but a fully-fledged small town in the making, with many houses, marketces, butchers, and all other everyday necessities.
So seeing it all go and knowing that Alexander had promised to pay for their reconstruction saddened the soldier''s heart.
But it was what it was.
"This is not the only ce. Lord Alexander has ordered all thends around Zanzan to be scorched. The invaders must not have any food or shelter." Hearing thement, Laykash reminded his subordinate of their reason for doing this.
"Couldn''t we have ambushed them here? You know, hide and then attack them the moment theynd," His reasoning was challenged by another young man who asked eagerly, feeling like it was a missed opportunity.
To which the middle-aged patient man in the group simply replied, "Leave the nning to the higher-ups. You focus on your task."
As the scouts practiced a scorched earth policy around Zanzan, removing all people, feedstock, and animals from falling into the enemy''s hands, and destroying all the wells, Alexander was busy makingst-minute preparations.
In particr, he was busy splitting his time with Faziz in charge of crossbows, and the military workshop in the eastern district which officially supplied the military with all its gear.
"My lord, 2 million crossbow bolts will be impossible to make before February. We will need at least two more weeks. I''m sorry that''s the best I can do¡" This cksmith had dark, concentric circles below his eyes as he said, his voice low, weak, and regretful.
Clearly Faziz had been pushing himself to meet the quota.
"....Hmmm. Okay, try your best to make as much as possible," Knowing this Alexander did not scold the man, but only encouraged him with a pat on the shoulder.
2 million bolts was a mammoth target given the extremely limited time window of just two weeks.
But why 2 million exactly?
Because Alexander calcted that since in the Battle of Agincourt, 5,000 English longbowmen were given a million arrows, for 10,000 crossbowmen, it should be double.
Of course, crossbows and longbows could never be a one-to-one ratio, simply given the difference in the rate of fire.
But Alexander ordered 2 million bolts nevertheless to be on the safe side.
His workshop was already capable of making 25,000 bolts a day, which made been reportedly boosted to 60,000 bolts a day by the additional personnel added.
But it appeared this was the absolute limit of the production chain.
The surprising reason for it was that there were no more expert fletchers to tie the feathers to the arrows.
Yes, of all things, this was the bottleneck, tying feathers to the arrows.
There were already around half a million crossbow bolts already in storage made before the Jabel offensive, thus simple math said that making the other one and a-half million would take about a month
And there was no way around it.
For the workers were already up working as hard as they could as long as they could, starting at the crack of dawn, and only finishing once thest glimmer of sunlight faded out.
And many times their work would be illuminated by the soft glow of candlelight as the sleepy, wintery sun might not even choose to show itself on some days.
Alexander toured the crossbow bolt-making nt, which had been expanded massively to get him his 2 million arrows, and observed the manufacturing process, while also listening to the needs and wants of the workers.
Many said there were not enough cksmiths, someined of theck of light, but most smiled and said everything was alright.
Alexander smiled, nodded, and encouraged the workers to keep up the hard work for just a while longer while knowing himself, there was really nothing he could do to improve the situation in the short time.
Because he was already his best, as he had switched the economy to aplete war economy.
This meant that he had hollowed out a lot of the other sectors in order to transfer the required personnel for the war effort, and making any improvements would need time and manpower.
Both of which he was sorelycking.
In fact so much manpower had been siphoned off the other industries, that theye to a screeching halt.
For instance, the ''luxury'' workshops such as the paper, soap, sugar, and ss were all making arrow shafts, while the lingerie shop was busy spinning out yarn for the thread that would tie the feathers to the shaft.
The st furnace had halted its production of iron ore because there was enough stockpile of the stuff and only a skeleton crew was stationed there, to guard the ce and also to make sure the fire did not go out as it would make restarting the furnace very hard.
And most of its workers were sent elsewhere.
The specialists such as the cksmiths and other artisans were sent to their work in their respective fields, mostly helping with weapons and armors manufacturing, while the regr people were relegated to either helping with the construction effort such as strengthening the southern walls, or digging a ditch around the city so that the enemy soldiers could not simply run up to the wall and put theirdders against it or to be trained as an infantryman, a garrison militia, etc.
And this type of reallocation urred in all the industries, brick, salt, road making, etc, except for the cement industry because that was the very thing being used to strengthen the outer walls.
Alexander''s siphoning even extended to shops and businesses to the point that most shops were closed and their people relocated to other projects.
And Alexander had also reintroduced daily food rations instead of the weekly ones to save on food, in case of a siege.
The long hours, fewer portions of food, and mostly closing of the taverns had drawn some grumbling in the popce, whoined that they could not even get a good drink after a hard day''sbor.
Which promoted Alexander to promise that this was only temporary and everything would go back to normal.before March.
And this cated the citizenry enough to go back to work.
Finished with his examination of the arrow factory, Alexander next went to visit the eastern military district weapons workshop, which was responsible for making the actual crossbows.
There he saw all the cksmiths, carpenters, and mostly regr folk hard at work making the stock and bow individually, before merging it together with hemp ropes.
Nest to there was another shop, dedicated to making ten thousand pavises.
A pavise was an oblong shieldrge enough to cover the entire body that was used by archers and crossbowmen to safely shoot behind from.
Alexander''s pavises were just the shields the infantrymen would carry, except it had a spike at the borrow to drive it into the ground so that archers and crossbowmen could crouch behind them to shelter against iing missile attacks when they were reloading their weapons,
This weapon was nothing new, as many times the soldiers would hold their shields above theirrades'' heads while he was shooting, and this was simply a different way of employing the same technique.
And Alexander knew this structure would be critical for protecting his archers from the camel archers'' fire.
Andstly, Alexander checked out thest workshop there, one which employed only cksmiths.
And they were busy preparing a very special weapon.
A weapon that would scare off the camelncers.
Yes, the Jahal mercenaries were not just archers.
They also carried light spears and shields to engage close quarters, thus acting as light cavalry.
And Alexander''s special weapon was designed to prevent any cavalry charge, be it camel or horse from simply smashing into his rtively squishy longbowmen and destroying them.
"My lord, will this work?" One of the cksmiths asked as he showed Alexander the piece, concern, and doubt bubbling out.
The solution seemed too simple.
"Let''s see," And Alexander could only hope that his theory would work.
In this way, the preparations continued, until finally on the thirteenth of February, Alexander''s scouts spotted arge contingent of men makendfall at multiple points along the long shoreline of Zanzan and were reportedly marching to link up with each other before presumably heading for Zanzan city.
"They arete," Alexander gave a confident smile as he received the report.
Chapter 408 Prelude To War (Part-2)
"So they did know about Hatamum," Above one of the ships, far to the east of Zanzan, Ural mused hearing his scout''s report.
The report confirmed theplete desertion of any and all viges around them, Hatamum being one of them.
"Yes, it was prudent to listen to Lord Faruq''s suggestion and send a scouting party ahead of us," Jamider (Earl) Nibraz sounded impressed.
When Faruq noticed little to no lights at nighting from the shore, much as opposed to the other times he came to Zanzan, indicating there were no people living there, he suggested letting a few cavalrymen check out the surrounding area before they all blindly sailed their ships right up to that port.
"They could be waiting for us at Hatamum. Intending tounch an attack just after we have disembarked and have not gotten to set up our camps. So I want us to disembark here," From the side, the soft, but authoritative voice of Faruq spoke up.
"It''s still about 60 km from Zanzan. Shouldn''t we get a bit closer?" Ural a bit groaned from the side at this suggestion.
What this man really wanted to do was sail right onto Zanzan''s footsteps, andy a siege there.
But that appeared to be not an option.
So he wanted to get as close as possible.
Even if they could as far as Hatamum, which was 40 km from Zanzan, he could save himself a day''s march.
For thefort-loving nobleman''s son that was precious.
But Faruq seemed adamant, as in a hardened tone he almost barked,
"No! The water is already getting quite choppy. And it will get even more so as we get closer. The rotten weather we have faced in thest few days is already proof of that."
Faruq really wanted to get off this wooden death coffin on water as soon as possible and insisted they makendfall right now.
"But the weather has cleared. And we are already runningter. I say we stay close to the shore and push on," But Ural wanted to sail further.
And he was right in saying they were runningte.
Instead of the ten days, they had taken almost two weeks to get ready, and then the stormy seas dyed them even further.
So sailing really would save them some time.
"...." But Faruq was not convinced and only turned his head pursing his lips.
"Then let us disembark in stages." Seeing the two youngsters at an impasse, Lord Nibraz decided to y the middleman, as he gave off arge smile and exined, "With so many ships, it will take a long time to disembark at one ce."
"So rather than doing that, let Lord Faruq disembark here. And we cannd a bit further. Then we can all link up before marching toward Zanzan."
"How does that sound?" The old pped his hand as he finished his suggestion.
And thispromise seemed to satisfy both parties.
"Sure. Let''s do it Lord Nibraz''s way." Faruq was quick to agree to this, followed by Ural, and the matter was settled.
So soon the group split itself into three and madendfall in three different locations separated by a few hours of sailing.
Faruq''s groupnded on the furthest and without any port facilities, had the most difficulty unloading.
"We are sorry, Young Master. But camels don''t like ships," Themander of the Jahal mercenaries named Azab spoke to Faruq in a small, but hard voice.
Of course, his hard voice was not meant to be disrespectful, but it was just his natural voice.
And the thing he was apologizing for was the dy caused by unloading the camels.
Usually camels, and horses were loaded into ships by cranes.
There would stalls were erected on the hold of the ships and the animals would be hoisted directly from the quayside up over the gunwale of the ship using cranes, pulleys, and holsters and directly down through the open loading hatch and into the hold.
But since there was no crane there, huge gangway nks had to be ced on the ports of the ships, so that the camels could disembark one by one.
And given that these beasts did not want to get on or off the ships, a variety of techniques had to be used to get them down, which included slowly coaxing them, forcibly tugging them down and even beating them to get them off the ship.
To do this for 10,000 beasts would take time.
"I understand. The animals must also be seasick. Do it gently. We have time," Faruq hence gently let Azab do his thing at his own pace.
And over in the distance, Ural and Nibraz were facing the same problem, albeit lesser ones due to their smaller numbers.
As this unloading continued, this report was soon fed to Alexander.
"My lord, should we attack them now that they are divided?" The usually cautious Melodias seemed unusually adventurous as he suggested this.
Prvong either he was really eager for a fight, or more likely the pressure of the fight was getting to him.
Alexander had noticed this sense of reckless urgency even before, particrly when he would go to check up on the training.
"My lord, we need more crossbow bolts. These green ones can barely shoot straight and need more practice," Melodias would plead to Alexander every time he would see him, saying they needed more practice
To which Alexander would reply, "You cry for more arrows. Faziz cries he can''t make more. Who do I listen to?"
And then would instruct, "Make the soldiers reuse the shot bolts. We will need every single bolt for the offensive."
They were already doing that and so Melodias would half mumble, half grumble, before ultimately obeying.
This was rtively normal, but today''s suggestion seemed overly dangerous.
So Alexander gave a reasonable answer, "By the time we have gotten our report, they must have already sorted everything out."
"And by the time we get ready to attack, they will have already set up camp," From the side, Menes additionallymented, making Melodias go quiet.
"Have they sent any demands?" From the back, Heliptos asked this and received a shake of the head from the group.
Usually, some kind of diplomatic effort would be made by both sides before a battle to give the appearance they tried to peacefully settle this.
This was rarely done in good faith, but mostly for the domestic audience.
To show that they had tried talking, but the other side was unreasonable, and hence fighting was the only way to go.
"Should we send a messenger? See what they are up to?" Then Menicus asked Alexander, which might be seen as a way for boosting morale.
And this got the young Pasha thinking, "Hmmm, maybe we should. He might be able to see their camp''s interior."
Alexander mused out aloud and looked at his retainers for their thoughts.
"We could try. In Adhania messengers are strictly protected from being harmed. So there is no harm in trying," And Heliptos the hopeful expressed his desire for so.
"Okay, then you can go," And an instantter Alexander lightly smiled at his potential messenger.
Which the greedy-for-life economy minister quickly implored Alexander to rescind, "M..my lord, I''m not that good¡good with speech¡so umm¡."
He did not want to enter the enemy''s den under any circumstances.
"Hmm, I guess your stammer will indeed get in the way," Alexander joked with a smirk, as he then turned to Menes and said, "Choose one among the officers. Tell him to pay more attention to the camp than what he says."
"Yes, my lord," Menes nodded.
Alexander then turned to his retainers as he finalized the battle n.
He began by informing them of their situation, "As you know, there are almost no great hills orrge rivers from here to Hatamum. Meaning no defensible terrains. So we will have to fight on the open field."
Then heid out his final n.
"Which is why I have decided to fight about five kilometers from Zanzan. That way, they cannot use their ships and cavalry to somehow get behind us and cut off our supply route and simply starve us out." Alexander reasoned.
And this was a huge reason why Alexander had not set off to meet the attackers.
"The lord makes sense," Menicus approved of this, and along with him all the other military leaders.
Hence the military strategy of waiting for the enemy was chosen.
Because every day they waited, their peasant levies could be better trained, and more arrows could be manufactured.
In fact, if Faruq waited long enough, Alexander even had the intention to swell his army to 60,000 and attack himself.
"My lord, should we use the cavalry to harass? Like we did in Adhan. We could also use the instant bow?" After the decision to wait was made, Grahtos proposed some harassing techniques, as he was itching to try out his new toy.
"Against 10,000 trained horse archers? Has your head turned to shit?" And was promptly shut down by this harsh bark, said by Menicus, whose gruff voice made Grahtos''s face sink.
He was quickly reminded that no matter how good his men were, they simply could not go against a 10 to 1-disadvantage.
Hence the cavalry was relegated to only scouting and reconnaissance.
And finally, after two weeks they madendfall, atst Alexander''s scouts reported to him that the army of fifty-five to sixty thousand (55,000 - 60,000) men and horses were just fifteen kilometers away from the city.
The battle was imminent.
Chapter 409 Prelude To The War (Part-3)
"We should be ready to assault Zanzan the day after tomorrow," As dusk fell, Faruq grandly stated to his council, indicating for them to prepare themselves.
Because they were just 15 km from their target.
"We were already behind when we set off. And we are now even more behind. Almost a month behind. *Sigh*, when will this end," But many of the nobles did not seem to share Faruq''s enthusiasm and grumbled about the timetable.
After they hadnded and met up, Faruq had dered, "My camels and riders are seasick. I will need a week to treat them."
And Faruq''s stanch was so irond that no amount of cajoling and reasoning worked.
And since the offensive could not begin without him, the army could only set up camp near Hatamum, and simply wait.
In the meantime, the soldiers spent idle time as they had nothing to do in the cold, whirling it away gambling, and ying various dice games.
While the officers and nobles enjoyed themselves with the wine and women they bought with themselves.
"The siege of the city will not take¡." Faruq attempted to cate many of the discontent voices, but did not get to finish for a scout shouted from outside the tent, "My lords, I bear great news! May I enter?"
He seemed both excited and a bit fearful.
The voice made all themanders inside the tent instinctively turn their heads at the tent ps to locate the source of the noise, before Faruq answered in a deep voice, "Come in."
He wondered what could it be.
''Has Alexandere to surrender?'' He smirked at the thought, thinking it would be far better for the man tomit suicide than fall under his captivity.
For Djose nned to not let Alexander off so easily.
While the other lords had more realistic expectations.
''Has the city rebelled?'' They hoped such so that their campaigns could be cut short.
And this was not too far-fetched an idea.
Many times a city, when faced with a huge opposing army and the prospect of a lengthy siege and starvation, would choose to simply surrender or even rebel against their masters.
But it appeared that was not the case.
"My lords, we have noticed ongoing earthworks close to Zanzan. It seems the Zanzans have sallied out to meet us in the open!" The scout blurted out the moment he entered the tent.
"What!" And hearing this, a noble not good with keeping his emotions in check immediately shot back.
But his voice did not show shock.
But joy.
Surprise and joy.
Because this likely meant they could a lengthy siege.
"Give us the details," Compared to this noble''s outburst, Jamider (Earl) Nibraz appeared much more reserved, much more cool.
It appeared the closer this old man wasing to his son''s murderer, the more cool headed he was bing.
"Yes," The scouts responded to the order before taking out a scroll and reading it aloud, "Our cavalry scouts have observed a camp set being up about 5 kilometres from Zanzan city. Initial observation ces the enemy forces at around 30,000. But it might be more given that we had to return quickly because it was getting dark."
"30,000? Weren''t we said their entire poption was less than that?" Ural raised his eyebrow at the report.
"They must have gathered some more from the surrounding viges. Remember how we found all the viges and manor deserted?" And Faruq helped hime up with a usible reason.
And it was a pretty good guess.
"Then they must have had also some time to train them¡ given that we are a monthte," Ural sent a ncing look and did not forget to poke at Faruq with a sour note.
A jab that the young man ignored with a straight face.
Instead Faruq addressed the scout, "Okay, you can go now. We will conduct a thorough reconnaissance tomorrow morning to see what Alexander is really nning."
The prudentmander did not want to jump to conclusions and wanted to get a better look at the enemy''sposition during prime daylight hours to determine if it was a trap, a feint, or a genuine threat.
And he urged his military council to do the same before he decided to dismiss his war council.
But just as he was about to, another herald came to him with the report, "My lord, a messenger from Zanzan is here bearing news from Lord Alexander and wants to meet you. Shall I let him in?"
"Me? Did he ask for me by name?" Faruq asked specifically.
He wanted to figure out how much the opposite side knew about them.
"No, he just said he wanted to meet themander. Didn''t say why either. Said it was a message from his lord to my lord." The messenger answered.
"..." Faruq then turned to give an inquisitive look at his retainers, seeking their advice but only received curious looks himself.
It seemed they wanted to see how Faruq would handle this.
Because to many, Faruq seemed unusually respectful to Alexander during their conversation.
Which they did not like.
Getting no answer from any of his advisers, Faruq hence made the decision himself, and said to the messenger., "Okay, let him in."
And soon a military officer to the Zanzan army entered the tent.
"Greetings great lords, I am Vespay," The tall man appeared polite but not subservient as he bowed to the lords.
He was a clever and intelligent man, and someone favored by Menes.
"What does the great lord of Zanzan have to say to us?" Faruq got straight to the point, adding a heavy dose of sarcasm with it.
"...My lord wonders why is there such arge army marching towards his city when all of you signed the treaty? Are you not afraid of the gods?" Seeing his reception, Vespay did not sugarcoat anything.
"Your lord exactly knows why we are here. Leave!" Faruq curtly shot back, thus ending possibly the shortest negotiation.
And this trip also proved to be thest for Vespay, as when he was leaving the camp, he was captured by the soldiers under Faruq''s orders and tortured the whole night for information regarding Alexander''s battle ns.
It appeared the ''messenger immunity'' did not work on Vespay as Faruq did not see Alexander as a noble.
But Vespay was not an easy man to make talk, and given the short time window they had, the Jahal mercenaries had to report to some pretty brutal tactics to make him talk and make him talk fast.
But even then they only managed to get some pretty basic information from him before he died from his injuries, and his head was ced on a pike.
Still the next morning Faruq did learn what he wanted to know the most, that Alexander was indeed nning to have a showdown in the open fields.
And he even got to know his enemy''s forceposition- 30,000 infantrymen, 10,000 archers, and 1,000 cavalry.
Of course, the word archer was a mistrantion because crossbow was a new word.
The mercenaries had also asked Vespay for additional intel such as Alexander''s battle ns, themander''s names, and most importantly the city''s defenses, and garrison strength.
But the man had gritted his teeth even when he was being yed alive.
But Faruq did not care what happened to that mongrel.
Because Alexander and all his followers would soon follow, he was sure of that.
Instead, he said, "To think that he could have gotten so many men," as he praised the numbers.
Faruq had been skeptical of the number 30,000 thinking it was toorge.
But it appeared the actual army was muchrger.
Because this was not a small army in any conflict.
In fact, it was quite a respectable number regardless of the context.
And for one city to manage this, it was in fact a gigantic army.
Of course, Faruq did not swallow Vespay''s number just like that.
He had also sent his scouts to verify the situation and the two reports seemed to match.
"There must be not one man manning the walls, haha," When Faruq gave this report, this was the first thing one of the nobles smirked.
And made Ural even nod and say, "Yes, you may be right." before suggesting, "How about attacking the port? We are already blockading it May we can try an attack there?"
And as soon as he said this, the idea seemed to gain some traction from even Lord Nibraz, who joined the young lord, "Hmm. we could try that. Leave the camp with a skeleton crew to Fool the Zanzans we are still. But actually board the ships to back through the back. That''s not a bad idea actually."
The old lord repeatedly nodded his head to show his approval.
But though the n sounded very good on paper, Faruq could not believe there were idiots this big with him.
"Who said the port was undefended?" He simply asked, reminding all of them that this was simply a conjecture said by a jubnt noble in the heat of the moment.
A im the man had nothing to back him up with.
And this realization caused many to flush in shame and the entire room to be silent as a coffin
An opportunity that Faruq decided to seize to cement his leadership, "The heavens have given us a prime opportunity here. Alexander, for whatever misguided reason has chosen to meet us head on, instead of a siege. Let us not waste that. We march tomorrow at dawn!"
Chapter 410 Prelude To The War (Part-4)
Faruq''s deration made all themanders wake up to the facts.
And Lord Nibraz was the first to speak up in support of it.
"Lord Faruq is right. Even if the harbor is defended by a herd of pigs, it does not matter. We should not give Alexander any chance to correct his mistake. For if he goes back to his city, with forty-one thousand (41,000) men to defend the walls, the resulting siege will be impossible for us to win any time soon."
That would be their worst-case scenario.
And so all the nobles quickly bought into Faruq''s head-on offensive.
"That''s right. The idiot has made such a huge mistake. We should capitalize on it. And besides, we have 15,000 cavalry with us! What are we afraid of facing, hahaha?" They all pumped themselves up.
In Adhania, it was considered that the side with more cavalry would win most of the time, and hence the nobles felt pretty good about themselves.
Thus the military order that they would march tomorrow at dawn and meet the enemy in the morning was spread throughout the ranks of the nobles'' army, and everyone got down to preparing themselves.
Particrly, the officers were barred from sleeping with women tonight.
While the enemy was making the veryst of their preparations, simultaneously, Alexander was having his soldier put up thest finishing touches around their camp.
They had dug ditches, and nted stakes, and the battlefield was set for the showdown tomorrow.
While the pasha himself was enjoying somest-minute quality time with his newly-wed wife inside Zanzan itself..
"How many do you think there are?" Cambyses asked her husband with worry and fear wrapping around the question as she gazed at the enemy.
But she was not actually not asking about the number of the soldiers.
No, she was asking about the ships as the pair stood on the southern walls, gazing into the harbor.
From there, as Cambysesid her eyes upon the sea, her heart slightly trembled as she noticed the once blue, shimmering water of the port be nketed by the huge, unfurled, white sails of Kuleef''s fleet, their numbers appearing to drown the very sun itself and cast an ominous shadow on the now deserted port.
The fleet seemed endless of many of the citizenry and their appearance had caused everyone who worked in the dock, the dockworkers, fishermen, and the various small and big merchants had retreated to behind the safety of the walls, giving the once most bustling part of the city a forlorn feeling, one which made Cambyses''s heart ache.
"The scouts presumably counted up to three hundred before losing track. But I would say maybe five hundred," Alexander gave his estimate.
This was based on the calction that as an average ship could carry 100 men and their supplies, so 50,000 people would need around 500 ships.
"Will they attack the harbor?" Cambyses then posed turning her head to her husband.
Such arge force would not be easy to repulse.
"Unlikely. They would have done so already if they wanted to," Alexander answered confidently to reassure his wife.
This was based on both the interrogated reports he had received and also from his reconnaissance scouts who confirmed that the bulk of the army was still camped 15km from Zanzan.
"We should build a navy. Being blockaded does not feel good. Feels like I''m a rat," Cambyses then sourly said, looking at the ship with hatred and tasking her husband with his next project.
A navy would not only be able to prevent a blockade but also protect the trade routes that Alexander no doubt wanted to build.
To which Alexander surprisingly answered negatively, "Maintaining a navy costs too much. And it needs a lot of good sailors. So maybe in a few years."
Alexander had no immediate ns for a navy.
For the navy he did have, the few ships he had gotten from Pasha Muazz''s legacy had all been set alight and burned under his order to prevent them from falling into the enemy''s hand.
Hence Alexander''s ports had no friendly vessels.
And given his manpower and budget shortage, he intended to let it stay that way, and use hisrge southern walls to defend this weak point, while in the meantime he nned to just let the merchants protect their own merchandise.
Cambyses knew Alexander''s condition, and so could only tten her lips together at the reply, and change the topic to a more encouraging subject.
"Alex, you go fight without worry. I have 20,000 garrisoned men and a million arrows. The walls will not fall. I swear," She reassured him, her eyes zing with determination.
Though she really did not need to put on such a martyr-like look as the extra month had allowed Alexander to greatly bolster his defenses, training a surplus of troops and even drawing a surplus of arrows from a predicted deficit.
And though these men were not yet fit to fight with the army, they were adequate to hold the walls.
"Mmm, I will be counting on you," Alexander lightly nodded.
As the city lord''s wife, and more importantly, as the city guard chief, Cambyses was put in charge of the city defenses with Bartholomew as her deputy.
And they would be the ones responsible for guarding the walls.
And with 20,000 defenders, Alexander was confident that no matter the strategic genius of the opposing side, they would not be able to ovee that number any time soon.
At least not before he would be able to return to assist.
This way, Alexander could fight without the worry of getting his city sniped from right under his nose.
"The guestdies have also moved to the Temple of Ramuh. The Queen mother even urged me to seek refuge there if things get too bad," Cambyses then informed her husband of another development.
"Hmm, scheming bitch." To which Alexander only snubbed, disdaining at this ''act'' ofpassion.
Because it was an act as Alexander exined to Cambyses, "She did this because in this way, if I win, she can just say she was always looking out for us. And if I lose¡well dead men tell no tales. And her promises need not matter, hmph!"
Alexander made his disdain very vocally known.
And Cambyses was a bit surprised by this amount of acridness.
It was not like the Queen mother had not tried to convince Alexander.
And given she was so adamantly rejected, the attitude she disyed was quite normal.
"Is this only because of her attitude? Or because of something else?" Cambyses suspected that Alexander was likely vexed by something else and hence asked.
And Alexander did not hide the real reason from his main wife.
"Over the past two months, I repeatedly asked for some kind of reinforcement from Ptolomy. Anything! But was always given the same excuse, ''No time and no spare men. ''We have lost too many men in the drought and rebellion,'' Ptolomy wrote the same line six times in one letter. I counted," Alexander first vented.
And then gave the actual reason behind his sourness, "But Camius''s contact in Adhan tells him that the king is arranging levies for a winter offensive. Says it''s a directmand from Ptolomy and is being overseen by Farzah."
This information was given by Goruk, who was a kingpin in Adhan''s underworld and Camius''sckey.
When Alexander read this information, he clearly understood what was going on which he now exined to Cambyses,
"They don''t have men to help me, but have the time to raise an army? Motherfuc*ers are using this attack as an excuse to annex their nearby noble territories. F*ck!"
Alexander seemed unusually crass and crude today,unching himself into a tirade at the slightest provocation.
''Seems like the pressure of thest two months has gotten to him. He''s cranky,'' Understanding this, like a faithful wife, Cambyses smiled and nodded at her husband''sint, showing her support for him.
And asionally she would join with a hum and a yes.
Though internally she actually understood Ptolomy''s actions and even approved of it.
He was just taking advantage of the situation that had arisen, nothing more, nothing less.
Just like Alexander would have if their positions were switched.
"Alex, why don''t you stay the night tonight here? Get some rest?" After Alexander finished his diatribe, Cambyses politely asked.
For the past few days, Alexander had been going to sleep in the camp at night among the soldiers to boost morale.
And Alexdner made the same excuse, "No, the enemy might attack any day. I need to be with the men."
The morale in the camp would drop too greatly if Alexander was not present.
But Cambyses felt Alexander was pushing himself too hard and knew he was not getting his needed sleep at the camp.
So she got up to first wrap her hands around her man''s broad shoulders, and said, "If they wanted to attack, they would have done so already today. So just stay the night. You leave even before dawn breaks. Come."
Thatst word was so soft and inviting, that Alexander felt his bones turn soft and putty.
He could not even remember thest time he had slept with his wife after this ordeal started amd sorely wanted that warmth.
But still he was hesitant.
"But if I''m not there when they attack¡," He tried to find an excuse.
But Cambyses softly whispered, "The camp is just 5 kilometers away. You can reach it in 10 minutes on the horse. Nobody will even know."
Under Cambyses''s urging, Alexander was soon lulled to a fantastic sleep and only woke up at dawn when a messenger came to inform him that the opposing forces were seen marching towards Zanzan.
War had finallye.
Chapter 411 Faruqs Battle Plan
Alexander rapidly dressed himself the moment he got the news, donning his armor and kit, before kissing his wife and the three girls goodbye, and then riding out with his bodyguards to the camp as soon as possible.
The cold spring air brushed past him as hepleted the short journey without incident, and was quickly ushered inside.
"They have started marching my lord," Menes was there to greet Alexander around the gates, and he then heard his boss say, "Have the soldiers take their meals. We will move out in an hour."
Alexander had constructed defensive structures prior to the battle a kilometer ahead of the camp and he intended to face the enemy there.
"Yes, my lord," Menes was already doing this so, and so soon the pre-battle meals were consumed, and the grand total of 42, 143 people moved out of their camp, leaving only a small rear guard consisting of mostly ves and servants to guard the camp''s possessions.
And as the cool, rxing, spring sun shone brightly over the sky, promising the day to be a glorious one, the two armies soon spotted one another, each quickly covering a part of the horizon like the ominous specter of death.
Just the sheer mass of the vast number of men made so much noise as they moved that it seemed to set the air abuzz and scare off the wild animals and birds.
For it appeared there was no force that could withstand either of them.
"It is the heavens favoring us that the Lord managed to know about this attack. If we were unprepared¡" Melodias silently whispered as he need not finish that sentence to elicit pictures of horrible carnage in his mind.
And all those who heard his trepidations such as the nearby milliarymanders shared the same thoughts.
"The gods have favored us. Let us pray they will continue to favor us in this battle too," One of his subordinates sped his hands and prayed.
Though it had to be said that saying it was Alexander''s great luck to discover the enemy beforehand might actually be not correct.
Because just as Alexander was being praised for detecting the enemy and taking steps to avoid a lengthy siege they believed they could not win, the opposing sides as also blessing the heavens for making Alexander too dumb to make use of his walls.
And in this round, it was Alexander who got yed, for if he had just used his sixty thousand (60,000) men to actively defend the city, the attackers would have had to return home with nothing to show for their efforts, for most the present levies would be soon needed in the harvesting fields.
But Alexander did not know the attackers were in such a time crunch.
On the contrary, he believed that with Pasha Djose''s presumably vast food stocks, the siege around the city will be able to be maintained for several months if not years.
Hence he chose to meet the attackers head-on, and inadvertently making his life a lot more difficult and dangerous in the process than it had to be
Perhaps if he had never attacked Jabel, he would have been in an actually better position.
Because it was not like Alexander would not have noticed an army marching toward him till they attacked.
He would have certainly gotten the news when the army would havended on Hatamum, allowing him some time to prepare.
And depending on his walls and crossbows holding on for a month would have been a cinch.
But real life was rarely like that, where both sides knew all the information.
No, in the real world, you made decisions based on the iplete information you have.
And in doing so, sometimes the actions that makes perfect sense to you, might make it seempletely foolish to the opposing side who knows the full details.
And just one example was this battle that was about to start imminently.
"Have the men rest and drink water. And send scouts to determine the enemy''s formation. We attack in an hour," Faruq stopped his army about 2 km from Alexander''s position and sent out themand.
The men had only marched for one and a half hours, and were nowhere tired, but Faruq still wanted them to be in the best possible condition.
Hence the rest.
While the Jahal mercenaries were sent out to circle and determine Alexander''s troop deployment.
"So those are camel?" Menicus ''s eyes widened a bit with curiosity as for the first time in his life the aged mercenaryid eyes upon the beast he had heard so much about.
Nimble, graceful, and most of tall, Menicus from atop his horse could not help but admire the magnificent beast and even asked himself what it would feel like to ride that steed instead of a simple horse.
While the group of Jahal mercenaries expertly circles Menicus''s contingent of soldiers, trying to figure out the weak points, their fierce gazes shing with the steely spirit of the Zanzan troops.
Menicus was not the only one surprised by this, for camels were a new thing to almost everyone here.
And some like Menicus expressed marvel, some surprise, and most produced the primal feeling called fear.
"Men, these are just diseased yellow horses. Do not be afraid! Haha," And to remedy this, from the side, one of Menicu''s subordinates described the beast in as base and crude manner as possible.
The yellow was from the beast''s skin color and alluded to how humans would look when sick, while the word diseased came from the hump which looked like a tumor, and how camels looked malnourished due to them being skinner than a horse.
None of this was of course actually true, as Faruq''s camels were as healthy as you could get them.
But the rousing cry managed to serve its purpose, as the surrounding men broke into a burst ofughter, diluting the tension.
"Commander, should we chase them off?" Seeing the horse riders circle around them like vultures was not a pleasant feeling and an eager captain (600 men leader) asked for permission to attack.
"No, these are just scouts. Let them do their job," But Menicus denied it.
Because there was no point in doing such.
Not only were the opposing forces too few and scattered, but they were also cavalry, meaning attacking them on foot would be very hard if they chose to run.
Hence the Jahal mercenaries were allowed to fully check out Alexander''s troop dispersion.
After which they quickly delivered their reconnaissance report to their war council, consisting primarily of Faruq, Ural, and Nibraz.
"The enemy has ced both of their wings ahead of the center, with each side consisting of archers numbering five thousand (5,000), for a total of 10,000." The head scouts read out the intel loudly, and even gave his reasoning for this, saying, "We are sure they are archers because we have seenrge pavises being set up. Obviously, they n to use this to shoot from cover."
The mercenary then further continued, "The two nks have been heavily fortified. There is a wide, semicircr ditch of about two meters around them, filled with sharp wooden stakes driven into the ground to stop them from being overrun by our infantry or through a cavalry charge."
"In fact, we have seen many more wooden logs being driven into the ground even as we scouted, the peasants using their wooden clubs to push the wood down into the earth and then using a sickle to sharpen the top." The scout added a bit of extra info.
It seemed the peasants wanted as many sharp stakes as possible to separate themselves from the enemy.
And the scoutstly reported, "The center of the enemy army is ced half a kilometer behind the nks. There are 30,000 men as we predicted and they are arranged in two rows with no fortifications around them. That is all."
The scout gave a military salute as he finished, standing in attention awaiting further inquiries.
"There is no cavalry?" Faruq chose this as his first question.
He wanted to confirm this because an army without cavalry was a really sluggish army, unable to respond to quick changes on the battlefield.
"We did not spot any my lord,... except the few scouts," Came the answer.
They really did not spot any cavalry among the deployed army formation.
"Hahaha, Lord Faruq, this is to be expected. How do you expect a poor brat with a single city to have a cavalry? Victory is ours, haha," From the sides, one of the nobles tried to give an exnation for this, while sounding extremely pleased.
And Faruq found that to be reasonable too.
For he remembered the meager resources avable to Alexander and also the Thesian culture of preferring infantry over cavalry
Thus it was very much possible that Alexander did not have any cavalry.
While in reality, Alexander did have about 1,000 horses, but they were kept in the reserve to plug up any hole in the defense.
And since they were ced at the back, the Jahal scouts failed to spot them.
Hence, another example of working with imperfect knowledge.
And using this imperfect knowledge, Faruq decided toy out his formation.
"Okay, my lords, here is what I propose," He began, proposing,
"The Jahal mercenaries will take the nks, attacking the archers, aided by our own missile units."
"While the chariots and cavalry charge the center, with the infantry following behind and breaking through there."
[Note- Troop formation map inment]
Chapter 412 Visualizing The Scale
"How is that?" Faruq asked after finishing his war strategy.
And as the most senior of the group, Lord Nibraz felt it was his right toment first.
And hemented positively, saying, "It is a good n. Pin down the nks using the camel archers, and then destroy the center using the chariots. Haha, good and simple, I like it. I like it very much."
He found the n especially attractive because it gave him the chance to use his chariots in the initial charge.
And in that way not only would he get to destroy his son''s murderer, but he would also get to demonstrate to these youngsters the virtues of the chariot.
Hence the enthusiasm.
The other nobles too did not have a problem with this n, and hence soon the finalmanders for the battle were chosen.
Naturally, Faruq was chosen to lead the center, consisting of 30,000 infantry.
He then chose two men from his mercenary unit to be themander of the two nks, with the right going to Azab, and the left given to Azab''s son-inw, Jabad.
Lord Ural was put in charge of his 2,000 cavalry ced in front of the infantry.
Lord Nibraz was in charge of the chariots ced alongside the cavalry.
Lord Liakit was in charge of the archers that were ced on the right of the cavalry, next to the nks of the Jahal mercenaries.
Andstly, Lord Nyantim was in charge of the 4,000 slingers, all of whom were his personal guards, ced on the left nk of the army, along with the camel archers.
In this way, Faruq managed to pretty well to make the patchwork of nobles with conflicting interests and inted egose together and form a solid military unit, a unit capable of wielding lethal strength.
And it was to be unleashed against an opponent who had a far simplermand structure.
Alexander''s left nk belonged to Menicus with his legion of 5,000 crossbowmen.
The center belonged to Menes with 30,000 men and was the main attacking force.
There was the right nk belonging to Melodias with the sameposition as Menicus.
And then there was Grahtos whomanded the reserve of 1,000 cavalry and a further 1,000 infantry.
Andstly there was the lord himself, Alexander- whose task was to oversee everything and make sure all the parts of the army moved in coordination with one another.
Each of themanders were instructed to concentrate onmanding their respective soldiers on their respective fronts of the army without needing to worry about what was going on around the rest of the army, for that was Alexander''s job.
He would keep an eye on the entire battlefield, and make sure no abrupt, harmful changes urred around the army.
For example, if Alexander noticed a part of the army weakening, or there was a nking attack that either Menicus or Melodias was too weak to deal with, Alexander would tell Menes to transfer one or two legions from him to help them.
And in a vice verse case, if Menes was getting pushed back too much, Alexander would tell the Mencius or Melodais to concentrate fire to the sides to harass and thin the enemy infantry ranks.
There were a myriad of other types of situations where Alexander would be required to make decisions based on the overall situation and not consider just one sector, and all this which would fall squarely onto him.
And such types of decisions could not be made by amander who was in the thick of the battle.
Because he would be far too busymanding the troops and encouraging them to fight and would have no way time tomand the army, which would require him to receive reports from the various fronts, think and analyze them with a clear head, and then give the proper instructions to the officers.
Not to mention he would also not have knowledge of the entire battlefield, meaning he would not be able to spot the weak spots appearing in his army in time and reinforce them, or notice the weakening of an enemy''s lines to take advantage of.
For the only way he would be able to do both was if he had an overhead drone giving him a bird''s eye view of the huge battlefield.
And since technology had yet to be invented, there arose the need for someone like Alexander.
Someone who could stay back and at least get a 2D eagle''s eye view over the vast fields.
And it was a vast battlefield no doubt about it.
A size that had to be seen to be believed.
For example, just on Alexander''s side, the thirty thousand (30,000) men in the center were divided into 6 legions and stood in 2 massive rows, with each row having three legions for a total of 15,000 men.
And in just one of these legions, there were 10 battalions (there were 480 soldiers in each, but Alexander had boosted it to 500 because not all the servants were needed as they were fighting at the doorsteps of their homes, meaning a less logistical burden).
And in each such battalion, there were 6panies, (eachpany had a bit over 80 men to make up the total 500), in each of which stood 10 rows of around 8 men.
This 8-man structure was the basic squad, and each man was ced on the battle formation such that he would fight and die with his squad, by the side of his brothers in arms.
And from this very basic unit, the sheer size of the battleground would be calcted.
Each soldier in thepany stood a meter apart from either side of hisrade, meaning a total separation of 2 meters between the two, which was meant to give each legionary the space he needed to move freely, to thrust his sword and attack, and to step around and dodge the iing spears.
This was in much contrast to the phnx where the men would be smooshed together to maximize the spear''s thrust.
And the differences did not end there, as contrary to the phnx, these legionaries also stood 2 meters front to back in their rows, giving just a singlepany (80, now 85 men) a length of around 14 meters and a width of 18 meters, for a total area of 252 square meters.
Alexander had arranged 3 suchpanies side by, with a distance of 3 meters between each of them, and the other 3panies in the back rows, with a distance of 8 meters front to back, giving just a single battalion (500 men formation) which was arranged in two rows and three columns, a length of 48 meters, and a width of 44 meters for a total area of 2,112 square meters per battalion.
And this amount of space was for a very basic unit of just 500 men, arranged in a 25 men wide, and 20 men deep formation.
And given that 10 such battalions arranged in a row made up one legion, just these 5,000 men stood half a kilometer long and half a kilometer deep, covering a quarter of a square kilometer, or 50 football fields.
Yes, fifty, not five.
To further contextualize this, a soldier would need to walk five minutes to cover this distance.
A horse on a full gallop would take half a minute to go from one side to side.
A crossbowman, who had an average range of about 250 meters, would only be able to make his arrow reach the halfway mark of a legion in formation.
Andstly, a soldier looking to the very opposite end of the legion would find it very difficult to discern the man standing at the very edges.
And this was just one legion.
For Alexander had his infantry standing in three legions side by side and in two rows.
Meaning the center of the army, the one under Menes was one and a half kilometers long (1.5km) long, created by the 7,500 men, and one kilometer (1km) wide created by 4 rows of them, covering an area of 1.5 sq km.
And this was just the center.
When the two other legions of crossbowmen in the wings were also considered, who were deployed very simrly, the frontline easily stretched to 2 km and represented an area of 2 sq km.
This was quiteparable to the areas of many ancient cities, which was also why a moving army was often described as a moving town in nice descriptions and as a locust swarm that devoured everything in its path in many others.
And like Alexander, Faruq''s formation too covered a simr area, even a bit bigger actually due to hisrger number, and the presence of the great number of cavalry.
Hence, when these great armies would meet, it would not be wrong to describe the sh as the smashing of cities, with each giving the impression they were indestructible.
After all, how do you defeat a city where all its inhabitants are armed to the teeth?
But one would be defeated.
Armies far greater than this had been defeated, broken, and obliterated.
They were regrly defeated and today would be no different.
In fact, Alexander himself had defeated a force about twice asrge as this just three months ago, and as he gazed at the battlefield, he was confident he would be able to do the same today.
He had to.
Chapter 413 Alexanders Battle Plan
Alexander could not help but release a sigh of amazement as his eyes swept across the two opposing armies.
The fact that such huge numbers of people could be gathered and then made to move in concert with one another like a proper army and not just a mob of armed men showed the ingenuity of the ancients.
For this required great administrative skills to gather andmand the people, and in addition, the ability to solve all the logistical implications regarding both transporting the army and during mid-battle was a challenge only a highly intelligent species could aplish..
This went to show that these people might be technologically backward, but no less smart.
''They should not be underestimated,'' Alexander ultimately reminded himself as he turned to face hismanders and decide the battle ns.
"The enemy will likely use their archers, and camel to attack our nks. And then charge our centre with chariots or cavalry." Alexander said tomanders, perfectly predicting Faruq''s n.
Though it had to be said this was less credit to Alexander''s prescience and more so because this type of maneuver was ssic.
And just because Alexander could predict it, did not mean Faruq''s y was any less lethal.
ssics were called ssics for a reason.
Because they were very versatile.
"Our job will be to absorb that initial cavalry blow, and then strike back. Commanders, don''t let your legions break at the first strike!" Alexander swung his fist in encouragement and his gaze particrly fell on the temporary legionmanders.
Thesemanders had been chosen from the original mercenaries and each was tasked withmanding 5,000 soldiers in the center.
To exin it fully, Alexander had 6 legions in the center, arranged in two rows of three.
And these legions were named, with the first row being named 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively from left to right.
And simrly, the next row being named 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively from left to right.
These individual legions were allmanded by officers chosen by Alexander, Menes, Melodias, and Menicus, with the two leftmost center legions being directed by Menicus''s men, right next to their former leader, the center two legions being directed by Heliptos and one of Menes''s officers, and the rightmost two legionsmanded by Melodias''s former mercenaries.
With Menes being the overallmander of the 30,000 men and relegated to ensuring the overall smooth coordination of all 6 legions.
And the reason for Alexander''s gaze falling on some of the legionmanders was not because he doubted any of their ability, but because of their troop quality, as Alexander would go on further to exin in this battle n.
"Our battle n is to defend our wings from nking attacks, while our center works on destroying the enemy''s center. The Adhanian do not have a strong infantry culture, and we will make use of that." Alexander imed.
And then continued directing how the battlefield should unfold in order to gain victory.
"Once the battle starts, and the center has absorbed the initial blow, the skirmish between the infantry will begin. There they have the same number of troops as us, 30,000. But we are much better trained. And we will use our better-trained troops to exhaust the peasant levies until the frontline weakens." Alexander proposed.
"Once that is done, once the ferocity of their attacks weakens signaling their exhaustion, we will make our move. We will move the fifth and sixth legion from the center and right column to reinforce the left column, telling them to attack the exposed nks of the phnxes attacking there."
"Meaning 4 of our legions will attack their 2 equivalent legions, both from the front and the right side (the phnx''s right side, because the opposing armies have opposite sides), ultimately crushing them."
"This is also why I have ced the center a bit behind our nks, to give the 2 legions enough space to move and attack the enemy phnx''s nks."
"And once that part of the enemy routs, the entire center will fold and with it the army," Alexander confidently repeated the battle n that had been already discussed.
This tactic was not unknown to the others.
But it was rare and seldom used as it was quite dangerous.
It worked by hollowing out other sections of the front to produce an overwhelming local advantage along a narrow front and using the huge numerical advantage to basically drill a hole in the enemy formation which would cause a copse along that part of the army, and that would then cascade into theplete breakage of all formation, routing the entire army.
Kind of like how a crack initiates at just one small point along the ss but soon rapidly spreads throughout the entire structure, destroying the entire thing.
Or how a modern blitzkrieg worked by using tanks as spearheads to prate a small section of the defense line and then exploiting that weakness to expand the bridgehead.
With the most ring w of the tactic being the need to have some extremely well-disciplined troops who would be able to still hold the line along the sections where the hollowing out had urred, and not simply break before the other soldiers could overwhelm the enemy.
And this was something Alexander was well aware of, and the reason behind his poignant gaze to some of the legionmanders.
Because 20,000 of Alexander''s men were peasants, of simr quality to Faruq.
And hence he reminded hismanders, addressing particrly Heliptos in charge of the 2nd legion, and an officer from Melodias''s group named Justianus in charge of the 3rd legion.
"As you all know, this tactic will be quite straining on the 2nd and 3rd legions. They must face twice their numbers and still hold their nerves until the other four legions have initiated a breakthrough."
"Heliptos, Justianus, you must not break under pressure. You must not crack under their attack. Instead, you must inspire confidence, perseverance and endurance in your men. The entire battle n rests squarely upon you two." Alexander reminded the two men of their heavy responsibility, even calling them out by name.
Heliptos remained quiet hearing this speech, only nodding heavily.
He did not need to be reminded of his significance.
And though he was a greedy man who loved life very much, he knew that escape from this battle was impossible.
His lord and even his own colleagues would reject him if they chickened out, and the enemy would likely not let him go after all the things his lord did, whose fault also carried over to him.
Hence fighting was the only way forward.
While Justianus was far more boisterous, stepping up towards Alexander and thumping his chest before igniting his warrior spirit and saying, "Worry not, my lord, You have given us, the 2nd and 3rd legions the best soldiers in the world. While the other 4 legions are just peasant ramble. Weak and untrained."
"Our pride as mercenaries would not let us sleep at night if we could not fight at least twice as well as them. We could even fight three times our number, hahaha."
This guy seemed very confident in his fighting prowess, radiating confidence and dominance.
While his loud mouth managed to wound the other legionmanders, as he basically called them weak, but also produced pride because these men were all from the various mercenary groups, whom Justianus praised.
"Mmmn, I hope everyone can havemander Justianus''s confidence, and lead their troops as such," Alexander gave a light nod to the loud im, showing moderate approval of the thought.
He did not know if Justianus really meant what he said, or was just trying to show off to him as a way to gain favor.
That would have to wait after the battle was concluded.
Alexander finished responding to this newmander, then turned to Heliptos and addressed him in a grave voice,
"Heliptos, as Justianus said, the 2nd and 3rd legions are the most trained unit we have. The 3rd legion is made of the freed Cantagenan ves and servants, along with the Adhanian who fought against Amenheraft."
"While the 2nd legion is the most elite at our disposable, and possibly one of the greatest fighting forces in the world. Because it consists of purely the original mercenaries. All 5,000 of them. All of our men, our brothers, ourrades, our friends are at your disposal." Alexander said each of the words with a deepness, and heaviness rarely heard of.
Because the 2nd legion really did mean that much to him.
Both personally and politically.
Personally because a lot of the men there were his friends and acquaintances.
And politically because these trained men were the seeds he would use to build his army.
Heliptos too understood the heavy burden ced on his shoulders.
The 2nd legion had huge numbers of friends andrades of all the military council members.
He could not y with their lives.
Hence he put his fist across his chest, and promised, "My lords, I''m aware of the heavy task I face. And I assure you, the 2nd legion will not retreat. Not while I''m alive. Not while a single man in the legion is alive."
Rarely had Heliptos such a solemn face.
And so Alexander spoke first to show his approval, saying, "Mmmn, we are counting on you. For the task of the 2nd legion ahead is truly hard. It will be the most vulnerable of all the legions, right in the center, alone and with no way to call for help from the nk. So it must hold."
He repeated, highlighting the importance.
Chapter 414 Avenging Vespay
Alexander''s n would leave the 2nd all alone for a while as the 5th legion would be moved away, putting the former in a highly dangerous situation.
For, at least, the 3rd legion would be able to request help from the crossbowmen on its right nk.
But the 2nd legion would have none of that.
And that was also why Alexander put his best of the best, the creme de the creme in there, and even put a council member in there to inspire the soldiers.
And he finished the battle n with the words, "This battle will not be easy. But then again, battles are always won through hardship. Strive hard mymanders."
"Yes my lord!" Came the chorus which also signaled the end of the meeting and each of themanders soon assumed their positions.
While Alexander rode to the front of the troops under the clear, sunny, morning sun, ready to give his rousing final battle speech.
But as he stood in front of the huge crowd, just about to energize the soldiers, suddenly he heard a loud, deep horn ring out from the enemy camp and soon spotted three horses galloping towards the line, the leading rider carrying arge pike with something attached to it.
And soon that circr shape revealed itself to be a head.
"Vespay!" Alexander''s heart shook as he immediately recognized the familiar face.
He was a part of his original mercenary group, and no matter how bloodied and brushed, or dusty and pale his face might be, Alexander would never mistake that countenance.
He was a good soldier.
''Bastards killed Vespay!" Next to Alexander, Hemicus in a rare show of anger gritted his teeth and shed his eyes in anger, making his horse neigh in solidarity with his master.
"Let us first hear what they have to so. Then, since they have killed our messenger, we will also kill all three of them."
While Alexander urged Hemicus to be patient for the chance.
The reason for the three ridesing to meet them was a battle tradition of Kuleef and much of Zanzan.
In this custom, both sides would send three men forward to talk to the enemy and give him onest chance to surrender and avoid a fight, while also urging the opposing soldiers to give up and go home because they had no chance, as a kind of demoralizing technique.
The three riders stopped about 50 meters away from Alexander after which the one holding the pike with the severed head steeped ahead and introduced himself as the leader, "I''m Lord Nafi, where is your leader?"
The man was in his early twenties, with the effect of puberty still lingering in his voice and face, as evidenced by his higher-pitched tone and anyck of facial hair.
"I am Alexander," Alexander respond to this inquiry quickly, stepping his horse out of the screen of man that his bodyguards had formed to face the young man.
Though Alexander was actually the young man here, which this Lord Nafi was quite surprised by.
Alexander still had some of his baby fat on his face, and his facial countenance was simply not manly, looking more like a young, pampered, nobleman''s son.
"Hahaha, I heard you were young, Alexander. But young is not the right word is it?" Lord Nafi broke into a mocking sneer at the first instance of meeting his opponent, and insulting him by saying, "Child! You should be called a child!"
This naturally drew many angry res from the men behind Alexander, but Lord Nafi did not care, as he then turned to address themon soldiery, disparaging them with a burst of haughtyughter, "And you peasants, hahaha¡. to think you buffoons would follow a child. No wonder you are peasants. Lowlifes and scum of the earth. Your lord is such a wimp that milk wille out of his nose if you press it, hahaha."
Arrogant, conceited, vain, proud, and all the other synonyms together in the English dictionary might not be enough to describe this creature name Nafi.
For he was the very personification of the worst vices a noble could have.
And he finished his denigration of the people of Zanzan by haughtily ordering them, "How dare you worms raise your hand against your betters? Against the gods! Surrender at once, and you will be spared!"
Nafi''s address to the crowd was certainly not great.
But surprisingly it was not also the worst given in history.
There were records of far worse things said to cower and demoralize the enemy army.
"Lord Nafi, I''m the Pasha of Zanzan. What is your peerage?"
At the forefront of the mockery, Alexander appeared unaffected and unmoved, his face t and nonchnt for in his mind this man was already a dead man as he made the question.
And this inquiry was basically saying that since Alexander''s peerage was a Pasha, anyone of not simr rank would be too low to address him.
And Nafi understood, which was why he burst another fuse andmbasted, "Bah! What Pasha! What Pasha has only one city? Mongrel, we do not recognize you. Do not think you are one of us!"
He appeared to refuse to answer, but then the proud man could not help but reveal his status to show off, saying, "I''m the heir to a Jamider (Earl)." And mysteriously adding, "You might not know me, but you certainly know my brother. Jamider (Earl) Nibbar. After all, you killed him."
"Never met him," Alexander came a cool, icy reply.
And for once he was telling the truth, because he had killed the man the moment heid eyes upon him, without giving him even the chance to open his mouth.
Of course, Nafi did not buy it, and only mockingly sneered.
While Alexander took the opportunity to ask about the decoration on the pike.
"I believe messengers in Adhania are considered sacred and not to be harmed. So, why have you killed my man? And then mutted him like that. Are you not afraid of the gods?" Alexander''s speech was far far more icy than before, almost sounding like the chilling sickle swipes of the grim reaper.
He was truly mad.
But it seemed not to register with Nafi, who seemed far angrier that Alexander bought the gods into this than the actual usation.
He venomously spat out, "Bullshit! When do you Thesian scums have gods? Barbarian heathens like you all deserve only death."
Then he produced a menacing grin, almost evil, and demented as he said, "We killed him because we liked it! I personally tortured him because I enjoyed it. And we would y him alive all over again a thousand times over, hahaha!"
As he said this, Lord Nafi drove the two sides special pike into the ground, cementing the severed head into the earth, and making Vespay''s wide bulging eyes stare at the gathered troops like a dead fish, with blood dripping from its head, mouth, and throat,
And as heughed with abandon next to this, his deranged appearance swept across the frontline.
There were several reasons for him doing this.
One, which was also the biggest, was simply because he truly meant it.
Second, to spread fear among the soldiers.
After all, who would want to fight a psychopath?
And third, to rattle Alexander and make him attack him.
Because ording to the customs, attacking the riders during this part of the ''battle phase'' was considered sphemous and it was said whoever did this the curse of the gods would befall upon him, his family, his people, and hisnd.
And hence Alexander would need to convince his soldiers, especially the Zanzan peasants to tacitly approve him killing the trio.
For people of this time period were too superstitious and if Alexander arbitrarily killed them, his army might copse even before the fight started.
"Swnnghh," So to convince them Alexdner first took out his sword from his sheath and raised it to the sky as he then shouted, "Men of Zanzan, you have heard it all. These nobles see you as nothing but worms. And if they win today, they will take you back to your gue-ridden days. Do you want that?"
Alexander''s shout was followed by an overwhelming louder, "No!"
"And you have seen with your very own eyes how these people have murdered our messenger. How they tortured him! Even a child knows not to do this."
"But these people had no regard for that. These people have no regard for the customs of Adhania. Because they are the ones godless. Tempted by the devil they have gone astray!"
In this time period, it was vital to always have god on your side in any kind of argument.
And it worked as a second jubnt chorus followed.
And then Alexander bought down his sword and pointed it at Lord Nafi as he cried, "The proof they have fallen is right in front of you, my brothers. Look in front of you! Look at the pike! Only a devil could have done that! And only a devil could thenugh about it! Just like in the confessions!"
Alexander reminded them of the temple sermons where he made sure to propagate all the nobles'' nasty little deeds."
And then finished by saying,
"And so I have decided these people have lost the gods'' sacred protection. Hemicus, crossbow shoot!"
*Twange*... *Shoo*, *Twange*... *Shoo*, *Twange*... *Shoo*
Alexander seamlessly weaved in themand for the attack so wlessly that Nafi never understood what hit him till ten crossbow bolts had pierced him and he slumped over his horse.
Dying much like his brother.
The irony.
Chapter 415 The Initial Charge
Adhania was a nation that seemed to be quite in favor of trying to resolve their conflicts with talks and negotiations rather than the sword.
This was proved by the presence of various customs and traditions that encouraged dialogue by offering strict protection to the messengers.
And these protocols were indeed strict, as just the simple act of attacking a messenger caused the curse of god to descend, much less forget about killing them, which seemed beyond the realm of possibility.
But it was a possibility that both sides madee true.
Of course, as the side who struck first, Lord Nafi and his entourage did not solely rely on Alexander''s goodwill.
They had taken precautions, such as keeping almost 50 meters away from him.
And given that a javelin had a range of only 20-30 metres, and the men around Alexander were not seen carrying any bows, this distance seemed pretty safe.
But they were wrong.
For they had no idea of the crossbow and hence all ten of the shots found their mark, piercing the armored torso of the man.
And though arrows were not like bullets, meaning a single shot was not as lethal, still, ten shots usually got the job done.
And the action was done so quickly that the remaining two riders, who were Nafi''s bodyguards had no idea what happened, only registering a flurry of hand movements from the opposing sides, the sharp, followed by the piercing noise of stings being let go, and then their lord simply slumping over.
*Neigh*, It was Lord Nafi''s horse that reacted first, giving a cry of horror as it felt the warm blood of its master dye its back, and then the trained beast immediately swerved to start a full-speed gallop to its master''s camp.
The beast was intelligent enough to know that its master was hurt and even knew where to get help from him.
And following the beast''s departure, the other two men too woke up from their stupor, and they too quickly turned tail and ran, a shower of javelins and crossbow bolts following closely behind.
"Don''t let them escape," Hemicus clenched between his teeth as he and ten others gave chase, and they even managed to kill a second rider with three urate javelin missiles to the back, until they saw thest remaining rider enter the safety perimeter of his camp.
"Hmmp," Hemicus let out a low grunt as he stopped his horse from getting too close to the opposing cavalry, a bit peeved at having missed his target, but overall still satisfied at having gotten the main target.
And hence the small squad turned back, not letting themselves fall into a trap.
While thest remaining survivor greeted Faruq who was standing right a the front of the army, witnessing the entire interaction with wrinkled eyebrows.
Lord Nafi dying was not the ideal development he was looking for.
"My lord¡Lord Nafi, they¡they killed hm. Those animals! They broke the taboo!" He hysterically screeched, letting his voice carry all over the formation.
While Lord Nibraz got down from his chariot to run to his son''s horse, screaming, "My son! Ohhh those bastards! My son!"
The stubborn old man now appeared unconsble as he grasped the slumped-over body, bawling his heart out, and then saying, "I should have never done that. I should have never trusted those animals uhuhhuu," as he broke into a whimpering cry.
The reason behind his saying this was because it was him that selected his remaining unmarried son to be the pike bearer, to go taunt and insult his oldest son''s killer.
In fact, Nibraz himself had wanted to do it but was talked down by Faruq.
And this guilt filled with remorse as though Nafi was never as favored as Nibbar, the reason being obvious to anyone who spent a minute with the two, with Nibbar more being talented, cunning, and honey-tongued, and Nafi being brash, haughty, and impulsive, still his death hurt Lord Nibraz like he did not think he would ever feel after his favorite son died.
It appeared that though as a lord he favored Nibbar more, as a father, he loved both his sons equally.
As this drama unfolded between an old man, a horse and a dead body, Faruq tried very hard not to purse his lips in frustration.
A weak old man not in his right mind was not the image a militarymander wanted to give right at the start of a battle.
"Lord Nibraz, now is not the time to break down. Now is the time to take to revenge." Faruq hence stepped in, not offering words of constion, but words of action, as he pointed to Alexander''s men and almost snarled, "Look the enemy is right in front of us. Gather yourself. Lord Nibbar demands blood. Lord Nafi demands blood."
Faruq hardened his voice as he addressed the older man, further urging him not to lose the dignity of a noble in front of themon citizenry.
And being a military veteran, soon the retired noble pulled himself together.
''Yes, you are right. Now is not the time for crying," The old man rubbed his reddened eyes, as then his crooked, broken, sobbing voice suddenly turned steely and determined, "For now is the time for killing!"
And soon he got back in his chariot.
But that was not the end of it.
Because he then moved his chariot which was in the back on the very frontlines, barking to one of the charioteers, "You, get back!" to make space for him.
It appeared he wanted to lead the charge.
Which Faruq vehemently disagreed with this, shouting, "My lord, you are themander. Please reconsider!"
The reason for this was obvious.
But Lord Nibraz was like a stubborn bull, shouting, "The charge was to be led to by Nafi. I will not let my son down!"
The old man was seeing red.
And seeing this red-eyed half-mad old man, Faruq wisely backed down, instead taking his horse to Ural and simply whispering to him, "Look after the old man, would you?"
Faruq said this particrly to Ural because he and Nibraz were scheduled to attack in consort, with Ural''s 2,000 horses attacking the center-right column of the enemy (the 3rd and 6th legion), and Nibraz''s 3,000 chariots attacking the other two columns.
With the reason for Nibraz attacking twice the enemy as Ural being due to the need for the chariot to be spread out over a much greater distance, hence making contacting with a greater number of the opposing force.
"Sure," Ural gave a short nod.
He had no problem with that as they were on the same side.
And thus, soon the 5,000 heavy cavalry were ready.
They were arranged in a 10 by 10 formation, with 10 such formations in one line, meaning there were 2 rows of 1,000 horses for Ural, and 3 rows of 1,000 chariots for Nibraz.
It was a formidable charge.
And as Alexander noticed the horses line up, he shouted onest time, "Men! Now is the time for battle. Ready yourselves!"
"Seed and you will all be heroes. And if you die, you will all be martyrs. So what are you afraid of?"
"Nothing!" Rose a huge cry of jubnt roars, as the men readied themselves, while Alexander quickly rode to the back to conduct the battle.
And soon the battle reports starteding in.
"My lord, their chariot charge is targeting the left and middle columns, and while the cavalry charge is speeding towards our right column," A scout reported the movement which to be fair Alexander could easily see from atop his big horse.
Alexander had chosen this horse especially due to its size, letting him get a better view of the battlefield, though he would have probably noticed this even without that.
5,000 cavalry was not something you easily missed.
So Alexander''s hawkishly peered into the distance, watching the cloud of dust being kicked off by all the horses, as they slowly sprinted towards them.
And it was a slow sprint, as horses trotted the kilometer or so distance, one to not tire themselves, but mainly to keep unit cohesion.
And thus all cavalry charges would start like that, covering most of the distance in a slow walk, and only breaking off into a full gallop at thest hundred or so meters making the close to one-ton man and beast elerate rapidly to great speeds before smashing into the infantry with the maximum momentum.
And it was a great tactic, with the only exception being that it gave the enemy a bit of time to ready themselves.
And that was what the scout was for.
Not there to reassure Alexander that his eyesight was okay, but implicitly asking him, "What should we do?"
"My lord, should we use the new weapon?" Grahtos from the side eagerly suggested.
This was the ingenious thing Alexander had invented to stop the cavalry charge from simply sting through his infantry.
"Yes," Alexander naturally nodded.
But that was not the end of the order.
He turned to the scout to officially order, "Tell the 3rd legion to employ the new weapon we invented to halt the cavalry charge just as they have practiced."
"But tell the 1st and 4th legion to move to the left, and the 2nd and 5th legion to move to the right and let the chariots simply pass them."
"The reserves will then engage the chariots in the front, while the 5th legion turns around to attack their rear and destroy them. The time of the chariots is over."
Chapter 416 Alexanders Secret Weapon
The horses in a slow trot, almost menacingly made their way closer and closers, the sound of more than 8,000 beasts (2,000 from Ural, and 6,000 from Nibraz because each chariot was pulled by at least 2 horses, and sometimes even more) stamping their hooves against the ground making the very earth shake with trepidation.
Somehow the slow methodical approach was actually worse than a full gallop.
But why did horses not gallop this short distance?
Because if they had wanted to, they could have easily run this rtively short 1 kilometer.
Because there was a problem with that.
Simply, it was because it was far easier to maintain a solid line by controlling a horse''s walking speed, rather than a running speed, simr to how humans can keep a solid line while walking, but it bes very hard to do when they start running.
Because everyone walks around the same speed and its easier to synchronize with that, rather than a running speed, which is quite different for people.
In addition to the high chance of the formation bing scattered if they galloped, there is also the increased risk of horses tripping, stumbling, and colliding with one another in the fast-paced movement.
To visualize it easier, imagine a crowd of people walking, they would appear orderly and there would be little chance of ident.
Now, imagine them running.
There would inevitably be trips, stumbles, cuts and bruises, andrge idents.
The same thing applied to horses, and thus the tactic of galloping only thest one to two hundred meters.
And as these horses approached this critical line, a joyous sight greeted Lord Nibraz..
"Hahaha, look, look, they are running, haha, coward peasants," Lord Nibraz felt his grief temporarily subside as he seemingly saw the left and middle part of Alexander''s army copse, possibly running away from the iing charge.
While in reality, they were not scattering in terror but just moving to the sides.
But Lord Nibraz could not be really faulted for his assumption.
Because soldiers running away from a cavalry charge was the norm.
After all, a man running on a horse with a spear intending to impale you was scary.
And thus, it was actually rare to see soldiers standing their ground and fighting.
"Hmmm, so the experienced troops are on the left, " While Ural noticed that though a part of Alexander''s army had disintegrated, his part still held.
(Ural says ''left'' because he is directly facing Alexander, and so Alexander''s right is his left).
Seeing this he at first felt a tinge of jealousy at Lord Nibraz for getting such an easy rout of his enemy, but soon consoled himself that the old man deserved it after what he went through.
Instead, he focused on the part of the army he was supposed to attack and found that those men were still holding their ground.
This was impressive considering when such a huge copse happened, usually, everyone would just drop everything and run.
Because all who stood and fought in such a circumstance would be encircled and enved, while if you ran, you still had a small chance of escaping.\
And the smart ones knew what to choose.
Seeing those men still hold their ground, and knowing that Alexander was a mercenary leader, Ural easily made the connection that those troops must be the former mercenary soldiers, the hardened troops, and decided to hit them with everything he got.
Which was quite wrong.
Not totally wrong as some of them were veterans of the two battles against Amenheraft, but still very wrong.
But this mistake was not too egregious, as Ural intended to fight them anyway.
Hence, he lined up the men at the two-hundred-meter point, made sure everyone was properly ready, and shouted to his trained men, "Men, take no prisoners! Charge!"
And Lord Nibraz simrlymanded his men to do the same, as the cavalry charge begun.
*Gulp*, while the men at the receiving end of this charge swallowed a dried gulp.
Because facing a cavalry charge was terrifying for any man.
And nothing could be used to better illustrate that than giving a real-life recount of something that urred when shooting a Soviet movie named War and Peace (1967).
In that movie, a major feature was a charge of French cavalry against the Russian lines.
Since this was before modernputer-assisted special effects, the Soviets used a few Red Army battalions to y the part of French soldiers in the movie.
ording to the script, the cavalry was supposed to charge at an infantry square, which would hold fast and the cavalry would break away.
However, when the fully trained soldiers saw the horsemen bear down on them, these professionally trained men all suddenly broke and ran, dissolving the square.
Yes, even in a movie set, where they all knew perfectly well that it was all fake and they just needed to stand still and nothing would happen, actual professional soldiers, some of them even ww2 veterans, still got scared and ran.
And it did not happen just once also.
But a full three times.
And this was the terror of just a fake cavalry charge.
But even that was so much that in the end, the director realized that no matter how much he tried he would be unable to get the soldier actors to stand in the charge of cavalry they knew wasn''t real, was fully aware that it a movie stunt, and that these soldiers used the Ak-47 every day which made cavalry charges against infantry obsolete.
And so the script was changed to amodate this.
For Alexander, this event perfectly went to illustrate the horror of a cavalry charge.
Because if this was the reaction to a fake cavalry, imagine what it would feel like facing a real one on the battlefield, where one had the real possibility of being cut and skewered like a kebab if he just stood still.
Diapers shoulde asplementary with the armor kit.
And this was the main reason why so many armies dissolved at the sight of a cavalry charge, and why Europeans loved and feared cavalry so much.
Because facing something like the French heavy cavalry or the Polish Hussars was simply very, very scary.
It was a feeling that had to be experienced to be truly appreciated.
But it would be not fair to give all the credit to the cavalry.
The infantry deserved some credit too.
Because the fact that soldiers and many times even ordinary peasants sometimes did not break at a far worse sight that even ww2 veterans were afraid of went on to provide some kernel of truth to the saying that ancient men were real men and that most modern men were women dressed as men.
A saying that Alexander used to vehemently disagree with before, but subtly changed his mind aftering to this world.
Because it took real men to withstand the gore and horror of an ancient battlefield, where one had to perform vicious acts against his fellow human beings to win, withstand the violet screams and shouts of men dying around, and feel the visceral smell all around, all of which took its toll on the human psyche.
A toll that soon all 96,000 men participating in this bloodbath would have to pay.
And right now, it was the 3rd and 6th legions time to pay, for they saw the ck mass of death, neighing and screaming like the scythe swing of the grim reaper approach them, their eyes bloody and crazed, moving towards them in a storm of dust that drowned all the light around them as they bared their intent to not only kill them but destroy their bodies of the face of the earth.
Just feeling the earth tremble at their approach was bowel-inducing.
But fortunately for Alexander, for all the terror that a cavalry charge, ultimately the lines held.
And not only they held, some daredevils even ran forward at the order of their sergeants (100 men leader) who himself ran forward, shouting, "Now! Come now! The enemy is close enough!"
It seemed these people had a death wish.
At least that was what Ural felt when he saw a scant few men charge toward him, like headless chickens.
And he simply smirked.
He had seen people do all sorts of things when they were scared
Some would cry, some would run, some would freeze and others would run forward with a crazed look, maybe to try and confront the fearful object or maybe to just get it done with.
After all, to many a swift death was preferable to an eternity of living in fear.
''Heh, well let me deliver it to you,'' Ural, ced in the third row said to himself as he sped forward, now only a 100 meters away.
But his confidence abruptly turned to grim horror as he saw what was happening and an instantter heard his horse give a scream of terror he had never heard of before.
For Alexander''s chosen ones, specifically trained to carry the secret weapon had been deployed.
But what was this wonder weapon you ask?
Well each of them carried a long, thick rope, intertwined with metal chains and metal bells and gushed in oil and tar.
Which most importantly were all on fire, whirling above the two hundred or so men, creating a horrifying sight for the horse, as it appeared that there were ming disks in the middle of the battlefield, the bells and metal chains nking and juggling like the devil''sughter.
This was Alexander''s strategy, to scare the horses off the battlefield.
Chapter 417 Urals Cavalry (Part-1)
The tactic Alexander employed was copied from the ck Army of the Hungarian king Matthias, who used it against other enemy cavalries.
And the results were usually very good, as it took a very, very, very well-trained horse to not just jump and buck, throwing off its rider before breaking rank and running when faced with a terrifying whirling circle of zing fire and the swishing sound.
And usually, 50% of the enemy cavalry would break rank and collide with one another in this tactic, proving just how lethal the technique could be.
Alexander copied this specific technique instead of the more usual and popr techniques such as using pikes or the Greek sarissa, which was a really, really long spear for one very important reason.
Because the opposing side had mounted archers.
What did he mean by that?
Well, pikes and sarissas were really good at stopping light and heavy melee cavalry.
Because thesebat units generally needed to get close to attack and having sharp, pointy sticks being pointed at them made that very hard to do.
This was because horses were rational creatures who would not just impale themselves on the sharp steel andmit suicide just because you told them to.
Instead when pikes or other sharp objects would be pointed at one, it would try to swerve or turn around or stop, thus taking action arbitrarily to stop itself from dying.
In this way, pikes and long spears were very effective at stopping a cavalry charge.
Sure one couldunch javelins from atop a horse to try and disperse the pike holders, but cavalry was not primarily used for that.
It was used to utilize thebined momentum of man and horse to smash infantry.
And so, if you were going to throw javelins, why do you need horses?
Infantry would do the job fine.
They might even do it better as a soldier sitting on the ground would be able to arch his entire body to put more strength to his throw, hence hitting the enemy from further away.
And besides, just how many javelins did one carry?
Two to three.
Maybe a horseman could carry five.
And once that was all used up, one would need to go all the way back to their camp to refill the stock.
While the entire time the enemy infantry too could lob simr projectiles.
In which case, archers would be a better choice.
Thus, as long as the enemy did not break during the initial charge and stood its ground as held fast onto their pikes, the cavalry would be a mere decoration on the battlefield, unable to do much.
But this only applied to melee cavalry.
Because things were very different for ranged cavalry, moremonly known as mounted archers.
These units could do both, melee and ranged attacks.
They could charge using spears and shields, destroying the army if they were cowards.
Or if they faced a particrly resistant enemy, they could switch to ranged attacks, using their bows tounch volley after volley of lethal missile fire.
And the enemy infantry would have nothing to counter that.
And not only that, the infantry would be quite vulnerable during this.
Pikes and sarissas were heavy weapons that required both hands to wield efficiently, meaning no shield or perhaps a small light shield like the buckler at best.
This type of shield would never be adequate against the arrow rain the mounted archers wouldunch, meaning the passive infantry would be slowly worn down.
This was the tactic used by Mongols, who would firstunch arrows to demoralize the enemy before charging to see if they would break.
If they did not break during the first charge, they would follow it up with another brutal arrow shower, hoping that perhaps the enemy would change their minds during the next charge.
And if that was not enough, another wave of death would follow, followed by a third, then a fourth, and so on, until eventually, overwhelmed by the death and carnage around them, and suffering from the repeated inherent terror of a cavalry charge, the surviving troops would atst choose to flee.
That was how the Mongols destroyed their enemies.
And if something as simple as a pike could have stopped them, something that Alexander The Great had 1,500 years ago, the Mongols could not have created the biggest continuousnd empire in the world.
But they did.
Because pikes were too passive.
It prevented the enemy from attacking you in melee but it did not harm them, leaving them to do their thing.
And that was why this technique was originally invented, to not just deny the cavalry their charge, but to actively harm them.
Because at the time this tactic was introduced, firearms were already a thing, so cavalry could still shoot the infantry, destroy the pike formation and then charge.
And this new move prevented that situation.
A situation that coincidentally was very simr to the one Alexander found himself in at this time, facing a group of cutthroat mounted archers dressed as mercenaries.
And hence the choice.
Alexander of course did not just copy and paste the weapon he read as an interesting trivial in a history book.
He also added modifications to it, such as adding the metal bells, which not only amplified the sound produced but also added to the orchestra, making the weapon give off a terrifying piercing sound as the metal chains nged against one another while the metal bells jingled like announcing the arrival of the apocalypse,
"Ahhhh," Alexander''s brave men shouted at the top of their lungs as they used both their hands to swing the rope above their heads whose upper half was on fire to scare off the horses, with their own shout both intimidating the enemy, but moreover, releasing all their fear and tension.
Because it was bloody scary facing 2,000 charging horsesing to kill you.
*Neiiiiiiigh*, *Neiiiiighhh*, *Neeeeeiigggh,*
And while these soldiers shouted, the opposing horses also shouted, as the sight of the huge ming wheels of fire and the horrible whistling sound dealt enormous psychological damage to the poor beasts.
Hence many of these once-loyalpanions betrayed and disobeyed their riders'' instructions and recklessly tried to swerve and turn around, in the midst of a full charge, and almost all ended up them shing with one another in a mess of grotesque melee.
The ordered charge had beenpletely ruined as horses and men shed with one another, creating screams of panic and agony, which drove both men and beast to further extremes of confusion, while the officers tried very hard to gain control of their ranks.
There was shoving and pushing, which caused many men to fall over, and then get stampeded by the sharp horse hooves.
There were many horses who stumbled and fell over after colliding with the other fleeing horses before promptly getting crushed by the other retreating mad horses.
And there were many soldiers impaling themselves on their own spears, breaking their bones from the sudden impact, and experiencing a general sense of chaos, panic, and disorder perforate their ranks.
And this huge attack affected the entire cavalry charge, as the officers themselves struggled hard to control their mounts, many dying in the ensuing chaos.
" *Shoosh*, *shoosh*, there, there. Calm down, calm down. Good girl, good girl," Ural was one of the lucky ones as his horse was one of the highly trained ones and did not immediately lose its mind after seeing the sight.
And thus its master managed to get it to calm down after some time.
Ural was quite lucky that he managed to survive this encounter rtively unscathed, having sessfully avoided the other fleeing horses, while also managing to stay atop his horse even when the full galloping charge suddenly came to a screeching halt.
''The gods must favor me, arghh'' Ural said a prayer to himself with a grunt, as he felt a sharp pang of pain in his chest.
A spear''s butt had smashed against his ribs during the initial disaster, and it was a miracle that he was not knocked over from his horse.
''Argh, my ribs might be broken,'' Ural gritted his teeth in pain as the adrenaline wore off, but the strong man managed to push the thought out.
For he had bigger concerns.
Concerns which were evident to anyone who had eyes and could look around Ural.
Dead bodies of horses and meny strewn about, huge gaps in the formation gaped with a dead fish''s mouth, and everybody was in aplete panic over what to do.
"Fuck!* Ural let out an unrestrained shout of frustration at his devastated units, anger, and grief taking hold of him.
Even by his most conservative estimate, he had lost at least 200 men and horses.
Even for a Matbar (Marquis) it was no trivial loss.
Especially when those losses were dealt to his elite horsemen, the creme of the crop.
Matar Uzek had sent these men to aid Pasha Djose in good faith, for they were inws, with Ural being married to the man''s youngest daughter.
And so to lose so many men just like that, without having aplished anything was very heart-rendering for Ural, and his heart shook at the thought of how he will exin this loss to his father.
But little did he know, a far greater problem was rearing his ugly head as he spoke, for Alexander had already sent his 3rd legion to intercept the disorganized cavalry, trying to catch it in its most vulnerable position and deal a decapitating blow.
Chapter 418 Urals Cavalry (Part-2)
In the ensuing chaos following the destruction of the formation, Ural and his men were too busy trying to get a hold of their bearing and restore order to the lines to notice the mass of soldiers approaching them at breakneck speed.
"Quick! March quickly!" Themander of the 3rd legion shouted from behind, urging his men to walk as fast as they could without breaking formation, wanting to catch the cavalry less than 100 meters ahead of them in as vulnerable position as he could.
It would take legion about only one minute to make contact, but themander wanted to hit them as soon as possible to kill as much cavalrymen as possible before they could run away.
''They are charging us! An infantry unit, fucking peasants, are charging us!'' Ural was among the first to notice this, and the sight of it filled him with fear and rage.
Fear of the ensuing violent bloodbath that was about to befall his men, and rage at the thought of this being done by mere infantry.
Adhanians tended to look down on foot soldiers as lowly for they were mostlyposed of peasants, and viewed cavalry, which was used by nobles as the main attacking force and the important determining factor that won battles.
But Ural had little time to gnash his teeth and vent.
Instead, he decisively turned his horse around and made his way to the second row of the calvary, which was far less affected, and started to scream at the top of his voice, "To me! Gather to me! Line up! The enemy is upon us! Line up!"
He was urging his men to rally around him and trying to restore some sort of solid battle line to withstand the initial infantry charge and minimize the casualties.
This single maneuver, where he chose to basically sacrifice half of his father''s elite cavalry to save the other half was a testament to hispetency as a military leader, and to his credit, the move began to work.
Many of the dazed and confused riders, who previously had no idea where their immediate superior was amongst the sea of men, beasts, and carcasses heard the familiar voice of their leader and began to gravitate towards him.
But before the act could truly show its efficacy, Alexander''s men were already upon them.
It was too little toote.
"Javelins!" One of the cavalrymen was heard shouting as the first volley of the projectile wasunched from a distance of about 20 meters, the deadly short spears traveling in an arc before impaling themselves on their target.
There were 250 men on the first row of the legion, and as the first three rows let loose their missiles, the 750 javelins shot wrought even more destruction and devastation on the already scattered formation.
Some of the javelins naturally missed, but much more found their target, piercing deep into the naked beasts'' bodies and their riders, with a few javelins even sharing their target, littering them with multiple deep wounds.
This shower of spear rain and the imminent sh with 5,000 men was thest straw for the disorganized men in the first row, and thus the initial forward formation of 1,000 horsemen simply routed, causing even more casualties they pushed, shoved, and stampeded their own to save their hide, their backs following a second volley of javelins.
"Dammit, useless wastes," Ural ground his teeth as he saw this.
He had hoped the first row would have been able to offer some kind of token resistance to the enemy, buying him enough time to reorganize his rear lines and put up an effective defense, or at least perform an orderly retreat.
But it seemed that was a fool''s hope.
This was also partly because Ural had not given any such order to the first row, neither did he nominate an officer in charge to organize such a procedure.
Thus, the urrence of the disintegration of the front line.
"Buuuuppp" So seeing no other way, Ural decisively took a bronze horn attached to his saddle and blew on it, the loud re piercing the ears of all those around him.
And everyone in Ural''s unit understood what it signal meant.
It meant it was time to retreat.
Ural understood there was no hope for his cavalry to survive the infantry charge, and so, without doing something stupid like going after individual battlefield glory or trying to save face as a noble, he unhesitantly issued the call of retreat.
And hearing that, the still rtively tight light cavalry formation simply dissolved, scattering like sand into the wind and routing themselves, and denying the 3rd legion of their kills.
Most of the riders turned to their right as they escaped, which was currently empty grounds as Lord Nibraz had already finished his charge, and the wide open fields actually allowed the horsemen to spread themselves out and run as full gallop without colliding with one another, enabling most of the horsemen to run away safely.
After all, the infantry could never catch them on foot and so the retreat itself was quite sessful, with only a few unlucky ones dying from stray javelin shots, and which was far less than what would have if they had chosen to stand and fight.
Seeing the cavalry run without a second thought, and knowing there was nothing they could, the experienced legionmander decided not to bother, instead urging to his soldiers, "Halt! Halt! Turn back! Turn back! The enemy infantry will soone. Enemy infantry wille! Turn back! Turn back!"
In addition to the worry of the impeding enemy infantry charge, the legionmander and his officers were also afraid that some of the more hot-blooded troops would give chase to the fleeing horses to try and get a kill, and others would soon follow, causing them to be out of formation and thus vulnerable to an enemy counterattack.
This was not an umon technique where cavalries would do a fake retreat to lure the enemy in and then suddenly turn around to flip the tables on the attackers.
Knowing this they thus repeatedly said thismand, trying to get the root soldiers to maintain unit cohesion.
And it worked, as the troops stopped their chase, though it was mostly because the enemy cavalry had buggered off even before the infantry would get a good hit on them.
And so the 3rd legion concentrated instead on killing the leftover riders whoy on the ground injured, and moaning in pain in front of them.
Such types of men would usually be taken as prisoners to be exchanged for ransom.
But they neither had the time to do this as the enemy infantry could start marching any moment now nor did Alexander want to take prisoners.
So the unusual event of simply killing them happened, both for the men and beasts which were too injured to be retried, while a few unharmed horses that had not yet run away were retrieved as trophies, their total number amounting to less than 10.
It appeared in terms of horse acquisition, this tactic was a dismal failure.
But in terms of killing horses and destroying a cavalry charge, it was an unquestionable sess, because the number of horses Ural lost was truly horrific.
It was nowhere near his conservative number of 200, but in fact double that, at more than 400 horses and riders lost.
Meaning just as the battle started, Ural had lost 20% of his men, which was not just a devastating loss, but a catastrophic one.
For even well-trained armies tended to usually rout at 15% to 20%.
While poorly trained ones did that at 5% to 10%.
Thus it was unknown if Ural''s cavalry would be able to make any kind of contribution in today''s battle.
''Hmmp, so what if I lost? Lord Nibraz had already destroyed the enemy center. Victory is ours,'' As Ural rode like the wind back to his camp to try and reorganize his men, in a kind of sour grape moment he tried to console himself with such a saying.
He saw his loss as nothing more than one of Alexander''s little stunts, as onest ''pathetic'' win by the soon-to-be-dead Thesian, and tookfort in that.
Though the fact that the army would win so easily, with the only notable casualties being his, and suffering huge personal losses at that, did sting Ural pretty bad.
And so turned his head back to look that how that battle was going for Lord Nibraz.
It was unknown if he wanted to see the old man triumph, or struggle a bit and acquire some losses so that at the end of it he did not appear too bad.
But whatever he was expecting, he was not expecting to see the sight in front of him.
Because his eyes registered no presence of Lord Nibraz''s cavalry, but only found that Alexander''s lines had fully restored themselves, as if by magic.
''What! Am I seeing things? Is it the dust? Or am I too tired?'' Ural thought he was witnessing witchcraft as he found Alexander''s ''destroyed'' lines restored, and he had a sudden sinking feeling in his gut.
"What sorcery is this?" He asked him in a shaky voice, his instinct as a militarymander telling him something was wrong.
So he slowed down his horse to get a better view and squinted his eyes through all the dust that had been kicked up by the 8,000 beasts galloping towards their target to try and figure out what was going on.
Chapter 419 Lord Nibrazs Chariots (Part-1)
Through the cloud of dust, Ural could only make out the silhouettes of some of the soldiers standing in a perfectly straight line
This was strange because if Lord had managed to break through, then were should have been a gaping hole along the front line, or at least a spattering of movement as the charioteers hunted down the fleeing soldiers.
And even if the charge was stopped, the chariots should still there be, fighting the troops.
But there was no sign of them.
''Where are they?'' To Ural it appeared that Alexander had swallowed them up and banished them from existence.
"Is he really a sorcerer?" The young man''s heart shook as he further recalled how his cavalry was destroyed by something he would describe as a magic fiery wheel.
The sight and particrly the sound of it especially affected the man.
Ural was a particrly superstitious and religious man, and the two evidences presented before him made it hard to ignore the possibility.
''No, don''t jump to conclusions. Let me ask Faruq,'' But the man was at least calm enough to not immediately go down that rabbit hole and instead decided to find the overallmander and get him to fill him in about all the things going around the army.
Besides, he needed to report his status anyway.
And as Ural was making his way to find themander situated at the back with the supply wagons, he waspletely oblivious to the fact that Lord Nibraz had already departed from this world.
In fact, he was one of the first to go amongst the forces he led.
And to understand it all, one had to travel back to the time of the initial charge.
"Hahaha, look, look the cowards as all running away," Lord Nibraz shouted to the bodyguards riding with him on his chariot as he saw the soldiers move away from their charge.
To him, it seemed that they had already won.
"Yes. This will put a stop to everyone saying the time of the chariots is over, master¡*shoo*," And the loyal bodyguard buttered his lord with a nod while shooting high arching javelins at the enemy.
The chariot that Lord Nibraz rode on was specifically made for him, ornate andvish to say the least, it was drawn by four horses and pulled a 4 people cart, which consisted of one driver, Lord Nibraz himself, and two bodyguards who were highly skilled warriors, as well as being very good javelin throwers.
And as if like almost following the lead chariot''s move, many other charioteers also threw their projectiles, be it arrows or javelins at the ''running'' infantry, attempting to kill as many as they could.
Though in reality most of these shots fell innocently to the ground or embedded into the bronze-ted wooden shields, with only a very few managing to find their target, and even more scant ones actually managing to take a life.
But in reality, for the charioteers, this dismal level of uracy was actually okay.
Because the missiles were not a chariot''s main weapon.
It was only a secondary weapon meant to soften up the enemy before they charged, which would break the infantry formation, and allow the chariot to run through them, where the chariot''s main weapon would be employed- The scythe attached to the chariot''s wheels.
For the fleeing soldiers, there were few things scarier than the distinct sound of the thumping of horse hooves and the squeaking noise of the wooden wheel, knowing that he was about to get his legs chopped off any moment.
The anticipated pain and the subsequent horror ofying on the ground, fully conscious and bleeding out, must have been an unimaginable experience.
And as theyy there, many must have surely contemted whether they would prefer to survive this encounter and live as a cripple or simply die to save their family the burden.
It was a horrifying feeling, which was also the primary reason why chariots were such a frighteningly effective weapon.
"We will swing right to destroy the fleeing scums, and then hit their left nk." Lord Nibraz instructed his driver, intending to hit the undefended rear of the crossbowmen ced on the left nk.
He said this especially to his driver because usually in the middle of any kind of mobile charge since there would be little time to pass the order down the chain ofmander, riders would follow those in front of him.
And as Lord Nibraz was leading the charge, this was him deciding where they would strike.
And it was a good n.
A ssic.
But with one small caveat.
A caveat that was going to soon rapidly charge towards him.
For under Alexander''s order, Grahtos had positioned his 1,000 cavalry in a simr way to Lord Nibraz, in the ssic 10 by 10 formation along a single file, and as soon as the chariots made their way into Alexander''s inner battlespace, the veteran Sycarian simply let out a fierce war cry, "Charge!"
The trained men did not need to hear anything more, as they only tucked theirnces underneath their armpits, gripped the huge, long, wooden spear as hard as they could, solidly pressed their feet against the stirrups to keep bnce, and then just started the gallop like they had practiced hundreds of times.
This was the main thing they had been drilled to do for almost the entirest two months and now it was their time to perform.
As the ground shook heralding the world''s first heavy cavalry charge with ance, the sh between the cavalry and the chariots, the new vs the old, Lord Nibraz''s eyes seemed to bulge out of his eyes surprise and horror.
"What! They have cavalry? How!¡*Grrrhhh*!" He cried out, before literally having a mild heart and copsing on his chariot, his eyes gaped open in terror at what he saw.
The old man was already getting on with the years, and then there was the long journey to Zanzan, coupled with the grief of losing both his sons, one literally minutes ago.
And so when he noticed the presence of the cavalry right around Grahtos''s shout, making it appear that the Sycarian''s voice was loud enough to cross the two-hundred-meter distance, though it was more likely the presence of the huge number of horses that really alerted Lord Nibraz, the sight seemed to be too much for the old man to bear.
And so he simply copsed.
"Master! Master!" The bodyguards cried in horror, the words containing both concern for the old man, and fear for their own lives.
Because though Lord Nibraz could not see it, they, along with all the men on the front lines paid testament to the fact that around a thousand horsemen, with both men and beasts wearing what to them seemed like decorated livery, which actually was horse armor, seemed to be bulldozing towards them with really, really long spears.
*Shoo*, *Shoo*, *Shoo*,
The charioteers were moving too quickly to try anything like swerving and trying to get out of the way.
And so the only thing they could do was throw their javelins to hurt the iing mass of man and beast, perhaps hoping their shower of projectiles will kill enough of them to cause them to break off the charge.
But that hope never had the possibility of bing real, as the javelins had only around 30 meters of range, and all of them fell harmlessly to the ground.
And once the charging cavalry was finally in range, the short 30 meters would take the horses in full gallop literally seconds to cross, even a fit man would run that distance in a few seconds.
So by the time the javelin traveled along its arching path and descended onto its target, Alexander''s cavalry was already smashing into the lightly armored, defenseless charioteers.
*Aghhh*, *Smash*, *Snap*, *Neigghh*,
The initial contact naturally produced a cacophony of orchestral noise, blending in the piercing scream of the man and horse being pierced by thence, the thumping smashing sound of horses colliding with one another, the crisp sound of the woodennce snapping, or the chariot itself breaking apart due to the abrupt stoppage, andstly the scared and tragic death throes of the poor beasts.
Cavalries took less space than chariots and so Alexander''s men were able to focus their attack on a much narrower front, dealing a far greater devastating blow, as each chariot was targeted by two cavalrymen, one targetting the beast pulling the cart, and the other the driver.
And though some inevitably missed, all in all, the entirely to the charge was effectively stopped dead in its tracks as thences dug as much as half a meter into some of the horses, killing them then and there.
This way many of the chariots in the front row were destroyed, with their riders being violently thrown off the vehicle, and a lot of them dying upon hitting the ground or at least being grievously injured.
And it could be argued that the dead few were the lucky ones, as those that fell to the ground and survived, were soon stamped to death under the cruel hooves of the scared, panicking, beasts who tried to escape this death trap.
While others, both men and beasts found themselves impaled by the very scythes they used to cut people''s legs off, these bulky, bronze, and iron weapons having broken themselves off from the wheel during the violent sh and now whirling uncontrobly towards everywhere, bringing death to anyone who stood in its way.
Chapter 420 Lord Nibrazs Chariots (Part-2)
It was never clear how Lord Nibraz died.
Some said he died from a heart attack, some said he died in the initial charge, and others posited he diedter due to his injuries, being stabbed and stamped to death.
While the truth might be abination of the three.
And in an almost poetic way, the poor man never really understood how he died.
Because he never understood where all those horses hade from, and so in this way, his death was quite simr to his sons''.
Which was an impressive feat for Alexander who managed to consecutively stealth kill three people.
But at least in some way the old man''s quick death was a blessing, because he did not have to witness theplete destruction of his family''s fortunes or be forced to ept the death of the chariots as a viable military strategy.
Because that was what was happening right now.
With the chariot charge stopped, and the forces still reeling from the pile-up of horses on horses, carts smashing into one another, and general death and chaos all around, they were in no position to defend against the following melee from Alexander''s cavalry, who switched to their swords and spears and started thrusting against the defenseless charioteers.
And they were defenseless charioteers no doubt about that, for they carried no shield, the most important equipment in an ancient battlefield, letting Alexander''s elite cavalry attack them with almost impunity.
For in such close quarters, they could not even use their javelins to strike back and only passively ept the thrusts.
Not no mention their most important weapon, their chariot''s mobility had been stripped away from them, making them basically sitting ducks.
And their situation was about to get a lot worse, as the 5th legion was rapidly trying to maneuver to attack their rear.
''Quick! Turn left quick! We can''t let the horseboys have all the fun," The 5th legionmander shouted, as while the other 3 legions moved to restore the solid battleline, they had been ordered to swing around and hit the enemy in the back.
"Javelins!" And very soon a very simr shout to the shout a cavalryman gave before rang out from the rear of the chariots as the 5th legionunched their javelins, before charging at the defenseless back of the charioteers, hacking and shing at them.
And that was the end for the charioteers.
They were surrounded on both sides with no way get out of this encirclement, their own broken chariots acting as a wall of obstacle preventing that, so the more than 6,000 charioteers simply abandoned their chariots and started towards either side of the battlefield like madmen.
"Run! Run away!"
''Save yourselves!"
"Fucker! Don''t push."
"Get out! Get out the way!"
"Argh, help me! Don''t leave."
"My leg! Help! My leg is crushed!"
"Fight! Let us stay and fight"
"Surrender! We surrender."
"Don''t kill! Don''t kill. We give up. We give up."
There were all kinds of voices ringing out in the air, all fearful and confused, with each man trying to arbitrarily decide what was the best way to survive, running, begging, surrendering, and even fighting.
Grahtos and his cavalry spent a while trying to kill as many fleeing soldiers as possible while offering life pardons to those who surrendered.
"Hand on your head! Heads on your head and you live!"
"Lay on the ground! Lay on the ground and you live!"
These cavalrymen shouted as they rode around the small interior space, almost like they were policing sheep in an enclosure.
And those who chose to be obedient sheep were spared, while the disobedient ones were speared and shed in the back, neck, or leg, with a few lucky ones managing to escape.
As this rounding up urred, a question soon arose-
What to do with the men lying on the field?
After all, the number of captured men was huge, and allowing them to just roam around Alexander''s rear lines did not sound safe.
Even if they were unarmed, their sheer numbers were a problem.
And besides, this was an active battlefield, with weapons such as javelins and spearsid strew all about.
They could easily pick them up to perform a kamikaze attack on Alexander himself, or try their luck escaping if the opportunity presented itself.
Or just simply cause chaos in the rear and make life miserable for Alexander.
Whichever it was, it would cause a major headache for Alexander if it did happen.
"Come on! Let''s go. Let''s tie these men up!"
So this was where Alexander''s 1,000-man infantry reserve came in,
These men carried with them carts full of ropes, which wasmon to do in many ancient battlefields because it was expected the winning side would take prisoners, who would then be tied using those ropes and sold into very.
And hence Alexander''s 2 reserve battalions found themselves as the cleanup crew, tying the arms and legs of around 4,000 prisoners whoy prone on the ground.
And this was where they were scheduled to stay until the battle ended, which would be when either side routed, or when the day ended.
And once that was done, the thousand men focused their attention on the now masterless horses, most of who were still attached to the carts, and actually simply feeding on the grass around them.
Seeing this, Alexander found the type of nonchnce on disy funny, and even a bit endearing, as these beasts gave no fuck to all the chaos and killing going around them and were just having a snack to pass the time.
These were the real chads.
But their snack time waster interrupted when Alexander''s men unfastened the beasts from their carts and started gathering them towards the rear, behind Alexander to secure them.
"Haha, it looks like our horse shortage will be finally over, haha," Seeing the huge number of beasts recovered unharmed, Grahtos could not help butugh out loud in delight.
The new industries required a lot of horses to move all the stuff around, and in recent months, there had been a severe shortage of mounts which had hampered production.
But now, it appeared such constraints would be finally rxed.
As a side note, Grahtos had said this not from the frontlines, but from the rear, as after their initial charge, the cavalry had retreated to the rear to rest and recover.
These men had inevitably suffered some losses, particrly from the chariots'' scythes, which some of them had inadvertently run into, or the scythes had broken off and run into them, and so the rides were busy treating their woundedrades, or changing their wounded steeds for fresh ones.
While Grahtos had joined back to Alexander to report the sess of the charge and observe the battlefield with him.
"Yes, you right," Alexander too shared the joy of booty with his retainer, and even ordered, "Have some of your men escort the horses to the camp. The frontlines are stable at the moment,"
Given that the battlefield was in a stalemate, Alexander wanted to use the time to secure his prize.
"Yes, my lord," Grahtos readily nodded.
There were around 5,000 horses retrieved unscathed by the men, and given that it was pretty easy to make a group of horses follow a lead horse whom they would see as their leader, which would be ridden by a rider, this task could be done by only a few hundred men.
From the initial charge to finishing the clean up took no short amount of time, even when a thousand men were working hand and foot the entire duration, with Alexander estimating the entire operation taking around 4 hours or until midday.
And while this was going on the rear, a very active and real fight was taking ce on the frontlines, between the two infantry in the center, and between the camel archers and their missile units against the crossbowmen.
And this was a fight that had started right after the initial charge had failed.
"Ural! What happened?" Faruq was just about to lead the infantry charge when he saw the injured man clutching his chest make it to his camp, and this was the very first question he asked him.
And the inquiry referred to both his health and to his cavalry.
For though Faruq had seen the cavalry charge disintegrate, he was still unsure of the details.
"Ughh¡the bastards used ming ropes to scare my horses. Then the stupid beasts went crazy and crashed with one another. And I got hurt during the chaos ..ohhhh," Ural tried to keep the report as sinct as possible.
His chest hurt like crazy every time he breathed, let alone talked.
".....I see," Faruq could see Ural was visibly ill and thus did not press the man for more information, as he could get the information he wanted from any of the other surviving cavalrymen and thus
instead only urged, "Then get some rest and don''t worry about anything. We will take it from here."
"Wait!" But Ural did not seem to be finished, as he quickly posed the question he hade here for,
"Where is Lord Nibraz? What happened to his troops?"
The rm and concern in his voice was palpable, as whether he liked the old man or not, they were still on the same side.
And 3,000 chariots disappearing was no joke.
While Faruq''s face grimaced for the first time since Ural had met the man hearing this.
Because Faruq knew Lord Nibraz and his men were getting ughtered as they spoke.
[Note- Troop Formation inment]
Chapter 421 The Center Melee
"*Sigh*," Faruq at first let out a visible sigh at this question, as he still found it hard to believe had seen.
But since Ural had asked, he saw no point in hiding it, and so recounted what happened in a simple, short manner, "Alexander faked his army''s copse, and let the chariots run through. Then used the cavalry he had hidden in the back to attack them head-on. Lord Nibraz is currently trapped behind the enemy."
Though Faruq had tried to keep his calm as he said this, he still failed to hide theced trepidation.
''Trapped behind the enemy'' usually meant dead and this meant that not only did both the cavalry and chariot charge fail, but also most of the unit involved had basically disappeared, leaving Faruq with far fewer options to attack with.
Not to mention the back-to-back deception that Alexander managed to pull weighed heavy on the young man.
The innovative way Alexander had dealt with their cavalry, and then how he hid his own cavalry to lure the enemy in made Faruq understand he was facing no greenmander.
Faruq himself was a highly decorated militarymander, having won quite a few battles both against Adhanian nobles and other rebel tribes who lived inside Kuleef but had their loyalties constantly shifting between Adhnaia and their own chieftains.
So felt qualified to say judge that Alexander was a goodmander.
''What more has he got?'' He wondered.
"Tha¡that¡how¡arggh," Ural too was feeling a simr sensation.
It was supposed to be an easy victory, something they would use as a stepping stone to gain political and military des, but now, within the few minutes they had started the battle, they had lost about 6,500 horses and 6,5000 men.
It was a horrendous loss.
And it made Ural shiver at the thought of what else Alexander had hidden under his sleeve.
While Faruq, who was a far more mentally resilientmander squashed these simr to Ural thoughts after only a split second, reassuring himself by saying, ''These bumpkins were useless to begin with. Me and my men will be enough."
"And if Alexander thinks his pathetic archers will be able to stop my camels, I will teach that fool why roses are dyed red."
The saying ''why roses are dyed red'' was a phrase unique to Adhania
Adhania was famous for its beautiful flowers and the origin of the saying came from the fact that these roses would be seen growing over battlefields, particrly battlefields in vast swaths, almost dyeing the green field red.
This was due to all the fertilepost that would be added to it in the form of dead humans and horses.
But the people of Adhania saw the flowers as the crystallization of their blood spilled to defend theirnd.
And Faruq was determined to bleed Alexander dry.
"My lord, the soldiers are awaiting yourmand. Please give the order," While the two men were exchanging reports, a scout suddenly intruded on them to let them know that the infantry in the center was ready to charge.
"Yes, yes, let''s start." And since time was wasting Faruq gave themand hurriedly, before turning to Ural and finishing their talk, "You go rest. We will take talkter."
Faruq after all had an army to conduct and perhaps if he hurried, we could rescue a part of Lord Nibraz''s force, or at least he held a tiny bit of that hope against hope.
Thus he quickly left for the frontline, but not before reassuring this step-brother-inw of his by raising is arms into the air and saying, "And don''t worry. Remember we have the Jahal mercenaries. Victory will be ours."
Faruq''s confident smile and the fearsome reputation of the mercenaries did alleviate most of Ural''s concerns as he knew only simple archers would not be enough to stop these lethal warriors.
They moved too fast, and were adept at dodging arrow fire, while the on-foot archers were much more vulnerable to their counterfire.
"Mmmn, be careful," Ural thus nodded, though he just could not help but worry.
''*Sigh*, I hope these two tricks are the only tricks under Alexander''s belt,'' Ural said to himself, as he dragged himself to his tent to get some rest.
He doubted he would be able to participate in today''s battle or any battle for that sake in the near future, and thus decided to get his wounds checked out by the doctors his father had sent with him.
While he had ordered one of his deputies to try and gather the scattered men, treat the wounded, and if possible restore the cavalry unit for onest charge.
Though Ural held little hope for thestmand.
''Oh Ramuh! I hope my ribs are not too badly banged,'' He thus decided to concentrate on that.
While Ural basically retired from the battlefield, Faruq was busy giving out battle orders,manding,
"The center will attack the enemy''s center."
"Lord Liakit have your archers attack the right nk along with Azab."
"Lord Nyantim have your slingers attack the left nk along with Jabad."
Faruqunched these directives in rapid session, intending to overwhelm Alexander''s nks using sheer numbers before outnking the infantry.
Because even after losing 3,500bat units, Faruq still had the number advantage.
And it was by quite a lot.
For instance, Alexander''s left nk of 5,000 would be attacked with 10,000 troops, double their numbers.
While Alexander''s right nk would be attacked by an almost simr number of 9,000 troops,
And only time would tell whether these green recruits, peasant levies would be able to hold on against the professional soldiers sent their way, at least until Alexander''s infantry had managed to weaken the center enough to execute their n.
The center of Faruq''s army, consisting ofpact phnx units slowly but steadily crossed the kilometer of open field, their synchronized marching footsteps producing the fateful music of imminent bloodshed, their long spears pointing pitilessly at their enemies until finally they made contact.
"Shoot!" The front legionmanders shouted the moment the enemy had gotten in pilum range of about 20 meters, raining a hail of impending death of short spears on them.
*Thud*, *Thud*, *Arggh*, *Grgghh*
And Faruq''s phnx reacted to this attack the only way they knew they could, by raising their shields to take cover.
Theirmanders had taught them of this novel attack, who themselves had gotten it from Amenheraft.
But the pilum was not a simple javelin that was designed to only kill the enemy.
Its primary role was far more insidious, which was destroying the enemy shield by impaling itself into it.
And a phnx unit without its shield was no phnx unit.
So for these peasant levies, this realization had a huge psychological effect, as many stopped their march literally meters away from their enemy to try to yank out the pilum, only to find that the shaft it was attached to snapped when they tried, leaving the metal still embedded in the shield.
While others literally had the pilum pierce their shield and arm together, making just holding the shield hurt like hell, much less fight with it.
Just from the way these soldiers reacted, the quality between these levies, and Amenhearft''s battle-hardened troops could be seen, who had reacted much more calmly when faced with this new weapon, and the injured simply retreated to the back and let their fresh, uninjuredrades take their ce.
And that was done by troops who had no idea about the weapons, but simple battlefield experience had allowed them toe up with the solution on the spot, whereas these ''trained'' soldiers, who knew it wasing were seen fumbling.
It went to just show the real level of training these men had received.
"Charge!"
And these conscripts were offered no respite from their enemies, who immediately afterunching their two volleys of the pilum, the front three legions charged.
The soldiers ducked their heads behind their shields and run towards the iing wall of spears, using it to push away the spiked stick to the side or up, and getting in between the spear and the spear holder.
And then the brutal melee began, as individual groups of three to four attacked their opposing part, trying to strike them down.
The legionaries used their shields to stave off the spear thrusts stilling from the 2nd and 3rd rows of the phnx while using their short, much more maneuverable in close quarters melee swords to thrust and stab at the phngites.
And it was not only the humans they targeted, sometimes they would intentionally strike the opposing shields themselves, trying to make the hand holding them too numb to properly react to subsequent attacks.
While the really skilled ones would try to do a parry, swinging their shield away from them the moment a spear struck it, defecting the blow, and creating an opening for them to get a stab in.
Or if that was too hard for you, there was always the good old shield bash, where soldiers would just use their shield to hit the opponent.
And the phngites were no slouches either.
They would retaliate against these attacks by using their spear''s greater range to keep the legionaries at bay and then try and slip through the cracks in their defenses to get in a hit by employing various feints and fakes.
The entire fight in the middle was a brutal, primal sh, where none gave an inch to the others, and tried their level best to kill one another.
[Note- Troop Formation inment]
Chapter 422 The Flanks
Each row of legionary was designed to fight for 10 - 15 minutes, until the soldiers became tired, whereupon the captain (500 menmander) would blow a wooden whistle, and the legionnaires would take one step to their right, while theirrades immediately behind them would step forward to fill their previously upied space, and immediately start engaging the enemy.
While at the same time, the tired troops would take a step back, and with theirrades protecting their backs, the troops would turn back and be able to safely retreat to the back, letting the whole cycle continue.
And in this way, entirepanies and even the entire legion can be seamlessly switched without having to disengage with the enemy, enabling an army to fight for hours without tiring, with individual soldiers maybe fighting a total of 10-15 minutes per battle.
And this was a huge morale boon for especially the untrained peasants who just had to grit their teeth and hang on for this short amount of time, with the knowledge that after then they will be free.
A luxury that unfortunately the opposing phnx could not afford.
This was because phnxes werepact units with no gaps between the men and the formation primarily worked by grinding through the opposing infantry, with the front rows sticking out their spears, and the other rear rows literally shoving them forward, thus drilling a bloody path through the enemy army.
And in such a formation, front-line recements only urred when someone died or got injured, meaning a phnx lost morale much more quickly than a legion formation the former had all its casualties concentrated on one spot risking a rout of the front lines, whereas the legionary could spread out its death evenly throughout the entire formation.
And not only that, a phnx unit also got weaker much more quickly than a legionary system as it had no way to cycle its rows, which was also why Alexander created that custom-made troop-switching technique.
Of course, it needed to be said that it was not like the phnx unit had no redeeming qualities.
In a straight-up front melee, a phnx was the superior attacking formation, their spears'' greater range posing a great threat to the legionaries equipped with short swords.
And they did have a way to rotate their entire unit, bringing in fresh new meat to rece the tired ones, though it was nowhere near as efficient as the legionary system.
Thus the two troop formations decided to duke it out, to see which was the superior one, as they engaged in brutalbat ceaselessly for hours with no signs of it stopping.
While Alexander''s center was rock solid at the moment, his nks appeared far shakier when facing the ruthless mercenaries and the ranged units, at least initially.
The Jahal mercenaries wanted to start the attack like they always did, with a melee charge, because even if the crossbowmen were protected by a row of stakes, sometimes, if the troops were unmotivated enough, there was a chance they could break even during that, fearing the animals would be able to jump for the narrow ditch.
And it especially worked for them because they rode camels, which to many were exotic creatures, and most had no idea of their capabilities.
Perhaps they could really assail the fortifications, many thought.
And with that hope the Jahal mercenaries lined up their camels ready to charge, just seeing which some of the cowardly crossbowmen felt their knees weaken.
But fortunately, on the left nk, Menicus was there to hold the boat steady.
"You coward punks! What are you afraid of?" Look behind you! We have already killed ten thousand men. And lost not one!" He pointed his finger to the trapped charioteers who were being ughtered to boost morale.
And seeing this great evidence of victory, the left nk calmed down and steadily pointed their weapons at the lined-up cavalry.
*Shoo*, *Shoo*, Shoo*,
And since the mercenaries were already within the 200 meters range of therge crossbows, the men had no reason to not greet them, letting out an initial volley of bolts.
"What! How are they shooting from so far?" And as the boltspleted the arch and descended upon the mercenaries, they were stunned by the range, barely having the time to raise their light shields to protect themselves.
This was because normally bows of this time had a max range of 80m to 100m.
And though the arrows had lost most of their powers in their flight, simply pinging off the mercenaries'' leather and wooden bucklers and dealing minimum damage, their effectiveness against the psychology of the mercenaries was far greater.
"Darm, those archers are gonna be a problem. Charge! Let us try to do a charge!" Azab shouted, hoping that the enemy had low morale.
And thus, even through the arrow fire, which was rtively light due to the long reloading speed of the crossbows, the mercenaries quickly made up the distance and were just 50 meters from their target with their spears pointed and ready to go.
But that was where they encountered another one of Alexander''s nasty tricks, the caltrops.
*Bleat*, *Bleat*, *Bleat*,
As the metal spikes pierced into the soft feet of the camel, the animals reacted violently, buckling and swerving to the sides in an attempt to avoid the painful sensation, which caused a cascading effect across the entire lines, causing many deaths in the process, and destroying the momentum of the charge.
"Haha, see that! See that you punks! That is the lord you are fighting for. Now shoot! What are you standing there for? Shoot!" Menicus encouraged his soldiers, as the green recruits finally gained the courage to stand their ground.
Alexander knew that his right nk was the weakest part of his army, one which was particrly green, and so had ced his most experiencedmander Menicus there,
And it appeared Alexander was right in his judgment, as the old man had thebination of strictness and friendliness to make these peasants unite under amon cause.
While Menicus rejoiced in his sess, Azab was livid, shouting, "Fuck! How do they have so many spikes? Has that Jakqum used every bit of iron in Zanzan?"
Alexander had peppered the front 50 meters of both his nks in a field of caltrops hidden among the grass, something the riders missed.
And though Azab was no stranger to caltrops, in his experience they would only be used sparingly, in choke points and narrow passages.
Because steel was bloody expensive and short in quantity.
And so seeing this huge area covered with it was somethingpletely novel to him.
In fact, Alexander had wanted to do the same for his center but found that employing caltrops over such a huge area would be a waste.
Because caltrops were really only useful against cavalry, while the infantry could simply use their feet to push avoid the obstacles, or simply use their hands to pick it.
Which they would be free to do as just as the caltrop field prevented the enemy from approaching Alexander, Alexander was also prevented from approaching them.
And this was the very thing that was happening right now as finally the archers reached the left nk of Alexander, and some of them started clearing out the obstacles as others provided covering fire.
The Jahal mercenaries too recovered from their initial debacle, the speed at which they did showing their experience and expertise, and started returning counterfire.
They attacked in waves, with multiple groups of ten riders charging and circling the stationary crossbowmen, lobbing out barrage after barrage of arrow fire as each line of mercenaries who exhausted their arrows would be followed up by the next wave, thus keeping up constant pressure.
While the preceding riders would go back, restock their supply, ande back, just creating a constant storm of arrows.
It was a brutal tactic that would eat away at any army, no matter how trained or well-disciplined it was, as they would be eventually chipped away if they had no way to strike back.
If the infantry tried to charge, the much faster mobile cavalry would be able to just run away, and might even take advantage of the out-of-formation infantry to charge and break through them.
And if they tried to use archers to counter them, its efficacy was doubtful.
Because the archers would be stationary while the mercenaries were mobile, meaning the former''s uracy was dismalpared to thetter.
And then there was the fact these mercenaries had a range of around 80- 100 meters, a bit better than the archers of this time.
And the way that the weak bows of this time, made even weaker by their smaller size, necessitated by their need to be able to be used mounted, were able to aplish that was by virtue of the mount''s speed.
The running motion of the camels would impart some speed to the arrows which would enable them to just outrange their counterpart.
And this was the greatest secret of the Jahal mercenaries, the secret sauce behind their invincible status.
Which was why Azab was so distressed when he witnessed the insane range of the crossbow.
And this fear proved to be correct, as even when the crossbowmen were outnumbered 2 to 1, using their superior range, Alexander''s men could hit more of the Jahal mercenaries and the opposing archers than they could hit back, while at the same their pre-prepared pavises allowed them to shield them against arrows much better than their counterpart.
And thus that part of the battlefield too reached a stalemate for the time being.
Chapter 423 An Uneasy Stalemate (Part-1)
The battle ranged on from the morning till midday, with no end in sight.
The soft glow of the spring sun turned harsh and hot by this time, making both sides sweat profusely as many a parched throat cried over for a sip of water, but was immediately squashed by the neverending bloodlust to not give the enemy an inch.
For the moment, neither side appeared to show any sign of budging.
In the meantime, Alexander''s left nk had been almost drowned out in arrows, with the surrounding soil looking like it had been nted with wooden arrows like it was some kind of cash crop.
But even through all the blizzard of hailfire, the crossbowmen still held, taking refuge behind their pavises most of the time and only sneaking their head out tounch their shots, before quickly again ducking behind their protective screen to rest and reload.
The whole thing appeared like a game of cat and mouse, as the mercenaries and the archers tried to catch the crossbowmen between their transitions, timing their volleys ordingly, while the crossbowmen would try to aim, fire, and duck as quickly and with as much uracy as they could.
But still, for both sides, most of the arrows they fired missed.
While in Alexander''s case, many were stopped by embedding themselves into therge shields in front of the crossbowmen, until there were a few with so many arrows stuck to them that when the lines were rotated, the fresh new men woulde up with their own pavises to rece the ones in the frontlines because they would look more like wooden porcupines rather than solid defensible shields.
The fact that a solid b of wood, ted with copper could be basically destroyed using just arrows was a phenomenon that had to be seen to be believed.
But even with this impressive disy of lethality, still, when some arrows did manage to find their target, especially on Alexander''s side, it was not like it was not an instant kill.
Because arrows were not bullets.
They were primarily meant as a suppressive weapon, used to make the enemies kept their heads down, while the other parts of the army could do their job unhindered.
The primary reason for this was because by the time the arrow managed to prate the chainmail and linen thorax of the crossbowmen, there was little prating power left over to deal much damage, most time dealing flesh wounds, or at best a broken bone.
Certainly painful, but usually not deadly, and many times not even enough to stop the man from continuing to fight.
But while the heavily armored crossbowmen took these blows quite well, and the lightly armored but mobile Jahal mercenaries had no problem holding the line, the archers under Lord Liakit were not so lucky.
Because they were lightly armored, had only small shields, and stationary units.
Lord Liakit had not bothered to equip his men properly to save on cost, and it wasing back to bite him now.
The urate, long-ranged crossbow attacks proved very deadly for his men, and even though only 2,000 crossbowmen engaged 5,000 of them, it was the outnumbering archers who were put on the back foot, unable to provide a proper response and thus forced to simply weather the arrow storm.
It appeared it was only a matter of time since these archers broke and ran.
That was the situation update for the left nk.
Now for the center units.
The fighting there was still going strong, though the intensity did seem to have slowed down a bit as time passed, with both sides beginning to tire after 4 hours of brutal melee. though the tiredness of the phngites was bing much more noticeable.
Many were seen visibly huffing and puffing and their thrusts appeared weaker and sluggish, and they much preferred to take refuge behind theirrge sheilds when attacked, rather than actively parry and answer back.
"Darm this strange formation. The enemy might be able to fight for weeks," One of the phnx captains cursed under his breath looking at the smooth rotation of Alexander''s troops, and seeing that the ferocity of the enemy''s attack had really decrease even after so long, while they themselves were close to their breaking point.
Fights longer than 4 hours were possible for phnxes, but usually there would be a rest in between for both of the equally exhausted sides to catch some breath, making it a contest of which side had the better trained and physically fit soldiers and see who could regain their stamina quickly.
They never faced anything like the continuous meat grinder currently being lobbed against them.
But what could they do except grit their teeth and hope that the enemy broke first?
Or that other sections of the army was performing better.
And while the second hope had yet to manifest, the first hope was surprisingly closer than they thought.
Because just like they were cursing the rotation system, Alexander''smanders in the front lines were rejoicing about it.
"Darm, if we did not have this rotation system, we might not havested this long. Our casualties are really heavy." Was the consensus of the vast majority of frontline officers.
This was because in terms of sheer attacking power, a phnx was really unparalleled, and even when Alexander tried to even the ying field using the pilum and taking some of their shields, it was still not enough.
Because there were rows after rows of the spear which the legionaries found it hard to prate, and hence the ratio of casualties was actually still on Faruq''s side.
Thus if Alexander had not managed to distribute the number of wounded throughout his entire army, and if Alexander''s units did not have much deeper lines (20 rows as opposed to the phnx''s 16) which made them believe they had more backup and thus gave them more courage, perhaps the lines would have still held, but they would never have been able to weaken the enemy enough tomence their n.
Of course, it is important to state that a phnx might also be not able to do critical damage to the legionary.
Because that was not the primary job of a phnx.
A phnx''s job was not to cause a mass route by killing enough enemies.
But it was either to poke and prod them enough and make them believe they could not hurt the opposing side and they were just dying the inevitable by choosing to resist, which could cause them to scatter.
Or to use their spears to keep pushing the enemy back until they were up against a natural barrier, or their own camp, at which point they would have nowhere to go and scatter.
Or to keep the enemy pinned down until the allied cavalry could outnk the enemy in the ssic hammer and anvil strategy most famously used by Alexander.
And thus a kind of stalemate was reached in the center, Alexander''s men working to weaken and erode the opposing side while trying to minimize casualties for themselves until the higher-ups decided it was time to deal the final blow.
Lastly, there was the right nk, where things were going about as well as in the left nk.
Melodias was in charge of this sector, and he faced half of the mercenaries and 4,000 slingers.
These slingers of Lord Nyantim were his pride and joy, soldiers who were not trained but bought up in that lifestyle from birth, and they were one of Adhania''s deadliest fighting force.
These people wore little to no armor, and used lead balls as their projectiles, giving them vastly greater range than the weak bows of this time, at around 300 to 400 meters.
And they were highly urate adding to that, the most experienced ones able to make his shot go through a small ring at a range of 150 meters, with a rate of fire of seven times a minute, making them one of the most feared units of the battlefield.
A shot from them would get your teeth knocked out, eyes smashed, and if one was really unluckyeven the throat punchered.
These slinges carried three slings, one around their head, one around their waist, and the third in their hands, with different slings being used to hit targets at different distances.
The longer the sling, therger distance it could cover.
And their ammunation was stone, y and in this battle lead, with some even having holes drilled in them to give off a buzzing sound, reminiscent of an agitated wasp, making it one of the earliest form of psychological warfare.
And often, these bullets contained inscriptions and images.
The mostmon were the images of a lightning bolt, a snake, or a scorpion.
While some bullets also had inscriptions such as: "Take this", "Catch", "Ouch", or "Get pregnant with this."
The only drawback of the slingers were their long training time, requiring literally decades to master the art, making each loss a heart-rendering one.
And Lord Nyantim was experiencing that pain very frequently, as some lucky crossbow shots were managing to slowly whittle the armorless slingers, as the two weapons had simr range.
And slowly over time, Alexander''s armor, pavises. and the general greater lethality of the bolts was starting to eke out a lead while at the same time, the slingers were experiencing a shortage of projectiles because the cheap stake lord did not think they would be such a long, drawn-out showdown.
In this way things were overall going pretty well for Alexander.
Chapter 424 An Uneasy Stalemate (Part-2)
"My lord, Lord Nyantim reports that his losses are too great. So he is pulling back his forces." Finally unable to bear the losses, themander of the slingers decided to pull his men back and sent a herald to Faruq to ry that.
A key point of notice here would be how Lord Nyantim had not asked for permission from Faruq before doing this, which was in much contrast to Alexander''smand structure where his word reigned supreme.
But that was natural as Faruq''s army had a much looser hierarchy than Alexander''s.
And it was here the coalition''s drawbacks started to show itself.
"Dammit!" Faruq gritted his teeth and cursed hearing this, but limited himself to only that.
Because he did not have jurisdiction over those forces, and so could only ept their withdrawal, even if he thought it was unreasonable.
Though in fairness, the slingers had truly suffered badly, losing close to 300 of their men, or about 7% of their total force being dead or wounded.
Which might not sound like a lot, but for an elite, taking literally decades to train unit, this kind of casualty was eye-watering.
And besides, most of them had already run out of ammunition by now and had had to resort to using the stones and pebbles dotted around the field as makeshift projectiles.
And that worked to a certain extent, but since these did not have the same range as their lead bullets, the slingers had to move closer to their target, thus exposing them to a greater volume of urate crossbow fire.
"Dammit. I should not have skipped on the lead bullets!" Lord Nyamtim frustratingly gritted his teeth as he withdrew his force.
Lead was not cheap, and lobbying masses of it towards the enemy seemed to him like hurling money.
And as he had expected the Jahal mercenaries to do all the heavy lifting, he had only bought with him a limited amount of ammunition.
But even that would not have been a problem if not for that ursed weapon, the crossbow.
A thought that Lord Liakit who lead the archers shared fervently with hispatriot, which was expressed by the message he sent to Faruq a little whileter after the slingers started pulling back.
"These new cursed bows are too much for my men to handle. I have to save them. My deepest apologies."
The archers that the man had bought were specially trained, and were used specifically during assaulting walls to suppress the wall defenders while the infantry carried outdder rushes, and thus losing them in an open field was not sustainable for the lord.
But this did not mean he was a coward either.
The man had taken more than 600 losses as dead or seriously wounded, double of Nyantim''s losses in actual numbers, and one and a half times percentage-wise, and was originally still ready to fight.
But when he saw the slingers leave the battle, he figured it was unlikely that this battle would be won, at least today, and thus wisely decided to pull out instead of suffering unnecessary casualties.
When Faruq received this report, contrary to the angry cuss he had let out previously, he only pursed his lips and nodded to the scout, acknowledging he had gotten the report, while his mind was busy concentrating on trying toe up with his next move.
The two armies were now basically evenly matched in terms of number and without a way to take out those new types of archers, Faruq could not think of a solution.
''Azab tells me that the nks might be weak. Hopefully we can break through them soon,'' Thus Faruq could only rely on his elite troops to grind through the enemy.
For the young man still held out hope for victory.
But soon a herald came to him showing that the heavens would not permit him that luxury of waiting and praying.
"My lord, the center is buckling. We can''t hold on for long. What are your orders?"
In keeping with the line, ''when it rains it pours,'' it appeared had Faruq''s troubles got much worse, as the once solid line had started to buckle, and was starting to appear like waves, wobbling and shaking as it smashed against the rock that was Alexander''s infantry.
Finally, the legionaries had managed to make the enemy reach their exhaustion and the stress from the brutal melee to near the peak, and if steps were not soon taken to reinforce the center, it was only a matter of time before it broke and initiated a mass rout.
"...." Faruq gave himself some time to think before trying to immediately answer the man, while internally he cursed, ''Strange tactic, strange bows, strange weapons, strange formation. Dammit Alexander, you witch!''
The strange tactic referred to the ming ropes,
The strange bows referred to the crossbows,
The strange weapons referred to the pilum and
The strange formation referred to the legionary formation.
Faruq had certainly noticed how efficiently that particr type of formation was able to change their rows, and it left a bittersweet feeling in him.
Sweet because as a militarily focused man, this new type of formation left his heart marveling at the much better infantry technique.
But bitter because it was being used against him.
While he called Alexander ''witch'' because he felt the word wizard or sorcerer had a much more positive connotation.
And then, after failing to find any good solution except retreating, Faruq could onlympoon in his mind, ''This was supposed to be an easy fight. Now even losing with dignity might be hard. Dammit!''
Thus finally a whileter he simply said, "Ask all themanders to meet me. I will decide what to do after consulting them."
Faruq was ready to order a retreat if no solution could be attained.
"Yes, my lord." The scout gave a military salute, and a whileter, the officers in charge of various fronts of the army saw themselves gathered around Faruq who was situated at the rear of the army''s center.
Faruq quickly and sinctly exined to them the general situation of the front lines, and then turned to them to ask, "So what are your thoughts?"
Faruq would heed the advice of the majority..
"My lord, I suggest we retreat. These peasants are currently like scared rabbits and I have no idea when one of them will start running and others start to follow. Fucking sheep *thoo*." This was said unsurprisingly by the overallmander of the center army, who was really afraid of an imminent copse.
Phnxes usually could not fight for so long without resting a bit, especially not when faced with the kind of unrelenting barrage Alexander''s men were dishing out.
But what was much more surprising was how he spat and degraded the brave men who fought for him, reflecting the popr attitude of the nobles towards their peasants.
And once this opinion was raised, it soon gained traction, as many other noblesmanding smaller parts of the army joined in to express their support.
Because none could see the enemy break before them..
''Dammit, is there no other way?'' Faruq cursed in his heart.
And this was not because he was ashamed to retreat for fear of being called an ipetentmander.
Instead, it was because if they retreated today, he could see no way of doing things differently tomorrow that would guarantee them victory then, especially when they would have a less number advantage as of now, for some troops will inevitably be lost during the withdrawal.
"Retreating is an option." Faruq acknowledged with a nod, and then turned to his mercenary leader with the question, What do you think Azab?"
Faruq was basically asking if this experienced mercenary leader had any alternative ideas.
And fortunately for him, it seemed the answer was yes.
"Young master, I have told you that the enemy''s left nk is the weakest. So what I propose is to gather all our cavalry, and charge down their nk, bypassing the archers to hit them from the rear. Because remember my lord, their infantry nks are technically empty. The archers are about 500 meters in front."
The experienced mercenary had the sharp eyes to locate the weakness inevitably created by Alexander''s strategy and was proposing they exploit it.
But the problem with that was immediately pointed out by the others.
"What! If the 5,000 Jahal mercenaries on our left went to reinforce the right, then the 5,000 enemy archers there will be free to attack our left nk. The copse of our center will be immediate." They loudly cried, making a very reasonable assumption.
And so the question now rose whether the Jahal mercenaries would be able to swing around Alexander''s force and destroy them before their center would be able to demolish Faruq''s forces.
And it was a gamble that the vast majority of the nobles were unwilling to take, a fact they very staunchly let it be known.
"No! No way. It is too dangerous. We do not agree." They said in the most clear-cut way possible.
Because if it worked, then all was well, but if it failed, it would be their men, peasants who were needed in their fields to lose their lives, while the mercenaries would be left rtively unscathed.
The nobles would be foolish to agree to such a lopsided tactic.
And so it appeared the group had reached a stalemate.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 425 Deadly Interlude
The vehement denial by the nobles was not just out of their desire to win the battle or because they cared about their men, but more so because it this strategy they carried an unproportionate greater amount of risk than Faruq.
They had far more to lose from this than Faruq.
And until that simple equation was much more equalized, they would not sanction this move.
This line of thought was not alien to Faruq who had been with the nobles long enough to understand this mindset.
So after a bit of thought, he proposed apromise, "Then let us retreat for an hour or two and give the men some time to rest. In the meantime, we can figure out a solution."
But this idea sounded a bit weird to many because it seemed that Faruq was just ordering a retreat.
So the man in charge elucidated, "My lords, let me rify. This is not the end of fighting for today. No, we will attack again. And we have to attack again today!"
Faruq repeated thest line to illustrate the importance as he went on to exin why, "Because the difference in power between us and Alexander will only shrink over time. So if we give him an entire day to rest all the losses we suffered today will mean nothing."
Thisst sentence made manymanders change their countenance because they soon understood Faruq was right.
They reasonably correctly guessed that Alexander''s center had certainly taken a beating, even if it was not as much as theirs, it certainly had to be close.
And so letting them rest and recover a full day, and then attack with an even smaller force while expecting a better oue would be foolish.
And the same thought process went with those 10,000 crossbowmen, who surely would be exhausted from firing so many shots, and frightened from being shot back so many times.
All humans had a break point after all.
So letting them rest would be also a bad idea.
As the various militarymanders face color changed due to the realization dawning on them, that fact was not missed by the talented military leader, Faruq who capitalized on it by saying, "Of course, the best would be to strike now and here. Give the enemy no respite. But it seems that is not possible."
Faruq had a regretful tone voice to his voice, a fake one he created to bait the nobles into agreeing to the operations right now.
But these nobles were not verdant chickens to the art of politics, and many of them put up an equally regretful face to say, "*Sigh*, yes, if that was only possible. But these peasants are really unreliable. We can''t trust them."
The nobles skillfully managed to pass the me on the soldiers who had been literally fighting tooth and nail for them for thest 4 hours.
"So, how does my lord wish to order the retreat?" As any imminent attack was put on hold, and the retreat strategy adopted, the question arose of how to implement it.
Because while nning for a fight might be hard, fighting harder, it was running away from it that was the hardest.
Especially if one wanted to minimize his casualty while escaping.
"Easy. The second half of the infantry will act as the rear guard while the first half breaks contact and runs. And my Jahal mercenaries will stand by ready to provide backup in case of unforeseen circumstances."
The ''unforeseen circumstances'' could only really refer to one thing, Alexander''s infantry chasing the fleeing soldiers.
And in this case Faruq actually really hoped that happened, for there was nothing more delicious for a cavalry than infantry out of formation.
Because remember, it was not as if the Jahal mercenaries were only ranged units.
They also had the ability to charge.l with their spears.
Thus if they were lucky enough and Alexander''s men were particrly unruly enough, it might be the predator that could be turned into prey.
Perhaps that one blunder within Alexander''s leadership would enable Faruq to turn this undesirable position into an instant victory.
That was Faruq''s hope anyway.l
The nobles were a bit surprised by how Faruq made the retreat sound as if it was any other military maneuver.
But his confident demeanor and bodynguage made them ept the n without bickering and hence soon trumpets began to re all around Faruq''s part of the army.
It of course signaled the order to retreat.
"Haha, running! They are running!"
"We won! Thank Gaia we won!"
"Lord Alexander! Glory to Lord Alexander!"
And just as the soldiers making up the noble coalition breathed a sigh of relief and felt a breath of exhaustion leave their bodies, the opposite mood permeated the other side, Alexander''s side.
Happiness, tion, joy, relief, and all such positive feelings washed over them as these men cheered and rejoiced seeing the opposing sides drop most of their spears and turn tail and run.
The reason why the men dropped their spears was because it was much easier to turn a 180 without the risk of skewering others if you did not carry a pointy object as tall as a one-story house.
And while the nobles'' soldiers tried to run as fast as they could without causing a stampede, some of Alexander''s men did try to get ast-second kill by chasing after them.
And many did get a lucky backstab, some even dealing critical damage killing some of the fleeing men.
But overall the number was pretty small, because the moment the rout was initiated, loud voices started to ring out from all across Alexander''s sides, with the officers urging his men the following, "Stop! Don''t chase! Don''t get out of formation!"
This coordinated response came about as pre-battle Alexander had repeatedly urged his officers to not give chase to the fleeing enemy, citing, ''They have cavalry while we do not. Meaning at any moment they have the ability to turn around and charge, destroying us. Do not risk turning victory into defeat.''
And it seemed the officers had heeded thatmand, as being demonstrated now, much to Faruq''s disappointment.
''A cautiousmander abhorrent to risks.'' He judged Alexander''s fighting style as he noticed the soldiers being discouraged to give chase, thus allowing the levies to march in file while a part formed a solid line to guard against possible attacks.
But since that did not happen, the withdrawal was mostly smooth.
And seeing this, Faruq then decided to return to his camp to have a chat with the lords.
''I hope these incels have shits for brains and are not totally empty,'' He thought as tried toe up with the exact way he was going to convince them to go along with the n he hade up with.
And he knew it was likely not going to be easy.
While on the other side of the camp, there was a general feeling of ease and release of tension, which affected all parts of the army and along all its branches, ranging from the grass roots to all the way to the highest echelons.
"Haha, congrattions my lord. We have won!" Grahtos wanted to be the first to say these words to Alexander.
But that man was the only one who did not share simr sentiments as the rest of the army.
Because he felt it was still premature.
"The enemy''s retreat is too orderly. Meaning they still have some fight left in them." Alexander crunched up his eyebrows as he said so, feeling Faruq gave up too easily, and further went on to dash Grahtos''s cheerful mood by predicting, "So they will likely again fight us tomorrow. Or even today if they are desperate enough,"
Though hisst line was just a throwaway statement, meant to cover all the bases.
He seriously did not think they would attack again.
"Ahh.." Grahtos was a bit thrown back by Alexander''sck of enthusiasm and doom forecast and quickly tried to brush it off, "Haha, my lord, it is good to be cautious. But the men at the front really have no strength. Both us and them. Sounching an attack today is impossible, And tomorrow''s attack we will deal tomorrow."
Grahtos like Alexander too shared the belief that the battle for today was over, but much vehemently, and though he could not say if there would be a battle tomorrow too, he was very confident in their chances.
Because the enemy would have far fewer resources to throw at them tomorrow than today.
So if they could survive today, why could they not do an easier task tomorrow?
And though Alexander would not openly admit it due to fear of the army growingcent, he too shared those thoughts.
He was very confident about winning.
But it was a level of confidence that would have been seriously challenged if he could hear Faruq''s proposed n to the nobles.
"My lords, here is what I suggest," He said as aloud as heid out his n.
"The center will again attack the center pinning the enemy down."
"At the same time, the 10,000 Jahal mercenaries will attack the enemy''s left nk and try to break through while the slinger and archers cover our right nk."
"Andstly, we will have Ural''s cavalry swing around the enemy''s right nk in a double pincer attack."
"So even if Alexander deploys his reserve to deal with one side, the other side will be able to break through."
It was a deadly n.
Chapter 426 Faruqs Millitary Council
Faruq''s n was bold but actually quite feasible if he could get the others to agree with him.
The keyword being ''if''.
A phenomenon perfectly demonstrated the very next second by Lord Nyantim, "My men have suffered too much today. That new kind of bow is too much to stand against. Sorry!"
The nobleman saw no point in risking his elite troops for the sake of others.
"Right. I stand with Lord Nyantim too," And Lord Liakit, whomanded the archers expressed solidary with hispatriot, sharing the same thoughts as him.
The two lords clear opposition made Faruq''s n untenable, and the man could not help butment.
''Tssh! If had known before, I would have ced Azab and his men on the right, and the archers and slinger on the left. That way, the enemy''s right could be pinned, while Azab broke through the weaker right nk.'' Faruq regretted his initial decision to split his mercenaries and felt he had missed his chance at an early victory.
And thenmpooned that now he had to grovel at these people.
Though in fairness, splitting one''s cavalry to attack both nks simultaneously is a ssic technique, meant to clip both wings of the army while protecting the infantry''s nk.
And if Faruq did do that, though there was the chance that the Jahal mercenaries would be able to ovee Alexander''s left nk and his reserves to win ultimate victory, there was also the chance of the slingers and archers routing before that happened, thus exposing their infantry''s own nks to crossbow fire.
That would be a disaster.
But it was a gamble Faruq was willing to take.
And so, as time was in short supply, he got the point straight away.
"I understand your concern my lords. But this attack will notst long, at best an hour. So your men will be safe." Faruq reassured.
But was quickly interjected by the other lords, who wanted to rebut, "Still, that seems too¡"
"We will double your reward." Like he was interrupted, Faruq too decided to interject the two lords'' whining and simply decided to throw money at the problem instead of doing into long, tedious arguments.
After all, Djose was wealthy enough to double the reward they promised each of the nobles for cooperation.
And Faruq repeated the statement to make sure the others had not misheard him.
"Let me say it again. If you agree to send your men today, just for an hour, I promise whatever royalties you were promised, I will double it. Do you agree?"
"That¡ " The two lords looked at each other as greed grew and floured inside them, as they were both certainly tempted by this, but then they remembered it was Djose who was footing the bill, not Faruq.
"You do not have that kind of authority to make such promises," Hence they stated, exercising caution when it came to trust in the man''s word.
But Faruq was ready for this, as he confidently said,
"You should know how much my father wants to kill Alexander. I assure you he will pay it if you exin the difficulties of the situation." and then even provided an alternate method of payment, "And even if he doesn''t, I will let you sack Zanzan, and make up the difference from there."
Faruq was ready to pay through the nose to win this battle as illustrated by his decisiveness and determination.
Because this battle was politically that important to him.
His father greatly trusted him to win it, with rich rewards promised, and though no threat of punishment was made, the implicit warning was there.
Faruq could not afford to mess this up.
Not if he wanted to take over Kuleef as an illegitimate child.
While Faruq made his offer, the two lords tried very hard to bnce the cost vs benefit of the offer.
But ultimately the upside of the offer won out.
The two men reasoned that since they had already sufferedrge losses, a kind of sunk cost facy had set in, making them gravitate toward the offer to try and recoup their initial investment.
So they atst agreed with a nod, saying, "Okay, we will do it."
But not before adding a kind of disimer statement, "But let us say beforehand, we cannot hold on for long. So whatever you want to do, you have to do it fast."
"Sure," Faruq kept his answer short and curt.
For he believed the maneuver would be short and decisive.
"I do not want double the reward. But I want the Jihsan mines," Next it was Ural''s time to open his mouth, and it was not just wide, but a gaping maw.
The amount of greed expressed in that demand was something that only those in the know-how would be able to truly appreciate.
The mines that Ural wanted was a huge copper mine thaty over disputed territory between the Marquiss and Pasha, and there had even been covert skirmishes between the two great houses over this vastly lucrative mine, even though they were really good allies and even rtives.
So for Ural to want this was preposterous.
Because no one but Pasha Djose could make that deal.
"Is it your that are ribs broken or is it your head?" Faruq was incensed by this demand.
He initially had a favorable view of Ural because of how quickly he hade to this emergency military meeting despite the injuries.
But now it appeared it was just to make fun of him.
Faruq thus turned his body away from Ural frustratingly and decided tomence the n without him.
After all, Ural was not as important as the other two who would be needed to hold the nks, and though having Ural would significantly boost their chances of sess, he was not as critical as the other two.
If the two lords had demanded this, Faruq might have reconsidered, but not for Ural.
"Now, don''t be so hasty, Faruq." But Ural was not turned off by this hostile disy, as he kept calm and went to exin why he made such a ludicrous demand.
"I''m well aware how important this battle is to you. So tell me, are some mines worth risking Kuleef''s throne over? And besides, don''t you think it is unfair to use us to win the Pasha''s throne for you without giving us the proper rpense, hmmm? "
Ural had a sly smile and oily tone of his voice as he said this, smugness overflowing from his face as he felt he had managed to grab Faruq by the balls using this insider information.
And as Faruq turned to face him, he had an intense urge to punch the guy.
"....Even if I wanted to give it to you, you know I do not have the power. So what do you really want?" Faruq icily said.
If he had jurisdiction over the mines, he would have truly given in to Ural''s demand.
But Ural was really asking for the impossible.
"Then swear to the gods in front of all of us that you will hand it over to me once you have the power. I can wait," Ural suggested.
If Ural could get those mines not only would they be a boost to his territory, but the fact that it was him that got it would be a ster mark on his political career.
He would be a fool to let this opportunity pass.
".....: Faruq narrowed his eyes as his head worked overtime to calcte the pros and cons, and finally the ambitious young lord, gave the most logical answer,
"Okay. With the gods as the witness, and the people in here as guarantors, I hereby swear to transfer the Jihsan mines as soon as I take the position of Pasha of Kuleef. If I fail to fulfill this promise, let the curse of the heavens be upon me."
There was no need forplicated paperwork or legal procedures as Faruq said this, because in this period such a swear was far more binding than any legal contract and judicial systems of the modern times.
Such practices were deeply ingrained into the cultural norms of the society, and so when Faruq swore the deal, Ural was pretty confident in its bindingness.
"Haha, good, good brother-inw," Ural smiled heartily smiled hearing this, ecstatic at having finally secured this lucrative territory his family had been fighting since the time of their grandfather.
And then, to truly show his appreciation, the injured man even walked over to give Faruq a bear hug andughed and said, " Haha, don''t worry, we will not embarrass you too much when you do transfer the deeds. We will just say you gave it as a gift to your nephew. You know Zaisha is pregnant again, hahaha," as Ural again broke into heartyughter.
Zaisha was Fatrak''s sister and born from Djose''s main wife,
And since she was a legitimate child, an illegitimate child like Faruq had barely talked to her outside of formal asions, and even there the conversation was strictly restricted to hi and hellos.
So to propose that Faruq would be giving such a lucrative piece of territory of a child from a woman he barely knew the name of and nothing else was ludicrous.
And thus it was really Ural''s way of poking fun at Faruq.
Faruq bore with the insults for now, because winning was the most important thing now, but also darkly thought, ''The wind does not only blow in one direction, Ural. My chance wille.''
People had killed for less after all.
Chapter 427 No Respite Interlude
"You seem pretty sure I will get Kuleef''s throne. What if I don''t" Faruq icily answered back to Ural''s joke.
This was certainly possible as though Djose''s main wife had no male children or unmarried daughters, Faruq still had a lot of brothers, both younger and older than him, all of who could be viable candidates.
Not to mention it was not impossible for Djose''s main wife to conceive another main heir.
The woman was still in her mid-thirties.
"Hahaha, well if you can''t then that''s it. But I''m confident in you. So, think of this as me investing in you, brother-inw," Ural spoke like a true politician, even shamelessly drawing familiar blood to smooth over the wound he had created by asking for so much.
Faruq had never heard Ural call him his brother-inw as he was too down the pecking order then, and usually, the address would be previously attributed to Fatrak, who, as he was the heir to Kuleef could interact with heirs of other noble houses as their peers, while Faruq would be left to the wayside.
But instead of being happy at the close address, the circumstances under which it was said, only made Faruq''s skin crawl.
He did not want to be associated with his guy and so he only turned his head.
But his mood turned even more sour right after hearing the next words drift into his ears.
"Ahem, my lord," Lord Liakit began with a slightly embarrassed cough, but still continued, "Now that we think about it, double might be a little too low for the risks we are taking¡..We want four times."
The two men felt no shame when they decided to take advantage of one''s ally, and instead really regretted they did not share territory with Djose, and so could not fleech some kind ofnd concession.
After all, money was good but not good asnd.
"...." Faruq went past the stage of rage and anger and simply produced a stony face, ring at the two lords who had decided they too wanted a piece of the meat with smoldering rage in his eyes.
''Well since I have drunk the poison, might as well drink the pot,'' But the man was calm enough to still make rational judgments, and so in a cold voice responded,
"Fine! I will give you five times the amount. But only if we win."
"Hahaha, great, great!" The two lords readily cheered, believing the war was already in the bag.
Finally, done with convincing these parasites as Faruq would like to call them, Faruq atst finalized somest-moment strategies, and then turned to the leader of the Jahal mercenaries Azab, who had been mute up until now, to only say, "Everything will depend on you."
"Don''t worry young master, my men are ready," Azab confidently replied.
He had fought wars harder than these.
And thus the order to reengage the enemy was given out as trumpets red out signaling the restart of the conflict, which the tired soldiers could only forcibly ept.
So most of the soldiers who were sitting in the middle of the field, drinking water and resting reluctantly got up, bringing power back to their feet and arms as they picked up their shields and spears and under the barks of their officers got into formation, ready to charge.
''Sigh, again,'' They tiredly thought.
Butpared to Alexander''s men, they were the lucky ones.
Because Alexander''s thought that the enemy would not attack today was long ago proven wrong as he quickly noticed that though the enemy infantry had retreated to a distance of around 500 meters, the Jahal mercenaries had not.
Yes, Faruq had decided to keep these expert men in the field, lobbying arrows all across the front and keeping Alexander''s men generally on edge.
These mercenaries not only attacked the nks but also sometimes tried to charge the center, though they nevermitted to it, and so all of them were fake.
The reason for that being obvious, the ming chains.
If not for that new weapons, the Jahal mercenaries would have been able to charge pretty confidently without any threat of arrow fire from the nks because Alexander''s center was 1.5 kilometers long, and his crossbowmen could cover only around 200 meters to 300 meters on either side, leaving a safe corridor of about a kilometer for the mercenaries.
Which was more than enough to demolish the center.
But since they could not, the mercenaries settled for harassing all the front lines units, making fake charges, shooting arrows, mocking their opposition, and generally agitating the enemy, all in an effort to frustrate the enemy.
And they seeded in this because even though the mercenaries failed to do any real damage, Alexander''s men still had to respond to their attacks by raising their shields and keeping in formation, not getting any rest.
This was because they had to be ready to respond in case this attack was the real one, or if the attack was indeed a fake one, but the experienced mercenaries decided to turn it into a real one sensing the enemy''s weakness.
This, in this way, though Faruq''s men got two hours of rest, Alexander''s men got none and where Faruq''s men got to recover some strength, Alexander''s men got weaker and weaker over time.
With their only saving grace being the rotation system which mitigated much of the damage.
"Thank Gaia, we can rotate our soldiers, Without that the battle might have been already over," Grahtos breathed a tense breath of relief as he waited with nervous trepidation while the enemy readied themselves for the next round.
A feeling shared by all, from grass root soldiers to even Alexander.
''What are they nning?'' As it was obvious the enemy nned to attack again, for the enemy soldiers had not retreated to their camp, Alexander tried to think of what the enemy could do by them himself in their shoes.
But he failed to think of anything that could seriously threaten him.
And this was because Alexander failed to take into consideration that the routed slinger, archers, and cavalry had reorganized themselves, and were ready to fight again.
Because ording to him, those men were done and dusted, and not a threat anymore.
And so, finally unable to find an answer, he decided to take some precautions,
"Grahtos, the one thousand infantry we have," He drew the attention of his cavalry captain, and instructed him the following, "Have them mount some of the horses we have captured. In this way, whatever tricks the enemy has, we will be able to respond to it quicker."
These units will not be true cavalry with the barding (horse armor) andnces, but light cavalry, who would be also able to fight as dismounted infantry if needed.
"....Yes, my lord," Grahtos saw the creation of a fully mobile reserve as a very good n, and so immediatelyplied.
And as this transition was going on, the mercenaries kept up their attack, sapping away Alexander''s strength.
One might posit whether the mercenaries who were also denied the rest would also be tired.
And the answer was yes, they would, as riding on any mount was tiring, and shooting bows was one of the most exhausting things to do on any battlefield.
Every other action on the battlefield, whether it we thrusting spears, swinging swords, or usingnces, nothing was as physically draining as drawing a now.
Because it took a lot of strength.
This was very poorly reflected in video games, where usually, the dexterity stat was used when using bows, such as in the rouges ss, while the strength stat was denominated to the fighter ss using swords.
Whereas in reality it should have been the opposite, with swords requiring dexterity to skirt past the enemy''s defense to stab him, while bows required great strength to pull back the string tounch the arrow.
And in the same vein, anyone who said a bow is a woman''s weapon clearly had never touched a bow in his life.
Because it''s far easier for females, who are generally weaker, to use a sword than wield a bow.
But ultimately these mercenaries were much more trained and experienced than Alexander''s peasant levies, having literally decades of fighting wisdom ingrained in them, and so they were able to withstand much more punishment of the elements on the battlefield than Alexander''s men.
This was a battle of endurance and a question of who couldst longer.
And speaking ofsting long, the Jahal mercenaries seemed to have perfected the art of ammunition replenishment for their weapons, enabling them to stay on the battlefield for as long as they wished.
They did this by having a thousand (1,000) camels as mobile arrow carriers, with each beast able to carry 3,000 arrows, who would go around the battlefield and let the left riders refill their stocks then and there.
This not only meant the mercenaries could stay longer on the battlefield but also meant their own steeds would not tire as quickly as they did not need to make the long journey back to the supply wagons each time their quiver ran empty.
Whereas Alexander''s own crossbowmen had their supply wagons to their rear, and arrow boys had to run to the frontlines to manually deliver the arrow.
The total number of which up until now being 1 million.
*re*, *re*, *re*
And amidst this resupply, did everyone on Alexander''s side hear the call to restart the battle, as did Faruq''s men, and thus the second round began.
Chapter 428 Alexanders Counter Deployment
The trumpet call made all of Alexander''s infantry huddle together to brace for the inevitable impact, as soon the enemy phnx was on them and a repeat of the previous encounter reyed itself.
As they had practiced, the legionaries threw their pilums once the enemy was in range, and then charged, intending to deal a heavy blow to the iing enemy.
But this time the phnx, having suffered once, adjusted to the situation much better, and effectively counterattacked, thus drawing another stalemate, where two giant bodies of men, wood, and steel meshed together to produce a pool of blood and gore.
''The same thing? What are they nning?'' Alexander appeared confused at this one-trick pony-style attack.p''
But soon, his confusion began to turn into concern as they saw the slingers and archers whom he previously thought had been routed begun to make aeback.
And both of the contingents, now totaling 8,000 saw themselves converge on his right nk, and started concentrating there, peppering the soldiers there in an intense shower of arrows and stones
There were now a total of 13,000 soldiers attacking Alexander''s 5,000 men and it made the Zanzan lord think, ''Should I order some battalions in the left nk to attack the enemy infantry? That should force the enemy to divert some of the troops to reinforce that front."
Alexander was thinking of ways to relieve some of the pressure on the right nk.
"Hold! Hold! Do not lose courage. Stay behind our shields and hold!" And while Alexander was thinking, Melodias was screaming at the top of his voice, as he sensed his nk weakening under the heavy attack.
They had been under on and off the arrow rain for over 6 hours, and the peasant crossbowmen seemed to be nearing their end limit.
And so, as the legionmander, Melodias called his herald to deliver the following messenger, "Tell, Lord Alexander, we can''t hold on much longer. We need reinforcements!"
Here he was of course referring to the reserves.
But soon that messenger only came back with these words of reproachment, "Melodias, tell your men to keep their heads down and shoot calmly. The enemy can''t break your shield, so what are you afraid of? Stand strong man!"
Alexander was a bit peeved that Melodias was calling for help so soon, and thus the angry rebuke.
And besides, Alexander would be foolish to send his reserves to a ce the enemy had no way of breaching and the men were in no danger of being overrun.
So Alexander only scolded his general for failing to inspire courage and bravery in his men and then got about with sending his word to his left nk to attack the enemy infantry.
''What do you think I''m doing?'' While Melodias could only sourly receive the message, before sending messengers to his offices down the chain ofmand urging them to inspire the troops and fight harder.
And thus soon cries like this began to drift out of Alexander''s right nk,
"Fight! You beat them once, you can do it again."
"Haha,ds look these pansies are back for more. Fuck them up."
"Don''t be afraid. Look at those cowards, they have arrows sticking out of their butts. Those cowards only know how to run."
The officers were trying their level best to raise the morale of their troops.
And soon the sector began to stabilize, though not for the reasons one might expect.
The stabilization had more to do with the fact that the Jahal mercenaries had begun to withdraw themselves from that front and seemed to be retreating than Melodias''s and Alexander''s actions.
"They are routing?" Alexander thought incredulously, as it seemed all too sudden.
Weren''t they supposed to be this elite, almost indestructible monstrous cavalry?
And didn''t they only start the second round?
Why were they running away so soon?
Something did not sit right with Alexander.
But on the other hand, as he thought about it a little longer, a rout was certainly possible.
This was because many times a rout did not happen gradually, but all of sudden, almost like a figurativendscape, as illustrated many times in history.
In those cases, an army would appear solid and strong, but then a few disillusioned soldiers would start running away at first, and then a few more others would follow, and then a few more, then many would follow until the whole army started routing.
Just like at the start of andslide, first a few rocks would fall, then a bit of soil, then one or two trees, and then all of a sudden the entire mountain would seem to be dissolving away.
A horrifying sight.
And given that the mercenaries were fighting nonstop for six hours firing from regr bows, which was far more tiring than the crossbows, this horrible circumstance manifesting was certainly possible.
It would only require a few rogue, tired personnel, and a bit of luck.
So knowing this Alexander contemted whether to use his reserves to fish for some kind of opportunity.
But just like Alexander had dashed Grahtos''s jubnt cheer a few hours ago, it appeared the cavalry captain''s turn to do the same had arrived as he decided to squash these ideas of Alexander.
"No, that is unlikely my lord," He responded to Alexander''s theory about the mercenaries'' routing.
And then proceed to give his exnation.
Grahtos pointed to the archers and slingers on their right nk and said, "See those men. They ran away from us just two hours ago. So they should have low morale even now."
"And so if they thought the scary, trained mercenaries on horseback were running away, they should have likely broken and also ran. Or at the very least there should have been some chaos in their ranks as they saw the riders past them." Grahtos sharplymented.
"But there was nothing like that. Those men kept shooting arrows like nothing happened. That can only mean that they knew this was going to happen. Meaning the mercenaries retreat is a fake!"
Grahtos was very confident in his hypothesis, as his tone was cock sure with no doubt in it, almost as if he had insider job knowledge.
Though the real reason was just experience.
The simple experience of spending a lot of time on the battlefield, seeing many tactics, and surviving for so long until he developed a kind of 6th sense for seeing through the enemy''s strategies.
"..." Alexander first only silently marveled at the deduction, and at this instant understood firsthand how important it was to have good generals leading the army.
They were needed in cases like this.
To see through the enemy''s deceptions using their battlefield experience.
Experience which could not be taught but had to be gained.
If Grahtos was not here, Alexander might havemitted his reserves of the enemy''s now exposed left nk (toward the right side for Alexander), and left himselfpletely out of any cards.
So Grahtos might have literally saved Alexander and even Zanzan.
"Hmmm, you may be right. So what should we do?" Alexander thus almost differentially asked for advice from his senior in military experience.
Because Grahtos had been doing this fighting and killing far longer than Alexander had.
"The enemy will likely swing around to attack our nks. That''s the ssic hammer and anvil technique." Grahtos was able to piece through Faruq''s n using this simple move and then suggested the following countermeasure.
"So, I suggest we get the reserves ready into formation to do our own counter-charging formation. And also have the 5th legion turn around to deal with them. Because we are only 2,000 and if that half of the mercenary is nning to attack us, that will be 5,000 camel riders. We will be too outnumbered!"
Grahtos seemed to have thought about everything.
And hearing this proposal, Alexander contemted it for a minute, trying to find some obvious ws.
But there were no ring inconsistencies evident to him, only a few minor considerations.
And so he agreed, "Okay, I will tell the 5th legion to turn. And I will also tell Heliptos (who was in charge of the 2nd legion and currently in front of the 5th legion ) to brace himself."
"If the charge happens, the 5th legion will reinforce the nks. If not, we will also start moving the 6th legion to start our n. Our men are getting tired, and if we wait any longer, they might not have the strength to pull off the maneuver, " Alexander henceid out his ns.
"Yes, my lord," Grahtos supported his move and thus saluted in response, before attempting to ride off to organize the cavalry''s charge.
But was stopped by Alexander''s call from behind, "Wait!"
This was where those minor considerations would be addressed.
"The 1,000 infantry we have on horseback. Keep them with me. They do not have the stirrups and will not be able to use thence."
Alexander reminded, as without the stirrup, the recoil from thence would knock the riders off.
"That¡..then let them ride behind us, my lord. The enemy might outnumber us so much that every man might be needed," Grahtos wanted to be on the side of caution.
And hearing the request, and remembering how the man might have literally saved his life, thus Alexander consented, though only to half, 500.
And in this way, though little did Alexander know now, that single action might have saved his life, as now he would have at least something to defend against Ural''s attack.
Though whether he would be sessful was another question entirely.
Chapter 429 The Pincher
"I will give you 500 mounted infantry. And they will act as your rear guard in case things go bad. But the others will stay with me just in case." Alexander delineated his troop deployment.
And the reason for keeping the small amount back was not because he sensed something, but simply because of his cautious nature.
Alexander always believed in keeping some troops in the back no matter the situation just in case.
Which some would call smart, others cowardly.
But regardless, that was the deployment he wanted.
And seeing his staunch stanch, Grahtos could only nod and ept.
On the other side of the battlefield, Azab, whosemand had been temporarily switched from the right nk to the left (this is the opposite when viewed from Alexander''s perspective), was currently swinging his cavalry all the way around the battlefield in a wide arc, intending toe around to smash into the left nk of Alexander''s infantry.
And while he was on the way, he ruefully thought, ''So, the enemy did not give chase''.
The feigned retreat was a ssic move, and he hoped to catch the enemy off guard using this, for if Alexandermitted his reserve there, Azab''s path to sess would be wide open.
And then Ural would not have been even needed.
''Hmmp, I guess it''s true they are mercenaries,'' Azab thus grudgingly admired the enemymander''s foresight for not taking the bait, attributing it to his former profession.
While soon, under the screen of the already 5,000 mercenaries on their right nk, the extra 4,500 camels, because 500 of these camels were supply camels, soon crossed and positioned themselves to their new side rtively undetected.
And then they soon readied themselves to charge.
Their formation was in the ssic 10 by 10 men, 3 rows deep and 150 men wide, arranged as such because infantry formations tended to be thick and thus usually required greater mass to smash into before they broke.
And instead of using their iconic bow which they were famous for, Azab and his men equipped themselves with their sharp spears, and with shields up and spears pointed, these bloodthirsty men started their slow gallop into Alexander''s exposed left nk.
"Hahaha, so they are here," Grahtos had noticed these extra men long ago.
After all, there was no way anyone was going to miss 4,500 camels when they were so close,
But instead of being scared of being outnumbered more than 3 to 1, the cavalrymander was actually thrilled.
Because to his knowledge, this engagement would be the world''s first sh between light skirmishers and heavy cavalry.
And this was an actual heavy cavalry, with heavy, thick chainmail horse armor, stirrups, andnces.
So Grahtos was looking very forward to seeing the results.
Because if they were anything replicative of the practice results they had, then it would be a bloodbath¡for the mercenaries.
Time would tell.
And in anticipation of that Grahtos ced his 1,000 men evenly in two rows, forming 5 blocks of men per row, with each block being made of 100 men, in preparation for intercepting Azab''s much wider, 15-block row.
Then, topensate for his shorter wing due to lower numbers, and thus mitigate the threat of encirclement he faced from Azab''s much wider wing, which would be able to fold and close around from both of his sides and trap him, Grahtos ced the 500 infantry-turned-light skirmishers evenly on both sides of the second row.
The idea was that when Grahtos charged, these 500 men would stay behind, and engage any enemying from either side to prevent aplete encirclement, at least until the 1,000 elite cavalry could break through.
And with this n made, just as Azab led the charge from the front row, so did Grahtos, both doing so to increase ally morale, as their sh appeared imminent.
"So it was just as Grahtos said," While from the back, Alexander muttered this under his breath, for it seemed like thendmass to the left side of his periphery vision was starting to move, caused by the two sides starting their charge.
When Alexander first saw the camel appear out of the horizon, he would wholeheartedly admit he was very scared.
But it was not because of what their appearance meant.
But what they could have meant.
If not for Grahtos today, Alexander would have been caught totally off guard by this move and would have most likely had to escape the battlefield, leaving his army and many of his retainers, and all his friends to die or be captured.
And that was if Alexander could escape at that.
So apart from breathing a sigh of relief, Alexander also felt his feet go cold at the thought of what it could have been.
But a secondter, his relief was snatched away from him, and he was only left with cold feet.
For Hemicus had drawn his eyes to something troubling.
Something very troubling that was approaching him from the horizon around his right nk.
"What''s that?" Alexander squinted his eyes to get a better look after Hemicus pointed it out, but the dust being kicked up made it difficult to too well into the distance.
So to him it only looked like ck dots moving slightly up and down, and shaking a bit side to side.
But paradoxically, that dust also gave away what it could be been.
Becasue nothing on the battlefield could kick up dust like that that fast except expect galloping horses.
"Cavalry! They are cavalry!" Hemicus shouted at the top of his in rm.
And the fact that the usually nonchnt man reacted as such conveyed just how fearful and afraid the man was.
Of course, he was not fearful for himself, but for Alexander''s life.
And so immediately turned to Alexander to scream, "Run! Alexander, you must run!"
In his haste, he even addressed Alexander as normal as he felt the boy''s life was in mortal danger.
And this sudden development certainly made Alexander want to tuck tail and run.
He had grown to love the luxurious life of Zanzan, and for a brief moment, it seemed the earthly delights had eroded his will to fight.
But that was only for a brief moment.
"Calm down!" Alexander first and fore shouted, calming not only Hemicus and his personal bodyguards of 100, but also the 500 light skirmishers.
Just as the temptation of running away spread its sweet fragrance, Alexander remembered the thoughts he just had prior.
The thoughts about what would happen if he used his reserves before Azab''s men made their appearance.
And so he knew running away was not an option.
So since flight was not an option, fight was the only choice left.
Thus he calmly said to the people around, "The cavalry that ising towards us is tiny. Remember all the scouting reports. All the enemy troops we know of are already here."
"The 30,000 infantry are fighting our infantry."
"The slinger and archers are fighting to the right."
"The 10,000 mercenaries are to our left."
"And the 6,000 charioteers are lying there" Alexander pointed to the ground in front of them, where there were still the tied-up prisoners.
''So, what they have left to throw at us are the losers who ran away during the initial cavalry charge. So what are you afraid of such cowards?" Alexander sneered.
And then boosted morale by saying, "Think back to how those men had crashed, collided, and stumbled over each other when they saw our weapon. So how many do you think they have left? 100? 200? Maybe 500? We can easily take them on!"
Alexander shouted energetically while raising his fist to the sky.
"Yes!"
"Woohhooo,"
"Yeah!"
"Fight!"
And convinced by this, as Alexander''s bodyguards began to cheer at this, the other 500 soon followed.
While in reality, Alexander himself had no confidence in what he said.
Because though sounding very logical, there were some major ws in his logic.
One was the assumption of such a small number of the cavalry, that Alexander simply chose because it was slightly lesser than his troop number of 600.
And this number waspletely wrong, for Ural had more than 1,200 men, almost two and a half times Alexander''s estimate.
Two was the assumption that Ural had gotten no reinforcement.
But there was always the possibility that Ural had men in the camp, who had not participated in the initial charge for whatever reasons.
Or simply some of the servants in the camp were made into temporary soldiers.
And third was the assumption that it was Ural''s cavalry at all.
After all, with so many horses and camels running around, it was certainly possible that it was one or two thousand (1,000 - 2,000) Jahal mercenaries who wereing through this side toplete pincher.
This was certainly possible as the leftover others would be able to suppress Alexander''s nks for long enough toplete this project.
And the force that Grahtos was engaging was just a distraction, a bait.
Any one of these made Alexander''s heart want to leap out of his mouth and run.
But he held.
And he put up a brave front.
A front of courage, calmness, and steadfast strength.
As he then instructed, "Hemicus, get you men to equip theirnces. Arrange the formation in a wedge shape. We will charge against them!"
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 430 Decisive Charge
[Troop formation pic inments]
Ural had managed to get at around 1,300 men for this attack.
This was out of the original 2,000 he had started with, of which he had lost 500 as dead or wounded in the initial charge, and a further 200 proved themselves to be wounded enough to be not fit enough for the next battle, as they only barely managed to limp back to the safety of the camp.
But still, for the remaining men, just the fact that even after losing 35% of their forces they were still ready to fight was a testament to their eliteness.
Most other formations would have dissolved long ago, its men running into the wilderness to escape, and onlying back to the camp after the battle had finished.
Thus it showed that these warriors bred by Matbar (Marquiss) Uzak were no pushovers, and it also showed that Ural was no stupidmander, and was still able tomand the troop''s respect, as evidenced by how they were willing to follow him for a second time even through all the casualties.
But for this particr battle, it was not Ural that was leading the charge, owing to his injuries, and the high chance one had of suffering injuries when leading a charge.
So instead he chose to let his cousin have the honor.
And his cousin was happy to take this position, even when it was inherently dangerous.
Because leading a cavalry charge was the epitomic disy of a noble''s courage.
''Hahaha, the way is open,'' He gleefully thought as he saw Alexander''s nk now almost bare, save for a few scant scattered units he presumed to be Alexander''s bodyguards.
And, now, in addition to being the champion who would bring ultimate victory in this battle,
''If I can capture that Jakqum¡hehe,'' The man also dreamed of handing Alexander over to Pasha Djose himself, which would likely shoot his political career to the moon in Kuleef by the grace of its ruler.
And so in that anticipation, he urged his horse to ride as fast as possible without breaking formation, intending to take full advantage of the gap.
While Alexander, as he watched the enemy get closer and closer, finally revealing their number, first and foremost breathed a sigh of relief.
''*Sigh*, good, it''s only about a thousand to fifteen hundred,'' If it had been any more, Alexander''s charge might have been simr to the charge of the light brigade, except it would have been spears from the front, spears from the left, and spears from the right.
"Men! Form up! Form up! Our charge will snap the enemy in half!" Alexander yelled to encourage his men and even ced himself in the very front row.
This was certainly a dangerous ce, but they were in a dangerous position.
And he needed to do everything he could to encourage his men to fight and not simply flee.
This was because though his one hundred (100) bodyguards were undoubtedly reliable, and would never run, he was not so sure about the other five hundred (500).
They were not purely green troops, but they were not veterans either, consisting of mostly former Cantagenan ves and servants.
''Darm it, I should have built a bigger reserve knowing my enemy was so much more mobile, I could have easily taken five hundred men from each legion without a problem. And that would have left me with arge number of troops to deal with emergencies.'' Alexander berated himself for this mistake as the troops readied himself.
Alexander now understood that instead of 30,000 vs 30,000, 27,000 men fighting against 30,000 would have been good enough.
But he had focused too much on that n of his to consider this, and so had instead reinforced the part of the army which really did not need reinforcing, or at least not as muchpared to the other sectors.
And because of that mistake, he was suffering now.
With the only sce being Faruq too had made a simr mistake, which was not reinforcing Ural''s cavalry with some of his own mercenaries, thinking the double pincher with the number he had on hand would be enough.
Which was reasonable given that he had no idea about Alexander''s heavy cavalry, which was making its first debut into this world.
And this left Alexander a shiver of chance for eking out a victory.
Alexander scolded himself as such while the troops got into the standard 10 x 10 formation, and Alexander himself changed horses and armor with Hemicus.
This was because the horse Alexander was on and the armor he wore was especially gaudy and eye-catching intentionally designed as such to attract the troops'' eyes to him, thus acting like a beacon and a rallying point for the army, and reassuring all the men with faltering morale that their leader was still with them in the fight.
To aplish this task, his armor was painted gold and made very shiny, thus making it almost glow under the sunlight, while the barding on his horse was embellished with simr, excessive decorative patterns, thus drawing all eyes to him.
And those were the upsides.
While the downside was evident to all if he thought about it for a moment.
If it could draw one''s own troops'' attention, it could also draw the enemy''s attention, or more specifically their aggro, for killing the enemy leader was one of the best and quickest ways to end a battle.
Hence, like Amenheraft had switched garbs with Kefka, Alexander decided to switch ces with Hemicus.
In this way it was hoped that though both men would ride in the front, this guard captain would draw all the attacks away from Alexander.
And the time when its efficacy would be proven was closing quickly.
Thus, in preparation for meeting the enemy, Alexander positioned his men in a wedge-like formation, which looked almost like an arrowhead from above.
And at the very front of the arrowhead, acting as its tip was Alexander''s unit, consisting of 100 heavy cavalry.
Alexander had fortunately dressed his bodyguards the same way as he did his cavalry, with the thought behind the heavy horse armor being that they would be better able to resist arrow and javelin fire, and the use ofnces being that they would able to counter opposing cavalry and if things were truly desperate even the phnxes with their longer spears.
And this most elite unit was now made the tip of the spearpoint, tasked with bearing the greatest brunt of the enemy.
While the much less heavily equipped infantry, who had no stirrups, a short spear, and only arge shield was ced at the back and sides.
Two units of such light skirmishers were ced directly behind Alexande''s unit, looking like the shaft of the arrow, while one of each such unit was also ced at the sides to act as wings of the formations, protecting Alexander''s nks.
This formation soon took shape and in the meantime, Alexander sent the following message via a herald to the 5th legion, "Send the 9th and 10th battalion to the right. We are under attack from about 1,500 horsemen. Lord Alexander himself is fighting to hold the line. Reinforcement is needed urgently. Send them NOW!"
The urgentness of the message need not be said to the legionmander.
But even then, it would take the 1,000 men some time toe to Alexander''s rescue.
They were foot soldiers after all.
So in the meantime, Alexander was left on his own, having to hold on no matter what.
Or die trying.
With these thoughts firmly etched into his mind, and the troops finally ready, Alexander clutched his shield closer to his chest, lowered his head so that the shield would cover his mouth, and then bought hisnce down to a horizontal level.
He was ready for the charge.
''*Sigh*, If only I had equipped my infantry with those ming ropes, then this attack would have evaporated into nothing,'' Alexandermpooned onest time over another of his mistake, the reason for which was that he never thought troops so much in the rear would need it.
And thus had chosen to equip only the font few ropes with the special weapon.
A mistake that could very well cost him and all his people''s life.
But it was what it was, and so vowing to learn from his mistakes, and promising to be much more thorough in his next battles if he lived through it, Alexander steadied himself for the charge.
The enemy was almost here.
Ural''s formation was a standard cube, arranged in two rtively even rows of 600, men, with 6 columns.
This was opposed to Alexander''s paltry 3 columns, but Alexander made up for it with his center column being 3 rows deep as opposed to the enemy''s 2.
And this was ording to his strategy, which was simply to use brute force and a greater mass of soldiers to snap the center column and cause a rout, while the two wings prevented an encirclement from the sides.
So in this way, Alexander''s n was very simr to Grahtos''s.
And like Grahtos, Alexander hoped that his heavy cavalry would prove too strong for the light cavalry to withstand, because if the enemy did not break and chose to absorb the losses, Alexander would be likely dead.
Much like how the vastly outnumbered Grahtos would be.
So it was kind of like a game of chicken.
And it was a game that both Grahtos and Alexander were ying at the same time.
Chapter 431 Simultaneous Charge
Grahtos sped his 1,000 men as fast as he could toward the enemy.
And there were several reasons for doing this.
First and foremost was because he wanted to gain as much speed as he could before colliding with the enemy.
Another reason was that he did not want the horses any time to be afraid of the camel.
For the smell and size of this strange beast would make the steeds skittish and jumpy.
While the third reason was to cover the distance as fast as possible to get away from the javelin fire which would inevitablye.
And as soon as Grahtos entered the 50-meter range, Azab slowed down his speed and startedunching a volley of javelin, followed by a second round, hoping to kill as many riders as possible riders and disrupt the formation.
The reason for doing so, as opposed to just simply charging head-on was because that was how the cavalry vs cavalry fight of the time would ur.
Since both sides would be light skirmishers, without the heavy armor of the cataphracts or knights, if they charged and smashed head-on with their sharp spears, the number of casualties on both sides would be tremendous.
So, as nobody wanted to die, the way cavalry vs cavalry battle urred was that they would initially charge at each other, hoping the other side would break, thenunch their javelin at around 50-meter range, which the short spears would be able to cover due to the extra speed imparted to them from the horse.
And then, once the horses got actually close enough, they would slow down, and start poking each other with spears, much reminiscent of the battle between infantry, only this time it was on horseback.
The enemy''s javelin rained down on therge formation but failed to cause much casualty.
This was due to the speed at which Grahtos moved, meaning the horsemen were long gone from the spot they were at when the javelin wasunched.
So most of these deadly projectiles innocently fell on the spots Grahtos had been when they wereunched.
And it was same case with Alexander, who too withstood the withering javelin fire, while thanking his lucky stars that a stray one had not hit him or his horse.
Because if it did and he or his steed tripped and fell, well then that was it.
He would be tramped to death by the 9 horses immediately behind him.
For these men had too much momentum with them to stop even if they wanted to.
But luckily, neither Alexander nor Grahtos''s life was cut short by the javelin fire, and now they were in range to strike.
''Why aren''t they stopping? Do they intend tomit suicide with us? Those lunatics!'' Seeing the opposing side not slow down, but instead elerate when they were so close, both Azab sand Ural thought that the opposing side had gone mad.
Because in their minds, onlypletely madmen would choose to do what Grahtos and Alexander were doing.
It was akin to two pikes formation lowering their pikes and running full speed ahead against one another with no shield support.
The only possible result could be aplete sanguinary ughter of both sides.
And what scared them was the most that so many soldiers were willing to follow theirmanders in this insane maneuver.
Because while it was certainly possible for some crazies to exist in any army, it was very hard for an army of crazies to exist.
After all, no matter how tyrannical the leadership was, it was very hard to inspire arge number of soldiers tomit mass suicide by impaling themselves into the enemy''s spears.
Most people did not want to die after all.
The only country on earth that had managed to convince its people otherwise was Imperial Japan.
The reason for this misunderstanding was that from the perspective of the two men, thences looked no different from regr spears, as the horizontally aligned weapon meshed almost perfectly with the silhouette of its riders, making thence only look like a dot from the front angle.
Hence the misjudgment about the length of this new weapon.
"Stop! Stop! Form line! Form line!"
Thus, assuming that they were facing a crazed suicide attack, both Azab and Ural''s cousin screamed at the top of their voice to instruct his men to form some kind of solid line, or perhaps they were calling out of the still some sane men in the opposing ranks to stop this foolish charge, who knows.
But it was too little, toote.
The enemy was too close.
"Fucking psychos! If you wanna die, die yourselves!" No amount of supetives could describe the amount of regret Ural''s cousin was feeling as he felt the steps of death get closer and closer. For he was sure Alexander would take him with him to the underworld.
And in the same vein, no amount of supetives could describe the amount of relief Ural was feeling having avoided this death trap.
''Hahaha, the gods really do favor me. That''s why it''s mine. All mine!'' Ural cheered, as he jumped for joy at the thought of not having to share credit.
A feeling of tion that an instantter turned into pure terror as he saw what happened next.
For the moment afterward, the two forces collided.
"Ahhhhh," Alexander had never shouted so loudly in his life, and he had never been so scared in his life, for he now had a lot more to lose,
And thus he clenched his shield and pointed hisnce like those were hisst possessions, and then it happened.
*Bam*,
Thences of the first three rows pointed in an ovepping formation struck the static, practically naked formation with the force of a freight train, and the scenery unfolded as one might expect of someone hit by such a massive object.
Thence strike sent many of the riders literally flying from the impact before they were brought down to the earth after colliding with the horses and men behind them, in a crudely simr way to how the character in GTA 5 would ragdoll after being hit by a train, while in a few instances, even the heavy, half-ton horses were knocked off their feet.
*Neigh*, *bam*, *Arghh*
The concert of soundsing from the collision was deafening.
There was the screeching sound of metal hitting metal caused by thence tip piercing the bronze armor of the enemy, the soft, dull puncturing sound of flesh being pried open by steel, and the creaking sound of bones breaking as the sharp weapon destroyed the hard skeleton.
Then there was the snapping and crackling of bones as the thundering impact between the horses broke and cracked bones, the crisp shattering of the wooden shaft as thences snapped and to top of it all off, the horrified, pained screams and groans of the attacked men and beasts, who wailed and thrust uncontrobly in their death throes.
The charge between a proper heavy cavalry, with thick armor andnces, and light, almost naked skimmers, unfolded just like how the history books portrayed it, likeplete obliteration of thetter.
Because the skirmishers had no defense against them.
Thences outranged their own weapon- the spear and their thin armor was little better than paper in front of such huge force concentrated into such a small tip of thence.
And in the case of Alexander, he had made the speartips of thences extra special for them to be even more potent.
He did this by treating the steel used to a process called carbonization, which involved simply taking coal and heating it with the steel up to a certain temperature for a certain period of time inside a furnace.
This then would deposit a very thinyer of carbon onto the steel surface, making it very hard, but in exchange for lowered ductility.
Which was a problem for regr weapons such as swords, because you did not want one to be brittle and snap in the middle of thebat, but was okay for a one-time use weapon like thence.
And as a side note, even the tips of the crossbow bolts were carbonized, giving them extremely high prating power.
And so, armed with this deadly, superweapon, Alexander''s charge did manage to wipe out the enemies he was immediately acing, for it looked as if someone had simply erased the first four rows of the unit that faced Alexander head-on.
There were dead bodies strewn all about, of both horses and men, with ck crimson blood, dark, purplish guts, and even limestone whites of broken shattered bones decorating Alexander''s units surrounding.
And amongst all the carnage, not one of the forty men in the 4 rows was seen standing,
Such all the power of a single heavy cavalry charge.
And as such a macabre scenario unfolded on the right side of the battlefield, an identical event was unraveling itself on the left side, one led by Grahtos.
The charge had destroyed the ranks of the Jahal mercenaries, and the remaining survivors of the elite unit could only remain stand shell-shocked in mute awe and horror as they tried to process how they had lost so many of their friends andrades die in a matter of seconds.
"Again!"
But neither Grahtos nor Alexander was in the mood to give the enemy any chance to recover and counter, as immediately after their first charge, they turned around for a second round.
Chapter 432 Second Charge
Alexander''s charge had unfortunately missed the unit Ural and his cousin was in, thus enabling both men to manage to withstand the initial blow.
But withstanding the psychological blow was far harder, as evidenced by how both the men stayed rooted to their spot momentarily not knowing what to do, only looking ahead dumbfoundedly as they took in the visceral horror around them.
All around there were their fallenrades, strew about, groaning and screaming in pain, while behind them was a pile-up of horses ad men as they were unable to stop in time against the charge.
''Wha¡what happened?'' Almost every one of them asked because they were unable to understand how this had happened.
Because ording to their logic, Alexander and his co should have been skewered just like the people on the ground.
And a simr but even more horrifying sight was created around the left nk where Grahtos struck, as thebined charge of 500 heavy cavalry had decimated the center of the Jahal mercenaries behind recognition.
And unfortunately for Faruq''s side, their luck had finally run out, and this time they had lost one of their best warriors as one of the initial casualties.
And that was Azab, the leader of the Jahal mercenaries, who was in the very first echelons of the unit dead center in the middle.
He died in the very first strike, when ance pierced right through his solid sternum, destroying his ribs in the process and then flinging him off his camel as he was hurled several feet into the air.
But even after suffering such grievous injuries, the man had not died yet, as he croaked and choked through the bloody foaming out of his mouth, the intense pain making him see shes of the imminent approach of death.
And it was granted to him momentarilyter, for the ce where hended had a scared camel, who gave horrifying bted bleat as it threw off its rider and raised his feet, before caving Azab''s face in.
Blood, mucus, and teeth flew out immediately afterward, and more and more of such gore and blood continueding out as the camel continued to stamp on the dead face multiple times until the face turned into a gooey, cracked candy.
It was a gruesome sight to behold.
And though it was just one of the thousands of macabre sights that filled this hell disguised as the battlefield, but still, for the Jahal mercenaries, no matter how elite and veteran they were, they were still shocked and saddened by the sudden loss of their leader in such a horrible way.
For all his shorings, at least to them, Azab was an honorable man, a good leader, and even somewhat of a father figure.
And as they watched the man die by the enemy''s strange tactic and weapon, leaderless and shocked, they were momentarily unsure of what to do.
Ural too was in a simr position, as he estimated that the entire unit that Alexander smashed against might not be able to fight effectively for months, for they likely suffered fractures and sprains and internal bleeding from both the charge and the crushing of men and horse when Alexander violently pushed them back.
And the man was trying to figure out what happened and how to deal with it.
But just because the opposing two sides were unsure of their next action did not mean Alexander and Grahtos were the same.
Very much to the contrary, these two men perfectly knew what to do, and so they shouted "Again!", as they took advantage of the enemy''s momentarypse in judgment to turn around their horses without opposition and readied themselves for a second charge.
And as they did this, in Alexander''s case, the light skirmishers engaged the blocks of cavalry to his side in the traditional sense, with rapid spears thrusts and javelin fire on the distracted troops, thus keeping them too busy to interfere with Alexander who was in a vulnerable possible while he changed his formation.
Which involved having his men split up right down the middle, one turning left, the other right, while they rode back to the starting line to restart their charge.
And naturally, this thinner, less manned formation was much weaker, hence the need for screening.
And just like the two light skirmisher units protected Alexander''s nks, his rear was also protected by the two units that trailed behind him.
As soon as the charge ended, as Alexander had discussed before, his unit did not engage in melee with the remaining survivor to take advantage of the situation and break through the remaining defenses.
But they instead retreated, throwing away their destroyednces, and then parting themselves in two, before escaping from both the right and left, thus minimizing the time needed to escape.
After which they joined up at the back to ready themselves for a second attack.
And this quick splitting down the middle maneuver also gave the units in the immediate back the chance toe forward and upy the space Alexander upied, after which with a crazed roar they charged with spears against the dazed troops, cutting them down with extreme prejudice, while the skirmishers in the third row threw their javelins, thebined attack of which finally destroying the first cavalry unit.
And now in that column, it was just one of Ural''s units facing two of Alexander''s.
And this was what Alexander wanted to do, to use arge mass of soldiers along a narrow, selected line to break the enemy, and once that was done, then, have the cavalry swing around to hit the enemy''s rear.
Or that the risky n if the enemy did not rout.
As was expressed by this regretful thought by Alexander, ''Dammit! They did not break! Tenacious bastards.''
Though the actual reason for the cavalry still holding on was that Alexander''s numbers were too few.
Only 100 of them had charged with theirnce against the 1,300, hence unable to deal overwhelming damage to Ural.
Instead, if all six hundred had charged and dealt damage simr to Grahtos, it was likely these already once-routed men would have broke rank and run.
But since that did not happen, Alexander had no option but to gallop back at full speed back to the starting point 200 meters back, and then, equipping his second andstnce from the steed''s back, lined up for a follow-up attack.
Alexander was very nervous about this second charge, because if this did not break the enemy, he would be ced in a really tight pinch, as he would then be all out ofnces, and thus unable to again charge.
And if he wanted to do so again, then he would have to retrieve morences from his camp which was all the way back some kilometer away.
This was certainly not possible in the middle of thebat.
And then to make matters even worse, he noticed already that his outnumbered light skirmishers were being overwhelmed, even within this short time, as the wings of Ural''s closed in on them, and started attacking them from multiple sides, reaping significant casualties in the process and causing the men''s morale to plummet like a lead balloon.
The reason for such a rapid change towards the worse was multifold.
One because these light skirmishers were originally infantry, and many of them had never properly ridden a horse and thus were unable to properly coordinate with their beasts andpanions to put up an effective resistance.
Two was the fact that they faced elite soldiers who had practiced their whole lives for such kind of battle, and those who had gotten over their initial fear and were now raging over their deadpanion, showing little regard for their lives as they hacked and shed at the green riders.
And three was that they were vastly outnumbered, so it was only a matter of time before the 500 cavalry broke and ran.
In fact, with Alexander not around, even within this short amount of time, it could be seen they were wavering.
This was not a good sign.
Now, not everything was doom and gloom for Alexander.
He had at least noticed the contingent of infantry support he had asked for slowly making toward him.
If they got here, things would certainly get better.
But they were still about 10 minutes away, and even if they did get here, it was not like things were going to magically solve themselves.
They were still infantry, meaning the enemy would still have the mobility advantage, and might even outnk them.
But still, with them, and the 600 light and heavy cavalry, Alexander was confident about forming a solid line.
Which might then give Grahtos enough time toe and save him if things went well for the man there.
But all these were all desperate options, all of which would put Alexander right in the crosshairs. And so the best option was for Alexander to try and rout the enemy.
And if that did not happen, then for his contingencies to be implemented, Alexander would need to hold on till that point.
And so regardless of which reason was used, the second charge was needed.
Either to destroy the enemy or relieve the pressure on the 500 men.
"We will hit the right wing," Alexander thus loudly shouted while raising hisnce high up into the sky, drawing attention to himself, before lowering his weapon to restart the attack.
This attack could very much make or break the result of the battle, and even make or break the destinies of Alexander and all those who follow him.
Chapter 433 Grahtos Vs Jahal
As Alexander prepared for his second charge, Grahtos''s one was already taking ce.
The difference in speed was due to the fact that Grahtos had two rows of men who could charge, as opposed to Alexander''s one.
And thus, after Grahtos disengaged himself from any melee after the initial charge just like Alexander, he retreated to the rear using a simr strategy to his boss.
While the row immediately behind him got theirnces ready to have a go themselves.
"*Arghhh*, Charge!"
The deafening howl of the charge rang again across the battlefield as a second row of heavy cavalry shot themselves towards the mangled lines made up of lightly armored cavalry, who had already been badly chewed, intending to get the job done.
While the Jahal mercenaries mostly just watched with numbed horror, unable to process the fact that the enemy was able to ready itself to deal another such blow so quickly.
Hence, the speed and ferocity of Grahtos''s attack made them unable to respond appropriately.
"Charge! Charge! Charge!"
But finally, as the second row, led by Laykash drew near, atst some order for the Jahal mercenaries to act came.
And it came from a man who was among the most experienced troop in the mercenary, with almost three decades of fighting prowess under his belt.
This grizzled veteran of the force led his camel straight into the mouth of the charging bulldozer, his spear pointed forward just like ance, his eyes glowing with ferocity and steely determination.
This act was either fueled by up-to-the-ball courage or maddening desperation as he repeatedly roared out the word ''charge'' while urging his camels to meet the horses head-on as fast as possible.
The expert eyes of the man had figured out the secret weapon of the enemy, their very long spears, which allowed the horsemen to hit the mercenaries before their spears could touch them, thus allowing them to kill the camel riders with almost impunity.
And for the moment, other than avoiding them, the veteran could think of no other way to counter his new weapon.
But the problem was they were in the middle of their formation, surrounded by their allied units on both sides, which in normal times would protect their nks, but now only acted as obstacles, hemming themselves in.
Avoiding them was not an option.
Not even the enemy was literally just a 100 meters away from them.
Hence, as flight was not an option, then it could only be fight.
Or so was the thinking process of the grizzled veteran, who went along the route of trying to take as many of the enemy down with him as possible.
He reasoned that even if not all of the mercenaries could avoid the long spears, some of them certainly could, and then they could close in the distance to kill the enemy.
And there was also the small possibility that even if the enemy killed them, the horsemen would still impale themselves onto the camel riders'' spears, as the sheer speed of their gallop would make it difficult to avoid such a collision, and their momentum would act against them, pushing the sharp tip into themselves.
And with that thought process in mind, he charged with his trustypanion he had raised from a calf into certain death.
But his heroic sacrifice would not be in vain.
Because seeing the lone man ride toward his certain doom invigorated the rest of the soldiers, who screamed,
"Follow Zihhnash! Follow Zihhnash! Charge!"
This veteran named Zihhnash was a very well-respected member of the mercenary, and seeing him take the lead, the others felt their blood boil with the urge to follow.
And thus the rest of the remaining mercenaries in the front rows that had been attacked now rallied and counter-charged Laykash and his men, trampling over their own dead and wounded as they did so, feeling the best way to honor them would be to kill the ones responsible and avenge them, while also wanting to deal as much damage as possible before they died.
In this way, at least in their mind, they could could have some answers for those who went before them.
And as the two sides maddeningly galloped towards like confrontation and one side''splete demise, it had to be noted that Zihhnash''s theory about this new form of cavalry, which would beter called heavy cavalry, though quite good, was not good enough.
For if all that there was to it as Zihhansh hypothesized, then his n might as well have seeded.
But that was not all there was to it.
Because Zihhnash''s theory was iplete.
For it particrly forgot to take into ount the ''heavy'' part of the name ''heavy cavalry'', which referred to the heavy armor both the rider and the horse wore to mitigate exactly such attacks.
And it was thest lesson the old, grizzled veteran would learn before he died, who had mistaken the skirts around the horses as simply liveries, and gaudy decorations, utterly pointless embellishments in his eyes.
But these were anything but useless, as it would be proven during the sh.
For when the two sides collided, yes, the charging mercenaries managed to inflict more damage on the charging cavalry than they would have been able to do if they had simply stood still, but the damage they took in return for this rtively small gain was tremendous.
Thences which even grazed the mercenaries had enough momentum behind them to knock them out of their steeds or pierce them so deep that it left gaping holes in them, while in turn any lucky spear managing to close the distance and get a good thrust in was usually stopped by the superior armor worn by Alexander''s men.
As elite cavalrymen, they had been certainly provided with the best of the best armor Alexander could afford, consisting of three tiers of protection, a chainmail, a linen thorax, and a bronze cuirass, all acting in unison to provide the best stabbing protection the technology of this time period could achieve.
Thus while wearing this armor, though one could still get injured with broken bones, and suffer shock and internal bleeding from the raw momentum of the spear and sword strike, it was in fact very hard for him to get stabbed.
This meant that the soldiers would not have a wound and would not bleed, which was a major boon in favor of his chances of survival on the battlefield, for it eliminated nasty possibilities such as infections and gangrenes.
This tripleyered armor which far outssed the light linen or leather armor of the mercenaries, who wore such to aid in mobility, was not the only thing Alexander''s men had going for them in this fight.
Aside from the obvious better weapon and armor, they had onest secret weapon- the stirrups.
And this small, innocent piece of metal proved why it was called era-defining in this exchange, for when the spears hit the cavalrymen, or the horse-locked bodies against the much bigger, and heavier camels, it was this fantastic little piece that saved the riders'' life, letting them use their feet to absorb the impact, and stay on the horses.
A convenience that the Jahal mercenaries did not have, making them fall off of their animals from the impact, and most times die from the seeding trampling.
Due to abination of all these factors, the mercenaries'' countercharge failed miserably, as the heavy armor of the horses and men absorbed their blows pretty well, while also managing to deal the maximum dose of their own strike in return.
Thus it was a massacre, producing a scenery far scarier than the first round because the mercenaries were not charging then, thus they did not pile up one another at the back like they were now.
So, there was probably not a single rider in the whole 5 units who had charged Grahtos''s units without a broken bone or worse.
And within a few minutes, the elite 10,000 mercenary unit had lost 500 of their very best, as the cavalrymen simply mowed through them, crushing anything, men or beast in the way, which also included their leader.
While this amount of loss suffered so quickly stunned the Jahal mercenaries.
To give some context just howrge this loss was for them, in thest 6 hours of fighting against 10,000 crossbowmen, they had lost less than 100 men.
And even that was a lot for them, which was caused by the fact that the crossbowmen could shoot further and more urately than regr bowmen.
Usually, they kept their deads in the mid-tens, which was possible due to their mounted archer role.
Hence, the blow to their psyche over losing 6% of their total force could be imagined.
But the damage was not over, as Grahtos had already readied himself for his second go, now targeting the second row of the formation, and then started his gallop.
"Run!"
"Get away!"
"Flee!"
Finally the elite formation snapped.
After seeing even their suicide attack fail, and the enemying to attack them again using the same tactic, a move they had no counter to at the moment, atst even the nerves of steel of these hardened men failed them.
Because no one wanted to just stand still and die, and so when Grahtos initiated the third charge, the mercenaries'' cavalry center broke and ran, which created an opening towards the nks of the adjacent cavalry units, who too then had no choice but to withdraw.
Atst the battle between the cavalry in the left nk was won by Alexander''s forces.
Chapter 434 Alexander Vs Ural (Part-1)
The Jahal mercenaries for their credit did not break rank and run after facing Grahtos.
Instead, when they saw they had no way to counter the new weapon and their center was vulnerable, they deemed it unwise to continue to fight here and needlessly rack up casualties.
So they simply chose to disengage and retreat.
And the difference between a retreat and a rout was in full disy them.
For while a rout was a disorganized and chaotic escape from the battlefield, a retreat was an orderly withdrawal, as evidenced by how the various units calmly turned left or right in full formation, so as to not give Grahtos any chance to hunt them down, before getting out of Grahtos''s strike range.
And seeing them scatter, Grahtos let it happen without interference, for he had no intention to chase such a huge enemy anyway.
He was just relieved to chase them off and secure his left nk.
And so from afar Grahtos with a cid face saw the remaining mercenary forces slowly regroup themselves in an open space some distance away, where they tended to their wounded and reorganized their tatteredmand.
The Jahal mercenaries had lost a lot of their officers and even their leader in the preceding attack and so they would need some time to restructure their forces before they were ready tounch an attack again.
And they fully intended to attack again, for they were not out of the fight yet.
Not by a long shot.
After all, in their mind they had to avenge their leader and all the dead 500 before they could even think about resting.
And thus, they prepared themselves for the next wave, and Grahtos, who was watching them regroup was sure they would join the battle again.
But it was not as if the mercenaries were the only ones who were regrouping.
Many of Grahtos''s men were also licking their wounds and resting themselves for another attack.
They did this because many had suffered internal injuries such as fractures and broken bones from the previous charge, and even many of their horses were seen limping along the ground in pain and difort.
These horses had suffered as much as the men, and maybe even more, as thest collision with the much bigger and heavier camels had taken a lot from these beasts.
Most probably those in the front had broken their ribs sounding by the groans and pantsing out of them.
Thus both sides were trying to utilize this time to rest and recover.
But the cavalrymander did not have the luxury to watch half the Jahal mercenaries rest and recuperate as he did the same, for a herald suddenly came running to him, panting and saying in an rmed voice, "Commander! The enemy is attacking our lord to the right! Please send help! Quick!"
This messenger had been disced by the 5th legionmander, Remus, who was chosen by Menes to lead this unit.
"What!" Grahtos''s heart almost leaped out as he screamed this, before turning his head back to see the situation for himself
And from his vantage point atop his horse, he could clearly see Alexander''s men engaging the enemy on the opposite side of the battlefield, while presumably the lord himself, in his eye-catching steed stood with his bodyguards a bit further back, lowering hisnce and as if readying himself for a charge.
Grahtos further noticed the two battalion contingent slowly make their way towards, which, though the men were marching as fast as he could, to Grahtos seemed like they were walking at a snail''s pace.
''Dammmit!" He cursed venomously before blowing on a short trumpet, signaling the 1,500 men to rally towards him.
He had to go to Alexander''s rescue as soon as possible.
Because without Alexander, they had no one to hold them together, for it was the young man that acted as the glue for all of them.
When the men resting and recuperating themselves heard the trumpet call, ''What! Is it another attack?'' they all dreaded the thought as their instinctive reaction.
None of them were ready for another fight right now.
Not them, nor their horses, as evidenced by how many of the beasts were seen panting with their tongues out.
And Grahtos knew this, because he himself was suffering from the exact disabilities, and he even had a stinging pain in his chest caused by a ncing spear thrust that had missed.
But he knew he had no other choice.
Alexander could not die or be captured under any circumstances.
"Men! Look to the right! Lord Alexander is being attacked! And he needs reinforcements!" Grahtos thus shouted to inspire the men to his cause.
And it worked as hearing this, the men felt almost a kind of supernatural power course through them, as they moved with great haste and purpose, seeming as if their bodies were set on fire with zeal and purpose.
For in the distance they could clearly see their vastly outnumberedrades fighting gantly, but nevertheless being overwhelmed.
And if they did not receive help soon, it was likely they would break, or worse, their lord might get killed or captured.
This could not be allowed to happen, hence, even when their horses were exhausted to the point they would barely gallop, the men still decided to push them past their limits.
Thus soon, the 1,000 men had formed a solid charging line and were ready to charge.
But why 1,000, and not 1,500?
It was because of this exchange between Grahtos and Laykash.
The former instructed thetter, "Laykash, you stay behind with the 500 light cavalry. Have them protect the nks of the 5th legion in case the Jahal mercenaries try anything again. I will be back soon."
As he said this, instead of galloping off, themander gripped the young man''s hand to again emphasize his point, "You must hold on till Ie back!"
He had bloodshot eyes as he said this.
This was because Grahtos was well aware of the challenge Laykash would have if he faced the experienced cavalry unit using these green infantry on horseback.
And could only hope that the enemy did not recover so quickly and that the 5th legion had enough nerve to hold on against their charges if it did ur.
Within the time Grahtos had finished giving out these orders, the soldiers were ready to go and all were waiting for Grahtos to give them the order to gallop.
"Charge! Charge as fast as you can!" And without further ado came the order, as the 1,000 men tried to cover the one-and-a-half kilometer (1.5km) as fast as possible, while also navigating through the prisoner whoy prone in the middle of the inner battlefield.
And while these tired men with their limping horses, and only onence strove to reinforce their lord, Alexander was about to start his second charge.
The 500 green troops would not be able to hold on till Grahtos got here.
"*Arghhh*,"
So came the familiar murderous roar from the hundred men, before there was produced the thundering stamps of the horses, whose heavy strikes turned the solid, dry ground into mud, and the men riding these beasts who moved like the gale of a hurricane charged at the right nk of the enemy, one who was engaging one of Alexander''s units from the side.
And when these men felt the earth shake and saw the charge of the 100 mening to reap their lives,
''Run!''
That was the only word uttered.
No one knew who that ''brave'' man was to speak this frank word.
But it did not matter.
Because this one syble word was enough to turn a solid 100 men cavalry unit into vapor mist that vanished into thin air momentarilyter.
Menaing they ran.
And when this unit ran, it exposed the unit behind it to Alexander''s wrathfulnce.
Who then too ran.
And honestly who could me them?
What were they doing to do anyway?
Stand still and die?
Sure, if they were crazed fanatics who viewed their death as a way to disarm Alexander by destroying hisstnce, and then deliver ultimate victory, then sure, they might as well have stood and died.
And if that happened, there was indeed a good chance of Alexander dying or being captured before Grahtos or the infantry woulde to their rescue.
After all, the enemy was a lot here.
But fortunately for Alexander, and unfortunately for Faruq, Ural''s cavalry were not such fanatics.
All the men were from privileged positions, and they all valued their lives very much.
The cavalry unit consisted of either nobles, or heirs of noble houses who came here to umte military credit, brothers and cousins and distant rtives of such people, sons of nobles who had no realistic chance at the family head position and wanted to try their luck in the battle, nobles who had fallen in hard times and wanted to gain wealth and fame in battle, and many such simr ambitious, opportunistic people.
They were very well trained, but not the most disciplined bunch, especially in the face ofrge casualties.
And since they had already lost 100 of them on the first charge, these men did not fancy trying their luck against Alexander''snces.
Thus, they ran, and like how rats are able to sense a ship sinking and jump overboard, once Ural''s right nk became exposed, the remaining men saw no point in resisting.
A rout was initiated.
Chapter 435 Alexander Vs Ural (Part-2)
The reason for the copse of the king attack on the right side, led by Ural was not as singr as one might make it out to be.
Certainly Alexander''s charge was the single most decisive factor.
But other ingredients yed their part in this recipe of tucking one''s tail and running as well.
The very first incident that had struck especially hard at the morale of the troops was the routing of the Jahal mercenaries.
The two forces were situated directly opposite of each other and each could monitor the other without any visual impairment.
So when the 1,300, or now only 1,200 men witnessed the event, it had an effect on them that was difficult to quantify.
Because many of these men had grown up learning and knowing the reputation of these cut-throat mercenaries and some even idolized them.
And if one went through their ster battlefield record, many would conclude they deserved such worship.
For whenever these men were deployed, it was almost an assured victory, as they would shoot and charge the enemy to oblivion, many times when facing an enemy much bigger than their own.
And the number of times they had been defeated and lost the battle could be counted on one hand, and all of them were either against overwhelming numbers or when they were forced to fight in unfavorable terrains where their mobility was restricted.
But no one had ever managed to defeat them in t, open ground like this one, never even mind someone who was outnumbered.
It was because of this that Faruq hadughed in glee when he saw Alexandere out to meet him in battle on such an open battlefield, even being overnumbered no less, as if Faruq needed any more advantages.
And this confidence was justified because without any heavy armor able to withstand the arrow strikes, and some kind of strong but easy to use bow to strike back, the only way to counter-mounted units would be to have one''s own.
And those were in very short supply given how hard and time-consuming they were to train.
Pasha Djose had sent his 10,000 contingent to avenge his son knowing this, which was the entirety of such men under him, confident that not even the god''s interventions could save Alexander.
But it was his, his son''s, and the Jahal mercenary''s bad luck that they faced Alexander this time, someone who had managed to find the perfect marriage of these two technologies, which he had given the name of crossbowmen and heavy cavalry.
Thus Alexander was able to effectively stop this menace on the battlefield.
And when this event ultimately urred, Ural and his men witnessed with almost abject horror the yellow tide being beaten to a pulp by the tiny square of blue, before they were forced to retreat from their positions.
From an outside observer, the retreat of the Jahal mercenaries seemed like the sea of yellow being beaten back by a small dazzling glow of blue.
It was a crippling blow to many in the field, especially for those who knew the mercenaries'' reputation and had always felt reassured by their presence.
And now all that boisterousness had disappeared, the once high morale rapidly dropped in troops throughout all sectors of the army.
Even Faruq had felt his heart drop when he saw the left thrust not only be stopped but also be countered, causing a full retreat.
He of course had not expected the mercenaries to outright win as it took mounted units some time to umte damage to finally break the enemy.
But he had also never thought in his wildest dream they would fail and be routed.
Faruq''s only concern about the strategy up until that point had been the archers and slingers breaking, thus enabling the enemy''s archers (crossbowmen) to target his left nk (right from Alexander''s perspective) and so forcing him to call back the Jahal mercenaries to reinforce that front.
And the man had not even received the news of Azab''s death.
Thus, though Grahtos did not know it yet, him winning against such a huge force with almost casualties was a major turning point in the war, as his win had a cascading effect on all of Faruq''s forces.
And this effect was particrly prominent on Ural''s men who saw their heroes, facing the exact same problem, run.
And thus, since the other side had decided running away was a viable solution, certainly these men took note of that strategy.
Then, having been dealt such a shock, right after one of their own units was cut down to thest man, many of them had already gone weak in the knee, after which they witnessed the second worsening development- the 1,000 infantrying after them.
Ural''s men knew that though these foot soldiers were slow if Ural could not punch through the 600 men holding them back, they would eventually reinforce Alexander, and make them get bogged down in a battle of attrition.
Ural had already lost a lot of men in this battle and so wanted to avoid that at all costs.
But, the real nail in the coffin in their desire to resist and attack Alexander''s position was Grahtos''s charge, whom Alexander had missed because he had his back turned to him, but Ural''s men certainly did not.
They knew that if those 1,000 men had the same weapons as Alexander did, which was most likely the case given how quickly they had solved the Jahal mercenaries, then there was little they could do to stop them once they got.
Thus when some ran, all ran,pletely breaking rank and fleeing in all three directions, very much like headless chickens.
In this way, if the Jahal mercenaries'' withdrawal was a textbook example of how to do an organized retreat, then Ural''s men running away was a textbook example of what was meant by aplete rout.
These demoralized men ran in every direction open to them, some even running in the opposite direction to their camp in an effort to get away from Alexander''s spear in the short term, who had wisely chosen not to follow them.
He was still outnumbered after all.
But a few of the 500 novice cavalry were not so wise and chose to follow the fleeing cavalry.
And though they managed to rack up quite a few kills with backstabs and thrusts, many were also caught off guard when the much more experienced enemy cavalry chose to suddenly turn back and counterattack, transforming themselves from the hunted to the hunter.
And after a few such incidents, and Alexander''s urging, these men learned their lessons and regrouped back to their lord. Being vignt in case it was a fake retreat.
But it seemed the rout was genuine, as Ural and his men soon galloped back to their back, leaving their dead and wounded behind.
And by the time Grahtos managed to reach Alexander, all that greeted him was a few hundred dead and wounded bodies of men and horses as enemies.
"My lord! Apologies for the dy! Thank goodness you are safe!" Grahtos breathed a gigantic sigh of relief as he slowly caught up to Alexander, relief and reassurance washing over him as he then called out from the side to the gaudily dressed man on the extravagant horse.
This was of course Hemicus, who Grahtos had mistaken as Alexander from afar.
"I''m here," And this mistake was rectified a momentter as Alexander''s voice rang out from around the vicinity of his guard captain, as he then took off his helmet for easier identification.
"Ahhh!" Grahtos let out an involuntary gasp, before quickly repeating the greeting.
He did not ask why Hemicus was dressed as Alexander.
Because this was not the time or ce, and besides, he could reasonably guess the answer.
Instead, he turned to Alexander to give the battle report of the left side.
"My lord, we have managed to make the contingent of Jahal mercenaries retreat! We did it! We beat them!" The cavalrymander was ted by the result, as evidenced by his giant grin, and even he found it hard to believe the speed at which they won and the kind of destruction they had wrought upon the enemy.
Thisnce seemed to be the weapon of the gods.
And his tion reached even higher levels as with twinkling eyes and a fervent gaze he sang the praises of the heavy cavalry.
"It was all because of you, my lord! Oh, when you promised me we would have a new cavalry, I always knew it would be magnificent, but I could have never imagined it would be such a revolutionary creation. Not even in my wildest dreams!" Grahtos''s fists shook as he said this, before continuing his speech unabated,
"Without the barding, he would have died from the counter-spear attacks. Without thence, we would not have been able to hit the enemy. And without the stirrups, we could not have stayed on the horse."
"It was only through the perfect meshing of these three separate inventions that were we able to achieve the result we did."
"And all this credit belongs to you! Glory to the lord of Zanzan! Glory to Goddess Gaia," Grahtos seemed to have be a bit too emotional as he even got down from his horse to prostate towards Alexander, right in the middle of a battlefield.
And seeing their cavalry captain as such, many others also followed suit to kneel and bow at Alexander, chanting and glorifying him.
Chapter 436 Faruqs Last Try
Alexander was certainly pleased by the loyalty disyed by his soldiers.
"Thank you for your kind words. I''m d all of you are well too," He replied.
And he was genuinely pleased.
He had half expected many of them to die facing such an overwhelming, and he certainly thought they would be pinned down by them for a long time.
This was because he had no real idea of the kind of damage heavy cavalry could do to light cavalry when thetter foolishly chose to face the attack head-on.
The way for light cavalry to win against heavy cavalry was to outrun and out-maneuver the much slower due to their heavy armor heavy cavalry and perform nking attacks.
But since the enemy did not do such, the result was the total oblivion of their forces.
But even then, Alexander was surprised by the carnage he was able to wrought with even such a small number of men.
He did expect something a bit like it from reading history, but it was one thing reading something, and it was anotherpletely different thing to witness it first-hand.
So, when even he was surprised by the result, it was understandable that the regr soldiers would be overwhelmed.
But even still, this was not the time and ce to be disying such emotions,
Then noticing the contingent bing distracted when they were still in the middle of the battlefield, Alexander urged them otherwise.
"Let us shelf such talks forter, The battle still rages on, so let''s get back to ourrades for now."
The fight was still going on the frontline after all.
"Yes my lord," Being reminded of this, the soldiers hence soon got back up on their horses and were soon ready to deploy.
And Alexander then gave his next order, "We will join the frontlines now. The battle is nearing its end and we are needed there."
This was the official reason, though the real reason might be that he did not want to give the enemy another chance to attack him in the back where he was all alone.
Once was enough.
And so soon the 1,600 cavalry moved themselves within 200 meters of the frontlines, ready to assist in the battle after they caught their breath in a minute.
"Hemicus tell the 1,000 detachment to equip themselves with the fire chains and act as the rear guard," Once in position Alexander then gave out this order, intending to use these men to foil any simr future attacks.
And so, currently, the situation on the battlefield was such:
The left nk still had the 5,000 Jahal mercenaries attacking the crossbowmen, as they relentlesslyunched waves of arrows to try and break Alexander''s men.
Just below the crossbowmen, there was the 5th legion facing the left side, ced there to stop any cavalry charge from the Jahal mercenaries, while their nks were protected by 500 light cavalry.
Perpendicr to this unit was Alexander''s 1,500 mobile detachment, there to respond to any emergencies.
Behind Alexander were the 1,000 men acting as the rear guard with the special fire ropes to deny any cavalry attack.
And in front of Alexander was the 2nd legion fighting all alone against 2 simrly sized phnx units.
Then in the right nk was another half of the crossbowmen detachment fighting against the slingers and archers.
And atst there was the defeated part of the Jahal mercenaries who were recouping and regrouping some distance away from the battlefield.
"My lord, father has fallen fighting gantly in battle," Sunash, the eldest of Azab was the one to inform Faruq of the loss as half of his forces reorganized themselves.
And for a while, Faruq had noeback.
In his professional life, Azab was an excellent militarymander and a reliable partner to go into battle with, while in his personal life, he was the one who taught Faruq everything about war.
Thus the loss hit Faruq particrly hard on both fronts.
And his mind was too much in chaos to think about what to do next, for the aftermath of having to deal with Azab''s loss was something Faruq would have to pay dearly for.
But those wereter concerns, as now his pincher attack had been foiled and Ural had run away from the battle, while the enemy strengthened itself against any such future attack.
The same trick would not work twice.
Victory seemed to be slipping away from him like the raging rides of a waterfall, if it had not already slipped away anyway.
And just like the saying ''misery lovespany'', a herald soon came bearing further distressing news, "My lord, Lord Liakit and Lord Nyantim have announced they are withdrawing. Apparently, their men have taken a lot of damage."
Thest statement was aplete lie as the second round of the battle had barely gone for an hour and the casualty between the two sides was roughly the same.
But seeing that Faruq''s n fail, the mighty, undefeatable Jahal mercenaries retreat, Ural''s men tuck tails and run right in front of them and now that their own nks were threatened by Alexander''s counter cavalry attack, the two men saw no point in continuing this fight other than to gift Alexander free kills.
Hence after the two men sent messengers to each other, the two lords wisely decided to retreat when they still had the chance.
Though in this case they were overthinking about the danger of their nks from the enemy cavalry as Alexander had no intention to go out to meet them in battle.
For reasons of their horses being exhausted, them being down to theirstnce, and the danger of the still 5,000 Jahal mercenaries active on the battlefield.
But still, just the potential threat of an attack was enough to convince these men to retreat.
Besides, the other prominent reason was that the lords did not think they could win the war.
".....okay," Faruq gave an almost anemic reply to the message, fully understanding the reasoning behind the men''s decision.
And then the young man began to see dark.
Because with this move, he had basically lost his chance to win the war unless a miracle happened.
And it was a sentiment shared by Lord Liakit and Lord Nyamtim as well, who ryed it using the same scout in the same message, "My lord, the two lords advise you to retreat. Save as many men as you can."
"......." Another long silence followed as Faruq imagined what a loss here would mean for him.
So instead of answering the scout oring up with a decision, Faruq now nced at Sunash for advice.
He hoped like his father, the man would be able to provide him with an alternate option.
And lucky for him, the man could.
"My lord, we can pick up the ck on the left nk (Alexander''s right nk). Though we took some casualties, we are still strong enough to suppress those archers," Sunash sounded very confident, reasoning, "After all, those men have been continuously attacked with arrows and stones from the morning. They must be nearing their breaking point."
This was true as the men were really tired as logs, their arms feeling like tree stumps at the moment.
And they could barely feel them as they reloaded their crossbow by manually pulling the string up using both hands.
But being tired did not mean they were not eager for a fight.
While it was true at one point they might have suffered from low morale, and showed signs of breaking, things had changed now.
Morale was actually quite high right now, for they were energized seeing their allies rout both contingents of the cavalry units, and they themselves had confidence in them as they were able to make the archers and slingers rout twice.
So if Sunash was hoping for a breakthrough in that sector, he would be disappointed.
But credit to the experienced man, he was not done there.
As he further nned, "And even if the enemy does not break, that will be alright. For if that happens, we can take a few thousand of our men to attack the enemy''s center column. That is now weak!"
Sunash seemed to have a simr eye as sharp as his father to notice that vulnerability, which he exined to Faruq,
"I have noticed the enemymander sent about 5,000 men from there to the right (Alexander''s left) to protect against another nking attack, leaving their center column weak."
"So we will concentrate our infantry and cavalry there to overwhelm and snap that vulnerable part, thus opening the nks of the other two columns." Sunash determined.
And then by himself addressed some of the concerns Faruq might have.
"And as for the enemy''s new weapon, I have seen it in action. And it has a major weakness," Sunash confidently added, before revealing it to be, "Its weakness is that each of the soldiers using it needs quite a bit of space to deploy it effectively as the spinning of the rope needs a lot of free ground."
"So given how closely the soldiers are positioned in the formation, and them having to deal with the phnx, the enemy will not be able to use their new fire weapon in this congested space." Sunash positively assured.
And then finished by saying, "Of course, we can''t charge them, as that would require our infantry to get out of the way which would give their infantry the space to use their weapons. But we can fight from camelback."
Chapter 437 Alexanders Attack
The ability to fight infantry from horseback or any animal for that matter was a great advantage for the riding men, as the higher elevation gave the rider more angles of attack, while also making it harder for soldiers down there more difficult to defend from the strange, downward thrusts.
This was coupled with the fact that the riders were able to put more force into their attack from the higher ground, thus able to tire the defending soldier more quickly and then break through his defense to deal greater damage.
And this was not even mentioning the role of the horse or camel, who was many times able to aid its rider by attacking the enemy with its kicks, and sometimes even biting down on them, tearing chunks of flesh in the process.
Thus, when an equally numbered cavalry fought infantry, it was usually the former who came out at the top, for they were able to deal much more damage.
Hence when Sunash proposed concentrating his forces along a narrow line with the aid of cavalry to cause a rout, it certainly sounded usible to Faruq.
"Okay, then I will leave that attack to you," Themander of the army had thus clutched onto that onest hope.
The man was really desperate.
Now it was unknown whether Sunash really believed the tactic would work, or if he just said what his boss wanted to hear.
The reason for thetter being that if a subordinate was not too greatly trusted, sometimes it was a great taboo to say no or answer negatively.
Because many times it conveyed ipetence.
Hence it was certainly possible Sunash had made this up to please his boss.
Because remember, Alexander had moved his reserves to the front to precisely counter such a breakthrough.
But it was what it was, and whether Sunash truly believed it or not, nevertheless Faruq and him quickly set about implementing their n.
So, the formerly beaten-back Jahal mercenaries were soon bought back to join the fray and their presence managed to stabilize their left nk by drawing the fire of the crossbowmen from targeting their infantry to making the archers defend against them.
And thus once again the battle seemed to have entered a state of stalemate, as the exchange of archer fire resumed, while the bloody, brutal melee continued in the middle.
But in reality it only seemed like a stalemate, for under the calm, stable facade was brewing discontent and disillusionment, like cracks in a fragile pane of ss, as Faruq''s men in the middle, the infantry. were slowly starting to buckle.
And the reason for the cause was surprisingly not because of the men themselves per se, who after their rest did have enough in the tank to go on for much longer, but actually, because of the men leading them.
Or particrly to whom they belonged, their particr lords.
"My lord, Ural, Liakit, and Nyantim have all retreated. Please give us the order to retreat too. This battle cannot be won." The one who said these brave words was another Jamider (Earl), and the man currently alive with the highest peerage after Faruq, and Ural.
And he was also the one who contributed the most number of infantry, close to around 8,000, which was no small number.
This Jamider (Earl) was also not alone and hade to pressure Faruq with a small entourage of his retainers, consisting of many Shordars (Barons) and Takulders (Viscounts).
"Yes, let us stop this senseless bloodshed. We are killing our men for nothing," And the one chosen toment after the Jamider was strategically chosen, for this particr statement was uttered by a Talukder (Viscount) who was a peculiarity among the nobility.
This was because he was one of the rare handful of nobles who truly cared for the peasants under him.
And this man had evene to fight against Alexander because he truly believed he was the devil, oppressing and killing the people under him.
So, when even this staunch man advocated for a retreat, it sent a clear message to Faruq about the morale of the army.
After all, from their perspective, the nobles saw no point in losing their men over something they had little to no chance of achieving.
Not when these men were needed badly in the fields.
While these men petitioned for a withdrawal, Faruq felt a headache.
He knew a withdrawal would be almost certain political suicide for him, and so seeing the men standing in front of him urging him to do exactly so made his head hurt.
But these men also controlled abined total of about seventeen thousand (17,000) infantry, and though they had handled over themand of their men to him for better coordination and maneuver, Faruq perfectly knew well that they could snatch it back any time they wanted.
Those men were loyal to their lords after all, and not him.
And so, Faruq could not outright dismiss them.
Thus instead he tried to convince them of the n and urged them to hold strong only a little longer.
"The enemy is weak. Their center is already straining. Just give me a bit of time," He pleaded, and then enticed, "Remember all the riches that are waiting for you in the city. And the secret to all those strange weapons! It''s all there waiting for you, just a fingertip away."
This seemed to work temporarily, as some of the nobles were convinced by the n, some by the pleading, and some by greed.
So they grumbled, and mumbled, before ultimately nodding and then urging Faruq to do whatever he was going to do quickly.
Because they could not wait forever.
While this argument was going on the back between Faruq and the nobles, Menes on the other hand sent a critical message to Alexander.
"My lord, General Menes is certain the enemy infantry is weakening. And he is urging you to start the n. The time is ripe!" The scout reported.
Alexander did not need any more encouragement, as he himself was getting a bit frustrated by the stalemate.
This was because if this continued, though he was confident the lines would hold, it was likely a second battle would take ce tomorrow.
And he absolutely wanted to avoid that for just a while ago he received a message saying that three-quarters of the arrow had been already used up.
This meant that in the up until 8-hour battle, one and a half million (1.5 million) crossbow bolts had been let loose out of the total stock of 2 million.
So, if the battle dragged on until tomorrow, Alexander would have almost no arrows to counter the Jahal mercenaries.
And at that point, he might as well raise his hands up and surrender.
Plus, given that there was only about one to two hours before sundown, he decided it was now or never.
The exhausted troops would have to give it all now and here if they wanted to win.
"Okay! Have the 6th legionmence the maneuver as discussed," Alexander thus gave themand, detailing, "Let them swing around to hit the enemy''s left nk. And also order the 6th, 7th, and 8th battalion of the 5th legion to aid in the attack."
Thus soon about 7,000 men were on their way to attack Faruq''s left side.
While this transferring of forces was going on, Alexander also remembered to send greetings to the 3rd legionmander, reassuring him that he was close by in case of support, which managed to rouse the fighting spirit of the men fighting.
In fact, Alexander''s presence so close to the frontlines boosted the morale of the army in general, the caveat being he was now arguably more vulnerable to enemy attacks.
Alexander''s tactic certainly did not go unnoticed by the enemy, who had first thought that the enemy was routing, which led to a massive cheer from the infantry initially.
And for some time, even the ferocity of their attacks increased as they felt victory was just another spear thrust away.
But the 3rd legion had been trained in this maneuver and was able to hold on even without Alexander''s intervention.
While the enemy, seeing that the formation was not breaking, and the soldiers were holding their grounds, soon ceased their reckless attack, many also running out of steam in the process.
"The right nk! Commander, they are going to attack the right nk!"
And after a while, when it became clear where the 6th legion was going, and as the 3 battalions of the 5th legion made contact with the exposed side of the left infantry, rmed shouts began to sound all around Faruq.
"Quick! Sunash reinforce them! Reinforce them! Go now!" Faruq maddeningly shouted when he foresaw the imminent copse of the army and tried to divert the reserve he had built up to plug that hole.
But Sunash seemed to disagree, saying, "That ce is too congested. Our camels won''t be able to get through in time."
"And as for swinging around to the right and then hitting them in the back, the enemy already has two and a half thousand (2,500) men there as rear guards. We won''t be able to charge because of the ming weapons and won''t be able to break through them any time soon."
"Instead of telling me what you can''t do, why don''t you tell me what you can?" Irritated by Sanush dismissing his idea, and moreover frustrated by how the battle going Faruq hence shouted.
So Sunash suggested, "Let us attack the center as nned, and hope they break before we do."
Chapter 438 Battle Conclusion (Part-1)
Faruq deliberated on Sunash''s hopeful suggestion for a bit.
It was this or going with his own n where he would be just stopping the iing copse.
But that could not win the battle.
And thus ultimately decided to follow Sunaash, gambling everything on this dice roll.
Faruq knew that the battle could now be only won if the enemy made some major mistakes, and not by his own skill.
Hence, soon, the 2nd legion started to see camels in front of them, followed by a shower of javelins and spear attacks.
"Hold! Hold! Just a bit longer hold!" Seeing this Heliptos and most of the officers under him cried, encouraging and boasting the men.
These men had been going at it from the morning and most had lost their throats, sounding hoarse and gravely from the day-long shouting and urging.
While the men under them were scraping the bottom of the barrel to stay in the fight.
The men here had been fighting for close to 9 hours by now, and given that even just standing continuously for 9 hours would be tiring for anyone, the fact that these men were still able to lift a shield and thrust s sword proved their mettle.
Alexander could ask little more of them.
And this was not even mentioning that in thest few hours, they had been fighting double their numbers.
Thus some could say Sunash might actually have a chance there as even the toughest of warriors had their breaking point.
But those people were to be disappointed, as atst Alexander decided tomit his reserves there,manding Grahtos, "Grahtos, go help Heliptos. The 2nd legion must hold! Fight hard man!"
The men and horses in the back had managed to recover some stamina in the meantime, and thus they were able to be deployed into battle, so soon 1,500 heavy cavalry was there to counter the camels.
"Hahaha, see boys, the cavalry is here. What are you afraid of? Hahaha," Heliptos loudly cheered while breathing a sigh of relief at the alleviation of pressure on his men, and then urged them with the single word, "Fight!"
And for the experienced veterans, that single word was enough, who did not need long speeches like the green peasants.
Thus both sides engaged in brutal melee, with the Jahal mercenaries being especially reckless against Grahtos and his men in order to try and avenge their fallenrades.
But the heavy armor of Grahtos''s men proved to be a hard target, and it seemed it would take some time for the mercenaries to work through them.
Time that they did not have as Alexander''s 7,000 men had already struck the left nk and were pressuring them there.
The result of that collision was as one would expect.
The phnx was far too vulnerable on the sides and the legionaries were able to through them that side like a hot knife through butter, as the phngites proved themselves incapable of turning their spears around to effectively counter the threat.
Hence the death count was rapidly shooting up in that sector, and that side seemed minutes away from a copse.
After all, neither the men nor the leadership there wanted to win at all costs.
Thus, as soon as the good news of Sunash hitting the 2nd legion reached Faruq, pleas for help from the right also began to haunt him, as the nobles informed him of their desire to retreat and save their men.
And Faruq had little answer to their pleas because his reserves were alreadymitted elsewhere, who were busy engaging Alexander''s men.
So even if he could move some men to temporarily buttress the situation, Alexander could do the same, bncing the equation once again.
Hence the man could only plea, order, and urge the lords to hold on a bit longer, promising them he needed just a few more minutes to break the enemy and win.
Meanwhile, he also sent messenger after messenger to Sanush to try harder to break the enemy, but the temporary mercenary leader was already doing the best he could.
The main thing was that it just naturally took a while to grind through six and a half thousand men (6,500), even if one outnumbered the other 2 to 1.
Thus Faruq''s few minutes never arrived and the promised time then turned to tens of minutes and then close to an hour.
By which point the sun was already close to setting, and dusk seemed to be apidly encroaching upon the day.
Soon the day would end, and so if the battle was not decided within the next half an hour, it might as well drag into tomorrow.
Which would be a nightmare for both sides.
Alexander due to his arrow shortage, and Faruq due to his loss of morale in today''s battle, which would make it hard, if not impossible for him to convince the various nobles to mount another attack tomorrow.
But just as things were starting to look like it would go that way,
*re!*, *re!*, *re!*
s for Faruq, his center-right column was ultimately unable to hold, as trumpets red out to signal the retreat.
This was done arbitrarily by the officers and nobles in the front without consulting Faruq, not that it would have mattered anyway because the men in those formations had already begun to ignore their officers'' orders to stay and fight, and had begun to rout.
"No! Stay! Don''t run!"
"Strenght! Show strength!"
"Just a bit more. Endure a bit more!"
"The sun! Look at the sun! We can win!"
"Bastards. I will hang all of you fucking traitors,"
"Traitors! All of you are fucking traitors,"
The various officers and nobles began to try all kinds of different techniques to convince the peasants to stay, from pleading, to urging, to ordering to threatening.
But all such coercion proved to be too ineffective against the might of the sword and shield of the legionary.
The average peasant did not really care who won or lost.
They only came here or were forced toe here under the orders of their lords
And thus, when the fear for their lives ultimately reached a critical point, they had no concern about the overall situation on the battlefield, i.e- whether the sun was setting, rising or even being eaten by a giant serpent.
They only cared about surviving right now, at this moment.
And thus the peasants ran, starting from around the infantry unit whose nk was under attack from the 6th legion, the panic then spreading to the back units, and then to the sides, until ultimately the entire center was no more.
And the routing of around thirty thousand (30,000) men was a scene to behold.
Viewed from above it would have looked like a fall of dominos, where at first only a tiny phnx square disintegrated into a trickle of tiny, ck dots, and that trickle then spread to other phnx units, and then other, and then other, until the trickle turned to a pond, then a river, and then turning to a full fledge sea of people all running for their lives in all directions In panic.
This was because the sight of one panicked man urged the others who saw him to do the same, which in turn made more people follow that group, and then even more, until everyone broke formation and dropped everything to run away in fear.
This was called a rout and it was happening right in front of Alexander, as each man fought for himself, pushing, shoving, and even tackling others in an effort to be the first one to escape into the safety of their camp.
In fact, there was so much confusion and chaos on the battlefield that some nobles and offices were even killed by their own forces, either by being pushed down and then trampled to death or even by being mistaken as the opposing forces and being struck down.
There was even one noble whose own standard bearer somehow mistook him for the enemy through all the dust and charged him with the pointed part of the pole.
But Fortunately for the noble, one of his bodyguards managed to get between the two and managed to promptly cut off the attacker''s hand, thus saving his master''s life.
Simr scenarios yed out all along the one-and-a-half kilometer (1.5km) front, as the retreating soldiers caused more death and damage to their own forces in the few minutes it took to reach their own camp than Alexander''s men had been able to inflict in the close to 10-hour struggle.
But this was the norm as it was really hard to cause much death when the soldiers fought in formation, which was why they fought in formations.
And the real casualties were death only when the enemy was running away, where one could catch them off guard and vulnerable.
As the peasants ran, Alexander''s forces for their part also showed no mercy to these feeling cowards, running ahead to try and catch as many as possible
But all of them were tired as dogs to give any meaningful chase, and besides, the entire solid ground had been long ago turned to mud by the trampling of so many feet.
So, many were able to escape by the grace of it, while many others slipped and fell down into the mud, before being stamped to death by the panicking men.
Or they broke his legs or simply got stuck in the knee-high mud, which many might mistake as quicksand.
Thus the mud giveth and the mud taketh away.
Chapter 439 Battle Conclusion (Part-2)
Faruq could do nothing but stand like a wooden block as he witnessed with muted shock his army dissolve right in front of him.
"Greed! The gods are punishing me for my greed!" Hemented in a low, silenced breath.
He said this because he realized that if he hadmitted his reserves to strengthening the sector where he was being attacked, instead of trying to win, then though he might not have won, he would not have lost either.
For by the time Alexander would have finished chewing through therge contingent of men there, dusk would have already descended and the battle would have had to stop.
In fact, if Faruq had been able to hold on just for another hour, Alexander''s men would have been simply too tired to fight even if a huge opportunity presented to themselves.
But there were no ''buts and if'' in life.
Faruq was certainly enticed by Sunash, but ultimately it was him that made his own choice.
So, he had no option but to ept the result, no matter how mortifying it might be.
While one side drowned itself in sadness and regret, the other side was dousing itself with happiness, tion, relief, and all other kinds of emotion that produced dopamine.
"Over! Finally it''s over, ahhhhhh," Grahtos simply slumped over his horse in exhaustion after releasing a cry of exhaustion, feeling like he would not be able to feel a thing even if someone hacked at his body.
His muscles ached like never before and his eyes felt like they were being pulled downwards by elephants.
It simply took the man all his energy just to stay awake.
And such simr events reyed across the battle.
All the infantry sat on their butts before taking off their helmets to try and cool down, as they huffed and puffed with lethargy.
Many evenid straight down on the mud and closed their eyes, wanting to take a nap then there.
The infantry would scarcely believe that they had survived the battle from almost dawn to dusk.
It was a brutal fight no matter how one saw it.
And the 2nd legion was especially tired, as evidenced by how most of the men already drifting to sleep.
The situation on the nks was also no different.
The ten thousand (10,000) crossbowmen had finally managed to survive the onught thatsted for 10 hours, a feat that even they themselves were having a hard time believing they had somehow managed to aplish.
And as they rested their brushed m, some even bleeding from them as they had overworked their hands when reloading the crossbow, they reminisced how there were many points along the battle that looked really dicey for them.
But the solid pavises and the range and uracy of the huge crossbows proved to be the decisive factor, able to outrange and outperform their enemies while soaking all the damage thrown at them.
And the enemy did throw everything they had at them, as evidenced by how the two nks were littered with broken bits of arrow shafts, iron heads, and lead and stone stones, while the pavises in the front line had to be challenged about every hour because they would be like tattered paper by then.
The crossbowmen deserved all rest they wanted because as green peasants, it was very impressive for them to withstand the withering arrow fire.
And it would not be controversial to say that though it was the infantry who ultimately routed the enemy, it was the crossbowmen who were the real MVP of the battle, as it was them who kept the Jahal mercenaries at bay, and enabled the infantry to do their job.
Andstly, there were the officers and higher-ups, all of whom had not fought in the frontlines with shields and swords per se, but almost all of whom had very broken and sore throats by this point.
Shoutingmands, singing encouraging songs, and bolstering the men to fight on was no child''s y.
Among them, the highest one, Alexander even had stinging pain in his thighs, as a spear thrust had identally managed to go throw all threeyers of his armor to produce a wound.
It was a mild wound, nothing serious, but that did not mean it did not hurt, especially when he rode his horse as it caused his thighs to move about.
But for now that little bit of pain was drowned out the relief he was feeling.
The battle was closer than he would have liked, but nevertheless, he did it.
Atst he did it.
He won.
And thus he managed to save all those he loved and cared about.
And to reinforce this fact Alexander stared almost nkly at the field in front of him, where the enemy soldiers were running away like headless chickens, while the biggest threat on the battlefield, the Jahal mercenaries stood in the middle of the field, begrudgingly staring at the army with hate-filled malice.
To think one day they would be defeated by an outnumbered foe in a straight-up open battle.
And they even lost their leader in the process.
It was a humiliating fiasco for them.
"Master, the enemy is weak and has his guard down. Give us the order to attack!" Sunash suddenly urged Faruq in a boisterous voice, the zeal and desire to battle in his tone palpable.
To an outsider, it might seem the Jahal mercenaries were fresh as daisies, ready to fight for another 10 hours if need be.
Whereas the reality was the exact opposite.
They were just as exhausted as all the other men, with most being barely able to hold onto their camel''s harness.
They had no energy to shoot arrows.
Not that they had much left anyway, as only they had shot around 3 million of the wooden thing with a metal pointy thing at the enemy.
While Lord Liakit''s archers had shot another 1 million, totaling the gross arrow count to around 4 million, which was double Alexander''s estimated used crossbow bolts numbering 2 million, or almost double the entirety of thetter''s stock.
And then there was the consideration of the camels, who desperately needed food and water, and most importantly rest.
They might be called the ships of the deserts, but they were not literally so and thus were not able to move day and night like a ship.
Sunash certainly knew this as he himself was in a simr state, so why did make the promise?
Because under that facade of confidence and zeal, there was a bubbling mass of fear and uncertainty.
He knew Faruq likely med him for the loss, if not fully then at least partially for diverting the reserves elsewhere.
And though it was totally Faruq who fully sanctioned this, well Faruq was the lord and he was just a mercenary.
So whose words held more weight?
"Heh, what are you doing acting so high and mighty? If you had listened to Master Faruq, we would not have lost!" And this sentiment was precisely expressed by Jabad, as he shot down Sunash.
And the reason for so was obvious, to pull down Sunash and elevate his position in the mercenary group.
Thus it appeared that even before his father''s body had gotten cold, power struggles within the group had already taken birth, and Sunash would have to from now contend with these vultures determined to strike him down.
And what was worse was that their lord, Faruq, and by extension, Djose was likely against him, as evidenced by Faruq saying, "Jabad, I will leave the rescue of the wounded and the retrieval of the important bodies to you, Pay special care when handling your father."
It sounded as if Faruq regarded Jabad as Azab''s real son, rather than a son-inw.
"Yes, my lord, rest assured," This detail was certainly missed by no one, especially not Sinash and Jabad, who producedpletely different reactions, Jabad a huge grin, and Sunash a stoic, hurt face.
Thetter had not gotten to even start mourning his father and his position in the mercenary was already looking precarious.
''The bastard likely wishes to sacrifice me to save his own hide,'' Sunash guessed what Faruq was thinking.
And he hit the bullseye on this one as Faruq certainly wanted to sell the story of being misled by Sunahs to his father toe out of this situation alive.
And sure even that would get him a good licking, but it was better than being held fully responsible for today''s fiasco.
Thus, correctly guessing this, Sunash was now in flight mode, as he thought about how to escape this trap before the mouth fully closed.
Alexander did not know all these inside stories, instead, he only saw the bulk of the Jahal mercenaries finally retreat to their camp, leaving only a few to collect the important dead bodies.
And Alexander let them do that as they wished, both because it was the custom, and because he had no way to stop them.
Instead, seeing this he breathed a sigh of relief, as he was previously afraid maybe the mercenaries might try onest time.
And though that would not have likely worked, as his 40,000 soldiers would take some time to chew through even if they just stood still, and the dusk would make their visibility and thus aim almost zero, still it was a possible threat.
A possible threat that was now gone, finally indicating the end of the battle.
"Get the men up, collect the dead and wounded, and escort the prisoners," Hence Alexandermanded.
Chapter 440 Battle Conclusions (Part-3)
As dusk settled, troops from both sides returned to their respective camps, eager to rest their sore bodies.
In Faruq''s camp, there was a general gloom and disheartenment for having lost the battle, as the soldiers treated to their injuries.
While the higher-ups were getting themselves ready to meet with Faruq and discuss their future offensive.
Or more specifically, what was the fastest time they could board the ships?
Because most nobles saw no point in continuing his battle.
While in Alexander''s camp, the strongest emotion was not ecstasy, but exhaustion and relief.
It was a brutal slugfest and the men right now wanted nothing more than to just have their supper and then get back to their tents and rest their heads on the pillow.
In fact, even food might not be as enticing as the sweet release of sleep.
So, contrary to the popr belief that Alexander''s side would be filled with loud boisterous cheers and the jubnt glow of drinking and other various celebrations, it was rather quiet, as the men simply rested their tired bodies and silently eat their hot porridge.
As a matter of fact, it was with the enticement of the vourful food being cooked by the camp''s ves and servants that Alexander''s tired men found the strength to exit the battlefield in the first ce, but before also taking the captured prisoners with them.
These POWs amounted to about fourteen thousand (14,000), consisting of mainly charioteers, and infantry.
The charioteers had been already captured earlier, but the infantry was caught in a couple of ways.
They were captured either when they surrendered, when they were too injured to escape, when they were simply too tired to run, when they fell into the mud and could not free themselves, andstly when they were simply captured by Alexander''s men.
And these men''s fate would mostly be to be turned into hard-manualbor ves, made to work physically intensive sectors such as the fields, mines, and quarries.
Though some might be exchanged for ransoms.
As the huge group of men made their way to their camp and the servants and ves there got to work taking care of these tired men, the problem of where to stage all the prisoners came up.
Fourteen thousand (14,000) was not a small number.
And so seeing the camp getting cramped trying to amodate them, Alexander decided to send the prisoners into the city itself as it was just a short walk away.
Also to make sure that none ran, he had a contingent of around 5,000 men escort them.
"Also tell Cambyses to send 5,000 men from the city garrison," Alexander instructed this to Grahtos, who was leading the escort of prisoners.
Alexander wanted to use these men to reinforce his camp and guard against any night attacks.
And the reason for not using the army present was because Alexander feared his men might be too tired for sentry duty.
Though it had to be said that the chance of a night attack was very unlikely, as the enemy was just as tired as them, and any attack had very little likelihood of seeding and would rather only drain their energy even more.
But still, Alexander wanted to be on the side of caution.
If he somehow lost the battle aftering so far, he would not have any ce to hold his regret.
"Yes, my lord," Grahtos epted the order still seemingly full of energy, and he was off.
While Alexander finally got his wounds dressed.
The hole poked around his thigh was rtively small as was usual for a spear thrust, amounting to around an inch in diameter.
Since the wound was so small, Alexander felt it did not need to be cauterized, and so after taking off his bronze te, linen padding, and chainmail, Alexander simply cleaned the wound with hot water, then dressed it with a strong spirit, which stung a whole lot but Alexander could do nothing but bear with it, and then finally bandaged the fresh wound himself.
The whole thing took about 10 minutes and few people even got to even know that Alexander was hurt in the first ce.
"You are hurt!" But one of the people who did get to know was Cambyses, who had decided toe and visit him in the camp as soon as Grahtos met with her.
She, like much of the people in the city, was very worried about the results of the battles which would likely decide their fates.
And so she had even stood atop the walls of Zanzan the whole time watching the battle y out, even though she could not see much.
As from that far away, the human eye could only vaguely pick out two opposing lines of blue and a mix of different colors, indicating the liveries of Alexander''s monolithic forces, and the various mixtures of different noble houses.
But even then, beforeing here Cambyses at least knew they had not lost.
This was because she had noticed the blue lines retreatedter than the mixture color lines, which usually was very good news.
Though she was prudent enough not to say it out aloud in the city without knowing the details.
And the chance to know those details came soon, around the time she was having supper in her office, as Batholomew came to inform her that Grahtos had entered the city with around 14,000 prisoners.
"We won!" That was the first thing she had cheered, as the losing side did not usually take prisoners.
And so leaving her half-eaten food still on the table Cambyses ran out to meet the man.
".....And that is it, mydy," Grahtos first gave a short summarised version of the battle, and then ultimately made the request Alexander instructed him to make.
"Bartholomew, you arrange it. I will go see Alex," But instead of dealing with it for herself, Cambyses simply dumped the load into her deputy''sp, and soon took a horse escorted by a few city guards right to the camp.
She wanted to see the situation for herself, and hear about the victory from the man himself.
Cambyses had no problem with security there as at least one of the guards along the various checkpoints at least knew her or of her, and so she was even able to directly enter Alexander''s camp without his permission, a power granted to no other.
And as she entered, there she was her husband with his right thigh bandaged, which naturally rmed her.
"Yeah, I led a cavalry charge and got hit. Not too big a wound though," Alexander very nonchntly told her about how he got the wound.
There was little point in trying to hide it from his wife, one whom he would sleep it, after all.
"Tsk, why did you have to lead? Why could you not let Hemicus do it?" Cambyses furrowed her eyebrows in worry and displeasure.
She naturally did not like to see Alexander put himself in danger.
"Who says I didn''t?" And Alexander gently shot back, saying, "I had Hemicus switch ces with me. And for that, the man got three piercings, one on the shoulder, one on the sides, and one on the legs. Well, three that I could see."
"..." Cambyses could then only stay quiet, understanding such was the norm, and would be the norm for the foreseeable future.
She had naively assumed that after Alexander became a noble, he would not maybe have to fight on the frontlines, but the circumstances proved her otherwise.
Thus she decided to switch to a much happier topic, and she bought out the dinner she had hastily packed for Alexander beforeing here.
And as Alexander ate, he asked about the general situation in the city, about Mean and Ophenia, and if there had been any attacks in the southern sector.
"No, there was nothing." Cambyses sinctly replied, before asking with much trepidation, "Alex, is the battle over? Have we won?"
The hope and anticipation in her voice was thick and palpable.
".... maybe. Unless the enemy gets reinforcement." Alexander sided on the side of caution before arbitrarily dering he had won.
The Jahal mercenaries were still a threat given Alexander was almost out of arrows.
But in general, he was optimistic about his chances, as even if the opposing side decided to give him a fight, he could make them bleed.
And if worst came to worst, he could retreat back to the city, build up his stock, and then sally out to again face them in battle.
If he could win once, he could do it again.
But such options were kept close to his heart, as for now Alexander only said to his soldiers to rest and get ready for any potential enemy attacks.
While he himself decided to call ate-night meeting with hismanders.
"So, what about the casualty counts?" This was the thing Alexander was most interested in.
And Menes gave a quick answer,
"From the infantry, we have 274 dead and 659 wounded, thetter of whom are being treated in the medical clinic."
"From the crossbowmen, we have 103 dead and 1,673 wounded, with thetter number being sorge is because it includes even minor injuries such as a swollen arm or a sprained hand." Menes exined, detailing, "The truly wounded number is much smaller, at around 500, and mostly includes arrows around the torso and heart."
"Atstly from the cavalry part, the dead number is 17, while the wounded is 34."
Chapter 441 Break Down Of Alliance
The way casualty calctions worked in Alexander''s camp was quite simple.
Each of the ten squad captains would report his losses to his sergeant (100-man leader).
Then the tally of the 6 sergeants would be passed on to the captain (600-man leader).
The number of 10 such captains would reach the legionmander, until finally, each legionmander''s number would reach Menes.
And ording to the numbers submitted to him, Alexander had lost 394 dead, and 1193 really wounded.
The point of the use of the word ''Really wounded'' was used because many more were shot and pierced by arrows but had no fatal or life-threatening injuries.
Such men were soon discharged from the medical clinic and so not calcted in the final tally.
So in total Alexander had actually lost around 1,500 men as dead and wounded, all who would not be avable forbat any time soon, and many perhaps never.
1,500 out of 42,000 might sound like a small number, but it was actually huge.
This is because while the men were in formation, it was quite hard to kill arge number of people.
The reason for this was because for one, phnxes were not designed to kill a lot of people, and for two when there were a lot of casualties formations needed to break.
Thus the numbers again reinforced to Alexander that his army had been really pushed to the edge of breaking and showed just how brutal the fighting had been.
"I see. Make sure they receive adequatepensation," Alexander lightly instructed, not harping on this matter too much.
After all, death and injury were part and parcel of any battle, andparatively, his losses were minusculepared to his opponents.
And it was these losses he wanted to inquire about next.
"Do you think the enemy has enough troops tounch an attack tomorrow?" Alexander asked about it in a roundabout way.
And for a while, none answered.
They did not want to say unambiguously say no because if there was indeed a battle tomorrow, then they would look very foolish.
And vice versa reason for saying yes.
So Menicus, being the leader, cleverly said this, "My lord, the enemy must have suffered around 20,000 casualties today. So an attack tomorrow is unlikely," as he then quickly advised a precautionary move, "But we can prepare for it."
"For instance, it hase to my notice that we are running low on crossbow bolts. Perhaps we could have our soldiers collect the many arrowsying strew across the battlefield."
"Most of them should be undamaged. And that will help replenish our arrow supply."
It was only with Menicus''s mention that Alexander remembered that arrows were not like bullets, which were used up the moment it was fired.
In the case of arrows, it was perfectly possible to use already shot arrows, and it was even a legitimate strategy to simply pick up the arrows shot by one''s enemy and shoot them back at him.
"Good, then have the 5,000 reinforcements scour the field for all undamaged crossbow bolts. Just make sure the torches don''t attract the enemy," Alexander hence instructed.
And with this short address, Alexander finished the meeting.
Everybody was dead tired and wanted to go to bed after all.
And once they were alone Cambyses posed. "That 5,000 you took out, are you sure the enemy won''t attack the city at night?"
It was certainly possible as a desperate move.
But Alexander did not seem to share these concerns, saying, "They are just as tired as us. So, the men stationed along the southern wall will hold. And even if they breach the city, we can reinforce it from here."
With this said, Alexander decided to turn in early,stly saying to Cambyses, "You go back. The people will feel better knowing you are in the city."
"And keep the news of the victory a secret for now. We''ll see what happens tomorrow."
"Okay," Cambyses gave a curl nod and then left the camp under the pitch ck night.
While Alexander''s camp slept soundly, Faruq''s camp was in an uproar.
Or more specifically, the military tent housing all the nobles was.
And it was not because of them discussing whether tomorrow they would fight or not.
Because that had been discussed a long time ago.
No, they would not fight.
Almost all the nobles unanimously had said this to Faruq in as clear a way as possible.
This was because their losses were around 30%, crippling for any army.
Even for Faruq, his losses were no joke, as the Jahal mercenaries had lost around 800 men as dead and wounded, with 600 among them being dead, almost all from Grahtos''s heavy cavalry charge.
And though such a number out of 10,000 might not seem like much, for such an elite unit it was heart-breaking, as being a mobile ranged unit, their casualties rarely crossed the hundred mark in any battle.
So for them to suffer eight times the usual casualty number was no joke and the mercenaries could not remember when was thest time they suffered so much dead.
Not to even mention that on top of all this, their leader had also died.
Then there were the slingers and archers suffering a total of around 1,000 dead and wounded.
Ural had lost around 900 men, which had also made the man feel faint at the realization that he had lost about half of his father''s most elite fighting force.
And it even made Ural not want to return home because it was very much possible that his father would take off a fewyers of skin from his back for this.
Then there was Lord Nibraz and his 6,000 horses and 6,000 men, almost the entirety of which had been imed by Alexander, so much so that there was no one even in the military camp to represent that house.
In fact, in the short span of two months, that Jamider (Earl) house had lost all three of its incumbent, former and future lord, plus the great bulk of his most trained forces, leaving it virtually defense.
And it was to the point that it was even questioned whether that house might be able to exist at all some time into the future.
Andstly were the peasant levies acting as infantry that belonged to a group of nobles.
Aside from Lord Nibraz, they were the real losers of the battle, having lost about 11,000 as dead, wounded, or captured, amounting to more than one-third of the original 30,000 they started with.
These men had no appetite for another battle.
And some of the more vocal ones, like the Jamider (Earl) who had contributed the most men even heavily chastised Faruq, using him, "It is because of your greed that we lost so men. If you had only let us retreat earlier, we could have tried again tomorrow But noooo¡"
He then mimicked and mocked Faruq, " ''Hold! Hold! Just hold on a bit longer!'' Is that all you can say?"
Clearly the entire nobility was very upset with Faruq and would not hand over control of their forces over to him anytime soon.
While Faruq stayed silent and took the me for now.
But that was not the case currently.
Because that was not what they were fighting over.
No, the reason for their bickering was much more primitive, and it involved money.
"What do you mean you will not pay unless we go to war tomorrow?" Lord Liakit shouted, banging his fist on the hard wooden table and ring at Faruq menacingly.
And Fauq did not back an inch, repeating what he had said before, "Just as I''ve said before, the deal was that you help me win the battle, and I will give you five times the amount of your remuneration."
He then turned equally menacingly at the noble, snarling out his frustration, "But we did not win did we?"
"No! Because you chose to run in the middle of battle. Like cowards! No win, no pay." Faruq waved his hands dismissively, showing his stanch stand on the matter.
After the nobles decided the battle was over, and it had been lost, now was the time to find a scapegoat to dump all the fault on.
So they were now busy deflecting the me, the foremost of who wanted to do was Faruq.
Because there was no way he was going to fess up it was his mistake if he wanted to have a shot at bing a pasha.
And neither would Lord Liakit and Lord Nyantim, both of whom were outraged at being called cowards.
"What! You dare brat!" Lord Nyantim hence shouted, and then pointed his finger to Ural and snarked, "If your idiot brother-inw had not run, leaving our nk open, our men would have held! If you want to me someone, me him."
"We only retreated because the Jahal mercenaries broke, and Alexander''s reinforcements wereing our way. It''s all their fault," Ural was prepared to defend himself the moment the acquisition came up, and even sneered, "Heh! To think the famed Jahal mercenaries amount to only that much. It seems like their fame is just that, filled with nothing but empty, hot air."
"We did not break. We withdrew to a safer ce," Sunash immediately rebutted Ural, exining, "That''s why we returned to battle even after our losses. Even after we lost ourmander. Where were you then, pretty boy?"
The finger-pointing had only begun.
Chapter 442 Break Down Of The Alliance (Part-2_
The nobles slung usations all over one another, each trying to pin the me on the other.
And they all rejected the notion that since they fought in an army as one, they all had a part in the loss.
No, they were determined to find that one scapegoat.
And once they failed to reach a consensus on that, the bickering devolved into trying to get the promisedpensation from Faruq.
"You swore to the gods, now you are reneging on it?" Ural shouted in fury as Faruq made it clear that he would also not be handing over the mines.
"I said I would give it to you if we won. Did we win?" Faruq hissed back, reminding Ural of the terms of their agreement, before spreading his arms and adding, "Besides, without winning, I likely won''t be able to get Kuleef''s throne. So, there is no point in discussing that."
Faruq wanted to make Ural agree to a second attack tomorrow by saying this.
"Bullshit! You said we just needed to participate. You never uttered the word ''win''," Ural vehemently shot back, before turning to address the room and say, "Everyone here can attest!" Ural hoped for support among the nobles present in an effort to dismiss Faruq''s scheme to weasel out of the situation.
But unfortunately for him, the people involved only returned him a nk look.
The people involved were all having a hard time remembering the exact words used by Faruq, whether it was just participating, or was it specifically winning.
And since they were required to swear by the gods, none wanted to blurt something half-heartedly and then make a mistake.
So, when Ural asked the people who had witnessed the swear to confirm the oath, these very people started to disagree with themselves.
"Was it win or participate?"
"I remember it was just Faruq saying him to attack,"
"Hmm, but I definitely did hear Faruq say win at some point,"
"Perhaps he said it outside the oath,"
The nobles were too confused to reach a consensus among themselves.
The root cause of this was because Faruq had said both, he had asked Ural to attack Alexander''s nk in exchange for the mines, and he had also promised Lord Liakit and Lord Nyantim five times their usual reward if they could win.
And now the different parties were mixing all the statements altogether, some out of genuine forgetfulness, some like Faruq opportunistically.
And this event right now proved very clearly why written contracts were so important.
It not only made the agreed-upon deal much harder to deny, but it also made the agreement much more reliable, as even if the other side was fully trustworthy, people many times simply forgot or misremembered.
The same bickering and mud-slinging went on for hours, the men at one point simply repeating their points as they whirled in cycles, with none building an inch, until finally, tired, frustrated, and in a bad mood, Faruq pulled out his trump card.
"If you keep talking like this, I will simply take my ships and go! You can find your own way."
"...." For a moment the group went silent, stunned that Faruq would pull such a cheap and underhanded move.
And then they burst into outraged mor,
"You scoundrel! We came here to assist you under your urging!"
"Brat! How dare you? To think we were supposed to be allies!"
"*Thoo*, *thoo*, *thoo*, To think we answered the call of such a man."
It appeared the alliance between Kuleef and various nobles of Zanzan was truly over, at least for the near future.
Which was good news for Alexander as he slept soundly in his small tent.
And while his enemy disintegrated unbeknownst to him, the young man still diligently got up at the crack of dawn the next morning, ready to give a fight if it came to it.
"*Argghhh*," But before that Alexander had to first get out of bed, which proved to be a challenge, as he half moaned in pain when by force of habit he got up using his right thigh, which sent a stinging pain coursing through his body, reminding him of his injury.
And so, as a tool of convenience, he picked up the wooden crutch standing beside his bed to help alleviate the pressure on that leg, before refreshing himself, and then asking one of the guards outside to help him put on his armor.
"Let''s go to the medical clinic," Once fully suited up, Alexander afterward asked the temporary guard captain Cypus to escort him, intending to visit Hemicus.
He had wanted to visit the man yesterday but could not find the time or energy then.
Alexander made his way slowly to the clinic situated on the east side of the camp and found the hygiene of the ce rtively to his liking.
The surrounding had a slight smell of limestone, as milk of limestone, which was made by heating limestone and adding water to it was sprinkled all over the floor to act as a rtively good disinfectant.
The environment around the camp also seemed quiet and rxing, as the facilities were easily adequate to deal with the current number of casualties.
And amongst the scores of tentsid out in rows, only a few ves and servants could be seen moving about, probably checking up on the patients and delivering food and medicine to anyone that needed it.
The rtive calm around the ce also had to do with the time, as since it was just getting bright, and the people were just waking up.
And this made it so that Alexander had managed to avoid most of the crowd, and he was soon in front of a small inconspicuous tent, with the only thing giving away its specialty being the single guard posited outside.
"My lord," This guard who was dozing off in his chair, suddenly in a startled manner got up when he heard footsteps approach and was almost mortified to see it was Alexander.
Falling asleep during one''s watch duty was a court martial offensive.
But Alexander was not in the mood to prosecute this nameless guy, and he understood being posted at sentry duty after a heavy day''s fighting was brutal for anyone, and so he just waved his hand dismissively, before opening the tent ps and directly entering the tent.
"Alex¡I meant¡ my lord, you are hurt?" The moment Alexander entered the camp, he was greeted by the shocked voice, of the now-in-charge of the clinic, Hiperteom, who seemed to be getting up from his bed just beside Hemicus.
And this half-doctor was shocked to see Alexander with a crutch on his right side, one because it was Alexander who was injured and two because he, as the head of the clinic had no idea about it.
He considered it a gross oversight on his part.
"Yes. A small spear wound. I will depend on you to clean it properly today," Alexander appeared unfazed by the shocked greeting and simply replied in a nonchnt voice.
His injury was known to only the highest echelons of the group
"Of course, of course," The man vigorously nodded as he then turned to look at Hemicus andmented, "Aiya, first it was Hemicus, and now, to think even the lord got hurt. *Sigh*, I saw the battle from the camp. It was brutal."
He shook his head in dismay.
"Yes, it was. But we won," Alexander justified all the losses and injuries with this word, before moving on to the reason he was here.
"So, how is he?" He asked about Hemicus''s condition.
"He has gotten better now. But at one point it was looking really shaky," Hiperteom let out a breath of relief, before recounting the whole story.
"When he came here, at first it was all good. The wounds were neither big nor in any critical areas, and so we just cleaned the wounds, cauterized them, poured strong spirit over them, and then bandaged them." He began, adding,
"And then, after we finished, because he got tired from the painful procedure, we simply asked him to have a bit to eat and sleep here for a bit."
"Which he did."
"But it was after a while, in his sleep, that he started developing a raging fever at around midnight." Hiperteom sounded rmed, as he continued, "His body began to re up, and he started muttering strange things and cried pained moans. At times his body would even jerk unnaturally."
"I even thought he was being possessed!" Hiperteom at one point confessed, as he considered performing an exorcism.
"But then I remembered your teaching, and decided to treat fevers as you taught us." He then said, recounting what he actually did,
"So I stayed the whole night here, pouring cold water over his body, and asionally rubbing his entire body with a wet cloth."
"And then finally, at around dawn, the fever began to recede, and I decided to take a short nap right here."
Hiperteom ended his report, looking both relieved and haggard.
"You did well," And Alexander simply tapped the man on the shoulders to give his thanks, while he himself let out a sigh of relief.
''To think someone as strong as Hemicus, and built like a bull as him would be so close to death after three non-critical wounds. *Sigh*, this world is really dangerous.'' Alexander was once again reminded of the power of bacteria, viruses, and open wounds without antiseptics and most importantly antibiotics.
Even an innocent knife cut could develop into tetanus, not even mentioning the wound he had on him right now.
Chapter 443 Hiperteom
Alexander was certainly worried about the backwardness of this time''s medical technology.
Especially because he knew he had no easy way of advancing it anytime soon.
He estimated that the medical technology even a few decades from now would still beparable to now, and the reason for this would be because he was no doctor.
He only had A level biology knowledge, and whatever he taught up until now was around the limit of medical expertise, while the truly effective medicines, like penicillin, were way beyond his capabilities.
Alexander did read that Flemming had discovered the magical cure identally when he left a petri dish to grow mold on, but that was the extent of it.
And even if he could somehow replicate that and produce that exact mold, there was no way he would be able to refine the mold into anything remote close enough for human consumption following that discovery.
After all, though Flemming discovered penicillin in 1928, it still took him another decade and 20th-century chemicals such as sulphuric acid and various organicpounds, treated under many modern purification techniques to obtain a level of purity that humans could take without dying from the other impurities present in the mold.
And even then it was only made avable to soldiers seriously wounded in world war 2.
Hence to give a context to the technological prowess involved, by the time antibiotics, the truly wonder drug of the drug made its debut, the world already had nuclear weapons, which some might say was god''s way of bncing the karmic scale.
Thus the possibility of Alexander having any truly meaningful weapon against his own mortality seemed really low.
And thus could only hope his own body would be able to fend off the inevitable approach of death as long as possible.
This was also one of the reasons Alexander was mindful to get up as early as possible to perform various exercises and calisthenics.
And he even made his girls perform the exercises with him.
But just because Alexander was unlikely to achieve something significant in this field did not mean he would not try.
So, after seeing Hemicus sleeping soundly, Alexander invented Hiperteom outside the tent, and once the duo was in a secluded position, said his piece.
He began first by congratting the man, "I''m very pleased that you saved Hemicus''s life. You have my gratitude."
To which Hiperteom gave the usual, modest answer, "No, no, it is my duty."
Alexander gave a small nod to this and then moved on to the real topic.
He first began by saying, "Hiperteom, you should know as well as I do that there will many more wars in the future. And we will suffer many injuries. So, it is a must that we develop better medicines and treatment procedures. Right?"
Alexander asked as he turned to look at Hiperteom who gave a nod of approval.
So he continued, "Mmmn, and the best way to develop these medications and procedures is to study how the human body works, right?"
Again Hiperteom gave a nod of approval.
So Alexanderstly asked, "And what is the best way to study the human body would you say? How do we know if our medicine works?"
Inquiring about this, even before Hiperteom could answer, Alexander gave his own answer, "For me, it would be cutting up to see how the insides of a body works. Because how can you treat the body without knowing what does what?"
Alexander tell turned to Hiperteom and barraged him with many questions,
"Tell me, why do we need eyes to see? Why do we need noses to smell, ears to hear, and mouths to taste? Why can''t eyes hear, or noses see?"
Alexander then gave his own answer, inly saying, "The answer is we don''t know. We don''t know almost anything about our own body."
And posed, "And if we don''t know these answers, how can we treat the injuries? Injuries to the eyes, to the ears, to the throats, to the hearts?"
Finally, Alexander said in a final, ultimate way, "So, cutting up the bodies and seeing what is inside the bodies is the only way for such to avoid tragedies! The only way!"
Alexander was very firm in his answer as he repeated the words, leaving no room for disagreement.
And then, finally havingid enough foundations, Alexander gave his, some might say controversial, order, "That''s why Hiperteom I am instructing you choose a few dead bodies from the battlefield to cut open and see the various organs inside. And then you are to make drawings of them and show them to me."
Normally such an order was perfectly normal, as humans did autopsies in modern times as easily as breathing.
But in his time period, defiling a human corpse was seen as one of the greatest acts of sinning against the gods.
And this was why Alexander talked for so long, and in such a roundabout way before getting to his point.
But unfortunately for him, it appeared even this amount of reasoning was insufficient.
For Hiperteom vehemently declined to do such a thing, as his voice rang out in shock and rm,
"Ale¡my ¡my lord¡tha¡that''s sphemy! No, I will not do it,"
He hence tly refused to do it.
Because ording to him, an eternity in hell was not worth serving Alexander over.
Alexander did not immediately pressure the man, for he had anticipated this for this was the prevailing custom.
So instead he tried again, saying, "I''m the son of Gaia. And the goddess has given me the right to open the bodies of her creation to heal her subjects."
"So, if you do this, not only will your soul be protected, but you will also be rewarded for your work in saving the goddess''s flock."
He hoped that by saying this, the man would be more amicable to the idea.
And this reassurance didfort the man a bit.
But it appeared that still was not enough.
"My lord, I''m sorry, but I still can''t. If the goddess has so decided, let Her pick a different champion," Hiperteom seemed adamant.
And even after Alexander enticed him by saying, "Hiperteom, this is a great blessing from The goddess Herself. Your gate to Elysium will be open if you do this. Do you really want to throw such an opportunity away just because you find the act a bit ufortable?"
Hiperteom stood his ground and simply replied, "I find the act of cutting bodies repulsive. Hence I will feel ashamed to enter Elysium with such hands. Even if the goddess wills so, my heart1 cannotply."
The answer was so strong that Alexander understood no amount of cajoling will convince the man.
Hence, he finally decided to back down, shrugging his shoulders and saying, "Okay, if you truly feel so strongly about it, then I guess there is no helping it."
And seeing that Alexander was not going to strong-arm him, Hiperteom gave a grateful nod, and said, "Thank you, my lord. And I''m truly sorry."
And then suggested, "But my lord, since the goddess has given you such privilege, why not transfer the gift to someone else? Or why not do it yourself? The goddess did give it to you personally."
Hiperteom did not mean to make the wording sound like a jibe but it certainly felt like one to Alexander, who only weakly replied, "Okay, I will."
The reason why Alexander did not do it himself was simply because he did not have the time.
After all, it took a long time to cut open bodies and then make urate drawings.
And then there was the added concern that if he did this, people might use him of witchcraft.
This was because cutting bodies or doing autopsies was an act so hated in Adhania that it had to be seen to be believed.
Even his allies like Ptolomy and Pasha Farzah might cut ties with him if he did such acts too openly as ording to them it intruded into the domains of gods.
And even for the normally half atheist Pasha Farzah this step might be one too far.
That''s why Alexander really wanted someone else to be the one to do this.
And Hiperteom fit the bill perfectly.
The man was loyal, diligent, and talented at his work and hence Alexander could ce great confidence in him to be able to produce results,
His position as the head of the medical clinic gave him a fresh, almost limitless source of new patients and cadavers to whom he could do a lot of things without raising any suspicion, andstly, he was highly respected by the men under him, who were hence unlikely to not tattle on him.
Thus,petent and able to be used to take the heat off Alexander, he was the perfect candidate, and if worst came to worst, even could be used as a scapegoat.
And though that second part sounded horrible, such were the dangers of such ''forbidden'' research.
But it seems that through luck and blind belief in his convictions, Hiperteom had managed to avoid that fate.
And so Alexander was left with the thought, ''Hmmm, maybe I should find some executioners. They might want to make some extra money.''
Since Hiperteom did not want to be the scapegoat, Alexander decided to find another one.
Why Alexander thought executioners would make a good scapegoat or more importantly a good doctor was a question for another time.
For his thought was broken by the hurried steps of Menes, who reached him to ask, "My lord, the army is ready. What should we do?"
Chapter 444 Noble Negotiations (Part-1)
Alexander put aside the issue of future medical technologies aside for now, as Menes''s call directed his attention to the battlefield.
So Alexander shifted his mind to winning the current engagement.
"Yes, let''s go," Alexander thus gestured with his hands while leaving Hiperteom to attend to the clinic and he soon found himself outside the camp where his army was ready and waiting.
They were all geared and reared to go, yesterday''s victory seeming to energize them.
"March out!" Hence Alexander gave the order to march to their positions as they had done yesterday.
While on their way, after the othermanders greeted him, Alexander posed the most pressing concern to Melodias in a low voice. "How many arrows have we managed to retrieve? Can we fight?"
Those arrows were his trump card, and if he did not have much, Alexander nned to retreat behind the walls.
"About a million, my lord. Should be barely enough for today," Melodias whispered back the reassurance, which calmed Alexander for the time.
At least he had something to fight with.
With these various thoughts and considerations with him, Alexander soon deployed his army the same way he did yesterday and the troops were in position, ready to fight.
But soon, those who were looking for a fight were grossly disappointed.
Because no fight came.
In fact, the other camp barely reacted to Alexander''s deployment.
Almost as if they were asleep or the ce had been deserted.
"Are they thinking of skipping today?" Menes wondered out aloud.
It was possible Faruq intended to rest the day.
They had the supplies after all.
"Hmmm, maybe we should attack? Not give them the time?" And from the side, Grahtos suggested the offensive option, wanting to bring the fight to them.
Which many others seem to also consider as a good idea.
''Why give them the time to rest?'' They thought, as ''hit them when they are down'' was and always is a ssic strategy after all.
But Alexander did not seem to share that concern, who uncategorically rejected such an idea, firmly saying, "No, they have lots of cavalry. I do not want to be caught out of why defensive structures."
It seemed to him that his generals had grown toocent and were starting to belittle the enemy.
For he knew that as long as one had arge cavalry advantage, victory was still possible even if one was grossly outnumbered by outnking and charging the enemy.
So Alexander was determined not tomit such a mistake and present the enemy with an easy opportunity.
Besides, he also guessed that his generals'' motives might not be hundred percent militaristic.
Many of their decisions might be actually directed by the tempting thought of looting the enemy camp and obtaining its vast riches of food, ves, jewelry, and gold.
But Alexander was there to squash any such greed, and gave the order, "Tell the men to be at ease and rest until the enemy deploys itself. We will only defend this position."
With thismand executed, Alexander and his men spent the next three hours in idle chit-chat, as the enemy showed no sign ofing out.
It seemed that there would be no action today.
Until finally there were some stirrings, some flutter of movement, and a bit of din of chaos from Faruq''scamp.
And this got some of the men on Alexander''s side quite riled up, but soon it was revted to be a lot of thunder, but no rain.
As contrary to all that hustle and bustle, finally, only a small contingent of riders came slowly forward and tried to approach Alexander in a non-threatening manner.
They were certainly not any soldiers, as the group came forward holding many standards, possibly the family insignia of various noble families, and much opposed to the ordinary riders of Ural or Jahal mercenaries, these men were very well dressed, garbed in shy, expensive bronze armor, and various gold embellishments.
These were without a doubt noblemen, representing tier individual houses.
"We wish to meet yourmander and lord, Lord Alexander,"
Once the group got close enough, just a few meters from the legionaries'' spears, one man, presumably the leader as evidenced by how spectacrly he was dressed in fine armor, and who even wore a gold helmet with a red feather plum called out, while remembering to address Alexander respectfully.
And seeing the mane so close in such a defenseless manner, Alexander had to say that this man had guts.
"Go see what they want." Hence, Alexander decided to send Menes to greet him, as a way to somewhat reciprocate the other''s status, though he had a pretty good hunch why they would want to talk to him.
"Yes," Menes epted the appointment with a nod, and soon greeted the noble at the front,
"My name is Shordar Menes, themanding general of Zanzan. Who are you? And to what reason do you seek my lord?"
Menes to his credit managed to present himself half-decently, courtesy of the etiquette lessons Alexander had mandated on all of his retainers.
But his blunt question regarding the noble''s identity seemed to have hit a nerve, as the leading man snubbed him by saying, "A mere shordar (baran) is not worth revealing my identity to. Never mind a made-up, fake one we don''t even recognize."
And then in almost a chastizing tone scolded Menes, and said, "Now go tell you leader he is the one we want."
This overbearing tone sounding as if they were yesterday''s victors and like it was them doing Alexander a favor by visiting him, made all those who could hear certainly angry, and some hot-headed men in the front even gripped their swords tighter.
Menes too felt his blood rush as he had a bit of an inferiorityplex when it came to dealing with nobles, or as he would say, ''real nobles''.
He always suffered a bit of self-esteem issues due to his low-born status and past ve record, and so would react fiercely when others would look down on him using that fact.
Especially when those people were nobles with long bloodline histories.
"My lord also does not want to talk to anyone who is not a Pasha. And neither do." Menes angrily replied waving his bulky, armored hand, and then mocked, "So if you want to talk, bring Djose. And if you can''t, then go away."
The mart Menes had his own blend of spice, as he turned his horse around and attempted to leave.
It seemed the talks were over even before they could begin.
This abrupt end of negotiations was not something the other side expected, as the opening tough stanch was something they did to put themselves in a better position before the haggling could begin.
But it seemed to have backfired on them as it appeared that the other side did not seem to be in the mood for negotiating.
And so for a moment, the group was unsure about how to proceed.
If they let Menes leave, then the reason for them being here would turn moot.
They could not let that happen because it was really important.
But if they called him back, they would be seen as weak and desperate.
Which would put them on the back foot during the negotiations.
Hence for a brief moment, all the nobles only shared confused looks with each other, unsure how to proceed.
Until finally one broke.
"Wait!" He called out from the back and then quickly blurted out, "We wish to talk to Lord Alexander to surrender and discuss the ransom for the prisoners. Please take us to him."
The man sounded desperate and impatient, while others sent daggers at him.
The reason for this difference in attitudes was because the few thousand prisoners that Alexander got were not spread out evenly among the nobles.
This urred because soldiers, or more urately levies, would always be deployed in unitsposed of people who were familiar with each other, i.e.- people who were from the same ce, which also meant that they served the same lord.
And since Alexander had the bulk of his prisoners from those units ced to the enemy''s right, as that was from where the copse began, the nobles who had men there suffered the most.
And the man who just now called out was one of the most heavily affected ones.
He was just a shordar (baron) and he really needed those men.
Hence he squeaked first.
Menes turned back hearing the desperate plea, and ced his eyes on the man with a slight, unshaven stubble and thin face, and noticed he even had a few supporters, who appeared equally distressed.
Menes understood that these were the small fries of the noble world, one whose heart bled if even a hundred men died.
This was because shordars (barons) only had around a thousand to at most a few thousand men under him.
"Wait here. I will see what my lord has to say," Having fished out the reason for the group''s arrival, and even smelling out some of their desperation, Menes replied with a smirk, before riding off.
He was sure Alexander would wring them dry.
And when he notified Alexander of the reason, he simply said, "Okay, let them in. We can talk at the back."
Alexander was hopeful he would be able to get his first noble retainers from this exchange.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 445 Noble Negotiation (Part-2)
Alexander had already guessed that the men were here for such talks.
And so now, he was thinking of how to squeeze the most out of them.
The few thousand infantry he caught were not negligible, but neither were they vital to his city, particrly if some much more lucrative alternative deals could be made through them.
Hence, Alexander looked forward to the negotiations.
Soon the group was allowed into the rear of the army and their horses slowly trotted until finally they reached Alexander, who sat perched atop his horse surrounded by his bodyguards with crossbows at the ready.
They were ready to respond to any sudden attacks, like if any stupid nobles wanted to charge Alexander andmit double suicide in an attempt at some kind of revenge.
"Pasha Alexander, greetings, my name is Shordar (Baron) Prantik," The man to first introduce himself was the same man who had pleaded to Menes, as he broke protocol to step forward in front of his other noble colleagues, many of whom had higher peerages than him.
This show of eager servility and servitude displeased many of his peers, who furrowed their brows and turned their heads in disgust.
But ultimately all held their tongue for the time being as they still needed to negotiate a price with Alexander for the release of their men.
And so following Lor dPrantik''s lead, each of the other nobles got to introducing themselves, starting from the lower peerages, until finally thest introduced himself as,
"Greetings Lord Alexander, I''m Jamider (Earl) Bahram. It is an honor to meet you atst. My fiefdom is around the Wari county, north of here. And I hope you would visit it one day."
This was the same person who had contributed most of the soldiers.
''Maybe once I conquer it,'' Alexander smirked in his mind at the thought, as he was sure he would be pretty much dead if he visited the ce any time soon.
And then decided to formally introduce himself.
"I''m Alexander. Pasha of Zanzan and ruler of the province, as appointed by the true king of Adhania, His Majesty Ptolomy." He grandly dered, deciding to use Ptolomy''s name to boost his image, while also subtly hinting that they were all technically his retainers.
This was a topic that had been left undecided and so many of the nobles simply decided not to engage in the conversation by cleverly feigning they had not even heard Alexander''s little speech.
While Jamider (Earl) Bahram being the leader of the group cleverly said this, "Haha, yes your lordship is the ruler of Zanzan ording to some. While others im it to belong to another man. But we lesser men are neither strong nor clever enough to know which is which."
The man had learned from Menes''s attitude that adopting a strong stanch was useless, and so decided to try the soft, putty method.
But even then he at least tried to vaguely show his support for Amenheraft by subtly denying the statement about Ptolomy''s status, while also attempting to please Alexander.
This was a three-way bncing act that the veteran lord tried to perform to the best of his abilities but found it very hard.
In fact such an act would be hard for anyone.
Noticing this, and speaking from a position of strength, Alexander hence decided to press on with this narrative, asking, "What is there to be confused about? Adhan is the capital of Adhania. And His Majesty Ptolomy controls it. Thus he controls Adhania. Pretty simple I think."
Alexander''s logic naturally had huge ws, but the nobles knew they could not nitpick here, especially not when they were here to negotiate.
So Lord Bahram only said, "Yes, that is certainly one way to look at it. While others might say since His Majesty Amenheraft controls nine of the twelve provinces, he is the king. But who can say?"
He shrugged his shoulders and then quickly added the following before Alexander could twist the words further, "But that is a discussion for another time. For now, perhaps we can discuss the issue at hand?"
Alexander put on a disinterested face hearing this, and then pursed his lips to simply ask, "What is there to discuss? You guysunched an unprovoked attack against me and then lost. Now I have some of your men. And they are my prize."
Lord Bahram''s lips almost imperceptibly at Alexander''s nonchnce, feeling like getting anything out of this man would be very hard.
So he first tried to ease the situation.
"Ahem, my lord, the reasons for the attack we can discuss at lengthter."
"But for now, maybe your men could lower their new bows? I know they are superb weapons but there is no need to point them at us, is there, hahaha?"
Lord Bahram tried very hard to keep a straight, jolly face while being pointed at by a weapon.
This was the utmost insult for a noble, being treated as if they were ravenous dogs.
But instead of easing the situation, it seemed to somehow incense Alexander, who almost snarled, "I think there is a need. Especially against people who destroy all conventions and etiquettes and kill messengers."
Alexander was still very angry Vespay- the man was a good soldier.
"And in retaliation, you killed Lord Nafi who was our champion, tit for tat," Lord Bahram instantly shot back, but then quickly tried to cate the situation by saying, "So it seems trust has been eroded on both sides. And it is our hope that we can rebuild it again. Starting right now."
The man seemed to be genuinely trying to negotiate.
But Alexander could not bite so easily.
"Haah! How can those two actions be remotely considered the same?" He angrily snapped, raising his clutched knuckles and pointing out, "What I did was simply respond in kind. A reciprocal gesture."
"While it was you who came to mynd unprovoked, killed my messenger whom I only sent to dissertate why you came, and then attacked me without any rhyme or reason. And now you are saying I''m at fault?"
Finishing this Alexander then raised his chin as a way of looking down on the nobles and asked in a mocking tone, "Tell me, did all that happen as I just said? Or was it all my imagination? Perhaps I''m wrong and have invaded yournd instead?"
Alexander''s dripping sarcasm was not lost on anyone.
"......." There was a silence that followed afterward, as Lord Bahram''s facial countenance changed quite a few times in the meantime.
He was still trying very hard to make Alexander a bit amicable to their cause while also trying to douce his hatred for the man.
''Bastard kills my sister and nephews, burns them to death, and then has the balls to say we attacked him unprovoked. Fucking scoundrel! Bastard! Mothe¡''
Lord Bahram cussed Alexander using some very choice words while trying as hard as he could to not show it on his face.
But the issue about Jabel was not bought up as Alexander had already published his reason.
And the official reason given for theplete overnight destruction of Jabel and the death of all its inhabitants was a simple, unimaginative one- A deadly storm.
Yes, ording to Alexander, there was a fierce thunderstorm that day around Jabel, and one of the innumerable lighting strikes had unfortunately struck one of the many wooden structures present and set fire to it.
Which then the strong, gale-like winds carried all across the city, spreading it like wildfire, and soon the small residence was engulfed in a fiery tornado that burnt everything down to crips, and with it all its citizens.
Truly a tragedy.
And such a thing presumably happened ording to Alexander even though the fact remained that none of the nearby settlements were the least bit affected by this supposed ''one in a lifetime'' huge, brutal storm.
And neither were any other houses outside the small town blown away or even damaged in the slightest.
And in fact, none of the people living around even witnessed the storm, as they also reported theplete opposite, saying that the sky was clear that day, with nary a cloud in sight.
And this was further without the fact that many of the bodies had sword and arrow wounds on them, and while also none of the bodies had any valuables on them.
One might be even forgiven for thinking that the wind had just picked up all the precious things for itself when it came as dictated by Alexander.
All these discrepancies made Alexander''s official story look almost like a joke, as he did not even really try to hide his involvement.
As such, given that he had chosen to say these ridiculous things anyway, many nobles saw this as Alexander treating the death and murder of their kin and rtives as a kind of farce or entertainment, something tough over as they received the news.
And what made it worse was that it was not Alexander who delivered the news, but the letter came using Ptlomy''s channels.
Meaning the so-called king had sanctioned this.
And the reason why the way the whole thing worked like that was because Alexandercked the connections and infrastructure to send his messenger all around Zanzan by himself.
So he first sent Ptolomy the ''official'' reason for the tragedy at Jable.
Then it was Ptolomy who used the Ramuh temples scattered throughout the entire empire to distribute this message.
This was also how Bahrim got his message, who had torn apart the letter moments after reading
it, and was considering trying to do the same to Alexander.
Chapter 446 Noble Negotiations (Part-3)
Lord Bahrim might have actually tried something if not for the strict quarantine Alexander had set for himself using his bodyguards.
But since he had, the lord could only swallow his grievance for the time.
And then instead of getting into the nitty gritty of who was the aggressor, Alexander or them, Lord Bahram diverted the topic to the thing they were here for.
"Lord Alexander, you must be aware of why we are here. As per the rules of war, we would like to exchange our prisoners for a ransom. Please name your price," He asked, taking charge of the talks.
But Alexander did not seem interested in such an exchange and so only replied in a sharp, angry tone, "Ransom? Why should I ept a ransom? So that you can take your men, rest and recuperate, build up your forces for ater time, and then try again a few yearster? Why should I ept such a dumb deal?"
"No, it''s better that your men stay with me." Alexander said shaking his head, firmly dering, "The captured men will work as ves in Zanzan, toiling away to redeem themselves for the crime of wanting to destroy it. There will be no ransom."
"......"
Alexander''s denial of the norms of the battle shocked the nobles to silence, for battles in Adhania were usually low-casualty affairs, especially when fought between the nobles themselves.
This was evidenced by the existence of various rules designed to encourage talks even just before the start of the battle, how nobles would be protected even during battles, and how it was the norm to exchange prisoners after the conclusion.
Hence, for Alexander to ignore all such rules made them feel rmed.
Because they saw such a man as not one of them with a conflict of interest, but as an intruder threatening to conquer theirnds.
"....Alexander¡.do you not wish to follow even the slightest bit of modicum of civility in this battle?" Lord Bahram talked slowly while clenching his teeth in rage, feeling like he was talking to a wall.
Such tant disregard for the basic rules of battle set the man''s blood on fire, but if Alexander truly refused to ransom the men, then was no little they could do.
"Hmmm, it was you who destroyed the pir of civility first! It was you killed you Vespay! Not me," Alexx snorted in rage, turning his head to the side in disgust.
He was still very angry with that loss.
"Yes, we killed him. And we would kill him a million times again. And even then it would not have been enough to douse our hatred for what you did in Jabel." Seeing the talks go nowhere, Lord Bahram finally snapped, pointing his finger and hysterically shouting in rage.
The man had had it.
"Whether the destruction of Jabel happened before you plotted to attack me or after, is something you are better aware of than me. So get off your high horse!" Alexander only replied with a cold, chilly tone to the usation, as his eyes then glowed with hatred over the following words,
"You people ask me for a ransom price. Yet you were the very same people who swore an oath to maintain an armistice of six years. You people swore to not attack me over the time period. And then you people epted money and goods in exchange for that."
"But you still broke the sacred deal. And now you dare to stand before me and preach to me? What guts!"
"You are a group of liars, cheats, swindlers, and shysters. There will be no ransom deal with your kind." Alexander let his tonguesh out to its fullers, holding nothing back as he brushed his hands in a dismissive manner to show his anger and frustration and to indicate the talks were over.
"Bah! A lowly mongrel, scum of the earth dares call us names. You are not a noble! You will never be a noble! Hmmp, choke on your ves!" Lord Bahram too was not to be outdone, spewing simr usations as he turned his horse to leave.
It seemed the talks were over.
But in reality, they were not.
Because though Lord Bahram could afford to walk away, the other, smaller, nobles could not.
One particr example of this was Shordar (Baron) Prantik, who frantically rode to the front of the Jamider (Earl) and quickly addressed, "Pasha Alexander, Lord Bahram does not represent all of us! Some of us are still willing to negotiate."
And then he spread out his palms to say first and foremost, "I will admit that attacking your lordship was a mistake. We broke an oath we should not have. For that, I personally apologize."
Lord Prantik had no problem putting him in the weaker, defensive position as Alexander held all the cards.
And seeing the negations hanging by a thread, the other nobles too decided not to intervene.
Prantik noticed that this admission somewhat softened Alexander, as he then went on to say, "But the reason we had for attacking you was the various unfortunate happenings that urred around you. Some of which were interpreted by our superiors as breaking the treaty. And hence we were summoned to the cause without knowing the full details."
The man eloquently described the circumstances, dumping all the fault on those with higher peerage than him, and absolving him of all the me.
This was the one instance his low peerage rank came in handy.
The man then finished by saying, "But now I can see that we were wrong. And so I hope that you will consider the ransom deal, so that other nobles do not simrly misinterpret your intentions and cause a repeat of the unfortunate circumstances."
This Prantik was quite shrewd, managing to weave in an apology and a threat at the same time.
And what was even more dangerous was that he was right.
For if Alexander truly wanted to deny a ransom, it was very much possible simr coalitions would form against him again and again.
Because Amenheraft would use this as a rallying cry to make the Zanzna nobles attack him again and again, saying Alexander did not follow their customs and thusbeling him as a foreigner upying a part of Adhania.
And though the nobles of Adhania loved to fight against one another, they were also rather protective against any outsiders, for when faced with an external threat, many times they would put their differences aside for the time being and rally together to deal with the intruder.
This was how a nation twice the size of the Roman empire in terms ofnd area had managed to stay together for two thousand years.
Its rulers, ruling ss, and various aristocratic families hade and gone many many times, more times than anyone would care to count, but its people had not changed, as each sessive rulering dynasty strongly and bloodily defended against all external threats.
A simr example could be found with the European powers, who tore and fought each other every day of the week but would always ally together to fight against outside invasions, such as the Ottoman invasions into the Balkans.
Or the various Germanic tribes banding together to fight the Romans.
Hence, faced with such an opponent, even if Alexander won this time against Kuleef, next time it might be Ankoot sponsoring the attack, followed by maybe Jahruba. then Abu Hamam, and the list could go on.
Alexander would be foolish to expect that he could win every single one of his battles.
And even if he could, then all his resources would be spent on trying to suppress rebellions and uprisings in his ownnd, hampering hisnd''s growth and development.
Alexander would be prudent to avoid this as he had very acutely felt the extent to which a war could hamper one''s productivity just in the past two months.
And this was a rtively short war.
"You Adhanian nobles do not see me as your own. And it is likely you never will. So why do say agreeing to this deal will get me peace? It seems to me conflict is inevitable." But even knowing this Alexander put on a tough front, for he did not like being threatened.
And basically told the others that he would be seen as their enemy regardless.
"No, no, Lord Alexander can certainly be one of us. You just need to show you are willing to. All of us are men of our word," Lord Prantik replied quickly, trying to edge Alexander toward a deal.
He had noticed that Alexander was no longer so staunch in his stand.
"...." Alexander gave a strategic pause, as he red at the thin noble, putting a sort of phycological pressure on him.
"How will you guarantee that the ransom will be followed through? You already broke the treaty once," He then slowly asked, maintaining eye contact with the man the entire time.
He was like a predator, looking down on his prey.
"I will swear by the name of the gods." Came the short, simple answer.
The man was desperate and that promise was as irond as one would get when it came to deals during this age.
But it was still not enough for Alexander, who brushed such a solemn promise by saying, "That is not enough. If I give you the men, even if you keep your promise, you wille back after the armistice ends to fight me again. I need something more."
Alexander was basically asking them to be vassals.
Chapter 447 Noble Negotiations (Part-4) [Bonus ]
Lord Prantik of course understood Alexander''s demand.
And surprisingly, he took the offer quite well.
"My lord, in exchange for the ransom, I''m willing to be your vassal, and dere His Majesty Ptolomy as the rightful king." He quickly and fluidly replied, showing little hesitation in such a grand announcement.
One would think a man would think a bit more before switching allegiances.
Especially as choosing the wrong one could easily end in getting one''s entire family and ancestry wiped out.
He was in a civil war regarding the legitimacy of the king after all.
And in such conflicts, loyal followers of the ''false'' king did not usually end up well.
And being one of Alexander''s first vassals, unless Shordar (Baron) Prankit betrayed Alexander, he would be considered among the core inner circle of his retinue.
Whether that be true or not.
But the man had good reasons for doing this.
On one hand, it was because he was that desperate for the men, and at another hand he saw Faruq, and by extension Djose as unreliable, as evidenced by the disagreements and Faruq''s oath-breaking that had been going on up until now.
In fact, the chaos and mor that Alexander had detected was caused when Lord Bahram and the others wanted Faruq to negotiate about prisoner exchange, but the young man had straight up refused, giving the excuse, "I''m too busy organizing the ships. You go if you need to."
The nonchnce and the indifference with which he had said this led to another round of row between the two factions, as Faruq was used of dereliction of duty by the other side,
This is because traditionally it was the leader of the army who facilitated such talks.
But Faruq had simply brushed these usations to the side.
Since the battle had been lost, this man who hade here with grand dreams could care less about anything else.
In fact, this damn care attitude had pissed off some of the more hot-blooded and affected nobles so much that they had called up their men to surround Faruq''s tent and blockade it, intending to drag him out and beat him up.
And it was only luckily due to the intervention of cooler heads that there was not a full-fledged civil conflict at the camp.
Much to Alexander''s disappointment.
But even though the worst possibility had been avoided, the event had managed to drop the rtionship between Faruq and some of the nobles to a nadir, and there was even the distinct possibility that Faruq might not even give them a ride back home.
Hence there was ample reason for Lord Prantik to jump ship.
But many of Shordar (Baron) Prantik''s associates, even his close friends, did not see it like this, so they shouted in rm, shock, and even somewhat in rage.
"What! Prantik, have you gone mad? Allying yourself with this usurper?" They looked at the thin man with disbelief, even calling Alexander names right to his face.
Even Alexander himself was a bit surprised by the quickness of this deration and found the hastiness of it all a bit insincere.
"Your friends may be right. Perhaps you will reconsider it when I say that all lords under me have to pay a property tax of 1%." Alexander tested the man.
And this test proved to be a challenging one, as Prantik, and all the other nobles for that matter too, looked at Alexander like they were looking at a freak.
''What kind of an idiot would choose to be his vassal?'' They were all eager to see, as being a noble and paying taxing was oxymoronic.
After that, that struck at the very heart of what it meant to be a noble.
Prantik too felt a blow to his chest at this outrageous demand, and woodily asked, ".....cou¡could you borate on that a bit my lord?"
He really hoped that he had heard it all wrong.
But Alexander disappointed him on that, repeating what he said and then adding, "Many of my generals have been made Shordars (Barons) with the same condition. That they will give a 1%nd property tax for six years until the armistice ends."
And then, putting on a magnanimous face, Alexander finished by saying, "Of course, as an invader, you should be asked to be paid much more. But since you are the first one to ept my vassge, I will give you the same deal. Do you ept?"
"........" Hearing Alexander, Prantik silently cursed his weakness over and over right now.
to everyone.
After all, only low-born peasants paid taxes.
So to ask him to pay taxes was basically reducing him to the level of peasants.
There was no way any true, blue-blooded noble would ever ept that.
''This idiot has a cracked head!'' Lord Prantik thus ultimately shook his shook in dismay, resigning himself to losing around a thousand men, and most likely all his spring harvest.
He had hoped that this young man whom he had heard so much about, both good and bad would be a sensible man and maybe even a good lord, able to see reality and judge ordingly, but it seemed he was just a brash fool who had gotten lucky.
Because speaking from experience, Lord Prantik knew that there was no anyone who would ever want to be Alexander''s retinue unless forced to at the threat of the sword.
And even then, the moment that threat disappeared, there would likely be a rebellion.
Because nobles paying taxes ran inplete anthesis to everything up until now.
And there was no way Alexander was going to collect that from them without many bloody conflicts.
Thus, Lord Prantik instead focused on mentally preparing himself for the mass starvation about to ur in his territory as he had nted all the elidible crops he had left into the fields.
This would likely cause a revolt which he might not be able to stop as he had lost a lot of men in yesterday''s fight, and even if he was able to get help from his neighboring lords to pass these predicaments, they would surely take a huge bite out of his desperate rear.
This was how the world worked after all.
But that was still better than losing his pride as a noble.
So while Prantik thought of a way of try to minimize his losses, the other nobles, hearing of Alexander''s deal jeered.
"Heh! Lord Bahram was right in calling you fakes. To think you guys would voluntarily choose to pay taxes even after bing nobles. Oh, Ramuh! How did we lose to you, idiots?" One cried at Menes and the others,ughing hard while clutching his belly.
And this man was soon followed up by another,
"Hahaha, yes. I don''t know whether to call them idiots or Alexander a genius for managing to swindle them out of their money. Hahaha, does your lord also pay a 1% tax, hahaha?"
Thest sentence was apletely throwaway line, meant to disparage Alexaner''s men.
But it would prove to be a pivotal point in the negotiations, as Alexander seriously replied in a short burst, "No, I pay 2%. Plus all kinds of sales tax from the goods my business sells."
"...wh..what?" The other side appeared stunned, unable to believe their ears.
As they were busy mocking Alexander and he had spoken over them, they thought they had not heard it properly.
"I said I pay double thend tax, ¡plus all the sales tax." Hence Alexander repeated, leaving no doubt.
It was not only the opposing side that was surprised by this deration.
Even Alexander''s own side was caught off guard.
Because up until now, it was known that Alexander would only pay the same amount ofnd tax as them.
So when did that double?
But whether Alexander had genuinely decided to increase the tax burden on himself or simply lying could wait.
For right now, it was the duty of his retainers to back him up.
Hence Heliptos bravely jumped forward into the conversation, swing his arms around to gesture to Alexander, and then say, "That''s right, Lord Alexander is the most benevolent lord there is. Where else will you find a man that pays double the taxes as his retainers? He is the greatest lord in Adhania."
Following him, Menes too stepped forward, and grandly dered, "You call us idiots for following him! We would indeed be idiots for not following him. For his sacrifice is greater than all of ours."
Menes truly believed that, not only because of this new announcement but also because of the enormous amount of ropals Alexander had dumped to bring the city back to life.
He had truly sacrificed a lot.
800 million ropals to be exact.
"Is that true my lord?" Lord Prantik then slowly squeaked out, unable to believe his ears.
This was like the king paying taxes, something akin to the sun rising in the West.
"Yes, in Zanzan everyone pays taxes. That''s how we were able to field such a huge army despite being only a single city," Alexander mixed lies with truth.
"Th..then I ept. I will pay the 1%nd tax for six years in exchange for my men," Finally, clenching his teeth, Lord Prantik bit the bullet, and cast his dye.
Since even the lord himself paid twice the tax as he did, the man saw no point in wasting time ruminating.
Because if true, he would likely be a million times better lord than his superior.
And so, in this way, Alexander got his first noble retinue.
Chapter 448 Noble Negotiations (Part-5)
Shordar (Baron) Prantik had always hated the experience of it being always the upper nobles sucking off the lower ones, without ever giving anything back to their less ones.
Sure the upper nobles would not tax them per se.
But every year they would also be expected to give expensive gifts to their superiors in the form of gold, fine fabric, jewelry, and women, on asions like weddings, birthdays, and a million other religious celebrations.
The lesser nobles would also be tasked with organizing various extravagant entertainment such asvish feasts, balls and hunting games during various times of the year, all done so that the nobles would not be bored in their homes.
After all, what else are the nobles gonna do all day?
Work?
Of course, it went without saying that all the expenses came out of the lesser nobles'' own pockets.
And that was not the worst of it.
Because if that was all there was to it, then perhaps most of the shordars (Barons) and talukders (viscounts) would not have grumbled so much.
But what really stuck to it was their superior''s ability to ask people like Lord Prantik toe to battles with them, along with contributing food and livestock in such campaigns. embroidering them in conflicts they had no part in.
Prantik had wished many, many times to be able to just pay off a bit of money to take that headache off the battle and the constant threat of life that it bought along, as did many other nobles.
But that could bever manifest due to the stigma rted to paying taxes and the subsequent inherent unjustness of one party paying for everyone else''s benefits.
This was created because the upper levels of nobility would agree to pay taxes, one, because, they were made the rules and thus never pressurized to, and two, because if they did, their tax bill would be truly enormous.
Enormous enough to affect their lifestyle.
So why would they?
After all, even in modern times, with very advanced mary surveince, rich billionaires still used every legal loophole in the book, and even crooked means like bribes and ''election donations'' to skirt the 40% cut from their paychecks.
So it was little wonder that nobles of this time would refuse to voluntarily tear a chunk of their ie.
And besides, what was the point?
They were the rulers and held ny percent of the wealth.
So taxing them would just be moving money from their left pocket to their right pocket.
It would be going through all that hassle without any real benefit.
And since a select group of upper-ss nobles did not want to pay taxes, neither did they see any reason to, the entire ss evaded paying them.
But since Prantik finally found a lord willing to pay his fair share, then he was willing to side with him, at least for the time being.
A sentiment not at all shared by many of his friends.
"Prantik! You cannot be such a fool?" They eximed, pointing to Alexander and saying, "Never mind he might be lying, even if he is not, this is him just him moving the money from one pocket to the next. All the taxes will go to him, remember!"
They had a point there as Alexander could use the funds too fatten his own pocket.
But Alexander was there to quickly rebuke them.
"As nobles, we are rulers of thesends. So of course any tax we pay ends up in our hands." Alexander did not surprisingly decline the usation, instead doubled down on it, saying, "But that is the point. These collected taxes will be used to help the nobles themselves."
"Therge amount of money will be used to help fund projects that individual nobles would not be able to easily finish by themselves. Projects which would require them decades, if not their entire lifetime to finance if they wanted to self-finance it." Alexander then stated.
And then quickly listed some examples, along with the benefits,
"For instance, the money collected can be used to build civilian infrastructure like roads and bridges in one noble''s territory that is particrly remote."
"Or to construct huge, expensive, productive structures like mines, and quarries for someone who might not have the funds to develop hisnds.
"Or simply boost the agriculture output of thend by digging canals for irrigation, and even producing more farnd by clearing woods and forest."
Alexander then raised his index finger to further continue,
"Also, the funds can be used to finance military projects in addition to civilian ones."
"For example, they can help to pay for the construction of military structures such as forts and walls, allowing the nobles with particrly hostile neighbors better protection."
"Therge pool of money can be used to recruit better trained and greater number of mercenaries to aid in the fight."
"Andstly, it can even allow the building of arge, permanent army that can protect everyone."
"After all, having one, single unified army is much better than the patchwork of many small garrisoned forces that individual nobles have nowadays. These little forces can be easily picked off one by one by the attacker." Alexander pointed out.
Then finally finished by saying,
"Andstly, the taxes can help raise funds for nobles who have fallen in hard times. Natural disasters such as famines, floods, and droughts, rebellions, and uprisings, and external invasions from enemies all count."
Alexander had said this very long piece not only to convince Prantik, but all those around him.
And his target audience were his retainers as well, whom he feared might waiver in theirmitment after seeing the other nobles'' way of doing things.
For a while after Alexander''s speech, the crowd went silent, evaluating his proposal.
The nobles of course understood that Alexander would only give them their men if they became his vassals and that this was Alexander''s way of convincing them to take the deal.
"You said onerge army. Do you mean that we will not be allowed to have any men of our own?" This pointed question was made by Jamider (Earl) Bahram, who had decided to once again insert himself into the conversation, and shrewdly pointed out a subtle point Alexander had quickly brushed over.
The man had recognized the threat Alexander''s proposal posed to him, and his king Amenheraft, and tried to quash these rebellious thoughts at the roots.
And it worked to some extent, as it hit a weak point that Alexander was unable to defend against.
For he would never allow his retainers to wield significant numbers of troops.
This was just asking them to rebel against him.
''Cunning bastard!'' Hence he gnashed his teeth in frustration.
But Alexander was nothing if not resourceful.
So he quickly diverted the topic, as he put on a mocking tone, and sneered, "Heh! Bahram would make you think that he has the best concern for you. That his heart bleeds for you that you do not have an army."
"But remember, it is them that demandsvish parties and ornate gifts from you all."
"Why?"
"Why can''t the richer nobles pay for their own entertainment?"
"Are they too poor?"
"No."
"It''s Because this is their way of taking money from you. Money that they fear you will use to fund your armies with."
"But of course, all of you knew that, hehe."
Alexander frankly revealed an open secret with a snark that made every go silent.
Even Jamider Bahram had no counter to this.
Alexander, seeing no rebuttal, seized this opening and decided to go the KO, as he said thest piece of the deal.
"If you choose to be my vassal, all of you will be allowed an appropriate number of garrison, adequate enough to deal with most threats. "
"As for the other threats you cannot deal with, the army will then be dispaced to deal with them." He promised.
"But like Jamider (Earl) Bahram pointed out, you will not be allowed to form armies of your own."
"Instead a single, grand army will protect everyone."
Alexander then lightly added,
"As for the details of how that army will aplish this and themand structure of the whole force, all that is confidential and cannot be revealed to the enemy."
"You will know once you join."
Alexander dered.
And then threw out an ultimatum.
"Now, it is your choice."
"You can choose to stay loyal to Amenheraft and live under the illusion of having to pay no taxes, but still have no army, while yournds remain undeveloped."
"Or you can choose to side with me. And in exchange for your money, I will contribute to yournd''s development, making you richer and letting you live more safely."
"....."
A long silence followed as Alexander gazed intently at the nobles who went poignant for the moment.
This might seem strange to some as given the clear benefits, one would think Alexander''s deal would have been a no-brainer.
The economic benefits of investing into developing one''snds as opposed to whirling away one''s money in frivolous extravagance should not be a hard choice.
But things in real life were rarely so simple.
And many reasons yed into the event that resulted in the current curtain of silence, as the nobles weighed their options.
Options that were economical, political, strategic and also personal.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 449 Zanzans First Victory
The nobles'' economic consideration first and foremost was that Alexander might be lying to them.
They feared that Alexander would simply give them peanuts in return for their contribution, only a small, token amount simply as a front to justify this extortion.
Hence, there were people who felt that whatever the money they saved would be better.
Secondly, some considered that even if Alexander had the best of intentions, he might simply not be able to provide the economic benefits he was iming to give, i.e.- he was overestimating his abilities.
Then came the political considerations.
The risk of switching allegiance need not be said.
Even if Alexander could give them everything he promised, it would do them no good if Ptolomy and his faction were defeated, and the turncoats were charged with treason by Amenheraft.
Then they would lose both the gold and the goods.
Following this came the personal considerations, which were also the most numerous ones, and they ranged from a variety of reasons.
Firstly, there were some die-hards who would choose to side with Ameneheraft regardless, whether out of loyalty to his master, devotion to his cause, belief in his divinity, or simply out of a personal rtionship.
And this mainly applied to many smaller nobles, who had built up quite a strong alliance with the noble family, and as the former crown prince, Amenheraft in general.
This was because these people relied on a strong royal family to stave off the influence of their much bigger and stronger superiors, who were all tacitly trying to annex or vassalize their retainer so that these lesser nobles would follow their rules instead of having any autonomy of their own.
Thus, if the lower peerage nobles such as the shordars (barons), and talukders (viscounts) wanted to retain independence and free reign over theirnds, then supporting a strong royal family was a must for them.
Hence, their hesitation to switch sides.
For even if they were protected by the treaty for the next six years, what happens after it expires?
What if Amenherafte knocking at their doors looking for blood?
What then?
Who would protect them from the much stronger Amenheraft?
This question was asked by all the ruminating nobles, and they could find no good answer.
There were also some who simply disliked Alexander inherently, be it his Thesian background, his low birth status, for being beaten in multiple battles by him, or simply his face.
These particr people did not give the offer a second thought.
Andstly, some simply did care for the benefits Alexander promised them.
They were perfectly happy with their current status and saw no reason to risk all of that for a very risky potential gain.
Thest category of people would be a rare breed in the modern world, as people who did not want to acquire more wealth in the present day and age were as rare as golden deer.
But in Alexander''s current timeline, such a mindset remains embedded in many, mostly high-level noble''s minds.
For they already had more money than they or their three next generations knew what to do with.
These people already lived in a kind of post-scarcity world of their own, eating the best food avable, living in the grandest house possible, wearing the finest clothes money could buy, and having ess to cutting-edge medical procedures.
And to protect these things they also had enough muscles to ward off any ordinary threats, such as thieves and bandits, and so their only real threat were others like them.
Hence, since they already had everything life had to give, they felt no reason to acquire gold, as even the gold they normally collected would end up piled in their treasury, wasting away for years until an emergency arose.
And since Adhania was a rtively stable country with a strong military to ward off most foreign threats, and strong cultural norms among nobles which discouraged infighting, the nobles would rarely need to use these funds.
Perhaps they would need it once in a lifetime during things like droughts and famines.
And even then, they would skimp out on helping the poor folks, much preferring to use their money for merriments.
And yes, a lot of the people very much liked spending their money onvish gifts, expensive parties, dances, feasts, and hunting trips, as the tasty foods, the dancing experiences, and the time spent with everyone filled them with joy.
So these people did not see the money being wasted to entertain their superiors, but as a way to enjoy life with others.
And knowing this, the phenomenon of even some very rich noble territories having very poor infrastructures could be exined, the prime example being Zanzan province itself.
Thus, when Alexander proposed that they use this money to do something else, hence hampering their way of life, they shunned it.
Now, as a side note, such behavior was not limited to Adhania or even this world.
Such examples would even be found in Alexander''s previous world''s history.
For example one of the reasons Egyptians built the pyramids or could even afford to build the pyramids was because of how rich they were.
The Nile Delta produced so much food that the kings were able to mostly satisfy the needs of their popce, expand their territories to their desired size, finance an army strong enough to protect their borders, and still have enormous wealth left over.
So, with nothing to use the wealth on, they built huge mausoleums for themselves, glorifying themselves.
Now, of course, they might have used the funds on more productive endeavors like free education and healthcare, but then angina, kings, dictators, and autocrats have and always had an obsession with ttering their image.
After all, if the pharaohs had given the money away, they would not be seen as gods, would they?
So, spending money for oneself as opposed to investing it did have its reasons, if not personal or economical, then political.
Andstly, the nobles thought about the strategic considerations.
Mainly, it was the ban on owing an army, which was a non-starter for some.
They simply refused to hand the keys to their security to someone else, never mention to an outsider like Alexander.
They were of the thought that they would rather depend on a small army that they can trust to protect them, as opposed to arge, but dubious force whose true allegiancey with another master, and it would be his mood that would determine their safety.
That thought was simply not ptable to some, mostly militaristic noble families.
Andstly there were also some who viewed Alexander''s development ns as an encroachment upon their territory,
The roads particrly stuck like a fish bone with a few, as they feared it would be used by their enemies, aka-Alexander, to easily attack them,pletely missing the point of how a good set of roads would help them to be richer and employ more soldiers to protect them.
After all, the nobles of this time rarely had a good business mind, viewing the profession as base and low.
''The merchants peddled their ware like how prostitutes shed their bodies,'' An Azhak saying went.
So,bined with the four factors, a vast majority of the nobles refused to ept Alexander''s demands, and they only stood silently in front of the man, mute and dumb.
''Looks like beating them once was not enough," Alexander determined seeing the wooden faces, and seeing no point in talking, decided to finish the talks there.
"epting my terms is only one way I will give you the men. Think about it for a week." Alexander dered and turned his horse before shooting, "And also think about how you are going topensate me and His Majesty for breaking the treaty."
"....Hmmp! Alexander, no matter how eloquently you put it, at the end of the day, you dare to tax the nobles? Heh, you are just asking us to rebel. Just wait for our next attack!" With the end of the negotiations, Lord Bahram, finished his piece with this threat, before turning his steed around and galloping out.
*Thud*, *Thud*, *Thud*,
And the group of nobles silently followed, leaving none behind.
Even Lord Prantik had returned to the camp, as he still had all his stuff there.
And Alexander let them, for killing them in broad daylight here would bring him even more retaliation from the other more neutral parties.
Solving everything by the sword was not a solution.
On the other hand, Alexander focused on what Lord Banram had said, pondering on it.
Of course, he knew that imposing a tax on the nobles was just sowing the seeds of rebellion for him.
But he still chose to do it.
Because he needed the funds.
And because he believed everyone should contribute fairly to society.
And if it led to rebellion so be it.
He would just have to crush it.
After all, rebellions over taxes were nothing new after all.
In fact, it was possibly the mostmon cause of rebellions, as exampled by the Manga Carta, the Boston tea party, and the french revolution, to name a few.
And so, as Alexander made up his mind, the rest of the day went without an incident, Faruq''s camp refusing to give a fight.
And as Alexander returned to camp at dusk, under the cover of nightfall, Faruq recalled all the ships from blockading the harbor, boarded them as soon and as silently as possible, and were gone before sunrise- leaving only a group led by a handful of nobles who had chosen to side with Alexander.
Chapter 450 First Four Vassals
Alexander certainly noticed the rapid evacuation that was going on near him all throughout the night.
After all, thirty thousand people and close to fifteen thousand draft andbat beasts moving about was kind of hard to miss given the amount of noise they made.
There was also the not-so-subtle clue that nobles hade to him requesting a prisoner deal, which typically indicated the end of a battle or at least a ceasefire.
Hence Alxx knew the enemy would not leave Zanzan soon.
But even knowing this, even as the enemy was slipping through his fingers as some would say, he still let themplete their departure with virtually no resistance.
After all, it was dark and he had little cavalry.
He did somewhat n to attack them in the morning if they were still there, hoping to catch them out of formation, but found the enemy was proficient enough toplete the entire loading of their forces within twelve hours, which was something Alxx was actually very impressed by.
It was after all not easy to load all the men, cargo, and animals into ships in the middle of the dark, never mind so quickly.
But Faruq and his allies managed to do this, fueled by a great urgency, and also by the fact that their camp housed little food and grain, which were the heaviest of the objects to carry, preferring to keep them in the ships for easier transport as they marched towards Zanzan.
And so when Alxx woke up before dawn the next day to prepare for the day, he was greeted with the sight of the numerous giant ship sails slowly disappearing into the horizon as he had breakfast and discussed various things with his genearals.
The fact that Faruq had still decided to give his allies a ride home would have certainly disappointed Alxx if he knew about the row the man previously had with his allies.
But Faruq still had the state of mind to not destroy the goodwillpletely, and so decided to y the fake role of a generous host.
But not for all of them.
Faruq had not given the ride to all the nobles, a total of four men to be exact.
"*Sigh*, so the die has been cast," One of these four men, Lord Prantik let off a breath of resignation as he, like Alxx watched the white sails disappear.
He had made his bed and now he had to live with it, good or bad.
While Shordar (Baron) Prantik came to terms with that, he also reminisced about yesterday, particrly thinking about how he thought he was trying to convince Alexander to agree to a ransom, but in hindsight, it appeared as if Alexander convincing him toe under him.
He even suspected it might have been Alexander''s n all along, to put on a hard front, and make the other side concede to his, in most eyes, ridiculous demands.
And the possibility of it had the experienced politician shiver a bit at the thought.
''Maybe that''s how a lowly ve could defeat us. Maybe he is special,'' He then hoped, somewhat praying that his new lord might be as bit as formidable as he was thinking him up to be.
Because that would mean greater protection for him from his once allies turned enemies
"Well, let us get our men. We need to get back as soon as possible,"
A whileter, seeing no point in waiting, another man from the group gestured towards Alxx''s camp, wanting to start the formal negotiations as soon as possible.
And so the small group made the short journey across the small distance and were soon at Alxx''s doorsteps.
"My lord, someone name Shorder (Baron) Prantik is here to see you. He is with about a thousand men and three other nobles." A herald came to inform Alxx around 8 o clock, just as he was preparing himself to head back to the city.
"Oh?" Alxx let an involuntary hum of intrigue, for he did not think there would be so many buyers of his proposal given yesterday''s response.
He was also surprised that the other party let these ''rebels'' go.
If he was in their position, Alxx would have certainly considered executing them for treason.
After all, why should you just stand by and suck your thumb as your ally switches sides, letting the enemy be stronger?
Is it not better to kill them when they are at their weakest?
But Adhania did not work like that, where outside ofbat, nobles were seen as almost invible.
And so, they were allowed to live even when they choose to leave.
"Escort the nobles inside. And then tell the thousand men they can either give up their weapons and enter the camp, or wait outside." Alxx gave the order, as he then quickly set about reorganizing his room to better entertain these guests.
They were going to be his first guests after all.
And a whileter, after the body inspections, four gentlemen were ushered into his personal tent.
"My lords, wee, wee," Alxx put on a very cordial face in front of them the moment they entered, much different from the one at the battlefield, as he gestured to them to have a sit on the couch he had prepared for them, while one of the guards quickly stepped forward to serve them wine and some fruits.
"My lord let me introduce you¡." Once seatedfortably, the very first thing Shordar (Baron) Prantik did was introduce his three fellow allies, saying their names, peerage, and where they were from.
There were two shordars (barons) and one talukder (viscount) among them, and their fiefdoms were in areas Alxx had no idea of.
And knowing this Lord Prantik was generous enough to give the estimated distance they were from Zanzan, which ranged from 250 to 300 km from him, and that put theirnds around the center of the province, which was around 600 km from north to south.
This distance was not close, but neither too far, being about 10 days march away, meaning Alxx would be able to exert his influence rtively strongly around them.
"It greatly pleases me to all of you my lords. So how can I help?" Alxx then casually replied with a smile, knowing full well the reason for their presence.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances my lord. We have considered your offer, and we wish to ept it,"
With the pleasantries done, the one named Quasim, who the Talukder (Viscount), went straight to the point, frankly and directly.
"That''s great!" Alxx shed arge smile, and then chuckled, "Haha, I can see many of you are impatient to get your men."
"I presume it''s because you want your men to harvest the spring crops," He paused to look around and got a unanimous nod, before continuing,
"So, since we are short on time, we will skip all therge feasts and lengthy formalities, and simply hold the oath of allegiance tomorrow at the temple."
"How does that work?"
This was a very fast schedule as typically such formal asions usually took months to prepare and n, though a lot of that had to do with setting enough time for the party to arrive from his fiefdom to his lord''s.
But still, it was very fast, and seeing Alxx was not trying to take them on a spin, all of them were relieved.
"Thank you for understanding, my lord. We are really short on time now. But we promise to back came another time to truly dine and feast." Came the joyous reply.
With this most important deal done, the group settled down to a more rxed posture, as it was then Alxx''s turn to pick the quad''s brain.
So for the next four hours, the four answered all kinds of inquiries of Alxx, ranging from political, economic, military, and personal categories.
Alxx firstly asked about the quad''s neighbors, and their rtionship with them, which they all answered as being once good, but now very bad, which was normal.
He then asked about their administrative style, their fiefdom''s specialties, tax revenues, and the general state of theirnds.
And the answer to thest query came mostly as negative, which was also normal, as they would not have joined Alxx otherwise.
He then asked about their military and past experiences, followed by why they chose to side with Djose and then change.
"He promised us a lot of money. More than King Ptolomy."
"But his son Faruq refused to pay, saying we had not won so he won''t pay. That''s why we changed sides," Lord Prantik was very open about his reason, and Alxx did not think there was anything wrong with it.
Another question that Alxx had asked was this, "Why.did you want your men so badly? Why could you not borrow some from others?
And the answer was the others also had lost a lot of men, and did have enough to spare right now.
While those that did saw the men being put to use in their own territory as being much more useful.
Alxx for his part also answered many of the quad''s questions, such as some of the details of how the vassalize would work and how the army would help protect them, while also telling them about Zanzan''s style of rule, which the nobles recorded.
So, all in all, it was a very fruitful conversation, as Alxx got to many times multiply his knowledge about thends he ruled.
Chapter 451 Making It Home
There were of course some strategic questions that Alexander had refused to answer some questions, such as inquiries regarding the crossbow and how they were made and used.
But in return, he did reveal some of his inventions, showing them things such as paper and sugar, which were close at hand.
All of which the nobles were very impressed by.
Finally, at one point the meeting came to an end, when a messenger atst got impatient enough to intrude into the tent and inform Alexander that the army had been waiting for hours in stand by, growing impatient by the minute as they were eager to march home, but were still waiting for him to give the order.
"Ah, yes, yes," Alexander too was surprised by how quickly the hours had slipped by, as only now he realized it was already midday and thus decided to end the meeting there.
"My lords, we can discuss more once we get inside the city. Please excuse me," Alexander cordially finished saying.
"Of course, of course. We will also instruct our men to hand over their arms so they can enter the city with you," Lord Prantik replied, effectively handing his safety over to Alexander.
And hence, the order soon came, the camp was dismantled to itsst tent, the outer, wooden wall was dislodged, the perimeter ditches filled, and the victorious army quickly made their way into the city under the thunderous cheering of the crowds.
It appeared that the entire poption of the city had crowded themselves around the gate, throwing flowers, drinking, singing, and dancing with the soldiers, as the long line slowly entered the gates.
First entered the cavalry, holding the blue flower standard of Alexander''s house, as they paraded their strong war horse dressed in blue, heavy armor.
This was followed by Alexander and his bodyguards, his gaudily dressed horse drawing all the attention.
Then came the crossbowmen, each man holding their crossbow in ways that bought the best exposure to it.
The citizenry had never really seen this new weapon before and so were most drawn by it, while the soldiers took the opportunity to show it off.
They told the crowd about the weapon, mimicked how it worked by showing the loading, shooting, and reloading mechanism, and then retold their glorious individual contributions to the battle.
All highly embellished and exaggerated of course.
"There was once three archers shooting at me. But I leaped out of my pavis, steadied by crossbow, and bang- one down. Right through his heart."
"And then quickly reloading, another went through the throat¡ there was blood all over, hahaha¡and then another through the temple- three in three breathes,'' One man was heard proudly recounting his kills to his audience, who looked at him with awe and reverence.
And such cooked-up stories were being peddled by most of the soldiers, which if were true would have ended the battle in a matter of minutes, not hours.
Whilestly, some crossbowmen were even seen trying to court the roadside girls using their weapons, engaging in talks that could only be described as corny, such as ''I have a bigger weapon in my home that I can show you.''
And many of the girls even agreed to this, most not because they were that gullible, but because they wanted simply wanted to sleep with a man that won a war and test his virility.
They even thought that it would even make for a nice story when they met their friends.
The crossbowmen were also not the only ones getting the glory, as the cavalrymen recounted their fight with the camels, vividly describing the strange animal to an enthralled audience, while all the infantrymen portrayed themselves as the ones who had run in front of the charging horses swinging the ming chains.
In this way, the crowd released all the tension of thest two months and made the victory processionst almost till dusk.
For those had been truly grueling times, with nothing but work, work, work, and so everyone tried to rx and let off some steam, as they enjoyed the fruits of theirbor, their victory.
Alexander and others too took part in the revelries, making him appear just as one of the people, and only returned to his manor when the crowd started to rescind at around nightfall.
"Wee back," Cambyses was there to greet him by the door, as were the others, including the Queen mother and Mikaya.
And seeing his new bride''s smiling face, Alexander could not help but say to himself,
''If I lost the day before yesterday, today would be so much different. Describing everyone''s fate as tragic would have been an understatement.''
And this realization made him truly value the victory, which was much closer than he would have liked.
If Faruq had yed the game a bit better, then things would be very, very different right now.
The prime example of which would be if Faruq had reinforced Ural''s nking attack with some of his Jahal mercenaries.
Alexander would have certainly lost the battle then.
But life did not have ''ifs and buts''.
And looking at Cambyses''s smiling face, he was relieved at that.
"Haha, it seems the gods really do favor you Pasha Alexander. Your victory will inspire the entire country against Amenheraft," From the side, the Queen Mother did not forget to make it seem as if Alexander''s fight was really a proxy war against Ptolomy and Amenheraft, even though it was nothing of the sort.
The former had even declined to lend any material help to him, which Alexander was still ticked about But he decided now was not the time or ce to make a scene, not in front of so many people. "Yes! It is only by the grace and goodwill of His Majesty that we were able to win. Long live King Ptolomy!" So he put on a humble facade, portraying himself as an obedient vassal.
"Long live King Ptolomy!" Came an almost spontaneous reply.
Alexander then turned to the twins and particrly Mikaya, as he spread his arms as if epassing the heavens and grandly said, "My deardy, we have won. The Jahal mercenaries had been defeated!"
Many did not understand the significance of saying this to ady, but those in the know knew how near the days leading up to the battle, Mikaya had almost eaten his ear off going on about the deadliness and lethality of those cut-throat mercenaries, urging him again and again to escape to save his life.
''There is no way to defeat them in openbat. And we cannotst a siege,'' She had said.
And having faced the ten thousand (10,000) in battle, Alexander would indeed give them the due they deserved, and even agree that Mikaya was right about their fearsomeness.
These men could be counted as among the best cavalry in the world at the time, as even after taking two heavy charges head-on and losing theirmander, they did not break and run.
But at the end of the day, they ultimately still lost.
And that was what really mattered.
"Perhaps there is some truth to what some of the things they say about you!" Mikaya only smirked the reply, alluding to his open secret status as Gaia''s chosen.
This was a sensitive topic, and Alexander did not like talking about it so openly, so Mikaya saying it meant that temporarily the once-warm rtionship between the two had frosted a bit.
And this was not just due to the Jahal mercenaries, but the following reason that Alexander revealed.
He was not willing to be outdone by Mikaya, and so he also simrly smirked and then sarcastically said,
"Perhaps then your father will have the time to send me all the things I ordered. Hopefully, by now the weather will have cleared up, or the guilds will have the goods, or the ships will have the proper rigging, or the ves will not be sick, or some other misfortune."
This was alluding to the fact that Pasha Farzah had yet to deliver him the goods Alexander had purchased from him, which amounted to around 300 million ropals, and which were past their due delivery date by a month.
And how every time Alexander would ask Mikaya about it, she woulde up with various excuses.
He could have really used that 20,000 ves if they hade in time.
And so, Alexander''s sarcastic voice had a very real undercurrent of anger and frustration as he said this, as evidenced by how had said this at the very front of the doors, in front of arge crowd, which went on to show how aggrieved Alexander was really by this fact.
He had even already paid in full for the goods, particrly because he did not want to carry all the extra gold when he left for Zanzan back in October, and because he trusted that Pasha Farzah would not swindle one of his only two allies.
"My father will visit Zanzan personally topensate the lord for this," Mikaya only replied this to the usation, which mellowed Alexander quite a bit.
In fact, the letter regarding the battle had already been sent to Ptolomy and Farzah by Seelima, and Mikaya the day prior, where the former requested Pasha Farzah to personally visit Zanzan for she had correctly foreseen Alexander''s frustration at being left hanging out of dry by his allies in his time of need.
And thus, with this, Zanzan finally survived its first real battle.
(End of Volume-2)
Chapter 452 Amenherafts And Ptolomys Reaction
Alexander held massive feasts the following three days, as he entertained himself and the four nobles, stuffing themselves with various types of meat cooked in many different ways- stewed, smoked barbequed, etc, many cuts of fish which were boiled, steamed, grilled, and seasonal vegetables sauteed in butter.
But the star of the show was definitely the dessert dishes, which included a few types of cakes, some pastries, and puddings.
"My lord, this is amazing! How much of this sugar can we buy?"
One of the nobles even forgot the etiquette about not talking about business during such formal fests, as he got distracted by the creamy, sweet delights,
For someone who had never tasted sugar, this new sensation was truly irresistible.
While Alexander and the city as a whole rxed for a few days, the two other sides were really in thepletely opposite side of the spectrum- one enjoying grief, the other side surprise and a bit of dread for not helping on time.
Firstly, there was Pasha Djose, and by extension Amenheraft''s side, who werepletely shell-shocked by the news of the loss.
They had never considered the possibility of a loss, much less a crushing one like this.
For them, the worst oue would be if Alexander was somehow able to oust in a siege.
And even if that had happened, then they had nned to destroy the countryside, plundering the about-to-ripen spring harvest and leave the usurper destitute.
But they failed to do even this, caused by poor morale, the possibility of taking further losses by Alexander''s skirmishers if they went out of the safety of their camp, and the dy of the initial start of the invasion, which made many nobles want to return to their fiefdom as soon as possible.
Thus instead of inflicting heavy losses on Alexander, it was them that suffered crippling blows, losing 20,000 of their troops as killed or captured, with a few further thousand injured.
Furthermore, the famed Jahal mercenaries had lost more men in a single battle than in any other battle in their whole illustrious history, and which even included their legendarymander, while there was the destruction of Matbar (Marquiss) Uzak''s elite units, that had effectively rendered him unable to undertake a simr kind of attack for at least a few years.
Then there was the loss of an illustrious Jamider (Earl) house, which had the former, the current, and new head of the house killed and the entirety of its military strength destroyed- 3,000 chariots, 6,000 men, and 6,000 horses.
This type of loss would be grievous even to Amenheraft at his prime as the king, not to mention a rtively small house.
Thus it was almost given that this house would be unable to affect Adhnaia''s politics for decades toe, if at all, as it was very much possible the house would cease to exist due to infighting between the next line of session at risk, which were now not at all clear, or by the outright annexation by nearby nobles.
Thetter would be possible due to the current weak state of the royal authority, providing the opportunistic people the sweet ability to annex these weak, defenseless, delicious territories without much bacsh.
An opportunity many would be foolish to not capitalize on.
But all these mishappenings, all these deaths and losses, were not the worst of it.
No, that would the loss of prestige and credibility dealt to Amenheraft''s camp.
Amenheraft had gone from the invincible god king incapable of losing battles to losing three consecutive ones, all to the same person nheless, and it greatly hurt morale and confidence on his side.
He had already lost arge base in the battle to retake Adhan, and now with even more losses, Amenheraft lost enough staunch allies that many were starting to see him as unreliable, and not the epassing juggernaut he portrayed himself as.
Hence the previous phenomenon where factions were slowly budding in his court finally cemented itself, each led by a strongman who wanted to do things their way and supported by a group who sought them as protectors to take shelter under.
Thus it seemed that soon Ptolomy would not be the only rival to Amenheraft, but a few more hopeful candidates would add their names to the draw, the two most probable were his two other brothers.
As mentioned previously, though Amenehraft had a lot of step-brothers, other than Ptolomy and Djose, only two others possessed any real power to oppose him.
These men, one a very aplished military veteran, the other a renowned schr, and politician, through marriage basically controlled their wife''s respective Matbar (Marquiss) families, courtesy of the former king''s machinations.
And though they had stayed neutral up until now, it was certainly possible they would choose to join the fray now sensing Amenheraft''s weakness.
For even if they had no desire to fight for the throne, the underlings under them might want them to, in order to acquire more opportunities for themselves.
In fact, there was already a shadow war going on between Amenheraft and Ptolomy regarding this, thetter trying to break up Amenheraft''s power base using mary, military, and political rhetoric.
''What kind of a god is so broke that he cannot pay bereavement payment?''
''What kind of a god loses having such overwhelming numbers?''
''What kind of god breaks treaties?''
Ptolomy had sent these messages following Alexander''s victory, portraying Amenheraft as someone abandoned by the gods, and setting himself up as the rightful king.
And like before, he proposed another round of mary rewards for those who defect, while rescinding all rewards from those nobles responsible for the attack.
And this time, the response to Ptolomy''s call was much more resounding than the previous time, as many noble houses flipped bolstered by Alexander''s win.
While the man himself, Amenheraft certainly aware of all this felt as if the ground under his being slowly dug out.
But there was little he could do aside from reassuring his allies.
''Darn those bows,'' Amenheraft would constantly murmur this, even in his sleep, to the point his wife one day even ask him what he was talking about.
Amenheraft of course was referring to the crossbow, and his mind constantly recalled the recount of the battle and how it was said that it was those bows that had managed to pin the mercenaries, their trump card.
And knowing that if they were unable to find a counter to that new weapon, future fights would be very difficult, came the worrisome murmur.
While Amenheraft racked his brains over the challenges posed from multiple fronts, Ptolomy too faced challenges of his own.
Particrly cating his victorious general.
While the king was ecstatic that his ally had won such a huge victory, evidenced by how he even dered a three day feast when he first heard the good news, still, even the somewhat slow king understood Alexander was angry as thetter had yet to send any letter about his victory.
In fact, there was no official information from Alexander''s side regarding the situation, with the onlymunique being between Adhan and Seelima.
And though Ptolomy would have felt slighted before, the Queen mother had strictly ordered him to appear cordial in front of Alexander.
''Someone who can beat the Jahal mercenaries head-on is not someone we can afford to lose now. We need a general like that,'' She had written to Ptolomy.
"Farzah, you go to Zanzan and meet with Alexander. Show him our sincerity," Hence Ptolomy ordered.
And Pasha Farzah, being also interested to know about the details of the battle, epted.
"Haha, who knew that brat was such as goodmander?" He chuckled heartily.
He was really in a good mood knowing his promising ally was safe.
This shrewd politician had also coasted on Alexander''s sess to strengthen his factions quite a bit, as it was he who put Alexander on a pedestal of magnificence and paraded him as Amenheraft''s kryptonite, showcasing his military prowess.
Not to mention how he had also taken advantage of Djose''s attack to expand Ptolomy''s control around Adhan.
''Surrender, or be charged with treason,'' This was the choice many nobles living close to Adhan who were loyal to Amenheraft had found themselves, as Pasha Farzah''s son led a huge army to attack these virtually defenseless towns and cities.
And even when these nobles sent for help, Amenheraft ignored them, as he had no real troops under him toe to their rescue, and he knew this was Ptolomy''s way of retaliation.
"My men will soone to your rescue. Hold on," Amenheraft had hence replied with this kind of vague promise, really intending to liberate these settlements once he won the battle.
But given that he lost, these nobles obediently flipped, with most even coughing up the ropals they were paid.
Thus Ptolomy''s control had expanded a few times following Alexander''s win.
Pasha Farzah had also been informed by Mikaya about Alexander''s displeasure at not getting his goods in time, and the man could only let out a wry smile.
But he did not regret it, as back then he had taken that precaution thinking it was the best, based on the then circumstances.
"Well, guess, I will have to give him a discount," He casually shrugged, as this was not his first time dealing with such circumstances.
Dying or stooping deliveries to allies or enemies depending on how the future develops was a tactic as old as time.
And he was sure if Alexander was in his ce, he would have done the same.
Thus, with these thoughts, the old man set about organizing a ''congrattory gift basket'' for his much younger peer.
Chapter 453 Alexanders Spoils
A few dayster Alexander got letters via pigeon from both Ptolomy and Pasha Farzah, the first congratting him on his sess and the other additionally promising toe visit him by May.
Which was two months from now.
It seemed the old man needed some time to prepare all the gifts.
Or more specifically, he needed to re-order and re-purchase almost all of Alexander''s inventory.
This was because he had sold most of those goods almost a month ago, and so having to reacquire them in the short time span, in the enormous volume needed, meant that he would have to pay a premium among premiums.
The pasha even risked losing money in the transaction, as opposed to the enormous potential profits it originally would have been.
But still, even knowing this, Pasha Farzah decided to acquire these items through any means necessary and simply chalked up the loss aspensation for his wrong judgment.
The veteran politician was not going to let such a, in his eyes, mundane thing bother him.
While Pasha Farzah endeavored to rectify his poor choice and urged his son to renegotiate deals with the guilds to rebuy the goods, Alexander on the other hand was busy celebrating by counting his spoils- which include prisoners and horses.
First came the prisoners, which, after the four nobles had their pick of their men, left him with around 9,000 ves, all strong and strapping young men.
Alexander''s eyes had glowed with glee when he saw these men, as they were just the kind ofborers he needed, fit, healthy, and able to be worked to the bones.
Hence he nned to put them mainly in the fields and mines- the ces most in need of hardborers.
Alexander very much appreciated this injection of work force into the economy, especially given that if he were to buy them on the market, they would have carried quite the price.
Normally a ve went for two thousand to four thousand ropals (2,000-4,000) depending on his or her physical characteristics.
But these prime specimens would have gone for at least 5,0000 ropals, possibly even reaching upward of 6,000 in some cases.
So, this meant that Alexander had gained around 45 to 54 million ropals just from this stash alone, which was very impressive just by itself.
And this did not even take into ount the fact that among these 9,000, there were also 4,000 men who were even of rtively high descent.
These were of course all the charioteers, all of whom belonged to Jamider (Earl) Nibraz''s house.
Their high status was a given as they were allowed to ride the prestigious chariots, meaning they were either of nobility, being rted to the house in ways such as cousins, nephews, or even illegitimate sons.
Or they were close servants and loyal soldiers who served the house.
Which meant their prices would be much, much higher, even reaching as high as a hundred thousand ropal for some select ones.
And though Alexander had yet to receive any ransom offers, he was sure they woulde, and one which he intended to refuse as he had done before unless they switched sides.
Hence, if Alexander truly had ransomed his prisoners, his gains would have easily eclipsed 60 million.
Then came the 5,000 horses, which Alexander actually valued even more than ves.
For these were no regr draft horses but horses bred for war.
Even better they were bred by a famous family with a long history of raising such animals, meaning their breed and quality of training was unquestioned.
So Alexander estimated their cost to be around 10,000 ropals per animal, giving his loot a value of 50 million.
Now for context, a regr pack horse was close to a 1,000 ropals, while a good war horse needed 5,000 ropals.
And the very best of the best, like the one Alexander rode on cost 15,000 ropals.
Thus estimating a middle ground of 10,000 ropals for the well-drilled horses was reasonable.
Though it had to be said that these horses were not the beasts known as destriers that medieval knights rode on, terrorizing the battlefield, but much smaller breeds that were actually much closer to ponies.
But this was the norm of the times, as horse breeding had just started taking off, and it would take decades if not centuries to selectively breed those huge monsters of the battlefield.
Thus Alexander was still very happy, even ecstatic over his catch.
But then, once he thought about it for a while longer, somehow this boon had managed to be somewhat of a problem for him, as though he had a shortage of horses, using such fine specimens on manualbor seemed like such a waste.
This was akin to using a supercar to get the milk.
Perfectly viable, but the gas bill would likely be more than the milk.
Hence, after thinking about it for a while, and reflecting on the painful experience around the battlefield regarding his shortage of cavalry, and then remembering its efficacy even in small numbers, Alexander decided to expand his riders to 3,000 active members, making them asrge as half a legionary, much to Grahtos''s delight.
"Think of it as a present for a job well done, " Alexander had said to the over-the-moon general, who seemed ready to kiss Alexander''s feet any moment now.
Though such a huge increase would likely eat through Alexander''s broke pocket even faster.
But Alexander still chose to do so given the inevitable future battles he would face.
In fact, if he had deeper pockets, he would have converted all the horses into cavalry, forming a cavalry legion.
But s, the estimated cost of maintaining such a force would have likely broke Alexander before the enemy could.
Hence for the rest of the 2000 horses, Alexander nned to breed a few of them, but mostly sell the rest for more usable draft animals.
This way he reckoned he would be able to get at least four, maybe even five pack horses for one equivalent war horse, which would certainly be a better allocation of his resources.
After all, no matter how good a war horse was, it could not do five horses'' jobs.
In this way,bining the prisoners and horses, Alexander was calcted to have gained around 100 million ropals out of this war, one that had cost him around 50 million to engage in.
Which meant a 100% return on a two-month investment, or a 600% annual return.
Nowpare that to the few percentage savings rates banks provide, the 17% the stock market gives.
Alexander finally had his answer to the question- ''War! What is it good for?''
And it was - ''Lots! It was good for lots if you could win.''
And this was not even the best part.
In fact the money might be the least important of his spoils.
For what truly mattered was how the magnificent victory had boosted his prestige, got him four initial vassals, and secured his city''s perimeters.
No one would dare to slight him in the near term future, and Alexander was even confident about seizing much more area than he previously estimated, making him a true overlord of at least southern Zanzan.
And to that effect Alexander had sent messages to every noble household within a 90km radius, asking them toe to his city and meet with him by May.
''You are summoned to Zanzan by the order of its ruler, Pasha Alexander, to exin yourself regarding your involvement in the attack against Zanzan. Many of you were found guilty of participating in it.''
''Failure to do so within the allotted time will be seen as an act of war.''
Alexander had sent this message to about 7 shordars (barons), 3 talukders (viscounts), and 2 Jamiders (Earls), wanting to meet them at around the time Pasha Farzah would be in Zanzan.
Alexander had no fear of retaliation by Amenheraft as the man had already yed his card.
So Alexander saw this as a prime opportunity to annex around 12,000 sq km ofnd, with him choosing the specific number of 90km radius because he figured his army could march that distance in about three days, which he felt was sufficiently quick enough to exert pressure on the nobles there.
And the time period of that annexation he gave himself was 2 months, which he had chosen specifically after much deliberation.
The time was not only out of the generous consideration of travel time for the nobles, or getting ready, but there was also the fact that the spring harvest was here and every noble needed every abled hand to help with the first harvest after the drought,
Even Alexander was extremely busy in this time period, as the peasants and many extra ves were sent to the field to reap the crops, meaning he simply did not the men to attack these nobles even if he had wanted to.
Also, after the two months, not only Pasha Farzah, the prime minister would be there, but the time period was also long enough to give the nobles enough time to gather enough information regarding Alexander''s sess, but short enough that any nearby allies would not be able to effectivelye to their rescue.
After all, most of Zanzan''s anti-Ptolomy faction had just participated in the recent battle and were barely capable enough to defend themselves.
Where would they have the ability to aid others?
Thus in this way, the time span was meant to exert a kind of physiological pressure on the nobles.
Chapter 454 The Spring Planting
Alexander''s message was received by surprise, rm, and even fury by many of the 12 nobles.
This was because most of them knew they had nothing to do with the attack and saw it as Alexander''s way of intimidating and encroaching upon theirnd.
And they were totally right about this, as Alexander really had only found a small portion of the called-up nobility to have actually taken part in the battle.
Thus this was really a way of demanding vassalization, or at least free trade with the powers.
Understanding this, the nobles quickly asked for aid from Amenheraft, but they were destined to be disappointed.
For they would get no real reply, just flowery words and encouragement, followed by a description of the many types of difficulties Amenheraft was currently facing.
Now they were certainly true to an extent, but there was also the fact that Amenheraft had received an offer from Ptolomy, proposing that if Amenheraft looked the other way as Alexander annexed thosends, Ptolomy would not withhold the funds promised to him as a way to retaliate against the recent attack.
This was of course something that Alexander requested and the king was happy to oblige.
While Amenheraft was also happy to ept the offer, both because he needed the money, and also because the time and money needed to defend these small fries were not worth it.
Hence, these few men really had no choice but to negotiate with Alexander.
But that fateful meeting was still a bit away, as in the meantime they busied themselves with overseeing the spring harvest and then follow it with a spring nting.
For the window for this was rtively short.
The peasants first had to collect some of the spring crops such as cabbage, onions, and garlic they nted in the winter, and harvest many of the fruits from orchards.
But more importantly, they had to prepare the fields for the winter crops- oats, and barley specifically, which would be the staple food for many of the farmers and their livestock.
They also needed to nt a variety of legumes and vegetables such as peas and beans, onions, and leeks, amounting to around twenty percent (20%) of the total crops, while some would choose to grow cash crops such as x for making linen that was then used to make clothes, grapes for producing wine, and olives for olive oil.
Thus, as this was the time of nting and due to all of this frantic plowing, the sight of farmers driving their plows powered by horses or oxen with great urgency from sunset to sundown was amon sight to behold.
And this was specifically true in Alexander''s fiefdom, which cultivated so muchnd that the demand for pack animals skyrocketed to the point that the pasha had to even temporarily decrease his industrial production of various materials and temporarily reallocate many of the draft animals used in those sectors to carry materials to the field.
This increase in demand as well as thend cultivated aspared to the winter was fueled by two factors.
One was therge influx of refugees who now were being employed on the farms.
And two because Alexander had decided to capitalize on his win and expanded his area of influence, taking over a huge swath of empty, fertilend around Zanzan, and starting to nt his crops there.
Acquiring thisnd was rtively easy for him, as the area around Zanzan was originally Pasha Muazz''s personalnd, the entirety of which was owned and administered by his house.
And since that family had been driven away, thends naturally fell into Alexander''s hands.
Now technically there were men living in thosends who acted as its owners, their origins being that they had been appointed by Pasha Muazz as supervisors to oversee and administer his vast fields, and tasked with managing, controlling, and directing the peasants and ves who worked there.
And with over close to 8000 sq km ofnd that Pasha Muazz controlled around Zanzan, there were a lot of such men, who were called by a special name- Neta.
These men were not strictly nobility, butbeling them as servants would also not be correct, as thetter had too low of a connotation.
Perhaps a steward or butler might be a better trantion, or an even better approximation would be the medieval knight, who was also not a peerage-holding lord, but a pseudo one.
And simr to how a knight would be a great force in battles, theseas too had a small number of armed men under them, present there to enforce order and disciple on the farmers.
Some of these had chosen to stay in Zanzan even after Pasha Muazz had left, as they saw Alexander as weak and a fool with only a few days on his hand.
Hence, a few of the bold ones had even begun to rule over some of thends as its lords, erecting fortifications and acting as the leader of theirmunity.
Alexander of course knew about these courtesy of Camius''s intelligence, but when he had first gotten here in November, he had not had the manpower or time to deal with them.
And then, when he had finally decided to deal with them, which was also one of the objectives of his Jabel campaign, that originally intended to go north and then turn east to take care of these small fries, things developed in such a way that things stood as they were currently.
The benefit of which was that he did not need to any longer strong arm these little fishes.
He could just send a battalion (600 men) with his coat of arms around and nt the g down in front of the rudimentary forts, and that would be enough to make all inside fold without question.
These men had certainly heard what Alexander had aplished and were smart enough to recognize that their paltry garrison of at best a few hundred men would not be able to resist such a juggernaut.
Thus they quickly surrendered when they got the promise of amnesty from Alexander, though not before they were required to hand over all their food and valuables to him.
''Darn it, I should have ran when I had the chance,'' These men would thenment regarding their greed and wish they had followed the path of some of their colleagues.
A key note here would be that Alexander did not deal with theseas personally, for he felt they were too down the pecking order for him to deal with personally.
And so his retainers got the honor of leading the forces to reim thends and decide these men''s fate.
Now Alexander had advised against killing them outright as he kind of learned his lesson about killing people left, right, and center.
But then there was the dilemma of turning the loyal servants of one''s enemy into regr citizens.
That was out of the question, as this was just waiting for a disaster to happen.
So theas were offered either the choice of leaving the territory or being turned into farmers employed by the lords, or basically ves.
And naturally almost all chose the former, as the cushy job ofa made it so that they had grown to most certainly abhor physical work, not to mention work as tiring as farming.
Thus these destituteckeys made the long, slow march to where Pasha Muazz was temporarily residing, or toward territories that were friendly to them, though many failed to do so, instead dying or worse being captured as ves by bandits, vers, and even nobles.
This happened because Alexander had effectively death them a death sentence by forcing them out of his territory with no provisions or mount to speak off, causing them to resort to banditry and thus subsequently being caught by the authorities.
Hence only a small cadre of loyal servants would actually get to join forces with their master.
While Alexander would get himself enough fields that would triple his currentnds, going from 36,000 hectares to around 100,000 hectares or from 360 sq km to 1,000sq km.
Which meant that with him practicing a three-crop rotation system, and having already plowed 24,000 hectares in the winter, he would have to plow around another 42,000 hectares ofnd.
Alexander just barely had the capacity to do this, in no small thanks to the new horses and prisoners, as he employed close to 20,000 men and a few thousand pack animals just for this endeavor alone.
He had to even create several thousand heavy plows for this expansion, which he did by reallocating much of the weapons-grade steel into making the plow head, and then even redirecting much of the military-industrial base into making the wooden body of the tilling device for a time being.
The reason for this being that arge portion of the newnd, about one-third or 15,000 hectares to be precise, was to be nted with beetroots, which would be used to make sugar, the economic benefits of which need not be said.
While the other 27,000 hectares would be allotted for grains, vegetables, and other cash crops.
So in this way, farmers all over the country were seen engaged in their craft for the time being, toling under the heavy hot sun to grow sustenance for themselves and their lords.
While Alexander in the meantime got two very good news.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 455 The Thesian Family Member (Part-1)
Alexander spent a lot of his time in March inspecting the fields, watching the farmers not just plow and nt seeds but also perform another critical job, which was de-weeding, i.e.- removing the undesirable nts growing on the field.
A task that was seen being performed by both men and women using small sickles, who primarily worked on the wheat seeds that were just waking up from their winter slumber.
It was a tedious process but also very important, for the level of weed removal would affect the final product, thus the men were hard at work trying to kill off these invasive nts as soon as possible.
Alexander also saw the farmers prune many fruit trees, i.e.- cutting parts of the part to encourage growth, a job that required quite expert skills, as too much removal would damage the tree, but too little would have no result, and be a waste of time.
In this way, the month of March nearly ended for Alexander, until one day around the end of it, he got his first good news.
It was around the mid-afternoon of a bright shiny day, and Alexander was simplyzing around in his garden after having a great meal, when suddenly one of his trusted messengers ran up to him and excitedly said, "My lord, good news from the harbor. Mithras is back!"
Mithras was the man Alexander had put in charge of getting the families of the Thesians, most of them Sycarians into Zanzan, and Alexander was truly relieved to hear them finally arrive.
They were due aroundte February, or early March, and given that they were a monthte, Alexander had truly been worried.
He feared they might have been caught up in a storm andpletely destroyed, which was quite possible, or more fearfully, get caught up in the blockade and captured.
That would have been Alexander''s worst nightmare for if the enemy got to know that the people on the ships were the family members of a lot of Alexander''s retainers and high-level personnel, then the amount of damage they could do to him would be sky-shattering.
The lightest he would have gotten away with was paying an astronomical ransom, while it was also likely there would be an internal coup and Zanzan''s city gates would have been opened and Alexander and his family handed over to Djose in exchange for the hostages'' lives.
Now, Alexander had taken some precautions against this, for he had sent three ships out into the sea before the blockade, their mission being to look for the fleet and then inform them of the current situation.
But even then Alexander had been worried, as he had no direct way tomunicate with the people and warn them of the danger. and furthermore feared the scouts would somehow miss them, causing them all to die.
Thus the messenger''s report caused great joy in Alexander who had been rxing in his garden who shed arge grin and turned to ask, "Really! Are you sure?"
"Yes, the captain sent the reportedly only after he confirmed it." The man replied confidently, before going on to describe the event.
"It is said that some time ago, many of the fishermen spotted a huge fleet carrying our g approach Zanzan. They quickly told the guards nearby about this, but before we could send any boats, a messenger soon came in a small boat to confirm it was Mithras."
Alexander''s question about the veracity of the report was actuallyrgely reductant because no one wanted to be the one to deliver incorrect news to Alexander, the highest person in the city, and so tried very tried to be as sure as possible.
This was even illustrated in this very case, as when the fishermen''s report reaches the leader of the city guards posted near the harbor, which was also the most heavily guarded part of the city, the man personally went near the docks to assess the situation for himself.
After all, the recent blockage still lingered on many''s minds, and some feared that those might have returned for a round two.
So, it was only after the captain met Mithra''s messenger and talked to him, confirming that the ships were friendly and not enemies, did he send a messenger to Alexander''s manor informing him of the good news.
"Good, good, let''s go right away," Alexander hence quickly got up from his hammock, put down the wine ss, and summoned his bodyguards to escort him to his destination.
And he soon arrived at the docks through the southern gate and found it to be busy as heck.
The harbor had mostly recovered from its brief upation, with its roads being reced with concrete and stone, the wooden wharf being reced with concrete and the wooden cranes being rebuilt.
But what gave the ce its vibrancy was actually the people.
The evidence of this was how along the foot of the southern wall, facing the sea, were every kind of small shop one''s heart could desire, selling all kinds of things, ranging from food produce such as freshly caught fish, butchered meat, various fruits, and vegetables, to ordinary and exquisite vases and pottery, to various kinds of colored fabric to many types of metal paraphernalia like nails, hammers, etc.
There were even street touts offering to take people to various red-light establishments.
And people mored around all these stalls setting the air abuzz around the harbor as the hawkers loudly peddled their wares and the customers fiercely haggled the price.
This was currently probably the most thriving part of the city.
And perhaps right now this was true even more than anytime before, as an enormous crowd had gathered along the road that ran adjacent to the sea, all were moring to see why there were so many ships approaching them.
The guards had already promised them these were friendlies and as the ships had Alexander''s g, the crowd did not panic and was not fearful to get close.
Among this sea of people gathered at the port, each carried a varied intent, so much so that it covered all types of goals.
There were honest dock workers looking forward to being hired to unload the cargo these ships undoubtedly carried.
There were curious shoppers who just wanted to see why there was a crowd.
There were expectant merchants hoping to sell food, everyday wears such as sandals, hats, snacks, and a million other things to the disembarking people.
There were even unscrupulous crooks looking to steal coin purses, either from the disembarking men or from the gathered crowd.
Andstly, there were the ever-present beggars, shing their palms for alms.
Alexander did not have any trouble navigating through the crowd, his heavily armored bodyguards and his personal identity making it possible for him to move about effortlessly.
Wherever Alexander walked, the crowd would part like he was Moses, and they were the red sea, making way for him even if it meant they had to push someone else off the wharf into the sea.
After all, touching a noble, never mind a pasha was unthinkable for them.
Seeing this manic obedience, as the crowd scampered on their hands and feet to make way for him, proved to disy the power of a title, Alexander again tasted the sweet, addicting taste of power and status.
''So this is the power of nobility?'' He murmured, fully understanding now how nobles were able to be tyrants over time.
It was very easy to see obedient people not as people but as sheep to herd, harvest, and exploit.
But as Alexander approached the first docked ship, such philosophical musings were put at the back of his head for now, for there was Mithras to greet him right around where he had gotten off.
The man was originally talking to a crew member, possibly telling him how to unload the cargo, until he spotted Alexander approaching.
"Alexander! It''s great to see you, hahaha!" The lean man ran forward to greet the lord with a giant hug.
Mithras had been away for most of the time Alexander had been pasha, and so he forgot that Alexander was actually noble and hence the calling by name.
Alexander for this part did not mind this, as instead, he was just d to see the man alive.
Mithras was from Alexander''s mercenary group and given he had given him such an important job rting to many of his soldiers and retainers'' families and one that entitled so much running away around Thesos, it went on to prove just how much Alexander trusted and believed in the capabilities of this man.
And ont only that, but the man had been a fisherman before he joined the mercenary group due to his vige being burned down by another city-state and at many times had proved himself to be a skilled navigator.
"You too! You too!" Thus lxx repeated relieved, before having another look at him and worriedly saying, "You have grown thin! And why are they sote?"
"*Sigh*," First the lean man with a full beard let out a mournful sigh that expressed a thousand emotions, as he only said, "We can talk about thatter."
This type of answer worried Alexander, for he understood it had to be bad news, but did not hound the man then and there.
"Okay, okay, whatever it is we can discuss itter. I''m sure we can deal with itter." Alexander thus assured, before tapping the man on the shoulders and saying, "You''re tired now. So get some rest."
Chapter 456 The Thesian Family Member (Part-2)
Alexander soon had a few men escort Mithras to his manor so that he could get some much-needed rest.
The journey seemed to have taken a toll on the man.
While Alexander chose to stay behind as he still wanted to oversee the unloading and see that everything go smoothly.
But even more importantly it was so that he could have some talks with a few selected people there.
These included a few Sycarians and other Thesians who had gone with Mithras to help him with the emigration, but more notably it was to greet the fleet captain whomandeered the whole group of ships and invite him to his manor.
The reason for this courtesy was this man was actually a shoulder (baron) working under Lady Inayah, to whom all these ships.
And in fact, the man was quite close to her, as evidenced by him being given themand of such a huge fleet, and hence Alexander was required to treat him with respect.
There was also the additional reason that he was eager to know about their journey, a pique of curiosity that strengthened itself when he heard some of the men who exited the ship which Mithras was on say,
"*Sigh*, this trip has been not bad¡.but that disaster¡ohhh,"
Thementation on that saying was palpable, for it appeared there was some tragedy and even death along the way.
But Alexander did not press these recently docked men for more information, though he even knew some of them.
Instead, he let them apany Mithras, as Alexander was of the mind, ''Whatever happened, happened. After all, there was no point in crying over it now.''
''I will know about it soon enough. For whatever it was, at least the fleet is here.'' He then patiently said to himself, determining the fact that since so many ships had returned made it back, the disaster could not have been anything too earth-shattering.
He was at least confident on that given the evidence in front of him.
But for Alexander to get to know the details, he would have to wait, for there were a lot of ships but not enough space on the port for all of them to dock at once.
This had been a simr problem even when Alexander first came to Zanzan back in November, for the harbor here could only amodate about a hundred ships along its crescent-shaped wharf, whereas Alexander counted just the new fleet having around 80 to 90 ships, never mind that ships and boats already docked there.
"Get these small boats out of here, and let these ships dock first,"
Alexander had also chosen to stay here for this kind of purpose, as seeing a ship traffic jam forming, he issued thismand, while also making a note to expand the harbor.
Now, Znazan''s harbor was not bad per se, which was one of its few redeeming qualities, as the port had been developed in the past years to amodate the warships used tounch against Tibias.
And given that this was the poorest part of Adhania where maritime trade was scarce, its facilities were adequate for its time.
Which was also why Pasha Muazz had simply neglected to widen the harbor.
But when Alexander took over, he hadpletely different policies, ones which emphasized trading and expanding, meaning the current facilities were starting to appear inadequate to deal with his growing needs.
And though the situation was not currently critical, Alexander did not want to wait till it be one.
''Hmmm, looks like I will need to have a talk with Diaogosis,'' He thus determined as he waited for the people he wanted to meet to embark.
While in the meantime, Alexander oversaw and observed the sights of people disembarking.
And the bustling movement of men, women, and children flowing out of the ships almost like the dams had been broken was certainly an interesting sight to behold, making it seem almost like there was an osmotic pressure acting on them, which could be represented by how the people behind them pushed the people forward to exit the vessel as soon as possible.
Everyone that exited the ships without exception had something on their hands and sometimes even on their heads, as they lightly and quickly stepped out of the wooden floating structure.
The strong men usually carried the heaviest loads, stuffed inside either leather bags or wooden trunks, while women were seen carrying the lighter stuff such as jewelry, gold coins, food, etc, withstly the children carting many misceneous goods, and something even their younger siblings on their arms.
But not everything could be carried by hand oneself, and so Alexander also noticed many of the passengers negotiating with the dock workers to get some of their heavier cargo out, though the act was made much harder by the fact the two parties chose differentnguages.
Hence this soon made them resort to signnguages, and Alexander saw firsthand evidence of how money talked.
The Thesians would hold out their chosen amount of coins in front of the dock workers, while the workers would either shake or nod their heads, showing denial or agreement.
And once enough coin would be disyed, these strong, muscr men would finally agree to themission, before quickly climbing into the ships of their employers to retrieve their desired goods.
These dock workers would most of the time be apanied by the employer who would follow them to make sure that they got the right cargo, while the ship crew would make sure no one stole another''s stuff.
This vignce was made easier by the fact that these men had gotten to know their passengers quite a bit after so many months of travel.
But still, the owners themselves were usually alert enough to keep an eye on the cargo being unloaded to make sure someone did not make away with their stuff.
In this way, the process of disembarkation continued.
Though it had to be pointed out that it was not as if there were no problems.
There was the usual shuffling as dock workers shed with one another overmissions.
Many stronger men would push and shove others to get to the front of the customers faster, while others would say something like, ''I will do it for 10 tustas less than him. Come to me,''
This kind of poaching wasmon but also caused bad blood between the men, which even sometimes escted to fist fights.
Then there was the general chaos caused by too many dock workers trying to enter and exit the ships at any one time, caused by all the individual hiring.
If the ship''s captains were smart enough, they could have avoided such a situation by hiring only a few who would unload everyone''s cargo.
That would have been much faster, safer, and easier.
The captains could have even charged each of the passengers a small fee, the aggregate of which could have been used to pay for these workers, so it would not be even any coin out of their purse.
They might have even pocketed the difference.
But they had not, hence there was a jam around nearly every ship.
But these were not by any margin the most problematic thing on the docks.
No for that, by far, would be the fact there were all these confused people there who did not know where to go, and just stood right where theynded and looked around aimlessly, hoping to catch a glimpse of their loved one, the one for whom they had made the perilous journey.
And as these people stood around, coupled with the already gathered crowd, soon the dock became overflowing with people.
If this continued, soon, there would be no ce for the remaining people to even disembark.
Alexander of course noticed this, and he was quite rmed that this was the state even when the disembarkment had not even properly begun now, for the fishing vessels were just leaving the ports, while the new ships were only starting to make port.
"Who is in charge of the port security? Get him to meet me," Alexander hence snapped and quickly disced one of his bodyguards to find out.
And this armored man had no problem in locating the guard captain, as the former''s fully kitted-up gear made it so that he could just walk up to any city guard and ask him for the information.
And so a whileter the man in question presented himself in front of Alexander.
"My..my lord, I heard you were asking for me?" The man meekly mewled, looking dartedly at Alexander.
He could not even fathom what gross mistake he had done to earn the ire of such a big shot.
After all why else would he be called in front of the lord?
''He is not going to me me for not meeting him on him, is he?'' The assumed man wildly assumed.
While Alexander, certainly seeing the fear in the shivering man, made him ask if his face was that scary, and felt as if he had be the principal and the man before him was the student.
And then addressed the man for the reasons he called him.
"Take your men, and clear the harbor of every civilian, onlooker, and shopkeeper. Tell them it is the pasha''s order."
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Chapter 457 The Thesian Family Member (Part-3)
The guard captain had envisioned a lot of things beforeing here.
He mostly presumed he was about to getmbasted for the chaos around the docks, to which he had whimpered in his mind,
''Sure the dock is a bit rowdy. But I''m already trying my best. There is little more I can do.''
In fact, the man had been so busy and overwhelmed with dealing with the current situation that he had not even had the time to meet with Alexander even after knowing the leader of the city was there.
And in the few instances in which he thought he had found the opportunity, another crisis would suddenly erupt that required his attention, with the veryst one being an order from Alexander himself, which was to clear the docks of the boats.
"Ye..yes, my lord," Hence seeing Alexander let him off without any rebuke, the captain quickly performed a salute, relieved and ecstatic, before quickly excusing himself.
And soon Alexander began to see the group of about a hundred guards blowing their wooden whistles and swinging his sturdy arms, indicating the crowd to disperse.
"*Whistle*, *whistle*, Leave. Leave. The pasha orders you to leave."
"Go on, go on. Why are you simply loitering here? Don''t you have jobs to do?"
"Move, move, the people here were invited by Lord Pasha, nothing to see here."
"Make way, make away,"
The guards yelled, shouted, and barked various phrases as they almost herded the crowd out of the harbor.
Even the shops were forced to be closed, with the simple excuse being given that it was Alexander''s order.
The guards were surprisingly efficient in their work, as they had managed to mostly clear the entire premises of undesirables within a short time, and with it the congestion.
As this went on, Alexander was posed with another problem.
And that was the problem of where to house all these new men?
Each of the Thesians residing in Zanzan had bought about 6-7 family members, mostly women and children, but some also their younger brothers and sisters, and thus this frailer group could not be left out to the elements.
Alexander had originally thought he would be able to ce them in the public house he had nned to build, but that had not worked out due to all the interruptions and material constraints.
So, given that was not an option, after considering it for a while, he decided to move them to the eastern district and let them stay near the barracks.
There were a lot of empty buildings there, and also, letting the newly arrived people stay close to their loved one would help ease them into this foreignnd.
And that was so different from their home.
"Hemicus, get the Sycarians out of the barracks to meet their family members. And also tell Menes I''m looking for ihm." Alexander thus ordered.
While he got in front of the nervous crowd to address them.
Since they had just gotten here Alexander was of the mind to make a good first impression.
"Gentlemen, I''m the lord of this ce, Alexander. And I''m very d you have made it here safe and sound." Alexander loudly proimed, drawing almost all pairs of eyes on him.
This happened not only because of his identity or his entourage but because he had spoken Thesian.
And seeing that the ruler of the city was one of them and had actuallye to meet them in person, it calmed many agitated hearts and bloomed favorable feelings towards him.
While Alexander, seeing he got their attention continued, "I''m sure all of you had a long journey. But rest assured you will be well taken care of here."
"Your loved ones have been already informed, they should be arriving shortly."
"And as a personal present to you from your lord, I will bear the cost of unloading all the cargo for all of you."
Thest one got a loud cheer from the crowd who saw Alexander was being a generous man, and then quickly many started to demand the money they had given to the dock workers.
While the dock workers, as they did not speak Thesian, did not understand what Alexander had said and simply looked at the people demanding his money back like they were an idiot.
"All workers will be paid 10 ropals for loading the cargo from ships. Now give back the money you have taken," So Alexander helped rify the situation in Azhak, which got a second cheer, this time from the dock workers.
This amount of money was usually earned by them working for the whole day, not just the few hours they would have to work as dusk was settling in.
Hence the dock workers were seen quickly giving back the money, and then returning to their work with even more enthusiasm.
Alexander had done this primarily to help boost his image, while also solving the problem of congestion around the ships, thus solving two problems with one stone.
After all, he had already spend around 30 million ropals to get these men here, so a few additional thousand was of little consequence.
But Alexander''s little economic package did have results in other areas, as the dock workers, without having to haggle prices could work much more efficiently.
Thus even before dusk could arrive, about 60 ships had been unloaded and emptied.
Money truly could solve most problems.
In the meantime, the Sycarians and other Thesians had also managed to present themselves to the harbor, and the group then quickly fanned out, as each man started to look for his family.
The total number of Thesians in Zanzan was around 10,000.
But not everyone had family in Thesos, as about half of this poption were freed ves and servants, and these people either had their families with them or had lost connection with them a long time ago.
This only left the other 4,000 to 5,000, and it was them who were present there.
And soon, these people began to meet their intended loved ones, which was a heartwarming moment to witness, as when they would finally spot them, the men would rush up to hug and greet them.
The men would rejoice at having finally reconnected with their family,ughing and kissing their children, while the women and kids would many times even cry tears of relief at having met the person they were here for.
Many had been terrified that they would be told that their man had died and they would find themselves all alone in this foreignnd aftering all the way.
And unfortunately, this nightmare was the reality for some, as seen by a very few who stood around the wharf and dartedly looked around in all directions, even craning their necks to spot their man.
An endeavor they were destined to fail at.
And a whileter Alexander even spotted a few women and children let out mournful cries, most likely because they got to know about their husband or father or brother''s fate from other neighboring soldiers.
For them it felt like the sky had crashed, as now not only were they all alone, but many would not be able to get back to Thesos even if they wanted to.
For a lot of them hade to Zanzan after selling all theirnd back in Thesos.
Hence, many envisioned begging as their only future.
Seeing this certainly made Alexander a bit sad, perhaps more so because he felt that they were his men and as their suprememander it was his responsibility to get his men safely to their home.
But on the contrary, he had lost quite a few Thesians in his two battles, especially with thetest one where the fight had been brutal, making him lose around 94 Thesians killed and 265 wounded.
"Have these people take residence in the eastern district. And then reassure the widows they will be given a stipend every month." Alexander ordered Menes.
He had thought about these problems before, and even allocated separate funding to deal with them,
"Yes, my lord," Menes readily replied as he then instructed his men to quickly arrange the living quarters for all these people.
In the meantime, the unloading continued unabated even when dusk had settled, much to the surprise of the dock workers who had assumed they had gotten a quick payday.
Instead, they heard Alexander say,
"Userge torches. I want the unloading finished by today."
And since the lord wanted to have the unloading done by today, by jolly god he would have his unloading by today.
Hence quickly huge zing brazers were set up, and the workers worked without even having the time to release a breath finally the entire docks were cleared before midnight.
The workers were gonna feel that tomorrow.
But at least they were paid in full and on time.
So the workers left pretty happy.
While Alexander stayed until the entire thing had been finished, most of the time meeting with the families of his retainers.
This urred as almost all of Alexander''s military leaders, such as Grahtos, Menicus, Melodias, and Heliptos hade to retrieve their families from the dock, after which they took them to Alexander to introduce them.
Then there were some captains to took the same this opportunity, followed by even some of his bodyguards who brought their families.
Alexander made small talks with each of them until finally, he got to meet the man he had been truly waiting for, the captain of the fleet- Shordar Karvish.
Chapter 458 First Loss At Sea
Alexander for the first time got to know the families of his retainers as he oversaw the disembarkment around the docks.
For instance, he found that Grahtos had a wife and five kids.
Melodias''s wife had died and was left with six daughters and three sons.
While Heliptos surprisingly had a few mistresses and many children.
But the most impressive would have to be certainly Menicus, who did not disappoint as the most senior of the group by having thirteen sons!
Yes, enough to form a football team, a referee, and even an audience.
While what truly moved Alexander was his wife''s luck at winning the gender chance so many times.
Menicus''s sons ranged across the whole age spectrum, going from middle-aged men with their own impressive families rivaling their father''s, down to teens who were just starting to enter puberty.
It seemed that Menicus was old but not cold.
Andstly, it was Hemicus who introduced his wife, young son, and two teen daughters to Alexander, a smile hanging on the usually stoic man''s face.
Alexander paid attention to entertain all these men and their misses, after finishing which he finally managed to meet the captain of the ship.
It appeared that the man had stayed on his ship until every other ship had docked, making him one of thest ones to get off.
"It is a pleasure to meet again Lord Lord Karvish. I can see your journey has been safe and sessful!" Alexander cheerfully greeted the man who had also gotten him here from Adhan the first time.
"Ahhh¡safe, I guess you could say so. Being alive is being good after all," The old man with a gruff voice replied, sounding somewhat rueful.
To which Alexander only nodded and said, "Yes, Mithras did mention some kind of disaster, although he did not borate," before lightly adding,
"But so many ships are here, right? That means it can''t have been that bad. So let us please rest first."
Alexander could wait to hear the bad news.
"Yes, I guess," Was the somewhat tired reply as the men then atst returned to Alexander''s manor.
And thus the unloading and cement of all the people was finished in a day.
The next day, due to working until midnight the day prior, Alexander skipped breakfast and directly woke up at around lunchtime.
Since it was a holiday anyway as many of the council members were taking a day off to spend time with their families, it was no big deal anyway.
So, Alexanderzily woke up, got refreshed, and only after a grand feast with the guests that he finally got down to asking about their journey and what had happened.
"So, what is it you guys are so down about?" Alexander said the question in his study, where Mithras and Lord Karvish sat on a coach, slipping a cold milkshake vored with strawberry, Alexander''stest invention
Summer was knocking at the doorsteps, and the temperature was already causing some difort, hence the advent of this item.
Hearing the question, Mithras quickly removed the metal straw from the mouth, and in a said tone reported,
"Because we had to collect people from so many ces, we had decided to split our fleet into many groups, each given in charge of an area."
"And in one of those areas, there was a sudden storm that sunk all the ships. We lost around 10 ships and 3,000 to 4,000 men."
Alexander had long expected such news, both from reading between the lines and more so because he had counted about 90 ships when he had clearly sent around a 100.
He had even double-checked to make sure he was not wrong.
So took the report with a nod, solemnly saying, "That is indeed a tragedy. But that is the risk of sailing, for the weather at sea is in the hands of the gods. Let us pray they will be let into Elysium." as he then pious sped his hands like as he saying a prayer.
Alexander''s reverence towards the gods might have been fake, but he did genuinely feel bad about those people, both for the drowned and those still living in Zanzan who had lost everyone they knew.
But that was the inherent risk associated with sailing these days and it was even something people had somewhat grown to expect.
So Alexander could only thank his lucky stars that the people who died were not anyone rted to people he was close to, like his retainers.
"That is not the worst thing." After Mithras, Lord Karvish quickly spoke up in his gruff tone, adding, "Unfortunately those ships also carried a lot of our gold. We nned to use it to pay the ports there and also bribe the officials to get some seals that would let us easier ess to the subsequent ports."
"All that went down too." Lord Karvish again produced that rueful voice.
"Yes, and after that, we debated whether to turn back." Mithras picked up the conversation, saying, "But knowing why you sent us there, decided to continue. Captain Lord Karvish even decided to forego the sries of him and his crew to enable us."
"And by the grace of the gods we somehow managed to shoehorn the finance of the trip by asking the various families to contribute. Thank Opkus!"
The ending of that sentence both had relief and also a hint of expectation.
"But you promised everyone I would pay them back?" Alexander easily understood where they were angling, and produced a knowing look.
He also kind of understood that unusually loud cheer yesterday when he had promised to pay for the dock workers.
It seemed that the people that came here were really penniless.
And he got a positive, sheepish nod in return.
Alexander then ttened his lips at this, not understanding who he should be angry towards, Mithras and Lord Karvish for losing the ships, or the storm for being there.
But ultimately Alexander knew he would have to just suck it up.
This might be the first time he lost some ships, but it would certainly not be thest.
Not if wanted to have a maritime tradework.
"So much how did you lose?" Alexander thus cidly asked.
And Mithras put in head down and lowly squeaked the astronomical number, "Ten million."
This huge number cause Alexander to instantly exim in fright, ".....what! I gave you 15 million ropals, and you lost two-thirds! Why did you put so much into a few ships?"
Alexander had of course foreseen the dangers at sea, which was why he had told them to distribute the money among many ships.
"We did that because the ships were reaching port, and we intended to buy lots of grains from there for Zanzan," Mithras could only mewl out his excuse.
He knew this was a blunder he could be held culpable for, for the money he had lost was truly huge.
10 million ropals was equivalent to 200 kg of gold, or two whole Alexanders.
"......." Alexander silently kept his lips pursed for a while, a long, long while hearing the excuse, until finally letting out a sigh and saying,
"Fine, I will pay for everything. The ships lost, the due sries, and the coin spent. You will all be reimbursed."
Alexander could only take the L here.
"Hahaha, the lord is understanding. Excellent! Excellent!" And as soon as Alexander had said this, Lord Karvish''s mood rxed tenfold, as he slouched back and even started sipping his beverage.
It seemed the real reason why he was so sad and tense was not because of the dead men, but because of the lost money.
While Alexander worked on his next economic package inside his head.
Out of the 1 billion ropals he originally had, he had traded with Ptolomy and Pasha Farzah goods worth 600 million ropals.
Then he spent another 70 million paying the sries of his men and developing Zanzan, introducing ropals into the economy when it originally had almost none.
And nowstly he was going to have to spend around another 30 million on the Thesians and their transport fare.
Meaning Alexander had already burned through 70% of his savings in just five months.
For context, this was an amount even the top 0.1% of the top 0.1% of the world would never get to own.
And if this spending spree went on as usual, Alexander would be broke within the next two months.
''*Sigh*, I really hope I know what I''m doing,'' Faced with this statistic, even Alexander felt apprehensive and really hoped Zanzan would be able to pay for itself.
And pay for itself soon enough or he would be broke.
But even with this potential bankruptcy on the horizon, Alxx knew he would have to cough up the aid, be it to help the Thesian get up on their feet, boost the economy, or cate Shordar Karvish, who answered to Lady Inayah, and one who was a powerful ally for now.
So the next day Alexander announced 5 million to the ship crews, and 10 million to the Thesians aspensation, pleasing everyone but himself.
But Alexander would soon get to please himself with some good news, and it was good news about money nevertheless.
For the second good news hade in the form of Harold, the rich merchant from Sybarsis.
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Chapter 459 Food Shortages
In the past one and a half month after winning the battle, Alexander was starting to go through some pretty tough times.
Sure he had won a great victory and secured his borders as well as gaining four new followers, who as a side note had left after only three days after swearing their fealty in an informal setting due to time constraints, promising toe back in May when all the nobles were asked to answer Alexander''s call for a more formal swearing.
But after the initial sess of the great win, Alexander was made to face some serious challenges.
And that was not only with money but actually the food.
In fact, that was the much bigger problem as there was Alexander began to genuinely concern himself that Zanzan might soon start to starve.
For the 20,000 tons of grains he had bought with him from Adhan was starting to graze the bottom of the barrel.
Eating 20,000 tons of grain in less than 6 months might sound like a lot, but once you did the math, you would find it really not that much.
For instance, the average person consumed around 500 grams of floor each day, with another 500g to 700g consisting of vegetables and fruits.
Alexander would not usually provide thetter, instead letting the people have their pick of the side, which in this drought-ridden pit hole consisted of mainly wild berries, mushrooms, and if they were lucky garden vegetables such as peas and beans that the people would have managed to grow in their backyards.
Alexander would sometimes give smoked meat and fish, usually about twice weekly, while the rest of the days the people would need to depend on the fishmonger for some protein, as meat was really non-existence due to scarcity of suitable domestic animals.
Whatever cow, horse and ox the people had had long been cooked, digested, and ejected, while anyone still possessing one would rather use it to plow the fields.
And as for birds like chickens, ducks and fowl, they were simrly a rare breed, with meat almost as expensive as gold, and just one egg costing 2 ropals.
Hence, as Alexander only handed out grain to the 150,000 poption, his stockpiles were enough tost a bit less than 9 months, 6 of which he had unfortunately already spent.
And this was not to mention the grains he had used to nt the crops, which required around 150 kg of seed per hectare.
This meant that with 27,000 hectares of grain nted, Alexander in total had already used up about 16,000 tons of grains.
And now with the addition of around 20,000 to 25,000 new mouths of feed, it meant that Alexander had only about a month and a half left till the stocks werepletely empty, i.e.- until the end of May.
This was also why Alexander was so vehemently opposed to fighting a siege, and pushed for an open battle.
Now, this food situation was not a surprise to Alexander.
He had done the math even prior toing to Zanzan, and knew his limits very well.
This was precisely why he had asked Pasha Farzah for an additional 30,000 tons of food.
A shipment that had been promised to him within 4 months and that should have been here months ago.
Alexander had been even prudent enough topensate that Pasha Farzah might be dyed or face other problems by stocking up on three times the grain amount, enabling him to theoretically reach 13 months, though that was based on assuming the poption would be a maximum of 100,000, not touch 200,000.
But Alexander had only allowed the numbers to rise that high because Pasha Farzah constantly reassured him that there would be no dys with the shipment, which was also why Alexander had rxed the rationing and sponsored generous food programs.
Even his wedding was conducted based on that promise.
A promise thatsted until the war broke.
After which Pasha Farzah began to suddenly have a million other problems.
Thus Alexander was now left with mostly praying that Pasha Farzah came to Zanzan by May and had the necessary grain with him.
And this situation had even made Alexander a bit reproach himself for acting like the tough guy and not maintaining cordial rtions with such a critical ally.
''They are bigger, stronger, and better than you. For now remember that,'' Alexander told to himself, taking note to keep warm rtions with others even if they don''t always reciprocate back equally.
At least for now, where he needed them much more than they needed him.
Now it had to be said that it was not like Alexander was without options when it really came down to it.
This was also why he had not throttled the food supply yet, even when Menicus was ringing rm bells.
Because Alexander would do any of the following things.
He could simply re-introduce the rationing, and decrease the per-head consumption by 20%, giving out 400g of floor rather than the usual 500g per capita.
This might be unpopr, but the people would likely suck it up as Alexander would still be giving out food.
Plus, Alexander would not even need to publicly admit it as the rationing that he had initiated when the city had gone to war production mode was still in ce.
So he could just make the portion smaller.
And even if the people noticed, Alexander could simply say this was the new portion, take it or leave it.
Then there was the second option-food reallocation.
Alexander had noticed that the Thesians had bought quite a kind of good with them, about 50 to 80 kg of floor her family and he contemted buying that food for gold, though the sale might not be voluntary.
Sure the total food would not berge, maybe roundabout 500 tons at best, but in a starving situation, every morsel mattered.
But though Alexander had contemted it, he was very very unlikely to imnt this even in the direst situation because then what he would be doing was taking sustenance from the families of his soldiers.
The very men that fought, died, and protected him.
If Alexander really did that then he would not be able to do a more stupid thing even if he tried.
So, Alexander was in fact of the mind that if push really came to shove he might even do the opposite and keep his army well-fed and happy.
So this meant Alexander would have to move to his next consideration.
Which proposed doing a simr thing Amenheraft had done when Adhania started experiencing drought.
And that was attacking your neighbor for food.
For Amenheraft that was Tibias, and for Alexander that would be the surrounding nobles.
And Alexander was pretty sure he would be able to squeeze out quite a bit of fat from these currently defenseless sheep.
Though the risk associated with that and the chance of the situation quickly escting to unimaginable heights was all too real.
And still, it was this and the first option was thebination that Alexander was most leaning towards, though he was of the mind to wait till thest possible minute and really hope that Pasha Farzah arrived on time.
Alexander really did not risk starting another war.
And thenstly there was the worst-case scenario where everything had failed.
Meaning no food left, and no hope of getting more anytime soon.
And though this might sound apocalyptic, even then everything would most likely note crashing down.
This was because the people had had their spring harvest, where they collected around 12,000 hectares of vegetables amounting to about 10,000 tons of various produce which they could subsist on until August to September when the wheat be ready to harvest.
Alexander additionally also had close to 15,000 draft animals he could ughter in a do-or-die case.
Andstly, he could simply buy more food from others in the open market.
Now thisst option had not been on the cards until Mithras and Lord Karvish arrived, because Alexander had burnt all his sea-worthy ships, and was not left with anything bigger than a fishing vessel.
And since Tibias would not trade with him due to the recent wars, that only left him with Sybarsis.
And luckily for Alexander, that was quite feasible, for though maind Sybarsis was quite far away, they also controlled the ind of Galosos which was just 1600 km southwest of Zanzan.
It would take about 14 days to reach them by ship.
Now originally due to bad blood, trade between Adhania and Sybarsis was banned.
Or else Adhania could have rode the drought and barely anyone would have noticed.
But since Ptolomy took office, though the decree had not been repelled, it was tacitly agreed to turn a blind eye to anyone dealing with them, especially someone like Alexander who had special privileges.
Thus Alexander was currently of the mind to convince Lord Karvish to make the trip.
And since just the travel time of a round trip would take about a month, never mind actually buying and loading the stuff into the ships, Alexander wanted to start the talks right away, even though he knew the shorder would ask for a premium.
But fortunately for him, Alexander was spared that, for the stout merchant Harold announced himself two days after the Thesians hadnded.
And he had bought with him 20 ships, filled to the brim with food, ves, and animals.
¡
Chapter 460 Guests From Sybarsis (Part-1)
"Is this Zanzan? What happened to it?" As Harold''s ship approved the harbor, this question was asked by an elder Caucasian man standing next to him.
And though the question was phrased like something bad had taken ce, it actually represented surprise and exmation.
Because from the bow of the ship, the man was given a clear view of how busy the crescent-shaped harbor was.
Particrly the elder gentleman focused his eyes on the wharf (the ce where ships docked), and was astounded to see that was it was so full that only a tiny portion of it was actually avable for docking and disembarking.
And though the size of the dock was not that big and amount of ships not that much whenpared to the one in his city, it was quite impressive for Zanzan.
Aparison he could make because the man was a long-time navigator and hade to Zanzan several times in the past.
And in all those visits he had rarely seen the harbor so full.
Perhaps maybe during war times when the ships would be used to transport troops.
''When did Zanzan be such a huge trading hub?'' He hence wondered as he gazed at the huge number of ships.
Now, the man had made a mistake here.
Because the ships he was seeing were all of Lady Inayah''s transport ships that had brought the Thesians.
And not cargo vessels of trade.
But even then it was undeniable that Zanzan was growing at a rapid rate, attracting farmers and merchants from all the nearby viges.
"Indeed, my lord. I too am surprised. It was not nearly as busy when I first came here, haha" Harold had a toady smile as he quite reverentially answered the man, with the words ''my lord'' being a huge clue why.
The portly man was also happy with seeing the harbor busy because it showed all the hype he had spread about Alexander with the nobility was true.
"I see. It seems it is like you said. Unlike Pasha Muazz, this city lord values trade very much,"
Came the impressed response, just as Harold had hoped.
But then the old man put his chin and changed his tone to a light childling voice, "But even I never thought that this city lord would be rich enough to construct his harbor with marble! *Tsk*, *Tsk*, *Tsk*, it seems looting the Grand Temple has spoiled the little boy."
The aged man who had a pressed white beard was now speaking like an elder dictating to a naughty child.
"Hahaha, yes, yes, you are correct my lord." And Harold was there to butter the man up, adding, "I have personally verified that all the rumors about this city lord being young and previously a small mercenary leader as true. So it''s no wonder he would choose to squander his money like this, hehehe."
"That''s not marble. Don''t talk like you know marble when you have never seen it,"
Suddenly, the pink, amicable atmosphere between the two men was shattered by this high, pitched sarcastic feminine voice, whose owner swaggered behind the men.
And both men instantly whirled around to greet her.
Their eyes met a curvy, maturedy in her early twenties, with sharp eyes, thin red lips, and a pointed face.
Her powdered face radiated an authoritative aura. and her expensive gold and diamond jewelry meshed perfectly with hervish green gown to show off her status.
But those were not her most distinguishing features.
For that would be expressed by the following words,
"Mydy, you should be careful. The doctors said too much moving is harmful to the child," The older gentleman said thisced with caution, for the woman was visibly very pregnant.
"I wanted to get some fresh air. And besides, we have arrived, haven''t we?" Thedy brushed off the concerns and spoke in a tone that seemed to suggest she was the person in charge there.
''Ahh, yes, Your Grace. We should be docking anytime now. Within a bit," Harold quickly endeavored to answer with a nod.
And then quickly ordered the crew to prepare the ship to dock and anchor.
Soon these were done and after Harold quickly finished registering his ships with the authorities, that fortunately did not take too long as Alexander had given Harold a special pass to cut through all the red tape, and the two nobles were ready to disembark.
"It really is not marble," The elder gentleman eximed in surprise as he tapped his foot onto the concrete harbor, and when looked at Harold inquisitively, asking if the merchant could give some insight.
"I''m sorry Lord Junus, but the harbor was made of stone when I came in January. So I have no idea," But Harold could only ruefully shake his head.
After the battle, Alexander had decided to give the harbor a thinyer of concrete as there were a lot of holes, while also making it very nice to look at, with the intent to impress new merchantsing to Zanzan.
And the evidence of its efficacy seemed to present itself.
"Whatever it is made of can wait. Let us meet the city lord for now," This sharp tone again belonged to the nobledy, who said so the moment her feetnded on the docks, seeming to not want to waste a moment of her time.
And she urged the two men to not dilly-dally either and pushed them to move faster.
"Yes, yes, Lady Miranda. The city guards have promised to hire a carriage for us. It ising right away," Harold then quickly spoke to cate this current in a foul mooddy, and so until the carriage could make it through the huge crowd, the trio was required to wait.
"This port is not half bad," Lord Junus half-mindedlymented as he took in the sights, observing how the white cement floor glowed like marble under the summer sun, and people from all walks of life appeared to be flowing from one side to the other like busy bees, with dock workers tirelessly working, hawkers peddling their produce, and customers buying goods.
While Lady Miranda was more concerned about her purchasing list.
"Harold, are you sure the city lord will be able to sell us the iron we need? In that quantity?" She asked, for that was the main thing she was here to buy.
"The city lord has admitted he has that much iron. But he was not willing to sell it then because he said he wanted to equip his army and did not have enough stocks. So if mydy can convince him now, I can guarantee we can get the iron we need," Harold repeated the answer he had given probably a million times by now.
A subtle point to note here could be them addressing Alexander as city lord and not pasha, which was simply because they did not recognize him as such for the territory he controlled was too small, around the area a small Jamider (Earl) controlled.
"You said he had asked for food, ves, and animals from you. So we bought seven ships of all those things. Why would he not sell?" Lady Miranda posed this not as a question but as a way to bolster her spirit, as they were really desperate for iron.
And with this hope in her heart, she boarded the carriage.
This carriage would not take her not directly to Alexander''s mansion, but to one of the many noble residences Alexander had remolded as personal vis for his guests to stay and rest, until Alexander could clear his schedule and was able to make an appointment.
This Alexander did the moment a messenger came to him to inform of the merchant''s arrival, as was he currently in his study, in the midst ofmenting that Mithras had not bought any food with him.
So quickly, only a bitter, Alexander was greeting the finely dressed merchant in his outer hall, moving his arms animatedly and smiling, "Mister Harold, it is a pleasure to see to again. How are you?"
The man seemed asrge and portly as ever, with his stubby, fleshy fingers decorated with gemmed rings holding a milkshake.
"Ahhh, my lord, greetings. I''m honored that you decided to meet us so quickly." The man quickly got up to give a full bow, while Junus and Miranda gave a polite nod.
After which Harold quickly got to introducing them, gesturing with his palms and saying,
"My lord, let me introduce you."
''This is Baron Junus. He leads the fleet of the Margrave family."
"And this is Earl Miranda, now the eldest daughter of the Margrave family."
"Their fiefdom is in Galosos and have ruled there for three hundred years."
Alexander was certainly surprised by the arrival of such rtive bigshots, for he did not think people woulde so quickly.
And had both a good and a bad feeling toward it.
Good because of more business, bad because of fear of attracting jealous eyes.
But whatever the reason, he remembered to present himself as cordially as possible, giving arge smile and joyously saying, "It is a pleasure to meet you, my lord, and mydy. This is my first time meeting nobles from Sybaris. Honored, I''m honored."
"Hahaha, Lord Alexander is too courteous. In fact, it is we who should be honored," Lord Junus replied equally humbly, saying,
"After all, you winning against Pasha Djose''s Jahal mercenaries makes us stand in the presence of a legend. Hahaha."
It seemed news of his victory had even crossed the seas.
Chapter 461 Guests From Sybarsis (Part-2)
Alexander would admit he was a bit surprised hearing Lord Janus address him as such.
Sure he had expected they would know about the battle.
But being able to not only know about the Jahal mercenary''s participation but even more frighteningly their exact number while being 1,600km away was beyond impressive.
This truly astounded him.
"Haha,"
Alexander gave a light chuckle to hide this shock and then quickly got down to business,
"So, what can I offer you guys? Paper? Soap? ss?" He asked.
"Iron." The word was short and sharp, and let out by thedy whose lips quivered and shook as she spoke.
The answer was so quick and impatient that even a child would have been able to able sense they were in really great need of it.
And this sentiment was further reinforced by the grimaced face he noticed Lord Janus pull, making him correctly presume they had likely discussed how to handle the negotiations but thedy had jumped the gun nevertheless.
It seemed they were under a lot of stress.
And hence Alexander decided to poke around a bit, probingly saying, "We certainly have iron. But I''m sure Mister Harold has also told you that those cannot be made into weapons. So may I ask why?"
"We want it nevertheless. And we are even willing to pay 200 ropals per kg for it," Thedy again blurted out, avoiding the question, but still showing even more of her cards.
This eldest daughter might be a beauty, but she was no negotiator, as outright saying that one was willing to pay 200 ropals for iron ingots that went for 150 ropals was a very obvious way to tell they were desperate.
A fact well understood by the other two men, who clutched their fists in frustration and could barely stop themselves from pping their heads.
While to Alexander this appeared to show that thisdy was their leader, while the other two were very much down the pecking order, as they seemed too scared to stop her.
''This is getting interesting,'' Alexander hence smirked, and then slouching back, very easily said,
"Okay. We can sell you the iron. How much do you need?"
The ease with which Alexander said this surprised the trio, as given how Harold had described to Lord Janus and Lady Miranda about Alexander''s refusal to sell iron to him previously, they had assumed much more negations would be needed.
But what they did not know was that Alexander''s stanch had changed from back then.
Back then Alexander had wanted to use the iron to open a cast iron pottery shop.
But now faced with a severebor shortage and other priorities, he had decided to push that project several years down the line.
So Alexander was currently in the market looking for buyers of his iron.
And here they were.
Additionally, there was also the fact that Alexander wanted to build closer ties with these people to tap into their intelligencework, a thought he came up all from that almost innocuous greeting Lord Janus had given him.
"We want to buy all of it. Everyst scrap," Finally Lord Janus got to insert himself into the conversation, confidently demanding the entire stock.
When Harold had talked up Alexander, it only made the two nobles consider that Alexander may have around a few tons or at best about ten tons of iron.
So they could have never guessed what Alexander would say next.
"Haha, then by your price limit, that woulde to 200 million," He chuckled as Alexander had built up a month''s stockpile of iron by now, amounting to around 1,000 tons.
"What! Are you deaf? We said kg, not grams!" And even before Alexander could finish, Lady Miranda immediately erupted, almost jumping up from her sofa in rage, as she red at Alexander hatefully.
Thedy clearly thought Alexander was trying to swindle them.
While Alexander only raised an eyebrow at this discourteous behavior.
Sure the woman might be pregnant and have her hormones in overdrive.
But it was still not any excuse to burst like that.
"M..my lord, Lady Miranda did not mean anything by it. She is just stressed,"
"Yes, yes, mydy was simply surprised. She meant no disrespect"
Immediately afterward, the two men jumped forward to try and douche the fire, providing various excuses and reasons.
"...." While Alexander appeared unimpressed, only pursing his lips and leaning back.
"Why do you need the iron? And why have you bought such an imminently duedy to the negotiations?" He atst frostily asked.
To which the two men nced at each other for a bit, trying to figure out what to do, with ultimately Lord Janus deciding that it would be better to cate Alexander by answering his question rather than risk losing the iron.
Alexander''s tone did not sound too friendly right now.
"My lord, let me say it" He hence stepped forward, and exined,
"Recently the Margrave family has been charged with treason by the governor of Galisos. The reason is trading with Iyizarid, "
"To that effect, arge naval fleet was sent against us, but fortunately, a hurricane happened to hit them right when they approached our city."
"This was certainly a boon from the gods," The old man nodded forcefully, but then his voice turned mncholic, "But that also destroyed our fleet that went to fight it. Mydy lost her father, many of her brothers, and even her husband."
"The waves then also destroyed our harbor and most of the walls there, flooding the city and causing great devastation. So much so that it forced Lady Miranda to evacuate with her remaining family members and citizens to my city."
It was after hearing this that Alexander understood why Harold had introduced Miranda as ''now the eldest daughter'' as opposed to just the eldest daughter.
It seems some of her sisters had also died in the subsequent flooding.
As Alexander connected these dots, Lord Janus was still continuing, "But even after his naval failure, Governor Straus was undeterred. And soon afterward, we got the news that and invasion was being raised to attack our city and finish us off."
"So we raced to raise our own."
"And that was where ourck of metal ores revealed itself. For ourrge stockpiles had been washed away by the flood, and we are unable to mine enough quickly." He let out a powerless sigh saying this, before going on.
"Thus the decision was taken to buy them from every merchant and vendor there was. And that was how we met Harold, who was peddling some of your iron."
"We bought the ingots, and seeing their quality, asked him when we could get more. And that was how we got to learn that you had arge amount of iron ore."
"But then we were told that you were unwilling to sell them."
"And so, as currently the eldest member of the family, mydy chose toe here despite her advanced stage of pregnancy to try and convince you."
The old man finally finished his long speech.
''She could have done it better if she had note,'' Alexander had to try very hard to not retort with this snarky remark after hearing the tragic incident, as not to appear insensitive, and ultimately managed to put on a solemn, understanding face,
"My condolences to you mydy."
"I also apologize for my rude behavior. I let my emotions get the best of me." Lady Miranda too seemed to calm down and even bowed politely.
Seeing the sense of civility return, Alexander decided to go back to the sales topic, saying
"I was not kidding when I said that it would cost 200 million if you wanted by entire stock. I currently have 1000 tons of iron ingots."
He had a light smile as he said this, which drew bigger at the satisfaction of seeing the trio draw bulging eyes and look all confused.
Alexander always enjoyed seeing that expression.
While for the three there, they tried to make sense of the offer.
1000 tons of iron was close to 1% of Sybarsis''s annual consumption,
And this was for a country the size of the modern US.
While the same amount was imed toe from a city that was basically another settlement in most''s eyes.
Anyone would have been not only surprised but likely called Alexander a liar hearing this.
''Tha¡that..how,'' And this was the exact emotion the three sitting in front of him were experiencing, who could not believe their ears.
But they also could not call Alexander air or prankster.
"That¡we cannot afford that much. Maybe 10 tons." So Lord Janus only chose this modest amount.
But Alexander offered a much better deal.
"As friends, I will offer you the iron ingot at 50 ropals per kg. So how much would you like to buy?"
He did not do this purely because of altruism, but more so because he wanted to sell more ingots.
To which Lord Janus epted with a heartbeat, "Tha¡.then we will ept."
In fact, it was so quick that he actually stammered, as he was afraid Alexander might change his mind, or even that he had misspoken.
And as for how Alexander could offer such low prices, that could wait.
The most important thing now was not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"So how will you buy now?" Alexander then asked, which made the two nobles look at each in askance.
They were now not sure themselves.
Chapter 462 Guests From Sybarsis (Part-3)
Lord Janus never thought the problem he would have to deal withing here would not be having too little iron but too much.
And so cheap too.
Hence he had to fight against his innate mercantile impulse to buy as much iron as possible.
For the profit margins on them would be truly astronomical.
But given they were at war, he also had to consider that perhaps their limited resources would be better spent elsewhere.
And so Lord Janus and Lady Miranda were seen furtively ncing at one another.
Finally, after a while of consideration, Lord Janus spoke with gritted teeth,
"My lord, we are unable to buy your entire stock. But we would like to buy as much as we can."
"Harold told us that you preferred food, ves, and draft animals for your transactions. So we will use them." Lord Janus atst determined.
The reason for his decision was that the iron could both be used to fight and sold in foreign markets to raise funds.
"Oh? How much do you have?" Alexander really hoped they had a lot of food.
"We have 10 ships of various grain, vegetables, fruits, and wine, totaling for 3,000 tons.
"We have 5 ships of ves numbering 2,000."
"Andstly we have 6 ships amounting to 500 horses, donkeys, and mules."
Harold gave the exact numbers and even sounded a bit proud.
This was the first time he had traded in such volumes.
''Sure enough, the nobles do it differently,'' He said to himself.
While Alexander was actually a bit disappointed hearing the numbers.
Because the amount of food was much lower than he had expected.
Given the 3,000 tons were not purely grains but a variety of food, Alexander estimated this would let him run another 2 weeks, and that was without mentioning the fresh addition of more people and animals.
But anything was better than nothing.
So Alexander was still happy to ept.
"So much do you want to sell for?" Alexander then asked.
And as an experienced businessman who had been bought here precisely to negotiate this, Harold quickly gave the prices.
"My lord, we were hoping to get 4,500 ropals per ton for the food. 4,500 ropals for each ve. And 1,000 ropal for one animal. That makes everything a total of 27.5 million ropals."
Alexander paused a bit to verify the maths in his head, after which he raised his eyebrow a bit and asked, "Hmmm? The prices seem 10% higher, doesn''t it?"
To which Harold gave a loose smile and said,
"But my lord, didn''t you list these prices thest time we met?"
Harold was referring to how Alexander had promised to buy the goods at a 10% markup.
But Alexander would not pay more if he could get away with paying less.
And so gave this retort. "And didn''t you list iron at 200 ropals?"
Which made Harold''s lips twitch and he could not help but inwardly cuss the youngdy.
"I will pay the market price for the goods. So let''s say a total of 25 million ropals. Which will buy you 500 tons of iron. Agreed?" Alexander then gave his own offer, and after the three looked at each other for a while, and with a nod from Lady Miranda, Janus was there to ept.
"Sure. That seems fair. We ept," He said
They were actually quite satisfied with the trade, because ording to them, they had bought at least 75 million ropals worth of goods,ting them around 50 million ropals if they could sell it to the right customer.
So the 2.5 million did not seem too big a deal.
"Great! Then it''s agreed! " Alexander gave a loud p and arge smile signifying thepletion of the deal, and finished by saying, "We will get you the things within three days."
The party could finally let out a breath of relief at having secured their weapon materials, and Lady Miranda, who had gone quite quiet after her foible with Alexander, even spoke up in a grateful tone, "Thank you. The Margrave family will not forget your support, my lord."
"No problem," Alexander gave a light smile, and then asked a simple question that had been bothering him, "Though, I have to ask, if you needed iron to make weapons, why didn''t you just buy the weapons directly? I heard Sybarsis is a great trading power."
This semeed like a no brainer.
Lady Miranda first gave an awkward smile to this, before quickly hiding it as she did not want to embarrass Alexander.
The reason for the smile was because she could not believe Alexander had not heard of the Margrave family.
And here Harold decided to help thedy out.
"The Margrave family is one of the biggest arms suppliers around here. Everyone buys from them. So¡."
He meant to say that they were the ones who sold the weapons.
There was no one to sell them back.
"Oh? Not even Thesos or Tibias? Or the warring states?" But Alexander sounded skeptical.
The world was arge ce and given they also sold weapons to these regions, Alexander was sure they would be able to resource some of it.
"*Sigh*, unfortunately, Thesos is too far away to get them quickly. And Tibias does not have enough stocks. So the prices they asked for them was outrageous. We could not afford them."
"We would have gotten them nheless if we failed here," Here Lord Janus helped fill Alexander''s confusion.
"I see," Alexander understandingly nodded, and then nced at Lady Miranda to say, "To think I would be in the presence of such a powerful family. I''m honored."
He actually meant what he said, for being someone big enough to supply all the parties in this war-torn era was not anything easy.
This family must have serious muscles behind it.
"Haha," Lady Miranda gave a proud chuckle to this, but then quickly said, "No, no, it is we who should be honored. Our family cannot make 1,000 tons of iron like you can after all, haha"
Lady Miranda''s eyes were naturally drawn to that huge amount of iron and its production process, as would anyone''s.
And only the civility of meeting Alexander for the first kept her from asking for the details.
"Haha, yes, well I cannot seem to make weapons out of the iron I make. ''Cracks if heated, breaks if beaten'' my cksmiths tell. Alexander lightly chuckled the lie, and then praised, "But mydy seems to have solved that. It seems the Margrave family''s smithing skills are truly the best in the world."
Thetter was not as big a lie as the former, because if they were indeed able to refine Alexander''s ''civilian steel'', they had to be given credit for that.
"Oh really?" Lady Miranda sounded genuinely surprised at Alexander''s inability to manipte his steel, and after looking at Lord Janus, she spoke in a doubtful tone, "But I have been told that Lord Alexander''s iron is certainly among the best ingots in the market. Who is your cksmith? What''s his experience? Perhaps my lord would like someone from Galiosos?"
She seemed to genuinely offer him that advice.
Which caught Alexander a bit off guard.
For he had never thought his junk steel would be really any good.
Now, Alexander had expected that weapons would be made from even his bad steel.
Because junk or not, it was still good steel made using modern techniques.
But he certainly never excepted that it would be much good.
For goodness sake, Alexander would even intentionally add impurities to make it crap.
And if even after that it was said to be one of the best steels in the markets, then Alexander could only me the abysmal standard of iron smelting of this time period.
And this was in fact the truth, aspared to the st furnace and Bessemer process, even the best steel of this time was junk.
This was not to just say that the cksmiths of this world were ipetent, as even the cksmiths of the middle ages made quite poor steel whenpared to modern times, be it the katana, or the even more famous Damascus steel, as chemical analysis of those weapons showed the presence ofrge amounts of impurities and gs.
But it just went on to show how much quicker and better modern steel-making techniques could make the product.
But it did not mean Alexander''s precautions were useless.
Because Lady Miranda had lied a bit here.
Alexander''s ingots were indeed not suitable to be made into good weapons, but the cksmiths'' of the Margrave family had been starting to use powered limestone during their hammering process to forge weapons, which would remove some of the impurities such as sulfur and phosphorous in the steel, and enable them to shape the weapons.
This was one of the most highly guarded secrets of the Margrave family which was why Lady Miranda had lied, and though this was nowhere near as efficient and efficacious as Alexander''s process, and the weapons would be significantly worse than thetter''s, it was good enough.
As a matter of fact, this refining technique was likely the biggest reason the Margrave was able to dominate the arms market of the eastern region of Galiosis and was even among the reasons for the attack against them.
But since Alexander had no idea about this, he simply presumed that the steel-making standards of this time were simply that bad.
And agreed to the deal.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 463 Guests From Sybarsis (Part-4)
Alexander would have likely sold his iron even if he knew about the technique.
Because he needed to sell his product.
And it would likely be the same product because he could only raise the amount of impurities in steel only so much before it becausepletely useless.
"Hahaha, thank you for your advice Lady Miranda. I will be sure to," Alexander hence lightly smiled, and quickly decided to steer the topic elsewhere.
Particrly towards the Margraves and Sybarsis in general.
"If you do not mind me asking mydy, seeing as the Margrave family is so powerful, why are you being attacked? Is there any truth to the ims?" Alexander curiously asked.
Though thetter portion could certainly be considered somewhat rude, as he was asking them to their face if they were traitors.
And surprisingly the nobles were frank in their admission.
"The reason for Governor Straus''sattack is not due to us trading with Iyizarid, Everyone doe that even though that is banned. Even he does it, the swine." Lord Janus cursed the man in a mocking, frustrated voice, before saying, "No, the real for his attack is because he wants ournd. Simple as that."
Lord Janus could not reveal the truly real reason for the attack, the smelting technique, and the arms market, and gave this secondary reason.
This Alexander bought.
After all, expanding one''s territory was an innate desire of every noble.
What was so strange about it?
"Oh? But why now? What changed? What do the other nobles say?" Alexander then followed up on his question.
And here Lady Miranda decided to give a detailed introduction to Sybaris.
She began. "The Straus and Margrave families have always been at odds over the rule of Galiosos. But the reason why they chose to attack us now has to do with some power shifts in our northern maind. To be precise it is because we lost a fewrge battles against Iyizarid, resulting in huge territorial losses, but much more importantly for us, the loss of our biggest ally in the maind."
Lady Miranda here paused to look at Alexander and posed, "As a Thesian, I presume you know Iyizarid? And how aggressive that nation is?"
And Alexander was quick to respond,
"*Nod*, yes, they are theocracy like Adhania, worshiping the dragon god Bahamut. And their core doctrine is an expansion of territory and bringing everyone under their belief." Alexander had learned this short suLady Mirandaary of the nation situated between Thesos and Sybaris who aggressively attacked their neighbors from his travels as a mercenary.
Though fortunately, he had never had to fight them
"Yes, that is correct. The red nation we call them after their red uniform" Lady Miranda returned the nod, and then continued, "Recently they have managed to win a great victory against such, and took three provinces, resulting in much losses for us."
"And with these losses sustained, some scapegoat had to be found. And it was, unfortunately, us," The pregnantdy out a helpless sigh saying this.
But quickly got back to the conversation, exining why it was them.
"You see lord Alexander, Sybarsis is quite different from Adhania from its kings, or even Thesos with its senate."
"Instead the huge country is run by powerful merchant families, with the fourteen most powerful merchant families together forming the confederation council. And as you might have guessed, the heads of each family have a seat in that council."
"They control everything in Syabris and like your pashas, all noble families in Sybarsis and all business undoubtedly belong to one of these families. Naturally, this also includes us, who belong to the Marsh family. They are our ally and backer."
"While Governor Straus belongs to the Kaiser Family."
"And as I said before, the head of the Marsh family, Lord March has died under Iyizarid, ''s attack a few weeks ago, along with arge part of his family''s army."
"Which not only created a temporary vacancy in the council''s seat but also weakened them quite a bit."
"In fact, it was so much so that the Kaiser family used this opportunity to proim that the loss Sybarsis suffered was due to us selling weapons to Iyizarid, saying only fine weapons like ours could have enabled Iyizarid to get victory in battle."
"And he then arbitrarily instructed Governor Straus to attack us, his real intent being as a way to drag the March family down. Because we are their biggest weapons supplier."
By the end of it, Lady Miranda sounded weak and helpless, while Alexander was not at all surprised by all the shenanigans.
Another name for politics was being thrown under the bus when it was convenient.
Instead he focused on something else that did not add.
"And the other council members just sat around and let it happen?" He raised his eyebrow in surprise.
"Hmph, they are all scrambling to find a scapegoat. Thends that were lost were fertile farnds. So we fit it perfectly!" Lord Janus loudly huLady Mirandaed the answer, showing his anger and rage.
"Oh? Why?" But to Alexander that did not make sense.
If there was really only a need for scapegoats, families far smaller and less important could have worked.
If one was not enough, then they could have used a bunch, no problem.
"Because the many nobles who had lost theirnds could be moved to Galiosis and the Margrave family''s estate. It is a huge conspiracy." Lady Miranda''s voice was sounding even weaker.
"I see. That is unfortunate." Alexander only lightly empathized with them, for they were not his problem.
And then posed a deep question, "So how does this end? If it is a conspiracy as you said, then will Sybarsis keep attacking you until they seed? "
Alexander was basically asking them how long they could hold, and against how many attacks.
Because there was no way for a tiny earldom to defeat the colossus called Sybarsis.
"We have already sent messengers to the March family. They have yet to reply, but they should be getting ready to solve this. We just need to hold on against this attack," Lady Miranda was very quick to answer this, though she sounded more hopeful than certain.
But Alexander did not burst that bubble.
Because maybe everything would work out just as Lady Miranda said.
But as for himself, he much preferred to presume that the Marsh family might be unable to help, or even unwilling.
The former might be simply because of the losses they suffered.
If it was truly bad, even the Margrave family might not be told about it.
Whiletter might be because of what Lady Miranda had said, that the current head of the Marsh family had died.
And given that the usual custom of the sessor taking his mantle had not happened, as evidenced by the confederation seat being vacant, it probably meant that there was no clear line of session, likely caused by the grave defeat of their army.
This meant that the Kaiser family would certainly be able to interfere in the secession battle of the Marsh family and manipte any of the candidates into giving up on the Margrave family in exchange for inheriting the family.
Now this was apletely baseless hunch on Alexander''s part who had no inside information, but it was certainly possible.
Alexander felt he had heard everything there was to it, and decided it was about time to close up the conversation, so said, "I see. Then I wish you the best of luck in your battle." before offhandedly asking, "So how many troops do you have?"
"...." The duo held their tongue for a while at this sudden question.
This was militarily a very sensitive question after all.
What if Alexander sold this information to the other side?
And realizing this, Alexander quickly apologized, "Ahh, sorry, sorry, I misspoke¡did not mean to pry."
But Lady Miranda atst sweetly smiled and said, "Thank you for understanding."
"But we see you as our friend. So we can tell you that we had originally nned to field 50,000 men. But now with your iron, we can recruit even more."
"So much? Are Sybarsis earl''s so rich?" Alexander was truly surprised by the coated numbers as he saw such digits belonging to a Matbar (Marquiss).
So he asked, "Am I mistaken to assume that earls are equal to the Jamiders of Adhania? Or are they equal to Matbars?"
"Hahaha, no you are not mistaken, my lord. Jamiders and Earl are of simr peerage rank." Lady Miranda chuckled.
"But we are simply an Earl because if we wanted to go to the next stage- Marquiss, we would either have to defend a piece of territory either against Iyizarid in the north or the Numadian in the south."
"We simply do not want to do that."
"While bing a duke requires acquiring enough wealth and the approval of a majority of council members. And as you have guessed, only the fourteen members have that title."
"So that title has too much behind the shadow politics and only the realistic way to get it is to kill one of the fourteen."
"As such, we are satisfied with being an earl. With this, we might not be politically too high but we are free-er."
"And in terms ofnd, men, and resources, the Margrave family can rival most Adhanian Pashas, hehe," Lady Lady Miranda sounded both proud and sad as she said so.
Proud of her family''s wealth but also sad at what that wealth had suddenly brought them.
Chapter 464 Guests From Sybarsis (Part-5)
Alexander found the imednd and wealth the Margrave family controlled to be certainly impressive.
"I see. Thank you for rifying," Alexander gratefully nodded, and then thinking of a long-term strategy regarding building a rtionship with his family, could not help but pose, ''Then might I interest you in a special bow that would be great against sieges?"
Here he was not actually referring to the crossbow but the instant bow.
He actually wanted to use this opportunity to test out his brand-new toy.
And as for the technologynding into other''s hands, Alexander had already epted that fate as the hand-to-hand, close-quarters nature of warfare had made that a foregone conclusion.
And his only hope was to have better-trained men and better-quality bows.
"Oh? Is that the special bow you used to win against the Jahal mercenaries? We have indeed heard of it," Lord Janus did not disappoint Alexander with his intelligencework, and alluded to the fact that he already about the crossbow.
And Alexander was beginning was understand why.
Because the Margrave family was an arms family with clients everywhere.
He would not be surprised if even Djose did business with them before and had people there.
"Yes, there is that. But we also have another type," Alexander mysteriously answered with a smile, and then proposed, "Perhaps it would be better to show you. Does tomorrow work?"
"Of course. We would love to," It was Lady Margaret who replied in a heartbeat, for she was quite eager to get every advantage she could get.
And thus they again met up at the garden behind Alexander''s manor the next day after lunch.
First Alexander showcased the crossbow.
There were several targets situated at various distances which were shot at by a few of his bodyguards using the crossbow as they mechanically aimed, shot, reloaded, and repeated the process multiple times.
While Alexander introduced the system,
"As you can see, the weapon''s main advantage is that it can allow even a peasant to shoot with the range and uracy of an experienced archer. Very good to turn useless peasants into good soldiers quickly and cheaply." Alexander sounded like a salesman.
"And as for its downside of the slow reloading time, well if you are defending a siege, it is not a problem. You can take your time behind the safety of the fort."
"Which leaves only the cost. The bow is made of iron or steel, which makes the things a bit on the pricier side."
Alexander shot a very knowing gaze at his two guests, indicating they would not be cheap.
But the duo did not care.
Particrly it was Lord Janus who was over the moon, and understanding the military potential of turning raw recruits into expert sharpshooters, excited shouted,
"How much? How much is it? No! We will buy it regardless!"
This type of weapon was exactly what they needed and he could not wait to buy it.
Even one would be enough because after that their cksmiths would be easily able to replicate it.
"Haha, well let us wait till I show you the next weapon," Alexander only chuckled, as he then bought out the next demonstration, the instant bow.
And the following barrage of ten men shooting nonstop and creating a wall of arrows that shredded the straw duLady Margareties left the two gaping nobles in awe.
In fact, Lord Janus for some time could not find the words to speak.
"This bow isplete of the crossbow. Rapid firing and to be used by skilled men, it is ideal for holding small passages and narrow spaces around a fort. We call it the instant bow" Alexander gave the sales speech, and finished by saying,
"With this, you can guard critical points with only a few men, and let the remaining reinforce the more exposed ces. It is quite the nice tool."
"Yes. We will buy it," And got this, almost absent-minded answer from Lord Janus.
Because the man still felt what he had seen was a dream.
The showcase was that effective.
"Haha, I''m sorry Lord Janus, but I never got to know your rtionship with Lady Margaret. May I?" Alexander in return lightly asked this with a chuckle.
But what he was actually saying was that he wanted to talk to Lady Margaret regarding this.
And the beautifuldy with raven hair understood this, as she stepped forward and said, "Uncle Janus has been my father''s right-hand man and the head of our army for decades. Regarding the military, his words are my words."
"I see. But what if the sale of these weapons is not military but political." Alexander suddenly posed with a light smile, one which drew caution and apprehension from thedy, while anger and aggression from Lord Janus.
"What do you mean by that Lord Alexander?" The older man sounded hoarse and enraged, like a tiger whose tailed had been stepped on.
He was off the mind that Alexander was eyeing the now avable Margaret.
While Alexander treated the loud outburst as if it was a light breeze, and sent a teasing nce to say,
"What I mean is that in exchange for these weapons, I want a free trade agreement with your family. So no tariffs and no taxes.¡for twenty years."
This was the y he had targeting towards since he offered to show the weapons yesterday, and thus, he expectantly asked the pregnantdy.
"As the eldest member of your family, you can at least get me that much can''t you?"
"Twenty years? Are you mad?" But even before Lady Margaret could respond, from the side Lord Janus furrowed his eyebrows and eximed in anger.
This was clearly Alexander taking advantage of them.
But Alexander reasoned, "Without these weapons, perhaps you will not be alive after twenty weeks. So why worry about that now? Is your survival not the greatest concern?"
This reminder made the duo a bit poignant, as they really could use these convenient tools.
"...th¡that¡uLady Margaret, still, I cannot make that decision now." But Lady Margaret was still unable to give a definitive answer.
And this made Alexander ask, "Oh? Not even when your family''s survival is at stake?"
"Is your family authority that divided? What? Is there a power-hungry uncle?"
"......" Lady Margaret only stayed quiet, not preferring to discuss her family situation with an outsider.
But the silence was enough to make Alexander understand there were majorplications.
It was likely the family would disintegrate even without the attack.
And so he decided to give up on the family, "Okay, I understand. I wish you all the best in your war."
He said in a final way, indicating the talks were over.
"Wait!" But Lady Margaret seemed to be of a different mind.
"I cannot guarantee that I can get you the trade agreement. But I will do it if I be the family head. So please!" She pleaded and even bowed her head a bit.
The poor woman had no other card in her hands.
"..." Alexander paused and turned to give thedy a solemn look.
He did not say anything cliche like, ''And if you can''t?''
Thedy was clearly asking for an investment, one where one had the chance to win or lose.
And from what he seemed to gather, the chance for her to lose was much greater.
But then Alexander saw his own situation, about how he was surrounded by enemies on all sides, and ultimately decided he really could not afford to y it safe.
"Okay. I will."
Alexander''s short answer sounded like music to her ears, and thedy lifted her head with shock and surprise, for she did not think it would be this easy, which rapidly transformed into glee and relief.
"Thank you, thank you. We will not disappoint you," And quickly words of gratitude began to flow out.
"But there is one condition." Alexander abruptly interrupted her, and then listed it a wary woman,
"And that is that you will not replicate them or sell them to another party without my express permission."
"I want you to swear it by the gods."
This was Alexander''s production and transfer embargo.
The reason for which was obvious.
"Done."
And to which Lady Margaret agreed in a heartbeat.
When Alexander had said he had a condition, thedy dreaded he would want toy with her.
And so this reasonable request was nothing.
And thus, with that, the fruitful meeting came to an end.
The nobles then spent the next day determining how many crossbows and instant bows would Alexander allow them to make, after which he took them on a tour around Zanzan, and showed them many of its wonders, like paper, soap, ss, etc, all selling by the shop counters owned by Alexander.
And all of which were bought by Lady Margaret in small quantities.
It was here that Lady Miranda was atst beginning to truly see Alexander''s true potential, and by the end of the day, her attitude towards Alexander had very much changed.
Which was perhaps best illustrated on the day of their departure.
"My lord, once we win, I will be sure toe and visit you, Please pray for me, *chuu*," Thedy then suddenly gave a very daringly peck to the cheeks, before pulling a flushed face and turning her head rapidly away to board her ships, much to Alexander''s surprise and the dismay of one Janus.
It appeared for whatever pragmatic or emotional reason, thedy expressed her desire to pursue a romantic rtionship with him.
Chapter 465 Harbor Renovation
As the ships sailed off, Lord Janus turned his head from looking at the harbor to nce at the back of his mistress with aplicated face.
"Mydy, are you sure?" His question was filled with concern and doubt.
Trying to ally with such an unknown individual with no background and an unknown history seemed very dangerous to him.
"......." Lady Miranda only stayed quiet, simply clutching her swollen belly and looking down at it.
It seemed she felt allying herself with Alexander gave her and her unborn child the best chance to survive.
The house politics going on in her family were about to turn very nasty.
And she needed every ounce of help she could get.
And Alexander was the only one she had.
Though whether Alexander would actually extend that hand was yet unsaid.
As was how Alexander''s territory would be affected by his aiding the Margrave against Sybarsis.
Only time would tell.
For now though, Alexander turned his attention to the harbor, or more importantly the expansion of it.
He had felt the inadequacy of it in the prior days, and he also wanted to create his own navy, which would need special docks.
To this effect, he raised the concern to his council members.
But before he bought up the most important thing.
"My lords, we are running low on money. What are we going to do about that?" Alexander addressed in one of his morning council meetings.
Which made everyone look at each other.
Because they certainly had not the capital to contribute.
Or at least contribute meaningfully aspared to Alexander they were beggars.
But Alexander could no longer let this situation go on, as he pointed out,
"Up until now, I have paid 700 million ropals from my pocket for Zanzan. And every day I pay even more to cover everything, from the food to everyone''s sries."
"This cannot go. And I wanted to talk about that." Alexander spread out his palms and gestured, symbolizing his destitution.
Zanzan currently was entirely a government-funded entity, or even more specifically entirely funded by Alexander.
And Alexander could not be expected to fund everything by himself, as he had done in thest six months.
"Does my lord want to raise taxes?" Heliptos really had that one trick up his sleeve.
To which Alexander inwardly scoffed.
Increase taxes for whom?
There were only two real types of tax in this world, a sales tax, akin to VAT, and and tax.
If Alexander were to increase the sales tax, he would be taxing himself as it was him who made much of the products like iron, cement, bricks, etc.
As for increasingnd tax, that was andmine he was not willing to touch with a ten-mile pole.
They had just recovered from a brought and increasing taxes immediately would be far too unpopr.
Maybe a few years into the line.
And besides, again, it was Alexander who owned almost all the nted farnd.
So by raising taxes, he would just be increasing the price of his own goods.
And as for increasing the taxes of the nobles, if Alexander proposed it, Heliptos might be the first one to revolt.
Other types of taxes like ie tax and capital gains tax did not exist as they were modern inventions.
For example, in the US, ie tax was implemented in 1913, which was enabled by the invention of modern tools and institutions.
But since those did not exist yet, so in this time period personal earning was simply too hard to keep urate track of.
Thus Alexander was left with two rudimentary tax options, neither of which he could raise.
"There is no point in increasing taxes. Who are we going to tax? Ourselves?" Alexander loudly shut down Heliptos, as he then proposed, "No! What we need is people from outside buying our goods. We need to attract more merchants,"
This got a unanimous nod from the others, for more trade meant more sales tax, following which Alexander then posed,
"And so to expand the volume of trade, I wish to expand the harbor. I had noticed it was getting a bit crowded here and I believe a better port will attract more merchants." He raised the issue of the dock''s capacity to the group, looking around for their thoughts.
And Heliptos, who was put in charge of the port as part of his economic minister duty, responded first, "Hmmm, yes. Though I think it is adequate for the time being my lord. Perhaps we can expand it once a few merchants startsing." he seemed to cleverly object to the ns, reasoning, "The only frequent ships whoe to us are from the nearby viges. They are quite small in total numbers."
"And the recentrge number of vessels from Adhania and Sybarsis was really an oddity."
He did not seem to share Alexander''s concern and had correctly guessed that Alexander came up with this idea after seeing the recent congestion in the ports.
Heliptos was the type to solve problems when they arose.
"This is only for now. But soon our specialties will be known to all those around us. Then the small port will be not able to amodate that, now will it? Alexander posed.
"So why wait tillter? Now that the harbor is rtively quiet and traffic is light, is it not the best time to expand it?" To Alexander it seemed like a no-brainer.
While for the group of council members, they had no problem imagining that the specialties Alexander created would have no shortage of buyers in the near time future.
Heck, even if there were, they would be d to purchase all of them for themselves.
But they did have a problem imagining the current port being small and inadequate, at least for the near time future.
"Small? The harbor is 300 meters wide sire. Sure it''s no Kaisos, but it''s still quiterge!" Heliptos sounded incredulous andpared, "It would easily be one of the bigger ports in Thesos if ced there."
Kaisos was the port area of Cantagena, one of thergest regional trading hubs, and if Alexander wasparing that to Zanzan, now and here, then there was a problem with his head.
A view that seemed to be shared by many.
A port that could service 15 to 20 ships at a time seemed to be veryrge for them.
"*Ahem*". And so with his signature cough, Menicus felt he should express the joint decision of the council, where he said, "My lord, I think we can wait on the docks. Let us wait a few more years until the shipping volume increases a bit."
But for Alexander, who saw these 15 to 20-m-long ships with less than 10-meter beams as quite small, he felt the 300m harbor as tiny.
He wanted to build much bigger ships and had much grander ns.
And so he made his case, "We just suffered a naval blockade. And if we had not won that battle, we would have all been killed or starved. So it is imperative that we build up a navy. For which we need new docks."
"Am I right?" He pointedly asked.
Here Alexander not actually asking, but saying.
Pasha Muazz had built few ship-building facilities here in Zanzan as he much preferred to buy naval ships from Adhan.
But that was not an option for Alexander who was very much eager to develop his own shipping industry.
"Yes. That is true. We do need a navy," Menicus heavily nodded as the group''s representative, but then said, "But we do not need it right now,"
"After your recent win, we have at least 5 years in our hands. We can use that. And slowly build the navy up. There is no need for it right here and now."
He seemed to be of the opinion that the resources to be used for extending the port and building the navy were better off being used elsewhere.
While Helipots chimed, "I agree with Lord Melodias. We have time. Besides maintaining a navy is very expensive. One needs experienced sailors who demand 250 to 300 ropals a month. That is not to mention the ships themselves. We neither have the men nor coin right now. You yourself it said, my lord."
Alexander was now only reminded that the original talks were about money.
But just as he was about to track back to that, Diaogosis suddenly spoke up,
"My lords, may we see the proposed designs first? If it''s some small renovations, perhaps we can amodate it."
He wanted to at least get a sense of Alexander''s scale.
And he was not disappointed by Alexander''s ambition, who passed along arge scrolled paper, that he quickly unfolded.
The picture on it was of the current crescent-shaped harbor ced in the middle, with two long horizontal strips ofnd touching its edges and running far into the sea.
From above the sky, the whole thing kind of looked like a ball which had two t sticks attached to its either end.
But what really gave the project its grand ambitions were the numbers written next to them, denoting their dimensions.
The nsbeled the crescent crest-shaped harbor as 500m wide, meaning the harbor would have to be extended, while each of the two horizontal strips read 500m long and 50m wide.
Truly Alexander did not dream small.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 466 Slave Reforms
Alexander had designed the harbor using the exact same blueprint as the famous harbor of Carthage.
And as Diaogosis was interpreting the drawings, Alexander leaned forward and offered, "Here, let me exin,"
"The center crescent will be used to house military ships. It will be 300 m in diameter and be surrounded on all sides by 10ft walls. Its entrance will be guarded using chained gates that can be raised or lowered and this is where we will build our new ships."
He then moved his fingers to the horizontal strips and said, "And these two strips of the harbor will be where the regr, civilian ships will dock. They will be an artificial construct extending half a kilometer into the sea and will be able to hold more than a 100 ships at a time."
Alexander sounded very proud of his design as he then asked Diaogosis, "So if I give you the 2,000 ves I bought, how long do you think it will take you to build?"
"..." Diaogosis somewhat regretted asking to see the design.
Building anything over the water was hard, building anything over the sea with its waves and natural disasters was even harder.
Never mind it would have to be about a kilometer ofnd the width of a football field.
And if they did not have cement, Diaogosis would have simply told him it was impossible.
But given that they did have that, that was not exactly an option.
"...I will have to look at the site first. Figure out the depth of the water and as such," So finally after a long pause, Diaogosis could only reply this.
While the others seeing their words fall on deaf ears could only sigh.
They had tried, but it seemed Alexander had decided to go ahead with this new port nevertheless.
The building of which they all felt was pretty pointless.
All were of the mind that rather than wasting their meager resources on building a half-assed navy or making a giant port that would most likely only to 10% of its capacity in most days, it would be far better for them to concentrate their efforts on building a strong army first.
That way they would have one very strong force rather than two weak forces.
But Alexander held too much prestige and power among the council members.
And he controlled all the factors of production,nd,bor, and capital.
And so when Alexander really wanted something done, the others really had no way to stop it other than with their mouths.
And Alexander really wanted this port because he had ns the others could not even imagine.
And so to that effect, he moved Diaogosis from overseeing the construction of the residential buildings to tasking him with building the port.
And after a weekter, Diaogosis woulde to Alexander with the finding of his survey, stating that with 2,000 men it would take him around 18,000 tons of cement and about two and a half to finish the whole project."
This put the cost of the at around 12 million ropals, which was quite a lot, but Alexander thought was definitely worth it.
And thus, after allocating the construction effort 25 tons of cement a day, Alexander greenlighted the project, which was scheduled to be finished by the winter of next year.
But these decisions were for future Alexander.
Though for now, after revealing his grand port idea much to the dismay of this council members, the man decided to get to the issue of money
"So! Let us go back to the issue at hand. How to raise money? Or rather how to increase the businesses in the city?" He posed this question to everyone.
And most wanted to retort, ''Stopping that port might be a good idea.''
But since that was not an option, Heliptos, being the expert here pointed out the main obstacles, "My lord, I believe we just need some time. Zanzan is just starting to recover and patience is the most important thing. Everything requires time."
He was right about this.
The new Zanzan was still an infant just six months.
So it would be unreasonable to expect it to be a hustling trading hub right now.
Hence the simplest solution would be to wait.
But getting to know his master a bit more the time, Heliptos was sure this answer might not satisfy this young man.
Alexander had a lot of good qualities, but one bad one was his impatience and tendency to do everything at once.
And this was evidenced by all the huge projects that were simultaneously going on currently.
So Heliptos decided to give him some secondary reasons.
He said, "Besides, after the drought, most people have lost all their life savings. They simply have no capital to start a business."
"Andstly we have a lot of ves who earn no wages. So they cannot spend any money. As such that group of hard-working people is not part of the economy."
Heliptos''spetency to identify the limiting factors in the market frankly impressed Alexander.
"Hmmm, I see," Alexander tapped his fingers on the table as he nodded, while trying to figure out the remedy for this conundrum.
Theck of easy avability of capital made him remember how there were no banks at this time, which made it very hard for anyone to start a business.
So if one truly wanted to, he would have to either raise the capital himself, such as by working, or selling property, or the worst option of it all, by borrowing it from loan sharks.
These people were usually nobles or affiliated with ones, and would charge them an astronomical 20 to 30% interest rates, the failure on the repayments of which would either result in death or envement.
And if you died before you could pay them back, no worries, your sons and daughters will have to bear the cost.
These made setting up businesses really unpopr, which stifled the economy.
So Alexander felt he should set up a bank.
After all, his 300 million ropals were still sitting in his treasury gathering dust.
The others could certainly use some of it.
But then the question arose who would get to run it?
He certainly was not going to let Heliptos get his hands on it.
Or any of his retainers for that matter.
What if they embezzle the money?
Or worse waste it in foolish loans.
No, Alexander would have to be hit on the head by a donkey to give ess to his cash to such nove rich whose self-control towards money could be said to be non-existent.
But then again, who else?
All of his girls were too busy to take on another job.
And so for the time being, Alexander decided to put that thought onto the shelf.
So secondly came the issue of the ves.
"How many ves do we have again?" He asked as he lost track of the numbers, and after adding each of the answers, got the answer as 22,000 bought, 1,000 captured as criminals, and 8,000 as POWs.
"Hmmm, for the 22,000 how about this?" With a bit of thought, Alexander firstly proposed dealing with the most innocent group, "They can either choose to work as ves for 5 years. Or they can choose to be free men right now, but they would have to pay 40 ropals a month for fifteen years?"
If one did the maths, he would find the five years as a much better option.
You got food and a house and no expenses.
But Alexander was sure most would choose the 15 years.
Because ''freedom''.
"That¡..um¡40 ropals might be too much my lord," Heliptos felt that demanding more than a quarter of a man''s wage might be too steep.
Living in a city was inherently more expensive and so he felt that even if the ves wanted to, they might not be able to afford the n.
And besides, if the n was to boost the economy by increasing consumption, pping a 40 ropal ''mortgage'' was no way to do it.
"Then make it 30," Alexander lowed the value,
He knew Heliptos was hoping that he would free the ves, but Alexander felt giving anything for free to anyone was stupid.
He would bet his head that if he simply set them free, these people would not cherish their freedom and be grateful to him as much as they would if he let them buy it.
After all, many saw free things not as priceless, but useless.
But Alexander did n to increase the minimum wages to 200 ropals, which he felt would be able topensate somewhat.
But those were forter years, so when Heliptos grumbled even that might not be enough, Alexander simply said,
"Then tell the men to marry a good, earning working woman. We have lots of jobs here for them, like paper makers and tailors."
"And if someone really wants to, they can always work in construction, brick making, or coal briquettes."
Alexander felt that instead of holing women up, they should work.
And the current policies should incentive that a lot.
Alexander did not talk about the other 10,000 who were either hardened criminals and POWs, both of whom were not suitable to be released.
Maybe in the future.
And so, after answering the question ''What would happen if the ves cannot pay back their dues'' with ''They will have to serve their remaining term,'' the council meeting came to an end.
Chapter 467 Lady Margarets Obstacles
After leaving Alexander''s port, Lady Margaret made several stops along her return journey, mainly stopping around the various ports of Tibias, where she mostly traded iron for some food, weapons, and men, mainly hiring a few thousand mercenaries.
And finally finished, she atst reached Lord Janus''s city of Hamson.
"Margaret, you are back!" A small crowd greeted her as she enter their temporary residence, led by an old gentleman in fine clothes, but weak health.
This was the current head of the house- Earl Margrave IV, who had temporarily taken over after his eldest son and eldest grandson''s death.
A blow that the old man had taken pretty hard as evidenced by how much weaker he had be since before and how he had to clutch his cane with all his strength to stand.
"Grandpa! Why are you here? You should be resting!" Lady Margaret ran up to hug the old man with arge smile, while the old man kind of rebuked himself,
"Nonsense! Whereas my 7-month pregnant daughter is running around trying to save these old bones, here I''m rotting away in my bed, This is the least I can do."
The Earl was a strong man before the disaster but had suddenly suffered a few consecutive strokes following the disaster, thus making him unable to move around much.
After greeting her grandfather, Lady Margaret moved on toplete her pleasantries with her other family members, which included her surviving siblings, cousins, and close retainers.
All of whom had been very worried that she might not even return.
While Lady Margaret was happy to see her family members and these greetings should have been a pleasant affair, but unfortunately they were not, for they once again reminded her of the people she lost.
There were a lot of people missing from this lineup after all.
Her elder brothers, sisters, cousins, and parents, to name just a few.
Lady Margarent was in fact the third youngest daughter by birth, but the hurricane had not only flooded her city and killed tens of thousands, but it had also crashed an entire tree into a wing of her family house, caving it in, and killing a lot of people there.
And unfortunately for her, many of her siblings lived in that quarter, most of whom died as a result.
And the main reason Lady Margaret escaped rtively unscathed was because she and her husband lived in a separate manor a few blocks away.
But this survival was bittersweet.
For with her father and most of her brothers dead, and the ones still alive being children, she was left to take up the helm, and to her it felt as though even if she was not killed, she was thrust into a pitch-ck nightmare.
A fate she sometimes felt was worse than death.
And this nightmare had started right after the devastating hurricane came and the ensuing tidal waves destroyed her whole world, which now to her seemed like a blissful lie.
When the waters started entering her house, she first ran to the second floor, and when even that started getting flooded, her servants had fashioned a makeshift raft out of some wooden nks for her to get out.
And as she had sailed out, she still vividly remembers with ufortable rity how the streets were filled up to her hips in water, and dead, rotting bodies of humans and animals were seen floating all around her like they were the vengeful ghosts of the deceased, ming her for all their misfortunes.
People had lost their everything in the swirling tide and now were destitute, with no food or ess to clean drinking water, as they simply looked up into the sky with utter helplessness.
They knew they were on their own as it was unlikely any aid was going toe to them anytime soon.
While for Lady Margaret, when she had arrived at her family homes, she found the ce to be in total chaos, with houses destroyed, trees uprooted, and the servants running around without knowing what to do.
It took her three days to get everything under control, after which they quickly evacuated the city, because arguably the worst event was about to start- the gue.
This was typical as the bloating, rotting corpse and theck of fresh water was the perfect starting condition for starting an epidemic, one that wouldst for months if not years.
But for the Margrave family, this escape would provide little relief, as soon after reaching Hamson, they would get the news that the governor had initiated a general levy.
It was evident he intended to finish the job once the water had receded, and his family was ready to march.
Which left the Margrave''s little time to prepare.
And with her grandfather suffering several strokes in the meantime, it was left to the greendy who was totally out of her depths to try and navigate the murky water of Sybarsis politics and save her family.
A task that she was handed over almost overnight.
And given how poorly she had handled the negotiations with Alexander, though she managed to get the goods, if not for someone like Alexander, who had his own consideration, she would have ended ending up losing her family even before Straus could march on them.
But it seemed luck was on her side, so she lived to fight another day.
And after the pleasantries and dinner, she met her grandfather in his study to slowly tell him about her journey.
".....and so he says he wants a free trade agreement with us," Lady Margaret finished
"HLady MargaretLady Margaret, you did well getting so much iron, Margaret. It will greatly help up restart our industry," The Earl first heaved a sigh of relief at obtaining the stockpile of iron.
Their most productive mines had been flooded, and who knew how long it would take for the water to recede.
So, Alexander''s iron would greatly help them in that regard.
And then the old man turned his interest to Alexander''s request.
"Getting a free trade agreement is not possible." And he iLady Margaretediately shut it down, pointing "Say nothing of having never signed one in our history, just the political ramifications of signing something like that with Adhania of all ces is a political fiasco we cannot even imagine."
It seems Alexander was wrong about the presence of a jealous uncle.
In fact, it had more to do with Sybarsis''s general trade policies, which were simply biased against Adhania due to history, and so any kind of trade agreement with it had national security concerns that required it to be approved by a majority of confederation members.
And these were just trade agreements.
Say nothing of the free agreements, which were almost impossible to get, as there was another great factor at y, which was that every single import in Sybarsis had a kind of VAT attached to it.
This amount would directly go to one of the fourteen families, and so signing any free trade agreement would be a great loss for them.
In fact, these families were so protective of their ie that they even had men in every major of their empire, whose job was to tax all the goodsing in, meaning Alexander''s chances of getting a free trade agreement were nil.
Which was the real reason Lady Margaret had rejected Alexander''s offer and then stayed quiet when asked about family troubles.
Not out of shame, but because she feared that if Alexander knew that it was a national thing rather than a family trouble, which would have been much, much easier to solve, it was likely he would choose to back out.
"But Grandpa! You saw all the things I bought! They¡" Still, Lady Margaret felt that Alexander was different and wanted to say he was an exception, but was cut off with a sigh from the Earl.
"*Sigh*, yes, I have seen all the new things. And will admit they are very nice. Just one or two would have been already very impressive, never mind all at one once." The man nodded, before continuing,
"And any merchant will want to form a good rtionship with them. Even if it means twisting a fewws."
Up until now, he seemed to be in the same camp as Lady Margaret.
But then his tone shifted to a kind of prescient one, "But so many valuable thingsing out of such a small ce will undoubtedly bring the attention of jealous eyes."
"So, trying to ally oneself with someone who might not exist in a few years is not prudent Margaret."
"You cannot just look at the money pile now. Instead, you should be able to look at deals from a few years in the future." He advised.
The old man was of the option that Alexander would be destroyed like how a beggar is killed for possessing a pearl ne.
"But he has won that great battle! And so many more before that! How else can a ve be a pasha? Lady Margaret cried this in her defense.
But the old earl was not convinced.
Even if Alexander won so many times, it would take just one loss for him to lose it all.
He thought
But seeing his granddaughter so agitated, he did not outright deny her, but said, "Okay, though we cannot make a formal trade agreement, if you can get us the permission to produce that new bow, we can discuss it further."
And then quickly finished the conversation by feigning weakness and saying, "Let us wait and win before discussing this further."
Chapter 468 Battle Of Hamson
Lady Margaret and her grandfather talked a few more times in the following days.
But though the old earl was full of praises of all the stuff Alxx had invented, saying things such as:
"This new ''paper'' will certainly rece the papyrus."
"The soaps will be a hit with all kinds of nobility."
"These sswares must be made by the gods," and
"This ''sugar'' will likely start wars,"
He still refused to entertain the idea.
To him, this Alexander seemed to have too many good things with too little to protect himself.
But finally, after hearing a lot of whining from Margaret, the old man atst promised that he would consider it his Margaret could be Mother Earl.
This basically meant if Margaret gave birth to a boy, then the earl could consider naming the child his heir.
And then, being the Earl regent, it would give Margaret a lot of privileges, as she would be able to rule on her son''s behalf until he came of age and was ready to take the family seat.
And this selection was likely to be held soon, for the old earl was very possibly on this earth not for long.
But if she could not, well then tough luck, the Margrave family had a lot of candidates for that position, ranging from the old earl''s other sons to even some of his great-grandsons.
But before anything like that could happen, they would have to first win the uing battle.
So each busied themselves with their own business in preparation for that.
Margaret focused on learning the family business, after a while of which she fell ill, experiencing stomach cramps as the end of her pregnancy drew near, and decided to rest.
While the Earl gave himself no such luxury as he busied himself in bolstering the city''s defenses with the help of Janus.
And as they called up the levies and prepared the weapons and armor, they also remembered to particrly focus on the crossbows, which they marveled at and praised to the high heavens.
It was truly a revolutionary weapon for those with the eyes to discern it.
And with that intention, the Margrave family certainly lived up to their pedigree as a weapons family, as even Hamson, a city that was not at the core of their territory still had a pretty robust cksmithing industry which, along with its nearby settlements gave them the ability to churn these bad boys out very quickly.
And once the weapons were ready, they were moved to train the peasantry on their use, a task the average Joe took little time to master.
In this way, the bows were built, arrows fletched, levies called up, and defense ns made, as the Margrave family trained and bolstered itself, until after around two months, the big day finally came.
The Margrave scouts had detected Governor Straus''s troops some days ago, who numbered close to 100,000 and after crossing the countryside, soon this huge force was staring down the walls of Hamson.
"Let''s move out,"
In response, Lord Janus, who was given overallmand of the army given the aged Earl''s deteriorating health, gave the order for his troops to sally out of the city and take defensive positions behind a wide trench dug out outside the city, as he intended to make their stand there, not in the confines of the walls, but immediately in front of it.
His main reason for not using the city walls as bulwarks was due to them being too short and thin.
The reason for this was because Hamson was not a big city prior to the disaster, as it was rtively in the center of the Margrave territory, and so it never had any great reason to develop a robust set of fortifications.
And it was simply not possible to build a great wall in two short months unless you had cement like Alexander''s.
Thus, Lord Janus felt that it would be simply better for them to have a long deep, ditch on all three sides outside the city rather than defend a flimsy wall.
With this thought, once the Margraves were out of the city, Lord Janus arranged his phnx in a kind of hollow square formation, minus the back line because the city was to the back of them, and had five rows of spears spreading out in three directions.
The idea seemed to be to make the enemy face an imprable wall of spears and an impassable terrain, which would force them to give up.
Or that was what it seemed to be the Margrave''s n from the enemy''s perspective.
First Governor Straus rode out of the front of the army and gave his standard ultimatum to stand down and urged the soldiers to hand over the traitors, following the failure of which he ordered his own phnx to charge, intending to make the opponent rout using brute force and ovee the obstacles that way.
But it was upon this order that the Marquiss was greeted with the surprise Margraves had set up for him, as when Straus''s soldiers approached the defending men, they were quickly greeted with a shower of arrows that came from the walls.
Yes, Lord Janus had ced his crossbowmen above the city walls, giving them extra range and reach, not to mention the safety of the walls, from which they wouldunch volley after volley of deadly, urate projectiles, with little fear of being hit back.
"Fuck! When did they have such good archers? Mercenaries?" And once the casualties in Straus''s army began to rise, he began to gaze at the walls hatefully.
But that was all he could do.
For the higher elevation of the archers gave them a range advantage he was simply unable to match.
So the Marquiss could only ask his phnx units to repeatedly charged at the entrenches troops, hoping to break the formation that way.
But the Margraves held, partly bolstered by the defensive structures, but more importantly, by the sight of their enemies dying in front of them from what seemed to them like judgment from the heavens.
This scene seemed to really energize the men.
So much so that even cavalry charges seemed to have little effect, as the men held tightly and firmly.
Instead, it was Straus who appeared to lose considerable men in those attacks, as the bunched-up light cavalry units, who provided a bigger target area due to the steeds they rode, revealed themselves as perfect targets for concentrated arrow fire.
An attack that was made much deadlier as Lord Janus had ced some of his most experienced men at the walls, who were there to act as leaders andmanders, tasked with guiding the inexperienced peasants on where to aim and where to concentrate fire.
Thus those charges proved to be very bloody for Straus, so much so that he had to call back all his riders till the end of the battle.
And that was how the first day ended.
After which he tried again the next day, now with just his infantry.
Or it would seem, as his real n was to use only a thin line to hold the frontlines while diverting most of his forces to attack the other unguarded portions of the walls.
In this way, he intended to get a breakthrough there, or at least lure the Margraves out of their trenches for a decisive battle in the open.
But that n also failed.
He had grossly underestimated the power of the crossbow, and the fire Straus''s men faced was withering.
The simpledder rushes were easily repelled, and Straus had no other siege options as he had not brought heavy siege equipment like siege engines in the fight, thinking it would be a cakewalk.
And even if he had, it was unlikely he would have been able to deploy it in battle because the Margrave army was still present, and they would have certainly attacked the structure when it was being built.
So, the second day''s attempt failed as well.
But Governor Straus was anything if not a determined man.
And so he thinned out his frontlines even more the next day, andmitted much more men to the headlong rush, intending to simply ovee the iing arrow fire by just absorbing it using the bodies of his men.
And for some time it seemed to be working.
The walls seemed to be under serious pressure, and sections of the rampart appeared to be on the verge of being lost.
And it appeared Governor Straus would have his long-awaited victory.
But s, then the counterattack came.
For Governor Straus, either in his hubris or negligence, had pulled too many troops away from the frontlines, giving Lord Janus a rare opportunity to counterattack.
And the experienced general instantly grasped it by the neck, breaking out of his defensive position to attack the thinly defended first lines, easily routing it through a simple frontline charge, and then swinging his entire army around to hit the nks of the preupied wall attacks.
And all this while, Straus, who had momentarily lost contact andmunication with his units as he preupied himself with his imminent victory, simply had no idea what hit him until Janus was already attacking.
This general was able to create a kind of hammer and anvil pincher attack using the nking attack, the hammer being him and the anvil the city walls, and the resulting managed to dealrge casualties to the army and inflicting great morale loss, which culminated in a full fledge rout.
Thus the battle of Hamson was over.
[Author''s Note: Comment if you want to know about such secondary battles, or not.]
Chapter 469 Zanzans Spring
The Margraves had not only won the battle.
And it was just not a decisive win.
No.
For as if the gods werepensating them for their recent misfortune, in the ensuing nking attack, the biggest fish out there, Straus, was injured and even captured.
What a catch!
The man was then interrogated about the real political maneuvering going on in the maind against them, but he simply refused to open his mouth.
And with him being a high-ranking noble, the Margrave''s did not dare to raise their hand on him, restricting their interrogation techniques to only denying the man food and particrly water.
This soft approach was applied because the public opinion was still neutral, and if the Margrave were to assault a noble like Straus, a gaint Sybarsis navying to greet them was entirely possible.
The Margraves were not that powerful.
So the topic then was moved to the issue of his freedom, where in exchange for his release, he was asked to cease all hostility against the Margraves.
But that was rejected as Straus imed it to be out of his control, for the real masterminds were the confederation members.
And so finally the deal was then changed to make him swear that he would remain neutral for the next ten years in the event of a conflict between Margrave and other Sybarsis powers, as well as being required to pay 200 million ropals, a true king''s ransom as this was equal to 4 tons of gold, or about 40 times his weight in gold.
The amount was equal to his annual revenue, and was so huge that he had to borrow the amount from the Kaiser family, which practically meant that even if Sraus wanted to, his ability to wage another war for the next ten years would be severely crippled.
In this way, it appeared that the Margraves had managed to tide over their predicament for the time being.
At least the one that intended to militarily obliterate one.
Now, they only had to convince the political apparatus in Sybarsis to give up these charges.
The military win and capture of Straus was not the only piece of good for them.
Another piece of good news, which might be more specifically favorable to Alexander would be that Lady Margaret had luckily managed to give birth to a boy in the meantime.
This, coupled with the fact that she had managed to get so much iron in their time of need, plus acquiring the crossbow which most certainly had yed a decisive role in their battle, meant her contributions were so great that it was practically guaranteed she would be named Mother Earl.
Which by extension meant that Alexander would be likely able to establish a foothold on Galiosis.
For now it appeared that his gamble paid off and were about to reap great dividends.
But all these events transpired during the months of May to September.
While in the meantime, many, many things had taken ce in Zanzan as Alexander and his retainers were busy solving their own individual challenges.
The various civilian council members were primarily upied with carrying out all of Alexander''s grand construction ns.
Diaogosis was busy preparing his men to start building the new harbor.
A subordinate of his, named Farnaz was tasked withpleting the residential buildings Alexander wished to make.
Harun, alongside managing the mines, was additionally tasked with overseeing the building of the aqueducts and the senate hall.
Thetter was so because Alexander certainly could not be expected to host the council meeting in his manor, in the hall room on his first floor forever.
He wanted a much more formal setting.
Uzak was furiously working toplete the extensive roadwork Alexander had set out for him toplete.
Jazum was finallypleting the 10 cement kilns Alexander had ordered.
And Krishok was atst catching up on the brick-making dome kiln projects, which had been dyed up until now due to the war and then the spring harvest.
As a side note, the boy in charge of the brick-making facilities, Jazum''s son, Jafor, had been sacked by Alexander due to ipetence as Krishok hadined to Alexander about his many mismanagements in the manufacturing process, which ranged from beingzy, beingte to work, not showing up, and cutting the workers pay just to say a few.
Worse of all, there were even multiple reports of the boy assaulting some of the female workers there,
This was the final straw for Alexander, and even knowing that it would affect his rtionship with Jazum, he still removed the boy.
And then chastised the father for not raising his son properly, which predictably turned the two''s rtionship very frosty.
But Alexander did not care, as there were a million Jazums for Alexander, but only one Alexander for Jazum.
Alexander even thought of depriving Jazum of the noble title he had promised because he did not want someone like the boy to have the powers of a noble.
But he had not made up his mind on that yet.
Then there was Menicus who oversaw the fields, or more urately his sons did as the old man''s body really could not handle the heavy toll this job ced on the body.
Overseeing the fields might sound easy, but it was really not, as the job required one to regrly go on patrols around the vast amount ofnd to ensure the farmers did not ck in their work, make sure they had everything they needed, such as plows, animals, and water from irrigation, andstly solve any disputes between neighboring farms.
These disputes might be over water supply, things like nearby farm animals trampling other fields, or evenints about the neighbors not properly nting their seeds and so causing them to blow them into others'' territory.
It was a tiring, full-time job and Alexander knew Menicus with his aged body could not hope to fulfill this role in the long term.
Andstly, Heliptos was running around the city all day, cing himself around the markets and keeping his eyes out for any foreign merchants.
For he hoped to attract them to the city, as per Alexander''s directive, which had read, "All of you are to get more merchants to trade with Zanzan. We must increase the volume of trade,"
The ''all'' here of course referred to all the council members, not just Heliptos, and Alexander even hinted their next promotion might depend on that.
So in fact all the council members had some men looking tasked with getting more merchants to Zanzan
These were the immediate tasks of the civilian ministers, who were currently much busier than their militaristic counterparts.
But it was not to say they had no tasks.
For instance, until now, they were responsible for reiming much of thend around Zanzan.
And there were always regr drills to keep them fit.
While they also worked to iron out the few creases in the new legionary formation, like the optimal cement of officers during a battle.
Alexander also soon intended to give the military engineers the task of developing various siege weapons such as catapults, ballistae, and the Roman scorpion in preparation for his Tibias campaign scheduled for the winter next year.
But he was still busy drawing up the basic blueprints of the weapons.
Alexander was of the mind to skip this year''s attack due to having already fought a major battle and because he wanted to consolidate his rule this year, while also taking into consideration that it would them take some time to develop these weapons.
But that was only the current n, as it was not as if he had totally ruled out an attack this season.
Time would tell.
And these were the tasks of all the retainers, minus Camius, who was currently posing as a wine merchant seller.
And it seemed his wine sales were going great, particrly among Tibian, which was his primary focus due to obvious reasons.
Alexander too was as busy as his retainers.
He had first spent some of his time during theter part of April thinking about the hurricane that hit the Margrave and shuddered to think what would happen if the same had happened to him.
If Zanzan was to be destroyed or flooded, Alexander would end up washed with it.
But even after raking his head for a while, Alexander failed to find a solution to this natural phenomenon.
So taking sce in the saying, ''Sess is 90% hard work and 10% luck, he could only hope that probability was on his side.
After he managed to put that unpleasant thought he had no counter to to the back of his head, he decided to focus on things he could affect.
To that effect, he first focused on ironing out the details regarding the establishment of a bank, like its lending policies and interest rates, and then tried to implement the ve reforms he had discussed with the council members.
But here he ran into a great obstacle, something he had totally not seening.
That was the generalck of qualified personnel.
This situation hade to Alexander''s attention before, as all the previous administrators, who were the nobles and their servants, along with the temple priests were all gone or ughtered.
Meaning Alexander simply did not have the number of educated people needed to keep track of the paper trail of 22,000 people.
But all these problems had to wait for now.
Because on the 5th of May, Pasha Farzah arrived.
Chapter 470 Farzahs Zanzan Visit (Part-1)
Alexander was informed of Pasha Farzah''s imminent arrival by a small, fast skiff that had been sent ahead of the main fleet to alert him.
And it let Alexander know that the main fleet was 2 days away and numbered around 150 ships, with 135 cargo ships and 15 warships.
It appeared Pasha Farzah wasing here with many gifts.
The very first thing Alexander did after getting this information was breathe a sigh of relief, as finally the worry about his food shortage was alleviated.
And then he got to preparing to receive the guests.
Thus under Alexander''smand, many of the extra guestrooms in his mansion were cleaned and refurnished, the security around the city tightened, and the ces to hold the about-to-arrive ves allocated.
He even reserved some high-level courtesans to entertain the guests.
And with almost no time to spare after these preparations wereplete, the designated time had arrived.
On one glorious summer morning, from the harbor that expanded to the vast expanse of the ocean, a magnificent sight emerged on the horizon, as first appeared a sea of ck, blue, and white sails around the horizon, with soon the sight expanding to a fleet of wooden ships, all gracefully gliding through the waters, their sails billowing in the gentle breeze.
The rhythmic creaking of the wooden hulls and the distant calls of seagulls mingled with the anticipation that filled the air as a huge crowd gathered around the harbor to greet them and the huge fleet quickly approached them to not keep them waiting.
And as the huge number of ships got closer and closer, standing on the wharf itself, Alexander could identify a variety of types of ships in the group.
There were fast, small scout ships designed simrly to the Viking longship, there were huge, wide merchant shipsden heavy with cargo, and there were sleek, maneuverable triremes which served as warships to protect them.
All of which were making their way toward the harbor, their magnificent sails fluttering in the wind, and polished wooden hulls gleaming in the sunlight, reflecting the shimmering waves beneath them.
But perhaps the most eye-catching of the group was the leading ship, which it was Pasha Farzah''s personal warship, and looking at it across the harbor, Alexander certainly could not help but marvel at the grand warship.
La, named after Farzah''s eldest daughter was a colossal feat of engineering marvel, among the biggest of the trireme ss, it measured approximately 40 meters in length and 8 meters in width, making its dimensions be closer to a cargo ship, than a warship.
But the huge size did not seem to hinder its speed at all, as its sleek and streamlined hull, constructed from the best cedar wood which Matrak was famous for, reinforced with iron fittings and covered in protective bronze ting to ward off shipworms from eating the wood, seemed to cut through the water like butter.
The entire hull was painted in a regal shade of deep red, symbolizing the might and authority of the Pasha, and at the prow (front) of the ship stood a magnificent beast head, sculpted in the likeness of a huge ck bear that inhabited the cold outback of Matrak.
This revered animal of the province was crafted from shining bronze and painted a dazzling gold, with its eyes gleaming with fiery gemstones, which seemed to make the animal exude a sense of power and dominance that could strike awe and reverence in all those who dared to gaze upon it.
The bear was most certainly the most striking feature of the ship, but not the only one, for there were many other ornate decorations and embellishments throughout.
The hull had many frescos, gilded reliefs, and intricate carvings depicting scenes of victorious battles as well as pictures of Ramuh that seemed to seek the protection of the almighty god from the wrath of the sea.
Within the ship''s interiorid a grand war room,vishly decorated with marble floors, intricate mosaics, and richly upholstered furniture, with maps and charts adorning the walls which proudly disyed the vast coastal resources controlled by the Matrak province and marked many of the ces of the ship''s conquests.
While outside, the stern of the vessel was graced with avish pavilion, where the ship''smander, adorned in resplendent armor, oversaw the operations with authority and presence.
Alexander suspected whether he had not glimpsed at a huge, bear-like figure of a man sitting on a magnificent throne on the ship''s deck.
But it was possible that his eyes mistook that something else, as the ship''s sails, made of fine linen, and dyed the same vibrant shade of red as the hull and emzoned with the iconic ck bear, when unfurled, these majestic sails would catch the wind and propel the ship forward with great speed, making it a formidable force on the open seas.
This trireme which stood 4 meters above the sea level might be huge, but it was no slouch, capable of covering 8 knots per hour under high tides.
Its speed was further augmented by three levels of oars, holding 170 skilled rowers positioned on each side, with the oars themselves being meticulously crafted from sturdy oak, with intricately carved handles painted in gold leaf.
And as the ship slowly paved its way into the harbor, the synchronized movement of the rowers created a mesmerizing rhythm, as the sound of trumpets and drums resonated through the air, signaling their arrival, while the crew members on the decks scurried about, adjusting the rigging and preparing to dock.
The men then expertly skillfully guided the vessels into their designated berths with great finesse, securing them with ropes and anchors, and as the ''La'' settled into their resting ces, a sense of majesty and prestige seemed to envelop the scene.
''Well he certainly knows how toe in style,'' Alexander smirked at the grand disy, as he then quickly took Cambyses to greet the man exiting the ship.
"Esteemed prime minister, wee to Zanzan. I hope your journey has been smooth and without worries," Alexander and Cambyses lightly bowed as the elder gentleman,vishly dressed in golden robes and sporting a mass of white hair and beard disembarked.
Being currently the prime minister, the man was technically a bit above Alexander''s peerage, hence the show of respect.
"Hahaha, so you are alive brat. Good, good," The bear-like man let out a huge, happy roar as he stepped on the concrete harbor, and then heavily pped Alexander''s shoulders to show his happiness.
From the looks of it, it appeared he was genuinely happy to see Alexander alive.
"All by the grace of His Majesty and the gods," Alexander only replied with the same hackneyed words, to which the elder pasha only smirked.
He knew certainly very well how ''high'' an esteem the boy held Ptolomy at.
But such matters were never suitable to be revealed to the public, and so he then quickly turned his attention to Cambyses, who handed him a bouquet of flowers decorated.
These flowers were not organic but made from the finest linen, and colored bright red, blue, yellow, and even the most expensive color in the world-purple.
They were then adorned with gold and silver chains around the buds, and glued with various colorful gems on the petals, making the entire structure look like a present from the gods themselves.
Alexander had ordered this made a few months ago in anticipation of the Pasha''s arrival.
"It is our honor to have you visit our small city, my lord," Cambyses dressed in her finest handed the present over, while Farzahughed and greeted back,
"Hahaha, Shordar (Baron) Cambyses, congrattions on your marriage. I see that you have be even more radiant than thest time we saw you."
Following this, the elder pasha then moved on to greet the others who were also there, starting from the Queen mother, to Mikaya, to atst the twins.
"Azira, Azura, how are you?" And Pasha Farzah perhaps let out his loudest greeting when meeting his granddaughters, as he then even took both of them up in his arms, making the act of lifting around 60 kg with one arm look effortless.
The man might be in his mid-fifties, but he was no weakling.
While Pasha Farzah continued his continued, his entourage slowly made their way down too.
The first surprise for Alexander was Nanazin and her daughters, who, it appeared that the pasha had managed to smuggle out of Adhan.
"It is a great pleasure to see you again, lord Alexander," The curly-haired, voluptuous beauty and her three daughters gracefully bowed at Alexander, though Alexander would not help but notice the haggard face and the stiff movement of the mother.
Alexander did not know much of what happened to Nanazin in thest six months, but he had some inkling given how hopeful the tone in her voice was.
It was unmistakable.
"Pasha Alexander greets the Queen. Your Grace''s presence honors this little noble," Outwardly Alexander gave a full noble''s bow, and then turned to greet the triplets give a simr greeting.
While the mother did not bother to hide her scorn for the respectful reception and particrly word queen.
She was not here ming Alexander, but just her own powerlessness as she knew that Alexander was very likely aware of just how little that word applied to her.
While Alexander finished receiving the queen, and then moved on to hisst surprise, which was Lady Inayah!
It appeared thedy had also decided to see how Alexander was doing.
Chapter 471 Farzahs Zanzan Visit (Part-2)
Lady Inayah and her family could be said to be the real people looking after the royal family''s coffers.
A task they had done for generations.
They also controlled the main port of Adhan, which was located in theirrgest city, Aprifah which was north of Agnirat and it was mainly from there Adhan shipped all its goods in and out of the province.
Furthermore, the current head of the house, Iyazid was Ptolomy''s economic minister, or Treasury Master as the title went, and it was him that had instructed his daughter who controlled the port city of Agnirat toe to Zanzan and determine all the new goods it supposedly was creating after he got the information from Ptolomy.
It seemed that Alexander had barely got his industry going and already hungry bees were gathering to it.
Whether good or bad was yet to be seen.
"My dear Alexander, my fleets seemed to be onlying to you the past few months, hehe," The ck, mature beauty greeted Alexander with arge smile, as she disembarked, alluding to the fact that her fleet had first dropped off Alexander in Zanzan in November, then returned with the Thesians in March, and was again back here in May.
This movement had actually disrupted some of thedy''s trade.
"My apologies. It has been really a hectic few months for Lord Karvish. We are very grateful for you lending us the ships, Lady Inayah," Alexander gently smiled the reply and even bowed a bit, showing his sincerity.
But Lady Inayah appeared to possess truly a lot of ships, as among the 150 ships here, Alexander estimated around 80 to be Lady Inayah''s personal fleets, as he even recognized some of the more familiar ships from their previous trips.
It seemed even the fabled Pasha Farzah did not have enough ships to amodate all the goods he was caring by himself.
So Alexander then added, "And I should apologize that there were even a few ships lost due to tasks assigned by me. I hope thedy doesn''t mind."
Though this was only polite talk, as Alexander had made sure to reimburse her to the fullest, and even some more,
And so the beautifuldy only put her hands over her lips and coyly said, "Oh, Alexander you polite boy, think nothing of it."
Finally, done with all pleasantries, Alexander then gestured the guests to board the carriages arranged for them, while the dock workers led by Heliptos worked to unload the gigantic amount of cargo ced near their shores.
And thus, with arge number of armed escorts, Alexander atst took his guests back to the mansion, where a grand meal awaited them.
Meats were the highlight of the feast, including roasted boar, venison,mb, and poultry, cooked and seasoned with an array of herbs and spices, which offered a symphony of vors.
Apanying the meats were an assortment of side dishes, such as vegetables, grains, and legumes, made in exotic dishes which showcased the culinary skills of the kitchen staff.
And finally, various borate pies and pastries filled with a mixture of meats, fruits, and spices were served as desserts, while wine and ale flowed freely.
But the most eye-catching part of the feast was not the food itself, but what it was served on- clear ss.
In fact, everything on the table was made of ss.
The bowls the dishes were served on were made of heavy crystalline ss, the tes were intricately designed with clear ss patterns, and the crystalline goblets were made of bristol ss, which seemed to especially mesmerize the group as the light bent through it in beautiful patterns.
"So, Mikaya was telling the truth. Zanzan can make clear ss," Pasha Farzah did not hold back his candid praise as he drowned his drink from the ss, before sending Alexander a knowing nce, as if asking the man whether he understood the implication of this material he had invented that was seen as valuable as gold.
And this was how the first day of Pasha Farzah''s visit to Zanzan ended, with drinks, food, and wine, as the old man retired early to his quarters, being tired from the long journey, but not before taking three courtesans that Alexander had arranged for him to bed.
Seeing this, Alexander had evenmented in his heart, ''Old man, you aren''t that young, Aren''t you afraid of embarrassing yourself?''
But it was apparently not the case, as the pasha seemed to be old but not impotent, for the courtesans wouldter confide to Ophenia about being sore down there, who would then jokingly let Alexander know afterward in between talks.
As such, with Farzah''s merrimentste into the night making him wake upte, and Alexander hosting his council meeting in the morning, the real meeting between the two men only began the following midday, after another round of heavy meals.
"I brought a bit more than you requested. Hope you can check that." Pasha Farzah began as he leaned back on thefortable couch in Alexander''s study, taking a sip of sweet wine.
"Yes. Though I would have appreciated it more if you had bought the amount I wanted sooner. That would have really helped." From the opposite end of the table, Alexandernguidly replied, simrly having a wine goblet in his hand.
The young man did not forget to air his grievance to the older man even when everything Alexander had ordered was increased by around a quarter as reported by Heliptos.
To which Pasha Farzah only shrugged his shoulders and replied almost nonchntly, "What do you want me to say? I simply did not think you would survive."
Pasha Farzah might have bought more goods as an apology, but there was no hint of regret in his speech.
The man seemed to think he had made the correct choice based on the information he had on hand.
And then, as if to smooth over Alexander''s bitterness at being abandoned, he raised his ss and frankly admitted "And I''m d I was wrong," as he then toasted, "So congrattions on your win, brat! Good job!"
It seemed that Pasha Farzah had given Alexander the endearment of ''brat'', something he had heard only the pasha call the twins by.
Either this was a frank reveal of Farzah''s fondness towards him, or a cunning strategy to smooth over the recent rough patch.
But whichever it was, Alexander had no choice but to ept the oue, as he let go of his grievance by saying,
"Hmmp, well I''m d that at least you are here. If you were just a weekte, I would have likely starved."
Alexander here exaggerated his food situation.
And Pasha Farzah only chuckled the reply, "Well then it''s a good thing I bought you four who¡women to eat,"
He changed that word at thest second while he made the dirty joke to liven the mood.
While Alexander had no problem recognizing which four Pasha Farzah was talking about.
''So what is up with Nanazin here? Wasn''t she supposed to onlye in August?" Alexander asked curiously, as the deal was that Seelima and Hellma would return to Adhan during the Jtaama held in September, and they would be reced by Nanazin and her kids.
But she was three months early.
"*Sigh*, if she had waited till August, she might havee in a coffin," The aged pasha here could only let out a helpless sigh as he subconsciously shook his head, which made Alexander raise an eyebrow.
The first thought that ran through his mind was Nanazin was being tried for treason, but quickly discarded the thought because he would have certainly known about something like that.
"Is Ptolomy being that abusive?" So Alexander felt this was the most probable answer, for Nanazin had told him how the man liked to humiliate her in various ways, and this was confirmed by Farzah''s nod.
Though the old man did not go into further detail as he felt that would be in poor taste.
So instead he said,
"By the way, I will have to take Seelima and Hellma when I return. That was the only way I could get him to agree to let Nanazin and the kids go. You don''t mind do you?"
"Sure." Alexander readily agreed as he felt that even if let the hostages go, Ptolomy was unlikely to stab him in the back.
This confidence mainly came from Pasha Farzah, who was unlikely to let Ptolomy do anything stupid, something Alexander did not have when he first made the deal as he had yet to meet the man back then.
While Alexander was also of the opinion that the Queen Mother might willinglye back soon afterward to keep an eye on all the new inventions Alexander was making.
At least, Seelima had shown herself to be highly interested in observing and understanding the works of Alexander in the meantime, something which Alexander had cleverly avoided until now.
"So, what should I do with her and her kids now?" Alexander then posed this to Pasha Farzah regarding Nanazin, as the old man simply shrugged his shoulders and replied,
"Whatever you want. Use, discard, or even kill them if you want. Ptolomy doesn''t care. You won''t even have to return them if you don''t want to."
He seemed to represent Ptolomy''s will.
Alexander epted this answer with a nod, while he thought of a way how to use make her useful
And soon a thought came to him, -Put her in charge of the banks.
Chapter 472 Zanzan City Tour (Part-1)
After taking his throne, Ptolomy had begun to see Nanazin and the three girls as more and more of an eyesore.
Or more urately he began to take action against these people whom he had already seen as eye sores, as he could not even send them to the military as they were not boys.
And so when Pasha Farzah offered to take them off his hand, and even promised to get the two women he loved in exchange, Ptolomy felt Christmas hade early.
While Alexander who was at the receiving of the deal also considered it to be a fruitful exchange, as he felt the problem he was having about who to put the bank in charge of was also likely solved.
Alexander had wanted to look for a reliable, trustworthy, and educated person to oversee the bank, a search that he thought would have been very hard as checking all three criteria was quite tough.
But seemingly that was very easily solved.
Nanazin was certainly educated and given that the woman had no one but Alexander to rely on, it meant thedy was very unlikely to betray him.
And so given that she agrees, Alexander was of the mind to put her in charge of the banks.
But that decision was for ater time, as currently Alexander was still with Pasha Farzah, and decided to move on to other topics.
Pasha Farzah first asked about Mikaya and the twins, and whether they had been well, to which Alexander replied with a light smile, "They seem much happier now than they had been in the past," which carried a double meaning Farzah was unable to understand.
And only returned with a smile, "Good, good. I''m particrly d that you managed to get Azira and Azura reinstated into the temple."
He then proceeded to ask about a whole host of things, starting from the challenges Alexander faced when he first came here, to knowing about how he solved the gue, to the various challenges he faced in administrating the city, up to the new things produced in Zanzan, andstly about the battle itself.
Alexander answered some, avoided some, and t-out lied about others.
Particrly when asked about the inventions, Alexander gave the convenient excuse that he found everything in the books from Muazz''s library.
This was very convenient because if anyone wanted to ask to see the book, he could simply say that it was Zanzan''s secret and deny it.
Hence nobody could ever prove or disprove its existence.
"So¡.about all the new things, how much are you selling?" Pasha Farzah atst got to the main point he had been circling around, as he pointedly posed the question.
While Alexander onlyughed and asked, "Which ones?"
"Everything." Came the quick reply, as the Pasha Farzah looked at Alexander with greed.
He had read about all the new things Alexander had made and even seen with his own eyes a lot of the things mentioned in Mikaya''s letters, and he could not wait to get his hands on them.
"Haha, then I will give you a list of all the prices. You can go over them in your leisure," Alexander lightly smiled the reply, and with a few more light pleasantries, decided to end their talk for the day, as it was already approaching dinner time.
Pasha Farzah would get his list soon after the meals were finished, as Alexander had prepared the list beforehand, which read the following:
Iron ingot (per kg) - 30 ropals
Steel ingot (weapon) per kg- 60 ropals
Paper (5 sq m)- 15 ropals
ss- Weight in Silver or gold depending on the type.
Soap (per piece)- 100 ropals
Salt (per ton)- 1,000 ros
Sugar (per ton)- 100,000 ropals
Fabric- Negotiable
The listing that Alexander gave was truly meant to skin Pasha Farzah off, it''s just that the man did not know it.
Because for reference, these were the costs of each of the products:
Iron ingot (per kg) - 1.5 ropals
Steel ingot (weapon) per kg- 2.5 ropals
Paper (5 sq m)- 4 ropals
ss- Few ropals per piece.
Soap (per piece)- 10-20 ropals depending on the type of soap
Salt (per ton)- 30 ropals.
Sugar (per ton)- 3,000 ropals.
From here it could be seen that Alexander had decided to price the goods on average 15 to 20 times the original cost, with the smallest being with paper at about 4 times, and with sugar being the biggest at 33 times.
So in percentage terms this was an average 1,500% to 2,000% markup.
Alexander clearly was not the type to live and forget.
Rather he could be described as a petty, vindictive man by many, intent on making the other party pay for whatever injustice was done to him when the situation provided itself.
And though Pasha Farzah likely knew about Alexander''s pettiness, he was still unaware of the extent of it, for if Pasha Farzah knew about the ridiculous markup Alexander was suggesting, the old man might have had a heart attack.
So it was quite fortunate that he didn''t, and so Farzah would seriously muse over the listed pricing over the night, and then again meet with Alexander the next morning to discuss it further.
But this time this meet-up would not be in Alexander''s study.
"Today I was thinking of taking your lordship out into the city. Let you give a tour of the city and see all the new things being made." Alexander suggested, adding, "And perhaps you can even give me some suggestions on how to make it better."
Alexander said this, but what he really wanted to do was show off Zanzan''s progress.
"Oh? Does that include that restricted area at the back of the house? Because I''m really interested in all the new things being made there." While Pasha Farzah was very direct with revealing where his true intentionsy, which was something that made Alexander''s lips twitch.
That was a ce only two people could go in and out without restriction, him and Cambyses.
Alexander would not even let Ptolomy enter.
"I can see Lady Mikaya is a filial daughter," Alexander dryly replied, while Pasha Farzah let out a huge roar.
"Hahaha, it seems that ce really is your soul forge."
In Adhania, the soul forge was the concept of where the soul was housed inside the body, and it basically meant a weak point.
"....." Alexander only gave a cid smile, at the request he understood to be now a joke, as he then gestured the burly man to follow him to the outside.
And once the duo was outside, right past the door was waiting for them an open-top carriage simr to the one used in Alexander''s wedding, pulled by four, graceful white beasts.
"Your Graces, are you heading to town?"
But just as they were about to approach the carriage, the graceful voice of whom Alexander recognized as Lady Inayah called out to them from behind.
And when Alexander turned, he noticed that she was being apanied by the Queen Mother and Nanazin.
"Good morning, Your Grace, Your Highnesses," Alexander referred the former to Lady Inayah, and thetter to both Seelima and Nanazin, before addressing Lady Inayah,
"I''m sorry I''ve been too busy to keep youpany. Work is no excuse to fail to entertain guests."
"Haha, no worries, no worries. I have been entertaining myself with that card game you made," Lady Inayah only replied with a candidugh, before asking,
"If Your Graces are leaving for town, may we apany you? I''ve had not had a chance to see the city and been dying to."
"Of course, of course," Alexander felt he could not really decline the request, and so enthusiastically replied, as he then turned to Pasha Farzah to ask, "That is if that''s all right with you, my lord,"
Pasha Farzah naturally did not have a reason to object, and so soon the five people satfortably in the spacious open carriage, being pulled by the best horses of Zanzan, and guarded by Zanzan''s finest.
And within a short time, the group was racing through the western residential district, which was the mouth of the exit from Alexander''s mansion.
And as the four-wheeled transpired moved across the smooth road, Pasha Farzah was the first toment on the surface they were traveling over.
"Alxx, what is this road made of? I noticed the same white stuff was in the harbor" He curiously asked.
Alxx''s road was made of primarily stone but had a thin upperyer of cement as a kind of varnish to give a nice finish, and as the road was brand new, having beenid just a month ago, the cementyer was still visible.
"That''s right. I noticed it too. At first I thought it was marble, but it''s not," From the opposite side Lady Inayah too wanted to hear the answer.
And it made Alxx ponder on how he should answer.
Because discerning readers might have noticed that Alexander had not listed cement for sale.
This was both because he needed every ouch of the stuff for himself, and also because he saw cement was the greatest invention out of everything out there.
Alexander knew that using Pornd cement, building fortresses even impregnable by all gunpowder cannons was possible, and so he was of the mind to never allow that recipe to fall into anyone''s hand, not even his allies.
Alexander would sooner give up the recipe of crystalline sugar and even ss before he gave up that recipe.
Chapter 473 The Apartment Blocks (Part-1)
Alexander thought for a while about how to answer.
And ultimately decided to answer frankly.
This thing would be ultimately very hard to conceal, so he saw little point in hiding.
While also there was the fact that Alexander had ns to bring up a coboration between Pasha Farzah, Lady Inayah, and him using this material.
So they would get to know about it sooner orter.
"This is called cement. It is a new type of mortar we found in Zanzan," He breezily answered, and then exined, "The engineers found that the stuff easily binds with stone. And so we decided to use it to make roads."
Alexander said the whole thing so lightly that he was seemingly not putting too much importance on the invention.
And the other members'' curiosity also died down quite a bit hearing that, as they also had mortals of their own.
Thoughparing their mortar to Alexander''s would be likeparing a horse carriage to a supercar.
Yes, they were both four-wheeled vehicles capable of transporting men and material.
But there was a huge difference in how they did it.
For instance, these ancient mortars were made of crushed gypsum with water or even just y, and their binding power with other materials was so weak that they could have never been used to make roads as quickly as Alexander did.
To put it into some context how fast Alexander could make the roads, the roman could build their 5m wide roads at 1,5m per worker per day, whereas Alexander could make his 8m wide roads at close to 3m per worker per day.
This was possible because, unlike the Romans, Alexander did not need to repeat many of the processes multiple times to ensure a smooth finish.
He would simply use the cement to bind everything and then use a heavy roller to tten the structure.
In fact, if he had been able to use just concrete to make the road, he would have easily boosted that 3m per worker stat up to 10 or 15m.
But this fact was unknown to the other four, and would remain so for a while more, as would the world as a whole.
For now though, the open-top carriage slowly made its way through thergely shabby part of the town, the western district, which was ironic given it had been once designated by Alexander as the residential district, meant to house the public in a huge sprawling housingplex.
It was to be Alexander''s magnum opus, showing to the world how Zanzan had transformed the squalid, slum, ridden city into a clean, thriving metropolitan.
The original n had been to create a series of 4 story apartment blocks reminiscent of the old Soviet-style housing arrangement, with the ultimate goal of housing all the city''s residents there.
But due to various factors, such as war,ck of materials, and other priorities, the project had been dyed again and again.
And it was only now that the project was picking up a bit of steam, as Alexander had designated men but more importantly a significant part of his cement production to the effort.
Some of the results of which he was already beginning to see as Alexander could spot a scant few sprinkling of the first concrete buildings rising up into the horizon.
But they were very very few in total numbers, being one of the very firsts of their kind, as for now, most of this part of the city still had mostly tents plopped all around, with some wooden houses also beginning to sprout up.
These belonged to a variety of sses of people, from the homeless, to ves who were quartered here, to even housing the workers working on the housing project.
And Alexander for his part had allowed them to squat here, mostly because space in the city was limited, and decided to turn a blind eye to this until he could build up the buildings to relocate them there.
But even then, it would be wrong for Alexander to beat himself too much.
The time he had to develop was tiny- only six months, and even then, a 16 metre building made of brick, cement, and stone was very impressive to look at.
Something that even the Queen mother had her eyes drawn to when they were passing across one of them., as she pointed her finger and asked, "Lord Alexander, what are these buildings? I saw quite a few of them along."
She had been meaning to ask about the buildings for a while and finally could not withhold her curiosity.
Alexander turned to look at the building the exoticdy was pointing to, which had clearly been only very recently finished as evidenced by the absence of any paint on the walls, and even any window panels for that matter.
For now, it appeared only the bare skeleton of the building had been constructed.
"Oh that! I''m building these buildings to rent to the workers. I think they will be much better than the shambling shacks they used to live in before." Alexander frankly revealed.
And it appeared that it was something Pasha Farzah seemed to very much agree with.
"Oh! Alexander, you really have an eye for these things. Nice! Very Nice!" He praised with heavy nods as he then like a true moneybag, simply asked,
"Matrak could certainly use something like that. So how much does this cement cost? I saw you did not list it in the price list."
It appeared the pasha was of the mind to replicate these structures in Matrak, where temperatures in winter would reach as low as -20 degrees Celcius, and wanted Alexander to simply quote a price for this new mortal.
Which made Alexander inwardly groan, ''I really should invent Roman concrete.''
Alexander had known long ago that hiding the existence of cement was not possible given the extent of infrastructure development going on in Zanzan.
And so Alexander was of the mind to at least offer a substitute of cement to stave off the vultures who would being for this white powder.
To that effect, he had been trying to find the ingredients.
But up until now, he was having no luck.
Particrly, finding the volcanic ash that the concrete required was proving hard.
And so Alexander chuckled, "Let us discuss thatter," and then quickly attempted to divert the topic as he then proposed, "Would my lord like to take a look inside?"
Pasha Farzah was of course interested to see the inside of a building he was thinking of replicating and figure out the ins and outs, and the build quality of the structure, and so readily agreed, "Yes, yes, let''s."
So soon the carriage was halted, and the group got out of the vehicle to take a look around the building.
Which was surprisingly deserted.
Alexander had expected to see some workers here, doing something, but the huge plot was entirely empty, which he certainly found strange.
And it would be onlyter that he would learn this was the norm.
For it seemed that Diaogosis had divided the building project into two groups.
Therger group, consisting of about 80% of the workforce was responsible for the actual building.
While the second group was kind of like the internal decorators.
They were the ones in charge of furnishing the building with the appropriate doors and windows, with most of them being carpenters, along with some being tasked with putting the ster on the walls, painting them, and sometimes even decorating them.
So what had happened here was that the first group had finished making the building, but the second group was yet to catch up, hence the vacant premises.
But for now, Alexander decided to put the, in his eyes- abnormality to the back of his head, and with hisrge contingent of bodyguards, entered the building premises.
Alexander felt his world get significantly darker as he entered inside, as he was inundated with the color gray, and hit by the distinct, musky smell of wet cement mixture yet to dry, as he then focused on surveying theyout of the building.
Which was very simple.
There were two entrances to the buildings, one at the front and the other at the back, along the length of which ran a 2m wide corridor, on either side of which was housed 4 ts, for a total of 8 residences per floor.
And between the middle of each of the 4 ts sat amonvatory, whose pipe connected to the pre-existing sewage system underground.
Alexander introduced all these things as the nobles toured the premises, as then Pasha Farzah curiously asked,
"Oh? It''s quite big. What''s the square feet?" after he entered one of the doorless apartments and looked around, finding it to have 2 bedrooms, amon room, and even a small kitchen with a chimney attached to it.
"The whole building is 32m x 16m. So about 650 sq feet." Alexander readily answered to the agreeing nod of the pasha, who found the space adequate for a peasant or city worker.
"So many such buildings will you build? And how fast can you build them" Then from the side, Lady Inayah posed this, to which Alexander tantly lied,
"For now only a few. I want to see how the people like it."
"And as for how quickly,....well, about one every month. That''s why there are only a few of them."
Whereas the reality was Alexander nned to build a thousand of them, and he could build one around every 3 days."
Chapter 474 The Apartment Blocks (Part-2)
Chapter 474
Alexander''s ability to build a 4 story building every 3 days was certainly very impressive, as evidenced by the fact the logistics of furnishing the building were unable to keep up with the speed.
And it might even sound like aplete farcical im to some as such a building would take, even by modern standards six months toplete, though it could be argued that modern buildings needed a lot of internal finishing such as electrical wiring, plumbing, and HVAC (heating, venttion, and air conditioning), all of which could be skipped with Alexander''s apartment.
But even then, one needed to simply give the concrete roof on each floor at least a month to dry and cure, where first the water on the surface would evaporate, leaving the dry cement.
Following this, the material would undergo a process called hydration and several chemical reactions would ur inside it to reach its optimal strength.
And this process always needed around 28 days toplete, and even if the cement felt dry in the meantime, it would still not be suitable to be built over, both because the cement might not be strong enough, and also because during the curing process the cement required a good flow of air and water to cool it.
The reason for thetter was during hydration, the cement underwent severalplex exothermic reactions, all of which required water and all of which produced a lot of heat, meaning without water, the reactions would not ur, and also the cement would crack from the inside due to the excessive heat.
That was also the reason why engineers would tell people to keep any new cement structure wet or cool, or why workers would be seen spraying water on a recently build concrete structure.
So from all these reasons, it could easily be seen that Alexander would not even build a one-story building within 3 days, much less a 5 story building.
In fact, if one stopped to calcte, he would find that each building took Alexander around 5 months toplete.
A 50 times difference from that 3-day im.
So what did Alexander really mean by saying he could build the building in 4 days?
Well, it was simple.
Instead of making the workers work just one or two days, and then have them sit idle for a month while the roof dries, Alexander simply moved on to start on a second building.
And once the first-story roof of that building waspleted, he would move them to a third, then to a fourth, and so on.
You get the idea.
Since the cement took a month to dry, and he could simultaneously have 30 buildings in the construction queue, so by the time the 30th building''s first floor was built, the 1st building would be ready to have its second floor started.
Upon thepletion of which the entire process would repeat itself.
Now, originally these buildings were meant to be 16m x 16m housing eight apartments per floor, giving each t about 300 sq feet in area.
So with the intention to house around 200 people there, it would admittedly be a little snug.
But Alexander had wanted to skimp on the materials and he was also of the mind that the people would not mind too much as they spent most of their time outdoors anyway.
But he would be proved wrong in this thought as his ears one day would pick up the following words during a regr visit to one of these buildings.
That day he was listening to Diaogosis say something, when he heard a worker murmur to his colleague, "I wonder who is going to stay here?''
To which the other man had replied in an almost disdaining tone, "ves probably. I would not live in them."
The man said it like living in this building would be beneath him.
So hearing this, Alexander then decided to find out a bit more about what the grassroots thought about the building, and found out that the people of this time were used to living in more open spaces than people like him, who had grown ustomed to the congested, urban life.
Thus, it appeared that there was a genuine possibility that the people might not get inside Alexander''s apartment blocks, even if he made the things.
Hence, Alexander decided to double the size of the houses, hoping this would attract the masses.
So, the houses would now be 32 meters x 16 meters, with an 8-meter road surrounding them, giving each apartment block the dimensions of 40 meters x 24 meters. (Because each opposite and adjacent building would contribute half the road).
Which also meant the 1,000 buildings he wanted to build to house 200,000 residents would take about 1 sq km of area or about one-quarter of the city.
And realistically it would have to be double that as there would have to be other amenities in there as well, such as aqueducts to deliver fresh water to them, open fields for the kids to y, and even public schools that Alexander nned to open in the future.
Which meant Alexander would likely have to extend the western district past the city wall, or build a new wall surrounding it.
All to amodate the bigger buildings.
But it was what it was.
Knowing it would have to be done Alexander had gritted his teeth and decided to do so, and face the challenges that came with it.
The very first of which was the increased material requirements.
Something that Diaogosis had reported to him some time ago.
ording to the man, to aplish Alexander''s demand to build one floor every 2 days,pared to the previous 300 men and 15 tons of cement per floor, he said he would need 800 people and 50 tons of cement per floor.
And he even gave the breakdown.
2 days forying the foundation.
And 2 days to build each of the four floors. - 1 day to build the walls, and 1 day to cast the concrete roof.
Which came to 10 days and 250 tons of cement per building without taking into ount the curing.
Now using Diagosis''s method, Alexander found he would be producing 15 buildings every 5 months.
This seemed too slow.
And so to speed up the process, Alexander did two things.
First, he divided the 800-man into 2 teams, with one working on the walls of one building, and the other casting the roof of another.
This way, one group would not have to sit idle waiting for the other group to get the walls up before starting on the roof.
And secondly, he decided to give Diaogosis 2,000 men as opposed to 800, and a daily quota of 100 tons of cement as opposed to 50 tons.
This would double his production output, getting 60 buildings in 5 months, or 1 every two and a half days, which was approximately about 3 days when taking into ount the workers'' weekends.
This was very impressive, as this with this speed, Alexander would be basically able to house 200,000 within a decade, even after taking into ount any unforeseen dy.
In fact, if he could solve his bottleneck of cement supply, he would be able to finish it even sooner.
But Alexander also knew it was unlikely because increasing that would be hard.
Even if he could mine more limestone and build more kilns, creating the watermills to crush the clinkers would be a challenge as Zanzan was already running out of fast-moving water sources.
And those few that remained were likely going to be used by the aqueducts to deliver fresh water to the city.
While moving the cement production to an additional city was a no-go for Alexander at the moment.
And so with all those considerations, Alexander chose to dy green-lighting this immense project, instead letting Diaogosis, and now Farnaz do some more preliminary work first.
One of which making sure the cement he had invented was safe.
This worry arose because Alexander had no ess to any of the modern quality assurance equipment one would need to inspect the magnitude of variables that determined a cement''s quality.
Heck, Alexander even did not have a thermometer to check the kiln temperature.
The best he could do was look into the kiln zing with fire and roughly guess the temperature based on the color of the me which had been honed through his vast experience of working with various types of furnace
Hence, without knowing the quality of the cement, Alexander was of course worried about making a 16m story structure where people would live in using it.
This was not like building roads, where an inferior cement would only mean frequent potholes and an expensive maintenance.
So Alexander first decided to build a few prototype buildings to see how it all went.
In this way, the workers had the opportunity to gain experience working with this brand-new material and learn how to use it.
While Alexander also made sure that the cement he made would not just turn to y and bring the entire thing down within a few months of its construction.
Because, just from his experience as a metallurgical engineer, Alexander could tell the cement he had made would be treated as fairly low quality in his times.
But as Alexander stood inside the finished structure and felt its sturdiness of it, he felt that his worries had been exaggerated.
The cement seemed to be good enough.
So he felt confident in going ahead with the project.
Chapter 475 Market Visit (Part-1)
Once the group finished inspecting the apartmentplex, they soon returned to the carriage and made their way to the center of the city.
And while on the way, Pasha Farzah asked a few more tidbits about the houses, particrly, "So what''s the cost of these buildings?"
And Alexander would admit these houses were not cheap.
Each apartment needed 250 tons of cement which cost Alexander 75 ropals a ton.
Around 1500 tons of bricks were needed which was 60 ropals a ton.
Each of the workers working there demanded 300 ropals a month, double that of a peasant''s as they were much more skilled.
And then there were aggregates such as sand, gravel, and water, and furnishing such as doors and windows.
Taking all this into consideration, it came to around 200 to 250 thousand ropals per housing.
This was certainly not cheap.
And worse still it was an amount Alexander was never likely going to be able to recoup.
Because even assuming he could charge each of the 32 families living there a monthly rent of 30 ropals, it would still take him around 18 to 22 years to make his money back.
And this was not even considering the maintenance costs, such as sweepers to clean the buildings, repainting it once in a while, and conducting other repairs.
Alexander would likely have to set up a small council of around 100 to 150 men just to oversee these buildings.
All thisbined meant that Alexander would likely be able to maybe recoup half of the 200 to 250 million ropals he nned to spend on the 1,000 buildings over the next decade.
"A lot! Close to a million." Alexander quadrupled his costs when he answered Pasha Farzah with a helpless smile on his face, saying, "That''s why I will only build a few for now."
Hearing the costs, and being well aware of the cost of building structures in general, F surprisingly found the cost to be reasonable as he nodded gently.
The reason was because hepared the concrete buildings toparable stone ones, and since stones were much more expensive than bricks, and the mortal had to be prepared using much more expensive process, he estimated the buildings to be around 800,000 to 1 million ropals using his own experience.
Which led to his next question.
"So why are building such expensive homes for the peasants, my lord? I don''t think they will be ever able to pay them back." But this was not asked by Pasha Farzah.
Instead, in a rare case of urrence, it was done by Nanazin, who chose to open her mouth for the first time since the journey started.
And Alexander turned to look at the beautiful woman who was wearing a full-sleeved, high-cored ck dress that covered her entire body except the face and hands even on this hot summer day.
This was in much contrast with the other two women, who wore much looser, even somewhat revealing clothes, their half-sleeved gowns starting much below the corbones, and even showing a bit of cleavage.
And it was not like Nanzan had worn it because she preferred it, as she was clearly ufortable in it given how Alexander would see small beads of sweat trickling down her cheeks, and how she would regrly swing her hands around a bit, in a sort of an attempt to fan herself.
But she had still chosen to wear it due to reasons Alexander would easily guess.
"Yes, Your Highness is right. But it was never about the money. I built them because I wanted to help the peasants," Pushing those thoughts away for now, Alexander gave this reply, as he then chuckled in a self-deprecating manner, "Hahaha, what can I say? Being once a peasant myself, I just could not leave them."
This reminder made the four remember once again that Alexander was in fact not one of them.
At least not by birth.
A fact they would easily forget once they started talking to him.
Because Alexander''s mannerisms were really not likely a peasant, which was crude and crass.
But instead, he was very clean, refined, and charming in his conversations.
And this was not something a peasant was capable of, no matter how expensive clothes he put on, or how much perfume he drowned himself in.
And it was a phenomenon one could see in the modern age as well.
Such as if a rtive visits from the vige or rural areas, they just have that bumkin aura to them.
But Alexander did not have that.
And that was what the people had thought Alexander of until now, as a refined, smart man.
But that impression changed with Alexander frankly revealing that he was wasting so much money on a deadbeat project.
Even thepetent Pasha Farzah saw no point in providing free housing to the poor peasants when they could easily be living in small huts and doing the same thing.
After all, peasants were called peasants because they were cheap, abundant, and disposable.
So there was little need to look after them outside of the basic necessities.
Hence the old man was of the thought that after Alexander had looted the Grand Temple, he had more money than sense, and so was wasting them in such frivolous endeavors.
And this made him internally shake his head.
But he did not speak out against it, or offer some advice.
Because it was Alexander''s decision and felt it would not be right for him toment.
Besides, he also felt mistakes were a good way to learn.
And this was thisst thought that made the Pasha not form a bad impression of Alexander.
After all, the old man had seen enough of life to know that all people had something they were bad at.
And all people made bad choices or wasted money on poor investments at some point in their lives.
He himself had made the mistake of underestimating Alexander and had to pay the price.
And so the aged man let Alexander carry on.
While it was Lady Inayah who broke the almost ufortable silence that had descended after Alexander''s altruistic answer,
"Haha, Lord Alexander is truly magnanimous. Zanzan is lucky to have a lord like you," She lightly smiled the answer.
And though it appeared a very polite answer, it was actually diplomatic code for calling something or someone ''not so smart''.
Because a lord being praised aspetent or skilled or a military veteran was praise.
But a lord being called magnanimous meant he was actually a sucker who was loose with money.
Alexander was of course aware of the thoughts of the people around him, if not fully, but at least partially.
And surprisingly, he would agree with them...if the price he quoted was correct.
A million ropals for a building was too much for him no matter how good his financial situation was.
If it had been so much, Alexander would have simply discarded the project.
But the 250,000 price tag barely made that possible.
"Yes. Magnanimous." Pasha Farzah spookily repeated, before regretfully shaking his head and saying,
"If only they were cheaper. I could have built them in my cities, and they would be immune to razing."
The aged lord had the smarts to figure out that these cement buildings would be pretty impervious to fire, which would give a defending force a great advantage, for they would be able to fight inside the city without any trouble and even use the buildings as obstacles to break up the attacking force, enabling the defenders to pick them off one at a time.
And the reason why it was not possible currently was because an attacking army could simply set fire to the wooden and thatched houses, turning the city into a smoking ruin and cooking the enemy inside.
That''s why in ancient times, the battle tended to end once the city walls were breached, unlike in modern times.
Alexander silently praised the old man for his insight, while the carriage atst entered the central district, which frankly had nothing much to see.
"This ce is currently empty. But I intend to build all the administrative buildings here," Alexander lightly said as the carriage went past a bunch of workers busy in construction.
Currently, they were being ordered to build the senate building, as Alexander wanted to move his meeting there as soon as possible.
Following this the carriage turned north to the market district, and it was here Alexander intended to show some of his new inventions.
And as the carriage entered this section of the city, the roads started getting narrower, and the buildings shabbier.
"We have not had the time to develop this part of the town," Alexander gave the reason for its current state, and when they reached the mouth of the open market, he lightly smiled and said,
"After the war and the spring harvest, the markets are just starting. So it''s not much,"
Though looking at the bustling crowd ahead of him, it was anything but not much.
In fact the market seemed to be almost spilling over.
Seeing this state, and because of the dingy, congested roads, Alexander then proposed they view the market on foot, saying, "If Your Highnesses cannot get up and close, you will not simply able to determine the quality of the goods."
And the Queen mother appeared eager to do that, as she quickly said, "Hmm, yes, let''s. You cannot see anything from a carriage anyway."
And so with arge, multyered escort, Alexander and the group slowly made it into the crowded market.
Chapter 476 Market Visit (Part-2)
Alexander had some of his bodyguards go in front of him to clear the way, and the group then proceeded to walk into the square center and observe the bustling market.
"Ahh, today is a Thursday. That''s why it''s so crowded,"
And looking at the heavy crowd present, Alexander reminded himself that it was the weekend, which meant most workers had the day off or reduced work as they offered prayers or sacrifices at the temples in the morning.
In fact, this was happening around the time Alexander was visiting the central district, which was why the group had avoided that congested part of the town for now, even though Pasha Farzah had wanted to see the temple his granddaughters were working in.
Instead, Alexander had promised to let him meet them on their return trip.
And for now, urged the pasha to enjoy this foreign market.
¡¤?¦Èm The northern market square was a bustling hub of activity, encased around an area surrounded by timber-framed buildings which served as the abodes of the merchants there.
These buildings were adorned with colorful banners and gs which advertised many brand names and even read out various catchy messages.
For example, Alexander spotted onemercial banner for wine that read: ''This drink will be the life of your party.''
It seemed even in the iron age people knew how to make their product stand out.
Alexander and the group slowly made their way through the narrow roads, taking their time as they turned their heads from side to side to see the local produce.
This was a rare opportunity for all three of the women, with Lady Inayah being usually too busy, and the Queen mother and Nanazin being able to leave the pce without special permission.
And hence they wanted to savor the opportunity.
Especially when that opportunity was in a foreignnd.
So they took their time to observe the stalls and makeshift booths lining either side of the street, their awnings casting shade over the array of products disyed.
These stalls were almost all owned by local farmers, who proudly presented their abundant collection of fruits, vegetables, and spices from the recent spring harvest, the colorful, vivid natural produce lighting up the surrounding.
Among the vegetables, there were every kind of beans: pitch ck ck beans, verdant lima peas, vibrant kidney beans, golden fava beans, and many more, in addition to beautiful plump gourds, green cabbages, bright carrots, and juicy leeks.
And these were just a few of the delicacies Alexander could see.
While among the fruits were ripe watermelons which every shop seemed to have a stock of, juicy plums, bright jackfruits, and stone fruits to name a few.
All beingid out in full disy to tempt customers to have a bite, while their owners energetically call out their wares, hauling customers to them and then haggling over the price.
And atst were the spices and aromatic herbs, which hang from wooden beams, enticing passersby with their earthy fragrances.
And as Alexander passed by these, his nose even stung a bit from the smell a bit, as huge quantities of garlic, ck pepper, bell peppers, mustard, and onions wereid out in the open.
Butpared to the fruits and vegetables, their amount and variety were pathetically poor, for it appeared that Adhania and even Thesos werecking in some of the more exotic spices such as ginger, turmeric, and cloves.
Perhaps they would be discovered when Alexander initiated his age of sail.
Alexander certainly had the mind to do this as he walked past these eager and energetic shopkeepers, while also being unable to help himself fromparing the current markets with his previous life''s supermarkets.
And the biggest difference he would say between them was that whereas in modern times a market usually referred to as a stationary ce with concrete buildings and fixed shops here a market simply referred to a ce people got together to buy and sell stuff.
What he meant by this was that here markets were not permanent structures, but that most people would simply bring a portable stall or even just a basket filled with the fruits, vegetables, grain, etc from their fields, and set up by the roadside peddling it, while people moving about would spot them and then based on their needs purchase them.
This also meant that markets were not 24/7 avable amenities like in the modern times.
But rather that this organic meeting would gather around itself around 2 to 3 times a week, while the rest of the week the ce would be fairly deserted, with only the professional merchants with their fixed shops selling their wares.
So the city folk would actually have to pace their pantry such as that they could would be able tost three days without a major restock, as they could grain anytime, but not the seasonal produce, as well as meat and fish.
Speaking of meat and fish, the fishmongers and butcher stalls were next.
And they were in a wider clearing around the center square of the market.
Now unlike in modern times, meat was not avable to buy every day.
But could only be bought on certain days of the week.
The reason for this was there was little way to store meat other than salting it, and so any unsold, and unprocessed meat would spoil very quickly.
And as there was not enough demand for freshly ughtered meat every day of the week, butchers would usually ughter one animal per week, which was Thursday for Zanzan.
And this produced an interesting phenomenon where people would show up at the market in the crack to get the best cut of meat.
While in the case of fish, the timing was the opposite.
Because usually the freshest fishes would be found around the evening when the fishermen would return from the sea, or perhaps in the afternoon if some fishermen decided to return by midday.
Alexander and the group stood still for a while and watched as the butchers wearing their trademark bloodied aprons now dyed red expertly use a cleaver to process cuts of meat for their customers over a wooden board, while the fishmongers poked at the fishes'' eyes to show the buyers the freshness of their produce, or even cut open the fish to show the vibrant, red guts.
And a bit further way was the poultry for sale, as chickens, ducks, and even various birds were offered up for sale in small, bamboo cages.
After a while of watching this, the smell of raw meat and fish seemed to get on the nerves of thedies, and so deciding to leave this crowded part of the market, Alexander surged forward.
And found the next destination a lot more free from the previous hustle and bustle.
It seemed that things had slowed down here quite a bit, as then wafted into Alexander''s nose was the scent of freshly baked bread as well as the mingling aroma of roasting meats, fried fish, and fragrant spices.
Alexander appeared to have entered the food court of the market.
And looking around, he saw many food stalls selling various meat, fish, and vegetarian dishes of various exotic colors and tastes, many of which he did not even know the name of.
Numerous people were seen patroning these makeshift stalls, buying and eating the snacks either standing or sitting on the stall stools provided right in front of the shop, which was surprisingly reminiscent of those food carts of modern times.
And as these people ate and drank, they also enjoyed the songs and tales of the minstrels and street performers ying on the center square and would whistle, cheer, and even throw money to encourage their performance.
This part of the market might not be the busiest, because not everybody had the time or money to sit and snack in the middle of the day while watching the street performance, but it was certainly the most interesting part of the market.
"Would thedies like to have something to eat? Perhaps even a cool drink?" Alexander politely offered seeing the group stop to appreciate the performance, though he knew this was unlikely.
Not to mention the security risks of eating food from an unknown source, but more importantly, he knew these noble people would not be caught dead dining in such an open space surrounded bymoners.
After all, if they were caught mingling with the low borns, their whole dignity would be dragged through the mud,
Particrly for thedies.
"Thank you, lord Alexander. But we are not hungry," Predictably Seelima answered this back with a sweet smile.
Though this was a fib, as it was approaching midday, and breakfast was a few hours ago.
Not to mention, they had been walking for not an insignificant time now.
So Alexander replied, "Then perhaps we can get something to eat on the go. The eastern district is a while away," before quickly turning to Hemicus without giving the Queen mother to intervene, and said, "Go find what is nice. Hot, spicy, cool. Bring a bunch of things."
Alxx seemed to want to sample the lot.
So the guard captain received the order with a stoic nod, and then taking a few of his men, set out to purchase various food items.
While the group waited and entertained themselves with the street performance going on in front of them, and after the performers noticed they were being observed by some nobles, decided to put on the best show they had.
A show that Alexander woulde to enjoy.
Chapter 477 Alexanders Shops
Hemicus had fortunately made a full recovery from his injury and soon managed to get an assortment of various unique food items for the group to enjoy.
There was something simr to fish and chips, made of various small cuts of fish, fried and crispy, and drizzled with a spicy fish sauce.
There was a kind of shashlik item with meat and vegetable on a stick.
There were several pie dishes with meat, fish, cheese, and vegetables.
There were simple dishes of various pulled meat such as pork, beef, mutton, and venison cooked in butter with seasonal vegetables, andstly, there were various cut fruits sold together in a mixed fruit basket.
All to be had with fine wine.
And coincidentally enough, the wine that Hemicus bought from Camius''s shop, which was also situated here, along with several others selling simr merchandise.
Alexander had not actually never seen Camius''s shop up close, due to security reasons but now was given the perfect opportunity to observe it from the corner of his eyes.
Alexander could not spot Camius but found that his shop had been set up at the front porch of a ratherckluster building nobody was giving a second nce at, which was good given it was the main headquarter building of his intelligence agency.
As for the shop itself, it was very ordinary, consisting of stacks and stacks of barrels arranged vertically, all presumably filled with wine.
While the shop attendant could be seen handing out samples to prospective buyers to have a taste before buying, and afterwards haggling over the process.
Camisu seemed to have done a very good job with the shop, as even Alexander, who knew about the specialness of the shop failed to find any from just looking at it.
It was at that point Hemicus returned, and Alexander called out cheerfully, "Ahh, good you are here," while he was also surprised to see one of his men carry an entire barrel of wine with him, which also made him unable to hold back a smile.
stic bottles were truly the modern age''s lifesaver.
Alexander and Pasha Farzah tasted one of every item, while thedies contented themselves with only the fruits.
And after finishing some of it, Alexander gifted the performers some gold and decided to move on to the next part of the market.
At past the halfway mark of the market, around the center of the market were a few of Alexander''s own shops, which he had asked Takfiz to set up, and ced trusted attendant to oversee.
They were notrge by any means, but only sold small quantities of his unique produce, mainly paper, soap, and iron ingots, but also had a series of stalls selling some sugar, a few pieces of beautiful ssware, andstly weapons, particrly beautiful swords, all guarded by a conspicuously great number of guards, who kept a watchful eye out for thieves and troublemakers.
This central part of the market was actually reserved by Alexander for his own goods, and he nned to develop this part into his own economic zone, but for now, it was still in this infant stage.
"Oh? Is this where you make all your money from?" Lady Inayah teased a bit as she as she looked at the shops, her and the other two women seemingly being very interested in the things disyed.
"Hahaha, hardly." But Alexander chuckled the denial, saying, "These shops really don''t sell anything. But they are more meant as disys, showcasing to rich merchants who might be interested in buying these things bulk."
''Hmmp¡so they are used for advertisements?" Pasha Farzah easily rted to the stalls, as Alexander nodded and answered, "Yes. The merchants can first inspect the products here. And if they like it, then they ask the attendants where they can buy more."
"So this is the wholesale part." The Queen mothermented understandingly as the group then proceeded to check the beautifully disced products.
The paper shop was beautifully decorated with color festoons, while the actual paper was sold in rolled scrolls.
The ss shop in contrast was a nd-looking stall, with only a few pieces disyed, each showcasing a different type of ss.
Just from the outside it looked pretty pathetic.
But external appearances could be deceiving, as the reason why the stall was not decorated was because there was no need for it, for the products housed in them more than made up for that.
Each of the vases, bowls, goblets, or tes were worth their weight in gold, and most merchants would both be fascinated by the creation and also intimated by the listed prices, which started at the five digits.
Thedies had seen simr products in Alexander''s houses, so were not too surprised by them, but still, they could not marvel at them, as Nanazin picked up on the goblets, and muttered in a silky dreamy voice, "My lord truly as is a genius."
Her ethereal tone sounded as if she was whispering into the ears of her lovers, and it made the ever-sharp-eared Seelima smirk a bit.
''Perhaps I can use this,'' She thought.
After the ss store, the group moved on to see the iron ingots which were stacked up one above the other like a pyramid, something thedies had little interest in, but something Farzah very much adored, loudly saying, "So it is true Zanzan can mass produce steel."
And then smirked at Alexander with a teasing look, "So, I wonder by Muazz couldn''t?"
This was a reference to Alexander''s excuse about how he learned everything from books in Muazz''s library.
And Alexander could only smirk back.
¡¤?¦Èm Following the iron shop, the group observed the soap shop, where they found the fragrant bars of soap being sold in color paper wrappers, while the foamy liquid soap was sold in beautiful metal and y containers, with a few even having ss containers, but for these, it would cost a few hundred times more to buy the container than the soap.
Seeing thedies eye this shop particrly eagerly, especially Nananzin, Alexander decided to gift each of thedies some as souvenirs, as they then moved to thest shop.
"Good sword!" Pasha Farzah''s eyes caught onto the intricate sword decorated with gems and iid gold which was the centerpiece of the shop, that had been originally made to show to the prospective merchants the height of Zanzan''s metallurgy.
Now openly selling swords might seem not like a smart move, as it would seem like arming your enemy.
But Alexander actually had no problem selling high-quality swords.
Because the quality of swords an army possessed did not really affect its battle prowess, at least not in the same sense as crossbows did.
After all, a better sword would not enable it to cut through a wooden shield, now would it?
So swords were more of a fashion statement, kind of like those fancy handguns gifted to modern generals or dictators.
And Alexander was more than happy to swindle nobles eager to boost their self-esteem by having them spend on one of these.
Though swindling might not be the right word as Alexander was giving them the best sword money could buy.
Something Pasha Farzah was easily able to recognize, as he grabbed the short sword tightly and swung it around, loving the sound of the steel cutting the air.
It seemed to Alexander had the pasha had be twenty years younger, with his eyes sparkling with joy at the new toy.
"I''m d the pasha likes this. If you want, please have it as a gift from me," Seeing this Alexander politely offered.
And the pasha did not stand in ceremony, as he boisterouslyughed and said, "Good then brat. I quite like this. Hahaha,"
This market visit was turning into one of the best ones he had in his life, if not the best.
While the shop attendant, seeing his boss visit, quickly fetched the scabbard for the short sword, and with this done, the group then atst visited the sugar shop.
In fact calling this a shop might be a stretch as it was just a man sitting behind a bench with colored shade above his head, his product being a small sack of sugar ced on the table in front of him.
There was a small metal spoon inserted into the sack, and several tiny wooden tesid out on to the tables, while at the door of the store was arge card with the simple words:
''Come taste the crystallized sweetness of the heavens. Each spoon only 5 ropals.''
It appeared Alexander''s idea for attracting merchants was to have them taste a bit of sugar and then decided for themselves.
"Hahaha, if someone saw this, they could either call the owner crazy or a genius." Pasha Farzah loudlyughed, both because of the insane price tag and also because although this type of advertisement was verymon, what differentiated Alexander was how indifferent he was to the outlook of the store he was selling the stuff from.
To Pasha Farzah it looked like a beggar was selling something others would not give a second look, but those that would would find white, crystallized gold.
"Hehe, well, it goes to show just how much lord Alexander is confident in his product that he feels even such an ordinary disy will bring everyone running. And I think he is right. " From the side, Lady Inayah giggled.
While the Queen Mother nodded with agreement and said, "Mmmn, this sugar is truly to die for."
Chapter 478 Market Visit(Part-3)
The group really left no stone unturned when it came to praising the refined sugar, with even Nanazin joining in, as she nodded and said, "Mmmm, this sugar has to be my favorite invention out of all of the things lord Alexander has made," adding,
"In fact, I think even if he were to charge 10 ropals, some would stille asking for a second or even a third bite."
Nanazin was sure anyone and everyone who tasted this solid treat that directly activated the brain''s dopamine receptors will want to buy it"
And then unable to resist herself, the still-now queen headed over to the counter to have a bite, and was soon joined by the other twodies who could not resist.
And seeing this Alexander advised, "Your Highnesses, why don''t you sprinkle some of the sugar onto your fruits?"
And this they quickly did, showering the cut fruits they still had in their fruit baskets with the white powder, and then relishing in its taste.
"Mmm,"
"Ohhh"
They could not help but subconsciously moan.
While Pasha Farzahmented, "Alexander, I would like to buy your entire stock of this sugar. But the price¡.."
100,000 ropals a ton was enough to make even someone rich as him bleed.
To which Alexander only smiled and said, "Hahaha,e on my lord. 100 ropals per kg is a bargain. Don''t tell me you would not have paid a few hundred ropals a kg for this?"
This was true, Pasha Farzah would have coughed up that amount if it came to it.
But what kind of a lord would he be if he did not haggle?
And so the old man switched to his silver tongue, which after a while seemed to have produced results, as it made Alexander simply sigh and say, "Okay, okay, we can re-negotiate the prices another time."
The group stayed in this part of the market for a while, preferring it much more here because the ce was virtually deserted.
Regr people had no need or the capability to afford the things here, not to mention the presence of so many armed guards drove many away in fear.
While today it also appeared that prospective merchants showing interest in Alexander''s wares were low.
So the group was able to enjoy Alexander''s shops to the fullest.
But finally, and albeit a bit reluctantly they decided to continue with their tour, as the group then moved to theirst destination- The artisan''s section.
And the moment they left the peaceful central square, the hustle, and bustle of the market again hit them like a sledgehammer, as the people used alternative routes to ess the wares here.
Which were of the category produced by the most numerous branch of the artisans- the potters, who were selling every kind of pottery one''s heart could desire.
Potters perhaps made up 80% of all artisans, and was the group that always produced the lion''s share of the economic output for the artisan ss.
The reason behind such a huge demand being there because everyone needed pottery.
Their needs ranged from a variety of earthenware and y pottery used for utilitarian purposes such as cooking food in them and serving food in earthen bowls.
They were also used to store all kinds of kinds of food, herbs, spice, and vegetables, not to mention the most important ingredient of life- drinking water.
Then they were used for misceneous purposes, such as vessels to pickle fruits, and even sometimes even for storing materials such as jewelry.
After that came decorative purposes, where beautiful vases were used for decorating the house, either by themselves or growing flowers in them, y idols for worshipping the gods, and y toys such as dolls, and figurines for children.
y pottery was really the stic of the ancient era.
As Alexander stood at the mouth of this section, he could see rows and rows of such ywareid on the ground, a sight he had seen only a few times in his life.
And it appeared that a lot of these had their outer walls used as a canvas for skilled painters to exhibit their artwork, depicting scenes of daily life, religious iconography, and heraldic symbols.
It was both a way to express themselves while also making their products more eye-catching.
Alexander andpany slowly walked past theserge rows of merchandise, while some brave and eager potter hauled them to take a look at their wares, while a bit further from this huge disy of skilledbor and arts were the tanners and leatherworkers.
Here the men showcased their finely crafted assortment of belts, pouches, and shoes, as well as saddles, and bridles for horses and bulls.
Next to them were cksmiths disying their skillfully crafted knives, cleavers, short swords, as well as various tools such as hammers, nails, chisels, etc.
And then there were the carpenters selling their woodenware of bowls, utensils such as spoons, figurines, toys, chopping boards, and most numerous of all-furniture, which they seemed to have every kind of, from small chairs or stools, torge beautiful tables, ready-made doors, and windows, tostly huge cupboards.
And as Alexander walked passed all of them, the clinking of coins and the jingling of keys echoed as merchants tend to their money chests, ensuring the safety of their earnings.
At the end of these shops was thest section of the market, - the textile and clothing section, which was perhaps the part of the market the least densely popted of all the sections, outside of Alexander''s shops.
Both because it was at the back, and also because clothes were in general an expensivemodity.
But nevertheless, for anyone looking to buy fabric, the market seemed to offer an array of options.
Traders exhibited thick bolts of richly dyed fabrics of velvets, wool, silks, and linens, colored red, blue, green and yellow, and embellished with intricate embroidery and patterns.
While tailors disyed their finest garments, including borate dresses, tunics, and cloaks, some of which were adorned with jewelry and brooches to entice the more affluent buyers, most likely merchants.
"Hmmm, are any of these shops your''s lord Alexander? I''m sure manydies would quite like your products," The Queennguidly asked about the lingerie shop while out of mere curiosity, she decided to check out some of the dresses, much to the delight of the shopkeeper there.
Though Alexander knew she had no actual intention of buying any.
Nobles did not just go to a shop and buy their clothes.
No, no, no.
Clothing was perhaps the most important item for a noble as it showed off their status and affluence, and it was especially the case for nobledies.
And so they would make sure whatever they wore was custom-made to best suit their needs and taste.
To help aplish this, all noblewomen would have a personal tailor and stylist who would be well-versed with the current trends and styles of the times, and who could guide them along the design of the fabric.
So if a nobledy wanted a dress, she would first call them to tell them about the asion she wanted to wear them, the material she wanted to use, and then speak about what she wanted to look in that dress.
Hearing these the stylist would then rmend various designs and materials to be used, and then even produce sketches of the design.
And if this sketch was to the liking of thedy, the dress would be given the go-ahead, while if it was not, the entire process would have to be repeated again.
Hence, the best a merchant could usually hope for when peddling to nobles was that a servant woulde to them and buy a few rolls of fabric if it caught the eye of a nobledy.
"No. Not yet. Those lingeries are beyond the ability of themon folk anyway," Alexander replied to the Queen Mother''s query about the shops in a light tone, while slightly shaking his head.
Alexander had not ced the lingerie shop in his reserved spot primarily because he did not think Gelene had earned it yet, and intended to give her that spot as a future reward.
And so that made Gelene intend to open a shop here, but first there came the war, where she was required to produce yarn for the arrows which dyed that.
And then afterward found Zanzan did not have the high-value customers such as rich merchants and nobles that would be required to consistently sell the product.
So then Alexander ordered her to simply stock up on them, as he nned to sell these to Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah in bulk.
And he was pretty sure they would buy these mass-produced garments anyway, even if their target would be the nobles, who generally detested anything not custom-made.
For with the blooming of the dandelions, Alexander had also managed to make stic bands, meaning the bras and panties would have a ''springiness'' to them they had never seen before.
Alexander was confident that they would be a great hit.
And so after his reply, Alexander added, "If Your Highness is curious, we are working on a new kind of clothing which I''m sure you will love. I''ll ask Gelene to show it to youter."
To which the Queen mother somewhat eagerly replied, "Oh? Then I look forward to it."
She really liked thefortable underwears.
And with that eager anticipation, came the end of the market visit, as the group then proceeded to the eastern district.
Chapter 479 Sanitary Reforms
The shops that the group visited until now were all the interesting shops here in the northern marketce,
There were also a few shops beyond that, right next to the northern gate, but those were small permanent shops selling the usual daily necessities like grains, firewood, etc.
Not worth visiting.
And so after the tailor visit, the group turned around and decided to grab lunch at the eastern district where Alexander had also nned to showcase a series of military demonstrations to Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah, mainly the crossbow, and the instant bow.
Now, as a side note, Alexander''s city market, though certainly very impressive and bid, was actually missing two types of shops, one was the horse or animal market, and the other was the ve trading square.
The reason for the former was because there were no horse merchants currently residing in Zanzan, as any and all who hade here had their entire bulk of the stock brought up by Alexander to shore up his chronic shortage of draft animals.
While the reason for thetter, the ve market was exactly the same, the existence of arge shortage of manpower which caused Alexander to buy off every ve trader nearby.
Though Alexander''s haul for his efforts in this endeavor could be said to be petty.
The group traversed the distance between the northern and eastern district quite quickly, while Alexander noted there was a whole lot more activity here, without a doubt due to the recent additional presence of 25,000 Thesians who took refuge in the former hotels, inns, and gambling dens, quickly transforming them into homely quarters.
The part of the city seemed to be in a transitionary period between growth and decay, as while many parts of it were full of vibrant life, right next to ity demolished structures, for Alexander had ordered the full remodeling of this part.
Thus many busy workers, many of them soldiers who were recruited for manualbor could be seen tearing out the old congested structures and making space, while othersid roads, built aqueducts and constructed sewage systems.
It was a busy, busy part of the city.
"Lord Alexander, what are those? I have seen them several times on my way here?" And while they were passing across a series of wooden sheds, the Queen mother pointed to and asked about them.
And Alexander replied, "Oh, those are the public restrooms for the peasants to use. It''s free to use and thetrines are connected to the sewage underneath which washes away the filth. Everyone uses them."
And quickly from the opposite end Lady Inayah nodded appreciatively, "Oh, so that''s why the streets smell so nice. Very smart," as she then pondered if she should do the same for her city.
The reason for thement about the smell was because whenever Lady Inayah would leave her part of the city quarters and travel to themer parts, a perpetual slight stinging smell would keep assaulting her, which she found very unpleasant.
And if Alexander could provide a solution, she would certainly consider it.
Though it was not if Agrinat was the sole example.
In fact all cities she had visited up until now had that pungent, ammonia smell to varying degrees, and she remembered Zanzan as having a particrly bad odor that assaulted her when she had raced in her carriage from the harbor to Muazz''s mansion.
And the source behind this unpleasant smell was very evident.
For people would regrly dispose of their garbage by simply tossing it out of their windows or doors onto the streets below, causing the umtion of a significant amount of waste, including food scraps, animal excrement, and other household refuse, both from residential andmercial use.
At Lady Inayah''s inquiry, the ''proud of his work'' Alexander was eager to show off his city''s management skills, as after his reply, he elucidated, "You see mydy, in Zanzan it is a punishable offense to throw garbage into the street. They can be fined up to 20 ropals for it."
"So instead we have trash collectors who go around the city every day at dawn with special carts to collect all the trash and dump it outside the city or into the sea."
"Or the people can drop their trash at special trash ces we have in the city."
"Andstly, we have about 300 street sweepers whose job is to clean any trash which might have escaped the collectors."
"That''s why the streets are so clean."
Alexander''s exnation produced both impressed and intrigued looked.
Impressed at the organizational cleanliness, and intrigued by the intention.
"Why go so far for these people? Sounds like a whole lot of money for nothing," And the ever-pragmatic Farzah posed exactly that with knitted brows.
Sure enough, the man''s thoughts first ran to the question of budgeting, which to be fair was not insignificant.
By Alexander''s own estimates, he found it would cost him around 2 to 3 million ropals per year to maintain the sanitary department, or the tax amount of around 5,000 to 6,000 peasants.
And it was because of this great cost that most cities did not take care of their garbage problem.
But it was a cost any modern person with the minimum of knowledge of hygiene would have found worth it.
So Alexander first chuckled, "Well firstly it''s easier on the nose. Have you tried walking in Adhan, haha?"
Alexander had certainly seen the filth the so-called divine city possessed.
And then gave the serious answer, "The main reason is because these unclean things cause diseases. So by spending money to clean them, we stop people dying. Which can also include me or my family. After all, death does not discriminate."
And thenstly added, "While it also means the people can keep working and pay more taxes. So actually we make money back through this by longer tax repayments."
Alexander said thest sentence because he hoped the utilitarian pasha would find this reason more convincing.
As he then gave a preceding example, "I still remember when we first arrived at Zanzan, gued and filled to the brim with full of filth. And once we cleaned the gue, vo, no more gue."
"Coincide? I think not!" He grandly dered.
And these talks managed to put Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah in a thoughtful mood, as they weighed the pros and cons of replicating Alexander.
"Oh? Does cleanliness cure gues? Is this one of those pearls of wisdom from your goddess?" While the Queen mother asked this to Alexander, her tone so t and neutral that he was unable to determine if she was was genuinely asking or simply taunting.
This was because currently there were several theories regarding the causes of disease, with the two prominent ones being firstly the supernatural theory. which posited them as being curses from the gods or the work of the devils.
And secondly, there was the natural one, which said diseases were caused by natural factors.
And these two theories then branched into many sub-sections of their own, with the supernatural group arguing which god caused which sickness, and how to best exorcise which devil.
While the second theory branched off into discussing which natural factors caused the diseases, and they ranged from reasonable conclusions such as healthy living practices like eating good food and exercising.
To the weird such as not cutting nails and hair because they are all part of the natural.
To the well-intentioned but misguided ones such as not letting a person suffering from cholera drink water because they thought it was excess water that caused the body to discharge it in the first ce.
Tostly the insane such as blood-letting, which was the practice of cutting a wound and letting the blood flow out, with the thought that the disease would flow out with it.
Though such a practice usually caused the victim to die even quicker.
But perhaps the most famous natural germ theory was the theory that diseases were spread by bad smells, as evidenced by how most bad things smelled bad.
This was true.
But the people here, unfortunately, misread the clues.
Diseases were not spread by bad smells.
But smells that the body recognized as bad were usually emitted by harmful sources spreading diseases like refuse and wastes.
So in this case, the people read the warningspletely backward.
Now, Alexander did not know which of the many branches of medicine Seelima believed in.
He knew she certainly hated the previous king, so perhaps the natural branch.
But she also saw herself as above the others, having sort of a godplex.
So it could be either.
Thus Alexander decided not to engage with his powerful woman over the belief of diseases and sickness,
And so only smiled, and gave a nk stare, as coincidentally, his eyes spotted a rather inconspicuous building that was part of the red light district and a particr favorite of a certain nobledy.
And this made Alexander almost guffaw.
But he managed to quickly swallow it as he was abruptly interrupted by Pasha Farzah, who posited, "So that''s why you are building so many aqueducts," and then as suddenly something caught his eyes, pointed arge two-story wooden building to his right side and asked, "What is that? Why are so many people there?"
And this made Alexander turn his head to see a long queue snaking out of the pointed building, as he then answered, "Oh that! That is the public clinic."
While this announcement made Farzah want to visit it.
Chapter 480 Civil Clinic
Pasha Farzah knew about Alexander''s advanced medical procedures from back in Adhan, when Alexander had helped Laykash recover from his broken thigh.
¡¤?¦Èm And so was the man was curious to see how Alexander treated his patients in his clinic.
"I want to go take a look. Could we?" The burly man hence inquired.
And it made Alexander raise an eyebrow in concern.
"Are you sure? There are lots of sick people there" He pointed out.
To which Pasha Farzah simply waved his hand like it was nothing and said, "Bah! This old body is limping on itsst legs anyway. Come on¡ let''s go."
While the Queen mother represented the threedies to bid the duo goodbye, "Then my lords please be safe. We will wait for you in the carriage."
After all, a dirty, diseased-ridden hospital was no ce for a nobledy in her opinion.
And so taking a small contingent of guards, the two men went to see the ins and out of this, for the time, modern establishment.
The reason for it being modern is because in most cases when people fell sick in time period, they had the following options, none of which were going to a hospital.
First and foremost, were the home remedies and self-care, where peasants resorted to traditional methods passed down through generations to managemon ailments and injuries, which could include herbal remedies, poultices, hot or coldpresses, and basic wound care techniques.
As there was no formal healthcare, this method was the most preferred by peasants and would resort to theter options only if this failed.
So the second option was going to the local healers and herbalists within theirmunities.
These individuals possessed knowledge of traditional remedies and herbal medicines and would use herbs, nts, and natural substances to create remedies for variousmon illnesses and injuries.
Thirdly, they could visit the nearby temples, in which they would both pray to the gods to heal them and also receive tangible treatment from the establishment.
Temples usually had infirmaries with stocked herb gardens and many priests and priestesses would possess some degree of medicinal knowledge that allowed them to offer a slightly more advanced level of care.
This basic providence of medical treatment to the sick and injured was seen as a civic duty of the temples as well as being a major source of their ie, all while also helping them cement their status as favored by the gods into the hearts of the masses.
This was one of the reasons attacking temples was so hard.
Because it tangibly affected the surrounding popce and would make them prone to revolt.
This was also why Alexander''s clinic had many of Gaia temple''s personnel working here, to provide the same, if not better services than the previous Ramuh temple.
All so that the people would forget thetter''s existence.
Now back to the fourth option for the poor was to seek care from charitable institutions such as almshouses or hospices which would offer basic medical treatment to peasants who were unable to afford private healthcare, with them themselves relying on donations, endowments, or religious organizations for funding and support.
And thest option the people had, which was probably the worst one- Visiting the local barber or butcher.
This might seem a bit weird given that profession had no rtion with human anatomy, but aren''t humans just animals?
And butchers handled cows, which are simr to humans right?
This thought process let barbers act as surgeons, who would perform procedures such as bloodletting, wound dressings, tooth extractions, and bone setting.
Their medical knowledge was limited, and their practices were based on traditions and guild regtions rather thanprehensive medical training.
Meaning they were quakes, even among quacks.
But because of their cheap visiting cost and frequent interaction with themunity, unfortunately, they were often the primary healthcare providers for peasants if they were unable to solve it themselves.
Alexander had wanted to ban these practices but knew if he did not provide an alternative, it was bound to fail.
Which was one of the reasons behind this clinic''s establishment.
All these thoughts shed inside his mind as he entered the building, which had been converted from a pleasure house, with its structure still reflecting some of its former vestiges.
Which was actually a boon for the clinic due to how it helped sort out the patients.
And as Alexander led Pasha Farzah through, he helped the man introduce how the clinic operated.
"This is the reception area," He said, pointing to the front area of the building whoseyout was exactly like a modern hospital''s, with rows and rows of chairs to sit on, then saying, "What people first do is register and provide information about their condition over there on the information desk."
"Once they have done that, the receptionist will then rmend them to a room over there where a doctor will look at them." Alexander afterward pointed to the door which led into a courtyard which branched out into many more buildings.
This was what Alexander meant by the structure of the clinic being a boon, as having a central courtyard not only allowed him to easily sort the waiting patients from the patients receiving treatment, but it also allowed natural light and venttion to reach the various rooms surrounding the courtyard.
And without the presence of strong, artificial light, this was a massive advantage.
So while previously this courtyard was previously used for tired men to gaze into while they enjoyed their women, now it was helping save lives.
There was little else to see in the reception outside the waiting patients and male nurses running about talking, listening, and attending to them.
And so Alexander decided to move on to the inner courtyard where the real action happened.
And just as Alexander crossed into the central courtyard, a hurried and high-pitched voice came to him, "My lord! You are here!"
The voice was feminine, and familiar to Alexander, as he turned to look at a woman in her early forties, wearing a spot white apron, with her hair tied up in a bundle.
"It''s nice to see you too, Jupetus" Alexander greeted with a frank smile, who was also Hiperteom''s wife and among the best healers Alexander had in his mercenary group.
And then he proceeded to introduce her to Pasha Farzah, "This is Miss Jupetus. She is one of my best pupils and is in charge of this clinic."
And then introduced Pasha Farzah to the women. "This is Lord Farzah, He is the pasha of Matrak."
Which instantly initiated another great bow from the women.
"Greetings my lord." She said.
And got a heavy nod from Farzah.
As she then raised her head to offer, "So how may I help you, my lords?"
Before turning to Alexander and asking in concern, "Is your leg still hurting?"
This generated a curious look from Pasha Farzah, who was unaware of any injury Alexander had suffered.
And so Alexander filled in him on it.
"Hahaha, I got a spear attack on my thigh in thest battle, But don''t worry it''s all fine now" He chuckled breezily and got a simple nod from Pasha Farzah who saw injuries as part and parcels of battle and saw it as no big deal as he could see Alexander had recovered fully, which he did about a week ago.
Alexander was of a simr mindset, as he turned to Jupetus to reassure her everything was fine, saying, "No, we are for here for my leg." and then asking, "In fact, we came here because Pasha Farzah wanted to see the clinic. Could you give us the tour?"
"Of course, of course, right this way," Jupetus was more than ecstatic to show the two lords around, as so began the clinic tour.
First, she led them to a room attached to the reception area that was only essible to the staff.
And inside, there were shelves upon shelves filled to the brim with scrolls, which she pointed to and said, "This is where all the patient''s medical records are stored. To make sure the doctors can look at it whenever necessary."
Jupetus then led lead them upstairs through a staircase right next to the room, as she exined the purpose of the upper rooms on the way, "The clinics have special rooms for consultations and examinations. All these are located upstairs."
"The patients can meet with the attending physicians there and describe their symptoms. The doctors will then assess the patient''s condition using observation, questioning, and physical examination techniques before offering a diagnosis."
As Jupetus said this, Alexander could see several of the rooms being used for precisely that, where a lot of men men, women, and children were being seen by a couple of doctors.
Following these rooms, at the back was arge hall, that now acted as the clinic''s pharmacy, stocked with various jars and containers full of herbs and scales and pestle and mortals for measuring andpounding medicines.
Lot of men were seen here, with the patients buying the medicine rmended to them, and the doctors preparing the herbal concoctions to present to their patients, while the men manning the counters ran to and fro to fulfill the customer''s requests.
It was a very busy part of the clinic, but the size and orderliness of it all impressed Pasha Farzah very much.
And it had to be remembered that they had seen just half the clinic, as Jupetus said, "This part of the clinic is for illnesses. While the other wing is for injuries."
Chapter 481 The Clinics RnD (Part-1)
Alexander and Pasha Farzah finished observing this section of the clinic and were led through an attaching wing to the opposite side, which did not have small rooms but wasposed ofrge halls equipped with benches and beds where patients could rest or lie down.
"This is where we treated the injured. Burns, fractures, and broken bones are the mostmon types of injuries we get here," Jupitus said as she led the two men down the hallway nked by beds on both sides and filled with patients, many moaning in pain as there were no painkillers to suppress their throbbing and sometimes agonizing ache.
While the present doctors and helpers tried to smooth some of the suffering, usingforting talks and also thorough a variety of medical supplies and instruments, including bandages, splints, tools such as spec, forceps, scalpels, and herbal remedies
As Alexander and Pasha Farzah walked through these halls, one particr sensory organ that was particrly affected was their nose, as it was hit hard by the intense smell of quicklime and soap.
So much so that Pasha Farzah looked at Alexander questioningly with knitted brows.
And Alexander was happy to inform the man, "The smell is from the disinfectants. We always keep the clinic clean."
"That includes utilities like the beds, sheets, towels, and clothes, the cooking utensils such as the pots, pans, and even tes, and obviously the floor."
"We also boil all drinking water, and regrly wash the clothes the patients wear."
After saying this Alexander then turned to point to the series of basins and bowls attached to each adjacent bed, along with a solid bar of soap, and said, "And over there the doctors and their assistants frequently wash their hands and equipment, all to keep them dirt free."
Alexander tried to make it as obvious as possible that cleanliness was one of the core tenants of staying healthy.
The two men then observed some of the patients suffering from various injuries, where Alexander found them to be mostly workers from any of his many industries who had suffered various idents, as he then asked some of them about their wellbeing.
Following this tour, Jupetus afterward led the men to thest unexplored room of the clinic, which was situated at the very edge of the building, which she introduced as, "This is the operation theater (OT). Here is where we do the major operations."
She might have said operations as in plural, but this room was really used for one thing, singr- and that was amputation.
This was because it was not likeplex surgeries where the body was cut open, mended, and then stitched back together was possible, while small stitches and sutures could be done on the patient''s bed.
That left only the cutting away the damaged bit of the body treatment.
So the colloquial name the doctors gave the room was the very apt name- ''The abattoir.''
Alexander entered the room half expecting it to resemble a ughterhouse but actually found it to be in pristine condition, which was particrly impressive given this was apletely surprise visit.
And then gazed around to see shelves ced against the walls full of medicinal herbs and bandages, various tools such as saws, hammers, and chisels immactely cleaned and hanging on a tool rack, and the most impressive bit of the kit, therge bed, which had many leather straps hanging off it, that were used to bind a person so that he could not move while he was being sawed alive.
It took a strong man to survive the procedure, and a doctor with a strong stomach to actually treat the person.
For it was a horrible thought to imagine doing such a thing to someone, a gruesome act tomit on others, and an excruciating act to experience oneself.
And Alexander shuddered to think maybe one day he would end up here, bound, gagged with a rug douched in strong spirit, and then have an injured limb slowly sawed, hacked, and hammered off.
He did not want to experience that, but knowing the battles toe, he was sure the chances of that happening were not insignificant.
After all, even the recent spear to his thigh might have easily turned gangrene even with all theprehensive precautions he had taken.
With the visit to the OT, the tour of the rtively small clinic came to an end¡or so Pasha Farzah thought.
Because after finishing all the regr sites, Alexander turned to thedy in charge and mysteriously said, "Jupetus, there is one of more we have not visited have we? Please lead us there."
And this made thedy look at Alexander with a questioning look as if to say, ''are you sure?'' before quicklyplying, "Of course. Then right this way."
The silent interaction did not escape Farzah which made him grow curious, as he silently followed the two to a remote corner at the back of the clinic.
And atst came to face arge, concrete shed with no roof, and smokeing off it.
Which made Pasha Farzah even more confused.
"In here, my lord," But with Jupetus''s gesture to enter the premises, everything would soon be clear to the aged lord.
So, with Alexander taking the lead, the trio entered therge spacious room and the moment he entered inside, the very first things that Pasha Farzah saw shook him to his core.
For there were several mutted corpsesid out on the tables, turning the table and the surrounding floor matt red, as bloodied tools such as knives, scalpels, saws, and tongs adorned the surrounding.
And certainly appeared mutted to Pasha Farzah, whose ever-shrinking eyes spotted that all these cadavers had been opened up, with their skin peeled off, the muscles and tendons parted, and the whole host of organsid out to bear witness.
He saw that the bodies had been stripped down to reveal much of the bones, and most had several organs, ranging from the small things like eyes, noses, and tongues, to the significant ones like hearts, livers, kidneys, and guts removed.
And the reason why Pasha Farzah was able to so easily spot which organs were missing was because many of them wereid out right next to the bodies, as if it was some kind of cruel joke being yed on the dead person who was helpless to resist having his organs being taken away.
This act was considered especially egregious by some because ording to Ramuh''s faith, people needed these organs to move on to the afterlife.
So ording to them, what Alexander was doing was denying these people paradise.
And if that was not enough, as Pasha Farzah turned his head to face the walls, he found the shelves stocked with organs stored inside transparent ss jars filled with oil, hearts that he imagined were still beating, eyes that seemed to turn to nce at him, and the brain that appeared to be bobbling up and down in the green liquid.
All while on the walls themselves were strange drawings onrge scrolls of paper, that looked like satanic symbols to him.
All these appeared to be like they were straight out of Farzah''s nightmare.
And, seeing all these, Pasha Farzah who considered himself as a mentally strong man, felt weak on his knees and even started to hallucinate a bit as his world began to slightly spin.
He had never been a strong believer in the gods.
He could even be called half an atheist.
But deep inside his heart he still held a modicum of respect for the gods.
So seeing these ''sacrilegious rituals'', his heart began to beat like never before, and his mind started to pray like he never had.
While the very first thought that came to Farzah seeing this was that Alexander was a devil''s apostate or the devil himself, which somehow did not seem too far-fetched to him now given all the new inventions that he had managed to produce within a short time.
And then his second thought was they had brought him here to kill him or turn him into their own.
So he only stuttered in a terrified voice, "Al¡Alex¡ander¡this¡this¡what is ..is this?"
Alexander was also surprised seeing this, but this was referring to Pasha Farzah''s reaction, who had gone pale as a ghost right now.
Alexander thought he was having a heart attack,
He truly did not think the loud, boisterous man with such a shrewd mind would be so affected by this.
And so, though Alexander could not read minds, he thought it would be prudent to quickly exin what this was before the old man copsed on the floor.
"This is the ce where we learn the medicine- by cutting up diseased, dead bodies and studying them to learn what killed them. And then we apply that knowledge to heal the living." Alexander tried to keep the answer as short and concise as possible, and then quickly added, It''s not a cult," to reassure the old man as quickie as possible.
And it appeared to have worked, as blood gushed to turn the pasha''s face a relieved, rosy red, while Jupetus quickly fetched a chair to have the old man sit down.
"Ex..exin!" And as he sat down, he almost barked this while rubbing the sweat from his forehead.
And it made Alexander draw a rueful smile as he thought perhaps he had been too eager to reveal this secret.
But it was already done, so Alexander could only try and convince the old man.
Chapter 482 The Clinics RnD (Part-2)
As Pasha Farzah sat down and then calmed down hearing Alexander''s exnation, he was suddenly embarrassed, and then angry at himself for being so easily shaken.
To think a man of his age and experience would let his minds conjure up such baseless thoughts really made him want to bury his head in the sand in shame.
While Alexander had a regretful but also funny look on his face as tried to stifle hisughter.
Though he could somewhat understand the reaction given how superstitious the general environment everyone grew up in was.
But feeling the longer he stayed quiet, the greater his chance of bursting intoughter and embarrassing the aged Pasha, he quickly spoke up,
"The people are told that our medical skills are gifts from the gods. But really, it is through the acquisition of knowledge we are able to cure them. And it is in this room we acquire that knowledge, through studying these human bodies." Alexander grandly gestured.
And then continued by pointing to the corpses,
"The dead bodies you see are chosen from the deceased who do not have anyone to collect them. So the beggars, the homeless, and the abandoned."
"We collect these poor people whose life hase to an end, and bring them here."
"Where officially, we cremate them."
"And we indeed do." Alexander heavily nodded his head to emphasize that point.
Before producing a slightly sly smile, "But not before we try to learn how they died. Which we do by cutting them open and seeing what makes¡made them tick."
Alexander had very diplomatically exined to Pasha Farzah the procedure of how they acquired the bodies. Which was also simr to how modern medical colleges get their cadavers- through donations and unimed bodies.
Alexander''s exnation did seem to pacify the old man a bit, but seemingly not quite enough to let his guard down.
There were still those strange symbols and drawings on the walls.
And so he still looked Alexander with a trace of wariness.
Thus Alexander addressed those next, pointing to them, and saying, "And from them, we learned a lot of new things. And those knowledge are all disyed here."
As he then moved to a particr drawing and said,
"For instance, this here shows the diagram of a heart. And it shows that the heart is actually connected by 4rge veins that pump blood and that it is divided into 4 parts inside."
Yes, the strange pictures that Pasha Farzah thought as demonic writings were actually just anatomical findings of the group.
After Alexander showcased their findings on the heart, he continued to introduce several other drawings, among which was perhaps the mostmonly found diagram in any middle school biology book.
When Alexander came to that drawing, he said, "And this is what we call the drawing of the digestive system. It basically shows what happens to the food after we chew and swallow it."
"And as you can see here, any food we eat first goes through our gullet, then drops to our stomach, afterward move to a part of the guts we call the small intestine, andstly passes onto anotherrge of the gut we call therge intestine, before finally exiting the body through the anus."
Pasha Farzah was not a medical expert to appreciate the significance of this drawing, but as Alexander spoke, his smooth and natural way of talking helped to cate the man.
He was finally convinced he was not going to be sacrificed to the devil.
"Brat, you sure have balls!" And so his usual loud, sharp tone to his voice, as he called out Alexander for both having the audacity to do these things right here in his city, in broad daylight and also to so casually show them to him.
And Alexander only revealed arge smile before saying,
"I believe this will strengthen our rtionship."
"Hmmph!" While Pasha Farzah let out a loud snort at this.
He could easily guess what Alexander was doing.
He presumed that this was probably Alexander''s way of finding an insurer if things did go totally wrong and his secret was revealed to the world.
And it set the old man''s heart a bit at rest learning Alexander was not oblivious to the risks.
Now, even if Alexander was discovered, it was unlikely he would be too much of a hot water.
Ptolomy and Farzah would still be unlikely to abandon him.
While the other nobles generally hated him anyway.
Not to mention he always had the option to sacrifice Jupitus and say it was all here doing and he had no idea of it.
But still, Alexander felt having Pasha Farzah as a backer in the worst of the worst case was prudent.
And he also hoped Farzah might contribute to the research in the future.
Because once Alexander started making strides in medical technology, rumors about being a dark magician were bound to start circting.
Because in this time period, even apothecaries of this time were seen as druids and witches.
And those were mostly quacks.
So Alexander felt instead of his province making all the advancements, if the discoveries could be spread out, it would help mitigate that problem.
But Alexander did not raise that option with Pasha Farzah yet.
He felt that it might be too early.
Hence he yed off the revtion as a kind of disy of trust between allies.
As Pasha Farzah took the time topose himself he could finally think clearly, as he then posed,
"This..sphem¡this job¡who does these cutting? And how did you get them to agree?"
Pasha Farzah knew that most people of this world were like Hiperteom, and so was interested to know what kind of men would be willing tomit these ''sinful'' acts.
After all, not everyone was ''not quite right in the head'' like Alexander and most were still afraid of going to hell for desecrating bodies as stated in many of the religious scriptures.
And Alexander did face that problem as evidenced by his initial problem of trying to convince Hiperteom.
But his wife Jupetus proved to be far more malleable, as thedy was among the rare believers who believed in saving lives was more important than honoring some unknown gods, a belief that might have been nurtured when studying under Alexander, and her own experience of suffering multiple miscarriages in her lifetime which left her ultimately barren.
And so when Alexander tentatively proposed to her the n, thedy jumped at it with joy.
Because nothing brought her more joy than healing a wounded person to health.
And as for her helpers, who were tasked with doing the actual cutting, extracting, drawing, and analysis.
"I got some of the gravediggers to help with that." Alexander very casually replied, while making Pasha Farzah go a bit wide-eyed, as he then gave his reason, "I do not know if my lord is aware, but these people are quite shunned by society."
"They are usually ostracised to live near the edge of cemeteries, they can mostly only marry among themselves, and other people rarely involve them in their joy and festivities."
The reason for this was because the people of Zanzan saw these people as omens, as their appearance could herald the death of someone''s loved one.
Which was why people tended to avoid them.
Though if one thought about it, seeing gravediggers at a funeral was probably the most natural thing there was.
But hey, no one said logic was a strong suit for the people of this time.
As Alexander then finished by saying,
"So when I approached them with the promise of status as doctors during the day time and 500 ropals a month as wages, most jumped at the opportunity. Because for many, they were already living in hell."
"Wait! So all those doctors we saw back there were gravediggers? Do they even know anything about medicine?" Hearing this Pasha Farzah shouted out aloud with incredulity, which also made it very hard for Alexander to not shout out,
''As if you guys know about medicine anyway!''
But Alexander kept his cool and gently replied, "Surprisingly a lot more than you would think, lord Pasha."
"Because being a gravedigger, they handled a lot of bodies, many of which are diseased ones." "Which means that in the course of their work, they can gain the ability to spot many symptoms of deadly diseases which even many aplished doctors can not."
Now it would be wrong for Alexander to hype them up too much.
Because the understanding of medicine and healthcare in this time period was significantly different from the modern times, as it was often limited and based on observations rather than scientific understanding, with the focus being primarily on symptom management and alleviating suffering rather than aprehensive understanding and treatment of the diseases.
But that was the best Alexander could do for now.
"I see." Pasha Farzah atst forcibly nodded, as he then raised his head up subconsciously, and suddenly seeing the blue afternoon sky above him, suddenly remembered,
"Brat! Why does this shed have no roof? So that the gods can smite you without trouble?" He snarled.
"Hahaha, perhaps it is because we are not afraid to defy the gods right in front of them?" Alexander gave the joke answer with a chuckle, before giving the real answer.
"No, it is to give the observers the best lighting possible. God''s natural light. So that they can see all the small details "
"And if it rains, they have shades they can pull over."
Chapter 483 Weapons Demonstration
Alexander had designed the autopsy room with features meant to best maximize the ease of discovery in there.
This primarily meant having adequate light supply, which was achieved by having no roof, while also having other ease of life options such as a nted floor to help drain the blood into the sewers below, a huge built-in pyre to burn the bodies, that coincidentally also benefited with having no roof as it allowed the fumes to escape easily, andstly, the know-how from Alexander about how to actually document the findings.
Now, back to the first point, having no permanent roof did mean having to contend with rain and snow.
And tobat them there were thick heavy rolls of leather attached to the upper ends of the room which could be quickly unfolded to act as a makeshift shade during emergencies, where the rolls would be supported by poles that could be attached to the ground as supports.
This way a perfect bnce between utility and shelter from the elements could be achieved.
Alexander showed all these to Pasha Farzah, and afterward, feeling everything had been seen decided that it was time to return, but not before turning to Jupetus to ask one more thing.
"Oh, are the men not here today?"
Here he was referring to the personel resposible for processign the cadavers.
"Ah! They must have gone home for lunch." Jupetus instantly replied with a slight exmation in her voice, before asking, "Should I call them my lord?"
Going to one''s home to have lunch and then returning to work was quitemon in this time period.
Because cooking something in the morning and keeping it hot and delicious was very hard without the use of modern technology like microwaves, and modern materials like stic tupperware.
"Ah, then no need. Tell Gm that I said hello." Alexander lightly brushed aside Jupetus''s suggestion, and then turned to Pasha Farzah with a smile and gestured,
"Well, then lord Pasha. Should we return? We have taken a lot of time here, and I''m sure the Queen mother is getting angry haha!"
Farzah naturally nodded to this suggestion, and with Jueptus escorting them up to the front gate, and bidding them goodbye, the tour of the clinic came to an end.
And it was a visit to be remembered, especially for Pasha Farzah, who had aplex feeling regarding Alexander''s experiments.
On one hand, he felt d that the boy trusted him enough to show this.
But on the other hand, he was somewhat fearful that something bad might happen to Alexander due to his bad karma.
But ultimately he decided to keep these feelings inside him for now.
Because whatever happened, the me wouldy squarely on Alexander, while all the benefits this ''human cutting'' as he liked to call it would bring would be shared with all.
So if someone was willing to anger the gods and perform taboo research and then willingly share those results, why would he be a fool and try to stop it?
After all, there was also the consideration that he was no spring chicken, and if Alexander could discover some great medicine that would enable him to live longer, Pasha Farzah would be even willing to donate ves as live test subjects with no qualms.
And it was because Alexander suspected the pasha might be sympathetic to his cause like this that he had decided to show the project in the first ce, pretty sure his secret would be safe with the man.
While the man in question was currently jokingly saying in his mind,
''Maybe the brat will discover the secrets to immortality, haha.''
As Alexander was having apletely different train of thought.
As he passed the rows and rows of rooms with doctors in them, he could not help but reminisce about how the people were at first afraid toe to the clinic because they heard it was run by gravediggers, even though only a small percentage of them were doctors.
But there was that inherent social fear of the term gravedigger, which was further expounded recently because these men had been responsible for spreading the gue, though through no fault of their own.
It had only happened because some of the gravediggers, who were responsible for digging the mass graves, had inevitably caught the gues, and acted as vectors, which worked to further spread their fear.
But these fears were slowly being quashed.I think you should take a look at
Both by policies such as sermons in the temples dispelling these fear which were undertaken by Alexander, and also by the fact that the sick people of Zanzan really had nowhere else to go.
And once the people starteding here and started seeing results, the once ostracised group of society was finally beginning to be epted, a result that managed to produce a sense of happiness and achievement in Alexander.
And with these thoughts, the duo finally approached the carriage that they found had been moved to under a shaded tree some distance away, with thedies seemingly fanning themselves with their palms likely due to the high heat of the summer noon.
"Ah, my lords! You are back. And here we were just starting to bet on which sickness you had fallen to back there!" The Queen mother did not even attempt to hide her anger as she greeted the two men with dripping sarcasm.
This was because they had promised a short stopover of just ten to twenty minutes, whereas in reality, she estimated the men had been gone for over two hours.
She had even thought of ordering the carriage to turn around and take them home, leaving the two behind.
Because she could not remember thest time she was this hungry, hot, sweating, and tired.
And the scowl that she sent toward both of them made her thoughts terrifyingly clear.
While Lady Inayah and even Nanazin gave them disapproving looks.
And Alexander and Pasha Farzah could only apologize profusely for the dy, as then without further ado quickly urged the carriage to start.
While on their way to the eastern district, Pasha Farzah regaled the scenes he had seen inside, as somewhat of a way to entertain the currently sour mature women, where he praised Zanzan''s medical achievement, and recounted the cleanliness practiced there, much to the eager ears of a crowd of three.
And finally, after a short journey, the carriage arrived at the eastern barracks, which was let through without any trouble, and the vehicle was then parked right next to arge,vish building.
"My lords, mydies, what took you so long? We were getting worried!" To greet them there was Menes right in at reception, dressed in perfect military gear, while the question managed to again produce another slight on the Queen Mother''s face for she was reminded of how she was forced to waste two hours of her time under the hot summer sun with an empty stomach.
If it had not been Alexander and Farzah, but anyone else, even Ptolomy, she would have absolutely given them an earful.
But her sour mood quickly improved once they were ushered inside, where the temperature was much cooler due to the shade and many potted nts, as well as due to the servantsing to fan them using fans made ofrge dried palm leaves.
"Sorry, we got caught up in visiting another ce," It was Alexander who answered Menes''s inquiry, and a whileter was led to arge feast that had been prepared in anticipation of the group''s arrival.
The items included all the usual delicacies, and though lunch waste by a couple of hours, it was nevertheless delicious.
"Brat! Show us the new weapons! I''ve been waiting to see that for ages." But ultimately they were not here for the food.
So the moment the old man had finished praising the sweet pudding, he shouted out the real reason they were here.
"Sure," Alexander gave a slight nod, and so a whileter the group was introduced to the crossbow, and instant bow.
The tests that were performed here were almost identical to the ones Alexander had shown Lady Miranda, with even the sales pitch being the same, and the only exception here was that the instant bow was also used by the cavalry to show their viability as horse archers.
For this demonstration, Alexander had men carrying the weapon ride and shoot at straw targets at a distance, and though many missed, many hit too.
"As you can see, the ability to fire five times in a row makes it possible for much less trained men topete with highly trained horsemen. Because even if they miss, they can adjust their aim instantly before the enemy has the time to move too far." Alexander pointed out and was met with agreeing nods from the other four.
Now, the titudes of praises about the two weapons need not be said, as Lady Miranda and Lord Janus had done that already, with the only exceptional quote being from Pasha Farzah, who dubbed the crossbow as ''The weapon that will win us the war''.
He said this because using crossbows, it was possible to use cheap, disposable units like peasants to easily defend forts and strongholds.
Meaning even a poorly trained, outnumbered force could defend a position using this weapon.
Pasha Farzah certainly had the military foresight to recognize the game-changing advantage of that.
The group then stayed for a while watching these demonstrations, until finally, dusk began to fall on Zanzan, and the group atst decided to finally wrap up this exciting day, at longst ending the long tour.
Chapter 484 Talks With Nanazin (Part-1)
Along the way back to the mansion, Pasha Farzah talked with Alexander about the various limitations of the crossbows and the doctrines of their use.
While Alexander described in great detail how he had employed them to defeat the Jahal mercenaries.
Pasha Farzah had not been clear on the details of the battle tactics before, so listened to the recount of events from the man himself with rapt attention, nodding, agreeing, asking, andmenting on the various battle tactics Alexander had used.
"Haha, well brat, it''s good that Ural had notmitted more of his forces on thatst attack" Pasha Farzah half breathed a sigh of relief, and then pointed out, "I hope you have now learned to keep a bigger reserve of units in the back, especially when facing an outnumbered cavalry."
But overall, the aged man was quite satisfied with Alexander''s tactics, feeling that if he was in his shoes, without the power of hindsight, he might not have done much better.
While from the side Lady Inayah added with a pleased nod,
"It seems all of us greatly underestimated you, my lord. To think you would have such a crafty invention to counter Djose. I''m undoubtedly impressed."
Which got an enthusiastic nod from Nanazin, and made the Queen mother join in with thement,
"Yes, Adhania is lucky to call you one of its own. And We are honored to have you as our subject."
Here the ''We'' referred to the royal family, and along with her praise, the Queen mother also did not forget to remind Alexander where his loyalties should lie.
Though how much it worked was questionable, as the oath that Alexander had taken with Ptolomy was seen as merely a convenient tool for him.
Now, in Alexander''s recount, he had muddied the truth a bit, particrly about the second pincher cavalry charge, changing the recount so that both the attacks had far fewer numbers than it was originally.
And the reason for this was if Alexander said the truth, he would have to then describe how he countered them.
And since saying that he beat a muchrger, well-trained force head-on using the same type of light skirmishers would not cut it, it meant that he would have to reveal the existence of his heavy cavalry.
Alexander did not want to do that yet.
Because he believed that there should be some things one should keep a secret from even his allies, just in case they decided to stab you in the back for whatever reason.
This was also the reason why he had not shown the armored knights to Pasha Farzah, nor the chainmail, considering dying those revtions for perhaps a few more years.
So Alexander entertained the group with other stories, both along the way and also at the dinner table where they feasted on all the various kinds of food Pasha Farzah had brought for them.
There were traditional Adhanian cuisines like curries, fancy pies, and many meat dishes with different types of meat cooked in a variety of ways, as well as Alexander''s specialty dishes such as brioche, kebabs, pasta, ravioli, and carbonara.
The number of various dishes at the table meant that those at the table had a spectrum of choices to eat whatever their moods desired, no matter how incongruous it might be from their preceding dish.
But the star of the show was undoubtedly the desserts, the centerpiece of which was an ice cream cake freshly baked and decorated with seasonal fruits, along with the usual apaniments of puddings, faludas, custards, etc.
If the guests were asked to name the number one thing they enjoyed at Alexander''s ce, the answer would undoubtedly be the food.
Following the feast Alexander then invited the group to try some of the games he had invented, which had expanded from just poker to ckjack, bridge, and Texas hold''em to name only a few.
And Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah seemed very eager to try their hand withdy luck, while Nanazin excused herself right after dinner saying she was tired.
So it was up to the others to spice up the night, and as the games progressed, the group seemed to gravitate towards poker, with Pasha Farzah and the Queen mother seeming to have developed quite the rivalry, which was not strange given both were extremely ambitious and hyperpetitive people.
While, Alexander, like Nanazin, too was feeling tired, and given that he had a whole host of things to take care of in the following days, the main one being the preparation to host the 12 nobles he had invited for talks, he decided to hit the bed early.
Hence he excused himself after ying only a few initial rounds by feigning drunkness.
And after taking a shower, Alexander was back in his room.
Here, as he was getting ready for his night, suddenly his eyesnded on a particr pot, which reminded him of something he had been wanting to do since morning.
This pot contained some salve of the legummum, which was a great antiseptic, and one that Alexander kept on hand at all times just in case of an ident in his room, sort of like an emergency first aid kit.
And seeing it reminded him of Nanazin, or particrly the reason why the woman had been wearing such heavy, fully covered clothes.I think you should take a look at
''I guess I should give go give it to her.'' Alexander said to himself, wondering, ''I hope she is still awake,'' as he then took the small pot into his hand, and felt he should deliver the medicine himself.
This was because he figured that if he sent it through a maid Nanazin might reject it given the preciousness of the medicine, or out of embarrassment due to what sending that medicine implied.
After all, having a wife beater as a husband was never a glorious moment for any woman.
And so with that altruistic thought Alexander took the medicine pot and made it to Nanazin''s room, whereupon he announced himself after a knock on the door, "Your Highness, it is me Alexander. May we talk?"
Now a man visiting ady at this time of night usually meant only one thing.
And with especially how Alexander phrased it, it really conveyed that message, though he had no intention of such.
''Ahh!" Immediately after Alexander''s knock, he first heard a small, shocked squeak from the room, followed by a series of rustling, and some banging, as Nanazin''s slightly panicked voice rang out,
"My lord, please wait a moment. I will open the door shortly."
Alexander could very well guess why such rustling sounds were being made, and after finally a few while, the door squeaked open and Nanazin weed Alexander in, "Lord Pasha, please enter. Apologies for the mess."
Nanazin looked a bit haggard as she gestured for Alexander to enter, while Alexander only peeked through the door to look around the room and find it actually spotless, except that one corner where there were several sets of clothes haphazardly thrown about.
And as Alexander then turned to take a good look at Nanazin, he found her draped in a ck, heavy cloak that covered all parts of her body, which must have been torturous in this heat.
"This is a bit of medicine. Have it." Alexander did not dilly-dally much, as right from the foot of the door he very casually stretched his arms to gift the small pot to Nanazin with a neutral tone.
An act which instantly made Nanazin panicking face fall into a sort of wounded forlorn countenance.
''Haha, so you have noticed Alex. Though who wouldn''t?" She then let out a rueful, haggard smirk as she addressed Alexander with that endearing call.
"...." While Alexander found it hard to find any following words and could only stand still with the pot in his hand.
"Ah! Where are my manners? Thank you," Nanazin quickly noticed this and then gratefully epted the medicine, before again inviting him in, "Please enter."
But Alexander declined, saying, "No, no, Your Highness, please rest."
The meaning that Alexander wanted to convey here was to give Nanazin the privacy to apply the salve on her wounds, while he was also reluctant to enter a married woman''s quarters at night.
"No! Please enter!" But Nanazin repeated her message, though the meaning this time was very different.
If previously it had been a polite invitation, now it appeared to be desperate begging.
And so Alexander had little choice, as he gently nodded and entered with a "Then excuse me."
The moment Alexander entered Nanazin rapidly bolted the door shut, before turning around and then letting out a sorrowful chuckle,
"Haha, when I first heard you knock, I thought you hade to sleep with me. So as I was desperately searching for the cloak, I was thinking of how to reject you without being kicked out of the house, hehe."
Nanazin exined her initial panicking face, while to Alexander somehow her chortle sounded more painful than if she was actually crying.
"You do not have to worry about going anywhere. Zanzan will be your home from now on," Alexander''s reassuring words only sounded like consoling puffery to Nanazin.
But it still somewhat healed her wounded heart.
At least someone was willing to put that modicum of facade in front of her.
Back in Adhan, many were not willing to do even that.
Though in reality Alexander really meant what he said.
''Well, it''s good that I''m here. I can discuss the banking business with her," He said to himself, as he took a seat on thefy couch.
Chapter 485 Talks With Nanazin (Part-2)
Alexander''s reason for keeping Nanazin here was not only to keep her from suffering further abuse at Ptolomy''s hand but also because the bank he was thinking of establishing would need a trustworthy person to head.
And to that effect, Alexander look a seat on the couch at the center of the room and first said some pleasantries, "I just remembered that this is the first time we are talking face to face after you came to Zanzan Your Highness. I apologize for my inattention."
To which Nanazin gave a silent smile as she clutched her cloak tightly around her body, ced the medical pot on the table, and then sat across Alexander while making sure to carefully tuck her legs inward so as to fold the cloak towards her in order to not reveal any parts of her lower torso except the bare feet.
"Alex, you said I can call Zanzan home? How? How do you intend to keep me here? And how do you intend to treat me?" Nanazin had a seriousness to her voice Alexander had yet to hear.
He had heard her cry, moan and beg.
But never this hard, steely tone.
And it appeared this was the reason why she had begged Alexander to enter the room.
Because she needed to know.
She needed to know what Alexander what in store for her.
"...." Suddenly hearing this serious question Alexander gave himself some time to think as to how to best answer the question.
Because directly saying ''I want you to run my banks and look after all the money I have'' might sound too incredulous for the distrusting woman.
And while Alexander racked his brain, Nanazinmented, "Let me remind you, snatching me from that bastard will not be easy. Whether I like it or not, or if he acknowledges it or not, we are still husband and wife. We took that oath under the eyes of the gods."
Nanazin presumed that Alexander was thinking of marrying her because she could think of no other way he could keep her here as ording to the deal she would have to be changed with the Queen mother every year.
As Nanazin said this Alexander noticed that even when she hated Ptolomy to the point she would loudly curse him, she still considered him her husband.
''*Sigh*, truly a good woman wasted on an animal,'' Alexander could only sigh in regret.
And then a whileter he finally finished organizing his thoughts and gave a very brief outline, "We will keep you here saying we are short-staffed and need you for administrative duties¡which is kinda true."
"You will live in this mansion and be paid a yearly sry of somewhere between 7,000 to 10,000 ropals. That is also what simr others are paid."
"And that will be enough for a few years, or at least until the armistice ends six yearster."
Here Alexander had cleverly disguised the bank position as an administrative job, which would also suit Nanazin perfectly because she did have quite a bit of experience in simple clerical and ounting jobs, as she was the one who had kept track of Ptolomy''s finances before he became king.
Nanazin was truly wasted on Ptolomy.
After saying this, Alexander then finished by saying, "And as for what happens after that, well by that time Ptolomy will likely have put a baby in either the Queen mother or maybe even Hellma''s belly. We will decide thatter."
Alexander brushed off the concerns that were six years in the future for the moment.
After all, so many things could happen in the future.
Ptolomy might not even live that long, through both natural or unnatural causes.
Who can say?
Hearing Alexander''s genuine and detailed answer, Nanazin let out a very audiblerge sigh of relief as she finally rxed her taut body.
Being the one who handled the money for Ptolomy, she knew exactly how big even a yearly sum of 7,000 ropals was.
It was quite adequate to live a good life.
Perhaps not a morous one, or a cushy one, but quite a reasonablyfortable one.
Because with that amount of money, she wouldfortably be within the 95th percentile of the wealth bracket, or in the top 5%.
Theck of money had always been a constant source of difort for Nanazin, as though she had a lot of jewelry and clothes to her name, she had no cash.
And it was also not like she could pawn off her belonging at any shop.
Nevermind most such shops would not be able to afford even her cheapest possession even if they were to sell themselves over 10 times over, but also the royal family had strictws against this.
Special permission was needed to sell or buy goods rted to the royal family, and those caught viting it would be severely punished.
And it was enforced exactly to stop women like Nanazin from doing what she was trying to do, which was attempting to acquire ropals to pay for her escape.I think you should take a look at
The reason for her desire to acquire this particr mode of currency was obvious.
Because a nobledy escaping carrying a bunch of glittering jewels was as easy to track as if she was letting off a re every time she exchanged one of those.
The trackers would just need to follow the trail of the unique gems to catch her.
As opposed to themon ropals which were all identical and would be mixed with everyone else''s.
Hence, with Alexander promising her financial freedom as opposed to empty words, she suddenly felt her world get brighter and her shoulders lighter.
"Thank you," The simple two words contained an amount of gratitude in them that was difficult to quantify, while Nanazin regretted not having a broader vocabry to express her gratitude towards Alexander more vocally.
"No problem." Alexander breezily replied to Nanazin''s heavy gratitude, treating it like he was doing a causal favor.
And then taking a further look around the room, he suddenly noticed something and inquired, "Do your daughters not stay with you? To you know¡take care of you?"
Alexander presumed her wounds must hurt.
"Ah! I have not told them." Nanazin''s let out a dry smirk, adding, "I''m sure they suspect something. And might even know a bit. But certainly not the actual extent. I''ve been careful," she said proudly.
Nanazin was truly a great mother.
Like she had tried to prevent her daughters from being taken by Lady Inayah for their study back in Adhan, here she was also trying to hide her suffering from them to not worry them.
"I see. They are lucky to have a mother like you," Alexander gave a gentle nod, and then feeling the conversation was over, attempted to get up.
"Would my lord like to see them?" But was stopped by this inquiry from Nanazin.
The ''them'' here of course referred to the bruises, and the query made Alexander a bit fluxed.
He could not realistically say, ''No, I do not have to see the scars you suffered,'' but he was also perfectly aware of what would happen if he said yes.
To him it appeared that Nanazin''s question seemed to be less of an actual question and more of a what was about to happen.
"Does Your Highness think that is a good idea?" But still, Alexander tried onest time.
"Yes. I want Alex to see." But the reply was immediate.
*Rustle*, *Rustle*,
And so with one grand swing of her arms, Nanazin opened her cloak and let it slip into the floor, finally revealing her abuse to Alexander.
And the extent of it left Alexander stunned.
There were scars marks all over her body, big and small, long and short, thick and thin, red and ck, to the point that the once pristine white body he had seen appeared like it had been cruelly scribbled on by a sadistic devil with a red hot poker.
It made him be speechless.
"Let me tell you how I got them," While Nanazin, who had grown numb by this point decided to recount a bit of her experience.
"These long thin ones you see are fromshes of whips." She said pointing to her abs and chest and then turned around to show her back which was crisscrossed with the marks, making her once pristine back long horrific.
Then turning forward, she moved her hands downwards to her crotch and mons pubs which was still red with inmmation and had many red scars tangled together.
"The short thin ones are from the crop hits. " she then turned around to show that her butt had also suffered the same.
"The long thick ones are from the ropes they used to tie me with." At this point, Nanazin pointed to her wrists, neck, and thighs, which bore deep thick rope marks.
Before finally pointing to the small andrge ck circles all around her body and especially her nks, and saying,
"And these things¡these ck little circles. Well the bastard thought it would be funny to burn me with hot poker while they tied me up and ¡.and¡wuhuuu¡wuhhuuu." She could not finish as she suddenly broke out crying into uncontroble howls, vividly recalling those hellish nights, while Alexander jumped up to hug and console her.
The sight of what had been done to Nanazin made him sick, and Alexander felt a surge of anger he very rarely had toward anyone.
Thest ones were perhaps Damous and Aristotle, and both those men were dead¡killed.
Chapter 486 12 Nobles Vs Alexander (Part-1)
As Alexander observed the scars, he had a hard time believing that someone could bear such pain without so much flinching outwardly.
Very few would have even noticed Nanazin was hurt from interacting with her during the day.
Alexander could only imagine the herculean effort it must have taken.
"Why didn''t you ask for any medicine?" Alexander asked as he then spent some time calming down the wounded woman, and afterward helped her apply some of the salves, particrly in the back where it was hard for her to reach.
Following this he left her to sleep.
The next few days for Alexander were a hectic one.
First and foremost because he busied himself with taking inventory of all of the goods that Pasha Farzah had brought.
The unloading had finally finished after taking that long, but it was worth the wait.
Because after all the cargo was collected and stored, Alexander suddenly found himself much much richer.
It appeared 300 million ropals were able to buy oneself an astronomical amount of goods.
So he found that he had gained an additional 25,000 ves, which was 5,000 more than he had ordered, a few thousand draft animals which would prove invaluable for his industries and agriculture, and most importantly 40,000 tons of food, with 30,000 tons of it being grains, and 10,000 tons being dried fruits, salted meat, and fish, many kinds of exotic wine, and different types of nuts to name the notable ones.
This finally meant Alexander''s food troubles were over for the time being.
While there were many other things in smaller quantities too, such as various types of stone and timber, metal ores such as iron, copper, gold, and silver, furs of various animals, linen clothes, and other misceneous products such as various machinery and farm tools.
And as Alexander read theprehensive report Hemicus, who was in charge of this gave him, overall he found that the pasha had bought 25% more of what Alexander had ordered, which was surely a way topensate him.
Following the unloading of therge amount of goods, they were quickly stored in the warehouses near by the harbor, or inside the locked treasuries of his mansion for the time being, from where they would be allocated for their required usageter on, or be directly sold to the open market for a profit.
Or not for profit for some goods such as the grains, which Alexander bought for 3 ropals per kg, but sold wholesale at 1.5 and retailed at 2, all to keep living costs down for the people.
Anyway, while the storage operation proceeded, Alexander concentrated on the second important thing he was concerned with- meeting the nobles he had asked toe and subjugating them.
To this effect he sought the advice of Pf, wanting to know how best to proceed with annexation, and as the two men brainstormed ideas, the middle of May arrived and the nobles in question started to announce their arrival.
''My lord, it is great to see you again," Shordar (Baron) Prantik was the first to arrive in Zanzan,ing to greet Alexander as soon as he entered the city.
And over theing days, he was followed by several others, both familiar and unfamiliar faces.
Until finally all four of the familiar nobles, and the twelve new nobles that had been called up had arrived, taking residence in the many various vis around Alexander''s manor, many of which they themselves had once owned.
And with the guests all having arrived, a grand feast was soon held to wee them, though the party was more formal than warm, as the 12 new nobles were rather wary of Alexander.
Which was understandable given they were basically intimidated into being here rather than out of their own volition.
So the party was ratherckluster, without any real life to it, as the group was rather focused on what would happen the next day when they were scheduled to hold the talks to determine the twelve''s future.
That meeting began right after breakfast in the outer hall of the second floor, with the 16 nobles meeting with Alexander''s delegation consisting of his council member, but more importantly, four additional honored guests, who were Pasha Farzah, Lady Inayah, and surprisingly Nanazin and the Queen mother, both of whom Alexander had invited to act as witnesses from the royal family.
The setting revolved around a huge ornate oak table with Alexander''s side of ten sitting on one side, and the nobles sitting on the other.
Though whereas Alexander''s side sat in a uniformly spaced line, the nobles had a very distinct gap between the 4 nobles sitting on the right and the 12 remaining ones.
Clearly, the group who had already sworn loyalty to Alexander was being ostracised.
"My lords, thank you foring to Zanzan to attend this conference. We are honored," Alexander. sitting at the center, began the pleasantries with a bright smile.
As he then gestured with his hand to the left, and introduced, "I''m sure you have already met, but this is Her Highness, the Queen mother-Seelima, the mother of the His Majesty, King Ptolomy."
"Nest to her is Lady Inayah. She controls much of the trade around Adhan, and her father, is Lord Izayid, the current treasury Master."
Moving his hand then to the right, Alexander then said, "Then to my right is the current prime minister- Lord Pasha, ruler of Matrak."I think you should take a look at
"Andstly, next to him is the current Queen, Her Highness Nanazin."
"We are all very honored that you could take the time toe here."
Alexander had a very cordial smile as he introduced, or more urately re-introduced these people as all of the nobles had already met and greeted all of the guests at the party the night before, something Alexander of course perfectly knew very well.
But he did so anyway, as a way to exert pressure on them using the four''s names and titles, and his warm smile did not detract the nobles from realizing that.
It was a stacked lineup these low-level nobles would have likely never even dreamed of meeting, much less interacting with.
But since such big shots were there, that fact made Alexander''s counterpart who was in a much grouchy mood at least put on a curtain of civility they would have certainly not otherwise.
Because while Alexander was not a real noble in their eyes, these people were.
And this was also why Alexander had requested their presence in the first ce.
After Alexander''s introduction, the opposite side softened their hard facial features a bit and did the same in a cold, but wlessly formal manner, beginning from the left and ending at the right.
With the two main introductions being of the two Jamiders (Earls) there.
"The honor is all mine, my lords. I''m Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq, and we are all pleased to meet lordships of such high caliber as you." Arge man with scars multiple scars on his hands and a full beard greeted them, though the greeting seemed to exclude Alexander.
Alexander for his part knew this man from before even before he came to Zanzan.
At least just by the name.
This was because he had checked the records listing all the nobles in Adhan''s royal study before and found there that this man ruled the city of Harki, about 70km northwest of Zanzan.
Furthermore, Camius had also mentioned the man before in his report.
As he did the name of the next name who was also simrly introducing himself.
"My name is Jamider (Earl) Tikba. And it is a great honor to meet Your Highnesses." The thin, almost cadaverous man with gaunt eyes and sunken cheeks then sent a slight bow toward Alexander''s left, where the Queen Mother and Nanazin were sitting.
He ruled the city of Kquem, which was slightly northeast of Zanzan, about 80km from Alexander''s capital.
And as the two Jamiders (Earls) sat at the center of the table, side by side, Alexander, who was sitting directly opposite to them, noticed a weird dichotomy, where the huge burly figure of Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq seemed topletely overshadow the thin, ky figure of Jamider (Earl) Tikba, almost like how a mountain would shade those on its side.
It was a funny sight for Alexander.
After the introductions, it was Lord Tikba, who started the negotiations, first addressing the four ''real nobles'', "Esteemed lords, we are all very grateful to have had the chance to meet with all of you."
And then got to the real issue.
"But you also must be aware of why we are here. And thus it should be clear to you this is a tant vition of the armistice drawn up by the two parties Lord Ptolomy and His Majesty Amenheraft."
The noble even turned to Pasha Farzah and pleaded to him directly,
"Lord Prime Minister, you were there when they sighed it. You even wrote the treaty yourself! Can you sit by and simply watch as it is vited so openly?"
It appeared that the nobles knowing they did not have nearly the muscle to resist Alexander had instead chosen to appeal to the opposing sides'' ethical side.
And Alexander could certainly respect that.
But that did not he would acquiesce to their demands.
While Pasha Farzah, who was being addressed to only brushed his hand and snarked,
"Bah! If you think the treaty has been broken, then why haven''t you asked that brat toe and save you? Heh! If he can that is!"
Chapter 487 12 Nobles Vs Alexander (Part-2)
The biting reply that Pasha Farzah gave in his absolutely confident tone was in part enabled by the knowledge of the secret deal struck between Ptolomy and Amenheraft, where the former asked thetter to look away as Alexander annexed these houses in exchange for the continuation of the financial aid.
So from Pasha Farzah''s and Alexander''s perspective, there would be nopromise on the actual annexation, only the manner in which it would be done.
As Pf ended his reply, the Queen Mother decided to pick it up, simrly sneering and saying, "Haha, Amenheraft is living on alms given by ''Us''. Where will he get the army toe and save you? You are all delusional."
While Lady Inayah added, "And even if he did, Zanzan will only then need to add a few more flower beds to its outskirts. Just like it did with Djosr''s men, hehe."
Andstly, it was Nanazin''s turn, who smirked and said, "Your so-called king has lost to Pasha Alexander every single time he has fought him. A total of three times," She emphasized by showing three of her fingers.
And then recounted them,
"First he lost his city to the lord,"
"Then he lost his army to the lord,"
"And just two months ago, he lost his most ferocious attack dog''s army to the lord."
"What makes you think he can help you now? He can''t even help himself. Hah! Joke!"
The curly-haired beauty was particrly biting in her reply as she very animatedly brushed her arms, exalting Alexander perhaps a bit too much than the others.
But the theme of the message given by the group was clear.
There would be nopromise on the annexation.
And to bolster that stanch they had shed any pretense of civility the moment they sat down for the discussion, and simply taunted the nobles to ask for Amenheraft''s help when they bought up the matter of armistice.
Of course, the group had rehearsed much of the talking points earlier,ing up with prior answers to points that the group guessed the nobles might raise.
It was originally suggested by Alexander and the other four were finding it very effective, for they were able to buttress one another with ease.
This was very much different from the negotiations the other four, or more urately three had participated in before, where they would have to basically ad-lip to the situation as they did not go into it with such aprehensive n.
And this nned approach immediately had a marked impact, as the nobles instantly understood that the opposing side would not heed the excuses regarding the treaty.
Which also made the nobles understand there was little way to stop getting eaten here.
"Haha, well regarding the treaty, I was there too when it was signed. And I also wrote arge portion of it." From the side, Alexander firstly lightly chuckled this, reminding the nobles he also deserved the credit for that besides Pasha Farzah, and then asked,
"May I ask why you choose to side with Amenheraft rather than the true king Ptolomy?"
And the answers were as generic as one would expect, only having three major versions.
The first one being:
"Because he is the one true king. Chosen as the Crown prince by the previouste king, His Majesty Alozmer, he is the rightful sessor of the throne of Adhania."
"And it is a fact no amount of whitewashing by you people will be able to change" Jamider (Earl) Tikba was showing himself to be quite the orator.
The second one was:
"He is the road that leads to Paradise. Following him is following the will of Ramuh, and thus the will of the gods. We will not follow you to Hell. You cannot make us."
And thest one was the most simple one:
"Bah! I swore an oath to follow him, and I will follow it to my death."
This particr sentence was uttered by Jamider (Earl) Yuuseq, who Alexander could see as a military man judging from all the visible scars on him, and figured him to be a man who wore his heart on a sleeve.
''A man of his word who would not back down no matter the circumstances, that was the vibe the man gave.
There were of course the main outer reasons.
While naturally there were other hidden reasons as well, such as some of the nobles had treatries with Amenheraft and Pasha Muazz that got them preferential treatment during trade or ess to a specific resource and which Alexander of course would not and many times could not grant them as he himself did not have ess to that.
Or defensive guarantees that they felt Alexander could not grant them, or worse still, those defensive guarantees might have been against Alexander himself.
There might also be shared interests in various kinds of entertainment the nobles took part in that Alexander detested.I think you should take a look at
And thenstly there was the always simple case of racism as Alexander was a Thesian, and not from Adhania, hecen was not one of them.
And this was a particrly sore sticking point for some of the more hawkish nobles, who were determined to never serve Alexander no matter what just because of his birth of origin.
So if you thought in modern times the people who did not vote for a leader just based on their color or sex were bad, they really shoulde to visit Zanzan.
Alexander was of course aware of these prejudices about him, but there were only two things he could do about it.
Either kill all of them and destroy racism at its source.
Or slowly try to convince them to change their minds.
And the side effect of doing something simr to the first one was something Alexander had already tasted, with Djose''s war.
And so Alexander really had to focus on the second one.
And to induce that effect, after hearing the reasons, he first put his right hand under the table and from there brought out arge leather-bound rectangr bag, an ancient version of the modern briefcase.
And as he opened the leather straps binding the bulging bag and then brought out the stacks of paper from inside it, and then started to neatly organize them, he first very politely smiled and said, "Thank you for your honest answers. It goes to show that all of you are men of conviction. I can respect that."
But then gave them the cold, hard truth,
"But let us be real and not waste our time bickering over the treaty, the deal, the armistice. the legitimacy of who is king and who is not or whatever else for that matter. It does not really matter."
"Because if it did matter and any one of you wanted to resist us to the bitter end, then you would have nevere here in the first ce."
"So!" Alexander forcefully uttered the word as he then looked straight ahead gazing his eye into his counterpart''s eyes, "In the interest of saving both your and my time, I have written down our list of demands. And then a list of the benefits we are willing to provide if you join us. Please have a look."
After he said this started passing copies of the paper to each of the other 25 people there until all 26 people had in their hands 3 leaves of A4-sized paper.
These papers were attached to themselves using metal paper clips which Alexander asked his chainmail workshop to manufacture, and as the group focused their eyes on the first pages, they found the white sheet to have the demands written on them neatly in bullet points.
Just from the handwriting itself, it looked like it was almost a work of art.
Which was not inurate considering it was done by Mikaya.
No matter what others might say about Mikaya, she was a genius artist, Alexander would give her that.
And it was also one of the reasons he had asked her to write these.
With the other reason being because Alexander was just learning how to write Azhak, and currently his writing looked like that of a child''s.
So he did not want to embarrass himself in front of the nobles and make them underestimate him even more.
So here came Mikaya.
And since the original script was quite long, and Mikaya would have to write it 26 times in wless handwriting, the price was certainly not cheap.
But it was certainly weird.
Well, perhaps not that weird given it was Mikaya, who, in much keeping with her character had not demanded any ropal for they were worthless in her eyes.
But had instead demanded that Alexander spend a few nights with the three girls right after Pasha Farzah left.
The reason for the ''after Pasha Farzah left'' condition was obvious, while the reason for Mikaya making that particr request was likely sort of a revenge.
For Alexander had barred her from going to her usual weekly entertainment as long as her father was here.
For though Alexander might be daring, he was not suicidal, and would never take the chance of Pasha Farzah identally discovering her daughter was not home, or worse¡she was there.
No matter how small that chance was.
All these misceneous thoughts crossed Alexander''s mind as he looked at the papers in front of him, and then looked across the table to see if everyone got them.
And once he would see a small, white parchment in everyone''s hands he began.
Chapter 488 12 Nobles Vs Alexander (Part-3)
Alexander began by pointing to the papers in his hand and offering, "Although, the conditions written here are pretty simple, but for everyone''s ease, let me read it aloud, and expound on each point."
"I believe that will make it easier for everybody"
Alexander offered this method not only for its utility purposes but also because some of his council members like Grahtos could not yet read Azhak.
And then finished his opening statement by saying,
"If you have questions or objections, or rebuttals, please note them down, and ask after I have finished speaking. But please do not interrupt while I''m speaking."
With this said, Alexander looked around to see if everyone was on the same page.
And after seeing no one object, Alexander smiled and nodded, "Then let us begin." as he then pointed to the papers andmenced the discussions.
"Here, right on the top of the paper, you can see it is headlined ''General Offer''." Alexander started, exining, "This means that these demands apply to all of you, whether you choose to join King Ptolomy or not."
"And right below are these demands written in bold points."
Alexander then used his index fingers to trace the first of the bullet points which were all shaped like a beautiful flower,
"The number one of these points is obvious- We demand that all of you must be neutral actors in the following conflict between Amenheraft and His Majesty Ptolomy."
"This means that in the case of a conflict between us and Amenheraft, you must promise to not side with him."
"Of course, that means we will not force you to side with us either." Alexander borated.
And then moving on the second time, Alexander dered,
"The second point is that you must abolish all trade barriers between Zanzan and her allies with your fiefdom and engage in free trade with us. That means no tariffs or taxes when our goods enter your cities, and no toll for the merchants when they enter the city."
"And certainly nothing such as a road tax, or other simr extortions."
Following this Alexander offered, "And of course, we will do the same for you."
Then came the third point.
"The third point is that you must allow safe passage of our goods through your territory. The merchants must not be attacked or harassed in any way on their way to business, and if they are attacked, you must aid us in every way with the following investigation."
"And in exchange, we will ensure the same."
"The fourth point is that all of you must remelt and remake all of your personal coinage and adopt amon currency that is used by us all. This will be done so that merchants will not need to waste enormous amounts of their time making conversions between tens of different currencies."
"This will make trading between us easier and faster."
"And we will give you the exact details of the cointer."
Alexander here was referring to the fact that although the ropal was the mostmonly used currency in Adhania, as it was issued by the royal family which was the richest family in Adhania and thus had the most gold to print the most money, but it was not the only kind of currency there was.
No, in fact, there were hundreds of different kinds of other coins in the market, all minted and produced by various nobles, most of them owing silver and gold mines.
And though this gave the nobles the power various economic and political power, it also meant that with this many coins with this many variant values in cirction, many times just calcting the change from a transaction took several times more than the time for the actual purchase.
Alexander had experienced a simr thing in Thesos where each city-state issued its own currency, and he knew very well just how inconvenient it was, causing him to many times avoid going to the market just to dodge that hassle.
He did not want a repeat of that here.
Moving on to his next point, Alexander then loudly stated,
"The fifth point is that you allow us to open both King Ptolomy''s temples and Goddess Gaia''s temples in your territories. And guarantee the protection of these divine houses and its residents- i.e- the priests and priestesses."
"Rest assured, all of you will be allowed to pray in your solely Ramuh temple with no problem. And your priests and priest trees will be protected just as well as ours."
"But you will not be allowed to open new temples in our and for that matter in your territory without permission from us."
Alexander had discussed this very issue with the Pasha Farzah and the others, and it was determined it would be best to let the nobles practice whatever religion they wished.
For now.
As a forceful conversion would only sow the seeds for rebellion.
So for now the strategy was containment, which would be done by restricting the number of temples built.
Alexander then continued saying,
"The sixth andst point is that you will restrict your garrisoned men to 50 men for shordars (barons), 100 men for talukdars (viscounts), and 200 men for Jamiders (Earl). And you are not allowed to send notices to raise levies without our express permission."
"For we will not allow you to raise armies that could threaten us."
After this long recitation, Alexander paused to give the nobles some time to digest the six points demand and observed the nobles to be reading and re-reading the bulleted points.
And as one would expect, they were divided into three groups.I think you should take a look at
Firstly for some, the terms were not as harsh as they had expected and they were quite pleased with it.
They had certainly heard of Alexander''s demands that he had iterated to the nobles during the ransom exchange, and came in here with that mental preparation.
So seeing the absence of a 1%nd tax made all of them very d.
Many even liked themerce-originated demands of Alexander, viewing it not as Alexander trying to suck them dry and give nothing back, but rather trying to boost trade and ie between them.
Something Muazz was very damn cared about, because the fat noble already made enough money to not know what to do with it.
They even liked the particr restriction on the number of garrisons, as it would allow them to save some money.
This thought came about due to them being neutral and in the heart of Alexander''s territory. meaning any attack by Amenheraft''s force would have to be met by Alexander''s forces to secure his perimeter.
So Alexander would have toe to their aid to protect his borders, but Alexander himself could not attack them due to the treaty
It was a win-win in some''s eyes.
Such penny-pinching, money-grabbing thoughts were particrly prevalent among the shordars (Barons) and some talukdars (Viscounts), who were really not that affluent for nobles and were generally a lot more receptive to Alexander''s demand.
The second group was in the middle, with some concerns and some positive thoughts.
Such as some not liking the new religions and others the garrison restriction.
Andstly was the group that waspletely against it, with either one or more points that were a non-starter, or they simply refused to bow to Alexander due to ideological reasons.
Alexander gave all three of the groups about ten to fifteen minutes to go through the short points, which he felt was long enough for some of them to have memorized the short points, as he then finally asked,
"Does anyone have any inquiry regarding these points?"
"....." First, there was nket silence.
Until one shordar (Baron) spoke up in a slightly quivering tone, "The sixth point¡.. regarding the garrisons¡how will we know you will not attack us after making us weaker with this deal? Can you guarantee it?"
As this was asked, Alexander noticed several heads nod following this, buttressing the concern.
But he casually blew it away with a sneer and snark.
"Heh! Weaker? Why would I need you to be weaker?"
"You are already weak!" He mocked and then said,
"If I had wanted to, I could have attacked you the moment I defeated Djose, and learned of all of your treacheries."
And then in a hard,manding booming voice, he shouted,
"So do not dare speak of fears of me breaking the treaty."
"Because all of you here know better than anybody else what it is to break a treaty."
"Remember it was you folks who broke the armistice first."
"I only attacked Jabel because my spies told me that an attack was being nned against my city from there."
"And once I did and caught the rats,... Vo! Would you look at that!"
"There was Muazz''s son and a high-ranking military Jamider (Earl) there skulking, nning, and plotting."
Alexander was very forceful in his rhetoric, mixing lies with truths, and coincidences with idents, until no one knew which was which.
As he then swung his arms forcely and dered,
"And do not bother telling me you had no idea of the attack."
"Because I will never believe that all 12 of you collectively, with all your spies and rtives had no idea that a 60,000 army wasing to attack me."
"That was a clear vition of the treaty.
"Where were you then!"
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 489 12 Nobles Vs Alexander (Part-4)
Alexander''s slight tirade was a calcted one, one meant to crush thest bit of resistance some of these nobles might have regarding Alexander''s takeover.
And it worked to a degree, as the eloquent Takba replied to Alexander with a light smile,
"My lord, we are aware of our situation. And I also believe I speak for the majority of us when I say that we do not have any problem with most of the proposed demands."
"Indeed many of them will likely make us richer."
"So, please, let us turn the page and you can show us what you want to offer to those who side with you."
The man was an aplished negotiator.
Hearing this Alexander gave an acknowledging nod to him, and then with a smile turned the page, saying,
"I''m sure all of you have noticed all the unique trinkets and baubles Zanzan has to offer. So join us and you can be also a part of that."
As he then pointed to the letters on the page,
"Here you can see that I have listed the various things Zanzan produces, its market value, and the price at which we are willing to sell a certain amount of it annually to you."
"And to aid you even more in that decision, I have even calcted the estimated profit you will be making from thesemodities."
Alexander has a smooth, almost oily tone to his voice as he said this, and then simply paused to let the nobles read the offer and the quotes numbers.
The offer was written like this:
Iron - Market Price per kg- 50 ropals
Special price per kg- 25 ropals up to 20 tons for Shordars (Barons)
up to 30 tons for Talukders (Viscountss)
up to 50 tons for Jamiders (Earls)
Estimated profit: Shordars (Barons)- 500,000 ropals
Talukders (Viscounts)- 750,000 ropals
Jamiders (Earls) - 1,250,000 ropals.
The same list went for all the other goods, filling up the entire second page, and giving a detailed breakdown of almost all of Zanzan''s ''delicacies.''
The nobles noticed that Alexander was offering a consistent discount of 50% to his retainers up to a certain quota based on their peerage.
Namely, iron, salt, paper, soaps, ssware, woven fabric, and sugar were all being offered to the nobles at a price where the nobles would be able to make money hand over fist if they were to re-export to other territories.
And at the end of the exhaustive list, the page simply concluded by totaling all the estimated profits together.
It read:
Shordars (Barons)- Around 2 million ropals
Talukders (Viscountss)- Around 3 million ropals
Jamiders (Earls) - Around 5 million ropals.
The numbers that were written there were huge and the nobles read and re-read the page to make sure everything was in good order and that Alexander was not trying to hoodwink them.
And the reason for this caution was strangely not out of doubt.
But incredulity.
For the profits that Alexander was promising them were truly out of this world.
For example, a shordar''s (baron) annual ie was only around 500,000 to 600,000 ropals and here Alexander was offering them 4 times the amount.
And such an offer simrly affected the talukdars (Viscounts) and Jamiders (Earls) who earned around 2 to 3 million and 10 to 15 million ropals a year.
As a matter of fact, just the first point, the iron sales would have been enough to make most nobles seriously consider jumping ship.
And so given the huge list of offers, the men there sat and read and re-read the terms until they could recite the numbers by heart.
But even after all that time, they could not find any tant w with Alexander''s assumptions.
In fact, some were even of the mind that Alexander was underpricing his goods and believed they would be able to fetch a bigger price.
Hence the allure of therge amount of money made many who had been on the fence before to strongly consider siding with Alexander, while those who had liked Alexander''s offer had pretty much made up their minds.
And even those staunchly opposing nobles were kind of in flux, their greed and desire for potential economic prosperity strongly wrestling with their ethics and values.
But none of the three groups said anything yet.
Because there was still one more page left to go.I think you should take a look at
And who knew what kind of bizarre things would be written in there?
So after a while as the de-facto leader Lord Tikba raised his head up and addressed Alexander in a neutral voice, "We have no problem with the offers on this page."
"May we move on to thest page?"
Alexander on the other hand was actually expecting to see some of the nobles jump and join him by now.
But seeing no such luck, he nodded to Tikba''s suggestion and then wordlessly flipped the page, before again starting.
"It is only natural since we are giving you so much in return, we also expect you to fulfill some additional obligations and duties."
"Here they are. Please let me read them around."
Alexander then began.
"The first point is what you have all guessed."
"If you join us you must pay 1% of your yearly harvest as military fees to help pay for the sries of the men that will keep yournds safe if Amenheraft attacks you."
Alexander dressed the tax as a kind of military contribution.
And then tried to soothe that burn with the following words,
"But in exchange for that, you will not be obliged to host us or entertain us or send any annual gifts to us."
And then continued.
"The second point is that you cannot raise or lower any taxes you levy on your farmers or merchants without first notifying the Zanzan council."
"All tax increase or decrease must be prior approved by a two-thirds majority in the Zanzan council."
Alexander at this point raised his head to say, "Now, you all must be wondering what is the Zanzan council and who is its members."
"Well, that nicely brings us to our third point."
"The Zanzan council will be the ruling organization that will actually govern the province of Zanzan and all its settlements."
"You will get to know the details of how it workster, but basically it will consist of all the nobles who join us and they will get to collectively vote on issues regarding the future governance of the province"
"So the third point is that after you join us, you must keep a representative of yours here in Zanzan who will vote on your behalf, such as your brother, father, or sessor."
Alexander discussed his demand for hostages under the guise of democracy.
"The fourth point is regarding the royal tithe." He then said, borating,
"Whereas the neutral nobles are free to give the 10% of their farmer''s produce to whichever temple they like, you will not be allowed to do so."
"For you, the nobles of Zanzan, you must give 5% of the tithe to King Ptolomy''s new temple and 3% to the new Gaia temple."
"That means the tithe will be 8% and not 10%."
"This is the grace of His Majesty Ptolomy, who does not want to burden his subjects with a load they cannot bear," Alexander managed to say this sounding quite pious.
Though it would be not the presents but the nobles who would be the ones really benefitting, as they would be able to nick that 2% from the peasants and make a 1% profit that paying Alexander his 1%nd tax.
And Alexander had no problem with this.
Because it was really not the peasants who were with the power here, and they were not the ones he needed to keep happy.
No, for that were the nobles, and for now, in the initial stages of his empire building, Alexander knew he would have to throw outrge incentives to motivate these men to switch sides.
So, with that said, Alexander moved to his penultimate point.
"The fifth point is that you must implement various infrastructure development and policies as demanded by the Pasha and his council."
"For now one of that is the most important is the building of roads connecting all the friendly noble territories with each other and with Zanzan, both to help boost trade between ourselves and also to allow the army to quickly reinforce any part of the frontlines."
"And to aid in that endeavor, we will demand that each shordar (baron) hand over 50 men, each talukdar (viscount) 200 men, and each Jamider (Earl) 500 men temporarily to that these roads can be built within the next year."
"Andstly, the sixth point is that whatever filthy practice you do, such as the kinds those traitors in Jabel confessed to before dying, killing, raping, and torturing, clean them up before they ever see the light of day. And swear to yourself to never do it again." Alxx had a very harsh tone to his voice as he said this, and then strongly warned,
"Because if I ever get even a whiff of such things beingmitted by you or your kin, you will be immediately kicked out of the group, and depending on the gravity of your crimes, the council may even decide to dere war on you."
With this said, Alxx then remembered an additional urrence, and lightly added this as his veryst point,
"Oh, and as for your various customs and traditions, I will join in some and absence in others."
"And I will understand if you choose to do the same."
Chapter 490 12 Nobles Vs Alexander (Part-5)
The various customs Alexander alluded to was most certainly the Adhanian noble tradition of gifting women to one another.
One in which he made it abundantly clear he was not interested in participating as then Alexander ended his long list of offers and demands for joining him.
While arriving at the end of the three-page demands and offers the nobles sat quietly for some time.
Thinking.
Reading.
Whispering to one another.
Then reading.
And then thinking some more.
It seemed they had a lot of talk about among themselves.
And seeing this Alexander smiled and suggested, "Of course, you do not have to answer me right now. You may have the week to decide."
But then with the same smiling face threatened, "But remember, you have to acquiesce to either one of the demands. Because if you do not agree to either of the options, we will not have any other options either."
"So any questions?" Alexander ended his threat of total destruction against them with an innocent inquiry in a light jovial tone.
"......" And like the first time, Alexander was at first given a wall of silence.
But this time perhaps because of the naked threat rather than the absence of any query.
But finally a brave shordar (Baron) in a low voice slowly spoke up, "*Ahem*¡my lord, these 50 men that you ask for, ¡and cost of the various constructions¡.who will pay for them? Us? Or¡."
"No." Alexander firmly shook his head, "All of it will be paid by the Zanzan council using the taxes collected from all of us. That''s why we ask for these contributions. To be used for the collective betterment of you."
Alexander tried to paint this practice in as positive a light as possible, and then added,
"Or by borrowing money from other sources."
Here, of course, Alexander was referring to himself, who had around 300 million ropals in his treasury and was about to make another 500 to 600 million from Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayahbined.
So Alexander was damn sure that once he set up the bank, he would be one of the biggest lenders around this part of not only Adhania but in this region of the world.
"My lord, sparing 200 men for us year-round is a bit too hard. May you reconsider?" Following the question of the other shordar (baron), this time a talukdar (Viscount) made this brave request.
But Alexander was a irk by this and brutally shut him down with simple maths,
"The 200 peasants would produce for you around 1 million ropals worth of produce."
"From that, you would have taken 20% as taxes. Meaning 200,000 ropals."
"And here we are giving you 3 million in profit."
And then very pointedly asked, almost as if to show his frustration at the nobles still whining about the deal,
"So what are youining about?"
"Even if we wanted 2,000 men, we still would have suffered a loss."
"Never mind the fact those 200 men will be needed for just a year or two, whereas we will give you these preferential rates for much, much longer."
"Hmmmp¡" Alexander very loudly snorted, appearing quite angry.
And it caused Jamider (Earl) Tikba to quickly intervene on the other man''s behalf,
"No, no, that was not what Lord Yanoosh meant my lord."
"In fact we are all very fond of the conditions you have proposed. The amount of money you are willing to give us is most generous."
"And what we are most grateful for is that you have not demanded anynd for us. Or asked us to change the officials who run our territories. Those are usually verymon orders."
"So the amount of favors you have shown us we dared not dream a thousandth of it."
"Thank you,"
Tikba first cated Alexander with a thick, heavy,yer of ttery.
And then helped the talukdar express his concern, "But what Lord Yanoosh was actually expressing his concern about was that he might not be able to grow enough crops to feed himself.
And with us switching sides, it might also not be easy to buy grains in the open market."
As Tikba finished saying this, the specific talukdar silently nodded his head to say that was indeed the specific problem.
Alexander naturally understood what kind of guarantees they wanted, and simply said,
"Then sell the things we give you to Matrak or Adhan. I''m sure they will be happy to trade you their surplus."
"Hahaha, yes, yes," Pasha Farzah after a long time entered the conversation, loudly announcing his interest.I think you should take a look at
As did Lady Inayah, "Of course, we are very happy to buy up all the new things."
While the Queen Mother gave a nod and smile
The much cooler reaction was because it would be far too improper for a royal member to openly show too much interest in trading and goods as matters concerning money were thought to be below the divine envoys of the gods, and best left for the lower peasants and peddlers to squabble over.
Though perhaps the royal family was the most greedy dragon out of many entities in Adhania.
For Lord Tikba, with the first trade routes secured, and with such bigshots at that, the results were far better than he could have ever hoped for, and he gave a heavy and cordial bow towards the four, Thank you."
After this, he turned to face Alexander and then inquried about a little curious thought of his own,
"Lord Alexander, it is written in the fifth point that we must implement various infrastructure projects. If you do not mind, may we know what they could be?"
On the surface, this question appeared to be a harmless question, a simple flirt of the curious mind.
But for the ever-incisive Alexander, it appeared that this man was sharp enough to notice that those specific allocated men would be likely used in other infrastructure projects after they finished building the roads.
So those men that Alexander would acquire from them were likely to remain in his hands for quite some time.
And not just one or two years as he said.
Or perhaps Alexander could even demand even more for the other projects.
After all, he said it himself, ''I could ask for 2,000 and still make a loss''.
So who was to say?
Jamider (Earl) Tikba certainly took this thought into his mind, while Alexander clearly understand that this Jamider (Earl) was no herbivore.
No, in fact Jamider (Earl) Tikba was the real-life example of ''what hecks in brawl he makes up for it with brains.'' kind of guy,
The thin, almost sickly man seemed to tarded his health for a very healthy, sharp brain.
And this particr inquiry made Alexander want to learn more about the man and even keep an eye on him.
Such a shrewd mind could both he an asset and a huge danger.
But for now, Alexander first concentrated on his answer.
''Some of the additional structures we will require you to build is a good sewage system in all the towns in order to clean the dirty streets, construct public toilets and bathhouses in the cities for better personal hygiene, and build better roads inside the cities for easier foot traffic to the markets and stalls."
"But those are years away," Alexander attempted to y down the timeline, whereas in reality, he wanted to finish everything before the treaty expired.
So around 5 years.
Then, since they were asking, Alexander also decided to add, "Also,ter we may also ask you to enact policies, such as enforcew and order in the cities to crack down on thievery and banditry,bat corruption, dedicate street sweepers to clean the streets, fine people who litter and dump waste in the city and some other misceneous tasks."
Alexander gave an exhaustive list.
To which Lord Tikba first gave a polite smile and nonchntly praised, "Haha, I''ve noticed simr goods things happening in Zanzan city. It seems the lord lovesmerce and cleanliness. Truly noble qualities."
But he still did not say yes or no to either offer.
Instead, not seeing anyone else raise any inquiries, decided to take that offer of a week to think about it, and proposed to end the meeting.
"Well my lords and Your Highnesses, we have all heard what Lord Alexander proposed."
"And personally I can say I''ve quite liked it."
"The Pasha of Zanzan is truly enlightened. As are I''m sure all four of you great lords anddies."
"So, may we meet here again in say¡four days to give you our answers?"
He figured four days would be enough to discuss with his other fellow nobles and neighbors toe to a solid conclusion.
"Sure. Take your time my lord." Alexander too felt there was little more to discuss.
And so with polite bows towards each other, the long, almost 4-hour meeting came to an end.
As the guests were then moved to an outside, shaded garden table, where another grand feat began, whichsted tillte noon.
And it was only around evening did the 16 people leave, and Alexander could talk to his retainers and allies about how the negotiations went.
"Lord Alexander is quite the negotiator. I''m impressed." Queen Mother said with a smile, while Lady Inayah added,
"Yes, I too think it went pretty well."
Asstly, Pasha Fasha said, "Yes, I''m sure the news four days from now will be positive. Let us wait."
And just like Alexander''s group debated about the efficacy of the meeting, so did the nobles, and the wait began.
Chapter 491 12S Answer
Alexander himself was quite pleased with how the negotiations went.
Although none had jumped to say yes then and there, there were also no bullish nobles threatening him to fight to the death.
An event he would like to very much avoid given the recent happenings.
Although to be honest that might have beenrgely due to the copious amount of honey Alexander hadid out on the table in the form of economic benefit.
Hence, many nobles who had indeede to Zanzan with the desire to t-out reject Alexander and even die a martyr started having second thoughts right after seeing the second page.
Money truly did make the world go around.
Thus in the following three days, the group of 12 was engaged in many furious private debates, either with all of them present, or in small groups, where all kinds of colorfulnguage and suggestions, usations, threats, and curses were thrown out against each other as they tried toe up with a unanimous conclusion.
"Tikba! You dare betray your homnd! Your ancestors! Your oath! Have you fed your honor to the gods?" This violent roar was predictably uttered by Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq, who was the leader of the anti-Alexander faction.
And to his usation Lord Tikba simply smiled and said eloquently, "His Majesty AM has lost the Eternal Holy City and three wars consecutively. I believe he has lost the mandate of the heavens. The gods cannot beholden me to my oaths."
To which the much more vocally limited Yuusuq could only point his point finger at the shamelessness and repeat, "Yo..you¡you." in rage.
Following this, the nobles discussed every single of Alexander''s demands multiple times, with many disagreeing, disapproving, and discontent with at least a few of them, or just even just with one or two uses in one of those points.
For example, in the neutral sections of the demands, they most definitely did not like the free trade demand because most could see they would import vastly more of Alexander''s new inventions than export their produce.
They were guaranteed to run a trade deficit.
The loss of coinage was another point of contention as it robbed them of their financial freedom, while the restriction on building new AM''s temples snatched their religious liberty.
Andstly, the ability for Alexander to investigate them if a merchant was harmed in their territory could be easily exploited to frame and then attack them.
All these points of dubious intent were clear as day to the shrewd group.
So if this was only what Alexander had to say, then many of these nobles would have considered rebelling.
Because it would be wrong to be fooled by these apparently weak nobles, believing they would not fight or resist.
For they all belonged to at least the outer circle of Muazz''s retainers and could be considered at least semi-zealots, and convincing them to submit by strong-arming them would not likely work very well.
Not when if Alexander was too heavy-handed, another crusader army mighte looking for him.
Hence the second page was absolutely necessary to coax them.
Now, it had to be said, even before giving them the papers, Alexander had quite the confidence that the numbers quoted there would be quite efficacious in inducing a change of heart.
This was because when Alexander first discussed with Pasha Farzah the amount of money to give them, the old man was first a bit incredulous, finding it hard to believe that Alexander was actually being serious.
This was because even he, currently, perhaps the richest man in Adhania would not be able to stomach losing a total of thirty-three (33 million) ropes to twelve nobles every year for an indefinite amount of time.
That would be close to like 10% of his annual ie.
But when Alexander said he was being totally serious, it made the old man truly open his eyes to Alexander''s productive and economic potential and it both made him scared of how the bnce of power would change in Adhania due to him, but also d that the boy was on their side.
So he then joked, "Brat, increase a bit of the money, and even if would consider working under you., haha."
While Lady Inayah who was there with them too experienced a simr shock and added after Pasha Farzah with obvious admiration, "It is simply unbelievable that a single city can about produce one billion ropals worth of products annually."
"I would have never believed it if I had not seen it. Even if it came from my own father''s mouth. And I fear my father will not believe it even when I tell him."
The ck mature woman then let out a sigh of admiration, while Alexander actually marveled at thedy''s grasp of mathematics andmerce when she was able to pretty easily estimate Alexander''s total worth of output.
She did this by first remembering that Alexander had promised to sell to each of them around 300 million ropals worth of goods over the next year.
And then she simply made the reasonable assumption that Alexander would at least keep half of his total stock for domestic use and to trade with other partners other than them.
So came the number of one billion, which to her actually seemed like a conservative amount.I think you should take a look at
And amazingly, Lady Inayah was pretty much on the dot there, as Alexander did estimate his total industrial output to be around that ballpark.
The Treasury Master of Adhania had sired a very worthy daughter.
While the man being praised put on a shy facade and lightly chuckled,
"Haha, Lady Inayah is embarrassing me. I''m not nearly as rich as you are making me out to be."
"I am without a doubt losing a lot of money to those nobles in this deal. But I chose to do it as also a kind of propaganda to other nobles. It is very hard to do business when you are hated by everyone after, hehe."
Part of this statement waspletely true.
One of the other reasons why Alexander had decided to distribute his products at a discounted price besides sharing the pie so that the nobles would not rebel was indeed the simple reason for propaganda.
He hoped that other nobles would be enticed by Alexander''s generosity and trading opportunity to switch sides.
But he was also lying through his teeth when he said that he was losing money on the deal.
Because while he was not making as much money as he could, he was certainly not making a loss, and actually selling the products at a much higher price than their cost price.
But Alexander naturally kept all these a tightly guarded secret.
In fact the cost of the goods that Alexander produced was kept so under wraps that even the people in charge of running them did not know the exact values.
For Alexander calcted these numbers personally and only shared them with Cambyses and to a lesser extent Ophenia.
And it was the prices of these goods that proved to be the most decisive factor in deciding the choice of the nobles when they discussed whether to stay neutral or to join neutral.
Due to that, the nobles even chose to overlook the 1% tax humiliating tax, further reasoning that there was also the exemption from all other expenses regarding entertaining their superiors, which many actually calcted as having saved money on this deal.
And so as Alexander waited patiently for the next four days, eager to hear the nobles'' results, the day of reckoning finally came.
The group again met at the same ce, same time, but with the exception that this time the four honored guests were missing as they simply saw no reason to be there.
So the meeting consisted of Alexander and his retainers, who had beenrgely overshadowed by the presence of the big four in the previous meeting and mostly stayed in the shadow then.
The meeting began shortly after exchanging some pleasantries and ended quite quickly.
Because it basically went like this.
"My lord, I Lord Tikba have decided to ept all your offers and proim His Majesty, King Ptolomy as the rightful king of Adhania. I beseech thee to allow me to join thy ranks."
This was said by those choosing to submit to Alexander.
While the following was said by those choosing to stay neutral.
"My lord, I Jamider (Earl) Yuusuq have decided to stay disinterested and uninvolved in the ongoing conflict. I ept all demands on the first page and so I beseech thee that you ept."
The former oath takers far outweighed thetter, 11 to 1 to be exact, as the only one to reject Alexander was Yuusuq, who stubbornly stuck to his oath no matter what.
In fact, he had evene here with the determined mind to rather die than submit.
But after a lot of cajoling by Tikba in the following three days, and under the pressure of being outnumbered 11 to 1, who at one point even threatened to implement a total blockade of hisndlocked territory, the martial man relented.
Alexander was certainly very d to see this lopsided result.
Even though he had somewhat expected it, it did not detract him from feeling a sense of aplishment at having expanded his dominion to 12,000 sq km.
"Hahaha, great, great. Together we will make Zanzan great again." He said as he got up to hug and shake hands with each of his new retainers.
And soon the date of the oath-taking ceremony was fixed.
Chapter 492 New Land Distribution
The noble''s reason for joining in such droves was quite natural if one thought about the terms of the proposal a bit.
Alexander by design had made the proposal such that it made more sense to join him and receive the economic benefits rather than choose to stay isted and all alone, with all the downsides to leaving Amenheraft and none of the upsides of joining Alexander.
Hence other than the most staunch supporter of Amenheraft, Lord Yuusuq, everyone flipped.
"Hahaha, it is great to see you make the right choice. You won''t regret it." Alexander patted the arms of each man as he greeted them, and then decided to schedule the coronation at the Temple of Ramuh in a month.
The reason for requiring thisrge amount of time was because of a few reasons.
One of the reasons was that it would simply take Alexander some time to organize therge ball as it would include quite a lot of nning and making the decorations for the venue, preparing the halls, selecting a menu for the grand event, and organizing the guards and security to name a few.
But the true main reason for such a long lead time leading up to the event would definitely have to be so that the nobles could have adequate time to order and prepare the custom-made clothes for the event.
Clothes in Adhania were perhaps as much a fashion and status symbol as the jewelry worn or even the peerage itself.
And given that it was almost a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the nobles wanted everything to be perfect.
Hence the originally picky nobles were even more so about it right now, resulting in the dy.
As a side note, Alexander had also decided to gift each of the new nobles a new,vish suit to wear during the swearing, almost as a kind of way to make for something simr he had failed to do during his wedding.
Hence the one-month dy was a boon for also his tailors, as it gave them enough time to properly measure, design and manufacture the custom-made clothes.
But one would be mistaken if they thought the tailors were ordered to have 11 suits.
Because it would not only be the eleven new nobles who would be sworn in that day.
No.
For there would be additionally the original four lords of Lord Prantik''s group.
But perhaps much more importantly it would be the official swearing of all his ever-expectant retainers and council members, who numbered officially a total of ten- Cambyses, Menes, Melodias, Menicus, Grahtos, Heliptos, Diaogosis, Uzak, Harun, and Jazum.
While unofficially it was eleven, as it also included Camius whom Alexander chose to keep hidden from his new nobles for now, instead personally apologizing to him in private and promising to make it upter with arge fiefdom and more favors.
"Hahaha, don''t worry about it doc. Those kinds of parties aren''t really meant for me anyway," While Camius had simply brushed off the ''un-inivite''.
Hence, as everything was being prepared for the coronation event in theing days, Alexander busied himself with meetings with the 25 people to be sworn their fealty to him,
He met with all of them both individually and in groups, their main topic always regarding one thing- The respective noble''s fiefdom.
And for the ten new nobles, i.e. his council member and close retainers, this had been a long timeing.
Alexander had made many of these council members nobles within a fortnight of entering Zanzan, but they had nond of their own until now.
This had made them feel quite inferior when interacting with other nobles of even simr peerage, who hadnds of their own.
Not to mention most Adhanian nobles viewed Alexander''s retainers as nothing more thanmon rabble who were pathetically trying to disguise themselves as one of them, like a toad would try to taste swan meat.
And so they were most eager to call a piece of earth their own and show those snobs.
Alexander naturally was aware of this, and so took this task very seriously, spending a lot of time looking at maps and even going out of the city to choose suitable fiefdoms for his retainers, to make sure he gave them a mix of good fertile ins, with bad barren wastnds, and boring, unproductive hills, with exciting mines and ore deposits.
All so that nobody ended up with too much goodnd or too little of it and feels cheated.
But that everybody had a healthy mix of every type ofnd.
Now Alexander had to give this amount ofnd out of his own pocket of recently conquered 8,000 sq km, some of which containednds of other nobles whom Alexander killed either in Jabel or his battle with Djose.
But those nobles could not raise any objections due to being dead and so Alxx distributed much of those already developednds to his men without any problem.
And as for the amount he gave.
Well, as each of these new nobles was a Shordar (Baron), hence per the fiefdom limitation of Adhania set by the royal family, he gifted all his military fiefdom the maximum amount possible, which was 100 sq km.
While most of the civilian retainers got the minimum amount- 80 sq km, including Cambyses.
And the reason for this was obvious.I think you should take a look at
As Alexander stated. "It is certainly true that the army would certainly not be able to fight without the arms of the civilian industry."
"But it is even more true that the civilians would not exist without the army."
"It is the army who fights for us."
"It is the army who defends us."
"It is the army who dies for us."
"And no amount of civilian aid can bring a dead soldier back."
"So it is only natural they get more benefits."
Alexander throughout his life would always give the military his top priority, and all his economic output would be with the ultimate goal of strengthening it.
Hence the clear favoritism.
Besides, it was much harder for civilian nobles to rebel than military ones anyway.
After all, the pen was not literally mightier than the sword.
So it was an easy choice for Alexander on who to favor more.
While another much more sinister intention was to set the civilian nobles against the military nobles.
With the idea being that if these two groups were to be busy being at each other''s throats, they would be too preupied to rebel against him.
It was not a nice thing to do, but a necessary one.
For this type of political machinations was something Alxx had to prepare for even as he wasying the first bricks of his empire.
Hence with Alxx giving around 900 sq km to his closest friends and retainers, Alxx then moved on to get to know the fiefdoms of all his 15 new nobles.
He first located them on maps the nobles bought and then proceeded to learn every little detail there was to them.
Their size, geography, poption, tax revenue, trading partners, avability of the amount of fertilend, rtion with their neighbors, and a dozen other things.
While also working out the details of their first joint infrastructure development, i.e.- the roads.
This project which seemed quite simple on the surface proved to be quite a headache for everyone involved as Alxx and his nobles were forced to spend almost a whole week just working on that.
The reason for so was because it seemed that Alxx had grossly underestimated the amount of work and nning involved in the endeavor.
First came determining the exact number of routes that would have to be built, as Alxx demanded that not only the nobles be connected to each other, but also to Zanzan.
And since each noble neighboured multiple others, so each fiefdom be sort of a central hub for the roads, spreading out from it like cobwebs.
Then came the question of where to build them.
And a straight line to the next point was not always the right answer.
Because there might be untraversable terrains like deep rivers, steep hills, fjords, marshes, bogs, bandit areas, or even hostile noble territory in the middle or even just close to the proposed routes.
So all these had to be taken into ount and then the road redirected to avoid those unfriendly terrain.
While for the rivers, if possible the route would be moved to lead to the swallower parts of the river if possible, as it would make building bridges easier, and if it was not, the bridges would have to be built even atop the deep river without an option.
And speaking of building bridges, that was another part of the problem, because it was not just roads Alxx was building but bridges too.
While another problem was that if the water was so deep and fast that bridges simply could not be built, then there was the further hassle for the logistics crew to cross the river on boats and start building the road from the other side.
Then came nning where these roads would connect with each other if two roads going to the same ce met or there was already a pre-existing road so that there was no foolish mistake such as two parallel redundant roads going to the same ce.
This was followed by calcting the total estimated length of the proposed road, the total time likely needed to finish it, andstly the all-important matter of budget.
Chapter 493 Taxes And Roads
The length of the road Alexander and the nobles determined was a total of around 800 km.
This number was achieved by Alexander first demanding three straight main roads built which extended 90 km in the north, east, and west directions from his city Zanzan, for a total of 270 km.
Then there were the various noble fiefdoms connecting with each other that demanded another 300 km of new roads
Andstly, the nobles were asked to repair and expand some of their existing roads for easier trading, for another 250 km of additional paved ground.
Once this was determined, and the route and specification selected, Alexander then invited an expert to help him estimate the time and cost.
And that was Diaogosis.
The man had been building roads for Alexander for three months now, and with his experience in building stone-concrete roads, Alexander could think of none better.
And once asked about the feasibility of the roads, this newly made noble addressed the crowd, "With the 60 tons of cement provided to us daily, we are able to build around 4 km of roads a day."
"Thates to each of my workers being able to build 3 meters of roads per day with the help of around hundred and fifty (150) horses and a simr number of wagons for carrying the sand, gravel, and stone aggregates."
Saying these preliminary ims, Diaogosis then paused a bit as he traced his chin and calcted his estimate based on the varying conditions.
And it was these varying conditions that were the real buggers as by using simple math, 800 km should have taken about 7 months as per Diaogosis''s im of being able to build 4 km of road per day.
But life was rarely simple.
And so the stonemason spoke out his thoughts aloud.
"So for the 800 km road, with the supply of cement being equal...and taking into ount the time needed to cover therge distance from our supply point at Zanzan.....and given that we will have to build twelves bridges of different lengths¡.hmmm."
Diaogosis hummed for some time as the cogs spun inside his head.
Until finally a whileter the man first gave his estimate of thebor force needed and the time required.
"It will take me around 2,000 men, 350 horses or mules, and 600 carts, and one and a half years toplete it." He atst said confidently.
The number of men and materials wanted was certainly a lot.
But it was only a very big project.
So Alexander only asked softly, "Could you exin?"
And the man was happy to exin his working to the Pasha,
"My lord, the main reason why I''m asking for so much time, men, and material is because since the roads will be built quite far away from Zanzan, I will need a lot of men and horse carts to supply me with the cement needed. The need is quite justified."
This waspletely true and so Alexander nodded to give him the informal approval of the project.
Which meant the project was guaranteed to go ahead, and only needed to go through some formalities.
While from the side one of the nobles chimed with a light smile, "If transporting this cement is the problem, then perhaps it could be manufactured in my territory. We are situated in quite a convenient position, and it will only not save us time, but money as well."
It seemed the magic material had already aroused the curiosity of many in the group.
But Alexander did not bother responding to this.
This was because this was not a new request.
For thest weeks, as Alexander had spent some with getting to know the nobles and their fiefdoms, they had only gotten to know him, and his city Zanzan.
They inquired about all kinds of things, like his background, his military wins, his outlook in life, and one noble even prodded him about his taste in women,
While in the case of Zanzan, they asked about its people, its army, all the different kinds of things it produced, and most importantly of all, how they were produced.
And like always Alexander had answered some, evaded others, and refused toment on a few
Thest one mostly being associated with the production of many of his goods.
And as you might have guessed, the nobles were really interested in the cement-making technique.
One which Alexander even refused to put on the table, very straightforwardly saying, "That is a core technology of Zanzan and cannot be traded.
And so Alexander ignored that noble''s suggestions, and simply turned to DD to ask,
"And the budget?"
Hearing this the stonemason took around round of long silence to think, as he then even took out a piece of paper from his pocket and started scribbling.
And atst presented Alexander the broken down statistics, saying,
"This is a preliminary estimate, my lord. Please have a look."
On the paper, the prices were broken down as such.
Cement cost for 1000 km of road (estimated total for road and bridge):
15,000 tons of cement for 1.2 million ropals (at 80 ropal per ton).
Wages of 2,000 men for 18 months:
9 million ropals (at 250 ropals per worker per month)I think you should take a look at
Feed for 350 horses or mules for 18 months:
3 million ropals (at 500 ropals per animal per month)
Cost of 600 carts, 2000 buckets, and other misceneous pieces of equipment:
1 million ropals.
ck: 1 million ropals.
Total- 15.2 million or about 15 million ropals.
Alexander found these numbers to be quite reasonable and hence gave DD a nod of approval.
But that did not stop his heart from skipping a beat after looking at the numbers.
And this was even when he knew the values would be like this.
The road''s cost was around a Jamider''s (Earl) annual ie and this was considering Alexander was using the much cheap cement road.
If he had made the roads using traditional techniques, this would have easily cost tripled or even quadrupled the amount.
No wonder nobles did not like building roads if it was not absolutely necessary.
It was bloody expensive.
And as Alexander passed the paper around, the nobles sitting there all too drew cold breaths.
They had certainly suspected such a value, but still seeing the amount scared them.
While those with a good head on them even posed with a slight shake of the head, "My lord, I don''t think our yearly tax will be able to cover even one-tenth of this."
This Alexander knew.
Over the past few days, he had gotten to know the financial capabilities of each of the individual nobles and it went like roughly this like.
Each Shordar (Baron) controlled around 100 sq km ofnd, which had 10 to 13% of arablend in them.
And since in this agricultural society, almost everything worth of value was produced in the fields, those goodnds were really their only money makers, and they produced around 250,000 ropals worth of goods per sq km as per Alexander''s calctions.
And since the nobles got a cut of 20% as taxes, and after deducting all the extra expenses such as paying the tax collectors and the bookkeepers, a shordar (Baron) earned around 500,000 to 600,000 ropals annually.
Using this simr math, a talukdar (Viscount) who controlled around 500 sq km earned 2.5 million.
While a Jamider (Earl), who controlled 2,000 sq km, and had actual cities under their control earned 15 million.
From this, Alexander calcted his total 1% tax revenue would be only around 1 million ropals, which was more symbolic than an actual amount.
But it was a start.
While in the meantime Alexander knew he would have to foot the bill.
So he answered, "I''m aware of the mary difficulties the city is facing."
"So I propose that the Zanzan council borrows the money from me for now. And they can then pay me back the amount once the trade andmerce here develop."
Alexander afterward even put on a magnanimous face, as he dered, "I will be generous and not charge the city any interest. Just the principal amount."
Which drew relieved faces from the nobles.
Because they knew Alexander was unlikely to ever get his money back on this.
As did too Alexander.
In this project or any number of the additional infrastructure developments he had in his mind, Alexander was destined to lose money.
But it was an investment for developing trade and even security in his fiefdom.
So Alexander was more than willing to splurge.
As the issue of the road came to an end and the issue of tax was raised, Alexander remembered he had onest thing to discuss with them.
Coincidentally, it concerned increasing his tax revenue.
So he turned to address the nobles.
"Gentlemen, many of you may not know this, but Zanzan has had a small agricultural revolution."
"We have implemented several new farming techniques in our crop cultivation, and we expect our crop yields to double this year, from 400 kg of wheat per hectare to 800 or even 900 kg."
At the mention of these numbers, the nobles were naturally astounded, and if not for Alexander''s previous acumen would have likely mocked him on the spot.
But given all they knew about Alexander, now they were very curious.
While Alexander finished his speech by saying,
"I hope that you will pay attention to our practice and emte them."
Chapter 494 Swearing Ceremony (Part-1)
The revtion of Alexander''s ability to grow more crops was something the nobles were eager to learn about no matter what.
"My lord, is that true? Can it really be done?" Lord Tikba represented the entire ecstatic noble group as he hopefully asked.
Because doubling their food production would double their ie.
And so in the days leading up to the swearing ceremony, Alexander gave them a tour of his farms and showed them the various new inventions such as horse cors, and the heavy plow, and the new three-crop rotation method.
And while most nobles were impressed, or at least outwardly pretended to be, some of the bit more stubborn nobles tried to argue with him as they did not think a military man would know anything about farming.
This caused Alexander to simply propose, "Then send some of your men during the autumn harvest. And find out the yield for yourself. Seeing is believing after all."
In this way, Alexander''s month flew with him entertaining the nobles, while in the background, the preparation for the swearing ceremony wasing along nicely.
Alexander himself did not really have an official swearing ceremony in Adhan, as it was insteadbined with Ptolomu''s coronation ceremony.
Though this was done mainly due to Alexander''s urging, for he wanted to leave for Zanzan as soon as possible and not waste time on such fruitless frivolities.
But for this event, since he was the host, he wanted it to be very grand, as grand as possible in fact.
Because he wanted this party to be a way to show off his wealth and taste, and thus boost his prestige among his retainers.
And to help achieve that, he had requested the help of another Pasha, Farzah, who had decades of experience doing these things, while also employing his daughter for many of the artistic decorations.
And with these lengthy preparations finished, finally, the day came.
The swearing ceremony was scheduled to be organized at night, as per traditions, and as dusk fell, carriage after carriage made their way to the Temple of Ramuh situated at the center of the city.
This temple, which was now overseen by Azura and Azira was without a doubt a sight to behold, The domed structure had a beautiful golden domed crown, while its outer walls were made of the best marble and granite, giving it a checkered ck and white pattern and decorated with various colorful mosaics and paintings.
The huge courtyard leading to the main temple had many beautiful gardens graced with resplendent flowers that were immactely cared for, while at each of the corners, there stood a tall obelisk, where frescos were decorated using gold leaves, colorful pigments, and precious stones, detailing legendary battles between the gods.
The temple was only slightly less opulent than the Grand Temple at Adhan.
Alexander observed these outer decorations as he arrived at the venue gates just as the sun was setting, apanied by Cambyses and his entourage of bodyguards in hisrge,vish carriage.
The group was immactely dressed.
The guards wore shining ceremonial brass body armor without a single scratch, dent, or blemish on them.
Painted bright golden, these brass cuirasses had ornate engravings, etchings, and embossed patterns of Alexander''s heraldry and Temple of Gaia''s symbols, both enhancing their visual appeal and showing their statues.
Their gauntlets, boots, and greaves too were simrly decorated, while their Corinthian helmets were even decorated with precious gemstones and metal engraving, apanied by the usual red plum,
And to finish the decorations, a long heavy cape was draped over their shoulders, blood red, and embroiled using real golden threads of the symbols of House Alexander.
The men naturally looked magnificent in their armor, though if one noticed, they would have found all of them sweating profusely, as underneath all this fancy junk, the men also wore real chainmail with linen thorax and the whole other nine yards of protection.
Meaning on this particrly hot summer day, they wore multipleyers of clothing, making them quite ufortable.
But they had no choice and wore them viewing it simply as also one of the upational challenges of being Alexander''s bodyguard.
While their escorts, the lord anddy of the house wore much more formal civilian clothes.
Alexander wore a high-quality, navy blue, double-breasted coat featuring a fitted silhouette and a structured shoulder line, that conveyed an air of authority and strength.
The jacket''spels were adorned with golden braids, meticulously woven into intricate patterns, while the buttons were made of solid gold.
While underneath Alexander wore a fine shirt, followed by chainmail.
But the most prominent feature of his dress had to be the three rows of golden ribbons running side to side from his suit, entuating his midriff, while the breast pocket on his left was embroidered with the symbol of his house crest.
And next to him, his wife was dressed exactly the same, except that her hair was done in a much fancier way, being clipped and brushed back to give a sporty feeling.
Now in Adhania, males and females dressed very differently.I think you should take a look at
And dressing simrly was very frowned upon.
But Alexander insisted that everyone to be sworn in was to wear the same clothes, regardless of gender.
And when looking at his wife, Alexander would say he made the right choice, as she looked very catching in her new garment, emitting a much different aura from her usual feminine charms.
The heavy suit stuck snuggly to her body, making her appear bigger and more intimidating, while her brushed-back hairstyle gave the impression that she was a general returning from a victorious battle, thus tickling Alexander''s sense to dominate and conquer this formidable flower.
"Ahhh, so hot. Why do I have to wear this? I''m dying in it! " Or he had that amorous feeling until Cambyses crassly spoke out aloud while tugging at the cor of her buttoned-up blue shirt as she tried to get some air in.
She was forced by Alexander to also wear the full suit of armor beneath, and like the guards with them, it was killing her.
"......." Alexander did not reply to thisint he had heard a million times, and instead simply said, "Let''s go. Many are waiting."
And so soon the group crossed the stone-paved courtyard path leading into the temple and entered itsvish premises.
For this event, the interior of the temple had been heavily renovated, with huge, beautiful chandeliers hanging from the domed roof brightly lighting up the interior, many of which were ordered for this event, colorful paper streamers outlining many of the granite surfaces, and colorful flowers jeweled with gemstones and emitting a sweet smell gracing many of the sacred artifacts inside the temple.
While at the center of the Ramuh, was its centerpiece, the statues of the god Ramuh, and goddess Gaia, were also heavily decorated with golden clothes and jewels, embellishing them even further.
While right below their feet was a luxurious throne chair.
Naturally, that was meant for Alexander to sit as the nobles bowed and swore fealty to him.
By the time Alexander had arrived, the temple was already filled with guests.
The men were wearing suits like him, while the women worevish gowns, and were seen chatting,ughing, and gossiping with a drink in their hands.
As Alexander gazed at thisvish function, one which had burnt a hole in his pocket, he could not help but reminisce the reason for this.
And the reason for hosting this gaudy, extravagant party was to show off.
In Adhania, excess, extravagance, and unting were celebrated and even venerated.
Which was very much different from modern times where self-restraint and simplicity were valued.
Where billionaires going to shops wearing a sweatshirt and short pants was seen as something positive.
Instead in this time period, those same words and practices would be synonymous with the word poverty.
And since Alexander came to know that face in the nobility circle was won by faulting one''s wealth and status and that was it the quickest way to obtain his retainers'' confidence, he decided to do just that.
For it seemed face and prestige were really important in the Adhanian nobility circle.
And people judged and acted based on what kind of reputation one had.
For Alexander this was critical.
Because a lord with good prestige made one''s retainers look up to and follow their lord, and more importantly not underestimate him as being a lowly uncouth ve barbarian with no manners.
Thetter which would if not instigate a rebellion directly, at least would make the nobles lessinant to one''s directives, thus hindering their ability to govern their province effectively.
Hence Alexander saw thevish party, the intricate dresses, and the opulent foods as a necessary expense to gain the loyalty of his subjects.
As Alexander and Cambyses slowly entered the sacred halls, their arrival naturally caused quite a stir, as the nobles could not help but set their eyes on first their lord, before their eyes were quickly attracted to the heroic women beside him.
Dressed in a suit and pants Cambyses stood out from the other women dressed in gowns like a proud peacock, and as her shiny, polished leather shoes struck the carpeted floor with strength and authority, all the nobles marveled at the way thedy of House Alexander carried herself.
They gazed at her powered face, her cheery lips, her strong, straight posture, and her powerful gait,
Cambyses might not be the most beautiful woman in that room, but she was certainly the most unique.
Chapter 495 Swearing Ceremony (Part-2)
With Cambyses turning many heads and even drawing some muttered jealous curses, Alexander went ahead to first greet the highest nobles there, PF, the Queen Mother, and Lady Inayah.
And then all the twenty-four nobles there.
Here, he also met many of the families of the nobles, many of whom were specially called to attend this ceremony from their fiefdoms.
In fact, this was another reason that some of the nobles requested the ceremony be dyed to this degree.
Because they wanted their family members- sons, wives, and daughters to attend the meeting and get to know Alexander.
And while for some this was purely intended as a social courtesy, for a few others, they were clearly fishing.
Fishing for benefits by betting on the fact that Alexander might take a fancy to one of their daughters.
Or sons.
The nobles would not judges
Or even their wives and concubines for that matter if it fits Alexander''s taste.
Most Adhanian nobles were not picky about either of the three options, as long as Alexander would give them more benefits.
Or at least that was the vibe he got when interacting with some of them, who usually wore low-cut dresses showing ample cleavage, or made suggestivements, such as wanting Alexander to give them a tour of the city or offering him to show their embroidery skills in his leisure time.
While one particr wife of a nobleman was far more direct, very openly saying, "My lord, I keep having this chest pain here."
"And I heard from my husband that you are a great doctor with unparalleled skills with his hands. May I ask to see you tonight?"
Alexander could barely stop his lips from twitching at this, and after a few simr interactions, he frankly began to be surprised that some of these women had evene to this party wearing any clothes, given how eager they appeared to just strip and jump on him.
Alexander even believed that if he opened his fly and took it out, some people would likely fight over who got to him first just to get more favor.
It appeared the things Alexander showed had truly made some very greedy.
But it was also because such promiscuity was somewhat the norm between a few of the nobles.
Though fortunately such dangerous, almost ruinously ambitious nobles numbered on the low side.
After spending some time with small talk and pleasantries, finally, once the night deepened a bit, Alexander decided to begin the main ceremony.
He sat on the luxurious throne at the foot of the statue, nked on either side by Pasha Farzah and the Queen Mother, who stood next to him as per tradition, while one by one each of the chosen twenty-five walked up to him, kneeled and answered as Alexander read off a special script:
"Cambyses of the House of Alexander, and lord of Jabel, do you stand before us to join our cause against the false King Amenheraft?"
"Yes!" The woman naturally gave the affirmative answer.
"Do you recognize me, Alexander as the rightful ruler of the province of Zanzna and your lord?"
"Yes!"
"Are you prepared to embrace the responsibilities and privileges thate with such an action?"
"Yes!"
"Will you uphold the value of virtue, integrity, and selflessness as befit a noble?"
"Yes!"
"Will you administer thews and rules of thend impartially and unhesitantly, ensuring that all are treated equitably under your stewardship?"
"Yes!"
"Will you protect and defend our Your Lord Alexander and His Majesty Ptolomy to your death?"
"Yes!"
"Andstly, will you show unwavering loyalty to the people, the crown, and its allies?"
"Yes."
At this point, Alexander nodded, and said,
"Good, then I hereby wee you to your ranks and proim you as one of us."
As the Queen Mother then stepped forward and tapped her left shoulder with a ceremonial sword, saying, "The crown epts your pledge."
Followed by Pasha Farzah doing the same on her right shoulder, and saying, "We nobles ept your pledge."
This was the custom of Adhania, where to be made a noble, one needed someone from the royal family or their representative and one extra noble to act as witness.
This was likely done to show that both the royal family and the noblemunity as a whole epted the man into their ranks.
With this done, Cambyses then took the following oath of the noble.
Where she said,
"I, Cambyses of Jabel, hear by swear upon my honor to faithfully serve my lord, Pasha of Zanzan, Alexander."
"I swear to uphold my lord''smands and carry out his will with unflinching loyalty."I think you should take a look at
"I pledge to defend my l honor, to protect thy from harm, and to act with unwavering devotion."
"I shall not betray their trust nor falter in my duty."
"This oath I take willingly, knowing the responsibilities it entails and the consequences of breaking it."
"May the gods bear witness to my pledge, and may they grant me strength and wisdom in fulfilling this oath to my lord."
With came the end of the long and mundane ceremony for Cambyses, leaving Alexander with only twenty-four others.
Who all took their turns slowly, and by the end of which Alexander did not even need to read the script.
Among these swearing, there was one particr swearing Alexander was a bit ufortable with.
And that was Jazum.
He had deliberated on whether to present the peerage to the stonemason as he did not seem to get along with the man over the issue of his son.
But in the end, he decided to keep his end of the bargain.
Alexander had originally promised the stonemason that if he could get 10 cement kilns up and running within six months, and produce 250 tons of cement for him per day, he would get a hereditary peerage.
And Jazum had indded done that.
In addition, his handling of the day-to-day operations of the kilns was unreproachable, with the supply of everyday cement up until now being always smooth, consistent, and on time as far as Alexander knew.
So up until this point Alexander really had no reason to block the man''s rise.
But the only snag in this perfect report would be his blind love for his son- Jafor, who was theplete opposite of his father,zy, ipetent, and a bully, a natural walking disaster.
And Alexander did fear giving such an imbecile the power of the nobles.
But he gave it anyway.
He had promised the father the rewards and Alexander here decided to keep his word.
Because him breaking his word to his enemies was one thing.
It would simply make him more trustworthy during negotiations.
But a lord breaking his words to his retainers was something entirely different.
That would nt the seeds of a rebellion.
Alexander would rather avoid that than give a cruel brat the power to harass the innocent.
And it was rather hoped that this favor would make Jazum recognize Alexander''s favors, and thus wake up the man to the reality of what his son really was.
Alexander really hoped for that oue.
Because if nothing of that really worked,...well Alexander always had the power to terminate Jazum and take back the peerage.
This was after all one of the powers he had gotten the permission from Ptolomy- To have the ability to punish any noble as he saw fit.
With thatforting thought, Alexander swore the man in and then proceeded to do the same for the others.
Until all twenty-five people were sworn in, and it was finally over.
''Finally! Time for the feast.'' While the end of the ceremony made the whole crowd who were standing in rows the entire time have the exact same thought.
It was already getting quitete and everyone was famished, a situation exaggerated by the absolutely fabulous vorsing from the open kitchen situated at the back garden of the temple.
Alexander too was quite hungry, and so led the group to the open garden dining arrangement, which was brightly lit with huge ming braziers, and where they were served the best delicacies Zanzan had to offer.
Meat, fish, wine, and sweet pastry flowed without care and the men and women there feasted to their, hearts'' content,ughing, joking, and enjoying themselves to the utmost.
While Alexander himself sat with his twenty-five retainers and broke bread with them personally.
With these merriments, the day atst came to a close, and each of the nobles slowly exited in their carriages.
As for Alexander, on the way back, Cambyses regaled her experience of the party, retelling how thediesmented on her dress, the new foods, andstly prodding Cambyses about whether Alexander was looking for any new concubines or even maids.
As she said, Cambyses produced a teasing look, and turned to Alexander to chuckle,
"Haha, so Alex, how about it? If you want you could sleep with any woman, girl, orss you want".
" I especially liked some of those wives in there. They had big butts, hehe."
Alexander only gave a gentle chortle to the joke.
But with the end of the ceremony, the nobles started to finally leave, taking arge load off Alexander, And within the next week, Zanzan was back to his usual peaceful tranquility.
But it was also on one such peaceful afternoon after the nobles had left, that Alexander unveiled to Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah a revolutionary naval ship concept in a secluded spot outside of Zanzan, the disy of which almost made the two have a small heart attack.
Because it was that out of this world.
Chapter 496 800 Million Ropals Sale
It was on a brightte June afternoon, just after lunch did Alexander suddenly invited Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah toe with him to an unknown ce a bit outside the city saying he had a new ship concept he had been working on and wanted their opinion.
"Brat! What do you know about shipbuilding?" On their way, inside the carriage, the aged pasha asked this with a curious look and a raised eyebrow.
''How could he also build a new ship when he had taken over Zanzan for just eight months?'' He asked himself, believing that even for Alexander, there had to be a limit to his talent.
"Hahaha, nothing really. That''s why I''m inviting esteemed guests like you." To this, Alexander only chuckled, deciding to keep the whole thing mysterious.
While Lady Inayah who was sitting beside Pasha Farzah, too smiled and soothed, "Then Lord Farzah, let us be patient. Lord Alexander has surprised us so many times already, I''m sure he will not disappoint us this time."
"Yes, yes, it will be easier to see the ship than hear about it anyway." Alexander too reassured the grouchy noble.
For some reason, the old man seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed today, as evidenced by the "Hmmmph," Pasha Farzah let out and then pped his back against the soft leather cushion.
The man himself very well knew the reason for his bad mood.
It was because he was letting his irritation get the better of him as he tried to deal with his mixed feelings about Alexander.
These feelings arose from recently seeing with his very own eyes how the impoverished city of Zanzan in less than a blink of an eye be as rich as half his entire province. all within just six months, and under themand of a ve boy from the gutters.
Someone he would normally be unwilling to even hit with his boots for fear of soiling them, not to even mention talking to.
But here was now, forced to even somewhat look up to the boy.
It rubbed the man the wrong way.
For he was that prideful.
It might not be readily apparent given his loud cheerful everyday demeanor and the casual manner in which he spoke with Alexander and his family, but it would be a grave mistake to be fooled into thinking this was his default.
In fact, most of the time, the man was a taciturn individual, being usually very aggressive to everyone who was outside his very close inner circle.
And because of this, for some time, the Pasha did hold Alexander in varying degrees of contempt even if he hid it well.
Sure he respected many aspects of the boy, his military prowess, eloquence with speech, and medical skills, but he had also bet that he would miserably fail in the administrative category, especially administrating a failed city like Zanzan.
But he could not have been more wrong even if he said the sky was red or the world was t.
In fact he figured that Alexander might be the one soon holding him in contempt given his speed of progress.
And for the hyperpetitive man, this was a nasty blow.
Hence, the bad mood.
But the old man did not let that bad cloud of feeling affect him for too long.
"Since we have the time, then let us discuss the prices," He suddenly decided to reengage with the conversation, alluding to re-negotiating the prices of the goods he wanted to buy from Alexander.
And he was joined by Lady Inayah, who too chimed in, "Yes, let''s. It will be a good use of our time."
Now, Alexander and the other duo did have several discussions before regarding this issue but were unable to settle on an exact value.
Mainly due to Alexander refusing to budge a single ropal, giving this hackneyed reply with an almost pleading face, "My lord, mydy, I have already told you."
"We are already giving a huge discount here. And we are just making enough profit to keep us going with these prices."
"Besides, as an ally, please consider that we are really strapped for coins right now."
"I have already spent most of the money I had, first with you and His Majesty back in Adhan. That was already 600 million then and there."
"Then after I came to Zanzan, I found the city folk here had no almost no coin to speak of and so then I had to give everyone arge amount of money to get the markets going."
"Then there was using a lot more money upfront to set up the workshops to create jobs and build all these new things."
"Then came paying for all the construction like the buildings, the roads, the aqueducts, and the sewage works as you all saw going was on."
"Followed by the war and various bereavement payments, andstly all the gifts for the nobles to name."
"All in all I have less than 50 million ropals by now."
"So at this point, Zanzan simply needs the cash."
Here Alexander had grossly exaggerated his financial ruin, as in reality, he had around 200 million of the original 300 he hade with.I think you should take a look at
And it was unknown how much of Alexander''s lie the two experienced nobles bought.
But neither tried to disprove Alexander outright, as Lady Inayah replied to this with,
"We understand your troubles, Lord Alexander. But we also understand that you don''t need 800 million ropals from us to solve them, now do you?
The way this 800 million ropal was reached was because the bill Alexander gave them for the list of products they wanted to buy amounted to 400 million ropals each.
And given such an amount was around half of Adhan''s annual ie at its peak, and Lady Inayah only had a budget of 300 million, she was eager to try and push the price down.
But Alexander responded as such to the allegation of him being greedy, as he replied gently and with a light smile,
"Mydy, please not be unreasonable. You know better than me that Zanzan needs a lot of capital to expand."
"It needs a lot of money to build a strong army, and then a strong navy, it needs to pay its nobles to keep them happy, and then it needs to capitals tounch wars of conquest."
"So that 800 million will soon disappear like the morning dew under sunlight."
Alexander afterward quickly reminded her,
"And please remember that I have already given you the secret for the brown sugar. You can start earning a lot of money from that soon."
The brown sugar Alexander referred to was sugar obtained from the beetroot juices that had been only treated with limestone and not also with bone char or charcoal, thus giving them a brown color and a slightly bitter taste.
They were neither as good to look at as the pearly white powder, nor nearly as tasty.
Hence Alexander sold them at wholesale for 10,000 ropals per ton or a tenth of the white stuff.
And the reason for selling the inferior goods was given after Pasha Farzah''s little aggrieved spat, "Bah! What use it that useless thing?"
"Tell me how to make the white stuff. And I will you 800 million ropals upfront!"
The old man might be a misery penny pincher, but that did not mean he was not loaded.
And it was because of such greed that Alexander decided to keep the supply low and the demand high, thus maximizing profit.
To aplish this he lied to Pasha Farzah through the teeth, replying, "My lord, the process of turning the beetroots into white is extremelyplicated andbor intensive. Meaning a lot of time and hard work has to go goes into it."
"Not to mention even then the chances of turning the brown crystal into the refined pearly whites is just 1 out of 100."
"Meaning to get 1 ton of the beautiful white, we need to use 100 tons of the brown sugar, which itself has to be processed first."
"And sometimes, depending on the quality of the beetroots we need to use even more."
"And then there is the fact that in the process, a lot of the brown sugar bes inedible when it fails to turn into white sugar."
"So the price we are charging is very reasonable."
"And thus we also cannot so easily hand over this secret process. Not right now. Please understand."
As Alexander finished his long speech, it was unknown how much the two nobles believed him.
But at least his ''not right now'' phrase indicated that he might be amicable to a deal in the future which cated the lord somewhat.
While Lady Inayah raised another potential thing she had wanted to buy.
"My lord, this like thing that bes like marble when it hardens¡you call it cement I believe. We would like to buy it."
This demand somewhat surprised Alexander because Lady Inayah had not expressed a desire when he showed her the apartment blocks, for they already had a simr mortal.
So what changed?
Well, it was simply Lady Inayah thinking whatever Alexander made was worth taking a second look at.
And Alexander knew this thought would be a thousand times stronger when he unveiled to them the ship he wanted to showcase, and so attempted to give an appropriate reply.
But his reply was suddenly put on hold for now.
Because they had arrived.
Chapter 497 Naval Dreams (Part-1)
Once the carriage arrived at its destination, and Alexander felt the movement of the vehicle slow down and then fully stop, a guard from the outside ced his armored fist against the wooden carriage door and gave it a solid knock, before proiming, "My lord, we have arrived."
And so soon the three people got down and found themselves looking at the wooden walls and raised palisade of what likely appeared to be a small hamlet that had been renovated into a military fort.
Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah were certainly intrigued to know what mad thing Alexander had cooked up for them this time.
"My lord, mydy," And they did not need to wait for long, as once their escort was ready, Alexander addressed the two nobles with a gesture of his hand and invited them inside.
And as the group traversed this short distance, eager to see whaty beyond, Alexander himself recalled the naval tactics of this time.
Naval fights were eerily likend battles, with the ships acting very much like phnx units. While the ships themselves typically hugged the shores, one reason being so that the ships could be quickly resupplied as the battleships really could carry only a few days worth of food and water.
And so if they ran out of this, they would either starve or have to makendfall and forage.
The other reason for always being close to the shore was because the shipbuilding of this time could not build crafts that would guarantee adequate safety in rough seas.
So no naval power was willing to put tens if not hundreds of thousands of men together and then sail them out into the middle of the sea where rough storms could instantly make them disappear.
And even if they wanted to, the men would likely mutiny before that.
Because the realization that there was no way to retreat in their rickety wooden boat and the fear of drowning, coupled with the superstitions regarding the seas yed such havoc on the morale of soldiers that neither the attacker nor defended would dareunch full-scale attacks against one another in the open sea.
Hence all naval engagements actually urred close to the shores, either to one''s own coast, or their opponents.
And the reason for such an evolution of naval warfarey in the design of the main ''battleship'' of this time- Trireme.
This ship''s average length was about 40 meters and weighed 50 tons, which was big enough to cause significant damage to enemy ships through ramming, but also light enough to be transported by the crew onnd, if necessary.
But its most important feature was that it was made out of pine and cypress wood, built such so that it could be fast and agile, with a top speed of around 8 to 10 knots, which allowed themander to ram enemy vessels with significant force and momentum.
The ship had three rows of oarsmen, hence the name tri-reme, who, contrary to popr belief were not tied to their seats but well armed, so that they were able to board an enemy ship or defend their own.
These men would be seated on wooden nks extending from the ship''s hull on top of one another, forming a sort of threeyered rowing team, with the top position being the most prestigious, as the men there would be most exposed to the elements and enemy fire.
But perhaps the most prominent feature of a trireme would be its bronze ram, which would be two to three meters long and be attached to the ship''s keel, often shaped like an animal like a ram''s head.
Using these metal extends, triremes would most regrly try to ram each other enemy ship and follow it up by infantry boarding and shes.
Hence naval warfare at the time really looked much like and battle on the sea.
Inside the average trireme, it would have a crew of 200 men, with 7 officers, 170 oarsmen, 14 marines, 10 phngites, and 4 archers, along with 9 sailors who were responsible for the ship''s sails and general maintenance.
From this it could be seen that usually a navy had to rely on the naval maneuvers of their captains and depend on skilled oarsmen to correctly steer the ships ording to their superior''smand, in order to be able to nk and ram the opposing ships from the sides, dealing maximum damage.
Or at least that was the preferred tactic of Cantagena and Sybarsis, whose ships usually had a much lower number of marines so that they were able to have more oars for more speed and maneuverability,
Now, this particr set of strategies was unique to Cantagena, who Alexander knew so much about not because he was a Thesina, but because there were extensive records about them in Adhan''s royal library, as the two had fought uncountable times over the past few centuries.
Hence it would be wrong to extrapte the same strategies to other navies.
For instance, Exs had apletely opposite strategy to Cantagena, as they would rely more on the infantry''s capabilities and would prefer to quickly ram the Cantagenans vessels head-on and board ships since it was almost impossible topete with the superior Cantagenan maneuverability and their highly-skilled oarsmen.
While Cantagena would attempt to nk the enemy fleet while infantry and ranged troops
harassed the enemy.
Now, the reason why the trireme was the king of the navy at this time, and not some of the better ships ofter times was simply because the people of this time were unable to build better ships, as they were still quite primitive in their ship-making technology.I think you should take a look at
Now did have good techniques to be sure.
For instance, they were able to build ships with multiple internal frames and crossbeams that provided structural strength, thus letting them transition from small boats torge ships capable of even transporting 1,000 tons of cargo.
The hulls of those ships would be constructed using ovepping nks which were individually cut, shaped, and fitted together, and then fastened to the frames using nails or iron mps.
And then to make these watertight, they filled the gaps between the nks with materials such as wool, moss, animal hair, or tar-soaked ropes, which prevented water from seeping into the ship''s hull.
All these were great achievements in naval technology.
But their biggest w was with how they built the body of the ship.
They still used mortise and tenon joints extensively in ship construction, which was a technique where mortise holes were cut into one timber, and tenons were formed on the end of another timber, which was then fit into the mortise holes and after the joints were secured with wooden pegs or iron fastenings, creating a somewhat strong and rigid connection.
But as it could be seen, this meant that the ship''s strength was not equal to the multipleyers of thick nks with which it was used to make it.
But the strength just came from the rtively thin peg that was used to hold the nks together, which any decent amount of force could simply snap in two.
A decent enough force such as a bronze ram crashing against it, or even justrge, rough waves repeatedly battering it.
This was the reason for the navy operating close to the shore and just ramming each other in wars.
A very simr thing had happened in Alexander''s previous life too, and it was not until the advent of better ship construction techniques, such as the "shell-first" method, where the hull framework was built first, followed by nking and additional features, thus allowing shipbuilders to use sturdy hardwoods like oak for the frames and nks, that ships could get much bigger and stronger.
And this was one of the reasons the Europeans discovered America, while the Romans never left the Mediterranean.
Now, for Alexander copying the Europeans was not an option.
At least not right now.
He neither had the known now nor did he shipwrights of this time.
So after the naval block, he had racked his brains over how to build a navy.
His very first thought was to copy the Romans and build the Corvus.
But those ships were notoriously unbnced and though the Romans destroyed Carthage using them, there were two nasty incidents of the Romans losing their entire fleets during storms in 255 and 249 BC due to how unstable the ships were, which contributed to them abandoning ship design over time.
So Alexander wanted something better if possible.
Hence he came up with the idea to improve the mortise and tenon joints technique.
He thought of using his high-quality weapons-grade steel for his pegs, which would be tens of times stronger than the wooden ones.
And then to stave off corrosion, he even thought of using zinc or even tin as a galvanizing metal.
This was one option.
But the other, much more radical option was for Alexander to use cement as the binding building for the nks, just like building a house.
Ships made entirely of concrete ships were built in the 1900s, so it was certainly possible.
And so, even if Alexander could not build a ship made of only concrete, almost like a ''cementd'' (as in irond), even if could just build a ship with a mixture of wood and concrete. he was pretty sure his ships would be invincible not just now, but even in the age of sail, being immune to burning and almost impervious to ramming and cannon fire.
It would almost be a floating castle!
Chapter 498 Naval Dreams (Part-2)
The group crossed the heavy wooden door restricting ess to the naval fort and were soon escorted inside.
The inside was quite spare, with only a fewrge wooden houses distributed across the entire space acting as lodging for the five hundred or so workers plus soldiers there, a fewrge wooden sheds that were used as carpentry workshops, and a small dock leading out to the sea that was used to build the vessels.
And as the two nobles looked around curiosity at these, Alexander gave some background of this ce.
"After suffering the recent blockade, I felt an urgent need to build a navy as soon as possible. Or risk having all my trade plundered."
"And so I had this abandoned hamlet be turned into a sort of shipbuilding yard."
"It''s not a real shipyard yet as it''s very rudimentary. But for now, it is only being used built to new ship concepts."
"And we have built three such boats to showcase our new designs."
"And I hope to get the two esteemed lords'' opinion on them."
Finished saying this with humility, Alexander turned to look expectantly at the two.
And Lady Inayah replied with a gentle smile, "Hehe, Lord Alexander is being too humble. I''m sure whatever you havee up with will impress us no doubt."
"And although Adhania has never been a great naval power, we will try our best to give our thoughts."
The maturedy was suddenly looking forward to seeing three new types of ships.
While Pasha Farzah was far more pessimistic, saying, "Brat, even if you can build a better trireme, do you think you will have the men with the expertise to use them?"
"Do you think expert oarsmene floating out of the ocean?"
"And let me tell you beforehand, you won''t find any ves with such skills either."
"Because in battles these expert sailors will either drown or their host countries will buy them back even forrge ransoms. "
The experienced man did have a point there.
There was a reason why there were ''countries with a strong navy culture'', who would be quite protective of their expert sailors.
Because it took generations of such people, each handing their life experiences to their sessor to create a strong navy.
The reason for taking so long was they had to master a variety of techniques all of which were needed to effectively steer andmand.
These included reading the wind patterns to adjust the sails and riggings optimally, navigating through the stars, predictably the weather based on the color of the sky or the type of clouds, able to feel the roughness of the waves to properly guide the ships, and even just understanding how much a ship would turn when the steering wheel was turned.
All things that took decades to master.
This was one of the reasons Ennd was able to dominate the seas even against other coalitions of European powers- because being an ind nation they had generations of expert sailors who were able to bettermand the ships.
So in this respect, a good navy could bepared to a good cavalry, both taking many years to master and very much influenced by geography.
And since Adhania was a huge country, enabling it to be self-sufficient, it did not really trade with the outside world too much, with Lady Inayah''s family and Kuleef being the only two major powers engaged in international trade in the whole of Adhania before Alexander came.
Even Matrak mainly traded bynd to Thesos or depended on Thesian ships for naval trade.
Hence, Adhania never bothered to develop a navy to speak of, as it did not need it to protect any maritime routes.
Which was as different as night and day for naval powers such as Cantagena and Sybarsis.
In the case of Cantagena for instance, they had built their whole society around the navy, with the strata of society oneing from dictating the position one could take when joining the armed forces.
The highest role- the captain was naturally always held by a noble, with him being responsible for the ship''s maintenance and operation, as well as conscription and recruitment, not only from Cantagena but other friendly Thesian city-states too.
Then there were the free, affluent men, usuallynd owners, who would be picked to be the phngites, armed in the usual phnx style, but given a smaller shield for better maneuverability on the close spaces, and a linen thorax instead of bronze cuirasses so that if one ever fell aboard, he would not instantly drown.
Further, these men, who mainly acted as the ship''s secondary weapon after the ramming, were equipped additionally armed along with grappling hooks for boarding enemy ships.
But usually, the primary task of these forces was defensive, as they were tasked with the protection of the oarsmen, arguably the most critical group of the crew.
Andstly, there were the oarsmen, who would be usually taken from the lowest strata of Cantagenan society, being peasants and fishermen.
Which was interesting given it was their skills which usually decided battles.I think you should take a look at
But whatever the reason for Cantagena''s choice was, no one would doubt their lethality in navalbat.
For example, in the hundreds of small andrge skirmishes Adhania had fought against Cantagena, they were yet to win a single major engagement and had their navy mostly relegated to harassing actions in the rear to try and disrupt the enemy''s supply lines.
These historical precedents made Pasha Farzah quite skeptical of Alexander''s desire to field a strong navy.
But he also wished deep down to be proven wrong.
As he was having these thoughts, he noticed small a trireme dock near the shore and Alexander invited the two nobles toe to take a closer look.
"My lords, please let us look at this," He said as he went forward, followed by the other two as he then introduced the ship,
"This trireme might look like any ordinary trireme out there, but it is in fact quite special. More specifically its joints are very special."
"Because instead of using wooden pegs to lock in the mortise and tenor joints we here used thick high-quality steel!" Alexander revealed the secret, and imed,
"So this trireme''s hull is now a few times stronger than anything out there."
Alexander made this huge im in a sort of t, neutral tone, something that would sometimes irk Cambyses, but this time there was no shock from the two nobles who could hardly believe their ears.
The shock to the two nobles was certainly quite a lot.
"What! Are you saying the truth, Alexander!" Lady Inayah in her extreme surprise even forgot about the honorifics as she almost squealed in surprise and amazement, and even somewhat doubted Alexander.
Because if it really worked as he said, then she had no doubt that Adhania would be able to dominate both thend and sea of this world.
While Pasha Farzah was seen visibly shaking.
He knew switching from wood to iron had never been done before because mainly of cost, but that was not an issue with Alexander.
And so he found the techniquepletely viable.
"Are you sure? Does it work?" He hence hoarsely asked to confirm
To which Alexander only chuckled and said, "Haha, well seeing is believing. I have arranged for abat demonstration. Let us wait and see."
With this said, under Alexander''s directions, the small trireme was slowly towed a bit out to the sea by two other small boats, while the group moved to a raised tform along the shore to get a better view of thebat demonstrations.
And soon this demonstrationmenced, as another trireme appeared a few distances away from the new ship and then sped towards the sides of the steel pegged ship at full speed, shortly before ramming it with maximum force.
The solid bronze ram crashed into the nk of the new ship mercilessly, causingrge bits of pine and many splitters to fly out and making the small trireme groan and creak with pain as it swayed dangerously under therge impact.
But even under such huge forces, the ship still stood and sluggishly returned to an upright position after its osciting sways slowly subsided.
And as the crowd waited with baited anticipation at this demonstration, they saw that there showed no signs of any water entering the ship, meaning only the outer part of the hull had been chipped, but the hull had not been prated.
Meaning this ship had aplished the unimaginable task of surviving a type of attack no other vessel would be expected to live through.
Not at that speed and such a clean shot.
This was like being shot in the head by a desert eagle and surviving.
Maybe possible once in a million times, but the chances would certainly not be in one''s favor.
And hence the result astounded those present.
"Haha, brat you really are something toe with such an idea. Hahaha, great, great," Pasha Farzah gave out a massive roar andughed boisterously seeing this, even letting his head hang out into the air.
Alexander had rarely seen the old man so happy.
While Lady Inayah could only nod her head silently as she seemed to have lost her voice, only managing to form a huge smile that showed all her wless pearly whites.
To say both of them were impressed would be a gross understatement.
And then remembering there were two other additional demonstrations, the duo could hardly keep still.
Chapter 499 Naval Dreams (Part-3)
Chapter 499
Contrary to the much more visibly impressed two nobles, Alexander was much calmer as he had already expected the results.
So he addressed the two, "Thank you for your praises, my lord, mydy. But to make sure it was not a fluke, let''s try that again a few times."
"I''m interested to see just how powerful this ship really is."
It seemed Alexander wanted to find the limit of his ships and hence asked the men to continue until the trireme failed.
"That¡." Which on the other hand made Pasha Farzah feel it was a great waste to destroy such a ship.
''If you don''t want it, sell it to me,'' He wanted to ask Alexander.
But it was ultimately Alexander''s ship and he could do what he wanted to it.
It was not really Pasha Farzah''s ce to object now was it?
And so the attacking trireme took position again and rammed the new ship again, which again creaked and groaned in pain.
But still refused to budge.
So it was rammed again and again several more times, with each hit causing the dent on the ship to be that bit bigger.
Until finally, after nine whole rounds of ramming attacks to the nks at full speed, even the steel pegs could no longer hold their ground and atst gave away, snapping like hard candy and letting the huge, heavy bronze ram punch a sizable hole around the waterline side of the prototype ship.
And soon afterward, the water began to flood thepartments and the ship began to list noticeably.
Which made the crowd both impressed at the ship''s performance but also a bit sad at seeing it go down.
Now, to be specific, the ship did not literally go down, meaning it did not really sink, but was simply turned inoperational.
Wooden ships generally did not sink like steel ships unless it wasden with heavy cargo but would list to one side and be immobile.
Which would work just as well as sinking them as they would be unable to participate anymore in the ongoing battle.
Or it might even be argued that not sinking was actually better, as those sailors could be captured and traded for ransom.
Anyway, after the new, steel-jointed trireme was destroyed, it was towed back to the shore so that the group could get a better look.
And as Alexander and the two approached the punched hole situated around the waterline, they found traces of the repeated attacks along the outer perimeter of the holes, where a significant amount of the paint and even wood had been chipped away to reveal the inner structure of the hull.
The group could even see some of the steel pegs in the hull.
"It seems my lord will soon be able to rule both thend and sea of Souther Adhania, haha," Seeing the amount of damage it took to bring the trireme down, Lady Inayah had a big smile on her face, as she was quite confident in Alexander''s chance of achieving exactly what she had said.
While Pasha Farzah additionally joked, "Yes, perhaps the next time we visit he will show us a way to fight in the skies, hahaha."
Which got a chuckle even from Alexander along with Lady Inayah.
But for very different reasons.
While Lady Inayahughed at the impossibility of it, for Alexander, it was not because the joke was funny or anything but because he knew Pasha Farzah had framed the joke as an impossible endeavor, while he very well knew otherwise.
But he also knew that building an airne even in his lifetime might be too tall an order, no matter how much he wished otherwise.
And so only smiled and nodded at the man''s joke, unable to give the perfect reply of, ''Perhaps there will be a flying machine by the next time youe by.''
Though Alexander was confident about making something workable as a hot air balloon sometime in the future.
As Alexander nned his inventions way, way into the future, Lady Inayah, who was staring at the exposed nail-like steel pegs that were sticking out suddenly asked, or rather shrilled in concern, "But Lord Alexander, won''t these iron pegs rust?"
Thedy had quite a bit of panic in her voice as she believed she had detected a grave hidden threat.
But Alexander only gave a light smile and a reassuring look.
Being a metallurgist specialized in steel, he in general knew almost everything there was to corrosion.
And so afterward in a cool voice said, "These steel pegs will not rust for around a decade. We have made them as such."
Which made Lady Inayah speechless.I think you should take a look at
''How can steel not rust? Is he a magician?'' She thought incredulously.
But given everything Alexander had shown them in this short period of time, she felt she should no longer be surprised by anything Alexander could im, and so decided to take Alexander''s word for it, and simply weakly nodded her and smiled, "It seems that I was so hasty. Of course, I should have expected my lord to have already thought about that already."
To which Alexander gave a thin smile and humbly said, "No, mydy''s concern is most appreciated. This lord is most grateful"
Now Alexander had not certainly sued magic to make the steel rust-proof.
So how did he do it?
Well, the reason he could make this im was because he had dipped all the steel pegs in molten tin, giving them a coating that would ''rust'' instead of the steel.
This was quite easy to do as tin was widely avable due to it being used to make bronze, which was an alloy of copper and tin,
While the reason why he did not use zinc was because it had not been discovered yet.
Though Alexander knew how to get it.
In fact, it would be quite easy to get, given copper ores were widely avable and they usually had zinc metal mixed in with them as a chemicalpound.
Which could be then separated by simply heating the ore to sufficient a temperature that the zinc would melt and drip out, while the copper with a much greater melting temperature would remain solid.
And at ater period, Alexander would use both zinc and tin to galvanize his steel and protect it from corrosion.
And if all these sounded tooplicated, well one could just paint the steel such that water and air simply could note into contact with them.
So all this went on to show that steel rusting at sea was not really a problem.
While Pasha Farzah had a much simpler idea, "Even if the pegs rust it is no problem. They can be taken to a dock and simply reced."
Which actually impressed Alexander as he had not thought of that.
Guess simpler times produced simpler solutions.
"Yes, yes, that is also certainly possible," Alexander nodded affirmatively at the proposal, as right then he noticed the soldiers had already finished bringing out the next concept ship.
It was another trireme.
Noticing Alexander''s gaze, the two nobles also turned their heads to observe, eager to see how it was so different but after looking at it for a while, Lady Inayah made thement, "It looks pretty ordinary to me. So what is it that makes it special my lord?"
Just from the outside, they could find no discernible outstanding features, and it simply looked just like any other ship out there.
Alexander did not answer the query right away.
Instead, to better show the specialty, or more specifically specialties of this ship, first Alexander invited the two back to the raised tform saying, "It will be much easier to show you, mydy."
And what he meant by that was made instantly apparent when they got back, as in the raised wooden tform now was a small table, with a replica trireme ced on it.
But it was unlike any other trireme they had ever seen before.
Namely because its hull was too big and long, extending quite a bit downward, presumably much below the waterline of any ordinary trireme.!
This replica ship, unlike a normal trireme whose hull would be just a smooth curved surface that would sink into some depth under the water, had an additional hull attached to its regr hull, one which descended much further down and was tapered in its shape.
The exact shape of the ship was kind of like if a boat also had another muchrger hull attached to it at the bottom, one which had that distinct shape of a modern ship''s hull, tapered and sharp, meaning it could cut through the water like a knife.
The shape of this ''double hulled'' replica trireme was so bizarre that Lady Inayah and Pasha Farzah could not help but approach the table with morbid curiosity and then start to carefully scrutinize it.
They did not need to be told that the special ship was based on this very design.
And so, in the meantime that they waited patiently for Alexander''s exnation, they could not help but marvel at his new type of ship, andment on the exquisite artwork.
Which was superb to say the least.
They would easily be able to showcase it in their homes as the centerpiece of their decoration to their guests.
But that was not what this ship was here for.
And so as soon as Alexander got close enough to the small wooden ship, the ingenious exnation behind the shape came forward.
Chapter 500 Naval Dreams (Part-4)
Standing in front of the miniature prototype, Alexander began his exnation, pointing to the small ship on the table with his hands, and saying,
"As you have already guessed, the ship on the water is this very toy ship just bigger."
"And I''m sure you have questions regarding the shape, particrly about the hull."
"So let me exin."
Alexander finally began, stating,
"One the of problems that I see with wooden ships is they are unstable."
"They are constantly swaying which causes many on them to be seasick, and just a slight gust of wind or a bit of light rain makes you feel like the entire thing is going to topple over."
"There is a reason why the saying goes, "If you want to learn how to pray sincerely, go out to the sea."
"Because it feels the ship is constantly in danger of toppling over any moment and drowning its crew."
"And the reason for this has always troubled me."
"Why do ships tend to flip so easily? And how to stop them if possible?"
Alexander posed these questions in a very philosophical tone, before answering his own question in a triumphant tone,
"And I believe I have found the answer.."
"I believe one of the reasons is because wooden ships have most of their weight above the waterline."
"And so when the winds hit, they are easily toppled over."
Here Alexander then chose to give an exnation of how he came to that conclusion, saying,
"And the reason I think so is because I believe ships are like houses."
"Just like then building a tall house, we need to build a deep foundation, so too when building a ship, we should have a part of it underwater."
"I got this idea from Diaogosis who was one day exining to me that the apartment blocks would need a deep foundation to keep from being toppled in strong storms."
"Just like the ships would!"
By the end of his exnation, Alexander had a very confident, jovial tone, as if he had made a great discovery.
But truthfully, Alexander knew this ages ago from his previous life.
Even in middle school, he was taught Archemdies''s principal which taught buoyancy, while during his engineering major, he had a full mechanics course that dealt with just this kind of problem, the problem of stability of solids in fluids and how to solve them using quite extensive mathematical equations.
In particr, it involved calcting the center of mass, and then finding the range of angles up to which that particr shape had stability- i.e., it won''t fall over.
Which in the case a ship was angled perpendicrly as much below the waterline as possible without hampering its operations.
As a side note, those equations could also be used to prove why some shapes like a sphere were always stable and some shapes were not.
And in his recent construction endeavor, Alexander had indeed used those equations to calcte the size, and weight of the additional hull, only keeping just enough of the ship above water to be able to ram other ships and then board them without difficulty, while also making sure the oarsmen did not drown.
As Alexander dered his hypothesis, the two nobles found it quite convincing, as Lady Inayah nodded her head and said, "I see. What you say does make sense lord Alexander. A ship is kind of like a house in this sense."
"I presume that''s why you decided to add this second hull? To be the ship''s foundation?''" Lady Inayah cleverly made the connection.
"Yes," Alexander replied quickly and enthusiastically, borating, "With this, the ships sink much deeper into the water, and so if a strong wind wants to topple them over, they will not only have to flip just the wooden structure but will also have to contend with the huge amount of water the lower hull will push against as it is forced up to the surface"
"Now water is quite heavy to push through, anyone who has done any kind of swimming will certainly know how tiring that activity that.
"And so this ordinary-looking trireme will likely be able to transverse through most rough seas except perhaps the harshest one, and through most storms expect being impeded only through really bad weather, like a hurricane or typhoon."
Although untested, Alexander felt confident to make that im.
And it seemed to have a particrly strong effect on Lady Inayah, who cried out in ecstasy,
"Great! Great! With this I can then have my ships run through much more dangerous naval routes and have them operate all seasons."
"Haha, my trade will soon triple!"
"Hehehe, today is possibly one of the best days of my life," I think you should take a look at
She had a rapturous face that Alexander had only seen on that memorable day back in Adhan, and he could easily tell just how drunk with pleasure the woman was.
But if one thought about it, this was actually a normal reaction.
Rough seas were the bane of every naval merchant, and so if Alexander could build a ship that was much safer with the same amount of cargo capacity, which likely was given the size of the ship Alx was showing, then any merchant would be willing to pay through the nose to obtain it.
So it was little wonder that Lady Inayah was so happy.
While Pasha Farzah was a little moreposed and skeptical, as he traced his index on the second hull and asked, "What is this hull made of? It cannot be made of wood because it is not easy to shape wood like this."
"And more importantly such a wooden structure cannot hold itself together as the ship sways and therge amount of seawater hits it. It will break too easily."
It appeared the experienced man had a lot of experience with a lot of things.
Alexander was certainly impressed by this disy of deep knowledge and observation here.
This was not an easy thing to notice and it again reminded him that these people might be backward, but not stupid.
"Yes, you are right. Wood can''t do it. So it''s made from a mixture of cement, stone, and wood. Just like a house." Alexander frankly replied.
Yes, the second hull was made of solid concrete.
The way it was constructed was that at first a few holes were cut into the first hull of the trireme, through which massive wooden beams were inserted and then those beams were used as the skeletal backbone to attach and expand the framework, firmly securing and reinforcing the first hull with the to be built second hull, before finally pouring in concrete and letting it solidify to form the secondary hull.
This means the second hull was as much as part of the first hull, as the first hull was the second hull''s.
As Alexander said this he also thought back on the challenges faced during the construction of this revolutionary ship as it had been aborious one, and one that needed many tries.
With Alexander even asking Diaogosis to stop his harbor construction for some days toe and see oversee its production.
And even then it took quite a few tries and many good triremes ruined just to get a presentable prototype.
And after all that, still, though the ship that Alexander was showing could certainly float, but it also had massive teething issues, mostly with its riggings and crew quarters.
But they were nothing unsolvable and could be fixed slowly over time.
But although those problems might be small, Alexander''s immediate problem was not, as with the revtion of the use of cement as an important ingredient in the ship making, Lady Inayah turned to make the same request she had made earlier, saying,
"My lord, I have already asked for it, but I will say it again."
"When will you sell us the cement-making technique."
"And if you are unwilling to do that, then at least sell us the product. "
"Don''t deny us both of it!"
She sounded even a bit irritated at this point.
Which was understandable given how much she wanted those ships.
And this put Alexander in a dilemma.
There was no way he would reveal this concrete recipe to anyone as the ability to rapidly build houses and more importantly, forts using it was too great.
He also could not sell any excess even to his closest allies because he was already using every single ounce of the 250 tons of cement produced daily.
He had no spare capacity and he was also not able to scale up production due to various factors such as waterwheel limitations.
But downright rejecting Lady Inayah was also not an option.
She was a valuable ally and a rich client.
And so Alexander stalled, saying, "Okay, okay, we will give the technique. But please wait till the end of this year. We currently have some issues but will give it to you by then."
Now, it was not like Alexander did not have sort of a backup n for this kind of eventuality.
As a matter of fact, he did, and it involved selling fake recipes for the cement, or more urately the Roman concrete recipe instead of the Pornd cement one.
And since the Roman concrete needed volcanic ash, which was hard to get, Alexander was sure it would not cause too much problem.
While with Alexander''s promise, Lady Inayah seemed to calm down, because the new year was less than six months away and she could at least wait that long.
Chapter 501 Naval Dreams (Part-5)
Lady Inayah did try to ask Alexander why he needed the six months, and what was the issue, but he simply avoid it and said there was an issue but he would be able to soon solve it.
And the conversation ended there.
Between Lady Inayah and Alexander, that was.
While Pasha Farzah was far more interested in knowing the capabilities of this new ship than building it.
Or maybe one might say its limitations as the longer he looked at the replica, the more skeptical he became of its viability.
And so he expressed such doubts as such, saying in a deep voice, "Hmmm, this ship is very good in design. But I do have concerns," as then turned to ask Alexander, "But I believe there will be a demonstration?
"So let''s see how it performs before I speak them out aloud. I could be wrong."
The aged man said this with an unusually grave voice and a deep wrinkle on his forehead as if something great was troubling him.
''I really hope I''m wrong about this,'' He said to himself.
While Alexander for his part could not think of anything wrong with the trireme and felt this was the superweapon that would enable him to dominate the seas not only around Zanzan, but the entire Middus sea which all these superpowers shared a coastline with.
And to aplish this he had even added to this design that he did not tell the others.
For instance, in addition to the steel pegs, he also used cement as a binding agent between the vertically stacked wooden nks, further strengthening them, and then reced the bronze ram with hardened steel.
All this meant that his ship was sturdier than any other ship, hit harder than any of them, and could not be also at sea unlike most of them.
Needless to say, Alexander was thus very proud of his creation and so was eager to prove the aged man wrong, thinking this ancient man did not know what he was talking about.
Thus, to showcase the prowess of his ''improved ship'', Alexander had the steel pegged trireme whose one side had been destroyed again dragged out to sea, and its good side was made to face this ''improved ship''.
The intention was to use the double-hulled ship to ram the poor half-destroyed ship again and attempt to split it in two in just a single strike, thus showing the sheer difference in magnitudes of power between a regr trireme and this improved version.
While to an outside onlooker, the whole experiment looked like that Alexander just really disliked the poor steep pegged trireme.
But as a bit of time went by, it became apparent that for the little new guy, it would appear fortunately luck was on its side.
Because as soon the ''improved ship'' was told to row out to attack the trireme, Alexander immediately noticed the problem that Pasha Farzah might have foreseen.
He noticed that this ''super ship'' could barely move!
From the shore, he could clearly see the close to two hundred oarsmen put all they had into rowing the oars as fast as they could, but still could only get the ship to advance at a sluggish, sleepy pace, almost like it was moving through goo.
It seemed that this bid to make the ship superstable Alexander had made the trireme too heavy!
In fact, it weighed almost ten times as a regr trireme, but the number of oarsmen was the same as a regr trireme.
Meaning the ship could only move at 1-2 knots.
Ramming at such speeds would be harmless to most enemy ships, that is if they ever manage to get hit in the first.
Because if you get hit by something moving at such speeds, you got no one else to me but yourself.
"I knew it." Pasha Farzah immediately let out a sigh of regret after seeing this, saying, "Not only is the ship too heavy, its hull is too deep. So the enemy is able to retreat to shallower waters, it won''t be able to pursue them in fear of getting stuck in the sand or coral."
"Worse, it might not even work as a cargo ship because it won''t be able to port at most harbors due to that long hull."
Pasha Farzah seemed to be raining freezing cold water on Alexander''s parade.
And the fact that these were all mostly true made it feel even colder as Alexander felt he was hit in the guts with it.
Pasha Farzah was right on all fronts.
Most of the harbors of this time were quite shallow and might not be able to de the lengthy bottom hull, while if Alexander send these to battles, the enemy would simply swerve to the sides and hit them on the nks, and since these ships would not be able to row away, the enemy could simply board them to neutralize the soldiers.
It appeared that Alexander had made a magnificent but ultimately not very good ship.
"Bu..but could not you make the ships bigger? To make them carry oarsmen. Or use more sails?" While Lady Inayah, who was very much disheartened by Pasha Farzah''s analysis, quickly gave these proposals, hoping to save this lovely ship that had the potential to earn her so much money.
Now on the surface, her suggestion seems to make sense.
There was also the historical precedent in Alexander''s past life where ships much bigger and much heavier, weighing as much as 1,500 tons were propelled using sails and the power of the wind.I think you should take a look at
But Alexander could only shake his head ruefully at this, indicating that it would not be possible, making Lady Inayah''s heart almost bleed.
And there were several reasons why it would not work for him in this particr circumstance.
One was that making the ship bigger would also make it heavier.
So they would be back to square one.
And as for building bigger and better sails and rigging, it was possible.
But it would not help in this situation.
The reason being how naval battles were fought in this time and age.
Which was by ramming.
This meant ships would ram other ships, and if they got lucky they would immobilize the opponent in the first strike thus making the enemy unable to participate in the fight, following which the attacker would back up their ship and go ram another ship.
Or if they were not that lucky, they would board the rammed ship and kill all its upants, before backing up to continue the fight elsewhere.
So as it could be seen, the ability to back up one''s ship was critical in naval battles of this time.
Something that was not really possible using sails.
Which was not a problem for ships in the 16th century as they used cannons to hit ships hundreds of meters.
But it was a problem for Alexander who had no such weapon.
And he also did not know the recipe for gunpowder to make those weapons.
So it appeared that his dream of dominating the ships during an invincible fleet of concrete ships would have to sleep for a while longer.
Now to be fair it was not all doom and gloom for Alexander.
Not as much as Pasha Farzah was making it out to be anyway.
Because Alexander could at least think of a rebuttal about the harbor problem.
So turning to face Pasha Farzah, he first said with a smile, "Thank you for your insight my lord. This is exactly why I wanted your esteemed self to view these ships and give your opinion. It seems like this concept ship was a bit of a failure haha," he lightly chuckled.
But then imed, "But I also believe you are incorrect about it being a bad cargo ship because it cannot ess most harbors."
"For you see, this trireme might look like the height of an ordinary trireme, but actually it is a lot taller. It''s just that a lot of it is underwater as the concrete hull also drags a lot of the boat into the water."
"And so its cargo space is a lot more than it appears."
As soon as Alexander imed this, a small fire was lit in Lady Inayah''s eyes, who had been until now listening to the men speak a bit listlessly as she really did not care.
But now, given where she thought Alexander was going, she was suddenly very interested, for she could easily guess what Axx was about to say.
Which was, "So I believe that given the option to carry more cargo at one time and much more safely, most ports will be willing to expand their port to amodate us."
"Because it will make them richer!"
"Yes! Yes!" The moment Alexander finished, Lady Inayah let out a burst of joyous shouts, her eyes dting in glee.
What Alexander said made perfect sense to her, and she believed that even if this ship could not revolutionize warfare, it would certainly be able to revolutionize trade.
"Hmmmm, perhaps. How much can it carry?" Pasha Farzah asked tracing his chin, still a bit skeptical.
The amount of increased cargo would determine the ship''s usefulness.
And he was not disappointed in this, as Alexander gave quite favorable numbers.
"This one is just a prototype. But if built properly, at least a few thousand tonnes¡around 5 to 8 tons."
This was massive, as regr cargo ships of this time only could carry 1,000 tons, and hence Alexander''s new ship found its life elsewhere.
Chapter 502 Naval Dreams (Part-6)
"So, where is the next ship?" As the fate of the second ship was decided, Pasha Farzah was eager to see the next one.
But only got a nervous chuckle from Alexander.
This was because the third one had been a fully concrete tub boat, and Alexander had initially wanted to show it off as a miniature version of what his ships would ultimately look like.
But since even the cement and wood ship was too heavy to maneuver quickly, he felt that that was not even worth showcasing.
"I''ve been told that ship has had some problems. So maybe next time," Alexander made up theme excuse, and then quickly diverted the topic.
"Now, as for the reason why I wanted to show you these ships."
"What I need the most are some experienced shipwrights to help with the construction of the ships. And some good sailors to man them."
Zanzan had neither of these and so Alexander hoped to turn to them to procure some.
And was instantly replied back by Lady Inayah.
"Okay. I will lend you a thousand workers and sailors." The nobledy did not even blink an eye as she readily agreed to this massive amount.
The reason for which was revealed in the immediate question that followed, "So how fast can you make these ships?"
''These ships'' naturally referred to therge cargo ships and it seemed that Lady Inayah could not wait to get her hands on them.
"That¡.this is a brand new type of ship. So I can let you know only once the shipwrights get a look and give me a timeline." Alexander gave the reasonable answer, before slyly adding,
"Also I''m a bit short on workers. So the more workers I have ...¡" Alexander did not need to spill it out as Lady Inayah immediately shed her palms and readily said,
"I will get you another thousand more. Will that be enough?"
It appeared the merchantdy was really eager for her new ships.
"Hahaha, yes, yes, much obliged." Alexander heartily chuckled as having got these extra hands.
The regr time for building a trireme was 6000 man-days, and so with so many workers, Alexander was confident in being able to produce these ships quite quickly, provided his cement supply could keep up.
While Alexander and Lady Inayah celebrated the creation of their new ships, Pasha Farzah, who was listening in from the sides, seemed to be in a far more pessimistic, or one should say realistic mood.
"Brat, how are you gonna field a navy? You don''t have the men or the expertise."
"That¡.for now, I want to just protect my shorelines. And more specifically my capital."
"As for the trade routes, I will leave the merchants to defend them themselves."
Alexander was currently too weak to do both and hence thepromise.
Hearing the immediate task Alexander wanted his navy to do, Pasha Farzah ruminated for a while and then suddenly proposed, "Hmm¡if your job is to just defend, then perhaps even these new ships can be useful."
This was aplete u-turn on what he had said just a while ago, and sensing the two curious gazes, the old man quickly exined,
"What I mean to say is that you can park these heavier, better-armored ships near the shore and let the enemy ram you."
"And then, if you can make the shipsrge enough and you can fit a lot of soldiers in there, then even if the enemy boards you, your outnumbering soldiers can kill them."
This seemed like a viable tactic, and though the ws in it were obvious- the most ring one being that it was up to the enemy to decide whether they would engage or not, leaving Alexander with no initiative, there were still merits to the n.
"Yes, that might work. But we can discuss that in length in theing days," So he said he would talk more about itter.
And then quickly added, "As the men¡well I was hoping you would lend me some like Lady Inayah here."
Alexander had noticed Pasha Farzah was yet to offer him any assistance.
But here, the man, in apletely opposite fashion to Lady Inayah, instantly rejected him,
"Don''te to me looking to borrow men."
"I never bothered to have a navy because half my ports freeze during winter and the other half have some half have kind of natural disasters happening to them all the time of the year."
"So the only one with any kind of navy experience in Adhania is Inayah''s family and Djose."
The reality was that Pasha Farzah''s own fiefdom traded with ships only in the summer months from March to September, while his entire province only had a few ports at the southern edge of his province at were operational all year around and those were all in the territory of his retainers.
So the old man never bothered to develop a navy beyond a few patrol boats which he had converted fromrge fishing trawlers and relied mostly on wall cities to defend against naval invasions while using internalnd trading routes to supply those cities in case of a blockade.
Thus though the old man had some theoretical knowledge about the navy based on the tactics of navalbat he read in books, but hecked any realbat experience. I think you should take a look at
Neither did he have any experienced personnel to share with Alexander.
This revtion was quite a surprise for Alexander who had assumed very much otherwise given the man traded a lot with Thesos, who in general were a sea-faring ethnicity, and plus when he had first met the man in Adhan, he had also arrived via ship to first Agnirat and then marched to the capital.
So Alexander thought he possed arge navy to protect his trade routes.
But it seemed that those were really all Lady Inayah''s ships.
Hearing this dismal condition of Pasha Farzah''s navy, from the side, Lady Inayah could not help butment its sorry state, "Lord Farxah, I have repeatedly urged you to build a navy. But all you do is leach of mine."
"If you had led by example then Adhania would have had a strong army and navy."
But was instantly rebuked by the old man by this, "Bah! What do I look like? Made of money?"
"The army already costs me an arm and a leg. With a navy, I will be a pauper."
Navies naturally cost a lot of money.
Ships needed to be built which required expensive materials and expert craftsmen, sails had to be woven, ropes manufactured, and tons of bronze bought for the ram.
These then had to be regrly maintained as wooden ships rotted and worms bore into them, sails tore and had to be patched, and ropes reced.
Then there were the sailors needed to man them, who all had to be paid quite a higher price than the peasant soldiers, andstly were the regr drills needed to keep their skills sharp.
All these cost a lot of money.
And as Adhania was a country with a massivendmass, meaning all nobles had to keep an army to protect their fiefdom, there was simply no coin left in the purse to also field a navy for most of them.
But as Lady Inayah would point out, this apparently was not a problem for Pasha Farzah.
"*Sigh*, your treasury is overflowing with so much gold that you had to build a second one. Why not build a navy with it instead?" She pointed incisively.
As a person with the spirit of a merchant, Lady Inayah was one of the rare nobles who would rather always invest her earnings than store them inside her treasury to gather dust, something Alexander would certainly appreciate.
But the old-fashioned man simply brushed this suggestion off.
"Hah! Why bother? I can ship all my goods bynd if I want to. So building a navy now will be just like dumping gold into the ocean at this point."
And then he spread out his palms and in a resigned tone to point out,
"And besides, we are already so behind the other powers at shipbuilding by this point that it will take us decades to catch up."
"So it''s better to concentrate on our army instead."
"That is our strong point and we should stick to it."
"Rather than wasting money on things we aren''t."
"Because there are some things some nations are naturally good at, such as Cantagena is good at sailing and we are good at cavalry."
Pasha Farzah was the epitome of the conservative noble, who felt it was always best to y it safe.
While Lady Inayah hearing this droning talk she had heard a million times before vented,
"Last time, I saw an eight-row trireme from Exs. The captain of the ship called it a octreme."
"And even said Cantagena was already using a ten-row trireme called decareme."
"And here were are using a three-row trireme."
"Can you really allow our great country Adhania to fall so behind?"
Lady Inayah pleaded.
But Pasha Farzah only reiterated his previous point, "Yes, they made have advancement in ships."
"And here we have made advancement in the cavalry. The stirrups Alexander invented will revolutionize cavalry warfare"
"Like I said, some nations are better at some things than others."
It seemed the old man was adamant here, thinking that in winning the civil war, the role of a strong navy was minimal
So it seemed for now Alexander had only Lady Inayah to help with his navy.
Chapter 503 Adhanias Navy
The tour of the naval base came to an end with the showcase of the second new ship.
And as for convincing Pasha Farzah to join in the effort, it proved to be ultimately unsessful.
Even when Lady Inayah pointed out in an incredulous tone, "But with Alexander''s new ships we can catch up to the other powers and be invisible both atnd and sea. Won''t you join us even then?"
The old man still did not want tomit resources to this endeavor, only saying, "To win the civil war, we need a strong army. That is our most important immediate need and we should focus on that."
"Having a navy can wait."
Lady Inayah had heard this type of myopic thinking for most of her life, and the fact that the most powerful man in Adhania refused to invest in a navy even when such ring evidence had been presented to him hurt her.
But this type of mindset had been developed for generations and it was hard for any noble to change, with Djose and her family being the only two exceptions.
And the source of this bitterness came from years of frustration, as she was really one of the few voices in Adhania''s court who really gave a damn about the navy.
But had managed to do actually nothing.
This was because most of the nobles were far more concerned with thend army, with this pragmatic decisioning about due to three main reasons.
One was due to geography as Adhania was a huge country with massive andmass of around 4 million sq km but with only 4,000 km of coastline.
So most noble fiefdoms werendlocked and most battles were fought onnd with the maximum use of the water element being using river boats to transport troops.
As a side note, this dead focus onnd warfare was also one of the reasons behind the development of Adhania''s famed cavalry, and also why Agapios couldnd so many troops uncontested and march straight to the capital.
And this focus onnd army nicely led to the second reason- money orck thereof.''
Because after financing the army, there was usually no money to finance also the navy.
And this was not a problem unique to Adhania as well, as Cantagena had the opposite problem, possessing a strong navy, but a weak army.
And this was something that was seen in Alexander''s previous life as well.
For example. one of the reasons why the Engling were so sessful in colonization, much more so than the French was because France also had to maintain argend army, meaning they could notpete with both the Royal Navy on the sea and wrestle away the good parts of the world and also take on other European powers onnd.
And since having arge army was paramount to protecting its borders, the French were forced to husband its resources towards that and so could not dedicate everything to maintaining a navy as the ind nation could.
And thus they lost a series of critical battles, the most notable being the Battle of Trafalgar, which enabled the Royal Navy to rule the seas unhindered for almost a century and a half.
While thest reason for Adahnia''sck of a proper navy, and in Lady Inayah''s opinion the most important one was because it was an institutional policy.
Generations of Adhanian kings had discouraged trade, iming that Adhaniacked nothing and that it was a country fully self-sufficient with all the resources it could ever need- fertilend, abundant food, and rich mineral deposits.
The kings had done it both because they perceived themselves as racially superior and so deemed trade with those lesser than them as demeaning, and also because restricting trade gave them more control over their domain.
Which was also why they even viewed trade with other powers as a scheme by foreign powers to try and suck Adhania''s resources for themselves.
Thus, with all thesebined, with due to ack of want among the people, ack of funding, and through imperial pressure from above, the people of Adhania saw no need to take risky voyages out to sea and trade with or conquer othernds.
And so most of the nobles remained blind to the benefits of owning a strong navy.
This was also another reason why the drought was so bad because the nobles were not either allowed to or felt their ego hurt to buy food in the international market.
And so they rather let their people starve rather than import food and damage their grandiose image.
It also had not helped that Adhania had mostly burnt all bridges with both the trading superpowers Cantagena and Sybarsis over various disputes, mainly unterally killing all their merchants who step foot on Adhania, and so they were in fact not even willing to trade with Adhania anyway.
''*Sigh*, Adhania is too isted from the rest of the world. I have again and again urged His Majesty to change policies¡.but it has fallen on deaf years.''
Lady Inayah would regrly and spookily sigh this, as she med it on the sessive policies of all the previous generation of kings, thest one being the one she addressed as ''His Majesty'', who was Amenheraft''s father, and who most of you will remember had Lady Inayah as one of his mistresses, and also the man she had helped poison with the help of Pasha Farzah and the Queen Mother.I think you should take a look at
And afterward, not content with balming just deceased men, she would also balme the blockheads at the court for being myopic.
''They see having a navy as costing too much. But these idiots don''t understand that the trade they can do using the navy will more than makeup for it.'' She wouldment.
But not was all doom and gloom for our prettydy.
For it seemed the gods were finally smiling upon her.
As due to the machinations of fate, circumstances had arranged themselves as such that finally Adhania was slightly opening itself up to the outside, courtesy of Alexander who, like her was very much keen on trade, and had kind of forced Ptolomy to loosen these demands, with the king being too weak to enforce his will.
So with this silver lining the trio returned home, and over the following days, Lady Inayah ryed her experience to the Queen Mother, hoping to get some royal support.
And it worked, as a few dayster, the shrewd redhead would manage to cajole the aged Pasha to contribute a thousand men to Alexander''s docks, showing that the imperial woman had quite the silver tongue.
And as such, the following days for Alexander seemed to be going quite well, with him mostly doing the same clerical work and letting his subordinates oversee the rapid improvement of his fiefdom.
While in a city, long, long away, around the end of July, unbeknownst to him and even beyond his wildest considerations, his name was being uttered in the hallowed halls of a great,vish pce, whose ceilings seemed to touch the skies, and its marbled walls glistened under the golden sunlight of noon.
And in that grand pce, in the presence of a great number of nobles, two men were having a discussion.
"Your Majesty, this Alxx¡he is the one who stole yournd from you. Zanzan is rightfully Tibias''s" A splendidly dressed corpulent man, whose silky robes seemed to be on the verge of bursting from straining against his body had a toady smile as he slightly lowered his head and said this.
While the man whom he said this to, a man dressed in military garb with very handsome features, sitting on a resplendent throne opposite the man and being fanned by two gorgeous topless women, put his hand on the chin and nodded with a grave voice,
"Hmm, I do agree with what you said, Lord Kaiser. Zanzan will belong to Tibias. And one day the whole of Adhania will be conquered by Tibias."
The king''s words were overflowing with dreams and ambition as he said so.
But then he quickly returned to reality,
"But we have just fought a bloody war in Amenherfat for three years. And are in no position to go to war again so soon." He said shaking his head while adding,
"And we have also managed to achieve our initial goals- Toppling Amnehraft"
"And I heard this Alxx yed a pivotal road in that. Amenheraft would have likely won if not for him. So in that sense, this Alxx and we should be allies."
"I even heard he is a fellow Cantagenan."
"So it is difficult for me to agree with your proposal to attack Zanzan this winter."
But though the king''s words seem to indicate a rejection, this tone did not seem too reluctant.
It appeared that the man was fishing for more benefits from this dignitary from afar.
And sensing this, the rotund man let out a wheezyugh,
"Haha, Your Majesty please call me Clive. Even ''Little Clive'' if you want."
And then said his main piece
"It seems Your Majesty is well informed about Zanzan."
''Yes, this Alxx indeed a Thesian. But please allow me to point out that he has betrayed his blood by bing a dog for the Adhanians."
"He is no kin of you, great king."
"And as for Tibias''s hardship inunching a winter offensive, our Kaiser family believes it can lend a strong, strong lending hand¡.if Your Majesty so wishes!"
Chapter 504 Fateful Talks
As it could be easily guessed, this conversation was happening between the Kaiser family of Sybarsis and the King of Tibias, Perseus.
And why this was happening was also pretty apparent.
With the Kaiser family''s plot foiled for now in Galiosis, they quickly pinpointed one of its main reason as being Alxx''s help at the critical moment.
And so they wanted him gone, both as revenge and also because they wanted to cut off this ally of the Margraves.
Hence, the meeting with Adhania''s natural enemy Tibias with the promise of significant aid in return for attacking him this winter.
And hearing this dignitary from the rich family allude to ''significant'' help, everyone in the court felt quite eager.
And even the king leaned a bit forward, and very interestedly asked,
"Oh! How much is the Kaiser family willing to gi¡I meant invest?"
The specific word choice very easily gave away the king''s mood and detecting this, Clive first paused and produced a confident smile, drawing out the tension, before finallyying out his offer, "To help Tibias''s economy, we are willing to offer several things."
"First we are willing to make a one-time, in full deposit of 75 palkis¡just so that Tibias can get itself going."
The moment Clive said the amount, as expected by the rotund man, it made everyone in the crowd draw a cold breath of air and produce an audible *whoah*.
And this was the exact reaction the envoy was hoping for.
And the reason for this could be understood if one knew the value of 75 palkis, which was 2.5 tons of gold, or 125 million ropals.
This was an enormous amount of money even for Adhan, much less Tibias, which was much poorer than her neighbor.
And once the court calmed down, the dignitary furthermore promised, "In addition to this we are also willing to lend some of our famed war elephants to aid in the battle."
"Ships to help with the logistics."
"Andstly a promise that Tibias will get to keep all thend it upies."
All these aids were very lucrative offers, especially the promise of the elephants, which were considered the secret weapons of the Kaiser family and not easily given.
It appeared that the Kaiser family was really willing to go all to try and topple Alxx.
While hearing all these promises, the king put on a thoughtful face.
Nobody in this world was running a charity and ever give free money.
So he first wanted to find Sybarsis''s angle on all of this.
"Why does your family want to attack Zanzan? I don''t recall you having any big grudges with them."
"And why do you need us?" He posed.
"Haha, well to answer Your Majesty''s second question first, Zanzan and we are not exactly close. And so the logistical challenges it poses is quiterge." Clive gave a reasonable answer
And it was true to a certain point.
Just shipping the supplies to those soldiers at suchrge distances would take nearly a month.
But the much bigger reason was that they had no fleet to speak of currently, and by the time they had built up one, who knows how things will have turned out.
It was certainly possible that by that point the Margraves would have also built up their own navy and challenged the Kaiser Family at sea.
So it was deemed much more viable to use the local forces to target Alexander.
Having answered one of the king''s questions, Clive addressed the other, "And as for why we want to attack Zanzan¡..well Adhania has been weakened by its recent drought and civil war."
"So we feel it is the best time to strike and force it to open trade with us."
Here Clive tantly lied, because he did not feel it was necessary to inform the king of a small country about their internal squabbles.
While the king of Tibias, Perceus, hearing of Clive''s reason gave himself some time to think, as his court advisors stepped up to offer advice to their liege, both in favor and against the war.
Those against naturally informed the king of the high casualties they had sustained in thest three years, and how any moreck of strong-bodied men would gravely affect their ability to grow food.
While the war faction pointed to the apparent weakness of Zanzan and reassured him that Sybarsis would have their back.
And as was expected, thetter faction won.
Because 125 million ropals was too big to pass away.
Even if the army ate up half of it, there would still be enough left over for the nobles and the kings to feastvishly.
So the king had his mind made up.
Almost.I think you should take a look at
For he had onest inquiry.
"Lord Clive, the walls of Zanzan are strong and robust. Breaking them is out of the question. And climbing over them is very difficult."
"So how do you propose we win this siege?"
"And win quickly. Because I do not want Zanzan to call for help."
For the nobles present at court, this had been always a very tough question.
Breaching walls was always very difficult, which had been the bane that prevented them from conquering Zanzan City.
Though in fairness it was also a kind of boon as Adhania too had not been able to breach their fort situated at the mouth of the Cisran hills, thus resulting in the stalemate.
And so all the nobles present thought this messenger from afar would simply suggest the usual approaches, masseddder charges,bined with siege towers.
With all the usual problems that came with it- for the former, it was huge casualties and a low rate of sess, while thetter needed a lot of time to build and set up.
That ran opposite of what Perseus wanted, a quick siege.
Thus imagine their surprise when Clive promised this, "Haha, rest assured Your Majesty. My family has built a weapon capable of firing a 20 kg stone 150 meters away. Using it, even the famed walls of Adhan will turn to rubble!"
Clive here was naturally describing a catapult, or a torsion catapult to be exact.
As he said so, the news of the existence of such a weapon naturally a great deal ofmotion among the nobles present, and even the king started to interrogate the man on the matter.
"Really! How! How can such a weapon exist?" He asked.
But Clive declined to furtherment on the matter, only saying, "If Your Majesty is willing to go to war, we are willing to lend you 10 such weapons. You can find out how they work then."
The confidence with which the portly man said left little doubt in Perceus''s mind that this weapon was really real and could really do what the man was saying.
Hence he began to seriously consider war with Zanzan just after one year of respite.
''I wonder how the men will react?'' He said to himself, though he was not overly worried about that since with the 125 million ropals in cash, he would be able to soothe any discontentment away.
Thus Perseus dered, "Thank you for your offer, mister dignitary. We will think about it and give you an answer soon."
This ambivalent answer might have sounded strange to some, given all the talk about the war, but Perseus said this because he had sent an ambassador to Zanzan with certain demands and he was still waiting for the man to return.
But he really held no hope that his envoy woulde back with anything useful,rgely because the demands he sent were unlikely to be epted by Alexander, or for that matter anyone.
In fact, he had just sent the man to scout Zanzan and ess its fighting potential, and figure out its defenses,
So, though the king said the decision about the war was like it was an issue still up for debate, it was in fact really a done deal, and he just wanted to hear that man''s thoughts on the matter.
"Ahh, excellent! Then I shall await the good news," Clive sensing the meeting was over, gave a bow and asked to be excused.
But before he could leave Perseus had onest question.
"Wait! You said we would get to keep thend. What about the loot?"
Here the military king was asking about the booty they would get when they sacked Zanzan.
"Ah yes, I almost forgot," Clive also let a small exmation at this question, as then t out said,
"We would like a share of the booty. Let''s say 80%."
"......." Perseus remind silent for a while.
It seemed that the Kaiser Family nned to recoup all their investment through that.
And he had really no problem with that.
And so straightforwardly nodded and said, "Hmmm, okay, we cane to an agreement around that value."
And Clive remembering onest question inquires," Ahh, Yor Majesty, how many men are you able to field? It must berge enough."
"About 30,000 to 40,000. Rest assured." Was the instant, very confident answer.
Which seemed to please Clive as he determined to be adequate, and thus with a smile and one bow, the fateful meeting came to an end.
And about a weekter, Percesus''s envoy, who was also his best friend and asional lover Leosydas arrived, bearing the fruits of his expedition.
It would be his words that determined whether Zanzan would have another war in just three months.
One which it had no idea wasing.
Chapter 505 Alexanders Transaction
Alexander waspletely and blissfully unaware of the plot against him.
Instead, he was more busy haggling over the price of goods he was set to sell Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah.
The time of departure for the two was nearing and Alexander had presented the final bill to each of the two nobles.
The bill read:
2,000 tons of civilian iron- 100 million ropals.
500 tons of military-grade steel -100 million.
One crossbow and instant bow sample with ammunition- 10 million.
500 tons of white sugar - 50 million.
10,000 tons of brown sugar -100 million.
10,000 tons of salt - 10 million.
sswares of various kinds - 20 million.
Soap, paper, and lingerie for - 10 million.
All of this was to be sold to the two over theing year.
And seeing the huge numbers listed, Lady Inayah could not help but let a wry smile, as she reminisced about how she clearly felt very smug initially whennding her feet in Zanzan with the 300 million ropals budget her father had given her to purchase goods from here, and even thought the man was being way too generous and joking that her aging father might be going senile.
But after the initial meetings with Alexander, she was astounded to find that the transaction would indeed need 300 million ropals, and when she sat down to renegotiate the price to somehow recover her pride, she all of a sudden found the price tag had not only decreased, but some increased to 400 million.
But who could me her?
Seeing all the new blingy things, she just could not help adding more stuff.
It was like she was in a mall full of exotic things.
But this unrestricted shopping spree had the inevitable consequence of maxing out her ''credit card'' and so, as Lady Inayah sat next to Pasha Farzah, she had the desperate intention to haggle with the ''shopkeeper'' and bring the price down, though asking any shopkeeper to give a 25% was a tall order for anyone.
While in the case of Alexander, he had his own list of demands, which he presented to both the nobles.
And in that, he wanted all the usual stuff:-
Horses and other draft animals to be used as beasts of burden, both for transporting materials in his industries and also to plow the fields as Alexander had ns to massively increase the amount of cultivatednds soon.
ves of various quality- The strong but untrained ones would be sent to work the fields and mines, or in any number of his industries, the most notable being the sugar-making firm that was scheduled to increase its output not just 10-fold, but around 400 times.
This enormous increase came about as previously Alexander had nted only 40 hectares of thend around his manor house with beetroots, whereas now he had done over 15,000 (fifteen thousand) hectares of it.
So Alexander was in need of tens of thousands of men just for that.
Then there were specialized ves, which were mostly artisans such as carpenters, cksmiths, weavers, etc.
No economy could ever have too many of them.
And thest two kinds of ves were the most desirable types of ves there were.
One were educated ves that were used as bookkeepers and ountants, and even as teachers for the children of affluent folks and nobles.
While the second one was as you would have guessed were beautiful women.
Alexander mainly wanted these to give as gifts to his retainers and soldiers in the future for great aplishments.
Afterward, Alexander wanted to buy grains, meat, and other produce, all in enormous quantities to stock up in case of emergencies because he was not yet self-sufficient in that and as seeds to increase this cultivated farnd.
Andstly he wanted a few thousand educated men toe to Zanzan to work as clerks.
"We have too much of a shortage of low-level administrations in the city." He said as he made the demand, the reason being he had killed or exiled almost the entire educated group of the city, i.e- the priests and nobles.
And though that was undoubtedly the right move, it also made administrating the city very hard for Alexander while also making many policies such as the ve management ns he had drawn up some time ago unable to be implemented.
Hence the ask.
And fortunately for him, it was soon granted.
Pasha Farzah had no problem with this demand, as he had intended to send some educated men anyway, in order to be priests and clerics of Gaia''s faith and then export the religion to his own territory as per the secret deal struck in Adhan.
And so with Alexander''s request, it would be the perfect cover story.
He even expressed an interest to send some men to learn about the new medical technique being practiced in Zanzan.
Thus a deal where a few thousand men would work under Alexander for six years was quickly reached.I think you should take a look at
While seeing this Lady Inayah too made simr offers, letting Alexander atst rest easy knowing he would soon be having apetent group of personnel to do all the mundane clerical work.
But then the group ran into a problem.
Because the number of ves, animals, and particrly grain that Alexander wanted was too much.
"Brat! I bought off Matrak''s and Adhan''s entire ve market just to buy those 25,000 men. I haven''t got any more." The old man had a bit of a frustrated tone to his voice as he felt Alexander was being too greedy.
And he was kind of right on this, as the whole of Adhania''s annual demand for ves was around 100,000 to 150,000 on average.
Whereas Alexander alone, who had just eaten 25,000 was asking for another 25,000 from each of them, for a total of 50,000 men.
This would not have been possible even in normal times, never mind in this situation where the nine other provinces did not really want to trade with the other three.
So this was an appetite that could not be fulfilled unless there was a massive war with the bordering barbarians that resulted in an enormous number of prisoners of war.
And simr problems were experienced with the number of animals Alexander wanted, which were in the tens of thousands from each of them, and in the amount of grain, he asked for, which was in the hundreds of thousands of tons.
The two nobles would not be able to fulfill these requests even within a few years as they simply did not produce that much.
And as for buying it on the international market, that was also not possible because of the aforementioned trade policies, which left Adhania with few channels to buy these items from, none of whom could deliver such quantities.
But it was also not really Alexander''s fault here was demeaning so much.
800 million ropals was a lot of money, and hence the quantity.
So the two sides seemed to be stuck.
With Lady Inayah trying to get Alexander to reduce his prices by repeatedly highlighting the problems they were currently facing,
"You know just as well as we do that we have just recovered from a drought. Taxes are non-existent."
"And all our gold reserves were stolen¡taken¡distributed by you,"
"So we simply do not have any money."
"As for the grains¡ again, because of the drought we have no stock, and most of the harvested crops this year will be needed to be rented to increase our production."
"The drought might be over, but we will need at least 5 years to return to pre-drought levels of grain production."
"Just because we have lost that many men andck so much grain seed." This was said with a long sigh, and here Lady Inayah let Alexander know of the real condition Adhania was in.
Before she finished by saying,
"And I''m afraid it is the same excuse for the animals¡. because of the drought arge portion of our animals have either died or been eaten as sustenance. And we need the remaining ones to farm."
"So we are sorry but paying 400 million is not possible for us."
The list of problems stated by the maturedy said were all true.
And Pasha Farzah also sang the same tune as the nobledy.
"That''s right brat. I gave everything I had to you just now. All my grain reserves and ves."
"Because I knew how bad a situation you were getting into."
"And thank goodness you managed to make lemonades out of lemons."
Here the old man sounded quite happy, before dering,
"But I won''t be much help for the next few years."
"My own territory needs much care and looking after."
Then also advised Alexander,
"Besides, you have not even eaten the things I brought out, and you are already asking for more!" "Aren''t you afraid of choking on your own food? ves rebelling is a very real threat. You should know better than me."
The old man seemed to have genuinely good intentions as he said thest part.
But Alexander had already thought of policies to discourage it.
And thus boldly answered, "I have expanded my territory quite a bit since I ordered all those things. And so I need more of everything to develop these new pastures."
"Can you help or not?"
And it seemed this time, the answer was not.
Hence Alexander was left to find out some other alternative form of payment.
Chapter 506 Envoys From Afar (Part-1)
Alexander talked to the two for some while, but it appeared they would just not be able to make these payments.
So then the obvious answer was to decrease the amount of goods sold, right?
But Alexander also did not want to do this because then much of the materials would just be left in his storehouse gathering dust or simply rotting.
It was not like Alexander had many other people lining up.
And as for the reason why Alexander did not simply wait till the two nobles sold their goods for a profit and had the cash to pay him back, well that was not how trades with other nobles worked.
You see, most nobles did not buy things using cash upfront.
But using credit.
And this went for everything.
From everyday essentials like food and drinks to clothes, perfumes, jewelry, and sometimes even mercenaries, where a noble would gather the money after defeating a foe and looting his possessions.
And this practice meant that all the noble''s suppliers, his tailors, cooks, jewelers, etc, everyone would send him their invoice at the end of the year, listing the total bill for the entire year, and ask him to pay.
So from this, it could be seen that for Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah to recoup their investment would take at least a year.
And that was if one was being optimistic.
Because many nobles, due to this practice of buying a year''s worth of goods on credit would regrly go broke.
Or be almost always close to it.
This happened because as they did not need to pay anything upfront in cash, most were unable to pace themselves for they would figure a year was a long time away.
So they would freely spend money that they might not even have, kind of like how having a credit card made one spend more, but much more extreme.
And this practice meant that most nobles, unable to pay all their dues on time, would dy many payments by a long time, possibly entire years.
Hence that was not a viable strategy for Alexander who needed some gold right now.
Which also made him feel like he was dealing with paupers.
He kind of felt like he was China or India in the 1700-1800s, while the two nobles were the impoverished European powers, one who wanted a lot of things, but could offer things of little interest to the other.
But it was what it was, and with Alexander unable to find a better alternative, he was ultimately forced to give some concessions.
Thus Alexander demanded the two following things.
"Okay, I will reduce the prices by some."
"But in exchange, I want 50,000 men from either province be relocated here."
"Not ves, but free men."
"Their new home will be Zanzan."
What Alexander was basically asking was for Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah to gather all the undesirables of the society- the beggars, the urchins, and the most abundant them of all, homeless vagrants, and send them his way.
Alexander was sure he could find some use for them, whether as industry workers, farmers, or even soldiers.
He will need a lot of men when he attacks Tibias the next year after all.
This the two nobles had little problem agreeing with.
The drought had produced not tens of thousands, but millions of people who had be broke and destitute, many of whom had be a menace to society as they resorted to various crimes such as thievery and even outright banditry to survive.
So Alexander taking them off their hand was him going them a favor.
And as for the dangers of taking in half and even full-fledged criminals, Pasha Farzah was there to offer his two cents.
"Brat! Be careful with these people."
"Many of these scums might have started as criminals because they were forced."
"But that does not mean the easy money has not corrupted them."
"For many, the taste has grown on them."
Alexander gave a thoughtful nod to this, though he was not too worried as he was confident in being able to control these men given he had a proper city guard, unlike the others.
After the first request, his next ask was this, I think you should take a look at
"I want a copy or original volume of about 2,000 books. I will pay equal to each book''s weight in gold."
And when asked about the reason why, Alexander only chuckled and said, "Well, maybe I''ll be able to learn some more things from them, haha."
While his real reason was to resell them after making copies using the printing press he intended to invent as quickly as he got some time in his hand.
Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah both had no objection to this, as they figured that Alexander really wanted these books to increase the number in his possession and thus boost his noble image.
After all, showing off expensive works of literature to one''s friends was many nobles'' favorite pass time.
So with these two demands met, the monumental deal totaling around 800 million ropals was concluded.
And in the following days, everything seemed to be going smoothly for Alexander, with the only notable thing in Alexander''s radar being the uing departure of Pasha Farzah and the group.
Until suddenly, e morning in early June, he was informed that two envoys, one from Tibias and the other from Cantagena were here to see him.
This was not really a bolt out of nowhere as Alexander had a pretty good hunch why they were here.
And so instead of his usual council members, the next day, Alexander chose to greet them along with Pasha Farzah, and the Queen Mother in his mansion.
"Wee dignitaries from Tibias and Cantagena," Alexander greeted with a light smile in a jovial tone, gazing at the men, one solidly built clean-shaven man with a chilling look in his eyes, and the other with a refined, schrly aura.
While the men very rudelypletely ignored Alexander and turned to address the two people sitting next to him.
"Greetings, Lord Farzah. It pleases me greatly that the gods have favored your health," The schrly clean-shaven man eloquently bowed to the Lord of Matrak.
While the muscr dignitary sent a charming smile toward Seelima,
"The Imperial Mother is as fresh and radiant as ever."
Clearly, the four knew each other.
Which was not surprising given Pasha Farzah and Queen Mother had colluded with Tibias and Cantagena to bring Amenheraft down.
"It is always good to see a fellow acquaintance from afar, Lord Leosydas," It was the Queen Mother who returned the greeting in a mellifluous tone, though an instantter it turned into a mocking sneer, "But I never knew you did not know the basic courtesy to first reply to the person who greeted you."
Clearly, the rude attitude the men disyed to Alexander had not gone unnoticed.
And whatever her thoughts about Alexander may be, the Queen Mother would a fool not to try save face of her retainers against two envoys who were very obviously here with ulterior intentions.
Hearing this unpleasant retort, Leosydas did not blink an eye, while his counterpart quickly stepped in to address the situation.
"Haha, well, well, this must be Alexander." He said sizing him up with a chuckle, and then with a pleasant smile said, "To see a fellow Cantagenan here at the heart of Adhania would make any Thesian proud. Petricuno speaks very highly of you."
Everyone had keenly noticed that neither man had addressed Alexander as Lord, as if to implicitly deny that title, and this action pretty much confirmed their intention ofing here.
But Alexander did not let such frivolities show up on his face, instead sent an equally pleasant smile and inquired, "He is a good man. And a great soldier. How is he?"
Alexander was not surprised by the mention of the mercenary leader as it was very likely the man had been thoroughly interrogated about the happenings in Adhania when he returned.
And it was only natural for Alexander''s name to be in that report.
"Good. Good. Though not quite as good as you seem to be, hehe," The Cantagenan envoy took a small jab, to which Alexander returned the favor by saying,
"I did invite Petricuno to share in my spoils too. But the man seemed to be far more interested in fighting Exs. How is that going by the way?" Alexander had a mocking tone to his inquiry.
And the reason for this was because Alexander knew from Petricuno the war there was not going well there.
And it had its intended effect as the schrly man''s lips twitched in frustration for the first time at being reminded of their troubles, and failed to control himself as he quite rudely said, "It would be going far better if you were even half as patriotic as Petricuno."
Clearly, the man knew quite well of Alexander''s battlefield aplishments and used him of defecting to the other side.
While Alexander only gave a loud, boisterousughter, and said,
"Hahaha, well I wouldn''t be so sure. I''m not a Cantagenan, so who is to say I would not support Exs? Hahaha."
Alexander made it clear that the racial or ethnicity card would not work against him.
Finally, once this mutual exchange of barbs was finished, it was Pasha Farzah who stepped in to work as a mediator and asked,
"So what brings Lord Leosydas and Lord Klysar to this little part of the world?"
To which Leosydas very bluntly replied, "You promised Zanzan would belong to us."
Chapter 507 Envoys From Afar (Part-2)
Alexander had guessed as much the moment he heard the two envoys announce themselves, taking particr note of how they hade together.
Clearly, it was to create a united voice
And the feeling was very much more reinforced by the two''s attitudes.
Tibias and Cantagena had paid the price and now were clearly unhappy that their prize was being denied.
And to be fair, that was indeed the original deal between the Adhanian conspirators and the foreign powers.
Pasha Farzah and the Queen Mother had really promised to relinquish control of Zanzan in exchange for removing Alozmer (the former king) and Amenheraft from power.
So one might say the two envoys were in the right here.
But there was a slight catch.
And that catch was that technically it was not Cantagena, or more specifically the Cantagenan general Agapios who had defeated Amenheraft.
And it was the same with Tibias.
They were asked to hold back Amenheraft until the capital could be taken, but that was not what had technically urred.
Amenherft had managed to disengage and return to Adhan to defend it.
Now this was admittedly a loophole and a gray area that bordered more on ck than white, as the intended result had been achieved.
But nevertheless, this was the rhetoric that Alexander and the other two decided to go with after discussing it the previous day.
After all, neither Pasha Farzah nor Seelima would favor handing Zanzan over to the two powers over letting Alxx control it.
Thetter was much a better option for them after all.
Thus once the demand was made, the Queen Mother replied in a cold hard voice without the slightest bit of warmth, "The deal was that you would take Adhan and depose Amenheraft."
"But your general failed to do either, losing two battles and letting the capital be recaptured."
"So which promise are you talking about exactly?"
While Pasha Farzah immediately picked up the conversation and said with heavy nods,
"That''s right. Instead, it was Lord Alexander who aplished both tasks, snatching Adhan back and dethroning Amenheraft."
"And that''s why we gifted him Zanzan."
"We have fulfilled our promise to the letter."
"......" Hearing this, the two envoys were dumbstruck for a moment.
They did not think the opposite side would be this shameless.
"He could only do it with our soldiers. It is only with Cantagenan and Tibias blood that the brat sits where he is today. What bullshit are you sprouting?" The Cantagenan envoy Klysar could not control his emotions as he cried out loud indignantly.
While a very angry Leosydas also gruffly said,
"Your country killed hundreds of thousands of my people in thest three years. And yet we chose to trust you."
"And this is how you repay us!"
It appeared that the two men were unwilling to ept this reasoning.
And given the amount they sacrificed, it was not hard to understand why.
As for Alexander, who heard the outburst, he observed that the two menplemented each other quite nicely.
And so he decided to split the men up and deal with them individually.
As such he decided to end the meeting there, saying, "It seems the two sirs are tired. Perhaps we can continue the meeting at ater date."
He said this because knowing handing over any territory was a non-starter, Alexander had made prior ns to offer deals to them.
And seeing the current circumstances, he feared that if he said them aloud to both of them, they would swindle a lot from him.
So, with that ended the meeting there.
And as both groups discussed how to further proceed, a few dayster Alexander met with the Cantagenan envoy alone.
"Lord Klysar, as a fellow Thesian, I believe that it is only natural I came to discuss the issue about Zanzan with you first," Alexander said with a smile, under the setting and with the same people around him.
"Thank you, Lord Alexander. And I apologize for my earlier remarks." The man seemed much milder now, having calmed down from his earlier tirade.
"Haha¡." Alexander first chuckled but did not excuse the man, as he got to the real point, "Well then, may I know what interest does your city-state have in acquiring Zanzan? Because it is quite a long way from Cantagena. What will you do with it?"
This point had always puzzled him, even back when Ptolomy had raised the issue back when Alexander was negotiating the piece.
Klysar gave a bit of pause at the inquiry, and after turning his head to meet the eyes of both Pasha Farzah and Seelima, he began with a sigh, "As Lord Alexander had said yesterday, our war against Exs is not going well."
"What happens is Exs regrlyunches yearly campaigns against us, and we, being unable to beat them atnd, are forced to husband all our people inside under the protection of the formidable walls."
"And this has worked till now, as Exs has been yet unable to breach our walls and finish us off."I think you should take a look at
"And this is where the good part ends."
"Because the bad part is that being unable to conquer our city, the Exolites then turn their focus to the undefended countryside, razing viges, destroying crops, and inflicting massive damages to our economy."
"And though we can recover some of it once they leave, the repeated yearly attacks are starting to affect us more and more over time."
"This is because Exs is able to destroy ournds faster than can rebuild them."
"And so our only real hope of turning this hopeless situation is findingnd beyond Thesos, beyond the reach of Exs from which we can extract economic dividends and keep our markets going."
"That''s why we Zanzan. To survive."
From the man''s answer, Alexander could finally understand the reason behind his outburst from a few days.
They had spent so much on Agapios and the war, all for ast roll of the die, and now that they had won, Alexander was here denying them.
Alexander could certainly sympathize with that.
But that did not mean he could acquiesce to their demand.
Everyone had their problems, and Alexander would not sacrifice his future for the sake of others.
If it was choosing between him or them, Alexander would choose him every time over a million times over.
And he clearly let this know to the Cantagenan envoy.
"My heartfelt sympathies go out to you and all fellow Cantagenans. And I hope the gods deal justice on Exs." He first said some flowery words, before unequivocally saying,
"But Lord Envoy should also clearly understand that me giving up Zanzan is not an option."
"And no amount of talks, deals, and promises will make that happen."
"That is the reality here."
"And I hope you can recognize that."
Alexander tly and very inlyid out.
And it made the opposite man purse his lips in helplessness.
He knewing here was a long shot, but he still had to try.
And it seemed to have failed.
But Alexander''s next words proved that the man might have jumped to the conclusion too fast.
As the young lord said, "But we are willing to trade with Cantagena. Adhnaia is slowly opening up to the world, and we are certainly interested in trading with a great power like Cantagena. So what do you say?"
And this produced a great glow from the man.
It was not as great getting Zanzan, but it was quite close to it.
Or it could even be argued that this way was better as they would not even have to garrison soldiers to protect the newly conquerednds.
Whichever it was, if Cantagnena was able to tap into this massive market, it would be undoubtedly quite the boon.
Because Cantagena''s biggest tradingmodity after agriculture was its pottery, which was famous throughout the world.
So if they could sell these to Adhania and particrly the nobility, their economy was surely to revitalize, or at the least stabilize.
And the best thing was that it was not something really affected by the constant attacks from Exs.
Potters could justfortably stay inside the walled city and continue building.
And hence the man be quite vivacious after Alexander''s offer, and over the next three days, they ironed out many of the details.
With the final deal being that Pasha Farzah, Lady Inayah, and Alexander, all three would officially open their ports to Cantagenan vessels, and even give them special privileges, such as reduced tariffs.
Klysar had wanted these ports to receive only Cantagenans vessels, in order to form an effective monopoly on the goods from Thesos, but was declined.
Instead, a mary concession was settled upon.
This special consideration was made as a way for Adhania to mend rtions with Cantagenan after a bit of arbitrarily breaking their deal.
While, in the meantime, Alexander also showed Klysar some of Zanzan''s specialties, such as paper, soap, and lingerie,but not all, like iron, as he was cautious about selling weapons to others.
But Klysar would not have likely minded anyway, because of how impressed he was of one particr thing- Brown sugar.
Klysar was enough of an aplished businessman to know the value this product would fetch in the market.
And reagainding this sweetener, Alexander additionally even offered this deal,
"If Cantagena is willing to sign a twenty-year peace treaty with us, and promise not to aid our enemies in any way, we are willing to disclose the full recipe for making it."
And it made the man''s heart skip a beat.
Chapter 508 Envoys From Afar (Part-3)
Alexander''s offer to share the sugar secret was of course done as a way to remove a potential key ally for Amenheraft, as he feared the city-state might choose to support this rogue king in retaliation for their breaking of the contract.
And it seemed to work as this sincere offering had Klysar very enticed.
But though he was tempted to agree then and there, the Cantagenan man politely declined for the time being, saying, "I will need to consult the Senate first. So I will bring an answer by spring. And hopefully a good one, hahaha"
The prudent man felt that any peace treaty, never mind such arge one, should be run through the senators first and hear their thoughts first, as signing this would make them officially give up their im on Zanzna.
This was not something he could arbitrarily decide.
But as indicated by hisst sentence, the man was also quite confident in being able to convince the old geezers back home to agree to it as the benefits were so high.
So with that, one of the hidden dangers for Zanzan was effectively eliminated for Alexander.
And a few dayster, Klysar left the city quite a happy man, his shipden with many cargoes, all unique to Zanzan.
This batch was just a sample, meant to only test the market, but that did not detract him from the joy he felt carrying them, as the shrewd politician was very confident in these products'' sess.
The paper was much better than papyrus, the soap and lingerie would be quite popr with thedies, and the sugar would capture the hearts of all.
He was sure of it.
And he even believed that by using these products not only Cantagena''s economy would surge, but the city-state''s almost monopolistic position in acquiring the goods, as no one in Thesos had a better navy than them, might even be used as a political bargaining chip to draw other, neutral city-states to their cause.
Klysar could smell the change in the air.
Also, as a side note, the man had asked Alexander about Ophenia during one of their meetings, inquiring, "By the way my lord, have you seen an eighteen to twenty-year-old with blonde hair in thete general''s camp?"
"He was her daughter and her rtives are quite worried for her."
Alexander had sweated bullets when he first heard this, particrly because the man had asked it right in front of the Queen Mother and Pasha Farzah.
And so he could not have been happier that he had made Ophenia always keep her hair dyed, though was mostly because he did not want the slightest chance of the Queen Mother somehow connecting that color with Kefka.
Letting the queen know that he had an Adhanian royal descendant as his woman would be too much of a hassle.
It was admittedly a very small chance, but why take the chance?
And this precaution finally paid dividends here, where the revtion of Opehnia''s presence would have undoubtedly greatlyplicated the negotiations between the two powers.
So Alexander could confidently reply with an intrigued, and even somewhat astonished face, "Blonde? As in naturally gold-colored hair? Well, I think I would have very much remembered seeing such a woman."
Alexander made it sound like this was the first time he was hearing someone describe a person as blonde, before firmly shaking his head, and saying, "No, I''m afraid I have not my lord. And given the time passed¡.."
Alexander did not need to spell out the details.
If Alexander had not taken Ophenia in, she would very likely be dead, or sold to very.
After all, a vulnerable girl with such standout features would attract even a blind man.
"*Sigh*, yes, I figured as much," Klysar shook his head as he knew it was a long shot and had not really held any hope.
While Alexander pointed him to go on a wild goose chase.
"If she is alive, she is probably working in the many pleasure houses to disguise herself. You know how the women there like to color their hair."
"Perhaps my lord would like to check there?"
At this half-serious suggestion, Alexander very keenly noticed the man visibly shake, as if that very thought hurt him.
And Klysar could not keep a straight voice, as in a bit of sputtering tone he afterward said,
"Than..thank you, my lord. But if you find any news of her, may you please inform me? It would help her family bring closure."
"Sure," Alexander gave a perfunctory reply while smirking in his mind, ''Yeah, I know where is she. She''s probably sleeping in my bed right now, haha.''
But Klysar left Zaznan none the wise and so with that preventive measure Alexander managed to eke out quite a favorable set of terms with Cantagena.
Andter, he would go on to ask Opheniater about Klysar, as he doubted the man really cared about Ophenia''s family, for he seemed to care more about Ophenia.
And his hunch would be proven right, as Ophenia would describe the man in a mocking, dismissive way,
"Oh him! Yeah, I know him."
"He is my ex-fiance- Samaras''s father."
"But the old pervert would always look at me with lecherous eyes."
"I bet he even agreed to let his son marry me just so that he could get a chance with me."
"Fucking pervert!"I think you should take a look at
To say Ophenia held a low opinion of the man would be an understatement.
Meanwhile, after Alexander finished his sessful negotiations with Cantagena, unfortunately, he failed to replicate the sess with Tibias.
Because no matter how much he argued, Leosydas was adamant about making Alexander give up Zanzan, as he repeatedly pointed out the lives Tibias had lost.
"You sit in that chair because of the blood we Tibians have spilled," He said this over and over again.
Even Alexander''s promise of opening trade with them failed.
It appeared that the Tibians simply hated Adhnia too much to engage in friendly neighborly rtions.
Or at least the upper echelons did.
And Leosydas''s tone only slightly softened when Alexander promised to pay something to the tune of 100 million ropals as rumination over the next ten years, in a kind of a way topensate the Tibians for their three years of hardship.
Which might kind of not seem fair that Alexander was made to pay for something Amenheraft did.
But this mainly was a stop-gap measure to calm Tibias and prevent them from attacking him in the near term.
He never really intended to pay the full 100 million.
His bribe limit was at best 20 million ropals or 2 years.
And after Leosydas demanded a show of his sincerity, Alexander even gave him a lump sum something close to that, to the tune of 15 million as a goodwill gesture.
While Leosydas returned the courtesy by signing a peace deal that officially ended the three-year war between the two countries.
And though this was only a hollow treaty, with it just stating that peace between the two countries was achieved and no other terms, meaning it could be broken at any time, still, it was a start.
"I will be sure to properly advise the king regarding this." And on the day of departure, it was with thesest words Leosydas left for Tibias.
While Alexander seeing the man leave, was pretty confident that Zanzan had seeded in protecting its borders for at least a couple of years.
After all, 100 million ropals even for him was a lot of money, never mind his much poorer neighbor.
And it was a thought also shared by the other two who helped Alexandere up with the value- Pasha Farzah and Queen Mother.
Everyone thought the food theyid on the table was enough to pacify the hungry, angry beast.
But how would they know that this beast''s appetite had been emboldened by factors they had not even considered?
The Kaiser Family had really reacted too fast, courtesy of a few spies in the highest echelons of the Margrave family.
Or perhaps calling them spies would be wrong, because these people, many of whom were Lady Margaret''s uncles and cousins, just did not bother to hide the fact about how the iron that was used to defend their territory was obtained.
And this let the maid and staff members who really were spies easily obtain and then pass along the message.
So, when Leosydas returned in early August to Ceon, the capital of Tibias, the king informed him of the 125 million ropals in one year offer he had gotten, and hence Alexander''s offer of 100 over 10 years sunk to the depths like a lead balloon.
Instead, the two men now mainly talked about how to prepare for the war.
"Leosydas, what have you seen in Zanzan?"
"How are their defense?"
"How are their walls?"
"How are their armies?"
Perseusunched a barrage of questions to his best friend regarding his target.
And got these answers.
"Their armies are quite small."
"And the people under their control did not seem too great."
"But their walls were definitely formidable."
"It seems that Alexander has strengthened the walls even more."
"Attacking that will be hard."
From this answer, it could be seen Leosydas did not actually feel optimistic about attacking Zanzan due to the walls.
While Perseus only gave a mysteriousugh.
And once the torsion catapult was shown to him, the entire nation of Tibias began a general mobilization, their intention- Tounch a sneak attack on Zanzan around October with 35,000 to 40,000 men.
Chapter 509 Start Of November!
Leosydas would go on to describe in great detail what he had seen in Adhnia.
The roads, the ongoing construction works, the novel, never before seen goods, and to him the most lucrative thing, the amount of money the people there had to spend, which meant there was a great amount to loot and plunder.
And at the end of his recount, Leosydas would say this,
"Perseus, Zanzan city has more potential than the entirety of Tibias. We must capture it as soon as possible," while the two men met in thetter''s bed chamber.
It seemed that the greedy flies Alexander was expecting were nearer than he had ever guessed.
And hearing the rich riches that Zanzan had to offer, the King of Tibias- Perseus had no problem in ordering his army to mobilize.
So, the peasant levies were instructed to harvest their fall crops as soon as possible before joining the army, the military officers were told to collect and husband resources for the campaign, and the nobles were told to oversee the nning of the logistics.
While Leosydas oversaw the smooth implementation of the entire process.
And Perseus spent his time getting his scouts to recount the geography around Zanzan, and for his spies to reveal the rtionship between Alexander and the surrounding nobles.
And in this endeavor, the king freely spent the 125 million ropals the Kaiser family had donated to him, by promising rich rewards to the peasants for joining the army, adequate injurypensation and bereavement payments in the case of death or muttion, hiring mercenaries, buying logistical supplies and many more.
Furthermore, as Alexander had so graciously also given arge lump of money to him, Perseus did not shy away from using it and also used that to fund his campaign.
And this diplomatic folly of Alexander that would remain as a ck stain on his record for the rest of his life, and he would indeed lose some sleep after knowing instead of achieving peace, he had paid his enemy to attack him.
But before all that could happen, he would first need to survive the ordeal.
And it was shaping up to be in no way a small ordeal.
As with the preparations taken care of, inte September, the king was given the following report by Leosydas regarding their assembled army:
"My lord, we have managed to in total to gather around 40,000 men."
"Among them, there are 25,000 of our own heavy phngites."
"3,000 elite phngitesposed of men from various noble houses and many nobles themselves."
"3,000 mercenaries that the Kaiser Family introduced us to."
"5,000 elite slinger, archers, and javelin men."
"4,000 cavalryposed of scouts and light skirmishers."
"Andstly 20 war elephants donated by the Kaiser family."
So to summarize, it was:
Infantry- 31,000.
Missile Units- 5,000.
Cavalry- 4,000.
Elephants- 20.
This was in no way a small force.
And though it was nowhere near the number 80,000, which was the number of troops Tibias had used to defend against Amenheraft, Perseus was quite d by the number of gathered soldiers.
Because that 80,000 was an anomaly, and the difference was to be expected given the nature of the two fights.
One was a defensive war where it was Adhnaia attacking them, and where Tibias''s supply lines were right next to them, along with potential reinforcements and recruitment opportunities around every city and vige.
While the other was an offensive war right in the middle of the winter, attacking a city some hundred kilometers away from their border, and hundreds of kilometers from their capital, and in the middle of the winter at that.
They were two entirely different beasts.
"Good!" Perseus gave a happy nod at the said numbers, and added thisst instruction, "Make sure there is plenty of warm clothing for the men. Winter is not an easy time to fight in."
This was true and so typically armies avoided fighting in winter due to the cold and theck of foraging avable as most nts would die or wither, while most animals would hibernate or bury themselves inside their nests.
So armies much preferred to fight in the warmer months, i.e.- fromte spring tote fall, or just after nting their spring crops until the time came for reaping their harvests.
Of course, that did not mean winter campaigns did not happen.
Winter had its advantages as well.I think you should take a look at
Such as during this time of the year, many rivers and swamps froze, meaning it made marching easier.
And also, since winter was generally a time of rest when none of the peasants had anything to do, it made recruiting men much easier.
So one could build a bigger army.
Andstly, there was the element of surprise when attacking in winter, as the other side would usually be rolled upfortably inside their cities, head down and rxing with a nice hot cup of milk, mostly oblivious to the threat.
And it was these secondary and tertiary considerations that made Perseus choose this time of the attack.
Hence, once everything was arranged, and all the men were properly equipped, the king gave the time of their departure.
"We will set out in early October. And will hopefully be at the gates of Zanzan by the start of November."
And with this time determined, came around round of tribtion for Alexander.
And for the young lord, this 40,000 army had the potential to pose a far greater challenge than the almost 60,000 men he had faced just six months ago.
Because currently, Alexander was not in Zanzan!
He was in Adhan.
Meaning it would be entirely up to Menes to tackle this threat.
And to know why Alexander was not in Zanzan, but in Ptolomy''s ce, one had to travel back to the start of August, when one shining day, the Queen Mother requested an audience with Alexander in her private chambers around noon.
The topic- She wanted to request Alexander toe to visit Adhan with her.
So, at the behest of the queen, Alexander made his way to her private chamber, which was located on the third floor of the manor, and faced the sea.
"*Knock*, *knock*, *knock*,"
At the end of the third knock, the door was quickly opened by Seelima''s maid, a beautiful caucasian with an oval face and a tightly bound bun, and after a solemn, wless bow by her, he was invited in and then escorted to the person he was there to see.
And on his way, Alexander took note of the chamber, as this was the first time he had entered this particr room, and found it to be asvishly decorated as one would expect the highest member of the royal family to reside in- with expensive furniture, beautiful chandeliers, and intricately embroidered and jeweled carpets and carpets.
As for the person in question, he found herzily lounging on a huge devan on the veranda, dressed in avish red gown and sipping cool wine, as she gazed at the picturesque sight of the sandy shorepping against the crystalline blue waves, while a gentle, cool, refreshing air cooled her.
The view of the beach from this third-floor veranda was nothing short of god''s masterwork, while the woman observing it was also one of his best handiwork.
And for a moment, Alexander had his breath taken away both because of the scenery and the beautiful woman enjoying it.
He once again found why Seelima was the previous king''s favorite mistress and he could help but imagine how this gorgeous woman would look in a swimsuit or a bikini.
In fact, he was so distracted in imagining that sexy view that he even failed to notice that there the Queen Mother hadpany, as another woman lounged beside her.
"Ah, Lord Alexander! Wee! d you here." This sweet greeting was said by a voice very familiar to him, for it was Lady Inayah, who was simrly rxing like the Queen Mother and was wearing a long blue gown.
Alexander had heard them chattering when he first entered the room and it seemed they had been gossiping.
The ebonydy''s mellifluous voice helped Alexander break out of his trance of staring at the Queen Mother and he quickly and lightly bowed and greeted,
"Greetings Your Royal Highness."
"Greetings Lady Inayah,"
"It is a pleasure to see both of you."
At which point Seelima turned her head to lightly smile, and say in a pleasant voice,
"Ahh, Alexander, the pleasure is all ours! We were just talking about you"
Before she quickly got up and gestured with her hands, "Come,e, sit. It''s good that you are here!"
She said this leading Alxx to arge round table that had beenid down right next to the veranda railing, from which one could simply sell the salty sea breeze.
And as Alexander sat down, he was intrigued by why two of the most powerful women in Adhania wanted to talk to him.
The Queen Mother had not told him anything beyond the fact that she wanted to talk to him about some things regarding Zanzan and Adhan.
So with much curiosity, Alexander upied one of the chairs, while the other two women cushioned their nks on the soft pillowy chairs next to him, as the maid served them fruits, snacks, and most importantly wine, before excusing herself.
And once alone, Alexander began, "So, how may I be of service, Your Highness?"
Chapter 510 Talks With Seelima (Part-1)
As Alexander sat down with his drinks, he noticed the Queen Mother perform a certain wave with her hands toward the maid, and seeing it the girl quickly excused herself to wait by the veranda door.
And this made him remember that even before, he had remarked that themunication between the two seemed almost telepathic.
In fact, Alexander could not remember a single he had heard the two speak to each other or even the maid speaking at all.
It was as if this servant existed like the wind, ever ready to serve her mistress from the shadow without causing the slightest bit of disturbance.
Perhaps that was how real royalty was served.
Anyway, once the setting was set, Alexander got down to the main talks, asking why he was called here.
And this question was met with another question, as Seelima gave a sweet smile, and asked, "Alexander, what do you think of Ptolomy? And be frank and tell me the truth."
It appeared at a nce that the Queen Mother was interrogating Alexander about his loyalty.
And this type of out-of-the-blue question made Alexander a bit surprised.
He had envisioned a lot of scenarios beforeing here, but this was not one of them.
Because he could not remember a scenario that would make the redhead question his allegiance.
''And what does she mean by ''be frank? When are nobles frank with each other?'' Alexander wondered what her angle was.
And for a while he ruminated on whether to reply with the same titudes that would one give when asked such a type of question, glorifying and exalting the king, and debasing oneself.
''No, there must be more of a reason why she called me here," But ultimately decided to give the Queen Mother somerge kernels of what she wanted.
Alexander wanted to see where she was going with this.
So he began with a light smile, "Many are under the impression that I have a low opinion of His Majesty."
"That I see him as weak."
"That he is someone I can disregard."
"Some even think I show myself as someone better than him."
"That I''m a god. Heh!"
Alexander targeted this smirk explicitly at Seelima, who was always suspicious of Alexander''s title of ''Divine son of Gaia''.
Before slowly shaking his head, and saying,
"But that is not true at all."
"In fact, in some ways, I quite admire His Highness."
"Being able to survive the cut-throat court politics so long and then even seed in overthrowing one''s¡well since I was asked to speak frankly,...undoubtedly much more capable brother, is no small task."
Though that survival had much more to do with the Queen Mother keeping him safe, than his actual abilities.
But let''s not split hairs here.
Since Alexander was asked the question, he was forced to point out some good qualities of the man.
And after saying these flowery words Alexander gave the truths the Queen Mother mother had asked for, saying,
"But it is true there are certain aspects of His Majesty that I dislike and disapprove of."
"He has a weak nature that makes him malleable to his retainers'' influence¡. which I will admit I have also taken advantage of."
"But that is not the part I dislike of."
"No, the part that I dislike is that sometimes, when he feels like he is being manipted by his advisors, he will randomly give out orders that go against all logic, just to oppose the advisor advising him.
"And this would be done at random, not always taking into ount whether the man was trying to manipte him or just advise him."
"So sometimes His Majesty Ptolomy is like a child, a child that has a ming specter he can point at anyone."
"That is dangerous,¡both for him and others around him."
"And thus I generally always wish to keep a safe distance from him."
Alexander had gotten to know a lot about Ptolomy''s shenanigans from Pasha Farzah, and depending on those he had made the following statement.
At the end of which, he managed to portray himself as a loyal, but cautious retainer, one who kept his distance from the king because of the good of the realm.
While the Queen Mother said in a solemn voice, "But nevertheless, he is the king. Chosen by the gods."
"And one we must follow."
It appeared she was trying to wipe Alexander''s doubts about Ptolomy and make him submit.
But how would Alexander so easily do that?
And so said with a little chortle and a small smirk,
"Yes, chosen by the gods. Like Alozmer was. Like Amenherft was."
And this made Seelima visibly twitch almost imperceptibly.
The message here was clear.
''If you could depose two ''so-called'' gods, what''s another one?''
It seemed that by killing Alozmer and outsing his son, the Queen Mother had inadvertently damaged the halo she herself was trying to project nowI think you should take a look at
And she cursed Alexander for being so sharp.
But what was done, had to be done.
Seelima would never regret killing her husband or dethroning her stepson.
So instead she decided to use Ptolomy''s weakness to say this,
"It is true Ptolomy has a¡soft heart. Even as a child, he could never say no to anyone." The Queen Mother said this in a slow, longing, tone, as if she was recalling fond, innocent memories.
And then a momentter her normal voice returned, this time a lot firmer, as she finally got to the point she had been working towards,
"And it just as you said Alexander, he gets easily swayed by his advisors. And that''s why I would like you toe to Adhan and advise him for some time!"
"I trust you far more than many of the other advisors there."
This offer came out of nowhere, and one would think Alexander would consider such a prestigious position even hypothetically.
But he did not.
He did not entertain the thought for even a second.
Because whatever Ptolomy did or no matter how things changed in Adhan, Alexander simply did not care.
And he let this be known with two simple words, "Haha, not interested."
"I appreciate the offer but I have too many tasks at Zanzan. So I''m not interested."
The reply could be considered quite crude, as normally royalties were not rejected so firmly and to their face.
But Alexander did not care.
Asking him to leave Zanzan and go work for that manchild was not something he would do even in a million years.
While the Queen Mother, facing this straightforward rejection, did not lose anyposure, as she had indeed expected this, and tried to cajole Alexander another way.
She cautioned him by saying, "But Lord Alexander, are you not afraid that some scoundrel at court might plot against you?"
"Particrly given your newly acquiring wealth."
"Greedy eyes produce jealous plots you know."
"What if Ptolomy is fooled into making absurd demands and causing a lift between you two?"
She mentioned.
And this hypothesis of hers did have some weight to it.
The evil minister turning the king against his loyal subject was a ssic technique that had been repeated many times over history.
But this time it was different.
And Alexander did not take this seriously, as he only let out a short, curt snort, "Hah! The two people who control the court are Lord Pasha, and you, Your Highness."
"So how is going to plot against me?"
"And even if they do, what can they do? March an army to Zanzan?"
"Good luck!"
Alexander did not buy Seelima''s rhetoric, as he only saw it as her n to divide the court and set one retainer against another, and thus keep one faction from bing too powerful.
This was something Alexander was very well versed in doing himself with his own retainers, but he personally would never take the bait.
Instead, Alexander let it be known that he only really cared about Zanzan, saying,
"I''m not interested in court politics of Adhan."
"I was told to rule Zanzan. And I will focus on aplishing that."
This was a problem for the Queen Mother as she wanted him to mix with the other nobles and form factions and fight.
Zanzan''s potential seemed too scary to this shrewd woman for it to let it grow unchecked.
But she also did not have too many options to deal with it as Zanzan might be their trump card against Amenheraft.
So the Queen Mother tried to y the bncing game.
Hence putting in an intrigued face, she then said in a slightly dreamy tone, "Oh? Even if someone like Pasha Farzah gains control over the court? You know how powerful he is."
"And he has brought up the issue of marrying Mikaya to Ptolomy."
"Can you be okay with that?"
Now, Alexander did not know whether that part about Mikaya was true or not.
But that did not stop him from being barely able to stop himself fromughing out uncontrobly.
If Ptolomy really did marry Mikaya it would be the joke of the century.
And Alexander also highly doubted the authenticity of the news, because from what he had observed, Alexander did not believe Pasha Farzah would risk another of his daughters to get the royal crown.
The man had been burned once, and given how Ptolomy had treated Nanazin, Alexander did not think the old man would take the risk.
So Alexander only chuckled and replied, "Haha, then I will give my best wishes to Lord Farzah and the royal couple."
Chapter 511 Talks With Seelima (Part-2)
Hearing Alexander''s not-at-all-concerned answer, the Queen Mother understood that convincing Alexander to apply his expertise to develop Adhan would be a fool''s errand.
Which she found to be a shame, as seeing how much he was able to transform the barrennds of Zanzan, she could only wonder how much he would be able to do to a resource and poption-rich region like Adhan.
But since Alexander had very clearly said he was not interested, Seelima did not push him further.
You could lead a horse to water, but you could not make it drink it.
While Alexander made his thinking even clearer to the Queen Mother, saying, "To be honest, I do not mind if Pasha Farzah takes control of the court."
"In fact, as long as he keeps Ptolomy on the throne, I think that will be better for us."
"Because he is very unlikely to muck it up as Ptolomy could."
Alexander hid nothing of his preference on who he wanted to see running things.
And surprisingly the Queen Mother did not seem at all offended by this, as she instead only raised her eyebrow and tempted with a bit of yful demeanor, "But don''t you want to be the one running the court?"
"Hahaha," And this absurd proposal made Alexander burst outughing,
He neither had the prestige nor the know-how to navigate theplex machinations of Adhan''s court and its politics.
And the Queen Mother of course knew this, so this was just her testing Alexander''s greed.
Something Alexander had passed with flying colors.
So as a final test, her lips curled up in an amusing tone, and asked with her eyes narrowing, "Then if you do not mind who runs the court, what if I killed Ptolomy after having his son?!"
The Queen Mother very casually dropped here an apocalyptic idea, the contents of which were nothing as lightheaded as the tone she said it with.
And it even made Lady Inayah who was quietly sitting jerk involuntarily.
''After killing two kings, she seems to have developed a taste for it,'' The raven-haired ckdy thought to herself, as she would not put it past someone as ambitious as Seelima to actually do that.
After all, she had killed the father of her child before.
While Alexander too was shaken by the nonchnce with which she uttered this idea, so openly and unreservedly, like she was not nning tomit regicide, but simply squash a bug.
This was definitely not something one said so breezily.
So it made him wonder if she was really serious, or if she was looking at Alexander''s reaction.
Because Adhan under Ptolomy, and Adhan under her would be twopletely different beasts.
And though Alexander might tolerate a tame, weak Adhan under Ptolomy, it might not be necessarily the case if Seelima was to rule over it.
At least that was her type of thinking.
While Alexander who was posed with the hypothetical scenario thought for a while on how to answer, osciting between whether to act aghast at the thought and swear his loyalty to Ptolomy or to produce a toady smile and condone the act.
And a whileter he gave this answer, "Your Royal Highness, I think you misunderstand me."
"You believe that I''m wary of you. Or that I do not like you. Or that I think you are scheming against me."
"But that is not true at all." He shook his head as he said so, before lightly smiling and saying,
"In fact, I actually think you ruling Adhan''s court is quite a good idea. And I support it."
"And this is because you are smart."
"And it is much easier to live with a smart person."
"Because a smart person will do things logically. Things that benefit oneself."
"And that means you can predict them."
"Whereas a foolish person will do whatever he likes."
"And it is very difficult to y with a chaotic teammate, who can easily sabotage his own team."
Alexander had clearly made his preference known.
And the answer made Lady Inayah sitting close blurt out aghast, "Alexander, y¡you." as she then turned to the Queen Mother to shout, "And you too Seelima! What are you two saying?"
Thedy could not believe the two people sitting near her were even discussing such a topic.
And it made the goblet she held in her hands shake uncontrobly.
After all, this nobledy still held some respect for the king unlike the woman next to her.
While thedy next to her chuckled at the answer, and in a flirty tone posed, "So, you are saying I''m predictable huh?"I think you should take a look at
"Yes. But in a good way," Alexander smiled the reply, adding,
"That''s why although some might think I prefer His Majesty Ptolomy because he is more malleable, but actually I would much prefer to see you in control of Adhan."
"Of course, I would aid in the act. But I will not stop it either."
While Lady Inayah looked at the two with incredulous eyes, the frank answer made Seelima ruminate for a while as she hummed, "........".
And she quite liked what she heard.
It seemed that if she ever thought of disposing of Ptolomy, Alexander would at least not be a hindrance.
Now, this was only a thought, but the Queen Mother liked to keep her options open.
And so in a cheerful tone, she raised her goblet and roasted, "Well then Lord Alexander, let our alliance be as long and enduring as the earth itself," as she then gulped down her wine, and Alexander followed.
This was what the Queen mother really wanted to talk to Alexander about, to find his interest in other province''s
And given that Alexander had expressed no interest in it, it meant Pasha Farzah and her could carve up the court with no problem.
As Seelima was done with her round of questioning, Alexander had onest one of his own,
"By the way, I have to ask," He prefaced, "Since Your Highness is so interested in Adhan''s politics, why are you here? Why not in Adhan managing His Majesty?"
This was a very good question, as given how ambitious Seelima was, one would figure she would be spending every waking moment of her lifeying with Ptolomy to get pregnant and secure her position.
But there was aplex reason to this
"Should I say because I enjoy the view here?'' The Queen Mother wanted to give an insincere answer.
But given that Alexander had revealed mostly his true thoughts, she felt it was necessary to reciprocate the action.
So she said with a bit of a sigh, "The poison that killed Alozmer was procured by Farzah, given by Inayah, and mixed in the food by me."
"This is almostmon knowledge in the upper echelons of the nobility circle. Amenheraft made sure of it."
"And he did this because he knew most nobles would not side with a group thatmitted regicide."
"And so the counter n that we came up with was to put all the me on me, reasoning that it was I who actually poisoned the food, and then have me leave Adhan for a while as the nobles calmed down."
"And it has worked till now, as most nobles chose to ignore the regicide given the main culprit did not show her face in Adhan for the time being."
The Queen Mother here revealed something Alexander had no idea of, as this secret deal was struck between the three men and women and they did not think it was relevant to inform him.
So he was surprised to know that the Queen Mother was in effective exile here.
This was really unexpected.
''No wonder she agreed to the hostage deal so readily! It was the perfect happenstance for her,'' Alexander also felt enlightened, as well as understanding why neither the mother nor daughter were trying to get pregnant right now- because dering such a child as the crown prince would be politically too immature.
Some time needed to pass to cloud the nobles'' memories.
So he gave a light smile, and said, "I see. Then I hope your time in Zanzan is enjoyable,"
"How long do you intend to stay?"
"What! Tired of me already?", the Queen Mother gave a teasingly smile at Alexander''s inquiry, before answering, "Not too long."
"Given I will spend six months in Adhan, and six months in Zaznan from now on, it will be three years for you."
Meaning the Queen Mother intended to flirt between existing in the public eye and in private exile for the next six months, or until the armistice ended.
And this made Alexander naturally question, "But will not staying in Adhan for so long defeat the purpose of your exile?"
"Haha, well that boy Ptolomy will get lonely if I stay any shorter," The Queen Mother pointed out.
Which was very true given how crazed he had appeared with Alexander when talking about the two women, and Alexander did worry how the manchild would react if he did not see them for too long.
While the redhead further added,
"And besides, those old coots at the court still need to be reminded that I still exist, don''t they? I might be in exile, but I''m not dead, haha."
Sure enough, Seelima''s power-hungry nature also had a part to y. as she seemed to willing to jeopardize the entire n just to show the nobles just that.
And she justified the act by saying,
"Don''t worry, Farzah has informed me the nobles might be as hostile as we thought them to me."
Chapter 512 Reasons To Go (Part-1)
Hearing of Seelima''s nned journey, Alxx was of the mind that she did not take even that risk.
Who knew how the nobles would react upon actually seeing her?
Or how urate Pasha Farzah''s information was?
But that was ultimately her decision and not something he could really butt his head in.
And so he nodded and thinking the conversion was over, attempted to excuse himself.
"Lord Alxx, please sit, we have something more to discuss," But he would be proved wrong was this invitation came from Lady Inayah.
Who then exined to a surprised Alxx, "Although you will not have to go Adhan as an advisor to the king, we would appreciate it if you could at leaste to the capital during the Jtaama this year. As a guest."
This made Alxx raise his eyebrows at this request, "....for social purposes?"
He asked with an enigmatic smile, knowing that during this pilgrimage many nobles or their representatives woulde to Adhan to perform the holy rite.
Even Amenheraft would be there.
But Alxx was not really interested in meeting anyone there.
He knew he was not weed by most Adhanian nobles, so what did it matter what the others did?
"Haha, no, no I know that you have no interest in that," And it seemed Lady Inayah knew Alxx well enough.
So she reasoned, "No, the reason why I want you toe is because I believe the journey will be quite fortuitous for you!"
"I believe you have a lot of gain from going there, so much so that you might even regret not going there."
This bold statement produced a intrigued low mutter from Alxx, "Oh?", as he could see little of that happening.
Other than the legummum, there was little he desired from Adhan.
And he was pretty sure Lady Inayah knew this.
So he waited for the ruler of Agrinat to exin herself.
And the maturedy began, "For instance, I remember that my lord wants to mint his own coinage."
"But have you thought about minting the ropal!?"
The moment she said this, it felt a loud boom had erupted across the whole room, and the whole ce seemed to have all its sound taken out.
The ropal was the exclusive coinage of the royal family and one of their most powerful trading tool to control Adhania.
For instance, the royal family could impose sanctions on misbehaving nobles using the ropal, by such as dering that their own coins could not be traded for the ropal, which would cripple their local economy because it meant they would be unable to pay the temple tithe demanded of them every year.
The royal family did not even need to go that far most of the time, as they could just peg the ropal too high against their coin to make them bleed.
This move would mean more expensive imports for the nobles, and though it would also make exports cheaper, but because many nobles produced just enough to satisfy their own needs, most could not export enough to take advantage of the lower export cost.
But they were almost socially forced to export many expensive things, such as fine food, clothes, timber, and jewelry to keep their social status.
And because no one noble was capable of producing everything they enjoyed, such policies would grievously hurt nobles below the Matbar (Marquiss).
,So Lady Inayah suggesting giving another power the ability to mint this, and thus removing this restraint and even enabling him to employ some of the aforementioned policies was an almost absurd thought.
It would be something like America giving another country the ability to print the dor.
And so understandably it was enough to make the Queen Mother go, "Inayah! What are you saying! Yo..you!"
It seemed it was her turn to be shocked as she thought, ''This kid is already hard enough to control as is. And Ptolomy has already made so many concessions."
''Now even giving him the ability ropals¡will we even be able to call ourselves the royal family a whileter?''
And Seelima knew that Lady Inayah must be aware of all the inside ys, which made her suggestion all the more shocking.
And in that same vein,, Alxx too was very much moved.
He certainly knew of the ropal''s powers and understood that if he had the ability to mint them, instead of making his own coin which had no name or prestige would make both his internal and external trade a hundred times easier.
Now, in this time period, a coin''s prestige was very important, as it made that coin made it very much recognized, and its value very much trusted.
Now what did it mean by ''very trusted value?''
Well for coins of this time, their value was usually determined by the amount of gold, silver, or any other precious metal it contained.
There were exceptions where nobles minted their own coin made of iron or bronze and fixed it against the ropal or gold, even when the value of the metal did not match the value of gold it represented.
But those were the rare exceptions, and never usable outside that noble''s particr territory.
Because if you only use it between yourself, you could even use bottle caps as currency.I think you should take a look at
But that did not mean other powers would exchange their gold and silver for your crappy coin.
So in general, coins were made of precious metals.
And many times the value of these metals was so much that they were usually never made purely out of them.
For instance, 1 gm of gold was 5 ropals, which was already too big of a note.
And conversely, if a coin was to be made of just 1 gm of pure gold, it would be also physically too small, making it prone to breaking or one losing it.
So usually coins were mixed with everyday metals to give them weight and dimensions.
And this gave the ones minting the coin the chance to mix more filler metal and decrease the weight of precious metals in their coins.
And because the public value of the amount of precious metal would be said beforehand, traders would trade ording to that, and lose out on every transaction.
This phenomenon was called debasing and had been widely practiced throughout human history, both here and in Alxx''s previous life, usually when an empire''s finances were not doing so great.
And it was not like only mixed coins were subject to this.
Even pure gold coins could have a bit of their edges shaved off, not enough to make a visible difference in size or weight, but in this way, over the minting of billions of such coins, tons of gold could be saved.
Or worse, so-called pure gold coins might just be mixed with impure metals to keep the coin''s size and weight but decrease its value.
Now, all such techniques could be caught.
In fact, this was the kind of problem the king had given Archimedes.
But as it could be easily seen it was a very hard thing to do in everyday trading, and made even harder when these lower quality coins would be mixed with genuine ones.
And this is where the ropal came in as it was very prestigious and its value ''very trusted''.
Because for all its faults, the Adhanian royalty had never debased its currency.
So the ropal was the standard that every noble traded against, confident they would get a fair trade.
And it was this trust in the coin that gave the royal family power to enforce the sanctions.
So knowing this background, it was not difficult to see the Queen Mother''s shock and Alxx''s intrigue.
"What do you mean, Lady Inayah?" And his tone clearly changed here, from nonchnce to thick anticipation.
"Haha, well, I know that you have some interesting things being made here. So if you could divulge some to His Highness¡." Lady Inayah trailed off in a wistful tone, indicating for Alxx to trade his inventions for the privilege.
"..." Alxx did not say anything but looked expectantly at the Queen Mother.
If the thing had the slightest chance of working, it would need the strong arm of the Queen Mother.
''No! Never! Forget it,'' And this was the instinctual response of Seelima.
But she intelligent woman did not utter them outright.
Seelima had known Lady Inayah long enough to know she would not make the suggestions without very deep consideration.
So she only clenched her teeth and lowly growled, ''Exin!''
"Haha, oh Seelima, I see that you are still stuck in time." Contrary to the heavy mood of her counterpart, the ckdy was much more breezy, as she reasoned, "The ropal had its power when the royal family was united. But now¡.well, I would not be surprised if Amenheraft starts minting his own coin."
"In fact, I think it is only a matter of time."
"And it is very possible that many pashas will switch to that."
Lady Inayah''s prediction made the Queen Mother flinch because this was not just possible, but inevitable.
Hence Lady Inayah''s next statements came naturally,
"So the question is how to boost the amount of ropal?"
"And I believe you know the answer."
As the mature nobledy then turned to Alexander to sweetly smile and say,
"This will require personal negotiations with His Majesty."
"And although I cannot promise anything, it is certainly worth a try, wouldn''t you say?"
It seemed Lady Inayah was right.
Alexander would really regret it if he passed up on this chance.
Chapter 513 Reasons To Go (Part-2)
Lady Inayah''s frank analysis of their situation made the Queen Mother think about a problem she had not yet considered.
The nobledy was 100% correct in saying that Amenheraft would start to mint his own coin.
And the would-be result of that was made very clear in Lady Inayah''s following analysis.
"The former king might be as poor as a beggar now, but that does not mean this situation willst too long." She began, exining,
"Because at one point, all the tithes from all the temples across the empire will being to him."
"They might not have arrived right now due to the provinces still recovering from the drought and making no ie, but within a few years, they will starting in without a doubt."
"And that will start making Amenherft fabulously rich."
Lady Inayah ominously hypothesized as a rich Amenheraft meant an Amenheraft with a big army.
And she was still not yet finished with her doom forecast, as she continued,
"Even if we assume not all the rest of the nine provinces pay their due, at least a few provinces will surely do."
"Many of the rulers of those provinces seriously believe in Amenheraft''s divinity and will surely proim their allegiance to their king."
"Which also means that all our ropals will start getting remelted into other coins, decreasing their supply and with it our influence."
"Until finally, we are left with nothing!"
As she finished, Lady Inayah''s final sentence made a chill run through the Queen Mother''s spine, and her hands involuntarily jerked.
Losing her power and influence was undoubtedly her biggest nightmare.
"So you are saying that by using the gold that Alexander gets from abroad, we can keep minting ropals and so keep our supply?" The Queen Mother had enough grasp of economics to understand that concept.
"Yes!" Came a swift nod, adding, "And not only abroad. We should also focus on doing trade inside our country,"
"Because by doing so we will be able to keep the supply of ropals high as we will not ept any payments except in ropals."
"Meaning everyone will need to keep ropals with them, and not remelt them to other coins."
''While trading with other countries with give us the gold we will need to contend with the nine provinces."
"Because you know, our biggest gold mines are in the Jahruma and Sahum provinces."
"And that''s also why I wanted Alexander to share some of his inventions." Lady Inayah finished with a nt eyeing on Alexander.
It seemed that just as the Queen Mother had predicted, the merchantdy had indeed made the offer after a great deal of thought, confident that the increase in production of all those new products would bring great benefits to them.
As for which particr products she was eyeing, well the specifics could wait.
"Increase trade? With other countries? Like you always wanted?" The Queen Mother, ignoring all the other analyses, chose to focus on those specific words and sent a sharp look upon hearing it.
The reason for this was because she was one of the hardline traditionalists who saw foreign trade as one of the core evils, and it was one of the very few core ideologies that she disagreed with Lady Inayah.
Though it was funny given she had no problem coborating with foreign powers to oust Alozmer.
But anyway, people did have contradictory personalities, and in the case of Seelima, she justified the deal as only a one-time thing, as opposed to doing regr trade.
"Haha, well a rising tide raises all ships." In response to the Queen Mother''s mild re, Lady Inayah only innocently chuckled the reply, ying it off like she was only an innocent bystander benefitting¡ which was kind of true.
"Hmph! I sure the rising tide bought with it a navy too!" The Queen Mother lightly snorted at this wag, but ultimately did not object to the proposal.
Because deep down she knew her counterpart was right.
The ropal was no longer the ultra-valuable currency it once was.
And if they did not take measures now, it plummeting through the ground was just around the corner.
And the Queen Mother would rather let ''these foreign influences'' as she liked to put it, enter Adhania than let Amenheraft win so easily.
But she also felt there was still onest roll of the die for her to y.
Hence putting on a coy look, she flitted her eyes, and in a warm voice said, "Lord Alexander¡are you willing to sell some of the gold you get? We will even buy it at a higher price, say 52,000 to the kilo."
It seemed the calcting woman saw the privilege of minting the ropal worth that higher price.
"Haha," And Alexander''s emptyugh as a reply said all that he thought about the deal.
Don''t mention a measly 2,000 to the kg, even an additional 20,000 would not move him enough to take the deal.
Which made the Queen Mother pull a wounded, helpless smile.I think you should take a look at
The expression was so natural, and she looked so weak and forlorn that it even made Alexander who knew of her true nature feel a great twinge of regret.
''Seductress! No wonder Alozmer had so many beauties, but still got wound up around her finger,'' He then cursed.
But seeing the Queen Mother was even now reluctant to wholeheartedly support the n, Alexander felt his reply might have been too rude.
So, as if to soothe a bit of the beautiful woman''s wounded heart, decided to make the redhead view it from another perspective.
"Your Highness, I believe you might not be viewing our deal the same way as I am."
"You see giving me the ropal is hardly as bad as you are making it to be."
"Because think about what happens if the ropals stay with you and I mint my own money."
"Then, if what Lady Inayah saides true, the ropal will not be secondary to Amenheraft''s currency, but possibly territory!"
Alexander very casually made quite the ballsy little im, saying that his one little city could produce more value than the biggest and one of the richest provinces in the country.
The size and poption difference between the two would even make the match between David and Goliath seem fair.
And any other time, just hearing this would be enough for the Queen Mother to simply walked away from the conversation then and there, saying, "I do not have the time to listen to lunatics."
But knowing that Alexander had just made a deal worth 800 million with the two, and it was likely just half of his stock, the Queen Mother was forced to take stock.
While Alexander was still speaking,
"So, you see, by giving me the ability to mint the ropals, you will be able to keep some of the exclusive powers thate with it."
"And I will be able to use the coin''s prestige to ease my trade andmerce."
"It''s a win-win."
The end of Alexander''s reasoning bought a while of silence among the trop.
"......" And for a while, the only sound the Queen Mother made was a low metallic humming as one of her beautifully manicured nails, painted a bright red circled the mouth of the bronze cup, while her eyebrows were furrowed in thought.
Alexander wondered if someone ced their ears on her head if they would be able to hear ''the spider'' weave its webs.
And it was quite a long while before the imperial woman opened her mouth,
starting with a sigh, "Ahhh¡." as she finally came to terms with her situation.
And finally acquiesced to the proposal, "Okay! I will talk to Ptolomy about it. It seems this is indeed something that needs to be done."
This got a bright smile and a "Yea" cheer from Lady Inayah, while even the usually reserved Alexander revealed his pearly whites.
If it was the love of his life making the offer, Ptolomy was far more likely to ede.
But still, the Queen Mother advised them to not get too excited, saying, "Even if I make the request, just as Inayah said, I cannot guarantee anything."
"Many others in court will certainly not like it," adding,
"And I''m even not sure he will agree to it."
"He might be weak, but it''s also this weakness that sometimes makes that child do stupid things. Because he thinks that those make him powerful."
"So it''s very much possible he will simply deny the request, or make an absurd demand."
The Queen Mother seemed to know Ptolomy quite well and said this in an exasperated tone like a mother would about a spoilt child, which was normal given that she basically raised him.
And finishing her talk by turning to look at Alexander, she very affirmatively said, "If you want to get the minting rights, you have toe to Adhan."
"Even if in name only, he is the king after all."
*Nod*
And Alexander agreed with a solemn affirmative shake.
There was a limit to how much one could get done by carrier pigeons and riders.
And no matter how much authority Ptolomy actually possessed, still, even as a formality Alexander was required to meet him face to face when wanting this monumental.
Never mind the deal was still not officially struck and there was still the slight chance of failure.
Hence Alexander made up his mind to go.
And in fact, it was not the only thing he needed to go for, as Lady Inayah would go on to list.
Chapter 514 Reasons To Go (Part-3)
The deal reached here put Alexander in quite the good mood.
He had not even considered that such an offer would be on the table.
And this critous mood seemed to be easily noticed by Lady Inayah.
"Haha, I''m d my lord likes my idea," The nobledy hence pointed out, and then asked the critical question, "So have you decided which products you want to sell the secrets to?"
"Hmmm," And this made Alexander subconsciously hum.
This was indeed a point to ponder on.
Paper was the first and easiest choice to choose to sell as it was a low-value but highlybor-intensive product to manufacture.
And for all that effort it would not even one that rich as there was not enough demand for papyrus anyway.
But as for all the others, Alexander was very reluctant to sell any.
The value of ss and sugar did not need to be said, but even the lingerie and soap had secret technologies that he was reluctant to part with so soon.
Inventions such as the spinning jenny and the chemistry of the soaps were something he still wanted to get some good years of use out of.
Not to mention all of them were all luxury products with high-profit margins, in much contrast with the paper.
As for his other industrial inventions like steel and cement, they were strategic resources that Alexander would not consider.
While Adhan had all the salt they even wanted, and Ptolomy would not be interested in the mass production of bricks as it was useless without the cement to effectively use it.
"...Mydy, would it be possible for me to use the recipe for the brown sugar?" Hence Alexander made this request, putting on a coy, shy face simr to the one Seelima had made.
"Hah!" And this got a short guffaw from the Queen Mother sitting next to them, almost mirroring the reply Alexander had given her regarding trading his gold for coins.
Oh, how the tables had turned!
And this little reply particrly pleased Seelima because when Alexander had given that reply, she had made a note in her mind to one day surely repay the favor.
But she never imagined the chance woulde so quickly.
While hearing the reply Alexander only shook his head as the expected result.
It was only natural the Queen Mother would try to take as much advantage as she could.
And Alexander quite regretted making that prior promise.
But he had only done that because he felt hoarding all the secrets to himself would alienate him even from his allies.
And because he could have never even predicted that such an offer would be even made.
But denied the chance to retract his previous promise, Alexander now got to thinking which products he found the least attractive.
"Lord Alexander, perhaps I can help!" And it was in this great time of his need that this saintly voice of Lady Inayah chimed beside his ear, who cunningly pointed out, "Remember, although you have sold us the brown sugar recipe, you have not agreed to let us sell it to the other nobles."
"So I believe you will be able to sell that to much of the court and buy their consent that way."
"And then His Majesty will be much more likely to agree!"
Lady Inayah pointed out a loophole that Alexander had simply not thought of, mostly because it required both Lady Inayah and Pasha Farzah to y along.
And this advice pleased him almost as much as it irrigated the Queen Mother.
''Ina¡Inayah you! Do you like this brat that much?" She spat out.
The Queen Mother felt this was one of the prime opportunities to swindle as much as she could from Alexander, most notably the white sugar recipe.
In fact, when she said she agreed to the proposal, it was said mainly with this product as the prize.
But none of it would work if Lady Inayah and Pasha Farzah did not cooperate.
And the reason why Lady Inayah did not wish to do so baffled her.
Clearly, she would also benefit from Alexander sharing his secrets.
While thedy in question, facing Seelima''s usatory and even somewhat angry look put on a light, angelic smile to say,
"Now, now Seelima. Alex here is our ally. And we should not try to scam him just because we have a chance here."
"What if he makes something even more amazing in the future and then refuses to share?"
"Now wouldn''t that be a tragedy?"
Lady Inayah knew the Queen Mother held some prejudice against Alexander, and felt she was being blinded by that emotion.
Now, this statement also showed that Lady Inayah was quite the visionary as many would feel the pinnacle of Alexander''s inventions had to be the white sugar.I think you should take a look at
Or they would be like Seelima, temporarily blinded by the value of the current thing in front of him to not adequately consider the future.
But in defense of the Queen Mother, there was indeed a reason behind the imperialdy''s rashness.
"If he does make something like that he can keep it. I will keep that 100,000 ropals a ton white sugar and be happy." Seelima brashly said out aloud, revealing her n.
They had not yet discussed which products each side wanted.
And for a moment, this revtion caused a bit of an awkward silence.
Alexander even noticed the Queen Mother go a bit red.
She could not remember thest time she had made such a rookie error.
Perhaps never.
But the fact that she had made it also went on to show how much she wanted that secret.
Because ording to her the value of this sugar was so much that she would rather take this guaranteed prize rather than wait for some illusory fruit that Lady Inayah was alluding to.
''Who knows how long that will be?'' She justified.
And in many ways, she was correct in her assessment.
Because Alexander really did not have any inventions which could match the sugar''s worth pound for pound.
Thus, hearing this desire, Alexander also made his desire clear with a casual wave of his palm, "The white sugar recipe is out of the question for now. You can keep your ropal."
The offhandedness with which he said it fully showed his stance.
And seeing it, after a while the Queen Mother could only reluctantly nod.
''Perhaps in a few years.'' But that did not mean she had given up on it entirely.
Only temporarily.
While Lady Inayah seeing this sagae to an end shed a consoling smile to Alexander and said, "Alex, take your time to make the decision. The meeting is in a few months away."
This made Alexander nod and say, "Thank you."
And these two words showed more respect and sincerity than a whole book could.
For Alexander felt that this nobledy had really helped him out here.
She could have easily joined Seelima to pressure him but she didn''t.
And whatever her reason was for doing so, that did not change the fact that Alexander had greatly benefited from it.
"Hahaha, oh Alex, you cutie. Don''t be like that! You''re making me blush," To Alexander''s serious demeanor, Lady Inayah replied only with a breezily, casual tone, and then pronounced, "Also, I do have other reasons I want you toe to Adhan."
"One is because I hope that you can entice some of the more neutral nobles to our site using your new things."
"You can decide what you will use to entice them and the price."
"And secondly because of that thing you mentioned to Pasha Farzah. I think it could be done if approved by His Majesty."
This cryptic sentence naturally drew the Queen Mother''s attention, while even Alexander was confused by what Lady Inayah was referring to.
Until she refreshed his memory.
"Oh you know, that idea of yours to secretly arm the northern barbarians with your steel weapons and have them attack Rahu and Saibad!" She said cidly.
"What!" And the instant Lady Inayah finished saying her sentence, the Queen Mother almost jumped up from her chair and then turned to look at both of them like they had lost their minds.
In fact, she was so shocked that her lips were trembling with disbelief, and struggled to find the words to describe her emotions.
Rahu and Saibad were Adhania''s two of the three northern provinces, and along with Matrak, they had always acted as the bulwark against the northern steep barbarians who wouldunch regr raids into Adhania to loot and plunder.
So to even suggest that they cooperate with those heathens to attack their country''s own territory was not even a thought that had crossed the Queen Mother''s mind.
It was beyond an absurd thought, like the US cooperating with a known terrorist group.
"That was just us spitballing. I wasn''t serious," And seeing this violent reaction, Alexander quickly tried to calm the engaged woman.
He knew how much the Adhanian nobility hated those tall, white men, and when he had bought the idea of secretly arming those nomadic horsemen with heavy iron weapons, something they seemed tock, and then pointing them toward their enemies, it was really him throwing out ideas and seeing which stuck.
"That may be, but Farzah and I think the idea was merit." While Lady Inayah did not appear at all fazed by the smoldering volcano sitting beside her, only turning to her to say,
"And Seelima, let us wait to hear what His Majesty has to say."
Now Alexander had three reasons to go to Adhan.
Chapter 515 Seelima And Inayah (R-18) (Part-1)
Lady Inayah''s numerous arguments for the trip finally convinced Alexander to take the journey to Adhan.
The potential upsides were too great, and the worst that could happen was himing back empty-handed.
He also considered this time to be the most optimal for two reasons.
One was the timing.
So the sooner he got his minting going the better.
The sooner he could make the other nobles defect to his own side the better.
And the sooner he could get the permission to arm the northern barbarians and have them attack Adhan''s territories to distract Amenheraft, the better.
While the second reason was that he felt that his borders were rtively secure right now, while from the next year, Alexander nned tounch yearly campaigns against other power.
As such he replied with a smile, "Okay Lady Inayah, you have convinced me. I will go to you Adhan during this year''s Jtaama."
"Excellent!" The answer naturally got a cheer from thedy, who then proposed, "Let''s celebrate."
And to that effect, Alexander raised his hand to roast but was surprised to see none of thedies follow.
Instead both thedies only stood up from their chairs.
"....???...." Alexander thus looked at the two in askance.
"Hehe, oh you innocent boy, that''s not what celebrate means here," Lady Inayah''s voice had suddenly changed here, from a joyous, businesslike tone to one hungry with desire.
Clearly, her celebrations were R-rated.
While the woman next to her, the Queen Mother only shed a yful smirk at him, while she wiggled her fingers towards her maid standing in the distance, who quickly got behind her and started undoing theplicatedcing of her extravagant dress.
Alexander''s lips twitched at this impending thing to ur.
It seemed both the women had a very particr n set up for him.
And he was not sure whether he should excuse himself, or gleefully eat the food being served to him.
And while he was in the midst of this indecision, the body that had so many times tempted him was finally revealed to him.
The heavy red gown of the fiery redheaded Queen Mother fell to the ground with quite some rustle, showing that thebined weight of the fabric and the numerous jewels embedded into them was not insignificant as Alexander focused on the body that was garbed it.
And though the Queen Mother still had her lingerie, it was a sight for him to behold.
The very first thing that attracted his eyes were naturally the twin peaks, which were even more abundant than he had guessed.
And as the two mountains were quartered by a bright red, heavily embellished,cy bra, it produced a deep valley that tempted Alexander to stick his face in and smother himself.
While moving below, the imperial woman had a smooth, blemishless tummy with some fat that gave it volume and added temptation.
Proceeding it was a willowy waist that seemed to sway in the wind, while her wide hips and the secret garden were covered by a simrly extravagantcy underwear.
And below that was possibly her most beautiful features, her meaty, toned thighs that most men would willingly suffocate under.
Once Alexander''s eyes moved from her upper, heavy assets it was of course drawn to the next best thing, the lower half of her underwear, which was stuck so snuggly that it seemed to vaguely from a cameltoe.
Alexander''s lips felt perched at that sight.
And best of all, all of these rich assets were covered with an exotic wheat-colored skin, that had no blemishes to speak of, and a healthy sheen that seemed to make the radiant woman glow.
"Like what you see!" Noticing Alexander''s zing gaze, the Queen Mother slightly stepped forward as she asked this, no said this, for she was that confident in her body, while she right hand on her hips to take a provocative pose, her huge melons swinging temptingly at Alexander, their deep ravine trying to suck in his eyes.
".....very!" Alexander tried hard not to take an audible gulp so as to not embarrass himself as his eyes fought hard to tear themselves off his majestic work of art.
Alexander had always known the woman possessed a killer body as her silhouette obviously showed that.
But knowing and seeing were twopletely different things.
And seeing the body for the first time, he would frankly admit he had grossly underestimated her charm.I think you should take a look at
So his eyes fully soaked in the sight, observing how her devilishly beautiful face perfectlyplimented her sinful body, and Alexander felt that her title as one of the most beautiful women in Adhania if not the world was fully earned.
And this was just the front side!
"Hehehe, my, my poor Alex. Are you so smitten by her that you forgot I even exist? Oh! I''m wounded," While from the side, came Lady Inayah''s yful, overly dramatic voice, as she too stepped forward, matching ranks with her counterpart and posed the same pose as the Queen Mother, only she used her left hand on her left hip.
Like Seelima, she too had shed her outer garments helped by the maid, and revealed a blue set of lingerie that was also heavily decorated and jeweled like Seelima''s.
It seemed Gelene''s business was doing well.
And as the two women stood side by side, Alexander''s eyes flittered between the two, finding it hard to foucs on any single.
There was the Queen Mother garbed in her red underwear, and giving off a unique glow from her wheat coloured skin tone, while left of her was Lady Inayah, garbed in blue underwear, her caramel skin glistening under the afternoon''s golden sunlight.
And since the two women possessed very simr bodily characteristics, with both having enormous peaks, a slender waist and the perfect hips, Alexander felt his eyes being torn from either sides.
And sensing the scorching gaze of a young man, two the women felt quite pleased at still having got it, while Lady Inayah giggled, "Hehe, tell me, do you like this view?" Or this!" as she twirled around to show her back side.
As did the Queen Mother.
And Alexander felt his appreciaion for the two bodies increased two fold.
Because while viewing from the front, Alexander would subconsciously prefer Seelima to Lady Inayah, as she was prettier, from the back, there was really no such distinction.
Lady Inayah''s jet ck hair contrastasted with the Queen Mother''s ming red one, as both manes reached their backs, which appeared like a wless piece of balck and wheat colored jade.
And belwo was was the thing that made Alexander truly hard, the two nks.
They were both huge, and perfect in theri shape and from, with a blue,cy underwear covering the ebony rump, while next to it was a wheat colored butt quordoned by bright red underwears of simr design.
Alexander could see slight beads of sweat on them, possibly due to the outside heat and becasue of being sat on for so long, which seemed to eminate a sweet, musky smell, and being an ass-man, Alexander had to try hard to not grab the two peahcs and start squeezing them.
And as if they could read Alexander''s desires, the two butts seemed to move towards a bit, as both women bent a bit, and even let Alexander see some of the outline of thier secret caves.
These women really knew how to tempt men.
And a whileter turned they around to face Alexander, thier eyes sqaurelynding on Alexander''s hard tent.
Which made Lady Inayah grin, and the Queen Mother produce a triumphant smirk.
While Alexander, having pleased his eyes enough then produced a helpless smile to say to the Queen Mother, "Your Highness, His Majesty promised to dere war on me if I did anyhting to you¡or with you."
Alexander did not mind the strip tease, but anything beyond that did not seem prudent, though he was truly reluctant to obey thatmand.
The meal looked too appetizing.
But this deration only produced a haughty bark from the proud imperial woman, "Hah! Who does that brat think he is?"
"I will sleep with whomever I want until he marries me. Till then I can even tie him up and make him watch!"
Clearly the Queen Mother was of the mind to live her life on her terms, and if Ptolomy really did marry her one day, it is likely that he would be sitting and standing by hermand.
While from the side Lady Inayah chimed, "What His Majesty doesn''t know, won''t hurt him," to soothe Alexander''s concern.
Which was true given they were in a secluded part of the manor, purposefully designed as such to give the Queen Mother some privacy, and the only witness being the maid who Alexander had never heard speak.
As the half-nudedy then reminded with a giggle, "Besides, you were just talking about killing him. Where has that courage gone?"
''Eh, true.'' And with that reminder, Alexander''sst inhibitions were wiped away, and he decided to enjoy the food in front of him.
"So, may I know why you want to do this?" But before that, he wanted to confirm there were no hidden strings attached.
"Haha, rx this is not Thesos. We Adhanians take sex much lightly," And understanding this, came Lady Inayah''s light chuckle, while the Queen Mother''s answer was much more straightforward, "Because I want to."
Following which she approached the still-sitting Alxx, her crotch directed towards his mouth as she then hungrily ordered, "Lick it!"
And Alexander was all too happy to oblige.
Chapter 516 Seelima And Inayah (R-18) (Part-2)
As the Queen Mother stepped forward and gave her order, the meal ced before Alexander tantalized three of his five senses.
First came the sight, which went without saying that it was beautiful, no magnificent, as the red underwear hid the woman''s most precious spot.
And as Alexander craned his head forward to get a look, he found that he could faintly make out the vague outline of the flower garden, and even noticed a slight dark patch on the lower half.
Clearly, the Queen Mother very much wanted this.
Then there was the smell, which was a rich, musky mature odor that Alexander could only describe as an aphrodisiac for men.
And at the odor''s request, Alexander let his nose directly smash against the thin linen fiber, and started grinding it, taking in the hot, musky smell.
*Sniff*, *Sniff*, *Sniff*
And therge audible whiffs spoke volumes of the extent of his liking
It was heavenly.
And soon came the taste, as Alexander bought out his tongue, and started savoring the salty, musky juices, flowing out even through the fabric.
"Ah! Yes!" Even at this rtively, the Queen Mother seemed very pleased, as she then grabbed a fistful of Alexander''s hair and locked his face against her crotch, before starting to grind them by herself.
While Alexander diligently continued performing his duties, taking in the mature woman''s ambrosia and loving every second of it.
"Oh! Coming!" And a whileter, the Queen Mother howled her release, holding nothing back in her shout as she pressed Alexander hard against her groin.
And her moan was so loud that it echoed off the veranda and into the far distant sea beach.
So, it was probably a good thing that there was nobody in the vicinity, neither around the room nor anyone below the veranda.
''So sensitive!'' While Alexander below eximed in his mind at the womaning even through her cloth, before quickly feeling that the woman''s crotch had again started grinding against his deft tongue.
''And she recovers so quickly!'' Alexander found out.
It appeared Seelima was one of the rare women who were hypersensitive and woulde quickly, but nheless could go on without taking a rest, only growing bit by bit wilder after each release.
This was also one of the reasons her husband had loved her.
After all, which man doesn''t want the satisfaction of knowing he can please his woman in bed and drive her wild?
As Alexander understood this and resumed his work, the free Lady Inayah approached her ''sister in bed'' from behind, and whispered, "Hehe, enjoying Alex all by yourself, how greedy! Here let me really lick you."
The hot breath against her ear made the Queen Mother quiver a bit in anticipation, as she quickly felt a pair of fingers clip her underwear band on either side and then in one swift motion, pulled them down to her ankles, making her lower half finally nude!
And this revtion naturally made Alexander pull back his head to get a better view of the sights and found the garden every bit as beautiful as he would have imagined it to be.
On the top was a small, well-kept red bush gracing the mons pubs, it now moist it thick juices, while below it was the precious pearl still hidden by a thick hood, followed by the healthy, bright redbia that bloomed like the most beautiful flower, hidden within which was the holy grail, out of which flowed copious amounts of honey, while a few lewd stings of glistening juices trailed from it, still clinging stubbornly to the underwear.
The sight was heavenly and the smell raw and hungry.
It was the pheromones of a female in prime condition, and Alexander''s base instinct could only urge him to breed her.
"Had a good look?" While from above, the Queen Mother unabashedly smirked at Alexander starting at her most precious spot, seeming to love the boy''s attention down there, as she then urged him to continue the service.
"Ahhh!" And a short moan quickly escaped her, as Alexander started to eagerlyp up the juices, savoring the raw taste of ambrosia, and using his tongue to paint her garden with his juices.
He first kept his tongue around her vagina, licking, sucking, and kissing thebia minora and eliciting loud moans, "Ahh, yes, do it like that¡ohhhing¡"
After a while of which he decided to move on to the actual prize- the hot, dark cave.I think you should take a look at
While in the meantime, at the back, Lady Inayah, who was not willing to let Alexander have all the fun, decided to take control of the Queen Mother''s other hole, as after removing Seelima''s underwear, the ebonydy squatted down to part the creamy flesh of her sister, revealing to the world something it had rarely seen, the Queen Mother''s puckered hole.
It was a healthy, pink color and as the bright sunlight shone on it, even the creases and rumpled rings around it seemed to be more beautiful.
While the sudden contact with the air and anticipating the impending act made the hole itself twitch with pleasure.
"Hehehe, it''s nice to see you again *chuu*," And knowing this, without further ado, Lady Inayahnded a heavy kiss on the hole, her hot breath entering the tunnel and making Seelima arch her head back and scream in pleasure.
"Ahhh, yes, that''s it. Ohh nice!"
Seelima loved getting both her holes teased at once.
And this euphoric feeling elerated as she felt two actual tongues invade her twinher holes simultaneously, as Alexander finally inserted his tongue into the actual hole and imed his prize, relishing in its mature taste and loving how the hot cave squished his soft organ, its wall dancing with pleasure.
While on the opposite side, Lady Inayah also snaked her pink tongue up the narrow canal and started thrashing around, smashing it against the intestinal lining, and taking in the musky vor."
And this made Seelema let out unrestrained moans one after one, each one louder than the other, as she started to experience consecutive orgasms soon.
"Ahhh¡oohhh¡mmnnn¡ehhhh,"
And a whileter, no coherent words could be hearding from the haughtydy, only lustful songs.
Working below, Alexander was surprised to hear the usuallyposed woman lose so much of herself to pleasure as if the knots tying her uptight personally were being slowly chipped by the constant waves of pleasure, and so decided to up the ante, as he moved his hands, which were currently resting on his thighs to her creamy butt.
He had always dreamed of fondling them when staring at them from behind.
And so now that he had the chance, he literally grasped the opportunity with both hands, as his palms rejoiced at meeting the juicy rump and started to enjoy them.
They were soft, firm, and fleshy, and Alexander''s hands moved almost as if they had a will of their own, softly caressing, strongly squeezing, gently kneading, and even lightly pinching them.
Her bubble butt was an exquisite part to experience and the warmth and sensation he got from made him feel as if his hands had be glued to the rotund globules.
This rough action naturally got another high-pitched howl of approval from the regal woman, who soon felt Lady Inayah''s hand the fray, doubling her pleasure and driving her insane.
And once Alexander started to peel back her hood and directly attack her pearl, sucking, kissing, and mostly importantly biting it, the imperial woman finally came in a way she had rarely done in a long time.
"Ahhh¡ehhhhhh¡ohhhhh," The Queen Mother''s knees went a bit weak and she became a little bowl legged as she tried to support herself, while she thrusted her garden forward against Alexander''s face, totally flushing it with her juices.
The woman was an asional squirter, and more particrly, did it only during intense releases.
"Hah¡hah¡hah.." Finally, aftering who knows how many times, the Queen Mother atst began to show some fatigue, as she let go of Alexander and took in deep breaths.
"Hahaha, so how was it Alex?" While from behind, Lady Inayah got up to ask Alexander with a cheerful smile.
And matching her eyes Alexander smiled the sincere reply, "Her Highness truly is the most beautiful woman in Adhania, " whilepping up all the residue juices around the lips.
He quite liked this thick mature taste.
"I know right! I''ve been always a bit jealous of her," Lady Inayah yfully shot back to Alexander with this, while simultaneously nting her eyes towards the Queen Mother, or more specifically her still bound breasts.
And then with a mischievous glint in her eyes, her ws suddenly dug into the two masses of fluffy goodness, giggling, "Especially these! They are bigger than mine, hehehe."
"Ahhh! No Inay¡ehhhh!" And as soon as thedy grabbed the Queen Mother''s twin peaks and started fondling them, the still-sensitive woman was overloaded with pleasure once again and came not just once, but multiple times in short bursts, her eye bing almost white.
"Here, let me get these out of the way. Help you breathe," While Lady Inayah, masquerading herself as a helpful samaritan, then deftly unsped the Queen Mother''s bra, letting it fall to the ground and finally showcasing to Alexander the two mounds that had always drawn his eyes.
Full, fluffy, and firm, the perfectly shaped breasts were immacte, and the way their mass made them oblong only added to their charm, while on the tips of the wheat-colored breasts were a pair of fine, pink buds, each surrounded by a smallke of sakura.
Chapter 517 Seelima And Inayah R-18 (Part-3)[Bonus ]
Alexander''s throat suddenly felt parched seeing the huge melons sway tempting at him, a sight which was made instantly made a few times better when they were propped up the two hands behind them, which then started to fondle them into various shapes.
"These are something else, aren''t they Lord Alexander," Lady Inayah grinned wildly as she started to massage the beautiful organ, making the Queen Mother start to moan again.
And as the skillful hands squeezed, kneaded, and pressed the huge melons, followed by grabbing the perky buds and then pinching and twisting them, euphoric howls began toe out of Seelima''s mouth.
"Mmmm, yes¡Inayah you really know your thing¡ ahhh¡pinch harder!" Lady Inayah clearly knew how to pleasure her counterpart, and soon it made the Queen Mothere.
And finally, having had enough pleasure to sate her lust for now, the Queen Mother decided to rest for a while Lady Inayah finally stepped forward to say, in a slightly pouty voice, "Alex, you are only paying attention to her. Have you forgotten there is another woman beside her?"
"Haha, of course not, of course not," Alexander quickly run forward at the usation, and getting behind her, quickly started to free the beautifuldies trapped boobs.
And as they were freed, huge globules bounced yfully in the air, before Alexander started to massage them just like Lady Inayah had done to the Queen Mother.
And they felt every bit good as they looked, causing him to immerse himself in squeezing the huge melons and twisting the stiff buds.
"Lady Inayah''s breasts are truly a marvel of the gods." He could not help but whisper near the ear, while his stiff tent ground against thedy''s rear crack, feeling the heat even through the underwear.
"Ahh, good boy," And this made the ckdy moan, as her hands snaked to touch the engrossed organ, and when she found Alexander was still clothed, cooed in a pitiful voice,
"Oh, you poor boy. Why are you still clothed? Let Aunt help you."
Saying which she quickly turned around and as Alexander took off his tunic, Lady Inayah undid the knot on his pants and pulled it down.
And as the turgid organ sprung to life, almost hitting her face, Lady Inayah was shocked by the size.
"Alex! What happened to you?" She asked incredulously.
Because the size, shape, and girth of the organ Lady Inayah knew from before was nowhere to be seen, instead being reced by a monster.
Of course, this had happened because after the Shiva drugs showed no side effects, Alexander also started having them regrly, with the change being quick and startling.
Just as Ophenia had described, the miraculous medicine grew his penis to be longer and fatter, and its sauce to be thicker.
And the change was so noticeable that his women who had even slept with his just three days ago would find it visibly different.
In fact, it was so efficacious that it actually made Alexander fear that he had inadvertently developed a tumor.
But fortunately, those fears were alleviated when he saw past a particr point, the organ stayed the same.
But that point was still humongous.
"Haha, well I''m still growing," Alexander made up this excuse at Lady Inayah''s question, while the ckdy seemed not to care, instead appearing to be more interested in the organ itself.
And deciding to have a further look, she started to use her hands to inspect it.
And soon Alexander began to feel the soft palms squeeze the rigid spear, as Lady Inayah marveled, "Really! You youngsters are something else," before saying with twinkles in her eyes, "Let''s have a taste."
Following this Alexander felt his hot rod be licked on the head by Lady Inayah''s warm, pick tongue, which flicked off the clear precum and deposited inside her mouth, and an instantter came to a squeal of ecstasy, "Ohh, just the precum is so thick! By the gods!"
Lady Inayah shuddered to think what the actual thing would taste like.
And just that though made here a bit.
And then, without any dy, the hungry cougarunched her mouth against the hard spear, opening wide and starting to take in the whole thing bit by bit, her head bobbling up and down near Alexander''s crotch as she did, with each cycle making her lips get closer and closer to the base root until the whole giant organ was inside.
Lady Inayah might have been surprised by the size, but that did not mean she could not handle it.
*Chuuppp*, *Skkk*, *Chuuupp*
And once she took it in, she started to rapidly move back and forth, as an obscene sound began to reverberate across the room as Lady Inayah administered her fetio.
While Alexander felt he was in heaven, as the experienced woman produced a sealed vacuum and sucked him with all her might, eager for the white sauce.
Unlike the other blowjobs his women did Alexander, where their main aim was to please him, this time, the goal seemed to be only the giver''s pleasure, and it resulted in a much rougher and primal affair.I think you should take a look at
Though Alexander did not dislike this type of y, and as he gazed down at the woman diligently bobbing her head up and down, leaving a clear,yer of saliva on his spear, his eyes were suddenly drawn to the breasts underneath her chin.
And soon his idle hands were idle no more, and they relished the soft, pillowy feeling.
''These boobs were definitely among the best of the best'' He said to himself.
While Lady Inayah, feeling her mammaries getting toyed with felt even more turned on, and looked up to send an amorous gaze at Alexander, before it turned a bit mirthful, as she parted her legs to form an M, and parted her underwear to start masturbating.
*Squelch*, *Squelch*, *Squelch*,
It seemed thedy was open to giving Alexander quite the show, as he noticed her hot snatch take three fingers simultaneously, and this produced a nasty sound that mixed with the wet sucking sound to make the air y a chorus of depravity.
This lewd scene and the expert work of Lady Inayah''s tongue soon produced results as feeling one particr flick of the warm tongue against his frenulum, Alexander was pushed to his limits, and moaned, "Ahhing."
And an instantter, Lady Inayah''s head was grabbed by two powerful hands and her face pinned against the groin, before Alexander thrusted his penis deep into her warm, velvety gullet, to deposit his thick, creamy load.
*Spurlt*, *Splurt*, *Spulrt*
And as the white turbid liquid painted her inside, "Mnnnnmmm!" Lady Inayah would only helplessly emit a low groan, while her cheeks puffed up to amodate the almost inhumane amount.
*Gulp*, *Gulp*, *Gulp*
But soonrge swallowing sounds became audible, as the experienced woman adjusted herself, and began to savor the taste- the thick, creamy, heavenly taste.
''Oh god! I will addicted to it!'' Lady Inayah squealed in her mind at the superb taste, and even before Alexander could finish his first orgasm, Lady Inayah began to form a vacuum and suck again, eager to clean his pipes.
"Ahhggh," And for the ''still sensitive from cumming'' Alexander, this act was both painful and immensely pleasurable.
Thus for a while, the only sound around the two was the loud slurping and sucking sound emanating from a maturedy who sat squatted in a lewd M form as her drooling honey cave wetted the wooden floor below with turbid spring water.
"Ahhhhhh!" And finally, after what felt like an eternity did Lady Inayah finally release Alexander''s nowid organ.
And then with stars shining in her eyes, she looked up to Alexander and sh a lewd grin to say,
"Oh Alexander! Where were you all my life? The sperm was so rich, and thick!"
"If I had known you had this, I would not have bothered with the sugar recipe!"
Lady Inayah appeared smitten by the taste, and her appraisal even made the Queen Mother who had recovered question, "Is it that good Inayah?"
She knew Lady Inayah had good taste.
And this got the ebonydy chuckling as she simply said, "I would eat my bread with it."
Lady Inayah had basicallypared Alexander''s release with butter, as she then turned to the still-sleeping monster and bought her lips closer to give it a shower of kisses to show her appreciation.
"*Chuu*, thank you. *Chuu*, thank you for tasting so good. *Chuu*, please let me again have a taste. *Chuu*, I loved it."
Lady Inayah licked the head, the shaft, the base, and even the balls, as she then started to swallow the family jewels, twirling them around inside her mouth, and making Alexander hard once again.
It seemed Lady Inayah was smitten.
Finally, at longst, Lady Inayah''s mouth separated itself from the huge organ, as she then turned to the Queen Mother to offer, "Wanna try?"
Lady Inayah''s suggestion made Seelima''s eyes finallynd on the huge organ, and her eyes became thick with lust and desire.
Even her throat began to feel parched and felt that musky, white liquid oozing out from that delicious organ was the perfect refreshment.
But the Queen Mother did not approach to give him a head.
Instead, her face strangely produced a slightly disgusted look, as she then instead haughtily turned around andmanded, "Let''s move the divan, Inayah. I want to see if his size matches his skill."
It seemed the Queen Mother here wanted to see Alexander''s endurance.
Chapter 518 Seelima And Inayah (R-18) (Part-4)
The reason why the Queen Mother refused to taste Alexander was because she saw sex as a powery game, where the one doing the servicing was lower than the one receiving it.
And since the Queen Mother had always been in the lower category, and had only reached the upper category recently, she was reluctant to perform these ys, even if they would be pleasurable to her.
She only made others give them to her, which was also why she made Alexander give her a cunnilingus.
And such preference would manifest even in the preceding part of the celebrations as Alexander was made to lie down on his back on the soft devan, his back sinking into the soft cushion, while the twodies approached him.
"It''s quite the tool isn''t it!" Lady Inayah could not help but again marvel at Alexander''s hard penis that was standing up proudly into the sky, her lower half drooling to have a taste.
While the scenery was arguably even more beautiful from Alexander''s point of view, as two busty, fully naked women approached him from either side, one sporting a small red bush, the other a jet ck one, as both their heavy breasts swung devilishly with each step, make Alexander even harder.
"Hmph! Let''s see it feels as good as it looks," The Queen Mother put on a tough act at Lady Inayah''s praise, though her eyes could be seen being subconsciously drawn to the fat dragon.
''It''s so thick! And veiny! Oh!'' The heavy-looking monster was incredibly grotesque by any standard of artistic judgment, but seeing his almost club-like meat rod, covered in thick veins Seelima''s heart skip a beat.
Her womanly instincts were telling her that this was the cock of an apex predator, and she wanted it.
"Well then Your Highness, he''s all yours," And as if Lady Inayah could smell the need from her sister, she offered the first go with a smile.
And the Queen Mother was more than happy to ept.
So without any further ado, Seelima slipped her leg over Alexander''s thigh and got on top, now staddling him as her swollen lower lips hovered just above the engrossed, bulbous red head, while clear, hot water from the top slowly drenched Alexander''s organ and made it hellishly hard for him not to resist the urge to thrust his hips up and smash those hips.
But soon his thirst was quenched, as after a few short, tantalizing rubbing between the two organs, the heat from the rod was too much for the Queen Mother to resist, and she plopped her hips down with the brave words, "Be sure to entertain me boy!"
A bravado that she came to regret instantly.
Because as the wide tip of his thick, veiny spear spread her vulva and vaginal walls, the Queen Mother felt a sense of satisfaction she thought she had forgotten.
"Ahhhhh¡Nnnnh¡«" And a loud moan escaped her lips to express that feeling.
This was it.
Seelima realized that this was the feeling had been missing for so long.
A fullness she couldn''t imagine.
It was as if their lower parts were created for each other.
As if their forms were molded to fit just like this.
It was a divine feeling.
While Alexander too simrly felt an exquisite feeling fill his lower half as his organ entered the hot canal.
It was hot, moist, and most surprisingly of allfortable.
It was not oppressively tight, nor hot nor loose, but the walls simply snuggly hugged the organ and massaged him, their peristaltic movements bringing Alexander ever closer with each cycle.
Alexander wanted to be inside it all day ande over and over again without ever leaving, a feeling he had rarely encountered during sex.
While for the Queen Mother, just having the hard cock was not enough.
She wanted to relish it to the full.
So soon she began to ride Alexander with full abandon, as she ced her hands on his thighs and started to move her hips fast and hard, her heavy butt smashing against Alexander''s thighs, and her hips kissed Alexander''s, producing a wet, lewd sound.
-p- -p- -p-
The mating was wide and primal and seeing how her heavy breasts swung wildly side to side, and her red mane fluttered in the wind, Alexander also began thrusting from below, with the Queen Mother loudly moaning every time his bulbous head hit her cervix.
"Ahhnh... Nhhhn.., HhaAnh..."
-p- -p- -slop- -slop- -p- -p-
"AhhhNhhaAaa... NaahHhnhh... AahHhhh..., AhahHNn..."
Seelima really did not care who heard her as she screamed her lungs out, unable to form coherent words.I think you should take a look at
And her voice reached a new octave when Alexander could no longer hold back the temptation to feel the swinging melons and decided to y with them, grabbing them with both hands and starting to y with them.
They were naturally heavenly to touch, soft, firm, and heavy, his fingers dugs into the marshmallowy goodness and refused to leave.
While the pink nipples were hard and stiff, and when Alexander started to pinch and twist them, he felt the walls around his shaft contract and squeeze him harder, while Seelima let out another howl.
And this mating act continued for who knows how long until finally Alexander began to reach climax and let the Queen Mother know.
"Agghhh, I''ming. Let out," He moaned, knowing that cumming inside was a bad idea.
But Seelima showed no sign of slowing down.
Instead, upon hearing it, she actually sped up, as if eager to taste the seed inside her, while Lady Inayah, who had been patiently waiting for her turn on the side, cooed, "Don''t worry about it, Alex. We have the medicine for any idents."
She was obviously referring to the legumum, and Alexander thanked the gods for that nt.
Because Alexander too felt too good to want to pull out, and with the legummum, he was assured that could deposit his seed into the hot cave of this haughty woman without worry.
And so soon with a groan, and onest thrust, Alexander let his seed erupt, scalding the mature woman''s inside, and painting it white, as a wave of euphoria washed over him, his body rejoicing at being able to bed such a beautiful woman.
While the Queen Mother let out an ear-splitting howl that dwarfed any other.
"Kyaahhhhh¡ hahhhhhh."
She was a screamer and as she felt the hot sauce fill up her insides, the thickness and quantity were so much that she imagined her belly bulging up and her eyes rolled back and her tongues slightly stuck out.
''I''m definitely going to get pregnant,'' She thought as she felt the thick, jelly-like sperm spread through her cervix into her womb, dying her insides white, and for a moment, being able to carry the offspring of such a potent male filled her heart with joy.
While Lady Inayah from the side gave a triumphant smirk looking at the Queen Mother being broken out of her facade.
She knew something like this was going to happen the moment she had tasted that thick sauce, that seemed to be still stuck in her throat.
In fact, in the intervening time she had waited for the two to finish enjoying their act, she was actually busy scraping her teeth, gums, and the inside of her cheeks for any remnants of the goody goodness, and munching on them, savoring their salty, musky vor.
And because it had been Alxx''s first load, it was especially rich and creamy, so with each gulp of the thick sauce that she ingested, her pussy throbbed that much more for the real deal.
The taste had been nothing Lady Inayah had before and it even made her feminine instinct to ask, ''Hmm, should I get a child with him?'' though it was not yet an issue to really seriously ponder¡yet.
While on the other side, the Queen Mother was still sitting on Alexander''s hips without moving, only taking in heavy breaths, as his crotch began to be flooded with the white turbid liquid.
It seemed that Seelima''s womb could not contain so much of the released seed and it was freely leaking through the unplugged hole now that the penis was temporarilyid
But the Queen Mother did not get up and release Alxx.
She was still not satisfied yet.
And neither was Alexander as his little brother began to spring to life inside her.
Just cumming twice would never be enough for him.
And soon, both man and woman were ready to go.
"No fair! It''s my turn next!" But as the Queen Mother was getting ready to start round two, her hips stirring from their slumber, Lady Inayah gave this protest.
And she was then promptly ignored by the Queen Mother, who began her pumping once again, slowly increasing her speed, and making Lady Inayah pout a bit.
''Hmmph! Just be she''s a royal,'' The ebonydy spat indignantly at the Queen mother not respecting her turn, before consoling herself by saying that her sister was much more pent up and she needed it more than her.
And so soon, the act resumed with the same, if not more gusto.
While Lady Inayah, after seeing it for a while suggested this to the Queen Mother, "Se, you have already shown Alex your boobs."
"Why don''t you turn around and show her your butt?"
"I have always seen him ogling at those, hehehe."
And this sounded like a great idea to Seelima, who quickly flipped herself and presented her huge ass to Alexander, before continuing the act.
Chapter 519 Seelima And Inayah (R-18) (Part-5)
When Lady Inayah said that she found Alexander ogling at the Queen Mother''s mother this was indeed true.
He would very inconspicuously swipe his eyes over the prime rump in his casual day-to-day interactions.
And who could me him?
It would be a crime to not gaze at such a beauty.
But he was also sure to keep it as discreet as possible.
And was pretty confident no one would be able to catch him in the act.
So imagine his surprise when Lady Inayah revealed his lecherous act to the person involved.
If Alexander was not currently being ridden on, he would have certainly blushed and been found out.
And so his heart was filled with doubts about how he was caught.
Whereas the truth was much simpler.
Lady Inayah had never actually seen Alexander do it but made it up ording to past experiences as she had seen the Queen Mother get such looks from other men.
While the woman in question really could not care less what Alexander had done.
Because currently her lust-filled head wanted one thing and only one thing only- More pleasure.
And if that could be achieved by showing her butt to Alexander, she would dly oblige.
Hence, upon Lady Inayah''s advice, thergedy deftly swung around with an expert twist of her hips, using Alexander''srge penis as the fulcrum, and present her magnificent nks to him.
They wererge, voluminous, and soft, with an exotic wheat color, and seemed to have a beautiful golden sheen to them as the golden afternoon sun reflected off the tiny beads of sweat that had formed on them, making them almost glow and glitter.
Alexander really could not have asked for a better view and made a note to thank Lady Inayah for her suggestionter.
For now though, he decided to enjoy the proceeding act, as once the Queen Mother was in position, she bent down to grab Alexander by his legs, and started to rapidly move her hips, hungry for her second round of the milk.
*p*, *p*, *p*,
"Ahhhh¡ oohhhh¡ nmnnnm¡"
The lewd wet sounds were apanied by the canary-like singing of the Queen Mother.
While, from Alexander''s point of view, he was witness to a truly memorable scene.
He saw the wless back of the Queen Mother draped in long red hair dance to the tune of her hips, while her ripe butt cheeks shed against Alexander''s hips faster and faster, the fleshy butt swaying and rippling like jello with each strike, with even her wless pink puckered hole being revealed in her current bent down posture.
While the beautiful woman rode him with such speed and ferocity that he could even see the lower half of them turn red from the repeated flesh ps.
But the Queen Mother did not seem to care about how her ass looked right now.
In fact, those slightly stinging sensations from the reddened areas only seemed to make the Queen Mother moan louder as she searched for even more pleasure.
''Ahhh! The way his cock scraps against my walls and pries them open! Magnificent!''
''And nobody has gone so deep, ohhh! I cum everything his giant head hits my cervix.'' Seelima screamed to herself in ecstasy, as she continued to experience orgasms after orgasms with each ride.
And soon her pleasure increased as Lady Inayah decided to insert herself into the y, feeling she had given the imperial woman enough alone time with Alexander.
So, the ebony woman approached the Queen Mother to pry open her sexy butt cheeks and started to lick her pink hole making Alexander feel the walls around him constrict harder
Clearly, the Queen Mother liked it.
And a bitter, Alexander began to feel the strength of the squeeze inside the pussy increase much higher.
This was because when just tonguing her was not enough for her, Lady Inayah began to finger the hole, and it made Seelima happier.
And the constriction reached its apex after Alexander took Lady Inayah up on the following invitation.
"Hehe, here Alexander, youe too. Let''s mess up Se together." The ckdy had offered with a mischievous grin, as she parted the cheeks and pointed to insert his fingers into the empty hole.I think you should take a look at
And Alexander was all the more happy to oblige.
So his thick third finger easily slipped into the lubricated, hot canal, and was quickly joined by two of Lady Inayah''s much slender fingers, and shortly after these three began to dance around the tight tunnel, stimting it and driving the Queen Mother insane.
"Ahhh¡ Ina¡ you bad girl¡ Fuck!... Ohhhhh!" The redhead shouted at the top of her lungs, while Alexander felt her walls squeeze him to a dangerous degree.
So much so that in fact it seemed to him that the Queen Mother might be able to crush weaker cocks with just her pelvic muscles.
"*Pah*, loosen up," And feeling his cock get squashed, Alexander gave a spank on the butt.
But it only managed to make the walls somehow even harder.
While Alexander''s palms sang at the sensation that came from hitting her ass.
It was so soft and springy and the sound so crisp and clear that Alexander felt he was dreaming.
It was an exquisite, prime piece of ass that Alexander could hardly believe he was being allowed to touch.
And given the other side did not mind the hit, so Alexander did not hold back and began to userge, heavy strikes on the pillowy nks.
*pah*, *pah*, *pah*
He had always dreamed of grabbing those magnificent globules, but never thought it would be possible given the political situation and that the Queen Mother had initially somewhat disliked him.
So, as he was given the chance to hit, much less grab them, Alexander made sure to make use of it to its fullest and even leftrge, red hand prints on them as a sign of his dominance.
While from the side, Lady Inayah was genuinely surprised by this y, as from what she knew about Seelima, she hated being spanked because of how she felt it put her as the lower partner of the two in bed.
And so, given that Alexander was being allowed to do just that, and with such ferocity that she would likely have trouble sitting for the next few days, Lady Inayah felt the Queen Mother was currently really not in her right mind and was being only driven by lust.
And the only reason that she could think of why was the thing she was riding on.
''Is it even better than I thought?'' Lady Inayah eagerly thought and felt even more regret for letting Seelima have another round before.
And was determined that she would not let her get a third one.
So, to get Seelima to finish quickly, Lady Inayah''s hands even began to snake to her front and after finding her clitoris after a bit of searching, she began to pinch the sensitive bud with her might.
"Kyahhhh¡ ohhhhh¡ mnnnnn," And this made the Queen Mother howl even harder, and squeeze her walls tighter, which in turn made Alexander spank her harder, and made the Queen Mother even hornier, resulting in a positive cycle.
And soon, Alexander came with a groan, flooding the canals for a second time and making the Queen Mother''s mind be filled with white bliss as she dropped her head low in orgasmic bliss.
This time though, she did not get the chance to rest on Alexander''s hips to recover.
Instead, she was lightly pushed off him by Lady Inayah, which resulted in a low *plop* sound as hisid organ slipped out of the hot tunnel, albeit reluctantly given how strongly Seelima''s walls still pulsed to hold him in.
And then she was made to rest on the divan, as her lower half dyed the soft, leather cushion a milky white as the rich sauce slowly leaked out.
While Lady Inayah got to work waking the sleeping giant up, and after a few pumps with her hands and some good, loud sucks that cleaned his pipes, Alexander was ready to go.
"Oh! Youth is such a precious thing," Seeing Alexander''s rapid recovery speed, Lady Inayah would not help but let out a cry of delight, though it was really the shiva drug he had to thank for that.
It was really a miracle drug when it came to sex.
But Lady Inayah did not know all these things and simply figured Alexander to be that virile, which increased her liking of him even more.
"Come to Alexander, get up. You can''t be a salted fish and expect such women to pleasure you all the time can you?"
And as Alxx was ready to be mounted, this sound reached his ear.
It seemed the maturedy in a rare twist decided to let Alexander take charge.
And to that effect, after saying that, Alexander could see Lady Inayah get beside him, and quite possibly Alexander''s favorite position on the devan.
This prompted Alexander to quickly get up and experience the view for himself, for the ebonydy had gotten on all her four limbs and raised her plump, ck ass to him, submitting both her shameful holes defenselessly to his scaling gaze.
Contrasting against the ck skin tone, the thick pink pinks were wet with desire, and Alexander could see the light rear hole twitching in anticipation, and so without further ado, Alexander positioned himself behind and pierced the maturedy from the back in one go, eliciting a sensual moan from both simultaneously.
Chapter 520 Seelima And Inayah (R-18) (Part-6)
Alexander once again experienced that scalding hot, magma-like canal he had once before and it stretched his ability to resist cumming immediately.
While for Lady Inayah, the sensation was worlds different from what she had previously experienced.
The girth and hardness of the organ had been nowhere as this thest time, and as it screwed opened her walls and fill her to the brim, it made Lady Inayah slightly roll out her tongue.
Her passages could be felt being widened to only fit this cock, and her womb began to open and descend to her cervix to ept his seed.
''Oh! I could get addicted to this!''And this made her sing euphorically as she could finally understand why the Queen Mother had be so wild.
It was a heavenly feeling.
Afterward, Alexander began to move, and taking advantage of his position, began to strike her at ces she had rarely been poked at, making the ebonydy feel pleasure she had rarely felt.
''Oh, I''m so d he ising with us. I will need to get Iya and the other girls to taste him as well.'' Lady Inayah rejoiced at Alexander''s decision to visit Adhan, as it meant she could taste him for around six months more.
And naturally, she nned to introduce him to her friends and even her daughters and then enjoy some steamy sessions together.
But those ns could wait for now.
As currently Lady Inayah lowered her head and began to scream with pleasure, while Alexander thrusted inside the furnace-like pussy, which squeezed him at every thrust.
And soon, his hands began to roam all around the wless skin, ying with her big, soft butt, caressing it, kneading it, squeezing it, and even spanking it, then moving onto her wless back, and finally grabbing herrge mountains and ying with its buds.
While at some point the Queen Mother seemed to have recovered as she then got in front of Lady Inayah, and positioned her crotch around her head, before grabbing Lady Inayah by her raven hair and smirking, "Here, Ina, since you liked it so much have this."
The Queen Mother wanted to make Lady Inayah suck Alexander''s essence out of her canal.
And Lady Inayah was all the more happy to oblige.
She knew Seelima loved getting eaten out, and she herself loved drinking sperm.
And so soon, the ebonydy was getting railed from behind, with Alexander''s thumb even circling and then entering her rear hole, bringing her a new tingling sensation, while in the front, her mouth was savoring the delicious cocktail made of Alexander and the Queen Mother''s juices, all while her nose took in the lewd scent of a female in heat.
Lady Inayah felt she was in heaven.
And soon reached it as *Splurt*, *Splurt*, *Splurt*
After a while, Alexander flooded her insides with his seed, making thedy moan with euphoria and shudder with a giant orgasm.
*Plop*
Following this release, Alexander slowly pulled out, fighting against the strong suction of the walls to keep him there, and marveled at how small dollops of his essence began to pitter-patter down.
But they were not done yet.
Not by a long shot.
As after a while, the ckdy got her energy back and moved to a new site, the railing, as she leaned against the short stone wall, facing the outdoors, and presented her magnificent ass to Alexander, before inviting the Queen Mother,
"Seelma,e here. Let''s get fucked while looking at the sea."
It seemed Lady Inayah was a bit of an exhibitionist.
While the Queen Mother, remembering the pleasure from earlier, was quick toply, and hastily got beside her sister, which presented Alexander with a nose bleeding sight.
Two fully nude busty otherworldy women were currently presenting both their shameful holes to him under broad daylight, which were already leaking with his batter, and even better, one hadrge, red hand prints on them, courtesy of him.
Alexander felt that he might have used up all his luck to get a session with them with no strings attached.
But he could care about the consequencester.
As currently, he quickly got behind the Queen Mother who was subconsciously swaying her beautiful butt to tempt him, and parting the fleshy mass, once again inserted himself into the birth canal, and got a heartfelt moan of ''thanks for choosing me'' from the front in the process.
While from the side Lady Inayah slightly pouted, "Boooh! Alex you dummy! And after all I did everything to arrange this for you," as she swung her butt even more to make Alexander switch holes.
"Haha, sorry, sorry, mydy. But I only did you," Alexander chuckled while moving his hips roughly and rapidly, as the Queen Mother only concentrated on singing her heart out to the winds.
"Ahhhhh¡ ahhh¡ ahhhh," She was really starting to like this feeling.I think you should take a look at
And her appreciation for Alexander was so loud that he wondered how this woman mated with her husband in Adhan and not let know the entire pce know of the act.
p- p- p.
After a while of fiercely thrusting inside the Queen Mother, Alexander switched to Lady Inayah, without first cumming inside Seelia, which elicited a low needy growl from Seelima who was much reluctant to lose that feeling and got a cheer of "Yay," for the ckdy.
And once Alexander switched from Lady Inayah to the Queen Mother after a while, the ebonydy cried indignantly, while the Queen Mother purred a satisfied moan.
And this cycle continued until the time for Alexander toe hade, and he decided to release it outside.
So taking his cock out, he spurted about an equal amount onto both their butts, letting the two beautiful ck and wheat-colored butts have a few hot streams of scalding white liquid flow over them.
"Ahhh! Why did you do that? We wanted it inside!" But this got a moanyint from Lady Inayah, while the Queen Mother kept a bit moreposure and only swing her ass to express solidarity with her sister.
"Haha, it looks more beautiful this way, *pah*," Alexander chuckled in this reply as he lightly spanked the caramel butt, and spread the gooey sauce all over the smooth, ripe ass, giving it a nice, white sheen.
And he then even dug into the crack, poking at the upper, tight hole, which got Lady Inayah to produce a coy, sultry smile and say, "Oh, Alex, no need to rush. You can taste all the holes you want. We have time."
While from the side, unnoticed by the two, the Queen Mother slightly pouted a bit for Alexander not giving her the same treatment.
But that was natural given he was much close to Lady Inayah than the Queen Mother.
Anyway, this little flirting session ended quite quickly, and the trio got back to business immediately.
And so for the following four hours, the three people had one of the most pleasurable of their lifetime, as they mated using every position and in every ce in the room they would think off.
First from the railings, they had moved to the bed, where Lady Inayah mounted him, while the Queen Mother, in revenge for spanking her sat on top of his face, bringing her huge butt down to his mouth, and making Alexander lick her forbidden hole.
Which he did with much joy, as he buried his nose to take in the lewd smell and relished feeling the soft flesh squeeze his face in.
Alexander felt being smothered to death by these twin fat rumps was probably one of the best ways to go.
After that, the two women had gotten on all fours, letting Alexander again skewer them from behind, while he fingered the other and messed her up, letting both vixens moan without restrain.
Following this, they then moved to the small wooden table, and the Queen Mother sat on top spreading her beautiful legs, letting Alexander enter her shortly after, while Lady Inayah went behind Alexander to suck and lick his balls.
Then they moved to the bed inside, and Lady Inayah was pierced as sheid down, while Alexander got to suck on the Queen Mother''s breast that he had longed for so long.
They were as fun to kiss and suckled on as he had hoped, and when he lightly chewed on the thick, fat nipples, and pulled on them using his teeth, the Queen Mother sang lusty moans in his ears, driving him wilder.
Afterward, at one point Alexander even got to make the Queen Mother suck him off, as her mind had be clouded with lust.
So, he had made her kneel in front of him and pushed his rod into her mouth, before sping her head in ce and fiercely viting her tiny orifice.
The feeling was to die for, and it was further enhanced by the fact that Alexander was doing such a thing to such a proud woman.
That made the experience a hundred times better.
And there was nothing to say about her skills, which were naturally world-ss. making Alexandere in little time.
But instead of letting her drink it, Alexander had decided to release it outside, giving the proud woman''s exquisite face a new facial and even covering her eye-catching ming hair with his dirty essence.
"Ahh, I''m gonna smell like cum for the whole day. And even by hair is ruined," And though the Queen Mother sounded like she wasining, but actually she was seen rubbing Alexander''s jelly all over her face, and strings of sperm could be seen extending from her hair to her hands, as a lewd, satisfied look was stered on her face.
Seelima seemed to have reverted back to her older self, the one where she was not the Queen Mother, but only another of Alozmer''s concubines, as she drowned herself in the lovely strong musky smell that wasing from her face.
She felt it had been very long since she was so happy.
In this way, no part of the Queen Mother''s room was left untouched by the trio, from the bed to the walls where he had pinned Lady Inayah and railed her standing, his thursts so strong that it seemed he was trying to be one with her, to the floor andstly the various furniture.
Until the whole room began to smell like sex, filled with the musky odor of a virile male and two cougars in heat.
And it was only when the sun began to set that the trio decided to rest, finally having run out of stamina, as the threey on the floor spread-eagled, with content smiles on all their faces.
It had been truly a good fuck.
Chapter 521 Preparations Before Leaving
It took a while for the three to recover from their hard four hours of ''celebrations''.
And as Alexander got up first, he was the first to see and smell all the results of what they did.
Expensive chairs were unturned, therge bed was ruffled, soft pillows were strewn all about the floor, many intricately embroidered sheets were crumbled and the thick carpet had suspicious wet spots all over it.
All the while the two beautiful women heaved heavy breathsying on the carpet, their eyes barely open, but a satisfied light smile lingering on their faces.
They were naturally in their naked full glory and had white stain marks all over, some wet, some turned crusty, with them being especially around their faces and lips, breasts, and tummies, and with some also sticking to their hair whichid sprawled out on the carpet.
It appeared Alexander had douched them with his cream all over, marking them.
While their lower half felt warm and stuffed full, but was still leaking the hot liquid.
And on some parts of the skin which were not covered by the white goo, Alexander found them to have turned red, such as around the breasts and the butts, a clear evidence of the tough handling they suffered.
They most definitely enjoyed themselves to the absolute fullest, and for all three of them, it was an experience they had not expected.
For Alexander, he had never thought he would get to bed the Queen Mother and even do such acts with her, while for the other two, Alexander''s package proved to be an absolutely sensational delight.
Lady Inayah could not wait to get another chance with him, while the Queen Mother knew she would look at this experience with fondness in the uing days.
Alexander had definitely managed to score some brownie points with her.
After Alexander got up, the girls did not stay in their lethargy for long.
"Ahhh, that was so good," And soon this refreshing cry was given by Lady Inayah, who then raised her arms to stretch herself, and let Alexander again appreciate her curves, while he also gazed at her now reddened ck butt.
While the Queen Mother got up to reveal her wheat-colored nk that was marked with Alexander''s handprints, and one could even see it had swallow bite marks on them, as Alexander had lightly bitten on them when she had presented her butt to his face.
And seeing those marks of conquests, Alexander also remembered the beautiful cries he heard the Queen Mother make during that y and knew that memory would stay with him for a long, long time.
While, the Queen Mother, after she got up, immediately restored her cold, recognizable facade, and then in total silence, without even giving Alexander as much as a sideways nce quickly made her way to another attached room.
And as she walked off, she inevitably presented her naked butt to Alexander, who upon seeing those luscious globules ripples under each step had quite the urge to grab them by the handful and spank them again.
An opportunity he knew was rarely ever to present itself.
Alexander''s little ogling was finally put to an end as Seelima was given arge overcoat by the maid who had decided to suddenly appear out of nowhere, draping it all over her mistress''s body, and thus robbing Alexander of that magnificent sight.
''Where had she been?'' Instead, Alexander''s focus turned to the maid who seemed to have the power to apparate in and out at will, as he had not seen her at all in the past four or so hours, and so gave her a deep look while the girl shrugged off the gaze and only escorted the Queen Mother to the other room, likely to help her freshen up.
"Lord Alexander, why don''t you get dressed? And we will get you for supper a bitter," Alexander heard this from Lady Inayah who seemed to quickly follow the Queen Mother to the other room, and from her tone understood she was really asking him to leave.
So with a quick nod he ran to the veranda to get dressed, and after exiting the room inconspicuously and taking a bath, an hourter the trio sat around the dining table as if nothing had happened.
With the only thing being out of ce was that both thedies seemed to have taken a bath thiste as evidenced by the slight glossiness on their damp hair.
But there could be a myriad of reasons for it, and such a thing could hardly be extrapted to what they actually did by any reasonable person.
And so the secrety buried with the three of them, and over the following days, through their talks and interaction, Alexander came to understand nothing had really changed with either of them.
Which was expected given this was neither''s first tango.
So Lady Inayah was still the shrewd merchantdy looking to make a profit, and the Queen Mother was just as cutthroat and ambitious.
And this did make Alexander a bit disappointed, especially because as he understood he could not really bring the Queen Mother over to his side just by sleeping with her.
No matter how much she appeared to have enjoyed his tool.I think you should take a look at
Though I one thought about it, this was given, for if he could sway this ambitious woman so easily, then she would not be called such an ambitious woman.
Seelima would always enjoy power more than anything else and little would change that.
So Alexander came to view the intimate act as simply the three deciding to have a good time, like drinking and ying games between friends, and nothing more.
The two women had done it with him not out of any particr fondness but because they wanted to do it then and there and he was avable.
Furthermore, Alexander had little time to consider these two anyway, as after his decision to leave Zanzan was made, he was inundated his all sorts of work which he needed to finish so that the fief could run smoothly even in his absence.
And so Alexander spent his remaining days ving away at clerical works, and delegating various parts of the administration to individual council members, followed by teaching Cambyses the various how-knows about how to run Zanzna.
Alexander had decided to leave her in charge.
As for his new inventions and institutions, well the printing press could wait till he got the books from Lady Inayah and Pasha Farzah to be able to actually use the darn thing.
While the public schools needed educated people to act as teachers, which again Pasha Farzah promised to send, and the bank would have to wait till Alexander got back to show Nanazin the ropes.
He certainly did not feel safe leaving hundreds of millions of ropals at her disposal without his personal oversight.
And as he was finishing his preparations, suddenly the farmers began to report that their crops had started to ripen and bear fruits.
Which was strange given it was only mid-August, and the fall harvest was usually around mid tote September.
But it seemed this year, the harvest hade early.
And so all avable hands were summoned as quickly as possible, with Alexander even ordering the army to take part in the harvest to get the crops out of the fields and into the granaries as quickly as possible.
Hence for some time, both farmers and soldiers could be seen working the fields, which was not particrly a rare sight in even other parts of thends as well, given fall harvest was always among the most hectic time for a farmer, requiring him and his entire family to work nearly 70 to 80 hours a week to get everything done on time before any rain coulde and lower the grain quality.
Because rains around this time would ''wet'' the grains, and that would make the higher moisture-carrying grain of lower quality.
Which further meant that the flour ground from such grains would neither taste good nor be able to be stored for very long.
Hence many times this kind of wheat would be sold as horse or chattel feed, which would be significantly cheaper than regr wheat, meaning less profit for the farmer.
And so to avoid that unfortunate happenstance, everyone in a farmer''s family would be required to chip in, as both men and women would be seen taking part in the harvest, using their sickles to reap the wheat, oat, or barley as quickly as possible.
While most times the lord of thend would also make his servants join the fray to help with the collection.
As did Alexander.
And this particr harvest was an especially joyous asion in Zanzan, for this season''s harvest was truly bountiful.
A fact that Menicus let him know as they duo stood in front of a field of golden wheat.
"Haha, my lord, you are truly blessed by goddess Gaia. We have actually managed to get 900 kg of wheat per hectare. 900!" The man''s face was flushed with pure joy as he recited the number, as he then eximed,
"And in thisnd! In this heavy ynd!"
"The farmers feel they are living in a dream."
The reason for this jubtion was obvious as Zanzan previously only made 250 - 300 kg per hectare.
And so a triple harvest was of course a cause for celebration.
Alexander made a polite nod towards the excited old man, and after the harvest was nearlypleted over the next few days, finally decided to leave Zanzan.
Chapter 522 Travel To Adhan
As September closed in, the farmers quickly finished reaping their harvests and started the process of storing them.
Which for grains like wheat and barley meant heating them in giant pots to kill them so that they do not start to germinate once they are stored in the granaries.
And the whole of Zanzan seemed to be busy doing that.
And every household there seemed to have a huge grin on their faces, for they never had this much of a bumper harvest.
''Praise the lord! Long live his rule!'' Many cheered.
Though for Alexander, 900 kg per hectare was not anything special.
It was only to be expected given the use of the heavy plow which actually managed to dig up the nutritious soil thaty dormant underneath the heavy y ground.
Whereas before, with the light plow, the farmers really could only nt their seeds on the top thinyer that was very low quality.
It was hard for anything to grow on it and so most seeds would die before their roots could reach the good part of the soil.
But still, Alexander was quite happy with the amount of grain collected, as from the 27,000 hectares ofnd that had been nted with wheat, oats, and barley, he got around 22,000 tons of grains, which was enough for six months for his city of around 200,000 people, and close to 10,000 draft animals.
And this was in addition to the remaining 15,000 tons of grains Pasha Farzah had bought.
So, with a bit more buying of grain from the outside Alexander knew there would be no food shortages.
Which was why Alexander ordered a lot more of the farnds be opened up for cultivation and had many of the harvested seeds be re-nted to increase his next year''s production.
All to be done under Menicus''s supervision.
Because Alexander did not have time to oversee these policies.
As Lady Inayah kept nagging him to finish his work as soon as possible and get ready, saying or else they would bete for the Jtaama due around the second week of October.
And this date was with Ptolomy having pushed back the event back at thest minute by a month due to having trouble arranging the amodations for all the pilgrims, both noble and civilian, given the state of the city and country.
So this made Alexander regret it a bit that he would not be able to celebrate with his farmers over the new bumper harvest and take credit for his work, as a propaganda drive to boost his image in them.
Or invite the other nobles to hisnd to show off and socialize as a way to show the benefits of staying with him.
But he ultimately decided that the meeting with Ptolomy was too important to pass up.
Hence, on one sunny morning in veryte August, a crowd was seen gathering around the harbor.
It involved some of the all-time big shots of not only this city but the whole country, and many of them were seen boarding their ships.
Even the lord of the city, Alexander seemed to be leaving and was seen giving somest-minute instructions to his wife, and three women, all of whom hade to bid him goodbye.
Alexander had wanted to bring atst one of them with him, even as a bed warmer.
But all four had work here in Zanzan, and could not really leave the city right now for four to six months with him.
And so Alexander here was seen exalting them, urging all of them to be good and prudent in his absence.
"I''ll be back by spring. Preferably before." He reassured them, before turning to urge his wife Cambyses onest time,
"And remember, Pasha Farzah has bought a lot of messenger birds from Adhan. Be sure to send them if anything happens."
And then added, "And send multiple pigeons in case of an emergency. That way even if some get lost or eaten by other predators, at least one or two will surely reach me."
"Yes, yes, Alex, you have repeatedly told me this¡. a hundred times over," Cambyses let out a little sigh of exasperation at Alexander''s slight hankering.
She felt like he was treating her like a child.
But for Alexander, leaving his city and everyone he cared about all alone for the first time was proving to be a difficult and anxious one.
Though his spies and head reassured him everything would be alright and Zanzan being attacked was minuscule, his heart was still worried.
And so, even when Cambyses seemed to think he was a worrywart, Alexander still pointed to a veryrge number of cages being uploaded to a ship using his fingers to say,
"And I will also let you know if anything happens. I''m taking a lot of messenger birds with me."I think you should take a look at
This was how messages through birds worked.
You trained a chick from birth to identify the ce it was raised in using special trainers.
And then, when you took it to another ce, and let it go, it would fly back to its ce of origin.
So it was only a one-way type of messaging system, and so if two sides wanted to keep constantmunication, they needed to exchange birds from time to time.
So, when Alexander had firste to Zanzan, he had bought a lot of birds with him that could fly to Adhan, the same was with Pasha Farzah when he hade, and now Alexander was going to refill Adhan''s stock of ''Zanzan going'' birds.
Of course, to be able to do this Alexander had raised a lot of birds.
All nobles did, as evidenced by the fact that his mansion had not just one but two aviaries, all to breed and raise messenger birds, which he could then give out to other people.
But anyway, with these said and getting a swift nod from his wife, Alexander bid farewell to his four women, and atst boarded Pasha Farzah''s gship- The La.
In there, he spent mostly the entire time on the ship engaging in talks and games with the people there, which included all the nobles- Pasha Farzah, Lady Inayah, the Queen Mother and Hellma, and even Mikaya and her two maids.
Now, how much of a safety concern was it to put every single important person in the fleet in one ship?
Very!
It was very concerning.
But such doctrines as dispersing important personals to other ships had yet to be developed, and Alexander did not feel like educating Pasha Farzah.
Besides, he could easily guess what the old man would say.
"We are in the La! The biggest ship in Adhania. If we go down, our entire fleet will be going down." The old man would have probably boasted.
And which indeed was somewhat true.
And besides, this ship also had the best facilities out of any other ship out there.
Which was a great plus for these nobledies who even under normal circumstances had trouble living in ships.
Eating and relieving oneself was a pain even for men, forget about the women with their many, manyyers of clothes.
And besides, Pasha Farzah had ced the giant trireme in the middle of the fleet, so Alexander felt pretty safe, knowing that if this went down due to external forces, he would have died regardless of which ship he was on.
And so, Alexander made sure to rx himself in the following days and even spent some quality time with Lady Inayah who seemed to have grown a particr liking for him as she would visit his cabin regrly every few days.
And besides pleasure, they would also engage in business, with the woman being particrly pushy about the recipe for cement.
Now, Alexander had changed, or more urately modified his previous thoughts about the Pornd cement.
Because after thinking a while he felt he had been too uptight about the whole thing.
And with his new idea, he felt he had found a way to increase production without revealing the recipe.
And that idea was to sell the clinkers mixed with the gypsum directly to his allies in bags, and then have them grind it up themselves.
That way Alexander could increase his number of kilns without having to increase the number of waterwheels, which was the thing that was holding his production back.
In fact, if done correctly, Alexander felt he could import cement to increase his capacity.
But these ideas were still in their infancy, and so asking thedy for some more time, he then assured her that he would try to fulfill her requests as soon as possible.
So in this way, after around 40 days, therge fleetpleted its 3,000 km journey from Zanzan to the port city of Agnirat, with the extra time needed due to the ships having to many times travel against the wind, thus slowing them drastically down.
Afternding in Agrinat, Alexander only stayed in the port city for three days for rest and found it a lot of the same, just a bit livelier given that the drought was over and fall harvests hade in.
Here Lady Inayah acted as the perfect host and entertained them all with fine food, and great wine, and for Alexander even with the best woman the city had.
After which the carriages were prepared, and five dayster, Alexander was staring down the magnificent walls of Adhan.
Chapter 523 Entering Adhan
Alexander stayed the three days at Agnirat mainly to rest and honor Lady Inayah''s invitation.
But it was also because it took some time to unload all the gifts he had bought for Ptolomy and the court from the ships to the port and then again load them into carts to transport them to Adhan.
While in the meantime, Lady Inayah asked him to share some of his tips about how to develop her city, to which Alexander replied with some generic bits of advice, as he knew next to nothing about the city to give specialized suggestions.
And once the three days were over, and everyone was ready, therge group consisting of Alexander and his 500 bodyguards, Lady Inayah, and the royals, and Pasha Farzah with his daughter and a few thousand troops, again set off for the capital of the country Adhan.
And entered it around mid-October, only a few days before the start of the Jtaama.
When the group had approached the outskirts of the ancient city, Ptomoly had quickly sent arge delegation of soldiers and a high-ranking noble, or more specifically Pasha Farzah''s fifth son Kayvan to escort Alexander and co. into the city, with the instruction to bring them to meet the king in his pce directly.
And along the way, Alexander kept his eyes peeled to see how the city he had left just a year ago was doing and found it to be almost the same as he remembered it.
Dirty, dingy, drab, and lethargic, the city, or at least the outer city seemed to have barely gotten better, with the only notable difference being that some of the inns and shops seemed to have hung colorful festoons and gs in celebrations of the pilgrimage and to attract customers.
And seeing this state of the city made Alexander have a schadenfreude kind of feeling, as a weaker Ptolomy was both a good and bad thing for him.
Good because then he could easily defy him.
And bad because it was possible such a weak king would get taken out by Amenheraft.
But that was why Alexander was here.
While the Queen Mother, who had seen how Alexander transform Zanzan, felt something needed to be done to address the sorry state of affairs.
She never minded it before as she had rarely bothered to descend her holiness into the dwellings of these urchins.
But after living in Zanzan and seeing it, her impression of that seemed to have changed.
She felt thatpared to the pristine, well-nned, and structured Zanzan city, this ce was clearly inferior in terms ofyout and beauty, and for this proud woman, to have the ''capital of capitals'' be lesser than any other city in the world, much less in her own country was uneptable.
And then there were the people.
Whereas she had observed the people of Zanzan move with great urgency and energy, here she felt all the men and women were half asleep.
Meaning the people of Adhan worked less.
So even if she did not care how these peasants lived, she knew she had to improve some of the things here, even if it was just to make them work a bit harder.
So the intelligent woman made up her mind to talk to Ptolomy about it, while in the meantime, the long procession slowly made its way to the crowded outer city, which seemed to have gotten a bit busier due to the presence of so many pilgrims.
After a while, the escort finally crossed the outer city and once the gates to the inner city were opened and they were let through, Alexander felt he had entered apletely different world.
Gone were the narrow, dingy roads, the overcast alleyways, and that ever-present putrid stinging smell of rotting fish in the air.
Instead, they were reced with clean, even somewhat floral air, magnificent architecture, and beautifully paved roads lined with rows and rows of rose bushes.
Alexander could easily understand how the people living here would be able to ignore the people living outside.
Because out of sight was out of mind.
And this perfectly exined the differences in their living conditions.
And this thought was many times reinforced as Alexander and his group were slowly led up the winding hill to the gate of the pce, which gave him plenty of time to observe the differences between here and the outer city.
He found that the renovations here had been immense.
In fact, it was almost as much here as it was as little there.
Any sign of damage that might have been caused by Alexander seemed to have been erased and scrubbed away, with all burnt structures apparently having been reced and all the destroyed houses rebuilt to their former self.
No, it was even better than their former self, as almost every house Alexander could see seemed to have a fresh coat of paint.
It was pretty apparent where all the administration''s time, energy, and funding went.I think you should take a look at
But in a way, this was also not wrong.
As pleasing the nobles who held all the power was clearly more important than cing the peasants.
And in that very endeavor, the inner city seemed to have given a fresh new face, with colorful gs, paintings, and even new sculptures dotting thendscapes.
All to make the annual pilgrimage as delightful andfortable as possible for the guest who might have started for Adhan as much as six months ago.
And this effort seemed to have worked, as Alexander found this part of the city seemed to be sizzling with energy and activity, with horses, carriages, and finely dressed servants moving to and fro with haste.
Finally, after close to three hours of being escorted, the long line of armed soldiers atst approached the pce, as instantly Alexander felt a lot of curious gazes scan him from all sides, their owners all wearingvish clothes and holding refined postures.
It seemed he waste to the party, and almost all the guests for the Jtaama had already arrived, who were all seemingly interested to see this ''barbarian'' who had caused all this mess in the first ce.
Alexander naturally ignored such looks and concentrated on crossing thevish front walkway of the pce, at the very mouth of which stood Lady Inayah''s father, Iyazid, the person in charge of the country''s finances.
"Wee! Wee, Your Highness! And wee my lords anddies," The old man with a thin, wrinkled face and an equally thin beard greeted the group jovially, starting with the one with the highest peerage, the Queen Mother.
He still appeared quite spry for his age and could be seen running to greet the Queen Mother and the imperial princess as they descended from the carriage.
This was followed by Pasha Farzah, and ultimately Alexander himself.
"Ah! This here must be Lord¡Pasha Alexander!"
"Great! Great! Wee to Adhan!" He said after sizing him up, adding,
"I heard you were young, but truly seeing is believing! Ahh youth! We old fossils expect great things from you, hahaha!"
The old man seemed to talk very fast and very animatedly, as he then even began to pat Alexander on the shoulders during his greetings as a sign of familiarity.
The man really knew how to socialize, which was a given as he was one of the biggest merchants in the country.
While Alexander humbly bowed a bit and cordially replied, "It is an honor to finally meet you too Lord Iyazid."
"Lady Inayah speaks frequently about you. Especially about how you always wanted to meet me, but had to postpone it repeatedly due to healthplications."
"So it pleases me greatly to see you in such great shape."
"Praise the Gods!"
Alexander had a pious tone at the end.
"Haha, yes. Praise the gods! Praise Ramuh!" The old man put on a wide grin at Alexander''s humble attitude, as he then went to greet his daughter and then quickly invited the group inside.
"Come,e, His Majesty is waiting." He gestured the invite.
And once inside, the group was immediately led through thevish corridors and opulent architecture to the heart of Adhania- the magnificent throne room.
Tall, grand, and imposing, it was asvish as one could expect, being made of the best stone in exitance, decorated with the most expensive luxury one could have, and handcrafted by the finest master craftsmen Adhania had.
The granite floor was covered by a giant thick red carpet that had been intricately embroidered, from the ceiling hung numerous chandeliers each costing nearly as much as a city, and attaching the marbled pirs on either side were purple linen clothes of the highest quality.
The whole room was dripped with luxury and steeped in culture and history.
And to Alexander, it seemed the room had a unique air to it, one somber and heavy and regal.
In this special room, at the very end sat Ptomoly, on an elevated tform or dais, wearing a fabulously jeweled crown and clothed in purples, while behind was a purple curtain or baldachin that matched his garb, and he was nked on either side by two fully armored guards.
As a bit lower to the dais were rows of nobles standing on either side of the walkway.
"Long live the king," The group brusquely covered the short carpeted distance from the throne room door to the foot of the dias, and performed a solemn bow, as Ptolomy chuckled,
"Hehe, I''m d that you are all finally here. I was starting to get worried."
Chapter 524 Cambysess Note
At the sight of the group performing a collective bow, Ptolomy leaned back on his throne with a small smile before gesturing with his hand, "Haha, get up! Get up! Quick!"
"We are all friends here. No need to stand in ceremony."
It seemed at least his mannerism and speech had improved.
And he was especially in a good mood uponying his eyes on the Queen Mother and Hellma, both of whom seemed radiant and well.
"Thank you, Your Grace," The group got up saying such, and after a few bits of small pleasantries such as him asking Alexander about him and his family, they were excused with Ptolomy saying,
"You must all be tired. Please rest. We have prepared the best Adhan luxuries has to offer tofort you."
And as Alexander turned around to leave the throne room after bidding the king goodbye, he very urately felt most of the gazes of the nobles present in the court fall on him. all of which seemed to contain all sorts of emotions in them.
There were curious gazes sent his way, mainly from many of the young maidens who wanted to see how this ''young barbarian'' looked, intrigued looks from many of the nobles who could not help but be astonished by the youth of this sessful warlord, and the mostmon of all, disgust and hate, both because Alexander had ughtered a lot of their kin, and also simply because of in old racism.
''The honor of his throne room has been tarnished by the presence of this low-life,'' Many pure-blooded nobles cursed Alexander in their hearts.
While Alexander fully aware of such thoughts epted the looks and then simply shrugged them off like rainwater bouncing off him.
These people could do nothing but stare and cuss.
So he saw them as much as worms as they did him.
Hence instead of minding about those nobles, he focused on the beautiful maid who was escorting him to his room, a voluptuous woman in her early twenties with thick auburn hair simr to the Queen mother.
"I have never seen you here. Are you new?" Alexander made small talk as he made his way to his residence, a luxurious room he had stayed in before.
And along the way, he pointed out that if such an eye-catching woman like her had been present before, Alexander would have certainly noticed.
"Yes. My name is Maya, my lord."
"I arrived at the capital just three months ago."
"And now, I have been assigned by His Majesty to be my lord''s exclusive maid."
"If lord pasha has any requests, please inform me, and I will try to fulfill them to the best of my abilities."
The beautiful maid had a very stoic, professional tone to her answer and expressed neither joy, nor sorrow, nor excitement at being able to serve Alexander.
"Oh? Any requests? Like those too, hehe," Alexander sniggered the joke.
But the stolid maid did not seem to catch the tone, only seriously answering, "Yes, of course. I will perform any acts my lord wishes."
"And if lord Pasha wants me to arrange for more women, I will surely endeavor. Two, three, four, I can get my lord how many you wish."
"I can even arrange them ording to your tastes."
She spoke quickly, seeming eager to please him.
And the detailed options given to him certainly surprised Alexander.
"You don''t seem like the normal maids here," He said so as he had not met such kinds of maids during hisst visit.
And this got a nod from Maya who informed, "Yes, maids like us are new here."
"We have been specifically trained to only serve high-ranking peerages like Pashas, and Emirs (adult princes who were brothers and cousins of the king) and exist only to please them." Her voice was low and servile, adding,
"I heard all our preceding seniors seemed to have suffered an ident."
"And so we are the only ones of our kind here."
Maya here had very cleverly managed to use euphemisms to remind Alexander that his soldiers had vited and killed many of the maids in the pce when they had raided it in search of Amenheraft, and as these special maids were quite beautifulpared to the others, they had suffered the most casualties by Alexander''s soldiers.
"Haha," Alexander could only chuckle hollowly at this usation as he tried to wipe away the awkwardness by roughly grabbing the soft peaches of the maid from the back to have a taste and then whispering, "I hope you have been trained well. Because I will depend on you to warm my bed every day."
This kind of brazen action right in open daylight made the inexperienced maid flinch at first, but she quicklyposed herself and gave a confident smile,
"Of course my lord, anytime. Would you like to start now?"
The professional girl seemed ready to strip right then and there if Alexander ordered.
But he was only joking with her and so said, "Maybeter. Let me first make rest a bit."
At this the maid gave a solemn nod of acknowledgment, and as they have finally arrived at Alxx''s designated room, the maid performed her very first duty.
"Oh Your Lordship, there was a message for you from Zanzan. Here please see it,"
She said suddenly as she bought out a small scrolled paper from under her apron and handed it to him.
The presence of this note certainly surprised Alexander.
''I was thinking of sending a message to Cam after I got here. So why is she sending me one?'' He wondered curiously as undid the knot on the string binding the paper and slowly rolled open the message.I think you should take a look at
And once he started to read the message written within, the first thing he did was this.
"Fuck!" Alexander swore this curse out aloud.
Because this was the following message, written using the smallest font that was still possible to read,
"Husband, hope you are doing well."
"After about two weeks you left, Camius got the news that Tibias is nning on attacking us."
"Menes is currently organizing the army to fight them."
"Keep us in your prayers."
Short, sinct, and to the point, the message was highly potent with bombastic news.
And the surprising information it held made Alexander''s heart restless with confusion and unease.
''Why is Tibias attacking us now?''
''What about the treaty? Fuck! My 15 million ropals.'' He cried indignantly.
While Cambyses''s report also made Alexander totally confused about Tibias''s intention tounch another war so soon after the brutal 3 years war had just ended.
Alexander was sure the country yearned for some peace.
And it was based on this assumption that he had made that peace offering, pretty confident that it would be enough to bring tranquility to his borders for the time being.
And he had even given them arge lump sum of money upfront to grease the wheel.
So, he was totally fluxed about where he had gone wrong.
Hence he dropped his head down and read and re-read Cambyses''s message in the hope of finding some extra hidden line he had somehow missed which could exin this discrepancy.
But naturally, there was no such exnation.
''Dammit Cam, how could you leave out the details?'' So Alexander gritted his teeth and chided Cambyses for not giving all the information, as he then tried to douche his burning desire to know until further messages reached him.
But Cambyses had her reasons for omitting such details.
Or reason- singr.
And that was that she also did not know the reason behind the impending attack, or why Tibias had decided to break the treaty.
She, like Alexander, was also one day simply informed of this out of the blue, in her case by Camius, who hade to her office unannounced one afternoon.
This uninvited visit certainly surprised the acting lord of the city, and her heart had skipped a beat thinking it was bad news.
And her instinct proved to be on point that day, as after Camius took a sip of the wine he was served as refreshment, reported, "Some of the merchants I have contacts with inside of Tibias has told me that their king has called a levy.
"And instructed all the peasants to report to their lords as soon as possible."
"This can only mean one thing."
"War!"
Camius had a rare instance of solemnity and graveness to his voice, much different from his usual light, frivolous tone he liked to carry himself with as he made the ominous prediction.
"What! Didn''t we just conclude a treaty!" At this, Cambyses pped her palms against the hard table as she almost stood up from her chair.
She did not, she could ept Camius''s deduction.
There had to be another exnation.
"..." But Camius only gave silence as his response.
It was clear that Tibias had decided to break the treaty
After all a treaty was just a piece of paper.
It had no way ofing to life to enforce anything written on it.
"..." So for a while, the two pair of eyes stared down at each other, with Cambyses giving a hard look at Camius as she waited for him to answer as if trying with her eyes to pressure him into giving an alternative exnation.
But Camius would not budge.
No matter how inconvenient the truth was, it was better than lying to oneself.
After all, once the truth was epted, one could start to prepare himself for the uing challenge.
Chapter 525 Councils Decison
Camius was the type of pragmatic person who thought it was far better to face one''s problem head-on rather than burying one''s head in the sand like an ostrich and wishing it would go away.
While for Cambyses, she found herself in a bind.
The neen-year-old could either ept Camius''s analysis and act ordingly and take on a huge burden of responsibility.
Or she could dismiss them as being unsubstantiated and take the easy route.
And she found herself osciting between the two.
Now this might seem like a weird thing to ponder on as clearly the former was the safer choice.
But there were so many examples of people taking thetter route, the route where the higher authorities rejected their intelligence reports and acted on their own, both this world and Alexander''s previous world, that even just listing the names of all such events would be enough to fill a dictionary.
And this happened due to a variety of reasons, such as the leaders not trusting the source, feeling those spies were being misled or even double agents,ziness and thinking it was a lot of work, or simply suffering from in old hubris, believing their judgment to be better than the information presented to them.
Perhaps the most famous example of this would be the leader of the Soviet Union Stalin ignoring all his intelligenceworks warning him about the German attack.
Even when the Luftwaffe invaded the Soviet air space for months, Stalin bought the German exnation that those nes simply got lost.
Even when it was reported that the entire Germans army was stacking their forces by the Soviet border, Stalin only ordered that the Soviet soldiers not do anything to antagonize the Wehrmacht.
And even when a German soldier had defected to the Soviet side on the eve of the German offensive and warned the Soviets that the entire Wehrmacht was about to crash into them literally hours from now, Stalin still did not buy it.
Instead iming that the soldier was a foreign spy sent there to sow discord between the friendly nations.
So it was really not that far-fetched to think that Cambyses would choose to dismiss Camius given that the reasons for Tibias not attacking them were much more usible here.
And Camius might very well be just jumping to conclusions without knowing the full picture.
After all, the story could easily go like this- the Kaiser family had asked for Tibias''s help to attack the Margrave, and Perseus''s levy was for that.
So as the girl tried toe up with an answer from behind her desk, she really regretted not being able to contact the one person she wanted advice from the most-Alexander as at the moment he was still on the ship, and so was unavable to be contacted via a messenger bird.
Cambyses felt she could really use his input here.
"Is there a chance they are attacking someone else?" She tried this alternative answer as ast-ditch attempt.
But got a shake of the head.
"Tibias has only onend neighbor-us."
"And they will neverunch an offensive across the Mad Sea during the winter. The waters around here be too turbulent around this time of the year."
Camius gave a wry smile as he answered.
"....." Hearing this Cambysis slightly closed her eyes to try and think, until a whileter she reached a conclusion.
And that was to take Camius''s word more seriously than her own imaginary judgment.
Hence Cambyses decided to convene a council meeting the morning after to let the others know of the matter
And there a decision on how to handle the threat was soon reached before noon and it was the unanimous decision of the lords to err on the side of caution and verify Camius''s im.
So to that effect, the following courses of action were decided to be taken
"Lord Grahtos will be in charge of sending scouts into the mouth of the Cisran hills to keep an eye out for any army."
"While here in Zanzan, we will raise an army of 50,000 infantry and cavalry under General Menes."
"And if we do spot the enemy, we will march out to meet them."
Menicus the eldest council member officially announced the group''s decision.
While Cambyses seemed to prefer this alternative strategy, "Couldn''t we defend from inside the city?"
"Our walls are thick and strong. And we have enough food until reinforcements can arrive from the other nobles."
This was certainly a viable strategy and appeared riskless in Cambyses''s option.
But she was shut down by the other military leaders.
"Mydy, please have trust in us military veterans. We know what we are doing." Menicus felt that hiding behind a wall was exactly what a woman would do and so curtly shot back.
''Real men take charge and destroy the enemy in openbat, thus earning great honor and glory,''
As an old traditional militarymander, Menicus certainly preferred such open and aboard tacticspared to abhorrent sieges and turtling.
While Menes, hearing Menicus''s barbed reply quickly chimed in to try and make the answer much soother for the girl,fortingly saying,
"Mydy, even if we hole ourselves inside the walls and stay safe, Tibias can theny waste to our countryside."
"Kill, rape, and plunder the people."I think you should take a look at
"Will the people still follow us after that?"
"Also remember, we have all our brick-making kilns outside the city. That will surely be destroyed."
"Where will our various construction projects go then?"
"Thus it will be prudent to defeat them before they can reach us.
Menes appeared surprisingly diplomatic in his speech.
And he was joined by Melodias, who pointed, "Mmmn, also remember that Cantagena is losing its war with Exs because it''s always running to hide inside its walls."
"Now it has lost all its courage to even fight Exs on open ground."
"We should never let that happen to us."
With all these said, it was apparent that
the military leaders had decided to that in the case of an attack, the Tibians would be intercepted at the Cisran hills, about 100 km from Zanzan city.
Now Cambyses certainly wanted to say some more things in defense of her strategy.
But she ultimately kept them to herself.
She knew shecked even a tenth of the prestige that Alexander did, and so it was the military leaders who decided how the campaign would be conducted.
And these men had seemingly made their decision.
And it was due to a few reasons.
There was of course actual strategic reason.
But there was the reason that in the event of a siege, their own fiefdoms which they had just begun to develop would be demolished.
They naturally were reluctant to see that.
Andstly it was because they wanted to achieve a glorious victory over Tibias and earn credit and des.
After all, there was little honor or achievement in sessfully defending a siege aspared to winning an outright victory.
And it was only human for all the council members wanted to showcase their ability to advance their careers and peerage.
Thus the three reasonsbined to produce the determined course of action.
While Cambyses hid her pout and said to herself, ''Hmmph! If husband was here, these old coons would be simply nodding and bowing. Hateful!''
Cambyses was kind of right here.
If it had been Alexander who had made the suggestion, the other members would have certainly given it a much deeper thought.
But Alexander had earned that privilege of making the other give pause and consider what he said for a second.
And he had achieved that by showcasing his ability again and again in multiple, stacked against the odds, battles.
Something that Cambyses was yet to replicate.
Hence it was only natural for the much more experienced militarymanders to ignore her.
Would you rather trust veterans with decades of experience?
Or a neen-year-old girl?
Besides, it was not as if Cambysees was 100 % correct either.
Because her decision was based without knowing about the torsion catapult, whose addition would have drastically changed the equation.
And so, only time would tell who was right.
All these decisions were made while Alexander was incognito because he was still making his journey across the sea, and due to ack of space on that small piece of message paper, Cambyses had condensed everything to the main points, only letting him only know just the critical bits.
After all, she didn''t think Alexander could urately convey a detailed battle n through the bits of scrap paper a pigeon could carry.
"Lord, is something the matter? You seem¡.?" The maid Maya finally revealed a trace of emotion in her voice as she watched Alexander stand stock still like a statue, only asionally jittering his head slightly looking at the paper.
He had been so excited to receive his wife''s message that he had read it the moment he got his hand on it and didn''t even bother to enter his room or dismiss the maid.
And it was Maya''s concerned voice atst broke Alexander out of his shock.
"It''s okay. You can leave," Immediately then he gave this reply in a hard, robotic voice, all his joy of getting here having evaporated before he turned around without looking even once at the maid as he at once set off to find Pasha Farzah or Lady Inayah or even the Queen Mother.
It was vital that they came up with an appropriate response as soon as possible.
Chapter 526 The Jtaama
"What are you getting so worked up about, brat?" Pasha Farzah let out his slightly frustrated growl at Alexander as they sat around a table.
They had managed to meet on that very evening in a secluded part of the pce after Alexander had the others know about the message.
And it was here they seemed to disagree with the interpretation of Cambyses''s message as pronounced previously by the aged pasha.
Who was then buttressed by Lady Inayah,
"I agree with Pasha Farzah. The Tibians shouldck any ability to engage in any war with us for some time. Are you sure the message said that?" She cast her doubt at the report.
But with clenched teeth, Alexander repeated,
"The message clearly said Tibias was attacking Zanzan. What do you want more? A video?"
He still could not believe they were arguing about something this basic.
The others did not understand the new word, and thought in a Thesian expression, while from the side, the Queen Mother nodded her head affirmatively at Alexander, saying
"Yes, the message indeed did." While before pointing out, "But it did not say how they arrived at that point. Nor what the Tibias was doing."
"Is it a siege?"
"Or is Tibias attacking the countryside?"
"Or is it engaging Zanzan''s army?"
"Without knowing this, it is very much possible that the threat will be gone before we need to do anything."
The Queen Mother sounded very optimistic as Alexander''s army had proven itself against Djoise.
While thest person to join them in a rare showcase of responsibility- Ptolomy pointed out,
"The letter said ''Keep us in your prayers''."
"That clearly shows that the decisive battle is yet to ur."
"And given Zanzan''s recent battle achievements, I do not see any reason to worry."
Like the Queen Mother, he too was supremely confident in his tone.
And it seemed Ptolomy had decided to use this moment as a rare opportunity to disy his intelligence.
"......." Alexander stayed silent hearing this.
It seemed the others had made their decision.
And even he was swayed by them, because even to him, Tibias attacking them right now did not make sense.
And so here Lady Inayah decided to end the meeting by saying,
"Lord Alexander, let us wait a bit longer.
"You have already sent a message to Lady Cambyses just now and she will certainly write back to us with more details."
"We can decide what to do next then."
And three dayster, a messenger bird from Zanzan dide to Adhan, proving Lady Inayah right.
The short message only read, "Our scouts have noticed 40,000 Tibians leaving the city of Thesalie."
"Menes has moved out to meet them with 50,000 men."
"Pray for our sess."
Thesalie was a fortress city situated at the mouth of the Cisran hills, and the gateway to Zanzan for Tibias.
Meaning, Tibias was just starting to enter Alexander''s territory, which further meant hisnds were yet unscathed.
Thus this message very much soothed Alexander''s heart.
He was also very confident in Menes''s ability and given that they were up against phnx units in hilly terrain, facing an outnumbered enemy, Alexander did not see any reason they could lose.
''Tibias must have thought we are weak with no men to defend ourselves with,'' He could only guess that the reason for this attack was the same as Djose''s.
And after letting his allies know of this, he waited till the pilgrimage was over before he could sit down to discuss work with Ptolomy.
And this Jtamma was quite the spectacle to observe.
This three-day event revolved fully around the Life Sea, and on the first day both men and women dressed in special white robes were seen chanting special prayers led by priests and priestesses as they walked around parts of the Life Sea, exalting and praising Ramuh.
On the second day, they followed this up by bathing in the Life Sea in a very specific, ritualistic way.I think you should take a look at
Here both men and women took part in the ritualistic absolution simultaneously, and due to the sheer, white clothes they wore, soon the scenery turned very pink as the wet clothes did little to hide what was underneath it.
In fact, Alexander would say the clothes actually alleviated the scenery as by making the clothes stick to their bodies, it made their attractive bodily features more visible while also hiding the blemishes and spots on the skin.
Thus under the mild winter sun, all the women seemed to show their perky frontal assets, the deep ravines in between, and their engrossed buds, while below many revealed their thatched mounds, their creamy thighs, and tight,rge nks.
And it was not much better for the men either who let everyone see their perfect abs, their powerful thighs, and the outline of their packages.
Alexander almost got a nosebleed observing this spring scenery from all the way back from his second-story room that overlooked the sea, who obviously did not participate in this due to his different faith.
But strangely, he also noticed none of the men or women seemed too bothered by it.
And this was because bodily rtions were forbidden for all three days of the pilgrimage and the people seemed pious enough to suppress such lust.
With the second day''s absolutionplete, the following third day, the people honored Ramuh by making a sacrifice of either a goat, cow, or some other animal along the shore of the Life Sea, while praying and chanting from their religious scripture all the while.
And once they ughtered the animals, the carcass would then be taken by boats further into the sea, before they would be thrown overboard.
Canonically this was done to rejuvenate the life sea, as the people of Adhania believed this was from where all life originated, and as it gave life, ording to them, naturally its potency would decrease over time.
So it was only logical that new life had to be added frequency to replenish the stock.
In fact, once the drought had started, sacrifices to the life sea had increased by some magnitudes, which had only resulted in Adhania having much less livestock.
While for Alexander, after knowing the reason for the sacrifice, he could only be grateful that they did not practice human sacrifices.
Because he would not have been at all surprised if ves, criminals, and even just regr people were sacrificed to ''power'' the life sea.
And Alexander was not quite sure how he would have reacted if he had to ally with barbarians whomitted such heinous acts.
So he certainly dodged a bullet there.
Now, what Alexander did not know was that Adhania did at one-time use to practice live human sacrifices.
And their choices would include people from all forms of life.
There would be ves sacrificed as chattels to work for Ramuh, criminals send to him to be judged and perhaps even be redeemed, ordinary people who wished to meet the god, heroes, and war generals who wanted to join the god''s divine army, priests who wanted to be saints, and even noblemen anddies who were drowned in the Life sea to be Ramuh''s consorts.
And they were also not killed like the animals were, using a sharp knife to give them a quick, painless death.
Instead, they would have their hands and legs bound, and heavy rocks tied, before they would be thrown overboard from boats and ships, causing them to die after two to three minutes of unimaginable agony.
With the reason for doing this being so that Ramuh received the sacrifices in the freshes condition with no bodily harm.
But this was not to say all these sacrifices would be forces.
In fact, many would volunteer.
Not the ves obviously.
But for the others, this seemed like a shortcut to heaven.
So there were even records of fights breaking out over who got to ''die."
Thus before the sacrifice, all would be dressed appropriately, with the ves not needing much work as they would in tattered rags, but everyone else would garb themselves in their finest.
The civilians in their nicest tunics, the soldiers and generals in full armor and battle gear, and the nobles in their most expensive clothes.
But this practice was eventually put to a stop by a king from a few generations ago.
This happened because once, his favorite consort wanted to sacrifice herself to be Ramuh''s consort, and the king was so smitten by her and such detested the thought of even a godying his hands on his women, that he arbitrarily changed the customs to make the sacrifices only animals
And as for those who disagreed with him, well he sacrificed them to the Life Sea as a mockery of their protest.
''Since you want to keep this tradition of sacrificing people, then sacrifice yourself first." The king had famously said.
Now, after the animal sacrifices began, it soon became very poption, because the amount of Legummum growing around the shores began to suddenly increase.
Which was seen as vindication by the gods of the king''s decision.
While in reality, it was because the nkton that lived in the Life Sea and gave it its pink color reproduced much quicker due to the presence of greater biomass as animals had more meat than humans.
And as their number increased, the legummum''s growth also increased with it.
These acts were conducted during the three days of the Jtaama, while at night they ate a very specific meal, performed holy dances, yed music, and recited from the scriptures.
Until it finally ended.
Chapter 527 Analysis Of Each Other
The Jtaama ended on the third day with a giant party held that very night, where to celebrate the absolve of all their sins, the noblemen and women eat, drank, and danced to fully their hearts'' content.
Ptolomy had also invited Alexander to this party, but he decided to decline it, saying this was a religious asion and hence it would be inappropriate for him toe.
And he had stayed adamant about his decision when even Lady Inayah had euphemistically alluded to some ''special celebrations'', hoping to entice him, but he had reasoned to himself that if he took part in them, he would also likely be required to contribute to them.
And Alexander had no intention of doing that.
Thus Ptolomy ultimately epted Alexander''s refusal, before dering that they would host another simr partyter that month so Alexander could attend.
So, as the noblemen anddy downstairs took part in pleasures of the flesh, Alexander decided to enjoy this new maid he had been given.
And while these merriments were urring in the capital city of the country, far south of it, on a hilly patch of terrain, a battle was soon about to erupt.
"My lord, we have managed to get a good look at the enemy. They seem to number around 40,000." A scout who had been deployed to forward reconnaissance reported this to Grahtos, who then swiftly took it to Menes''s ears.
"Hmm, we have only set out a week ago from Zanzan, and they are already so near. It''s good that we set off when we did." The tall, strong general tellmented with a sigh of relief, feeling that as the enemy was just a few days march from reaching Zanzan, arge, pitched battle was imminent.
And from the side, Melodias chimed affirmatively with arge smile, ''Yes, anyter and ournds would have been piged. Lord Camius has truly performed a great service, haha!"
It was not a secret to these high-level personnel that Camius was the leader of Zanzan''s spywork.
And its potency was proved right and now.
"Mmmm, yes. Without him, we would not have had the time to form an army and would have only been able to garrison our troops and defend. That would have been truly painful." Menes hummed the agreement, feeling proud of his former colleague.
He knew that even now Zanzan was such a cramped city that gathering 50,000 people in one ce was tough.
And if in addition to that fact, there was an enemy already attacking them, which would also then require the walls to be defended, then raising any army would be very, very difficult.
So, for the council members, each letter of Camius''s intelligence was valued its weight in gold.
"Yes, it is truly impressive what Camius has managed to do in just a few months. I hear his wine is considered a delicacy in Thesalie." At Camius''s praise, Grahtos too chipped in, then recalled how after the decision was made, the previous levy system ced during Djose''s attack was once again implemented and 50,000 men were very quickly recruited, armed, and trained with practiced professionalism.
And he did while rubbing his hands together.
Because with November right around the corner, the temperature was changing from just simply chilly to biting cold.
And it was this phenomenon that caught the attention of thest council member in the group, Heliptos, who cussed, "But still, these Tibians must be out of their mind toe to attack us in the winter. I''m freezing here."
This also made Grahtos add with a slight nod, "Yeah. And there is not a decent city or fort all along the way for us to rest either. Many of our horses are suffering in the cold."
But here Melodias decided to remind them, "That is to be expected. Zanzan was originally meant as the first fortress against Tibias. So obviously, there is only rough wilderness from the mouth of the Cisran hills to Zanzan."
"That is right. No noble would want to develop a territory so close to the border either and let it be free forage fodder for Tibias. That''s also why Zanzan is 100 km from here." Menes added to the conversation.
And atst, gave Grahtos his responses to the scout report,
"Tell the scouts to keep an eye on the marching army. And we will shadow them from this side of the river bank, looking for an opportunity to attack."
Menes''s instruction alluded to the geography here, where the most notablendmark was a rtivelyrge river called the Diannu ran from the Tibias, through the city of Thesalie, and close by Zanzan city.
And the scouts specifically reported the enemy army was on the other side of the riverbank, where the terrain was tter and more conducive to their phnx style of fighting.
"Yes, general," Came the unanimous reply from the other leaders, and soon, about three dayster they caught sight of the main Tibian force on the opposite bank.
"There indeed is 40,000." Although the scouts had reported it as such, Menes had always found seeing to be more believable, and this number reassured him of his stronger position.
But he did choose to engage then and there.I think you should take a look at
Mainly because he could not as the enemy was on the opposite bank, and fording a river to attack a well-prepared phnx was not the smartest move.
And so also, for the next one week, Menes''s army was closely stuck behind its Tibian counterpart, tailing them from the opposite side of the river.
And in all this time, none of the Zanzan scouts seeded in spotting the war elephants even once.
This was because they failed to get too close to the enemy army due to the presence of their own light cavalry, and also because Persecus had naturally taken steps to camouge these beasts which were his secret weapons.
Now, one would think hiding such huge beasts in a t terrain would be hard, if not impossible.
But Perseus was no flower born in a pce.
He was a great warrior king even before Amenheraft''s attack and had only grown in thest three years, really polishing off his skills.
So the genius king had found a way.
And he did this by always making sure that his cavalry was ridden adjacent to the war elephants and instructed the 4,000 riders to kick up as much dust as possible, so that a screen of dust clouds was formed around the war elephants, thus obscuring the giant animals from any nosy, prying eyes.
And given that it was winter, with the ground being bone dry, such a phenomenon was easy to produce on this hard, ky soil.
Thus though Menes had the greater numbers, the surprise a horde of charging war elephants had meant Persecus had the overall stronger cavalry.
Now, Perseus himself, who was there to personally lead the army, seeing the size of the army they were meant to deal with, was not overly confident about his chance, as evidenced by his exmation,
"They have responded so quickly? And they actually outnumber us?"
"This was not what that Clive from the Kaiser family said."
"Hmmm, that''s right. They also do not seem like the poor, malnourished, bastards that he told us about," From the side, the king''s trusted friend Leosydas chimed back, gazing hawkishly at the properly armored blue troops at their tail.
"Swindlers and snakes," Perseus thus cursed that envoy for misleading them.
While this friend suggested, "Perseus, tonight let''s go over to that camp and have a closer look. I''m interested."
Meaning Leosydas was asking his king to ford a river with a small contingent and get as close to the Zanzan camp as possible to get a better view himself.
This was a very bold suggestion, and if Alexander was in Perseus''s ce, he would have certainly snapped at the suggestion of such a dangerous n.
But this was the difference between the warrior king Perseus, and the prudent, half paranoid, Alexander, as the former readily agreed within a heartbeat with the short reply, "Yes, let''s."
Perseus was after all a very bold man.
And his soldiers loved him because of that.
Soter that very night, a dozen or so horsemen crossed the icy cold river and stealthy approached Menes''s embanked camp and got as close as they could without arousing the sentries on duty, before using their sharp eyes to observe the soldiers in camp.
It was fortunately a clear moon-lit night and so much of the camp was clear for them to view.
And there, they were surprised to see the order and disciple in the camp, as there was little din and moring from it, the soldiers strode with purpose, there was no loitering, and the guards in full uniform patrolled the site with a straight back and firm footsteps.
Thus after finishing their reconnasence, Leosydas famously said, "These do not look like poor, hungry peasants or ill-equipped, rowdy mercenaries to me. We will soon find out what they can do."
This image had formed in them naturally due to Clive, who in his negotiations had obviously downyed the risk of attacking Zanzan, sprouting simr rhetoric as Muazz had done to Djose.
And so seeing the actual enemy, Perseus too gave a grim nod to his friend''s analysis.
But if it would be any constion to the belligerent king, the situation on the opposite camp was not as nearly rosy as it appeared on the surface.
Chapter 528 Pre-Battle Troubles
While the Tibian king was surveying Menes''s camp, the general himself was currently inside his war tent, dealing with a huge problem of his own.
"General, we only have enough food tost five days. And the next shipment due at least a week away¡. possibly two." His adjutant, arge man named Synadus reported with a slightly fearful tone to his voice.
"And that is with rationing?" Menes furrowed his brows as he sought the confirmation.
"Yes," Came the instant answer.
And it made the ck man''s face turn gloomier.
He knew that when his subordinate said one or two weeks, he solidly meant two and more, not anywhere close to one.
Synadus had only added the one week to console his superior and make it appear the next supply run was closer than it really was.
Which meant the army had to resort to rationing, where the soldiers would be given just one meal a day as opposed to the usual two.
And given that in the army the one thing soldiers most looked forward to was the meal, halving it was not a wise idea.
So Menes first cursed at the man responsible, "Fuckign Heliptos. Useless imbecile. Can''t even properly n this small campaign."
So the reason why this problem had urred was not at all because of the distance or the long supply chain or enemy sabotage.
But simply because the people in charge of the logistical support had messed up, i.e.- Heliptos and the people under him.
These people, both due to ipetency and also simplyck of manpower as Alexander had a critical shortage of educated men, had failed to properly give out orders pertaining to the proper resupply of the army, meaning they failed to urately n for almost everything.
They badly calcted the number of food carts that would be needed in this campaign as instead of using arithmetic functions such as multiplication and division to determine it, they simply winged it using an eyeball estimate.
They also failed to properly divide the food carts into groups so that one group could deliver the food while the other restocked back at Zanzan.
In that same vein, these carts'' schedules were also mixed up and not properly coordinated.
Andstly, the route they were to be sent along was badly chosen.
With all this resulting in the army not being properly supplied, as although the food carts were supposed to keeping to them in a steady stream, in reality, they arrived in staggered stages inrge batches.
This happened because these carts either startedter than they should have as many even did not know when they were supposed to leave, or many did not have enough horse carts or draft animals necessary to carry the amount of produce intended for them, or they simply got dyed due to bad weather and terrain.
All of which resulted in a logistical disaster, as when the baggage train did not properlye, the soldiers starved.
And when they did arrive, many times two or three contingents would arrive simultaneously, making it a hassle for the army to store all this extra food.
This would also slow down their movement speed to a crawl as they would now be burdened with all this excess food they have no use for yet.
Which ultimately meant that the lean, mean, fast army Alexander envisioned was turned into a malnourished, sluggish force, that struggled to either move or keep itself fed.
And if one wanted to really dig down and point out the culprit for this, surprisingly it would not be necessarily Heliptos, but actually, Alexander, as this had mainly urred because he had prioritized loyalty overpetence when choosing many of his council members.
Now this had its benefits, as Alexander did not have to look over his shoulder every second of the day in fear of a coup, and he could employ many of his policies unchallenged.
But it also meant these men were not very good at their jobs.
And this fight between the human quality of- ''loyalty'' and petency'' was an eternal struggle any king, or dictator or strong man had to always struggle with,
The consequence of which Menes was being made to feel.
Who hearing that food rationing had been implemented said,
"Soldiers get more easily hungry in winter. And a hungry soldier is a rebellious soldier."
"So cancel the rationing and institute regr food servings. And make sure they receive the normal servings."
Menes instructed as such because he did not want the servers to cheat and give the men lower proportions.
And although this was certainly a generous move, its drawback was evident, as expressed by a shocked Synadus,
"But sir! The food¡..? What will we do once it''s all gone?" as he then subconsciously pointed his finger towards the ps of the tent and said, "It''s already winter and we cannot properly forage."
"Please reconsider!" He atst pleaded.I think you should take a look at
To which Menes in a very hard, determined voice replied, "The food will not be an issue. We will force a battle within the next two days and finish the snake before that can happen."
"....." Synadus did not repeat the difficulties of attacking across the river and only stood shocked at the bold order.
His mind was currently in turmoil.
ording to militaryw, he was obliged to obey his superior.
But ording to any good conscience, he really had a hard time obeying it.
And seeing this hesitation, Menes lightly barked, "What are standing there gawking at? Go! Do what I said."
Before adding, "And bring me the other leaders. I will convince them."
This childing from his superior instantly broke the military man out of his stupor, and with an instant salute and a loud "Yes," Synadus walked out of the tent to adjust the food ratios and inform the other leaders of the meeting.
''Whatever happens, happens to his head'' And as the adjutant diligently carried out the orders, he decided to delegate all the me on Menes''s head
While in Menes''s tent that morning, the leaders posed unanimously rejected this hasty n, saying,
"No way! Without Alexander, the army is already low in morale. So forcing a fight through a river in this state is too dangerous. The army might even break at the first hit."
This was said specifically by Melodias, who was quickly joined by Heliptos, who said withrge nods, "That''s right, that''s right. Let us keep tailing them. And once they reach closer to Zanzan, our supply troubles will be solved and then we can attack."
When Menes heard the main culprit of this situation speak about supply troubles so casually, it naturally irked him, and so gritting his teeth he growled, "You have the nerve to talk about supplies. We are in this mess because of you, you idiot!"
"My men are starving because of you. We are all starving because of you."
Mene said this because Alexander had strictly ordered all members of the army, from the lowest soldier to the highest general receive the same food and portions, meaning when the rationing was introduced, themanders got the same amount of grub as the grassroots soldiers.
And so for a big man such as Menes, this meant a half-empty tummy and an irritated mood.
At Menes''s light tirade, Heliptos shrink a bit and lowered his head in shame, as this was not the first time the giant general hadmbasted him.
While seeing this, Melodias quickly jumped in to try to keep these two allies together, saying, "Now, now, Lrod Menes, Lord Heliptos did not do it intentionally. This is also his first time managing such a huge army so far out and it is only natural that he would make mistakes." ,
"And besides, he is already suffering from it just as we are."
"Look! He has already gotten so much thinner!"
It was indeed true that Heliptos had never done anything close to this, as when he was in the mercenary, everyone carried their own things at regr times, while in a campaign, it would be the employer''s headache to provide them with food and drinks.
So this was really his first rodeo so far from the city, as was everyone else''s.
And this reminder made Menes cool off a bit and not say the things he wanted to say, which was,
''We should cut some of his fat off to feed the men''.
Instead, he very boisterously called out, "It is precisely because our morale is low that we should take this bold initiative."
"To inspire the soldiers with a grand victory!"
"To show we are just as capable as Alexander."
"Or do you want us to run back to Zanzan with nothing to show to the young boy?"
This taunt hit its mark, especially with the age thing, and as most of the military leaders were eager for military achievements, they could not openly suggest a defensive posture after this.
It appeared Menes was an adeptmander, being able to rally people behind him, as after seeing the other leaders slightly grimace and twitch their lips, the giant man pressed his advantage to say,
"If you want to be meek and passively follow the enemy as they kill, rape, and plunder ournds, then say so."
"But if you do not, then let our soldiers eat their fill the next two days, gain their strength, and attack on the dawn of the third."
It did not take a genius to figure out what option the other leaders ultimately chose.
Chapter 529 Menes Vs Perseus (Part-1)
Menes bringing in Alexander''s age was a genius move on his part, as given the young man''s achievements, the other leaders were eager not to fall behind.
And hence, when the usually aggressive Menes suggested this risky, bold option, the other military leaders were pressured by their peers to ultimately choose it.
So then the question rose, ''How to attack?''
And Menes seemed to have even found that, a way to cross the river rtively safely.
So heid out this n to hismanders, "The Tibians will stick close to the river as they need arge supply of fresh water, just as us."
"So I propose sending our scouts forward to find a rtively shallow part of the river."
"Once we find it, we will camp somewhere close to it."
"And then we will wait for the enemy to get ahead of the spot so that we can cross it."
"And attack their rear!" Thisst sentence was said not by Menes but by Heliptos, whose enthusiastic interjection clearly expressed his thoughts about the proposal.
The plump man clearly loved it.
And so did the other leaders, who could be seen one by one nodding their heads.
This was certainly feasible.
And so, for the remainder of that morning, the men worked on ironing out the details of how that maneuver would be exactly done, as 50,000 men doing anything, much less crossing a running river produced a lot of noise, and they had to find a way to distract the enemy rear guard so that they would not be alerted and let the main enemy force know.
That would be a disaster as the enemy cavalry would be able to cut them to ribbons, while their missiles troops peppered them with arrow fire.
But also, letting the enemy get too far ahead of them was also not an option, as then they would be able to escape before Menes could attack, meaning thetter would starve.
So Menes needed to properly ce his camp just the right way to ensure they were just within the enemy''s sweet spot.
And hence all these nning and preparations continued for the next two days, as in the meantime, the scouts that were sent out for reconnaissance spotted several shallow parts of the river along their marching route which matched their requirements, with the water at best reaching the hips.
The abundance of such spots was actually natural, given it was winter and almost all the rivers'' water levels had dropped, while the cool season also made the waters calm and gentle, making it easy to ford, though inevitably a bit cold.
But it was nothing the soldiers could not soldier through, and so soon the day of the attack arrived.
But here, a slight hup to the n propped.
"The enemy has banked itself right next to the shallows. What do we do?" Late at night, Melodias posed this question nervously to Menes in his war tent.
The man was trying very hard to keep his nerves calm.
"Yes, what should we do?" And this question was repeated by Heliptos, who sounded equally nervous.
Because none of the men wanted to spell out the trouble they were in, i.e.- They only had one meal''s worth of food left.
Whereas they were still at least three days march from Zanzan, as Tibias had decided to take a roundabout way to attack Zanzan by choosing to follow the River Diannu.
"........" Menes too was fluxed.
They had only discussed how they would attack Tibias from the rear, but never considered performing a contested river crossing right in front of the enemy.
This was not part of the n.
And failing to ount for this possibility was a major oversight.
But now was not the time to dwell on that.
Instead, Menes knew he had to do something to solve this current predicament before looking back on his mistakes.
After all, an army that was starving was just one step away from mutiny.
And given Alexander was not here to calm these people, the normally racist Adhanians which made up the bulk of the force would likely tear him and his men a new one if given the chance.
And the other leaders also knew this, hence their added fear.
Thus, he forced himself to rake his brains, and as if the gods were smiling at him, finally, a whileter, hit him with an epiphany.
"I have a n. But it will require some sacrifice." He grinned out loud,
While the other leaders really could not care less about sacrifices, as long it was only ''some sacrifices.
As far as they were concerned, if the death of some poor sods could help them gain final victory, they would dly pay the price,
So they turned to look at Menes with eager ears and hopeful gazes.I think you should take a look at
And when they heard his full proposal, soon the general''s n was approved with overwhelming praise and adtion.
"Excellent! This n is excellent!" Heliptos was the loudest advocate of the strategy, both because he truly liked it, but also to oil up Menes and smother his dissatisfaction at him.
While Melodias even quickly moved to give suggestions to properly implement it, saying,
"Yes. But if we want to carry it out, I propose we wake the soldiers right now. And have them prepared and in position by the crack of dawn."
"We should attack at soon the sky clears."
This proposition was instantly epted by the military leaders, and so with this, the next few hours were used to bring Menes''s strategy to life.
Meaning the soldiers were woken up from their half sleep, quickly given a hot meal, properly armed and equipped, made to report to their units, and then finally moved to position, as they then waited for theirmander''s orders.
But if someone decided to pay attention to the individual men, he would have found them a bit confused and low on morale, as they did not know why they had been woken up like this in the middle of the night after a hard day''s march or when or where they were doing to attack.
And their morale would have been certainly lower if they knew they were about to be ordered to cross the freezing river under enemy fire.
Now, all this could have been redeemed by Menes giving a loud, powerful, rousing speech to pump the men up before the battle.
But he decided against it so as to not alert the enemy.
And so for now, the Zanzan soldiers seemed weaker than its counterpart across the bank.
But Menes did not think the difference in fighting zeal to be critical.
It was still manageable in his opinion.
So instead he turned around to ask the scouts who had gone to the very edge of their side of the river to see the enemyyout onest time before the attack, wanting them to describe what they had seen.
And the scout informed him this, "General, the enemy has deployed its troops in the usual formation as it always does when it rests at night."
"There are around four to five thousand (4,000 - 5,000) missile units ced along the river bank to stop any crossings, while the main army is at the back in their main camp."
"We have also tried to spot any trenches, ditches, or ramparts, and only found a trench dug around the front, facing the river."
"As usual their nks are open."
Now, though this might seem like a gross oversight, but in defense of the Tibians, they constructed this defensive structure every night.
And given the enemy was right opposite to them and they could clearly see them, they simply saw no reason to build further trenches along the nks as there was little chance of such an attack.
In their minds, the enemy could only attack them across the river and it could only be head-on.
So they did not bother.
Plus there was also the inherent factor ofziness by the soldiers, who detested digging trenches in this cold, finding the dry soil almost as hard as concrete.
And it was this noticeable w that Menes had spotted quite a few nights ago that now gave him ast shot at winning this battle.
"Hmm, good, that''s good." Thus hearing the scout''s report and being reassured that the enemy had not changed its standard tactics, Menes gave pleased nods and before turning to his adjutant, to give the go-ahead for the attack.
"Tell the front units to advance as we discussed."
"And make sure the cavalry is ready."
"We attack now!"
"Yes!" Synadusnadus obeyed with a military salute, and soon military trumpets began to re from the Zanzan''s side.
While on the opposite side of the river, as the sky had begun to brighten, the lightly armored missile troops ced along the front line, gave azy yawn and rubbed their eyes in relief, finally rxing now that their shift was finally over.
When suddenly their ears were sted by loud honks from the opposite bank, followed by the deafening cries of bloodthirsty man as the 2,000 missile troops and 2,000 light infantry stared with shock and horror at the mass of enemy infantry crossing the river en mass.
They could hardly believe that the enemy had decided to cross the river in broad daylight.
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Chapter 530 Menes Vs Perseus (Part-2)
"Charge!"
"Charge!"
"Shout and charge!"
As the first few rows of Menes''s army crossed the icy cold river, theirmanders shouted this specific instruction, as they were ordered as such by their higher-ups.
While from the opposite side, the missile troops with practiced adeptness quickly formed up, with the infantry cing themselves at the front to protect the frailer projectiles troops at the back, who then began tounch volley after volley of deadly missiles at the iing Zanzan soldiers.
And judging by the speed they switched from being passive onlookers to active defenders, it was apparent that these men were hardened veterans.
Most of them had been baked in the crucible of Amenheraft''s three years of fighting, and so after their initial shock, they quickly knew what to do.
In fact even their initial shock was not of fear but of incredulity, as they simply could not believe the enemy would force a crossing in such open terrain, underplete broad daylight with no camouge.
''As expected of peasants and rowdy mercenaries,'' Many of the war veterans hence smirked confidently as they were told this about the enemy they were about to face.
While for Menes''s troops, the hail of arrow fire, javelin throws, and lead bullets from slingers were proving a difficult obstacle to ovee, as casualties on their side quickly began to mount even through the shield, the chainmail, and the gambeson or linen thorax.
Menes knew these men would face the stiffest resistance and thus had equipped them with the heaviest armor they had to give them the best protection.
But still, the sheer volume of the missile projectiles beingunched against them was showing itself to be too much.
Additionally, given the men wore so much armor, it also meant they were slow and sluggish to maneuver, and their movement speed particrly devolved to a crawl when crossing the river, making them be almost sitting ducks for the enemy on the opposite banks, who began to use these poor sods somewhat as target practice.
But still the soldiers of Zanzan pushed on, urged by theirmanders, who constantly repeated this particr phrase, "Shout and charge!", "Shout and charge!"
This was a strange thing to chant, especially the first one, as one would expect the enemy to make as little noise as possible when crossing a contested river so as to try not to alert the enemy as much as possible.
And so perhaps if a particrly paranoid man had been present within the Tibian ranks, he would have suspected something.
Such as the enemy being instructed to make too much noise at the front to draw their attention from somewhere else.
But s, no such shrewdmander was present within the 4,000 forward-deployed troops.
And unfortunately for the Tibians that was exactly what was happening currently.
"Quick! Quick! Hurry the horses and get them across!" Grahtos on the left nk of the army urged his men to hasten their fording.
While on the right nk, the man in charge- Laykash did the same.
Both men knew the forward-deployed infantry were being battered brutally by the enemy artillery and it was unknown how long those poor, green recruits could hold before they broke rank and run.
These men were cannon fooders as Menes naturally had not sent his good troops to draw enemy fire.
And so the reliability of these men holding the line till the battle n could be executed was highly questionable.
Hence all the cavalrymen knew time was of the essence.
But knowing something and doing something about it were two very different things.
This was because the shallow parts of the river were currently being used by the infantry, meaning the horses had to swim through much deeper water along the two sides.
This also of course meant that the horses moved slower as they waded through the deeper water, while additionally, many beasts were even reluctant to get wet in this cold weather in the first ce.
So their riders had to coax, cajole, and even beat these beasts to follow their order, taking up precious time.
The situation was also not helped by the fact that many of the cavalrymen were new recruits that had only joined for a few months after Alexander had decided to expand the cavalry part of the army, meaning theycked the expert handling skill of their steeds as the Sycarians did.
All of which yed to drastically slow the river crossing, and affected their pre-nned attack schedule.
And if the riders could not cross quickly, the entire attack failing was a very real possibility.
So these cavalrymen endeavored to aplish this task as fast as possible.I think you should take a look at
While in the meantime, the small contingent of around 5,000 troops or one legion that was sent to the front,posed mostly of new levies, were mostly left to their own, with the main army only cheering theirrades on from the opposite side, them dry, and warm, alive.
While these poor men were in the opposite condition, wet, cold, and many injured, they still tried their best to cross the river and reach the opposite side to engage the enemy.
With their only weapon from the incessant arrow fire being the heavy wooden shield they carried with them over their head.
These soldiers had tried to form a testudo as they moved, but the uneven ground and the act of wading through a literal river made that endeavor impossible, as it was not feasible to maintain unit cohesion when moving through such terrain.
Thus many gaps could be seen even form through the wall ofrge shields which inevitably let the enemy shoot through them to reap many lives.
And in this particr case, Zanzan''s specialty, its secret troops- the crossbowmen were surprisingly of no use, as the enemy was too far away to hit them from Zanzan''s side of the bank. While the enemy itself could target the mass of bodies on the water as those men were deliberatelying towards them, thus even making the task earlier for them.
As for the crossbowmen, even apanying the advancing soldiers to give them cover fire was not a viable option, as reloading a crossbow in the middle of a river was quite impossible.
And so for now, the deciders of the previous battle were forced to simply wait on the other bank and watch helplessly as theirrades tried to slowly, almost with a crawling speed cross the river before being once again set upon by the phnx infantry waiting eagerly for them.
The river had already turned blood red by then, and it was unknown how long these men could hold under such casualties.
At it was this exact message that soon reached Menes, with the herald rying this particr message from the legion''smander.
"Lord Menes, the situation at the front line is critical. I''m not sure how long these peasants can hold."
"If you are gonna do something, do it quick!"
Menes too understand the gravity of the situation and knew that the cavalry attack that was supposed toe and attack the enemy''s nks was reallyte.
And so he barked at another one of his scouts, "What''s the deal with the cavalry attack? Did Grahtos fall asleep?"
Menes naturally was irritated.
While the innocent scout bearing the anger of the supreme general would onlympoon in his heart that he was scolding the wrong person, before repeating the challenges the cavalry was facing crossing the river and then volunteering,
"Lord General, let me go and urge the twomander sirs to hurry up."
The poor scout wanted to do both because he felt it was necessary, and also because he felt it would be prudent to distance himself from this angry man for the time being.
"Wait!" But it seemed Menes had not finished speaking, as he then instructed, "Go tell both Grahtos and Laykash tounch the attack immediately." adding,
"I do not care if they are ready or not. Or whether they have enough numbers or not."
"Tell them the front lines might break anytime, and they are to attack the nks regardless."
"With whatever men they got on the other side of the river."
Menes repeated many of hismands to emphasize their importance.
"Yes, sir," The scout diligently received the order with an instant salute, and quickly ryed the same message to a colleague of his, as each rode off in opposite directions, one to inform the left Grahtos, and the other the right Laykash.
While the herald that had bought Menes the message from the front line was given the following instruction- To go tell the front legionmander that General Menes has ordered the cavalry attack to begin immediately and that he is to hold on till then at all cost.
As in the meantime, on the left nk of the cavalry, Grahtos let out a short cry upon receiving Menes''s order, eximing, "What! We are not ready!"
Before finally being convinced by the messenger.
But not before he sent back the herald with these words, "Okay, but tell Menes that we only got 500 of the 2,000 men across. The river is deeper than we expected and the animals are scared to cross it."
Though things were fortunately a bit better on Laykash''s side, as the water level there was much less there.
And so the young man had managed to get about 1,200 of his 2,000 horses across and was ready to charge.
Hence soon, the two cavalry units were ready for their pincher attack.
Chapter 531 Menes Vs Perseus (Part-3)
The reason why Laykash was able to gather much more men than Grahtos was mainly because when the 5,000 men and thousands of horses to their left crossed the left-to-right flowing river, they created a kind of makeshift dam for Laykash''s men,
Hence after a while Menes gave his order, both cavalry nks managed to sessfully create a bridgehead on the enemy''s side without them noticing and now it was time to make them pay for that little oversight of not building fortifications all around their missile units.
"Hahaha! Attack! Men attack!" And worst of all, the Tibians had no idea of their impending doom, as theirmanders only cheered their men to concentrate on the enemy right in front of them and st them into smithereens.
*re*
*re*
*re*
So imagine their surprise when these men heard the distinct trumpet call of a cavalry charge and a few momentster felt the ground beneath them shake.
''Is it ours? Did His Majesty decide to join the fight?" Some were so confused that they even mistook the call as their own as opposed to the enemy''s.
"Oh¡ no!" But not all.
Some of the sharper men clearly noticed the difference in the trumpet''s pitch and tone and knew it had to be the enemy''s.
And they very well understood what was about to happen, as trumpet calls were usually followed by that.
And then, as if to vindicate their low panicking murmur, the men quickly began to spot their dreade to life, as they saw horses upon horsesing over the horizon, galloping, the beasts neighing and bleating, their riders shouting and cheering, theirnces held firm and t, as the cavalry charged full steam ahead towards the open nks of these lightly armored troops.
*Bang* *Thud*
*Bang* *Thud*
There were two distinct loud rumbles as the two cavalry wings hit the soldiers at the opposing sides at slightly different times, but the damage was equally horrific.
The light infantry formations were smashed apart at the point of contact, many men being literally thrown into the sky by the impact, as the charge then opened a gaping hole on the two sides.
Through which the strong beasts simply used their momentum to bulldoze a path through, kicking, trampling, and even biting the dense crowd of men aside.
It was a massacre.
"Run"
"Run"
"Run for your lives"
"Ahhhh!"
All such synonyms were thrown by the Tibians as the formation then instantly began to rout, though the instructions werergely unnecessary.
The cleverer ones had already begun to run the moment they spotted the dust clouding from both sides and when some ran, like how a sand castle copses when hit by the waves, the solid formation line too began to dissolve away, with each soldier following the one in front of him as a guide.
And as the battlefield was set abuzz by the panicked shout and death throes of the Tibians, it was joined by the opposite sort of emotion, one of jubtion and ecstasy.
"Kill!"
"Kill them all!"
"Don''t let them escape,"
Seeing the Tibian leave their posts and run, for Menes''s cavalrymen, this only ignited their battle lust, as the men spurred their steeds to sprint even quicker and take as many lives as possible as quickly as possible.
Lightly armored, running and out of formation, and panicking soldiers were the favorite prey for any cavalry and the 1,700 riders appeared to have a field day as they galloped freely across the battlefield, ughtering archers, javelin throwers, and slingers in the back using their long spears with extreme prejudice.
While from the other side of the bank, Menes recognized that the enemy''s rear guard had been destroyed and the opposite side was free of obstacles, and so the officers were soon given the order to charge.
"Now advance!"
"Advance!"
''Quickly move forward!"
Hence soon, the entire 41,000 men army began to wade into the shallows and start crossing en-mass in absolute safety.
But as legion after legion began to make it to the other side, and then form up in formation, the situation at the front lines began to atst change, evident that the Tibians would not make victory that easy for Menes.
And this was because after a while of free ughter, soon the cavalry seemed to have met its match.
For Perseus had personally led around 3,000 of his best cavalry toe to his men''s rescue.
The king had been alerted of the attack much earlier, right when the first crossing had begun to take ce, as a messenger had barged into his tent unannounced to shout, "Your Majesty, Zanzan is attacking!"
This news immediately wiped away any semnce of sleep in the king, as he bolted up straight from his bed, and after taking a moment to think, decisively ordered, "Prepare the cavalry! I will personally go see the frontlines."I think you should take a look at
The scout was a bit fluxed at this order, as the situation that he described there did not seem anywhere close to needing the king to go see it himself.
ording to the scouts, they even seemed to be winning the confrontation handily.
But what did he know?
Since the king had ordered it, the poor man only saluted and then instantly obeyed.
So a whileter, Perseus found much of his horsemen ready to ride out, as he himself approached his magnificent horse, while dressed in his unusually ornate personal armor.
And there his right-hand man, Leosydas was already waiting for him, who too seemed to share his king''s concern, saying, "This attack is indeed too strange. It would be prudent for us to have a look."
"Mmm, this reckless attack does not seem to match the mold of the well-disciplined army we saw. Something is fishy." Perseus said with knitted eyebrows.
Now, the fact that his battle instincts were so sharp that they warned him of such a possibility even when he was yet to step onto the battlefield himself just went on to prove why he was considered one of the best generals of his time.
Perseus had been born with this almost magical sense of the battlefield, and then that had then been honed by Amenheraft''s brutal attack.
And so, believing his sixth sense, he additionally turned to Leosydas and ordered, "You stay here and organize the infantry."
"I have a feeling this attack is bigger than it seems."
And then with this order, Perseus soonunched the counter cavalry attack, making it appear faster than Menes had expected.
Though that was also because the Zanzan cavalry got dyed in their nking maneuver due to a more difficult than anticipated river crossing.
But nevertheless, this ultimately meant that instead of theplete annihtion of the 4,000 Tibians, Menes only managed to get 2,000 men dead and wounded, while the rest managed to escape with the help of the 3,000 riders acting as their rear guards.
"Attack!"
"Push them back!"
While Perseus seeing the enemy cavalry wreck havoc on his formation, gave this loud battle cry atop his horse, as he then personally led the charge against the enemy cavalry.
And given it was a 1,700 vs 3,000 advantage for him, with the Tibian king even having the better quality troops, the Zanzan cavalry soon began to take serious casualties, with some units even beginning to show cracks and buckles.
Additionally, Menes had not even equipped his cavalry with horse armor so as to not slow them down or drown them when crossing the river, and so the inexperienced cavalry corp did not even have the material advantage to offset their otherckings.
And so, Perseus actually got close to routing the enemy horsemen, if one for the clever intervention of another legionmander.
"Quick! Reinfice the cavalry!
"Go! Help them!"
"March men! March!"
This decisive action was led by the first legionmander, the one whose unit had been badly mauled by projectiles.
Who, upon seeing the writing on the wall had quickly decided to add his men to the fray, thickening the cavalry lines, and boosting the Zanzan horsemen''s faltering morale
And so then the fight changed to a brutal hand-to-hand, as the horsemen sitting atop their horses with their shields and spears tried to poke and stab the other party, their target- both the man and horse.
While the meantime, for Zanzan, all the soldiers finally managed to cross the river and form rank on the opposite bank, as did the leftover cavalry on both sides.
While for Tibias, their king''s heroic charge stabilized the front long enough to give Leosydas enough time to gather the phnx and have them form a solid line before quickly marching to reinforce their liege and meet the enemy.
*re*
*re*
*re*
So with both sides seeing their infantry approach, and sensing the real battle was about to begin, they each sounded retreat trumpets for their cavalry, thus clearing the way for the infantry sh in the middle.
So after a while, the battlefield began to look like this.
On the center, the biggest sh was happening, with 32,000 Tibian phngites facing 40,000 of Menes''s legionaries.
While the horsemen took their fight to the wings, with each side consisting of 2,000 men for both forces.
Andstly were the reserves, which for Tibias was its 20 war elephants.
And for Zanzan was the 5,000 legionary of the first legion, plus 1,000 crossbowmen who were there to deal with emergencies.
[P.S- Battle formation pic inment]]
Chapter 532 Menes Vs Perseus (Part-4)
As the two armies shed, the battle soon into a difficult slogging match for both sides.
At the start of the battle, the legionaries had thrown their pi and charged as they had been trained, managing to cause some casualties and even take some of the initiative, pushing back the phnx army back a bit.
But soon the Tibians recovered and counterattacked, restoring the front lines, and turning the whole battle into one of attrition.
And the main contents of this attrition yed itself in the center, where the bulk of the action was taking ce.
There Tibias attacked with 32,000 men under their king Perseus, out of which 29,000 were heavy infantry and 3,000 light skirmishers who doubled as missile troops.
While for Menes, his center was much stronger, grouped into eight legions and ced in two rows, there were a total of 40,000 troops.
Just the center of the army stretched 2 kilometers.
Then there were the nks, where both sides deployed 2,000 horsemen on either side, with Perseus and his bodyguards personally taking part in the fight on their left nk, opposed by Laykash''s men.
Andstly, there were the reserves, with Perseus keeping his 20 war elephants in the back for a surprise attack.
While Menes pulled back the first legion because it had been hurt pretty badly in the frontal attack while also keeping his 1,000 crossbowmen unengaged as currently the battle was purely a melee contest.
And as time went on, a clear winner of the contest began to show itself slowly but surely.
It was Tibias.
It could be clearly seen that though outnumbered, it was the Tibians who were pressuring Menes''s men, slowly pushing them towards the river.
And though it sounded incredible, this was actually understandable given the circumstances.
After all, they were fighting on apletely t terrain, one where the phnx was in its element.
And most of Tibias''s troops were battle-hardened veterans, the likes of which Zanzan really had no equivalent off.
The only ones who might have been ofparable quality would be the original 5,000 mercenaries, but after the beating they took at Djose''s hands, where they had been made to hold the center of the army alone, their numbers had shrunk to around 4,500.
Thus, 29,000 vs 4,500 was never really any contest.
All of which ultimately meant this.
"Hold! Hold!"
"Push back men! Push back!"
"Don''t let them throw you around!"
Melodias screamed his heart out, urging his men to stand their ground, as he saw his forces being slowly pushed to the river.
While in his heart, he cursed Menes, swearing,
''I told him this would happen! But would he listen? Fuck!''
When Melodias had bought up the issue of terrain, Menes had simply shrugged it aside, arguing that they easily outnumbered the enemy, and so would be able to hold the line even if the phnx was in a better terrain.
And he supported his answer by using the example of the previous battle, where 30,000 legionaries had held off 30,000 phngites for almost half a day with no problem.
But in reality, thisparison was fundamentally wed.
Because there were several big differences between the two.
One was that in that encounter the troop quality was rtively simr.
Secondly, the infantry had support from the crossbowmen on the nks and also from the cavalrymen in the reserve.
Whereas here, the infantry was really on their own.
And thirdly, and perhaps most critically, Alexander had been present in that battle, exponentially boosting the soldier''s morale, and making many feel like that they would rather die than take one step back.
So with all these three factors absent, when pressured, the legionaries slowly gave ground and were steadily pushed back, with themanders and officers being really unable to do anything except shout and urge their men to fight harder.
But even then inexperiencedmanders could sense this was likely a futile cause, and that if this went on without any major change, they were mostly likely going to lose the battle at some point.
And all this was observed by Menes, who sat atop his horse sweating bullets, all while trying to find a way out as things continued to slowly turn from bad to worse for this general.
This was his first battle, and if he simply lost like this, where his army was ground down and then ughtered by being pinned against the bank of the river, he feared he would not be able to look Alexander in the eye ever again.
So he tried to find a way, any way to wiggle out of this predicament.I think you should take a look at
But still failed to see any light out of the dark tunnel.
Now, as Menes cooked his head for any ideas, some very interesting things were happening on his right nk.
Led by Laykash, the 2,000 cavalrymen here were evenly matched by their counterpart, which wasposed of the Tibias''s best of the best.
This was where Perseus was personally engaged in fighting, apanied by his elite bodyguards, retainers, and nobles, all of whom wanted to share the glory with their liege.
While Laykash''s men had 500 Sycarinas who held the pride of the best horsemen in the world.
So neither side wanted to give the other one the slightest bit of quarter.
Hence, both sides thrusted, stabbed, poked, and parried strike after strike, wanting to pierce and knock the other side of his horse.
And in this chaotic melee, Perseus, the king of Tibias was not only just in formation but really in the thick of it, with him personally leading from the front.
This had the benefit of boosting his troops'' morale sky-high, which was also a factor in why the Tibians were doing so well.
But it also had the adverse effect of making every enemy soldier under the sky want to get a taste of him.
And with his heavily embellished armor, he was probably the easiest thing to spot on the entire battlefield.
Laykash had even set a bounty on the man, dering,
"10,000 ropals! Anyone who kills the enemy king will get 10,000 ropals from me!"
And this naturally made all 2,000 cavalrymen want a piece of the king even more.
So, as the battle raged on, soon the attacksunched against him began to increase both in frequency and ferocity, as many times, Zanzan riders, ovee with bloodlust and the frenzy of the battle would evenunch suicidal attacks to try and get the grand prize.
Before being promptly cut by the royal bodyguards, or even by Perseus himself, who himself was a very skilled warrior.
"Your Majesty, please back away for now, This is getting dangerous," And seeing these increased ferocious attacks, Leosydas then promptly advised Perseus to fight from a few rows in the back.
But the king brushed him off, haughtilyughing and saying, "Haha, these are nothing, Leo. I can fight these punks all day."
And so, Perseus continued to fearlessly dodge, parry and eliminate all threats.
But even then, the number of people out for his head seemed endless, as when one man fell, three more stepped up to take his ce.
These cavalrymen were either blinded by greed for money, a sense of duty towards theirnd, the allure of killing a king and basking in its glory, or simply ovee by the zeal ofbat and so all appeared relentless in their pursuit to kill him.
And then, suddenly, as the battle entered its mid-phase, finally, Laykash''s men''s persistence seemed to almost pay off.
It happened just as Perseus deftly parried another enemy spear thrust using his small shield, probably the hundredth one of today when suddenly another rapid stab somehow managed to find its way through a momentary gap in theyered defenses, the lucky strike aiming directly for the king''s liver.
It seemed that a momentarypse of judgment had urred on Tibias''s side, and a critical w managed to form in their defenses
And Zanzan seemed perfectly poised to instantly take advantage of it.
But s, the spear was unable to aplish its task.
As the supremely skilled king abruptly twisted his body in an unnatural way and then in a whirlwind of movements suddenly bought his shield from mid-air to almost magically in front of the sharp iron tip, solidly blocking the strike.
He was saved!
But not safe.
Because although he managed to keep his life, he was ultimately unable to mitigate all the effects of the strike, as the great momentum of the strike, and his awkward position on the horse managed to knock him off his horse.
And seeing this, the Zanzan cavalrymen began to roar to the skies, saying,
"The king is dead! The king is dead!"
While Leosydas let out a crazed howl and immediately got off his own horse before starting to drag the king back deeper into the formation.
This action was so quick, and Laykash''s men were so distracted with celebrating their premature victory that they simply let this happen, causing this golden opportunity to slip through their fingers and missing their one chance to end the war then and there.
Laykash wanted to cry but had no tears.
And could only soothe his bleeding heart by saying that when Perseus had fallen, every man and even some horse in the surroundings had jumped in front of him to protect their king.
So it was unlikely they could have finished the job even if they tried.
Chapter 533 Menes Vs Perseus (Part-5)
Laykash really felt that he had missed a prime opportunity to end the battle then and there,
Even if tens of people had thrown themselves in front of Perseus to take the sword stabs and spear thrusts in ce of him, Laykash really regretted not having even tired.
If he had, perhaps he could not have killed the king, but at least he could have surely taken out some high-level personnel of the enemy country.
Thus as the young, brave man fought rtively close to the front lines, his heart was filled with regret, and no matter how much he called the grapes sour, it could not distract him from his pain at this missed opportunity.
While on the opposite end, Leosydas after dragging back his king to the very rear of the formation, started to scold him,
"Now will you behave?"
"I told you it was dangerous in the front lines. What would we have done if something did happen to you?"
"....." Perseus at first did not answer.
Instead, he hung his head low and concentrated on stabilizing his breathing and resting his exhausted body a bit.
But then resolutely sounded,
"This is war.
"And we are already outnumbered. So my men need me there, fighting shoulder to should with them."
Hearing the man not change his tune one bit even after being almost shed in half, Leosydas should have been astounded.
But he was not.
Because this was certainly not the first time something like this happened.
In fact, given Perseus''s propensity to regrly take part in battles, it was not even a not-so-infrequent urrence.
Leosydas even knew that if Perseus had bared his body, one would find clear, distinct signs of at least six grievous wounds on him, tworge dots from two spear strikes on the right thigh, a sword wound on the left calf, two arrows punchers around the left shoulders, and arge scar across the chest courtesy of a sh from a longsword.
And this was not to even mention the countless smaller scars dotted all across his body.
In fact, it could even be considered miraculous that none of the wounds had turned gangrene and killed the man.
Leosydas could easily predict that Perseus would not back down after this slight hup.
And so readily proposed, "Okay, let''s do what we always do. Swap your armor and horse with me."
The smart man hade up with this technique a long time ago, and so in many previous battles, unbeknownst to most of Tibian, save for a few top ones, it was Leosydas that had led from the front, and not Perseus.
"Mmm," At this proposal, Perseus did not disy any of his usual bullheadedness and instead with a swift nod of his head, instantly agreed.
The man might be brave, but he was not stupid.
And knew how disastrous it would be for Tibias if he were to die in battle.
And thus soon, the same ornate armor and horse again revealed itself to the frontline, once again boosting the Tibians, while slightly demoralizing Menes''s forces, who had assumed the king had died.
"Hahaha! Men! Looks like getting his ass handed to him once was not enough. He''s back for more" While Laykash, seeing that the heavens were giving him a second shot at the prize was very pleased, feeling that the gods were rewarding them for their good karma and even increased the bounty on the head, shouting,
"20,000! Anyone who kills the king now will get 20,000!"
But if he thought that would be as easy as the first time, Laykash would be grossly mistaken.
Because Leosydas was a much more cautious man than Perseus and his fighting style reflected that.
Unlike his friend, the man mostly defended, keeping his shield close to his chest and only parring or counterattacking, all the while the numerous skilled men around him did all the killing and maiming.
Leosydas did not even fight on the literal front row, but ced himself on the second row, thus minimizing his risk even more.
All this meant that if Laykash wanted to get another chance at the precious head, it would be much, much harder.
And no one suspected that this was not real Perseus, as the two men shared a simr physic and it was difficult to tell who was who when fully d in armor anyway.
As a matter of fact, given how well the armor hid the body, Perseus could have changed ces with his wife, and in the heat of the battle, most people would not have noticed.
And as for the change in his battle style, well anyone would be cautious after getting knocked off their horse and almost killed.
In fact, to the Tibians, the fact their king had chosen to rejoin the battlefield after his fall was a true testament to his zeal and martial prowess.
And the soldiers loved him for it.
Because they saw the man always put himself in as much as danger as them, leading the fight from the front.
Which was much different from Alexander''s style of fighting.
And as such, some Tibianmanders were heard loudly jeering them for it, as they mocked,
"Push men, push!"
"Push these cowards back into the river."I think you should take a look at
"Theirmanders fight from the backs of horseback."
"They are craven worms."
"When things get tough they will leave their soldiers to die and escape, hahaha."
Such taunting was meant to demoralize the opposing sides, and though the Zanzan troops shrugged it off at first, many taking pride in how they had won their previous battle.
But after a few hours of hard fighting, this constant deriding started to show its effects.
Menes could sense his army was cracking and buckling, and though a rout was not imminent, it was certainly inevitable.
This had happened because over time, his men were slowly pushed back, surely and consistently, making them get ever closer to the river banks.
And every legionary dreaded to think what would happen after that as they were pinned against the banks.
While for Menes, his only sce up until now was that his casualties were not too high yet, numbering only around three hundred.
This was because a phnx was not really designed to kill.
It was made to poke holes in the enemy formation and make them realize that they had no way to break through the wall of pikes, thus making them rout as they would see that there was no point in dying helplessly against an enemy they would not touch.
Or if that did not happen, the phnx would make the enemy back up until they reached a geographical or man-made barrier, such as a hill, mountain, river, or even the opposing camp, before pinning the trapped enemy and skewering them.
And this was exactly what was about to happen, as Menes''s forces got ever closer to the river banks with each passing second.
"Don''t tter! Strike back!"
"Fight! Fight for your lord!"
"Fight for your women and children!"
Themanders and officers on this also tried to raise morale and make the legionaries push back, chanting encouraging words.
Menes had even sent some of his higher-level soldiers to the very front lines in response to the Tibian jeers so that the first-echelon troops did not feel abandoned.
And this worked to a limited degree.
The copse and retreat of the army considerably decreased as the Zanzan soldiers to their credit fought doggedly, trying their level best to not give the enemy ground.
For money, for their family, and even for their lives.
But still, they could not ultimately stop the copse.
Menes was still losing ground.
Because the simple fact was that legionaries simply could not win against a phnx formation on t ground.
Sure they could hold their ground for a while, and even slow the opposing side down.
But in a pure meleebat, a phnx would alwayse out on top.
So something else needed to happen for the side using legionary formation to win.
And this was something Menes was learning the hard way.
''Should I order a retreat?'' The giant general, hence seeing the battle''s result be close to being decided started to seriously ponder his remaining options.
He figured, ''If I order it now, with the frontline soldiers still having some energy left in them, and by using the first legion and 1,000 crossbowmen I have in reserve to act as rear guards, I can still perform a good, orderly retreat.''
But the big problem here was the river.
Performing such a retreat with around 5,500 rear guards on t ground as child''s y.
Doing the same thing with a river to the back was a daunting prospect.
Even if that river was rtively calm and quite shallow.
Menes estimated he would lose at least a thousand in the best-case scenario, and might even lose up to four to five thousand (4,000 - 5,000) if things went wrong.
And these numbers were so high that daunted by the probable losses, he began to alternatively wonder.
''Or maybe I can use the reserves to stabilize the frontlines.''
''It likely won''t be enough to stop the copse, but it might be enough to slow it down enough so that the battle drags on till dusk.''
''And then we can retreat at night.''
Both ideas had their pros and cons, and Menes oscited between them, knowing he had to choose one soon.
The time window to make a difference with either one was closing fast.
Chapter 534 Menes Vs Perseus (Part-6)
Menes retreating now would mean saving the bulk of his army.
But this obviously had its challenges.
In addition to the apparent river obstacle and loss of face for him, it would also mean his army would start to starve given they had used up theirst morsel of grain in the morning.
So considering this, the alternative of trying to match the enemy until dusk and then run away under the cover of the dark might sound like a pretty good idea.
But that then ran the risk of betting that the additional troops would be enough to halt the copse and enable the army to stay in the fight long enough.
Menes had no way of guaranteeing his reserves would be up to the task.
So, given the two choices, the supreme general began to actually gravitate towards the former choice, thinking a small certain loss was preferable to a risky gigantic one.
As for the concern about starving, well you had to be alive first, then you can worry about food and water.
Menes further reasoned that if he ran, although some men would certainly die due to starvation, but Zanzan city was only about three days march from here.
So the bulk of them could still make it as people could live for around three weeks without eating.
As fortunately, they had no shortage of drinking water, for the terrain here was hilly and full of small springs, in addition to the presence of abundant underground water, meaning digging wells for fresh water waspletely viable.
So he was pretty confident about the chances of most of his men making it back alive.
Even additionally thinking that if worst came to worst, he could even ughter some of his horses as rations.
Thus with all these reasoning, Menes decided to sound the trumpet for retreat, and even took the horned bugle in his hand, ready to blow it.
When suddenly, his ears were sted by a tremendous cry of jubtion, seeming to erupt from his right nk.
And a few momentster, he heard his soldiers chanting, "The king is dead! The king dead!"
This was first restricted to only the right nks, but soon, like wildfire spreading in a forest, the ecstatic roars began to resound from the entire army.
And the exuberant cries were so loud that Menes even forgot about sounding the retreat and instead willed his horse forward to see the source of themotion.
And shortly after, the general was astounded to see the golden helmet of the enemy king being passed around from soldier to soldier, as was the head that adorned it!
''Perseus is dead!'' This realization hit Menes with a burst of adrenaline, and unable to control his surging emotions, he then and there roared with every ounce of strength his voice could muster,
"Attack!"
"Attack!"
"The king is dead!"
"Attack!"
And hearing their general''s euphoric roars, the Zanzan men were energized with potent battle zeal while seeing their king''s ornate helmet paraded around, the Tibians began to lose heart.
Hence shortly came this order, the tide of battle began to slowly shift.
Now to understand the events that led up to these euphoric shouts and change in tide, one had to back some time, right where to the right nk of Zanzan''s army was located.
Here, Laykash had concentrated his attacks around the disguised Leosydas, trying to kill him, or at least trying to kill the people in front of him, and thus force him to step forward.
And over time, Zanzan''s cavalrymen appeared to seed in actually doing that, as at one point, a conspicuous gap had opened up in the Tibian front echelon, one where two horsemen were simultaneously stabbed and thrown off their horse, making Leosydas now directly stare down the enemy.
And though at any other time, he would have let any one of the numerous bodyguards or nobles around him step forward and take his ce, today, for some inexplicable reason that even he did not know, the very conspicuous man stepped forward into the very front lines.
Perhaps this was an almost instinctual reaction for a man who had been in so many wars.
After all, ''Keep the front rows always filled,'' was the first thing they taught in the army.
This doctrine came about because when an army fought using spears, each man did not thrust the weapon horizontally.
But spears were weapons that were easier to use diagonally.
Meaning the individual soldier was protected by two spears from both hisrades on either side.
And conversely, he protected one-half of the nks of both of them.
So knowing this, it could be easily seen what would happen if a man in the formation was killed.
The two men on either his side would be vulnerable.
And if more such people continued to die,...well a chain copse would slowly begin.
So it was very likely that Leosydas moved forward to face the enemy through simply a force of habit and the subconscious muscle memory that constant military drills had built up. I think you should take a look at
Or perhaps his horse which had been bred for war did it for him.
Orstly, maybe he saw the enemy was on the brink of copse and felt there was no immediate danger.
No one would ever be able to say for sure why Leosydas chose to pointlessly put himself in harm''s way, likely not even himself.
But whatever the reason might have been, the fact was that Leosydas had stepped forward and exposed himself to the enemy.
And seeing this, Laykash, whose eyes burned with steely determination, and whose heart had bled at having missed such a golden chance previously, decided that this time he would not leave the opportunity in other people''s hands.
He decided to oversee the job himself, and so, disobeying Alxx''s doctrine, he urged his horse to go forward and started to take part in the melee personally, even positioning himself at the very front rows just like Leosydas had.
Here, Laykash being the overallmander of the wing was also ornately dressed, not as much as Leosydas, but sufficiently so, with a veryrge red plum on his helm so as to attract the attention of his soldiers when givingmands.
Hence, with the presence of both themanders in the very first rows, a fierce struggle, one even more brutal than that was already going on started to unfold.
"Haha, look the coward has finally decided to join the fight."
"What good will it do now? Your army has already lost!"
And seeing this, at first, the Tibians taunted the youngmander.
While for the Zanzan cavalrymen, seeing theirmander fight shoulder to shoulder with them in the same rank, they cheered,
"Haha, brothers what are we afraid of now? When the hero who made Amenheraft run has joined us!"
"If he can defeat a god, what is this puny Tibias?"
Hence, with both sides energized by the presence of their highestmander, the battle reached a new feverish pitch, as they both pushed the other side to give ground.
But ultimately both held their lines steady and firm, as in both the wings, contrary to the center, the fighting was pretty even, with no clear victor.
But that was soon about to change.
As events soon unfolded which would perfectly showcase why it was so dangerous to fight in the frontlines, especially for high-levelmanders, and why Alxx expressly forbade it.
But right now, in the right nks of his army, Laykash, and Leosydas were doing exactly that, with both of them actually squaring off one another right opposite each other.
Here, Leosydas used the traditional two-headed spear of Tibias, designed as such so that if one tip broke, the rider would simply slip the polearm and use the other good side.
While Laykash seemed to have foregone good military strategy and switched to an almost 2-meter-long longsword, a sword specially made for the cavalry to give them a greater reach.
Now, this was not an advisable move for one very particr reason.
And that was that there was a good reason why armies used spears.
In fact, there were plenty.
Cheap.
Greater range.
Easy to master.
And a whole host of other reasons.
Among them there was also the fact that spears were simply the better weapon than swords to be used en mass.
Meaning arge of spearmen were simply the more potent force.
As a matter of fact, an army of spearmen would easily win against an army of swordsmen nine out of ten times.
But then where did swordse in?
Well, swords were more of a personal weapon, and their true lethality bloomed in duels, as a swordsman was expected to win nine times out of ten against a spearman one on one.
And this had less to do with the skill of the user, but more so because this was simply how each of the weapons worked, with the sword being able to attack very effectively and thrust directly forward, whereas the spear was in its element when attacking diagonally.
Thus generally if one wanted his army to win, a spear was the better option, whereas if one really wanted to kill someone right in front of him, a sword was the way to go.
And with this knowledge, it could be seen that the reason Laykash had bought out his sword was to cut Leosydas and only Leosydas.
Or in his mind the Tibian king.
He wanted to do it all cost, and nothing else seemed to matter.
Chapter 535 Menes Vs Perseus (Part-7)
To aplish his goals, the battle-crazed Laykash threw all caution to the wind, leaving the two men beside him to fend for themselves, in addition to ordering them to also protect him as he only concentrated on hacking off his prize.
So the two men had to basically fight two men at once, while Laykash tried toplete his goal.
And in the process of trying to aplish that endeavor, Laykash certainly sustained some injuries from the enemy side, as they would never just let allow him to be so reckless and not any price.
Hence stabs and thrusts from many sides began to pepper him.
But still, Laykash continued to keep his desperate attack for as long as his body permitted, using his innate skill as a warrior, and the much better armor he was wearing, made of the finest chainmail and gambeson, to withstand the enemy attacks, barely managing to turn many potential mortal injuries into flesh wounds, and light stabs.
But even then his armor slowly started to be dyed with blood.
Yet he still persevered.
Because he knew that they were losing, and killing the king was their best chance at turning the tide of the battle in their favor.
And then suddenly it happened.
Finally!
His relentless attack on the enemy atst bore fruit, as if the gods seemed to respond to his unyielding spirit and determination to not lose.
Among the many fierce exchanges, there rose one particr fateful exchange, where after skillfully parrying one of Leosydas''s spear thrusts, Laykash was presented with a tiny window to his opponent''s right nk as Leosydas''s right arm was redirected into the air in the parry and was yet toe down.
And Laykash instantly clutched that opportunity with both his hands.
*Bang*
Hence bringing hisrge sword horizontally, as swift as lightning, he gave a solid sword strike squarely to his opponent''s ribs, with the hit even producing a loud, crisp bang in the process, as the hardened steel de hit the bronze cuirass.
*Neigh*
*Thud*
And this strike was instantly followed by the scared bleat of Leosydas''s horse, and then a dull muffled thud, as the man, without the presence of any stirrups, simply fell off his horse from the sheer force of the strike, just like his king had some time ago.
"Arghhh.." And then he could be heard groaning in pain, as he felt that several of his ribs had surely cracked, if only fully snapped in two.
Hence after falling, Leosydas began to writhe in pain on the ground, while he sped the wounded area.
An area from which shortly after copious amounts of blood could be seen beginning to flow out, dying the right side of his golden armor red, courtesy of the hole the sword had made.
While atop his horse Laykashseeing this actually cursed instead of crying out in joy, as the veteranmander had clearly felt that though his high-quality sword had smashed open the bronze armor, torn through the linen thorax, cut open the flesh, and dug deep into it, but the steel de had been ultimately repulsed by the solid ribcage.
Meaning he had failed to puncture the lungs.
Meaning Leosydas was unlikely to die from his wounds alone.
Meaning if he would get proper treatment, and his wounds could be closed before they turned infectious, this enemy of Zanzan would be surely back for round two.
And this realization made Laykash somewhat astounded at the man''s luck, as the sword he used was made from possibly the best steel and manufacturing technique in the world, and in any other time, should have cleaved him clean through like a hot knife through butter.
So it was truly fortuitous that the man was not only still alive but even conscious, able to make painful groans.
Perhaps Laykash''s strike was a bit weak or hit the man at an angle, or just that the armor he wore was especially well made.
But whatever the reason was, Laykash felt the man might have used up all the good luck in his life today.
And then quickly bringing himself back from the slight shock, Laykash thought that since the man had used up all his luck, it was time to give him a second strike and send him off, finishing the man off for good.
So raising his longsword high into the air, Laykash took aim at the man''s neck, intending to behead the ''king'' and parade his head around.
And to help him aplish that, he very much thanked his specially made sword which had a much longer reach than the shorter infantry sword that was meant for getting close and thrusting, meaning that he could hit an opponentying on the ground even when he was sitting atop his horse.
"Die!" Seeing his prize so close and vulnerable, Laykash let out a demented cry of joy as he bought down his sword towards Leosydas''s sword, very much anticipating that sweet feeling of hard steel cutting across soft flesh.
*nk*!
But s!
He missed.
Even from such a close distance.
Or more urately he was blocked.
This happened because when Leosydas had spotted the glint of the steel snaking its way to reap his life, in clear evidence of his martial prowess, even in his half-delirious state. the man did not try to dodge the iing strike as any normal human would but had the shrewd state of mind to instead angled his bronze helmet towards it, intending to take the full force of the strike head-on, literally.
And the result was that when the powerful hit from such a heavy weapon, weighing itself more than a kilogram, made contact, the man felt like his head had been hit with an actual brick, and he began to see stars, as he lost consciousness then and there.I think you should take a look at
Additionally, blood began to foam out of his mouth as he had subconsciously clenched his teeth during the attack, meaning many of his teeth were broken or got knocked out, turning his chin blood red.
And soon, his face began to match that color, as the strike had cut his skin even through the helmet, only failing to smash his skull in two, though it did manage to crack it.
But for all the terrible injuries, and copious amount of blood loss, the man was still alive!
And seeing this Laykash was speechless.
He had been in numerous wars in the close to a decade he served in the military, and the number of warriors he had met that was as skilled as the man in front of him could be counted on one hand.
Laykash finally understood that the man surviving hisst attack was likely not purely out of luck.
And this realization made him want to kill the man even more, as letting such a dangerous opponent escape when he was so close to dying was the epitome of foolishness.
If he was allowed toe back, no doubt Zanzan and itsnds would suffer.
And so Laykash raised his sword for a third time.
But how can it be that easy?
Because seeing their ''king'' fall off his horse again, all the bodyguards and nobles immediately started to gravitate toward him, trying to again protect him as they had done before, while they shouted out rmed cries.
"Your Majesty!"
"My king!"
"Your Highness!"
"Leo!"
With thest one was of course shouted out by Perseus who was in the back.
And all the men had stunned and fearful expressions on their faces because Leosydas really did not look good.
While Laykash atop his horse again swung his sword to try and clear the crowd, but this time,
*Neigh*,
Leosydas''s horse got in the way, the trained mount protecting its long-time master even at the cost of suffering arge wound across its neck and shoulder.
And with the amount of blood it then began to spray out, it was unlikely the beast would be able to live.
But it had done its job.
The loyal steed had saved its master''s life for one more time.
"Fuck!"
While Laykash felt a maddening frustration like he had never felt before.
He could not believe he missed his chance, not once, not twice, but three times in a row.
Four if you counted the initial one.
And so then the battle-crazed man crazily swore, ''I will kill that man even if I have to die!'' as he then dismounted from his horse, and shouted,
"Men! With me!"
"I will grab that bastard by the neck and ughter him by myself."
Laykash felt that the range from the horse was too big and that gave the men time to dodge.
So he decided he would go up close and personal, even if it meant facing all the men surrounding him or the enemy riders around.
And hearing theirmander''s order, three men joined him, and soon
*nk*,
Laykash was stopped by a bulky noble who struck him with his sword, one which Laykash parried with one hand while taking his dagger out from the side using the other, before stabbing the poor man in the neck.
And then as he stepped forward, he saw two of his men were also being engaged, with the third one already dead, all while Leosydas''s body was starting to be moved.
If Laykash wanted to do something, he had to do it quickly.
Or else the prize would slip through his finger just like that.
And so the madd did just that, employing as crazy a n as he did with Amenheraft.
Chapter 536 Menes Vs Perseus (Part-8)
Seeing Leosydas''s unconscious body slowly being dragged away, Laykash felt a fire lit under him.
He felt that he could never rest easy for the rest of his life if let this prize slip away aftering so close.
Thus thinking on the spot, Laykash did this.
The madd rushed in front all alone, charging straight towards the enemy line, his intention- to get close enough and throw his dagger at the body!
But s!
How could such an endeavor be so easy?
And as he was dashing in front, he spotted another bulky man stepping up to block his path, a greatsword in hand.
And though he was one of thest ones in the way, that would be likely enough.
Laykash knew that if he got mixed up in the melee with him, the ''king'' would be dragged off to safety.
The heavens seemed really, really determined to keep Leosydas alive.
And so Laykash did what came naturally to him, as his eyes caught that familiar glint of the shiny armor.
Hence in an inexplicable move, the man suddenly let go of his sword, in an attempt to bnce himself, before switching the dagger from his left to his dominant right hand, as then he simply threw the dagger over his shoulder with practiced familiarity.
*St*
And from that close distance, the heavy steel de easily and very urately hit the enemy man in his throat, piercing deep into him and killing the noble instantly, hence clearing the way for Laykash.
But that victory was a bit hollow given that now the attacker was unarmed.
Laykash could not kill Leosydas even if he got close.
And he knew this.
Which was why Laykash switched his n to do the next best thing.
Thus, as Amenehraft had never expected it, the half-insane man bypassed all the nobles around Leosydas like a whirlwind of shadows and suddenly lunged towards a bit of space around the leg of theying body which nobody was paying attention to, and before anyone would understand what was going on, all of a sudden they found that that the helmet that had been there was gone!
To the surrounding men, it simply appeared like if a mysterious, phantom hand had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and taken off with the king''s helmet.
Yes, that had been Laykash''s modified n.
After he had determined that he would likely not be able to kill the king, he decided on the next best thing and that was to try and steal the very recognisable helmet.
And in that endeavor, the heavens seemed tost favor Laykash a bit, as after Leosydas had been struck down, the men around him had quickly taken off his helmet and thrown it to the side so that they could have a better look at the wound, while also making it easier for Leosydas to breath and cool off.
They never imagined a thief would try and snatch the iconic gear so suddenly as he did this.
Because that was not even in their mind right then.
Their only real priority was dragging the body from the battlefield back to safety and then administering first aid to him, which in this case was trying to stop the bleeding.
And so before these men could even understand what had happened, Laykash had aplished what he was there for and was instantly out of there.
It seemed that the daredevil had somehow managed to steal meat right from a tiger''s mouth, and then even escape unscathed before anyone really woke up to what had happened.
And reaching his side of the fight, Laykash swiftly climbed back on his horse as he then began to shout and wave the empty helmet around, showing his prize to the crowd.
"Dead!"
''The king is dead!"
"I killed the king!"
The shrewd man then began to cleverly lie.
And this predictably made one side cheer, and the other side shrink in fear.
After all, the exact happenings at one small corner in a 2-and-a-half kilometer front was impossible to be known with any degree of uracy for the vast majority of the soldiers.
And so when Laykash swung around the distinct empty helmet as proof of his im, the item being the only one of its kind in the entire battlefield, the soldiers took that as concrete evidence and easily imagined the fate of its owner.
And so Tibias''s lines finally began to waver a bit, as they be demoralized, while Zanzan''s lines were pumped up with adrenaline and they began to push back.
Then, to make the thing even more believable, a bitter one of Laykash''s subordinates and a close friend of his came to him and suggested, "Laykesh, put the helmet on a fake head, and start passing it around. That will boost our morale even further."
''Fake head?'' Laykash was initially a bit confused by the idea.I think you should take a look at
But an instantter understood where this was going.
"That''s great! Do it." He thus shouted with a huge grin.
And with that order, sometime after, a dead Zanzan horseman was beheaded by his ownrades, and then his head was made to grace the ornate, majestic helmet.
Before it started being passed along from man to man within Zanzan''s ranks.
"Hahaha, look ¡look..your king!"
"Dead! The snake is dead!"
"Give up! Your king is dead."
" Give up! You cannot win."
And as the ornate helmet and bloody head began making its rounds around the frontlines, the Zanzan soldiers began making crude, and even somewhat barbaric taunts at their enemy facing them.
Many lifted the head high to make it more prominent, some spun it around and others even yfully passed the head between their two hands as if it was a ball, and not an actual, dead human head, that was continuously leakingrge amounts of blood.
And seeing this proof right in front of them, naturally the Tibians lost heart.
After all, most of these poor peasants had never seen the king face to face and had onlyid their eyes on his ornate armor and magnificent horse from far, far away.
And so for these poor men, that unique helmet in the enemy''s hands was proof enough.
And this was even the case for many who had seen the king.
Because even if one did manage to get a good look at the king by some miraculous luck, it was highly unlikely that he was going to be able to differentiate the head he had seen back then from the head that was in the helmet given the quick speed the item was being passed along the frontlines.
And it had to be this quick as time was limited, and every Zanzan solders want to ''hold a king'' in his hand.
And even if one of the Tibians could indeed recognize the head as fake, then what?
Even if he were to shout it out, how many would believe him?
Even the nobles in the right nk, the ones fighting the closest to the king were shaken by the news.
Although the men in the immediate vicinity knew the truth, even knowing that it had not even been Perseus in the first ce who was struck, the rest of the almost 2,000 men did not.
In the heat of battle, the majority of them were oblivious to many of the facts.
And even when the knowledgeable nobles started to shout, "The king is alive and well. Fight and resist theirs,"
And, "Keep calm! Do not panic. Everything is alright!" as a way to restore morale, somehow the soldiers began to panic even more.
The words ''don''t panic'' and ''stay calm'' in a critical situation always seemed to have the opposite effect, both in this world and also in Alexander''s previous world.
Because the brain seemed to think the opposite way, assuming that if someone if telling everything is all right, it was probably not.
Because then the person would not have to say it.
Thus soon the consensus feeling among both sides was that the King of TIbias- Perseus was dead.
And it was at this point Menes hade to see the severed head being paraded around, and sensing the wind of battle change, immediately ordered a counterattack, additionally evenmitting his first legion from the reserve to push the enemy back.
And here the attack was a resounding sess for Zanzan.
Just like Tibias had destroyed the front rows of Menes''s forces previously, now it was Menes''s turn to return the favor, with his legionaries aggressively attacking the phnx units, freshly energized so as to be undaunted by any injuries they might suffer.
While the phngites began to only timidly block and defend, their heart giving out at the thought of their king being dead.
Without the presence of their suprememander, these soldiers began to see no hope of victory and this faltering morale soon began to make Tibias take heavy losses.
And this was solidly reflected in the casualty numbers.
Whereas previously the casualty numbers only existed in the hundreds, but it soon exceeded a thousand and still kept climbing.
And as the dead bodies piled up, the TIbians began to lose heart more and more, as they saw this as clear evidence of their predictionsing.
Which meant their resistance turned even more lukewarm, resulting in more deaths, thus creating a deadly cycle.
While the opposite side seemed to have transformed into lions, and it seemed that things were finally turning up for Menes.
Victory seemed near his grasp.
Chapter 537 Menes Vs Perseus (Part-9)
Energized by the death of the opposing king, Menes''s men slowly but surely pushed back from near the banks of the river all the way to the middle of the battlefield, while they let out fierce battle cries, and taunted demoralizing jeers, all of which turned the Tibians meeker and meeker, their defense turning tepid and soft.
And soon the front echelons of their phnx unit even ceased to exist, as the doggedly determined Zanzan men thurst, stabbed, and shed their way forward, inching ever closer to victory.
While at the epicenter of all this, the main ce from which all this began, things were in a much worse state for the Tibians
Here, bolstered by Laykash''s act of heroism, his right wing pushed back hard against the opposing side like they had never done before.
And though Tibias''s front few rows held strong because they knew the full story and were among the best of the best troops the country had to offer, a lot of the rear echelons'' men began to leave the formation, thinning out their ranks.
This was because from these confused cavalrymen''s perspective, all they remembered was seeing a wounded man wearing the king''s armor being dragged to the rear.
And focusing on that scene, that was proof enough for many to abandon their ranks or even ride after the wounded man.
"Charge!"
So seeing this, Laykash ordered a general full frontal attack against the thinned lines, and predictably, after a few such strong attacks, the lines snapped, and immediately after initiated a full-fledged rout of Perseus''s left nk.
"Hahaha, the king is dead! So will be hisckeys!"
Laykash''s men cheered at seeing this, as they then jumped on these now defenseless rabbits with spears and swords, ripping the formation to shreds.
And once they finished dying their swords and spears blood red, and making the entire wing flee the battle, a total of 1,000y dead beneath them, with another 200 to 300 limping back to their camp wounded and injured.
Among them, many Tibian cavalrymen suffered injuries not only from the enemy but also from their own side, as in the chaotic escape many had gotten crushed and roughly pushed and shoved, causing a few to even fall off their horses and be trampled.
Hence at the end of it all, out of the original 2,000 men-strong formations, there were only seven to eight hundred (700 - 800) who managed to get away rtively unscathed.
And if the numbers were not horrific enough, to make the loss even worse, it was in this wing that resided many of the army''s senior officers and high-level nobles.
Most of whom were now either dead or incapacitated.
Thus it would not be wrong to say that it was one attack Laykash had managed to break the spine of Tibias''s army.
An entire country''s fighting potential crippled from just that one rout.
Laykash could have never imagined he would be able to inflict such pain with only 2,000 men.
And the man was yet to realize that.
Instead right now, with his side of the enemy routed, which meant that his right wing was now free and unchallenged on the battlefield, he focused on taking advantage of it, as this situation enabled him to freely swing around to the left and swiftly hit the center phnx infantry''s unprotected left nk.
Which was exactly what he did, causing even more casualties as he smashed into them with a charge and started raining javelins on them, all while the allied infantry pushed from the front, creating a pincher attack
And so, a whileter, with news of the death of their king, the routing of their left wing, and now being pressured by the enemy''s right cavalry wing, a copse of the entire army seemed imminent.
"Yes! Charge men! Charge! Victory is ours!"
And observing all this from atop his horse, Menes could not help but let out bellow under bellow of cheering roars, his nose being able to almost smell the victory.
Even now he had trouble believing that he had somehow managed to change the tide of battle, his soldiers managing to push up from the very edge of the river bank all the way to the middle of the battlefield, the ce where the battle had started.
''A few more minutes and that''s it,'' Menes felt this victory had been already sealed in his name.
But you might ask, with all this happening, and with his army about to imminently melt, where was the one person who was proimed to be dead, the suprememander of Tibians?
Well at first Perseus had been with Leosydas, personally using a cloth to press down on the wound and stymie the bleeding.
The man was much more than just a subject to the king, and for a while, Perseus had little state of mind to care about anything else.
Besides, he thought that since they were winning so handily, his being away for a small amount of time would not really matter.
''We have already won. The soldiers will just need to keep pushing and the gates to Zanzan will be open for us.'' Perseus thought to himself, figuring that the low-levelmanders themselves would be able to mop up the rest of the battle.
And so the man decided to stay with his best friend all the way until the on-site doctors arrived and finished patching the man up, stabilizing his condition and stopping the bleeding.
It was only then, after being reassured by the doctors the Leosydas will live that Perseus finally breathed a sigh of relief, and afterward bought his focus back to the battlefield.
But when he rejoined the battlefield, imagine his surprise to see the current state of it.
His army that he was sure should have been handily winning up until now was seen being pushed back like they were made of paper, his left nk had been smashed, and all while rumors of his death swirled about among the regr rank and file, with the opposing side even chanting creative, on the spot created songs about it.
For a while Perseus even suspected that he had identally joined the wrong side of the battlefield.I think you should take a look at
But it was what it was.
And seeing the absolute state of it, Perseus immediately got to work trying to rectify this.
His first action was to dispel the myth of his death, and so he quickly got up on his horse and started to run wildly along the battlefield, shouting at his soldiers from behind,
"I''m not dead! I''m not dead!"
"Here I am! Here I am!"
"Your king is alive! Your king is well!"
"Fight men! Do not lose heart!"
Perseus even took off his helmet to show his face to any soldier who cared to look.
But s.
This tactic''s efficacy was too little toote.
And this was not because the soldiers did not believe him, but simply because it was a matter of the scale of the battlefield.
The battlefield was close to 3 kilometers long, meaning even at full gallop it would take Perseus about 5 minutes to ride end to end.
So imagine trying to make someone listen to you over such a distance with one''s bare voice.
Especially when there was an active battle going on.
There could have been another ten Perseuses running to and fro all across the battlefield shouting out the same thing and the soldiers still would not have been able to hear their king.
Thus soon it became apparent to both sides that Tibias losing this battle was imminent¡.if something did not change.
And here, seeing things that be dire, Perseus atst decided to y his trump card, or more urately his only card.
He unleashed his reserve of 20 war elephants, 10 each to either side.
Now, prior to today, Perseus had never used these beasts.
He had heard stories of these beasts'' destructive potential before but most of those were overly embellished stories that were difficult to take seriously.
Like there was one book where he had read that the thundering charge of a horde of such beasts could smash mountains or change the paths of rivers.
Obviously, Perseus had not believed such a im.
And so he had always been skeptical of their potency, which was why he had held them back in reserves.
The king did not want to use weapons he had never used before right at the start of the battle.
But now that things had gotten to this point, there was little point in hoarding these beasts.
Thus ordering the trainers of these beasts to charge forwards, Perseus maneuvered the six to seven tons mammoth creations of flesh and muscle to hit both the nks of Meness''s wings simultaneously.
*Trumpet*!
*Trumpet*!
*Temupet*!
And when they were unleashed, these beasts did not attempt to hide their presence for a second, letting out loud, fierce cries as they charged toward their target as dictated by their trainer on top.
But curiously, for Zanzan, its troops initially did not even notice the advent of these beasts on the battlefield.
And this was totally normal.
After all, there was already so much noise, dust, and general chaos in a typical battlefield that one''s senses would be soon overwhelmed.
Who could say that was making that strange sound?
*Rumble*, *Shake*, *Rumble*
And so even the sharpest troops only began to feel something was wrong they felt the ground underneath them shake unnaturally, as their hearts began to produce a sinking feeling.
Chapter 538 Menes Vs Perseus (Part-10)
As the elephants charged in, initially, the Zanzan troops who were d in their helmets that let them barely see forward and in which they had to really concentrate to hear what theirmander was saying were totally oblivious to the dangers approaching them.
While themanders at the back were more focused on ordering their men to advance forward because they simply did not think the enemy had any reserve.
At least they certainly did not expect them to be hiding elephants as none of the scouts had spotted them.
And so these mammoth, terrifying beasts were only spotted when they were already upon the poor, clueless soldiers, and when the soldiers atstid their eyes upon these magnificent, yet horrific beasts, many felt their feet give away.
d in leather armor, the ck beasts towered as high as a single-story building, with their trunks swinging in the wind as they charged, kicking up a dust storm using legs the size of tree stumps, as they angled their close to 2-meter tasks d with des and metal caps towards the enemy, intent on skewering them like a shish kebab.
All while on their back rode the trainer called a mahout, who controlled the beast, and with him rode a few archers and javelin men, who had already begun to throw projectiles at the iing enemy.
Most of the people here had never seen an elephant before, much less seen a group of them charging menacingly at them, and so the shock and panic they must have experienced as the beasts approached their nks all while sting the air with its signature roar was hard to imagine.
"Hold! Hold! Stay!"
"Do not panic! Stay!"
And while Menes''s men tried to recover from their shock at this new weapon, some of themanders almost instinctually began to shout these orders to try and stabilize the frontlines.
And if you thought that they failed in this, well then you would be¡..wrong!
Because much to the credit of the brave soldiers of Zanzan, they actually held their nerves and stood their ground, even against these humungous animals most had never seen before.
"Hahaha, that''s right men!"
"We havee so far and a few slightly bigger horses are not gonna scare us!"
And seeing his men did not actually rout and run, Menes cheered from the back, charging his horse all along the full length of the battlefield and roaring out encouraging words.
Because Menes knew that the main weapon of a charge was not its huge momentum or the beasts themselves.
But the physiological effect it carried.
A charge would be sessful if that physiological attack was effective and the other side broke rank and ran before contact with the enemy cavalry.
And conversely, it would fail if like now the infantry bundled up. dug its feet into the ground and pointed its stick toward the enemy.
After all, no sane beast, no matter how well it was trained would voluntarily impale itself into a wall of spears.
So given that Zanzan''s infantry did not rout, it would seem Perseus''sst roll of the die had failed.
It appeared that soon the elephants would be required to stop their charge near the Zanzan cavalry and infantry, and then the cavalrymen and legionaries could be simply able to slowly poke the giant, bulky beasts to death.
And seeing the battle approach towards that end, Menes let out a huge sigh of relief.
This battle had been too dicey, and he had never expected the enemy to have such a card in the end.
''I can''t believe they managed to hide so many beasts of such size from us. I will need to give Grahtos a good earful,'' Menes made a mental note, before turning his gaze at these unfamiliar beasts.
Menes had heard of war elephants before and had even listened to many vivid descriptions of them from other mercenaries as they were used in some parts of Thesos.
But he had never actually seen them face to face.
And so seeing them in the flesh for the first time, he had to frankly admit these were gorgeous beats.
Terrifying for sure.
But nevertheless gorgeous.
And the reason why Menes could so calmly take in the sights was because he was pretty sure that despite Tibians efforts, he had won.
''Atst, I have won,'' Menes felt mentally exhausted as he said this to himself, feeling that this battle had been too close forfort, going too much back and forth.
Or it would seem like that!
Because Menes had actually forgotten to take into ount one critical factor- His cavalry.
Or more specifically the horses in his cavalry.I think you should take a look at
Because one had to remember that though the Zanzan troops were brave and reasonable enough to stand still and not run, as they had been trained and drilled as such, the horses were unfortunately not.
These simple beasts had never seen an elephant before in their entire life, and so when these huge elephants, which werepletely unknown to these horses attacked the Zanzan nks and got closer to the 2,000 horsemen stationed there, the intense smell from the elephants and their significantlyrger size of scared all the warhorses there.
Animals naturally did not want to stay anywhere near beasts unknown to them, especially if those beasts were much bigger than them, and even these trained steeds were unable to disobey their natural instinct.
And so acting purely out of base nature, many mares and stallions let out a piercing bleat of terror, as they then disobeyed any and allmands from their riders before they simply bolted!
Yes, bolted, i.e.- The horses left their tight formation and started running all around the battlefield like headless chickens.
Even top-levelmanders with impable riding skills such as Laykash and Grahtos were not the exception.
"Mitha! Girl oh ho ho! What happened,"
"Shsshh, shhh, girl, it''s all right, it''s all right,"
For instance, this was how Laykash tried his best to calm the fiery steed down while it jumped and bucked and spun around in its ce.
This mare had been with him for five years, and the bond Laykash had with it was exceptional.
And as for his skill in controlling her, that did not really need not be said.
Few could match Laykash in terms of pure horse skill in the entire Zanzan army.
And so given that even he was only barely able to keep this stead from running away, the state of others, especially the new recruits who had only been given their steads a few months ago could be only imagined.
And what was worse for these unskilled riders was that they did not just bolt anywhere.
Because almost as if the heavens were extracting all the luck and opportunity it had given Menes and hismanders up until now, the cavalry like headless chicken actually smashed into its own infantry lines.
And it was not as if it was just one or two cavalry units that hit the vulnerable nks of the legionaries at the center of the army.
Oh, no.
It was almost the entire cavalry force, all 2,000 of them had crashed into them, perhaps minus a few riders who had died from the fighting up until now.
This urred mainly because horses were pack animals, and so when one of the horses ran, seeing it, all the other panicking animals followed, meaning both nks of Zanzan had effectively turned against their own center and had started to dismantle it themselves.
"Oh no!" And seeing from the rear, Menes only had the energy to mutter these two words, his eyes bing the size of pins and his heart deting like a lead balloon.
And he said this not only because of the scene unfolding in front of him but also because he knew what was about to happen immediately after this.
Because With his own cavalry running amok inside his own infantry formation, shattering it, and with the counterattack from Tibias from the fronting strong, even the stalwart Zanzan soldiers could notst long, and soon the thing Menes had foreseen happened.
Unable to bear the pressure the legionaries atst broke!
And they routed!
Which meant the force of about 45,000 men, the poption of a decent-sized city all threw their spears and shields to the ground, instantly turned around, and bolted, ignoring all cries of help from the surroundings and shrugging off all orders.
And to make matters even worse for Menes, this copse of the army had been so rapid that he did not have any time to even deploy his 1,000 reserve crossbowmen to try and patch up the damage.
Or even order an orderly retreat.
Because although it took a long time to exin all these events, from the appearance of the elephants to their charge to the breakdown of the nks and up to the eventual rout of the entire Zanzan army, the time that psed for all these to ur was actually really small.
So for Menes, who oversaw an entire 3 km front, even receiving messages from the heralds of each sector and trying to understand what was going on as a whole took more time than it took for all the events to transpire.
Hence Menes could not even issue an orderly retreat with his reserves acting as rear guard.
And as for issuing it now, well the rout that already began.
It was toote now.
Menes could only try and save his own skin.
Chapter 539 The Retreat To Zanzan
Given how the battle had been going up until now, no one could have foreseen such an abrupt turn of events.
It was truly unexpected.
Even Perseus was astounded by the amount of destruction just 20 such beasts were able to wreck.
"Those records really did not lie," He subconsciously whispered as he felt that these legendary animals really lived up to their reputation, able to bring almost divine destruction upon anything that stood in his way.
And so for a while, he simply stood at the back, marveling at the sight of his army decimating the enemy.
While themanders and officers under him shouted orders to chase the fleeing enemy.
"Go, kill them!"
"Kill all of them!"
And thus soon the orderly battlefield began to turn macabre, as the once solid line of men on Zanzan''s side began to swiftly melt away like crumbling sand dunes, while from the back, death in the guise of horsemen and phngites gave chase, intent on inflicting the same wounds the enemy had inflicted on them only some time ago.
While Perseus, seeing this tide of his men chasing the fleeing enemy prudently issued this order, "Send only the cavalry to chase the enemy. Keep the infantry back to rest," as he did not want to risk his tired troops in the long chase.
Besides killing routing troops was the cavalry''s job, and so soon 2,000 armed horsemen started to kill Menes''s men by the hundreds.
While the ck general himself was powerless to do anything about it.
Even his reserves were currently of no use as if he did order the 1,000 men to cover the retreat of the soldiers now, the crossbowmen would be all alone with no infantry support and probably be cut down to ribbons even before they couldunch their first volley.
Here Menes really regretted using his first legion on the counterattack.
If he had held them back, things could have been a lot different.
But like a single ray of sunshine in this dark situation, all hope was not lost for the general.
Thinking quickly on his feet, Menes felt that though the river to his bank was a significant obstacle, it could also be used as a makeshift defensive structure for his crossbowmen.
So just immediately prior to the copse of his army, he shouted this to the 1,000 crossbowmen "Quick! Cross the river!"
"And then start shooting from the other side! Cover our men''s retreat."
Hence the only unit to cross the shallows in order were the thousand crossbowmen, a paltry numberpared to the entire army, who were all out of formation and running in scattered groups.
And all these people ran in a single direction, the river, which existed sandwiched between their camp and the chasing enemy.
And so as the people of Zanzan waded into the rivers, their speed significantly slowed down, allowing the Tibian cavalrymen to pick them off using their spears and javelins like they were shooting fish in a barrel.
And to make matters worse for the escaping soldiers, some did not even get to enter the swallows, as that site became too crowded soon.
Hence many tried to go around and try their luck crossing the river through its much deeper parts.
With predictable results.
Many naturally drowned in this endeavor, either from injuries sustained during the battle, from projectiles thrown at them during the crossing,
from exhaustion as many failed to simply find the energy to swim,
from being too weighed down by the heavy armor they wore,
or simply from shock as many a man''s heart just gave out when their scalding hot, sweating bodies were instantly dipped into the still icy cold waters of the river.
All of which resulted in soon that entire part of the river beginning to turn red, as blood leaking from corpses dyed the waters crimson, and dead and wounded men and animals, started to slowly float downstream, turning the entire site into a sanguinary sight.
The ce looked like hell had pierced a portal through its way into the real world there, as one side cheered like the devils and the other side howled like sheep being ughtered.
Many there had seen such sceneries many times in life, but still, it hurt most''s hearts every time they had to witness it.
But this was the brutal nature of ancient warfare, where a single, few hours of battle could decide the fate of tens of thousands of soldiers, and perhaps also the fate of hundreds of thousands if not millions of men, women, and children in the vicinity.
And as Menes saw his men being cut into pieces all along the river bank, the stony-faced man could only take sce in the fact that the river was not too deep and right now rtively calm, meaning wading through it without losing one''s footing was not too dangerous.
And with the crossbowmen starting to shoot volleys of arrows around the other bank, although its effectiveness was questionable, the opposing cavalry was at least forced a little bit to take heed and be somewhat mindful of their attack.
"*Sigh*, we lost!" And as these unfolded, Menes atst could only spookily sigh this, as even now he was having a hard timeing to terms with how abruptly he had lost.I think you should take a look at
The horses bolting on their own at the sight of just 20 elephants and then a split secondter crashing into his own infantry lines was something he could have never prepared for in a million years.
"Retreat!"
But soon his hard,manding voice returned.
This was not his life''s first loss, and would unlikely be hisst.
Now was not the time to lose heart.
Hence deciding to take the loss on the chin, and resolving to ept all the criticisms and usations that came at him head-on, he ordered his heralds to try and find all the variousmanders and tell them to gather whatever was left of their units and report back to their camp as soon as possible.
While on the other side of the river, Perseus issued the following orders to his cavalry, "Do not cross the river. Try to kill and capture as much as possible of the enemy while staying on this side."
"We do not want to give the enemy the chance to counterattack and then be stuck on the wrong side of the river."
Perseus knew that though he had won, his army had too been mauled quite badly, and thus he was not eager to incur any more unnecessary deaths.
Thus like this, the day turned to dusk, as the Tibian cavalrymen atst returned to their camp, having worked tirelessly to try and inflict as much damage as possible on Zanzan, while also attempting to round up any stragglers.
And in the following days, Tibias would estimate to have killed around 10,000 Adhanians, in addition to having captured a further 2,500.
With their greatest prize being Laykash himself, who, being present right on the very frontlines had failed to escape and was then hit with a lead bullet on his head from a peltast atop one of the elephants that knocked the rider from his horse, upon which he had lost consciousness as he hit the ground.
And given this sequence of events, it was lucky that Laykash was even alive, and had not been tramped to death by the thousands of fleeing soldiers, the chasing horsemen, or even the rampaging elephants.
And he was captured after some of the Tibian soldiers saw himying unconscious on the ground wearing his ornate helmet, which indicated his high status in the Zanzan military.
At which point he was promptly taken back to their camp both for his potential intelligence and also because officers usually fetched a veryrge ransom.
But it was not all sunshine and roses for Tibias.
As Perseus had suspected his losses too had beenrge, with some even saying it was appalling.
Around 2,000 had died in the initial cavalry pincher attack by Zanzan during its river fording and a few hundred were wounded.
Another 1,500 phngites had died in the melee, with most of the casualties urring when Zanzan had sessfully pushed back and the cavalry attacked their nks.
The wounded numbers here were negligible.
Andstly, 1,200 cavalrymen were lost or injured when Laykash shattered their left wing.
Thus the overall result of the battle was as such:
Zanzan : Tibias
10,000 dead 4,500 dead
2,500 captured around 500 wounded
And from this, it could be seen that though Perseus had won his victory against Menes, it had been a hard-fought slogging match, with him still being outnumbered by the enemy forces, at
37,500 against 35,000.
And this was not to mention he had lost a lot of experienced officers andmanders when his left nk had copsed.
It was that loss that particrly stung Perseus.
Thus though they won, Perseus''s camp that night was unusually quiet, as the men mourned their deadrades and recuperated from their losses.
While the same atmosphere existed across the bank, as Menes and whatever was left of his army returned to their camp to rest, tired and dejected.
They were so close, yet so far.
And as soon as dusk settled, Menes called an urgent meeting with his topmanders in his war tent, saying to them.
"We will leave before dawn, under the cover of darkness. And try to reach Zanzan as soon as possible. "
Chapter 540 Reaching Home
As Menes gathered the men to discuss his possible next step, he breathed a sigh of relief as he looked around to see that fortunately, none of the top-levelmanders had been killed or captured in this horrific loss.
This of course was due to the courtesy of Alexander''s formation cing its officers at the back, which gave them the time to retreat on horseback before the main army copsed.
And seeing the formation''s efficacy firsthand, the people inside the tent had all breathed a sigh of relief at some point beforeing there, now fully convinced of the prudency of the position, And though no one said, they all resolved to follow it no matter how much the enemy taunted them as being cowards.
Or else they would suffer just as Perseus''s cavalry had suffered.
But for now, relieved at having avoided capture, themanders had to turn their focus on solving the problem at hand.
And so when Menes proposed they make for Zanzan as soon as possible, all themanders there had no problem with this order in general.
But then Melodias pointed out, "A lot of our troops are scattered. Perhaps we should wait another day."
The man felt that given they had lost the battle and a lot of men, it might be worth considering to want to gather and preserve as much manpower as possible.
But hearing this Menes just waved his sturdy arms and brusquely brushed this off, "No, the enemy is already too close to the city. We need to return with however many men we have as soon as possible."
"That is the priority!" He emphasized.
And this time he was joined by Grahtos who said with a solemn nod."Mmm, I agree. The remaining troops can catch up during the march."
So it seemed a majority of them were in favor of leaving as soon as possible and entering the safety of the city walls.
And this the time and destination set, here Heliptos asked about the elephant in the room.
"But what about the food?" He bought up.
HH knew that their granaries were already totally empty and right now, the tired, injured soldiers were being forced to go to sleep with an empty stomach.
And that was after having participated in such intensely heavy fighting in the day, and now having to endure this very cold night, their only respite being the warm water they were offered.
The situation with the food here was so bad that manymanders would have actually feared a mutiny if the men were not too tired to fight right now.
Thus Heliptos wondered whether the men would even be able to make the three-day march.
While Menes and the others, hearing his inquiry and knowing that much of this situation was really all his fault, tried very hard not tombast him in this critical moment.
"There is no food." Menes quickly gave a very crisp answer, even feeling his empty belly growl as he said so, as he was just as hungry as every other man in the camp, before adding,
"This is also why I want to move as soon as soon. To keep the men busy."
The general knew that just like the idiom ''an idle hand does the devil''s work'', so did idle soldiers.
"Perhaps we can ughter some horses. Give something, anything for the men to eat." While from the side Melodias chimed the suggestion, and though the idea made Grahtos involuntarily twitch, he knew things were really desperate for them.
So showing his solidarity with his colleague, he nodded and added, "Mmmmn, that''s a good idea. Men are more important than animals after all."
Menes had no problem with this, and posed,
"....How many horses have he got?"
His tone here subconsciously turned a bit hard given he thought it was those abnormal beasts that had cost him the battle.
"About 2,500," Grahtos gave a surprisingly urate estimate.
Because it happened that Grahtos, being the overallmander of the cavalry, was a bit obsessed with keeping an urate count of the number of beasts under him.
"So much?" And therge number actually somewhat surprised Menes, given how many beasts he had seen lose their minds back there.
By his estimate, Menes had figured he would have less than 1,000 usable beasts.
But it had to be also remembered that those horses were not attacked by the infantry when it smashed into them, meaning most of the animals hade out unscathed.
And given the enemy cavalry was more focused on killing the slower, easier legionaries, once the horses were far enough from the elephants, their riders managed to get some control back and have them ford across the river to rejoin the camp rtively intact, at leastpared to the other units.
Thus, hearing he had so many horses, Menes ordered, "Okay. ughter about 400 of them. And have the soldiers finish it before dawn." feeling each horse had enough meat to feed around a thousand men.
Or at least cate their hunger for long enough until they could reach Zanzan, hopefully without any incident.
And as this order was instructed to be carried at once, Melodias added this bit of inquiry,
"Do we know where our next supply wagon is? Perhaps we can match to them and get some food there."I think you should take a look at
"Or at least send news telling them to turn back," as he then turned to look at Heliptos for some feedback.
But the portly man only shook his head with an embarrassed red face.
"........" And seeing the man in charge of the logistics not even know where his supply wagons were, the other people could only mentally shake their heads.
And sensing this disapproval of his colleagues, Helitpos quickly chimed up,
"But we can find out!"
"Let us send scouts to the nearby areas. See if the surrounding people have seen or heard anything."
"Plus, we can even ask the surrounding poption to give us for of their food." he proposed as a way to offer some food to the hungry army.
Something that did not seem to go down too well for Menes, who instantly shouted, "What! Steal from our own people? Have you been hit in the head, you donkey!"
Menes had no problem with the former ideas. but when Heliptos gave hisst idea, it incensed him.
He knew just how hard Alexander had worked to earn the locals'' tryst here, letting money flow like water to earn their trust.
But all this would be washed away like andslide if they snatched food from the local popce right as winter was approaching.
The people here had already been suffering a drought for three years, and a fourth year might be too much.
This was also why Menes had resorted to forcing a battle with Perseus when he had run out of food, rather than take from the surrounding hamlets and viges.
But this time his stance was supported by a lot fewer of the higher-ups, with his counterpart Melodias even saying,
"With us gone, the Tibians will take these people''s food anyway. So what is the point of keeping it here?"
It was unknown how much of his talks right now was logical or just the hunger speaking.
But it sounded quite reasonable nevertheless to the men present,
And so he was quickly joined by the person who proposed the original idea, who enthusiastically added, "That''s right. It''s not like we are even stealing from them."
"Once we reach Zanzna, we will of course send them back the food and more."
With this proposal, the other topmanders too seemed to buy the n, and Menes began to understand his objection would have little effect.
Though the real hitch with this n would be apparent to anyone who could think about it a bit deeper for a second.
Which was the fact that there was no way the sparsely popted countryside would have enough food to meet the ravenous hunger of an entire army.
But even a small amount of food was food.
But given how hungry the men were even that bit of food appeared very appetizing.
They reasoned that even if it could feed the entire army, it would surely be enough to feed the higher-ups.
So Menes felt that it was unlikely they were going to obey something just because he said so.
Thus he proposed this,
"*Sigh*, okay, let us first eat today''s meal. "We can think about buying food from the neighboring viges as we march."
"Let''s see how much food they even have."
And with this decided, after a short rest and a shorter meal, the Zanzan army quickly broke camp just before dawn and made a beeline for Zanzan city.
While scouts were sent in a web-like formation to see if they could spot any supply wagons that were presumably supposed to be there.
While a second group was sent out to inform the city''s rulers of the result of the battle.
And though the scouts managed to aplish thetter task with rtive ease, they failed toplete the former task, mainly because the supply wagons were still in Zanzan, restocking and preparing.
But when Cambyses heard of the army''s defeat and their food difficulties, she decided to send even the half-finished wagons to meet them, which joined them two dayster, thus, the army had to only take food from the surrounding viges for two days.
And with his lifeline clutched, the exhausted and demoralized army of around 37,000 men entered Zanzan sometimeter.
Chapter 541 Preparations For The Defense
As the defeated remnant of Menes''s forces entered the city, seeing their dejected appearances and badly mauled state, Cambyses''s heart skipped several beats.
With them defeated, and the enemy so close...¡Cambyses dared not think further.
And coupled with the losses she recalled, the neen-year-old began to feel a stinging headacheing.
Close to 13,000 dead was arge wound for any lord.
Never mind for a small fiefdom like Zanzan.
It was not something Alexander''s city could afford to withstand at this point.
Especially not when all those lost were all healthy, young men in the prime of their lives.
And knowing this, the day Cambyses had gotten the news, the girl was so hurt and afraid that she even found it hard to swallow her food for the rest of the day, feeling butterflies swarming inside her stomach.
"Mistress, please eat something," Mean had urged her several times, but that day, whenever Cambyses got close to any food, her throat appeared to subconsciously turn dry and her stomach produced an ufortable feeling.
She was deathly afraid of what would happen to her and the city when the enemy army arrived at their walls.
Worse, she really had no one to express these fears and get valuable feedback.
By this it was meant that the people who would havee really handy in this situation, such as the Queen Mother, or Mikaya were absent, leaving Cambyses with only the twins, who had been cajoled by their grandfather to skip this year''s Jtaama.
And these two princesses were really of no help in the military side of things.
And so with the current circumstances, Cambyses decided to immediately send a messenger bird to Alexander informing him of the situation, and further asking him for advice and if possible even reinforcements, though she knew thetter was very, very unlikely.
And as she waited for the news, Cambyses got to work preparing the city for the inevitable siege with the help of Menicus and Bartholomew, intent on producing a strong, fortress-like defense.
And once they were reinforced by around another 37,000 men, which was the army defeated at the hands of Perseus, she decided to call a council meeting as soon as possible.
And given the urgency of the situation, with Perseus being so close, the leader met up just a dayter the army entered the city, where the council members met to discuss what to do next, i.e.- whether to fight, surrender, or escape.
"Surrender is out of the question." Cambyses sitting at the head of the chair, where usually Alexander sat let this be known perfectly clearly.
This was the city they had, and if this was gone, even if they would all survive, Alexander would be a pauper.
And this was not even mentioning the new things the city produced.
Cambyses would rather die than hand all those valuable things over.
And this was unanimously agreed by all the other members too, as expressed by the leader of the council members-Menicus.
"Haha, yes of course surrender is out of the question. We have fought so hard to gain this city, how can we simply give it away?" He loudly imed.
This strong stance was a no-brainer for a variety of reasons.
The biggest one probably being due to their loyalty to Alexander.
He had treated them well, and with the generous remunerations he had given them, being with him seemed like the safer choice.
And so if they surrendered, along with Zanzan, their own fiefdoms, and peerages would likely also go.
And this was not to mention if they surrendered without his or his wife''s permission, as he was not here, they could bet every single gold coin they had that Alexander woulde to exact revenge.
And given his battle aplishments up until now, surrendering to the enemy without even fighting sounded craven.
And this was not even taking into ount the people of Zanzan, who would surely not ept such a decision and might simply start a riot.
Thus all the military leaders had a strong incentive to fight till the end.
Hence the surrender option firmly crossed out, Menicus turned to Cambyses then prudently suggest,
"Although we will never surrender, but perhaps it would be better for mydy and her entourage to leave for the capital on a ship."
"A siege is a brutal affair, and surely the lord will have a better peace of mind knowing his wife was safe."
It seemed Menicus preferred that Cambyses escape, which actually came out of him from the genuine goodness of his heart.
But here Cambyses red up like an enraged cat, *Bang*, even smashing her fair hands against the hard table to say, no, to shout, "My husband left in charge of this city. And I will be in charge of this city till the day he returns or till I die and crumble to dust."
"I''m not leaving!"
"No one is leaving!"I think you should take a look at
"We will defend the city to the death!"
Cambyses''s loud and absolute promation somewhat surprised the men, as they had thought perhaps the trailer sex would prefer thepany and protection of her much stronger husband in such trying and dangerous times.
But seeing her revolve, Menicus, who had thought of wanting to say something more, decided not to bring this topic up.
Instead, he could not actually help but let out a sign of amazement, saying, "It seems that we have all underestimated your courage, mydy. We apologize," as the old even lowered his whitened thatched head.
Following which he turned to face the other council members and point out, "If a girl like her can stay, what does it say about us men if we can''t? Right boys, haha!"
The old man very crudely tried to raise morale and then noticed the nervous and for some even ashamed faces.
They could not believe they were beaten in terms of courage by a young girl.
And hearing this it was Grahtos who loudly joined first, confidently saying,
"That''s right! What does losing one battle matter? I have lost countless battles in my life, and I''m still here aren''t I"
This certainly helped lifted some of the gloomy mood, as then, seeing hisrades join in Melodias, the calmer of the members too threw in his support, which was meant to be a short uplighting speech, but which then transformed into giving an almost epic speech,
"That''s right! We might have lost the battle, but is that the end?" Melodias loudly posed, as he then loudly imed, "No!"
He then pointed outside, to the scenery outside the window,
"Look outside! Look how downcast the sky is. Look how bleak everything looks."
"It is now winter."
"It is now cold, freezing, and unforgiving out there, with no shelter, no food, and even the water stings when you drink it."
Melodias spoke from experience, as their three days march had not been kind, either to him or his men.
In fact, because they had not packed much warm clothing, it had been brutal, and it was only the fact that Zanzan was in close proximity, and the soldiers knew they would be able to soon have hot food, and warm beds when they reached the city, that gave the defeated army the strength needed to go on.
Or else, as Menes had suspected, a mutiny would have surely taken ce.
Or at the very least a general desertion of the army.
Thus with the elements turning hostile against any force, not in protected cities and shelters, Melodias was confident Perseus would not be having a pleasant time, as he pointed out,
"The enemy has decided to attack us at such a time! A time where Goddess Gaia turns her wrath against anyone not in their homes resting."
"Not only that, he wishes to win a siege at such a time!"
"He thinks we are so easy that he can brush off the cold winds, the icy waters, and the freezing temperature to take our city.
"A city that has stood against Tibias''s aggression for centuries!"
"A city whose walls have never fallen."
"And the deluded king he thinks he can do what all his predecessors failed to do now? In this weather?" Melodias mocked Perseus with an incredulous voice, smirking at the man''s decision, as the man hardened his voice to atst im,
"Well, we will show him just how mistaken he is!"
"We will make the king understand through the blood and bones of his men just how strong we are."
"Let''s see how long he canst against our walls."
"The walls that have been thickened to twice their size, and the wooden gates that have been reced by an iron portcullis.
"Nothing would make us happier than to see for the foolish Tibians to smash their heads against our walls."
Melodias''s long speech highlighted to the militarymanders that they still held considerable defense against the enemy and thus the general pessimism about the whole situation managed to subside quite a bit.
After all, in any siege, you are hoping the enemy will break before you, and so there is always the lingering question, ''Will we be able to withstand a siege?''
While Cambyses screamed manically in her head,
''That was exactly what I said to you idiots months ago!''
''So why are pretending that this idea is something brand new that you thought of right now!''
''If you power-hungry hyenas had just stayed behind the walls, the winter and walls enemy would have simply killed the enemy for us.''
Chapter 542 Preparations For The Defense (Part-2)
Cambyses was convinced that if they had listened to her, they would not have needed to even lift a finger to defeat the enemy.
As such Cambyses''s lungs jumped up to her throat as it urged its owner to give a diatribe of scalding rebuke, wanting to chastise all the men here for killing 10,000 good men, and perhaps even losing another 3,000 as prisoners.
But she held back¡for now.
Because she understood now was not the time to point fingers and be at each other''s throats.
That could wait after the threat was over.
It was also because of that same exact reason that Cambyses had not even chided Menes for his loss, even when the giant had publicly apologized to her.
This had happened the very day Menes had returned, in fact, the very moment Menes had entered the city, as Cambyses was there around the gates to see the state of the defeated army with her very own eyes.
"Mydy, I have no excuse! It is also my fault and I take full responsibility," This was the very first thing the armored man had said right when he saw Cambyses was this, as he lowered his head in shame,
And seeing this Cambyses kept a very respectful face and only said, "I have heard all the reports, generals. You have done a good job to get these so many men safely back."
"For that the people of Zanzan are grateful."
Before dismissing him, "The general must be tired. Now please go rest," making the reception be cordial but somewhat cold.
And after that interaction, Cambyses simply feigned being all understanding about Menes, not caring to bring any criticism on him, because she felt the person to do that should be her husband Alexander, and it should be upto him to decide the kind of punishment if any should be imposed.
And to that effect, she had even written about this specific topic in her letter to him.
So with all those done, Cambyses now concentrated oning together and tackling the external problem.
And as the decision to battle a siege was taken, Cambyses informed the men of the preparations that they had already taken.
She began, "Once the news of the loss reached, we got to work preparing for the siege."
"First and foremost Lord Menicus has properly inventoried the food and firewood stocks and secured them in cement warehouses."
"These silos are fireproof and so we can sleep easy knowing is no fear of the enemy or saboteurs setting them alight," Cambyses said the most important thing very first, and after knowing their food supply was safe, the news did work to soothe many a worried heart.
And she further reassured the surrounding men by saying,
"Additionally he says that we have enough stockpiles of grain tost close to a year with proper rationing. Particrly due to our winter harvests being so much."
"So as long as the walls hold, reinforcements will certainlye."
This got all the men to nod in unison as there was no way Tibias could maintain a siege for a year.
They would surely be attacked from other sides by many of the hostile nobles who hated Tibias.
And even if they didn''t, even for Alexander to raise an entire army and march it from Adhan, it would at best take six months.
Thus, knowing this, and aware of the general difficulty of oveing a siege against a well-fortified city, the military leaders started to feel confident about their chances.
While Cambyses after having addressed the most pressing concern, listed the other additional steps she had taken,
"Also, the city watch under the lead of Bartholomew has rounded up all known and suspected criminals and many have been sent to the coal pits to dig the new firewood."
"This will prevent any crime and stealing during the siege."
In times of sieges it wasmon for criminals, gangs, and thieves to hoard food, and having seen such scenes many times, it was Menicus who had advised Cambyses to take these steps.
And when the girl had hesitated a bit saying that many of the suspects might be innocent, Menicus said, "These men left alone will be too dangerous. Even if 99 of them are innocent, just 1 of them might be enough to destroy us, " and then reassured her, saying, "Besides we will only keep them until the enemy is defeated. After that, we can even give them some coin to smooth the thing over."
Hence Cambyses was finally convinced.
Thus, with the streets cleaned of the criminals, Cambyses then listed her next action, saying,
"The city guard has also imposed a general lockdown on the city, forbidding anyone from lingering in the streets after dusk."
"With anyone caught to be tried as a spy and thrown into the coal pits."
"Then, as Lord Menicus suggested, we have started to implement a rationing system, where the wall defenders will be given two meals a day, and the rest only one."
"Andstly we have arranged for regr sermons to be held by the twin princesses to cate the popce."
"Mass prayers and songs are arranged to be held and both the temples will remain open during the day for the mourners."I think you should take a look at
The loss on the battlefield and the subsequent imminent siege naturally had ruffled the feathers of the popce and thus Cambyses had asked Azira and Azura to help calm the people down.
And here the two girls proved to be a godsend, as if not for them, their eloquence in dealing with such circumstances, and their fame as the Saintesses of Rmauh, the people of Zanzan, who had been already sucked dry by the three-year drought and the war with Tibias, thisst loss might have been one too many.
''War! War! War! We have had nothing but war for four straight years.''
''My husband, my son, my father, my brother¡gone¡all gone.''
''Damn to them. Damn to it all,''
Many such howls of despairs of mothers, widows, and sisters would be heard.
And seeing this Cambyses had felt that the city might lose the will to fight before it lost its walls.
Hence she had instructed the girls to do this of her volition and had even rejected Menicus''s suggestion to let the girls escape the city.
After finishing her long speech, Cambyses looked around to see if the others had anything more to add, but naturally, as this defense was nned with Menicus''s advice, none found anything missing.
So with the internal situation of the city stabilized, now the preparation for defending against the external situation needed to be done.
And here, atst, Menes, who had gone a bit taciturn following his defeat decided it was no time to mope around and joined in the conversation, taking charge and loudly saying,
"The enemy is at our doorsteps. We must prepare our men as soon as possible."
"So our first and foremost priority is recruiting more wall defenders."
"For that, I propose taking in many of the returned soldiers. And especially hire the crossbowmen who fought against Djose."
"They will need not to be trained on the new weapons after all."
"And I also propose increasing production of both crossbows and the bolts."
"For I believe that these new bows will be critical to enable us to hold the walls."
"Andstly, I remember Lord Alexander saying that the instant bow will be a miracle weapon in the hands of expert men during sieges."
"So I propose making new units equipped with them and assigned to defend critical points."
Finishedying out his strategy for the defense of the city, Menes then looked around to see if anyone had any objections.
But heard no objection, as the other sat quietly and approved.
Thus the rest of the meeting wasposed of discussing the various details such as their weapon stock levels, the number of men avable, their distribution along the walls, and even the kind of remuneration each of the fighting men would be given.
Regarding the matter of money, Cambyses did not hold back one single bit, instantly saying all the defenders would be given the same wage as the regr army for every day they fought, and that even if anyone died, the deceased''s family members who be given a simr pension to the army''s.
After all, Alexander had quite some money in his treasury, and all the gold in the world would not matter if they lost the city.
Thus Cambyses let the gold flow freely.
And as for the matter of manpower, well Zanzan was a city of close to 200,000.
Meaning even ounting for the women, children, and the infirm, it had at least 50,000- 60,000 avable men to defend it.
So with so many people actively defending the city, being able to repel the Tibians seemed to heavily favor the defenders¡.if one did not take into ount the existence of the catapult, a siege machine that was said to revolutionize ancient warfare.
Most famously Sparta had been powerless against Athen''srge walls before the invention of this weapon.
But with its inception, many of Athen''s allies fell to it.
So Tibias certainly had a chance.
But it was not like Zanzan had no cards of its own.
The crossbow had revolutionized medieval warfare as it let untrained peasants be expert marksmen.
Hence the ying field seemed to be evened out.
Thus it was to be seen who the victor would be between the sh of spear and shield.
Chapter 543 Alexanders Days In Adhan (Part-1)
As Perseus''s army drew near, Cambyses put all her energy into preparing for defense.
While also hoping to get a reply from Alexander.
And what was Alexander''s reaction when he learned of the defeat?
Well, before he got the news, the man was actually living quite the high life in the capital.
Fantastic food, sweet wine,fy bed, warm room, and the best women were all given to him without restraint, and all these luxuries seemed to feel a few times better given the current season- winter, which made Alexander be totally snug up in his room and be attended to hand and foot.
And thus, this was how a typical day for Alexander went for the two weeks he could live without a care in the world.
In the morning, Alexander would often stay in hisfy bed quitete, given the biting cold outside, choosing to be wrapped up in his thick, fluffy nket to fight the chill that would inevitably permeate his room all throughout the night, with him most of the time being apanied by the nubile Maya beside him, acting as his bed warmer.
Sometimes Alexander would even have one or more of her sisters sleeping with him, all spooning against him from either side, their bare voluptuous bodies both massaging him and making the bed smell a sensual, sweet scent.
If Alexander was feeling particrly frisky, he would even keep his little brother warm inside one of them all throughout the night.
Then, after waking up, he would be served a warm breakfast, most of the time in bed by the maids, which usually consisted of a thick porridge with meat or fish, white bread, some other side dish such as buttered or jammed bread, eggs, tart, etc, alongside various seasonal fruits, all of course apanied by wine.
Ah! Drinking first thing in the morning.
After finishing this, if Alexander did not have any appointments, he would have some free time on his hand.
So he would use this time to eitherze around, such as taking in the sight of the Life Sea from his balcony on the second floor while humming to himself, or drinking.
Or he would take a walk around the pce premises to see all the various maids, servants, and ves working about.
And sometimes he would even peek into the throne room to see how the court proceedings were going.
And with Alexander engaging himself as such, soon midday would arrive, and lunch would be promptly served.
This meal Alexander usually ate with the king and his close lords, such as Pasha Farzah and Iyazid and sometimes even the Queen Mother, while listening to them discuss some tidbits about the happenings in the court that day and sometimes even about the nation as a whole.
After lunch, it would be the lords'' time to rx.
So some would take their horses out for a ride, go on short walks, or even have a small pic with their family in the outdoors, taking a sit around the many gardens dotted around and being served by their many servants.
While some of the morefort-loving nobles would simply take a small nap and wake up around dusk.
And as Alexander stayed in the pce and saw the nobles enjoy as such, he finally began to understand why pces like the Buckingham Pce or Pce of Versailles covered so much area and were so big.
Because those ces were not just houses for its inhabitants to live in.
But they were their entire world!
They were designed as such so that the nobles could get all theforts, luxuries, and entertainment inside the premises, and never have to leave.
And to make that happen, Ptolomy appeared to have gone all out, as the real party would begin once the dusk fell.
A grand feast would be held almost every day, where the nobles partied with the best food, wine, and music money could buy.
The menus would bevish and extravagant, with meat being the only real choice, as fish and vegetables were seen as the food of peasants.
So for almost two weeks, Alexander ate every kind of meat there was- pork, beef, venison,mb, bear, peasants, chicken, fowl, ox, fox, badger, etc, the list could go on, cooked every kind of way- boiled, braised, shredded, barbequed, and skewered to name a few.
In fact, the amount of meat was so much that after a week he even had trouble cleaning his stomach, forcing him to visit the pce apothecary and ask for some medicine to relieve his indigestion.
Though perhaps he might have preferred staying that way given the state of the bathroom.I think you should take a look at
Because there was the slight issue of all the toilets beingmunal, meaning Alexander would be many times apanied by many other half-naked men doing their own business at the same time as him.
For a modern man, it was disgusting.
Alexander was able to avoid this issue the previous time because there were far fewer people and he was able to monopolize an entire section of the toilet for his personal use.
But now that was not certainly possible now given the number of nobles residing here temporarily.
And so for a modern man to be exposed to such ''horrific'' sights and ¡oh the smell, Alexander felt extremely ufortable and even ashamed when doing his business.
Due to this the man then even started to go to the toilets in the middle of the night, regardless of him having to fight the bitter cold of the unheated pce in the process, just to avoid the embarrassment.
And sometimes as Alexander would drag his sleepy, shivering body, he would sardonicallympoon, ''Too bad it''s not mixed. At least then I would have some eye candy.''
While Alexander could only shake his head in dismay at the barbaric sanitation arrangements, he would have to give credit to the various hired performers who sang, danced, and even did tricks for the court every night.
They were quite nice, at least a lot better than what Zanzan had at the moment.
The singers and dancers were the usual kinds, both men and women ying various instruments, and singing melodious tunes, being also even apanied by ssical, and exotic dances.
The songs'' lyrics and music were quite catchy, and even Alexander, who did not understand enough Azhak to keep pace with all the words found himself tapping his foot to the tune, enjoying some of it.
While apanying the dances were naturally designed to be provocative and sensual, as many of these performers wore revealing clothes and showed off their curves through their movements, for many saw these performances as opportunities to move up in life by catching the fancy of a noble and bing his concubine for the females, and lover in the case of a male.
And even if that did not always happen, they did expect to be heavily tipped for their night services.
And to that effect, though Alexander had no interest in choosing any of the singers or dancers, he nevertheless got sent a pair of cute minstrels by Pasha Farzah as a gift after one of the performances.
The brtes appeared in their early twenties, and Alexander was happy to indulge them, both because he found the sisters attractive with their cute dimples and long hair, and also because he felt refusing them would likely slight Pasha Farzah.
And after tasting them, Alexander had to say the pasha''s gift was well worth it, as the two experienced women gave Alexander quite the night, with one sister sensually singing mellifluous moans, while the other disyed quite the flexibility, even doing a pose where she bought her legs to touch her hands in a kind of handstand, and letting Alexander experience a position he yet had to.
''I should buy some gymnastics for my haram,'' Alexander even thought for a moment after the pleasurable memory.
But for all the music, singing, and dancing, if Alexander had to choose, the highlights of the shows would have to be the tricks the performers did.
In fact, they might be even the highlight of his visit.
Not because they were any good or anything, but because of how surprising and bizarre some of them were.
Sure there were the usual jugglers and various other acrobatic performers, but there were also some of the other more exotic ones, such as a group whopeted at one another to see who would spit the farthest, a duo who tried to up one another at who could fart the loudest, and a man who showcased the various funny faces he could make to name a few.
And though Alexander found some of these a bit funny, particrly thest one as it seemed to remind him of Mr. Bean, the rest of the court seemed tough their heads off at every one of the tricks, their collective peals ofughter revibrating across therge hall room, and even diffusing out into the city.
Alexander even noticed the usual regal Queen Mother let off a few guffaws as at other times her lips trembled as she attempted to hold backughing out loud like Pasha Farzah was doing sitting near her.
It seemed this was what passed as peak entertainment for this period of time.
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Chapter 544 Alexanders Days In Adhan (Part-2)
The time after Jtaama was a big money-making day for all the performers not only in Adhan but all over the country.
For ording to the customs, the following days after the pilgrimage was a cause of huge celebrations.
But of course, the one in the capital city certainly appeared to be the biggest one, as drove after drove eager performers flooded the city in hopes ofnding a lucrative gig and making it big.
Because for many, the money they made from these short few days would have to be the amount they have to makest for the entire year.
And so after the pilgrimage ended, the city that seemed quite dreary until now suddenly did a one-eighty, with music, dances, and songs capturing it in their grasp and letting its people drown themselves in revelry.
And since this was the first major celebration after the drought ended, it seemed Ptolomy had gone out big, employing many of the entertainers, and giving out generous coins, both to liven the atmosphere and also to improve his image as a benevolent king.
But among all these entertainments, though Alexander did not disapprove much of them, there was one form of entertainment that did not please Alexander at all.
And those were freak shows.
In there, people with various physical deformities, autism, people changed by diseases such as leprosy, skin conditions, dwarfs, and many other types of unfortunate souls that looked different from the norm and hence rejected by society were paraded for the entertainment of other people in cages or in customers, who pointed andughed at them.
And seeing this, Alexander surely hoped to one day bring these shows to a close.
Because he knew the people being paraded here were likely suffering abuses at the hands of their organizers.
After all, who could have guessed the people others wereughing at for being less than human were being treated as less than human?
But he also knew even if he were to raise these issues now, he would only getughed at.
Because for most of the nobility, even for moderately good nobles like Pasha Farzah, this was simply not an issue to concern himself with.
Even if it was true that those people were being treated horribly, the other nobles would probably not care, saying this was their master''s right.
After all, remember these people still practiced very, where they could legally do almost anything to the men, women, and children they owned.
So for now, Alexander could only sit in front of the stage and put a cid face hiding his disgust, as the world''s hairiest men, the shortest dwarf, the ugliest woman, or the woman with the beard, to name a few were introduced.
And though Alexander found the performance distasteful, the rest of the court seemed to love it, jeering, taunting, andughing at the so-called freaks.
Nothing says it''s the ancient times like a bit of racial superiority.
But fortunately for Alexander, such shows happened only twice.
And outside of these mindless entertainments, there were also literary types involving y, and other literary works.
Two very borate ys were held in the outdoor premises of the pce where famous acting guilds built stages and performed for the king and his entourage.
And though the y appeared uninspired to him, as it depicted a king, here likely the ruler of Adhania, winning a battle against the barbarians, it was nevertheless something one could pass the time with if he was bored enough.
In the following days after the ys, there were various otherpetitions regarding many works of literature held, where aspiring poets recited both ssic and new poems, actors yed out famous stories, and writers told stories, their topics being varied and diverse, ranging from describing mother nature to portraying human conflict, to love and loss, to even include philosophical thought.
Some even read out stories that could only be described as propaganda as they glorified ''Adhania the mothend'' while throwing out shade at all other countries.
And among all these poets and writers performing their acts, there were some who were hired by the court full time to just do this, to flourish the arts and culture of their time, and to show to the world that Adhania was the best nation in the world.
Because just like in Alexander''s time when a country''s scientific and technological achievements were seen as the benchmark for its civility and advancedness, in this time period it was one''s mastery of literary arts that proved who was the superior culture.
And hence the court employed many schrs.
But in thispetition, the court hired literates were not the only participants.
For among the performers, there were also many aspiring young schrs too, all of whom hoped to showcase their literary skills in these events and if they were lucky enough, be noticed by some nobles or even the king himself who would then take them as their patrons after being impressed by them.
With the intention of the nobles being, as mentioned earlier, to be able to show off the literary works they collected or produced, that being was a source of major pride and bragging rights within the Adhanian circle of nobility.
So it was customary to proudly show off one''s collection of books to other fellow nobles when they came to visit, and many nobles even regrlypeted with each other over whose collection was better.
As for Alexander, hearing the schrs recite poems using words he even doubted were Azhak, and listening to stories that were not so good as the troupes were all predictable, or simply not that good in of itself, he had a hard time keeping his eyes open.I think you should take a look at
Which many other nobles noticed and gave him sneering looks, saying to themselves, ''As expected of a bumpkin!''
Not that Alexander cared.
While his allies such as Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah would only produce slightly wry looks at Alexander''s general disinterest.
They had already spoken to Alexander about this before even in Zanzan, pointing out,
"Alexander, we noticed that you have no poets or writers. Why don''t we give you some?" and even added,
"It is quite important to produce some literary works. The Adhanian nobility really values these."
But Alexander had simply brushed these concerns off, giving the simple excuse, "I''m too poor to afford such luxuries. Maybeter."
Alexander was certainly not poor, and so hearing hisme rejection, his allies understood that Alexander simply had no interest in engaging in literature.
Which they reasoned as being due to Alexander being low-born and less refined than them.
Whereas the real reason was because Alexander was simply more interested in the sciences than the arts.
But that did not mean Alexander was not interested in hiring some of the news poets and writers and then taking them back to Zanzan.
But it was not because he was interested in their writing or literary works.
It was simply because he wanted these men to be teachers.
Zanzan had a severe shortage of anyone who would could hold a pen, or..in case a quill, and Alexander felt these men would at least be able to help children learn to read or count.
But Alexander decided to wait a bit on that thought because he did not know if these men would agree.
For some of these men, this literary craft was something they practiced for their entire life, and asking them to give it all up to be a teacher might very well not sit well with some.
Hence Alexander decided to talk to Pasha Farzah about his n first, also remembering that he had also already asked the aged lord to supply such men to him.
Thus Alexander was in no hurry.
While Alexander enjoyed these ys, performances, and tricks every day, after each of the many performances held at night finished, the nobles would still not retire.
Instead, then actually the nighttime festivities would begin, where Alexander would keenly notice a noble going to bed with women, who many times were not necessarily their wives or concubines.
Sometimes he would even notice a group of noblemen and women enter special rooms together.
But Alexander did not dive his head any further than that.
He did not know if those girls were simply working girls, ves, maids, or something else entirely, and frankly, he did not want to know.
Instead, Alexander focused on the liberty given to him by Ptolomy to choose between a wide range of girls beforeing to bed.
And though he sometimes chose one or two new ones, he mostly stuck to his new maid Maya, for whom it was actually the first serving a guest.
Thus Alexander like a gracious master would many times go deep into the night teaching the new girl all the ropes on how to please a man, making her take many exotic positions and exploring many of her nooks and crannies, and causing her sweet canary voice to sometimes even drift out of the room.
And it was as such that Alexander spent some carefree days, where the party in the court went for almost two weeks non-stop. as the capital had finished celebrating its yearly pilgrimage, and where Alexander finally got the chance to meet with many of the members of the Adhanina court.
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Chapter 545 Meeting Amenheraft Face To Face (Part-1)
In the two weeks Alexander partied and enjoyed his time in the capital, he also got to know the people.
Particrly he got to know them in a special party held especially for him, which was arranged by Ptolomy to inaugurate him to Adhania''s noble circle.
There, at therge ball, dressed in their finest, Alexander got to meet almost all the nobles that hade for the pilgrimage, including both who were loyal to Ptolomy and those who detested him.
There were of course a few from both sides.
On the friendly side, Alexander met his most recent retainer Jamider (Earl) Tikba, along with a few of the other twelve, exchanging some close pleasantries with them.
But such friendly interactions were rare like chicken''s teeth.
Instead, most of the time, Alexander was given the cold shoulders from surprisingly both sides, as many nobles irrespective of their faction saw him as an outsider, and also hated him because of the indiscriminate massacre he had carried out in the capital when he conquered it.
Thus, it was only with Pasha Farzah acting as a guide that he was able to even exchange some pleasantries with the newly converted nobles, while the opposing side pointed their nose high into the sky and shrugged him off.
And though the other side did not want to even talk to Alexander, that did not actually stop him from knowing them, as with Pasha Farzah acting as a gracious mentor helping him learn who was who, Alexander quickly memorized all the important people there.
"That man with a mustacheughing is Matbar (Marquiss) Uzek¡the one whose son you almost killed"
"Over there is Matbar (Marquiss) Tareeq, Nanazin''s father. I''m surprised he is even here."
"This is Djose''s second son, Fais, who came instead of his father. Wonder why Djose didn''t? He is quite religious¡.?"
"The tall man¡"
In this way, over the length of the party, one by one Pasha Farzah patiently introduced many of the big shots of Adhan, and even added somementary to them.
While in this process of roaming his eyes, Alexander too noticed some memorable faces he recognized.
There was the face of Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq who had refused to join him, the countenance of Jamider (Earl) Bahram who had tried but failed to retrieve his men from him, and a few other nobles whose names Alexander did not know the names of but knew by face that they had participated in the alliance against him.
While Pasha Farzah atst introduced Alexander to the most important group of people there.
"That is Vivizan, Pasha of Ankut. He is the one currently giving shelter to Amenheraft," He said, drawing Alexander''s attention to an old, hunched-back, frail old man with a cane at the center of the room.
And looking at him, the very first thing that Alexander thought was wondering how did he make the journey here in that physical state.
It seemed to Alexander that a stiff wind could blow the man over.
But such thoughts were quickly drowned as his eyes then registered the people surrounding him.
There was a portly man who kept sending him a deathly re every five seconds, which Alexander easily recognized as Muazz, and there was the smartly dressed Manuk, who was one of the participants that drew the armistice and atst there was the man himself.
"I do not need to introduce the people there now do I?" Pasha Farzah chimed from the side as he noticed a look of recognition dawn on Alexander, and simply let the boy observe the group.
And so Alexander finally got to meet the man with whom perhaps his entire story started, the one whom he had defeated twice in battle, and the one who was perhaps the biggest obstacle in his path- The former king of Adhania, Amenheraft.
This was the first time Alexander got to see the man in the flesh for real, as at the previous times he was fully d in armor, and so Alexander made a distinct point to memorize the physical features of the man.
Dressed in luxurious garments, with many of his fingers having rings, each graced with precious jewels, the now dethroned king was a tall, handsome figure. with broad shoulders, and a strong body, his bulky silhouette exuding a sense of strength and energy.
He had a square chiseled face, on which he kept a well-maintained French-cut beard, its color matched perfectly with his neatly cut short hair, while his most prominent facial features were his eyes, which seemed to almost glow with a glint, their gaze sharp and ever watchful.
Alexander still vividly remembered gazing into them when the man had escaped via the Life sea, and seeing them again, Alexander felt a sense of power and authority that Ptolomy simplycked.
And once Alexander finished scanning the man, he would easily concede without a doubt that at least physically and in demeanor, Amenheraft looked much more regal and king-like than Ptolomy.
After a while of focusing on Amenheraft, Alexander then moved his eyes to thest person in that small group and itnded on a woman.
Dressed in a full-sleeved green gown that was heavily embroidered and fashioned, she was beautiful enough to stand out even among all thedies there, with a heart-shaped face and jet-ck hair that was fashionably lifted into the sky and jeweled to glitter like the stars.
''She must be the wife. I believe she is called Akhemisa'' Alexander recalled a piece of information he
had learned before.
But it was not the status of this woman that had mainly attracted his attention. I think you should take a look at
Instead, it was the boy that rested on her arms, appearing to be around two-three years old, while additionally there was a slight bump on her belly, clearly showing she was expecting.
And seeing the cute, plump boy staying gracefully on his mother''sp, Alexander was a bit surprised to see him there.
Because this was the first time he had seen a nobledy carry a baby herself, as this task was usually left to the maids.
The nobility even did not breastfeed their children, much preferring to use wet nurses.
Hence seeing the odd one out, Alexander guessed that this was likely because the woman loved her children very dearly, and was very protective of them.
And after looking at the healthy boy with a healthy red glow to his skin for a while, he somewhat whispered so that only Pasha Farzah could hear, "It seems even if Amenheraft goes, we will still have to deal with his sessor."
Alexander did know that Amenheraft had a sessor, but seeing it for himself made it all the more real.
"Yeah. Maybe even two." And the old man pointed at Akhemisa''s swollen belly as he spookily replied.
It seemed that with perhaps another backup on the way, cutting off the snake''s head to quell the civil war would not likely work.
Even if Amenheraft was gone, most likely his retainers would rally behind his son or even daughter.
"Perhaps they will die during infancy," So Alexander even made the heartless wish for the death of two innocent children, hoping they given the low level of medical technology, the children would not be able to pass the vulnerable age up to five.
After all about half the children died during their infancy, unable to reach childhood.
And hearing this Pasha Farzah not only did not disapprove but even gave ideas to Alexander, pointing out,
"If we can somehow feed her arge dose of legummum¡. perhaps we can induce even ate-stage abortion."
"But the question is how."
"There have been already attempts on her son''s life."
"And so by now, the security around her is very tight."
"Escapically regarding food."
"She only eats what her own cook makes."
"Notice that she has not even touched or eaten anything in the whole party."
"The girl is obsessed with her son''s life, and also her own, intent on living through to see him grow up."
Pasha Farzah gave Alexander quite the information report, proving his spies really had their eyes and ears on ces that mattered.
And as for Alexander, he only listened and nodded.
He did not even ask if Pasha Farzah had anything to do with the assassination attempts or if it was some other party.
He did not care.
Instead, he tried to think if he had a way to poison the mother and son, and if possible even Amenheraft.
He first thought of the assassin''s teapot he had used to Diamous, and then also of using poisoned ice cubes in drinks, where the poison would dissolve as the ice slowly melted.
And while Alexander was immersed in such macabre thoughts, Amenheraft, who had by now noticed Alexander''s gaze on them, turned around to lock eyes with him and then stepped forward to greet the man who had stolen everything from him.
Then,pletely ignoring Pasha Farzah who was standing next to him, Amenheraft greeted, "So this is the barbarian dog Ptolomy has chained to usurp us!"
He did not make the slightest effort to hide his hostility, his eyes glowing with hatred and nostrils ring as he addressed Alexander in a loud, crass voice.
And he was intentionally loud enough to let the entire court hear his voice. and as his voice carried over, the whole ballroom went pin-drop silent momentster as the up-until-now somewhat merry atmosphere turned very frosty.
It almost seemed like someone had opened all the windows in the hall room and let the cold, wintery air in.
Chapter 546 Meeting Amenheraft For Face To Face (Part-2)
Alexander was not really surprised by Amenheraft''s hostile remark.
In fact, he was already prepared for such a greeting when he had known Ptolomy was going to hold this party with nobles from both factions.
This was even something he himself had asked for.
Because Alexander wanted to at least see all the nobles on both sides and know who was who.
And perhaps even make a name for himself by winning some verbal bouts.
Hence, unconcerned about the rude greeting, it was only after he felt a man approach him that he broke away from his train of thought of wanting to kill Amenheraft''s wife and children and brought his focus back to the party, only to find a pair of eyes drowning in hatred.
And facing this hostile reaction, Alexander reacted nonchntly.
Because if someone had stolen Zanzan from him like he took Adhan from Amenheraft, he too would be quite pissed off.
Thus, as he faced the ring eyes, and felt many curious eyes from all aroundnd on him, he decided to respond to Amenheraft calling him a barbarian.
So first he politely greeted him, coolly saying, "It is customary in mynd to first greet someone when meeting for the first time. So let me say that it is nice to finally meet you too, Your Grace." before sarcastically smirking, "And Your Lordship should be a bit mindful of his manner. Because if someone were to judge us just from the conversation right now, they might mistake who the actual ''barbarian'' was here."
Alexander held back nothing in his barbed reply, and as the ballroom was stone silent at that time, it helped to carry his reply to all present ears.
"*Pooh*" And hearing this, when the Queen mother failed to hold her guffaw, and let out a short burst ofughter before quickly suppressing herself, the silent hall room also helped to take that sound clearly all around.
Which was quite humiliating for Amenheraft.
As for why the experienced Queen mother had failed to hold in herughter, well it was because she knew Amenheraft was not the type to show his emotions so openly.
Usually, whenever she had met him, Amenheraft always would have a regal air around him, and speak in a deep, winded aristocratic way.
Hence, seeing now how he had broken etiquette so tantly and spoken so crassly, the Queen Mother felt that the loss of his capital must have hurt him more than she had expected.
Thus, feeling amused at Alexander''s witty remark and taking pleasure at Amenheraft''s fall from grace, the regal woman failed to control herself for a moment and let out augh, before quickly endeavoring to reapply her cold, nonchnt facade.
But in attempting to do, she somehow made it worse for Amenheraft, as after her distinctive sound, a few more such short giggles, and smirks started to appear all around.
It seemed thatughter truly was contagious.
And though all of these tried to be equally silent and small so as to notugh out loud and break the etiquette of openingughing at a noble which was considered very rude, the short chortles actually produced a slight crescendo that seemed to make as if the entire ballroom wasughing at Amenheraft.
"Hahaha, good brat, good," While Pasha Farzah, who was standing just opposite to Alexander really didugh as if the whole ballroom wasughing, holding nothing back,
And as for Alexander, after returning a light smile to the aged man who had heavily pped him across the should, he, like the Queen Mother, went on to think that Amenheraft must be really, really salty about losing his capital.
And they were right in their conjecture, as what stung really him the most was not the fact that he had lost his capital, but more so how he lost it.
Amenheraft had everything under his control the entire time, everything in his palms on his hands, when suddenly, the next second it was not, sniped away by a thief.
And then before even he could understand what was going to he was forced to escape the city.
That day still haunted Amenheraft in his nightmares, and as a matter of fact, even now, he would many times wake up in the middle of the night with sweat all over his face having weird and fearful dreams about that very fateful morning.
So, when he saw the main culprit behind it all, Alexander, strutting around, wearing fine clothes, eating good food, and drinking the same sweet wine as him, the man, who also might have had a bit too much to drink was momentarily unable to control his rage and frustration, resulting in the imbroglio.
But as Amenheraft stood like a block of wood in front of Alexander with a red face, wishing to kill the man but having to hold himself off to honor the sacredness of the days following the Jtaama, it was the old Pasha of Ankuut hade to his king''s rescue.
"*Cough*, *cough*, Manuk has told me you had quite the tongue youngster. Is that how you managed to deceive Ptolomy?"
"From a mere ve to a great Pasha! How else could it be?" The old man had a broken, cackling tone to his voice.
And here he said this to try and stoke the jealousy of other nobles, many of whom were indeed prejudiced against Alexander''s peerage, envious of what an outsider had managed to do that they were not able to aplish in generations.
And so when Vivizan insinuated that Alexander had Ptolomy manipted him to get his position, it did tickle some hearts.
Now the usations were not really false.
Alexander did a bit strong-arm the man to give a lot of concessions.
But these were old issues, that Alexander did not feel like rehashing, simply saying,
"How Adhan, Zanzan, and 10 billion ropals were split up is open knowledge"
"So what happened with me and His Majesty is clear to everybody with half a head."
"There is little point in trying to divide us using such weak attempts."
As Alexander coolly parried back the shot, the old man was still not done, snarking,
"Hmmp, profiting off pitting brothers against brothers. You all foreigners are despicable!" "Murderers who kill women and children in their homes. Burn them alive. Rape and plunder." "And if all that was not enough you brutes even steal from the gods."
"Even calling you barbarians would be being too gracious."
The old veteran politician really knew how to stir up a crowd as he very deftly weaved in all of Alexander''s crimes along with his race.
To which Alexander returned with a breezy chuckle, I think you should take a look at
"Haha, all those crimes you mentioned were actuallymitted by the pce guards. Many of whom we already captured and punished."
"We even have survivors we rescued who can testify to that."
This story was old news, and Alexander recited it word for word.
But he also knew this excusecked much weight behind it.
So afterward he shed his palms and in an understanding tone continued,
"But I get what the esteemed Pahsa of Ankuut is really trying to say."
"He is indirectly saying that it is I who am responsible for this civil war."
"That without me there would not be so many deaths and so much misery."
"But is that really true? Did I really cause all the destruction?
Here Alexander paused a bit to see the reaction of the court, and pleased with seeing everyone''s eyes be on this exchange, he continued,
"No! I will say is not my fault."
"Because if you will remember when Lord Amenheraft defeated Agapios not once, but twice in one day, my and my soldiers only had one wish, and that was to leave Adhania and return to Thesos, our mothend."
"And that was the only thing we wanted to do," Alexander repeated to emphasize the point.
Before his tone turned a bit taunting,
"But when asked to be allowed to do so, your king, Amenheraft refused."
"And not only he refused, he even led the army against us."
"At a time when he had no reason to."
"At a time when his numbers doubled ours."
"Only for glory and heroics."
"And on the way, he then got fooled by the appearance of gold and silver in our camp."
"Andnded himself in a trap."
"Foolish!"
"Imagine a king as rich as him getting tempted by the gold of some poor mercenaries."
"How foolish he is!"
Alexander loudly jeered, then turned his head around to ask the court,
"So ask yourself, who really is responsible for your condition."
"Who really let the situation go out of control?"
"With a king like him, is it any wonder you are in this mess?"
"Amenheraft called His Majesty an usurper when he greeted me."
"What usurper?"
"Who did His Majesty really usurp the throne from?"
"When we entered the city, we were only 1,500 horsemen."
"If your real king wanted he could have easily pushed us out."
"But the foolish kind did so such thing."
"Instead he fled."
"Like a coward. With his tail tucked between his tail."
"Along the Life Sea to his current den."
"And what was even worse about this shameful escape was that the craven man did not even take his two daughters with him, hoping we would kill them, the two saintesses, and then have a war with Pasha Farzah."
"So His Majesty Ptolomy did not usurp anything."
"Amenheraft simply left it empty."
Alexander very grandly dered.
Chapter 547 Meeting Amenheraft For Face To Face (Part-3)
Alexander''s grand speech made both sides of the room remember some key details.
While it also made the nobles note of Alexander''s uncanny ability to turn ck into white, with many finding it fascinating.
Because just listening to his speech, one would think that Ptolomy had not taken the throne from Amenheraft, but was graciously handed it over.
Even Pasha Farzah was impressed by how Alexander was able to twist the logic, using mostly true events to portray his side as the just one.
So to help his teammate out, the veteran fox too quickly added, "That''s right. His Majesty is no usurper,"
"He only took on the heavy responsibility of guiding the nation when its previous leader ran, leaving the seat vacant."
"You can''t be a coward and run away from your capital, and then still be expected to be the king."
Pasha Farzah loudly used Amenheraft.
"Yo..you¡" And Amenheraft was caught so unprepared by this attack, that he could muster noeback.
Everything they said was technically true, only that it was said in a way that seemed to portray him as a coward who ran whereas Ptolomy stood and fight.
But that was not at all true how it happened.
The reason why he ran and Ptolomy did not was because the force attacking him was friendly to Ptolomy.
In fact, Ptolomy too had run when Amenheraft retook the city after defeating Agapios.
So Alexander''s grand speech really had no basis in logic.
But it did not need to.
Because it had basis in people''s hearts.
People loved topare things one to one, even if they were apples to oranges.
And so for some, it made them think that Amenheraft had really lost his ce as king, as opposed to Ptolomy stealing it.
"Bullshit! It''s like they say, empty vessels make the most noise." This angry retort was said by Manuk, who could no longer take Alexander twisting the words and decided to join the fray, angrily pointing and protesting,
"You say Ptolomy is not an usurper!"
"We all know how the king you serve is only being propped up by foreign powers."
"If you were not then why would you want to open our country to outside trade!"
"This is clearly the foreigner''s goal. To have us sell our country."
As the archpriest said this, he even quickly turned to face the crowd before Alexander would respond, addressing them as such,
"My fellow nobles, I would like you all to recall that Matrak was given special permission to trade with the outside world due to their great contributions to our country."
"And what happened then?"
"Were they grateful? Did their pasha stay loyal?"
"No!"
"Instead he fomented a rebellion."
"And he even killed His Majesty."
"Why?"
"The real reason is because he was tempted by foreign powers."
"These you people must not be allowed to rule this country. Or else our dear Adhania will soon cease to exist."
Manuk appeared to be able to spew the amount of bullshit as Alexander, which was not surprising given he was the archpriest and hence very adept at giving sermons.
As Manuk spoke these rmist words using the proposed trading ns, Alexander was actually surprised.
He did not think they would get to know about it so soon, or that their reaction would be so intense.
While from the back, Lady Inayah spookily sighed a bit, knowing this reaction was inevitably due at some point, as did the Queen Mother.
It seemed this was simply how the Adhanian court was.
As for Alexander, after hearing about this, and sensing many curious gazes turn suspicious and even hostile as they learned of the intended n, he quickly tried to think of a way to alleviate these concerns.
But he found it difficult.
Because what Manuk had done was the ssic trick of throwing lots of usations at once in a short period of time.
And if Alexander was to address them one by one, then it would take too long, and that would simplyck the impact Manuk''s speech had.
After all, it took a few seconds to make a whole host of usations, but it might take an hour to exin all of them.
So Alexander simply avoided thatndmine and said this, "Whether opening Adhania for trade will make the country flourish or turn it destitute remains to be seen."
"But please memember that all the other countries around us heavily trade among themselves and they still exist as individual countries don''t they?"
"Even in Adhania itself, as Priest Manuk has pointed out, Matrak trades with Thesos."
"And whether that has destroyed the province and reced it with Thesians, or if it has enriched its nobles and people is clear for all to see."
"So I believe the man is simply trying to spread fear and misinformation here."
With this said, Alexander dered,
"And remember, the decision to open trade is not even final."
"There are many nuances to the n which Priest Manuk has conveniently skipped"
"Thus I advise all interested to check up on how we intended to start doing trade."I think you should take a look at
"Because it will be really small."
At this point in his speech, Alexander gestured his arms toward Ptolomy, and continued,
"And His Majesty has already promised that if anyone refuses to open his territory to trade, he will respect their wishes."
"He is not a tyrant like Amenheraft and will never force his own decisions upon his retainers¡. as it should be."
Alexander shed a knowing nce to Ptolomy as he said so, and though nothing like this had been ever discussed, the king could only nod and smile, "That''s right. We will always respect each and every noble''s decision."
And with this, though not eliminate, Alexander at least was able to deactivate Manuk''s bomb, as the nobles were reassured they would be able to tune off the trade any time.
A result that did not at all suit Amenheraft''s faction, as Pasha VIvizan roughed coughed out,
"Bah! What trade! Our fathers and forefathers stopped trading with the outside barbarians for a reason."
"What do we need to trade for?"
"What does our great countryck?"
"You youngsters are simply hoodwinked by this fork-tongued devil!"
The old man now appealed to the nobles'' culture, heritage, and ancestry.
And in this time period, people viewed such things with a great source of pride, with many simply following what their father and their father''s father did.
Reasons and logic did not work there, with the most recent example being Lord Nibraz''s family still using chariots just because they had done for generations.
And hearing this, Alexander did not actually feel corned.
Instead felt he felt that he got the chance to say a piece he had been wishing to for a long time, but what not gotten the chance to.
So began with the words, "Yes, it is true that the previous generous of Adhania''s nobility banned trade."
"And they did what they thought was best for the time."
"But times change."
"And it would be foolish for us not to adapt with it."
"Especially when the only reason is the words of only one man."
Here Alexander paused a bit agins to sh his palms in an understanding manner,
"Now, I know what many of you might say."
"That those are not the words of any ordinary man."
"And those are the words of a king, a god-king, someone chosen by the gods."
"But ask yourself this, has he really been able to guide you thest few years?"
"Unable to properly respond to a drought sweeping across the country."
"Getting into wars."
"Having a civil war."
"Losign his capital."
"Those really do not seem like the works of a being blessed by the gods, do they?"
"And even after those fiascos, his decisions were questionable."
"After His Majesty Ptolomy had taken the throne, we did send peace delegations to the man you follow, proposing to live in peace and harmony."
"But he refused to even entertain them."
"And what was the result?"
"A huge battle!"
"And the destruction of his 100,000 army, along with the crippling loss of so many of his retainers."
"The loss of many of your own kin, your fathers, brothers, sons."
"And for what?"
"So that you could have ess to Adhan, to the Grand Temple, to the Life Sea?"
"So that you could perform your pilgrimage safety?"
"Well, do you not have all these already?"
"Did you not just aplish our Jtaama already?"
"During which part of pilgrimage did you find His Majesty''s amodation to becking?"
"So what was the point of dering war on us if, after his loss, Amenheraft had hee to us for a peace treaty anyway and then gotten exactly what he would have gotten if he had just epted our previous terms?"
Each of Alexander''s analyses felt like feral bites to Amenheraft, as the young boypletely thrashed him in front of everyone.
And what was supposed to be Amenheraft using his aura and prestige to suppress the boy, was now turning into a full rout for him.
While Alexander, after crossing Amenheraft to his heart''s content let out a bombshell,
"And so I urge all nobles and particrly the pasha to not blindly follow Amenheraft, but move ording to what best suits you."
"Because His Majesty has no qualms with any province staying neutral in this conflict."
"In fact, we would be even open to reducing the temple tithes to anyone choosing not just to switch sides, but just to stay neutral!"
Chapter 548 Meeting Amenheraft Face To Face (Part-4)
"What!" As soon as Alexander said his offer, it got this particr loud shout not actually from Amenheraft, but from Ptolomy himself, who was astounded.
Promising other nobles deals and concessions was his privilege.
When did Alexander get that power?
Ptolomy was incensed.
And so the favorable impression he had developed just now when Alexander helped strengthen his im to the throne instantly went down the drain.
Even Pasha Farzah and the Queen Mother were surprised by this announcement and this time they actually sided with Ptolomy as they felt it was quite unwise of Alexander to dere such a hugemitment without consulting them first.
This was not only being rude to them but even foolish.
Thus along with Ptolomy, they too sent angry scowls toward them.
While Alexander being all such negative emotions being directed towards him remained unmoved.
He had done so even knowing such a reaction would likely ur.
Because he knew if he were to talk to the others about it, there would be endless talking and discussion, and before they coulde up with an answer, the time would have already passed and the nobles would leave the capital.
Thus Alexander decided to make the offer seemingly out of the blue offer.
And it was quite the offer, as the tithes were one of the main and most time even the only real obligations they had to the royal family.
And in exchange, the royal family officially guaranteed them safe ess to the afterlife.
While in this life, arge portion of the money was actually used in service of the nobles themselves, like using it to pay for the maintenance of the temples in one''s territory, the wages of its priests and priestesses, and the services like free food and medicine, even education they sometimes provided to its people.
But still, when the remaining donations from all eleven provinces were added up, it did end up being a significant amount of moneynding in the royal family''s coffers.
It was a major contributor to making the royal family be the richest family.
And Ptolomy had held off promising on reduction of the tithes even till now, declining to promise that to sway potential nobles to his side knowing full well that Amenheraft''s faction was clearly the stronger one as he still held hope to subjugate the nobles and institute the same ruling institution that his forefathers had implemented.
And it was because of this that Alexander''s promise got Ptolomy really riled up.
"No! That will not happen!" And so overriding Alexander''s arbitrary decision, Ptolomy shouted to rebuke the offer.
Which Alexander did not actually find surprising.
If Ptolomy had not done it even when faced with the current situation, he was not going to do it with simply a sentence from Alexander.
So with a chuckle, he turned to face Ptolomy and say, "Of course, I''m not saying we should do that now."
"But that we should keep that door open."
"Over theing years, we will have some major battles which will im who knows how many lives."
"Who can say how the results will turn out?"
"Hence I believe it should be prudent to leave a way out for those who do not want to be a part of it."
"Of course, there might be many nobles right now itching for a fight."
"But who can say how things will turn out in the future?"
"Maybe some will want out."
"Maybe some will be too devastated."
"Maybe some will simply be unable to continue."
"For those nobles, I believe a pre-existing peace offering should exist."
At this point, Alexander turned to Ptolomy to say, "Thus I do hope that the court will soon make a concrete list of benefits offers to those who are willing to stay out, or even want to change sides during this conflict."
Here Alexander was clearly indicating to Ptolomy to use the tithes system to attract or at least strip away Amenheraft''s allies.
And as if that plot was not enough, Alexander then turned to target the big boss himself, as he then quickly turned to look at Amenheraft to say, "And you, Lord Amenheraft, please know that we do not wish to necessarily kill now."
This surprised Amenheraft for the moment, as Alexander had very much tried to kill him back at the gates of Adhna, and likely would have killed him during the battle for Adhan.
But putting those doubts to the side for now, Amenheraft concentrated on what his sly fox of a man was saying, as Alexander continued, I think you should take a look at
"We are aware that many in Adhnaia see as the divine envoy of the gods or even a god in mortal flesh."
"Many believe worshipping and following you will lead her to eternal happiness, both in this world and the hereafter."
"So killing you would be politically too unsavory."
"And something we would like to avoid at all costs if possible."
"That is why we are proposing to offer you the position of Grand Priest of the Grand Temple of Adhan, and as such the leader of all the temples in Adhania, if you just simply abdicate all your and your progeny''s rights to the Adhanian throne!"
Alexander''s offer was a momentous one, as the position being offered to Amenheraft was simr to the Christian Pope.
Typically, it was the King of Adhania that held that title, and so for Alexander to make that offer was like him spitting the authority of the king.
And hearing the offer, Amenheraft would be lying if he said he was not even at the least bit tempted, as evidenced by his eyes slightly shivering when Alexander''s deep eyes gazed at him.
As for Ptolomy, his lips quivered with the desire to say ''Hell no! He dies,'' when Alexander turned to greet him with the same deep eyes.
ording to him, agreeing to such an offer would simply mean dividing his power in two, and if Amenheraft got all the temples under him and the influence that came with it, him fomenting a rebellion just like Ptolomy did was given.
Ptolomy at least had that little bit of sense in him to understand that if he agreed to such a deal, then he would never be able to sleep easy knowing his far more capable brother was not only still alive but was likely actively plotting against him.
But before Ptolomy could rain on Alexander''s parade once again, this time the Queen Mother quickly stepped forward in his stead to loudly say, "We can agree to that! If you Amenheraft relinquish your right to the throne, the royal family will make adequate arrangements for you and your family, and promises to guarantee them an honorable and dignified life."
The Queen Mother roughly could guess what Alexander was trying to do here, that was trying to undermine Amenheraft''s, or at least his faction''s will to fight.
As the genuineness of these offers was something to discuss else entirely.
And as so she decided to match her tune with him for the time being, though unlike Alexander, Seelima did not make any specific promises to any post or peerages but only gave a general promise of her word.
Because the promise that Alexander had specifically made was really too much, even as bait to get Amenheraft to step down.
But the unindented consequence of this lukewarm reply with no grand prize was that Amenheraft understood that Alexander''s offer was not serious, and was likely made up by the man on the spot without consulting Ptolomy first,
So Amenheraft too offered a simr kind of counteroffer with a scoff, "Heh! Then if Ptolomy abdicates the thrones, I too will give him the title of Grand Priest of the Grand Temple of Adhan." which diluted the initial one''s impact.
But Alexander knew how to take the good with the bad.
So he simplyughed, "Hahahaha," without retorting to Amenheraft, and then decided to end this little conversation there.
So he turned to the surrounding noble to say his closing statements,
"Well, esteemed nobles of Adhania. You have heard what we had to say."
"But to reiterate again, please be assured that His Majesty does not have any conflict with any of you."
"That is if choose not to fight and simply stay neutral, nothing will change around you."
"You will continue to thrive as you always have."
"And the country of Adhania will continue to function as it did for the past thousand years."
"So I hope that you will please consider carefully before wanting to go to war with us and produce needless bloodshed."
"And that goes for you too Lord Amenheraft. The door to peace and negotiations is always open for you."
Alexander gave a deep look and a slight nod with his chin at the former king, who only scowled and gripped his goblet tightly, as the veteran politician saw the young man finish his speech, before turning away to rejoin the crowd.
And for the rest of the party, much of the conversation only revolved around what was just said.
Many of the nobles in Ptolomy''s court were approached by neutral, and even those wishing to be neutral, as they asked for the details of what Alexander had just said, while the nobles from Amenheraft''s faction convened to try and figure out the opposite side''s angle.
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=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 549 Small Seed
The questions that many of the more ambivalent nobles asked their fellow men belonging to Ptolomy''s faction covered a whole range of topics, from whether the pce guards really did kill many of the nobles, to the details regarding the country opening up, to even the extent of how solid was Alexander''s promises of safety if they stayed neutral.
And all these questions were very broad and prating too.
To which the people being asked such inquiries each reacted differently.
The truth was none of them also knew that Alexander was going to make these offers, and so they themselves were almost as flummoxed as the people asking them.
Thus some responded truthfully and said they did not know, some winged it with their own interpretations and addendums, and some simply exaggerated everything, parroting what Alexander said but dialed a few notches higher.
While the small group that Alexander himself joined, consisting of the top leaders such as Ptolomy himself, Pasha Farzah, the Queen Mother, and Lady Inayah''s father, andstly the new grand priest of Adhan whom Alexander had only officially met today, an old man named Ollosh.
And as soon as he joined, the old man jumped up to say, "My lord, that offer! You could have at least confided us in a bit!"
Here he was of course referring to Alexander offering to give Amenheraft the control of the grand temple in exchange for peace.
And the reason for him reacting so strongly was naturally because that was currently his position.
"That''s right! Making so many absurd demands! Are you drunk?" And seeing hisckey bite, the master so joined the fray, as Ptolomy red at Alexander with a hiss.
While Alexander put on a cid face, swearing to himself inside, ''*Sigh*, it is so hard to live with idiots.''
It seemed the reason for him doing as he did went above these two''s heads.
But fortunately for him, there were at least some intelligent people in Ptolomy''s council too, such as the Queen Mother, who stepped forward to gently chide Ptolomy, saying, "Now, now, Your Majesty, Lord Alexander surely had his reasons for doing what he did. Let us not be too harsh on him," before her voice turned all flirtatious and charming, as she whispered into the man''s ears, "I will tell you all about in bed."
As the mature woman did this, Alexander could see Ptolomy''s face visibly turn soft, his anger dissolving like butter into nothingness, as a red hue flushed across his face.
As soon as Ptolomy heard this promise, the man could care less about what Alexander said or did, for his head was only filled with the thought of what fun timesy ahead of him.
In fact, as the Queen Mother made the open remake, Ptolomy even wished to close the party then and there so as to start the happy times as soon as possible.
It appeared Seelima had truly Ptolomy wrapped in her fingers.
And seeing this, Alexander was perfectly okay with it for the time being, because ording to him, having a puppet king under the spell of a sorceress was sometimes far better than having an uncontroble manchild lead you.
Especially if that sorceress was on your side for the time being.
And so sending a grateful nod to Queen Mother, feeling relieved that he would not need to exin his y at a party where there were prying ears everywhere, he decided to move on to mingle a bit more with the crowd.
While at the same time, Amenheraft''s advisors were busy discussing that very speech.
Because though the move might have gone unnoticed by the childish Ptolomy, it certainly did not escape the far shrewder Amenheraft.
"Is he really a ve!" The regal man clenched his teeth as he swore.
This was the first time in his life that the man was thrashed so badly in a verbal exchange and in front of so many nobles for that matter.
He felt humiliated like no other.
And it particrly stung him because in his previous years as the crown prince, and then the king, no one had ever dared to speak to him as such.
So he was in a very bad mood indeed and even chose to exit the party shortly after without much notice.
Amenheraft felt that just today''s event was enough to make him fight to the death.
And as Amenheraft left, sensing their leader''s foul temper, his retainers did not urge him to stay and simply left him to his own devices that night.
But they did meet up over the following days, their main topic being how to counter Alexander''sst speech.
Because that had not only damaged Amenheraft''s reputation by openly revealing some of Amenheraft''s strategic mistakes, but also gave may nobles an incentive to stay out of the fight.
So the opposing side went into crisis control mode, calling their members and exining many of the criticism Alexander hadid bare, and giving their own spin to the story.
While also promising various mary and political benefits, such asnd and booty of other nobles to urge their nobles to fight.I think you should take a look at
This aggressive stance was taken because the conclusion Amenheraft and Co. reached was that Ptolomy''s side was weak and desperately wanted some peace.
This was indeed true, particrly in the case of Alexander, who wanted some time time to grow and more preferably goggle-up parts, if not the whole of Tibias without being distracted.
So naturally the tactic that Amenheraft''s group came up with was to deny the opponent just that.
Hence the offers.
As to how effective either side''s strategies would be, be it Alexander''s urging for nobles to stay neutral and prosper or Amenheraft''s urging to fight and grow, that remained to be seen based on how both sides implemented their ns.
While Amenheraft''s people focused their effort on that, Alexander was busy with his own stuff.
Among which first and foremost was receiving a call to a meeting the very next morning of the party by the Queen Mother.
Because if Alexander thought he could get away scot-free without any chastisement, he was grossly mistaken.
Although Ptolomy did not care to hold Alexander afterward as the man simply forgot about the whole thing, the other did not, as Alexander entered the room to find Queen Mother and Pasha Farzah sitting.
There the mature woman angrily hissed, "If you are gonna make such out-of-the-blue announcements, tell us about it before, would you! What do you take us for?"
"And who do you think you are? Making promises left and right!"
Although the Queen Mother had not shown it at the party, she was indeed peeved at Alexander going all solo.
To which Alexander simply chuckled and apologized, "I''m sorry, I''m sorry. I never thought I would get the chance to say those things."
"So when I did, I went a bit too far, haha."
But Alexander did not at all sound sorry, and seeing the man slouching opposite to her, Seelima could only re.
The fact was that Alexander''s initial results were quite fortuitous as she, Pasha Farzah, and also Lord Iyazid were approached by many hopeful nobles to know the details of Alexander''s promise.
Hence, with the good results on hand, the woman found it hard to back up hermbasting.
Thus, the Queen Mother simply let off Alexander with a slight warning to not do such things in the future.
Something that Alexander dutifully nodded to and even threw into the junk pile of his memory the next moment.
Because the real reason he had done so without consulting others was to show that even though he was not a part of Ptolomy''c court, he still had enough power to dictate many of its policies sometimes even arbitrarily.
But that did not mean the Queen Mother was out of tricks to punish Alexander.
Particrly, she plotted to have Alexander remain in the capital with the excuse of heading the creation of the list of benefits Alexander himself had alluded to.
And since it was his idea, Seelima was confident that Alexander would not be able to say no.
So the Queen Mother got to work working on that.
While for Alexander, over the next few days, he was busy mutually exchanging gifts with the other nobles, in order to build up trust and friendship among each other as per Adhania''s custom.
Here Alexander showcased a lot of his own new products and got quite a few favorable responses.
And then, under Pasha Farzah and Lord Iyazid''s guidance, he began to have trade talks with some of them, particrly the ones that the two nobles rmended based on the individual''s allegiance and previous record of trustworthiness.
And since most of them had already been convinced by Pasha Farzah and even Lady Inayah beforehand, the talks were quite smooth.
There was no Alexander hitting an unexpected brick wall where a noble pretended to be outwardly courteous to Alexander but then did not seem to want to associate with him due to a variety of reasons, such as race and or status.
With these talks underway, Alxx also sat down with Ptolomy regarding the topic of various technology transfers in exchange for some privileges such as mining the ropals, as well as his idea of arming the northern barbarians.
And just as when the talks were going somewhere, just as Alexander was getting to the meat of trying to convince Ptolomy, all those talks suddenly came to a screeching halt with the arrival of two birds.
Cambyses''s message had finally arrived.
Chapter 550 Alexanders Reaction (Part-1)
The messenger bird from Cambyses came early one morning around the first week of November, but at that time Alexander was blissfully asleep.
And he only got around to reading it midday.
The reason for this was that the previous night was especially grand, where Ptolomy made sure to show that the events this year were not at all in any way smaller in scale than the previous years so as to show off his prestige and grandeur.
So Alexander returned to his room prettyte.
And given that soon afterward a blizzard overtook the city, the cold outside weather and the snug, warm room made Alexander sleep in to the point he skipped breakfast and woke up only before lunch.
And as evidence of how horrid the weather was outside, even waking sote, Alexander still found his room to be dark and even a bit damp, courtesy of the raging snowstorm that was still going on.
So it was only after refreshing himself and having a hot meal delivered right to his private room, that his maid Maya came up to him, and said, "Master, these two messages arrived for you from Zanzan." as the auburn-haired girl handed the two small rolled up notes.
Sitting on his couch after hisrge meal, Alexander was sipping some wine as Maya did this, and hearing so, he quickly put down the goblet and took these notes with great crity as he had been expecting such a thing, guessing that it must be about the result of the battle.
And as he opened the knot on the binding ribbon of one of the notes, Alexander felt quite confident about the oue.
''I wonder how many prisoners we took. Zanzan can always use more people.'' Alexander was very expectant.
But such eagernesssted only moments indeed.
Because the reality was much different from his expectations.
For in that small but still readable font, in handwriting that Alexander clearly recognized as Cambyses''s it read,
''Alex, we lost! 15,000 dead and captured.''
''The enemy numbers 40,000.''
''Preparing for seige. Have around 50,000 men. Food for 1 year.''
''Send help if possible!''
Cambyses''s note was as usual short and sinct, being less than 30 words, it left out any details and only gave the facts, for space on these little scrolls was as valuable as gold.
And as Alexander read this, Maya clearly noticed how her usually jovial master who always had a breezy aura to him suddenly turn his face stony and hard.
"Bring the candle! It''s too dark to read anything in here," Alexander snapped in a harsh tone, making it seem that he had read the message wrong because Maya did not arrange for proper lighting facilities.
But though it was indeed a bit dark, it certainly was not enough to hamper one''s sight.
So this was really Alexander being in a foul mood after reading the bad news and taking it out on the innocent maid.
And hearing Alexander address her like that for the first time, Maya''s heart jumped a bit in fear, as she quickly grabbed the nearby candlestand and bought it much closer, making the group of burning candles illuminate the texts on the note ever brighter.
And Maya did this as quickly as possible too, as she knew that many times angry masters and mistresses would beat, mutte and even kill nearby maids or servants when they got any bad news, and though Alexander did not seem like that kind of person, Maya could not help but shiver in terror at the prospect of that happening to her.
As for Alexander, he cared not about the maid''s thought, as he refocused on the note again, reading and re-reading again, hoping it would say that actually it was Cambyses who started a siege of Tibias, and was just delivering him the good news.
But naturally, the message was what it was.
The fact was Alexander''s army had been dealt a crippling defeat and his only city was on the verge of falling.
And this realization made Alexander''s stomach have a sinking feeling he had not had for quite a while.
Recently he had been on such a roll with his battles, that the thought of losing really did not even begin to cross his mind until now.
At least not a loss as devastating as this.
Losing 15,000 men especially felt like a gut punch to Alexander.
So for a while he just sat there, unable to utter a response.
''How? How could Menes have lost? How so badly!'' Alexander tried to reason this in his head as he sat on his couch.
With his superior technology and numbers, victory should have been his, Alexander reasoned.
But as usual, Cambyses had not given any details of their loss, and so Alexander was left to figure that one out for himself.
While his maid Maya tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, not daring to utter a sound as she stood next to him, taking note to even dampen her breathing.
She could guess whatever was written on the note must be bad but she did not dare ask.
Because she had heard stories of what happened in situations like this from her other sisters, and she really wished to turn into the air and disappear to avoid that fate.
It was only sometimeter that Alexander atst recovered from the shock, and as his eyes refocused on back to the notes when suddenly he noticed the second one.
''Please have more info,'' And as he got to quickly tearing it open. Alexander really wished in the second part Cambyses gave a good exnation of the situation.I think you should take a look at
But that was not to be.
Because this message was the same as thest one, with two extra words added at the end, ''Punish Menes?''
Reading the same message again, Alexander understood that Cambyses had followed his instructions to send multiple birds carrying the information, hence the repeat.
As for the missing line in one of them, it was likely that in her haste or forgetfulness, Cambyses had forgotten to copy thest two words.
And as Alexander read the question, which alluded to asking for his permission to hold Menes ountable, well without knowing the details of the battle, Alexander really could not give an answer.
But that was beside the point anyway, as right now Alexander could care less about what Menes did.
That could wait after he had saved his city.
And so grabbing the two small notes, Alexander hurriedly got up without a moment to waste and left the room without a word to Maya, as his mind was preupied with finding Pasha Farzah and the Queen Mother to discuss the matter.
"Brat! What is it with you and war?"
"War! War! War!"
"In one year you had as manyrge wars as I have in a decade!"
And as Alexander pleaded his case to them, Pasha Farzah snapped this in anger.
The reason for which was of course due to the old man being worried about his granddaughters'' well-being.
Bad things happened inside a city in a siege, and if something were to happen to Azura and Azira¡.even the veteran politician did not want to go down that rabbit hole.
While facing this unjust usation and undue anger, Alexander too snapped, "It was you old fart that came up with that peace n with Tibias."
"So why don''t you tell me why they are attacking me? Even after I gave them so much money!"
Like Pasha Farzah, Alexander too was scared of what would happen to his city and his family, thus tempers appeared to run high on both sides.
But fortunately for the two testosterone-driven males, there was another person still present in the room, someone, who could act as a mediator.
And as the two men got at loggerheads with each other, here the Queen Mother pressed down the men to cool down, saying, "Tibias attacking Zanzan is indeed a mystery. But bickering about it among ourselves will not solve it."
"So let us not throw dirty water on each other, and sit down to talk about it."
And with the interjection from this powerful woman, the two men finally took in deep breaths and calmed down.
After which the Queen Mother opened the talks, as she looked at her copy of the message, and reiterated,
"Now, Lord Alexander had already told us before that Tibias was attacking him before."
"And until now we have been unable to determine why."
"Logically they should not have broken the peace treaty so soon."
"Not after the money we gave them."
"So I suspect it had to be something major."
"Expect our spies to soon report it Lord Alexander," Seelima then turned to Alexander to reassure him about this.
As she then continued,
"But for the matter at hand now, it seems Lord Alexander''s army has suffered a defeated in a recent battle."
"And now Tibias is likelyying siege to the city."
"That is indeed bad news."
"Sieges are not good," Seelima''s voice here turned a bit low as a few unpleasant memories regarding sieges floated up.
But those were as quickly suppressed as they appeared, as her voice turned upturn and reassuring,
"But the good news is that ording to Lady Cambyses, the city has both the men and food tost a while."
"Nevermind its formidable walls"
"The city will not fall!"
"So we do have the time to send help."
"And we will send help, rest assured about that Lord Alexander!"
Chapter 551 Alexanders Reaction (Part-2)
First and foremost, the Queen Mother worked to alleviate the tense Alexander was in, as she made her promise in a hard, steely voice.
And credit where credit is due, it did reassure him.
The man had been so preupied with the news of the loss that he had subconsciously skipped the fact where Cambyses notified him of therge number of defenders and the reasonable amount of food she had.
And recalling that, Alexander felt that if he was on the opposite side of the wall, he would not be confident of his chances of taking the city quickly.
"That''s right. I have personally seen the walls of Zanzan. and they are likely even more formidable than Adhan''s." And from the side, Pasha Farzah added this.
But for Alexander, though this was all up and good, and his city did not seem to be in imminent danger of falling, but still he wished to rescue it using an army, rather than just hoping that the Tibians will bash their heads against the walls repeatedly and finally give up.
"So how can you help me, Your Highness?" Thus trying to hold the Queen Mother to her word, Alexander made his question directly, wishing to extract as much benefit as possible.
But the cunning woman did not bite so easily.
And ended that meeting for the time there, saying, "I will need to talk to His Majesty regarding the specifics. But rest reassured we will give an answer as soon as possible."
"In the meantime please be patient my lord."
This ending would appear quite abrupt, but it was true that Alexander had just informed them of the situation.
So naturally it would take some time to assess and evaluate the situation and then respond ordingly.
And so over the course of the few days, Alexander sat on multiple meetings regarding this.
But in much contrast to the Queen Mother''s promised aid, the king was willing to offer very little.
"Seelima tells me that you have 50,000 men, enough food, and walls as good as Adhan."
"So against just 40,000 men what are you afraid of?"
Ptolomy here did not actually try and plot against Alexander, but genuinely felt it was not a big deal.
And when heid out those facts like that, it did seem somewhat like that.
So coupled with the fact that Adhan itself was quite weak, raising an army and marching 800 km on during the winter to rescue a city that was so well-defended did not make any sense to most people.
After all, Zanzan was built as a fortress to handle threats just like that.
And so many felt that this was just Alexander''s nerves acting up as he never experienced how hard it was to take a city before.
And it some respect this was true, with perhaps one of the best pieces of evidence being the first Punic Wars, where the Romans tried to take the ind of Sicily from the Carthageans, andmass which was in their backyard and had to spend more than two decades to get it.
For andmass of just 25,000 sq km.
Because the Carthaginians engaged in bloody sieges and after bloody sieges.
And even when Rome did get Sicily, they did not actually do it by conquering all the cities on the ind, but by forcing Carthage to relinquish control over them, as thetter was exhausted after the bloody 23 years of war.
So it was actually reasonable for Ptolomy to ask Alexander to be patient and have trust in his retainers in defending the strong city.
But for Alexander, being patient was not an option.
So when he heard this, he actually wanted to shout, ''All of you have had your balls cut off, or never had a pair to begin with.''
He was fully incensed that after all he had done to put the darm monkey on the throne, Ptolomy was too cowardly to risk himself even that little when Alexander was in so much trouble.
And so ditching the man and that snake of a woman as Alexander currently felt, he went to find Lady Inayah, wanting to ask her to help him charter a ship so that he could at least return to Zanzan and head the defense of his city by himself.
No matter what others said.
But upon the request in her room, the ebonydy simply pointed to the window, drawing attention to the raging blizzard outside, and said, "Do you not see the weather my lord? How do you expect any ship to leave port during this?" as she added, "I would even say that you should count of your luck as it is quite fortunate that your messager even bird managed to get here when it did."
"Just a dayter and it would have already been eaten up by the storm and you might have not even known anything."
Lady Inayah was right about the bad weather, as Alexander had not been able to yet send a return message to Cambyses due to the on-and-off hailstorms and blizzards that were going on around Adhan the entire past week.
''Of all the time this could have happened,'' And as he gazed into what simply looked like a white sheet, Alexander could only curse this.
As for hearing Lady Inayah say that he might have even missed the news if it got dyed a bit, Alexander was not sure if that might have been actually better.I think you should take a look at
As currently every second he spent in Adhan knowing his city and its people were in danger felt like he was being prickled by a needle.
So given he could not leave now, he tried to figure out when he could.
"Mydy, your sailors should be expert navigators. Surely they can somewhat predict the weather? Perhaps they can say when this blizzard will die down?" Alexander had a very hopeful tone to his voice.
But Lady Inayah was quick to shut off that avenue of travel for him for quite some time, saying, "Well, dear Alex, I''m afraid I do not actually need to ask my sailors when they can sail their ships."
"Because every year from November to January and some years even February, we generally do not travel south."
"Nevermind to Zanzan which is at the very southern point."
"As to why?" Lady Inayah turned to Alexander to give a few trivial knowledge,
"Do you know why that part of the Central Ocean is called the Mad Sea?"
"Well, it is because of the waves during the winter."
"Travelling by sea to Zanzan during this time of the year is impossible."
"At least by our ships."
Lady Inayah added thest bit because she felt that Alexander''s new ships might be able to do it in the future.
But such ''potential mights'' was of little constion to Alexander right now.
And so he could only put on a sour face.
While Lady Inayah guessing what Alexander was thinking next asked,
"Are you thinking of going by road then?"
To which Alexander frankly nodded.
There was nothing to hide there, as he added, "I was told the road from here to Zanzan was one of the best in the country. So I hope to get there in a month."
Putting his five hundred bodyguards on horseback, Alexander felt a month might even be too long.
If he pushed himself, he was confident in covering that distance in two to three weeks.
But Lady Inayah was there no rain on his parade agina here, shaking her head and saying, "I''m afraid given the amount of snow we are having here, you will not be even able to make it in two."
"And that is not even considering the wild beasts roaming all around, the possibility of the weather turning worse, or even some hostile nobles seizing the opportunity to make you disappear."
And as Lady Inayah listed these hidden dangers, Alexander only felt more restless.
"So what should I do?" He gripped his teeth as he posed in a frustrated tone.
"Oh Alex, you poor boy," And seeing this, the older, maturedy stepped forward to caress his cheeks, truly feeling sorry for the young man, as she slowly whispered in a sultry tone, "You are too tired."
"Rest!"
"And leave everything to your aunt. She will soon make you feel better."
And as she said this, Alexander felt the pair of hands gently push him onto the bed, and though Alexander knew this was not the time, but as he felt thefortable sensation of him sinking into the soft mattress, as his nose took on the familiarforting scent, as he heard the rustling of clothes around him, as his eyes were soon presented with that beautiful scenery of Lady Inayah''s bare body, he decided to let himself go for the moment.
He had been too tired the previous few days, unable to properly eat or sleep due to all the worry, and so decided to enjoy theforting warmth of his motherly woman to take his mind off everything.
And Lady Inayah as usual did not disappoint, where she used all her skills to tire Alexander out and lull himself to sleep.
And once he woke up, refreshed and energized, she gave him this piece of advice, "If you really want to raise an army, why don''t you ask your retainers that are here?"
"That''s why most nobles fight wars you know."
And Alexander had thought about that before but skipped on it due to concerns about loyalty.
But now¡.
Chapter 552 Lady Inayahs Past
After their little tussle on the bed, and Alexander''s light nap, he woke at night, though he could not say at what time.
The sky was still nketed by heavy clouds, and the outside was pitch ck, making any such deduction impossible.
Not that Alexander was very concerned about it as currently he was feeling famished.
It seemed he had definitely skipped lunch and likely dinner too.
And as he let Lady Inayah know about this, the maturedy let out a gentle, motherly smile, informing him, "Mmnn, I guessed you might be. So I had Kesha set aside some food for you. Let me get it for you. Dinner is long over you see."
Kesha was Lady Inayah''s personal maid, and as the nobledy said this, she quickly called a short, petite girl and asked her to bring the food over, while in the meantime Alexander washed his face and refreshed himself using the indoor basin, his body rxing by the warmth of the roaring firece lit inside.
And by the time he was ready, the food had arrived.
And most surprisingly it was piping hot.
Alexander was not expecting that given the temperature outside and how long ago it had been likely cooked.
"I had the food be kept in the kitchen. Hope it is still hot." And as she personally served the food for Alexander, Lady Inayah''sment made him unveil the mystery.
"Thank you," And as Alexander felt the care and gentleness behind these actions, these following two sincere words conveyed more genuine affection than an entire book could.
So as he ate the thick soup with bread, he could not help but steal a nce at the prettydy sitting opposite of him at the private dining table, and take a good look at her.
Alexander of course was not looking at her face because of her beauty.
Though she was plenty beautiful, with bright eyes, a well-built nose, and thick, luscious lips.
Neither was he looking at what she was wearing, which was just a sheer white negligee that could barely hold her marvelous assets, over which she draped a heavy coat to cover her arms.
Though with one which she did not bother to cover her torso, leaving Alexander to freely gaze into the tempting. deep valley forming in front of him.
But although such views were very stimting for a young man like Alexander, for now, as he ate, Alexander could not help but actually reminisce about his interactions with her.
Unlike the other nobledies of Adhania like the Queen Mother or Mikaya, Lady Inayah did not seem to have too many knots and twists in her heart, and to Alexander, she seemed like a genuinely good person.
Up until now, she had been always courteous to Alexander, even given his low origin and when he had stayed in Agnirat, the woman had been actually a very gracious host.
So this made it all the more surprising that she would foment a rebellion and even help poison her husband.
Because after interacting with her, Alexander did not feel like she was that kind of woman.
While Lady Inayah, clearly sensing Alexander''s gaze, suddenly teased him, "What! First time seeing someone so beautiful, hehe?"
She was not a stranger to such looks and was perfectly okay with them.
While Alexander, hearing this only produced a light smile, and gently replied, "Haha, of course, mydy is very beautiful without a doubt. But that was not currently on my mind" as he then frankly revealed his thoughts,
"No, I was just thinking I do not know very much about you that''s all"
"Especially why you choose to take part in the rebellion. I simply do not feel that you are that type of person."
"Oh, that?" Lady Inayah seemed a bit surprised at this sudden turn in the conversation and her voice turned down a few octaves, but did not choose to brush it off.
Instead with a simple wave of her hands, she very easily said,
"Well yes, normally I would have never participated in such a risky, even suicidal n."
"Because at first, even many of us did not think the rebellion had any chance of seeding."
"But we went with it anyway."
"For each of us had a clear motive."
"With mine being primarily revenge," Lady Inayah said an interesting word, as she then very openly revealed her past,
"You see Alex, I caught Alozmer''s eye at a royal party about 15 years ago.
"Heter said to me that it was my swaying butt that had caught his eyes that day¡ the pervert," Alexander very keenly noticed how Lady Inayah gritted her teeth in hatred as she said that word, as she continued,
"And it was then and there he decided to have me as a mistress."
"But there was a problem," Lady Inayah gave a pause here, before turning to look squarely at Alexander, "And that was I was already married."
"And not only that I had five kids, two boys and three girls!"
"So if he wanted to have me as a concubine, he needed to get me divorced."
This was a bombshell of a news to Alexander, as he had never known that or found any evidence of it, and had always thought Lady Inayah was a bachelor before bing part of the king''s haram.
Mikaya even said so when one day she had said that her father was also one of her suitors, but lost her to the king.
So what gives?
And seeing Alexander''s shocked face, Lady Inayah could easily guess where his confusion was and calmed him by saying, "I can guess what you are thinking, But let me finish," as she continued
"Now, for a king as powerful as Alozmer, getting me divorced was as easy as breathing."
"Simply expressing the slightest desire was enough for his cronies to pressure my father and my husband."
"And the funny thing is when I first heard the king desired me, I was even somewhat eager to do it myself"
"Ahh the folly of youth," Here Lady Inayah''s voice turned a bit mncholic as she recalled some of the less-than-savory times she spent in the king''s haram.
But nevertheless, she quickly recovered from that before continuing to retell her past,
"And if that was what Alzomer wanted, if all he wanted me to do was to divorce my husband I would have had no problem with it."
"My marriage with that man was loveless and deary anyway." Lady Inayah sounded quite dismissive of her ex-husband, though her story was actually pretty standard given almost all noble marriages were loveless and political.
"But that was not enough for Alozmer. The beast did not want to simply divorce my husband."
"He actually wanted to kill him and all my children too!" Lady Inayah''s lips visibly shivered as she said this, as she recalled,
" I still clearly remember what Alozmer said to me when he gave that order, ''You should be blessed to be able to bear my child. You do not need any other man''. Fucking bastard!" This was probably the first time Alexander heard this elegant curse, and it even came from deep inside her throat, showing just how much she hated him.
"And even when I bawled out my eyes, or even when my father protested on behalf of me at court, he refused to budge."
"Alozmer even had my father twentyshes in front of the whole court just for that."
"So my husband and two sons were executed were ultimately executed. They were three and five."
"And I only managed to keep my daughters alive by tempting him by saying, ''Your Grace, my daughters will surely grow up to be nation-destroying beauties.''
''And then we four mother and daughter can serve you together.''
''Surely you would like that!'' "
"And the pervert let them live just because of that."
"But there was no way I was going to hand over my girls to that beast."
"I might have suffered myself, but I would be damned if I let them suffer too."
"And that''s why I killed him."
As Lady Inayah finished her long count, by the end of it she had returned to her usual self.
The events were so long ago, and given that she already had her revenge, Lady Inayah found the story much more ptable now.
While, Alexander, as he heard this, could only nod and curse Alozmer.
Killing a woman''s husband and sons, and then taking that woman as a concubine.
No wonder the previous king was said to be mad.
No one except a madman would do such a thing and not expect to get stabbed in the back.
"Alozmer died too easy," Alexander made a throwawayment, before asking Lady Inayah, "Are those the daughters I met in Agnirat?"
"Yes, the two you met are from my first husband. I did not have any children with Alozmer."
"Even the mere thought of it detested me."
"And he did not want to get me pregnant because he feared it would ruin my figure."
"So I managed to escape that fate." Lady Inayah appeared to release a sigh of relief as she said so before voluntarily adding,
"As for my third daughter, *sigh*, my eldest daughter, Iktifa died of a sickness some yearster I be Alozmer''s mistress."
That helped Alexander solve the mystery of meeting only two daughters, as he could only say, "My condolences," before refocusing on his food.
Alexander really did not expect that an innocent question would reveal so much about Lady Inayah''s past.
Chapter 553 Lady Inayahs Advise
As Alexander ate his meal, the atmosphere suddenly turned a bit awkward, as it seemed that the two of them had run out of things to say.
"Oh, are you not interested why you never knew this secret before? Why everyone acted as if I had no husband before?" And as that stifling silence overtook the table, Lady Inayah atst added that reminder, before giving the answer by herself,
"Well, it''s because Alozmer hadmanded so."
"To pretend that I never had a husband. Or son"
And that finally exined to Alexander why Mikaya said the thing she had.
While Lady Inayah ended her reminiscence by saying,
"And so after this many years, people have simply gotten used to it."
"Many may have even been forgotten."
She had a very light tone to her voice as she quieted, but Alexander still imagined detecting a trace of emotion hiding within her.
It appeared despite whatever ws that man might have had, he was at least better than Alozmer.
And the truth was even now Lady Inayah would sometimes imagine what would life be like if she was with her first husband.
But those memories were increasingly bing blurry over the cruel passages of time, as it slowly chipped at her memory.
"I see," While feeling the deep atmosphere, Alexander could deeply nod and go back to eating.
And as that ufortable silence returned, it was Lady Inayah who again broke the silence, shing her hands around to lightly say,
"But enough about this old woman''s troubles. You tell me about your own problem!"
And as soon as Alexander was given that way out he quickly grabbed it and began to eagerly discuss his own pressing concerns, such as his fear about his city, his frustration at Ptolomy''s casual disregard, and finally his thoughts about wanting to reinforce it.
And as he asked if Lady Inayah had any good idea, she naturally suggested simply using the forces of his retainers under him.
Now, this idea of course had crossed Alexander before.
After all, significant parts of all high-level noble''s armies were almost alwaysposed of forces from his retainers.
But for Alexander, that immediately raised the question of loyalty.
Given Alexander was an outsider and Adhania''s inherent dislike for them, as well as the incident of some of the nobles already breaking the armistice and attacking him, and then again being burned by Tibias, it was understandable that Alexander had developed a somewhat cautious nature.
And hence felt that if he revealed a weakness now, even his retainers might turn on him.
His half-paranoid nature could not make him trust them.
So much so that in fact, when he had informed others of his predicament, he had been careful enough to keep it just between the top levels of the court, i.e.- Ptolomy and his close retainers.
But now, given Ptolomy would not give him any troops, and the others such as PF really had no men to spare right at the moment, with Lady Inayah''s urging, Alexander felt that turning to his retainers might be thest option.
And as he considered the option, he asked Lady Inayah this a very skeptical voice, "Will that be safe? Will the noblesply? I have not told any of them for fear of them joining Tibias!" wanting her opinion on his new retainers
To which the ebonydy a first looked a bit surprised as if she had not even considered that, before she simply startedughing loudly, her glorious peaks shaking temptingly in the process.
And the reason for herugh was actually because she really could not believe someone as smart as Alexander had actually done something so needless.
So she pointed out, "Haha, oh Alex, why are you bothering about something so trivial now?"
"Have you not realized it already? There was a huge battle right in your territory."
"Which is right next to their territory."
"You think any of the nobles are unaware of this? That they can be unaware of this?"
"Why are you even concerned about that?"
Lady Inayah''s tone was as if she was pointing out a child''s little mistake before ending her sentence with a teasing smile, and this, "My, my dear, Alex, when did you start slipping? *Tsk*, *tsk*!"
With only these words and that crafty smile, suddenly all the gloom and heaviness that had lingered in the room due to all the previous serious topics seemed to melt like dew under the morning sun, while it also made Alexander instantly flush for he felt he had just woken up to his mistake.
She was right!
The Tibian border city of Thesalie was about only 100 km from Zanzan.
And so given that such a huge army had crossed the border and was making its way to Zanzan, of course the neighboring nobles there would know something about it.
After all a moving army would be many times described as a moving tornado or locust swarm,ying waste to much of thendscape, especially crops around that area.
So there was little chance of hiding it.
And as Lady Inayah bought Alexander''s attention to this point, he could not believe he hadn''t thought about that before.
''Darm! The shock of the loss haspletely fried my way of thinking,'' Alexander wanted to p his forehead for thisplete oversight.
But fortunately, his mistake did not cause any major harm and he still had the time to fix time.
So he quickly lightly bowed his head towards Lady Inayah and very gratefully said,
"Thank you for your guidance, mydy. Without your help, I would have led myself quite astray."
To which Lady Inayah only breezily chuckled and teased, "Haha, think nothing of it. After all, it is an elder''s job to teach her juniors,"
Before her tone suddenly sultrily as she noticed Alexander had finished eating, and so she very coyly whispered, "Well then my lord, how do you intend to reward me¡for helping you?"
"And topensate me for bringing up this olddy''s past. Hmmm?"
At this point her fingers were already trailing very suggestively along Alexander''s chest, her nails digging into the flesh, while her eyes be very amorous.
"...." And Alexander could only gulp.
He had always noticed Lady Inayah would call him ''my lord'' when she wanted to have sex with him, which was actually a technique she had picked up over time, after noticing that men like to have their egos stroked especially during the intimate act.
While Lady Inayah, seeing Alexander offer no resistance, quickly got him out of his chair and started to lead him over to her bed, giggling, "Hehehe, welle, my lord, the night is still young."
"And I can think of one very special way you can repay me."
Lady Inayah seemed to be in high spirits.
And Alexander went along with light footsteps, while also rolling his eyes inside his head a bit.
For they had quite the session just that very afternoon, where Alexander vividly remembered quiteprehensively filling Lady Inayah up in all three avenues, even making her leak copiously from two of them.
And so could not believe that still had not been enough.
But the fact was the middle-ageddy who was around the same age as the Queen Mother could be said to be in the most mature and fertile stage of her life, with her libido at the peak, meaning she simply liked that act.
And the other fact was Lady Inayah also liked sleeping with Alexander, especially after his transformation down there, as he could poke her at spots deep inside the canal and make her feel things she had yet to experience.
Hence the eager invitation.
And with Lady Inayah being very interested in round two and with Alexander having little to do to pass the time other than this, what little clothing either of them had were very quickly discarded.
Thus soon Lady Inayah''s melodious moans started to echo across the room, as well as quickly followed afterward by the apanying wet sound of flesh pping against each other as Lady Inayah rode Alexander especially fiercely as if she was trying to forget all the previous bad memories that had been stirred up through this act.
And as if to stimte Alexander even more, and make him thrust harder, the sexy woman even turned around as she rode him, showing him her huge naked, caramel butt and that forbidden second pink hole that keep peeking out, the sight of which really worked to make Alexander gouged out her insides like no one had done before.
While for Alexander, as he engaged in this pleasurable act, could not help but thank the shiva drugs, for he felt without that he would never have been able to satiate this hungry cougar twice in just one day.
But even with that miracle drug, it drove Alexander deep into the night to satisfy this hungry, mature woman.
Though he did manage to do it eventually, with it being quitete when the two exhausted bodies finally drifted into a deep peaceful slumber, as Lady Inayah atst felt her world of worries and previous unpleasant events be erased into a world of white pleasure, while Alexander was sucked too dry to worry about anything else.
And hence both of them woke up early morning feeling very refreshed.
With Alexander, after having a quick breakfast, immediately decided to call a meeting with all nearby nobles of Zanzan and actually managed to sit with them at midday that very day.
Chapter 554 Convincing The Nobles Against Tibias
Once Alexander woke up the next morning, he gave himself a bit of time to think over some of the things he had discussed with Lady Inayah.
And as he thought, reminisced, and analyzed them, he found that he had missed another critical possibility.
''Wait! If the nobles did know about the attack, why hasn''t any of them say anything to me?''
''They should have found out about it weeks ago!''
Alexander soon had that doubt.
And so he continued to think more about it, trying to find an answer.
But ultimately, no matter how much he thought about it, he could not guess as to the reason why.
It just did not make any sense to it.
''Fuck it. I will ask them directly.'' So Alexander atst decided that and then pushing all other thoughts to the back of his mind, he eagerly went to attend the meeting with the nobles.
Where he very frankly informed them of the situation of his city.
"So that is the situation. I hope my lords will lend me the strength to defeat the invading Tibias." Alexander formally requested.
And as he frankly admitted his predicament, the following was immediately said by Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq, which inadvertently helped answer his previous doubts
"Hmmm, we had indeed gotten reports from home that Tibias had crossed the border. But we were also reassured that my lord''s army was shadowing them."
"*Sigh*, to think even they lost."
This lord''s territory was 80 km west of Zanzan or right at the mouth of the Cisran Hill''s gateway into Tibias, and so it was little wonder he knew of the invasion.
But he had not rung any rm bells and returned home immediately because those very reports also reassured him of Alexander''s army being sighted in the vicinity.
Whereas now that that force had been defeated, and the enemy was free to pige thend, this man quickly started to get restless.
"*Sigh*, yes, that is unfortunate." As Lord Yuusiq said this, Alexander was quick to join in, confessing,
"We thought that we would be able to defeat Tibias with no problem and hence did not tell others, thinking that would distract them from the holy ritual."
"But now that the situation hase to this¡." Alexander could only shake his head, trying to show that the situation was critical and they needed to act now.
"But didn''t you my lord say that a peace treaty with Tibias had been signed? That we would have peace?" While from across the room, another room pointed posed this.
To which Alexander heavily nodded and said, "Yes, I did."
"Because Tibias had indeed promised as such."
"*Bang*, But who knew they would such treacherous knaves?" He heavily pounded on the thick table as he said so, his anger both genuine and fake, as he attempted to show he shared the same kind of hatred the people of Adhania had towards Tibias.
"Hmmm, to think they would attack so soon! And in the winter too! I can''t judge if they are dumb or brilliant!" At Alexander''s outburst, another shordar (baron) from the side made thisment in a cool, analytical way, as he struggled to determine if the challenges of trying to supply an army in winter were made up for by catching the enemy off guard, with many of the lords away at the moment attending the pilgrimage.
"Yes! Given the weather, if not for Lord Alexander or Lord Yuusiq, we would not have even known our territory was in danger for months!" Another noble interjected in a relieved tone.
Now, this particrment might sound strange to some as messenger birds should have been able to reach them in the capital at some point.
So hearing the man say this, one would think the reason he said this was because his territory was much more ind and his scouts would not simply detect them on time.
But that was not actually the act, as that particr man''s territory really neighbored Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq.
And the actual reason why this man was totally in the dark about Tibias''s attack was because not every noble could afford to maintain messenger birds with arge number of ces.
For instance, this particr noble was not important enough and had not the financial backing to be given a messenger bird from the capital, which he could then take home and afterward use to ry messages back.
And this was the case for most shordars (barons) and talukdars (viscounts), and even many Jamiders (Earls).
So for most nobles, the only real way to get a message delivered was with a guy on a horse.
And as this discussion continued, one noble seemingly gave some startling details.
"Hmm, attacking in the winter¡is certainly unorthodox."
"But it is certainly not unheard of."
"I remember that when I took part in the war with Tibias, they did attack us during such times, catching us off guard and wreaking havoc on our supply lines."
"Their king Perseus especially likes to use that technique."
"And it is very much possible he is leading his army his time too."
"The man loves to lead from the front."
As the noble said this, Alexander felt he had learned more about the enemy in a few seconds, than he had done in thest few weeks.
While another man next to that noble very helpfully also added,
"Yes, that is likely."
"I also consider him a renowned military leader. Having fought against him, I even think he might be one the best in the world,"
"So it''s not very unjustified that Lord Alexander lost."
It seemed that some of the nobles appeared to think that there might be a method to the madness for Tibias attacking in the winter.
But hearing this, another noble, one who had recently joined Alexander''s retinue only joked, "Haha, well if all it took was beating Amenheraft to be the world''s best tactician, then well all would be."
"As my lord here said in that party, the former king is no military strategist."
"Or else how could he not take Tibais even with such arge army?"
This man seemed to be of the opinion that Amenheraft was a pushover and unted that in front of Alexander to show his new allegiance.
But Alexander was not impressed.
He felt that was not likely the case, as though the former king might have had his deficiencies, but still, Alexander thought he was at least halfpetent with his militarymand.
And even if he was not, the people under him certainly were.
So Alexander had no doubt Tibias was put under heavy pressure by his attack, for three continuous years at that.
And given that Tibias had still managed toe out of it with rtively intact territory, even after being outmanned and outsized, Alexander made sure to take a serious mental note of the man who had managed to achieve this, their king- Perseus.
And as Alexander contemted this, suddenly this snarky remark rang out from an inconspicuous corner of the room,
"But isn''t Tibias and you usurpers be supposed to be allies? So why are they attacking you?
Trouble in paradise?"
As soon as Alexander heard this he instantly turned his head to see the owner of that remark and his eyes narrowed as he recognized it to be Manuk''s.
The man had been unable to keep himself quiet when he heard his liege being insulted.
While for Alexander, seeing this unpleasant sight, curved his lips up and taunted, "Well, well, I already knew your sidecked manners given your leader''s greeting."
"But toe to another noble''s meeting unannounced."
"You guys are finding new lows every day."
He could not believe that this guy had managed to get a whiff of the meeting so quickly and then even slip in unnoticed.
Though Alexander could guess it happened probably because he had called not only the fifteen nobles serving under him but other neutral and even hostile ones.
For just Alexander''s retainers were not powerful enough to fight a 40,000rge army by themselves.
While Manuk, hearing Alexander''s taunt simply smirked, as if that remark had just slid across his skin, and chuckled, "Haha, well one can''t be too careful about foreign spies like you."
The insinuation here was clear and hearing this irritating man spew such divisive things in his time of need obviously irritated Alexander.
And so he decided to shut that topic once and said to Manuk in a concluding tone,
"Whatever deal Tibias had with His Majesty was before I came along."
"Now all those agreements are null and void."
"Now I have been made the Pasha of Zanzan. And I intend to keep it."
After saying this Alexander quickly turned to gaze across the long table where many of the noblemen sat, and shing his palms dered,
I will not give a grand speech to convince you to join me."
"I''m sure many of you are very eager to sit back and watch the two foreigners tear each other apart."
"But let me remind you of the kind of history you have with Tibias."
"And the kind of history you have with me." Alexander stubbed his index finger on the table as he said this.
"So you can choose to live in a Zanzan ruled by Tibias and get the kind of treatment you would expect from them."
"Or you can choose to defend yournds."
"And in exchange, I will give you the same trading benefits I gave my retainers till the armistice ends!"
Chapter 555 Preparations For Tibias
Alexander''s strategy here was pure and simple.
Be a nouveau rich and throw money at the problem.
And in keeping pace with his tune, as soon as Alexander finished his speech, Lord Prantik, one of his earliest converts quickly stood up to say, "That''s right! Lord Alexander is very generous. I can personally attest to that."
"All the various new things you saw were made in his territory. And he has agreed to sell a lot of them to us very cheaply."
"If you join us it will surely benefit you!"
He was then quickly joined by a few other nobles who too chimed the same tune, offering to tell all the details about the deal to those interested.
And as this enthusiastic wave permeated across the room, it was a turn of events that certainly was not favorable for Manuk.
So he smirked and taunted,
"Heh! You think the esteemed nobles are like you, lowly mercenaries that can be bought and sold?"
"These men have something an outsider like you will never have! Dignity!"
Manuk wished to appeal to the present nobles'' inherent pride to reject Alexander.
But was quickly countered by the following, as Alexander put on a mirror smirk and taunted in the same tone, "You mean dignity like yours where you said you would defend the nobles of Zanzan, but then tucked tail and ran when many really did call for your help?"
"That kind of dignity?"
Alexander was of course referring to how after he defeated Djose''s forces, Amenheraft did not have the army to stop Alexander from subjucatung his neighbours.
And this reminder stung Manuk almost as much as it reminded all the nobles about their current standing.
Which ultimately caused Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq to stand up and be the very first one to dere,
"I stand with Lord Alexander on this one. Regardless of our personal differences, it is Tibias who is our main enemy. And I intend to heed his call and fight them with him!"
Now, to recap this lord was the only one of the 12 nobles who had refused to bow down to Alexander, and chosen to be only neutral.
So Alexander was pretty surprised to see him be the first one to join him.
But it was not really a surprise given how close his fiefdom was to Tibias, his family''s feuding history with Tibias, or how zealous militant of a man he was.
The man loved fights, a trait that served him well given hisnd''s geographic position, and so it was really a no-brainer that he would ally with Alexander to fight with Tibias.
But still, even though this was a predictable move, seeing a great lord openly express his support for Alexander did cause a somewhat of a domino effect as many neutral and semi-neutral actors too promised Alexander, or at least promised that they would think the matter over.
Seeing all of which Manuk could only put on a sour face, as his original had indeed been to make the nobles and Alexander bicker and fight, and subsequently let Tibias destroy both of them in the process.
For the archpriest saw Alexander as perhaps the greatest threat to his lord, even more than Pasha Farzah and the Queen Mother, and thus very much wanted his dangerous card gone.
But it seemed the opportunity this time was gone.
"Thank you, my lords. We will leave in two weeks. Please join me by then." As for Alexander, he was more concerned about acquiring more nobles for his rescue operation and gave this deadline to those who were still on the fence.
And with this done, Alexander said a few concluding pleasantries, and the meeting was atst concluded, one could quite sessfully indeed.
And for the next two weeks, Alexander really focused on the journey ahead, as he sent ahead scouts to survey the roads, prepare provisions for him and his men, and also hold regr talks with the nobles to discuss how they would raise an army to attack the enemy once they reached their destination.
Because calling up levies and organizing them took a lot of time.
The weather also cleared up enough for Alexander to send a message back to CM, the small note reading,
"Defend the city to thest man."
"Do not surrender. Do not ept any peace terms."
"I''ming within 2 months max!"
"Cooperate with Menes. Take care of the twins."
And as Alexander watched multiple birds carrying the same message flying off toward Zanzan, he could not help but worry he had beente in his reply.
Because the date of CM''s message was about a week old and he feared how much things had changed by now.
With the only constion being that CM had not sent a second message pleading to him again, meaning the situation was likely not that desperate¡yet.
So with that hopeful thought, Alexander then turned his attention to the next matter, which was meeting with Pasha Farzah and the Queen Mother to discuss his current situation and discussing many important details.
First of all, he concluded a deal where he secured emergency provisions for his city in case it needed extensive rebuilding, which included both materials and grain, as well as a loan if things became that bad.
He then asked for advice on some of the diplomatic matters regarding how to proceed with Tibias in the future, like how to punish them for taking his money and attacking him anyway, and how to conduct prisoner exchange with them if it came to be.
Additionally, he also asked them if they could spare some men for his uing campaign, but here the Queen Mother regretfully said she really had nothing to give, which was natural given she was no militarymander.
Whereas the aged pasha did, albeit begrudgingly, hand him a thousand of his elite men, but with a threatening caveat attached to them at the end,
"Brat! If anything happens to them, these very men will very much¡you¡." Pasha Farzah did not finish the sentence, but the implication was clear.
If something happened to Azura and Azira, while it was unlikely Pasha Farzah would truly fight Alexander, at least their cooperation will undoubtedlye to a screeching halt.
"I have told you before, your granddaughters will share the same roof, same food, and same fate as my family."
"I have already written to CM to take care of the princesses'' safety. There is no need to remind me."
At thistest threat/reminder, Alexander replied the following in a wooden voice.
This was not the first time the worried man had raised this issue, as at one he had even asked Alexander to evacuate Azira and Azura by sea to another city belonging to one of his retainers.
And each time Alexander gave the same above answer.
Because he knew as long as he had Azira and Azura, he would be able to undoubtedly able to fleech some kind of benefit from Pasha Farzah.
And that 1,000 men was his proof.
"Hmmp, we will have a very serious talk about Azira and Azura after all this is over brat."
And how could the shrewd pasha not detect this?
So he made this throwaway remark, alluding to his intention of moving his granddaughters away from Zanzan given its frequent proximity to danger.
Alexander said nothing to this because he first had to make sure that they got out of this alive first.
It was not only the Queen Mother, Pasha Farzah, and the nobles that Alexander met with.
He met with Ptolomy too in the meantime.
But not to discuss his city.
Instead it was to discuss the things he was originally in Adhan for.
Those had been put on hold due to the recent bad news, but before he left, Alexander was eager to get at least something done.
Or he felt that his trip would have been totally wasted.
It would be like he hade to the capital, spent some time there, lost a load of men back home in the meantime, and then scampered back home empty-handed.
Alexander did not want to do that.
He at least wanted to show his retainers he went to Adhan for a reason, and despite all the difficulties hade back with something.
Hence to that effect, he sat down with Ptolomy to get at least one of his deals done.
But then the question became which one?
Well there was convincing Ptolomy to equip the northern barbarians and attack other provinces
But Alexander figured that would need a lot of greases, both personally for Ptolomy and for also the court.
Because this was a very dangerous double-edged sword tactic.
So the next option was opening up Adhania to outside trade.
But again that too needed a lot of talking and time to convince others.
The general aversion Adhnaia had for trade with the outside world was made very evident to Alexander during his exchange with Amenheraft.
So that only left Alexander w with two options.
One was him wanting to buy a lot of street urchins and low-ss, neglected people of the society from Adhan to his city Zanzan to repopte that region.
This option naturally was rejected given it was unknown whether he might have a city soon.
Hence the only real deal Alexander could realistically make with the time frame was the coinage deal, and so he sat down with Ptolomy to discuss his right to mint the ropal, in exchange for him transferring some technologies, particrly how to make brown sugar and paper.
Chapter 556 Visiting The Royal Mint
As discussed previously, there were several reasons a noble would want to mint his own coin.
There was the factor of economic control where minting one''s own coins allowed the noble to exercise greater control over their own local economies.
For instance, first and foremost by issuing their own currency, they could regte the flow of money, set exchange rates, and even manipte the value of their coins to suit their interests, thus providing them with quite a bit of degree of economic autonomy and influence over trade andmerce within their territories.
Then there was the symbol of authority as a personal coinage served as a powerful symbol of sovereignty and authority.
By minting their own coins, nobles could showcase their status and legitimacy as rulers, with many times their images, inscriptions, and emblems on the coins reflecting the noble''s lineage, titles, or significant events rted to their reign.
It served as a tangible representation of their power and reinforced their position in society as for most people, the face engraved on the coin served to remind them of their fiefdom lord and was also likely the closest they would get to ever seeing their fiefdom lord or any noble for that matter in their lifetime.
Afterward came profits and seigniorage, where minting coins could be a lucrative source of revenue for nobles.
They could charge a fee, known as seigniorage, for minting the coins, which essentially amounted to a tax on the coinage.
It was kind of like a weird ie tax, where a noble generated revenue by mining money for himself, reporting it as ie and then taxing it, all for it to end up in his own pocket, which was a legal loophole if there ever was.
But this a perfectly legal system, and it was not only like it was a hallmark of only this period of time, as even in modern countries in Alexander''s previous life, this was a legitimate tactic, where printing money actually generated tax earnings for a government.
So all this meant that by controlling the minting process, nobles could generate ie from the production and cirction of coins, contributing to their wealth and financial stability.
Andstly there was the already discussed convenience of trade through standardization of currency.
Thebination of all this made Alexander very much want the rights to the ropals, and even though Ptolomy was at first a bit reluctant, saying things like, "Shouldn''t Lord Alexander be more focused on solving his immediate predicament?" but with Pasha Farzah and Queen Mother and even Lady Inayah''s father urging, he soon acquiesced.
Among them Pasha Farzah''s urging stood out the most, exalting Ptolomy as such,
"Your Majesty, it is quite rming for Tibias to attack us."
"Hence I believe we should give Pasha Alexander all the tools he needs to grow and be powerful as soon as possible so that he can defend hisnds!"
With his formal request, and under Queen Mother''s urging in private, Ptolomy atst gave Alexander the right to mint the ropals, in exchange for his brown sugar and paper-making technique.
And two dayster even took him on a visit to the royal mint to show how each coin was made so that Alexander could set up his own facilities and most importantly of all hand over the precious die, which was the blueprint using which the ropals were printed.
Alexander naturally had never been to the royal mint before, and so as he stepped out of his carriage, he was a bit surprised to see the mint being actually housed inside a temple, being guarded by very strong-looking men garbed in the distinct priest uniform over their armor, while simr men and women of faith were seen going in and out of the building.
Its size was second to few other buildings in the city but interestingly it was not really grand, as if it wanted to stay as inconspicuous as soon, giving it the appearance of being just arge temple for some exclusive purpose that the public did not know and which was only essible to the clergymen.
After getting over his initial surprise, as Alexander gazed at the mint and thought about it for a second, he actually found the mint being inside a temple not too strange, for it was pretty normal that the theocratic Adhania would choose to enshrine the ce where their wealth was literally created inside a god''s personal house, both as a sign of respect and security, believing no one would dare to steal from a god.
"There are many mints under the royal family. But this here is thergest and most produces the most coins." It was Ptolomy who said this as he led Alexander inside, with him choosing to personally apany Alexander given the importance of the building.
The existence of many mints making the ropal did not surprise Alexander at all, as one mint could never make enough coins quickly enough or distribute them fast enough.
So these mints that the royal family had were all ced in strategic locations, taking into consideration factors such as essibility to natural resources so that the precious metals can be easily gathered, the avability of trade routes so the freshly minted coins can be easily released into the market, andstly administrative convenience, which both meant security concerns and ease of controlling the mint.
"My liege, my lrod, wee. We are honored," As soon as Alexander and Ptolomy and their entourage entered the temple, the one in charge of the mint, a bald priest name Jm trotted over with a great smile and a flushed face, bowing and greeting them, and then proceeded to give them a tour of the ce.
Entering inside Alexander noticed the internal structure of the mint to be huge, being fortified a woodenplex consisting of various buildings and workshops, with huge ceilings but actually very few windows, deliberately done so as if to shield all eyes away from peeking, making the inside a bit dark, for the soft glow of manyrge lit braziers inside could neverpete with the sun itself.
Alexander also found the inside quite warm given not only the light source but also all the smelting going on, which actually made it veryfortable given the current outside temperature, though he dreaded to think how this ce would feel like in summer.
Having had these thoughts, Alexander then found his eyes very strongly drawn to a giant hearth that stood in the middle of the building, one around which many priests seemed to be working.
And noticing Alexander''s gaze, Jm quickly introduced, "Ahh, this is where we collect, refine, purify, and alloy the metals to the desiredposition for the coins."
"We first receive our metals, either from the nearby mines or from general traders, and are all melted in that furnace into appropriate proportions."
Jm very sinctly gave the description of the use of the huge hall room they were in, with the process he described seemingly being quitebor-intensive, as Alexander figured there were at least over a hundred priests, present there doing just that.
And once Alexander had some time to view all f this, Jm then offered, "Your Grace, let us now go to the main workshop. That is where all the coins are made."
So at the priest''s behest, the entourage quickly entered through a narrow corridor, and along the way, Alexander noticed that guards were posted along every entrance and exit way, obviously there to ensure the security of the minting process and the valuable materials involved.
And these armed and armored priests were posted there for both theirpetence and their loyalty and knew their job well enough that only people they knew by face could go in or out.
But naturally, Alexander''s group was let in through as if they were the wind, and so after some twists and turns they turned up at a room whose entrance read ''Engraving Room'' on a giant wooden gue.
Here, Alexander peeked inside to see talented many artists and engravers were busy creating intricate designs on metal dies, which looked exactly like the ones on the ropals.
It would not be wrong to say this room was the heart of the mint as this was where the pressing die for the coin was created.
And it was a very skilled process indeed.
Following this was the die-preparation area close to the engraving room where the newly engraved metal dies made of bronze or iron, were shaped and polished to ensure clear and precise coin impressions.
There came the dedicated part of the workshop called the ''Coin striking area'' where skilled minters were seen cing the prepared metal nks or nchets between the engraved dies and then strike them with hammers or mechanical presses, the pressure from which would imprint the design onto the nchet, creating a coin.
And seeing the coin being made, although Alexander knew about this before, he still was surprised how each coin had to be made by hand.
It was truly aborious process.
Then he was led to thest room, which was actually a Quality Control Station, where there were inspectors examining random samples of coins to ensure they met the required weight, purity, and standard of workmanship.
It was the work of this station that worked to keep the people''s confidence in the ropal, as they worked to prevent fraud and maintain the public trust, using scales and measuring instruments to check the weight and size of the coins, and also various other strange techniques which Alexander could not understand to determine the gold purity.
All to ensure every coin met their standard before they were released for cirction.
And seeing all this came an end to Alexander''s visit to the mint.
Chapter 557 Reaching The Outskirts Of Zanzan
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Alexander returned from his visit to the mint with a few pre-made dies and even a ropal gifted to him as a souvenir.
And as he held up the coin which had a hole in the middle, and noticed the various markings along its borders, he felt he had learned many new things today.
First of all, it finally became clear to him why the ropal, and for that instance, many other ancient coins in his previous life too, had a hole in the middle.
This was done so that the coin''s size wasrge and convenient enough to hold in one''s hold without having to add too many precious metals and hence make the coin''s value too big for everyday use.
Then, aside from the usual engraving on the coin, came the small markings along one side of the side.
These were actually codes, detailing the coin''s origin and production details, including the mintmark, which identified the mint where the coin was produced, and the control marks, which indicated the responsible authorities overseeing the minting process.
Alexander was actually impressed very by this small detail, understanding that whoever had designed the process put a lot of thought into making it.
He then also remembered that he had not actually got to see that process, because that was done in the administrative office, where mint officials and administrators oversaw the entire mint, managed records, and handled the distribution of coins to various regions within the empire.
Ptolomy had bluntly told him that it was a royal family secret, and Alexander could easily understand this.
It was likely the royal family was afraid if other powers got to know the personnel involved in overseeing the mint, they could be targeted and influenced.
Hence the veil of secrecy.
Alexander also was not allowed to see the storage vaults for the same reason, where the raw materials, finished coins, and perhaps the most precious of, the valuable dies were kept under lock and key.
And truth be told Alexander had indeed been interested in viewing it, as he was interested in what kind of vault these ancient people would have been able to devise.
But s, it seemed he would need to hold his curiosity for a little while longer.
With Alexander''s return from the mint, he also got Ptolomy to promise to lend him some of the expert engravers and artists for some time once the battle with Tibias was over so that they could teach the new workers at Zanzan about the techniques and also ensure the quality of the new mints.
And as Alexander took his preparations, soon the day of departure for him had arrived.
"Brat! We careful." This was Pasha Farzah''s curt way of saying good, while the Queen Mother''s was a bit more formal and informative.
"We have made sure tomunicate with the nobles through whom you will be going. They will not give you trouble."
"And we have also discouraged AM in trying to do anything during the journey."
"So it should be safe." The Queen Mother reassured him.
It appeared that though Seelima was not able to help Alexander militarily, she strived hard to do so diplomatically.
And for that Alexander was grateful.
"Thank you, Your Highness. May the gods protect us all." He put his hand over his right chest as he said so.
"Mmm, may the gods protect us all!" And the Queen Mother did the same, adding, "And I will return to Zanzan sometime after this is all over."
With this said, and all preparationsplete, on one cold but thankfully clear morning, Alexander''s entourage which consisted of some dozen nobles, and about 3,000 men that made up thebined bodyguards and wagon crew made their way slowly towards Zanzan through the snow-filled road.
And while on their way, Alexander made some small talk with his travelingpanions, paying particr attention to getting to know some of the newer, more neutral nobles who had decided toe with him.
Additionally, he was given this particr piece of good news, when Lord Prantik, who Alexander had appointed to be the intermediary between him and the nobles informed him,
"My lord, we have already sent word to start our levies. Thankfully given it is winter and most men have nothing to do, we will be able toplete it within three months!"
The shordar (baron) seemed very pleased about the reported time frame, and seeing such, Alexander, at least outwardly put on a pleased face.
"Good," He nodded enthusiastically.
Inwardly though, Alexander could onlympoon, calcting that since this was November, he would need to wait at least until February tounch any meaningful attack.
Meaning Cambyses would need to hold on at least till then.
This long time certainly made Alexander very ufortable.
But actually for the task at hand, the three-month lead time was not really anything surprising if one thought about it.
After all, it took time to issue the levy notices, then for officials to receive that order, and ultimately carry it out, where they had to go out to each and every individual vige and settlement one by one, locate and draft all the avable men and then sometimes even lead them to the nearby barracks or city garrisons, before atst shipping them off to the main collection point, likely their lord''s personalnd or manor.
While in the meantime, others had to busy themselves with the task of arranging weapons and armor for them, andstly, and perhaps most crucially, procuring enough food for them.
Now, a noble could get away with asking his peasants to bring his own weapon, and the serf would be still present with a spear, or if he did not have that, whatever farm took he had in his shed, a pitchfork, axe, sickle, whatever.
And most peasants were expected to bring their own armor anyway, so on the battlefield you could usually find a range of protective gear being donned by the enemy soldier, going anywhere from being just manyyers of clothes they wore over one another for the truly destitute, to sometimes a kind of boiled leather breastte, to in some very rare asions some kind of bronze metal piece their ancestor might have left behind, or something they might have even looted from a nearby battlefield.
But even though a noble could get away without properly equipping and arming his men, and sometimes even get away with paying them a pittance, the thing he could not get away from was feeding them.
And he had to feed them well so that they marched, and fought properly without rebelling.
And in this time period when agricultural techniques were so backward, and food was rtively scarce, it meant cost!
A lot of costs.
So when levies were called, Alexander also had to coordinate with all the nobles about this cost.
And it was a set of negotiations that continued even while they were on their way.
So almost every day, after dusk, once they had set up camp and had dinner, Alexander would sit with some of the nobles and get to know theirnds, the number of men they could give, and how much food they produced.
And if they produced surplus food, he would even then ask them to bring extra, so that they could spare some for the nobles who did not have enough.
But naturally, such discussions were very hard, as nobles had every incentive to underreport their own stocks while using others of doing the same.
And so for Alexander who had to navigate through all this finger-pointing, sometimes felt like tearing his hair out.
But still, in the interest of rescuing his city, he tried to act as best as a mediator as he could.
So he proposed various financial incentives to the wealthier nobles to supply his army with enough food, and even high-level posts within the army.
In this way, their journey proceeded, which thankfully, though was internally certainly very colorful, at least externally was very peaceful, with little outside disturbance or harassment.
Though it was a given, since few people would want to needlessly mess with 3,000 armed men.
So along the way, Alexander got the chance to fully enjoy the cold, winter scenery of Zanzan, and for a modern man whose adobe was in the urban concrete jungles, it was certainly very beautiful.
The road they traveled on was surrounded by forests that seemed to have transformed into a magical realm where the skeletal branches of ancient trees coated with frost, glistening like diamonds under the soft winter sun, the snow underfoot made a sweet, crisp sound, and the eerily silent wood sometimes chimed with the asional melodious chirping of a bird or the rustling of a small animal in the underbrush, bringing life to the otherwise tranquil atmosphere.
This was not Alexander''s first winter in this world for this, this was the first time he got to enjoy it being a bone a fide noble, with most of his other memories of the winter being him shaking and shivering in the cold and many times wet weather as he ved away at his work.
So it seemed that his increased status had somehow put a new pair of sses on his eyes, which appeared to make the same scenery appear much nicer.
And in this way, Alexander made his journey across the rtively good road, only experiencing a single dy when the group got caught up in a snowstorm and had to stop for a week, ultimatelypleting the journey in one and a half months.
Chapter 558 Cambysess Struggles (Part-1)
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On his way to Zanzan, Alexander crossed many a frozen and half-frozen creeks and streams, picturesque small viges with thatched roofs cottages that wereden with snow and had ck smokey rising out of them, and many small towns and cities, where the noble or caretaker there received them with grace and cordiality as per the Queen Mother''s beforehand instructions.
And these permanent resting points were a godsend for Alexander, for what he most liked was having a hot shower there which was naturally impossible to have while on the road, with the bonus of having a soft bed, afy meal, and sometimes even a warm, eager body to keep himpany through the long night.
With this steady pace and no major problems, Alexander managed toplete his journey two weeks faster than Lady Inayah had anticipated, in one and a half months, reaching the closest allied city of Megrab, which belonged to a Shordar (Baron) Haziz, just at the start of January.
This settlement was located about 50 km or around two days march from Zanzan and was chosen as the meeting point for all the levies, while Alexander himself, after resting in the city for the night, very eagerly decided to travel to Jabel to set up a small forward camp there the very day after.
The reason why Jabel was not chosen as the main meeting for the men was simple. because itcked the necessary infrastructure.
And as he approached the city of Jabel, that decision was reinforced, for he still found it almost abandoned with shabby houses dotted across, and very few residents dwelling inside.
Though this was actually natural given what he had done coincidentally around this time of the year, and also given that there was an enemy army nearby, and this city had little defensive structures.
The arrival of Alexander and his bodyguards did not cause muchmotion in or around the city, as he intentionally hid his presence, and stayed well away from the city in fear of enemy spies, and only sent some men inside to fish for information regarding Zanzan.
But unfortunately, his spies returned empty-handed, informing Alexander that most of the people inside were old and infirm with little contact with the outside world, and given it was winter and even the merchants preferred to stay home, they had heard nothing except that Tibias had started besieging Zanzan some two months ago.
So with much frustration Alexander decided to go see the state of his city for himself, spending a pretty sleepless night where he only tossed and turned in his bed imagining the worst, and then rode out at the crack of dawn to see the state of the city for himself.
Alexander traveled light, with only twenty of his most trusted men apanying him so as to minimize drawing any attention from any Tibian scouts deployed forward, and finally reached the outskirts of the city without any incidents by midday.
And as Alexander stood on a hill overlooking the great city, some few kilometers away, the sight that greeted him made Alexander''s heart sink!
''How! How is that not here!'' He felt his head spin, as his eyes turned small and red, and he could not help crying out loud, "No! It can''t be!"
Because although the walls of the city appeared intact, and the Tibians army seemed to be still outside, the thing that Alexander most wanted to see was not there.
And to understand why that thing was not there, one had to go back to the start of November, to the start of the siege.
Around that time, inside a luxurious tent, sat a heavily bandaged man, covered in white linen that bound his torso and his head, giving off a strong medicinal scent.
This of course was Leosydas, who had been badly hurt but as the doctors had promised, still alive.
And next to him was the king of Tibias himself, Perseus, who was seen personally attending to his friend, and was currently changing his bandage.
While the man being treated appeared to berate his ''nurse''.
"You should not have waited for so long. If you were fast enough you could have sealed off the city before the runaway army had the chance to reinforce it. Now the siege will be a hundred times harder!" Leosydas criticized Perseus.
And the man was right was saying this, because if the Tibian army had decided to pursue Menes, given the former was in full formation, while much of thetter''s army was scattered and had run off to the wilds, they would have been able to most definitely cut off significant parts of the enemy army from entering to Zanzan.
Instead, Perseus had chosen to rest his army that winning, letting Menes take his sweet time and slowly absorb many of his army''s scattered remnants back as he retreated.
This was a gross military blunder that was hard to justify.
And something someone as talented and as experienced as Perseus would have never done.
So what was the reason?
Well, the reason he gave was this, "Pursuing the enemy that knows thends headfirst would not have been wise."
"You should know better than most that we do not pursue a fleeing enemy past a certain distance."
Perseus was referring to the military doctrine that stated that if one pursued an enemy too far, then there was the chance of going out of formation and opening themselves to a possible counterattack.
"And besides, that enemy cavalry charge had killed a lot of nobles. We needed some time to reorganize our army."
"Many of us wanted to mourn too."
"......" And hearing this hackneyed excuse, Leosydas only pursed his lips in displeasure but ultimately stayed quiet.
Many of Perseus''s reasons did make sense on the surface.
But Leosydas felt they were not enough to stop someone as battle hungry and skilled as Perseus from giving up such a good opportunity.
After all, conquering Zanzan city was perhaps the most cherished dream of most Tibian rulers, as it would mark an unmistakable giant step forward toward taking Zanzan province.
So why had Perseus really done it?
Well though Perseus would likely never open it in fear of revealing he had let his personal emotions get the better of his military judgment, Leosydas could make a well-informed guess.
And he guessed that it was because of him!
Leosydas felt that Perseus had stooped his amry to give his friend to recover, as he feared moving around would open his wounds.
And this was probably a legitimate concern, as Leosydas had been unconscious for three days after the battle, and if Perseus had indeed marched his army, the stress of him being dragged in a cart would have most likely made Leosydas''s perilous situation much worse.
He might not even have made it going by the ounts of some of the doctors, who at some of the initial points thought Leosydas had already crossed over.
And thinking this Leosydas decided to stay quiet, both because he did not want to sound ungrateful, and also because he was d to be alive.
No one wanted to die after all.
So he changed the topic.
"How has the interrogation been going? What do we know?" Here Leosydas of course was referring to the prisoners they had captured.
"Haha, well we have some good news!" And hearing this topic Perseus very eagerly piped up, recounting,
"The soldiers have all said that their city lord is not here."
"That he is at the capital, Adhan. That''s a thousand kilometers from here"
"They even cursed saying that if they had been led by him, we would have certainly lost."
"Haha, the gods are truly on our side this time!"
Perseus sounded very, very pleased as he said so
He of course did not buy the soldier''s im about Alexander''s military skills, but nevertheless, he was d to attack a city without its ruler.
Experience told him that the defenders of such cities always suffered a morale deficit.
And this good mood was shared by Leosydas too, who nodded andmented, "That is indeed good news."
"I heard that this Alexander is somewhat aplished in military strategies. So able to take his city without him being around is indeed good."
It seemed both men thought the capture of Zanzan was in the bag, and felt Alexander''s absence was more of a convince than a golden opportunity.
Which was not too callous given the new siege weapons they had.
Also it had to be remembered that though eager, the two men were also prudent to thoroughly try and exploit it.
And hence they were optimistic but not drunken with happiness.
After informing Leosydas about the interrogations, Perseus then additionally informed him, "After we got this information, we also quickly sent a messenger with peace terms to Zanzan. He should be back soon."
An action which Leosydas approved as he added,
"Mmm, hopefully it will be good news. A city without its lords to be besieged is in a perilous position after all."
"Maybe whoever Alexander left in charge will panic and agree to it."
"Yes, that is my thought too. And I also offered them some tempting terms to sweeten the deal..hehehe."
Here, after a long time did Leosydas see his friend produce a sly chuckle, and it was quite evident how much of that piece of papyrus the man was of the mind to honor.
And Leosydasmented nothing about it.
Conquering Zanzan was all that mattered, and they were willing to do it through hook or crook.
Chapter 559 Cambysess Struggle (Part-2)
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"Esteemeddy, my lords, His Majesty is a generous and benevolent lord."
"He will not treat you unjustly. Please ept it!"
"I strongly urge you!"
This loud pronouncement was made by the peace delegate whom Perseus had sent, with the man being met in the hall room of Alexander''s manor in the presence of Cambyses and the other council members, where he read out the terms Tibias was willing to offer.
Which basically said that Tibias was willing to spare the city and its inhabitants, and allow safe to anyone who wanted to leave if they surrendered the city.
"Hmm, I remember thest time it was a man named Leosydas. Where is he?" Sitting at the head of the table, a ce where Alexander usually sat, was a stone-faced, somber Cambysis, who asked so very coldly.
In fact, the words sounded more like she was making an observation rather than an actual inquiry.
"Lord Leosydas is busy preparing the army for the siege. That is why I''m here." The delegate quickly answered as such, hiding the fact Leosydas was injured, and instead trying to pressure the other side with the word ''siege''
"Why is he preparing the army? What happened to your king?" But inadvertently this caused Cambyses to follow her question with the following, her eyes narrowing into a nt arc.
And the delegate could only unconvincingly mumble this, "They are both preparing the army."
Which made everyone at the table ask themselves, ''Both were so busy that one of them could not be spared even for a peace deal that could end the war?''
This could obviously not be true, and as they thought as such, the delegate keenly noticed a subtle change to a more confident posture among the people in front of him, for they thought the Tibian army might not be doing too well/
''Or whye with such favorable terms?'' They felt the bait was too sweet and tempting.
Hence Menes said this.
"I remember that your left nk copsed when there was the rumor of your king dying."
"Is he dead? Is Leosydas in charge of the army now?"
"Tell the truth!"
The giant ck general was very pointed and gruff in his tone as asked this question, pretty sure that the king was really dead.
But still it was not a hundred percent certainly as though he had seen an ornate helmet with a head being paraded by the soldiers in front, he did not get a good look at the face and could not determine that had been really Perseus.
Not that that would have helped anyway as Menes had no idea what Perseus looked like anyway.
As for the helmet, that he was very sure did belong to Perseus, but a small part of him still reasoned that if Amenheraft could switch armor with Kefka if Alexander could do it with Hemicus, it was certainly possible for Perseus to do it with someone else.
And there was thepelling evidence of Perseus''s army not dissolving when he quote unquote died.
Because usually when a king died, his army routed.
And given that clearly had not happened, Menes could never be sure.
So he tried using his speech and bodynguage to try and intimidate the man into saying the truth and hopefully a yes.
But naturally, the answer he got was no.
Because Perseus was indeed not dead.
He was very much alive and kicking.
So instead, like a cat whose tail had been steeped on, that Tibian man almost jumped up in anger at the usation, shouting, "What! You dare say about His Majesty?" before pointing at the peace deal and saying,
"Who do you think wrote this peace deal? Whose personal seal is this? Who ordered me here!"
You dare call us frauds!"
The man shed the bright red seal near the end of the papyrus and waived it around as he made his defense.
Perseus was generally quite beloved by his soldiers, and so when the enemy made such a remark, the man was unable to control his temper.
But though his outburst was very genuine, it did not really convince Alexander''s retainers.
Because the man had not actually answered their question.
As for showing the royal seal as proof, well if the king died, anyone could use it.
Not to mention Cambyses and the others did not even know if it was real or not given they had never seen it before.
So they only thought the offer was only a sham by the weakened Tibian army whose king might be dead or at least injured to trick them into giving up the city without a fight.
Hence the council, who had already decided to not surrender, saw even more reason not to.
Who knew that the innocent actions of the peace delegate who just wanted to keep Leosydas''s injury a secret would lead to this?
But it did.
"We are interested in exchanging our prisoners. Name your price and we will pay." So Cambyses made this out-of-context statement, which also implicitly declined the peace offer.
And the delegate certainly understood that, for he flushed a bit before trying onest time.
The reason being that he knew that if could get this deal done, it would be a great achievement, and the king would surely reward him handsomely.
Hence, turning his head away from Cambyses to the other men in the room, he loudly said,
"My lords it would be prudent for you to think over the offer."
"Zanzan has fought a good fight."
"You have shown your courage and valor in battle."
"You have won our respect."
"But you have also ultimately lost. There is no shame in that."
"Admit defeat! "
"This is your best chance to achieve peace and avoid bloodshed."
"I urge you to look at the faces of your people, men, women, and children who will have to die for your actions and reconsider."
The peace delegate said this in a very warm, sincere tone, addressing to particrly the men in the room, hoping to appeal to them instead of a girl.
In fact when he first saw that a girl was leading the meeting, the man had an urge to point andugh out loud at the men for allowing this.
Because it wasmon knowledge that women could never lead.
Hence he hoped that the men woulde to a more sensible decision,
But naturally, he was met with a wall of silence.
The decision had been made.
In fact it had been made the day after Menes returned.
And so after a while Cambyses ended the meet with this sarcastic retort.
"When leaving the city, have a look at our walls."
"And then when you meet your king tell him that we urge him to look faces of his men, and the faces of their subsequent widowed wives and orphaned children so that he might reconsider his choices."
Cambyses had returned the man''s offer to his face almost word for word.
Which caused the man, seeing negotiations had broken down, to shed his gentle, cordial face and hysterically shout, "You think you can fight us! You think you puny walls can stop our army!"
"We ahve 50,000 men outisde your gate!"
"The fury of our men and their merciless steel will tear down your wall with a single smash."
"And then where will you go?"
"Where will you hide?"
"What good will your walls do?" the manmbasted, before threatening,
"We will set fire to your city."
"ughter all your men! Rape your women! And sell your children to the cruelest vers!"
As he said so, his enraged face then turned into a mocking taunt, for he turned to the males sitting there and said with a disparaging sneer,
"I say, men! What men!"
"All I see are some pansies pretending to be men!"
"Taking orders from a girl! Why don''t you start wearing gowns? That will be more appropriate."
"Hmmp! I always knew there were no real men in Adhania."
"But seeing his truly believing!"
"Cockless eunuchs!"
The man loudly and vulgarly swore before turning his heel and arrogantly stomping off, but not before abruptly stopping near the door and then turned his head back to add onest thing jeer,
"Oh about the prisoner exchange."
"Heh! Why bother?"
"They will end up in our hands you anyway!"
Saying this, the man finally exited the building and hoping on his horse, quickly made his way out of the city, feeling salty that he was not able to aplish his king''s orders.
But nevertheless, he rode quickly, eager to inform his king of the result.
And he was let out of the city without any incident, even after his outburst.
And as the man rode back, he could not help but yback what had happened in his head, and then remembering Cambyses''sst taunt, he could not help but subconsciously look back to take a good look at the city''s walls.
And though he hated to admit it, the structure he saw forced him to recognize they were very impressive indeed.
Strong, thick, and stable, the walls seemed to exude a sense of strength and safety for all those inside it.
''Did Zanzan always have such impressive walls? They might be even more impressive than the walls of Thesalie'' The man could help but gasp a bit in awe, but that feeling onlysted a while.
For he knew the secret weapon they had bought with them, and after seeing its power in demonstrations, the man felt not even the doors of heaven would be able to stand against it.
Chapter 560 Cambysess Struggle (Part-3)
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With the delegate informing Perseus of the rejected peace offerings, he clicked his tongue a bit at the missed opportunity and was a bit annoyed at having to do it the hard way.
But nevertheless ordered his army to soon move, andmence taking the city.
And so on the morning of the 8th of November, the full might of Tibias crashed started to against the walls of Zanzan, and the siege of Zanzan finally began.
On that day, as the enemy approached the city walls, kicking up a storm of dust in the cold dry weather, from atop the ramparts, Cambyses personally gazed down to observe the sea of enemy ready to challenge her.
The young married woman was dressed in her old crimson red armor, her chestnut hair tied up in a ponytail, while a thick, ck woolen overcoat draped over her tobat the biting cold that was starting to slowly creep into this world.
And as she stoically gazed at the enemy, this was the sight that greeted her.
Perseus''s army wasid out in full battle formation, with the center beingposed of rows and rows of phnx infantry, all dressed in their usual crimson red armor and brandishing their iconic huge spears.
Thier both sides were nked by the Tibian cavalry, all dressed in colorful, ornamental armor.
But the thing that drew Cambyses''s and almost everyone else on her side''s attention, the most magnificent spectacle, had to be the jewels of Perseus''s army- the 20 war elephants.
ced in front of the entire army in even spacing, seeming they were about to imminently lead the charge against the walls and it was a terrifying sight.
Perseus had of course intentionally arranged his army as such, to disy it as a show of force.
For that he even purposely ced his trump card, his war elephants, dressed in colorful armor at the very front, an animal that most people had never even heard of, much less seen.
All to try and scare the ignorant wall defenders, making it appear to some that once these animals started charging, perhaps even their stone walls will be unable to withstand their fury.
At least that was what Cambyses felt like when sheid her eyes on those huge, one-story tall beasts for the very first time, as she, along with many of the defenders, gazed in awe at the beast''s trunk, the stubby, strong legs and most eye-catching of all, their pearly white tusks, which were decorated with serrated metal des.
''I wonder how many poor souls lost their lives to them?'' Cambyses, like many others, could not help but dread being skewered by those fearful weapons.
Though if one was to answer truthfully to Cambyses''s inquiry, it would likely be zero.
A man was far more likely to die being trampled under those huge legs, or hit like a baseball with the trunk than die being a tusk run through him.
But nevertheless, just the existence of these tasks yed to make the elephant appear many times more menacing.
And as Cambyses saw the full force of the enemy she would have to stave off, though she was confident in being able to hold, the sight still made her heart beat fast with anxiety.
In any conflict there was always the chance of losing, and the many ''what if'' scenarios her head conjured up seeing this many enemy soldiers made her knees feel weak.
"Mydy, please do not get so close. The enemy has archers." As Cambyses was drowning in her confusion, her adjutant and bodyguard Bartholomew suddenly made this warning, for he saw Cambyses stand near the very edge of the walls to get a better look, and this worried him about her safety.
Cambyses could not be allowed to die no matter what.
And hearing this voice, she finally snapped out of her own head.
''Now is not the time to have defeatist thoughts!'' She lightly bit her tongue, feeling embarrassed at thinking such thoughts.
And then, having ovee the initial shock of the sight, began to steady herself, as in a disy of bravery, even after hearing the concerned voice, still remained where she was, unmoved.
Instead, she only pointed down to a man dressed in luxurious armor and riding a decorative horse from the Tibian army, who was making towards the wall and very confidently said,
"They will not shoot yet. Look! Herees their king¡to say his big speech!"
And like clockwork, the events unfolded just as Cambyses predicted.
Perseus, approached the walls as close as he dared, before taking his luxurious helmet off, the same one that had been paraded by Zanzan soldiers but ultimately retrieved, and shouted towards the wall defenders as loudly as he could,
"Defenders of Zanzan, hear me now!"
"Here stands before you not an enemy who seeks to destroy and enve you, but a king who understands the futility of further resistance."
"Your valor and determination in defending your home have been nothing short of admirable. You have fought bravely and gantly. And Imend you to the highest degree possible for the courage you have shown."
" But I also urge you to consider the consequences of prolonging this conflict."
"The inevitable oue of this siege is clear."
"Your walls may be strong, They may seem sturdy as the earth itself. But I assure you we have weapons blessed by the gods themselves."
"No matter how confident you are in your bulwark, surely you cannot think you can best the gods, can you?"
"Look in front of you." Perseus at this point swung his arms to his back, pointing to his army standing in full battle formation,
"Look at these divine beasts! Look at my forces! They are vast like the ocean. The likes of which you cannot hope to match."
"I know that your food is depleting. That is why you have started rationing."
"I know that there your firewood supply is limited. And with us outside the city, you have no chance of getting more."
"So once these two run out, you will only have the option to either die of hunger or die of cold."
"While your leaders will abandon you! They will run away."
"They have lied to you! You have no hope!" Perseus shouted these two sentences particrly loudly, before continuing,
"Look around you. Look at the ten thousand widows shedding the tears."
"Barely a week has passed since they have lost their loved ones. Just because of the foolish decision of the city''s higher ups."
"How many more lives will need to be lost till you open your eyes? How much devastation will yournds need to endure before understand that you are being fooled by them." Perseus to his credit made it sound like all the deaths were not caused by him, but because Zanzan had chosen to resist.
If Alexander was here, he might have actually bowed in honor of this man''s shamelessness.
But Perseus was very thick-skinned, and so continued his speech with a perfectly straight face, loudly urging,
"I ask you to not be fooled by them any longer."
"People of Zanzan rise up! Grasp your fate with your own hands. Open the gates and let us in. Spare your loved ones"
"For I will extend my hand of peace, offering terms that ensure the welfare of your citizens"
"I understand that surrender might not be an easy decision for many of you. Especially given the bad blood between our two countries."
"But surrender does not mean defeat. It means recognizing when the cost of resistance outweighs the benefits."
"There is honor in knowing when toy down arms for the greater good, for your wives, your children, your people."
"And I offer you a chance to end this senseless suffering, to spare your women, children, and elderly from further hardship."
"For I promise, as the sun sets on this day, it will also mark the beginning of a new chapter for you people. One filled with happiness and prosperity!"
"What say you honorable defenders?"
Perseus''s speech was undoubtedly very powerful, evidence of the statesman''s powerful oratory skill, and to say that it did not have any effect on the nearby defenders would be wrong.
But its effect was very debatable.
One was because Zanzan and Tibias really had too much bad blood.
So it was hard to convince anyone with just mere words. Even if that man was the king.
Two was because Zanzan had a veryrge number of defenders.
Menes and the others had worked hard to recruit and equip so many of them in such a short time.
So their presence worked to give morale support to themselves.
Like how having a friend in a haunted house made both feel safer.
Three was because without the existence of technologies like a microphone, it was hard to convey one''s message across any meaningful distance.
So Perseus''s speech only reached the very near echelons of the wall defenders, an insignificant proportionpared to the whole army.
So even if those who heard the speech wanted to rebel, they would be quickly put down by the much bigger force just behind them.
And four was because Cambyses was standing with them, matching ranks.
The existence of this head of the city guards, who was also the city lord''s wife worked to boost the defenders'' morale very much.
So, instead of a loud cheer followed by shes with the ''loyalists,'' as many defenders rebelled and fought each other, the response that Perseus got was only a muted silence.
Chapter 561 Cambysess Struggle (Part-4)
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The reason why Cambyses hade up to the wall herself was precisely because she had guessed what Perseus might do.
Or more precisely it was Menicus who had guessed so, and then had met with Cambyses one afternoon to suggest,
"Since Tibias has shown interest in peace talks, it is likely they will directly appeal to the people to surrender. We should think of a way to neutralize that."
And Cambyses''s mere presence seemed to have done just that, for she noticed only a little disturbance or confusion among the soldiers.
Then, to boost their spirits even more, she decided to give a short speech of her own, as she then shouted,
"My valiant defenders, hear me now! Today, we face an enemy, our eternal enemy Tibias, one who seeks to crush our spirit and erase our city from history."
"Their king is a twin-forked serpent! Do not listen to him. For all he speaks are lies."
And at this moment, Cambyses shed a piece of paper and waved it around, iming,
"Here I hold a peace treaty signed between Tibias and us just three months ago. But the brutes of Tibias decided to break it and attack us anyway."
"They are godless heathens who have no respect for the heavens themselves."
Being a theocracy, the people of Zanzan were much more easily influenced when gods were involved, and thus Cambyses painted the enemy in a negative light using this.
As she then reminded them,
"Furthermore, remember this year''s harvest. How great it was."
"The enemy lies when he says he was no grain. For we certainly have plenty of grain."
"Do not be swayed by them."
"For they speak only the deviled tongue."
Cambyses loudly appealed to them as such, before quickly shing another small note.
"Here I have a message from the Pasha himself. I was sent to me this very morning."
"In here he says that he knows about our predicament and is rushing here with an army as we speak."
"He will be here as soon as possible." Cambyses exaggeratedly imed, before ending her speech with this promise,
"But until that happens, until my husband returns and destroys Tibias, know that I will stand beside you no matter what."
"Today, we may stand at the precipice of a great battle, but look around you!"
"See the many brothers ready to fight with you."
"Know that we far outnumber the enemy."
"Remember the glory of our walls that have withstood for a thousand years, built by our ancestors who faced trials just as daunting as this."
"We stand here on the shoulders of those who came before us, and we will carry their courage and honor into this battle."
"So rest assured, together, with the blessing of the gods and our ancestors, we shall emerge victorious."
"For I know that we are not just defenders of stone and mortar; we are defenders of our people, ournd, and everything we hold dear. " Cambyses said the speech as if she and her forefathers had lived in Zanzan for generations, and finished with this,
"So glorious soldiers, do not be afraid!"
"Raise your swords, your shields, and your bows!"
"Show the enemy the strength of our resolve and the fire that burns within us and have your name forever etched into the annals of history!"
"Ramuh blesses us all!"
As soon as Cambyses finished saying this, inplete contrast to Perseus''s speech, across the entire wall, sounded loud hurrahs, as the men burned with fighting zeal.
Being reminded of their ancestor, their hated enemy and the gods all worked to pump the men up.
And hearing these jubnt roars, Cambyses could not help butment this in relief, "Thank goodness, I had Azura and Azura to write this speech. Because could have nevere up with something as good as this."
Yes, that very ornate and rousing speech was actually constructed by the twins.
Which was not something really surprising if one thought about it.
Because for someone like Cambyses, who had just started to learn Azhak and spoke it with a heavy ent, being able to write thispelling speech was way out of her league.
And as for writing it in Thesian and then tranting it, well a tranted speech could never have the same impact as one written in the originalnguage.
Hence Cambyses asked the twins for help.
And the sagacity of this move really showed if one looked closely at the quality of the speech that was written.
The speech hit all the right notes at the correct paces, letting the defenders feel the high of each emotion individually without overwhelming them, for all of it to build up to a crescendo at the end.
This was a very particr skill the twins had developed after having been at the temple from a very young age, where they learned to read and write and regrly make and give their own sermons.
This had helped them to learn to read the emotions of the masses quite well, especially with regard to the gods, with perhaps the best evidence of that in this particr speech being thest line, where they had intentionally skipped the name of Goddess Gaia.
Because the people of Zanzan still did not like her.
Sure, they tolerated her in times of peace, but in this time of strife, the twins were not so sure.
And when they let Cambyses know this, she decided to defer to their judgment.
As the defenders of Zanzan, cheered and steeled their spirits, Cambyses could not help but smile as she felt that stayingte to memorize that speech had been worth it.
While, as she retreated from the ramparts, some of the council members who were nearby surrounded her, looking very eager and pleased, as they asked with a grin,
"Mydy, is it true? Did Lord Alexander repsond? What did he say?"
They had all been worried at the dealy with Alexander''s response, as it should not have taken him more than a day to write back.
"Mmmn, have a look," Cambyses only hummed and nodded at the inquiry, as she handed over the small note, and it was quickly passed around for all eager eyes to read.
And once they all finished examining it, Menicus was the first to let out a sigh of relief, saying, "This is good. I was worried that my lord hadnded in some difficulties. But seems everything is fine over there."
The old man seemed to be more worried about Alexander''s well-being than the current siege.
And it was because Menicus was pretty confident in holding the city even without any reinforcements.
And was only worried that Alexander might havended himself in some kind of hot water.
Because if that was the case, they would be powerless to do anything from all the way over here.
And all the others nodded to this.
Cambyses nodded particrly hard, as she had been especially worried the past few days.
''He should not take this long. What''s taking this long,'' She could be sometimes heard mumbling out loud, something which really worried Mean and Opehenia.
And they tried their level best tofort her.
Even the usually distant Gelene tried to offer some words offort.
But given the intense pressure Cambyses was in, having to organize so many things, simple words were not efficacious.
Because Cambyses did not only need Alexander''sfort.
She needed more guidance as well, about Menes, about defending the city, about epting deals from them.
Hence, for the past week, it had actually be customary for her to visit the aviary herself every day, just to confirm if a message from her husband had arrived.
This was of coursepletely unnecessary given the caretaker there would have immediately informed Cambyses if there was.
But still, Cambyses insisted, visiting the bird coups as much as three times a day, morning, afternoon, and night.
And this even caused the man in charge in there, an old man named Pollop to say, "Mydy, such dys are nothing unusual. Especially during winter."
"Master is probably caught up in some bad weather."
The man was experienced enough to know what might be going on instantly.
And though Cambyses''s head understood, her heart did not.
So imagine her relief when she got the message just around dusk yesterday, where instructions alleviating all her doubts were written.
Thus she wholeheartedly agreed with Melodias when he said this, "It is good my lord ising back. His presence will help to boost the troop''s morale."
"Seems we only need to hold for only a while."
As Alexander''s side cheered both with fighting zeal and the promise of reinforcement, Perseus only pursed his lips as he silently returned to his army, whereupon he actually met Leosydas sitting in a carriage around the front line.
And meeting his meeting who appeared much rosier, he half sneered,
"Well have a waste of time. Why did you bother writing it? And why did you bother having me memorize itte into the night?"
Yes, Perseus''s speech was also written by someone else.
"Haha," Leosydas only chuckled, and declining to answer, he asked with a smirk, "So the hard way it is then?"
"Yes!" Perseus heavily nodded, his eyes suddenly giving off a chilly light, as he then turned to order a nearby herald, "Tell the men to prepare the new weapons. We will tear this wall down before dusk!"
Thus soon the bloody siege began and the battle for the city was ced on the bnce.
Chapter 562 Perseuss Struggles (Part-1)
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In some ways, Perseus was d the enemy chose to fight.
Because that meant he would get to try his new toys.
"Let''s show them the might of our new weapons- The catapults. I want to use it to grind their fighting spirit into dust¡. under the heel of my stone volleys," Perseus loudly proimed, wanting to defeat the soldiers at their highest morale and thus deal the greatest blow.
Thus, with the king''smand given, the curious wall defenders patiently waited, as they observed the enemy notunch a mass charging assault, or start lobbying arrow volleys as one would expect, but only move some strange wooden contraption on wheels up close to the walls, stopping around 100 meters from the walls.
Once there, a few soldiers then moved to then load arge rock onto a bucket that was attached to the arm, before another soldier at the back quickly pulled a level, making the arms shoot forward and upward.
*Shoo* And an instantter, the twenty-kilogram stone inside the wooden bucket-like structure almost soundlessly flew through the air, before
*Thud*, it impacted the stone walls with a dull, low thud, before rolling harmlessly down and cracking a bit in the process.
While atop the walls, this demonstration made all the defenders have this exact thought. ''What was that! Did they really throw that big a rock from so far away? How!''
The initial shock of seeing the new weapon made many slightly panic.
With the sound of the impact and the subsequent slight chaos among the soldiers beingrge enough to even attract the attention of the council members still present nearby, many of whom rushed up to the ramparts to have a look at what was all thatmotion about for themselves.
And as theyid their eyes on the very distinct shape of a catapult, squinting their eyes they could help but mutter, "What is that!"
*Shoo*, *Shoo* *Shoo*
While in the meantime, the other catapults started tounch their own projectiles, some failing to make the distance, but most hitting the wall, with one even going over the walls to narrowly miss a defender.
Perseus had arranged all the 30 catapults that the Kaiser family had given him along the right part of the wall, intent on focusing fire and bringing down that section of the wall.
And as the king deployed his secret weapon, seeing these never-before-seen devices, there was no doubt in anyone''s mind this was the thing that gave Tibias the courage to attack such as well fortified city head-on.
''So this is the new weapon the king was talking about. To think there could be a weapon to lob up huge stones at such distances!''
Even many of the veteran soldiers were impressed seeing the weapon''s range and power, to say nothing of the green ones.
And so for the first two volleys, the wall defenders just stood there, not knowing what to do
Until¡.
"What are you gawking at? They are shooting at you! Shoot back!" The initial shock and awe finally wore off, especially among the veteran soldiers who were present there, with Menes barking this particr shout.
The armored giant was personally present on the rampart at the time, as he, along with many of his colleagues had gotten up to see the new weapon himself.
And then seeing the soldiers just stand there like wooden ducks even after an attack, he quickly snatched a crossbow from a nearby recent recruit who had be frozen with fear, and then as if to show how it was done, fired the first shot after taking aim.
And though it ultimately missed, the shot did its intended job, which was galvanizing the troops to join back in the fighting, as they felt their slight panic instantly dissipate upon seeing their general take personal charge.
Thus soon return fire began to rain out from the walls, and given the number of defenders there were, and how close together Perseus had put his catapults, the crossbowmen managed to concentrate their fire heavily on the enemy operators manning the weapons and managed to score quite a few kills even on their first volley.
A result which naturally caused a great deal of celebration to break out among the Zanzan ranks.
While Perseus suddenly felt his heart skip a beat faster in anxiety as he saw as many as ten of his men die just like that.
Which might not sound like a lot, but given that only around 200 of them used the catapult, losing such arge proportion on just the first volley was very brutal.
Never mind that these men were special troops specifically trained to operate and use these weapons, as not any Tom, Dick, or Harry could properly load, aim, fire, and most importantly maintain the weapon.
Especially not when the average peasant was not so bright.
''When did the enemy have so many skilled archers?'' Thus, seeing the dead bodies, Perseus swore to himself in surprise, even wondering if they had so many trained deadeyes, why they did not use more of them in the previous battle.
For the king was of the opinion that perhaps if Menes had used more crossbowmen and used them more cleverly, the battle could have swung the other way even with the presence of the elephants.
But that was a mystery that could be solved another time.
Because right now, Perseus''s main concern was to get his men out of the arrow range.
"Pull back. Move back a hundred meters (100 m)!" He thus loudly shouted, even frantically waving his arm around to signal the retreat as he tried to save as many lives of his men as he could before the next volley of fire came.
And fortunately for him, given the crossbow''s low rate of fire, and Perseus''s own rapid order, the rest of the crew managed to retreat with rtively few casualties and re-set up their siege machines at around 200 meters distance.
Now, the reason why Perseus had not set this up right from the start was because this new weapon had a range of just about 200 m, meaning it was able to only barely cover that much.
And after testing with it, Perseus actually found that its sess rate of actually hitting a target at these extreme ranges was quite dismal, as many times, the projectiles would simply be not able to cover this distance.
And the uracy only started to improve at around the 150-meter mark and became quite good at 100 meters.
Hence, given that Perseus did not expect the enemy to have too many skilled archers, as he had only met around 1,000 of them on the battlefield, he had decided to boldly set his catapult at its most optimal range.
A decision that proved to be quite bloody for him.
So he changed tactics to the following.
"Shoot from here. And use smaller stones if you cannot reach the walls using the twenty kilograms." He said to his catapults.
And then turning around, he ordered, "Send the archers and slingers forward. Tell them to harass the defenders. Keep them from attacking our siege machines!"
So after a while, the siege changed to this, with the catapults throwing irregr and sometimes even weak volleys at the walls, while the Tibian archers tried to draw the crossbowmen''s fire atop the wall.
But that stalemate did notst long.
Because the losses seemed to heavily favor the defenders.
Tibias seemed to have far more casualties than Zanzan.
Which was already expected as the attackers.
But even still the losses were far more than expected.
And this happened not only because the thousands of defenders on just that section of the wall far outnumbered the around 2,000 missile troops (there were around 1,000 javelin men who were kept in reserve) sent to thwart them.
But also because the Zanzan defenders were on top of a wall, meaning the increased elevation gave their arrows a greater range, so they were able to easily reach even the catapults at the back.
Hence though those precious men at the back were safer, they were certainly not safe.
And it was as such that the first day of the siege ended, havingsted from morning to dusk, though after the first few hours, the rest of the fighting was pretty light, with only sporadic exchange of arrow fire and the asional one or two catapult fires.
And as such, it also ended with rtively few overall casualties on either side, but with Zanzan definitelying up top.
A result that worked to very much please the higher-ups of Zanzan who felt very confident in their victory even against the new weapons, while the same oue managed to very much frustrate Perseus.
"Dammit! When did this cursed city have this many good archers!" The king could not control himself from mming his fist on the table in his room as he thought back on the day.
This was a day that was supposed to have been a glorious one for him.
He had expected if not take Zanzan, at least have a significant dent on it.
But he only ended up feeling like he had been drenched in rain.
And so after thinking a while, and pointing the reason to all the skilled archers, he summoned his adjutant and ordered,
"Go and interrogate the prisoners about all those new archers."
"Where did they get it from? How much they are being paid? Why they are figting for Zanzan?"
"I want to know everything."
Chapter 563 Perseuss Struggles (Part-2)
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Perseus''s assistant received the order immediately with a salute and proceeded to quickly carry it out.
The result of which he presented to his king a few dayster.
But s!
For though Perseus had hoped for some groundbreaking answer, one which he hoped to use to solve his predicament, the news he got was far more pessimistic and worrying than he could have ever guessed.
"My lord, at first when we questioned the captured men with regards to the new archers, none of the men were able to give us any answers."
"Even after we roughed them up, and asked quite a few of them, they still gave the same reply, that they had no idea of any new archer regiment being hired."
"And after a while, he began to believe them. Because it was clearly impossible for so many men to be lying."
"And I was about to report that to you," Here the adjutant, who was giving the summary of the report in front of Perseus''s war council paused a bit to take a breath, before continuing,
"But it seems the gods are with us."
"For one of the soldiers after taking quite a bit of beating suddenly understood what were asking about and atst spoke the truth.
"He said that their lord had invented a new kind of bow called the crossbow that allows even peasants to shoot like expert marksmen. And that is how the enemy is able to have so many archers on the walls."
The adjutant sounded pretty pleased that he was able to extract this information.
While the same information worked to make Perseus quite distressed.
"What! Are you telling me there is a way to turn peasants into expert archers? Were we being shot that for the past few days by simple peasants? I can''t believe it!" This was not shouted out by Perseus, but by a high-ranking noble next to him, one of the few lucky ones to survive Laukash''s charge.
And very evidently, contrary to the adjutant''s cheerful demeanor at having aplished his task, the portly man''s mood was quite sour.
With the mood being shared by Perseus too, who nodded and reasoned, "Hmmm, it is indeed hard to believe such a weapon exists. I thought that the enemy was putting its best troops at the front to try and hold the line."
"And my wish was to grind them down first, break their will to fight and and then break through them after in one way."
"But if what the prisoner said was true¡if Zanzan can turn all its peasants into expert marksmen¡.well." Perseus''s thoughts trailed off as he did not want to think about that inevitable consequence.
Then he suddenly turned to his assistant, and with narrowed eyes pointedly asked, "It is true, right? What the prisoner said¡.you did confirm it? He did not lie¡right!"
Perseus''sst word was more an order than a question.
As Perseus finished his speech, the adjutant felt all the eyes in the room fall on him and facing such piercing gaze from such high-level men, the poor man suddenly began to question the validity of his own report.
Because if these powerful men one day all together proimed the sky was purple, the adjutant would have probably joined them.
And so, given the top leaders seemed to not like the answer, the man started to sweat bullets.
He knew many, many people were offed for delivering far less unsavory news, which were sometimes true, sometimes false.
He did not want to be like one of them.
But fortunately, the adjutant did not be the assistant to the nation''s most powerful man without any wits or merits.
Hence facing this situation, instead of bullheadedly trying to insist his report was the truth and make many of the men displeased, he quickly said this, "My lords, in my excitement, I made the report hastily after asking only one soldier. Let me go out and ask a few other prisoners. Then we will surely know."
And this request he was granted by Perseus himself with a quick nod, and in this way the man managed to extricate himself from the situation.
And then, after observing the situation around Perseus and his war council for the next few days, and after being relieved that the highmand really wanted the truth and not just a sugar-coated lie, he presented his second report, which was far more detailed.
"Your Grace, my lords, over the past few days I have talked to a lot of captured soldiers about this ''crossbow''. And what the first prisoner said is indeed true. It has been confirmed by many others." The man said confidently, before unscrolling a piece of papyrus sheet and pointing to a drawing on it,
"Here, one of them even drew a picture of how it looks. Though none of them knew during it actually worked."
It seemed the trigger mechanism of the weapon was still a mystery to many of the soldiers.
The adjutant''s report left no doubt in the mind of the Tibian highmand that the crossbow was indeed a real thing, and the threat it posed was very great.
In fact some seemed to think it was unsurmountable.
Because in the days preceding the two reports, the siege had not stopped, and up until that point the results were not looking very optimistic for Tibias.
For the hail of arrow fire from the enemy worked to make almost any attack on the wall impossible.
Even those famed catapults that the Kaiser family had promised to be able to ''break the very gates of heaven'' were proving less than effective.
With the single biggest reason being the presence of the crossbowmen and their range.
Forcing Perseus to not only operate his machines at the edge of their range, limiting their effectiveness but also forcing him to disperse them all along the huge one-kilometer-long frontline in fear of concentrated arrow volleys, thus limiting their lethality, as instead of focusing fire, the weapons now dispersed their damage all along the wall.
But Perseus seemed to ultimately have no option to effectively deal with the crossbows avable on his hands.
Hence the siege continued just like that for the next three weeks, with the first week seeing the highest peak of the fighting, as every day at the crack of dawn Perseus would send wave after wave of his archers to engage the walled defenders, while his catapults tried to damage the walls as best as they could.
Casualties on both sides in those seven days were significant, most dying from arrow fire, with a few unlucky ones even being imed by once in a blue-moon lucky catapult shot.
But that period of high zeal and frenzy onlysted a little while, as war fatigue began to quickly settle in.
While Perseus could see this was in no way going anywhere.
Hence he decreased the intensity of the fight over the next two weeks until near the end it was perhaps only one of two hundred menunching what could be said as being essentially harassing attacks against the enemy, just to keep them on their toes and deny them rest orfort.
On those days, the fighting wouldst perhaps for about half an hour to at most one, where there would maybe be some sporadic exchanges of only a few arrow fires and the asional one or two catapult shots that seemed more ceremonial than functional as if the operators were actually testing if the catapults still worked rather than trying to destroy the wall.
A half-hearted effort that the defenders were able to ward off even in their sleep.
And speaking of sleep, the siege devolved into such a boring affair that the wall defenders found themselves yawning and dozing off most of the time, as they saw that the attackers seemed content to just sit on their doorsteps, blockading their city and doing nothing else.
But honestly, most sieges were like that.
A whole lot of waiting and not a lot of fighting.
While simply hoping the enemy gave up before you did.
Especially if you did not have the proper siege machines.
That was why sieges were usually universally detested by any attacking sides, as starving an entire city was actually quite hard.
And to top it all off, the weather itself did not work to make the situation any better.
Because as December arrived, the Icy Queen of Winter seemed to have announced herself in her full fury this year, as the skies became eternally downcast, and the weather began to drastically turn for the worse, with frequent blizzards and constant hails, turning the entire ce into one cold hellscape.
Neither side wanted to leave the fireside, much less fight in this condition.
And in this situation, the city dwellers certainly had it better in this situation, as most had solid structures to take refuge inside to fight against this biting chill.
Even the defenders up on the walls had portable stoves set up all along the perimeter, burning coal to keep themselves warm and awake in their watch.
Not to mention the defenders were rotated every night to keep them fresh.
While the attacking side fared much worse, being forced to hole themselves inside their tents, which though thick and strong, could never be an equal substitute for stone and wood.
Hence most of the Tibian soldiers just sat inside their tent or around arge campfire wrapping themselves in as many nkets as they could.
And did nothing else.
It was a very boring siege indeed.
Chapter 564 Perseuss Struggles (Part-3)
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As the days went on, the oue of the siege seemed to be clearer and clear to Perseus.
And when a particrly hard blizzard hit them around the first week of December, the same one that made Alxx stop his journey, the attacks stoppedpletely.
The weather was too serious and visibility too poor to conduct any type of offensives.
And so Perseus simply sat in his tent with his chin on his palm, thinking and ruminating, all wrapped up in thick clothing and even a fur nket, while a raging fire burned inside the room to make it a bit more bearable to live in.
But even then it was quite cold.
Though the chilly temperature did nothing to alleviate the hot temper of the man as he was predictably in a bad good.
His ''divine weapons'' were proving to be less than effective, he had a bunch of dead bodies with nothing to show for it, while his soldiers mostly sat around in their tents, doing nothing.
Well, nothing useful anyway, as they ate, slept, performed bodily functions, and drank to pass the time, with some even breaking military disciple and doing things like ying dice and other types of gambling.
Perseus was of course quite a bit aware of what was going on in his camp, and seeing around 35,000 men sit and go nothing, while his supplies and food rations depleted at an rming rate as it was winter and everyone was hungrier than usual, for the body burnt far more calories than usual to try and stay warm, he was internally quite incensed
But ultimately chose to turn a blind eye anyway.
He understood the soldiers were doing this mainly because they were bored and had nothing to do to spend the time and since he also had no way of motivating them to do anything either way, this infraction was allowed to pass.
''Well at least they are visiting the brothels'' Perseus half-joked, actually somewhat happy that there was no nearbyrge settlement from where the soldiers would be able to get this illicit pleasure.
And so as they waited for the storm to pass, for the time being, Perseus retreated to his tent as he tried to think of a new strategy to tackle this problem.
And to help him to do that, he asked for the advice of his most trusted man- Leosydas, inviting him into his tent.
"So how are your wounds?" The king first and foremost asked the worry in his clear.
"Stings like hell in the cold!" And Leosydas sourly spat back.
This weather really made him understand just how bad it was to have an open wound in the cold.
It constantly ached, and on particrly cold nights, which was every single night, the pain would get so bad that he would have to have hot bags of water ced on his wound just to reduce it a little bit, just enough so that he could at least get some sleep.
It was quite the torture.
And even now, even as he sat in front of a warm hearth, the wound still gave off a throbbing pain.
Hearing his friend''s bitter tone and seeing him be in significant pain, Perseus did not offer any words offort.
He knew his friend was too proud to take it anyway.
Instead, producing a teasing smirk he suddenly asked him in a joking tone, "By the way, did you know we captured the man who tried to kill you."
"His name is apparently Layksah. Is there anything you would like to do to him?"
Perseus sent Leosydas a very knowing look, his innuendo being clear.
And given the amount of pain that the enemy rider had caused him, it would not be strange for Leosydas to want some revenge.
Even if he did not outright kill Laykash, just denying one of his meals of the day, or making his amodation a bit more unforgettable would work wonders in making the man''s life quite difficult in this weather.
But Leosydas, hearing this, only turned to look at Perseus''s smirk, and put on a very serious and stoic face, to only loudly say, "Stop joking! What would I want to do with him? Why would I want to do anything to him?"
"We are at war. And I tried to kill him as much as he wanted to kill me."
Leosydas genuinely felt offended at Perseus''s suggestion, feeling it would soil all his honor and dignity if he were to extract some sort of petty vengeance on the enemy soldier just for hurting him.
Because ording to him and most military people of the time, whatever wounds and injuries one suffered during a war were a sort of mark of pride and manliness.
And as for the ones inflicting that damage, well they were just soldiers obeying orders, or people defending theirnds.
There was no sin in that.
So in a way, it was a ''what happened on a battlefield, stayed on a battlefield'' kind of like thing.
Strange for sure, but these were strange times indeed.
"Hahaha," And Perseus of course knew this mindset, which was why he had asked the question with a teasing smile, his intention being only to lighten the mood.
As he then additionally informed his friend,
"The man says he was the leader of the enemy''s right wing."
"*Whistle* quite a high officer¡a big fish. We should be able to get quite the ransom for him."
The eagerness in the king''s voice was palpable.
And Leosydas chimed in with his thoughts as well, saying,
"Mmm, that is indeed a good idea. The siege is proving difficult, and the opposite side has already expressed interest in the prisoner exchange. So we should try and keep as many of them alive as possible."
The math here was simple, more alive prisoners meant more money.
And Leosydas further urged Perseus,
"Make sure to keep them in good tents given the weather. And that they are properly fed and clothed. Dying because of a cold or fever would be quite a loss for us."
If someone from the outside were to hear Leosydas speak now they would think he was the king, but this was the type of bond Perseus and he shared, and thus the former diligently nodded to thetter''s suggestion even though their ranks were in reality the opposite, while Leosydas finished by saying,
"Also that officer named Laykash. He told that he had broken his broken and it hurt quite bad in the cold. Arrange for a ve to take care of that."
The man seemed to be quite concerned about his big prize losing its value.
And hearing his news, Perseus was naturally surprised and could help but exim, "So you have already talked to the prisoner! That exins it!" as he then felt his previous offer had been quite moot.
And after this, Perseus nodding in tune with his friendmented,
"I already have done much of what you asked. And I will have that Laykash be well taken care of, rest assured." before saying with a slight sigh, "Haaah. hopefully, we can get back part of our campaign cost from this."
Perseus''sment was over the fact that since they even had to discuss this, even if only privately, it still went to show at least tacitly just how little confident they were in being able to actually win the siege.
"*Sigh*, it seems we have underestimated the difficulty in taking Zanzan. Their walls are really something," Perseus hence added a second sigh quickly after his first, bitterly saying,
"It feels like punching a mountain. Not even Thesalie''s walls might be as sturdy as this."
Perseus subconsciously crunched up his eyebrows as he said this, trying to think whether that was really true or if was just him imagining things as he was looking at something some distance away.
But Perseus swear the sound the stones made when they hit the Zanzan walls was distinctly different from when they were tested against other walls.
They were much lower and muted, with a duller thud, as if it was hitting a much denser stuff with much less air or emptiness inside.
Perseus could not quite put his finger on it, but he certainly felt like Zanzan''s walls were much more solid.
And he was absolutely right.
Zanzan''s walls were indeed different from the others of the time.
And the fact that the man standing quite a far away was able to determine this went to show how sharp the sense and intuition of this king were.
Now to understand the difference between Zanzan''s walls and the rest, one had to know how the other walls were made.
And these primitive walls were made using a rubble core, using a technique, very unimaginatively called ''rubble masonry''.
The way this type of construction worked was afterying the foundation, first, a primary structure would be made of stones and other masonries.
They would be stacked atop of each other in courses oryers, in quite a haphazard way, with them barely able to stay together without falling over on their own.
Next over this unstable structure, a primitive mortar, made of mainly ked lime and asr (finely ground stone of pebbles) would be poured over, intended to act as a binder.
And slowly over time, once fully filled and coated, this slurry liquid would slowly solidify and harden, and atst after a while hold all the rocks together within its matrix, making the rubble of stone now solid and strong.
Chapter 565 Perseuss Struggles (Part-4)
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The naming reason behind the rubble core method was quite evident once one knew about the technique.
But forming the rubble core did not mean the end of the wall''s construction.
Far from, that might be actually the easy part.
As it could be done rtively easily given it was not done in winter, or more specifically during winters where the temperature dropped to zero, as the water in the ked lime and slurry would freeze, halting the chemical reaction that would solidify the mixture and destroy the rubble core as the water would expand into ice.
But anyway, that small inconvenience aside, with the rubble core formed, then a veneer or shell needed to be formed around it, both to protect it, but also to give it some much-needed additional strength.
Because given the weak mortar used, and the core''s asymmetric construction structure, it was actually unable to properly redistribute the forces acting against it, meaning it was prone to breaking if hit in its weaker points.
So this outer shell would be made very specifically, by skilled artisans who quarried, cut, and shaped the stone into appropriate shapes, and then fit them together like jig-jaw puzzles, all to give this rtively thinter a much greater strength as it was able to spread the energy of the impact all throughout the structure.
And it was this strong but thin outer structure,bined with the thicker but weaker main structure that together worked to give a wall its toughness and strength.
As for the reason why the entire wall was not made as such, well that would take too long, and be far too expensive to be used in any meaningful quantity.
Hence thepromise.
And this was how almost everyrge defensive wall was made.
Except one.
Alexander''s one.
Well to be fair, half of Alexander''s wall, because he had not torn down the wall Pasha Muazz''s ancestor had built.
Instead, he had added to it, by using bricks and concrete made from Pornd cement, to add a second, much stronger frontyer.
That wall was made like any modern would be, with bricks, concrete, and using wooden logs as substitutes for iron rods.
And though this secondyer that much thinner than the firstyer, thebination and techniques of much modern knowledge were not something an ancient catapult could ovee.
At least not in a short time with such low numbers.
Hence there it was of little surprise that Perseus had run against a brick wall.
In fact, given Perseus only had 30 of them, it could have even been argued that even without the rest of the walls, just with the secondyer, Zanzan might have stood and stood well.
As Perseusined about the walls, like his king, Leosydas too felt the walls were too hard, as even with the low-intensity fire from a rtively small number of catapults, he was sure they should have done more damage.
Surely at least some bits of the outer structure should have been chipped off.
But they got nothing.
And this did make him worried.
But instead of guessing it was because of some super futuristic building material like a prescient prophet, Leosydas simply chalked it up as the Kaiser exaggerating about their weapon''s capability and the catapults being too less effective at such distances.
"The wall is a problem. What about the other side?" Leosydas wanted to probe for weakness around the southern part of the city, the part facing the sea.
But Perseus shook his head to deny that dream, saying, "Our spies say that too is well guarded. "Apparently they had a recent war where their ports were blockaded, and so the walls had been thickened and new, thicker gates installed."
"Attacking that will be no use. And anyway, if he did that, we would not be able to ce our catapult there."
"Not to mention we do not have any ships with us, and the weather is terrible."
"I will lose half my soldiers to the sea gods even beforending on the harbor."
So a nking maneuver with the intent of attacking a weaker section and oveing the defense with surprise and speed was out of the question.
As for the reason why Tibias did not try a naval blockade, one was because they thought these catapults would be enough to win even a front assault, two was because they did not really have the number of ships or the manpower to man those ships, andstly, three. because of how rough the seas around here became during winter.
Thus Leosydas changed his tactic to this,
"Then should we do adder rush? Throw everything we have at one go and hope to catch the enemy unaware." Leosydas sounded very optimistic as he said, furthermore pointing to Perseus this fact,
"Remember the enemy has no ditches around his city. So it might actually work. Especially if we do it at night."
In times of sieges, it was not unusual to dig a ditch around a city, in fact it was prettymon.
The reason was to deny the enemy being able to just waltz his siege towers right next to the walls unimpeded.
If there was a ditch there the invaders would first need to fill it up before they could approach the wall, all while the wall defenders would be able to rain arrows, stone, and other hot materials like tar, boiling water, sand, oil, etc, onto those attempting to do so.
But the reason Zanzan had not done so was because the siege was too sudden and Perseus was too close to the city to try and attempt such a huge endeavor.
And this was especially the case given the cold, wintery soil, which made it feel like digging through concrete when trying to do so, meaning the speed would have been too slow anyway.
But even without the presence of a ditch, Perseus only shook his head in denial.
Because he felt his friend sounded a bit too optimistic.
Night battles were certainly not as easy as Leosydas was making up to be.
They were generally quite hard.
And it would be tens of times harder if it was against a city that was as well defended as Zanzan.
So he struck the idea down saying, "The risks are too big. And the enemy is quite vignt. I have seen they have even installedrge fire pits atop the walls to make it easier for their soldiers to stay warm and still be on lookouts."
"I have already lost too many men in thest battle. A failed wall assault would cripple me." Perseus was understandably unwilling to throw everything to a roll of the die, especially when that roll was so heavily stacked against him.
Not to mention if he did not seed, not only the campaign woulde to an end, but losing so many men might even shake his throne back home.
Also, it would not only be the men directly killed in the fight who would end up as casualties.
Because given the weather, the risk of frostbites was a very real possibility, and couple them in wounds and cuts, the bodies would start to very quickly rack up quite nicely.
The Germans understood this reality with every single bone of their body even they attacked the Soviet Union, where at some points, the hospitals had more people admitted for frostbite than gun wounds.
And though Perseus did not have that particr historical lesson to draw from, he did know of other incidents where armies were destroyed by it.
Hence the caution.
And Leosydas of course understood this, as he nodded and said, "You''re right. Ladder rushes rarely work, and most of the time it only works to increase the casualties on the side attempting it," before letting a sigh of resignation and shaking his head.
While Perseus took that idea and decided to bash it a bit more,
"Mmn, you are right. Plies, don''t forget the amount of archers they have up there. Half our men will turn into scarecrows before they even reach the foot of the wall."
Perseus here was referring to how a man who had been shot too many times would have too many wooden arrow shafts pointing out of him and making him seem like that.
As he then added, "And even if they do manage to scale the walls, the men would still need to then fight to clear it."
"And given the number of defenders the enemy seems to have, they will be able to quickly reinforce any breakthroughs and throw us off the wall in no time."
"Nodder rush will work to win us the war," Perseus seemed to vehemently toss that tactic into the bin.
"You''re right, you''re right¡.it was foolish of me to suggest it." And Leosydas frankly admitted this mistake, though he was just spitballing here.
But then frustratingly added, "But what else can we do?"
The unsolvable problem of the crossbow seemed maddening to him.
"Could we try to win the siege? Starve them out?" The man asked a bit weakly.
But Perseus dashed it with a shake of his head, "We do not have the ability to enforce a full blockage. So with the ports open, Zanzan''s allies will surely be able to keep it supplied and fed."
"Don''t forget their city lord is not in the city. So he might very well being from the capital with help." Perseus did not know it yet but he had made quite the precinct prediction.
But he still could not precinct his problems away.
Chapter 566 Life Inside A Siege (Part-1)
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The situation inside Zanzan for its part had be rtively calm.
At least much calmer than during the start, when many residents genuinely feared the city might be lost.
There were even some very hushed whispers of it being ''all the Thesians'' faults'', as some of the popce pointed the me squarely at Alexander and his origin as the reason for their defeat, implying they were ipetent due to their ce of birth.
But to be honest such opinions were very, very rare, and only resided in the most extreme of extremists, their numbers so low it hardly managed to stir the waves as of yet.
And though there was the possibility of their voices being amplified if the situation developed in certain directions, but after Perseus''s boisterous first-week offensive, which saw both sides trade quite a bit of casualties, the intensity began to die down.
The siege attacks became light, and after the men got over their surprise of the catapults, they found they were not really that big a deal to deal with.
So without that fear, such rhetoric failed to stir much resistance in most of the city''s popce.
Instead, with Perseus''s attack being so easily staved off, especially after his so-grand speech that hyped up his so-called divine weapons, most of themanders began to feel quite optimistic about their ability to hold the walls.
But though the external problems did not seem to affect Zanzan that much, all was not sunshine and rainbows for Cambyses inside the city.
For one there was the usual stress of running the city during an active siege.
And though she left the day-to-day nitty-gritty of managing the soldiers to the military leaders, she still wanted to at least hear how everything was going, and then make suggestions based on that.
For instance, in one of the reports Menes stoically said, "Yesterday we executed three men for falling asleep during the night watch. And sentenced another five to fifty cane strikes for dozing off in their stations."
This strict instruction was written by Alexander personally, as he felt there was nothing as dangerous as a watchman falling asleep, thus giving the enemy an opportunity to waltz right into one''s camp unimpeded.
And Menes seemed to agree, which was why he decided to follow the order to the tee.
While Melodias, who usually was a bit more lenient with his troops a bit disapproving slightly shook his head and added, "Poords. They simply dozed in the cold just as Menes was making his rounds. Bad luck."
He felt that in this bitter cold, it was very easy to want to shut one''s eyes and nod off a bit, especially given the enemy was very unlikely to attack at night and so wished Menes could have been a bit morement given the circumstances.
While Cambyses hearing this said, "Lord Menes did the right thing in following my husband''s orders. Those falling asleep during the watch indeed deserve to be put to death no questions asked," before turning to look at Melodias,
"But I also believe Lord Melodias raised an interesting point."
"It is indeed very cold. And many soldiers might feel it is too hard to stay focused for so long staring nkly into the ck night."
"After all these are new recruits and not trained soldiers." Cambyses added understandingly, before cautioning Menes, "And frequently executing them will not be good for morale."
So she then suggested, "So I propose trying to make life up there a bit more bearable for the men."
"Since Lord Melodias has bought up the issue about the cold, perhaps we can install some kind of portable stoves to keep them warm,"
"We have a lot of iron just lying around. Why not use them to make the stoves?"
"And we have a lot of coal. Let''s use that as the firewood."
This idea came to her when she remembered seeing Mean bringing a small earthen stove to her room to make it warmer.
"Yes! Yes! That is a great idea. Giving the soldiers something to stay warm around will definitely improve morale and prevent them from dozing off," Melodias naturally was ecstatic at having anything that could prevent further executions, adding with arge grin,
"Hahaha, mydy truly cares for the soldiers. They will surely be overjoyed to know you think so much of them."
While Menes too quickly joined Melodias in buttering up Cambyses a bit, a side reason being he still felt guilty about losing and hoped Cambyses would not push Alexander too hard to punish him, as he said, "Yes, I agree to."
"Furthermore, mydy''s idea of making it out of iron is truly ingenious. We will simply need to cast the thing, so making it will be much faster than pottery. I can have the stoves distributed around the walls in a week!"
After bing a general Menes had spent some time around cksmiths designing new types of weapons or simply overseeing the production of them, and so the man had gained some rudimentary knowledge about metalworking.
Hence the man was able to make thatment.
Thus with that Cambyses''s portable stoves were soon created, which was just a hollow iron cylinder with many small holes in its walls, where coal and other kindling would be put and then lit, while the holes would work to let in air and keep the fuel burning.
And this was just one of the ways Cambyses contributed to the war effort.
But though the military affair of things was going quite well for Cambyses, contrary to Perseus''s expectations of Cambyses leading a rosy life, currently she was facing all kinds of internal problems.
And among all the domestic problems, the main one was undoubtedly the problem of overcrowding inside the city.
When the popce of Zanzan got the news that there was an enemy army, most of all who lived around the city naturally flocked to enter inside its strong walls to take shelter, resulting in quite arge poption spike.
And the fact was Zaznan city was already rtively quite small and on top of that was currently going through a renovation, meaning it was simply unable to properly house such huge numbers of men, women, and children.
And so given theck of proper housing, and the general congestion, the city administrators and city guards found it hard to keepw and order in the city.
Cambyses in her office every day would receive more and more reports of crime and thievery as opportunistic scums tried to take advantage of the situation, with the number of incidents increasing every day.
And the limited number of city guards seemed to struggle up to their necks to try and deal effectively with it all them.
Furthermore, given that a lot of the popce was recruited into the city garrison, many bad fish had managed to slip through the, meaning a lot of these scoundrels were actually armed and dangerous.
Making the job of the city guards ever more dangerous.
In fact there was one particr incident of some of the guards being jumped in dark alleys by such people and many were even killed.
An incident that forced Cambyses to draft some of the original mercenary members from the military into the city guards, and then lead a punitive task force against that part of the city, resulting in the capture and subsequent execution of a few hundred people.
The snow-covered streets of Zanzan had be red that day.
But at least after that day, the city cooled down for a while.
As for Cambyses, while dealing with this mess she only said this to herself in relief, ''Thank goodness I listened to Menicus and took care of well-known troublemakers beforehand. Otherwise, things would have gone nasty.''
Yes, things could have certainly gotten much worse without the original resident rats of the city.
But without the experienced big fishes present to lead the mostly inexperienced shrimps, though the many incidents were hard for Cambyses to suppress, it never got out of control.
Another reason why these problems were irritating but ultimately small scale was because many of the criminals were not criminals per se, but desperadoes, and simply took the crooked path when they could not get the basic necessities using the straight and narrow.
For example, in this cold, the popce always found itself though not starving but certainly hungry, though the popce was not freezing, they were certainly cold, and though the popce was not dying of sickness, certainly diseases like cold and fever were everywhere.
Then was the sanitation issue, where the rudimentary public toilet system and the still-under-construction sewage system could not handle such volume.
Filth had soon began to build up all around Zanzan, and the sanitation workers proved simply too few to tackle it effectively.
In fact, given the widespread disease of mostly innocuous diseases such as cold and fever,bined with the intense crowding and now the build-up of such huge piles of filth, Cambyses was pretty sure that if it was not too cold, surely a gue would have gripped the city.
And to avoid that, thedy had quickly ordered all fecal matter to be dumped into the nearby sea, while thanking the gods they had not been blockaded this time.
Though the side effect of that was the port water soon began to change color and a pungent, ammonia smell began to daft into the air from there.
But still, that was still better than a gue.
And like this, Cambyses still managed to keep the city ticking, even through the hard times.
Chapter 567 Life Inside A Siege (Part-2)
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As the blizzard died down after a few days, and once the surroundings started to change from hellishly cold to one that was just bitter, Cambyses felt the enemy pick up the pace of their attack.
It seemed Perseus was willing to try his luck at a second throw.
And so the attacks were restarted with renewed vigor while the wall defenders worked to keep the enemy at bay, staining the snow-covered ground with dead bodies.
While inside the city, the popce tried to make do with whatever they had.
Life was certainly not easy for them inside.
Though they were not starving, they were certainly hungry.
Because while the city still provided them with food, it was only one meal a day for everyone except the currently stationed defenders up on the wall who were actively fighting, this concession being so that they had the energy to keep on fighting.
Hence, the amount was just enough to keep them from starving and rebelling, but certainly not enough to sate their hunger.
And it was still quite hard to pass the day with so little food, especially in this cold where the body burnt energy so quickly.
Hence many tried to find alternative ways of procuring food.
Those who could afford to would bribe the cooks to set aside a part of the cooked meal to sell to themter.
Or bribe the city guards to give them a second meal by asking them to turn a blind eye when the same man queued up twice, or even simply giving them a bigger proportion.
As for those too poor to take this crooked route, many would resort to stealing others'' meals or even bullying it off them, with women and children being particrly the preferred target of choice, as the men would swindle off it them by saying they did not eat that much.
And the tragedy was in such situations the much weaker side usually had to relent to such coercion, or else have their entire meal forcibly taken.
So this situation soon gave to the rise phenomenon where one could see many women and children, and even some frailer men finishing their meals around the serving stations, to avoid such a fate.
Not that this was in any guarantee of safeguarding their food.
As after a while the men in charge got smart to this idea and started tomand everyone to bring all the given food back to their hideout before eating them.
Or the result was a beating and even being denied to go to get the food the next day.
Cambyses gradually came to know about this practice and tried to stop it as best as she could, but with the few men under her, she would hardly tackle such a widespread practice.
So she turned a blind eye to it for now.
But one thing she did not turn a blind eye to was an incident that happened one day around one of the serving stations.
There, a few desperados, who were too poor to bribe anyone, were too righteous to swindle from the women and children and had be too stupid in hunger, decided to start a quarrel with the servers there, demanding more food, as they even shouted, "We can''t live with so little. You Thesian scums are starving while your lords eat five meals a day! Give us more!"
And this even got some of the more fiery men in the crowd fired up.
But unfortunately for the men, that ce was not the best ground to foment a rebellion.
As given the station was a heavily defended point, and the guards there brutally squashed those efforts instantly without giving the situation an inkling of a chance to develop.
While the majority of the people in the queue just stood there watching and hoping that the line would not be shut off due to this and they would be able to get their daily ration.
So those troublemakers were beaten to an inch of their life, so badly in fact that it was doubtful they would be able to survive winter with the kinds of wounds they suffered. and afterward taken, or more urately dragged to the dungeon.
And once Cambyses came to hear of the incident, she promptly ordered these miscreants to be executed in public for ''disturbing the peace of the city''.
These men might have been only trying to get a bit more food for themselves and their families, but no matter how soft-hearted Cambyses was, she could never allow actions to be a thing.
So though regrettable, it made to be done, and Cambyses made sure to severely punish them to make an example out of them.
And the results spoke for themselves, as afterward, no such open dissatisfaction about the higher-ups ever happened.
But though Cambyses seemingly suppressed, if not solved the dissatisfaction about the food shortage, it was not just that the popce was chasing around.
Because in addition to being hungry, though the popce was not freezing, they were certainly cold, as good homes able to stave off the chill and thick winter clothing were both in short supply.
And Cambyses could do little to provide them with these in such a short time.
So instead, she built temporary heating points all around the city, which wererge fireces fueled by coal, where people could gather and warm themselves up.
And that managed to alleviate some of the misery from the cold.
Lastly, there was a chronic shortage of medicine to treat colds and fevers.
But sadly Cambyses could do nothing about that.
The clinic and its medicine were already ordered to give priority to the wounded defenders, and so in this case Cambyses could only ask the ill to pray and hope that natural selection favored them.
So to that effect, the ill and the sick were frequently seen visiting the temples and praying to the gods, to the point that the grounds there became covered with people lying around, as they hoped being closer to the houses of the gods would help them get better.
And the priests and priestesses tried their best in that regard, with Azura and Azira even regrly giving sermons and holding prayers to try and help alleviate their suffering, even if it was just a cebo effect.
While Cambyses felt the only real solution to this chronic shortage of medicine was to reduce demand, which could have been done by not letting so many people into the city in the first ce.
But closing the gates to the refugee and having them potentially under Perseus''s mercy also would have been a very unpopr move and since she felt she could amodate them with some difficulties, she did, making the current situation develop as such.
But still, by implementing these various techniques, Cambyses managed to keep the city ticking, and with the military on her side, things seemed to be going rtively well, and barring any unforeseen scenarios, it seemed Zanan would hold without breaking a sweat.
And this realization was made by Perseus as well, who had grown increasingly frustrated with theck of progress in the one-and-a-half month they had been there
And so with the new year fast approaching, Perseus felt this siege was going nowhere and sent the same delegate inside the city, to discuss further terms.
"We are willing to leave Zanzan and hand over the two thousand prisoners we have. For a total of 40 million ropals." The man named his price very directly.
An astronomical price at that.
And this made Cambyses shoot out in anger, "And here we thought you wereing in good faith."
"Pay 20,000 ropals for one soldier! Your king is delusional."
"Haha, no, no, the 40 million is both for the prisoners and for us to leave Zanzan. It is not high at all if you think about it. In fact, it is quite cheap," The man rified with a chuckle,
"No, it is still too expensive. I saw what you guys did to the outside of our city, burning and razing our buildings," Cambyses refused the offer by pointing to the fact that Perseus had set the militaryplex and the brick building kilns on fire when he had started the siege, and then offered her own deal, raising her two fingers and saying, "20 million to leave Zanzan. That is our final price."
But the man refused to budge on the amount, putting on a knowing smile and saying, "Oh, but 40 million ''is'' our final price."
"Or we will execute all your prisoners."
"And you will also be interested to know we have one of your officers. Laykash! I believe you should know him!"
Perseus hadmanded the man to try and extract as much money as possible from them, reasoning that if they could give Leosydas so much money cash, their treasury had to be stacked.
And so the man refused to negotiate and threatened them as such.
But Cambyses, though having had the money, and even after a bit of urging from the other council members still refused, reminding them of Alexander''s instruction not tomit to any peace deals without him, and angrily sent the man out saying,
"Go back. You have already broken the peace treaty and stolen from us. We will not indulge you further!"
And as such, the inherent distrust built by Perseus and the absence of Alexander made it so that the war that could have been over by now was made to drag on towards a very memorable event.
Chapter 568 Perseuss Chance (Part-1)
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The delegate did not feel too offended when being thrown out of the city.
He knew such negotiations usually did not conclude with just one meeting and felt that this was just the enemy acting tough to make them lower their price.
''Hah, I''m sure you wille begging to such to get your men soon,'' The man felt confident, and so responding to Cambyses''s usation of them breaking their promise and stealing money,
the man replied, "The peace treaty that you signed had no set time limit mydy. Also, we have stolen nothing. You gifted the money to us," before he returned to his camp.
It seemed like a true politician, the man had little shame.
But the news he bought Perseus did not please the king.
Killing 2,000 men would get him nothing, and each day he stayed there, his army simply ate more and more of his food and got nowhere.
Perseus was truly getting frustrated.
The siege was not meant tost this long.
"There are a lot of people around the surrounding viges. Should we conscript them to do adder charge," Perseus proposed to Leosydas, feeling that was the only way to use the technique- to forcibly use the nearby folks as human meat shields and pass the arrow storm that way.
He had not done so before because Leosydas had asked him not so so as to make Zanzan surrender peacefully.
But since that clearly was not gonna happen now, Perseus was eager to give that move a try.
"There were not a lot of people around the surrounding viges. There are barely any useful men, only old folk." But Leosydas only shook his head in denial, feeling paltry numbers would not be enough tounch a sessful assault.
And so the war council fell into a dilemma about how to proceed.
It was at that moment that suddenly, Perseus''s adjutant burst into the tent with a piece of startling news.
"My lord, our scouts have caught a Zanzan spy loitering around our camp. He says he can get us inside the city! But before that he wants to talk to you," The man delivered the sky-shattering news.
And given the current situation Perseus was in, this information of course moved him enough to want to meet the man.
"Bring him here," So Perseus immediately ordered a meeting, as he turned to Leosydas and smiled, "Well, whatever he has to say, there is no harm in listening to it, now is there?"
And Leosydaspletely agreed, hence soon after entered a middle-aged man with messy hair who was dressed quite shabbily.
The coat he draped over his body though thick had many patches to it, the ck color having faded to reveal a dull grey, as if it had been worn for a very long time and cleaned many, many times over.
His face was long, thin, and wrinkled, the boots covered in snow and mud, and he kept wriggling his hands together to turn them from blue to red.
"Who are you? And what do you want?" And after scanning the man, from his chair, Perseus verymandingly asked.
To which this unknown stranger politely bowed and said, "This here is a lowly ve named Mohshin. My master has sent me to express his sincerest greetings to you, Your Majesty! Long Live the king! Long Live Tibias."
This amount of boot-licking caught Perseus a bit surprised, as regr Adhanians were not so servile to Tibias.
"Oh? Who is your master then? And what does he want?" Perseus furrowed his eyebrows as came the next natural question.
"...." The thin man did not immediately answer this inquiry.
Instead, he very naturally turned to look at Perseus''s adjutant, and sent him a very knowing look, knowing that he would not be getting to meeting with a nation''s king if thetter did not know about his offer.
But since the king had asked, he again said it out of his own mouth, providing a bit more deal,
"Your Majesty, my master feels you have been facing some difficulties in taking the city. The walls of Zanzan are formidable indeed."
"As such, he is willing to offer your esteemed self an alternative path into the city¡for a small, tiny, insignificant price of course, hehe," The man here chuckled a dirty smile, revealing his bad, yellowed teeth.
To say Perseus was ''facing some difficulties'' in the siege was of course a huge understatement.
So any other way of ending it was very tempting.
But then again, this offer sounded even fisher than rotten fish.
"Zanzan¡for a small price you say?" Perseus raised his thick eyebrows as he said this in a mocking tone, sneering, "If your master wanted something from me, why didn''t hee? Didn''t have the guts to see me?"
Naturally, Perseus was cautious about this offer.
"My master is cautious about revealing his identity. Surely my lord understands." But Mohshin reasoned this with Perseus, reassuring, "I swear by the gods Your Grace, the information I bring is without a doubt true. Or may the curse of a thousand generations be upon me."
It appeared the man was eager to convince the king.
And hearing this, Leosydas decided to intervene, pulling a smirk and pointedly asking, "Then if you have all the information, why do we need your master? Why can''t we make you tell us?"
The man was alluding to torturing the information out.
To which the middle-aged only swallowed hisughter as if not to appear too disrespectful, before slightly bowing and saying, "My lords, I''m but a humble ve. If you so wish to do so, I will be too happy to oblige. I live for your satisfaction."
The man had not an iota of fear in his voice.
Though immediately after he added this warning,
"But if you did do so, I will not be able to return to my master and he might get anxious enough to notify the relevant authorities of the blind spot, Then all your efforts will be for naught."
It seemed the other side hade prepared.
"What is the secret? Some hidden passageway? A tunnel? Or an overlooked gap in the wall?" So seeing force was not an option, Perseus attempted to guess the answer.
But Mohshin simply chuckled and shook his head.
"No, no, nothing so simple. It is much, much grander! Grand enough to let your entire army though." He mysteriously said.
And thisst sentence was certainly potent enough to capture Perseus''s attention.
''An opportunity to attack with his entire army. How can I have failed to see such a huge w?'' Perseus asked himself incredulously and even started to think the man was pulling his leg.
A gap that could let 35,000 people was no small gap and something people tended to notice immediately.
But that also tickled Perseus''s curiosity.
''If it is really true,'' Perseus felt his body heat up just at the mere thought of it.
"What is it? Tell me now!" Thus the king let his emotions get the better of him, as he barked this, giving away his eagerness.
"..." Mohshin only smile, because they had not discussed the payment yet.
And this was where Leosydas inserted himself, ying as the cooler heads of the two.
"What does your master want?" He lightly asked, and at this, the traitor turned to give the man a slight smile for asking the right questions.
"My master wished to be made a noble of Tibias for his efforts. And wants Zanzan as his territory!" Came the demand.
And it was indeed a big demand.
Conquering Zanzan had been the dream of all Tibians, and to be able to finally do so only to give its control over to an Adhanian seemed to be preposterous.
And Perseus was just about to rebuke such a demand when suddenly his friend spoke up,
"Fine! If his information proves valuable enough, and we can take the city using it, we will make him a count and give him Zanzan as his fiefdom. Happy?"
Perseus went slightly aghast at his friend''s offer, as this was quite much, and he wondered why he was bending so much to just the initial demand
''So why is Leosydas beign so impat?'' Perseus wondered.
But he did not outright oppose his friend in front of the ''client''.
So turning to Mohshin, he officially said, "Yes. Just like Lord Leosydas said, if he can get us Zanzan, as the gods as my witness, I swear I will make your master a count of Tibias and bestow Zaznan to him."
"Now tell us about this hidden passageway!" Perseus repeated again, unable to wait any longer.
And given that he had teased them so much up until now, Mohshin did not keep them waiting any longer and revealed,
"My lords, as you might know, Zanzan is surrounded by three great walls, the north, east, and south. And they are indeed formidable."
"But the western side is actually open! It is only protected by the Cisran hills."
"The original rulers of the city, the Muazz family thought that no enemy would be able to scale those peaks and attack the city."
"And given it is difficult to build walls over hills, they simply did not."
"But the current lord has built quite good roads there to help with the mining there."
"So now, it is actually possible to attack from there!"
"So, if Your Grace wants, you can take your army over the hills and nk the enemy."
"They will never see iting!"
Chapter 569 Perseuss Chance (Part-2)
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Mohshin''s information naturally had a profound impact on both the man.
Perseus felt his eyes bulge like he likely never had, while Leosydas grabbed his chair so hard that he felt a slight pain all the way to his wound.
Of course, they had seen noticed the western parts of the city were not protected by the walls.
But they had also noticed the steep hills and the rough ground, which was likely why the Muazz family felt they did not need to.
Any army, especially one which employed the phnx would be unable to maintain formation when crossing it, and once the enemy attacked during that moment, the result would be simr to when Alexander defeated Amenheraft.
And Perseus was aware of this and thus did not immediately jump to hug Mohshin when the man gave the information.
Instead, he decided to probe, asking,
"Sneaking such an army over there will inevitably cause a lot of noise. How will you stop the enemy from detecting us?"
With Leosydas joined as well, saying, "That''s right. We noticed the enemy has a watchtower overlooking that side. If the enemy sees it will be all over!"
"Watchtower?" At the mention of this, Mohshin seemed confused.
He could not remember any watchtower being there and so looked at the two in askance.
"You know the building we can see from here¡up on the hill¡the watchtower!" So Perseus tried to rify, even pointing his finger to the side from where the structure he was describing could be seen.
And it was only then it became clear to the old ve what Perseus was talking about.
"Oh that! Haha, that is no watchtower! That is the lord''s mansion, Your Grace!" Mohshin said with a chuckle, and then, suddenly thinking quickly on his feet, the shrewd man temptingly suggested, "Your Highness, if you can move your army fast enough, you might even be able to reach that mansion without alerting the enemy. And then capture all the people inside. Imagine!"
Even Mohshin got excited thinking about it, as he then added,
"Though the lord himself isn''t there, you should know that all his family is there¡ including his new wife. And let me tell you, she is quite the beauty. I got to see her when she got marriedst year."
"Not to mention, it is his wife who is temporarily in charge of the city. So if can you capture her, it will be like capturing the city itself!" Mohsin really did not need to tell Perseus that.
But Perseus was d that he did because every word that flowed out of this man seemed to sound as sweet as honey to him.
Perseus was so excited that his hands had be white in excitement as he gripped his chair too hard, and he even felt he could kiss the man.
"Is it true? Is everything you say really all true?" Perseus felt his breath quicken at the prospect of what it would mean if they were.
"Yes! By the gods as my witness!" Mohshin crossed his arms on his chest in a somber promise.
"......." And this caused Perseus to go silent for a bit, as he then turned to look at Leosydas to try and see what he thought, and for a while, it seemed the two men were talking with each other using their eyes
Then after a bit of somber quietness, it was Leosydas who turned to look at Mohshin and giving a light smile and nod, he decided to end the talks there, saying,
"Thank you for your information Mohshin. We will have our scouts first have a bit of a look around the ce you mentioned to confirm everything you said. And then depending on how feasible it is, we will n ordingly."
"So how many we contact you if we want to?" He casually then asked.
"Ah!" And Mohshin sounded as if he had not thought of that possibility, for the man had thought that this information alone would be enough to convince Tibias.
"What more do you my lords want from me? I have said everything I knew, and even if I lied, you can simply not attack!" He reasoned, unable to think of why they would want to talk to him again.
Given the inherent danger one faced when betraying his side, it was natural to meet with his coborators as few times as possible.
But Perseus rified "There are always unforeseen situations urring in such things. Situations that cannot be nned ahead of and require the guidance of a local specialist," further adding,
"For instance, you said it is now possible to attack because there are roads over the mines now. Well, a guide who could navigate us through there will be surely useful. And this is just one of many unforeseen problems we might face."
Perseus''s quick thinking here was able to show off the vast experience he had gained through various campaigns, as he was able to n for contingencies ahead of time.
But Mohshin felt Perseus was being a worrywart and tried to alleviate such concerns by saying, "My lord, the way from the west is really straightforward. There is only one path and you will really need no guide."
Here Mohshin was simply making stuff up, as he had not been to the mines by himself, but said so anyway because of this,
"You see me being able to slip past the guards and meeting you this time is already taking a huge risk. I might not be so lucky every time."
This was indeed true, though it was not as hard getting out of the city as it was getting into it.
But still, it was a significant hurdle no doubt, and the man had only been able to aplish this by using an unused, in disrepair sewage passage barely able to fit one man located near his home to pop out somewhere outside the walls.
And though he was sessful in that endeavor, the experience of moving through that foul-smelling, cold-to-the-bones structure was something he wanted to do ever again.
Hence the reluctance and the made-up promise regarding the mine.
But Perseus was not so easy to swindle, and so bluntly said, "If your master wants to be a count and rule Zanzan, you will need to give us a way to contact you. I will not move my army so easily."
Perseus knew he would be foolish to simply let this valuable fish out of his grasp and vanish into thin air so easily.
Since whoever was behind this ve, was clearly power-hungry enough to betray his city.
And losing contact with such a good pawn would be too regrettable.
Perseus felt that even if the information was not truly genuine, he might still use this rat to gather other unrted pieces of information, or in the worst case scenario sell his information for a pretty sum to the Zanzan higher-ups.
"That''s right," And his friend Leosydas could easily what Perseus might be thinking and decided to back him up, as he additionally reasoned, "Besides if we cannot contact you, how will we know who is your master? And then how can we reward him?"
Leosydas wanted to make wanting to keep in touch with Mohshin a very normal thing.
But Mohshin already had an answer for that specific question, saying, "When my lords attack the city, I and my master will move to the temple of Ramuh. You can find us there!"
It went without saying that Perseus was expected to not attack the temples.
And so it seemed the traitor''s n was to take refuge there and when the soldierse to meet them, reveal themselves to the world.
Perseus in all honesty had to give props to the n.
But he still wanted a way tomunicate with the man, and so t out said, "That won''t do. There are a million things that could change inside the city, and I would like to be informed of it."
"Because if by any chance my army is caught while we are climbing the hills, it will be disastrous!"
"....." And seeing Perseus be so adamant, Mohshin understood he had no other choice.
But the fact was also he really did not prepare for this
So in a bit of an uncertain tone he asked the two men, "Well if my lord has any spies¡you can tell me about them and I can find and meet them at a¡" but then he trailed off at the end, sounding pretty weak.
Because he found his initial reasoning had broken down.
Mohshin knew Tibias had to have some spies inside the city.
After all, how could Tibias''s mortal enemy have no spies inside them?
But Perseus very quickly and pointedly rejected that idea, "No, we have no spies. Sorry!"
Was Perseus telling the truth when he said this?
Of course not.
There were several spies he knew of operating inside the city.
But he would be quite a foolish king to reveal these contacts to Mohshin whom he had just met.
And given how Mohshin had worded his sentence, it seemed he was too was unwilling to reveal his residence to the spies, and wanted to find them himself.
So for a while, the two seemed to be in a deadlock.
Until Mohshin finally improvised, offering this solution,
"Okay my lords, though it is hard for you to contact me directly, perhaps if you should want to, you could blow three long trumpet calls at breakfast, and three long trumpet calls at dusk."
"And I wille to meet you the very next day!"
Chapter 570 Perseuss Chance (Part-3)
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Mohshin''s proposal was something that Perseus thought he could work with.
Though convoluted, it was indeed possible to contact the man this way.
And so with a small nod, as Perseus felt there was nothing more to talk about, the old ve was atst allowed to excuse himself.
Though not before he made this request, "My lord, with our cooperation solidified, perhaps you may write a letter detailing our agreement. So that I may show any proof to my master!"
But it was quickly denied by Leosydas even before Perseus could say anything, where he said, "We do not know how you Adhanians work, but over here, the gods are our greatest guarantors. We have already sworn to them, there is no need for any mere scraps of papyrus."
Leosydas said this with great conviction and the forceful nature of his delivery made Perseus too join in, saying, "That''s right. For now, let us keep everything verbal. We will call you again to make everything officialter."
Though the king was internally curious why Leosydas had done so, as writing things down for future reference was widely practiced in Tibias.
While Mohshin hearing this reassurance, especially where the gods were a witness, and feeling that carrying any letter with the Tibian seal could implicate him within a blink of an eye if caught, decided to return empty.
Hence came the end of the fateful meeting.
And while the man was escorted out of the camp by armed soldiers, Perseus turned to look at Leosydas for his own two cents on the matter that had been discussed just now.
Though after hearing everything, personally Perseus doubted it could be a trap, especially given it was all open and easily verifiable.
But still, deciding to err on the side of caution, wanted to ask for Leosydas''s thoughts.
And sensing the gaze and easily guessing what it could mean, Leosydas strangely did not immediatelyment on his thoughts on the matter and instead only said, "Let us wait for the scouts to go and see the site. Then we can decide how to proceed."
And deciding to defer to this judgment, Perseus put off whether to trust the dubious man inside the city after judging the value of the information for himself.
So instead Perseus asked about Leosydas so easily epting the unknown man''s demands, calling out, "Leosydas, why did you ept everything the man wanted so easily? Making the coborator a count might still be doable, but handing over Zanzan? That''s¡.:" Perseus did not sound as displeased as he was confused.
Because he did not believe Leosydas did not know about the significance of Zanzan, and how handing it over to a foreigner was a no-go, if not for any other fact than the very real risk of it rebelling again soon after.
Nor should it be any new knowledge to him that in almost any type of negotiations, it was practically a golden rule to shoot for the moon and then haggle down to something more reasonable.
So when Leosydas had readily eded to Mohshin''s demand, Perseus had even gone slightly aghast and wondered why he was bending so much to just the initial demand.
"Haha, well I did say we would make him a count and give him Zanzan. But we did not say for how long! Hahaha," Leosydas sounded very pleased with himself as he said this, as evidenced by his wide grin, as he felt he had pulled off a great prank.
And this made Perseus slightly agape.
A count was a hereditary title, meaning the title was lifelong and hereditary by association.
So what was Leosydas talking about a time limit?
Of course, after thinking for a bit Perseus understood what Leosydas talking about.
The man simply had no wish to fulfill his promise, and would find anyme excuse to break his word to the coborator.
''So that''s why you refused to give a written promise!'' And with that, the event from a bit earlier too became clearer to Perseus.
As for how Leosydas intended to aplish this, well that remained to be seen.
Perhaps the traitor would die during the chaos of the city capture, or be offed silently after being taken to a corner, or even actually be allowed to be a count and rule Zanzan for a few days until he is poisoned or even removed from the position for ipetence.
These were only some of the many ways Perseus could think just off the top of his head which Leosydas could use to remove that unknown man.
And as for Perseus, given he had sworn to the gods about this, he was unsure about how to feel about this.
Breaking a promise to the gods or even hoodwinking them using a technicality was never a small offense.
But he did not argue with Leosydas then and there, deciding to cross that bridge when they got there.
Besides this was Leosydas''s scheme and however he dealt with it, was his problem.
So, as over the years Perseus had built up enough of a trust to know whatever Leosydas did, he did it for the good of the nation and the throne, he decided to leave it to Leosydas''s discretion.
And instead got to working organizing his scouts to prospect that route Mohshin had alluded to, surveying thends there and finding the potential routes ahead.
While on the frontlines, he also decided to decrease the intensity to a low simmer, making the enemy think they had given up and wishing to lull the city''s defenses into a false sense of safety andcency.
While Perseusid out his, the man who had set the wheels of fate in motion, Mohshin soon returned to the city via the same passage.
And upon returning to his house, was immediately called to his master''s room to ry the recently urred events.
"So how was it? When will they attack? Is it soon?" As soon as Mohshin entered the room, he was dragged to a side and asked such in a hushed but excited voice, the tone dripping with anticipation.
In fact, he was so eager that the man did not even ask if Tibias had agreed to the condition, so confident was he in his bait.
And Mohshin knowing about the man''s impatient nature very sinctly, with a bit of sugarcoating gave the answer, "Yes, Young Master. I have just returned after meeting with the enemy king. And he promised tounch an attack soon."
"He did not give me an exact date, but told me that we just need to wait and be patient! And everything will unfold as nned! Very soon!"
"Good, good!" The young man nodded several times in satisfaction at this, but then his mood mercurially turned sour, and he fiercely grabbed Mohshin to ask,
"But where is the proof? Why didn''t you bring any proof?" The man''s eyes suddenly seemed to have turned bloodshot it an abrupt mood swing.
''*Groan*, that''s why I should have brought it in writing,'' And hearing this Mohshin regretted a bit at not having a concrete proof.
But he quickly gave the reasonable excuse of citing the patrolling guards being all around and the fact they had sworn to the gods so as to not requiring a written document.
And though it calmed down the man for a bit, he again pointedly red,
"Then why didn''t you get the date? Then we could have gone to the temple beforehand! Do they not trust us? After all, we have done!"
Mohshin found his master to be crankier and even more on edge than usual,
"No, no, it is nothing like that! It''s just that they need some time to n for the attack. But it will be soon Young Master, it will be soon." Mohshin repeatedly promised to cate the man.
And then quickly fetching a drink to offer to his luxuriously dressed master, said,
"Here Young Master drink this. You have not slept the entire night and are tired. Have this and let me recount everything."
Hearing Mohshin''s soothing tone, the man epted this and sat on a nearby couch while Mohshin offered a shortened, heavily colored, and edited version of the story, one where the king was much more deferential to him and his master, showering them with praise for bringing them this valuable information, and even supposedly made fantastical promises.
All while pouring copious amounts of wine for the man to drink.
And thebination of the sweet wine and the honeyed words worked wonders in improving the young man''s mood.
"Great! Great! Once this city is taken, we will live like kings!" The drunk man atst began to daydream, as his face turned a touch red, and then turning to Mohshin even promised,
"And I guess also my days of ordering you around areing to an end. Hahaha, soon you will be a freeman. Free to do whatever you want, hahaha!"
By this point, the man was swinging his head and his eyes were drooping.
"This lowly ve will be always yours tomand, Young master. Mohshin is forever your ve.," While Mohshin attempted to bootlick the man like this, regardless of whether the other party could actually hear it.
Though in reality, his heart zed at the thought.
It was the sole reason why he had decided to partake in this dangerous endeavor in the first ce.
The young man would get the city and he would be a freeman.
As for how well that deal would go, time would tell.
Chapter 571 Planning The Wester Attack [Bonus ]
As the master and ve celebrated over their dreams imminently about toe true, with Mohshin even sneakily partaking in some fine liquor given his young master was down for the count, neither did for once doubt Perseus''s conviction.
''He has sworn to the gods,'' Both thought.
Sure the sharp Mohshin did doubt for a second that Leosydas had epted his demands too easily.
But he only chalked it up to them being that desperate.
After all, what was one noble title in exchange for conquering the city of their dreams?
And thus as the days rolled by, they patiently waited for the events to unfold as they hoped.
While Perseus''s scouts over the next seven days worked tirelessly to scour a part of the Cisran hills and try to find a potential path through all the meandering paths along the western side of the city.
Andpleting their rigorous survey, presented their summarised report to Perseus, which was read out aloud to him by his adjutant.
"My lords," The man began by addressing the war council, and then unable to control his emotions, let out a great, big smile as he said, "Good news! The scouts indeed have found that there is a trail that leads all the way up to hills and into the city!"
And just this confirmation was enough to make many eyes be wide with joy and smiles blossom in stony faces.
It was truly good news and they knew it.
And so the adjutant paused here to let others enjoy that feeling, before continuing,
"Aheem, the scouts have indeed found a way up, but there is a lot of foliage and woods along the way, which they could not properly survey given the winter and the short time frame."
"Plus they could not also get too close to the enemy in fear of alerting the enemy. So we could not chart an exact path." Here the adjutant highlighted some of the uncertainties with the findings before quickly reassuring the room,
"But if the information given to us is true, and we will just have to climb up the hill to reach the city, we believe we have found the exact hill tounch the sneak attack from."
"In conclusion, it is indeed possible to catch the city from the west side and catch the enemy unaware!"
The adjutant very formally finished reading out his report, though he was still unable to hide the glee and excitement in his voice.
The siege had been going nowhere, but if they could take the city in one fell swoop just like that¡the possibility of this made it so that these were very exciting times.
And naturally, his enthusiasm was shared by almost all those present at the war council.
With the biggest one being Perseus''s.
"Hahaha, good, good, excellent excellent." He seemed unable to stop adding supetives to the news, evidence of how overwhelmed he was.
And he even began to feel a twinge of regret at having to deceive that good man who had shown him the way.
But this moment of euphoria was quickly reigned in, as they had yet to capture the city.
So with that reality, and knowing they could celebrate after taking the city, his surge of tion subsided, and he turned to his best strategies, Leosydas, to hear his n about how to actually aplish this.
And sensing this gaze, along with the numerous others, he gave his per-prepared answer, "First and foremost we should call Mohshin. And have him draw us a map of the parts our scouts could not survey. That will help eliminate much of the uncertainty."
This naturally got a unanimous nod.
So Leosydas continued, "Then we will need to decide on the time of the attack."
"And I personally prefer a night attack!" He opinioned, reasoning,
"Because if we do it during the day, with so many men moving around, they will be easily noticed from miles away. Especially given the mansion sits atop the hill and overlooks the entire surrounding."
"So we should do it at night when most of the maids and servants in the manor will be sleeping. And given the cold, most of the guards will likely be too. So sneaking up will be easy!"
Leosydas had certainly given his n a lot of thought, and further showcased this when he reasoned,
"Also, most of the people we want to capture alive should be asleep in the manor too at that time. So we should do then."
His detailed thought process really went to show why Perseus relied on him so much.
And many of the members in the war council who had wanted to rebuke him when they heard Leosydas nned to do a night attack felt their minds being changed hearing this.
As for the ones still ambivalent, one raised, "Night attacks are hard to do even at the best of times. So is it wise to attack through an unknown terrain that we cannot properly see through? Is it not too risky?
The man saying this was very diplomatic in his objection, his tone light and breezy, because he knew he was talking against the king''s favorite.
And finished with this,
"What if the soldiers be lost in the darkness? Then the whole attack might fail. Remember, the scouts did say there was thick foliage. "
The man pointed out some really good points as it was indeed very easy for soldiers to be disoriented and lost in the dark.
Especially in unknown, dark woods.
In fact, bing lost in woods was sarcastically easy for soldiers given their equipment, or specifically the helmet they wore, which grossly limited their visibility.
"That''s why we will use the map. That way they won''t get lost," But Leosydas rebutted the point with this, further adding,
"And besides, the scouts have already figured out which hill to climb up to reach the manor. So the soldiers will just have to gaze at the lights of the manor and keep going up. I have keenly noticed at for some reason the lights in the manor never go out for some reason."
"So it will act as a lighthouse, attracting its own doom!" Leosydas ominously predicted in a poetic fashion.
His sense of observation was exceptional.
Now, it was indeed strange for a house to keep its lights on all throughout the night, especially one bright enough to be seen from so far away, but CM did so simply due to a psychological issue.
She always felt that the house was empty without Alxx and so as if to fill that void, had all the lights along the hallways andrge hall rooms be lit at all times.
Who knew such an innocuous practice could bring her potentially so much harm?
And so, with both sides submitting their arguments, it was ultimately left to Perseus to make the final decision.
And to no absolutely no one''s surprise, he chose to go with Leosydas''s ns, reasoning,
"Leosydas indeed has made some great points. It will be easier to catch the enemy off guard at night." And then added,
"While the thick foliage will help to hide much of the light of our torches. So by the time any sentries see us, it will be already toote!"
Perseus felt that the location of the mansion would have been a perfect forward watchtower, and it was a grave mistake by the enemy to build a mansion atop such a position which was both advantageous and disadvantageous.
Advantageous because one could see all around the surrounding from it.
Diaadvantatgeous because a watchtower was meant to observe the enemy and alert others about it.
Meaning watchtowers many times were ced at the very frontlines and were not very defensible.
And the original nners of Zanzan did have exactly that in mind when they had discovered the ce.
And for many years that ce indeed had only a watchtower.
But over time no enemy attack was detected.
And when once a scion of the Muazz family was ced there as part of his military services, he fell in love with the scenery here, and given Tibias had notunched any attack along that route for a hundred years, dismantled the watchtower and built a hunting lodge there.
Which over time slowly grew to be the mammoth mansion seen today, as a few generations ago, the patriarch of the Muazz family decided to permanently move his entire family to his ce.
And now it was up to Alxx, or specifically his family, who had unknowingly inherited this series of bad decisions and somehow made it worse by making his mines better that would have to try and deal with his problem.
A problem where if they failed, they could die or end up worse.
And it was a problem Perseus wished to thoroughly exploit.
While for the council member inside the Tibian tent, since the king had spoken, and the n sounded reasonably good, none of them had anything to object about.
They understood that though there were some risks, but all attacks had risks involved with them.
Without risks, there could be no reward.
So as the king had spoken they wholeheartedly began to support the n, and started to get down to the nitty-gritty of it all, such as when to attack, in what weather should they attack, clear or foggy, and which unit should get the honor of being the vanguard, leading the way forward.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 572 Up The Cisran Hills
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"Men! Remember, no noise! Approach the city as quietly as possible," It waste one night when one of the Tibianmanders said this to his unit.
Thends he said this from were very different from their usual camp, for they were at the foot of a valley overlooking the manor, and were armed to the teeth and ready to fight.
And at theirmander''s order, the unit only responded with a silent nod, in order to keep the silence.
Though themander could not really determine how many of the men had heard and responded to him given how dark it was.
But he did notice some silhouettes along the frontlines move and sway to his words and that was enough to assume everyone heard it.
Thus, satisfied with given his instruction, the order to move soon came and the fateful march up the hill began.
The unit approached carrying only a few torches, just enough to illuminate the immediate path ahead of them but too small in size and number to be detected from too far away, only looking like small fireflies from afar or even beingpletely obscured by the thick foliage.
There were naturally no whistles, no bugles, no songs in this march, with each man simply and silently following the man in front of him, while the man leading them, themander keep his eyes fixated on the brightly glowing light at the top of the hill and steady wiled his feet towards it, like a moth being drawn to a me.
Except this moth was very well armed and very dangerous.
And of course, this was just one of the many such phnx units making their way to the top, theirbined footsteps numbering thousands causing the forest to silently shudder, while the nking of their armor rubbing off against one another gave the low chilling sound of the dooming approaching of the grim-reaper.
Because Cambyses and almost everyone Alexander cared about waspletely unaware of this impending catastrophe, peacefully tucked away in their cozy nkets.
Worse, even the one hundred guards around the manor were mostly asleep, with only about ten awake, or more urately half awake.
Because to them, the enemy was behind the walls north of the city.
And even if there was no wall, there was still an entire army in between.
So it was natural for the guards to not take the watch seriously, as they never expected any enemy to happen.
How could the enemy attack them?
Hence they felt they were posted here only because the scheduling manual said so, and thus at best kept an eye out for thieves who might be trying to steal some grain or something.
Thus, the army of doom continued to approach the oblivious men and women under the cover of darkness with nary aware.
This night that they were attacking on, Perseus had chosen it after much particr deliberation,
He had said to hismanders during the meetings, "We should choose a clear night for the attack."
"Unfortunately we can''t hope for a full moon because the new moon has just appeared."
"So it should be at least not cloudy or foggy. Or the soldiers will not be able to see where they are going."
Of course, this request had made most of themanders flinch, as they all thought,
"Finding a fogless night in the middle of winter? How is that possible!"
And one of the council members let Perseus know of this concern, saying it would be ''difficult'' and proposed, "Perhaps we should wait a bit until the weather clears."
The man felt that there was no rush in doing this, and preferred to wait until the spring or even the summer months.
After all, the city was not going anywhere.
And neither was this chance to attack
But Perseus would not wait.
Every day his army sat in front of the city, it burned through food and money, and honestly, he was impatient and greedy for the city to fall right now.
The mere thought of conquering a city his ancestors had always dreamed of conquering but never being able to, which now he was about to, made the man giddy with pleasure.
Of course, he could not outright say that.
So he made up this excuse, "If we wait too long, it is very much possible, the enemy will get reinforcements."
"You heard what the girl atop the ramparts said. The city''s lord might be already on his way."
Now Perseus had no idea about Alexander''s attack, and even thought Cambyses was bluffing.
Because it was no easy feat to raise an army, for it required a lot of time and energy.
But for him, it was a convenient excuse to convince hismanders and push the date as close as possible.
So, with this excuse present, Perseus gave his final verdict.
"There will be no waiting indefinitely! We attack as soon as possible."
So, with that decision made, his retainers could only shut their mouth and get to work trying to make the attack seed even through all the difficulties.
After all, Perseus was the king and you gotta do what he says.
And as Perseus made his standpoint known, it was Leosydas, who, being one of the most loyal subjects chimed from the side at once, and quickly dispelled themanders'' concern about the fog by saying,
"Even if there is fog, as long as it is not too heavy, the light atop the hill will still be visible, and we should have no problem."
"Also we have a detailed map of the site from Mohshin, and as he said, the way is very straightforward. Just up."
"So everything will be okay."
It was unknown how much of this even Leosydas really believed but regardless of how true what he said was, the exnation was epted by the others.
So all along the end of December and proceeding to the first week of January, the scouts kept an eye out for how thick the fog was at night, with most nights it being so heavy that most people could not see their hands if they held it out, much less any light atop a hill.
In fact, sometimes the fog became so thick, it be opaque enough to reflect one''s own shadow, many times even scaring people.
And so it seemed to Perseus had the attack would have to be called off until the surroundings warmed up a bit just as one of his retainers had suggested.
And it maddened the king.
But suddenly, it seemed that the gods had a change of heart and decided to smile on Perseus.
Because on the third night of the first month of the year, the scouts came to very excitedly report to their liege that the fog was exceptionally light tonight.
In fact it could be said it was almost clear, making it ideal conditions for an attack.
And Perseus hearing this remembered that today had been an abnormally warm one, with the sun peeking out after almost a month, and from the looks of it even the night seemed to be a rtively warm one.
Opening up a rare window of opportunity for him.
And understanding this, immediately upon receiving this news, the camp entire camp was set into a flurry of actions, as soldiers felt like their butts had been set on fire as they worked to execute a series of pre-nned actions.
The ns were created by Leosydas, and to summarize, it instructed almost 20,000 of the 35,000 men to rapidly put on their armor and exit the camp through the back door underplete darkness, with strict orders to not light any torches except the sole scout leading each unit, all in order not to alert the enemy watchmen atop the walls, while the rest of the 15,000 stayed behind as camp guards.
Once outside the camp, these 20,000 men were then ordered to march north for about a mile, so even if some were spotted, the watchmen in the darkness would only see the dim light and assume it was just some scouts out there foraging for food or looking for potential ambushes.
And this deception was ordered to be carried out until they were about 2 kilometers away from Zanzan, and only then would they suddenly pivot west and be present at the foot of the Cisrian hills before midnight.
Because that was the deadline for the start of the operation.
And until now, all the ns discussed above were able to have been carried out smoothly, as almost all the units had made it to the engagement point without incident, and so the operation was able to start and then subsequently proceed swimmingly.
So, in this way, around three hours passed since the fateful ascent, with the terrain being though treacherous but still navigatable, especially after being helped by the light atop the hill which worked to act as a beacon guiding them.
And with fortunately there being no unforeseen events such as a sudden fog descending on them, or any forward scouts, the huge army had managed to make great progress, and by 3 pm at night, seemed to be very close to their target, totally undetected until now.
It appeared Zanzan, or more specifically its rulers were about to wake up to a very bloody sunrise indeed, and that was if they could survive the next four to five hours.
The fate of the city, its inhabitants, and even its city''s lord was about to be decided.
Chapter 573 Up The Cisran Hills (Part-2)
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"C''mon boys, walk faster! We are almost there. You don''t want these stinky Tibians to get there before us, do you? "
"Hahaha, that''s right! We need to get there first. Remember it''s the lord''s mansion we are attacking! There will surely be some fine women."
"Right, right! Women with flesh as soft as putty and even whose ass smells like flowers. If you want to taste these sheltered lillies move your legs. Or you will be left with only the used ones that can''t even squeeze down properly."
All these vulgar talks were very loudly said by themanders and their lieutenants that were leading the troops, all in order to raise morale.
And as the troops closed in on their target, reaching almost the top of the hill, these men felt there was no need to maintain any secrecy.
As the contents of their talks, from the tone in their voice, one could be mistaken in thinking they were talking about something light and jovial, and not the grim business of forcibly taking a woman and viting her in the open often in groups, and then either killing her after or sometimes even during the act.
Also, another thing to note was how the many of themanders leading the charge seemed to imply an inherent disdain for Tibias, which might seem strange at first but was actually due to the fact that the men at the front rows were not actually Tibians, but the mercenaries the Kaiser family had introduced to Perseus.
They were sent as the vanguard, as it was almost customary that the honor of leading an attack, which was always the most dangerous part of any offensive and caused the most casualties, would go to these sell-swords.
Never mind they were also attacking at night over pretty treacherous terrain, which they might have even gotten lost in if not for the light atop the hill and the previous scouting done by the forward forces.
But that was what the life of a mercenary was about, and so the men took the order on the chin and rushed up the hill, only taking a bit of sce that they would be the first to start the pige and plunder.
"Huh! What''s this?"
But as they reached the top, dreams seemed to collide with reality.
Because at the top of the hill, there was no mansion!
Instead, the sight that was presented in front of the men first surprised and then confused them.
For in front of them, instead of a towering mansion and lush garden as such, there were only rows upon rows of log-cabin, from which a dimly lit glow pervaded outside, as a fire was kept lit inside each of them.
While the main source of the bright light was from arge open area a bit in the distance, where a strangely shaped ck tower pointed into the sky, and faint silhouettes of men and animals could still be seen moving around.
Yes, by mistake the enemy army had in fact climbed the hill where the iron refinery was ced, and the thing most of the men were gazing at was actually the st furnace.
Alexander''s mansion was actually on another hill entirely.
Later historians would debate how this grave mistake could have happened.
And even to those involved, i.e.- Perseus and his nners the matter would still remain a mystery.
Some would posit that perhaps on their way to their climb, somehow one of the men leading his unit at one point mistook the light from the iron smelting nt for the light from the manor and veered his men towards that, and everyone else just then followed that,
Some would say the soldiers simply got lost in the meandering trails along their trek and obscured by the heavy forestation, just lost their sense of direction, and ended up going in the wrong direction.
While others would say the soldiers simply started at the wrong hill because the light that the scouts thought was of the manor during their initial reconnaissance was actually of the mines and the st furnace.
But which was the truth would remain a mystery to everyone, when those involved, as not even Perseus would be sure how this mistake happened.
Only that it had happened.
While for the soldiers at the top, faced with this unfamiliar sight, understandably became confused.
It did not match what they were told to expect, nor had they even seen anything like this before, for the iron smelting nt was one of its kind in the world,
So they tried to designate the site as such, "What is this ce? Some kind of new servant''s quarters?"
But theyout here did not really make sense either.
So these mercenaries, without having a Tibian representative to consult with were stumped for a bit.
But they also knew they did not have the luxury of just standing around and slowly figuring things out.
Time was running out and the men moving about inside were sure to alert others of their presence soon.
After all, even blind men tended to notice tens of thousands of men showing up at their doorsteps.
So knowing this, some of the more hot-bloodedmanders and their men acted first, shouting, "Who cares where we are. Let''s kill them!" before rushing forward on their own.
And so, just like having a hammer makes all the problems look like a nail, seeing the weak, defenseless guards, the concealed mercenaries recklessly revealed themselves to the world, and the few, half-asleep guards were pounced upon without any warning before being cut down without even getting the chance to understand who had killed them.
"What¡urrggh.."
"Ho¡.wh¡"
"Enemy¡"
Sword and spear strikes were upon these poor men in a flurry of dazzling, expert cuts, and the rushing mercenaries killed their prey without giving it the slightest chance of making even a little bit of sound.
In fact, the attack was so sudden and so skillfully done that the surrounding people were stillrgely unaware of thisrge force literally on their doorsteps.
Or they would have been if not for the unruly mercenaries.
"Ohhoohhoo, yeah!"
"Hahaha, kill, kill,"
"Women! Find the women!"
These men might have been a band of hardened veterans of many wears, but they were also quite loud, and never subtle with their actions.
Thus huge roars of jubnt cheers began to erupt across the ranks as waves of men started to crash into therge nt and without a care in the world, the vastly superior force began to carry out an indiscriminate ughter, as if they wanted to silence any witness from rying their position to the manor.
So quickly the paltry force of guards stationed there was cut down, and then thousands of men started kicking down the log house doors and going inside to paint the insides red using their swords and spears.
It was a macabre sight to behold, as many of the people were still sleeping when these fierce men dressed in red burst into their houses, and without any word but only a brutal cackle that sounded like from the devil himself, started to hack them to bits.
"Noo¡"
"Who¡why?"
"Tibians¡Tibi.."
Fearful and mournful screams soon started to ring out across the hills, as one side danced withughter, and another side howled in pain and fear.
"Stop! Stop! Turn back!"
But these sanguinary actions were certainly not sanctioned by Perseus or Leosydas, as evidenced by thetter shouting this especially loudly.
Being around the back of the army, Leosydas had not been able to quickly deduce they had made a mistake, and it took him a while to understand that whatever they were exactly destroying, though he could not say what it was, it was absolutely certain that it was not the dwelling abode of the city''s rulers.
They had made a mistake!
But by the time he came to this conclusion, the massacre was already on its way.
Something he certainly was against.
Not because he opposed the act in principle or anything so altruistic.
But because he felt given there had not been detected yet, if these mercenaries had not acted so rashly, even if they had climbed by the wrong hill, there was still a chance for them to turn back and try again at ater date after finding the proper route, while leaving the enemy none the wiser.
But now, that possibility had been blown to smithereens.
"Darn it, that''s why I hate mercenaries. This would have never happened if my troops were allowed to lead the charge just as I had asked Perseus." And seeing the carnage unfold in front of him, Leosydas cursed as such.
He knew unlike these mercenaries his soldiers would have never acted without his express permission, and then, that little bit of possibility of still maintaining the secrecy would have been possible.
But Perseus had rejected that proposal fearing the losses such an elite unit would suffer while attacking through such terrain under such conditions.
He had already lost quite a few soldiers in the previous battle and then the following siege and hence was eager to avoid any more needless losses.
Thus he even made the apocalyptic prediction, ''What if the entire thing is an ambush, and there is an army above the hill,'' and decided to make the mercenaries bear all the risk.
And given he thought it would be a straight run to the top, it was indeed a prudent thought.
But that thought was now proving to be very wrong.
Chapter 574 Up The Cisran Hills (Part-3)
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While Leosydas shouted and tried to bring some order to the chaotic bloodfest the frontline soldiers or more like the 5,000 mercenaries were engaged in, events continued to unfold as the actions of the men there dictated it to, i.e. onto a very open, a very loud event.
There loud screams and chaotic shouts echoed throughout the hill and if that was not enough to alert the watchmen in the neighboring hills, well, at some point one brilliant man decided it would be nice to nice to have some light amidst the darkness and so decided to set one of the loghouses on fire.
And following him, many too felt that primal fascination all humans have with fire and lighting something with it.
Hence, given there were so many wooden houses and pirs, which were all dry and prime kindling, especially given the current season, like any good arsonists, the unruly mercenaries began to set fire to everything they could get their hands on, lighting the ce up like was a Christmas tree, while there was also the plus point of burning their enemies inside.
Many even started to do it because it was safer than having to go inside and hack them to bits, in addition to it being effortlessly quicker.
While some fires were also started because many of the houses had an inbuilt firece right in the middle of them that got knocked around in the ensuing scuffle and the fire spread from that small kindling.
But whichever the case was, soon, the entire iron refinery began to burn so brightly that it might have actually been visible from space.
And so of course, this spectacle was noticed by every watchman within possibly a hundred-kilometer radius. who very soon sent word to their respectivemanders about the disaster, who subsequently then send word up the chain ofmand, while also discing men to go and inspect the situation.
The Zanzan that should have been soundly asleep, blissfully unaware had been given a rude poke and was starting to wake up.
And what did Tibias gain by giving away their position so openly?
Well, much of the iron smelting nt''s infrastructure was burned to the ground, and basically all the guards posted on night duty were killed as well as the workers who operated the st furnace, plus the ves who worked the mines.
Which was certainly tragic and damaging, even if many of the ves were horrible criminals.
But hardly the decapitating blow that the Tibian higher-ups were wishing for.
In fact, it was not even a decapitating blow for the iron smelting industry as due to the war a lot of the workers had been relocated to form reserve garrisons, leaving behind only a bare handful to just keep the st furnace running, but not producing anything.
And this had been done because Alexander had told them that once a st furnace was lit, it should never be allowed to go out, because reigniting it would be a pain.
So what the Tibians'' ultimately managed to do with this risky, one-in-a-lifetime opportunity was stop Zanzan from producing iron for a while.
And seeing this chaotic mess unfold right in front of him, but being powerless to do anything about it, Leosydas felt he had effectively lost control over the mercenaries, he quickly turned to Perseus for guidance, asking in a panicking, overwhelmed voice,
"Your Majesty, what now?"
Leosydas felt the only thing left to do now was to sound the bugle to retreat.
Because given their element of surprise waspletely gone, all chances of attacking now seemed lost to him.
While Perseus kept a stale face and only kept ncing up, scanning the skies.
More specifically, he was looking at the two lights that had be visible to him after ascending this hill.
And this sight seemed to make him deeply think about something.
"We are not on the wrong hill! We simply misjudged its height! The manor is up top!" And suddenly Perseus dered to Leosydas, sounding very different from his usual self.
Because instead of the panicking Leosydas, he appeared very much calm and collected, and seemed to be able to make rational judgments based on current observations that Leosydas seemingly was unable to.
And from this interaction, it seemed to show that Leosydas was the type of person who calmly nned things out in the long term, but panicked if things did not go ording to n, or if a situation arose that needed quick decision-making.
While Perseus was theplete opposite, quick on his feet and acting decisively in the blink of a moment, but unable to strategize for the long term.
So perhaps that''s why the duo worked so well in a pair.
As evidenced right now, for when Perseus said his hypothesis, Leosydas was predictably confused, and could only confusedly mutter, "Wh..at?"
So Perseus patiently pointed his arms towards the lights above and said, "There! That must be the manor. That was what we were looking at from our camps."
"It is much higher than we thought."
"In the darkness, we simply forgot that. And when we got to this strange ce, we thought this was it. And started all thismotion."
"What a blunder!"
Perseus let out a rueful smile and shook his head as he said this.
While Leosydas was incensed, not at Perseus but Mohshin, shouting, "But the map! The map said nothing about this! How were we supposed to know?"
At that moment, Leosydas felt so much anger towards that old man that had he been present with them at the time, Leosydas might have actually skinned him alive and salted his flesh before slowly feeding him to the birds.
But for Mohshin, it had been actually an honest mistake.
When drawing the map, he had simply forgotten to take into ount that there would be multiplerge light sources.
And this had happened in spite of the fact that when Tibias had nned for the offensive, they had one day even taken him to the very foot of the hill along which they were supposed to attack, just to confirm it was the right way.
And Mohshin had confirmed indeed it was.
But that was all done during the day, and the thick trees obscured all but the highest light atop the manor.
So Mohshin, who was in fact not a local, and had never usually used that path, simply hypothesized that simply climbing the hill straight up would get the army to their target.
Completely forgetting there was a whole iron smelting nt with thousands of men standing in the way.
And now it was Tibias who was having to pay that penalty for the oversight.
Hecen it was understandable that Leosydas was so angry.
While Perseus standing next to him, again appeared much calmer, only saying, "But the question is which light to follow. There are two!"
And it was at that point, Leosydas calmed down enough and actually took the time to turn to look at what Perseus was talking about.
Indeed there were two sources of light further up the hill.
And additionally, as if to make matters just that bit interesting for them, they were in fact in twopletely different directions, one to the left, the other to the right.
''Weren''t there supposed to be only one? Is there another strange ce like this?'' And seeing this Leosydas''s head began to spin a bit.
"Let''s go towards the dimmer of the two, Your Majesty! ording to that traitorous ve''s description, the lord''s mansion is able to oversee the entire surrounding," Leosydas had very much changed his tone regarding Mohshin as he pointed to the weaker looking of the two sources, reasoning since the light was less intense it had to be further up, and so it had to be from the manor that was supposed to be atop the hill.
But Perseus rebuked this, reasoning, "Not necessarily. The dimmer light might be from a weaker source. So it might be actually closer."
It seemed in these tense situations, it was he who could reason critically.
And this reminder worked wonders in shutting Leosydas down.
Perseus waspletely right, and given it waspletely dark, there was no way to tell which was which.
And worse, depending on which angle one looked from, either light could look higher than its counterparts.
"So which one do we choose?" Leosydas clenched his teeth as he asked this in frustration.
"Both!" And Perseus did not wait for a second with his answer, and before Leosydas could give an incredulous look, the king exined,
"You and I will split our forces in two and attack both ces simultaneously. And whoever is wrong, will turn around and meet up with the other."
"That¡" Leosydas was actually shocked by this suggestion.
Not because it was something surprising, but because he felt that splitting forces at night when the enemy would have to have been surely alerted, was the epitome of foolishness.
Leosydas was sure Perseus had to know better.
And being friends with him for so long, Perseus could of course what Leosydas was thinking, and so sinctly reasoned,
"We have no time to wait and slowly figure out which is the correct target. I''m sure, as well you are, that the guards on the manor have already been alerted and garrisons from the city should have already started making towards the manor."
"So now the name of the game is speed."
"We must march at lightning speed and get to the mansion before the city garrisons can get there!"
Chapter 575 Cambysess Preparations (Part-1)
*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*.
Deep in the night, suddenly, this loud, very rude banging sound echoed across the hallways as a few armed guards pounded their fists against the luxurious door leading to Cambyses''s room, the speed of their hits very quick and even panicked.
While inside Cambyses was peacefully tucked away under her warm nket, the room being heated by a roaring fire going on, as her nubile body slept while hugging a scantily d Mean like she was her body pillow, her dainty arms and legs wrapped around the petite maid like a ko.
"What is it now?" And hearing this disturbing din, the first to wake up was actually thetter, as the petite woman popped her head out a bit of the heavy wool quilt with scrunched-up brows and slowly muttered in an annoyed voice.
Mean knew that Cambyses had workedte tonight, and then, given there was no Alexander, her mistresses and she had decided to enjoy a bit just between themselves, which ran quitete into the night, and so they had fallen asleep not so long ago. meaning both were still quite tired and more importantly cranky.
Mean even felt that if they did not get a good night''s sleep today, it would be hard for them to work properly.
And so unless it was very urgent, she nned to give the guards quite an earful.
But all those irritated thoughts were instantly swept away as the soldiers immediately after pounding loudly for a while and getting on response, started to shout in an rm tone from outside the door, "Mydy, fire! *Bang*, There is a fire! *Bang*, *Bang*, Wake up! Wake up!"
The soldiers struck so strongly on the door that it almost appeared they were ready to smash through the door.
"What!" And the moment Mean heard the word ''fire'', she involuntarily screamed a shrilling cry from the top of her voice, as her body began to feel both hot and cold.
Hot because of the urge to get up and get out of the house, and cold because of fear at how this could have happened.
Because from the soldier''s wording, she thought that the mansion itself had caught fire,
While hearing Mean''s terrified screech, the sleeping Cambyses next to her too immediately bolted straight up, throwing away her nket in the process and snapping her eyes open to look around, her gaze filled with terror and vignce, as the bloodshot organs, tried to identify the threat.
"What! Wh..y happened?" She fearfully asked, or more exactly shouted, as her ears were still ringing with that frightening scream next to her that had shattered her sleep.
And in her haste, after being so suddenly woken up from her fragile sleep, Cambyses miss pronounced ''what'' to ''why'', while her eyes still hurt from being so suddenly woken up.
"Mistress, fire! There is a fire! We get to go!"
But Mean did not have the luxury to give Cambyses the time to slowly wake up, as the petite girl deemed the situation to be dire.
So she was already out of bed and grabbing a nearby cloak for Cambyses while shouting this, and hearing the word ''fire'' Cambyses, like Mean too found all her grogginess disappear.
"Fuck!" Cambyses did not ask any why, or where, or how, hearing this, and simply threw off the nket entirely and then jumped out of the bed before quickly putting on the thick cloak over her negligee.
Following which she rushed to open the door to ask what exactly had happened.
And while on her way Cambyses''s heart was racked with all sorts of questions, as she repeatedly wondered, ''How can there be a fire? Who could have done it? Was it an ident? Or sabotage??''
Cambyses could not wait for more answers, as she, like Mean thought the manor was on fire.
" Where is the fire? Which wing? How did it happen" And so immediately as the doors were opened, Cambyses shouted this in full rm at the soldiers that hade to inform her.
And facing this barrage of inquiries, the temporary captain of the bodyguards took the lead and quickly told her what he meant.
"Mistress, the iron mines are on fire! The entire smelting facility is on fire!" The man even subconsciously pointed his arms toward that direction, even though he was actually just pointing to an empty corridor, as he quickly shouted this, adding,
"I have sent men to check the exact situation."
"But many of the watchmen are reporting seeing Tibian uniforms in the light. They appear to be ughtering the citizens there!"
"We are in danger!"
The man sounded panicked like Cambyses had never seen before.
This man that Alexander had left temporarily in charge of protecting Cambyses and his manor was actually Juminus, who you might remember as being the guard captain of the kitchen, and given that the man was previously responsible for making sure Alexander was not poisoned, naturally, he was quite trusted.
And as this trust had been built over many years while being in the same mercenarypany, given the long time, Cambyses too got to know him well.
And in all her years knowing him, this was the first time she had seen the usually calm man so fearful.
And this was totally understandable given if the reports about Tibias being already at the mines were true.
The roads along that path were really well made, as Alexander wanted to make the mines as productive and as efficient as possible.
So, if the enemy took that route, they could very well be in front of their manor at any moment, and at that point, it would be as simple as just waltzing into the city.
That could not be allowed to happen.
Hence Juminus''s rming ''we are in danger'' sentence.
So Cambyses naturally understood this.
So hearing this report, her heart almost drowned in fear and she began to really wish it could have been just the manor that was on fire, like she had initially feared.
That would have been a minor inconveniencepared to this.
"Wha¡ho¡" Hence, given the gravity of the situation, and how precarious it was, the young girl suddenly felt her brain go nk.
Cambyses was only neen and had never thought things would be so dire so quickly.
One moment they were firmly holding the front line, the next second, Tibias was pointing their spears at her back, right in the middle of the night without any warning.
So given the circumstances and theplete unexpectedness of the situation, Cambyses was for a moment caught in decision paralysis, even unable to form coherent words, while the others simply looked at her intently.
The pressure of which made Cambyses even more forgetful, as her hands could be seen literally shaking and her knees felt weak, while her sight began to suddenly darken.
Cambyses was about to pass out from fear!
"Evacuate! We must evacuate the manor, mistress," And it was only after Mean, who had atst put on her own cloak and joined from behind, shouted this to Cambyses that she finally got her brain running.
"Yes! Evacuate! Get the maids and the women out. And conscript the men to defend!" The first thing that Cambyses did was repeat and add to the order, as she felt her world brighten up as Mean''s loud,forting voice worked to drive away the dreadful panic attack she was about to suffer from.
And Cambyses would look back on this particr event for many years toe with a relieved sigh, knowing that if she had lost consciousness then, it was very possible Zanzan might have fallen that day.
But for now, Cambyses did not have that luxury to sweetly reminisce, as upon saying this, she then turned to look at Mean to further add, "Mean, you go find Lady Nanazin and the twins first. Get them out of here as quickly as possible! Take them to the temple and stay with them."
Even in this moment of crisis, Cambyses still remembered Alexander''s message regarding the twins and she worked to prioritize keeping them safe, sending them to the ce it was the safest to be in any war.
She even ordered Mean to be with them so they do not face any problems.
"But mistress, what about you?" But upon hearing this order, Mean was more interested in what Cambyses wished to do.
The loyal maid would never think of leaving her mistress behind and taking shelter in the temple all by herself, as the mere thought of that made Mean''s heart shake. and hence seemed determined to stay here or at least take her mistress with her.
And Cambyses of course understood this, which was why, in order to cate her, Cambyses thought quickly, and in a cajoling tone answered, "Of course, I will soone with you. But I just need to take care of a few things."
"The ves and servants need to be evacuated."
"The male servants need to be hired."
"And the defenses for the manor need to be organized."
"You go ahead and wake thedies and ready the horses."
"I will soon be behind after giving Juminus some instructions and writing out some orders."
"Now go!"
Cambyses then hurriedly pointed outside the door to urge Mean.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 576 Cambysess Preparations (Part-2)
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Chapter 576
Cambyses gave a pretty good improvised speech to Mean as she made up her excuses.
And they were indeed excuses because, in reality, Cambyses was determined to stay and defend the manor, both to boost the morale of the already small number of soldiers and also because this manor had about 250 -300 million ropals stored in his basement, which she simply could not leave.
Thus, just how convincing Cambyses was in her speech, and how much of it Mean, who had been with her for so long, had bought remained to be seen,
Though fortunately, this, ''whether Cambyses would stay or not stay'' conversation did not drag on for too long.
For sensing the two girls were about to start a small drama, and given that they were already critically short on time, Juminus quickly chimed in to end this exchange, saying,
"Of course, Mydy will leave the manor shortly after you Lady Mean. She is the acting ruler of the city, so if something were to happen to her, the people would lose hope!" as he then gave aforting smile to add,
"She just needs to give out a few orders first, and then she will be on her way to the temple too."
And this reasonable statement worked quickly to convince Mean, while it also woke Cambyses up to the potential consequences of her untimely demise.
If she really died while trying to defend the manor, maybe the city would go along with her.
And this realization made her somewhat reconsider her previous decision.
But the time to make that decision could yet wait.
As right now, Cambyses had more important matters to attend to, and seeing Mean run off to wake up the people in the manor and evacuate them, she turned to Juminus to ask, "Has Menes been informed?"
This was the first and foremost important thing to do, as then the city garrisons could effectively be mobilized.
"No, ma''am. I came right here to let you know as soon as my subordinates told me about it." Juminus answered negatively, but then quickly added,
"But it is possible he has been informed by now by other watchmen. The fire is quite hard to miss."
That was good news to Cambyses who went, "Good, good!"
And then she ordered, "Okay, Juminus you start preparing the defense for the manor. Build whatever you can think of¡ditches, ramparts, nting stakes on the ground¡.whatever you can think of to slow the enemy down!"
"And also conscript every male ve in the maor and give them whatever we have as weapons to defend this ce."
"Remember! Whatever enemy we face or how many of them there are, we cannot let them get past this position. Or we are finished."
By this point, Cambyses had shed off the weak, meek look that had affected her and seemed to transform herself into a strict, determined general as she loudly gave out the orders.
"Yes, mydy," And this look made Juminus genuinely respect her, as he received her orders with a salute.
And then proceeded to reveal his ns for the defense which he had been thinking all while,
"I was thinking of cing all one hundred of us in front of the hills equipped with the instant bow. I remember Master saying that those bows were wonder weapons for holding down narrow choke points and for defending sieges."
"So with one hundred of us firing, and given the weapon''s rapid rate of fire, it might be like a thousand men are defending the site."
"The enemy will surely have a hard time climbing up the hill," Juminus actually sounded excited as he said this.
And it was true that the man had always felt regretful at not being able to use that revolutionary weapon.
It was so fun to practice it, but its limitations were so grave made it impossible to be used in a real battlefield.
Which had made the manment oh so much.
But now that he was given the opportunity to use it, and under such important circumstances, of course, he was excited.
In fact, he was so excited that it even overrode the fear of the precarious situation they were in.
"Oh, that''s good!" And this of course got a nod of approval from Cambyses, but then quickly inquired with a bit of a worried tone, "But do we have enough bows and arrows?"
She was especially worried about thetter, as though equipping one hundred men was not easy it was still doable.
Whereas it was far more difficult to have enough arrows, especially given the special dimensions of the arrows that were needed to fit the magazine and the prodigious rate at which this specific weapon consumed it.
But Juminus was there to quickly alleviate Cambyses''s worry, very loudly saying, "Yes! When master took the 500 men with him, they all left their bows behind."
"As for the bolts, these weapon uses the same bolts as the crossbows use. So we have enough."
And at this point, Juminus''s assistant standing next to him too chimed in to reassure Cambyses, saying, "Also mistress remember the weapons workshop is right next to us. They should have some in stock. So we can get even more."
''Yes! The workshop!'' Given the chaotic situation, Cambyses had almost forgotten about the almost ten thousand men living next to the manor, and that that ce was also a major arms manufacturer.
And so quickly took that into the thought process. rejoicing, ''The men and weapons there can still be used!''
So turning to the assistant who had spoken just now, she quickly ordered, "You! Go find Takfiz!"
"Tell him what has happened"
"And then get him to take all the guards and whatever men he can gather and report to Juminus within the hour. Go!"
Cambyses wanted to boost up the manor''s defense as much as she could as soon as she could.
"Yes, ma''am!" And the assistant gave a quick salute and immediately turned around to scamper off.
While on his way he also heard Cambyses''s voice ring out from behind, as she additionally ordered, "Oh, also remember to make hime with as many weapons and arrow bolts as he can!"
Cambyses had forgotten to say that the first time in her hurry
And the assistant answered with a curt nod without even turning back as he ran, and soon he was out of sight.
While Juminus, who had not finished exining his defense n, continued by saying, "Mistress, while we act as archers, I was thinking of having some of the male servants be ced in front of us to act as screening infantry, and give us protection."
"While others might help with carrying the arrows."
Juminus seemed to be nning quite a robust defense with whatever tools he had.
And hearing this of course Cambyses approved.
Though she also changed that n a bit saying, "No! All male servants will act as infantry."
"And the women will stay and act as arrow boys. I will cancel the evacuation order I gave Mean. We need to use every pair of hands and legs we have."
Juminus had no problem with this and only rejoiced at getting more troops.
So this was almost everything Juminus had to say to Cambyses, and so, feeling the conversation was finished with him, Cambyses then turned to the who was standing behind Juminus, and till now mute and suddenly asked him, "You! Do you know who is in charge of the wall defenders in this shift? What''s his name?"
''That¡um¡no ma''am," And being suddenly asked this by the most powerful person in the city, the guard stuttered a bit at first and shook while giving the negative answer.
But Cambyses seemed not to care, and continued as is, saying, "Well whatever. I will give you a message. Take it to the man in charge there and tell him that every reserver unit in the garrison is to start making towards the manor as soon as possible. Go!"
Cambyses decided not to just sit and wait for Menes toe to her rescue and instead ordered the garrisons to move on their own.
In this way, if Menes was already on his way, then it was all good either way.
But if not, then Cambyses would not be left to hang in the dry.
"Ye¡" But before the guard could ept this assignment, Juminus intervened, saying,
"Wait, mistress! Getting the reserve garrisons toe to us will take hours. Almost all are asleep, and many are even in their homes. After all, we never expected an attack toe!" Juminus revealed an oversight by the military that had gone unnoticed by Cambyses.
"That...why?" And it made thetter confused.
Because ording to her knowledge reserves were supposed to stay in their barracks, while the active defense patrolled the walls.
"Anyway, I think we should pull from the active defenders atop the walls. And the reserves can fill up the gap as they wake up," While Juminus, who did not want to exin why that protocol had not been followed quickly attempted to change the topic by saying this
And though Cambyses of course caught this little trick, she kept her cool for now, knowing now was not the time to make a fuss, and simply followed along.
"Okay! Do that!" Cambyses changed the order, before adding in an almost helpless voice, "And let us pray to Gaia that the enemy has notunched a frontal attack to pin us down."
That would be truly catastrophic.
Chapter 577 Cambysess Preparations (Part-3)
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The issue with the reserves not being at hand had to do with limited space in the barracks, as the city''s facilities were simply not equipped to house tens of thousands of soldiers.
Topensate for this, many make-shift buildings had to be created, and given the urgency of the situation they had not been able to be properly heated and furnished yet.
So in this cold weather, most of the soldiers were allowed to stay the night at their homes.
And thisx in military discipline had be especially egregious these past days as Perseus had decreased the intensity of these attacks.
It seemed his strategy of lulling the enemy tocency had worked.
Cambyses woulde to know about all thister, but for now, she decided to go by Juminus''s suggestion.
Now, the idea of pulling back the active defenders from atop the walls to bolster the defense of the manor certainly had its risks, as anyone could guess.
But given the reserves were being woken up, and the few still present in the garrison as reserves were enough to be able to temporarily hold the line during the transition, Cambyses saw it as a viable strategy.
Especially when the guard captain of the manor sought to reassure her by saying,
"Don''t worry, Mistress. The outer walls are tonight very quiet."
"Or else, much of our nearby reserves would have been called up by now to deal with them."
"I think all the enemy''s troops are engaged in this nking attack. They should not have enough troops tounch a two-front attack."
Juminus was in fact wrong in this assignment, as Perseus certainly had enough troops to attack on both sides.
The 15,000 he left behind might not be enough to break through, but they surely would be enough to prevent the patrolling defenders from reinforcing the manor.
But Perseus had decided against such an attack because his original n had been to catch Zanzanpletely unaware.
And it would have worked if not for the mess up by the mercenaries.
But now, given how events had unfolded, and fortunately for Juminus, although he was wrong in his assessment, he was right in saying that Perseus would not attack the walls, and convinced by this argument, Cambyses felt a bit more confident in issuing the order to move the wall defenders, thus leaving the walls temporarily vacant.
With all this done, Juminus felt he said all he needed to say, and noticing time tug at him relentlessly, quickly excused himself as he tried to catch up with his own work of organizing the defenses.
While the other guard stayed behind as Cambyses went back to her bedroom to hastily write the letter issuing her order, instructing whoever was in charge of the defenders to summon all avable personnel present in defending the wall ande with all of them to the manor in defense of it as soon as possible.
And finished it by nting her, or more urately her husband''s seal that she always carried with her.
"Take this. Exin the situation to whoever is in charge. Ande with as many men as you can as soon as can." Cambyses repeated the orders to the young guard as she handed the letter which was more important than its weight in gold.
"Yes, ma''am," And the young guard solemnly swore with a quick salute, feeling he would deliver this letter even if it killed him.
"Remember! Be quick! The enemy could be here at any moment! So be quick!" While Cambyses urged him repeatedly about the short time, again and again asked him to bring as many men as he could as fast as he could.
Because if the enemy was at the mines, the good road could have them in as little as half an hour!
So speed was of the essence.
Knowing this, the moment the young guard got his letter, the man ran at breakneck speed out of the manor, and jumping on a horse from the nearby stables, rode it at full gallop across the night city.
And as he did, he was greeted with a sight that normally would have rmed him but now filled him with only reassurance.
Because the normally pitch-dark city was no longer dark as the abyss, nor silent as the grave.
For there were many glittering sources of light emanating from various points of the city, while loud and rmed shouts slowly drifted into his ears as he blitzed across the road.
It seemed that the whole city had at least half woken up to the imminent dangers facing them.
And as he got nearer to this destination, the young man even began to notice some people running towards the temples, as well as a bitter noticed an armed contingent of about 50 soldiers making their way towards what seemed to be the manor.
''Is that a group belonging to a lord?'' The young man reasoned given that specific contingent''s intricate armor and small size, and then added to himself,
''Oh, but it''s natural. The fire is sorge it would be hard for any of the lords not to be notified,''
In fact, that fire had been so big, it made the young man shudder to even remember that feeling of gazing at it for the first.
He had never felt so small and helpless as then.
And seeing it, he actually thought there was no way any human could live through that alive.
And if they could, they might not be human.
But now, he was actually d that it had been so big.
Or else everyone might not have woken up so quickly, and help might have taken a long time to release the manor.
So even seeing that small trickle of soldiers already be on its way, the young guard felt truly d, and even thought of meeting whoever there was in that contingent to tell him of the situation there
But held himself off from doing that after remembering his mistress''s urging, saying to himself,
''No! I need to get this letter as soon as possible to the wall. The entire manor is counting on me!''
So the surprisingly responsible young man urged his horse to sprint even faster.
While Cambyses, after donning her iconic red armor first and foremost decided to see the situation with the mines for herself.
So she climbed up to the third floor and through one of the windows facing the iron minesid her eyes upon the scenery previously described to her.
And just like the reports described, and true to being able to inspire fear in any human as the young guard felt, it was truly a huge fire.
In fact it was so big that the bright embers of the inferno lit up the dark sky in a dull, reddish hue, making it appear as if the sun had decided to wake up early, with the entire surrounding being bathed in a rusty, crimson nebulous glow, as the vermillion color sought to fight the darkness away, forming a river of shing shades,
''Did the bastards set even the ground on fire?'' Cambyses had not really expected such a huge sight.
The fire seemed to have spread from the initial log houses to then the various workshops, including the coke-producing nt and even to even the coal storage nt, which seemed to be burning the brightest, the mes even turning from red to blue at the ends and fantastically even a bit of white at the very center.
Seeing which made Cambyses even wonder if the temperature there might be able to melt iron.
But the most impressive of all this might have to be the burning waterwheels, which Cambyses could see were still spinning even as their wooden bodies caught fire, appearing almost like a circus of death from the final destination series, asshes of red and copper mes spinning around seemed to reach up to lick the clouds.
''Will the entire hill burn down?''
Seeing his horrific inferno, Cambyses could not help but wonder fearfully, for it was not unheard of for forest fires to burn down entire swathes ofnd, especially in winter when everything was bone dry and mmable.
But though Cambyses seemed to be able to feel the heat even from here and notice enormous plumbs of fearful ck smoke rising into the clear sky, the people directly underneath it did not seem at all bothered.
At least as far as Cambyses could see that is.
Maybe they were really demons as the young guards had fearfully thought.
For against the red fiery light these ck figures appeared to be dancing gleefully, neither the heat nor smoke appearing to affect them, as their silhouettes could be clearly seen shing and hacking other silhouettes, the target no doubt being the Adhanian present there.
And seeing as how the enemy seemed to have no intention of taking any prisoners as everyone was being massacred, Cambyses estimated the entirety of the 4,000 - 5,000 men there had to be dead by now.
"Beasts!" The young girl spat out in a low voice in disgust.
But in a kind of schadenfreude way, she was also d that the enemy had decided to waste their time burning and destroying that rtively useless refinery.
Because it meant she would have enough time to bolster her defense here.
And as she stood there watching this she actually wished the enemy would kill a few more, hence giving her some more time to prepare.
Or so she wished.
Chapter 578 Cambysess Preparations (Part-4)
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In much contrast to Cambyses''s wish for the enemy to waste time continuing to destroy something that was of significantly less value to her, as soon as she had thought such, much to her horror she began to notice arge number of torches appear from underneath the overgrowth, moving away from the iron mines, and slowly headed up, straight towards her
''The enemy has started moving!'' Cambyses immediately understood.
But soon noticed that the mass of torches inexplicably had decided to divide itself, and then suddenly one of the groups diverted its course to head in the opposite direction, which was where the cement crushing nt was situated.
Yes, the lights that Perseus noticed were from that ce, which ran 24/7 to crush the cement clinkers.
And seeing Perseus divert part of his army to attack there, for a while Cambyses was a bit confused.
Clearly, the enemy knew they were here, as one-half of the army was still moving steadily towards them, so she could not understand what the enemy had to gain by splitting its forces and attacking a rtively useless ce.
''Do they wish to attack the city from that side? A two-pronged attack!'' Cambyses was at first a bit rmed at the thought.
But quickly dismissed that idea.
Because in the end, she saw no point in that.
Though it was indeed possible to attack via that route too, that ce looped back to the western side of the city anyway, so in her mind, Cambyses felt it would be much faster to simply attack the manor using the straightforward route that ran directly from the iron mines to the manor.
The detour only worked to give her more time to build up her defense.
''Perhaps the enemy thinks that ce is really important. Or that part of the army''s leader got himself lost,'' Hence unable to think of a good reason, and unable to picture the scenery Perseus faced with the two lights, Cambyses shrugged her shoulders and came to this erroneous conclusion.
To her, there seemed to be no point in wasting her brain cells trying to figure out why the enemy had done such as mistake.
Whatever the reason why, it was very good news for her as it basically halved the amount of enemies she would have to face.
So she could only cheer seeing roughly half the enemy move more and more away from her.
''Oh! I should send a contingent there just to be sure,'' But once her brief tion was over, Cambyses was still prudent enough to make a note to cut off that enemy detachment''s route just to cover all bases.
But as she was about to make that mental note permanent,
*Boom*, an ear-splitting boom rocked her ears, making her so scared that she involuntarily ducked her head below the window to take cover, covering her ears as hard as she could as she did.
To her it seemed that the entire earth had split open, and an overwhelming surge of fear washed over her like it had never done before.
She wanted to do nothing more than just run away from this room where she was all alone and dash to ces where there were other people.
''No! I can''t do that. I need to see what it was!'' But the strong girl quickly picked up the courage to stand her feet down and not buckle.
Given the situation, she had to know.
So, after the loud bang died down and an ufortable silence started to reign, the brave girl very slowly and cautiously surfaced her head above the window panel and very furtively started to scan her head around.
She first thought it was a loud thunder booming across the night sky.
But that was unlikely given the clear weather.
So the next, much more fearful thing that came to her mind was the enemy deploying some kind of fearful weapon.
But that absurd thought so quickly went away as Cambyses thought there was no way any human could wield such power and if they really would, they would have used it long ago.
"What the fuck was that?" Cambyses swore loudly in a shaken voice as she tried to find what caused it.
But that inquisitive thought was quickly reced by a horrific scenery seeing which Cambyses could not help but mutter, "Oh, the gods!"
Because right in front of her, the iron mines now seemed to be truly on fire, as much of the things which had yet to catch fire were now burning like firewood, including many of the nearby, while much of the surroundings around the mine itself had be ttered.
Even from where Cambyses would see dismembered and destroyed parts of humans, which now did not seem to resemble so human.
"Ho¡H¡.how!" Cambyses would not help but gasp as her eyes bulged out.
This seemed to be the work of the gods.
Though in reality, it was just that given the ongoing war, one of the coal houses was not being properly maintained, meaning arge amount of coal had be stored up in there without it being properly cooled with water or proper venttion to let the gases out.
And so once the fire spread¡.the methane formed from the dposing of coal somehow ignited, and ¡well the rest is history.
Burning coal flee up into the night sky and then rained down like a meteor shower, igniting anything and everything itnded on, creating a spectacr show that Cambyses missed.
While the resulting shockwave created a storm of shrapnel that turned anyone close enough into unrecognizable mincemeat and ruptured the eardrums of many less fortunate buggers.
But Cambyses or anyone for that matter did not understand this.
And seeing this macabre sight, the superstitious and religious devout Cambyses actually let out an almost manic cry of pleasure, heartilyughing out,
"Haha, the gods¡.the gods are with us! This is divine punishment by the gods. Hahaha, serves them right!"
This burning scenery of the scorched would be burned into Cambyses''s memory for all her life, and affect her growth in many ways, as this very moment was what served to convince her that Alexander from truly divine, for the act before her could have been only done by the gods themselves.
And ording to her, it was done to save their chosen champion''s city from certain destruction.
And this belief was quickly reinforced when she noticed the two masses of torches immediately stop after this loud bang and shortly after many individual lights began to turn back towards the mines, as it was only natural Perseus and Leosydas would send some men to check what the hell happened, or even more men to do by themselves.
Which bought even more time for Cambyses.
So feeling ted at seeing the enemy stop, and thinking she had seen enough, the now ''blessed with witnessing a heavenly miracle'' Cambyses felt transformed and so left the room to oversee the overall defense of the manor with a confident gait.
Though she might have changed her newly found status of ''god''s consort'' if she had stayed a bit longer, as right after she left, Perseus''s army began to slowly move again, straight towards her, as he gave the following inspiring speech to his men,
"Whatever has happened at the back has happened. Even if the gods have descended, it matters to us not. solders!"
"For our destination is forward."
"March men! March quickly! The gods have created for us a golden opportunity¡ so march!"
Perseus repeatedly said the same word, urging his soldiers to not be distracted and to move as quickly as possible.
The loud bang had indeed made the entire army stop subconsciously, as many men appeared dazed and confused, while some panicked after seeing the ''stars fall from the skies''.
These were most of the ones that ran, as evidenced by Cambyses from above.
But Perseus did not care what was urring behind him.
The king had be almost like a bull, only able to see red or in his case whatever the ce that light was shining from.
And in order to do that as fast as possible, he had evenpletely given up on secrecy and made his soldiers light almost all the torches they had so that they could see better and march quicker.
Because he reasoned quite urately that it would take some time for the garrisons to wake up, get dressed and equipped, report to their unit, have theirmanders show up, and then have them lead them all the way here from another part of the city.
So Perseus believed if he could match faster, he will be able to reach his destination before the reinforcements could.
And so he urged his me to not back, but run forward.
And with their king''smand, the long veteran soldiers in their bulky phnx formation mostly discarded all other thoughts and ignored the few deserters, and slowly resumed their match upward.
Which meant Cambyses did not nearly have as much time as she thought she did.
But Cambyses did not know, and so as she descended down she began to patrol the hallways searching for Mean as her next task.
It was so that she could rescind her evacuation order, and also in the meantime wake up anyone who was still uninformed of the situation.
And fortunately for her, it did not take long to find her target, as she was in front of the main door and seemed to be actually in some kind of heated discussion.
Chapter 579 Cambysess Preparations (Part-5)
As Cambyses approached the front door, she spotted everyone she had wanted to meet was bunched up altogether in a group at the very front steps of the manor.
There was Nanazin, her three daughters, the twins, Ophenia andstly Gelene, all dressed in a way she had never met them before.
Their faces had none of the usual makeup, and their usually immacte hair now appeared disheveled, and adding the fact they were without their usual expensive jewelry on them, these women whom Cambyses hade to know for some time actually appeared a bit distant from a distance.
But it was only normal given the urgency of the situation, and so all the women could be seen only wearing a heavy cloak over their presumably light sleepwear, while their feet still had the soft leather indoor shoes designed specifically to walk over the soft carpets, instead of the appropriate ones for outdoor travel.
It seemed they did not have enough time to change to even to that as they rushed out of their bedrooms.
And though they had all been woken up from their slumber in the middle of the night, none seemed to have a wink of sleepiness in them, instead, and quite naturally, their eyes seemed to be filled with fear and anxiety.
Nanazin''s three daughters were seen huddled close to their mother, the twins beside them clutching each other''s hands, while the other three seemed to be having a little disagreement.
"Sister Tayin, you take them to the temple. I will go look for mistress," Cambyses could hear Mean instruct this to Ophenia as she approached them.
To which thetter shouted, "No! I want to stay. Sister Cambyses is staying too isn''t she?"
And even Gelene was heard quickly saying, "Yes. Whatever it is we should stick together!"
It appeared that Mean really had doubts regarding Cambyses''s intentions, and hence attempted to have Ophenia take the others to the temple while she stayed behind.
"What''s going on?"
But before this argument could get out of hand, Cambyses''s strong voice sounded over before she confidently approached the group.
And as all the pairs of eyes spun to meet her, seeing her confident gait and sharp, piercing gaze, all the women there instantly felt something was different about hisdy of the house.
Compared to before, Cambyses seemed to exude more of an air of authority, and her eyes even appeared to glow with a cold, ethereal light, making her even look somewhat arrogant.
And for a split moment, Nanazin even felt like she was facing a water-downed version of the Queen Mother, almost as if Cambyses was subconsciously imitating the gestures of that haughty, regal woman.
While seeing her mistress okay and present, Mean''s eyes both lit up in delight and then shuddered a bit in fear as she was just about to disobey her orders just now.
But whatever the reason for Cambyses''s change was, that could wait.
Instead, seeing the person with the most authority in the city approach them, Nanazin quickly took the lead to ask,
"Lady Cambyses, what''s going on? We have been told there is a fire. And the enemy is about to attack!"
When Mean had woken them up, the girl had failed to give any details, and along the way they had received all kinds of conflicting reports.
So she was eager to know the exact circumstances around their situations.
"Rest assured mydy, there is no fire inside the manor. One of our mines is indeed on fire, but it is too far away from us. We are not in any danger from that,"
Cambyses first sought to calm the panicked woman, and this good news made Nanazin produce a very audible sigh of relief as she merely thought that they had been woken up as such due to a false rm.
But that brief moment of tion was quickly snuffed by Cambyses''s next sentence, where she sinctly told her of the real situation,
"But there is the enemy heading towards us. That is true."
"They have somehow managed to attack from the wester side through the Cisran hills and are making their way towards the manor house."
"They are the ones who caused the fire in the mines, and are expected to be here soon."
"It was because of this that I asked Mean to temporarily escort all of you to the temple."
Cambyses''s calm, cool voice eerily contrasted with the gravity of the situation she described, and the confirmation of all the events made many of the women freeze in fear.
"Tha..that..how? How the enemy¡" Like many, Nanazin too was unable to fathom how this could have happened.
How Tibias could haveunched such a daring attack through such treacherous terrain and seemed close to seeding?
Most were unable to fathom.
Though in hindsight it was quite myopic for the Muazz family and to a much lesser extent for Alexander to think a series of hills would be enough to stop a sufficiently determined army.
If Hannibal could cross the Alps with his elephants, what were a few, small hills?
This would have happened sooner orter once Zanzan faced an enough determined enemy.
But for now, no one in Zanzan was privy to the facts of how PR had gotten the idea to undertake such a daring maneuver, and how he had been able to navigate the dense wood to find his way up.
And frankly, they did not care.
At least right now anyway.
Because whatever the reason was, that could wait, for their first and foremost job was to get out of this alive.
And so at Naazin''s incredulous shout, Cambyses only gave a cid look, unable to give a reasonable answer.
''Whatever happened and how it happened doesn''t matter. God is with us,'' While inside, the girl hid a crazed conviction under her stoic facade.
Thus, given she was short on time, Cambyses finished her exchange with Nanazin and then turned to Mean to repeat her order regarding evacuating the royals, her voice much stricter and more officious than before.
Though she ended the sentence with a calming, "Don''t worry, I will evacuate as soon as I have verified Juminus''s defenses."
And this worked to put at rest, or if not, at least suppress the petite girl''s worries.
While Nanazin, being far more concerned about her and more importantly her daughters'' safety too started to urge Mean, saying,
"Yes, Lady Mean, let us go. This ce is about to turn into a battlefield. It''s no ce for us womenfolk."
"That''s right, that''s right. Let us go to the temples Then we can pray to the gods for aid," And the twins were quick to chime up in support.
Seeing this, Ophenia and Gelene, who had wanted to argue in favor of staying behind, understood most wanted to leave.
And then thinking for a while and feeling they being here really would be of little use, and more likely only get in the way. decided to at least follow Cambyses''s advice.
"Sister, take care. We will continue to pray for you," Ophenia gave this short goodbye as all the women boarded quickly as hastily arranged carriage, and with a curt nod from Cambyses, they were soon past the manor''s walkway and out of the gates.
And as the noble carriage sped through the night, Ophenia could not help but think, ''Sister Cambyses seemed different today. Her demeanor seemed to radiate a sense of stability and strength. Almost like master.''
While back in the manor, no sooner had the carriage left that the caretaker of the workshops Takfiz came to report to her,
"Mistress! I got here as fast as I could. How is the situation!"
The old face was haggard, and his clothes still disheveled, and he seemed to be followed by a band of about ten to fifteen men, who were all wearing a mish-mash of whatever armor they presumably could get their hands on, from gambesons, to bronze cuirasses to only chainmail to one even wearing nothing but a thin tunic in his cold, while all sported a crossbow on their back.
The group''s makeup could very well go on represent the tag-rag defense Cambyses was being forced to prepare herself with.
And as Takfiz greeted Cambyses, she on the other hand was greeted by faces filled with fear and confusion, and they all looked at her very intently, eager to know more about their situation.
"Oh, you are here, good. Come with me" But Cambyses kept the greeting short and trivial, for time was of the essence, and proceeded to soon take them inside, leading them to the back where Juminus was busy building the defenses
"....so we are to hold till the main garrisons get here," And it was on the way that Cambyses gave some background to their situation.
While Takfiz, as a gesture of reciprocation, informed Cambyses of his actions in the meantime too, saying, "Mistress. when I got your message, I told all the avable guards to follow the royal guards back to the manor."
"And I also had all the stocks in the weapons shops be distributed to the men¡.weapons, armors, arrows¡everything."
"This took me a while to arrange which is why I''mte. My apologies," The old man lightly said so more as a gesture of courtesy.
To which Cambyses responded with a silent nod.
She had not seen any of these men, meaning it was likely Juminus had taken them, and so she hoped the defenses being set up were better than she was expecting.
Chapter 580 Cambysess Preparations (Last Part)
Cambyses entered the backyard with Takfiz to find the entire ce had been transformed, with the most immediate change being howrge braziers were lit all around, turning the just recently dark and pitch-ck back garden into a ce bright enough to host a ball.
And matching the luminescence of that bright ce was the energy all around, with the whole ce buzzing with activity, the soft grounds being stomped with hurried steps and the air filled with the sounds of sharp barks, as every man, woman, and child moved with haste and urgency as if their lives depended on it.
Because their lives really did depend on it.
"Quick! Move quick! Men! Get in formation!"
"Sheilds! We need more shields"
"Crossbows here! Come here!"
"Arrows! This unit has not gotten their arrows!"
"Who ismanding this unit? Who is themander here! Get back here!"
All sorts of loud inquiries, orders, and requests bombarded Cambyses''s ears as she entered the ce, where she noticed about five to six hundred men and women seemed to be engaged there trying to contribute to the defense effort.
Some were running to the frontlines, some were loading off weapons from carts, some were moving such carts, little boys were seen acting as arrow boys, running to the frontlines to drop arrows for the soldiers, girls were feeding firewood to the braziers to keep the fires going, and the armed soldiers were shouting orders to try and co-ordinate everything.
Everyone and every age group could be seen contributing to the effort in some shape or form, all in the hopes of forming a coherent line of defense that would push away the attackers.
"Let''s go find Juminus," And seeing this, Cambyses left the people to their devices and urged Takfiz toe and meet Juminus.
And the temporary guard was easy to find given his eye-catching armor and the small crowd that surrounded him, as each of them waited to receive their orders.
"Get me more shields. We do not have enough shields."
"Tell the women they will need to start delivering arrows once the fight starts."
"Find more crossbow bolts. 30,000 is not nearly enough."
Juminus was heard loudly shouting these to his subordinates, who upon receiving the order appeared to run off in different directions to try and solve their respective problems.
"So how''s it going?" Atst, once Juminus atst cleared his immediate backlog, Cambyses approached him, her tone more inquisitive than fearful.
And seeing her, Juminus subconsciously bolted his back a bit straighter, before giving a realistic answer,
"Mistress¡.*sigh*, it''s going as well as we could have hoped for. Not enough shields, not enough bolts, not enough men."
Saying this Juminus then pointed his finger to the slope of the hill, "Look, the enemy is almost here. Look at their numbers. I really hope the garrison can get here in time,"
Just as Juminus pointed out, the mass of lights down the hill was indeed much closer than before, and getting ever closer.
While the number of lit torches easily told Cambyses that the enemy had to number at least in the upper thousands, at least 5,000- 6,000 even by the most conservative estimate.
"How many men do we have?" And seeing this naturally made Cambyses ask so.
"About 1,000 including the women and children ves and servants. But men who can fight- 500-ish. "
"And that it counting all the male servants, the workers of the workshop, and the pce and workshop guardsbined." Juminus readily gave the answer.
But a point to be noted here was even though the enemy seemed to outnumber them 10 to 1, the man did not actually answer with fear in his voice, but simply concern.
This guard had an adamantium heart.
And hearing this Cambyses replied stoically as such, "Whatever the numbers are, we must still hold the line nevertheless. Do whatever we can."
Though internally she really regreeted that Alexander had taken 500 of the 600 men meant to protect the manor.
She could have really used those extra hands.
But it was actually her who had urged Alexander to do so, even though Alexander wanted to take only two hundred.
She had reasoned that Zanzan waspletely safe and hence saw no reason to keep such a well-trained force just sitting at home when their master was outside the province facing who knows what kind of dangers.
"As long as you live, we can live on, whether in this life or the other. But if we lose you, this world will consume us," Cambyses had famously said to Alexander in private.
And it was because of this reason, where Alexander''s safety was much more important than Cambyses''s that he had taken such a huge chunk of the force, leaving the manor so vulnerable.
And though it made perfect sense that the time, that decision wasing to bite Cambyses in the ass right now.
But what was done, was done.
The past could not be changed, and knowing this Cambyses put all her regrets to the trash can, and first introduced the old man to Juminus,
"Oh this Takfiz, he is the caretaker of the workshops. I''m sure you have heard of him,"
"Ah, yes, yes, we have gotten a lot of weapons and armor from there. Thank you," Juminus was quick to greet with a smile.
But before Takfiz could reply, Cambyses was quick to interject to save time.
"Mmm, so I have decided to put him in charge of the supplies." as she turned to Takfiz to delegate, "Takfiz, you will oversee everything at the back. The supplies, equipping the soldiers, and informing me once the lords reach here."
"Make sure to keep the men and arrowsing," Cambyses urged, to which Takfiz replied with a loud "Yes."
After this, Cambyses turned to Juminus, who just had his job taken by Takfiz, and with a swing of her arms said to him,
"Take me to the frontlines. I want to see the defenses for myself."
"Judging by the speed of their approaching, they could be here in as little as 15 to 20 minutes, or at worst half an hour."
"You do not have time to waste here. The soldiers need you to be with them."
And Juminus was quick toply, as he took Cambyses near the edge of the hill, where she noticed a somewhat solid line had indeed been formed with a proper chain ofmand.
The one-hundred bodyguards in their iconic full-fledged armor, plus the guards that protected Alexander''s workshops formed the back row, divided into three groups of about 50 men each, arranged in two rows.
They were of course armed with the iconic ''Instant bow'', ced in a checkerboard pattern so both rows could fire simultaneously without blocking the other''s view.
As for the arrows themselves, given the prodigious rate they were expected to be used in, the soldiers did not carry a quiver but were instead given a bucket or a pot next to their feet, each one filled to the brim with sharp bolts.
And funnily Cambyses noticed these most of these wooden buckets were ones used to bring water up from the wells.
"Ahhh, when I noticed we did not have enough quivers to go around, I got buckets and even some pots and pans from the kitchen," Juminus exined himself, as he, who was originally stationed to guard the kitchens thought of this little innovation to solve the little problem.
But these buckets were not the only sources of arrows for the soldiers.
For just behind them, each group had a cart, filled to the brim with arrows.
"The workshop gave us 20,000 bolts. So about two carts of worth. They are already here."
"And we had about 10,000 in the manor. That is the other cart. Hopefully, they canst until we get more," Juminus exined the situation to Cambyses.
These experts 150 men were ced at the very back of the formation, forming the very rear units of the line.
And immediately in front of them stood another unit of crossbows, numbering about the same as them, and arrange in the same two-row formation.
While at the very front, to protect these 300 archers were about 200 infantrymen, though calling them proper infantrymen might be a stretch.
Because though they were equipped with all kinds of weapons going from the natural spear, to axes, scythes, hammers to even a shovel, most did not have that one iconic thing that makes an infantryman an infantryman- shields.
And when asked about this, Juminus simply replied they did not have enough at the manor.
And this made Cambyses quite incensed,
"Fool. What will the soldiers defend with when the enemy phnx decided to skewer them with their spear?"
"Will they just stand there and let themselves be poked to death?
"What is even the use of having an infrared screen without a shield? They will run after the first hit."
Cambyses shouted angrily and made Juminus shrink in fear.
Of course, he had thought about it before.
But had been unable to think of a solution, only hoping the enemy could be held at bay using the bows alone until supplies from the walls reached them.
And after her little tirade, for a while, Cambyses was unable too.
''Is there no way?'' She regretfully thought, because without shields, this ''naked'' infantry formation was useless.
Until she suddenly turned to spot an empty cart leaving the frontline after delivering something.
''Cart! Let''s use the cart to form a barricade!'' An epiphany suddenly hit Cambyses
Chapter 581 Manor Defense (Part-1)
Juminus, during his efforts to organize the defense to his horror, found that neither the manor nor the workshop''s storage had any spare shields.
Sure the two ces had a lot of weapons like bows, quite a few spears, swords, etc.
But unfortunately no shields.
And the reason was simply that shields were neither made here nor much needed.
It was envisioned that in the worst-case scenario, the walls of the manor would act as their shields, with the bodyguards holding off the attackers using choke points inside the mansion for long enough until reinforcements from the city could relieve them.
So in such a case, it was assumed that a good number of crossbows andrge stocks of bolts were more important so that even the servants could be equipped with them and shoot down on the enemies through the windows and verandas.
Hence, only the bodyguards were given therge wooden shields, with only a few spare ones kept in storage, mostly for practice purposes.
All these shields had been of course given to the men at the very front, but that still left a lot of the infantry without this basic tool.
And while faced with such a situation, though basic improvisions such as using a heavy wooden nk, arge metal pan, or any otherrge solid object to hold in front of oneself were possible, the imminence of the attack made such things in such as a short time frame impossible.
Even something as simple as a ditch, which was standard procedure to do could not be dug due to the time constraints.
Thus Juminus simply hoped the concentrated arrow fire would be enough to halt the enemy until properly equipped units from the city coulde to rece them.
But this kind of wishy-washy thing was certainly not enough for Cambyses.
Juminus might be willing to recklessly gamble with his life, but Cambyses would not.
So she sought to find a solution to the problem, to give something, anything for the frontline soldiers to defend with.
And thankfully she found it quickly.
"There! Move the carts forward! Use them to make a makeshift barricade." Cambyses shouted to Juminus as she proposed her idea, "The soldiers can then stand behind them and use them like shields," she reasoned.
And hearing this Juminus felt like pping his head for not being able to think of something so simple.
''Darm! The urgency of the battle must have eaten my brain,'' He felt like crying as using the wagon as a defensive structure was an age-old trick.
So, upon getting Cambyses''s orders, the man ordered without any dy for all avable carts to be moved in front of the lined-up troops, and soon the drivers did just so, leaving their carts behind after detaching the horse or mule pulling it.
"Give me one of those horses," And while one of the drivers was leading his horse back up the hill, therge beast suddenly caught Cambyses''s eyes, and so ordered that man to leave his beast behind.
Amand the man almost fell to his arms and knees to obey.
And once upon the beast, though it had no stirrups or heavy a saddle, Cambyses found this pack animal not too hard to ride, both because it was a domesticated beast, so much different from a warhorse, and also because she had been taking equestrian sses the past six months.
So once atop the beasts, she veryfortably urged the beast to go in front of the frontlines, where she gave ast-minute speech.
"Men! The enemy before you is someone you have already faced. And someone you would have defeated if not their elephants."
"Now, they have no elephants. So you have nothing to fear."
"You have all heard the loud bang from before. It was goddess Gaia''s divine wrath! To aid her champion in battle."
"That means the gods are with us! You fight with the help of divine emissaries!"
"So y these men before you without fear. Or lose your homes, your families, yournds! Ahhhhh!"
Cambyses finished her speech with a loud triumphant hurrah, and the men naturally replied with an even louder cheer.
Hearing Cambyses''s speech and more importantly, actually seeing her filled the 500 or so men with fighting zeal.
Most of the men conscripted to fight here lived around the manor, and so had at least once or twice seen their lord''s wife.
Thus, seeing her present with them, ready to fight, instead of running away to the temples was a great morale boost to many, especially the male ves who had been simply handed a weapon, any weapon, and then told to go and fight.
As such many men began to feel like martyrs.
While in the meantime, no soon had Cambyses finished her rousing speech that Perseus was starting to make hisst strides towards them, with even some of the enemy''s faces or more urately their shiny helmets started to be visible under the light of their torches, as they seemingly rose out of the undergrowth.
The sh was imminent.
And seeing this Cambyses regretted a bit that they could not get a bit more time, as they were unable to barricade their nks with the carts too.
But they did the best they could, and now it was time to put the mettle to the test.
So she wheeled her horse to the back, and
"Shoot!"
With this order, the 300 archers arranged in three groups began to let go of their arrows like their lives depended on it.
Now, these groups of men did not fire the arrows like seen in Hollywood, where amander would give the iconic three-wordedmands,
"Notch!" where the entire army would align their arrows with the bowstring,
"Draw!" where the entire army would simultaneously draw their arrows and hold this heavy bow taut for a long time, and after taking a wide lens shoot of this,stly woulde the order,
"Shoot!" where the entire army would all at once let loose their valley.
Now, Hollywood did this for the theatrics.
Becauseunching a mass of arrows together looked much cooler than an uncoordinated haphazard effort.
That was not at all how it worked in real life.
One was because holding a bow, especially the kind of rtively heavy bows the archers used, for any period of time would be very tiring.
Two was because not all bows were equal.
There were differences in ranges a bow could shoot at due to the wood used to make it, or how it was treated before manufacture, or even the kind of string used.
So if everyone was made to shoot at the same time, some arrows would fall short wasting that shot, while others would feel they missed getting off an extra shot.
The third reason was tied to the second, being that each marksman''s individual skills yed arge role in the range of the arrow, like how an expert archer would adjust his posture or even the direction of this bow during shooting topensate for wind speed.
Andstly was the type of arrow used, as not everyone used the same type of arrowhead.
Some used needle bodkins designed to pierce armor, some usedrge, serrated heads to tear the flesh, and some used the standard head giving them a bnced shoot.
All these reasons meant that once the enemy got rtively close enough, themander would give a generalmand to shoot, and then each of the archers would start letting off their arrows based on their judgment.
And it was with one suchmand from Cambyses that the first volley of arrows was sent rocketing towards the Tibians who were about 200- 250 meters away and were being personally led by Perseus himself.
It seemed in the fifty-fifty of choosing between the roads, Perseus had won.
And the king seemed to be aware of his prize when he heard the loud cheer following Cambyses''s speech,
''Sounds like there are a thousand men, It has to be something big!" Perseus was still not sure if the manor was truly ahead of his, but his ears were experienced enough to tell that there had to be around a thousand men guarding it.
And though he was wrong by a factor of two, still, being able to determine how many enemies there were just based on the sound that even had some echoes to it, was still very, very impressive.
It truly went on to show that Perseus was that good a military strategy.
So, reasoning if anything a thousand men would try to defend, it would be the lord''s house, the king urged his men to march that bit quicker, for he was that eager to capture his prize.
*Shoo*, *Shoo*, *Shoo*
But it was just then he was greeted by a barrage of arrows whistling through the air as they made a low humming buzz.
"Argh"
"Urgghhh"
"Ahhhh"
And the first volley,pletely silent and fired with a warning managed to actually wreak some havoc on Perseus''s lines, with quite a few men falling at this.
"Shields! Shields!"
"Get in formation and raise your shields."
And at once thismand almost instinctively rang out, though not before a second and a third volley came to greet them.
''There really are a thousand archers atop!'' And feeling this arrow storm, Perseus became convinced of his number.
Though the actual numbers of archers were only one-third of it, with the instant bow users being half of even that.
But that seemed to be enough.
Chapter 582 Manor Defense (Part-2)
?
As the first volleys turned to the second, the third, and so forth, the instant bow really started to showcase its power.
The speed at which the arrows were let loose made it seem like there were 10 times the men firing at the enemy, and the intensity of the fire made it quite hard for Perseus to continue up the hill.
Especially after the casualties he took following the first volley where, the hundred fifty (150) instant bow users let off their entire magazine at once, totaling a concentrated shot of seven hundred fifty (750) arrows, apanied by 150 bolts from the crossbows, for a grand total of nine hundred (900) arrows fired, given a few seconds.
And what made it worse for Perseus was that this concentrated attack of so many arrows came from nowhere to them, at a time when his troops were caught out of formation and without their shields up as the phnx units marched in a loose array up the hills.
Thus there some about a hundred (100) casualties from that initial strike only, showing just how devastating that wall of arrows from the instant bow actually was.
And to add a cherry on top for the defenders, these shots were quite easy to carry out.
They really did not need to aim but just had to look at the zing torches against the dark background and let loose their shots around that general direction.
And given how the seven to eight thousand men under Perseus were forced to queue up along the rtively narrow roads leading to the mines, most of the time, these arrows hit something, be it shield, armor, or if lucky flesh.
Plus, the defenders could do this in rtive safety, without the fear of getting shot back, for the following reasons as described by Perseus and his entourage when his adjutant came to him from the front shouting,
"Your Majesty! Shoot! Command our archers to shoot back! Or else we cannot proceed!"
The man very reasonably wanted to use their archers to fire back and suppress the defenders as such, while the infantry advanced.
But Perseus shook his head in denial at this, saying,
"There is no point. The enemy is shooting downhill. So he has more range. My archers will be shot even theirs," before his voice started to sound bitter, as he said,
"I forgot about that. That''s why a hundred good men (100) died,"
The king seemed genuinely quite regretful and even rebuked himself for letting his emotions get in the way of good military strategy.
In hindsight, when he had heard the loud cheer, he should have been prudent enough to slow his march down and get his troops into proper phnx formation.
But because he had not done so, they were now being forced to do so under a hail of arrow fire.
As Perseus finished saying this, another high-ranking noble from beside him too chimed in, turning to the adjutant to say,
"His Majesty is right. Our archers will not be able to reach the enemy on the top. So if we bring them up front, they will simply stand there and be killed given their thin armor."
"And that is even if we can bring them to the front lines." The noble then added forcibly, before gesturing with his arms by swaying them around,
"Look around us kid¡. surrounded by hills and forests on all sides with only a narrow road leading up. Trying to maneuver any units either front or back is futile."
"Nevermind even if we can actually do that, we might not even know whether the arrows are hitting the enemy."
This sentence was not said by the high-ranking noble but was uttered in a high, pitched, almost feminine voice from the other side of Perseus, and it belonged to a sickly-looking man, with gaunt cheeks and sunken eyes, appearing to be in his mid-fifties.
He was named Mithriditus and could be said to be the third most powerful man in Tibias after Perseus and Leosydas, though his health was not one of envy.
But what hecked in brawn, he seemed to make up somewhat in brains, as he pointed to the hilltop above using his almost cadaverous hands, and said.
"Try and look from where the arrows areing from¡. where do you think the enemy is¡can you find it?"
And at this instruction, the adjutant naturally looked up to try and determine the enemy''s location.
And strangely failed to grasp it.
To him, the arrows seemed to be shooting out of the dark night itself.
"See¡.you can''t find them." And Mithriditus of course predicted this would happen, as he exined, "This is because the enemy is firing from above us in almost darkness. They can see perfectly well with all our lit torches."
"But we can''t see them except as one of the many shadows up there." He intelligently pointed out,
"So if we send our archers ahead, they will not where to shoot, and might even end up hitting our troops."
Thus this rtively older man fully exined the intricate reason by pushing the archers forward would not be a good option.
"That¡" And the adjutant for the first time felt something like being enlightened, and his eyes widened as he was unable to reply back.
But the others did not have time to wait for this young man toe out of his stupor.
So as soon as this was finished being said, Perseus interjected with his order, saying, "Mithriditus is right. The archers stay back."
"The best thing to do now is to lock our shields together and have the infantry slowly move up through the fire."
"Now go! We are close!"
Perseus of course meant this as an order with the adjutant benignmanded to pass this to the frontlinemadners.
"Yes, sir!" And understanding this, the man received it with a loud saute and quickly proceeded to carry it out.
While back on the top of the hill, the fierce release of arrow after arrow continued, as the men almost mechanically drew, shot, and reloaded their bows, all so that they could resume the cycle once again.
The continued motions were starting to take a toll on their arms, especially for the ones using the instant bows, but they knew they had to keep going.
This miracle weapon had managed to do quite a bit in halting the enemy''s advances, with the rapid concentrated fire managing to even literally shred some shields in two and kill its holder with multiple grievous wounds.
But the men knew they would have to keep up the pressure or all their gains might be lost.
So they persevered even through the pain.
All while Juminus and Cambyses shouted encouraging words such as.
"Fight! Fight for your lord, yournd, your loved ones!"
"Do not let up! The enemy is faltering."
"Be calm! Be steady! Nothing can stand against our weapons."
While to help the men aplish their tasks, women and children were seen frantically running back and forth from the nearby arrow carts to the frontlines, each time replenishing the stocks of arrows with a new full bucket.
And contrary to Mithriditus''s im that the Zanzan were shooting from a dark ce, it was actually quite bright here.
But the reason he had made that mistake was because the light from the braziers was obstructed from reaching him by the wall of men lined along the very edge of the edges.
So it did appear quite dark to the older man.
Due to this, Perseus was unable to offer any counterattack to the enemy and was forced to only passively take the hits while sustaining ever-increasing damage, causing his casualties to rise up.
And when to mitigate this, he slowed his advance down, so that the phnx units could hold their cohesion, it turned his speed into almost a crawl.
And even then the inherent trouble phnxes had with moving through terrains in formation remained, nevermind they were also being shot at at the same time.
So the asional gaps would open up regrly, letting the lucky shots in, and reaping a life and decreasing morale.
But Perseus was unable to think of an effective strategy other than to the obvious retreat for now.
Or just to power through this rtively short distance, resolving to absorb the casualties and then start ughtering those annoying bugs once they were in range.
The former was out of the question.
Not a singlemander or officer dared to utter those words.
And so it had to be the second one.
With that zing determination, Perseus and his men persevered, and very, very slowly made their up the hill, while the enemy tried to suppress them using volley after volley of arrows as much as possible.
All of which was observed with silent trepidation by Cambyses right from the best sit in the house, right on the frontlines.
And to a bit of her relief, the enemy did seem to slow down to almost a standstill after her archers had started to fire on them, and so for now, the goal of stalling for time until reinforcements got here seemed to be heading in the right direction.
''Where are they? What''s taking so long!'' But much to Cambyses''s chagrin, they were yet to actually arrive.
It was already half an hour till the battle started.
And so she went to meet with Juminus and asked this in a tense tone. "How many arrows do we have left?"
Because she knew they were about to run out!
Chapter 583 Manor Defense (Part-3)
At Cambyses''s inquiry, Juminus produced a slight frown on his brows that was visible even through the helmet.
That question really revealed their current Achiell''s heel, and the man should have beenmended to keep his reaction to just a mild reaction.
"Not many. 30,000 is really not a lot of arrows to begin with," He frankly answered with a rueful shake of his head, before borating, "Our stocks here meant each of the 300 archers got a hundred (100_ arrows."
"An average archer, he can shoot about 5 shots a minute. A crossbowman about 1 to 2 a minute. And as for the instant bow¡well mistress can see for herself."
The prodigious rate at which the instant bow ate up arrows was a scene to behold.
And though Juminus had suspected it before, seeing it firsthand was an eye-opening experience for him.
As was for Cambyses.
Saying this, Juminus here paused a bit to articte his thoughts, perhaps ruminating on how to say the next words, before again starting.
"We have already told the men to try and conserve as many arrows as possible. But we also have to keep up a certain rate of fire to keep the enemy''s head and slow down their advance."
"So as you can see, though the battle has only been going for 30 minutes, we are already two-thirds down." Juminus pointed to the dwindling stock of bolts on the carts as he said so and ultimately finished by dering,
"Given such, we canst maybe another 10 to 15 minutes!"
It was a grim prophecy.
Made all the more harrowing when Cambyses was able to see the enemy had managed to make remarkable progress even enough through such hardship, advancing almost a hundred and fifty meters (150 m) in the meantime, leaving them just fifty meters (50 m) away from reaching the frontlines.
Cambyses''s heart shook with fear and even a hint of despair as she could not believe any army would be able to still make their way up a hill under such heavy arrow fire.
It had to be remembered that Perseus was forced to channel his army through a narrow road up the hill, all while having to face the equivalent of around a thousand (1,000) archers raining incessant volleys sorely focused narrowly on them.
And the result of this was very visibly apparent even to Cambyses, who standing at the very back of her army, a distance of about a hundred meters (100 m).
But even from there, even under the darkness, Cambyses clearly spotted how mangled and torn the shields of the first few rows of the phnx formations were.
Each of them had perhaps ten to twenty of these short bolts sticking out of them, and Cambyses dreaded to think how many of these arrowheads had pierced both the shield and arm behind it, locking it in ce, and how much it must hurt to even hold on to their shields, much less march with it, keeping it level and steady.
These shields weighed around 10 to 15 kgs and wielding them even in normal times had to be daunting, much less under these perilous conditions.
So seeing the soldiers still persevere, Cambyses felt a foreboding feeling.
While her counterpart Perseus cheered his men on, knowing victory was so close he could smell it.
"Onest push! Onest push, and you can ughter the men and have all their women. Make them pay for what they have done to you!" The king shouted.
This climb had definitely not been as easy as Cambyses presumed it to be.
To encourage his army forward through all the obstacles, he had to put his own personal bodyguards at the very front, and have them lead the attack, resulting in casualties among them could be described by only one word- Dessimation!
The concentrated fire, especially from the instant bow wreaked havoc on that unit, and if the casualty reports he got were true, Perseus was pretty sure after this battle, he would have to reconstitute this entire unit from scratch.
And that realization made his heart bleed.
Because it was not as if this was any other unit that he could have to remake.
It was arguably the most elite fighting unit in all of Adhania, formed with the sole purpose of defending their liege.
And the formidable warriors in their roster really showed that for among them there was arguably the best swordmaster in the country, a very talented horseman, and a formidable spear user to name only a few.
Any single one of their deaths would have been a tragedy.
But if going by the report his adjutant had delivered, all of them were either dead or close to death.
But though Perseus wept for them, with many of them even being his close friends, he did not regret his decision.
Nothing mattered as much as capturing Zanzan.
Both to him, and to them.
And it was because of this they followed Perseus''s orders without flinching, advancing stoically even amidst that lethal showing of arrows, slowly but methodically, and even heartlessly stepping over theirrades'' fallen bodies in the process if they had to, thus bravely using their own fleshy bodies as a bulwark to lead the rest of the peasants up the hill.
All for the final victory.
In the eyes of every Tibians, they were the very incarnation of the word ''Hero.''
And as Cambyses''s gaze suddenly locked on to one of them, the crazed determination that burned within them actually scared the girl for a moment, as she doubted if her hastily recruited ves and servants could stand against even one strike from them.
''Hmmp! No matter what the gods are with us!'' But soon she stared back with an even manic gaze.
Cambyses was convinced even if the 500 men were to be ughtered, and even if she were to join, the gods would find a way to save Zanzan.
She was sure of it, hence her eyes too began to ze with a zealous fervor.
"Charge!" And just as she reinforced her conviction, did Perseus''s men reach close enough to the frontlines, and immediately afterwardunched a manic charge a furious roar, where they lowered their spears and started to sprint forward, intent on skewering ''every single of those fucking archers'' as they swore.
But s!
Reality was much different than they had hoped.
Because though they managed to cross thatst 20 meters in a heartbeat with negligible casualties, their dream of puncturing through one, two, or even three men at a time in retaliation for the attacks they suffered till now did not manifest.
Instead, most of them were met with the unpleasant sensation of iron hitting wood or the bronze ting of the shields, and soon afterward a few unlucky ones had one or two puncher wounds gifted to them, as the infantrymen standing securely behind the wagons first let the inanimate object absorb most of the blow and then counterattacked in their full fury.
"What!"
"Spears! Infantry!"
"The way forward is blocked!"
"They have infantry defending the top!"
And this came as aplete surprise to the Tibians, who let out panicked shouts of disbelief and even despair.
They could not believe it.
Up until now, they had always believed that reaching the top would be the end of their suffering, a ce where they would be able to fan out, and then ughter those abominable but now defenseless archers.
And it was that point that had given these reaching their breaking point to still continue.
But reality seemed to have hammered a cruel nail in the coffin to that wish.
For just in front of their most hated foe stood a row of infantrymen guarding them, protected by what seemed to be wagons.
The Tibians in the darkness had entirely missed these men or mistook them for archers, which was why they hadmenced that suicidal charge.
The result of which were even more needless deaths of some very famous Tibian warriors.
And it was all for nothing.
Because not only had their charge failed, it was only now that the Tibians were bing aware of the fact that Juminus had ced his troop at the very mouth of the road, which created a narrow choke point that was very hard to pass through, given Perseus''s two nks were covered by dense wood.
And so bulldozing straight through seemed to be the only option.
An option given the only narrow road they could stand on would take a long time to carry out, if ever.
Yes!
Just arrows and archers were not the only tricks Cambyses''s sleeve.
They also had soldiers holding a dreadful choke point.
In fact, it was precisely because of his strategic location that Cambyses had allowed Juminus to defend outside the manor, and not use the manor''s stone walls to hole up inside and fire arrows in all directions.
And as Cambyses''s lines held, Perseus''s lines despaired.
These men had already been close to their breaking point and only the sweet desire of revenge thatid at the top of the hill had kept them going.
But now seeing that they would still have to go through this solid bulk of men, solidly entrenched in their position and defended by a thousand archer, even Perseus''s hardened bodyguards began to break down.
They had trekked up a treacherous route for almost six hours, under treacherous conditions, taking untold casualties, all to be stopped at literally the very mouth of the gate.
It was heartrending for them.
Chapter 584 Manor Defense (Part-4)
Perseus felt his heart fall at seeing his army being stopped at the very edge of the gates to his dreams.
They were so close.
By now, given the amount of resistance he had encountered and through even the few loud shouts he could pick up on, he had be certain the manor was definitely up there.
Which made it all the more heartbreaking as knowing he hade so close, having endured such hardships, only to be presented with such a tough challenge once again¡well it was enough to make even this charismatic leader with a heart of steel feel crestfallen.
And like him, his army, who had taken hundreds of casualties as dead or wounded to get here, amounting to as much as 5% of their total force, too felt like breaking.
It had to be noted that even now the arrow fire, though reduced in its intensity, had not stopped, but had continued to pick off a few of their unluckyrades with each volley, decreasing morale lower and lower.
''If I can''t break through that choke point soon, I will have to retreat,'' Perseus''s heart bled at the thought ofing so far, spilling so much blood, losing so many friends, and then ultimately having to go back empty-handed.
But even with that imminent inevitability, he was ultimately unable to think of a proper response.
And it seemed he was doomed to fail aftering so, so close.
Perseus actually felt his eyes turn red at the thought.
While his counterpart Cambyses too felt her eyes redden, but for the opposite emotion- joy, instead of sorrow.
"The enemy is stopped. Hold firm! Hold steady! The enemy is stopped!" The girl could be heard shouting at the top of her voice as she rode in her horse behind the lines.
Her worst nightmare of the lines snapping at the first charge did note true and instead, the men seemed to be doing reasonably well.
''The enemy can''t break through!'' And further looking for a bit at the current stalemate she concluded as such, for she could clearly see how after the initial charge, the Tibians seemed to have all their zeal sapped away, their attacks bing slow and lethargic.
It was as if they had lost their will to fight.
And as she saw this, she understood the threat had been mostly neutralized.
All that remained was to gather the reinforcement and push them back.
And this realization made Cambyses feel a sense of intense, almost overwhelming relief washed over her.
Her heart, which until now seemed to be beating loud enough to smash out of her chest, finally calmed down, and she even began to feel a bit weak in her limbs as the adrenaline started to wear off.
"Mydy, Lord Menes is here. As well as a few of the lords! They have all brought reinforcements!" And as if to add cream to the cake, suddenly Takfiz came running to Cambyses to inform her of this.
And a few momentster the evidence of this became clear, as hundreds of men began to pour into the backyard.
"Finally they are here!" And seeing the familiar armor and livery, made Cambyses mutter so in a sigh of relief.
It had to be nearly two hours since the first distress calls went out, and frankly, Cambyses was very irritated with the slow,x response.
"Mydy, we gravely apologize for the dy. Organizing the troops took longer than anticipated!" And as soon as the man leading them, Menes saw Cambyses approach them on horseback, the man slightly bowed as he said so.
To which Cambyses lightly nced over him and produced a stoic nod, and then not deciding to criticize the general up front, instead only said, "Mmm, its good that you are. We were waiting for you."
And then quickly gave the battlefield report, "We have stopped the enemy''s advance at the mouth of the hill. But we need your help to push them down. Please go assist our defenders!"
"Yes!" Menes replied so with a deep nod, though it wasrgely unnecessary as under his adjutant''s instructions, the frontlines had begun to be automatically reinforced.
And seeing their numbers swell, the Zanzan defenders excitedly cheered, while Perseus finally despaired.
He finally understood that there was no way he would be able to break through here now.
So he internally acknowledged his defeat and resolved to blow the retreat sound.
But just as he was ruminating on that, suddenly he noticed the winds of fortune seemed to turn towards him, as if performing aplete one-eighty, and started blessing him with all their fortune.
For all of a sudden, he started to see the enemy soldiers holding the chokepoint, whose solid formation till now was almost reminiscent of a steel wall, now appeared to be wavering and slowly breaking rank, almost like they were crumbling into a sand castle that was hit by the waves.
Perseus had no idea what could have made an enemy so close to victory do such a suicidal thing.
''Perhaps their leaders have died somehow,'' He assumed for a split second.
But an instantter he figured it did not matter to him one bit why this happened.
Only that it did.
"Attack! The enemy has broken. He is routing! Attack!" So to immediately capitalize on the situation, Perseus in almost a maddened voice shouted like there was no tomorrow as he instantly ordered a counterattack.
While the soldiers at the frontlines too noticed his change, and with reddened eyes rushed forward like the very garden of Edenid in front of them, killing and ughtering anyone in the way.
Finally, their most hated enemy was in front of them, and after suffering for more than an hour under their arrows and spear, the Tibians were eager for revenge,
While the Zanzan defenders who had held so strong for so long, suddenly seemed to have lost all hope for victory and began to run away like headless chickens.
But then the question became what actually caused this change?
And to know that one had to go back to around the time Cambyses met with Menes and some of the other council members such as Grahtos, Menicus, Harun, and Jazum.
There, after only a brief time Takfiz gave the d tidings, and the men the lords had bought with them began to fortify the frontlines, a very ominous message came to Cambyses.
Or more specifically it came to everyone present there.
For all of a sudden a barefooted man, with sunken eyes, and ragged clothes covered in bloodstains all over, burst through the back door, and in a hoarse, panicked, high-pitched voice shouted, "Enemies! There are enemies attacking the workshops. Look! Tens of thousands of enemies areing from there."
"Look!" The man repeated as he pointed up towards the hill to his right, and in a shrilled voice urged,
"Run! Run for your lives! The enemy has already broken through!"
The rmed shouts and the gestures naturally drew everyone''s attention to him, and then to the ce his fingers were pointing to.
And there they saw!
Even through the fog that had begun to settle in, they saw!
Torches!
Many torches! Many, many torches!
Numbering in the thousands, possibly tens of thousands if going by the man''s numbers, these torches were all rapidly descending down the hill, and seemed to be heading straight towards them!
And as you might have guessed, it was indeed Leosydas, who had first gone to the cement crushing nt, and then understanding that it was not the ce, intended to turn back.
When suddenly he noticed another road leading to the same ce, or from Leosydass''s perspective the same light source Perseus was attacking
And better still, he could clearly see the ce that had be much more illuminated than before, with many, many, shadows seeming to move to and fro in the dim light.
And this left no doubt in Leosydas''s mind about what that could
"Found you!" The man hence let out a wolfish smile when he had seen this.
And then, deciding against turning back and rejoining his king, he instead opted to follow this second route, intent on attacking the manor from the other side.
And the closer he got, the more assured he became that it was the right path, for he could see almost no soldiers there to stop.
"Men! Hurry! The enemy has moved as its troops to fight against our liege. It is a golden opportunity. We must relieve His Majesty as soon as possible!" Leosydas had urged as he pushed his men up.
And he was absolutely right that in that order as Cambyses had indeed moved all the guards from the workshop thatid west of the manor to reinforce against Perseus.
Leaving the waypletely open for Leosydas.
The man''s gamble of not rejoining his king had paid off ten folds and more.
While at the manor, it soon became clear to every man, woman, and child that the enemy had just pulled off a sessful two-pronged attack, and they had been already ced inside a cage, with the door about to be closed imminently.
And if they wanted to escape this imminent encirclement, the time to run was now!
Hence theplete copse of the frontlines, which no one was capable of stopping,
While Cambyses sat atop her horse like a statue, her heart filled with only these two words,
''I forgot!'' ''I forgot!'' ''I forgot!''
She kept repeating it.
Because she just remembered she had forgotten to send that contingent of soldiers to the cement nt like she had wanted to.
Chapter 585 Manor Defense (Part-5)
The sight of another army descending from the other side of the hill made Cambyses almost faint as her heart momentarily stopped beating and all the blood drained from her head and face.
Aftering so close to winning, after things had gone so well till now, she could not believe this was actually happening!
She just could not believe the enemy had such a move in their sleeves.
And worse still, it was a move she had noticed at the very start of the attack.
But had failed to act against it.
The realization of this made her eyes darken as the light seemed to consciously avoid entering it, her tongue dried up in fear, and her ears appeared to have gone deaf, no longer even being able to register that ragged man''s rming message, which by the way was still being sted out, destroying the morale of the army.
Instead, Cambyses had to put in a herculean effort just to stay conscious atop her horse and did not even have the time to bother to care that her solid frontlines had begun to crumble like dust after seeing that sight.
While her almost-dead heart was only filled with bitter regret.
Regert because she had seen that army before, the one which separated itself from the ''main army'' and headed towards the cement nt.
At the time she hadughed, even cheered that she would have to only fight half the enemy.
But that was not what she was actually regretting.
What she was actually regretting was that though she had made a mental note to send a contingent of soldiers along that way as a redundancy, she had forgotten about that.
Because immediately after she had made that promise, one of the coal storage houses burst into a spectacr explosion, making her distracted.
And then with that momentous event still fresh in her mind, plus the imminent arrival of Perseus, she and all those around her seemingly became too focused on that particr threat, failing to notice the other half of the enemy.
Who were also helped a bit by the weather, as with dawn approaching, the familiar winter morning mist had begun to set in, aiding Leosydas in hiding the light from his group''s torches.
So it was only when Leosydas had actually made contact with the walls protecting the workshops and then burst through it, and then started to bulldoze through it to try and reach the manor that the people even became aware of an entire army being present at their very doorsteps.
And it was chaos, as the people there screamed and ran in terror at the sight of the iing army.
While Leosydas and his men showed no mercy to anyone who got in the way, putting all men, women, and children they could get their hands on under the sword, and taking no prisoners.
And in the resulting massacre, several small-scale fires also managed to break out as the Tibians used their torches to burn the homes, some of the hearths in homes that were left unattended caught fire, and many braziers outside got toppled over, and a few lucky the dying embers fell on a bit of dry hay or wood, reigniting themselves again, and being born anew into a zing me.
The consequence of all this was soon the rise of plumbs of smoke from the workshops, the distinct mushroom-like ck clouds reaching high into the sky, clear for anyone near to easily see.
All this was of course terrible news of Zanzan, as, if not for the smoke and the ragged man''s message, perhaps the Zanzan higher-ups could have yed off the enemy forces as their own, and at least retained a bit of the morale.
But given the state of affairs now, with the burning fire, the seemingly low cackle of the pleased enemy as they tore through the citizens, andstly the mournful, desperate screams of men being beheaded and women and children being killed or humiliated, no one would even think the force was friendly.
While seeing the fire and hearing the screams, many of the men present with Cambyses began to break down.
"No! My family! My wife, my daughter!"
"Why? Why? Son! Son!"
"Kashfa, Opesia! Be alive! Oh god be alive!"
"K! K! Oh my god K!"
These mournful screams and tearful cries broke out among almost the frontline defender, as most of them had families residing in those workshops, many of whom had not evacuated because they thought staying inside the wooden walls were much better than trying to cram into the temples like the entire city was trying to do or wonder hopelessly around the city looking a ce of refuge in this weather.
And it was not the recently recruited servants and workers who were mourning and running.
Even many of the proper soldiers and guards too started to break rank in order to go and try defending their own families, for many lived near and around the workshops.
But perhaps the most notable person to break down during all this was Takfiz, who was among the first to run after seeing even the very first thin wisps of smoke rise to the horizon, howling in fear for his grandson he had sacrificed so much for.
And this had a profound impact on many of the soldiers, who saw clearly such an important person desert them, andbined with the anxiety of wanting to go to protect their own families, it was only natural they saw no point in staying here and so soon afterward the sturdy lines began to melt away like soft cheese under fire.
It was a terrible sight to behold.
But what was the ultimate result of his breakdown of military discipline?
Did the men manage to actually go save their kin?
Did they manage to fight off Leosydas and his men?
Did they at least manage to meet their families?
No, of course not.
Most did not even get to escape the vicinity, as they were soon beset upon from both sides.
This was because as soon as the choke points were loosened, it was like the floodgates had been opened for Perseus and his men, who seemed to have transformed into an even more fierce, vicious bloodthirst woof than Leosydas''s men.
And this beast, one which had been trapped in that pass for so long, and one which had endured for so long being peppered with tens of thousands of arrows, let out an enraged and excited roar of satisfaction the moment it broke through, rejoicing at being so callously released into the wilds, and then in a mad rush started to kill anything and everything that moved.
They had endured long enough taking so much punishment and now it was time to make everyone and everything pay.
So the moment they broke through, and saw their prey running away, they all instinctively started to give chase to the fleeing enemy, using their huge, long spears to attack the defenseless backs of their hated foes, while other''s eyes fell on the women and girls that were just till now running the supply lines.
"Kill! Kill to your heart''s content!"
"ughter them! Leave none alive!"
"Women! Find the women!"
"Where are the pretty girls? Where are the concubines?"
Just judging by the crazed, manic shouts of many of Perseus''s men, it almost appeared that they had by now gone half-insane and now seemed to be using their weapons and the resulting bloodshed to vent all of the pent-up emotions.
Or letting their primal lust take hold and vite any woman to cool down.
While from the opposite side, Leosydas also pushed his men forward,pleting the encirclement, and killing any men running toward them.
So by running, the men had actually made the situation much worse for them.
Not that it mattered to them anymore, for most who ran were already dead or captured.
"Into the manor! Get into the manor! Cambyses get into the manor!"
But even amidst this chaos, at least there were a few level-headed men in Zanzan''s rank.
The most prominent one being Menes, who, upon seeing the enemy and disintegrating line, had instinctively begun to shout this, waving his sturdy arms to draw attention to him as he did.
And following the giant''s quick thinking, the other council members and the few bodyguards they had with them too began to shout the same instruction, while one particrly brave soldier even went up to Cambyses shaking the stunned girl out of her stupor.
"Yes! The manor! We will be safe inside the manor! Run inside! Run inside!" And after breaking out of her almost hypnotic stance, Cambyses too began to point the people to the most obvious ce to take refuge, as she too started to approach it.
And seeing the lords enter the ce and heraing their shout, many of the panicked men, and more specifically the women and children who were towards the rear lines appeared to make a dash for it.
While once inside, still on her horse, Cambyses asked in a loud, rmed voice to Menes who was beside her,
"Menes! How many men have you bought? Why are there so few? Where are all the tens of thousands of defenders?"
She asked this because as far as she could see, the reinforcements that Takfiz had said hade till now only amounted to a few hundred men.
There seemed to be a few zeroes missing there.
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Chapter 586 Manor Defense (Part-6)
The lords of Zanzan and thedy of the house were the first to enter the manor, along with about twenty or so bodyguards apanying.
And once inside, though the soldiers tried their best to secure all the entrances, their efforts proved futile.
Because they were really too few.
And it was thisck of numbers that made Cambyses inquire where were the rest of the reinforcements.
She guessed it had to be at least 6 am by now, and the army should have been here by now.
"The soldiers are still gathering downhill. But they should be making the climb as we speak!" Menes quickly answered the inquiry, though he sounded a lot less confident saying that second sentence.
One which Cambyses noticed and narrowed her eyes in anger, her pupils zing with fury.
"Speak the truth! Where are the defenders? It''s been so long and they are still not here? Why is it taking them so long?" Menes had never seen Cambyses have such a scary look as she shot these questions.
But then again she had never been in such a scary situation.
"....we thought it would be prudent to wait and gather forces beforeing. So they are waiting for my instructions to advance." Finally, unable to bear pressure from Cambyses''s re, Menes muttered this in an almost mosquito-like voice, which the hyper-aware Cambyses of course caught every single syble of it.
And it made her heart almost turn ck with fury,
"What! Why! Why would you hold off on this?"
"Do you want Zanzan to fall?"
"Do you want me to die?"
"You disloyal snake! Alex''s eyes must have been eaten by shit to have put you in charge!"
"Not only did you lose us the war, but you can''t even do this properly?"
"Do you think you can put on a pair of clown shoes and dance on my head just because I did not say anything about thest battle?"
"When did you be such an imbecile? You fucking ¡.xxxxx¡..xxxxx¡.xxxx"
Hearing this, finally, Cambyses''s dam of patience burst open as she began tombast Menes in a way most of the people there did not think was possible, as Cambyses in her vituperation uttered words no self-respecting woman was expected to say, drawing stunned eyes from all over.
None had seen Cambyses be so mad.
While the person in the direct line of fire to it all, Menes, only drooped his head in shame as the shrilled shouts bombarded him.
He would admit he had made some grave errors in his duties.
Regarding the reinforcements, what he did was ce them at the bottom of the hill leading to Alexander''s manor, and then told them to wait and build up mass before advancing, as he figured onergebined force would be much better than sending units one by one to face the enemy individually in a piece-meal fashion.
This was also the reason why that guard Cambyses had sent to get the active defenders had note yet.
They were stopped by Menes''s adjutant who then told them to wait for more of theirrades.
And though the man protested, they were held off.
Now, to be frank, Menes''s n was not a bad n in theory.
Certainly sending a few hundred troops apiece might have been just feeding them to the enemy one by one, letting the enemy deal with each individual unit separately instead of a wider, coherent force.
But in thinking that he failed to take into ount the fact that the manor might desperately need reinforcements, even just a trickle of it, right now to survive rather than wait to get a whole lot of it muchter.
That was what he should have done.
And as Menes realized this, along with the other council members who too had suggested this only hung their heads.
And seeing this, Cambyses finally chose to finish her tirade.
She knew the enemy was fast approaching, there was little time on her hands to be engaged in such infighting.
So climbing off her horse, she then suddenly instructed Menes.
"Now go! Take this horse and run down to the hill. Gather the men there ande rescue us," as she handed the reigns of the horse and almost in a metaphorical sense, told him to go grab the reigns of the army.
"Bu..but¡no Cambyses! You should go! I will stay and guard the manor. Because if anything happens to you I will not be able to show my face to Alexander,"
But Menes wanted to refuse, as he then pointed towards the direction of the front door to shout
"The enmey is yet to encirlce the fornt gates. You can still get out! Quick!"
"You must live! The people still need you!"
And he was joined by Grahtos too, who said,
"That''s right, Mydy. This manor barely has any defenders to defend itself with. Please escape while you can!"
To which Cambyses only sneered, before turning to Menes and saying in a mocking tone, "So you do you know me dying is bad? Looks like everything is not shit inside you after all."
Judging by the voice she was still very mad.
As Cambyses then steeled her voice and spoke in amanding voice,
"It''s good that you know that."
"So ride this horse out and bring the army to rescue us. Aren''t they waiting for your orders? What good will I escaping do?" Cambyses taunted, even though she could very muchmand the army if she wanted to, and then finished her speech with this very explicit threat,
"And know that if you fail and I die, Alexander will have your ass!"
Cambyses was basically saying ''go and takemand of the army or die trying.''
And hearing this absolutemand and feeling Cambyses''s seething rage, Menes knew there was no way around it.
So he atst leaped onto the beast with haste and then with a silent nod and a stony face, urged the horse forward, hoping the enemy had not closed off the entrance to the manor by now.
Because then, the lone man would then have no choice but to die.
"Mistress, we should try and leave the manor too. Let us follow General Menes," As they saw Menes navigate the horse through the narrow doorway into the corridor, his head lowered to the same level as the beast''s shoulder, the remaining council members urged Cambyses to follow behind him on foot, hoping they could be fast enough to outpace the enemy.
But the stoic Cambyses shook her head in denial, making all the council members think,
''She is not going to say to hold the manor at all cost is she? There is no way that''s possible! The enemy is both at the back and the left, and is rapidly encircling us.''
Hence these members, who hade ahead of the main force to reassure Cambyses, now felt like ants in a hot stove and wondered if they should try and make a break for it on their own.
Because if Menes could do it, perhaps they could too.
But such treacherous thoughts were put to rest immediately by Cambyses''s next sentence, where she said,
"No need! We will take the secret passages! It leads to the southern district! It will be much safer."
And this made all the lords widen their eyes a bit.
Yes!
There were still the secret escape routes every noble dug for themselves.
How could they have forgotten about that?
"Ahh! Of course!" Grahtos''s voice went up a few octaves as he said this, an air of relief andfort escaping his mouth.
He had be a lord just a few months ago and did not want to die so soon without having enjoyed anything.
While Harun who was apanying them chimed an inquiry, "Ahh! But then mistress why did you let General Menes take such a dangerous route? The southern distinct is not too far from us. He could havee with us and the attack would not have been dyed too much."
"Perhaps the tunnels as very winding?" And Menicus was there to provide a possible answer.
But Cambyses denied that, saying, "No, the tunnels are not too long. It ces you just outside the walls of the port."
Which made the three men confused as to then why Menes could note with them.
So Cambyses gave the real reason in a cold tone they had never heard before,
"General Menes has many mistakes in the past few months. So I sent him out through such a dangerous path to see if he still has the goddess''s favor."
"If he lives, he can stillmand the army. If he can''t¡.then he is not worthy anymore."
The callous way Cambyses said it made the men subconsciously bolt their spines a bit out of fear as they suddenly felt an aura of respect from her.
This was not the Cambyses they knew.
And it was in fact true.
Because this Cambyses was somehow changed about witnessing that explosive.
And this authoritative and decisive style of judging one''s worth, especially one who had proved ipetent was something the ancient people actually admired.
"May the goddess bless him," So Menicus ced his hand on his heart hearing this, as did the others, not daring to speak up against it one bit.
While Cambyses ignored this, and only said, "Come, time''s wasting," before suddenly her an idea shed inside her¡setting fire to the manor and killing foes and allies alike!
Chapter 587 Setting Ones Own Fire
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As Cambyses and her entourage made their way through the various winding corridors, hurriedly advancing toward a remote part of the manor that led to the secret passages connecting a passage to the outside, suddenly Cambyses felt an idea birth inside her.
She got this from looking at all the burning candles on the walls and chandeliers which she walked past on her way, all of whom worked to illuminate all the expensive carpets, the embroidered currents, and the beautifully crafted furniture thatid inside this magnificent manor.
And as she looked at them, seeing all these exquisite items sh before her, quickly made the girl''s heartache as she understand that all this was about to fall into the enemy''s hands.
Never even mind the huge stockpiles of gold they had in their treasury, which Cambyses had already given up any hope on saving, plus all those expensive paintings of Pasha Muazz stored with them that Alexander intended to sell at auctions.
Cambyses even wished that giving that all up would save her and her city''s life.
''Why let them have it?'' But suddenly, on her way, Cambyses found a voice inside her asking this question.
And as she gazed at all the candles and burningmps, watching the me on them sway and flicker innocently, she repeated the question to herself, and with each repeat her eyes became sharper and sharper.
''Yes! Why let them have everything? Why leave anything in fact?'' And the more she thought about it, the more she saw no point in doing so.
Until finally, with a sudden booming sh, an idea thundered inside her.
''Let''s burn everything! Let''s burn everything and kill as many of those bastards as possible,'' Cambyses came to the conclusion as her eyes then began to stare with a crazy fascination at all the burning mes around her.
And as she made up her mind, she abruptly stopped, which caused the entire group to halt too, for both she was their leader and was also leading them as only she knew where the secret passages were.
"Mi¡Mydy¡why have we stopped? Is something the matter? Did you forget anything?" Even the usually solid Menicus found himself currently a bit jumpy, as things were looking pretty precarious for them.
Hence the rmed inquiry.
"No, I just want to set the manor on fire!" But Cambyses only cooly replied this back to the aged man, her neutral, almost non-chantant tone betraying the gravity of what she was about to do.
"Wha¡what?" And this answer naturally made the three lords stunned.
They had not even dared to think of setting fire to their own lord''s house.
"M..y¡Mydy what are you saying? How can we set fire to the manor! It is Lord Alexander''s abode! It is where the council meets every day! And we have not lost it yet!" Harun was the first to shout his objection at the idea, the incredulity palpable in his voice.
He was not saying those sentences as questions but as reminders.
And he was immediately followed by Grahtos, who repeated,
"Yes, yes. The manor is not lost yet." before pointing toward where they came from and saying, "And Lord Menes should be here any moment. So even if the enemy takes the house, it will be for but only a moment. And then it will be back in our hands again!"
"Mmm, the two lords are right," And Menicus too joined with a nod, showing his support as he believed Cambyses was under too much stress and saying things without thinking properly.
So he further added to point to her, "I also believe that it would be premature to set fire to the manor just now. Because remember that currently there are a lot of women and children inside too."
"And it is possible very much possible that the Tibians will choose to spare them or capture them as ves. So with lord Menes''s imminent arrival, there is arge possibility we can still rescue most of them."
"I urge mydy not to be brash."
Menicus''s said thest words with great sincerity and seriousness, and his clean bearing really showcased why he was considered the leader of the council members.
And all these points made perfect sense.
But whereas any other time Cambyses would have listened to this advice with respect and sobriety, even if she did not agree with it, her recent change made it not so any longer.
"It is my house, it is my order. Now obey!"
Hence Cambyses gave an answer that shocked the men, where she snapped the word ''obey'' with a hard, almost cruel emphasis.
And this made the men think this was not the girl they knew.
Normally, even if Cambyses did not agree with them, she would have definitely tried to reason with them, perhaps arguing about how the women would be maybe better off dead than having to live with the scar of what the soldiers were about to soon do to them,
Or perhaps she would argue that the manor was actually lost and that they should now focus on killing the Tibians rather than trying to save the already doomed souls.
She might have even reasoned that it was all to prevent the enemy from getting to the treasury that was in the basement.
In wartime, all these would have been valid points.
But Cambyses did nothing of that sort.
Her answer was only a simple, short order for she saw had made up her mind and saw no reason to waste time arguing with others.
And backed by her onyx eyes that seemed to radiate an oppressive pressure not even Alexander was capable of producing, the three council members and the twenty or so odd trailing bodyguards all somehow began to feel much smaller in front of her, even though Cambyses was actually the shortest person there.
It was like Cambyses was somehow ring down at them.
"...." So following hermand, a few, very tense seconds passed, with each passing moment feeling like an eternity under those ring eyes.
The men felt like they were wax puppets under the zing sun, and a part of them urged to say yes just so the scorching heat would subside.
But while Menicus and Grahtos managed to hold off that pressure and fight against Cambyses, hoping to make her back down, the other man finally cracked.
It was the civilian minister Harun.
Though this was very predictable given the other two were veteran survivors of the battlefield who were also long-time leaders of their own and had many times even looked at the eyes of their superiors and directly said no.
While Harun was a civilian till very recently and his past experience and also the society he grew up in cultivated a practice of following anymand from a ''real'' nobleman or nobledy without question.
"...Gazum, do as the madam says," Hence hearing Cambyses''s order he transferred themand of his bodyguards to her.
To which Cambyses immediately produced a light nod and slight smile, before turning her gaze to the three men who had stepped up and instructed them,
"Take the burning candle andmps you see on the walls and start to first light the curtains on fire. Once they start burning properly, the rest will follow."
Cambyses sounded eerily calm at ordering this act of arson on her own house, and even perhaps a bit excited.
"Yes, ma''am," And the three men instantly replied with a loud chorus, before going around to doing just that, taking off the candle from the candlestands that were lighting their way and cing the bright mes near the edges of the curtains.
Though at first the curtains actually proved to be quite fire resistant, for they were made specifically as so, in order to prevent any ident like the wind blowing them over onto the lit fire and quickly turning the entire manor into a zing inferno.
So for the initial few tries, the three men only saw the edges catch fire and burn, before quickly sputtering out on their own, leaving only a ck spot on the eye-wateringly expensive fabric as a trace.
But under their mistress''s ever-watchful eyes, the three men were not deterred, and seeing they were unable to start a sizable fire individually, the three pooled their candles together and started to attack the same point, even douching the curtain with some oil from one of the nearbymps to help them get it going.
And a whileter it began to have results, as the me started to slowly grow from a light ember to a bright glow, and then to a huge burning mass covering half the curtain.
Following which it just kept on growing and growing.
While Cambyses turned her attention to the other idle men, who, now facing her, and seeing one of theirs had already started to follow her, felt the pressure being multiplied by magnitudes.
There was really no other pressure like peer pressure.
"*Sigh*...you guys follow Lady Cambyses too¡.Go!" So seeing the writing on the wall Grahtos flipped too, and a whileter so did Menicus.
Thus unbeknownst to almost anyone, a group of twenty-odd men got to work setting a remote, currentlypletely deserted part of the manor on fire, starting with first the curtains, which then spread to the carpets beforestly moving onto the wooden structures such as the doors, windows and the furniture.
While seeing this all Cambyses did was produce a crazy smile as she made her way towards her escape.
Chapter 588 Juminuss Struggles (Part-1)
As Perseus''s men began to flood out into the backyard, Juminus and his men found themselvespletely vulnerable as the screen in front of them began to disappear.
Also, being archers with no shield, as they had given those to the frontlines, meant they could not even go to the front to try and reinstate the blockade.
"Back! Back to the manor!" Hence, Juminus, being their leader shouted out loud, while waving his hand in a fashion to imitate that action.
And fortunately for him, many of the men, especially those who knew him personally responded, and they managed to cluster up around their captain, forming somewhat of an effective fighting force.
And then, being at the rear, these expert soldiers managed to cleverly use the other fleeing man as almost a kind of human shield who distracted the enemy for long enough so that Juminus and his group could quickly perform an orderly retreat.
Hence this group of about a hundred (100) men managed to reach the manor with rtively few casualties.
But though Juminus managed to ovee that initial, perhaps some might even say the most dangerous hurdle easily enough, actually entering the manor suddenly proved to be a much more difficult challenge!
This was because when he got there, he could already see hundreds of men, women, and children beginning to dash for the safety of the manor, trying to cram themselves through the small door all in the hopes of reaching that sanctuary.
And because the doors were notrge enough to begin, certainly not enough to let in hundreds of people in at one, an inevitable scene of crushing began to unfold right in front of Juminus, as people pushed, shoved, thrusted, and even struck others in an effort to squeeze oneself inside.
And predictably this caused many to die from suffocation as they were squashed from all sides, making them unable to even breathe, with small children begin the most susceptible to such tragedy.
And couple this with a light stampede over the rush and panic, and you got a recipe for disaster.
And it was exactly such a disaster that Juminus found himself a witness to, where people died of asphyxiation or tripped before being trampled to death.
But Juminus had little time to worry himself over the unfolding tragedy.
His one and only course of action currently was to get inside like any other man and then barricade the entrances, and with Perseus hot on their heels, they did not have any time to spare for the clump to clear.
"Clear the way! Make the men clear the way! We have to go inside," So when he saw these people blocking his way, he could only give the order to make them disperse.
"But howmander? These people have lost all sense! They will not hear to reason!" While one of the soldiers nearby was quick to ask this.
This was an obvious question because if stampedes could be stopped by mere words, then stampedes would not ur in the first ce.
Everyone in the crowd had mostly lost all their senses of their surroundings and only the primal urge to run remained.
"*ng!* Like this!" And knowing this, Juminus fiercely brought out his sword from his scabbard, and then to much horror of everyone around, started to violently hack and sh the defenseless backs of the fleeing civilians, his eyes tearing up as he did.
"What! Captain¡wha¡are¡!"
"Stop! Have you¡ gon¡?"
"Thi¡how¡!:
This of course made the men around him be shell-shocked, for they could not believe theirmander was asking them to kill the very civilians they were tasked to save.
But Juminus shouted, "Look back! Look how close the enemy is! And know that once they get here, they will kill us, and they will kill them too."
"So kill men! Kill!"
"Kill your way into the manor so that we may live. And save the lords inside!"
Juminus thrusted his sword high up into the air as he shouted this short speech and the loud speech and the grand gesture worked wonders in raising the morale of the men.
Yes! The lords!
Cambyses, Menes, Menicus, and all the others were still inside the manor ording to these men, likely hoping for their rescue,
And it was these men''s first and foremost priority to protect them.
And so with Juminus reminding them of that, and the man leading the charge himself, the others too drew their steel swords, and momentster, horrific screams of despair and sadness began to ring out from the crow as the soldiers who the people of Zanzan once thought were their protectors started driving the steel des into the backs of innocent women and children, their strikes equally as brutal as the ones from Tibians.
"Aghhhtt¡they are here!"
"Kyahhh¡the enemy is here! Let me go, let me go!"
"Urgghh¡.push! Fuck¡.push harder!"
"Run! Run away arhhhhh¡."
And this sudden attack made the crowd even more frenzied with many mistaking Juminus for Tibians, as they screamed, howled, and ran for their lives.
But the hundred or so men showed no mercy no matter who got in their way, men, women, and even children.
It made no difference to them who fell under their des, just that they did.
For in the minds of these ancient people, even killing all these thousand people was nothingpared to the lives of even one noble, and so these men truly felt they were right in their course of action, which was to go to the defense of their master or mistress.
Though that did not mean many did not feel guilty or hurt, with perhaps the best example being Juminus himself.
For as the man hacked his way forward, clearing the way, like one could cut the overgrown nts and leaves while trekking through a jungle trail, the man in his frenzy did not really have the time or mindset to pay attention who or even what he was killing, just that he was, except for one body that suddenly caught his eye.
It was that of a small girl, around seven to eight years old and wearing worn-out clothes, who had suddenly turned around just as Juminus was about to swing his sword down, her ck eyes, glistering with tears at everything going around her meeting Juminus''s eyes crazed red eyes.
And this gaze produced a sh inside Juminus as he remembered seeing this little girl.
He remembered that she had several times delivered arrows to him as an arrowboy, or girl, during the battle, and at one time even hade with her mother to say a few words of encouragement to him.
At the time she looked so happy, tired but full of smiles.
And as if the girl also recognized him, she now too produced that familiar smile, d to see a known face amidst this chaos.
But s, how more could she have been any more wrong?
For right now, Juminus was about to snatch that very precious smile from her face, and with his own hands nheless.
Because try as he might, the momentum of his swing was toorge for him to ignore and before Juminus had even a chance to respond, the cruel, sharp steel, had already run across her chest, producing a fountain of red as a huge gash opened up on the wless skin with the strike even cutting many of her ribs in half, and almost cleaving her two.
And the impact of this immense strike immediately sent the innocent flower hurling across the air, her eyes bulging out in disbelief and confusion at what had just happened, as she finally fell onto the muddy ground with a dull *thud*, a searing pain course all through her body, while her body instinctively convulsed and her mouth foamed out puddles of blood.
"Ah!" And as Juminus witnessed this horrific scene, he could only get that short burst of air out of his lungs, which might have carried all the regret in the world, for an instantter his chest seemed to heat up like it was burning.
He could not believe that he had actually done such a horrific thing and seeing the small girly motionless on the ground, dead or dying, his eyes shook like they had seen the most fearful scene in his life.
While her unfocused eyes seemed to meet Juminus''s terror-stricken sockets and it seemed to be asking him,
''Why? Why did you kill me? What sin had Imitted?''
''Did I not do my best?''
''Did I not carry all those heavy buckets of arrows just for you?''
''Did I not give you enough arrows?''
''I did, did I not?''
''Even with this small body I did,''
''Even when my arms ached I did!''
''Even when I fell on my way, scraping my knees and it hurt to even walk I did!''
''Even when I was so scared all the time I did!''
"So why? Why did you kill me?''
"Because I got in your way? Just because of that?''
''Could you have not killed me?''
''Could you have not just kicked me aside?''
''Could you have not shown that little bit of mercy to a small girl?''
''Did I not deserve even that!''
''A kick of the guts?''
The girl''s cries seemed to batter against Juminus''s heart and conscience, and Juminus felt like breaking down.
He had never felt that weak or helpless ever in his life.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 589 Reaching The Top
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As Juminus continued to gaze at the lifeless body, he seemed to begin to enter an even deeper level of hallucination, as to him suddenly it seemed that the unfocused eyes had regained their voices, and even though the bodyy prone on the ground, her hand seemed to move to point to a dead woman.
''*Sigh*, but perhaps this is for the best! My mother is already dead, killed by your orders. So me living all by myself any longer will just be tortur..¡*crack*!'' The ghostly girl''s monologue was abruptly put off by a heavy foot crashing against her small head, lightly cracking it and even knocking a few of her teeth out.
Now even that innocent flower''s face had been ruined.
"Captain! What are you doing? Advance!" But Juminus had no time to keep gazing at it.
For the owner of that foot then quickly urged him to move, and this loud shout made him regain his focus.
And so as Juminus raised his head to see the owner of the shout, he found it to be of a young man from his own unit, with the man standing with one of his boots on that now dead girl''s head, squashing it against the ground like he was stepping on a bug.
The man had not probably even witnessed.
A sight which did not actually make Juminus mad.
But only feel hollow.
''What is the point of all this? Is all this worth it?'' A small voice then asked inside him, a voice that had not existed till now, a voice that sounded eerily like that little girl.
''Yes! What was the point?'' And Juminus was unable to answer.
"Captain! Hurry! The enemy is almost here!" While from the outside world, the concerned shouts of his colleagues rang out again, who seeing Juminus just stand there felt that he might have exhausted himself.
And for the time being, this noise helped to drive out the overwhelming hopelessness Juminus found himself swimming against, and temporarily drowned out that little voice.
"Yes! Let''s go!" And so understanding it was no time to be daydreaming, Juminus summoned back his strength to his limbs, and quickly grabbed his swords before continuing the act, though all of a sudden his moves seemed tock any spirit behind it.
It was like Juminus had be a puppet who was only mechanically doing what he was supposed to, the fire that had burned in his eyes till now seemingly died out.
The death of that small girl might not even register to almost anyone, but to Juminus personally, it felt like he somehow had destroyed the entire world with that single death.
And he felt like he would eternally see that ghastly, dying face of that girl every time he closed his eyes.
If it was not obvious, Juminus had just suffered from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) right now, and even if he could survive the current ordeal, it was like he would be mentally crippled for the rest of his life.
But in a way perhaps this was the heaven''s way of punishing him, perhaps this was his price for giving that cruelmand.
A price that seemed to litter the way to the manor, as Juminus noticed many such bodiesying along the path, while the crowd, after receiving a few casualties, quickly dissipated in terror, leaving the way open for Juminus and his men to enter.
"Secure all the exits. Take control of all the doors! Put those with the shields in front. The archers at the back" As soon as Juminus entered the familiar house, he seemed to at least externally get his bearing back, and began to shout out coherentmands, intent on trying to hold the manor for as long as possible, and finished by loudly ordering, "And find me the lords and Mistress!"
Thus, under Juminus''s supervision, the narrow doors and other passageways were quickly reinforced with teams of ten to twenty men, with the few one''s having shields and wielding a spear at the very front followed by others who stood behind them touching shoulder to shoulder to give the formation mass and support.
The troops immediately facing the enemy were mostly fresh men that Menes and the others had bought, hence the presence of the appropriate gear, while those at the back were much more exhausted, having already fought and without everything given the circumstance back then.
But though they could not offer any offensive help to those in front, if the enemy tried to push past them, they could certainly shove back.
So with the initial control of the manor under Juminus''s hands, and the passages secured, under the guard''s supervision, people began to enter much more quickly while being in a much more orderly manner.
"Men first!"
"Get back! Let him in!"
"Go away stinky brat! We don''t have room!"
And following this, though it might seem very weird, it was men who began to be prioritized to be granted entry into the manor, for the simple fact that men were more useful than women and children for defending the manor.
And remember, the goal of these troops was not to save the citizens and servants but to protect the manor and the nobles dwelling inside.
Hence, it was the reinforcements who hade with Menes that were let in first, followed by other men, while small children were cruelly turned away with a shoo or even a cruel kick, being left to fend for themselves all on their own.
Most of whom would end up being killed by the crazed Tibians.
Or worse!
And more tragically for them, Perseus''s men did not discriminate when it came to boys or girls for achieving their enjoyment, leaving truly deplorable scenes to unfold in that backyard.
Speaking of Perseus''s men, a question might arise of where they were while Juminus was organizing a defense of the manor.
Why hadn''t they attacked yet?
The distance from the mouth of the road to the manor was at best a few hundred meters, and they should have been here in mere minutes.
In all honestly, the manor should have been already taken by now.
So why hadn''t it?
And well, the simple answer to it was that Perseus had lost control of a part of his army, leaving those at the front to target the weaker and tastier prey such as the women and running men.
Rather than to try and go after the harder target such as the manor, which, even at its weakest had a lot of men, being it a logistic hub and still being guarded by a few men, and even housing the lords and their bodyguards.
But of course, even that would have mattered little to the vastly superior Tibian army¡if they had any cohesion.
As to why they didn''t, well that had happened because while along the narrow trek upwards, Perseus had formed his army in a long queue, and ced the least trained and most expendable part of his force at the very front, so that they would bear the brunt of any enemy attack while preferring to keep most of his trained, professional men at the back with him.
And then to guide these lesser troops, he had ced a small group of elite men with them, most of who, as you might have guessed, had died to the arrow fire, leaving the levied peasants without a proper chain ofmand.
Combine that fact with how these frontline soldiers had suffered for so long, hence once they were ''liberated'', these men forgot all about military disciple and dispersed themselves to wreak as much havoc on the surroundings as possible as a way to vent.
And lucky for them, there were almost kinds of entertainment for them allid out.
There was the game of tag where they could chase and spear down all the running men.
There were many women around the vicinity tofort them.
And for some of the more crazed people, there was even a group of soldiers who were stubbornly defending without retreating, who were soon surrounded and hacked to bits, these Tibians taking particr pleasure in killing a prey that could fight back.
It was also here that one Tibian man showed evidence of just how insane they had be, as after killing one of the Zanzan soldiers, the man cut open his guts and ripped out his liver before starting to chew it raw right then and there.
How could Perseus, or anyone for that matter even dream of controlling his group of crazed demons?
And so Perseus didn''t.
Instead, he only ordered the remaining part, the still sane part of his army, to move up slowly, telling them to pay special attention that the crazed peasants did not attack them in their drunken stupor.
And so given the army climbed cautiously, it gave Juminus just that extra bit of time to prepare.
While upon reaching the summit, Perseus first gazed with feverish eyes onto the manor, looking at it like it was the holy grail.
''Once this is taken, Zanzna will be taken!'' Perseus was convinced, and his heart was filled with ecstasy.
"Attack!"
So as soon as he got to the top, without any dy, Perseus gave this order, and Juminus, who had been able to hold the doors rtively easily, instantly felt like he was being crushed by a mountain from all sides.
Because the best Tibias had to offer was being sent to crush his paltry force of a few hundred.
Chapter 590 Cambysess Escape
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Juminus had managed to just barely take control of some of the doors and get only a few of his men in proper order before Perseus alreadyunched his attack.
"Close the gates! Quick! Close the gates!"
And seeing the mass of men rise from the slope of the hill and approach them with menace and purpose, immediately the order to m the doors shut went out, as the soldiers then began to brace against the door to act as a human barricade.
*Bang*
*m*
*Crash*
And a few momentster the Tibians made a thundering contact with the closed wooden structures, smashing against the back door with their shoulders, delivering powerful kicks to break it down, and even putting their shield in front and running at the door like a makeshift human ram.
All of which made the door groan and creak in pain, its cry getting louder and louder with each strike.
Because these doors, though rtively sturdy, whenpared to the challenging foes they were facing, proved to be too thin and fragile,
So the poor two-paneled oak door leading to the back yard, which would have been called adequate any other time found itself buckling and splintering under the heavy attacks, and soon parts of the door began to be literally torn off by the attacking enemy, with many of the soldiers using their bare hands to break open the solid wood piece by piece.
All while from the other side, the men let out menacing threats apanying their crazed howls and forceful grunts,
"Come and fight fuckers cowards! What are you afraid of?"
"Huh! Why are you hiding now? Weren''t you having fun killing us just now?
"You think this flimsy piece of shit will save you? I will gut every single one of the motherf*ckers with my bare hands you swine!"
"Be good and open the door! I promise to take good care of your wife and children, hehe!"
"I heard your lord''s women are soft as pillows. Hadn''t ever had a high-ss pussy like that!"
"Hey, if you open up, maybe we will let you have a go after we are done, hahaha!"
All sorts of curses and taunts and even enticements were uttered by the Tibians.
White with each passing moment, they themselves seemed to be getting more and more impatient and the increased ferocity of attacks seemed to reflect that, while at the same time, all the barriers holding them were beginning to disintegrate bit by bit.
It was only a matter of time before they breached through and started ughtering everyone inside, and the men inside the manor knew it.
And their only way of getting out of this alivey in the hope that Menes could get here on time.
"Dammit! Have you still not found Mistress? Look again! Check the servant''s quarter! Maybe they hid there! Go!"
While Juminus, he was much more anxious over the fact that they had not yet found any trace of the lords and more importantly Cambyses.
''Where could they be?'' He raked his brain, hoping to find them before the enemy broke through, and so sent small groups of women and children to scour every single of the few hundred rooms in the manor looking for any of their traces.
As for what he would do after he found them, how he would protect them from Perseus, well the man had not thought of it so far.
For now, he only concentrated on getting to them first.
Though unbeknownst to him, the twenty or so men and one woman were long gone from anywhere near the vicinity of the manor, having already left via one of the many escape tunnels present.
"To think such an borate tunnel existed beneath the manor? Truly impressive" And as they traveled through it, Harun could not help but let out a praise of admiration at the sturdiness of the narrow route, as his hands felt the walls being made of granite.
But the thing Harun perhaps found most impressive was that there was very little water or even dampness all around, which was a remarkable feat for any underground tunnel given all such structures tended to leak rainwater.
But since it did not, it went to show just how much care Muazz and his family had put into its construction.
Which also might not be all that surprising given the fat lord''s love for life.
But anyway, as Harun marveled at the architecture, he also could not help but reminisce about how they entered here, through a small, inconspicuous iron door barely wide enough to let in an adult man.
In fact it was so narrow that the portly Muazz might have even not been able to fit himself even if he wanted to do.
And this rust-covered, dull, unimpressive door looked so old that it seemed to almost mesh with the rest of the old stone wall, with the poor lighting even making Harun miss the thing entirely on his first nce.
Cambyses on the other hand spotted the gate instantly and with powerful steps approached it, only to see it being locked with a heavy lock.
This was of course natural given the nature of the door, and something Cambyses had expected.
So without having had the time to fetch the keys, she then asked some of the men to use the pummels of their swords to smash it open.
*ng*
*ng*
*ng*
And surprisingly it only took a few solid hits to do so due to the age of the lock and also the primitive designs of these mechanisms.
Following which the soldiers quickly pried open the small door, it producing a low, painful creak as the rusted joints proved unwilling to cooperate.
But ultimately the entire door was made ajar, and immediately after, everyone was greeted with a gust of aged, musty aged air that had been trapped there for so long, the smell of which made everyone wriggle their nose with difort.
And then theyid eyes upon it.
Thier ticket to freedom.
A passageway, almost as narrow as many''s shoulders, smelling of mold, and shrouded in pitch-ck darkness.
Honestly, it was pretty scary to think they would have to go through it.
''What if the walls copse?''
''What if the passage is blocked by something?''
"What if there are dangerous insects or snakes?''
''What if we get stuck at any point?
The narrow walls and absolute darkness permeating out of it certainly produced a very oppressive, almost ustrophobic environment that sought to bring out the worst fears in most men.
Harun particrly seemed to be having second thoughts.
While the others did not even pay any attention to him.
Instead, under Cambyses''s guidance, several nearby torches, kept there for this exact purpose were lit by the soldiers, and with them taking the lead to tackle any bugs, insects, or dangerous reptiles, the group silently entered the tunnel.
They even remembered to m the door shut behind them to prevent anyone from easily finding this was the exact door they escaped through.
And this was how the group made their way through the tunnel, inplete silence, both because it was quite tight and everyone wanted to concentrate on not grazing against the walls, but also before such tunnels were echo chambers which carried any words spoken a long, long way.
So if any enemy had managed to enter the tunnel they might be able to detect them.
There was the further precaution of preventing anyone from hearing from above as these tunnels were usually built rtively close to the surface.
With all these in mind, the close to half an hour walk was a quiet affair, with the only real sound being the rhythmic tapping of the feet as the group made their way forward, each engrossed in their one thoughts.
Or perhaps mostly one affair, the burning room they had left behind.
Because before setting off, they had made pretty sure to set that section of the manor well and truly on fire, both so that the enemy could not, or at least had a difficult time chasing them through it, but more importantly to make the manor burned from there.
And to ensure that a rtively hard-to-burn piece of property like a stone manor was set alight properly, the soldiers had only left once the carpets, the curtains, and even furniture were properly on fire, one that resembled a bright inferno rising into the sky, or ceiling in this case.
''Oh such a shame to destroy such beautiful and expensive decoration,'' And seeing this, many of the soldiers felt this way, knowing that they were setting fire to things they would not likely be able to afford even if they worked their whole lives.
But it was amand from their lords, and hence they obeyed, only leaving the ce once the heating from there started to make their skin sting, and the dense smoke filled up the rooms to make many choke and cough.
But even after they had already left that burning time bomb long behind, as many reminisced what they had done, subconsciously they felt they would smell that distinct burning smell stick to them even now,
And it was not a pleasant smell.
And it was among these thoughts that suddenly a sudden, needle-thin ray of white light hit the leading soldiers, who quickly ran forward to its source.
"It''s here! It''s here!" And upon approaching it he shouted, for the end of the tunnel was a small cave entrance at the southern beach.
Chapter 591 Juminuss Struggles (Part-2)
Chapter 591
It was natural for the ends of escape tunnels to usually lead to ports, rivers, or forests, ces from where one could easily hitch a ride such as on a ship or a boat, or hide from pursuing enemies.
And in the case of this tunnel, it was the former, likely designed with the intention of escaping the city by a secret ship or skiff ced nearby the exit.
And as Cambyses made her way outside, she soaked her body in feeling the fresh, cold winter air run through her lungs instead of the stale wind back there, rejoiced in seeing the lit-up sky as dawn approached instead of the pitch darkness save of the dim glow of the torches, and stretched her body infort to shake off that ustrophobic feeling of that narrow tunnel.
Even for Cambyses, who could be said on the smaller size, the tunnel had felt quite cramped, never mind how the bulky soldiers in full suits of armor felt.
Perhaps that was why the first few soldiers had run towards the light at first nce.
''Seriously! If you are gonna make something like that, make it a bit bigger. If it had been Muazz who was escaping, he might not have even been able to use it,'' Thus Cambyses thought to herself recalling the size of the rotund man andparing his circumference with that of the small tunnel.
Though the reason they had made the tunnel so narrow was due to its long length, as the Muazz family had insisted that it be made very well without any water leaks, which would be harder and harder to do the bigger the tunnel became.
But whatever the reasons were for making the tunnel like it, all in all, Cambyses was very pleased with how everything had turned, for though she had not shown it, deep inside she was always afraid some unexpected problem might ur along the way.
''Maybe the tunnel will be waterlogged.''
''Maybe part of the tunnel has copsed, blocking the way.''
''Maybe the entrance will be blocked.''
''Maybe we will get lost or stuck.''
Like Harun, Cambyses too had these fears as they escaped, but knowing they could not go back through the corridor of fire, she tucked them deep, deep below her stoic facade, and putting on a brave front fearlessly charged forward, rolling the die of fate.
And fortunately, that gamble paid off, as Cambyses could see they had emerged unscathed andpletely undetected out of a small entrance designed to look like an inconspicuous cave around a remote part of the southern part of the city situated along a beach, though Cambyses would not say exactly which beach it was.
But that loss of direction was of little concern given who they were and the kind of entourage they had.
Just asking anyone in the streets would let them know where the lord''s house was.
"Mydy, we are out! Hahaha!"
Basking in the dawn''s light, Harun was the first to congratte Cambyses on leading them out, with the man then letting out a burst of boisterousughter, feeling more blessed than he had ever felt.
''It was a close one!'' The man sighed a breath of relief at his close brush with death.
Though it had to be noted that this was not the first time the man had faced death, as his previous upation of being a mine supervisor had made him face the grim reaper multiple times, appearing before him in the shapes ofndslides, with even one managing to catch him and burying him alive.
Only a miraculous rescue had saved him that day.
But those were during the days when he was a lowly civilian, whereas now he was a full-fledged noble.
Harun had certainly grown to appreciate his life a lot more now, and this event made him all the more aware of the preciousness of it.
While the other two were much more stoic.
With the first thing Menicus even saying, "Mydy, do you think it was wise to set the manor on fire?"
"What will you tell Lord Alxx when he gets back? Especially if Lord Menes manages to take it back quickly?"
"Given how well we lit it, there is no way we can put that fire out. It will need to put itself out¡.after burning everything around it."
It seemed the old man was still salty with the decision, feeling Cambyses had been too reckless.
"Hopefully the fire will not spread out," And Grahtos in a low voice muttered this in support, though his quiet octave resembled the strength of his explicit support for Menicus.
He still did not dare oppose Cambyses openly.
To this Cambyses only curved her thin lips in a taunt and after sending a sneer of derision toward Menicus said, "You are still holding on to hope that Menes can rescue the manor? Heh! Are you even sure he is alive?"
Clearly, Cambyses had lost confidence in Menes hence the remarks and the dangerous route she had sent him on.
Cambyses was not done yet though, as after saying this, she then posed,
"Heh! If you are so confident then why didn''t you stay behind and prove it with your life? Why run?"
And this made Menicus blush a bit, as him apanying them tacitly showed his level of faith towards Menes.
Though he liked to believe the manor could be saved, he was not willing to stake his life on it.
And seeing this Cambyses finally breezily waved her hands, and finished by saying,
"Whatever happens to the manor, I will personally talk to Alex about it. You don''t have to care."
And with this done, she turned to the soldiers and decisively ordered, "Now, let''s stop wasting time and go to the western district. I have a city to protect!"
At this moment Cambyses looked more of a general than Menes.
As this group was making their way back towards the defenders gathered on the foot of the hill, on the opposing side, standing outside the door to the manor was the king of Tibias- Perseus.
And currently, he was in a pretty pleased mood.
For he saw the attacks against the manor were proceeding pretty swimmingly.
There was still a little resistance at the door, but it was of no big concern for he could see it was being worn down pretty quickly.
The wooden door had already been shattered, and his soldiers were now engaged in a melee with the scant defenders holding the door.
Sharp spear thrusts going toward the Zanzan defenders could be seen and the sound of heavy shields bashing against them could be heard, as Perseus''s men tried to dislodge them from their position
And though the defenders tried their best to hold on, given their astounding numerical inferiority, it was hardly a contest, and a breach through there was imminent.
And as if there was a further signal of better things toe, he also saw that his men had finally managed to get the portabledders they had bought with them set against the walls leading the windows on the second and even third floor, and they had alreadymenced the climb, smashing them open with axes or hammers before entering the manor through there with almost no opposition.
This oversight had of course happened became Juminus did not get enough time to close off all pathways leading into the manor.
So not only Juminus was being attacked from the front, where he was barely able to hold on, but a part of the enemy was also pouring in from another side, making his defense effectively futile.
"Men upstairs! There are enemiesing from upstairs!"
And this devastating news was delivered by one of the many women Juminus had sent throughout the manor in search of Cambyses, to which Juminus felt like being kicked in the guts.
But Juminus still reacted quickly, turning to his assistant, and ordering,
"Quick! You go hold of the staircases! Form a choke point with the men! Before the enemy can flood downstairs and destroy us in a pincher attack!"
Hence, Juminus hence was forced to deploy his reserve forces to go and guard the mouth of the various stairs and winding corridors instead of using them to reinforce the forces holding doors.
And at this point, Juminus knew the battle, if one could call it that was effectively lost.
Till now, in his heart he had held a bit of hope to be able to defend the manor for a while given they had around a few hundred strong men and the building had been designed with many choke points all around the houses, negating the enemy''s superior numbers and helping them in exactly the situation they were in.
But once he heard the windows were breached, being a resident here he knew very well just how many windows the manor had, and he also knew almost all of them were undefended.
So even a fool could see that it was only a matter of time before they were drowned in a flood of thousand men from all sides.
There was no way to win.
So by this stage, Juminus only hoped to hold the intruders off for as long as possible and kill as many of them as possible.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 592 Perseus In The Manor (Part-1)
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"Haaah! Charge!"
It was with a huge euphoric roar and a jubnt shout that Juminus suddenly saw the dam of men burst open along the back door, the wall of armored flesh no longer able to withstand the tide of spears and shield bashes crashing against it.
The defenders there, under the constant poking and prodding of the phngites'' sharp spears and unable to effectively attack back, were finally forced back from the mouth of the door, opening up a gap for the Tibians to exploit, and letting the red soldiers of death flood into the manor, thus finally destroying thest of the manor''s defenses.
Following this triumphant entry, the Tibians then immediately began to initiate a massacre, surrounding and killing anyone who resisted and dying the floor red.
As for Juminus, contrary to many of the men running in the opposite direction, towards the front door in hopes of escaping through there,
*ng*
He fearlessly bought out his sword and began to charge toward the enemy, ready to kill as many as possible before he himself was inevitably killed.
The acting guard captain had no intention of surrendering and being taken a prisoner, and intended to die a martyr.
*sh!*
And with his fearless charge, he even managed to cleanly decapitate a Tibian soldier from the back as he was out of his formation, the young man''s severed head sporting an incredulous expression like he was yet to realize what had happened.
But that was where Juminus''s glorious killing spree ended, a pitifully ephemeral spree.
Because instantly rmed by theirrade''s demise, a few of his nearby brothers immediately reacted, sending merciless spear thrusts from all directions toward this sudden attacker.
And their numbers were so numerous and their attacks so multi-vectored that Juminus had no time to deflect even a single strike.
And so the man could only instinctively sway his body to try and ce the attacks on parts of the body least important to him as a way to mitigate the damage, but even then ended up suffering a stab wound to his right arm, a puncture of his left shoulder, a deep hole on his right thigh and two deep pration into the stomach.
"*Urgh*" Juminus could only let out a groan of regret as he felt the stinging pain at being hit, his mouth coughing up thick spittles of blood because of his injuries, while the momentum of the thrusts threw him off his bnce and made him stagger.
But even with these grave injuries Juminus still stood, his legs violently wobbling and shaking as they tried to regain their posture and then counterattack, while the attackers retrieved their bloodied tips from his body and got ready to finish the job with a second jab.
''So this is it huh!'' And seeing his fate written off the walls, Juminus could only let out a mirthless smile.
There was no way he could live the next strike, but even as the approach of the grim reaper was imminent, the man did not feel any fear.
Instead, the emotion he felt most strongly was perhaps regret.
Yes, regret!
But not regret at doing being able to win the battle or even properly defend the manor, but regret that he had not been able to find his mistress yet.
He envisioned her being in a secluded part of the manor, hiding, all alone and afraid, and then came the scenes of what the Tibians would do to her after they found her.
That was the thing that scared him the most,
In his mind, Juminus truly regretted not being able to save her.
''Ahhhh, but maybe dying might not be so bad. Perhaps I can ask for her forgiveness now,'' But following this a sense of relief seemed to also wash over him, feeling the joy of the burden of heavy responsibility leave him, as his mind at one point substituted Cambyses for that little girl.
*Bang!*
But that impending multiple strikes of doom never came.
Because just as the second thrusts were to be made, from the back, another soldier suddenly struck Juminus on the head with his spear, the iron tip crashing right against the steel helmet and the chainmail underneath with the force of a truck, creating a loud, nking sound, and almost spitting his head in two.
And though the helmet, made of superior material managed to withstand this without snapping like a bronze helmet would have done, thus preventing Juminus''s head from being popped open, it could not absorb the sheer momentum of the hit, thus making him dazed and start seeing stars all around, as several of his teeth got knocked out and even made him almost bite his tongue off.
*Thud!*
But even though the strike did not outright kill Juminus, the force of the impact,pounded with the other injuries on his body was enough to render him incapacitated, as he hit the stone floor with a dull, thud, even breaking his nose during the fall.
And immediately after a pool of blood began to surround his motionless body, as he bled copiously from his wound, his mouth, nose, and even with thin trickles from his head, turning the floor nearby a rusty red.
''If is not dead yet, he will very soon be,'' Seeing this all the soldiersmented.
And then turning to give a nod of thanks to the man who had helped from behind, the soldiers left in search of other prey, for there was an abundance of it.
But what they didn''t know was that though Juminus was down he was not out, for the man''s injuries were nearly not as grievous as they looked at first sight.
The chainmail had worked superbly to mitigate a lot of the damage, plus the weapon used to hurt him, the spare was never a good killing instrument, but a great wounding weapon, designed to create holes and onlyrge wounds.
Thus it still remained to be seen if the man could stille out of his alive.
And while Juminusy unconscious on the floor for the time being, one of many, many corpses or half corpses dotted across, the Tibians brushed pats them and proceeded to gradually take full control of the entire premises.
With one side breached, it only took some time for the soldiers holding the staircases and other choke points to be nked and then killed or captured.
While to add to the cheery on top of bad news, by this time, Leosydas had atst also managed to break through the front door on his own, thus linking his forces with his king.
And with this done, the resistance of the manor was effectively over for all men were killed or captured, while the women and children faced a fate much worse.
And for them, in a sort of macabre twist of fate, whereas before the manor offered the promise of safety and security, and a ce they literally killed to get inside, now suddenly that same manor turned into a caged hell with no escape.
For though most of the soldiers attacking the manor were not as crazed and furious as the ones outside, who had already descended into levels of depravity rarely seen in the civilized world, and even started engaging in necrophilia or worse right in the open, but even then, these were still enemy soldiers conquering them after all.
And at this point in time, it had be somewhat customary to engage in such practices.
With the higher-ups turning a blind to it all and tacitly approving it, as they knew many men joined the army mostly for the allure of booty and women.
So forbidding this practice could cause desertion en mass or even foment a rebellion.
And besides, most of the higher-ups became higher-ups doing these things, and so in many cases, they even encouraged it as a kind of morale boost, with some of the more extreme even directly taking part in it with their entire unit as a ''bonding experience.''
Hence the insides of the manor quickly turned into a hellish venue, as most of the soldiers started to engage in mounting the unwilling women and children taking refuge there, viciously tearing off their clothes and pouncing on them to taste that soft, sulent flesh.
Some chose to start doing it right away in front of everyone, not caring who saw or stared.
While others, being a bit more bashful, and being inside a manor, chose to take their unfortunate victims to one of the many vacant rooms, many times apanied by their friend, for there were thousands of men and only a couple of hundred women.
And in there these women were forced to pleasure multiple men at once as they were vited many, many times over in every orifice, with them finding an ever-increasing long line of men still waiting for them after each shot.
In fact there were so violently preyed upon that most did not even have the time to let out loud cries as their mouths were always upied, hence only capable of letting out pained, muffled whimpers.
Thus soon, as if hurt by seeing what was happening inside, the whole manor began to sound like it was breaking down, producing a heart-wrenching sensation for anyone with a heart.
And as Perseus atst entered the manor, his heart filled with euphoric tion, it was also somewhat damped by the surrounding sound but chose to ignore it.
It was the cost of war and he was willing to pay it dly
Chapter 593 Perseus In The Manor (Part-2)
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Chapter 593
"My king! Hahaha, it seems you have managed to capture the manor all yourself. Looks like I was never needed, haha," A few whiles after Perseus entered, Leosydas too made his debut, and quickly came to meet up with him in the outer hall room, greeting his liege with a joke and a victorious smile.
And upon cing his eyes on his friend, and already knowing what he had done, Perseus''s eyes widened in pleasure as he too replied with arge grin,
"Oh, it''s good that you are here! This time we could not have won without you. You really are the hero of Tibias!"
And he meant it when he said so because without Leosydas''s attack from the other side, he knew they would still be stuck on the other side even now.
"That''s *cough*, *cough*," But just as Leosydas was about to answer, he suddenly started violently coughing, and with it came clumps of blood and gore, as the man bent down subconsciously clutching the areas around his wound.
"Leo! Wha¡your wound!" And seeing this Perseus immediately understood what was going on as he rushed to support his friend.
And he was not the only one that came to Leosydas''s rescue for everyone in the room did too, with one of the nobles then quickly shouting, "Doctor! Get a doctor. Leosydas''s wounds have opened up, get a doctor!"
It seemed that all the movement and strenuous activity in the past few hours had snapped the man''s delicate stitches and opened the gaping wound up, even causing a huge amount of blood to flow out of the tight bronze armor.
It seemed the stitches were very well torn.
While Perseus, seeing his friend in this position, was in no position to consider anything else, and quickly ordered him to be moved to a nearby bed in any of the nearby rooms, with him personally apanying him.
But before he left the scene, he left with these series of instructions to his adjutant,
"Clean the manor up! Gather all the prisoners and move them to the dungeons. Throw the dead bodies outside!"
"Then take the kitchens and start preparing a hot meal. The troops are exhausted."
"And after that get back control of the army and start to organize them."
"We willunch an attack and take the city before midday."
Perseus vomited this quick list of incongruent but connected activities from the top of his head, going on to show that no matter how busy he was, the king was still apetent leader, able to recognize what was needed from him with just a thought.
"Yes, my lord," And immediately came the answer with an apanying salute.
"Oh!" But before the man could go off to carry out these tasks, suddenly Perseus''s low hum reached him as if the king remembered something, and so he turned around to hear the man dressed in luxurious armor say,
"But before all that, secure the treasury. And then bring to me all those rted to Alexander, wherever they are."
"*Nod*" The adjutant silently bowed at this, though he really did not want to go door to door looking for his target when all those things were happening.
As a man, he really had no interest in seeing other men naked and busy doing ''that''.
But just as he pictured this, suddenly he stopped, not choosing to immediately leave.
Instead, he fidgeted his eyes a bit, as if he was contemting whether to say his idea aloud.
But he was still not sure how to say it.
Until finally, knowing time was limited and Perseus was not going to stand around all day waiting for him, he plucked up his courage and asked,
"Umm, Your Majesty¡.would it be possible¡umm perhaps may I take one of the concubines?....¡Just for a day or two!"
The man added the second sentence very quickly, already sporting a deep crimson blush on his face as he asked so.
And seeing this Perseus was at first a bit surprised.
While this silence made the young squire feel afraid as he thought he had asked something very improper.
"Oh¡.Pooofff¡.Hahaha," But such concerns were blown away by Perseus''s boisterousughter who had only been surprised at the man''s reaction as he had asked the question.
And as the adjutant raised his eyes at this sound, he was greeted with a toothy grin, as the king added,
"Oh, I remember you are still very young, haha."
"But I never thought you were that inexperienced, haha. Be sure to visit some brothelse we go back, hehe."
Perseus got a good chuckle from this as he never expected anyone would ask permission for something so obvious, while the young adjutant who has joined Perseus as a way to gain experience felt his cheeks burning up in embarrassment.
The young man was quite conservative in love, and though he heard of such things before, this was essentially his first time seeing it up close and personal, hence the shame.
And so it took monumental courage for him to ask that ''shameful'' request.
While Perseus treated it as if he was asking for some bread, only breezily waving his hand and saying, "Yes, yes, you can have any woman you like. Now, go, go," as he almost shooed him away.
"Any woman!" But the adjutant did not go and only stood there in exmation.
Because ording to the unspoken rules of the Tibian military, in case of arge city''s capture, the city lord''s main wife and daughter were said to belong to the highest person inmand.
And though it was no irondw, and many times the soldiers capturing the women had their way before presenting them to theirmand without facing any consequence, this time it was different, for this time it was the king himself who was in charge of the army.
As such it was expected that Cambyses should be handed over to him unharmed.
But Perseus did not seem to be in the mood for this, thus said to his adjutant, "Yes, yes, I''m not interested. Take any number of women you like. Just be sure to finish what I said," as he gave the man full reign to choose anyway.
"Thank you! Thank you, Your Majesty!" And hearing Perseus was relinquishing his im of him, this of course got a huge grin from the young man, who excused himself with a salute and then quickly started to search for his destined one.
Though that euphoric glee quickly turned to bitter frustration when even after a solid half an hour he turned empty-handed.
"What do you mean you found no one?" The young man snapped at a captain whom he had tasked with leading the search.
"I''m sorry my lord. But we sent men to every room and even asked the women present here if they rted to the lord. But none replied." The captain hung his head a bit low as he answered, adding, "We even asked if they were nobles, *shake*, *shake*."
The man answered with a gesture from his head.
He too was feeling a bit dejected as being unable to aplish the task even when he was given 4 phnx units, which were more than a thousand men.
"......." While the adjutant hearing this turned silent.
ording to the captain, his men should have visited every room with ''upants'' in them, and it should not have been hard to determine who was a noble and who was a peasant even at first nce.
Nobledies simply had fairer skin, smelled better, and even generally more beautiful.
Even if the woman lied and kept quiet, the soldiers enjoying her should have ratted her out.
And it should not even havee to it.
Because generally, noble women would eithermit suicide in such cases ore forth on their own volition to prevent getting gang-raped by themon soldiery.
Because even if their fate was to be vited, most preferred to be taken by one or two military leaders rather than drown in the filth of themon mass.
Because can you imagine what the crutches of those soldiers who had walked and fought for so long might be like?
Or when it was thest time they took a bath?
The filthiness and hygiene around there need not be said.
And it was even not umon for many women to retch and vomit just from the smelling from there.
Hence all this made it all the more baffling that Cambyses had not been caught yet
"Could they have escaped?" So the only real possibilityy there, as the adjutant pronounced with deep bitterness to his voice, while the captain stayed silent, not having anything to add.
But this silence inadvertently proved to be a tactile admission, as the adjutant then silently cursed to himself, ''Dammit!''
He had found Cambyses quite attractive upon first seeing her on that wall, and when the manor had been taken, very much wished to take her, a desire which had been further fueled up until now by all the explicit scenery all around him.
But now that bird had escaped, possibly through a secret passage, while he was left with a rock-hard boner.
No man liked being blue-balled.
But that frustration did notst long.
For it was soon filled with fear, as suddenly one of the soldiers was seen sprinting towards him full speed, his face filled with terror, and bringing his legs to a screeching halt at thest second he shouted towards the adjutant, "Fire! The manor is on fire!"
Chapter 594 Perseus in the Manor (Part-3)
Chapter 594 Perseus in the Manor (Part-3)
In the time that Perseus''s adjutant had started to look for Cambyses, he did not forget to carry out his king''s other orders too.
So with hismand, parts of the army all began to carry out each of the tasks.
One of the groups got to clearing the dead bodies, starting with the most visible onesying on the first floor.
These corpses were all carried or dragged by their feet out of the manor and thrown into a nearby heap, soon to be buried or cremated, though not before the Tiibans would strip them of everything valuable- their armor, clothes, shoes, jewelry, and even things like gold teeth.
And it was among these piles of dead bodies wherey JU as well, still breathing, still unconscious but fortunately no longer bleeding so profusely.
And even more fortuitously he was ced around the top so he did not get crushed in the heap and in such a way that he could still breathe.
While another group got to work taking count of the prisoners captured, though a full number would take a while given many of the captured were still busy upstairs servicing the men.
So for now they only took stock of the men, among which were obviously the soldiers who surrendered, the servants and ves from the manor, and also some staff from the workshop, with the most notable one perhaps being Gajopk, the ss maker with the immacte mustache, though currently his bushy hair seemed to have lost a lot of its luster.
Everyone there, amounting to a roundabout of two hundred (200) was soon gathered in small groups, and after a part of them, including the ssmaker was sent to the dungeons, the people in charge were informed there was no more space there, and so the remaining were moved to outside the manor, around the front courtyard.
A point of note here would be none of these prisoners were shackled or bound like actual prisoners.
Instead, they were left like prisoners of war (POWs) seen in documentaries, unarmed and kept within a boundary, within which they were free to move around, but always kept an eye on with some armed guards on patrols to prevent escape.
And this was a simr case in the dungeons, where the iron gates were not locked, mostly because the Tibians had not found the keys yet, and so the Zanzan men simply stayed inside a jail without a lock.
But there also didn''t need to be.
Because the real locks were right in front of them, twenty thousand of them, in the form of Tibian soldiers.
So every one of the captured men sat still like a harmless puppy, not daring to cause any trouble.
Then there was the group who went around the manor in search of ''treasure'', or more specifically looking for the treasury.
And after a bit of searching, and through a few narrow, inconspicuous corridors, they managed to find it.
"Hahaha, this must be it!" Standing in front of arge, very heavy-looking wooden door the small group of men eximed, certain that it was this kind of vault door fit to safeguard the treasures of a lord.
And once they found it, without further ado, these men quickly got to working, using the massive hammers they wielded to smash against the locks, which though sturdy, were eventually forced to concede, cracking open after one too many hits, to atst reveal all the contents hidden beyond it.
"Th..this is¡.oh my god I must be seeing things! How is there so much!"
And as the men there entered the sanctuary with their torches, the dim glow of the fire bouncing back from all the shiny gold and silver coinsid strewn about, they were astounded to find just how much wealth there was, so much so that momentarily they even suspected their own eyes thinking the re from all the gold had caused them to start hallucinating.
And the reason for thisplete incredulity was that in front of themid literally heaps of gold and silver coins, not just one but multiples hills, all rising into the sky like towers made of literal gold, glittering under the light like stars from the sky.
Among them too were many precious gems such as rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, sprinkled all around the room, both as only the stones themselves, and also embedded in various gold jewelry, ornaments, and vessels.
Whilestly the entire room was furnished by a few paintings here and there, most featuring a particrly fat man and supposedly his kins, along with a few nude paintings of beautiful women, all giving the treasury almost a more ''refined'' touch, as if their presence there worked to offset the gaudiness of all the gold and silver in disy.
At least that was the impression soldiers who opened it got as they swung their torches around in order to get a better view of the room and try and confirm there really was as much gold and treasure as they thought there was.
And once they were convinced of the reality of it all, the men felt faint for a second time, though this time it was out of sheer joy.
"Rich! Rich! We are rich! Who would have thought a single city would have this much wealth! We are gonna be so rich!"
One of the men could not help but cry out loudly in ecstasy, just barely stopping himself from breaking into a dance.
Though this reaction was of little surprise given the men had never seen even a hundredth of this much wealth gather all in one ce.
He could have been hardly at fault even if he had started singing.
In fact even if Perseus was here, perhaps he too would have lost hisposure. as he himself had never seen so much gold piled up like that.
"Ho..how much do you think there is?" Atst one of the other men asked this all-important question, though he actually sounded a bit fearful when he posed it, seemingly afraid the answer might be bad for his heart.
"....." And at first, he got a wall of silence, as none of the others had the slightest idea either.
The treasury seemed as immense as the vast ocean to many.
"Tons¡it has to be tons! Yes, tons!" Atst one of the men blurted out, his octave bing stronger with each sentence, as he became surer and surer.
''Tons?''
And at first, his answer confused the others because the units did not match.
Until finally they caught it.
The man answering had given up on calcting the amount of money there and resorted to guessing the weight of gold there.
It was an absurd thought of these regr men, but they were also facing an absurd amount of money.
200 to 250 million ropals was that much money.
And weighed an absurd 5 tons.
Which for context was about 40% of the annual gold produced in the whole of Adhania, totaling about 12 tons!
So the men''s incredulity was of little wonder.
"*ng*, *ng*, we should inform His Majesty as soon as possible."
"Yes, *ng*! I''m sure he will be very happy when he knows."
"And *ng* will likely reward us very handsomely,"
It was finally a whileter that the men had gotten their bearing back, and decided to do what was expected of them.
But not before each swindled a few extra coins for themselves.
And this was the origin of the *nging* sound, as the men grabbed fistfuls of ropals and tried to stuff them in their pocket or in anywhere else that would fit really, as long as it did not be too conspicuous.
Because though this practice was openly known, as it was only natural the soldiers would take a nibble at the treasure they found, but it was never explicitly condoned.
For even if the amount of wealth taken was minuscule when rtive to the gigantic pile, even a rounding error to many, but still, ording to thews of Tibias, even a single gold dust taken during a campaign belonged to the king and the king alone, and it was up to him to distribute it as he saw fit.
And this was especially true this time given Perseus was personally in charge.
So what the soldiers were gong was stealing from royalty, the punishment for which was death by quartering, i.e.- by having one''s limbs tied to four different horse or ox carts which were then pulled in all different directions, thus being gruesomely dismembered.
But these men did not seem too bothered by that threat, only making sure that they did not overdo it.
And so, once these men had filled their pockets with as many coins as they could possibly carry, they finally decided to move on.
"Wait! Do you smell that?"
But just as they were about to, suddenly the distinct smell of smoke, began to hit some of the men.
"*Sniff*, *Sniff*, Yea¡what is that?" And with one man pointing it out, the others too began to notice.
"Come on let''s go. It''sing from there. Smells like smoke," So the group diverted their course and started to follow their nose.
And then they saw it!
An entire lower wing waspletely engulfed in mes, the heating off searing anyone even trying to get close, while the dense choking smoke turned that part almost pitch dark.
The men instantly understood this was no small fire, but a raging inferno.
Chapter 595 Perseus in the Manor (Part-4)
Chapter 595 Perseus in the Manor (Part-4)
It was not only the treasury group that had detected the fire.
Others had too, most notably the groups tasked with preparing the meal.
This group of ''culinary experts'' had raided the kitchen looking for supplies to start cooking and was at first ecstatic to find the ce stacked to the brim with all kinds of food, grains, meats, fishes, vegetables, fruits, and wines of every kind.
All fresh and of the highest quality avable.
This stacked pantry was to be expected given the kind of people that lived here and the guests that it entertained, but nevertheless, it made the men who had been on the same dull diet for so long to cheer in tion.
"Haha, brothers we are gonna feast tonight." They cried.
But as soon as one said that, suddenly one of the walls on the far side of the kitchen abruptly copsed, and longshes of mes began to snake out of it, spreading its influence to the rest of the structure, setting the rest of it on fire and turning the wood into charcoal.
"What!" And hearing the rming sound and seeing the intensity of the mes, the men were shocked.
This was not something any of them remotely expected.
Thus they instantly stopped whatever they were asked to do and bolted upstairs, rushing to inform the higher-ups of the situation.
And this was how Perseus''s adjutant got news from multiple sources about the raging inferno burning right underneath them.
Which for a time made the man even feel like he was in a burning wok, about to be fried to a crisp.
"Get the men to put it out now! Go!" He thus gave the order and then rushed to inform Perseus.
Who once heard the news, quickly approved the order.
Neither man had seen the fire personally, but the reports they got were vivid enough to grant them his urgency.
And as time went on, they quickly began to get solid evidence that it was very real, and perhaps even bigger than expected as soon they began to somewhat smell the fire, which had started to permeate through the first floor.
Furthermore, they noticed the entire floor begin to somewhat darken, as the charry smoke particles filled the air, giving it an ashy color when ced against the sun.
''The fire is huge! Is it even possible to douche it before it spreads?''
And as these signs became apparent, Perseus, began to fear the scale of the inferno, and how far it could have already gone.
And such fears were shared by this adjutant too, who pondered to himself, ''Perhaps even with all the men fighting it, it will not be enough to save the manor,''
"Your Majesty, perhaps we should order an evacuation," Hence he suggested.
But Perseus rejected this.
"No! There is no need, it is only a small fire." He reassured out of nowhere, and then added, "We cannot abandon it so quickly after spilling so much blood. The soldiers will not like it."
These were all good reasons, but the real why Perseus did not approve the evacuation was for one real reason, and one real reason only- Leosydas.
The doctors were still restricting his wound, and to stop that and then move was not something Perseus was willing to do.
Hence the decision to stay was made.
And thus he only urged his adjutant tomit as many men as possible men to the firefighting effort, urging him, "Theony, you must put that fire out as soon as possible. Use as many men as you want. If water does not work, use sand!"
The fact that Perseus had addressed the man by name went to show how important this was to the king.
And so upon receiving the order. thousands of men were deployed to stop this infernal attack.
But given the time it had to grow and flourish undetected, the fire had truly and well-caught hold of the manor in its fiery grips and seemed to be determined to take the building and everyone unlucky to be still inside it to hell.
Hence given the immense size of their adversary, and how the moment they extinguished a part of the mes, another lick instantly grew to rece it, the Tibans felt they were almost fighting the mythical nine-headed hydra.
No matter how many pales of water they threw, from no matter how many directions, the mes still kept on advancing, surely and steadily.
Of course, it was not like the Tibians were being hyper-efficient with their tactics as well.
These were still peasants turned soldiers, not a trained unit experienced in fighting fires.
So, first of all, it took them quite a while for the man to organize themselves, which let the fire grow even more, erging itself exponentially with each passing second as feeding on one piece of wood gave it ess to two more, and gulping down on the two let it have four more.
Secondly, there was a shortage of water in the manor, which was a given it was the ancient times without any modern utilities.
So no opening the tap to refill one''s buckets.
And speaking of buckets, the Tibians much of their confusion found many of the wells were missing their buckets, not knowing those had been repurposed to carry arrows.
So even getting water from the wells proved challenging, and more importantly, slow, as all the wells were situated outside the manor.
Andstly, there was the challenge of actually getting to the fire to fight it.
And this proved perhaps the most difficult ordeal given the structure of the manor, which, with its long, narrow corridors acts as excellent smoke storage rooms, thus unwittingly creating a ck protective shield of miasma around it.
Most men even trying to remotely approach it found themselves coughing uncontrobly, their eyes tearing up, and their lungs burning.
Hence, despite having more than ten thousand potential firefighters, Theony found himself losing the battle.
And as time went on, the smell got worse and worse, and the smoke even more prominent, so much so that, unable to bear it any longer, many men began to evacuate the building on their own.
"Lord Theony, it''s no use! That part ispletely overrun. The mes have taken the first floor and are rising to the second floor." And soon this report came to him from the same captain he had sent to look for Cambyses.
"......" Proceeding that the captain then shot Perseus a meaningful look.
A look that the adjutant clearly understood.
It meant to warm him that since the fire had spread this far, it was only a matter of time before it made its way here.
And there was little they could do to stop it.
''Fuck! How could such a fire been lit?'' Theony cursed, with many possibilities crossing his mind, from an identally spilledmp oil catching fire to intentional malicious sabotage to even the work of the gods or demons.
"Get the men out!" Then atst the man gave the order without Perseus''s permission, choosing to evacuate the premises, as he then rushed to inform Perseus of the deteriorating situation.
"Oh! And tell whatever idiots left upstairs too!" But just before that he shot this reminder too.
Because it was possible that many of the men were still obvious to everything, still swept up in their revelry, especially if they were upstairs where the smell of smoke was yet to be too noticeable.
"You imbecile!"
And While the captain followed Theony''s order, him unable to aplish Perseus''s got him a loud scolding from the man himself.
Leosydas was in no position to be moved, and desperately needed bed rest, and so the change in events made Perseus furious.
To which Theony could only hang his head low.
But even to Perseus locked in his room it was bing clear how dire things had be, as by now the entire first floor reeked to smoke, and so after a short outburst, he approved the decision, and soon people began to leave the building like ants on fire.
Most used the many open doors, some climbed out of the windows using thedders still in ce and other desperadoes simply jumped out from the second or third floor, and fell to the soft ground, expertly rolling around to dissipate the impact and avoiding any injuries.
The evacuation was urring smoothly and the Tibians even remembered to bring their prisoners with them, though not because they particrly cared for them, but because to them, they currently walking piles of money.
Each of them could go anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 ropals depending on the buyer and the condition of the ves, and so the soldiers would be foolish not to care for something that was worth one to two years of their sry.
" *Trumpet*! Attack! Enemy attack!"
"*Trumpet*! *Trumpet*!"
But just then, in their most vulnerable time of need, came the dreadful trumpet call signaling the impending attack from the enemy!
Menes hadunched his counterattack!
The general had found it surprisingly easy to escape the manor as Leosydas''s men were nowhere close to attacking the front of the manor then, once he reconnected with his army, and was informed of the fire by Cambyses, he patiently waited to see the smoke rising from the hill before deciding tounch the attack at this time.
And like he had predicted, this caught the Tibianspletely off guard, both because of the distraction, and because the morning mist hid their approach till thest minute.
Chapter 596 Attack Up The Hill (Part-1)
Cambyses and her group quickly sped through the road leading to her manor, and on her way, he found the city in an uproar, with many of the streets still filled with confused civilians lingering around in hapless fear while the city guards tried to get them to return to their homes in an effort to maintain order.
It seemed there was a general sense of panic in the air, and words such as these began to filter into Cambyses''s ears.
"War! War! War! It''s been nothing but war for the past four years."
"When Lord Alxx took over the city, he said we would have peace. What peace!"
"That''s right! I''m sick of it all,"
"Fuck this once a meal! I''m so hungry!"
It seemed most of the people were teetering on severe war exhaustion, and if Perseus kept up the siege for long, the people might break before the walls did.
''I will need to ask Her Twin Highnesses to give better sermons. And have Bartholomew crack down harder on dissidents."
Hearing this Cambyses hence decided as she rushed past them, feeling the eyes of bystanders turning to look curiously at her, before instantly gazing away when noticing the armed escort.
This was the instinctual response ofmoners when spotting a noble, to try and be as inconspicuous as possible, so as to not bring any potential harm to them.
While Cambyses had no time to particrly care about any of this.
Instead, as Cambyses quickly made her way on foot, she suddenly spotted a familiar face among the patrolling guards, once a fellow member of her mercenary group, and now the leader of hundred city guards, or as they were formally called- Policemen.
And given his rtively high status, Cambyses eagerly asked about the state of the city.
"Peterio! How is the situation in the city?"
"Ahh! Chief Commissioner!" Hearing Cambyses''s familiar voice and seeing her in the flesh, the man instantly produced arge grin while addressing Cambyses by her title, as he ran over to salute her once he got close enough.
"We are so d to see you are okay. All of us were getting worried. Especially supervisor Bartholomew!" The tall, lean man with a surprisinglyrge beard then greeted.
"I''m fine." Cambyses curtly replied, and then inquired, "Where is Batholomew? At the station? Is he okay?"
"Yes! The supervisor is fine. He is at the headquarters trying his best to maintain order in the city." The man promptly replied, before shaking his head a bit wryly, and reminiscing,
"*Sigh*, it was a mess at first. People running all around. Crying, running, screaming."
"No one knew what was going on. Many thought the enemy had already broken through. And so everyone tried to run for the temples."
"Because of it, in the darkness, there were even reports of several small stampedes and trampling. I heard quite a few died," the man''s voice turned a bit regretful as he said so, adding,
"While at the same the temples were soon overflowing."
"And it was only after we got there and started throwing people out the situation got better."
The man very organically gave Cambyses the past report of the city, before turning a bit cheerful and adding with a light smile,
"But things have gotten a lot better now."
"Supervisor Bartholomew was one of the first toe to the police station and quickly disced units of all important points along the city, as the temples, the markets, and the slums, calming the people there and bringing order."
"And now that morning hase, and there is no sign of the enemy breaking through, much of the panic has settled."
"People''s fear of losing the city has slowly subsided, and they are bing calmer."
"Maintaining order has be a lot easier."
Peterio gave a sunny smile as he said so, though, the tiredness in his voice would not be concealed.
Clearly thest few hours had been very draining for everyone in the city guards.
"That''s good. Give Bartholomew my thanks," Cambyses was honestly very relieved to hear the report.
This subordinate and friend of his had managed to perform his tasks much better than many others she could name.
It seemed the mood in the city was perilous but not yet mutinous.
While Cambyses let off a relieved sigh of relief, Peterio was finally unable to suppress his curiosity plucked up his courage, and took the chance to suddenly ask, "By the way madammissioner, how is the situation there? We heard the enemy had taken the manor hill!" The man''s eyes darted in that direction as he inquired in a shaken voice,
To which Cambyses stoically replied in a neutral tone, "Everything is under control. General Menes is leading the troops to drive out the enemy from Zanzan. There is no need to panic."
And though Cambyses wanted to sound like she reassuring them, she actually sounded like one of those news reporters that woulde on TV during an ongoing coup to say everything was alright and everyone should stay home even if the entire city behind her was burning.
"Ahhh¡I see." But for the guard captain, whatever the truth was, and how much of Cambyses''s im he bought. the man could only nod and ept.
"Mmn, you go now," While Cambyses, finished knowing what she wanted to, decided to dismiss him, but before that atst added, "Oh and remember to spread that you met me, and I am alright. The people should be less worried then."
"Yes, ma''am. I''ll tell Supervisor Bartholomew right away," The man saluted right away, and with that interaction concluded, Cambyses quickly resumed her paced walk, and soon after spotted therge gathering of men at the foot of the western hill that was meant to go rescue her.
And once she let her presence known, it instantly generated a wave of relief and cheer from gathered troops, and even Menes personally came to greet her at once,
"Cam¡.Mydy! You are safe!" the joy in his voice evident.
The reason for this was of course obvious.
The troops felt their morale soar seeing the acting ruler of the city among them, while for Menes, who had been previously threatened toe and rescue her, seeing her behind the lines safe and sound made him very reassured.
Because the dreadful consequence of Cambyses dying under him was something he was very well aware of.
As for how she was here, that would wait.
"Mmm¡it seems you are too," Repling to Menes''s greeting, Cambyses very nonchntly shot back, showing neither pleasure nor displeasure at the man''s survival.
It only seemed she only passively epted the gods'' judgment on this one.
Following this exchange, without much further ado, Cambyses proceeded to ask how the preparation for the counterattack was going.
"We are ready to match at yourmand," And Menes instantly replied, knowing Cambyses would not like any other answer.
"Good! Let''s start now!" And Cambyses was very eager, further urging the attack by saying,
"I set the manor on fire before I came here. If there is a chance I would like to retake it before it burns down."
But this revtion first made Menes produce an incredulous look, "You set the manor of fire? Why? How?"
The man, like all the others, had never even considered that.
"......." To this Cambyses only gave a wall of silence, not bothering to exin herself, and simply waited for the general to obey.
"We did so before we escaped via the tunnel. We would have taken you with us, but Lady Cambyses was worried that doing so would dy your organization of the army." And it was here Menicus quickly chimed in with half-truths, attempting to fill the silent void before it became an awkward staring contest.
While inside, the old man then cursed himself, ''Seriously! What is with this girl today!'' Cambyses was not at all acting like herself.
"Oh! Right¡hahaha, right!" While Menes lightly chuckled, unknown if he really bought it or was actually aware of Cambyses''s intended punishment.
But for the time being, this did not matter, for they had more important things to consider.
And regarding that thing, it was Menicus who turned to Cambyses and advised regarding her decision tounch an imminent attack, saying,
"Mydy, given therge fire we set off, perhaps it will not be possible to put out by the time we get there."
"Hence, maybe we should be more prudent and prepare a bit more. Attacking uphill is always dangerous."
Menicus was by nature a prudent man, and knowing the enemy would be likely expecting them, he wanted to gather even more men.
It must be said even now, groups of the reserves that had been acted were joining the formation.
But Cambyses only waved her hands and in a bitter, dismissive tone said, "We have waited long enough. We have waited the whole night. We have waited for you old farts toe to our aid for hours!"
"Now attack!"
Cambyses had reasons for her hawkish attitude, and it seemed after losing her manor and all the resulting setbacks, she had lost her patience.
She wanted that hill taken now.
And seeing the youngdy''s fowl mood, none of themanders dared to argue.
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Chapter 597 Attack Up The Hill (Part-2)
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"Okay, okay, let me arrange the frontlines into the proper formations and start climbing up."
Hearing Cambyses''s absolute instance, Menes quickly acquiesced to cate the girl, but before fully bending over, he cleverly asked for this concession,
"But since the manor is on fire, may we dy the attack until we can start seeing the smoke? The morning fog is yet to dissipate and climbing up will be far easier with a visual sign."
"And if the Tibians are inside the manor, they will be too distracted managing the fire, so we can even catch them off, guard."
Menes''s proposal was of course sound in theory, and there was little to nitpick about it.
Except that, it also basically wanted to throw the manor defenders under the bus as sacrificialmbs.
And this made Cambyses think for a split second, weighing saving all the men, women, and children versus increasing her chances of taking the manor back.
And at the end of this dilemma, thetter cause won.
"Okay." Hence Cambyses showed herself to be at least patient enough to give Menes that.
And with that, it was only around 8 in the morning, with thezy wintery sun finally deciding to peek out of the downcast sky, sluggishly and slowly sweeping away the morning fog that Menes atst caught sight of a whisper of a thin, ck trail slowly rising into the horizon.
The Tibians had inadvertently given him the signal.
And immediately upon seeing that, the charge up the hills began, though this advance was not apanied by the usual trumpets or drums which was used to let themanders and soldiers of the army''s movement.
Instead, the officers were told to move only after they had visual confirmation of the thin smoke tentacle rising into the sky, all done so that the attack was as silent as possible.
*Shoo*, *Shoo*, *Shoo*
And the tactic worked as the Tibians only became aware of the enemy after they were hit by the first volley of crossbow bolts, which appeared out of the still dense fog like ghosts.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
The rear guard that was ced in front of the manor as the first defensive screen finally woke up to the danger they were facing only after theirrades all around started to fall in droves.
Menes, to show off Zananz''s strength, had cleverly ced arge number of crossbowmen and instant bow users in the very front echelons, intending to use them to disrupt the enemy''s formation as they ascended up the hill.
Hence, the now defender-turned-attackers let out storms of arrows and bolts as they advanced, with each crossbow unit being reced by the one immediately behind it once they finished firing, intended to always keep the enemy suppressed and not let them have any time to regroup.
And this constant storm caused quite a few casualties, as the Tibians, given the current circumstance regarding the fire and general chaos, were caught totally out of the formation, and even these blind volleys managed to find quite a few high-value targets.
"Rear guard! Forward! Forward! Stop the enemy from taking back the hill!"
And it was only after Menes was only 100 meters from the mouth of the hill that the enemy managed to respond coherently, with the bravest of the bunch picking up theirrge shields to get in formation even though the arrow barrage.
And unfortunately for Tibias, many of the troops here were Leosydas''s personal entourage, and being experienced veterans knew in such an ambush it was wrong to run away from the enemy, but form up and go towards them to prevent their advance.
Hence with some of the most experienced veterans of the past years there to guide the others, they were able to mount an effective defense at the nick of time, with the scattered men quickly bunching up into phnx units, and just like Juminus had created a choke point at the mouth of the hill, they did too, their huge shields covering almost their entire body and their long spear dangerously pointing downhill, preventing anyone froming close.
Looking at Tibias''s defense, it seemed the time hade for them to repay the favor toward Zanzan.
"Haahh!"
And soon, the static phnx formation was charged at by the legionaries with a loud shout, as the soldiers at the front threw their pis once close enough, and then crashed into the phngites.
"Push! The enemy is buckling! Push!"
And as always, the initial p attack and subsequent charge proved quite effective, sending the hastily prepared, outnumbered phnx units recoiling, as they tried to recover their lost formation due to the casualties taken and cope with having many of their shields being rendered useless.
For any phnx unit, this attack, this two-in-one punch from the legionaries at the start of every battle, was always the hardest move to absorb,
''Dammit! Why now!" While from the back, Perseus got the chance to see this rare spectacle for himself, and naturally cursed, even turning to his adjutant to scold him,
"Why had we not detected them sooner? The enemy had such arge force right underneath our feet! Imbecile!"
"...." Theony only lowered his head feeling the king''s re, and then muttered, "Mostly probably because the morning fog hid them your grace."
It seemed that just like the mist had helped Leosydas in the pincher attack, now it had switched sides to aid Zanzan.
"Dammit!" And seeing so Perseus repeated his curse, clenching his fist and feeling this could not havee at a worse time.
Many of his men were scattered given the raging inferno roaring right in front of him, one which made him, who was standing rtively close feel like he was inside a furnace.
In fact, if one touched his copper armor, one could even get a light sear given how hot it had be.
But this heat was nothingpared to the bitterness he was feeling.
For as he gazed at the building which by now was well and truly up in mes, with licks of mes even shooting out of the second and third-floor windows, hot smoke filling the air all around, and the crisp crackle of wood breaking and dposing ying near his ear, his heart could not help but bleed.
He had sacrificed literally hundreds of his best men to get this, plus his closest friend, without whom it would have been pretty much impossible to even be here, had his wound opened and lost a lot of blood to help him get this, even causing his current condition to be critical.
But now all that effort was all up in smokes.
Perseus swore that if he could get his hands on the person responsible, he would boil them alive.
But this loss of the manor was not the only tragedy Perseus had to deal with.
Because just like vultures attracted to the smell of dead meat, it seemed the enemy had decided to attack them at their most vulnerable, and the thinly manned phnx lines were in danger of shattering.
"Reinforce! Quickly reinforce!" Hence, like many of his officers were already shouting, Perseus too joined, screaming his heart out and waving his arms animatedly, pointing every able-bodied man to go to the phnx''s rescue.
And fortunately for him, and unfortunately for Menes, they seeded.
The thinly manned phnx line soon began to grow thicker and stronger as armored man after man started joining the faltering unit, bolstering it, and forcing the legionaries to soon back down in the face of mounting casualties.
"*Sigh*" And seeing such Menes could only let out a small dejected sigh.
Though this was not something he was surprised by he had still hoped to avoid it by using this sneak attack.
But it seemed it had failed.
It seemed that the inherent advantage of a choke point with its ability to nullify numerical advantage, coupled with the deployment of the phnx unit who used spears as their primary weapon was too much to ovee for the legionaries equipped with their shorter-ranged swords.
Thus after the initial push of the charge was negated, the phnx units counterattacked, retaking much of their lost grounds, and the battle devolved into a slow grind, where phngites poke at the legionaries, and the legionaries thrusted at the phngites.
It was honestly quite boring to watch.
And after a while of this, the lines stabilized, and no one was going anywhere.
Which was a great heartbreak for Menes, and a joyous event for Perseus.
"Form up! Form up, Once the enemy is exhausted, we will charge down the hill and destroy the enemy." Pr shouted, the resulting stalemate giving him enough time to reform his close to 19,000 men into proper fighting formation.
Yes, the 5,000 unruly mercenaries had also atst decided to rejoin him, with a preliminary casualty count of both partsbined giving them a total of thousand (1,000) men dead or wounded, with roughly half of it being in the iron nt due to the coal mine explosion, half of it in taking the manor.
"Mistress, I''m sorry." While Menes seeing the crawling progress could only say this to Cambyses.
But the expected scolding did note.
Instead, the girl only lightly shook her head and said, "No, it''s alright. As Lord Menicus said, attacking uphill is always hard."
And then ordered with a light smirk, "Let''s take some men and attack via the cement nt. Give the enemy a taste of his one medicine."
It seemed Cambyses had not forgotten her blunder.
Chapter 598 Attack Up The Hill (Part-3)
?
Seeing the legionaries unable to climb up the hill and take the point, Cambyses began to think of an alternative avenue of attack.
And soon the way she had lost her manor came to mind.
A memory triggered by seeing the manor that she lived in, that she liked so much being up in mes and roaring with crackling fire and smoke right in front of her.
And as she did, her mind connected the dots to remember that there were other ways to reach the manor via the cement nt too.
Particrly the route used by the workers to take the cement clinkers from the kilns located in the southern part of the city to the crushers via the western district.
So attacking the manor via that route was certainly viable.
And as she came to that conclusion, thedy also could not suddenly feel a cold, freezing chill run down her spine.
Because she just realized that way of attack, she also realized just how lucky she had been.
Because if Leosydas had chosen to drive his troops into the city via that route, bypassing the manor, instead ofing to help his king, then Zanzan would have been most likely lost.
Because with his 6,000 to 7,000 men, present right inside the city center, they would be able to cause so much chaos and confusion that trying to put up any sort of coherent defense would be futile.
Every soldier would desert or break and run, trying to save his own skin, just like when Cambyses''s frontlines broke at the manor.
After all most people had family in the city and the thought of their family dying while they were off fight would weigh heavy on everyone''s mind.
So at that point, the soldiers would no longer be thinking of fighting and resisting, but gathering their families and running.
And given that this nightmare of a situation had not happened, Cambyses could only put it due to heaven''s intervention.
''The gods are with us. Alex is really Gaia''s chosen,'' And this event and how she rationalized made Cambyses change all the more towards a zealous devotee.
In fact it could be said that by now Cambyses''s faith might even give Ophenia a run for her money.
Whereas the real reason why Leosydas had not done so was much simpler.
It was because he was Leosydas.
Being the loyal follower he was, it was almost impossible for him to even think that upon seeing his lord alone and in trouble he would just leave him to it alone and instead take his own army through an unknown path that led to who knew where.
Remember, the entire surrounding was pretty dark at the dark, many parts covered with fog, and the only light other than the iron and cement nt wasing from the manor, shining like a beacon to everyone around.
So rather than take a dark, unknown route which could very well cause him to end up outside the city as far as Leosydas was concerned, it was a far safer bet to march towards the brightest object in the area, one where his liege was fighting, and one whose capture promised the end of the war.
Thus though it was certainly very close, and Leosydas had missed a massive opportunity he had no idea of, it also had a low chance of actually happening in real.
While back in the present, after Cambyses suggested her n, it also woke the others to the potential of the attack.
"That!" Menes at first tried to say something against it, but after thinking for a while, found he could not find any major fault with it.
"Tha¡.that is certainly possible," The giant general hence agreed after a bit of rumination.
"Good! Then have Melodias lead that attack," So without wasting any time Cambyses instantly delegated.
And with the order given, the word was soon passed down, and under the recently arrived second inmand Melodias, soon part of the army was rerouted, and ordered to perform a nking attack.
All while the fighting to retake the hill continued.
But no matter how much the legionaries tried on this front, any breakthrough any time soon seemed very unlikely.
It appeared that even when the attackers were on the rtively much tter side of the hill, having be so after centuries of erosion through regr use, it was still very hard.
But vice versa, the phngites also had trouble pushing the legionaries off.
One because they really did not like fighting in rough terrain, and so tried to simply stay still and poke anyone trying to attack them,
And also because an additional variable was soon introduced against them.
It was done by Menes, who saw the lines go nowhere and with his forces thinning as Melodias took arge chunk of men with him, decided to change his tactics and widen his formation.
''If they want a grinding war, then I''m sure to y along,'' Menes somewhat spitefully swore, and gave the following order,
"Have the crossbowmen spread around the sides of the hill. Then tell them to specifically target the phnx units holding the mouth of the hill."
"Let''s see how long they can take that!"
There was a hint of anger but also some yfulness mixed in as he said thest sentence.
Menes''s thinking was simple.
Instead of the archers being kept at the back doing nothing in fear of causing friendly fire, it would be far better to spread them out and then have themunch arrows into the rear ranks of the enemy.
But when his adjutant first heard of this, he was confused, and let his skepticism be known, saying,
"That¡but won''t they bepletely exposed, sir? Most men have not bought even their pavises, and surely the enemy can just shoot back."
He reasonably argued.
To which Menes only snapped and said, "So what do you want them to do? Just stand around twiddling their thumbs!"
"If they did not bring it, it''s their fault. They can die for that mistake for all I care."
Menes would rather have something change worse for him than suffer through this stalemate for much longer.
And besides, with therge number of ''archers'' he had, at around 10,000 to Perseus''s avable 2,000, and enormous stockpiles of arrows at his disposal, Menes was confident he would be able to suppress any counterfire.
"Yes, General," While Menes''s scolding got his subordinate to instantlyply.
And so, Perseus was soon forced to confront this new type of attack, where the enemy deployed their ''peasant archer army'' as he hade to name it, along the sides of the hills which were rtively free of clutter, and instantly started to rain down incessant arrow fire on them, even more cunningly targeting only specific units.
And though each volley reaped only a meager number of lives, as most bolts pinged off the heavy shields or the bristling walls of spears held high up into the sky by the rear echelons, even a small number of lives lost were still lives lost.
Furthermore, Perseus was experienced enough to know that though these individual one or two casualties were nothing game-changing, but taking such damage per hit would surely add up over time.
And this slow but constant trickle of loss, would sometimes worryingly be even more damaging to one''s army''s morale than a suddenrge loss.
Because the long period time of constant attack gave time for the fear and terror every soldier had going to battle to work its way in, seeping in slowly to every bone and muscle and polluting one''s focus.
Perseus had firsthand seen such phenomena unfold before, where the frontlines looked solid one second, but with only one stray man deserting, everyone broke and the lines disintegrated.
And very much wished to avoid the same fate for his own army.
But then the question arose how?
Because although he could identify the problem, figuring out the solution was another matter entire.
"How many archers do we have?" Came the obvious inquiry to Theony.
And he get them it was nowhere enough.
"Perhaps we can send our phnxes down? These archers arepletely defenseless with not even a single infantry defending them. They will break even before we reach them," Thus army''s third inmand, Mithriditus, proposed this to Perseus.
And this braindead idea, caused Perseus to unnaturally re up.
"Fool! This is what the enemy wants," He was there to loudly and heavily rebuke him, and then started exining in a didactical way, "We have been able to hold the enemy off till now due to using the difficult terrain to our advantage."
"But if we go down to meet the enemy, we will be giving all that away."
"And for what? A few measly archers?"
"Once we are down there, the enemy will need no archer. He can just use his huge infantry to surround the small force and then decimate us!"
"You want to send our men to die like that!"
By the end of this speech, Perseus had gone from lecturing his student to severely scolding him, while the man in question dropped his head so low that if the ground could part, he would have fallen down
''I was just making suggestions,'' The old man bitterly thought, feeling Perseus was being too harsh on him.
And this was true, the reason being due to all the pressure he was in.
Little did he know it was about to multiply.
Chapter 599 Melodiass Flanking Attack (Part-1)
To say Perseus was currently not in the best of moods would be an understatement.
He was cranky, angry, and frustrated, all of which was of course due to a storm of reasons that hit one after another consecutively.
One was that he had been on the march throughout the night, meaning he was sleepless, tired, and hungry.
He was meant to get some food after taking the manor, but that never happened due to the second reason, i.e.- ''his house'' being set on fire by some scoundrels.
And tying to that same reason was how he had to now face the bitter pill of disappointment at having aplished his goal of taking the manor but still not having achieved the desired result- i.e.- the capture of the city.
As for why, well came nicely to the third reason- Cambyses''s escape and the fierce counterattack under her order, one which had them pinned to the hill and was slowly whittling down.
Perseus was still unable to think of an effective strategy out of that one.
Fourthly was the deteriorating condition of his friend, who seemed to have gotten worse due to the general loss of blood and also all the recent movement.
And the fifth and perhaps the biggest reason for his bad mood was that he had no one to rely on in this time of need, having to be a one-man show.
This had happened primarily because when Laykash had shattered his left wing, a lot of experienced and veteran officers had died then, leaving a temporary petency vacuum'' in the army.
A problem that was recently exasperated when a lot of personal bodyguards, who were experienced warriors and leaders themselves had also died to Juminus''s arrow fire.
So to plug those gaps Perseus had no other option than to install the leftovers, and many times even people from other parts of the administration.
With their abilities being questionable at best.
The poster child of this being perhaps Mithriditus himself.
Mithriditus was never a military leader and almost had zero experience in leading anythingrger than a thousand men.
No, he preferred to let a few of his retainers he trusted to do the heavy lifting.
While he applied his talents to civilian administration.
And it was where he shone like the sun.
The man had gotten the respect hemanded not by relying on his father''s name, but by slowly climbing up through Adhania''s court.
He rose from a minor civil servant to an important clerk, to the protegee of a great minister to bing a great minister himself, as time and time again he showcased his genius at managing coin, skillfully handling Tibias''smerce until finally he became the country''s treasurer.
And in all these years, it was almost entirely his credit that the books were in ck and not red, which was especially impressive given the massive war they had.
In fact, as a side note, it was in the interest of keeping the books ck that he had recently contacted the Kaiser family, which inadvertently led to him brokering a series of deals between the two all of which culminated to the situation both sides found themselves in.
So it could be said it was Mithriditus who was the unwilling mastermind behind the chain of events.
But that was where praises for him had to stop.
Because when it came to the military,.... well, his caliber of generalship quickly became evident when Mithriditus had made that suggestion to Perseus without considering the bigger picture, something Leosydas would have never done,
And what made it even worse was that given Leosydas was in no position to fight, themander of the army after Perseus by default went to Mithriditus, as he was the next highest ranking noble.
And it was also that realization that made Perseus even more anxious, for being a genius military leader, he hated ipetent subordinates.
But being also the king, he knew he could not sideline Mithriditus for someone else unless he had a very, very good reason.
No trumped-up charges would work against such an aged and prestigious man unless Perseus wanted to earn the ire of all the nobility.
Thus in some way, Perseus scolding the man could be seen as him trying to teach the noble about military affairs.
Though the way he delivered the lecture ensured Mithriditus had thrown all the lessons inside the trash bin a second after it had entered his ear.
Thus ultimately all this meant was that Perseus was left to try and handle everything on his own.
While TH, being right beside the king and knowing this was not how one talked to a noble as powerful as Mithriditus quickly chimed in to try and soothe the man''s sore heart, saying in aforting tone,
"My lord, what His Majesty is trying to say is that our men are more valuable than the enemy''s! So it is much better for us to keep to the high grounds and let the other side tire itself out."
"That would be far more prudent."
It was not unknown how much of this was truly Perseus''s intention and how much it was TH''s own personal interpretation.
But that did not seem to matter as Mithriditus had by now gone silent, and after giving a stiff bow to the king, he silently excused himself.
While Perseus treated him like thin and only pursed his lips trying to think of a way to turn this around.
"Are the phnxes not yet ready? Why is it taking so long?" And after a while, he turned to ask TH this, for the n he atst came up with was to charge the enemy downhill with all his men simultaneously and hopefully break them in one go.
It was basically Mithriditus''s n but with a lot more men.
And though TH very well understood this, if they wanted to keep his head he knew he had to keep his mouth shut.
So he promptly replied, "Yes sire, they have mostly formed up. All we need is yourmand and we can start!"
"Good, then¡." But Perseus never got to finish that sentence.
Because a sharp, high-pitched cry suddenly pierced his ear, one which shouted,
"Enemy! Enemy from the left! Quick! The enemy ising from the left!"
And this instantly made everyone, including Perseus spin their head towards the hill housing the cement nt, and the huge silhouette of Melodiass''s force marching towards them became as clear as day to every one of them.
Dressed in blue, these 15,000 infantrymen kicked up a whole lot of dust, as if announcing the approach of a raging storm, with the thundering boom of their steps making the nearby tress shake and vibrate, while they hurriedly charged down the hill, eager to draw blood.
And as they did, Melodias was filled with joy at seeing the terrain, for this hill had almost no trees or any other obstacles along its slopes, meaning he could fully deploy his troops along the slope in the standard formation without worry.
The reason for this deforestation was due to the workshops thatid on these parts, and thus the entire hill had been cleaned of its woodedndscape to make space for living.
Most of the cut trees were used as firewood for cooking and running the various furnaces, or turned into furniture, while the emptynd was converted into farnd, used to feed the residents there, and let small animals like chickens and ghosts graze.
A plot of it was even nted with the ''magical'' crop of Zanzna- beetroots.
All of which meant Melodias could charge straight towards Perseus without the worry of a chokepoint, just like Leosydas had simply hours ago.
"Fuuuuuckkkk!" And seeing this Perseus, could not help but let out an enraged roar like no one had ever heard.
He simply had not had the time or thinking space to even consider that the enemy could outnk them via that route, as this was not really apparent from where he was standing.
The Cisran Hills were really a byzantine collection of hills covering a huge area and covered in thick undergrowth that even if the king had state-of-the-art modern reconnaissance assets such as satellites, GPS, and drones he still might not have been able to spot that route going from the city to the hill.
So being outnked as such was not really a discredit towards him.
But discredit or not, at the end of the day, all of this did not matter.
The only thing that mattered was that Melodias had caught them unaware and was rushing to attack them.
And now it was up to Perseus to decide how to react.
But as it would seem, Perseus was suffering from a bit of ''rage quitting'', where he seemed to have lost his will to fight, as evidenced by his enraged wounded roar, which made every single person in the camp feel their hearts somersault, and even some nearby birds were seen flying off from their trees at the sudden noise.
But then again, if one was in Perseus''s shoes, perhaps one might sympathize, given he had gotten so close, but was about to be thwarted at thest moment.
As to whether he could stop it, or whether Melodias would be able to smash through them, well, the time to tell that was!
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Chapter 600 Melodiass Flanking Attack (Part-2)
"Quick! Turn quickly! Get in line! Form up!"
With Perseus suffering from a mild mental breakdown, Theony decided by himself to temporarily take charge of the army, putting it upon himself to try and change the tide, or at least stymie it long enough for Perseus to escape.
And to that effect, he instantly ordered the already gathered phnx units at the back to turn to face the new enemy.
And as he gave that order, the young man thanked the gods that they had spotted the enemy at the earliest moment, just as they were crossing the peak.
''Oh, everything is still not lost! We still have some time,'' He optimistically said to himself, as all the soldiers used every bit of the time they had on their hands to try and reorganize their formation.
While up above the hills, Melodias, upon seeing the enemy starting to form up along the wooden walls of the workshop, intending to use that as a defensive crutch, could not help but *tsk* a bit in his heart.
Only if he could have carried out a sneak attack like Menes did.
But he understood that was basically impossible to do.
After all, it was hard to hide a marching army on top of a hill in broad daylight.
"Charge!"
"Break through!"
"Take back our city!"
And so the officers andmanders seeing the enemy line up urged their men to march faster, wanting to make contact with the enemy as soon as possible.
But the steep slope of the hill meant such a rapid move was never really possible.
And if pushed too hard, the entire army risked tripping and tumbling down the hill, smashing into the enemy in the form of a giant ball of human flesh.
Perhaps an effective cannonball tactic, but definitely not rmended.
So the officers soon realized it would be far more prudent to take it slow and maintain a coherent formation, thus giving Tibias the slightest chance to try and defend themselves.
*Shoo*, *Shoo*, *Shoo*
But though the Tibias got to form some sort of a solid line, it was nevertheless hastily organized, and so when the rain of pis came, followed by the charge downhill, the legionaries roaring, *Arghhhh*,
The phngites nearly snapped from the casualties suffered then and there.
It was a very heavy charge, and along some points in the line, Perseus noticed that the legionaries had pushed them back by as much as a hundred meters.
And as if energized by the sess of his colleague, Menes also ordered an almost suicidal charge along his line, intending to catch the shaken defenders off guard or at the very least pin them down so that they could not provide assistance to the other parts.
"Charge! Charge men! Do not let the other side take the glory for your efforts. Remember they were only there because you fought tooth and nail here," The giant was heard loudly urging.
"My lord, retreat! Please retreat! I will hold them off!"
While on Perseus''s end, his adjutant came to him with this plea, which implicity meant, ''We cannot keep the line for too long. I willmand the rear guard. You make your getaway!''
"...." And hearing this report, Perseus clenched his jaws so hard that he felt he would break his own teeth.
''So close, yet so far,'' The man could not remember how many times he had thought of that exact phrase in thest twelve hours.
But seeing things develop to what they had now, the goal really seemed too far.
The enemy was attacking from both sides and the forces Perseus had gathered in hopes ofunching a counterattack were now being deployed to hold the other front.
Even for him, to win against close to 30,000 using his 18,000- 19,000 in an open battle of attrition was impossible.
And this was not even considering how tired and exhausted his troops were after the entire night march.
Sooner orter they would break.
And understanding this, Perseus was forced to ept reality.
But he was not yet resigned to it.
So he ordered Theony,
"You go take control of the frontlines personally. Try to hold on for as long as possible."
"I want to stay here a bit longer and get some of the gold in the manor." as he looked up at the manor in front of him.
Perseus noticed that the mes on the first floor had subsided by now, probably due to having eaten up all its fuel.
And while the inferno was still raging on on the second and third floor, even filling much of the first floor with smoke, Perseus still wanted to try his luck getting to the treasury located in the basement.
While hearing themand Theony was baffled, even feeling like he had just been struck by thunder.
The adjutant simply could not believe greed would manage to take hold of Perseus at this crucial time!
Sure Theony had his subordinates inform him about the literal mountain of gold underneath the manor, which, being the loyal adjutant he was, then had off-handedly mentioned it to Perseus during one of his many reports about the fire.
But how could he have ever thought it woulde to bite him now?
"Your Majesty, is it really the time?" It took Theony the courage to question the king, though what he really meant to say was ''Now is not the time!'' in an rmed, exasperated voice.
"Yes, it is!" To this Perseus replied in a very stern voice, saying, "Even if we cannot get the city, we have to get some of the gold."
"Or I will not be able to answer to the people."
"......." The king''s exnation did not produce an understanding look of eptance in Theony, but his eyes only bulged and if not for the natural etiquette he had been groomed with from birth, he would have even gaped wide.
''Why does it matter whether you can answer to the people or not if you end up getting captured or worse?'' The man said to himself.
And as if sensing this incredulous gaze, Perseus produced a wry smile that Theony had never seen his king have before, as he then pointed his head up into the sky and in an almost mournful voice exined,
"A lot of nobles died in this campaign. And when I go back, they will want me to show something for it.''
"So whether I die here, on top of this hill, or leave empty-handed, it is all the same!"
"!!!!" Theony had never thought about it that way.
''It seems that even kings have their difficulties,'' The young man said to himself, feeling he learned something critical about life today.
The master that he viewed as all-powerful, holding the image of a man able tomand the entire country to sit and stand at the utterance of a single word was scattered, and Theony understood that even someone called ''The king'' was not out of reproach.
Indeed a lot of nobles, many of them very heavyweights in their own right had died in this campaign, and as the supreme general of the army, these families would surely hold Perseus responsible, demandingnd or gold as an indemnity.
".....I understand." Thus, understanding where his king wasing from, Theony atst produced a nod, promising, "I will try to hold on for as long as possible. But please hurry your Majesty. We haven''t got much time."
"Good! Then I will leave here to you then, Theony."
No one could understand just how much it hurt Perseus to say this, but some evidence of it could be seen from how the man sounded a bit choked and if one noticed clearly, even had reddened eyes.
If he could, he would not have resorted to this dangerous gamble.
"Then¡..please exchange armor with me, Your Majesty!"
Theony then suddenly made this request, intending to take his ce.
And this made Perseus almost tear up.
But silently heplied, knowing how significant that would be.
And so soon the costume change was done and as Theony left, he only gave a regal bow, and then silently left towards the frontlines.
And got a roaring cheer from the crowd who thought the king himself was joining them.
While Perseus looked at the back of his man with teary eyes, knowing this might very well he saw the man.
Either he might die, or Perseus might himself be captured after failing to escape.
"Be sure to surrender once the enemy breaks through. Kings are profitable to capture,"
And as Perseus and Theony changed clothes, he had urged Theony this.
And now seeing the man go, Perseus''s eyes lingered on him for a while, before finally he decided time was of the essence and turned his horse to go find Mithriditus, asking him to head the ''gold expediotn''.
"Your Majesty, you go! And it will take as much gold as I can, and meet up." And hearing this Mithriditus did not shun away from his duties, but like Theony, only urged Perseus to leave first.
But Perseus would not ept, stubbornly saying, "No! There is no point in me escaping alone without the gold. I will go with the gold, or I will die."
And then to shut Mithriditus down, he pointedly said,
"And don''t bother bringing up the Kaiser family. You should understand better than me that they will likely find a way to make trouble for us given this result!"
And this made the old man go silent before he was forced to give a nod.
So soon, some of the men in the rear, and even some prisoners were quickly recruited to try and excavate the gold, wrapping their entire faces in whatever clothes they could find to fight the smoke, and after douching their entire bodies with water, they ran inside the still scalding hot building, additionally carrying buckets of water to use if needed.
But soon they came up empty-handed,
Because it seemed that although the first floor was rtively cooler, the basement was still like a burning inferno, as the heat was unable to escape through the narrow gaps.
Meaning no one was able to remotely approach the room, not to even mention enter it.
Cambyses had managed to save her gold.
''Darm!''
And hearing this, Perseus felt his spirits break, as he understood, by dying so much, he had lost even more men and got nothing in return.
"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"
While seeing things going where it was, Mithriditus took it upon himself to shout this order, though, without the bugle that sounded the retreat, he could only use his voice.
But nevertheless, this signaled the end of Perseus''s resistance.
Cambyses had won!
Chapter 601 Zanzans Return
Mithriditus sounding the retreat with his meager bare voice only managed to travel around the confines of his vicinity.
He would have liked to use a bugle but since he did not have one, he could only use his god-given gift, the idea behind such a tactic being that others would hear Mithriditus and then pass it along fromrade torade until the whole army knew of the order.
This was of course not the best way to do this, and while a far better way that this existed in Perseus''s hand, he did not blow his horn in fear of the men holding the lines breaking and running away after hearing it.
Instead, in a move that went against all fibers of his body, Perseus, already dressed in regr armor decided to serendipitously exit the battlefield seeing the battle was lost, taking only a makeshift team of bodyguards with him on horseback.
While close to 15,000 of his men were left behind to fend for themselves.
For someone like Perseus whomanded great respect among his troops, they never even imagined being stabbed in the back like that.
This would have been something unimaginable to think the hero King would do even a few hours ago!
And even Perseus himself could not believe he had actually done something so disgraceful
''Oh, if I had not let greed get the better of me!''
''Oh if I had decided toe with all 35,000 of my troops!''
''Oh, if I had ordered the manor to be evacuated sooner!''
''Oh if I had spotted that hill pass earlier!''
So while he escaped, galloping down the paved, stone-cement road, his heart was filled with bitterness over all the mistakes he had done in hindsight.
But there was no pill to cure regret, and life did not have buts and ifs,
Whatever Perseus did, it had consequences and the man would have to live with it, whether he liked it or not.
Though the consequence for him this time were truly dire, with around 15,000 to 20,000 likely lost, including many, many veteran officers, but with no gold or significant booty to show for it all.
And couple this with the personal tragedy of Leosydas''s deteriorating health, which was surely about to get worse with his rapid run down the hill, even though they had put him on a cart, Perseus knew he would have a hard time keeping his throne stable after this.
All the goodwill he had gathered defending Tibias from Amenheraft was about to turn to smoke.
So it was only natural for him to feel a scalding heartache.
While back at the manor, as Perseus rode like the wind, trying to put as much distance as possible between him and his leftover troops, it took a while for Perseus''s departure to be known, especially because Theony was disguising as him.
So the soldiers always thought their king was with them.
But a whileter some began to have doubts about the situation on the battlefield.
For though the peasant soldiers might not be the sharpest tool in the bunch, they were not dumb rocks either.
At some point, some of the quicker ones began to notice some of theirmanders were nowhere to be seen for a while, and the rear was surprisingly quiet.
While others even turned around to see a few of their allies running down the opposite side of the hill.
These were the mercenaries, whose keen eyes had immediately noticed Perseus leaving, and reading the winds had decided to follow him closely, their total numbering around 4,000.
But even all this did notpletely break the lines, only sprout doubts in some of the soldiers.
And it took till Melodias forcefully breaking a part of the line which was no longer bear the constant attacks that Tibias''s whole defense shattered.
It was as if the destruction of one part of the army had created a crack in a pane of ss, one which once produced, required only the slightest touch to propagate throughout the whole structure, and ultimately break it into a thousand pieces, or in this case fifteen thousand (15,000) pieces.
"Arrghhh"
"Hahahhaa"
And as Tibias''s lines broke, the Zanzan soldiers rushed forward, eager to deliver the killing blows and take back theirnds.
"Run!"
"We have lost!"
"Make for the hills! Make for the hills!"
Many such shouts would be heard as the Tibian scattered to try their best to save each''s skin.
They ran in any direction they could, while others held their spears up and thrust them toward the sky, the ultimate signal of surrender for any phnx unit.
"We surrender! We surrender!"
"Don''t kill! Don''t kill!"
They could be heard pleading.
And the Zanzan soldiers for their part mostly epted their surrender instead of butchering them, rounding them up by the hundreds.
These prisoners of war were firstly told to shed all their weapons and armor, and then made to sit down or eveny prone on the muddy ground, while most of the Zanzan infantry concentrated on trying to kill any soldiers that were trying to escape, chasing them all over the hills and even the surrounding woods.
It was a chaotic scene, where all semnce of order had broken down, the once neat rows of disciplined soldiers nowhere to be found, only to be reced only by a macabre game of cat and mouse.
A game where an armed cat equipped with a sword tried to stab all the mice scampering around.
And though this ferocious creature of 30,000 men managed to catch many preys, many also managed to slip into the surrounding overgrowth, as the uneven hills gave the much lighter phngite without their shields or spears a much-needed speed advantagepared to the fully d legionary.
So this deadly y went on for quite a while, as the Zanzan defenders tried to round up the stragglers.
While the higher-ups only made their way up the hill after everything calmed down a bit and thepound was secured.
"Cam¡Mydy, we did it! Hahaha," And the instant Menes steeped up the hill, he produced a grin that was difficult to hide even through the helmet.
While Cambyses was much moreposed, producing an acknowledging nod and saying, "Yes. Thank Gaia," as she then reminded,
"While capturing the enemy, all remember to start looking for survivors among the wounded."
Saying which the girl decided to take a tour of the premises, intending to view the destruction for herself.
And she was not disappointed.
The carnage around here was truly well and thorough.
The gardens and the beautifully manicured flowers and flower bushes were all tramped to the ground under the footsteps of tens of thousands of men,pletely mixing the greeny into the soil to the point all that was left was only a dull brown.
The outside kitchen used to hold outside parties and barbeques was smashed, dead bodies of men, women and children were littered all around and the prisoners were ced buddled up in groups all around.
Cambyses had a hard believing the scenery in front of her and the one in her memory was less than one day old.
But that was certainly not the most striking piece of destruction.
No!
For the centerpiece of it all, had to be of course the manor, which was a smoldering wreck.
As Cambyses gazed upon it, she found she could even now see some of the parts burning, withshes of mes flicking out into the sky, emanating heat to all sides, while its insides turned into a ckened char of ash and soot with almost nothing of value left to salvage.
Even its stone walls and foundations, though still stood intact without copsing, showed clear signs of damage as many parts were charred matt back and at some ces were even deformed, as the mortar between the stones crystallized in the heat and cracked.
Cambyses understood that if she wanted to live here, she would probably have to build her house again from scratch.
And this was such a pity given she quite the house, both in its style and grandeur, but also in its view.
Depending on which room you were in, one would be able to see the boundless Mad Sea or its golden sandy beaches, the expansive mountains and its lush vegetation, and in rare instances, even some small springs tricking past the hills.
And of course, there was theplete view of the entire city which the manor majestically overlooked, like an ever-watchful guardian keeping its eyes on its people.
In fact, Cambyses''s favorite thing to do every day after waking up was to go to the balcony and look over the city, gazing down at the people wandering about.
Seeing so, sometimes she would feel great satisfaction, like a mother seeing her child grow up right before her eyes, feeling immensely proud of seeing the city develop from its destitute state to a thriving city center in just a year.
While at other times she would also feel a great rush of power knowing all the people down there were hers tomand.
It was a majestic feeling.
But seeing it now, in its current state, Cambyses was not sure when she would be able to feel like that again.
And her only sce was takingfort in the knowledge that she would at least have the chance to some time in the future.
Because for all the damaged Zanzan took, it was still in her hands.
She had managed to save Zanzan.
Chapter 602 After-Effects (Part-1)
Chapter 602 After-Effects (Part-1)
"Mistress! We have caught the king! There!"
Suddenly, as Cambyses stood around the premises, feeling a bit lethargic after all the exhaustion she had bottled up until now wash over her, a herald all of a sudden came to her with his huge information.
One which made her interest instantly turn to that.
If that was really true¡.Cambyses felt that she could cripple Tibias with her ransom.
But that burst of anticipationsted only a few seconds as after she approached the crowd and saw only a young boy wearing Perseus''s helmet, she knew the report was incorrect.
Cambyses had seen Perseus before from up on the wall, and this was not it.
"Heh, so your king has resorted to having small children dress up as him," She hence taunted.
To which Theony declined to answer, and only turned to face her and calmly replied as per protocol, "I''m a noble of Tibias, the next sessor of the House of Theony."
"I demand to be treated with due respect as my title dictates. My family will pay the proper ransom."
Though Theony was caught, he still had his pride as a noble and was yet to lose his spirit.
"I see." And Cambyses only replied as such, not feeling like being bothered with the proceeding interrogation herself.
Instead, she only turned to Menes to instruct,
"I will leave it to you to make proper arrangements fro all the prisoners."
"Make sure they are all given the proper food and homes ording to their ranks. And that the wounded are treated to the best of your ability."
"I want to squeeze Tibias out of as much gold as possible even theye to exchange them."
Cambyses sounded a bit expectant.
"Yes!" Came the instant nod from the Menes, and then leaving the man to it, Cambyses turned to go meet Melodias.
She first greeted him for the good work, congratting him on the sess, and then asked the main thing she was here for.
"Melodias, given we have caught so many men, would it be possible for us tounch an attack on the enemy''s main camp? It should be quite empty by now!" Cambyses sounded very eager to strike while the iron was still hot.
"!!!" To this Melodias produced a bit of a shocked look.
He had not thought about that, especially because he was more preupied with winning his current battle and then hunting down the running enemy.
But now that Cambyses said so¡.
"I''m afraid right now is difficult," But thinking would it for a few seconds, atst Melodias shook his head, finding the idea untenable right now, which he then delineated to a skeptical Cambyses in a calm tone.
"We have deployed almost all the 35,000 men we have here. The rest are either mostly servants or a few remaining defenders we have atop the wall to prevent any attack from that side."
"If we were to use them to attack the camp, given the enemy has likely 15,000 to 20,000 defending it, and they have had two months to build up the defense around it, I doubt we will be easily able to break it using those low-quality troops."
"In fact, the enemy might actually counterattack and beat us given they will likely outnumber us!"
Melodias hypothesized.
But even hearing this, Cambyses was not resigned, wanting to destroy that ''nest of evil'' when presented with such a golden opportunity.
So she pointed to the formations in front of her and asked, "And this army? They can''t do it either?"
To which Melodias immediately grinned, before nodding confidently,
"Of course they can¡.but look around you mistress," As shortly after he waved his hand, pointing his finger to many of his units scattered all throughout the entire Cisrain hills hunting for survivors.
"The soldiers are busy hunting. And it will take us hours to gather them."
"And by the time we do this and then get ready to attack the camp, it will likely be dusk. It is winter after all,"
Melodias pointed out, and finally, it was a reality the girl was forced to ept.
Winter days were especially short, and she regretted it not being summer
"*Sigh*, I really wanted to destroy that camp before their king could rejoin it," She ruefully shook her head, before trying onest time to ask Melodias, "Could we start a siege now? Prevent him from entering the camp?"
But even though Melodias wished for a simr happenstance as Cambyses, he knew they did not have enough troops right now to start a full blockade.
So shaking his head, he could only calm the girl down by saying,
"Mydy, we have already sent riders after the king. It is likely they will be able to catch him before he can reach the camp. Let us hope that happens."
"And if they cannot, we can alwaysunch a full-fledged attack tomorrow."
And hearing so Cambyses atst stoically nodded.
But she did not immediately leave.
Instead, feeling Melodias was currently idle, decided to dump an important task on him.
"Then Melodias, since you here, have some of your men put out the fire in the manor. Or else the fire might spread."
And before Melodias could weasel his way out, quickly added,
"I have other ces to be."
"Also remember to secure the manor premises. We have a lot of gold in our treasury and if has not to been already stolen, you are to protect it."
And with that, just like that Cambyses was off into the wind even before Melodias could get a word out.
And while the general could hardly hide the exasperated look on his face, Cambyses was on her way to visit the Ramuh temple, wishing to personally inform thedies that they were safe.
"Mistress! You are safe!" And as she entered the temple, she was very quickly greeted as such by Mean who was pacing around the statue of Ramuh in the center, while furtively looking around in anxiety.
It was as if she was waiting for someone to show up.
And when that person did show up, the girl rushed forward to hug Cambyses with all her might, and then suddenly started crying.
"Oh!" And at the bear-like tackle, and this sudden burst of intense emotion, Cambyses was a bit surprised, and then understanding where Mena wasing from, patted her little maid''s head, and calmed her in a soothing, "It''s okay. It''s okay. We won!"
".....Mmmn, we know. Thank the gods!" Mean was still red-eyed as she replied, and added amidst her choking sobs,
"The guards came a while ago to tell us. That''s why the temple is now a bit empty," as Mean managed to fill Cambyses in on some of the less important details.
And at the mention of this, Cambyses took the time to have a look around the surrounding and found it to be quite absent of people.
It was not deserted or anything, as many people, especially women, and children were seen still loitering about, unsure of the veracity of the news.
But it was also not the kind of overwhelming, crushing tsunami of people cramped inside the temple like she had expected to see.
And after a while of this, Mean finally bought out her head from Cambyses''sp to look up at her mistress ad say,
"We¡we were so scared when we saw smoke from the hills. We thought ¡.we thought¡" Mena was not able to articte the fear she had felt when she heard some of the people saying what they saw, ''the lord''s manor is burning as they put it, which made her heart feel like it was being constantly stabbed.
And so the petite girl again buried her head into her mistress''sp, remembering how she had even gotten into some altercations with the people saying so, calling themirs, and even threatening to have them executed for spreading lies.
But now that proof of everything being alright was in front of Mean, she shed tears of relief, ones which stained Cambyses''s red armor with several pearl-sized teardrops.
"I knew they were lying¡I knew they were lying," She repeated.
"It''s good to see you are safe, sister. It seems the gods have answered our prayers,"
And finally, the duo''s reunion was interjected with the addition of others, as Ophenia was the next to greet her, followed by the others.
And after hearing all theirments, Cambyses gave a nod of appreciation, "Thank you. It was due to all of your efforts that we were able to ovee this ordeal. The gods have blessed us."
"Praise the gods!" Came the reply in unison.
"Lay Cambyses, what happened? Could you tell us?"
"When may we return home?"
"Some said the manor was on fire?"
And once the pleasantries were over, and Cambyses was taken to a secluded room, soon came the barraged of questions, which Cambyses replied mostly truthfully.
"But the manor is indeed burnt. We probably will need to stay in the temple for the time being." She confirmed, which got a gloomy response.
That was not just a ce to sleep, but everyone had all their expensive clothes, jewelry, perfumes, and other personal belongings there.
So it was a difficult result for them to ept.
"*Sigh*, well at least we are still alive. That is the most important thing. Everything we can get." And it was the mature NN who said this to smooth everyone.
And it was in the spirit of such words that that fateful day came to an end.
Chapter 603 Alexander’s Return
Chapter 603 Alexander''s Return
It was the day after the fateful battle ended that Alexander arrived at the outskirts of the city.
And the first thing he noticed was his house which should have been visible even from atop the hill he was on was nowhere to be found.
Instead, he only noticed the husk of the manor''s silhouette standing awkwardly at a nt angle against the background, like a ruin left to desertion.
It was a forlorn sight to see.
All while in front of him, outside the city, the Tibian camp still stood tall and proud, mightily waving their g on a pole, letting everyone know the wannabe conquerors of thisnd were ready for a fight.
"No! How could this be!" And seeing so, Alexander felt like breaking down.
This scene implied some very bad things and to him, it seemed like his worst nightmare hade true.
"Alexander stay strong! We still don''t know the full story!"
While seeing Alexander falter, it was Hemicus who stepped up in this time of crisis, loudly urging Alexander to not lose heart by calling him by name, as he then quickly turned to one particr man tomand,
"Mizanoz! You take five men and try to sneak into the city via the harbor. Figure out the situation there. Quick!"
Given the strange circumstances in the city, HH felt it was imperative to first and foremost send scouts to gather information.
"Yes, captain," And sharing this thought, the man immediately saluted, and after selecting his team in a heartbeat, the group was on their way.
While in the meantime HH turned to bring the shellshocked Alexander back to his senses, pointing to some inconsistencies with the conclusion they seemed to havee with.
"Alexander! Get yourself togeher! the Tibians are still outside the city! And look, there are defenders on top of the walls wearing blue. That''s ours!" HH quickly used his armored fingers to draw Alexander''s attention.
And as Alexander slowly turned his eye to that figure, upon this visual confirmation, indeed some life returned to his eyes.
''Yes, looks like the city is indeed in our hands.'' Upon seeing the uniform of the guards patrolling the wall, he found the evidence credible.
But then found himself asking, ''But then why is the manor nowhere to be seen? What happened there? Did it suddenly catch fire? Or did a lightning strike?''
Alexander''s mind produced a lot of such doubts seeing the current situation but he kept all this to himself, knowing the only way to get any real answer would be to wait till the men returned.
And so they waited with baited breaths, every single second feeling like an hour to him.
Until finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Alexander, but was actually around two hours in real life, the men returned.
And they brought a guest!
"My lord!" This happy greeting and huge grin was called out by Menes who had personallye to meet with Alexander.
And turning to see the man''s happy demeanor, Alexander was instantly assured that things had not reached the worst care scenario.
Hence subconsciously he too produced a huge grin.
"Menes! What''s with the city? How''s it going? Is Cambyses alright?" Alexander''s first and foremost concerns were these.
"We are alright! Lady Cambyses is alright! We are all alive!" And Menes was quick to answer positively.
He had heard from the men Alexander had sent to the city about how their leader had almost broken down upon seeing the destroyed manor, hence the rapid answer of reassurance.
"That''s good. That''s good," And hearing such Alexander finally could drop his heart down from his throat to his chest, and feel the organ not hurt so much when it beat.
"Come my lord. Let''s return." And seeing Alexander calm down, Menes quickly presented his invite, adding, "Lady Cambyses is very eagerly waiting for you. In fact, she had very much wanted toe to meet you. It took a fair while to convince her to stay."
"Mmm. you''re right, let''s go. Or Cam might take a horse and start looking for me by herself."
And hearing so Alexander instantly nodded too, as he was also eager to see his wife and more ever see his city.
"And while we are on the way, perhaps you can fill me in on what happened in thest month. And why have I not got a home now?"
Menes felt a sharp nce from Alexander as he said so, which made the general produce a wry smile in his heart.
It was unknown how much Alexander was going to punish them once he got to know the whole truth.
But that thought onlysted a fleeting second.
''What wille, wille.'' Menes braced himself.
"Of course. The council members should already be gathered around the front gates. We all will give you a detailed ount of the circumstances once we reach there," Menes heavily nodded.
And saying so, off they were, urging their horse faster and faster.
But unlike the bodyguards who had entered the city via the port, by first stabling their horses on the beach opposite of the wall and then swimming to the other side, where they finally revealed their identity to the guards stationed at the wall''s gate, Alexander, and his group followed a much different path.
They galloped straight towards the gates, and seeing horsemen wearing the familiar blue approach them, the gates were immediately opened and even a few thousand armed escorts flowed out to counter any Tibian attempt to block their lord''s entry.
Though this move proved to bergely redundant as the Tibian camp ced around 500 meters away from the city walls never even understood what kind of fish they let slip through their finger.
Thus Alexander was able to safely enter the city under huge cheers from the gathered crowd.
The people were especially happy to see Alexander''s return because up until now, he had always managed to get them what they wanted, unlike the people he left in charge, who screwed up big time and caused casualties exceeding ten thousand.
Hence the people were eager to have him here and set things right.
"It''s good that you are safe. I was very worried." And as Alexander entered the city and the gates were quickly closed, Cambyses was the first to approach him apanied by a few guards, and seeing her in the flesh with no apparent harm, Alexander felt all the weight being lifted from him.
Whatever else happened, Alexander really did not care.
For as long as he had his city and Cambyses, no matter the losses suffered, he knew it would be salvageable.
But while Alexander''s side rejoiced, the sound of reverie drifting to even the opposite camp, drawing some curious gazes, they were instead more worried about dealing with something much more important.
So important in fact that perhaps even if they knew about Alexander''s return it would not have mattered.
Because currently they were busyforting their leader who had descended into a ck mood.
"I''m sorry for your loss, Your Majesty. There was nothing more we could do!" A group of physicians would be seen kneeling in front of the man, begging for his forgiveness in a shaken voice.
And the reason for this act was apparent if one cared to take a look at the open coffin just in front of them.
Or more specifically at the body inside.
It was Leosydas''s!
Dressed in full armor, his armsid peacefully over one another on his chest, the man''s face painted with a serene facade, with the only evidence of his current state being how unnaturally pale he looked.
Almost as if a vampire had sucked all the blood out.
And this unnatural state also worked to easily give away his cause of death- Cardiac arrest through excessive bleeding.
It seemed that the hurried escape through the hills and then galloping as fast as possible east to rejoin the camp had taken too much toll on the poor man''s body, with even the just newly applied stitches snapping, and causing his body to be dyed in the color of life.
Perseus clearly remembered how the mattress on the wagon Leosydas was on had turned blood red as they reached the camp.
In fact, they had soaked up so much blood that the corners had even started to drip blood.
And even though he desperately thought of wanting to stop his march and have some kind of first-aid performed on his dear friend, unfortunately, the riders sent out by Melodias were always hot on their tails.
Not enough to endanger them as the horsemen numbered less than a hundred, whereas they had more than 4,000 men.
But enough to keep harassing them, shooting javelins and sparse barrages of arrows to keep them on their toes and trying to slow them down, all so that perhaps arge contingent of their allies would have the time toe join them.
And it was precisely knowing this that Perseus knew he could not stop.
If they stooped to try and heal Leosydas, by the time they were done, t was they would be entirely surrounded and destroyed.
Not to mention there was the very real possibility of the soldiers would not even obey themand given a majority of them were actually mercenaries.
Thus Perseus was forced to keep on going, and Leosydas kept on bleeding.
Until finally he sumbed to his wounds.
The result of which made the king descend into absolute fury!
Chapter 604 Perseuss Gloom And Laykashs Narrow Escape
Leosydas''s wounds in the eyes of modern medical science would have been seen as trivial, being treatable with just a simple few bags of blood and a few injections of antibiotics.
And if that was too much, even a make-shift tourniquet might have worked, something to tightly wrap around the chest and forcefully bind the wound together so that blood could not leak.
Any such rudimentary techniques might have saved him.
But given he did not have this avable to him, Leosydas was forced to enter the domain of death, perhaps elerated by how seeing his friend''s deteriorating condition, Perseus had even sped up his march, trying to reach his camp as soon as possible so that Leosydas would get his treatment faster.
But it was to no avail.
For by the time they reach the camp, at around thete afternoon, Leosydas had already bled for too long and was long cold and dead.
"Arrest them! Capture every one of them!" And when Perseus found this out, he did not break down into tears or howls but instead disyed a level of fury rarely seen, as he immediately ordered all the physicians responsible to be detained.
And that rolled order over to today''s event, where the physicians tried to make their case and defend themselves.
"Your Majesty, we tried our best!"
"It was all the jerking¡that was what caused the wound to open up,"
They cried.
Hearing which Perseus simply shed his palms and in a venomous tongue spat,
"Enough! I have heard enough! Whatever you did, you failed!"
"No need to prattle on about your ipetence!"
"Leosydas only went to battle because you reassured him of his health and that his stitches would hold."
"And when they broke, back at the manor you wasted so much of our time again reapplying his stitches."
"Only for them to snap a few minutester."
"We lost that battle because of you!"
Perseus had somehow managed to pin his loss in the battle of Zanzan onto the heads of the doctors, an usation which made these simple men experience a short circuit.
They could not believe they were being med for something so huge.
So they did not even know where to begin to try and refute this.
Not that they would have any chance to do so anyway, as seemingly Perseus had already determined their guilt even before the meeting.
Hence,ying this usation, at this point Perseus''s voice suddenly turned regal andmanding, decreeing,
"I me all of you for his death. And I me you for wasting our time during the retreat."
"So I hereby dered all of you are to be executed!"
"Immediately!"
So as soon as Perseus''s words were uttered, *ng*, *ng*, out came the swords from all the guards around him in an almost rehearsed motion.
And an instantter the armored men pouched on these innocent defenseless men, ying them like reaping wheat.
"Your Majes¡ahh¡"
"No please Your Majes¡"
"Mercy¡mercy.."
While being outnumbered and out-armed, these poor doctors could only fall to their knees and beg for forgiveness, but the only forgiveness they got was being mercilessly hacked to bits.
It was a sad sight to witness, but also nothing rare, as this was always the apanying danger of serving the king.
That''s why it was said serving the king was like serving a tiger.
The tiger was just as likely to defend you from other threats as it was likely to turn into a threat itself.
So upon Perseus''s order, the deadly act was carried out which onlysted a short few moments, as the king''s guards made quick work of these haplessmbs with brutal efficiency.
And once the order was finished being carried out, the macabre site was quickly cleaned with the dead bodies being instantly dragged out of the tent so as to not ruin the carpets or be an eye sore.
"And find that prisoner who killed Leosydas. I want to kill in the most brutal way possible!"
But it seemed Perseus''s lust of revenge was yet to be sated, for he turned to Mithriditus to give that order, intending to torture Laykash to death.
"At once Your Majesty," And given the furious state Perseus was currently in, no one dared to argue.
But that did not mean Laykash was fated to die a brutal death.
No, because it seemed there was a guardian angel looking out for him in the most unexpected form.
"Lord Mithriditus, are you going to find the *cough*, *cough* prisoner?" A young, but weak voice suddenly buzzed near Mithriditus''s wizened ears as the man was making his way towards the prisoner camp.
And recognizing this very familiar voice, the aged noble instantly turned to spot the man just behind him and produced a happy smile.
"Ah, Your Highness! What a pleasure!" He greeted with a slight bow, before asking in a slightly worried voice, "How is your health? Are you sure you should be walking around? It is quite cold out here you know!"
This was the crown prince of Tibias- Philips, whose power and influence was said to be only second to his father and Leosydas, rivaling even Mithriditus''s.
But in this particr campaign, he had been almostpletely useless, due to having caught a severe case of cold and high fever from almost day one of the siege, thus forced to resign himself to his personal tent for thest two months.
He did not even get to particr in a single war meeting.
And so seeing this strapping tall man with broad shoulders and a slightly pale face, covered in heavy woolen clothing, Mithriditus was understandably worried, and also puzzled.
''Why is he out here? It even seems like he was waiting for me. And why does he care about the prisoner?'' Many such questions rose inside him.
"I''m fine. *Cough*! There is no doctor to stop me *cough* anyway!" At Mithriditus''s concern, Philips gave an almost sarcastic reply, one which made Mithriditus produce a wry smile.
Perseus had not only implicated the doctors present with Leosydas at the time of his death but even charged every single physician in the camp with the usation of being quacks and deceiving the royalty.
Which even meant Philips''s personal doctor.
"It was the king''s orders Your Highness. We had to obey. I''m sorry" The old man had a slight bitterness in his tone to the answer.
Like most of the court, he too was much peeved at Perseus''s decision to do away with so many aplished doctors.
No one knew when death woulde to greet them, so good doctors were always in high demand and short in supply.
"It''s okay. *Cough*, I''m sure *cough* he did not tell any of you either.
While Philips did not seem to me Mithriditus for not trying to stop his father, knowing what the man was like when enraged.
As for Mithriditus, he was much more concerned by Philips''s coughing,
"Your Highness, judging by your coughing it really is not safe for you toe outside. Let us go to my tent. It is nearby. And we can then talk"
And this was Philips d to ept as he really was not feeling well, hence soon the duo found themselves sitting inside a warm tent, the heat from the in-door hearth very muchforting Philips''s ill body.
"Here, Your Highness. I have mixed some honey. It is good for the throat," And once seated, Mithriditus personally served a cup of hot water mixed with honey, which Philips was very grateful to receive.
"Thank you. Aghhhh¡My throat feels a lot better, " The young man happily responded, then got to why he had sought him out.
"I just wanted to request something of you, my lord. Regarding the prisoner."
Philips seemed to pause here as if he was deliberating on how to proceed, and then after a while of silence finally came out and said it in a straight manner,
"I want you to dy giving over that prisoner. Or even give a different one!"
"....." Mithriditus''s eyes only bulged.
If he really did that, and Perseus found out, he might be the one taking Laykash''s ce in the torture chamber.
"Your Highness¡that''s¡" So the man only looked at Philips in an incredulous manner, unable to believe he would make such a request of him.
"I know, I know, it is a lot to ask." And expecting such a reaction Philips was quick to chime out, before exining his reason,
"But I heard that Theony has been captured by the enemy."
"And I remember that prisoner¡Laykash I believe his name was, is also quite a high-ranking officer."
"So I was thinking we could exchange the two."
"....That¡" And hearing so Mithriditus lightly muttered.
He was not surprised at the idea.
Even a toddler could think of that in his opinion.
But the problem was wholly another.
"Of course, that is indeed the best case of action. I know that Theony and Your Highness are good friends. So it is only natural for you to try and get him back"
"And even better Zanzan has shown interest in a prisoner exchange."
"But His Majesty''s orders¡.. " Mithriditus revealed the bump in the road.
"Don''t worry, I know my father." But Philips was quick to reassure the high-ranking noble, finally convincing him by saying, "He has simply given that order in anger. But once he calms down, everything will be alright."
"Besides, you and I both know how important Theony and his house is. Especially after we have lost so many nobles."
"He cannot be allowed to die."
And that was how Laykash''s guardian angel saved him.
Chapter 605 Evaluation Of The Aftermath (Part-1)
Mithriditus did not simply agree to Philips on a whim.
But had decided to do so after considering several factors.
The first was of course Theony''s family, which was a prominent family with close ties to even the queen.
And so losing their heir in such a needless way was sure to sour rtions between the king and them.
Secondly, it was the crown prince''s feelings.
The old noble had no proof but suspected the two had a closer rtionship than just being friends.
And Mithriditus felt if he agreed he could curry some favor with his future sovereign.
Andstly, he was impressed by how Philips was able to get so much information even when he was ill and confined to his tent for thest two months.
''They say the crown prince is even sharper than his father, There is certainly some water to this,'' Mithriditus felt Philips was a smart man to follow.
And it was due to all these that he agreed to, nodding,
"Okay, Your Highness. I will try to stall His Majesty for a few days"
But then also added with an asterisk,
"But if we are going to do this, it should be done fast. As soon as possible in fact. For my abilities are limited."
Mithriditus could not say for sure when Perseus might turn on him for disobeying his order, hence the urgency.
And this was all Philips wanted and so gratefully nodded. "Mmmm, let''s send an envoy tomorrow. And hope they will be willing to do the exchange."
''Or can!'' At this Mithriditus silently muttered this in his heart, knowing it was very much possible Theony was not captured but was outright killed in the heat of battle.
If that happened¡ well, he could only express his condolences for that prisoner.
While back in Zanzan, the city had entered into a kind of festive mood, as Alexander''s return worked to temporarily calm the frayed nerves of the people.
The popce felt that with him around, things would go back to normal, while the council members were reassured at the set hierarchy returning.
Thus, within hours of his return, the city began to rapidly stabilize.
While the man himself, first took a nice bath and a good meal at the eastern barracks as his wife had burnt the house to a crisp, and then, though he wanted to very much take a nap after the long ride or spend some time with his girls, instead decided to immediately convene with all the council members.
Because he was very much eager to know the status of his city from them.
So they sat in one of the war council rooms as each man and woman recalled his or her events in great detail, speaking freely of their experience.
And it was from this recollection that Alexander only now came to know about Heliptos''s fiasco with the supply lines, how the elephants suddenly broke their lines, the state of the siege, the sudden attack on the manor, all the decisions Cambyses made that night and finally the resulting aftermath of this all.
"......and that''s how we drove the Tibians out. We nned to attack the main camp today andpletely eliminate them, but then you arrived," Cambyses finished the retelling, being thest in turn.
While Alexander, after finishing hearing everything, first subconsciously turned his head to look out the window, and noticed the beautiful clear sky painted with the dim orange hue of the setting sun.
The meeting had started at around midday andsted so long that it seems he did not even notice when dusk had crept in.
And as he gazed at the scenic, disappearing, winter sky, trying to gather his thoughts, coincidentally he felt his mood very much matched the current sky.
The sky was not overcast and gloomy like the night just as his mood was not so bad for he had managed to keep his city and almost everyone he cared about alive.
But just like how the sky was also not bright and radiant like the zing sun, so was his mood, for the damages inflicted on him were indeed substantial.
Thus Alexander''s felt his mood to be a grayish murky kind instead, one mixed with both sweet and bitterness, just like how the current dusky sky was upied both by the day and night, the orange hues conveying hope, but their dimness conveying damage and disappointment.
"......"
And as Alexander descended into this poignant contemtion, his silence made even the huge room feel very small and stifling for the people gathered there.
They all felt Alexander was simmering with rage like a volcano storing magma underneath just to explode out all at once.
While Alexander inside his mind was nitpicking all the decisions they had made in his mind, and saying to himself,
''Jesus Christ! They managed to fuck up so much in just three months! What would have happened if I was gone six months?''
With the advantage of hindsight, Alexander was not at all satisfied by some of the decisions his side made, even feeling that though the Tibian king was a great strategist, much credit for his sess also had to go to the blunders of the opposite side.
Thus it took a while for Alexander to finally gather his thoughts,
"*Sigh*, not building a wall on the western side was indeed an oversight of mine. I never thought any enemy would be able to make it up through the dense forest."
"I was wrong about that. I must apologize." Alexander first and foremost began as such, as the others quickly jumped in to also say,
"No, no, we also all never thought it was possible, my lord."
"Mmmm," And hearing so Alexander emotionlessly hummed and then started to inquire about some of the doubts he had.
"But then how did the enemy know to attack via the Cisran Hill?" He first questioned and seeing the surprised faces quickly exined,
"After all, this was not the first time Tibias had attacked Adhania, or besieged Zanzan. All these have precedents.
"So the question then bes if they had never done so then, why it changed this time?
"...."
And as Alexander pointed this out, for a few seconds, everyone simply looked at each other in askance, because it seemed no one had thought of it.
Except for one - Grahtos.
The man was one of the people in charge of the interrogations and after seeing no one else step up, the cavalrymander atst chimed in, at first hesitating a bit, but then fully revealing his findings,
"That¡. I had the same questions, so asked some of the prisoners about it. But most of these were lower level grunts who had no insights into theirmanders'' thoughts."
"Until I found a high-ranking officer named Theony."
"That man was caught wearing the king''s armor to deceive us while the real one escaped, so I was certain he knew something about this."
"But when I asked him about it, first he avoided the question."
"So I pressed him a bit."
Here Grahtos paused a bit and sounded quite pleased with himself, almost producing a smug smile before continuing,
"And it was then he betrayed that on one fateful night, their king, by some blind luck had noticed light filtering out from the western part of the city even through the thick overgrowth.
"And seeing this presumably gave the king an idea. He first recalled that that side had no walls, and thus whether he could attack via that."
"Then, with that thought in mind, the king apparently had decided to send scouts to try and plot out an initial route using the lights as guides."
"While back here, his siege was going nowhere."
"So in desperation, he decided to try his luck via that route, using the lights atop the hill to not get lost in the foliage."
"And with yesterday being an especially clear night, his gamble almost worked."
"We were only alerted to this sneak attack because they had set alight the iron refinery thinking they had reached the top."
"Or else¡"
Grahtos shivered as he finished his exciting report.
And this spine-tingling sensation was subsequently shared by almost all, even Alexander.
He did not even want to think about the other ''if'' scenario.
And at the same time, he waspletely convinced by this answer, finding it very usible.
After all, no one had also thought crossing the Alps with war elephants was possible, but Hannibal had done it.
Or that conquering Tyre was possible, but Alexander the Great had done it.
There were scores of examples in history of geniusmandersing up with innovative and sometimes evenpletely bonkers ways to ovee challenges.
Thus Alexander did not expect any kind of foul y, letting Theony pull a masterstroke in managing to keep their secret correspondence hidden through a mixture of truths and lies.
As for Alexander, this time his focus was attracted by something elsepletely, "It seems building the iron nt had this unexpected result. I never could have even guessed."
"This attack really opened my eyes to just how vulnerable the whole western part is. Thank Gaia it did not seed."
Alexander involuntarily let a sigh of relief, before loudly resolving, "We will need to fix this," which got unanimous nods from the council members.
It seemed that instead of scolding his council members for the current situation, for the time being, Alexander had decided to focus on improving his defense, and had even stated making a few new projects in his head.
Chapter 606 Evaluation Of The Aftermath (Part-2)
As Alexander thought of these ns, he also suddenly turned to Grahtos to suddenly ask,
"Oh, by the way, that prisoner, Theony you called him I believe, is he alright? He doesn''t have any fingers or toes missing right?"
Alexander was worried about what Grahtos meant by ''pressing the man'' during interrogations.
"Haha, no worries, no worries, my lord. I remember what you said," The man reassured, revealing,
"I simply tempted him with a cup of cold water. After fighting for so long the man was so parched he could resist. Haha, he broke in less than ten minutes,!"
Grahtos was quite proud of himself for being able to so easily break the young noble, even disparaging the man as soft cheese.
Whereas the real reason for Theony ''cracking'' was that he had simply lied.
"That''s good. We should try to exchange him with Laykash if possible," While Alexander, hearing the man was ''intact'' nodded with pleasure.
"So how many men have we lost? And how about the damages to the iron refinery and the workshops? Oh and what about the brick kiln outside?"
With that question done, Alexander then moved on to these all-important questions, wondering just how far back this attack had set them.
And this three-pronged query like the previous question produced a momentary silence as the others looked around to see if anyone else was volunteering.
Delivering bad news to one''s lord was always nerve-wracking.
And after a stifling few seconds, seeing no one open up, one Krishok decided to take it upon himself to reply about the state of the part he was in charge of.
"....The brick kilns¡ we are not sure how well they are. But from what he had seen from the walls¡.umm¡we might have to rebuild them."
"Because one day we did notice a lot of smokeing from there, so the enemy might have set fire to it."
Krishok sounded unsure about how to report the bad news.
"Mmmm," While Alexander simply gave this acknowledging hum, neither saying good or bad.
He had seen the kilns when entering the city and had hoped it looked worse than it really was.
But that hope was dashed decisively now.
"And the deaths? How many?" He then posed turning his head.
This was the thing he was most interested in.
"We¡.are still counting the casualties."
And fortunately for him, he did not have to wait long this time, as came the hesitant reply from Melodias where the voice reported in an unsure tone, "But estimates are roundabout 5,000 to 7,000."
"These are mostly from men working in the mines and the iron nt. The enemy had attacked them without any warning in their sleep, so almost no one even got the chance to run."
"And coupled with that were the additional fires which killed even more."
"So all in all, we expect 3,000 to 4,000 dead in there after finishing counting."
"As for the rest, well around 500 defenders died for the manor."
"While many more men, women, and children were killed when the enemy''s nking force attacked the workshops, and even more after the manor was captured."
"We think those numbers in total should be around 2,000 to 3,000."
"So¡." Melodias pursed his lips as he finished his estimates in a grave voice.
''That much!'' And hearing these huge numbers out of the horse''s mouth made Alexander''s heart jump.
If the losses from the battle were also to be taken into ount, then Alexander found he had likely suffered 20,000 casualties!
This was in no way insignificant and made his heart feel very grim and heavy.
"I see!" Thus he only shot back this in a t tone with t lips.
"And what about the actual damages to the iron nt and the workshops?" Alexander again repeated, reminding Melodias had not replied to the second part of his inquiry.
And here it was Harun who answered.
"The iron nt¡.my lord¡ is mostly destroyed, or at least most of the facilities are. I went there to check it myself," The man''s voice had a low, undercurrent of sadness to it as he said so, his heart still hurting at the fresh memory of what he had seen.
Rows upon rows of burnt skeleton remains of various houses, standing cadaverously under the open sky.
It was a sight Harun would struggle to forget.
But the man did not have the luxury to dwell in his misery for long, as after a brief pause, he resumed,
"Most of the facilities have burnt down- the coke-making nt, the coal storehouses, the waterwheels, the worker''s log houses, and even the shed for storing the tools- everything has burnt down, leaving only some of the stone walls and pirs behind."
Harun had a hard time describing a ce of such ruin, especially as it was a ce he worked at.
And it was only a smallfort that he was able to finish the report on this happy note, saying
"The only thing that fortunately survived was the st furnace and steel-making crucible."
"Being made of cement, they did not catch fire."
"Thank Gaia."
And hearing all this, Alexander''s brows twitched as he felt a slight headache, knowing he would have to rebuild everything.
That would not be a small undertaking.
But at least he could take sce in the fact that the hardest things to construct- The st furnace and The Bessimer crucible were still intact, and hopefully, the remaining infrastructure could be rebuilt rtively quickly.
Hopefully.
"I see. I will have to visit the nt sometimeter then," Alexander lightly muttered, intending to witness the presumed destruction for himself.
Andstly, he then followed this with another anemic query,
"And the workshops? How are they?"
Though after hearing the fate of the iron nts, Alexander could not help but not have much expectation for that.
"It''s not as bad as the irion nt!" But contrary to his musing, these encouraging words came right from Cambyses''s own mouth, who then informed him,
"When the enemy attacked that part, they seemed to have been in a hurry to cross it and move towards their main goal- The manor."
"So they beelined for it without much caring for anything else."
"Thus most of the deaths were to the few unfortunate people who happened to be in their way. Or a few beautiful women who attracted the eyes of unsavory characters."
"But these were rare cases, as the survivors testifiedter, saying that in general most of the 6,000 to 7,000 troopsrgely ignored them, and simply marched straight head-on, only asionally destroying some shops because that was easier to do than circle around, This ident setting off a few fires."
Up until this point, Alexander was quite liking what Cambyses was saying.
It seemed the workshops were basically bypassed.
But that thought was soon shattered when she said,
"And if that was all there was to it, then our casualties would have much fewer. But¡ *sigh*" Cambyses would not help but pause to regretfully shake her head, before resuming,
"But when the people at the manor saw the workshops were under attack and particrly noticed the fire, many abandoned their posts disobeying all militarymand, and started to blindingly run towards that side, hoping to save their family"
"And then what happened?"
"In the darkness, they all blindly ran straight into the enemy''s advancing forces without even realizing it."
"While the Tibiasns, seeing this unarmed, unruly, desperate mob run towards them, simply cut them to bits, like a hot knife through butter."
"That was where most of our casualties came from." Cambyses sounded quite rueful, finding it a true shame that they had to die even when it was totally avoidable if they had just listened.
"Yeah, even TK died. We found his body stabbed multiple times just a few meters from the workshops'' outer walls." Melodias chimed in with an equally sad tone, while Menicus additionally stated.
"Mmm, even his poor grandson died. After capturing the manor, some of the soldiers had burst into his nice looking good house, looking to make it their own, when they met the kid."
"And the bastards gutted him then and there. Animals!"
Alexander had rarely seen Menicus so angry and was surprised by this intense reaction.
But what he did not know was that Menicus and TK being of simr ages and having somewhatparable status had hit it quite well, and the aged military quite liked the little kid.
Even though the boy was challenged, that did not take away the intelligent shine he was beginning to disy, and everything Menicus woulde to visit, the kid would try to show off the new things he learned.
That always bought a smile to Menicus''s face.
But now that little joy had been robbed from the old man''s face, as well as the little life.
Menicus really wanted to find the men responsible and execute them himself.
While Alexander, hearing the news too felt sad, remembering how he had promised the two safety and security, and how he had failed them.
It was certainly a dereliction of his duty.
"The Tibians will pay," And as Alexander learned of the atrocities, he promised such, though he struggled to keep a neutral tone.
The Tibians had really managed to maim his most economically productive center.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 607 Evaluation Of The Aftermath (Part-3)
When Alexander had first heard Cambyses say how the Tibians had ignored the workshops in favor of the manor, he was actually impressed.
Impressed by the fact that upon entering the workshops and seeing all the blingy things, the soldiers did not immediately lose cohesion and started looting.
This was the standard practice of most armies after all.
But now that he learned of their subsequent atrocities, his mood began to turn.
''After the attack, who knows how many skilled artisans and workers I have lost? ording to Melodias, a lot of the killed were men,'' Alexander dreaded in his mind after hearing Cambyses''s report.
He had after all paid a pretty penny to get those expert men to migrate from Adhan to Zanzna and work for him.
Furthermore, they had a year to learn the basics of how to make all the new products.
''Btu now if all that skill and experience were to be lost...'' Alexander could only shake his head in dismay at that thought, unwilling toplete the rest of the thought, but ultimately forced himself to.
''Then I will have to ask Pasha Farzah or Lady Inayah to give some of their artisans. And that would mean giving away a lot of my secrets¡. *sigh*. "
The losses projected by Cambyses really made Alexander the scale of his wounds, not enough to grievously wound him to death, but certainly, enough to force him to stagger and rest and recuperate.
And while Alexander had these thoughts, the other council members simply sat still, unwilling to make a peep in order to avoid attracting Alexander''s attention.
"Are all the head artists of the workshops okay?" Finally, Alexander asked this, trying to sound as objective as possible and not show his fear.
He at least hoped those four were okay.
That would make the rebuilding process much easier.
"......" But this only produced a small silence at first, which was never a good sign.
"....." And Alexander could only cidly sway his head looking for a response.
Until it was Cambyses who decided to finally speak up.
"The crossbow maker Faziz, and Haquim who make the soaps are alive. I met them." She started with the good news.
"But the papermaker Azizak was found dead. Killed at the doorstep of the crossbow workshop''s warehouse."
"ording to other survivors, he was overseeing the distribution of the weapons there and was one of the first to take a few men to fight off the Tibians."
"*Sigh*, s!"
Cambyses did not need to say much more as Alexander could guess he was likely easily overwhelmed.
And hearing the man''s demise, he could not help but feel a bit remorseful, saying "*Sigh* that is indeed a shame. I liked that man too. He was sharp,''
Alexander still remembered how the man had proposed to use a kind of tree sap to prevent the newly made wet paper sheets from sticking to each other which Alexander certainly appreciated.
But even though Alexander was certainly saddened by this loss, in his mind, neither of these three was the one he was most interested in.
Because for all their technical expertise, all of them could be rtively easily reced.
But one could not.
"And Gajopk? What about him?" Alexander was unable to hide the slight rmced in his inquiry as he asked.
Yes, it was this ssmaker he was most worried about, as ssmaking was perhaps the most skill-intensive industry he had.
And losing someone like Gajopk would be quite a hard hit for him.
Hence he really hoped Cambyses was saving the best for thest and nothing had happened to him.
While Cambyses, knowing her husband, long ago had guessed this might happen, and hence saved theplicated answer forst.
"Mister Mister Gajopk is alive...for now. But not conscious." She quickly revealed without much suspense with some suspense and as Alexander''s inquisitive eyes seemed to ask her to delineate, she added,
"We found him around the basement of the manor. He was unconscious and his entire body was covered in soot."
"The rescuers quickly took him to the clinic, and after seeing him, all the doctors could say was that he was still breathing and hence alive."
"That''s it."
"I told them to let me know if he wakes, but it seems he has shown no signs of waking any time soon."
Cambyses sinctly retold the events.
But the details of it made Alexander a bit confused.
"Why was his body inside the manor? What was he doing around the basement?" He asked, unable to think of a good reason.
"Mmm, I too thought that." And Cambyses quickly replied, continuing, "So I asked the other manor survivors about it."
"And they said that apparently, the Tibian king attempted to use some of them to get the gold in our treasury."
"But failed to do so because no one was to get near it due to the smoke and heat."
"And it seems Gajopk was one of the unfortunate ones who inhaled too much smoke and simply fainted there."
Cambyses finished informing how the ssmaker got there, which made Alexander almost mourn.
''And in the smoke, no one bothered to look after him,'' He ruefully added in his mind.
And then he wondered if the man would be able to pull through after lying on the floor and taking in the harmful smoke for so long, and even if he could, whether he would ever be fit to work.
"I see. Let us pray for his recovery then," But by this point Alexander could do nothing to aid him but only hope the man to have a miraculous encounter.
And just as he said so,
"*Knock*, *Knock*, Excuse me, my lords," A respectful knock and a deferential voice emanated from outside the room.
"Come in," And once he was given permission to enter, soon came a man carrying arge candlestand with many lit candles.
"Ahhh, yes, it is indeed getting dark. Please bring some more." And seeing this, while also noticing the deep, dark shadows being cast all around as sunlighting from the windows had already faded, Menes quickly ordered the room be properly lit up.
And thus for a while, the nking sound of candlestand being fixed along the walls, and the low, wheezing sound of the wick being lit permeated through the room.
All the while Alexander quietly felt the soft glow of the candles slowly drive out the darkness, as his unfocused eyes noticed the change in the ambiance of the room.
''It''s already dusk,'' Hemented pointlessly to him, suddenly feeling his mood match the dimness of the lightning in the room, as he came to more intimately know about the losses.
It seemed that without the bright sunlight to illuminate his surrounding, his thoughts had begun to turn more pessimistic.
And sensing such, and also feeling quite tired, decided the end of the day as a signal to end the meeting.
So in a type of concluding tone, Alexander began his ending speech.
"Okay, I think here is a good ce to end it for today."
"I have mostly understood the kind of losses we took. And they are certainly substantial."
"We lost a lot of men and materials. And we came very close to being destroyed."
"But by the grace of the gods, we didn''t!"Alexander raised his octaves here,
"And all our struggles were not for naught. We have also learned a lot of things"
"We learned about our weaknesses, our oversights, and even how dangerous fire can be. By the way, we really should try to build as many houses as possible with concrete."
Alexander added thest point with a tangent, after which he lifted his head to look at all the council members, and producing a little smile encouragingly said,
"But none of the losses we suffered are irrecoverable."
"Because I still remember how the city was when we found it just a year ago. Dirty, gue-ridden, and almost deserted."
"And look at it now."
"We have roads, a sewage system in the making, and a poption of around 150,000."
"Even after the battering it took this time, this still is far better than it was a year from now."
"And once given a bit of time and effort, we can make it flourish like it we could have never imagined."
"So don''t be disheartened by what has urred this time. Mistakes happen."
"We are all new to this after all. Hell a bit more than a year ago, I was a ve and you were all peasants, haha," Alexander generalized with a loudugh, which helped to lift a lot of the gloomy mood.
And ended the speech by saying, "So the important thing is to report from this time''s mistake and never repeat it."
"Work even more diligently!"
And hearing Alexander''s arousing speech, the council members were quick to chime in, feeling Alexander had decided to overlook their blunders.
"You are right, my lord."
"Mmm, right. We must all strive to do better."
"The cement nts are intact, my lord. We can start rebuilding as soon as you give the order."
All such enthusiastic replies flooded Alexander''s ears.
And it was with this optimistic feeling that the council members returned home, while in their carriage on the way to their temporary home, Cambyses pointedly asked,
"You are not gonna seriously let them go scot-free, are you?"
If Alexander really did not punish any of the council members in any way, the girl would be indeed very disappointed.
"Haha," While hearing the question Alexander only mysteriously chuckled.
Chapter 608 Alexanders Scheme
Alexander found Cambyses''s question and the looks being sent his way to be quite funny, one which caused him to chuckle.
And when that caused Cambyses to re and pout, Alexander in a breezy tone asked, "And how do you suggest I punish them?"
"Fine them? Remove them from their posts? Or even capture and execute them to appease the city?
Alexander of course added thest option as a joke.
"....." And facing Alexander''s hypothetical question, Cambyses did not immediately answer but turned to face him.
"Acheveiments should be rewarded, and failures punished. I thought it was you who taught me that," She icilymented.
Cambyses felt it made no sense for Alexander to simply wave all the mistakes made away.
And hearing this Alexander first responded to it with a pursed smile, and then calmed her down, "There is no need to be so hasty, Cam. There will be lots of time to settle old scores. After all, no one says we cannot take actions two, three even five years from now, hehe." Alexander ominously chuckled.
And then ignoring Cambyses''s surprised look, he spoke in a revealing tone,
"The reason why I did not scold, or even say anything today was because I believe in second chances."
"And this was me giving them a way to fix their mistakes."
"As I said, all of them are new to this. So it was inevitable they would make mistakes. To err is human after all¡though I did not expect them to fail so quickly," Alexander half-consciously added that part.
But then regaining his deep voice, once again continued,
"And punishing people just for failing just once is not a good idea. Then they will be scared to try new things and I will have to personally everything by myself.."
"So by saying what I said at the end, my hope is that they will take that as inspiration to work diligently from now on."
"If that happens, then it will be truly good." Alexander nodded his head.
"But if they don''t, if they think my mercy as weakness¡." Then suddenly his voice turned menacing, "Hehe, well¡." and he only chuckled with a chilly light in his eyes.
Though some of the more intelligent ones did, some of the council members were yet to understand that behind Alexander''s lukewarm admonishmenty the true test, one through which he wanted to separate the ones truly striving to work hard and make contributions, from the others who only knew how to throw puffery and empty praise, while leeching off him.
And Alexander believed he would not have to wait long to see the signs.
"Mmm, okay, If that''s what you want, then so be it." While hearing this Cambyses, onlymented such, she herself being more of the opinion that it might have been better to kill the chicken to scare the monkey as a kind of warning to others.
Not literally kill anyone of course, but certainly came an example out of one or several.
But since Alexander had made his decision, she would respect it.
Hence with that done, Cambyses moved on to herst question.
"But Alex, even if they work hard, are you sure they are capable of doing their taskpetently?"
"Have you wondered about that? Whether someone like Heliptos can really do his job. His abilities are certainly not impressive." Cambyses posed,
And this query certainly poked at one of Alexander''s weak spots.
People like Helipotos were not exactly chosen for the post for theirpetency but more for their loyalty.
And though that had helped him stabilize his rule over the city in the short run, it also produced some problems as revealed this time.
But Alexander was right now not willing to institute these changes.
And he revealed his reason by saying,
"Let''s not get into debates over whose faults which mistake was and who to rece where. We have already lost a lot of good men, and even finding recements for them will be tough."
"We can wait to throw the rotten applester."
"So for now, instead of tearing ourselves, let''s concentrate on healing."
"And we can think about moving people from their posts once the teachers Pasha Farzah promised arrives and we manage to raise a few talented people."
"I will then definitely make Heliptos and others like him irrelevant."
And hearing this promise, finally, Cambyses felt cated, so she silently nodded.
While sensing his wife quieten down, Alexander felt it was his time to get some questions in, as he asked the all-important question,
"By the way, you mentioned Tibias wanting the gold in the manor. So did they?"
The tone is his voice said that he really hoped they didn''t.
And for once he got a good answer, as Cambyses beamed a smile and shook her head,
"No, they tried but didn''t. Almost everything is there. I personally checked."
"*Wheew*" And this made Alexander finally give a big sigh of relief.
If he lost his gold atop of all these losses, he might have truly fallen into the nadir.
He was also never worried about the gold coins being damaged as gold had a melting point above 1,000 degrees, whereas house fires typically only reached 700 to 800 Celsius.
Plus, even if the coins were truly damaged, with bits of it melted, still, the gold was never gonna evaporate.
So all Alexander would have to do was recollect the solidified drips of gold and recast the coins.
A rtively painless process.
"And what about you? Did you manage to do the things you went for?"
It was then Cambyses''s turn, and to this Alexander nodded lightly,
"Yes, mostly. I can at least mint the ropal. I will tell you about the detailster."
After all, everything that happened in Adhan would take some time to exin, and not something that could fit into a carriage ride.
And speaking of carriage rides, Alexander only now remembered that with his house gone, he didn''t know where he was going.
He had simply gotten into the vehicle as Cambyses indicated.
"By the way, where are we staying tonight?" So he asked.
"One of the noble houses in the western district. The one you picked before. I asked Mean to go prepare it for us." Came the swift, sinct reply.
The houses Cambyses was referring to were the many abandoned houses belonging to nobles who fled Zanzan with Muazz, all of which then Alexander seized, converting them into either guest houses for visiting dignitaries and guests or giving them to his retainers as gifts.
Of course, he kept two nice bungalow-type houses for himself just because he liked the house.
"That''s good. That''s good." And so hearing Cambyses preparing those ces he had yet to stay, Alexander was pretty pleased.
"Will Nanazin and the twins be too staying with us? I haven''t had the time to meet them," He then additionally asked.
Alexander felt it would be a bit rude to not even meet these important guests after entering the city, especially given the ordeal they suffered.
"No. The house doesn''t have enough bedrooms. So I arranged for them to stay at the other bungalow." But Cambyses informed with a shake of her head, dashing a bit of Alexander''s hope, then posing,
"Do you want to go visit them now? I can ask the carriage to take a detour. We are not too far away."
"..." And hearing this Alexander considered it for it a while, knowing the two houses being in the same district meant the time needed would not be too long.
So though his tired body very much wanted to just go home and hit the bed, he felt it was his duty to at least show his face to them and speak a few words.
"Okay. Let''s go just say hello." Thus Alexander nodded.
And so soon after the luxurious carriage parked itself in front of arge, ornately decorated wooden gate, overlooking a huge two-story bungalow.
There were two city guards posted at the gates, who upon seeing the crest of Alexander''s carriage and his entourage immediately let them inside, and after crossing the stone-paved short walkway, Alexander was soon face to face with the sixdies.
"Oh, it is truly an unexpected pleasure to see, my lord. I heard you arrived only today. So I never expected to meet you so soon." Nananzin courteously began as her personal maid served the guests some wine and fruits.
"Haha, sorry to bother you at this time. I got caught up in¡. viewing the city, haha," While Alexander''s chuckle was a bit sheepish like he was embarrassed about his loss.
And just like that the group exchanged some pleasantries and light-hearted banter, which covered a whole host of topics.
Alexander first apologized for the painful and scary experiences they suffered, and while Nanazin was very understanding, the twins seemed to re and say, "Bad man, you seem to get into wars every month. That''s not good."
And this was an advice Alexander took to heart, reminding himself not to get into any battles anytime soon.
Afterward, he also thanked them for their contributions during the siege, especially the twin''s sermons, while also promising to make the city much safer.
Following this, he moved to a cheerier topic where he talked a bit about his adventures in Adhan, about the Jtaama and the party, though he made sure to avoid mentioning Ptolomy or her father.
And with all these said, and the night having truly and well descended, he decided to finally take his leave.
Chapter 609 Cambysess Thoughts On Nanazin
"Well then Your Highness, I will take my leave now. Please stay safe. I wille to visit soon," Alexander gave this farewell as he boarded his carriage.
While Nanazin and the others, who had followed him up to the gate, tempted him to stay a bit longer, saying,
"My lord, I really wished you could at least stayed for dinner. It''s already been cooked and it''s already sote. We had even prepared the beds."
This was not the first time Alexander had been offered a meal or an offer to spend the time there, as this was Nanazin''s umpteenth time asking so.
"Haha, I''m sorry sister. But Mean and the others are still waiting for us with food back at the house. We are really sorry that we cannot ept."
But it was Cambyses who was really adamant about returning and pushed her man out of the house and into the carriage.
"Ahhh, I see. Then take care." And seeing the other side being so staunch, Nanazin could only politely ept.
While back inside the carriage, once it had traveled a few distances, Cambyses thought back about the eager Nanazin, and then half muttered with a smirk,
"She seemed really eager for us to stay, wouldn''t you say, Alex? Is she that desperate, heh?"
Cambyses seemed to produce a disdaining tone towards Nanazin as she said so.
And Alexander, easily guessing what his little wife was indicating, first shrugged,
"Can''t you simply believe she was being courteous?"
To which Cambyses simply produced a teasing look of disdain.
Although it was indeed Adhanian custom to offer meals and beds for guests, especially once it got dark, Cambyses did not believe this was Nanazin''s only intention for a second.
And neither would she ever buy that Alexander believed it either.
The way that woman looked at her husband was too telling.
It was apparent to almost anyone that all Alexander would need to do was simply wiggle his finger, and the ''Queen'' would be ready to get naked and on her knees then and there.
Thus Cambyses kept looking at Alexander for a real answer.
And sensing this, after pursing his lips a bit, Alexander humored his girl,
"Perhaps it is because she fears once our losses be known, Ptolomy will want her back stating security issues¡. just to make her suffer more"
"So she might be trying to cook the rice with me before that to tie herself to me."
Alexander''s guess was that Nanazin was insecure about her status in Zanzan, and wanted a physical rtionship with him to strengthen her sense of belonging to him.
"Cook the rice?" While Cambyses herself was surprised by his strange idiom, as she knew not of any food called ''rice''.
But this was not her first time hearing Alexander say some strange idioms, and by this point, she had learned to just ept them.
So she simply did that and tried to guess its meaning from the context.
And as far as she could tell, it seemed what Alexander was saying was that Nanazin wanted to use her body in exchange for her continued stay in Zanzan and ess to all its high-level, noble exclusive facilities.
"Hmmp, if whoring was so easy, then everyone would be doing it. And she calls herself the queen!" And understanding so, Cambyses somewhat lightly spat venomously, feeling if that was indeed Nanazin''s n, then was certainly getting the better deal.
In her eyes, being able to enjoy all the nice food, clothes, houses, and other facilities just in exchange for agreeing to sleep with Alexander was too good a price.
Especially when it was really a ''one in four'' deal, for her daughters would able to share the privileges with her, them having paid nothing.
This somewhat peeved her.
While Alexander was much more sympathetic to the older woman''s situation, especially after knowing her backstory and the kind of life she was forced to live up until now.
Alexander wanted to help her to the best of his abilities from the kindness of his heart just because of that, hoping this poor, unfortunate woman would be able to atst find some happiness in her life.
So in his mind, Nanazin''s insecurities were simply her overthinking things.
But Alexander was also careful not to say anything like this out loud in front of Cambyses, fearing it would be like pouring hot oil into the fire.
His wife currently did not seem yet receptive to the idea of him sleeping with Nanazin, and with women being by nature a bit jealous, he saw all the more reason to not show the soft spot in his heart for Nanazin.
He could already hear the young girl sneering andining if he did.
''Oh, I see that she has stolen your heart. I wonder what will happen after a few more years. Will I even have a home then?''
Alexander decided to tactfully avoid thatndmine.
Thus for now Alexander simply yed along with Cambyses''s mockery and replied with a light smile,
''Well, I guess having a whore who was a queen is expensive, hehe."
Though Cambyses was not impressed with Alexander''s joke answer, as she then muttered half annoyed,
"If what you said is true, then she must have been truly desperate. Did she forget I would be staying there too?"
Cambyses could not imagine what Nanazin could have gained from making Alexander stay the night tonight.
But to this, Alexander chuckled the joke, "Well perhaps she would not have minded you joining too, hahaha."
*Pinch* And this got him a light pinch on his hands from Cambyses, who then shot him a soft re, and sniggered,
"Heh! A massive pervert like you probably would love that. I bet you even dream of eating the mother and daughters together."
"Tell me, how many times have to actually wanted to see all four of the girls kneeling in front of you, licking your cock? A grown Nanazin, surrounded by three little Nanazins! Does it excite you that much, *pinch*!"
Cambyses seemed to know her husband well enough to even guess some of his fantasies.
And Alexander would certainly be lying if he said he had never imagined so even once.
"Hahaha," So hearing this, he could hardly hold back hisughter, which seemed to make Cambyses even more displeased.
Because just as Alexander suspected, Cambyses entirely disliked the idea of her husband sleeping with Nanazin.
And it was not simply because she disliked her.
On the contrary, she actually somewhat liked thedy on a personal level, for the royal woman did not put on air around her.
But the reason why Cambyses did not want Alexander to form a rtionship with Nanazin was because she felt a bit insecure when standing against the woman''s status.
Even if she was confident in Alexander''s feelings towards her and was sure he would not be easily swayed, but still, the title ''Queen'' had a fearsome power on its own.
Cambyses did not want topete for Alexander''s affection against such a fearsome foe.
Thus her implicit show of dislike towards the idea.
And Alexander, though not fully aware of Cambyses''s inner thoughts, could certainly hazard a guess to the twenty-year-old''s thoughts.
And though he would never let Cambyses dictate which women he could or could not get into his haram, he would certainly try to be as diplomatic as possible, and take her feelings into consideration where possible.
So he tried to end this conversation on a good note, delivering this good news to Cambyses.
"Don''t worry, whatever Nanazin''s wishes are, it is unlikely I will bed her anything soon. Her stay in Zanzan is still tenuous and her status ambiguous."
"So until I clear things with Ptolomy about what to do with her, I do not want any strange rumors about me sleeping with his wife to reach Ptolomy."
"Who knows what that idiot might do then!"
Alexander here felt that though Nanazin was de facto exiled from her husband''s house, it would still be prudent not to start enjoying the dish just yet.
After all, Ptolomy had not said anything yet, and without that, if word got, it was quite possible Ptolomy mightter use this to ckmail Alexander for a variety of things, from giving up industrial secrets to forcing him to participate in his wars, to even outright exhorting funds out of him.
He was no intention of letting that happen.
After all, Alexander would be already paying for sex with Nanazin by covering her bills.
Why should he be also paying her husband?
Hence, though he had no problem letting Nanazin stay with him for as long as time permitted, but as for sleeping with her, he intended to wait till the king married the Queen mother and Helma andrgely forgot about his ex.
"Good." And hearing this Cambyses naturally gave a pleased nod, the single word conveying a subtle sigh of relief.
"And I guess it also goes for the daughters too?" She was quick to try and close that loophole too.
And Alexander was there to instantly reassure Cambyses,
"Of course, of course. As long as their ''father'' does not explicitly say anything, taking their virginities would not be wise. It might harm their marriage partners.," He said, though the word ''father'' was said with the highest possible number of air quotes possible.
Ptolomy after all was not the girls'' father.
But such loopholes and wordys could wait forter, for as they just finished discussing this, the carriage finally stopped.
It seemed they had arrived.
Chapter 610 Alexanders New House (Part-1)
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Once the carriage halted and was parked, Alexander quickly followed Cambyses to step out of the vehicle, eager to see his new, sweet home.
This would after all be his ce of abode for the time being.
And as heid eyes upon it, he found it was of a simr design to the one Nanazin and the others were staying in, the typical bungalow-styled two-storied building made of stone and wood.
It seemed in this infantile era of architecture, it was customary to follow a standard design.
Hence many of the noble houses looked quite simr.
But of course, not all were like that.
And even for those that were, the nobles, being people with strong personal identities worked hard to add their personal touches to each of them, making each a little bit unique.
But Alexander did not have the time to try and discern any uniqueness with the ce, for as soon as descended off the vehicle, he was quickly distracted by the greeting of his three women, who had been standing outside therge wooden gate for him all this time, as they enthusiastically cheered,
"Ahh, master! Wee."
"Wee Your Holiness."
"What took you so long? We were waiting so long!"
As one could easily guess, these sayings were from Gelene, Ophenia, and Mean respectively, thest one being one of slight annoyance, but even more worry.
"Haha, sorry, sorry. We got caught up in meeting everyone. It''s good to see all of you are safe." And to make up for the dy, Alexander was one to quickly apologize and then proceeded to even give the spicy, petite girl arge hug to cate her, and then not to leave the other two out, followed it with Ophenia and Gelene too.
"We are very happy to see you safe too my lord. We hope your journey has been fruitful," During the hug Opehnia let a sigh of relief as she said so, feeling a great weight being lifted off her as Alexander''s wide chest epassed her body,
And this was a simr feeling Gelene experienced who too said simr words of wee.
And after this greeting was finally concluded, the small group decided it was time to get out of the cold, and so quickly made it into the houses, crossing the small outer walkway in a short time.
The distance from the outer gate to the porch was a short distance, with a small, dead due tock of care, garden on either side, the design being quite simr to histe manor, though nothing couldpare with the scale or grandees.
"It feels like the good, old times. Back to being peasants, hahaha," And seeing this, Alexander could not help but joke as such, suddenly feeling this bungalow which would have seemed huge to him even in his previous life with its multiple bedrooms, now suddenly felt kind of small.
It seemed that living in that huge manor for a year had changed his taste, simr to how one might feel after moving to a condo after living in Versailles or Buckingham Pce.
Though a condo was also certainly a very luxurious piece of property, but it could never hold a candle to those titans.
And as Alexander realized this, he also firsthand understood that the words big and small were really subjective.
Even this huge bungalow now seemed small to him, how time changes things.
As for the women around him who heard his crude joke, they could only lightly smirk, feeling Alexander was exaggerating.
While the freest of the bunch, Mean, quickly tugged at Alexander''s sleeves and fearfully urged,
"I quite like it here. We can live herefortably. So there is no need to rebuild the manor is there?"
Her eyes seemed to swim in worry and reluctance as she said this, even suggesting
"We could even let the workshop workers live there, right?"
And it did not take a genius to figure out where Mean wasing from.
The recent attack had really scared the petite girl and she much preferred that they stayed here, far away from the frontlines, than try and live in opulent luxury along the borders.
Living as a peasant perfectly suited Mean when the alternative might be dying as a noble.
Not to mention Alexander was clearly exaggerating the rough state of their abode, as this house, being a noble''s vacation house was certainly still an opulent property housing the highest levels of decadence.
As for Alexander, sensing the concern in Mean''s voice, he quickly patted the short girl''s head to calm her, and said,
"Don''t worry. What happened this time will not happen ever again. I promise you. I will not allow it," Alexander sounded extremely steely in his voice, one which helped to reassure Mean, who then silently nodded and hummed, "Mmmnn."
And Cambyses too stepped up from the side to add,
"Besides Mean, it will take some to rebuild the manor. So rest assured we will not be returning there in the short time."
Cambyses was aware that the destruction of the manor and the dead bodies of the servants had cast a shadow on the petite girl as Mean knew and interacted with almost all of them daily.
So to lose so many of them in one single night had certainly hurt the girl very much.
And it took a lot of strength on Mean''s part not to just break down into sobs especially when she remembered all the dead women and children.
Her only reason being that her mistress still needed her.
But now that the danger had passed and they were safe, all the suppressed emotions were starting to bubble up.
And knowing this Cambyses and Alexander tried to soothe Mean as much as possible.
And it was with these thoughts the group finally made it past the heavy oak front door as Cambyses invited him in with a gesture, "Wee!"
Thus Alexander entered the house without further ado, and first and foremost found it to be very brightly lit, with lit candle stands ced all around the walls, while a few chandeliers hung above the outer hallway, working together to drive away all the dark gloominess as well as heating up the ce a bit.
But the real warmth of course came from a giant hearth burning right at the heart of the room, one into which log after log was being fed by an attending ve.
Entering from the cold outside, Alexander''s body rejoiced at feeling this warmth as he felt energized, while his eyes recognized the man attending the hearth.
"Wee back, master," And sensing the group enter, this ck ve naturally turned around and instantly recognizing Alexander, quickly bowed.
"Mo! It''s good to see you alive. I was worried," While Alexander cheerfully greeted back.
He was d some of the servants had managed to make it out of this predicament alive.
"Yes, all by the grace of the gods and work of Mistress. I was captured when the manor was taken, but the mistress rescued us all. Thank you" The tall,nky man diligently performed a second bow.
And between the time this small conversation urred, Alexander felt quite a few pairs of curious eyes quickly fall on him, as his presence was finally noticed by the numerous maids present there.
They all seemed to have been hard at work trying to make the house as presentable as possible for Alexander, hurriedly cleaning, dusting, and even rearranging some of the furniture for his convenience.
"Wee, master!" And like Mo, upon seeing him, these women greeted him on his return with a chorus, the group consisting of a few young girls that Alexander found somewhat attractive to women reaching ripe old ages.
"Mmm, it''s nice to see all of you are well too. I''m d," And seeing these familiar faces, Alexander put out a pleased smile too, before letting them get back to their work.
And as they went about their way, seeing the women still active thiste, Alexander was a bit surprised.
Remember this was ancient times when almost all work stopped when the sun went down.
So seeing the hustle and bustle persist well into the night, he posed to Gelene,
"Howe they are sote in getting the house ready? I thought they should have been done long ago!"
But Gelene was unable to answer this, for she replied, "I''m sorry master. I was out helping Lady Nanazin prepare her house. And arrived only some time earlier."
"It was sister Tayin and sister Mean who was in charge of managing this one."
And so as all the eyes shifted to those two, it was Ophenia who chimed up to inform Alexander,
"Master, I''m afraid it is not so simple."
"Remember, you only came at around midday, so we already started quitete."
"In addition, many of the ves and servants we had are injured or dead, or are simply missing, ran away when the manor was attacked, *sigh*." Ophenia shook her head a bit, before continuing,
"Anyway, because of all this, we are quite shorthanded at the moment."
"In fact, it took us a while to even gather everyone here."
"And if that was not enough, we then also had to send some of them to help Her Highness Nanazin get her house ready too."
"All this ate up too much time which is why we are a bit behind." Ophenia gave a detailed exnation of the current circumstances, before putting on arge smile and reassuring,
"But don''t worry master, we have the food hot and ready."
Chapter 611 Alexanders New House (Part-2)
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Hearing Ophenia describe the challenges she faced when trying to fix the house, really surprised Alexander. Because just looking around, he could see very few traces which indicated the house was not in proper order.
It seemed she and Mean had done a great job of making the house appear wless at a casual nce.
"I see. It must have been hard to do, but you two have done a fantastic job. Congrattions." Hence Alexander nodded in appreciation and praised.
"Thank you, master!" And this worked to put arge smile on Ophenia''s somewhat tired face, while Mean also puffed her chest with pride and then seizing the chance, decided to also air out some of her own grievances.
"Mmmn, that''s right, it took a lot of hard work to get all this done in such a short time you know." She began, before elucidating,
"Because would not believe the state of the house I found it in. This ce had been neglected for quite some time, and was in a much worse shape than Lady Nanazin''s one."
"Although from the outside it seemed to have no issue and the outer structures were intact, so no leaking roof or creaking floor, but I still needed to do quite a bit of work to fix it and make it liveable again.."
"Like when I came to see it first, it was filled up to my hips with dust and grim everywhere.
with an unpleasant damp smell filling the air and I even saw a bunch of cockroaches and rats scampering around¡in fact there were severalrge nests of them¡ ewe, ewe." Mean involuntarily raised one of her legs as she shuddered recalling the experience, an act that Alexander actually found quite endearing.
But the girl did not notice this look of amusement neither did she think it was something tough about, as she continued, turning her retelling into a small rant of a kind.
"Seeing the state of it all, we knew we had to fix or rece most things here, from the rusted candlestands on the walls to the locks on the door, to even some of the doors or windows. Almost everything!" Mean''s octaves went up a few notices, as she then particrly stressed almost vehemently,
"And most importantly, we had to rece all the carpets, curtains, bed sheets, and mattresses here, all the fabrics really."
"Because all of them stank of mold and there were every kind of disgusting things imaginable there¡dead bugs, droppings, insect eggs, you name it¡*whackkkk*."
As Mean described this condition of the house, the memory of it all came back to her and it could not help but make her retch, something that Alexander saw for the first time.
But for Mean, this pausested only a moment for she was determined to end her story, so she continued,
"After seeing all that, I knew I had to change everything here. So we threw all of them out and even set them on fire, fearing more insects might be hiding in the cloth."
"And then got everything we would need from all the other empty guest houses around here."
"And doing just that took us almost sundown."
"As for now, well the only things still from here are the furniture. And so the maids are now thoroughly cleaning them of dust and cobwebs, and then washing them with soap for good measure!"
Mean put her hands on her hips with pride as she atst finished her long, long speech.
And hearing this, Alexander''s first reaction was, ''Using soap water to clean wooden furniture! Isn''t that asking for rot to set it?''
''Where''s the varnish?''
It seemed that after Alexander sang the praises of using soap, it had worked a bit too well, causing Mean to think it was an all-in-one cleaner.
Hence believing it to be more effective, the girl had decided to use soapy water instead of varnish to clean the wood.
And finding this out Alexander did not know whether tough or cry.
It was good that Alexander had the money to buy new furniture with no problem so he wasn''t really worried about ruining these.
And it was also nice to see that Mean was attentive to his sayings, though this was not really what he meant.
But for now he was also way too tired to try and correct Mean about this, so he shelved it forter, noting to himself,
''I should try to be more precise in my sayings.''
And instead, Alexander decided to somewhat reward Mean, so he teased her by nodding, "Good, good, as expected of my little Mean," before lightly pinching her cute butt, and smirking, "Haha, you can expect a reward soon."
"Yo..you rogue," And seeing Alexander act so openly even in front of some of the servants caused Mean to blush furiously while knowing the kind of reward Alexander was hinting at made her heart swell a bit with anticipation, though outwardly she put a fake facade of anger.
"Hahaha," And as the others were able to read Mean like an open book, it elicited a few giggles ofughter.
Until Cambyses, who felt she had standing around for too long decided to finally join in, urging,
"Okay, okay, enough chatting. We are all tired, so let''s go to our rooms and freshen up. Dinner should be getting cold."
"Mmmm, yes, yes. this way. And we can give a tour of the house in the process too." And Ophenia was the one to quickly take Cambyses on the offer, excited to show her master the ce.
"Okay, I want to see it too." And Alexander did not mind, adding, "It seems the maids could use a bit more time to get everything ready."
And so with the head of the house spoken, Ophenia quickly started the tour, and to Alexander''s mild surprise, he found it to be almost a smaller version of his manor.
Something that did not escape Ophenia''s notice eye too which she expressed by saying, "These Adhanians seem tock creativity, huh master."
Alexander simply gave a perfunctory nod to this, knowing many Thesians felt themselves culturally superior to Adhanians and vice versa, while he was much more interested in surveying his new house.
The two-storied bungalow was divided as tradition dictated into two parts, the front and back area.
The front area with its high ceilings was fully furnished with expensive couches, chairs, dining tables, and even various rooms on either side meant for receiving and entertaining arriving guests.
These rooms also had beds, tables, cupboards and other furniture showing they could also be used as bedrooms.
While the back area, as Ophenia showed it, was meant for more intimate gatherings.
It had rooms like Alexander''s study, a room containing rows of shelves which was probably meant to act as the library, a few secret conference rooms, though none had in-door floor heating like his previous one, a huge room at the very back very likely to house a noble''s haram, andstly a small stage around the inner patio, possibly use to practice and perform the arts such as reciting stories and poetry to friends and family.
And of course at the center of it all, around the small garden was housed as customary the soul of the house- a small shrine to worship Ramuh.
"Rece it with that of the Goddess''s statue," Alexander was instant in his direction regarding that.
This was the end of the tour regarding the lower floor, which Alexander found reasonably opulent, with frescos, mosaics, and expensive paintings gracing each of the walls, though a lot of it seemed to have been also eroded with time.
With an additional eye sore being the carpets, and curtains all around, which were all over the ce.
The colors, and patterns on them did not at all match the decor, and sometimes even the size was not right, causing some parts of the house to expose their stone or wood underneath, while others had rolled up carpet along the edges.
Alexander would be pretty embarrassed to show this house to someone like the Queen Mother or Pasha Farzah, or even Nanazin, and so was relieved they were not here.
Of course, he also understood why this ce looked like this.
Given the time crunch Mean was in, she must have thrown anything and everything she could get her hands on simply to get the house in any kind of shape, thus producing this incongruent aesthetic mess.
Though it was also thanks to that he could have a house to live under, and not be forced to crush at one of his retainer''s house.
Or worse bunk at the barracks with the soldiers, though that would have been unlikely.
So Alexander did not darein.
Instead, he focused on the second floor which he got through a spiraling staircase, where all the personal bedrooms were located.
These were the private chambers of the nobleman and his family, and frankly, there was really nothing too special.
Simply various opulent beds with various extravagant furniture like wardrobes, cupboards, tables, chairs, etc.
And out of all the bedrooms, he was atst led to the biggest room in the house, which would be his and Cambyses''s shared abode, and as the door was pushed open, he found there were even two small hot tubs already waiting for them, filled with hot water still giving off steam.
It seemed the maids had seen theming, and only then filled the portable bathtub.
And Alexander could not wait to get in.
Chapter 612 Fun at the Bath (Part-1)
Chapter 612 Fun at the Bath (Part-1)
As therge door of the master bedroom was swung open and Alexander stepped inside, he found the bedroom to be a typical one expected of a high noble.
It was a brightly lit room furnished with all kinds of opulent pieces of furniture one would expect- multiple tables, many chairs, wardrobes, etc. all draped in strange colored carpets and curtains courtesy of Mean, with a small firece going on at one end, making the room feel cozy.
But the centerpiece of it all had to be the bed situated right smack at the center of the room, seeing which Alexander could not help but joke,
"I hope there are no ticks in them, haha" as he remembered Mean''s experience.
"We bought this entire bed from another house. There are no bed bugs my lord," While Ophenia delivered this in a monotone voice, not finding the joke funny.
"We bought all our beds from other ces, Alex. Stop joking," And Mean was much more direct
"Haha," And Alexander, seeing the audience notugh, only aired out a hollow chuckle.
Ophenia brushed past this and quickly gestured to draw everyone''s attention to the two small wooden hot tubs filled with hot water and letting off thin wisps of steam ced in a corner of the room.
"Here we have prepared hot baths for both of you. And there is also a tub of fresh cold water for the washing. Please enjoy them quickly before the water cools," The tall girl pronounced.
The reason for the third tub being there was to be used to freshen oneself with that clean water as ast clean-up after having bathed in the hot tub which could be dirty during the bath.
And the reason the water in the third one was cold was because of Alexander''s preference who believed that bathing in cold water in modest amounts bolstered the immune system.
And then moving on to the reason why Alexander saw only two tubs, well it was because the third one was ced a bit back, and got obscured in the dark.
So while Alexander cleaned up that misunderstanding, Ophenia continued her speech, swinging her arms toward a huge wardrobe and saying,
"And the fresh clothes for master are inside there. We bought them just today, so I hope it fits."
"As for mistress, we didn''t need to buy any. Sister Gelene had some newly made ones stored in her workshops, and also Lady Demuze and others lent us a lot of theirs."
"Please choose whatever you like from them."
Lady Demuze was Grahtos''s wife, and it seemed that the wives of the council members stepped up toe and help Cambyses and the girls after they heard how almost everything the former owned was burned down.
And as Ophenia mentioned this, Cambyses turned to look at the three and noticing their new dresses, asked,
"Oh yeah, now that you mention it, all of you are wearing different clothes from yesterday. Are all of them from them?"
And it was Gelene who replied, nodding,
"Yes. They came to visit us in the morning at the temple and bought many gifts- clothes, cosmetics, and even jewelry."
"And they even did not forget about Lady Nanazin, her daughters, or Her twin Highnesses. Everyone got new dresses!"
And as Gelene mentioned this Cambyses''s mind also cast back to the expensive clothes she remembered seeing the royals wearing, which had skipped her notice then but now on second thought found they certainly did not match their previous garb.
And that mystery seemed to solve itself.
While Gelene ended her speech by saying,
"They also wanted to meet Mistress. But you had already gotten out, so you just missed them."
"Mmm, yes. I had a lot of things to do today," And hearing this Cambyses casually revealed such.
All the girls had spent thest night in the temple, sleeping in the vacant quarters meant for the priests and priestesses, and were woken up at the crack of dawn, as Cambyses left immediately after sunrise.
The city was still a mess and she had a lot of work to do, from trying to assess the damage to the city, to taking stock of the dead and wounded, to even preparing the army for the nned attack on the enemy''s camp.
And though thest one did not happen due to Alexander''s arrival, still it had been a supremely hectic day for Cambyses, which was why she was left out of many of the happenings elsewhere.
While Alexander, hearing this act of kindness smiled and urged,
"It seems they have done a great favor. Please tell them I said ''Thank you,'' and give them my highest regard."
"We will," Ophenia lightly nodded, before again gesturing towards the tubs and saying, "Now, please master, mistress, quickly finish your bath. The water will be getting cold soon."
"I will get the food ready."
It seemed that Ophenia felt they had been standing for long enough and thus decided to excuse herself.
"Mmm, and don''t take too long. You two can enjoy yourself after eating," While Mean was quick to urge him not to fool around yet after remembering his nature.
"Haha, is my little Mean jealous? Do you want to join us too?" But Alexander only teased with a chuckle.
Something which caused her to slightly blush.
"Of¡course not. I''m only worried the food will get cold." She said with a little fidget.
But this really did not sound convincing, and Alexander was ready to drag his little bunny to take a bath with him for a small round, seeing she was too shy toe and say it out loud.
But Cambyses stepped in at that exact moment to stop him, turning to the three to reassure,
"Don''t worry, we will be down very soon. It''s already veryte and all the talking and traveling all day around has made me famished anyway."
"You go prepare the food. We will be done quickly"
"That would be great," Ophenia was naturally pleased with the reply, and so with that said, the three quickly left the room, leaving the couples alone.
*Grab*
But just as the doors were closed, and not even waiting for the three to be out of earshot, Alexander immediately pounced on Cambyses, tightly hugging her from behind and cing his nose on her nape.
It seemed he had no intention of letting Cambyses follow her promise to the three.
"*Sniff* I missed you," He hungrily growled next to her ears as his nose traced her white neck, taking in the familiar, sweet smell, while Cambyses squirmed a bit and tried to get free, moaning,
"No Alexander¡stop. I haven''t taken a bath the whole body. I stink."
She feared how sweaty she must smell.
But this seemed to be no concern to Alexander, who not only did not let go but even bought out his tongue and started licking her nape, "I love it when you stink. Smells as if you are in heat. Mmm so nice!"
Alexander seemed to strangely like that salty taste, especially when it was his wife''s.
"Kyahhh!" But Cambyses only squeaked in embarrassment, struggling even further.
But how could a girl like her even hope to escape from a huge man like Alexander?
So she only ended up uselessly frailing her body, while Alexander''s hands even started to naughtily roam along her front, pressing her breasts through her armor, caressing her tummy, andstly squeezing her soft fronther regions.
"Mmm, noooo¡" And even though the sensation was only through severalyers of cloth, it was still enough to cause Cambyses to moan.
"Okay, okay, I give, I give." Then seeing force was not going to get anywhere, Cambyses cleverly thought of something else and decided to change tactics, one which made Alexander mistakenly think that she hade around to his way of thinking.
So he started to nibble on her earlobes, and in a husky voice whispered, "Good girl. We will only have a few rounds. It will be quick."
"Okay, okay, let me quickly get out of everything." Cambyses urged and started stripping.
Her n was to run into the tubs while Alexander unclothed himself, though it was unknown how well that would work given she had done something very simr to escape Alexander during her nuptial night.
So if she could not, Alexander would surely eat her for a few rounds then and there, smelling and sniffing her the whole time, which she was really embarrassed by.
Cambyses felt she was too shy to let Alexander smell her sweaty body yet.
*Knock*, *Knock*
But whatever ns either ns had, whether Cambyses was looking to make for a dash, or Alexander was keeping an eye out to prevent her, it did not matter, because suddenly two rapid thuds smashed against the heavy oak door, followed by Mean''s angry scolding,
"I can hear you two fooling around. Come out quickly. We didn''t even get the time to eat lunch. We are hungry."
And this revtion instantly made Alexander give up any idea of wasting time.
He would never keep the girls who worked for so long with an empty stomach waiting.
"Sorry, sorry, we will done in ten minutes. Just a bit longer." So he hurriedly replied back, and after taking everything off, quickly jumped into the wooden tub, sinking up to his shoulder in the lukewarm water.
"Ahhhh!" And an involuntary moan of pleasure escaped him as he did, as there was nothing really like taking a hotfortable bath in the middle of winter.
Chapter 613 Fun at the Bath (Part-2) (R-18)
Chapter 613 Fun at the Bath (Part-2) (R-18)
The water in the tub was perfect and given the cold weather outside it felt heavenly.
And the feeling was made even better as he knew just what kind of an unimaginable luxury it was to have something like this in this time period.
One would have to be stinking rich to be able to enjoy something like this inside one''s house, never mind enjoying it on the second floor.
It was the modern equivalent of bathing in wine or milk.
"Here let me help," And as Alexander settled down, a fully nude Cambyses unabashedly approached him, showing off her curves as well as her unkempt bush, before squatting down behind Alexander and taking the soap and scrubber handily left for him.
She first helped him wash his back, producing a soapy screen over it as she vigorously scrubbed it clean, before doing the same with his armpits and chest.
After which came the all-important part, for she moved downward.
And seeing the organ down there, even in itsid state, Cambyses could not help butment,
"It''s really starting to look like more and more like a horse''s thing. If it gets any bigger, you might not be able to fit this thing in most women!"
For context, bigger was better only to a certain point.
Past that it simply became painful, unable to fit inside or damaging the lining.
"Don''t worry. I talked to Tayin, It will stay as is," And Alexander too shared these concerns, which was why that reassurance was such a relief.
"That''s good," Cambyses too was relieved, as she then worked her soapy hands to vigorously scrub the organ clean.
An act that caused his little brother to quickly wake up, turning turgid and proudly pointing to the sky, which frankly helped Cambyses wash it quicker for she was able to more easily take off the foreshin and clean everything underneath.
"Ahhh!" And as the warm water hit the sensitive ns, Alexander moaned, which only increased in octaves upon feeling Cambyses''s stimtion as she began to quickly clean it, the soapy hands feeling particrly pleasant to Alexander.
Cambyses squeezed the organ almost like squeezing toothpaste, a few droplets of clear fluid began to quickly ooze out of it, which she quickly scooped up between her fingers, "Hahaha, leaking precum already! Are you that excited Alex?"
Cambyses sniggered as she formed sticky strings between her fingers using it, ones which glinted in the light.
And as she did, she then spoke in a tone of mocking admonishment, curving her lips to a sly smile,
"That''s no good, Alex. I just cleaned that ce, hehe. Here, let me do it again,"
Clearly, Cambyses was enjoying this.
So once again her thumbs over the ns, trying to ''clean'' them, as her stimtion drove Alexander crazy.
The dainty fingers rubbed the ns, brushed past the frenulum, and at one point, unable to resist the temptation, Cambyses even stuck out her cute tongue to take a lick, the warm soft organ sending shivers of pleasure along Alexander''s spine, while the taste of the fluid made Cambyses lightly cum.
''If only the pre-cum is so thick, what will the real thing taste like,'' Cambyses would hardly wait to taste more.
And to that effect, she started pumping harder, which caused Alexander to groan,
"Ahhh, Cam, that''s so good¡." as he wanted her to go all the way and let him finish.
"Okay, we are done here. Turn around."
But suddenly that impending sensation of pleasure vanished, leaving him with only a void of frustration as this cheerful teasing tone then rang beside his ear.
And as Alexander turned to look at his wife with a painful face, he was met with a triumphant, sly smirk.
"Come on¡ turn around. I need to finish cleaning the other part soon. The others are waiting for us, " Cambyses repeated the excuse with the same expression, as she implicitly let Alexander know this was her kind of revenge for Alexander''s previous y, edging him close to finishing but denying it at thest minute.
Oh, how the tables had turned.
And worst all, even though Alexander knew it, he could not do much about it, as time was indeed short.
"Don''t get too ahead of yourself, woman. It mighte back to bite you," So he could only sourly threaten as such while presenting his back to her, tacitly reminding her what he could do in bed.
But if Alexander''s hope was so to deter Cambyses by this, it failed miserably.
Because as she got behind Alexander and started cleaning his nks, even running her fingers into the crack to clean the area, her other free hand suddenly grasped his engrossed cock, and started to slowly pump it.
It seemed she was not finished teasing Alexander yet.
"Oh! I''m so afraid! What will you do!" She asked in a mocking whisper into Alexander''s ears while lightly biting into the lobes.
"You,,, disobedient¡wom¡ahhh," And as Alexander groaned, he did not get to finish the sentence, because he suddenly felt a thin dainty finger attack his prostate.
It seemed as Cambyses cleaned Alexander, she also started wiggling her finger around his rear hole.
"Cam¡that''s¡" And this caught Alexanderpletely off guard as this was apletely new feeling for him.
A finger touching that part, while a soapy hand jacked him off felt too hard.
¡..Until it didn''t.
"Okay, we are done, You are all cleaned up here." Came that same cheerful tone, who next asked, "Now, raise your legs so I can clean that."
"......" Alexander by point got the gist of the y, and soplied withoutining, only taking the time to send Cambyses a calm, cool look that seemed to say, ''Are you sure you want to keep ying this game?''
And the mirthful eyes Cambyses pronounced in return perfectly gave Alexander the answer.
After finishing this, Cambyses decided to finish the rest of the cleaning quickly.
So he rapidly washed the legs, taking particr care to wash between the toes, shampooed his hair, andstly removed all the soap with the cold water from the third tub.
"Okay, you get dressed. I will be done in a moment," And as Alexander was handed a clean towel to dry himself, Cambyses quickly went over to her tub, plunging herself into the still lukewarm water to finish her own bath.
But how could Alexander be so ungrateful so as to not return the favor?
So quickly dring himself, he tried to jump in to ''help'' Cambyses, saying, "No, no, you helped me so much. Please let me¡"
"Hehe, sure." And Cambyses of course could clearly understand what Alexander was thinking.
But she did not mind hence the giggle.
Thus like Cambyses''s hands were once on him, soon Alexander''s hands were also all over her body, as he washed the back, then raised her arms to wash her armpits which caused Cambyses to chuckle, "Ahhh, that tickles."
And even though Cambyses wanted to bring them down, Alexander would not permit it, as he felt the soft flesh there, kneading the pit and causing Cambyses to moan.
After a while of which, he finally moved on the the main course, her soft breasts.
"Ahhh, yes," Cambyses moaned at feeling her twin peaks getting kneading, and shuddered when Alexander pinched the nipples, which continued for a while.
"Okay, turn around, This part is cleaned," But before Cambyses could get off, Alexander, like her, stopped, the tease in his tone apparent.
But if he was expecting a painful cry like his, Alexander was to be disappointed, because Cambyses seemed to have predicted this action and only smirked,
"Heh, is that the best you got? Copying me?"
"You know girls are different right? We don''t cum like men do, all in one go. For instance, I already lightly came twice, hehe."
Cambyses seemed very proud of herself.
While knowing this made Alexander a bit deted, unsure of how to proceed.
And seeing this, Cambyses decided to act boldly, turning around to present her back, she even bent forward slightly, saying,
"Anyway, if you wanna wash my back, please go ahead, we don''t have much time."
She even tucked her long hair to the front to give Alexander a better view of her back.
And what a view it was.
Alexander could see everything.
A wless back, healthy, milky white thighs, and best of all, a magnificent butt.
And it was the butt where his eyes were instantly drawn to.
It was plump and fleshy, showing a healthy red hue due to soaking in the hot water, with numerous tiny, streams of water running across it.
And because of how cold it was outside, the water was seen turning to steam as it rolled over her skin, making it look like Cambyses had a literal smoking ass.
Alexander had never seen anything like that.
And to make the scenery even better, nestled between the two plump cheeks was herbia, fat and juicy, hidden within a thatch of dense curly hair, all wet and glistening.
The hair was stuck to her closely, hiding her petals, only asionally giving Alexander a tantalizing view.
While above it was the wrinkled pink hole, it too moist and sparking, slightly twitching as if to invite Alexander.
Alexander really had not expected he would get such a devastatingly beautiful scenery and he wished nothing more than to start ying with it.
While from above Cambyses''s teasing voice rang, shaking her butt and tempting,
"Be sure to get your fingers all in and clean me there properly Alexander, hehe."
Chapter 614 Fun at the Bath (Part-3) (R-18)
Chapter 614 Fun at the Bath (Part-3) (R-18)
As Cambyses shook her butt to tempt Alexander, he felt an unimaginable urge to start ying with it.
The bent-over wet butt with the moist plump pussy and defenseless butthole shaking right in front of him proved too strong a stimulus for him.
So he decided to indulge himself a little bit.
Thus taking his soapy hands, he thered therge butt with bubbles, feeling the soft, wet skin dig into his fingers as he kneaded them.
And as the butt was being cleaned, his fingers inevitably came into contact with theher hole, and Alexander could not resist poking it.
"Ahhh!" And feeling so Cambyses squeaked.
But then, instead of admonishing Alexander, she only giggled and asked, "Oh Alex, be sure to get your fingers in and clean there, please. You can use your tongue if you like."
She was being especially bold today.
While hearing this really excited Alexander, though he did not feel like tasting soap by using his tongue.
So out came his fingers, two of which quite easily pushed open the closed wrinkled hole, and then started to squirm around.
"Ohhh, yes, clean my insides real good, Alex." Cambyses did not even attempt to hide her approval as the thick digits stretched her passage and teased her walls.
Having her husband''s fingers inside made Cambyses feel faint with pleasure.
While for Alexander, feeling the hot inside with the tight walls was also heavenly, the sensation elevated by it being in such a shameful ce.
So for a while his fingers danced inside, at some point even pressing down towards Cambyses''s pussy and making her moan more and more, "Arghh¡nice."
But as Cambyses neared her release¡suddenly the sensation was gone, for Alexander would not let Cambyses have an orgasm so easily.
So he decided to finish his cleaning at that point, bringing out his fingers with a slight *pop* and finding them to be glistening with Cambyses''s intestinal juices, while Cambyses''s gaping rear was yet to close, letting Alexander have a clear view of the pitch ck insides that let off a musky smell to ensnare Alexander back.
Alexander''s lower organ twitched and almost released from just seeing that, being barely held back by his iron will.
If he released in such a way, Cambyses would never let this go.
But this was not an easy task to pull off, made especially all the more difficult, when Cambyses groaned a bit in disappointment."Nnnnmmm," and lightly swayed a butt.
It was hypnotic.
And it took Alexander almost a herculean effort to move past, and finally get on to servicing the main thing, herher regions.
"Ahhh," And as his hands started caressing the hot delicate organ, the stimulus returned again and Cambyses resumed her moans, feeling Alexander gently rub the outer surface clean.
He was slow and careful, and as he cleaned, Cambyses''s pubic hair began to get bunched up and started to dangle from her pussy, with water dripping off the ends.
It was quite an erotic sight.
And once done with the outeryer, soon two of his fingers found themselves inside, producing a *Squelch*, *Squelch*, sound.
"Ahh, yes. That ce has been empty for months now Alexander. Be sure to clean it thoroughly," And feeling the fingers Cambyses quickly moaned, her tone showing she was still in the mood to joke.
"*Pah*, naughty girl. How am I to clean you when you are so wet? You are leaking so bad!"
But hearing Cambyses''s request, Alexander only lightly spanked her with a smirk, as due to all the stimuli, it was inevitable that Cambyses would start to produce love juice.
So when he resumed his ''cleaning'', the sound produced was even lewder.
"Hehe," As for Cambyses, she only giggled at her husband''s mock admonishment and even stuck her butt further.
Alexander kept pumping his finger for a while, loving the warmth and squeeze of the tunnel, while the act made a lewd noise that drove both of them close to release.
But just as when Cambyses started to shake a bit, signaling she was about to cum, Alexander quickly denied her, deciding to finish his ''cleaning'' right then as he bought his fingers out.
"Ahh???"
And Cambyses, who was so close, suddenly feeling the sensation disappear groaned a bit in frustration, turning back to him Alexander a whimpering look.
Which made him smirk with satisfaction.
He had done it.
That expression was what he was looking for.
And then excited to repeat his sess, he silently resumed again, this time aiming to ''clean'' her most sensitive spot- the clitoris.
So he carefully flipped open the hood and slowly approached the engrossed pearl that glistened under the light, gently touching it with his soapy fingers, and started to delicately rub it to get it all nice and shiny.
When suddenly, "Ahhhhhhh," Cambyses grabbed the ends of the tub before letting out a piercing moan as a huge arch of fluid squirted out of her.
She hade.
And as Alexander watched this waterwork, he could not believe it.
Judging from his prior experience, Alexander was pretty sure she should not have been able to do so.
"You were faking it?" So that was the only conclusion he coulde up with, as he asked the question incredulously.
"Hehehe," And Cambyses let out a triumphant chuckle to confirm it, very proud at having beaten Alexander at the game.
It seemed that Cambyses''s skills had leveled up.
While for Alexander, with the results of the game clear and being forced to admit defeat, he was certainly a bit peeved, though half of him was also very happy at Cambyses''s progress.
So he could only give a frank grin of defeat.
Following this, the rest of the bath ended rather quickly as Alexander washed Cambyses like she did to him, and both were soon dry.
But just as Cambyses was about to get her clothes from the wardrobe, Alexander suddenly remembered something, so cried, "Wait! Go over to the tubs. I have something to do."
And as a surprised Cambyses followed this ask with a questioning look, Alexander ran to grab the dagger he always carried with him that wasid on a table.
*nk*,
And unsheathing it, he quickly started to approach Cambyses with the de, seeing which the girl cried in a melodramatic voice "Ahh! So, it hase to this. You are already tired of me! Which vixen was it, wuu¡huuu.." as she then started crying in an excessively fake way..
"Stop acting. You suck!"
While Alexander humourlessly snapped at this attempt, and upon reaching Cambyses, squatted down in front of her crotch.
"I just wanted to shave you down there," He then said, gazing at her dense pussy.
He always preferred it clean down here.
And as Cambyses remembered she had not really taken care of herself down there as Alexander was not present, she quickly blurted out, "Ahhh! Sorry. I forgot to take care of it for the past months."
"If I had known you would being today, I would have done it myself."
"It''s okay. Stay still." But Alexander did not seem to mind, only urging Cambyses to not move around, as hethered some soap around that part and then, using hisrge knife, expertly started to shave the bush.
The fluidity and ease with which he moved clearly showed this was not his first time, as Alexander regrly trimmed his own forest as such, as well as his beard.
But this was his first time taking care of Cambyses''s bush, and as the huge knife brushed atop her skin, the girl was uncharacteristically quiet, even breathing lightly.
It was apparently she was deadly afraid of anything happening to her dow there, as the size of the dagger especially scared her.
''Alex, be careful.''
She had wanted to say this out aloud but refrained in fear of distracting Alexander, or simply shaking her body.
But Cambyses''s worries were really unfounded, as Alexander finished the task wlessly, throwing the cut hair floating in the used tub water, while Cambyses''s own crouch was cleaned of any cut hair and then dried with a towel, finally revealing the pink organ in its full, naked glory.
It was red, healthy, and puffed up.
*Chuu*
And seeing it Alexander could not help but kiss it, drinking some of the nectar that had begun to flow out in the process, as Cambyses giggled,
"Hehe, okay, okay, there is really no need to be impatient, Alex. You can enjoy me as much as you wantter."
"For now let''s get dressed and go downstairs. Mean must be furious."
And this reminder finally cooled Alexander a bit, for the promise to finish the bath quickly seemed to have been thrown out the window as they ended up taking much more time than they had anticipated.
Alexander dreaded the kind of face Mean should be making by now.
So upon Cambyses''s reminder, he quickly hopped over to the wardrobe, while Cambyses actually went in the opposite direction, muttering, "Gotta pee."
And then finding the chamber pot, she unabashedly squatted down irrespective of Alexander''s gaze, before spreading her legs to perform the deeds.
*Piss*
The waterworks made an audible sound as the stream hit the earthen pot, with even some steaming out due to the temperature difference, all while Alexander watched this with a massive hard-on.
''How is she embarrassed to have sex smelling a bit of sweat but not ashamed of this?'' He genuinely wondered, feeling he would never understand women, though he did not mind the show of course.
So he enjoyed it while itsted.
Chapter 615 Talks Over The Dinner Table (Part-1)
Chapter 615 Talks Over The Dinner Table (Part-1)
After the two dried themselves and Cambyses finished wiping herself after her business, both quickly approached the wardrobe and found they had a fine selection to choose from.
And from a plethora of dresses, Alexander chose a heavy ck tunic and matching pants, while Cambyses found a beautiful red gown particrly fetching.
But just as she was about to get dressed, Cambyses thought of a small prank to tease Alexander that little bit more.
So when putting on her underwear, she very intentionally bent her butt towards Alexander, which parted her cheeks and very brazenly showed off everything to her man, who got a crystal clear view of her hairless plump pink flower which he recently shaved and her nicely cleaned rear hole.
The sight was very lewd and the smelling out of there was of olives from the soap, which of course worked to have its intended consequences. as many recent memories of the bath flooded into Alexander and the tent down there that he had worked so hard till now to get under control again rose up, struggling against his shorts which were called braies.
"Dammit, I just calmed down. And she now does this. God, she really knows how to press my buttons!'' Alexander half cursed and half admired this spring sight until the admiration overtook the frustration, and unable to resist the temptation, Alexander extended one of his wolfish hands to grab the peachy butt and gave it a squeeze,
"Why bother wearing the underwear? You will be out of it soon anyway, hehe." He then asked with a smirk as he kneaded one of the cheeks.
To which Cambyses, beingpletely unaffected by this sexual harassment from her husband only sniggered, "Then why are wearing pants when I will be soon bouncing on that cock anyway," before pushing his hand by saying in a sultry manner,
"Be a bit patient Alexander. I asked the others to give tonight to only us. You can have the whole of me after dinner. Now let''s go."
Hearing Cambyses had already made deals with the other girls surprised Alexander a bit, but also knowing that he would have only her to himself also stimted him, as could not wait to take that massive cock and pound that cute pussy that had been teasing him all night.
"Okay, you have a deal. I will make sure to fuck your brains out," Alexander grinned as he quickly retracted his hand, and soon the duo dressed themselves, remembering to put on a heavy jacket before they exited the room.
This was because though the house might have in-door heating, this was only in particr rooms and even those were in no way as cozy as a modern insted home. while some parts such as the corridors and other remotes were almost as cold as the outside.
Hence the requirement.
And as they descended in their luxurious attire downstairs and approached the dinner table, they found a stony-faced Mean sitting squarely facing them, her tiny fists resting on therge table, clenched with fury as her face was dark as the stormy clouds.
Saying Mean was angry would be an understatement.
After all the bath that should have taken ten minutes, Alexander had spent easily over an hour.
And the reason for this anger was all the extra work Alexander''s action had created for both her and Ophenia.
When Alexander arrived in the house, the two''s first and foremost concern was being able to provide him with a great, big, piping-hot meal after his long day.
The emphasis being on the word ''hot'', which was something quite hard to do given the time period and the season, and due to the fact that repeatedly heating the meal tended to destroy the vor.
So Mean and Ophenia had to try really hard to keep the food both warm and delicious, a work that was added on top of all the extra chores they had to do anyway.
Thus Mean''s rage was certainly justified.
"Ahhh, master, you are just in time. We have just finished cooking," But before Mean, who had been simmering till now could explode, Ophenia quickly interjected with a loud greeting, making it seem like the cooking was only done now and Alexander had arrived at the perfect time.
And then she quickly opened the lid of arge pot to start serving the soup as Alexander sat down, while Mean, shooting Ophenia an usatory re decided to let Alexander off the hook for this time, as she did not want to destroy the festive mood around the table.
After all, Alexander was eating with them after months.
And so to Alexander''s slight amazement, the dark brooding face quickly changed to a happy fair one, which surprised him as he was ready to get an earful.
But given a good thing had happened, Alexander was in no hurry to change it, so he did not even bring up the issue of beingte and instead decided to enjoy the food, which was rtively sumptuous.
There were three types of white bread, a few types of fish, two meat dishes, several vegetable stews, a variety of cheeses, and fine wine.
It was a decadent feast by most standards, and the food on the table also seemed to give the appearance that the seize had not degraded the city''s granaries too much.
Though given Alexander''s previous experience he was quick to notice that some items were missing and though there were many types of proteins such as meat and fish, these proteins were cooked in only a few different ways.
This was not the norm for the meals at his minor, where they would be cooked in many different ways.
For instance, various types of meat would be barbequed, steaked, boiled etc, fish would be fried, steamed, stewed, etc, and the vegetables would be salted, battered, and prepared in many other ways.
But here, though there were some such culinary techniques, it wascking in quantity.
And another that wascking was in quantity was the absence of desserts, which Alexander simply could not see.
It had to be noted that back in his original home, after his introduction of sugar, there would always be some kind of sweet item like pastry, cake, or even cookies apanying the end of the meal once a day.
But it seems this had not been done tonight.
And was Alexander''s noticed this, Ophenia was quick to notice his gaze and provided the reason,
"I''m sorry master but a lot of our supplies have burnt down with the manor. And many of our cooks are not here anymore. So could not make time to make the desserts."
The beautiful girl sounded very hurt, seeming to me herself heavily for being unable to host Alexander properly.
Though this was of course inevitable given the circumstances.
"No, no, don''t worry about the food. We are still at war and besides, this is a feast I would have never imagined even two years ago. Remember I grew up as a ve, haha" And understanding so Alexander was quite quick to reassure Ophenia, with Cambyses quick to join too,
"Mmm, right. We five will never be able to finish this amount of food I could. So no worries," This finally put Ophenia''s worries to a rest and the girl atst rxed enough to start enjoying her meal after a small nod and, "...Okay."
And as they enjoyed their meal, Alexander decided to make small talk, saying,
"The food is great! Which of the maids cooked it?"
"It was¡." And Ophenia replied with a couple of names, none of which Alexander recognized.
And as he took note, it made Alexander realize the losses his staff members took must have been quite high.
Though it was not that surprising given all of them had been conscripted to fight in defense of the manor and most were either killed or captured.
"Did we lose a lot? How many maids have we left?" Thus Alexander posed, turning his head to look for an answer.
And it was Cambyses who atst responded after a while, quickly finishing the piece of bread dipped in soup inside her mouth.
"....we are still counting. Many of the dead bodies are burnt so identifying them is difficult. And a lot of them seemed to have run so we are searching."
Her answer was given in a breezy, light tone, and following her answer she was seen cleaning her mouth of any leftover bits of chewed bread stuck to her teeth using her tongue.
Cambyses did not seem too affected by the losses which surprised Alexander.
It seemed she had either be numb or simply stopped caring.
"Are our losses not that much?" While Alexander hoped it was because of this, though he held little hope.
"Wel that¡umm" And hearing the inquiry, Ophenia did not immediately deny it, only seeming to be at first a bit hesitant to answer.
So Gelene stepped up to help as Ophenia seemed to be a bit ufortable discussing it.
"After the manor was taken many of the women were raped. So they are in the clinics recovering, or mostly hiding around the wounds in shame."
"We will get the urate numbers once everything settles down a bit and they start returning after they finished their crying, heh!"
Gelene ended her nonchnt answer with a disparaging smirk, seeming to not think much about either the act or the result.
It was all natural to her.
Which also made Alexander once again realize the kind of times he lived in.
Chapter 616 Talks Over The Dinner Table (Part-2)
Chapter 616 Talks Over The Dinner Table (Part-2)
Gelene''s answer very much reflected the cruel realities of the times.
Such tragedies were not unique or even rare as cities and homesteads were frequently captured and the women subjected to these acts.
And so they had to grow numb to these or die.
Gelene herself was a victim of this tragedy when she was captured by the vers and so over time had developed a thick shell of eptance of the fact, hence her subtle mocking of the women who were crying, as she saw them as weak.
While Alexander hearing the confirmation felt a tang of pain in his heart.
Both because of how innocent women were forced to just ept this tragedy and over the recently urred tragedy.
He had of course guessed such a thing had most likely happened when he learned the enemy had taken the manor.
But the confirmation still hurt him.
"*Sigh*, I see. Truly a tragedy. I once worked shoulder to shoulder with many of these women, *sigh*,"
Hence he could not help but let out tworge sighs as he remembered how as a ve he worked hand in hand with some of them.
And now many of them were killed or vited trying to defend his house.
It was not a good feeling, and what further entuated the feeling of guilt was how he himself had invited them to his house promising them safety and shelter.
''What a blunder,'' Alexander could not help butmpoon.
"*Snort*, What crying in the woods!" Whereas his partner did not seem to share his thoughts at all, saying,
"When the manor was captured, instead of standing and fighting, many of them broke and ran. And with them being ves, I suspect many of them are simply trying to escape."
"So I have had Melodias send capture parties. Everyone should be caught soon."
It seemed Cambyses was beginning to show her imperious side even in front of Alexander when it came to administrative matters.
And hearing this Alexander felt Cambyses''s logic was a bit weak, for it was unlikely these ves would be able to go far in this weather with the supplies they had with them.
They shoulde back to the city if they knew what was good for them
But Alexander did not outright dismiss the thought either.
Because thinking back, if Alexander was given such a chance, and he had no other way of escape in sight, he might have also rolled the die.
"That''s good. Our men are already searching the woods for any leftover Tibias units So they can also help the lost servants get back." Hence Alexander was diplomatic in his speech.
"Mmmm, let''s hope so too," And Cambyses lightly nodded to it.
Following this grim topic, Alexander moved to something lighter, talking about a bit of his time in Adhan and his experiences there, at some point moving to the issue of food, and Alexander ended up saying,
"The food there was good, but not like Julkain''s. I missed Julkain''s cooking the past months. How is she?"
Julkain was the cook who had tackled Alexander during his first venture into the kitchen and was then promoted to a guard/cook of his personal kitchen.
Alexander had high hopes for her and so was interested to know about her well-being.
"Julkain is dead!" But his breezy question was replied with this ice-cold reply.
It came from Mean, and Alexander had never heard the spicy girl so solemn, her face hard and fists clenched.
It seemed that death had hit her particrly hard.
And it was somewhat also panged Alexander, both hearing the news and upon seeing the hurt Mean.
While Gelene was there to add a bit morementary,
"Yes. They found her burned body inside the manor. Next to her daughter too. Poor woman." as she then shook her head.
No one would know but the fate of this woman had been particrly gruesome.
She was a physically strong woman and so had attempted to fight off the Tibians when they tried to approach her and her five-year-old daughter.
The girl was her most precious possession and the only thing she had to remember her husband by.
So she was determined to try and protect her.
In fact without her child, the woman might have considered suicide.
And if she really had done that, her ending would have been certainly easier.
But she had not.
And trying was very much different from seeding.
In fact, her struggle had only seeded in making the men more interested in her and the innocent flower she was trying to protect.
So they forcefully retrained her and made her watch as they took her daughter right in front of her, the child screaming her heart out at the violent acts being done to her, while her mother''s heart shattered at the sight.
And once the child lost all her voice and the light began to fade from her eyes, they discarded the limp body on the floor, not caring if she had died or simply fainted, as they moved to the fresh prey- the mother.
They pinned the still struggling woman down and started to mutte her as they performed the deed, making her bleed out as she was raped.
So when the manor started to burn and the soldiers quickly left the room leaving the pair behind, it was a kind of relief for her.
But by then it was already too little toote by then.
Both the mother-daughter pair''s injuries were too gruesome and they simplycked the ability to try and run.
That of course did not mean Julkain did not try.
She had indeed tried to get her and her daughter out, attempting to drag her and her child''s body towards the door and even trying to scream out for help.
But her body was too weak and her voice seemed to have cracked after the throat''s recent abuse, so the screams were weak and hollow.
And a whileter she could not even do that as the approaching smoke made her cough incessantly.
So she failed to escape, and could only silently whimper as the ming hands of death slowly approached the pair, the temperature slowly rising around them, first sizzling their skin, then burning it, and then slowly roasting them bit by bit for a long time, prolonging their torment for as long as possible, all while theyid on the floor helplessly, unable to move.
One might even say being raped would have been better.
But the gods seemed to want the punish the duo for whatever reason and so they died after experiencing a prolonged time of torment, whether it be the rape or fire.
Julkain definitely deserved better.
But all such evidence of her pain was burned away by the fire.
As for identifying her body, well she and her daughter were burnt to a char so there was no way they could be facially identified.
Instead, she was identified by a unique small iron ring on her left ring finger that her husband had given her.
The Tibians in their hurry to escape had seemingly forgotten to loot that.
"....I see. That certainly is a tragedy. I''m sorry." And as Alexander came to know about the loss, he could only express his condolences, before adding this with a clenched fist to try and cheer Mean up, "But rest assured Mean, I promise I will get revenge on those guys. Tibias will pay!"
"*Sigh*, it''s oaky. It was war anyway." But instead of getting an enthusiastic nod, Mean only replied this listlessly, before taking a mouthful of soup with her metal spoon.
The tone of the reply was one of nonchnce and eptance, showing no rage or lust for vengeance but only sorrow.
This momentarily surprised Alexander, but then he was reminded of how this was themon mindset of this time period, one where they took death as a natural part of life much more easily than their modern counterpart.
One of the reasons for this was simply ack of knowledge.
People did not really understand the cause of death or why they got sick and died.
So due to the absence of modern understanding of medicine and medical technology, the act of dying was seen more as an inevitability or an act of god rather than something mere mortals could have a hand on.
And this technological backwardness led to the next reason which was the sheer scale of deaths one experienced in their life.
Everyone, whether it be poor or rich, noble or peasant, ve or freeman, everyone grew up surrounded by death, with almost all of them inevitably witnessing someone close to them dying during their childhood, be it their parents, their rtives, their friends, their neighbor or even their siblings.
The universality of it seemed like a cruel reminder of death to all, telling them regardless of their status they would all end up in his hands.
And this experience of childhood would repeat itself into adulthood too, where gues, diseases, famines, natural disasters, and wars would have people all around drop like flies.
So at one point, society as a whole would just be desensitized to it all.
Andstly, it was ingrained into people''s minds that during a war, anything went.
Mean was not angry at Tibias for killing Julkain for the same reason modern people would not get angry for one army killing an enemy soldier.
The act was considered eptable within the rules of war.
Hence she was sad, but not seeking vengeance.
Chapter 617 Reunion with Cambyses (Part-1) (R-18)
Chapter 617 Reunion with Cambyses (Part-1) (R-18)
Alexander sensed the talks had turned the mood a bit heavy instead of the festive revelry promised with his return.
And he really did not know how to proceed.
And it was then Cambyses who came to his rescue, saying,
"Well not everything is doom and gloom you know. At least Juminus is still alive."
"We found him grievously injured but still breathing among a pile of the dead."
"He is currently being treated at the clinic."
"The doctors are hopeful."
And this one good news sounded heavenly to Alexander, for Juminus was a loyal man, so he enthusiastically replied, "Oh! That''s good, that good."
And with that hook, Alexander began to ask each of his women how they had been, how they passed their days, and as the talks went on, food was eaten, wine drunk, and the atmosphere soon normalized.
It was in this way the dinner ended.
And once finished, with the night then turning close to midnight, everyone finally decided to return to their room, eager for a good night''s rest after the long, eventful day.
As did Cambyses and Alexander, who entered their room together.
But for the two the night was still young.
For it was time for Cambyses to fulfill her promise.
Hence, just as the two crossed the door and closed the door with a hurried bang, without a single word the man and woman began to take off their clothes simultaneously, so quickly in fact that one could be forgiven for thinking their clothes had caught fire, for already having had an unfulfilled session a while go, both were ravenous for the other.
*Rustle*, *Rustle*, *Rustle*
So quickly all their articles of clothes were left pooled near the doorsteps, and both were down to their underwear- Alexander in a ck linen braies which was already sporting a bulge, while Cambyses had bright red lingerie that especially entuated her front and rear assets.
And once in that state, for a moment, the two stood in front of each other, their eyes cherishing seeing the other side after long such a long time.
Cambyses loved how dashing Alexander looked showing his strong, white chiseled body of almost a Greek good, while Alexander could not get enough of Cambyses''s curvy hips, thin lips, and shapely breasts.
And once the sight was imnted into their eyes, suddenly both felt an unimaginably strong force pulling them towards each other, an urge so primal that they simply could not resist.
Not that they wanted to anyway.
*Chuu*, *Chuu*
So the couple immediately grabbed each other fiercely and smashed their lips together, eagerly to devour each other.
And though Alexander wanted to start the intimate act with just some light pecks around the lips as an appetizer, it seemed Cambyses had other ns.
The girl had been starved of sex far more than Alexander as the man was able to enjoy quite a few sessions with a few women in Adhan, whereas Cambyses had no one to sate her fire since the day Alexander left.
Thus betraying her previous facade of being fully in control during the teasing, she was in fact particrly hungry for him.
And it was because of that the moment Alexander''s lips touched her, she stood on her toes and instantly pushed her tongue into his mouth, hungrily entangling his tongue, and sucking on it.
''*Chuu*, *Chuu*, so good. Ah so good. I missed this taste,'' Cambyses moaned in her mind.
While feeling this aggressive attack, Alexander was initially a bit surprised.
But after thinking for a while and understanding she might be pent up. Alexander decided to let his wife take the lead.
And he instead focused on his hands freely caressing her soft, wless body, as if he was trying tofort her with his touch.
He felt her smooth back, tasted her familiar warmth, and enjoyed her slim waist, as his roaming hands tried to memorize his wife''s shape and validate it was really her he was holding.
It seemed on a deeper level, Alexander was just as much starved for Cambyses.
And atst his rogue hands finally ended their journey on her most magnificent asset, her buttocks, which he soon began to squeeze and knead, first squishing them together and then parting them apart wide, again and again.
Although he had been able to enjoy this just a few hours ago, his hands already felt starved of this feeling, loving the marvelous feeling of the soft, pillowy flesh sinking into his hands.
It produced a feeling he had definitely missed in the past months, and as he moved his hands, the action caused the linen fabric of the underwear to slip into Cambyses''s buttcrack and reveal her huge, plump ass cheeks to the world.
And the cheeks were not the only thing Alexander squeezed with love, for soon his finger began to trace over her now scrunched-up underwear, going over the slick, wetness seeping out of her slit, as well as lightly poking the hot puckered hole through the fabric.
Though he had enjoyed it just a while ago, it was still a magnificent feeling and Alexander felt he could stay like that forever.
But s he could not.
For after kissing and tasting each other''s vors for a few minutes, finally, their need to breathe overtook their lust for each other and forced them to separate.
"*Hah*, *Hah*,
And so the two lovers did, panting and gasping as they broke off their kiss, though they still kept each other in their arms, gazing lovingly at one another while their tongues still held a bridge of sticky saliva connecting them as proof of their act.
"Ahhh, so good," Cambyses moaned as her eyes seemingly transformed into hearts and she wanted nothing more than to be one with her beloved.
"Let''s move to the bed," While Alexander, also wanting to get more intimate, decided to move the action there.
So hugging her tightly, Alexander swiftly brought her to the huge bed and crashed down with her onto the soft mattress as Cambyses let out loud giggles.
And this move made the couple end up being on top of each other, with Cambyses on top lovingly gazing down at Alexander.
"I missed you, *chuu*. I was really scared without you, *mmmmm*. So scared *nnmmm*, Don''t leave me, *suckkkk*"
Finally being in the safe embrace of her husband, the strong girl atst began to shed her hard shell, desperately kissing Alexander for finally having arrived as tears of joy and relief flowed freely down her cheeks.
Thest few days had really scared the poor girl, with many of her fears even not being of death, but more than that the fear of disappointing Alexander.
"I''m sorry Cam. I''m sorry, it was my mistake," And seeing his wife''s face now, as she let off all her pent-up emotion, made Alexander''s heart pang like never before.
So he reciprocated the feeling in the only way he knew he could, by caressing her all over tofort her while kissing even harder to try and wash over the bad memories.
So as their lips matched, Alexander brushed his tongue against her gums, swiped it over her teeth and even lightly bit her lips, while Cambyses seemed to at some point begin to pool her saliva in her mouth and then started transferring it to Alexander, as if to dye the other in her vor.
It tasted delicious to Alexander.
"Mmmmm," And so for a while, the couple resumed their passionate act once again, locking their lips and spooning each other.
Until their levels of lust rose to a level that was no longer able to be sated by only kissing.
"*Hah*, *Hah*,"
So it was after a while that they finally let go.
"Ahhh, Cam¡." And then it was Alexander who asked first, for he was no longer able to resist the difort in his crouch any longer.
He was already pent up from the previous bath y and now his organ had be agins engrossed to a great degree, and after his transforming, they felt painful being confined to the tight boxer-like pants.
And this was not to even count how Cambyses slyly kept rubbing her butt along the length of the pitched tent while they were kissing, edging Alexander on as she polished his spear with her hot love juices but never letting him release.
The teasing was a repaet of the bath torture!
"Hehe," And sensing his pained and usatory gaze, Cambyses cunningly giggled, feeling it to be a fitting punishment for making her go through all the recent ordeal.
And even with all the bullying till now, she still felt that this amount of teasing was not enough to sate her.
For Cambyses was determined to punish Alexander for making her worry so much and hence decided to make him feel even more pain in the form of pleasure.
Thus hearing Alexander pant, the girl quickie lifted her torso off Alexander''s chest and sat on his ripped abs, remembering to skillfully ce his tent between her asscheeks, causing Alexander to shiver with pleasure.
This sensation of being hotdogged from her curvy butt felt amazing.
And soon the scenery turned even better for him, as Cambyses quickly unsped her bra in front of him to let her modest bunnies out, while her legs were spread on either side, letting her husband clearly see just how damp a certain part of her underwear had be.
"So which one do you like better?" With a sly smirk Cambyses then asked, her smile looking like a subus to Alexander.
Chapter 618 Reunion with Cambyses (Part-2) R-18
Chapter 618 Reunion with Cambyses (Part-2) R-18
As a semi-nude Cambyses sat on top of Alexander, the sight of her bare breasts and the provocative pose of course red Alexander''s lust.
It was a very alluring scene.
And it was not only him who was enjoying this.
In fact, Cambyses was perhaps enjoying this even more than her husband.
As after positioning herself above Alexander, the girl soon began to grind her crotch on his abs, painting it with her leaking wet juices as she did, the movement asionally causing her clit to bump against the pectoral muscles underneath, and making tiny flickers of pleasure to shoot through her brain.
To Cambyses, it seemed like she was in heaven.
And the scenery for the one below, i.e.- Alexander was also none too shabby.
Because as Cambyses moved, her chest shook too, causing her twin mountains to jiggle and the cute pink buds at the ends to puff up with excitement, her chestnut-colored hair danced in the wind, and his abs started to get wet from her juices.
All of it very much stimted Alexander, and soon he could not resist starting to y with her nubile buds, as his hands extended to pinch her nipples and caress her breasts.
"So soft¡so cute," Alexander moaned at the delicious feeling.
And Cambyses soon began to directly feel the effects of her hard work, as her husband''s burning rod started to twitch and somehow got even bigger and hotter, almost scalding her butt even though theyers of cloth.
Cambyses of course loved this.
Though perhaps the biggest sensation she loved experiencing was the knowledge of how she was on top of her powerful man, riding him while gazing down at his pained, reddened face.
Cambyses felt like a powerful Queen atop her lowly subject and his caused her face to be enraptured with lust as she wished she could see this frustrated face of her lover a lot more often.
She really liked bullying Alexander.
"Ahhh¡Cam, stop teasing me¡" While from underneath, the recipient of the tease, Alexander wished his wife would stop blue-balling him and start the real deal.
"Hehe, nope," But Cambyses cruelly denied, as she only took one of her hands to the back to start stroking the hot rod ced against her butt, rubbing her dainty finger along the head and purring,
"Ohhh, you have started leaking precum, Alex. What a hopeless man, hehe," as her nails started to dig into Alexander''s pee hole.
With the linen underwear as an outer cover, it gave Alexander just enough pain to make it pleasure but not painful, while at the same time coating Cambyses''s nails with the stick fluid.
And as she ground Alexander''s cock against her butt, stroking and holding the organ close to her ass as her nails pinched and teased the head, making Alexander groan, she also began to asionally retrieve her hand to sensually lick her fingers which were coated by some of the leaking precum, deliberately making lewd faces when she did, such as licking her lips sensually and moaning, "Mmmmm, nice,"
The sight drove Alexander ever closer to the edge.
Which then made Cambyses shout with teasing glee. "Hahaha, I can feel you twitching. You are about to cum, aren''t you! You are about to cum uselessly in your pants, aren''t you! Hahaha!"
"Argghhh"
But this reminder suddenly made Alexander put in a herculean effort to stop himself.
He wanted to cum inside Cambyses''s pussy and so tried to hold off till then.
But how could Cambyses let him so easily seed?
She had kept the show PG-16 for long enough and the girl wanted to proceed to taste more pleasure.
So she smirked, "Good job on keeping it in. As a reward, I will use my pussy to get all your cum out!"
This deration naturally made Alexander''s face turn with a hopeful glow as he thought Cambyses was finally about to let him insert her.
And this thought was quickly reinforced when Cambyses stood up to take off her underwear and threw it off to the floor it was a used piece of tissue paper, baring her drooling pussy for Alexander to see, before also helping him finally get fully naked by pulling down the boxers.
"It really is like a horse, huh!" And as the fully awakened penis was finally revealed from its confines Cambyses could not help but half gasp.
Large, thick, fat, and veiny all over, with a red, inmed mushroom head it was a grotesque piece of meat no matter how you cut it.
And knowing the fact that this thing would soon be inside of her made Cambyses''s pussy both afraid at the fearful but also tingle at the anticipation of how good it would feel.
But that insertion would not be now.
That wouldeter.
A decision that Cambyses decided to make clear to Alexander which saw his hopes of an immediate release instantly dashed.
And she showed this by using her hands to forcefully make his erect little brothery horizontally, after which she directly sat on the shaft, as she then started to slowly move back and forth, grinding on it.
This was what she mean by using her pussy to make him cum.
"Mmmmmm," And Alexander, who had thought he had escaped one hell by finally freely himself out of his pants, quickly found himself in another.
There was a slight pain of having his erect brother bent to a horizontal line like that, but that slight difort was instantly drowned out when Alexander felt his wife''s hot juices drizzle over his hotdog, the soft pussy buns snuggling his brother tightly between her delicate lips.
At that moment, Alexander felt a violent jolt of pleasure like he had done never before.
"Arghhh, you naughty woman. You drive me insane."
Alexander growled with pleasure, watching the darn smirk on his wife''s face as she yed him like a fiddle, supremely smug at having outsmarted him.
But even that face drove Alexander crazy, and he started to y with her boobs even faster and rougher in retaliation, forming finger marks on her delicate skin.
"Hehe, cum! Cum Alexander. Release your seeds uselessly over your own body!" While from above Cambyses dictated like a majestic ruler, picking up her pace as she did, thering a new coating of her honey each time she moved, and producing a wet lewd sound.
"Argghhh," But hearing this taunt, Alexander still tried onest time to hold on
But this time he was destined to fail, as Cambyses did this,
"Hehe, here, let''s twist your nipples like you are doing it to me. Let''s see how you like it, hahaha," as she took both her free hands and violently grabbed Alexander''s tiny, ck bubs and then started to y with them, scratching, pinching, and kneading the tiny prostitution.
And with a particrly strong pinch, Cambyses finally managed to push Alexander over the edge, causing him to clench his teeth as his toes curled up and his lower body twitched imperceptively.
*Spultrt*, *Splurt*, *Splurt*
And sitting atop it, Cambyses could clearly feel how the organ pulsed and twitched as it released, the semen not going out in one smooth flow but in rhythmic pulses, exiting via the hole and pooling onto Alexander''s abs, the thick release pooling themselves into globules on the belly.
"Mmmm" And as he orgasmed, Alexander finally released a breath of relief, as all his pent-up desires were finally sated for the time being.
"Haha, so you couldn''t hold back atst huh Alex, hahaha!" While from atop Cambysesughed triumphantly, gazing down at her man with a mock look of disdain, before tracing one of her dainty fingers along the pooled semen and scooping it up.
''So thick!'' And as she did, the viscosity of it was clearly felt on her finger, feeling almost like jelly.
Cambyses could not resist taking a sample.
So she brought her finger to taste, and as the hot turbid liquid touched her tongue, Alexander distinctively felt the pussy that was sitting on him twitch and release a small burst of liquid.
Cambyses had juste.
"Good?" And feeling this Alexander smirked from below, cing his hands back on Cambyses''s boobs to start ying with it.
While his cock, getting a shower of his wife''s juice was like a withered tree being watered after a long drought.
It soon began to grow and harden.
"Hehehe," And at the sensation, Cambyses giggled lewdly, then said,
"Okay, okay, I have teased you enough. It''s time I gave you some real service. Or you might go elsewhere."
Cambyses said this she knew that throughout this whole act, Alexander could have taken control any time he would have liked.
Cambyses would have never been able to sit on top of Alexander and tease him like this if Alexander did not allow her to do so.
But Alexander had done so because it was a fun role-y.
Cambyses had never done this and Alexander frankly enjoyed it.
So as that y came to an end, Cambyses decided to finally start servicing Alexander properly.
Hence she got up and turned her body around to face the erect penis, disying her magnificent ass to her husband as she did, before suddenly she bought the beautiful ass down near Alexander''s face, the cheeks parting right before Alexander''s very eyes, as she thenid on top of him, her face now facing his cock, while Alexander''s breath hit her leaking pussy.
Cambyses had taken the famous sixty-nine (69) position.
"Dinner is served, hehehe." And then she mischievously chuckled.
Chapter 619 Reunion With Cambyses (Part-3) R-18
?
Presenting her butt to Alexander, Cambyses waited with bated anticipation for her husband to start.
And Alexander, having the plump ass, creamy thighs, and drooling pink flower before him could hardly wait.
But he did not immediately dive into the main course.
That would have been too crude.
So he first gave love to her thighs, the same soft, creamy flesh that had made him fall in love with Cambyses in the first ce.
Heid some tender kisses on the luscious flesh, feeling its tenderness, and then even started to lick it, leaving small hickeys in the process.
"Mmmmm," And this low burning, loving caress soon got a response from Cambyses whose butt twitched a bit.
While Cambyses decided to first clean Alexander''s spillover, as she bought out her tongue and startedpping the released semen.
*Lick*, *Suck*, *Lick*
The thick cum was almost like jelly and Cambyses hungrily ate it like a fat, hungry cat, loving the taste, and especially the sensation of how the warm, thick liquid stuck to her throat before going down,
leaving an addicting aftertaste.
It was heavenly.
And once she was done cleaning up the mess she caused, she moved on the erect spire that had released it, tenderly grabbing it, and like Alexander had done to her organ, having a good look at his.
The tall, thick organ was fat and veiny, with the bulbous red ns peeking out of the foreskin by itself, glistening in the light after being marinated by Cambyses''s juices.
''It¡really is a like warped demon''s cock isn''t it? I wonder if it got even bigger?'' Cambyses could not help but wonder after gazing at the grotesque yet magnificent pir of flesh as it swayed in the air, nearly causing a howling noise from the vast size and power.
''Oh, will my poor pussy and ass be able to take it?'' And so she then asked herself.
But the slight excited tingling sensation her lower half gave instantly following that thought gave her the answer.
She would love to get railed by this.
And so to make that happen, Cambyses atst grabbed the erect organ with her fair hands and without further ado, took her soft tongue and *Lick*, flicked the throbbing hard cock a bit on the ns, as if to test taste it.
And like the fluid it released, its flesh was also in no way inferior.
Strong, manly, and musky with a touch of salty due to her own juices, Cambyses found the taste delectable, and so started to slowly trace along the sticky wet shaft, feeling the bumps along the veiny cock as she gazed at the magnificent cock with lustful eyes.
While at the other end, feeling the hot tongue scraping against his little brother, Alexander felt it was time to reciprocate.
So his lips slowly strolled towards Cambyses''s pink pussy until they made contact and Alexander again got to get a good look at the plump organ before he devoured it.
Shaved with no hair, the slit was tightly closed but leaking incessantly, while the outer folds had a delicate pink hue showing Cambyses''s excitement.
Alexander felt he could gaze at this masterpiece for eternity.
But the sweet, fruity smell also tempted him to have a taste, and unable to resist, he finally chose to dig, lovingly kissing over the plump organ.
He twirled his tongue around the girl''s clit over its hood, making sure to keep the stimtion low, and nurtured her buds to a puffy state, licking all the love juices around her folds while slowly prating her with his tongue but not enough to be called a real one.
Until finally he decided to taste it all and inserted his entire tongue fully into the inner folds of the pussy, licking in a long vertical manner to taste whole of Cambyses in one single swipe.
''It''s so tasty, I know now why I married her! These soft squishy lips are so soft and wet. The scent and fragrance are unmatched! And her honey tastes so good- sweet, fruity, and salty! Truly, the nectar of a goddess!''
Alexander was enraptured and moved his tongue frantically in a circr manner to get the ambrosia out, asionally stopping to nibble at the smooth flesh, and as if to validate his hard work, Cambyses subtly pushed her hips closer, as if wanting him to taste her more.
While her tongue danced about Alexander''s erect cock''s head and slit, swirling around it and keeping her pace slow, drawing out the pleasure as Alexander released a steady stream of precum making her moan, "Ah~ So good! I wish I could have this with bread!"
Cambyses absolutely loved it.
And then, having licked and kissed the huge meat lollipop for long enough, and feeling it was lubricated enough decided to try and take the whole while, with the first step being the ns.
She squeezed that between her pink lips and tongued it,pping up the cock juices, until all of a sudden she dove her entire mouth into the penis, trying to swallow it one go and almost dislocating her jaw to fit that massive member into her small, pretty mouth.
''God dammit, it really is too thick,'' Cambyses gagged a bit, her mouth sore and leaking drooling to get the whole thing it.
Alexander might have made his tool a bit too big.
But nevertheless, Cambyses endeavored, and after adjusting her mouth a bit and taking in a few long breaths, she seeded.
About half the organ was in, and as if to congratte her on her sess, she felt the huge meat twitch as Alexander loved the sensation of the hot, warm canal.
And stimted by it, Cambyses soon felt the cock throb, growing bigger and thicker, until it felt like steel, pulsating inside her mouth as it released copious amounts of pre-cum, coating her mouth in a delicious vor.
"Ahhh," And an involuntary moan rang from her behind.
Encouraged by this sess, Cambyses then started to slowly bob her head up and down, eager to get more of the taste, as her hot, wet tonguepped at his cock, licking away the semi-turbid fluid, slurping and swallowing it all up as she went.
At one point her tongue even ced itself against his cock slit, like her nail had, and like her nail, it started to push against the sensitive entrance, making Alexander tense up and his cock to swell within her mouth.
Alexander was one step closer to cumming while the increased size make Cambyses''s pussy tighten which Alexander clearly felt.
Cambyses cunt by now was zing and as Alexander sucked, it felt like ripples of pleasure spreading throw. her lower abdomen.
''Ahhh, Alex really knows how to suck pussy.'' Cambyses groaned as she felt her man insert his tongue with increased vigor, flicking it inside her pussy and almost covering his entire face with his wife''s juices.
And once he was satisfied with having tasted of his woman, his tongue then began to move up to attack her most sensitive spot- her redded pearl.
"Ahnn~Yes! right there!"
Just as Alexander opened the hood and started sucking on it, came thisrge howl, as Cambyses without any warning squirted right into his face, douching him in her juices, while Alexander, unfazed simply lightly bit on the clit to drive Cambyses even wilder.
"Nooo¡.Alex, it''s too much," This caused Cambyses to scream out, as she felt multiple orgasmsing in at once.
So in an effort to distract Alexander from continuing his continuous attack, Cambyses pushed her lips down further, all the way in fact, until his cockhead touched the back of her throat, causing her to spew and gag, drool leaking from her mouth and nostrils as her body started to shudder, also reaching her limits as the massive cock almost choked her.
But Cambyses soon amodated herself to this and her tongue then began to roll around the shaft flicking the frenulum.
And this was finally enough to send Alexander over the edge, as he began to groan and warn Cambyses of his impending release.
"Okay, cum! I''m gonna too! Let''se together!" And Cambyses screamed back, picking up her speed as she did, while at the back, in addition to sucking the clit, Alexander also inserted two of his fingers into her pussy and started to finger her continuously, bending his digits up to poke at her G-spot and making Cambyses see white.
''Ahh, there he goes again!'' Cambyses lewdly whimpered as the leftover love juice in her pussy spilled out in small amounts, producing a naughty, wet *Squelch*, *Squelch*, *Squelch*, sound.
That sounded like music to Alexander''s ears.
And it was with this final attack that Cambyses was unable to hold on any longer, as Alexander felt her breath became rougher and her entire body shivered before a great, loud sensual moan resounded out of her and he was hit squarely on the face with a burst of clear water, for Cambyses squirted.
And as the warm, delicious water refreshed his face, that extra stimuli was enough to finally break Alexanders''s dame, with his hips beginning to bounce from the impending approach.
So soon Cambyses felt the meat inside her mouth pulsate and twitch before finally it erupted.
*Splurt*, *Splurt*, *Splurt*
Rope after rope of cum entered into Cambyses''s mouth, sttering against her tongue and cheeks which she quaffed down with audible gulps like a parched traveler being offered a cold drinking, for she found the hot, fresh cum taste even creamier than the first time.
"Haah... haah...Mn,"
Hence Cambyses moaned.
Chapter 620 Reunion With Cambyses (Part-4) R-18
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"Mnnngh~ Nnnnf! Ueeeh!"
As Alexander continued his release, Cambyses pushed her head down to try and gobble up as much of the cum as possible, puckering her lips to try and form a seal in order to swallow everything down, feeling the solid globules slide past her throat, which vibrated with the impact of the eruption,
But given the sheer volume of the liquid, she quickly failed in that, as the thick bulbous head kept pping the inside of her cheeks, deforming it and causing some of the milky fluid to spew out from her lips or dribble out of her nose, staining her face.
And soon she was unable to even contain the organ itself, as Cambyses''s cheeks ballooned like a squirrel filled with copious amounts of the turbid cream.
So she was finally forced to release the dragon from its shackles, which was still spewing its whiteva breath, resulting in her getting a facial as her nose, eyes, and lips got painted a new white color, with some of the white goo even getting caught in her hair.
Cambyses trembled with pleasure at the scent of this musky liquid, as the warm cock swayed right underneath her nose, making her pant, "Haah... haah... " with lust.
After this fetio, she had a bellyful of goodness, a slightly sore throat, a fresh kind of makeup on her face but most of all a very, very satisfied feeling.
While per counterpart Alexander groanedying back on the bed, panting heavily and staring at the ceiling, his mind still white as it tried to catch up and recover from such an intense orgasm
This took a while as even after Alexander''s cock stopped firing it continued to throb and twitch every now, leaking a thin trickle of muddy liquid as leftovers.
Which was a delicious meal Cambyses was more than happy to clean up as she swirled her tongue around the mushroomed head and coaxed everything out, makingrge splurging sounds in the process.
This secondary licking also made Alexander groan as his lower body soon began to stir again.
And his cock finally became ready to fight again when Cambyses, finishing her clean blowjob turned around to face Alexander with a smug grin, presenting her spunk-covered face to him.
There were multiple white streams across her face, running down her cheek and nose, with tiny droplets even pooling around her reddened lips.
To Alexander she looked absolutely gorgeous, like an angel, an angel he had defiled.
"Mmmmn.....My throat is filled with your nasty thick sperm, Alexander! Ahhh, to think that you will shoot this into my womb and make me pregnant." And as Cambyses gazed back, she moaned this while licking off the cum dripping across her lip.
Hearing which, particrly the word ''pregnant'' fully reignited Alexander''s lust.
"Cam you sexy vixen!" He thus growled, and then, without waiting any longer, flipped Cambyses over, thus making him be on top atst.
"Kyahhh," At this sudden position change, Cambyses naturally yelped in surprise, and then she soon felt Alexander grab both of her legs and lift them up, bringing them forward until her knees almost touched her head and thus making her take the piledriver position.
This position made both of Cambyses''s shameful holes face the sky, which caused her to blush a bit, as Alexander could clearly see both her puffed red pussy and twitching pink asshole, free to choose whichever he wanted to pound first.
"So my dear, Cam, which hole do you want to get destroyed first, hehe? Your cute little pussy or your naughty twitching butthole?" But it seemed as if the hunter wanted to let the prey decide its fate, as he firmly held the legs and looked down on the girl beneath him with a ferocious glint.
Oh, how the roles had reversed.
''Hehe all that teasing must have gotten him pent up,'' And gazing back at Alexander''s crazed expression, the innocentmb-like Cambyses felt a light orgasming.
All that teasing had worked to bring out this domineering side of Alexander.
And Cambyses loved it.
So she took both of her hands to her drooling little sister and pried it open with her fingers, fully revealing her vagina to Alexander, and lewdly screamed,
"Here! My pussy. Take my pussy! Pound it as hard as you can. Breed me, hubby! Let me give you a son!"
And the thought of Cambyses having his child sent an overwhelming urge of lust through Alexander, who clenched his teeth and growled, "As you wish," before plunging his cock into the tiny hole without holding anything back, all the way till his balls hit Cambyses''s butt, thus inserting his entire organ into the hot, squirming canal.
"Ah...it hurts¡." And though Cambyses was as lubricated as she was ever going to be, the huge size of the spear impaling her still caused a bit of difort, but given Cambyses''s experience that slight pain soon began to subside.
And soon she began to enjoy the rapid pounding dished out to her.
"Ca...Ahh Cam¡your pussy is so tight... and slippery... oh~ it''s sofortable!" Alexander blissfully moaned as he swung his hips, enjoying the fleshy cave, relishing in its warmth, the bumpiness of the walls, and the way it squeezed him.
And Cambyses returned these feelings too, trying to match Alexander''s rhythm andsciviously screaming,
"Hubby¡oh¡your cock is so big¡ohhh¡and hard...ah um~ my pussy is so stretched ...mmmm so good."
The way Alexander''s huge grans poked at her cervix, threatening to prate it and enter her womb felt too good, making Cambyses see a small sh of pure white each time he hit her inside, and making her experience a small orgasm, meaning Alexander was making Cambyses cum with each of his thrusts.
And to get more of this euphoric experience, Cambyses began to lustfully twist her slender waist so that the Alexander''s huge penis could prate deeper and hit all her sweet spots, while the tip of her pink tongue spilled out of her open mouth and she began to vigorously knead her breasts with her hands, providing a tantalizing view for Alexander.
After a while of this finally, Alexander felt the urge toe, and so with a groan and one, great, final thrust, he growled, "Get pregnant Cam!" before flooding Cambyses''s inside.
"Ahhh¡yes¡breed me¡so good¡ahhh..my pussy is so full¡*squirt*....*squirt*" And as Alexander delivered his burst of crazy and rough thrusts, Cambyses''s whole body twitched and her pink pussy contracted intensely, before a stream of hot honey gushed out from the depths of it, making a direct score on Alexander''s face again.
Cambyses had drowned Alexander in her own juices three times in a row.
And each time Alexander had only licked his lips and thought to himself, "Gotta love a squirter!'' while licking off the delicious water from his lips.
Being sshed by one''s wife''s love juices had to be one of the most rewarding experiences in a man''s life.
And if one''s wife did not squirt, Alexander felt the unlucky man had missed one of the greatest pleasures life had to offer.
Cambyses''s wet honey hole continuously convulsed and twitched as it came, while Cambyses consciously tightened her grip on the thick and long penis to try and prevent even a single drop of baby juice from leaking out,
Cambyses very much wanted to get pregnant.
Because of Alexander.
Because of the recent scare she had.
Because of the potential increases in his haram.
All of it made Cambyses very determined to have a son.
"Oh~ Cam, don''t mp it so tightly! You are gonna pinch my little brother off," While Alexander groaned a little at the pressure with which Cambyses mped him.
Though even with this airtight seal, Cambyses''s canal was so filled up that some of the stuff began to leak, her womb unable to amodate any more.
Such was the quantity of Alexander''s release.
But just filling up Cambyses soon would never satisfy Alexander, and so as he soon regained his vigor, Alexander resumed. his attack, and this time it was Cambyses''s turn to beg for mercy.
"No¡Alex..wait¡let me rest a bit¡ahh.. don''t do it too fast," She was still recovering from the afterglow of the release and so was totally unprepared for Alexander''s attack, but he, of course, did not care.
"Haha, what are you talking about Cam? Didn''t you say you wanted to get pregnant? How can you get after only one shot!" Alexander chuckled with an evil glint in his eyes, and then ominously added,
"We get to at least get five to six shots inside of you. Hehe, we are gonna go the whole night!"
"Five¡six¡:!" Hearing the number of times Alexander nned to fuck shocked Cambyses, and so pleaded,
"No.. that''s too much, My poor pussy can''t handle that! Mercy! Hubby, please show some mercy!"
"Hahaha," But only got this happy chuckle in reply, which to her sounded like theughter of the devil.
"I told you I would destroy your pussy!"
And with that promise Alexander proceeded to ravage his cute wife for hours, making her all the positions that came to his mind and filling her in each pose, by the end of which Cambyses''s lower half turnedpletely white.
Alexander even made sure to deposit everything in her pussy, to make her conceive, and by the end of their session, Cambyses was like a limp rag doll, able to only writhe her enchanting delicate body as if she was being shocked each time Alexander pounded her.
And as she atst lost her consciousness, her lingering thoughts were,
''I am definitely going to get pregnant.''
Chapter 621 Conception (R-18)
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Alexander and Cambyses spent the better half of the night engaged in making love.
Nearing the end of which Cambyses seemed to have given up all resistance, her body turning soft as putty as she simply let the storm known as Alexander do whatever he pleased.
And the man was especially fierce during the act, both because of the longing created after being reunited for so long, and more so because of the scare he had when he saw the silhouette of the burnt-down manor.
Alexander did not ever want to think he had lost Cambyses again and so seemed to want to mark her with his essence again and again.
And it was also because of that scare that when Cambyses uttered the word pregnancy, he had acted with such crity, wanting to sire a child with her as soon as possible.
Previously he had held off on that even though the two had been married for about a year because Alexander was fearful of all the risks that posed.
In this time period the danger pregnancy posed to both the mother and baby need not be said, and dying fromplications such as bleeding during delivery was asmon as day.
There was a 1% to 2% chance of dying per birth, which for context, in modern times, even less developed countries had the figure at around 0.1%, while it was almost negligible in advanced countries
So Alexander had originally wanted to wait till Cambyses was in her early to mid-twenties and her body had enough time to fully mature a bit more before he made her conceive.
But recent events had shown him that even though he had attained a level of authority and power few could ever dream of, he and his family were still beset with dangers from all sides.
So who knew what the future held?
Who knew if Cambyses would live till her twenties?
Or even if he could live till his twenties?
In this era of death and disease, every day was a godsend, and finally understanding this Alexander decided to perform the mating ritual the very day he returned.
And as luck would have it, even without discussing it beforehand, Cambyses also seemed to be on board.
Hence Alexander tried his hardest to get Cambyses to conceive, making her take all the positions that made getting pregnant easier.
That was why he had started with the most famous of them, the mating press, releasing twice consecutively in that position, while also making sure to keep his organ firmly stuck to the door of her womb as he did, so that the semen could be deposited directly into the fertile baby room.
And then to increase his chances even more, he kept Cambyses in that mating position for some time, in order to let the sperm have some time to swim into the interior of the womb.
Following that Alexander changed the position to a missionary position, where he fiercely pinned Cambyses down with his weight and mercilessly swung his hips, pounding the sweet, tiny pussy to oblivion, with the sound of their mating producing a loud, lewd sound of wet flesh hitting each other which reverberated across the room if not the whole house.
And as Alexander attacked her, Cambyses could not even let out a whimper because he had stolen her pink lips, kissing her hotly as he stuck his flexible tongue into her mouth, entangling and stirring the soft, lc organ.
While his hands were on the breasts, pinching and squeezing them, all working together to overwhelm Cambyses as the girl kept squirting continuously like a broken fountain.
After that came the doggy style, where Alexander put Cambyses on all fours and pounded her from behind, spanking her delicious pink butt a bright red, his hand print almost etching into the skin while Cambyses could only lower her head at the mind-bending pleasure and let out animalistic howls.
"Woooo... no more... ah, it''s too much... please... my butt...by butt feel likes its on fire¡wooo¡hubby your little wife can''t take it anymore... ¡woo¡stop¡ahhh~" Cambyses sometimes desperately pleaded to go easy on her.
But given how strongly Cambyses''s pussy was still sucking and squeezing him, and how she squirted each time Alexander struck her fluffy butt, he turned a deaf ear to it all, simply enjoying these chirping cries of pleasure as he thrusted into her.
"Haha, what are you saying Cam¡*pah*...*pah*...? Naughty girls like you need to be regrly spanked, *pah*, *pah*,"
At one point Alexander also said this as he continued to strike butt, finding the feeling delectable, and then, as if in revenge for all the prior teasing, also stuck two of his free fingers into her rear hole, twirling it around, and making Cambyses produce unimaginably loud lustful howls.
"Ah~ not there¡.ohhhh¡too much"
And it was during this time that Alexander had broken Cambyses for the night.
Because after that Cambyses turned mute and let Alexander do whatever he wanted, only passively moaning in a semi-delirious state, having lost all her energy due to all the previous pounding.
And this suited Alexander just fine.
Because though such a dead fish would usually be not at all enjoyable to have sex with, for the usually feisty Cambyses this was a new look, and Alexander certainly enjoyed this docile version.
So once Alexander was done enjoying that position and had tasted enough of Cambyses''s delicious butt for one night, hestly moved to a spooning position, where heid behind her and lifted her legs, before going at it again.
"Ah~ too deep... ah~ I''m flying¡ so numb¡" And Cambyses could only helplessly moan as such between short pants, now simply flopping around as Alexander moved her like a puppet.
And this suited Alexander just fine, as he continued to make love to his wife to heart''s content until he had totally emptied his balls and his little brother could only shoot nks.
And as Alexander finally released his captive, his lover was indeed in a sorry state.
The poor girl had lost all strength in her body and with Alexander''s support no longer present she onlyy limply on the bed, in a spread-eagled fashion, as if she was a puppet whose strings had been cut off, her chestnut hair draping messily over her back, while only the slow, rhythmic of her body moving up and down confirmed she was still alive and breathing.
All over her body were red finger marks, courtesy of Alexander roughly twisting various parts of her flesh in order to enjoy himself, the two most egregious examples being her breasts and butts.
And speaking of butts, her beautiful white ass had been turned almost pepper red and seemed to be nearly glowing from all the hits, while her pink puckered hole spasmed delicately.
Gazing at it, Alexander regretted a bit for not having the time or stamina to enjoy that unique canal.
But that regret onlysted for an ephemeral moment, because right below it was situated Alexander''s masterpiece for the night, and it was not too shabby if he said so himself.
Cambyses''s pussy was sore and swollen bright red, due to Alexander''s rough treatment no doubt, and continuously kept leaking his white milk as it was not able to store anymore in her womb, thus tricking down her soft organ and staining the bedsheets underneath her withrge, circr dollops.
It was a very erotic sight for Alexander, and seeing this he felt his little brother stir a bit again.
It appeared that though he was down he was not out.
And this caused him to break out a mischievous grin.
"That''s no good Cam. If you leak my baby batter, how are you gonna get pregnant, hmmm?" Alexander then wolfishly smiled, before taking his thick meat and cooing behind Cambyses''s ears,
"Here, let me plug that all up!" as he then jammed the whole thing in one go, hugging her tightly from behind as he did, thus creating a seal down there to prevent any more of his cream from being wasted.
"Mmmmm," And while Cambyses certainly felt the hot scolding rod enter her again for the umpteen time, she was too weak to even voice it out, and could only moan in pleasure or protest.
And it was like that the couple finally slipped into slumber, totally nude, with Alexander hugging his wife tightly to the point it seemed he wanted to be one with her, while his cock was ced snugly inside her tight, cream-filled snatch.
The only bit of modesty the two decided to keep was to put a heavy nket over them, and even that was not because they were ashamed of their nakedness but because of the cold outside.
While the next morning Alexander woke upte, at around 10 am, and it was only because a messenger came to deliver him a special news.
As for Cambyses, she was still out cold, being barely able to move even her finger, and when she woke up only around midday for lunch, her body, especially her lower half was so sore that she could not even get up, and decided to spend the whole day in bed sleeping.
With Mean by her side applying salve on her pussy, and even her butt, which stung quite a bit even after a good night''s sleep.
But unfortunately for both Mean and Cambyses, this would be a regr urrence, as Alexander would spend the whole next month with only Cambyses to try and get her pregnant, thus regrly devastating her.
Chapter 622 Prisoner Exchange (Part-1)
"Sheesh! Alex is such a bully, mistress! How could he be so rough!" Mean could be heardining as she administered the healing balm down there on an exhausted Cambyses, who was currently sipping hot chicken soup on bed.
Last night might have been a bit too enjoyable for her and Cambyses felt her body ache when even simply lifting her arms.
"Where is he?" The married girl snuggly wrapped in nkets appeared to not even notice the fact that Mean''s fingers were around her privates as she was more interested in knowing her husband''s whereabouts.
When Cambyses had woke up, the man was not next to her.
"...he went out, don''t know where." Mean nonchntly replied with a shrug, retelling, "Around noon a messenger suddenly came and told something to Alex. Then he hurriedly got dressed and left with Hemicus. Didn''t even have breakfast."
"....a messagenr¡huh?" Cambyses firstnguidly muttered, her mind still cloudy, as she seemed to recall having heard some kind of knocking on the door, though she was not sure if what she was remembering was something that actually happened or if it was something that had happened in her dreams and she was mixing the two.
"What did he say?" She then asked, both curious and as her groggy mind cleared, even a bit rmed.
Her brows were slightly scrunched up as her mind could not help but wonder at all the kinds of potentially bad news the messenger might havee to deliver, one which would force Alexander to act.
''Did something bad happen? Did Tibiasunch another attack? Was someone killed?''
These worries could not help but fasten the foreboding feeling in her heart.
"Stop worrying mistress. Whatever it is, let Alex handle it." But just as Cambyses was about to go down that spiral Mean quickly chirped this out, reassuring, "He is here now. It''s no longer your job."
"*Pheewwhh*, Yes you are right." And with this reminder, Cambyses let out a relieved sigh, because she finally remembered that with Alexander''s return, she was effectively sacked from the job.
And Cambyses could not be happier.
The responsibility of guarding the city was a heavy burden to carry and given the pressure she had been under for the past months, the relief that came with knowing she would no longer have to worry about every single detail and could simply sit back and rx was very liberating.
And so Cambyses broke a light smile, slouching her body even more against the bed rest and saying, "Let Alex handle it. Whatever happens, it will be his fault," before beginning to enjoy her warm soup.
Made with various winter vegetables and bits of cut meat it tasted delicious.
While the man in question was in a council meeting with the military leaders, entertaining a very special guest who hade bearing gifts.
"Greetings Lord Pasha of Zanzan, it is a pleasure to meet you. I''m Mithriditus." The lean, weak-looking old man greeted Alexander with a light smile, saying in a pleasant tone,
"I had heard rumors of you not being present in the city but it seems they clearly were wrong. I''m d."
"Though I regret not being able to meet under better circumstances,"
Mithriditus''s two-part greeting conveyed both friendliness but also a level of cordial distance.
Mithriditus was of course certain that Alexander was not present inside the city in the prior days, and was intereally very surprised to see him sitting right in front of in the flesh.
But given his vast court experience, he was able to quickly hide this slightest surprise with ease.
Though he might as well not have gone through all the trouble as Alexander worked to reply.
"No. I was indeed not present in the city. And only returned from Adhan yesterday."
He revealed the truth to try and establish more credibility for him, and then smirked,
"You mentioned meeting under difficult circumstances. Indeed, it is difficult to think of a worse setting to meet under which did not involve invading one''s city, killing thousands, and even burning one''s house down. Truly difficult!"
Alexander was not one to be shy with his sarcasm, as he used the amount of losses he incurred to put pressure on Mithriditus.
Though his eyes conveyed a different message, which were sharp and focused, but not burning with rage.
Meaning he might have sounded harsh, but his heart was not really set alight, and the grudge between them was not set in stone.
After all, everything important to him was more or so still alive.
Hence his desire to attack Tibias was more political and economical rather than for personal vengeance.
Also this visit was really predictable, given the 12,000 to 15,000 captives they had taken which Tibias would surely want back.
Only Alexander was not expecting them to be here so soon.
So Alexander instead focused his attention on the man they sent to carry out the negotiation, or more especially the armor he wore, which was extravagant by any standard, easily showing off the wearer''s exalted status.
''It seems they sent one of the big fish.'' Alexander confidently mused, feeling Tibias was serious in their negotiation attempt.
"Haha, indeed, indeed. It is war after all." Hearing Alexander''s barbed reply, the veteran politician simply chuckled without batting an eye, as the acrid words pinged off his fragile-looking wrinkled skin, showing the true depth of theyers of ''skin'' he had cultivated over his lifetime.
"Anyway, I am d to see my lord had a safe journey."
"And to congratte you on your return, as well as to show our sincerity and develop mutual trust I came bearing presents." The man wagged, then turning to grin at Alexander, posed, "I hope my lord liked it?"
"...." Alexander paused a bit at this because he was still unsure what the ploy was behind the act.
People were usually so generous with their gifts when they came to visit.
Especially when it was hostile powers they were visiting.
"I am indeed thankful for Laykash''s return, He is a great warrior and highly respected among the soldiers."
But being unable to make a reasonable guess as to why they would do so, Alexander decided to give this official reply.
"Good, good. I''m d. His Majesty specially ordered him to be specifically cared for." And hearing so Mithriditus produced a nk smile, showing a few of his bad teeth while subtly reminding Alexander of Perseus''s favor.
To which Alexander internally snorted.
"So who do you want in exchange?" While externally Alexander posed this.
He, or anyone else for that matter bought the whole ''sincerity and mutual trust'' thing and knew Mithriditus hade here with an aim.
"Haha, my lord is truly wise," And Mithriditus himself was also d Alexander was quick on the uptake.
And then without standing in ceremony, he said his piece, "I''m looking for a man called Theony. I believe he should be in your captivity. He was wearing His Majesty''s armor on the battlefield. Would my lord know?"
"Oh him! Yes, he was killed during the battle. His armor was too eye-catching and one of the overzealous soldiers killed him for glory. Sorry!"
Hearing Mithriditus''s inquiry, Alexander very nonchntly lied, cing his fist on his chin and crossing his legs in a bored manner.
It was like he did not at all care about it.
"Oh!" And this produced a very visible effect, with the very first one being this involuntary mutter of Mithriditus which he suddenly let slip.
Alexander had lied precisely because of this because he wanted to see how Mithriditus could react.
After all, Laykash was already in their hands and he wanted to see what Mithriditus''s n would be if he declined his request.
While for Mithriditus, he felt his heart sink as his worst nightmare hade true.
"That¡really! Are you sure my lord? Perhaps you are mistaken. May I could have a look at the captives?" Mithriditus''s voice audibly shook as he made the request.
"Are you questioning our lord?" And immediately from the side Menes audibly growled.
While Alexander turned to lightly smile,
"We can show you the armor. That should confirm it right?"
"......" Mithriditus did not know what to say.
Now, it was of course not like Mithriditus had never considered this.
Of course, he had.
But he was almost forced here by the crown prince because Perseus had grown impatient waiting for Laykash.
And so Philips hade to him pleading for him to quickly take Laykash and go to Zanzan.
"Lord Mithriditus you must go now. Or we might lose Theony for forever," The sickly prince seemed to have a bright flush on his face, though it was more due to excited worry than a sign of healthiness.
And when first asked, Mithriditus was naturally reluctant, trying to reason,
"Your Highness, that is too dangerous! We have no idea if they have Theony. Or even if they are willing to exchange him."
"And biggest of all, if I go with the prisoner, they could just take him from us!"
Mithriditus could list another hundred reasons why this was a bad n, and he believed the smart Philips could too.
"I already have a n for that. You just need to go and get Theony back," But Philips seemed undeterred, and then proceeded to reveal his n, at the end of which he looked at Mithriditus with eager, burning eyes.
And when Mithriditus was reluctant even after that, Philips the crown prince simply brought his trump card, and the old noble was forced to ept.
Chapter 623 Prisoner Exchange (Part-2)
Chapter 623 Prisoner Exchange (Part-2)
"That¡that is unfortunate my lord," Hearing Alexander''s im of Theony''s demise, Mithriditus could not stop himself from slowly shaking his head.
He liked the young man.
So in Mithriditus''s mind, it was indeed regretful that he had died to a nameless soldiers in the heat of the battle.
Especially when it was likely because of the armor he wore.
''*Sigh*'' So Mithriditus released a breath of remorse internally, thinking how disappointed the crown prince would be knowing this, while he alsompooned at the thought of being punished by Perseus once he got to know about it.
And he had no doubt the word of his act would indeed reach the king.
After all, he hade here wearing his very shy armor, which he wore to show off his status and prevent anyone from killing or harming him.
If he had worn an ordinary, inconspicuous one, he was afraid the guards might not have even opened the city gates.
Which also meant the Tibian guards defending the camp had also seen Mithriditus leaving the site.
Furthermore, he was probably the only one other than Philips to have the authority to get Laykash out of the camp without requiring Perseus''s express permission.
So those very guards who recognized Mithriditus leaving the camp would have also noticed a Zanzan prisoner apanying him.
Perseus would have to intentionally get hit in his head by a donkey repeatedly to not understand what had happened.
But Mithriditus had already cast the die.
The crown prince had temped him with both sticks and carrots, and Mithriditus had chosen to gamble on it.
And he lost.
So the only path that remained for him was to try and take Laykash back with him and hope Perseus did not lick his and the crown price''s skin too bad.
As for how he intended to get Laykash from Alexander''s clutches, well, he could only hope Philips''s n would work.
Or both of them would be lucky if they could escape by giving up only a fewyers of skin.
So to try and prevent that unpleasant ending, Mithriditus turned to gaze pointedly at Alexander and said,
"That is indeed regrettable my lord."
"Theony was valued noble of our country."
"But if he is really dead as you said, then I''m afraid it is not possible to exchange the prisoner." "Please let me return with the prisoner ande back with a new offer."
''Give you back Laykash?'' Alexander found even the mere suggestion of this incredulous.
Surely the old man could not be so stupid, right?
Alexander had alway held a soft spot for that man because it was indirectly because of him that he could sit here, for if the man had not killed Kafka, Adhan would not have fallen and the subsequent chain of events would not have ured, meaning Alexander might still be the leader of a small mercenary.
And so, even though he never explicitly stated it, he was always grateful to Laykash, and tried to look out for the man in subtle ways.
So he simply replied, "You can go. But Laykash stays with us. Thank you for bringing him to us. We acknowledge your sincerity and appreciate this friendly gesture."
Alexander of course did not forget to throw the same words Mithriditus had said back to him, and then made it clear he would never let Laykash return to the lion''s mouth after he got him back.
Who in their right mind would?
"....." And hearing so Mithriditus appeared to be stunned into silence, as if he had never expected such a thing
"Is my lord not even willing to let some of our captives go in exchange?" He seemed to pronounce then in a shaken, seemingly wounded voice.
To which Alexander produced a victorious sneer of derision,
"You people stole tens of millions of ropals from me. And now you are asking me to y fair! Hah! Fat chance! Laykash stays, and if you do not leave soon, you will too," He then ended with a threat.
"That''s right! I''m sure the people would love to see the man who killed thousands of our people be hanged!"
And apanying Alexander, Melodias too chimed out, expressing their solidarity.
The council members just had their lord''s house burnt down so very much wanted revenge.
And this was their way of extracting some, even if it was only a tiny bit.
But that sense of impending victorysted only for a fleeting moment, as Mithriditus shed his wounded face like a chameleon changes color, and treating all the threats like thin air, remarked with a sly smirk,
"Then perhaps it would be prudent for Lord Alexander to ask if the prisoner shares the same thoughts as you. If he really wants to stay here?"
"Who knows? Maybe he has grown fond of Tibias and wishes toe with me, hehe?"
Mithriditus gave that hollow chuckle again.
"....." And it was time for Alexander to be mute with surprise.
From the other party''s tone, this did not seem like a question and sounded more like an inevitability.
''What did they do to Laykash?'' Alexander hence wondered but was unable to think of any.
He had met with Laykash personally before he started the meeting, hugging the man with familiarity upon first meeting him, and then proceeded to make some talks for a while posing such questions as,
"How are you?"
"How are your injuries?"
"Is anything broken?"
"Did they treat you well?"
"How was the food?"
"Were you cold?"
And Laykash answered everything favorably, giving a hollow chuckle and saying, "Hehe, I''m alright, my lord."
"Got food and did not freeze, so can''tin."
It was clear from Laykash''s bodynguage and his weak, haggard look that the experience certainly had not been pleasant.
But the man was still alive and that was what mattered to him.
The food there had been minimal, just enough to stave starvation but not hunger, and the cold though not unbearable but certainly ufortable.
Of course this was to be kind of expected given Laykash was a prisoner of war and not a guest.
But because he felt embarrassed about describing his abject living conditions as well as the shame of getting captured, Laykash seemed hesitant to elucidate further.
Sensing which Alexander also did not dig too much into his answer too much, instead he was only much relieved to see Laykash not missing anything or had anything broken.
Prisoner camps were usually brutal, especially during the winter, and additionally Tibias did not need to even intentionally make things hard for Laykash.
It had to be remembered that Laykash was captured and it was very much possible he might have suffered injuries.
And if he had and if Tibias had simply left Laykash as is, without any medical attention, his condition could have deteriorated enough to ultimately result in a fatality.
And Alexander was relieved to see that did not happen.
So with a few understanding nods he let Laykash continue with his recount,
"They also did not rough us too much. Only asked us a few things about the city, like, where you were, who were our generals, who was in charge of the city, the amount of food we had, my position in the army¡things like."
"I didn''t say anything too revealing, my lord. Only the general stuff." Laykash was quick to add in a bit of panic thinking Alexander will me him.
While the lord was quick to reassure him, "It''s okay. It''s okay, I do not me you. You did what you had to live. You did well."
"Mmmm" And this reassurance worked wonders to calm his troubled heart, as he added,
"They also asked us things like the crossbow and the mail armor. They seemed very interested in those."
"But I did not reveal anything, saying I was only a soldier and not a cksmith."
"But I did reveal it was you who invented them."
As Laykash said this his voice turned up a few octaves, and his sunken eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets in fear, hastily saying,
"I had no choice my lord! They made me!"
"It''s okay, it''s okay. I do not mind." And Alexander was again quick to reassure.
It did not take a genius to predict that once Tibias got their hands on the new weapon and armor, they would interrogate the prisoners to know more about them, and them saying it was Alexander really did not matter much.
What were they going to do knowing it?
Go to war?
They already had.
Send assassins?
As a high-ranking noble in Ptolomy''s faction, the list of people who wanted to do that could fill a small book.
So if Tibias really wanted to do that, Alexander would advise them to get in line.
It was like this Alexander had spent some time getting to know about Laykash''s well-being and experiences of the past months, by the end of which he was fairly certain the soldier was healthy and okay, able to walk and talk freely, the only caveat being he was a little bit weak.
But that was nothing enough rest and meals could not fix.
And as Alexander thought this, he was ultimately forced toe back to the reason why Mithriditus was so confident in saying that Laykash would return with him.
He could see no way of that happening.
"What did you do to him!" And while Alexander was musing on Mithriditus''s implicit threat, Grahtos was unable to hold back his emotions, and loudly eximed what they were all thinking.
"Hehe, let the prisoner exin," While Mithriditus ominously chuckled.
Chapter 624 Prisoner Exchange (Part-3)
Chapter 624 Prisoner Exchange (Part-3)
Grahtos, being the overall cavalrymander where Laykash served, as well as knowing the man as a fellow Thesian from his hometown of course had a particrly strong sense of brotherlymadry for him.
Thus at Mithriditus''s ominous words, he could not help but lose control of his emotions.
While Alexander being of a much more rational mind, only turned to one of the guards and asked,
"Please ask Laykash toe here. Let''s see what he has to say."
Though internally he was still unable to think of a reason why Laykash would want to return.
At least if this had been a magical world Alexander might have guessed something uncreative as a binding contract or a ve seal.
But there was no magic in this world.
Or at least there was no proof it which he hade across with his own eyes, though superstitious belief about a dozen of such stuff was dime a dozen.
And so drawing nks, he ultimately decided to wait and see.
And a whileter the once strong, strapping man entered the tent with slow, steady steps, his cheeks now shrunken into his face and eyes hollow, body thin and ky due to malnutrition as he seemed weak and haggard.
"Laykash, I''m sorry to disturb your rest, but it seems Tibias wanted to exchange you for someone. But that person is likely dead and they want you to return with them. What do you say?"
Alexander very sinctly exined the reason for his call.
"Ah!" And hearing so Laykash let out an involuntary exmation where his disappointment was palpable.
"I do know about that. In fact, I was allowed toe here on the condition that I could only be realized if they sessfully managed to get a certain person."
"And if they could not, I had to return with them. I was made to swear to the gods on those terms beforeing here." Laykash revealed.
Yes, that was Philips''s grand n.
He had approached the cell Laykash was being held in and exined the gist of the situation, though he hid the king''s intention to brutally torture him to death soon, thinking that might dissuade him froming back.
And as Mithriditus heard how Philips spun the story to Laykash, one of a pure prisoner exchange, and the solemn oaths he made Laykash take, both to the gods and to his soul, the old man was quite assured of the n''s efficacy.
In this time period, people believed preserving one''s soul was just as important as preserving one''s body, and given the heavy oaths Laykash was made to take, Mithriditus had to admit it was quite a good way to ensure the prisoner would indeede back with him if things failed.
Of course, the old man had even then tried to back out of such a dangerous task, saying,
"Your Highness, umm¡this old man''s body is ummm,"
But Philips then very casually threatened, "If you do not try to get Theony back, I will tell my father that you intentionally hid the prisoner from him."
"And if you do get back Theony, I will look out for you and your family."
This carrot and stick from his future king put Mithriditus in a tough spot, as he weighed the danger of being on bad terms with his ''to be liege'' against the potential benefits.
And atst, greed won.
Which caused him for the moment to seem like he had rolled a bad die.
While his counterparted Alexander hearing Laykash''s excuse was stunned.
''That''s it? A verbal promise? Nothing else? Like family hostage? Or even the lives of his men?'' He could not believe himself.
Of course, Alexander had considered that Laykash might have been made to swear to the gods.
But to him it seemed so flimsy that he had immediately trashed the idea, not taking it even a bit seriously.
So now reading Laykash''s bodynguage that seemed to say he intended to fulfill his promise, Alexander did not know what to say.
"...,,,"
Hence there was a slight pause in the room.
And it was only after a while when Alexander had managed to get his thoughts together that he began, "....Laykash that promise, you were forced to do so under duress, right? Surely that makes it invalid. There is no need for you to follow it." Alexander reasoned.
In fact, after hearing Laykash''s excuse and determining from his bodynguage that he really intended to go along with it, Alexander fought the urge to loudly yell,
''Laykash, man this is ancient times! We burn, loot, rape and plundernds with no thought.''
''We ughter entire cities- men, women, children, Sometimes we even chop their pets.''
''If you can do all that, you can break a promise.''
To Alexander, it appeared utterly bizarre how a man could do all that without blinking an eye but think breaking a promise was too much.
But this was the difference in mindset between Alexander and the people of this time, who took anything rted to the gods extremely seriously.
So even when Alexander provided Laykash with a way out, thetter refused to take it, answering with rueful shakes of his head, "No my lord, I''m afraid I cannot. I swore to the gods upon my soul and I must follow it. Or have myself eternally darned."
The Laykash seemed adamant.
"Hehe," And hearing so Mithriditus could not stop himself from giving that same disgusting chuckle, relieved that at least this gamble had paid off.
"....." And Alexander reflexively pursed his lips.
There was really no way to reason Laykash out of this Alexander felt.
But even then, unwilling to let Mithriditus win, he tried onest time, deciding to use theology against theology, and saying,
"If you are worried about your soul, I can specifically pray to the goddess for you. Thebined force of God Ramuh and Goddess Gaia is sure to be stronger than the gods of Tibias¡"
"Please do not utter such sphemous words, my lord!" Before Alexander could finish his sentence, Mithriditus loudly interjected, the anger in his voice very obvious.
It seemed that the old man was quite touchy when it came to the matter of the divine.
"I would ask you not to bring the powers of the unseen in this discussion. Your man has sworn an oath and he must fulfill it."
"There will be, there can be no two way about it."
This was the first time since the negotiations started that Alexander had seen the old man so determined.
"......" While Alexander was more interested in Laykash''s reaction, choosing to ignore the other, for what Mithriditus said really did not matter.
And as for the opinion of the man which did matter, he was silent, showing tacit support for Mithriditus.
''Welp!'' And seeing so Alexander could only relent.
He was half frustrated at Laykash for not ying ball since if he did, he could have extracted a lot of information from Theony, especially now that he was certain that boy was a high-ranking noble.
But he was also half impressed at Laykash for sticking to his word.
At least Alexander did not think he himself would have been so forthright in his deals, especially when it meant going back to a cold, enemy prison.
Hence this went to show Laykash was a man of his word, and Alexander was of course very pleased to have such a trustworthy subordinate.
"I see." Hence seeing Laykash''s unflinching answer Alexander leaned back on his chair, and then slowly turning to Melodias, instructed.
"Could you once again check the prison camp for this Theony? Make sure the guards there didn''t make any mistake?"
"And if he is still alive could you bring him here?"
If Theony was really dead, Alexander would have certainly tried harder to make Laykash stay.
But since they had the man, Alexander decided to spare himself the needless pain.
He had tried quite hard to swindle Mithriditus but it did not work.
''Right away my lord," And hearing the task and understanding the jig was up, Melodias was instantly up and quickly left the building.
While Mithriditus was first a bit confused about the suddenplete turn of events, even thinking back on what they said about Alexander, ''Didn''t they say you didn''t make mistakes?''
But he then quickly woke to the ruse they were trying to pull off.
''So that''s how was it,'' Having understood it, Mithriditus was internally ecstatic because he was now 99% sure Theony was actually alive and the other party knew it.
So his eyes subconsciously darted to the door to try and catch the earliest glimpse of Theony, while in the meantime Alexander wanted to know a few more tidbits about Tibias from the man.
So he said, "Lord Mithriditus, while we wait, why don''t we talk a bit more? I believe there is a lot more to discuss between us other than just two prisoners."
And this put Mithriditus in a tough spot.
He had officially introduced himself as someone visiting under the orders of the king.
Whereas he was really a rouge, trying to attempt a ndestine prisoner exchange unbeknownst to Perseus.
So even if he and Alexander discussed other matters such as a peace treaty, further prisoner exchanges, warpensation, etc. all those would be quite hollow.
But just because Mithriditus was unable to make any decisions did not mean he could not talk right?
There was nothing wrong with just that.
"Yes, let''s." And so Mithriditus enthusiastically replied, intent on dragging anything Alexander said out until he could Theony and make his escape with empty promises.
Chapter 625 End of The First Zanzan x Tibian War
Chapter 625 End of The First Zanzan x Tibian War
For a while, in between the time Melodias was out ''finding'' Theony, Alexander sent out peace feelers to try and gauge Mithriditus''s reaction.
He began, "Last time the envoy I met was someone called Leosydas. Would my lord know him?"
"..." And for a moment, Mithriditus was unsure how to answer.
Whether tell him he was dead or lie.
"Of course I know Lord Leosydas. We all do. But unfortunately, he was one of the many martyrs of this war."
Mithriditus decided to tell the truth because he felt there was little point in trying to hide the death of such a huge figure.
A huge, grand funeral for Leosydas would surely be held once they got back to Tibias, and the whole world would naturally know then.
So Mithriditus was frank about it, adding, "*Sigh*, Zanzan is not the only one who has taken losses in this war. We are all victims!"
He seemed genuinely hurt by Leosydas''s loss and attempted to use this to show Zanzan was not the only one with grievance and thus tried and muddy the field.
A tactic that backfired spectacrly as Alexander not only did not sympathize with the loss but instead barked,
"Heh! Who told you to attack us in the first ce?"
"It''s good that that swindler is dead. Serves him right."
Alexander was very keen to make it clear who was the aggressor and who the defender was here.
While Mithriditus hearing Alexander bad-mouth Leosydas produced a frigid aura and clenched his fist.
Clearly, he was offended.
''It seems that man was well-respeced'' And noticing so, Alexander noted this.
And he was right.
Leosydas was always seen as a sort of a moderator who tried to bnce the wants of the nobility and the royal family, and he generally managed to strike a good bnce, keeping both sides happy.
Hence his poprity.
And so hearing his death be so crudely celebrated certainly stung Mithriditus.
"..I would advise you to be a bit more respectful to the dead," Mithriditus chewed the words out through his teeth.
"*Snort*" And Alexander only snorted back.
He had a lot more choice words to say about Leosydas, especially about how he stole tens of millions of ropals from him, but given they were still in the midst of negotiating, Alexander decided to hold back his barbed replies until the terms were concluded.
"We met another negotiator who came to us when the lord was not present. Fat and slimy looking! Where is he?"
While Menicus, true to his mercenary origin was very crude in his description as he posed this.
".....it was His Majesty''s decision," And Mithriditus gave a very cardboard cut-out answer, giving the impression that Perseus was dissatisfied with the former''s performance and hence sent him.
"I see." Alexander was curt in his reply as he really did not care whether the negotiator was fat or thin, as he then got to the meat of the issue.
"We would like to propose a man-to-man exchange of prisoners. One Zanzan for one Tibian."
"That¡." And though this was a perfectly fair deal, Mithriditus seemed to hesitate, because remember he really did not have the authority to make any promises.
So he tried to drag the talks out by saying things like, "How can that be! The ones you captured are mere peasants! While many of the soldiers in our captivity are all veterans!"
Mithriditus had only heard Alexander was a mercenary and made everything up from there.
And even when Alexander tried to rify thisplete hogwash of a im, Mithriditus remained staunch, disying an unflinching attitude.
And the same attitude went with trying to sign any kind of peace treaty, where even Alexander''s offer of white peace was rejected by Mithriditus who imed that both of them had lost one battle each and were tied.
So he imed that there would have to be another decisive battle before any peace deals could be reached.
"I''m really here for Theony. He is His Majesty''s adjutant and my liege is quite fond of him," Mithriditus at one point said out loud, which made Alexander joke to himself,
''Why? Does he help warm his bed?''
And though he was wrong in that, he was not too far off.
But whoever Theony slept with was not really Alexander''s concern.
Instead, he was more upied feeling a bit regretful about letting such a prized fish go.
''If only I would have gotten a few more days'' Alexander wished for a bit more time to try and pry things out of Theony.
And though the thought of letting Laykash leave and exchange him after a few days was tempting, seeing the man''s current condition, weak and thin, Alexander could not find it in his heart to do so.
He owned a lot to Laykash.
And so Alexander continued the talks, trying toe to terms regarding various situations as well as glean extra bits of information from Mithriditus about his country until finally, Mithriditus returned, between the time which the two sides were unable toe to terms with anything, courtesy of Mithriditus of course.
But this bubbling dissatisfaction was suppressed as soon as Melodais entered, apanied by the man in question, for Theony had arrived in the flesh.
"It seems my lord was right. The guards were indeed wrong about the prisoner," As Meloidas entered with Theony, he tried to make it sound like this was all the guards'' fault for making Alexander say the man was dead.
"Mmm, be sure to punish themter," And to save face Alexander replied as such, though he was just saying this, he had no intention of actually following through.
"Uncle!" But this casual theatre was suddenly shattered by Theony''s excited cheer, as his eyes turned into gleeful joy seeing the familiar figure.
Mithriditus was not actually his rted uncle, but something that Theony hade to address him as such in private due to their frequent interactions and huge age gap.
And now, meeting him in enemy territory, the young man got excited enough to address him as
such reflexively.
He had been fairly certain that he would be exchanged sometime in the future but did not think it would be so soon.
It had been only two days since his capture.
So seeing the king had sent someone as high-ranking as Mithriditus to fetch naturally made Theony ecstatic.
And as Theony was over the moon seeing his uncle, Mithriditus took the time to check him out too.
Theony was dressed in the same armor he had seen hisst wearing, the king''s luxurious armor, which Melodias had chosen to make him wear, and did not look too beaten up.
There was a bit of ink under the eye, possibly due to sleeplessness, and he sounded a little weak. But given he could walk and talk, Mithriditus was happy
So having gotten what he came here for, Mithriditus immediately got up to hug the young man, exchanging some very short pleasantries with him, before turning to Alexander to say,
"The exchange isplete. Please allow us to return."
Mithriditus could not wait to go back.
"*Wave*"
And Alexander very unceremoniously discharged them with a casual flick of his wrist, in a matter that was very disrespectful.
But Alexander did not care.
He did so because he was very unsatisfied at being unable toe to any sort of conclusion to his war as although the enemy was battered to a virtual pulp, having lost half of its original force, it still seemed ready to fight, refusing to yield.
While in his city sentiments of frustration about the war were growing.
Alexander did not wish to fight with Perseus anymore because his people did not wish to fight with Perseus anymore.
In fact, it was also because of this he was yet to pick up on that attack on the enemy''s camp which Cambyses had initiated.
We wished for Perseus to leave without having to spill even more blood.
That and also he was afraid if things got too dire for TIbias, in their desperation they might do something crazy such as killing the 2,500 to 3,000 prisoners they have.
So he tried to use the diplomatic route to get them back, and having failed he was in a foul mood.
However his mood improved significantly over the next few days since Mithriditus was back to give basically everything Alexander wanted.
It seemed that with Theony returning and the trio''s urging (Philips, Mithriditus, and Theony) Perseus finally cooled down and began to see things objectively.
Mithriditus also revealed to the king the peace terms he had discussed, and recognizing his position, Perseus atst sued for peace.
So the treaty was:
A white peacesting for one year.
Neither side being required to pay any war reparations.
No merchant from either country would be persecuted.
Andstly, and perhaps most importantly, an equal number of prisoners were to be exchanged.
Here, Tibias exchanged all of its captives, while Zanzan allowed Mithriditus to choose which of the roughly 3,000 men he would like to free.
And though Tiibas had tried to argue for the remaining 12,000 too, even offering to buy them using the money the Kaiser money had given them or from the pool they had swindled from Alexander, Alexander was adamant about keeping them.
"We need them to rebuild our city. Any ransom can wait till the peace treaty expires." He had said.
And it was with these conditions, the brief but deadly war had finallye to an end.
Chapter 626 Rebuild Efforts
Chapter 626 Rebuild Efforts
The time taken to draw up a peace treaty was rtively quick, the two sides havingpleted it within one day.
And even as it was being signed and the prisoners exchanged, Alexander could already see from atop his walls how the walls of the Tibian camp were being dismantled and soldiers being arranged in marching formation.
It seemed that Perseus was ready to march the second the deal waspleted and he got his men.
''It is too bad we cannot finish them off,'' And seeing so Alexander could not help butmpoon a bit at this lost opportunity.
No one was under any kind of illusion that the peace treaty they signed was a flimsy, tenuous one and that the attacks would resume the second it expired.
So if Alexander had the ability, he would have certainly tried to cut off the snake''s head then and there.
And perhaps Perseus had sensed this, thus prudently deciding to make his retreat while he still could.
Mithriditus and Philips had spent some time trying to make him see their current weakness.
"*Sigh*" And as the warrior king oversaw the packing of his camp, and then turned his head to look back at the city he hade so close to capturing, he released a mournful sigh, his face looking visibly aged, his weak body no longer radiating that same aura of charisma and gantry.
He had lost so much in this campaign, so many high-level officers, many friends, and even his best friend.
But perhaps what stung even more was the fact how close they hade.
In fact, paradoxically, perhaps Perseus would have been able to better swallow this bitter pill of defeat if he had not gotten so close to iming the city.
To have gotten so close to something he wanted more than anything in his life and then fail at thest moment burned Perseus''s heart that much more, much more than if he had just simply failed the siege.
But it was what it was, there was no pill for regret.
Lady luck had swung both ways in this conflict, for him and also for Zanzan.
For him,dy luck first helped him win the battle when his elephants managed to spook the enemy cavalry, thus enabling him to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
And then the goddess of luck had again helped him by providing him with a new route up the hills to attack the city, gave him a clear night even in the middle of winter to aid in their travels, andstly presented him with Leosydas''s miraculous nking maneuver that ultimately enabled him to capture the manor.
While for Zanzan, the same goddess of fortune had enabled Laykash to almost kill Leosydas which caused Perseus''s left nk to disintegrate, allowing Zanzan to cause massive damage to the king by killing a lot of his veteranmanders and nobles.
And during Perseus''s sneak attack, she had alerted them of Perseus''s approach by setting the iron foundry on fire, the manor was then somewhat set on fire, andstly, she enabled them to carry out a miraculous nking maneuver of their own which Perseus failed to foresee due to the then circumstances.
Hence, going by the count of favors, thedy of destiny had not really discriminated against either.
But Perseus had simply failed to utilize them as effectively as Cambyses.
Deep down Perseus of course recognized this, but currently, he was not in the mind of self-reflection.
Instead he was much more worried about how he would exin his campaign to the nobles and who to rece Leosydas with.
And it was with such headaches that Perseus made his way, his and the men''s hearts heavy with the defeat.
"*Sigh*, it''s finally over," And as they slowly left, seeing the enemy finally recede over the horizon, being followed by a small contingent of Zanan cavalry who were there to make sure Tibias really left theirnds, Cambyses, standing next to Alexander atop the wall atst let out a sigh of immense relief, feeling a surge of surrealness at having survived this encounter.
There were many times in thest few months that Cambyses did not think she would make it.
"Mmmmm," And hearing his wife speak, Alexander also let out a low nodding hum, showing his support for her, though he then immediately rained on her parade "But they will be back! We need to prepare."
"....." Cambyses was not entertained by this. which she showed by pursing her lips.
Of course, she knew they would be back, that it was just an interlude, that both sides had things that were left unfinished.
But couldn''t she be allowed to enjoy this hard-won peace for at least even a little bit?
Was there really a need to remind her of the huge amount of work thaty in trying to rebuild the city immediately?
She had just finishedpleting one such task!
So with pressed lips and a dry tone Cambyses shot back, "Who''s we? I''m not doing any more work. I worked enough in thest few months. Now it''s your turn!" as she then turned around and exited the walls, the winds there were not feeling pleasent to the body.
It seemed that the girl was nning on taking a break from her work.
And Cambyses really did, dumping all the work onto Alexander, who found the next few months very hectic.
The very first thing he had to deal with was the casualty report and damage estimates.
The damages they incurred were as expected, the foundry, the brick nt, the manor, and the workshops all were heavily affected.
The foundry and the brick nt would need to be almost built from scratch, while the workshops would need major repairs, with many sheds requiring reconstruction and the wooden walls mending.
As for the casualties, well thebined dead, captured, and wounded of the two battles amounted to around 20,000 men and women, out of which he had managed to get 3,000 back and take an additional 12,000 prisoners.
And as Alexander read this report, he could not help but thank his lucky stars that he had somehow managed to keep his losses to only a of 5,000.
Because if the entire 20,000 had really disappeared from thebor force, he would have been crippled for years, with many of his industries being forced to shut down or at least slow down.
And it was also because of this that Alexander was adamant about not trading the men for a ransom, even when Mithriditus offeredrger andrger prices.
After all, Alexander did notck money as much as hecked men.
"Lord Alexander, it is the natural custom of war to exchange prisoners for money! How could you!" And hearing so Mithriditus had decried the attempt, to which Alexander had only sneered,
"Heh! I already paid tens of millions of ropals for them. So of course I can!"
And then swiftly added,
"We need those men to rebuild our city. You can wait till they have done so and then buy them back. Or exchange them with ves of equal value."
Alexander made it clear he wanted men for men.
With this proposition, plus given the fact that Mithriditus had rescued every one of value with the 3,000 he was allowed to exchange, the nobleman did not see any reason to haggle with Alexander with great ferocity.
The rest of the captives were mainly peasants, and so he only half-heartedly proposed to rescue them a yearter, though the man was skeptical about how many of them would be able to live through their captivity.
After all, prisoners of war used as forcedbor had famously high casualty rates.
And he was right to worry about that, as Alexander nned to use these men in ces like the mines, which famously had a low survival chance given the environment, or in various infrastructure projects, such as roads, aqueducts, and buildings.
Which though not as brutal as the mines also had their fair share of idents, such as injuries from using tools, falling from scaffoldings, out-of-control animals, and the challenges of working in the scalding hot summers or in the bleak, freezing winters.
Hence perhaps the lucky few who got to work the field tolling away would be the really lucky ones, able to preserve their lives even if they had to subject themselves to back-breakingbor.
Alexander would have several meetings with his council members regarding the allocation of these men, choosing to send most of them to help rebuild the foundry, while others were required to build a wall along the western side whose ns Alexander had already drawn up.
Alexander nned to plug that hole in his defense as soon as possible.
With the care package for the city determined, Alexander then moved to cate the citizenry.
First and foremost he lifted the food rationing that had been instituted and started to subsidize various foods such as wheat, salt, beans, seasonal vegetables olive oil, etc., until summer to take the burden of many households who had run through their saving during the siege when they could not work or trade.
Furthermore, Alexander initiated a stimulus package of 50 million for the people, which came to about six months of pay for each family, as well as giving 10,000 ropals to all families who had lost anyone in the attack.
This show of generosity helped Alexander win much of the wavering hearts and in this way, a new chapter dawned for Zaznan.
Chapter 627 Reconstruction And Development (Part-1)
?
As winter rolled into summer and the first harvests began toe in, Alexander was in his office with the council members, reading and listening to thetest reports.
The man had shed the heavy leather jackets and fur coats for a light, simple blue tunic, and linen pants while the usual roaring firece was nowhere to be seen, and the usually closed windows were thrown wide open to let in the cool summer breeze in.
But even all this venttion seemed to be not enough to fight the blistering heat of mid-may, as evidenced by a few beads of sweat that could be seen tickling down Alexander''s cheeks,
Perhaps it was because of this there was a cool, ice-cold faluda ced in front of him, to help him take the heat off.
And as Alexander asionally sipped the milky, creamy, drink sweetened with sugar and topped with fruits, the other council members were busy informing him of the progress of the ongoing restorations, the extent ofpletion of the infrastructure projects that were nned, andstly how the spring nting went.
"The Tibians did not cause too much damage to the fields, my lord. So much of the nted crops are unharmed."
"The harvests are well. We have gotten a simr amount of crops asst year."
Menicus was the first one to start, giving Alexander the good news with a smile.
"Mmmm, good. Our granaries were running low." And hearing so Alexander was relieved.
Though the report was expected as he had seen the volume of produce reaped, the official confirmation still pleased him.
"Yes, and because my lord had lent extra manpower, we managed to nt additionalnds.
So next fall we can expect a bigger harvest," Menicus further added, making Alexander further content.
With the spring harvest and the promised shipments of grain from Pasha Farzah, Alexander was confident he would be able to easily tide over to the next fall.
As Menicus finished his report, the reports about the reconstruction efforts started toe in.
"The iron foundry and the brick-making kilns are almost ready to start again my lord," Harun and Krishok each first pronounced.
Given they had prior experience in constructing these buildings, the time taken to build them a second time was much lower.
"Mmmm, good," Alexander gently hummed, "And the workers? Have they been hired?" he asked.
It had to be remembered that almost all of the foundry workers were killed in the prior attack hence the new recruitment.
"Yes! The few experienced men left have been made their supervisors to guide them," Harun quickly added, while Alexander approved with a silent nod.
Alexander then moved on to asking about the progress of the other projects, such as the reconstruction of the workshops, which he temporarily put Cambyses in charge of, until he could find a new caretaker, while her position as the head of the city guards was for the moment given to Bartholomew, making him the acting policemissioner.
The reports from here were all positive, as the rebuilding efforts were swift and on track.
The destroyed shops were rebuilt, the destroyed equipment remade, and the production of the unique products restarted.
"The workers are already back and working. Although given that they have lost a lot of experienced men, it is said that it will take a bit of time for them to get back to speed." Cambyses reported.
The girl was wearing a half-sleeved green gown with gold embroidery, the attire being voluminous enough that it hid her bodily curves, including the baby bump she had developed.
Yes, it seemed Alexander''s hard work of plowing the fields and constantly watering it at night all throughout January had paid off.
Cambyses was officially pregnant.
Although the news was kept a secret for now.
Cambyses, being around 4 months pregnant was still able to work the nonbor intensive administrative jobs without a problem, and so was able to expertly deliver a detailed report of the ongoing renovations of the workshops.
With the only hitch Alexander faced about her report was how Gajopk had atst been unable to wake up, issuing the demise of the ssmaker.
This caused Alexander to sigh a bit in regret, both because of the loss of a great talent, and also because he would now have to choose a brand new head he could trust for the ss-making nt.
But Gajokp was dead and he could not do anything to bring him back.
So he issued the decree for the next best thing,
"Assure his wife and children that they will be given the plot ofnd they were promised. As well as a monthly stipend of 200 ropals."
Gajopk had been promised a plot ofnd if he worked for him for 10 years, but given he was dead, it was very natural to think the widow and the children would be thrown out as the man was unable to fulfill the contract.
Just giving them the monthly stipend was already generous enough in many''s eyes, but seeing Alexander also give the promisednd just like that moved many.
"My lord is generous," The council members cheered.
But this was not only Alexander''s way ofpensating the widow for dragging her husband all the way from Adhan and getting him killed.
It was also a type of propaganda technique,
And this intention was quickly revealed when Alexander turned to Cambyses to instruct, "Remember to tell all the workers that this is my way ofpensating them."
"That I, Alexander always appreciate talent."
"And as long as they work loyally for me, they and their families will always be taken well care of."
With this said, he ordered the same thing for the family of the paper maker Azizak.
The current reporting regarding the reconstruction efforts came to an end as such, and Alexander atst began to inquire about the most important topic, the various infrastructure projects he had going on.
And the very first one among them was the western wall, the one hemissioned to be built literally days after Perseus left.
"We are still continuing to build it, my lord. But it will take some time. A few years probably." Hearing the inquiry, the person in charge, Uzak replied, and when he saw Alexander scowl at the answer as if to ask, ''Why will it take so long?'', the stonemason quickly exined,
"The wall''s dimensions are breathtaking my lord. Extending from the north wall, it goes all around the cement nt, the mines, and the foundry, covering severalrge hills and finally ends at the sandy beaches of the Mad Sea."
"Just building a wall of that size would be a mammoth undertaking, never mind in addition to it, there are also the thick forests we have to clear and the uneven grounds that we have to tten."
"If we were using the old method, I would have said it will require several decades if not a lifetime toplete."
Uzak very animatedly waved his palms open, gesturing at the breadth of the project, before continuing,
"And even with the new, cement method we have, it is still a daunting task. Especially because we have a shortage of everything."
"Shortage of men to cut trees, dig the ground and build the walls, shortage of bricks and stones to make the wall with, and most importantly shortage of cement to bind them."
He very eloquently showed all the difficulties he was encountering, and finished by promising,
"I will be able to finish it much faster if I was given everything I needed. Then I couldplete it by next summer!"
"...." And hearing so Alexander did not immediately answer.
But ttened his lips instead.
First of all, he was not impressed by the somewhat exaggeration of the wall''s size.
''Who are you kidding? I know how big the wall is! You''re saying it like I''m asking you to make the Great Wall of China,'' Alexander internally rolled his eyes.
But he did not outright scold Uzak because the problems he imed to be facing were indeed true.
They might not be as acute as he was making them out to be, but they did exist.
And it seemed that Uzak was simply over-reporting a bit of this to his superior, a tactic anyone and everyone used, with even Alexander being guilty in his previous life.
Plus Alexander''s priority about the wall seemed to have declined over the few months.
Immediately after Perseus''s attack, he was in a sort of panic mood and had hastily ordered the building of the wall to plug that weak point.
But as the danger had passed and he was calmed enough to rethink, he found that building the wall was not an absolute necessity.
The vulnerability that this gap posed that already been exploited and repelled, meaning there was no immediate threat to it.
Alexander had already been made aware of the hidden danger, and Perseus was unlikely to be able to exploit this w again.
In fact, Alexander was of half the mind to keep with side open as a kind of bait to tempt the enemy into taking this route.
Because then he could use his far more maneuverable legionaries to destroy the usually rigid phnxes which was used by all.
But that was only a fleeting thought, as there was no guarantee the enemy would not learn from his and develop their own infantry formations.
In a battle between two legionary formations who knew the winner would be?
Alexander would have to be foolish to gamble with his city like that.
Chapter 628 Reconstruction And Development (Part-2)
Alexander was not too against dying building his walls if it meant allocating more resources to more important projects
But though Alexander was not of the mind to expose Uzak, his colleagues seemed to be of a different mind.
"Heh! Who are you kidding Uzak? Shortage of men?"
"Bah! We all have a shortage of men!" Diaogosis shouted while Jazum chimed,
"That''s right! And don''t nder me! The cement nts have been working to the best of their abilities even through all the difficulties! You get more cement than you deserve."
It seemed there was some kind of internal rivalry between the various council members over the limited resources.
Because they believed the faster they couldplete theirs, the more recognition they could get from Alexander.
And with Jazum opening the door of usation, the others quickly joined in, allining how the others were hoarding resources, until Diaogosis cleverly added this,
"Bah!! If I had more men, I would have also finished building the port on time! But now! I will need one more year!"
"But do you hear meining?"
"....." Hearing which Alexander was speechless.
He originally thought that Diaogosis was taking his side to scold Uzak on his behalf, where in reality, the shrewd stonemason was using thetter''s excuse to justify his own dys, while at the same time making him appear diligent.
''Nice!'' Alexander could not help but begrudgingly admire.
And with Diaogosis''s little trick revealed to the rest of the council members, they too used it to justify their own deals, using the same three reasons.
The aqueducts, apartment buildings, and sewage all seemed to have been dyed, with even Diaogosis''s assistant, who was put in charge of building the roads across the province, connecting Alexander''s fief to the other nobles reporting dys in the estimated time of conclusion.
And hearing all his chatter about the same thing, Alexander finally got a bit irritated and lightly snapped,
"Okay, okay, I get it. The war has disrupted your schedule. And you want more time."
"Fine! You will get it." He very casually dered with a wave of his hands.
He did not feel like haggling with them over this, especially when what they were saying was true.
The war had conscripted a lot of the workers, a lot of the workers had died, andstly, during the siege, much of the construction was halted, both to husband resources and because many workers were put in the garrisons.
While the brick kilns were destroyed and the cement nt kept only nominally operational.
Due to all this, Alexander decided to give this concession, to which all the council members cheered with all kinds of praises describing his magnanimity.
While Alexander responded bymenting,
"In theing years, we will need to handle bigger and bigger projects. Which will need more resources."
"So I want all council members to think of ways to increase production."
"More brick-making kilns need to be built."
"More hills suitable for establishing cement crushing nts should be discovered."
"And more people from outside should be made to immigrate to Zanzan to alleviate the worker shortages."
"Yes my lord," The council members gave a short reply.
And finishing this, Heliptos quickly jumped up to offer his suggestion,
"My lord, perhaps the other nobles could also be made to build the brick kilns. We will be building all those roads for them after all. It''s only natural they should contribute."
HH was of the mind to make the nobles bear some of thebor-intensive brick-making process.
"Hmmm," And hearing so Alexander traced his chin at the feasibility, finding the idea quite attractive at first nce.
The roads did not specifically need bricks as they used stone and gravel as their base.
But bricks could easily be a substitute.
And it would help increase his production aiding in relieving the shortage.
But there were of of course problems with that as well.
First being that forcing his nobles to build the kilns, which many may not like, thinking Alexander was overstepping his boundaries.
It would also mean going into the muddy waters of who was going to finance it as nobles were famously stingy and could say they did not have the funds to spare.
Then there would be the discussion of manpower as most people under a noble were already employed, the majority tending the fields while the others were needed in other vocations.
This was especially true for shordars (barons) and talukders (viscounts) who were quite small and would most likely be unable to sustainrge-scale production of the kilns.
Andstly there was answering the question of whether Alexander would buy the bricks from them using money or it would be some kind of obligation from them for the wider infrastructure effort.
But just because there were hurdles did not mean it could not be done.
Perhaps the nobles would need some greasing, but Alexander was confident in making them do it.
"That''s a good idea. I will talk to them," So he promised.
And then the same suggestion was made for the cement nt, but which Alexander categorically rejected siting the strategic importance of cement, though, at the back of his mind, he did think back on the idea he already had, to sell the clinkers mixed with gypsum to the nobles for them to grind at their own wind or watermills.
That could certainly be done, as increasing the number of cement kilns would be much easier than finding suitable ces for building waterwheels.
But for the time being, hecked the manpower to even increase that.
So for the foreseeable future, it seemed that cement production would continue to be his main bottleneck.
And as for increasing manpower, well, though it sounded rtively straightforward, just taking people from other ces and dumping them here, well Cambyses had some less-than-savory news to share.
"Ummm¡.there might be a problem with getting more people. Especially if they are not from Adhania," she chimed.
And as Alexander turned to face her with a raised eyebrow, she exined, "I know I should have reported it soon but I had not gotten the chance."
"Thing is both I and Batholomew have for some time been dealing with various small-scale disagreements between the native Adhanians and the Thesians."
"And Batholomew says both the frequency and scale have gotten a lot worse after the siege ended."
"We need to do something."
"Disagreements?" Hearing this Alexander''s interest was piqued.
People bumping shoulders with each other during the day, especially in this congested city was inevitable.
So he was not really surprised by there being disagreements.
Disagreements, disputes, and quarrels were all part and parcel of living in the city and even life.
And usually, they were encountered, dealt it, and then swiftly forgotten.
But Cambyses did not sound like she was talking about ordinary disagreements and innocent rows between simple passersby.
Given how she worded it, it seemed much more systematic.
And as Alexander asked her to rify, the girl nodded and said,
"Mmm, disagreements. Or discriminations I should say,"
"The examples are quite varied, but all of them can show the various discriminations many Thesians faced."
"For instance, some Adhanian shops seem to refuse to sell to Thesians. A few even famously have signs saying no Thesian is wee."
"Some restaurants also refuse to let Thesians eat or force them to eat outside."
"While some shops sell everything at a markup when they see a Thesian purchasing it."
"And even the most tolerant shops seem to favor an Adhanian to a Thesian."
"For instance, there was one report from Bartholomew saying that a Thesian hadined to a passing patrol that even though he was the first to choose a vase, just as he was about to buy it, another Adhnaina came to buy it and the shopkeep sold it to him."
"There are many more such examples I could list, such as groups of Adhanian cornering lone Thesians in alleys and beating them up, throwing rubbish at them,¡but you get the gist."
"There is a tant bias, some might even say animosity between the two."
"And this type of thing had already caused quite a few brawls in the market, but fortunately the guards were there to snuff them before things could get out of control."
"But if it is not addressed soon, and if even more foreigners were to enter¡." Cambyses produced an ominous oue.
And as Cambyses said this, several angry scowls soon were detected across the table, which was very natural given many of the council members, especially the military ones were all Thesian.
They could not believe their fellow people were being treated like that, right under their noses.
While Alexander hearing so did not immediately react but began to think.
And once he had ruminated on it more sometime, he addressed,
"The discrimination between the two ethnicities is not anything surprising. This is something we had already expected."
"Adhanians have always considered themselves to be better than Thesians¡ahh not all of them" Alexander quickly added the second part looking at the Adhanian council members, who blushed a bit, feeling embarrassed by what people of their own ethnicity were doing, and so quickly said,
"No, no, my lord. We should punish these people severely! Thesians and Adhanians are brothers!"
"Mmm," Alexander was pleased to hear this, and after a nod continued,
"That is why I wish to find out why Adhanians are targeting the Thesians. How they are doing it? And how we can stop it."
" And after knowing this we cane up withws that fight this!"
Chapter 629 Combating Racism
The inherent racism Adhanian people had towards outsiders was almost ingrained into their bones.
They were almost conditioned from birth to see themselves as the center of the civilized world.
thinking their culture as the most glorious of all.
Of course, they were not the lone candidate to be affected by this kind of thinking, as Thesians were too, who saw their practice of democracy and being ruled by the will of the people as the best kind of governance, thus thinking they were the most advanced civilization.
And as one moved to other countries, many of them had their own interpretation of the word ''best country in the world'' meaning ethnic divide and racism were almost part and parcel of life.
Slurs and ng describing people different from them in looks, color, and beliefs were abound, and due to themon nature of it all, Alexander was cautious of issuing sweeping legition that punished people for this overnight.
Something that some of the council members seemed fluxed and even frustrated about.
"My lord, why should be wait? Our people are being oppressed! They need to be rescued right now." The usual energetic Grahtos was the one to express his anger on behalf of his fellow men, urging Alexander to take swift and decisive action.
And going by how all the other Thesian council members nodded their heads, it was apparent they were all in agreement.
"Let us not be hasty. Exercise patience, everyone." But Alexander did not seem to share their enthusiasm.
And as his calm voice echoed across the room, the others turned to him seemingly asking for an exnation.
So he gave them one.
"In the eyes of most Adhanians, there is not anything wrong with their actions. It is simply their way of living."
"So if I were to make thesews out of the blue in a single day, many would not be able to understand this and see me as a tyrant."
"Remember, many view me as an outsider, as a Thesian first, a lordter."
"So instituting these reforms suddenly today or tomorrow will cause many to think that I am only favoring my own people and discriminating against them."
"This will surely alienate arge majority of Adhanians, and might even cause the enmity to deepen," Alexander revealed this reasoning, and then discussed,
"So, instead of jumping to conclusions and making sudden draconianws, I want to be prudent over this."
"Let us learn the extent of the hostilities, about the different ways the Adhanians are doing this, why they are doing so, andstly if the Thesians are simply innocent victims or if they too have any hidden skeletons in the closet."
"There might be more to the story than meets the eye. We should try and look for that."
"And only once we know this, can we effectively stop this ill practice."
"Both by raising awareness at a social level. and by institutingws that punish anyone caught."
Alexander proposed, finishing with this philosophical quote,
"Remember my lords, one should not pass sweepingws from just sitting behind the desk and listening to one report."
And as Alexander finished, a poignant few seconds of silence echoed across the table.
They had not thought about it so deeply and so could not help but praise Alexander''s foresight on it.
Though in the case of Alexander, it was really a case of him learning from history, especially the period of segregation in American history which hadsting consequences that one could arguest to this day.
Racial biases were not so easy to remove, and Alexander wanted to n thoughtfully so that he could remove them within a short time, possibly a few generations.
Yes, to dispel such ingrained nature, Alexander thought a few generations would be quick.
Because one just needed to take a look at modern history, with all its education programs and awareness-raising activities that still was unable to erase racism entirely after all this time, only seeding in making it mostly very low-key.
So what hope did Alexander have in this backward world?
He could only bank on time,bined with his own efforts to slowly wash away this toxic muk.
"So how should we do this?" With Alexander having mentioned learning more about the discriminations, Cambyses posed the next obvious question, how to go about it.
And Alexander had already thought of a preliminary n and revealed his intended course of action.
"First, we should make the people realize this is wrong."
"I will ask the temple to give sermons on this. That will work to raise people''s consciousness about the matter."
"If both Theocles and Azura Azira, representing the Temple of Gaia and Temple of Ramuh are to say such an act is a sin and people must refrain from it, I''m confident many believers will change."
"We will also send criers into the markets."
"They will work to tell the people of the uingws and that all shops should stop discrimination between anyone or they are to soon face fines or even prison."
"That will give the shopkeepers some time to change their practices."
"Those are the social ways."
Here Alexander paused a bit, gathering his thoughts a bit and then continuing.
"As for the legal matters, I will give the police force three months to investigate all the kinds of biases and discriminations the Thesians have faced."
"They are to record all of it and then submit a report."
"I will review it and then passws on each infraction depending on the severity of it."
As Alexander proposed this, he then turned to Cambyses, saying, "I will leave the investigation to Batholomew. Be sure to let him know."
Being his immediate boss, Alexander felt it would be more appropriate if the order came directly from Cambyses.
"Ummm¡but how should the guards ask the questions? And where will they find them? The market?"
But Cambyses seemed to be a bit confused about the general specifics of how the guards should collect this information, as she asked Alexander for further details.
And this made Alexander suddenly remember that the people of this time had no concept of surveys.
That thought had subconsciously skipped his mind.
And why would they?
99% of the people could even barely write their names.
So how would they be able to fill out a survey?
And this put Alexander in a dilemma.
There was no point in trying to educate Cambyses on what a survey was anyway because all the city guards who would be carrying out this survey were of course illiterate too.
So expectingly them to write out a full report was asking them to do something way above their pay grade.
So for a while, Alexander tapped his cheeks with his index finger, trying to think of a simplified process.
He could order the guards to go door to door and ask the residents if they had faced any such problems.
But Alexander suspected seeing a contingent of heavily armored guards knocking on your doors would do wonders in making one shut up, saying everything was fine and wishing they would go away as soon as possible.
After all, people of this time had an inherent fear ofw enforcement, and with good reasons given they would just be a much more dangerous version of a thug, one with legal immunity from the ruling noble.
Never mind there was also a very real chance of these policemen exhorting the people they were sent to help out of a few coins saying it was in the name of their services.
Corruption was always an ever-present danger in such organizations.
Because of all this Alexander trashed that idea.
And a few more afterward, such as asking Thesians toe to the police station to recount their experiences, or going around the streets asking random people about their experiences.
All these did not seem convenient.
"Does anyone wish to chip in?" Andstly, struggling to easily find a solution, Alexander turned to others.
And Hemicus was the first to quickly chime in,
"We could ask the Thesian shopkeepers for help! Since they have shops there and are present from dawn to dusk, surely they must have seen a lot."
"The patrol will easily be able to get information out of them."
Alexander for once was a bit speechless at the man''s quick wittness.
While Melodias additionally said,
"I could also ask my men. They and their wives must surely have some stories to share."
"Mmmm. And we can also increase patrol around the markets and tell them to keep an eye out for these kinds of things. Then they can catch the shops in the act and record it." Menesstly added.
All of which very much impressed Alexander.
He for a moment and boxed all his thinking to only the city guards and the Thesians, and forgot about all other approaches.
So seeing his council members step up greatly pleased him.
"Well, you heard them Cam. Do it like they said." Alexander thus turned to Cambyses with a smile, then added, "Melodias, I will leave it to you to gather the information regarding your men. Be sure to give it to Cambyses before August."
"Yes, my lord," Melodias quickly replied with a straight face, though internally he groaned at the increased load.
''Why couldn''t I have kept my mouth shut,'' He seemed to cry.
But Alexander did not notice this, nor did he care.
While Cambyses only breezily hummed at Alexander''s order, her heart happy at being able to pass this very tedious andbor-intensive process to her colleagues and subordinates.
Chapter 630 Future Military Plans
With that discussion done, Alexander finally felt the long meeting due to conclude.
And so he moved on to thest-minute pleasantries.
"So how has your fiefdoms been doing?" Alexander casually asked about the council member''s ownnds, and they all replied in the same vein.
Good, but it could be better.
"My lord, much of my fields are empty because I do not have enough men to work them. Everyone wants to move here because the pay is good and it is the city,"
This was all their biggestint.
To which Alexander only chuckled and said, "Yes, well, you know the situation about the city yourself. We need more men everywhere."
"That''s why I said¡find more men."
And this got a silent rueful sigh from the men.
If it was only so easy.
All nobles were generally protective of this money-producing resource and made immigration as hard as possible for them, from binding them with contracts to closing borders to even employing guards to hunt any potential escapee down.
So the only real way to get mass immigrants was through wars and capturing newnds.
"My lord, should we then attack Tibias? Or perhaps the hostile nobles? The states across the sea may be!"
And it was because of this one crazy bastard named Grahtos started throwing such ideas.
Ideas which at first sounded reasonable, but by the end of which made Alexander almost choke on his own spittle.
''Attack across the sea! Man this guy has balls!'' Alexander could not decide whether to scold him or praise his courage.
It had to be remembered that the Zanzan army had trouble supplying itself just 90 km from its home overnd.
So to suggest supplying them hundreds of kilometers across the Mad Sea was beyond ridiculous.
Never mind what would happen if the campaignsted till winter and the water turned dangerous.
If that were to ur, there was a very real possibility of the entire army starving to death.
So for Grahtos to suggest it, Alexander had trouble deciding whether to p his head for his idiocy or to praise his unbridled optimism.
And it was not only Alexander who had this feeling of incredulity, the other council members too shared his feeling, and looked at Grahtos like he was half mad.
"We have just signed a treaty with a Tibias. So breaking it is out of the question. Don''t even think about it,"
Atst, Alexander broke out of his shocked stupor and sternly reminded this to everyone, extinguishing any rogue thoughts someone might have about wanting to pick a fight with that country without his permission.
And as Alexander said, the usually taciturn Menes quickly interjected to support him with his report.
"Yes, that''s right. Our soldiers are already very exhausted."
"We have had five small andrge scale battles within thest two years. And many of them now want nothing more than to rest."
"Some of the officers even came to me toin, saying that when they came to Zanzan, they thought they would have some peace."
"But it''s been nothing but war every few months."
"Many are still mourning at how they lost so many of their brothers."
"And this sentiment has even spread of the former mercenaries., who thought they would get a better life if they came to Zanzan."
"And now about 1,500 of the original 5,000 are dead."
"I counted that myself. That''s about a third." Menes here paused to let the number sink in, and this reminder made many of the council saddened as included in that long list of mortuaries, were the names of many of their acquaintance and friends.
The losses they had suffered in just two years were truly horrific, with the three great ones being when the mercenaries acted as the 2nd legion to hold against Faruq in the center, where they lost more than one hundred men while in formation, the deaths they suffered under Perceus which amount to a nearly catastrophic thousand (1,000) andstly the casualties they took when Perseus captured the manor, ughtering many of the defenders who were the personal bodyguards of many of the council members, who were also once part of their mercenary groups.
So it was understandable these experienced men after havinge so far and survived for so long were not eager to put themselves again in danger.
And it was because of this that after the poignant silence finally passed, Menes atst proposed, "So I believe it will be better for us to skip any campaigns for this year."
"Or the army might¡."
He then trailed off, not wanting to say the word ''rebel'' out loud.
But everyone was intelligent enough to fill in that nk.
"Menes is right. There will be no war this year. Neither will the next year. Any ns for the attack will be after that" And as Menesid out his reasons, Alexander was quick to add another year, which surprised the council members a bit.
So he exined,
"We are in no shape to fight any campaigns. The people have been through hell, through droughts, wars, and gue. They need rest."
"Or we are gonna have a rebellion at our hands."
"Also the economy needs time to grow."
Alexander then turned to look at the council members and reminded them,
"We had only a few months of siege just now and that was enough to dy all our projects for so long."
"So imagine what would happen if we were to start another long campaign, It will dy us even more!"
"We cannot afford that." Alexander firmly dered.
And this made many of the civilian council members nod enthusiastically as they did not want to have to keep giving Alexander more excuses.
Andstly, Alexander finished by saying,
"Andstly we need to expand our diplomatic reaches. Zanzna cannot survive being surrounded by enemies, so we should try to make deals with our neighbors and not wars."
"And we are not gonna do that by breaking agreements. The treaty with the Tibias will be respected, as will the treaty with the Zanzan nobles." Alexander again repeated to emphasize his point.
As Alexanderid out his future ns, the other council members went silent for a while as they tried to digest what he said, and after a while, they agreed, with Menicus as the representative of the council members expressing,
"Okay, my lrod we understatn. We are indeed now quite weak. Especially from our loss with Tibias."
"We could use the two years."
"The people and economy can recover and the army can train our forces. We will even have the time to build those new siege equipment Tibias used."
Yes, seeing, or upon hearing about the torsion catapults in action, Alexander had ordered his military engineers to try and make them.
It would have been best if he could have gotten a sample from Tibias, and he had even offered Mithriditus a hundred prisoners for one intact piece, but the old man seemed adamant in his refusal.
"Haha, I''m afraid if we give that to you, we will lose much more than 100 hundred in the future," And the old man was not really shy as to the reason why.
And he was right in that as Alexander very much nned to use them to smash the walls of Tibias using them.
But given Alexander was unable to get an actual piece, he could only ask the engineers to try and remember how the Tibias used those weapons, how the men operated them, and reverse engineer the product from that.
Of course, Alexander had also given them some of his own insight, such as a few drawings of catapults and even the Roman scorpion, which threw giant darts at the enemy, all of which he saw in movies or read in articles.
And with the drawing and the practical demonstrationbined, Alexander''s men were confident in being able toe up with something decent within a year or two.
"Mmmm, that''s right. Menicus makes a good point." With the old man''s reminders, Alexander also remembered that designing and building all those new weapons would also need some time, so the time would really be well spent.
And because of Menes''s report, he also thought of some reforms on the spot.
So he further added,
"The two years will also help us further train new troops. Replenish the men we lost in the prior battle,"
"As well as practice the legionary tactics. It''s not so easy to muster."
All these future ns made the military members calm down, who previously wanted to go on campaigns to earn glory and booty but now understood their forces had many holes that needed to be fixed.
And so they silently nodded in agreement.
While Alexander, having said this, decided to propose something radical after hearing Menes''s report.
So he began in a mncholic tone,
"Also, about the veteran mercenaries."
"I''m ashamed to admit this, but if Menes had not told me, the number of casualties they had suffered might have still alluded me! That would have been a true oversight!"
"And these losses are truly a tragedy, especially given I had promised all of them peace and prosperity,"
"It wounds my heart!"
Alexander here regretfully shook his head, and then steeling his voice to a hard, determined deration, said,
"So I have decided to move all veterans from frontline duty! Only the officers, starting from the sergeants (in charge of 100 men) will remain in the army and¡."
Alexander was suddenly cut off at that point.
Chapter 631 Military Reforms (Part-1)
Chapter 631 Military Reforms (Part-1)
?
"Wha..what!"
Even before Alexander could finish saying everything, the military council members were shocked and somewhat even outraged at this absurd deration, with some even standing up in frustration.
With Alexander so casually dismissing so many soldiers with such callousness, it was only natural that they would react so violently.
It had to be also remembered that these people that Alexander was nning to fire were fellowrades in the arms of these council members, brothers from different mothers, people they had bled with on the battlefield.
The army was the life for many of these men and if Alexander was going to throw them away just because theyined a bit, then they were going to have some problems.
"Please calm down, Please calm down. Don''t get so worked up about it without letting me finish first!"
While the recipient of this surge of hostilities, Alexander remained cool and collected, quickly shing his palms and slowly waving them to gesture them to cool down.
Something that only worked because of his prior prestige.
But though the men obediently sat down, they almost red at Alexander as if to say, ''You better have a good goddamn reason!''
However, Alexander, facing these hostile stares seemed unfazed, and repeated,
''As I was saying, the officer core, i.e.- the former mercenaries who are the officers will still be with us. Nothing will happen to them. They are indispensable after all."
Alexander said the same thing thrice to first and foremost reassure all the council members of this.
And then finally proceeded with the next part.
"As for the squad leaders (in charge of 10 men) and some of the sergeants, a select of them will be hired to be trainers and instructors."
"These men have fought right at the very front lines, faced death in the eyes, and lived to tell the tale about it."
"I can think of no group better than them to teach all the fresh recruits about all the experiences of the battlefield, having seen and lived through so much of it."
"They will be like the seed from which our army will grow, and with them in charge, I believe we will soon have a world-beating army!"
Alexander very poetically exaggerated.
And then continued,
"As for the rest, the foot soldiers, the infantry, well they can have two choices."
"They can either continue serving in the standing army and keep their job and then things will be as is."
"Or they can choose to retire."
"And if they do so, then I will give all of them a plot ofnd. let''s say¡.mmnnn¡15 acres of farnd in Zanzan!"
"Or its equivalent price, which is I believe, ¡.um what''s the price ofnd here, 2,000 ropals an acre?"
Alexander''s stammering at the specific went to show he had juste up with the conditions just now, as along the halfway point he even had to pause to ask Menicus for some details.
"A bit less, around 1,500 - 1,600 ropals" And the old man nodded slightly while answering.
"Let''s go with 2,000." But Alexander decided to go with his original value, saying with arge smile,
"The new farming methods have made thends much more fertile, and I''m sure in the future 2,000 ropals for an acre of farnd here will be a steal. I do not want the soldiers then using me of swindling them."
"My lord is generous," hearing Alexander''s frankness, the others could not help but chime this.
While Alexander then went on to say,
"And speaking of new farming methods, you should all know about this. That we have more than doubled, almost tripled the yield."
"So whereas a 6 to 7 acre ofnd could previously barely feed a family, now they can easily do it and even have surplus leftover. So with the 15 acres I will give, they will be able to easily live their life in luxury."
Alexander said this because even when going by a casual estimate of 800 kg of wheat per hectare, 15 acres would give about five tons of it per year, or 10,000 ropals ording to the market value.
Even if they had to use half of that for renting, as taxes and other misceneous expenditures, they still would be about twice as rich as an average peasant, being around the bracket for well-off merchants.
So Alexander''s statement was fully urate.
"Or if they want the lump sum of 30,000 ropals, they can take that too."
"Buy farnds for cheaper elsewhere maybe."
"Or maybe start a business with it."
"Zanzan is rapidly growing and will surely continue to grow in the future. There is a lot of money to be made here."
"So perhaps the more business savvy could use that 30,000 ropals as start-up capital."
"Anyway, they are free to choose whichever option they like."
Alexander threw out arguments for both of them.
And then finished by turning to his generals and saying,
"I hope all of you can exin this to them. Of course, I will also make time to personally visit the barracks to tell this myself."
"So any questions?"
He atst turned his head inquisitively to see if there were any takers.
And for a while there were none.
Hearing all the details of Alexander''s generous offer the council members finally felt soothed, as they were reassured that their men were not going to get cheated.
In fact hearing Alexander''s generous offers, some even felt a tad bit jealous.
30,000 ropals was not an insignificant amount.
And it was atst Menicus who spoke up, saying approvingly, "I''m sure the soldiers will be very pleased with your offer, my lord. It is very generous!"
But the old man had not only spoken up to praise Alexander.
He also had questions, which he posed,
"But my lord, if so many soldiers were to leave the army, I''m afraid the loss¡." Menicus only trailed off, shaking his head.
He did not think it was necessary to borate anymore as anyone with half a brain could guess what would happen if around 3,000 experienced, battle-hardened warriors suddenly left.
And given Alexander''s generous offer, he was pretty sure most would.
The result of which would be devastating for the army.
But regarding Menicus''s worry about this, Alexander did not seem to share it.
Or at least seem to think they were exaggerated.
He first said with a nod,
"The loss of these hardened soldiers will certainly attenuate our strength for a while. They are irreceable!"
And then added his trademarked ''but''.
"But that is why the army will work for the next two years training up the recruits. And with the experienced instructors, we will soon have a great army again."
"Also. remember that our officer core is still intact! They will be the ones to direct the troops. And given they will be around, the chain ofmand in the army will still be intact."
"That''s is what matters!" Alexander insisted, and then coping Napoleon, said,
"I''m more afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion, rather than an army of lions led by a sheep!"
And Alexander truly believed in this when he said this.
He believed that it was the grassroots officers who won wars, as they would be the ones urging the men to attack and encouraging them to stay and fight.
This required a lot of skill and charisma, as sometimes entire units, usuallyprised of inexperienced troops, would simply refuse to move even when themand was given.
And sometimes even if they moved, they would simply keep avoiding the enemy, circling them or advancing one step but backtracking two steps.
This would be because everyone on the battlefield was afraid and no one wanted to die.
So they would want to postpone the engagement for as long as possible.
And it took a lot of effort to remove thisyer of fear.
A charismatic officer could rally the troops behind him and lead the charge, or enforce stern discipline to force these men, but no matter the tactic employed, it was a tall order for any officer to make peasants kill each other who had no grudges with one another, all for the sake of their lords.
In fact, there is even a Roman story where a unit refused to engage the enemy even after constant urging from their officers, seeing which a standard bearer suddenly threw the army''s standard into the enemy formation and only after that, seeing the standard being almost lost and knowing the shame that would bring to their unit did that Romans charge the enemy.
And in addition to its organizational and logistics capabilities, it was these kinds of individual acts of bravery by low-level officers that earned the Roman army its fearsome reputation.
Hene Alexander was not wrong to ce so much importance on his officers.
Hearing Alexander''s boisterous line praising the officers'' abilities as lions and the nned troop replenishment worked a long way in alleviating some of the worries of the council members.
They were all survivors of the battlefield and knew the importance of good leadership.
Comparing the offciers to the reguar infantry grunts would be likeapring flesh and bones.
It was not too determental to lose some flesh, as soon as the bones remained.
And since many of the veterans mercenaries seemed to be sick of fighitng and wanted to rest, Alxx felt like granting it to them, and use the peace time to train new forces.
Chapter 632 Military Reforms (Part-2)
Chapter 632 Military Reforms (Part-2)
Alexander''s decision to let so many of his men go could be attributed to the fact that he could afford to let them go.
And besides technically he was only relieving them, not really losing them.
And it was a point Heliptos was the first one to chime,
"The lord is right. As long as the officers and instructors are there, our army will still be strong." "Besides, we are not really losing those men. They still exist. We can call them back anytime."
"When we organize long campaigns, our armies will certainly be bolstered by levies and they can join then, as temporary officers or regr infantry."
"I think it''s not a bad idea."
Heliptos pointing this fact out made the others quickly take note of it.
He was right.
The veteran soldiers were still with them, just working as peasants or merchants or being retirees.
So Melodias then next said, "Also, they can help defend the city if something happens while we are away."
"Three thousand (3,000) veterans defending the city will put us at ease.".
"Also few can join the city guards. Keep an eye on all the things we discussed," Grahtos chimed in next.
And hearing the council members all seem very enthusiastic about Alexander''s proposal, Menes understood the decision hadrgely been approved, and so voiced his support too, saying,
"This is indeed good. Many of the men have been fighting for years and want to now settle down. Start a family."
"And thisnd and money will be a good gift to help them do that. They have done a lot for us, They deserve a good way of enjoying their life."
"But isn''t it a bit too much money andnd?"
Suddenly, just as Menes finished, this voice rang out,
It seemed that one person inside the room who was still dissatisfied- Menicus.
"I just calcted thend or money we will need to do this." The old man gruffly said, pointing out, "And it''s about 200 square kilometers of farnd or about 90 million ropals. Can we afford that?"
Menicus''s worry was very justified as paying the cost of 3,000 retiring soldiers was nothing to scoff at, especially when historical precedence was taken into ount.
It had to be remembered that even the mighty Roman army, at the height of its power, with nearly 300,000 active duty legionaries had only 6,000 to 7,000 retirees every year.
Andpared to that vast empire with its virtually infinite resources, Alexander was currently just a tiny ant.
So in many''s eyes, retiring 3,000 men with suchrge benefits was not at all prudent.
"It will be a bit hard on us in the short term, sure. But nothing we cannot bear." But Alexander did not seem to think so, as he answered with a low nod, adding,
"I will admit thend and money is a bit big. But this will not be for everyone, Regr soldiers will get 8 acres or 16,000 ropals when they retire."
"This is only for our men. In recognition of their service during Zanzan''s darkest hours."
As Alexander said, this voice turned softer and his eyes unfocused, seeming to enter into a pool of nostalgia, as he began,
"When I was a mercenary, my biggest dream was to have a bit ofnd to myself. And now I have that and a lot more."
"So I feel like giving these fellow brothers of mine something I too once wished for."
"Is it too wrong?" Alexander asked with some remnants of vicissitudes in his voice.
Now it was not true that Alexander''s dream as a mercenary, or more urately ve was to havend.
His real dream was to attack to weak city-state and take control of it.
But his feelings about giving thends to the former mercenaries were indeed genuine.
Given they had left their homnd and fought and died for him, Alexander truly felt this was the appropriate way to repay them, by giving them an early retirement and a generous severance package.
"Hmmm," But Menicus certainly did not share that sentiment.
Which was expressed by the low hum he produced reminiscent of a growl, while looking pointedly at Alexander.
And for the first time, Alexander seemed to think the old man had found a massive w with his ns.
"You have said that only the infantry will retire. That the officers will remain."
"But has my lord thought what if the officers want to retire too? You are offering a lot of money andnd after all." Menicus posed.
And Alexander seemed to at least have a retort ready for this.
"Of course, it is because unlike the levies and conscripts, they will get many perks. Themon ones like rations and civil benefits like lowernd purchasing prices aside, there will also be things like having priority in choosing booty when we conquer newnds."
"Gold, silver, jewelry and beautiful women."
"The veteran officers will be first in line to have these."
Alexander pointed out, and then continued listing,
"They will also have a career in the military. So over time, they will be promotions, benefits, and all the prestige thate with it."
"If they had enough of a long and illustrious career, or made significant contributions, they might even have get a peerage after retiring!"
"I certainly will not treat those who choose to stay and fight the same way as those who choose to quit!"
He strongly promised.
"*Shake*, *shake*," But although Alexander felt he had made a strong case for himself, Menicus did not seem to think so.
"You are misjudging them." The old man very pointedly said, "You said a mercenary''s biggest dream was to obtainnd. But someone like you who has been one for only a few years could never understand how much we want it."
"But I do."
"I have been a mercenary all my life and I very well know the attraction even of a scrap bit ofnd it holds to us."
"And let me tell you now. No matter how much gold, silver, women, or promotions you promise, most will choose to forgo them for thend."
"Because most mercenaries fight for the main reason of saving enough money to buy somend."
"And if they are being offered that, then why should they bother to fight?"
"Only the foolish would risk their life and limb to fight in the army when a perfectly safe alternative exists."
"Dying by having your heart pierced by a spear does not usually happen during plowing."
"At least that would be my choice." Menicus very determinedly said.
And as the old man slouched back on his chair, the revtion shook Alexander.
He had not thought about it like that and had assumed the perks would be enough.
But if the far more experienced Menicus was saying otherwise.
"Will increasing the money work?" Alexander asked weakly, though he was pretty sure what the reply was gonna be.
"No." And the predictable reply was there, as Menicus said,
"Most of these men have already tasted everything you can offer before."
"Perhaps a few really ambitious will stay in hopes of getting a peerage, but most won''t."
"Risking their life for a possible noble title is not worth it to most."
"They would rather take thend being offered to them right now. Especially when thatnd is sorge and good."
"....." This put Alexander into a thoughtful rumination.
He had mistakenly assumed much of the officer''s core was as or nearly as ambitious as him.
Alexander personally, of course, would have taken the peerage option, because he would rather die than live a life as amoner for all eternity.
Both for him and his children.
But not everyone was as bullheaded as him.
"Don''t let them go, Alex. Listen to Menicus." And as he was considering his option, Cambyses''s concerned voice rang beside him, who with a quick wit quipped,
"You said an army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep. Well, I prefer my army to be of lions led by lions."
Hearing which Menicus could not help but break a light smile.
"Mmm, I too implore my lord to reconsider."
"Giving so muchnd to so many men, many of whom are in their early to mid-twenties is not a good decision."
"I absolutely will not approve of this!"
Menicus was very firm in his opinion.
And as he listened to his top advisor and wife, it became clear to Alexander that what he was about to do was wrong.
".....then what would you have me do?" Thus he asked Menicis.
And after a while of thinking, during which the man kept brushing his beard with his hand, atst answered,
"I propose we should only give the original offer for those 40 years and above."
"And the instructor position should only go to those above 35 years, with increased pay, let''s say 50 ropals."
"Andstly, if anyone below that age wishes to retire, well they can too. We will give them 1,000 ropals for each year they served in their mercenarypany."
"That should satisfy everyone."
Alexander was beyond amazed at the simplicity of the solution.
"Great! Great! Let''s do it like that," So he cheered with a big grin.
And then turning to Menicus with a moment of ecstasy promised, "Menicus, you have saved me tens of millions of ropals and perhaps the destruction of my army."
"So once we get morend, I promise to make you a Talukder (Viscount)!"
Chapter 633 New Policies And Agreements
Chapter 633 New Policies And Agreements
Alexander wouldter look back on this day, the day he almost dismissed 3,000 of his soldiers with morbid shame.
It seemed like this was one of those days where his head was not in the game.
And seemed to be not thinking clearly, so upon hearing Menes''s report, he had jumped the gun using own assumptions.
Alexander thought he had the money, and with his spending habits, which some would describe as generous and others as loose and spendthrift, had all of a sudden decided to arbitrarily spend it to get rid of this slight headache.
Worse still, most of the council members did not seem to mind either.
Meaning if not for Menicus''s stern intervention, Alexander''s order might have gone out and even before he could have realized it, he would have unwittingly crippled himself.
Because by the time he would have tried to rescind, it might have been already toote.
If thend had been given or money gifted, Alexander would have been embarrassed to ask for them back.
Hence for his services to the army and helping Alexander avoid this imbroglio, it was really not excessive for Alexander to offer a peerage increase to Menicus.
"Thank you, my lord, thank you," And hearing so naturally caused Menicus to break out into a smile as soon waves of praises and congrattions started pouring in from all sides.
They contained happiness, respect, and some even a tinge of regret that they could not have been the ones to discover the w, with some like Heliptos evenmenting that they were so enthusiastic about such a wrong thing.
It took a while for the festive atmosphere to finally die down, at the end of which Grahtos posed thest question of the day,
"My lord, you said that we will have new recruits. But from where? We already have a shortage of men!"
And he was right, as a lot of the meeting had been about that topic.
This Alexander was prepared for.
"I have already asked the nobles to contribute. They said they will send some of their men."
And then informed,
"Also some want to also join the army, along with their sons."
"We need to be prepared for that. Soon the Zanzan army will not only made of us."
What Alexander implicitly meant was that the nobles would soon start topete with them over the council members over high-level positions and that the council members should not getcent.
"Will they join as officers?" At this sudden announcement, Menes was understandably a bit concerned that the pampered men would be ipetent and so posed the question it was a slight scowl.
"The details are yet to be discussed. But I will try to make them start as low as possible," While Alexander simply made this promise.
And with that, after Alexander said some pleasantries, finally the long meeting ended.
And the council members were finally relieved to be able to get out of that one.
Save for one- TH.
He was asked to stay behind.
"So how has the temple been going?" Alexander asked his head priest, feeling he had not checked up on the temple for a while.
"Our followers are increasing. Every day more and more people are joining us. Most of them poor folk we give assistance to." TH quite enthusiastically reported, adding,
"Also when my lord chose to give that 50 million ropals to the city people, many came to appreciate your generosity and our followers increased. In fact, we are thinking of building a few more temples!"
It seemed Alexander''s religion was a growing one.
"Hmmm, so how many people do you think we have?" Hearing this Alexander asked for a number.
"Ummm¡.about ten to twenty thousand," TH guessed.
Which caused Alexander to muse, ''A bit low,'' because he thought it would be much bigger.
He had been hemorrhaging money on this and had at least thought it would be closer to fifty.
But he kept it to himself and tried to think of new strategies that would attract new converts.
''Perhaps I should give some sermons to attract more people,'' He thought.
After all, no matter how hard the priests worked it could never be equal to the lord of the city and the messenger of god himself showing up.
So Alexander decided to make a n to give weekly sermons at the main temple from now on.
And when he let TH know this, the man was naturally ecstatic.
Following this, he spent the next few hours talking and getting to know how the temple operated as well as the things TH thought he needed.
And at the top of the list was the usual, more funding for more shrines and temples, as well as more acolytes.
ording to TH, there currently was a chronic shortage of them, and they even had to borrow some from Ramuh''s temple.
Alexander tried to fulfill these requests to the best of his abilities and promised to do more.
He said,
''I will open more apothecaries and hospitals under the temple''s name. More people are likely toe under our wing if they are healed under the goddess''s grace."
"I will also ask the Zanzan Clinic to coborate, and have some of their doctors visit these ces, while priests and priestesses of the goddess can go to them and bless the sick, staying beside their bed and saying words offort."
"Andstly for your problem regarding the shortage of priests, I will open a few new schools. It will be free for the students, along with food and lodgings, so make sure to choose promising boys and girls, preferably orphans when that happens."
Alexander had in one breath promised a huge load of things for TH.
And the priest appeared to be over the moon hearing this.
"Thank you! Thank you my lord," He cried, struggling to express the full extent of his gratitude.
If Alexander really did all that, it would be immensely helpful for Gaia''s faith.
"Mmmm, don''t worry. Continue to work hard," While Alexander in a stoic manner befitting a divine emissary cooly replied.
And with that promise and the day nearing dusk, finally, Alexander''s long day came to an end, and he was just as relieved as anybody to conclude it.
But the next week proved to be just as hectic as that day.
Because this was the week he met with the nobles as promised, discussing the ongoing progress of thend,
Here the infrastructure projects were again reviewed and the deadlines revised, thest year''s taxes they owed to Alexander were calcted andstly, the deal Alexander had promised regarding cheap rates of his products was fulfilled.
And as the nobles saw the product being loaded up to their carts, ready for transport, all could not help but cheer.
There were literally millions of ropals of profit to be had.
Alexander even invited the nobles who were not under him but had promised to fight Tibias with him, simrly giving them the goods as promised, even when they did not fight.
"Your forthrightness is praiseworthy my lord," And seeing the huge amount of goods Alexander was giving to them at such a watered-down price, without even a shred of haggling, many developed favorable views of Alexander.
All these issues took a full week toplete, all along which Alexander also had to host multiple grand parties and balls to entertain the men.
Which proved to be a bit of a challenge given theck of venue.
Previously he would have done it at his mansion, a no-brainer, but now he had to hold in one of therger vacant noble houses.
But those were minor inconveniences, nothing Alexander could not fix.
So as Alexander mingled there, many nobles came up to offer their daughters to Alexander but was tactfully declined.
He was a pasha and these nobles'' peerage were a bit too low.
Alexander might have considered if the offer was from a Matbar (Marquiss) or a powerful (Jamider), but none such came.
And so with that issue finished, he started the next phase of his negotiation- Getting more people from the nobles.
As Alexander sat behind his desk, he began, "My lords, as I have already told you, Zanzan''s old enemy Tibias has reared its head again. And will again attack soon."
"So we need to grow. Especially after suffering losses from our previous encounter."
"So how many men can you contribute?"
Alexander had asked each of them this before already, and so the nobles were able to individually give their own estimate.
And predictably Alexander haggled for more, while the noblesid out all kinds of various difficulties they were facing, like their shrunken pool of men due to the drought, the men Alexander was already using for construction, the manpower required for the brick kilns Alexander wanted, and much more.
With the two sides finallying to an agreement that Zanzan would add another 4,500 infantry and 500 cavalry permanently to its rosters, beginning the total up to 9,000 infantry and 1,200 cavalry.
Furthermore, the number of levies was also decided, and the nobles promised that they could spare 20,000 men from winter tote spring each year, with each levy getting 120 ropals a month for their service.
And as these details were being ironed out, two predictable requests were made to Alexander.
The first one was obvious.
The nobles wanted to be allowed entry army and serve.
While the other was them asking to be allowed a few seats in Alexander''s council.
Chapter 634 Military Policies And Nobles (Part-1)
Chapter 634 Military Policies And Nobles (Part-1)
ording to the treaty Alexander had signed with the nobles, there was a use in there that stated the nobles were required to send a representative to Alexander to present their viewpoints during meetings.
That had been signed almost a year ago.
However, due to various reasons and kafkaesque bureaucracies, it had yet to be implemented.
And so given that so much time had passed, it was only very reasonable that they would want this.
After all, at the moment, there was no noble in Alexander''s inner circle to represent this powerful group''s interest.
Alexander had no problem eding to this, saying, "Yes, I nned it such anyway. The official council building is under construction for just that purpose and should be finished before winter."
"At that time, you can all send your representative, or even yourself might attend it."
The ease with which Alexander epted their demand surprised the nobles because they had assumed that Alexander would try to haggle a bit.
They thought that the nobles would pick one or two of their own to be in the council seat during Alexander''s meeting, who would then try and protect their interests.
So Alexander''s frank admission of all of them into the group made many feel refreshed.
The reason they previously thought as such was because they were unfamiliar with the type of government structure Alexander was trying to achieve.
Higher nobles rarely sought the opinion of their subordinates on most decisions other than wars, with perhaps a rare few trusted ones kept as advisors.
And the reason for this was simple, most nobles were feudal, meaning they lived their lives as kings inside theirnds, allowed to do almost whatever they liked.
So why would a pasha or matbar (marquis) implementing policies on his ownnd waste time listening to the opinions of other unrted parties?
It had nothing to do with them after all.
Of course, there were exceptions to this general rule.
For instance, nobles would sign trade deals, alliances, or treaties with one another, then they would be asked toe and weigh in.
While other times, they could band together to protest on some policies their lord was or wanting to enact, such as economic ones which might drive away their influence on the market, political ones such as changing allegiances to the kings, or social ones like restricting or allowing people to move between the various noble''snds.
But those were usually done on rare asions and with only the parties involved.
So Alexander''s type of governance where everyone sat together and discussed things as a whole was a novel and unfamiliar idea to them.
Alexander of course did this so that everyone could pool their resources and work together to better everyone''s circumstances, but the feudal lords who jealously guarded theirnds never thought like that.
And this archaic mindset was still very much engraved into them even now, as evidenced by how many seemed to be dragging their feet when it came to the construction of projects such as cleaning the roads, broadening it, building a proper sewage system, etc, even with Alexander''s urging and furthermore with his funding.
Many did not see the point in it, or at least were skeptical of the value of the investment.
Many thought Alexander was wasting 100 gold to get 90 back.
But despite the difficulties, things were still progressing, even if they were not as fast as Alexander wished they were.
The copious amounts of gold and goods Alexander had used to grease the wheel worked to convince the nobles to ept these demands, though it had to be remembered it only happened because these men, defeated in battle and then abandoned, were rtively weak and had little other choice.
So if Alexander wanted to rope more nobles in with simr deals, where a centralized form of power would be allowed to exert force onnds the nobles saw almost as sovereign, Alexander knew he would have to both use force and show the benefits it could bring to the ruling ss by following this deal.
And one of the many ways of showing this was by promising each noble a seat at his table.
The efficacy and sagaciousness of this idea would have to wait untilter to be evaluated.
But for now, all the nobles were quite pleased, and so the topic that many thought would be
contentious was very quickly resolved.
Though regrettably, the time they saved on that, seemed to have more than made up for discussing the next issue.
"My lord, many of us also wish to join the army. Fight Tibias ourselves! How can we join?"
The voice was young and eager, evident of the ''energetic young blood.''
"Of course, you are wee to any time. Having trained men of your caliber is a blessing to our whole army." To this Alexander first appeared very enthusiastically.
But then added,
"But you will need to train for some time before joining thebat ranks."
"The Zanzan army does not use the usual phnx formation, so I think you will need some months to get used to this new formation."
"Spend some time getting acquainted with the new tactics we use and the novel weapons we have invented."
After saying this, Alexander then went on to very briefly list the things they would be required to learn, by the end of which the nobles seemed a bit peeved.
Now, the fact that Zanzan used a different formation was not news to the nobles.
They knew that much.
But they were not sure just how different it was.
Many thought it was just a kind of variation of the phnx, and so felt Alexander was being pedantic.
''We have been training our whole life. Who does this pup think he is,'' Some older veterans appeared to think.
Furthermore, they were also a bit dissatisfied with Alexander wanting them to train in infantry tactics.
"My lord, we are nobles. We ride on cavalry!" Many cried as they urged Alexander to rx the requirements.
With one young noble taking a particrly aggressive stance,
"My lord, why you are asking us to train with the recruits! Those are peasant greenhorns who have never touched a sword or spear."
"Whereas we have been training since birth. My hands are all rough and full of calluses from gripping my sword for too long!"
"See! See!"
"Do you think these hands need even more training?"
The man or perhaps more urately the boy then even spread out his palms for Alexander to see.
And as Alexander moved his gaze to the thick, rough arms bearing remains of a lot of small and shallow cuts, no doubt due to the skin breaking many times during training, he lifted his eyes to look at the adolescent boy with no facial hair and bright blue eyes as he recalled the information regarding him.
This very enthusiastic ''boy about to turn adult'' was a small shordar (baron) owning a rtively useless scrap ofnd, about two days walk from here.
His grandfather was aa (knight) who had served as the captain of the royal guards during his time, and when Alozmer (Amenheraft''s father) came to power, near the end of his rule, he elevated them to a shordar (baron).
But sadly, his father never got to fully enjoy the fruits of their aplishments.
Because he died, in in battle during Amenheraft''s fateful attack on Adhan a half year ago, which imed not only the boy''s father but also all of his elder male rtives, his uncles, brothers, cousins, everyone, leaving him as the oldest male heir.
This way Ismale was forced to take the heavy burden of running a fief at the tender age of 13.
And as he took the reins of the family, or tried to, he was suddenly asked to swear fealty to themander against who his father had died fighting.
And though he resisted that at first, after a bit of time, he was surprisingly pretty cool about it, saying to Alexander, "My father followed his oath, and you did yours, my lord. There can never be any question of revenge or even discontent because of this."
This was the of course typical mindset of the time period.
Something Alexander doubted he could do.
He was not sure whether he could forgive amander who killed his father.
As Alexander reminisced this, his focus ultimately returned to the hot-blooded youth standing so eagerly in front of him, and could not help but ask,
"Ismale, why are you so eager to army? Don''t you have a fief to oversee?"
Alexander thought that given almost half his family died due to war, the boy would be averse to it.
But Ismale clearly thought differently, saying,
"Of course it is so win battles and earn glory. I must make my father and grandfather proud!"
"Lin can look after thends."
Lin was the boy''s half-sister, 16 years old, and someone Alexander remembered seeing once or twice at parties.
At the boy''s ''matter of fact'' answer, Alexander momentarily felt unable to retort back.
It had no reason with which he could argue against.
"My lord, Ismale is right. We nobles ride on the horse, we are cavalry."
"Don''t you think it is a waste of our time to be learning about the infantry?"
Compared to Ismale''s very loud and aggressive tone, this one was soft.
And it came from Jamider (Earl) Tikba, perhaps the most influential noble in Alexander''s retinue.
It seemed making the noblesply with him would not be easy for Alexander.
Chapter 635 Military Policies and Nobles (Part-2)
Chapter 635 Military Policies and Nobles (Part-2)
Alexander''s reason for wanting the nobles to alsoplete the training the infantry took as simple.
Because he believed everyone should undergo basic training, no matter if you fought on two legs, or four.
And which was something all modern armies practiced too.
No matter the service branch you wished to join, everyone was required to jump, hop, swim, and crawl through the mud all the same, even if you went on to be a fighter jet pilot who would only leave the air conditioning on the way from the briefing room to the aircraft.
And this was something that Alexander tried to exin, first saying,
"I know that''s what all you want to say,"
"That you already know everything. That you have fought in battle and lived. That doing these tedious tasks would be nothing but a chore for you."
"But I also know that you do not have a standardized way of training." He paused a bit,
"I know that each of you train using your own method. Which might be fine, no problem."
Alexander said understandingly,
"But that is not what the Zanzan army needs."
"It does not need powerful warriors who fight for only his own glory. But obedient and organized soldiers who work as a team!" Alexander revealed his requirement, saying,
"That is why I intend to standardize the army, its practices, its tactics so that every soldier possesses a fixed set of skills and abilities."
"In that way, all the individual soldiers can work closer together and support each other with greater coherence!"
"And for that, I want all those who wish to join the army first to undergo the basic training program."
"It is not only there to teach the soldiers how to swing a sword or use a shield, but also to teach how the army works as a whole, how the regr soldiers operate, learn what they say, and even develop some kind of camaraderie with them."
Alexander in his long speech listed all the reasons for his demand, as then, before others could bring more objections, quickly said in a negotiating tone,
"If you have a problem even with this, then start training first. Spend one or two weeks and see the differences for yourself. Then if you really think it is everything is reductant, we can discuss further."
And seeing Alexander''s firm stance as well as hearing his promise, the nobles were finally convinced to shelve the matter for the time.
Though Alexander in reality had no intention of changing anything.
These nobles might be good warriors, but Alexander believed theycked stamina, making them ill-suited to bear the harsh conditions of the Zanzan army.
Particrly its per-day marching target.
Alexander believed even if these nobles were to try andplete in on horseback, they would still be tired, and if repeated over and over again, the constant exertion would eventually burn them out.
So Alexander wished to use the infantry training program to remind many of them of the required fitness for the army.
But the results of these programs were to be seen in the future,
And as for now, with this penultimate issue settled, atst, arose the question Alexander was most concerned about, which was regarding the post the nobility and their scions would get when they joined the army.
Normally, even the lowest would join as officers like captains leading a whole phnx unit.
While in reality, it was moremon for them to join being in charge of three to four phnx units.
And sometimes, they would even join directly as part of the leading noble''s council, having no official title, but wielding much power due to their background.
But Alexander could never agree to this tradition.
Not only due to the weakness and fragility of ipetence, it would introduce into his army, but also due to the fact if he did do so, the problems here would be much morepounded.
This was because the size of Alexander''s army units under a captain was much bigger than the equivalent phnx unit, beingposed of 600 men units called battalion
Furthermore, the legionary formation was nothing as rigid and one-minded as the phnx formation, where you could install an idiot at the head and simply point him forward, and all he would need to do was make sure the soldiers walked straight and did not run away.
No, the legionary formation''s greatest strength was its flexibility, being able to respond to a myriad of threats.
But its greatest strength could also be its biggest liability at the hands of an ipetentmander as he would have much more ways to screw up.
So Alexander knew he had to break this cursed tradition of automatically getting a post based on one''s father''s name.
"Every new recruit who joins the army as infantry with no prior battle experience will start as a basic legionary, fighting in the front line with seven of his brothers next to him in the row¡.regardless of his background." So he firmly dered.
And this got a rise of the nobles as he had expected.
"What!"
"Expose our sons to the frontlines!"
"Lord Alexander, this joke is not funny!"
"Fight alongside peasants! How!"
"Our son''s safety! Who will guarantee it!"
Each of the nobles exmied.
And though these shouts were loud and boisterous, if not for the fact that Alexander was their boss and they were nobles required by etiquette to hold their tongues in the open, the cries would have been much more colorful.
Alexander for this part, hearing each of the noble''s concerns, could not help but sneer angrily at them for disparaging the soldiers, the very people who fought and died for them.
"First of all, they will be soldiers you and your sons will be fighting next to. Professionals who are paid to do so and only so. They will not be peasants."
Alexander very cooly replied to the aggrieved group, and then his voice turned snarky, as he almost snarled,
"And what exactly are you crying about? You are going to join the army. You are going to war. You are going to kill people. And then you are going to take theirnds, their women, and their possessions!"
"So if you are going to do that, why are afraid of dying!"
His octaves rose for each question until it was booming, and thundering.
And as the noble attempted to recover from his scathing attack, Alexander quickly added in a deadpan tone,
"If you do not want to join the army, no one is forcing you. You can leave and I will not judge you."
"But if you are gonna join, if you want to fight for honor, glory, riches, andnds, then you better be ready to put your life on the line."
"..." And as Alexander made his position on the matter clear, the other nobles found nothing more to say.
It was Alexander''s army, and whether he would let them in was entirely up to him.
So many became stoic, some went quiet and some pursed their lips, each noble swimming in their own thoughts.
Some epted Alexander''s proposal, some rejected it, and some even vowed to make things difficult for Alexander in other ways.
"Good," But those did not seem to concern Alexander for the moment, as he uttered the word with a nod after hearing no objections, before saying,
"Now, as I was saying before you interrupted me, all new infantry recruits will join the rank and file, and fight in the frontlines."
"But if you are worried about your son''s safety, you can send a team of bodyguards, to be in his squad. You could even send seven of them so that everyone in that row will be working to protect your son. (each row is made of 8 soldiers)."
"That is the best concession I''m willing to make for you. Even my son will be the same."
"Do you still disagree?"
In very much contrast with his previous booming voice, Alexander''s current tone was soft and soothing, as if he was trying to lull a child.
And hearing this concession, as well as the fact Alexander would be putting his own to-be-had child in the same boat, many nobles slowly or slightly nodded.
They were not exactly happy over the deal, as in a battlefield, no amount of bodyguards could ever be enough, much less seven,
After all, even generals who were supposedly protected by the entire army could be killed.
But even still it was a reasonable arrangement.
And worked to relieve the acrimony of the nobles.
"That is eptable to us," So Jamider (Earl) Tikba said on behalf of everybody else.
"Mmmm," Hearing which Alexander hummed, after which he continued,
"Also what I said was only for new recruits, People who have never participated in battles."
"As for those who have, who have experienced the crucible of a real battlefield, if they are nobles, after finishing their basic training, they will be allowed to join directly as a sergeant, leading 100 men."
And this rification further helped make the noble be a lot more receptive to Alexander''s policies, with some shrewd ones even thinking of sending their sons on some small skirmishing missions and presenting it as they had been to war.
But Alexander was not bothered by these curved paths, as such opportunities were far and between.
Instead, he was more pleased at having achieved this milestone.
And so with these pivotal decisions made, Alexander''s week with the noles finally came to an end, a sessful one if he said so himself.
Chapter 636 Brief Leisurely Interlude With the Girls
Chapter 636 Brief Leisurely Interlude With the Girls
With the meeting with the nobles over and each leaving for their own fief, their carts filled to the bring with the things Alexander sold to them, life for the young pasha began to drift back into a calm lull.
Of course, there was a lot of work to be done in the city, but those were for the council members and the workers to aplish.
For Alexander personally, he only needed to check up on the progress from time to time.
So his following days were spent in rtive leisure, where he would attend one or two small meetings with a few of the council members in the morning and then spend the rest of the day doing whatever he felt like doing.
Because it was summer, sometimes Alexander would simply decide to stay in his house, feeling toozy to move in this heat.
So he would simplyze around, munching on seasonal fruits such as peaches, apricots, figs, and drinking cool juices or wine to his heart''s content.
A particrly favorite pastime for him was to sit on afortable wooden rocking chair on the second-floor balcony, holding a cool ss of wine and simply taking in the view of the surrounding hills.
Alexander''s current house, simr to his previous one was also built on a hill, overlooking the Cisran hills, though the view was nowhere as good, given both the hills and the sea were visible from that manor.
But still, the bungalow had its charms and was a quiet ce to rx and unwind, deserving of its name as a noble''s vacation house.
And many times Alexander would not be alone, as one or more of his girls would be there to apany him.
They would talk about their work, gossip about what types of the new style is in fashion, y games like poker, chess, dice, etc. recite poetry, re-tell stories, and sometimes even discuss philology, going over light-hearted topics such as can animals understand human speech to heavy ones like the meaning of life or why people should have morals and ethics, tostly even abstract ones like the ''ship of Theseus problem,'' which explored the concept of identity over time by asking if one took a ship and reced all its part with a new one would it still be the same ship?
The answer to that particr dilemma for the girls appeared to be - yes, it would be the same ship.
Of course, Alexander did not simply spend the time with the girls in idle gossip.
Sometimes, he performed various strenuous exercises with them too.
This was a noble''s vacation home after all, and that man seemed to have built several beautiful bedrooms overlooking the fantastic views outside, with all of the rooms being away from all kinds of prying eyes just for this kind of event.
So unless one got really close and listened very closely, they would struggle to pick the low humming moans and shorts gasps of ecstasy that woulde out from some of those rooms at different times of the day.
"Ahh, master¡doing this in broad daylight¡ohhh good,"
Cries like this would bemon and if one were to really pry and look inside, they would often be met with a man and one or more women engaged in making love.
Sometimes Alexander would take Gelene to the open balcony,pletely naked, and rail her pink flower from behind, feeling the fresh, cool mountain air hit him as he smashed his hips against the luscious, curvy ck butt.
The sexy rump would be covered in mild dews of sweet-smelling sweat due to the heat and the exercise, and many times it would gain a glowing rosy tint by the time Alexander was done spanking it.
And facing this attack, most times Gelene would only be able to hold onto the rails of the balcony for dear life, and just be capable of letting out soul-stirring moans.
"Ahhh, I''m so embarrassed¡to not have even a thread on ¡mmmm what if someone sees us!"
Many times Gelene would try to y coy when Alexander would take her outside showing her ebony, busty body, glistening with sweat to the world.
Though the hungry way she would swing her butt at the same time, in reciprocity to Alexander''s thrusting would not make that sentence not at all convincing.
Alexander would even feel the ebonydy''s passage squeeze harder during these exposure ys, clearly showing her preference.
He also came to feel that Gelene''s canal had be tighter recently, something he attributed to both his erged organ as well thedy''s use of legummum which worked to turn her muscles more taut.
Alexander of course did not give this special treatment to only Gelene.
The same position would many times be taken by Ophenia too, whose delicious melons swinging in the air would be even for fantastic to look at than Gelene''s, as the jeweled piercings would tempt Alexander to y with them, elicitng lustful songs from this sacred priestress.
"Yes, master, pull them more¡.harder!" Ophenia would cry unabashedly.
And many times both the women would be lined up together fully naked on the balcony, all oiled and lubed up, as they swung their glistering ck and white butts shamelessly, letting the sun hit their pink holes, while Alexander took them simultaneously from behind, pinching, kneading and spanking their asses along the way much of both''s delight.
Or if Alexander wanted to get serviced, he wouldy down as the two voluptuous girls would smash their oiled melon together and squish his hot spear in between, which would look like a chocte and vani colored sandwich to Alexander, before the two would use their fleshy pillows, warm mouths, and skilled tongues to coax his fat rod to release its treasures and dye them in his white, creamy milk.
In fact, both Opehnia and Gelene loved getting new facials and would try to make Alexander erupt right in front of their faces before they would sultrily turn to show their new make-up to Alexander, letting him see how his turbid spunk covered them from head to chin.
The many thin cloudy streams would be seen rolling down their rosy cheeks and luscious lips, painting them in his color, with some even getting stuck in their hairs from time to time.
Seeing this, Alexander would not be able to decide which view was better, this, or the sexy, cleaning-up act that would follow, where the two girls would lick andp each other off his sperm, while also hotly french kissing each other during the process, many times with his dick between them.
The two girls'' talent and experiences in pleasuring men really showcased themselves during these service ys, and Alexander certainly very much enjoyed these.
And it would not only be these two to earn Alexander''s favor, as despite her busy schedule, even Mean would also sometimes try and join these acts, though she appeared to have grown a particr preference for another type of y.
She would stand nude on the balcony, with her hands behind her head and her legs spread as Alexander lightly caned the petite girl upon her request, leaving deep red shes on her small, pillowy nks, as she came in wave after wave while singing in joy like a lusty canary.
While at the same time, the girls would y with her pink cave or petite boobs or soft armpits as she would get spanked, fingering her, pinching her or kneading her, and in general tormenting the pain-loving girl to ever greater heights of pleasure.
Before Alexander would take her roughly in brutal, almost animal-like matings, pressing against her violently and stirring her insides to his heart''s content.
And on days Cambyses would be present Mean would get a special treat, as the pregnantdy would use a small leather crop to hit her friend all over the body as Alexander smashed her from behind, the soft wooden instrument being directed at all the vulnerable ces, from the nubile cherries on her chest to her creamy armpits, to her smooth crotch or even her cute, sensitive red bean down below.
Feeling these attacks, the petite girl would scream her heart out and many times even lose control of her sphincter, producing a golden shower for everyone to enjoy.
As for the orchestrator of this delightful y,- Cambyses, by now, her baby bump had be quite prominent and almost impossible to hide.
So she retrained herself to mostly the house, only asionally going out for walks in the garden to stretch her legs a bit.
Alexander also stopped having physical rtions with her for the time being, in fear of hurting the baby, especially given the size of his erged organ.
He even refused to do her in the back side even when Cambyses stuck her butt up and parted her cheeks, inviting him with her flowery hole, as Alexander wanted to exercise the very limits of caution.
Without being a doctor, he could not say with absolute definiteness that hisrge tool in the rear hole would not put pressure on the baby in front, and though it might been excessive, Alexander wanted to take every precaution avable to him so as to avoid any unforeseen events.
This was because although he did not show it, deep down Alexander was deathly afraid regarding Cambyses''s pregnancy and all the ways it could go wrong, both for her and the child.
So in the end, Cambyses had to sate her lust by only getting fingered by him or the girls, and squirting.
Chapter 637 Viewing The City’s Progress (Part-1)
Chapter 637 Viewing The City''s Progress (Part-1)
As Alexander''s leisurely days turned to weeks, he began to notice the three had be much more aggressive in their desire to sleep with him.
In fact, the more the time for Cambyses''s conception approached, the more the trio seemed to want to spend more time with him, with even Mean skipping overseeing the housework to get frisky with Alexander under the sheets.
Alexander had first thought this eagerness was because they had missed him very much over thest few months.
But that idea did not seem to hold water as with the passage of time, the girls did not slow down their advances as one would expect after sating their lust.
But instead, they began to get even more aggressive with each passing day, to the point they were willing to try even some extreme ys involving things like melting wax, where Alexander would pour hot, melted wax on the girls'' luscious boobs, perky nipples, and even the crotch.
Or bondage ys like the wooden horse where they would be naked or with underwear on a wooden triangle and feel the wedge dig into them, or rope ys, where the girls would have their limbs bound tightly in different ways, all of which worked to present themselves as a helpless prisoner to Alexander, allowing him to do whatever he liked to them.
Alexander was at first a bit confused by this overly eager attitude, not understanding where all this love wasing from, until one day Gelene identally let spill the beans during a particrly steamy session.
"Ahhh, yes¡make me pregnant¡I too want to give master a son like sister Cambyses," Gelene in her lustful stupor had screamed out as Alexander came inside her.
Hearing which made Alexander raise a slight eyebrow.
Of course, this was nothing too unexpected, as Alexander guessed the other girls seeing Cambyses''s burgeoning belly could not help but feel both happy for her and also a bit sad that it could not be them.
Alexander would always make them apply the legummum, which acted as a spermicide, both before and immediately after each session, so getting identally pregnant was not really possible.
And even if they could manage to fool Alexander during this process and get pregnant, still the legummum was capable of inducing evente-stage abortion once processed in a certain way.
So the only way for them to realistically get pregnant would be only through Alexander''s permission.
But Alexander was very strict here.
He wanted his main wife Cambyses to give birth first, preferably to a son, thus solidifying her and her child''s position in the family, before he would think of having children with others.
Now, there was no rule stating the main wife had to give birth first.
In fact, it did not matter when she did, just that she did.
But Alexander preferred his firstborn to be Cambyses''s and hence he kept all the rtions with his other women sterile for the time.
"If you want to be pregnant wait till Cambyses gives birth twice. Then I will let all three of you conceive."
And as he came to know about their desires, Alexander was very clear in his deal to them.
Alexander wanted to give Cambyses two chances to produce a son before others had their own kids.
And if Cambyses had two consecutive daughters, well then Alexander would have to ept that his sessor would have elder siblings.
There was nothing he could do what that.
While for the trio, upon knowing Alexander''s deadline, they seemed to calm down and get off their heat.
They at least now had a time frame and given that Cambyses was already close to delivering once, it meant they would be able to conceive in another year or two.
So atst the intensity of those night attacks decreased and Alexander finally had some time to give his little brother some rest.
Now, Alexander of course did not spend all his time engaged in debauchery.
He also did some work.
Not much, but he did, holding meetings and going over policies.
But primarily over the following weeks and months, he went on various tours across the city, in order to see how everything was going.
He first visited the construction site of the apartmentplexes and was pleased to see quite a few of them were alreadyplete, standing tall and magnificent, with their shiny white painted walls glistening under the golden sun, the rows of four-story buildings seemed to exude a profound sense of strength and safety.
The very first of these were even starting to be furnished with doors and windows and it appeared the building would soon be ready to ept its first inhabitants.
Alexander first viewed theseplexes from the alreadypleted new, wide, roads, and then decided to go over to meet and talk with those in charge.
Here he made conversation with the foreman, asking him about the project''s progress and what kind of problems he was facing.
Then he toured the insides to inspect the build quality, and found they were built mostly to his specifications.
"Small merchants, artisans, and city guards should get first priority in obtaining these ts." And as he toured, he made a note to himself on how to distribute these ts, choosing the groups possessing rare skills and those economically more significant to be favored more.
And aftering out of the t,stly, with kind of half an agenda at propaganda, he exchanged some pleasant words withborers there such as the bricyers and cement mixers working there, asking them about their working conditions and life in general, which made these poor folks be over the moon.
"The lord is so nice. Never thought a noble would actually talk to me." The minimum wage men would say to themselves, recounting the experience several dozen times to anyone who would hear, from his family members to friends to even acquaintances.
While the man who was being praised, Alexander, after inspecting the apartments, moved to see the aqueducts, several of which were under construction.
And much to his delight found many seemed close to beingplete.
The huge overhead structures ran 10 meters high and were several meters wide, with some running for several kilometers all the way from deep inside the Cisran hills, where they would collect water from therge and fast-flowing spring waters, which would sometimes be as much as hundreds of gallons of water per second for each aqueduct, and then transport them all the way to the city.
To do this the aqueducts would be built with a slight reclining slope so that the water would flow gently from the hills to the city under the effects of gravity.
A key point here had to be the word ''gently'' as a very fast-flowing rate of water would erode the structure quickly.
Furthermore, these aqueducts would have many stone bars pointing out of them along many points, its job to catchrge-sized garbage like the carcasses of dead animals like goats, sheep, and even cows orrge boulders that could fall into the water.
After all, given the water would travel for several kilometers under the open sky, it would be verymon for it to be contaminated by all kinds of rubbish, dirt, leaves, to even dead birds and animals.
Anyway, after the water finally arrived at the city, it would be collected in humongous overground tanks or reservoirs, with there sometimes being multiple of them.
And down below, many huge pipes would be connected to them, all working to distribute this collected water across the city to many designated outlets.
These outlets would be in the form of giant wells or fountains, from which people would be able to collect the water at their convenience.
This was of course quite a primitive way of distributing water to the city, and Alexander already had future ns to divert a part of the water to bathhouses and publictrines, to industries such as dying, andstly to private houses, such as his own and other nobles, thus finally giving him some kind of running water,
But developing suchplex underground deliveryworks and mechanisms to control and direct the flow of water would take some time, as pipes needed to be made and the ground underneath dug toy them in.
And so for now, Alexander settled for the current arrangement, with tens ofrge wells spread throughout the city, with their greatest concentration being around the western district which was designated to be a residential area, they being fed by multiple aqueducts, many of which provided water to multiple such collection points simultaneously.
Well the aqueducts were supposed to work as per the above description.
As up until now, these magnificent structures were yet to bepletely made operational.
So as Alexander looked up, he saw many of them ending abruptly in the middle of the sky, while many workers and beasts of burden worked around it, thetter mainly working the huge cranes that lifted the huge stones and many bricks that were needed to build the thing, while much of the former was on perilous scaffolding,ying bricks and stoneyer byyer, applying the cement as mortar between them and extending the structure towards its eventual goal bit by bit, brick by brick.
And seeing such a huge structure get built piece by piece right in front of him, Alexander could not help but feel a surge of achievement and a sense of aplishment.
''Once it''s finished I will be grand!'' He said to himself.
Chapter 638 Viewing the Aqueducts (Part-1)
Chapter 638 Viewing the Aqueducts (Part-1)
Chapter 638
"My lord, wee! What do you think? It''s quite the size if I say so myself!"
Alexander had of course let the council member in charge of this project know of his intended visit and Uzak was there to greet him soon after he arrived, pointing to the aqueducts and marveling at it for a while.
Following this the stonemason then took Alexander around the construction site of one of the aqueducts, showing him the progress they made.
Though even though he said one, Alexander had actually designed all of them to be interconnected, so that if one of them broke down or required maintenance, the water flowing through it could be redirected.
But each aqueduct was made to serve the areas around it, making them fairly localized, so it was not wrong per se.
Anyway, after exchanging the usual pleasantries, Uzak then took Alexander to the construction site, showing him around.
As he was doing so, at one point he suddenly stopped, before looking up at the huge, thick pirs of the aqueduct, and letting out a sigh of admiration.
"Ah! I never thought such huge structures were possible."
"It''s all due to these arches! So magnificent!"
"They are so strong and robustpared to just a line. We could have never imagined such a simple solution existed!"
"My lord is truly omniscient!"
What the man here was so enthusiastically referring to was how the arched shape between the pirs helped the aqueducts reach the size and shape they were seeing.
When Alexander had initially proposed the dimensions of the structure, not just Uzak, other stonemasons had also expressed their doubts regarding the possible structural integrity of it, saying if they were to build the aqueducts to Alexander''s specifications, the whole structure might very well tumble under its own weight.
"All these¡ummm bridges between the two pirs might break my lord," Uzak had said pointing to the individual straight lines between the pirs.
And then advised him to tone down the size and scale of the structure to reduce the load on it, moreover arguing, "It will also cost less and be quicker to build!"
But Alexander did not view that as an option.
Because one needed them to be high up, much above the city so that gravity could work effectively to pump the water all around.
Water always tried to reach the height it was dropped from, as it exerted pressure on itself evenly and it was this phenomenon that enabled aqueducts to deliver water throughout the city.
Without this, and with the absence of modern electric pumps, there could be no way of delivering running water.
And so, if one were to decrease the height of the aqueducts, it would also reduce the height difference between the water and the city, which would in turn decrease the pressure of the flow and hence the speed, giving rise to concerns such as some parts of the city not getting any water as it would not be able to flow out of the pipes and be stagnant.
There was also another reason behind Alexander''s wish to make them really tall.
And that was that by making them sorge, they would be able to get ess to cleaner spring waters from higher up the hills.
It had to be remembered that not all sources of water were created equal, with the higher one went, the purer the water became, and vice versa.
This was because as the water flowed downhill, it inevitably picked up sand, silt, and earth, making it dirtier.
This was also whykes and rivers were usually not used as sources of water for aqueducts, the former being stagnant and considered unclear, while thetter had too much silt and many times even waste from people using it upstream.
All this made Alexander unable topromise on his designs.
And so facing the problem, Alexander turned to the Romans and looked at how they solved it.
And the answer was by using the arch shape to connect the pirs instead of a straight line.
This was because when this particr shape was used to connect two load-bearing points, due to the geometry of the shape, the forces exerted on it were distributed evenly throughout the whole structure and then redirected towards the strong, load-bearing pirs.
So when tons of water would flow over the arch shapes, its weight would actually be borne by the pirs.
Whereas if a simple straight line was used to connect the two, that thin, weak section would have to bear the entire brunts, making it much more likely to snap along a weak point over time, thus turning the entire aqueduct inoperational.
When Alexander had made the suggestion, the artisans were understandably a bit skeptical of the efficacy of the idea.
After all, how could just simply changing the shape of something make all their problems go away?
A problem as big as this?
But once they did do so under Alexander''s insistence, they were amazed to see it actually worked!
The structure held and showed no signs of breaking.
And that was why Uzak had addressed Alexander as being omniscient or all-knowing
As Alexander went over the site, suddenly one particr sight caught his eye.
It was not anything out of the ordinary at first nce, in fact Alexander seemed to have even missed it till now.
But it did finally register with him, the sight of many men, tirelessly at workying the brick and cement mortal while hanging from the scaffolding at precarious angles.
Alexander was at first amazed at these men''s courage and skill to be able to work with such concentration and even nonchnce at such heights, without a drop of fear in them.
Alexander doubted these men werepensated even a tenth of their deserved pay for the dangerous situation they put themselves in.
But these men nevertheless put themselves in these positions just so they were able to put food on the table for their families.
And seeing this, Alexander even felt a bit shamed at his ownck of diligence for not having arranged any safety mechanisms.
Hence turning to Uzak, he pointed to the workers on the scaffolding and said,
"Uzak I noticed that the men on the scaffolding were working with no type of protection, no rope tying them or any type of to catch them if they fell down,"
"They just have their legs expertly hooked between the pieces of scaffolding as some sort of precarious handle."
"That is a bit too dangerous, don''t you think?"
"Try to make here a bit safer."
"If they fall and die, it will not only be a tragic loss of life but much more a waste of a good worker."
"It will even cost me money."
Alexander knew workers dying due to work-rted idents were nothing to even bat an eye about for most.
Falling from heights, death from falling debris, and other idents were treated as just upational hazards.
It was no more noteworthy than a leaf falling off trees, not even worth a second look.
So Uzak was here not being callous or negligent, but that this was simply the norm, something people simply came to expect and bear.
Hence Alexander framed it like it was about the money and thebor shortage.
"Haha, my lord truly is truly of gentle heart. I''m sure the workers will be overjoyed once they know of your concerns."
Uzak appeared to be genuinely impressed at Alexander''s thoughtfulness, as he slightly bowed, before adding,
"But my lord, construction projects are inherently dangerous. And death and injury are a part and parcel there."
But adding in a reassuring tone,
"But since my lord has spoken, I will try to endeavor to make the site as safe as possible."
"Rest assured!"
Alexander was pleased to hear thismitment and so hugged and nodded.
Though he was not expecting anything major toe out of this, as even the awareness of deaths during these projects was not in many''s consciousness, but at least these were baby steps.
Uzak might not know exactly how to proceed in making the site safer, but Alexander was confident the man would learn and figure it out on his own over time, especially if Alexander were to nudge him from time to time.
Finishing this, Alexander then atst asked the most important question, which was,
"So how long till can we expect the aqueducts to be operational,"
To which the council member put on a long face before saying,
"I''ve previously told you of the difficulties my lord. We need more of everything. More men, and more material, particrly more cement and much more stone."
"If I could have that, I could finish all the ones by this year. Or I will need one more." Uzak answered in detail.
And then after a pause added,
"The most time-consuming is actually digging. Digging through the hills to channel the water through, digging underground to ce the pipes, and digging to build wells and cisterns."
"We need to dig so much!"
"And many times we even get lost during so. It''s all dark after."
"Or sometimes we find the tunnel is not straight and have to dig again."
"All of this wastes a lot of time."
"That''s why I asked for more men. Not just workers but also skilled supervisors to prevent these mistakes!"
The man even sounded a bit exasperated. as he tried to show Alexander all the difficulties and challenges he had to face to try and get the aqueducts going.
Chapter 639 Viewing the Aqueducts (Part-2)
Chapter 639 Viewing the Aqueducts (Part-2)
Alexander did not disagree over the extent of the challenges Uzak faced.
He would admit that he had set quite a high bar for the man,missioning quite a few veryrge and long aqueducts simultaneously, and ordered the construction of a fair few number ofrge wells and fountains.
Alexander eventually wished to set a well for every hundred men in the city, and even though the current ns were much more modest, it seemed with the limited resources provided, Uzak was having a difficult time managing it.
And this was not his only sticking point, as aside from theck of men to do the tedious digging, which the stonemason had frankly grown sick of, there was another point he kept Alexander hankering about.
"My lord, about the thing we discussed earlier, couldn''t we use lead to make the water transporting pipes under any circumstances?" Uzak again made the request.
The reason why he wanted to make the connecting out of this metal was because it was soft, malleable, had quite a low melting point so was easy to work with, and most critically, unlike iron, it did not rust.
Not to mention was cheap.
To Uzak this did not even seem like a choice.
But when that topic hade up, Alexander had of course brutally shot this material down saying, "No water pipes can be made from lead. It is highly poisonous and if we make the pipes out of it, we would be poisoning our own people."
One only had to take a look at theter Roman emperors and the mad antics they got up to to see what the effects of lead poisoning could have.
Only one such example would be how Emperor Nero had castrated a young ve and then married him in order to y the role of his deceased wife.
But given that Alexander did not know of any such examples that he could rte to Uzak, the stonemason seemed reluctant to follow this.
"My lord we have used lead pipes, back in Adhan for generations. There was no poisoning!" He cried though Alexander would have liked to very much disagree after hearing stories of the previous king.
But that did not deter Uzak from trying to further present his case, additionally saying, "Also, if we do not use lead, making the pipes out of iron will take too long, because iron is really not easy to work with, This will set us back even further, meaning even more dys."
"Never mind the issue of rust we will have to deal with."
"You should know all this my lord," He atst pleaded.
Now what Uzak said was all very true, and Alexander of course knew it.
Metal pipes in this time period were made by first hammering the metal into a sheet and then shaping it into a cylinder with even more hammering.
And as this process was a hot working process, i.e.- the metal was heated and then shaped, through manualbor, it was convenient to have a soft metal like lead.
Forming metals with high melting temperatures like lead, especially intorge structures such as a water-carrying pipe was really too hard and time-consuming.
And it was also because of this the Romans too used lead pipes to construct their water supply system.
But the people escaped lead poisoning there due to how quickly the water through them, thus not giving the metal enough time to dissolve into the liquid.
And also because the water they carried had a high concentration of calcium deposits, which worked to form a protective coating inside the pipes.
This formed a barrier between the water and the lead, not permitting them toe into contact with each other.
While the reason the Roman emperors went mad was thought to be more due to their use of lead in eating utensils, such as goblets, cups, and cooking pots, and the use of lead acetate which was used as an artificial sweetener.
But though things worked out fine for the Roman people when using lead pipes, that did not mean Alexander''s own pipes would be safe.
After all, the waterposition between the two ces was bound to be different, so who knew if the water here had enough dissolved calcium to form that protectiveyer?
Thus he categorically rejected the request to make the pipes out of lead.
But though it was certainly the most sensible thing to do, then the question arose what to make it out of?
If Alexander could he would have certainly preferred to make it out of iron as it was cheap and very plentiful to him.
But making pipes out of iron required industrial equipment as simply casting them was not an option.
And to prevent the vastwork of pipes from rusting, called forplex cathodic protection which would be impossible.
So that option was out of the running.
He hence had to look for another one.
And it took a fair bit of thinking.
But eventually, he found it.
The building material was quite low-tech but certainly feasible.
And havinge up with the answer, Alexander first shut down Uzak''s search for that elusive, saying in a strict voice, "The goddess has decreed that the pipes be not of lead. Or the people of the city will suffer."
"So if you want to make it out of lead, ask Her!"
Given his persistence, Alexander decided to use the ''nuke card'' as he liked to say, and it worked just as intended, as the talk of the divine instantly shut down the stonemason.
Though that did not smother his frustration.
To Uzak it made no sense to create so much controversy over such a simple deal.
''So what will I make it out of? If you ask me to make it out of iron, I will ask for a thousand cksmiths or quit!''
Hearing Alexander''s decision, Uzak then internally fumed, while looking at Alexander with a cid face, wanting to hear his solution.
And this was what he got.
"So for now, make the pipes out of terracotta. They will be extremely durable, resistant to wear and tear, noncorrosive, and securely sealed, meaning there won''t be a problem with leaking like the metal pipes."
Alexander said this in a very grand voice.
There was also the added benefit of having no risk of chemical reaction with their surrounding environment, but he skipped that part for obvious reasons.
"...." Uzak stayed quiet for a bit at the answer.
This was of course not some kind of revolutionary idea.
Pipes made of ys were prettymon and had been around for generations.
And though Alexander worked hard to disy its virtue, the problems associated with them were also numerous and verymonly known.
The biggest and easiest one to guess was that they were fragile, and prone to breaking, especially during transport and instation.
Another was the hassle of manufacturing which needed skilled potters.
Andstly, there was the need for specialized kilns to burn the soft y in and turn it into terracotta.
Uzak believed none of these considerations could have escaped Alexander when he made the proposal.
So after hearing the answer, he patiently waited for Alexander to provide him with all the extra facilities that would be required to manufacture these.
And Alexander did promise him these, saying, "Kriskhok can help you build the kilns. They should be simr to the ones we already use for brick making, so it should be quick to make"
"As for the potters, well there are many people who sell their wares in the market. Recrute from them. I will give you the funds."
And finished by giving Uzak a glimpse of better things toe, promising,
"And once we increase cement production, we will give priority allocation to you so that you can simply make cement pipes. That will be much less hassle."
"Thank you, my lord. I will try to keep everything as close to the schedule," And hearing so, Uzak could only promise this.
Though internally he was not very hopeful of being able to make cement pipes anytime soon.
He thought this because if cement production could have been ramped up, Alexander would have done so long ago.
So Uzak understood that he would probably be stuck with the earthen pipes for the time being, first building kilns outside the city, making his pipes there, and transporting these fragile pieces across the city to their destination.
A lot of hassle and a lot of potentiality for things to go wrong.
"Yes, do your best,"
Alexander too understood the workload Uzak was under to know this, and so with a p on the man''s shoulder, he encouraged him to continue endeavoring and try and ovee the hurdles.
And With this Alexander''s aqueduct visit came to an end.
But that did not he and Uzak were destined to be separated yet.
For Uzak was one in charge of not one but two projects, both somewhat interconnected.
If the aqueducts brought clean water into the city, the other project worked to get rid of the dirty, used one.
Yes, Alexander''s next destination was the sewers.
Of course, it was not literally visiting the bowels of the city.
Alexander did not want to wade through the flowing sludge or take in the nauseating pungent smell of rotten eggs and ammonia.
So instead they stood by one of the many entrances through which the workers entered and exited the maze-like tunnels, as Uzak gave an overall report about the ongoings down below.
Chapter 640 The Sewage System
Chapter 640 The Sewage System
Standing around one of the sewage work sites, Alexander easily noticed the hustle and bustle of the work, as workers moved with speed and urgency to and fro through the many small doors which were the entrances of the city''s bowels.
The ones going carried a variety of materials inside, ranging from building materials such as stone, bricks, cement, and even wood, to food and drinks for the workers inside, tostly firewood for the braizer that worked to illuminate the ce.
All these were usually carried inrge wooden buckets they carried on both hands or sometimes more curiously in cast iron metal pans that the workers ced on their heads
Alexander had noticed it before too, but it seemed that due to the abundance of iron, many construction sites were starting to substitute bronze tools for iron.
Anyway, this traffic was not only one way.
Because there were workersing out of the tunnels too, though their apanying material was much more simple.
Aside from the sludge and bad smell they brought with them on their body, they mostly carried out dirt- lots and lots of dirt
It seemed Uzak was justified in his growing distaste for the substance.
"The underground digging is still in its ongoing proceedings my lord."
"Because of the nature of the work, the workers we use here are mostly ves, criminals, or war prisoners."
"That''s also why we have a lot more guards here than the previous site."
Uzak said pointing to the twenty to thirty burly men dressed in bright red bronze armor scattered through the site.
They had a shield on their back, used to suppress any attacks from rioters, and a thick club graced their hands, no doubt there to dish out the pain, withstly a short sword equipped on the hips, likely for situations if things got really ugly.
"Having killed and fought, these men are not the meek sort like the peasants.
"So many don''t want honesty and try to ck off whenever possible."
"And many are hot-tempered too. So a few small fisty cups and brawls are not umon here. Happens almost every week or two."
"That''s why a few of our supervisions have to use these to get thezy bums moving."
Uzak first exined the makeup of the site, going over the workers, the guards, andstly the supervisor, who could be seen wielding leathery whips and shouting in foulnguage,
"Youzy fu*ks, it will tears your ass¡.."
"Move! Move, you worms! You won''t get a rest until you finish¡"
All such colorfulnguages hit Alexander''s eardrum, while his eyes were entertained with the sight of the supervisors and small managers asionally using their whips to encourage greater productivity from their subordinates, leaving sharp, redshes on their backs in the process.
Though in fairness the practice was not ubiquitous, and the manager did seem content to just use very foulnguage and loud curses to get the workers moving most of the time.
Though it was also very much possible that they did not want to seem too cruel in front of Alexander.
And so tried to show off howpetent they were by these tactics and by making the workers strive extra hard.
Or perhaps this was normal procedure.
After all, getting a ve sick or worse killed would get the officer in charge into trouble.
A whole lot of trouble if it was bad enough, as the incident might even reach as high as Alexander''s ears.
This was because almost all the ves in Zanzan belonged to Alexander, numbering anywhere between 30,000 to 35,000, which would easily put him as the biggest ve owner in Adhania if not the whole world.
Even Amenheraft''s father, Alozmer had only around 25,000 to 30,000 ves, and he was a ruler of a superpower at the peak of his authority, and not the overseer of one puny city and a few surrounding farnds.
Now, Alexander also knew this and he did have ns to remedy it.
He nned to set most of his captured ves free soon, especially the original 20,000 prisoners of war, i.e.- the ones he caught against Amenheraft, the native inhabitants of Zanzan.
He had intended to offer them freedom after 5 years or release them right now for a 15-year-long lease payment of 30 ropals a month.
But he could not implement thetter part due to the huge number of skilled ountants that would be needed to keep track of who paid their dues, who did not, and who waste in their deposits.
And then have the administrative infrastructure to trace them down and make them cough up.
This would require an enormous leap in Alexander''s administrative capabilities and he simply did not have so many learned men yet to implement this.
So he only promised them release after five years, one and a half of which was already finished.
And it was because of this, in addition to the humanity of it, that he would not tolerate them being mistreated or killed.
And even if one were to remove the human elementpletely, still they were his property, so why would he tolerate others ruining it?
A ve dying, besides being tragic, also meant losing a few thousand ropals and a strong worker.
So it was because of all that Alexander strictly asked his council members to make appropriate arrangements for the ves, saying,
"I''m only lending them to you. You must take proper care of them. Do not maltreat them even if they were criminals or war booty. They do not belong to you!"
And because Uzak knew this why he had provided such a long and detailed exnation as to why the supervisors were using whips.
Now, even before Uzak''s detailed description, Alexander had already guessed that the workers here were hardened criminals given they had a certain lifeless aura to them,
Furthermore their feet also seemed to be adorned with manacles, iron cuffs with a protruding hole through which usually a chain would go through, connecting both feet.
That chain did not seem to exist, though Alexander guessed it might be because it would hamper their productivity.
But such chains woulde once the day was over when these ves would have their legs connected and their walking and running speed restricted.
Alexander did not disapprove of this, as ves running away was always a major headache for any ve owner.
And just having a linked chain connecting your leg still gave one a decent amount of freedom to move around.
So it was as humane a condition he could provide these men until someone invented GPS trackers.
And in that samepromising vein, he also did not outright ban the whipping, only disapproved of it.
So turning to Uzak he said,
"It''s okay if they are really cking, but make sure the officers exercise moderation. No ve is not killed or permanently injured."
"The whips should be thest resort, not the first response."
Being a ve himself, Alexander had seen some instances where a stubborn ve really deserved what wasing.
"Yes, yes, I have told so to all my men. To use the whips sparingly! I will be sure to tell them again," Hearing Alexander''s positive answer, Uzak shed a bright smile of relief as he forcefully nodded his head a couple of times in order to show his enthusiasm for the promise.
After this exchange was over, Uzak then finally started to show how much work they had actually done, reporting,
"As you have instructed, the workers are currently working to expand the existing sewerwork, digging new tunnels, widening existing ones, and attaching the sewerage system to more parts of the city."
"Once they arepleted we will be able to amodate much greater volumes of waste."
"The thing we are about to start now is attaching the sewer pipes to all the public restrooms, the markets and dye houses, andstly all the many rainwater drainage ditches located around the city. That fast-flowing rainwater should be enough to wash away all the filth into the sea."
The sewers project seemed to be going far better than the aqueduct projects going by Uzak''s confident reporting and was much closer than the aqueduct to being operational.
"Good, good, that is good to hear," Thus Alexander praised, before adding a bit of addendum,
"Remember the sewers are to end about 200 meters into the Mad Sea. I do not want my beaches to smell with refuse."
"Yes, of course, my lord" Uzak was instant in his reply, and then dered, "We will start making the swage pipes as soon as the new kilns are built."
''New kiln! What''s he talking about?'' And hearing so, Alexander was visibly flued for a second.
He did not quite get the reference instantly.
But a whileter it atst dawned on him.
Uzak was referring to how he would use the terracotta pipes here.
And understanding this Alexander had an urge to p his own forehead.
Uzak seemed to think Alexander had banned all pipes made out of lead.
Whereas he only banned making pipes that would carry useful water, not waste ones.
And so Alexander exined this to Uzak, saying, "You can make these pipes of lead. People will not use this water. And I really do not care if fishes get lead poisoning."
''First, do not use lead. Now use lead. Which one is it?'' While Uzak internally rolled his eyes at the confusion but epted it nevertheless.
And with this, having seen everything there was to see, Alexander finally ended this tour.
Chapter 641 Camius’s Tibias Report (Part-1)
Chapter 641 Camius''s Tibias Report (Part-1)
The tour of these two major projects, both of which were aimed at finally making Zanzan a clean, beautiful, city to live in, had taken Alexander the entire day.
And by the time he was finished, Alexander noticed the sun slowly dipping down the horizon, turning the sky from blue to a shaded orange hue.
Dusk seemed to be settling in and he noticed that the workers were all finishing up their work for the day, both exhaustion and relief evident on their faces.
He also did not notice when they hade, but a few opportunistic hawkers seemed to have suddenly apparated around the perimeter of the work site, selling all kinds of refreshing fruits, hearty meals, and delicious snacks to the hungry people, their smell and sight making everyone salivate.
There were a few who even sold groceries such as vegetables, eggs, and meat.
The idea here most likely was to catch the men such as the supervisors who might not feel like going all the way to the market if they wanted to buy something for their family and would much prefer to buy from them right here to save the hassle.
Alexander could not help but marvel over this practice and felt that shrewd businessmen existed everywhere across time.
Alexander even noticed a wheeled cart selling all types of wooden and earthen toys, such as dolls, carved horses, small pottery sets, etc. all targeted toward men who have kids at home, tempting them to take something back as souvenirs.
And even Alexander, remembering there was one about toe into this world, felt like buying something.
So acting on the spur of the moment, he did, buying a beautiful wooden doll painted in vibrant red, ck, and gold, for if he had a daughter and a simrly beautiful toy horse with a cart attached to it for if he had a son.
And it was with these souvenirs that he finally felt it was time to get back and finish his tour for the day.
While the next few days proved to be a fierce one.
Every day, as dawn rolled over into morning, Alexander would almost feel his skin burning as the intense heat wave would descend upon the city like the sun was waiting to burn the city down.
It appeared Zanzan was experiencing a heatwave.
And given the scorning temperatures, Alexander decided prudently to stay inside the shade andfort of his house for the following days, content with fooling around with his girls who too decided to y hookey from their work.
Alexander especially enjoyed himself in a giant wooden bathtub with them, using water and soap to y all sorts of naughty games with them.
He cleaned the girls'' all the nooks and crannies, paying particr attention to their flowers, using his turgid tool to scrape off any dirt much to their delight.
This dry spellsted a few days, with the reliefing on one particrte afternoon.
On that day, the sun had finished baking the city with its intense radiation like the preceding ones, but suddenly the unbearable heat began to slowly die down around theter part of the day, recing it with a cool, refreshing breeze, and slowly a darkening sky.
Weather in Zanzan during the summers was generally unpredictable and it was very natural to have unbearable heat like this during the morning, but torrential rainfall followed by a slight chill during the afternoons and night.
And because Alexander had been cooped up in his house for thest few days, seeing this refreshing weather, he decided to sit outside on his back porch, wearing a light, blue tunic and feeling theforting cool breeze carrying the smell of salt from the sea flow over his skin, as the bright sky got supplicated by a cloudy, almost threateningly dark cloudy, indicating the imminent arrival of a massive storm.
And as for thepany, well he was currently entertaining a guest.
Dressed in fine, colorful clothes, with expensive shoes, and fingers adorned with sparkling jeweled rings, making him look like a bonafide merchant, it was his spymaster- Camius.
It seemed even when he was visiting Alexander, he worked hard to keep his disguise as a rich and sessful merchant, with the backstory of his visits being that the pasha really liked his new wine.
"Things inside the city are pretty calm. Some people were a bit frustrated with all the wars and the siege, but with the grains and money you have given, people have mostly forgotten about that."
Camisu casually reported while taking a bite of the pear from the fruit basket served in front of him as he slouched back on thefortable chair.
"Hmmm! They better be. I spend more on them per head than I do on my wife,"
Hearing the good report Alexander replied in a yful tone, though it was somewhat true.
Alexander would be confident in iming that there was no lord not only in Adhania but even in the whole world who spent more on his subjects per head than him.
Although he did not know the exact figure off the top of his head, Alexander would say he spent at least half a billion ropal on this city alone, counting all the war reparations, the free food and medicine, the infrastructure projects, the new industries he set and everything else.
So if after all that the people were dissatisfied, well tough luck, Alexander could do nothing about that.
Hearing this Camius lightly smirked, while Alexander being in a good mood, threw a fewrge ck grapes that were in front of him with a certain spring to his wrist, taking them one after another into his open mouth.
He found them to be very sweet and juicy.
So juicy in fact that some even spilled out onto his lips.
"This is good. Where did you buy these?" Alexander could not help but ask offhandedly.
Camius had bought these as gifts when he came to visit.
"They are good¡ aren''t they!" Camius readily answered with a nod, saying, "I use them to make the wine. I buy them from a good merchant who brings them from Tibias."
"I first met him when he came to sell grapes¡he''s got a good vineyard¡cheap¡oh some people wereining about the price hikes of¡.."
While answering Alexander, Camius started to trail off on his own, meshing in some of his intel in the process, while asionally pausing to clear his mouth of the fruits.
And Alexander like a diligent audience listened attentively, sometimes stopping him to insert his ownment or casually inquire about some details.
The men appeared to be veryfortable around each other and in fact, this type of gathering between the two was not anything rare or umon.
Alexander would almost monthly, if not every fortnight invite Camius to his house, having him for lunch or dinner while listening to the various domestic and international issues that the man had managed to dig up.
Of course, all this reporting would be buttressed by light-hearted banter like this.
"Anyway, how was your trip to Tibias? How did it go? More importantly, how did you manage to get in so quickly?"
And atst Alexander to the real meat of their conversation.
The real reason why they were having this conversation.
Because Camius had managed to enter the fortress city of Thesalie, that one which stood at the mouth of the entrance from Zanzan to Tibias.
And since that city would be Alexander''s first obstacle, he was eager to know everything there was to know about it.
"Hehe, well answering yourst question first, you actually answered it yourself, hehe," Camius first said in a mysterious voice, which drew an intrigued look from Alexander.
He did not get it.
"You know¡ this grape. You asked about this grape," Camius tried to nudge Alexander towards the answer, even picking up therge, ck berries to show them to him.
But Alexander could not connect the dots of how his innocuousments about the fruit could get him the answers.
And even if he could, he was not in the mood to go through all the mental gymnastics to try and guess it.
Not when the far easier method of Camius simply telling him existed.
"....." So Alexander only ttened his lips and looked cidly at Camius.
While Camius, seeing Alexander not be in the mood for these games, brusquely shrugged his shoulders and gave him the straight answer that he was looking for.
"I got inside Tibias through these grapes."
"Remember that wine recipe you gave, it needed grapes. And while I was looking for suppliers, I met a certain merchant who was selling them."
"I bought a bunch and after liking his quality bought a few more in bulk purchases."
"At that point, we got to talking."
"I told him I really liked his fruits, said why I was buying grapes from him, andstly asked him if he could give me these grapes in reallyrge numbers."
"Unfortunately the man shook his head saying his vineyard was tiny."
"But fortunately, the conversation did not end there. He did give me a silver lining. He said that his son who had a vineyard in Tibias which could be big enough for any needs and that he could get us in contact if I wanted to."
"So a few weekster I met the guy."
"And after a couple of talks, and liking my wine, the man finally asked me toe see his vineyard."
Chapter 642 Camius’s Tibias Report (Part-2)
Chapter 642 Camius''s Tibias Report (Part-2)
As Camius sinctly finished his retelling, Alexander seemed more interested in the fact that there was a Zanzan man whose son lived in Tibias.
That was as rare an event as finding a golden hare.
Never mind the bad blood between the two, the faith of Ramuh also very explicitly forbade such union and even actively sought to persecute them.
And if all that was not imusible enough, not anybody would own a vineyard.
Typically it belonged to nobles or very well-to-do businessmen.
After all, wine-making was a skilled andbor-intensive process, meaning it required both deep knowledge and a lot of start-up capital.
And if they did indeed have these then what were they doing struggling in Zanzan?
Judging by Camius''s words, the father might not be struggling, but he was not flowing with cahs either.
And even if he was, given the disasters that had befallen Zanzan, why hadn''t he chosen to leave?
There was a myriad of questions that came to Alexander''s mind;
"His son? Lives in Tibias?"
Thus the surprise in Alexander''s tone as he posed.
"Mmm, I too was surprised as much as you when I first heard it doc," Camius frankly responded in a familiar tone, addressing Alexander like so in private, before adding,
"As Krypsos tells me, he married the daughter of a Tibian noble. She met him during one of his travels and then chose to run away with him."
"Apparently it was love at first sight," Camius said with a mirthful smirk, while Alexander''s brows twitched as having actually encountered such a cliche story.
That girl was both very stupid and very brave.
And Alexander also could not help but think if he had a daughter, whether she might do such a thing.
While Camius continued,
"Anyway, after they ran, and the girl changed her faith to Ramuh''s, at first the girl''s understandably furious father disowned her, even swearing to never see her."
"But after the couple had their first son, that began to change. It seemed after knowing he had a grandson, the old man''s heart softened."
"And after a few years, he eventually patched things up and even invited the couple to Tibias."
"But Krypsos declined initially, saying Zanzan was the city he was born in and Zanzan would be the city he died in ."
"But he did agree to send his son there eventually."
"And even took refuge there when the drought hit."
"He only came from after a few months you took control."
"Whereas his son stayed back. He already has quite a sessful wine business there."
"And that''s the story of a father having a son with a vineyard." Camius finished the story.
Hearing which Alexander could not marvel at the thing called fate.
Who knew his randomly chosen recipe had managed to get Camius such a golden opportunity?
At the time of his choosing what type of wine to make, he had only chosen that because there was no such type of wine in the market and Alexander really liked its taste.
"Huh! Who knew? I guess coincidences do exist," He could not help but say.
"Mmmm, I guess," And Camius nodded along, saying, "And if you think about it, then it would seem that I really managed to get inside Tibias because of you, doc, haha." Camius chuckled.
"So how did you get inside? By selling your wines to the son?" And then Alexander again asked how the specifics.
"Yes, that''s right."
"That son is a real wine sommelier. And we became best friends after sharing a few bottles."
"The man absolutely loves the stuff."
"And it seemed the nobles he sold these to using his grandfather''s connections also shared this feeling."
"So he was always back for more."
"This went on for six-eight months."
"But the problem that came afterward was that I was unable to meet his ever-increasing demand."
"You can only move that much grape on carts quickly enough before it loses its taste after all."
"So right after the war ended, he one day came to me to propose that I set up a branch shop in Tibias."
"He said that way I can use all the fresh grapes I could ever want right from his vineyards."
"And even make it cheaper as the grape would not have to transport for a hundred kilometers."
Here Camius paused a bit, as he turned to Alexander while articting his thoughts, before continuing,
"And I was of course tempted by this."
"As you know Thesalie is basically a military fort housing a city. For outsiders like us, getting inside is too hard."
"Even the native merchants that trade in and out of there have to be approved by the trade guilds there."
"So of course I wanted to go."
"But I was also skeptical and wary of the man''s proposal."
"I wondered if he was sincere. And even thought what if they kidnap me to get the secrets of the wine?"
"But talking to the man for some more, those fears eventually alleviated."
"Primarily because the son asked for one-third of the profits."
"This was a lot¡.which paradoxically was also how I was able to tell the deal was not too good. The man wanted the money."
"And so I epted."
"I joined his caravan and after a week of travel reached the city."
" And when I did, and looked at the city¡." Camius paused here a bit, as if deliberating whether he should really tell what was in his mind, but a split secondter finally made up his mind, saying, Well let me tell you, Thesalie really is as formidable as they say."
"In fact, I think I will be doing it a disservice when describing it."
"So urge doc to go see it for yourself if you can."
"But if you want a description, here it is."
"It''s perched on a huge hill, surrounded by simrly hilly, wooded terrain all around, much like the Cisran hills in fact."
"Only a narrow, about three men wide, curvy, twisting road leads to the gates."
"Its walls looked as study as Zanzan''s itself, and was manned by literally an army of sentries armed with bows and arrows."
"Any army even trying to get close would be turned to hedgehogs by those men."
"And if all that was not enough, if the wooden hills, the narrow paths, and the archers still could not stop the army, they still had onest option, a giant ditch dug all along the length of the wall.
"Meaning nodder rushes or siege towers."
Camius seemed very impressed and also scared as he gave the recount, before turning to Alexander with a bitter, almost defeated look to say,
"I know that you are nning on attacking it doc. But frankly, I have no idea how you are going to ovee the defense. They really seem too formidable." Camius ruefully shook his heads
It seemed the centuries Tibias had to develop its defenses had been well spent.
And hearing his spy master''s description. Alexander felt a slight headache.
At first it seemed like Camius was describing a much more formidable Zanzan.
And then, judging from Camius''s recount, Alexander felt like he would be attacking something akin to the walls of Constantinople.
Expect he would have no huge, big ass cannon that would lob a 1 ton stone into the walls.
He did not even have good trebuchets, much less gunpowder.
Now, Amenheraft had managed to avoid that problem by circling around it.
He had sailed across the sea and attacked one of the vulnerable port cities, capturing it and then proceeding forward.
But that certainly was not an option for Alexander whocked any kind of navy and had not a blue ball''s chance in hell of developing one in just two years.
''I should go and have a look once I get the chance,'' So Alexander decided to make time to go see the obstacle for himself at some point.
"Okay, the city walls are formidable. But what about its insides?"
Then throwing the worries about the attack out of his mind, Alexander asked Camius to keep describing what he saw.
"Oh! it was magnificent. The city is huge, having close to 200,000 inhabitants, with 20,000 militiamen guarding it."
"There are huge, magnificent houses as well as many dingy abodes strewn about."
"There is a giant river running through the city, and it is from here the popce gets all its drinking water."
"This river also flows towards the interior of the country, and I saw many sailboats moving up and down it, carrying all kinds of goods."
"It also means that unless there is a total blockade of the entire city, they can still be supplied."
"There are also canals dug around the city that divert some of the water to nearby farnds outside, while many nobles also have their own personal irrigation systems for their gardens."
"And it was in one such vineyard that I stayed."
"It was luxurious."
"The amodations were nothing short of excellent, with expensive food, wine, and even women to keep mepany."
"While the vineyard was asrge as it was lush and vibrant."
"And because it was already the end of summer when I got there, I got to taste all the ripes grapes firsthand,"
"And let me tell you, there is a reason Tibias is famous for its grapes. We must have it"
"In fact, when we take the city, I think we should try and take it with as little damage as possible to the vineyards. They are precious!"
Chapter 643 Camius, Alexander And Trade Guilds
Chapter 643 Camius, Alexander And Trade Guilds
''You call him your partner, yet, you are nning to swindle him of everything, haha''
When Alexander heard Camius describe the vineyards and how they should try to spare those after taking the city over, he could not help but roll his eyes inside his head and chuckle.
Alexander wondered how that merchant and his son would feel if they knew the man they had led into their house and showed him all the hospitality was the very man who was nning to rob them of everything.
But this statement also reassured him that Camius knew where his loyalty and priorities were here, here in Zanzan and with Alexander, and did not let the prospect of business and the allure of gold blind him.
Of course, even if Thesalie was captured, it did not mean that Camius''s partner had to die or have everything taken away.
Alexander would be happy to let them keep most of everything if they submitted to him.
And besides, by what Alexander could gather from the context, what Camius was likely trying to say was not plundering the vineyards over from that son, but that the vineyards around the city were a major economic resource and they should try to not destroy them.
Alexander gave an approving nod to this, for vineyards were a difficult and skill-intensive endeavor to set up.
And then asked,
"What else? Is there anything else of value in and around the city? Skilled men? Good farnd? Gold?"
"The wine industry seems to be the city''s most defining aspect. There are also some nice jewelry and clothing shops I saw when I visited the market, and a couple of artisans."
"But nothing too eye-catching."
"As for mines and such, well, I heard the river is full of fish. I can let you know more in a couple of months."
"The son helped me set up a branch shop in the city''s market district. And it''s among the affluent part."
"So I left one of my trusted men in charge there, he has a good head."
"I told him to make connections with the nobles using the wine and find out more about the city."
"In a couple of years, we should have a sprawling spywork in Tibias, hehe," Camius appeared very pleased with himself.
And it was indeed good news.
"That is good. Looks like your business is really taking off." So Alexander congratted.
"Yes, it is, I will not lie." And Camius did not try to fake being humble in front of his friend, saying,
"In Zanzan, my shop is pretty well known."
"At first, I was helped by Menes and others from our mercenary groupsing to always buy wine from there."
"And when other people saw high-level folks like them, council members, city guard captains, etc. visiting me regrly, they began to get curious."
"They started trying my wine and the rest in history."
"The wine soon became very popr and the orders just kepting in and never stopped from there."
"Now if you want to buy my wine, you will need to wait at least three months, hehe!"
Camius said so while lifting his hands and wriggling his fingers at Alexander, showing off all the expensive rings on him.
It appeared the man had decided to treat himself a bit with his first paycheck, while Alexander smirked at the yful gesture.
After this disy, Camius continued, saying,
"As for in Thesalie, even as I was setting up shop, some trade guilds have already asked me to join, offering partnerships and other deals."
"I have not responded yet, but they are expecting one soon."
"What should I do, doc?"
Camius turned to Alexander for his opinion.
And for a second, Alexander subconsciously furrowed his brows a bit.
He did not at all like trading guilds.
As for the reason why, well there were myriad reasons.
Now these guilds were not evil per se.
They were set up with good intentions.
They worked to protect its members, helped them have a unified voice, and looked after them if ran into difficulties.
They also helped the consumers by ensuring the quality of products, and even standardized measurements.
For instance, a carpenter guild could set guidelines for the dimensions and construction of wooden products, and make tools using a single unit.
All these Alexander had no problem with.
In fact, he approved it.
But his main sticking point was one thing and one thing only.
And the thing that got on Alexander''s nerves was their price-fixing method.
Basically, guilds would fix prices for all their products and worse still stop others from selling below that price, iming these men were using fraudulent, unscrupulous methods to create products of low quality, and that was why they were able to sell them for so low.
And though sometimes this narrative of fake products held water, most of the time it was a way of stopping others from undercutting them and taking their business.
And it was this that Alexander found particrly rage-inducing.
Because to him, it was a clear and tant attempt at stiflingpetition and preventing innovation by barring others from reducing their prices.
After all, if a product''s price was fixed, well the consumers would always go for the trade guild-approved one where they would be certain of the quality instead of a new start-up''s untested one.
This was why all kinds of trading guilds were banned in Zanzan.
Normally this would have been a very difficult thing to do, as trading guilds held a lot of power in the city, being the cash machine they were.
Even a powerful lord had to make concessions to thebined might to the people who produced the bulk of his ie.
But Alexander was helped by the fact when he took over Zanzan, it was basically empty of these people, meaning he could do whatever he liked.
And as for now, well, Zanzan was still not a bustling trading hub.
And also its biggest merchant was also without a doubt Alexander, meaning he could push everyone around as he pleased and suppress anyone trying to form any trading union.
After all, if a group of artisans tried to put pressure on Alexander by threatening not to work and even disrupt the market, to try and starve him of money, well Alexander had his own business revenue streams.
He could y the same game, unlike a traditional noble who had no direct way of participating in the market short of arresting the merchants.
In this way Alexander was very different from most other nobles, as he had aplete monopoly on all the new industries like sugar, ss, etc. as well as an iron grip on the food markets because most of the farmers that lived here worked on hisnd, meaning they were his employees who were paid a certain wage while Alexander took all the food for himself.
And as for the artisans, well the same rule appeared, almost everyone worked for him, either in the workshops or in the military as engineers and cksmiths.
So there were not really any free artisans who could start a guild here in Zanzan.
But that would certainly not be the case in Thesalie.
And because Camius knew Alexander''s extreme dislike for this type of guild that he asked for his permission to join one.
"Of course, you will join," And Alexander''s answer was surprisingly quick, sounding like it was a no-brainer.
He further said,
"Any lone merchant is too vulnerable in front of these giant organizations. Never mind we are outsiders there."
"If we do not show face to their invitation, the guilds there can find a hundred different ways to shut us down. They might even steal our wien recipe!"
As Alexander said this, he then turned to look directly at Camius and in an intrigued voice asked,
"But you should already know this, so why ask?"
"Hehe, well I was thinking if we could start our own guild," Camius said with a slight blush, scratching his cheeks.
"You know, if you were to sell more of your things through my shop¡then we could really make something big."
Camius sounded very ambitious.
"...." And hearing this Alexander pursed his lips, thinking it over.
While Camius tried making his case by adding,
"It is not really a bad idea if you think about it. Guilds are not all bad you know."
"I would even say they are a necessity. Merchants are people with a lot of money but no real authority. So if they did not band together, the nobles would steal everything from them."
"Besides, though they have their controversies, you must admit they are also beneficial to the society."
"They help take care of the widows and orphans of theirmunity, ensure customers are not swindled, and even the apprenticeship process which produces new artisans are conducted through guild affiliatedworks."
"I don''t think banning them will be feasible in the long term."
"...." Alexander stayed silent for a while, not immediately answering yes or no.
Camius made some good points.
So it took him a while to organize his thoughts.
And then he said,
"Well, let''s talk about that sometimeter. We do not have to deal with it right now and I will think about it in the meantime."
"For now, you just concentrate on joining a suitable guild and see how they operate."
"And what I want to know more is what have you heard about the war? How is the mood there? What do the nobles think? And the people?"
Chapter 644 Visiting The Port
Chapter 644 Visiting The Port
Alexander felt the concerns about the trading guild to be premature.
Whether they were a credible threat or not, they were years away, and so rather than decide their fate right here and now, felt he could wait and see.
So, instead, he turned his attention to figuring out how Perseus''s failure to take Zanzan had affected Tibian society.
"About that¡.I did try to find out in a roundabout way. I asked the son if the people there would not like because of the recent war, and all the deaths."
"And his answer seems to be one of rtive ambivalence, saying most of the people might not be happy to see me but would not be too aggressive either."
"It appears that though the nobles and the people are not happy with the loss, they are also not in any mood to rebel or even oppose the king."
"Most people seem to have never really thought taking Zanzan was possible, and so even when the king returned with only half his army, they just shrugged and epted it."
"Also¡apparently there are records of Tibian kings losing their entire armies trying to take Zanzan."
"So the people are used to it. I''m afraid there is no chance of using that to sow discord, doc."
The disappointment in Camius''s tone as he said so was palpable.
"*Sigh*" And so was it in Alexander''s regretful sigh.
It appeared that though through this defeat, Perseus lost a lot of prestige and could not wield the respect of the nobles as once before, it was still nowhere enough to make him topple from his throne.
Perseus still shined for his achievements against Amenheraft and his legitimacy to rule remained unchallenged.
Also, he hade really close to taking the city, only failing at thest minute.
So the nobles simply swallowed the bitter pill of defeat, chalked it all up to the gods and fate, and after Mithriditus used thest of the Kaiser family''s funds to cate them. simply shut up and got back to licking his wound.
While Perseus, heartbroken by his friend''s loss, decided to go into half seclusion, handing much of his duties to his sessor Philips, and ced Mithriditus as his right-hand man to help the inexperienced boy out.
This act also unintentionally helped cool many dissatisfied voices, as they saw it as Perseus stepping down for his defeat, if not forever at least for a while.
Hence the court of Tibias went quiet for a bit but was still rtively stable.
Perseus would not need to sleep with one eye open.
Alexander woulde to know about thister, once Camius had enough time to infiltrate deep enough into Tibian''s inner circle to be able to ess this information and both men.
"I see, that is not indeed regretful," But for now, Alexander was rueful that he could not cause any discord in the country, before posing,
"And what about their army? How is that?"
Alexander really hoped losing 20,000 men would be enough to cause some sort of effect.
"Doc, I just got there. I will need some time to know all this stuff, hahaha" But Camius reminded Alexander as such with a chuckle.
And this caused the other to blush a bit.
"Hahaha, sorry, sorry, I got ahead of myself a bit," Alexander admitted.
Camius would get this information eventually and tell Alexander that Tibias''s army appeared to be badly mauled and was in the middle of rebuilding itself.
That they had lost a lot of officers in the wars and even going by optimistic time frames it would take at least a few years to even a decade to rebuild them.
"They seem to be afraid that we will attack them during their weak period. So apparently they have increased the garrison in the city by another 10,000, bringing the total to 30,000," Camius would add.
But currently, those were all the main points Alexander had to discuss.
So once this was over, the pair got to chatting over useless banter, with Camius at the very end also asking Alexander to also sell him some of his exclusive products in order to help him expand his business, but Alexander gently declined, replying that others had alread bought all his stocks and that he would have to wait a while.
Camius would nod his head with difficulty at this, but ept and once he finished his dinner there, the meeting finally came to an end.
The start of the following day was a very cool one, as it rained for almost the entire night and Alexander even woke up to the pitter-patter of heavy rainfall.
And as he enjoyed the soothing sound of rainfall kissing the earth, while eating a hearty breakfast of pancakes, with butter and honey, he could help but also feel a bit regretful that there was no tea or coffee.
''Ah, sitting on the veranda, enjoying a hot cup of tea while listening to the sound of rainfall..oh that would have been the life,'' He said to himself.
But he had yet to find any tea where, whether it be in Thesos or Adhania, so if we wanted to have it, it was likely he would have to discover the new world.
And coincidentally, today he was going to check the site from where that exploration might start- The port and the shipyard.
The cloudy day finally began to clear up at around the time Alexander finished his meal, and by the time he was meeting Diaogosis at the port, the day was as bright and as scorching as any other day of August.
Alexander had been worried that some of the roads might have been water-clogged givenst night''s torrential rainfall, but it seemed that the sewers and the extreme heat of the sun worked together to make that possibility disappear.
Thus Alexander was easily able to keep his appointment.
"My lord, wee," Diaogosis was there to greet him and after the usual pleasantries, took him around the site, showing him around.
The new port was very much a work in progress.
There were a few thousandborers employed here, all toiling diligently under the scorching summer sun, the majority of them busy moving massive stone blocks quarried from the nearby hills to various parts of the site, each with a unique symbol and number indicating its destination, being transported on sleds pulled by men and animals.
It seemed ordinary wooden carts were too heavy for these multi-ton behemoths, hence the use of these slow-moving transport, which many times would have their paths lubricated with water to ease the sliding.
Or if it was possible, a few even had logs underneath them, effortlessly rolling over them, though the problem with that was that the logs at the back at to be constantly manually ced at the first by workers.
All this meant that moving anything was a time-consuming process, with speeds resembling a snail''s.
Seeing which made Alexander wonder if he should build carts out of iron, but thinking of the challenges posed when shaping iron into that shape was enough to shelf that idea far, far into his mind.
"We at the moment are mainly building the underwater pirs which will hold the port. That''s why everyone is dragging stones, earth, and bricks around," Diaogosis helped provide somementary as they moved.
And along the way, Alexander saw exactly how they were doing it.
First, they had created a boundary around all the points of the sea where the pirs were going to be.
These boundaries were giant, about 3 meters in diameter, and made of strong timber.
And workers could be seen tirelessly working to fill these water-filled structures up with stone, earth, and gravel, as well as a mixture of concentre to bind them all together, slowly making the whole thing solid while all the seawater was pushed out.
And to help with that, there seemed to be quite a few giant pulleys installed close to these to be pirs as well, attached to the end of which was a giant wooden log, that was used to beat the earth and stone and make the whole structure morepact.
Sometimes workers could be also seen manually going at it.
It was a tedious, time-consuming process.
But a necessary one.
Because these pirs were the foundation upon which everything else would sit.
So currently this was the only thing that was happening all around the site, moving earth, mixing cement, and engineers directing it all.
"This here will be the basin which will serve as the core of the harbor, providing safe anchorage for the visiting fleet of ships." At one point Diaogosis said, referring to the middle of the crescent-shaped harbor.
"And there will be where the breakwater be¡where the waves will crash against, protecting the interior and sheltering it from the sea''s fury."
"We nned to use gigantic stones, but now are thinking of using huge concrete blocks to make the protective screen." He continued pointing to the arms that would be stretching from the crescent,
This breakwater was essential to ensure the safety of ships entering and exiting the port and had to be ced carefully.
Diaogosis showed Alexander around for a bit more, but that was it really.
The new port was really in its infantile stage, with the up till now construction existing mostly underwater, but Diaogosis reassured Alexander that despite the dys and setbacks, work was proceeding with speed and that once the pirs werepleted,ying the ''floor'' would be a trivial matter.
Chapter 645 Port And Lighthouse
Chapter 645 Port And Lighthouse
"We have never done something like this before. Building out into the sea is already challenging. Never mind how far we are going into the sea this time. So I want to take my time and make sure everything is made with care and precision," Diaogosis said to Alexander regarding the port construction, referring especially to building the pirs
And Alexander agreed, saying that he could take his time and even gave him an extra year in addition to the already extended time frame toplete the project.
And this naturally got Diaogosis much ted.
But that tion onlysted for an ephemeral moment, for it was followed by a plummeting sense of disappointment, because of what Alexander said next.
"By the way, I also noticed we haven''t got a lighthouse. It would be quite a shame to have such a beautiful port without an apanying lighthouse don''t you think?"
Alexander said so with a gentle smile.
A smile that looked about demonic to Diaogosis.
"No¡no my lord. I think the current one is fine. Just fine."
"Besides, ships don''t evene to port at night that often¡hahaha"
Realizing what Alexander was hinting at, the stonemason stammered the answer, first trying to sound as forceful as possible and then changing his tune to a reasoning one.
But since Alexander had bought it up, of course, he was not going to back down on it so easily.
He first brushed his hands saying, "That puny thing over there could not shine bright enough to light the room it was in."
"No, what we need is a giant, ming behemoth that could be seen from miles away. A marvel for the world to see, its light bright enough to attract ships from all over the world."
"We need a magnificent lighthouse to benefit the magnificent port."
He grandly dered.
And before Diaogosis would object in any way, he turned to face the almost teary-eyed man with a firm gaze and said in aforting voice,
"Now, I will not ask you to do anything crazy like building it in the middle of the sea, or the mouth of the harbor."
"I wanted to do that, but thinking about you, decided against it," Alexander sounded magnanimous, while Diaogosis internally cussed,
''If you did that, you would have had to find a new project manager.''
"And it will not have to be any crazy design." Alexander further reassured.
"You can build it near the coast, and its design will be like at any lighthouse, just a bit bigger."
"Let''s say¡ about 100 meters high."
Alexander tried to say thest sentence as quickly as possible.
But apparently not quickly as Diaogosis''s eyes bulged and the man went slightly agape.
''Build a 100-meter-tall tower in one year, are you insane!'' And it took him all his self restrained not to start cursing Alexander right there and now.
"....that¡that is not possible in such a short time."
Alexander noticed Diaogosis visibly shaking as he replied.
And the reply was in a stoic, absolute tone.
"Oh? Not even with the cement." Alexander, seemingly unaware of Diaogosis''s hidden fury only innocently inquired.
Not being a civil engineering Alexander did not really much of the project.
Sure it was big, but a lighthouse was quite a simple structure.
Just a tall, cylindrical building with a huge burning bonfire on the top which showed the ships the way to the harbor,
The inside of it would be almost hollow, there usually being only a spiraling staircase giving ess to the top, with perhaps a few spare quarters for the guards and the maintainers who ensured the fire was kept lit at all times.
Unlike a building, it would not need to have many rooms or internal facilities, so it seemed a rtively straightforward project for Alexander
And as he thought of building a lighthouse, he could not help but want to build perhaps the most famous lighthouse in the world- one of the seven wonders of the ancient world- The lighthouse of Alexandria!
He remembered how he had ''climbed'' onto the top of it in one game (AC- Origins) and from looking and exploring the insides, he found the lighthouse to be very grand but also simple in design, with none of the byzantine architecture one might expect involved.
So he felt replicating it in real life would be easy.
Hence he casually mentioned the specifications mirroring that, which Alexander remembered as being over 100 meters, and had even drawn up the schematics showing exactly that famous lighthouse in his free time.
And it was because of his preconception that he was unable to understand Diaogosis''s extreme reaction.
"No! If you want to build such a lighthouse, even with concrete it will need at least ten years. Any less and you can find somebody else."
Seeing Alexander''s tone-deaf expression as he inquired seemed finally enough to push Diaogosis over the edge as he finally snapped.
He could not believe someone was seriously asking him to build a 100-meter-tall building in just a year!
Just because there was concentre.
''Concrete is not a magic material that builds things by itself,'' He wanted to shout.
And in this exchange, Diaogosis would have to be dered the winner, as Alexander was really trivializing the problems here.
Any building that was so big had to tackle a variety of challenges, such as arge enough, solid foundation, proper structural engineering to make sure the building could take its own weight, defending against attacks from the elements, and many more.
And it was the part about the elements that was especially true for a lighthouse which would be subjected to frequent gales, storms, and even hurricanes.
It was also one of the reasons why the real Lighthouse of Alexandria took 18 years to be built.
Even the king whomissioned it died before itspletion, and the lighthouse had to be inaugurated by his son.
And although 18 years might sound like a lot, at the time of its construction, its speed was actually a marvel to behold.
Manyter historians would even say that the construction and the speed at which theypleted the lighthouse stood as a testament to the Greek''s expertise and ingenuity in engineering.
So for Alexander to demand it be done in just a year just because he had a bit more convenient mortal was not really reasonable.
And even the 10 years Diaogosis asked for was not afortable deadline, especially given the manpower and material shortage.
So Diaogosis snapping at Alexander''s unreasonable demands could certainly said to be justified.
As Alexander heard Diaogosis''s harsh tone, any lesser lord might have felt offended.
But given he knew the man well enough by now, and knew Diaogosis would usually grumble but ultimately agree to most things he wanted, this time''s outburst seemed to be genuine.
It seemed that man really thought he would need 10 years toplete this project, and if Alexander haggled, the man might really quit.
So this time Alexander wisely backed down, saying in a soft voice,
"Okay, first finish the port. We already have enough on our te now. We do not have to agree on anything now."
"By the time the port is finished in a few years, I''m sure we will have more manpower and can decide how to make the lighthouse then."
Theseforting words finally calmed the stonemason, who already had his hands full building the port plus overseeing the apartment, and so could do without building a new lighthouse.
And this was such that Alexander finished his tour of one-half of his schedule for the day.
And quickly made his way to the other one- The shipyard.
Alexander had built this outside the city as there was not enough space inside the city given there were two ports, one old and the new under construction.
So the site was about an hour away by carriage, which he soon covered arrive, cing his eyes on the huge wooden walls cordoning off all trespassers.
Alexander was let into the site as soon as he disembarked and as he entered the gates, the leather boots stepping over the wet, muddy ground courtesy of the rain, he was mesmerized by the hustle and bustle around him.
Or perhaps it would be more urate to describe the energy as ''organized chaos''.
A sense of purpose and craftsmanship permeated everything here, as the rhythmic sounds of hammers striking wood and the constant chatter of craftsmen filled the air, creating a lively and industrious atmosphere.
The smell of freshly cut timber mingled with the salty tang of the nearby sea, and as the sun beat down on the shipyard, the skeletons of iplete ships cast long shadows across the still-wet ground.
And in the distance, along the shore, Alexander saw the heart of the shipyard- several vast slipways, with sloping ramps made of wooden nks that descended gracefully into the water.
This slipway was where the magic of ship construction happened, where ships were constructed and assembled before they were put into the ocean.
So it was also where most of the shipbuilders and carpenters were, moving to and fro, carefully making precise measurements so that the selected timbers could be shaped to fit precisely with others like a fine piece of jigsaw puzzle.
The craftsmanship involved everywhere was evident a testament to the skill and dedication of the workers.
Work here seemed to be going fast and well.
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Chapter 646 New Shipyard
Chapter 646 New Shipyard
"Lord Alxx, wee, wee. So sorry, I could note to meet you at the gates, hahaha,"
As Alxx stood around the gate looking at the bustling scenery, this voice suddenly rang out, his tone loud and energetic.
And Alxx quickly turned to face the origin of the sound, his eyes meeting a ck man with a handsome, chiseled face, clean-shaven, with slight wrinkles on his face betraying his age.
His head as white as snow, and clothed in a luxurious tunic he walked with strong, steady steps showing he still had quite some life left in him.
"No, no, Lord Nuraman, it is perfectly alright. I know you are very busy." Alxx respectfully greeted back.
This man was Lady Inayah''s youngest uncle and one of the people who had been in charge of building the family''s fleet for thest 20 years.
He had a lot of experience under his belt and after Alxx came to that deal with the noble merchantdy, she had spent him over to oversee Zanzan''s ship production.
The man hade here around April, apanied by about fifty of their family''s finest as well as a thousandborers, and all seemed to be hard at work at the moment, helping Alxx''s dream shipse to reality.
The small talks and greetings were quickly done, and Lord Nuraman then took on the persona of the guide, inviting in a casual tone,
"Come,e, let me show you around. We ahve been preaprign for you."
And then he took Alxx around to show their progress.
He showed them how the workers were all at work, cutting shaping, and processing the wood, how the ships were being built piece by piece, and what the bottlenecks were.
"The new type of ship you designed is really marvelous kid,"
The older gentleman talked very much as he would to a junior, not caring much that Alxx eclipsed him in rank as he praised him.
"The iron nails you give us are as strong as the arms of the gods themselves. The joints are so strong."
"I''m confident these ships will be able to brave any sea with no problem."
"Haha, I hope so too. Closing all shipping during the winter season, for four to six months is too big a loss."
"I want to be able to trade all twelve months of the year, regardless of the season or weather."
Alxx revealed his ambitions.
And then in a slightly eager tone posed,
"So how long will it take to build arge enough fleet of them? I''m thinking at least a hundred."
"Ohhh¡don''t get ahead of yourself too much kid," But the older man was there to rein in Alxx''s expectations, saying,
"Come, let''s look over there, There are the timber yards!"
Lord Nuraman then took the group towards several veryrge, very tall sheds, inside of which Alxx would see many logs and nks of various sizes and shapes stacked high atop each other."
"These are the woods we use to make the ships."
"Some are being seasoned, some, like the ones over there," Lord Nuraman pointed to a side of the yead, "they are being left to dry in the sun and salty breeze to drive away all the moisture which will give the wood their durability."
"And ones that are ready the workers are working on them for assembly, slowing turning them into the ribs, nks, and masts of the ships."
"All this normally takes at least a few months. So building hundreds of ships will take a while."
And it was not just the wood that was in short supply, so were skilled enough carpenters.
All of which meant it would take some time for Alxx to get his floti.
"...I see," And so Alxx, who did not know almost anything about the ship, decided not to make randomments and let the people with the how know to carry on.
After this, Alxx and Lord Nuraman walked around the yard a bit, watching all the craftsmen with tanned and weathered skin working together, passing tools and materials to one another with well-practiced efficiency.
Many seemed to evenmunicate in anguage of nods and gestures, words being unnecessary, evidence of their expertise and teamwork.
As Alxx observed these, he also began to talk about things unrted to shipbuilding, getting to know his counterpart better, as well as trying to tie deeper bonds with his family.
He also requested as such.
"Lord Nuraman, I have written to Lady Inayah about this before, but I''m here asking again."
"I would like you to buy some of the people in your fief. Beggars, urchins, homeless, whoever they are."
"And bring them here in Zanzan to repopte. We have lost a lot of men in thest war and could use them."
Alxx hoped to replenish his stocks with immigration.
But Lord Nuraman did not sound too enthusiastic at the prospect, saying, "I''m afraid the drought has created the same problem for most nobles. Many do not have enough men to work their fields."
"So they have started eyeing each other''s men, even offering the peasants money to leave their lords ande work for theirnds."
"So, I''m afraid you will not get a lot of men through that."
It seemed peasants were in high demand throughout the country.
"......I see," And Alxx''s pursed lips and t answer told everyone how he felt about that.
''I should have gotten from Ptolomy when I had the chance. Dammit.'' He then cursed in his heart, feeling he had lost a major opportunity there, and then as if an unrted neuron got connected to this thinking process, suddenly asked,
''Hmmm¡I wonder if I can get some from the Margrave family. Oh! By the way, what happened to them? I have not heard from them in over a year.''
For a brief moment, Alxx was reminded of that heavily pregnant woman, one who called herself Lady Margaret, and wondered if she had managed to save her family or even survived her delivery.
But that thought vanished from his mind as soon as it came, and Alxx quickly pivoted his attention to the man that mattered, Lord Nuraman.
By this point, the older man had brought Alxx to a veryrge, nice-looking building and promptly invited him inside.
The inside was spacious, withrge windows to illuminate the whole structure, and generously decorated with nice furniture and beautiful carpets.
It was nothing extravagant like Alxx''s house, but it was decent nevertheless, and he could even see a few servants running about.
"This house is the administrative center of the whole shipyard," Lord Nuraman introduced and then took him to show around the fewrge, hall rooms that were allid out with rows of tables and chairs, each of them upied by a man hard at work.
All of these were Lord Nuraman''s men, bought from his family''s territory to help run the shipyard, and they were the nervous system of the whole operation.
They helped maintain the records and paperwork, signed contracts, coordinated the schedules of the workers, made sure everything followed the nned timetable, andstly ensured everyone got paid on time, thus keeping the gears of the ce running.
Without these people, the shipyard woulde grinding to a halt within minutes.
At the sight of Alxx, all of these men stood up and quickly started to greet and Alxx responded in kind, smiling and making small talk with each other, and asking things such as how they were doing, if their amodation was to their liking, how the work was doing, etc.
While the men also tried to butter him, with some of the shrewder ones praising such as,
"My lord, this paper is a marvelous product. I heard you invented it. What a discovery!"
Following this, Alxx got a look at the books, one which recorded all the expenses, and even though he glossed over them, even a casual look at the numbers made his heartache ache.
Running this ce was not cheap.
Especially hiring and keeping these officers each cost him 350 to 400 ropals a month, plus food and free housing.
Yes, Lady Inayah had insisted that Alxx covered all these men''s living expenses in exchange for sending them here.
He even had to build an officer''s quarters specifically for them, which was located on the west side of the yard.
And then there was the cost of the workers, materials, taxes, andstly the initial setup cost.
All this added up very nicely to a big, fat cheque.
And going up Lord Nuraman''s recent words, Alxx had to ept that this ce was going to be in the red for the near-term future.
But Alxx knew this was a necessary expense.
It would be foolish not to build a navy just because it was unprofitable in the short term.
And perhaps the silver lining was that not everything was borne by Alxx but some were also carried by Lady Inayah and even Ptolomy, courtesy of the Queen Mother, who had sent some men to help,
So Alxx hoped to be able to soon start selling these ships and begin making up the losses.
As such he swallowed the bitter pill and kept pumping money into the project.
And it was with such thought that the shipyard excursion atst came to an.
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Chapter 647 Finishing Last Year’s Deals
Chapter 647 Finishing Last Year''s Deals
During Alexander''s visit to the administrative building, he also got to meet with some of the ship designers, who then eagerly showed him the various blueprints of the different kinds of ships they were building, allid out over a grand, oak table.
Following which they very excitedly went over how Alexander''s idea had enabled them to build much bigger ships, emphasizing the size of the vessels and going over how revolutionary those were going to be, as they attempted to impress their top boss.
Alexander meanwhile nodded absentmindedly and yed along, though his heart in reality wanted to build even bigger ones.
For instance, what the men were showing him were sketches of triremes and quadriremes, whereas other counterpart nations were already using decariremes.
Now, Alexander had asked if they would make him thetest models other nations were using, but unfortunately, it seemed that was beyond the engineers'' capabilities at the moment.
And in that same vein, Alexander''s wish to make huge barges made of concrete powered by enormous sails andplex rigging for transporting cargo all around was also shelved due to ack of expertise.
''Baby steps. these are baby steps,'' And to all of that Alexander could only reassure himself as such and hope the future held better things for his navy.
And as Alexander finished seeing everything there was to see, he atst bid the officers farewell,
"Well I''ve been very impressed by the job you have done, esteemed sirs." He respectfully first addressed these learned and well-to-do men,
"Keep up the good work."
"Remember the ships that you build today will connect our people, facilitate trade, make us richer, and enable us to project power across the seas."
"For His Majesty''s glory!"
"For His Majesty''s glory!" And the others cheered in chorus.
After exiting the shipyard, Alexander did not immediately return home.
No, because there was a guest in Alexander''s carriage, Lord Nuraman, and he insisted that hee to his house for a meal, saying everything had been prepared and that the meal was hot and ready.
Alexander too was feeling famished, having traveled and walked for so many hours without anything much of substance to eat.
Sure he was served drinks and snacks, but his real meal had been at dawn, and after all the walking, talking, and moving around, his tummy was ravenous for some lunch.
So when there came a promise of delicious food, Alexander was reluctant to pass it up.
Thus instead of taking him to his house, the carriage was diverted to Lord Nuraman''s house a few blocks away, near where NN and the twin''s house were.
This was another of the vacant noble homes turned into guest houses with a simr style and? Alexander was let in with cordial grace by two women, a slightly old woman with few strands of gray hair appearing out of her cascading mane, and the one that attracted most of Alexander''s attention, a stunningly beautiful young woman standing next to her.
Wearing a beautiful, strapless red gown, thisdy appeared to be in her early to mid-twenties and fully eclipsed her counterpart in all forms.
Her dress entuated her ample bosom, snuggly wrapping it, her silky ck hair was tied up in a stylish bun and her cheeky were rosy with cute dimples.
"Wee, Lord Alexander, " And she greeted him with a curve on her plump, wine lips, her captivating dark eyes making an amorous gesture that set Alexander slightly aback.
He was surprised both by her beauty and the overly familiar greeting.
But Lord Nuraman seemed to not notice any of this, as he simply went forward and in a jovial tone said,
"Let me introduce you, Alexander,? this is my third wife- Rayana," pointing to the olden woman, and then referred to the sexy bombshell as, "And this is my newest concubine- Akisha. I just took her two months ago."
Hearing which Alexander consequently felt a light shell hit his heart in surprise.
''Old man aren''t you a bit too advanced in your age to be adding new members to your harem,'' He could not help but say to himself.
But hey, the man was bona-fide noble so who was he to argue?
Thus Alexander greeted them elegantly, praising their looks, and was then soon invited inside.
There he was met with a second pair of couple.
And it was someone he already met a few times, for it was Kayvan- Pasha Farzah''s fifth son.
"It''s a pleasure to have you, Lord Alexander," The tall, strapping man warmly greeted.
He was apanied by his recently married wife, who appeared especially young, perhaps only fifteen or sixteen at most, possessing a petite figure with some innocent baby fat still hanging on her face.
She looked at Alexander with doe-eyes, these reflecting some of her still-held innocence, and appeared to be scanning Alexander with interest and intrigue.
And Alexander too was intrigued by her, especially thinking about the age difference between the two.
The bride seemed a bit too young for Kayvan.
But then again, this was not really umon.
Records of uncles marrying their nieces and even grandfathers marrying their granddaughters weremon and even epted in this society, so the two''s marriage could even be described as appropriate for the time.
Alexander also remembered Pasha Farzah mentioning in one of his letters that one of his sons had recently gotten married to a girl from Lady Inayah''s family as a way to strengthen the two family''s bond.
The aged Pasha had then also added,
''The brat is hounding me to let him go on a honeymoon with his new bride. So I''m sending him to you.''
Which partly exined why Kayvan was here.
As for why they were staying here with Lord Nuraman, well this girl had another identity, which was Lord Nuraman''s youngest daughter.
Which also meant all the people in the house were actually one family.
Small world indeed.
It was also because of this that some things had conveniently be easier for Alexander.
Mainly regarding the problem of? Zanzan''sck of proper facilities to house each of the nobles separately.
Previously, Alexander could have easily housed them in his manor and provided them with all the necessary hospitality.
But given recent developments, that was no longer possible.
So it came as a blessing that Alexander was able to ask them to share the house as a family without any embarrassment.
After all, that''s what families did.
And fortunately for him, they took the idea surprisingly well, agreeing to it very amicably.
"Haha, well that''s nice. It will give me the chance to know my son-inw better!" Lord Nuraman had chuckled.
Now, Pasha Farzah had not sent his son just for pleasure.
The incumbent Pasha had also sent his son with the fleet carrying Lord Nuraman to properly oversee the goods he had sent Alexander, which were part of the 400 million ropals deal the two men had struckst year.
Pasha Farzah sent his ships bunched up with Lady Inayah''s who too had a simr deal, all carrying massive amounts of grain, animals, and even a few thousand ves, without all of which Zanzan''s recovery would have been much hampered, if not regressed.
Especially the grain, when the first batch arrived in March, it really helped out Alexander, who still did not produce enough to feed his own poption.
So Lady Inayah''s and Pasha Farzah''s shipsden with wheat, oats, barley, salted meat, fish and vegetables were all very much wee.
Furthermore the ves were a nice addition, something that was not originally agreed upon, but it seemed Pasha Farzah had somehow managed to scrounge together some for Alexander, likely taking a lot of them from the streets of Adhan without PP''s knowledge.
Alexander had previously written to both of them regarding his losses and asked for more men, and though Lady Inayah was unable to provide extra outside of the shipyard workers, the old man responded as such, plus even secretly promised another 8,000 more from him and the Queen Mother by the end of the year
It was secret because the people would be from the streets of Adhan which PP did not approve of.
And this gesture made Alexander quite happy, as it showed that these people were willing toe to his aid when asked, reassuring him that he would have some backing if he ran into some trouble.
So when it came to returning the favor, Alexanderden the ship with some extra sugar and iron, along with the usual salt, fabric, paper, and ss products, though thest two were a bit short on quantity given a lot of their stock had been destroyed and production was yet to catch up.
By this time, these ships hadpleted about two-thirds of the agreed trade, with the ships due toplete theirst trip for this year very soon.
And Alexander looked forward to the cargo they would be carrying.
Because Pasha Farzah promised to send the things Alexander wanted the most on the following trip, which were books and the learned acolytes.
Alexander was very excited about this because once he had the two, he could finally start his public education, using some of the books as textbooks, especially in thenguage courses, and employing the ''to be priests'' to be part-time teachers.
In anticipation of that Alexander had even started the construction of his first schools and libraries, in very eagerness of the fact that he would atst have a way to produce officials and administrators sometime in the future.
Chapter 648 Lord Nuraman’s Luncheon (Part-1)
Chapter 648 Lord Nuraman''s Luncheon (Part-1)
The current shortage of learned men that Alexander was facing was something very maddening to him.
Many projects were unable to start or even if they did, were inefficient due to ack of qualified personnel, as not being able to produce the required paperwork meant that Alexander could use the date to make informed future decisions.
So he was very eager to start his public schools and general education, for though that would not instantly remedy his problems, at least he could start making the medicine to solve that problem for the future.
But all these exciting developments were still some time in the future.
For now, though, Alexander returned his focus to pay attention to the people who had invited him into their house and exchanged some pleasantries.
"Ah! I''m so embarrassed at havinge empty-handed. Truly a grave breach of etiquette, a grave breach." Alexander said exaggeratedly waving his arms animatedly.
As Lord Nuraman from the side jokingly chuckled,
"Yes, yes. That is why as punishment Lord Alexander must drink the most today, haha."
"We bought our special wine from Agnirat that you simply must taste."
"Come,e." The lord of the house then ushered Alexander to the back half of the house, the ce reserved for friends and family.
He was truly being cordial to Alexander.
Before joining the luncheon, Alexander freshened himself up, cleaning his face, arms, and legs, and wetting his head to fight the blistering heat, before being personally led by the man of the house to the private dining table, where he was given the seat of honor at the head of the table.
Alexander of course tried to decline this by saying that as the senior, Lord Nuraman should have the privilege.
But the old man was adamant, saying peerage trumped all.
Hence Alexander got the honor while Lord Nuraman and Kayvan sat on either side, each apanied by their respective wives.
And then without further ado, food and wine started to flow without restraint, as Alexander was served various kinds of Adhanian traditional dishesposed of meat, fish, and vegetables served with several types of bread.
There were stewed and fried fish of various kinds, roasted and broiled meat of rare and exotic vors, and fried and salted seasonable vegetables to go along with at least five different types of bread.
At one moment, Alexander even took the time to try and count the number of items on the table but could go only up to thirty before losing track.
The entire luncheon very much felt like being in a medieval feast.
And as the chief guest, he was asked to taste all.
A task he found to be very daunting.
Though he was helped by the unique wine they served, which in much contrast to the sweet ones usually given, was a hard, spicy one, one which stung the throat a bit when gulped.
And though usually would have been a bad thing, with all the meat, and fish being eaten, somehow this wine helped to stimte the throat and energize it, cleaning the gullet and coaxing it to eat more and enjoy the feat.
"Lord Nuraman, you were not kidding! This wine really deserves to be a specialty," Alexander had praised as he gulped it down by the cups, much to Lord Nuraman''s approving delight.
And as soon as his cup was emptied, Lord Nuraman''s newest concubine, Akisha, would be there to refill it.
That was why she did not sit down with the rest of the party to eat but instead stood right beside Alexander like a diligent maid, making sure her guest''s te was never short of any food and that his wine cup was never empty.
She paid special attention to thetter, because the faster the host could refill his guest''s cup, the greater hospitality it showed in Adhania.
Furthermore, she also provided Alexander with more than just food, she also provided him with some entertainment in the form of eye candy.
Alexander quickly noticed that the sexy woman had significantly loosened the gown around her bust from the first time he saw her, so much so that it let Alexander have a tantalizing view of her deep, milky ravine every time she bent over to pour him a ss of wine, as well as hitting him with a rosy fragrance.
Alexander must have drunk twice or even thrice the amount of wine just to get that view and smell that sweet perfume again and again, by the end of which Alexander was intoxicated enough where he could only barely stop himself from grabbing those fruits right in front of everybody and start ying with them.
If this had been Lord Nuraman''s tactic to get Alexander drunk, it had worked fantastically, and only Alexander''s iron will and sense of shame developed in his previous life kept him frommitting such socially infelicitous acts.
Of course, Alexander did not simply sit at the table gorging on food, getting drunk, and staring at cleavages.
He also made sure to socialize.
Alexander got to know about the details of Lord Nuraman''s own family, listened to some of his life stories, and to reciprocate, shared a bit of his own, like how he took Adhan from Amenheraft.
"Ahh, it is a shame Lady Cambyses could not join us," And for his part, Lord Nuraman also talked about Alexander''s family like this, to which Alexander promised to bring them around
Alexander also talked with Kayvan, asking about his father, his ''famous in certain parts of Zanzan'' sister, and even his two nieces who were staying with him.
Alexander was very well aware that Pasha Farzah had sent his son to check up on Azura and Azira as a side project.
"My father is well. He wanted toe personally to meet you, my lord, but the pressures of a prime minister are really a lot. He just could not manage the time," The handsome man, with that characteristic silver hair validating his Matrak bloodline breezily replied as he drank his chicken soup.
"Yes, yes, I saw it personally when I visited him. Being the right hand of the king is hard work."
"And besides, Zanzan is quite far from Adhan. Given your father''s age, it best he does not exert himself too much."
Alexander casually replied, though given the man was touching close to sixty, he did fear he might suddenly have a heart attack and copse.
Such examples were dime a dozen, especially given after crossing the age of 50, one''s mortality rate jumped to 50 %.
So Pasha Farzah dying in the near future was really a coin flip, a dangerously high possibility.
A possibility which if were toe true would be very inconvenient for Alexander, as he was yet to meet and bond with Farzah''s sessor, meaning deals would be much harder to reach with thetter.
Sure, Alexander had heard about Pasha Farzah''s eldest son from both him and Mikaya and even knew some of the things he did for him, such as many of the goods Pasha Farzah had promised Alexander were actually arranged under that man''s supervision.
But given the man was busy ruling Matrak in his father''s stead. Alexander was yet to get the chance face-to-face.
Meaning that familiarity that existed with the old man simply was not present with his sessor.
And Alexander really did not know how to bridge that gap either.
ording to Mikaya, the entire roundtrip from Zanzan to Matrak, including the duration of the stay would take almost five to six months, thus requiring Alexander to set aside almost half the year just for that meeting.
Alexander had much better things during that time, so clearly, that was not possible.
And it seemed his counterpart felt the same way, which was why the two men, though aware, had never written or spoken a single word to each other.
So when Alexander casuallymented about Pasha Farzah''s health, a part of him also began to hope that this did note to bite him in the near future.
"Haha, yes, yes, I always tell him to pay a bit more attention to his health. But does he listen¡." At Alexander''s reminder, Kayvan chuckled and lightly shook his head in amusement.
And then the conversation moved to Azira and Azura, with Alexander asking how he found his nieces, knowing what the man wrote to Pasha Farzah regarding it would be critical in determining the old man''s opinion of him.
The first time Alexander had written to Pasha Farzah describing the result of the war and its aftermath, especially regarding the fate of his manor, the old man had been so furious that his two granddaughters were put in danger that the vituperative letter was really written out of only curses.
''You¡sewer rat¡.you promised¡how dare you,,,,you cur¡I will ughter¡''
This small exert was actually from a more civilized part of the letter.
And reading it, Alexander was half amused and half afraid, dreading to think what the old man would have done if he was actually present in front of him.
Perhaps he would have been straggled right then and there.
Pasha Farzah had even formally asked Alexander to return the two to him, iming Zanzan was too dangerous for them.
And it was only with the twins personally writing a letter to him, urging him that they wanted to stay and that they were never in danger that the old man, seeing that distinctive handwriting reluctantly changed his mind.
But even then he sent his son to go see the situation for himself.
Chapter 649 Reminiscing About Mikaya
Chapter 649 Reminiscing About Mikaya
Pasha Farzah was never a man to just take someone''s word for it, so one of Kayvan''s main objectives here was to find out how the twines were doing.
So it could seen why Alexander was interested in knowing Kayvan''s evaluation regarding them.
"Haha, rest assured, Lord Alexander. I have rarely seen my nieces so happy."
"Running a temple by themselves had always been a dream of theirs. My father will get good news," Kayvan pleasantly answered Alexander, his friendly and positive answer helping Alexander put some of his worries to ease.
"I''m d.? The twin Highnesses seemed to be really enjoying themselves here," Alexander thus lightly smiled.
And then bought thest, and perhaps the most important topic of the day- Kayvan''s youngest sister.
"How is Lady Mikaya? Is she still in Adhan? A lot of people here miss her," Alexander asked so in a casual tone, though his lips could not help but subconsciously curve into a smirk when he said thest line.
To Kayvan it only sounded like an innocentment, like Alexander was trying to politely say how they had all enjoyed herpany.
Whereas for Alexander, that sentence had a very different meaning.
A very different meaning indeed.
ording to Ophenia, Mikaya had once be quite popr in her new job indeed, with sometimes people actually lining up right from the afternoon at the brothel''s entrance to get a chance at tasting her, even though the ''show'' started only after dinner.
The people even gave the three girls a crass name- Heaven''s three butts, as that was only the part that would be visible to them,
And Ophenia would always find the day the three performed on the wall to be the most hectic one, with her sometimes even asking Cambyses to send ten to twenty city guards there just to keep the enormous crowd in line.
They were that popr.
And intrigued by the hype, Alexander had once gone there to see the marvel for himself, in full disguise of course.
And as he arrived during his turn, the very thing that caught his eyes first and foremost was the pair of guards armed in heavy bronze cuirass and wielding a giant halbert standing next to each of the girls, for a total number of six.
For such a small space that was a lot of guards.
And that was kind of the point.
Though these girls were engaged in perhaps one of the most degrading acts, still they were nobles, and pretty high ones at all, so security for the three had always been Alexander''s top priority.
And these six were there to stop anyone from getting any funny ideas.
The customers were expected to insert, pound to their heart''s content, perhaps spank a bit, and then unload before leaving.
That was it.
And these guards were there to ensure that was exactly what happened.
Though Alexander did feel sorry for the six of them a bit.
For though they ensured everyone else enjoyed themselves, they themselves had to endure a raging boner for as long as the servicested, which would be at least a couple of hours.
It must have been torture.
With perhaps the only silver lining of going through all that difort for so long was that once thest customer left, they could get a turn of their own, and they could enjoy without any worry of time constraints.
And even better, they would not need to even pay.
As for what they got to enjoy without paying, well those looked exactly what Alexander had imagined in his mind.
All three baster butts hung off the wall like paintings by the gods.
Starting from the left, the tight, lean one Alexander recognized as belonging to Tajia''s.
In the middle was the biggest and most voluminous one which was of course Mikaya''s.
Andstly, the softest and fluffiest one situated on the far left was Nafia''s.
They had by now gone from fair white to bright pink due to the rough kneading, and etched onto them were several handprints courtesy of the spanking
As for their private parts, well after having been used by so many men, all three''s six orifices looked as expected.
The puckered hole at the top had gone from a bright pink to a dull brown and seemed to have been pried open permanently, so much so that it seemed to refuse to close, allowing everyone to peer into the bowels which bubbled with white cream.
And down below, that once beautiful flower also appeared devasted, like a thousand horses had trampled on it, as the beautiful petals vulgarly spread open, showing off their now browned, puffed up, and almost abused condition to the world, while twitching constantly.
Both of them were liberally leaking white sauce, falling like little drops to the ground or snaking down the butt before plummeting.
If not for the almost magical existence of legummum, Alexander would written off these girls'' parts as ''very experienced.''
But since that drug existed, Alexander knew in less than two weeks, these would be back to being like a virgin''s- blemishless, tight, pink, and like a snuggly closed petal.
Alexander still could not get over how mysterious that nt was.
While Alexander stood there, marveling at the effects of that drug, he suddenly saw a woman approach one of the girls next to him, more specifically Nafia, carrying a pale of warm water and a soft brush.
And then pausing the service on that line for a while, she began to quickly use her instrument to try and clean the two organs, scraping out the excess milk the two flowers had been fed.
And looking around, Alexander noticed the other two also had their own attendants.
Opehnia wouldter inform Alexander that these women were also workers at the building, but had ended up on cleaning duty that day.
As for the reason why cleaning was even necessary, well, the human body would only take that much of a man''s nectar before being filled up.
And so asionally they needed to be emptied out to let the remaining customers enjoy the renewed one.
This girl appeared very expert in her work, as if she had done this dozens of times, which she had, and so by moving the brush quickly and at knowing angles, she tried to get as much of the goo out as possible.
And after only a minute she was done, having scraped out as much as she could, and finished by giving the two holes a ssh of warm water to make them clean.
*Pisssss*
But just as she was about to leave, Nafia seemed to have decided to rx herself.
And as the golden liquid made that fabulous arc, producing steam as itnded, Alexander could not help but wonder how that outwardly shy girl would react if she were to know he had seen her doing so along with more than twenty people.
Would she be mortified?
Would she be bashful?
Or would she be happy?
Thest one might sound strange, but going by the three''s moans Alexander was able to pick up, Nafia seemed to be the most prolific one.
"Oh~ please... insert it a little more... um, it''s not deep enough~ it''s so itchy¡"
"Push it in harder~please push it in harder¡"
"Oh don''t use your fingers... um eh ~ hurry... use your big cock... um~ fuck my ve cave."
These were only some of the moans Alexander was able to pick up that side.
And if he had not heard it personally, and unless he was absolutely certain it was indeed Nafia''s voice, Alexander would have struggled to believe it was that same, demure girl.
It seemed what Mikaya had said was true, Nafia really had a second, much morescivious face.
*Ssh*
Alexander did not get too far with that though, as suddenly the sound of water sshing against the concrete floor pierced his ears.
And immediately his eyes focused to see the workers who had cleaned Nafia, clean this as well.
And judging from her bored face, the girl did not seem to find the action at all surprising.
In fact, this was actually prettymon.
After all, the three could not go to the bathroom for the five to six hours they entertained the men and given it was little trouble, they simply did their little business here.
And they preferred doing it during the cleaning interlude, one because it was easier to relieve oneself when not being poked by a thick, meaty rod constantly.
Two because during cleaning, the soft bristles of the brush would brush against the urethra, stimting movement.
And three because their little extra show provided some much-needed entertainment as the men impatiently waited for the clean-up to finish, letting those lucky ones be witness to the creation of a beautiful rainbow.
This act was actually quite a big hit.
And the other two too seemed to do this too, as upon approaching them Alexander picked out a light, lingering smell of ammonia around them, very faint but definitely present.
Evidence of their deeds as well.
Alexander wouldter be even told that some men with a particr fetish would try to drink it when they released or at least lick the part clean.
To which Alexander would say he did not judge.
It took quite a bit of effort for Alexander to move his eyes away from the raw organs, and on what heid his eyes next was the real reason why he wanted Mikaya back in Zanzan.
Chapter 650 Reminiscing About Mikaya (Part-2)
Chapter 650 Reminiscing About Mikaya (Part-2)
Alexander''s eyes were drawn to the wall next to each of the girl''s white nks because on the walls were numerous ck tally marks.
As for what they represented, well that was pretty easy to guess, for Alexander saw before anyone could start enjoying themselves, they had to pay to get a small piece of chalk which they could use to draw a line on the wall, thus helping keep track of the number each girl served.
And just going by eyeball numbers, Alexander already counted 30 for each of them.
It was ridiculous and represented a huge amount of ie for the establishment.
As for the reason why the counting was done like this, well one of them was that it made double-checking the money collected with the men serviced easier, ensuring there was no one slipping in one a free meal, or that the cashier was not pocketing one or two pieces for themselves.
There was also the visual appeal for the men, knowing they were able to have a girl who was so popr and wanted by so many others.
Andstly, and perhaps the mostpelling reason, this was one of Mikaya''s preferences, to know exactly how many men had used her.
Remember, she did this also with the goal of breaking her previous record.
In fact, the sliver-haired beauty had actually wanted these marks to be on her butt, as some kind of tattoo which she could look in the mirror afterward.
But after trying that for the first time, it was found that the sweat and the touching quickly rubbed the ink off, and much more spectacrly, after some time they started, it was found that there was no more space on the flesh canvas.
Mikaya and her performance were that popr.
In fact the day after Mikaya''s first service, Alexander remembered Ophenia very excitedlying to tell him that those three in just one night had made close to 1,000 ropals!
To give some context to how huge that was, well an average night worker made 8 to 10 ropals a night or 30 ropals if three of them werebined.
So Mikaya and the duo made in one day what most others did in a whole month!
And better yet, because of how rich she was, Mikaya only took a token amount, leaving the business with most of the money.
She left about eighty percent of her earnings to Alexander, whereas other workers usually capped theirmission at fifty percent, with an additional food and lodging charge of 3 ropals a day.
And it was not as if she was cheap either.
In fact, she was quite expensive,
Alexander had set the cost of admission at 5 ropal per person, or about a whole day''s pay for a worker.
This was far higher, more than double as a matter of fact, of the average rate of two ropals one needed to spend a night with a decent girl.
And there, one could get a private room, a nice bed to lie in, and a one-to-one experience.
While here you could not even get to see the face of the girl you were fucking.
It was just a production line of lewd, perverted pleasure where everyone had to bear their private parts for all others to see and then insert into an orifice that was most of the time full of another''s man gift, enjoy the sensation for about three -four minutes, and then you were done.
Yet Alexander nned to charge more than double the usual rate!
Normally, with this price, it would have been hard for any to five men willing to experience this, never mind the upwards of sixty men each of them served each performance.
The proposal was so ludicrous in fact that even the usually out-of-touch with money Mikaya did think it was a good pricing policy.
So when Alexander had set the price so high, she had vehemently protested, even going as far as to im that this was Alexander''s unscrupulous way of denying her pleasure.
At one point she even demanded she be made free.
After all, for the uber-rich princess, there was really no difference between something that was free or that cost only 5 ropals.
She even offered to reimburse Alexander for using his facilities, instead of charging others anything.
But Alexander had only said this, "Mydy, it would be a great disrespect to the gods if you were to offer your services for free."
"They must have spent a lot of time crafting that perfect organ."
"And it would be a sin onto the gods for a lowly peasant to get to experience it for free."
"5 ropals was already cheap enough."
Alexander had good reasons for saying this.
Because he had experienced Mikaya twice and knew just how pleasurable her thing was.
Soft, plump, tight and so decadently addicting, even with Alexander''s vast experience only two others could evene close, Ophenia and Seelima.
And those two had their own histories.
So he was absolutely sure the mening to her for her services had never tasted something even a hundredth this pleasing.
Thus in Alexander''s opinion to be able to experience something that exquisite for 5 ropals was almost equal to it being free.
Hearing Alexander''s confident words, Mikaya then had stopped her protest and simply waited to see if Alexander was just all talk or if he really could deliver the crowd he promised.
And Alexander for his part tried his best to advertise the goods as best as possible as discreetly as possible.
After all, no matter how good Mikaya felt, it would not matter if nobody knew about it.
So a couple of weeks before officially starting the act, Alexander began handing out ''free samples'' free of charge.
A group of young men, be they workers, soldiers, or even just regr passersby would be randomly invited into the red building, be given a free drink containing that shiva drug, and then be asked to taste Mikaya for free.
And though upon seeing the novel arrangement for the first time, many men would be initially reluctant due to having to do the act in front of everyone, once they had a taste, all of them without exception would start swinging their hips like monkeys.
Mikaya made sure to squeeze them with all her might to get them hooked and given the subus''s skill, the average yers could barely exceed the 2-minute mark, with many finishing before half of that.
She was that good.
So the news of this prowess as well as the the never before seen service soon spread like wildfire, first among these testers'' friends and even family and then simply through hearsay.
And then with a bit of marketing hype before the opening day, the people lining up to taste Mikaya was overwhelming even at those exuberant rates.
And her two ''sisters in crime'' seemed not too far behind either.
For though Alexander never experienced them himself,? the length of the line of men waiting to taste them spoke clearly of their poprity, and seeing how quickly both were able to wring out their prize from the men, almost keeping up with their mistress, their skills were certainly on par.
And as Alexander observed the ongoing process, the smooth, seamless operation seemed to speak of almost a kind ofsting harmony¡..if one kind did not take into scout the kind of business being done here.
Alexander was satisfied with how the operations seemed to be running and having seen everything here, he decided it was time to go meet the three in person backstage and hear of their experience from the horse''s mouth.
When suddenly,
"Hey, buddy! What''cha gawking for! Sticking it in or get out of the fucking way! Stop wasting all of our damn time!"
Just as Alexander was about to move, this crass, almost violent curse hit his ear.
And turning around, he saw a shabbily dressed thin man with bad teeth ring at him.
Clearly he was getting impatient that Alexander had been just standing there not doing anything for so long while he was in the back with a raging boner.
"Ah, apologies good sir. Please you can go. It seems I''m really too shy to do this, haha,"
Facing this hostile man, Alexander reacted very politely, quickly stepping out of the way, and gesturing him to go in front of him.
He even slightly bowed to make the deal sweeter.
After all, Alexander of course had absolutely no intention of tasting any of the three in this state.
But whereas this cordial invitation should have made the man go hop and skip past him, instead, a scared, almost terrified look appeared on that dirty man''s face.
Normal people did not talk like that.
If it was someone of simr status as him, they would have instantly cursed back, not politely made way for him.
And having lived long enough, the man knew exactly the kind of people who talked so elegantly.
Nobles!
''What are they doing here?'' He went pale-faced as his eyes started darting.
First, itnded on Alexander, who appeared very clean and refined with a calm demeanor.
Not phrases one wouldmonly use to describe amoner.
And then like how a cautious prey could sense predators, his instinct told him he was being red at by several very sharp-eyed individuals.
And these men seemed to be very angry.
Of course, they were Alexander''s bodyguards in in clothes.
And as these res pierced the man, he suddenly felt faint.
Chapter 651 Reminiscing About Mikaya (Part-3)
Chapter 651 Reminiscing About Mikaya (Part-3)
The man standing in front of Alexander was one of the people with a fast brain and very good people reading skills.
And so reading the subtle clues was able to urately guess Alexander''s status, though not his exact identity.
But he did not need to do thetter.
Just the former was enough to send him into a shocked stammer.
"Ahhh! My apologies my lord¡I mean sire¡.I mean¡no..ummm¡I suddenly remember I something to do."
The man was barely able to form a single coherent sentence as he shook like a leaf, and then turning to the cashier suddenly bought everything he had in his pocket and shoved it into his hand, "Here! He is my brother! This is my treat!"
And then turning to give Alexander a big smile, said "Brother! Have a good day! Sorry I could not apany you!"
With this an instantter he was gone, trotting and even slightly breaking into a run as he tried to get away as far as possible from Alexander.
To him Alexander appeared like a malicious beast, one from whom he could not wait to run away from and hide himself in the sea of people.
While Alexander, gazing at the retreating back of the unknown man, at first felt a bit amused at the overreaction.
He did not think his politeness would have been seen as something so scary.
So he could not help but break into a short, hollow chuckle.
But seeing this, a small part of his heart also felt happy and faltered.
Because the man''s reaction was the perfect evidence of Alexander''s power.
Or at least the power of the social ss he resided in.
This was what it meant to be a noble.
Wielding such immense fear and respect just by one''s presence alone.
It was a feeling Alexander found intoxicating, and something he came to appreciate to the fullest after he had lost all his powers for 10 whole years when his existence was equal to a pebble on the road.
Before that painful experience, back in his previous life, Alexander''s mindset was the same as the ordinary masses, going about his life without too much care.
And like the typical man, he would regrly slight the ambitious and power-hungry people he would sometimes see in the news, people like businessmen, politicians, and military leaders, as being too greedy and soulless.
He would even wonder why these people worked so hard and struggled so much to stay or obtain more power when they perfectly had more than enough means to enjoy a happy, rxed life.
But now in his current life, he could finally empathize with them.
He understood that those people understood that the real way to get happiness was to get more power.
More power meant more ways one could determine one''s own fate.
And the amount of work they put in to achieve it was just part of the ''fun''.
For them work was not a chore, but a rewarding experience.
Just like for Alexander, all the work hard work he did to develop his fief was not at all painful, but a pleasurable event, in doing which he could get respect like he had done just now.
He had not even needed to tell him who he was for the aggressive man to back down like a wet cat and run away shivering.
It was an event that needed to experience to really understand the feeling
Alexander had never expected to experience this type of profound feeling in such a ce.
But Alexander did not also ruminate on the man''s action.
A big part of him was also very impressed at the man''s intuition and quick thinking.
Not many people possessed such keen insight to instantly recognize the strength of their opponent, especially when they were disguised.
''Did he recognize me?'' Alexander even wondered.
Though that did not really matter.
Alexander was not concerned about his identity getting revealed.
Other than the simple fact that the man might not have identified Alexander as Alexander but simply understood him to be a noble, even if he had, the man seemed to be clever enough what was best for him.
It was because of that he had changed his address of Alexander from ''lord'' to ''sire'' to then ''brother''.
He clearly understood that Alexander or in his mind a noble was here incognito and that he wished to stay that way.
And so even when caught off guard, that man tried to very cleverly spin his words in that way.
This went to show how quick-witted and on his feet he was, a rare trait to have indeed.
''He would have made a good spy.'' Alexander even half absently thought.
And then thinking on a whim, suddenly turned to ask two of his bodyguards,
"Go after that man and bring him to me. Make sure not to hurt him."
And with that the two men were off to follow that man with hurried steps.
While Alexander very casually left the line, drawing nobody''s notice given everyone was too busy looking at the beautiful painting, as he then inconspicuously entered a part of the building essible to only the staff.
Here, Alexander came in front of a gate, being guarded by two men whom Alexander personally knew as being from his mercenary group, and so seeing their boss and his familiar bodyguards, they let him in immediately.
After this, Alexander left his men to freshen themselves in a room, for he did not want anyone who encountered Mikaya day to day to see her in that state, while he took a few twisting corridors to finally arrive at his destination.
Alone.
*Swingggggg*
The heavy oak door that was guarded opened with an oily squeak, and as Alexander walked in, he finally got a look at the back during operations.
And honestly, it was nothing too crazy as one might have anticipated.
For instance, the centerpiece of the attractive, Mikaya only had a slightly bored face, as sheid down on a velvety, soft devan, wine ss in hand, while asionally moaning.
To her left, Tajia was in a simr position, biting on an apple while asionally whimpering, her face lightly flushed.
As for Nafia, well she seemed to be the odd one out, as she had her head buried into the pillow and loudly moaning, crying fantastically vulgar words some of which even sounded new to Alexander.
Truly she was the one enjoying this the most.
Alexander''s entry at first did not cause anymotion.
In fact nobody even barely paid attention to him.
Because these doors would constantly open and close, bringing in new food and wine, while removing the bowls and trays.
This peacested until one of the many girls attending to the three''s all kinds of needs suddenly turned her head to spot Alexander.
"Ahhh! Who are you!"
She immediately screamed.
No unauthorized person was supposed to be able to get here.
''What are the guards doing?'' She thought in panic inside her head.
"Alex! You finally came to see me!"
While the girl''s panicked shout also drew the attention of the chief performer, who upon seeing Alexander, gave a short exmation of surprised joy, immediately sending him arge grin.
Just from his exchange alone, one would be hard-pressed to think this was anything but a normal meeting between friends as if Mikaya was just running over to hug a friend she had not seen for a long time.
Whereas in reality, the girl in the conversation was naked, strapped to the wall, and being pounded from behind.
"Yes, well you are currently the talk of the entire city. I had toe and visit, haha," Alexander,
very much like Mikaya, also appeared very nonchnt witnessing the scene ced in front of him, replying this in a mirthful voice as he slowly approached her with leisurely steps.
"This new look suits you," Then having gotten close enough,mented this.
And what he was referring to here was how Mikaya''s hair was no longer that stunning snowy, silver white, but dyed pitch ck, in order to of course disguise her.
"Thanks! Sister Tayin helped e¡Ahhh!¡that''s a big one!" Mikaya had attempted to answer that in a loose, breezy, but it seemed a particrlyrge one had entered her, hence the soul-stirring moan.
Hearing which the primal lust in Alexander swirled like a whirlpool.
Mikaya really was a subus.
"Hehe, well did you enjoy the show at the back? How was it?" The Matrak princess quickly recovered from her pleasureful haze and asked this without a shred of shame.
She even sounded eager to know what Alexander''s experience was, excitedly adding,
"Did you use me? How was I!"
While Alexander yfully posed.
"What makes you think I went there? Could I have note here directly,"
"Hahaha¡well for one there that''s raging boner, so that does not sound too likely," But Mikaya cleverly pointed out.
And she was right.
Alexander certainly had been roused by that previous scene, hence he sported the boner the moment he saw his scene.
It appeared that even in this state, Mikaya''s mind was sharp enough to notice this small detail and more impressively make that connection.
Mikaya''s intelligence never failed to impress Alexander.
Which was all the more why hearing such an urate argument, Alexander could not help but sigh a bit in his heart.
He had said it many times, and will say it many times more, Mikaya really would have been his perfect woman if not for that ''tiny massive'' w.
Chapter 652 Reminiscing About Mikaya (Part-4)
Chapter 652 Reminiscing About Mikaya (Part-4)
If Mikaya had been just a bit more prude, Alexander would have seriously considered having her in his family.
But as of now¡.
"Haha, well maybe I''m just d to see you. You look stunning," To Mikaya''s clever argument, Alexander could only forcefully chuckle this.
And the girl very proudly replied, "Yes, I know. Thanks."
Mikaya had been always one to unt her looks.
"Nice of you toe my lord! Wee!"
Finally, as the two finished their greeting, another voice rang from Mikaya''s side, Tajia''s, who very simr to her mistress gave Alexander a very rxed greeting.
And then, as if searching for something, she looked around and having found it, called,
"Ah girls, what are you doing just standing still? Come greet your master!"
Tajia found the attendant girls were all bunched together and trying to move towards an inconspicuous corner of the room like they were cornered prey in front of an apex predator.
They were smart enough to recognize Alexander''s identity given how the powerful, mysterious mistresses they attended to seemed to be so chummy with him, as well as the fact the guards outside had not made a peek even when one of them had screamed so loud.
There was even something about how Alexander moved about the ce, with a confident, powerful gait, as if he owned the ce.
Which he literally did.
All thesebined as well the title they called him by made these workers fairly certain who could he be.
And unsure of why he was here, the girls instinctually bunched up together, as if seeking security in numbers.
To these girls, even a jolly Alexander appeared somewhat intimidating, especially given the unexpected ce he was in.
While Alexander, at Tajia''s mention too finally got the chance to turn his attention to these hard-working work girls, who were here to attend to the three during their work.
And they did anything and everything here, from serving them food and drinks to massaging them to fanning them if it was too hot, to adjusting the softness of the pillows to a million other odd jobs.
Whatever the three fancied their whims, these girls were there to fulfill them and make sure the trio were asfortable in their stations as possible.
"It is a pleasure to meet youdies." Towards the wary women, Alexander sent a kind smile and then asked, "Would you kindly give us a moment alone?"
Alexander did not want other bystanders to listen in on his conversion, even if they were fairly low-level workers.
"Y¡yes," And the girls were in fact very pleased to hear the request, and answered as quickly as possible, almost stammering in the process.
And then after a hurried bow, attempted to leave.
Attempted because just as they were leaving, suddenly Tajia''snguid voice rang out,
"Oh! Kajoli, you stay. The rest of you can go."
And at this, Alexander clearly saw how the request produced a deep, blush on that cute, oval face, as the now abandoned by her colleagues, now alone girl asked in a shy voice, "What can I do mistress?"
Though something in that tone told Alexander the girl knew.
"Heheeee," And it seemed Tajia knew that too as she only wiggled her finger to gesture the girl toe in front of her.
"I want a drink. Open up." And once the girl approached her close enough, Tajia said so in a neutral tone, as if ordering a drink in a bar.
"Umm¡" But the girl did not immediately fulfill the request, as she first turned a bit awkwardly to look at Alexander, the flush in her face apparent.
Clearly, she was embarrassed to do what was being asked of her.
But this hesitation onlysted a moment.
She knew she was in no position to oppose anything.
So at her mistress''s request, the girl deftly undid the strings holding her one piece together and let the thin linen cloth fall soundlessly to the ground, like a feather without making nary a sound, and vo, she presented herself before Alexander in her full glory.
Alexander had not epted that to happen.
The girl appeared young, with cute dimpled cheeks and equally small, cute breasts, with two ck beans being ced on them.
Her tummy was a bit sunken, the hips curved outward to show her approaching womanhood, and her modest butt bulged outward
She was no world-shaking beauty, barely above average, and raising his brows a bit at the act, Alexander felt if Tajia intended to use her to pleasure him, he would be disappointed.
Alexander''s standards were a bit higher.
"Hehe, since lord Alexander is here, here is a little show from me,"
But Alexander would not be disappointed, as saying this, Tajia strongly grabbed the girl by the hips and dragged her towards her, making sure the girl''s snatch was directly in front of her, which she then without any further ado began to eat out.
"Ahhh¡mistress¡so good, ohhhh¡ so deep¡.yes¡eehhhh you''re already biting,"
And immediately the moans the girl began to let out sounded otherworldly to Alexander,
He never would have guessed this shy type of girl would have this kind of pipes to her or that she would be able to sing so melodiously.
Either Tajia was that good, or the girl was that sensitive, or more likely both.
"Ahhh¡.yes¡bite harder mistress¡tear it apart¡ahh¡moreinging¡so gooddinnngggg¡"
It took Tajia less than thirty seconds to make the girle.
And not only did shee, Alexander clearly saw how her hips buckled when she reached her orgasm, before shooting out a great stream of fluids into Tajia''s face.
"Hehehe, well I bet you have never seen anything like that before huh, my lord?" And once Tajia pulled herpletely flushed with the girl''s juices face out from her crotch, posed this in a very confident voice.
After all, squirters were quite umon, and even considered by many to be myths, so she thought Alexander might have never seen this.
"Di¡did she pee?" And Alexander was content to y along, having no intention of revealing his wife''s skills to outsiders, as his eyes widened to look at the glimmering water flowy freely down Tajia''s face.
"Hahaha¡" And this got the predicted reaction from the two, who chuckled out loud.
Even Kajoli pressed her lips together to stop herself from smiling in fear of being rude to Alexander.
She did not think the city lord was so verdant to sex.
"Why don''t you try and find out?" While Mikaya offered Alexander this with a twinkle in her eyes, tempting him to try the new snack.
But Alexander very gracefully declined, "Thank you. Maybe some other time."
He would have tried it so openly even if he genuinely did not know about it.
"Ahhh, where are you going girl *pah*."
In the meantime, at Alexander''s decline, the girl had attempted to separate herself from Tajia''s grasp thinking her part was over, but ended up getting lightly spanked by her mistress on the nks for the mistake.
"We are not done here. I want to eat more,"
Saying this Tajia pulled her girl even closer, then in a yful twist started to pour some wine over the girl''s wet snatch, letting red liquid coat the short patch of ck grass thoroughly, almost as a kind of seasoning, and then resumed her meal, making Kajoli produce a lust stirring background music for Alexander.
Facing her mistress''s attack, Kajoli could only try to steady her wobbly legs and endure, as she felt the pliant organ hit all sensitive spots and drive her craze.
"Sometimes if we want something to upy our mouth, we use the girls. Kajoli is our favorite, hahaha" While from the side, Mikaya provided somementary.
"Ahhh¡mistress not the ass too¡ohh¡too much¡*squirt*..*squirt*...ahhh¡again¡I''m dying¡*squirt*...*squirt*."
And it seemed the two had already moved up their y, as Alexander could see one of Tajia''s dainty fingers stuck deep inside the pink hole, while she kept eating the poor girl out even as she wasing, and making Kajopi scream louder and louder.
The duo seemed very upied so Alexander decided to leave them alone to it.
And instead turned his focus to thest one in the group.
"Nafia! How long are you going to feign your ignorance!" As Alexander turned to face that outwardly shy girl, Mikaya''s questioning voice shot towards her first.
And it was not that soft, flirty one that Mikaya usually spoke in.
It was cold and authoritative, implicitly ordering Nafia to greet Alexander.
Mikaya was in fact very displeased that Nafia had yet to greet Alexander even after so long.
After all, there was no way she could have missed Alexander''s presence until now,
Even as further evidence, Mikaya keenly noticed Nafia had stopped screaming out all those vulgar words, now only content to chewing her lips and moaning.
Clearly she was embarrassed
But knowing what her mistress was like when angry, once she heard the order, Nafia instantly pulled her head off the cushy pillow like she had been shocked and quickly turned to Alexander to give a flushed wee,
"Hel¡hello my lord."
And though it waspletely unintentional, the fact that she would pull off such a shy, embarrassed face even in that state, Alexander found it to be very alluring.
He felt this type of red, blush with a slight tinge of pink on the face was something only a newlywed, virgin should have been able to pull off.
"Hello to you too, mydy," He then greeted cordially.
Chapter 653 Reminiscing About Mikaya (End)
Chapter 653 Reminiscing About Mikaya (End)
"Hello to you too, mydy. You look very beautiful," Alexander, like with the other two women was very nonchnt with the greeting, cordial yet cold and unfazed.
Though given the circumstances it was something very hard to do.
"......" And following this, an awkward pause followed
Nafia still tried to appear dignified and shy, as she averted her eyes in bashfulness, while Alexander did not know how he should address her proclivities.
"By the way Miss Nafia, I enjoyed seeing your little golden shower back there. As expected of a true noble, you even pee beautifully."
Until finally he said this.
Alexander felt that given everything he witnessed, and the current circumstance he was in, there was little point in trying to y coy.
To this Nafia blushed furiously, while Mikaya broke into uproariousughter, as she teased ''Hahahaha,...you hear that girl¡he saw you do that¡.hahaha he saw everything."
Nafia had been able to enjoy all this to her heart''s content even though she knew how wrong the morality of it all was because she felt secure that no one knew their identity.
Except for Ophenia nobody knew who they were, and during their stay, they used fake names.
Mikaya was called Flower,
Nafia was called Leaf and
Tajia was called Petal.
And that was how even the attending girls called them, with an addition of Miss.
These girls knew nothing more than that these three were mysterious and powerfuldies and if they knew that was good for them, they should follow everything they say.
But Alexander was not like that.
He knew both their faces, and with him so openly revealing the act, it finally shattered that illusory facade of decency Nafia had built in her heart.
"Ahh! This one is big¡ so good¡yes¡yes¡fuck¡fuck¡go harder,"
And so soon, Nafia''s face started to contort, from that once shy, demure maiden to that a lusty whore lost in pleasure.
Since everything wasid out in the open, she felt no longer the need to keep holding back that curtain,
And as Alexander witnessed the transformation, it was so extreme that he would have had a hard time believing it if he had not seen it for himself.
It was as if apletely different entity had possessed Nafia, a subus.
"See? What did I tell you?" And from the side, Mikaya knowinglymented such, finding herself vindicated at having said that Nafia was the party animal of the group when Alexander refused to first believe her.
And here Alexander would one hundred percent agree he was wrong.
"Hahaha, yes! This is the real me. Ah! I love this so much. I love sex so much. Oohhhh so good!"
And hearing her mistress reveal her true self, Nafia made no attempt to hide it, even deciding to join in, lewdly shouting,
"And these cocks are so hard. Like fat clubs! Nothing like the peasant ones we thought it would be."
"Ahhh¡they reach so deep too,"
"Every time I get pounded, my pussy and ass quivers. And when they fill me up, it feels so hot¡like I''m getting branded."
"Ahhhh¡just like now¡ it burns¡ohhh¡another one¡.without even a second to rest¡ ehhhh¡harder! Do me harder!"
Nafia appeared barely be able to form any meaningful, coherent words by now as she lost herself to pleasure, but not before turning to look at Alexander and saying,
"Thank you! Thank you for letting me experience this Alexander! These cocks feel too goooood! "
It seemed Nafia had finally snapped as she then started to try to thrust her hips too, and if not for the robust wall securely binding her, Alexander would have been concerned about her breaking the whole thing down just so both their lips could mate together.
That was how enthusiastic the girl appeared.
And seeing Nafia in this state, Alexander strangely did not feel the gleeful rush of euphoria he thought he would feel upon seeing her get humiliated.
Matter of fact he began to feel even a bit guilty for pushing her along this path.
This was not a thing a normal human being did.
And he felt a bit of regret at being an aplice, perhaps even the mastermind of this.
However, it could also be argued that Nafia was really always like that and Alexander had simply helped to break her out of her shell.
Regardless of which argument one took, it still left Alexander a bit regretful over what he had done.
But this poignant reflection was very short-lived, for it was shattered by Mikaya''s sharp lustful moan,
"Ahhhh¡yes that is right. These cocks do feel very good¡even those back home don''t always feel so good. I''m impressed"
Mikaya was there to attest to Nafia''s im.
"So I''m guessing I was able to keep my promise and deliver the quality you desired, hmmm?"
And at this happy news, Alexander had a slightly smug look on his face, though he really owed all this to the shiva drug.
It really worked wonders.
In fact, he did not merely owe that drug for enabling him to keep his promise.
It was also a massive boon to his business.
The regrs here of course had begun to take notice of their changes after a few trips, and so soon the exploits of the brothel began to spread like wildfire mong particr groups of city dwellers.
Many men spoke in hushed tones in taverns or private meetings of going to a certain ce had gotten them arger organ.
And in that way, Ophenia''s Heavenly Red Petal''s reputation began to soon surge
And the sacred priestess of the Temple of Gia was of course there to y this situation to her advantage.
Ophenia imed that many of the girls here were blessed by goddess Gaia and that eating, drinking, and sleeping with them might help them erge their organ size if they were devout and secure enough in their wish.
And the men, who had no idea that many of their drinks were spiked with the shiva drug, bought Ophenia''s im hook, line, and sinker.
And as they bought the drinks and ate the food, just from that alone, Ophenia was able to collect more than 10,000 ropals monthly a ludicrous amount for a brothel of that size.
And since the drug until now had yet to show any side effects, and it raked in so much money, Alexander too had no problem with this experiment continuing, and letting Ophenia fill her purse.
Mikaya, upon seeing Alexander''s smug face as hemented, kind of felt ticked off Mikaya, and os she sneered,
"Heh! Why are you acting so smug? Wasn''t it you who promised this so that you get to see us be humiliated?"
"Well, how do you like it? Does seeing us like this satisfy you?"
"Us getting used by plebians whose face even we can''t see."
And this reminder brought Alexander back to the thoughts he was having.
''Perhaps all this was a mistake.'' A small voice inside of Alexander absent-mindedly mewled.
"Hahaha, what do you mean, mydy? I only thought of this because I thought you would enjoy this. I thought I was being a good host."
But Alexander pushed those thoughts away for now, as he answered with a hollow chuckle as such, then quickly changing topics, asked,
"By the way, how often do you work? Is this a weekly thing?"
Alexander did not know the trio''s exact schedules, that he left to Ophenia.
Now, Alexander''s forceful way of changing the topic certainly did not escape Mikaya, but frankly, she also did not care.
It was an open secret why Alexander had put them here.
So she did not bother to expose Alexander and humored his question,
"We work 3 days a week, every alternative week for a total of 6 days a month."
"On Saturday, we each take one client one on one for 600 ropals."
"On Monday, all three of us are avable for a foursome. That costs 2,000 ropals. But if youe with 9 or more people, then you get a discount, it is 1,800."
"We love to get all three of your holes stuffed at the same time...ahhhh," As Mikaya said, a sinful cloud of breath escaped her, as if she was remembering all the kind of stuff she had gone through during that even in her short time here.
And then even enthusiastically added, "Of course, bringing more than 9 is also no problem. We can easily take two cocks in at once. The more the merrier, hehe,"
Alexander''s lips only twitched at hearing this girl who seemed to have no bottom line.
While Mikaya finished her answer,
"As for Wednesday¡well we do this."
"And then we take the next week off to let the legummum do its job."
"That''s it really."
And that was really all Alexander wanted to know.
"I see. That is very impressive. I can see your business is going very well."
He said though the stiffness in his voice was apparent.
That was because when he had heard of Mikaya''s rate, his heart shook as if it was stuck by a mini earthquake.
No sane man should spend that much just to sleep with a girl for a night.
And he took a bit to recover.
Afterward, Alexander chartered a bit more with the girls, nothing really specific, and having been there long enough, felt it was time to return.
But as he returned, that little, innocent mission he had sent two of his men out for, would soon grab his attention.
Chapter 654 A Separate Journey
Chapter 654 A Separate Journey
As Alexander left Mikaya and the others, he still could not warp his head around the prices Mikaya had quoted, particrly thebined one.
''2,000 ropals for one night with the three of them''.
That was ridiculous.
And all that those three needed to do was spread their legs a bit.
''I wish I was a girl,'' Alexander hence could not help but half mutter.
For context, a peasant earned less than 2,000 ropals a year, and if that was to be converted to the modern time, one night would set someone back 70,000 dors if he lived in the states, the median sry there.
It was an eye-watering price fit for only kings.
But judging from Mikaya''s tone, they seemed to have no shortage of clients.
In fact they might even have too many.
Though if one thought about it, it was quite understandable.
Given how beautiful the three were, especially Mikaya, Alexander felt that if had the money and their circumstances were different, he would have also booked a night with this subus or if possible all three subi.
They were that charming.
And it was not all like these men were cheated out of their experience.
No, in fact they were very well entertained, very well indeed.
Neither Alexander nor OP knew what went on in Mikaya''s personal room when she had these sessions.
Because frankly, the two were not at all interested in knowing all the things the men did to the three.
As long as the men did not hurt anyone, both Alexander and OP did not care what happened to Mikaya or her two sisters in crime
That was also why Alexander was unable to understand the allure the trio possessed.
The kind of experience the three gave to their clients was mind-bendingly out of this world and almost addicting.
Mikaya''s private room had all the toys she could have asked for and she made sure to use all of them to entertain the men who paid as much as their month''s sry to get this opportunity even when they split the cost bying in a group.
So it was really not as easy as just spreading the leg as Alexander was making it up to be.
And the three were made to go through almost every depraved a man could think of as the men used them.
Other than the usual things one could expect in an orgy such, as group fetios, simultaneous multiple prations in all types of positions, and being touched, groped, and squeezed all the body, they were also yed with using all the toys.
For instance, Mikaya might be made to sit on the wooden horse, wriggling in difort as the guys teased her, sucking, pinching, and pulling her cheery buds.
Sometimes they even gagged and then hit her with a crop leaving redshes on her fair skin as the edge dug into her vulnerable flower, making her groan in pain and pleasure.
In one of the sessions, the guys even got Nafia to sit facing her, and then used two nipple mps to attach each other''s nipples together, keeping it taut so that when one wiggled, the other moaned in pain at her nipple getting stretched.
The men had a goodugh seeing the two try and pull the other towards each other to lessen her own pain, while the men constantly teased them by things like tickling them to prevent that.
There were of course numerous more examples of such, like being blindfolded to guess the cock, by either the above or lower mouth, being tied up in all types of postures such as having the hands and feet bound, thus being at the men''s mercy, being stacked up atop one another to make a tower, and many, many more.
The things that these men got to experience in the few hours they were with the three was something they would have never even dreamt of doing with even a whore, forget their wives.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime unforgettable experience.
And most men would find themselvespletely drained by the end.
So if one thought of Mikaya''s service like that and not a regr urrence, well then her prices were really not too outrageous.
When Alexander was about to just leave after finishing his meet and greet with Mikaya when she tempted him to stay a bit longer, saying,
"Ahh, Alex, you came from so far away. I can''t let you leave empty-handed! Stay! At least let me take care of that tent of yours," as she then opened her mouth and swirled her tongue, "It''s all clean and unused here, see¡ahhhhh."
And Mikaya was right in iming that.
But Alexander felt even though he could not see it, having another man have the same girl he was being with was too big a hurdle to ovee.
"Perhaps another time. Have a good time." So he quickly made his exit saying this, but not before clearly hearing Mikaya send the word "Prude!" towards his way.
Something which Alexander let in through one ear and threw out the other.
Instead, when he rejoined with his guards in the back room, he was more intrigued to see that the two he had sent to fetch the man had not returned yet.
Alexander was sure they should have been back by now.
After all, how long did it take to catch up to an unarmed man and ask him to follow them,
So he asked around for confirmation.
But Hemicus shook his head.
This was definitely strange.
"Did they get drunk along the way? Or did they get bored of waiting for me and go to have a bit of fun?" So Alexander humorously chuckled.
Although the two werete, Alexander did not freak out, for these were well-armed and well-trained.
The thought they could be in danger never even crossed Alexander''s mind.
At best he thought they might have gotten lost given the darkness outside.
Whereas these men were currently really in a spot of hot water.
They had followed the man just as Alexander had instructed, but the man moved too quickly for them to easily catch up.
They were hampered by the fact that given the night, their visibility was low and furthermore, this shabby man seemed to know the city like the back of his hand and kept being able to dodge them.
''Where is he going?'' The bodyguards were puzzled.
Until finally, the man stopped.
Because the man seemed to have arrived at this destination- an inn.
''*Knock*, *Knock* Finally I made it,'' He said to himself knocking on the now-closed establishment, while wiping the sweat off his brow
He would have never expected to run into a noble in such a ce.
''But fortunately, the man did not seem to have taken my crude talk as an offense,'' The shabby man then said relived, unaware that he had been followed.
This was because the man had subconsciously expected Alexander to follow him, and kept looking out for him, missing the two inconspicuous bodyguards silently trailing him.
And as for why he had taken such a winding route, well that was the precautions he liked to take due to his job.
One could never be too careful after all.
But though this was usually a foolproof method, the man in his panic had been toox during the escape and allowed the two bodyguards to still keep track of him.
"What a waste of time,"
And having finally caught up, one of the bodyguards grumbled as he went to bang on the light wooden door to the now-closed establishment.
"*Bang*, *Bang*, hey buddy open up. We want to talk to you!" He loudly called out.
But instead of getting the usual response of the door opening or even a reply from the other side, his ears only picked up hurried footsteps and seemingly panicked shouts.
He could not make out exactly what they were saying, but it seemed it was some kind of orders going about in hushed whispers.
"*Bang*, *Bang*, hey! Open up!" And seeing this dealy, the man knocked again, this time much more forceful.
*Creaaaakkkk*
And finally, there was an answer, as an old man peeping through the gap in the door.
"What do you want at this hour? We do not have any alms, go away!" He gruffly said in an annoyed voice, his eyes expressing disgust at the two.
"What! Fuck off! Let us in old motherfucker!"
And seeing this skeleton of a nobody treat them, people who served right next to the city lord as beggars very much ticked off the bodyguard, as he shouted excitedly.
*Bang!*
While his colleague was much more hot-tempered and directly kicked the door open, the flimsy door not standing a ghost of a chance facing the strike from such a strong man, as it swung open, sending the old, considerably weaker old man flying.
"What! What happened!" And as the door crashed open, panicked shouts quickly began to ring out all over the inn.
"Shoot! Shoot them!"
And at that order, *Twang!*
Suddenly a crossbow bolt hit one of the bodyguards squarely on the chest.
"Urgghhhh," And the strike sent the man reeling back a few steps, as the bolt poured all its momentum into him, before sticking itself deeply into him.
But there was no blood.
The cuirass, chainmail, and thoraxbination had saved the man.
It was apparent that what they had discovered was no innocent, ordinary inn, but seeingly a hideout for a group or gang.
Chapter 655 Spy Ring
Chapter 655 Spy Ring
"Yo¡wha ¡what¡!" Seeing his partner get shot out of nowhere right in front of him, and be sent reeling, the other bodyguard slightly panicked.
But only slightly.
Because an instantter his training kicked in and he turned his head from looking at his partner to locating the enemy.
And then, in aplete twist to what an untrained man would usually do, which was run backward and try to create distance between himself and the shooter, instead, this armed man charged forward!
Because in such an ambush, where the enemy was so close, running away would only be gifting the enemy one''s defenseless back as target practice.
The shooter would be able to take all the time he needed to prepare his shot and then shoot again.
And due to how close they were, he would have a pretty good chance of hitting his target.
So the right thing to do facing this situation would be to instantly draw one''s sword and charge forward, beelining for the man seen wielding the unmistakable weapon.
And that was exactly what the bodyguard did, instead of panicking at the sneak attack and running, he attacked.
''Who are they! How did they get their hands on a crossbow!" And as he ran, such questions swirled inside that bodyguard''s mind.
A crossbow was a heavily restricted item in Zanzan and something even a noble would have a hard time getting their hands on.
But all these questions could wait.
Since they had stuck first, it meant they were the enemy.
And enemies needed to be killed.
sh! Splurt! Bang!
The bodyguard made the less than the 20-meter distance between him and the archer in less than four seconds, giving the poor guy barely any time to even lower his crossbow, much less start reloading it.
And then in the blink of an eye, a sh of silver hit his eyes, immediately before his unarmored body was struck by a violent diagonal sh, the steel de parting the flesh like butter, rupturing multiple organs and even cleaving many of his bones in two.
A short burst of blood splurted from the wound, his mouth started dripping the same liquid, and the man then fell like a stone on the ground, still and lifeless.
He was dead.
"Aghhhhh!"
At the same time, seeing his partner''s sess, the other bodyguard also shook his body to life, and with a mighty roar, lunged forward on the old man still on the floor, stabbbing his heart deep with the sword, and then retrieving it rusty red.
It was two for two.
"Kill!"
And then, having made the other party go into shock at reaping two lives in the blink of an eye, both men instantly took advantage of, as they started to hack and sh at anyone and everyone in sight,
And it seemed other than that one crossbowman, the remaining still-alive people around them were all unarmed.
But this was to expected.
After all, they were in their home, and it was quitete into the night.
Why would they be armed inside their own home?
And who would have expected that two armed men woulde knocking on their door without any rhyme and reason?
As a matter of fact, the only reason they were even up was because tomorrow was a weekend, and so they were drinkingte.
"Surrender! We surrender!"
And as the two men added two more enemies to their tallies, thest remaining three wisely decided to surrender, as they kneeled to the ground and held their hands high.
"Who are yo¡arghhhh," The man who just shot attempted to question the two, eager to know who these men were, but suddenly felt a stinging pain across his chest which took precedence.
He had not noticed it until this moment due to all the surge of adrenalin, but now that everything was calming down, the sensation in his chest began to return.
And it was a painful, stinging sensation.
It seemed that though there was no blooding out from the wound, for the arrow had clogged the wound, but still the arrow had gone through, piercing flesh.
The shot was too close and too energetic for even the multipleyers of armor to be able topletely stop the arrowhead.
And judging by the amount of pain the man was in, it might have gone quite deep.
"You okay?" Seeing his partner winch in pain, the other one asked in concern.
"I''m okay¡." The reply was a bit forced, as the man clenched his teeth a bit before quickly adding, "Go get the guards. I will stay here and look over them."
"...that¡"
Hearing this his partner of course was a bit reluctant, for he was not sure whether to leave his injured partner all alone here, who would then also have to keep an eye on the prisoners.
With that thought, the man turned to nce at the three captured targets, who were kneeling on the ground, unarmed and shivering with fear.
And when their eyes met his, they only trembled with terror.
They were not a threat.
So the man decided to do as his injured partner suggested and get the cops.
Besides, someone also needed his partner to get medical attention.
And that could only be him.
So leaving his wounded partner in charge of the watch, the healthy man hurriedly exited the inn to locate the nearest patrol.
Alexander would first get the report of this unforeseen chain of events early morning the next day as Hemicus would wake him up to inform him that one of his men was in the clinic, stuck by a crossbow bolt.
The information would first shake Alexander in shock, and then make him furious, for the crossbow was an extremely restricted item.
Outside of war and practice ranges, it should have been impossible for anyone to have personal ess to it.
So how could one of his men he shot by so?
Thus Alexander immediately ordered a full investigation of the entire events, starting from the inn where it all started, to interrogating the two men captured to try and know who they were and how they got their hands on the crossbow, tostly why they shot his men.
And Alexander put himself personally in charge of figuring everything out
And after a full week of intensive work, the entire picture revealed itself to him.
Firstly, regarding the inn, well it seemed that it was actually a hideout.
A hideout for spies, Muazz''s or more urately Amenheraft''s spies.
The proprietor of the establishment was that old man, one of whose daughters had some connection to Muazz, something like a working maid, ording to what could be gleaned from the captured three''s interrogation, though it was not exactly clear.
As for its inhabitants.
Well officially, the men that lived there, lived there as guests,
They were a mixture of locals and outsiders, the former recruited because they knew thends and thetter being experienced men who came here after being transferred from other parts of the country, their goal to use their expertise to form a functional spy ring in the city.
And after asking them some more, they revealed in excruciating detail what they intended to do and how they intended to do so.
For instance, their first stage was to just gather the local news, something anyone living in the city could know.
Then they nned to start controlling a few small gangs and street rats.
Lastly, they wanted to insert their ears in merchants, one or two city guards, and if possible even some military officers.
This was viewed as a multi-year project and they were just about to start.
Getting to know this Alexander was frankly impressed by the amount of resources Amenheraft had at his disposal.
Building this kind ofwork was neither cheap nor easy.
For instance, Alexander had the money, but hecked both the know-how and the trusted people to set simr up.
And even the intelligencework Camius had set up only belonged to the second stage.
As for Alexander''s feeling at having discovered such a spy ring, well he was certainly happy, but not over the moon.
He did expect the enemy to make such a move, though he never expected to catch it, or at least catch them so soon.
But now that he had, well the question then rose, what to do with them.
Two of the three were very cooperative during their questions, singing like a canary at every question asked.
For instance, that shabbily dressed man, who fortunately had managed to survive retold in great detail what exactly happened that night.
After he had entered the inn, he found his buddies in the lobby drinking and joined them without a second thought.
"Let me have one! My heart is about to burst," He had gruffly said, as he grabbed one of his friend''s cups.
And when they asked why, he told them of his experience.
But as luck would have it, it was right as he finished that a heavy knocknded on the door, urging them to open up.
And being spooked by the man''s story, this demand made a few of the men panic as they envisioned the worst-case scenario.
Afterward, when one of the bodyguards had kicked the door open, well to these men, it seemed apparent that the noble''s guards were going to arrest them and their operations would be immediately revealed
So one of them panicked and ordered they be shot.
And the rest was history.
Chapter 656 Laibak’s Recount
Chapter 656 Laibak''s Recount
Listening to the shabby man who introduced himself as Laibak recount the events of the inn, Alexander could not help but feel a tinge of regret for those men.
He felt that the people in that inn had reacted too rashly.
If they had been only a bit more sober, and thought things over more calmly, everything likely would have turned out fine for them.
Even if they did nothing but calmly and politely talk to the two bodyguards, a lot of this could have been avoided.
In fact, it could have worked out even better than they could have ever hoped for if they had just done what the two bodyguards asked them to do.
Because then Alexander would have likely recruited Laibak for his own spy agency, meaning then they would have had a mole inside the very heart of Zanzan''s intelligence services, one whose cover was as solid as one could get, for he would be directly rmended by the boss himself, Alexander.
And after a few years, it would have been possible for Laibak to even asionally get Alexander''s ears, or at least Camius''s.
If that had happened, Alexander''s entire or at least arge part of his spywork would have beenpromised.
It was a scary thought that Alexander found himself shaking a bit at.
But ultimately that had not happened.
All because they panicked and their manners were crude.
What a tragedy for them.
And it just went to show how much manners mattered.
Finished recounting the happening inside the inn, Laibak then went to go and introduce himself.
He imed that he was sent here to be the leader of the spy ring under orders from Matbar (Marquis) Kyaum, whose fief was about 200 kilometers west of here.
And hearing this name surprised Alexander a bit.
He recalled that the man was mainly tasked with protecting Zanzan''s western coastline and wondered why he was trying to set up a spywork in his city.
Andstly, he mused what was his connection with Muazz.
Because it had to be remembered, that just because someone tried to set up a spy ring in his city did not mean he was immediately hostile.
Alexander had a simr intelligencework in Adhan, but that did not mean he had any intention of going to war with Ptolomy.
At least not anytime soon anyway.
But if Alexander hoped that the Matbar (marquis) could be an ally if not just a neutral bystander, those cherry thoughts would soon be shattered when he would ask the QM, who was still living with them at the time, about the man and be informed that the man was a zealous follower of Amenheraft, and that his loyalty to him was unquestionable.
A im that would be backed by Laibak''s revtion that among his teams were two people who worked under Manuk, Amenheraft''s right-hand man, leaving Alexander in no doubt as to whose camp the man was on.
After ratting out his master, Laibak then went on to describe his previous work experience and revealed that due to his work, the man had practically be a local by now.
And when he was asked to borate on that, the man freely revealed that he had been stationed here for almost 20 years now, starting from even before Pasha Muazz''s rule, during his father''s in fact.
He came here as a helping boy with a disguised merchant caravan, and over the years, the men in that fake caravan had worked hard to slowly build quite a solid intelwork in the city.
And Laibak himself maderge contributions to their cause, slowly rising up thedder to be quite a high-ranking member there.
But the sweet times do have toe to an end at one point or another.
And their sweet time came to an end three years ago.
First hit by the drought and then Amenheraft''s war with Tibias, many people left the city for the lusher countryside, with even Laibak and many of his staff leaving for their real lord''s territory to escape the mes of war and to find better sustenance.
But an unintended consequence of this action was that the web of contacts they had so painstakingly built up began to break without the people to support them.
And by the time Alexander took over the city, thoseworks had basically vanished, either dead, lost, or not having the same ess to the same kind of information, thest one being particrly applicable to the gangs that Alexander had effectively purged, who otherwise would have worked as the city guards.
So Laibak was now sent here to do the same thing his predecessors did, building a new spywork and try and establish whatever old contacts that were left in the city.
When Alexander learned of this, the huge scale of the project Laibak was put in charge of surprised him, and it made him feel the Matbar (Marrquiss) must hold this man in great regard.
So it appeared Alexander had unknowingly caught a big fish.
"Why were you there when we first met?" Finished with that topic, Alexander then moved to this.
To which the man firstly shyly chucked, as if it was not natural for a man to seek the pleasure of the flesh, especially when the flesh was served in such a unique way.
But then revealed a bit more reason behind his action.
He said the reason why he was at the brothel was because, well as luck would have it, that house belonged to his master, and having visited the manor numerous times in the past, the man had gotten nostalgic and wanted to see it onest time.
It was that simple.
And it was at that mention that Alexander recalled Ophenia once introducing the building as belonging to that man.
Who could have guessed then that such a small, throwaway detail could have caused such huge changes to the world?
Due to that tiny coincidence, Laibak had ended up meeting the city''s ruler, who then sent his bodyguards after him on a whim, which then set off a chain of reactions one could have never seening.
Truly fate was a wonderful thing.
And this was a perfect example of how a simple butterfly''s tiny wing p would cause a hurricane thousands of miles away.
At least that was how Alexander saw it.
Those were everything there was to really know about Laibak.
So then came the identity of his team members.
Laibak revealed that the one who shouted ''shoot'' when the two bodyguards had burst through the door was the illegitimate son of a noble, though he could not name the exact noble.
That man was sent there as the overseer of the operations, one who oversaw and approved everything, representing the will of the Matbar (Marquis). the prestigious positionnding to him courtesy of his blood.
While Laibak, was the actual mule of the team, doing all the work.
And sounding by the tone Laibak described him, he did not seem to hold him in even low esteem, going as far as to curse, "That useless fucker¡if he had not only screamed!"
It seemed that it was the panic of the greenhouse noble that had really started the fight.
With the boy who responded to the order being the noble''s attendant and at night something even more.
As for the rest of the crew, well, they were not nearly as interesting.
Alexander of course made sure to verify all of Laibak''s ims with the other two separately, and much to his happiness found to match with one of them, while the other simply refused to talk, stubbornly keeping his mouth shut.
So after a few days, he died during question.
As for the exact details, well dying during interrogation was never a pleasant way to go.
And noticing this, Alexander had one time even asked Laibak why he was so forting with his answers, and the man simply said that he was afraid of pain.
It was that simple.
The man knew what it meant to get captured and had determined the easiest and best way to save one''s skin, many times literally, was to talk.
And hearing so, Alexander did not know whether to describe the man as clever or a coward.
It appeared that though the man was a great spy, he was not a martyr.
And for hisst question, Alexander asked how they got their hands on a crossbow.
That should have been very hard to get, given Alexander made sure that they were regrly checked and inventoried, so stealing one would immediately be noticed.
He even made sure to number them on the stocks so hiding or recing them would be very hard.
But the answer here too was very simple.
''One of the men who used to work for me is in the army. We got him to bribe one of the guards." "1,000 ropals, half before, half after."
"That guy then gave us the bow and to make sure that the theft was not detected immediately,? we reced it with a fake with the exact serial number."
"That looks like a crossbow but it does not work."
"But we figured, even if it was found out, it might not matter. The soldier might simply think that this was just made shoddily and get a new one."
"While real one would have been sent to my lord."
"This was one of my primary goals."
Laibak really held nothing back on detail in his answer.
Chapter 657 Alexander’s Damage Control
Chapter 657 Alexander''s Damage Control
Laibak revealing just how casually he was able to get the crossbow caused Alexander to first have an appreciation for the simplicity yet effectiveness of his n.
And then came the headache.
This type of security breach should not have happened.
He had guessed the enemy would want a sample of his crossbow a long time ago and did take precautions to hinder exactly that.
But those precautions hinged on each of the people employed in all the verification steps to be diligent and honest.
And to help facilitate that Alexander had even made sure to give them better perks than the rest of the grunts.
But to think they would sell one of his most precious secrets for a mere 1,000 ropals?
Though it was not something Alexander had expected, still when it happened to him, he was a bit saddened.
But that state of sadness did notst long.
For following this sadness came a furious bout of rage.
Both the men involved were arrested and then interrogated about the truth, and once they confessed to all of Laibak''s ims, were court-martial immediately without trial.
Their bodies hung on a prominent scaffolding around the barracks for all soldiers to see, with a que hung around their necks describing their crime-
''For the crime of epting bribes and trying to sell state secrets.''
And even their families were not spared.
Alexander had initially ordered their execution along with the men.
But after calming down a bit, he thought the family members should not be punished as heavily as the offender.
So he decreased it to all of them being sold into very for life, meaning these people would not be freed or redeem themselves.
But after a while, after he saw the faces of the little shivering children who were able to be dealt a very cruel fate and remembering his own fate once, Alexander decreased the punishment further.
He simply stripped them of all the benefits they got due to being rted to the military such as the affordable houses designated for service members located in the eastern military district, the army''s daily rations as well as seizing the bribe amount, both in cash and good.
And then they were thrown out into the cold streets.
And though this sounded better than being sold to very, that fact would be heavily argued.
Because by doing what Alexander had done, he basically left the two widows with numerous children destitute, with no homes, no money, and no job.
And though Zanzan was not like the other cities, where women had almost no opportunities to earn money without a man''s help, as many could and did work in industries like papermaking, coal briquette making, brick making, etc. but even those were not easy as just turning up and getting employed.
Besides all these were owned by Alexander, and so for them to get a job, particrly with that colored record¡ well good luck
It was particrly bad for one of the widows because she was originaly from Thesos, having onlye here under her husband''s inviation.
Meaning unlike the other widow she had no father or brother or other rtive''s house to seek refuge with from the open sky, even if for only a little while.
And she certainly could not afford the ship fare back.
So for that woman, her man was gone, and she had nothing and no one to go to.
Even the neighbors she used to have so good rtions with avoided her for fear of implicating their own husbands.
Alexander''s fury was that great, being even felt by the lowest-level grunt.
So the only real way for her to keep her family going would be trying to find odd jobs like sweeping and cleaning other houses, sewing and knitting on the side, and even asionally selling her body.
And even this scenario was painting quite an optimistic view, as the more likely oue for the woman was that she would either be a full-time working girl or sell herself and a few or all her children to very.
And unfortunately, in this time period, thetter was the moremon one.
Because working girls were in oversupply and very few were as beautiful as MK.
In this way, her fate became the same as Alexander had decreed before, with simply a few extra steps involved.
And though Alexander did not know of all this, even if he did, he would not care.
In fact, he might have even spread them, for he wanted to make an example out of the two.
And Alexander did not limit his punishment to only these two.
He made sure to punish a lot more people, almost everyone involved.
For instance, every one of the two guards'' colleagues all got 20 canes for not detecting what the two were doing.
The supervisor responsible for keeping count of the crossbows got his pay docked for two months, a few of the officers got their rations reduced for the month and two unlucky ones even got personallymbasted by Alexander.
Those two being, as you might have guessed- Menes and Melodias.
"What are you two doing? I repeatedly told you to choose people that were trustworthy. Is that what counts as trustworthy to you! You blitterign idiots!" Alexander shouted almost vituperously during one of the council meetings.
While the two in question kept mute and a sullen face.
And Alexander did not just scold them.
He also made sure to show them why he was so upset.
So following his slight tirade, he then picked up one of the four itemsid out on the table to make a point.
"Look! This is the cuirass my man who shot wore. Look at the hole! The bolt went straight through!" Alexander emphasized at the half an inch hole.
"And then it went through the chainmail, here!" He said while picking up the second item,
"Then it pierced through the linen thorax! This hole here!"
"And then it stuck this much into his chest!"
At hisst point, he showed the bolt that had been retrieved from the man, whose blood-soaked tip and some bit of shaft were clear proof of how deep the shot had gone.
It went about two to three inches deep.
"Even when he was wearing all this, even when he donned the best armor we have because he was shot from so close, the bolt went this far."
"So what do you think happened to him?" Alexander then posed, looking around with a menacing re at the table.
Naturally, no one had the guts to answer.
"He died. I got the confirmation this morning. The wound was too deep." Alexander tly revealed.
Yes!
The shot had been a fatal wound!
It did not kill him immediately, but the wound it created was a death sentence, a ticking time bomb.
The doctors had been unable to stop the internal bleeding or prevent the big wound from turning infectious, and the poor man died after suffering for three days.
It was a painful way to go.
But though the death of the man was tragic, it was not exactly because one bodyguard had died that Alexander was so furious.
It was because of how he died.
And the implication of that.
Which he described to all the council members.
"Now, I know that many of you might be confused as to why his death matters?" Alexander started.
"So let me ask you what would have happened if it not have been a simple bodyguard of mine, but me personally?"
"What would happen if I''m touring the markets or the construction sites, or simply moving through the crowd when one inconspicuous man walks up to me among the sea of people, crossbow hidden behind his back, and then suddenly shoots me?"
"Even with all my armor, it might not be enough to stop the bolt if fired from close enough."
"And even if it did not hit a critical organ, just the wound it created could turn gangrene and kill me!"
"And now imagine if that person was not me but you?" Alexander had an intrigued tone to his voice.
"Imagine you are simply going about your everyday job, working in the foundry, overseeing the construction of the aqueduct, visiting after the fields the peasants are working on, taking a stroll with your family, or a hundred different things¡"
"When suddenly, an unknown, faceless peasant, displeased with something like the rent you are charging himes and shoots you from 20¡30¡100 meters away."
"And you would have no way of knowing when this could happen!"
"You might not even see the shooter even as you die if he shoots from an alley or from the back!"
"Can you ept such an ever-present threat?" Alexander very pointedly posed.
And at his painting of such a vivid picture, the others finally understood why Alexander was so furious and their faces went pale.
Previously, like Alexander had said, they had not been able to quiteprehend why Alexander was reacting so much to the death of one bodyguard.
Sure it was tragic but they had also managed to catch a much bigger fish, the spy ring.
But now that Alexander had shown them why the way his bodyguard died was so concerning, their eyes were finally opened.
They had not thought about it like that.
Because subconsciously, since the crossbow did the same job as the bows, they had always seen the two as the one and the same.
While in reality, in some cases they were worlds apart!
Chapter 658 Promotions and Demotions
Chapter 658 Promotions and Demotions
In the minds of the council members, there was little difference between getting shot by a crossbow and getting shot by a bow.
Because in the end, it was the same thing, being shot by arrows.
And since bows had been around for literally thousands of years, in their minds, it was like- ''A man got shot to death by an arrow. Tragic but let''s move on."
But crossbows though simr in principle to bows, were also quite different in many parts.
Parts which made them a very lethal threat in some cases.
The key difference that a crossbow had was that it could be scarily urate even in the hands of an untrained peasant and that its first shot could beunched without any warning, unlike a bow which needed to be drawn.
And it was these qualities that made it such a great weapon, both for untrained militia and for inexperienced cavalry.
But these qualities also made it a great weapon for assassins.
It was small and portable, so could be easily hidden under a shirt.
It could be fired at an instant, especially the first shot and the shot would be scarily urate.
Lastly, the bolt it shot would be powerful enough to cause a kill.
After all, arge crossbow could have a draw weight of as much as 1000 lb of force.
And even a small one would easily go around 300 to 400 lbs.
So if one thought about a crossbow was really like a primitive gun.
And letting every Tom, Dick, and Harry have a private gun was not in the interest of Alexander.
And it had not been also in the interest of the European nobles during the Middle Ages.
Which was why it was such a restricted item then.
Something the nobles of this time could very easily empathize with, as shown by Menicus who quickly said,
"I agree with Lord Alexander here, Lord Menes. You should have been more careful over guarding this thing."
"We do not want more peoplemitting such crimes."
He sounded diplomatic.
But the next speaker was certainly not so polite.
"Yes, yes. Such things must be banned. Immediately! What is the military doing letting these dangerous things go out so easily?"
This outburst was actually done by Harun, who was usually a taciturn man.
It seemed that the threat of having to look one''s shoulder every time he went out had made the usually soft-spoken man quite anxious.
A feeling seemingly shared by many others too, all of whom too took turns pointing their finger at the two men with various degrees of acrimony.
And facing not just Alexander''s re but thebined verbal assault of all the council members as a whole, the two men could only lower their heads lower and lower as an apology.
"I¡It has been truly a blunder on my part to let this happen. I''m willing to take any punishment the council deems appropriate,"
Finally, facing all the rebukes, Menes decided to take responsibility as the head of the army.
"Me too. I''m willing to take any punishment the council deems appropriate," And seeing him, Melodias copied.
Hearing the two man''s admission, seemed to please the others, as Menicus approvingly nodded, before turning to Alexander to propose,
"Then how about docking a month of their pay my lord? That sounds good enough to us."
Though harsh in his words, it seemed Menicus was still sympathetic to the two men.
After all, no ''real'' had been done and the threat had been effectively contained.
People make mistakes all the time and so it was no reason to punish them too harshly for too little.
But Alexander seemed to be of the mind for something a bit more extreme, as he turned to look at the two with a bit of displeasure.
"Hmmp! For you two, even a year''s payment is nothing, so what''s one month! No!"
And then turned his focus solely on Menes, saying,
"Menes this happened under yourmand, and I want you to fix it."
"I have never said anything about your performance with Tibias, be it the battle, the siege, or the manor."
"Especially the manor, if you had acted more proactively, it would have been certainly saved."
Alexander''s tone was strong and didactic.
"But it was your colleague Melodias who broke the Tibian lines first and initiated the rout, saving the city."
"And now you do this"
"This oversight is one too many."
Hearing Alexander''s vexed tone, many of the sharper council members could guess what he was about to say.
And it was exactly as they thought,
"So I''m recing you with Melodas. You will take his post from tomorrow until further notice!"
"Tha¡that!"
"My lord think is over a bit¡"
"Isn''t that a bit rash?"
Hearing Alexander''s sudden deration naturally some of the members experienced shock and dissent.
Even Melodias himself seemed to oppose the order, being one of the first to speak out against it.
"I ept." But the man in question seemed to know his time hade, turning to Alexander and saying,
"It is true I have not been able to perform as many expected. I thus expected something like this to happen as you returned. But thank you for giving me so long. I appreciate it."
Menes surprisingly took the news well.
And Alexander was quite pleased to see this, letting out a few extra words of encouragement,
"Mmm, you work hard and do well. And by the time we are ready to attack Tibias, perhaps things might change."
This sent a message to Melodias that Alexander''s recement might be a temporary one and that he should not start thinking the post was his for life.
This was the conclusion of Menes''s demotion and Melodias''s promotion.
Following that, the council members then in record time agreed to ban all crossbows from civilian use, with the offender facing as far as facing the death penalty if found housing, holding, and never mind using the weapon.
The strict penalty for the offense was not even suggested by Alexander.
Or the military council members for that matter.
It was in fact suggested by the civilian members, who seemed to be the most spooked.
And this was understandable given they spent a lot of their time with ves and workers, even if only overseeing them.
They did not end up like in Alexander''s scenario.
So it was agreed that only nobles would be able to carry crossbows with each one having to be registered and regrly re-registered with the military to ensure nobody tried to sell one on the side.
After this, over the following days, the council meeting then went on to discuss newer, better ways of stopping the weapons and armor theft, as well as industrial ones.
"My lord, the spies we caught also informed us they were all sent here to try and find out all the new things Zanzan was making."
"Paper, iron, cement, you name it. The enemy is greedy and has no morals."
"One of them even told me that it was the killed noble who had shown Tibias the secret way up the Cisran Hills."
As Alexander said so many bulging eyes and shocked faces greeted him.
Although Alexander personally was highly skeptical of the im, as only one of the twoid testament to it, Laibak''s still alive partner.
Laibak himself said it was certainly possible, but whether it was done, he was not made aware of it.
While the other man was also unable to provide any proof, only swearing to the gods that he heard the old man let it slip during a round of drinks.
Which this left Alexander in a limbo.
On one side there was the swearing to the gods which was usually very sacred.
But on the other side, he found it unlikely and thought the man was trying toy im to something he had no hand in.
And for now, he leaned towards thetter.
But given the danger had passed, and the man in question was dead, Alexander decided not to dwell on it too much and simply let it go for the moment.
But although Alexander himself did not believe the information, that did not mean others would not.
And believing it had certain advantages for Alexander.
"My lord! Is what you said true!" Menicus''s wizened face shook like a withered tree as he asked.
"Mmmm, one of the spies confessed. So you can all see the dangers they pose." And Alexander replied with a sober face, using the half-verified information to drive home the dangers the spies presented into all their hearts.
Then reminded them,
"And although we foiled this one, remember this is just the beginning."
"Even if they failed this time, our enemies are numerous and they will try again."
"Be sure of that!"
"Many, many more will surelye."
"So we must think of a way to stop them?"
"Any ideas!"
Alexander could certainly foresee his enemies giving it another try at the spy ring and then again if they failed, and then again if that did not work.
In fact the various groups he was hostile to might simply just continue to do so until they had some sort of eyes and ears in the city.
And the helpless thing was that although Alexander knew this unless he became a prophet, he had no way of catching them like he had done this time every single time.
So the reality was they were gonna get in.
And the question was how to contain them.
Chapter 659 New Intelligence Division
Chapter 659 New Intelligence Division
Coming to terms with the fact that Alexander soon would have to deal with a lot of uninvited visits from spies, he asked for advice from his council members regarding how to contain if not eliminate them.
"........" But the council members unfortunately only returned him a wall of silence.
They could not help him.
Because they themselves knew almost zilch about spying or how to catch them.
So Alexander was on his own.
His first thought was to delegate this to Camius.
But after a few days of thinking about it, he found a better idea.
And he found it when trying to decide what to do with Laibak.
The man had been nothing but cooperative and Alexander had no intention of killing the man.
That would be a waste of his talent.
And so he simply asked the spy toe over to his side.
And unsurprisingly the man agreed with a heartbeat!
How would he dare refuse?
So Alexander gave his job description.
"You and your partner will work with the city guards. You will set up your spy ring just like you would have, but now those reports wille to me."
"I want to know everything the people say and think¡be it about me, about other nobles, and even the weather."
"That will be one of your jobs. But not your main job."
"Your main job will be to keep an eye out for suspicious individuals in the city¡.you know the kind¡.your kind¡enemy spies." Alexander pointedly spoke with a smirk, which also caused Laibak to involuntarily smirk.
He of course knew where Alexander was going this with.
After all, who better to catch a thief with than another thief?
As Laibak thought of this, Alexander continued,
"You are to use your people to catch other spies and stop them from aplishing what you were ordered to do."
"You can choose your own team and will be given adequate funds for your operations."
"As for who your day-to-day operations, you will directly answer to the head of the city guards- my wife."
"I will introduce her to some timeter."
Alexander was very frank with what was expected of Laibak, finishing by saying,
"Also I have another man who does a simr job to yours. I will let you two meet at ater time so that you can cooperate with each other."
Here Alexander of course meant Camius and the two would meet under asuspicious circumstances under Alexander''s directive.
Now, it might seem that Alexander was being overly trustworthy towards a man he had barely met over a week.
But there was a reason for that, or there were two reasons for that.
The first and obvious one was that Laibak appeared to be very pliable, bending whichever the way wind blew.
If force was applied to the man, he wisely bent instead of resisting and snapping.
So obedience through the threat of violence was always an option against him.
And the second one was that he had a family he seemed to care very much about.
Yes, the man had a wife and several kids.
Apparently he had married a local, which was also one of the reasons he said he was practically a local too.
And those people even lived with him.
You see, the inn did not only house the men there.
On the second floor of the inn also resided many of the men''s families, including Laibak''s.
During the incident, they had all been asleep after the long day''s work and only woke around the time the guards got there, whereupon they were all arrested and promptly thrown into the dungeon.
That was also one of the reasons Laibak spilled the bean so quickly.
At one point of the interrogation, Laibak had even said to the interrogator that as long as the man could swear that his family was safe and he could see them, Laibak would tell him everything he knew, swearing in the name of the god.
And after he was allowed to see and talk with them, the man followed up with his promise.
This went to show that as long as Alexander was able to provide him and his family with enough benefits and keep them safe, he was confident the risk and pain-adverse, family-loving man, who was smart enough to know what was good for him, would be loyal to him.
It was also because of those ''risk and pain adverse'' and ''family loving'' qualities that Alexander put him in charge of the counter-espionage operations of his capital city.
That way he could operate inside the safety of the city and the chances of him or his familying to harm were very, very low.
Whereas if he were to recruit him for Camius''s intelligence agency, whose focus was primarily going out to distantnds and establishing spyworks using his business as a cover, something like Laibak was initially asked by his former boss, well then the risk of him or his family getting captured and then singing like a canary was much higher.
Alexander was a hundred percent sure that since Laibak bent at the sight of the stick with him, he would bend to anybody too.
He could not expect undying loyalty in the face of adversity from Laibak.
And that was why Alexander did not simply insert Laibak into Camius''s service, but formed two separate intelligence services.
One was the sword, wielded by Camius whose task was to gather intelligence from others on behalf of Alexander.
That was the foreign division of his intelligence services.
While the other was the shield wielded by Laibak, who prevented others from gathering intelligence on Alexander.
That was the domestic division of his intelligence services.
Together they formed his eyes and ears that stretch across for hundreds of miles.
Alexander wouldter introduce the two men, and with him describing Laibak as ''a man who prefers to stay safe rather than go on adventures'' to Camius.
This was euphemistically revealing the man''s traits to his close friend, who was in many quite the opposite.
Camius was very free-spirited and loved to travel the world.
As a matter of fact, he even said it once that the reason he joined the mercenary group was because his vige was too small and he wanted to see the world.
Yes, the man was made enough to go battles because he wanted to see the outside scenery.
In connection to that he also never had any real rtionship, and at the moment even the mere thought of settling and having a family was ludicrous to him.
Instead, his lovey in revealing newnds.
It was also because of that he loved his current job so much, because he could go to so many ces and being a merchant even meet so many different people.
From beggars to peasants to other traders to even nobles, people from all walks of life came to talk and meet with him.
It was a very rewarding experience.
But until now, he had not been able to take advantage of his opportunities for he was tied down by the fact he had to also oversee the domestic part of the surveince, meaning he could not leave for another ce willy-nilly.
His subordinates still needed someone to report to after all.
And then he needed to report those to Alexander.
But now that Laibak was there to take care of that little inconvenience for him, Camius felt almost liberated, like he could simply spread his wings and go do his thing with no problem.
So Camius was very graceful in epting Laibak, and very openly revealed all the contacts he had made around the city.
And Laibak in contrast, under Alexander''s guidance, gave Camius and his men a few tips and tricks about the trade called spying, things he had learned from painstakingly years of experience.
And it included how to recruit informants, how to arrange bribes, how to hide from the authorities, and a million other things.
On the hands-on experience, Camius and his men were very happy to learn.
And in this way, through apletely whimsical twist of fate, Alexander had managed to double his security.
Something he was very pleased about.
Previously, when Camius reported something, Alexander would always take it with a pinch of salt.
Not because he thought Camius was trying to deceive him,
But because it was very likely Camius was getting only a look at the picture from just one side.
But now with? Laibak, Alexander would get two perspectives, especially about his domestic situation.
A new set of eyes and ears so as to speak.
And speaking of eyes and ears, Alexander at one point approached Laibak with the intention of asking if one set could be installed on Matbar (Marquis) Kyuam or better yet Amenheraft himself.
"You were set here as a spy. Could you continue that?" Alexander asked hopefully.
And this made Laibak first produce a wry smile.
''Man his new master was greedy!'' He thought to himself.
Not only had he pouched two spies from his enemies, but he was also now urging them to be double agents.
And that was after killing five of the seven of them, including a noble!
That''s what you called an optimistic man!
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original site:
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Chapter 660 Double Spy (Part-1)
Chapter 660 Double Spy (Part-1)
Alexander''s greed of wanting to use Laibak to spy back on Amenheraft was really something else, especially given the very public way he had caught the spies.
Though not every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the city knew about this, most high-ranking people were aware of the massive catch.
So what Alexander was proposing to pull off seemed very, very unlikely
"....."
And that was why Laibak was silent when asked about it as if he was trying to think of a way to gently decline Alexander.
But as he thought about the problem, and yed around with the details, suddenly he began to feel it might not be actually possible,
Granted it would not be easy, but the chances of it being possible could not be immediately dismissed.
The key point was the times they lived in, where it took very, very long for information to travel.
So given only a short time had passed, and the other side was nary aware, setting up a cover-up story might just be possible.
It would need a lot of padding up, and whether it would hold up to scrutiny was another question, but if given the proper resources by Alexander, Laibak felt he could try and attempt to make something up.
He was not very optimistic about his chances, but he at least could try.
And so he said,
"I could try doing something. But I would need a lot of things to go right for me."
"First and most importantly of all, I will need to somehow exin all the deaths, especially Lord Kazak''s."
"Then I will need to find a way to exin how me and my wife survived."
"I will also need all my neighbors to verify everything I say."
"It would not work if I came up with the best convincing story, but the neighbors living around went around telling everyone how the city guards raided that one inn next to them that one night."
"If that happened, the other men sent by the Matbar (Marquiss) will easily figure that something was up."
"So everyone living around the inn must coborate on whatever I say happened."
"Andstly, a lot of people, with some of the officers know about our capture. That needs to change."
Laibak showed himself to be quite quick-witted as he was able to make such a detailed list so quickly, and then finished with the caveat,
"If all that can be sessfully pulled off ¡then I can maybe form a spywork that thinks works for the Matbar (Marquis)¡whereas in reality¡."
Laibak smirked, not needing to exin further.
While Alexander, hearing all of Laibak''s requests found them to be quite reasonable.
And if he could fulfill them, he would really be able to strike a gold mine of information, able to both deceive the enemy and also pick up on their chatter, as the order Laibak would receive might be indicative of the ns his ''masters'' are nning.
It would be like striking two birds with one stone.
So the question now arose was how to fulfill those requests Laibak made so that this could happen.
And Alexander addressed thest concern first.
"The ones who know about your capture are not many."
"You do not have to worry too much about them revealing anything."
"But since you asked, over the next few days, we will fake the capture of several more spies."
"This will help muddy the narrative so that even if our some smart manes across the arrest, he will not know which ones the people are talking about."
"At best, he will think yourrades'' deaths and the spy capture were a coincidence."
Alexander proposed this n based on the fact that in this age most people did not use exact dates to refer to things.
Instead, theymonly used the names of the days of the week.
Dates were only really used by nobles and merchants due to book-keeping conveniences.
As for the average Joe, well, most were illiterate to know which day it was.
But more importantly, this did not really matter to them.
Ny percent of the poption were peasants who really cared what season it was rather than knowing the exact day of the month.
And this meant that if people were asked about any previous events, they would answer like, ''it was a week ago, or a month ago, or a few months ago.''
So by doing what Alexander was proposing, anyone trying to investigate would get all his days mixed up since the events would have happened quite close together when viewed from a year or even a few months from now.
"Tha¡that''s great. Yes! That can work! Definitely work!" And Laibak seemed to quite like it.
With that decision made, there remained only for the three other conditions to be solved.
And Alexander decided to go sequentially, starting with the first one.
"How about a burry? A couple of thugs break into the inn, gets spotted, a fight breaks out, and all of a sudden five people are dead?" Alexander proposed how to make the five deaths seem natural.
"Hmmm¡. thieves do not usually kill. Not five grown men at least."
"And when they are spotted, they always prefer to run."
"Thieves that break in at night are normally not killers."
"And also¡ thieves prefer to go after individual houses, not huge inns with so many people, perhaps even one or two guards."
The scenario is unlikely."
Alexander had been somewhat proud of his n, but seeing Laibak so effortlessly tear it to shreds, exposing so many holes that it looked like a porcupine had gone through it that, Alexander was momentarily even a bit shamed.
Then he went to go back to the drawing board.
And after a while came up with this.
"Then how about it happening outside? The men are walking in the market. They suddenly get into a scuffle:
"Within a blink of an eye, it esctes into a brawl. And before anyone can understand what''s happening five people are all dead on the streets!"
Alexander was pretty pleased with this one, feeling he had managed to think outside the box.
After all, where those men died did not really matter, just that they did.
"Hmmmm," And even Laibak had to give credit to this n had some good points.
But then pointed, "Lord Kazak rarely went outside. And when he did, he carried an expert entourage of very good fighters with him."
"In fact, if those men were not drunk and unarmed when your bodyguards found them, my lord, it would not have been such an easy fight."
"So to think some street ruffians would kill them in the streets¡.one or two of them might be possible if they got jumped ¡ but five of them is too much."
Laibak pointed out the devil in the details, further informing,
"Besides, most ruffians like to act tough but can only bully the weak. Show them a bit of armor and shining steel, and they will pee their pants."
"So if I gave this excuse, many will probably think the ruffians were disguised assassins. And then everything will get tooplicated."
Thus it seemed that even this rtively good idea got shot down.
"Then what do you suggest?"
Finally, out of ideas, Alexander asked Laibak to think of a solution himself, the tone in his voice a bit annoyed.
"Ummm¡." And after a bit of hesitation, Laibak gave this idea, "How about a fire?"
"Fire?" Hearing so Alexander furrowed with brows.
He did not get it.
Where would firee here?
And besides, anything that had to do with fire was problematic, especially in a city that was made basically out of wood.
And it seemed Laibak also knew this which was also he said with such hesitation.
But Alexander did not immediately shoot down the idea.
Since Laibak bought it up, he must have a good reason.
So Alexander signaled with his eyes for Laibak to continue.
So the man gathered his thoughts and proposed the n he had been thinking about for some time.
"I was thinking something of a story like this-" He began,
"One of the nearby houses at night catches fire and slowly then spreads to the inn."
"But everyone in the inn is drunk or asleep ¡so they could simply fail to wake up in time."
"So they burn to death!"
Laibak''s proposal seemed very short and easily usible.
And it became even more realistic as he added the following details, which seemed to conveniently address the second point too.
"As for how I and Naimir survived¡well since it was a Wednesday, I could say I saw sleeping in a brothel. And I had taken Naimir with me."
"And then if I was to be asked why I was sleeping with a whore when I have a wife?"
"Well, I could say because my wife and the kids were staying with my father-inw."
"And this is not anything umon."
"Every year she takes the kids and stays at her father''s house for three days and three nights."
"So I could say she was away and I was with a whore. This is also something I sometimes do when I''m lonely."
"It all fits perfectly!"
"And better yet, with this story, I can also very easily exin how my wife and kids lived."
"What do you think my lord?" Laibak looked for Alexander''s approval.
''What do I think my lord! I think I would have kissed you if you were a girl!'' And this was Alexander''s internal praise!
Chapter 661 Double Spy (Part-2)
Chapter 661 Double Spy (Part-2)
Although a bit disjointed in his exnation, Laibak managed to present a very coherent picture of his n.
And to say Alexander was very impressed with his story would be an understatement.
The story was a masterpiece and appeared air-tight to him.
First was the tale of a fire breaking out.
This was somethingmon, in fact, it was a constant threat to a city, especially at night.
This was because most of the houses kept the hearth in their homes burning all throughout the night.
They did so both for its use as a source of light, for the alternative- candles were very expensive, and also to use it as a source of heat.
There was also the fact if a hearth was allowed to go out, re-igniting it from scratch was a nightmare.
This meant that all the households would have an open, burning fire inside their houses even while they slept.
They would even have to regrly wake every two to three hours to feed the fire to keep it alight.
And with this kind of arrangement, anyone with any kind of foresight could easily guess the number of fire hazards it posed, so although the people tended to be usually very careful, idents did happen.
Hence Laibak''s rhetoric about there being a fire was certainly usible.
And as for his wife conveniently being at her father''s house, well, when Alexander first heard it, he was a bit surprised knowing what it represented.
It was amon tradition between people who were couples but were not legally married.
But as far as he knew, Laibak said he was.
And feeling his curious look, Laibak felt there was no use denying it.
"You guessed correctly my lord. We ¡my wife and I are not strictly married, my lord. We ¡..:"
At this point, Laibak''s face turned a tinge bit bitter, and he seemed to hesitate, deliberating on whether he should exin himself.
"Anyway¡that is how is it. We live together but are not legally husband and wife, haha"
But it seemed he had decided not to share his circumstance, as he brushed past it, the short chortle seeming to contain a lot of resentment.
So Alexander decided not to pry on another man''s private affairs.
Instead, his mind dived into the strange tradition which existed due to many couples wanting to stay together but did not want to get married,
Which was mainly due to legal issues of inheritance as Adhanianws stated that if a woman got married, all her property would be instantly transferred to her husband.
There was also another ruling that stated if a man and woman spent a whole year together under the same roof they would automatically be a couple in the eyes of thew.
So to get around that, and maintain her financial freedom the wife had to stay away from her ''husband for at least one single day every year.
This usually means going to stay at her father''s house for a few days, typically three, ensuring this did not happen.
And through all that hassle the girl would then remain a ''bachelor'' meaning her properties would belong to her, or in the more general case her father.
Yes, because in reality a girl would be urged to do so by her male kin,
And though Laibak had not revealed it, Alexander could make an educated guess that that was the case with him.
Alexander felt that since? Laibak was not from Zanzan, his father-inw likely did not want his daughter''s property to go to an outsider.
He must have much preferred that the wealth stayed with him, inside the family.
And that was why Laibak, by the slightest technicality, was not married.
As Alexander thought about this, he always began to be somewhat fascinated by thisw.
Because anyone with half a brain could see the loophole here.
The ruling stated that the couple had to spend one whole continuous year under a roof.
Meaning if there was even a single day the two did not sleep in the same house, the count would have to restart.
Whereas a far more logical cal ruling would have been to calcte the aggregate.
So the question was then why was it never patched?
It was not as if it was an unknown loophole.
In fact, it was perhaps the most well-known loophole.
So Alexander would do a bit of research regarding it.
And find that the reason it was never rectified was never due to how popr it was.
The regr Adhanian citizens very much supported this loophole because it enabled them to retain their properties.
And the support came from both sexes.
Which might seem a bit weird, as from the perspective of the husband, he was being cheated out of a lot of free property due to this.
And one would think he would try hard to close it.
But these men did not just think about the now, they also thought of the future, about the possibility of having daughters of their own.
If that happened, then closing the loophole would be like axing their own feet.
And so the loophole was kept.
Of course, a far better solution would have been to give the women equal rights in owning property.
That would make everything so much simpler and would have even enabled the couple to enjoy certain rights and perks that only a married pair could be granted.
But Alexander feared if he were to actually propose that, he would likely be politely asked by his council members to take the rest of the day off, as they would be worried that he might have overworked himself to a bit of muddle-headedness.
So thatw seemed to be here to stay for a while.
Now although Laibak''s n was very well thought out in its intended efficacy, the problemy in its execution, i.e.- setting fire to that part of the town and making it seem the already dead men died then.
But although this would have been very hard for anyone else to do, for Alexander it was absolutely possible."
"Okay. Let''s do it your way." And so he promised Laibak.
Thus, a few dayster, all the people around the inn were visited by the army, who told them that they had been selected to move to the newly built apartments, and they were to move right now.
And this was not an offer they could refuse.
They could not say things like this was their ancestral home and they wanted to stay.
No, they had to leave.
In this was everyone was evacuated, and then on one auspicious night, the houses were set on fire in a controlled way.
And once a few of the houses burnt down, with the inn particrly fully turning to ash, the nearby city guards standing ready with water quickly worked to douche the fire, preventing it from spreading.
After that, a few fake charred bodies were very publicly taken out of the rubble and a public statement was released saying that a fire had somehow started from the inn and then spread to a few adjacent houses, iming a few unfortunate lives.
All the bodies were too burnt to be identifiable and were thus cremated, while their possessions were taken by the authorities.
And that was the end of the act.
Or so one might think.
Because after a few days of that,? Alexander, having second thoughts, decided to send those ''neighbors'' out of the citypletely, splitting them all up.
Some were sent to Jabel to start a new life, others to work the fields far away, and a few were even sent to other nobles to work as serfs there.
This way, not even the most determined bloodhound of an investigator could track these people down and know the correct sequence of events.
Now if Alexander had been even more cruel, he would have killed all of them instead of going through all those troublesome hoops.
But he at least had that bit of a conscience left.
He simply could not bring himself to kill so many innocent people, feeling he would be losing a part of his heart if he did.
And so he basically exiled them to different parts of hisnd.
And with that, all four of Laibak''s request was fulfilled.
A usible story for both the dead men and him was established.
There were no neighbors to tatlle.
The inn was burnt to a crisp to remove any clues.
And Zanzan''s own higher-ups were told to shut up about this.
But what was the ultimate result of all this scheming and nning and theatrics?
Well, fortunately for Alexander, with all this set, Laibak was indeed able to start a ''double agent'' spy ring.
It took a bit of effort and some heavy convincing, but he was atst able to hoodwink the people Matbar (Marquis) Kyuam sent.
So Laibak led a very busy life now, cooperating with the enemy spies on one hand, while also running his own counter-espionage ring at the same time.
And to make sure his own Zanzan men did not suddenly shank him out of misunderstanding, or the enemies did not suddenly get wise and try to off him, Alexander formed a ten-man bodyguard squad for him, disguised as one of the new local gangs.
In this way, Alexander had finally managed to get an ear in his enemy''s camp.
And though this ear was currently very young, still in its infancy, Alexander had great hopes for it.
Chapter 662 Lord Nuraman’s Luncheon (Part-2)
Chapter 662 Lord Nuraman''s Luncheon (Part-2)
Laibak''s operations were still very much in its nascent stage, and he was yet to get Alexander any juicy information, just a few bits of crumbs here and there.
But Alexander was still greatly hopeful that things that would be critical in helping him decide his future ns would soon be unearthed.
And it was with those thoughts that Alexander finally finished reminiscing about these past events and brought his attention back to the conversation at the table.
And heard Kayvan reply regarding his question about Mikaya.
"Ah, sister is fine. She''s still in Adhan. I heard father is seriously talking about her marriage!"
"Marriage?" Alexander sounded as if he was hearing that word for the first time.
And at the back of mind, he did think of Mikaya like that, like she could not be married.
Because after he had seen, it was actually impossible for hi, to visualize Mikaya and her two maids getting married and having kids, and staying faithful to their husbands.
So the revtion that she might be getting married was very surprising to him.
"Yes, she is getting not getting any younger. If she does not get married soon, we are afraid¡ she might not be able to."
But Kayvan did not seem to understand Alexander''s surprise, thinking he was just curious about the news, as he then nonchntly gave the reason, sounding like a dutiful elder brother.
"Who is it? I once heard the Queen Mother say that she wanted His Majesty to take Lady Mikaya!"
Since the act was determined, Alexander now wanted to know who the poor sucker would be, and he tried to pose the question with as straight a face as possible.
"Because he did find the concept of Mikaya getting risible.
"Mmmm, I also heard father say something like that!"
But what Seelima should have said as only a joke now seemed to have the possibility of bing a reality, as Kayvan answered in a straightced tone, and the revtion did catch Alexander a bit off guard.
There was no way the Queen Mother should be unaware of Mikaya''s proclivities, so how could she allow that?
Never mind Mikaya was no herbivore, she too was an ambitious woman and with her giant family to back up, she would certainly be able to snatch some parts of Seelima''s pie for herself.
Thetter might have Ptolomy''s heart, but she had no strong ally like a Pasha who was the prime minister.
So if they both had sons, things could get messy.
From this perspective, it made no sense for the Queen Mother to allow Mikaya to get even within 10 feet of Ptolomy.
So Alexander was pretty sure this was Pasha Farzah''s wishful thinking.
But then again, if one thought about it from another perspective, this kind of made sense.
After all, whatever shorings Mikaya had did not matter to the Queen Mother at all.
So what if SS simply did not care about all the above consequences?
What if she saw Mikaya not as a rival, but as an ally?
For instance, it was no secret that the two women, though they had their differences, generally got along quite well, even tussling under the bed asionally.
So the two cooperating to control Ptolomy''s haram was not a far-fetched idea.
Perhaps Seelima felt that the two of them, plus her daughter, could work to suppress and control Ptolomy.
After all, Alexander perfectly knew well that the Queen Mother did not hold the slightest shred of love for Ptolomy. Just the power he had.
It was not even unthinkable for Alexander to imagine the ruthless Queen Mother could one day kill Ptolomy if the chance rose after she had produced an heir.
Because that way she could control the country through whisperings in her son''s ears.
So if one thought about it like that, Mikaya could be a powerful ally, one whose father could be used as the counterweight, as muscle if you will, which these women could use to contend and contain Ptolomy.
But for the moment, all these were mere conjectures in Alexander''s mind and felt the pendulum could swing either way.
For now all Alexander could do and wait and see if Mikaya was really married to Ptolomy and what would SS''s subsequent reaction be.
"My lord, what you think of the Matrak''s Princess marrying His Majesty?"
But just as he wasing to terms with that fact, Lord Nuraman suddenly posed this, with a light, innocent smile on his face
And it was not as an innocent question as it sounded, and his intention was certainly not only one of curiosity.
Because what he was alluding to was that if that were to happen, Matrak would have strengthened its ties to the royal family, while leaving Alexander out to dry.
The old man wanted to know if Alexander could really ept that.
"I think it is a cause of great celebrations!"
And the answer was yes, Alexander could.
Because looking through Alexander''s lens, he really had no need to curry favor with Ptolomy.
Alexander wished to expand his influence towardsnds that Ptolomy had either promised to him already, like the two provinces Kuleef and Abu Hamam or over hands he had no hand in.
Lands such as Tibias, the ind of Galiosis which was currently under Sybarsis rule, the few small kingdoms south of him, and if even would build better ships,nd in the ''new world'' if it existed.
So he replied such in a breezy, frank tone.
And even gave his full support for the union, as he gave a greatly embellished speech
"Also, it is in no small of Pasha Farzah''s efforts that His Majesty is where is he. I have great respect for all the hard work and sacrifice he has made. And owes him a lot for where we are today."
"So being able to marry his most precious daughter to the king is something he absolutely deserves."
"I fully support it!"
Alexander was very public in his support.
Something which surprised the two men.
They had been of the unanimous opinion that Alexander would have tried to at least show some sort of dissatisfaction.
After all, currently, Zanzan and Matrak held almost equal value in Ptolomy''s ears.
But if Mikaya were to be married, this dynamic would change.
And no reasonable person would like to be disadvantaged.
Especially not someone as ambitious as Alexander, who oozed a desire to improve himself.
So why was he so being so understanding?
The two men felt they were missing something.
"*Cough*, *cough*, *cough*," And so with a distinct cough drawing attention to himself, Kayvan tried to probe further, as he imed,
"Well, it is not a given that my sister will marry the king."
"His Majesty has not expressed any interest, and there is a lot of politics involved."
"Also even on our side, not everyone is happy with it."
"Particrly my eldest brother¡he seems very much against it."
"Apparently, after what happened to Big sister, he came to distrust anyone from the royal family."
"I heard she doted on him very much."
"So once he even furiously objected to my father straight to his face, saying ''Your greed once got my eldest sister killed. And now you wish to kill my youngest sister too!''."
"We are still trying to convince him."
"But if he does not agree¡the marriage will likely not happen." Kayvan in a few sentences gave Alexander a lot of information about the internal politics of Matrak and Adhan.
And then waited for Alexander to see his response.
Perhaps Kayvan wished Alexander would step himself up as a candidate, though thatst part was Kayvan''s own fantasy.
While Lord Nuraman, hearing Kayvan''s detailed ount, advised this,
"Hmmm, if Lord Farzah is so eager to be part of the royal perhaps he can look for any of His Majesty''s brother. A few namese to mind!"
Ptolomy did have a lot of half-brothers, who, though were removed from politics, were still part of the
family.
And those could be viable targets, though many were really old and even widowers.
"Let''s see. Depends on my father." And it was because of this that Kayvan did not sound very enthusiastic at the suggestion, only giving an anemic reply.
''Hmmm, maybe I should marry of one Ptolomy''s sisters," While Alexander hearing this, mused as such, thinking since Pasha Farzah got to call the royal family rtives, he should too.
Of course, this was only a passing thought.
Ptolomy did have a few sisters but they were either too old, or their status too low, barely better than the pce maids.
So it was with these types of discussions that the luncheon in Lord Nuraman''s house came to an end.
For now it seemed Mikaya''s fate was in Adhan, not Zanzan, where she was to be married.
And Alexander was fine with that.
Although he missed the business a bit, but he had already closed his special service.
This was because after that spy incident, the details of the incident came out, drawing many eyes to that red building.
This caused even Menes to ask for Mikaya once, which was of course declined, as Ophenia personally met the man to decline him.
And when Alexander came to know of this, he understood Mikaya was getting too popr for her own good.
So, it was shut down.
And Alexander had no intention of opening it.
His intention of asking about Mikaya here was mostly out of courtesy.
And it was with such banter that Alexander finally finished his feast, by the end of which he was very tipsy.
Chapter 663 Lord Nuraman’s Luncheon (Part-3) (R-18)
Chapter 663 Lord Nuraman''s Luncheon (Part-3) (R-18)
Alexander really had a lot to drink on the table.
And by the end of it, he could not even properly make out that Kayvan was informing him that the ships Pasha Farzah promised were on the way.
"Ah! Lord Alexander, why don''t you rest a little while? It''s afternoon and the outside heat is unbearable!" And seeing his state, Lord Nuraman proposed as such.
This was amon practice.
Many people liked to take a few hours of nap in the afternoon.
Both because they would be tired since they would get up to work right from dawn like Alexander had.
And also to escape the heat.
So, hearing the proposal, Alexander was happy to ept.
He really was in no shape to go out.
In fact, he was so inebriated that Alexander did not even fully understand how he got to his bed, or even where his bed was, and simply lost consciousness the moment he hit the soft pillow.
And then he slept there like a baby for a couple of hours, all the traveling around taking a toll on his body, waking up well after dusk, the day having fully rolled into the night.
But this regaining of consciousness was not a pleasant experience at first, for his head stung like crazy due to the hangover from the strong wine.
That special drink Lord Nuraman promised seemed not to take any prisoners and Alexander had really let himself get drunk too much.
Even opening his eyes hurt.
Which was also why he missed that distinct, warm sensationing from below there, while the sound the act made was very suggestive.
*Suck*, *Chuu*, *Suck*
It was a lewd sound.
Alexander found that and the sensation to be all too familiar for him not to recognize.
And so raising his head, he tried to focus in his eyes on what or who was causing that sensation, and he was actually unsurprised to see a face down on his crotch, the head buried all the way, both hands firmly grasping the root as the mouth diligently worked to please Alexander.
The girls loved to wake him like that in the morning, be it the voracious Ophenia, the greedy Gelene, or the petite Mean.
But with the way her head was ced, the woman performing the act face was actually hidden, only showing Alexander her jet-ck hair that was draped all over her face and cascaded down even to his crotch.
The mane was very smooth and silky, so smooth and silky in fact that it even reflected some of the candlelight lit around the room, and it seemed to be rhythmically bobbing up and down, deftly taking the huge organ with much skill and experience.
Alexander had a hard time recognizing the girl from this angle, but as he attempted to raise his torso to see which of his mischievous women it was, suddenly that killer headache hit him bang across the head.
Alexander felt like being hit on the head with a sledgehammer, as the headache seemed to have increased tenfold the moment he tried to raise his head.
So still groggy from his iplete sleep, Alexander wisely gave up any idea of trying to get up and obediently went back to lying straight.
And then, in his half-asleep state, Alexander tried to make sense of the unfamiliar scenery, being not even not sure if what he was experiencing was real or a lucid, wet dream.
Everything looked too blurry and the whole world seemed to be spinning around him.
''Where am I?''
''What time is it?''
''I remember drinking and eating¡''
Laying still, he tried to organize his thoughts as best as he could.
But that endeavor got quickly put on hold when suddenly he felt the bulbous head of his organ hit the soft end of the throat that it was inside off, causing Alexander to involuntarily release a moan at the sensation, "Ahhh."
After the amount he had to drink and given the supposedly long time for which he had been already pleasured, Alexander was currently very sensitive down there.
And as if his moan was a sign of recognition of her effort, after hearing this, the woman deftly moved one of her dainty hands to tenderly cup his balls, while the other one started to gently pump the thick rod up and down.
While Alexander, mistakenlying to the conclusion that this was all a dream and it was one of his girls doing this to him,id back and rxed, as he emptied his mind and forsook himself to pleasure, encouraging the woman below to continue in a muddled, dazed voice,
"Ahhh¡good, keep going¡I''m close¡ahhh¡"
And the woman, getting positive reviews from the front, quickened her ministrations, massaging the balls and rolling them in ns as well as stroking Alexander''s cock while sucking on him.
The mouth felt heavenly to Alexander, like the softest silk, with the touch of her tongue feeling firm yet pliant.
This nimble lc organ circled around the n head, painting it with saliva while also flicking the sensitive frenulum, edging Alexander closer, as along the bottom, the hands squeezed and massaged the shaft.
All of this soon caused Alexander to start releasing precum and the taste was like honey to the woman.
She loved it.
Which was why soon she then took the whole length into her throat, not a mean feat given Alexander''s size, and positioned the hose directly into the throat.
And feeling the caress of this hot, moist canal, a growl of satisfaction escaped Alexander from deep inside his throat, as the woman began to feel Alexander''s balls tighten and his cock twitch.
He was close.
So she moved quickly, creating a piece of audible, lewd music, *chuuu*, *suckkk*, *gulllp* and soon, after one too many strokes, Alexander finally exploded inside her, dying everything white.
In fact, the cum shot out with such force that as skilled as the woman was, she wasn''t actually able to swallow it all and after trying for a while, finally gave up as she was forced to pull out, thus letting the ropes of cum shoot right into her face.
The thick, semi-solid goo stered all over her face and then started to slowly run down her lips, cheeks, and nose, dripping down off her chin onto Alexander''s crutch or her ample breasts that hung like heavenly fruits.
But the failure to catch everything did not seem to at all discourage the girl, as even when getting a new facial, she diligently kept her head down and simply continued to suck and stroke him, as he came, determined to get everyst drop of the precious liquid out.
And she only parted her mouth once Alexander finally finished cumming.
"Ahhhhhggggg," And once able to finally breathe without restraint, the girl let out a deep, guttural sigh of satisfaction, for Alexander''s thick creamy was really on another level.
She even felt her tummy give off a warm, fuzzy feeling.
"Ahhh¡that was so good. Bring the chamber pot¡I wanna pee," While Alexander, still lying down, and still thinking he was in his home being serviced by Gelene or Ophenia, felt his dder about to burst.
So asked for the pot to relieve himself.
It was time for all that wine he had to atste out.
And the long nap had given his body plenty of time to store and prepare for that.
"Right away!"? Hearing Alexander''smand, this chirpy voice flowed out, which suddenly felt strange to him.
It did not sound like any of his girls.
Also, given the amount of time he had been awake, he was finally starting to get his head going and began to notice other abnormalities that seemed to prove that this might not be his house.
The lighting, the furniture, and even the size of the bed all seemed different.
"Here!"
And it was only when Alexander heard this and got up to ready his body to pee that he got to see who the girl that was holding the earthen jar was.
Right next to the bed, kneeling on the floor and holding a medium-sized y jar close to her chest, was one of the girls who had greeted him at the door- Akisha!
And even in his current state, Alexander had no doubt it was her.
For the girl was still in that beautiful red gown, the same one that showed half her breasts and snowy deep ravines, while on her face, that same face Alexander had found so charming, now on that face still lingered his cloudy reward, slowly rolling down her contours.
Akisha in her hurry to get the pot did not bother to wipe herself, but by doing that, in an unintended way looked devilishly ravaging, kneeling in front of Alexander''s cock, holding a chamber pot, while looking up at him with that face, her amorous eyes twinkling.
"You!" And finally recognizing who had been serving him, Alexander let out a choked yelp of surprise, as the flood of memories came rushing back filling his head with all the context and finally enabling him to understand what was going on.
Clearly after he had gotten sleep, Lord Nuraman had sent him a bed warmer and this was her way of waking him up.
Or Alexander had already slept with her, and this was round two.
He found himself too drunk to remember the details.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original site:
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Chapter 664 Lord Nuraman’s Luncheon (Part-4) (R-18)
Chapter 664 Lord Nuraman''s Luncheon (Part-4) (R-18)
"Yes, it is me, my lord. Now, please let it out."
Facing Alexander''s welp, Akisha did not seem at all concerned, and only pushed the pot forward with a smile.
Then, in a kind of revtion to her true self, gently grabbed Alexander''s harden penis, and looked up with those same raven-ck onyx eyes, curving her thick lips just like she had done at the door to mischievously say, "Or mayhaps you rather do it on my face. Hehehe, sure¡ here¡clean me up!"
Akisha seemed to have no problem with Alexander doing that and even positioned the organ that had swollen itself due to the urge to pee directly at her face, one which was covered with his jizz as she then covered her eyes in anticipation.
The girl even appeared enthusiastic at the y.
It was something Alexander had yet to experience.
*Sshhhh*
And seeing this once-in-a-lifetime view, Alexander finally felt his dam break, and his dder began to quickly empty, letting out a white streaming jet.
But fortunately, Alexander was not really peeing on Akisha''s face.
He at least had that much decency.
He had adjusted his hips at thest second to ensure the streamnded on the earthen chamber pot she was holding.
So as Alexander emptied his reservoir, the rush of water through the one sluice gate made an almost straight line as it hit the walls of the pot, producing sshes of numerous tiny droplets for it hit the surface with great force.
After holding it for so long, he cherished the relief felt, with each second feeling like a pleasure-filled hour, though really it must have been less than a minute in total.
"Ahhhh¡," And once Alexander was finally done, the turgid organ returned to itsid state, and he let out a very satisfied purr.
While the pot was quite a ways filled with the white, yellowish warm liquid, from where soon a warm trail of light steam began to snake out, filling the nearby area with a strong, musky smell.
The amount of pee there was really telltale evidence of the sheer ridiculous amount of wine Alexander had to drink.
"Ahhh, master you could have done it on my face. I would not have minded hehe" As Alexander finished, Akisha gave a coquettish look, and then
*Chuu!* *Suck!* *Suck!*
Just as Alexander resting after the blissful release, suddenly he felt a warm mouth kiss his organ again, and soon the head slithered into the mouth, as Akisha started to suck out the remaining liquid still inside his urethra, with movements seemed to show she had done things like this a million times over.
"Ahhh," And this caused Alexander to release a second involuntary moan, as he then felt a second, shorter burst of pee erupt, for he was not quite finished yet, and something that Akisha drank without batting an eye.
She even used her tongue to press against the organ and squeeze out all the fluid, her throat only slightly quivering as she quaffed the warm liquid down.
And given the eagerness with which she drank the objectionable liquid down, it was evident that she loved having it, it being one of her fetishes.
She even screamed joyously in her mind,
''Ah! The taste is so strong and hot. My pussy is aching! Ohhh ing¡ ohh¡ it''s happening again ¡.ahhh ¡I''ming from drinking a man''s pee!"
Thoughrgely unnoticed by Alexander as he was distracted by the pleasurable service being provided to him, Akisha had a very strong orgasm as she was in the middle of drinking it, fully wetting the lower part of the gown she wore since she had no underwear.
Looking there, one would even think she had peed herself while drinking it.
Alexander''s second release of leftoverssted a much shorter while, finishing which he was of the mind that his little brother would be once again let out into the air to breathe.
But Akisha seemed to have other ns.
Because once Alexander stopped shooting his jet, she made sure to resume her sucking again, this time truly making sure Alexander''s tank was really emptied and all his pipes clean, all of which got another moan of approval from the man above.
Akisha was really diligent.
And she showcased this further by revealing to Alexander that she was still not done, as after finishing that, she gave the hard-working urethra and the ns a nice clean tongue bath with her tongue, very carefully kissing and licking them several times as if to congratte for all the hard work they did.
Until finally she decided to release the organ.
By the time of which Alexander''s cock had a nice, bright sheen to it.
"Here master, all cleaned up, hehe!" The girl seemed very proud of her work, ncing up at Alexander with twinkling eyes, her face still sticky with his cum, some of it even starting to dry up.
And seeing this, all of a sudden Alexander felt even more turned on, and he felt simply giving her service an A+ would be a disservice,
She had gone far and beyond that and there was really nothing he could find fault in.
Not even the most sexually explorative Ophenia had done this.
"You were great. Thank you," But given the circumstance, where another man''s concubine was serving him, he kept the praise modest for now, though the genuineness in his voice would not be hidden.
"Hehe, thank you. I''m d," And hearing so Akisha also seemed happy as she then quickly got up
on her feet, appearing eager to go to second base, right here, right now.
But Alexander seemed to not be in the mood, saying,
"Tell Lord Nuraman that I really enjoyed his hospitality. More than I had never thought was possible."
"But it is gettingte and I really should be going. Thanks."
Saying this he attempted to get up.
Now. his main objection to this arrangement was of course not the time.
Even if Alexander stayed the night here, it would matter nothing.
Neither would the fact that he was sleeping with another woman.
That wasmon for him.
But his main sticking point was the fact that Akisha was Lord Nuraman''s concubine.
And given Adhania''s unique way of receiving and honoring guests, Alexander wanted to distance himself from having any rtions like that with any such woman.
This way others could not use this precedence as a pretext to demand him to reciprocate.
"Hahaha, what are you saying master!" But Akisha seemed to not even consider Alexander''s rejection, as after getting up, she then flitted to therge wine bottle next to the bed.
From there she poured arge pint, a mega pint if one could call it that, into a goblet, the volume of which made Alexander ask whether happy time was really anytime.
But it seemed that Akisha had not taken such a huge volume to drink, but to rinse her mouth, as she took several sips of the liquid, each time gurgling out the wine into the chamber pot, tuning the liquid their pinkish white, while her own mouth was cleansed of any bad smell.
Now it only smelled of sweet, fruity wine.
Akisha then also atst decided to clean her face, simply rubbing the liquid off with her sleeves, and she finally felt ready.
So she slowly turned to Alexander, first giving him a coy smile stered over ascivious face, as she cooed,
"Master! How could you say you are leaving? Even though we have not even started anything yet!"
The tone that Akisha chose was something Alexander was hearing for the first time from her- shy, demure, soft, and even a bit hurt.
It was a tone that tickled a man''s heart and enmed his desire to nurture and protect.
And hearing so Alexander for a brief moment even felt like going along with her.
A feeling that was quickly reinforced by what she did next, for in one simple motion, she then let go of her gown, which almost magically shed itselfpletely from the body, effortlessly falling to the ground and revealing her nude body in all its glory to him.
Alexander already knew from her service at the table that she wore no underwear, and so expected from her silhouette for her to be a curvy woman.
And she did not disappoint, having all the meat and all the angles at all the right ces.
Nice heavy breasts, sexy hips, rich, dense thicket of bush above her flower, and a voluminous butt.
Everything a man could want from a woman.
But Akisha would never be content with simply showing off her body.
She also decided to unt it.
"Master!" She hence called out with a soul-stirring maon, as she then bent forward, showing off her white, almost pinkish breasts which she then started to shake and jiggle,
"Hehe, look, look, remember how you were looking at these so eagerly at the table. They are right in front of you now!"
"My boobs!"
Akisha then grabbed her own melons and started to y with them, jiggling them around with her palms, tempting,
"Can you bear to leave without tasting them? Would it not be a great shame! Come master!"
Akisha really showed herself to be a great temptress, tempting Alexander to taste her fruits just like the snake had to Adam.
And perhaps like Adam had felt, seeing the heavenly globules, Alexander certainly felt a certain type of perched thirst rise in his mouth.
He really wished to have a bite.
Chapter 665 Lord Nuraman’s Luncheon (Part-5) (R-18)
Chapter 665 Lord Nuraman''s Luncheon (Part-5) (R-18)
Alexander must have looked like that one kid standing in front of a candy store, his mouth salivating.
Akisha''s breasts looked that inviting.
"Hehe, here, have a feel. You don''t have to feel shy, no one is here now. They are really good, I promise."
And as if feeling bad for the poor chap, Akisha thus slowly approached Alexander, her voice silky and wet, almost wet with lewd hunger.
She seemd to truly desire him.
And as if to show her sincerity, she did not simply walk up to him.
No, that would have been too crude and unsexy.
Instead, she got down on her all fours and slowly started crawling towards him.
And seeing such a beautiful woman make her way toward him in such a submissive manner,? Alexander''s little brother instantly got the message and readily got into the full mast position.
And who me him?
A beautiful woman was currently on fours, her face flushed with lust and her mouth open with moist eagerness.
The arms supporting her upper torso were intentionally spread wide, letting Alexander have a clear view of the delicious swinging fruits.
They swayed so mesmerizingly with each step, their buds already puffed and erect, while at the back her sexy white butt shook tantalizingly with the slightest movement.
It made for truly a deadly view.
So deadly that Alexander felt almost paralyzed as Akisha slowly made her way towards him, each step actually increasing his anticipation of the pleasure toe.
"Ahhh, master''s cock is really something! A true dragon amongst men."
"I never thought would ever get to see something so massive!"
"*Chuu*, truly an honor!"
Akisha, emboldened by the fact that Alexander did not scold her or tell her to stop, quickly grabbed Alexander''s cock with her soft hands once in reach, and instantlynded a wet, hot kiss, as if worshipping it.
She was currently on her knees, gently cupping Alexander''s balls one one hand, while her lips touched the hot shaft.
And then she started to talk dirty,
"Ahhhh! Master''s cock is truly majestic."
"Any man would be ashamed of his after seeing this. And any woman would want nothing more than to be pounded with it,"
"Ahhh! My throat is still sore. And my pussy quivering!"
Akisha talked as she stroked the meat and loved the heavy balls, feeling the intense heat from the organ and the heaviness of the sack.
And then opened her mouth, bringing out her tongue,
"Master was asleep when I gave you my first blowjob. So you might not remember it well, So please enjoy this one fully"
But just as she was about to start giving Alexander a second taste of her mouth, she suddenly felt a very strong hand grab her head very tightly.
Alexander did not seem to be at all in the mood, as looking up, Akisha saw Alexander''s stoic, stone-cold face.
Alexander was okay with the eye candy, but going any further with this woman was out of the question.
"Enough! Get up and get dressed." He said in a slightly, annoyed voice.
"Ehhh! Why? Master still wants to go right?" But Akisha really seemed fearless in front of Alexander, as instead of being scared by the coldmander, she simply started stroking the shift and said with a sinful purr,
"Ahhh! I have always wanted to serve you, master. But to think you did note to visit me even once."
"Even when I made sure to show you my everything back then!"
"How cruel!"
Akisha sounded very hurt like she had been stood up by her lover.
Alexander even imagined a single roll of tears flowing down her cheek.
''Back then? Shown me everything?'' But what Alexander was more concerned about was her words of course.
He could not understand what she was referring to.
He certainly did not remember meeting her.
And Alexander was sure he would not have forgotten someone was beautiful as her.
As Akisha saw her master''s brows wrinkle in confusion, she let out a satisfied giggle,
"Hehehe, so you don''t remember me, master. Oh! I''m a bit hurt¡ I''m not gonna lie." She put on an exaggerated hurt fake face.
Before looking directly at Alexander to say,
"I''m Akisha, my lord, don''t you remember me?"
"..." The girl''s answer really did not present Alexander with any great insight.
"What does she mean she''s Akisha? That''s just her name,'' Alexander wondered.
But given Akisha was heavily implying they had met, Alexander then tried to scan his memories if that name matched with anyone.
''Arggh!'' But after the amount he had to drink, such an effort quickly got him rewarded with a stinging headache.
But Alexander did not give up and after a few seconds of very ufortable searching, he found a match.
"Wait¡You!¡You are Akisha? That Akisha!"
He sounded incredulous.
No wonder he had found that name when Lord Nuraman first introduced her.
He had met her once when he had visited the brothel.
He even remembered finding her different from the other girls and Ophenia also informed him of her backstory.
But the reasons Alexander had failed to make the connection until now were several.
One was he had only met her once, and even that was for only a few minutes among a crowd of other girls.
The fact that Alexander had even remembered her name was due to his great memory and also her interesting backstory.
Secondly, the two personas were too different.
Physically, the curvy, voluptuous fair Akisha in front of him was too different from the much skinnier, petite girl he remembered.
Even her face seemed different.
Whereas previously she looked like a teen, with a much darkerplexion, now, possibly due to good nutrition making her gain weight, alongside her makeup, she looked much fairer and mature.
Hence Alexander was not able to? make the connection until she mentioned it
Also, it never crossed Alexander''s mind to make that connection.
Because the woman he had met in the brothel should in any way be capable of living inside a lord''s manor.
Never mind Lord Nuraman had also introduced her as his new concubine.
How was he to think that a working girl he once met was somehow a noble''s mistress?
That did not make any sense.
Alexander would have had to be really familiar with Akisha to recognize her.
"Hehe¡I''m not surprised master did not recognise me. I have really changed a lot in thest year, haha."
Finally happy that Alexander was atst able to recognize her, Akisha gave a satisfied chuckle, adding,
"Mistress Tayin has been very good to us. The amount of food she gives us is really generous. Meat, fish, and egg. We always have one such item every day."
As Alexander had guessed, the change was caused by sumptuous food.
And it was something Alexander had specifically asked Ophenia to keep an eye at, as many of the girls there were under-nourished when he first met them.
"I see. But that does not exin how you are here. Or how you became a noble''s concubine."
But how Akisha changed her looks was not as intriguing to Alexander as how she was here, and how she got her status.
"Ah, Mistress Tayinone day came to me to say that an important noble hade to visit the city and since I knew the etiquettes, I should apany him for a few days."
"Then, after a few weeks, Lord Nuraman seemed to have been very satisfied with my service, and so offered to take me out of the brothel and make me one of his concubines."
"That''s how I''m here."
Akisha''s story was really a fantastic story of rags to riches.
And Alexander had to give it to her, she really had good luck.
He remembered that Akisha had somehow followed Amenheraft''s army for almost a year without any soldier forcing him on her, she then ended up in a good brothel in Alexander said so himself, and now she caught the eye of a noble who promptly liberated her.
Better yet that noble was quite old, meaning his due date of expiration was not too long, and once he did, as a widow Akisha would certainly be left a property or two.
Seeing her luck, Alexander even felt a momentary tinge of regret for not being born a woman.
And then at Akisha''s recount remembered something additional,
"Ah, yes! I do remember asking Tayin to choose a few girls to entertain Lord Nuraman. So she chose you, huh?"
"What great luck! Congrattions!" Alexander was truly happy for the girl.
Very few people were able to change one''s fate so drastically and so quickly.
"Hehehe, yes Mistress did mention that you mentioned me by name. To think esteemed master would remember even someone like me. I''m beyond honored,"
And Akisha added that bit of detail.
Something Alexander might have done but did not remember.
"So how is Lord Nuraman as a master? Does he treat you okay? He doesn''t have any weird requests, does he?
After finding out Akisha was or once was one of his girls, Alexander grew more interested in knowing more about her and posed as such.
He hoped II''s uncle did not have a hidden, dark side, such as torturing new girls.
Although this might sound a bit paranoid, and such practices were very umon, but that did mean it did not exist.
They were very rarely heard of, but heard of nevertheless.
"Hehehehe," But upon hearing Alexander''s question, Akisha first of all broke off into a peal of giggles.
Chapter 666 Lord Nuraman’s Luncheon (Part-5) (R-18)
Chapter 666 Lord Nuraman''s Luncheon (Part-5) (R-18)
Alexander''s reason behind the inquiry was that he wanted to make sure Akisha was not abused in any way.
At least he would not allow a noble to do so in his own city.
"Hehehe," But somehow, hearing this innocent question, generated a pearl ofughter from Akisha.
Alexander was confused.
"Ahhh, master is truly gentle." The girl happily chimed at Alexander''s concern, but then reassured,
"But you do not have to worry. My lord is like the average noble. He treats me well enough for who I am."
"He doesn''t force me to do anything extreme and I only have to serve selected guests. Though sometimes I do have to sleep with Lord Kayvan."
She added thest line like a throwaway.
But what she thought was just a bit of throw-away vor, Alexander found very surprising.
"You sleep with Kayvan! Isn''t he here on a honeymoon with his wife?" Alexander asked with a tone of incredtion.
He thought he would be spending his time with his new wife.
"Oh yes, he is!" But so what?" But Akisha did not seem to see the fault with doing both, adding,
"I have served him with Lady Kaiya a few times. Thedy is still young, so I showed a few techniques in bed. She was very grateful."
At the description, Alexander''s mind could not help but imagine that young, petite, barely legal woman being taken, and instinctually his organ twitched.
But before his imagination could run wild, something that Akisha said caught his full attention, as she continued,
"I usually spend two days of the week with Lord Kayvan. The other five I sleep with my lord. Third mistress no longer sleeps with my lord."
"So on some of those days, Lord Kayvan and my lord have me together!"
Akisha said this so casually as if she was describing the weather.
But thatst line snatched Alexander''s ear like a hawk snatches its prey and he could not believe it.
He even wondered if his mind was still cloudy from all the drinking.
"Wh¡what? You slept with them together?" Alexander tried to sound as calm and nonchnt as possible.
After all, those two men were¡.
It seemed that Akisha did not notice the weirdness in Alexander''s voice, as she very casually revealed,
"Yes. Both me and Lord Kayvan were surprised when my lord at first suggested it."
"But it seems my lord did this before with his other sons-inw."
"So we did."
"It wasn''t bad. Better than I thought"
Akisha very sufficiently finished thest parts, not going into any specific details regarding what they did, as she felt that should be kept private.
Even the things that she was saying right now were only due to it being Alexander who was a sort of benefactor of hers.
So she only said that she enjoyed herself, and was not hurt in any way.
Though hearing of her unusualpany Alexander could easily imagine what a devil''s triangle would look like.
And it was pretty much as he could have guessed.
Akisha had both the mouth and flower taken at the same time, had both her rear and front filled simultaneously and one time, they had even tied her hands to a hook in the ceiling, put a blindfold on her, and teased her various ways.
''It seems the two are much closer than just son and father-inw, the two are fucking cave brothers.'' The revtion of this caused Alexander to be half impressed, and half disgusted.
He even thought perhaps that''s why Lord Nuraman had no problem living in the same house with Kayvan.
So that they could ''bond''.
"I see. Did Miss Kaiya also join?" Alexander''s heart shook as he inquired because he was afraid of the reply, but he just could not keep his curiosity in check.
He really had to know if that monstrous thing between a father and daughter had happened.
"Miss Kaiya? No, she was always asleep." And thankfully the answer was negative.
Adhania seemed to have at least the slightest bit of saving grace till now.
"I see." So Alexander felt a great relief wash over him.
Whereas Akisha seemed to have gotten tired of all the talks and urged,
"Ah, master, we have been not doing anything for so long! Let''s start! Let''s start!"
The hands which had been till now idle soon began to work and Alexander''s found his little brother being loving caressed again.
While his mood for the act had also significantly shifted.
After knowing Akisha''s identity, and her frequent activities, he was now beginning to reconsider.
Finally mixed in the purple, aphrodisiac atmosphere began to convince himself,
''This is different! Lord Nuraman sent me his woman. I did not ask for it. Besides I could say I was drunk and don''t remember anything
''Yeah! That will work. I will just say I was drunk!''
The more he said it, the more it made sense to Alexander.
And with this self-pep talk, Alexander finally made up his mind.
"If Lord Nuraman asks you anything about this, tell him that I seemed really drunk." And Alexander made sure to ask Akisha to y along.
"....Sure, no problem," After the brief pause of surprise at the strange request, Akisha nodded obediently, adding, "My lord never asks this. But if he does, I will do as master asks."
And being pleased with the answer, Alexander quickly expressed his desire to have Akisha.
"Good, now how do you want me to take you?"
"Haha, are you sure you don''t want another taste of my mouth, master?"
The kneeling girl teased, before quickly getting up hearing Alexander''s request and since her master asked, putting on a tantalizing show, one that really showed her expertise in arousing men,
"Well, you take me like this, like a horse," Getting on all fours on the thick floor carpet, she took the ssic doggy pose, pointing her curvacious magnificent butt and both her holes clearly towards Alexander.
He could see the pink hole appeared to be twitching, while the bush underneath was dripping with thick desire.
Akisha was currently very turned on as she bled copious amounts of love juice.
"Or if master wants, you can have me like a dog," Akisha then quickly rolled on the carpet, now taking the probably mostmon sex-position, the missionary, lying on her back, arms and legs spread wide, letting Alexander have apletely full view of her front side, especially her beautifully breasts, with theirrge nipples.
"Or¡" With this option, Akisha was on her feet, her beautiful bare pussy facing Alexander, which she parted with her hand and then tempted, "Master can take me like the naughty bitch I am!"
Seeing the pink flower bloom so lewdly was a greatly erotic sight for Alexander and given how her pussy squirted a little as she had shown him her cunt, it was clear how Akisha wanted to be taken.
From the back, while standing.
And Alexander was over the moon to oblige.
He immediately jumped behind her and grabbing both her hands and tugging them towards him, he position his hot cock at her entrance before viciously impaling himself inside her, making the girl roll out her tongue and give out a soul-stirringly sinful moan.
"Ahhh! So big! It''s even bigger I thought ¡Ohh¡my womb¡no¡ it''s prating my womb!"
Akisha immediately felt the hot organ hit the cervix as it then tried to screw it open, causing her to almost lose consciousness at the extreme pleasure.
While for Alexander, Akisha''s canal felt fantastic, her hot and humid pussy tightly wrapping around his stiff cock, the soft folds trembling, wriggling, rubbing, and sucking, bringing him intense pleasure.
So to get more of it, he started pistoning hard, producing a loud, lewd, malty pping sound, Fwap-fwap-p-p.
Alexander''s strong hips smashed mercilessly against Akisha''s bubble cute, while the woman could only lower her head and scream continuously in ecstasy, "Ahhh¡.ohhh¡"
Alexander had stretched her little sister to her limit and the veins rubbing against her felt too good.
This was without the best fuck of her life.
"Mmmmmmmmm!" With that thought she soon came, her body shuddering intensely at the release.
If Alexander had not been holding her arms, she would have certainly fallen to the ground.
But though Akisha came, Alexander was? nowhere done and so he continued his thrusting unconcerned, causing the now sensitive froming Akisha to soon beg for mercy,
"Ahhh¡master¡your cock is too big ¡.ohhh it''s too powerful ...ahhh¡ I''m about to die¡ohh¡you will break this naughty whore¡"
While Alexander grabbed those melons he had teased so much about and started to knead, finding them delectable.
And like this the two went on for almost two hours, taking various positions as they tried to reach ever higher levels of pleasure
There was no love involved here and so the two went at it rough and strong, a very primal way of mating.
And by the end of it, Akisha had a vast majority of her body covered in Alexander''s gift as he did not release inside her due to obvious potentialplications.
So she looked very sinful and smelled even more so.
"Ahh¡so good¡more," Whileying down, Akisha herself was very dazed, feeling like she had been fucked out of her brains.
And could barely move due to exhaustion.
Her entire body ached, and her two holes seemed they would never be again satisfied except with Alexander''s cock.
While Alexander was also pleased with the hospitality provided.
And that was how Alexander''s first trip to Lord Nuraman''s house finally came to an end,
Chapter 667 Friends From Sybarsis
Chapter 667 Friends From Sybarsis
Alexander''s next few weeks were jam-packed.
First of all, the goods and men Pasha Farzah had promised finally arrived.
And these needed Alexander''s personal attention.
Particrly all the precious books that the ships contained were transferred to his house for now, to be stored in his study until the new public library could be finished.
These books, many being their original copies, were almost worth their weight in gold and Alexander was there to personally oversee their handling, to make sure the workers were very careful.
And though Alexander knew the value of books before, but actually seeing it for himself was a very different feeling altogether.
Each time he saw the workers move these stacks of tomes onto a cart for transportation, he felt like he was looking at his children, becuase only now was he reallying to terms that he had paid around half a million ropals each for only a few pages of simple parchment with ink on it.
It was a very special feeling.
And so take care of his children, he even hired two special people whose only job was to keep them clean, regrly dusting them.
They also ensured nothing like moistness or dampness affected them, or that bugs like silverfish which ate paper could damage them.
Aside from the books, the other main cargo was the new ''to be made into priests'' acolytes that Pasha Farzah had sent over.
They were handed over to Theocles, it being his directive to take care of their lodgings.
And after asking for Alexander''s permission, he ced them in some of the newlypleted apartment buildings.
This was the main event that upied him for most of August.
Then there was Cambyses''s approaching delivery date.
By the midwife''s estimate, Cambyses was seven months pregnant and the experienced middle-aged woman rmended Cambyses stay at home and not strain herself too much, only going out for walks around the back garden.
Also Cambyses seemed to have entered a bout of depression around this time, constantly worrying what would happen if it was not a boy.
This type of behavior wasmon during pregnancy, due to hormonal imbnces and was made worse by the prevailing culture of the culture.
And it seemed this affected Cambyses particrly badly, causing her to break into uncontroble sobs or hysterical fits of rage over the smallest thing or sometimes nothing at all.
A few times she even got into giant rows with others in the house over insignificant issues.
And though Alexander tried his best to console hers and rein her in her mood swings, it only had limited effect.
So Alexander tried to be with Cambyses as frequently as possible.
This was the second thing that took his attention.
And thest thing that required his presence was the report of a few ships entering the port carrying a particr g.
It bore the g of the Margrave Family!
"Lady Lady Miranda, Lord Janus, I''m so d to see you. Wee! Wee! I presume the war went well, haha haha!"
Seeing that his only friendly foreign contact was still alive certainly cheered Alexander, as he enthusiastically weed them into his house, telling them to make themselvesfortable on the couch.
"Ahhh, Lord Alexander. It is also a pleasure to meet you again. And yes, thanks to your aid, we did manage to get a favorable result," Lady Miranda in a sweet, cordial tone, warmly replied to Alexander.
Looking at thedy, the most noticeable change Alexander found was that her belly had returned to normal, clear evidence of her delivery, which made the gown she wore fit snugly to her.
While she herself seemed to have also gained some weight, a phenomenon quitemon after pregnancy.
So her arms seemed to have gotten a lot meatier and a few folds of flesh seemed to have formed on her cheeks, giving some heaviness to her countenance.
Aside from her figure, Alexander also found Lady Miranda to be even more gaudily dressed than when he hadst met her like she had managed to finally retrieve all personal belongings lost in the flood and was now ready to disy her true wealth.
To that effect, she had much morevish and intricate jewelry decorating her, the work on them being exquisite. while the full-sleeved blue gown she wore was studded along the seams with all kinds of rubies, diamonds, and very expensive gold threadworks, making her truly look like the matriarch of a renowned noble family.
"We are sorry, it took us so long toe visit, my lord. It was a true oversight on our part, a true breach of etiquette,"
While next to her was the much older Lord Janus, who looked much livelier than thest time Alexander met him, almost certainly due to him being under much less pressure.
He wore a nice clean, coat, with a single ruby ring on one of his fingers, his white hair brushed back, and beard well-oiled and trimmed.
Compared to his previous sailor outlook, he now looked much more like a noble.
Hearing Lord Janus''s apology, which was more courtesy than sincere, Alexander too breezily brushed it off,
"No, no, I''m well aware of the difficulties my lord should have been under. I''m simply overjoyed to see you again!"
"I was beginning to get worried that since there was no news."
"Even Mister Harold seemed to be busy, He''s not been to Zanzan for almost a year."
Through such small talks, Alexander and the two got to retelling what had urred in each''s life, over thest year, and frankly, it was a lot for both sides.
Alexander went first, telling them very briefly of the war, and how his house burnt down, which also went to exin why he was receiving them in such a shabbier housepared to his grand manor.
"Ah! How terrible! It is truly lucky that my lord was not injured. Truly the gods are with you!"? And hearing about his ordeals, Lady Miranda expressed her sympathizes as such, while Lord Janus also made simrments.
Then, after Alexander, the pair revealed their own goings in life.
Lord Janus went first as he informed Alexander of Harold, who had been made a baron due to his contributions by Lady Miranda''s grandfather and was busy managing his territory.
That''s why he made no trip to Zanzan.
"Hahaha, it seems the next time I meet Harold, with not Lord Harold, not mister," Alexander, hearing the former merchant''s turn of fortunes chuckled as such.
Then Lord Janus went over their battle with Governor Straus, the reparations they managed to get as a result of winning, as well as the current condition of theirnds, which was slowly recovering but still needed some time.
But what Alexander paid his ear to most was the Margrave Family''s current rtionship with Sybarsis.
"After the losses our benefactor family- The Marsh Family suffered, they seem to have fractured and are in a battle of session."
"There are many who want the main lineage family to take responsibility for the losses and step down, feeling they are notpetent."
"While the other thirteen ducal families have yet to interfere, till now content to watch the show from afar."
"But it also means that the Marsh family is in no position to help us either."
"So we have to do what we can do alone."
Lord Janus shook his aged head ruefully as he said,menting the fact that when misfortunees, it neveres alone.
"Oh? Is the Marsh family in that much danger? That they can''te to help even when you have won us a great war!"
"Might they be kicked out of the confederation council?"
Hearing that the family was about to tear itself apart, and vulture''s circles waiting for the dead meat, Alexander could not help but think of the worst-case scenario.
And being '' kicked out of the confederation council'' was actually a euphemism, what Alexander really meant to say was ''destroyed''.
Because suchrge families tended to go out with a bang, not a whimper.
"Hahaha, my lord should join the dukes. You will fit right in," And Lord Janus''s helpless chuckle revealed the affirmation.
Although the others had not made their move yet, the fact was they were waiting for the Marsh family to weaken itself as much as possible with its infighting.
In fact, they had even started to secretly support some of the factions to do just that, urging them to fight each other, though Lord Janus was not aware of that fact.
But he was aware of their precarious position even after their fantastic win, feeling this was only a prelude to a much longer conflict.
So he revealed to Alexander,
"Because of our win, we have managed to buy us some time, though not much."
"The Marsh family cannot help us, and the other twelve families also seem ambivalent. They gave us nothing solid when we reached out of them."
"Even when we exined we were being unjustly attacked, they pointed to the war reparations we got aspensation and told us to get along."
"What a joke!" Lord Janas seemed particrly worked up about this, as he swung his hand furious.
It seemed that the higher-ups of Sybarsis had no real intention of reconciling with them and intended to let the Kaiser Family do their thing.
This meant the pair was likely here seeking some kind of assistance or even alliance from Alexander.
Or who knows, perhaps even from Ptolomy himself.
Who could say?
Alexander was thus looking forward to the negotiations.
Chapter 668 The Margrave Family’s Circumstances (Part-1)
Chapter 668 The Margrave Family''s Circumstances (Part-1)
Lord Janus was understandably very angry at the way they were being treated by their home country.
And Lady Miranda seemed to be in simpatico with that.
"Uncle Janus is right. We won this money through our sweat and blood! Our men bled to get it." "And to think the Kaiser Family gets nothing but a p on the wrist for almost driving us to destruction!"
"Aghhh¡" Lady Miranda''s emotions got the better of her as she grunted, producing a very udy-like sound.
But it seemed in this instance she did not care, as after this, she continued her vent unabetted,
"Even the original usation of us supplying weapons to Iyizarid was all fake!"
"But when we asked the federation council to look into it and hold the Kaiser Family ountable for maliciously starting a war, they brushed it all under the rug like it was nothing."
"Saying things like since we won and the Kaiser Family paid us so much money, they had already been punished"
"Ridiculous!"
It was very apparent that like her counterpart, Lady Miranda too was very vexed.
And as soon as she finished, Lord Janus quickly added to that indignant me,
"What is even more shameless They did not even give us the full money! Only half of the promised 200 million!"
"The other half they said they paid to the Marsh family. ''To help them in their time of need'' they said''."
"Bah! Bullshit." Lord Janus spat in anger and grief, producing a face not expected to be on a nobleman,
"Clearly that Marsh brat used that money to buy time for himself."
"Filthy cheater!"
It took a while for Alexander to understand what Lord Janus was referring to, but basically, it seemed that one of the contenders for the position of the Marsh family head hade to the Kaiser family with the proposal that if they promised to not attack them for a while, they can keep 100 million ropals for themselves.
Then he told the Margrave family that he took half of the money due to his family''s time of need as well as payment for all the services and protection they had provided them till now.
Even though the Margraves regrly paid tithes to them.
It was clearly a plot to scam the Margraves, and unfortunately, they were too weak to do anything about it.
"Yes! If we knew this would happen, we would have never let Straus go!" And Lord Janus''s reminder of the event, Lady Miranda added this regretfully, her tone bitter.
Governor Straus, who was captured during the war, was kept in captivity for just a few weeks, only until a ransom deal could be reached between the Margraves and Kaisers.
And once the two sides swore on the deal he was let out, as there was seen no reason to hold him any longer.
Because it was unimaginable to think that any party would renege on their promise after swearing to the gods,
And technically, the Kaiser family did fulfill their promise or seemed to on paper.
Alexander very patiently listened to the two nobleman and woman vent, keeping his eyes focused and ears perked up.
And after finally feeling the two had exhausted recounting their misfortunes, he began to form a picture of their circumstances.
Alexander felt that this once strong family now seemed to be surrounded by predators from all sides.
This on one hand might be a good thing as it meant Alexander would be their only ally and he could charge them a premium.
But on the other hand, it could also mean supporting a lost cause, an ally who was destined to be snuffed out, while at the same time possibly their enemies also bing his.
Opportunity and danger existed side by side it seemed.
But then Alexander seemed to notice a small w in his picture.
So he asked,
"It seems quite strange to me that all the nobles would choose to so tantly ignore the destruction of a powerful noble house like yours?"
"Aren''t noble houses supposed to be protected from such tant direct attacks?"
"Also aren''t you one of the biggest weapons producers in this region? Don''t you have a lot of influence? Why is everyone willing to overlook that fact?"
He felt all the noble''s lukewarm attitude did not make sense.
But Alexander''s reasoning here seemed to be a bit faulty as Lord Janus helped him clear some of his doubts.
"Lord Alexander is perhaps misinterpreting the picture." He drew Alexander''s attention,
"From our words, it might seem like that all the nobles, including the thirteen dukes, are against us."
"But in reality, most are only curious bystanders."
"The real conflict is between the Kaiser and Marsh family, and as long as they keep it between themselves, none of the other families will intervene."
"That is the rule they set."
"So our real enemy is only the Kaiser family," He emphasized,
And then added with an admitting tone,
"But yes, you are right lord Alexander. Normally such ''under the open sky attacks'' would never go over the council."
"But it seems our luck is just bad."
"The losses we suffered at Iyizarid''s hands really appeared to have something to do with Lord March''s (Head of the Marsh family) generalship."
"I''m still unclear on the details, but that seems to be the prevailing thought."
"So many in the council see our destruction as a way to punish the March family. And the Kaiser Family is leading the charge on that."
"The others are not eager enough toe after us on their own, but like as I have before, they don''t seem eager to help either."
"If we can brave the storm and survive against the Kaiser family, they will ept us."
"And if we can''t¡.." Lord Janus helplessly shrugged his shoulder, knowing what fate awaited them upon failure.
While Alexander could help but half smirk, ''What luck! To be sunk by the very family who promised to be your protectorate.''
It seemed to him that the Margrave family was the sailor on the ship called the Marsh Family.
Normally, the ship kept everyone safe and afloat.
But now that the vessel had begun to sink¡.the sailors were scrambling to survive.
"I see. Thank you, Lord Janus. I did not see it like that," At getting a clearer picture and understanding the Margraves might not be screwed as badly as he thought, he heaved half a sigh of relief.
Business could still continue as was.
As LF finished,? Lady Miranda then added her piece, stating,
".Also...we once did have a lot of influence. But now¡" her tone very bitter voice,
"Now with our navy destroyed and all our experienced seamen lost, we are no longer able to wield weight like before behind our words."
"Many people were already greedy for our trade routes before. Now, these are the ones leading the attack, trying to break us and have it all for themselves."
"While many other opportunistic hyenas are tailing them behind."
"*Sigh*"
Lady Miranda seemed much more mature than her previous visit, as evidenced by how eloquently she described her enemies.
It seems greed was truly the source of all sins.
And Lord Janus agreed, saying,
"Mmmm, our current inability to properly protect our shipping routes is certainly a concern." "Many of our ships have even started being attacked by pirates."
"Trade is down by almost halfpared to pre-war levels."
"Huh! What pirates! Vultures!"
It was apparent that their enemies were plundering their cargo disguised as raiders.
Both sides knew it, but the Margraves ahd no proof.
"Hmmm, that is indeed a problem. I would have lent you my navy¡but¡" Alexander here made an exaggerated im.
Even if he ahd the navy, it was unlikely he would have done that.
''Thank you, my lord," And although the other side knew it, well, it was the thought that counted.
"Oh, there was something else I wanted to ask you," Then suddenly Alexander started with this, turning to face the lord anddy and stating,
"I remember Lady Miranda saying you were attacked because? Iyizarid took a lot of Sybarsis''snds and the council in turn wanted yours."
"Now, could it be the reason not more of the dukes have joined to attack you is because they fear an attack by? Iyizarid?"
"Do you know anything about that?"
Alexander made that bold assumption.
Iyizarid was a very expansionist, militaristic nation after all
"......."
Butpared to the giant leap Alexander took in logic, the other party seemed mute and unresponsive, as if they hadn''t even properly heard the question.
"We..we don''t know," And it took Lord Janus a good couple of seconds to give this simple answer in a stuttering tone.
While Lady Miranda was a bit more helpful, as she elucidated,
"Mmm, Uncle Jnaus is right. Although we have a few spies there, they are basically very low-level."
"They can only tell us what the general people know."
"As for knowing? Iyizarid''s future military ns, I doubt even Sybarsis''s highest spies have anything close to that."
"If we had that Iyizarid would not be such a problem hahaha!"
Lady Miranda seemed to think Alexander''s thinking here was totally wrong.
She also felt that given the amount of territory? Iyizarid had just two years ago, they should be busy consolidating it for a few years before they struck again.
While Lord Janus believed that Alexander was reading into this? Iyizarid thing a bit too much.
As for the man himself, he said to himself, ''Well, if they do not want to attack, perhaps I can encourage them."
Chapter 669 Free Trade Agreement
Chapter 669 Free Trade Agreement
Alexander''s asking about Iyizarid''s state was not as much as wanting to warn Sybarsis of an impending attack but more of wanting to find out how he could make that happen.
A Sybarsis- Iyizarid war would not be bad for him, as it would upy some of the Kaiser family''s resources which would help his ally out.
So now the question was how to do it.
The ducal families of Sybarsis did not sit and stand at? Iyizarid''s actions and even if there was a war, not all the resources of the massive country that was Sybarsis would be diverted to fend off that threat.
So trying to change the course of the fate of entire countries was not something Alexander could easily do, especially given his rtive size.
That would be mad.
But it was only something like a pet project for now, as Alexander then forced his focus back to the two people presently sitting in front of him.
And after getting to the full extent of the bind the Margraves were in, atst said,
"I think I get where we all stand."
"It seems the money the Kaiser family has spent as war reparations and the men Governor Straus lost will take some time to recover."
"So we can breathe a bit for now." Alexander lightly nodded his head, but then said in a cautionary tone,
"But I would advise against lowering our guards,"
"It also seems the peace we obtained is a precarious one." Alexander said the word ''we'' to show his solidarity with them, adding,
"And given how the enemy is willing to y dirty, such as they did with the ransom money, it would not surprise me to see that they used some excuse to break the treaty ahead of time."
"I hope my lord anddy will be careful."
To Alexander, it was apparent this was only a truce, not asting peace agreement.
"Thank you for your reminder. We will keep an eye out, "Lady Miranda solemnly replied, though it was unknown how much of Alexander''s warning she took to heart.
Breaking treaties were very very rare, nothing like the sly sleight of hand the Kaiser family pulled off with the ransom deal.
So Lady Miranda was a bit skeptical about Alexander''s caution.
And Alexander would be very happy if he was wrong about it.
As this part of the discussion ended, then if came Lady Miranda''s turn to recount what happened to her personally over thest year,
And for her, the biggest event during that time was of course the birth of her son, which also enabled her to get control of her family.
And over the past twelve months, she mostly focused on him, nursing, and tending to the love of her life.
But that was not only the thing she was engaged in.
She participated in other activities too.
For instance, she had to learn various administrative practices from her grandfather, oversee the reconstruction of their old capital, manage the books, meet with the various nobles under her and ensure their fealty, and in general strengthen her control over thends.
All this was a lot of work and needed her to physically stay at her fief.
Combining this with the care her son needed, she simply could not make the time to visit Alexander till now.
"Congrattions on having a son, Lady Miranda! If I had known before, I would have certainly sent a great present, What''s his name?"
Knowing of the birth, Alexander gave a hearty smile, even proposing a toast to the young boy''s health.
"Thank you for your kind word, Lord Alexander. I named him Marcus, after his father,"
At the mention of her son''s mention, the overly powdered face of the fair woman seemed to turn a lot gentler, and her eyes dimmed as if she was not looking at Alexander, but her son right now.
Clearly, thedy held immense love for the child.
And after a bit of reminiscing, Lady Miranda further added
"I wished to bring him with me to meet you, my lord. But he fell a bit ill at thest moment."
"So I was afraid I to bring him on the journey."
"He is with his grandfather!"
At Lady Miranda''s decision, Alexander was very understanding, nodding and saying,
"Yes, yes, the journey from Galiosos to here is not easy. Especially for such a young child. Mydy did the right thing."
"The seasons are changing and people tend to get sick around this time,"
"I pray that your son recovers quickly. Surely the gods will bless him,"
As Alexander said, he felt like pulling on the cor of his tunic, to let some air in, as he felt too hot and tried to cool himself him.
"Besides, the heat in Zanzan for thest week has been unbearable! It would have been too hard for the poor guy, haha," He then added as ament.
Thetter half of August was always like this in Zanzan, unbearably hot
A grueling, sweltering heatwave would always hit the region around this time as if to try and bake everything, just before everything began to cool down by the arrival of fall during September.
It was as if the summer heat wanted onest chance to remind everyone of its existence before it finally disappeared for almost six months.
And as Alexander made mention of the heat, Lady Miranda agreed with a smile, "Haha, yes. It is really too hot," as she fanned her neck with her palms.
The noblewoman was also very hot, as evidenced by the many beads of perspiration running down her cheeks and neck, as well as the fact that her gown was now sticking to her wet back.
And it was no surprise given how heavy the attire she wore was.
Alexander felt hot just by looking at her.
But up until now, Lady Miranda felt a bit shy about saying anything about it as it would make her seem being a demanding guest.
But now that she had euphemistically pointed it, Alexander quickly signaled one of the maids who was serving them food and drinks to start fanning her.
Which got a grateful look from the now feeling much morefortable woman.
The recounts and conversations Alexander and the two nobles madested all noon and eclipsed into the night, with Alexander entertaining them for both lunch and dinner, where he introduced them to many new sweet dishes, such as new biscuits, a novel pastry, and small a saffron pie like cake, much of both''s delight.
"My lord, this sugar¡how much can we buy?"
Anding to know what was the main missing ingredient, Lady Miranda did not quote how much she wanted to buy, but how much Alexander could sell.
Hernguage and way of thinking truly spoke of her lineage, a true blue-blooded aristocrat who went back generations,
And Alexander too wished he could one day have a mindset like her''s.
"Haha, let us leave the talk of business for tomorrow. Today, let us feast. Mydy, eat, eat¡!"
But for tonight, he made sure that the two close guests were well entertained.
And it was the next day, after a sumptuous breakfast that the two nobles began their trade negotiations with Alexander.
"My lord, I promised you that free trade agreement if I became the head of the family. Here it is," Lady Miranda handed a formally written contract with everything on her part signed and sealed to Alexander.
The contract was surprisingly written on paper, as opposed to the usual material- parchment, and it was several pages long, detailing both big and small things.
Receiving the page, Alexander was internally a bit surprised.
He had asked for the removal of all trade barriers between the two regions for 20 years as a way to boost trade.
And it seemed Lady Miranda had given him everything he wanted.
Alexander honestly did not think he would get so much, especially the long time.
He had just said the number to shoot for the moon and then intended to negotiate it down to a more reasonable number.
But it seemed that to Lady Miranda since she had promised, she decided to keep it.
And though Alexander would not know, Lady Miranda had to fight quite hard with many of her uncles and cousins and even her own grandfather to make them agree to this, all of whom wanted a more reasonable 10 years.
"I swore in the name of soul that I would get him this trade agreement if I became the head of the Margrave family!" But Lady Miranda had screamed as such and after quite a few row-filled meetings atst had gotten her way.
Alexander''s crossbows did y a critical role in the results of the battle and Lady Miranda made sure to leverage that, going through a lot of hardships to ce all the letters on the paper
But she did reveal any of this to Alexander and instead just let him carefully go through it.
On the first page was written the intention to form the free trade area zone, as well as listing the names of all the parties involved.
These listed not only the Margrave family but also various trading guilds.
Then came various legal jargon, as well as swearing to the gods to prevent any party from viting the agreement.
Andstly, a ce to sign and seal.
*Stamp*
And as Alexander gave his seal and initials on it,
Vo!
He had his first free trade agreement.
Chapter 670 A Second Deal With the Margraves (Part-1)
Chapter 670 A Second Deal With the Margraves (Part-1)
Before Alexander signed the contract, he did have a read through it.
The main thing that was written on the paper was that it stated that the ships carrying goods from either region would not be charged any tariffs or tax beyond a portnding fee.
And if these goods were to be moved from city to city, they would only be subjected to an additional ''gate tax'' which was a kind of toll some cities charged merchants to enter the city,
But beyond those costs, trade between the two regions would be free.
Alexander would have preferred that ''gate tax'' did not exist either, but he knew this was arge source of ie for many small nobles and so did not strongly insist on it.
Following this were the various names of the parties involved.
On Lady Miranda''s side this not only included the Margrave family but also many of the trade guilds of Galiosos.
This was done so that merchants carrying any of these seals on their product would be seen as being from Galiosos and thus be excluded from any taxes.
Also, in this way, smuggling and unauthorized entry of goods could be prevented.
Lady Miranda had listed a very long itinerary of names on her end who could engage in free trade with Alexander, while Alexander on the other hand only listed one.
Him.
This meant that If anyone wanted to export to Galiosos, they would have to get his permission.
Or more specifically, a seal of approval from the ministry ofmerce headed currently by Heliptos.
He did this because it was he who had gotten them this deal, so why should everyone piggyback on him for free?
Alexander felt it was only right that they paid a fee, albeit a small one, to get this seal.
Besides, in this way, Alexander could control a part of the economy, thus giving him more influence.
Beyond the meat of the contract, Alexander also found some of the ''vor'' texts which were quite interesting to say the least.
Particrly some of the paragraphs made him feel more like he was reading a book of curses than a legal document, as it stated the various things that would happen to the party that broke the agreement,
But thatnguage there actually the standard temte typically used, so everything was authentic.
"Thank you, mydy. I''m sure this will strengthen the ties between ournds even further."
Satisfied with the contents and conditions written there, Alexander quickly filled ratified the documents, names with just a single name -Zanzan and then stamped and signed the agreement.
And vo!
There was now a free trade agreement between the two for 20 years!
In modern times, this kind of deal would have normally taken years of discussion, months of revision, and many more months of ratification toe into effect.
But given the primitive times as well as Alexander''s absolute power over hisnds, just a few strokes of his pen was enough.
He did not even need to ask his nobles or council members for their input as they already had free agreements with him anyway.
So work that might have taken others years, Alexander got it done in less than half an hour.
Sometimes absolute authority was better than a democracy.
All that now remained to be done was to instruct Heliptos to make sure the goods carrying those specific seals were not subjected to sort of taxes at the port.
With this huge agreement reached, Alexander then got down to selling his products.
"So what are the things I can help you get?" He posed to the eager customers.
And the other party quickly got down to listing many of his unique products- iron, sugar, paper, salt, ss, and soap.
They bought these in quiterge quantities, as exined by an eager? Lord Janus
"Your products were very popr my lord. Especially the sugar. We want to buy as much as we can,"
Those things sold like hot cake and they seemed to never have enough.
Bu Lord Janus could easily understand the temptation.
Just remembering the taste of that pristine white powder made his mouth even subconsciously salivate.
"Yes, yes, the sugar is very popr. But the price¡." While his counterpart, Lady Miranda was a bit more restrained in showing her desire and implicitly asked for some price concessions from Alexander.
"Haha, I have already given a discount, mydy," But Alexander would not lower his profit margins anymore.
Instead, he provided them an alternative.
"If you have a problem with paying in gold, I also ept payments in food, livestock, gems, fabric, and ves."
"I understand that you might need funds to recover from the disaster and the war, so perhaps you can consider those."
Alexander seemed to be very understanding.
"Umm¡yes that is possible¡but still¡the quantities are a problem." But here Lady Miranda pointed out the sheer volume of the goods that would be needed to trade to bnce the sheets.
They had bought almost half a billion ropals worth of products from Alexander to be delivered over the next year while they themselves only had the cash reserve to pay for only 20% of that without starting to run into shortages.
So the rest of it had to be paid with goods.
But some of the goods Alexander was asking to be exchanged were not so readily transportable.
For instance, a mule weighing more than half a ton was only 500 to 600 ropals, or about the same value as 10 kg of iron, something that could be carried by hand.
That was why trade through gold was so preferable, it was convenient.
At Lady Miranda''s mention of the volume problem, Lord Janus also pointed this out, "Yes, mydy is correct."
"We can transport the 50,000 tons of food you wanted no problem."
"As well as the potteries, wood and linen."
"But the problem is the ve and draft animals."
"Moving living things over water is always difficult."
"We need to carry extra food, water, and even extra people to take care of them."
"So ships cannot carry many of them at once."
"Meaning transporting that many will need many trips."
"And as I have previously said, weck a strong navy¡ so we might not be able to protect all of them."
It was unknown how much of the problem was real, and how much Lord Janus was exaggerating to get concessions from Alexander.
But whichever it was, Alexander had no real good solution to the problem.
He could choose not to sell, but then they were one of his biggest customers.
Alexander had very few others who were able to buy his stuff in this volume.
So if he did that, his wares would simply sit in his warehouses gathering dust.
But if he were to make concessions, well then he would be losing out, and might even encourage them to make simr excuses in the future.
"Hmmmm¡*tap*, *tap*," So Alexander got to thinking.
The thing that put his mind at ease was that the food he wanted would still be delivered
And with 50,000 tons of it, mostly being grains, along with various vegetables, and some meat and wine, he could easily feed his poption for half a year with no problem.
Then whenbined with Lady Inayah and Pasha Farzah''s contribution as well as his own production, Alexander kept he could even keep some in reserve in case of emergencies.
So now he had to decide what he should get instead of the vast number of ves and draft animals.
And after a while, he came up with a solution.
"I can lower the prices. But I need some other way to bepensated." He offered.
"Oh anything! Please state it. And we will try our best to amodate you, my lord," And immediately Lady Miranda jumped at the offer.
The profits from these products she was buying from Alexander would be critical in helping her territory recover and she wanted to only buy more, not less
So as long as Alexander''s demands were not too unreasonable she was willing to go as far as she possibly could to fulfill them.
"Understanding the problems your family faces, I will waive the draft animals. Those things require the most space after." Alexander first said generously, getting a grateful smile from both,
"And instead of the 50,000 ves, I will buy only 20,000 from you over the next year."
Alexander''s most pressing concern right now was to repopte hisnds and though he could reduce the number, he could never abandon it.
"That¡" But the quoted number still seemed to be so huge that it immediately got a knee-jerk response from Lady Miranda.
She was hoping Alexander wouldpletely forego the ves.
After all,? 20,000 big, strong men as ves was not a small number given they only controlled a territory the size of 300,000 sq km with a poption of a few million.
It would not be impossible but very, very hard, especially given their recent troubles.
Hence, even though Lady Miranda said she would try to be as amodating as possible, Alexander''s ask still caused the involuntary yelp.
She would not reject him but hinted at wanting to haggle.
And Alexander, hearing this gasp, and feeling an objection be on its way, quickly decided to give an alternative offer.
One that would get him his 50,000 ''men'', while Lady Miranda could also keep her strong, working men.
A win, win for both sides.
Chapter 671 A Second Deal With the Margraves (Part-2)
Chapter 671 A Second Deal With the Margraves (Part-2)
At Lady Miranda''s objection, Alexander quickly proposed this,
"If even 20,000 strong men are not possible. I can reduce the number to 10,000."
"But in that case, these men must have families."
"And they must alle to Zanzan with them."
"I will not buy them as ves, but take them in as immigrants who must stay here as farmers for at least 20 years. After that, they can get a plot ofnd, or they can choose to return to Galiosos, whichever they want."
This alternative idea got Lady Miranda''s attention.
"Hmmmm,"
So she hummed, finding the idea much more ptable.
She did not immediately say yes, but she did not vehemently oppose it either.
Instead, she got to calcting the pros and cons.
While Alexander, satisfied that the opposing side was considering it, continued his listing,
"Secondly, I am aware the Margrave family is quite advanced in mining and metallurgy."
"So I want some experienced miners, let''s say a hundred, to help me open new iron, gold, and silver ores in the Cisran Hills."
"Thirdly, we have a severe shortage of cksmiths here in Zanzan. So I want to have about a hundred cksmiths move to Zanzan."
"They will work here, learning how to use the new steel, as well as teach a few new apprentices from here of their craft. transferring their expertise "
As Alexander was saying this, he noticed a visible flinch from Lord Janus, as if he had something to say, but did not know whether he should interject.
But Alexander chose to ignore that for now and instead continued,
"Fourthly since Lord Janus has said that you are struggling to rebuild your navy, I want to contribute. I want to send 2,000 men to Galiosos to help rebuild your navy, as well as be trained as sailors by you."
Alexander felt that instead of relying on his one shipyard, it would be far better to send a part of his crew to the Margraves and learn from them.
"Andstly, I wish to form an alliance with the Margrave family through a marriage with Lady Miranda."
Alexander very boldly made thest im, feeling that since Lady Miranda was young and avable, he should tie the knot as soon as possible to ensure the allied Margraves stayed an ally long into the future.
"........"
Herring Alexander''s five points were a lot to take in for the two nobles so they took some to properly understand the implications of what he was asking.
"I''m sorry, Lord Alexander. But I will not be able to fulfill yourst request. I''m still grieving over my husband, and I want to mourn him a bit longer," Lady Miranda gave her response regarding thest request first, unequivocally rejecting Alexander.
Which surprised him a bit given it was her who had subtly shown the thought of such a union first when she had very openly kissed him on the cheeks just before leaving previously.
It was because of that incident that Alexander even considered making this offer.
So Alexander wondered what changed.
"But if my lord wishes, I do have a few suitable cousins. I am sure they will be fine candidates too,"
Lady Miranda, as soon as she declined Alexander''s offer, made sure to instantly add this alternative proposal so as to not appear too dismissive, but Alexander simply waved his hand with a light breeze, and said,
"Haha, if mydy is not interested, then forget it. It was wrong of me to suggest such an inappropriate idea at such an inconvenient time anyway,"
Alexander was not interested in anyone else because they likely did not matter.
So if he could not wed the matriarch, then he would rather not waste his time.
Besides, given the current circumstances and the trade volumes the two parties ahd going on, Alexander doubted they would be falling out anytime soon.
So he was not that desperate.
While Lady Miranda, seeing Alexander not appear to be offended, was much relieved.
A sweet feeling that was as fleeting as the passing dawn for she heard Alexander say this next,
"Since Lady Miranda has not objected to any of the other conditions, I premise those are all eptable?"
Alexander had very strategically chosen to strike now when the other party had just rejected one of his proposals, and he had so graciously eded to them without any objection.
Which made rejecting his other requests right now without losing face that much more difficult.
Something Lady Miranda was well aware of which was why she went a bit red.
Of course, she had objections but felt her face skin was too thin to argue.
And this made her want to nod and avoid the embarrassment.
"*Ahem*" But her much older counterpart had developed a much thicker hide over his life and quickly interjected before the youngdy couldmit such a mistake.
When it came to business and losing potential millions, no amount of skin was too much to lose.
''*Tsk*, Pity'' And upon hearing the aged cough, Alexander could not help but muse regretfully in his heart.
He was so close.
"Lord Alexander, we have no problem with the second request. We would be more than happy to help you open up new mines," Lord Janus started with the good news.
Before going to on to describe his problems,
"But that 10,000 men you asked for. Just them we have no problem. But if their families were also involved¡.well that would be close to 50,000 to 60,000. This is too much!"
This was his first problem.
"Yes, but those are mostly women and children, Not strong working men. Surely it will not affect yournds that much,"
Feeling like Lord Janus was misunderstanding, Alexander elucidated as such, adding,
"Besides, I''m asking you to take farmers out of yournds. You can choose beggars, the homeless, the abandoned,.... those not wanted by society"
"As long as they are not sick and crippled, and have no criminal records, I will take them."
Alexander lowered his requirements even further.
"....bu ...but still ¡it''s 50,000 ¡" Lord Janus muttered under his breath, still appearing reluctant.
So Alexander pressed, "Lord Janus, I''m not asking those people to be ves. They only have to live here for 10 years."
"I''m even offering themnd after that! God! I''m the one losing money here!" Alexander sounded incredulous by the end, looking at Lord Janus with befuddled eyes.
He was offering them such a good deal and yet the man was refusing!
"That¡the offer is not the problem. In fact Lord Alexander''s offer is more than generous."
Knowing why Alexander was offering such a good deal, and feeling like he was taking advantage of it, Lord Janus quickly said so to cate Alexander, and then revealed,
"But the problem is like I said, transport. Transporting so many people is too risky!"
Here Lord Janus thought he had managed to corner Alexander, but thetter was ready, instantly replying "And that was why I asked you to let me participate in your shipbuilding! This way we can build a bigger navy faster!"
"..." Here, Lord Janus was quiet.
Not because he was very impressed by the idea, but because he did not think Zanzan had anything to contribute to this effort.
''What do you know about shipbuilding?'' He said to himself, barely controlling himself from rolling his eyes in front of Alexander, as he knew well of Zanzan''s pathetic shipbuilding expertise.
When Alexander had made his fourth point, he had not even seriously considered it because frankly, they were too busy to be babysitting 2,000 amateurs.
Now, Lord Janus did very well to hide this disdain, but Alexander could guess what the old man was thinking knowing the prevailing conception other powers had for Adhania''a navy.
But Alexander ahd a few tricks up his sleeves that no other had.
So taking advantage of Lord Janus''s brief silence, Alexander first said,
"I understand that Sybarsis''s shipbuilding is second to none in this region."
"Each of your ships can carry around 250 ves or 500 tons of cargopared to our tiny ships only capable of taking 100 tons."
"So it is natural to think less of us."
And then confidently posed,
"But that was in the past."
"Here in Zanzan, we have built a ship that is five times as strong as the average ship and carries 2,500 tons!"
"So I believe Zanzna can contribute much to the restoration of your navy!"
"What! Is what you say true?" Alexander''s grand deration of course drew the attention of the two nobles, especially from Lord Janus who was a capable shipwright himself, his family having a few shipyards.
So Alexander''s deration was naturally very noteworthy to him.
"Yes, it is. I swear to the gods." And Alexander very solemnly promised such, further adding.
"And if you let us learn your shipbuilding and naval warfare techniques, I will share the designs for the new ships right here, right now."
"I might even buy dozens of such ships from you!"
And Alexander''sst line seemed to be the critical hit, as Lady Miranda, who was silent till now suddenly chimed,
"Okay! We ept."
"Great!" And this produced a great beaming smile from Alexander.
Instead of relying on one dock to make hundreds of ships, while trying to figure everything out for himself, Alexander was very happy he was able to export this work to others, and even get much- needed training and technological transfer in the process.
To exchange so much for only the idea that they should use iron pegs instead of wood was too cheap!
Chapter 672 A Second Deal With the Margraves (Part-3)
Chapter 672 A Second Deal With the Margraves (Part-3)
Lady Miranda''s eptance of the deal naturally made Alexander very pleased.
Given her family''s facilities and expertise, Alexander was hopeful he would be able to have a functional navy faster than he thought.
"Please wait here, let me fetch you the blueprints,"
And so, in return, Alexander quickly showed them the ships they were building, and how they were able to get such a huge size.
"Using iron pegs instead of wood! Ingenious!"
Lord Janus was both very surprised and a bit bitter that he had not been able to think of such a simple solution sooner.
But at least he knew it now, and with his expertise as a shipwright, did feel that with this stronger skeleton, a much bigger ship could likely be built.
Which made the aged lord very happy.
"Hahaha, good, good, with these new ships, we can definitely beat the Kaiser family in the water. Definitely! Bastards won''t stand a chance"
He loudly roared in tion, knowing that even if outnumbered, these ships would be able to take multiple ramming attacks before going down, thus allowing them to stay in the battle and fight for longer.
And as long as one could fight, they had the possibility of winning.
He hence even turned to Alexander to even propose this,
"Hahaha, Lord Alexander, I''m currently looking for a suitor for my granddaughter. Would you be interested!"
The old man seemed to want to make Alexander his kin for inventing this new type of ship.
A proposal that Alexander gently rejected.
Instead, taking advantage of the old man''s euphoria, he added this,
"Actually, I have another ship I was thinking of building. But I seem to not have the experience to," as he then quickly showed the two his blueprints for a huge barge-like cargo ship, the same one he had shown Lady Inayah.
"We will make the ship of wood and concrete."
"This type of ship will be very stable because most of its hull will be underwater, so it won''t tip over easily."
"And we can fill that massive hull with enormous amounts of cargo."
"I estimate it will be able to hold 10 times what the usual merchant ships can carry, at least 10,000 tons!" Alexander sounded very excited, as he continued,
"As for moving the behemoth, we will use huge sails to harness the power of winds."
"We are already building a new port to amodate these vessels, but weck the expertise to build it."
"So I was hoping the Margrave family would be interested!"
Lord Janus seemed to think he noticed Alexander''s eyes were twinkling as he posed the question.
"Hahaha, well let us first build the first kind of ships first. Then we can talk what the others," But he gently rejected Alexander as such.
Frankly, Lord Janus thought the size and cargo capacity Alexander was hoping for to be a bit on the fantastic side.
He did not think building such a huge ship was possible.
Whereas Alexander was not discouraged, and pressed, "But with this, we can trade across the Mad Sea all year around? Should building it not be a priority?"
"Thign of the voluem of trade? It will be enormous."
"And safety! Even bad storms won''t be able to sink it."
Alexander truly believed such a ship was easily possible, and it would be so much that the rickety dingy they currently used.
It only required skilled and knowledgeable shipwrights to bring it to life, something the Margraves certainly had.
Thus Alexander''s eagerness about the project seemed to be oozing out.
And it was Lady Miranda who decided to put a step on his brake pedal, pointing out,
"Lord Alexander, brand new ship designs are never easy to build. It takes years to get everything right! Especially a ship as revolutionary as yours."
"Going by what you said, nobody has ever built something like that. The hull, the sail, and the rigging will all need many people to properly build."
"But I''m afraid currently we are too upied to help you right now. We need to focus on rebuilding our navy."
And Lord Janus quickly supported her,
"Yes, yes. This ship is very revolutionary, but it does not seem very suitable for naval warfare. So really cannot spare the manpower. Let use back to it perhapster."
It seemed that though the two were content to pay his new design beautiful lip service, they were not actually all that interested in building it.
Mainly because they found the dimensions too fantastic to think it was possible.
This rejection did hurt Alexander because he had thought a family expert in shipbuilding would be able to see his vision.
But it seemed he was wrong.
"...Then could Imission you to build you one?"
So, seeing a coboration was out of the question, Alexander then asked if he could throw money at the problem and solve it.
He believed that once he could show his ship was actually possible, everyone would be building them.
"Please allow me to apologize. But I''m afraid all our docks are already too busy," But naturally Lady Miranda made this statement, as the Margrave family was trying to rebuild its navy as soon as possible.
"But we are willing to help build a prototype as soon as our docks clear, my lord!" And then, as if to appease Alexander, Lord Janus quickly made his offer.
"....*sigh*...mmm," And only got this anemic, not even a proper reply.
Alexander knew such an opportunity would be years away and made sure to express his dissatisfaction.
And it worked as his unenthusiastic reply set the room into a slightly depressing mood, letting a stifling atmosphere settle in.
Something Lady Miranda quickly tried to rectify this by saying,
"Ah, my lord, we have no problem giving you the 50,000 people or letting you join our shipbuilding."
"We agree to both those requests, no problem!"
"And even that concrete you said the ships will be made of. We want to buy them too."
Lady Miranda wanted to show Alexander the things they did agree with and even expressed her interest in buying more stuff.
To which Alexander only lightly replied,
"I''m afraid we currently have a shortage of cement. So if mydy wants it she will need to give about 1,000 workers so I can set up new facilities."
He knew Lady Miranda was not serious which was why he made the offer and sure enough, Lady Miranda rejected it,
"Ah! That''s unfortunate. Perhaps another time then."
After her initial awe with this cement, Lady Miranda had grown out of her love for the white powder, because to her it did not seem all too special.
They could build simr structures with their own methods and so saw no point in spending so much to obtain the product.
"Okay, so what about the cksmiths? I noticed Lord Janus flinch when I proposed that!"
Feeling there was no use beating the dead horse, Alexander then let his dream boat go for the time being and went on to hisst request.
"Ahh¡that." And Lord Janus produced awakard face.
After rejecting Alexander like that even he felt a bit embarrassed to again object so openly.
But it was only for a while as the old man thickened his skin to point that,
"cksmiths are usually part of many trade guilds my lord. So asking so many of them to move¡"
"Guilds! What guilds" But before Lord Janus could go on Alexander harshly interjected in a slightly annoyed tone, saying,
"You by now should control all of their iron ore supply. What do mean they will object? The day you stop giving them ore, the day they die."
Alexander would never buy that such a huge family could not order around a mere hundred artisans.
They were not that weak.
He further added,
"Besides, I''m not asking them to be ves. I will even allow them to return to their homnd once every year."
"I just want them to work here for 10 years, then they can leave. I will even give each of them a generous parting gift."
Alexander''s insistence on these cksmiths was because there was indeed a shortage of them in Zanzan.
Particrly, he wanted to open his own shop selling cast iron products such as pots and pans, cutlery, farming tools, and many other kinds of civilian products to cater to the masses.
This would be a far better way to use his refined iron rather than sell them by the ingots.
But to set up such arge production facility he would of course need cksmiths, a lot of cksmiths.
Furthermore, he hoped that with more cksmiths, he would be able to start making te armor far enough along the line.
That was still a long way off, but he wanted to start on that journey now.
Which was why he was a bit frustrated when denied this progress.
And seeing this, Lady Miranda felt it would be better to juste and say the real reason for their objection,
".....Lord Alexander is right. We indeed can send you these cksmiths."
"But you see these people also know various smithing techniques that are exclusive to our family."
"I''m sorry, but we cannot reveal them." Lady Miranda sounded very firm on this.
Those secrets that she was referring to had been learned over generations after all.
Anybody would be unwilling to share them so easily.
But Alexander only chuckled at this myopic view, feeling these two were still living in the past.
And decided to point out the obvious.
Chapter 673 A Second Deal With The Margraves (Part-4)
Hearing Lady Miranda''s reason for not wanting to send the cksmiths, Alexander very quickly pointed out the archaic thinking they were under, saying,
"I''m afraid the secret that your family has is not applicable here, mydy."
A bold statement that drew curious eyes from both, who heard Alexander exin,
"Because the smithing techniques you have developed were only for iron extracted using the traditional way."
"That process that has a lot of impurities, we call g."
"But the way we make iron is different. It has much less g."
"So our iron''s properties are totally different from the traditional ones."
"That''s why it is so strong."
"And that is also why the way to forge them is also very different."
"You can ask any cksmiths if you do not believe me. mydy."
"But the fact is the secret forging techniques you have is not useful to us. So you can sleep assured, hahaha,"
Alexander lightly chuckled after knowing the reason why they did not want to do it.
A chortle that slightly got onto Lady Miranda''s nerves as she then in a slightly frosty tone replied,
"Still¡.we are willing to fulfill my lord''s request in some other ways."
She did not like Alexander slighting her family''s proud smithing history and so made this choice anyhow.
"...." Which made Alexander pursed his lips.
It was hard to be reasonable to an unreasonable person.
He did not think the other side would be so boorish.
"I agree with Lady Miranda here, Lord Alexander. We cannot hand over those secrets, useful or useless. Please, is there any other we can help?."
And Lord Janus too expressed his solidarity with his partner, feeling Alexander was exaggerating the differences between the techniques.
''Or why else would he want our cksmiths?'' He reasoned as he thought their expert knowledge was definitely still valuable.
And he was right in thinking that because Alexander did try to pull a bit of wool over their eyes.
Perhaps the iron he produced was not as difficult to work with as the traditionally produced one, but you still needed some expertise to handle it.
And he had hoped he could get the Margrave cksmiths who had generations of experience in forging iron tools to teach him these.
"Hmmmmm," But since that ''free'' lesson seemed to be not an option, Alexander got to thinking while humming.
He could ask for other stuff, perhaps like precious gems or good timber, but he also really wanted those cksmiths.
And atst, he made up his mind.
"Since we are talking about revealing secrets, then how about we exchange one from each other''s." He enigmatically proposed, and facing the pair''s curious nces delineated,
"Zanzan has developed a farming method that has seen its agricultural output double in thest year. We are willing to share that secret in return for teaching our men your smithing and forging techniques."
"How does that sound?"
Yes, Alexander had decided to reveal three of his farming tricks- the heavy plow, the three-crop rotation system, and the horse cor.
This was primarily because it was not really a secret per se.
His council members all knew it, as well as the nobles who joined him.
And by that reasoning so did the farmers under them.
So it was not really a secret when almost all your farmers, which ounted for ny percent of the poption knew about it.
This meant anybody with a sufficiently open eye and ear would be able to figure out most of the stuff if they just tried looking into it for a bit.
Furthermore, the heavy plow could be bought at stores, so could the horse cor, and the three-crop rotation was out in the field for everyone to see.
The only thing that Alexander kept to himself was the use of manure andpost as fertilizers and his selection of crops in certain fields, such as peas which added nutrients back to the soil.
So Alxx felt it was totally worth it to reveal these techniques that were pretty much out in the open if it meant he could get so many experienced cksmiths!
These hundred cksmiths from the Margraves could get him seven to eight hundred new cksmiths five to seven years from now.
And those could get him another seven to eight times their number again in the next half a decade.
And with that many experienced artisans, perhaps he could finally start making his full body te armor.
He was really looking forward to that.
But since that process was still such a long way off, Alexander felt he should start right now.
"......."
Alexander''s big im naturally drew astonished looks from the opposite side,
If not that Alexander had shown himself to be a trusted ally, they might have even sneered at his face.
Because doubling anything was very, very hard.
But since Alexander had spoken, they had to take what he said with weight.
And it took a while for Lady Miranda to finally gather her thoughts and speak up,
"If what my lord says is true, then that is certainly a gift from the gods."
"But I also heard you are the one who came up with the way to make iron so cheaply. Would it be possible to exchange that secret instead?"
To call her greedy at this point would be an understatement.
"Or how to make the sugar?" And her partner seemed even more.
"No. It''s this or nothing." But Alexander was unequivocal in his reply.
The two that they wanted would have been out of the question no matter what.
And it appeared the other side likely knew this which was why when his reply got only a wry smile, not a crestfallen look of disappointment.
So then Lady Miranda asked something more reasonable,
"....what you said.about our techniques not being so useful. Is it really true?" She wanted confirmation again, reasoning that since Alexander had discovered a new way to make iron, he must know something about crafting it.
''Yes. I swear by the gods!" And Alexander was very clear in his reply.
"And the farming technique¡.. can really get us double the produce?" Lady Miranda then sought this confirmation, still sounding a bit skeptical.
"It did for us. Hopefully, it will for you too."
"Even if it does not double, I guarantee it will at least increase it substantially." Alexander did not try to be a snake oil salesman and was as clear as possible about the technique''s efficacy.
"Then we ept." And hearing such, Lady Miranda atst agreed.
"Great!" And finally having achieved a lot of what he wanted, Alexander cheered.
And then listed,
"So to summarize, I will give you the products that you wanted and in exchange get money, 10,000 men and their families to work the fields, new miners to open new ore veins, and a few of my men will learn shipbuilding from you."
"Right?" Alexander posed.
And almost immediately the obvious omission he made of course got pointed out.
The two nobles could not believe Alexander missed the thing they were talking about just now.
But Alexander here produced a sly chuckle as he breezily waved his palms and said,
"No, no, how can that count? I''m getting that in exchange for my agricultural secrets. That is a separate deal altogether, haha."
At Alexander''s rhetoric, Lady Miranda and Lord Janus felt tongue-tied.
That was technically true, but somehow also not.
But Alexander did not seem to notice the strange face at all, as he went on so,
"So it seems that only three of my five requests have been made."
"And to make up for them I want the more precious gems, expensive stones, and the following weapon in these quantities."
"30,000 crossbows with 10 million bolts."
"30,000 swords" And
"20,000- halberts."
Half of Alexander''s demand for these weapons was in general for his own consumption.
For the crossbows, he intended to have 10,000 to 15,000 of his men be equipped with them during his uing offensive with Tibias.
And to make sure he had enough ammo, he ordered that massive pile of bolts.
The same went for swords, to equip his men with enough equipment.
Many of the swords in his shorage were starting to show their age and Alexander felt it was high time he changed them.
As for the halberts, well Alexander wanted it mainly because Cambyses had informed him that the city guards were asking her for aplementary weapon in addition to their primary weapon- the sword.
Because although the sword was good in close-quarter fights such as in a tight alley, but the men also felt it would be nice to have something that had a longer reach.
Something with which they would keep the enemy at bay.
And the weapon they came to prefer was the halbert.
As for why they wanted that particrly instead of a spear, well it could do everything a spear could do, poke with the pointy bit at the end and shove a group of people back by horizontally holding the wooden shaft and using it as a bar.
But they could also do this additional task, which was to use the huge metal axe head to easily smash through wooden doors.
And this was not only useful for breaking into criminal hideouts.
As said previously, cities had a dangerous tendency to catch fire as well.
And this tool could be used to not only kill and maim but also save trapped victims by smashing open doors and windows.
Chapter 674 A Second Deal With The Margraves (End)
Now the volume of weapons he ordered was still too much for Alexander to consume by himself.
Never mind, he also had his own production, which too was churning out these out.
So why want so many?
Well, for one, he thought of selling some to his allies, Ptolomy and Pasha Farzah.
But more than that, Alexander hoped to send some of these to Iyizarid, as a way to egg them to attack Syabarsis.
He did not know if it would even remotely work, but hey, no harm in trying right?
But he did not reveal this to the two nobles.
Because well they had just been almost destroyed over false charges of colluding with Iyizarid.
So if Alexander were to honestly open up and say that he wanted to buy weapons they manufactured and then sell them to Iyizarid to encourage them to attack the duo''s country, well then he doubted they would be very forting in their delivery.
It had to be iterated that most of Sybarsis till now ambivalent about the Margrave family.
But if weapons made in their workshops using their unique smithing technique were to make their way into the hands of their most hated enemy, and then, if it was somehow identified, well, then the entire country of Sybarsis might turn against it.
No sane group would make such a dangerous transaction.
So they didn''t.
At least, the Margrave family was not aware that they did.
All the weapons bought from them would be under Alexander''s name who was an unrted third party, free to sell weapons to whomever he liked.
What could Sybarsis do to him anyway?
So Alexander was pretty looking forward to trying it.
As Alexander made his requests, naturally Lady Miranda and Lord Janus upon hearing the huge orders felt their eyes bulge a bit.
"Wha¡t?" They half excamied.
This was almost an order equivalent to asking them to equip an entire army.
Which was not unprecedented for the Margrave family.
But certainly very rare.''
They were also stunned that Alexander was asking for so much in exchange for the deal.
If they epted, a significant of their cksmiths would be upied producing weapons for only him.
Something they were reluctant to do as they themselves were in the process of rearming themselves.
So Lady Miranda tried to haggle, "My lord this much¡."
But Alexander had atst run out of patience, so shing his palms said in a stern tone,
"If you cannot even give me this much, then let''s reduce the goods. I believe I have been far more than amodating,"
Alexander made it clear he would no longer negotiate.
"..." And this made the two nobles produce a difficult smile.
"This amount of weapons¡.is my lord expanding his army? Will there be arge campaign soon?"
Following this, Lord Janus then asked Alexander''s reason why he wanted so many weapons, and got an affirmative nod on both.
But Alexander did not reveal why he was doing so and who was his target going to be.
And Lord Janus did not ask.
These ns were usually kept secret and it would be seen as prying into other''s business if asked.
"Hmmmm, 30,000 crossbows will cost 100 each, so 3 million ropals."
"!0 million crossbow bolts will be 8 to 10 million,"
"The sword and halberts will be 5 million total."
Instead, Lord Janus loudly gave out the cost, and then turning to Alexander said,
"My lord, the cost of the weapons is not too much. It is quite within the budget."
"But I''m afraid it is the quantities that are the problem, especially given our current circumstances."
"Delivering all of them by the end of next year will be hard. We might need another six months to a year."
Lord Janus was very frank and simply said they currently did not have the spare capacity to ept and deliver this massive order on time.
"Okay, then focus on the bolts and crossbows. I want at least those by the end of next year." Hearing so Alexanderpromised as such.
He was not maddeningly desperate for these weapons and could afford to wait.
In the meantime, he could also try and open diplomatic talks with Iyizarid perhaps.
"Haha, good! I knew Lord Alexander was reasonable!" While Lord Janus hearing Alexander''s concession naturally cheered.
And it was as such another round of trading with the Margrave family was concluded.
Then over the next week, all these agreements were finalised and ratified, while the council members as well as the nobles were informed.
The minor details were also worked out over several more meetings, such as the question of what would happen to Alexander''s shipyard now that a lot of them would be going to Galiosis.
And the answer to that was that it would still be open, but the scale of the operation would be truncated.
Also, there was the problem with transporting the 50,000 men, women, and children as raised earlier, and Alexander gave the Margrave two years to move them instead of the initial one.
And with all these work done, Alexander''s busy week ended in the blink of an eye, and suddenly he found himself at the port, standing in front of a huge ship.
"Well then my lord, till we meet again," The gruff voice of Lord Janus rang out.
Yes, Alexander was here to see off his two guests.
"Lady Miranda, Lord Janus, I would have asked you to stay for a few more weeks. But fall is approaching and I fear soon the sea will be very rough."
"If you do not leave soon, I''m afraid you will not be able to return for a few months."
"It is truly unfortunate that you have to leave so soon." Alexander''s face was warm and sunny, his voice cordial, butced with a bit of bitterness.
It was as if he truly regretted that they could not stay a bit longer.
And standing next to him, a heavily pregnant Cambyses also chimed in,
"Yes, it is truly regretful we have bid you goodbye so soon. Lady Miranda. I had hoped we could have spent a bit longer."
"Please take care during your voyage. I will pray for your safety."
It seemed that over the past few days, the two women had grown very close.
This was not something orchestrated by Alexander, but simply due to their respective status.
Both were the matriarchs of their respective families and given they were currently allied, it was only natural they would get to know each other.
And apparently, In thest few days, Cambyses got a lot closer to Lady Miranda, especially after getting a few critical advice from Lady Miranda regarding her pregnancy.
Advice which helped her tremendously in calming her nerves.
Cambyses had been acting out more and more frequently the closer to her delivery date and she was really grateful to the nobledy for helping her deal with all the stress.
At Cambyses''s goodbyes, Lady Miranda too replied very fondly, holding Cambyses by the palms, and sweetly saying,
"Yes, I too will pray for you and your child''s safety. I believe that the gods will surely bless you with a beautiful healthy baby."
"And next time Ie, I will be sure toe with a lot of time on my hand."
"I bring Marcus with me as well. Then our children can y together, hehe." Lady Miranda warmly giggled.
And it was with such cordial words and warm goodbyes that the two guests finally left Zanzan.
Lady Miranda and Lord Janus stood on the bow of the ship until the port disappeared into the horizon, finally at which point, the elder gentleman turned to cautiously ask,
"Mydy, why did you not take Lold Alexander''s marriage offer? I think he suits you very well."
Lord Janus of course did not buy Lady Miranda''s excuse of mourning her husband.
Thedy did not hate her former husband, but she was never madly in love with him either.
The couple was mostly apathetic to each other most of the time.
So in the mind of this aged man, he felt Lady Miranda rejecting Alexander to be a grave mistake.
He saw Alexander as being well-mannered, rich, smart, having unfathomable potential, and best of all currently weak.
Yes, he thought of Alexander as being rtively weak, with a tiny territory, but with an enormous possibility of bing something huge.
A perfect suitor in his books.
It was something akin to discovering facebook, or google, or amazon during thesepanies'' early years.
Anybody who knew of thesepanies'' potential would have been foolish not to invest in them.
And in that same vein, Lord Janus felt that if Lady Miranda did marry Alexander now, her words would carry much weight eventer through the year, which would ultimately benefit House Margrave tremendously.
Lord Janus especially eyed all the new stuffing out of Zanzan, which Lady Miranda being his spouse should have been able to pry some bits and crumbs out.
Hence he felt it was a great pity that thedy had rejected him, and even done so decisively that it left Lord Janus no way to intervene and try and salvage the situation.
Thus he hoped Lady Miranda had a really good reason to not ept the offer.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 675 A Brief Passage Of Time
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(*Edit*- I posted the wrong chapter)
At Lord Janus''s inquiry, Lady Miranda had this to say,
"Uncle Janus, Adhania is a polygamous country. And ours is a monogonous. I''m afraid we have too different a way of thinking."
"For me personally, I think I will never be able to stand the idea of my husband sleeping with another woman so openly."
"Now, the men in Sybarsis are not too dissimr. They also keep mistresses and fools around frequently."
"But they at least try to do so in secret, away from their wife''s eyes, behind a curtain so to speak."
"Even if everybody knows, they at least try to keep that veneer of modesty."
"But in Adhania it is all open and legal. And they have so many types of women too! God!"
"Wife, main wife, concubines, maids, servants, whores¡. the list goes on!"
"Ah! So filthy and debaucherous!" Lady Miranda seemed genuinely appalled at the thoughts, as she then shed her palms and dered in a final tone,
"I''m sorry, but I am unable to ept such prurient behavior."
"Even if Lord Alexander is a charming man, even if I find him attractive, unless he gives up all his women, I cannot agree to this."
"And given how close he and Lady Cambyses are, that is impossible to happen."
It seemed Alexander and the nobledy had too far a differing ideology to be able toe to terms.
At least for the moment.
"I see. Then forgive this old man for asking," And hearing Lady Miranda''s answer, Lord Janus very differentially replied.
Though internally he posed, "Why did you then do thatst year?''
He was of course talking about that small kiss she had given Alexander.
And the simple answer to that was that at that time, facing the predicament she was in, Lady Miranda was willing to do anything to ally herself with anyone.
Even if meant seducing a much younger man just to win his support.
But now that things had changed, her thinking too had flipped.
Given they had just won the war and were safe for the foreseeable next few years, Lady Miranda no longer felt desperate to ally herself with a power no matter what.
Especially through marriage if it meant she would have to share her consort with other women.
Furthermore, she was no longer the widowed, doe-eyed girl from a year ago, helpless without her husband and one who could not even properly negotiate a proper business deal.
No, currently she was the most powerful person in the Margrave family, its matriarch, seeing over vast swathes of territory and in control of the fate of millions of men.
And with this change in status, came a change in her mindset so.
So felt given her status her husband should belong only to her, and only her children should be the legitimate ones.
It was because of all these reasons that Lady Miranda rejected Alexander.
And hearing of this, grandfather Earl Margrave IV would approve of Lady Miranda''s rejection, saying in addition to all that, many nobles would also not like having an outsider, especially someone of such low-born status like Alexander, to be their leader''s consort.
Instead he then quickly arranged for Lady Miranda to get married to one of her elder cousins.
This was done hastily, with the intention to not only close all discussions over this question as soon as possible but also to strengthen the Margrave family''s hold over their territory.
This would happen because with this union, the branch families would be more epting of Lady Miranda''s rule, for one of their own would be at the family''s highest levels of power, meaning they all could now have a greater share of the pie as well.
As for the implications of this move, whether Alexander would be offended or brush it off as nothing well that remained to be seen.
But for now, the young lord was currently busy overseeing the fall harvest.
And it was as bountiful asst year''s.
In fact it was much more overall because in addition to Alexander''s, the surrounding nobles too had the time to implement his policies.
And now they were reaping his dividends.
So during this time, vast swathes ofnd covered in golden grains swaying gently in the breeze all around Zanzan and its vicinity was amon sight to behold.
And seeing their whole year''s hard work pay off and in such huge quantities, there were huge smiles across the faces of everyone, from the farmers to their wives, to the general popce to even the nobles themselves.
The huge volume of harvest represented huge sums of money for everyone.
And after experiencing the recent droughts, everyone was over the moon that they now had so much to eat.
But before they could do that they first needed to first harvest it.
So everyone was extremely busy during this period, frantically trying to get these crops into sheds and barns before the fall rain coulde in and ruin them.
So it was one of those special cases where even though currently a blistering heatwave was sweeping over the region, yes, the same heatwave Lady Miranda had encountered, most people did not wish to see the weather turn cooler and a bit morefortable but even enjoyed the heat, wishing it would actuallyst longer.
Because then they would have more time to get all the crops out.
To aid in that effort, Alexander even temporarily disbanded arge part of the army, switching their sword for scythes and ordering them to go help the farmers with the raking in harvest.
Alexander wouldter get the report that hisnds had managed to produce around 50,000 tons of grain, and another 30,000 to 40,000 tons of fruits, vegetables, and condiments, as well as tens of thousands of beetroots.
This was an amount absolutely unheard of for such a small farm area, and it even resulted in the happy problem of some nobles running out of proper silos to hold all this grain.
Which meant that if the fall rains were heavy enough, the produce would be in danger of being ruined.
To solve this Alexander then quickly emptied many of this storage warehouse for other materials, such as stone, bricks, limestone, coal, and iron, and for the moment filled them up with grain.
After all, those rocks and metal were far better resistant to the elements than food produce, and leaving them in out for a few months would notpletely destroy all of them.
And unfortunately for Alexander, this move worked as all those huge warehouses were all big enough to hold all the harvested grain for the moment,
And as houses, after houses got stacked up to the roof with the golden seeds, seeing which filled his heart with the same amount of glee, Alexander did some maths.
He calcted that with this current harvest, andbined it with the food stock Lady Inayah and Pasha Farzah had already sent, it would be just enough to feed his poption of 300,000 to 350,000 and the tens of thousands of draft animals for the next year.
Furthermore, both of them had also ordered a simr amount of goods as they had done this year for next year too, as Kayvan let Alexander know a few days ago, meaning he would be getting tons of new food and draft animals in the future.
So he would not only have enough seeds to sow for the proceeding year but even haverge stocks of leftover grain which could be used to open up a lot of the unused farnds for additional cultivation.
This also meant the 50,000 tons of grain Alexander had asked from Lady Miranda could be purely kept as reserves, perhaps to be used as supplies for his army when he attacked Tibias.
And this realization finally put Alexander''s heart at ease over his food supply, as up until now, he was unable to produce enough to feed his own poption, having to always rely on Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah to make timely delivers to him to make sure he did not starve.
But now, if everything went well next year, he would be finally able to have a little bit of wiggle room, able to survive a few months without any outside aid even if any unforeseen disaster, both man-made and natural struck.
It felt very good to have thisforting little nest of eggs.
Now, Alexander did not simply store the grain in his warehouses,
He also made sure to buy up a lot of the free grain in the market.
This applied to mostly the nobles, as all the farnd in Alexander''s privatends was owned by solely him, with very, very few private farmers working there.
So in exchange for being allowed to store their grain in his city and use its facilities, Alexander made them sell about two-thirds of their grain to him.
And given Alexander made sure to give them a fair price- 1,500 ropals a ton, the nobles were d to.
Alexander did this because one, this way he could have control over the poption''s grain supply, and thus their food stocks, giving him great power.
But mainly because he feared the flood of new grain entering the grain would water down its price and result in the farmers encouraging a loss.
It could even drive many out.
Which Alexander did not want to see.
So in this way, the supply in the market was controlled and everyone benefitted in the long run.
Chapter 676 Cambysess Delivery
Alexander''s reason for keeping grain prices rtively high was to ensure farmers did not quit their farnds after one bad year.
On the contrary, he wanted to make sure farming was seen as a lucrative prospect to the people.
Because Alexander was still not self-sufficient in food and needed more and more people to join it.
And to his credit, the forced price increase worked. as farmers were able to make a decent profit, leaving them feeling optimistic about the future.
And speaking of the future, Alexander''s future sessor or if not that, his future princess was about to be born.
It was already mid- September and the mid- wives told them that Cambyses would go intobor not any day, but any hour.
She was already a bit past her nine months after all.
"Aghh! It''s so hot! When will it cool down," And it was on one such night that Alexander and Cambyses were in their beds, with the girl''s head resting on Alexander''sp, while fanned using her palms.
As Alexander sitting with his back resting on the headboard looked down to observe the current state of his wife.
And it was a very sexy one to view.
She wore her usual nightwear, which was a thin, sheer, sleeveless negligee that only covered her breasts but parted down the middle, emphasizing her swollen belly.
And it was truly a swollen belly, a size Alexander did not think Cambyses could reach, as it bulged out quite a bit in front of her, even pointing out her belly button and making it more prominent.
While down below, where she did wear a T-back thong, now there was nothing because Cambyses would asionally leak a white, yellowish liquid called leucorrhea.
This was a totally normal thing during pregnancies, but Cambyses hated it because it made her feel her she was peeing uncontrobly.
Hence Cambyses shamelessly had her legs wide-eagled, with one of her hands constantly wiping over her petal using a linen cloth to keep it dry, an endeavour she was failing miserably given the situation.
All while letting Alexander see everything.
And this new look really tempted Alexander, especially as he fantasized about Cambyses bouncing on him with her swollen belly, the heavy tummy carrying the crystallization of their love swaying lewdly with their movement.
He even half regretted not doing anything with Cambyses when he had the chance out of excessive caution.
"I will be sure to do something next time,'' Hence Alexander swore.
As for this time, he busied himself with her breasts, as currently his hands were inside her negligee, gently ying with the pair.
They had definitely grown a bit due to the pregnancy.
"It should be cooling soon. By the way, how are you feeling," At Cambyses''s throwawayment, Alexander too replied casually, instead more focusing on massaging her.
Over the past month, he slept with Cambyses almost exclusively as he made sure to always calm her through physical intimacy as long as he was home.
"Ah! Stop pinching. My milk ising," And it seemed one of his massages was a bit too strong, as pinching the nubile bud caused it to squirt out a tiny stream of white liquid, staining the jet-ck linen cloth covering it.
Yes, Cambyses had of course startedctitating, starting from around the start of the month.
And Alexander did have a few suckles at first, finding the taste sweet and very immoral, but afterward, Cambyses started denying him the nectar, saying, "No! It''s for the baby!"
So Alexander contented himself to stimting her mammaries and turning the thin cloth covering her breast darker as it became wet with leaking milk.
And as if for revenge for not letting him have a taste, at Cambyses''sint, he not only stopped, but teased her even more, kneading and squeezing the soft puppies, and at one point even pinched the cherries between his fingers so tightly that Cambyses howled in pain and pleasure, even arching her back, and thrusting her hips forward as she lightly came.
Alexander knew Cambyses did not really dislike him ying with her breasts, and given she had not had the D for almost nine months, he would periodically help her release so that she did not be pent up, as there were some times she joked while stroking her tummy, "The second this little bugger is out, we are gonna have so much sex! I so miss that feeling of getting skewered."
As the couple engaged in their therapeutic intimate acts, Cambyses then once again posed a question she had already asked for the umpteened time.
"Alexander, what would happen if I can''t give you a son?"
"Not what if I can''t give you this time? What if I just can''t?"
"You know Aunty Kaysa that used to live next to us back in Argus? She gave birth to fifteen daughters! Fifteen! All girls!"
"What if I''m like that?"
This was perhaps Cambyses''s biggest fear.
And Alexander had already exhausted all the possible variations of ''Then we will try again'' and ''I will love all of them regardless'' a long, long ago.
He even went all scientific mode and told Cambyses that it was the man who determined a child''s gender, not the woman.
And this was a hundred percent true.
Men have XY, while women have XX chromosomes.
And since each parent gave half of his or her chromosome to his child, it was only the male who was responsible for determining the sex of a child.
Something that Alexander tried to exin in a very watered, appropriate for the time way.
Using all these ways Alexander was able to drive these haunted thoughts from Cambyses''s head each time, but it would all only be temporary, as after a while, they would soon be back, taking perch inside Cambyses''s head like an especially clingy ghost.
So this time, Alexander decided to give a straight answer.
"If the main wife is really unable to give birth to a boy, the general convention is the man''s eldest son became the heir, regardless of who his mother was."
"But since it''s you, if the worst of the worst really does happen as you fear, then I will let you have a say in who I choose as my heir."
"Do you ept that?"
Alexander was very mechanical in his answer, and hearing this out of the norm answer, Cambyses swung her head as if she had been electrocuted, and found herself gazing at a pair of somewhat cold, emotionless dark pearls.
Alexander was serious when he said this.
And looking at it, Cambyses''s heart suddenly ached like it never had, as then producing a hurt face, she broke any from the intimate contact they were having and abruptly turned around, burying her face into the pillow.
And a few momentster, whimpered sobs began to drift across the room.
She wanted to hearforting words, not the cruel truth.
And seeing her reaction, Alexander too knew he had messed had messed up, as he pursed his lips in frustration.
He had let his irritation at the same hackneyed discussion get the better of him, whereas he should have gone with the sugar- coated lie, knowing how erratic women tended to be during their pregnancy due to all the hormone imbnces.
But his tactlessness had rewarded him with this.
And seeing the current state, Alexander too turned around away from Cambyses and decided to go to sleep, leaving the girl to calm down on her own by morning.
Or so he thought.
As in the middle of the night, Alexander was woken up by the piercing shriek of ''Ah! My water broke!'' and he found Cambyses''s side of the bedpletely drenched with an odorless liquid.
She had just entered her first stage of going intobor.
Seeing this Alexander then instantly jumped out of bed to get the two midwives he had hired, and then even sent a messenger to Jupetus, the one in charge of his clinic toe and oversee everything.
And as the olderdy quickly came with a small team of doctors and started to prepare Cambyses and her room, a few hourster, the girl''s womb finally started its contractions, initiating the delivery.
Alexander had wanted to stay beside Cambyses all throughout this event.
But because of an Adhanian tradition which said it was unlucky to have men present during birth, Alexander was not allowed to.
And given how superstitious people of this time were, Alexander obeyed so as to not cause a ruckus.
Hence he waited outside, impatiently walking back and forth along the narrow corridor, while from time to time Cambyses''s extremely pained groans pierced through his ears.
It seemed herbor was not being an easy one.
So every time he heard that wounded cry, his heart bled and his knees felt weak and wobbly, fearing that scream was herst and that this might be thest time he saw his love.
"Calm down, master. It''s been only a few hours. I have seen deliveries at the templest half a day,"
And it was only Ophenia staying with him andforting him as such every other instance did it prevented him from barging open the door and rushing to Cambyses.
Cambyses''s painful cries rose and fell periodically, and finally at close to midday, they died downpletely, which was either a good or bad thing,
And Alexander very much feared it was thetter.
"Congrattions my lord, you are a father!"
But it seemed he was wrong this time.
Chapter 677 Two Children
Chapter 677 Two Children
"Congrattions my lord, you are a father!"
Opening the door with a great, big smile, Jupetus''s greeting sounded as sweet as honey to Alexander.
Though she really did not need to spell it out, as the piercing cry of the infant shooting out of the door gave Alexander more than confirmation of that.
"Waaah! Waaah! Waah!"
The normally irritating sting cry now felt like the most calming sound to Alexander.
"Great! That''s great!" He cheered, his heart immediately filling with glee as his face broke out into a huge smile.
And as the older woman opened the door further to signal him to go in, he found a slightly flushed, tired looking Cambyses swaddling a child wrapped in a warm towel in her arms, gently rocking them, as she tried to calm the crying baby down.
And as Alexander as he approached the bed,
"My lord, it''s a healthy girl!" One of the midwives beamed, a statement that made his heart slightly skip a beat.
Not because he was disappointed with having a daughter, no, in fact, he was over the moon at having his princess.
But because he knew Cambyses would slightly be.
And as he looked at her face, although Cambyses tried to hide it, he certainly noticed a hint of bitterness in her eyes when she looked at the child, and for a moment Alexander did not know what to say.
''*Sigh*, it seems her fears came true,'' Alexander was worried how it would affect her going forward.
"Here, hold your daughter," But such pessimistic thoughts seemed to onlyst for a while, as the moment Alexander got next to Cambyses, she passed the tiny body to him, a gentle, caring smile shing across her face.
And as Alexander received it, he could not remember if he had ever held something so gently in his life.
The little thing was tiny, weighing barely two kilograms, which was on the side of being underweight.
The skin was flushed red, her head being muchrger than the rest of the body, and as Alexander ced his palm underneath it, he could feel it slightly pulsating, as the skull was yet to fully form.
Sensing she was being moved, the girl quickly opened herrge limpid blue eyes, using them to scan her surroundings, until they finally made contact with a simr pair.
The father and daughter possessed the exact same pair, and as one gazed upon the other, a slight smile seemed to creep along the tiny one''s lips as if she recognized them.
Or so Alexander thought as an instantter the room was sted with an ear -piercing scream.
''Who is this scary, unknown man?'' Seemed to be the message, as the girl tightly squeezed her eyes shut and started crying her lungs out, her entire body shivering in the process, with the volume being even louder than the first time.
She definitely did not like being moved away from her mother.
"Ohhh! Ohhh!" And even though Alexander tried to calm her down by gently rocking her, it not only worked but also exasperated her condition, causing her to cry even louder.
For such a tiny thing, her lungs sure packed some punch.
"Haha, miss certainly has a good voice," And hearing her energetic cries, one of the midwives kindlymented this.
A newborn crying so loudly was a good thing, as it showed she was healthy
"Yes, yes. And she seems to prefer her mother to me," Alexander happily chuckled.
While approaching from behind, Jupetus let Alexander know of the small details,
"We were worried at first thinking it would be a difficult delivery. But everything went smoothly. "Both Lady Cambyses and Little Lady are both healthy and well."
"Praise the goddess."
At this point, Alexander then turned to look at the sleepy Cambyses and holding his daughter by her entire body, he proimed in a serious tone,
"Alexandria! I will name her after me. Alexandria!"
He said this while very intently looking at Cambyses.
And this got a bit of a shocked look from her at first, and then her eyes turned soft, her face melting into a light smile.
She of course understood the hint Alexander was giving her, by naming her so close to his own name.
"Give her to her. She must be hungry," So the tone she spoke with this time was so much softer, as she then ced her daughter against her chest, letting the infant eagerly suckle on her milk.
Although there were wet nurses for this, Cambyses wanted her child''s first taste to be of her own.
A few weeks after this, once Cambyses recovered, Alexander held a huge feast to celebrate the birth, with all the noblesing bearing gifts, and conveying their congrattions.
Even his allies, Ptolomy, Lady Inayah, and Pasha Farzah sent their respective greetings and promised to send appropriate gifts, while a messenger was sent to Galiosos to let Lady Miranda know.
While back in Zanzan, the nobles were invited into Alexander''s house where they toasted to the young girl''s health.
"Hahaha, being born at the same time of such a bumper harvest, Lord Alexander''s daughter''s birth is truly auspicious.? May she grow up to be healthy, chaste, and virtuous."
Their promations were done using phrases as per their traditions, and it showed the qualities society valued in their women.
Some nobles were also not content just wishing Alexander''s daughter well.
They even wished to tie the knot with one of their sons then and there, with even Jamider Tikba throwing his lot into the hat.
"My lord, one of my sons is three years old! Very strong and courageous! I believe he will be a good match for Lady Alexandria!" He spoke with arge beaming face, seemingly very proud of the little guy.
But this probably made Alexander roll his eyes more than he ever had in his life.
''My daughter is¡.forget being weaned off, she has just started weaning'' He cried incredulously in his mind at the absurd offer.
What could someone who barely had the ability to recognize her own mother understand about marriage?
So he gently then but very clearly let everyone know that he would not discuss his daughter''s future for the foreseeable time period, at least definitely not for the next decade.
As forter, that could be discussed then.
And so he advised everyone to save their breath.
This deration made some nobles with suitable sons a bit sad, while others who had none hopeful that they could have one by the time came.
But those were for future considerations, as following Alexandria''s birth, the seasons turned from fall to winter in the blink of an eye, but the temperature did not change too much.
It seemed this year''s winter was going to be especially mild.
Which was a good thing for the little girl, as garbed in heavy clothing, she was allowed to go out around the garden a few times on her mother''sp with little fear of catching a cold.
And following winter, it then turned to spring, then to summer, then it again started to approach fall, turning the little girl almost a year old.
By this time she had learned to crawl on her feet, even showing signs of walking a bit on her own, as well as calling Cambyses mom, and Alexander dad, albeit with much stutter.
During this time she had also turned from being initially underweight to a small chubby, fluffball of joy, having gained quite a bit of weight.
This was because little Alexandria was not only fed her mother''s milk but also had two other wet nurses taking care of her twenty four -seven, ever present to tend to all her needs, from making sure she was always kept fed, to changing her clothes to cleaning up all her mess to even ying with her with others were busy.
Another good news for the little princess was that it seemed she was about to be a big sister soon, as Cambyses was once again pregnant.
And interestingly it seemed her new pregnancy was also around the same date she had even conceived with Alexandria, early January.
Meaning now that it was mid- August, being eight months into her conception, her baby bump had be quite prominent.
And this time, Alexander remembered the regret he had feltst time seeing her like this and did not miss his chance.
"Ahhh, so good, so hard,"
So as if to make up for that, Cambyses was currently on top of Alexander, swinging her huge, swollen belly lewdly, while her perky breasts went up and down cutely, leaking milk.
Cambyses had feared she might be loose after her conception, but it seemed the legummumbined with her young age prevented that, thus letting Alexander experience the same, tight sensation.
In fact, the sensation was a lot better, for it was aided by the visual sensation of Cambyses''s breast milk dripping down her snowy boobs, ultimately tempting Alexander totch his mouth onto the engrossed buds and suck on them like a child.
An act that got a soul-stirring moan of approval from the girl.
Her pregnancy this time was much smoother, as she did not break into panic attacks like the previous time.
This was because over the past year, Cambyses had seen how lovingly Alexander treasured his daughter.
Meaning the biggest fear she held deep down, which was that if she had a daughter, the child could be abandoned by Alexander as her own father had done to her was alleviated.
Instead, Cambyses now felt reassured even if she had a second daughter, the child would grow up in a loving family.
Though all those fears were actually unnecessary, as this time, she managed to give Alexander a boy!
Chapter 678 A Year into the Passing (Part-1)
Chapter 678 A Year into the Passing (Part-1)
Alexander named his son Philip, which got a strange look from Cambyses when she heard it the first time.
This was because being the head of the city guards, as well as getting to sit during some of Camius''s reports, she got to know the crown prince of Tibias, who was effectively ruling over the country currently, was also called a very simr Philips, and wondered if there was a connection.
Now, Philips or Philip was not an umon name, nor was it umon to have two powerful people have the same name.
Just look at history, it''s full of repeating names.
Trying to count how many Edwards, Henrys, and Georges the English had will easily make one''s head spin.
But even then the name did sound a bit strange to Cambyses, though she did not fight it, as the power to name a child belonged solely to the father.
As for Alexander, the reason he chose the name had nothing to do with Tibias, but with his own name.
Since he had taken the name Alexander after Alexander the Great, he felt it would be funny to name his son Philip in a kind of reverse twist.
He had actually oscited between this or Macedon since Alexander the Great''s father was called Philip II of Macedon.
But ultimately chose the former because he felt the people of thesends might struggle to pronounce thetter.
"Perpahs if Cam has another son,'' He then mused to himself, thinking it would be funny to have two boys named Philips and Macedon.
Alexander of course could never tell Cambyses this as she would not even understand the context, so instead he made a random excuse rting to the meaning of the word.
The celebrations Alexander held for his son were of course a lot grander and shier than his daughter''s, with almost all his retainers cheering ecstatically over the fact that they now had a clear heir, bringing much stability to Alexander''s rule.
"Hahaha, the birth of Lord Alexander''s son is an auspicious sign. This means our campaign against Tibias next year will be a sessful one,"
One of the noblemen loudly toasted.
And no, he had not made a slip of the tongue in his drunken state when he said this.
The campaign that was scheduled for this winter did get pushed back to next fall or at the earliest next spring.
In fact, this was exactly what Alexander and Camius were busy discussing when Cambyses had first heard the name Philips.
As to why Alexander decided to push his campaign back about six to twelve months, well to know that, one had to go to see what Alexander did in the past year.
These past three hundred and sixty-five days had been a rtively quiet one for Alexander, one where he was content to let the wheels of time turn almost eventlessly.
He took few major policies and instead mostly let the already ongoing projects catch up, only asionally stepping out to check each of the ones'' progress.
Hence during this time, more and more roads were roads both in and around Zanzan, more of the apartment buildings were opened, a few of the major aqueducts neared theirpletion, andstly the endeavor of bringing the port to life carried on.
On the trade side of things, as summer came, Lady Inayah and Pasha Farzah''s ships had already finished making two trips,ting Alexander arge amount of gold, grain, draft animals, and a seemingly innocent item, linen fabric, but in rming volumes.
Alexander had ns for that.
Along with that, the 8,000 to 10,000 free men that Pasha Farzah had promised him also arrived, who were put to good use opening new farnds.
And inbination with that, Lady Miranda''s ships also arrived carrying his promised paymentden with both goods and men.
Much of the former, depending on what it was either stored or sold on the open market, while thetter was paid much more closer attention by Alexander.
Because the first batch of men was very important to him.
So the various experienced miners that were sent here were instructed to go look for new mines in the Cisran hill.
While the new cksmiths were at first asked to make numerous iron cast molds of alphabets, numbers, and signs for his printing press that he was in the midst of designing.
Originally they should have been employed at Alexander''s new, gigantic casting workshop, but he seemed to have run into unforeseen difficulties, resulting him in being forced to dy its initiation.
This was because he found it hard to recruit the necessary skilled manpower.
Especially, finding a couple of hundred twelve to fourteen-year-olds eager to be a cksmith''s apprentice proved much more difficult than he had anticipated since most such youths were currently already engaged in other professions.
And they had to be within that age group because the cksmiths were insistent on it, with all tly refusing to take anyone below or above that, even when Alexander pressured them.
They knew their status of being from Sybarsis gave them some leverage.
And with some being unhappy that they had been forced to move here against their will, this was their subtle way of protesting.
They imed "Any younger or older, and they will be too stupid. We need apprentices around that age."
Now, there was some truth of this, as young people had the ability to learn things much quicker than adults.
But they also could not be so young as to be unable to understand his master''s instructions.
That would be too dangerous given they worked with fire and sharp tools, and posed a danger to both themselves and the people around them.
Also, they needed to be mature enough to have some muscle on them.
After all, smithing required some serious power to operate the bellows or beat the iron into shape, or even just move around the heavy tools
So if they could not properly all those, they would not be really of much use.
Alexander knew all this to be the case, which was also why he did not push the cksmiths to teach older men.
Another reason why Alexander did not force them too hard was because Alexander wanted to maximize the lifetime of his cksmiths.
By which he meant he wanted to get thergest number of years of service possible from each of them.
And of course, to get this, it was best that they started as young as possible.
Now, the average lifespan of an artisan was fifty, and given a twelve or fourteen year took anywhere from 5 to 10 years to be even decent at his craft, that left him with 25 to 30 years of workable years.
Which sounded like a lot, but in reality, this was actually 10 years less than that, because past the age of 40, many men would start developing problems with their sight.
Now, in modern times a simple pair of sses could have fixed this innocuous problem.
But given prescription spectacles were a long, long way off from existing in this world, most aged artisans in their twilight years found themselves mostly delegating their work to their apprentices and being content with only overseeing the creation, rather than actually making them themselves.
Their eyes simply could not keep focus long enough for such intense work.
And this especially referred toplex works, which was even more of a shame as the works that people would want experienced experts to make would be these kinds of sophisticated pieces.
All of which meant that if Alexander made a 20 or 25 year be an apprentice, he might just get a decade or even in the worst case just half a decade of value from him.
So Alexander decided to wait.
Especially because he knew he would likely be getting some of such people when the 50,000 people promised by Lady Miranda arrived.
Surely some of the mening here had to have eligible young children eager to work in smithing.
And Alexander''s prayers were indeed answered eventually, as there were a few thousand young men of that age among the 20,000 Lady Miranda had sent this year.
So Alexander nned to start the construction of his workshop as soon as this fall harvest was over.
With some of the men arriving from Galiosos engaged in this workshop, Alexander transferred the rest to work in the recently opened new mines or employed them in many of his already established workshops, all of which were in dire need of expansion.
Alexander knew he had told Lady Miranda that these men would be employed as farmers, but now, these men were more urgently here.
While in exchange, he also transferred the 2,000 future shipwrights to the Margrave family, and going by the letter he received, it seemed he would be getting his first ships soon.
Those letters seemed to be full of praise for Alexander''s idea, and they even then went on to say how great of a help the men he sent there were.
However Alexander seriously doubted the authenticity of these words and felt it was mostly written to cate him over Lady Miranda''s sudden marriage.
And he would not lie, when he first read about it, he was a bit peeved.
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Chapter 679 A Year Into the Passing (Part-2)
Chapter 679 A Year Into the Passing (Part-2)
Upon knowing about Lady Miranda''s marriage, Alexander was indeed at first a bit offended that he was sidelined like that.
A marriage with Lady Miranda would have been really useful.
But it seems that thedy had other ns.
And since she had made her choice, Alexander felt there was no reason to harp about it anymore.
So he instead chose to concentrate on other matters.
And frankly, there were a lot of matters that required his attention.
For instance, expanding his workshops.
Given his products had two years to exist and expand, Alexander''s unique delicacies had exploded in poprity with his customers, their hunger for every one of those turning ravenous by now.
But unfortunately, his supply had been unable to keep up with even a tenth of the demand, with outputs for some even falling following Tibias''s attack.
All of which ultimately resulted in a huge price increase.
For instance, the demand for paper over thest year has gone up multiple times, with the market price for it going up from the initial price of 1 ropal for 5 sheets of A2 paper, to that same ropal getting just one sheet of A2 paper- i.e.- an increase of 5 times.
And simr huge spikes were experienced in all the goods, from the various kinds of soaps to the many types of ssware which even experienced a drop in quality following Gajopk''s death, to thergest increase experienced by brwon and more especially white sugar, which was not really a surprise.
And though such huge price increases sound good, it was not really of any benefit for Alexander because he was selling them to his distributors at the agreed upon initial price.
Instead, it was ultimately Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah who were the true beneficiaries.
And though this might sound like a win-win for both parties, with both parties being able to earn billions even with the transportation and distribution cost, Alexander viewed such wins to be applicable only for the short term,
Because Alexander felt if he did not rein in the prices, people would either try and find substitutes, even if they were only cheap knockoffs, or his market size would soon cap.
For he knew at the prices some of his products were selling, even many nobles, particrly not so well off ones, found it frightening to enjoy these luxuries.
Thus over thest year, Alexander worked hard to expand all his workshops.
The grounds were stretched far beyond their usual wooded perimeters, even taking over the areas originally belonging to the manor, as Alexander worked to transform that huge 2 square kilometers into his personal industrial estate.
Alexander at one point did want to restore his manor to its former self and even had ns to build it bigger and better, such as with an indoor swimming pool.
But given this was also the birthce of his unique industry and all these workshops here could use the space, he decided to prioritize that.
After all, all the infrastructure for all the various shops was already here and it made no sense to move and rebuild all of them.
As for his manor, he could build his manor anywhere he wished after all.
Alexander even had ns to build multiple ones, with a summer home along the southern coast being his priority.
He really wanted to see his girls in a swimsuit.
But all these ideas were simply ns for now, as right now, he focused on getting all the workshops doubled and tripled and then doubled again in size, while also adding new ones, like the gigantic casting shop he was contemting setting up.
So Alexander gave the orders for the expansion, which was so huge in fact that it looked like he had taken over a part of the Cisran Hills all for himself.
And with the new walls cordoning off the western side of the city too, this district was also safe from any outside attacks, letting the workers therebor away in peace.
Alexander had of course visited the site throughout its construction, with much of it still yet to bepleted as a single year was not even enough to finish all his nned development.
It had to be remembered that Alexander''s huge estate had small rivers, dense forests, and even many animals living in it, where Pasha Muazz would even hold hunting parties.
So clearing and reforming such a huge, wooded ce was not an easy task, especially in only one year.
But still, even the current semipleted project was a beauty to behold, with many, many new wooden sheds already built, all arranged in neat rows next to each other.
From above, they looked like huge blocks of Lego, or like train carriages.
Each row represented one particr product, and hence their insides looked nothing like the one opposite to it.
For example in the ss workshops, each of the wooden sed had lots of new furnaces, with many more on the way, asrge numbers of new apprentices were recruited to start their careers as a ssmaker.
Now, given the skilled based nature of ssmaking, Alexander of course could not expect to increase production by simply increasingbour and capital.
For instance, a lot of the productsing out from these shops right now were pretty crap, especially the new ones, as the boys there were just starting to learn how to make these items.
But it was a start and Alexander was happy to dump his coin and resources into them, knowing even a few good pieces from them would make up for all the investment.
And it was even not as if Alexander was making much loss on them even now.
Because many of the failed junks they made still found customers, with them proving to be quite a hit with the general popce.
As to how these sub-standard products made their way to the market, well it was all done above and aboard with Alexander''s full permission.
This had happened when the new in charge of the ss shops, Malikin hade to Alexander with the request to open a shop selling these failed products atparatively very, very low prices, like 2 to 3 ropals a piece, being just barely above its material, andbor cost.
Alexander had at firstughed at the proposition, thinking it was a stupid idea, but since it did not hurt him in any way, he let the man do his thing, pretty sure it would amount to nothing.
But once Alexander got the sales report for the following month, it turned out he was the stupid one, as the number written on the paper was a staggering 10,000 ropals.
Out of context, this raw number meant little to Alexander, which in his eyes, was chump change.
But when taken in context, when it was understood that it came from, from a tiny shop selling basically junk, Alexander felt his eyes being opened.
Malikin would inform Alexander that everything they stocked there, regardless of quality, all sold like hotcakes, especially among the poorer popce, who up until now could not even dream of owning such arge piece of ss.
To these people, it did not matter the crooked shape or chipped edges of the ss products, as they simply were content with obtaining therge body of clear ss, finding it mesmerizing.
In fact, it was not umon for them to serve their most honored guests wine in such sses, as a way to show off, and the recipient would even be honored to be given these.
Or to disy cracked or partially broken pieces prominently in their houses as a magnificent showpiece.
As Malikin informed Alexander of such practices, Alexander felt like he was a human finding out the habits of birds, like those ones that collected shiny trinkets.
To a person, those things might seem useless, but to those birds, they were precious relics indeed.
And as Alexander came to know this, it made him see that selling ss to the masses in volume indeed had more potential for earning money than simply catering to the tastes of the rich.
Hence he went ahead with increasing his ss production with even more confidence and started to even sell waste scraps of ss that fell off during cutting, recasting them into colorful marbles and letting children y with them.
As a side note, when Alexander had created the marbles, Mean had somehow seen the colorful ball and then thought it would make a nice present for Alexandria.
And then as anyone could guess, this resulted in the little kid promptly putting it into her mouth during one of her ytimes, and then almost choking on it.
She only lived because through sheer luck Alexander was near and had immediately noticed his daughter gaggling, causing him to leap out of his chair with lightning speed and give a mighty big p on her daughter''s back, forcing the small bead to dislodge and shoot out of the tiny mouth.
Alexander in his panic had held nothing back with his p, which caused the little girl to start crying at the sudden pain, as her fair back even had a clear handprint of Alexander''s palm.
While Alexander ignored his crying daughter and even seemed to join her in this loud chorus, fiercely sending a loud scold towards the nearby Mean, greatly admonishing her for her carelessness.
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Chapter 680 A Year Into the Passing (Part-3)
Chapter 680 A Year Into the Passing (Part-3)
Alexander''s other workshops too received simr love as the ss workshops.
The soap workshops got themselves quite a few upgrades, with all the preparation areas getting bigger and better with even more people employed, along with many additional vats used to cook the soap or its initial ingredient in.
Among them, three vats particrly stood out, due to their sheer size.
These were made of cement, built using this instead of metal to ensure the ingredients did not react in any way, and each of these huge cooking pots was almost two stories high, with an enormous, roaring fire going on beneath them, all of them possessing a capacity of close to fifty tons.
These were sorge in fact that a special wooden paddle mechanism operated by two mules had to be designed just to stir the viscous mixture.
These vats would never be taken off the fire and were constantly added with ingredients that were either sourced through various trades or mined back home, thus making these huge pots constantly keep manufacturing the product.
They also had many openable portholes along the walls, allowing the mixture to be periodically tapped off into huge barrels.
These barrels would then be spread on a gigantic t cement floor to cool, cut into appropriate sizes once solidified, stamped with Alexander''s logo, andstly individually wrapped in colorful paper before being shipped out.
Following the soap workshops, came the paper manufacturing one.
The man formerly in charge of it was Azizak, but since he had sadly died, a recement was chosen.
And under him, paper production had quadrupled, and was expected to even reach ten times by the end of next year.
This massive increase was of course initiated by a massive expansion, with all parts of the operation being erged by multiple folds, and even having a new branch added, called the printing branch.
By this point, this shop employed probably the most workers out of all the workshops, with an amazingly ny percent of them being women.
This was because paper making was a unique process requiring muchbor but needing very little strength, with more emphasis being ced on dexterity, making it a perfect job for women.
But where did Alexander get so many women when he was still short ofbor?
Well, that was where the 20,000 people Lady Miranda had sent him this year came in.
Among them were around 8,000 females of all ages, with 6,000 eligible to work.
And Alexander made it mandatory for a significant part of them to work in his paper shop.
While many of the men, who were these women''s brothers, fathers, and sons all worked in the other workshops, as well as being employed in the sugar ''factory''.
And it was not wrong to call it a factory, as given the insatiable hunger people had expressed at this nectar from heaven, Alexander indeed was building something like a factory.
It was notplete yet, but the major pieces had already been set.
This sugar making workshop upied the most area out of all the workshops, in fact oncepleted, it would cover almost a third of the total space.
And the reason for requiring such huge space was the few massive ''machinery'' Alexander had designed andmissioned to be built.
The most prominent of them were the two huge waterwheels that drove a special millstone designed to crush beetroots instead of grain, thus quickly and efficiently squeezing out the juice, while at the same time separating the solid leftovers, which would be either used as animal feed or even bought in bulk by some of the more poor people to be used in cooking.
Thus once built, these two waterwheels wouldpletely remove the tedious and very expensive process of individually cutting and boiling the vegetables in hot water to extract the juice, thus greatly reducing cost and increasing efficiency.
Alexander also built those huge vats like he had done for the soap workshop here, with an identical mechanism, which would be used to boil the juices to extract the sugar.
But unlike just the three that Alexander needed back in the soap workshop, here Alexander needed them by the dozens, lining them up like a train of chimneys, all spewing white steam from daybreak to dusk.
Alexander was also in the midst of constructing a dedicated coke oven used to roast coal and turn it into coke, to be used in whitening the sugar.
Alexander additionally added separating sieves to his operation in order to separate the grains into more evenly sized groups, each selling at different prices,
Andstly, Alexander was building huge warehouses to properly store the literally ten thousand tonnes of beetroots he was producing each year.
All of that needed a lot of space.
Andstly there was Gelene''s shop which too saw its fair share of expansion, where the fabric output of her shop tripled, though she didin to Alexander about theck of skilled tailors, which caused her bottlenecks in making her lingerie.
Gelene was also not simply content with making women''s underwear by now and seemed to be dipping her toes in also making traditional dresses, though those efforts were still only baby steps.
And as of right now, she was busy fulfilling a part of Alexander''s order, where he wanted to make enough winter clothes to supply to his soldiers.
That was the reason behind the huge order of linen and wool from Lady Inayah and Pasha Farzah.
One workshop that many might have noticed missing in the mention was the crossbow and armor shop, and the reason for that was Alexander simply chose to merge that with the official military weapons production nt, and relocated it to the eastern military district.
And recing in its ce was Alexander''s huge civilian iron tools workshop, from where he wished to meet all the everyday demands of iron for his popce.
This was a huge market and Alexander had left itrgely untapped.
For instance, Adhania had a demand of around 30,000 tons of iron annually, along with 120,000 tons of bronze and 150,000 tons of lead.
The former two were absolute necessities in making almost everything from cooking utensils such as pots and pans, to tools of all kinds like hammers, plows, knives, cleavers, etc., to construction materials such as nails, fasteners, joints, and shafts, tostly, and the most ring of all, as weapons and armors of every kind.
While lead was also used to make many of these, though its biggest use was in plumbing, i.e.- making water pipes out of them.
And Alexander felt he could substitute this entire 300,000 ton annual demand entirely with iron.
Because what those metals could do, iron could do better, with iron being better than bronze in every way and lead being toxic.
So even if Alexander wanted to take over only half of the market, he still could expand his business for the foreseeable future without worries, as his current annual production was only around 10,000 tons.
And this was not to even mention that the 300,000 tons demand was only domestic, and if the neighboring regions were to be taken into ount, it would be multiple times that.
Hence, Alexander was really looking forward to setting up this gigantic workshop.
Thest notable point regarding trade this year was the arrival of Lord Klysar, who was the envoy Cantagena had sent previously and this time he came much more prepared, prepared to huge quantities of Zanzan''s local delicacies, exchanging them for both gold as well as goods such as expensive pottery, beautiful furniture, jewelry, food, and a few thousand ves and animals.
Alexander this time did not personally negotiate with him, but instead let Heliptos oversee it, feeling the man should get some experience.
Following Alexander''s experiences of trade over thest year, came the issue of politics.
And regarding this, it was totally quiet all around, with no attempt at changes to the status quo being made by either side.
Back in Adhan and Matrak, Ptolomy and Pasha Farzah worked hard to strengthen themselves both internally by boosting their economy and rebuilding their armed forces, as well as by trying to make new allies,
And Amenheraft''s efforts exactly mirrored that.
This silent battle felt almost ufortable as if it was the lull before the storm.
As for Mikaya, Alexander heard bits and pieces of a suitable man being chosen for her, but it still seemed all hush hush and under wraps till now.
This was all news out of Zanzan.
As for the inside, well it was all the same too, the only major event being the opening of the council hall which he called the parliament building where Alexander and others could gather and discuss matters of the realm.
It was a huge, dome-shaped building, built right in the middle of the city, at the heart of the central district, rising out of the ground with its marbled stone structure, bound together by cement.
Alexander had modeled it after the Roman senate, with benches arranged in a tiered, semi- circr fashion, with there being two raised tforms at the front of the chamber, the one above designated for Alexander, while the one below for the presiding officials,
The entire building was still in the midst of being furnished properly, with all kinds of luxurious and expensive decorations being installed in it, so that it could reflect its honored status.
And though the building was just open, it had already held many discussions of serious note, particrly discussions regarding the army, the economy, and Tibias.
Chapter 681 Public School (Part-1)
Chapter 681 Public School (Part-1)
While it was true that Alexander did not take many major policies regarding the development of Zanzan, it was not as if he did not take any.
Because to be specific he did take one, mainly making use of the few hundred learned people that Pasha Farzah had sent.
Theocles was put in charge of overseeing their day to day activity, where he would arrange for them to be taught the beliefs of Gaia, most of which he had made up with the help of Ophenia, with some sprinkling of inspiration from Alexander.
Twice a week, these priests would learn these theological texts, as well as earn experience in how to run a temple- such as giving sermons, tending to the devotees, collecting donations, looking after some of the poor, providing some rudimentary healing advice and all sorts of other odd jobs.
But all these could have been said to be their secondary task.
Because their main task, something they did four days a week seemed to have been teaching.
Alexander had already informed Pasha Farzah of his intention to use the men as such and even promised them arge wage of three hundred (300) ropals a month.
When the aged Pasha first learned of Alexander''s intention, he was a bit confused.
He initially thought Alexander wanted to teach himself and his fellow mercenary leader and their children about the cultures of this new country.
Simr to how nobles taught their progenies.
But when Alexander rified that he wanted these people to teach the general popce, and give them a real proper education, not that wishy- washy being able to only write their name and read some numbers, at first the ruler of Matrak was shocked and then taking a moment to fullyprehending what Alexander was wishing to do, simply burst outughing.
"Haha, you brat, you sure do all sorts of weird things," He had cried.
And he used that particr word- weird.
Because from the traditional perspective, it was indeed weird for any lord to teach the general popce en mass.
A major reason was that the ruling ss saw it as a way of maintaining their grip on power, with education being strictly restricted to the nobles and the priests.
After all, it was much easier to hoodwink stupid people than clever ones.
And even the few generous lords who would sometimes take in orphans and take care of their education did it ultimately for their own gain.
The numbers they took would be very small, and usually only took the brightest and cleverest of the bunch, where they would be groomed to be useful members of the household, like bookkeepers, small-scale administrators looking after thend on behalf of their lord, stewards, ountants, and other professionals which required some formal education.
But those types of small-scale charities could never equal Alexander''s grand ambition in size or scale, whose numbers were in the thousands, not in the tens.
Besides the ruling ss''s obvious dislike for the general popce bing smarter, there were also other more practical difficulties.
The biggest one was simply that most people did not need a formal education, and was able to go by fine all their life without ever needing to be able to read or write.
And this applied to almost all professions except the nobility and priests, be they farmers, artisans, or even traders.
Yes, even for traders, it was not an absolute necessity to know how to read or write.
It certainly helped, but he could do without it and be even very sessful at his trade.
This type of example existed in Alexander''s past life as well, with perhaps the most famous trader there being Muhammad, who by most authentic records was illiterate.
So in most people''s eyes, education was seen as something redundant, something only for the rich fancy folk to pursue who had more time and money in their hands than they knew what to do with.
''For us poor, ordinary folks, we do not need to worry about that hard,plicated stuff,'' They generally thought.
This type of mindset regarding education might seem weird to some in the modern era, but a somewhat simrparison of the modern day would be how many people view billionaires using private jets for work.
Most who see those do not dream of one day buying a jet of their own but feel that kind of luxury is reserved for the uber rich.
''For us normal folks, much more reasonable alternatives of cars, trains, and buses exist,'' They think.
And simr to how expensive it is own own and operate a jet,? mass education also faced that same obstacle as its second practical problem.
The amount of spending needed to be done to make public education free would be bloody expensive for anyone.
Books and teaching materials, thend and building itself, the furniture inside such as tables, chairs, and benches, stationery such as chalk, ckboards, and dusters, and the sries of teachers, the cost of everything quickly added up when done in thoserge scales.
Most nobles would never be able to institute these on a mass scale even if they had the best wishes at heart.
After all, there was no noble like Alexander who earned in a year what even most Pasha''s got in a decade, as evidenced by how he was able to transform aatose city like Zanzan into a rich vibrant center in just three years, by simply throwing massive piles of money at it, starting from setting such huge industries, to all those infrastructure projects, to even giving out those generous bereavement payments, the likes of which were almost unheard of.
But other nobles were not so lucky, so they would not have been able to provide those services for free even if they wanted to.
And mass education had to be free if it was to be effective.
Nobles could not charge them anything.
Because as stated earlier most of the poption did not see any need to be educated and would see no reason to spend that money on something so redundant.
They would rather spend that on something useful, like helping their sons get an apprenticeship at their local artisan''s shop, or putting them in a temple to be priests and work in service of the gods.
And all this was assuming they had the money to spend in the first ce.
Because remember, most people lived very poor lives, barely getting by.
So if Alexander wanted to educate the poor peasants, he would have to do it out of his own pocket.
In fact, it would not be enough just to pay their tuition, he figured he also would need to pay the parents to send their kids to school.
Yes!
As absurd as it sounded, Alexander reasoned that to get the kids to study, not only the parents would not need to spend a dime, they would even be getting a few dimes in return, just for sending their kids to school.
Ah! If only modern education was so profitable!
But the obvious question then rose here was why?
Why did Alexander think it was reasonable to assume so?
And the answery in the structure of the society of this time.
It had to be remembered that the society Alexander currently lived in an agrarian society, not an urban society like modern times.
And one of the major differences between the two societies was how children were viewed in both of them.
For a city-dwelling, urban society, children were seen as an economic burden, who were unable to contribute to the family in any way, which was why typically parents tended to limit themselves to two to three children.
Any more and it tended to get too expensive.
While for an agrarian society, where children lived in farms, they were not seen as only another mouth to feed, but also as an extra pair of hands.
And there were always work to be done on a farm, even for rtively young children.
nting seeds with their father, picking weeds, scaring away birds, taking care of the animals, looking after them, cleaning their droppings, and even doing something as mundane as separating the stones from the harvested grains.
All these were tasks that someone needed to do and even small children could contribute.
Whereas for children in cities, all the work avable to them would require too much skill for them to even attempt it.
Good luck having your child file your tax returns.
But though children in an agrarian society could contribute to their family and earn their keep so to speak from an early age, making it sound very good, but for Alexander this presented a dilemma.
And that was that given these children were economically important to their families, the parents would be much less inclined to send them away for hours on end to something that produced nothing of immediate economic value.
In fact many viewed it as something that would never produce anything of value.
So to get them to send their kids to school, Alexander knew he would need to tempt them with marypensation, which they then could use to hire other helpers to take their children''s ce.
And when all these reasons were presented before one, Pasha Farzah breaking into his outburst of incredulousughter really started to make sense.
The old man was not stupid.
In fact he was extremely smart.
This was why he thought Alexander must have more money than sense to do something so stupid.
Chapter 682 Public School (Part-2)
Chapter 682 Public School (Part-2)
If a modern person were to judge Pasha Farzah''s reaction regarding the idea of general free education, he would almost certainly judge the old man quite harshly, branding him as stupid and short sighted.
But in reality, the old man was anything but those.
In fact, he was undoubtedly one of the smartest people Alexander had met, both in this and his other life.
And perhaps the biggest example of his brilliance would be when he hadughed out so loudly upon Alexander''s ns.
This might sound a bit strange, but remember, the fact that he hadughed out so loud meant that he was instantly able to foresee all the problems with implementing it.
That was also why he thought Alexander had more money than sense.
But if Alexander was in his shoes, with the same experiences as the pasha, he most likely would have had the same reaction.
Because even for brilliant people it was very hard to see ten or even twenty years into the future.
Especially when there was no precedent to base one''s assumptions upon.
Just try and find how many people could recognizepanies such as Apple, Google, Facebook, and Azamon as giant techpanies during their initial years.
And it would indeed take at least that long for the effects of mass education to show themselves.
Alexander was only able to confidently go ahead with this mind- numbingly huge expense without any worry because he knew his investment would definitely pay off, and pay off in dividends, for unlike Pasha Farzah, he stood on the shoulder of giants.
And being a modern he really could see the difference between a society widely educated and one not.
In fact here are some of the examples of conversations he had with random people during some of his city tours that went to illustrate his point.
"Zanzan is in Adhania. And Adhania is in Zanzan. But I don''t know¡. which is which." Said by a confused farmer.
"Don''t know much about God Ramuh. He''s no customer of mine." Carelessly said by a working girl while ncing at her nails.
"The first human must have been ¡.a hundred years ago."- imed by a traveling merchant, proud of his answer.
"The Grand Temple of Ramuh? That must be in¡..Wari? Kuleef? Harim?"
Pronounced by an embarrassed farmer who did not even know the name of the capital of the country he lived in.
In fact, most people though knew they lived in a country called Adhania, really had no idea what that actually meant.
To them, the only man of authority that mattered was their local lord.
Alexander hearing those answers even felt ashamed of them.
And these were some of the good ones.
Alexander did not even want to remember the things people said about the sun, moon, the weather.
Hearing those answers Alexander felt he could empathize with the nobles who held a general disdain for the regr popce, looking down on them pretty openly.
Alexander would also look down on them given these stupid answers.
It had to be be noted that, it was not only the people of Zanzan that were stupid.
When Alexander was in Thesos, he noticed the general IQ there to be simr.
All of this went to show in bright contrast the difference between a society that underwent one to two centuries ofpulsory education and one that did not.
And the reason why the people Alexander hung with were not like that was because being mercenaries, they hade across a lot of various types of people and seen and dealt with a lot of unique challenges, which helped them grow out of that type of thinking.
But notpletely, as even Cambyses gave Alexander strange looks at the time he revealed his ns about thepulsory education, as she asked herself why her husband was wasting his time in such expensive but pointless endeavors.
"Will it be like a military training thing? Are these our new officers?" She asked, thinking that made the most sense.
The nobles also had a very rough equivalent of that, designed to teach their butlers'' and stewards'' children as well as some well off children of the general popce with the intention of training them to be low level officers
But Alexander would be a gross idiot if he spent so much to do that.
One did not need how to read and write to swing a sword after all.
And this was not the modern times where soldiers needed to handleplex machinery.
So if Alexander were to turn these people soldiers, he would be needlessly putting the people he invested so much in unnecessarily at risk.
But Alexander felt hecked the capacity to properly exin to Cambyses howpulsory education could benefit them in the long run, except for only saying, ''Trust me, bro!''
And Cambyses for her part, after seeing Alexander was adamant did not bother him anymore, letting him do his thing.
She knew Alexander rarely ever did things out of reason and so patiently waited for the results to show themselves.
And thus the first free public school fully funded by a lord was established, a feat that was possibly the very first one in the whole world.
The L shaped one story wooden building was situated in the western residential district, and Alexander started initially with only a thousand (1,000) students aged between eight to ten.
The 1,000 number might seem like a lot, but remember, this was a city of above 200,000, with tens of thousands of children, whereas Alexander was only offering free education to just the lucky 1,000.
This was mostly because Alexander did not think he had the teachers or the infrastructural capacity to handle any more at the moment.
He would expandter.
So for now, he chose most of the boys from the families who worked at Alexander''s various workshops, while a few others came from backgrounds such as traders and farmers.
And yes there were only boys for now as having girls attend a schoolroom and get an education was too scandalous of a thought, at least for now, though Alexander had ns to slowly try and change that.
But for now, these 1,000 boys were divided into two groups, morning and day shift, and made to attend school four days a week.
One group would start at 6 am and end at 10, while the other would start at noon and end at 4.
Both of them would have the same routine which was starting the ss with half an hour of intense physical exercise, followed by a sumptuous meal, and then be taught for three hours, the time equally divided between three subjects: maths,nguage, and history.
Additionally, there would be one hour per week of the study of the Gaia faith, for obvious reasons, conducted by a priest from the Temple.
And yes, that meal, be it breakfast or lunch depending on the shift they were attending, would of course be provided by Alexander.
Meaning on top of everything, the young lord even had to bribe the children with food to attract them toe to school.
He even made the items on the menu appetizing, making sure there was some type of meat, egg, or fish every day, apanied by seasonal fruits, andstly followed by a ss of sweet juice, which was especially popr with the kids.
The five hundred students in each shift were divided into twenty groups of twenty-five each and the school employed a total of thirty teachers along with ten staff as guards, assistants, and maintainers, to teach them,
Each of these teachers taught only one subject, which was much different from the usual practice of one person teaching everything, but Alexander was a true believer in division ofbor and wanted a master to teach the students, not a jack of all trades.
He did not think a person who teaches everything could effectively teach a student anything.
Thus each teacher was allotted four hours a day of teaching time, with two sses in the morning and two in the afternoon.
Theyout of the ssrooms was kind of the standard kind, withrge windows on all four sides to illuminate the insides, and the teacher''s bench at the front, but without the rows of benches for the students to sit.
Alexander at first had contemted using benches and even making them tiered to make it easier for those sitting at the back to see in front.
But then he found a better way.
Instead of benches, the students sat on carpetsid across the ground, with a strip of sand in front of them separating them from their ssmates.
This sand was there to be used as their scrapbook, something to practice their works in.
Alexander thought of this when he was trying to find a cheap alternative to giving each of the thousand kids expensive notebooks just for them to practice their work on.
Paper was still quite expensive, as were quills and inks, and Alexander would be truly a great wastrel if he gave out such free goods when such a cheap, free substitute existed.
But though Alexander saved a lot of money using these alternatives, he did not skimp when it came to facilities for the teachers.
He could have made the teachers also use the sand to teach the students, something that was the norm at the time, even among noble tutors.
Because remember, parchment and papyrus were expensive things.
So just for his school, Alexander invented the ckboard, which was just arge wooden board simply painted matt ck, where they could write with chalk.
Chapter 683 Printing Press
Alexander knew that even tutors of nobles used the ground as a cheap and easy ckboard because using things like papyrus, valium, or parchment for little children to doddle and practice on was too wasteful.
And though this type of teaching was very simr to a ckboard, where the writing was also periodically rubbed off, the most easily identifiable problem with that was that writing on the ground limited the number of people who could see it.
Basically, only the very first rows could clearly see it.
This might have worked when there were only two or three kids, but would not work for a ss of twenty five.
Hence Alexander decided to splurge on the ckboard and consumable chalk.
Though it was not really splurging given the ckboards were just a cheap, b of wood and the chalks were made from gypsum which was already being mined in huge quantities to be used in cement products.
Sopared to their use there, its use in writing was not even a rounding error.
And these things were quite convenient to use, being able to be easily removed by simply wiping over it, or at worst using a wet cloth.
Speaking of expense, Alexander did do the maths regarding the cost of running his school and found them to be truly eye watering.
The thirty teachers (30) with a monthly wage of three hundred (300) ropals and the ten (10) staff with 200 ropalsted a bill of 132,000 ropals annually.
The yearly cost of the food provided to the students every 4 days of the week came to 350,000 ropals a year.
And then came the absurd cost where Alexander had to pay the kids'' parents 8 ropals a week per child just to convince them to send their children to school.
That was also around 350,000 ropals annually.
Then there was the setup cost, i.e.- the cost of building the school, furnishings such as the carpets, ckboards, etc., as well as the value of thend the school was on.
Andstly, there were the running costs, such as maintenance, the provision of stationery such as chalk, registers, etc., and free books for the children.
Alexanderbined all the costs to find it cost him approximately 850,000 to 900,000 ropals a year, or an average spending of about 900 per student annually.
To give one example of just how expensive this was, well. a Talukder (Viscount) earned about a million ropals per year.
And with that money, you could only get a thousand educated people.
Also, it had to be remembered that this was only the first batch of students, meaning Alexander''s expenses would double the next year, and then triple the year following that.
It was also because of that that instead of the standard 16 years learning course of modern times,
Alexander nned to have a much more manageable four-year term, like a university''s, or at best extend it to five years if circumstance then allowed.
Alexander neither had the money nor, frankly, the time to do anything more.
And this was considering that what should have been Alexander''s biggest expense, the textbooks, were cheap,paratively cheap as water in fact.
Becausepared to what it would have cost to produce them by hand, by inventing the printing press and churning them out mechanically, the cost fell by a few hundred times.
This was a fairly simple device to make, with the clue being in its name, ''printing'' and ''press''.
And its invention was made quite a bit easier for Alexander as he could take inspiration from the already existing stamps, which when inked and pressed against paper, would leave a particr pattern on it.
So the basic trick to making a printing press was to make a ''stamp'' of an entire page, and then if one could be made for all the pages of a book, vo, you got a mechanical way of writing that entire book.
Well, that was the basic idea, though in reality there were many small details that needed ironing out before you could get a working product.
As they say, the devil is in the details.
And it was because of those details that a lot of time was needed in ironing out the details, which was why Alexander needed almost three years before he could get a good, working press.
To make it work, Alexander first made metal molds of all the letters, numbers, and signs one would use.
And then invented a kind of metal bed where he could insert and arrange these molds in the proper order to spell out what he wanted to say.
In this way, Alexander could ''manufacture'' a page, or the temte for a page.
This method also avoided the problem of needing to cast separate molds for each and every page Alexander ever wanted to print.
He could simply use the basic letters to make one as he wanted and then disassemble it when done.
And since he would be just cing the letters instead of writing them, it was much faster to reproduce a page.
It was also because of that the new cksmiths from Galiosos were put to work making many many molds of those same few individual symbols because just to ''write'' one page, one needed a lot of repeating letters.
After the temte is made, then it was inked, a page was ced on top of it, and then using a wooden press, such as the one used to press grapes to make wine, the page would be pressed against the temte, making the ink transfer over to the page, and that''s it, a page would be printed.
And it was because this pressing mechanism was used to produce the page that the contraption was called a printing press, i.e.- the printing was literally done by a press.
Now, this was a very simple overview of the mechanism, whereas in reality there were a lot of tiny small problems.
The first problem was the metal molds.
When cast, they had to be made of the kind of metal that did not shrink too much when solidifying.
This was to ensure all the molds were of equal size and more critically height, which was important to make sure the ink stuck evenly to all the letters.
If they were to be uneven, the ink would be too much on the taller ones, but minuscule or even missing on the shorter ones when the operator coated them using a specialized leather tool.
That was why Alexander could not use iron because liquid iron shrunk by different volumes depending on its cast shape,
So a mold representing the letter A would shrink differently to a simrly sized mold of the letter B.
Thus Alexander could not simply assume that all the molds will shrink equally and that the result would still be the same.
Hence instead Alexander decided to use an alloy of mainly lead and tin with tiny bits of iron.
This caused very little shrinkage, being within tolerable limits.
And this was also one of the reasons why it took the world in his previous life 500 years to go from stamps to the Guttenburge printing press.
One of the German inventor''s greatest innovations was inventing an alloy of tin, lead, and antimony to solve that shrinkage problem.
Alexander could not find any antimony, so substituted it with iron.
He thought this was reasonable because the main purpose of the antimony was to give the mold strength.
Both lead and tin were soft metals, so if only those two were to be used to make the molds, those risked breaking under repeated presses.
Thus Alexander hoped the iron, though not perfect, as it shrunk unlike antimony, could do a simr job.
And to his great relief, Alexander did find the result to be eptable.
Though not as wless as he would have liked, Alexander could work with a few missing letters here and there.
Besides, it was not like he would never be able to find antimony.
He could easily switch them.
Or if his luck was truly bad, and the problem became toorge in the future, well then he could switch to wooden molds.
He did not use those initially becausepared to carving out a mold by hand on a small piece of wood, it was much faster and cheaper to cast them using metal.
Furthermore, wood was rtively soft, so if he did that. molds would need to be more frequently reced.
But those future concerns, for now, Alexander had indeed solved one of his biggest problems.
Then came another problem- the paper.
It was found that the currently produced ones were too oily and did not particrly stick well to the ink through this pressing method, causing it to not imprint properly and smear.
So Alexander at first tried parchment and papyrus, but those smeared even more.
Finally. it took Alexander quite a few tries to find that the problem could be solved by simply very slightly wetting the paper with tiny sprinkles of water.
And thest surprising twist to his problems came in the form of the arrangement of the letters.
Alexander found that when the letters were arranged normally, the letter on the paper woulde as being reversed.
This was of course natural, because, remember, the way it was designed, the paper was getting a reverse imprint of the temte.
So Alexander had to flip the molds to get the correct orientation on the printed paper.
But with all those problems solved, Alexander could finally print his books.
Chapter 684 Public School (Part-3)
It took Alexander almost three years, with one year of that being when Alexander really paid his attention to solving all those teething problems, that the printing press could finallye to life this summer.
Alexander was atst able to manufacture the machine and hire enough people to make the whole thing finally operational, thus finally being able to print books.
Alexander at the moment ran ten such presses, with ns to make it into twenty in the future.
Most of the workers there were involved in manufacturing the temte for each of the book pages, meaning they spent most of the day looking at a book page, and meticulously copying it onto the special metal bed using the metal molds.
Once one page was made, they would run a test run to check for any spelling mistakes and then adjust ording.
And once they finished the temte of that page, they would either start printing it immediately or properlybel it using the book''s name and page number before storing it in the archives for printing in the future.
Now, Alexander was not limited to printing only letters.
He could even print pictures, though it was more expensive as a custom made wooden, or metal mold of the picture had to be first made.
All this work was as one could guess needed learned men, and since Alexander needed only 30 teachers, the rest of the few hundred men Pasha Farzah sent were made to work in the printing press, four days a week for 250 ropals a month each.
And with their help, if all ten of the printing presses was running at full capacity, Alexander would be able to churn out 30,000 to 35,000 pages every single day!
Something that might have needed ten thousand scribes to aplish by hand.
And it was such immense increases in productivity that allowed Alexander to decrease the price of books by hundreds of times for the school children.
And since the human brain cannot easily visualize such huge differences, well it was the equivalent of something like a house costing as much as a few hundred bucks.
Though the fact that even with such huge price reductions Alexander still needed to spend so much on education went on to show the inherent costly nature of the endeavor.
However, it should also be noted that Alexander expected these expenses to drop drastically once the fruits of education became apparent to the public.
He expected that once the rumor about the free food went out, many people woulde flocking, possibly allowing Alexander to no longer pay the 8 ropals a week to parents, and perhaps, even start charging some money.
Though he doubted it would ever be enough to fully pay for itself.
But still, Alexander looked forward to the change in mindset, though for now, Alexander knew he had to keep dumping money.
And after spending so much, what did Alexander wish the students to be able to do after finishing their graduation?
Well, for the first year, regarding the subject of maths, it was basically primary level stuff.
They were just starting out after all.
So for the first six months, the book given to them would teach basic number recognition, enable them to write them in words, understand the concept of even and odd numbers, arrange numbers in ascending and descending order, and other easy stuff.
While for the next half of the year, the focus would be on learning about addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
Alexander did not add division to the course n because he thought that might be too advanced for the first year.
After all, remembering how to do long division was hard for even adults.
Hence Alexander opted to leave that one out till the second year, when the students would be a bit more mature.
As it could be gathered from the context Alexander had personally written the math course textbook as he could not find any suitable ones among the ones Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah had sent over, and even doubted such suitable ones for kids even existed.
So he made his own one, one which did not have only lifeless numbers filling them but also had numerous practice exercises to test their knowledge on, such as writing numbers from words and vice versa, figuring the number out from its description, like finding thergest 4 digits even number, circling the odd one out, and various other problems.
While learning about the three operations involved practicing many, many example problems about them, all of which Alexander had handmade.
The math textbook that Alexander had written was 50 pages long, and currently with 1,000 copies in cirction, it was the second most popr book in Adhania, right after the Holy Scripture of Ramuh- Taqua..
Now teaching all these to kids who were just learning the numbers for the first time might seem a bit daunting.
But it had to be remembered that they were around ten years old, so were the equivalent of fourth or fifth graders, which was plenty mature.
In fact, they were even more so when the context of the time was taken into ount where people tended to mature much more quickly.
There were kids just a few years older who started families!
So Alexander figured he could teach all of this in the first year.
As ofr the second year, he wanted toplete mastery of the four basic functions, including things like leastmon factor (LCF), highestmon factor (HCF), and BODMAS (the equivalent of PEMDAS for the US).
Then in the third year, he wanted to teach geometry of various shapes, such as their angles, area, and volumes, as well as some basic trigonometry, which would be useful for things like construction.
Andstly,, in theirst year, Alexander wanted to introduce algebra, which was a branch yet to be invented.
As to whether he would have a fifth year to teach another brand new topic- calculus, well Alexander had not decided yet.
This was because Alexander was not even sure if he could cover all this in four years, so decided to wait to determine whether to extend the curriculum by a year after looking at future results.
Now, if it was not obvious enough, Alexander really put his emphasis on maths, leaving the other two subjects mostly to the wayside.
An action that was really self-exnatory.
Alexander wanted inventors, scientists, administrators, andwyers.
He did not care much about his students knowing about thenguage, just as long as they could read and write the words well enough.
He expected some of them to be scientists like Newton or Gallileo, not famous ywrights Homer or Shakespeare.
Because frankly, Alexander had little love for the arts, much preferring the sciences.
Thus the textbook for the Azhaknguage to be taught at school, only had the letters and a small collection of everyday used words, along with some popr rhymes, poems, and famous stories that Alexander had haphazardly put together into a weird, incoherent amalgamation, to be taught over two years.
As for the history textbook, well that would be better called a general knowledge book.
Because it did not cover any one topic but a hodgepodge of everything.
For Adhania, it listed the name of its capital, its provinces, some of the specialties of those provinces, famous rivers and mountains of the country, its local flora and fauna, and many other tidbits.
Then there was a brief history of how the current Adhania came to be, from its very inception to its current state.
It described the rise and fall of various dynasties, about how the current royal family came to be, and why there was currently a civil war.
And of course, it painted Amenheraft in a very unttering light while painting Ptolomy as a righteous ruler and Alexander his greatest sword and friend.
Alexander was pretty proud of his propaganda piece if he said so himself,
The book also clearly showed the social structure of the nobles.
This was because though it might seem likemon knowledge, to most peasants, they only knew that their local lord was their master and the king was bigger than him.
That''s it.
After all, whether to a shordar or a king, a peasant was the same, a bug.
Thus most had no idea what the peerage of their lord meant, or that their ''boss'' might actually have many other bosses.
So the book very briefly made them aware of the significance of the words shordar (baron), talukder (viscount), etc. and how the country''s political system worked.
And in a way, Alexander also did this to show his status, as the people up until now really did not understand what being a Pasha actually meant.
He also listed the names of therge noble houses, particrly the Matbars (Marquiss) and Pashas, as well as their coat of arms, and a brief summary of their past.
In here too, Alexander embellished the achievements of his allies, while vilifying Amenheraft''s staunchest allies like Pahsa Vivizan and Djose.
This was everything to be taught regarding Adhania.
But the history book did not just stop there.
Because Alexander also made sure to include a bit of history about Adhania''s neighbors, painting all of them in various colors as it suited him, with the intention of burying a seed of revenge or lust for conquest against some of the foreignnds he wanted to have.
It was not any grand ambition, but Alexander thought, ''Hey, it can''t hurt to try right?''
Chapter 685 Public School (End)
Chapter 685 Public School (End)
As Alexander wrote his first history book, he somehow felt a surge of power running through him.
Because he knew he was changing history as he did.
What he wrote would be read by a thousand, then another thousand and another thousand, and then spread from mouth to mouth countless more times.
This book would likely be spread throughout the Adhan and Matrak provinces, meaning it would be his version of the story that would be the ''truth''.
After all repeat enough times a lie and it will be the truth.
And as Alexander realized what he was doing, he experienced an exhrating surge of power, that honeyed power to warp reality to whatever he wanted.
And he found the taste utterly addictive.
No wonder absolute monarchs tended to go crazy with power.
It was too potent a poison.
Even someone well aware of what was happening like Alexander found it very hard to resist.
So how could the other unaware, defenseless mortals even stand a chance?
Now, after experiencing this momentary high, Alexander did work to rein himself in a bit.
Amenheraft and his close allies were still made to look like the bad guys, but those in the periphery were shown to be neutral, while Alexander''s own allies were shown to be good, but not saints, their actions neither criticized nor glorified, only dryly mention in a deliberate, monotone fashion.
After all, today''s allies might be tomorrow''s enemies, especially someone like Ptolomy, and so it would be best if the future bureaucrats of Alexander''s regime did not grow to particrly love any side too much.
For now, Alexander was content with these young children siding with him and seeing others as mostly neutral who could swing either way.
This was currently Alexander''s domestic policy.
As for the international one, well the vast majority of the general popce outside of Adhania was mostly shown to be misguided, lost sheep, hoodwinked by the corrupt nobility.
They were portrayed as people not to be hated, but to be liberated from the cruel yoke of their masters.
This narrative was taken of course to make sure if he did conquer and annex any of thosends, themon people there would not be too much discriminated against by the native Zanzan popce.
And as Alexander was writing the school curriculum, he really for the first time understood just how much power the government of his previous life had, being able to shape a growing child''s mind through the textbook in whatever way they wished for twelve to sixteen years.
To Alexander it seemed that every single person in the general popce, all around the world was more or less brainwashed by their respective countries in some way or form.
American children are made to swear to the g at the start of every school day to foster patriotism,? North Koreans are made to think they live in a utopia, and Cubans are taught thatmunism is the best economic and political ideology there is.
All these various tactics are employed to promote the ruling authority''s goals.
This was not to say it was a bad thing per se.
But the realization did make Alexander wonder how much the thoughts people had were really their own, free thoughts, and how much were they influenced by other external interventions, even in the most liberal countries.
As Alexander understood this, he found it to be actually good news, because remember, he now belonged to the ruling ss.
Meaning these tools could be used to shape people to his liking.
Hence this was the current curriculum Alexander set up for the schools for the time being.
Now, some might have noticed, a few key subjects missing there.
And that was because Alexander intended to add them in the following years.
For example, thenguage and history lessons would stop after two years, and from the third year be reced with other subjects.
One subject that Alexander intended to add was the natural sciences, which was an amalgamation of all the STEM subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy, Maths, Geology, etc.), all bunched together.
Alexander wanted to wait two years to introduce this because he wanted the students to be a bit more mature, and then he nned to teach the subject two hours a day.
While in the meantime, he had to decide what to teach them there, or more specifically decide how much of his own knowledge should he transfer.
Because from whatever books Alexander could find about the subject, he found most of them to be utter rubbish.
Physics was the most passable for the time, with a heavy emphasis on the phrase ''for the time'' as more than half of it was still garbage, such as believing the world to be t.
But still, it did describe things like the motion of levers and pulleys well enough, as well as things like how a groma (an instrument for building straight roads) worked, all possible probably because there were real life examples of those principles being used in applications.
Compared to that, biology was ny percent crap, with all sorts of absurd and illogical descriptions of how a body worked, like how blood flowed through the body like ebbs and tides of seas.
It also tried to mesh everything together, such as trying to rte a healthy living standard with a healthy mind to a healthy diet and getting nowhere.
Then was the attempt to ssify birds and animals in absurd ways, like their number of feet or eyes, or body features like tails, hooves, feathers, etc.
The only thing Alexander could find that made sense was the ssification of animals by their diet, i.e.- herbivore, carnivore, and omnivore.
In the realms of botany, there was little talk about nts, because of course nts were not seen as living beings.
Though there were a few books describing in very urate detail the effects of various herbs, which were probably gathered from journals of medical practitioners.
Then there was geology, which tried to ssify rocks and metals into various groups, with no real result, just a weird, intangible mix.
Then Alexander found bits and pieces regarding meteorology in one of the books, trying to predict the weather or exin the formation of the rain or snow.
But they failed here miserably as they could not figure out the water cycle, instead hypothesizing that rain was created by huge water sprouts formed in the sea that threw up massive amounts of water into the sky, which was then pushed towards thend by strong winds.
In the case of astrology, well other than naming a few stars, there was almost nothing.
In fact it was even forbidden to study the study as it was seen as trying to peer into the realm of the gods.
Andstly, about chemistry, well the knowledge about that was totally nonexistent.
It was known as alchemy and it had no clue about chemical reactions or why anything happened.
The subject was mostly practiced by quacks or amateurs as a pastime hobby, where the ultimate goal was the delusional idea of turning lead into gold.
Something that would be only possible if lead could be somehow made to fission and decay into gold.
Reading all these bad fiction novels, Alexander had a strong urge to burn them all but ultimately restrained himself.
Instead, he focused on what to teach them.
Should he spoon-feed them everything?
Alexander basically knew the ssical physics front to back after all.
Or should he teach them to fish so that they could be a fisherman?
This was a question that made Alexander ponder for some while with both having its merits and demerits.
The former could elerate his growth but leave a hollow foundation as many derivations might be missing, leading to mistakes further down the line.
While thetter would give his educated ss a solid foundation, but progress would be much slower.
The trade offs were worth considering very closely.
But after thinking for a while, since Alexander had two years to think about it, he dumped it to the back of his mind for the time being.
Instead, he ruminated on what else to teach the students once they reached the third year, when he intended to increase the school hours by an hour.
Philosophy was a very popr option, as it was a kind of the yardstick used by the educated nobility to judge one''s literacy.
Something, as a side note that Alexander sucked that.
Because Alexander, being from the sciences had an inherent distaste for the arts.
And in that same vein, Alexander did not want to teach his students arts or painting, thinking it was a waste of time.
Something that was consequently very popr with the nobles too.
Alexander also ruled out music or poetry for that same reason.
Instead, he wondered whether he should teach the students economics, which was not a subject yet, to help them be better economic policymakers.
Or teach them ounting to help them keep track of taxes in their jobs.
Or humanities subjects like sociology, political science, or even psychology, all of which had their benefits.
Sociology helped people understand their society and resolve conflicts such as racial tensions, and ss inequality peacefully.
The usefulness of a bureaucrat learning political science and how to y the grand game need not be said.
While knowledge about human psychology for a person leading a group of people was an invaluable asset.
There were lots of very good options for Alexander to choose and he struggled to pick only one.
[P.S.- If you had to choose only one subject, which would it be? Comment.]
Chapter 686 Preparations For The Campaign (Part-1)
Chapter 686 Preparations For The Campaign (Part-1)
Alexander would decide to postpone making the choice of his subjects untilter on.
Instead he for now concentrated on finally getting his school started.
Because it had taken him an entire year to finally get everything in ce.
The school had to be built, the students selected, the printing press set up, the books printed, andstly, the teachers and administrators chosen.
For thest one, Alexander even held a few interviews, choosing the thirty men among the few hundred who would be getting the position.
After that, Alexander even trained these men for three months on what he wanted them to teach and how to teach them.
Because a lot of the things, especially regarding some concepts in math were new to these people.
And it was only after this, being satisfied with their level of teaching that Alexander allowed them to join the school''s roster.
So with everything set, the school only started on the start week of August, being currently only a month old.
And with everything being so new, it still needed Alexander''s input from time to time on big and small matters.
But the thing that really needed Alexander''s attention was the start of his campaign against Tibias, which was scheduled to start right after the fall harvest but seemed on track to be derailed.
And the reasons for this dy were myriad.
First was the formation of a good army, which Alexander needed to start the invasion in the first ce.
And to achieve that over the past year, Alexander''s military officers were indeed hard at work drilling new recruits into shape, putting them through the wringer.
And though they had made great progress, the reality was expanding the army from a permanent force of 5,000 to a fighting force of 10,000 presented itself with a lot of new challenges- in recruiting, training, and amodating.
Over thest twelve months the officers andmanders did their best to ovee these, but it seemed the army still needed more time to transform itself.
It seemed the brand new legionary formation was proving to be not so easy to master from scratch within so little time.
This was the first problem.
And this very organically tied together to the second problem, which was organizational.
With many of the nobles joining the army ranks as officers, many hours were spent in the parliament discussing their position in the military, as the number of officer positions was limited and many of the bluebloods felt entitled to a lot more than they deserved.
Even after Alexander had made his position clear, many petitioned to be moved from regr infantry to officers or have their ranks elevated.
So Alexander had to again haggle a lot with them toe to a somewhat more reasonable arrangement.
He first dispersed the new recruits among various units under loyalmanders.
And then as to not to be seen as too harsh, Alexander also transferred some of the more obedient ones to form new cavalry units, which was seen as a much more prestigious position, increasing the total to 3,000 riders.
Andstly he made Jamider (Earl) Tikba and Talukder (Viscount) Prantik named themander and vicemander of the new legion as the permanent army was increased to 10,000, or two legions, thus matching their authority with Menes and Menicus.
And speaking of Menes, after his promotion, the man seemed to have entered into a work frenzy, taking it upon himself to specifically teach the new noble officers all the minute details of the legionary formation.
He was so strict in fact that it even resulted in a few small altercations, though it was nothing serious.
With the shuffling within the army aplished, Alexander faced the problem of training enough of the levies.
A total of 30,000 levies were supposed to be trained by now, but due to the aforementioned problems, only 10,000 had received their basic 4 months training, all of whom came from Alexander.
The 20,000 that was supposed to be given by the nobles, due to various infighting, mismanagement, and unforeseen problems had yet toe.
And this was one of the heated topics in the parliament building for almost the entire past month, with Alexander repeatedly asking his nobles what was the hold up.
"My lord, we will send them right after the harvest is done." While the noble faction could only reply as such.
This frankly was a little bit toote, but hey, betterte than never, and Alexander could only purse his lips and ept.
He also knew behind all the feet dragging, there was also the fact that many nobles felt attacking Tibias through Thesalie was just a waste of time and good men.
Forget the 40,000 regr men and 5,000 local mercenaries Alexander was nning to use to assault the walls, numbers close to triple that had tried and failed to take the walls when attacked head-on.
So many of the nobles had very openly urged Alexander not to do this.
And when Alexander posed the attack as revenge against Tibias breaking the treaty and burning his house down, they instead suggested he do the smart thing like Amenheraft and use a naval route to bypass the fortification.
After all, only a fool tried to smash a rock by repeatedly bashing his head against it.
Hence to the nobles, this seemed like a no brainer
And after Alexander had seen the walls of Thesalie for himself,? he had to certainly give some very heavy weight to those suggestions.
He had gone there to scout the defense for himself, disguised as a merchant apanying Camius up to the outskirts of the city.
And when Alexander saw the fortifications, he understood the man had not really exaggerated.
The terrain and the wall were truly daunting, with steep cliffs, dense woods, and arge moat filled with wooden spikes protecting the walled city.
And it was not even single walled.
That would have been too easy.
It was a double walled city so that even if one wall was breached, the defenders could still fall back to the second line.
Seeing it Alexander felt like he was Mehmed I, gazing upon the formidable walls of Constantinople.
Except Mehmed I had one of thergest cannons in the world with him to smash through the walls whereas Alexander''s military engineers were struggling to get even the catapult going.
Looking at the thickness of the city''s walls, Alexander doubted whether even trebuchets would be able to breach it, especially given it was double walled.
Alexander would have to give it to them.
The Tibians had really outdone themselves here, making one of the most impregnable defenses in all of antiquity.
And seeing the daunting challenges, Alexander was half tempted to take the nobles'' advice and call off the attack.
Because breaking through it by force seemed impossible for him.
But that thought was only a fleeting feeling.
Just because smashing through it was impossible, did not mean Alexander would not be able to conquer it.
Alexander decided he would simply have to go over it, by getting his siege towers right up to the walls and clearing the walls of the defenders.
As for how he would convince the enemy to let him do that when everyone else tried the same method but failed, well, for that, the very first thing he did was call Diaogosis to build a good road from Zanzan right up to Thesalie.
There was already a road nearby that connected Jamider (Earl) Tikba''snd to Zanzan, so Diaogosis only needed to build a diversion, going left toward Thesalie, an endeavor he was currently pursuing.
And until the road could be finished, Alexander was reluctant to start his campaign.
Then there was the preparation regarding the type of siege Alexander was nning.
For that he was d he had asked for those 10 million crossbow bolts from Lady Miranda because he felt he might need all of them.
And along with that he also ordered massive amounts of stone, bricks, and most importantly cement to be stockpiled, for he would need them during the siege.
And going by thetest report, the stocks were yet to reach the desired levels, meaning it would be too hasty tounch the attack.
Andstly, there was the ever present question of money, or more specifically, who was going to finance this war.
It had to be remembered that Zanzan did not produce even a tenth of the money it spent from the taxes it collected.
So more than ny percent of it had toe from Alexander''s personal coffers.
And though Alexander was d to spend it previously to help Zanzan get up on its feet, well there had to be a limit on it.
Zanzan was already three years old and Alexander felt it was time the others started to pull their weight too.
Especially given therge bill the campaign was sure to generate.
But that was easier said than done.
It was very easy for people to get used to being given money and once they became ustomed to it, it was very hard to make them pay.
And this was the problem Alexander was trying to solve, because he reasoned that if the nobles did not pay, well then they should not get any share of the booty.
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Chapter 687 Preparations For The Campaign (Part-2)
Alexander''s estimate for the cost of the campaign was nothing to scoff at.
For the entire duration of the offensive, he promised to give the 10,000 professional soldiers 150 ropals per month on top of their free food and equipment, which was 50 ropals more than they received in peace times.
And the levies were promised the same supplies, but 5onlt 0 ropals a month.
After all, they were neither as skilled nor disciplined as their counterpart.
And although only 50 ropals might sound very low, this was actually much more than the standard rate.
Typically levies were paid mostly in loot and booty, with just enough food and supplies given to them so that they could keep fighting.
So Alexander giving them this much money of which the men were saving every penny was really generous.
As for context, a farmer with a family typically needed 6 months to save that much.
Now Alexander did not do it only out of altruistic reasons,
He also partly did it because of the harsh conditions these levies would be made to face during the assault, especially the backbreaking work Alexander had in mind for them in order to make his siege work.
It was also because of that they were scheduled to get warm winter clothing too, as Alexander did not want to end up like Napoleon, caught naked smack down in winter.
That was why Gelene got that request from Alexander, which was one part of a muchrger total order.
And as a side note, the 40,000 thick coats that Alexander wanted were still to be delivered in full, as the acquisition seemed toorge toplete in just a year.
In fact, some of the shops asked him for lead times of as much as another year.
It seemed Zanzancked arge enough tailor industry to meet Alexander''s voracious demand.
And that was also another reason for Alexander to skip this winter campaign.
But perhaps not the critical one, as winter here was really not like the ones in Russia, and judging from the weather, it even promised to be a mild one this year.
No, the muchrger problem still remained as the cost, which for the soldiers and supplies came at about 40 million ropals for the six months of fighting Alexander was nning to have.
Alexander had also asked about 5,000 mercenaries to join him, at the cost of 1 million ropals a month in food, rent, wages, and other equipment such as the consumable pi and the better chainmail.
These veteran men were not from Zanzan, but specifically sent by Pasha Farzah all the way from Matrak, when Alexander asked for some more muscle.
And these men had been here since the start of summer, receiving training on the new legionary formation.
Which also meant Alexander was spending 1 million ropals a month on a force that was doing nothing useful until now, which was for four months.
And given the campaign was going to be pushed by perhaps up to a year, he had the choice of either paying them to stay and burn through his treasury, or asking them to go back, even paying for their ship fare, only to have them back here again in another nine to twelve months.
Both were a great hassle.
And depending on his choice, Alexander would burn anywhere between 10 to 20 million ropals after them at the end of the campaign.
Andstly, there was the cost of training the 30,000 levies for 4 months, where they were paid 100 ropals in food and wages.
So all in total Alexander estimated to run a tab of around 70 to 75 million on this war, which was something quite significant.
And it went to show why a few lost wars could destroy a country and its ruling dynasty.
That was also why he wanted the nobles to chip in a bit, and spread the risk a bit.
Specifically, he asked them to cover half of the cost as a whole, while he covered the rest.
And he knew these rich lords had that amount of capital.
After all, they were able to fatten their coffers by a lot through the preferential trade agreements they had with Alexander, buying Alexander''s unique products for cheap and selling to outside clients for massive profits.
Their treasuries were certainly stacked.
And even if it wasn''t, even if a lot was spent recovering from the drought resulting in not having the gold to contribute in cash, they could still easily contribute through grain and other food produce.
After all, feeding the massive army was Alexander''s greatest expense in this expedition.
But of course this demand did not at all sit well with that faction.
''We are already giving you 20,000 men. Why are you asking for more?'' Seemed to be the general undertone of their various excuses.
And arge reason for it was not any dislike for Alexander, but they simply thought it was a waste of money to attack Thesalie, for deep down they were quite pessimistic about the results.
And after hankering for a while on this but still ending up with nothing, Alexander got the message and decided to bear the costs for himself.
He would make them pay another way.
Thus with all the following challenges still needing to be ovee, from the men to the material, to the strategy, Alexander gave the following speech to the parliament inte September in front of all his retainers.
"Due to unforeseen challenges and immense external challenges, the offensive that was nned against Tibias this winter will be dyed by six months." As Alexander made this decision he felt it was a great shame, as this year''s winter seemed to promise to be a very mild one, just likest year''s.
He thought it was a missed opportunity.
But in life many times things panned out in ways you had no control over.
So given they had already gotten here, Alexander chose to do the next best thing.
Alexander decided to push the date back to the very next avable slot, continuing,
"Instead we will do it right after the spring nting. Specifically, we will start our the first of April."
"That will give us ample time to put the 20,000 levies through the 4 months training as well as gather the necessary supplies."
Saying this Alexander''s tone then turned hard, as he coldly looked around the room, specifically targeting the nobles, addressing them,
"And this will be the final date. I will not hear of any dys or problems. So whatever obstacles you have solve them by then."
"Or I will find someone who can!" Alexander very clearly threatened.
Following this Alexander tone turned once again soft and official, as he began,
"Now, regarding the issue of money."
"It seems one of you wishes to contribute in any meaningful way to his campaign."
"And that is okay." Alexander sounded very understanding, before quickly adding,
"But be aware that it also means you will not have any ims to thend we capture."
"After all that is only fair right!" Alexander then posed, rifying,
"As per the tradition, since you are giving the men, you will be entitled to a share of the loot, don''t worry."
"But I want to make it clear right here, right now so there is no confusionter on - if you do not contribute to the cost of the campaign, you will not get any ims to thend."
"All thend will belong to me personally, Alexander."
"So do note to meter asking otherwise."
"Do you have any objections?"
Alexander repeated many of his sentences to make the point again and again to make it as unequivocal as possible because he knew just how slippery nobles could be, as he then turned his head around, looking around to spot any dissenters.
And unsurprisingly everyone was silent, which served as a tacit nod of approval.
They thought Alexander was simply young and brash, having no idea of the challenges conquering Thesalie posed.
After all, over the past few centuries, the amount of new and novel ways that were tried to breach the city was not insignificant.
The Adhanians might be technologically backward, but they were not stupid.
So over such a long time, the number of creative and out of the box thinkingmanders was numerous and plenty.
And if all these people were able to do it over a few centuries, the nobles had little reason to be optimistic that Alexander could.
It was not as if he was their one and only savior, their true lord.
Thus none of the nobles had any real optimism towards this attack and were only going through it because their oath obliged them to.
They simply thought Alexander was going through a phase, and once he suffered the inevitable defeat here, his zeal would sh against reality and wake him up from his delusions.
Many of the older nobles even saw this as aing of age ceremony for the young man, one where he would transform from a boy to a mature, prudent adult after the rose tinted sses were smashed against the walls of Thesalie.
Only time would tell who was right.
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Chapter 688 Preparations For The Campaign (Part-3)
Chapter 688 Preparations For The Campaign (Part-3)
The Zanzan nobles were not the only ones to be pessimistic about Alexander''s chances.
Even his allies Pasha Farzah and Ptolomy were skeptical of it, feeling Alexander was needlessly wasting his fighting potential on such fruitless endeavors.
That was also why Pasha Farzah had sent those 5,000 mercenaries,
Not to help Alexander per se.
But their real reason for being was that Pasha Farzah hoped Alexander would use those sellswords to soak up the majority of the damage from the uing defeat, and thus preferably manage to preserve his own forces rtively well.
It was also because such widespread negativity was the general consensus that the noble faction under Alexander had no problem signing his contract.
The legal document clearly stated everyone''s im during this campaign and it in great detail divided the percentage of loot that each of the participants would be allocated in case of a sessful campaign, while also very clearlyying out the fact that the nobles were to give up any and allnd ims if they did not contribute marily.
''We are already going to lose so many men. There is no need to lose our money on top of that,'' And the nobles signed without any scruples for they had this reasoning.
They thought nothing woulde of the campaign and so refused to contribute.
Now, to be fair, not every single noble was like that.
For instance, some of Alexander''s close council members did try to contribute.
But people like Menes, Melodias, and others were too poor to give anything of substance to Alexander.
Unlike the generational nobles, they had just gotten theirnds, and given the fief was only one and a half years old, these new nobles still regrly borrowed money from Alexander just to keep their day to day operations running.
So even when they expressed their interest in contributing, Alexander simply asked them to first pay back their debts.
Because if he epted their money, Alexander would be just epting his own money and then giving themnd for free.
It made no sense, just like it made no sense to fill a leaking jar.
Hence under Alexander''s advice, all the council members also signed a simr contract to the nobles, with the additional use that they would use a part of their loot to also pay back Alexander.
All these legal preparations took Alexander into the new year, and under Alexander''s hawkish supervision, the war machine seemed on track this time, ready to be deployed by the first week of April as nned.
The nobles this time no longer dragged their feet and sent the 20,000 levies as soon as the fall harvest ended, so these peasants were already two months into their training, and seemed like they would be all graduating in time.
Alexander also kept the 5,000 mercenaries with him after all, and as he was burning money after them anyway, he had them also take part in teaching some of the green recruits the way of the war.
And this in fact helped keep the levies training on track.
Regarding the road, Diaogosis swore to Alexander that it would certainly bepleted by February and that the wide, pristine road would be just 10 kilometers from the doors of Thesalie.
Hearing this of course pleased the young lord, and so even before the road waspleted, Alexander by the start of February started to transfer massive quantities of cement, brick, and stone to a huge depot built just inside the border of Jamider (Earl) Tikba, who closely neighbored Tibias, acting as one of the main lookouts.
The idea behind this move was that once the siege started, these materials could be quickly moved to the frontlines within half a day, whereas it would take three to four days if ordered all the way from Zanzan.
Now, many of the nobles as well as all of Alexander''s military leaders had asked him about these transfers and their purpose, but Alexander had only mysteriously smiled and simply posed if any of them was smart enough to figure out.
And though many tried, Alexander gave neither a yes nor no answer, leaving them hanging.
It seemed they would know once the time came.
With these building material stocks secured and transferred to the front lines, Alexander then made sure the weapons and equipment for his army were adequate.
And here, there was of course no problem.
Swords, pi, crossbows, and chainmail were all avable in the armory by the droves.
The military engineers had also built 30 of the torsion catapults up until now, but with ranges far exceeding those that Tibias used, going up to 250 meters as opposed to Tibias''s 150 meters for the same 20 kilo stone.
And the secret sauce to this sess was the rope.
Because the one used to load Alexander''s catapult was not made of pure linen like Tibias''s.
But it was aposite, possibly the first in the world, made of thin, stic rubber band threads messed together with linen fibers, thus giving the rope a much stronger ''twist'', and letting it shoot farther.
It was one of Alexander''s inventions and given this was something truly his and not something he copied or brought from memory, he was very proud of the result.
Though to be clear, this new, better catapult was still not going to be of any use in breaking down Thesalie''s walls.
Those were too thick.
But Alexander did not n to use them for that.
They had a much more nefarious purpose.
And it was because of that Alexander ordered his engineers to continue making as many as they could before the war started.
In that same vein of helping to win the siege, Alexander also ordered the manufacture of the Roman ''Scorpion'''', which proved to be a simple weapon to make given it was just a much bigger bow that shot rally huge darts.
It stood on three legs and was about a meter in height, and worked by having a bolt loaded manually between the string, and then having a cranking mechanism to pull it back.
This string or rope to be more precise would be of course very thick, much too thick to be pulled by any human.
So once the rope was properly wounded with the help of a manual crank, it would then be atst let go, thus instantly shooting the giant wooden arrow with a thick iron head out and skewering anyone standing in the way.
Very useful for taking out those pesky wall defenders from a good distance away.
By now Alexander had made about of a few hundred of those, all for attacking Thesalie, and every day their numbers increased.
And speaking of shooting arrows, Lady Miranda had also very punctually delivered her 10 million bolts.
That delivery was also quite a sight to behold, as an entire ship was required just to deliver the ammunition, which weighed a total of 5 tons.
When trying to fit the entire order into one ship, its cargo hold, and even its deck, got stacked with one thing and one thing only, bundles and bundles of the sharp, pointy sticks all ced on top of each other as far as physics allowed without them toppling over, like the leaning tower of Pisa.
And as the ship made port, unloading it was actually somewhat dangerous, as no one wanted to be punctured by thousands of cross bolts falling on them.
Along with that ship, the newly remarrieddy also delivered arge part of the sword and halberts Alexander had ordered, thus letting him equip his army with thetest and greatest.
And as a side note, she or more specifically Harold who was sent on behalf of her also bought simr quantities of goods from Alexander this year too, but unlikest time, they paid arge amount of it in gold, showing the Margrave''s business was going very well.
Harold also left with the promise toplete the rest of the transfer of the 50,000 people before the end of next year, while also informing Alexander that a dozen or so of the newly built navy ship would be avable to him by that point too.
It appeared the ship construction was going well.
And this news also meant that even if Alexander failed in this endeavor this time, he would get new types of weapons to try a different route, the route preferred by the nobles.
This fallback n pleased Alexander to arge extent, as though he was confident, Alexander of course could not say with absolute certainty that he would be able to take Thesalie with his current n.
So it was always to have a backup.
That was almost all there was to it his preparations.
Now Alexander only needed to wait till April.
With thest major thing he would need to do was when came March.
Because it would be then when everyone would be frantically employed to get the spring nting in for the fall harvest.
And as soon as the farmers were finished seeding the field, they would be made to report to their respective military units as the army would start to gather.
So until then, Alexander could only wait.
And fortunately, Alexander did not need to wait long.
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Chapter 689 Prelude to the First Tibian War
Chapter 689 Prelude to the First Tibian War
Before Alexander set off for his campaign, in the following six months Alexander mostly spent a leisurely life, spending a lot of the time ying with his daughter.
As for his son, well he mostly ate and slept.
And if you asked how Alexandraia felt about having a little brother, well seeing her mother''s attention be upied by another baby, made the one year old very hostile towards the neer.
And there were multiple times when the little girl was caught swatting at her brother.
But if she was going to be angry over having one younger sibling, well her mood was about to turn a whole worse.
Because just like he had promised them he would after Cambyses conceived twice, currently both Ophenia and Mean were pregnant.
He did this by sleeping with them during their ''dangerous days'' and by February, both of them were around four months old, their bellies just beginning to show.
And as they transformed, though Ophenia still looked okay,t for Mean who was much more, Alexander wondered otherwise.
Even her slightly swollen belly did not at all match her face face and body.
As for Gelene¡ well, at least she could not me Alexander that he did not try.
Because Alexander tried very hard,
Especially when he saw the other two were pregnant, he took her almost every day regardless of the time, day or night, and even tried various exotic positions.
But it seemed the contraceptives Gelene had taken in her previous life had left too deep marks.
Up until now, she was showing signs of being barren.
And Alexander could go little more thanfort her saying they still had time to try for some time.
Outside his family, Alexander had also atst gotten his iron workshop going, and finally letting the cksmith''s Lady Miranda do something truly useful.
Alexander initiated the shop in the first week of January, and it started with only making various types of pots and pans.
But over the following months, more and more of the new furnaces were scheduled to be installed ande into operation, as supply chain issues were fixed, and the nt would start to make all kinds of other items, such as knives, farming tools, nails, decorative pieces like small statues, jewelry, and many other misceny.
Alexander would leave all this as well as the overseeing of the day to day operations to an experienced cksmith while he was away campaigning.
Alexander also wanted to set up a few more things before he was away at war, such as a mint and a bank.
But his hands ran out of time before he could start those.
As for why he did not start those sooner, well it was because they were not critical to his operations right at the moment.
Originally Alexander had wanted the mint because he thought that he would be getting a lot of gold from the surplus trade he would be conducting.
But most of his customers traded with him in goods rather than in cash.
Meaning there was no little new gold to be converted to ropals
And this problem also nicely exined why he had yet to set up his bank.
Which was that due to a shortage of cash reserves, he could not lend out to people.
That and the fact that there was already a shortage ofbor in Zanzna, so it made no sense for him to finance the setup of even more businesses.
Thus facing all these challenges, with the date for the campaign imminent, Alexander decided those institutes could wait.
Hence as March rolled ever closer to April, Alexander quickly found his army was starting to gather, until the entire force conjoined at Zaznan, the total consisting of 40,000 Zanzan infantry, 5,000 mercenaries, and 3,000 cavalry.
And soon the day of the departure was here.
It was around 8 o''clock in the morning on a clear spring day, the temperature cool and refreshing, when standing on his porch Alexander turned to CM to say his short farewell,
"Okay, I''m off. If anything happens, send a rider. I will be close."
Alexander was very casual with his tone as if he was not going to war, but just going to his nine to five job.
"Mmmm," While CM lightly hummed with a nod.
Over the past two and a half years, the girl had gotten much more mature, shedding over her girlish features to appear much more womanly with softer, voluminous features.
And knowing Thesalie was only 90 kilometers from Zanzan, she was quite calm regarding the expedition, feeling not too worried.
Turning away from CM, Alexander said simr goodbyes to Opehenia and Mean, both of whom were just beginning to enter their third trimester.
"*Sigh*, I really do regret I will not be able to see the birth of my children," And seeing the expectant bellies, Alexander regretfully sighed as he bid them farewell, knowing the siege would be unlikely to be over in just three months.
And seeing his bitter face, the girls did try to cheer him up.
"Master, please do not worry about us. By the grace of the Goddess, there will be no problem." Ophenia smiledfortingly.
While Mean was much less diplomatic, showing her desire for Alexander to be there when her child was born, as she said, "Also, you will be close. So maybe you can take a week off toe see us then."
This was not a bad idea and hearing so Alexander felt it was certainly doable.
If he used an endurance horse, he would be able to cover that 90 kilometers in a day.
And Alexander doubted he would have much to do anyway once he started the siege.
After all, a siege was a pretty boring affair, and Alexander even considered leaving the day to day operations to Menicus after the initial days.
"Okay, I will try." Hence Alexander repliedfortingly.
Next he turned to Gelene to promise they could try again once he returned, and with his women done, Alexander then turnedstly to say goodbye to his two children.
His son Philip was on thep of one of his wet nurses, and too young to understand what Alexander was talking about.
But as Alexander pinched his soft cheeks and caressed his head, the young boy gave a wide smile in happiness, showing his soft gums where teeth were yet to grow.
As for his eldest daughter, she was standing on her two legs next to her brother, and dressed in a beautiful flowery one-piece with an borate silk hat on top, she looked like a pristine doll.
Alexander picked the little princess up on her arms, and kissing her cheek he said simr loving words, while the girl giggled and spoke with broken words.
"Da¡da¡soone back ¡.Dada.."
It was apparent she was able to understand Alexander was leaving, though she might have only thought he was just leaving for work for the day.
With these farewells done, Alexander finally got on his carriage, and with his entourage in tow, it took only a short journey to find himself outside the city, where his army was beginning to form up
since the crack of dawn.
And by the time he arrived, the entire force seemed to have already gathered- all 48,000 of it, all arranged neatly into nine separate legions, nked on either side by the cavalry.
The arranged frontlines stretched close to two kilometers, which was why Alexander had to arrange the meeting outside the city, and gazing upon it from his warhorse, the vastness of the sight made anyone think they would be able to conquer the world with so many men at hismand.
Though in reality, Alexander really hoped the nearly 50,000 number was enough.
Because it was not going to be an easy fight.
Though interestingly there were not only 48,000 men gathered around here.
No, in fact, there was literally twice that, at around 90,000.
All these extra people were scattered to the back of the army, and these were the nobatants, also called camp followers.
The origins of these people were diverse, ranging from respectable people such as traders, merchants, and farmers, to morally gray people like vers and working girls, to good for nothing like vagabonds and homeless, to even crooks such as thieves and bandits.
And they all had their various reasons for gathering here
Though the basic was the same.
To sell their wares to the marching army as well as take part in the loot and plunder that was likely to ur as the army moved through the enemynds.
And as Alexander saw the huge crowd of civilians lined a few kilometers behind the army, he was actually d.
Because it meant a lot of people were optimistic about their chance of winning.
And what Alexander meant by that was, if people did not think thend they were going to attack was particrly rich, then they would have bothered showing up as there would be little to plunder.
So the huge presence at least worked to put pressure on the nobles who were in general quite pessimistic about their prospects.
And as Alexander gave the order to march, it remained to be seen which side was right.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 690 The March Forward
Chapter 690 The March Forward
At Alexandermon, the army slowly turned around to face the road, and filing themselves into a three columned line, with each soldier standing one to two meters apart, slowly started their march, their steps sure and heavy, as they made their way to wrought doom to the country of Tibias.
The entire procession stretched a few kilometers, and from the above, it looked like a giant ant trail.
At the very front of this procession, leading the pack so to speak was one part of the cavalry, which acted both a scout and a rapid reaction force if any unforeseen event were to ur.
Now, granted they were squarely in their own territory and there was no singr fool who would attack an army of 50,000 on his own.
But this was the military doctrine of the time and officers had to follow it, hence the specific order.
Following the 1,000 cavalrymen were the real meat of the army, the infantry, and given how long they stretched, their massive numbers were apparent for any to see.
The heavily armored men moved in a loss formation, their wooden shields swinging with their arms, while their strong bodies and faces covered by their Corinthian helmets made them look very menacing.
Behind them, guarding the nks were the remaining cavalry, whilestly, the slow moving supply wagons made up the tail.
As for officers like Alexander and the other nobles, they were all ced dead center of the army as was the custom.
It was done so to enable them to give direction to either end if the need arose, while also being easily defensible from both sides if attacked.
And this was the make up of the military convoy.
But it was not the end of the procession.
Because as if following the pied piper, the tens of thousands of camp followers also closely tailed the marching army, which was in fact a fairlymon sight in any campaign of conquest.
Marching soldiers needed a lot of things to keep them going, and knowing death mighte at any time, they tended to be loose with their purses, which were always the ideal candidate for a host of different people.
Peddlers could easily sell their wares to these people, providing them with the choice of all kinds of everyday essentials such as shoes, cloth, pots and pans, and even jewelry, as well as various personal tools such as razors, grinding stones to sharpen weapons, sewing needles, and yarn to name only a few.
Aside from simply selling goods, this group also provided everyday services such as shaving beards, cutting hair, mending shoes, patching up amor, sharpening weapons, selling medicine, and many more.
Aside from the peddlers, there was another group that sold their product and those were the farmers and hawkers.
Seasonal fruits and vegetables, various spices, salt, homemade wine, freshly cooked snacks, and even wholesale grain, all and many more delicious things could be found in and around an army camp.
And trade would be usually very good for these small businesses.
Because most soldiers would soon get tired of the monotone foods provided at the camp and look to add a bit of spice to their ptes.
Thus going out to get a small snack of meat skewers, fried fish, or even buttered vegetables weremon.
And if the men wanted something more substantial, well since each squad was responsible for their own cooking, it was easy for each of the guys to chip in a bit to add some more vor to their overall meal, adding new ingredients to the ones already provided to them.
As for the selling of wine, well although Alexander did strictly forbade drinking, the wine being sold did not vite that.
Because wine here was not like the one of modern times.
Here. it was heavily diluted with water, and sometimes even had seawater mixed to add vor to it, and was generally preferred over water as it was safer to drink.
Andstly, there were the grain sellers, who carriedrge stocks of not only human food but animal feed too, oats and barley particrly, in the hopes of selling to individual customers such as the soldiers or even other camp followers.
Or if they were really lucky, even to the army itself if it ever ran out of food.
And as a side note, there were many times where officials in charge of the army''s food would sell grain meant for the soldiers to these merchants for a profit.
And this led to various consequences, ranging from an army losing a battle due tock of supplies to the culprits getting caught and being hanged or something worse, or simply the regr soldiers being forced to buy from these merchants out of their own pocket at exorbitant prices just to survive.
But whatever the morality of these grain merchants were, they looked like straightce goody two shoespared to the next group that usually apanied an army- Working girls.
These girls of course had one very simr desire, earn coin by pleasring men weary from the long march and deadly battles.
And it woulde as no surprise to anyone that such a practice was strictly forbidden in the army.
The chaos in discipline such truancy would cause was obvious.
Though that did not stop men from engaging in these acts anyway.
After all, knowing these might be yourst few days on earth, tended to make men wild and jumpy.
And they all wanted an outlet.
It was also because of that that many offices turned a blind eye to these practices, just very nominally punishing the caught men, such as with few more chores or extra guard duty, but nothing too serious.
While the working girls earned money by showing their love, the next group was the opposite.
Because they were the vers who chose to tag along.
They were of course there to capture any vulnerable prey if the opportunity provided itself.
Particrly they wished to aid their side in rounding up fleeing soldiers after a win, for a fee of course.
And to do that, they carried with their carts of rope, to bind their ves with.
And then there was the group with the fewest numbers.
These followed the army just because they had nothing better to do, being beggars, vagabonds, and other neglected parts of the society.
Going by experience, Alexander knew these drifters were almost always a major cause of trouble, doing nothing useful; but always there at the wrong ce at the right time.
Most of these kinds of people only came along just because they saw others going along, and seemingly they wanted to go on an adventure and see the world for themselves.
After all, the means of entertainment in this world were too limited.
And if they could also loot and plunder thends while doing so, it was just the icing on the cake.
Though this favorable event would be particrly applicable if their side was especially cruel, where it destroyed thends they passed through, looting, plundering, and burning it.
But though irksome to Alexander, the group was still not as troublesome as thest group, for those were the real bad eggs- criminals and thugs who slipped through the to fish for opportunities, looking to get their hands on any gold or silver, no matter the unscrupulous ways they would have to employ to get it,
After all, with so many people gathered here, there was bound to be one or two careless ones who were susceptible to getting their pockets picked.
Or maybe have a few stuff stolen here and there.
With so many people around and everyone on the march constantly moving about, it was quite natural to forget and lose track of one or two things right?
Or better yet, perhaps a soldier would be distracted enough to enable them to even steal his weapon!
Ah! Stealing something like a steel sword!
Now that would be a wet dreame true for any thief.
Now, there would always be such bad eggs when any group becamerge enough, so their presence was notpletely unexpected.
But still, it had always impressed Alexander that there were people daring enough to try and steal from no other than the army.
I mean,e on, there had to be other easier fish in the sea.
Because getting caught stealing from the army was no light matter.
If it is an outsider, he would be hanged then with little other consideration.
While if you were found to have been stealing from your fellow soldiers, well then a much crueler fate awaited,
The gully soldier would be beaten to death with a stick by their own squad mate.
But despite all the obvious risks and the brutal punishments thaty in store if caught, there seemed to never be a shortage of volunteers willing to take that risk.
They particrly loved targeting the time window an army would be engaged in a battle to try and sneak into the camp and attempt to steal stuff, which was another reason why it was another important reason to leave some guards behind to look after the camp''s belongings when most was away fighting.
But whatever the reasons for these thieves'' persistence, be it they were that stupid or that desperate, they existed.
And so in this way, for better or worse, all these people attached themselves to Alexander as he made his way to the gates of Thesalie.
Chapter 691 Camp Followers
Chapter 691 Camp Followers
With the pristine road connecting Zanzan to the footsteps of Thesalie, it took Alxs only three days toplete the journey, arriving at his destination early noon, as the huge army faced no sort of hindrance from the other party.
The ce they chose to make camp was on a rtively t in a few kilometers away from the formidable walled city, the specific location chosen due to a myriad of reasons.
It had a favorable t terrain making it easier to deployrge scale infantry and cavalry.
It had argeke nearby as well as numerous small creeks and springs for easy ess to fresh drinking water.
Andstly, the surrounding was mostly forested and covered with lush vegetation, useful for both obtaining lumber as well as getting feed for the draft animals.
With all these advantages, as well as the ce being close enough to their target, Alexander did not need to think too hard about where to set up camp.
Hence the order to do exactly so came pretty quickly, and the soldiers after a short rest quickly got to work setting the ce that was going to be their main ce to stay for the foreseeable next few months, their effort coordinated under the direction of the few hundred military engineers that Alexander brought with him.
So with tens of thousands of men working together, and with much of the initial materials such as the logs and lumbers already being carried with them, it took the huge army only a couple of hours to get the main features of the camp up, which were the high wooden walls built on a rampart, and the ditches filled with sharpened stakes.
And once this rudimentary barricade was built, all squad quickly began to set up their tent inside, then started to prepare their evening meal.
Over the following days, the camp would be turned into a much more sophisticated structure, but since they just arrived today, that was all the time for, as the men hungry from their march, concentrated more of their efforts on filling their growling stomach.
Thus, eager to have some grub, each member of the squad divided all the tasks among themselves, with some grinding the grains, some preparing the vegetables, some collecting firewood, some setting up the stove, and others doing the actual cooking.
Alexander too was among these hungry people, though he did not have to do the cooking for him.
Instead, he, along with all the high ranking officers were currently in a luxurious tent at the center of the camp having that food served to him.
And it had to be noted it was the same food the soldiers got, bread with a porridge like vegetable soup.
".....Lord Alexander is a man of ¡.frugal taste it seems," And seeing the food served to them, the nobleman Jamider (Earl) Tikba could not help butment this.
It was very apparent that he was not pleased.
After all, being a bona fide noble, he expected his meals to meet his status.
But Alexander very coolly shut theint down, saying.
"I know in your armies nobles eat as they do at home, gorging themselves with extravagant feasts."
"But that is not how we do things here."
"Here is my army, everyone eats the same when in the campaign. Be it the regr grunt, the officer, or even the general himself,"
And following this Alexander then patiently exined his reasoning, something he had already done a few times before even before the start of the campaign,
"We do this because the quality of food a soldier got was very important. Men on the march tend to get tired and hungry."
"And if they do not get their proper food they easily turn angry."
"And arge group of angry men with swords are a dangerous foe."
"Armies have literally torn themselves apart over this."
"So I made to show the soldiers that in a war, there are no differences in treatment when ites to food."
"Everyone eats the same, fights the same, and even dies the same." Alexander firmly dered in a convincing tone.
Though it seemed this rhetoric only caused the Jamider (Earl) to lightly bark, "Heh! Die the same? I never knew you were such a jester."
Lord Tikba of course said this because Alexander''s chance of really dying in battle was negligiblepared to the average sodlier.
Though he certainly put it in a very rude way.
One which caused his colleague siting right next to him to quickly intervene and exin to Alexander in a slightly panicked voice,
"Your Grace, Lord Tikba meant nothing by this! His head is simply muddled after traveling so long in the heat! Please pay no heed to him!"
The one toe the defense was of course Talkuder (Viscount) Prantik and the man instantly went into full damage control mode after his counterpart made this offensivement.
No matter what they thought of Alexander in private, this was no way to talk in front of him.
And the evidence of it was how many of his retainers produced scowled looks immediately hearing thement.
"Hahaha, no, no, Lord Tikba made quite the shrewdment. It was indeed funny for me to say that we were as likely to die as the regr soldiers," But the man himself, Alexander seemed to take the words very lightly, giving a gentle smile as he said so.
But then suddenly his tone turned didactical,
"And that is all the more reason why we need to keep up that facade."
"To make the soldiers think we share the same hardships as well."
"Because the thing that made people angry is not always their own state, but their state rtive to others."
"Even if the entire army is starving, soldiers will not rebel if they know everyone is starving equally."
"And conversely, even if the army has enough food, even if the regr soldiers get their fill, if the officers indulge in better food, there will always be resentment within the grassroots until they get the same quality food."
At this point Alexander''s voice had lost all that smooth soothing undertone, as he turned to look squarely at the indulgent nobles, and in a hard tone said,
"We generals have huge tents all to ourselves."
"We ride on horses when marching."
"And we have an entourage of servanting ving away to fulfill all our requests, even bringing our food delivered right to our feet."
"So the least we can do is have the same food as the soldiers to at least pretend to have that veneer!"
By this point Jamider (Earl) Tikba had lowered his head to stare at only the bowl of soup, gazing at it with such concentration that one could be forgiven if he mistakenly thought that the world''s most interesting drama was ying out in it.
Clearly this harsh admonishment was Alexander''s way of getting back at him for thement.
And facing the reasonable words, the older noble found no retort and had to take the hits with muted silence.
"Hahaha, yes, yes, lord Alexander is most erudite. It is because he thinks like this that we will finally take the city this time."
"The army we wield is nothing like the ones before!"
As soon as Alexander finished bashing the noble adjacent to him, Talkuder (Viscount) Prantik quicklyunched an rescue attack to save his partner, speaking in an almost oily tone as he ttered Alexander.
It had to be known another reason for Jamider (Earl) Tikba''s cranky reply was because he really did not want toe in this campaign because he thought there was no point.
And before Alexander could nitpick on that, Lord Prantik quickly changed the topic by saying,
"I still cannot believe we were able to make such progress so quickly! Truly astounding!" as he then turned to Alexander to grin,
"This is surely validation of all the training you put the men through, my lord. With so many well trained men, our victory is all but certain!"
Here the noble was of course referring to how the soldiers were able to achieve more than thirty five kilometers of distance per day even while carrying the heavy supplies they were expected to transport.
And to be honest, Alexander too was pleased with the result.
Though it was his general Menicus to was much more vocal regarding the praise,
"Yes, even though the road was good, still the men did well. If it was so easy, the camp followers would have been here too."
"But it seems they were unable to keep pace." He cleverly pointed out.
But here Alexander chimed in to add,
"Well, that is also because all our food was carried by our soldiers. Our supply train was much lighter."
He did not want his army to growcent with just one sessful march hence the nitpicking, as he reminded that individual men carried the required three days of marching food with them, shedding a lot of their baggage train.
And as soon as the matter of food, Lord Prantik quickly interjected to add,
"Ah, regarding the food my lord, I remember, Lord Prantik saying that he has already asked his men to start delivering the food stored in his depot."
"They will be here by tonight."
It seemed he was trying to embellish his partner in front of Alexander.
And hearing so the young lord did feel his acridness fade a bit, as he turned to give a soft nod of approval to the sullen lord.
Chapter 692 Alexanders Siege Plan
Chapter 692 Alexander''s Siege n
For the past two months, Alexander had been building up all his supplies on Jamider (Earl) Tikba''s fief, which was a day''s march away here, with the idea being that once the siege began, these stocks could be easily essed to get the camp going while replenishments from Zanzan slowly catch up to backfill the depot.
Alexander hade up with this tactic as a way to navigate around any potential problem that might arise due to supply issues, something that had gued the army the previous time.
He reasoned that if things were to be done this way, then even if the army did not get any supplies for a while, it would still have no problem sustaining itself using the stocks at hand for quite some time.
It was a tactic with a much greater margin of safety.
But a critical part of that idea hung on the Jamider (Earl) Tikba bringing the supplies from his fief to the camp itself.
Without those Alexander would starve just like before.
And so hearing those were already on the way certainly pleased Alexander.
"Good. Then we can finishpleting the camp within a week, and begin our seige then!" He cheerfully said as he turned to give a grateful nod to the noble who seemed to have cooled down a bit.
But as Alexander made mention of the siege, this finally got Menes of all people to pose, "Alexander, isn''t time you told us about the battle n. We still do not know how we are supposed to take the city. It surely can''t be through a brute frontal attack right!"
The strong, ck general appeared to throw that idea out of the window right off the bat, not even taking that was possible.
And who could me him given the strength of the walls, the terrain, and the many, many precedences?
So instead he bet his money on Alexander having a secret spy or something like an informant who could show them a secret passageway they could use to infiltrate the city and take it down from the inside.
Or perhaps there was a deserted part of the wall they would scale at the dead of night even no was looking like they had done when they captured Jabel.
Or perhaps there was even a turncoat who would open the gates at night to let them in.
As Alexander had refused to reveal his ns to even his military officers, all sorts of such wild and creative theories were conjured up by those in charge, as they tired to guess Alexander''s next brilliant move.
Though they might as well not have bothered.
Beaune Alexander very frankly revealed, "Oh, why not? I was indeed nning to attack the city head on."
And to say this came as such a shock to everyone would be an understatement.
Those at the table even briefly wondered if they had lost control of their hearing.
"That¡that¡" Menes was particrly hit hard as his mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish, while his eyes threatened to dislodge themselves from the socket.
He did not doubt for a second that Alexander was not aware of what he was proposing.
So instead of trying to make Alexander see the error of his ways, Menes quickly tried to think of a way to make sense of strategy.
"...." And after a while his ckplexion even appeared to turn a bit flushed, as if he was heating up while trying to think too hard.
"Catapaults! Are the catapults that strong my lord!" When suddenly Grahtos loudly pronounced this, his voice happy and ecstatic.
He was sure he had found the answer.
But Alexander only turned to give him a light, enigmatic smile, neither confirming, nor denying it.
Instead, he went to a seeminglypletely different topic, as he posed to everyone,
"Those 40 to 50 thousand camp followers, what do you think of them?"
And naturally everyone was a bit caught off guard by this bizarre question.
They were unable to see the connection.
But Talkuder (Viscount) Prantik answered regardless, spitting out one word, "Hmmp! Vultures!"
And this hostile attitude was mostly because whatever may be the reason these people had for following the army, at the end of the day they had one true real goal.
To tail the army and take part in the looting of the booty.
And this never sat well with mostmanders as it was seen as these people benefiting from other''s hard work.
"Haha, well there is no need to be too prejudiced against them. After all, with so many being here, it means they believe we have a good chance to take the city." Seeing the noble''s attitude, Alexander lightly chuckled.
And this reasoning had precedence in both this world and in Alexander''s previous one.
For example, The Roman historian Livy described an interesting campaign against a ce called Liguria where there were almost no camp followers following the Roman army because the region was poor and offered little plunder.
So the presence of the number of camp followers worked as a kind of indicator of the wealth and prosperity of that region.
"But what do they have got to do with anything?"
But although all these were interesting tidbits, no one was able to see the connection with the question posed.
Thus Jamider (Earl) Tikba gruffly said that.
"Haha, okay, okay, here is the n," And Alexander, seeing everyone else''s patience was also starting to run thin decided he had been leading them for long enough.
So he revealed,
"First of all, we will deploy our crossbowmen, scorpions, and catapults near the front wall and engage the defender stationed there."
"But our main intention will not be to kill them and clear the walls. That would simply not work. So instead our men will work to keep them upied."
As Alexander said this, a sh of intrigue ran across the gathered people, who really could not see the point of that.
Killing the enemy was always better than just keeping them buddy.
So they waited to hear more, as Alexander continued,
"The reason they will need to do that is because just behind them we will have tens of thousands of workers building a huge wall!"
"The wall will be as high as the city''s second wall and be almost asrge as it lengthwise."
"That''s why I bought so many construction material with me, along with so much cement."
"To build it as soon as possible."
As Alexander revealed this, some parts of his n began to be clearer to the others.
It seemed the wall would be built very close to the walls so the crossbowmen would be needed to provide covering fire for the workers from enemy arrow fire.
But beyond that, none of the people present were able to understand the reason behind that.
Sure it sounded impressive, but what did it have to do with the siege?
At first, when Alexander mentioned the wall, they thought he wanted to build apletely ringed wall to surround and cut off the city from all outside help.
But that seemed to be not the case as going by Alexander''s n the wall was nned to be built on only one side.
This made no sense.
But Alexander was not yet finished, so none of them interjected, as he continued,
"Once this wall is constructed, we will put our crossbowmen and catapults on top of it."
"With a higher elevation, they will be able to able to better suppress the wall defenders."
"And they will need to do a got job at that because it is where our real siege will begin."
"Because at this point, we will start recruiting the camp followers to go and start filling up the ditch with earth, while at the same time, the construction of a ramp leading right up to the wall will begin."
"And once that ispleted, we will drive our siege towers right up the ramp and let our soldiers flood the first wall directly."
"And once the first wall is taken, we will repeat the process to take the second one too!"
"And the city will be ours!"
Alexander firmly dered with a confident tone.
While the others were for a moment bbergasted.
Alexander did not lie.
He really was going for a frontal assault.
But he was not also wholly truthful.
Because it was also not the kind of frontal attack they thought it would be, which was brutedder rushes designed to overwhelm the enemy through sheer numbers.
And for a while they were unable to respond it as they tried to wrap their head against this never before seen unorthodox technique.
To some it seemed too whacky and too time consuming to work.
"That¡so that''s why my lord mentioned the camp followers." Realization dawned on Heloptos''s face, white he then muttered,
"Yes, this might work," Though his tone was a bit unsure.
But the unsure whisper seemed to be enough, as it tipped the scales of reasoning in favor of the tactic within the minds of all other military officers.
"Yes! Of course! oF course, it can work!" One chimed after feeling convinced.
"Haha, as expected of the lord. You truly are a once in a thousand years genius!" Another praised with a boisterousughter.
"Yes. I agree. And if we build multiple such walls, and force the enemy to defend multiple ces simultaneously, it will be even quicker," This helpful tip was given by Melodias.
It seemed everyone was on board with Alexander''s n.
Chapter 693 Alexanders Main Camp
Chapter 693 Alexander''s Main Camp
As Alexander revealed his n, there was of course no objection to it.
On the contrary, all the military leaders cheered at the approach.
It was not in any way subtle, but given their superiority in firepower, it certainly had arge chance of sess.
One noble even added that this was a very good idea because even if they failed, the casualties would be rtively low.
After all, it would be those camp followers doing all the dangerous work, while the soldiers would have the rtively safe job of shooting arrows.
Something that gained much approval from the other nobles as even Jamider (Earl) TIkba seemed to have shed his pessimistic outlook to put on a happy, expectant face.
Although he still did not believe they could take the city, at least the losses they were likely to suffer would be far less than he had anticipated.
Thus Alexander''s n was given the green light and things over the next week proceeded without much incident.
In that time the soldiers mostly worked to fully build up the camp and turn it from a makeshift abode to a sturdy, robust stronghold.
Thus all the nearby avable timber was cut, processed, and made to serve in building the truly massivepound.
The walled structure was shaped as a square with each side being twice the size of a football, giving the camp an astounding internal area of 40,000 sq meters or almost 10 acres!
Oncepleted the camp, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it now a fort, had four central gates facing the four directions, with thick wooden gates controlling ess to them.
And inside it, was housed everything an army could ever need.
The fort was mainly divided into three sections, the front, the center, and the back, each located in the position their name suggested.
Out of these three, the center section was the most important section, housing the army''s brain and nervous system.
At the center midpoint of the squared fort, i.e.- smack down in the middle of the entire structure was the most important structure- The administrative building.
It was a two storied wooden structure, and it was from here where the entire war was conducted and coordinated by processing all the paperwork involved.
It was here where the records of all the avable supplies were kept, all the soldiers'' monthly payment receipts issued and all the orders given by different officers andmanders overseen and passed along through the appropriate chain ofmand.
All this was done by arge team of men working tirelessly to keep the cogs of his huge machine moving smoothly.
Next to this vital building, to the right was Alexander''s tent, which was the second or first depending on how you see it, the most important ce in the camp.
Therge tent belonged sorely to him, and it came furnished with everything he could want, multiple private rooms, an indoor shower, a small kitchen, and most important of all, his war council room, from where he could instruct the entire war effort.
There was even arge enough courtyard right in front of his tent where he could have a small assembly if he wanted to, such as to address his officers regarding something.
While Alexander lived ''right'' next to the administrative building, to its left was an obvious structure everyone could guess there would be- The temple.
After all, how could you hope to win a war without the grace of the gods?
Following this on both sides were the various quarters of the high- level nobles and generals with each adobe usually shared by two or three people, along with a few servants.
After that were a few huge granaries, holding not only grains but all sorts of produce required for sustenance for both men and animals.
Multiple of these structures were created, and all were scheduled to be filled once Jamider (Earl) TIkba finished moving all the supplies from the depot in his territory to here.
In front of the granaries was therge medical clinic, which till now empty but would no doubt fill up soon, andstly, beside it was the armory, storing all the weapons, but more importantly the huge stocks of arrows.
It of course went without saying this entire section was very heavily guarded.
Adjacent to the central section were the front and back sections of the camp, both of which were mostly the same.
It was mostly filled with barracks for the soldiers to live in, and stables to house the animals.
Each squad of ten men shared one tent, while officers like sergeants (100 men leader) got a tent to share with the three other lesser officers of his unit.
While the close to 10,000 draft animals lived inrge, wooden stables scattered throughout the camp, looked after by a small army of men.
In addition to just the tents were a few essential structures too, such as a fewrge publictrines to service the soldiers'' bodily needs and numerous wells dug to meet the freshwater needs.
Furthermore there were also a few other utilitarian structures in the two sections, such as a smithy used to maintain the weapons, a barber shop, a leather armorer shop, various small depots that handed out rations to the soldiers, and even arge courtyard in the center for the soldiers to stretch their legs.
The construction of all this only took a week which might seem scarily fast, but Alexander had actuallye here with all the ns already prepared.
All the blueprints were drawn up beforehand, and even the units responsible for each structure were already decided.
So as soon as the camp''s outer perimeter was established, everyone could use the perimeter as a reference to start on their own work without waiting for others to finish theirs.
In that way, as the camp''s walls were being built, the buildings meant to be inside were also beingpleted.
This type of camp building was somethingpletely new, as Alexander had onlye up with this tactic this time.
And seeing the speed at which this was done, the nobles really felt their eyes being opened, and they very vividly praised Alexander''s organizational ability.
So in this way, after only a week the army was ready to strike Thesalie with all its might.
As for what the Tibias''s reaction was to this imminent attack, well when Alexander''s army had all of a sudden manifested itself in front of them, they did panic a bit.
"That¡this¡.this¡Quick! Inform themander quickly!" The bored defenders had suddenly felt jolted awake upon seeing a literal army show themselves right at their doorsteps.
How could they have imagined the shift they thought would have nothing more interesting to see than a few deers scuttling about would have such a surprise in store?
Such a nasty surprise!
They had gotten no prior warming.
Normally when armies moved anywhere, the nearby travelling merchants would leak this information.
But Alexander hade here with such speed that the other side did not even get the slightest chance to detect him.
Thus facing the unexpected 50,000 army, the garrison was initially very jittery.
"What''s all themotion? Calm down!"
But this wave of unease did notst too long, as a pristine-looking, tall middle-aged man gruffly barked out while entering the scene.
He had silver white hair but a jet ck beard, and his chiseled face had arge scar going over his left eye.
He walked with a strong confident gait, and his eyes zed with strength, showing clearly he was a strong man with much fight left in him.
This was the overallmander of Thesalie''s entire garrison, as well as the city''s governor - Lord Commander Ponticus,
Commander!" The arrival of the general was like a giant stone had been ced over a raging river, calming it down, as the soldiers quickly got up to salute the highest authority around here.
Seeing the man himself be here made their hearts soothe themselves.
"How many are there? When did theye? Did they send any messengers?"
The strong military man skipped past the formalities as he asked the soldiers the real questions, while at the same time, he approached the walls to see the enemy for himself.
Being the city lord, of course he had gotten the report that a huge army was knocking on his doors as soon as possible and came as fast as he could.
"Our scouts are still trying to find the exact number. But we think at least 60,000 to 70,000 my lord."
Regarding his question, the answer came from a slightly younger looking man, who was in charge of the everyday operations of the walls.
Named Lapitus, he stepped forward as soon as he could to answer the highest level of authority in the city.
"Bah! You imbecile¡.what 70,000! They don''t even have enough 50,000! You made mee all the here just to see this!"
But hearing the answer, the city lord very quickly chided the man as such.
And then turning to face the soldiers he proimed, "The enemy is too few to pose any threat to us."
"This is probably that new lord of Zanzan attacking us without knowing the immensity of it."
"So keep calm and do as you are told and nothing will happen."
"Like nothing has happened for hundreds of years!"
And this was Tibias''s response, to simply use the men at hand to repel off the attackers.
Chapter 694 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-1)
Chapter 694 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-1)
Themander of Thesalie''s garrison, Lord Ponticus was a man of great military prestige.
He had been in countless campaigns both against Adhania and against other powers across the sea and knew the battlefield like the back of his hand.
A fact that was perhaps best demonstrated most recently when he had so urately judged the number of Alexander''s force from such a distance away so clearly.
That took a keen eye and loads of experience.
And it was not as if he was just a good soldier.
He was very well connected too, for he was Perseus''s uncle and greatly trusted by the king.
In fact when he hade to attack Zanzan, it was Ponticus who was left in charge of the defense of Tibias.
And the fact that he was now given the prestigious role of defending a fortress like Thesalie against Adhania just went to show the trust Perseus had in him.
It was because of all this, both his identity and military pedigree, that when he spoke so lightly of the threat, the soldiers around too felt their nervousness fade away.
''If the general speaks so, then that must be true,'' They said to themselves.
And Ponticus really did think what he said.
If the force in front of him was all the enemy had managed to muster then it was really too low to pose any serious threat to him.
But though the scales heavily favored him, that did not mean Ponticus would be careless in his defense.
So turning to Lapitus he instructed,
"Take all the precautions we do when under a siege."
"Alert all the garrisoned men I want triple the men on the walls and doubled shifts."
"All the watchtowers must be manned at all times, and patrols on the walls must be present day and night."
"Then reinforce the barricades on the main gates."
"From today, all gates except the southern gate remain closed."
"The enemy may not berge but do not ck. Defend the walls properly and repel all attacks!"
Lord Ponticus gave a brief summary of the precautions while leaving Lapitus to work out the details on his own.
The man had been trained to do.
"Yes, my lord. I will see to everything. Rest assured!" So he bowed respectfully.
Having calmed the situation at the walls, Ponticus left it as quickly as he had appeared, choosing to turn his attention to then other secondary matters.
He then met up with the head of the city guards, telling him
"Calm the people down."
"Say there is nothing to worry about and that they should carry on with their life as usual. The enemy cannot pose any threat to us."
"Then close the gates. Do not let anyone in."
"Seeing the army, people from every vige in a 10 mile radius will start flocking here. We cannot take so much. Leave them outside."
"Do not let even merchants in."
"Only people sent from the capital carrying supplies and possessing special seals are to be the exceptions."
"Got it"
Following this instruction, the city lord went to check his granaries, taking note of his food stocks to ensure he had enough, and his armory, ensuring he had enough armaments to defend himself.
Andstly, he went back to his home to write a letter to the capital letting them know of the new development.
The main passage of the letter read such.
''Zanzan hasunched an attack on our city of Thesalie with a force of 50,000.
I believe this is retaliation against our previous attack.
They have decided to set up camp a few kilometers from such and seem to want toy siege to us.
However, such a small force can never hope to ovee our walls.
I am certain of that.
The current situation here hence is stable.
I have all the confidence to hold off against all attacks indefinitely.
Thus I humbly pray to His Majesty to send me the following supplies so the soldiers are not cut off and are able to carry out their task without hindrances.''
After that the letter listed the various quantities of supplies needed, but this was the gist of how the Tibians saw the attack.
As a futile attempt by an enemy blinded by rage using insufficient forces.
And all they would have to do was sit back and let the walls do all the work and they could not lose.
All the officers chose to use this tactic to stave off the offense, with nobody ever even thinking of bringing the fight to Alexander.
Following Alexander''s arrival, the Tibians expected an attack immediately, or the next day at the verytest.
So seeing the enemy make no move and concentrate on getting their camp up and running confused most of them.
Traditional warfare doctrine dictated that when you were able to catch the enemy so off guard like Alexander had, it was vital to attack the enemy as soon as possible to take full advantage of the confusion.
But it seemed Alexander was happy to take his sweet time.
Which of course pleased Lapitus as it gave him much needed to bolster his defense.
He even thanked Alexander for his ''benevolence'' in his heart.
But in the case of Alexander, there was no need to be hasty in his attack.
After all, the siege was scheduled tost months or days.
Thus the attacks finally started after a week, after Alexander had sent them a messenger towards the wall urging them to stand down, which was of course turned down by Tibias as demonstrated by them shooting arrows at the rider.
Thus one glorious early morning, just after dawn Alexander''s army was given the order to match towards the wall, and upon getting close enough to the wall, the crossbowmen were instructed to set up their pavises, the artillery men bought up their catapults, the huge scorpions were set.
"So it has finally begun;" And seeing the nearly fifteen thousand men ready to let loose their projectiles, Lapitus from atop the wall grimly muttered.
"Shoot! Shoot them! Shoot at will!" And then quickly gave teh order to engage the enemy to the thousands of wall defenders.
*Shoo*, *Shoo*, *Shoo*
And thus the first day of the battle began, with each side exchanging deadly volleys for hours on end.
The Zanzan soldiers were able to use their huge 1,000 lb crossbows tounch deadly urate fire toward the wall defenders iming many lives, while they themselves were protected by their huge heavy pavises, all of which soaked up an uncountable number of enemy arrows.
In fact there were some pavises, particrly on the very frontlines that took so many arrows that they literally snapped in two, unable to withstand their own weight any longer.
But it was not as if only Alexander''s side could seek cover.
The Tibians too could use the wall''s battlements and crentions on the walls to stave off Alexander''s projectiles, remaining behind them most of the time and only peeking out to shoot a sudden volley now and then.
The entire showdown between the two sides seemed like a game of hide and seek.
A game where both sides seemed to be equally matched, with both sides possessing unique advantages of their own.
Alexander''s side of course possessed the crossbow, a weapon that was very urate and with a great range.
While Tibias, though mostly used weaker bows, were able topete in range due to their higher elevation.
And it was not like they did not have crossbows of their own.
No, the weapon had left too much of a striking impression in Perseus''s mind to be so.
Hence, remembering how thorny the enemy''s weapon had proved during the siege, Perseus immediately ordered its manufacture as soon as he returned to his capital, intending to use it in his own battles.
And so the cksmiths getting the king''s order set about trying to do exactly that.
It took them over two years and countless tries to finally get there, with them particrly struggling to master the technique of shaping such arge piece of iron into a curve without cracking it.
But ultimately, oveing all the daunting challenges, they did atst manage to create a working piece, able to be deployed on the battlefield, though with a number of drawbacks.
Its quality ranged from bad to worse, with the metal piece being prone to snapping at any time as the metal was still of quite poor quality.
Also, both its range and draw weight were significantly less than Alexander''s, with the reason being the same- low quality steel.
Andstly, the cost of each one was ridiculous, due to the enormous time and difficulties involved.
The failure rate of the product was around fifty percent, meaning one of every two crossbows made did not meet the requirements and had to be scrapped.
All of which meant that none but the most wealthy member of the general public would have the coin to buy the product.
As for using it, well it had to be remembered that crossbow bolts were not cheap either.
All this meant that equipping one''s army with crossbows like Alexander did was simply not possible for Perseus, for he was much too poor.
But still, despite all the issues, it was still quite the achievement given the cksmiths were never ordered to make anything simr before.
And there was no doubt over the years they could certainly able to refine their technique and make crossbows simr in quality to Alexander''s.
Chapter 695 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-2)
Chapter 695 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-2)
Regarding the creation of the crossbow, its inception marked the advancement of Tibias''s metallurgy by at least a few hundred years.
This is because before that, most cksmiths had no incentive to work with iron beyond a few very specific applications, and mostly contented themselves with bronze working.
But this time, with the influx of capital and will from the ruling ss above, the cksmiths finally got the environment to work with iron and figure out various different forging techniques.
Techniques they might have figured out in at least a few hundred years.
And they all had Alexander to thank for that.
Now, though the weapons they had created were very inferior versions of Alexander, and provisions of these among the city garrison very, very sparsely due to its cost and difficulty in manufacturing, they still appeared in the fight, wielded by a very few, very well trained defenders.
And its appearance did cause a physiological effect, causing the opposing Zanzan soldiers to curse out loud when they finally saw what they were being shot at with.
"Thieves"
"Scoundrel!"
"Swindlers!"
All such and many more colorful words were used to describe them as Alexander''s men rightfully used Tibias of intellectual theft, while each risking tempo to try and break the other.
Now, the Zanzan crossbowmen and Tibian archers were not the only ones who were duking it out in the battlefield.
There were the scorpions shooting huge darts trying to skewer the defenders too.
While the newly developed catapults also tried to score a hit on them.
But that was not their main purpose.
No, for their main task was to target the towers built along the walls, which had numerous arrow loops in them.
These arrow loops were basically slots cut into the wall from where defenders could shoot at the exposed enemy, while the chances of the enemy retaliating through that narrow gap was basically nil.
And Alexander wanted to try and neutralize them as otherwise, these towers would give the Tibians ovepping areas of fire, allowing them to concentrate their firepower on anyone trying to approach the walls from all three sides.
Hence he tasked the catapults with destroying these towers by trying to copse the upper parts.
That part was much weaker than the walls themselves as it was hollow inside and Alexander hoped by punching a hole in one side, the whole thing would copse on its own weight.
And to do exactly so Alexander went all out, issuing his artillerymen not round stones as ammunition, but the much denser cast iron balls!
He had at first thought of using lead balls which was denser, regardless of the huge costs involved.
After all, he did not have a lead st furnace like he had for iron.
But that consideration had long gone out the window as Alexander was willing to bankrupt himself if it meant getting the city.
But before he went through with it, he quickly found the w in his thinking.
And that was though lead was much denser than iron, it was much softer too.
So upon impact, the ball would deform and absorb some of the kic energy itself, rather than transferring everything to the wall and causing it to break down.
So when that was taken into consideration, shooting cast iron balls made the most sense.
Thus that was what Alexander used, setting ten catapults each against the two closest towers and ordering his men to hammer away at them till they broke.
And within just one week of continuous fighting the men made quite a bit of headway in that front, as the outer surface on both towers had beenpletely chipped away to reveal the inner wooden and stone structure.
It seemed these towers'' days were numbered, for along some points there were even holes giving one a clear view of the insides.
Those twenty kilogram ''shells'' were no joke.
And those inside the towers had clearly felt the strikes, as those ten catapultsbined were able to hit them nearly every single minute of the day for weeks on end.
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud* Thud*
At first this noise meant nothing to them.
Then after a few days, it started to get annoying, as if the constant low droning irritated them.
And over thest few days, the incessant noise felt like it was giving the men a splitting headache, as they felt simply unable to withstand that cursed sound.
The noise and the ever present vibration caused by the strikes felt like an omnipresent phantom residing inside the men''s heads, and they even started having dreams where they would be tormented by this sound, tossing and turning restlessly in their bed.
The men were clearly suffering from shell shock, and any modern military would have regrly rotated them out to mitigate the effects.
But clearly such doctrines did not exist and so the men were left to fend for themselves.
''Just what is the enemy using to hit us so hard!'' Hence they asked among themselves, feeling it could not be stone as stone did not sound so ''heavy'' and ''dense''.
And the answer could be found just at the feet of the towers, which by now were inundated with thousands and thousands of rock solid lumps of iron.
A collection that seemed to be increasing every day as Alexander''s weapons would pound away at the towers from sunrise to sundown, the amount of ammunition avable to them seemingly endless.
Alexander wouldter calcte that each of his catapults ate through almost 2 tons of iron every day at their peak.
Or a total of 40 tons when all the catapults were counted.
This was a ridiculous amount in every sense of the word.
For instance, Alexander only produced 30 tons of iron every day.
And if he did not have his st furnace, it would have cost Alexander tens of millions of ropals per day just for this.
So it was only with Alexander''s current circumstance that he was able to employ this strategy and it seemed to be delivering results, given the towers seemed to be on theirst legs.
Now these torsion catapults did not only strike the towers of course.
Some were also targeted toward the walls too.
Particrly Alexander instructed the artillerymen to try and hit the battlements and crentions and destroy them so that the wall defenders could not hide behind them.
These catapults though were not supplied with iron balls, but instead, they used the more conventional rocks and stones to try and do damage.
This was because given the nature of the target, most volleys were guaranteed to miss and shoot past the walls,nding inside the city.
Meaning if Alexander used iron balls, he would be just gifting many of these expensive lumps of high quality steel to his enemy, who could then use them to either make weapons or even just throw them back at the soldiers trying to scale the walls.
Now that would be a tragic way to go, killed by ammunition from one''s own side.
Hence the prudent decision.
As the Tibians faced these attacks, it had to be noted that it was not as if they werepletely helpless against it.
Because they had catapults of their own.
And though their range failed to match Alexander''s, they did not need to.
Because set atop the wall, just like their arrows, the higher tion allowed them to bridge that gap.
Hence as Alexandermenced his attack, the enemy too quickly returned counterfire, thus making both sides engage in perhaps the world''s first artillery duel.
But here the Tibians seemed to have a slight advantage.
Because Alexander had very little chance of actually hitting those catapults perched atop the walls, as the artillery crew had trouble even locating them clearly.
While the Tibians at least had a clear view of the enemy''s ones.
And though hitting them proved very challenging given the range and the rudimentary design of the weapon, challenging did not mean impossible.
Although each individual shot had a very small, minuscule chance of hitting when they were shot in the huge numbers they were, and from multiple tforms at that, the possibility suddenly became all too real.
And this theoretical possibility did manifest itself on the battlefield, with multiple of Alexander''s catapults being hit with the week of fighting, each suffering varying degrees of damage, with a few even being outright destroyed.
A result that quickly caused Alexander to issue a directive that said once the enemy fire started tond within five meters of the weapons, the crew ought to immediately move their siege weapon and change location.
It was reasoned that in that way the enemy would be never able to get a proper range estimate on them or be never able to slowly correct their aim by repeated test fires.
Thus the enemy would have to rely a lot more on luck to hit their target.
And in the following days the order went out, that was exactly what happened, as Alexander''s loss drastically decreased, reaching practically zero.
While it also gave rise to a weird sight on the battlefield, which was that each catapult would have a white circle around them, that was as one could guess 5 meters in radius.
Clearly this was done to give an easier visual confirmation of whether the enemy was getting close to hitting them.
It was in such a way that the deadly exchange of arrows and stones continued for a month, and by then the battlefield had drastically changed both in sight and intensity ofbat.
Chapter 696 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-3)
Chapter 696 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-3)
During the first week, Alexander hadunched his attack with the greatest amount of force at his disposal, deploying close to fifteen thousand men as missile troops, intending to shock and awe the enemy.
But such high intensity fight was of course unsustainable over a long period of time.
So over the following weeks, that number was troops participating was almost cut to a third, to about six thousand men per day.
This was roughly about one legion worth of men, with five thousand of them being archers, while the other thousand manned the scorpion and catapults.
In this way, the men could rotate each day so that each man had to fight only once every eight to nine days.
This greatly improved morale and kept the army alert but never exhausted or tired.
Now, although this low intensity conflict was good for soldier survivability, such a small force attacking the walls would be nowhere enough to strain the defenders.
The Tibians were able tofortably take the attacks by simply keeping their heads down and taking the asional potshots to prevent any advance.
It was not the easiest job in the world but it was neither the most difficult.
The only real headway Alexander was able to make here was the destruction of the towers, which after a month of constant bombardment, finally had enough and its front section copsed.
Now, the structure of the towers still stood, make no mistake, but the front part waspletely destroyed, thus opening its inwards for all to see.
Which meant Alexander could freely target those inside who had no cover.
Hence, facing this predicament, the soldiers were ordered to evacuate, which they promptly did.
Though not before barring the door with heavy stones and all sorts of other heavy junk so that Alexander could not simply climb the now open, undefended tower and use its ess route to infiltrate the castle.
And though the loss of the two towers was certainly a setback for Tibias it was nothing game changing.
They now simplycked one of the directions through which they could attack.
But their main avenue of attack which was from the walls still remained intact and unobstructed.
"What are they nning?"
Thus Lord Ponticus found himself muttering as such to him.
For though te average Tibian was very happy facing thisckluster attack, their highestmander, Lord Lord Ponticus muttered this in an unsure voice.
To a veteran like him, the enemy''s actions seemed to make no sense.
They were attacking but seemed not to be putting any real pressure.
Because if they were serious about taking the wall, they should have been trying to attack along multiple fronts of the wall in an attempt to scatter the defenders and make them defend all the ces at once, during which adder rush could have beenunched to try and exploit the temporarily thinned lines.
But this was not happening, as the enemy seemed content to just y this game of exchanging arrows and stones, causing some structural damages and iming some lives, but nothing too serious.
Lord Ponticus had even noticed the number of enemy archers decrease drastically over the past weeks, meaning they were not even fully using their archers to try and clear the walls of defenders.
And Lord Ponticus said this because at the current rate the enemy was damaging his forces, it would take them literal years to whittle his men down to anything even remotely approaching a casualty number required to initiate a rout.
And Lord Ponticus was not speaking in hyperbolics, but in literal terms, judged after seeing the losses from this month''s fighting.
With a full month of fighting behind him, Lord Ponticus found that he had suffered only forty-nine (49) dead and eighty-two (82) wounded.
So given that Thesalie had a garrison of thirty thousand (30,00) and assuming their breaking point was at 10% casualty, which was on the low side given they were defending, even then Lord Ponticus could hold out for two years, no problem.
There was also no fear of them starving because the enemy had not besieged the city from all sides, and transports viand and river continued unimpeded.
So given all these good news, one would think themander of the city would be very pleased.
And Lord Ponticus would have if that all to this madness, simply handwaving the strange attacking patterns as being the enemy finallying to the senses after finally realizing the challenges and deciding to try this low cost approach.
But that exnation hit against the reality on the battlefield.
And that was how the enemy seemed to be changing the battlefield in the preceding month, in a way that did not at all seem normal to the experienced military general.
Because Alexander in preparation for building his wall had been busy digging up the earth just behind the crossbowmen, to be used for the wall''s foundation.
Seeing this Lord Ponticus at first thought Alexander was nning to build a tunnel underneath the wall and start sapping it, thus making the wall crumble under its own weight.
But Lord Ponticus was actually not worried about that possibility.
One was because their walls'' foundation had been strengthened to prevent exactly that.
And two because it would take Alexander a very long time toplete such a long tunnel, so there was no immediate danger.
And given this entire thing was already revealed so long ago, this long time would give Lord Ponticus ample opportunities to try and locate any such sabotages and send his own soldiers down these tunnels to shut it down.
And though such tunnel fights in the dark meandering underground were always a bloody affair, Lord Ponticus was confident he could pull it off.
After all, this was not his first rodeo.
But although Lord Ponticus thought he understood the reason for digging the ditch, he was unable to fathom the huge amount of deforestation that was going on around him.
By now, nearly every tree he once was able to see from atop the wall had been chopped down, turning the once lush hill into an entirely barrennd that seemed to be eliciting a mournful cry at this unjust act.
Or perhaps it was Lord Ponticus''s own soul that was crying.
Beacaeu one of the favorite things for the middle aged lord to do when he was stressed was to pace about the stone ramparts while gazing at the surrounding greenery.
That sight helped to soothe his nerves.
But given Alexander''s destruction of that foliage, that would certainly not be an option for quite some time, perhaps even decades.
So at this needless destruction of nature, the city lord felt quite vexed.
At first, he had thought Alexander was doing this due to necessity.
After all the nearly 100,000 people spent consumed timber at a prodigious rate, both in the use of firewood and as building material.
Furthermore each of the close to 15,000 animals belonging to both the army and camp followers required around 10 to 15 kg of pasture such as grass or green leaves.
So it was understandable to want to cut down some trees to cover one''s daily needs and even stock some for ater time.
But though Lord Ponticus initially thought that, that thought quickly fled his mind.
Beucaeu Alexander clearly was not cutting the trees to do that.
The numbers were too high.
So Lord Ponticus, unable to think of any good reason, felt like Alexander had realized that he would not be able to city and was trying to exact some petty revenge on him by doing this.
Of course Alexander was not doing any of it out of spite.
He simply wanted to clear the hills of any tress to make troop movement along the slopes much easier, as well as to make space for his huge wall.
And to do so he employed both soldiers and civilians.
Alexander left about twenty thousand soldiers behind the crossbowmen to act as the rear guard in case Tibias decided tounch a sudden attack.
And left another two thousand in the camp as guards.
This left him with twenty thousand free men who could do any and all of his bidding.
Thus ten thousand (10,000) of them were asked to build the wall, while the other ten thousand (10,000) were handed an axe and told to cut down every tree in sight.
And it was not only the soldiers who were tasked with this act of deforestation.
Alexander also decided to use the camp followers in this endeavor, with his men half forcing, and half coercing twenty thousand (20,000) of them to either work making the walls or go cut down trees, them being offered a wage of 6 ropals a day.
So with twenty thousand men being dedicated to each project simultaneously, the results soon began to manifest themselves.
Because few could imagine what thebined effort of such a huge number of people could have.
But to give one an idea, an average man could cut 10 trees a day.
So with each acre of the hill being home to 500 trees, that came to 400 acres or about one and a half square kilometers (1.5 sq km) ofnd being cleared of trees each day!
Hence it was little wonder the lush hill was turned into the wet dream of a lumberjack.
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Chapter 697 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-4)
Chapter 697 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-4)
The math Alexander did for the number of cut trees was of course done considering idealized conditions, whereas in reality the felled trees could not simply be cut down and left there on the ground.
They needed to be moved and processed.
But even still, the thick woods that served as a rudimentary defense for Tibias were soon gone under Alexander''s directive, making the thick lush green hill soon look like the head of a bald headed eagle.
And as with the speed the trees were cut, the speed of construction of the wall too took a simr pace, with the foundations for it being very quicklypleted.
After all, a single man would dig several tons of dirt a day.
And when you multiply that figure by twenty thousand hard working men, allboring from dawn to dusk, it very quickly ended up being a very big and wide ditch.
Then soon after that ditch began to get filled up with the thick logs obtained from the chopped trees,ying the first groundwork for Alexander''s wall.
In this way, as the crossbowmen kept the walled defenders busy, the foundation of the walls began to beid.
After that, Alexander began to quickly transfer copious amounts of bricks, stone, and cement already in his warehouse to the effort, trying to build the wall as soon as possible, so that the enemy would not have any time to retaliate
And the speed of the construction did work to catch Lord Ponticus off guard as he even before he could begin to understand what was going on, within a week, he was faced with a long stone wall reaching half a meter.
"Wha¡What! What is that!" He had reportedly cried out bbergasted the first time he looked at the huge structure being built in front of him.
To him it seemed the thing had apparated out of nowhere.
And as he looked at that sturdy thing being built, he even wondered if the enemy knew magic.
Because other than that, he could not think of any way anyone who could build such a huge structure so quickly.
At least not one which was so sturdy.
A fact he found out when he had ordered his catapults to concentrate fire on the still being built wall.
"Fire. Shoot it with stones! Do not let the enemy finish making it!" He had given the order in a slightly, pitched anxious voice.
Lord Ponticus did not know why, but somehow his years of experience told him that letting the enemyplete this wall would be a very bad thing.
But though he took the correct course of action, the wall made from thebination of wood, stone, and concrete simply proved too strong an adversary for the rtively small stones to ovee when shot with such low speed.
They pinged right off the currently one meter high wall, and so the work continued unimpeded, the asional barrages simply shrugged off.
Furthermore when Tibians had their catapults directed at somewhere else, Alexander''s own catapults were free to fire without any fear of retaliation.
And as anyone could guess, they started targeting the positions they roughly suspected of housing Tibias''s siege weapons, trying tond a lucky strike.
So soon many of the Tibian catapults had to be redirected to counter Alexander''s return fire.
And so it was amidst this lobbing of sticks and stones at each other that the construction continued as scheduled, and as the second month of the siege came to a close, the huge wall was finallypleted!
And the finished product was truly a beauty to behold,
Spanning the entire length of the opposing city''s walls, it was five meters wide, with passageways at the back to allow ess to the top.
The wall was able to hold thousands of active bowmen at the same time and was even wide enough to deploy the catapults.
The first part of Alexander''s siege n was done!
And it had gone surprisingly smoothly concerning everything.
Tibias had tried to knock it down by using their artillery but were suppressed by Alexander''s own archers and artillery, the men doing their job wlessly.
Also the Tibians simplycked the firepower to harm the wall, though it could be argued that it was not fair to me them for that, for if they had faced anyone else, they could have indeed knocked down the wall even facing the counter fire.
After all others would not have had a binding agent like cement at their disposal, which would have meant that they could have only made the wall out of wood and not stone.
That would have made it vulnerable to even those small projectiles.
It was also because of this limitation that no one else had thought of using this technique.
Because it would not have worked.
Now it was worth pointing out that Tibias had not simply resigned itself to shooting at the walls and praying it crumbled.
No, some of Lord Ponticus''s more energetic officers had wanted to charge out of the city and manually destroy the walls as it was being built.
"Lord Commander, the enemy is busy building his walls. He is distracted ying house! Give us the order and we will be able to smash everything he has built to bits with just one strike!" One of the more eager ones imed, wanting to catch Alexander off guard.
"Yes! Lord Lord Ponticus. With 30,000 of us here, our mighty phnx will be able to chase the enemy away with ease." While another buttressed him, drawing acknowledging nods from many in the group closely at these gathered men, they would find nearly all of them to be of the younger generations.
And in Lord Ponticus''s eyes, they seemed to simplyck the patience required to win a siege.
''These young brats!'' He tsked in his heart.
Though he could also understand where they wereing from.
The two mouths of constant fighting seemed to be making some of them restless.
So recognizing that Lord Ponticus did not scold or chide them, but instead in a deep, authoritative voice replied,
"The enemy constructing that wall might certainly seem impressive. But it serves no prupose."
"He cannot surround the city from all sides. The Diannu rive is too wide to blockade"
"And if he tried to do even then, we will not let him."
"So there is no need to panic just now."
"We can have this talk if he continues to build those walls."
Lord Ponticus''s diplomatic approach to keeping the option to preemptively strike open cated many of the officers who were nervous about their prospects on the inside but refused to show it on the surface.
While his reasonable assessment of the situation also brought their focus back to reality.
''Themander is right. While it is true the wall is certainly impressive, it cannot do anything to us.''
They said to themselves feeling relieved.
Many of the officers were at first scared by the sheer scale and speed of the constructed wall.
But that just by itself seemed to pose too little of a threat.
Hence they quickly started to calm down.
And seeing this Lapitus too joined the converting interjecting on behalf of Lord Ponticus and further saying,
"Lord Ponticus is right. Our ancestors always told us we should never go out to meet Adhania in an open field but to use these walls to repel the,"
"So if we go on the offensive it would be us betraying their advice."
"We mustn''t do that!" He urged and then finished by saying,
"Furthermore I would like to remind everyone that although we have 30,000 men, most of these are untrained and ill equipped."
"Using them to attack would not be wise."
"Our best chance of victory is to stay within the city and kill as many of the enemy as possible."
Facing this reasoning and encountering the strong opposition of both the city lord and his lieutenant, the belligerent officers all quickly cooled down and went back to concentrating on their own tasks, which keeping a watchful eye over the walls and making sure the enemy could not pull off any cheeky tactics.
But what they did not realize was that the enemy did not need to pull off any cheeky tactic.
Their cheeky tactic was right in front of them, in the form of the huge wall.
And though Lord Ponticus said this could do no harm to them, Alexander was about to prove all of them oh so wrong.
Beauce soon the horrors of the walls began to manifest themselves, as casualties on Tibian''s side began to shoot through the roof
This happened because as the wall finally reached its maximum height of 10 meters, the thousands of crossbowmen finally got to y on an even ying field.
Meaning they no longer had to y the uphill battle to having to aim up toward the walls.
Instead now they could shoot straight forward or even down below if they were targeting those on the first wall.
It was a game changer and Alexander''s men rejoiced at the increased range, uracy and convenience it bought them while Lord Ponticus''s men shuddered at the new threat.
And the immediate effect of such a change in the power dynamic was soon felt, as Tibias''s casualties skyrocketed to almost triple the times.
And the bad news did not stop there.
No, soon another horror emerged, which were the catapults, a weapon that had suddenly turned very, very different, and much, much more ''fiery''!
Chapter 698 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-5)
Chapter 698 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-5)
As the construction of the wall finished, and the second phase of Alexander''s siege began, he transferred all his soldiers and artillery onto the wall to give them a better advantage.
This helped the crossbowmen and the ones manning the scorpions as now their shots did not need to fight gravity to reach their target.
Meaning many of the bolts that previously would have lost all kic energy by the time they had reached their target and simply fell from the sky, pinging off the defender''s armor could now have enough force in them to prate and wound or kill them.
Along with these, Alexander also employed his catapults, which he actually saw to be the main star of the show, for he had invented quite the nefarious ammo to be used with this missile delivery mechanism.
A taste of which the Tibians gotte one night, when Lord Ponticus, stayingte in his office suddenly noticed through his window what to him seemed like fiery stars streaking across the sky and crashing into his city!
It was a paralyzing moment for him, as he noticed volley after volley of such infernal ballsnd inside the walled perimeter.
And though most of these glowing stars extinguished themselves harmlessly after a few minutes, a few lucky ones did manage to catch hold of one or two unlucky houses, thus setting them on fire.
The ze from these mes appeared not insignificant either, as Lord Ponticus feared if these fires were not quickly taken care of but given the time to grow, the entire city ran the risk of being turned to ash.
"Quick! Go get Lapitus quick! Have him douch those mes immediately," Hence the ruler of the city eximed such in terror,manding the leader of his bodyguard to get the message out.
Something the man bolted out to perform, as he too knew perfectly well what all of this meant.
"Dammit! What is going on! How is the enemy throwing so big fires!" And as he ran, the military man repeatedly asked himself this and only this.
And indeed!
What could it be?
To know that one had to turn their gaze to Alexander''s side, where this mmable ammunition was being prepared.
And as luck would have it, Alexander was actually giving some of his nobles and military officers a tour of the process right at this moment.
Alexander said,
"The ming stars that the Tibians have seen heezing past them are actually just finely crushed coal mixed with sawdust," as he showed his entourage how the soldiers were preparing the mixture, first crushing the coal with a mortal and pestle with smooth dust and then adding a proportional amount of sawdust to it.
Following this Alexander pointed to the next process,
"Thisbustible mixture is then put inside a linen cloth bag."
"This linen bag is also special because it actually coated with a mixture of tar and animal fat."
"This is done to make sure the whole thing is even more mmable."
"Andstly, a few lumps of stones are added to give the whole thing a bit of mass and weight."
"Or else it would not be able to travel smoothly over the air."
As Alexander said, he then moved on to thest part of the process, which he described as,
"Once all this is ready, the soldiers then take this ten to twenty kilogram load and ce it on the catapults, before lighting it on fire using a torch moments before it was released."
*Twank*
And as soon as Alexander finished saying so, the taut catapult was let go and
*Shooo!*
The burning mass could be seen shooting across the dark night sky like a meteor, burning brightly as if it were an instrument of the gods carrying out their vengeance, as it went past the walls and disappeared into the background.
And as the small crowd watched with an enraptured awe at the sight of multiple such shots being fired from all the avable catapults, over and over again, they were left speechless.
While Alexander provided the followingmentary,
"I used the tar and animal fat as the coating to make sure the fire was much more resilient. This way each of the shots will burn throughout its flight and not simply extinguish itself mid way due to strong winds."
"This way most of the fired shots will still be burning even as theynd."
"And if a few lucky ones manage to find a thacked straw roof to make its abode¡.hehehe, well we will be in luck!"
It certainly sounded very morbid but it seemed Alexander was quite happy to burn the entire city down as long as it meant he could conquer it.
Though to be fair Alexander had no intention of actually seeing that happen.
After all, then he would have to pay for all of its reconstitution.
And it would also result in the death of thousands if not tens of thousands.
Meaning he would lose that many able bodied working men.
There was no way he wanted to see that happen.
So his actual purpose in shooting these fireballs was to exhaust the defenders by making them work day and night.
While the sun was up, Alexander would make the Tibians defend against his volleys of arrows, sometimes mixed with small scaledder lushes just to keep them on the edge.
While as soon as night fell, the true terror would begin, as people would be forced to live with one eye open in fear that it could be their house which might catch fire this time.
Of course the chances of that happening were actually miniscule.
Most of Alexander''s shots would get unlucky andnd on wood or even worse stone.
Also, not even every thacked roofnding resulted in a fire.
Sometimes the fire simply failed to spread and died out.
But not all.
There were some that did manage to get lucky.
So once in a while, that mmable mass would manage to find itselfnding around a suitable environment, and as the outer linen clothes were burnt away to spill the high quality coal and sawdust,
*sh!*
Soon a roaring inferno would birth itself, initially using the mixture inside it to get going, and then once grown sufficiently big enough, being able to start devouring the surrounding, be it hay or wood.
The urrence of such a disaster would necessitate men to be deployed to mitigate it, meaning manpower had to be expended to have a group of men on stand by at all times, alert and ready to respond to such emergencies.
So it was surely something that would eat away at the city''s endurance, especially as people would be unable to get a good night''s sleep.
And though it might have been able to be shrugged off if it was only a few days, the repeated and continuous pressure from Alexander''s side soon began to take its toll, which was why the end of the month, many of the defenders looked more like zombies and actual humans, with sluggish paces, their words being asionally jumbled and their eyes ringed with ink.
So what Alexander was doing and what he was using was clearly working.
The ammunition was of course the brainchild of Alexander, who invented it while trying to think of a way to make life as miserable as possible for the Tibians.
And he came up with the idea of using fire as his mind suddenly drifted to remembering how Hollywood loves to use it in fights.
"My lord, you truly are a genius! We could have never thought of anything like this!" Talukder (Viscount) Prantik eximed as the tour came to an end.
And was quickly joined by another noble,
"Yes, yes! Previously he used fire arrows. But most of those burned out even before theynded. This is much better!"
Then a third noble added,
"My lord, I would also advise adding a bit of palm oil to the mixture. That thing is sticky and is very difficult to put out by water."
"Our fireballs will be much more difficult to put out that way."
Andstly, Jamider (Earl) Tikba proposed to Alexander,
"Also we should try to attack the city from different parts. That will keep the enemy guessing, and if lucky, we could even start multiple fires all throughout the city."
"That will give us a much better chance of seeding."
It could be clearly seen that though these noblemen might not be the most creative inventors, but when presented with a new thing, they were very quickly able to figure out new uses of them.
Alexander was frankly impressed by this.
"Haha, then let us try all these and see how well they work," So he decided to experiment on all of them, which yielded varying degrees of result.
The palm oil idea was a bust, but targeting the city from different sides proved very popr.
Although the absence of the walls on the other two sides meant Alexander had to move his catapults very close and put them at risk of counter artillery fire, he still felt the trade off was worth it.
And so as the month went on, Tibias was made to deal with almost constant fires, sometimes multiples at a single night straining both their manpower and logistical resources.
While in the morning they had to try and stop Alexander''s soldiers, camp followers, and even the people recruited from nearby viges from filling up the ditch surrounding the city and building a ramp towards it.
Chapter 699 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-6)
Chapter 699 The Siege of Thesalie (Part-6)
As the siege entered its third month, it entered a brand new phase for both sides.
For Tibias it meant constant nightly fires and incessant arrow fire from the enemy, resulting inrge casualties.
A situation that turned harder when the enemy started tounch these fireballs from all three directions.
With their only saving grace being that those from the sides were much easier to deal with.
While on Alexander''s side, the main challenge waspleting the most difficult part of the siege.
Which was the part where the ditch around the city was to be filled with earth and a ramp up to the wall was to be built.
The reason a ramp was needed to be built was because with Thesalie being on a hill, its slope proved too steep for the men to pull the heavy towers into ce.
Hence an upperyer of dirt with less hostile of a gradient had to be built, along which the siege towers that were currently being built could be more easily pulled along so that the soldiers could be directly deposited into the walls.
And for this endeavor, as Alexander had requisitioned before for his forest clearing, here too were soldiers and camp followers employed.
Though this time thetter proved much more reluctant to be employed.
And who would not?
It was nowhere as cushy as simply cutting down some trees.
Here they were being asked to go to the foot of the enemy''s walls carrying a bucket to earth to fill up the ditch.
All while the enemy would be trying their best to stop them byunching a constant withering fire of arrows, stones, and hot oil or water from above.
And even though Alexander''s archers tried their best to neutralize these defenders and punish them for stepping out of their cover, and even though the two towers that would have made the whole attempt aplete death trap if they still worked were neutralized using the catapults, the work still proved to be quite dangerous.
After all, no matter how much Alexander tried, some Tibians were always able tounch arrows or throw stones at these hard working people.
So it took quite a bit of ''persuading'' to get these camp followers to take this job.
Which of course meant the soldiers threatening these civilians at the tip of their swords.
And these armed men were unusually eager to use this intimidation card as theirmanders very clearly let them know that if they could get enough camp followers to do this work, then it would fall upon them.
So faced with the choice between running to the foot of the enemy''s wall while being shot at oneself, or making someone else run to the foot of the enemy''s wall while being shot at, every sane man chose the same option.
Of course, Alexander did not only show the stick.
He offered these civilians the carrot too, in the shape of a 33% pay rise aspared to their previous job, promising them 8 ropals a day for their work.
This ended up costing Alexander an extra 160,000 ropals a day, or almost 5 million a month, but he would have been d to pay double that if it meant getting the job done.
Furthermore, to make the deal even sweeter, he even promised them medical coverage, meaning if they got injured, Alexander would cover their bills by letting them get treated in his clinic at the camp.
Andstly, like the considerate employer he was, he even created a special vehicle for them to use, one that could shield them from strikes of above.
At its heart, this special utility vehicle was just a cart that had its body thrown away leaving only the wheel while it was given arge sturdy roof and protected skirts on the sides.
Therge ''thing'' could be pulled by men from the inside, thus letting them stay under the protected cover of the armored cart, and it was able to safely shelter ten people at a time.
All these men would be carrying buckets of dirt with them, which they would deposit into the ditch upon reaching their target and then quickly pull back as fast as possible.
This new armored cart too was a new innovation, one which Alexander made after taking inspiration from a battering ram, and Alexander made it to be as durable as possible.
For instance the roofs and sides were not just made of in wood but reinforced with iron fastening too, in order to prevent the wood from splitting when struck byrge objects like falling stones.
Also, solid iron rods were used as supports on the roofs and as beams, all to prevent the whole structure from breaking when hit.
All of which worked to make the entire thing very durable,
Now, all of these ''improvements'' did end up adding a lot of weight, but the people using it seemed to not mind much, much preferring to lug the heavy thing around rather than run through the field of arrow fire naked.
And they all only regretted that there was not enough of these armored carts to go around.
After all, given twenty thousand men were involved in the endeavor, Alexander would have needed to make 2,000 of them.
And that would have taken frighteningly long to produce, prohibitively expensive, and logistically impossible to transport.
So he made around a hundred of them and issued them to the more obedient camp followers as a form reward.
Which also worked to suppress any reluctance among the workers as each man tried to work as wlessly as possible to get a chance to get inside those.
And around two weeks into this effort, as the ditch kept getting filled up, these camp followers were joined by another group.
And they were not the soldiers.
After all, Alexander very much preferred not to use up his precious fighting force in such attritional fighting.
No, it was all the native vigers from nearby that came to the aid!
Just as Lord Ponticus had predicted, these peasants quickly got news that an enemy army was nearby and fearing for their lives and modesty, had sensibly chosen to move toward the city in hopes of taking shelter inside its walls.
But again, just as Ponticus had instructed, they found therge wooden oak door closed to them.
Thus they had no choice but to return.
Though some chose to linger and loiter around in the hopes that a chance to go inside would miraculously manifest itself.
And it was then that Alexander noticed this happy coincidence.
So not being polite, he then had all these freebor just whirling their time away promptly gathered with the promise of a free meal, and then employed them for 2 ropals a day and two hot meals.
A deal that these dirt poor men were happy to ept, betraying their lord in a heartbeat.
Though it could be also argued that it was Ponticus who had clearly betrayed them first, as he had sworn to protect them in exchange for them paying their taxes.
But though they had certainly paid their dues, as peasants who did not pay their taxes did not tend to live very long, they were clearly being denied their protection.
A vulnerability that Alexander chose to take full advantage of.
So with these extra hands, as the third month of the siege neared its end, the ditch along the front of the city soon began to disappear, reced by a t, smooth piece of ground, a ground ideal for rolling something like a siege tower over.
It seemed that try as they might, the Tibians had been simply unable to stop this crucial gap from being filled.
And speaking of siege towers, their constructions were also no secret to the Tibians.
After all these were huge structures and were being built right in front of them.
And judging by the rate of their production, it seemed they would soon be ready to hit the ramp that too was under construction.
Hence, aware of all this, a very heated debate was currently taking ce inside the most iconic building of Thesalie- The lord''s mansion.
"My lord, what should we do!" Asked a slightly panicking soldier.
"Attack! We must charge out and attack!" And even before Lord Ponticus could answer, one of the officers loudly imed as such.
He was the same man who had led the group of eager officers previously.
"I too agree. If we let them finish their siege towers we are finished!" And this time, he was joined by another officer who ominously chimed such.
"Yes. We thought we were safe from siege towers given we are atop a hill."
"But who would have thought the enemy would build an earthen ramp to try and tten it! Ridiculous!" A fourth, much older man''s voice pronounced so loudly.
He was of the same generation as Lord Ponticus and held much respect among the soldiers and officers due to his age and experience.
And if it had been any other time, he might have been very impressed and appreciative of seeing this novel approach to warfare.
But not so much when it was being deployed against him.
He was very concerned.
And with even a decorated officer like him expressing concern, Lord Ponticus knew he could not simply push the request down.
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Chapter 700 Troubles Inside Thesalie
Chapter 700 Troubles Inside Thesalie
The old man who expressed his concerns over the evolving situation was called Kalidus and in his younger years, he had worked as Lord Ponticus''s adjudant, thus giving his current words a lot of weight.
And his concerns were further justified when supported by the next man, who was interestingly Lapitus himself, as this time he sided against his boss, stepping forward and saying,
"I too agree that we should do something."
"Just sitting behind the wall and hoping the enemy will give up like our ancestors said seems to be no longer working."
"And whatever we do, it should be done as soon as possible."
"Because every day we take more and more casualties. And every day our numbers dwindle that little bit."
"Just today we had 39 dead and 53 wounded. We cannot sustain this forever."
"If we do not stem the bleeding, or take action soon, then we might even lose the ability to do anything about it in the future even if we wanted to!"
Lapitus sounded very pessimistic about the situation by the end of it.
"Hmmmm," And facing all these officers'' petitions, Lord Ponticus first and foremost let out a long drawn out sigh.
To be honest, even with the situation evolving to such, he still felt that leaving the safety of his wall would be a great mistake.
He had no basis for this, but gut feelings did not need any basis.
But he also knew gut feelings would not be enough to convince these men to stay put.
If he directly suggested such, he risked being seen as an old timer who lost his courage.
"I heard there was a fire recently that burnt some of our food. How much was it¡.. I forgot." And at some point during his rumination, Lord Ponticus suddenly brought this up.
And Lapitus hastily confirmed,
"Yes, one of the fireballs fired from the east side somehow managed tond on top of one of the granaries."
"What was unlucky was the fireball burnt through a part of the roof and drooped down into the actual grains inside, directly lighting those on fire."
"By the time we managed to get it under control¡.there was nothing left to rescue." The man sounded genuinely sad and bitter at the loss of all the precious produce.
And he was then joined by Kalidus too, who added,
"*Sigh*, shots from the sides never reached that far. The enemycks the high elevation there after all. So our patrols around those parts were less."
"But it seems one strike managed to somehow make it through!"
"What luck!"
The old man sounded equally sad and bitter.
While Lord Ponticus could understand the context for the decreased patrol.
Given the enemy''s cruel tactic, many of the men were sleep deprived, he included, and so it seemed that lowering the number of patrols was a type of necessary measure the garrison had been forced to take.
They had been able to get away with it for most of the time as Alexander did not have enough resources, particrly the cement to build more walls like he had done in the front, so the attacks from the side were less dangerous.
But it seemed their luck had finally run out.
And Alexander was able to recoup all this bad luck with this one shot.
"So how much grain was there?" Lord Ponticus repeated thetter part of his question, this time while massaging his forehead.
He felt a slight migraineing.
"About one fifth¡a bit less than that." Came the straightforward answer.
And it made Lord Ponticus feel like a small stake had gone through his heart.
That was certainly not insignificant, and it did hurt his ability tost against this siege.
''We might need to start rationing,'' The experienced general muttered to himself.
Though the food situation was not yet so dire, it certainly had the chance to be.
Hence facing so many threats both from the outside and inside his own deteriorating domestic situation, Lord Ponticus knew he could not stave off the pressure from his officers.
So bringing his hand up and sping them in front of him, this member of the royal family announced in a heavy voice,
"Okay. Given the current development of the situation, I believe it is indeed imperative that we strike."
And no sooner had he said this that a wave of delighted murmur buzzed across the room, as the officers rejoiced at having had wishede true.
But Lord Ponticus was not done yet.
So he continued unimpeded, raising his octaves a bit in order to drown out the muffled voices,
"But not right now!"
"Now is not the time."
"We will attack two months from now."
"We will need this time to train the garrisons."
"And I will also personally write to His Majesty in the hopes some reinforcement can get here in time."
Lord Ponticus revealed this n, which worked dashing some of the more cheerful spirits.
They were hoping to attack within the week.
But Lord Ponticus was of the mind to bolster his forces as much as he could before initiating an attack.
Now ideally, he should have asked this at least a month ago, just when the night terrors had started.
But he simply could not think things would have gotten so bad so quickly.
So he tried to fix his mistake now.
Betterte than never I guess.
"Two months! That''s too long my lord!"
But predictably the timeline proposed by Lord Ponticus was too long for Kalidus''s liking.
And he was supported by all the other officers too.
"One month! I think it would be a grave mistake to wait any more than one month." Lapitus quickly imed.
"Yes! The enemy has already finished filling up the ditch. And the siege towers should not take more than one month to build. Certainly not two!" The very eager officer quickly joined, clutching his fist.
"We can train our troops within one month. Let us not any longer than that!" Another urged Lord Ponticus.
"...." And facing thisbined pressure Lord Ponticus once again found himself on the back foot, as he struggled to get back control.
He could shout and use his authority and peerage to forcibly suppress it.
But he doubted that would be a long term solution
Using force against one''s army was usually a bad idea.
The men might even charge out of the gates when push came to shove.
Or the alternative was that he could acquiesce to the officers.
But he really did not attack without any reinforcements from the capital.
He had a gut feeling he would lose if he did.
So thinking a bit, he decided to y his trump card, his one time use ace in the hole.
Stating in a heavy, boisterous manner, Lord Ponticus threw away these concerns officers had forcefully,
"The enemy will not be able tounch an attack within the next month. I have lived through more sieges than all ofbined, and I''m sure of it."
"He has not set the necessary conditions."
"You talk about the siege towers beingpleted but you forget about the ramp."
"That ramp is yet to be anywhere close to being finished."
"And without that, he cannot move his siege towers."
"So we actually have time."
"We will attack when the time is right. Just as the enemy has finished his siege towers. We can then burn it after all the hard work he has done, hehehe," Lord Ponticus cunningly smirked, as if the enemy was dancing to his tunes, and finished by turning to the men and loudly announcing,
"Do not panic men! A panicking soldier is a weak soldier!"
"This city has stood for hundreds of years, it will stand for hundreds more!"
Lord Ponticus''s heavy words and the enormous belt of experience he carried worked to convince the officers, and though reluctant, it seemed nobody was willing to challenge this authoritative figure of the royal family.
So they retreated for the second time.
But Lord Ponticus knew he would not be so lucky the third time.
He had managed to bluff his way out of his this time, but this ace could be done only one time.
There would be no pushing them back next time.
Thus as soon as his study was emptied, he immediately started writing a letter to PR, describing the present situation, as well as the enemy''s new tactic and the imminent possibility of a dire predicament.
Lord Ponticus then described his intended attack and ended the letter as such,
"The nned counterattack requires more men than I have at my disposal. Thus I urge His Majesty with the utmost urgency to send me at least 20,000 men within the next month."
"Or else though this subject is not afraid to give his life defending the Fortress of Fortresses, I fear it might be all for naught!"
Lord Ponticus put the sealed parchment at the hand of a skilled rider within an hour of adjourning the meeting and urged him to ''ride like the wind'', instructing him to see the king as soon as he got there without any dy.
"Rest assured my lord. I will not fail you," And this man, though did not know the entire story, could immediately feel things were not going well with the city.
Thus he promised such.
And as Lord Ponticus watched the horse gallop away, all the way until it was no longer visible over the horizon, he really hoped some significant reinforcements would be headed towards his way as soon as possible.
Chapter 701 Reaction of Tibiass Court (Part-1)
Chapter 701 Reaction of Tibias''s Court (Part-1)
If Lord Ponticus was asked to answer truthfully whether he really believed they could hold on for two months, he would have answered- ''Unlikely''.
He had far exaggerated the problems facing Alexander and knew the enemy might be ready tounch a full fledged attack before the end of next month.
This elerated pace even surprised Alexander himself as he was able to make far quicker progress on the siege than he had originally thought.
The walls were built quicker, the ditch was filled faster and Tibias''s resistance seemed far smaller than originally anticipated, possibly due to the effective use of his artillery.
And thus, Lord Ponticus could only urge Lapitus to not panic and train the men as quickly as possible.
While Alexander prepared himself with baited anticipation for thest phase of his n to begin- the actual attack on the city.
As Alexander waited, the lord of Zanzan also received a very special letter from Zanzan.
It was from Cambyses and it was good news.
Very good news.
It informed him that both Ophenia and Mean had sessful deliveries and that he had two more children - a girl for Ophenia, and a boy for Mean.
This put a smile on Alexander''s face for the rest of the day.
He had originally promised to be there during their births but found it difficult to make the time.
The siege was progressing much better than he had expected and the things he thought would have been possible only in the fifth or even sixth month of the campaign were about to ur imminently.
It would be unwise to have a change inmand at this critical moment.
Thus he wrote back a passage of hearty congrattions, as well as informing them of the progress of the siege, and then promising to return very soon.
And while he was writing it, he even regretted a tiny, tiny bit that the siege was not a tad bitter.
Because up until very recently, he had mostly spent his time idly in the camp.
In the morning he would stay in his tent listening to the daily reports regarding the war and giving orders as needed.
Then he would take a stroll to the administrative building to have a chat with the men running the whole show, listening to how everything was running.
After that came lunch at around midday, following which he could either tour the barracks or if he was feeling like it, go visit the frontlines which was a few kilometers from his main camp.
There he would meet the soldiers and personally talk to the officers, boosting morale.
Andstly, just around dusk, he would take a visit to the camp clinic to visit and say soothing words to the injured men.
Of course, this final part was done not out of total altruism, but as a way to boost his image among the soldiers and make himself present himself as a man of the people.
After all, how manymon soldiers could have ever imagined having a noble ask of their well-being like Alexander was doing?
And that was it for a typical day for Alexander.
And as it could be seen from his schedule, Alexander mostly spent his time just looking after things rather than doing anything.
He was not even ''doing'' any girl like many of the nobles, who many times took the more beautiful working girls offering their services to bed.
Sometimes they even took the regr women working there.
Not by force of course.
They did not need to, as most peasant women were more than happy toy with a noble.
They were usually offered quite some coin and if they could get really, really, lucky to earn one of their favor, they might even have their fortunespletely reversed.
So why would they refuse?
It was also because of that greed many such flies would regrly buzz around Alexander, him being without a doubt the juiciest target in there, as he was both the highest ranking noble and one of the youngest.
A more perfect candidate totch oneself onto simply did not exist.
Not here, perhaps not even in the whole of Adhania.
Though of course, even as they tried, they were bound to be disappointed.
For no other simple fact than Alexander did not like doing that during campaigns.
He thought it distracted him and felt such pleasures should be reserved for after the war.
And though not a militaryw, he also tried his other officers to follow the same, though up until now it seemed to have given little result.
So for now Alexander spent the following days with a pleased heart over the birth of his new children while waiting patiently for the day he couldunch his attack on the walls.
As for the opposing side, well Lord Ponticus''s messenger, by switching horses multiple times, rode without rest to reach the Tibian capital as quickly as possible.
And when he delivered the note, it did start quite a significantmotion in the courts.
"...is¡is it real? Did Lord Ponticus really write this?"
"Impossible! How¡can this be?"
"What is he doing! How did he allow things to turn so dire!"
"20,000 men! Ridiculous! What are we¡ magicians? We don''t have so many!"
All such surprised exmations of disbelief and incredtion were uttered by the nobles present there, with some even criticizing the man, though thetter were really in the minority as Lord Ponticus''s military career really left very few people doubting hispetency.
So most understood that things must have turned pretty bad.
As for the man to whom this letter was addressed, the one sitting on the throne, Perseus read and re-read the parchment over and over again.
Lord Ponticus had been quite detailed in his recount of how the enemy had pushed him to such dire straits, and as Perseus read it, a part of him could not help but feel very impressed by all of it.
But impressed or not, the fact still remained that his youngest uncle needed reinforcement.
"How many men can we muster by the month?" Hence putting down the parchment, Perseus very directly posed.
"....." And it was followed by a long silence.
Every single noble knew how much they could contribute, but no one knew the total.
At least not at the top of their head.
Also after theirrge loss from two years ago, many nobles were reluctant to give out their precious men, much preferring to hoard it for themselves.
Thus they opted to remain silent.
Until one noble betrayed the collective.
"Your Majesty! My family can give five thousand!" The man stepped forward to loudly im, therge ''donation'' instantly causing no small upheaval in the court.
Five thousand might not sound like a lot, but in Tibias''s context, it very definitely was.
It was equivalent to an entire legion.
But who was this man capable of single handedly offering so much?
Well he was Lord Theony- a very prominent member of Tibian nobility and the father of Theony, who was the king''s adjutant.
Also, yes, Theony''s (the king''s adjutant) father was also called Theony, with the only distinction between the two being the prefix ''lord'' added to the senior man.
"Mmm, very good. Lord Theony is truly one of a kind, a true son of Tibias." Hearing the veryrge donation, Perseus was naturally very pleased.
Though it would also have to be pointed out that the reason Lord Theony had done this was also as a way to buy more power in the court, as after Leosydas''s death, there was a power struggle currently going on over who would get to take over the former''s responsibilities.
But regardless of Lord Theony''s interests, he did promise such arge number of troops,and this of course caused Perseus to break out a smile.
"Me too! I too can get five thousand men."
And as soon as Perseus finished praising Lord Theony, Mithriditus from the side too loudly imed this, though it sounded a bit forced, as evidenced by his slightly clenched fists and clenched teeth.
Because for him, sparing five thousand young, good, working men would be pushing his limit.
But he promised nevertheless.
Because remember the current power struggle regarding taking over Leosydas''s influence?
Well he was one of the big yers there and his biggest rival was, as you could have guessed it, Lord Theony.
And how could he let his rival get one step ahead?
So even though Mithriditus''s family was not as rich as Lord Theony''s, he bit the bullet and matched him anyway.
"Excellent! Here is another true son of Tibias, haha" And the moment Mithriditus dered such, Perseus immediately loudly praised, as his mouth could not help but form a knowing smile.
Perseus had certainly acted as he had calctively, pitting one man against the other to extract the maximum benefit from both of them.
And as evidenced it had worked out fantastically.
Then to squeeze out even more of the juice, he immediately dered, "Good! Then I will count on both of you to get all the men ready as soon as possible."
"Though Uncle did not say it expressively, I believe he is in a lot more trouble than he''s letting on."
"He is just too proud to say."
"So I want you to be ready by the end of this month."
Perseus casually set the timeline.
''Didn''t the letter say Lord Ponticus could hold on for two months! Why do we get only one?'' While both men shouted so in their hearts.
Chapter 702 Reaction of Tibiass Court (Part-2)
Chapter 702 Reaction of Tibias''s Court (Part-2)
Perseus''s target of one month to gather all those men was really pushing what was possible.
It usually took much longer than that to gather so many men as time was needed to get the order down the chain ofmand.
But none of the two men dared to dispute this in fear of the other using it against him to make him appear ipetent.
While Perseus after setting the time frame continued,
"After you have gathered your men, have them use the river Diannu to ride upstream."
"That way you can directly enter Thesalie. This will be much faster than marching."
Perseus''s n to use the navigable waterways for troop transport was very good.
But this little detail somehow also gave the two the opportunity to quibble and try and wriggle out some more time.
So being the quicker witted of the two, Mithriditus tried to go around the problem another way.
"But¡but Your Grace, we do not have enough boats to carry all the ten thousand men and supplies. And it will take time to gather so many, even if we take them from the merchants and trade guilds."
Clearly he was hinting for the king to extend the timeline.
And Lord Theony also quickly joined Mithriditus this time, adding withrge nods,
"Yes. yes And although we can gather the men, ¡but the supplies¡.that will take much¡."
But he did not get to finish his piece as Perseus shed his palms and curtly interjected,
"No need to worry. You will only have to carry the supplies required to make the journey."
"As Thesalie is not too far from here, you can make it in only five days if you go by river."
"That will solve both the boat and supplies problems, right?" He smirked with a knowing curl to the lips.
Perseus was not a king who could be hoodwinked so easily.
Especially when it came to military matters.
He was unusually sharp about this stuff.
"...." And hearing Perseus''s n, the two men found their tongues tied.
They found it hard to nitpick here but also found the task too daunting.
They did not want to promise this and then fail to deliver.
But they also did not want to outright im they were unable to do so as it would lose them a lot of face.
Hence for a while there was a stifling, ufortable silence swirling around the court.
"Ahem!" Until it was broken by a gruff from a noble rtively in the back, who, seeding in drawing attention to him, the rtively influential noble slowly stepped forward with a bit of an unsure stagger and turned to face Perseus before speaking out in a shaky voice,
"You¡Your Majesty¡but if the ten thousand men are sent without supplies, how will they survive once they get to the city?"
"Lord Ponticus has already written in his letter that one of his granaries has burnt down and asked for more supplies."
"Wouldn''t ten thousand new mouths put too much strain on him?"
This man was part of Mithriditus''s faction and felt he needed to step up to help his boss.
And as he said that, not to be outdone, another noble, this time from Lord Theony''s faction quickly added,
"I too agree, Your Highness. The soldiers will not be even able to forage due to the siege."
"Perhaps it will be better to wait and better prepare ourselves so that we can properly help Lord Ponticus."
And being convinced by the duo''s argument, another more neutral noble nodded andmented,
"Mmm, if we wait two months, we can also send the entire twenty thousand Lord Ponticus wanted together, rather than in small groups bit by bit."
"That should be a more effective force."
Judging by the nobles'' attitude, it seemed a lot of the nobles were in favor of dying the reinforcements.
It was both due to actual logistical difficulties and also because by dragging one''s feet, they figured they would not have tomit so much of their own men.
And who knows, perhaps Lord Ponticus was really exaggerating and within this time the Zanzan threat will extinguish by itself?
In fact, there were many nobles who felt that way, who felt Thesalie would, or better yet could never fall
And it was not difficult to understand why after reading Tibias''s history, where the city had withstood up until now nine great sieges and numerous small ones.
That came to one siege about every forty to fifty years on average, and every noble learned in detail about each and every one of these great sieges by heart.
And Thesalie had withstood them all.
It was because of its legendary defenses that Thesalie was called by so many other names.
The Fortress of Fortress, Bastion of the Gods, and The Impregnable Bulwark, all such were only some of the many impressive names it went by.
So the fact that the city would stand forever was almost etched into the noble''s heart like it was a natural part of the world, a fact as true as the veryws of nature itself, an inevitability, like rain always falling downward, or fire always being hot, or the sun being always bright.
So to them, hearing Thesalie was in danger of falling was the same as hearing the sun might not rise tomorrow.
Sure tomorrow might be cloudy, and one might not be able to see the sun, but the sun would definitely be there, no doubt.
Hence many did not take Lord Ponticus''s im seriously, thinking either he was exaggerating, or he had lost his nerve, or simply in old had made a mistake.
But one person who did not think so.
And that was Perseus.
He knew his young uncle very well and knew he would never lie about such things.
If he said things were dire, it definitely was dire.
And fortunately for Tibias, and unfortunately for Alexander, it was his opinion that truly mattered.
Another man whose option also mattered almost equally was Philips- the crown prince.
And just like the rumors said about how sharp he was, he both understood what his father was thinking and what the nobles were trying to get at.
So interjecting on the former''s behalf, Philips turned to address the crowd,
"My lords," He started, "if Grandpa¡if Lord Ponticus wrote this letter, knowing him, his situation might be direr than he is making it to be so."
"That is why Royal father is so eager to send aid as soon as soon."
"That is why he wants those ten thousand men there as soon as possible."
Saying this he paused, his gaze scanning the line of nobles standing opposite of each other.
And for their part, the nobles also gazed back, as they then heard Philips say with an understanding nod,
"I know many in your hearts think that since Thesalie has stood for thest hundreds of years, it will not fall for the following hundred years."
"But I want to remind you, the past does not guarantee the future."
"The enemy we face this time is nothing like the past. He is way more cunning, and he has so many strange tactics."
"So we must not growcent."
"We must not let the glory and sess of our ancestors make us think future sess is guaranteed."
"No! Instead, like our ancestors had done in the past, we must strive to our utmost."
"We must never forget Adhania, our most hated enemy, is much bigger than us."
"And so we must always take every move they make very seriously."
"I hope all my lords will remember this!"
As Philips finished his speech, the nobles could not help but produce a glow of appreciation on their face.
It was truly a moving set of words, and it really worked to make the nobles see a new perspective.
''Yes, if Thesalie falls, what is the point of keeping the men all to myself,'' Many nobles thought.
While other nobles who were shrewder and could see much more into the distancemented in their heart,
''With him as sessor, Tibias is sure to have a bright future.''
These nobles were both d to have apetent king who could provide stability to the realm, but also a bit bitter because it meant they were unlikely to be able to trick or coerce him into giving them more influence.
It was both a great boon and a minor curse.
But most nobles agreed it was more a boon than a curse given the challenges their country was facing currently.
Especially that new lord of Zanzan.
Though most nobles were yet to wake up to the nightmare called Alexander, a few of the most sharp ones were.
Like Mithriditus, who upon hearing Philips''s great speech, stepped forward to say in a very appreciative voice,
"Excellent! What The Crown Highness has said is really excellent. I could not have said it better by myself."
"Now is not the time for division."
"Now is the time for us to unite."
"Lord Ponticus has asked for help, and we should provide it to him even before he actually needs it."
"Defending Thesalie is a duty of all of us nobles!"
While Lord Theony, not wanting to let his rival get a step ahead, too quickly joined in, nodding vigorously and saying,
"That''s right, that''s right. We have to send the men as fast as possible."
"As it said in the letter, the men are the most important."
"The supplies can be sent by boatter."
It seemed things were about to get harder for Alexander.
Chapter 703 Fourth Month Against Thesalie
Chapter 703 Fourth Month Against Thesalie
After Philips managed to inveigle and gain the support of two of the strongest nobles, the rest of the things were easy.
The decision was very quickly made to send the ten thousand men as soon as possible to aid Lord Ponticus.
And then to speed up the process even more, the n was modified slightly in regards to the type of the men sent.
Meaning the force would also have men from other nobles to make the numbers, rather than the previous decision to send from only Mithriditus''s and Lord Theony''s numbers.
With so many nobles giving each of the men they had right on hand, reaching the ten thousand number would certainly be much faster.
As for the problem of supplies- well that was easy, once the boats dropped the soldiers off, they could return to the capital to pick up the goods and then make the trip again.
It was not like Lord Ponticus needed those boats for anything.
The whole thing would at most three to four weeks.
And Lord Ponticus certainly had enough food to feed an extra ten thousand mouths for a month.
"Your Majesty. We will see it within the month done as instructed," Hence the court unanimously dered
While Perseus, seeing how his son was able to subdue and convince the nobles, felt a surge of pride.
It was the pride of a sessful father.
He felt he was really blessed with a good son.
And was convinced that it was the correct decision to hand over much of the realm''s everyday ruling to his sessor.
Philips was like a fish in the water here.
So with the courts all agreed, Perseus announced this,
"Good. Then I will name Lord Theonymander of the lead ten thousand men."
"While Philips can go with the supplies and the rest of the men!"
Perseus had favored Mithriditus by taking the man with him to Zanzan.
And now he had favored Lord Theony to do this, thus bncing the ying field.
While Crown Prince Philips was given the rtively safe task of delivering supplies, as well as the chance to rake up some military credit from inside the best fort Tibias had to offer.
The seriousness and speed with which Tibias responded was very good news for Lord Ponticus and quite bad news for Alexander.
If the garrison was allowed to rise from thirty to fifty thousand, then even with all the walls, the catapults, the fires, and siege towers, the soldiers might still not be able to take the walls, being either blockaded at all the choke points with too many enemy soldiers to break through, or worse, simply being annihted on the walls through sheer number and unable to make even a beach head there.
So the name of the game was speed.
And it was a game that had started ticking without Alexander even being aware.
He was still leisurely waiting for his ramp to bepleted, and his military engineers to finish the three siege towers he would be using during the assault.
The fourth month of the siege hence rolled over just like that, with both sides practicing the same tactic, but each side fully aware that a conclusion was nearing soon, and very soon.
And as July ended and August entered its first day, Alexander was finally invited toe to see thepleted second phase of his siege.
The ditch which was an ever present fixture of the city was by now gone, reced by a smooth, almost t like terrace.
The tens of thousands of men and even women really did a good job.
Then there were three huge ramps, or more appropriately reverse ramps leading right next to the walls, built using stone, timber, and the earth that was dug up during the construction of the new wall that stood in front of the city.
Andstly, there was the centerpiece of it all, the pi¨¨ce de r¨¦sistance- The Seige Towers.
Made of abination of wood and iron, each of these behemoths were more than 12 meters tall and almost as wide, thus weighing several tons.
It stood on solid cast iron wheels that were manufactured in Zanzan and transported here by six strong oxen on a special cart because regr wooden ones were simply too weak to carry such heavy loads.
These wheels were also wrapped in a mesh of rubber and line fabric, making this certainly the world''s first known use of rubber tyred wheels.
Which also meant that the tower could go over the inherently rough, hilly terrain a lot smoother.
But then the question arose who would make it go?
And the answer was each of these behemoths required more than a hundred men to pull it.
As to why animals like horses or oxen were not used, well, they were certainly an option.
But Alexander preferred to use men for he knew as the siege towers would be pulled closer and closer to the walls, they would be increasingly attacked by the defenders.
And it was much easier to maintain discipline among men than beasts when ced under such a hostile environment
The chances of animals refusing to obeymanders when struck by arrows, hit by stones, or burned by scalding oil and then simply breaking free of their bonds and causing a stampede were too high to risk using them.
And speaking of burning, Alexander also made sure to coat his siege towers with thick sheets of rubber to prevent the defenders from using burning oil and fire arrows to set the entire thing on fire. as so many times it had been done before, like when the Byzantines did it to the Ottoman siege towers during the battle of Constantinople.
Now, to prevent that unfortunate reality from urring and dying by being burned to death, the attackers would usually cover their towers with thick, wet, animal hide, and iron or bronze tes to hide the mmable wood underneath.
But the natural rubber which Alexander was using, consisted oftex and was much more fire retardant than the primitively processed rubber regrly used, as thetter was made of organicpounds such as long chains of cogen fibers and proteins.
Hence Alexander''s choice of the material, and when he tested it back home, he found the stuff to be indeed so much more difficult to get burning.
And even if did, it had great trouble spreading, as rubber was just a bad source of fuel for the fire and really did not want the mes to propagate.
Hence naturally, it was used to cover every possible part of the tower.
But then the question rose, who was all this ''armor'' supposed to protect?
Or more specifically, how many?
Well each one of these gigantic structures could carry around one hundred men, so three towersbined were supposed to ce three hundred men directly onto the first wall, who could then work to make a beachhead on the walls, thus allowing reinforcements to get up through these safe points, using eitherdders or even the siege towers themselves.
And as Alexander reviewed these magnificent beasts, built on the ramp themselves, he certainly felt confident of his chances to take the city.
Because as Alexander had observed in thest four months, though Thesalies was indeed a double walled city, it was not the concentric circle kind of city he envisioned, where each of the walls had its own towers, gates, and defense mechanism.
No, Thesalie''s defensive walls were more suited to be called one gigantic wall with two parts.
There was the outer part, which was much thicker, and stronger, but also shorter.
While right behind it, with around 10 to 15 meters of gap, stood a much higher, but thinner and weaker wall.
These two walls were connected via a series of passages, able to reinforce each other, as well as retreat to the other if the need arose.
The intention behind the design seemed to be that the melee troops would be on the first, outer wall, engaging in close quarters hand to and physically repelling the enemy, while archers shot arrows and threw stones from the higher secondary wall to assist them.
And if the first defense fell, the soldiers could use the interconnected passages to take new positions on the second walls.
And while they retreated, they could block off the many built in choke points with either men to hold those points, or close the doors, or simply jam it with junk likerge, heavy, furniture, stone, wagons, whatever they had at hand, so that the enemy could not easily pursue them.
All while from above the defenders could rail down incessant arrow fire to prevent the enemy from setting up a foothold there.
It was quite a good design.
A very good design in fact.
But it might not be good enough to stop Alexander.
Because he did not n to pursue the men up the second wall and consequently be stuck on the first wall enduring arrow fire.
No, after driving off the defenders from the first wall, Alexander wished to tear a section of the first wall down, possibly by digging underneath its foundation and then setting it on fire.
And then have his siege towers roll down to the second wall just as the first wall to repeat the process.
Simple, but certainly effective.
"We will attack tomorrow!" Hence as soon as the inspection was finished, Alexander dered so loudly.
He did not want to waste an hour more than it was necessary.
Chapter 704 Lord Ponticuss Counter-Attack (Part-1)
Chapter 704 Lord Ponticus''s Counter-Attack (Part-1)
With everything about the siege ready on Alexander''s side, he called a war council that very afternoon and let hismanders know of the decision, asking them to prepare the men to finally attack the city tomorrow.
And by the evening, the news of the nned attack had spread to almost every soldier in the camp, causing various reactions.
Some were very excited thinking of the riches and booty thaty ahead, some were relieved that this campaign was going to soon end, while many others were afraid of the deaths that would inevitably follow.
But they knew what they signed up for.
So after the initial surprise, they all quieted down, and getting their thoughts together, ate the special meal that was given the day before the battle.
This meal''s portions were usually one and a half times the regr one, and always served with two to three cuts of meat on them, designed to boost morale and have the men at their best possible physical condition for the fateful battle ahead.
As dusk fell and night slowly crept in, the soldiers all quickly finished their meal, and now stuffed with a satisfied full belly, they felt sleep grip them tightly in its ws, eagerly urging them to go rest after the long day of hard work.
And most soldiers, other than the ones on guard duties or in special deployments, like those using the catapults, prepared to do just that, yearning to hit the soft, fluffy mattress and get a solid eight to ten hours of good night''s sleep before the inevitable bloodbath inside a fiery crucible tomorrow.
While Alexander''s soldiers prepared themselves for the imminent attack, on the other side, on Tibias''s the one main question that began to arise was:
Did Lord Ponticus get his reinforcement and how useful they would be during Alexander''s assault?
And the answer to that was he did, and themander was of the opinion that they would be very useful indeed.
The ten thousand men (10,000) had arrived about three days ago, meaning Tibias was able to gather the requisite men in about only three weeks, as opposed to the scheduled four, truly showing what the court was capable of doing when they put aside their differences.
And they even brought presents!
These came in the form of huge elephants and they bought seventeen of those.
Perseus had managed to keep these huge beasts after a series of sessful negotiations with the Kaiser Family, agreeing to let go of some of the funds that were given to him in exchange.
He did this because the man had fallen in love with how effective the beasts showed themselves at destroying cavalry and knew these could be one of his trump cards.
And as evidence of his prudence, he also sent every one of the beasts he had to aid in the defense of Thesalie.
And to do that of course meant that they would have to be transported by boats just like the soldiers.
Which was not an easy thing to do, as elephants really did not like getting into a small floating wooden box that titled if the animal so much as moved its head, much less its body.
Even a human would not have liked getting on to something so small rtive to his size.
But unfortunately for Tibias, it also did not makerge enough boats suitable for transporting elephants.
And there was no time to build them in numbers either.
So instead, the trainers really had their work cut out to try and coax these powerful beasts to get into these small vessels, each boat able to carry only one, and then make them stay still during the entire, five day span of the journey.
It was a tall order, and two elephants actually drowned after they got spooked by something on their boats and in their unrestrained panic, bolted straight into the water.
And even more tragically, their heavy weight caused the boats to capsize, while their chaotic thrashing hit many of the people thrown into the water, with the heavy smacks killing three more, one of them even being one of the trainers.
While a third boat simply snapped in the middle of their journey, the thin wooden nks unable to take the massive weight of its upant, thus sending the magnificent beast into the depths of the river.
The river Diannu had an average depth of 20 meters, so there was no way the elephant could wade through it and get to the shore.
Thus Lord Ponticus got that odd number of seventeen war elephants.
And though not it was not asrge as twenty, seventeen of these huge, African war elephants were still a huge boon, and Lord Ponticus was certainly over the moon seeing it, as too he was seeing so many mene to reinforce him, and so quickly at that.
In thest few days, he had been scratching his head to near baldness over trying to think of a way to convince his officers to hold off on attacking on their own.
These men had been growing ever more anxious with each passing day, as they could clearly see the ramp beingpleted one dirt basket at a time, and the siege towers nearing theirpletion each wooden piece at a time.
And this regr visual update of their impending doom yed great havoc on their psyche, as they repeatedly, almost daily, urged Lord Ponticus tounch a breakout as soon as possible.
And when the ramp waspleted atst, with the three, huge imposing siege towers finally standing tall and finished, ready to crash into them any day now, these men grew so restless that they acted like ants on a hot pan.
They first wished nothing more than to have an open battle on the field and decisively destroy Alexander''s forces, thus forcing him to retreat.
And if that was not possible, they at least wanted to mount a rapid, sneak attack on the siege towers, charging out and smashing into these siege machines and burning them to ashes before retreating to the castle without giving the enemy even a chance to realize that their month''s long hard work was destroyed.
But of course, how could either of the two ns be so easy?
If they were strong enough to defeat Alexander on the open field, then why did they both hold themselves up inside the wall for four months and endure Alexander''s relentless torture?
Or why did they then ask for reinforcements?
If they were able, they should have been able to solve the problem themselves.
As for the sneaking out of the gates and destroying the siege towers like that, well even a child could foresee the enemy using such a technique.
It was a time tested, favorite tactic of any defenders and so of course Alexander had taken precautions, He had a battalion of 500 soldiers protecting each of these towers at all times, day and especially night, ready to foil any such attempt.
And though 500 soldiers might not sound like a lot when the other side had 30,000 men, but they were really not there to stop these men head on.
Their job was to simply act as a stopgap force and hold off the enemy until Alexander could be aware of the attack and arrange a proper response from his main camp nearby.
After all, they would be able to see the enemy approach from miles away, as the enemy would have to at least number a hundred men to destroy such huge structures quickly.
And they would have to be also on horseback to maximize their speed and surprise.
And one hundred ridersunching an attack over such an open ground stripped of all vegetation was very, very hard to hide.
And for all those reasons, these 500 men were more than adequate.
It was also using these reasons that Lord Ponticus was able to hold these hot blooded men back till now.
But he also knew they were soon reaching their limit.
He feared that any day they might disobey his orders and take matters into their own hands.
So his pleasure at seeing the reinforcement truly could not be overstated.
And this pleasure increased far, far more when Lord Theony told him that this was only half of the contingent and many more men and material were on the way.
"Hahaha! Worthily of my nephew," Lord Ponticus had thus said in delight as he went to meet the reinforcements at the river docks.
This was also because when he had asked for 20,000 men, he was really shooting for the moon, writing any number that came to his mind and hoping Perseus would send as many as he could.
But even he knew asking for 20,000 men was pushing it given Tibias''s current situation.
So imagine his surprise when the king''s aid surpassed even his most optimistic expectation, as the ruler promised to give him all he wanted and more.
So in the following two days of their arrival, the tired soldiers were given time to rest, while Lord Ponticus treated the nobles to great feasts to show this pleasure.
While in the meantime, he also got Lord Theony up to speed, telling of the enemy''s tactics, his strategy, his siege machines, and then trying to think of a counterstrategy.
And to their credit, the two men did manage to find one, one which if Alexander knew would definitely sweat bullets, because it was a really good one.
Chapter 705 Lord Ponticuss Counter-Attack (Part-2)
Chapter 705 Lord Ponticus''s Counter-Attack (Part-2)
"Hmmm, that wall is indeed else," Lord Theony, standing on the second wallmented as such while he gazed at the blockading wall Alexander had created, the amazement in his voice apparent.
The man was immactely embellished in his full, decorative body armor while his stubby hands decorated with colorful gemmed rings twirled his magnificent mustache.
"That cursed thing was built in a month! Can you believe it?" While Lord Ponticus was much less appreciative of the concrete wall, onlymenting just how quickly Alexander had managed to get this up.
The quickness with which the wall was a major factor that worked to push Lord Ponticus to such a dire state.
"No, I truly cannot. I might not have even believed it if I did not see for myself. How did they do it?" While Lord Theony, ignoring Lord Ponticus''s vexation sounded more curious than distressed.
"Who knows! Your guess is as good as mine," And to this Lord Ponticus could only shrug his shoulders, while purring his lips.
This was one of many new, unexined things the enemy had shown to possess at its disposal.
And Lord Ponticus would admit, he was certainly fearful of what else the enemy might have hidden under its sleeves.
And as a coping mechanism to hide those feelings, he vented in front of Lord Theony,
"Not only did they build it so fast, it''s so strong too! Those new catapults that supposedly could break city walls did nothing to it."
"Weapon of the gods my ass!"
Lord Ponticus here even put some of the me on the catapults, though he was not being serious.
They worked perfectly well during tests, and so it was more likely that the wall was really strong.
While Lord Theony only obediently listened, letting Lord Ponticus air out his grievance as much as thetter wished, and thenmented,
"I can see how they were able to push you so far. Those walls are like static, ever-present siege towers."
"This is very clever. The enemy is not easy to deal with."
Lord Ponticus had of course told Lord Theony how Alexander was using the walls to suppress the wall defenders andunch fireballs into the city, and seeing the walls for himself, Lord Theony came to understand the true gravity of the situation.
Lord Ponticus was really not exaggerating.
As for the lord''smentparing the walls to the siege towers, well that referred to how sometimes siege towers were not used to directly assault the walls, but as raised tforms to fire arrows and siege machines from, as the higher elevations made targetting the defenders much easier.
Just like Alexander was doing.
"What''s themander''s name?" Lord Theony hence asked.
He had obviously heard of Alexander but wanted to confirm it was him nevertheless.
"We are not sure. It is mostly that new lord of Zanzan who is leading the army- Alexander. But he has not shown himself in the open."
"Bastard did not even send us a formal deration of war! Barbarous brute" Lord Ponticus spar out both in indignation, as well as disgust for the poor manners Alexander had shown.
However he also conveniently forgot that neither had Tibias sent such a letter when they attacked Alexander.
And hearing this, Lord Theony only nodded and smiled, his thoughts busy on something elsepletely.
''This Alx¡is really something,'' The noble said to himself, thinking he should go find out more about him.
He knew bits a pieces of the man, especially how his involvement changed the result of Adhania''s civil war, but he was not well versed about the man.
But now, seeing his handiwork right in front of him, Lord Theony was very curious.
After all, as they said, ''Know thy self and know thy enemy and you will be victorious in over a thousand battles.''
While Lord Ponticus, seeing Lord Theony be quiet and stoic, suddenly decided to change the topic, turning to his counterpart to ask,
"When they got my letter, how did the court react? Hmph! I bet everyone scoffed at it!" as he then nted his eyes toward Lord Theony for his response.
"...." But Lord Theony here paused a bit, knowing that Lord Ponticus was a proud man and that it took a lot out of him to beg Perseus so openly for help.
Even if the circumstance forced him, and even if no one would me him for it, even then Lord Theony knew Lord Ponticus still felt ashamed at making King Perseus do all the work and bear such expenses.
He saw it as his failure to properly defend the city was entrusted to protect.
It was because so if Lord Theony were to say yes, he would be simply poking at his distinguished veteran''s wounds.
But Lord Theony also could not say no because then it would be insulting Lord Ponticus''s intelligence.
The man surely had his own sources inside the court to know the basic gist of what happened.
So he embellished the reply with a little chuckle, "Hehehe, what do those soft punks sleeping in fluffy pillows know?"
"Bickering! That''s all they do! Pointless bickering till your ears turn to wax!"
"My lord should not care about those imbeciles who throw stones at people while being a thousand miles away."
"If they could see what you and I are seeing, they would very quickly change their mind."
"And besides, what truly matters is His Majesty''s opinion."
"And he has supported my lord from the very first."
Lord Theony tried to paint those nobles in the courts as being unenlightened and unaware of the situation at the frontlines, while also reassuring Lord Ponticus that he was very much in the good graces of the big man, the man who really mattered.
And Lord Ponticus did not outright reply hearing this.
But Lord Theony did notice the man''s lips curl up ever so slightly.
Clearly he was pleased at heart.
And then taking this opportunity, Lord Theony quickly changed the topic so that he did not have to y nanny to a grown man.
"By the way, what about the scouts? Did they find what we are looking for? If they cannot confirm it, our n will not work."
Lord Theony did not need to specify the details as Lord Ponticus readily understood.
"Yes, it indeed exists. But they could not find the exact way. They say that will take a few more days." Lord Ponticus was very curt in his reply, leaving out many explicit details in fear that someone might be eavesdropping.
The chances of this happening were of course miniscule, but being in the military all his life, the experienced general was very measured in his speech when it came to military matters.
"Hmmm, that is indeed a shame. Zanzan might not give us that time," To this, Lord Theony a bit ruefully shook his head,ying his eyes on Alexander''spleted siege towers and the ramp leading up as for his reason being so.
"Yes. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. They will attack by then," And Lord Ponticus fully agreed with him, the tone in his voice sure and confident,
And the fact that he could make such a prediction by just looking at the battlefield spoke volumes about his experience.
To him, everything seemed ready on Alexander''s side.
"Then let usmence the n tomorrow. If we wait too long, the opportunity might be gone."
Thus Lord Theony prosed.
And Lord Ponticus agreed with a heavy nod, adding. "Yes, let''s. Though it is a bit risky, since the scouts have found the way, we can figure out the exact route as we go."
"The n might be a little dangerous, but it is certainly a very good n."
"I will lead the nking forces, Lord Theony can lead the main."
Lord Ponticus very causally made a massive announcement.
"Mmm, okay. Then I will wait for good from Your Highness," While Lord Theony readily epted, finding the arrangement wholly to his liking.
Thus Tibias decided tounch the first strike before Alexander could go for the knockout.
And that first strike came right after dusk on the very day Alexander decided that he would attack the next morning, right around the time the soldiers had finished their meals and were getting their beds ready.
This was also not as big a coincidence as it seemed because the attacking Tibian soldiers too had their meal around the same time as Alexander''s and marched out afterward, hence the matching timing.
*Paaaaaahh*, *Thud!*
The Zanzan soldiers guarding the siege towers and the wall all heard the distinct sound of the city''s drawbridge lowering itself with a strained creak followed by the heavy, metallic nking of the port cuss being lifted.
And momentster came the loud, thundering footsteps of heavily armored men wearing thick leather shoes.
Then soon a flood of red began to gather, as a huge number of soldiers began to arrange themselves into a proper rank-and-file formation.
Now, these soldiers did note out of the front eastern gate that was being besieged.
That would have been too dangerous as the few thousand archers waiting on the walls just a bit ahead of them would rip these men slowlying out of the narrow gate one by one to shreds like it was a turkey shoot.
No, the men were more sensible, instead using the western gate which they now opened.
And then started to gather down at around the foot of the city.
While Alexander was informed of this as quickly as possible, and he at once bought his army out to reply to this threat.
Chapter 706 Lord Ponticuss Counter-Attack (Part-3)
Chapter 706 Lord Ponticus''s Counter-Attack (Part-3)
As Thesalie arranged its forces at the foot of the city, Alexander, being as quickly as possible informed of this, also at once ordered his own army to form up outside the camp into proper battle formation to reply to this threat.
And so the camp was very quickly set abuzz with activity, where soldiers ran to and fro carrying weapons and armor, ves and servants performed all kinds of errands and officers barked orders to get his unit organized.
While themander of the whole thing, Alexander who oversaw all of this was neither panicked nor fearful at this sudden turn of events, his heart unconcerned by this sudden, what seemed to be imminent night battle.
"Heh! So they finally could not wait!"
Instead, he smirked mockingly.
To him, it seemed that whoever themander of the city was had finally lost his nerve, and seeing he was about to attack the next morning, had decided to hastilyunch this attack at this odd hour.
And the decision to leave the safety of their walls and engage him in directbat was too foolish in Alexander''s opinion.
In fact, the enemy doing this was almost like a wet dreame true for him.
Because it meant that now he would not have to fight these tens of thousands of soldiers on the narrow walls where his numerical superiority would have been neutralized.
Nor would he have to push through that huge mass of soldiers to clear the walls.
Previously, Alexander had already epted that the casualties from those fights would be heartbreaking for him.
But now, if they fought on the open field, Alexander could avoid all those losses.
He was even very confident that he would be able to win the battle.
Because not only did he have arger force, but he also had the terrain advantage, as his legionnaires were able to make much better use of the rough terrain than the opposing phngites.
So in his eyes, it was certainly a mistake for the enemy toe out to meet him in the open like this.
But it was not like Alexander thought themander to be aplete idiot.
No.
Because he could also understand where the enemymander wasing from.
Alexander guessed the man probably felt that if they stayed inside their walls and only just passively fended off the attacks without effectively striking back, they would be at one point eventually overwhelmed.
And that type of thinking was indeed correct in some sense.
After all, against Alexander''s siege towers, they had no real answer.
Setting them on fire before they could reach the walls was too hard and it was durable enough that rocks from the catapults would not be able to destroy them on time.
And even if they knew where the soldiers from the towers were going to make thending, they could not bunch up to repel them through sheer numbers because then they would present themselves as the perfect target for the archers on the walls, who would turn them into porcupines.
It had to be remembered that those 1,000 lb crossbows were no joke, being able to easily pierce even the thickest shields the Tibians carried.
And even a hit to the nonvital areas give a grievous wound, with a good chance of making it infectious.
While a good, proper hit to a major area would cause an instant death.
It could even knock a man off his feet.
So after facing four months of the terrifying weapon, the Tibian defenders had learned to grow very wary of the weapon''s power.
As for the scorpion, well that one''s lethality did not need to be even said.
The huge darts would rip through wooden shields like paper and literally send a man flying if hit directly, skewering through him.
There was even one incident during this siege when the weapon did the almost miraculous feat of going through two men simultaneously, making both die with a look of utter incredtion on their faces.
And these weapons loved nothing more than to see clustered up men, where they could reap lives like harvesting wheat.
It was due to all these difficulties in holding the wall that Alexander believed the enemy hade out to face him in the open in this st-stand'' kind of fashion.
As Tibias formed itself in front of their city, Alexander''s men too continued to do the same in front of their camp, with both sides keeping an ever-vignt eye on the other, in case one side decided to charge to try and take advantage of the other still disorderly lines.
"My lord, should we call back our men manning the walls and siege towers," And as this was happening, Menes came to Alexander with this proposal.
There were currently about 3,500 to 4,000 men there, manning the walls, catapults, and siege towers, and though they were on the eastern side, while the enemy was just of them, Menes still felt it would be prudent for this detached force to rejoin with the main group.
Hearing the request, Alexander thought about it for a bit.
From the direction of his camp, these soldiers were straight north of him.
While the enemy was north-west.
So if the enemy were to march south down towards him, their nks would be exposed to this nearly one legion worth of troops present to their east.
They would never be able to ignore that threat.
So to neutralize that, they would have to send a detachment force to engage the legion, thus weakening their main force.
This would be a very good oue for Alexander.
But that was the good version.
The bad version was if Tibias decided to detach a much disproportionately bigger force to attack those soldiers and if Alexander was unable toe to help in time, then they risked being overrun and destroyed.
However, this was really Alexander being too pessimistic.
Because such an oue was very unlikely given all the fortifications around the siege works, as well as the presence of thousands of crossbowmen and other weapons on the wall that would be able to rain down huge volumes of firepower on any attacking force.
Hence with a bit of thought, Alexander dered,
"No, let them be there. The siege towers and the walls cannot be left undefended, They need to be protected."
"And I suspect the enemy''s real target might very well be those. Why else would they beunching this attack at such a god-forsaken time?"
"We cannot let them seed."
Alexander clenched his teeth in determination.
And then turning to Menes, gave the order regarding those soldiers,
"Tell the three battalions on the ground to stop protecting their individual towers and join together to form a solid, coherent defensive line."
"If they are too scattered, the enemy will be able to pick them off one at a time."
"Then order men on the walls to also remain alert and support those on the ground in case of an attack."
"Andstly send three more battalions to reinforce them. That should boost morale."
With this order, the forces there would be brought up to a full-fledged legion and be much better prepared to deal with any attacks, at least until Alexander could send adequate help.
"Yes!" And Menes had no problem with this order, as he saluted, before riding off to ry the order.
"Wait!" Or he was about to when he when Alexander suddenly demanded his attention.
And as Menes turned back curiously, he heard Alexander add, "Send Remus to take overall charge of the legion there."
"And have him take 300 cavalry. Just in case the enemy tries to do a sneak attack on the towers while we are upied."
It took a lot of time, money and men to make those towers and naturally Alexander was really protective of them, even sending a tenth of his cavalry to act as a kind of rapid reaction force.
Once Alexander was finished, Menes quickly rode off to arrange for the execution of the order, while soon Grahtos took that ce in front of Alexander, informing,
"My lord, our scouts are back. They say that the enemy right now numbers around 15,000 to 20,000."
"But given they have not finished forming up and many more are still pouring out of the gates, the number could be expected to rise to as much as 30,000."
The tone here was neutral because when they nned for this attack, they had obviously checked the city''s garrison strength, which was reported to be 30,000.
Now of course that original number had been eroded by a few thousand due to the past four months of fighting.
But the scouts only gave a rough estimate, not an exact, down to the penny number.
Besides, it was not impossible for them to recruit a few thousand city dwellers as recements, now was it?
"......*Nod*, Good. Keep an eye on them. And inform me if they seem ready to charge."
Upon hearing the report Alexander only stoically signaled that he had gotten the message.
It seemed that other than leaving the barest number of defenders on the wall, Thesalie was going all in.
And it suited him just fine.
So for the next two hours, both sides readied them for the imminent sh which likely would decide the fate of the city.
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Chapter 707 Lord Ponticuss Counter-Attack (Part-4)
Chapter 707 Lord Ponticus''s Counter-Attack (Part-4)
The next two hours went in a blurry wind of speed, as both sides worked quickly to try and finish organizing their troops as soon as possible.
And by the end of the time, both sides were finished rtively at the same time.
Tibias had their troops directed toward the south, squarely facing Alexander''s camp, and conversely, Alexander''s men were turned looking northwest, directly looking at the enemy.
While the detached legion under Remus faced west, able to keep an eye on both camps.
Thus three groups formed a kind of triangle of forces.
And then, once they finished, the boring waiting game began.
Because it seemed neither side wanted to attack, much preferring to let the enemy waste their enemying towards them.
"Tell the soldiers to hold the ground. I do not want to fight uphill at night!" On Alxx''s side, this was the order.
And the tactic was a no-brainer, given the poor visibility at night and as Alxx was on lower slopes.
Also, he did not need to attack Tibias as much as they needed to attack him, as once dawn came, Alxx would be able tounch his attack on the wall and likely conquer it.
So he was perfectly content with stalling for time.
But though he followed that reasonable thought on that matter, he did not follow that in his deployment, choosing not to form his men into a standard battleline formation, i.e- the center making up the infantry and the wings cavalry,
No, instead like his center, his wings too were made of infantry, worth one legion on each, each made of four thousand (4,000) infantry and two thousand (2,000) crossbowmen.
While all of the 2,700 calvary were kept at the back as reserve.
The reason for this arrangement was simply because of the enemy''s troop arrangement, which had cavalry, and more importantly elephants on the wings.
And after learning from Menes''s defeat, Alxx figured pitting horses against elephants was a bad idea and so kept them at the back.
Instead, he decided to utilize his infantry there, where he switched their primary weapon, which was the sword, with long halberds, as well as having the men in these two legions carry extra pi and javelins to throw at the enemy so as to better counter any cavalry charges.
So the exactposition of Alxx''s main force was five legions in the center, arranged in two rows, three on the front, and two back, nked by one legion on each side, with a cavalry reserve, thus totaling thirty five thousand (35,000) men and two thousand and seven hundred (2,700) horses.
Then up front, near the siege works there was Remus''s force, numbering close to six thousand (6,000).
This brought Alxx''s total deployed forces to about forty four thousand (44,000 )out of the initial forty eight thousand (48,000) he came on campaign with.
As for the rest of the four thousand (4,000), well they were either dead due to the fighting up until now or wounded and unfit to serve, hence kept inside the camp,
While about fifteen hundred (1,500) good, fresh men were also kept there to oversee its defense in case of any unforeseen incidents, as well as to keep order there while Alxx was away.
After all, there was a lot of food and money in there, and Alxx did not feel safe leaving all of it at the mercy of ves and servants who would have every opportunity to steal these supplies.
Thus, with all these reasons, came Alxx''s current deployment.
Tibias in its stead had deployed around 25,000 men out to meet Alxx, with almost all of them in the middle, and just 500 on each nk.
The reason for the thin wings was obvious, they were never meant to be the ones to be doing the fighting, the elephants that were deployed there were.
"Tell the soldiers to stand their ground and wait for my signal. We will together when everything is ready," Alxx''s counterpart Lord Theonymanded this to LL, urging him not to charge down the hill just yet but to hold the ground.
"Yes, my lord." And LL being aware of the n, readily nodded back.
Now what was most interesting here was how Lord Theony was leading the forces, but not Lord Ponticus.
Also where were the 10,000 men that recently came to buttress Lord Ponticus?
Well, they were of course with Lord Ponticus, out of a deep nking maneuver to hit Alxx on the rear!
"Come on, quick! Move your feet, soldiers. Stay quiet and march faster! Our other force is depending on us," Lord Ponticus''s rough, but muffled voice could be heard echoing across the ranks as this group made their way across the uneven, heavily wooden route.
These ten thousand men had sneaked out of the city around the same time the men under Lord Theony had rushed out, but instead of joining them, they had discreetly separated themselves, taking an abrupt turn to the east and heading into the hilled forest.
The tactic that Lord Ponticus and Lord Theony had worked out to defeat the numerically superior Alxx was this-
Lord Theony would draw the enemy out of its heavily fortified camp by lining his own forces out of the city, thus baiting him to meet this force.
"The enemy will have toe out to meet us because he will want to protect all those siege works that he has spent so much time building," Lord Theony''s reason behind the prediction was such.
"And if he does, we will tear and burn everything down," While Lord Ponticus helped to finish that logic with a heavy smirk.
It was a win- win case for them.
Either Alxx came out to face them, leaving the protection of his camp, or turtled andid witness to all the work he put in the past five months getting erased.
There really was one answer for him.
So as Alxx came out, it was decided that at the same time, Lord Ponticus would take his ten thousand (10,000) detachment in a roundabout circuitous route through the eastern hilly forest to stealthily emerge right onto Alxx''s defenseless rear.
At that point, Lord Ponticus was to sound the trumpet, after which both he and Lord Theony wouldunch their attacks simultaneously, catching Alxx in a pincher attack and decisively destroying him.
Because once you are surrounded from both sides, that''s it, there is no way to win from there,
No amount of tactical genius and ingenious generalship could save you from there, no matter if you are Hannibal, Sun Tsu, Khalid, or Alxx.
At that point, unless there is some kind of reinforcement on the way, your best chance of survival is to run.
Hence this tactic was a fantastic n and really showed why Lord Ponticus was so highly regarded.
Andpletely unbeknownst to him, Alxx had yed right into their trap.
"Haha, clueless brat. Took the bait hook, line, and sinker, hehe" And as Lord Theony saw Alxx ce his army squarely towards him, thus making his back be entirely defenseless towards the eastern woods from which Lord Ponticus was poised to strike at any time, the noble twirled his impressive mustache in glee.
"Hahaha, well it is the general we are talking about. His ns are really too shrewd. No wonder these foolish Adhanians would fall for it," And LL joined in the celebrations.
It seemed to them that victory was already in the bags.
And why would he not think that?
He was there during the nning of this strategy and saw with his own two eyes just how meticulous Lord Ponticus had been in his attention to detail.
From the battle formation to the number of men to be used, to using the elephants, to even the time of the day the battle was to take ce, all had been nned with great detail.
For instance, to ensure sess in this attack, Lord Ponticus had mostly hollowed out his garrison, leaving less than two thousand (2,000) men to man the walls, throwing everything to this roll of the die.
Then to divert the enemy''s attention from the nking force, he deployed the elephants very prominently in the first echelons of the main force, designed to draw all eyes to these awe inspiring beasts and convince everyone to think this was the whole attacking force
Andstly, it was his idea to attack during the night.
The darkness would not only make it would be easier for the ten thousand men to hide in the forest and maintain stealth for far longer, but he also reasoned that such a move would give the enemy the impression that they were desperate, he thisst minute, suicidal attack.
"This will dull the enemy''s senses, make him think that that is all we have. This way the nking attack will be even more sessful." Lord Ponticus had posed.
And it was scary just how urate he was.
Because the thoughts inside Alxx went exactly like Lord Ponticus had predicted as if he had a mind reader bug inside the former''s mind.
Lord Ponticus''s military genius was at full disy here.
So going by the development till now, Tibias had good reason to be optimistic about their chances.
And though Alxx did not mean, he was like a defenseless fawn exposing his white fair nape to a ravenous tiger.
A fearsome beast that was posed to snap his neck at any moment!
Chapter 708 Lord Ponticuss Counter-Attack (Part-5)
Chapter 708 Lord Ponticus''s Counter-Attack (Part-5)
The night soon rolled on, and both sides by now had spent three hours under the full moon of the summer night, neither making a move.
''What''s the holdup? Did they get cold feet?'' And waiting atop his horse for the past hour or so, Alexander thought a bit impatiently.
He had been looking very forward to the phnx units charging down the hill, disrupting their own formation in the process, and then being cut down by his organized legionaries.
But it seemed the enemy was just content to just stand there as if they were havingst-minute thoughts about whether to really bet everything on this one roll.
So Alexander too waited, cocksure that the opposite side would break before him, as he spent his time swatting the mosquitoes buzzing all around him.
''It should be time!'' While Lord Theony was much more anticipating, his ears perked for the call of the trumpet, and his hands itching to issue the order to charge.
The prey named Alexander seemed all too unaware.
"There! We can see light over there! That must be the Zanzan camp,"
And the hunter soon found its mark, as quite like how Perseus was drawn towards the manor using its lights, Lord Ponticus too was led right onto Alexander''s rear by his camp''s bright illumination.
Except though Alexander had managed to escape that trap by the skin of his teeth, this time his nape appeared bare and defenseless.
"Form up! Quickly! And quietly!"
Once Lord Ponticus confirmed it was indeed the prey he was there to hunt, he immediately gave the order for the soldiers to form a proper battle line and get ready for the attack, with the military veteran cing himself around the front to lead the attack personally.
This was not the traditional ce for amander, but Lord Ponticus felt that given the pain and suffering this enemy had caused him, as well as the loss of face in the Tibian court, his heart would not be soothed if it was not him who was the one to lead his destruction.
And who knows, perhaps he could even capture the enemymander Alexander himself.
''We never had a pasha being paraded around the capital. Hahaha, that will indeed be a spectacle," Lord Ponticus almost could not wait.
He could see a very prominent standard ced around the back which he strongly suspected to have Alexander himself there and.
*Lick*
Tibias''s suprememander could not wait to bite down on that prey and tear his to shreds, so much so in fact that he wetted his lips in anticipation.
And this was a sentiment which was shared among his officers too, who cheered in whispered tones,
"Hahaha, the gods really favor us. I was afraid the mountain trail was going to be rough, but it was surprisingly smooth. We had no problem hiding our way even through the thick woods," This was said by a high-ranking scout.
"Yes, yes, I did too. Especially because it''s easy to get lost at night and we could not even light many torches."
"But the enemy really helped us out here. With them cutting down so much of the forest and today being a full moon, really helped light the way."
"Hahaha, what nice guys." Another snickered.
"Mmmm, that''s why we should be grateful. And repay them in full¡.by ughtering these helpless sheep, hehehehee!" While a third sneered with a crazed look, causing his colleagues to form a slight distance between them.
They knew this third guy to have a few screws loose and a tendency to go berserk in battle.
While thest one, possibly their leader stopped all this useless banter with a whispered chiding,
"Quite! The gods have graced us with every opportunity of sess."
"So don''t alert the enemy by your useless talks and get in formation. Or I will hang each and every one of you!"
This threat of course worked and everyone returned their focus to doing what actually mattered.
"Captain! Look! What are those lights!"
But while Lord Ponticus was getting ready to imminently chop off Alexander''s head, Remus suddenly got a shout report from one of his men next to him, his voice panicked and rmed.
But the bored boy, sitting atop his horse and yawning, only sluggishly turned his head toward the forest left of his side to see what his friend was getting so exactly about.
''What is it¡ a fox?'' He wondered mindlessly, not even fully reacting to the mention of the lights or the man''s shocked words.
But that nonchnce almost immediately evaporated when he atst saw the sight in front of him.
Because It was a horrifying sight!
There were lights, loads of lights.
It was difficult to see at first through all the foge, but undoubtedly they were lights from which could only be torches.
And along with lights, clearly there were shadows moving around- many shadows.
And they all seemed to be conversely right behind Alexander!
''nking attack! The enemy is about to hit Alexander in a nking attack!"
Remus was able to instantly figure out what was going on and cried out in shock.
They never even considered the enemy would use the hilly terrains tounch such an attack.
''Dammit! Of course they were going to something like that! They know the terrain better than we do.''
''We should have been more vignt.'' The neen year old cursed and rebuked himself.
And then turning to the man who informed of him this, who was also his second inmand, shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Have the men charge the enemy. Now! You must stop them at any cost. I have got to save Alexander."
And then as soon as he said this, he was gone.
Spurring his horse on at full gallop, Remus rode like the wind,pletely ignoring the shouts shout of "What? Hey wait!"ing from behind.
For in his mind, there was only one thing and one thing that he needed to do, and that was to try and find Alexander before it was toote.
This fortunately did not take long, as in a horse at full speed, Remus was able toplete the short distance of about three kilometers in a matter of minutes.
"Alexander! Alexander! Alexander!"
And as he approached the main body of the army, the captain of the detached legion shouted this at the top of his lungs, more out of panic and out of actual reason.
Finding Alexander, the general of the army too did not prove tooplicated as under the full moon, Alexander''s standard shone brilliantly, as it was intended to.
There were evenrge braziers lit around to make him even more prominent and reassure the troops that their lord was with them.
So whirling his horse towards the back of the army, Remus seemed to have no intention of applying the brakes anytime soon as he approached his destination.
As for the case of Alexander, it took a while for his ears to pick by Remus''s calls, as the battlefield was a very noisy ce.
Gathering tens of thousands of men in one ce tended to do that.
There were weapons and armor nking, tens of thousands of soldiers whispering thus setting the air alight with a buzzing din, officers barking out orders, trumpets going off here and there, horses neighing and so many other misceneous mor and din.
Hence it took Alexander''s ear quite a bit of effort to even separate this faint call as being something intelligent as opposed to being just a garbled mess.
''Is it saying Alexander? Is it me? Who could be calling?'' And even when he heard it, Alexander was confused.
The people who called him just Alexander could be counted on one hand and none of them should be here.
So for a while he even wondered if it was just the wind or even whether it was just his tired mind ying tricks on him and making him hallucinate.
"Halt! Who are you!"
"Don''t you daree any closer!"
"Cease!"
And of course, as Remus got closer and closer, he got such a ''warm'' reception from both Alexander''s bodyguards and also some of the cavalrymen.
A few of the more anxious ones even raised their crossbows, intending to put this rogue rider down.
Who knew if this was even an ally?
He did not even carry a standard.
So many even presumed it to be a clever trick employed by the enemy to try and assassinate theirmander
But Remus was way past caring about such trivialities.
Even the sight of spears being lowered and crossbows being cocked did not faze the man for a second.
If his death could save Alexander, Remus would be willing to die a hundred times over.
So instead of stopping to exin himself, he continued his charge, now changing his shout to a deeply, panicked voice, "Ambush! Alexander! it''s an ambush! Look behind! Look behind! The enemy ising! Look behind! Look behind!"
Remus must have said the phrase ''Look behind'' a hundred times by now, but in his fear, Remus had actually shouted this out in Thesian instead of the native tongue of Adhanians- Azhak.
So most of the soldiers were even unable to understand it.
Instead, hearing the foreign, unknownnguage, they saw it as vindication for their suspicion that it was indeed a foreign spy sent here on an assassination mission.
So many of the men quickly took aim with their crossbows, ready to put this rogue man down.
It seemed Alexander''s savior was about to be prematurely killed.
Chapter 709 Lord Ponticuss Counter-Attack (Part-6)
Chapter 709 Lord Ponticus''s Counter-Attack (Part-6)
Remus, even facing the threat of imminent death showed no sign of slowing down.
While the men, hearing his shouts were ever more sure that it had to be an enemy, a belief that was reinforced by the fact that the tongue Tibians spoke could be said to be a variant dialect of Thesian.
This was because Tibas and Thesos shared amon heritage, being that it was from Tibias that the region of Thesos originated when people migrated there due to a massive flood a few thousand years ago.
Now, there was a difference between the twonguages if one paid attention carefully, but the men among Alexander''s ranks were no polyglots and many simply wanted to put this, frankly quiet bad assassins down and earn glory for themselves.
But just as some of the more trigger-happy men were about to let lose their arrows, they heard a loud shout expressing familiarity burst out from behind,
"Remus! It''s Remus!"
It came from Alexander, as he blurted this aloud in shock and surprise, finally understanding why he had been getting that feeling of familiarity like he had heard that voice before.
It was because he had, but his ears were not used to hearing it speak Azhak.
''I wondered why that voice sounded so familiar,'' Alexander hence thought as he turned to focus on that tiny voice, the sound suddenly gripping his attention like a mp.
While the men who were just about to turn Remus into a porcupine upon hearing Alexander''s recognizing tone quickly found themselves confused and were unsure whether they should stop the rider.
And while they were dithering, Remus brushed them, shouting the same words, until he finally slowed his horse down upon entering the thick ranks of men, who quickly gave away to make space for the man on the horse.
"Remus! What are you doing here!"
Alexander came rushing on his horse just as the boy stopped but instead of any greeting, he was immediately sted with these singr words while Remus pointed at the forest about a kilometer away.
"Alexander! Look! There! Look!" His voice had gone hoarse by now, his face flushed and panicked.
And it was a face that transposed itself onto Alexander as soon as heid his eyes on what Remus was pointing to.
As did many others who too were curious and turned their head to look.
All felt their eyes shrink to the size of a needle as if they were pricked by the most unbelievable sight they had ever seen.
There he was, Lord Ponticus and his ten thousand, the dimly lit torches revealing only their faint silhouettes, while the moonlight glinted off their raised spears, making them almost appear like an army out of a fairy tale.
And these mythical soldiers seemed just about ready to charge.
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*
Scratch that, they had started charging.
At Lord Ponticus''s sounding of the horns, thousands of eager men could be seen pouring out of the dark forest, shields locked and spears thrust forward, the sounds of their heavy yet fast footsteps reverberating around the entire battlefield.
"Haah! Haah! Haah!"
Their cheers almost shook the sky as they rapidly closed in towards their unaware enemy and being only a kilometer away, it would take them less than ten minutes to make contact.
''Fuck!" And seeing this, Alexander was so overwhelmed that he had the mental capacity only to mutter this.
"There! That''s the signal! Charge!"
And things only got worse for him when upon hearing Lord Ponticus''s signal, Lord Theony too initiated his attack, thus starting the two-pronged, pincher attack.
It was only at this moment that Alexander was finally able to understand the trap he was in, and for a brief while, Alexander was so caught off guard that he even did not know what to do.
His head felt nk and his heart hollow with fear, as if the grim reaper had plunged his icy, cold, skeletal hands into him, grabbing it in his palms and was just about to squeeze it, turning the organ into pulp.
The sickle of death seemed to be all too near Alexander.
But his name had not yet been written on the Book of the Dead.
The grim reaper was yet to harvest his soul.
He still had a chance.
Because Remus had given it to him, a tiny, tiny chance to live.
His only saving grace was that he had gotten a ten-minute early warning.
''Dammit. The prey''s been alerted!'' And it was also this that had caused Lord Ponticus to sound the trumpet for the attack prematurely before he was fully ready.
He would have much preferred to advance silently as far as he could before blowing the horn, thus not letting the enemy be aware until a spear went through him.
And he was actually confident in being able to do that, as the battlefield was usually so noisy, even ten thousand men marching towards one could be hidden if one was not properly paying attention, especially if one''s back was turned towards the other side.
But that n was now foiled by one rogue rider.
Being at the very front, Lord Ponticus was lucky enough to clearly see the exact moment Remus hade running in panic towards the Zanzan rear, the clear, moonlit sky letting the veteran military man even pick out how the rider''s arm was pointing towards him, a signal he could tell what it meant even with his eyes closed.
He did not yet know how this had happened, but he clearly understood that the torches and the noise they made had given their positions away.
So he cursed,
"Darm! We have been noticed! But how! Why is there even a scout patrolling the rear at this time!''
Seeing Remus, Lord Ponticus had primarily chalked up his revtion to bad luck.
Because he was sure he had managed to keep noise to a minimum, and the thick undergrowth had soaked up all the light from the torches.
But this was actually very wrong.
Because for all his meticulousness, Lord Ponticus had forgotten to ount for the soldiers around the siege works.
And it was not known exactly why.
Perhaps he thought they would be recalled back to join the main forces.
Perhaps he thought they would be busy attacking the wall defenders.
Perhaps he thought those forces would be squarely facing Lord Theony like Alexander was.
Or perhaps he had simply forgotten about them all altogether.
No matter the exact reason, it was a fact that Lord Ponticus hadpletely discounted them, thus leading to his premature reveal.
Thus he sent death res towards Lord Ponticus and if looks could kill, Remus would have died a million times over.
But unfortunately for Lord Ponticus, he did not possess the power to kill Remus with his eyes only, and so seeing the horsemen inform the enemy of his whereabouts and with ripples starting to appear around Zanzan''s rear lines, he feared the worst, he feared the bird might be alerted to leave the coup.
So he hastily blew the horn for the nking attack even though only his front echelons had managed to form up, while his rear lines were still in the process and thus in disarray.
By now, the old man would only hope against all hope that he would be able to catch Alexander before he ran.
''Dammit, I should have bought some cavalry,'' And while the phnx units moved as quickly as they could without breaking ranks, Lord Ponticus still felt the speed to be too slow, and regretted not bringing any cavalry with him.
Of course, he had good reason for not bringing them, as moving horses through a forested hill at night was too burdensome.
They could trip and break their legs, the animals in general did not like moving through darkness and needed to be regrly coaxed, andstly, they made a lot of noise, so if there was arge number of them, they could alert the enemy to their position.
It was due to these sensible considerations that Lord Ponticus had foregone that ability, instead choosing toe here with his most elite ten thousand.
But that decision was also making him regret it now, especially as the enemymander was on horseback, meaning he could run at any time.
Whereas if he had a cavalry force, he could have sent them ahead to start skirmishing right now and likely prevent him.
Hence the brief ten to fifteen minutes felt like ten hours to him, for oh how he wished these men would march faster.
"Alexander! Into the camp now!"
While in the opposite camp, upon seeing the trap closing in, Hemicus was the first man to beak out of his stupor and shout such toward Alexander.
The camp was only a few hundred meters from here, and on horseback, they would be able to make it in less than thirty seconds.
And once inside, with the defenders there, as well as the army stationed outside, they would have a much greater chance of repelling the enemy.
This to Hemicus sounded like the best course of action.
"No!" But Alexander actually rejected this, knowing if he were to leave the battlefield, his chances of taking Thesalie would leave with him, the army scattering upon seeing theirmander run.
"We attack! Follow me!"
So Instead Alexander wanted to charge the enemy infantry head-on and smash it to bits.
But the question then was would he have the time to form his lines?
The enemy might be too close!
Chapter 710 Alexander VS Lord Ponticus (Part-1)
Chapter 710 Alexander VS Lord Ponticus (Part-1)
Laying his eyes on the nking force for the first time, Alexander had felt that the flood of men seemed like the open ocean, vast and endless.
The army seemed much more than just ten thousand.
But that initial shock onlysted a while and soon faded as Alexander quickly regained the focus in his eyes.
''Now is not the time to be dazed!'' He lightly bit his tongue as he centered himself, trying to get a hold of the situation.
And as he got his bearings, he found the enemy''s numbers to be much more manageable.
''Whew! It''s a detachment force. Not the main one.'' Alexander breathed a sigh of relief.
His biggest fear had been that the force in front of him was just bait and that the real one was just behind.
That would have been a true nightmare as then it would have meant that the enemy outnumbered him almost 2 to 1.
But this much Alexander still felt he could handle.
It was right then he heard Hemicus''s panicked shout, urging him to leave the battlefield and take shelter in the camp.
And this was certainly possible, even seeming like an attractive proposal to Alexander as he subconsciously turned his head to gaze at the inviting, thick wooden gate, one which promised safety and security.
But Alexander did not immediately bolt towards thatforting thought, denying his fear dominion over him.
Instead he cooled his head and tried to think of the consequences of doing such a thing.
He knew that if he left the battlefield right now, the soldiers seeing theirmander flee and facing the pincher attack would disintegrate instantly like wet tissue paper.
The casualties would be horrific and the siege would definitelye to an end.
Meaning even if Alexander survived, all the money and hard work he had put into thest four months would be for naught.
Alexander was unwilling to do that.
Even though escaping now would surely ensure that that he would live to fight another day, but Alexander was still unwilling.
And it was not just because of material concerns,
He also feared that perhaps the enemy might wise up to the trick he used this time and not let him do it the next time.
Which might mean this time was his only real chance of capturing Lord Theony bynd.
So Alexander decided to not bail out, especially not when he still had a chance.
Because he still believed he had a chance.
And it was not only because his heart said so.
Alexander''s sharp eyes had also caught the sight of a small dust cloud approaching from the east, one that was bearing his standard, as could be clearly seen in the clear moonlight.
And seeing so Alexander was instantly able to work out the chain of events that must have urred.
''Remus must have managed to notice the nking force from his position and ordered his legion to move to intercept,'' Alexander correctly guessed.
But those forces were still a bit of distance away, and would not likely be able to stop Lord Ponticus before he made contact with Alexander, so to buy time, Alexander turned to Hemicus, and shouted in a determined voice, "No! We attack. We can still attack," as he then steadied his horse to face the enemy.
"What! No Alexander! Listen! You go! Switch armor with me and go inside the camp. I will hold the line!" But Hemicus did not approve of this one bit, even grabbing Alexander by the arm to stress the point.
Hemicus judged the enemy that they would be here in ten minutes and knew very well that this was nearly not enough time for the nearly 3,000 horsemen to turn around and initiate a charge.
That amount of time might be needed just to get the orders across.
And he also knew that if Alexander was to leave, the army morale would copse.
So as evidence of his quick thinking, he even offered to stay in ce of Alexander.
So there seemed to be no reason for Alexander to reject
And this sentiment was shared by many, including Remus, who too echoed Hemicus''s sentiment, shouting,
"That''s right, Alexander. I have already told my legion to attack this force. But they might not make it on time."
"You go! We will hold them back till then!"
An interesting point to note here would be that it seemed that though Alexander''s close friends would call him by his noble title most times, but when it came to critical and time-sensitive situations, they would revert back to their usual way of calling him out of habit.
It was of course not something that Alexander minded, but felt was an interesting observation,
Anyway, at both of the two men''s loud urging, Alexander did not immediately acquiesce, but only softly ced his hand on thetter''s shoulder andfortingly said in his native Thesian,
"Don''t worry, my friend. We have not lost yet."
"Thanks to Remus the enemy was forced tounch his attack prematurely. Meaning his ranks are shallow and disorderly. "
"Ournces will rip right through him!"
"Come! Follow me!"
"...." Hemicus only pursed his lips at that.
He would not say he bought Alexander''s exnation but understood Alexander had finished exining himself and had made up his mind.
He was determined to hit this force head-on.
The evidence of this was how after saying this to Hemicus, even before thetter could respond, Alexander swiftly turned his head to Remus and gave this long list of orders,
"Remus, I will properly reward you after the battle. But for now, go find Menicus."
"Tell him that the frontlines are to hold and wait for the enemy''s main force to make contact."
"And that he is to make the 5th region turn around and attack the nking nking."
"Take Digitumas with you! He knows the way!"
Alexander in one breath had thrown out a lot of information.
Firstly, regarding Menicus, well he was the leading man in charge of all the infantry.
Meaning, though each of Alexander''s seven legions had amander, such as Menes, Heliptos, Jamider (Earl) Tikba, and others, above them all was Menicus himself, coordinating with all of them.
While Alexander was at the back, interfering only if any unforeseen situation arose.
So Menicus was kind of like the general manager, overseeing the everyday things, while Alexander was the CEO.
Then there was mention of a man named Digitumas.
He was one of Alexander''s trust andptente heralds, and he carried a special g indicating his status.
It was this g that allowed him to enter the protected ring of any general, and without it, most would be cut down by the general''s bodyguards at the very perimeter.
In regard to that, Remus was in fact quite lucky, given the security around Alexander was much tighter.
But though the boy was lucky that time, did not mean he would always be, especially given it was nighttime with very low visibility.
At least during the day, the armor would give any the rider''s identity.
Hence Alexander paired him with his herald, who as a bonus also knew where Menicus was exactly.
After all, it was a huge battlefield, and given the darkness, finding Menicus among the sea of people would be like searching for a needle in a haystack for Remus alone.
Andstly, the mention of the fifth legion referred to one of the legions Alexander ced on the second row who were being ordered to turn around to face the enemy.
Alexander hadpressed all this information into a few short sentences, and as soon as he confirmed Remus had received it, Alexander spurred his horse forward, readying himself to attack and leaving Remus to his task.
Thus the two men parted, while Remus galloped full speed towards a point quite close to him, while Alexander in a weird maneuver actually did not gallop straight towards the enemy, and abruptly turned his horse left and started riding north, in the same direction Remus''s legion was.
This at first confused the contingent of bodyguards following him, because their lord seemed to riding away from the nking force, in a perpendicr direction to where the siege works were.
But nevertheless, none argued, only obediently following him regardless.
While Alexander, unconcerned about exining himself, only took a bronze horn out from his saddle, and cing it onto his lips, got ready to blow it.
This was a special horn and the sound from it was designed to give the signal to all the cavalrymen that they were to follow him and soon, this was exactly what they heard.
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*
And again.
And again.
All the cavalrymen ced in the rear repeatedly got this signal, which was saying, ''Follow me! Follow the sound!''
And so, as their training dictated, that was exactly what they did.
The thick chunky formation the cavalry was arranged in began to break apart, as block by block, in packets of 100 all the riders began to follow Alexander, riding north just as the trumpet dictated with the huge standard carried by Hemicus himself acting a visual cue.
And then after a while they saw that standard begin to swerve to the right, taking a giant smooth turn in an enormous arch until the whole formation was made to take a full 180 degree clockwise turn
And suddenly the 2,700 riders then found themselves gazing directly onto Lord Ponticus''s own defenseless nk!
The hunter just seemed to have be the hunted.
Chapter 711 Alexander VS Lord Ponticus (Part-2)
Chapter 711 Alexander VS Lord Ponticus (Part-2)
Alexander had originally nned to attack Lord Ponticus''s nking force in a head on charge, like he had done during the battle with Faziz.
But then thought better of it.
Because he figured the amount of time it would take for all the cavalry units to slowly do a 180 in this confined space would be too long.
So he came up with something better.
The grounds east of them were open and free, one where it was easy to turn one''s horses.
So why not use all that empty space?
And Alexander decided to do just that.
But instead of rying this order to all the units through word of mouth via heralds, for he knew it would take too long, Alexander simply decided to carry out the order by leading by example, using the horn and his standard to direct all the men''s attention and have them follow him.
Hence, with Alexander dashing out towards the open nes in mere minutes, most of the rear of his army was gone with him, leaving only a few, slower in the head, cavalrymen behind, who were unable to react quickly enough and so found themselves facing Lord Ponticus''s phnx all alone!
While Lord Ponticus himself, seeing the enemy''s rear disintegrate in his opinion, both cheered and felt a bit sour, because he saw it as his prey escaping.
He had really wanted to capture Alexander, for being able to parade a pasha throughout the capital, perhaps even across the country would have been glory enough tost generations.
But there was little he could he could do about that now.
So losing focus of the cavalrymen he thought were running away, he now only urged his men to march faster and crash into the remaining enemy, cutting off the snake now that the head had run away.
As Lord Ponticus was doing so, and as Alexander was in the midst of reforming his cavalry lines for an attack on the unsuspecting man''s weak nks, the other forces were facing their own tribtions.
First was Remus''s legion.
The boy had left pretty scant orders to his adjutant- Piseus on what to do, and so it was quite hard for the second inmander to convince the other captains of all the six battalions to obey him.
In fact, it was hard for him to even meet them as he did not even properly know them, and just finding them in this darkness proved challenging.
All of that ate up a lot of very precious minutes.
And even when he found them and ryed the order, the group was split on what to do.
"Our orders are to stand and defend these siege towers." One imed adamantly.
"Mmmm, we cannot just leave. The wall also needs men to see it. And we have crossbowmen on, They also need our protection." A second voice chimed more reasonably.
"Yes! Ourmand to protect this ce came from Lord Alexander himself! Who does he think yourmander is! We are not leaving" The third voice was very gruff in his retort, making Piseus shrink a bit.
Many of these men did not like the fact that they had been skipped over by a young brat like Remus for the position of the legionmander hence this harsh rejection.
Lastly, a more amicable officer pointed out,
"Boy, listen to them. Without these siege towers, our win here will mean nothing. And even if we wanted to leave, look, the main bulk of the enemy still threatens us!"
The man said as he ced his fingers towards Lord Theony''s forces who all seemed ready and poised to strike.
Many officers feared that if they moved to attack the nk of Lord Ponticus''s forces, their own rear would get decimated by Lord Theony''s men.
And thetter would not need to even send arge force to do so.
Just a thousand men might be enough.
Due to all these reasons, the officers seemed reluctant to follow Remus''s order.
And facing all these much more senior men and their well thought out logic, Piseus found it hard to retaliate.
He was not the most oratorily gifted and was unable to make a good case for himself.
If he had just said that if they did not attack now, their entire army was going to be destroyed and none of the things they were worrying about would matter, then this entire discussion could have been avoided.
But he was unable to think of saying that.
And as for why the officers were unable to see this simple truth, and why even upon seeing the nking force they did not take the initiative to go attack them and try and stop the inevitable disaster, well it was actually not due to malicious infighting, or even just in old ipetence.
It was more because doing things out of one''s own urgency was simply not the military culture of the time.
Soldiers were always instructed to wait for the order from the higher up before doing anything and so they never moved unless expressively told.
In that way, the armies of this time were more like the Soviet armies, who too ced a great deal of importance on hierarchical orders.
But though that culture came into being due to political reasons, mostly because Stalin was deathly afraid of anypetent soldier gaining any sort of influence in the military, the cultural norm here was fostered primarily due to the type of society of the time.
Because this was a feudal system, where nobles controlled everything.
And when one group controlled everything, it meant the other groups obeyed.
And the best way to keep that status quo and keep them obedient was to suppress any free thought.
Hence most of the people at the time were always told not to think too much and simply do what their lords told them to do, and never do anything they forbade.
And this tactic mostly worked just as the policymakers intended, both in civilian and even in military cases.
For instance, in thetter case, when levies were called and conscripted, the peasants responded withoutining, even dying most of the time without rebelling.
Because it was ingrained into their bones that they should follow orders and never do anything on their own.
This mentality was certainly useful for the army, where themanders, who were almost always nobles, very much preferred blind, stupid loyalty, and abhorred almost all critical thinking, for that risked posing a threat of their own jobs.
Hence, due to such a culture, the officers in Remus''s legion felt it was far safer to stand their ground and do what they were told to do, rather than make decisions on their own.
Because in their mind the risk of doing thetter was far too great.
In their mind, the scenario yed like hits,
''Say we do disobey orders and leave our posts, going off to attack the enemy. And then we actually manage to do it, thus saving the Lord Alexander''s life. That''s great! We will surely be rewarded''
''But what if we are wrong! What if we are used of disobeyingmand and were found of leaving our posts?''
''Then what?''
''No, it is far safer to stay here and do as we are told. That way no one can me us.''
''After all, we can just say that we received no order to attack that enemy.''
This was the type of thinking the officers were having in their heads and their fear of the punishment outweighed the potential rewards.
A mindset that was in fact totally normal.
And it could be argued that it was Remus who was the abnormal one, one who was free spirited enough and knew Alexander intimately enough to understand that Alexander would never punish something like that.
But Remus was not here.
And even if he were, he might havecked the necessary pedagogy.
After all, Remus was made themander of this legion by Alexander in a very hasty, ad-hoc manner.
Many of these officers had not even heard of Remus before, and so it was little wonder they were reluctant to act
Most people would be.
Thus facing this situation, Piseus for a moment did not know what to say.
Hence after a moment of silence, he simply went red faced and then blew his top, bellowing at the top of his voice.
"Fine! If you do not want to obey the captain''s orders, then don''t!"
"I will attack with only my own men!"
"And if I manage to live through this, I will surely have the captain tell the lord all about it."
"About how you refused to help even when the lord was about to be attacked."
And then saying so, without waiting for the response, immediately turned his horse around and was off with a sprint.
No amount of shouts was enough to make him look back.
In that way, Remus''s adjutant was really like his captain.
And then within minutes, the 300 cavalrymen that were directly under Remus, and now under Piseus were off galloping out into the night.
''If the others did not join then fine, we will attack the enemy with only ourselves!''
This was the general consensus among the riders.
And they were even confident about their victory because they knew they were about to hit the enemy in his soft belly without him being nary aware.
So they charged fearlessly.
And it was the dust cloud from this charge that Alexander had initially noticed.
Chapter 712 Alexander VS Lord Ponticus (Part-3)
Chapter 712 Alexander VS Lord Ponticus (Part-3)
Chapter 712
Following Piseus''s mad dash towards Lord Ponticus''s nks with just 300 riders, the other officers to their credit did not simply stand back and watch the show.
No, instead, perhaps inspired by the young boy''s agency, they too came around to see the danger they would be in if they did not save their lord and so hurriedly began to gather their troops and form up to initiate a march.
"All infantry form and get ready to march. Crossbowmen stay and guard the walls."
Then came the order for the men.
This way the officers felt that both the task of attacking the nking force and defending the siege works could be achieved.
But nning all this out, as well as the initial bickering had wasted a lot of time for them
*Trumpet*
So by the time they got finally ready to march downward, Lord Ponticus had already blown the trumpet and was half away along his attack.
So if the legion wanted to make any contribution, they would better hurry up, as they had 3 kilometers toplete, whereas Lord Ponticus needed to cover only one.
Now, as this detached legion tried their darnest to try and make the few kilometers of ground, the enemy adjacent to them, led by Lord Theony began to mobilize too.
They had gotten the signal to attack from the ring trumpet and charging down the hill, they headed straight for Alexander''s frontlines.
"Hold! Hold! Let theme" While the legionnaires facing the imminent start of the battle was actually firm and resolute, showing no signs of breaking.
Some were even happy that the battle had finally begun, as they had been getting bored with all the waiting.
This sort of carefree feeling came of course because the men had no idea that Lord Ponticus was right behind them, ready to smash into their open backs.
''Heh! Ignorant sheep!'' Thus Lord Theony would describe the legionaries as such, very much looking forward to those tight lines being sted open upon their pincher attack.
"Menicus! Menicus!" And even the general of the army, Menicus was not aware of this trap until Remus finally clued him in.
And to say that it caused a slight shock would be a gross understatement.
Remus was instantly bombarded by tons of questions, the most concerning of them being,
"Where is Alexander? Why hasn''t he escaped? Why is running towards there?"
But Remus knew almost as much as Menicus, and as time was of the essence, he only replied.
"You have your orders. Follow them."
Thus soon both the fourth and fifth legion, as opposed to only the fifth legion as Alexander''s ordered, were told to turn around to stop the enemy.
But that was easier said than done.
Though Menicus gave that order as soon as he could, it took time for such military orders to make their way along the chain ofmand.
And by the time themanders of the two legions understood the order and attempted to execute it, the enemy was literally only a hundred meters away.
And to perform such a huge formation change within such a short time, well. to say that it was difficult would be putting it mildly.
So instead of the whole formation taking their time and slowly doing a giant turn in an arch, the legionmanders took a far more pragmatic approach.
They quickly summoned the sergeants (in charge of 100 men or 80 soldiers) of the veryst few rows and told them to immediately turn their lines on their heels and face the phngites.
"You must stand against the enemy no matter what! Do not give an inch of ground! Buy enough time for us!"
The legionmanders gave this generalmand.
The idea was to have these men fight and hold off Lord Ponticus until the vast majority of the formation could slowly turn around battalion by battalion and join the fight.
At least that was the thought in principle.
In reality though, the chances of this actually seeding were actually almost nonexistent.
Because such a temporary stopgap measure, with the lines being only a few echelons deep, would never be able to hold against a well-organized attack.
The shallow depth of the ranks made the lines too thin to be able to provide any effective resistance.
And that was why when Lord Ponticus saw the legionaries turn to face him, he was not at all fazed, instead only sniggered,
''Heh! They always do this. Even when they have already been caught in the, they still try to struggle.''
''Fool! It''s over. Run and save yourself, hahaha.''
This was not the first time he had pulled off something like this and the old veteran knew the sequence of events that were to follow by heart.
When facing a two-pronged attack, the defending soldiers would first panic, then some would turn around to try and resist, and finally, after a brief while this token of resistance would be ovee by the much more organized attacker, thus snapping the whole formation and initiating a breakthrough..
This was always how it happened, and it was also natural, as it was inevitable for a much heavier, prepared force to defeat a much weaker force that was in so disarray.
Hence Lord Ponticus very much looked forward to this scenario unfolding.
And the following events did reinforce that belief in him.
The soldiers under him quickly made contact with both the legions, but whereas previously they would have been greeted by a shower of pis during their initial charge, this time the phngites were allowed to move up unimpeded!
This was because the hurriedly arranged legionaries, many still in the midst of their rotation did not even get the time to throw their pi, thus letting the formidable phnx formation crash into them with their shields intact, making the legionaries face a foe in their best condition, while they were at their weakest.
And the result from this as one would expect, with almost every spear of the phngites managing to score a target and making the lines be in danger of shattering with just this initial strike.
"Ahghhh!"
"Urghhhh!"
"Nooooo!"
All such terrifying screams resounded across the lines as the sharp metal points pierced and stabbed through flesh, the sounds made all the more scarier by the quietness of the night and the uncertainty of darkness.
For the legionaries on the front lines who were unable to clearly see like during the day, the ambient darkness worked to amplify these death throes screams, until they felt it was hundreds of times more terrifying, and the death of only a handful sounded like the entire legion being put under the sword.
And as such morale plummeted like a falling rock!
Which was really pretty normal.
nking attacks would not be used to such effectiveness if they were not.
Thus with just the first few thrusts, themanders of the legions quickly woke up to the fact that their lines were beginning to buckle and that there was no way these were going to hold long enough for them they reorient their forces.
''I knew it! This battle is lost!'' And this was the type of mood among many of the officers and soldiers fighting nearing the front lines, with that particr thought being said by Talukder (Viscount) Prantik to himself, who was in the thick of it, being in charge of the 4th legion.
Facing this nking attack, the noble''s every cell screamed at him, wanting him to turn and tail, a feeling especially reinforced when he found himself gazing at the glint of spears of the enemy reflecting the moonlight.
They were that close!
The nobleman, being bought up in thep of luxury had never felt death be so close, not even when he was defeated by Alexander.
''Dammit Alexander! Putting me so close to the enemy,'' Thus he even cursed Alexander for cing him where themander would go.
Now, ording to Alexander''s doctrine, themanders were always ced at the back, which was supposed to be the most secure part of the army.
And usually, it was.
But this time, facing a nking attack, it had suddenly be the most exposed.
So up until now, TP had to fight against his instinct to stay and fight.
Though how long he would be able to continue that resistance was up in the air.
And in that vein, most of the soldiers fighting there too wanted to do the same.
These soldiers that were facing Lord Ponticus were no veterans to begin with, but only green peasants.
While they were facing ten thousand of Lord Ponticus''s best of the best, hand picked by the man himself to go on this fateful nking attack.
Even under regr circumstances, the two legions might have been badly mauled facing these phnx formations who had superior range with their spears and were fighting on t ground.
Never mind the current situation.
It would not be even wrong to say that Lord Ponticus was like a wolf in a sheep''s pen.
And it was only a matter of time before these sheep understood who the prey was and started braying, running in all directions, and copsing.
Alexander''s rear seemed to be under the threat of imminent copse.
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Chapter 713 Alexander VS Lord Ponticus (Part-4)
Chapter 713 Alexander VS Lord Ponticus (Part-4)
As the Tibian nking force bulldozed into the hastily made paper-thin rear lines, Alexander''s fourth and fifth legion appeared on the edge of copse.
The casualties they took just in the first few minutes were staggering.
There were huge disorganizations within the formation caused by the surprise attack as they tried to turn around to face the enemy.
Andstly. the inherent darkness of the night caused enormous panic and confusion within the ranks.
All of which contributed to this lightning-fast fall of morale and an imminent defeat.
A defeat whose inevitability was apparent to both sides.
So if Alexander was gonna do anything to change this nearly sealed oue, he was gonna need to do it fast.
At the current moment, Lord Ponticus could almost taste the victory, feeling it almost caress the inside of his palms.
He knew with even his eyes closed that once this thin screen of men was routed, the entire formation of soldiers that was blocking them would break and run, thus letting Lord Ponticus move on to attack the enemy''s main line.
And no matter how well disciplined those forces in the front might be, when facing both his and Lord Theony''sbined attack from two opposite directions, only one fatey in store for them- encirclement andplete and utter destruction.
''Ahhh! Finally! Revenge! Sweet revenge!'' Lord Ponticus almost felt drunk with pleasure at his impending, and in his mind, even fully assured victory,
The destruction of this army would finally allow him to have face when facing his king, letting him proudly show that the trust his lord had ced in him was not misjudged.
It would also let him have personal revenge for the stress and pain he was made to go through during the brutal siege which had been going on for the past four months.
Andstly, this victory over Zanzan would help soothe the heart of themon people of Tibias, many of whom had lost much of their kin in the war two years prior, when Perseus lost 15,000 men after failing to hold the manor hill.
All such great rewards greatly energized the man''s heart to try and achieve victory.
With the only fly in the ointment for him being,
''Too bad I let that Alexander escape. *Sigh*, what a loss. I should sent a few riderster to chase him. Maybe they will get lucky.''
Lord Ponticus said such to himself, his thoughts already skipping past the battle he presumed was already won, and now hoped to get that ''all objectivespleted'' trophy.
But Lord Ponticus really should not have been so downcast over the fact that he could not meet Alexander.
Because Alexander wasing to meet him!
*Trumpet*! *Trumpet*!
At around the time Lord Ponticus was closing in to make contact with Alexander''s rear unit, the sound of one among many such trumpets in the battlefield drifted through the air, something few people even paid much attention to.
But they should have.
Because this trumpet was something special.
This meant that after almost a two kilometer turning circle, Alexander had finally managed to turn his cavalrymen around, now making them face Lord Ponticus''s exposed nks.
And it was only then that Alexander''s strategy became apparent to many of the riders,
''So that''s why we turned turned!''
''Hmmm, it seems the Lord wanted to avoid a frontal attack due to the spears and instead hit the softer nks. Nice!''
''Great! We will make the enemy taste his own medicine.''
Many such understanding and zealous thoughts ran through the riders.
As for Alexander, once this turning maneuver waspleted, he blew the trumpet again, this time signaling to the men to form up into proper battle lines.
He even blew the trumpet in a specific way that dictated to the men the kind of formation he wanted them to take.
The 2,700 men were told to arrange themselves in three rows, with the 900 men in each of the rows ordered to line up shoulder to shoulder, 10 men deep and 90 men wide.
This was one of the most simple arrangements, as it just asked the 9 standard cavalry battalions in each row, each numbering 100 men. to stand side by side and charge.
The rider quickly understood this order and knowing the peril their army was in, followed it in as short time as possible.
And once they were ready, a third trumpet rang, one which signaled the start of the actual charge.
Now, given Lord Ponticus was about two kilometers away, the cavalrymen did not certainly gallop in full speed all the way.
That would tire the horses too much.
So instead, at first the horses only advanced in a trot, being careful to maintain the order of the formation as well as paying attention to the grounds in front of them to the best of their ability.
They did this so that no rider tripped their horse and fell, as in such a tight formation, this would certainly lead to a cascading effect, as the size of the obstacle in the form of fallen horse and rider onlyrger andrger with each subsequent ident.
Though it was easier said than done, as it was difficult to do it in the best of times, never mind at night, no matter how clear and moonlit the sky might be.
So they could only advance slowly, the speed leaving much to be desired even through their perseverance.
Which was a problem given the name of the game, which was speed, speed, and more speed.
If Alexander was unable to catch up to Lord Ponticus quickly enough, his forces risked snapping under the weight of Lord Ponticus far before Alexander coulde to the rescue.
And if his rear units broke, seeing this, his front units were sure to break too, meaning his army would vanish into the air, and be prime picking for Lord Theony.
Meaning by that point, even if his nking attack did manage to neutralize Lord Ponticus, it would simply count as ying for points, not for victory on the battlefield.
For Lord Theony would be able to clean up the rest all by himself.
And no matter how talented Alexander was, he could not win a battle in the open against an enemy that outnumbered him more than ten times.
Thus Alexander knew he had to hurry.
He did not want to simply go through all that trouble just to kill some nameless peasants.
He wanted to win
He wanted to continue his siege.
He wanted to take Thesalie.
But this was also where his want hit against his reality,
Because try as he might, the current trot was the fastest he could get without breaking formation or making his horse too tired.
For remember, he had already galloped 2 kilometers with it, and any more would tire the beast to the point that it was no longer to charge when called upon.
So he tried to do his best within his limits.
Now all was not doom and gloom for Alexander.
Because even if he was unable to intercept Lord Ponticus before the man attacked his rear lines, there was a small group of riders who nearly could.
And that was Piseus and his 300.
They had started much earlier than Alexander and by this point, had already covered most of the 3-kilometer distance from their initial position and were just lining up for thest 100 meter dash.
That was where the real cavalry charge began as the horses would elerate to their full speed and hit the enemy with their maximum punch.
And this was exactly what was about to happen, as lining up the 300 men in a 30 man wide, 10 men deep formation,
*Trumpet!*
Piseus personally led the charge after blowing his own horn.
And this relief for Alexander''s troops could not havee any sooner as by this point Lord Ponticus had already made contact with the two rear legions, and even seemed to be on the verge of breaking them.
If Piseus was not there, and Alexander was all alone, it was very much possible that the Zanzan army would have routed before help could arrive.
But none of that happened.
Piseus was there and help did arrive in the nick of time.
So there came the charge of the 300 men, one that shook the ground under the thundering footsteps of the heavy beasts, and made the air churn with the neighing of the war horse, apanied by the crazed shouts of their riders.
*Arghhhh*
They all cheered together, the great weight of their shouts making the air shudder.
"Bang!*
Until finally a dull, but very loud thud rang around the entire battlefield, immediately followed by panicked and horse screams.
"Wha¡what happened!"
"Who¡how!"
"Where¡where!"
First came the surprised and dazed shouts as most people simply tried to figure out what the hell just happened.
But those inquiries were an instantter drowned out by the muchrger panicked shouts from all around the back of Lord Ponticus''s force,
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"From the sides! From the sides!"
"Help! Help!:
"Run! Run!:
The soldiers here felt as if a sledgehammer had been smashed against the side of their faces and now were bloody and seeing stars.
While the officers tried to figure out just how the hell did they manage topletely miss such arge cavalry attacking force.
Piseus''s attack was so sessful that it nearly brought the entire ten thousand force to almost a grinding halt.
Chapter 714 Alexander VS Lord Ponticus (Part-5)
Chapter 714 Alexander VS Lord Ponticus (Part-5)
The reason why Piseus was so sessful in his nking attack was because all of Lord Ponticus''s forces had been so focused on the battle that was going right in front that they simply missed the forest for the trees.
This was aided by the fact that it was night and the helmets the Tibian soldiers wore blocked off much of their peripheral vision, furthermore limiting their visibility,
And as for the huge noise of the approaching horsemen, well, the battlefield was a noisy ce, so, many of the officers simply filtered that sound out as being just inconsequential mor and din.
With only a few sharp ones able to take notice, but by then it was too little, toote.
Piseus was already at their doorsteps by that point.
It had to be also remembered that Lord Ponticus never even knew of Remus''s legion position, and thus had never even anticipated an attack from that direction.
He had only seen Alexander run in that direction and then forgot about it.
While the dust cloud Alexander had kicked up involuntarily obscured a lot of visibility for Lord Ponticus, thus making it even easier for Piseus to conceal his attack.
It was due to all these reasons that Lord Ponticus had simply failed to notice the cavalry charge until it finally hit him.
And what a cavalry charge it was!
The thundering hooves of the horse had managed to smash through the defenseless soldiers like a hammer through rotten wood, shattering their formations, and sending a few literally flying from the impact.
Furthermore, Lord Ponticus had been forced tounch his nking attack before he could get this rear echelons in proper order, and so Piseus was able to easily drive a deep wedge into that oose, unsuspecting formation with his charge, inflicting devasting casualties.
It was also because of this that the sound that came from the initial hit was not a metallic ng ofnces hitting the shields or armor, but a dull thud of steel sinking into flesh.
Because the enemy did not even get the chance to form a proper defensive line such as locking their shields together as they would have at other times.
Thus making the charge prove especially devasting.
And once Piseus had finally spent all his momentum and stopped, he was already several echelons deep into the formation, and the carnage left behind in the aftermath of such a blow could be easily imagined.
Though the true extent of the casualties was not easily visible due to the darkness of the night, those close were still able to recognize the strewn corpses of their formerrades, many with huge gaping wounds on them and spewing copious amounts of blood, as they spasmed and twitched in thest few seconds of death throes, many begging to save them.
"Arghhh!"
"Help!"
"Please, someone urghhh!"
Such mournful cries drifted out of these wounded men, with some even grabbing the legs of their friends next to them as if they were trying to use that as an anchor to prevent death from dragging them through the gate beyond.
It was a morale-shattering sight.
And seeing this, as well as facing these imposing riders on tall horses, many of the remaining soldiers wanted to turn tail and run then and there.
This perhaps was Piseus''s greatest aplishment, making the enemy lose the will to fight, which had a far more profound impact than even the killing of arge number of soldiers.
For the panic and fear spread like wildfire among the ranks, as the suddenness and ferocity of the attack in the darkness made it difficult for the officers to even start to understand what had happened.
All thisbined meant that if not for the fact that many of these ten thousand men were Lord Ponticus''s veteran men, they might have broken then and there,
And it was only their sense of duty and the shame they would face if they ran that kept them in the fight.
"*Trumpet!*
Once Piseus''s attack came to a stop, instead of switching to his spear and starting to cut through the now-tattered ranks, he blew his trumpet, signaling his men to turn around and disengage with the enemy.
He did this because no matter how powerful the strength of his charge had been, he was still only a force of 300 men.
And against ten thousand men that was just a drop in the bucket.
So no matter how much damage he had been able to inflict, in the grand scheme of things it was still minute.
And if the enemy were to wise up to that fact, and decided to their numerical superiority, Piseus very much risked being encircled and destroyed.
Furthermore, there was also the fact that he had noticed Alexander advancing for his own attack.
So if he did not want to get caught up in the crosshairs, it was best that he made way for the muchrger force.
Thus the riders quickly turned their horse and before the dazed phngites couldunch a counterattack, disengaged and rode away from them.
A sight which many of the Tibian soldiers silently cheered in their hearts upon seeing.
Though they really should have been careful with assuming things, as no sooner had they finished releasing that sigh of relief that a second wall of riders reced the first one.
And this time it was muchrger!
*Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!*
The 900 horses in Alexander''s first group, led by the man himself, let out loud braying sounds as they formed up upon reaching the 200-meter mark, and then slowly started to make towards the enemy''s nks, their speed increasing with each step, until around the 50-meter mark, they started to gallop at full speed, ready to smash into whatever was left of the formation.
The noise and rumbling vibrations traveling through the ground this time were far greater than during Piseus''s, as was the dust cloud kicked up, clearing showing the hit this time was going to even more painful.
And being already hit once, this time the Tibian soldiers perfectly knew what was about to happen, and deep panic and fear started to set in.
"What! How! Where did theye from!" While amidst all this confusion, Lord Ponticus found himself lost.
Things had happened so quickly that he was unable to even get the information he needed to form aprehensive picture of the battlefield on time.
So he was just as clueless about what was happening around his nks as any of the grunts.
Thus he was unable to give coherentmand.
Not that it would have mattered anyway, given the darkness and how close Alexander already was.
Oh, how the tables had turned, as this was very close to how he had managed to catch Alexander.
While themanders of two rear legions, upon seeing the enemy''s nks get hit, immediately cheered and urged the buckling men,
"Look! Reinforcements! Reinforcements are here! Fight men! Do not let them steal our glory, arghhhh!"
To be fair, thesemanders too had no idea who was attacking Lord Ponticus, as it had too dark to see so far properly, but at this point, they really did not care.
Even if it waster proven that those riders were actually Tibians who were supposed to attack the rear legions but in the darkness had gotten their target mixed up, it would still not matter.
Because for the legionmanders, the sight of this attack had more to do with raising their men''s morale than any actual damage the enemy forces might have suffered.
And as they pointed this out, it worked just as intended.
The sight of the attack worked to bolster the faltering morale of the men, as they rallied under their officers with a loud cheer and nted their feet firmly on the ground, steeling themselves to not let the enemy break through.
While at the same time on the other side, due to all the confusion, and the visual confirmation of a cavalry force on their defenseless nk, most of Lord Ponticus''s men forgot everything about attacking the enemy in front of them but instead wanted to go on the defense to protect themselves from the impending cavalry charge.
Hence most men tried to hastily turn above to point their shields and spears toward Alexander, thus resulting in a decrease of pressure on the thin rear lines of the fourth and fifth legion.
But they might have not bothered at all.
For just like how the phngites were able to nearly destroy the formation sent to counter their own nking attack, Alexander too was able to smash through the hastily formed lines with just the first strike, causing even more widespread damage on top of those already done by Piseus.
Alexander''s own legions had been able to resist the nking for a while, but these phngites never really stood any such chance.
Because facing such a heavynce attack without a proper spear and shield wall, Alexander was able to bulldoze through the ranks without taking even a single injury to his unit.
So then even though the veteran soldiers tried to put up a fight this time, the aftermath was the same as during Piseus''s charge, just on a muchrger scale.
And after Alexander''s second and third rowsunched their own calvary charges, the result of that section of the battlefield was sealed- Aplete rout of Lord Ponticus''s force.
It seemed Alexander had managed to save his army in the nick of time.
Chapter 715 Lord Ponticuss Demise
Chapter 715 Lord Ponticus''s Demise
Lord Ponticus''s force really lived up to its elite status given that it took three consecutive cavalry charges delivered to their nks to finally snap them.
Any lesser force would have shattered far, far ago.
But regardless of their pedigry, and whether they would have run before or were running now, the fact was that the 3,000 cavalry managed to decisively destroy the formation there, forcing the 10,000 strong unit to break and rout.
"Stand! Stand! Keep still!"
"Hold! Hold! The enemy is about to copse!"
"Do not run! Think of your family!:
And even such urging from the officers and even from Lord Ponticus himself failed to restore order, for the wound inflicted on their nks was too grievous, going many, many echelons in.
There was literally no sort of coherent formation left there, and when afterpleting their charges the cavalrymen started to engage in melee with their spears, even the hardened men lost heart facing these huge losses and ran.
While the 4th and 5th legions seeing this easy prey all up for the taking started to give chase, eager to hunt them down and exact revenge.
"Stop! Don''t run! Maintain formation! You will get lost in his darkness."
Which was actually against the express wish of theirmanders, who urged them not to do so.
Because chasing a fleeing enemy exposed oneself to a possible counterattack.
But the soldiers were of no mind to listen.
The two legions were mostlyposed of recently trained farmers and when presented with such a delicious meal, these men were unable to maintain discipline, and disregarding all orders from the higher ups, they initiated this needless chase.
For in the minds of these men, they hade so close to being killed, and now that they were given such a good opportunity for revenge, they would be a fool not to take one.
So quite simr to how Lord Ponticus''s men ran like headless chickens, the legionaries blindly chased them too, almost like mad dogs chasing their own tails.
Hence soon that part of the battlefield devolved into a kind of deadly game of tag, one where the ''it'' tried to stab the other with spears, swords, and halberts.
And this macabre game was being yed by nearly twenty thousand men right in the middle of the night!
What a sight that was!
"*Tsk!*"
And looking at this very mess from a distance, Alexander furrowed his brows and clicked his tongue in anger.
That part could no longer be called a battlefield.
The darkness and the general chaos of the battlefield had it turned into a quagmire of unruly mobs where one side tried to mindlessly massacre the other, and though Alexander did not really care about his men killing the enemy, he did dread the number of friendly kills this was going to result in.
Because everyone was running in every direction, and though at least during the day the soldiers would be able to distinguish their own from the enemy, but now, the soft moonlight made it very difficult to separate the red uniform of the Tibians from the blue of the Zanzan.
So unless one got really close, it was impossible to separate friends from foes, thus inevitably causing a lot of needless deaths.
But even though Alexander very much wished to restore order, hecked the resources.
The breakdown had been too severe despite the best efforts of the officers and would have needed a massive effort using arge number of troops to bring these unruly men under control in a short time.
Alexander bothcked the numbers and after the cavalry charges, his horses were too tired to conduct such arge operation.
Never mind there was also the fact that even many among his own ranks had left their ranks to run amock on the battlefield trying to score some kills.
So Alexander simply stood by on the side andid witness to how his two legions voluntarily disintegrated.
It was a weird sight to behold and Alexander felt an unfamiliar bitter feeling in him.
Clearly he had won, yet somehow he had also ''lost'' two of his legions as an effective fighting force.
So the happiness and relief Alexander had felt upon saving his army was somewhat buried by the sight of thispletely avoidable loss.
It seemed that even in defeat, Lord Ponticus was able to aplish at least half his objective, removing ten thousand soldiers enemy soldiers from the active battlefield and somehow even making them inflict injury on them from friendly kills.
And speaking of Lord Ponticus, the man himself had unfortunately died!
Killed in battle!
It had happened not so long after the rout began, as at that moment, the military general had found himself facing attacks from numerous legionaries from all sides.
Normally he would have never faced such a situation as the general of the army would always be at the back, quite safe from enemy attacks even if his own army was routed.
But this time, due to his eagerness, the older man had ced himself near the very front, wanting to see the destruction of the enemy army with his own two eyes and personally lead the charge.
And to give credit where credit is due, this position did help him out at times.
For instance, if he had not ced himself near the frontlines, he would have never spotted Remus through the woods, and if he had taken his sweet time fully preparing his lines, that would have given Alexander plenty of time to slowly turn around and counter attack even before his own nking attack could begin.
That would have been a disaster for the man.
So that position back then had really paid its dividends.
But just as with the pros, Lord Ponticus had to also bear the cons.
And that was the fact that now that his forces had been routed, he had be a ma for everyone''s attack.
Lord Ponticus atop his horse right on the frontlines was very conspicuous, especially where the main fighting force was the infantry, making him stick out like a sore thumb.
And his case was not helped by the fact that he wore very eye catching armor which loudly announced his status, taunting every soldier in the vicinity to take a shot at him.
"There! He must be an officer! Big fish!"
"Kill him! 100 ropals! Kill him!"
"*Shoo* ahh! Missed!"
Although the legionaries did not know of Lord Ponticus''s exact identity, they certainly understood that he was someone much higher up the chain and so the animosity directed towards him was overwhelming.
Spear thrusts, sword swipes, and even a few pi throws were all sent toward him.
While Lord Ponticus and his small number of bodyguards tried their best to either defect or in the worst case absorb these blows using their very bodies, while at the same time attempting to cut their way through this mess and escape.
An endeavor that quickly proved futile.
For Lord Ponticus had put himself right in the thick of the formation, so clearing a way with all the men running in every direction and getting in the way proved too challenging.
Especially when there was an avnche of legionaries trying to kill them with little regard for themselves.
Lord Ponticus was just too juicy a target, and no matter how good the bodyguards, the men could only do so much.
So over time, each of these warriors could be seen falling steadily one by one, and the protective circle around Lord Ponticus shrunk more and more, as at one point along the line, the men were forced to do only one thing, defend and pray for some sort of miracle.
While on the side of Zanzan, this visual confirmation of weakness of course worked to encourage the legionaries to continue their assault, and with each sessful hit, Lord Ponticus was driven closer and closer to dispear.
''Should I surrender?'' Facing this hopeless situation, a thought that should have never entered this proud man suddenly bloomed itself.
As the enemymander and a noble, if he were to surrender, the enemy was bound to spare his life.
This was after all the convention of warfare of the current times.
But the humiliation that such a thing would cause forced Lord Ponticus to pause, and the words seemed struck in his throat like a fishbone.
He was one of Tibias''s most aplished generals and moreover the king''s uncle.
So for him to shout out surrender and be at the enemy''s mercy, even the thought was too mortifying.
He had been fantasizing about what he was going to do to Alexander when he fell on his hand, but now that the situation was reversed, now that it seemed he might be the one to end up in Alexander''s hand, Lord Ponticus faltered.
He found he did not have the guts to go through it.
The realization that things he nned to do to Alexander might fall on him too was too much for the noble.
For the proud man, death was far more preferable to such humiliation.
And as the city lord mired himself in such thought and took too long to make a decision, finally at one point his luck ran out.
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Chapter 716 Melodias VS Lord Theony (Part-1)
Chapter 716 Melodias VS Lord Theony (Part-1)
Facing the relentless attacks of the legionaries, Lord Ponticus''s circle grew smaller and smaller with every passing second, until finally,
*sh*
A lucky sword sh managed to atst prate the circle and grievously wound the leg of the horse Lord Ponticus was on, causing it to buckle and fall down, taking its rider with it.
''Ahhh! I should have surrendered'' And as Lord Ponticus fell from his horse, time seemed to slow for him, as he could feel his life sh before him.
It was as if the veteran military leader could hear death knocking on his door.
And it was right on the cusp of the journey to the other side that the man came to the conclusion that perhaps life was more important than pride.
But that enlightenment came toote.
And besides, even if he had cried out surrender, it was unknown whether it might have actually worked.
Remember, it was dark, the ones facing him were peasants who knew of no such convention andstly, Lord Ponticus spoke a differentnguage.
Perhaps if he had begged and gotten on his knees as a universal sign of surrender then they would taken him prisoner.
But the man had been unwilling to debase himself like that.
And so, as soon as Lord Ponticus hit the ground, immediately within the blink of an eye, he was jumped on by several legionaries like hungry jackals and within seconds was hacked to bits.
It was in fact so fast that it was impossible to tell where the first wounds were inflicted or gave any of the bodyguards even the slightest time to try and mount a defense.
Instead, they too soon joined their lord, dying in the service.
And it was as such that a glorious hero of Tibias, one that had brought much glory to his country but was also responsible for sending so many to their deaths, finally met the scythe wielder himself.
But his demise did not cause any additional ripple in the battlefield,
Though perhaps it was more because this side of the battle was already experiencing a figurative tsunami.
But regardless, the men who killed Lord Ponticus showed not a shred of concern following the act and instead seemed more eager to divide up the spoils.
Some even seemed to want to start another fight with themselves over these, particrly as they struggled to take possession of the head.
Because it was the person possessing that who would get that 100 ropal bounty.
Oh, if Lord Ponticus knew his head was going to exchange for that mere amount, he would have certainly turned in his grave.
But for now, his story ended there and here.
And instead, a far more interesting and important event was about to start- The main sh between Lord Theony and Melodias.
Because remember, Lord Theony''s forces were still intact.
And with Alexander losing two of his legions, Lord Theony actually held a slight numerical superiority, with his 28,000 squaring off against Melodias''s 25,000.
So Tibias was not out of the fight yet.
Not by a long shot.
"Dammit! How could this happen? Where is Lord Ponticus!"
Of course, this did not mean Lord Theony waspletely unaffected by the loss.
No, he was very much affected as Lord Ponticus''splete rout was surely not part of the n.
With the only silver lining being that there was ten thousand fewer men to face.
And since things had already developed to such an extent and Lord Theony was by now only a few hundred meters from the enemy, about to make contact within minutes.
So even if he wanted to stop, it was toote.
Just the orders for an orderly retreat would take much longer.
As for the nuclear card of blowing his horn to sound a full-on retreat, well he feared such a thing would cause the enemy to give chase and result in much higher casualty on his side.
Especially given how chaotic it would be due to the current time of the day, or more specifically night.
So instead he bit the bullet and pressed on, saying to himself,
"Well, at least some of the enemy soldiers have run away. Now let''s hope I can use these elephants to grab a victory."
Lord Theony really hoped all the stories his king told him were real and these beasts were as miraculous as he said.
And with those thoughts, the phnx units closed thest few paces and finally made contact with the static legionaries.
"Attack! Half their men have run away! Now it''s our turn to finish the other half!"
"Show no mercy! For Thesalie!"
"For the King!"
Such loud boisterousst-minute words of encouragement could be hearding from the Tibian side as the men were about to begin their life or death struggle.
While on Alexander''s side, words such as these drifted to the legionnaires'' ears,
"Hold the line! Lord Alexander has defeated the enemy behind us. It is time we defeat the enemy in front of us."
"Stand and fight men! All sorts of riches and women await upon victory."
"Don''t falter! We are so close!"
As the threat in the rear was death with, the legions in the front quickly steadied themselves, and soon the battle turned into one that was expected.
Just before the phnx units were about to hit them, the legionaries charged towards them as trained, throwing their pis and disabling many of the enemy''s shields, before starting to engage in a brutal hand-to-hand melee, dying the ground illuminated by the pristine moonlit sky in blood.
"Dammit! If those idiots did not run, we would be having such an easier time!"
And after a while, Melodias cursed as such, for facing the phnx units in t ground, further with a slight numerical inferiority, the Zanzan lines quickly began to get pushed back.
This was usually what happened when legionaries tried to go toe to toe with phnxes on even ground.
Furthermore, the forces under Lord Theony were actually much fresher than those under Melodias, because most of the men had been allowed to rest the entire day in preparation for this attack.
Whereas Alexander, unaware of such a move, made his men mostly work the whole time, with his only saving grace being that the men had been fed a very hearty meal.
But that was hardy enough topensate for theck of sleep and rest, and their performance on the battlefield showed.
So it was reasonable for Melodias to miss those extra ten thousand men.
However given the current state, he was forced to make do with what he had, and so the brutal slugging match continued.
"My lord, sorry we arete!"
And as the bloody battle unfolded in the center, these words were addressed to Alexander by the officers who were under Remus
It had taken them too long to organize their men so was of no use during the previous nking attack.
Hence as they met Alexander on the field some distance away from the main fighting, their leader lowered his head and looked ashamed.
"Mmmm, it''s good you are here." While Alexander, unaware of all the backroom drama simply nodded pensively and thenmanded,
"The enemy here has been defeated. Stay here. I will give your next order in time."
An order that the man wordlessly obeyed with a salute, stationing his men just right of their lord''s unit.
The reason for Alexander giving this order was because he wanted to keep this 3,000 infantry, as well as his 3,000 cavalries in the reserve, nning to inject these fresh troops once Melodias seeded in tiring the enemy out.
And so for the next two hours, that was exactly what happened as the battlefield turned into a kind of stagnant but very brutal quagmire, one where phngites and legionaries pushed and counter-pushed each other, with some individual units managing to shove their opponents sometimes as much as several hundred meters back.
All while the 4th and 5th legions ran around the battlefield aimlessly looking for any stragglers.
This was of course aplete waste of their time and usefulness in the battlefield and a sight that insenced Alexander.
He nned to heavily punish these unruly menter, as well as grill all the officers who had been responsible for their training.
And at ater inquiry, it would turn out that these men mostly received their training from the mercenaries Pasha Farzah had sent.
And though those men were fantastic fighters, they were prolific ckers as well as several recounts from the soldiers would attest, saying that most of the time, their trainers would leave after only one or two hours, or simply not show up at all.
Something Alexander would punish by simply removing all such mercenary trainers altogether, as well as docking a part of their pay.
But such detective findings would be for another time, as right now, finally after a few hours of brutal struggle, Melodias was atst beginning to show signs of breaking.
The phnxes had inflicted a lot of casualties on him and the legionaries seemed unable to get the upper hand.
Thus Alexander was forced to release his reserves while seeing so, Lord Theony let out his elephants.
Now was the time to see if history would repeat itself, or if would Alexander triumph!
Pleasee Here!
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Chapter 717 Melodias Vs Lord Theony (Part-2)
Chapter 717 Melodias Vs Lord Theony (Part-2)
The fight between the phngites and legionaries raged for several hours until finally, one side seemed to be able to eke out an advantage.
And as it was expected, it was the phnx formation, who had held both the advantage in range and terrain.
Melodias''s legionnaires were finally exhausted after being pushed back on all fronts by several hundred meters by the wall of the bristling spears wielded by Lord Theony''s men and being unable to counter them as well as facing mounting casualties, the legionaries seemed right on the very edge of their limit.
It was apparent they would not be able to hold on for long.
"Go! Reinforce them! Quick!"
And it was then that Alxx atst deployed his reserves,posed of the 3,000 infantry and 2,000 dismounted cavalry.
Dismounted cavalry meant that the cavalrymen got off their horses and fought on foot like regr infantry.
And the reason why Alxx did so as opposed to using them in the traditional way was because the threat of the elephants was still present and he feared the horses might break and smash into his own formation just like before.
So, leaving only 1,000 riders with him as an emergency reserve, Alxx ordered the other 2,000 to pick up their spears and go fight like infantry.
The arrival of the reserves naturally caused a cheer to break out in the Zanzan camps, and with this nutritious injection into the army, the battlefield was again restored to its former state, as the legionaries were able to push back and reim the grounds lost.
Something that caused Lord Theony to curse, "Dammit! Aftering so far!"
He knew that his soldiers were getting tired and would not be able to fight for much longer.
And though the same could be said for Alxx''s men too, but a draw here would mean defeat for Lord Theony and a win for Alxx.
For Alxx then would be able tounch his attack on the walls using the siege engines, and Lord Theony would be powerless to stop that.
And even if Lord Theony managed to attack once again before that could happen, Alxx surely would be able to reorganize his forces and add the two currently dissipated legions before that, whereas Lord Theony would be stuck with the men he had.
The nobleman saw little hope in being able to win against those odds.
Hence he no longer held back and released his trump card, turning to Lapitus to order,
"The elephants! Have the elephants attack their wings! Destroy them!"
Thus under his signal, the trainers above the beasts did exactly what they were told, urging the beasts to charge towards Alxx''s wings, hoping to smash through them, or if they were lucky break them even before making contact.
But contrary to everyone''s expectation in the Tibian camp, thetter did not happen, for the officers stationed with the legionaries in the wings followed the strategy taught to them by Alxx to the tee.
It was the method the city lord hade up with to deal with elephants, in the likely event that they came across these beasts.
Which it seemed they did.
"Hold your ground! Do not panic! Just do what you practiced!"
Hence the officers in a steady, reassured voice urged their men to not buckle, while the infantry quickly switched from their swords to their javelins, gripping them tightly in their hands, and got into their throwing posture.
"Wait! Do not throw them yet! Let them close in!"
The officers then strictly told the man, cautioning some of the ones with more twitchy hands from wasting their shots.
So then for a few brief but seemingly very long moments, they waited.
And it was a terrifying few seconds, as the charge of these heavy beasts made the men feel the earth literally tremble beneath their feet, *trumpet*, *trumpet*, *trumpet*, their enraged roars sending shivers to their hearts, and the rapidly approaching huge, ck bodies seemed to swallow even the scant moonlight of the battlefield, making the men on the frontlines feel like they were not facing a mortal foe, but a storm, a force of nature!
The sight of this wall of beast caused many men to feel weak in their knees, and some even contemted running.
The fear was being trampled to death or being speared through the tasks was a very vivid thought.
But desertion in the army had only one oue- death, and since the officers stood by them, enforcing strict discipline, the men too stood their ground and the lines ultimately held.
"Now! Shoot! Quick Shoot!"
And once the beasts were finally in range, the soldiers immediately released their projectiles, be it their javelins, pis, and even crossbows, with all they had, the action being as much an attack as a way to release all their pent up stress and fear.
And once they were done with their first volley, they quickly reequipped for the second one, arching their bodies and using their strong arm muscles to shoot the weapons again with as much as force as possible.
And given the size of their target and the proximity, almost every one of these shots made contact, peppering the 17 beasts with almost a thousand of these sharp, deadly missiles, as many of them bore deep into their flesh.
*Trumpet*, *Trmupet*, *Trumpet*
This naturally caused the charging beasts to let out enraged cries, for the deadly spears drew huge amounts of blood from all over their bodies, even dying much of their ck skin a crimson red.
Then, noticing where this hail of deadly projectiles wasing from, these intelligent beasts naturally attempted to get out of the way, though much to the chagrin of their trainers.
"Darm beasts! Where are you going? There! Go forward!"
"No! Stop! Don''t turn there!"
These men cried out from atop the elephants, attempting to make the elephants either bear through the wall of missiles or at least make them stop and retreat in an orderly manner.
And they tried this by using a very sharp hook to dig into the animal as a way to make itply.
But that tactic, which would have worked under normal times this time backfired.
These beasts were already grievously hurt by the numerous two to three meter spears sticking out of them, making them bleed profusely and making them very angry.
And now facing this wound from their riders too, finally proved to be the straw that broke the camel''s back, pushing them over the edge and letting their ragepletely take over.
*Trumpet!!*, *Trmupeeet!!!*, *Trumpeeeeet!!!!*
At first, it was only one elephant that let out his dreadful cry.
But elephants were social animals.
So hearing the hurtful cries of one of them, others too let out their own cries, rallying together, and suddenly, the trainers found they had even lost the small control they previously had.
At least until now, they had been able to stop the elephant from crushing into their own lines.
But then these beasts wentpletely unresponsive to their trainers no matter how much they poked them, and doing whatever they wished, the elephants started to veer wildly to the sides to avoid the deadly missiles.
Which of course led to many of these beasts on the wings crashing into Lord Theony''s center, trampling countless men andpletely shattering many of the formations there within the blink of an eye.
The men there never even saw thising.
It was almost poetic how history seemed to be repeating itself, as Lord Theony suffered the exact kind of losses suffered by Menes against Perseus.
Except it was a lot worse for him given it was night and he had no strategic reserve of 1,000 crossbowmen like Menes did who could act as the rear guard while they retreated.
So when about 10 elephants bulldozed through his men, crying and trumpeting their hearts out for the pain from their wounds drove them mad, Lord Theony''s tightly packed lines immediately broke down.
Though few could me them.
Facing the threat of these beasts'' wildly swinging tasks and their powerful swipes of the trunks, never mind the simple but brutal power behind their huge bodies, even the best-trained soldiers would have stood no chance,
So the phngites abandoned everything and instead screamed and ran in terror, pushing and shoving others as hard as they could to try and get out of the way of these rampaging huge beasts, causing many to trip and fall.
All this of course caused even more casualties than it would have if only the elephants were left to riot on their own.
For with all the soldiers attempting to run away at the same time, it inevitably created a giant stampede, where far, far more men died simply being trampled to death by their fellowrades than under the hooves of those 6 ton beasts.
And as a witness to all this, the twomanders inevitably had their own thoughts.
Lord Theony''s face looked like a deted balloon, with even his mustache somehow looking as if it had lost all its luster.
Or perhaps it was all the dust hitting it as the man had not worn his helmet fearing his visibility would be even morepromised.
While Alxx''s face was more pensive than pleased, even as heid witness to theplete destruction of his enemy''s army right in front of him, only saying to himself,
"That''s why I do not like elephants. They are too temperamental. And too hard to control."
Chapter 718 Alexanders Bold Plan
Chapter 718 Alexander''s Bold n
It would not be wrong to say that the battle between Lord Theony and Melodias came to quite an abrupt end.
What was supposed to be one''s trump card was somehow turned on its heel by the other in a matter of seconds and the very elephants that were supposed to help Lord Theony win the fight had all of a sudden switched sides and was now actively destroying their own side.
No matter who it was, one had to feel even a tad bit sorry for the man.
And as the man himself sat on his horse, gazing at the rampaging animals, stomping on his own men, and the soldiers scattering themselves to the wind with no sense of direction, one of his retainers quickly approached him and shouted,
"My lord! We need to retreat! Now!"
Their army was gone and they had clearly lost, so what more could they do other than run back into the safety of the city?
They had nothing to do here.
"Yes! Before those beastse here." Another noble from the side added fearfully, gazing at the elephants worryingly.
"Mmmmm," And knowing things were all lost here and that he had lost, Lord Theony only had the energy to make this almost mewl-like hum.
Now that things had gotten to this point, the only thing that was left to worry about was one''s own life.
So soon that small group of nobles and whatever men that were still left in proper order quickly whirled their horses around and sped off toward the city, all their faces reflecting various shades of gloom and dread.
This was particrly true for Lord Theony, for thismander''s face no longer had that boisterous, arrogant look he always carried himself with, and neither did his eyes sparkle with that ever present intrigue and mystery.
Instead, he appeared sunken and hollow, which would also be an apt description of his heart, for he knew that this defeat signified.
Thesalie- The city which stood for so many centuries was about to fall.
And if that was not enough, it would fall under hismand, at least partially under hismand.
This turn of events was devastating to both his country and his political career in the court.
''What now?'' Thus the man found himself asking this but was unable toe up with any real answers.
While Alxx from the backid witness to the same carnage and destruction, and his heart was filled with one very important conclusion.
And that was why he determined that he would never use war elephants himself.
These things were too difficult to control and were as much a danger to the side using it as the side using it.
Sure they were able to scare horses away, and in the right circumstances, just a handful of them could single handedly turn the tide of battle as they did for Perseus.
But in Alxx''s eyes, they are too wed and unreliable to be used consistently.
Countering them was not too hard as just demonstrated right now, they were not nearly as maneuverable as traditional cavalry and if something went wrong with them, which honestly was not that hard to do, it was mostly likely they would turn against their own user.
So rather than these high risk, high rewards units, Alxx much preferred the more controble horses.
''But they are really magnificent creatures.'' And as Alxx came to this conclusion, he also could not help but marvel while looking at these beasts going wild out there.
This was of course Alxx''s first time seeing elephants like this, in such an open field, and being able to witness these majestic animals at night under a clear moonlit sky, running around and trumpeting, it was actually a very beautiful sight to behold.
If only it was not so dangerous.
In fact it was so dangerous that even when Lord Theony''s men broke and ran, the legionaries did not choose to give chase like they normally would have.
Instead, they actually started to retreat bit by bit, drawing a distance between them and the fleeing phngites.
All of which was done instinctually, the officers did not need to give any orders.
Because all these men at least had themon sense to understand that running toward those enraged animals was a bad idea.
Some of the men on the frontlines could be even seen holding theirst pi in their hands, ready to throw it if any of those war elephants made the mistake of dashing toward them.
Alxxrgely left the disintegration of Lord Theony''s forces to its own devices, letting the elephants, the madly dashing men, and the fear and panic finish them off.
While Alxx''s exhausted men, too tired to give chase anyway, tried to catch their breath or better yet, get some much needed shut-eye.
Alxx even noticed many fatigued legionaries break military protocol and sit or eveny on the ground, but it was something that Alxx was willing to overlook given the circumstances.
"My lord! Congrattions! We won!"
And soon, Alxx''smanders and nobles began to converse around him, their faces filled with smiles, their tone light and jovial.
Many then even began to recount their own experiences, for no one person, not even Alxx was privy to everything that had happened,
"Hahaha, yes, yes. It is all due to the lord''s charge that we won!" TP was especially animated while describing Alxx''s charge that destroyed PO, as he had first row tickets to it.
While Alxx only smiled and nodded.
And once finally all the higher ups were gathered, Melodias turned to ask Alxx,
"Then my lord should I order the soldiers back to the back? The men are already very tired and chasing the enemy at night would be too dangerous."
"We can do that tomorrow morning."
The steady general was very sensible in his suggestion, and many even though Melodias''s request more formalities than actually seeking permission.
After all, it was only natural that they were going to return to their camp.
What else were they going to do?
Not only the regr soldiers but even themanders and officers such as themselves were dog tired with many''s throats even hurting.
"No!" But unfortunately, their boss did not seem to think so.
And at the answer, the gathered men naturally pulled very surprised faces, as they whirled their heads as if shocked, giving him a look that seemed to implicitly ask, ''What gives?''
And Alxx had an answer ready for them,
"We will attack the walls now. Given the enemy''s defeat, the walls should be pretty empty. So we should take this chance and capture it before they can reinforce!"
"That should be easy!"
Alxx here was being bold, even greedy.
And hearing their usually cautious lord pose this, for a few seconds, the others were stunned.
"Tha¡that¡the sodliers are pretty tired¡its dark¡we¡" Melodias tried to stammer these seemingly incoherent words out to convince Alxx otherwise, but really could not think of saying anything that Alxx did not already know about.
The fact simply was that Alxx wanted to attack the walls knowing all the limitations.
And understanding this, all themanders unanimously pulled various ugly and sullen faces.
They had just had a long day, fought a grueling several hour battles in the night, and were now being asked to do something simr again.
Given many of them could barely stand, they were certainly not receptive to this idea.
And sensing the universal resistance, Alxx did not actually acquiesce to their wants, but pushed back with his own exnations, reasoning,
"I know that many of the men are near the end of their ropes and want to rest."
"But if we wait till morning, this will give the enemy the time to bolster their walls."
"Many of the scattered men might even be able to return to the city and be put to manning them."
"We can''t let that happen." Alxx shook his to emphasize, stating,
"But if we attack now, the enemy will have no way of expecting that."
"And given it is night, we will be able to use the general darkness to better conceal our avenues our attack!"
"So I say that if we can take the walls now, sure the soldiers will be a little bit exhausted, but we will lose fewer lives."
"And I think anyone would trade one for the other any day of the year."
"......." At his reasoning, the others did not immediately respond, neither with a yes or a no.
Perhaps they were still thinking, or perhaps they were too tired to think, or perhaps being with Alxx long enough they knew since the man had made up his mind, arguing with him would be an exercise in futility.
Or it could be all three.
Regardless, only a few smaller nobles raised a few concerns regarding the visibility and the challenges of conducting an attack at night, and though many were valid concerns but Alxx simply waved them off, saying,
"All these things are too overblown. We can take the walls regardless. Now let us attack!"
It seemed Alxx had made up his mind, and once the head honcho had spoken, the decision was in all but name made and the others had no choice but to obey.
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Chapter 719 Attack On the First Wall (Part-1)
Chapter 719 Attack On the First Wall (Part-1)
Regarding Alexander''s decision tounch an attack on the walls at night, some of the more inexperienced officers who did not know how Alexander worked tried to talk him out of it by showing him the obstacles.
One of them pointed out, "My lord, given today is a full moon, the enemy might be able to see using. But the soft light won''t be enough to help our crossbowmen spot the enemy so far in the distance."
And other stepped up to say,
"Yes, in the night, it is harder to see between friends and foes."
"This is not so much a problem on a battlefield with proper lines. But I''m afraid when scaling the walls, especially from multiple directions¡.we might not be able to see who is who."
"Even the crossbowmen on the wall might not know who is who."
But as it could be guessed Alexander did not pay much heed to these problems.
Since Alexander had decided the attack on the walls would ur, it would ur now.
The rest of themanders knew they had little choice but to obey, for rebelling against him would be breaking their oath and Alexander had not pushed them that far.
Hence turning to Alexander, Melodias interjected between the two nobles and in a low, resigned voice, asked.
"So how shall we proceed with the attack my lord?"
And hearing the officially highest member of the army express his support for the offensive, all the lesser officers andmanders could only purse their lips and shut up, knowing the decision had been made.
Whereas Melodias himself with this question made it clear that the man might be willing to follow orders to attack, but he certainly was not going to use his own brain cells to n it.
But fortunately for him, while Alexander was gazing at the elephants tearing the Tibian army to shreds, the man had also been formting how to do exactly that.
So in a sure, confis way, Alexander orderd,
"Have the first and second legion regroup and start their march toward the siege towers."
"They will be the ones attacking the walls."
"Also make sure they bring enoughdders. They are in the camp."
"The third and sixth legion will stay here and act as our rear guard, just in case the Tibian army somehow manages to regroup itself and wants to hit us in the rear."
"Andstly have the seventh legion return to camp, and rest."
"We cannot have our entire army awake the entire night. Or else we will have no force to deploye sunrise."
"Is that eptable?"
Clearly, Alexander had given this a lot of thought.
And the meticulousness of his order worked to alleviate some of the bitterness themander had felt, as they felt Alexander was not simply doing this on a whim.
So Melodias quickly saluted, and promised, "Yes, my lord. I will have all these in less than three hours."
That amount of time might seem like a lot, but it had to be remembered that an army was a huge machine, and as with anything with such inertia, it simply took time to get things going, from the order to go from Alexander to the lowest squads, to even the single task of getting the men in proper formation.
So this was quite a reasonable time frame.
"Quick! March! Orders from the general himself."
Thus a whileter the soldiers found themselves hounded by their officers to get up and get ready for battle once again, which naturally caused many grumblings and irrated sighs to ring out.
It was so especially among the first and second legions who would be the ones required to fight, so some of the men even lightly cursed Alexander, such as,
"Darm that ve driver. What does he want us to do now!"
"We won him the battle. Now he wants us to win him the walls. Couldn''t he wait till morning¡fuck!"
"Darm my feet are killing me! Arghhh, I really want to hit him."
Such bad-mouthing of even amander, never mind this time it was the lord himself was certainly a highly punishable offense, but most of the men saying this openly belonged to the first legion, which was mostlyposed of men who had followed Alexander from back in the day, so they knew they had this leeway.
But the second legion, which was the temporarily given name to the hired mercenaries was far more low key but much more colorful in the description of Alexander.
It was even suspected that if they had not been allowed to drinkrge quantities of heavy alcohol to warm their body and feel energized, some of them might have even refused to follow the orders.
But they ultimately did, while the rest of the three legions'' resistance was much more mild.
After all, those did not need to fight,
The third and sixth legions were far happier to follow Alexander''s orders, for they needed to do little more than stand and keep watch.
And some of the men could even ck on that, as could be seen how many in the back were sitting while drinking water or wine.
As for the seventh legion, well they practically danced and skipped into the camp, eager to hit the bed right that instant.
It was with such preparations that the next three hours passed in the blink of an eye, and soon Alexander had his horses assembled, his men arranged in the proper rank and file, the siege towers filled with the assaulting units, the men who would pull there are heavy wooden beasts forward in their proper positions.
Everything was set and all Alexander needed to do was give the order and the assault could begin.
While Alexander was doing this, in the between time, one might ask what was happening inside Thesalie.
Or specifically, how were the higher ups of the city reacting to their loss?
And the answer to that would be not well, for currently there was a heated argument, almost a spat between two parties.
"Lord Theony, where is my father? Why is he not with you!"
No sooner had that nobleman crossed the heavy wooden gates that Lord Ponticus''s eldest son Petrino ran up to him with his question, his face angry and worried.
The man was just a bit younger than Lord Theony himself and had been left in charge of the city while his father was away.
"Your father headed the nking attack while I headed the main force. So I do not know"
Contrary to the man''s desperate tone, Lord Theony gave his answer in a hollow, deadpan voice.
The man was still in shock over just what had happened and so was still in the midst of processing all the things that had transpired.
But to this answer sounded too apathetic and uncaring to Petrino, who all of a sudden lost his temper andmbasted,
"What do you mean you do not know! That''s my father you are talking about! Where is he? Why did youe back without him! Go back!"
This was certainly a very rude way to talk to any noble, never mind as high noble as Lord Theony, so one of his retainers quickly stepped to chide the man.
"Lord Petrino, please watch your tone. This is unbing of someone of royal blood."
And this cold reply was followed by several dagger-filled stares from the other men,
None of them were happy about their loss but they had not lost their temper like Petrino.
"....Argghh¡" Sensing this Petricus could only grunt in frustration.
While Lord Theony seeing this had thought to himself, ''Hmmm, looks like the rumors that Ponticus has a waste of a son is far more than just true.''
''No wonder you hear so much about the general, yet his son has almost no presence in court.''
''This is the first time I have even really talked to him.''
''Ponticus must have intentionally hidden him.''
Lord Theony said this because he knew if Lord Ponticus was in his ce, he would certainly not have shown such an unsightly sight and instead first and foremost inquired about the city''s well-being.
But Petrino never had the martial prowess of a great fighter nor had he inherited the talented generalship of his father.
And being his only son and constantlypared to him growing up, the enormous expectations ced on him and his failure to do so had twisted him into the present state.
That was why it was Lapitus who was Lord Ponticus''s adjutant and not Petrino.
That was why Lord Ponticus did not take his son to battle.
And that was why, Lord Ponticus being the proud man he was felt ashamed of his son, which was why he hid him, which caused him to turn even worse.
"Lord Petrino, were you not supposed to guard the walls? Who did you leave in charge?"
Seeing the tense atmosphere, it was Lapitus who quickly interjected and tried to turn the conversion around, as he had experience dealing with this man regrly.
"Wh¡who cares about that! Lapitus where is my father you cheat?"
But in much contrast to being civil, Petrino venomously barked as such, his eyes suddenly filled with malicious hatred.
He had always seen Lapitus as someone who had stolen everything from him.
Like he was the son his father always wanted.
But that was not the important thing here.
For his answer clearly showed how he had left the wall undefended.
Alexander''s gamble might pay off better than he could have ever expected.
Chapter 720 Attack On the First Wall (Part-2)
Chapter 720 Attack On the First Wall (Part-2)
"Wha¡" Hearing what Petrino had done, Lapitus immediately let out a shocked yelp.
The man had one job and he could not even do that!
"Go!" And so Lord Theony immediately barked this out towards Lapitus, who needed no such encouragement, as he whirled his horse around to gallop to the walls.
''Dammit! Let''s hope nothing has happened,'' And the man prayed such as he sped his beast down the stoned road.
As for Lord Theony himself, well he simply finished the conversation with Petrino by stating so in a cold, mechanical voice,
"Lord Petrino, it is unlikely the city can be held. I advise that you leave now. You are wee toe with us."
Given the defeat and Alexander''s imminent attack, the man could easily tell which way the wind was blowing and no way was he going to wait for the storm to hit him.
Lord Theony nned to flee the city as quickly as possible.
Having said this he then signaled his entourage to follow him towards his quarters, not bothering to even wait for Petrino''s answer.
"¡" And though the man this was addressed to was aware of what their losses meant, he still felt like it was all a bad dream, a nightmare.
This city was his everything.
These were hisnds and all his power and influence belonged here.
And without them, he would be a pauper, a nobody.
So the explicit deration that the city was going to be lost felt like a sledgehammer to his heart.
''No! The city can held! Father was wrong! This city can be held¡.That''s right! Father is no longer here! Hahaha, this city is mine! I will hold it!''
Driven by this desperation, Petrino spookily cried this out as he tried to convince himself.
It was a conclusion that went against every avable evidence, the most ring being that if the city could have been held, all thosepetent officers and generals would not have taken the risky move to try and fight a pitched battle.
But desperation could do strange things to a man.
So instead of following Lord Theony''s advice and obediently evacuating with him, Petrino ran to the walls, eager to take the helm of it personally.
While Lord Theony upon reaching the gates of his quarters, did not disband his entourage or eagerly hit the bed.
But he turned around to look at the gathered group of trusted men and stated,
"Pack everything you have as soon as possible. We leave before dawn!"
Yes, Lord Theony was not even going to wait till morning.
When he said they should leave now, he really meant ''right now''
Thus Lord Theony would be several kilometers away from the citye sunrise, and by the next day, he would be able to charter arge boat that would take him to the capital.
As for why he did not do so back in Thesalie, well it was because all therge boats had been sent back to the capital to bring in the rest of the 10,000 men and the supplies.
And that was where Lord Theony''s involvement with Thesalie ended, for now.
Back in the city, Lapitus quickly made his way to the walks, and much to his relief saw nothing major had changed.
The patrol was still present, though most of them were lethargic. shuffling their feet with no strength behind them, while gazing across the walls, he saw there was no major presence of the enemy.
Lapitus''s eyes were particrly drawn to the siege towers which had not a single man defending it.
And this prompted him to greedily think, ''Should I ride out to destroy those!''
But that brash thought was quickly snuffed out.
Never mind how that tactic wentst time, even if he wanted to, hecked the men.
Losing 35,000 to 38,000 men tended to do that.
Besides to say the siege towers were undefended was certainly erroneous.
Because though the infantry might have left, the archers on the walls were still in patrol.
And those men could be seen quickly being reinforced, as to his horror Lapitus quickly noticed a huge surge of men start to make their way toward him.
''II can''t be! Are they nning to attack right now?'' Lapitus was stunned.
He had at least thought he would till morning, or even the next day to prepare.
"Move back! Move to the second wall. Block all the passageways and move to the second wall!"
Thinking quickly on his feet, the man immediately gave up trying to hold the first wall and ordered the defenders to move to their next line of defense.
"Lapitus! What are you doing? Are you trying to give the city to the invaders!"
And while thismand was being carried out, Petrino decided to stick his nose like that.
Something that irritated Lapitus very much.
He really did not have either the time or will to engage with this clown.
And if not for the fact that it was yet to be confirmed that Lord Ponticus had truly died, Lapitus might have even punched the man.
But holding back his temper for now, he instead curtly replied, "We cannot hold the first wall."
"So we are going to use our archers from the second wall to rail arrows on the men scaling the walls."
"We might be able to even set their siege towers on fire."
Lapitus was much more optimistic than his real thoughts.
And surprisingly, Petrino did not boorishly order him to hold the first walls at all costs.
Instead, in much contrast to his character only obediently nodded the words, "Okay!"
The man was at least smart enough to know Lapitus knew far more about warfare than him, and if he wanted to help his city, now was not to get in his way.
So this time, he declined to argue with Lapitus and let the man do his thing.
While in the meantime Alexander did his.
More and more legionaries could be seen forming in ranks right in front of the walls, many started to board the siege towers, and many of the soldiers got ready to push the huge things up to the walls.
And being witness to all this from atop the wall, Lapitus was left with no doubt that the enemy was going to attack imminently.
''That Alexander¡'' He really did not know whether to describe the man as a genius for not letting them have even a moment to breathe, or too hasity for pushing his men so far.
.
"My lord, we are ready. You can give the order anytime." Melodias rode up to inform him, and then added with arge grin,
"Also our men report seeing many of the defenders running! It seems the walls are undefended! Haha, my lord is truly a genius tactician."
In Alexander''s camp, they misinterpreted the withdrawal as being a rout, as Alexander chuckled the reply.
"Hahaha, well given their defeat, it is not difficult to see that they would do so. Better than needlessly dying."
"Go! Since we are ready, let''s attack!"
He then very casually gave the permission,
Thus soon the huge, heavy towers were wheeled into position, each of their wheel revolution requiring the muscle and sweat of more than a hundred men, while both from the walls and the ground, huge volumes of arrows were fired to support the enemy.
Though the return fire were pitifully low, just a few scattered shots from the second wall.
And when the towers'' drawbridges were opened and the men rushed onto the walls madly screaming and shouting, armed with shields, and halberts, much to their surprise they encountered literally no resistance.
The entire ce waspletely deserted.
And so for a while, these men, who were ready to dye the stoned floors with blood and guts found themselves a bit fluxed, unsure of what to do next.
They never encountered such a sight before.
*Shoo*, *Shoo*, *Shoo*,
But that calm and bloodless tranquillitysted only a few moments, as just as the men were about to spread out, Lapitus opened his offensive, letting the around two thousand men hail arrows down on the clumped up men from the higher wall.
"Arghhh!"
"Arrows! Arrows from above!"
"Shields! Get behind your shields!"
At this attack, most of the men were initially caught off guard
Hence the first few volleys caused quite a bit of damage, killing nearly 30 men.
But that trick could only work once, as soon the men got their bearing.
Quickly crouching down, they put their shields in front of them and then ran towards the battlements that faced the enemy, seeking cover there.
While the Zanzan crossbowmen on the walls quickly woke to what was going on and at once returned fire, managing to suppress their counterpart and rapidly neutralizing this attack.
As for Alexander, upon seeing the attacks he was certainly a bit disheartened.
Not necessarily at the deaths, but more so at the attacks.
Because it meant the walls were not undefended.
There were actually active men up there and he would have fight through them.
''Dammit! Looks like I will have to do it the hard way,''
So Alexander was a bit peeved.
Although this was not something new nor anything Alexander had not anticipated, for he had the appropriate ns to take the second wall regardless of what the enemy did, he still pursed his lips at all the needless extra work he was going to have to put in.
Why needless and extra?
Because the city was basically his.
Chapter 721 Attack On the First Wall (Part-3)
Chapter 721 Attack On the First Wall (Part-3)
Lapitus''s sneak attack from atop the second wall quickly died down under the effort of Zanzan''s crossbowmen, soon enabling those on the walls toe out of their cover and upy it.
On paper, the man''s n had not been a bad one.
Lapitus seemingly devised a kind of stic defense where under Alexander''s attack, he would give up his position and retreat to his next stronghold, baiting Alexander to take the vacant ce, and then, once Alexander had used up his energy getting there, Lapitus wouldunch a counterattack to push him back and try and retake it.
That was the theory anyway.
However it failed to materialize in practice mainly due to ack of adequate mass.
Lapitus simply did not the number, for if he had wanted to make taking the wall as hard as possible for Alexander, he should have deployed infantry on the walls, along with those archers from the top.
That way if the attackers stayed on the walls they would be peppered by arrow fire from above.
But if they wanted to take cover, they would have had to do so while fighting in a brutal hand to hand melee with the defenders.
If Lapitus had done that, it would have certainly added a lot more punch to his attack.
Of course, even if Lapitus had managed to do so would not have meant they would have certainly won, but it would have meant that he would have been able to make Alexander bleed much more.
However given the current circumstances, due to the huge losses they had suffered just a few hours ago, as well as Alexander denying them any sort of time to shore up those deficiencies, the man was forced to choose one or the other type of unit- infantry or archers.
And sensibly he chose thetter since those could still effectively use the second set of fortifications to hound the enemy, whereas the infantry would be simply annihted by the legionnaires.
But that also meant Lapitus''s attackscked the proper punch behind them, hence after surviving the initial barrage, Alexander''s men on the front walls quickly started to spread out, making them a much more difficult target.
Once they had done so, the men then began to work to secure the various points along the sprawling structure, gathering around key defensive points, and then signaling to their allies on the ground that it was safe to climb up throughdders.
In this way, they rapidly reinforced their hold on the walls as the numbers there began to swell from the initial hundreds to the thousands very quickly.
And the ones conducting all of this did everything on their own, without needing anymand from Alexander or his officers.
Seeing which Alexander whispered in his heart,
''As expected. Good mercenaries are really worth their gold. If I had used those recently trained peasants, I''m afraid they would have all panicked and ran headlessly in every direction the moment those arrows hit.''
''While these guys did the opposite and instead all ran towards the arrows, taking cover under the crentions. And no one needed to tell them that.''
The quality of the training and more than that experience really showed itself in that one instance, and Alexander was reassured that his money had not been wasted.
It was also because of that he had made the mercenaries assault the walls, and kept his own men for the second wave.
The sellswords were very much expendablepared to the much more precious men in the first legion but equally as trained.
So Alexander thought if anything went wrong, which given it was night had much more likelihood of doing, and he was unable to respond to all of them on time, these trained men could make the decisions on the spit.
Which they seemed to have made.
Theplete capture of the first walls took a few hours, which was not surprising given the sheer size of the whole thing.
The structure did epass the entire city after all.
And as the summer sun slowly rose over the horizon, signaling the start of another day, the entire structure was indeed confirmed to be under Zanzan''s control.
The bright sunlight also worked to reveal the true state of the carnage that resulted in trying to take this wall and frankly, it was even more ghastly than most would have imagined.
The huge field was littered with bodies in all sorts of mangled shapes and sizes and in various states of ruin.
Very few corpses were found intact, a favor bestowed only upon the lucky few who got to die from a single deadly wound to the vitals like the heart, the throat, or the head.
These bodies were rare gems, found mostly only around the site where Lord Ponticus fought, and the injuries were caused mainly by Alexander''snces during all those cavalry charges.
A far moremon type of corpse was those with multiplecerations on them, with some even having their limbs missing, done by cuts and shesing from all different angles.
Kind of like how Lord Ponticus had died.
This type of injury was the mostmon in any battlefield, caused when men tried to run but were chased and cut down.
But these types of injuries were not what had made the sight so gruesome.
All of them weremon.
No, it was the corpses that had been trampled to death, either by the elephants or the stamped that the most eye catching,
These bodies had ck and blue marks all over, and many of the joints were bent in strange but painful ways.
Some even did not have a face to recognize them, it was all just a red mush like paste.
This was in fact Alexander''s first time seeing such huge swathes of men so badly deformed litter the field like sown seeds.
And when his eyes saw what happened when an elephant stepped on a human being, even his stomach churned a bit.
The civil way he would describe the sight would be like it was a bun that had been squeezed and all the red filling hade out.
Alexander had never seen a human being so¡''t''.
As for the culprits who wrought this destruction, well they were the most eye catching sight on the battlefield.
For there were seventeen such huge beasts lying scattered all around there. either dead or very nearly so, thetter letting out low, pained cries, as the beasts slowly but painfully bleed to death.
And this was not really surprising given the grievous wounds that could be seen etched into their bodies.
Every one of them had tens of painful spears, javelins, and other projectiles sticking into and out of each of them, as their once shiny, jet-ck skin seemed to have be covered with a ck crust of dried blood.
For these huge creatures had not only been attacked by Alexander''s legionaries, but during their rampage, the Tibians too had not shown them any mercy, throwing and stabbing them with everything they had.
Thus the beasts were really put to death by a thousand cuts, a very painful way to go indeed.
And perhaps the dead ones were the lucky ones since their pain had already ended.
As for those that were still alive, they were too hurt to be rescued, but putting them out of their misery was also difficult.
Even if Alexander was to order such a thing, the soldiers would not really know how to go about doing it.
They could not ughter it, as forget the bones, even their hide was too tough to cut cleanly with a single swing.
So they would likely end up poking the poor thing to death.
As Alexander gazed at those tragic beasts, he felt that would be too cruel to the animals and ultimately decided to leave them alone, letting nature take its course, even if it meant a slow painful death.
At the same time he felt a bit regretful that he was unable to get his hands on even one of these majestic animals, for he would have very much liked one as a pet.
''Oh, Alexandria would have loved seeing it!'' Alexander hence sighed a bit bitterly.
And even if he could not keep it, he would have at least liked to show it off during his victory parade as his prize.
But since all the war elephants were already imed by the grim reaper, Alexander had to give up on that and turned his head to look at something much cheerier.
And as he gazed toward Thesalie''s formable walls, his heart filled up with glee seeing what was once manned by men in blood red armor had now switched to a bustling, vibrant color of blue, confirming the fact that it was indeed his men that patrolled the walls now.
Furthermore, along the entire length of the walkway, hundreds of huge pavises could be seen being set up, there to be used as makeshift cover.
Because it was not umon for the archers on the second wall to take sudden, sneaky potshots on the men below.
For although the crossbowmen remained ever vignt, it was not hard to slip a few shots past them.
But such a thing was more a nuisance than a problem, and soon Alexander was given the official confirmation that the first walls were indeed fully his control.
And with that, the hardest part of the siege was over.
Tibias had no way of keeping Thesalie, not anymore!
Chapter 722 Alexanders Plans for Thesalie
Chapter 722 Alexander''s ns for Thesalie
"Hahaha, my lord! We did it! Hahaha, we did it."
With the confirmation that the walls were fully under their control and the capture of it stamped in gold, it naturally caused a huge cheer of joy to break down in the Alexander''s camp, going from the lowest soldiers to even the highest officers
Adhania in its hundreds of years of effort, had never gone so far, so this achievement was especially monumental for the natives.
Thus came this euphoric cry and all the previous doubts and anger that some of the officers and soldiers had held towards Alexander evaporated like the midday dew, with some even having to resist the urge to hug the man who had nned this.
Some like Jamider (Earl) Tikba who had been one of the most vocal critics of Alexander, but now felt like kissing the man in joy.
The man had never been so happy to be proven wrong.
And if was only the fact that many of these men were tired as dogs and simplycked the energy to celebrate too boisterously, these cheers would have shaken the very sky itself.
While Alexander being surrounded by this good news only lightly smiled and nodded, "It''s good that the walls are secure."
They still had not taken the city so he was not eager to start celebrating so soon.
Furthermore, the tiredness inflicting everyone was felt by Alexander too, who after staying awake for twenty-four hours finally had all that exhaustion clutch him in its grasp.
And it was a deadly grip indeed, for having fought a full-fledged battle and then conducted a wall assault, Alexander barely had the energy to give an acknowledging nod to the happy news.
Then he quickly issued the followingmand before he forgot.
"Good, now that we have the walls we have to make sure we hold it."
"Have the first and second legions retire to their camps. They are too tired."
"Then wake the seventh legion up and have them take over of the defense. Make sure they remain alert and ensure the enemy cannotunch any counterattack and retake it. That would be truly disastrous."
"As for the third and sixth legions¡have them round up the stragglers. We will relieve themter."
It seemed that though the third and sixth had gotten an easy job, they also were required to do the longest.
"At once," And contrary to Alexander''s exhausted face, Melodias surprisingly looked fresh.
The man was built like a bull.
So the general of the army went off to put the finishing touches on securing the newly captured ''territory''.
While Alexander, feeling as if an elephant was standing on his eyelids pulling them down, quickly handedmand to Menes and for the rest of the day his best friend was the bed, with the man only waking up at night to finally relieve these tired officers.
And as Alexander oversaw the men, a strange but predictable sight could be seen.
He saw all the camp followers running all about around the battlefield.
Those vers that came with him were having a field day, as even now, in the dead of night, these men showed no signs of stopping as they chased around the Tibian stragglers, trying to catch them from their horseback.
It had to be remembered that they had been going at it since morning, truly showing that if you love your work, you won''t have to work a day.
While many of the other followers, who did not have the strength to take part in that delicious feast, instead turned their focus on the corpses.
All the dead bodies were stripped of their weapons and armor, as well as any valuables they had on them, and then buried.
Thatst act was the condition that Alexander had set for them in exchange for letting the men and women do this.
And so under Alexander''s nonchnt gaze, this continued.
Alexander would meet up with everyone the next morning, now rested and refreshed, as he got down to understanding the new state of siege.
And Melodias was there to let him know,
"My lord, we are unable to go to the second wall through the passages. They arepletely blocked,"
"In the meantime, the enemy continues to keep shooting from the second wall. It seems we will need to take the second walls as well."
Though he had expected it, hearing so still made Alexander pull a sour face.
He really did not want to do things the hard way.
"Has anyone responded to our surrender calls" Alexander cidly posed, but got a shake of the head, "They shot at the messenger even before he could finish!"
It seemed that the situation was really going to force him to take the second wall just like the first one, through brute force.
"........Okay. Then proceed just like we nned." And after a poignant pause, Alexander defaulted to the original strategy, ordering Melodias,
"Gather the camp followers and have them dig up the foundations of the first walls."
"We will set fire to them, copsing them, and then our siege towers can roll up to the second towers just like the first wall."
Hearing which Melodias let out a bitter sigh at all the extra work that he would need to do, cussing, "Fucking Tibians. They have clearly lost. Why wouldn''t they just give up? What''s the point of fighting anymore?"
Clearly, the man was not looking forward to the prolongation of the siege.
But he knew since the enemy wanted to dance, he would have to humor them.
So asking to be excused, the general quickly went off to start on his task, though the way he shook his head while leaving clearly indicated his mood.
And Alexander had simr feelings.
He was not looking forward to another month of this.
Because that was how long it was going to take at minimum to copse the walls.
But then an idea popped into his head.
A frankly very cruel idea.
An idea he frankly did not want to do but decided it might be needed.
So once the war council was dismissed, Alexander called his herald, to his room, where he gave him a few instructions.
"Finish it as quickly as you can,"
Then after handing him a small piece of paper with the set of instructions written on it, dismissed the man to carry out the tasks.
"Yes, my lord," The man bowed before leaving.
Afterward,ing out of Alexander''s tent, the man first went to the administrative, where he ordered a few hundred notes be made with Alexander''s message written on them.
And over the next few days, these small notes would be tied to arrows and shot over the walls for the defenders to read.
At the same time, messengers from atop the walls would shout out what was already written there:
"Surrender! You have lost! We have defeated your army and taken your walls. There is no more hope for you. Open the gates and we swear by the gods that no one will be harmed- men, women, or children."
"Our lord promises a safe passage of three days for every soul in the city, as well as all their possessions."
"Surrender and everyone, be it nobles,moners, and ves all will be spared"
"There will be no need for further bloodshed."
"But if you do not surrender, if you continue to fight, know that once the city walls are breached, every living being will be put to the sword! None shall be spared!"
"Pray that your leaders choose wisely!"
It was a deadly threat.
Not that this kind of warning had never been issued before, in fact it was regrly given.
But still, to ughter a city of 100,000 or now 70,000 was noughing matter.
And given how close Alexander was taking the city, those on the walls all felt their hearts waiver.
The conditions were very generous, while their real chances of defending the city were almost nil.
Thus quickly whispers of surrender began to surround them.
While Alexander, to put even more pressure, as well as to show he was truly serious, over the following days, he made sure to spread the same message to every surrounding vige, until even the housewives were gossiping,
"I heard the city is going to be burned to the town if they do not surrender soon. Oh just open the gates and then they can escape."
Even to these uneducated peasants, the offer Alexander presented was a no brainer.
"My lord¡.are we truly going to do so if they do not surrender?" While Alexander was asked if he was really serious about it.
Many of the officers felt squeamish about such a huge massacre, and a few pragmatic ones even saw it as a waste of goodbor.
''Perhaps we can make them ves,'' They hopefully thought.
"Yes!" While at the inquiry, Alexander very clearly confirmed, and gave his reasoning as to why they all had to die, dashing the ve n.
"Because this will send a message."
"Once we take the fortress of fortress, Thesalie, every other enemy we will evere across will know that they can either surrender and live or resist and face total annihtion."
"After all if we can take Thesalie, what chances do they stand?"
"This will make all of our future campaigns a hundred times faster."
"So for that benefit, I am willing to sacrifice one hundred thousand men to the gods!"
"I even hope they don''t surrender!"
Alexander very ominously ended.
Chapter 723 Laptus and His Men
Chapter 723 Laptus and His Men
Alexander''s ominous wish for the city to be destroyed left his retainers a bit speechless.
This was not what most had in mind when they thought of conquering it.
They wanted to obtain it as was.
Like the gem it appeared in the dreams of every Adhanian.
Not a burnt-out husk.
So many were reluctant to see this useless destruction and the horrible bloodshed.
But ultimately none of the men there argued.
Not because they were scared of Alexander.
But because the reason he gave showed the act was not useless.
What he said made total sense.
"Lord Pasha said it well. If this works, we won''t have to fight a siege for the next ten years! I support it."
Menes was the first one to utter this out aloud.
And this almost acted as a catalyst for others, with each of the other men quickly nodding and revealing their approval.
Thus the general consensus among the group was cemented.
With this strategy reached, the soldiers were instructed to mentally prepare themselves, as well as being tasked to shout very clearly every day to the Tibian defenders that they had one week to surrender and open the gates.
Or else when the legionaries broke through, the entire city would be razed to the ground and everyone massacred!
The spread of this threat naturally caused unending murmurs in the city, where therge majority of the popce were in favor of epting the deal.
After all, the enemy had broken through the hardest part of their defenses, and the army of 40,000 sent to resist these invaders had disappeared into the air.
So what point was there in fighting to the bitter end?
Especially when the other side was willing to be so generous.
They had fought the good fight but lost.
So the vast majority of the people were of the mind to ept the results.
Except for one of course- PP.
And unfortunately for the popce, he was supported by a small but powerful group of armed men who made up the higher echelons of the city.
These men mostly consisted of a handful of hardened loyalists who served Lord Ponnticus''s household and were the type of people who would rather die than surrender.
Joining them were also a few small nobles who had fiefs around the city and feared what Alexander''s annexation would mean for theirnds.
Though these men were not as inflexible as the former ideologically driven men and as long as Alexander gave them certain concessions, they would be amenable to a deal.
As for whether Alexander would do so, well that depended.
For being the victor, Alexander would never be the one to send any peace feelers first.
But instead he waited for these nobles toe to him first, after which he would decide their treatment depending on who bowed first and how quickly.
So for now, he was content to wait and let the sapping of the first wall''s foundation continue, while half hoping the city would resist till the end, whereupon he could use the total ughter to send a message to every one of his rivals in the vicinity.
As for what was happening inside the city, well there people were forced to struggle between surrender or martyrdom.
The few of those who could flee had already fled like Lord Theony had.
People like some of the nobles who saw no point in resisting.
As well as many affluent people like wealthy merchants and traders, who could afford the expensive journey.
After all, given the state the city was in, the price of hiring things like a cart or chartering a boat had gone through the roof.
As for the rest of the citizenry, i.e.- the peasantry and others of low social status, their lives were left to the will of their lords.
Now there was a small group of nobles who had dared to openly suggest surrendering,
"Traitor! Execute them right here and now!"
And that was their fate.
PP actually killed them right on the very floor they stood, dying the carpet there rusty.
And after that, there was no one who dared to suggest such a thing again.
But that of course did not mean no one was discussing it.
"Lapitus! What should we do? Lord Ponticus is dead. And PP and the others wish for all of us to end up like him! With our heads on the wall!"
"That''s right. He wants to ughter us all! We must do something!"
It was in one very inconspicuous guardroom in one of the many keeps that this very question was discussed, led by a small number of mid-level officers, all of whom had very excited, yet also worried faces.
It was as if these men were rearing to fight but were also holding themselves back in fear and trepidation.
Also yes, it was finally confirmed that Lord Ponticus was indeed dead.
And the way they confirmed it was indeed sad.
For after the soldier who killed him got the bounty, Alexander made sure to put the man''s head on a spike on the first wall, for the entire popce to see.
But in his defense this was not as much a cruel, barbaric move, as much as another way to put pressure on the defenders, to show that even their general was dead and that they would be better off if they surrendered.
Many of the legionaries even urged the defenders this.
From all this it could be seen that though Alexander''s logic told him that massacring the entire city would help him in the grand scheme of things, his human heart still wanted to give the innocent popce a way out.
Now it was up to them whether to ept or not.
Which was the very thing that was being discussed in that dark room in the middle of the night.
The background of all the gathered men was mostly low, without much power or influence.
And none of them had any grand aspirations such as dying for glory.
They all had their friends and family and would very much like to be alive and with them.
But given their status, they were also obviously afraid to outright oppose the authorities.
Which is where Lapitus came in.
Not only was the man Lord Ponticus''s right-hand man, possessing immense influence, he personally was a quasi noble too, with his grandfather having been the steward of Lord Ponticus''s family, as was his father.
Meaning if there was anyone the soldiers were going to rally towards, it could only be him.
As for the man himself, facing the soldiers'' faces eagerly looking at him to take charge, the broad man with a slightly curved nose and wide forehead furrowed his thick brows and tapped his thick fingers at the small table in front.
He would rather not be here.
He very much would rather not be here.
Lapitus was a loyal soldier.
Or at least he liked to believe he was a loyal soldier.
After all he did serve as the former lord''s right-hand man.
So the implicit nature of the question left him uneasy.
Because although the soldiers would describe this little get-together as simply them ''trying to figure things out'', if things could have been resolved by talking, they mostly would have been already.
There would have been no reason for small fries like them to scuttle about in dark rooms letting out hushed whipsers.
But since they were here, it really meant one thing.
A conspiracy.
A conspiracy tounch a coup de dat!
One that did not necessarily mean storming the lord''s mansion and taking control.
But more like taking control of the second gate and opening it.
''I do not want to break my oath!'' And facing this pressure, Lapitus''s instinctually said this to himself.
But instantly a small voice whispered next to him,
''But your oath was to Lord Ponticus. He is dead! You owe nothing to your son!''
The voice sounded exactly like his wife,
And it subconsciously caused the image of her holding their daughter in her arms to sh before him.
He did not want to lose them.
And that was the battle he had been fighting the entire time, from the moment some of his men came to him revealing about the existence of this meeting yesterday to now.
And what a mighty battle it was, there his loyalty and love sought dominion of his heart.
"The gates are under Kalidus''s control! Taking it from him will not be easy!"
And ultimately love won!
Because clearly by saying so Lapitus showed which camp he stood on.
"Haha, great! Captain is with us!" And this naturally caused a cheer to break out among the men.
As long as Lapitus was with them, the other details could be worked it.
Their biggest fear had been alleviated.
But not eradicated.
For Lapitus''s loyalty had not been decisively vanquished.
Hence he quickly added, "But I will not act right away. The ten thousand men promised to us are still due within the week. If theye we will fight to the end."
"And I would also like to visit the Zanzan camp is secret to know the exact details of the proposal!"
"I want to know if they will really keep their word!"
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 724 Lapitus and Alexander (Part-1)
Chapter 724 Lapitus and Alexander (Part-1)
"My lord, there is a man here saying he is a Tibian officer who wants to defects. But before that he seems to want to talk to you."
It was after dusk, around supper time that a messenger came to Alexander with this report.
"Hmmm?" And this was enough to make Alexander even hum a bit in surprise.
Although notpletely unexpected, it was still a nice surprise.
"Who is he? A noble?" Alexander inquired hopefully.
If it was some random deserter, Alexander would not be interested.
"He did not say. But he did inform us that he used to be the city lord''s right hand man. And that his name started with La." The messenger had a bit of difficulty hiding the weird look on his face as he said this, for he was unable to understand the reasons behind this usual behavior.
And Alexander too, though was able to hazard a guess, was unable to quite understand what the y was.
''Hmmm, did he reveal this guessing we were aware of his name? Is it a test? But what''s the point?'' He asked himself.
Alexander had of course inquired and collected the names of all the high ranking officers stationed in Thesalie courtesy of Camius.
So names like Ponticus, Lapitus, and Kalidus were familiar to him, at least on paper.
Thus he was immediately able to confirm it was indeed the real deal that came to meet him.
But if so, then what was the point of hiding it?
Alexander however was unable to find the answer, and figuring there was no point raking one''s brain in trying to guess the man''s intention, he simply decided he would ask when he met the man.
"Is he alone?" He then asked, getting a swift nod from the messenger who added,
"He came alone on a horse. Guess he felt the fewer people he had with him, the less chances of him getting spotted was."
It was apparent to even this man that Lapitus was certainly not here in any official capacity.
Lapitus would not have been so sneaky if he was.
''The man''s got balls!'' And understanding the reason, Alexander could not help butment as such.
They were still technically at war, and if the deal fell through, killing him would be easy.
After all, the man was no envoy and so Alexander would not need to show any courtesy as per tradition.
Hence it seemed the man was either foolishly brave or extremely desperate, not being able to entrust the matter to any of his subordinates.
"Okay, let him in."
And Alexander would soon find out which.
It was quite a few minutester that the tall broad man slowly stepped, and Alexander found the man dressed in in white clothes, walking into his tent with strong steady steps, nked by two armed guards.
The man''s face was chiseled but looked somewhat withered like a storm had ravaged it and sucked out the luster of it, which to be frank was understandable.
Not only had he lost the battle recently and was about to lose the city, he was here basicallymitting treason.
But though his body seemed weary, Lapitus''s eyes were still sharp, refusing to yield to Alexander when their gaze met for a brief second.
But such a confrontational look onlysted for a second, asLapitus quickly bowed to Alexander gracefully and greeted,
"Lord Pasha, it is an honor to meet you finally. I''m Lapitus, a humble Tibian. I profusely thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I was there during the battle against you and your tactics have been awe inspiring."
His voice was defferential and very crisp, but not at all oily, showing he was not trying to grovel at Alexander''s feet.
''A man of high pride,'' Alexander hence judged, feeling hisment about the war was more flowery greeting than genuine praise.
"Wee. Though I would have preferred if you hade a few days earlier."
As opposed to Lapitus''s cordial greeting, Alexander as the victor saw no reason to be modest, so he smiled this aggressive speech.
And what he meant by that was he would have liked it if Lapitus hade to him the day he had made that threat.
In that way, he would not have had to put in all the work until now.
To which Lapitus gave a smart chuckle, "Hehe, well your guards held me up for a long time. So I ran a bitte."
That was clearly not what Alexander but Lapitus made it sound like it took him some time to get here after Alexander''s invitation was because it took a while for Alexander''s bodyguards to inspect and search his body for potential weapons.
''Heh! Smart man,'' And through this little interaction, Alexander was able to get a rough gauge of his opponent.
Lapitus was no pushover.
So finished with the introduction, Alexander then gestured for the man to take a seat and afterward finally got to the real conversation.
"So why don''t you tell me why you are here¡like this..?" Alexander asked the obvious question, pointing to Lapitusing all alone, a light tone hanging in his voice.
"Does my lord really wish to kill one hundred thousand innocent people?" Whereas Lapitus got straight to the main point, sounding much more somber and with a deep voice in his query, his eyes piercing Alexander''s pair.
"..." And Alexander for his part met this gaze fearlessly, giving a light smile and producing a strategic pause, letting the heaviness of the premised act settle in without flinching a muscle.
Like he was ying a game of chicken seeing who would blink first.
After a while of which he only breezily said,"That entirely depends on you. I already said my piece."
Alexander even slouched back when iming this, clearly showing he was unbothered by the nned act.
"...." And his nonchnt attitude produced another sink of heavy air to descend into the room, as Lapitus churned his head on how to proceed.
Should he try to convince his other part or concentrate on what he was here for?
Lapitus thought about it for a second then quickly made up his mind.
It would be thetter.
Because clearly he had no way of asking for the former outside of begging Alexander for it.
And given Alexander''s current callous bodynguage, well if he was gonna waste his breath, it might as well to save his hide first, and worry about otherster.
Hence with a sigh Lapitus began, "I see. It is indeed hard to ask men to show restraint when they have been sieging a city for months. I understand," he nodded and then turned to Alexander firmly iming.
"And that is why I''m here. To surrender the city to you, my lord!"
"....."
Lapitus did not know what he had expected, but Alexander did not seem to even flinch his eyebrows at the ''grand'' offer, only silently gazing at him.
And it was some timeter that the lordin an almost cid tone inquired all the things he was really interested in,
"How are things there? Who is your leader now? Clearly, you are not here representing them. Why did youe?"
Here Lapitus quickly begins his long recount, saying,
"Things in the city were surprisingly quiet. We thought the people might protest or even riot given my lord''s ultimatum, but there have been no such incidences. It seems many have simply epted what fate has in store for them and have chosen to savor the brief piece they have left, *sigh*."
"But there is also an ufortable, thickness to the air there because of that. Like everyone''s fear has condensed and solidified into lumps that get stuck in the throat when one''s breathing. The Thesalie of today was not the one it was born in."
Lapitus appeared quite eloquent with his descriptions, and the remainder of the dreary atmosphere around the city even seemed to give the man a bit of pause, his eyes turning ssy.
But he quickly recovered and quickly restarted,
"Most of the people in the city are actually in favor of surrendering and epting your favor my lord. But the current rulers of the city, led by the city lord''s son- Petrino seem to believe they can still win."
"Delusional fools!" As Lapitus said this, he seemed genuinely exasperated even at the mention, as he then continued,
"But the problem you see lord Pasha is that they have summarily executed anyone who even suggests any peace."
"These include even nobles!"
"And that is what prompted me toe see you. For to even execute nobles so openly clearly demonstrates the rulers of the city have lost their minds."
"We cannot follow them!"
"And that is why my men and I have decided to try and stop it."
"There are a lot of us. As I said, most of the people do not want to see our beloved hometown massacred."
"And we n to attack soon."
"But we need a bit more time to n everything."
"That''s why I''m here. To ask my lord for some more time."
Lapitus had very strategically made his case and by asking Alexander for more time, he wanted to keep both his options open.
If Alexander said yes, Lapitus would be able to wait till the ten thousand reinforcement came and decide what to do then.
Or if they did note, he could start the coup and simply say the nning took a while.
It was a very good n.
Chapter 725 Lapitus and Alexander (Part-2)
Chapter 725 Lapitus and Alexander (Part-2)
Lapitus''s request for more time made Alexander ruminate.
If he did so, it could mean getting the city without burning it down.
On the other hand, he had already spread the exact deadline for surrender.
So deviating from it would damage his image.
So before he made any decision, Alexander wanted details.
".....how many are you? And what will you do with the time?" He thus posed.
"There are a few hundred of us! Much more than the fifty or so men under Petrino! We just need a bit more time to get all of them together and capture them!"
Lapitus very quickly and loudly imed.
Though he very cleverly skipped the fact that the few hundred men he imed to have also officially belonged to these fifty men.
How many would choose to rebel and join him when the time truly came remained yet to be seen.
"....." While Alexander, both unaware and unconcerned about this, paused again to think.
Agreeing to this extension would be a bit problematic, but a far greater shame would be if Alexander were to deny them this coup.
So he then changed the topic to get to know Lapitus.
"What can you tell me about yourself? Why did the soldiers choose you? Weren''t you the former city lord''s trusted man? Why do this? What about your oath?"
He wanted to know the type of person he was dealing with.
"My family has served Lord Ponticus for generations. And I would have dly died by my oath for the former lord." Lapitus was very loud and defensive when iming this, but then his voice turned bitter and even hated filled,
"But the current lord¡his son¡.hmmp, ¡I owe him nothing! I have not sworn fealty to him, neither do I intend to!"
It was very apparent that the two men had some significant beef with each other.
Though Lapitus seemed reluctant to borate, which was understandable given Alexander was just a stranger he had only met and no one would want to reveal such intimate details so soon.
Thus instead, after clenching his teeth during a slight pause, Lapitus quickly changed his tone to a firm, strong one and dered,
"Nevermind even if I was bound by my oath, I still might not have followed those fools. They refuse to see reason even when pushed this far."
"Forty thousand! We lost forty thousand men and still they refuse to surrender!"
"If Lord Ponticus was here, he certainly would have done so and saved the lives in the city."
"So, I am not breaking my oath. I''m following it!"
Lapitus sounded very confident in this im to even Alexander, though here he was actually lying through his teeth.
For if Lord Ponticus was here, not only would he have surrendered, he would have fought on till thest man, woman, and child in the cityid their lives in defense of it, and that would have even extended to his own family, where perhaps even the threat ofplete massacre of them right in front of him might not have been enough to coax him to the negotiating tables.
The proud man was that much devoted to his task.
Furthermore, if he was alive, no soldier would have dared to rebel and do what Lapitus was doing.
The man was too prestigious and cast too dark a shadow on the man''s heart for that to ever have the slightest chance of happening.
Lapitus even literally felt his knees shake just thinking about doing this kind of thing behind his former boss''s back.
While on the contrary, hearing Lapitus''s im, Alexander usuallymented with a twinge of regret, "Hmm, perhaps it was a mistake to kill him, " though it was doubtful how much of it he actually meant.
As for Lapitus, he forcefully suppressed the fear of that deadly possibility and instead finished his piece by saying,
"That is why I gathered the men under me to try and save the city because my lord would have wished so. Because my lord would have wanted us to be alive without family."
Lapitus presented his case as him carrying out the will of his deceased lord and thus fulfilling his vow.
And not as a coup to grab power.
Whereas the reality was almost as almost as different as ck was to white.
First of all, it was the regr soldiers who hade to him, begging him to lead them.
He never took charge.
In fact when he was initially asked, he was even reluctant tomit this act treasonous act.
As a matter of fact, the soldiers did not evene to him per se.
The chain of events was far more roundabout.
What actually happened was that a few of the wives of the officers under him had actuallye to see his wife.
Thesedies were close friends of each other due to their husbands being colleagues, and it was them who had first asked Lady Felicia, Lapitus''s wife to pass on the message to her husband.
And it was really her who had managed to convince Lapitus to ept this, and this was after quite some back and forth and even a bit of a row.
At one point, thedy had even taken their daughter on herp and shrieked,
"Here! Look at your daughter and say that you want to see us dead! Say that you want to see us with our throats slit. Say that you want to have us raped and vited!"
"You already failed to protect me once, now you want to fail even your daughter?"
It was especially thosest words uttered by thedy of the house that had bitten Lapitus particrly hard, more so when he was reminded of that unpleasant event from some time ago.
And it was that scene of the mother daughter duo holding each other and looking at him expectably that finally forced Lapitus off the edge of indecision andmit to this conspiracy.
So in reality he was nowhere as eager to rebel as he was painting himself to be in front of Alexander.
Furthermore, his painting of Lord Ponticus as a man of the people, someone who really cared about the lives of his subjects was aplete lie.
The truth wasrgely the opposite.
In that man''s eyes, the people existed to basically serve him and the city- Thesalie, little more than that.
So Lapitus wasrgely doing this to save his family, and nothing so grand as defending his oath.
And though there was nothing wrong with the former, thetter sounded much cooler.
Hence his reasons for saying so.
As for Alexander, well it was very difficult for him to verify whether Lapitus was lying or not, especially in the short term.
And even if he was, it was of little concern to him.
Because his main calculus would not change.
The digging of the first wall was still ongoing, and whether or not Lapitus sessfully managed to hand over the city or not, would continue at its current pace regardless.
As a matter of fact, if Alexander wanted he could extend his deadline for the surrender till the day heunched his attack on the second wall.
Hence he generously proposed, "Okay. I will give you some time. How about I make it two weeks instead of the one?"
Alexander tone''s was magnanimous.
"That¡" But instead of Lapitus quickly epting it, his lips curved and twitched a bit.
Clearly, he wanted more.
"That¡.three weeks would be better my lord. Getting all of them together in a single hall will take a bit of time," Lapitus exined his need, adding,
"But once we do that, I can officially dere the surrender of the city without contention. That will spill less blood on both sides,"
It seemed Lapitus wanted to neutralize all the higher-ups at once so then there would be no possibility of anyone ordering any of the garrisons to go fight him or Alexander''s invading forces when they broke through.
The coup would be much easier to conduct that way, without the soldiers receiving conflicting orders.
That would also make the takeover of the city much less chaotic.
And this was certainly one of the reasons for Lapitus wanting more time.
Though another major reason for requiring this long period of time was because Lapitus wanted to see if the ten thousand reinforcements promised to him would reallye.
That additional troop had the chance of changing the whole equation and though he would not outright admit it, he still held out hope for the city''s salvation.
He hence put his foot on both boats.
Of course, he hid thistter and only presented the former.
However, although Lapitus hoped the first reason would convince the man in front of him, Alexander did not really pay much heed to it.
Because given the long and arduous siege, his men had endured, the possibility of taking the city without shedding blood had long gone out the window.
A siege was sometimes even more exacting on the attacker than a defender, especially when it was asplex as the one Alexander had implemented.
And after fighting for so long, the physical exhaustion had already begun to take its toll on the psyche of the men, who wanted to vent.
Nevermind Alexander had also promised all the men certain liberties for three days after they helped him take the city when he first recruited them.
So for all these reasons, Alexander saw little reason who acquire so much to Lapitus.
Chapter 726 Lapitus And Alexander (Part-3)
Chapter 726 Lapitus And Alexander (Part-3)
Lapitus had proposed to Alexander that he could get him the city with few casualties if he was just given the time.
But Alexander knew that would not be possible.
For even Alexander, who was mostly at the back in the rtive safety of the camp had to sometimes fight the urge to find a woman just to take the edge off.
He even thought about asking some of his girls toe from Zanzan just to relieve him.
So if even he was like that, what about the normal grunts fighting in the front lines?
Hence, no matter what he said, it was almost predestined that Thesalie would be sacked.
So the only thing there was to discuss was whether the popce would live or return to the soil after that.
Thus in response to Lapitus''s request for a three-week extension, Alexander slouched his back, and waving his hand dered,
"Three weeks is too much. I will give you fifteen days. So today is the 5th, you have till the 20th. If you can''t open the city gates before that, then don''t bother."
Hearing this Lapitus of course wanted to interject and haggle. but Alexander gave him no such chance, simply shing his palms and saying,
"Don''t bother asking for more. Because by then I will have already put in a lot of the work into my siege works and be ready to take the city regardless."
"So do it by then or don''t bother."
Alexander once again repeated, his tone final.
And Lapitus could tell there was no more negotiating to be had of this.
Fifteen days, that''s all he had,
Whatever he nned to do, had to happen within this time.
"I understand," Thus the man finally gave a low nod after a seemingly internal bit of struggle.
"Good. I also want all the men you capture executed before Ie. I have no patience to deal with them."
And then Alexander quickly dumped another task on the man, figuring since he was going this far, why not make him go the whole distance?
It would not only take care of the mess, but it would also make Alexander look better since he would not be the one to kill all those nobles.
*Shudder*
However the request made Lapitus involuntary shake.
He did not think he had it in him to do that.
He was a loyal soldier, at least he liked to think himself so.
But he did not reject him.
Instead, as he thought and thought of it, his eyes began to get sharper and sharper.
Until he muttered to himself, ''Since I have decided to go this far, what''s one more step? I have drunk the poison, might as drink the whole cup."
*Nod*
Alexander was pleased to see the direction the head moved.
Whereas Lapitus felt his throat too dry to actually say the precise words.
But Alexander was not bothered by this, as then suddenly, he seemed to deviate and ask something very unrted. "Does Ponticushave any unmarried daughter in the city?"
There was only a brief sh of surprise in Lapitus hearing so, as thinking about it for just a second, it was very apparent why he was asking so.
Not only would taking the children of the city lord and obtaining their approval add legitimacy to Alexander''s rule over the people of Thesalie, who were generally hostile to Adhanians, but it also had to be remembered that Lord Ponticus was part of the Tibian royalty.
Meaning the old man''s children had the titles of prince and princess.
Clearly, Alexander nned to ask Lapitus to spare these daughters from death so that he could marry them.
That was if they existed, forLapitus seemed unable to grant Alexander that wish, answering with a shake of his head,
"No, I''m afraid not. The lord has five children. All three of his daughters are married. They all live with their husbands in their own fiefs far away."
"His younger son died a few years back from an illness, leaving two sons, They and their mother live in the city."
"As for his eldest son, the current ruler of the city- Lord Petrino, he is childless."
Lapitus gave a very brief summary of all of Lord Ponticus''s progeny.
"..."
Hearing this Alexander pursed his lips a bit.
He did somewhat expect this kind of result given Lord Ponticus was no spring chicken, having quite a few years behind his belt.
So it was understandable that all his children would be married.
But Alexander still wanted to fish, perhaps if not for a daughter, then maybe for even a granddaughter.
But it seemed that there were only grandsons on hands.
Alexander was not interested in them.
As a matter of fact, he instead wanted to very much kill them given they had a legitimate im to the city.
Whereas if it was the girl he could have married them and gained legitimacy for himself.
Alexander might have even considered having that widow to try and gain that legitimacy if she was childless or if only she had daughters.
But given that Alexander was determined to kill her sons, marrying her and not expecting to be poisoned would be pretty hard.
Then, after thinking for a bit, Alexander felt he missed something.
He missed Petrino''s wife.
So he asked,
"Is Petrino not married? How does he want no children being the eldest sibling?"
That was certainly unnatural.
"Ummm, no. He is married. It''s just that the madam has a weak body and¡." Lapitus trailed off without much boration.
But Alexander got what he was saying.
It was readily apparent thedy was physically too weak to be considered one of the candidates for marriage.
Even if Alexander overlooked the slight detail of him killing her husband.
''Looks like I will have to quell the people the hard way,''
So given that an easy way of cating the public was out of the way, it seemed Alexander only had the option of using brute force to suppress any dissent.
Or that was until Lapitus stepped in sensing Alexander''s thoughts and offered,
"Lord Alexander, if you want to easily rule Thesalie, then I have a suggestion. What about marrying my daughter?"
"My wife is one of my lord''s illegitimate daughters. And she is even famous all across the city for her beauty."
"So if the people were to know you were taking her daughter¡. everything would be much smoother!"
Lapitus revealed with a smile, the mention of his wife''s beauty being clearly a way for him to show Alexander that his daughter was no slouch in the looks department.
"...???"
While for Alexander, Lapitus being rted to Lord Ponticus, and by extension the royal family was a piece of much more notable news.
He did not think the former city lord treated his right-hand man so well that he would make him family.
So given the background of the girl he was being proposed to marry, for a brief few seconds, Alexander was ready to ept the deal then and there.
But then he cooled down.
Lapitus said his wife was ''one'' of Lord Ponticus''s illegitimate children.
Meaning there were more.
So who was to say there was not a daughter there somewhere?
Marrying her would be much more impactful than an unknown, illegitimate granddaughter.
Now Alexander did not know whether such a person even existed.
Neither did he pose Lapitus any query regarding this, knowing the man had every reason to lie.
Instead, Alexander made up his mind to search for the girl himself.
And speaking of marriages, Alexander felt taking a wife was too high a price to pay.
Remember, he was just taking one city, not the whole country.
So why would he want to take anyone as a wife for something this small?
If he did so every time, by the time he was done with Tibias, he would have added more than ten wives.
Because there were at least ten cities in Tibiasparable in size to Thesalie, i.e.- with a poption of around fifty to hundred thousand.
That might not have been a problem for someone like Genghis Khan whose exploits in the reproductive area were almost as legendary as his prowess as a conqueror.
But Alexander was certainly not sovish.
So he replied, "Me taking your daughter is certainly possible. But not as my wife. I can at best take her as one of my concubines. Perhaps even one of my favored concubines."
Alexander promised thest sentence with some sincerity.
"Ah!"
But this predictably got a wounded gasp from the other side.
No father wanted to hear their daughter wascking, especially when it came to marriage.
But Lapitus did not argue.
He knew his own and thus by extension his daughter''s status was too low to be able to realistically be a pasha''s legitimate partner.
Not when he was bringing so little to the table.
So with an understanding nod, he agreed,
"Thank you, my lord. Then if I''m able to take the city within the next two weeks, I hope Lord Alexander will take my daughter as a concubine."
And Alexader readily nodded,
"Sure! If you can open the gates to the gates and the nobles there are all dead, I swear it by the gods."
And thus with this, the pact was sealed.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 727 Lady Felicia (Part-1)
Chapter 727 Lady Felicia (Part-1)
Alexander and Lapitus finally came to the agreement of extending the surrender deadline by two weeks in exchange for thetter attempting to open the city gates before that.
Furthermore, to make the subsequent takeover of the city easier, as well as to reward Lapitus, Alexander promised to take Lapitus''s daughter as one of his mistresses if the operation was sessful, thus making the man a distant kin of his.
That was the gist of what happened in the meeting.
But that was not where the conversation ended.
For after agreeing to this, Lapitus asked Alexander,
"Esteemed Pasha, in the meantime I organize my forces and carry this out, I wish also for my wife and daughter to stay here in the camp with you. Otherwise, I fear they might be targeted once I begin my¡.."
Lapitus suddenly trailed off, still seemingly reluctant to say the word coup or rebellion.
But he was able to fully understand what the things he was about to do entitled and the risks associated.
If he was caught, a clean death for him, or even his family would be too precious a luxury.
He knew what happened to traitors very well, even having carried a few of those gruesome executions himself.
While on the opposite end of the table, Alexander hearing the request was at first a bit surprised.
Sending his wife and daughter here basically meant giving them as hostages to him.
Any man would think twice about handing them over to anyone, much less aplete stranger.
But it seemed Lapitus here believed his family would be safer with a man he just met rather than in the city with him.
So either he was supremely trusting of Alexander''s ability or grosslycking in his own.
But whatever that case was, it was really of no concern to Alexander who very frankly agreed to the request, seeing no problem in amodating two extra people.
"Sure, they are wee to. I can even use the time to get to know my new woman,"
He half-jokingly added, further saying,
"And rest assured that even if you fail, I will keep them safe, They cane with me to Zanzan where they can get a monthly stipend of 200 ropals for the next ten years. I swear it by the gods!"
Alexander thought that would be a good way to incentivize the man to go all out.
After all, spending 2,400 ropals a year for him was not even worth calling chump change.
Not when he was spending tens of thousands of ropals a day maintaining his army.
So if this could help him the city faster, it would be totally worth it.
But this seemingly tiny favor in Alexander''s eyes appeared to have a much more disproportionate effect on Lapitus, far more than he could have expected, for thetter almost jumped out of his chair, his eyes bludging hearing the offer.
"Ah!" And as he took the time to confirm what he heard, he let out a shocked gasp.
It was said just a tiny act could reveal a person''s true nature.
And through this act, Alexander seemed to have inadvertently made a very favorable impression on the man, for the offer was too generous in thetter''s eyes.
Nobles were never even a tenth such ominous.
Lapitus knew that very well.
So it took some time for him to even make sure he had heard it right.
Upon confirming which, he broke into an immense grin.
"Th¡thank you! Thank you Lord Alexander! As expected of a man as great as you! Thank you!"
The man thus appeared ecstatic as he repeated this, so much so that if he had been a bit closer to Alexander and the act did not break too many etiquettes, Lapitus might have actually lunged to hug Alexander.
He had been originally very skeptical about sending his family here, only doing so because his wife had asked him to try and arrange it, who felt it would be much safer to be there than inside the city when everything went down.
But now, after getting to know Alexander, and with him promising such a generous offer without even Lapitus asking the slightest of such a thing, it really put the man''s heart at ease.
"Mmm, no problem. You concentrate on getting the city"
While Alexander was much more cid in his reply, not thinking much of it.
After this, the duo held a few more talks, where, as a side note, during one of those discussions, Alexander did remember to ask Lapitus why he only revealed his name as La to the messenger.
To which Lapitus had frankly chuckled,
"Haha, well that was because I was afraid there might be spies in the camp. And if any of them somehow heard my name¡.that would be trouble."
Alexander was quite impressed by how methodical the man was about his security.
Especially because the chances of there being spies among the few men who would hear this name were minuscule.
So it showed Lapitus was a cautious man.
The two then spent some working out some of the more tedious details of the agreement, and after a while the ndestine meeting finally ended.
The result of which was that the question regarding Thesalie turned from whether or not it could defend itself, to how it could end up once taken.
Whether it would be a wounded but still vibrant city.
Or whether it would be a burning smoldering wreck.
In the following days after the talks, Alexander would go on to give his generals a short, summarized version of the events.
It was very much a truncated version of the events, where even Lapitus''s name was left out, as well as the deal involving the daughter.
Instead, Alexander only told them that a defector hade to him, and if things went well, the city might be able to be taken bloodlessly soon.
And that was enough for the news to be received with great enthusiasm,
"That''s great! Then we can keep the front walls intact! I always said it would be a great shame to tear them down " Menes loudly imed, his eyes sparkling at the thought.
Thesalie''s walls were one of the best not only here, but even in the whole world.
So getting them ''as is'' was very lucrative to the general from a defense point of view.
"Good! The quicker this is over, the better. Fall will be here soon and I''m really tired of this siege,"
Another much different opinion was expressed by a second man, who released a sigh of relief thinking they might still be able to return to theirnds before the fall harvest ended.
While Jamider (Earl) Tikba hearing this started boisterouslyughing, "Hahaha, to think conquering Thesalie would happen during my lifetime. Haha, and to think I was a part of the campaigning force. Haha, no regret, I have no regerets!"
The man wasughing so hysterically that Alexander even feared the man might be drunk.
Also, Thesalie was still not under their control.
So Alexander crossed his fingers and really prayed that the man did not just jinx the whole thing.
But in general. the news that victory might be close put the higher-ups in a jovial mood, while the grassroots infantry were instructed to hold off on killing the citizenry upon breaching the city until they were told otherwise.
Lapitus on the other hand returned to the city via a small passageway once his ''illicit night tryst'' with Alexander ended, riding quickly but softly through the dead of night, being careful not to create any loud noise while trotting across the stone-paved road, so as to not draw any unnecessary attention from the guards.
Until finally he made it home, to the eager, safe embrace of his eager wife.
"So how was it? What did he say?"And no sooner were they alone in their bedroom that Lady Felicia keenly posed so to her husband, her eyes sharp, and her ear perked up.
She seemed very interested to know the oue.
Which was natural given it was really her who had pushed her husband on this road.
And Lapitus, upon hearing the melodious tune of his wife brush past his ears, felt his heartstrings being plucked uncontrobly and he quickly turned his face to gaze at the love of his life.
She was a very beautiful woman, no one could deny that, and even though Lapitus had seen that face thousands of times, he still felt like he was falling in love for the first time each and every time he saw her.
The marrieddy seemed to be in her early to mid-twenties, her face a beautiful heart-shaped with cute dimples brushed with a tinge of makeup to look flushed and rosy red.
She had sharp, nted eyes, the edges painted with dark, prominent eyeliner, a strong, aquiline nose, and full, luscious lips painted deep red.
The inner locks of her wavy raven hair were loosely bound with an expensive, gold band studded with tiny diamonds, a type of hairstyle that let her silly hair flow like the night from her the top of her head, down her slender shoulders, all the way to her fair back.
Lapitus was not lying when he said his wife''s beauty was renowned throughout the city.
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=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 728 Lady Felicia (Part-2)
Chapter 728 Lady Felicia (Part-2)
Lapitus lovingly gazed at his wife''s face that was lightly powdered with the most popr makeup the nobledies used and his nose twitched at the sweet smell emanating from her.
It was from the expensive, lc perfume he had bought for her just the other day.
Even now, Lapitus sometimes had trouble believing he was married to this bombshell of a woman, one who was also his childhood sweetheart
And Lapitus would thank the gods every time he looked at her for this privilege.
But he knew he could not just keep gawking at her the entire time.
So breaking out of his love struck stupor after while, Lapitus collected himself and replied to her inquiry about the meeting.
He began, "Hmm, it went well. I managed to get almost everything you wanted. I met with the Zanzan pasha and...."
It took a while for the whole thing to be retold, and in that, Lapitus made sure to not leave out anything with even the minutest relevance.
He started right from how he left the city and who helped him, to how he got into the camp, what he saw there, how Alexander greeted him, his impression of the man, the back and forth of their discussion, the agreements they reached and all the additional fuff.
Lapitus did not even leave out the kind of wine he was served.
And he finished by saying,
"I had my reservation before meeting the pasha. But now having talked to him, I believe him to be a man of principle. I''m sure he will fulfill his end of the bargain as long as I fulfill mine, That''s also why I feel safe leaving you and Fabiyana with him. With you two safe, I can do my own thing without worry."
As Lapitus said this, his body suddenly felt a lot lighter, like the one thing that had been weighing him down was seemingly lifted.
"That''s good, that''s good." Hearing this, thedy of the house let out a pleased smile, showing her pearly whites. beforeunching herself into her husband''s embrace, the soft feeling of the flesh digging into him and making him feel like it was the most exquisite reward.
And that sensation, coupled with the feminine smell quickly worked to soothe Lapitus, and he thought that all the risks he had taken till now and all the dangers thaty ahead, were all more than worth it in exchange for this simple hug.
So a pink, armors atmosphere quickly developed, especially because they knew they were going to be separated for some time soon, perhaps even for eternity, who knows.
With that knowledge, the couple found themselves suddenly longing for one another, as each tightened the other''s embrace.
*Chuu*, *Chuu*,
Then the atmosphere began to get even sweeter, as the duo instinctively moved from simply touching to starting to savoring each other, and at one point Lapitus''s lips began to trace along his wife''s pristine nape, while his hands stealthily moved to her towering peaks.
But suddenly, that was where the lovely atmosphere abruptly shattered, for thedy in Lapitus''s arms out of nowhere asked,
"But husband, won''t me and Fabiyana be all alone in the enemy camp? Filled with men? Who will protect us? What if something happens like that time?"
The thing Lady Felicia was indicating was apparent to anyone with half a brain.
Two defenseless women among a horde of men could really mean one thing.
And in most men''s eyes, such defenseless prey was too delectable to pass up in any situation.
".....*shake*..." And being reminded of that one unpleasant incident, Lapitus trembled like he had been just electrocuted.
That particr danger seemed to have not even crossed his mind until now.
And understanding he hadmitted this oversight, though he did not see it yet, he was sure his wife was sending a clear look of derions at him for that.
Kike she was taunting him, ''Even after what happened to me back then, you still are so callous. What a waste.''
No, in fact it was not ''like'' Lady Felicia was taunting him.
She was actually loudly taunting him as she suddenly detached herself from her partner, putting a slight distance that for all intents and purposes seemed like the chasm to Lapitus.
The way Lady Felicia flipped her switch from being a pleasant, amorousdy ready to please her man to a barbed tongued shrew was something that needed to be seen to be believed.
And surprisingly, facing this biting remark from his wife, Lapitus actually showed no sign of any resistance.
It was apparent this was not the first time this had happened.
Lapitus could only stammer, "Tha¡ that, he did not seem like that person. Lord Alexander¡ umm sounded very upright and he swore¡ that¡"
"Sounded upright!" All of a sudden, upon hearing Lapitus use that specific word, Lady Felicia involuntarily eximed with introduction, then turned to Lapitus to curse in a way few would believe even was possible,
"Are you saying the person who wants to massacre this entire city is upright? Are you drunk or drugged you donkey?"
"And why are calling him Lord Alexander? Who is he to you? Imbecile!"
There was probably no one who would have even imagined that the sweet, soft spoken, demure wife of Lapitus actually had a side this like.
That the high born, refineddy could even speak such crude words.
Or that the fearless right hand man of the city lord would be so cowed by his wife.
And they would have been even more surprised to know that this was actually Lady Felicia''s real face, the differential, shy, feminine appearance being just a facade she put on to maintain her social persona.
In fact, in reality, the one in charge of Lapitus''s family was actually Lady Felicia, which ran much contrary to the conventional patriarchal family structure of the time.
And like how a traditional man would usually discipline his woman, here the woman seemed to be disciplining the man!
Facing which Lapitus actually found himself lowering his head, and trying to mutter in his defense, "I¡ talked to the pasha¡ he ¡ I know he is a man!"
"Know the man! When could you do anything like knowing men?"
But that effort was swiftly snuffed out by Lady Felicia''s shriek, as the fairdy swung her arm and shouted,
"If you knew men then how could Petrino r@pe me? That lecherous gaze in his eyes when he looked at me was apparent to even a blind monkey. Everyone could see it? I even told you about it. Yet you failed!"
"And now you are iming to be an expert? Where were you when I needed you to be an expert?"
If it was not apparent, a couple of years ago, Lady Felicia had been forcefully taken by her elder half brother during a party they were attending as a couple.
And what made that incident even more tragic was that it might have been totally avoidable.
For even before attending it, Lady Felicia had specifically asked her husband to always be with her, saying to him, "I felt that rotten Petrino''s gaze over me whenever I meet him these days. Don''t leave me alone with him."
But Lapitus did not pay any heed to this, feeling his wife was simply bbering.
So instead he got blind drunk at all the fine wines served at the party, being dazzled by the taste of them, knowing he could never afford them on his own sry.
And then to make the whole thing even more embarrassing for him, Lapitus waster found the next morning totally naked in a corner of the hallway lying with one of Lord Ponticus''s chambermaids next to him, the proof of their deeds still visible on the lower half of the semi bare woman''s body.
While in the meantime, Petrino managed to corner Lady Felicia in a deserted part of the garden and have her way with him.
Now, normally this would have at least created some kind of scandal for even the city lord''s son,especially when it was his half sister that he assaulted.
For although high ranking nobles were exempted from a lot of things, incest was not one of them.
Nevermind she was also a married woman belonging to a high ranking officer of the military.
So in all cases, Petrino should have been chewed out once it was exposed.
But in reality, nothing happened!
And it was not because Lord Ponticus helped suppress this matter.
No, it was because Lapitus did!
Lapitus thought his own failures that night made making such aint too embarrassing for him,
He feared that Lord Ponticus, being the strict military man he was, would demote Lapitus after learning of hisck of discipline once theint was investigated.
So when given the choice between avenging his wife and keeping his current post, the man chose thetter.
Yes!
The man actually chose to swallow the attack on his wife and simply went on about his life with a muted facade of pretended ignorance.
This of course had incense Lady Felicia, who urged many times for her husband to seek justice for her.
But surprisingly, although Lapitus was willing to pamper his love to his utmost in all other areas, this was one area where he would not budge.
And from then on this became a frequent point of contention between the two, where Lady Felicia would constantly remind Lapitus of the event and every time Lapitus would cower away.
Like now!
Chapter 729 Lady Felicia (Part-3)
Chapter 729 Lady Felicia (Part-3)
Chapter 729
Facing his wife''s scathing reminder, Lapitus hung his head low,
He had always regretted his actions of that day.
Worse still, he could not even remember what exactly had happened that day, every time drawing aplete nk when attempting to recall the events.
As for getting revenge for his wife,
''Hehe, how can that be so easy?'' he would helplessly chuckle to himself every time his wife mentioned it.
Lapitus knew exactly how hard he and his family had to work to get where they were.
And if he tried to go against a noble, even one who was not much favored by his father, Lapitus risked losing it all.
After all, thews of thend worked only against nobles when they were wielded by another noble.
And though Lord Ponticus might be utterly disappointed in his eldest son, but the proud man would still have done everything in his power to save the family''s face.
And what would that mean for Lapitus?
What would that mean for Lapitus''s family?
As the oldest son, Lapitus had a few younger brothers to look after. a sick mother who needed medicine, several sisters who were yet to be married, several nieces and nephews, and many peripheral members.
Most of whose jobs were directly or indirectly rted to the army, and most of them managed to get it only through Lapitus''s connections.
For instance, one of his brothers was a small time grain supplier for the military, another worked as a steward for a high ranking officer, and so on.
So even if Lapitus managed to sessfully win his case against PP and got him dered guilty, he would at best get some paltry sum of money and see PP get a p in the wrist sort of warning.
It would be really nothingpared to the crime hemitted.
While Lapitus for all his trouble would soon see him facing the absolutely brutal retaliation from Lord Ponticus for embarrassing him and his family.
And this attack would be catastrophic for Lapitus.
Perhaps Lapitus would be able to keep some sort of employment as firing him outright would be too petty, but he would certainly lose his post.
As for the fate of the rest of his n, theirs would be certainly much more tragic.
Undoubtedly they would be thrown out into the streets, penniless, within the day and perhaps even the local gangs would start harassing them under orders from the above.
It was even possible they would be convicted on trumped up charges and be sold into very.
That was a favorite tactic of Lord Ponticus.
It was because of all this that Lapitus could not go against PP.
If it was only him, Lapitus would not have batted an eye to even all those things.
And would have charged fearlessly at PP with his sword drawn.
And Lapitus did think about doing it many, many times, as he hadid awake man a night, his heart burning for revenge while sleep eluded him.
But ultimately he could not take the final step.
He could not bring all his nsmen down with him.
So what choice did he have other than to swallow the bitter incident down and pretend to forget all about it?
Of course people undoubtedly called him names behind his back for this, mocking him as being too cowardly to defend his wife''s honor.
But none of them really understood from his view.
Cause if they had, no one would dare to do so.
If they were in his shoes, these same people would certainly have chosen the same way.
Sometimes it took far greater strength for a man to ept his circumstances and move on instead ofshing out and going off in a ze of glory.
So after looking at his family, and his daughter, Lapitus chose the ultimate humiliation and yed dumb.
And moreover, for all these years he never exined this to his wife, thinking all these excuses did not really matter.
Instead, he let her vent as much as she wanted regarding this event, feeling she had every right to do so.
That was how much Lapitus loved his woman.
But unfortunately, the man fell in love with the wrong woman, a woman who was blind to all of this pain and sacrifice and one who appreciated none of her husband''s own difficulties.
She never tried to understand her partner nor did she look at it from her husband''s side.
Instead, she would use that incident every time to sting Lapitus, like now, where having shut her husband up, she still continued on her tirade,
"You think just because that Pasha was not ogling at every girl he passed, he won''t have any designs on me?"
"You think every man who wants to take advantage of me is like PP? Tongue waggling up to his feet?Even if they were PP, you could not spot them!"
"Never mind he is even willing to marry someone as young as Fabiyana! God Lapitus, how can you say he is upright? Have somemon sense!"
Lady Felicia finished by massaging her forehead, by which point Lapitus''s face was so shrunken that it looked as if all the water there had been sucked out of it.
And it took a long while for the man to squeeze out the following words in a weak voice, "Then¡ then what do you want me to do? Wasn''t it your idea to seek shelter there? And try to get Fabiyana married to him? Why are youining now?"
Lapitus was very bitter, feeling like he was being chewed out doing what he was told to do.
"Of course, I''m not ming you for that. You did a good job!"
And as if she could read the man like a book, Lady Felicia instantly noticed the man''s emotions bing frayed as she quickly and very smoothly cooed next to his ears, closing the distance between them and even softly caressing her husband''s hands as she did so.
Either she was a very caring wife or an expert maniptor.
And the following words she would say would go no leave none in the dark about which one she was.
Bringing her lips right next to Lapitus''s ears, Lady Felicia whispered, "What I''m saying is that seeing me all alone,the Lord of Zanzan might make moves on me."
"In fact, I even suspect the reason why he made that stipend offer was to lure you into sending me there,"
As she said this, a cunning light shed through Lady Felicia''s eyes, while in Lapitus, a look of surprise dawned.
''What! How can that be? Could it be true?'' For the first few seconds, he could not believe it.
Alexander did not seem that type of man to him.
But then he remembered who said it.
His wife.
So after a while, his eyes changed to one that of realization,
''Yes! Now that I think about it, it must be true. Why else would he be so generous? Just look at how beautiful my Felicia is! Of course, he will be tempted.''
Lapitus somehow had managed toe to this outrageous conclusion.
Following which he abruptly turned to his wife, "Tha.. let me send some ¡. some men with you ¡ then ¡"
Lapitus''s voice suddenly sounded very agitated and he seemed to be even having difficulty forming proper sentences, as his whole body could be seen slightly twitching.
To say the man was shaken would be an understatement, for he was determined to never let that incident ever repeat itself.
"*Shoosh*, *shoosh*, calm down, calm down," And it was only Lady Felicia''s warm whispers that managed to tame the raging waves in the man''s heart.
And then she gently pointed out,
"How many men can you send with me? Because that person has an army! So giving a few guards would be pointless. Those men will be much more useful here¡ with you."
The lovely woman gently squeezed her man''s hands as she said so, wanting tofort her man.
But Lapitus was still restless given the root of the problem remained unsolved,
"Then ¡ what? Should I go again and ask the pasha to swear nothing will happen?"
"Or maybe you stay?"
Lapitus looked at his wife with particrly puppy dog eyes when he said thest part.
To be frank, he would much prefer if his wife stayed with him.
He did not want to lose her, not once again.
And he was only sending them to Alexander because Lady Felicia asked him to.
While Hearing Lapitus''s request, thedy of the house gently shook her head, "You know very well we will be safer there. Here if we are caught ¡."
She very lightly smiled as she said this, the way her lips moved seeming to conveyfort and peace.
But the image her words produced in Lapitus was anything but those.
The horrors that might befall them if captured were indeed nightmarish.
Lapitus found himself shaken by the mere thought of it.
It would indeed be better for them to be away from there.
And it was here that Lady Felicia sensing Lapitus was confused used the opportunity to let out the real reason why she brought up this topic, a maniptive glint shining in her eyes.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 730 Lady Felicia (Part-4)
Chapter 730 Lady Felicia (Part-4)
Hearing the matron had an easy way to guarantee her safety, Lapitus was naturally very eager.
So his ears perked up in anticipation of hearing the idea.
And this was what Lady Felicia had managed to think of.
"That is what I wanted to talk to you about. While there I would like to swear fealty to him on behalf of both of us."
"We will propose to oversee the ruling of Thesalie and ensure all the nearby nobles follow the decree from Zanzan. And in exchange the pasha will help defend us ¡from all kinds of threats."
This ''all kinds of threats'' that Lady Felicia mentioned clearly included herself too, meaning she intended to use that promise to ensure her safety in the camps.
But then the obvious question was, as posed by Lapitus, "That¡how will you get promise? Isn''t it too far-fetched?"
Lapitus would of course love to be Thesalie''s ruler.
But how could that happen?
Alexander had clearly spent a lot of time getting the city.
So why would be hand it over to an unknown couple?
Surely he had his own people who could rule over them.
But here Lady Felicia did not clearly answer her husband.
Only producing an enigmatic smile, she waved her dainty arms and chuckled, "Don''t worry about that. Once I have had my talks with him and he gets to meet FB, he will."
Lady Felicia''s tone was supremely confident, cock sure of her negotiating skills.
And observing this, Lapitus did not press further.
If she said she could do so, then indeed would be able to
He had no qualms about believing so.
Plus, given she had bought up their daughter, Lapitus had a pretty good hunch what that might entitle.
He just hoped his wife could present their daughter to be even more valuable than she actually was and make Alexander dote on her.
Now, if a smart person thought about it, he would find that there were severalrge holes in Lady Felicia''s n.
The biggest one being that there was still nothing that would really stop Alexander from coercing thedy into his bed if he really wanted to.
But Lapitus was a man who blindly believed his wife''s promises, and since she said she could do it, in Lapitus''s mind, she indeed could.
Thus invigorated by this offered solution, the man jumped to hug his wife in joy, and then snuggling his nose to her nape, in a husky voice, asked,
"Hey! We will not be seeing each other for a while. Why don''t we¡."
It was very clear what he wanted to do judging by how his hands were moving.
"No¡.not now!"
But much to his disappointment, his wife seemed to be not in the mood, as she strongly pushed him away, not letting him go any further.
As she then quickly stepped out of bed, saying, "Sorry, I need to get ready. We will have to leave before dawn today and I have a lot to pack."
It seemed thedy wanted to vacate the city as soon as possible, not wanting to give her enemies the time to react.
And this made sense to Lapitus, though that did mean he was not a bit disappointed at not being able toy with his wife before his dangerous act.
''How long would it take anyway?'' Lapitus muttered to himself a bit helplessly, very much wishing to do the act.
He even felt it might have been a good morale boost.
Hence the understanding nod he gave was reluctant and wooden.
This of course was instantly noticed by Lady Felicia being the observantdy she was, and quickly walked him to cate the man, saying to him in an amorous whisper,
"Dear, don''t be sad. I would love to do it but now is not the time!"
"But once you have seeded and we get back together, we will be rulers of the city. Then I will let you do all kinds of things to me. All of ''those'' kinds hehe ¡." Lady Felicia even yfully bit her man''s earlobes as she sensually chuckled,
And to Lapitus, that tiny giggle sounded like the flirtingughter of a subus.
He was very excited.
Especially because their joining in bed had always been the ndest of vani vors, and though Lapitus wanted to asionally try some new, adventurous thing, his wife would either feign shyness or scold him for trying to treat her like a cheap working girl.
So now that Lapitus was being promised such an expectant reward, he felt his ttering morale soar to the skies.
"Hehe, then I guess gotta try my best," He heartily chuckled, following which he quickly reached for his pocket and bought out a circr silver seal.
Then handing it over to his wife, he said, "Here, take this. Showing this to the guards will let you into the camp. The pasha promised it."
Lady Felicia found the small seal half the size of her palm, with just the word ''pass'' engraved into it.
It looked very ordinary and this type of seal, though not easy to get, was not any golden heron either, being avable to quite a few merchants who were allowed to peddle their wares inside designated parts of the camp.
Lady Felicia tucked the seal away with a silent nod while saying, "I will wait in the camp for twelve days. If you cannot open the gates within that time, I will take it that the ten thousand reinforcements have arrived."
"Then I will use the excuse of being homesick and wanting to visit you to leave the camp and re-enter the city."
"Is that okay?"
"Mmm, that was what he discussed," Lapitus had no addendums to the proposal.
This made Lady Felicia produce a light smile, as she then bid her goodbye,
"Then you go to sleep. It''s already veryte and you will have to start work early tomorrow. I will go pack my things and wake you up when I''m ready."
Saying this thedy gave a ritualistic bow which wives were expected to give their husbands before taking their leave, after which she quickly made her way toward her room.
And yes, Lapitus and Lady Felicia had separate rooms, even though they were husbands and wives.
And it was not just a small personal room to spend a bit of alone time.
No, they were full-fledged bedrooms with all the amenities included.
This was not because the two disliked sleeping with each other, but because such as the customs of Tibias.
Here husbands and wives did not usually sleep in the same room, much less the same bed, but in their separate quarters.
This was true even during the nights the couple would be innate.
They would make love and then after concluding the deed, would usually go sleep in their own rooms.
The exact reason for this tradition was long forgotten, but one, among many exnations, was that during arge-scale gue, it was found those households who practiced this custom had much fewer deaths.
Now, scientifically this was because the contagion had difficulty transmitting across therge distance.
But to the people of this time, who viewed life and death as gifts from the gods, they saw this as being the true way god intended for men and women to sleep.
Hence the proliferation of this practice.
Or so one said.
But whatever the reason for this was, Lady Felicia quickly made her way into her room, where the very first thing she did was rush to a nearby basin where she began to surprisingly wash her hands.
Now seeing this one might think thedy was simply just a neat frick and loved to be clean.
But the insanely aggressive way she washed, scrubbed, and wrung her hand seemed to convey something more.
It was as if she was tainted by something very dirty and was trying to get rid of them at all costs.
And to add to that scene was how menacing she looked, clenching her beautiful teeth, she could be heard muttering to herself in an inaudible tone,
"Atst! Atst, I can get out of this deadbeat marriage. That idiot ¡. how long I had been forced to y house with him."
"Stupid fool! Every time I touch him, it makes my skin crawl ¡ arghhh, disgusting" Lady Felicia even made a retching face at this point, recalling the ''unpleasant memories''.
And then as if suddenly the moon had be the sun, her menacing face turned ecstatic,
"Ah! A pasha. To think I would get to have a pasha ¡ hehehe. Finally! Finally, all my suffering is about to pay off."
"Look at my beauty! How can I belong to anything less than a pasha? The ruler of an entire province."
"As a royal princess, I deserve no less."
"From what that fool said, that pasha is very young. Hehe, this will be easy. Once he gets a taste of me, I will have wrapped up in my fingers, hehehe."
Yes!
This was the famed beauty of Thesalie''s real face, a heart as ck as her face was fair.
She never loved Lapitus.
In fact she detested hermer husband.
She had always craved power and now that there was the slightest chance to sell her body to Alexander for even the tiniest power, she was more than willing to spread her legs for him.
In fact she intended to even offer herself to it.
So Lapitus never had anything to worry about from Alexander.
Instead, he should have been worried about his own scrupulous wife.
Chapter 731 The Ten Thousand Reinforcements
Chapter 731 The Ten Thousand Reinforcements
Lady Felicia was finished packing soon and before the morning sun could reveal her whereabouts, she and her daughter had already escaped the city via a secret passage, riding on a horse rapidly that was headed towards Alexander''s camp.
The woman was surprisingly without even a single escort, being apanied only by two of her handmaidens who rode on two separate horses, them in charge of their mistress''s belongings.
Lapitus of course had insisted on giving his wife a few guards, but Lady Felicia vehemently declined them all, saying that the fewer people there were, the better.
And though in reality this was a reason, the much bigger reason was that having them would make her nned tryst with Alexander a lot harder.
Thus Lady Felicia made the short journey with just her trusted two maids, and once out of the city, it took her only a few minutes to reach the camp, her thick dark cloak fluttering in the wind as her mare galloped across the open field.
And upon approaching the camp, she would disy her seal and be quickly let in, where she would be given a temporary guest room and around mid-afternoon of that very day, even get a meeting with Alexander.
While Lapitus stayed behind in the city, carefully gathering his men and setting his pieces for the coup, while at the same time keeping his ears perked up for any information regarding the promised reinforcements.
But it would have been better for him to renege on that distant hope, for unfortunately those would not being.
And that was because Lord Theony met the iing party first!
After his leave from Thesalie, Lord Theony and his entourage soon chartered some boats from a nearby town and rowed them down the huge River Diannu, attempting to return to the capital through the sprawling waterways as soon as possible.
Lord Theony traveled on his craft following the traditions of the time, moving during the day and resting during the night.
And although he would have very much liked to have the boats be on the waterways at all times, he knew that was not possible.
The practice of resting at night had a myriad of reasons.
A primary one was the limited visibility during the dark hours, when sometimes the weather would turn ugly, such as producing thick, rolling fog, which would increase the chances of crashes, either with other vessels or simply the shore.
Then there was the simple need for the sailors to rest and sleep.
Andstly, the boats needed to be moored for the sailors to cook food and resupply.
These boats did not haverge enough kitchens to feed everyone abroad, and neither could they carry all the produce and firewood.
So Lord Theony covered half the theoretical distance a day.
As did Philips, the crown prince.
And since they were using the same waterways, it was only inevitable that the two men would cross paths.
It was around midday of one particr day that a scout Lord Theony had stationed on the bow of his boat to keep a lookout suddenly came to his chambers, letting him know that a huge floti was spotted ahead, which the nobleman knew could be really mean one thing.
"Go! Take my seal and row over to them. Say that I want to talk to the His Highness!" Lord Theony hurriedly handed him his family''s seal and soon after the two sides made contact.
"Lord Theony! It really is you!" And as the nobleman was escorted into the gship of the floti, Philips was there to personally greet him.
But the greeting was not one of jovial reunion, but of shock and surprise at the unexpected and even unpleasant meeting.
A sentiment that was quickly reinforced as Lord Theony informed the royal of thetest happenings at Thesalie and the reason he was here.
"Our forty thousand strong are scattered. Lord Ponticus is missing, likely dead. The enemy has already taken the first walls and it''s only a matter of time he takes the second!"
"The city is lost!"
"I saw no point in staying there any longer! And there is also no point in you going, Your Highness!"
Lord Theony very sinctly summarized the recent events.
And hearing so, for a few minutes, Philips wentpletely mute, even feeling dizzy.
He could not believe it.
Even after all their efforts, they were still going to lose the city?
That legendary city!
Philips had the urge to downright shout at Lord Theony for delivering his false news.
''Dammit it! From the second we decided to attack that new pasha, it''s been nothing but disaster after disaster¡'' He then cussed, feeling like Alexander was really their ck star.
And if he were to be given the chance to turn back time, he would have certainly urged his father not to go pick a fight with that man.
But since there was no such magical artifact, he had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill of regret.
And then try and think of a way to rescue the city.
But naturally, if a military veteran like Ponticus and his staff could note out with a deal with the siege, what chance did he have sitting inside his boat for a few hours?
Lord Theony had been very detailed in his recount, especially about the wall the enemy had erected and how they were using it to undermine their defenses.
And like the others, outside ofing out of the city and destroying the structures manually, Philips was unable to find another alternative.
So then he suddenly turned to Lord Theony to all of a sudden me him!
"Lord Theony, going by your ounts you did not actually see the city fall, did you? Why are you so sure of its capture? And even then why did you leave it? Wasn''t it lord father''smand that you help defend the city!"
Philips mied in a rightour tone.
''Defend the city! What defend the city! There is nothing left to defend! We lost''
Hearing the implicit threat of Philips tattling to his father, Lord Theony felt increased, and if not in the interest of maintaining decorum in front of his future boss, he would have shouted those words not only in his head but out aloud!
But instead, keeping a straight face, Lord Theony defended his actions as this, "I have taken action in defense of the city. I lead the main army against the enemy, Your Highness, remember!"
"And it was only after I deemed the city to be lost that I chose to leave."
There was a subtle but very certain tone of sarcasm to his reply, but then Lord Theony''s tone very quickly changed to a soft, logical, one,
"Your Highness, I know that you very much want the city to hold. But think about it! If the city was still in our hands, surely we would have been inundated with messenger birds asking for help!"
"But have we reached any?"
"No."
"Is it not proof enough that the city has fallen and anyone and everyone of any worth there has been killed?"
Lord Theony very pointed posed, and then in a deep, confident voice turned to Philips to pronounce,
"Your Highness I am sure Thesalie has been taken. I have been there. I have seen it. I know it."
"So there is no point in you going there."
"In fact, you going there might even mean walking into a trap!" Lord Theonystly ominously warned.
And it was this sentence that really struck Philips.
It had to be remembered that he was traveling in a huge ground with hundreds ofrge boats.
So if he were to waltz into Thesalie just like that and then find that the enemy was waiting for them on either of the banks, it would not be as simple as changing the gear to reverse and backing off.
If that happened, many, many boats would have to be abandoned, many lives would have to be sacrificed, and even then Philips might be captured before he could escape.
The crown prince was not willing to take such a huge risk.
Especially not when what Lord Theony said might very well be all true.
Because as Philips thought, he found that ording to Lord Theony''s recount, it had been four to five days since their army was defeated, and if the city still held, surely there would have been some cry for help.
And even if the messenger birds were not sent to him, even then a messenger from the capital would have been surely dispatched to let him know of the recent developments.
There was no way he would be learning of all of this like this.
But nothing like that happened.
So it was only reasonable toe to the worst possible conclusion.
*Sigh*, I understand," And so with the ''irond proof'' in his hand, Philips finally chose to ept reality, as he turned to say in a regal tone,
"Lord Theony! I still think that you should have stayed in Thesalie. Or at least have my cousin Philips with you when you left."
"I will leave it to my father to judge you for that, as well as your failure to defend the city."
"As for now, I will order the floti to turn around. We need to return to the capital as soon as possible."
"The capital will be in total chaos once they know of Thesa ¡ the city''s loss!" The crown prince seemed unable to even say the proper name, such was his disbelief.
Chapter 732 Tibias Court in Chaos
Chapter 732 Tibias Court in Chaos
When Lord Theony informed his prince of Thesalie''s demise and urged him to turn back, it was not done out of malice or as a way to in any way to deceive him.
Lord Theony genuinely believed the city was lost, and the only reason he was doing this was because he wanted to save the ten thousand men from certain destruction.
As to how he came to that conclusion, well aside from seeing everything firsthand, the main sign he used was theck of messenger birds from the city.
And ultimately, his reputation and recount managed to win Philips over, who abandoned his course and chose to return to the capital to deliver this horrific news.
Now in reality, the city had not actually fallen.
So why were there no cries for help like Lord Theony predicted?
Well that had happened mainly because Philips and the others were simply negligent in their jobs.
They had thought that since the ten thousand men were promised to them, they would be here regardless.
They saw no reason to doubt that.
Hence they did not bother telling the capital about their recent fiasco.
Furthermore, a few of the smarter ones even intentionally chose to hide it because they feared they might be abandoned if the royal court came to know about their true state.
But that had the opposite intended consequence as seen now.
The men they might have gotten got turned around and Lapitus would be left none the wiser, waiting for them for five days, when suddenly he would be provided with a golden opportunity to take advantage of the situation and off Petrino and his crowd once and for all.
While in the meantime, upon Philips and Lord Theony''s return to the capital, the news they brought naturally caused widespread panic in the court.
"What!"
"How can that be?"
"Facy!"
"Did you see it? Did you see the city get taken!"
"No! I don''t believe it!"
At first many of the nobles simply refused to believe it, some of the older and hotter heads even going as far as to use Lord Theony of lying.
While a few of thedies in the court even directly fainted.
As for Perseus himself, the king appeared visibly shriveled.
''Ah! Will my dynasty end with me? Leosydas, are you disappointed in me?''
The once brave king who had even withstood the god king Amenheraft in his full fury now appeared to be faltering.
Particrly after Leosydas''s death, Perseus suddenly found himself very listless andcking the will to do anything, which was why he was more than happy to let his son take over much of the day-to-day.
And in that vein, Perseus did not seem to respond to the news with the same energy and gusto as he once might have.
He did not question Lord Theony''s rhetoric, for he did not think the man would be foolish enough to lie.
Nor did he believe he would be negligent enough to be misinformed about such an important thing.
But instead he felt like being a dream-like stupor, as if the loss of Thesalie was all an illusion, and instead of panic, Perseus surprisingly felt hollow in his heart.
As if the gravity of the whole thing was yet to dawn on him.
While the king was in a dazed state of delirium, the rest of the court was in total chaos.
Shouts, curses, and surprisingly even a few fistfights broke out at one point, as small instances of infighting urred between a handful of agitated nobles.
These mostly included men who had gone red-eyed at the loss of the city and attempted to rush at Lord Theony to smack him for lying, while others tried to stop them, resulting in the scuffling.
Thus soon the floors of the court that day were graced with men rolling over them, each trying to strangle the other.
And it took thebined effort of Mithriditus, the crown prince, and even the royal guards to forcefully end this madness.
That day was certainly a ''memorable'' one for the Tibian court, if not for all the wrong reasons.
Though fortunately there were no major injuries that day, only some reddened faces and bright stretch marks where the nobles had pressed their fingers against.
But this act did cause the crown prince Philips to blow his head, something few had ever seen the usually level-headed man do, as he shouted at the top of his lungs,
"What are you doing my lords! Have you all gone mad! The enemy is at our doorsteps and here you are squabbling among ourselves?"
"Is this how the nobility of our great nation acts?"
"Get it together! We have our arch-enemy to fight!"
Philips''s speech that day would calm the men down, though not for very long, as the court would be in a state of jittering flux for quite some while.
During that time Lord Theony and his entourage would be repeatedly grilled on their ount of how the city was lost and their part in it, even though by then they had already said it a million times over.
But still they would be questioned in court, in informal gatherings and even among friends, each time being asked to describe in every tiny detail about everything that happened there and the things they saw, as the people tried to find any faults in their duties.
At the same time the nobles would try to use their own connections to try and verify the news, sending messengers out to see the city for themselves.
Andstly, under Mithriditus, the ten thousand men (10,000) originally recruited as reinforcements were proposed to be augmented with another twenty thousand (20,000) consisting of newly raised levies as well as many of the nobles'' own men, who then were intended to be made to march towards Thesalie.
Their goal- either to relieve the city defenders if Thesalie still stood, retake it if conquered and if those were not possible, at least stop Alexander from invading further into their country.
But raising this army had several penalties, as Mithriditus would let the panicking court know.
"My lords, as you know, we have already exhausted a lot of our manpower when we first recruited those intial 20,000 men to reinforce Thesalie."
"We also must not forget the 20,000 we lost during our attack on Zanzan two years ago, or the ten thousand (10,000) additional men we had sent to bolster Thesalie''s garrison after that."
"We no longer have those men."
After saying this Mithriditus paused a bit, as he articted his thoughts while letting others guess what he was about to say.
And a whileter, he predictably dered,
"As many of you guessed, the reason why I''m saying this is because this new 20,000 is our limit!"
"Once we get them into the army ¡. that''s it. We will have used up all our avable young men. And there will be no more for almost the next two decades!"
"So if they is not enough to stop the enemy.... well cannot raise any more."
Mithriditus repeated thatst line, not willing to utter what an Alexandrian victory would mean for all of them.
But everyone there would easily understand the underlying tone, as many of the nobles were seen visibly shaken at the thought.
"Peac ¡ what about a peace deal?" And hence one noble could be heard squeaking this idea, which quickly gained quite a bit of traction.
Even a high-ranking noble like Lord Theony expressed his interest.
After all, given their current predicament, a peace treaty, even a humiliating one would be likely better than what was possibly in store.
For if Alexander chose to annex their country, all of them would be disced and theirnds be divided up among the Adhanians.
That would be the end of them.
But although a peace treaty sounded very lucrative to them, Philips, the crown prince only gave a hollow chuckle hearing so, saying,
"Hehe, even if we want peace, why are we so sure that Zanzan will ept it? Once they have taken Thesalie, they will surely push south, taking all the defenselessnd. That is what any army with the slightest brain will do."
"So, I ask you, my lords, how much are you willing to sacrifice to get that peace? How many are you willing to sacrifice to get that peace? Because even if we do get peace, I can tell you one thing, it will certainly not be cheap!"
Here Philips was of course telling the nobles that if they wanted to cate Alexander, they would likely have to give uprge swatches of their northern territory, which of course would mean many nobles losing their peerage.
After all, andless noble was like a wingless bird- dead meat.
"........" And at this, he was met by mostly a wall of silence.
None answered.
But in that same vein, none protested.
It seemed many were willing to make that trade.
They were just not shameless enough to say it out aloud and through their once fellow peers under the bus so openly.
But seeing this, the crown prince knew which direction the winds were blowing.
So he ended by saying this, "Okay, we will send envoys to Zanzna. Let''s see what happens next."
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Chapter 733 Meeting Lady Falicia (Part-1)
Chapter 733 Meeting Lady Falicia (Part-1)
Alexander was informed about Lady Felicia''s arrival as he had just finished having breakfast.
''Well that was fast,'' And upon receiving it, the very initial thought was this.
He only had the talks with Lapitus justst night, not even twelve hours from now.
So although Lapitus had promised he would send his family as soon as possible, the speed appeared certainly very impressive to Alexander.
And this to him seemed to say that Lapitus was ready tounch his attack at any time, hence the urgency.
Alexander asked the herald to help make thedy asfortable as possible in her new dwelling while he spent the morning in meetings with his generals, informing them of the defector''s visit and the subsequent changes to the n.
And it was only mid-afternoon that he invited thedy toe to his tent for lunch.
"Greetings, esteemed Lord of Zanzan, conqueror of Thesalie. We are humbled to be in your presence."
As Lady Felicia entered, she gave a very grand bow, along with some heavily embellished flowery words.
"We thank you for letting us dine with you, my lord,"
And immediately following that, a little girl that was next to her pronounced so, her pure, immature voice sounding like the sweet chirping of a flirting canary, who too bowed imitating Lady Felicia.
"Ah! Wee, mydies," Hearing the greeting, Alexander turned his focus to the two, inviting them in with a smile, as he scanned the pair at the same time.
He found the mature woman to have a very beautiful face, causing him to agree with Lapitus''s statement about his wife''s beauty.
And to entuate that beauty, she was garbed in an equally exquisite jet ck half-sleeved gown, heavily gilded with fine intricate stickwork andced with numerous strings of small stone and pearls along her bountiful curves, all of which glowed under the perforating sunlight, lighting up the dress and causing it to sparkle.
Her neck and ears hadvish jeweled gold ornaments, while her arms possessed patterned gold and silver bangles.
The leather shoes she wore had a floral pattern on them, decorated with a yellow topaz and there was a hint of sweet lc emanating from her body.
While the girl next to her was almost equally immactely dressed and dolled up, wearing very expensive dresses, jewelry, and makeup of her own, her gorgeously fashioned head reaching up to her counterpart''s hips, the fresh innocent face appearing to be around eight or nine years old.
Looking at the duo, Alexander was actually more surprised to see them dressed so ornately under the current circumstances rather than their actual beauty.
Especially Lady Felicia, Alexander thought that judging by her choice of garments as well as the countenance on her face, it did not at all seem like she had just escaped from her home in fear for her life while leaving her husband behind.
Instead, her bodynguage appeared to convey the feeling of as if she was attending avish party or a family get-together.
To Alexander it appeared that thisdy was not that much concerned about her current circumstances and instead seemed much more interested in maintaining her image and presenting herself at the peak of her beauty.
This caused Alexander to judge her to be very materialistic, likely always wanting to enjoy all the good things in life.
Which then drifted his mind to subconsciously ask, ''How the hell did Lapitus manage to afford all of this for her?''
Because just the dress the two of them wore should have cost Lapitus his yearly sry or even more, forget about the extravagant ornaments and essories.
And Alexander would know a bit about such expenses, as after his house burnt down, he had to buy all his girls as well as the twins, and Lady Nanazin and her daughters quite a few such expensive dresses in order topensate them for the things they lost in the fire so that they could keep up appearances.
To him those bills, which were nothing.
But he doubted Lapitus had such deep pockets.
Although being the city lord''s right-hand man was no insignificant post, and the pay was no doubt well enough to match that title, but even still, Alexander doubted it was ''that'' good.
It had to be also remembered that Lapitus was no noble and likely had no other significant sources of ie, like fromnds he owned.
Meaning his earned ie was all he could have to spend.
And earned ie can only get you so far.
So Alexander judged that to afford his wife''s expensive lifestyle, either Lapitus would have had to borrow from others, be a crook and steal from the military, or be heavily favored by his father-inw, who certainly had the capital to give his daughter all this.
And Alexander wondered which of these were.
And it was all these things that were running across his mind as he invited the duo to a small dining table that had been ced there specifically for them, beneath arge tent p that let in much of the bright afternoon summer sun and illuminated the entire room with a decadent golden hue.
"Mydy, please have a seat. I hope you had no troubleing here.And I apologize for the bare amodations. Sadly we are unable to provide you with better, haha,"
Alexander gregariously posed as they were being seated, while some of his staff worked hastily to serve the food onto the table.
"My lord is too humble. We are honored to be just in your presence. And our amodations have been nothing but of the utmost luxury. We dare notin about the slightest of imbroglio."
At Alexander''s niceties, Lady Felicia too gave some flowery replies, while her hands were seen quickly grabbing the expensive food being presented to her.
Because Alexander knew he would be entertaining guests, he had asked the kitchen to be a bitvish in their menu, and they did not disappoint.
There were huge loaves of freshly baked white bread, honey-roasted chicken, barbequed beef, salted mutton, cured trouts, salmons, butter-fired vegetables, and various aged wines which made up the mains.
This was a rare treat for Lady Felicia despite her husband''s rtively high position, as she only got to feast sovishly perhaps only once or twice a year when her father heldrge parties.
''To think he can get such food in a warzone! I was not wrong! I must have him!'' And as Lady Felicia used her pearly whites to break down the foods, instead of relishing in the vors, her mind was much more preupied withing up with schemes on how go get into Alexander''s bed.
As for feeling even the slightest amount of guilt for her husband over this nned infidelity, well that was long thrown out of the window.
For perhaps it never existed.
For she justified her actions by only saying this,
''This is the least I deserve. This is my birthright. I''m a princess!''
For thedy, being born of a father who belonged to the royal family, she had always thought she would be married to someone of simr status, i.e.- a high-ranking noble or even one of her step-cousins who would be a prince.
But when her father decided to marry her to someone like Lapitus, someone who was not even a noble, the amount of rage and frustration she had felt then was enough to burn a thousand cities.
So now that there was such a juicy target in front of her, there was no way Lady Felicia was going to let any morality or consciousness tie her back.
As Lady Felicia was swimming in her thoughts, Alexander here was in the midst of making some polite conversation.
As they had their meal, Alexander brought up many misceneous questions which he used to get to know Lady Felicia and her husband better, and in that midst, he atst moved to questions about the mistress he was supposed to take in.
So he posed this,
"Mydy, I was wondering where is your daughter? I was hoping to meet her since I promised Sir Lapitus I would take her as my mistress. Is she not feeling well after her journey? Should I send a doctor?"
Alexander was informed by his messenger that thedy of the house hade here apanied by two teenage girls and a child.
And Alexander presumed one of those girls to be the daughter he would take.
But instead of answering his question, Lady Felicia only let out a small gasp of "Ah!" as if she had forgotten something important and then quickly turning to the girl next to her instantly asked,
"Fabiyana! Go introduce yourself! Quick!"
And hearing her mother''s sudden order, the little girl whose tiny mouth was still full of bread and meat initially only turned to face her with a nk look.
It was too abrupt for her to instantly follow it.
But the clever girl quickly woke up to what was being asked of her, so she swallowed therge portions down as fast as she could, before lightly bowing to Alexander and saying in that same cute, immature voice,
"Lord Husband, it is an honor to be in your grace. My name is Fabiyana!"
''I''m not a lolicon!!!!'' Alexander maddeningly howled this in his mind.
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Chapter 734 Alexander and Fabiyana
Chapter 734 Alexander and Fabiyana
"Lord Husband, it is an honor to be in your grace. My name is Fabiyana!"
The moment Alexander heard these sweet words like they were the chirpings of an innocentrk, he felt his jaws lose power and be ck, and even the food he was chewing threatened to spill out of his mouth.
But Alexander could care less about those things.
Instead, he had to try very hard to only swerve his head towards the origin of this sound, as his neck felt it had lusted and turned into wood.
He could not believe what he was hearing, and he really hoped up until now his senses had been ying a trick on him.
And it was with those overly optimistic thoughts that with much difficulty he finally turned his head to spot the origin of this sound.
But of course, the sight was what he had expected.
Fabiyana, as the girl introduced herself, appeared to be like a cute angel, with a fair innocent face, tiny hands and feet, small pearly baby teeth, and a small stature.
She was looking with an angelic smile, though her limpid green eyes seemed to be a bit wary of him, and she looked at him with both intense curiosity as well as measured caution, like she was afraid of his unknown man.
To Alexander, she was a child no more than eight or nine years old no matter how one looked at it.
And thus seeing his future ''concubine'', Alexander''s lips had the urge to twitch uncontrobly like he had the electrocuted by a million volts of electricity.
''This was not what I had in mind,'' He shouted in his mind, and it took a considerable amount of effort to not shout out this in incredtion at the revtion.
Because that would have been too rude.
But though he was able to somehow keep a calm facade on the exterior, the raging waves in his heart were difficult to calm down, as he desperately tried to make sense of the situation.
So for a while, from the viewpoint of an onlooker, Alexander seemed to be looking at his new ''bride'' with stunned silence, eyes wide and mouth agape, like he was lovestruck.
''Oh, no! Is he that kind of man?'' But misunderstanding his reaction, Lady Felicia was actually worried about Alexander''s preferences.
Not over the fact that he liked young girls.
No, that was not anything unheard of and was even socially epted at the time.
She really did not care about that from a moral point of view.
But Lady Felicia was worried that if his body preference was that kind, well, she was literally the opposite, voluptuous to the point where sometimes her curves would be spilling out.
So if Alexander were not to find her attractive, but too old and aged, well her n to climb into his bed would be very hard, if not possible.
''Dammit! Maybe I should not have bought Fabiyana! Urgh!'' The mother even regretted bringing her daughter to the meeting, though for all the wrong reasons.
"Haha, it seems Lord Alexander is quite fond of his little concubine. We are relieved. It seems husband was right in his choice, hehe,"
Externally though, Lady Felicia seemed ecstatic about Alexander''s reaction, producing arge smile and even patting her daughter on the back for a job well done
And being encouraged by her mother, the little girl too produced a simr chuckle as she appeared to be relieved.
Fabiyana had been understandably wary when she was told that she would be marrying an unknown man she had never even heard of.
But now upon seeing him, and being served such good food, the innocent mind seemed to have judged Alexander as a ''good'' man.
While for Alexander, hearing Lady Felicia''sment and seeing that sweet smile emanate from the girl, it felt like a painful arrow had pierced his heart.
And it was this pain that jolted the man out of his dazed state, as then, at the very mention of Lapitus, it somehow incensed Alexander,
''Fuck Lapitus! I will hang that bastard when I next see him!'' as he cursed him and his twelve generations for tricking him like this.
But he knew this was not the time to go off on a tirade, and so quickly calming himself, he then turned to look at the mother to pose,
"My¡mydy, how old is sh¡Lady Fabiyana? Isn''t she a little too young?"
Alexander''s words sounded a bit wooden and stiff, as his mind was still trying to wrap its head around the whole thing.
Or more specifically, it was trying to think of a way to untangle itself from the whole thing.
"Fabiyana is not a child. She is already ten years old! She is old enough to be married!"
But before the mother would answer, as if offended by the insinuation, the child girlrked these words, while at the same time holding up all her ten, nubile fingers to emphasize her point, as she looked at Alexander with a mixture of scowl for calling her a child and pride at being an actual adult.
Something that Alexander would have found very cute and endearing if not for the given circumstances.
*Twitch*, *twitch*
So at the answer, Alexander''s lips again twitched involuntarily as he struggled to reply back.
While Lady Felicia, in support of her daughter let out a soft chuckle, saying,
"Hehe, Lord Alexander rest assured. Our Fabiyana might look to be a bit on the small side, but she already had her first bleeding two months ago. She is an adult and there will be no problem. Rest assured."
Lady Felicia seemed very confident in her daughter''s abilities.
''Bullshit!'' While Alexander only gowled hysterically in his mind at the frankly stupidment.
He knew what Lady Felicia meant by ''there will be no problem''.
But he also knew that with his size down there, there would be a problem.
Even if Alexander were not to forget about the age, there very, very definitely would be a problem if he tried to stick it in.
''Dammit! I can''t believe I forgot to ask Lapitus about his daughter''s age. My head must have been kicked by a donkey and turned to shit!''
Faced with this predicament, Alexander knew he was to me almost as much as Lapitus who ''tricked'' him into this.
Though calling thetter might be a stretch.
Because though it was notmon, it was also not umon for girls to be married just as they had their first periods.
And though the average age for menstruation to start was 12, it could start as early as eight years old.
So what Lapitus had done was really not anything scrupulous.
Such marriages weremon in this time period, and in fact, though illegal, even in Alexander''s previous life, there were records of such unions in many developing countries even in the 21st century.
It was really Alexander''s fault for not checking it.
''Dammit! Even the possibility of this happening totally skipped my mind. When the talk about marriage came up, I subconsciously equated it to an adult girl due to my previous world''s standards.''
''And then blinded by the prospect of taking the city quickly, the mind drifted there! Dammit!''
Alexander knew why he had made that mistake but that did not mean it stung any less.
But ultimately it was partly his own fault that this had happened.
And upon hearing the confirmation that Fabiyana could indeed marry Alexander ''legally'' as per the customs of the time, Alexander knew it would be hard to back out of it carelessly.
He had given his word and a nobleman''s word and reputation was good as gold.
Renegaing on a promise would be too damaging and Alexander would not do it unless absolutely forced.
And he certainly would not put his entire realm at risk for his own values and moral standards.
So he did not immediately attempt to challenge the deal.
Also, now was not the time or ce given Lapitus had not yet given him the city.
So Alexander simply decided to wait for now, given he had plenty of time to figure things out once Thesalie was under him.
Then he could either renegotiate a new deal or if Lapitus really did not want to do it, who said Alexander would have to consummate with the girl right now?
If the other side was really adamant, Alexander made up his mind to simply wait till Fabiyana reached eighteen before taking her to bed.
And fortunately Lady Felicia seemed to be of the same mind as Alexander on that point, as upon praising her daughter''s virtues, she breezily added,
"Of course, if my lord thinks Fabiyana might need a few more years, we can wait. I understand she has matured a bit quicker than regr girls, so perhaps it would be safer to have a child a couple of yearster."
Lady Felicia appeared very sincere.
And on the surface, it appeared as if thedy was simply worried about her daughter.
Whereas in reality, she was more worried that if her daughter took Alexander''s side in bed, there might be none left for over.
But unaware of such schemes, to Alexander this sounded like the gospel from the gods, as he immediately let out arge grin,
"Yes, yes. It will indeed be prudent to wait. Yes indeed."
Such was his relief that in a very uncharacteristic manner, he was even seen bobbing his head like a chicken.
And thus Alexander managed to dodge thatndmine.
Chapter 735 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-2)
Alexander was very happy at the surprising ease with which he managed to navigate around this mistake, something that was frankly his.
He was especially d at the fact that it was Lady Felicia herself who bought up the idea, as it saved Alexander all the trouble and further any misunderstanding.
For if he had been the one to ask it himself, the other party might have misinterpreted the request as Alexander not liking Fabiyana and thus the excuse.
Whereas now, with Lady Felicia''s blessing, Alexander could push this ''few years'' agreement as far as he liked.
After all eight to ten years was still technically ''few years''.
''In the meantime, she can be an elder sister for Alexandria and the others,''Alexander then off-handedly thought about what the girl could do during this time.
While Alexander and Lady Felicia discussed these details, the one who was at the center of all this, Fabiyana, did not seem such concerned.
In fact, given her age, Fabiyana did not even much understand what her mother and this strange man were talking about.
And frankly, she did not seem to care either, as currently she was much more interested in the food being presented to her.
Because finally the most fun of the feast had begun- the desserts.
These included a plum pudding, a type of fruit custard made with peaches, grapes, and sliced mangoes, andstly ice creams vored with lemon or watermelon juices, thest one being something that both the mother and daughter found especially delectable.
This was their first time eating food made of white sugar, and the sweetness was unlike anything they had ever tasted before.
''Compared to this, honey tastes bitter,'' Lady Felicia even exaggeratedly thought, as the cool, refreshing dessert proved much of her liking, especially given the sweltering weather, and therge spoonfuls she took were a testament to how much she enjoyed it.
"My lord, this has been truly a feast fit for the king. Praise the gods."
"Yes! Praise the gods."
And as the luncheon finally came to an end, it was like this that the pair expressed their gratitude, with the little girl even sping her tiny hands together in prayer, her voice though immature, very sincere.
Following this, the tables were cleaned, while Alexander made some small talk with the two women until finally he decided to end the gathering.
But not before Lady Felicia made a future appointment,
"Lord Pasha, I have something to tell you about my husband and the city. Things I would rather not say aloud. Would it be possible for me to visit you tonight?"
Lady Felicia was very hushed in her statement, so much as that it was as if she was afraid even the walls of the tent might tattle on her.
And this sudden request made Alexander intrigued.
What was it that could not be said out loud here?
And if it was so important, why did she not say it all this time?
"Mydy, you can rest assured whatever you say will never leave here if I do not want to," He confidently imed, both to reassure thedy and because he wanted to know the information immediately since he did not know how important it might be.
But Lady Felicia of course would not divulge it here.
She needed toe here at night if she wanted to get what she desired.
"*Yawn*" Hence putting on a fake yawn, the maturedy pronounced in anguid voice, "I''m sorry my lord. I seem to be feeling a bit tired. It must be because I did not get enough sleep yesterday."
"Oh! If I had known I would be so tired, I would have made time for it during the meal." She sounded rueful.
While her daughter, who was standing next to her appeared to be genuinely sleepy, as seen by how she was dozing off and had difficulty even standing straight.
It seemed that after the heavy meal, her tiny body could not wait for a much-needed shut-eye.
Seeing this, Alexander knew he had no chance of keeping them here.
So with a reluctant nod, he agreed, "Then mydy, I shall humbly invite you to share dinner with me tonight. Please kindly attend it."
If possible, Alexander would have personally preferred not to see the married woman at night, due to the bad connotations this action had.
He did not want any sort of gossip circting around the camp regarding him.
But since circumstances had developed to this point and he was really curious about what Lady Felicia had to say about her husband and his prized city, he decided to make an exception.
"Thank you, my lord. I believe you will not be disappointed," At Alexander relenting, Lady Felicia was naturally ted, but her tone did not betray her real expectation, as she appeared happy but collected..
Though herst phrase did have a very clear double meaning, but Alexander was far too distracted with what she had to say to even consider that.
Hence without much taking much else to heart, Alexander bid the pair goodbye for the time, parting with them after giving a kiss on both of their right hand as per Tibias''s custom, something which seemed to make the little girl very happy as she broke off into pearly giggles.
The girl liked being treated as an adult.
Following their departure, Alexander himself decided to get a short nap, waking up a couple of hourster after which he took a walk around the camp.
While both Lady Felicia and her daughter upon their return to the luxurious tent, true to their words both took a long nap, the exhaustion of the night catching up to them, as they only woke up four to five hourster, feeling very refreshed.
Lady Felicia then quickly asked her maid to prepare a bath for her and being careful not to bete, thedy was present inside Alexander''s tent before the designated time.
This time however, Lady Felicia was not actually dressed asvishly, wearing just a simple gown with very few embroidery, the only notable aspect of the dress being that it was made of expensive fine linen.
She also wore very light jewelry, only a pair of ordinary earrings and bangles, her neck bare save a small, nondescript gold chain with a locket attached at the end.
Her hair was tied into a bun by two very ordinary-looking silver pins and Alexander could only detect a very mild touch of sweet fragranceing off her.
Andstly, to cover herself up, the woman had put on a fine navy blue overcoat, which was needed to fight of the cold, as given the approaching fall season, the nights tended to be a bit chilly, especially given the heights they were at.
All this made thedy appear very modest, so much so that if thedy Alexander met at noon was to be described as the extreme example of unrestrained and shy, well this time, he could only describe her as chaste and demure.
The difference was much so that in fact looking at her, Alexander even began to doubt his initial assessment of Lady Felicia, which he described as being materialistic.
While the real reason why Lady Felicia dressed like this was because she knew it was easier to bed men using such simple looks
Which might seen as counterintuitive, but in her experience, thedy had found that being too shy made one appear too haughty and most men of this time did not prefer such a woman.
Thus Lady Felicia had very calctingly shown off her physical beauty at noon and now proceeded to work her mature charms on Alexander.
And it was with those thoughts that she proceeded to begin the conversation, where she intended to steer it towards her real goal of entering the camp.
Alexander would have never needed to worry about calling her to bed, she would call him.
"I''m sorry I could not bring Fabiyana, my lord. She is feeling a bit under the weather and I also did not think it would be appropriate for her to hear what I have to say," As the man and woman sat under candlelight, after the obligatory pleasantries, Lady Felicia began like this.
"Oh?" Taking a small bite of the bread, Alexander could not help but pronounce so.
His eyes appeared very curious as to what could be so secretive.
"Yes." And seeing this sign, Lady Felicia nodded her head heavily, before appearing a bit hesitant, as if she was she was havingst-minute thoughts on whether she should reveal it or not.
Until after a few seconds of deliberation, finally she clenched her teeth and revealed in a low, murmuring whisper,
"You see my lord¡ my husband ¡Lapitus was not being exactly truthful to you when he came to youpromising the city."
"He is not going to start the rebel!"
"He is actually waiting for about 10,000 mening from the capital to bolster the city as we speak."
"I do not know exactly when they wille, they are supposed to be here in a week through the river."
"If they manage toe in time, my husb¡ no ¡Lapitus will not open the gates for you."
"He will instead lead them in defense of the city!"
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Chapter 736 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-3)
Hearing what Lady Felicia just said, Alexander was shocked to say the least.
His eyes could be seen dting and almost in a repeat of his reaction to finding out about Fabiyana, he momentarily stopped chewing his food.
"What?" He felt he must have missed something as he muttered.
To him, all this did not make any sense.
Why go through all that trouble?
"Indeed I''m afraid so," But Lady Felicia worked to ensure that he did not hear it wrong as she clearly revealed in a hushed, bitter tone,
"I was told that if the city gates are not opened within ten days, it will mean the 10,000 men Lord Ponticus requested from the capital has arrived and Lapitus has no intention to surrender."
"He would then start to organize the defenses of the city or escape depending on the circumstances, while I would leave the camp with the excuse of wanting to visit my husband and rejoin him."
"But if for some reason the 10,000 does note, after knowing of our defeat or something as such, well then Lapitus will indeedunch the rebellion and open the city for you my lord."
"Afterwards he will act like nothing had ever happened."
"This is why I was told toe here. So that no matter what happens, his family will be safe."
"This way he intends to have feet on both boats, my lord!"
Lady Felicia''s voice was sharp and pitched, her face very pitiful, like she was a helpless pawn under her cruel husband.
But contrary to her intive countenance, her misty eyes still remained sharp, keenly observing Alexander''s face as it slowly transformed to be ugly.
The man obviously did not like being yed like this.
No one would.
And it was something she was very pleased to see, for Lady Felicia very much wanted to pit the two men against one another, and if possible have Alexander kill the other.
While Alexander''s mind was much more upied with the message than the messenger.
On the surface of it, he found everything he was told not possible to outright deny.
For although he had no proof Lapitus would do so, there was also nothing to indicate Lapitus he would not.
In fact as Alexander thought about it, the bnce of scale in his heart began to drift towards what Lady Felicia said.
One reason was of course due to Lapitus''s own wife providing testimony against him, which Alexander could not just brush away.
Another reason was that thinking back on Lapitus''s original request, his original asking for three weeks did seem awfully long.
Back then Alexander did not think much of it, only chalking it up as Lapitus just haggling, shooting for the moon, and then negotiating to a more reasonable time frame.
But if this was what Lapitus was aiming for, it made far more sense.
Of course being the naturally cautious man he was Alexander did not immediately swallow Lady Felicia''s information and take it as gospel.
He instead ruminated,
''Hmmm, she said she was instructed\ to leave the camp in ten days. Meaning if the reinforcementse, they will within ten days.''
''Looks like I will have to send my scouts around the river and keep an eye out. 10,000 men entering the city on boats will not be hard to spot.''
As Alexander internally decided this, he turned to thedy opposite of this and posed the obvious question,
"Why reveal to me this? Isn''t Lapitus your husband?"
And hearing so Lady Felicia was actually more surprised that Alexander did not press her for more information about the 10,000 men.
That was 10,000 men you know.
This would not be an insignificant number of men anywhere.
Nevermind all of them were meant to bolster a city''s defense, a stronghold such as Thesalie.
You would think as the attackers, Alexander would be more concerned about that.
But in reality, Alexander knew those ten thousand men could not stop him from taking the second wall, just as they had not been able to stop him from taking the first one.
And once the walls were taken, there really was no way to defend the city.
So Alexander was not angry over the fact that Lapitus intended to wait for these men.
That would not matter.
In fact he could even empathize with that feeling, with a patriot wanting to fight for hisnd.
But what he was mad about was that if what Lady Felicia was true, then the man would have had tantly lied to him.
Alexander was of course not fond of liars.
But Alexander ultimately kept his emotions in check.
He knew harping on this to a woman who frankly would only know what her husband told her did not really matter.
And instead, Alexander seemed rather more interested in knowing why one''s wife was betraying her betrothed.
Because as much as Alexander disliked liking, he disliked traitors perhaps even more.
"Husband?" However at Alexander''s mention of the word, Lady Felicia suddenly curved her lip in a weak, mocking smile, like she had heard a bad joke.
"Surely Lord Pasha has noticed I have stopped calling Lapitus husband. Do you want to know why? Let me show you¡" Saying this thedy then suddenly started to unhook the simple locket she was wearing.
And once that small ornament was in her hand, she slowly opened thetch, causing a tiny puff of white powder to escape in the process, as she then pushed it towards Alexander to let him see the insides for himself.
"Look at this, my lord! This white powder is called the Lady''s Favorite. Called so because a Tibian nobledy once used it to kill six of her husbands!"
"It''s tasteless, odorless, and dissolving perfectly in water or ¡wine." The melodious pause with which Lady Felicia said this made the innuendo very clear, before finishing,
"Just mixing this much into a drink will make death all but guaranteed"
"I was told that if I got the chance, I was to use this ¡by my so-called honorable husband," Lady Felicia sneered thest two words, as she then dumped the powder onto the carpet and repeatedly stomped on it, scattering the tiny amount harmlessly into the wind.
*Sweat!*
And seeing the action, though Alexander did not show it, a fewrge beads of sweat had already formed at the back of his neck, for it suddenly felt so much chillier for him.
He could not believe there had been such a huge oversight in his security, so big in fact that someone was allowed to enter his tent with such a deadly amount of poison.
Now of course Lady Felicia could not just waltz into Alexander''s tent whenever she liked because she was a guest.
It was not that easy.
Alexander, being the conscious man he was had of course set up proper protocol to guard against such a thing.
Thus before she was allowed to enter his tent, like most others, Lady Felicia had to go through a security check.
And because Lady Felicia was a woman and Alexander''s bodyguards were men, he had even specifically asked for two female ves from the medical clinic to conduct it.
This pair had diligently patted thedy''s body any small weapons or pouches that could carry any contraband and naturally found nothing of the sort.
But they had missed that simple gold locket she was wearing for it was seen just as an essory.
And to make it even harder, Lady Felicia had cleverly hidden most of the ornament underneath her cloth, with the actual locket actually strategically ced deep into her cleavage.
There was no way two ve girls were going to insert their hands there, not if they wanted to keep their hands, if not their necks.
It was something even Alexander might not have suspected.
Which made the oversight even more damning.
Hence he made a solemn note of himself
''Darm. from next time, I will ask the guards to make all guests take off all their ornaments and essories. Even their shoes! Ugh! What a blunder!'' As Alexander rebuked himself.
But the good thing about this was that there was no real harm done.
The would-be culprit had revealed her trick a long way before implementing it and Alexander could let a breath of relief at that.
Hence, recovering himself from the small shock after a while, Alexander then posed,
"That position¡.how would you have done it? How would you have slipped it into my drink? That''s not easy to do."
Since the thief had revealed one of her tricks, Alexander intended to learn them all to better guard against them
And once again, the poordy revealed a helpless smile, "I was told to seduce you and get into bed with you my lord. Then try and slip it into your wine at an opportune point while you were distracted,"
"Or if that did not work ¡. *ruffle*," At this point, with an utterly forlorn look, suddenly the properdy pulled the upper part of her gown down, revealing herrge, bare bunnies to Alexander, "Smear it here and let you lick it off!"
If Alexander really knew how thisdy was spinning her webs around him, and ying around him, he certainly would not have had the time of mind to be distracted by the sight of the juggling melons.
Thankfully, thedy had no ns to harm Alexander¡yet!
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Chapter 737 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-4)
Alexander had already noticed it before during the afternoon even through her corset, but now that they were bare, he once again could reassure himself that the twin peaks possessed by Lady Felicia were indeed magnificent.
Milky white and voluminous, almost as big as Gelene''s, they were firm yet perky.
And Alexander found it mesmerizing to watch them jiggle ever so slightly as the bashfuldy found her breathing suddenly bing elerated, while her quiterge and protruding cherries woke up from their slumber as the cold air made them turgid.
Lady Felicia''s are and buds seemed quiterge proportionally, covering a decent portion of her nds, but that did make seem to make her beautiful breasts any less attractive.
In fact, Alexander thought it reinforced her motherly qualities.
And if Lady Felicia had indeed presented these melons along with those swollen, ripe brown cherries to him, Alexander was not certain he would have been able to stop himself fromtching onto them and rewarding himself with a nibble.
They looked too delectable.
''Man! That Lapitus deserves to be called the world''s greatest assassin for this. Who could thought he would send his wife equipped with these deadly things? They are too fantastic!''
Alexander had a hard time moving his eyes from the twin globes as he said so to himself, thinking what a brilliant way this was to be delivering poison.
It had to be known that poisoning Alexander was naturally not easy.
Just because someone managed to get some poison into Alexander''s tent did not automatically mean the job was done.
That was just the first hurdle as there still remained arguably the bigger problem of getting the target to ingest it.
Something that would have been frankly quite challenging with the security checks in ce even in normal times.
Never mind the fact that since they were at war these oversights were even tighter.
Most of the time, Alexander would be given the same food as everyone else in the army,
And though individual squads made their own food, nobles like Alexander and other high-ranking officials had arge kitchen dedicated to them to do the cooking for them.
Alexander had actually wanted everyone to be like the regr soldiers, but many nobles objected, as they did not like to do theborious work of grinding one''s own grain, chopping the vegetables, and everything else.
And Alexander even half doubted they could do it.
So he came up with thispromise
But still, the menu was the same as themon infantry, but it was just that all the bread, stew, and other items were cooked in that samerge kitchen.
And given the importance of the people who were going to eat that food, everything was overseen with the utmost oversight and handled by only the most trustworthy people.
So slipping anything was hard to say the least.
Never mind, given the huge portions of ingredients used, to poison the whole pot, one would have to pour buckets of it, or the poison would be too diluted and end up at best giving everyone bad diarrhea.
Something that was certainly unpleasant, but infinitely better than dying.
Andstly, even if one did slip something in, there was no way of knowing where this food was going and who was going to eat it.
In this kitchen, batches of food would be produced, and ced in buffet-style rows, from where the officers could take what they liked, or have their subordinates bring their portions to their tents.
So if the officer dined in the mess hall, it was quite impossible to kill him and only him.
Hence unless the goal was mass poisoning, the only realistic way to deliver any poison would be if the officer asked it to be delivered to his tent, and somehow that got intercepted along the way and then meddled with.
But of course the men carrying these foods were handed this job due to their loyalty.
So to slip anything in without the other side noticing was very challenging.
And this was how Alexander made sure his food was safe.
In that same vein, Alexander''s water was also taken from a few nearby springs, which was the entire camp''s water supply, and was collected by trusted men.
So good luck trying to poison the entire hill.
Andstly, the wine he drank was usually cheap diluted wine that was drunk by everymon soldier, and there were literally hundreds of such barrels in stock.
Even if one forgot the sentries, it would be quite impossible to predict who would drink from which barrel, and that was assuming one could find enough poison to contaminate the entire darn thing.
In this way, by sharing all the facilities with a significant number of others, Alexander had surprisingly managed to decrease the chances of his poisoning exponentially.
It made targetting just him next to impossible as if an attempt was made, the bnce of probability of him being the unlucky one in a thousand was minuscule.
And if his luck was indeed that bad that he it was somehow him that got that piece of the pie, well, then Alexander could actually go to the grave peacefully, knowing he would have probably died anyway, if not from this poison, then from perhaps something as mundane as slipping down a case of stairs and skewing one''s throat on the pointy butt of an umbre.
But if he was not that unlucky, well then someone suddenly falling ill sick could very easily give rise to the suspicion of the usage of poison, which could then alert the entire camp.
This was also why Alexander did not build any dedicated facilities for him.
Not only would maintaining such a facility during campaigns put a strain on the logistics, but also. no matter how good a system Alexander devised, it had to be known that they would be always supervised by humans.
And humans were fallible.
They would either be coerced into betraying Alexander, by things such as greed or even kidnapping family members.
Or they would be unwittingly tricked into making a mistake.
So instead of relying on a handful of humans, Alexander found this open method much better.
Now, there was one other thing that Alexander had that was not part of themon items- expensive wines.
He would sometimes drink this, either to calm his nerves or to entertain guests such as when other nobles woulde to him regarding various war-rted matters.
These were treated with extreme care, as each of them had their tops sealed with paper.
So if anyone were to open them and pour something in, they would have to break the seal.
Something that would be very easy to spot.
And as the piece de resistance, to make it that bit harder for any would-be assassin, Alexander had eight men stationed outside his tent, guarding all four sides of it, while inside, the premises would never be left empty,
If Alexander was not there, then Hemicus or his adjutant Quinnolin, or someone else would be, guarding all the open wine bottles, leftover food, and the other misceneous things, as well as the many secret documents and ns in Alexander''s possession.
So due to all this, there was no way someone would just sneak in and slip anything in.
And with all these checks and obstacles in ce, Alexander was internally very confident that he had managed to close any avenue of assassination for him.
Until Lady Felicia revealed her method.
And hearing that it was Lapitus''s idea, in a weird way, Alexander even praised the man who supposedly tried to murder him, somewhat admiring his dedication to the defense of his city in that he was even willing to sell his wife''s body, as well as put her and her daughter''s life at risk to simply target him.
If it had seeded, though it would not mean the instant destruction of Zanzan as he had a clear sessor, but it certainly meant the potential of thends would be almost cut at the roots.
Without him, Cambyses alone would find it hard to gain legitimacy, as she neither had the strong support of the military nor did she have any staunch allies.
And all alone in this foreignnd with two infant children, even Alexander''s once allies might pressure the girl into concessions.
That could mean either giving up more of their secrets or even forcing her to marry a local noble.
All of which would likely mean Zanzan would be too weak to pose any threat to Tibias.
From that point of view, Alexander thought that Lapitus''s intention to kill him certainly made sense.
A thought Lady Felicia was more than happy to nurture and grow in Alexander as she further added with clenched, gnashing teeth,
"Not only did he ask me to do such a shameful thing, he even told me that if I was unable to, I should powder Fabiyana''s face with the poison."
"That way if my lord kissed her on the cheek, you would unknowingly be poisoned."
"And he said even though he knew how harmful that was."
"If it touched the soft skin of a child like Fabiyana''s for too long, her face would surely be scarred."
"The bastard actually wanted to sacrifice his own wife and daughter just for this!"
"What a monster!"
Lady Felicia by this point appeared to be choking, like she was a defenselessmb under the cruel woldish ws of her husband.
And seeing this, Alexander actually found empathizing with her.
.
Chapter 738 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-5)
Chapter 738 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-5)
The way Lady Felicia presented her case, with truths and lies so seamlessly woven together that it made it very hard for Alexander to discern which of the things she said were truths and which were lies, although most of the things were thetter.
Lady Felicia had cleverly positioned herself so well that it was she who held all the cards and Alexander being an outsider had little way of verifying most of the things.
The only thing that was easily verifiable were the 10,000 reinforcements and she would be very happy to let Alexander do that.
And even if Alexander could not verify that, even if the 10,000 men did note, Lady Felicia had already covered her bases for that by alluding to the fact that their arrival was not guaranteed.
While the poison and the schemes were all he said, she said.
After all, it was not like he could simply go ask if LL really wanted to poison or whether it was all a plot by Lady Felicia.
But when Alexander thought about it, LL had every reason to try and poison him, while Lady Felicia and he were strangers with little personal conflict of interest.
So as Alexander considered everything that was revealed to him and looked at it through Lady Felicia''s lens, her side of the story did seem to make more sense.
LL had sent his wife here to take sanctuary as well as try and use this opportunity to kill Alexander if the opportunity presented itself.
However, Lady Felicia understood her and her daughter''s fate if she were to do that, regardless if she seeded or not, had decided to change sides.
After all, if Alexander really died and either of the two women was found to be in his tent, suspicion would immediately fall on them.
And Hemicus, Menes, and even Cambyses would not be kind to them just because they were of the fairer sex or even a child.
So realizing this, thedy was here now, trying to seek asylum from her ''dreadful'' husband.
This was at least how Alexander pieced together the together.
Thus, although Alexander did not buy everything thedy said, he did buy pretty much all of it.
And unless LL coulde up with some massive smoking gun, it seemed he really had no way out.
"Thank you for telling me this, mydy¡.. Ummm you can pull your dress up!" As Alexander came to this conclusion, suddenly he felt he had been gawking at the still bare, beautiful, milky nds, for too long.
Lady Felicia had not yet covered them.
Hence in a slightly embarrassed tone, he quickly asked her to be decent.
"Ah!" And as if the weight of what she had revealed was so overwhelming that she had forgotten about it all, Lady Felicia at this reminder too pulled a shocked yelp and a rapidly blushed flush, before quickly attempting to tuck them in.
Though in reality, she had very intentionally kept her assets disyed while she had retold her story, a tactic that very much helped in gaining a favorable impression from Alexander.
And working in that same vein, while Lady Felicia was ''trying'' to put her bountiful breasts in, she very serendipitously gave one of them a gentle squeeze, causing a tiny jet of milk to squirt out of them, and making the fluid dye the ck table cloth a sinful white.
"Mmmnn!" And she immediately followed this up with a soul stirring moan.
"You are pregnant?" Seeing this of course made Alexander''s loins very hot, but for now, he was more worried by what it signified, as evidenced by the rm in his voice.
"Ah, no my lord, rest assured it''s nothing. It''s just that after Fabiyana, I never stopped milking, *blush*. Apologises!"
The way Lady Felicia blushed at this ''blunder'' to the point even her ears went red would have made any actor in the world blush with shame at the skill in disy, for thedy appeared as if she wanted to dig into the earth and disappear.
And it was the way Lady Felicia very craftily let this slip that made the entire thing so much more amorous.
And Alexander felt his eyes bulge even more with lust when he saw what was happening, and instead of quickly covering the entire globules and acting like nothing happened, Lady Felicia actually took the time to take a nearby napkin and carefully rubbed the leaking nipple dry, meticulously wiping off the tiny rivulets of white milk that were flowing down the smooth are.
She used one of her hands to hold the ns and keep it steady, while the other hand rubbed the cloth over her engrossed nipple and the brown colored,rge saucer like are which covered her milky titties.
Seeing this famous act, Alexander very much wanted to be that cloth.
He could see why LL was so confident in poisoning him using those.
''Ah! Those breasts ¡ Tayin and Mean had just startedctating when I came here, so I did not get a chance to taste them. But now¡ to think she''sctating for ten years! Oh I really want to have a taste,''
Alexander had recently developed such a preference and his throats felt perched, very much wanting even just one suckle.
A small, irrational part of him even wanted to do it even if it was poisonous.
That was how much beautiful the view was.
Thus Alexander stayed silent as he watched thedy clean herself up, very clearly enjoying the show.
As for Lady Felicia, it was only after she had wiped her breasts multiple times with the cloth that she ''apparently'' woke up to the fact what she had been doing, which then made her instantly lower her head in shame,
"Ummm¡. The clothes ¡ it would be stained otherwise ¡so ¡ " Lady Felicia''s voice sounded like the murmurs of a shy mosquito like she could not believe she had done such a raunchy thing in front of another man.
But this only added to her charm.
''Darmdy, are you not afraid I will take you forcefully?'' And seeing this Alexander suddenly felt his hardness trying to tear out of his pants and his body wanting to do nothing more than to jump on this defenseless woman and have his way with him, even if it was against her will.
Now, under normal circumstances, even if Alexander was shown such a beautiful sight, he would not have had those thoughts.
He might be lustful, but he was not that type of guy.
But these were not normal circumstances
Due to the war, he had been starved of physical intimacy for almost six months, whereas back home we would get to do it multiple times almost every day as the four girls worked to keep himpany.
So to say Alexander was pent up would be an understatement.
And coupled with the fact that Lady Felicia''sst deadly reveal, the leaking breasts, Alexander had to practice great restraint on his part to keep himself in check.
But finally, after what to him seemed like an eternity, Lady Felicia atst managed to make herself decent, though her face was still tinged red from the previous imbroglio, which in turn made it so much harder for Alexander to concentrate, for just looking her made the recent spring scenery again sh in front of him
And it took a huge effort for Alexander to drown those images out as clearing his throat and shifting his legs around to better amodate his still eager little brother, he seriously asked,
"So mydy, what do you think we should do with your husband regarding this? How should wetreat him if he does open the gates for us?"
There would be no reason to deliberate on what would happen to LL if he resisted.
Alexander had made that clear long before.
But if LL followed through with his words, then Alexander would have to decide on what the ''reward'' would be in light of the recent revtions.
And before he made that decision, he invited his wife to put in her two cents.
"*Shake*, that is up to you, my lord," But Lady Felicia was more than clever enough not to step into that minefield, as she solemnly shook her head.
If she asked Alexander to spare her husband and he did, that would make her goal oftching onto Alexander and sleeping with him that much harder.
And if she were to ask him to kill LL, well then she would appear heartless and poisonous.
Worse, it might even alert Alexander to her real intention.
So for now she was more than happy to let Alexander decide.
And if things did not develop as she would have liked, Lady Felicia was confident that she had the tools to try and subtly influence Alexander toward her desired oue.
''The way he looked at my breasts will those puppy eyes ¡hehehe,'' The maturedy gleefully hummed in her heart remembering Alexander''s reaction when she had shown her leaking breasts.
It was much better than she had originally intended.
Alexander''s gaze had been so scalding that Lady Felicia even had the fleeting naughty thought of inviting him toe have a suck.
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Chapter 739 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-6)
Chapter 739 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-6)
"Lord Alexander, the reason why I revealed everything to you is simply because I only want to live a quiet life with my daughter."
"I really do not care for much else."
As Lady Felicia finished Alexander''s query about the hypothetical fate of her husband, she afterward added this, before turning to face Alexander and saying in a pleading voice,
"Living with him is no longer possible for us. If he finds out I talked ¡.I ¡I will be killed! No ¡both of us!"
"That''s why I wish for you to give us asylum, my lord!"
At this point, Lady Felicia''s voice quickly turned sharp pitched, as she rapidly shook her head,
"We don''t need much!"
"I heard that you said that you were willing to give us 200 ropals a month stipend if Lapitus died."
"I just hope that you will consider giving us that and a house in your city."
"I know that this was the original agreement, but please, I''m desperate,"
Saying so the heartbrokendy quickly bowed her head in solemn pleading, her teeth clenched with determination.
And the gesture was so sincere that it made it quite impossible for Alexander to deny the request.
".... Don''t worry. Given your contributions, you will not struggle in life," Hence Alexander very seriously made that promise.
After all, taking care of just one woman and a child was of little burden to him.
"Thank you! Thank you, Lord Pasha. Your mercy is truly boundless, We will be eternally grateful to you,"
And this naturally got a torrent of profuse gratitude from the other end, as externally Lady Felicia''s face bloomed with a joyous sunflower, glowing with happiness, as she then further expressed her happiness by adding,
"When I came with Fabiyana today, my mind was so preupied with all these thoughts, that I even forgot to introduce her to you my lord." she then reminded Alexander of that faux pas that he had long forgotten, before continuing,
"But now with everything revealed¡ahhh¡ my body feels so rxed,"
Saying so the woman slouched back on her chair, a gentle, motherly smile gracing her face.
Something that Alexander found very charming, while therge breaths she took in relief slowly made his eyes wander towards those rising and falling twin peaks.
''Hehe¡'' A look that did not escape Lady Felicia as she let out a proud giggle in her heart.
However, although outwardly she appeared very happy at having secured her financials, in her heart, she sneered with the utmost disdain at the paltry sum being offered to her.
''200 ropals a month! I use almost as much in a day!'' She said to herself, knowing just how expensive her tastes were and the high standard of living she wanted to live in.
Alexander''s ''help'' would be of no help to her.
But the present steps were only baby steps, Lady Felicia nned to slowly gain more and more.
As for Alexander, having mostly dealt with Lady Felicia in his mind, he then turned to pose some targeted questions.
"So much influence does your husband have in the city? Do the nobles respect him?"
At hearing this query, Lady Felicia was naturally over the moon.
The implicit reason behind it was very explicit.
So in a t, neutral tone, Lady Felicia quickly described,
"... umm ¡he does not have that much my lord, no. At least not as much as one would think the right-hand man of a city''s lord would have."
"In practice, he was only my father''s arms and legs, just carrying out what my father said."
"And as he is not a noble, he was never able to gain the respect of any of the houses or even his noble peers."
Lady Felicia intentionally downyed Lapitus''s role in Tibias, though it was to some extent true.
Then to cover her bases, she also cleverly added,
"Of course, that is not to say he is without allies."
"He does have some influence among the lower soldiers who aremoners like him. And some even high-level officers woulde to visit our house regrly, to dine, drink and chat with him."
"So he is not totally nameless. Otherwise, the soldiers would not have chosen him to lead them."
"But they mostly follow him more out of camaraderie than loyalty."
"So if one day he wanted to proim to be their leader and started issuing orders to them that went against the authorities¡.I''m not sure they would obey."
Lady Felicia was light in her opinion, not putting emphasis on either option.
But the way she said it of course made everyone think that Lapitus was quite weak.
And so in line with that thought Alexander then posed,
"How many men does he have under him?"
If the previous inquiry was not clear enough, now it was transparent to anybody that Alexander was indeed thinking of taking the man out if given the opportunity.
Something that made her heart jump with glee.
So suppressing her urge to curve her lips into a wide grin, Lady Felicia only lightly furrowed her brows, as if ruminating, before giving her answer a whileter.
"That is hard for me to say actually. I''m not very intimate with military affairs naturally."
"However I do remember one of the officers once loudly iming that Lapitus had tens of thousands of men under him."
Saying so, Lady Felicia quickly stressed the following,
"But that was before. Now ¡ when I asked him about our losses just beforeing here, Lapitus said that he had less than a thousand men under him."
"That''s why he could not even spare an escort for us."
Lady Felicia very cleverly mixed truths with lies to give a reasonable answer.
It was indeed true that Lapitus had revealed those numbers to her, but he never wanted to let Lady Feliciae here alone.
"Hmmmm, " And hearing so Alexander hummed, thinking.
And as Alexander put on his thinking hat, sensing an opportunity, it was here that Lady Felicia decided to take a leap and show off a bit of her skills.
So with a cid smile, she mellifluously interrupted Alexander''s train of thought,
"Is my lord thinking that a man who has only one thousand men will not be hard to deal with? Especially if that group''s loyalty is questionable."
"Or that even if you were to keep Lapitus alive, with such little influence, he would be of no use to you in cating the citizens of the city?"
Alexander''s eyes widened for the third time during this meeting.
But this time it was not because he had seen but what he had heard.
Lady Felicia had almost hit it on the nail word for word.
"Haha, it seemes my lrod is surpsreid." And seeing the reaction, Lady Felicia very politely but proudlychuckled, before gently waving her dainty hands and in a humble but confident voice saying,
"You forget who my father was. As his daughter¡even if an illegitimate one, I was certainly given the proper education. They would have been useful if I were to have been wed to a noble."
By the end of this, she sounded bitter, and her eyes slightly ssed, like she was ruminating on what might have been.
And seeing so made Alexander curious.
"I seem to have neglected your own story, mydy. Would you mind sharing?" He hence politely asked.
"Haha, it is not much, " And Lady Felicia started with a self-deprecating smile, before revealing,
"My mother was amon tavern dancer. When I was young, she used to say to me that one day my father saw her performing and instantly fell in love with her beauty. And that was how I was born."
"Wherein in reality, he had simply gotten drunk during a party where my mother was hired to perform and ¡. Took her," Lady Felicia avoided using that other word, as she continued,
"At first, I lived with my mother in our home. But then suddenly one day, when I was six, some men came to your house. They simply broke through the door and snatched me away!"
"Away from my crying mother!"
"I was not told why they did it. Only that I should be good and do as I''m told or my mother would be hurt."
"So I obediently stayed in the tiny room given to me in that dreadful mansion and tried my best to learn everything being taught to me."
" I learned to read and write, paint and recite poetry, dance, and make small talk."
"I learned about history, about the various noble houses about noble etiquette, and even horse riding."
"Other than thest one, it was all very boring."
"But I sill put up with it¡ for my mother."
And my only sce during those days was the visit I would get from her once every week¡just for an hour."
"While my father ¡umm ¡well he was not uncaring, he did care. For example, he would bring me very expensive gifts almost every month."
"But the thing was he never seemed to be home. He was almost always away fighting some distant wars or putting down rebellions."
At this point of her recount, Lady Felicia sounded more apathetic towards her father than resentful
And then after a pause her tone of a sudden turned very, very bitter, "But one day all of that came crashing down!"
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=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 740 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-7)
Chapter 740 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-7)
"I spent the next six years of my life in that mansion, obeying everything that was expected of me."
"But then one day, all of that suddenly came crashing down!"
"Suddenly one day I woke up to find that all my lessons disappeared, all my teachers were dismissed, and everything that was expected of me no longer mattered."
"I was left all alone! Like I once wished I was."
As Lady Felicia said this, her voice sounded hollow and empty.
It was apparent that though she was initially reluctant, somewhere along those long six years, she had grown ustomed to her routine.
In fact, after her initial shock of being taken to this unknown ce wore off,Lady Felicia quickly grew to love the cushy life afforded to her.
No longer did she have to eat the hard, almost rock like ck bread that was mixed with inedible substances like sawdust.
Now she could eat pure white bread, a loaf of which would have cost her mother her entire day''s wage.
No longer did she have to wait for the next year''s fall harvest or new year to eat one thin slice of meat.
Now she could eat it three times a day, every day.
No longer did she have to wait one month to eat one single egg, now eggs were served almost with every meal.
And this same standard applied to everything, from her dresses to jewelry to her amodations.
Everything she was given to eat, wear and live in was the best in the world.
Hence, though not particrly loved by the mansion, Lady Felicia certainly loved the mansion.
So when all that was suddenly taken away from her, the fear and helplessness she felt was like being sucked into an abyss.
Lady Felicia would never forget the way her heart had hurt that day.
And even she found it incredible just how fearful she was of being kicked out of there and being made to live with her mother.
Just a couple of years ago that was her dream.
Oh, how money and materials could change hearts!
But what was the reason why was this stopped?
Or why was she even given such luxury in the first ce?
Sensing Alexander''s curious gaze regarding these exact queries, after a short pause, Lady Felicia in anguid, dismissive tone replied,
"I would never be told why that happened by anyone."
"But over the years I have been able to piece it together myself."
"It seemed that once I was chosen by my father to marry a nobleman ¡as a way for him to ally with the man."
"That''s why I was taken from my mother."
"But before I could be properly groomed, he died of an illness. So the deal fell through."
"And I, who had now lost its value was left to the wayside, and ¡..*sigh*," Giving off a long, sad sigh, Lady Felicia in a cid, disinterested tone finished,"Well after two years of working in the mansion as a maid, I was married to Lapitus."
"..." Lady Felicia''s story was not anything unique, in fact, such instances could be found a dime a dozen in most ces and so hearing it, Alexander''s heart did not have many waves.
Instead, he calcted that at the time of her marriage, Lady Felicia should be around 14 to 15 years old, which was very normal for the time, and which would make her 25 or 26 now, provided that what she said about her daughter being 10 was correct.
"Why did your father choose Lapitus?" And then Alexander turned his attention to the man, wanting to know more about him and what was so special about him that Lord Ponticus betrothed his daughter to him.
On the query, Lady Felicia was very frank, revealing,
"He saved my father''s life during a battle ¡took a spear to the stomach. And when he was given the choice of a reward for his bravery, he asked for my hand."
"And my father was very d to let go of a freeloader like me." Up to this point, Lady Felicia''s tone was very mechanical, like a very poor recitation of drab poetry, like the life she was retelling was not of her, but of an unknown stranger.
She did not at all appear bitter or sad at her fate being controlled like this.
Up until that point that was.
For then her tone suddenly turned mncholic and rueful.
"At this, I was very happy initially. Lapitus and I knew each other from almost the first day. He was the son of the mansion''s steward and took care of the horses. We would regrly meet during my equestrian lessons."
"So I thought that I atst could some love that was ever so absent in my life ¡hahaha," Lady Felicia let out a very convincing hollow, self depriciating chuckle as if she wasughing at herself for having those naive thoughts.
Then shaking her head, with a mournful breath she imed, "In truth, he only ever wanted me for my beauy. My life with him¡ *sigh*..."
Lady Felicia made it seem like she was reluctant to discuss the couple''s very personal problems with an outsider, only finishing by saying, "The only good thing that came out of it was my Fabiyana."
Saying so Lady Felicia''s eyes appeared ssed and teary.
"....." And as she finished the heavily embellished retelling of her life, Alexander did not know exactly how tofort her.
Saying things like, ''You will be safe with me from now'' or something along that line sounded overly familiar and would give the wrong impression.
So Alexander tried to veer the conversation by asking, "Your father ¡.do you not like him? For what he did?"
And this was actually a trap question.
Because in this time and age, it was the norm for fathers to choose the man for their daughters.
No decent girl would ever put the me for their family troubles on their father''s choice of partners.
So by asking this, Alexander wanted to see Lady Felicia''s character.
But being the shrewd woman she was, of course, Lady Felicia could see this ''childish'' attempt from a mile away.
So putting on a facade of finality, she heavily shook her head,
"No, never! How could I? Although he was not perfect, he always tried his best to make it up to me and my mother."
"He tried to make time for me and always gave me the best clothes, the best food, and the best teachers."
"Even most of the dresses and jewelry I wear now were gifted to me by him."
Lady Felicia''s answer seemed to resolve one of the great mysteries in Alexander''s heart, while the woman Lady Felicia continued,
"And he was generous even towards my mother. He once contemted taking her as his official mistress."
"But in the meantime, my mother seemed to have fallen in love with a traveling merchant.
"And when he found out, not only did he punish her, he even allowed her to follow the man to his city! He even gave them some money as a wedding gift!"
"As for my marriage with Lapitus, well it was done with the best of intentions. My father, like me, thought he was a man of straight morals."
"But who knew he would be such a wolf in sheep''s clothing!"
Lady Felicia shook her head in mncholy for the umpteenth time, drawing quite a bit of sympathy from Alexander.
Of course, it had to be said that most of all what she said were lies.
The only truth here was how she and Lapitus got married.
Other than that everything was fabricated to suit her narrative.
Lapitus was no abusive husband, in fact, he was caring to almost a fault.
Her father Lord Ponticus rarely looked at her, never mind living and caring for her.
Her mother did not leave the city with his lover.
In fact, it was Lady Felicia who forced her to leave by handing her a bag of money and saying these biting words, ''It would be too shameful for a nobleman''s wife to have a whore for a mother. Please disappear and never contact me again, Do not ruin your daughter''s life again."
It would be hard to imagine just how poisonous those words would have sounded to a mother.
And after all the pain and struggle she had endured for her.
But thinking about her daughter''s future, Lady Felicia''s mother did exactly so.
With a broken heart and weeping eyes, she left the city she had lived her whole life in, leaving everyone she knew and all the connections behind.
Just for her beloved daughter.
And since her daughter had asked, the two had no contact with each other for the previous ten years,
Lady Felicia did not know where she was or even if she was alive.
As for all of her expensive dresses, well she had gotten those using very dubious means.
But she everything had said to Alexander, she said it in such a way that would be very hard to verify.
After all, regardless of whether Lapitus opened the gates or Alexander''s men stormed them, the fate of everyone in the mansion would be the same.
They would not be alive to counter Lady Felicia''s ims.
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=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 741 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-End)
Chapter 741 Meeting Lady Felicia (Part-End)
At Lady Felicia''s retelling of her events, Alexander gave a sympathetic nod.
To him it seemed that her life had gone through quite a bit of ups and downs.
And the things he learned from her, especially about Lapitus, seemed particrly eye-opening.
When he first met the guy he did not seem like that type of person.
Alexander in fact would have described him as honest and a straight arrow.
But of course, he had met the man for only two to three hours.
Hardly enough time to form a concrete impression.
Thus he was inclined to put far more emphasis on Lady Felicia''s recount, who had spent far more time with the man, assuming her to be a far more reliable source.
And the thought that the woman would be out to screw her husband over never even crossed Alexander''s mind.
Because he could not see the point.
"Did your father have any other children like you?" As the meeting was drawing near its end, Alexander posed this onest question.
And hearing this caused a chilly sh to ignite for the briefest second deep in Lady Felicia''s eyes.
''So you are looking for one of his sons to put as a puppet,'' Lady Felicia instantly grasped the reason behind this seemingly innocuous query.
She would never let that happen.
Lord Ponticus did have three other illegitimate children, but given the proud man he was he never brought them into the sunlight.
Only Lady Felicia was ever favored due to her unique circumstances, while all the others were quietly forgotten.
In fact, the one in Lord Ponticus''s family who had aplete list of all of them was actually Lady Felicia, as being their eldest sister, she had sought them out and at times even gave them more mary assistance.
Lady Felicia would be a fool to reveal their whereabouts so with a firm shake of the head, she dashed all of Alexander''s hopes,
"I''m afraid I do not know. I was so sheltered that even if there were, I never met them. In fact, I rarely met my legitimate brothers and sister."
Then putting one of her long, fair fingers on her chin, her eyes seemed to glow as if she remembered something as she revealed, "However once did hear rumors about a cksmith and tanner being rted to my father."
"But those kinds of talks are everywhere."
"After all, for anyone out in the streets, just iming to be rted to the city lord is enough to bring mountains of favors from all around."
Lady Felicia did not outright say there was none as that would seem too conspicuous.
After all, if Lord Ponticus could bear Lady Felicia in a drunken stupor, why could he not have others?
So she only alluded to the fact without any real directions, thinking that if Alexander found there was one cksmith or tanner among an ocean of others, he was unlikely to try and search for it.
And as she had so masterfully guessed, this worked just as she expected, as Alexander''s mood significantly dampened upon hearing it.
"I see," Alexander thus only curtly nodded with a bit of reluctance.
And decided to end the meeting with these words, "Does your mother still keep in touch?"
And though this innocuous question sounded innocent enough, it was said not only out of concern.
But because he wondered if she could shed some light on Lord Ponticus''s other children.
It was a long, long shot, but Alexander was willing to try anything.
But Lady Felicia would not have been able to help him even if she had wanted to. "*Sigh*, that after so many years, ¡.*shake*." The mncholicdy shook her head very regretfully, putting on a light smile that wasden heavy with hidden meaning.
She seemed to indicate that after so many years, the original bond between the pair had long been eroded by the cruel currents of time and they had drifted apart. So Lady Felicia finished by saying, "Lapitus doesn''t like it. And my mother seems happy with her new family!"
While deep inside, she made a chilly note of this regarding her two brothers and one sister, ''I will have to get rid of them!'' But such assassination attempts were still in the future, as for the current times, that was how the first meeting between Alexander and Lady Felicia concluded, the talkssting long into the night, with both sides more concerned about what they were being told rather than enjoying the fancy food they were served.
And in this exchange, it was certainly Lady Felicia who hade out on top.
Not only had she fed Alexander a bunch of garbage, but he had bought most of it.
While in return she had gotten some very concrete promises.
No matter how her next steps went, unless she screwed up loyally, at worst Lady Felicia and her daughter would be able to at least live a decent life in Zanzan from Alexander''s stipend.
If Alexander knew how was yed tonight, he would have certainly echoed the immortal words of Kazuha Miller, ''They yed us like a damn fiddle!''
Once the night''s meeting was all concluded, Lady Felicia very modestly covered herself with her cloak, feeling the chilly winds of the night, before bowing and excusing herself.
And as she left, Alexander''s eyes could not help but linger on her luscious hind.
Though hidden by the baggy clothes she wore, he could certainly make the outline of what promised to be surely soft and voluminous pairs of pillowy flesh, gloriously moving up and down.
And remembering the charming scenery he was shown a while back, the embers that still lingered in his heart felt close to igniting.
Through his experience as Pasha up until now, Alexander had found that most of the children of mistresses and of other illegitimate lineage were usually prettier than legitimate children.
And if one thought about it, it made perfect sense.
After all, the main wife was usually chosen out of political considerations first and foremost, not due to her beauty.
While mistresses and concubines and even working girls were almost the opposite, chosen solely due to their looks and little else.
So it was only natural whose children would be better looking.
And this was even true for Alexander, as just based on looks, it should be Ophenia who deserved to be the main wife.
Her looks were enough to blow all three othersbined out of the water.
Hence thinking about the pleasure thaty ahead and feeling pent up, a tiny part of Alexander wanted to request thedy to stay, saying something corny like, ''Mydy the outside is so cold. You might catch a cold. Why not stay the night here?''
And what made this all the more tempting was that Lady Felicia''s husband had even given her permission toy with him.
So the setting, the atmosphere, the circumstances, and even the lust were all there.
What more was Alexander waiting for?
And if Lady Felicia had known these thoughts, she would have been very d toply.
She did not outright request this herself as this was just her first day and spreading her legs so soon would make her appear too loose and slutty.
She did not want to appear too needy.
She wanted Alexander toe to her. But of course, Alexander decided to disappoint her.
Like Lady Felicia''s consideration that they had just met, Alexander had the exact same thoughts and he was not the type of person to stick his prick anywhere at the slightest opportunity.
So at Lady Felicia''s bow, he returned a small one out of courtesy, and the two separated, each spending the night alone, though it was a lot harder for Alexander, who felt an urge to rub one out like he had not had in years.
Alexander had not done it himself since he hooked up with Cambyses.
There was never a need to.
But ultimately Alexander decided to suppress these thoughts and hand himself over to slumber.
And over the next few days, the man and woman got to know themselves a bit better.
Most of the time it was Lady Felicia initiating these encounters, as she would find various excuses toe visit Alexander''s tents.
Sometimes it would being to visit with her daughter to get to know her ''son-inw'' better.
Sometimes it would being to tell him about her father and his family.
And other times it would be to let Alexander know about Tibias, its people, its nobles, and its customs.
Because remember, Lady Felicia had been taught a lot of these by heart.
And it was especially these that Alexander was most interested in.
So from Lady Felicia Alexander learned about the variousrge noble houses, their fiefs, the specialty of thosends, their strengths, their alliances, their banners, and so many other things.
Lady Felicia was a treasure trove for Alexander, and here, to build her credibility, Lady Felicia did not lie about a single thing.
She was as precise as she could be and if there was something she did not know, she clearly said so and did not try to patch over things.
And that was how the next six days went, until suddenly, Thesalies''s gates opened from the inside!
Chapter 742 Lapitus Moves (Part-1)
Chapter 742 Lapitus Moves (Part-1)
"Captain! What now! Should we start?"
While his wife was scheming tomit adultery with another man, Lapitus was inside the city trying his best to make it out alive and give her a good future.
And as he was thinking how best to achieve that, he was suddenly broken out of his deep thoughts by this eager, quite restless voice.
"Hmmm?" And as he turned to face him with a low grunt and slight furrow between his eyes, his lips were pressed together indicating he was clearly not impressed at this interruption.
But even as his much superior officers, Lapitus did not chide the man.
One because Lapitus was normally pretty easygoing.
But more so because the eager teenager was surrounded by almost an even more eager crowd of simr faces- their countenances flushed with excitement, their hands clenched in anticipation, their armor hidden under their civilian clothes, their hearts filled with anxiety, and their spirits soaring for a fight!
They were not asking him for his permission to start the rebellion right now.
They were telling him to!
And as Lapitus faced this oppressive look of implicit pressure, for the first time he felt he understood what his former master, Lord Ponticus must have experienced.
Because it was almost a one to one recreation of the scenery from earlier when they forced him to go out and fight.
This was only on a smaller scale.
''*Tsk*, we lost so many men. Couldn''t we have lost a few of these too!'' And as Lapitus looked at the around ten men surrounding him, in a sarcastic way he wished some of these hot heads had died too.
But here Lapitus was justmpooning.
So putting such wishful musings aside, Lapitus then thought back on why the soldiers wanted to start right now.
''Hmmph that idiot! He is actually organizing a feast right now! And he even wants us to attend? What more? Is he going to go there with his neck washed clean so it''s easier to chop?''
Even though Lapitus hated Petrino, the ease with which thetter presented to him seemed to leave a bad taste in Lapitus''s mouth.
But if one knew the entire story behind that was Petrino doing so, it was actually not so ridiculous.
What had actually happened was that Petrino was organizing his father''s funeral and ording to Tibian customs, it was tradition to carry out the burial in the morning, feed some poor and needy for lunch, so that they would be satisfied and pray for the departed, and as night came, the family and close rtives of the deceased would all get together and eat good food and drink.
This was done in remembrance of the dead, wishing for the health of his soul and to be among one''s kin to lessen the sorrow of the loss.
Up until this, it was alright in Lapitus''s eyes.
Petrino could go ahead with it no problem.
But the issue came in the following event.
For you see, the thing that most urred during this time was drinking copious amounts of intoxicants, sometimes even to the point of being wasted.
As a matter of fact, the amount one could drink without letting oneself out was seen directly as a measure of one''s true love towards the recently departed.
The Tibian people seemed to be a lively bunch when it came to death.
But of course, anyone could see the consequence of this practice.
It would frequently lead to instances where the feast would quickly turn itself into a drunken feat of festivities where the men got hammered andpletely wasted.
Their only saving grace was that the women in the feast were forbidden from drinking, and so could take care of them.
Though ironically, with this safety in ce, the men would let themselves go even more, and over time, it even became an unwritten rule that all the men who were considered to be rtively close to the decreased should drink to the point they either passed out or threw up at least three times.
And if you are so drunk that you have to empty your stomach three different times, one''s mental acuity by that point could be imagined.
And it was precisely because of that practice that the soldiers were so eager to take advantage of the situation.
Every major noble and officer would be wasted beyond words by the end of that night.
Could they have asked for a better chance even if the gods descended and promised to grant them a boon of their choosing?
And as if this was not enough, which it certainly was, to add to the icing on the cake, Petrino even decided to make the entire thing a mass funeral for the entire city, meant to pray for the resting of the almost fifteen thousand (15,000) dead and around twenty thousand (20,000) captured or missing.
So it could be said that on that day, or night, the entire city would be wasted- the nobles, the guards, the ordinary citizenry, even the tramps and vagabonds.
After all, almost everyone had lost someone- a friend, family, or even an acquaintance.
So killing the nobles and opening the gates would be a cakewalk then.
Hence it was little wonder the soldiers and officers under Lapitus were not willing to take no for an answer.
Now, being the devil''s advocate, and not to bash too hard on Petrino, he, and the people around him did have a reason for doing this.
They were not total idiots.
It was just that they looked at it with a much different lens than Petrino''s military view, who saw the entire thing as a huge security risk.
But these men looked at this move from a political point.
And from that angle, this was certainly a very good move.
For the situation inside Thesalie was very tense.
The people had suffered huge losses, the enemy was imminently about to break through, and the deadly fate Alexander promised if they resisted hung like a deadly guillotine hanging over their necks.
All this made the people very reluctant to stand and fight.
Not when there was an alternative.
Thus it was only through sheer fear and brute muscle that Petrino was able to keep them from rioting and rebelling.
But of course, fear can only be effective for so long.
And Petrino did not nearly have enough manpower to suppress all dissent.
And as Alexander drew closer and closer, there was no telling when the people''s limits were going to simply burst and break.
So one of Petrino''s advisors suggested this funeral ceremony as a way for themon people to vent their emotions and calm down.
The higher-ups hoped that this way they could be cated for the time being.
And surprisingly Petrino immediately agreed.
Though for all the wrong reasons.
For him, the man simply wanted to eat and party.
The stress of the siege was starting to get to him and he wanted to make merry and drown himself in alcohol to forget it.
And to that effect, for he wanted to share the joy, he invited everybody who was anybody to attend his father''s funeral and the subsequent feast and drink.
''Darm fool! Just think about the state of our pantry!''
But the huge food expenses that this would inevitably cause was simply one more addition to Lapitus''s already long list ofints.
It had to be remembered that being under siege, the city''s rations were already running low.
And the promised supplies from the capital were supposed to only arrive with the remaining 10,000.
So to waste their limited stocks on such a frivolous matter was another mark Lapitus put against Petrino.
Though to be fair to Petrino here, Alexander was far more likely to break through the walls and ughter them all before they had the chance to starve and die.
So it was actually better to use their food to boost whatever morale they had left.
While Lapitus considered all these, a small part of him still wanted to wait for any word from the capital.
Perhaps the king himself would write to them regarding their predicament and instruct them on what action they were to take, Lapitus naively hoped.
And in that same vein, he had asked the maester of the mansion about this, or if any messages had been sent to the courts informing them.
But the old man there never liked Lapitus because he had once caught the young boy years ago sleeping with his daughter in a stable.
So he briskly brushed him off with an annoyed face.
And in that same way, he carelessly did not bother to send any birds, thinking the 10,000 were surely on their way.
And no one else reminded him otherwise either.
Hence facing all these circumstances, Lapitus knew he had to make his decision.
Or in reality, the decision was actually already made for him.
For the men surrounding him were not the type to be patient and think things through.
They would likely do it even if he barred so.
So shing a frosty light in his eyes, Lapitus nodded his head like it was carrying the weight of an entire mountain, "The reinforcements cannot make it on time. We will do it three days from now!"
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Chapter 743 Lapitus Moves (Part-2)
Chapter 743 Lapitus Moves (Part-2)
Lapitus was ultimately unable to wait for the seven to ten days he had promised himself.
Circumstances such as pressure from his subordinates had forced him otherwise.
Also, he himself found to be much more eager to carry this out than originally anticipated.
It seemed that be it the atmosphere, be it the realization that even those additional 10,000 men might not be enough to defend the city, be it the desire to again see those smiling faces of his wife and child, or even be it that alluring prospect of ruling this city, all seemed to have pushed Lapitus into making the decision he did.
He would initiate the coup at the most opportune time, either opening the gates to Alexander waiting outside or die trying.
And thus, as Lapitus firmly dered his intention, the soldiers let out a hushed bout of euphoric cheers and then began to quietly but quickly prepare themselves for the fated day.
That fateful day soon came- the 10th of August.
On that day, starting at almost dawn, a grand funeral was held at the city''s square,memorating Lord Ponticus and all the other deceased.
Here all theplex rites of the dead Tibians followed were conducted by a host of priests, something thatsted for hours, while an ocean of people from all walks of life, gathered for the event.
They came here wearing their best dresses, paying their best respects to the known and unknown men sacrificed in this war.
Most of the attendee''s faces were pale from fatigue and weariness, and they walked with shuffled steps like theycked the energy to lift their feet. To an outsider, this might have been looked at if the dead were being apanied by the half dead, zombies with one foot already in the ground.
Prolonged stress, sleep deprivation from Alexander''s fiery balls, natural exhaustion, andstly starvation had all driven these people to near their limit. A few more months of this and Alexander might be able to just take the city with any effort.
But it was not the cadaverous faces of these people that drew Lapitus''s attention.
''Damn, if I had known the crowd would be sorge, I would have started a riot here and now. Opening the gates then would have been easy!'' As Lapitusid witness to the sheer volume of people present, he somewhat regretted that he missed this obvious chance.
It was just that he had never thought the crowd would be so huge.
But even if Lapitus had thought about it, it was unlikely he would have attempted it here.
Creating a riot was too dangerous as people were unpredictable.
Who knew if they would suddenly turn on him in the chaos?
And besides, even if Lapitus did manage to open the city gates, there was still the job of killing the nobles and PP. as requested by Alexander.
And unfortunately, though almost the entire city came here for the prayers, as well as the free meal, PP and the nobles were not among them.
They only showed themselves at the very beginning, protected on all sides by trusted men, not giving Lapitus even the slightest chance to off them, where on a raised stage, a gaudily dressed PP gave a speech where he exined to the people the worth of the losses they suffered, the reason why they were fighting, and how they were ultimately going to inevitably win.
This kind of public address was a surprisingly brilliant move for the usually pig headed PP, which was also why it was not really him who did it. The entire thing was heavily scripted, written by apetent noble among his ranks, a very rare variety in that group indeed, and it was filled with everything a crowd wanted to hear.
There was mention of the gross enmity between the two sides, the battle of their faiths and the struggle of the gods, the prestige and history of Thesalie- ''the fortress of the fortress'', andstly hope for salvation in the form of an illusory reinforcement.
The speech of course did not reveal their promised 10,000 as that was a military secret.
But the crowd was simply told that the king was on his way with ''an army the likes of which the world has never seen,'' as per the exact words of the speech. Of course, all this was fluff with no real matter.
But it did do its intended job.
Many in the crowd who hade here with aggrieved hearts felt their restlessness to be smothered upon listening to PP''s sincere promises And any thoughts of rioting temporarily subsided.
So from the noble''s view, the event could already be called a sess. After the funeral was conducted, the event soon moved to its next and most anticipated part- the food!
Here the entire city was given a thin gruel of sliced vegetables like carrots and onions and a tiny, inch-sized meat, to be eaten with some high-quality ck bread. It was nothing fancy, but it was not bad either, since there was at least meat.
Hence, although not everyone eating it might be praising PP and his father to the heavens, given the meal was filling, they were not cursing them either.
And during this entire time all these things were going on, Lapitus was mostly upied keeping watch at a part of the city, organizing his men, and making sure to keep order in that huge gathering.
It was a hot and humid day to be performing these tedious tasks.
But it was ultimately a very important job.
It was not until aroundte afternoon, with the sky already giving off a gentle orange hue that the crowd fully dispersed and he could breathe a sigh of relief.
And as most of the guards returned to their quarters at the end of the festivities, Lapitus by a very strange ''coincidence'' met Kallidus in the officer''s room, where these higher ups would gather to deposit their weapons and armor at the end of the day, talk and chat and sometimes even have a couple of drinks before retiring home.
Now, of course this meeting was no coincidence as Lapitus was determined to eliminate this dangerous man before starting anything.
He was too dangerous to be felt alive.
The reason being myriad.
Kallidus was Lord Ponticus''s former right-hand man, who only left the post because his age was unable to keep up with the physically demanding tasks the job entitled.
And for his lifetime services, back then, Lord Ponticus had even offered the man a very cushy job as a logistician in the rear lines, which not only paid well but also would have provided him with ample opportunities to swindle some stuff from the huge inventory.
Everyone who worked there did that.
It was an open secret.
And so it was also every soldier''s career wet dream.
But Kallidus had rejected all of it, instead choosing to stay in the military as an ordinary captain.
''These walls guarded me during my birth. I shall guard it till my death'' The old man used to say about his oath to defend Thesalie.
He was that dedicated to the military and to the city.
And for his efforts, after Lord Ponticus''s death, PP made Kallidus the head of his forces, sidelining Lapitus who should have been next in line, for the new lord did not like or trust him, which was actually a good move.
And to add to PP''s boon, Kallidus was one of the staunchest supporters of the ''fighting to the group'' faction, being almost their spiritual leader.
In fact, it was Kallidus who had killed those nobles who dared to ask PP to consider surrender.
And seeing this, Lapitus was convinced there was no possibility of turning the man.
So if Lapitus wanted to kill PP, he would have to go through Kallidus first.
But of course that was easier said than done.
For as it could be imagined, Kallidus being around the former city lord for so long had managed to be extremely influential among the general soldiers andmanded great respect.
So killing him openly was very dangerous.
Not to mention the horrible mistake it would be if they tried to kill him but failed.
That would give the man time to rally his forces and if that happened, it was unknown which side the regr, neutral soldiers would choose Lapitus or him.
Because of course, not every soldier was part of either Lapitus or Kallidus group.
In fact, only a small group were, with most being only hapless sheep obeying whatever their superior told them. So if Lapitus wanted to do a coup, he needed to eliminate these superiors and rece them with his own men.
And Kallidus was the biggest superior.
So with his fangs borne bare towards the nape of his first prey, Lapitus approached the old man, a poisonous smile hanging on his face, "Uncle Kallidus! It''s been truly a hot day! Here," And upon reaching his destination, he very gently presented the man with a cup of ice-cold wine.
"*Sip*" And as if to tempt, he took a sip from his own cup that he was holding.
"Haha, thanks kid," And not suspecting the barest of malice, the old man was very d to have this cold refreshing drinking.
It had been truly a scorching day, and his body was no longer what it once was.
*Thud*!
But only a few momentster, his body was on the ground, ice cold and dead.
Chapter 744 Lapitus Moves (Part-3)
Chapter 744 Lapitus Moves (Part-3)
When Lapitus was trying to n out how to actually go about carrying out his coup, he found that his first and perhaps biggest roadblock was Kalidus, for he led all of Petrino''s men.
But the problem here was that although he managed to urately find the target, trying to think of a feasible way to take the man out without arousing a hugemotion in the process proved surprisingly difficult. The man was a greatmander with an almost fanatical zeal when it came to defending the city. A fact that was shown by how he had reacted upon learning of Lord Ponticus''s death.
Like many others, the old man had broken down and bawled his eyes out.
But not out of the sadness of the loss of his former master.
He onlymented how he could not have died beside him.
In that battle, Kalidus was not actually with Lord Ponticus''s group.
Instead, he was left with Lord Theony to help him better coordinate between the local Thesalie garrison and the reinforcements that hade.
Hence spurred on by that death, this time, the old man was filled with almost a martyr-like zeal, meaning he would fight to hisst breath.
And to add to his formidable reputation, he was also a fierce fighter.
So unless Lapitus could surround him and attack from all sides, he was not sure even four or five of them could win in a head-to-head duel with him.
Never mind, Kalidus was almost apanied by a bunch of his lieutenants
So if Lapitus were to attack them in the open, even if Lapitus managed to kill all of them, there was no way the others were not going to be alerted to such arge-scale brawl.
The move was deemed too dangerous and unpredictable.
And so Lapitus for a few days was stumped on how to actually lure Kalidus and all his top officers in a single ce, one that was hidden from the public eyes and secluded enough, and then take them out without anymotion.
It seemed too hard.
Initially, Lapitus had thought of inviting them to his home for some kind of feast or event.
But such celebrations in the middle of a siege did not seem appropriate.
And even if the busy Kalidus epted, it would likely be him and only a few of the lieutenants, whereas Lapitus needed to kill all of the high-ranking officers at once to avoid alerting Petrino.
Andstly, inviting them to his house would reveal the fact that it was empty, with his wife and daughter nowhere to be found.
All that would bring only needless questioning.
Many such simr problems were encountered with his other ns too, and it was to the point that Lapitus even began to wonder if trapping Kalidus was even possible.
The ideal circumstances where Petrino and all his trusted men simultaneously disappeared but did not raise any suspicion appeared to be too incongruent with reality.
So for a while Lapitus was stumped, at one point, even thinking of giving up on the entire coup thing.
But then, as if the gods were smiling upon him, it happened.
The arranged funeral event gave Lapitus exactly that chance he was looking for Kalidus and all his lieutenants would almost certainly be at the officer''s quarters after the day ended to target together and refresh themselves.
And so in the days prior to the program, Lapitus arranged for his men to go and upy the premises, specifically instructing them to take control of the catering.
Something that was fairly easy to do given Lapitus was still of very high military rank and could transfer almost anyone he liked to any other unit.
So with the excuse that this funeral event would require extra security, many of the neutral and those loyal to Kalidus were sent on street patrols or even to the walls to bolster its defenses. While the vacancies were taken up by Lapitus''s trusted men.
And once everything was done, the soldiers quietly made sure to mix the wine that was to be served that day with a dose of slow but lethal poison.
The substance was tasteless and nearly odorless.
But it took around five to fifteen minutes to kick in.
So it was not instant like cyanide.
And Lapitus chose this intentionally, as it would take some time to serve the drink to everyone and he did not want people falling like flies in front of everybody the moment they took a sip.
That would be too revealing.
So he chose this one, which also had many other desirable traits as well.
For instance, once the required time had passed, death would be instantaneous, with no troublesome symptoms surfacing prior to the copse.
So nothing like headache, dizziness, nausea, etc. topping up suddenly that might give the subterfuge away.
Hence, as Kalidus and all his men entered the quartes as usual and refreshed themselves, they were served cold, iced wine by Lapitus''s men.
"*Gulg*, *glug*, *glug! Ahhhh! A cold drink in this fucking heat ¡.ahhh, so fucking nice!" And the men were ecstatic to get them, chugging the refreshing drinks down with nary a thought, their parched throats rejoicing as if the summer rains hade. "Hahaha, Lapitus, what''s the asion? Did something good happen?" As they drank, some men also posed this, for serving such copious amounts of drink was certainly not a regr practice.
Not to forget it was even chilled which surely added much more to the cost,
Thesalie would have never been able to afford to be so generous, even just to her officers.
"Haha, well I was thinking of celebrating a bit when we can. Soon the noble lords will start drinking and we will have to just stand and watch,... hehe. *Chug*, *Chug*,"
Lapitus very convincingly gave his reason for this unusual disy of generosity, producing a small chuckle before downing the contents of his own cup, which was of course served separately and safe to drink from.
It was little surprise that it would be only the nobles tonight that would drink themselves silly, while all the soldiers would be made to stand guard.
That was the norm in almost all other parties too.
Something that was not always easy to follow given the opulent disy of food, drinks, and even women that would be in front of these, frankly poor men.
"Hoooohhhhoooo, Captain Lapitus, that''s why we follow you!" And so hearing that Lapitus was treating them to this fine wine as a form ofpensation, the men let out loud cheers of praise, very pleased by this gesture.
Even Kalidus joined in this praise, taking a few sips of the liquid andmenting with a slightly exaggerated shock, "This wine ¡.is it that new wine ¡Sweet Uv?"
Sweet Uv was the name of the wine recipe that Alexander gave to Camius went by in Tibias, distributed by his partner''s son who lived here.
And it was an extremely sought-after wine due to its limited avability, and almost exclusively consumed by only the nobility.
Hence Kalidus''s surprise at how Lapitus was able to get his hands on such an expensive product and so much at that.
Even he got to taste it asionally, only when Lord Ponticus would invite his old subordinate to chat about the good old times.
At the inquiry, Lapitus nodded lightly to confirm Kalidus''s suspicion, before producing a forlore face and then recounting in a mournful tone, "Just a few days ago, father-inw had sent us a fewrge jars. We did not have the time to drinkthen."
"So I thought today would be the perfect day to have it."
Lapitus said this by alluding to the funeral and the drinking culture, and when taking a sip, he mournfully hummed, "*Sigh*, I still cannot believe he is gone. There are even times I think can hear his stepsing from the stairs here, pacing up and down like he used to *gulg*."
Lapitus said so as a way to induce nostalgia in Kalidus and distract his attention from the wine in case he found anything weird.
And Kalidus bought everything Lapitus said without batting an eye.
He, like everyone else of course, knew that Lapitus was married to Lord Ponticus''s daughter, and thus receiving such gifts was natural.
So understanding it, he patted Lapitus on the shoulders and even praised him for his generosity.
To which Lapitus responded in a low, mirthless chortle, "Haha, well if the enemy breaks though, at least he won''t get to have this."
He had very intentionally kept his voice low, only letting Kalidus hear so.
And at this, the old man''s face did not go dark with anger or call Lapitus names like a defeatist.
Instead, aware of their predicament, his wizened face seemed to lose a bit of luster at their helpless situation.
"Do not lose hope. Believe in the gods. They will not let us down, " before he imed so in a low, but very strong voice.
This was Lapitus''sst chance to see if Kalidus would be bought over.
And Kalidus''s answer undoubtedly revealed he would not. They talked like this for a while, until, *Thud*, *Thud*, *Thud*
Finally, at all around the ten minute mark, the bodies started to fall,
Chapter 745 Lapitus Moves (Part-4)
Chapter 745 Lapitus Moves (Part-4)
As the officers continued to drink, if one bothered to pay good attention, they would have found that it was only Kalidus''s men who were actually drinking, taking in enormous amounts of the poison.
While in the case of Lapitus''s men, they seemed to be only pretending to takerge gulps, while in reality, they were only taking small sips from their limited volume of safe drinks.
They talked far more than they drank.
*Thud*, *Thud*, *Thud*
When the very first man fell, it drew moreughs than concerns from the nearby men.
"Haha, hey what''s wrong, can''t hold your liquor, hahaha," They chuckled at their colleagues for his inability, no one even bothering to go up to help him.
*Thud*, *Thud*,
But then suddenly two more went down.
And that made theughter subside quite a bit.
This did not seem natural, with especially how those eyes looked, a ssy gleam of realization floating in them, like the truth had been revealed to them just as they were crossing the gate, but it was already toote.
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
And then a few more almost simultaneously went down.
At that point, there was no moreughter.
The room had suddenly be as soundless as the grave
It was almost uncanny how quickly the cheerful din of the ce was reced by an ufortable, stifling quagmire to anxiety.
"You, Lapi¡ you do ¡g!"
And even with advanced age, it was Kalidus''s keen eyes were the first to catch on to what was likely on, though, by this point, he was already toote, as evidenced by how he was slurring.
Kalidus had noticed that it was only his men that were going down, and so it left him no doubt of the plot he was already ensnared in.
But unfortunately, it was too little, toote for him.
Though he willed it, his handscked the strength to grab his sword, while his legs were unable to respond to hismand to charge at Lapitus, only staying rooted at its ce and shaking like a leaf.
The poison was already too far into the system.
"The wine! It''s the wine. Lapitus lied about the wi¡!"
With Kalidus''s loud shout, the others too woke up to the deadly betrayal ¡.but so what?
Like Kalidus, they too had trouble just standing up, never mind fighting.
And even those who could summon their sword, those who were at the peak of their fitness, they were easily subdued by Lapitus''s men who far outnumbered them and that full control of their body facilities
"Poison! Co¡ ward! Whe¡re is yo ¡honor! Trait¡! I spit¡ spit o.. you! The god w¡"
Kalidus''s eyes went teary as he saw his men who were trying to resist being cut and hacked and shed by brutal strikes to their guts, hearts, and even necks.
These once fierce warriors deserved better.
But now rendered defenseless due to the poison, they were unable to defend against even the simplest of blows, while he himself found losing strength and slumping over to the ground.
They did not deserve to die like this, cut down like dogs.
It broke Kalidus''s heart.
And as he felt death''s icy grasp wrap around him, Kalidus did not beg for his life.
The man was not even afraid of death, having seen it an uncountable number of times, having dealt it almost as many times to others, and already had one foot with him.
He also did not ask why Lapitus was doing this.
It was so obvious that it would be a waste of his limited breath.
Instead, he only cursed Lapitus for choosing such a way to kill him.
As a warrior, he has at least wished to die by the sword.
And he knew Lapitus knew that it was always his dream to go like like that.
So for Lapitus to deny him that honor at the very twilight of his years, that was what incensed Kalidus the most.
So even when he found his speech fumbling, he did not stop cursing the man.
While the recipient of these attacks, Lapitus had no emotions on his face.
His face was not flushed with ecstasy at the fact that the n had gone so smoothly, nor was he shedding tears of regret over his betrayal.
He only projected a stoic face from which nothing came out
And that was because after what he had done, there really was nothing for him to say.
Lapitus did not bother to present any excuse or portray himself as the righteous one here.
And the same thing went for many of the older officers in his group, who simply let their counterparts peacefully drift into slumber, not letting out any cries of revelry.
Perhaps their silence also signified that a small part of all of them felt shame at having done such a cowardly act to these men who just minutes ago were their colleagues and even brothers in arms.
And so the entire ce was eerily quiet, absent of any euphoric cheers or of any mournful groans, as the poison once it was activated, worked rapidly.
It was under the bright, orange hue of the setting sun that finally the chaos in the officers'' quarters came to an end, the carpeted floor now scattered with close to ten bodies.
"Old man, rest well. You led a good life. Now let us lead us ours. We wille to apologize to you when our time is up,"
Stepping up to Kalidus''s body, Lapitus gave these words as hisst respects, saying why he did what he did- it was to survive.
And though Lapitus said these words looking at Kalidus, perhaps they were more directed towards his men, who undoubtedly were feeling guilty over their heinous act.
''Yes, we did it because we had no choice. We want to live.''And hearing, many consoled them as such.
"That''s right. Calopy and my daughter are friends. I will surely take care of her,"
One of Lapitus''s men even stepped up to promise this to Kalidus''s rapidly cooling body, Caloopy being Kalidus''s youngest granddaughter who lost her parents to an illness.
Though tt was unknown if Kalidus would have actually wanted his dear granddaughter to be near one of his murderers, or turned in his grave at the very thought.
But whatever Kalidus''s thought on the matter would be, for now, it did not matter.
For as soon as it was considered everyone was dead, Lapitus ordered,
"Clean this up. Quick!"
"Move them to those unused rooms. Quick! We need to report to the mansion for our duty soon!"
The way Lapitus used the word ''quick'' twice went to show the urgency.
Hence the men quickly got to work, dragging the bodies along the corridor to the very back of the keep, a ce where rarely anyone even went.
Lapitus was confident that this ce would be hidden enough for the bodies to be not discovered for at least the few hours he needed to do what he needed to.
And while his men carried out their ndestine orders, Lapitus went over to the window covering the city, his heart heavy with uncertainty, as he then looked down on the wine in his cup.
''It''s all because of you, my love. I could do all this only because of you."
He then mysteriously whispered towards the liquid, love filling his eyes.
And what he meant by this was that the way he got this rare wine was that Lady Felicia had one day bought the stuff, iming it to be from her father.
And now it was using this same drink that Lapitus had managed to basically decapitate Petrino''s forces.
However there was quite a bit of a hidden secret behind Lady Felicia''s im.
The real way she got it was much different, though those events did not matter here.
Once the bodies were disposed of, Lapitus and his men soon got ready for their next shift, and a whileter, they found themselves in Petrino''s audience.
"My lord, Lord Kalidus said he was feeling a bit under the weather after standing in the sun all day. So he asked us to take this shift for him. He promised to be here by supper."
Lapitus kept his address regarding his unnned visit short and concise.
The less he said, the less chance of him messing up.
"Oh! Okay, you go do your thing."
And seeing this distasteful man, Petrino dismissed him almost instinctively, waving his hand like buzzing off an annoying fly even before Lapitus could finish.
He really did not care about who was in charge of security here.
He only cared to look at all the courtesans that were already starting to flutter around the great hall room.
He could not wait to taste them.
Now of course inviting people of such professions to a funeral event was egregious, to say the least.
Petrino might have pissed in his dead father''s face and the amount of disrespect would have been almost the same.
But hey, he was the ruler here, so who was going to argue with him?
So while Petrino nned with glee for his night of debauchery, Lapitus, having gotten the lord''s open permission was easily able to take over control of the mansion guards.
Everythign was set.
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Chapter 746 Lapitus Moves (Part-5)
Chapter 746 Lapitus Moves (Part-5)
With Petrino''s permission, Lapitus managed to quickly take over the mansion guards.
The numerous small squads scattered all around the huge building that were once led by captains loyal to Kalidus were quickly dismissed and told to go home for the day, as Lapitus''s men took effective control of the men under them.
While the guards that were originally assigned to protect the main hall room, the ce where all the events would take ce, were all dismissed or relocated to other parts of the mansion, their ces filled by Lapitus''s own, trustworthy men.
These men were trained veterans who were going to be the ones who were going to do the butchering.
As for the higher level posts that had be empty, particrly those held by those ten officers, such as the gate controls, well Lapitus''s co-conspirators were able to take control of them too, usually saying something along the lines of this,
"Your captain is attending a drinking feast with Senior Kalidus,memorating Lord Ponticus."
"He will bete. In the meantime, by the order of the Lord of the city, His Lordship Petrino, I will be inmand of you. Understood!"
Thest word was a loud bark, not a question.
And as the order was directly from Petrino, as well as the fact that Lord Ponticus''s funeral was just this morning, it all sounded very usible.
So these soldiers who were trained to be obedient, not inquisitive, or question their superior showed no resistance to yielding to this new figure of authority.
These men were unlikely to pose any problem for at least the next few hours, only possibly bing suspicious of why their captains were not returning after the night had long drawn deep into its recesses.
That was ample time for Lapitus to do what he needed to do.
As for the other nobles bing alert at this sudden change in security, well, luckily, Lapitus had chosen this day tounch his rebellion.
Many of them were distracted by the uing feast, while many of their leftover personal guards who survived the battle against Alexander were deployed either to the streets to keep order or the walls to keep watch.
After all, with the gates in the first wall open, if they were careless, Alexander mightunch a surprise wall rush trying to try and take advantage of the temporary lull in defenses.
Losing the city that way could truly be a tragedy upon tragedy.
Hence when the nobles learned that Kalidus was feeling a bit unwell and drinking with his men in remembrance of his beloved master they thought nothing of it.
There were numerous examples of Lord Ponticus relieving Kalidus ahead of this shift or entirely excusing the man for half a day when he noticed Kalidus was unable to keep up with his years.
Thus, as dusk fell, the feast began in its full revelry, undampened even by an iota of the recent circumstances.
In fact, looking at the scale of the arrangement, Lapitus found it actually to beparable to only a few grand parties ever held in the past.
One was when Perseus, the king of Tibias was first coronated.
The second time was when His Majesty came to visit Thesalie.
And a third time was when The Crown Prince was here to see his granduncle, Lord Ponticus.
So for this party to beparable to those asions where it was attended by such members, the grandeur in disy could be imagined.
The centerpiece of the party, the huge banquet table that was ced smack in the middle of the room, was several tens of meters in length and covered in its entirety with food.
For the meat lovers, there were roasted hares, doves, snails marinated in honey, and pheasants zed in fish sauce to name only a few, along with some other more dubious-looking items even Petrino was unsure of.
Though curiously there was no sign of meat of themon variety, like chicken, beef, or mutton.
But this was of course to be expected for serving such ''peasant'' food to the honorable tongues of the nobility would be too disgraceful.
Only rare and exotic meats were fit for them, and the chefs prepared them in various ways.
This was almost the modern equivalent of how billionaires would eat things like alligator meat and even exotic insects.
Not because they necessarily taste good, but because the amount of money they spend to eat these foods suddenly makes them taste good.
Money too can be a very potent seasoning.
Along with meat, there were various fruits too, such as pears, pomegranates, dates, oranges, and lemons.
They were either baked like baked apples, or cut open and disyed decoratively, or just shown off in fine ss bowls.
And yes, those ss bowls were made by Alexander.
As for the most luxurious item there, well it was undoubtedly door mice, with goose eggsing at a close second.
As Lapitus silently observed this¡ this enormous amount of wasteful expenditure during a siege, he naturally was disgusted.
In fact, the feeling was so strong that even the overwhelming aroma of such alluring food and drinks was unable to stimte his appetite.
And if not for the fact that he knew the siege was going to be lifted tonight, he would have dreaded to think what the state of their stocks would be following after this.
''Heh, enjoy it well. This will be yourst meal.''
So while looking at the nobles gorge themselves on these expensive delicacies, Lapitus ominously said this in his heart, thinking as far asst meals went, this was really as good as one could get.
Lapitus passed the following few hours upied by such thoughts, patrolling the grounds as well as asionally mingling with some of the more familiar nobles.
And once the nobles had filled with stomachs to a degree with solid food and finished with their pleasantries, then came the main event- the drinking.
And it was here the courtesans, dressed in scantily n clothes made their debut.
Dressed in low cut Vs that showed not only deep into their cleavage but half their milky flesh as well, they flitted around the room like sinful fairies, carrying pitchers filled with fine wine to sate thirsty throats.
But once they would reach their destination, they would find the men there to be much more than only perched, for like their throats, their souls too hungered for sweet dews and soft touches.
Hence, once they were loosened up after a couple of drinks, soon strong, manly hands could be seen roaming over thesedies, some going over their breasts, some inside their clothes, some copping a feel of their butts, while Petrino, the most brazen one, was actually seen pouring wine over one of the heavily endowed girls''s chest and licking and sucking it off them, eliciting unrestrained moan from the working girl.
Something which made Lapitus''s heart burn with fury.
This was no funeralmemorating the dead.
This was a simple feast and party.
''Fine food, wine, and women. These scoundrels'' deaths will be a lot better than they deserve.''
If Lapitus had even the slightest scruples before, then seeing the current debaucherypletely removed even the tiniest shed of doubt in him.
If this was how the dead who sacrificed themselves for their country were being remembered, including the father of the one who was the current lord of the city, then Lapitus did not want to call the man his lord.
And this was a sentiment that was unsurprisingly shared by many of his men who were present there as well.
Hence, each man having their resolve strengthed patiently waited for the wine and merriments to do their job.
And thankfully they did not need to wait long, for the men seemed to turn inebriated and sluggish faster than any other time.
Perhaps it was the siege or the looming threat of Alexander''s promise, but the nobles were seen gulping down the red liquid like there was no tomorrow.
Some were in fact so inundated with alcohol that they lost their sense senses and started to take the girls serving them then and there, in front of everybody, forgetting all shame.
And it was seeing this that Lapitus finally felt his patience break.
He greatly respected Lord Ponticus and seeing this memory be tarnished like this was too much.
Also, given some of the men were actually doing such things and no one was evening to stop them, it was clear they had lost all ability to resist.
So these defenseless sheep were in prime condition to ughter.
"Start!" Hence Lapitus''smand atst rang out.
It was not particrly a loud or hushed order, and all the people around him could clearly hear it.
But most did not care.
''Start? Start what?''
They were not really interested in what thismoner was saying, not when there was this fairdy to enjoy.
But the soldiers who were in the know of what this meant reacted instantly.
They rushed to the nearest group of nobles, hands grasping the hilt of their sword, before,
*ng*, the steel de was suddenly unsheathed and *plunge*, it was driven using both hands deep with the clueless noble''s defenseless back, the entire thing going all the way through.
The ughter had begun.
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Chapter 747 Lapitus Moves (Part-6)
Chapter 747 Lapitus Moves (Part-6)
As the first of the men drove their weapons into the backs of the unsuspecting nobles, initially the working girls witnessing these were more stunned shocked into silence than terrified.
The suddenness of the move left the girls nk for a while, with some even thinking that there might be a legitimate reason why their patreon was killed, such as him being a crook or criminal, with the entire thing being carried out under the city lord''s instructions.
But soon such optimistic projections were put to rest as subsequent acts clearly proved that was not the case.
The girls quickly spotted the soldiers killing everyone in sight indiscriminately, both men and women.
Yes, even the innocent courtesans were not spared.
Because in the eyes of these soldiers, these women were just as much as guilty for desecrating the memories of the dead as the men were.
Hence once the surviving prostitutes had the time to process the entire thing, they quickly woke up to what was really happening.
"Kyaahhh!"
No one was sure who was the first to produce this ear piercing scream, but with one of them raising the rm, all the other girls too were broken from their stupor.
Then understanding the danger they were in, all of them started to let out terrified shrieks as they bolted away from their men and attempted to run to the nearest exit.
But ironically, their shouts actually worked against them, for these loud wails alerted all of Lapitus''s men nearby that the n had begun.
Thus following the first groups, all of the others bared their weapons too, and a bloodbath promptly ensured.
The drunk men and the working girls had no weapons to defend themselves with or nowhere to escape to, for all the exits were long, long ago closed by Lapitus.
And though some of the nobles did bring their personal bodyguards, their numbers were too few and they were too scattered.
Since the very start of the party, Lapitus had been busy secretly and meticulously surrounding these small pockets of armed men with his own men.
So the moment Lapitus gave the signal, these were among the very first groups to be attacked from all sides.
Most of the people who could have put up a fight were never even given the chance.
Lapitus did not himself take part in the massacre.
Instead, to be able to better coordinate his men, he stayed back near the banquet, surrounded by a small entourage, simply watching the fifty or so guards herey waste to the nearly two hundred men and women present.
The soldiers used swords, spears, and daggers to attack the men from all directions, catching their prey in all sorts of different postures- standing, sitting and even lying.
And as they plunged cold steel in their flesh, it caused the room to echo with the anguished cries of the wounded and dying, as well as curses calling them all kinds of names- traitors, rebels, scums, etc.
But all these aplished nothing, as the floor was soon sttered a macabre red and the once jolly room was only filled with naked and semi naked corpses, with many hideous wounds surfacing on them.
Observing this sanguinary act from a distance, after a while Lapitus found there was nothing more to see here.
Almost all of Petrino''s forces were already decimated and now it was the man''s turn to join.
"Let''s go. I want to see Petrino."
So turning to address the small group around him, he expressed this.
Petrino had actually left the party a bit prior to the start of this massacre, with two of the most beautiful courtesans snuggled around his arms, his destination,-the bedroom, his intention- very clear.
And Lapitus was actually d to see the man leave.
Because before he imed his prize he wanted to make him suffer for what he did to his wife all those years ago.
And he wanted to do that in a private room.
So leaving one of his captains in charge of the ce, Lapitus and three others made their way through the twisty corridors, until they were finally standing in front of Petrino''s room.
And there, Lapitus encountered hisst obstacle, Petrino''sst two bodyguards who were standing guard at the door
These men, upon seeing Lapitus approach did not react with any hostility, but simply greeted him with a military salute, before one of them posed in a lightly worried voice,
"Captain Lapitus! We heard screamsing from below. Is everything all right?"
Though the hall room was quite a ways from here, and reasonably well insted, the shouts and screams of a few hundred men were indeed quite loud.
Loud enough for its echoes to reach up to here.
"Haha, rest assured men. It is just the lords enjoying themselves a bit. Like that¡"
But Lapitus was easily able to brush these concerns with this breezy chuckle, as he then pointed his finger towards the door to emphasize his point, one from which loud amorous moans were constantly drifting out.
"Aggghhh, Yes¡. hehehe, oh my lord¡ ahhhh, mmmm"
Clearly, Petrino was in the midst of enjoying himself to the fullest.
"Ri¡ right! *Ahem*" And as Lapitus pointed out how Petrino was doing such deeds during a night of such significance, it left the guards feeling a bit ashamed of their lord as they coughed awkwardly.
But that feeling could notst long.
For as soon as the men were distracted, two of the men behind Lapitus who were hiding theirdaggers behind their back instantly lunged towards the unsuspecting guards, and
*Aggghhh!*
"Urggggg*
The steel des were driven urately deep in the two men''s throats, the thick tip going straight through their thorax and sticking a good few inches out the back.
And as the attackers then mercilessly yanked the deadly de back, both the men almost simultaneously slumped upon the floor, losing all strength in their bodies as they tried to use their hands to try and close that huge wound, a futile act if there was one.
Shock and disbelief were vividly etched onto their faces even as they died, for they still could not believe what had happened or why.
Lapitus was also disinclined to give them any exnation andpletely ignoring the fate of these two nobodies, he simply pushed open the heavy mahogany door and hurriedly stepped into the room.
"Ahhhggg, oohhhh, yesssss ¡"
There, as he entered he naturally got to see what he had already expected.
A very voluptuous woman was straddling a man, her fair back and rippling snowy buttocks being presented to Lapitus.
She was seen moving her hips fast and hard, her enormous breasts swaying in the air visible to Lapitus even from his obtuse angle, as she let out unrestrained lewd moans
While in the front another very cute looking, petite girl was tending to Petrino''s mouth, kissing and caressing him.
The three were so engrossed in their act that they had not even noticed the intruder.
"Out!" That was until Lapitus barked this at the top of his lungs.
Seeing Petrino disrespect his master''s memory like this incensed Lapitus.
And this huge enraged shout naturally caused the intimate act to immediatelye to a halt, as all three heads simultaneously turned to locate the origin of this howl.
"La¡ You! What are you doing here! How dare you barge in like this!"
And with Petrino immediately recognizing the intruder, his face instantly changed from being shocked at the sudden shout to pure, unadulterated fury.
Any man caught like he was would have likely acted the same.
"You two ¡. *ng*! Out!"But Lapitus did not even put Petrino in his eyes.
Instead, tuning his head to re at the two courtesans, his eyes fumed with anger at both of them, as he pointed his unsheathed sword at the two nakeddies.
Lapitus did not want to kill them unless necessary.
"Ye¡ yes!'' And facing four fully armored men with one even pointing a sword at them, these girls did not need any more encouragement.
Getting off from Petrino like he was the manifestation of the gue, these girls did not even bother to pick up their clothes, as they bolted straight for the door.
The two very well understood that when armed stormed a lord''s room like this, it usually meant total elimination for everyone there.
So they could not wait to disappear from their sight, even if it meant they would have to run around the mansion totally nude.
They would have been even willing to run through the streets bare if it meant they could escape this situation.
"Yo ¡you! What are you ¡ Guards! Guards!"
While Petrino. being abandoned like this, did not spare even a second nce at the two, instead fixing his eyes on the glinting steel.
Before sensing that something was truly wrong and started to shout at the top of his voice for help.
But of course, no one came.
They were either dead or moved to other parts of the mansion, under the direction of their new captain.
While Lapitus did not immediately start addressing Petrino.
Instead, turning to the three men behind him, he asked, "Could you go wait outside the room? Enjoy those two whores if you want. I want some time with him alone."
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Chapter 748 Lapitus and Petrino (Part-1)
Chapter 748 Lapitus and Petrino (Part-1)
The bad blood between Lapitus and Petrino was an open secret to most of the high-level officers.
They did not exactly know all the details, for instance, Petrino forcefully taking Ladt Felicia was kept strictly under wraps by both sides, but Petrino did make his dislike for Lapitus no secret.
He very publicly hated Lapitus for snatching the post that should have belonged to him.
He hated him for the trust his father had in him, jealous that he was not given even a hundredth of it.
And he hated Lapitus because he could see his father always looked at Lapitus, like the son he always wished he had.
It was also one of the big reasons why Lord Ponticus had even married his daughter to Lapitus in the first ce.
And all this subsequently worked to make Petrino go green with envy, feeling that if Lapitus had not existed, all the glory, honor and adoration would belong to him.
So to that effect, Petrino tried to find all kinds of subtle ways to butt heads with Lapitus and attempted to make his life as miserable as possible without earning the ire of his father.
An endeavor that was clear to anyone with even decent insight.
Hence, now that the two men hade to the end culmination point of their journey, Lapitus''s request to have a bit of alone time with this hateful man came as a surprise to nobody.
They would easily imagine what Lapitus likely nned to do with him.
"Sure. We will be just outside. Call any time if you need anything." Thus the men were more than happy to let their leader have his privacy, even subtly alluding to the fact that they would be happy to assist in any grizly acts.
So leaving this offer on the table, the men soon left, even politely closing the door behind them as they vacated, both to shield themselves from Lapitus''s acts, as well as to shield Lapitus from their nned acts.
Because they also were very expectant about the reward Lapitus promised them.
Those two beauties that were with Petrino appeared to be quite the catch and the men could not wait to get in a bit of tussle with them.
Hence, the trio quickly caught up to the two terrifieddies and soon put them to serving the three, the men showing no reluctance at doing such acts so openly in front of others.
While back in the room, only two men remained- the fully armored Lapitus and the bare Petrino.
"Yo¡ Lapitus you dog! Do you know what are you doing! Stop this immediately! Colluding with the enemy¡ how can you call yourself a Tibian!"
No matter how slow Petrino might have been, he was still not that slow.
The sudden barging in, the unanswered calls for his help, and the tense atmosphere all painted a very clear picture of what Lapitus was doing.
And realizing the predicament he was in, at first, Petrino tried to y himself as his lord, ordering Lapitus to cease.
But Petrino might as well as farted instead of talking and it would have moved Lapitus just as much.
In response to Petrino''s ttering babbles, Lapitus simply slowly approached the bed, sword in hand, and pointed directly towards the still nude man.
He did not bother to say anything regarding this.
There was nothing to say.
As for Petrino, seeing his words have no effect, his desperation then starts to increase.
"Wait! Remember your oath! You are sworn to defend Thesalie. You are sworn to defend me!"
He loudly eximed, waving his arms desperately around as he pleaded.
"...."
But Lapitus still said nothing.
If this had been before today, perhaps those words would have knocked a bit on his conscience.
But after seeing how Petrino and the nobles under him treat the memory of the dead, including the former city lord, Lapitus had no qualms about betraying his oath.
Those that were worthy of his oath were no longer here and those still alive were the leftover dregs who did not deserve his de.
So seeing Lapitus move toward him without missing a single beat even after this, Petrino understood he was not going to leave his room alive.
After which in a hysterical bout of tirade, he let out roaring,
"You bastard¡ I always knew you were a traitor. Traitor to all of us. To our family. My fahter¡ *smack*!"
Petrino did not get to finish that entire curse as at the instant mention of his father, he was immediately hit squarely on the jaw by Lapitus''s strong jab.
"I don''t mind you badmouthing me, you stupid idiot. But never bring up master, you waste of meat and skin!"
These were Lapitus''s first words to Petrino and the way he said them was perhaps filled with all the disdain and disgust in the world.
To an onlooker, it might have even seemed like Lapitus felt dirty simply talking to him.
While Petrino, being hit on the face, possibly for the first time in his life, suddenly went mute, simply rubbing his swollen cheekbone and looking at Lapitus with a terrified face.
It was only with this strike that he began to truly appreciate the situation he was in.
"What¡ what do you want? I¡"
Then picking up the courage, he stammered such.
Now he was starting to ask the right questions.
"What do I want! After what you did to me for all these years, you ask me what I want?"
But this simple question suddenly got a huge reaction for Lapitus.
Apparently, this was a trigger point for him who slightly lost control of his emotions at this point.
All those years of bottled up frustration came rushing right out.
And seeing this menacing, twisted face, with enraged eyes, Petrino cleverly went quiet so as to not provoke the guy.
"Felicia! Why did you do such a thing to Felicia? She is your own sister! Why did you hurt her like that?"
And then, finally, after literally more than a decade, Lapitus was atst able to confront the man who hurt his wife with this question.
A question he had dreamed of almost every day of his life since that day asking, but never thought would have had the chance to.
Hence, when the chance suddenly presented itself, Lapitus was unable to keep a steady voice and shouted these words out in almost a maddening tone.
"Hurt Felicia? When did I hurt her?"
But in much contrast to Lapitus''s loud shout and his tone pointing to an obvious incident, Petrino seemedpletely oblivious to what the man before him was alluding to.
Something that incensed Lapitus to the point his blood boiled,
*Smack!* and he could not resist giving another punch to that oblivious face with all his might, making the man tumble over the sheets and causing him to groan in pain.
Petrino did not understand what was so wrong about what he said.
While Lapitus actually did not think Petrino was lying.
The stupid man was pretty easy to read and looking at his face, it seemed that he had simply forgotten about the incident.
After all, to Lapitus that day might have been one of the most important days in his life.
But to Petrino, it was only Tuesday.
Forcefully taking women was probably as significant as having an afternoon snack to the man.
Why would he remember something so insignificant in his eyes that happened literally eleven years ago?
And as Lapitus came to understand this, it worked to make him even madder.
He was d he had asked the men to leave and give him some time alone with Petrino.
Because this way he could beat the crap of this guy over things that Lapitus would rather not share with others.
"R@pe her! Eleven years ago! Why did you r@pe her at that party? How could you forget *smack*!"
He then screeched at the top of his voice, his spit peppering out of his mouth as he thennded another punch, this time right on the guts.
" Aghhh¡ Rape her? Eleven years ago? I r@ped Felicia?"
And it was only with this reminder that those memories came flooding back to Petrino, as a look of enlightenment surfaced on his bruised face.
"Hahaha¡." But instead of showing emotions like regret, fear, or even lust, Petrino simply let out an almost maddening cackle.
"Ra¡ r@pe her? Haha, I r@ped Felicia? Hahahahaha¡." The man simplyughed out loud, like he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Hahhaaha," And he continued tough like his head was about to roll off.
While Lapitus, along with being very angry, was also confused.
''What is so funny about that?'' He wondered.
The fact that Petrino vited Felicia was open knowledge between the truly higher ups.
So Petrino''s outburst seemed very weird.
It was not like he was using him of this out of the blue.
"Ah yes! I remember now! I was too drunk so I forgot. That was the charade she wanted me to y. Right, right¡.hehe."
It took a while for Petrino to regain hisposure, and once he did, he began by saying this, his head nodding like a chicken.
But the ominous way he said those words inexplicably made Lapitus''s heart skip a beat.
''She? Who is she?'' He wondered.
And though he did not why, one very particrly familiar face surface suddenly surfaced in his mind at soon as he heard Petrino speak.
A face that should have no business being there- his wife''s!
Chapter 749 Lapitus and Petrino (Part-2)
Chapter 749 Lapitus and Petrino (Part-2)
"Ah yes! I remember now! I was too drunk so I forgot. That was the charade she wanted me to y. Right, right¡.hehe."
Lapitus was very rmed that upon hearing Petrino say this, it was his wife''s face that suddenly manifested in his mind.
From the context of how Petrino said this, it made perfect sense.
But it was the implication of what this meant that made Lapitus freeze with fear.
''What does he mean? She? Who''s she?'' His eyes by now had shrunk to a needle size as he looked at Petrino in disbelief.
The fury now reced with fear and apprehension.
It was as if his honed instincts were warning him not to go in that direction.
As for Petrino, seeing his brave, fearless attacker suddenly turn ashen with fear filled him with glee, as lifting his torso up, Petrino produced a mocking smile and a taunting look, saying,
"Heh! Since you are so stupid to figure it out on your own, then let me spell it out for you,"
"Felicia and I have been screwing for ages! Long, long before she got together with you. I even took her first time when she was twelve! Didn''t you wonder why she was broken when you firstid with her? Idiot!"
Petrino threw that particr insult right back at Lapitus, twisting his lips into a cruel smile as he pointed out that Lady Felicia''s hymen must have been already broken by the time Lapitusy with his wife.
And as he revealed this great secret, Lapitus, standing opposite of him was stunned.
There was no way Petrino should have been aware of this intimate secret.
It should have only stayed between the two of them.
Of course, he knew about his wife''s condition.
She had even revealed this to him in their nuptial chamber.
Of course, Lady Felicia did not explicitly she that she had no curtain underneath.
But as the two had kissed and made out on the bed, she let it out through a made up story.
Looking at Lapitus with misty, floating eyes, she had said, "Lapitus! Dear! I''m scared. I''m scared to do it."
"You see once when I was young, one day I had suddenly felt an immense pain down there during one of my equestrian lessons. And there was even blood."
"I never told anyone about this."
"But I still very clearly remember the pain from then."
"Will it hurt?"
Lady Felicia had back then looked like the most defenseless girl in the world, and her questions appeared to be that of an innocent flower who knew nothing of the impure acts that urred between men and women in close bedrooms.
While Lapitus, being the much more experienced man of course knew what she meant.
The man by then had already slept with numerous girls courtesy of him being in the military and had even plucked quite a number of fresh roses, some willing, some even unwilling, so it was easy for him to determine what the issue here was.
And back then, he had simplyughed it off, more amused about Lady Felicia''s innocence rather than worried about the implication.
And why would he be worried about the implications?
Well because Tibias, unlike Adhania, was a very conservation nation, where if a woman was to lose her virginity to anyone other than her husband, she would basically be unmarriable to anyone other than that man.
There were many instances of entire marriage agreements breaking down once it was found that the girl hadid with another man.
And if the girl slept with more than one man, then there were even cases of noblemen dueling to decide who she belonged to, the attempt many times resulting in death for the loser or even both participants.
Hence, if it was found that Lady Felicia did not have her proof of purity, it could raise various troublesome questions, even if the loss waspletely by idental external factors.
As Lapitus thought about this, his mind drifted toward other details too, like how their initial room was really dark, specifically made so at Lady Felicia''s request.
"No! I''m too shy. Don''t look!" And whenever Lapitus had attempted to light it up a bit to gaze and appreciate her body that night, thedy had used this excuse to hide herself.
Like she was intentionally trying to hide something.
Back then Lapitus had not cared one hoot about all those as his head was filled with the anticipation of sleeping with his childhood sweetheart and only that.
But now when Lapitus thought about it, he found himself unable to recall if Lady Felicia had truly bled when he had inserted himself into her,
It had been too dark to confirm.
After all, that story she said could have just as well been her menses blood and the pain from cramps and not necessarily a rupture.
Plus, many girls have really thin hymen that was difficult to confirm even in the best of times.
Lapitus himself had encounters with two such women who he knew to be clearly virgins but were immensely difficult to verify through the tearing of the skin.
All these concerns, that had ever even crossed Lapitus''s mind now suddenly came rushing to his head, just at Petrino''s words.
Up until this point, in much contrast to the typical Tibian man, Lapitus had not really cared whether Lady Felicia was a virgin or not.
It was a moot point to him.
He only cared that he got her.
But if what Petrino said was true, if Lady Felicia had not really lost her hymen like she said, but instead was doing with Petrino what he imed to be doing.
Lapitus found it impossible to simply stand still.
Even if Petrino was lying about everything else, just the fact that he knew that intimate fact about Lady Felicia was enough to start ringing rm bells in Lapitus.
"What¡ what do you mean? Exin!" Lapitus hence slowly barked at Petrino''s taunt, his eyes a thousand times darker than before.
If before it had zed with fury, now it was filled with a cold pool of iciness.
He really wanted to know more.
"Heh! What do I mean! What do you think what I mean?" And facing this question, Petrino suddenly managed to throw those exact words back at Lapitus.
And then not wanting to keep the man waiting, he frankly revealed with a cruel, twisted smile,
"Felicia and I have been sleeping together before you got married. And we have been fucking the entire time. Get it? The entire time! Hahaha!"
Clearly Petrino was alluding to Lady Felicia having an affair with him despite being married for over eleven years!
And then seeing Lapitus grimace at this, Petrino let out another small euphoric chuckle.
The man had already given up getting out of this room alive, and so seemed to be on the path of inflicting as much psychological damage to Lapitus as possible.
Hence with a cackle, he continued,
"As for that rape you mentioned¡in that party¡ nothing like that happened. She and I simply slept together. That''s why I was so confused when you said that I r@ped her."
"R@pe her! Bah! Why would I have to r@pe Felicia? The slut opens her legs faster than those whores. All I have to do is look at her!"
Petrino actually sounded a bit disgusted at the usation, like Lady Felicia was beneath him to vite, as if she was too easy to get.
And if Lapitus did not know that Petrino was actually too arrogant and stupid to be able toe up with this nonsense on the spot, he would have gutted the man then and there.
Listening to him any longer would have simply made Lapitus''s ears hurt.
But Lapitus knew Petrino.
And though his heart screamed it was all a lie, that his beloved wife could never do a thing like that, his brain was telling him the opposite, it was telling him that Petrino''s testimony was indeed possible.
"What! What are saying? Why would Felicia do such a thing?" Lapitus''s voice right now sounded vastly different from before.
Whereas prior it was strong and robust and full of authority, now it was weak and meek.
Lapitus even sounded like he was on the verge of breaking into tears and copsing.
If what Petrino said was true, then what was the point of all of this?
Who was he doing all this for?
These were the kinds of thoughts he was currently having.
And seeing this, Petrino gave no mercy, answering with a taunted bark,
"Hah! Isn''t it obvious? Felicia has already loved the best things in life. Food, clothes, jewelry, homes."
"She wants the very best."
"But how could a pathetic beggar like you ever be able to get her any of that?"
"Just one bottle of that perfume I bought her costs more than your entire year''s sry."
Petrino openly smirked with a taunt before finishing by saying,
"Haven''t you ever bothered to wonder how she was able to afford all of those expensive things?"
"Because I bought them for her."
"And that''s why she did it!"
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Chapter 750 Lapitus and Petrino (Part-3)
Chapter 750 Lapitus and Petrino (Part-3)
The things Petrino seemed to im about Lady Felicia seemed to make no sense to Lapitus.
"What do you mean you bought those things for her? Everything she got was from father-inw!"
Lapitus seemed to loudly correct Petrino.
"Heh!" But this only produced a mocking scoff from the other side.
"Father! Father never ever bothered to look at that stray bitch. And why would he? Every time he looked at her, it only reminded him of his shame!"
Petrino clearly understood Lord Ponticus much more than Lapitus, as he then continued with that twisted smile.
"After Felicia''s nned marriage with that noble was annulled, father wanted to simply kick her out of the mansion."
"And realizing this, she came to me."
"Spread her legs like a whore, begging me to let her stay."
"And I found her pussy to be nice and tight, So I let her. Got her to be my wife''s handmaid. That way I could fill her whenever I wanted, haha." Petrino appeared to take a twisted joy in retelling his story, making sure to use especially vulgar words to describe Lady Felicia in order to anger Lapitus.
While hearing this Lapitus''s eyes became frostier and frostier.
He did not know what to believe.
On one hand, his heart told him that the Felicia he knew would never do such a thing.
On the other, Petrino was able to provide details he should have no business knowing.
While Lapitus was struggling in this typhoon of confusion, Petrino continued,
"And that rape you were using me of, do you want to know what really happened?" His tone by now was more baiting than taunting, eyes swimming with mischief and malice, as then without waiting for Lapitus he revealed,
"It was all nned! I did it to humiliate you!"
"I ordered that maid to spike your drink and let you rape her."
"And I intentionally let everyone discover me and Felicia."
"So that everyone would know I fucked your wife. So that you will never be able to raise your head in front of me! Hahahaha," At this point Petrino let out another mad cackle,
"And do you want to know the best part? I actually got her pregnant! Hahaha, yes that daughter of yours is actually mine, hahahaha. Cuck! What a cuck! hehehe!"
By now Petrino''s hoarseughs sounded like that of a half deranged lunatic.
But as Petrino revealed this, supremely happy about himself, he failed to notice that Lapitus''s eyes had gone through a subtle change.
No longer was it like the icy cold depths of the abyss.
But there appeared to be a tiny spark in them.
Like he had found salvation in the midst of pitch ck darkness.
So instead of swinging his sword with fury and prejudice, Lapitus only asked in a low, spooky tone, "You said that everything she got was given by you? That master never gave her anything."
"Then tell me, what was thest thing that you gave her?"
Lapitus seemed to have found a small w in Petrino''s rhetoric.
But oblivious to the subtle changes in his opponent''s tone, Petrino very confidently revealed,
"Of course, it was that perfume. I forgot its name, but it smelled of lc."
Lapitus knew the fragrance he was talking out.
He had smelled it on Lady Felicia the day she had left, and she imed to have gotten it from her father.
But that was not the veryst thing Lady Felicia had shown him iming to have been gifted by her father.
"Wrong! It was a type of food. Say it! If you can?!"
So Lapitus again urged Petrino, even giving him a hint.
"Wha¡ that¡. Argghhh!"
But Petrino was unable to remember.
Lady Felicia was not his only mistress, the number being close to a dozen.
So Petrino was not able to urately remember what present he had given to whom and exactly when.
A task especially made difficult given he was heavily drunk and every time he tried to think, he was battered by an unbearable stinking pain in his head.
And to make matters further worse for him, he did embellish the truth here about gifting everything to Lady Felicia by himself.
Whereas the real thing was, Lord Ponticus did also asionally gift Lady Felicia some things.
Not necessarily because his heart was awash with love for his daughter.
But more so because he was a man who very much prided himself in his image and maintained it.
So if Lady Felicia were to appear too shabby in public, it would directly put mud on him and his family.
Hence he made sure to gift her the bare necessities required to maintain her image as part of his prestigious family.
Also if one thought about it, if Lady Felicia were to im all the gifts she received were from her father when it was all from Petrino, that would be a very foolish move.
Because Lapitus met with the city lord every day.
And it would have been very natural to bring up the topic of the gift during the many small talks he would inevitably have like Lapitus thanking Lord Ponticus for his generosity.
But if thetter were to then act like he had no idea what he was talking about, it would easily expose Lady Felicia.
So in reality, Lady Felicia did take things from Petrino.
But she also received some things from her father.
And she would always cleverly bundle the two things together so that unless Lapitus went really in depth about the gifts with Lord Ponticus, she would remain safe.
And as a happy happenstance, Lapitus tended to be a bit shy about discussing the gifts Lady Felicia received from Lord Ponticus.
Though he tried to hide it, he understood that he could afford his wife''s expensive tastes, and knew this was his master''s way of helping them.
So he usually stayed silent regarding these, instead showing his appreciation through hard work and dedication to Lord Ponticus.
Something that very much impressed Lord Ponticus, especially because he did not know why Lapitus was working so hard.
After all, in his mind, the gifts he gave them did not merit such toiling.
As Lapitus started to connect some of the dots together, in order to form aplete picture, he found that he needed Petrino to answer this onest question.
"What was it? It was a type of wine! Say it!"
The answer to what was thest thing Lady Felicia had shown him was of course the sweet wine, that sweet wine that he used to kill Kalidus.
And seeing Petrino struggle to give an answer, Lapitus further helped the man with a clue.
If the man could truly answer it, Lapitus would be almost certain he was telling the truth.
''Ughhh¡ mmmm,"
But Petrino was ultimately unable to answer.
"I knew it! Everything you said was a lie!"
And this simple failure suddenly caused Lapitus topletely flip back on his thoughts, as he clenched his teeth and dered in a malice filled voice.
"I will admit I was almost hoodwinked by you. Good, Petrino, good. I never thought you were such a talented storyteller. I must apud you. Almost everything you said almost made sense."
By now Lapitus''s eyes seemed to have regained their previous luster, now burning with mes of anger,
"But only almost! You should have quit while you were ahead." He solemnly dered.
While Petrino, seeing this sudden change in his opponent waspletely caught off guard.
He did not know where he messed up.
Because to him, he had spoken mostly the truth.
So Lapitus helped him in, "You should have never imed that Fabiyana was yours. Because more than a month before you vited her, Felicia had already informed me she was pregnant!"
"I also clearly remember Fabiyana was born eight months after that incident. Not nine!"
What more evidence would one need than this?
"Wha..t? But she¡ she promised me¡ she¡" And this truly was news to Petrino.
Up until this point, he had firmly believed Fabiyana to be his.
That was also one of the reasons why he favored Lady Felicia so much.
"Heh!" And seeing his enemy revert back to his cowardly self, Lapitus produced a simr taunt as Petrino had done so many times before, before bringing himself closer to Petrino and in a voice resembling that of a vengeful ghost''s saying,
"And let me tell you one more thing! When Felicia was seven months pregnant, we got a doctor to see her."
"And after examining her, he said something truly frightening."
"He said that that she showed signs of being poisoned! And there was a high possibility that she could have a miscarriage."
"And guess where that poison was from? It was from that incense gifted to her when you and your wife came to visit us!"
"That poisonous bitch! She must have thought you made Felicia pregnant after what you did."
"And just because of that, she tried to kill my child!"
"You two really make a good couple!"
As Lapitus finished saying this, without giving Petrino to say anything and ignoring all his hysterical screams, he raised his de high into the air and,
*sh* Petrino was cleanly decapitated with a single swing.
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Chapter 751 Lapitus and Petrino (Part-4)
Chapter 751 Lapitus and Petrino (Part-4)
As Lapitus raised his sword to deal the final blow, seeing his life sh before him, Petrino let out onest shout to try and save his life,
"Wait! What do you mean I poisoned her? I never did anything like that. It wasFelicia that actually poisoned¡"
But Lapitus was fed up with all of Petrino''s lies.
Feeling his ears would only hurt to keep listening, Lapitus did not bother to hear the man out, and using his wife''s name as the trigger, Lapitus simply swung his weapon, the huge strike managing to separate the neck from the body in one clean cut.
Being able to cut through all that muscle, tissue, and the thick, solid spinal cord in a single swing, went on to show just how strong of a man Lapitus really was.
*Thud*
As the de cleaved through the neck, the severed head cleanly rolled onto the sheets with a wet thud, dying them a reddish ck hue, the face still sporting thest expression it had made.
It was one of shock and surprise, with a hint of bitterness mixed in.
It was only in hisst moments that Petrino truly understood how deeply that woman had yed him.
For even with Lapitus providing such apelling argument against Fabiyana being his daughter, Petrino was still almost certain that she was his.
And the reason he came to that conclusion was because he knew about that poison Lapitus mentioned.
Lady Felicia had used it before!
When Petrino had made her one of his wife''s handmaidens, he suspected Lady Felicia of poisoning his wife. rendering her unable to bear any children for him.
And it was through that toxic incense she did it, making her barren and sickly.
As for the reason why.
Petrino suspected that originally, it had been Lady Felicia''s n back then to have a child with him and prevent any others.
That way, with no legitimate heirs, it would make them the only viable sessor to his fortunes.
But of course, things did not pan out like that.
Lord Ponticus suddenly made her marry Lapitus.
And so she had to change tactics.
She bore Petrino''s child in secret but to masquerade her as it was Lapitus''s, she even poisoned herself with a lighter dose of the substance to induce an premature delivery.
The dangers with that move need not be said, as she had to be very sure of the precise dosage just by eyeballing it, or there would be the chances of either a total miscarriage or the tactic not working as intended.
But the greed in her heart pushed her to do so regardless.
And even though she somehow seeded, it still hadsting effects on her daughter.
One of the reasons Fabiyana looked a good one or two years younger than her age would dictate was due to thesting effects of this poison.
But to Lady Felicia, ever harming her own daughter for her own gain was not out of the realm of possibility.
What a scary woman!
It was only at the very tail end of his life that Petrino truly woke up to the fact.
She had poisoned herself and had possibly staged that check up with the doctor.
In that way, whether she gave birth prematurely, on time, or even past the due date, all could be attributed to the poison.
As for how she was able to tell Lapitus she was pregnant even a month before she was one, well, Petrino had no good answer for that.
Perhaps Lady Felicia simply foresaw that Petrino would take her during the party and prudently predicted that it would be that time of her month.
Much of the above conjectures were only that, conjectures in Petrino''s mind.
He was unable to confirm any of them.
But if Lapitus had not decapitated him if he had given the man time to say his piece, there was a very true possibility that many of these conjectures could have been proven true.
But because Petrino had only slightly lied about a very small detail, it rendered his entire testimony dubious in Lapitus''s eyes and might have ended up costing his life.
Who knows, if Lapitus thought everything Petrino said was true, he might have even lived.
But sometimes, just as bundling up truth and lies together can be sold as the entire truth, like Lady Felicia had done with Alexander, other times it could also end up doing theplete opposite, like here.
Petrino had lied about his father because he disliked the man, and that slight mistake had let Lady Felicia inadvertently escape notice by the skin of her teeth.
What a small, yet huge blunder.
"Phew!"
However, unaware of all this missed content, Lapitus finally let out a small but relieved sigh after finishing the deed, turning to look down on the severed dead with a stoic face.
And as he looked at it, instead of being disgusted by it, he was more disgusted at himself for almost believing all the filth that wasing out of its mouth.
None of what he had said was said seriously, and everything about it was promptly forgotten by Lapitus.
Though some things might have been worth truly mulling over, like how Petrino had known Lady Felicia was unlikely to be a virgin.
''Finally ¡it is over!''
But Lapitus had almost blind belief over Lapitus, so instead he breathed a sigh of relief as withPetrino''s death, aware that with this, the entire saga was imminently about toe to an end.
The coup had already seeded, and all that was left to do was put the finishing touches.
Hence leaving the body there, Lapitus exited the room to rendevous with the others, and then in the following hours, quickly managed to fully secure the whole premises.
By now, the once bustling building was eerily silent, as almost all men, women, and children had been already killed.
And once the nerve center of the city was conquered, Lapitus quickly sent scouts to Alexander''s camp to alert them to the opportunity and have them be prepared to enter the city when he ordered the inner gates to be opened.
At the same time these scouts came to his camp, Alexander was still awake, actually entertaining Lady Felicia in his tent.
Over the prior five days, he had gotten to know her better, and through his interactions, though he was not sure why, Alexander hade to feel the same sort of vibe from thedy as he did with Gelene.
To him, it seemed like a bizarre thought to have since they looked nothing alike, but their manners and way of thinking seemed strangely familiar.
Plus, there was also the fact that Lady Felicia was trying to seduce him at every opportunity, boldly showing off her assets to Alexander.
Whenever she came to visit or Alexander went to her tent to learn about the political structure of Tibias, Lady Felicia made sure to have all sorts of wardrobe malfunctions, letting Alexander have all kinds of tantalizing views.
The only thing Lady Felicia had not done was greet Alexander fully nude.
But other than that, everything was fair game.
From nip slips to gazes deep into her ravine, to her creamy thighs, to even a few glimpses of her secret bushy garden, nothing was left off the table.
At one time, she even made sure that Alexander caught her breastfeeding Fabiyana, letting him see how the little girl was nibbling and suckling on herrge, leaking nipple.
Something that Alexander had found very tantalizing, his throat feeling perched as he gazed at the other free one.
Alexander knew, that if he did not find a woman soon to relieve himself, he might not be able to resist lying with Lady Felicia.
"Fabiyana! Fabiyana was not drinking milk. She¡ she was just¡"
Alexander also remembered that when the little girl was caught in that situation, unlike her mother she was very embarrassed, zapping away from her the moment she noticed Alexander''s intrusion.
After all, only children drank mother milk, whereas she was an adult.
And so going beetred, Fabiyana quickly tried to think of a good excuse.
"Ummm¡ Mmmm" But despite doing her best, she could only stammer.
Until she was saved by the very person she was trying to convince,
"Haha, not to worry, I know Lady Fabiyana is an adult. She must have been doing it so that she can quickly grow taller!" Alexander lightly chuckled.
It seemed that her mother had not let her in on her little exhibition n.
And at this rescue, the little girl was very d, nodding her head strongly with sparkling eyes.
Bing taller was something very desired, and she was d Alexander had remembered her saying that.
While Lady Felicia carried out these ats, of course, none of the little tricks escaped Alexander''s notice.
It was in to see to anyone.
But he only chalked these up as a desperate mother and daughter trying to cozy up to him.
It was a move right out of the oldest book and Alexander simply half closed his eyes and enjoyed it. And it was amongst such circumstances that a herald came to Alexander, informing him that the Thesalie gates were going to be opening soon.
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Chapter 752 Taking Thesalie (Part-1)
Chapter 752 Taking Thesalie (Part-1)
With all the nobles dealt with, Lapitus had little trouble getting the more neutral soldiers to his side.
These men made up the bulk of the remaining forces and once they saw that everyone else they might have relied on was already taken care of, no one saw any point in resisting.
Besides, many did not want to resist in the first ce, as they were quite in favor of taking Alexander''s offer and only followed Petrino out of sheer fear.
So when it was revealed what Lapitus had done, many rejoiced, with only a staunch few being enraged.
But these men were then either killed or chose to swallow their anger and ept they had lost.
So with this new reality cemented, the men guarding the gates swiftly followed Lapitus''s order asking them to open it, as they atst weed their new lord.
Back on Alexander''s side, upon receiving Lapitus''s scouts, the higher ups were quickly woken up from their slumber and informed of the situation, with Alexander even personally meeting the messenger soon afterward.
And there, he was updated on a very sinct version of the event that had urred inside the city just a few hours prior.
"Good! Lapitus has a great job. Tell him that I sent my congrattions!"
Once finished hearing, Alexander first and foremost let out his low but very happy cheer.
No matter what his thoughts on Lapitus were, he was certainly d at what the man had managed to do for him.
Opening the gates three weeks early really would help Alexander with his subsequent annexation ns.
Once the messenger finished his report, Alexander then gave his own set of instructions.
"Go back and tell Lapitus that he is to move all the soldiers and their families inside the Lord''s Mansion."
"That way they will be safe."
"Because once my army moves to the city, they will sack it for three days, only those inside the mansion will be spared!" Alexander repeated thest part to emphasize the point.
But hearing what Alexander was nning to do, made the messenger let out a cry of incredtion.
"Wha¡t! But my lord you promised they would be safe if we surrender? So why?"
That was not the deal in his mind.
He thought the people would be left alone if he surrendered.
So though he did not outright say it, in his eyes, Alexander was clearly reneging on his promise.
In response to this outcry of seeming indignation, Alexander''s eyes shed a chilly cold light, as he then icilymented,
"I said it would not ughter them all if they surrendered. Not let them go scot free."
He sounded very offended at a mere messenger questioning his integrity, adding,
"I gave you the chance to surrender five months ago. Why didn''t you do so then? Why did my men have to shed blood, sweat, and tears needlessly on those walls for so long?"
Then shing his palms, he dered,
"Since you made my men suffer, since you chose to resist, it is time you paid the price. The three days are my man''s reward for all their hard work!"
Alexander''s loud rant left the other side speechless.
Now, although this move sounded harsh, it should havee as a surprise to anyone.
Ancient sieges usually followed this pattern.
Either the city could obediently surrender and everyone would be mostly spared.
Either the defenders could resist the enemy and win, keeping everything.
Or the enemy could break through and make the popce pay for struggling, be it looting, plunder, or even outright massacres.
So this should not have been news to the man.
Thus it could be inferred that the only reason he was protesting was because he figured Alexander was soft and he might be able to extract more concessions.
Something which made Alexander particrly mad, hence the loud reply.
Hearing Alexander say his piece, the messenger had no reply, so he was dismissed as such,
"Go! Tell Lapitus this. Tell him that he has till morning to prepare. My men will enter the city at the crack of dawn,"
"Oh! And tell him to keep the heads of all the nobles and military he killed in a cool ce. I have use for them."
Alexander added thest bit as a side note.
He needed to collect those trophies for propaganda
Following the messenger''s silent departure with only a salute, Alexander then left itrgely up to Melodias to organize the army and have it ready to storm the city.
So the sleeping soldiers were quickly booted awake from their slumber and told to immediately get ready and report to their unit
Something which many were initially irritated by, but hearing the war was about to end and they were imminently about to get their prize, each man followed this sudden order like their sergeant was breathing down their neck.
Hence soon, about an hour before daybreak, Alexander''s forty thousand men were lined up right in front of the walls, ready and eager.
Lapitus had opened all four of therge gates, soAlexander surrounded each with ten thousand men.
''Finally, this will be over!'' And as the men waited with bated breath for the promised time, they all sighed in relief, beyond d they would not have to dig any more earth.
Some of the lucky ones standing at just the right angle even got to see the prize dangling defensively in front of them, for the houses and streets of the city were nearly visible through the open gates of the second wall.
All four of the thick, heavy oak doors there were once closed tighter than a nun''s legs nowid fully ajar- devoid of any guards, making the entire thingpletely deserted.
It seemed that after Alexander''s instructions, these men had swiftly left their posts and fled to the safety of the mansion, leaving the city defenseless.
Thesalie waspletely up for the taking.
*Trumpet*
And it was with the advent of the first white thread of light on the horizon that Alexander personally blew the trumpet, signaling the men to storm the city and im their reward.
He had informed them that other than the mansion, everywhere was fair game.
And the moment Alexander''s trumpet rang, it was like a dam had burst.
What moments ago were men arranged into neat little formations all broke like crumbling sand dunes, as they then maddeningly rushed towards the city.
In fact, if Meloidas had not set up which legion and even which cohorts would enter the city in which order, just this mad dash might have taken a few hundred lives.
After all, these city gates were intentionally made as small as possible, measuring only a few feet in width, in order to limit how many enemy soldiers would be able to push through if a breach urred.
So shoulder to shoulder, these gates could at best let in four or five men at a time.
Hence the prudent decision by the careful general.
As the soldiers started to slowly flood into the city from all directions, the people there, who were only waking up for their day, suddenly found themselves right inside a living nightmare!
Lapitus and the other men neither had the time nor the will to alert the popce of the impending disaster, being only too busy saving them and their families.
So while the few thousand men and their families sought refuge inside the mansion, the rest of the city was left to fend for themselves.
For these people the sun today brought them no hope unlike every other day, but only pain and despair, as Alexander''s men jumped on them like ravenous hyenas.
And following the forty thousand soldiers, many of the nearby camp followers too joined in this macabre feast.
Alexander had promised them this in exchange for theirbor.
Now if Alexander could, he would rather not do this.
Because once a city was sacked, its people vited and their belongings taken by the marauding soldier, it made the subsequent ruling of the ce very hard.
Alexander knew that with this order, he would be hated by the people here, and thoughts of revenge and rebellion would foment in their hearts for years toe.
But even if he wished otherwise, sometimes it was very hard to stop these atrocities even if themanders wanted to.
Sometimes, after breaking through a city, the soldiers would scatter to all parts of the city, like now. making keeping order impossible,
And because sieges were very physiologically demanding, by the time the soldiers would win, things like military orders and discipline would go out the window and the men would have only one thing in their mind, to take the prize they were promised, be it riches or pleasure.
And it was also the same prize Alexander promised his levies.
So the sack of Thesalie had to happen.
Even if Alexander ordered against it, it would happen.
And the only way to perhaps prevent it would have been to have a full-standing professional army that had discipline drilled into them every single day.
It would not work with a levied army like Alexander was using.
So until Alexander could have arge standing army in the tens of thousands, he would have to deal with such issues.
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Chapter 753 Taking Thesalie (Part-2)
Chapter 753 Taking Thesalie (Part-2)
Chapter 753
The sacking of the city, as Alexander promised continued for three days.
During that time, the forty thousand Zanzan soldiers and forty thousand camp followers filled their pockets with the riches of the residents, their bellies with all the fine food the city had to offer, and their spirits with the soft flesh of the women, and even the men and children as preferred by some perverts.
And as they enjoyed this, aside from arson and burning the ce down, almost every other heinous act was conducted by the invading men.
The Tibian men were beaten or killed if they resisted, the women were forcefully taken and many of their valuables were snatched.
And this urred to the point that the surrounding air around Thesalie for those few days was filled with the mournful screams of women and children and the mad cackles of men.
The only ones who managed to evade this cruel fate were those lucky enough to find a way to escape or hide and not be discovered.
In hiding ces like the sewers, the surrounding hills, or even inside the destroyed rubbles of a house.
But just how effective those ces were, was really up to the individual''s luck.
In this mad revelry, even many of Alexander''s high ranking officers took part, including many nobles.
He would eventer learn of many of them having taken part in a wild o*gy in one of therge halls of a deceased noble, the sound of flesh hitting flesh and loud and unrestrained moan emanating from there making even the surrounding soldiers blush with shame.
Given Adhanian nobles'' experience in that area, it was little wonder they would choose to celebrate like this.
And they did, they additionally let out cheers like these,
"Hahaha, Thesalie. We are actually inside Thesalie. I''m actually doing this inside Thesalie."
"Finally! My dreams! My ancestors'' dreams! It hase true."
"Lord Alexander! Haha, truly he is my lord, hahaha, glory to Pasha Alexander!"
Even as the nobles swung their hips and partook in these raunchy activities, even as they were there in the flesh, they still could not pull themselves out of the magical realm they were in.
Everything seemed too surreal to them.
They still could not believe they had done it!
And this feeling of incredulity would be hard to describe to an outsider, as the fall of Thesalie meant something truly special to an Adhanian to an outsider, something much more than the simple fall of a mere city.
They had been trying to get it for centuries and finally, they had done it.
The city was there.
A close approximation to what the nobles were feeling could be how the Imic world had reacted to the fall of Constantinople at the hands of Mehmed II in Alexander''s previous life.
The fall of the city at the hands of the Muslims had been prophesized by Muhammad more than eight hundred years ago.
At the time he this prediction, the Byzantine Empire was the superpower of the western world, whereas the Arabs were nothing more than a paltry group of nomadic wretches living almost uncivilized lives out in the desert.
So when they heard a man promising his group the capital of the western world, at the time it seemed like a pipe dream inside a pipe dream.
It would be almost the modern equivalent of iming that a poor, unknown country conquering Europe, a continent at the forefront of technological innovation
Thus many pagan Arabs had openly mocked Muhammad for making such a howling at the moon prediction and for deceiving his followers.
But right after his death, the Muslim armies had managed to crush both the superpower of the west, the Byzantine Empire, as well aspletely destroy the superpower of the east, the Sassanid Empire, even quickly capturing their capital, Ctesiphon.
And they did it at a speed that had to be seen to be believed.
So to the huge Muslim army, the capture of Constantinople seemed imminent.
And in order to prove their prophet right, the Muslimsunched a huge naval andnd invasion of the city.
But as you might well know, that failed.
As did many subsequent attempts.
Greek fire, its allies, and the formidable walls of the city all worked to keep its people face and the Byzantine royal family alive, as Constantinople stood for centuries.
Until the age of gunpowder and the arrival of Mehmet I, that is.
So once he took the city, he was able to fulfill Mohammand''s prophecy, something that sent shocks of tion reverberating throughout the Muslim world.
Atst, their prophet''s words were made true, and for their sess, the Ottomans got to rule the Imic World for the next five hundred years.
The fall of Thesalie invoked a simr feeling to this in the nobles.
Now, Alexander of course did not take part in any of the sacking of the city, even though a small part of him wished he did after hearing how the nobles had enjoyed themselves.
He wanted to experience that at least once in the time he was young and foolish.
After all, ''life''s too short, why not enjoy it?''
But these were only stray thoughts.
Alexander would never seriously consider it.
So instead, he and around a thousand men remained in the camp, nning only to enter the city three dayster once the soldiers had thief fun and things calmed down.
Something the guarding men were a bit disappointed by as this would mean missing out on all the fun,
Thus Alexander had to promise them adequatepensation in some other way.
While Alexander waited the three days, he did not simply idly stay in the tent, drinking his heart out in celebrations.
Rather, he was actually quite busy, mainly writing letters detailing his victory.
The recipients of these letters ranged from his wife and family to his allies such as Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah, to the king himself, and to even some of the more neutral nobles in the vicinity of his territory.
The reason for thest one being to show off his military prowess and pressure them into joining him.
Or at least discourage any attacks from them.
And in that endeavor, Lady Felicia had offered her help, thedy actually being quite well versed in Azhak.
During her lesson, she was seemingly taught quite a fewnguages.
And as they sat together and wrote these lengthy, personalized letters, she also made small talk.
Such as, "My lord, I really did not lie when I said Lapitus would wait ten days to open the gates. He told me he would. I don''t know what happened!"
Regarding this case, thedy was genuinely worried.
She knew this was one tangible thing she would easily prove to Alexander, and she had failed.
''Dammit! That useless swine! The one time I choose to rely on him he fucks up like this.''
''Ugh! And I was so close toying with him too. If I only had a few more days, I could have had him¡ fuck ¡''
Internally,the vocabry of curses and cusses this demure, soft lookingdy was spewing towards her husband would have shocked anyone.
She really was upset at Lapitus, for had he waited a few more days, she would have been in a much better position.
And once she had finished venting on Lapitus, she then turned to Alexander.
''And this wooden block! What''s up with him? I''ve been shing everything I have and he still hasn''t taken me?
''Is he a eunuch? Does he have a problem? I heard he has a wife and kid. So what gives?''
Alexander had proven to be a far harder catch than Lady Felicia had originally anticipated.
Originally, she thought that given Alexander''s young age, she would need two, at best three days to wrap him around her fingers.
She had assumed that with the man, or more like boy being away from home for so long, and fighting a war, theck of femalepanionship would soon overtake his lust upon seeing her tantalizing views and he would then assault her defenseless at night, thereupon having a taste of her delicious fruits.
And once he did this, given the experience, the illicit nature of the act, and the fact that Alexander had forcefully taken her, Lady Felicia nned to make him consider further concession.
Of course the act itself could be considered minor in front of Alexander, as he could almost do anything he wanted without facing major repercussions.
But Lady Felicia knew that nobles ced a lot of importance on their looks and so was quite confident in being able to make Alexander give out some things in return.
The extent being dependent on Lady Felicia''s skills, both in bed and on the negotiating table.
''Hehehe, he is a just ve. I bet he has never tasted a real pussy,'' Lady Felicia smugly imed after knowing of Alexander''s past.
But that confidence had soon been eroded by now,
Today was already the sixth day and that presumed nighttime attack was yet toe.
So currently Lady Felica was almost at her wit''s end trying to bait Alexander.
If nothing worked, she even considered attacking Alexander herself and go from there!
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Chapter 754 Lapitus And Fabiyana
Chapter 754 Lapitus And Fabiyana
"My lord, I really do not what to say. Something must have happened that caused Lapitus to open the gates early!"
As Lady Felicia and Alexander sat across the table, writing letters, thedy quickly let out these words.
And by the sound of it, she sounded quite concerned, like she was afraid that Alexander would use her of deceiving him.
To which Alexander simply gave a light smile, and breezily pronounced, "No worries. I''m sure Lapitus had his reasons. We can ask him when we meet."
The messenger that came to Alexander did reveal the chance that was afforded to Lapitus that enabled them to carry out the move.
But he kept this insider knowledge to himself.
After all, what use did an outsider have knowing these intricacies?
Lapitus could let his wife know in his own time.
But over on the other side, this mild reaction only proved to make Lady Felicia''s head hurt.
She thought Alexander was starting to distrust her.
Which then caused her eyes to flick imperceptively as she looked at Alexander with both anger and wounded pride.
Anger at him not believing, and wounded pride over the fact she was still unable to get him to bed her.
What made thetter part even worse was that it was not like the boy was not uninterested in her.
She could easily tell that the man before him was no saint.
He was very much like the lecherous men she had met dozens of times before in Thesalie, his eyes always moving towards her private parts when she disyed them, and his face turning various shades showing desire and embarrassment when she seemingly ''caught'' him in the act.
But what separated him from the others was that he did not forcefully take her like all her previous experiences.
For instance, when Lady Felicia had offered her body to Petrino first, the man had leaped onto her at the first chance like a ravenous wolf, and ate her then and there, with little regard for how Lady Felicia felt about the act herself.
And in all her subsequent meetings, the pattern followed, to the point she had simply be ustomed to it.
But here, when she came to Alexander, she hit a glitch.
Here, although the man clearly desired her, and she very unequivocally permitted him, he still refused to take the bait.
Even if Lady Felicia did not want it, Alexander had the muscle to take her.
So what gives?
Lady Felicia felt like she was at her wit''s end.
She had tried almost everything shing she could think of, presented herself in the most vulnerable positions, and even scheduled everything at just the right time to set the mood and make sure that there would be no interruptions.
But nothing worked.
She had even shown off Fabiyana to him, just in case his preference swung that way.
For instance, there were multiple times when she arranged to have Alexander catch the young girl bathing in her tent, attended by her maids, her wless porcin nubile body, and even her tiny slit fully visible to the man.
But Alexander appeared unimpressed.
So by now, Lady Felicia was bing desperate, feeling like ripping her hair out trying to think of a way.
A feeling she felt was especially urgent given that the gates had been already opened, meaning Alexander would be soon entering the city.
And the moment he did, it would signal her alone time with him was over.
She would have to leave the camp and return to ying that disgusting role of a faithful wife.
''Is my only option to get naked and beg him!'' Thedy cursed in her mind.
She did not want to do that.
Not only did that hurt her ego, but such a thing would also drastically reduce her own negotiating power.
So as they sat here writing letters, while one''s heart was filled with glee at the sessful campaign, the other''s was filled with agony.
"What should I do with your husband, Lapitus?" As Lady Felicia quietened down, retreating to her mind to try and think of a way to effectively seduce Alexander, the man opposite her suddenly posed this, for he felt the silence stifling.
''Kill him!'' And Lady Felicia''s instinct was to reply this.
But she of course didn''t say this out loud, only giving a tonic answer and saying it was all up to Alexander and she really did not care about her husband.
It seemed that the thoughts she had expressed to Alexander that day had not changed.
"What does my lord n to do with him?" Thedy then asked, her eyes hiding an anticipation for a bloody result.
"Hmmp¡ thinking." But whatever Alexander was nning, he was not in the mood for sharing.
Something that caused Lady Felicia to cuss at him again silently.
But the fact was Alexander had truly not decided what to do with Lapitus.
He had not told any of his officers or general about Lapitus''s nned activities, knowing they would make a fuss.
So instead, he decided toe to a decision by himself.
And regarding that, he did think about killing the man, even thinking he could spin the whole quite favorably.
He could say that he was a traitor to Thesalie and he hated traitors, regardless of the side.
Or he could say that he was a coward who hid as the city was sacked.
Or he was an oathbreaker who killed his master
In all these instances, killing him as a scapegoat might cate the public for all the loss they suffered.
These were the merits of killing the man.
But conversely, Alexander also saw merit in keeping the man alive.
He could use him as a propaganda piece, showing off to all Tibian nobles that those who switched sides to him were treated very generously.
And currently, despite how Lady Felicia painted Lapitus, and how alleged Lapitus nned to betray and kill Alexander, Alexander was leaning towards thetter.
Because the advantages were too lucrative.
With one Lapitus as a shining example, Alexander was sure he would be able to get a dozen soon.
So, though not decided, he was in favor of letting the man live, unless he revealed major deficiencies.
It was also the reason Alexander had informed city guards to take refuge inside the mansion.
That way their families and worldly material would be safe and they would not hold a grudge against him.
Which would then make it easier for Alexander to use them to gain control of the city.
After all, the people were surely to be more receptive to familiar local faces administering them than their hated, foreign enemies.
And if any problems came up, he could also make them put on the hat!
While Alexander had these thoughts, turning to Lady Felicia, he then brought up another topic, "By the way, given your husband acts, what will happen about the deal with Fabiyana?"
"Do you still want me to take her into my home? Or do you mother daughter pair want to live your lives out in a quiet country house? Like you asked."
In the past few days, Alexander hade to spend quite a bit of time with the little girl.
And she was truly a little bundle of joy.
Sheltered and a bit naive, she was not as mature as the other ten years of her time.
But what shecked in clever wit, she more than made up with a great smile and her bubbly personality, as whenever she met Alexander, she incessantly talked to him like a happyrk.
What she had done that day what she ate, her various previous experiences, the little girl left nothing unsaid.
Many times, she even showed Alexander things she handcrafted.
Alexander had indeed grown to be fond of her.
And she was even very cute too, inheriting her mother''s good looks.
White, spotless skin, bright limpid eyes, and silky smooth hair that actually reached almost her ankles.
Alexander had rarely seen such good hair.
Seeing these also made Alexander think about what to do with her.
''Hmm! Well, she can be a good older sister for Alexandria and Philip. Maybe even their personal maid once they grow up.'' He figured.
Alexander personally did not like the idea of taking Fabiyana as his concubine, due to her age.
He also thought that such a little girl should be allowed to enjoy life, and not be burdened with the intricacies of family life.
While for Lady Felicia, this question presented a dilemma.
She never really wanted to stay peacefully in a house.
That was just fluff.
And now that she was having such a hard time convincing Alexander to be with her, certainly wanted her daughter to at least stay,
"My lord¡ I think Fabiyana hase to quite like you. So if think¡"
Alexander understood the hidden meaning.
If Fabiyana stayed with him, she would certainly get a better life.
And he had little problem with that.
Following this. the duo talked about a few more things, but nothing of substance.
And in the following three days, no matter how thedy tried,she was unable to get Alexander to take her.
So she finally decided to swallow her pride and ask for it!
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Chapter 755 Zanzan, Adhan and Amenheraft
Chapter 755 Zanzan, Adhan and Amenheraft
Alexander''s letters of victory were received by his allies with a mix of tion and disbelief.
Back in Zanzan, which was the first to receive his news, Cambyses had let out an ear piercing scream of joy when the rider had first delivered it and then actually broke down crying.
She was that overwhelmed by it.
"Mistress! What''s wrong? What happened?"
And her reaction was so extreme that Mean who was in the next room came dashing out, her face white as paper, fearing that the messenger hade to deliver the worst news- Alexander''s death.
"Alex, ¡*hic*... Alex won! We won!"
And it took considerable effort on Cambyses''s part to calm herself down and ry the actual message to Mean, which then subsequently got an almost equal cheer from the girl.
Though Mean did not understand the exact significance of the capture as Thesalie as much as Cambyses did, the girl was always happy to hear her man had won.
"Haha, you are daddy''s little star! He will be so happy when he sees you, hehe!"
She was in fact so happy that even told her infant son of his father''s sess, twirling him around and giggling with a grin as she did.
In response, the few months old boy too let out heavy giggles, though it was more likely due to the fun ride he was being given.
The other two girls, Gelene and Ophenia too felt being over the moon at hearing this, with thetter immediately going to offer a prayer at the Gaia shrine ced at the back courtyard of the house.
That night, in celebration of Alexander''s victory, thedies feasted like they had not done so in thest few months.
Like Alexander''s family, many of the council members too got the messages of their great victory.
And though the formal celebrations would be done once Alexander returned, in the following days, many of them held small informal parties among themselves, toasting and drinking to themselves.
"That Alexander, he really is something. To think he actually did it, haha."
"Yes! He really is a monster. All those new things he invented. And now this!"
"It''s good to follow a winner, hahaha,"
Alexander''s victory here really affected the Adhanians in his ranks, with many of them feeling their loyalties bing solidified.
While Zanzan received the message of victory almost the same day as Alexander''s troops entered the Thesalie, the city being only 90 to 100 km away and a distance a skilled rider could easily cover in a day, it took far longer for the information to reach the capital, Adhan.
And even then the first news was sent by a messenger bird, so due to weight restrictions, itcked much detail, only iming that Alexander had broken through Thesalie and was getting ready to invade Tibias''s hearnds.
But that was enough to set the court at the capital abuzz and for the next few days that was really the only thing anyone talked about, as every nobleman tried their best to gather more information about it, with some even cursing that Alexander did not write more details in his note.
For that they would have to wait, as the riders with Alexander''s much bigger, several pages worth of letter would take at least fifteen to twenty days to cover the nearly 900 kilometer journey.
Ptolomy felt his heart surge with joy at having this god of war as his retainer or at least he liked to think Alexander was his subordinate.
"Hahaha, brat! That brat really did it. Celebrations! This calls for celebration!"
While one of the most estactic men there was of course Pasha Farzah, who really could not believe what he was reading.
When he had heard of Alexander''s ns to invade Tibias and given him those mercenaries, he certainly had been expecting anything much.
His only real hope had been that Alexander did not lose too badly.
Thus when his men got him the small, rolled up note, he had to scan it a whole four times to make sure he was not reading it wrong.
Following which the big bear like man had let out such a huge roar of cheer that it had made the guards standing outside almost jump to their feet in shock.
And then in celebration, the prime minister dered the next day to be a holiday in the city.
As for Lady Inayah and the Queen Mother, well under thetter''s order, the former set out for Zanzan at once, hoping to see and then report back on the situation as soon as possible.
And apanying her was also Kayvan, Pasha Farzah''s fifth son.
The man had only returned to the capital for less than a month, hoping to attend his year''s Jtaama, but under his father''s direction, he was made to return almost as soon as he got off the ship.
And if not for the pilgrimage, the suddenness of the victory, and the rtively dangerous water during this time, perhaps they would have been apanied by the king himself.
After all, to take Thesalie was a dream every Adhanian king had for generations.
''Once springes!'' So Ptolomy decided he would visit Zanzan and Thesalie once winter passed.
As for Alexander''s enemies, like Amenheraft, they of course received it with shocked trepidation.
For Amenheraft, it was initially one of disbelief.
Having personally fought the Tibians and even Perseus himself, he knew just how resourceful and great fighters those people were.
And though he hated to admit it, he did not think those people were so easy to defeat.
Never mind Alexander was iming to have taken the fortress of fortress head on.
Hence when the initial reports started toe in, Amenheraft''s allies simply threw them into the rubbish bin as being the howls of a lunatic.
"Heh! Has that Jakqum finally lost his mind? Even if he wanted to lie, he could have at least made it a bit more believable!" One of the nobles cursed Alexander.
"Thesalie cannot be taken. A million men can march on it and a million of them will be repelled." Another sagaciously prophesied.
"This might not be actually from Ptolomy, Perhaps our men have heard it wrong" While one of the over smart nobles even posed this.
But all of them eventually woke up to the facts that their scouts delivered and had to ept reality.
Thesalie was indeed in Alexander''s, and by extension Ptolomy''s hand.
And once Amenheraft did get confirmation, the man reportedly had closed himself in his room for the rest of the day, refusing to see anyone.
He simply could not believe it was actually true.
And perhaps more than even jealously, Amenheraft wanted to know how, how had Alexander done it.
How he was able to aplish in a few months what his ancestors had failed to do for centuries?
The three years that Amenheraft had spent campaigning Tibias had taught him just how tough a bunch those men were.
And just how cunning their king was.
And how well their cities were defended.
Even moderately sized cities were quite well defended withrge walls, never mind Thesalie.
So what happened?
How could this happen?
It would take years for Amenheraft to learn of the tactics and the new siege weapons Alexander used, ones which managed to snatch such of the effectiveness of those walls and make them vulnerable.
Although it would also be wrong not to credit any contribution of Alexander''s sess to Amenheraft.
For if the king had not attacked Tibias and ravaged it for three years, Alexander would have certainly faced far greater numbers and stiffer resistance.
But Tibias by now was exhausted, its manpower depleted and his treasury gone.
Finding spare young men in that country had be as rare as spotting a golden deer by now and the popce was nearing their breaking point over taxation.
All of this wasrgely due to Amenheraft.
So when Alexander attacked Tibias, it was kind of akin to stealing Amenheraft''s kill, letting him do all the hard work, and then sniping thest shot.
When Amenheraft''s archpriest Manuk heard of the win, aside from Alexander''s prowess, he also came to recognize just how big a propaganda boost taking that city was.
He knew after this many of the neutral and even allied nobles might choose to switch sides.
He had to stop that!
But before that, he had to stop that Alexander.
So as the brains of Amenheraft''s faction, he got to scheming.
Through secret channels, he had found out that Ptolomy had promised Alexander Tibias in exchange for his loyalty.
But now, Manuk decided to use a few in the court to try and poison Ptolomy''s mind.
"Capturing Thesalie has been always our ancestors'' dream. How can we let an outsider, a Thesian have it?"
Manuk knew Ptolomy very well.
And believed this would be enough to rouse the vain men.
Then a lift was surely to follow.
And as for thest notable person on Amenheraft''s side, Pasha Muazz, the rotund man had broken every single vase in his house and brutally stabbed four maids, killing three of them once he learned of his most hated man''s aplishments.
Not only had he killed his son, taken his city and now he had snatched even his most precious dream.
And it was said that the howls he made and the curse he let out shouting to the heavens were enough to make even his wives and children escape from part of the mansion, retreating to a more remote corner.
Chapter 756 Tibias’s Reaction to the Fall (Part-1)
Chapter 756 Tibias''s Reaction to the Fall (Part-1)
Pasha Muazz''s rage induced state wouldst almost a week, with his alliesrgely leaving him alone during this while.
Something that worked to make the man even angrier as he saw it as him being abandoned.
Normally, whenever he had these kinds of tirades, there would be a whole host of sycophants pleasing and cating him.
Whereas now, there was not a single one.
This vivid, visual representation of his fall from grace and the sinking realization of the scale of the loss terrified the man and he let out his insecurities the only way he knew how, through sheer unbridled rage.
The man was truly spoiled and rotten.
And the recipient of his fury was unfortunately the poor staff unlucky enough to get him as the master as well as the various materials that adorned his abode.
The death toll in his estate by the end of the week would reach half a dozen, with property losses in the tens of thousands of ropals.
As for Alexander''sst group of recipients, the neutral and ambivalent nobles, their reactions were mixed, ranging from unmatched tion in some to fearful trepidation in others.
It was almost a perfect reflection of their varied allegiances.
Some reacted like Ptolomy and his court, rejoicing, "This is a sign from the gods! His Majesty is truly blessed! It is only so that the city was able to be captured under his rule."
To note, their im very conveniently forgot about Alexander.
These kinds of people mostly included those who were already thinking of switching sides or in the midst of discussing it.
As for more neutral and hostile nobles, they were of course very fearful.
If Alexander could even break through a city like Thesalie, what chances did they and their puny cities have?
Hence soon some pleas of allegiance started toe to Zanzan, each bearing gifts and looking to swear fealty.
While another group of nobles took thepletely opposite approach, signing secret treaties with their neighbors and proposing to band together and resist Alexander in the event of any aggression.
And at the same time, they sought reassurance from Amenheraft, hoping he would protect them.
But Amenheraft himself was in a dilemma.
Almost all these nobles were from Zanzan and some from Adhan, and in those territories, hecked sufficiently powerful allies to reassure them.
Hence he gave them mixed answers, the contentsrgely depending on the peerage of the person asking and the strategic value of the ce he controlled.
And when the nobles presented their case as a group, one which caused much headaches for Amenheraft, he tried to bnce his capabilities with his promises.
So in the following months, Amenheraft''s standard reply came to be this, "Rest assured, the treaty with Ptolomy is still in full effect. Yournds will be safe. And when the timees, we will obliterate that blight from thesends. Fear not, as long as you are with us, he cannot harm you."
This on paper sounded very grand.
The treaty was only three years into its agreed six years time limit and that appeared to give Amenheraft a good amount of time to prepare his and his allies'' forces.
And if it was really true, perhaps it might have actually worked to alleviate some of the worries.
But there was one tiny problem with it.
And that was ''technically'', that treaty did not include Zanzan.
Alexander had refused to sign on that particr condition, iming all of Zanzan belonged to him and that all the nobles must follow him, while Amenheraft had categorically refused to ept that statement.
And with both sides at an impasse, the entire thing was left at that, in limbo with no clear direction.
So just as Amenheraft could im Alexander would not attack due to the treaty, Alexander could im there was no treaty regarding thesends and he was free to annex them, setting it up as one of the shpoints for the annulment of the treaty.
And the nobles of course were aware of this.
But when they raised these concerns, Amenheraft simply reassured them unless Alexander wanted to assume the title of an oathbreaker they would be safe and left it at that.
While the nobles, being stuck between a rock and a hard ce, the majority chose to swallow the exnation and hope Alexander also thought as Amenheraft did.
After all, whether Alexander bes an oathbreaker or not, it would not matter to them if he attacked and they all end up dead.
And it was out of that fear that a small minority, consisting of the most hawkish nobles, advocated a surprise strike right now right into Alexander''s hearnds.
They saw it as being presented with the perfect opportunity, with the man absent and his army upied elsewhere.
If they struck now, surely they could take Zanzan and cut the head of the snake.
But of course most of the men saying those were more full of hot air than taking actual action.
Theycked any sort of real authority and those that did, knew better.
The image of Perseus smashing their heads against the Zanzan walls was still vivid in many minds, and in thest two years, they certainly had learned of how Alexander had defended his city.
They understood that a solid wall of crossbowmen would be too hard to chew through.
Not only that there was also really no one close enough who could attack Alexander quickly enough to take advantage of his absence.
The only viable candidates were the Matbars (Marquisses) but each of them were hundreds of kilometers away, with their own security concerns.
Furthermore, even if they wanted to strike Alexander, given the approaching fall season with its harvest, followed by winter, it would be spring at the earliest or even summer when they could be ready.
By then Alexander might be already back in Zanzan.
A possibility made much greater by the fact that Thesalie was near the doorsteps of his capital city anyway.
Due to all these it seemed that for now, Alexander''s borders were safe, leaving him free to continue his pration of Tibias.
Aside from the Adhanians reacting as such, there was onest group that also reacted to Alexander''s capture of Thesalie.
And that was the Tibians themselves.
In Tibias, among the general popce, there was not much reaction, which was normal given the time period.
Given the technology of the time, the propagation of this news to the more remote parts of the country took anywhere from six months to a year, the carriers mainly being the traveling merchants and peddlers, who passed their information from mouth to mouth.
"The city¡ *sigh*, to think even Thesalie would be was destroyed. What times havee!"
"The blood¡ the blood that been spilled there flooded the city up to my ankles. I was there! I saw it!"
"There were auctions held at the market that sold naked girls in the market. Little girls! Ye size! It was horrific!"
"Those barbarians! They are here to kill us all! All!"
"The city was leftrgely in fact, The Adhanians spared the people as they promised!"
"The army there did not take even a single ve captive. Everyone was set free."
"All the citizens were given free food and coin inpensation."
Interestingly every peddler seemed to have his version of the story, his version of the truth.
And what was so curious was just how wildly some of their truths varied, to the point you would think they were describingpletely different events.
Then to further muddy the waters, these recounts would get further distorted when going from mouth to mouth among themon peasantry, and in a real-life example of a game of Chinese whisper.
So by the end of it, Alexander would either be a paragon saint of virtue, or the devil incarnate in the eyes of the people living in different parts of the country.
Now, though many of the tales these merchants recounted were of horrific events, be it true or false, but most of these talks among the citizenry werergely viewed as gossip and interesting stories to pass the time among friends and family in gatherings like one would banter when drinking or at the dinner table.
It was never seen as any real news that required them to act.
For these simple folks, Thesalie was a dream-like ce, many, many distances away.
Perhaps even in a different dimension.
Most of these peasants were so illiterate that they did not even know what was Thesalie, never mind understanding the gravity of its loss.
Was it a kind of food? Was it a drink? Or was it a city of great strategic importance?
If anyone asked this multiple choice question to a sampled popce, the answer would likely be neatly divided into one third for each option.
The only real records of the city avable to the majority of the public were mainly in the form of folktales and tavern songs, but even they only described how that king or this noble defeated the monstrous Adhaniansing to enve them all using the grand, impregnable walls of the city.
Those songs would focus more on the king, the gods, and the nobility than the city itself.
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Chapter 757 Tibias’s Reaction to the Fall (Part-2)
Chapter 757 Tibias''s Reaction to the Fall (Part-2)
In Tibian folklore, there were quite a few songs describing Thesalie.
Of course, they were embellished to the point the city was almost turned into one of tall, mythical tales, unting it to excess.
For example, in some instances, Thesalie was described as a great infallible city with walls kilometers high, literally reaching into the clouds, with them thick enough for chariot races to be held atop them and manned by a million men and a million angels.
That the soldiers there were undead, their numbers never depleting and the hills around it were treacherous and full of ghosts and spirits who would attack any invader.
It was such ridiculous ims that made the city seem more like something belonging inside a fairy tale, and the ordinary folk found it hard to rte to it.
So these kinds of overly dramatic descriptions simply failed to form any connection to the ordinary peasants and the fall of Thesalie was
As such, since the vast majority of the people did not interact with the city, why would they bother knowing about it or empathizing with its fate?
What did its fall or rise have to do with them nting grains in their field, milking their cows, feeding medicine their sick children needed, or a hundred different worries that upied their minds at a time?
They were already busy enough, they could not care less about such a distant, ethereal thing.
So in their minds, Thesalie was too distant a dream to care and most simply brushed aside the information with the following words.''That''s the lords'' concern.''
It was only the cleverer citizens, who learned a bit of writing and reading, who knew a bit more such as the city''s name and a bit of its importance, though even then it was only limited to that,
But even using this limited information, these men were clever enough to sense the impending storm that mighte as the loss of the city meant the gateway to their country was now wide open.
There men worried that the horrors of those three years might repeat themselves, and tried to think of a way, any way to prepare.
But found, much to their dismay, try as they might,rgely powerless in the face of it.
Alexander''s army was not so weak that a few clever peasants'' actions could noticeably affect it.
Hence they had little recourse other than to run or brace and endure.
As for the ones that were able to do something, once the scouts really confirmed what the crown prince and Lord Theony had imed, well to use the proverbial phrase- ''Shit truly hit the fan!''
A second round of panic, curses, and finger pointingmenced, this time the scale was perhaps even greater than the first time.
After all, initially, nothing was yet confirmed.
Hence many, even Perseus himself, had held out hope, no matter how ephemeral that Thesalie would stand.
But now that the facts were in, they knew they would have to prepare for the subsequent consequences.
Alexander was surely going to drive his army forward and capture vast swathes of theirnd.
And to counter this, first and foremost, what did the nobles do?
They then sought out a culprit for this failure! A scapegoat!
Yes! Such was politics.
Even when facing a dire, almost existential threat the Tibian nobles were more interested in ying the great game of the court rather than concentrating their efforts on trying to stop Alexander.
Were they stupid?
Perhaps.
But not necessarily so.
Because at times like this it was, this type of infighting and power struggle wasmon.
And it was even not as if this type of thing was only rooted to this time period.
It persisted even through modern times.
The best example would be how during World War two, even when the Allies were about to close in on Berlin from both sides, the German nners still had the time to argue and engage in interdepartmental rivalry.
The army, the SS, the volunteer corps, the various local political wings, all sought to try and snatch power from one and another, even though the power they sought had already be diminutive, the Reich by that point already having turned into a husk of its former self.
Never mind all of them were about to be indiscriminately crushed by either army anyway.
But even then the human nature of politicians could not change- the ever present desire for the umtion of ever greater power.
And in that endeavor, to root out ipetence before the showdown with Alexander, the court decided to first and foremost carry out a cleaning up.
In particr, Mithriditus''s faction sought toy the me for the loss of Thesalie on Lord Theony, iming he did not properly support Lord Ponticus during the battle outside the city, resulting in his death,
Initially, they had been very envious of Lord Theony getting that honor, but now that things turned out like this, they were more than happy to pick on him.
They imed that in the battle Lord Theony failed to show adequate generalship and also used him of leaving the city prematurely and neglecting the duty given by the king.
They argued that after the loss outside the city, he should have stayed behind to organize the wall defenders and mount a solid defense.
To emphasize this point they pointed to Petrino, Lord Ponticus''s son, who had stayed behind and ''fought'' till the death of him and his family.
The man was put on a pedestal of excellence and cloaked in a garb of magnificence, forming a perfect contrast with the man who had chosen to abandon the city and run like a coward with tails tucked behind his tail.
This was a tant vition of Perseus''s directmand and they imed Lord Theony should be punished.
All of this of course was horseshit.
Everyone very clearly knew what had happened back there, but the leader of the city, Lord Ponticus was a royal, a highly decorated military veteran, and perhaps most importantly a martyr.
The loss of the city could not be put on him.
It would be too scandalous.
And unfortunately, the next high level noble after Lord Ponticus that was present in Thesalie was Lord Theony.
So the man unluckily got his wastewater dumped on him through little fault of his,
It also did not help that Mithriditus''s brother was married to one of Lord Ponticus''s daughters.
And through him, the woman urged Mithriditus to punish the man for her death''s death.
While Perseus and Philips simply closed their eyes at this dirty move and let it y out.
Since Lord Theony had been lost someone had to be held responsible to cate the nobles and Lord Theony happened to be the scapegoat, being at the wrong ce at the wrong time.
The noble lord did try to argue his case, saying there was no way to hold the city after losing 40,000 men.
But the court decided to pin the me on him regardless.
He was of course not executed, that would have been too extreme.
But he was dismissed, or given an undetermined time of leave from court to spend more time with his family as they put it.
Only after taking care of this did the nobles start their discussion regarding Alexander and theyrgely came to the same solution- sue for peace with Alexander at almost any cost, while at the same time trying to raise as big an army as possible to replenish their numbers.
Thetter endeavor was to be headed by Mithriditus, and though the man enjoyed the power that came with it, it also caused him to bear a lot of the pressure.
"Mithriditus! How fast can you do it?"
Once Mithriditus was nominated, this was the first question he was asked, and almost every noble had turned to ce their sight on the older man, thebined gazes being so intense that even this veteran of the court felt a bit overwhelmed.
Mithriditus could tell that these impatient men wanted an army standing outside the city yesterday if possible.
''What am I, a magician?'' Hempooned.
The difficulties in achieving this should be known to them all.
"Spring." He gave a single word of reassurance, something which the court silently nodded to.
Mithriditus wanted to say the more realistic ''closer to summer'', but refrained from knowing the impatient bunch.
"We should also try to gain support from abroad. What about Thesos? Or even the Kaiser family?"
And Tibias''s efforts to save itself were not only restricted to its interior.
Like any other country with foreign diplomatic ess, they quickly dispaced emissaries requesting aid from its various allied city states, as well as that ducal family from Sybarsis.
Whilestly, they chose to try and negotiate with Alexander, and the envoy for that was surprisingly chosen to be Lord Theony.
No, Lord Theony was not chosen, he asked to be given the chance.
"It was my fault that we lost Thesalie. Let me go and try to mitigate this."
The man seemed to have atst surrendered to the court''s rhetoric and urged the king to give him this chance to redeem himself.
And Perseus knowing how the man had been yed, relented.
Though he missed the crafty glint in the nobleman''s eyes.
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Chapter 758 Lady Felica’s Offer
Chapter 758 Lady Felica''s Offer
As the third day of the city being sacked passed and night dawned, Alexander started to prepare to personally enter the city the next day.
This thought put Alexander in a very good mood as he very much looked forward to entering that dream city at dawn.
But as he was finishing up thest of his reportste at night, and getting ready to slip into the warm bed,
"My lord, are you awake?" This mellifluous voice sounded from outside his tent
And hearing the woman''s voice, Alexander grumbled, ''What is it now? Couldn''t she wait any longer?''
Given the things Lady Felicia had been doing around him for the past few days, it did not take a genius to why she was here.
She had be particrly desperate in thest two days, practically, and sometimes literally spreading her legs for him, to the point Alexander knew if he showed the slightest intention of taking her, thedy would be more than willing.
So her being here really could be for one thing.
"Come in mydy. It is very cold outside."
Alexander did think of shooing the woman away, not liking the thought of entertaining someone trying so hard to get inside his pants.
He did not like sleeping with such women who obviously wanted something in return.
But ultimately felt like hearing her out.
"Thank you, my lord. I hope I''m not interrupting," Lady Felicia entered politely with a heavy, hooded cloak draped around her, only her face visible to the world.
The nights here even in early August tended to get a bit chilly.
"How may I help? It''s quitete isn''t it?" At Lady Felicia''s genteel greeting, Alexander''s reply sounded hurried and even impatient, and he did not offer her a seat or even initiate any pleasantries.
If it was not clear even before, now Alexander made it crystal clear he did not like being disturbed like this, especially at this hour.
But Lady Felicia, to this only produced a light, unconcerned smile, not all seeming offended.
"My lord, are you nning to enter the city tomorrow?"
As if she could not read the atmosphere, she then innocently posed this with a charming smile.
"Yes," Alexander gave the curt reply with only a small nod.
This was open knowledge, Alexander saw no need to waste any breath here.
And he wondered why she was here wasting both their times like this.
It was then that suddenly Lady Felicia''s voice turned soft and sultry, her eyes turning soft and armous, "Then I guess this will be ourst night together¡*rustle*, My lord."
As the woman said this, she very deftly let go of the cloak, letting it pool to the ankles and revealing what was underneath.
And it was very surprising.
Surprising enough to make Alexander''s eyes bulge as he clearly saw what Lady Felicia wanted to show.
Despite it being night and the absence of any strong light source, Alexander always made sure to light his tent as bright as possible, using as many candles and oilps as possible, up to almost four to five times the average amount.
He did this because he had to stay up a lot of the nights to read and write reports and the soft glow of candles wreaked havoc on one''s eyes when straining oneself like that.
So Alexander did this under as bright as light as possible since he did not want to end up with eye problems by his forties.
And now, a convenient side effect of that practice was how he was able to explicitly discern the magnificent sight presented to him.
Now thedy was not nude under her cloak.
Lady Felicia could never be so crude and that alone it would not have made Alexander much moved.
Instead, knowing how to seduce men, she had very thoughtfully chosen her ''armor'' or perhaps more appropriately ''weapon'' for the battle.
And it was certainly a very potent panoply, the sensual dress certainly catching Alexander''s eye.
It was acy, one piece sheer negligee with beautiful flowery patterns decorating it. in sexy ck with alluring frills around the breasts and waits.
The fabric was opaque in around some parts and enticingly translucent around others, namely the fleshy breasts, sides, and the navel.
There were small shiny diamonds studded around to make the wearer sparkle, and pairing the dress was a pair of matching ck stockings covering the thick, creamy thighs.
But these decorations yed simply second fiddle to what the main attraction of the dress was.
The slits!
Yes, the negligee had strategically cut slits into the, three of them, clearly showing off the two brown buds on the chest, which had already be turgid, and the patchy, dark garden underneath.
It was a crotchless negligee, revealing all that was meant to be hidden while hiding most things that did not mind being revealed.
And seeing Lady Felicia in this state, Alexander would have to give to her, she had a killer body, and the clothes did not make her, but simply entuated what was already there.
For a brief moment, he even felt a bit jealous of Lapitus for having this bombshell of a wife.
And had to resist that small part of him that wanted to go grab those luscious melons and have a suckle out of those thick buds full of milk, or squeeze those luscious fleshy mounds on her nks, or simply thrust into her hot garden and take her then and there.
The bright light made it easy to that she was ready, for to further add to her charm, it seemed Lady Felicia had very naughtily shaved herself down there so that only the hair around her pink lips was cleared, but not around her pubes.
This worked to clearly highlight the parts she wanted Alxx to gaze at and this signal worked.
And Alxx found that ce to be unnaturally sparkly, with asionally a twinkle of light dropping down from there.
Very apparently LF was very wet and ready.
But as Alxx gazed at the ready and hungry women, who wanted nothing more to be taken, instead, seeing the dress, it suddenly made Alexander produce a slight chuckle inside him.
Because it suddenly reminded him that this dress was most likely designed by him!
Or to be more specific, about a year ago, he had shown Gelene this new design of a lingerie to sell, both because he wanted to see his wives in such a thing, and also as a way to cate the woman who had been trouble getting pregnant.
And following that, a few monthster she hade to him withrge smiles, happy telling him how popr the new design was with the upper ssdies and how she had gotten a special order to make a custom piece a very special noblewoman worth a few thousand ropals,
Alxx did not bother to ask how that woman was, it didn''t matter to him, but he did help a bit in designing the thing.
And well who would have guessed he would find it here of all ces?
''Not only does she have expensive taste, but she also has good taste,'' Alexander then half joked seeing his creation fit so perfectly on its target.
Then once having enjoyed the eye candy to his fullest, Alexander replied to this open invitation with a light smirk, and this,
"Mydy, it is quite chilly here. I suggest you put on something heavy so that you do not catch cold."
Lady Felicia was humiliated!
In her mind, she had shed all her honor and dignity and came to Alexander dressed like this, like a whore, and was spreading her legs so tantly.
Yet, he refused toy with her!
If Alexander had preferred men, she might have understood.
But he was clearly heterosexual.
And he clearly was attracted to her.
So rejecting even this open advance made her feel both ashamed and incensed, her ssy, soft eyes turning hard and cold.
"Did I do something to offend you, my lord?"
But Lady Felicia still did not give up.
Even when Alexander was ying the fool and clearly rejecting her, thedy still tried, as she turned to face still in that pose, pulling a hurt, forlorn face.
By now she had given up on getting anything out of Alexander using seduction.
And hoped to eke something out due to pity.
Seeing this, and feeling he might have been too harsh, Alexander stepped a bit quickly towards her, his voice by now a bit apologetic, "No, no, mydy, why would you think that? You have been nothing but of the utmost help to me in thest few days. I am very grateful for all the?information you have imparted to me in thest few days."
Then at this point, Alexander''s voice turned a bit hesitant,
"It''s just that I do not think it would be prudent to do such a thing you mother inw. Fabiyana would surely be hurt if she knew. I''m sorry." Alexander''s voice then turned strong and reassuring,
"And besides, you can rest assured. Whatever happens with your husband, I will take good care of you and your daughter. You do not have to worry. Food, housing, and security, I will see to it all."
Alexander till now believed that the reason Lady Felicia was trying to get into his pants was because she was insecure.
After all, in this time period, a widow living alone with her daughter was a very dangerous prospect.
Chapter 759 Safety Concerns
Chapter 759 Safety Concerns
In this day and age, a widow living alone in a city with her daughter was a very dangerous prospect.
Especially if it was someone as beautiful as Lady Felicia.
If she was left all alone in the city without any protection, Alexander was sure that thugs and gangse knocking at her door within days of her moving in, allured by her beauty, as they would visit at various times of the day, wanting to ''chat'' and ''check up'' on how she was doing and if they could do anything to ''help''.
And they would not even bother to hide the innuendo behind those words.
Facing them, without a strong man, Lady Felicia would find it very hard to get rid of these pests.
As for asking for help, well the most obvious one- calling the guards, would almost never be of any help.
They cared little for these minor inconveniences, and would mostly only act when a crime has actually beenmitted.
In their eyes, the distress of a widow would not be even seen as trivial.
And sometimes, telling the guards would bring fresh trouble, as the next day, being made aware of the sweet treat avable, the widow might find herself being visited by an additional man- the guard!
Andpared to the thugs, he would be a much more terrifying foe to deal with.
As for the alternate route, asking the neighbors for assistance, well they would almost never be of any help.
In fact, the widow might consider herself lucky if all they did was act as simple innocent bystanders.
Because most of the time, the neighbors would hate widows, especially beautiful ones.
And it would mostly be due to simple jealousy.
A widow minding her own business might suddenly get a visit from the housewife next door, but instead ofing bearing gifts, the housewife would almost alwayse to curse her in unspeakable tongues, saying that her husband stole a few nces at her during the day or worse she was trying to seduce him.
At other times, ''helpful'' neighbors might pretend to be friendly and introduce her to their male rtives or even themselves.
And refusing them would simply call for more harassment.
From simple things like upying the front of the door, to loudly singing lewd songs about her, to even stalking her all day and night for days, even weeks on end.
Some would even get physical, throwing rocks at the windows, dumping their trash in front of the house or even bullying her children.
If the widow still did not budge after all of this and continued to resist them, well the man would finally lose his patience, and wait for the chance that would inevitably present itself.
The window would then be attacked.
Following that, even if guards then chose to apprehend the culprit given a crime had beenmitted, well the damage would have been already done.
And besides, with this one gone, the next one in line would dly step in to try his luck.
But perhaps none of this would happen.
Perhaps the widow would face something much worse- being targeted by the gangs!
And if a widow was to face them, most of the time her fate would be sealed.
They would force her into prostitution if she was beautiful enough, where she would be made to entertain who knows how many men, both as customers and the numerous men in the gang.
Or if she was really beautiful, she would be sold into very.
Most of those gangs had deep connections with many ve traders after all.
And at that point, her fate would be to be brought by some nobleman as a sex ve, where her fate would be unknown.
If she ended up at the hands of someone like Pasha Muazz, where she might be hunted down as a human animal for other''s sport, to say her fate would be tragic would be an understatement,
Whereas if she ended up at the hands of someone of a neutral or good natured master, she would able to make ends meet without too much bullying.
But by that point, she would have almost no control over her own destiny.
So to survive in a ce like that, one either needed a strong man in the house or if one was a single woman, needed to be big and strong, and tough as a nail, in order to make it clear that one wouldn''t back down even if it cost you your life.
Lady Felicia could not do that.
She might be a great seducer, but she was no fighter.
And besides, given her beauty, no amount of fighting prowess might have been enough to deter them, unless she could wield flying swords like those in cultivation novels.
So in Alexander''s mind, he could see why she would want to sleep with him and try and obtain more security.
If he was in her shoes, he might have done something simr.
But though such events weremon in other cities, Zanzan was an exception.
And the reason had to do with how Alexander came to know about these harassments in the first ce.
Alexander knew about these things from two sources.
One was from Mean, who had iterated that her mother was killed by a such a man identally when her father was gone from the house for a few months as he was levied to a fight.
It was also because of that experience that she was so spicy and testy, never showing any weakness in her day to day, fearful that she would suffer the same fate as her mother did if she did.
The second source was from Cambyses, who would inform Alexander of such happenings in Zanzan itself.
There were a lot of widows living in Zanzan, courtesy of the war, and Cambyses''s officers would almost regrly report being notified of this kind of harassment.
And though they would try to help as much as they could, the efficacy would be limited.
At first, Alexander would order the guards to try and stop this.
But the policemen could only keep an eye on so many women and only for so long.
The city guards neither had the numbers nor the twenty four surveince capability.
So the hooligans could simply scuttle back into their snake hole when the patrols came and emerge once the danger passed, going about their business as usual.
So that kind of report continued to fill Cambyses''s desk and unable to find a proper solution, she then urged Alexander for a solution.
But even Alexander found it hard to solve, causing the man to rant a bit,
''Who said people in the ancient times were more straightforward? All I have met are scoundrels and scums.''
Here Alexander was referring to how people in his previous life used to look back nostalgically at the ''good old times'' with rose tinted sses, saying how everything was better back then.
''Back in my day¡.'' was perhaps their most favorite phrase.
But Alexander, being actually transported to the ''back old days'' found just how ''good'' and ''old'' everything was.
Not only did theck of technology suck, the people were far from the ''straightforward'' nature his elders used to tell him about.
In fact, he personally found many of the people here to be crude and rough.
Compared to that, the one and a half decade ofpulsory education in modern times had transformed society into a much more mellow, mannered, and civilized one, one where people, even if artificial, at least pretend to care and help.
But here, most people could ''fuck all'' about you
Life was rough and so were the people living it.
Now, of course, there were good natured people.
But most of them lived in viges and rural areas.
The phrase ''honest, hardworking farmers'' was still mostly true, though it was doubtful that would be said as apliment, for it was perhaps why they were trampled on the most, by nobles, by the clergy, and even the hooligans.
But for those living in the cities, Alexander found their wit and cleverness not to be any less cunning than the various scammers and swindlers of modern times.
So dealing with them proved quite challenging for him.
Until finally, losing all his patience at the incessant reports which demanded his attention, Alexander decided to do something brutal.
He at first ordered Cambyses to have the police identify all the hooligans suspected ofmitting these acts, and then two monthster, he led a full scale crackdown on all of them, utilizing the entire police force and even some of the army, arresting almost everyone in one go.
And once every street rat was picked off the streets, came the brutal part.
Alexander had at random every tenth one executed!
A 10% execution rate.
Yes, it was the same punishment as the Roman decimation.
It was a very cruel order.
But its efficacy could not be doubted.
Because once the remaining ones were told why this was done, these scoundrels suddenly had their spines straightened.
And Cambyses had not received a single such report till then.
A result which made Alexander feel that perhaps the strictws many of the Asian and Middle Eastern countries had were the reason why they were so safe,pared to Western countries which usually handed out much lighter sentences for the same crime.
Perhaps the mere existence of these harshws, with one or two living examples, repelled a hundred would be criminal frommitting any crime.
Chapter 760 Doubting the Truth (Part-1)
Chapter 760 Doubting the ''Truth'' (Part-1)
Alexander sought to reassure Lady Felicia over what he thought were security concerns, as he believed the woman was either scared of living alone or her husband''s retaliation when she did n to leave him.
But Alexander easily had the power to protect her in both cases.
In the case of the former, it was an easy solution.
While for thetter, Alexander could simply ask Lapitus that he wished to have Lady Felicia as one of his wife''s handmaidens.
Or simply have the pair to run away from home and take asylum under him in Zanzan.
Even that simple move would make it very hard for Lapitus to find the duo in a city of two hundred thousand.
But Lady Felicia herself did not care for those, her goals being much loftier.
So listening to Alexander seemed to make herself increasingly frustrated.
ording to her nned schedule, this should have been the point that Alexander took her to bed without any questions and the rest would unfold from there.
But the very first roadblock, the challenge of seducing Alexander to take her appeared to be too challenging for her.
She did not think simply honey potting Alexander, a twenty year old brat would have been so hard.
In her mind that was supposed to be the easy part!
When she had formted her ns, she had focused her attention on what to do after she hadid with him, thinking the first part was already set in stone.
But now when Alexander had called her ''mother inw'', she mostly knew this game was lost, for the word emitted a kind of taboo that was not to be vited.
And hearing it she had felt a sudden urge to stab the guy, the connotation making her feel old.
"Does my lord not find me attractive?" And then trying for the veryst time, thedy finally posed this, sensually biting down on her lips to show how ''hurt'' she was.
If the man still did not invite her, then Lady Felicia might truly be out of ideas.
But like predicted, Alexander simply smiled and requested, "It is gettingte mydy. And we have a big day tomorrow. Get some rest."
Alexander was not the type of cuddle any and every woman who came to him.
Alexander believed he had addressed the reasons Lady Felicia hade here dressed like that and that was that.
He would not entertain her more than that.
Besides he believed that during wars, one should be distracted by these pleasures.
And he meant to follow his beliefs.
Though he did feel a twinge of regret at not being able to savor such a delicious body being offered so defenselessly in front of him.
Especially those milky jugs.
But hey, you win some, you lose some.
Whereas in the opposite camp, Lady Felicia upon hearing this felt like her sky was crashing down.
If she left Alexander''s tent now, if morning came and their rtionship still remained in its current form, if she could not leave Alexander with even a single memory of a hot, steamy night, she knew all her ns and schemes were likely to vanish like smoke.
Forget about ruling Thesalie, Alexander might not even remember her other than that she was the mother of one of his numerous mistresses or worse maids.
While after reuniting with her husband in the morning. she would go back to her usual life.
No, it would not even be her usual life, it would be far worse,.
For without her father Lord Ponticus or her lover Petrino to finance her expensive lifestyle, the consequences could be imagined.
Lady Felicia did not want to even think about how she was going to lead her life from that point.
''Why? What mistake did I do?'' As she thought about these, the woman found herself asking, even doubting her own body she was proud of.
And then suddenly!
After almost drowning in this whirlpool of her confusion, suddenly Lady Felicia''s eyes seemed to extricate herself, turning from muddy and clouded to sharp and clouded.
It seemed that she had made a decision.
All of a sudden her face then hardened, losing all those soft, alluring features, while her tone became sharp, as she stepped towards Alexander in that outfit, boldly posing,
"Before I go my lord, may I ask who do you n on leaving to govern your city? Will it be you, a nobleman, or perhaps a Tibian?"
Thisplete shift to a totally unrted topic caught Alexander a bit off guard, as until then, Lady Felicia had not shown any kind of interest in any of this.
''What does it have to do with her what he did with the city?'' So he asked himself.
And he really wanted to say the exact thing out aloud, but in the spirit of keeping things civil and polite abstained.
Instead, he gave an answer that was not an answer, only replying, "Perhaps."
By now, like his counterpart, his eyes had turned very sharp and prating, clearly showing he did not like being questioned like this.
But facing such a gaze, Lady Felicia actually seemed unfazed, at this time point clenching her teeth and quickly saying in a single breath,
"Then would you consider me ruling the city in your stead! I know the ce and the people. And they will certainly be more receptive to a Tibian like me rather than an outsider like you my lord."
Finally, she revealed it, her true intentions, being forced to divulge them.
Lady Felicia had said these words in possibly record time, so quickly in fact that for the first few moments, Alexander doubted his ears, thinking he must have missed something.
But once the initial shock wore off, and his mind processed that Lady Felicia was indeed asking what he thought she was asking, a quiet but zing fire rose in his heart.
To think that after all he had gone through to have the city, a nobody like her would ask to snatch it from him like that.
She was not even a part of his faction.
''Who is she to decide who I give the rule of the city to? How dare she ask this!'' So Alexander was both angry and incredulous at the absurd demand.
After spending thest few days with her, Alexander found thedy to be quite smart in his interactions.
And that was what made the whole thing all the more incongruous.
So for a while Alexander did not know to respond,ugh out loud like he had heard one of the world''s funniest jokes, immediately kick her out of his tent in that state, or simplymbast her for even having the gall to suggest such a thing.
And atst he settled on this response, his voice mocking and taunting,
"Is that why you were trying so hard to sleep with me? To be my mistress? Did you think you could get it if I thought you were a good fuck?"
"..." Lady Felicia did not immediately answer, her eyes only fearlessly meeting Alexander''s erged and angry pair.
At the end of her ropes and seeing no other way, she had decided on this crude direct approach and simply asked Alexander what she wanted.
And the reaction was what she had expected.
If she was in Alexander''s position, she might have reacted the same, or even worse.
And that was why she originally wanted to worm into Alexander''s pants first and then slowly cajole it out of him.
But since that option was out, she knew she had to face Alexander''s naked hostilities head on when she asked him, so she then replied in a prophetic tone,
"The dislike the people of Thesalie have towards foreigners, especially Adhanians is truly profound. My lord, even if you can conquer Thesalie, you will find it very hard to rule the city effectively. Rebellions, riots or just subtle sabotage might continue for years, stoked further by forces from the capital. All this will make holding the city a constant headache for you."
"But if you let a native rule, a Tibian born and raised in the city, even if it is only a puppet position, all these problems can bergely mitigated." At this point, Lady Felicia''s voice had turned soft and enticing,
"And who better can you find than me, the daughter of the previous city lord?"
"I can help you rule the city without any problems my lord!"
Lady Felicia softly whispered next to Alexander''s ears as she finished by promising,
"....." Alexander did not immediately say yes or no.
He was moved by some of the points raised, like the inevitable resistance the city would have to his rule and Lady Felicia being the best viable candidate to try and minimize it.
With Lord Ponticus''s entire family gone, and all his male sessors killed, Lady Felicia was the closest living rtive the people had who was still living in the city.
So putting a puppet like her on the throne was also a time tested technique, with perhaps the best example being how the British were able to control a quarter of the world using this.
So its efficacy could never be questioned.
But he was also skeptical about some of the other things.
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Chapter 761 Doubting the Truth (Part-2)
Chapter 761 Doubting the ''Truth'' (Part-2)
Lady Felicia had made quite a good case for herself when she asked Alexander to let her control the city, with Alexander agreeing on many of them.
But there were some details Alexander disagreed with.
For instance, he doubted how much Perseus would be able to create chaos in Thesalie given he nned to soon push forward and that should be more than enough to upy the king''s attention for any foreseeable time frame.
Also, he wondered just how influential thedy really was among the people, given that she was a woman.
In this time period, if she were to take the mantle of the city lord and start preaching about Alexander,
even the uneducated city dwellers would be smart enough to guess how she has spread her legs to get that post.
So her im to be able to cate the public was not nearly as robust as she made it sound to be.
All of this meant that Lady Felicia, though certainly a strong candidate, was not the only candidate as she was making herself out to be.
Thus after hearing Lady Felicia''s speech, Alexander then replied with a light smirk,
"Oh, then how does Lady Felicia wish to rule the city? Together with your husband? I thought you hated him? How is that gonna work?"
That derision in Alexander''s face was apparent, as disregarding the veracity of all that she had said, she appearing now and here asking this implicitly meant she had been lying to some extent to him all along.
But if Alexander thought he would see Lady Felicia''s countenance falter at this, then he was going to be disappointed.
Having lied to her husband for more than a literal decade, Lady Felicia had developed a knack foring up with twisting stories that was hard to match.
Hence putting on a slightly awkward face, she confidently replied with a soothing voice,
"I know me suddenly asking this is a lot, my lord. I am also aware you must be thinking why I chose to raise this now of all time. Why didn''t I say it sooner?"
"Let me answer." Lady Felicia''s eyes at this point clear and limpid.
"The reason is because at first I did not know you, my lord. And knowing the gravity of the thing I wanted to ask, I thought it would be better if we could get to ''know each other'' a bit better first. That is the reason behind all the actions in the past few days." Lady Felicia''s tone sounded very honest, as it then turned a bit pleading,
"But believe my lord, I never meant to deceive you. Perhaps my methods were not straightforward and to your liking, but I truly want to help you!"
"I was born and raised in Thesalie and I truly love the city. So it aches my heart when I think how the people might suffer."
At this point, Lady Felicia turned to gaze squarely at Alexander, iming in a solemn tone,
"I do not me you my lord for conquering the city. This is war and to victor belongs the spoils. Neither do I hold any grudge for my father''s death."
"He was a great warrior and dying in the battlefield was perhaps the greatest honor for him."
"But I do wish to protect his legacy, this city, and its people."
"......" As Lady Felicia finished, Alexander would have to give it to her it was certainly an impassioned speech.
One with which he would certainly empathize with a bit, as though she did try to seduce him to bed, it was nothing malicious.
But he did not immediatelyment on that.
Instead, he posed, "And what about your husband? Where does hee into all this?"
He needed to know if all what he had been told about Lapitus was all hogwash.
But how could Lady Felicia reveal the truth?
So using Alexander''s favourability from the previous speech, she mixed in her answer with some truths and a lot of tant lies, providing Alexander with a poisoned honey mixture.
"What I said about my husband is all correct my lord. There really were 10,000 men that were supposed toe. And he did ask me to try and poison you."
"But even as he these,in some other cases, he also appeared to be indecisive, like he does not know what he should do."
At Lady Felicia miing this, Alexander produced an intrigued look, signaling her to continue.
Which made the schemingdy''s heart dance with joy, as she had made thatst part up because she was afraid Alexander might be able to sense some inconsistencies in her rhetoric at one point.
But now, she could dump anything weird or inexplicable on Lapitus simply being indecisive and acting in conflict with his own goals.
So encouraged by Alexander''s reaction, Lady Felicia revealed, "I think I told you my lord, but Lapitus initially was reluctant to surrender, being of the mind to continue fighting till the end."
"It was really me who pushed him to change."
"And though he did open the gates, I believe he still holds some fealty to his former oath."
"The proof is that he wanted to wait for more men and that he wanted to kill you."
"So if you make us couple rule the city, I fear Lapitus might change his mind at some point after being coerced by people from the capital."
"I fear he might forget his oath to you in response to an older fealty."
At this point Lady Felicia paused a bit, letting her warning set root in Alexander''s heart.
And Alexander did find the prospect of Lapitus, or any former Tibian officer having a change of heart very possible.
The man had served as the city lord''s right hand man for years, and it would not be hard to imagine him fighting for his master''s glory.
And as these suspicions grew inside. Alexander, Lady Felicia added fuel to the fire,her voice once again resuming after a while, this time turning a bit grave, her chilly with a glint of cunningness,
"Previously my lord you asked what my opinion was on how Lapitus ended up. And I replied it was up to you to decide my lord."
"But I was not being entirely truthful back then. What I wished to say was that Lapitus should be imprisoned."
"I refrained because I thought you would think me of an ungrateful wife."
In this way, Lady Felicia had managed to express her own wishes about Lapitus''s demise without sounding too scheming.
While Alexander hearing all this felt a headacheing. He did not know what to believe.
But instead of dwelling on that right now, he posed onest question he had in his heart,
"And that wish for you and Fabiyana to live quietly in a hut¡ was that all a lie? Did you always wish to convince to let you rule the city?"
If the answer was a simple ''yes'', Alexander would discard Lady Felicia right then and there from consideration.
He did not want such a scheming woman under him, fearing he really might get poisoned one day.
And in reality, the answer really was a simple ''yes''.
But Lady Felicia''s sixth sense, developed over years of scheming sensed Alexander would not like it.
So shing a light smile, she gently shook her head,
"No my lord. At that time, I had just met you and did not know if you should even consider my offer. I asked for that because if I then thought you would not even consider it, I would happily live my life like that."
"I''m only revealing myself now because I believe you to be a gentle ruler who cares for his people. And I too care for the people of Thesalie."
By now, Lady Felicia sounded like a freaking saint, making Alexander wonder if she was going to sp her hands and get down on her knees to pray.
Hearing the sincere tone in which Lady Felicia replied, Alexander first gave a slow nod,menting, "You say a lot of great things Lady Felicia. And you revealed a great deal many. For that, you have my gratitude."
But then Alexander''s eyes turned prating, as he posed,
"So I believe if I were to ask your husband about this, he will surely be able to coborate?"
Alexander wanted to pressure Lady Felicia to see if she would squeak.
Because contrary to what he imed externally, he had trouble believing all the woman said at just face value.
In his heart Alexander cursed,
''She feels just like Gelene. No wonder I felt that vibe earlier. I must have brain damage to have not picked up on it sooner. I need to be careful believing what she says.''
At Lady Felicia revealing her true intentions, the lens through which Alexander looked at her nowpletely changed, as the man began to match her up against another scheming woman already living with him, finding striking simrities in how the two operated, always employing sneaky, serpentine techniques beforeing to the straight and narrow.
Understanding this, Alexander reminded himself that he needed to take care and be careful of what to believe of her.
But unbeknownst to such changes happening in front of herat Alexander''s query, thedy gritted her teeth and simply answered, "Yes."
She knew her end would not be well if Alexander truly grilled Lapitus for the truth, but by now Lady Felicia was already in too deep, she was no other way out.
Chapter 762 Punishing the Lady (Part-1)
Chapter 762 Punishing the Lady (Part-1)
When Alexander signaled that he might choose to verify the ims with Lapitus, Lady Felicia could only tersely nod.
She had dug herself too deep a hole, and to get out of it she could only keep digging.
As for Lapitus revealing anything, such as the surprise upon learning he ordered his wife to poison Alexander, well she would cross that bridge then she got there.
Perhaps she would be able to kill him before Alexander got to do that.
So now, thedy was starting to go into scheme mode.
While Alexander, feeling he had heard all there was to it, decided to excuse her, bidding her goodbye with this, "Okay, mydy, I will think about what you offered. It''s gettingte."
And he really did intend to think about it, as the question of who would oversee Thesalie''s day to day in his stead was a question that did bother Alexander for a while.
Now, it could not be one of his retainers because they were not his subordinates.
They were nobles themselves and handing them a city that was Alexander''s personal property likely promised great problems ahead.
Putting a noble there meant he would not be able to order, punish or even fire him as easily as he liked, and Alexander very wished wished to retain that ability.
Hence Alexander originally nned to pursue either of the following two options, have a learned ve like Takfiz or a mid level bureaucrat act as the city''s ''mayor'', or like Lady Felicia suggested, have a local noble or defector run it for him.
And it seemed the time to decide had neared.
While Lady Felicia, hearing Alexander''s promise to at least consider her was certainly d, perhaps not as d as she would have liked, but this was at least better than what she was going to get if she had never tried.
All her efforts, deception, and humiliation at least bore some fruit.
So shing a charming smile, she gave her regards, "Thank you my lord," as she then turned around and bent down to pick up her cloak, ready to leave.
But as she did, it was then, intentionally or unintentionally, that she presented her full bare ass to Alexander, in all its glory!
Alexander forgot about that part of the design, but the negligee Lady Felicia wore did not have a solid ''V'' connecting her front to the back.
But instead, there were simply two thin straps running over the pillowy flesh and meeting up at the waistband, letting him see everything,
The suddenness of this reveal caught Alexander by surprise, as he drank in the voluminous baster skin almost glowing with a healthy sheen and the secrets thaty hidden within it.
Alexander could clearly see Lady Felicia''s cute pink bumhole on the top, along with even the wrinkles, slightly shivering under her movement, while below it was the dark, hairy patch nestling her pink flower, one which under the light was even now simmering, a clear evidence of Lady Felicia''s arousal.
This dress and the hidden excitement thedy felt disying herself like this still lingered, as in some instances Lady Felicia could be said to be a bit of an exhibitionist.
Like how she loved to show off and unt her looks every day, she also loved to show off her body in secret, as evidenced by how thedy had even enjoyed herself shing to Alexander.
Faced with this magnificent white ass, Alexander suddenly felt a pang of regret at letting such a magnificent experience escape without even taking a bite.
Previously, one of the reasons why he had abstained was because he had been wary about the morality of the act, but now that Lady Felicia had shown herself to be like this, Alexander was far more disinclined to treat her courteously.
Though unaware of the extent, he knew there were lies mixed in with what she said and Alexander did not like being lied to.
He wanted to punish her.
And after what all she had revealed, Alexander was far more at easemitting the act, aware of all the traps and pitfalls ahead.
So stepping towards her quickly, Alexander brazenly grabbed her bare ass with one of his hands, giving it a tight squeeze and vulgarly smiling, "On second thought, why don''t you stay here the night my lord. It''ste and very cold outside."
Alexander used the same excuse to make Lady Felicia stay as he had done to try and shoo her away, while his hand began to roam on her naked butt, kneading and forming the flesh, and finding it to be soft and exquisite.
To an outsider peeking in, this scene without context would have certainly made Alexander seem like the viin.
''This bastard!'' While the ''victim'' of this attack, Lady Felicia clenched her teeth in anger and frustration.
If this had been Alexander''s reaction just a while ago, she would have been over the moon and even reciprocated much in kind.
But now that she had revealed all her cards, she saw no reason to sell her body to Alexander.
Which was also the exact reason he was willing to do it now.
And realizing this made Lady Felicia exasperated, feeling she had lost this round to this man.
Hence she tried to back out, as quickly straightening herself, and then she wiggled her luscious behind from his grasp, turning to give Alexander an awkward smile,
"I''m sorry my lord. But Fabiyana is still waiting for me. Lately, she has been having nightmares and won''t sleep without me. Must be the new ce hahaha,"
Lady Felicia''sugh sounded as fake and hollow as her excuse.
"Haha, right, right, okay then." But Alexander seemed to have seemingly bought it, not twisting her hand in any as he frankly nodded.
But only seemingly.
For lowering his mouth next to Lady Felicia''s ears, Alexander then oh so viinouslymented, "I''m sure mydy must be very busy taking care of your daughter. You must not have any time for anything else. Like ruling a city¡ *paah*."
And he finished bynding a very loud spank on her butt, one which made the maturedy''s hips buckle at the force and almost tumble over, as she was then assaulted by a stinging pain.
Alexander did not hold back on that strike, and Lady Felicia could almost feel the burning indent of the palm the man had imprinted on her ass, making it glow red.
Enduring this. to say Lady Felicia was enraged by this would definitely be an urate way to describe her.
But perhaps more than the hit, it was Alexander''s explicit threat that caused her to boil over even more.
Alexander had made it clear to her that if she wanted to be in the running for the position of the city governor, she needed to let him fuck her.
Now, initially she would have been more than happy to let Alexander do this.
She wanted him to do this.
But now, if she did this, it would be on Alexander''s terms.
So Lady Felicia did not dislike doing the act as much as the circumstances she was being made to.
But what could she do?
She very much wanted something that Alexander had and the man had named his price.
So letting go of the cloak in her and letting it once again fall to the ground, thedy turned around and presented Alexander with a gigantic smile, hiding any acrimony she might have, as she nodded pleasantly,
"I''m sure the maids can look after her. What would you like me to do my lord?"
''Very malleable and able to endure,'' And seeing this Alexander made note of one of Lady Felicia''s many qualities.
As Lady Felicia turned to face Alexander in her full glory, standing tall and proud, Alexander once again scanned her from head to toe, soaking in the figure of the beautiful woman ready to be eaten.
And perhaps it was how reluctant yet also willing she was, a paradoxical state if there was ever one, that ignited the sadistic side of Alexander, as his mouth salivated, eager to have a taste.
And his mind now switched to how he wanted to prepare it.
Typically what would Alexander do was make love.
But today, given the special ingredients, he wanted to have something different.
He did not want a gentle session or the fun explorations he had with his wives.
He wanted to do something raw and brutal.
He really wanted to bully this scheming, haughty woman and make her writhe under him.
But for now, he hid those dark thoughts, as instead, putting on a charming smile, he said while handing her a ss of wine,
"No need to be in such a mood mydy. Here let us have a toast to our newfound friendship."
Lady Felicia received this ss tentatively, weary of what the other''s n was here, but then she suddenly noticed it.
Unlike her, Alexander''s cup was empty.
And as if sensing her inquisitive gaze, Alexander let out a very lewd nasal chuckle, "Hehe, my drink is here, *squeeze*," as he then proceeded to squeeze her breast drawing a squirt of breast milk!
Lady Felicia knew at that point she was in for a rough night.
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Chapter 763 Punishing the Lady (Part-2) (R-18)
Chapter 763 Punishing the Lady (Part-2) (R-18)
As Alexander stared at his prey, the anticipation of what was toe made his loins hot and hard.
He had been pent up for months and was aching for a release.
Who knew such a delicious prey would be revealing itself to him?
As for his conviction of abstaining during campaigns, well he reasoned that it was already midnight, meaning it was already the next day.
And since he would be entering the city today. technically the war was already over.
It was with such shaky logic that he decided to proceed to have his dinner.
And the first course he decided to have was of course the sweet milk.
First Alexander handed the slightly stiff woman her drink of wine, who epted it a bit reluctantly, though she quickly took arge sip once she did, in order to calm her nerves.
While he decided to pour a very special one for himself.
"Hehe, my drink is here," Giving a vulgar smile, Alexander ced his metal goblet right in front of those hardened brown buds, and then eagerly grasping one of Lady Felicia''s abundant jug, gave it a squeeze, causing the fountain to instantly release its contents.
"*Mnnnn*" And the sinful nature of it as well as having such a sensitive area kneaded caused Lady Felicia to let out an involuntary moan.
''Bastard! Fucking bastard! What a degenerate! I will¡***,'' Though internally the harsh expletives she used to describe Alexander''s actions could only be imagined.
Tibias was a sexually very conservative country and even for her, someone who possessed a great deal of experience under her belt, this kind of thing was new.
So the shame and immorality of it caused her to wish to have Alexander burned at the stake.
But though Lady Felicia was seething, what did those curses have got to do with Alexander?
He was more interested in enjoying these fresh, juicy globules, as he squeezed and kneaded and pressed, each time drawing out a tiny jet of milk.
These tender melons felt exquisite to the touch, and Alexander was d only a small amount of milk came out each time, giving him plenty of opportunity to savor them.
Furthermore, to better allow the milk to flow, Alexander even pulled on Lady Felicia''s turgid nipples, causing a significant amount of her breasts to spill through the slits of the neglige and reveal themselves of the world, letting him perfectly see therge, saucer sized ares.
Alexander would asionally pinch these brown patches, turning them almost red and causing Lady Felicia to grit her teeth as she tried to swallow her moans.
As aside from the sensation of touch, he also enjoyed the sight, loving how the multiple jets from the many pores in the nipples flew through the air andnded on the walls of the goblet, peppered it with milky droplets and dyeing the walls a creamy white,
"*Mnnnn*, *Nnnnn*, *Mmmm*" While thedy experiencing these sensations could only clench her teeth and let out deep, nasal moans, clenching her teeth tightly to not give Alexander the satisfaction of hearing her moans.
''Heh, let''s see how she can hold on,'' While Alexander seeing this brave resistance, only sniggered in his mind, more than happy to let thedy continue her struggle.
It would make the show more interesting this way, especially as he very much looked forward to seeing that hardened facade crumble and Lady Felicia started to moan under him like a whore.
With that thought, Alexander spent some time filling his ss up, alternating between both breasts to not show any favoritism towards one side, until he collected around half a ss of the liquid.
While in the meantime, Lady Felicia simply bit down on her lips and tried to stay as still as possible so as to not spill her drink, letting out deep nasal moans now and then.
And finally that attack ended, and Alexander retrieved his wolfish ws, leaving the site of his attack reddened and a bit stinging.
Then without further ado, he raised his cup to his lips to take a long sip of the sweet, delicious treasure he had extracted, finding the vor exquisite.
He drank it with audible gulps, both because he enjoyed it that much and because he wanted to make Lady Felicia hear it, adding to the sinful nature of it.
Now. perhaps in reality, the creamy liquid tasted like any other of its kind, sweet and milky.
But to Alexander, knowing where it came from and how it came here, from a woman''s breasts freshly squeezed by his own hand, the immoral nature of it all made the taste so much richer to his ptes.
Alexander drank around half of the milk in one go and then pausing to look at the stony faceddy, decided to tease her.
"Has mydy ever tasted her own milk?" He asked with a mirthful tone.
"Hmmp!" But in much contrast to Alexander''s yful demeanor, Lady Felicia only made a disgusted face and a nasal grunt of disapproval at even the mere suggestion of the act.
A mother''s breast milk was used to feed an infant.
Why would adult men drink it?
It went against every moral and cultural tradition of hers.
So under her breath, in a very low voice, she muttered, "Degenerate!"
She thought Alexander could not hear it, but he surely did, and getting such a fun reaction, he decided to poke her even more.
So smirking, he taunted once again, "Then has your husband ever done anything like this to you, mydy? Or am I the first man?"
Alexander said this to both remind the woman of the corrupted nature of what they were doing and especially added thatst one to im she had done something not even her husband was privileged to, who was someone to whom she owed all her loyalty.
And though adultery to Lady Felicia was rarely of any concern, the context where she was being made to do such a thing made her eyes turn dark with rage.
The sight of that damn smirk and especially that brazen white rim of milk on his lips reminding her of what he did make Lady Felicia want to punch that arrogant face.
This time she did not choose to ignore Alexander and instead broke her silence,
"No. He is already a grown man. And so doesn''t need to drink mommy''s milk. But you go ahead,"
Though Lady Felicia did not exactly hit Alexander, the biting reply certainly felt sharper than any sword.
She might have lost the battle, but she had not lost her ws.
And it was such a good reply that for a second it caused Alexander to pause and his lips to twitch, as suddenly he did not feel like drinking the rest of the sharine mixture.
Alexander was even unable to give any suitable reply and could only look at the defiant woman with darkened eyes.
''Good. Breaking such a proud woman will make the prize all the more delicious,''
And then inside, Alexander''s desire to bully this woman and bring her under him soared even more.
So taking the rest of the milk into his mouth, instead of swallowing it, Alexander suddenly grasped her jaws and squeezed it, causing her to open her mouth as Alexander then forcefullynded a kiss on her luscious lips. his strong tongue invading the hot, wet space at once.
"Mnnnn!"
The abruptness of the attack had left thedypletely vulnerable as Alexander had no trouble prating her defenses, easily depositing the entirety of the white liquid into her mouth, forcing her to have a taste.
Alexander even swirled his tongue around to whirl the mixture, making sure Lady Felicia could not spit it out.
While her mouth was mped in ce by Alexander''s hands and he even hugged her entire body with one of his arms to prevent any escape.
So for a while, the couple shared this intimate kiss, as Lady Felicia instinctively drank the liquid, while Alexander savored the taste of his caged lioness, finding it both sweet and sour.
"Agghh! Bastard!"
And once this loving gesture was terminated, and the two separated, this was the first word Lady Felicia decided to greet Alexander with, as she used the back of her hands to wipe away any milk stains around her lips, looking at the man venemously.
Lady Felicia had never gone from liking to disliking a man so quickly and if looks could kill, Alexander would be six feet under so many times over.
It was clear she did not appreciate being fed her milk, somehow finding the taste and smell disgusting.
It was purely physiological like it was the mere fact of knowing where the milk came from, i.e.- from inside her, that made it somehow taste repelling to her.
"Hahaha," While Alexander, finally happy to get an honest reaction, let out a proud chuckle,
Even an angry woman was better than a stone faced, unresponsive one.
"How was it? Good right?" He sneered, only getting a menacing re and the sound of grinding teeth.
"Oh don''t look at me like that," And in response to this, Alexander produced a light, airy reply, waving his hand and reminding,
"You are making it seem like I''m forcing you. I''m not. If you don''t have to do any of this just say it. And I will be more than happy to let you go. All you need to do is ask."
But though Alexander made it sound simple, Lady Felicia knew she could never ept that option.
Chapter 764 Punishing the Lady (Part-3) (R-18)
Chapter 764 Punishing the Lady (Part-3) (R-18)
It was technically true that Alexander was not taking Lady Felicia against her wishes.
If she simply uttered the words, "No, I do not want to do this. Let me return to my tent," Alexander would instantly allow her to leave.
He might even escort her since it was sote at night and the route may not be safe.
Alexander by his very nature would never force himseLady Felicia upon a woman, no matter the circumstances.
But that did not mean he would not use other means to twist her arms and make herply.
Especially when it was someone clearly as dubious as Lady Felicia.
The woman was seducing him left and right for the past week, so clearly she was no innocent flower.
But now she suddenly wanted out.
No, no, no.
Since she decided to y the game, Alexander would make her see it through.
And that is why though Alexander appeared to give her the option of simply saying no and walking away, Lady Felicia knew she would never be able to ept it.
She had alreadye this far and there was no going back, at least if she wanted even a chance of getting that position.
Alexander had made that subtly very clear, for even as he was offering the choice, he added,
"I will even forget all of this that has happened between us. It will be like it never happened."
This to an outsider might sound like a sincere promise, but Lady Felicia was clever enough to read between the lines.
Originally Lady Felicia wanted to sleep with Alexander so that he would remember her, and now Alexander was saying this.
It was clear what he meant.
So erasing that grumpy face the moment Alexander finished, Lady Felicia once again shed that charming smile and mellifluously added,
"My lord, I certainly do not mind bing one with you. But all these other things are a bit new to me. Please forgive my earlier attitude and teach me."
"I''m ready to do whatever you desire!"
She did not want to lose her chance aftering so far and after offending Alexander, she thought this was the only way to prove herself
''Heh! How power hungry is this whore?'' But even though Lady Felicia thought she answered correctly, unbeknownst to her, Alexander noted regarding her like this, full of disdain and derision, with a bit of caution.
The things Alexander did clearly were not to her liking, but she still bore through it.
And not only did she bear through it, she even appeared willing to endure further and more extreme acts.
Just for the chance at the post.
Not an even guarantee, but just a chance.
If Alexander still could not judge her as ambitious and scheming, then he deserved to die at her hands.
So in this way, Lady Felicia had inadvertently revealed a lot about herself to Alexander.
"Good, good." Hearing the answer, Alexander externally let out arge grin and pleased nods, but to Lady Felicia, somehow he appeared much scarier.
Especially his eyes, they seemed to have somehow gotten even darker.
And she was correct in her instincts which were honed over decades of experience, for Alexander now thought to himself, ''Lady Felicia, I want to see. I want to see just how much you want it. How much can I make you endure?''
If previously Alexander simply wanted to bully her to reveal her true self, now Alexander wanted to tear that mask fully off and break her.,
So stepping towards her, Alexander first ced his hands around her long pubic hair, finding them slightly wet, as he then started to twirl them around his fingers, while he in a low, raspy voice whispered,
"You know that simply selling your body will never be enough to get you the city right? If it was that simple, then anyone and everyone would starting to my tent dressed like you, ready to be fucked."
"Even the men would be ready to bend their naked ass towards me."
"No, if you want Thesalie, you need to show me something more. Do you get it? Are you willing?"
Finishing this Alexander lightly tugged the pubic hair, causing thedy to flinch.
But she did not flinch so much at that act as at Alexander''s infectious words, which lit a fire of realization in her.
''That''s correct. I have been too naive. He is not like that idiot Petrino or that love sick fool Lapitus. I simply cannot satisfy him by sleeping with him. I need to give more.''
Lady Felicia might have judged Alexander to be a simple twenty year old beforeing here, but now that she got to know him, she understood her previous ''wless'' n would not work.
He wanted much more.
And if Alexander wanted it, Lady Felicia was amenable to giving it to him, saying to her,
''Fine! If he wants me to be his whore, I will be his whore. But he better give me the city. Or else I will haunt him and his nine generations even if I have to be a hideous ghost!''
Lady Felicia found herself victim to the sunk cost facy and since she had drunk the poison, she might as well drink the whole cup.
So with this promise to herself, she raised her gaze to meet the taller Alexander, curving her lips up amorously as she asked,
"What does my lord wish me to do? Dance? Sing? Perform some other kind of lewd acts? You can do whatever you want. Little Felicia is ready."
Little Felicia was something Petrino used to call her in bed, mostly because he was older than her.
But in this case, clearly, Lady Felicia much was older than Alexander.
So by giving Alxx this persimmon, she nned to show her submission to him, his power over her.
Her answer clearly conveyed her intense desire to endure anything for the prize.
"Excellent!" And seeing Alexander let out an even bigger grin at her answer, which all of a sudden made Lady Felicia feel as if she had just signed a deal with the devil.
And for a brief second, her instinct screamed at her to immediately renege on it and run away from the tent.
There was still time for a takeback and even if there wasn''t, a small part of her told her to run out regardless, even if she was dressed like that.
Because it felt like what was about toe might be worse than the humiliation from that.
But naturally, these instincts were instantly suppressed, greed subsuming her entirely, while momentster came Alexander''s order.
"You do not have to do anything, mydy. Just spread your legs a bit and ce your hands behind your head. I will do the rest." He gently posed, his voice soft and harmless.
And this innocent order caught Lady Felicia a bit off guard, as she instinctively followed, assuming the pose.
''That''s it?'' She even thought this was easy, as she guessed Alexander then nned to touch and lick her in various ces.
She could handle that.
She was even relieved that Alexander would not make her spread her legs or take far more shameful poses.
Petrino liked to make her do that, and though she put on the face of a whore clearly enjoying it, deep in her heart, she detested it.
But what she had no idea was Alexander had something far more exquisite in his mind, for he had made her take the same pose he had seen Lady Inayah make Lady Nanazin take all those years back in Adhan.
And he intended to roughly recreate that scene here.
Alexander found that Lady Felicia was far more sheltered than her Adhanian counterpart, and looked forward to breaking her.
He even wondered how long she would be able tost.
With that said, giving arge smile of approval at thedy''s swift obedience, Alexander then quickly picked up a short wooden ruler from his desk, one which he normally used to draw straight margins when writing reports.
As for its use now, well any Asian child would know what the real function of a wooden ruler was.
But it was something that was oblivious to thedy, hence her wonder at seeing Alexander get behind her with it.
"Rx mydy," Andpletely hiding his rally intentions, Alexander only whispered so with a hot, musky breath, as his free hand tenderly caressed her straight back, kneaded her voluptuous butt, and grabbed her generous boobs.
His nose even rubbed against her tender armpits, finding the musky and salty smell so delectable, while Lady Felicia found the act ticklish.
''Oh, this is nice,'' And she even moaned so in her mind, reassured that her guess her correct.
But what the unsuspectingdy failed to notice as she drowned herself in this tender caress was how Alexander''s other hand was stealthily making its way across the other side, the solid, yellow ruler by now right in front of her pink flower.
And then suddenly Alexander struck,
*Pah!*
The strike was strong and right on her lips, something that caused Lady Felicia to instantly jolt awake.
"Wha¡. t?" And for a moment she did not even grasp what hit her.
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Chapter 765 Punishing the Lady (Part-4) (R-18)
Chapter 765 Punishing the Lady (Part-4) (R-18)
When Alexander first stuck Lady Felicia, she was a bit confused by it, distracted by the gentle sensation up until now.
*Pah*, *Pah*.
Until Alexander let out another two strikes in rapid session at the exact same ce.
"Ahhhhh," And this finally caused Lady Felicia to let out a grunt of pain, as she quickly tried to bring her hands down to shield herself.
"Don''t you dare!" And it was such amanding voice booming right next to her ear that instinctively caused her to stop, her heart skipping a beat.
"Spread your legs and stand like this. That''s an order!" Gone was Alexander''s gentle tone, as he sounded very forceful and authoritative.
"Alex¡ my lord?" And unfamiliar with her current circumstances, Lady Felicia now turned to look at Alexander with confusion and even a bit of fear.
She had never done anything like this before.
While Alexander seeing some sort of fear in thedy''s eyes for the first time felt a hint of cruel joy.
The reaction made sure he would certainly continue.
So while tracing the ruler along her inner thighs and pubes, he gently cooed, "Don''t worry mydy. This is just a game. You will soon feel pleasure like you have never done before," as he continued to tenderly caress her body.
''No, I won''t!''Though hearing so Lady Felicia very much wanted to curse this out, chose to only clench her teeth and suppress the shivers in her body.
Somehow, even when Alexander gently touched her, her body felt cold.
But she did not resist.
She was willing to endure anything for power.
However unbeknownst to her, this was perhaps the worst move she could have made, for it only strengthened Alexander''s resolve to break this ambitious woman.
"Here have a drink." But before that, seeing her frayed nerves Alexander suddenly disengaged and proceeded to fill the cup she had been still holding with wine.
And Lady Felicia took the offer immediately, quaffing down the entire thing in one gulp and making Alexander even give her a second and then a third refill.
Lady Felicia thought that since the man was so eager to y with her, she would let him.
But her mind would not be present to experience these.
She would be too drunk to remember anything.
That was the n anyway, but how could such a simple n escape Alexander''s eyes?
And much contrary to Lady Felicia''s wishes, Alexander certainly wanted her awake and aware.
So after the third time, no one refills came, even when thedy asked.
"I think you have had enough to parch your thirst. Let us go back to the game." Alexander sniggered as he put down the pitcher and again got behind, his hands now on her thighs and the ruler in front of her pubes.
Lady Felicia shivered at just its sight.
*Paah*," Then a strike was made again on the same ce, producing a wet sound due to the leaking water, though this time, being ready Lady Felicia''s reaction was much more muted.
And so for the next few minutes, Alexander continued this y, striking at various points around her pubes, her inner thighs, and her pink flower, making the entire region flushed red.
And while he did so, his other hands roamed her all over,menting on each item he went over.
"I like your breasts. They are so big and soft. Feels nice," He whispered around her ear as squeezed them violently, leaving red finger marks.
Then while caressing her tummy, he said, "A t tummy. And no b. Good. Feels so smooth," as he then pinched her stomach.
Andstly, cupping her ass, he lightly bit on her earlobes and growled in a hot, raspy voice, "And this ass, oh, what a nice ass. Makes me almost jealous of your husband."
"Tell me, how does your husband usually take you? From the front? Or from the back, so that he can enjoy this fat ass *pah*?"
Alexandernded a heavy spank on her, thinking bringing up Lapitus would make Lady Felicia feel ashamed.
Though it that endeavor he failed miserably.
Lady Felicia rarely ever slept with Lapitus and even if she did, it was pretty vani boring sex.
At least for her.
"Pervert!" But knowing Alexander''s goal, Lady Felicia decided to entertain the man, as she pretended to reluctantly whisper this oh so quietly.
Something for which she got the response immediately as Alexander let out a pleased chuckle and,
*Pah*, Andnded another strike on Lady Felicia, making her produce her first moan.
By now the wine she had drunk was beginning to take effect, and she began to feel hot and flushed.
The amount of wine she had drunk was just enough to make her feel perked up and energized without making her feel tipsy, the alcohol content in the drink not being low like in the diluted ones or high like in the hard, strong ones.
That''s why she wanted to drink more.
But since Alexander had denied her that, now each of Alexander''s strikes started to sting that much more, *Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*, while his other hand started to snake its way around there.
"You are wet, *pah*. Are you enjoying this mydy, hehe, *pah*," And he immediately found the entire legion to be flooded, as his fingers then began to trace around the outer lips.
They were soft, plump, and swollen, and Alexander could not help but give them a solid smack, making a wet, lewd noise and causing Lady Felicia to moan in pain and pleasure.
She could not believe she was getting wet as she was being smacked and her body shivered when
she felt therge fingers pry her flower open, causingrge dollops of juices to escape the cavity.
At first, Alexander used these juices to ther her pubes and inner thighs, bringing much needed relief to the skin around the area, and once that was not enough, his fingers began to prate the cozy hole in search of more.
The hole was hot, moist, and constantly squirming, and when Alexander''s fingers then started to squirm around, it produced a naughty *squelch*, *squelch* sound which reverberated around the tent.
"*Pah* You pussy walls contract every time I hit you, *Pah*, I knew you were a masochist the moment I saw you. *Pah*, You love getting smacked right?"
And to add to that, Alexander started to whisper such right next to Lady Felicia''s ears as he hit her right on the mons pubis, leaving thedy unable to do nothing but endure, widening her eyes and stopping her tongue from rolling out.
Until, one strike was one too many,
"Aghhh!" and Lady Felicia''s dam burst as she let out his loud, almost guttural shout, her body violently shaking in the process.
She had atste.
''What was that?'' As her sight turned white for a few following seconds and her knees felt weak,she asked herself this.
This was a very first for her.
"Good, you came." And the answer came from behind, as she felt Alexander''s strong arms grab her body to keep it steady.
But even then Lady Felicia was unsure what this meant, wondering ''Come? Come where? Where did I go?''
During all her time with either of the two men, they had never made her oncee.
But such musing for her would have to wait, as after only a few moments of rest, Alexander started to again trace that dreaded ruler along her lower lips, a sure sign of things to happen.
"Wait! My lord, isn''t it over? There''s more?" And Lady Felicia finally could not keep her silence, as she let out this shriek of horror and incredtion.
If she was made to do through it again, she did not know what she would do.
"Hehehe," While as Lady Felicia''s concerned screams, Alexander gave neither a yes or no, only that dreaded chuckle that sounded like the devil''s to her ears.
But instead of starting the attack again immediately, Alexander instead moved to trace his tongue along her bare, smooth armpits, savoring the taste and calming the agitated prey down.
"Even your sweat tastes sweet and salty. There is no bad smell. As expected of a princess *chuu*, *chuu*," Alexander even began to suck and kiss the pits, the sound causing thedy to shiver and flush red with embarrassment.
By this point, Lady Felicia even began to wish that Alexander had asked her to spread her legs or take provocative poses.
It would have been much less shameful than this.
Alexander spent a while savoring that unusual part of thedy, giving her some time to rest, and then started to move his mouth towards her breasts.
"Mydy, I''m feeling parched. You won''t mind would you, hehe," He smirked as without waiting for a reply he grabbed her left breast and plopped the hard nipple into his mouth.
And then without further ado gave it a nice, good suck.
And the slight milk that came out tasted heavenly to him, *pah*, *pah*, so much that he gave Lady Felicia two quick strikes on her wet snatch to show his approval.
"Ahhh!" While the hit made Lady Felicia let out a suppressed growl, as she darklymented, "Go ahead my lord. Drink mommy''s milk, so you can get bigger."
But this time, Alexander had a potent reply ready.
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Chapter 766 Punishing the Lady (End) (R-18)
Chapter 766 Punishing the Lady (End) (R-18)
Upon putting the thick, long nipple into his mouth, Alexander''s first instinct was to lightly bite down on it.
Lady Felicia''s nipples were much longer than usual ones, and as Alexander''s lightly chewed on them, for a brief second he even contemted if he should pierce it with a nipple ring.
But such distractions were soon put to the back of his mind, as Alexander then began to give the thing a gentle suck, instantly causing this mouth to be filled with that heavenly goodness.
The amount released was of course very small, but to Alexander, it felt like his whole mouth was dancing in joy.
Somehow, this fresh from the source drink tasted much richer and creamier than the one he had from the goblet.
"*Chuu*, *Chuu*, And he intentionally made such a loud sound while sucking on therge brown ares, nibbling, biting, and kissing the brown protruding buds to coax it to dispense more drink, while his free hand squeezed the flesh of the huge melon.
"*Mmmm*" And this action even caused Lady Felicia to release an involuntary moan.
But it seemed that she really disliked Alexander''s drinking her milk.
So ultimately this yful atmosphere was destroyed by this taunting remark, "Go ahead my lord. Drink mommy''s milk, so you can get bigger."
Lady Felicia had said so in a mocking motherly tone, her anger hidden deep within as she clearly meant to disparage Alexander.
But this time, Alexander had a replying.
A reply that upon hearing caused Lady Felicia to shiver in fear, as hearing it, he let go of that soft bud and turned to face Lady Felicia with an equally taunting face,
"Has mydy ever wondered that if you be my mistress, you and your daughter might be serving me at the same time?"
"How would you feel letting little Fabiyana see you like this? Or better yet, what if she was the one striking your pussy, hitting the hole she came out of! Hmmm?"
Alexander very naughtily hummed and immediately felt Lady Felicia''s body very clearly shiver.
This shaking was much greater than at any other time, as the implicit threat made Lady Felicia''s vision almost go dark.
There were some lines even she was unwilling to cross no matter her ambitions.
And this was one of them.
If Fabiyana was to ever see her like that, Lady Felicia would never be able to raise her head in front of her as her mother.
Never mind, if her daughter actually took part in the act.
Lady Felicia would perhaps literally dig herself a hole to hide in.
Thus Alexander''s reply was so effective that Lady Felicia went stiff in shock, a result that very much pleased Alexander.
"Or perhaps she and I can suck on each of your boobs at the same time. Won''t that be nice?" Adding so with a smirk, he dived back into meal, while hearing so Lady Felicia experienced a second magnitude 8 earthquake, her mind for a brief second producing that image of her nubile daughter on one side and Alexander on the other side, both sucking and drinking her milk, causing her to incessantly moan like a shameless whore.
The mere thought of it mortified her, but somehow it also caused a small immoral part of her to rejoice, and she lightly came just from that thought alone.
''There is that feeling again. What is it?'' And as Lady Felicia momentarily felt her mind go nk for the second time, she once again found herself confused by this new sensation.
"I¡ I will be obedient my lord," And then finally understanding going against Alexander right now was too imprudent, thedy decided to submit herself for now.
She feared Alexander might really not be bluffing about forming the mother daughter pair.
She was a hundred times willing to do the usual times Petrino made her than do that.
"Hehehe," And pleased with having aplished one of his goals, Alexander moved his head away from those delicious melons to produce a triumphant grin.
He of course would not have never done that, but it was a good way to see Lady Felicia''s true bottom line.
"Great, let us toast to it." And thus he proposed such.
Something that Lady Felicia was initially very happy to hear, hoping to bepletely drunk.
But how could Alexander make such a simple mistake?
So instead of wine, Alexander grabbed one of Lady Felicia''s white globules and bought the tip upto her mouth, presenting it to her with a bright smile, "Here, it is a shame you never tasted such a delicious drink. Now have it!"
If this was taken out of context, one would think Alexander was serving her some kind of delicacy.
But as of now, Lady Felicia seeing the ''toast'' felt her eyes darken.
She clearly did not like having her own milk.
And Alexander certainly knew this, which was perhaps why he was offering her.
Since she said she would be obedient, it was time to prove it.
And thus lowering her head, she wordlessly took the nipple into her mouth, giving a few small sucks.
The taste was not as bad as she thought it would be.
"Good, good." And seeing so Alexander gaverge, repeated nods of approval.
"Don''t swallow it. Keep in your mouth," And then suddenly he suddenly ordered hence.
"Mmmm?" Something which caused thedy to hum in askance, her cheeks a bit puffed.
''What''s he thinking now?'' Lady Felicia half dreaded.
"Open your mouth and let me see." But in reply to the inquisitive look, Alexander only produced a taunting smile,
And seeing this, Lady Felicia knew she had to obey,
"Ahhh!" So she reluctantly opened her mouth, letting Alexander see it now swirling with that white liquid while emitting a sweet, enticing scent.
"Now kiss me!" And then he instructed such, his mouth curving up to a triumphant smile.
One which caused Lady Felicia to curse, ''Bastard!''
She knew this was Alexander''s way of getting back at her because she had resisted when he initially kissed her.
But now she had no other way.
*Kiss!*
And so bringing her lips towards Alexander willing, the two engaged in a hot, sensual kiss, this time Lady Felicia feeding milk to Alexander.
*Chuu*, *Chuu*, *Chuu*, The couple kissed ravenously one another for some time, and it was a primal form of endearment that Lady Felicia had never done.
And somehow the exchange of milk made the act so much more sinful that she came lightly again.
It was a while since they separated and by that time, Alexander''s ache in his lower half had finally reached its breaking point.
So roughly grabbing Lady Felicia, he turned her around and pushed her onto his work table, the rudeness of it causing thedy to let out a gasp of "*Kyah*", Alexander soon bared his raging boner.
And turning her head to see the monstrous organ for herself, Lady Felicia let out a low scream, "What is that? How is it so big?"
Alexander''s organ wasrge, thick, fat, and veiny all over, with a red, inmed mushroom head, it was a grotesque piece of meat no matter how you cut it.
''This makes Petrino''s look like a child''s!'' Lady Felicia unconsciously shivered at the thought of having to take such a huge thing.
"Heh!" And seeing that proud woman''s facade falter like this made Alexander very proud, as the reaction worked to stoke its ego.
The man was currently a bit away from Lady Felicia, rubbing the legummum onto his little brother.
He kept that drug as an antiseptic in his medical box, but it was also a very potent spermicide.
And this way, he would be able to flood that arrogant woman''s baby room without any worry of pregnancy.
And so once he was done, Alexander soon got ready to pierce her, as he got behind her with his spear pointed right at that drooling honeypot.
The scenery for Alexander was truly something envious.
Lady Felicia''s dark, silky hair draped over her shoulder, the ck, diamond studded negligee gracing her smooth back while her luscious, white butt had two ck belts running over them as they joined the waistband, adding a beautiful contrast to her baster skin.
The pink puckered hole was twitching, while below the hairy pink flower was awash with dew, its surrounding a bright red courtesy of Alexander.
Andstly the ck stockings yed greatly with her reddened inner thighs.
The defenseless nature and the strategic way this negligee covered and revealed the body made Alexander truly see how being half naked was sometimes so much sexier than being fully nude.
Lady Felicia ''armor'' was truly sessful in this regard as Alexander even noted, ''I will need to have Cam dress like this.''
But for now, he brought his mind back to the present, as he prepared to im his prize, though at the sight of her imminent pration, Lady Felicia''s panicked voice began to ring out,
"Wait, wait, it''s too big! There is no way that is gonna fit! Stop my lo¡*agghhhhh*,"
Alexander of course paid no heed to this protest, as he went ahead in full force right from the start, causing Lady Felicia''s tongue to roll out and her eyes to buldge, as she let out an ear piercing scream.
And then for the next hours, Alxx showed thedy a world she did not even know existed, to the point she could let out lewd howls that would have put even the most debauched whores to shame.
Chapter 767 Entering Thesalie (Part-1)
Chapter 767 Entering Thesalie (Part-1)
Chapter 767
Alexander''s tryst with thedysted deep into the night, by the end of which the poordy seemed to have lost all sensation other than pure pleasure, her mind constantly shing lights as she came and came.
It was a never before experience and by the end of it, Lady Felicia struggled to evenprehend what was happening to her except that it felt really good.
While Alexander, after months of abstention, did not show any gentleness towards the fairer sex, using her to fully relieve himself, and marking her entire body with red hand prints and flushed skin.
If her husband were to see her body in the next few days, he would at a nce be able to tell what had urred.
And it was only hourster that the poordy was allowed to rest, her eyelids by that point drooping like an elephant was standing on them.
She probably fell asleep even before her body hit the bed.
Alexander woke up right at dawn, excited by the prospects the day held, feeling fresh as a flower even after just four hours of sleep.
And as he opened his eyes to the sight of the unusualpanion he was sharing the bed with, who was still knocked out cold, he asked himself what he was gonna do about her.
There were marks and hickies all over her, not to mention her lower half was flooded with his gift.
She was supposed to meet her husband today, and possibly sleep together tonight.
That would be a problem.
So as he got dressed and brushed his teeth with some ash and a twig, he asked Lady Felicia''s personal maid toe to his tent, handing her some oils and salves and telling her to attend to her mistress.
"*Kyah!*" And as the girl lifted up the sheets, about to go start, Alexander heard this sharp, short pitched crye out, no doubt from the shock of seeing the devastation he had wrought on her mistress''s body.
In fact, the girl was so shocked that she literally jumped back a few feet and covered her mouth in horror.
If Alexander did not know any better he would have thought he had just shown her her mistress''s dead body.
But for the maid, this was really her first time seeing Lady Felicia like this.
Even though she was fully aware of her mistress''s affair with Petrino, how could she not given the long time she was with her, still, nothing like this ever happened..
And if not for the visible peaks and troughs of thedy''s chest, she might have even feared the worst.
While Alexander seeing this smirked, ''I wonder if she will tattle to Lapitus,'' though he knew that was unlikely.
Personal maids were usually very tight lipped, that''s how they got their job in the first ce.
So Alexander left the two alone, with a simple letter for Lady Felicia telling her what to do next once she woke up.
Alexander came out of his tent, a full hourter than the designated time, and found his entourage immactely dressed and ready.
All his bodyguards wore ceremonial armor, and the horses were all decorated with vibrant clothes and beautifully painted armor, with the lead horse being especially gorgeous, a tall stallion, the biggest of its size there, with snow white, porcin skin, wretched in gold ornaments and gilded with magnificent ribbons.
The mere presence of this beast seemed to dim all the light around it as if it was soaking it all up.
And many soldiers could be even seen taking furtive nces at it like it was some very beautiful model.
This was a horse Alexander had gotten as a marriage gift from Pasha Farzah when he married Cambyses.
The old man had written to him very straightforwardly asking what he wanted as a gift, and instead of being coy, Alexander unabashedly replied - a beautiful white horse to show off.
He wanted it knowing that Matrak was famous for having the world''s finest horse breeds.
Its terrain was much like the steppes of central Asia, and horses in huge herds could be found roaming freely in the wild.
Alexander originally wanted the horse to y as the ''prince on the white horseing to pick his bride'' during the ceremony.
But the gift could note on time.
So upon receiving it, he decided to keep the stallion for such special purposes.
Seeing their lord approach, the gathered group quickly got on their own steads, and once everyone was ready, Alexander softly ordered, "Let''s go."
The procession was hence soon on its way, being personally led by the man himself, with his military officers and nobles in tow, closely followed by numerous infantry on foot.
The approach towards Thesalie was slow and deliberate, with even the short distance from the camp to the city taking a while, while many of the soldiers behind danced, sang, and blew trumpets and horns to signal their triumph.
Along the way, Alexanderid witness to some of the remnants of the battle that remained even till now
with perhaps the biggest one being the concrete wall he had built right in front of the city to attack its wall.
That was still there.
And seeing it made Alexander ponder on what to do about it.
Because now that the city was taken, there was no need for it.
''I will need to tear it down, huh?'' Hence Alexander thought, the realization making Alexander a bit sad as he was a bit reluctant to do so.
After all, it was a great aplishment, having built it under those circumstances and in so little time.
Furthermore, he had great sentimental value to him, since this was the thing that really got him the impregnable city.
The wall hereid testament to his own military brilliance if he said it so himself.
But Alexander also knew keeping it was not feasible, not only would it be an obstruction to the traffic moving in and out of the city, but in case of a siege, it would be detrimental to Alexander, as it would allow any attacker to use it like he had done.
But then Alexander thought of turning the thing into a barbican, which was a type of semicircr wall located a bit in front of a castle''s gate, manned by soldiers to limit ess to the main gate.
The road between it and the gates would also be walled, thus making a surprise attack on the gates really impossible.
And since the wall was already there, and it was so thick and formidable, converting it into such a defensive structure seemed like a no brainer.
It was a very tempting thought.
But though very sound on the surface, Alexander soon found several points of contention once he thought about it a bit more.
First of all, the wall was not circr, but straight, simply ending at an open point.
So the gap between it and the city was huge, thus easily letting the enemy get through and attack the gates, kind of defeating the point.
But it could be also argued that this was not a great deal breaker as Alexander would extend the barbican to meet the walls.
Which was where the second problem came in.
And that was that it was toorge.
A barbican was built to allow a small garrisoned force to repel a muchrger force by preventing them from targeting the fortification''s weakest structure- the gates.
But since Alexander''s walls were so big, it lost in the wars of economics.
Andstly, a barbican was originally invented in the Middle Ages to protect a castle''s gates.
The main point here being one, singr gate.
Whereas Alexander was trying to apply the theory to an entire city with four huge main gates and who knows how many smaller ones.
There were so many of thetter ones that he lost track of counting,
So to make the barbican effective, Alexander would have to build at least three simr ones.
That was far more hassle than worth it.
So the wall would be eventually demolished under the brutal hits of hammers and chisels, and in ce of the barbican, the city''s filled up ditches would be ''re -dug'', which yed a simr role.
As Alexander came to this decision, his thoughts were soon distracted upon seeing the gates of the city being opened up to him, where lines of cheering soldiers were gathered around both sides of the streets.
All of them had huge smiles on their faces, and if Alexander looked close enough, he could see many having bulging and even overflowing pockets.
No doubt courtesy of all the loot they had taken.
And Alexander even wondered with a smirk in his heart if their smiles were due to seeing him, or because they were in general in such a great mood after having enjoyed themselves for thest three days.
And it was with these thoughts that Alexander atst entered the city of Thesalie,
"Whooo!"
"Lord Alexander!"
"Lord Pasha!"
"Long live Zanzan! Long live Adhania!"
And the moment he entered, the cheers seemed to have ever so high pitched, reaching such a new feverish, as the sky itself seemed to be shaking.
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Chapter 768 Entering Thesalie (Part-2)
Chapter 768 Entering Thesalie (Part-2)
As Alexander entered the city, the mor and din of the cheering crowd reached such a deafening roar that for a while he was unable to even hear himself.
He felt many of these cheers were truly genuine,ing mostly from his Adhanian men, since for them, the hero who gave them the unattainable Thesalie was someone truly cheering for.
Facing this huge crowd, Alexander simply smiled, waved, and pumped his hand to the sky, each of these gestures producing an even greater shout.
And it was among such a grand reception that he slowly made his horse pass through the stone paved roads, eager to tour the prize he had taken for himself, both in its beauty and its ugly.
The beauty in the city itself, the ugly in the devastation wrought upon it by the looting and plundering by the nearly eighty thousand men and women for the past three days.
Alexander was sure that would not be anything less than tragic.
"My lord, wee to Thesalie!"
At the end of the street, stood Melodias, who greeted Alexander with a great smile and a glowing face.
"It''s good to see you. Have the soldiers been recalled?" And nodding to the greeting, Alexander then posed, clearly showing his concern.
"Yes, the order went at dawn. The men will be soon leaving the city and returning to the camp. Rest assured."
This was the real reason Melodias was here, sent by Alexander yesterday.
Alexander thought that after three days of unrestrained pleasure, it would take someone as highly ranked as Melodias to reign back all those soldiers.
"Good. And I enjoyed this reception that you organized for me. Thank you," Hearing MM''s confirmation, Alexander added such, much to the delight of the former, who loved the recognition.
Following this Alexander then added, "Also, I will address the people around midday, after lunch. You know the city, prepare a suitable ce. And gather how many of the citizenry you can."
Alexander wanted to cate them and deliver promises of assistance.
"Yes, my lord! Leave the ce and its security to me." And at the delegation of this duty, MM was very enthusiastic, receiving with a salute.
The man then decided to give Alexander and his entourage a tour, offering so with a polite wave of the arm.
Hence soon, Alexander found himself trotting along the streets, which were as he expected narrow and winding, with bricked and wooden houses lining both sides of them, each reaching three to four stories high.
Many of these houses were seen burnt to the ground, with only some of the stone scaffolding remaining standing, while in the ashy midst Alexander sometimes even spotted charred remains of men, women, and children.
Alexander did not know whether these were caused by his catapults or by the marauding soldiers.
As for the luckier houses, i.e.- ones that were still standing, every single one of them had their doors smashed open, bar none an exception, clear evidence of being broken into.
And as Alexander passed through them, Alexander could detect the unmistakable waft of mournful cries drifting out from there.
Although Alexander had ordered the plunder to be ceased, the victims of these atrocities were still alive, and finally given respite, they could finally let their heart out.
Their wailful songs yed in utter contrast to the euphoric cheers Alexander was surrounded with by the following soldiers, and if one did not see it for himself, one would find it hard to believe that two such utterly contrasting worlds could exist only separated by a thin brick wall.
And this realization caused Alexander to evenment his actions, for he said in his heart,
''*Sigh*, if there was another way, I would not have done so. But if I did not do so to you, perhaps it would be you or your brother, or husband, or son, who would have done exactly so to me and my city.''
''Since someone has to suffer, then please let it be you. I''m sorry.''
As Alexander moved he along, he also began to notice that much like in Zanzan, many of these buildings dueled as both homes and shops, with the first floors selling all sorts of produce.
Every single such shop, salon, and restaurant that he passed was broken into and stripped of all valuables- food, jewelry, fabrics, pottery, whatever the soldiers could find.
Even mundane everyday things like shoes, small furniture, and even pots and pans were not left untouched, especially if they were made of iron.
As for the fate of the ones running them, well from the corner of his eyes, Alexander noticed the shadows of quite a few of the dead or vited lying there motionless.
Past these buildings, Alexander suddenly sensed his horse was climbing up.
It seemed that much like Adhan and even to some extent Zanzan, being built atop a hill, instead of being horizontal, Thesalie''s road spiraled upward.
And as Alexander moved up, he soon began to notice a change around him.
The congestion of the houses started to lessen and his skyline of box shaped, rectangr buildings was now reced by long, grand spiraling rooftops, all of them belonging to numerous small and medium temples, administrative buildings of various kinds, and homes of nobles and rich merchants.
Alexander understood that the poorer lived in the lower half of the city, in its underbelly, while the rich lived in the upper section, with the highest point being upied by, as you could have guessed, the city lord.
This was very much in line with the architecture of the time, and Alexander found it absolutely normal, for the air here was much clearer and fresher.
No longer did his nose sting, the reason being something he was even reluctant to think about.
''Public toilets and aqueducts.''
Instead, he only said this as Alexander continued to climb up.
Then along the way, his eyes atst began to notice the numerous vis and manor around him and he was surprised by just how many of them were.
By his estimate, Zanzan did not even have a third of this may
Plus, each of them seemed muchrger than their counterpart, with all of them having their own huge rolling backyard.
There, almost all of them had ntations on the expansive verdant hills, and as Alexander spotted them, he came to realize that surely those were the grape vineyards Camius had spoken so much about.
The affluence in disy clearly went to clearly show Thesalie was much richer than its counterpart.
Or perhaps more precisely had been.
Because whether it was still now, after what had been done to it, was worth ruminating.
And besides, in recent years, Zanzan''s economy had ballooned to values it could not have even imagined, growing literally a hundred times, from 10 million to almost 1 billion ropals.
But for better or worse, all of this wealth was almost entirely concentrated on Alexander.
And with him taking all the avable workforce, other merchants found it hard to start any business in Zanzan, which was why there were only a few such manors there.
But still, it was a very tell- tale sign of wealth, and Alexander very much looked forward to seeing what kind of revenues the city would generate.
It also made him realize just how big the city truly was, as it could hold so many vineyards within its walls!
Alexander had tried to find out the exact area of it before attacking it, but all he got were garbage values, ranging anywhere from 1 square km to 1,000 square km.
These were no doubt propaganda values, the former produced by Adhania to belittle the enemy, while thetter was created by Tibias to show off.
And in that mudslinging contest, the true value was lost, at least to the general public, essible only to those higher nobles of Tibias.
But after seeing it for himself, Alexander determined the city to be around 10 square km, which might not sound like anything in modern terms but was truly mammoth.
For context, ancient Athens, which was the biggest Greek city of its time, covered around 7 square km, suburbs not included.
A realization that added to Alexander''s satisfaction over the city''s capture.
Alexander continued his way up with such thoughts, and very expectedly noticed that aside from the temples, which were tightly shut, all the other buildings gave a vacant, deserted feeling, with doors ajar, windows smashed, and its inhabitants gone- either dead or in hiding.
He also noticed many of the once immactely designed front courtyards of these magnificent houses effectively ruined, trampled over by a thousand footsteps, and many of the expensive decorations plundered.
Far off in the distance, Alexander would even see many of the vineyards damaged.
''*Sigh*, I hope Camius''s business partner managed to escape,'' And seeing so he wished.
And it was with much mixture of joy and regret that Alexander finally reached his destination, the top of the hill, where he found Lapitus waiting for him with a small reception group right at the gates.
"Lord Pasha, wee! Wee!"
And immediately upon seeing him, the man gave a full noble bow, something that caused Alexander to feel a bit awkward for the briefest of time.
But he immediately recovered and returned an appropriate greeting back.
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Chapter 769 Alexander And Lapitus
Chapter 769 Alexander And Lapitus
Once Alexander reached the top of the hill, he found Lapitus and a handful of his officers waiting for him right at the gateway, ready to receive him.
And as Alexander rode up to meet the man, he could not help but suddenly feel a bit guilty.
He did not why he was feeling so at this moment, especially since he felt nothing whenmitting the act.
He had even taunted thedy about her husband.
But now, somehow seeing him face to face, the immorality of the act made Alexander a bit ashamed.
However, such a feeling onlysted an ephemeral moment, for what he had done wasmitted between two consenting adults.
And as long as the man did not know, it would not hurt anybody.
It was with these thoughts that Alexander finished his pleasantries with Lapitus, congratting the man on a job well done, and even proiming him ''Hero of Thesalie''.
A title many Tibians would surely throw rotten eggs at given what happened after the gates were opened.
And as he followed the man to the mansion, he could not help but marvel at the huge front courtyard ahead of him.
Built using the finest marble, the magnificent pavement glowed like the stars under sunlight, and from the gates to the actual mansion, there were three beautiful gardens- an enclosed one at the center, and two on either side.
These gardens were very beautiful, decorated with various fruit bearing trees, like figs, oranges, apples, and pears, with each tress being ringed by a variety of vibrant flower bushes, sporting colors of all shades- red, blue, pink, and yellow to name a few, all which were meticulously pruned and shaped.
Given fall was yet to arrive, everything was fresh and verdant, and spilling over with color, and after what Alexander had seen in the lower parts of the city, they were a sight for sore eyes.
The clean, pristine of the gardens were also something that surprised Alexander a bit, for he had thought given the months long siege, they would have fallen to decay.
But it seemed the maids and gardens were employed to look after these decorations even then.
As Alexander rode on his horse to the mansion, Lapitus walking behind him, the former made some small talk,
"I have greatly enjoyed thepany of your daughter. Fabiyana is a lovely youngdy to be with. As a father, you must be proud." Alexander gently smiled.
To which for the briefest second Lapitus produced a weird look, as if to say, ''So you are that type?''
But instantly hid it, knowing he had to ability to judge.
In fact, he was even weirdly happy thinking Alexander had slept with his daughter.
Even though he had originally thought that might have been too early for her, but now knowing that someone imed as a pasha had taken a favorable liking to her, Lapitus could not help but feel his heart surge with joy.
He felt truly happy that his daughter was able to find such a great partner.
And even though Lapitus''s actions in modern times would have been seen as deplorable, but in this time period. for being able to find a matching suitor for his daughter, Lapitus would have been said to be a great father.
Society would praise him for his wit and even his daughter would thank him for getting her such a nice suitor.
The evidence of this being how many of the nearby men who were within earshot sent subtle envious looks toward him upon hearing Alexander''s praise.
Something that not only Lapitus found not unpleasant, but relished in, heartily chuckling in his heart, as panning his lips upward, he heavily nodded,
"I d my lord enjoyed her. Fabiyana has always been a precocious child. Sometimes when I talk to her, I wonder who is the adult one, hahaha. If Lord Pasha wants, I can tell you some of her childhood stories."
At the mention of his daughter, Lapitus suddenly seemed to have transformed into a very talkative man, clearly showing his like for his daughter, as the tone he spoke with was full of pride, with the only worry in his heart being, ''Hopefully she will not be bullied by his other wives.''
But Alexander''s interest was far more drawn towards the phrase. ''enjoyed her''.
It made his lips twitch.
''That''s not what I said. I saidpanionship,'' He swore, though to be honest he did enjoy one of his family members.
So he did not bother to correct the man, instead building on the wordy, yfully grinned,
"Mmmm, I also ''enjoyed'' Lady Felicia. She is truly knowledgeable and I learned so much about Tibias from her."
Lapitus of course failed to detect anything, even when Alexander purposefully emphasized that word, and only returned the smile, nodding. "Yes, yes, like mother, like daughter. Felicia is quite learned. Her father used to regrly praise her."
Alexander sensed Lapitus was very proud to show off his family.
And then subtly swaying his head like he was searching for someone, Lapitus asked, "My lord, is Felicia not with you? Did she note? Is she still in the camp?"
All three of Lapitus''s questions were filled with longing and care.
And this was where Alexander decided to fib a bit, sinctly recounting,
"Lady Felicia seemed to have caught a small cold yesterday. Changing seasons. The camp doctors reassured me that it was nothing serious. But just for safety told her to rest for the next days. She will be joining us soon."
This was also the summary of the letter he had left for Lady Felicia so that she could y her part in tune if asked.
"Sick! Is she alright? How bad is her cold? Is she taking medicine?"
But what Alexander thought should have been an innocuous excuse really got a massive reaction, as Lapitus''s body appeared to be shaking like he was in shock.
Alexander was very surprised at this, feeling like this should not be the reaction of a man who abuses his wife.
''Was she lying about that as well?'' He wondered.
But right now, Alexander decided to focus on the man right in front, reassuring him, "Do not worry Sir Lapitus. The doctors tell me she is in no danger. You can even visit before dinner."
''Why after dinner? Why not now?''
But even though hearing Alexander''s words reassured Lapitus, he still wanted to blurt so out.
He wanted to go see her now.
But that was almost impossible.
Lapitus was here apanying Alexander, and he could not simply leave.
So giving a curt nod, he phrased it a bit better, "Does Lord Pasha wish for me to carry out any specific task?"
Lapitus left the other half unsaid, which was- ''If there is nothing for me to do, I would like to go see my wife as soon as possible.''
And how could Alexander miss this implicit intention?
Seeing which hemented to himself, ''Either he is really possessive of his wife or really wants to see her.''
Now, letting Lapitus see Lady Felicia right now would be a recipe for disaster for Alexander.
So he had to keep Lapitus at least till dusk.
And thankfully he had many tasks for Lapitus.
''Yes, as a matter of fact I do." Alexander lightly nodded to the inquiry, then turning to face the man he added,
"I want to see all the information the city lord had. Any and all secret messages he received and especially all the military maps of the country area."
"Lady Felicia has already informed me about much about Tibias but I want to see them on maps. Where are the cities and which noble rules what."
This was a very reasonable ask, as Alexander''s next route would depend on what the map revealed.
"... Yes my lord." But surprisingly, for a brief second, Lapitus appeared a bit shocked and even reluctant.
But then quicklyplied.
The reason for that slight hitch was that given who Lord Ponticus was, the amount of top secret information he had could be said to be staggering.
Detailed maps of almost every notable part of the country, stacks of intelligence reports on numerous noble that revealed so many things- from their dirty secrets to secret treaties, to trade routes, to even just their traditional alliances, to various city''s garrison strengths, to even the true state of current Tibias.
All such information was with him.
The revtion of any one of these information could be said to be of great detriment to Tibias, not to mention all of them at once.
And being once a loyal Tibian, Lapitus felt timorous to reveal them to the enemy.
If there was one truth among all the lies Lady Felicia spewed, it was about Lapitus''s shaky loyalty to Alexander.
Even after he betrayed his country, deep in his bones, the soldier was still a soldier of Tibias.
He would have never done what he did if circumstances had not pushed him.
And for a brief sh of a second, Lapitus had even contemted hiding much of the information.
But quickly buried that thought.
Alexander had said this order out aloud, and a few of the officers were privy to the much of the information as well.
So there was no point.
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Chapter 770 The New Mansion
Chapter 770 The New Mansion
When Alexander asked for Lapitus to ready all of Lord Ponticus''s secret documents, he did so with great anticipation, especially towards the maps.
Detailed maps of any country were something that was considered an absolute national secret.
This was firstly because it was very costly to produce a map.
Performing proper cartography was an immensely difficult challenge given theck of technology and the absence of various specific tools yet to be invented.
So to do all that and then have all that hard work stolen was of course not ideal.
But more than that, perhaps it was the strategic value maps had that made them so valuable.
This might be weird to think now, given not only maps are so readily avable that they are a dime a dozen, one can even get real time footage of anywhere on earth any time of the day from anywhere.
But without such surveince capabilities, a side possessing the other''s map could use hidden and unknown routes to attack them and catch thempletely off guard.
So many times full fledged wars urred simply upon finding one side possessing a map of the other party.
And knowing such, if not for the threat of Alexander being alerted to his misdeeds, Lapitus might have indeed hidden much of the information.
It was among such ruminations that Lapitus finally showed Alexander to the front of the mansion, a huge, three story building with a bright blue domed roof.
All the standing walls were made of pristine white marble, so white in fact that Alexander''s eyes hurt a bit upon gazing at it, as much of the ring summer sunlight was reflected into his eyes.
All around the buildingy beautiful nts and flowers, along with decorations of various priceless stone statues of men and animals- horses, lions, bears etc, all of different sizes, while up above the windows had panels made of exquisitely carved wood.
''Darm, the old fart makes my current house looks like a hut,'' And seeing the opulence in disy, even just from the outside, Alexander could simply feel the extravagance.
Though this self depreciating remark was quite erroneous.
In terms of absolute wealth, Alexander absolutely trumped anyone in Tibias.
Just one year of his earnings would be enough to run Tibias''s budget for the next decade.
And his house was once just as luxurious as this, if not more.
But it no longer existed courtesy of this house''s owner''s nephew- Perseus.
So in Alexander''s mind, it was only just that hepensated himself with this.
Lapitus gently gestured Alexander to enter the abode, its doors lined with several very beautiful maids wearing expensive chemises of red, blue, and yellow.
As Alexander entered, they all bowed, though Alexander could not help but feel their movements were a bit stiff, like they were not used to this.
And the reason for this was because they were not technically maids.
All of them were courtesans dressed up as such to y this role, with there being also those two women who had served Petrino, then three of Lapitus''s associates.
And the reason for this arrangement was because after Lapitus''s bloodbath in the mansion, many of the maids had died, either directly or due to the horrible injuries they suffered after being vited so many times.
And the only ones lucky to be alive were, for better or worse, those that were not that beautiful to begin with, making many of the hungry men leave them alone for juicer prey.
So to impress Alexander, Lapitus made this arrangement.
But Alexander did not know any of these and simply assumed they acted so because they were afraid of him.
After all he did conquer them.
So putting this slight distraction aside, he focused his eyes on the interior.
And he was not disappointed by the extravagance.
Immediately upon entering, he was greeted by a vestibule whose magnificence set the tone for the opulence within.
The entrance hall''s main feature was the magnificent staircase spiraling upward, which was a true testament to Tibian craftsmanship, being adorned with ornate railings, sculpted balusters, and other decorative patterns of flowers, beasts, and other designs,
Following the woolen carpeted floor, Alexander was then shown around the various rooms, the first of which was the dining room.
This was only one of the five avable ones, each of various sizes to fit the asion, and all of them with their own fantastic views, just in case you were tired of looking at the same garden every day.
One overlooked the front courtyard they came in, others looked over the many beautiful gardens each with their own distinct views, and Alexander even noticed one of them overlooking a gigantic man made pool with its own irrigation system to feed and drain it.
Something that caused Alexander to even curse a bit in his heart, ''Mothef**cker. To think he lived in this luxury.''
None of the mansions Alexander had visited up until now ever had any pools, the culture not seemingly existing.
And that was something Alexander always missed.
So now seeing it for himself, Alexander was both pleased and a bit salty that he did not get it sooner.
Dispersed among the various dining rooms were many sitting rooms, all furnished with expensive furniture of the highest quality and exquisite artwork- be it in the form of realistic portraits, fantastic pottery, or walls adorned with frescos.
Then Lapitus took them upstairs, where existed around fifty bedrooms, allvishly decorated, the most opulent ones of course being Lord Ponticus and Petrino''s abode.
And as Alexanderid his eye on these rooms what he was most surprised by was the cleanliness of the ce.
Because it had to be remembered, a bloodbath had urred here just three days ago.
And though unclear on the details, Alexander knew Lapitus surely had killed a lot of the Lord Ponticus''s family members here, be it his rtives like nephews, their wives, or other distant kin who were his retainers or rted to them.
Furthermore, he was also surprised that all the expensive things mostly remained, for after the killing, a few thousand men, women, and children had taken refuge here.
So not to mention expecting the ce to be dirty, filthy, and smelling of blood, Alexander half expected the ce to be stripped of everything that was not nailed down.
But as if sensing his surprise, along the tour, between conversations, Lapitus let Alexander know,
"We are very grateful that Lord Pasha decided to spare our family. So we were very strict in making sure nobody took anything that did not belong to them."
"And all the women staying here worked for thest three days cleaning everything up. I hope my lord will forgive any small foibles."
That move was mainly Lapitus''s own idea, as a way to curry favor with his boss, and he really did try and stop anyone from stealing.
Though of course, his efforts had their limits- many small items like gold tes, cups, utensils, pottery, food, dresses, jewelry, money, etc. were indeed swindled and taken.
But at least he stopped the mansion from being robbed blind.
The furniture,rge pottery, art, chandeliers, and expensive carpets were all mostly saved.
Finished showing the bedroom, Lapitus then took Alexander to the right of the second floor, where the entire wing was one huge housing, ording to him, a staggering five thousand books!
Stacks and stacks of shelves adorned the walls, all packed to the brim with parchment and papyrus, and in between each shelf was ced expensive decorations, be it beautiful terracotta pottery, various statues of all kinds, and even golden armor.
If Lapitus''s im about the library was true, then just the value of this room alone would be in the tens of millions, perhaps more than the house itself.
The room was huge and more importantly very spacious with numerous huge windows letting in copious amounts of the summer sunlight, brightening the entire ce up.
There were many short tables and chairs scattered around the room, each next to a window or veranda, and the whole pce smelled of papyrus
And if evn this was not enough to get you to sit down and have a flip of the books, then the scenery it overlooked was sure to.
For overlooking it on one side was another huge artificial pool, next to which Alexander could see a temple, no doubt for personal use by the mansion''s inhabitants.
Lush green trees surrounded it, and its waters were a mixture of turquoise and blue, courtesy of the reflection of the trees and sky.
But undoubtedly, it was the other side that provided a much more magnificent view, for from standing in his library, Alexander could clearly see the magnificent River Diannu, its pristine waters shimmering in the golden sunlight as the currents flowed downhill, from right to left.
The river was currently devoid of any traffic, which was natural. but Alexander dreamed of a day when it would be filled with colorful sails of boats and ships, red, blue, orange, and yellow, alling to trade.
To read a book while looking at such a view, sipping a cup of hot coffee on a brilliant winter morning, with a clear sky and rolling white clouds.
If Alexander was asked to define what was peace, he would describe that exact scene.
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Gardens:
Conclusion:
Chapter 771 Addressing The Tibians
Chapter 771 Addressing The Tibians
After Alexander was given a tour of the impressive library and shown the magnificent scenery it overlooked, Alexander was then taken out of the front building to explore the other parts.
As for the third floor of the building that remained yet unexplored, Lapitus off handedly informed him that ce was mostly abandoned.
It contained another set of bedrooms but was only opened when a lot of guests visited, like the king and his many entourage.
So Lapitus then Alexander took to visit perhaps the mostvish of the rooms- the grand ballroom.
The huge hall was ced behind the main building, in an almost separate house of its own, which was one of the reasons Lapitus was able to kill everyone without alerting others.
Upon entering this huge room, Alexander''s foot found itself stepping on a floor covered in a huge luxurious red and white fur carpet with intricate golden stickwork, which Lapitus informed being sewn out of real gold threads.
The walls were draped with ornate tapestry and intricate mosaics, while the high ceilings featured intricate moldings and gilding made using gold leaf, with numerous massive chandeliers
hanging down from them like gigantic, metallic fruits.
Andtely, to fill the room, there were luxurious tables, cands, and beautiful potted nts, though Alexander noticed the room to be emptier than he would have expected.
And the reason was because many of the furniture broke when Lapitus had initiated his attack, as many people tumbled or knocked them over, breaking them.
But still, it was a very luxurious room, fit to entertain any king, with the only sore spot that Alexander could spot was the carpet.
It was a very beautiful carpet no doubt, but along many points there were deep, reddish, almost matt ck stains on it.
And even before Lapitus could exin, Alexander knew where they came from.
It seemed no amount of scrubbing could get all the blood out.
''Pity¡ looks like I will have to throw it out.'' And seeing so Alexandermpooned a bit, observing the spots being too big and numerous to hide with tables or over coverings.
Which was a true shame since Alexander guessed the thing should have cost close to a hundred thousand ropals.
And worse, it was not like he could even sell the darn thing.
Who would buy a bloodstained carpet, no matter how great its stickwork was?
So the best Alexander would be able to do was tear it down for the fur.
But such regretful musingssted only a second, as he was then taken out on tour of the rest of the mansions.
He was shown the two pools along with how they were supplied with underground channels, the various beautifullywned gardens, furnished with swings, decorative arches and one even containing a small maze, the stables housing many of Lord Ponticus''s prized steads andstly the temple, which even had its own crypt.
The temple even had an old priest who was still there even though almost every one of the servants who could run had fled.
The old man even had some spice in him as upon seeing Alexander, not only did he cower, but clenched his teeth and growled, "This is a ce of rest for the ancestral spirits. Only those rted can enter."
Tibian did not believe in gods per se but worshiped their dead ancestors.
Facing the old man, Lapitus and his group appeared more than ready to cut him down, and if looks could the old man too would have killed Lapitus given what he had done.
But disinterested in shedding any blood, Alexander only pleasantly smiled,
"Reverant, I mean no disrespect. I have onlye to pay my respects to the ancestral spirits. Since this is my home now, I only felt this was basic courtesy. Please."
This gentle, polite answer surprised the old man, and though he had a lot to say about how this was not Alexander''s home, he reluctantly stepped aside to let Alexander enter.
It really helped to have good manners.
The entire tour of the mansion took Alexander hours, and by the end, it was nearing midday.
So at this point Lapitus very eagerly let him know that they had prepared a great feast for him.
Something which caused Alexander to frown a bit.
Not at the feast of course, but at the timing, for he had a speech to give around that time.
And feasts tended tost tost hours and sometimes even days.
So Alexander decided to postpone the meal to after it.
Thus only having a small snack to fill themselves, Alexander and his entourage exited the mansion and headed to the market square where Melodias had already finished setting up the makeshift stage.
And it was truly a makeshift stage- made of just a huge high table, possibly one of those that were used to host a banquet, with a wooden nk ted against it to climb up.
Circling all around it were rows and rows of armed legionnaires in blue, numbering close to a thousand, all wielding shields and swords, ready to defend their lord from any attacks.
While around them were an ocean of people, all looking at those men with fear in their eyes, their faces dirty, exhausted, and sunken.
The countenances of the crowd clearly reflected the kind of ordeal they were made to suffer for thest three days or even thest five months.
''Melodias did a good job gathering so many so quickly,'' And getting on stage to see the vast masses, Alexander was pleased by the numbers.
"My friends and subjects!" He began his address from atop his horse, making him appear grand and powerful,
"I know that many of you are fearful of the future. You fear what will happen to you. But let me reassure you that we are not the monsters your lords have proimed. They are liars!"
"I swear things will only better from now on. Even better than before!"
Alexander pumped his fisted arm saying so,
"For my first promise, I, Alexander, Pasha of Zanzan hereby swear that citizens of all ages who have managed to escape detection are free to leave their hiding ces throughout the city ande out into the open. They shall be free to return to their houses and no harm wille to them, norwill any questions be asked."
The reason why Alexander said this was because once a city was captured, many of its inhabitants were turned into ves.
And many times this did not have to be ordered by the higher ups, like when the Romans intentionally sold every single Carthaginian after the Third Punic War.
Something it was something the soldiers did themselves, selling them to nearby ve traders.
That was also why ve traders tended to follow armies.
So as of right now, after Alexander''s derations, forcefully turning anyone into ves became illegal in Thesalie.
This first promise was nothing unusual, being the standard rule or more like the custom of the time.
So there was not much reaction, except perhaps a sigh of relief from the masses at being reassured that they were not going to be outright ughtered or sold as their lords and ancestors had warned.
But though Alexander''s first promise received a lukewarm response, his next one produced quite amotion,
"As for my second promise, I Pasha Alexander swear to bear the cost of rebuilding and restoration of all houses and property destroyed in this war! Those who have had their houses will get a brand new one and those those who have abandoned the city before the siege can return to their without fear. They will be treated ording to their rank as if nothing had changed."
Alexander''s promise was quite unusual for the time, and thetter half was not something he had offered before, either when taking Adhan or Zanzan.
And the reason for that was simple.
That part mainly affected the nobles and rich merchants and back then, Alexander was busily carving those benefits for himself and his retainers.
But now that there was no such pressing need, he was willing to share.
But though Alexander''stter part was the noteworthy one, it was the former part that drew many incredulous gasps.
"What! Did I hear right?"
"My home! I can get back my home?"
"Oh, finally a roof!"
Most of the gathered weremon folks who only cared that Alexander was going to given them a home.
Allowing a bit of time for the disturbance to subside, Alexander then continued,
"Forstly for my third promise, I promise topensate all citizens for their hardships.
All will be provided two free meals a day until the end of this month, as well as receive three hundred libra in gold!"
Tibias''s mostmon currency was libra, which was roughly half the value of a ropal, so Alexander basically promised a month''s wage along with meals.
This was Alexander''s standard tactic after taking a city, but like before, it was seen as such a generous move that it produced a far greater cheer than the previous one.
"Wooo! Hoooo! Ahhhhh!" As soon as he finished saying this, a thunderous cheer erupted, a din sorge that the soldiers guarding the stage were shocked to the point of almost drawing swords, with some of the men thinking that the crowd was getting ready to charge.
But soon cheers like this began to drift out of the crowd,
"Long live Lord Alexander"
"Glory to him, ruler of Zanzan."
"Praise to the benevolent Pasha!"
Chapter 772 Lapitus and the People (Part-1)
Chapter 772 Lapitus and the People (Part-1)
The nucleus of the cheers that originated in the crowd, if one looked, could have been traced to a handful few, all nted by Melodias.
This was not something Alexander had instructed the man to do but he did after learning from seeing Alexander.
And Alexander appreciated it, for infected by these men, the crowd too began to chant simr words soon, albeit in a much lower octave.
Most were not as enthusiastic to cheer for the man who had made them go through what they did.
At least not yet.
But still Alexander''s promise of food and money did work to alleviate some of the grievances they had.
They could rest easy about not having to worry about starving or bing destitute.
That 300 libra might not be able to change their life, or evenpensate for how much they were robbed, but if every single one of the family were to get it, including the four to six children each family had, well it could certainly help them get back on their feet, and who knows, perhaps even start anew.
So given Alexander had shown himself to be a generous lord, many of them felt hopeful that their future might not be so hellish under Zanzan rule as their ancestors had forewarned.
As for the more clever ones in the crowd, especially those who could do the math, they were much more surprised by the disy of Alexander''s wealth.
They calcted that with the city having a hundred thousand, the meals and money would cost him at least 20 million ropals.
And though this was arge sum even to Alexander, to Tibians it was astronomical.
So these sharp minded individuals even began to look forward to being under such a wealthy patron.
Of course, such shrewd and visionary fellows could be counted on one hand, and most were only looking forward to Alexander''s cash prize, and even though after the battle the city certainly did not have its pre-war numbers, but still, this along with the house restoration would not be chump change for Alexander.
But still, it was a necessary expense no matter how Alexander saw it.
Alexander kept his own speech very sinct, knowing after the ordeal no one was eager to hear Alexander''s ramblings.
That was why he did not make grand promises like improving the living conditions or creating more jobs.
Instead, he kept his words limited to those three promises and after the crowd had time to calm down a bit, Alexander then gestured for Lapitus to get up on stage with him, for a move that they had discussed already.
The man had been initially surprised when Alexander asked him to apany him to the square, much preferring to stay at the mansion and organize the documents Alexander wanted as quickly as possible to make time to visit his wife afterward.
But when Alexander insisted, he knew he was in no position to decline.
And along the way, he was also informed why the man wanted him.
It was to reward him, to elevate his position among the people, and to make him announce some things that Alexander felt embarrassed to announce.
Lapitus climbed up the stage to stand next to Alexander, his head reaching Alexander''s chest.
And once he revealed himself, at once he sensed a sea of gazes fall on him.
Almost all were negative, with eyes of scorn, hate, and even fury, for the people seemed to know who was to me for their misfortune.
They knew it was Lapitus who killed the lords and opened the gates, and though they did not say it out aloud, they med him for all that happened afterward.
In fact, judging by their stares, the disgust they felt for Lapitus might have beenrger than even Alexander and his men.
After all, Alexander was the enemy and an outsider.
It was only natural that he would be hostile towards them.
But Lapitus, he was a Tibian, born and raised in this very city.
So the people were appalled to learn of his treachery, and how he broke his oath.
To them, the very act appeared to be sphemous to their ancestor.
Thus for the man himself, feeling these stares, Lapitus felt a bit ashamed, and he wanted to even shrink his body.
While Alexander seeing this only sneered at the crowd,
''Heh! Just a few days ago you were begging him to open the gates. And now that he has done exactly that, now that he has saved you from certain ughter you suddenly turn to hating him? For something he even had no part in? Heh! Truly ''people'' are despicable.''
The reaction of the crowd brought much disdain in Alexander, for if he really had carried out the massacre as promised, he was cocksure that almost all the people standing in front of him would prefer what happened to them now but the alternative.
But were they grateful?
No, they only saw Lapitus for the pain they brought him, not the salvation.
But this type of ungratefulness should be solely attributed to the Tibians.
That''s why Alexander did not say ''you people''.
But he said ''people'' as in the general concept of a group of persons.
Even if you do a hundred good things for them, many times they will only remember that one bad thing that happened.
And it was because of this that Alexander had brought Lapitus up to the stage to remind the crowd.
Once Lapitus, in his fiery, red armor ced himself behind Alexander, he introduced,
"Fellow citizens, I believe this man is known to you all, Ser Lapitus. He was the first one to see the error of those arrogant lords and took up the great burden of opening the gates."
"He knew it would be a great sin to break his oath, but he did so anyway, willing to bear the guilt if meant he could save the city and its citizens."
"Many of you might see him as a traitor. And an oathbreaker. But remember! He is your savior. And if not for his brave actions on that day, a fate much worse than now might have awaited your city."
"On that day the Goddess Gaia took pity on you, and convinced your ancestral spirits, letting Lapitus be their champions, thus sparing the city."
"Hence, for his valiant effort of saving Thesalie, I dere Lapitus to be a noble, a Shordar (Baron) of Adhania!"
Alexander''s loud promation sent a whirlpool of murmur across the gathered crowd, as almost everyone seemed to have an opinion about this.
There were those who swallowed everything Alexander told whole, as turning to their adjacent men they nodded,
"Right, right. What happened was not Lapitus''s fault. He really did save us."
"So that it was the ancestors. No wonder."
To others did not buy Alexander''s bullshit wholesale, murmuring to themselves,
''Heh, so this is how he rewards a traitor. Isn''t he afraid he is going to get backstabbed himself?"
This type of think of course only belonged to the smart ones in the public, while the majority were a lot more confused, asking each other,
"Huh? Is that really what happened?"
"Did our ancestors really say so?"
Alexander was fine letting the crowd talk among themselves about their skepticism.
As long as they talked, he could make them swallow the things he came up with.
But he did not want them to be doing so right now.
So drowning out these hushed murmurs, he proimed,
"And because of his great contribution, he has asked me for gifts for you. And I have granted them. Hear them if you so wish."
Saying these mysterious words, Alexander then let Lapitus take the stage,
"*Ahem*," Facing such arge crowdLapitus first felt like clearing his throat, hiding the nervousness with it.
The man might have led armies to war, but surprisingly found addressing such a huge crowd intimidating.
But still trying his best to recall what Alexander asked him to talk about he began, starting with a friendly address,
"Friends and brothers and sisters of Thesalie, I''m here to inform you that Lord Alexander has agreed to let us worship our ancestors without any persecution. In return for my loyalty, he has promised the sanctity of all our temple, its priests, and all the valuables inside."
"He is truly a magnanimous rule"
Lapitus''s voice sounded very sincere at this point, though the reason for it was not exactly the freedom of religion he was preaching.
It was because of the nobility he was granted.
When Alexander had told him about it along the way, doing so in a casual off handed manner, like it was of no real significance, Lapitus had initially felt Alexander was joking.
And it was only now, after Alexander had made the deration public did the fact truly start to sink in.
And Lapitus was certainly overwhelmed by it.
For if there was in his life that he truly desired, it was the title of nobility.
The want was almost innate like it existed in every man, but it was also because, one- after his grandfather and father''s contributions of Lord Ponticus''s family, it was generally epted he was going to be made one.
But more importantly, it was because he wished to be worthy of his wife.
And now he had.
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Chapter 773 Lapitus and the People (Part-2)
Chapter 773 Lapitus and the People (Part-2)
Even since Lapitus became aware his wife was a princess, he always felt a bit inferior to her, knowing she was nobility and he was not.
But now, finally, they could be said to belong to the same social strata.
A shordar (baron) of a superpower like Adhania and an illegitimate princess of a small country like Tibias was actually not a bad match.
''I knew siding with him was the right choice,'' Lapitus hence happily hummed.
While the crowd hearing they were free to practice their faith let out another sigh of relief.
Given that Adhania wasrgely a theocracy, they had assumed that they would either be given the option to convert or be burnt at the stake.
That was how Adhania had expanded to its current size after all.
And this was also the main reason Tibian tended to hate Adhania and resist them so much.
They saw themselves as thest bastion of their culture.
But given Alexander was not an Adhanaian, he saw no reason to dump the religion on them.
In fact, he would actively prevent from worshipping Ramuh, for that would only benefit Ptolomy.
As for his own religion of Gaia, well Alexander had ns to make people ept it without resorting to violence.
"Benevolent Pasha!"
"May the ancestral spirits bless you."
"Long live Captain Lapitus."
Hearing the promise of safeguards of their culture, many such cheers resounded out of the crowd, adding much of Lapitus''s confidence in continuing in his speech.
Originally Lapitus felt afraid and ashamed toe in front of them, especially so soon after the atrocities.
But given his current reception, with a great nod, he began again,
"The Great Pasha furthermore has agreed to take my one and only daughter Fabiyana as his concubine."
"And as a gesture of favor to her has asked her to choose any gift she would like."
"My daughter chose nothing for herself, but asked only of him to favor you- the people of Thesalie!"
"The benevolent lord has gifted the city three years of tax exemption!"
Lapitus''sst words were shouted out, and
"Woohhooooooo!
No sooner had they left his mouth, the crowd erupted into a joyous chorus, jumping on their feet, pping and whistling.
Their cheer was muchrger than even when Alexander promised to give them cash, for nothing got the people going like tax exemptions.
And soon many chants began to waft out, glorifying both Alexander and Lapitus.
And this time, both the volume and sincerity appeared to reach its peak.
Seeing and hearing the crowd praise his names like so, Lapitus felt a sense of tion he had yet to experience.
It was truly magnificent and swept up by the crowd, he began to pump his hands and make other gestures to stimte the crowd.
While Alexander kept a light smile externally but half sneered in his heart.
There was a reason why Alexander did not dere this particr promise himself, even though he could have taken all the credit himself.
One was because he wanted to show that he rewarded those that sided with him.
So the peerage he presented Lapitus with was his way to reward the man materialistically.
While allowing him to make those two announcements let him earn favor with the popce who was likely very dissatisfied with him.
Alexander hoped that by seeing this, other potential defectors would not be burdened between choosing Alexander and the people.
He wanted to show by following him they could have both.
Of course, in reality, only a few defector would get as favorable treatment as Lapitus.
After all, Lapitus was the first one toe to him and Alexander nned to show him as an example, as a role model.
He could never be the norm.
Hence the generosity he showed to Lapitus wasrgely out of propaganda purposes, to make the people spread Lapitus''s story of sess, of the correctness of his move, and the adoration of the people that brought it.
There was also another reason behind it.
And that had got to do with what Lady Felicia wanted.
She wanted Alexander to kill Lapitus and hand the city over to her to rule.
But aside from the inherent distrust he had for the woman, the biggest problem was that the people would not buy it.
Anyone would be able to guess how Lady Felicia got that job.
Which is why Alexander made Lapitus bring up his daughter and attribute the whole tax exemption to Fabiyana, his concubine.
This rtionship would make any subsequent story he could to tell a far easier sell.
Alexander even considered that no matter if he eliminated Lapitus or Lady Felicia since Fabiyana would be always with him, he could put whoever he liked in the ce.
Hence the half sneer in his heart.
Alexander was pretty proud of this move if he said so himself, havinge up with it after a few days of thinking.
Unaware of such deadly machinations going on inside the head of the man who just made him a noble, Lapitus then moved on to his topic of the speech.
And it was the grimest.
He was even worried that all the favors he managed to earn would wash away after saying this.
But he knew he had to recite it anyway, as talking about such stuff was not suitable for a pasha like Alexander.
"And for myst favor to the people of the city, all prisoners captured in the war will be avable to be ransomed."
"Lord Pasha wanted to initially ce the ransom at the standard rate of 10,000 libras per solder, and 30,000 to 50,000 libras for officers."
"But in his benevolence he has decided to half them, so you can free your rtives for only 5,000 libras."
Lapitus imed so with as much crity as possible, but this happy news did get the roaring cheer one would expect.
Because for most these people be it 10,000 or 5,000 libras, they were both equally unattainable.
Now, Alexander''s decreased price was really generous.
Given that 1 ropal equaled 2 libra, Alexander was offering these good, strong men for only 2,500 ropals, which was half their market value- 5,000 ropals.
But the fact was mostmon citizens did not have even that much money, even if they had not been robbed blinded just now.
Perhaps those wealthy individuals who stored their money in the temple could afford it, as the soldiers were strictly forbidden to sack those.
But those were only a small fraction, and even many among them might not have enough.
And in that case, Alexander really had no way to help.
These men waged war against him and he would not just let them go.
That discounted price was already the limit of his benevolence.
And even to get that, Alexander had to engage in several rounds of negotiations with the ve traders.
The two of them in total had captured 15,000 to 20,000 men and it was estimated that after the sacking perhaps at best 5,000 men would be liberated while others would be taken are prisoners of war.
As for these prisoners of war, Alexander nned to buy them from the ve traders at market price, letting those merchants profit, and then use thebor in his industries.
As for for how long, this was revealed by Lapitus''s subsequent deration,
"But even if you cannot buy them, worry not. For they will be still working here or in Zanzan.
They will not be sold to any other ces."
"You can even go visit them once a month."
"And such is my lord''s benevolence that he has even promised to free them after five years of service if they show good behavior."
"Glory to him!"
Lapitus really was a quick learner when it came to boot licking and his deration did bring much need glow back to the crowd, with many joining their new lord in his cheer.
Alexander spotted many smiles blooming too, for when one was captured and made into a ve, he usually lost any and all contact with his family, being sold to any master who lived god knew where.
And this was perhaps a bigger heartbreak for them than the loss of freedom.
Thus Alexander''s promise was truly a godsend for all those gathered.
After all, everyone here had lost someone in his war, and so who knows, perhaps they were still alive.
With this deration, Lapitus''s speech reached its final point and this was the thing he was most dreading.
Lapitus even suspected Alexander passed this pot to him because he did not want to dirty himself.
But he knew he had do it.
"Andstly, those who have been taken ves by the soldiers will be put up for auction one week from now."
"Please try to gather your funds by then."
"That is all."
Lapitus was very short and quick in saying these words finishing in a single breath and getting off the stage immediately, for he knew the people would be averse to this news.
Though this was standard practice for the time.
When an army sacked the city, they would usually forcibly take a lot of citizens as ves, and then sell them in auctions for a profit.
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I
Chapter 774 The Slave Market of Thesalie (Part-1)
Chapter 774 The ve Market of Thesalie (Part-1)
The practice of taking ves when sacking a city was almost like an unwritten rule.
That did not happen when Alexander took Adhan or Zanzan because those cities had their own unique circumstances.
One was the capital and given Amenheraft was about to attack, turning the citizens into ves was a moot point.
As for the other, well that was Alexander''s capital, and turning the citizens into ves was also a moot point.
But Thesalie was different and upon taking it, many citizens were captured to be ves by the ves.
In fact Alexander was sure that if he were to return to his camp right now, he would not only find every tent overflowing with gold, jewelry, fabric, etc. but also many beautiful girls and even boys.
The soldiers would enjoy them for a few days and then sell them off to ve traders for a profit.
And though Alexander hated this practice to his core, this was such a basic, fundamental practice of the time that he knew would be burned to cinders even if he just attempted to touch it.
This was both a reward for the soldiers and a crucial source of their ie.
Because remember, each of them only got 50 to 100 ropals a month in cash after having all sorts of expenses such as food and equipment deducted from them.
This amount of money might be enough for a single soldier, but for those with a family, it would be really living on a shoestring, even with the rations Alexander provided.
So the soldiers had to supplement their ie in other ways, like by acquiring loot and booty.
Thus if Alexander tried to stop the auction, he would be trying to stop these soldiers from putting food on their children''s tes.
That would lead to only one thing, a disaster.
The soldiers would either start stealing military supplies, take up a side business, or directly rebel.
Now, the remedy to this would be Alexander simply paying them more, but he simply did not have the capability.
And even if he did, it might not be a good thing for him.
Because if he gave them everything, the soldiers would be just content to sit in their camp and only defend theirnd.
Whereas Alexander wanted his soldiers to always be hungry for loot, to be eager to fight, to go out and conquer new pastures.
And for these pragmatic reasons, Alexander perpetuated this practice even if he did not like it.
The gathering ended in quite an anticlimactic way, with Lapitus almost scampering off the stage after making the announcement about the auction, not at all a dignified way one would expect a nobleman to leave.
But the crowd was not in the mood to judge.
For far more of their attention was taken up by the worry about collecting the money to free their kin.
Although had Alexander promised them a lot of free things, so much so that they would not have to worry about survival, but now came another issue.
And facing this predicament they began to scramble their heads how to collect the money.
The usual avenues of borrowing from friends and family were not avable given they themselves had people to save.
So many turned to that one group of people -dreaded loan sharks, who facing this huge surge of customers felt like it was Christmas meeting 4th of July.
They jacked up their interests to values seen only a few times before, asking for returns not in terms of percentages but in terms of ''times'', meaning they wanted their principals doubled or even tripled.
But even then people were willing to pay these, so their desperation as such.
And among them perhaps the most desperate ones were the men who both had their sons taken as prisoner of war and their wives and daughters as ves to be sold in auction.
Who would they choose to save?
They certainly did not have enough money to buy everyone back.
Would it be their son who could be another breadwinner alongside them?
Or their wife with whom they swore to spend the rest of their life?
Or perhaps the daughter who was the frailest and hence would otherwise suffer the most if turned into a ve?
Few men were tested in life with such a cruel dilemma.
And as the crowd dispersed such thoughts haunted many minds.
The ransom for the prisoners and ve auction would take ce over the next few weeks, held outside the walls to amodate the huge numbers.
A breathtakingly huge new market would seemingly spring out of nowhere to host it, and there the captured would be disyed in batches of twenty to thirty spread across various open-air stalls.
The captured prisoners of war would not be bound as one would assume but just kept in enclosed fences where they could freely move around.
Potential buyers would walk around these fences and look for any ve that might catch their fancy,
And to aid in that endeavor, the men were kept bare with only perhaps a loincloth, thus showing off their well-built physique.
That way the buyers would be able to easily spot the strong ones as well as ones with physical defects.
Furthermore, these ves would be prevented from sitting or resting by their overseeing vers or guards nearby, who would bark or beat them if they did so.
Instead, they were told to always keep walking or at least standing, to better show off their body.And though this sounded easy, it was not as easy as it seemed.
Not to mention the sheer exhaustion that came with standing on one''s legs from dawn to dusk with little rest, but also given the entire market was set up right under the open sky, with no shade, the scorching August sun would soon begin to toast these men.
Andbined with the dust and general crowd of the market, by the end of the day most of these men would be able to barely stand.
And that was if they remained in their enclosure until the end of the day.
For if any of the passersby liked what he saw, he could ask the nearby ver who doubled as a salesman to bring that man closer so that he could get a closer look.
And if the subsequent inspection went well and a favorable price could be reached, a sale would be made and the ve would follow his master to his home, his past being left in the trash can of history.
The entire ce was designed much like an animal farm, where one could simplye and buy another human like any farm animal.
And the ves were undoubtedly treated as such.
When buying a ve, like one would touch a horse to feel its pelt to ensure it had no fleas or other skin conditions, or look at its legs to see its muscles, or its stomach to see its fat before buying it, the buyer would too touch and feel the man''s various ces, such as his arms, shoulders, and thighs and for those who had the taste, even his butt, and lower parts with no shame or consideration for the other party.
Furthermore like how animals would relieve themselves in the open, the ves too only had a bucket, where they would do their thing in view of everyone.
It was humiliating and degrading, but that was the only option.
And taking advantage of that there were even some perverts that ogled and enjoyed it.
But what were the prisoners going to do?
Find a private toilet?
Even the free vers did not have that luxury.
They did their small acts at any roadside curb and the big act behind bushes.
And given this practice, as well as the number of people present here, who all needed to perform normal bodily functions, the stench created by all this open disposal of waste could be imagined.
And if they were to bebined with the sweat and spit of all the men as well as the huge amount of dust kicked up by the dry summer sun, it made sure that the ve market was no pic.
But it was a ce that Alexander decided to tour, where he came into view of those very scenes, but more than being disgusted by it,upon seeing it, he vividly recalled his own past.
He remembered how shocked he was to see such practice for the first time.
He had read about it in books, but experiencing it for himself was whole another thing.
Especially when he was the product being sold, penned inside an enclosure like an animal.
He still remembered looking at all the passersby who passed him with great envy and disbelief, wishing he could switch ces with even the lowest beggar.
At least that person was free.
And he remembered the long hours he would be made to stand or be beaten otherwise.
How he was fed food that was barely distinguished from animal feed, and how scared he was by some of the looks men used to give him.
Alexander knew what happened to young boys.
And he had felt that same fear when he was bought by Nestoras.
But look at him now, how fate had changed.
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Chapter 775 The Slave Market of Thesalie (Part-2)
Chapter 775 The ve Market of Thesalie (Part-2)
Visiting the ve market did make Alexander a bit emotional, bringing up many lost memories.
Once he too was inside those fences.
And there was once a time he would have given almost anything to be just a freeman.
Not even a citizen, but a freeman.
Bnt by the machinations of fate, somehow he had be someone who these peopleing to buy the ves could only look up in awe and reverence.
Far from a weak ve, now he was perhaps one of the most powerful men in not just Adhanaia, but in the whole region, and the realization of so made Alexander a bit wistful.
Oh, how the table had turned.
Alexander thought about such as he walked along the narrownes nked by penned enclosures on both sides, where the men were being bought and sold.
These men had mostly listless faces and the reason for it was not only because they were about to be made ves.
It was perhaps more so because many still had rtives who came to see them every day, but most of the time this meeting only ended up in tears, for they were unable to raise the ransom to free them.
Or sometimes they would only afford one, perhaps one among many brothers or the husband or the son.
Such choices should have been agonizing for anyone.
And even if they were freed, the celebratory hugs and happiness were many times short lived, for the price paid was many times too much.
Using up all their saving, selling off their house and property, or worse borrowing from loan sharks.
All those were dreadful costs.
Especially thest one, as it was verymon for people to be not able to pay back their loans and that would mean switching one ve master for another for the ransomed.
But people still did it, to avoid bing ves.
While others tried to find a far more creative method.
Given Alexander''s reduced price, the family members would get some wealthy individual to sponsor them, promising to either pay them back or have the ransomed man serve them for a designated time period, the exact details varying case by case, though generally, the conditions would not be too harsh for this kind of deal given Alexander promised them freedom after five years.
And this way the family members could rest assured, knowing where their loved one lived and what kind of master they were under.
After all, these people had no idea what kind of a master Alexander was or what he was going to make these prisoners do.
And it was also something these rich folks would be happy to do given they would be able to get a good ve at a cheap price.
So this way, the man would be officially ransomed but in reality he would be a ve for that wealthy patron for a few years.
It was a good strategy, with the only hard part being knowing a wealthy family.
Andstly, there was another strategy.
That was a wealthy family or patron approaching these captured men, offering to buy them for a period of indenture.
But thisst tactic was easier said than done.
Alexander strictly forbade such profiteering so it was not like you could simply pay the 2,500 ros and ransom someone.
If that was possible, it would be easy for a rich noble to buy up huge quantities of his ''rtives'' in one shot, while turning them into ves surreptitiously.
That would defeat the point of giving the people a chance to buy their rtives.
Hence all such sale records were meticulously documented, including the name and address of the purchaser, and when paying the ransom the buyer even had to show proof of knowing the ve.
Most of the time it only involved knowing the name of the ve prior, but other times it might require showing a unique item like a ring.
And besides, the vers around there were no green men, they had been doing this job for decades and the vast amount of human interaction let them develop a sixth sense where they knew when a man genuinely recognized someone or was just faking it.
So at best, these rich families were only able to swindle one or two ves away, hardly worth the risk for most.
Hence mostly the ones who did this were rich, widowed women or widower men with a particr taste, who wanted good strong men, like one fit to be soldiers.
For what you ask- well aside from doing all the hard work, and keeping watch over the house, what else?
And since as mentioned before a ve market like this was not suitable for a woman to visit, they would send their servants to try and find some suitable toys for themselves.
Alexander got all such reports from various sources and let them happen as long as the amount of purchase was not too outrageous.
The effort that would take to stop each and every one of these attempts was too much.
So instead he had decreed that the first week the men could not be bought, but only ransomed and freed.
This would not only stymie such practices but also give the captured''s rtives enough time to raise the required money and even locate their man among all others.
After all, finding that one man among 15,000 to 20,000 was no easy feat, especially since many did not even know if their loved one was alive or in in battle.
As for the current timeline when Alexander was touring the market, well as of now the sale of the ves was going on for two weeks.
And though Alexander promised to buy all unsold ves, he was forced to backtrack a bit on that.
And the reason for this was the unexpectedly low ransomed numbers.
Alexander had 15,000 to 20,000 in his captivity, the reason for this being a range and not an exact number due to the fact that the prisoners were being held by a lot of individuals, many of whom had incentives to underreport to Alexander, in order to sell the remaining secretly at a much greater profit.
So when Alexander read the official number to be 16,000, he took it to mean that in reality, it was really 20,000.
And based on that, he had expected at least 5,000 would be freed.
But after the week, only around 2,000 were able to raise the money.
This came as a shock to Alexander, as learning of this he evenmented, ''Tibians are poorer than expected.''
Though perhaps he forgot how his army had robbed them blind.
Anyway, this was bad news for him.
For although he would have loved to buy those 13,000 to 18,000 for himself, not only the price tag of around 70 to 90 million ropals be huge, even straining his coffers, but as some of his retainers pointed out, this would leave thends around Thesalie too vacant.
The city had already lost a lot of men in the battle, and if Alexander were to take so many off top of that, then there might not simply be enough men to even work the fields here.
And without enough food, Alexander would simply be waiting for a disaster to happen.
So he decided to sell around 5,000 men in the open market.
However that solution came with its own set of problems.
It mainly had to do with fulfilling his promise of giving the prisoners their freedom after five years.
If anyone could buy them, there was a great chance some would be taken to distantnds, perhaps to even different countries.
After all, Alexander''s ve sale was very big, and knowing of his aplishments, not only wealthy individuals from the areas surrounding Thesalie, but even many neutral nobles who lived near the border of the two countries came to see him, both to offer their congrattions, as well as to peruse the wares.
If these people were to purchase them, tracking them would be impossible.
In fact, Alexander knew such ndestine deals that already happened to a limited existed.
And it was not even among nobles and the traders but among Tibians themselves.
Alexander knew that after his victory against Lord Ponticus, many of the people from nearby viges, who hade to him to seek refuge, too aid in the capture of some of the escaping soldiers.
And many times the ve traders would gift one or two of those captured men as reward for their services.
Really capturing one''s fellow countrymen who fought for your freedom as a ve, Alexander did not know if he should be happy for these people''s help or sneer at disdain at their behavior.
But anyway, this was another reason Alexander assumed the number captured in a range.
Due to all this, after thinking about it for a while. Alexander decided to only out those men that came with the reinforcements Lord Theony brought up for sale.
That way the people of Thesalie would be least affected, and after five years there would be no widow or orphaning to him begging him to release their kin.
It might have been a cruel fate for those unlucky few, but such was life.
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Chapter 776 The Slave Market of Thesalie (Part-3)
Chapter 776 The ve Market of Thesalie (Part-3)
Alexander on his tour of the huge ve market even met and talked to some of the more well-known merchants engaged in this kind of trade, many of whom invited him to their personal tent and offering food and drinks.
Alexander epted some of these, asking about the business in the process and by the time he finished his inspection, a few hours had already passed.
And even then he only finished looking at half of the market.
For adjacent to the huge venue, was the site for the auctioned ves.
Alexander entered that premises to find the ce in much better conditions than its counterparts,rgely because the ves here were all valuable, and most would fetch high prices.
So naturally they were better taken care of.
The most notable improvement here was certainly the overhead paneling which shaded one from the heat of the sun, as well as the fact that servants were constantly sprinkling water on the nearby ground to prevent any dust cloud from swirling upward.
The roads here were much wider and the crowd significantly less.
Hence as Alexander entered the site, he breathed a cool sigh of relief, before drylymenting, ''Should have brought can umbre.''
Standing under the bare sun for so long in that heavy armor took a toll even on him.
Then afterward he started to look around.
The entire ce was much smaller, amodating a far smaller number of ves.
Though this was normal as when the soldiers took the citizens as ves, they knew there was an implicit limit to the number they could take.
So they only took the ones that would fetch the highest value- i.e.- beautiful women and strong men.
Though given thetter could fight back, most of them stuck to only capturing only the former.
Hence most of these stalls featured scantily d girls of various ages or underaged boys, with only a few stalls selling men.
And this time, these strong, muscr beings were chained with manacles or ropes.
But the crowd around them was clearly much less than the stalls selling the pleasure ves.
Those stalls were designed much like modern day window shops.
The few of the most beautiful girls or boys were put on disy on raised tforms, designed to attract customers, who could then peruse the much bigger collection housed in the tents nearby.
Hence these showpieces were decorated to look their best, very clean, and with the appropriate make up, they even smelled of soap or sweet perfume, as from time to time they made various poses under the instruction of their ve masters,
Furthermore, the clothes they wore were intentionally designed to tingle the senses being very provocative.
For the girls, they wore translucent linens designed in various shapes such as lingerie or sashes,which covered their upper and lower halves in a way that both revealed but also hid their wares, disying them without revealing everything.
Most onlookers were able to make out the shape of the breast, the nks, the dark buds, and the thick patches, but not anything more, like the skin.
And a simr view was provided for the boys, where one could make out the shape and size of the lower parts without the details.
And seeing this, Alexander would have to give it to these traders, they knew marketing and knew it very well.
Because such a sight was even more tempting than if these people were fully bare, for it stimted anyone''s desire to go and have a closer look, to try and see if they could find something that was hidden yet discernible.
And if that happened, if anyone was interested in finding out more about what was hidden, then there was a high chance of there being a purchase.
As for the group that would be most willing to make such a purchase, it was predictably mostly men, though Alexander also spotted a few women in the crowd.
The environment here was better to the point that they feltfortableing here, albeit with all of them having a male escort or guard, for they too wanted to experience the good things in life.
But to be fair, the people here were not only because they wanted a bed warmer.
Some were trying to find their loved ones and buy them back, though given by now it was the second week since the auction started, they were a minority.
While another group was here to simply look for help- be it a cook, a maid, a gardener, etc.
Andstly, a few were looking to buy girls and boys for their red light institutions.
Though of course, in reality, a majority of them were looking to buy them for sex.
Even though Tibians were a monogamist society, rtionships with ves apparently did not count.
Hence to attract these buyers, the vers peddled their wares with shouts and gestures, trying to get a wealthy patron to peruse his ware.
And if one was interested, they could go forward and ''inspect'' themodities for themselves, touching various parts of the body to look for any defects, with no regard for that person.
Hence Alexander could see both men and women touching the girls'' chest and back to get a feel of their flesh, and some even traced their fingers along their crotches, mostly trying to find any warts or scabs which would indicate any venereal diseases.
The buyers of course knew what must have happened to these girls just after their capture, and so felt this was almost a necessary precaution.
Of course, it was not like the boys were spared either, but with them, the finger went mostly around their rear.
Such a practice did leave a very bad taste in Alexander''s mouth, especially seeing the age of some of these kids, many of whom appeared to be on the verge of tears but did not dare to let out even a whimper.
They knew what could happen if they did.
And given Alexander was once in their position, he too knew firsthand what that entitled.
He had seen many die with ruptured intestinal walls after the vers punished them in that brutal way.
And many times this was even done intentionally, to make an example for the other kids, so that they did not dare rebel or resist.
Alexander even remembered being very scared of such experiences urring to him, so he had tried to always be as inconspicuous as possible, talking very little and appearing in front of his ver as little as possible.
And this fear persisted many years after he was bought too, as Nestora''s job as a mercenary leader perhaps fit perfectly into the typical type of man who did such things.
But out of all the misfortune Alexander was made to suffer, including starting off as a sweeper, he never had to experience that.
For that, he was eternally grateful to Lady Luck.
Now one might ask, if Alexander suffered so, why did he not try and stop these practices happening right in front of him?
And the reason was simply because this was such the norm of the times.
People simply did not think there was anything wrong with it.
So no matter how powerful he was, Alexander knew it would be impossible to enforce, like how the prohibitionist government of the United States failed to ban alcohol.
Hence Alexander knew to stop these, he first needed to change society as a whole.
After all, there is a reason the concept of very existed since human civilization began almost 10,000 years ago, and remained for more than 9,800 years, with it being abolished inrge part due to the advent of the Industrial Revolution, when low-skilled, manual jobs could be performed faster and cheaper by machines.
So just because Alexander did not like something ording to his own values, it did not mean he could decree it banned.
That would make him only a tyrant, and a hated one at that.
So Alexander let the practice continue for now, touring the ce while receiving calls from every ver, inviting him toe and inspect their ves.
Though these people did not necessarily recognize Alexander, but therge ten men squad of bodyguards he came here with left no one in doubt of the weight of the purse the man carried.
Everyone was eager to make a sale to him.
Alexander of course ignored all such calls, as he continued on his way, until he atst came to a veryrge, conspicuous red colored tent located at the very end of the site.
"Wee my lord, we have been eagerly anticipating you."
And even before Alexander could approach the tent, from 50 meters away, the owner of the ce knowing of the approaching man rushed out to meet him, argely ttering smile blooming on his fat, bby face.
The man was surprisingly the very caricature of what you would think that a ve trader would look like, rotund withyers of fat formingyers on his cheeks, dressed in expensive, sparkling robes, with jeweled rings gracing all his thick digits.
His teeth were yellow and hisugh was almost sickly, and as Alexander saw him, it reminded him of his past, making Alexander feel a bit ufortable.
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Chapter 777 Gift For Ptolomy (Part-1)
Chapter 777 Gift For Ptolomy (Part-1)
P.S- There was a repeat of Chapter 768 and Chapter 767. I have uploaded the new Chapter 767. Apologies. And thanks to Kerry Roberts for pointing it out.
Looking at the ve trader, a sort of disgust formed in Alexander''s heart like he had felt only a few times prior.
The man was reminded of his past, and though he was not traumatized by that experience, he certainly found it very unpleasant.
Even now, one of the few things that could make his heart skip a beat was the irrational fear of being once again transported back to that situation.
But pleasant or not, Alexander knew he had met the man named Cassim.
He had entrusted this man with the purchase of a very important good, and one of the primary reasons for his visit to the market was because he was told the man had finished gathering it.
So with a few pleasantries, Alexander was quickly shown into the tent with the utmost deference and ttery and as he entered the ce, he found the ce to have been meticulously transformed to be as amodating to him as possible.
There were of course all the usual things- expensively carpeted floors, luxurious odorless candles, and ornate pieces of furniture.
All those were expected.
But the real surprisey in store for Alexander when he was taken from the door to another separate inner room, separated by a very thick hanging rug.
This was where Cassim held talks with his most important clients and the man had a technique to wow his customers.
Something that Alexander found out as he entered.
For immediately upon entry he was suddenly sted by a refreshing gust of cold air that brought back oh so many memories.
For a brief second Alexander thought the small room was air conditioned!
But then he found the real reason.
Though not air controlled in the literal sense, there were huge bs of ice bs ced in metal grates, over which he could see scantily d girls pouring water, causing the ice to melt and absorb all the heat in the process, making the room indeed feel like it was climate controlled.
And as Alexander felt the refreshing air swirl around him, his body hot, weary body rejoicing, he was both impressed by this invention, as well as cursed himself for noting up with such a thing sooner.
''Motherf**cker, why didn''t I think of it?'' Alexander hence felt a bit defeated, being trumped by a merchant.
It just went to show, innovation had no favorites.
But such salty feelings onlysted a while as his eyes quickly focused on the four girls tending to these ice cubes.
As soon as Alexander entered they shed a very professional and charming smile before greeting with an immacte bow.
Though rather than the gesture. Alexander was far more preupied with their figure and clothing.
All of the girls were very different, ranging from tall, short, or medium, they were curvy and voluptuous, cute and petite, or bnced and well built.
They were curly brtes or straight haired redheads or even xen dyed blondes, with faces that could be described as cute, sexy, alluring, or mature.
It seemed as if Cassim was trying to cater to any and all tastes Alexander might have, with the onlymon theme here being the fact that all these girls were very beautiful in their own ways.
And to augment their looks, their manners too tickled a man''s desire to possess them, for as they gazed at Alexander, their faces were rosy and glowing, and their eyes sparkled at Alexander like he was the light of their lives, urging him to take them.
And thest essory they had as their weapon was the clothes they wore, for unlike traditional garbs, what they wore was not designed to hide or cover their privates but to unt their gifts in as provocative a manner as possible.
All four were dressed in sexy lingerie, their sheer tops barely covering anything as Alexander could see the nipples through them, while many intricate golden chains twisted around them to decorate their assets.
While down below- the girls all showed him their healthy, milky thighs, all of them wearing various golden belts and brackets to decorate those soft fleshly treats.
As for the garden itself, though they were covered, it was by such a thin, linen fabric attached to the stringy waistband that it barely hid anything, for the cloth dug so deep into the crack thatAlexander could clearly make out their cameltoe, as well as one or more stray ck tress springing out of the forest.
Some even had clear wet patches on them, revealing the entire shape of their lower lips.
If Cassim''s goal was to make Alexander have a boner he surely seeded.
"Here my lord, please have a seat." The man very strategically entered the room a few moments after Alexander had, thus letting him enjoy the eye candy for a while.
He had done this trick countless times to impress his clients and the initial reaction was almost always like what Alexander did.
"Melting the ice to cool the room. I never knew Mister Cassim you had such a great mind for invention. I am humbled,"
But unlike what he expected Alexander to say proceeding this, or simply settle down into an ufortable silence as he tried to settle himself, attempting to adjust his lower half in the process, as many did prior, Cassim was surprised to hear this.
Apart from a brief moment of shock, Alexander appeared totally unperturbed by the situation, as he settledfortably into the leather armchair, a happy but tranquil facade gracing his face.
This surprised Cassim.
The ve trader was very proud of the unique arrangement of the room and had expected a bit more of a reaction.
Everyone else who entered did, as thebination of the cool air and graceful beauties worked to unsettle them.
And this had let Casssim seal many a lucrative deal by taking advantage of this distraction.
But how could he have known that Alexander used to regrly enjoy this luxury?
The trick hence failed to impress him too much, causing the ve trader to determine, ''He is not simple''
While externally at hearing Alexander''s modest words, the man exaggeratedly waved his hands,
"I do not dare, I do not dare. Little me is very aware of all the things you have invented my lord. This little thing is not even worthy of touching your shoes,"
The man surely could tter.
The next few exchanges only involved some more pleasantries, while two of the four girls moved next to Alexander to cool him usingrge fans made of palm leaves, while the other two served them sweet wine and fruits, intentionally bending down in a way to let Alexander have a clear view of their milky ravine as well as take in the sweet perfumes.
"If my lord fancies, please feel free to take all of them. I would be honored."
And as the four performed their seducing acts, taking a sip of his wine, Casssim eagerly invited Alexander not to be shy.
But the man only gave a dry chuckle to this, not even entertaining the idea for a second, as he got to the meat of the issue he was here for.
"Is the thing I asked for ready?"
"Yes, yes. Fifty beautiful women. I have gathered them all. I believe they will be to your liking my lord," And seeing Alexander was not interested Cassim was very quick in his reply, heavily nodding his head like a chicken.
He appeared so docile that even the girls were surprised.
Of course, they were aware that the face their master presented to his buyers was very different from the one he showed them in private, a domineering, almost cruel man who did not tolerate the slightest mistake.
But even then they were internally a bit shocked by how ingratiating he was appearing now.
Normally, the ve trader kept a much more dignified face.
So this attitude made them wonder who this young man was.
''Surely he has to be very powerful. Is he a prince? Oh if he would only take me with me!''
Given these girls'' vast experience of dealing with very high level guests, Alexander''s youthful face made them think of only one possibility of his identity- a member of the royal family.
Hence all four turned to look at Alexander with a fresh set of eyes, their gazes now much hotter, wishing to be noticed by this powerful master.
While Cassim was not finished denigrating himself, as following this, his tone then turned sweet and pliable, as he said, "All the girls are at the back. Perhaps my lord would like to cool himself a bit more before visiting?"
He sounded very concerned about Alexander''s well being.
While given the heat outside, Alexander certainly preferred to be here, at least until the sweat soaked tunic that he wore underneath got a chance to dry itself.
So agreeing with a small nod, he then stated in a business like manner,
"The reason why I asked for you to gather the fifty beautiful women is because I wish to send them as gifts to His Majesty in Adhan."
"And to ensure they are not harassed in any way along the way by the apanying soldiers I want you to transport them personally"
"So how much will it cost?"
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Chapter 778 Gift For Ptolomy (Part-2)
Chapter 778 Gift For Ptolomy (Part-2)
Alexander''s main purpose ofing here was indeed this- to inspect the women he would send to the capital as gifts.
This was one of those unwritten rules of Adhania, not explicitly stated but kind of like amon courtesy.
It was expected that if one conquered newnds, he would send the nobleman he served a small part of the loot,
And since at least on paper Ptolomy was Alexander''s superior, in order to avoid any necessary conflict and ill will, he nned to send some beautiful women as well as some of the captured loot.
And that was why Alexander was here, to discuss the price of those women.
"So tell me, what will be the price- both the women and the transportation included?" Alexander posed in a desultory manner.
"My lord, normally such beautiful women such as the ones you requested go for 15,000 to 20,000 ropals each."
"Since you also want me to take them to the capital, I''m afraid I can do no better than 20,000."
To the question, Cassim wriggled his hands shing a professional smile.
''50 women, 1 million ropals,'' Hearing the asking price, Alexander did the math in his head anding to the answer, snorted,
''Hmmph! You had to do nothing to get these women. It was I who took the city. And you dare ask for such a price!''
Alexander''s voice slightly boomed, expressing his dissatisfaction.
But facing this tactic of trying to lower prices, the ver was unperturbed,
"Hehe, no, no, you misunderstand my lord. The price of these women is never determined by how hard it is to catch them."
"Catching them is easy."
"The hard thing is to just find them. I would be lucky to find a suitable one even in one in a thousand."
Cassim exaggerated the numbers, though it was true that finding a peasant girl whose face and figure fit a nobleman''s preference was indeed hard, the harsh physical work and the rough conditions they lived in wiping away a lot of their beauty very quickly.
Saying the ve treader continued,
"And then there are the training and maintenance costs."
"Expert trainers cost a lot. These girls know nothing at first and it takes a lot of time and patience to teach them. Making a skilled ve able to please a master as esteemed as a noble without breaking her is very hard my lord."
Here the ver referred to how a nobleman would buy such beautiful ves for pleasure purposes so would expect the highest level of service from them.
And thus her training had to match that.
"And then there are all the everyday costs. These girls need food, clothes, and makeup of the highest quality."
"Over weeks and months, all these tend to add up very quickly my lord!"
"*Sigh*, I actually make very little profit on each sale, hehe."
Cassim by the end gave a forced smile as he shook his head ruefully, seemingly burdened by the huge expenses.
''Yet you have enough coin to eat yourself to this size and wear shy clothes and jewelry such as these,''
And Alexander might have believed the man if he was not so fat and gaudily dressed.
Furthermore, Alexander also had an idea of the expenses for himself as it had to be remembered that he ran a brothel himself.
And those girls there were very much like the women Cassim had.
And he was certain he treated those women much better than this ve trader did, hiring good trainers, giving them meat or eggs every other day, gifting them expensive soaps and perfume and makeup kits to better present themselves in front of the guests, and many of the dresses they wore were custom made to order, requiring them to be sexy, durable andfortable, hence costing a hell of a lot.
But then even the total cost of behind each girl was less than 2,000 ropals a year.
And this treatment of the girls was seemingly so good that ording to Ophenia, many high ranking courtesans hade to the brothel manager Kalopi, expressing their wishes to switch ces ande work for her.
This had even turned the establishment he had set up as a kind of personal vendetta into quite a popr destination among the regrs in the district.
So all this went to show that unless Cassim was babysitting those ves for an entire decade, there was no way he was no way making only a little of their sales.
"Mister Cassim, you make so little profit and yet are able to dress better than me. I must praise your ounting abilities,"
Thus at the businessman''s obvious exaggeration Alexander sarcasticallymented as such, but knowing embellishing the truth was part of the business, then simply waved his hand and stated.
"Okay! 20,000 ropals it is. I will give you the price you want." as he felt disinclined to haggle.
Alexander was rich to the point that he felt that the amount of time he would spend haggling over the slight price difference of a few thousand ropals was not worth the headache.
If the man wanted 20,000, he would get 20,000.
But in exchange, Alexander expected premium service.
"Great! Great! My lord, you will not be disappointed!" At Alexander''s quick agreement, the ve trade was overjoyed, shing an enormous smile as his face lit up, turning almost rosy red.
He had been ready to ept the deal at 15,000 ropals or even a bit lower, but now he had made an extra 100,000 ropal profit just like that.
Of course, he would be happy, not to mention the sale totaled to a huge 1 million.
This was more than he madest year, and so earning an entire year''s revenue in one afternoon certainly made him ted to the point he even forgot thement that was made about his clothes, erasing it like it was thin air.
And many would too if they were in his position.
For to give a context of that sale in modern numbers, given Adhania''s median earning was 150 ropals, and the US''s was 70,000 dors, that came to half a billion dors in today''s value.
Most people would not care if the buyermented how ugly they looked in their dress if they were going to make that much money.
But Alexander did have one condition then epting this price.
So putting a damper on the joyous man, he curtly cut off,
"But remember Cassim. These women will be sent to the capital. To the king himself."
"You should be aware of the high standards the people there have for such women."
"I do not want to hear anything untowardter."
"Train them well!"
Alexander knew the capital regrly held parties involving orgies usingrge numbers of such ve women.
And so he wanted to make sure the girls being sent were skilled enough to perform those jobs without creating a fuss or causing any problems.
"Please be assured my lord. The noble sirs will find these girls to their utmost liking. I swear on my name."
And Cassim quickly reassured as such.
The practice of the nobility was not really a secret even among the rich merchants, as even they would sometimes get an invitation.
Many also got their daughters and even wives to participate, as a way to curry favor with these powerful men.
And so Cassim being the big shot trader he was for so long in this business, certainly knew the quality that was expected of his product.
And he certainly had the means to guarantee that.
"Okay, then I want to see them now. Let''s go."
Thus having reached the price and having cooled himself enough, Alexander was eager to see the product for himself.
And though usually the price was determined after seeing the product, Alexander was confident the man before him would not dare to swindle him.
Not if he wanted to ever do business here.
So after this brief rest, Alexander felt ready to tackle the heat again.
Though that was a decision he came to regret instantly as the moment he stepped out of the cool room,?the heat felt like sharp needles stabbing into his skin.
For a second, he even regretted getting into that cool room in the first ce.
The heat outside was really no joke.
But as his body slowly limatized to the new environment, therge ve trader slowly led Alexander to arge part of the tent at the back, where all the women were housed.
Therge number was divided into groups of four or five, ced in small individual rooms, separated by only rugs.
These were hot and humid due to the weather outside, with only small vents along the sides to let in fresh air.
And as Alexander entered, he found the ce to be dim and a bit dark, with the air thick with too many oils and perfumes, stinging his nose.
But such difort quickly flitted as his eyes focused on the jewels the rooms contained, for as soon as the two men entered, all of the girls dropped everything they were doing to stand up and greet them, bowing deferentially before showing off their faces and figures to Alexander.
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Chapter 779 Gift For Ptolomy (Part-3)
Chapter 779 Gift For Ptolomy (Part-3)
The girls being put forward to Alexander were all dressed in a very simr way to how those four girls before were- bras or sashes on the top,bined with thin, linen underwear and revealing pants below, thus showing or nearly showing everything that a man might want to see in a pleasure ve.
Their hair was done in all kinds of various ways- braided, ponytailed, free flowing, bunned, to name only a few and they wore various ornate jewelry, such as bangles, anklets, earrings, and neckpieces, as well as sexy chains around their breasts or lower hips.
Seeing this opulent disy of ornaments, Alexander would have to admit, that he might have underestimated the costs of dressing and maintaining these girls.
Gold itself was expensive, and when it was worked on by skilled artisans like now, even just a little bit, it quickly tripled or even quadrupled.
It seemed that Cassim was willing to ssh significant amounts of money to make Alexander''s tributes appear as shy as possible in front of the king.
Something which pleased the man.
As Alexander inspected these girls, he found some of the bolder ones even starting to show off their bare bodies to Alexander, as they parted his chest sashes, or lifted their bras, making their oiled voluptuous flesh glitter due to the shining gold pieces, with Alexander even spotting a few with piercings on them.
While a few of the other girls even pushed their underwear aside, showing their wellbed tufts.
They then even spread their pink perfumed lips, letting a jeweled silver tiara hanging from the waistband they wore dangle in front it, making it look like a star shining against a darkke.
The entire reveal was very sensual and Alexander could tell the entire thing was very well rehearsed, impressing him about the quality of training they surely had received.
In the process of the tour, he found that the types of women Cassim had chosen were asrge in variety as their numbers.
The ages of these women varied anywhere from short, petite teens yet to fully bloom to mature voluptuous thirty-year-olds in their prime, sporting figures of every possible kind- curvy, slim, plump, and slender, with looks andplexions of simrly diverse nature- cute tanned ones, oval white ones, and squared ebony ones.
But like those four girls Alexander had seen before, the one thing that tied them together was their beautiful faces, as he felt these girls indeed were enough to catch those eyes in the capital.
Furthermore, as he moved from tent to tent, each and every one of the girls there acted as if they could not wait to submit to him, sultry walking up to him and caressing him, pushing their abundant chests against him, urging him to feel their ass or rubbing their creamy thighs, as all of them seemed to beg him to take them then and there.
Alexander was certainly impressed by how naturally they were able to present themselves, especially given that it had only been a fortnight since their capture.
''Cassim must have really good trainers,'' Alexander felt reassured.
Hence feeling his 1 million ropals was not going to be wasted, he afterward urged Cassim again to make sure none of the girls to be sent had any physical defects or diseases, and then decided to exit the tent.
"My lord, it is already noon, And we have prepared a feast for you. Please, won''t you attend?"
But then Cassim humbly posed such, framing the invitation as a choice.
Alexander was indeed feeling hungry by now.
He had been walking for hours and given the heat, he was tempted to get inside that cold room again, wishing to wait out it out there.
Thus Alexander happily epted, following which he was then served all the regr delicacies.
Expensive white bread, very good cheese, various meat, fish, honey, and a kind of fermented sauce he never had, with the most unique item of the meal is definitely being the sheep''s testicles, which had no taste of sheep but tasted more like pork sausage.
The two men dined in that cold room, the two eating and chatting, while making small talk about their past, about funny experiences they had, Alexander was being attended to by all four of those scantily ddies, every one of which tried to fill his belly almost as much as they tried to raise his lust meter, trying almost every trick in the book.
Alexander was of course no stranger to such endeavors, as it almost came with part and parcel with being a lord.
Everyone tried to get into your pants, either to earn a favor or like here, to show goodwill.
And since these girls meant no harm, Alexander was happy to oblige, copping a feel of the soft chest here, or groping the luscious butts there when the opportunity presented himself, and he did this right in front of Cassim.
The ver of course did not even blink an eye, since this was not the first time the girls did this.
And as the man who hadmanded them to do so, he was very much pleased to this reaction, as his smiles only grew wider every time he saw Alexander pinch one of his girls.
If Alexander even showed the slightest interest in any of them, he would be over the moon to gift all four of them together.
To be able to please a client as big and powerful as Alexander by giving away just four such girls was daylight robbery in his eyes.
Following the meal, as desserts, Alexander was served yogurt with honey in a small earthen pot, and as he took small scoops of the white and yellow stuff using an ornate spoon made of gold, feeling the coolness wash down himself, Cassim slowly spoke up in a gentle voice,
"My lord, it''s too hot outside. Why don''t you take a rest here? I''m sure anything you might have can wait!"
The practice of having a short nap was indeedmon, but Alexander could tell that was not the ve trader''s real intention.
Those thoughts were betrayed by the scalding looks he felt the four pairs surrounding him shed him.
Cassim was trying to set up the conditions for him to enjoy these girls, and by the looks of it, these girls were also very much in favor to enjoying him too.
And Alexander would easily guess why.
The four might not hate their current master- Cassim, but they did not love him either.
The man was no saint, and many times even cruel, and the four only tolerated him because he was too powerful and also not an unconscionable tyrant.
Thus though they would not slit his throat at night if provided a chance, they would also not hesitate to abandon him at a moment''s notice either.
And how could a better chance present itself than this, with this young, enigmatic young master to whom their master appeared to be so ingratiating?
It was simple maths really.
"Hmmp, I''m indeed feeling a bit sleepy. That was a great meal." And Alexander was surprisingly willing to ept Cassim''s offer.
Seeing all those sexy, scantily d women had worked up his lust, and since he was being offered such a free sample, he felt it would be too rude to decline.
"Great! Great! Then please, I will leave you to rest." At Alexander''s willingness the ve trader instantly jumped to his feet, as if he could not wait to leave Alexander and let him ''dine'' alone, his heart overjoyed by the fact the man was willing to ept his offering,
So turning to the girls, he instructed,
"You four. That good care of the master. Make sure is he mostfortable."
And then with a hurried bow, he was gone.
Alexander might not have believed how fast such arge man could move if he had not seen it for himself.
With the room now all to themselves and having gotten Alexander''s implicit permission, the girls got a lot bolder, as one of them tugged his arms, cooing,
"Here master, there is the bed, Let us rest there."
And Alexander was happy to be led, though the ce he was brought was not really a bed, but more like a veryrge devan.
And as he was sat down, another girl who was following in toe quickly squatted down, giggling,
"My lord, it''s too hot here. Let''s get you morefortable," as she then very expertly worked to free Alexander of his pants.
By the movements of her hands, it was apparent she was very experienced.
And in that simr vein, his upper body armor too was stripped by the other three, until he just had a in tunic on him.
"Oh my god!" But suddenly his light gasp rang out from below him, as the girl there finallyid eyes on his little brother.
"What! Never saw anything like this before?" And seeing the genuine shock, Alexander was internally very pleased.
There was no doubt these girls had body counts in the tens if not hundreds, so for them to let out his involuntary cry, stoked his masculinity.
And then for the following hours, a torrent of lewd shouts and moans devasted the room, by the end of which Alexander was left a very pleased man.
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Chapter 780 Ancestral Temple of Thesalie (Part-1)
Chapter 780 Ancestral Temple of Thesalie (Part-1)
Alexander''s afternoon with the four girls proved to be quite an enjoyable one.
Once relieved from his pants, the four girls all looked incredulously at the exposed organ, with the most petite one of the bunch barely stopping herself from loudly blurting out, "Is this a human''s or a horse''s?"
Seeing evenid size like this, they did not dare to imagine what it would be like once fully awoke.
Following Alexander''s de- clothing, the girls also moved to show their assets, taking off those parts of their dress that hid their most attractive organs.
They did not be fully bare, still letting the ornamental clothing drape over their shoulders and thighs, but the partial nudity seemed to make them that much more attractive, as the clothing contrasted with their soft, fleshy chest and fully shaved and perfumed pubes.
"Bring the chamber pot."
But before starting, Alexander, having much to drink, felt bing morefortable.
"Here, master. Ahhh!" But what was brought before him was not an earthen pot, but the open mouth of the most voluptuous girl among the four, as she kneeled down and pointed his organ towards her lc tongue, her cute, ck eyes twinkling with delight.
This was the most premium special service they provided and was avable only to their most esteemed customers.
And though Alexander was a bit surprised at first by this since he was being offered such, why should he resist?
So soon the pressure in his lower half decreased while the girl''s stomach felt warm and heavy, as she appeared to have been served the world''s most delicious drink, her powered face almost turning a rosy tint.
Alexander had no way to distinguish if she was acting or genuinely liked it.
After that, the girls finally started to service Alexander, as they first and foremost teamed up to expertly blow his organ, praising him for the taste and quantity.
Then they were taken one by one, with Alexander choosing to explore either the pink canal or the chrysanthemum hole depending on his mood, experiencing the pleasures in various postures.
For the most petite one, he took her by making her sit on hisp, skewering her in one go and making her squeal with pleasure.
While for the most voluptuous one, he had her bent over, to fully enjoy her curvy butt.
And feeling their tunnels being expanded to limits experienced very few times before, the girls loudly moaned without restraint, even wondering, ''How long can he go for?''
Even for these experienced women, even when there were four of them, Alexander''s rough pounding was not easy to bear through
Especially since Alexander saw these girls as being here to only provide a service, thus saw no reason to be soft towards them.
He only concentrated on his pleasure, and so by the end of the sessions, the girls were so sore and exhausted that they could barely stand, their bodies all sweaty and sticky.
Alexander left the tent a few hourster, thanking Cassim for the hospitality and being fully satisfied with the delicious taste of the four.
The ve trader hearing so had a huge smile on his face and even offered to send those four with Alexander, an endeavor that was unequivocally declined.
And putting that thought at the back of his mind, as Alexander got on his horse, he found it was alreadyte noon.
Though it was still as hot as ever, his n to wait out the heat seemingly failed.
But that did not dampen his mood as he hummed a happy tune while thinking back on what had happened in thest two weeks.
After Lapitus''s speech ended, Alexander did not immediately return to the mansion.
Instead he asked to be led to thergest shrine in the city, something which greatly surprised Lapitus.
He thought Alexander was going to break it down or rece it with his own statues.
But he followed the order nevertheless.
The grand shrine was located right on the bank of the mighty Diannu river, and covered a huge 50 acre of prime real estate right inside the city.
The five football fields worth spanning structure was as magnificent as it was grand, and though not as big as The Grand Temple at Adhan, it was certainlyparable.
In front of the entrance to the vastplex stood two bronzed coloredrge bull statues, the spiritual animal of the country, and as Alexander entered, he found the pirs of the gate were actually
two huge obelisks, spiraling almost an impossible 50 meters in height, their ck, granite surfaces carved with golden hieroglyphics and murals.
Inside, alongside the main temple were many smaller subsidiary temples, sanctuaries, and crypts, all interconnected by beautifully paved stone roads.
Around each of these temples, were further stone statues of various sizes, depicting both humans and animals, as well as many obelisks and beautiful gardens.
It was a very beautiful ce- quiet, peaceful, and pristine, a ce worthy of calling sacred.
As Alexander toured theplex, he spotted the numerous individual temples and shrines there, scattered all around, which was very different from the Adhanian style of having one gigantic temple.
And when asked about this, Lapitus stated the reason for there being so many different sized shrines and temples was because the size of the temple demonstrated one''s good deeds and aplishments in life.
And it did not take a genius to guess where the nobles, the rich merchants, and the poor peasants prayed.
The lower one''s position in the social hierarchy, the smaller the temple he was allowed to visit, and upon death they would be ced in the adjacent crypts ordingly too.
Though that was a service only avable to them if the people could afford to buy a spot.
"The poorer crypts keep the bodies for 10 years and cost 50 libra per year. While the richer ones, like the ones that keep the body for 50 or even 100 years can go up from a few thousand libra to even tens of thousands, like the ones stored in the main temple." Lapitus informed Alexander.
Something that caused his lips to involuntarily twitch a bit.
''25 free ropals a year just to keep some stinking skeleton in the closet. Man, why didn''t I think of it,'' Hempooned at the missed business opportunity, while also off handedly praising the business sense of these priests.
And then asked, "What happens to those who cannot afford it? 50 libras a year is no small sum?for the poorest."
And these should be the ones to die most frequently.
"Hehe, the same thing we do to the bodies after their time in the crypt is over¡ Dump them into the river." To this Lapitus lightly chuckled the answer in a free breezy tone.
"What?"
But the response he got from the other side was a sharp cry of surprise, as Alexander let out a short gasp, his eyes widening.
"Ah?" A reaction that made Lapitus freeze slightly, thinking he had inadvertently made some great error.
"Why don''t you bury them? Why sink them in the river?" Alexander quickly posed so.
"Haha," Hearing the question, Lapitus first and foremost let out a chuckle of relief, reassured Alexander was not angry with him.
Then exined,
"My lord, that is what you Adhanians do. But us Tibians would never. Because the rivers contain all our ancestors'' souls. They flow with the currents and upon death, we will be rejoined with them."
"The earth is a prison, heaven is in the water." The man ended poetically, quoting a line from their sacred scripture.
''Then why keep them in crypts in the first ce?'' While Alexander hearing so had the urge to pose this.
But religions were never built on logic and reason.
He was sure the answer would be something like- ''So that they be closer to us,'' or ''To protect us.''
Thus he only curtly nodded, and then asked in a seemingly unrted manner the real question,
"Does the city have any records of outbreaks of gues? Or cholera? Or any other great diseases? Does anything like that happen regrly?"
This was Alexander''s real sticking point with this culture.
He could not have cared any less if dumping these dead bodies, many of which naturally would have died to various diseases was not a recipe for starting a gue.
But given the health hazards, of course, he felt it was imperative for him to intervene.
At Alexander''s inquiry, Lapitus firstly produced a bit of a surprised look, like was looking at a irvoyant, and then lightly smiling, he nodded,
"Life and death are at the hands of the ancestors. If they wish to meet us, we are more than happy to oblige."
Lapitus sounded very light and frank.
And it was this very nonchnt way that Lapitus confirmed it that Alexander''s found most eerie.
Huge volumes of deaths were urring periodically around him but the man seemed unaffected.
Like he had simply epted this tragedy as a part and parcel of life.
And perhaps what was even more tragic was that he was not alone in this.
Many people shared this mindset too.
Life was hard and death followed one around every corner.
And unable to rationalize the cause of it, the people took toforting themselves in various ways.
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Chapter 781 Ancestral Temple of Thesalie (Part-2)
Chapter 781 Ancestral Temple of Thesalie (Part-2)
Chapter 781
One of the most popr ways people epted death was to simply ept it like one epts natural disasters like hurricanes, volcanos, earthquakes, and tsunamis- as tragedies that one can do nothing about but endure and ept.
And seeing Lapitus be a victim of this, Alexander was both saddened and a bit rmed.
Because being from modern times, he of course had a very different mind state, and he wondered about the kind of bacsh he would get if he tried to make any changes to this practice.
Because the obvious reason- ''It will stop diseases and save lives'' might not work on this seeming zealot.
A feeling further strengthened when he heard Lapitus say,
"But rest assured my lord, the priests of our city are really good."
"Whenever these diseases re up, they will alle out from the temples to try and heal the sick. Even the high priests from the main temple will participate."
"And they will treat everyone for free, no matter his background! Even if it means bing possessed by the evil spirits themselves."
"They are truly deserving of being blessed by the ancestors."
Listening to Lapitus speak, it was very apparent to Alexander what were the man''s thoughts regarding the priests.
A characteristic that unbeknownst to him, made his favorability with Alexander take a nose dive.
As Alexander heard the man sing the praises of the priests, he also sneered a bit in his heart,
"Heh! Of course, all the priests were gonna have toe out. Most of the people to die during a gue are the poor, given the filth they live in."
''If you only had the few regr ones to attend them, those old farts would die from overwork within days.''
How could Alexander have respect for a bunch who had made burial into a yearly subscription?
They were even more cut- throat than many of the shameless modern business.
But these priests did have one redeeming quality.
Alexander would give them credit where credit was due.
As Lapitus said, many of the priests got inflected in the process of tending to the sick who came to them for blessing or when they were performing thest rites, sumbing to the illness in the process.
Or as Lapitus put it- evil spirits, which Alexander was disinclined to correct the man on.
Now, the incident of many priests dying during a gue was something that happened in Alexander''s previous life too,
When the ck death hit Europe in the 11th century, it wiped away a third of the poption.
But for the priests, their numbers decreased by ny percent (90%).
It was also then the decline of the church''s reputation began.
Because before then, the criteria to be chosen as a priest were quite strict.
He was typically the smartest man in the town, he could read and write and his moral values were quite good for the time.
But after the ck death, the clergy were so dire in need of people to fill their ranks, that anyone who had a set of teeth and did not look like was going to fall over any moment was taken.
And it was these bad seeds that produced generations after generations of putrid harvests, finally resulting in the popr reputation the church has been given in regr pop culture.
It was with these thoughts that Alexander slowly made towards thergest temple there, which was called the Main Temple.
Its surrounding decorations were far bigger and more extravagant than the others, with a great number of decorative statues and obelisks ced along it, and as Alexander approached the steps leading to the main hall, he was greeted a group of priests.
The group numbered only seven, all wearing crisp, snow white robes without a single spot, barefooted, their ages ranged from middle aged to old, being led by a single withered and wizened man who stood at the very front, which spine still straight as a steel rod.
By the deferential the others were giving, it was very apparent that he was the highest authority here.
"High Priest!" And it was a guess that was quickly confirmed by Lapitus''s loud greeting as he bowed to the old man.
"Ah, Lapitus, child. It''s good that you are safe. And I can see you brought guests." The High Priest''s reply was gentle as such, and he did not at all sound raspy or old as his age might suggest.
Instead, it was soft yet strong, able to carry the words he wanted said clearly.
And as he looked at Lapitus, there was no anger or hatred over what he had done, but only a tranquil eptance.
Something that could not be said for the other six behind him, who red at Lapitus like they wanted to toast him alive.
The mere fact that Lapitus dared to address the High Priest with such familiarity after how he betrayed the ancestors incensed them and if not for their superior''s strict orders to restraint themselves, a few of the more impulsive ones might have done something rash.
These priests were part of Petrino''s hardcore faction so advocated fighting to thest man, but had escaped that grim fate because their numbers were so few, because they chose not to participate in that debaucherous party, and most importantly because they were priests.
But Lapitus did send them a message after cleaning the mansion, clearly stating that if they valued their life, they should ept the results obediently and stay inside the temple.
Or else, neither he nor the soldiers sacking the city would spare them.
Thus given the sacking had only finished today, it was their first day tasting fresh air in days.
Seeing the receiving group that came out to greet him, Alexander lightly skipped past Lapitus and cing his right hand across his chest, he gently chimed,
"Greetings, esteemed High Priest, I''m Alexander. I hope you do not mind meing unannounced."
The greeting was neither too aggressive nor too respectful, as he sought to show himself as his superior.
This obviousck of respect predictably produced a few furrowed eyebrows, but no one said anything, letting the one this was addressed to speak.
"Haha, I heard the conqueror of Thesalie was a young man. But I would have never guessed him to be of such nascent years. This old man feels his eyes opened."
To Alexander''s greeting, the High Priest replied seemingly in a very polite way, though reading between the lines, Alexander could tell he was being slighted for his age.
Truly, anyone who managed to reach such a high position possessed a sharp tongue.
But instead of engaging in a verbal word with Alexander, the High Priest then quickly followed his greeting with a gentle wave of his arm, gesturing towards the temple and inviting Alexander in,
"Come my lord. Let me show you the insides of our temple. You must havee a long way and are surely eager."
The man was much more flexible to the situation than the other old man in the mansion, letting Alexander readily ess the ce that should have belonged to only those of the faith.
Alexander readily epted the offer and found the insides to be truly gorgeous, lit up with huge chandeliers and cands, and filled with even more gigantic statues.
But this time they were even studded in various ces with precious metal and stones, as the High Priest introduced them as various warriors and spiritual leaders of Tibias.
There were also beautiful paintings on the walls and ceiling, depicting the country''s many legends, myths, and folktales, as well as triumphant victories over Adhania.
The pirs had simr intricate carvings, and as the High Priest showed in the back, there was even a huge artificialke, used to perform various rituals and rites.
Alexander was very satisfied by the great expansive structure, as he then turned to the priest to say, "I want to offer a prayer here. And I will let you run the temple."
"But in exchange, I want all the gold you have here. And more importantly, you must let our Goddess Gaia statue be ced in there."
Alexander said pointing to arge altar, whereupon was a huge statue of a bull and two children, a boy and a girl, suckling on what appeared to be its udders.
ording to legends, Tibias was founded by these twins who were left abandoned in an open field up but lived due to the milk from a bull.
Now how did a bull produce milk, or at least the kind that was fit for human consumption?
Well, that was the miracle.
Normal bulls can''t but it was a divine bull, and so it did, possessing the udders of a cow.
Simplest exnation ever.
And growing up healthy consuming its nourishments, the two children, possibly brothers and sisters got married and proliferated thends with their offspring, and thus were considered to be the ancestors of all Tibians.
Yes, the origin not only included an impossible bull, but also incest.
But hey at least it did not have fratricide like the Roman one.
"What! No, absolutely not!" At Alexander''s request, immediately a huge bellow followed from the?back, as one of the priests stepped out.
And then taking a dagger out from his sleeves, he charged!
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Chapter 782 A Hit
Chapter 782 A Hit
Alexander was informed of the legend of Tibias''s origin as he was given the tour of the temple.
And listening to it, the biggest thing that he wondered was why they did not make the bull simply a cow.
Though he had his guesses.
The first ones toe up with the idea might have felt that giving credit to females would be demeaning.
Or it could be that a divine bull sounded much better than an ordinary cow.
Whatever the reasons were, it was with such distracting thoughts that Alexander had made that proposal to switch the bull statue with his own goddess statue, something which caused a zealous priest to make an attempt on his life.
And it was a very good attempt at that, because given the distance the man was at, the way Alexander was standing very close to the high priest, and most of all, the unexpectedness of it all, managed to catch everyone off guard, including Hemicus and even Alexander.
So as Alexander saw therge dagger descend down from the skies, like a heavenly arrow fired by gods, aimed right at his chest, he sensed a mortifying scent of death he had not in years.
If that strike connected as it was, he knew it would be enough to pierce his bronze cuirass, his chainmail, and his gambeson- to finally bury deep into his flesh, possibly even breaking his ribs to stab right through to his heart.
And even if that worst scenario did not happen, even if the strike missed the critical organ and he did not die immediately, simply the grievous injury he would undoubtedly suffer would almost certainly mean death in the following days.
Alexander had not faced such a mortal challenge in a very long time.
And faced with this predicament, Alexander''s first instinct was to dodge, to try and use his footwork to pivot and make the man miss his aim.
Or at the very least try to make it a ncing blow.
But that option was quickly ruled out.
The attacker was too close and gaining ground rapidly, there was simply not enough time to make adequate maneuvers
So given flight was out, Alexander then thought about trying to fight, to block it with his arms, or like before, at least shove had arm away, thus deflecting it to a lesser important area.
But this time, Alexander found himself wanting for room.
He was so close to the high priest that he found that if he were to raise his hand, it would hit the old man and get obstructed.
And by the time he came to these conclusions, precious seconds had already mercilessly ticked by.
Although Alexander''s mind was working in hyperdrive, he seemed to draw a nk, as the bells of the grim reaper toiled next to his ears.
When suddenly Alexander''s eyes shed a chilly light.
Instead of fighting or fleeing, he chose a third option.
Abruptly grabbing the old by his shoulder, Alexander summoned every ounce of his strength to pull the man towards him, intending to use him as a human shield.
And thankfully, the wizened man was quite light, thus letting him aplish this quite fast.
While the attacking priest, seeing the high priest suddenly appear at the corner of his eye and understanding who he was about to hit, instinctively tried to correct his aim,
"Argghhh!"
Thus he missed Alexander''s heart, for thest minute hesitation caused the de to nce off the thick bronze cuirass and instead bury itself into Alexander''s fleshy arm, the strong strike cutting into his flesh and even cracking his bone, hence the pained groan.
"Alexander! *ng*!" Hemicus had been watching the entire thing unfold like it was a horror movie, his body seemingly frozen, his face white with despair.
And by the time he was able to act, blood had been already drawn.
It was Alexander''s pained growl and the clear pitter patter of blood that broke the man from his frozen stupor, and upon seeing it, felt a surge of anger like he had felt only a few times before.
"*sh*"
Stepping forward with feathered steps, he drew his de at a lightning pace and delivered a very powerful diagonal sh across the attacking priest''s chest, instantly drawing a literal fountain of blood, and sending his stumbling backward, as he then fell to the floor on his back, his eyes quickly losing focus.
The man was dead from that one strike.
But for Hemicus, he would not care less what happened to that man.
He was far more concerned about the person he was meant to protect, who by now on one knee, clutching the wound that was bursting forth with blood, the huge weapon still stuck.
Neither he nor Hemicus took it out haphazardly, knowing the very thing that caused the wound was now acting as a stopper.
Things would only get much worse if it was carelessly removed.
*ng*, *ng*, ng*,
As Hemicus rushed to Alexander''s aid, the other nearby bodyguards also got the chance to finally react, as drawing their own swords, they formed a defensive ring around their lord, many men deep, while at the same time, they seemed just ready to jump on the six remaining priests, eager to tear them to shreds, first the six and then the rest of the people here.
"Wait!" And it was only Alexander''s pained cry that stopped this massacre, as he thenmanded, "Capture and detain everyone. And get me somewhere quiet."
Even though Alexander was hurt, he was not incapacitated and still had the state of mind to know that
ughtering the priests in rage would be a bad idea.
While Lapitus, who simr to Hemicus too had gone pale by the attack, upon hearing Alexander''s order, acted the quickest, fiercely grabbing the high priest, and shouting,
"Yes! Quickly get down. Capture them. Don''t kill."
Lapitus''s first sentence was addressed to the priest, while the second was to the soldier, as it was pretty clear why he was willing to follow Alexander''s order with such crity-?he wanted to save the priests.
And to do that he personally grabbed the high priest, expertly putting his hands behind the back, while the old man too understood his situation, so he surrendered without the slightest resistance, Seeing which so did the other five.
They got on their knees and lowered their head, while some of the armed men worked to pat them for any weapons and then moved them away from Alexander.
While Alexander was quickly escorted towards the pool since there was clean water there.
And as he was being moved, the man actually thanked his luck.
For only he was aware just how lucky he had been.
Firstly the attacker was grossly inexperienced.
Because if this priest was also a martial artist, he would have noticed that the human shield Alexander was trying to bring in front of him would not be able to get there on time.
Alexander barely managed to get the old high priest to cover his right hand side, while the attack wasing from the left
So if the man had continued his attack as he had been, he would have been able to deliver the fatal blow without any danger to the old man.
But then again, being a clergyman, it would have been weird for the man to be an expert assassin too.
But what would have been not weird was for the man to coat his de in poison.
Became the murder had been clearly premeditated- one did not simply carry a giant dagger underneath one''s sleeve after all.
But for some reason that was not done.
Perhaps the man had no ess to it or simply did not think it would have been necessary.
But whatever the case, Alexander certainly dodged a deadly bullet there.
For if it was sufficiently poisoned, he would have surely joined that man.
And even if it was not, Alexander might have been turned a cripple, having to cut his left arm off.
That would have been disastrous
So as he was sat down near the bank of the pool, and the sounds of clothes being ripped to make makeshift bandages could be heard, he once again thanked his lucky stars.
"The wound is very deep. We will need to stitch it first." While one of his bodyguards, who was also a qualified doctor approached Alexander to inspect the gap stab andmented such.
"I will go get a doctor." And immediately another voice chimed hearing this, getting ready to head out to get the necessary instruments like needles and stitches.
Something that caused Alexander to rage internally,
''Dammit! How did I forget to mandate something as simple as to always carry a first aid box?'' ''Fuckubg donkey!''
His foul mood originated not only from the wound but also from the fact that he was quite mad at himself for failing to take even the most basic security precautions, one which almost led to his death.
How else would he describe being almost stabbed to death by a regr priest?
Alexander would admit that after his recent victory, he had let his guard down.
He should have never gotten so close to the priests and vowed to always keep a good distance during any interaction.
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Chapter 783 The Spoils of Thesalie (Part-1)
Chapter 783 The Spoils of Thesalie (Part-1)
The pain emanating from his wound finally caused the man to forget for the moment the mistakes that led to the current circumstances.
And he decided to put off trying to think of ways to prevent something simr from happening again forter.
Instead, upon hearing the bodyguard''s rmendations, Alexander chimed up to say,
"Forget about getting those things. By the time you get it, I will have bled to death already."
"Get some strong wine to clean the wound instead. And then cauterize and bandage it."
Alexander sounded both irritated and a bit tired.
The loss of blood was beginning to make him feel weak.
And knowing he might very well be right, that doctor bodyguard solemnly nodded, epting.
So some of the wine the priests used was quickly acquired and poured over the cut, cleaning it, the sharp point of a dagger was heated over a candle me till it became red hot, and then yanking out the stuck dagger in one swift motion, the wound was quickly cauterized and sealed by sticking that hot piece against it, much to Alexander''s loud, agonized screams.
The man might be tough, but he was no robot.
Burning hot steel against the skin still hurt like hell.
Afterward, the wound was quickly patched up using thick rolls of bandage and soon Alexander was back.
"Alexander, you lost a lot of blood. We should get back and rest." Hemicus then rmended this.
Something that Alexander chose to heed, as curtly nodding his head, he replied, "Yes let''s. But before that I have onest thing to do."
And then ignoring all the surprised and even disapproving looks, he went to look for the high priest, who was surprisingly easy to find.
The old man was at the foot of the altar, sitting down, a trace of concern still masking his otherwise tranquil face.
Alexander was actually impressed the old man was as calm as he appeared to be.
Seeing Alexander, the man quickly got up, softly crying in tion,
"Great lord! I''m so d to see you are safe. We swear we had no idea about this. It was all¡"
"Shut up!" Alexander was in no mood to hear these long winded excuses, as he then clenched teeth his teeth and snapped,
"If I wanted you dead, this entire ce would have been drowned in blood already!"
"Now, I will ask again, do you ept my proposal or do you want your assholes stretched till it breaks!"
The rage in his voice was palpable.
"ept! ept! We will move the statue to any ce that pleases my lord," And the high priest was almost scrambling to form the words, immediately eding to all Alexander''s requests.
There was no way he would dare so no.
"Hmmp!" And Alexander exited the temple with only that imperious snort.
"Get a doctor. We still need to stitch the wounds." As the group came out of the temple, Hemicus then ordered one of his subordinates as such, for a cauterized wound was not a fully sealed one, it was only held in ce by brunt skin that had fused together.
Anyrge movement or vibration would tear it.
"Alexander. can you ride a horse?" Hence such a question.
"Yea." Alexander shortly nodded, noticing that whenever Hemicus got worried about him, he switched to calling him by name.
And then turning to Lapitus who had gone very pale, like he was still recovering from the shock, said,
"Lapitus! Make sure the people know what happened. Tell them that it was the priests, wanting to save their lives, who decided to rece the bull with the statue of the Goddess."
"Say that exactly!"
Alexander emphasized.
And from the wording, it was very apparent why Alexander wanted it to be said this way.
To dump all the me and dissatisfaction of the people onto those six.
It was one of the reasons he did not ughter them all.
"Yes, my lord." And contrary to assuming Lapitus would appear reluctant, he appeared actually quite enthusiastic.
As long as Alexander did not kill the priests, he was willing to follow most things.
Though that line was soon crossed by Alexander''s nextmand,
"And find people who might harbor rebel ideas like that priests. Who did he regrly meet? Who were his friends? Who were the co- conspirators? Bring them before me within the week."
*Tremble*
Lapitus''s body visibly shook at this, knowing what the likely oue would be.
But nodded nevertheless.
He understood that the current Alexander was in a very bad mood, and made up his mind to softly approach the topic at ater date to reason with him.
After all, not everyone that met with that priest were his ally and given the abruptness of the attempt, it could even be reasoned it wasmitted in a moment of overzealous passion, spurred by Alexander''s wish to attack their most sacred symbol.
Lapitus approached the mansion with such thoughts, as then he posed,
"Lord Pasha, should we cancel the feast?" drawing his attention to that meal that was supposed to start at noon.
By now it was approaching dusk.
And as Lapitus said so, his eyes squarelynded on the bandaged left arm, which had already produced a dark patch on the center.
It was very possible that the wounded had opened.
He evenmpooned, ''None of this would have happened if we just stayed here and ate the food.''
"No, let the men enjoy themselves. I will join after I''m stitched up."
While Alexander appeared to be still in the mood to party.
So with that Alexander was taken to an inside room and after he had the deep cut closed with almost twenty stitches, he joined the rest of the nobles and military officers already gathered thete.
The men there remained oblivious to Alexander''s injury, something that he had asked of his bodyguards as he did not want others riled up and do anything extreme in revenge for him.
So with that began the great feast as food, music, and wine flowed till almost midnight, by the end of which Alexander was blind drunk.
It had seemed to him that every nobleman and every officer worth his salt had toasted to the victory, praising Alexander for his aplishments.
And in return, he was forced to drink, and even the small sips he had each time added up very quickly.
The only good thing that came out of this intoxication was that it helped to dull the stinging pain from his arm.
But this and the unexpected happenings of the day also meant that Alexander''s initial n to hold a meeting that night was swiftly swept aside, and as Alexander was being escorted to his room by Hemicus and the others, he struggled to even see where he was going.
And by the time he hit the bed, he lost almost all his senses.
Even the next morning greeted him with a splitting headache and a stinking pain from his arm, so deciding to treat himself a bit, the man skipped the morning in its entirety and only got ready to work at noon.
After a sumptuous lunch much of the headache was gone and though the pain from the arm still remained, he knew he could not off work only because of that.
So with that, he finally checked off some of the most important things he had to do- the first of which included getting to inspect the treasury.
Situated deep underground, therge, ornate heavy oak doors were opened to reveal its contents, with the most striking site being the huge stone statues located there, much like in the temple.
And ording to Lapitus, these were the statues of Lord Ponticus''s ancestors, meant to oversee and protect the contents held in the room.
These includedrge piles of gold and silver coins, many kinds of jewelry such as rings, bracelets, neckpieces, etc. belonging to both men and women, beautiful ornate ceremonial armor sets made of pure gold or silver, porcin vases, precious tes and cups studded with rare gemstones, and many more.
Its contents were certainly quite bountiful, though to Alexander, this actually seemed to be a bit disappointing.
Given the opulence he had seen in the disy, he had expected the treasures would be enough to recoup his cost of raising an army that came to around 60 to 70 million.
But by his experienced estimate, everything herebined would not exceed 15 million ropals max.
This amount of money was of course not nothing.
But certainly far shorter than what he wanted.
The value here was not even enough to cover the cost of the promise he made to the city and its reconstruction.
And this made him think, ''When the mor and sparlings are taken out, Tibias is poorer than I expected.''
Though it had to be remembered that Thesalie was a city right on the border, and not the capital.
It was natural not to be overflowing with riches.
After securing the treasury, Alexander was then taken to a strange ce- the ice room, where Lapitus imed, "My lord, we have kept all the heads as you instructed. They are still fresh."
This weird statement referred to the instruction Alexander had given to that messenger who came to him to inform him of Lapitus''s sessful coup.
And the reason for this was because along with the women, gold, expensive fabric, and jewelry, he also wanted to send these heads to the capital.
His idea, ''To show everyone what happened when they resisted him.''
.
Chapter 784 Spoils of Thesalie (Part-2)
Chapter 784 Spoils of Thesalie (Part-2)
Alexander''s strategy to disy the heads of his enemies was a tried and tested technique, with many examples not only in this time period but also in Alexander''s previous life.
With perhaps one of the most seasoned practitioners of this tactic being the Mongols, who had most famously built a literal pyramid of skulls of 80,000 men, women, and children when they ughtered the entire Khwarazmian empire to thest man,
It was said that that pyramidsted for nearly a century and the stink spread for miles.
And as horrifying as it might sound, Alexander''s initial version of the message was indeed simr to that one,posed of trains of carts filled with heads of the entire city''s poption, intended to send a far bloodier message!
But since that grizzly fate had been thankfully averted, he settled for a far more ''softer'' approach.
After making sure his prized propaganda piece was secured, Alexander then atst sat down to perhaps the thing he was most looking forward to, as Lapitus showed him all the maps and the various intelligence reports in his possession.
Lapitus had stayed up almost till morning yesterday, getting everything ready after the party, all so that they would be ready to be shown to Alexander by today.
Though for him the reason for his hard work was not because of his loyalty to Alexander, but felt that the faster he could show them to Alexander, the quicker he would be able to go see his wife.
The man was getting very restless knowing the love of his life was so close, yet so far.
And sensing such hastiness, Alexander decided to give the man a short leave for the day, feeling that since a day and a half had passed already passed, the shrewd woman surely had managed to erase almost all traces of their illicit act.
So as Lapitus went off to see his ''sick'' wife back at the camp, Alexander and his military officers dove into the vast information presented to them.
And to go through all of it thoroughly, not only took hours but literally a few days, such was the sheer volume.
But over the following days,?Alexander did manage to glean a lot of useful information.
Firstly regarding the maps, he found that the onlyrge settlement nearby was this city, Thesalie.
Aside from this, there was nothing but a few scattered viges strewn about haphazardly
Normally it would be very weird.
Because alongside a city would always be several towns around supporting it, making up its suburbs.
For instance, there was Jabel who was kind of like a suburb of Zanzan.
But for Thesalie, this never happened.
And it was due to its geography.
Given the surroundings bordered Adhania, a country known tounch aggressive campaigns towards them, only the utterly desperate would choose to forego the safety of the huge walls and live in unprotected towns or viges, being subjected to frequent raids and robberies.
Hence the logical barrenness.
Reading the maps further, Alexander also found the resource distribution of thends he conquered, and frankly, it was underwhelming.
Other than the presence of a few patches ofnd excellent for growing grapes, and plenty of fish to be found in the river, as arge amount of salmon tended to move upstream during winter, there was nothing of notable note.
Like Zanzan, thend wasrgely barren, possessing heavy y soil that made it unsuitable for agriculture.
Expect that the soil quality was even worse here, so much so that even with Alexander''s heavy plow and crop rotation, he guessed he would be able to get maybe half the yield.
As for ore or precious mines, only a scant few very small ones exist.
As a matter of fact, the reason Tibias wanted to conquer Zanzan was because of those resources, for the Cisran hills were full of such desirable products.
Alexander had not dived too deeply into those reserves due tobor shortages, but from records of previous excavations, there were huge deposits of iron, copper, gold, and silver as well as useful materials like coal, limestone and stones to be found there.
But though the Cisran hills ranged from Zanzan to past Thesalie all the way to the end of the penins, the Tibians got nothing, while Zanzan had it all.
They must have surely felt that Zanzan had gotten the stem of the sugarcane while they only got the root.
The maps also showed which nobles controlled which of the territories, its topography as well as the roads leading to them.
And it was thest two things that drew Alexander''s attention, for given the hilly terrain, essing each of these ces was very difficult.
ording to Lapitus, who was there to providementary as well as delineate on matters that Alexander found confusing, the roads to these close yet simultaneously distant nobles existed only on paper.
They were little better than the naturally ttened earthen roads, formed by the regr foot traffic of people and merchants, many times going through extremely stepped hills, torrential small rivers and forests which were so thick at some points that sometimes it seemed to be night even during midday.
And as Alexander heard, he found that though Zanzan too was hilly in itself, it was nowhere as extreme as this.
Attacking these nobles via such a route would be a nightmare, as sneak attacks and ambushes from these wooded areas would be almost impossible to counter.
So due to this strong field advantage, these nobles lived in rtive seclusion, in a kind of mini Thesalie of thier own.
And Alexander could only thank his stars that when asked about the kind of man-made fortifications the nobles had, Lapitus replied it was nothing too fancy- generally a wooden rampant or at best a meter or two high stone wall.
"Since there is Thesalie, the nobles never bothered to build up their defense beyond the bare minimum. So most of their own walls are really meant to keep off wild animals and small bandits." Lapitus informed.
And this was totally logical.
Not only was building and maintaining a good, strong stone wall very expensive, especially for these poor nobles who could earn very little from their barrennds, but even if they did, what was the point?
It was never going to be as grand as Thesalie''s.
Instead it made far more sense to seek shelter there in times of need and return to their estates when the danger passed.
But unfortunately, now that simple equation had broken down.
Thus Alexander ordered-
"Send onepany(100 men - 80 soldiers, 20 servants), to each of these nobles."
"Tell them that they were toe to Thesalie before this month is over."
"Those who want to free their lords in our captivity are to bring the ransom funds."
"And those whose lords have died are toe to me so that I may choose a new one."
"And if they refuse, they will end up like Petrino and his goons before fall is over."
Given that Alexander had taken the city, it was only natural for him to take control of the surrounding areas too.
Thus this was the message Alexander decided to send.
Thenguage he used in the letter was very aggressive,cking any tact, almost like he was ordering them to follow him.
And this was very intentional as he wanted to assert his dominance.
Hence around one to two weeks from the day that order came out, around thirty of the noble houses would get a visit from nearly 100 soldiers, along with the ransom sum notice for their lord''s release if they were lucky enough.
It had to be mentioned that due to the war and subsequent massacre by Lapitus, a lot of these houses''s adult male poption was almost cleanly wiped out, leaving mostly the women, the old, and the infants.
None of these people had neither the spirit nor the spine to fight.
It was because of that Alexander sent only a hundred men, even though this limited force could never forcefully take any of the noble houses.
So upon the order from Alexander, each household hastily worked to gather the funds for the ransom, or if that was not necessary quickly packed their things to go to Thesalie.
Of course, in all these cases the familiar family in-fighting over who should go and meet with the ruler of Thesalie, messages to the capital asking for aid, as well as disagreements over who should be ransomed and for how much caused much chaos.
There were even assassination attempts and even sesses.
But Alexander could care less for these petty squabbles among these tiny yers.
Instead, following the deployment of around 3,000 men, he then took arge part of the rest of his army- around 30,000 and put them under Menes, asking him to march along the Diannu River downstream and capture all the cities by its banks.
Lapitus had mentioned almost all of Tibias''srge cities were situated along this river''s banks including the capital, and even those that were not were almost always essible through its tributaries.
So given these cities were now lightly defended, Menes was told to capture them cities immediately, carrying with him the same letter that the other nobles were given.
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Chapter 785 Spoils of Thesalie (Part-3)
Chapter 785 Spoils of Thesalie (Part-3)
Alexander''s decision to send the bulk of his army down south was taken primarily based on reading the various missives Perseus sent Lord Ponticus.
Those had proved to be quite insightful for Alexander, as they detailed various internal secrets of the country.
For instance, he could indeed confirm that the 10,000 reinforcements so touted by Lady Felicia indeed exist.
He also learned of Tibias'' dire financial strains, the various factional rivalries, the most prominent one being between Mithriditus and Lord Theony, the king''s thoughts on his son, much interesting but not useful pce intrigue, and most importantly of all, the country''s grievous manpower shortage.
And upon reading it, as well as Lapitus informing that the most force the capital would be able to master was perhaps another further 10,000, alongside the already raised 10,000, Alexander saw no reason to dally and give the enemy any chance to breathe.
So sending the supplies on boats or even rafts due to a shortage of enough vessels, Alexander sent Menes marching towards all the nearbyrge cities, ordering him to capture them and then rece the garrison there, and then escort the rulers of all those cities to Thesalie in order to seek audience with him.
And Menes actually made remarkable process in quite a short time in following this order, for being able to transfer the bulk of their supplies onto the boats, he was able to advance at a lightning pace, covering as much as 30 kilometers a day even in these unpaved, hilly routes.
Truly there was nothing better than travel by water.
So by the middle of November, which was three months from the time Alexander had given the order, Menes would report having covered an astounding total of almost 3,000 kilometers, though that number was a bit misleading.
This distance was not covered in a straight line from Thesalie directly south, that would have been impossible since the entire length of Tibias was only 1,300 kilometers.
Instead, the number was creatively calcted by adding the miles of every single unit of the army he would send out.
This meant if Menes sent three small contingents to three nearby towns, the individual mileage each unit covered was added to the score, even though this was clearly double counting,
And he even counted the return journey of these units when they returned to the main army, thus inting the numbers even more.
It was almost like- well each man in the army covered 1 meter, and there are 30,000 men in the army, so the total distance was 30 km.
But nevertheless Menes did still manage to produce results that were satisfactory to Alexander, for within three months, Alexander managed to gain control of around one third of the country, amounting to 100,000 to 120,000 sq km!
It was almost ten times of his current area of control of only 13,000 sq km and finally, with this much area under him, Alexander would not feel embarrassed to call himself a pasha.
Prior to this, it was really a hollow title.
Thus due to Menes''s capture to the territories, Alexander''s dominion extended from the Mad Sea located west of Tibias (The sea overlooking Zanzan city) to the Calm Sea, located on the easter side of the country, the two being separated by a distance of around 250 kilometers, the entirety of which was under Alexander''s control.
While lengthwise, Alexander controlled about 450 kilometers straight south of Thesalie, being just 150 km from the capital- Parthenigh.
As he conducted thisrge campaign, Menes actually found himself overwhelmed, for as per Alexander''s order, he was to take as much territory as possible before the enemy would react.
A feat that proved to be quite challenging for his limited 30,000 men.
So he concentrated the main bulk of his army on capturing the river cities first since they were bigger poption centers and acted as key nodes through which a majority of the country''s trade flowed.
Then, once these ces were fortified with his men, he could turn them into secure supply dumps, points from which he could send out smaller battalions (600 men, 480 soldiers, 120 servants), or evenpany sized elements toward all the nearby towns. secure in the knowledge that these units would not get lost or starved due to supplyplications.
After the fiasco with the suppliesst time, Menes seemed to have grown cautious of such eventualities.
And it was using a technique that he increased Alexander''s influence, like an ever expanding web.
And though most ces the soldiers visited epted Alexander''s rule without question, of course, there were exceptions.
During such instances, if the forward units faced resistance, they would try to deal with it themselves, or if unable send word to Menes, who would send a legion or two to utterly crush them.
And that would usually do the job, for most Tibian nobles did not have enough men to withstand Menes by themselves, not after the losses they suffered.
And so these fights were quite boring and predictable, with Menes or the officer he would send using their huge army to crash into the enemy in a brutal, frontal attack and snapping the thin enemy lines in two like a small twig.
This was also how most ancient fights went.
The ones involvingplicated maneuvers and formation changes were really the exception.
And after the fight, almost all the surrounding people, especially the nobles would be ughtered, to set an example.
Menes even managed to im himself quite a kill count like this, reaching almost as high as ten thousand.
And though the loss of those lives was tragic, its efficacy could not be denied, for in exchange for one such despicable act, the entire region would quickly bow down to Alexander.
After all, Alexander simply asked the lord to go meet with him, nothing too draconian, and only a few boorish few had the guts to fight knowing the impossible odds and the grim fate awaiting them upon failure.
And even if they did win, well more were sure toe.
So most either epted their invite to Thesalie, or simply fled south towards the capital, or to strongholds even beyond that.
And for their fiefs, well since they were left unguarded, Menes sacked them, sending the gathered loot back to Thesalie, which contained- gold, furniture, expensive vases, ves, and livestock, to name a few.
As for the rule of thesends, well since there was no one to administer, it was left in limbo.
If these nobles were to kneel to Alexander and do so quickly enough, they would get to keep thends,
If they did not, well they would carved up by Alexander as he saw fit.
In this way, these fleeing nobles were actually taking a gamble.
They chose to believe that Perseus would be able to push Alexander out from Thesalie or at least from the areas they owned, by defeating him in battle and forcing him to the negotiating table.
And if that happened, it was very much possible the king would reward their undying loyalty to him by taking thends of those nobles who flipped so easily and gifting them to them.
While Alexander, he wished to totally obliterate Perseus and his family, and then take over Tibias in its entirety.
And though he wanted to do so before the year was over, Menes was forced to halt his advance by mid November, still quite a bit away from Persuus''s home.
The reason- extreme cold.
Winter had finallye and as if to make up for the two previous rtively mild seasons, this year, the frost king had seeminglye with a vengeance.
Blinding blizzards for days, constant hailstorms, and snow up to one''s knees.
All this made it impossible to keep any army in the match.
And even if they could, Alexander would not be able to keep them supplied anyway.
For even the mighty Diannu, which spanned tens of kilometers in some ces was frozen along many points, making boats useless.
Now, it would not have been too bad if the entire river was frozen.
When the river Volga was frozen during the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviets used it to more easily bring supplies on convoys of trucks.
Alexander could have done something simr, sending his supplies along a t, pristine road by simply changing out the wheeled carts for sleds.
But the problem was the river was not all the way frozen.
And it was those parts that were arguably even more dangerous.
The flowing currents would carry huge frozen ice sheets that would asionally break apart from the main piece, or even simply form by themselves, which would then travel downstream with impressive speed, posing a devastating risk to any vessel traveling along it.
If Alexander were to send his supply boats in the midst of them, the tragedy of the Titanic would repeat itself almost every day of the week.
So upon sensing the terrible weather and knowing the possibility of worsening temperatures as the season only got deeper into its months, he ordered his general to stop all advances, take shelter inrge cities, and use the grain harvested during the fall to sustain himself till spring.
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Chapter 786 Spoils of Thesalie (Part-4)
Chapter 786 Spoils of Thesalie (Part-4)
While Menes was off securing thends Alexander helped open up, the man himself was busy consolidating his power.
First of all, the various relief programs he promised were soon implemented, with the soup kitchens he opened having lines stitching for hundreds of meters nearly all day.
As for the cash money, funnily enough, the number of peopleing to ept his stimulus package was more than the pre-war poption of the city.
Which was particrly impressive given that Alexander had killed a lot of the original 100,000 inhabitants- be it during the siege, through fires caused by his catapults, and of course during the open fight.
And the exnation for his discrepancy was, one- there were seconders who tried to im the aid twice or even thrice, and two- there were people from other parts of the country, such as the nearby viges.
Of course, there was the third one, which was that the soldiers and camp followers that followed him disguised themselves as Tibians trying to also im the money.
And this proved quite hard for Alexander tobat since there was no way to identify anyone.
There were no official records of any of these people, and no way to keep track of who got paid and who did not without setting up a massive dedicated bureaucratic branch.
Alexander neither had the time nor the skilled manpower to do so, while the people had no such patience.
So in this endeavor, Alexander lost almost 25 million ros, whereas it should have been at most 15 million.
And he would only find this after this amount had been spent, and would then immediately order the halt, his heart aching at the loss.
First Leosydas and only this, Tibias was really a financial jinx for him.
And Alexander would only console himself by saying that this money would eventually aid him, circling through the economy and boosting the economy.
At the same time, Alexander also promised that he would do things better next time, such as using some kind of water insoluble ink as a mark, or if that was not possible, even a small cut on the palm to identify those who got the stipend.
Such future promises to oneself aside, Alexander also had other matters to delve into.
"My lord, September is already here. What should we do with all the ripe grains ready to be harvested?" One of the nobles posed.
And the reason was because Alexander had taken a lot of theirbor into the army as levies, who were currently now with Menes many miles away.
Now normally, the men would have vehemently protested this, as it was almost an unwritten rule to pause all campaigns during this period and put every avable hand in getting the ripe crops out of the fields and into the storage silos as soon as possible before the winter rain could ruin them.
But these were not normal circumstances.
They had won a brilliant victory, conquering the impregnable Thesalie, and now the gates to southern Tibiasid open for them.
It would be foolish of them not to take advantage.
So none objected to Alexander sending his army to capture the territories.
But still, though they agreed to Alexander''s move, the problem ofck of manpower still remained.
If a lot more hands were not quickly added to the fields, there was a high chance a lot of the precious crops would go to waste.
Hence the inquiry.
And this was not something Alexander had not thought about.
In fact, he had been frowning at this problem for a while now.
And after a bit of deliberation came to the following conclusion, dering-
"The enved prisoners of war I have will for the moment help in the harvest around Thesalie."
"As for those of you noble lords who have fields in Zanzan and its vicinity, firstly ask the ve traders here to lend them their collection."
"Take both men and women. I will give an official decree, as well as a suitablepensation to them."
"Also, I will have many of the workers working in my workshops enter the fields too. The workshops can be shut down for a month or two without too big a problem."
"But my lords, you must pay my men a fair wage."
Alexander finished with a condition.
And a simr kind of order went out to Menes too, who was asked to make sure the local popce was put to work harvesting the ripe grain.
Those were not only money hanging off trees, ready to be collected, but without them, a winter famine would surely ur.
It was also because of that that anyone trying to set fire to the fields as a kind of scorched earth policy would be instantly executed along with their whole family.
The harvest for Zanzan proved as bountiful as ever, and with the previous year''s stocks as well as the grains he got by trading, Alexander''s long term storage silos were finally filled to an eptable level.
Even by his extravagant calctions, he would be able to fuel his army''s march south with no problem, as well as feed the captured popce enough grain so that they would not rebel out of starvation.
Along with Zanzan''s staple crop- wheat, its second most popr crop- beetroot was produced in abundance too, for in Zanzan, over thest year or so, a significant interest had grown in cultivating the vegetable to extract its juice and make coarse, brown sugar.
But while Zanzan managed to far outproduce its historical average, for Tibias, their harvests were okay.
Those around Thesalie had quite a poor harvest, mostly because Alexander''s siege had made any farming very difficult.
And even those who managed to get anything done, only got around 250 to 300 kg of wheat per hectare, as opposed to Zanzan''s 800 kg, though that number for the Tibians here was actually par for the course given the poor soil.
But while the farmers in this part barely made enough to live hand to foot, those downstream and cultivating along the banks of the fertile banks of the Diannu averaged far better, almost reaching as much as Zanzan''s number without any of the agricultural improvements, while some particrly fertilend actually managed to achieve as much as an astonishing 1 or even 1.5 tons per hectare of wheat, an astounding number for the time.
And it was this bumper harvest that the country had each year that was perhaps its greatest blessing.
And also its greatest curse.
For it was because of such fertilends that Zanzan, with its historically poor soil wanted Tibias so badly.
And even Amenheraft''s campaign three years ago was because he wanted to capture thesends and obtain enough grain for his people.
Regarding the harvest reports, Alexander was naturally quite happy and decided he would implement the agricultural reforms for his newly conquered areas next year since there was neither the time nor enough tools to do so right now.
And besides, currently, Alexander was busy entertaining the nobles that hade to his city, along with their entourage.
The huge influx to literally ten thousand people, many of which were armed proved quite challenging for his army of only 6,000 to 7,000, so much so that he forced each noble to restrict their entourage to 10 family members and 30 additional men, be they servants, cooks or bodyguards.
And the reason for the huge attendance was because it was not only the Tibian nobles that came but many Zanzan ones too, with perhaps the biggest one being Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq.
His territory was also literally adjacent to Thesalie and if one recalled this man was the only noble who had refused to submit out of the original 12 nobles.
But he was here now not to pick a fight.
Instead, he greeted Alexander as such,
"My lord, this fool had eyes but could not see the sky."
"Oh, conqueror of Thesalie, I beg you, please let me serve you- the destined dominator. And I swear my sword shall dye the battlefields with the blood of your enemy!"
Something caused Alexander to be at first a bit taken aback by such a grand greeting.
But after talking to Jamider (Earl) TIkba who was his neighbour and even friend, understood the reason behind his overly passionate calling as well as the change of heart.
Being right next to Thesalie, it had always been Lord Yuusiq''s and his ancestor''s dream to conquer the city, for they had suffered countless casualties given their proximity, and so now that Alexander had achieved their goal, the man was moved to the point of joining him.
And in tow of him was also another small group of nobles with simr thoughts.
It was something Alexander was happy to ept, the new allegiances increasing his control over Zanzan from 13,000 sq km to around 30,000 sq km, or a bit less than ten percent (10%) of the entire province.
And this happened in spite of the fact that the conditions they were got were nowhere as favorable as the original 11, for the discounted goods Alexander sold to new his retainers were far more expensive and the quota far less than the original nobles.
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Chapter 787 New Residents of The Mansion (Part-1)
Chapter 787 New Residents of The Mansion (Part-1)
Alexander''s much lower offer of the goods to the Adhanian nobles was of course to be expected.
Why would these nobles get the same privileges as the original?
That made no sense.
And thankfully all of the news ones understood this, epting the conditions without raising any objections.
Many were even pleased that they got anything at all.
But though the Zanzan nobles were able to be handled with such ease, the Tibians one proved far more difficult.
Even just gathering them in time proved to be quite difficult as even though Alexander had set the deadline to before September, many of the nobles were unable to arrive in time- be it due to the poor roads, the problem of raising enough cash for the ransoms, the attention demanded of them for the spring harvest or just simply receiving the call from Alexanderte.
So Alexander could do little but patiently wait for the nobles to gather.
So in the meantime, Alexander asked had a few more guests toe to his mansion to liven up the ce.
Among them of were his wives, all four of them.
"Alex!" The moment Cambyses had gotten off her carriage, she called out to Alexander in that sweet tone of familiarity, giving him a hug, quickly followed by his two year old daughter and one year old son.
And it was also only then that he got to see his two newborns for the first time, both being swaddled by their mothers.
"I''m sorry, I could not be there for you. I know I had promised," Alexander sounded apologetic to Mean and Ophenia as he then turned to gaze lovingly at his two new children''s faces.
They were bright red and all scrunched up, their eyes closed shut.
Both were less than three months old and appeared to be sleeping.
"No, master. We couldn''t be happier that your campaign was sessful. My daughter too certainly feels the same," At Alexander''s apology, Ophenia gave only a light smile to say this instead, before lightly bowing.
And Mean added something simr.
Following greeting his family, Alexander then turned to the next group who too had been weed here.
"My lord, congrattions on capturing Thesalie. The books will surely record your aplishment for eternity, the bard will sing songs of your deed in every inn and the people will praise your victory for centuries." Lady Nanazin greeted Alexander as such, along with a formal bow.
Following her were her three daughters who too followed their mother''s action, and in response, Alexander too returned some flowery words.
After his house had burnt down, Alexander''s interaction with the queen- at least in name, had decreased quite significantly, turning from an everyday urrence to meeting once or twice a month during the small personal parties he would hold among his close retainers and friends.
So having not properly talked to her for some time, as he looked at Lady Nanazin, he was surprised to find how much she had changed.
He found her to have grown so much more beautiful than what she looked two years ago, her cheeks now much fuller and rosy, herplexion healthy and sunny.
It seemed that being free of the mental stress of having to deal with Ptolomy and his harassment had allowed her to enjoy her life truly.
And this was very much true.
Here in Zanzan, she could wake up whenever she wanted in the morning and no one would be there to tell her off.
A simple luxury that was impossible for her to have previously, for in much contrast to her current life, when living in the royal pce in Adhan, she was expected to be up and fully ready before her husband woke up, being presentable to him in her best and finest.
Or it would mean getting an awful earful from the Queen Mother.
So this usually meant getting up hours before Ptolomy to do her makeup and put on the borate dresses, all so that Ptolomy might once in a blue moon sweep a nce towards her.
Not only did Ptolomy never care to appreciate her efforts, but sometimes it also proved quite hard for Lady Nanazin to get up in time, for example, if she had been made to entertain guests deep into the night prior evening, something that Ptolomy had grown to increasingly prefer after his ascension to power.
But now, there was nothing like that.
Hassle free, she would wake up at any time of the day to still find a sumptuous breakfast already prepared for her.
Typically this included fresh bread of various types, cheese, olive oil, cured or cooked meat, fish, and fried fruits, all downed with various types of sweet, spicy, or sour wine.
And perhaps her favorite thing while eating breakfast was using the newly invented fork to cut and tear the bread or meat by herself.
Before Alexander made those, Lady Nanazin would have to wait for the servants to cut the portions for her, but now she found the practice of doing it by herself so much more enjoyable.
Then after breakfast, Lady Nanazin and her daughter would go to tend to her garden that she had made in the backyard.
There was a huge empty plot there, and Lady Nanazin tried to make use of as much of it as possible.
So she not only grew various potted nts and several beautiful flower beds but also various household vegetables such as well- gourds, pumpkins, cucumbers, eggnts, beetroots, and peas to name a few.
This for a nobledy, would have been of course scandalous at any other time.
If it came to be known in the capital that the queen was personally cultivating vegetables in her garden like a lowly peasant, Ptolomy might have divorced Lady Nanazin then and there out of embarrassment.
But here, where Lady Nanazin was all alone with no one to judge her, she could pursue her passion without worries,
She even found the practice to be very rewarding.
So she with her daughters would work in her huge garden till lunch, and after being served therge meal, usually take a short nap.
Then waking up aroundte afternoon, she had options.
Sometimes she would go to the temples to pray and meet up with the twin princesses and Ophenia.
Sometimes she would go to the market to buy this and that, various trinkets and such, or to simply just walk around the city and see all the new things that were being constantly constructed.
Other times she would go riding around the safe parts of the Cisran hills, enjoying the various small springs and streams running through the hilly areas.
She even had a small, very beautiful crossbow with gold workings etched into it gifted to her by Alexander, with which she would try and hunt small game like rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, various birds, etc.
Or if none of those things attracted her, she would asionally hold small get-together parties with the nobledies of the city- such as Cambyses and the wives of other recently made nobles.
Her typical daytime would pass like that, and after dark, she would quickly finish her dinner and then spend a bit of time with Azura and Azira who shared the bungalow with her, chatting or ying various board games invented by Alexander with them.
After that, she would perhaps read a few pages from a book, or directly hit the bed, ready to repeat it once again.
Her days passed like this, with nothing to worry about, no problems that could cause headaches, and certainly no social interactions she would be tedious or disgusting.
Everything was taken care of and paid for by Alexander- be it the servants, the food, the clothes, the jewelry, or the guards and all she would have to do was enjoy.
Alexander even gave her and her daughters each 1,000 ropals a month for misceneous expenses, and would even gift her new clothes and jewelry every three to four months.
So to Lady Nanazin, the previous two years almost felt like a dream.
It was so good in fact that sometimes she would even wake up in the middle of the night full of sweat, scared that all this had indeed been a dream and she had returned to her beastly husband and hellish life.
After tasting suchfort, now Lady Nanazin was even more afraid to return.
Thus upon confirmation that she had indeed managed to escape, she would heave a sigh of relief.
Though if there was one thing toin about, it was that her nights were quite cold.
All alone in bed, many times she would find herselfforting her lonely kitty all by herself, but be it her fingers, no matter how many, her wooden toys, no matter how big, or even a vegetable, no matter how curved, it could not sate her lust.
She yearned for a man''s touch, or more specifically that man''s touch.
For even though many times she wished to have the many male servants and ves or even the guards itch her scratch, that desire would instantly evaporate as Alexander''s face would surface immediately following such thoughts.
And Lady Nanazin had vowed she would never sleep with another man in her life unless forced otherwise.
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Chapter 788 New Residents of The Mansion (Part-2)
Chapter 788 New Residents of The Mansion (Part-2)
Lady Nanazin''s face appeared to be almost glowing when greeting Alexander, like it was radiating pure rays of happiness.
The first time she had learned of Alexander''s sess, her reaction was perhaps even more extreme than Cambyses''s, and the amount of pride she had felt was like nothing else.
She felt her love for the man deepen to almost maddening limits.
And though Alexander was not aware of Lady Nanazin''s exact thoughts, how could he not figure out her ever increasing feelings towards him?
It was also because of that that over thest two years, he tended to keep as much a distance from her as possible.
And in return, as if topensate her for that, Alexander made sure the living conditions befitted her status, hence therge house, the good food, the nice clothes, and all the servants.
Though it was also because if he did not do so, PP might have found faults to nitpick with.
Alexander was aware the king could not care less for his wife but he still acted as expected of him to avoid any unnecessary vexations.
In front of the carriage next to Lady Nanazin, stood thest pair to be invited to Alexander''s mansion, and they were of course the twins- Azura and Azira.
Dressed in a simple, butfortable white gown with golden stickwork along the sleeves, the chest, and hem, the two ckdies still looked as elegant as ever, even through the weary faces after five days of travel.
And they stood next to one another, even now, after three years, Alexander still struggled to distinguish which was which.
Until they spoke that is.
"Hmmp! To be able to capture Thesalie. Not bad," Azura, always the haughty one snorted as Alexander approached to greet them, though the twinkle in her eyes betrayed her real feelings.
Try as she might, in reality, she was very impressed, for she shared a deep desire to capture the city like many of her countrymen.
"Yes, bad man, you did well," And following her sister''s lead, Azira in a sweet voicerked so.
The twins had given Alexander that name since the day he tricked them into giving up the treasury of the Grand Temple.
And since Alexander never once objected, the twins kept it.
While Alexander, receiving us a frank wee, actually let out a chuckle, not minding the address at all.
He very much enjoyed thepany of these two, finding the contrast between their immature, childlike innocence and their adult age very appealing.
He even wanted to pinch these two''s cute cheeks which were so plump and rosy.
''Should I use my capture of Thesalie to get Farzah to marry them to me? Or should I wait till I get Tibias'' Alexander even began to n such in his mind as he said his pleasantries to the girls.
Alexander was determined to not any other men ever touch these beautiful flowers.
With the addition of these ninedies and four kids, Alexander''s mansion suddenly had a lot of life added to it.
And over the following days, he took the group on tours around his newly captured estate as well as the city itself.
While touring the estate, the girls let out various expletives, with Cambyses clearly blurting out,
"This house is even better than our previous one." when Alexander led them to the library which overlooked the River Diannu, so mesmerized was she by the scenery.
Now, Pasha Muazz''s original estate was of course not shabby, being multiple times bigger than this, covering almost 2 sq km in its entirety.
And even the view there was very gorgeous- with green, rolling mountains of the Cisran Hills on one side, and the golden sandy beaches on the other.
So Cambyses''s cry was more of a preference.
And upon showing the huge private pools and beautifully manicured gardens, Mean too let out her own preference, "This is so much better than our house. Will we be moving here? I love it."
Her sparkling eyes held much joy and anticipation.
But to this, Alexander could only cough, "Maybe."
Switching from Zanzan which already had three years to develop to here would be difficult.
While the twins had only this to nitpick about- The personal temple.
"Why have the statues there been allowed to remain? They should be demolished immediately! They are guardians of the house, ced by the previous lord. To us, they mean nothing but harm!"
They first eximed in horror, and then added with almost enraged looks,
"And the crypts have not been emptied out either! By Ramuh, Alexander! These spirits will bring bad luck to anyone who is not their kin. You have small children with you. Think of them!"
"You must throw those cursed bodies out at once! Burn them and scatter their ashes to the four winds."
The tone of the twin''s voice was such that if they could, they would have done all this all by themselves.
Such was their zeal.
And hearing this, first and foremost, made Alexander realize that he had forgotten what kind of zealots the two were.
Beneath that childish demeanor with a fantastically pure heart, burned a spirit that housed some pretty scary ideas.
Ideas that would be undoubtedly ssed as racist, xenophobic, bigoted, and such.
Alexander was sure these twins, who could cry even seeing a kitten hurt, on the other hand, could see a million ''heretics'', i.e.- people who worship anyone but Ramuh or recently Gaia, be burned at the stake without batting an eye.
Even if those men, women, and children were to beg for the two''s mercy, even if their screams of pain and agony were to fill the air, Alexander was pretty sure these two would not lose a single second of sleep at night over it.
Such pure faith was not only very impressive but also very scary.
And it reminded Alexander somewhat of the Spanish Inquisition.
Facing the two enraged kittens, Alexander had no intention of fighting, so with a smile and nod he replied,
"Thank you for reminding me, Your Highness. I have just captured the mansion, so had not had the time to do it."
"But now that you have mentioned it, I will get to it as soon as possible."
And Alexander would really do so, for he wished to turn that temple into his own family''s, one that worshipped Gaia."
But he would also not be so destructive as the twin wished.
He would simply ask the high priest from the main temple to move these statues and bodies there.
What he did with them then was his choice.
And the reason for such generosity was because Alexander hoped his example of such tolerance for the local customs and religions would y well with the public.
Alongside the mansion and its surroundings, Alexander also showed the group the personal vineyards he had ''inherited'' from Lord Ponticus, where the rolling hills were adorned with rows and rows of meticulously cultivated grapevines.
The grapes were still unripe, due for spring or even summer, but the irrigation system consisting of various channels, dykes, and pipes meant to feed these nts was in full swing.
These waters came from both the nearby Diannu river, as well as the springs, and Alexander even showed the group a huge reservoir dug underground, from where stored water could be supplied in times of drought.
It was a veryvish vineyard, and Alexander had quite a hard time getting back the people who had been originally assigned to look after this vast site.
After all, many of these servants had died in the prior ordeal or if they could- fled.
So Alexander had to cajole the rest with significant promises of money and benefits.
His reason for going through all this trouble- because looking after a vineyard was a very technical and skilled job.
It was in fact so specialized that many times a vinedresse from one vineyard would find himself totally out of his depth in another one.
For each ntation was unique, with its unique soil, rainfall, and most particrly, the species of grapes used.
And as anyone who has tried their hand at winemaking would know just how moody the process is.
Even a negligible change in the raw material''s quality could yield a subpar product.
Even the mere act of simply harvesting the grapes from its stem required skilled hands so as to do damage to the head of the fruit.
So if Alexander was to try his luck running this ornate vineyard with his own men, without the guidance of these experts, this huge, so painstakingly crafted, beautiful, money making machine would surely be a rotting heap ofpost within a few years.
And then to show off his prized possession, on one magnificent September afternoon, Alexander even hosted an unusual,rge, open air party there tomemorate the group''s arrival.
There he introduced the various nobles to his wives, his four children as well as Lady Nanazin and the twins.
But most importantly of all, he also named his two new children there, for their mothers insisted that they would only be named after they met their father.
Mean''s son was given an Adhanian name- Afshan, while Ophenia asked Alexander to let her daughter''s name be- Ophenia.
''Master, although I very much love my new name- Tayin, I do not wish for the word my father gave me to disappear. Please let his memory live through her,''
She had sincerely asked of Alexander.
And Alexander was more than happy to oblige.
Chapter 789 Catching Up With the Four (Part-1)
Chapter 789 Catching Up With the Four (Part-1)
As Alexander named his current youngest daughter, Ophenia, he also noticed that she had inherited her mother''s natural blonde hair.
Though currently they were only thin, wisps whose color would seemingly change from blonde to brown to even ck depending on the intensity of the light and viewing angle, Alexander knew they would be much more prominent as the little girl grew up.
And it was of course something that had not escaped her mother''s notice, which she quickly brought up to Alexander.
"Master, should I dye her hair?" She had asked a bit fearfully, worried of all the possible consequences.
And Alexander did think about doing exactly that.
But then came to the conclusion that although there was indeed a bit of danger to it, the chances of anything happening were very, very small.
It would require someone with ridiculous luck and insight to be able to tie Alexander''s daughter''s hair to Amenheraft''s former uncle Kafka, he being her grandfather.
Because only the Cantagenans knew that Agapios had taken his daughter to Adhania, and so only they would be able to deduce that Alexander could have possibly taken Ophenia.
No one in Adhania knew of this.
And would remain in the dark unless they were told specifically by that city state.
Hence the holy trinity of Cantagena, Adhan, and the mother daughter pair would have to alle together in the same ce before there was even the slightest chance of any unforeseen events developing.
The likelihood of that was too low.
And besides, even if this was to ur, so what?
Alexander was no longer the weak, defenseless man from before.
He was confident that he would be able to handle situations that arose from the revtion that he had children rted to the royal family.
So he replied firmly, "No. It would be too cruel for my daughter to grow up with dyed hair. She will show off the natural color she was born with."
And then turning to caress the beautiful woman''s raven hair, he added,
"In a few years, I will even have you go back to your natural hair, I very much like that color."
This tender action drew a subsequent blush from Ophenia as she flushed, "Master, you¡."
the curving up of her lips betraying her pleased heart.
But then with a forceful shake of her head, Ophenia imed.
"There is no need, I quite like my new look. Besides, all the people know me like this. They will raise too many questions if I were to return to my original looks."
"Especially given the particr color of my hair."
Here she was referring to how blondes were usually equated to prostitution.
And so for a sacred priestess to have blonde hair, it would be too scandalous.
Many troublemakers might even spread that Ophenia had actually dyed her head blonde and use that to point her loose morals.
This was another small reason by she wanted to dye her daughter''s hair too, as Ophenia was afraid that the little girl would get bullied like she had been.
"*Snort*, who would dare? Bring them to me and I will cut their tongues and feed it to them." And understanding her concern, Alexander contemptuously snorted, his eyes filled with rage.
This mere statement was enough to make Ophenia''s heart be filled with satisfaction, as she gave arge grin, almost lighting up the room with her beauty.
At another point, Alexander had also asked,
"Tayin, do you wish that we call you Ophenia? There will be no problem now."
Frankly, Alexander could have restored her original name a long time ago, but since he really knew her as only Tayin, the name stuck and he did not bother to change it.
Until Ophenia expressed her desire for it.
But at Alexander''s offer the girl simply shook her head, and giving a light smile, she said,
"No. Ophenia died on that battlefield. I''m Tayin."
It appeared she had wished to start her life anew with this new name.
And Alexander could understand that.
Over the course of their stay, Alexander of course told his wives of much of what had happened to him in thest six months.
About how he won the battles and got the city.
And this naturally included Lady Felicia and Fabiyana as well as the story of how Alexander got, in his words, tricked into taking her as his mistress.
Though it was something hard to sell to Cambyses who only sneered with derision.
"Heh! So¡ you got yourself a ahhh¡ childbride. I never knew you had ohhh¡ such taste. Wasn''t Mean''s body enough.. ehhh.. for you? She looks practically like ¡mmmnn¡ a child too¡ Nnnn."
The reason for her speaking like this was because, among all his wives, the very first one Alexander told was Cambyses, and to make sure she was in her best mood, he said it after a particrly rough session in bed, while Cambyses''s head was still swimming in pleasure.
Thus currently Cambyses was resting her head on her husband''s broad shoulder, totally bare, sweat tickling her many parts of her body as her chest ebbed and flowed due to the recent fierce exercise.
Her milky chest was being pinched by Alexander''s mischievous hand, making it leak small drops of motherly liquid which were quickly scooped up and cleaned, either by Alexander himself or by
Cambyses who would be offered to lick them off his fingers.
While down below, the other hand worked to put a few naughty thick digits in her warm, wet kitty that Alexander had pumped full of his spunk, nonchntly squirming inside it and producing lewd squelching noises while Alexander retold his story.
And as he talked, these fingers continued to work their magic- as they would sometimes simply y with the small tuft of hair on the pubes, sometimes they would trace along her sensitive lips, sometimes they would pinch and pull them apart, sometimes they would crush the sensitive pink bud, and sometimes they would violently stir everything inside up, turning everything in Cambyses''s mind to muss and causing her to see white stars.
In this way, all these different levels of sensation managed to keep Cambyses''s fire of lusting growing and had her distracted with pleasure.
So with her mind half clouded by lust, as well as with Cambyses herself also stroking with one hand that turgid organ which was currently wet with her juices after their lovemaking, she failed to pay even a tenth of her attention to Alexander''s story.
Though in reality that was mostly because she did not care if Alexander took a ten year or even a one year old as his mistress.
He could have as many toys of whatever ages he liked for all she cared.
Cambyses felt that as long as the mistresses he took was not of impossible statuses, like queens or crown princesses, Alexander''s adventures in bed with other women had little to do with her, for her ce in the haram, having produced both a daughter and more importantly a son, was basically unshakable.
But though Cambyses said that sneered line as a joke, Alexander decided to punish in a simr way too, as hearing so without any warning he dove this thickest middle finger into the still tight puckered hole below while chiding next to her ear,
"How dare you nder your pure husband like that? It seems you have gotten too cheeky."
This sudden intrusion,bined with a strong pinch on her clit caused the woman to howl and arch her back, lifting herrge butt directly up into the air, as she let out a magnificent torrent of juice upon reaching her climax, wetting the sheets.
Interactions such as this with the girls were actually quitemon for Alexander, especially in the early days of their arrival.
Being away from their husband for so long, these girls were like hungry cougars and appeared to be constantly in heat, as they would try to get it in with Alexander at every opportunity.
And Alexander too responded in kind as he had been starved of any femalepanionship for six months of absolute abstinence, except that one night stand with Lady Felicia.
And coupled with a new mansion with loads of novel ces to have an exciting tussle, Alexander and his fourpanions had so much sex it was truly something else.
They mated almost like rabbits for the first few weeks, trying all kinds of new things, in brand new positions, in exotic destinations, many times even to the clear knowledge of the servants who would pass by the door or even just a makeshift curtain from which strange moans and loud squeals of joy would drift out, along with wet, pping sounds, leaving no one in doubt to what was urring behind that screen.
The servants would then quickly pass that ce with flushed faces, leaving their new masters and mistresses to enjoy, as well as muttering how lustful Adhanians were.
Because even though this mansion had seen much intimacy between couples, the act had always been done in rtive secret.
For Tibias was a much more conservative society.
So for the servants, this was a very first, having never faced this before during Lord Ponticus or any of his ancestors'' time.
But how was that any of Alexander''s concern?
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Chapter 790 Catching Up With the Four (Part-2) (R-18)
Chapter 790 Catching Up With the Four (Part-2) (R-18)
Alexander and his wives'' open, or perhaps specifically ''much more open'' frivolities did cause many servants to frown.
They wondered why their new master could not stick to inside his room when enjoying himself.
But what did such opinions have to do with Alexander?
He missed his wives and was enjoying them.
If anyone had a problem, that was their concern.
And besides, how could they understand the thrill of having sex in ces where it was taboo, ces where people usually gathered for social events and such?
Hence Alexander and his fourpanions had so much sex during the early new weeks that it was truly something else.
In the case of Cambyses, she seemed to have fallen in love with the library.
And her favorite way to be taken was to be bent over the window overlooking the river, as Alexander enjoyed her creamy, fleshy butt.
Or if she were allowed to take charge of the act, she would straddle Alexander in various cowgirl positions, preferring to mate in secluded parts of the gardens orwn, typically in the open air, under the clear sky.
She could be quite the adventurous exhibitionist when the mood came.
While in the case of Mean, the masochistic, pain-loving girl, her favorite pose was to beid over Alexander''s widep and be spanked hard while being fingered in both her tight canals.
Other times she would ask to be tied up in various ways and be bullied- be it using leather crops to strike her, soft whips to leave long shes on her fair skin, wax ys on sensitive ces like her cheery buds, pubes, or soft armpits, blindfolds to increase the sensitivity or clips and mps which directly turned pain to pleasure.
Ophenia on the other hand was really up for anything, be it any exotic position, any and all types of ys as well as the teasing of her beautiful piercings.
Though there was one main thing that she asked of Alexander- to sometimes let her drink his other, more yellowish liquid.
But even for the man who loved to spoil his wives, this request was perhaps denied more times than granted.
Alexander was really not up for these types of extreme water ys.
Instead, he concentrated more on tasting herctating mammaries.
And the thin leaking streams of milk flowing down her breasts,bined with curves as beautifully proportioned as Ophenia''s, as well as therge nipple and clit piercings dangling from her, really made Ophenia look like a sinful goddess.
Alexander would always lose control of himself upon seeing thoserge child-bearing hips, her golden pubes, or that snowy white butt with a ruby plug always stuck inside.
And like a good girl Ophenia too, unlike the former more indulgent two, would give her master some special service only she was capable of.
Specifically, squatting down with her legs wide open, letting Alexander see her drooling sex, she would give Alexander a very special tit fuck.
In that, instead of lubricating his shaft with her saliva, Ophenia would use another, more milky liquid.
Yes, she would squish her abundant breasts and spray the turgid organ with tiny jets of sweet, warm milk.
And the first time she did this, Alexander was so surprised and turned on that he had let off a load then and there, without any other stimtion.
"Hahahaha, hehehehe," And as Ophenia''s face was stered by the turbid liquid, she let out a proud grin that Alexander did not think he ever saw.
Seeing her triumphant face, he even felt a bit d, though he quickly became much more embarrassed over how quickly he had lost control.
But he fared far better in subsequent sessions, where Ophenia got the chance to show off the full range of her service, coating the entire stiff thing in her milk and then squishing them between her pillow mountains before giving it a suck of a lifetime.
And the sweet scent of the milk mixed with the musky scent of the huge organ, the wet sounds she intentionally produced, as well as the way Ophenia turned to look up and kept giving naughty, lustful looks as her mouth was filled with his meat lollipop, all added immensely to the pleasure.
There was even one point when Alexander was sucking on her nipples that, in an uncharacteristic move she decided to bully him, teasing,
"Master, aren''t you ashamed? This milk is for your daughter. Why are you stealing from her share?"
"Are you a baby too? Do you like suckling Mommy that much? Then next time I will feed you and Ophenia next to each other."
Thatst immoral statement really got Alexander turned on, as he then had ''severely punished'' the girl for even daring to make such a suggestion, one which left the beautifuldy with a very red, sore bottom and fully clogged up pipes.
Finishing with Ophenia, there was only one woman who had yet to be mentioned by name- Gelene.
And she was also the one who caused the biggest headache for Alexander, as although she tried not to show it, it was pretty apparent that she was depressed over the fact that she was the only one without a child.
Even when Alexander made her a Shordar (Baron), fulfilling his promise since she had managed to raise a million ropals from her business, giving hernd near the city, Thesalie, her reaction was quite lukewarm.
Something which even surprised the woman herself given up until now she had thought bing anded, hereditary noble was ''the'' goal.
But now that the holy grail was in her hands, suddenly she felt empty.
''Who am I doing all this for?'' She asked herself, as seeing all the other three''s smiles carrying their children, produced a burning jealousy that was hard to douche.
At times she would even me Alexander for his impotency, though she clearly knew the problem was with her.
The medicines and contraceptives she had taken in her early years had done a number on her reproduction system.
And though she did feel regret over consuming them back then, she also knew she had little other choice.
If she was to be given the chance to try again, Gelene would probably choose the same option.
Otherwise, if she were to haphazardly be pregnant, she would not survive long enough to have a child with Alexander.
But that did not lessen the pain of being presumably barren any less.
While Alexander for his part did try his best to help her conceive.
He took her whenever he could in the mansion, in all the various sitting rooms in various kinds of ways- be itying her on the tables and pounding her as herrge breast swayed, or on a chair as she straddled hisp, or being pressed against the walls and strongly taking her,
or putting her in a mating press on one of the many couches or simply bending ever over and enjoying her huge ebony butt with its pink flowers.
He even regrly gave her words offort, saying things like, "We still have a lot of time. It will be easy to have one by then."
And, "I have instructed the clinics to look into new fertility medicines."
Though the efficacy of these words was yet to be determined.
Among all the sessions with his wives, perhaps Alexander''s favorite was the one he had at the private pool.
That ce had proved to be a particrly favorite of them, and on one clear, moonlit night Alexander was invited to take all four simultaneously.
There, the four had gotten into the water and then lined themselves up along the bank of the pool, in perhaps one of the sexiest positions, wit plh all their butts turned to him, going in ascending order from left to right.
Starting from the smallest ass- Mean''s, then there was Cambyses''s muchrger hind, to Opehnia''s fair voluminous bottom tostly the absolutely huge ck botty belonging to Gelene.
And since they all purposely bent over in such a way that everything was visible, Alexander was able to clearly appreciate the difference and variety of each genitalia.
Mean''s flower was just like a thin, paper-cut slit, with a small, ck dot for her butt.
It smelled strongly of flowers and as Alexander took her, he felt the vagina to be like a perfect handshake¡ªthe grip strong and solid. After giving birth, Mean''s pussy no longer seemed to want to strangle Alexander every time.
Though being in the water also helped.
However that did not mean if she wanted to, Mean could not use her kegel muscles to choke Alexander''s little brother into submission.
Next to her, Cambyses''s genitals were beautifully arranged, smelling of fragrant cheese.
Cambyses was a rtively small-sized woman, and her lower half reflected, with all her parts being hidden behind her crack housed in thatrge bubble butt, only her cute butthole peaking shyly out of its cheeks.
And as Alexander took her, the taste was very familiar to him, tight and constantly wriggling.
Then came Ophenia''s organs- young and well-formed, it smelled of milk.
Out of all four, she undoubtedly looked the most beautiful, with her magnificent, fair butt possessing a shapely flower with a golden clit piercing dangling sexily down, her red swollen bud proudly revealed to all.
While above, theherhole was plugged by that ruby jewelry that glittered under the moonlight.
Alexander loved the exquisite sensation of the organ as he plunged himself in, finding himself easily swallowed and relentlessly squeezed.
And thenstly came Gelene, whose genitals were open with ascivious bloom.
The pinkness nested with the chocte earth was bloated and spread out, while her bulging clitoris was exposed through the foreskin, and her butthole above was wide open, seemingly free to pration.
Her organs were certainly not as elegant as the other three, but Alexander would also describe her to be the one most fitting of this asion, for she seemed to perfectly fit the current licentious acts they weremitting in the wide open.
In that sense, she was indeed the finest "woman" here.
And as he took her, he found her smell to be surprisingly mild and gentle, just like her folds.
This provided a much-needed reprieve for his organ, as after tasting those three brutal pussies that knew only to squeeze and wring him dry, Gelene''s tunnel appeared to tenderly love their master, gently massaging him after a hard day''s work.
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Chapter 791 Alexander’s Children
Chapter 791 Alexander''s Children
Although greatly enjoyable, Alexander did not choose to spend his time with only his wives of course.
He also paid much attention to his children.
The three month infants Afsan and Ophenia were too young to understand anything, so the most Alexander could do was swaddled them in hisp and take them on walks around therge estate gardens, many times apanied by their mother, letting them enjoy the fresh air.
But much more than that, Alexander enjoyed spending his time with his two year old daughter Alexandria and one year old son, Philip, many times joining them to y with the various toys they had.
There his daughter with much enthusiasm introduced her father to all seven of her beautiful porcin dolls she had clothed, letting him know of their names were as well as where they all belonged in her huge doll house.
That doll house was something Alexander had custom made for his princess before going on this campaign, and it was something truly unique.
Modeled after modern day toy houses, the toy was almost a meter high and even more wide, and since it was made of wood and metal, it weighed nearly thirty kilograms.
It was so big in fact there was a separate room just for Alexanderia to y with it.
The toy had lots of panels and doors to allow ess to the various rooms, all of which were very beautifully furnished with exquisitely carved wooden furniture, many exquisite porcin decorations, shiny metallic utensils such as all kinds of pots and pans, ivorybs, and small hairpins, velvet curtains, and mattress andstly shiny ss mirrors and windows.
Painted vibrant colors of red, blue, pink, and even the ridiculously expensive purple, although the toy did not have any gold silver, or precious stones in it, perhaps that would have cost less than the extravagance Alexander spent on it.
The whole thing had taken Alexander sitting down with a team of various artisans like carpenters, smelters, tailors, and potters for almost a month to just design.
And then another two months to produce and assemble it, crafting it out of the finest wood, leaving him with a ridiculous ten thousand ropal hole in his pocket by the end.
To give the context of how much money this was, Cambyses- who officially held the position of the head of the city guards earned that much yearly.
And a peasant would be able to live five years with his family off this money.
But Alexander was plenty rich enough to spoil his little princess.
And the squeal of joy the little girl had given when Alexander had first shown her the piece made the expense worth every penny.
But in much contrast to this, his son who was supposed to inherit all his aplishments, did not get anything simr.
Sure he got various toys and nice clothes, but nothing as spoilt as this.
And Alexander was of no mind to give him anything such either.
Something which Cambyses, being the loving mother she was, chose to privately protest.
And this was Alexander''s reply, "Alexandria is my little princess. Of course, I will spoil her."
"But Philip is my sessor. He must always endure hardship and experience want. He must never be able to allowed to feel safe, secure, andcent. Or he might one day find his throat slit."
To Alexander, there would be few things as painful as having an unworthy sessor.
And there was no way he was not going to let that happen on his watch.
Hence the stern mindset.
"What are you saying about your son? ''Slit his throat''! By Gaia, he is literally a few months old! He talks to the floor."
While at Alexander''s intention of such a harsh upbringing, Cambyses was shocked with incredulity, especially at that particr phrase.
No one wanted to hear that about their children, even in a far fetched hypothetical scenario.
So Cambyses felt Alexander was being too demanding to the infant child who did not even understand words.
Then following that the couple had a small round of bickering that resulted in the two not talking to each other for two days.
And it was a fight that asionally red up even now and then, with regr ''small border skirmishes'' over how to raise their children.
And like all quarrels, it involved loud screams, sharp words, and even tears, with differing quantities.
It was with these thoughts ying in his mind that Alexander joined his son in his y, though the small boy was at first a bit afraid of who this strange man was.
Philip had not seen Alexander for thest six months and being so young, he quite naturally forgot him.
It was only after Alexander yed a few sessions with the wooden horses and chariots that he finally warmed up to Alexander.
The father and son even went on small horse rides around the back gardens much to thetter''s amusement.
This was his first time riding one.
And the onest surprise for the two kids was the new yingpanion they got when they came to Thesalie, Fabiyana!
Being Alexander''s mistress in name, it was not unnatural for her to reside in the mansion with him.
And after spending a few days in the camp getting to know the girl, Alexander felt she would make a good older sister for his two children.
Because although Fabiyana was ten years old in body, she seemingly had the mental maturity of a six or seven years.
Now, she was not challenged or anything.
It was just that her development was a bit slow.
So taking advantage of that, and thinking interacting with other children would help the girl grow, he simply asked Lapitus to send Fabiyana over every morning and would return to her parents after supper.
Or if the girl was too tired, Alexander would arrange her sleep to sleep in the same bed as Alexandria.
And over the following weeks, the two girls quickly bonded, with Fabiyana falling in love in that doll house.
In a few instances, Alexander even saw Fabiyana teaching Alexandria about the various etiquettes the dolls they were ying with were supposedly expected to follow, all of which of course came from Tibian noble customs.
The two sometimes even roped Philip in to join them, and facing these two much bigger opponents, the little boy could only relent, and y all the boring parts the two girls did not want to.
In fact, the two older sisters would continue to bully the younger Philip for years, with many of their antics rising as they aged, ultimately culminating in making the boy y dress up as they practiced their makeup skills on him, decorating him with various lipstick, powders, mascara, and even jewelry.
The memories of these ''humiliating'' ys would stay with Philip even as he became a fully fledged adult, bing both extremely treasured remembrances, but also bittersweet humiliating ck marks.
It would also be one among many antics that his older sister Alexandria would make him go through which would ultimately cause him to develop both a deep familiar love but also an instinctual fear of her.
But those honeyed memories were yet to be formed.
For now, Alexander was in the process of making sure his children could survive long enough in safety and luxury to enjoy their lives as such.
"Wee messenger from the court of Parthenigh. I assume youe bearing the confirmation of Perseus''s full, unconditional surrender?"
As Alexander was informed of the arrival of an envoy of Perseus, he greeted him in his mansion as such, the arrogance and imperiousness in him naked and open.
The lineup he gathered to meet this noble was greatly impressive too, as Alexander was joined by every single one of high ranking military officers and nobles, numbering close to ten, all immactely garbed in their full battle kit.
The entire scenario was made to give the impression that Alexander was ready to march to the battlefields right this instant.
"It is an honor to finally meet face to face, Esteemed Pasha of Zanzan. First of all, let me thank you for taking good care of my son. He has sung great praises of your hospitality when he was under your care."
Facing Alexander naked, even somewhat rude greeting, the envoy from afar was instead very gentle, so much so that it even left Alexander a bit tongue tied.
He was not used to having sharp barbs being repaid with kindness.
"Oh? What is your son''s name? Help me recall." So he replied such.
After all, there were quite a few nobles Alexander had captured back during Perseus''s attack on the manor.
"My son''s name is Theony. He was the one wearing His Majesty''s armor. And I''m his father. Lord Theony," The man with the immacte moustance introduced himself as such, bowing lightly.
''So it''s a bigshot,'' And recalling his son was enough to be exchanged for Laykash, who was at that time Perseus''s most precious war prisoner, Alexander understood this man was a heavyweight.
But that did mean Alexander softened his tone any bit.
Instead, he only waited for the man to say his piece, looking at him expectantly, but not saying anything, intending to put psychological pressure on him,
Pleasee Here!
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Chapter 792 Alexander’s Peace Proposal
Chapter 792 Alexander''s Peace Proposal
Chapter 792
The tactic Alexander?discussed with his retainers regarding how to receive the envoy was one of disying strength and inflexibility
It was to give him the idea that Alexander?was going to march towards the capital and take it any moment now.
So as Alexander?cidly gazed at Lord Theony to continue, all the others followed the twenty or so eyes thus seemingly exerting great pressure on the man.
Though such petty techniques had little effect on the man.
He was a veteran politician, and this was not the first Tibias had fought a war, nor was this the man''s first foray into the wolf''s den.
"Esteemed Pasha, let me first begin by saying how much we at the court are impressed by your skill of the militarymand."
"Truly you are once in a thousand year born conqueror. A great hero."
It seemed that before getting to his main point, Lord Theony was working to nicely butter Alexander?up, as he continued,
"And it is a fact I can personally attest to."
"You may not know it but I came to the city with reinforcements for Lord Ponticus just two months ago. I stayed right here, in one of the rooms on the second floor." He said pointing his right index finger up,
"And in that night battle, it was I who led that frontal army."
"So I personally saw with my own two eyes the way you foiled Lord Ponticus''s nking attack and then arranged your troops to neutralize my elephants."
"It was truly sublime."
"Although I lost, I feel proud to have lost to an impossible general like you, hahaha." Lord Theony sounded very frank in his opening speech.
And at the recount, Alexander?did not know exactly how to feel.
Should he be ttered?
Should he rudely sneer and urge him to get to the point?
Or should he politely ept and return simr cordial words?
And after thinking for a bit, he chose thest option, thinking you could not really go wrong with good manners.
"Lord Theony is being too humble. It was Lord Ponticus''s attack that was truly sublime. That attack from the rear woods at pitch ck darkness would have caught ny nine out a hundred armies off guard."
"It was only foiled because some of my nearby scouts spotted the light from their torches."
Alexander?here chose to embellish the truth a bit.
Instead of saying it was pure, dumb luck that Remus had spotted Lord Ponticus, Alexander?made it sound like he had already deployed scouts nearby.
And that it would have been only a matter of time before Lord Ponticus was spotted, far ahead of the man''s scheduled reveal.
And this is what the history books would write, in order to unt Alexander?as an ever prescient, infallible general.
But as Alexander?said this, it made him truly wonder just how twisted the history he had been taught in his previous life truly might have been.
He was not even talking aboutrge, bold changes, but about just the many tiny ''adjustments'' done at the spur of the moment by the chroniclers.
Although Alexander?very well knew history was written by the victor, with a few nuances, but even still, knowing something and actively manipting it was totally different.
It both felt wrong but sinfully attractive, like using a cheat code in a game.
So Alexander?experienced a small epiphany then, only managing to extricate himself a bitter, where he finished by saying,
"And even your elephant charge was very well timed. It was simply that your king had already shown that trick before. So my trained soldiers knew how to counter it." Alexander?referred to how Menes had lost in almost an identical way to how Lord Theony had.
Alexander ''s way of answer managed to do both things right, it both praised the Tibias for their great defense but also simultaneously worked to show off that he was in fact ultimately better, thus establishing his prestige.
"Hehe, indeed, indeed," And how could the shrewd politician not understand this?
But he was more than happy to stoke Alexander ''s ego.
The man had earned so.
Then with the pleasantries out of the way, Lord Theony finally got to delivering the messages he had made the huge more than six hundred kilometers journey for.
"*Ahem*," Clearly his throat, he took out a paper letter, the material very much surprising Alexander ,?as Lord Theony then read,
"In recognition of Pasha Alexander - Ruler of Zanzan''s remarkable military prowess,?''We''- The ruler of the Western?Rivends, the Protector of the Woonds and the Overseer of all things onnd, in water and sky- Perseus of Parthenigh, relinquish the control of the city of Thesalie as well as its nearbynds to you, Pasha Alexander - the First of His name, Ruler of Zanzan."
"Furthermore, we are willing to pay half the cost of the raised army, as well as recognizing any loot taken from the city as constitutionally belonging to the victorious Pasha."
"For this, all we seek is to sign a ten year truce between ournds."
"May peace prevail."
It was a very short letter, one which took Lord Theony less than two minutes to finish.
And even that was with all the theatrics and ir he added to the read to put emphasis on certain points, thus padding out the time.
"Heh! Peace? You drunk on horseshit or something?" And the moment Lord Theony finished, he was greeted with his disdainful, rude scoff.
It was uttered by Alexander ''s newest addition- Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq and this man was perhaps one of the most hawkish people when it came to Tibias.
And following him, many others too joined the castigation, rebuking the envoy for even daring toe up with his sorry excuse of a deal.
"What a what of our time." One noble spat.
"The only thing we got out of it was more earwax to clean our earster." Another one mocked, even poking his right pinky into his ear to mimic what he said.
"Such a waste of good paper, To think you people would be so wasteful even when you are in so dire economic strains." Thest noble scorned, making it sound like Tibias was not ever going to financially recover from this one improper use of a small sheet of paper.
While the target of all this ridicule, with did inch even an inch.
Like the vituperation being thrown at him was empty air.
He stood proudly, spine erect, his well oil moustach glistening under the ambient sunlight, his eyes clear and limpid.
While his counterpart, Alexander?waited for the various lords to have their fun, and once the room finally calmed down a bit, he gave his response, the official one.
Alexander?began,
"Lord Theony, I pity you, for you have to follow such a delusional king."
"Lord Theony, I feel sorry for you, for you had to travel so far to bring such a meritless message, filled with the ravings of a madman."
Yes, Alexander?did call Perseus a madman straight to his envoy''s face.
And it was not just Alexander?saying this.
For next to him sat a scribe, who was writing all this down.
Thus the things Alexander?was saying would be the formal, official response.
And it was typically considered improper to have such rude words in a formal discussion, no matter the kind of things discussed.
This was because when people started cursing, they tended to let their emotions get involved and when people started talking through their rage, negotiations and talks were always the first thing to fly out the window,
It was also because of that that Perseus was so cordial, though perhaps it was more so because he was currently weak and defenseless.
But Alexander?decided to eschew any such formalities.
Because although he did not directly show it, he was just as angry hearing the terms being offered as the nobles sitting by him.
So he continued, now turning to address Perseus,
"Oh, Ruler of Tibias Perseus, how long do you think you can hold onto that title?"
"How long do you think you can sit on that throne?"
" For a huge, undefeated army marches. It marches straight towards your capital even as I write this."
"It is filled with men full of zeal after taking the fortress of fortress."
"And they sing this as theye one step closer to you -?''We have taken the Bastion.''
''We will take the capital''
''Who do we have to fear?''
''Not Perseus, not Parthenigh, not the spirits of his Predecessors, hohoho''
"And what do you have to try and survive against this unstoppable juggernaut?"
"A nation devoid of men."
"A treasury as empty as a bird''s next."
"A royal court tearing itself apart with petty bickering."
"Surrender!"
"You have no other way."
"Relinquish all ms to the throne and swear it to me- Ruler of Zanzan, Conqueror of Thesalie, and soon to be Master of Tibias."
"Spare us the needless loss of lives and I swear to the gods that I will all spare you and your family."
"I am even willing to marry one of your daughters, one of my choosing."
"And I will name your son, The Crown Prince as Overseer of the city Thesalie for the next five years."
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Chapter 793 Lord Theony’s Choice
Chapter 793 Lord Theony''s Choice
Alexander''s response to Perseus was very aggressive and thenguage very unyielding.
Internally, he was also very proud of that marching song he hade up with on the spot.
And hearing such a stance, Lord Theony surprisingly did not try to haggle, like Alexander would have expected any good envoy seeking peace would.
Instead, he only cidly posed this, "Will Lord Alexander not reconsider? Peace is better than war. Let us save lives."
"Unless you can defeat my army in battle, I see no reason to sue for peace. If Tibias wants to remain Tibias, it must win and earn its ce."
Alexander''s statement was very straightforward and revealed the cruel truth of the times.
If you were not strong enough, your only fate was to be eaten by greater powers.
In fact, given Tibias''s rtive sizepared to Adhania, the fact that it could exist as an independent entity for so many years could already be said to have been a miracle.
"I see. That is unfortunate."
But at Alexander''s grim words, Lord Theony was not too fazed.
He even did not seem too downcast, much to Alexander''s amazement.
It appeared to him that the man had epted his fate.
While in reality, Lord Theony was very d about how the negotiations had turned out.
His heart was dancing with joy, for he got exactly what he wished.
In fact, it was quite hard to keep a straight face as he aplished his agenda.
And the reason for this glee was because after that farce he was made to endure at the court, one from where he was humiliatingly kicked out, Lord Theony saw no reason to remain loyal to Perseus.
What would further loyalty bring him?
Except for further me and finger-pointing for having lost Thesalie, an act where he yed second fiddle to Ponticus.
Thus, as Perseus was a sinking ship, it only made sense to jump.
Hence when he asked Perseus to let him go negotiate with Alexander, it was not to try and stop him, but to implicitly urge him to continue.
And for that Lord Theony had actually forged the letter Perseus had given him.
In the original version, Perseus had been far more generous, for untrue of Alexander''s usation, Perseus was certainly not delusion, and could very clearly read the signs.
So in addition to signing a long twenty year truce, the king had offered Alexander around one fifth of his country, a lump sum indemnity equal to the cost of raising Alexander''s army for the campaign, and even the promise of significant yearly tithes and tributes.
If Lord Theony had shown Alexander that version, perhaps Alexander would not epted even that, but thenguage in his reply would not have been so harsh either.
A chance for a diplomatic solution might have still remained.
But upon receiving the king''s instruction, Lord Theony had simply written a grossly fake letter.
This act was of course very dangerous and could be said to belong to the highest level of treason.
If it was to be discovered, such as byparing it with a previous, known one, the discrepancy in writing would be easily noticed.
And Lord Theony and his family might very well end up in the gallows.
But the nobleman was willing to take the risk.
He felt it was worth the gamble for he reasoned that Alexander might not have a personal letter from Perseus.
And then he made the contents of the fake letter be so outrageous and unappealing that it was very likely Alexander would not even deign to look at it twice.
Sobining this with Alexander''s naturally superior position in the negotiations, Lord Theony was confident that the young man would throw out any option of talks for the time.
And as a testament to the politician''s shrewd mind and impressive insight, that was exactly what happened.
Hearing the letter, Alexander judged Perseus to be a man who was willing to defend hisnd to thest man.
So he naturally felt sitting down to talk with this kind of man would be an exercise in futility on both sides.
Alexander might be knowledgeable, but Lord Theony had decades of invaluable, irreplicable experience, one which enabled him to navigate the minds of people like a master psychologist.
This event also worked to highlight just how important it was to send trusted people to negotiations.
Because in this era, the primitive means ofmunication made it so that those people were effectively the ruler''s mouthpiece.
Their words directly influenced whether there would be peace or war
So after doing all this, what kind of power did Lord Theony seek to gain from this you ask?
Well, it depended on how much he would coax up to his new ''would-be boss''.
Even if Alexander did manage to conquer Tibias, he would need the support of many of therge Tibian noble families to keep it.
No one rules alone after all.
And Lord Theony wanted to present himself as the premier choice to Alexander.
But the man did not reveal his inclination to defect so easily to Alexander.
Not only could such a reveal in his open room jeopardize his current life if the words got out, but it would also make his switch seem cheap and not valuable.
Instead, he sought to maximize the benefit for his family.
So after using a bit more flowerynguage addressing Alexander, he revealed his desire in a roundabout way,
"Great Pasha, I have bought some gifts for you. They have been provided by me personally. I hope you will like them."
"I also would like you to invite the esteemed one to my fief. Please do not feel troubled toe at any time. We will receive you with open arms."
Following this the man bowed and the meeting quickly came to an end just like that.
And then before the day was over, the man was already on a boat and sailing downstream, towards his fief.
Alexander was of course surprised by the ease with which the envoy retreated, even feeling rueful that he could not see the man grovel a bit more.
But more than that, Alxx was intrigued by his overly generous show of hospitality, feeling this did not suit the rtionship they currently had with each other.
So he felt that perhaps the gifts he was given could be able to shed some light.
Hence at Lord Theony''s behest, he quickly inspected the,
The quantity he was given was surprisinglyrge, a few carts full.
And it took a small team the whole day to unpack and record all the contents.
These included the usual things- wines, cheese, dresses, jewelry, bolts of fabric such as linen and wool, strong and beautiful ves of both sexes to name a few, all of which were meticulously recorded by a dedicated team employed by Alexander.
He had hired them for a task that could only be manufactured by the uber-wealthy, maintaining urate records of who sent what gift, when, on what asion, and of what value.
It was done so that when Alexander gave a return gift, it was of a simr standard.
Before being a noble, this luxury would have not only been unimaginable to Alexander but also viewed as an absolute waste of money and manpower.
But when he actually became one, he began to see there was truly a need for it
Because when nobles gifted you something, they at least expected something of equal in return.
And if you were unable to or worse forgot, it caused too great a loss of face.
Even deep enmity could develop if the error was egregious enough.
This practice also highlighted one of the ways nobles even with so much wealth could go bankrupt.
Because the value of the gifts exchanged could only go up, never down.
Meaning if a family was doing very well, they would exchange expensive gifts.
But if they fell on hard times, they would be unable to reduce these exorbitant costs.
Alexander came to such realization as he read theplete report of all the gifts Lord Theony bought, and he was very surprised by how generous he was.
But what really caught his eye were the stacks of papyrus and parchments meticulously wrapped in expensive clothes and delivered to him.
These contained no ordinary records but were Tibias''s most closely guarded secrets.
Maps of various ces were equally as detailed as some of the ones in Lord Ponticus''s collection. Many intelligence reports, describing much of Tibias''s domestic and foreign affairs, thetter of which was quite absent in Lord Ponticus''s trove,
List of various spies operating in the country and other foreign nations.
Important trading routes and hubs, as well as a description of the manyplicated rtions various noble households, had.
Yes.
Instead of just saying he wanted to join Alexander''s faction, Lord Theony had directly provided Alexander with proof of his sincerity.
And it was a very heavy proof at that, for it was something that caused Alexander to be even a bit overwhelmed at first.
For a while he even contemted, ''Is this all a trap?'', thinking it was a bait meant to lure him into attacking a predictable ce where an ambush was waiting for him.
Author''s note:
Hey Guys.
I have started to write another book: StarScroung Mage: Eater of Millions.
It''s currently in RoyalRoad free to read. If you wish, kindly head over there to give it a try.
And if you want me to change anything, including the title- Comment there.
I will be able to edit a lot of the story because I n to start posting it on Webnovel around February 2024.
Thanks.
Chapter 794 Winter Months End The Third Year
Chapter 794 Winter Months End The Third Year
Regarding the doubts Alexander had about the intel Lord Theony provided to him, they were quickly erased.
It made no sense because predicting what Alexander would do with it was so hard.
And even if they could, much of the information here was so precious, that the reward would not outweigh the loss.
As for suspecting the veracity of all the information, well fortunately, Alexander had a secondary source to verify many of them- Lord Ponticus''s collection.
And for the ones he could find a match, both sides showed the same picture.
So Alexander had reasonable confidence to believe the unverified ones were also true.
And it was from them that Alexander learned some things more precious than nuggets of pure gold.
Such as the fact that the original attack in his city had been orchestrated by the Kaiser Family, a powerful ducal house of Sybarsis, who had paid PR arge lump sum of money as well as supply of various military equipment such as the elephant and catapult, in revenge for Alexander supplying the Margraves with processed iron.
Or that the passage up the Cisran Hills was revealed to PR by a Zanzan defector, though that information was unable to give a definite name, only the condition upon which that traitor had chosen to act- control of the city.
Andstly, Lord Theony revealed the verytest updated version of Tibias''s treasury and manpower, as well as the cracks in the court.
It was far, far greater than what was recorded in Lord Ponticus''s collection, the situation having deteriorated to such a grave extent in just a month or two.
It was also in those pages that Lord Theony described why he was doing this, how he had been betrayed by the court, and how he became disillusioned with the people running the country.
And this reminded Alexander of the small parchment Lord Theony had attached to the very front of the treasure trove- "I hope my lord will find my contribution of service, no matter how small."
''Heh!'' The very explicit way Lord Theony was trying to ingratiate with him was very gratifying to Alexander, and his mood turned excellent as he became aware of the enemy''s weak state.
But before celebrating too early, he sent a messenger bird to Lady Miranda, the matriarch of the Margrave Family letting her know of her enemy''s moves, though perhaps the revtion was a few yearste.
But nevertheless, he felt it was worth warning his ally about, as alongside the bird, he sent a messenger too,den with gifts as well as a letter containing many details that the small scroll carried by a bird was unable to contain.
As for the revtion of there being dissenters among his rank, ones who wish to harm, well it was really not news to Alexander.
Given that Alexander conquered many of them, of course, there would be dissatisfied voices.
But the scant information provided to him left him little to do other than summoning Camius and Laibak to urge them to keep an eye out.
Also as a side note, he had asked Camius about that Tibian business partner''s well being, and it seemed as though his house was looted and his wife ''suffered'', they managed to ultimately survive, with few losses of familiar life.
The man was still capable of doing business.
Lord Theony''s part in the story ended for the time being with this.
And following so, Alexander was forced to turn his main attention to other more pressing matters.
Firstly, there were the frequent messages Menes was sending him, which detailed the ever increasing cold alongside the good news of new cities falling day after day.
However bolstered by the rapid, unimpeded progress, as well as knowing of PR''s weakness, Alexander
hoped to cut off Perseus before he got the chance to raise another army.
So tobat the cold, he thought back on the winter jackets that were piled up in his military warehouses.
Heliptos, the one in charge of the overall logistics even promised him they had enough warm clothes for the entire army.
But when he attempted to cloth his men, the true problem bloomed.
Alexander''s logistic chain was too fragile to quickly and properly equip his men so far away.
If Alexander wanted to send his men clothes, he would have topromise on the food.
And making a huge group of armed to the teeth men go hungry during a winter as cold as this was a very bad idea.
Perhaps even worse than making them go cold.
Then to further add to his troubles, the snowstorms came, unending and unyielding in their might, making allrge scale movement basically impossible.
Life itself came to a figurative stop.
''*Sigh*, so close and yet so far,''
Thus Alexander''s hope for a third consecutive mild winter was denied, and with that his hope to have Tibias before the new year.
Hence Menes was told to garrison himself in well stocked, fortified cities, while facing the bleak, overcast skies, as well as frequent hailstorms Alexander had little option but to huddle up obediently in his mansion, in the few rooms that had internal heating.
And since all his kids were in rooms very close to each other, even Alexander''s fun time with his wives was drastically cut.
Alexander was not big a pervert.
Only when the snow asionally subsided was Alexander allowed to walk around the painted whitendscape around his house, feeling the fresh cold air and enjoying the frankly breathtaking scenery, as well as sometimes even ying snow fighting with the two, sometimes three kids.
As for all the other times, all he could do was entertain himself with the various board games he invented, but even that got boring atst.
So feeling bored out of mind, Alexander atst decided to catch up on the misceneous, tedious administrative activities that had backlogged in his six months of absence from Zanzan.
He asked the men to send many of the documents over to Thesalie, a task made significantly easier given the road between the two cities was among the best in the world for its time.
It was also during this campaign that the nobles and military officers leaned through every inch of their body just how nice it was to have a good road.
For despite the enormous quantities of supplies the huge crowd of 80,000 to 100,000 people consumed during the campaign, there was never a single instance of shortage or even a crisis of one.
Alongside those tedious paperwork, many of the procedures being invented by Alexander himself, he then turned his attention to the newnds he personally took.
If one properly recalled, it agreed before the start of the campaign that since Alexander would be bearing the cost of all the war expenses, all thends around Thesalie belonged to him, while the nobles would be only allowed to take the booty and loot.
Hence he spent some of his time consolidating his hold over thesends, making the previous administrators of the various towns and viges swear loyalty to him, or if they were unwilling or dead, cing his own men there.
In this way, Alexander''s personalnd expanded by nearly 500 sq km, totaling to more than 1,000 sq km,parable to Los Angeles city.
Though all the meetings were quite tedious, as Alexander had to meet many nobodys and listen to names of the weird viges they represented, alongside rivers and or forests he had no idea where those existed.
These settlements were generally so small that they were not significant to be even on any official map, and the people in charge of these were so unlearned that neither could they properly point them out.
They referred to many of these remote viges as being on that hill, next to that vige.
And all this was with the fact that the suburbs of Thesalie were rtively barren.
Even then it took Alexander quite a bit of digging around to properly identify them, and once done, he had to make note of their particr circumstance, so that he could make urate ns for their development.
Or if Alexander felt that was too much of a hassle, or the vige was too barren and remote to develop economically, he would ask that vige chief to provide him with a certain amount of men who would work in the city in his industries for a fixed wage and send some of it back for their families back there.
This type of internal immigration after the conquest of newnds was quitemon, as people from the war ravaged, or even just poorer regions from those parts would migrate to the richer, more populous centers of their new overlords, looking for more fertile opportunities.
Hence Alexander''s instructions were actually received with much enthusiasm by these small leaders.
And thest thing that Alexander worked on during the winter was spending his time evaluating,?promoting, and rewarding many of his exceptional military officers.
To enable this, Menes and his officers were not allowed to idle away in their quarters, but had to prepare detailed reports of men under them who deserved further advancement up the careerdder.
And once these reports were delivered by special riders, Alexander, and other high ranking officers reviewed them, before deciding on how to reward those men, be it gold, ves, or promotions.
And the veryst memorable thing Alexander did during the winter was meet with the Tibian nobles, to discuss their fate.
Author''s note:
Hey Guys.
I have started to write another book: StarScroung Mage: Eater of Millions.
It''s currently in RoyalRoad free to read. If you wish, kindly head over there to give it a try.
And if you want me to change anything, including the title- Comment there.
I will be able to edit a lot of the story because I n to start posting it on Webnovel around February 2024.
Thanks.
Chapter 795 Lady Inayah Comes With Gifts (Part-1)
Chapter 795 Lady Inayah Comes With Gifts (Part-1)
Alexander''s meeting with the nobles was mired with dy after dy.
This was due to a whole host of things- confusion among the noblemen''s family members regarding how to respond to Alexander, the gathering of enough funds, the arrival of the busy fall season, getting their summons to the cityte, and in general, the chaos caused by Alexander''s invasion.
So although Alexander had set the deadline for their meeting arrival to be before September, most were unable to honor that.
And Alexander found being unable to do anything about it either.
He was after all not going to kill all those nobles just because they werete, especially when it was due to good reason.
So he could do little more than patiently wait.
And as he did so, in the meantime Lady Inayah and Pasha Farzah''s son Kayvan docked at Zanzan, only to find much to their bemusement that Alexander and his entire family were absent.
Worse, since Alexander had taken Thesalie, most of the nobles, even the civilian ones had gone to Thesalie to meet with and explore the city.
Meaning there were no one high ranking nobles to receive these important delegates who hade from so far.
This was a major diplomatic foible, and while Lady Inayah simplyughed it off, finding Alexander''s honest mistake cute, Kayvan was a bit more peeved, grumbling that as someone who had been pasha for three years already, the man should know better.
It was ultimately Batholomew, the acting man in charge of the city guards as well as the general defense of the city who came to greet the two esteemed nobles, and quickly arranged a guest bungalow for them, while also informing Alexander.
Then after two days, their transport for Thesalie was ready and after making an additional 90 km journey west, they finally got to meet the conqueror.
There, Lady Inayah and Lord Kayvan were of course received with a grand reception with Alexander also profusely apologizing to them for the imbroglio.
While the guests nodded understandingly.
Both of them knew Alexander well enough to know that this was simply a genuine oversight and there was nothing more to it- no hidden meaning behind the act.
And so following this, they delivered their congrattions for Alexander''s sess in taking this mighty city, with both of them speaking in very formal terms as they read the long letters the king and Pasha Farzah had sent Alexander.
Then they showed him their gifts.
Among them were all the usual paraphernalia- bolts of various fabrics, fine wines, bundles of legummum, beautiful jewelry, etc.
But the thing that most stood out to Alexander were the ves they had brought, both the utility ones
as well as the beautiful ones meant to be used to seek pleasure.
Among the utility ones, Alexander spotted several middle aged wet nurses, clearly meant to feed his children.
They were bought by Lady Inayah, for although she did not know of Alexander''stest two children, she did hear about the birth of his son, his sessor.
And had brought five such women just in case.
Which was actually a very timely addition, for both Cambyses and Mean actually had some trouble producing enough milk by themselves.
So currently they had to rely on the present wet nurses to make up the deficit, which was frankly a bit tough on thosedies.
So the five more wet nurses were more than wee.
While in the case of Kayvan, he gifted Alexander one single Thesian ve, taken from a famous?city- state.
And Alexander, instead of being offended by the measly number was actually a bit taken back at the preciousness of it.
"This is too much," He had even blurted out, knowing it had to be a very expensive purchase.
This judgment did note from the way the man was dressed or his status, but because of the fact that he was learned- able to not only read and write, which was already extremely precious but also speak and think like an intellectual.
The man was like a teacher, even a philosopher.
And the reason for this gift was because it was Adhanian custom that the boys of a noble household and especially its sessor be taught everything by a ve, preferably of Thesian descent, who would follow the boy everywhere from his childhood to adulthood.
This man would of course be very learned and always carry with him a cane, that he would typically use very liberally to teach and correct any mistake the small boy would make, usually striking him on the fleshy thighs and nks.
And yes, it was one of those rare cases where a ve was allowed to beat his master, or more precisely- his ''to be master''.
It was hoped that this way, in the span of all the years he would spend with the boy, the man would tirelessly work to impart all his wisdom to the boy on every facet of life that they woulde across in their day to day,
Hence by keeping the boy under the constant supervision of a learned man, the Adhanians tried to make sure their sons, or at least their sessors would not grow up to be a wastrel.
And frankly, Alexander thought it was a fantastic tradition.
As a nobleman with many things to do and many ces to visit, it was of course impossible for any of them to keep a 24/7 eye on one''s son like that ve man could.
Never mind the fact they would not have just one child.
So this was a fantastic solution to a big problem.
It was also because of this practice that the nobility of Adhania was typicallypetent, minus the few ck sheep.
And if they did go astray, it happened mostly after they became adults, which was at the age of sixteen.
It was also at that point that many of them tended to set their ''teacher'' free, though not before having developed some kind of instinctual fear of him.
Of course, a few wastes also did the opposite and executed them the moment they became adult in revenge for all the beatings, with Ptolomy being the most prominent example, but such a thing was very frowned upon.
In general, these people were very well respected within the family they lived, were treated more like a learned guest and even a close family member rather than a ve and an object, with many times even the house''s patron seeking advice from him.
But all these advantages dide with one drawback- he was very pricy to buy.
Some poorer nobles even had a separate fund where they saved their money for years to be able to afford one.
In that way,?it was very simr to how a modern family would save for college.
And as for the reason why these ves were almost exclusively from the various city states of Thesos, well Alexander did not know exactly.
Perhaps many felt it was better to have a foreign ve who had no connection to thesends and thus would not be able to subtly influence their sessor, or not bear a hidden grudge for some cmity the nobility might have inflicted upon him.
Perhaps, it was a ploy to show the young child that all Thesians, no matter who, were inferior to native Adhanians and thus deserved to be enved.
All of these sounded usible, but at the same time, Alexander doubted anybody went that deep into this simple custom.
Maybe it was simply just a tradition.
It is said that during the period Adhania was first established, the best learned men existed in Thesos.
So it only made sense to get them to teach one''s children.
And as time went on it simply became the norm.
Alexander did ask the man about his past, his circumstances, and how he ended up caught as a ve.
And the man who called himself Pythos, or as Lady Inayah named him Pit, recounted that he was actually a well known judge in Thyrentum.
But though very capable in his work, the man had one major w- he was a gambling addict.
Whatever he would earn, he would take every penny of it of the nearest gambling house to roll it away by the spin of the dice, and though he was not especially unlucky, even managing to earn quite a sum for himself, he never learned the meaning of ''quitting while ahead''.
So in the end he lost everything.
After all- The house always wins.
And thus he went bankrupt, owningrge sums of money to many infamous loan sharks.
Here Pythos even very frankly informed Alexander how he sometimes used his authority to let those sharks skirt around thew, in exchange for bribes and low interest loans.
It seemed that at nearing the twilight of his years, the old man saw no point in hiding his misdeeds.
But even those privileges had its limits.
Atst the loan sharks got fed of him always fleecing money out of them and they banded together to bring a case against him.
Which surprisingly they won.
And so he was sold as a ve as the sharks tried to recoup their losses, but more importantly, make an example out of.
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Chapter 796 Lady Inayah Comes With Gifts (Part-2)
Chapter 796 Lady Inayah Comes With Gifts (Part-2)
Chapter 796
Alexander felt quite a bit enlightened by Pythos''s colorful story.
It went to show how even a greatly learned person could possess major ws in their character.
Pythos himself revealed that his gambling habit had caused the rtionship between all his family members to be strained at best, as most were not even on talking terms with him.
He had not seen many of his children in close to a decade, forget the grandkids.
And towards this abandonment, the man surprisingly had little hate, only ming himself for this oue.
ording to him, this was his due payment, since in his earlier years, when he was even more addicted, he had grossly neglected his wife and children.
The little ones would sleep without dinner almost regrly, while his own wife had died back then of a rtively minor disease due to ack of medicine because he spent all his money in those gambling dens.
"But fortunately all my children grew up better than their father. They are in far better ces than I ever was."
Unconcerned about his own state, Pythos instead seemed very gratified by his children''s sess, though Alexander did notice the old man''s face dim ever so slightly as he finished.
Surely he was wishing he could have been there to share that joy with them.
But the case the loan sharks had made against him was really too potent.
Not only did they bring proof of the enormous sums he owed to each of them, but they also came with almost every detailed record of his dereliction of duty, showing everyone just how many times this judge had broken and also helped others break thew.
And it was the corruption case that really got him.
Otherwise, given the general amount of backdoor dealings prevalent at the time, trying to convict a senior judge of loan fraud would have been really reaching for the moon.
Many of the city states inherently disliked loan sharks.
But with the enormous smoking gun in their hands, the loan sharks finally managed to get their revenge.
Pythos''s long term bad habit had finally caught up to him.
So ultimately he was sold into very and given his status, was taken to Adhania, where he could fetch the highest price.
And his first port stop was Agnirat, the biggest port city in northern Adhanian, its ruler - Lady Inayah.
At first she bought the man, and then upon Pasha Farzah''s request, handed it over to Kayvan, who then gifted him to Alexander.
Now, as precious he was, Alexander would not have Pythos as his son''s teacher, but ce him in a mid level clerical job in Zanzan, a position which was both inconspicuous but equally vital
The reason he would officially give was that Philip was too small to need a tutor right now..
While the actual reason was that Alexander did not want as wed a man as him near his son.
Although the man sounded regretful over his actions now, who knew just how sincere he was, or if he would rpse again?
Alexander would not take that chance.
These were the useful, utilitarian ves.
Next came the far more interesting pleasure ves.
In that category, Lady Inayah gifted Alexander two beautiful, ck buxom sisters, dressed in white and blue checkers one piece that seemed to be floating in the wind, their gorgeous curly hair fashionably styled.
ording to Lady Inayah''s description of the two, they were former nobles who ''had fallen on hard times'', which Alexander saw as a euphemistic way of saying that their household was wiped up and then sold to very, undoubtedly by Ptolomy or who knew perhaps Lady Inayah herself, given the girls'' uniqueplexion matched hers.
As for the reason, well it was pretty easy to guess given there was a civil war still going on.
As for why Alexander was so sure the girls'' backstory was such without any further context, well, even though many noblemen and women did sell themselves into very due to other circumstances too, most prominently running themselves into bankruptcy, Lady Inayah said the answer herself when she had introduced them, didn''t she?
She had introduced them to as ''former nobles''.
This was very telling.
Because even if a noble were to turn themselves into ve, they would still remain a noble and hold that title
Even if a lot of their perks were taken away, they still held that social status, even if in name only.
Besides, noble ves were almost always bought for much more dignified tasks.
The women would be employed as maids or chamberwomen, governesses or tutors,dies in waiting, and even wet nurses.
While the men would be taken as valets, butlers, stewards, scribes, and even as officers in the military.
Of course, these would be official works which they would attend to during the day.
Unofficially, during the night, it was expected they would also ede to any favors asked of them by their master or mistress, be it bed rted or otherwise.
And yes, both men and women were expected to serve.
With their only saving grace were nobles who sold themselves to very like this- due to bankruptcy, usually did so to other nobles, for it was only natural that other nobles would be their creditors.
That at least saved them a bit of dignity.
After all, no noble was going to go amoner to beg for money.
They had a much better method for them- simply taking it by force in the name of protection fees or also called taxes.
As for rich merchants and such, who did have the capital to tend to these spoilt nobles, well although technically thew allowed to enve nobles if they were their biggest creditor, in reality, this never happened.
Because if a merchant did try to pull off such a move, he would find his local lord making things very hard for him indeed.
The nobility as a whole was of the mind that only they could bully other nobles since they were in the same social strata.
But how could people below them be allowed to do the same?
So the act was seen not as much as an injustice to that enved noble, but more of an attack on the societal structure, a hierarchical system where the top 1% benefitted from the most- the nobility.
Hence in those cases, either the bankrupt noble or the rich merchant would find a suitable noble to buy the owned and thus transfer the ownership over to him.
Of course, in the case ofmoners, bankruptcy meant either chattel very or even death if the sum to be paid was high enough.
It was a custom Alexander was actually ambivalent to change in his ownnds, because some of the frauds he had seen in his previous life like Enron, Thanatos, and FTX, truly were heinous.
Who knew if stricterws would have deterred such ventures in the first ce?
But anyway, besides that, the special privileges a noble enjoyed even as ves meant that only those fallen from nobility were bought and sold as pleasure ves.
And Alexander did find his guesses to be proven exactly right, as he enjoyed these two virgin sisters.
There were special rooms in the mansion meant to house a lord''s mistresses or haram and it was there that the two girls got to taste their first men.
And what a specimen they got to begin their tasting with.
For under Alexander''s brutal organ, the older sister proved to be quite a screamer, moaning her lungs out so loudly that even Alexander was a bit embarrassed
While the shyer younger sister was theplete opposite and would try and hold her voice as much as she could, only biting her lips and whimpering.
It would be only when her pleasure reached the apex that she would let one or let low moans, the soul stirring sounds sounding like heavenly music to Alexander, as he would then increase his thrusting speed more, causing that demure girl to softly beg for Alexander to slow down.
This of course would have the exact opposite effect, as that would only tickle Alexander''s desire to bully her even more, causing the vicious but sensual cycle to perpetuate.
And as Alexander enjoyed the two, he marveled at how intimate Lady Inayah''s knowledge was about his taste.
It went without saying that Alexander found these girls quite enjoyable, for not only were they pure, something he very much preferred, but since they had gone through their noble training, they were also not ignorant.
And though they were a bit rusty with their service at first, appearing scared and unsure what to touch and how much, after a week of intense mating, both quickly got the hang of all the things Alexander expected them to perform.
So for the next month or so, Alexander''s massive rod worked to expand and explore the hidden depths of both their holes, and by the end of it, the two were so well trained that they start uncontrobly leaking even if just Alexander grabbed their butt.
But while Alexander very much liked Lady Inayah''s present, Lord Kayvan''s one proved to be far more difficult to digest.
For he gifted him a pair of underaged boys!
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Chapter 797 The Two Types of Slaves
Chapter 797 The Two Types of ves
The two sisters were quite well trained in their skills, which was not surprising given they were initially bought by Lady Inayah, and this made things so much easier for Alexander when it came to various ys.
And he did try many things which he felt a bit shy to do with the other four.
Things which were too risque such as exposure y, or ys that were a bit dangerous like various bondages.
But the girls adapted themselves to the new situation remarkably well, and under Alexander''s constant ''nourishment'', they began to glow with a certain aura, their curves starting to spill out?even more than before.
They were already very buxom even before, but now they reached a whole different level, oozing sexiness out of every pore.
But unfortunately for them, this constant attention from Alexander and their blossoming beauty drew the ire of all four of his wives, who felt angry that their husband was not sharing as much time as time with them.
Now, they did not bully or harass the innocent two.
But they did directly petition Alexander to quickly finish his fun with them and get rid of them.
And though Alexander could have easily resisted, he chose to respect the quad''s wishes.
Alexander had also experienced all he wanted with the two.
And then an opportunity soon presented itself.
One day he was reading an impressive report about an officer from Menes.
The man had seemingly baited a force of 2,000 Tibians under a noble into a narrow ridge and destroyed them with his contingent of 500 in a fantastic ambush.
So in the spur of the moment, Alexander decided to reward the man with those two sisters.
But though that gift was easily epted by Alexander, Kayvan''s gift was a lot harder to swallow.
The two boys presented to Alexander appeared seven to eight years old, with auburn curly locks flowing up to their ears, their rosy cheeks still holding great lumps of baby fat, making them appear plump and full.
If they had been dressed in a suit and tie, Alexander would have found them very cute and proper.
But they were not dressed like that.
Instead, on the top they wore a very specialized shirt, one where the part covering the chest was cut out, and the top and bottom part of the shirt connected by thin straps.
And this was done to showcase their chest golden piercings, dangling off of which were conically cut blue sapphires.
While down below, their pants were too very custom made.
The shorts fitted very tightly only up to their upper thighs and let everything below be bare, except the ankle high socks and leather shoes.
But the true marvel here was the fact that the shorts had a very provocative cut on both the front and back, centered right down the middle, thus revealing everything that should have been meant to be hidden.
Kayvan had even decorated that ''specific front'' part with a red and blue bow for the two boys respectively.
This type of ves was nothing new to Alexander.
He had seen plenty- though not as ''specially'' dressed as those two.
But seeing this gift, Alexander felt an intense urge to reject it, for it shed with values too greatly.
But he also knew that would be social suicide.
It was too rude to reject a gift and it might even cause his alliance with Pasha Farzah toe into jeopardy.
Especially when the gift was so ''normal''.
The act of taking and enjoying young boys both in Thesos and Adhania was seen as something asmon as drinking in the modern day.
It was followed by almost everyone rich enough who could afford it.
Even almost all of Alexander''s friends and retainers did so too.
Menes frequently visited buildings providing this type of service, while Hemicus had a few back at his home.
And this was done in spite of both men being neither homosexual or even bisexual.
They had no intention of doing those acts with a grown man.
But somehow it was fair game if they were not grown.
Alexander did not get the reason.
But he had seen plenty of the act.
Not perhaps as much in recent times, but there were plenty of times during his mercenary days when he had walked in on such sessions happening inside an inconspicuous tent or behind a bush among a ve and his master.
Many had even cordially offered a taste.
Something he tactfully declined every time.
During the days he was with the ve traders, he was even put up for sale as such a type of ve.
And had to endure two full weeks of lecherous gazes and utter humiliation as men and even women prodded him.
His only saving grace was that none of them wanted to try him first.
Alexander was ultimately taken down after he proved too unpopr- scrawny and a dirty orphan, with no training, no one wanted to buy him, much to his relief, though that experience did leave a shadow in his heart.
Something that had resurfaced when Nestoras had bought him, but fortunately, the man was at the time infatuated with his wives and mistress and then had that infection.
Thus Alexander''s behind remained untouched.
And having escaped that humiliation, Alexander even swore- if he ever found evidence of god, he would pray to Him every day for this lucky escape.
Whatever powers put him in his world and gave him such a shitty starting position, he at least gave him one boon.
That was also why there were no boys in his gift to Ptolomy, even though the ve trader Cassim informed him that he had close to 50 very beautiful ones.
Now Alexander did not hate the peoplemitting this.
Although the act seemed vile to him, it would be wrong of him to superimpose his world views on the people living in his time period.
Their behavior was a product of their time and it would be extremely arrogant of Alexander to judge them just based on that.
If Alexander had been born in this time period, he undoubtedly would have joined them.
And so with those thoughts, Alexander ultimately epted the two gifts, thanking Kayvan for them.
And then after revealing to Kayvan his difort in a polite way, as a gesture of courtesy, he asked for his permission to transfer the two to someone.
Kayvan had no problem with this and so after a bit of deliberation, Alexander actually chose Remus as the recipient.
The neen year old was in the city on leave from the main army and Alexander knew of his particr tastes, for Remus and his adjutant Piseus''s rtionship was nothing secret.
So Alexander felt the two boys would suit them fine.
As to why Alexander simply did not set the two boys free, well even if he did, who was going to take care of them?
Certainly not Alexander.
As for employing these boys as guards or servants, well that would simply have been a waste of resources because remember these boys were chosen as gifts due to their handsome features.
So to Alexander, it simply made more sense to treat them as such.
The arrival of Lady Inayah and Kayvan did help Alexander with some of his administrative affairs, and further added weight behind when he sat down with the nobles.
Though by then it was aste as January.
Yes- the meeting that was supposed to be held in September got pushed back to January.
And even when Alexander did manage to sit down with these men, negotiations proved extremely tiresome.
And the main reason was, as put by one noble-
"Lord Alexander, we acknowledge that you have militarily defeated us. But that is not enough."
"Without any sort of treaty with His Majesty, we cannot swear any allegiances to you."
"Our oaths still belong to King Perseus."
"Please ask His Majesty to relinquish im over thosends."
This rhetoric did indeed have some merit.
Just because someone''s army marches from point A to point D, that does not automatically mean he controls point B and point C in between.
Many times the army would simply bypass these cities, cing only a token garrison to ward off rebellion.
And it was usually only after a treaty was signed that the various ims each had overnd were solidified.
But of course, that reasoning stood on the fact that there was someone to sign a treaty.
Hence hearing so Alexander frowned. sneering, "So what happens if Perseus is dead and there is no one to surrender?"
"Or what if he is unable to push me out of his country the war turns into a stalemate."
"By your words, he can just refuse to hand over thend I control and will I simply have to allow the treacherous foxes to feed off thend I control, ungratefully leeching off me."
"Is that what you are saying?"
Alexander used some very choice words to describe the nobles, making many pull faces red with embarrassment or anger.
"Of course not,"
But at Alexander''s scalding remark, another voice quickly chimed, this time very frankly saying, "But we do hope my lord will give us a bit more time"
"Lord Pasha, your army is still advancing and he would like to wait and see what His Majesty''s response will be."
"If King Perseus cannot win or the war turns to a statement, we noble are ready toe to a suitable agreement with you."
"But if he wins¡. " That nobleman only trailed off with a smile, his innuendo clear.
Chapter 798 The Nobles Decision and Menes’s Preperation
Chapter 798 The Nobles Decision and Menes''s Preperation
The man that had just spoken to Alexander was named Hysper and was among the biggestnd owners among the gathered noblemen, controlling nearly 1,000 sq km of personalnd- almost equal to Alexander''s.
But one would have a hard time discerning the man was so influential just from his name because Tibias did not have a noble tiering system like Adhania.
Instead, all nobility were painted with the same brush- as Nobles.
Of course, in reality, the richer and more powerful noble houses who controlled vast swathes ofnd wielded a disproportionate amount of power in court, kind of like how a country''s finance minister is far more influential than say the sports minister, even though they were both members of the parliament and technically hold the same level of post.
But this arrangement made things very hard for any outsider, for it was impossible to discern how important the person talking to you was.
Sometimes even weak nobles able to raise barely a hundred men talked to Alexander like he could call rain and wind at the wave of his hand.
Alexander would many times be astonished at the level of delusion.
Alexander recognized the Hypser for he had studied the backgrounds of many of the nobles here and thus knew his words could be seen as representative of the whole.
"......" And looking around the room, he indeed felt that was indeed the prevailing mood around.
Most of the nobles wanted to wait and see the result of Alexander''s next move.
This to the man himself appeared very foolish, as in his opinion, the faster these nobles submitted to him, the better the deal they were gonna get.
But it seemed the nobles still held out hope.
They did not say it aloud outright, but by their bodynguage, Alexander could read that they still held great expectations for their king, who was viewed as a greatmander,
Many believed that he could yet turn things around.
Regarding this, Alexander scoffed but he did not immediately destroy the delusion.
He could have changed many minds if he wanted to right now, by just showing the various papers Lord Ponticus had about the country''s affairs and the dire straits it was in, making them understand a miraculouseback was simply impossible.
Sure it was still possible for Perseus to be able to win or two battles against him, but unless Alexander let some shitty AI take control of him andmit brain dead mistakes one after another, even in the worst case scenario, he would be able to turn the war into a stalemate, locking in his gains and then in the subsequent years eventually grind the Tibian king down.
For thetter simplycked the necessary men needed to fuel his reconquest.
But though aware of this inevitability, Alexander did not reveal so.
Because once he won some subsequent victories, it would be far easier and cheaper to make these nobles flip then.
So at Hypser''s request, Alexander simply replied, "Then I will try toe to some sort of agreement with Perseus. In the meantime, if any one of wants to strike a deal with me, my arm is always open. You will not leave disappointed."
After this, in the following days, Alexander did get a few men who came to him to ask for a deal.
But all of them were quite low along the tiering influencedder and exclusively shared the characteristic of havingnds very near Thesalie.
Meaning unlike the rest of the nobles, they were not so optimistic that the king would be able to prate so deep so as toe to rescue them, not when they were so small to begin with.
Regarding these flips, Alexander outwardly was very weing and offered quite some favorable terms, even lowering the ransom amount of their captives while internally, he mumbled at the tacit resistance the nobility as a whole disyed towards him.
He had hoped for a far better response but the other sides showed remarkable unity.
It seemed that though they did not show it, most nobles inherently disliked Alexander- for he represented Adhania, their most hated enemy.
Regarding this Alexander would do nothing right now, but wait out and grind these prejudices down, be it using force or benefits.
But for now, he turned his focus to much more important matters, particrly reports Menes was starting to send.
By now it had be February and winter had been promptly reced by the much temperate spring, driving away the cruel ice queen and recing with weather with a much milder ambiance.
The ground quickly started to thaw and the river Diannu had by one became clean of any ice, allowing Alexander to restart his supply runs, while up above, clear skies with the gentle grace of the sun appeared almost every day of the week.
The weather was glorious.
Which also meant the time to restart their campaign hade.
Thus recing the generalship of Melodias with Menes to give thetter a chance at glory, Alexander ordered a general advance towards the enemy capital, and within a week, a messenger came to Alexander bearing the news of an imminent battle with Perseus.
Mithriditus ever the resourceful man he was, managed to scrape together in the past five to six months not an insignificant amount of force given the dire limitations, and Perseus had set out to meet Menes out in the field with them, for onest shot at saving his kingdom.
As for the reason why he simply did not stay behind the walls of his capital Parthenigh and just turtle, well one only needed to look at what happened to the fortress city of Thesalie to know how well that strategy worked out.
Hence around mid February, Menes''s forward scouts started to deliver scant reports of enemy sightings nearby, and over the week or so, upon multiple sightings, their presence was truly confirmed.
Though the true numbers of the enemy forces yet alluded Menes.
And that was because of the terrain they were currently in.
Wanting to take advantage of his legions'' mobility and put the enemy phngites at a disadvantage, Menes had ordered the army to take a detour along a series of nearby mountain ridges called?The Sissilpond Ridge.
This way he hoped to avoid fighting on the t banks of the Diannu where the enemy would be in his element.
But this also resulted in making his scouting efforts very hard.
The enemy appeared to be scattered enough among the various wooded patches and a thick dense fog hung around there almost till midday every day.
This made it so that although the keen eyed scouting units were indeed able to confirm the identity of the shadow in the fog as being Tibian units, they were unable to get a solid count of their numbers.
This frustrated the general quite, as he repeatedly sent multiple units, even scolding many of his officers,
"What do you mean you do not know how many enemies are there? How am I supposed toe up with a battle n without knowing how many men I''m facing?"
"Is it a scouting force?"
"Or has the enemy''s main forcee up to meet us?"
Facing this fuming general, the officers had little answer, with some mumbling to themselves, ''If you had stuck to the river banks, none of this would have been a problem.
It appeared that Menes''s decision did cause some controversy among the ranks.
Of course, all such dissent was kept to themselves, as a high ranking officer quickly sought to calm Menes down,
"General, although we do not know the enemy''s numbers, they should also not know ours. We have detected a lot more units around our camp, trying to poke and prod. They must be as anxious as such."
The man tried to show that both were on an even ying field.
And this worked, as Menes quietened down and curly nodded.
It seemed both sides would have to wait till the very imminent start of the battle, where they would form together to form proper battle lines to really know the numbers they were facing.
This to Menes stung a bit.
And then to add to this slight hitch, the ridge also came with some other disadvantages- particrly denying Menes the full use of his heavy cavalry.
The uneven ground would make mass cavalry charges too dangerous, as the horses might trip and fall.
But all these inconveniences were trumped by Menes''s experience of fighting on phnxes on even grounds.
He had suffered too much on straight head to head confrontations with that formations to want another fight there.
Besides, although the problems he was facing sounded great on paper, Menes knew it was in a pretty good position.
Being informed by Alexander, he learned that Perseus barely had enough men in the whole country to perhaps gather at best 20,000 men.
Whereas he hadmanded 29,000 men in the field, with a further garrison of 3,000 men along various cities.
As for the loss of cavalry, well being a true Thesian, Menes, unlike Alexander or the rare Grahtos,?wholeheartedly followed the school of thought that- Battles were won by heavy infantry with the calvary being only an auxiliaryponent.
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Chapter 799 Scouting of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-1)
Chapter 799 Scouting of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-1)
The general military doctrine of Thesos was that it was mass infantry upon mass infantry that decided the fate of any battle, while cavalry only yed second fiddle, working to harass the opponent, protect the infantry''s nks, and chase down the fleeing enemy once the fight was over, thus inflicting massive casualties to these out of formation units and then rendering them unable to fight any subsequent battles.
But this line of thought was in much contrast to Alexander''s own doctrine for he really believed in the opposite.
He believed that an infantry''s only job was to pin down the enemy, while the heavy cavalry did all the heavy work, swinging around and charging, preferably at the enemy''s exposed nks, thus destroying them.
Now who was right in this you ask?
Well, it really depended on how you looked at it.
For both men''s mindsets were a product of their time.
For Menes or rather Thesians, their doctrine came due to the geography and political state of Thesos- a patchwork city-states constantly in war with each other.
Due to their small size and generally the rough topography of the ce, training infantry was far more convenient both economically and geographically.
Whereas cavalry, as mentioned earlier took a lot of money, time, and skill to master, as well as needing a robust supplywork to keep them properly supplied, something that did not exist given the rough terrain and the decentralized nature of the ce.
No single city-state was going to spend money out of its own pocket to build roads connecting to points all around Thesos.
At best it would do so with its close allies and major trading hubs.
But perhaps the biggest point against cavalry was that to utilize cavalry properly you needed sheer numbers- there needed to be a lot of them to be effective.
If you were going to bring cavalry to a battlefield just having one or two hundred horses was not going to cut it.
Then they would just be relegated to skirmishing and harassment, which was what horses were typically used as there.
But for horses to have a stand alone effect on the field, you needed to give at least a thousand.
And thisst point was perhaps the biggest stickler for most of the city-states.
They were just too expensive given the limited technology of the time, as simply getting, training, and maintaining such arge number of horses would be enough to bankrupt many of them several times over.
Hence, making do with what they had, the warfare there focused on training their infantry, and over generations of this constant fighting and refinement, Thesos ended up with perhaps the world''s best infantry at the time.
Ones who also learned to counter cavalry by simply pointing very long sticks at them.
And since the rough terrains meant Thesian generals could not simply swing around these fixed bristles of spears, proper tactics for using cavalry never developed there.
Knowing all, and given Tibias was the original starting point of Thesos and that they too followed that school of thought, Menes''s move to the rough terrain of the ridge made very much sense.
Not only the enemy''s greatest strength- his infantry would be neutralized, but also his own disadvantage- the cavalry was not too big a factor given it would not have been much use either way.
But if Alexander was here, he certainly would have chosen the exact opposite.
He would have made his legionary face the enemy head-on and then used the open t banks to freely swing around the enemy''s wing in a deep enveloping maneuver reminiscent of Alexander The Great''s hammer and anvil tactic.
Or simply smashed through in a head-on charge reminiscent of medieval knights.
As to why he was so confident in thattter strategy, and not worry that his horses were going to get skewered by infantry holding long pikes?
Well, it was because as the reports read- Perseus was facing a massive manpower shortage and hence it was reasonable to assume his army would most likely made of scraped-together levies.
These untrained peasants would not hold their ground against a good cavalry charge, just like the European peasants could not.
But Alexander was not here, in charge of the army.
He was back in Thesalie, taking care of the political aspect of the conquest, for there were too many things for him to do there, the most pressing of which was keeping all the gathered nobles in check.
There were many who had been there for months and repeatedly started to ask for Alexander''s permission to go back, citing reasons which were as numerous as they were varied.
''My son is sick.''
''We are running short on funds to stay in this city.''
''Thends need to be looked after.''
''My favorite horse''s is dying.''
And at the end they all promised this- ''We wille back again the moment you call, Lord Pasha.''
But Alexander knew it would not be so easy.
It had taken him five months to get these men together and he was not going to wait another five months for them to reassemble.
So he denied anyone from leaving, but it also inadvertently meant he was denied from leaving the city.
Which was a real shame since Alexander wanted to personally be the one to take Tibias''s capital.
So with his feet tied, Alexander decided to let his general Menes lead this time.
''It will be a good experience for them,'' He even consoled himself, thinking it was time he learned to lead armies on their own.
After all, all great empire setters hadpetent generals under them, with perhaps the most famous being Genshin Khan''s four dogs, which were General Jebe, Kui (different than Kui Khan), Jelme, and Subotai.
And Alexander wanted to emte that for aspetent as he was, he could be only in one ce at a time and conduct only one battle.
Alexander did not want to be like Napoleon who was a one-man show.
Because as talented as the man he was not wless as anyone who studied him wouldment.
Many even posed that if the man hadmanders as skilled as him, he might have won in Waterloo despite the odds stacked against him.
Alexander wanted to be able to able to conduct multiple campaigns simultaneously and for that, he needed great generals.
Thus through being mired by a host of inconveniences, Alexander decided to let Menes farm some experience this time.
As for the consequence of Menes losing, well where there was opportunity, there were bound to be also risks.
But Alexander consoled himself with the thought that even if the man lost in the worst-case scenario, Alexander at least would get to keep Thesalie.
And as long as he had that, the gate to Tibias would always remain open.
It was with that thought that Alexander sent his regards to the man, as the rematch between Perseus and Menes was soon to start.
"General! Our scouts have sent word. The enemy has camped right on the other side of the ridge.
By their estimate, there should be 40,000 men!"
This was the report an officer brought Menes around dusk.
"40,000!" And this was the shocked answer he got.
''ording to Alexander, there should not be more than 20,000!'' Hearing the assumed number Menes muttered so in disbelief while at the same time feeling pleased that he had taken this detour.
An outnumbered phnx formation on the t ins would have been too dangerous.
But still, although momentary shocked and then ted, the number felt a bit too big to Menes.
His long experience kept gwaning at him.
Because from the reports he read, all multiple times said that Perseus had no way to gather more than 20,000 men.
"How did you scouts count the number?" Hence the general turned to curiously ask.
"By counting the number of tents as well as the amount of lit torches there," The officer quickly replied though he was unsure by he was being asked such a simple question.
This was the standard procedure.
You counted the number of tents in one row and then simply multiplied that number by the amount of rows.
And if you could not see those tents on the other side of the camp, like if it was night, well then counted the small light next to it.
Because every tent had two burning braziers by its entrance to provide light for its inhabitants as well as drive away dangerous insects.
Something that had the unintended consequence of being able to be spotted from far, far away by a man, say standing on a nearby hill.
And hearing this, prompted Menes to then pose, "So it is possible the enemy has set up fake tents and lit more torches than needed? To make us think there are more of them."
"Ah!" This possibility caused the officers to let out a small gasp of surprise.
It was not like this had never happened before in history, but he had not simply considered that.
Why would he?
That was not something you would normally consider.
But now that his general pointed it out, the officer was forced to ponder it and then nodding his head, answered, "Yes. It is possible."
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Chapter 800 Scouting of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-2)
Chapter 800 Scouting of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-2)
"The enemy might be trying to intimidate us into seeking a truce or even retreating by showing us this over- inted number."
Regarding Perseus''s presumed strategy, this was what that officer hypothesized.
And this thought was shared by Menes too, whomented with a nod,
"Mmm, it''s not a bad n given their circumstance. If I was in their shoes I might have done the same."
"Too bad he met me." He snickered.
The scout officer hearing Menes''s pleased tone thought the man was simply praising him, but in reality, the tall man was referring to how he knew of Perseus''s true condition.
Those intelligence reports proved vital, being the sole reason he was able to urately guess the tactic.
After all, otherwise, no one going to see a camp supposedly holding 40,000 men ande to the conclusion that half of them were fake.
That was impossible.
Menes even thought that the opposing general''s true mistake here was making his army appear unnaturallyrge- 40,000 was a bit pushing it.
But had it been only 30,000, Menes might have bought it even with the intel leaks, thinking there was simply a discrepancy in the scouting numbers and that the intelligence reports simply underestimated Perseus''s reserves.
Since Menes had found reasons to suspect that Perseus was distinguishing himself like a pufferfish, he decided to it out, ordering,
"Send ten cavalry squadrons and 1,000 infantry and crossbowmen first thing in the morning to keep an eye on the camp. I want to know the true numbers as quickly as possible."
"Dawn? But sir the fog?" At Menes''s instruction, the officer opined such with a bit of shock to his tone, trying to remind his boss that there was no point sending men up the steep ridge at that time since it would be too foggy to see anything.
Although the fog around the higher parts tended to dissipate by early tote morning, that was still two to three hours after dawn.
"Yes dawn!" To the inquiry Menes snapped, not liking being questioned at every little thing, "If the men cannot see anything, then they will stay there till they can."
Menes was impatient to know his enemy''s number as soon as possible, for although it was very reasonable to think Perseus was faking his number, it was still a conjecture.
If the enemy really had somehow managed to get 40,000 men, then Menes would need to reevaluate his tactic.
Perhaps he would even retreat and ask Alexander for reinforcements.
After all the man was keeping around 8,000 men with him in Thesalie in case anyone tried to do something stupid, be it inside the city, or in its vicinity- like an overzealous noble attacking Zanzan.
But until Menes could know the enemy''s number for certain, he would be unable to devise a potent strategy.
"Be grateful I''m not sending your sorry ass right now to go sit up there in the cold. You are dismissed."
So with this Menes made his order absolute and the officer, understanding so,
"Yes sir!" got in attention and giving a salute he exited the tent.
The following morning the ordered force of 1,100-posed of 100 cavalry, 900 infantry, and 100 crossbowmen quickly found themselves scaling the Sissilpond ridge.
They had set off the moment it had be clear enough to see, perhaps around 1 hour after dawn and though the group advanced, it was painfully slow.
''I knew this would happen'' And the reason was plenty obvious as that officer who was named Antonid grumbled, squinting his eye to try and make the very ground in front of him.
The man was personally leading the two battalions worth of men under Menes''s order and the fog was so thick that even his hands sometimes disappeared, his time spent mostly calming his jittering horse down, as the beast really did not like walking basically blind.
"There! Captain there! There is a group of men there." While Antonid was feeling peeved with Menes''s order, as well as the fact he had to get up so early when he would have preferred to have stayed a bit longer, suddenly a bunch of cries emanated from the rows of men before him.
And as the man raised his head to look at what many of the men were pointing to, he did indeed spot severalrge masses of shadow scuttling in the fog right near the top of the hill.
"Attack!" And immediately Antonid screamed such an order.
He did this almost instinctively, like his brain was telling him that since the enemy was there, he must go and kill them.
"Take the hill! Capture the top!" While his adjutant thought it was because his captain wanted to ambush the enemy and catch them unaware.
The enemy already had an advantage in height so it seemed imperative to the man that they attacked immediately to negate that.
And since the order had been given, even though Menes had asked them to only survey the surroundings, the men all energetically charged up.
The infantry led at the front, the crossbowmen followed in tow at the back while the cavalry protected their wings, intending to strike the iron while it was hot.
The men thought, ''Since we have found their enemy, what reason is there to wait? Let''s go and kill them when they have not spotted us. The more we kill now, the less we will have to killter.''
But that general rainbow aura of optimismsted right up until the moment they made contact with the enemy.
"What? How! So many!"
This was the exact thought that shed in every Zanzan man, along with intense regret over with over enthusiasm.
Because although Perseus was in simpatico with Menes over sending scout parties to observe the enemy, he had sent a farrger force.
Antonid could not immediately tell the exact numbers through the fog, but it had to be at least three times his force if not four.
And the reason why Antonid never considered this possibility of biting more than he could chew was because, well- Basically he forgot, simple as that.
When he first saw the shadow, they did not look toorge, and going red eyed by the mere scent of the enemy, he had not considered anything else, bullishly charging up the hill to hit the enemy where it hurt.
Besides, subconsciously he had thought that the enemy would be smaller than them.
After all, that was the feeling he got from talking to Menes yesterday night.
But that moment of hastiness wasing to bite in the ass now, as intense regret washed over him realizing his mistake.
But the man was notpletely incorrigible, as understanding his mistake, he did not try to fix it himself.
Neither did he lose heart and run like a coward.
Instead, understanding he alone could never hope to win the fight, he instantly sent three riders charging down the hill, tasking them to immediately go find Menes and beg him for reinforcements.
While he and his men nned to hold on for dear life.
"Attack! The enemy is disorganized. Attack! Throw your pis. Archers! Shoot!" Antonid''s only saving grace here was the fact the enemy had still not seen them and were rtively spread out.
Meaning Antonid could rush forward and get in between the gaps, thus catching them off guard and nking them.
And this mostly worked, as the nimble legionaries armed with their short swords were able to make quick sharp steps to cover the short distance without breaking their own formation before they began to engage the enemy in very close quarterbat.
So close in fact that it put the huge spear wielding phngites at a disadvantage.
Many caught out of formation found their bulky weapon unwieldy and were ill matched against the fast sword jabs being thrown at them.
Hence Zanzan managed to score quite a few sessful hits in its first round, causing many to perish.
"What?" What is happening?"
"How? How is the enemy here?"
"Quick! Get in line!"
"Run! There are too man... *ugghhh*!"
"Arrows! Sheil¡ *agghh*!"
To say Antonid had caught the enemy with their pants down would not be an understatement.
And the reason for their unpreparedness was surprising because of something that at any other time would have been an advantage.
The Tibians held the high ground which in any other case would have been a good thing.
But this time, the situation became reversed.
Because of the morning fog.
By its very nature, the fog tended to first dissipate from the top and then the bottom, meaning although Antonid could vaguely make out the Tibian''s silhouette as they became clearer, the Tibians could not see through the much denseryer below.
Also the Tibians at the top were looking around for the exact position of Menes''s camp, so their eyes were trained at around the foot of the hill.
Whereas Antonid''s men''s destination was the top.
So in a reversal of the situation of any other time, the lower side spotted the upper side first.
And then they engaged, creating great casualties but more so, greater panic with their stabs, thrusts, arrow volleys and javelin throws.
In hindsight, Antonid''s move to attack appeared to have been the correct one.
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Chapter 801 Scouting of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-3)
Chapter 801 Scouting of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-3)
Antonid''s force of 1,100 surprise attack did manage to be quite sessful, putting quite a few bodies on the ground.
The legionaries were able to maintain their formation even in the rough terrain, while organized rows of crossbowmen from behind shot volleys that softened up their target, as the calvary on the wings, though unable to charge given the short distance and rough ground, were able to use their javelins as well as their higher position on the horses to stab and hack.
All this worked to spread great panic among the Tibians, who in the still slightly foggy weather struggled to trulyprehend the situation.
But unfortunately for Antonid, they did not panic enough.
At least not enough to break rank and run.
For one, Perseus had sent among the best of his men on this scouting mission, for he trusted their intelligence gathering skills the most.
Given the importance of the uing battle, the king prudently decided not to take any chances.
And two, Antonid''s attack reallycked that strong, decisive punch one needed.
The reason being- as they say, Mass has a quality of its own.
Sheer number was able to negate many disadvantages, like here where due to their absolute numerical superiority the Tibians were able to soak all the wounds being inflicted on them without panicking.
Their dead numbered by a significant amount in absolute numbers, but when taken in the context of the whole force, it was rtively minor- perhaps at best a 2% to 3%.
Painful but manageable.
It also did not help that Antonid''s 100 crossbowmen''s firing rate was abysmal, as was the nature of the crossbows, hence that withering storm of arrow fire that many might have envisioned during the surprise attack never materialized.
And without these long ranged attacks, the infantry really could hack and sh its way only through so much.
"Form up! Quick form up!"
"The enemy force is weak. They are trying to scare us."
"There are only a few hundred of them. Attack! Revenge our brothers."
Hence soon the Tibians, especially the ones in the back were granted enough breathing room to rally and as the scattered units quickly began to converge, the pressure on Antonid began to increase.
And with every Tibian who joined the fight, it became that scant bit harder for Antonid.
His only sliver of hope was that since these units were scouts, they were not as heavily armored and equipped as the traditional phngites, in order to not restrict their movement.
But even so, once the Tibianmander managed to get his entire force into a coherent formation, the pressure on Antonid''s men increased almost tenfold.
To him the enemy appeared so many and was pushing back on his army with such numbers that it felt like Antonid being drowned in the depths of the sea, the pitch ck water crushing him.
His legionaries were barely able to defend against the myriad of spear thrusts and jabs that wereing from all directions, and many lines began to buckle and lose ground as casualties mounted.
And the same story unfolded on the wings so there was no hope of the cavalry charging anding to the rescue.
They were pinned down by the Tibian''s own forces and as the two sides stood in lines and exchanged spear stabs and shield bashes, even at a favorable 1 to 1 casualty raion, Antonid''s cavalry due to its lower total numbers son found the losses unstainable.
It got to the point that Antonid even ordered this, "Archers! Bring yourself closer. Thicken the lines."
This referred to the fact that usually, the crossbowmen would stand a bit further back from the infantry lines.
And this was because of the nature of movement during a battle.
Any infantry formation at any point duringbat was always moving, be it backward or forward, and this happened organically.
If the enemy pressed on the attack, rather than simply stand one''s ground and take, it was far more prudent to simply back up and let the enemy tire itselfing to you.
And when the men eventually tired themselves out, an intense counterattack could have beenunched to take the ground.
All this meant that individual infantry units tended to constantly move a lot during a fight.
Hence ''front lines'' were never really a literal straight line as represented in all drawings and military doctrines.
But rather a band oryer within soldiers fought.
And all this went on to say that the constant undtion of position was quite irritating for a crossbowman standing right behind the infantry since he would also have to match their rhyme, to keep up.
All while trying toplete his long, tedious reloading procedure.
Thus the method Alexander''s army came up with to mitigate this problem was to ce these units around 30 m to 40 meters back, thus giving them ample space to reload their bows in peace, as well as the opportunity to look freely and aim their bows correctly.
And though 30 meters to 40 meters might sound like a lot, it really was not as individual infantry units could move literally as far as one kilometer during this back and forth pace dance very naturally.
But now, facing a real fear of the disintegration of his lines, Antonid moved these men to bolster the ranks of the infantry, thickening the lines and giving his men the feeling that they had much more backup.
And then Antonid evenmanded his crossbowmen so,
"Shoot! Shoot towards where you think the enemy is."
Yes, the man was so desperate that he was asking his archers to fire even when they were so close in melee.
Antonid knew that his own men would surely take friendly fire if he did this, but at this point, the man was that desperate.
So when his second inmandined, Antonid shouted, "There are more Tibians than us. They will take more bolts than we do."
Yes, such was the desperation.
And thenstly to bolster his men''s faltering morale, Antonid rode up and down his very thin lines, shouting and encouraging them with shouts as such,
"Do not falter¡. you have taken their greatest city. This is nothing."
"Fight! Push them back! These peasants are no match for you."
"Men! Do not fear! Reinforcements are on the way. I can see them gathering by the foot of the hill. Just hold a few moments longer."
Thisst one was said in spite of Antonid seeing no such thing.
How could he, the fog was too deep.
But his morale raising speech did work to inspire the men, as they held on believing help was just around the corner.
Though even then, there were several asions where the situation looked about to turn apocalyptic and was only stopped by Antonid''s personal interference at the critical moment, as he quickly sent small groups of reinforcement from other parts of the lines to plug those temporary holes.
Antonid was a very skilled mid level officer, quite renowned among the man, which was also why he earned the right to report to directly to the highest man in the army- Menes.
And here he was showcasing them in the grandest way possible.
But still, no matter how skilled he might be, even geniuses had their limits.
And if Antonid did not get help soon, his men were going to eventually call his bluff about the reinforcements and break.
The three scouts that Antonid had sent downhill were able to make the short journey on their trotting horse rtively quickly.
And as they burst through the gates, one of them immediately started shouting at the top of their lungs to let everyone know of the fighting at the top ridge, urging them to quickly prepare to join them.
While the other two galloped full speed on their horse right towards Menes''s camp, hoping to get an audience.
The ck general, like many others in the camp, had just gotten up, and dressed in a light tunic when the two scouts found him the man, he was brushing his teeth outside his tent, a twig in his mouth, his mouth ckened with the ash he was using to clean himself.
There was no toothpaste after all.
The sudden appearance of these two garbed in full armor men naturally drew Menes''s instant attention, but without letting him even get a single word in, the two scouts jumped off their horse and immediately began to regurgitate Antonid''s predicament in as sinct a manner as possible without leaving any important details out.
And finished by saying, "General! Antonid needs help. There is an entire legion of the enemy on that ridge."
"They will break any second!"
At this information, Menes was naturally shocked, as he never thought a single scouting mission would involve fighting 5,000 men.
He even first cursed,
''Dammit! Why didn''t you retreat and ask for reinforcement yourself when you were facing five times your number, Antonid? What are you doing fighting so many men all alone?''
But this was not the time to go over Antonid''s decision.
Knowing each second was worth in gold, he quickly sent a contingent of 1,000 men up the ridge with the orders to climb it up as quickly as they could without tripping themselves over.
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Chapter 802 Surprise in Perseus’s Camp
Chapter 802 Surprise in Perseus''s Camp
In their summarized version, the scouts had omitted much detail about the fog and the initial shadows they encountered, deeming them secondary.
Instead, they had focused on the enemy numbers, where they were, and the threat they posed to the 1,100 men.
And this was indeed the right choice, as Menes obviously did not grill these two over Antonid''s, in his mind ''foolish'' decision, but immediately set out to organize a rescue force.
The men fighting up there were of very high quality, for in a very simr thought process to Perseus, Menes too had sent expert men to survey the enemy.
After all, what would be the point of sending some raised levies on this specialized mission?
Thus Antonid was chosen for the mission.
He was one of old man Menicus''s most trusted officers during his time having led many scouting units prior.
And the people under him were mostly from the various original mercenary groups Alexander had started his army with.
So leaving them to die there was of course impossible, even if they were also 1,000 and Menes still had another 28,000.
Thus immediately after getting the report, Menes instantly threw his twig to the ground, rinsed his mouth of the ash, and within half an hour 1,000 men were charging up the hill.
But why only 1,000 when Antonid clearly asked for 4,000 to 5,000?
Well it was because Menes had learned from his mistake.
After that chastening he had gotten from Cambyses during the siege of the manor when he had waited by the foot of the hill to gather arge enough force beforeunching a rescue, resulting on the manor burning down and Cambyses almost dying, Menes promised himself that he was not going to do the same mistake twice.
So as an emergency relief force, he sent those 1,000 ahead,posed of entirely of his own bodyguards as well some of the very best mercenaries that Alexander had hired, hoping the quality of the men would make up for the numerical deficiency while the rest caught up.
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*
And as these thousand men joined the fry with ring trumpets, Antonid finally felt life return to his heart.
The sound of those noisy, ear screeching instruments had never sounded so melodious to the man.
The subsequent addition of these men doubled Antonid''s forces and the lines immediately stabilized, as fresh breath was introduced into the Zanzan legionaries.
After being under the merciless onught of the enemy for so long, the original men were exhausted, and they started to retreat to the back lines, taking their much needed rest.
While the fresh and experienced men started to prepare for a counterattack, wishing to take advantage of their still high stamina to push and retake lost ground.
And sensing the equation change for the worse, themander of the Tibian force quickly did what Antonid had done.
Send word for help.
"What! mino is up there fighting? Why?" And when that scout eventually brought that information to Perseus, this was his response, shock and surprise.
"This is indeed worrying!" And overhearing the report, the man sitting opposite of him, who was sitting with a te of bread and cheese furrowed his brows andmented so.
If Alexander had been there, he would have been shocked to see who this was.
He would have recognized that bald head anywhere- Manuk!
And what was the former archpriest of the Grand Temple and Amenheraft''s right hand man doing in Tibias, right in this battlefield you ask?
Well, it was simple really.
Once the man had learned of Alexander''s triumph at Thesalie, he wasted no time taking steps to try and halt the man''s progress.
And one of the ways he tried to was toe to Perseus with a formal offer of alliance.
And since there was much bad blood between this country and the man he served, Manuk felt that if he wanted the offer to seed, he had toe in person to show his sincerity.
So he came, despite the fact it was quite hard for him to make the journey.
Much time was needed for news of Alexander''s victory to diffuse, even after Alexander''s own intention to spread the message of his aplishments.
And then Manuk had to spend arge amount of time verifying this, sending messenger birds and riders to bring firsthand ounts.
And once it was truly confirmed, other than consoling and cating the jittering nobles in the faction, which itself took a lot of effort, Manuk had to make a few other arrangements on how to counter Alexander too.
After all, he was not going to put all his money into Perseus.
It was only after putting all those ns into motion that the bald priest left Ankoot, with a very short time on his hand to meet Perseus on time.
He first used arge sailing boat to travel down the mighty Naher river south towards Kuleef, and then took a ship from the port city of Ormus.
But by then winter had alreadye.
And even though the Kyoskin Sea, situated directly south of Zanzan, was much less treacherous than the Mad Sea situated southwest of Zanza, which was why the Mad Sea was called that because its waves were considered mad by sailors, but still, it was a perilous journey.
The cold winter winds blown south from Zanzan and Ankoot, shed with the warm, hot sandy dust cloud blown north from The Arubin Penins, creating lots of strong water currents that flowed in unpredictable directions, as well as creating typhoons and hurricanes right in the middle of the sea, which resulted in the creating of huge water sprouts that the sailors mistook and even worshiped as giant sea serpents.
And because these water sprouts were a regr phenomenon, sailors called the sea Kyoskin, named after a local legend about a silver snake that could take various forms- be it ordinary household species to huge, world devouring beasts to even humans, appearing mostly as a burly, fishman.
But sea serpents or simply water sprouts, these were still dangerous phenomena to have a rickety, wooden ship around, thus, Manuk had to be kept close to the coast as he traveled west, passing Zanzan and finallynding on Tibias.
Also as a side note, as he was passing by Zanzan, his ship did port in Zanzan city itself, to rest and restock.
And the man even stayed at the city for three days, residing in an inconspicuous inn with two of his bodyguards, while taking the chance to tour.
And to say that he was surprised by the city''s transformation would be an understatement.
Manuk had been to Zanzan during Pasha Muazz''s rule before.
And had even stayed in that city during much of the drought when Amenheraft had conducted his invasion on Tibias.
But if he were to be told that and this city was the same one as back then, he would have called you delusional.
And if you told him this change had urred in just three years, he would have beaten you to death because he would think you have been possessed by the devil.
Be it the wide roads, the still but being built aqueducts, the rows of concrete buildings, or the new port all left a deep impression on the man, as did the ces he could not fully enter like the brick factory, the coal briquette nt, cement firm, and others.
Manuk was not an easy man to please but when he saw the crazy, bustling market of Zanzan he was shocked, impressed, and perhaps most importantly rmed!
There were many in Amenheraft''s court who saw Alexander as a secondary threat, one inferior to Pasha Farzah, including Amenheraft, but Manuk was the exception.
And the man''s skill in being able to turn a dump like Zanzan into this paid testament to Manuk''s fears.
Seeing Zanzan made the archpriest even more determined to form an alliance with Perseus at any cost.
Manuk met the king just days before he was about to set off, offering his proposal of an alliance and showering him with gifts in gold, silver, and ves as well as the most significant of all -8,000 fresh men!
He even gaveplete control of them to Perseus, so that he didn''t misunderstand them as a Trojan horse, smiling and saying, "Your Highness, please see it as a small token of our sincerity."
The significance of this timely ''coal in winter'' was not lost on Perseus and although his heart wanted to reject shaking hands with the devils that had ravaged hisnds, his head could not.
The numbers were too significant.
But one ce where Manuk did disagree with Perseus was in his intention to face Menes head on, urging him instead to stay in the city and wait for the bulk of his ''gift''.
He had revealed, "Your Highness, please, wait for two.. no ¡ one more month. And Matbar (Marquis) Kyaum can send you another twelve thousand (12,000) men."
And this was the same advice he gave now, "Your Highness, order Command mino to retreat! We must not fight the enemy here where he was all the advantage. Let us wait and gather our forces"
And Perseus was forced to ponder.
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Chapter 803 Perseus’s Decision
Chapter 803 Perseus''s Decision
When Manuk first came to Perseus''s court, obviously he was seen with great distrust, given their understandable bitter history.
And Perseus was even momentarily rmed when there came reports of Adhanian troopsnding on another part of Tibias, as he thought the worst- a two pronged attack.
It was only after Manuk rified the situation and even handled control of the men to Perseus without any condition did the king lower his hostility.
These eight thousand, 8,000 men were arranged under Manuk''s order by Matbar (Marquiss) Kyaum of Zanzan, whose territoryy west of Zanzan.
And these were only the vanguard force he sent as quickly as he could.
A further twelve thousand, 12,000 were scheduled to join once the ships carrying these men returned.
So it was only natural for Manuk to urge Perseus to wait for the total force.
But for Perseus, it was not that straightforward of an equation.
There was still the inherent distrust he had of Manuk and because Menes was too close, he could not simply sit and wait hoping the rest troops woulde in time.
So he came out to meet the enemy in the open.
Besides, Perseus was very confident he would be able to win a fight.
Never mind if it was on the open fields, that would be a sure dunk, but even in rough terrain like this, was confident in his victory.
And this belief was cultivated based on the fact that he most likely outnumbered his enemy!
This was because although Perseus himself managed to get only eighteen thousand 18,000 infantry, he had been able to obtain the help of two additional allies aside from Manuk.
One from was Thesos.
With Tibias seen as the birthce of the city states, many had sent their aid, culminating in about 10,000 Thesian mercenaries- made of elite archers and fantastic, heavy, phngites.
And the other came from the Kaiser family of Sybarsis, who sent around 3,000 mercenaries, along with twelve new war elephants.
These alone would have been enough to match Menes, and with Manuk''s unexpected addition, Perseus''s total strength soared up to thirty nine thousand 39,000 men,posed of:
Thirty two thousand, 32,000 light and heavy infantry
Five thousand, 5,000- archers,
Two thousand, 2,000- cavalry- primarily being gifted by Manuk, and
Twelve, 12- war elephants.
Hence Menes''s scouts were actually correct in their reporting, the enemy did number around forty thousand, 40,000.
And if Menes had faced them head on an open field with his twenty nine thousand, 29,000, made of-
Twenty four thousand, 24,000 infantry,
Two and a half thousand, 2,500 crossbowmen and
Two and a half thousand, 2,500 cavalry,
A loss would have been almost certainly guaranteed.
So although he did not know, it had been prudent of the general to avoid fighting the enemy in favorable grounds and take this rough road.
"What? Leave Commander mino to die? You Adhanian ¡"
At Manuk''s suggestion for the fighting group to disengage and retreat, the scout hearing so sounded this in rm, unable to hold his curse.
''There were 4,000 men up there, how can he say that?'' The man was appalled, knowing that doing such a thing would undoubtedly cause a lot of those men to die during the subsequent chase.
So the scout only saw this advice as Manuk trying to sabotage their group.
The inherent distrust Tibians had of Adhaninas was very well ingrained.
And Perseus of course sided with his men here, quickly nodding his head with solidarily and very sinctly saying, "Abandoning mino is impossible. Go! Tell him that I will be sooning up with my army."
This curt, short response naturally delighted the scout, as the rapid oder showed his king''s firm support on the matter.
So with an energetic bow, he hurried back to the hill, his body filled with zeal at being able to carry this good news.
While once again alone, Manuk tried one more time to advise Perseus,
"Your Majesty, I beg of you to reconsider. I have fought against these men before and they were very adept in fighting in rough grounds. You should deny them a fight here."
"Instead, bait them into fighting on t ground, like along the banks of the river Diannu. Or temporarily retreat south and wait for more of my men."
The archpriest sounded very sincere, even a bit pious.
And from a military point of view, he made very good sense.
"I cannot leave four thousand, 4,000 men to die." But this was Perseus''s sharp retort, his tone firm and irrefutable.
And in many ways, it was the correct decision to make.
One, because all four thousand, 4,000 of those men in that scouting party were from Perseus''s core group of the army, the regr, well trained troops, a distinction which by now had shrunken to a mere handful of thousands courtesy of Alexander brutally cutting so many of them down in the past battles.
So if Perseus were to let thesest vestiges of his army die too, he would really be a king in name only.
Furthermore, Perseus was not that kind of militarymander.
He greatly cared for his men and in return was able to wield great respect from them.
Simply abandoning such a huge force would not only tarnish his reputation, but it would also greatly affect the morale of the rest of the army.
This was one reason.
The second reason was because when Manuk suggested they retreat south, he meant all the way to the tip of the Tibian penins, to the city of Lilybee, Tibias''s third or fourth biggest city depending on if you counted the city of Thesalie to be still Tibian.
It had arge poption, rich fields, and a huge, natural port.
Thatst part was perhaps the most important because of all the three reinforcements Perseus had gotten, he got them from across the sea.
Meaning if he were to garrison his army in a city with a port, helping him would be a lot easier for the other powers.
But again, though Manuk''s suggestion on paper was very good, it failed to take into ount the human and political element.
Which was that to do so, Perseus would have to leave his capital undefended, potentially dooming it to be sacked.
And though Parthenigh to the Tibians was not as valuable as the Holy City of Adhan to the Adhanians, it still held enormous value.
It was the country''s capital after all.
There were lots of riches be it gold or luxurious materials, ves to be taken from the one hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand (100,000 - 150,000) people there, andstly, the most important of all, in the city, along the banks of Diannu resided The Ancestral Shrine, the biggest and oldest shrine in all of Tibias, one which housed the original statues of Tibias''s ancestor- The bull and the twins, along with many lesser heroes.
Perseus feared that if the capital was to fall, the enemy might damage or even demolish many of these precious artifacts.
And if that were to happen, Perseus feared hispetency and legitimacy over the throne could be openly questioned, as rivals would im he had lost the protection of the elders.
Hence neither the abandonment of the forces on the ridge nor the retreat to Lilybee as presented by Manuk was applicable to Perseus politically, even though they were sound militarily.
Perseus then exined this situation to Manuk, but the archpriest simply replied, "Your Majesty, you need to be alive to consider these things."
"If you wait a bit, you can crush the thirty thousand 30,000 with fifty thousand 50,000 men, cutting them down to thest."
"His losses will be so devastating that Alexander won''t be able to threaten you for another twenty years!" Manuk exaggerated, though he was right in the core concept.
But Perseus, ever the tactician but never the strategist was unable to see past this.
Instead of cutting of flesh to save his bones, he wanted to protect everything.
And the reason for this newfound confidence was expressed in the following speech
"Do not worry. We outnumber the enemy by 10,000! Even if the terrain is not suitable, we can simply crush them by sheer numbers."
And it was indeed true, in wars, usually the bigger side won, as he then went to show a bit of w with Manuk''s rhetoric,
"Besides, if we retreat now, the enemy might get reinforcements."
"I''m told Alexander had ten thousand, 10,000 men in Thesalie. And then there also small numbers of garrisoned troops all over the surrounding city."
"They were to all join¡.. You can see how by the time we get your ten thousand, 10,000 the enemy might also get their ten thousand, 10,000."
"And then we will be in a worse position." Perseus cleverly pointed.
And that he meant by thest line that was that the percentage advantage between 40,000 vs 30,000 was greater than 50,000 vs 40,000.
"...." And Perseus''s unequivocal insistence, Manuk atst was worn down enough as he could find no other effective retort to try and convince the man.
So he weakly nodded.
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Chapter 804 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-1)
Chapter 804 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-1)
Chapter 804
In Manuk''s mind, Perseus''s rhetoric that 40,000 vs 30,000 was a better deal than 50,000 vs 40,000 did not hold water in the current circumstances.
Because the terrain negated all that advantage.
In fact, Manuk would have argued that even with a 10,000 men advantage, they were in the backfoot due to the terrain.
But Manuk did not push these talks any further, for he knew his limits
He was ultimately a foreign dignitary and even his current privilege of being able to apany the king to war was purely based on the fact that he had contributed so heavily to his army.
And even then Manuk had no control of the 8,000. something he had to give the entirety to Perseus to secure his trust.
And he could only hope all the various legends regarding the king''s military leadership were right.
"I believe His Majesty is right." And as the bald, bearded man was feeling quite down with himself, another gruff voice sounded from behind them, hammering thest nail into Manuk''s coffin.
And if Alexander were to see the man, he would have certainly recognized this man too.
He was the only mercenary leader who had not epted Alexander''s offer of staying in Adhania and serving him but had chosen instead to leave and fight for Cantagena.
And riding high on his sessful venture to Adhania, he was able to show greater aplishments in numerous subsequent battles for Cantagena, due to which he was even granted full citizenship of the city state, a very big thing at the time.
And in a simr vein to his sessful in his civilian life, his professional life too took a turn for the better, as his mercenary group, through its fame able to swell to an incredible five thousand, 5,000, with him being on track on to being the prime candidate who would rece Damious- the ten thousand, 10,000 men mercenary leader Alexander and Cambyses had assassinated.
So when this big shot threw his weight behind the king, Manuk was truly defeated, while the former further reasoned,
"I was there when Alexander created the legionary formation." Petricuno referred to how he had participated in that battle against Amenheraft, which Manuk had led, recalling,
"Its great advantage is being able to keep coherence between units in rough, hilly areas, whereas our bulky phnx formations tend to be scattered and lose its effectiveness over there"
"But as long as we thicken our lines enough, even if we scattered, there will be no gaps."
"We have the numbers to be able to do so."
"And then our huge sarissas will destroy the short sworded legionaries with ease!"
Petricuno sounded very confident.
And yes, Petricuno did use the word exact word- ''sarissa'', which was a much longer spear.
Because it seemed back in Thesos, a military revolution had urred.
It had happened around the time Alexander took Adhania, i.e.- there years ago, when one of Cantagena''s allies led by a famous general managed to actually draw against one of Exs''s allies, even when they were equally numbered.
This itself might not sound like anything impressive, but the biggest point to note here was that the opposing ally was supported by a few thousand Exolites.
And since most battles in Thesos were still held in open, predetermined locations, it almost became a written rule that the one with the bigger number and better trained troops won.
And no one had better trained troops than Exs.
So in all previous battles bar none, Cantagena was forced to rely on numbers to defeat Exs.
Until that battle that is, when that general, after equipping his soldiers with the huge sarissas, 4 to 5 meters in length, denied the Exolites the close quarter fight they so sorely desired, hence forcing the aggressors back.
This great news of victory had spread like wildfire in Thesos and in the past three years, all nearby powers knowing the age of the sarissa was here had worked to upgrade themselves to that new weapon.
And Petricuno was eager to try this out against Alexander''s famed legionaries.
"Mmmm, my thoughts exactly. " Finding support among his key ally, Perseus quickly sought to reinforce it, adding, "We always nned to charge down the hill and hit the Zanzan camp after our scouting was down"
"Now that they havee out, it will be easier."
"We will just take the top and then use the momentum downhill to bore through these soldiers equipped with only a tiny sword with our huge spears and sarissas."
"It will be easy!"
Like Petricuno, Perseus sounded infectiously optimistic.
And then knowing time was of the essence, quickly turned to Petricuno to order,
"I will take my remaining 14,000 and the 2,000 cavalry that Esteem Envoy Manuk has brought up the hills to the right right now."
"Petricuno, you take the rest of his 6,000 infantry, and the 2,000 mercenaries the Kaiser family has sent and thenbine them with your own 10,000. These 18,000 men are the most experienced fighters here."
"The n is that I will go first ahead and pin the enemy down. You wait a bit and once you see the enemy has fullymitted his force and is locked in melee,e up from the left and swing right to hit them in the nks."
"This will surely shatter them."
Perseus had managed to form a battle n right there,
"Great idea! The hill and this fog will easily be able to hide me. They won''t even know what hit them." And Petricuno approved, chuckling, "Hahaha, I heard Alexander caught Captain mino by surprise using the fog. Time to return the favor."
It seemed Petricuno, or anyone else in the Tibian camp was aware that the Zanzanmander was not Alexander.
While Perseus, seeing Petricuno''s enthusiasm in facing Alexander felt a bit surprised, as he asked,
"I heard you two know each other. Do you feel hesitant about fighting him?"
After all, Perseus knew Alexander was a great general, and it was natural formanders to revere such people.
Perseus himself was one.
But to this Petricuno first pulled a face like he was offended by the very question, and then remembering who was asking, quickly reformed himself and replied this in a very patriotic tone,
"Alexander is a disgrace to all Thesians."
"He gave the jewel of the East- the city Adhan that should have belonged to us back to Adhania."
"He licked the boots of their king to be their Pasha."
"And now he even wants to destroy the ancestral ce of all Thesians."
"He is no ally, he is our most hated enemy."
"I have no qualms about fighting him."
"In fact, the mere thought makes my blood boil with bloodlust."
"I would love nothing more than to have his head on a spike if I could."
Petricuno presented himself as being unable to wait a second longer to go chop off Alexander, something which Perseus was very pleased to see.
Though in reality, Petricuno''s hatred for Alexander was much simpler.
It was the green eyed monster- Jealously.
Petricuno was jealous of what Alexander had aplished.
So he wanted to destroy that.
Thus turning to Perseus, Petricuno advised,
"Your Majesty, you should also take the 2,000 Pelomos pletist I brought. They are great at holding the enemy down and preventing him from moving. I''m sure they will be very useful."
Stone throwing peltists were extremely effective offensive units being perfect missile throwers and a unit of them could devastate the enemy.
"Good!" And Perseus immediately agreed as he got to preparing his forces.
While archpriest Manuk seeing all this only pursed his lips and was then left assigned a token force of 1,000- officially to act as a reserve, but really to suck his thumb and guard the camp.
Given the bad blood between the two sides, it would have been weird for Perseus to trust Manuk with any significant force.
As Perseus got ready to battle, back in Menes''s camp, the tall now armored general too was preparing himself, and once ready, he asked this of Melodias,
"I will go up the hill with 20,000 on the left (Right from Perseus''s perspective as the men were standing opposite of each other)."
"You wait here with the rest of the 9,000."
"This fog is too deep to see anything. Who knows that''s the actual situation is up there."
"Wait till it clears up and then make a judgment on what to do on your own."
"Or until you get my signal to advance."
Menes prudently decided not tomit the entire army without seeing the full picture for himself and gave Melodias arge degree of freedom to act depending as the situation developed.
And then soon once both sides were charging up their side of the ridge, turning what was supposed to be a scouting trip into a full fledged battle.
What was even more amazing was that given the slope and fog, neither side knew of the other''s advance, so as each of them emerged out of the fog and came into view of the horizon, they presented the other with a great surprise.
''They are here!'' Both Perseus and Menes shouted in their minds.
The battle of Sissilpond Ridge had begun.
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Chapter 805 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-2)
Chapter 805 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-2)
Menes had managed to reach the top of the ridge first, aided by his unique unit formation, and was able to bear onto the Tibian scoutmander with the full might of his twenty thousand 20,000 men, almost instantly crushing him.
But just before mino started to despair, aid from Perseus arrived at just the nick of time, in the form of two thousand, 2.000 forward cavalry units.
He had sent them galloping ahead to help mino in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
And then following this, a few whileter, before Menes could destroy those 6,000 men, the bulk of Perseus''s phngites crashed into the legionaries, devolving the battle into a slogging match.
The match staring 22,000 spear wielding Tibians vs 20,000 sharp ded Zanzanians had begun.
And the initial charge of the phngites as they made contact was quite damaging to the legionnaires, since the slope and the rapid with which the Tibians were able to make contact made it so that the legionnaires were unable to find the breathing room needed to throw their pis and blurt that impact force.
Thus the deadly phnx formation was allowed to hit them with the full might of their spears and huge shields, creatingrge casualties.
And once the enemy was pinned as Perseus hoped, a brutal melee began, as both sides vowed not to lose a single inch of ground.
The legionaries knew the further they retreated, the more the enemy would be able to use the ridge''s sloping curve to their advantage, as that higher elevation would give them greater angles of attack, making defending against such attacks ever more perilous.
"Don''t give them an inch. You have fought these men before. And you have beaten them before. Fight! Fight more each grain of ground."
And knowing this, Menes rode up and down the lines, encouraging the men as such and ordering the officers to force their soldiers to stay and fight, to trade bodies for ground.
All this caused the battle to be very bloody.
The Tibian phngites used the razor sharp tips of their spears to try and pierce through the bronze thoraxes, steel chainmail, and linen gambeson garbed by the legionnaires, with most of these being simply deflected away by the thick wooden shields, with some even getting stuck between the manyyered wooden weapon.
As for those that did manage to get in, the tripleyered armor did provide its wears quite significant protection, many times turning what would have been a deadly stab to a painful but ultimately harmless thrust or perhaps a small cut, or even just a tiny blood clot.
But of course no armor was invincible.
Some spear attacks did manage to slip past, such as by hitting critical weak points on the armor, or even simply bulldozing through all the defenses using sheer force, such as when wielded by an especially strong man.
When that happened, it would manage to produce deadly puncture wounds which many times would make the man fall to the ground groaning with pain, incapacitating him.
Or worse killing him on the spot if the hit was vital enough, like piercing the heart or skewering the throat.
Though such instances were rare given a spear was more of a poking weapon than a deadly killing one.
And in response to this attack, Menes''s men used theirrge rectangr shields to skillfully swipe away or simply duck beneath the wall of bristling spears to get close enough so that those pointy sticks would lose their effectiveness.
Then they could use their sharp short swords, perfect for engaging the enemy at distances where they could almost hug each other, to deftly swing around and cleave through the mostly leather and linen armor they encountered like butter, the low grade armor a clear evidence of Perseus''s financial difficulties.
And it was perhaps only this weak armor that let the legionaries stay in the fight, enabling them to eke out a favorable casualty ratio.
Because when the Zanzan infantry tried to close the distance with the phngites, as expected, it was easier said than done.
The very nature of this move made it quite dangerous and there always was the risk that in attempting to brush off the spear in front of him, the man would get a spear stab from the sides.
Or simply have his attack blocked by the phngites''s own huge shield, and then be counterattacked with the enemy''s shield bash or even a spear stab.
Thetter would be deadly as he might fall then and there, but even the former was very dangerous, as it would not only send him back but also possibly disorientate him, thus lowering his defenses and making him vulnerable to an attack from either side.
Something that happened quite often as the static nature of the battle meant that the phngites were able to nt their feet firmly on the ground and calmly deal with various such infiltration attempts.
And with the legionaries having their movement restricted due to the terrain and order from their officers, they found their most prized advantage taken away.
Thus that natural undtion that urred during a battle was forcefully stopped and the legionaries found themselves having to take the far heavier hits of the phnx formations head on.
Hence as the battle raged, many casualties with bothrge and small wounds began to appear on Menes''s side, and the numbers were definitely higher on his side than the other.
Although the lines still held, micro cracks were indeed starting to form, and once a time woulde when they would eventually snap.
Melodias was needed, though not right, but eventually.
But reinforcements were also needed in the back, as in a simr color to the infantry, the crossbowmen at the back were not doing much better either.
They had been made to face a withering hail of stone throws from their counterpart missile units, the much better trained and expert Peltasts.
And even in the short exchange, these men had undoubtedly proved to be the superior force.
They were much well trained and much more experienced than Alexander''s levies, and the lead balls they threw were scarily urate and even more frightfully deadly.
Just a single good solid hit could shatter teeth, blind eyes, break bone, and even directly knock someone unconscious.
In the worst case, it could even directly cause death.
Facing these extremely powerful and fast expert units, Alexander''s levied crossbowmen found themselves utterly outssed and were barely able to lift their heads out of theirrge pavises, taking one or two odd potshots here and there, from behind the cover.
And it was here these levies truly came to appreciate the fact that they didn''t need to shoot a crossbow like a traditional one.
Because if that had been the case, if they needed to get out of their cover, draw the string, take aim, and then shoot, well then things would have been a lot different indeed.
The casualties for such an exposed unit against such urate arrow fire would have been astronomical and it was even very possible that Menes''s 2,500 crossbowmen might have already shattered and routed.
The inherent steady aim of the crossbow, therge pavises, and the fact the crossbowmen outnumbered the peltasts all helped to keep that fight in the bnce, at least for now.
Andstly, in regards to the cavalry, well it was a stalemate here too.
First of all, given the rough ground they were in, many cavalrymen had actually gotten off their horses and decided to fight as light infantry, skirmishing in small units with their small shields and light spears.
Their opponents- usually simr units from Menes''s heavy cavalry who found theirrgences bulky and unwieldy, and the terrain not suitable for huge, thundering charges.
Menes of course knew this of disadvantage but had chosen the terrain due to other greater advantages as discussed earlier.
So like the enemy, the Zanzan horsemen too left their steads behind and joined in the melee, exchanging spear and sword strikes with the lightly armored Tibians, or maybe more specifically Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam''s cavalry.
And surprisingly it was thetter who came on top.
The sloping terrain allowed the nimble Tibians to dash around the field and get quick, cheeky stikes in, many of which managed to draw blood, dying their silver des red, while the much heavier and bulkier Zanzanians were forced to bunch together and use their heavy armor to try and endure.
They at first tried to bring the fight to the opponent, but quickly found that trying to chase or catch these nimble opponents was an exercise in futility and something that only worked to tire them out, thus making them vulnerable to openings these Tibians could exploit.
And then there was thest type of unit- the cavalrymen that were still on horseback.
Although the ridge was still rough, there were of course some t ins as well and in those limited spaces, the two sides most expert cavalrymen were found duking it out.
And it was perhaps only here that Menes''s men found some sess, as their heavy armor helped destroy the much lighter units, while the scouts, now turned skirmishers were able to use their ''instant bows'' to continuously harass the enemy like any other expert horse archers.
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Chapter 806 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-3)
Chapter 806 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-3)
The cavalrymen on horses on both sides could be seen menacingly circling each other, as they threw javelins, pi and spear and sword stabs, as they tried to open an opportunity to charge once given the slightest chance.
The far more agile Matbar (Marquiss) forces would try and conduct hit and run tactics on their much heavier armored foe, while Menes''s men tried to bait them toe closer so that even their slower attacksnded.
Now normally, in such a case the lighter skirmishing force would win as it would be able to eventually whittle down the enemy slowly but surely, and kill it with a thousand cuts.
But this was not a normal battlefield.
Here the t terrain was limited and if any unit left it, they would find themselves in a severe disadvantage, even risking losing their horse on the rough slopes.
So in this confined game of cat and mouse, the heavier Zanzan cavalrymen were not out of the fight yet, being asionally able to hit one or two hits of their own.
But much more than that, they usually relied on the scouting cavalry that were mixed with them, armed with, to what the Matbar''s (Maruqiss) appeared as strange crossbows.
This was of course the instant bow and Alexander usually equipped only his scouting units with these, giving his men a sudden burst of enormous damage.
This came as a very nasty surprise to any unsuspecting and even suspecting enemies.
Employed defensively, it could give the scouts a good weapon to dig themselves out of a pickle, like when facing an outnumbering enemy force chasing them.
A rapid release of the five shots could puncture a hole in most encirclements efforts, and leave the enemy in the dusts even before he could wake up to what the hell happened.
While offensively, it was quite a useful trick to have when you can dirt in and out of somewhere very quickly, sowing chaos through these hit and run tactics.
A scouting unit equipped with this was able to double as a skirmisher, with the ability to not only harass the enemy but use the suddenness of the attack to leave the him stunned and immobilized.
*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*
The five rapid shots not only were unexpected, but they were also loud enough to surprise the enemy, while the strange shape of the weapons left most seeing it for the first time shocked at the weird gadget.
And then die before being able to fullyprehend what had happened as they would find with one or two bolts sticking into them.
These scouts usually had twenty to forty percent uracy.
Alexander even thought of using them as deadly assassins with the situation presented itself.
And now, when mixed with heavy cavalry like now,?they unexpectedly became a potent mix of fighting units.
When the Matbar''s (Marquiss) forces were too far away for the heavy cavalry to charge, these instant bow wielding scouts would be able to harass them with their superior range.
But if they were threatened with the enemying at them to engage, well they could quickly retreat behind their much tank-ierrades and wait, or perhaps say dare the enemy toe and get them.
Because thences the heavy cavalry members carried were no joke, those lightly armored men would be figuratively cleaved in two, man and horse.
The forces Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam had sent were the best he had, and they would be able to match the standard of any well trained cavalry unit not in just Adhania, but in the whole world.
But even they when faced with this new and unorthodox technique they were stumped.
This current situation went against all their preconceived perceptions.
Because it was well understood not to mix heavy and light cavalry.
Because they did very different jobs.
One was quick and nimble, meant to tire the enemy by repeated stabs and jabs, while the other was heavy and bulky, meant to stand its ground and fight.
Mixing these two sounded like they would only get in each other''s way.
And even Alexander was of that school of thought.
So he never mixed the two.
But now, here, under a very specific circumstance, these two seemingly contrasting units very organically fused together to form this perfect symbiosis of a phenomenon.
It was magical and while Menes rejoiced, many of the Matbar''s (Marquiss) men cursed.
And hearing these words, many of the Zanzan cavalrymen had some thoughts.
And it was that thorough heavily ented, it sounded very much very were speaking Azhak, and not at all like Tibias''s native tongue.
In fact, though Manuk''s six thousand 6,000 infantry was very well hidden by its armor and the rest of the surrounding Tibian men, the cavalry were all Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam''s men.
Meaning they were all Adhanians.
And Menes''s cavalrymen fighting the enemy did find it weird just how simr these men seemed to their own.
Their looks, get up and the various small personal fashion choices they had on their clothes, such as the colors they wore, the distinctive designs they had, the way they had their hair done, or simply how they walked, the cavalrymen did not know why, but these men all gave the aura of being from ces near Zanzan.
Of course, immediately following this they felt absurd, for in their mind there was no way this made sense, since they were clearly fighting Tibians.
But still, they could not shake off that nagging feeling.
It was like how are you able to a fellow country men in around foreignnd just from looking at his back, or you can which state someone is from just from the way he talks or behaves.
Of course in the modern world, due to the existence of rapid transportation and much intense intermingling of cultures, many such subtle differences between cultures have worn away.
But in Alexander''s current time, even adjacent viges might have clear visual distinctions in many aspects of their life.
Of course, it also helped that the men were very obviously speaking Azhak, taunting and mocking many of the cavalrymen as they attacked.
"Haha, you got nowhere to run."
"Fresh meat."
"Die! I already killed three."
"I will enjoy fucking your ass."
Though it was quite heavily ented, the Menes''s men thought they were Tibians who had learned a few phrases and were trying to intimidate them.
Whereas the real reason for this discrepancy was that given that Zanzan was quite a mountainous region, traveling was quite hard, so without the cultural exchange, many areas developed their own independent version of Azhak.
And in doing so, some dialects became so twisted that they almost became their ownnguage.
For a real life example of this, one only needed to look at the British Isles, which is rtively a small ind, yet the amount of dialect and ents they managed to create is truly mind bogging and a testament to human creativity.
It feels like every town has its own way of pronouncing one or two specific words.
And so it was already a small miracle that a country as big as Adhania, spanning around 4 million sq kilometers still spoke the samenguage.
Or at least the root of the spoken dialects were the same.
And the sole reason that Alexander could think of why this would be was because of Ramuh''s Holy Scriptures.
It had been written in standard Azhak, and the tens and hundreds of thousands of priests had helped propagate that version of the book every day of every year for centuries to all corners of the empire.
Due to that the people at least that some connection to the basic root of thenguage.
If not for that, Adhania might have simply be a patchwork of states with a king nominally at its head.
Indeed, religion would bring people together.
But anyway, since the cavalrymen were in the middle of a literal war when facing these weirdly ented ''Tibians'' they really could not just stop and ask to clear their doubts.
That would have been too convenient.
So they pushed such curiosities down, recing it with the desire to triumph and survive, and kept on fighting.
And the cavalrymen for their part mostly did well and were even able to push the enemy back quite a bit.
But s!
This was perhaps the most insignificant part of the battlefield, with the lowest number ofbatants.
Their results would not really be enough to turn the tide.
And so as the clock ticked on, the inevitable tide of the battle began to be clearer and clearer.
Perseus was able to maul to Menes very bloody and the ck general felt his men reaching thier end point.
They had been under the dreadful spear tips of the enemy for literally hours, and though Menes had been able to constantly cycle new troops to the front, thus spreading out the fatigue, even that had its limits.
They might break soon.
Of course, Perseus''s own phngites were having no cake walk either.
As said earlier, the melee had been brutal, and these men had to earn each and every kill in enomorus blood and sweat.
Menes and his officers made sure of that.
But even still, ultimately it were the phngites that came out on top of the exchange no question about it, thus dashing Menes''s hidden wish that the enemy would simply break from exhaustion.
''Time to call Melodias.''
''Time to call Petricuno.''
And seeing this, the two leaders almost simultaneously decided now was the time to y their trump card.
Chapter 807 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-4)
Chapter 807 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-4)
The brutal melee at the center raged on for hours with both sides cracking from the bloody engagement.
And as time passed these cracks spread and bloomed, with both sides taking huge casualties, until finally one side could not take it anyway.
The cracks on Menes''s side had be toorge to ignore.
So he atst sent word to Melodias, asking him to charge up the right side of the hill and swing around to nk Perseus, thus relieving the pressure off him.
"The enemy is weakened. Use your legionaries to hit them on the side and destroy these bulky formations." The instructions read.
And as Menes was giving this order, at the same time, sensing the same weakness in the Zanzan lines, Perseus sent word to Petricuno, informing him that the enemy was truly and well pinned down with little strength to struggle or run.
"Now is the time to hit him where it hurts and win us a great victory," The scout read out those exact words said by Perseus to Petricuno.
Thus by following the most logical path, both generals inadvertently yed the exact card they had hidden at the same time.
This had happened also because due to the fog and heat of battle, neither side got a chance to get an exact number of the troops the other side had deployed, and so both thought that this was all they had.
Otherwise why would they endure for so long under such brutal condition?
Upon receiving Menes''s word, Melodias, who already had everyone formed up, quickly blew the trumpet and shouted inrge expletives, "Charge! Quick! Our sides needs help! Charge!"
By now most of the fog had dissipated and for the past few while, Melodias had been able to celery observe the fight on the top from the foot of the hill, and the scene filled him with great tension in his heart.
How could he see not how the tide of the battle was bing more and more against them?
He had even sent multiple heralds to Menes if he should starting up, but the ck general rejected it, asking him to be patient for a bit longer.
"Not yet. I can still hold on. Let me tire the enemy out a bit more." He imed.
Until finally he gave the order for Melodias to move.
And the clear weather meant thetter was able to quickly ascend up the hill, eager to assist his ally in battle.
While his counterpart on the opposite side, Petricuno was not so nimble.
The heavy phngites wielding the much bigger and heavier sarissa were hardly Olympic sprinters, and the nature of their formation meant that for these units to be most effective, they needed to be bunched together.
So when a bunch of heavily armored men wielding deadly 4 to 5 meters spears were bunched up together and asked to move up a steep slope, well it was not wrong to say they moved at a snail''s pace.
"Come on men! Faster! The enemy is gonna break any time. Do you want those lowly Tibian peasants to get all the glory?"
"Hurry! Move quickly. Or else the fight is going to be over."
"Spread apart! Spread apart!"
"There is no enemy. Spread apart and moving quickly."
And seeing the crawling speed, the ever impatient Petricuno ordered this.
He could never ept ''Alexander'' being defeated without him even getting a single stab in.
That was the whole reason he was here.
This mercenary leader had learned quite a bit of Alexander''s aplishments in the past three years and each of thetter''s achievements had set his heart burning with green mes.
He simply could not believe in three mere years the man had obtained powers beyond Petricuno''s imagination.
Whereas he had managed to get a meager position as an ordinary citizen in a city state, he became a person surpassing in power even whenpared to the most powerful senators of Cantagena.
Now, bing a citizen of a city state like Cantagena was no small feat in itself.
It was the ultimate dream of many stateless people of this time, kind of simr to how many people dreamed of receiving a US or Canadian Green Card, though the former was a lot harder.
The superpower Cantagena had an enormous demand for its citizenship, but only limited space within its walls, not to mention the inherent racism.
So what Petricuno managed to do was certainly very impressive.
But whenpared to Alexander''s position as a Pasha, one who currently controlled around 100,000 sq km, the status of an ordinary citizen really could not hold any candle.
And what wounded the mercenary leader most was perhaps the fact that he knew he too could have be a lord if he had only swallowed his pride and taken that offer.
He too could have been like Menes, Melodias, and Menicus, lords with huge plots ofnd, a beautiful house to live in, fine food and drink to eat every day, and sexy servants to attend to all his whims and desires.
But he missed that opportunity, letting it slip right through his fingers.
All because he was too proud, too vain, too stupid to see the opportunity.
And given that that door had closed, Petricuno''s heart turned crooked.
''If I cannot have it, then no one can.'' The mercenary leader venomously ground his teeth as he swore.
And that is why he was really here to help Tibias.
To pull down Alexander from his high pedestal and show that he and him were not so different.
And for that to happen, Petricuno needed to join the fight currently raging on.
It would be of no use if ''Alexander'' broke before he coulde.
Then he would not be able to gloat.
Thus eschewing his own advice of keeping his phnx units bunched up so that they do not scatter and open up gaps between themselves, in order to speed up the march, he did the opposite, allowing each formation to advance up the slope without having to worry about bumping into the unit next to them.
And this order did produce the intended result- the marching speed almost doubled.
But it was still not as quick as Melodias''s who by now had already reached the top.
Up until now, both sides had been unaware of the other''s presence as a slight fog still lingered along some parts of the hill, and the current ongoing battle and its mor and din captured all the eyes.
So just imagine Melodias''s surprise when he was about to turn to hit Perseus''s right nks when suddenly heid his eyes upon what wasing up the other side of the hill.
Around twenty thousand, 20,000 heavily armored men wielding spears the size of which he had never seen before!
''What is that?'' And for a moment, Melodias''s heart became dry as a desert as all strength seemed to have left him.
Even a child could tell that if these men managed to join the fight, they were done for.
The only lucky break here for Melodias was that Petricuno was spread out, just like that time against Manuk, and Melodias decided to clutch at that chance with both hands and if he could even both feet.
His heart even danced joyfully at this sight, as a torrential flood of euphoria filled his shrunken heart, ballooning it to double its original size.
''You idiots. You still haven''t figured out why we brought you here to fight? On this hilly ridge. Where the ground is so uneven. Hahaha.''
And then when he thought about it for a bit, Melodias found that it was indeed natural for the bulky phnx units to be spread out and disorganized.
So he hastily ordered,
"Quick! Charge downhill!"
"*Trumpet*, *Trumpet.*"
"The enemy is still disorganized. Charge downhill when we still have the chance."
"*Trumpet*, *Trumpet.*"
And naturally, since Melodias could see the enemy, many officers could too.
Hence the 9,000 men and horses were instantly told to halt turning left to hit Perseus and instead redirected to charge thundering down the slope.
"Ahhh¡.."
"Advance!"
"Ready your pis."
"Kill them all!"
Moments after Melodias''s trumpet rang, many simr such signals waved past the nearly two legion worth of men and the orderly formation began a deadly swoop down the steep slopes of the hill, determined to catch the enemy off guards, as they shouted various threatening words and let out huge roars to pump themselves up for battle.
And then once the infantry started to advance down the slop and finally got close enough, they threw their pi just like they practiced and pounced into the enemy, eager to destroy them.
But they did not attack head first.
Because that would have been suicidal.
When Petricuno''s men noticed the blue wave of torrent slip down the slopes bee lining for them, these trained men did not simply panic and run, but instead instinctively halted and lowered their huge weapons, forming a very formidable spear wall.
If the legionaries were stupid enough to attack head on, these sarissas could very well be gigantic shish kebab sticks, with two or even three men at the end of each stick.
So it was fortunately for Melodias that his men had that survival instinct.
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Chapter 808 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-5)
Chapter 808 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-5)
Melodias''s profusely thanked Gaia that the enemymander had chosen to rush up the hill with his phnx, thus presenting him with this once in a lifetime opportunity to win the battle.
And to capitalize it, he ordered his men to hit hard and hit fast, and to show no mercy.
Now, this thinking that had Petricuno not rushed up the slope and thus lost cohesion with his force, but instead had slowly approached with methodical precision the battle would have been over, was overly simplistic.
Because if the mercenary leader had indeed been too careful, his advance up the slope would have been really a crawl.
And that would have given Melodias ample time to spot and locate him.
Then he would have had options.
The simplest one- he could have charged down the hill and taken the fighting to them.
With the high ground on his side now, the legionaries would not have their movement restricted like Menes''s, but instead, it would be Petricuno''s men that would be suffering, unable to move freely for the risk of losing cohesion.
Hence even if the phngites were bunched up together, the constant harassment and attacks from the nimble legionary formation would either cause them to finally lose their patience and chase after these units, thus dislodging and scattering them and opening up new opportunities for Melodias''s men, or they could simply sit there like a duck and endure the hits and jabs directed at them, knowing it was only a matter of time they broke.
Of course, this would still be quite a risky move on Melodias''s part, as Petricuno literally outnumbered him two to one.
So it was also highly possible that Petricuno would simply be able to muscle through the legionaries, absorbing the casualties nevertheless and simply drowning his enemy with sheer numbers.
Thus, instead, perhaps Melodias could have instead contemted hitting Perseus''s defenseless nk, hoping to rout the already tired men who had been fighting for hours before the slow Petricuno could catch up.
And if he was sessful, then the newly relieved Menes could join forces with Melodias to conduct a two pronged attack on Petricuno, destroying the two separate armies one at a time individually.
Orstly, Melodias seeing how the winds were blowing, might have decided to ask Menes to retreat from the battlefield, as he acted as rear guard to prevent Perseus from chasing them.
If that had happened, the battle would have turned into a tie, as the two men upon reaching the foot of the hill could have used to defenses around the camp to tire the enemy out, and then decided their next move.
Though it was more likely that the battle would not even go so far, as neither Perseus nor Petricuno would have wanted to go down that steep slope and expose their loose formations to a counterattack.
But for better or worse, the rivers of fate decided to forego all those possible streams.
Instead, the tributary that it chose to flow through was one where Petricuno was rash, and one where Melodias capitalized his chance for a deadly charge downhill.
And when the legionaries came in range, throwing their pis to neutralize many of the shields of the phngites, before swerving past their bristling pike to hit them on the sides, a terrible bloodbath began to bloom.
The heavier than usual sarissa wielding phngites found themselves to be even more unwieldy than their regr counterpart, enabling the legionaries to freely attack them without the fear of retaliation leaving them with grievous wounds and producing devastating losses.
"Hold men! Hold"
"Turn around! Face the enemy"
"Join up! Join up with the nearest formation"
"Bunch together! Bunch together so that they cannot get in between you."
"Help yourrades! Go help them."
And facing these attacks, the officersmanding the phnxes were unable to form a coherent strategy, with each giving his unit amand that he thought was the best but failing to take the overall situation into ount.
All this meant that as each formation tried to do what they thought was best for them, many got in each other''s way, sowing chaos and allowing Melodias to strike them in their most vulnerable ces.
This way, even though Melodias was only half the size of his opponent, by picking out these individual units one at a time instead of facing the entire army at once, he managed to surround and eliminate many individual phnx formations, making the mismatch spectacrly bloom.
Petricuno could see many of the individual units encircled and on the verge of copse.
He knew that if these men ran, seeing their example a cascading avnche would follow.
But even though he knew it, he did not seem to know how to stop it, while his subordinates came to him shouting as such,
"Commander! Retreat! We must retreat!"
"Captain, we are unable to hold. Send reinforcements."
"We have lost too many men. Many are starting to run. Help!"
Most of these pleas were from units ced at the very front echelons and in response to them, Petricuno at first told them to try and hold as he tried to gather those less unit affected in the rear to mount aeback.
He was not going to lose to Alexander that easily.
And given the advantage he enjoyed in terms of the sheer rtive mass of his army, it meant that although he found himself in a precarious position, the opposing general had been unable to deal the knockout blow to him.
Perhaps Petricuno could not turn the result around in a single stroke, but he could definitely try and slow or even stop the copse.
And then perhaps even drag Melodias into a long grinding fight, preventing him from going to the aid of his partner on the other side.
If Petricuno could do that, it was very likely that Perseus would break Menes and the battle would be won.
The expert mercenary leader, even when facing such a dire situation did not lose heart and could urately find his winning condition.
Though of course, it had to be said that none of this presumed tactic was guaranteed.
As always there were caveats.
For instance, it was unknown if the front lines could hold on until he could get the required forces ready as it wasmon knowledge that making an army do anything except advancing straight ahead was a major pain as the simple size of the organization made anyplex maneuver painfully slow.
A fact that could not be more true more for Petricuno with the disadvantageous terrain, and his immovable phngitess.
So he would need quite a while to get ready.
And in the meantime, if those men in the frontlines ran, well it all be over before Petricuno could even begin.
Additionally, it was also unknown if Petricuno would be even allowed to gather arge enough, as the enemymander, perhaps recognizing the build up might choose to send reserve contingents to break them up before they could be a threat.
Andstly it was even unknown if Petricuno simply had the ability to get all the men under his control.
After all, the active battlefield was quiterge and his units haphazardly scattered in various directions.
To send urate messages to them, have them turn ording to his instructions and then link up needed impressivemunication skills and a robust chain ofmand.
Something that Petricuno was certainly not blessed with.
After all, remember, just how hodgepodge of a forces his own native ten thousand 10,000 were.
Although he was nominally their leader, controlling five thousand, 5,000 men, the rest were a chaotic patchwork of various Thesian mercenaries and city state levies, all with their ownmand structures and thoughts.
These people might follow him into battle when things were looking up, but now that things had turned dire, all these smallmanders should have only one phrase in their head- ''Every man for himself.''
Petricuno cursed each and every one of them by name thinking so.
But these were not his only concerns.
For aside from 8,000 men currently under him (2,000 of the peltasts were given to Perseus), there were also 6,000 Adhanians from Manuk and 2,000 of the mercenaries provided to them by the Kaiser Family.
These two factions certainly did things their way.
Who knew how they would react to Petricuno''s order?
Who knew how much zeal they had in participating in this fight?
Who knew if they were thinking of simply cutting their losses and running?
Many such doubts swam in Petricuno''s head as he pondered the dilemma.
But he would never get to find these answers.
Because he would be in fact one of the first ones to run!
For as he was in the midst of trying to patch his formation some way he could, a very simple message was delivered to him by a breathless messenger,
"Commander! Petretus! Petretus''s unit is in trouble. Please send help!"
By itself, this was nothing new, as Petricuno had been inundated by simr requests for close to half an hour now.
But to the specific man, this was very special.
And the order he would give to rectify this could cause the rout of his entire wing.
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Chapter 809 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-6)
Chapter 809 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-6)
Petretus was Petricuno''s favorite son and one who was supposed to seed him as the leader of the mercenary group after his father''s retirement.
So when the messenger came to him informing him of his son''s precarious situation, the first thing Petricuno felt was an intense surge of regret.
But it was not upon hearing his son''s predicament.
Instead, it was over the fact that when cing the units in the formation, he had chosen his personal group and even the most elites to be in the position of honor- at the very front, to act as the vanguard.
The reason back then had of course been so that he could im credit for defeating Alexander, to be the first units to break the Zanzan lines and gain great wealth and glory for himself.
Something his men very much appreciated.
Furthermore, to lead them, he handed the very first echelon units to his son, to help him gain some free credit. while he himself, following Alexander''s philosophy stayed at the back to bettermand the troop,
After all, at that time, in Petricuno''s eyes, the battle was already over.
But now, that same decision hade back to bite him.
Since Melodias hadunched his ferocious attack, it was only natural that the very front rows bore the greatest brunt of it, and it was not only Petricuno''s son that was suffering, but it was also his mercenary group that was taking disproportionate damage, soaking sword hits for the benefit of other groups.
To any mercenary leader that would be uneptable.
Petricuno was aware of this mismatch from the very beginning but had been willing to swallow them if it meant getting his most fervent desire fulfilled.
But now that even his son was in danger, the equations changed.
There was no way he could sit still and wait to gather his force, for the time that it would need would doom his progeny to death, and who knew how many of his treasured men.
That was something uneptable to him.
"Send out the order."
"Those units at the back are to form a rear guard while the front retreats."
"And go tell His Majesty- ''The enemy''s attack is too fierce! We cannot hold on. We are pulling back to the camp''."
To save his son''s life, thus Petricuno officially gave the order to retreat without a second''s thought!
"Yes!" And given the dreadful losses they were suffering, the messenger was more than happy to oblige.
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*, *Trumpet*
Thus soon such res began to float around Petricuno''s side and knowing what this meant, many rejoiced as they broke rank and ran in all directions.
While others cursed Petricuno for hisck of spirit, ''Darn! We could have won if we had just held on. That coward!''
But given others were abandoning them, even these eager men soon found themselves running for the safety of their camp.
"Charge! Kill!"
"Chase them!"
"The camp! The enemy camp is free! Go.''
"They are running. Brotherse, let us take revenge!"
And naturally, when one side ran, the other side chased- that was the rule of wars during this time.
Thus, almost simr to how a dog would chase a tail, Melodias''s men started to chase the fleeing enemy, or for those with a more keen eye, attempted to breach Perseus''s camp and loot it.
Now, Petricuno had ordered a rear guard be formed to try and prevent this, to form s protective screen that would give fight to the legionaries in a dying action that would prevent them from breaking rank and chasing after the other vulnerable escaping units.
But again, Petricuno was thwarted by a variety of reasons.
One was simply because he did not know who to assign that dangerous role.
The mishmash of so many different units from so many other ces in his ranks meant that he was not intimately familiar with much of them, and could not effectively delegate.
It had to be known that a rear guard formation was a highly technical formation and was apanied by much danger, for one needed to face arge number of units and pin them in ce, preventing the enemy from dispersing and chasing after one''s out of formation, vulnerable men.
Such an effort was usually aplished byunching an aggressive attack to catch the enemy''s attention and making them fear that their lines would snap if they did not defend otherwise.
And as it could be imagined, attacking an outnumbering foe while your own side was dispersing and running for their life was a challenging thing to do indeed.
One needed true discipline to simply not start running with the rest and instead truly believe in one''s capabilities of holding on till everyone about retreated to start running.
But that would also now mean these few rear guards units would be at the forefront of the bristling enemy attack, facing an overwhelming number of possibly very angry men.
If the rear guard was unable to disengage properly or the enemy was really tenacious, many of them would die in the process.
Something that might be even more true here, as the rough ground would mean an almost impossible escape for those left behind.
But cruel as it may sound, that really was the point of the rear guard, to sacrifice a smaller part of the army so that the rest could live.
Though that also went to mean that such a task could not be given to anyone, for one needed very well trained men with the zeal and guts to die for their cause to hold these posts.
Petricuno had no shortage of the former- ''well trained men''.
Almost everyone under hismand were professional soldiers with a whole lot of experience.
As for thetter- ''men with the zeal and guts to die for their cause'', well that was a lot harder toe by.
None of the men under Petricuno were native Tibians and really had no real attachment to the result of the battle.
Sure, they would like to battle, but most were not willing to die for it.
This way- ''What the men had inpetency, they made up for by theirck of will and their profound love for life.''
Thus a rear guard never formed.
Besides, in reality, Petricuno never really had a chance to form a rear guard.
Because the order had been too sudden.
There was no way a sizable number of the slow phngites would have been able toe together in that short time.
And if they could have, Petricuno would have already sent them to help relieve his son.
Thus it could even be argued that Petricuno never really wanted to form a rear guard but only gave the order so that official records show that such an order had indeed been issued.
All so that he could absolve himself of any responsibility and ensure that he had a face to show to Perseus.
''Before the retreat, I ordered a rear guard formation. But the men were too cowardly and ran. I tried my best'' Petricuno already had his excuse ready.
The man might have his ws, but he was no idiot when it came to battlefield politics.
But whatever the reason behind the copse of Petricuno''s wing, be it due to Petricuno''s personal ipetence or simply Melodias''s attack being too fierce and causing the positions to be overrun, the result was the same.
It was like the floodgates had been torn open and the men on both sides burst into the open field, chasing and running after one another like madmen.
Petricuno''s side on the ridge soon devolved into a chaotic swirl of red and blue.
And with that, the help that Perseus had sought in order to deliver a decisive killing blow to Menes dissipated.
Laying witness to all this from the back of his army and seeing half his literally shattered, Perseus surprisingly did not despair!
No, such was the nerve and insight of the experienced king.
For in his mind, he thought he could still win!
Because by his calction, the battle had reached a stalemate.
And how did hee to this ridiculous conclusion you ask?
Well ording to him, the enemy had won on his right side but if he could break the enemy on his left and win, the battle might still end up in his favor.
Because remember- a tie would still be a victory for him.
He was the defender and as long as the enemy could not attack him anymore, even if he lost his army, he would still win.
"Attack! The enemy has been defeated on your right. He has no more reinforcements! Attack! Their lines are crumbling."
Hence Perseus, embellishing the truth not just a little bit but literally turning ck to white, actually urged his men to fight men harder,
And because everything that was going on was happening behind these men, in the heat of the battle, these phngites had no time to turn back to see the actual situation.
Thus instead of feeling downcast, bolstered by their king''s words actually started to fight harder, feeling the fight was nearing its end, with victory in sight.
This put Menes''s already frayed lines under far more pressure and somehow, in a twisted way, Melodias''s victory actually hurt Menes.
And Perseus''s wish for a tie appeared to being closer and closer toing true.
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Chapter 810 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-7)
Chapter 810 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-7)
Chapter 810
Upon learning of the ''enemy''s defeat'', Perseus''s men felt their morale surge and the pressure on Menes subsequently increased, threatening to destroy his already fragile lines soon.
Thus in a twisted way, Melodias''s victory actually hurt Menes.
And seeing this, Menes truly did not know how to react.
When he had first seen that huge army, like Melodias he too had panicked.
And then seeing how the man''s quick thinking was able to destroy an army twice his size and so effortlessly at that, he should have been cheering like crazy.
It was a result that should have been a dreame true.
But somehow, that great result in a twisted way caused great pain for Menes.
What misfortune!
And ultimately the fatigued general could do little but hold on, telling his men that Melodias was on his way.
And some of the legionaries could indeed peek at some brief shes of blue in front of them, and so rallied, feeling that help was just on the way.
Their morale strengthened, they locked shields and held on for dear life with clenched teeth.
However as time went on, that feeling of optimism on their part began to wane, for that ocean of blue never materialized.
For Melodias''s unruly levies, thinking the battle was over, began to chase after loot and booty in Perseus''s camp.
"Haha, kill!"
"Shoot! Do not let them escape."
"They are ours. Capture them."
"The camp! The camp doors are open! Come, brothers!"
"Women! There are beautiful women there."
"Hahaha, Daddy is gonna teach these girls what a real man feels like."
Groups of cavalry chased after the running phngites- shing, stabbing, and jabbing them at every opportunity.
Though surprisingly this proved to be not so easy, as the men who had shed their shields and threw their heavy sarissas proved to be quite hard to catch, especially since the uneven grounds were hard to traverse for the heavy Zanzan cavalry.
So many were limited to chasing them at speeds that onlyted them a few kills, only able to im the unlucky few right in the vicinity.
Or for the lucky one, surrounding a small group of Petricuno''s men and barking such,
"Lay down. Throw away any weapons."
"Hands above your head! Hands above your head and you will be spared."
"Tie them! Quickly tie them!"
It was this way that many of the fleeing Thesians and Adhanians were captured.
But due to the terrain, and limited number of cavalry, a majority of the 16,000 to 17,000 men escaped into the woods or the camp.
Though thetter, which would have at any other time been a fierce stronghold, now proved to be a death trap.
Because the now bulkier legionaries, after finding out they really could not chase after their nimble foes in this rough terrain, decided to change target.
They chose Perseus''s camp!
This camp was actually structurally not bad, with two meter high fenced walls, constructed of wooden logs with spiky points at the top, supplemented by a few watchtowers and even a nearby ditch.
It was pretty defensible, able to ward off evenrge scale attacks if properly defended.
But the pickle was that- if defended.
For even such good defenses were of no use if there was no one to guard it.
Even a formidable star fortress was just as good at defending itself as an open fishing hamlet if left abandoned.
And since Perseus had taken almost everyone out to fight, the doors to his richesy wide open.
So the soldiers were easily able to grab the wood and climb up it like they were climbing a tree, the spikes at the top simply hacked away by the swords and axes the legionaries carried with them.
Thus soon around a legion''s worth of men- 6,000 of them were inside the camp- looting, killing, burning and taking women as they pleased.
Perseus did not bring a lot of gold cold with him, because he did not have much, but that did not stop the soldiers from taking whatever there was.
For instance, in Tibias, both men and women liked to wear ornaments, and thus many tents had numerous such trinkets- rings, bracelets, bangles, etc.
Of course, given these belonged to poor peasants, these were nothing precious nor were their quantity voluminous, but for those peasant levies of Melodias, even a simple silver ring was worth fighting for.
Aside from the easiest loot, there were also plenty of food stocks in the camp, and though the soldiers could not take the granary for themselves, they did take control of it, knowing parts of it would be given to them as booty.
There were also precious items like smoked meat and fish, or eggs, which they tried to pocket or eat right there.
Yes- the eggs too.
Of course no one took the time to cook that delicate thing, but simply cracked it open and drowned the yellow and white mixture raw.
For these battle crazed men, it tasted heavenly.
Andstly in the food section, for those that were lucky enough to raid the tents of the officers and nobles, they got to taste the fine wines many of them had brought with them, drinking themselves silly.
Alongside the food, there were various draft animals like mules, oxen, and donkeys in the camp that the soldiers took ownership of, killing many of the handlers who tried to resist.
Lastly, and perhaps the most alluring of all to the legionaries, there were the women and for some, even the male servants and ves there to be enjoyed, as well as the pleasure women hired for the soldiers.
And most tragically were the family members that many of the mercenaries had brought with them on this long journey, maybe not the entirety, but a beautiful concubine to warm the bed during the tedious journey, or a loving wife or a cherished daughter to help with the camp chores or even a son whoe to learn the ropes of warfare with his father but was too young to join the battle for himself.
Many such innocents were forcibly taken, and if anyone tried to stop them, killed, as the rted mercenaries seeing their women''s fate howled in pain and anguish.
It was a vicious cycle, where if the side to lose were the Zanzanians, it would be they who would be crying in pain, while the mercenaries would be cackling in delight like the legionaries were now.
Thus the red uniformed men who came to take refuge in the camp were killed and their spoils taken.
Now one might ask about the one thousand 1,000 men and the 12 war elephants that Perseus had left behind with Manuk as reserves as well as to guard the camp.
Where were they?
Did they simply die?
But that would have at least produced some sound.
Did they not defend the camp?
Because if they had used the camp''s defenses, the 6,000 legionaries would not have found the ce so easy to breach.
So given the current development, it was not unreasonable to think they had most likely fled.
But no!
Manuk would not flee.
At least not without Perseus, for he knew the king''s importance.
Thus currently the man was actually charging up the hill, shouting,
"Quick! His Majesty needs our rescue. Hurry! Move those feet faster."
The bald man had seen the apparent disintegration of Petricuno''s force with a kind of schadenfreude look, both feeling good at having his predictione true, but also sighing in dismay at the defeat of his forces.
Their outnumbering force should have been easily able to win this battle, but impatience and hubris had squandered that.
Now, the best that they would be able to reasonably achieve was a tie.
It was with that thought that Manuk raced up the now clear slopes, the elephants leading the charge, hoping to snap Menes finally in two, but even that beautiful scenery produced littlefort for the archpriest.
Perhaps he would be able to deal a devastating blow to Alexander and cripple him, preventing the ambitious lord fromunching any more offensive attacks and taking more grounds.
But holding onto much of the gains he made should still be quite possible.
After all, Perseus himself had almost no men left to conscript, and it was unknown how much the foreign powers would be willing to aid him, especially given the destruction on Petricuno''s side meant many of the soldiers these powers sent were either lost, killed or would need significant time to return to their base.
Many might even refuse to fight and ask for their coin and leave.
And then, after all, perhaps Perseus and Alexander would sign a peace deal.
Manuk did know the Tibian court had already sent out peace feelers.
And a peace treaty between the two powers was definitely not beneficial for his cause, as it would free Alexander to pursue fighting on other fronts.
But what could he do?
Things had developed into such a quagmire state and he could only will his tiny force to go to the royal''s aid as soon as possible.
But unfortunately for Perseus, help was not only due for him, for soon Manuk spotted a small contingent of blue beelining for the exact position he was heading!
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Chapter 811 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-8)
Chapter 811 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-8)
Chapter 811
After seeing the boastful mercenary leader Petricuno''s dreadful performance and the almost instant annihtion of his army, Manuk had moved his army out of the camp, abandoning it, and instead instructed them to charge towards Perseus, intending tond a helping hand.
But though he was willing to undertake such an endeavor, that did not mean he was willing to do so with a cheerful heart.
He even half cursed,
"Darm idiot. I held your leg begging you not to give battle. And now I have to hold your leg and drag you back to safety."
"I already have one ass I regrly need to clean. I do not need another one."
But as he was muttering so under his breath, out of the corner of his eye, the man soon caught off a glint of blue, and turning around he noticed a line of men neatly organizing themselves into an orderly formation, in much contrast to the rest of the chaotic field of red and blue, and seemed ready to charge towards a destination ready to fight as a coherent force.
The direction of that destination- seemingly the same as Manuk''s!
The priest was left in no doubt as to where these men wanted to attack and knew when they reached it, their intentions werepletely different from his.
Whereas he wanted to aid the king there, those men wanted nothing more than to put that very man''s head on a halberd.
And seeing so, the man''s heart jumped and he wanted nothing more than to urge his men to spread apart and march faster, just like Petricuno had done.
But he did not!
Ultimately, learning from Petricuno he soothed his heart and calmed down, reciting the mantra-
''I''m better arrivingte than never''.
So keeping his formation bunched up as it were and not giving those Zanzan reinforcements any chance to take advantage, he slowly proceeded at his own pace, with the elephants slowly leading the way and the expert mercenaries following close close.
His only constion about the whole affair was that he had started far sooner than his opponent and the pious priest prayed to Ramuh that that head start would be enough to reach Perseus before the far nimbler legionnaires.
But who were those clever legionnaires who had the discipline and calm state of mind to forgo all the shiny loot and rejoin the deadly battle in aid of their general?
Well, it was a group of around 2,000 men led by Remus!
When Petricuno''s army was broken and the mad dash for gold, women, and ves began, Remus, who was second inmand to Melodias and fighting right near the front line to boost morale, suddenly had a shback.
His mind raced back to that night, to that battle against Lord Ponticus.
It reminded him that after smashing into Lord Ponticus''s nks and destroying his contingent, the forces Remus had seemingly dissipated into thin air as the unruly men chaotically ran across the battlefield in search of battlefield glory, leaving Melodias to face Lord Theony on his own, thus rendering the advantage they had gained in that engagement fully uncapitalized.
It was a great loss.
And Alxx had even brought that up in his post battle analysis, something that most powers did and in that, though he did not chastise Remus for letting this happen, he certainly urged him to pay more attention to simr things in the future.
''In the future'' as in now.
"*Trumpet!* *Trumpet!*" Hence, refusing tomit the same mistake twice, Remus almost instinctively took out his horn and?blew, attracting all nearby ears towards him as he then shouted,
"Brothers! The battle is still not over. The battle is still not over. Do not shatter."
"General Menes still needs our help. We must go rescue him,"
As he said this, he pointed towards the left side of the ridge which still had more than 40,000 men fighting to the death,
"Look! The enemy''s defenseless backs are right open to us. They areughing at such for not attacking them."
"Let us charge brothers. For glory! For victory! For Lord Alxx!"
Remus raised his strong arm into the air, swinging it wildly.
"Hahaaaa!" And his call was answered by numerous men.
Remus was a grassroots officer who was held great respect and reverence in the army, for a variety of reasons.
His youth, his tactical genius, the fact that he was in nickname terms with the lord of thend, and his natural talent for giving speeches and convincing people all contributed significantly to his poprity.
But perhaps most importantly, it was his personal charisma that gravitated people towards him.
And surprisingly, thatst one came not due to an insignificant side effect of a particr habit of Remus, which was that he liked to sleep with many of the soldiers in the army, be they of any rank,?for his tastes were as varied as adventurous.
And this was something that Alxx very much disapproved of- not because of the act itself since such practices weremon, but more so because such a thing between soldiers posed the risk of blooming into something more, which could lead amander into making decisions not optimum for the army.
The clear evidence of this was present in this battle itself when Petricuno ordered a premature retreat based on his son''s safety.
But anyway, such foibles aside, Remus was indeed a very talentedmander and leader, and hearing his speech and trumpet, around four battalions (2,000) of men stopped their chase of the fleeing enemy and relinquishing that loot, instead started to turn around in an anticlockwise direction until they were 180 degrees, and could stare straight into Perseus''s defenseless nape, like a ferocious tiger ready to pounch onto it.
"*Trumpet*" And once they were ready, Remus had nothing more to say except blow the horn to advance.
And as he did, like his counterpart had, he too noticed Manuk and found thetter to be actually leading him, though not by much.
Initially, he was surprised by this contingent of men, as he did not think the Tibians had any reserves to throw.
And then for a moment, another greedy thought invaded his mind- to attack that small, roundabout 1,000 man force, surrounding and destroying them.
A thought further sweetened by the fact they had 12 gigantic elephants with them.
Those were delicious prizes, the ripest anyone could ask for and if Remus could capture them, it would be an enormous aplishment on his part.
To say that the neen year old was not tempted would be a great lie.
But then rationality returned to his head, overruling his heart.
Killing those 1,000 men might be a great personal achievement, but it would not help him win the battle.
As a matter of fact, if he got bogged down fighting there, it might even lose him the battle as Menes would likely snap before Perseus did.
The general might even be killed in the subsequent rout.
So ignoring the juicy prey ahead, Remus only urged his men to march faster, wanting to hit the enemy''s defenseless back before reinforcements could arrive.
And though this was undoubtedly the correct move to make under the circumstances, if Alexander was here, if he knew who was leading those 1,000 reinforcements, and if he was a prophet, he would have certainly chastised Remus for not killing Manuk when he had the chance.
But such magic did not exist in this world, and thus Remus only followed the most logical path, trying to cut off Manuk before he could snap Menes.
Unfortunately for Remus, even the fast foot of the legionaries were unable to catch up to Manuk who had gotten a significant start.
But frontal for him, the priest did not actually join the fight.
Instead, driving his horse right next to the currently barking king, who even now kept on urging his men to keep fighting, Manuk shouted,
"Your Majesty! Retreat! Sound the horn and retreat!"
The arrival of this familiar yet unwee face caused the king to suddenly pause, while his nearby bodyguards red, making it very clear Manuk was not weed.
But an instantter, upon seeing the men he had brought, PR''s sour, annoyed face melted away as the king shed a victorious smile,
"Esteemed Enovy! Lord Manuk! You are here! You brought the troops! Great! Great"
Each and every one of his phrases had expletives that out pitched its predecessor, and Perseus looked at Manuk like his long lost lover, his eyes twinkling in delight, his face filled with fighting zeal.
To Perseus, it seemed Menes was that one straw he would need to break the back of the camel called Zanzan.
And facing such an overly familiar address, rather than being put off by Perseus''s ingratiating tone, Manuk actually groaned with incredtion, ''He is not going to keep fighting is he?''
He could not believe the balls of this man.
Half of his army was destroyed, his camp was being raided, his own men had been fighting for hours, and a force of 1,000 to 2,000 wasing to outnk him, and he seemed to still fight.
But perhaps that''s why Perseus was known as a great warrior king.
However this time, this king needed to face reality, as Manuk shouted, "Your Majesty! Now is not the time to fight. Arge contingent of the enemy ising to hit us in the nks."
"Give the order to retreat. I willmand the rear guard."
Chapter 812 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-9)
Chapter 812 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-9)
The king upon seeing Manuk''s arrival felt his spirits soar as he thought, ''Ancestors bless me! I have not lost their favor yet!''
For he then wanted to immediately send the fresh 1,000 troops into the frontlines to join the fray and win the battle for him once and for all.
And as the king cheerfully expressed such a desire, the vehemently opposed Manuk cried out in rm,
"Your Majesty, this battle is not something we are likely to win. The enemy in front of us are still holding on and there are 2,000 men aiming to strike us from behind any time."
"Please let us retreat while the door is still open."
"The thousand men I brought will be enough to act as a rear for a while, so if you give the order right now, we can still save most of the army."
"Do not dally Your Majesty, let us go before the soldiers be too tired." Manuk''s face was flushed, his eyes burning his impatience, while his heart actually filled with bitterness.
For upon learning of Perseus''s eagerness to still fight, Manuk fetl a mixture of incredtion and regret wash over him, as he could not believe he had risked his life up the slopes to save an idiot like this.
Even when the door of life was imminently close to disappearing in front of them and the scythe wielding death was starting to manifest itself, this delusional, battle crazed king still wanted to fight.
And seeing this, even Manuk, who was not a mancking in colorful experiences, was stunned.
A feeling that was soonpounded as upon hearing Manuk''s emphatic plea, Perseus surprisingly did not share the same urgency.
Simply cocking his head to look the approaching Remus, he turned to Manuk and in a simple but dignified manner first pronounced,
"Esteemed Envoy Manuk. ''We'' are very happy, even grateful to you for all that you have done up until now."
Perseus used the royal ''we'' that he rarely used since it always sounded grammatically wrong to him, as he continued,
"We also appreciate the fact that you could have easily left the battlefield like the others around the camp, but chose to brave the many obvious dangers on the way just toe to ''Our'' aid."
"That must have taken no small courage."
"Without you here, ''We'' truly would have lost my kingdom."
"We recall that when you came to Us initially, We may have not received you with the utmost courtesy. And for that, I apologize."
Perseus sounded very sincere and courteous, though he did cleverly switch thest pronoun to indicate that it was Perseus- the individual person who was apologizing, not the king.
Because a king never apologized- that was almost an irond rule.
Not only because that would be too demeaning, but because a king was above everyone else, a physical manifestation of his people and country, a supreme guardian entrusted to lead thends by some kind of higher power- be it the gods, ancestor spirits, heavens, fate, etc.
But right now, Manuk was not bothered by such petty wordys.
The man had been part of one of the most ruthless royal courts in the whole world almost since the time he was weaned, and what kind of tricks had he not seen?
Not to mention he had managed to survive under the ''Mad King'' even when many of his betters did not.
So he put Perseus''s dressed insincere words through one ear and threw it in the trash can the moment it left the other one.
Instead, he was far more rmed by where he thought this talk was going.
Because the man recognized the pattern,
And to the priest''s dismay, his prediction came true, for Perseus then suddenly his tone changed, into an authoritative figure as he addressed Manuk like an officer ordering his subordinate,
"But I hope you will still remember your position, Sir."
"You are not the militarymander here. You hold no position. Even the 1,000 men you have under yourmand is something that I gave you temporarily."
"Do not tell me what to do with my army! You have no idea of the stakes!" Perseus dered with a will as strong as steel, his voice sounding like sharp nails, as he red down at Manuk.
"..." Manuk only pursed his lips, more annoyed than intimated.
Naturally, how could a king of a tiny nation strike fear into the second hand man of a lord, who, even in his diminished state ruled over territory magnitudes greater
And seeing Manuk''s cid, silent response, Perseus felt a bit defeated at being unable to establish authority, before exhaling with an audible emphasis, and thenstly revealing, "I thank you for bringing the 1,000 men, Lord Manuk."
"I''ll be sure to remember your great aplishment in this victory."
"But now¡."
Saying so Perseus then turned to look at one of his officers and then unceremoniously dismissed Manuk from hismander, as he stated,
"Zephir, you take over the troop from the envoy. He must be tired."
"Go hold off that nking force. Fighting thatrge enemy will not be easy, but I know you can do it."
"Do not let the enemy breakthrough." Perseus patted arge, ck man on the shoulder as he said, his face solemn but lips curved into a smile, happy at the thought of the imminent victory.
While the man, who due to the exhaustion of having been fighting for so long, had sweat running all over him like a river, greatly nodded and enthusiastically grinned,
"Rest assured Your Majesty. This Zephir swears he will hold the enemy back as long as it takes or die trying,"
"The elephants and mercenaries are so formidable, I could even face 20,000 men and not break, haha."
If there was one skill this ''Zephir'' had for sure, it was boasting, and boasting to absurd levels it seems.
"Good! Good!" Hearing the spirited reply, Perseus showed his pleasure by repeatedly pping the man on the shoulder, and then finished by promising,
"You will not need to do it for long. My men will be able to break these lines in less than half an hour. Just hold on till then. Now go!"
"Yes!" And since time was of the essence, the ck officer immediately saluted and whirling his horse around started to order the thousand to their doom.
And it was their doom no doubt about it, as no matter how nicely Perseus wrapped up the situation,?asking the men to hold a force twice their size on a terrain such as this using a phnx formation was basically asking him to die.
This was not even a suicide mission, because in a suicide mission soldiers were not ''expected'' to survive.
But here, they were ''not going'' to survive.
While, Manuk the outsider, observed all this with muted silence for he understood his role in this y had already been terminated, though Perseus, after seeing Zephir off, did turn to face the man and grandly dered?this with arge smile,
"Envoy Manuk¡ once we win this battle, your contributions will not be forgotten. From today on Tibias and Adhania will be the staunchest of allies."
Perseus was worried that Manuk might feel slighted at being so unceremoniously dismissed from hismand, especially when he took such a high risk getting here as well as the fact it was these 1,000 men that could be argued at having been the trump card Perseus needed to win the war.
Thus the promise he made, which really meant that he was agreeing to the alliance proposal Manuk had brought, one whose main highlight was a use about mutual defense.
Attacking one meant attacking the other- an exact copy of modern day NATO''s Article 4.
While Manuk hearing the deration, instead of being happy actually had second thoughts.
He might have jumped in happiness even a few minutes before, but now, after seeing Perseus''s true color and fatal ws in his personality he was not so sure.
''A defensive pack with this man might be more hassle than it''s worth.'' The priest''s eyes shed a chilly light as he pondered, while his gaze wandered towards Perseus''s legs, around the satchel that was hanging off the saddle.
For there was arge, golden horn nestled within.
Blowing it once meant to advance and blowing it a second time meant retreat.
And Perseus had already blown on it at the start of the battle tomence the fight.
Yes!
Manuk was thinking the unthinkable.
To snatch that horn and blow it himself.
Because there was no way he was going to risk his life by getting caught up in Perseus''s lunatic fantasy.
For if Zephir broke before Menes did, Manuk would bet all his money that themander leading that contingent of 2,000 men was not going to hit the phnx in the back just anywhere but choose to hit the nerve center of the enemy army.
Because that nerve center, aka- the ce where the king was standing was very prominent, with everyone around wearing vibrantly colored armor and most importantly, the king''s gigantic standard standing tall and proud around it, intentionally done so that the soldiers knew their king was with them.
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Chapter 813 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-10)
Chapter 813 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-10)
The reason why Perseus''s surrounding was so gaudily decorated was of course very intentional, for it was to reassure the soldiers that their king was still with them.
But unfortunately, that also had the side effect of also letting the enemy know that the king was with his soldiers.
So unless Remus waspletely blind, there was no way he was going to miss such a juicy target that was visible for miles.
And indeed he was trying to beeline his troops towards that small group.
Something that all the busy and delusional men around Perseus missed.
So being the only one with a working brain who could clearly see Zaphir would never be able to hold the 2,000 legionaries and they were all soon about to be cut to pieces- Manuk made up his mind.
He was going to do that.
And once the thought was cemented, he slowly approached Perseus, getting real close to him, and very intentionally positioning his horse right next to that prized satchel, as he then with a smile,?cheerfully chucked,
"Hahaha, thank you, Your Majesty. With this agreement both your sides with surely prosper."
Here Manuk was of course referring to Perseus agreeing to the defensive alliance.
Up until now, Perseus had received and swallowed all the gifts Manuk had given him, but neither gave a yes or no, only asking Manuk for more time iming he needed to think.
The reason why Perseus was hesitant for so long was because he was aware that Adhania was in a civil war and Amenheraft being attacked was not an if but a when.
And he did not want to get dragged into a war that he had no part or interest in due to this defense treaty.
He was in no shape to fight another man''s war.
But now, seeing the result of the battle and knowing whaty in store for him, even if he won, Perseus knew he had little other choice than to seek help.
He needed a strong bodyguard like Amenheraft to protect him in his weakened state that was scheduled tost for years and though he would far prefer to lie with other powers, most preferably from Thesos, they sent no such envoys and Perseus knew from his long interactions with them that he was unlikely to get any even if he sent messengers.
So true to the phrase- ''Beggars cannot be choosers'', Perseus decided to make bed with the man iming to be the real king of Adhania.
"Haha, yes, I thought it was time I gave you an answer, Envoy Manuk." Seeing Manuk was not peeved about his abrupt dismissal, Perseus too shed a cheerful smile, and to further smooth over the rough edges, he added,
"I too believe that this alliance will bring out realms together. Hahaha"
"Hmmm. Hmmm." To the reply, Manuk too showed his enthusiasm by heavily nodding his head, though his mind was really preupied with the sight of that horn.
And then he gave Perseus onest chance before hemitted this great act of folly, "Will Your Majesty not reconsider retreating? There is still time. Next time we will have 10,000 more men. Next time we will have a better chance of winning."
But the moment he said this, the amicable atmosphere between the two men that had formed just now shattered like thin ss.
Perseus''s face hardened like granite and with a fiery stoic voice shouted, "We have already lost 10,000 men in this battle!"
"The enemy will also soon get 10,000 reinforcements just like Petricuno said. So what use will those 10,000 men be?"
Following so he snarled,
"Do not tell me what to do with my army Manuk! I must win this battle, for my country, for my ancestor, for myself."
"Got away!"
Perseus''s face by now had turned almost unrecognizable due to the anger as he widely swung his arm to dismiss the man.
While Manuk seeing so pursed?his lips and produced a helpless sigh, muttering almost to himself, "Well that is unfortunate."
And then it happened.
Suddenly, as Perseus was seething at the sight of his military decision being questioned, Manuk lunged hisrge arms towards the horn ced in the satchel at Perseus''s feet and,
"Vo!"
He got it- The battle horn that he had eyeing for so long!
It was his.
And surprisingly, since no one was expecting such a thing to happen, it was very easy to get.
The item, being an intimate possession of the king, a king that very much liked to go to war, it went without saying that it was a masterpiece to behold.
The golden colored instrument wasrge and heavy, made from a huge bull tomemorate the Tibian ancestors.
It was exquisitely carved, and ornamented with supplementary cuts of precious wood, and decorated with various studded jewels and pearls.
For the Tibians, this horn was simply not an instrument, but a divine vessel carrying the blessing of their original ancestor, one that would bring them good luck on the battlefield.
And now Manuk had it, having obtained which he started to bolt away from Perseus as fast as his horse would carry him.
And seeing an outsider snatch this precious artifact, something that was even religious in nature, the amount of anger Perseus felt at the moment could be imagined.
"What!" For a brief second, Perseus was stunned with silence, even producing an insane voice he did not know he had,
"Priest Manuk have you gone insane! Give it back!" Then he roared like a madman, before turning to his bodyguards and viciously shouting,
"What are you imbeciles gawking at? Go get it back! Go kill him and get back the War Horn!"
Attentutated by the pressure of the battle he had been under for so long, this act made Perseus give the brutalmand to kill another country''s emissary.
Normally this would be an extremely unwise move.
But then again, what Manuk had done was indeed worth such a response.
In fact, the fate of thieves stealing such a valuable thing might not only be a swift death.
Hence hearing their king''s will as well as feeling indignant at themselves for letting this happen, the five men around Perseus all willed their horses to start galloping, attempting to give chase towards the thief.
"Do note! Or I will blow this! And your lines will disintegrate!"
But just before Perseus''s trained warrior could start running to hack the bald priest to bit, the man loudly threatened such, cing his mouth on the trumpet and mimicking the act.
A move that worked very well in persuading the attackers, for all the bodyguards, being expert soldiers themselves, knew exactly what would happen if the men heard the distinct booming sound of the trumpet.
There was no way they were going to mistake that sound for anything else, and being themselves under attack for so long, and many even witnessing the copse of their right wing, it would only be natural for them to assume the fight was over.
"Manuk!" And Hearing this, Perseus dropped all the honorific suffixes and boomed, cursing, "You traitor. I knew you were a snake sent by Adhania. So this is why you came here. To steal our horn. To think I trusted you."
"Kill them! Kill them all!" Perseus madly screamed as then pointed to the seven bodyguards Manuk was hiding behind, who by now had formed a defensive ring around their priest.
These men came with Manuk as his protectors and even when outnumbered to more than a hundred to one, none of them disyed an ounce of fear.
Being fanatical zealots they had no qualms about dying right here, right now.
While the other set of bodyguards, even getting such a clear set of instructions from their king, were far more hesitant and held back their deadly charge.
But not because they were any less zealous.
But for the very simple reason that Manuk still had his lips on the horn.
Unless they could urately hit the arrow through the ring of men right into Manuk''s throat or head, Manuk would likely die before he could let his pipes sing, disintegrating the lines and putting 20,000 men up for death or envement.
Hits to the chest or even the heart would not work, for arrows were not bullets after all.
And besides, many of the bodyguards paused because they understood Perseus iming Manuk was a spy really did not hold water if one thought about it for even a second.
Simply stealing the battle horn was hardly worth so much effort and if Manuk wanted Perseus to lose, he would have simply left the king to fend for himself while he retreated with the 1,000 men.
Why put himself in so much harm''s way?
"Traitor? You idiot! I wish I had the luxury to betray someone as imbecilic as you. If you are not such a vital strategic piece, I would have stabbed you myself."
Manuk also, having finally had enough, atst raised his voice from behind the curtain of men, and it was one of utmost annoyance, as he vented his frustration, before making his demand,
"Now you stupid king, listen! We are gonna retreat and you are going to give the order. Now!"
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Chapter 814 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (End)
Chapter 814 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (End)
Manuk''s n was indeed this.
To use the threat of making Perseus''s lines disappear to force the king to reconsider.
"Yo¡ you¡" And upon hearing Manuk''s demand, Perseus felt a mixture of emotions he had simply forgotten existed.
As a king, he certainly had never been threatened like this.
So the man simply ignored much of Manuk''s insults and preupied more of his mind with what he was being asked to do.
If he did that they would surely lose.
So why?
To Perseus, Manuk''s action made no sense.
But the priest by now was way past exining anything to Perseus.
Talks had failed long ago, and now it was time for forceful action.
So Manuk ignored the enraged look on the king and proceeded.
"I will count to a hundred. By that time, Zaphir, you," Manuk turned to address the man who was surreptitiously attempting to sneak attack Manuk from the back, but froze the moment Manuk called his name out, as he then heard the envoy say, "You organize the 1,000 men into a rear guard formation."
"All the infantry will guard the front."
"And tell the mahouts to take their 12 elephants and charge the nking force. That''s all they need to do. Just charge and then they can escape."
"Go! Do it now!"
Manuk shouted the simple battle n he had managed to think up, and the ck man, after a bit of hesitation as he turned to look at Perseus for his thoughts on the matter but received nothing, ultimately decided to follow the demand.
And as this defense was being hastily prepared, Manuk quickly turned to Perseus to dictate, "And you! Send messengers to the officers informing them we are retreating. This battle cannot be won. We are going to run."
"And do not think about asking them to ignore the sound of the horn. I know a lot of soldiers will still run the moment they hear the horn."
"Now quick! Remember, you have only 100 breaths!"
Bing aware of Manuk''s ask, Perseus had an incredulous feeling in his heart, as he encountered a couple of things he never felt in his life all at once.
Nobody had addressed him as ''you'' before and he never even thought such a scenario where his entire army would be held like this was even possible, much less predict it.
"Ma¡ nuk.. You!" Hence he could only wrathfully growl.
But he ultimately did what he was told, fiercely swinging his arm and sending messengers as fast he could, while at the same time also swearing to himself- ''I will butcher this dog the second I get the chance. Darm Amenheraft! Darm Adhania.''
What Manuk had done was basically tear apart the entirety of the fragile goodwill he himself had so painstakingly nurtured, and by forcing Perseus to lose a battle that he in his mind thought he could win, there really was no way for these two sides, who already had so much bitter acrimony between them to ever truly reconcile.
But then why had Manuk done that?
Could he not see the result?
Did Manuk think that if he helped Perseus win the next battle it would all be forgiven and forgotten?
But did he not realize that Perseus might not want to ally with him till the next battle?
Would it not have been better to instead let Perseus do his thing?
That way, if he seeded, then good.
But if he failed, well without any army, the man would be even more dependent on Adhania, would he not?
Well if you asked Manuk directly as to the reason, he might have snarkily remarked, "Heh! If His Majesty was to tie his foot with this clown, that Alexander might haveughed his head off."
By now, Manuk had really given up on Perseus, for upon spending time with him, he judged the man to be too erratic to be a useful pawn.
If he really lost his army and then Amenheraft gave him another one, it was likely he was going to use it the way he wanted, not how the king of Adhania wanted.
So in Manuk''s mind, the far better option was to save this army and as long as Perseus lived and had an army to fight with, he knew the boorish king would keep on fighting.
And that way he could keep on sapping Alexander.
Thus even though Manuk personally strongly disliked the man, even though his act meant putting himself in huge danger danger, just because keeping Perseus in the fight was beneficial to him, the priestmitted such a reckless move, trying to save an army which Perseus apparently did not seem to want to.
The 100 breaths Manuk had set flew by in the blink of an eye, but the priests did not yet blow on the horn, for when he set the number it was really more of a figure of speech than a literal time limit.
*Trumpet!*, *Trumpet!*
And then a whileter he did, once he felt he had waited long enough, and the enemy nking force was getting too close forfort.
And that very moment.
*Trumpet*
*Trumpet*
*Trumpet*
Following his signal, many simr signals sted across the battlefield as in reality, a single trumpet could never cover the entire battlefield.
So like clockwork, many more such res resounded one after the other, with each of the signallers hearing the sound and passing it on to the next.
And then¡.
Well, then all hell broke loose.
The soldiers hearing that distinctive boom all felt like it was the sweet chimes of the heavenly bell relieving them from this hellish task and the moment the st washed over their ears, all the tightly held formations instantly started to scatter like sand dunes in a storm like these men were ants in a hot pan trying to run away as soon as possible.
The first to run were of course those at the back, throwing away their heavy shields to lighten themselves, with some even abandoning their spears, while others chose to keep the offensive weapon on hand.
And following suit, the others soon followed, as in this way the lines rapidly thinned in the blink of an eye, while the legionaries, seeing the tight formations disperse like magic in front of them, the oppressive pressure in front of them vanishing, rejoiced with jubnt cheers,
"Breaking! The enemy is breaking!"
"We won! We won!"
"Lived. I lived! Hahaha, I lived"
But sounds of relief washed across them.
"Chase them! Kill them!"
"Revenge! Bastards¡ killed my brother. I want revenge!"
"Do not let a single fucker escape."
"The king! Find the king! I want to screw my sword into his ass."
But soon these joyous cheers turned bloodthirsty, as many of them, being under the sharp spear tips for so long, let their anger take over.
And then they left their formation and started to give chase.
"No! Do not chase. Get into formation. The enemy has sent its rear guards. We do not chase a fleeing enemy."
Something that even the strict and screamingmands from their officers could not halt.
For these legionaries were driven so much past their rational thinking that they disobeyed all of them, including Menes''s personal shouts, and forgetting all they had been taught, started to maddeningly give chase to the fleeing enemy.
Most of these men were still verdant levies and without the temper of being tested in the crucible of battle repeatedly, these men, after their grueling hours long fight had finally snapped.
It had to be known that ancient battles were extremely taxing on the mind, for the close hand to hand nature ofbat, the visceral sights and smell, the drowning chaotic noises, and perhaps deadliest of all, the groans of the dead and dying, all yed havoc on one psyche, driving one to close to madness.
Even the most trained soldiers suffered from this, but they were able to suppress them.
A resistance that the levies under Menes were yet to develop, hence driven by a natural instinct to live and the subsequent battlelust, most of the legionaries irrationally started to chase the enemy, wanting to kill them before they did.
And as they came out of formation,
"Attack!"
"Kill! Hahahah,"
"There is the Enemymander! Go!"
The 1,000 rear guards were given a once in a life opportunity tounch a counterattack, as they were able to scythe through the mass of soldiers that outnumbered them literally 20 to 1 like a hot knife through butter.
Up until jsut a few moments ago, these men had basically resigned themselves to death as there was no way a mere 1,000 man rear guard would be able to hold against a force of 20,000 for any appreciable length of time.
A rear guard formation was after all no magical formation that magically protected all fleeing soldiers.
You still needed to man those positions.
And to hold a force of 20,000 you at least needed a couple of thousand men, or even just a defensive terrain like a river.
But now, due to the indiscipline of the legionaries, a great hole was punched so effortlessly into the line that had held for so long, and
"Oh no!" Menes''s own position appeared to be in danger of being overrun.
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Chapter 815 Menes’s Plight (Part-1)
Chapter 815 Menes''s Plight (Part-1)
Seeing the enemy phngites run, the legionaries all madly dashed haphazardly, breaking rank against the explicit orders of their officers and making themselves vulnerable.
An opportunity that the experienced mercenaries from the Kaiser Family of course did not let escape, as they quickly couterattacked, cutting down many lives which could have been easily avoided if only these soldiers had exercised a bit of patience.
And in this, somehow their rtive small size that was up until now a massive hindrance suddenly became a great boon.
Because the thousand men, arranged in 4 units of 250 men were nothing in size whenpared to the 20,000 huge force, meaning whatever damage these bulky, slow units could do, they could only do to a small number of legionaries.
Most of the mad Zanzanians were simply able to bypass the spears by swinging around, not being interested in biting a prey that could fight back, not when there were so many juicy fishes in the sea.
And since this hardened prey could neither cause too much harm due to being so small in numbers, their carnage was never enough to rm the maddened legionaries enough that they came back to their senses and started forming up to deal with this great threat.
Which resulted in the creation of a rare opportunity for the mercenaries, for as Menes''s lines were hollowed out, the sight of the general of the army, dressed in splendid attire standing alongside a huge, eye catching standard denoting where he was standing came into the view of mercenarymander.
He could even roughly make out a path that should never have appeared in the first ce.
But it did.
And instantly a greedy thought ran through that man''s head- ''The enemy has already broken rank and ran. There is no point in us acting as the rear guard.''
''We can either retreat safely¡.Or!''
Eschewing the safe option, thismander, who was the second inmand of the 3,000 strong mercenary unit daydreamed,
''Or I can go after the enemymander. He should at best have a hundred men. I can destroy that paltry force with a single hit.''
''Then¡ if I can get that Lord they call Alexander''s head, heh hehe¡ from the way everyone talks about him sounds like a bigshot.''
''If I can kill him, hahaha¡ that mercenary leader''s position will surely be mine.''
This second inmand of the mercenary group gleefully chuckled in his heart.
To be able to receive the great boon of surviving a near suicidal mission and then subsequently so openly disregard it, choosing to instead again so willingly jump into the fray of battle instead of quitting while ahead, just to kill the enemy leader for glory, one thing that was certainly not missing in this man was ambition, anyone would have to give him that.
But then again, if mercenaries were not brave and ambitious, they would not be mercenaries.
So revealing his ambition to his nearest officers, this second inmand loudly urged,
"Charge men! Charge!"
"If we can kill the enemymander, you lucky bastards will have all the gold, wine, and women you could want for life."
"So what are you waiting for?"
"Attack!"
"Today we will drink from the skull of a true lord haha."
"Fortune favors the brave."
The man''s slogan very well revealed the motto of his life.
And the 1,000 men seemed ready to attack imminently.
While on the opposite side, seeing this approaching formation of doom, Menes''s bodyguards bunched together into a solid, almost impregnable formation before its leader turned to shout at Menes,
"General! Get on your horse and hurry back to the tent. We will hold the men as long as we can. Quick!"
The man sounded very rmed and the reason was very apparent.
Because in the subsequent chaos following the disastrous disintegration of the army, they had been so busy attempting to get back control of the unruly men, Menes''s bodyguards did not simply have the spare capacity to spot these Kaiser mercenaries beeling towards them till the veryst moment.
They did notice that the enemy had set up a rear guard, but rear guards were defensive structures, meant to be almost static formations that slowly retreated.
It wasmon knowledge rear guards did not attack.
So when this one did, like now, it caught the hundred or so menpletely off guard.
The Kaiser mercenaries by luck had been able to seamlessly camouge themselves around the chaotic ocean of men who were running all around and managed to get very close before they were spotted.
So close in fact that it was no longer safe for the hundred or so men to turn around run, as that would mean presenting their defenseless backs to the intimately close phngites.
And then who knew if a lucky arrow strike or javelin hit their general?
A possibility made true far more likely by the fact that the rough ground and the still chaotic battlefield with men running all around meant even on horseback, the speed of these men would not be much different from running or even sprinting.
Hence, the far better option was thought to be that the majority of the bodyguards would sacrifice themselves in a dying action trying to hold 1,000 men, while Menes made the short distance into the safety of the camp.
Under the current circumstances, this did appear to be the most sensible n.
"Bah! Who is leaving? Not this daddy!" But it was also one that Menes unequivocally rejected, as whirling his horse, he loudly ordered,
"Get ready, we will kill as many of these bastards as possible. If the gods have written I will die on this, then they have surely written a lot of men will die with me too Hahahaha."
Menes fearlesslyughed as he equipped his shield andnce, ready to charge.
And it was not like he was putting on a false bravado either, for even as the doom stack of spears made their way towards him, his face only glowed his anticipation and his eyes with zeal.
The man was not afraid of death.
Sure there was a pang of regret that he was most likely going to die from being skewered by the firmly held spears when he charged that tight formation, especially since he had already won the battle and should have been celebrating.
But that was regret and bitterness, not fear.
As a mighty warrior, Menes could confidently say the thing he was not afraid of was death.
And perhaps that was why he did not run even when given the option to.
For if the ck giant had been a bit more cowardly and a bit more selfish, perhaps he would not have been so eager to put himself in danger.
"Haha, how can I escape and leave my brother to die? If we are going to die, we are gonna all die together."
And when some objected to try and convince Menes otherwise, it was this what he said loudly,?boldly cing his horse right in the middle of the very first line, intending to take the full blunt of the attack head on by himself.
And if that were to really happen, no matter how well the man was built, no matter the armor he wore, or how good of a fighter was, there really would be no way of saving the man.
But Menes would rather die than leave all his brothers, these men who had been with him since the original mercenary group.
So resigning himself to death, the mighty, ck warrior put on his mboyant helmet, brought his shield right up to his chest to try and protect it as much as he could, and held hisnce firmly and with steely determination.
Rather than huddle together and defend like a coward, buying time and praying for a miracle, Menes would rather take the fight to the enemy and kill as many as he could before going down in a fiery wrath of glory.
That was Menes''s ideal way to die on the battlefield.
And besides, who knew?
Maybe these men would break upon seeing the charge.
Though in reality, Menes knew perfectly this was not going to happen under any reasonable circumstance.
A heavy cavalry could indeed break formations, but not when it was outnumbered 10 to 1, not when it was traveling through such inhospitable terrain where it would not be able to pick up any real speed in fear of stumbling and destroying the whole formation in the process, and certainly not against a group of highly trained mercenaries.
But hey, a man could dream, right?
It was with these thoughts that Menes lowered hisnce and adjusted the aim for onest time, and as he did, his mind became filled with shes of many memorable experiences of his thirty year old life.
His capture by the vers, the beatings he endured under them, his purchase by Nestoras, the training under Aristotle, the battles he fought, the adventures he had, and finally the faces of that one man- Alexander.
It pained him to think he would not be able to again see him.
''Sigh, I wish I could have been with him a bit longer. Won a few more wars for him.''
*Bang¡. Ahhhhhh*
But Menes''s mournful remembrances were suddenly cut short by a heavy cavalry attack from the back of the mercenaries, by uniforms that Menes actually did not recognize!
Something that caused the men at the frontline to be distracted.
Chapter 816 Menes’s Plight (Part-2)
Chapter 816 Menes''s Plight (Part-2)
Just as Menes was about to charge to his doom by smashing into the Kaiser family mercenaries, he detected a sudden ripple of chaos and fear spread across the tight formation of the unit right in the middle.
And thenrge shouts of panicked confusion followed.
The reason for this was ringly obvious, as Menes could clearly see a group of riders, numbering around thirty, attacking thepletely defenseless backs of the phngites, dealing devastating casualties.
They were all cloaked, foiling any attempts at identification but the way they attacked and fought spoke volumes, for it made it clear to Menes that all these men were all trained warriors of the highest calibers, with many of them even able to match his own prowess.
This level of skillbined with the low numbers made it clear to the ck warrior that these were no regr soldiers but an elite unit, most likely bodyguards or perhaps frighteningly, assassins!
But whichever group they belonged to, for now, it seemed they were on his side and they had presented him with a great opportunity.
For they had disrupted the tight formation!
"Attack!"
And there was no way the experienced Menes was going to let that chance go.
So willing his horse the bulky general himself led the force immediately on a fierce counterattack, smashing into the panicked infantry with deadly force, and iming many lives.
And then started to engage in a deadly hand to hand melee.
Due to the efforts of the unknown ally, Menes did not have to charge his heavy cavalry with hisnce through the rough terrain in a risky move, but could insteadmit to a far more convenient skirmishing battle.
Here the trained men on horsemen used their height advantage to wield their spears and swords expertly, stealthily navigating them around the phngites'' shield to reap many lives, while using their own shield and sometimes simply their heavy armor to negate many deadly jabs.
Menes had divided his 112 men in a sort of square formation, with three rows of 16 men, totaling 50 on the front, and 31 men on each side, arranged in two rows consisting of 16 or 15 men, with the back being left open.
In this way, even if the adjacent phnx units tried to swing around to attack Menes''s nk, the general would have some sort of protection.
Although this would likely not be enough to defeat the enemy, Menes hoped that he would be able to inflict enough casualties to make these men retreat.
After all, all 112 men under him were willing to die.
Were the 1,000 mercenaries willing to do the same just to make theirmander the mercenary leader?
Menes would put his money on - Not.
So the general fought on, even though his tired body tried for respite, as he kept telling himself that the enemy must break before he did, that he would be not allowed to fail, and that he must live on.
It seemed that having escaped such a close encounter with death, the man had gained a new sense of appreciation for life as his nice house, his nice clothes, his nice food, and even his nice ves came to his mind.
So Menes was eager to keep on fighting.
But while Menes and his men were filled with fighting zeal, many of the attacking phngites, hearing themotion at the back panicked!
They thought they were being attacked by that 2,000 nking force that they had spotted earlier, and assumed that the war elephant charge had failed.
And this sort of thought was very natural, as that was the most logical answer.
And determining anything else was very hard given the nature of their formation made it very hard for the phngites to turn and look back.
Thus two of the four units decided to cut their losses and run.
While the other two stayed, being the most loyal of the men to the mercenarymander, as well as being baited by the fact that their prize was literally in front of them, just a mere sword stab away.
Menes was after all valiantly fighting on the very first echelon, swinging his massive greatsword to not just sh his enemies, but literally smash many bones using the sheer force of impact.
If these men could get lucky and get a good hit on the man, all their sacrifices would have been worth it.
It was with these thoughts that these men kept on fighting.
But soon their condition became even worse, as the 2,000 men under Remus did eventuallye to join the fray,pletely enveloping the five hundred desperadoes within minutes and just after a few hits from them, all the ambitions of the 500 were turned to dust, as they fled chaotically into the open ground to be cut downter orid dead on the ground, underneath a pool of their own blood, fear, and regret etched on many''s faces.
At thest moments of their life, many did bitterly think back on their folly, wishing they had taken the chance to retreat when the heavens had allowed them to.
"Sorry, Menes, we werete." But such emotions were of no concern to the leader of the 2,000 who had helped end the battle, as Remus quickly walked up to the general issuing this apology, addressing the man casually by force of habit.
And then the boy quickly exined why it had taken him so.
"Captain! Look! The General! He is being attacked! He is in trouble!"
As Remus wasing to hit Perseus on the back, heid witness to the enemy lines disintegrating before he could there, which left him feeling both joyous at the result but also a bit regretful that there was no glory left for him.
So, seeing there was no battle to be had, tasked his contingent to meet up with the general as indicated by the huge blue colored standard that denoted his position.
But as the group approached the ce, they were equally stunned and horrified to see a thin line of blue about to be imminently assaulted by an overwhelming tide of red, with the blue clearly being their entire centralmand.
Hence Piseus''s rmed call to Remus.
"Hurry! We need to hurry!'' And Remus''smand was expected, as then breaking Alexander''s protocol of themander always staying at the back, Remus instead brought his horse right to the frontlines, intending to personally lead the rescue.
*Trumpet*! *Trumpet*! *Trumpet*!
But the distinct roars of a certain beast that Remus had gotten very used to hearing defeated that endeavor even before it could start.
For almost at the same instant he had given themand, this deadly re pierced his ear, and then looking around, Remus found both his left and right side were nketed by a screen of pitch ck darkness!
Yes, the head mahout of the elephants was a very clever guy and upon getting Manuk''s order, instead of directly facing Remus head on and putting his elephants under the threat of javelin and spear throws, he had instead opted to split his forces in two and swung around to hit Remus on the nks!
This way, because the legionaries were concentrating on looking straight ahead failed to spot these massive beasts until they were near enough to smell.
And by that point, there was no time to counter these deadly charging behemoths.
"Scatter!"
"Scatter!"
"Scatter!"
So Remus only had the state of mind to shout this single word as the great white tusks of the beasts appeared to be just about to skewer his men, while arrow fire rained from the archers ced above.
*Trumpet!* *Trumpet!* *Trumpet!*
The maddened beasts roared like the devil as they crashed straight into the underbelly of Remus''s formations, and destroyed it like fragile ss, causing the men to panic and run,
"Run!"
"Get away!"
"Shield from the arrows!"
"Save me!"
At that moment, the 2,000 strong force had turned into 2,000 panicking mob, as Remus lost control of most of his forces.
And if Perseus was there to see this he would have probably died from a heart burn out of regret.
For the entire retreat had been predicted on the
And if he had managed to think of this strategy and could predict the result of the charge, perhaps the battle would have been very different indeed.
But fortunately for Menes, that did not happen.
Though then again, it could be argued that without the lines breaking, the battlefield would not be so chaotic, and Remus would have been able to spot these huge four legged titans from miles away.
So perhaps he would not be caught off guard like he was.
But such ifs and buts could only be relegated to theory crafters.
For now though, with Remus''s forces scattered, the elephants did not actually choose to stay and fight, trying to rake up the kills.
The head mahoot knew his limits and having disrupted the enemy formation and bought time for the king to make his escape, he could confidently say he had done his job.
Now, it was time to exit the battlefield while he still could, for he did not wish to share the fate of that mercenarymander.
This let Remus quickly gather his shaken but not wounded force and finallye to Menes''s rescue.
And with that mystery solved, Menes turned to face the other group who had handed him a crucial hand in his time of need, wondering about their origins.
Chapter 817 Menes And Manuk (Part-1)
Chapter 817 Menes And Manuk (Part-1)
With the mahouts quickly leaving the field to save their own skin, the soldiers under Remus did not have to run far to escape the sudden attack.
As a matter of fact, the attack dissipated almost as suddenly as it came, causing much chaos in Remus''s ranks but surprisingly few casualties- only a few wounded by arrow fire and exactly seven trampled to death by elephants.
The total death from this attack would be less than twenty.
Thus, suffering only surface level damage to his forces, the captain of the contingent was fortunately able to quickly regain control of the 2,000 men and reform the lines, before finallying to Menes''s rescue, killing almost all of the 500 men that they had found.
Remus''s narration helped solve that mystery for Menes, and so following that, he turned to solve the other one, as he turned to face the other group who had handed him a crucial hand in his time of need, wondering about their origins.
They had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and given him a hand that quite possibly contributed very heavily to him still breathing.
So Menes had many guesses float through his mind as to their origin.
''A rebel faction under a noble who wanted to help me?''
''A rebellious part of the army?''
''Group of opportunistic men wishing to earn my favor by this?''
''Some kind of reinforcement from Alexander that I don''t know about?''
Menes''s eyes probed the nondescript men as he tried to discern their origin and motives.
While those men stood in a double line formation, respectfully keeping a distance of twenty meters between the two parties, not wishing to provoke any negative response from the opposite party, and seemingly content to silently wait without uttering a single word.
Until Manuk, who had been till now hiding in the back, finally stepped forward in his horse and taking off his Corinthian type helmet greeted Menes in a jovial, familiar tone,
"Esteemed Commander of Zanzan, my name is Manuk! I serve as the Head Priest to His Majesty Amenheraft, the True Ruler of Adhania."
"I havee bearing message for Your Lord, Ruler of the City of Zanzan."
"Please take me to see him."
The bald priest loudly pronounced.
As many of you could have guessed that group of thirty men was indeed all of Manuk''s personal retinue, consisting of seven bodyguards and twenty three servants and helpers, who were no slouches in thebat department either.
And as to why Manuk had attacked forces friendly to Perseus and helped Menes live, well again it was due to self interest.
Given his devastating falling out with Perseus, the man feared that the enraged king might very well send assassins and hunting parties after him the moment he got the chance, and for just thirty men to survive the pursuit of hundreds of expert hunters in this unknownnd that they knew nothing of, with no knowledge of where to go and with not a lick of supplies, well it was basically impossible.
And the solution that Manuk came up with was surprisingly simple: Just join the opposite side and seek their protection!
As for how, well you heard the man- By pretending to be an envoy from Amenheraft.
Well, not exactly ''pretending'' since the word had a negative connotation.
It was not like Manuk was a fake, he had all the seals and paper to prove he indeed was who he said he was.
It was just that he was an envoy from Amenheraft visiting Perseus, not Alexander.
But the archpriest was confident he would be able to easily twist the fine details to fit the narrative.
As for saving Menes, well Manuk feared that if the opposingmander were to die, well then who was he going to seek protection from?
The entire camp would be in disarray and then who knows what could happen.
Manuk did not want to gamble his life so casually.
Besides he knew that with just this little extra bit of work, he would be able to raise quite a bit of his favorability with the opposite side.
Hence the move.
"Manuk?" At the ''stranger''s'' introduction, Menes produced a questioning tone, as his brows furrowed.
He felt he had heard the name before somewhere, but was not able to quite pinpoint it, causing him to rake his mind.
Of course as Amenheraft''s right hand man, Manuk''s name hade up one or twice during Alexander''s council meetings, but Menes, having never personally interacted with the man, had simply forgotten.
Besides, he was very tired and Manuk should have no business being here.
So he found it hard to associate the man in front of him with that true bigshot of Adhania.
"It is Pasha of Zanzan- Alexander. Get your honorifics right." While Remus was more concerned about how Manuk had addressed Alexander-?which was simply just a ruler of Zanzan city, not of the entire province and red at the man for his rudeness.
"Hahaha, His Majesty has never recognized that title. Thus, as his envoy, it will be inappropriate for me to address Lord Alexander as such. My apologies." To which Manuk gave this standard answer with a polite chuckle, while at the same time, he put his hand inside his robe, and bringing out a silverrge seal, he shed it before Menes,
"Here is my proof!"
This was referring to his identity, and on the seal, it was written the following:
''By the power of The Son of The Eternal Ramuh, this is an order of the Sovereign.''
''Whoever does not show respect to the bearer will be guilty of bringing gue, war, and famine on hisnds.''
''Be Aware!''
Menes did not need to see the seal to be convinced that this Manuk was indeed a messenger from Amenheraft.
For the moment he heard the retort to Remus''s im, he knew this man was not a nobody.
The friction between Alexander''s official title was known mostly to high level members of the court.
Thus instead Menes found his eyes drawn to that inscription on the seal, and could not help but taunt Manuk after reading it with a sneer,
"Quite domineering. Wish your king really had that power. Heh!"
Of course, since they were on the opposite side of the civil war, the mockery came naturally.
To which Manuk wanted to reply, ''Well then you and everyone else around here would be already dead. Like you would be if I had not saved you. So why don''t you show a bit of gratitude?''
But the head priest of course endured.
It was Menes who currently held all the cards and Manuk knew no matter his contribution, he could not rile up the opposite party.
So treating like he did not hear that insult, Manuk in a pretending urgent voice pronounced, "Where is His Lordship Alexander? I havee a long way bearing important news from my liege. It is vital that I deliver the message as soon as possible."
"Is he inside the camp?"
Manuk then pointed to therge camp at the foot of the hill.
And there was a reason for the man''s eagerness, for the faster he could meet Alexander, the faster he could officialize his status as an envoy and the quicker he would be safe.
For once recognized as Amenheraft''s envoy, it would make him totally immune to any hostilities, as guaranteed by the convention regarding messengers of the time.
And killing him would turn every neutral and even many allies nobles against Alexander, for such strict were the customs of the time in Adhania.
But for every second he dallied amongst these men, well what if these men suddenly thought Manuk was a fraud and cut him down?
Manuk even wondered if any of these ''barbarians'' as he liked to call Alexander''s men knew of the convention.
So they might just kill him out of ignorance.
Manuk was not willing to take that chance, for even if the mistake was realizedter, even if they were punished, well Manuk would still be dead.
What use would justice be to him?
So Manuk was eager to meet the man whom he was sure would know of the consequences and act ordingly.
"Lord Alexander is not here. Why do you suppose he is?" But much to his astonishment, thatrge, well built ck figure replied such, his eyes narrowed in caution.
"He is not here?" And hearing so the surprise this time on Manuk''s face was real, as he then quickly added,
"We heard the vigers say that an army is heading to attack the capital. Is it not this army? Is Lord Alexander not leading you?"
Manuk''s voice was truly inquisitive.
"We are indeed going to attack the capital. But the Lord is not with us, He is in Thesalie. I''m sorry to say that''s almost 500 km that way," Menes pointed to his right, though he did not sound at all sorry.
In fact, his tone was almost gloating at learning of Manuk''s mistake.
After all, they were ultimately enemies who were only under a truce, so there was no need to be too courteous to them.
Though unknown to him, Manuk too was ted to hear this, for that solved a lot of his problems too!
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Chapter 818 Menes And Manuk (Part-2)
Chapter 818 Menes And Manuk (Part-2)
"How can that be?" To Menes''s ''grave'' news, Manuk outwardly sounded rmed and even crestfallen.
But internally, he was ted.
Because being able to avoid this encounter was actually a veryrge boon for him.
For this way, Manuk would not have to reallye up with whatever message he had originally wanted to make up.
He would not need to even see Alexander. as upon learning of the news of the absence, putting on a long face, Manuk proposed,
"Lord General, the message I carry with me is really important. I must see Lord Alexander as soon as possible. Would it be possible for me to hire 10 of your men to escort us to Thesalie? I''m afraid we do not know the way."
The man of course had no intention of really meeting Alexander, for there was no need to.
He wanted these men only to lead him too close to Thesalie, which stood at the very edge of the borders.
And once there, he could make his way to friendly territories on his own.
But if he were to go on his, well, 30 well armed men drew too much unwanted attention.
So to avoid that, upon making his request, without giving Menes a chance to respond, Manuk immediately put his hand inside his satchel and brought out a small pouch, "Of course I will pay. Here."
*ng*, *ng*, *ng*
As he said so, ten small, very thin gold bars popped into his palms, glittering under the afternoon sun, and sending dazzling sparkles.
Each of these bars was custom made by Manuk and weighed 10 grams.
This was a little trick the priest had picked up over the course of his life when he was sent as an envoy to various parts of the country.
He had found that during travel many small inconveniences such as harassment from city guards or small officials could be easily solved with gold and bribes.
And while gold coins usually did the trick, sometimesrger amounts of ''oil'' were needed to grease the wheel.
But carrying a lot of coins was bulky, so Manuk came up with carrying pure gold in small denominations like this.
With gold going at 50,000 ropals a kg, each of these 10 g chips was worth around 500 ropals, more than three months of a peasant''s earnings.
And Manuk here was offering 10 of them for the service of 10 men!
Just to escort them to a ce that would at best take three weeks even if they really took their time.
A killer deal to say the least!
"What is the message?" But before epting the rich payment, Menes posed, appearing curious, for he too was a member of the council.
''Since Amenheraft has sent his men, it probably has to do with Tibias right? What does he want?'' Menes was intrigued.
"I''m afraid my instructions were clear, General." But Manuk very deftly declined to answer.
''What message? Even I don''t know the message,'' While internally he sniggered so.
To the rejection, Menes did not seem perturbed, for he expected much, and felt like whatever Amenheraft wanted, it was better felt to the much smarter Alexander.
Thus ultimately epting the payment, he nodded and replied,
"We will arrange a boat for you. It will be quicker to reach the city through the RIver Diannu. You should prepare to load your supplies."
Since Manuk had informed him the message was of quite an importance, Menes wanted to arrange for him to arrive at Thesalie within the quickest time.
"Ah!" And at the mention of the supplies, Manuk produced a very convincing troubled face, delineating,
"General, you see¡ we have run into some troubles with our supplies. Our ship ran into a storm and ran aground, losing much of our supplies."
Following so the priest turned to look at Menes with pleading eyes,
"I know that your camp supplies are limited. But would it be possible to part with some?"
"Of course we will pay."
Fearing Menes''s rejection, the man quickly produced another pouch of simr value- 5,000 ropals.
It had to be known that it usually took only 2 ropals a day to feed a man.
So thirty of them would need 60 ropals of food every day.
And here Manuk was offering 3 months of pay for a journey by boat that would take at best a week, as a show of sincerity.
As for just how genuine his true feelings were, well almost everything he told Menes was bullshit, but his need for the supplies was indeed real.
Everything he had brought was left at PR''s camp, and that had been already raided by the legionaries.
Manuk had already written everything there off.
To Manuk''s offer of rumination, Menes casually waved his hand and in a sudden grateful tone, pronounced, "Keep it. Take it as a token of gratitude for saving my life."
And then quickly turning to Remus to avoid looking at Manuk''s surprised face, hemanded,
"Remus, I put you in charge of arranging everything for them."
"Make sure to do it within today. The message he carries should be very important."
"I''m going back to the tent."
And with that dumped on that the head of his subordinate, Menes was out, but not before hearing this chucklee out of Manuk,
"Hahaha, Lord General is truly a sincere man of virtue."
While Remus hearing all this extra workload blurted, "I¡," before trailing off.
He knew that since Menes had given the order personally, he was militarily obliged to carry it out unless he wanted to risk being court martialed, and he had to follow it no matter how tired or exhausted he was.
And with a rueful shake of the head, he then went to process everything for Manuk.
The Sissillpond Ridge they were in was half a day''s ride from the banks of River Diannu, and given that the battle had started literally at dawn, it was only approaching midday by now.
So quickly having a short meal at Menes''s camp, the group of now forty men were hastily on their way, riding on fresh horses that Menes had gifted them.
Officially- they were given so that Manuk would deliver his message faster.
But non officially- it was really a show of gratitude for saving his life.
Because they were on opposite sides, Menes was unable to show such goodwill too openly, and thus the employment of such covert tactics.
Hence, using these prime stallions imported directly from Pasha Farzah''s province of Matrak, the men were able to reach a small town situated on the banks of the Diannu that was currently being used as a major supply hub for Menes''s army just before dusk.
The group spent the night in the town, for they were exhausted by the long ride, and boats did not sail during the night.
And it was only in the morning that by using Remus''s authority, Manuk was able to finally get fiverge boats, enough to transport them and their much bigger horses.
Though even that endeavor was not easy, but not for the reasons you might think.
The reason why Manuk had trouble finding suitable boats was because given this town was the main supply hub for the food and ammunition such as pis and arrows for 30,000 men, there were so many boats that were literally traffic jams, as vesselsden with goods from Thesalie lined up one after another to unload their cargo.
But ultimately the forty men were indeed able to board and make their way towards Thesalie.
But they would never reach it!
For remember, Manuk had no intention of going to Thesalie.
Thus, once the boats were around half a day''s distance from the city, Manuk called all his men onto his boat and informed them that that night, they would be given a particr light signal through the oilmps.
And at that point, all of them were to kill the 10 men and 15 sailors scattered across the five boats.
And that was exactly what happened.
Those poor 25 men did not have the slightest idea what wasing, and even as their throats were slit literally in the middle of their sleep, they could not grasp what had happened, but less why it did.
Theplete unexpectedness of the attack and the fact that the 25 were scattered in various parts of the 5 boats made them easy picking for the grouped together band of determined killers, as they were able to strike from the shadow stealthily against these isted targets and take them out one by one.
And once they had done so, able to kill everyone without raising any rm or letting them escape by jumping into the water, they waited till the morning to moor their boats on the shores of a nearby secluded part of the forest, and taking the forty, exquisite horse breeds as their prize, the men set fire to the boats and the bodies witing before simply leaving!
"Hahaha, to be able to get such prime horses. This trip was not aplete waste."
"Yes. That ck idiot is really something haha."
"I was getting a bit worried back then. But everything worked out better than I expected. Praise Ramuh."
And as the men galloped through the woods on their new prizes, such were their conversation.
Mocking Menes for showing gratitude.
And these were supposed to be priests of a god.
Howmentable!
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Chapter 819 War Casualties for Menes
Chapter 819 War Casualties for Menes
The value of the gift Menes had given Manuk was truly immense.
Just a normal horse in Adhania was worth 800 to 1,000 ropals, a good, strong workhorse like the one given to Manuk went for 3,00 to 5,000 while a specialized war horse could go as far as 10,000 ropals.
So when Manuk stole all of them, they not only managed to recoup all their losses but even made a healthy profit.
Forget counting the lesser boons like the supplies and the free boat ride.
Menes lost all of that.
As for feeling even a tab bit sorry for doing all this, well of course they weren''t.
If Manuk could have gotten away with it, he would have very much liked to kill even Menes, knowing that he must be a capable retainer under Alexander.
As for qualities of virtue, sincerity, and honesty that a priest should have, never mind the Archpriest-
Joke! These infidels deserved nothing but to be burnt at the stake.
It was with such xenophobic thoughts that Manuk crossed Tibias into the Zanzan province and was able to quickly enter friendly allied territories.
While back at the Sissillpond Ridge, Menes, never even having such a thought cross his mind, was instead busy preparing his men to finally attack the capital.
And to that endeavor, currently, he was inside his tent listening to Remus''s report.
"In this battle, we lost around nine hundred, 900 dead! Almost all on the side, youmanded."
"With around seven hundred 700 more wounded." The young captain had a grim undertone to his voice as he pronounced these numbers from a paper, for they were trulyrge given they were the victors!
Casualties duringbat in formations rarely exceeded two to three percent, whereas here, given there were 30,000 men, that number reached more than five percent!
About double!
And understanding this, Menes first revealed shock and then a somber countenance, while Remus continued,
"We found around 700 bodies right where the battle lines youmanded were, all with clear spear wounds on them."
"They had been killed in battle."
"But another two hundred, 200 men were found scattered all across the ridge, particrly the left side. They were likely killed when the men broke rank and started to chase the running enemy and were counterattacked by the rear guard. *Sigh*, what a waste!" Remus sounded very bitter at the needless loss as evidenced by the shaking of his head, and then quickly finished that page of the report by saying,
"The number of deaths around General Melodias''s side was almost negligible. But he did suffer a few wounded during his own chase and quite more so while breaching the enemy camp."
"The good news is that the doctors at the clinic said that most of the wounded will be able to rejoin the army. At most 200 will be lost, with most losing their thumbs."
"....." Hearing Remus finish and then stand quietly in attention, Menes took the time to think about the numbers, and as time passed, his somber, cid face slowly started to frown and turn angry.
"Those 700 men fought bravely and deserve to be heroes. They fought for hours and never took a step back. I praise them" Menes began with a deep voice but then his voice turned enraged,
"But those 200!"
"Idiots! It''s good that they died. Or else I would have hung them for insubordination."
Perhaps more than the number lost, what really stunk Menes was how they were lost and at how quick of a pace.
It had taken hours for the 700 men to be killed, while the 200 were lost in less than one third of that.
All because they refused to follow simple orders.
Thus, following this venting, Menes''s voice then turned serious as he decreed,
"This is the second time the soldiers have disobeyed direct orders from their officers to go after loot."
The first was?of course during the fight with Lord Ponticus, as he then continued,
"This cannot be allowed to continue. We must show there will be consequences for disobeying militarymands."
Saying so Menes''s eyes shed dangerously causing Remus to be cautious.
"What would you like to do?" He probed.
"Confiscate all the loot the soldiers have taken in this battle. All the gold, jewelry, wine, and ves. Everything! That will teach them." Menes loudly proimed.
"What!" And hearing such a drastic move, Remus cried out in rm, instinctively blurting out, "Menes, that''s too extreme! We can''t punish the entire army! The soldiers will surely rebel!"
Such was his shock that Remus forgot to address Menes by his title and indeed, his objection was justified.
For almost the entire army had engaged in that looting, and as the saying went- ''It''s not a crime if everyone is doing it.''
So Remus tried to reason with Menes,
"General, if a small group is punished, it sets an example for others to follow. But if everyone is punished, well then it just makes everybody angry." Remus recited philosophically, and then pleaded,
"Please think of another disciplinary method."
And being reminded of this, the tall general indeed felt a bit taken aback.
Remus was right, he could not do that.
Punishing every single armed to the teeth men was very dangerous.
He had heard therge number of troops he had lost and let his emotions get the better of him.
"Okay, then make it one tenth!" So Menes immediately decreased the punishment by ten times.
But this number had the opposite problem, as Remus felt it was too low.
And he could sense that Menes was having troubleing up with the optimum level of punishment that delivered enough spice to remain fresh in the soldiers'' psyche even during the frantic frenzy of a battle, but not so much that they held permanent resentment for the highmand till they died.
There had to be a delicate bnce and Remus let Menes know this.
"If we only take that little, it will not be too effective. The men will mourn for a while, but when the opportunityes, they will forget it altogether." Remus imed by pointing his finger, reasoning,
"Because even if they lose the one tenth, they will still have nine tenths left. To be able tomit insubordination by simply giving such a palty sum, everyone will find itpletely worth it."
"And such a thing will continue to happen." Remus hypotheised in a sure tone.
So, to that, in a furrowed tone, Menes then posed, "So how much should we take? Half?"
Shake, shake.
cing a knowing smile on his face, Remus shook his head to the query, and then in an almost lecturing tone replied,
"Recall that I told just a few moments ago, General- ''If a small group is punished, it sets an example for others to follow. But if everyone is punished, well then it just makes everybody angry''."
"So instead of punishing everybody equally, I propose that we make examples out of a few scapegoats." Remus''s voice by now sounded very pleased with himself, delineating,
"We should choose one random soldier from each of the eight men squad ( Squad- 8 soldiers, 2 servants) and take three fourth of his loot."
"So in essence only punish one tenth of the army."
"That way, there will be much much resentment."
"And we should also supplement this by clearly exining to the whole army why we are punishing them."
"The 200 deaths should be made to look irreceable like we lost 2,000¡ no 20,000 men!"
"If we do it that way, the men will not only feel the material loss but also remember the loss of life that they inadvertently caused."
"That! I believe will be a good punishment!"
As Remus finished by clenching his fist, he sounded joyous.
While Menes first of all was surprised and shocked as he whispered, "That¡" before trailing off.
He certainly did not disapprove of the method.
In fact he was very impressed by it.
It was just that he was overwhelmed by how Remus was able toe up with this great method on the spot, when he, the far more experienced of the two could not.
It wounded his pride a bit.
"Also¡" While, Remus, seeing Menes''s look of appreciation, decided to add more, as he was not yet done.
"When we attack the capital, we can punish some of the squad leaders and sergeants (100 man team leader) by ordering them to guard the camp and thus not let them take part in the looting."
"This will certainly stay with them far more than any beating or whatnot and remind them to drill much more discipline into their subordinates."
"Great!" As soon as Remus finished, Menes let out his great cheer, as he then delegated with arge, happy smile blooming on his face.
"Then I will leave it to you. And do not worry, I will be sure Alexander knows about your contribution." Menes further added in a reassuring tone, cating any worries that Remus might have about Menes stealing credit.
"Hahaha," And Remus did not reject only proudly chuckling.
While as a throwawayment Menes frankly added this, "Mmmnn, I can see you truly live up to being Alexander''s student. I really am no match, haha."
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Chapter 820 Thesalie After Six Months (Part-1)
Chapter 820 Thesalie After Six Months (Part-1)
Remus had joined Nestoras''s group around the age of 14 and it was Alexander who had shown the boy the ropes, taking him under his tutge and teaching him the various skills needed for the job.
And it was a status that stuck even five, almost six yearster.
"Haha, do not be too humble yourself, Menes," To Menes''s wholehearted praise, Remus chuckled politely, replying,
"I heard the men singing about your bravery too. How you stood at the very front lines fighting side by side without a care for your life."
"If it was Alexander, he would have surely run, hahaha." Remus jokingly chortled with a nasal groan.
But Menes did not certainly find it even the least bit funny.
"*Bang!* Who said that!" He boomed, smashing his enormous fist into the hard oak table and
destroying the amicable atmosphere with a thundering roar and unending fury.
"...." Add Remus immediately mped his mouth shut.
"Who said that!" Seeing the other side go quiet, Menes again boomed, this time sounding even more engaged.
"It was nothing. Just drunk men talking. They did not mean anything by it." Remus instinctively blurted out, quickly waving his hand to demonstrate the triviality of it.
"Who said that!" But Menes only shouted this, bloodthirstily searching for a name.
"It¡ I forget! I was drinking with Melodias and everyone and I can''t remember!" Remus felt it would be really no good to reveal any names, for that person''s sake.
So he brought up Melodias and indicated the presence of other high level officers in the midst as he lied.
That way Menes would not dare to do anything to do them.
At best, he would tattle to Alexander about this.
But during all this time, Remus could not figure out what he had said to engage the usually amicable man so much.
While Menes, hearing Remus''s answer finally ceased his outburst and leaned back on his chair, but the man was still smoldering.
Tap, Tap, Tap.
And then Menes in a grim but monotone voice revealed, "Alexander is not me. He cannot be allowed to face any risk that endangers his life."
"Because if I die, there will be many recements. But if he dies¡.. everything we have will fall apart."
And that was when Remus was enlightened to the reason behind Menes''s rage.
"You fear that if these soldiers talk like this, Alexander will be pushed into fighting more and more in the frontlines to earn the soldiers'' trust." Remus pointed out.
"Yes." Menes heavily nodded, "That''s why I want the names."
"..." Facing Menes''s cid re, the cogs in Remus''s head started spinning.
Of course, he could reveal some names.
But he feared what Menes might do to them.
Especially given some of them were among the 112 men that served him.
So Remus cleverly posed, "Let me handle this with the other punishment too. I promise they will not speak like this ever. Not even when they are drunk."
".....Mnnn," And to this Menes curtly nodded, before dismissing the man.
Alexander would be informed of the result of the battle not on that very day but the day after, at around midday.
The reason for this almost 24 hour dy was because Menes had dispatched the messenger bird at only around midday after the battle was over.
And dusk had fallen before the bird could cover the nearly 500 kilometer journey.
So the little animal took refuge on a tree branch for the night, which was a good thing because at around dawn, just as it was about to set off, a torrential rainfall with almost gale force winds soon hit the area, one thatsted for hours.
Thus, it was only after the weather had cleared that the small bird was able to cover thest leg of the journey.
And around the time the messagended on the coup, Alexander was apanying a guest in his room- Lady Felicia.
The duo sat around a very small table, with a basket of various assortments of fruits such as pears, figs, grapes, cherries, nuts, etc. ced at the center of it, along with a wine jar and two ornate goblets.
The pair''s eyes were not directed at each other, but towards therge open balcony, for there were five children ying there, apanied by various toys.
The biggest one there was Alexander''s official mistress- Fabiyana, who today wore a deep blue full piece frock, and seemed to be acting as the leader of the group, asking everyone to follow her example as well as showing Alexander''s two girls and two boys how to y with the various toys.
Among these paraphernalia were wooden toys like horses and chariots, wooden and wollen dolls of various shapes and sizes as well as beautifully colored blocks with slotted carvings that could fit together like a puzzle.
And that was the five were mainly ying with, trying to build a tower as high as possible without crashing it.
Overseeing them were two middle aged nannies, making sure none of them got hurt or into any fights.
Something that the two 1 year old brothers and sisters, Afsan and Ophenia seemed very eager to engage in but was mostly prevented by the muchrger Fabiyana.
"Please ept my sincerest gratitude my lord. Even since Fabiyana starteding here, she has been so much happier." Gazing at her giggling daughter ying in the sunlight, Lady Felicia sitting inside the room expressed this in a very sincere motherly tone, adding,
"Even since she was little, without any brother or sister to y with she had been very lonely. But now, every day when she returns home, all she talks about is you and Alexandria and all the things that had happened that day."
"Even I have not seen her smile like this ever." Thedy, dressed in a pure white frock with a caramel shawl draped over her upper torso smiled at Alexander saying so.
"That''s good." And Alexander lightly nodded, before adding with a joking smirk, "Though looking at her Fabiyana like this makes her feel more like my daughter than my bride, wouldn''t you say, Lady Felicia, hmm?" He hummed.
"...." To this, the raven haireddy first produced an awkward smile, but then quickly blurted, "My lord¡.. Fabiyana¡ Fabiyana is just a bit immature. I''m sure she will quickly grow up to meet your liking."
She was afraid Alexander might not favor Fabiyana anymore.
But it was only at that point that she noticed that there was a teasing undertone to Alexander''s voice and she froze for a moment.
Before quickly recovering herself and lightly chucking, "But then again, perhaps my lord prefers her like that. I heard you asked Fabiyana to call you big brother."
Lady Felicia''s beautiful eyes narrowed as she delivered this wagging jibe.
"Hahaha, well hearing her call me Lord Husband sounded too sinful. So I tricked her by saying that all the others call me husband, but because I favor her so much, I will let her call me big brother, hahaha." Alexander very amicably revealed the process, while internally musing, ''At least I did not make her call me Oni chan. That really would have been too degenerate.''
"Yes, Fabiyana told me."
"Aiya! To think my daughter would be tricked like this by her own husband. Ohhh¡ as a mother I can''t help but worry." And hearing so Lady Felicia exaggeratedly reacted so, yfully smacking her forehead with her palm and ruefully shaking it.
The two were not really discussing anything important but simply bantering.
Until now that is, as Alexander''s tone suddenly turned a bit more strong and serious,
"How is the city doing? How are the people? Has trading in the city started to pick up? Have the projects I wanted started ?" Alexander took a sip of the sweet wine as he posed so.
"The city is recovering rapidly my lord, all thanks to you." And at the question, Lady Felicia bolted up straight, wiping away the leisurely air.
This was the real reason why she was invited to the room and she tried to be as professional as possible when questioned regarding this, as she delineated,
"The city has been mostly rebuilt, my lord. The men and money you have provided proved crucial and it was only because so that we able toplete that endeavor during the winter."
"That really helped the people given the cold winter we had. If not for you, a lot of them would have died."
"All of us here in the city are very grateful for that." Saying so, Lady Felicia shortly bowed, while pulling a light smile.
Before continuing,
"The people are also mostly happy. The money and food that you gave them really helped change people''s perception, and because you let them continue to worship their ancestors, many would be agitators found themselves without much support."
"Oh?" And it was at this point, that Alexander decided to interject with a surprised hum, "Weren''t the people angry that I reced their ancestor status with an idol of my own?"
This of course referred to that impromptu assassination attempt at the main temple and the subsequent demand.
"Hahaha, no." To which Lady Felicia gave a kind of forced hollow chuckle like she was hiding something.
And this caused Alexander''s eyes to narrow.
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Chapter 821 Thesalie After Six Months (Part-2)
Chapter 821 Thesalie After Six Months (Part-2)
In keeping with her desire, Alexander had granted Lady Felicia the chance to showcase her ability in administering Thesalie by letting her oversee many of its day to day operations for thest six months.
And he had asked to meet her basically to do an evaluation report of her.
"Is there any problem with the temples?" Hearing Lady Felicia''s evasive reply, Alexander asked for rification, leaning a bit forward.
"It''s¡ nothing." And Lady Felicia again gave the same reply, shaking her head to emphasize the point.
"If it''s nothing, then don''t mention it."
And seeing this Alexander seemingly did not push thedy as he waved his hand, but then added with narrowed eyes, "However if it is something and it turns out you cannot handle it¡it will be your neck."
"So do not hide anything from me and regret itter Felicia!"
Alexander sounded very domineering.
And facing his ultimatum, Lady Felicia decided the little matter was not worth concealing, quickly speaking out, "A few weeks ago, some of the priests along with a small mob protested in the main temple, welding sticks and damage wanting to demolish Estemmed Goddess Gaia''s statue."
"But the temple guards and city militia quickly stopped them."
"No one was killed."
Lady Felicia did not want to reveal this previously because any such event reflected poorly on her management of the city.
And she really wanted to rule it.
"...Hmmm," And hearing of this disturbance, Alexander only lightly hummed and nodded.
He had not received any such news from neither Ophenia nor the Gaia priests who had begun to preach in the city, meaning the news was likely suppressed and was not deemed important enough to grace his ears.
Besides, he had busily around the time frame Lady Felicia mentioned, carving up his spoils among his retains and cementing his control over much of thend.
"Did it happen only once?" So Alexander wanted to confirm that it was a one time thing.
"Yes! Only once my lord. We have already captured all the leaders. There will never be anything like this." Lady Felicia was quick to nod her head like a chicken, further reassuring Alexander,
"Most of the people do not care much about the statues my lord. We have made sure to let them know why it was done and the six priests were made an example of."
"And the gold we gave to the various priests made them all shut up."
"Thesest men were just the few remaining dregs." Lady Felicia sounded disdainful, but her bodynguage made it clear that she was trying very hard to show Alexander that she waspetent enough to hold the post.
"Okay. I understand." And Alexander nodded so,menting in a gentle tone, "This type of resistance is to be expected in the first few months."
"It will all be over once I take the capital and they understand there is no point in resisting."
"Yes, yes. I''m sure the people will soon understand how benevolent of a lord you are." Lady Felicia of course had every incentive to agree with Alexander, as she then revealed,
"Trade andmerce in the city are also starting to pick up. Merchants and peddlers are starting to return and the various goods your territory makes have started to flow here. The new sugar and the various cheap iron utensils have been especially arge hit."
"Just the sales tax of this month came to more than 1 million ropals. I felt like I was dreaming when I first got the numbers, haha." As Lady Felicia said so, her voice turned high pitched and excited, while her face revealed an absent minded ethereal glow.
This was an amount of money that seemed almost magical even to her and it was clear she was moved.
''1 million in a month¡ 12 million in a year¡ Just from selling two things¡ And this when the city is not even recovered¡.''
Lady Felicia would asionally mutter these types of phrases following the day she had seen the numbers.
In fact, when Lady Felicia had first gotten those numbers she had slightly jumped from her chair, and then double and re- double checked the calction to make sure she did not add an extra zero or something.
But once she confirmed that indeed the numbers were legit, the rest of the day, the buxomdy had spent with arge grin on her face, daydreaming about all the insane things she would be able to do with that much money.
And then to her shocked realization, she found that even if she were to engage in all the extravagances known to her, she might not be able to spend all that money under any reasonable circumstance.
"That is good." While Alexander, unaware and even uncaring of Lady Felicia''s personal thoughts, only breathed a small breath of relief hearing trade was starting to get going.
For this alleviated Alexander''s biggest worry, a stagnating market.
He knew that as long the economy kept improving and the people''s lives kept getting better, they were unlikely to rebel.
He was also happy to see that the 25 million ropal aid package he had inserted into the economy was finally having its effect as people were taking this money and going out there to spend it.
Since most of the people had their houses repaired for free, they were able to skip thatrge expense.
So they first concentrated on stocking up on food and other essentials tost the winter.
And with Zanzan having a bumper harvest as well as Alexander transferringrge grain surpluses from the warehouses to the city, these essentials quickly appeared in abundance in the market, letting people buy it without any fear of shortages.
So then the people, having experienced the tragedy and loss of many loved ones and with still some money to spend splurged on things like furniture and pottery, things which were lost in the war, as they tried to build the life they had before again.
This had led to a huge booming demand for the cities around Thesalie, including Zanzan as carpenters and potters all around worked day and night to try and fill these orders, earning significant money in the process.
But perhaps the biggest demand amongst all of the goods that the Tibians had was brown sugar from Zanzan, one that to them tasted like honey but was tens of times less the price.
Hence, fueled by the enticing release of dopamine, almost every family in Thesalie tried to savor that good at least once, hoping to forget the pain they suffered with these sweet treats.
The volume of sugar sold was followed in tow by the many cheap iron products that came flooding into the market- like pots and pans, good knives of various sizes, nails, hammers, etc.
But perhaps the biggest seller was the heavy plow which the farmers were flocking to, trying to switch their bronze and sometimes even light wooden plow for this shiny new equipment which cost less than their inferior one.
The poor men were ted to find such good quality products at half the price of any of itspetitors and were very eager to make this investment.
In cultivating that desire, Alexander also had no small part to y, as it was under his instruction that old man Menicus had held multiple demonstrations around January and February, showing all the nearby farmers the full merits of the new equipment using various ways.
So it was only natural for iron products to rise in demand as Lady Felicia pointed out.
The rapid trade between the two cities was also greatly aided by the fact that there was a pristine, wide, t, concrete road from here to Zanzan that Alexander had built to aid in his attack on the city.
But now yed a crucial role in helping to move the huge quantities of goods Zanzan produced quickly and easily to Thesalie regardless of the weather or season, from where using the River Diannu, these goods could be transported to all parts of the country, cheaply and easily.
And while on this lucrative ''silk road'', these merchants would often stay at the many new roadside inns, motels, and other rest houses, gamble and ''sleep'' at the few pleasure dens, and make use of the horse stables.
All the increased trade andrge traffic volume moving between the cities had caused these new establishments to pop up almost overnight,ying testament to a select group of people''s inherent instinct to smell money and opportunity as they designed their businesses to cater to these peddlers who needed at least three to five days to make the trip.
In this, simply by facilitating trade between two points, many additional jobs and businesses were created, establishing a sort of positive feedback cycle.
Also, interestingly, if one looked a bit into the identities of many of these new entrepreneurs, they would find a lot of them knew someone who had participated in the conquering, or at least the looting of Thesalie like the camp followers.
And it was from those ill gotten gains that they had gained the capital to set these shops up.
Wars were truly lucrative for everyone involved, possessing the possibility of changing one''s life unrecognizably, if you could win them that is.
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Chapter 822 Thesalie After Six Months (Part-3)
Chapter 822 Thesalie After Six Months (Part-3)
The majority of the various goods entering Thesalie would not stay in the city but only be a transit for other cities, where the merchants would use the harbor to ess the Diannu.
It was also primarily because of this that the sales tax collected in the city was so much, for it connected Zanzan city to the rest of the country.
Otherwise, there was no way a single war torn city could consume so much, for 25 million ropals could only go so far.
And hearing about the huge tax sales as well as the real origin behind it, Alexander would contemte building a canal that would connect Zanzan City to the Diannu, thereby connecting his most industry part of the region to the entirety of Tibias through easy to transverse waterways.
After all, on average it was 13 times cheaper and 5 times faster to transport something by water than bynd and so by building this artificial waterway, Alexander would be able to cut down on huge amounts of cost.
But he would quickly give up the idea when he would be given an estimate of 50,000 men requiring to work for a decade if not more toplete the 90 km canal he wanted, with a price tag of close to a billion!
That was impossible for the current him, for although Alexander of course had the capital, the requiredbor force would mean he would not be able to literally do any other civil infractures for ten years.
That was in no way feasible.
But he did not scrap the idea totally.
For suchrge canals did exist even in Adhania itself.
And even in his previous life, the Romans built many canals in the 30 km to 50 km range, while the Chinese Grand Canal dwarfed almost all the canals of the worldbined at the time by being more than 2,000 km long.
But those took centuries and not tens of thousands but literally millions of workers.
So Alexander might think about the project once his territory became as prosperous as ancient China.
For now, though, the many merchants flocking to the city in search of opportunity would have to do so by road.
And then enter it by providing a sales tax.
But you may ask, did Alexander not promise the people an exemption from all taxes for the next three years?
Well, no, because what he really meant was the exemption of thend tax, meaning the farmers would not have to give any of their produce to the local lord but could keep everything for themselves.
But the sales tax of all goods still remained one which was paid upfront at the gates of the city at a toll booth, with the only exceptions given to wheat and salt.
Alexander had exempted these two crucial products from taxation in all his cities and even urged all his nobles to follow suit, asking them not to burden the people over the basic necessities.
And this had caused some controversy in the senate building when Alexander had first proposed so, with a big point being made that- ''Grain and salt merchants will benefit unfairly from this.''
And, ''Are we to let these kinds of people hold power over us?'' which referred to how controlling the food supply meant effectively controlling the people.
To address the first point Alexander had first pointed out that there was a limit of how much a grain merchant earned as there was only so much people could eat.
''If the people earn double, they will not twice the amount of bread. They will eat the same amount Alexander in very simplified terms exined to the men the concept of instic demand- i.e.- demand stays mostly the same regardless of ie.
So these grain merchants really could sell only that much.
But even then many of the nobles, especially the older, generational ones still grumbled.
They really did not care about the merchants'' profits, that was just an excuse.
What really got them was going that this being an agrarian society, a majority of their sales tax ie came from wheat- the staple food of the people.
In fact, it was usually theirrgest ie right after thend tax.
So it would be too damaging for them to agree with this.
While the reason why Alexander was able to afford this was because the majority of his ie came from sugar and iron, followed by soap, ss, and paper respectively.
And these ventures were so lucrative that it made the hassle of taxing 1% or 2% on these cheap products simply not worth it.
Instead, it was far smarter to abolish the tax and y it for propaganda.
But that was not the case for the poorer nobles and thus understanding Alexander tried to convince, but did not force anyone.
However, with Thesalie being his city, Alexander did implement this, meaning wheat and salt were cheaped but if anyone wanted to trade any other goods, it was a 2 percent sales tax for local produce and if they were specialties from Zanzan like iron, sugar (brown sugar), paper, ss, soap, etc. then it was 5 percent
The reason for it being more than double was because those things sold like hotcakes.
With themerce section of the talks over, Lady Felicia then moved on to the various projects that Alexander wanted done, stating,
"The various public toilets that you have wanted are being quickly constructed as we speak, my lord."
"We have also started to hire men to start digging the water channels you wanted through the city."
Lady Felicia here was referring to Alexander''s intention to create many small running waterways alongside the roads which would carry fresh running water through the city and end at a point in the river, a few kilometers downstream away from the city.
The purpose of these covered ''streams'' was to carry the various natural waste products of the city and given Thesalie was a mountainous city, of course, that meant the easy way to just cut a channel from the river was out, as water, much to Alexander''s disappointment, did not flow uphill.
Instead, he had to target the many artificial channels and small aqueducts that the nobles had built to supply their vineyards atop the hill, and then erge and divert some of those water into these new channels.
It was a veryrge project and Alexander estimated it would take a few years toplete.
And as for the question of why go through all the hassle, well it was found that digging an underground sewage system was not impossible here, for the city literally sat atop a huge iron ore deposit, making the subterranean too hard to work.
Upon learning which Alexander had evenmpooned, ''What a waste!''
Because such close to the surface iron deposits were really rare Alexander would have loved to smelt the entire thing down and sell it as iron ingots.
But that would of course mean the city of Thesalie would have to be dismantled.
Something which was really not possible.
So it made Alexander feel like he was literally standing on a mountain of money but unable to enjoy it.
Following that update, Lady Felicia continued,
"We also aim to start work on arge, new clinic soon."
"We are trying to stop people from throwing their rubbish in the streets and we are close to setting up the umm¡ Sanitary Administration." Lady Felicia had a hard time pronouncing that new name, adding, "They will soon start collecting the trash," and finished by informing,
"Andstly the ns for a new, muchrger harbor in the works. Once adequate space is cleared up, we will be able to start construction."
The harbor Thesalie had was already quite big, as evidenced by how it was able to amodate the ten men Lord Theony had brought without significant dys.
But Alexander wanted it bigger, knowing literally thousands of tonnes of his city''s specialties would soon be flocking here.
So he instructed the nearby market stalls that overlooked the river to be demolished, the ground underneath dug and the harbor expanded more ind, thus increasing its size.
With this said came the end of her report, and finishing so Lady Felicia looked at Alexander with a hope filled face, scattered with traces of trepidation.
"Mmmm, good. I''m satisfied." And only let color return to her face hearing this, as she then heard the masculine voice chime,
"It seems you were not simply asking to rule the city because you were greedy. You actually have some skills."
"How much did you depend on your husband to do all of this?" Alexander then in an off hand tone asked.
It went naturally that without Lapitus backing her up, it would be impossible for Lady Felicia to aplish a tenth of what she did, for she would be too intensely discriminated against just by virtue of being a woman.
"I¡" At Alexander''s inquiry, Lady Felicia''s mouth opened and closed awkwardly like a fish, as the two had tacitly decided to not discuss the man after what the two did that day.
But now that Alexander was asking, Lady Felicia was forced to answer.
"He¡ mostly spends time outside. He did not help with anything, my lord." Came the reply.
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Chapter 823 Bullying Lady Felicia
Chapter 823 Bullying Lady Felicia
In regard to Alexander''s answer, Lady Felicia made it appear as if Lapitus had made no contribution to speak of in administering the city, dressing him up as a wastrel who dumped all the work to his poor wife while he went off to enjoy himself with drinking and feasting.
And it was both true and false.
True because Lapitus did indeed leave much of the day to day operations to Lady Felicia.
But also false because it was Lady Felicia who urged him to do so, fearing he would bite into her credit.
''My father taught me how to manage these things. Let me!'' She insisted, then enticed her husband by saying, ''If we do a good job and not mess up, the Pasha might give us the city to rule.''
And seeing Lady Felicia''s crity and knowing his own shorings, Lapitus graciously stepped down, though not before adding, ''If there is something I can help with, let me know immediately.''
It went without saying that Lady Felicia never asked for Lapitus''s help, even when she could have used it, all so that she could stealthily discredit him.
Though she did make use of the resources Lapitus made avable to her to aid in her endeavors, such as instructing all of his subordinates to help her out in any they could, be it acting as her bodyguards when she went out, delivering messages, keeping an eye on things and carrying out the various orders she made.
Alexander, hearing Lady Felicia''s low remark on her showed neither approval nor disapproval, only humming,?"Hmmm¡ is that so?" and simply continued in a disinterested tone, "How is your husband? What''s he doing nowadays? I have been too busy recently and was unable to keep in touch with him."
After taking over the city, Alexander had been inundated with many jobs, while many of the military officer Lapitus''s jobs were taken over by Alexander''s own garrisoned men.
At first, he had wanted to let the Tibians rule themselves, but this produced some unforeseen friction between the army and the native militia, as each vied for power.
Not to mention, there was already bad blood between the two given they had just fought a war and many had died at the other''s hand.
Thus, Alexander had put Lapitus and his men in a ceremonial position for the time being, heading patrols and other menial tasks, while promising to hand them back the city once he returned to Zanzan.
In regard to Alexander''s query, Lady Felicia replied, "Lapitus," making sure to use his name, "mostly heads the patrol of the guards. He leaves in the morning, spends the whole day with the men, and thenes back around dusk totally drunk and stered. That''s all he does every day, every week." She sinctly retold.
And though this might sound like a dark spot on Lapitus''s record, it was actually verymon and nothing to be rmed at.
So Alexander silently nodded.
And then dropped a bombshell of a question seemingly out of nowhere, as turning to face the mature, buxom woman, he asked with a smirk, "How is the bedroom sex? Good?"
"....." Lady Felicia was at first stunned into silence hearing this, and then, instead of being ashamed, her face went white as her mind was filled with rm, for she bolted her head towards the balcony, her eyes widened.
She really hoped she had heard Alexander wrong, and really, really hoped that none of the children heard it, and most of all she hoped the two nannies were not aware of it.
Because although Lady Felicia had no qualms about adultery, it had to be very clearly noted that she was not a promiscuous woman.
In fact, she liked to think she had quite high standards for herself and did not go spreading her legs to anyone, only to those who could greatly benefit her.
This came as a result of the conservative nature of Tibias, which made it so that no matter her own proclivities, she certainly would never openly discuss such things in broad daylight in front of so many people.
"Hahahaha," And seeing this reaction, Alexander softly chuckled in amusement, reassuring, "Do not worry, the children won''t understand anything. And the nannies will pretend like we don''t exist."
''That''s not the point!'' But instead of being happy at the constion, Lady Felicia snapped like so inside her mind.
This was about shame and modesty, and the norms of society.
So externally, producing a slightly forced smile, she pretended to be coy, "My lord¡ that''s¡ Fabiyana is here!"
There was even a slight tinge of red on the woman.
But Alexander did not seem to the get memo, as lightly waving his palm, he posed,
"So what? Isn''t Fabiyana supposed to be my mistress? She will soon be experiencing these things herself. So what''s wrong if she hears it? It might even be better for her like this so that she can gain some experience beforehand."
Alexander made poor a point, as he certainly had no intention of such a union with Fabiyana.
''I''m her mother!'' While Lady Felicia shouted this in her mind.
The nobledy of course did not think Alexander was dense enough to not understand what she was implying.
Which made the entire thing all the more infuriating as she flushed and swung her head, avoiding eye contact with Alexander and refusing to answer.
While in her mind, she cursed Alexander and his past fourteen generations for producing such an indecent rascal.
Seeing Lady Felicia go quiet, Alexander of course did not back down.
He was not going to let off the hook so easily.
Also, he was not asking this just to tease her, for he had a very good reason behind it.
"So did you have sex Lapitus in thest six months? How many times? How was it? What did you do? Tell me everything, I want to know,"
Hence, as if Alexander thought that Lady Felicia was stupid to get the question, he tantly and as explicitly as possible poked her again.
And seeing that taunting smirk that graced his face, Lady Felicia again had to endure great patience, for she very much wanted to burst out, ''Do you that kind of fetish? Do you like to see other men and women do it while sitting in a corner and jerking off? You fucking pervert! Die!''
But the thing that stopped her was that the man before her was her boss, someone who paid her paycheck of 5,000 ropals a month and held great sway on every aspect of her life.
If she wanted the things he had, she had to oil his ass.
So pushing her inherent shame down, Lady Felicia pronounced in a shy, low voice that she was sure would not reach the balcony,
"Lord Alexander, this is a highly inappropriate question. It is a private matter between us husband and wife. It is only natural¡."
She trailed off, flushing her face harder.
And seeing thedy''s diminutive reaction, Alexander for the first time was a bit taken back.
He did not think the woman before him could pull off such an alluring expression, so embarrassed yet so sexy.
It was certainly a spectacle to behold.
And this made Alexander want to bully her even more, as he smirked,
"Heh! This is probably the first time I have seen you call Lapitus husband. Does he mean that little to you?"
"....." Lady Felicia did not answer, only keeping her head low, her thoughts only known to her.
But how could Alexander let Lady Felicia take refuge in her silence?
So pushed her again, though a bit more gently this time, "Okay, fine you do not have to tell me all the details."
He sounded magnanimous, though frankly, he did not care about knowing what Lapitus did in his bedroom the first time, as he instead insisted,
"But at least tell me the number, how many times did you guys do it?"
And as he said this, one of his hands slithered across the underneath of the table and found its mark, causing Lady Felicia to involuntarily shudder as she tried to close her legs but was too slow, for therge paw had grabbed hold of her snowy privates through the dress and mped onto it tightly and fiercely.
Lady Felicia understood that not giving an answer was not possible.
"Once¡ or twice¡ my lord," Hence, thedy finally clenched out the answer.
"Was it once? Or twice?" But the unambiguous nature of it made Alexander dissatisfied, as evidenced by how Lady Felicia felt those fingers squeeze around her lower lips.
And then not waiting for an answer heard, "Why so low? Once or twice in six months? Is Lapitus not capable enough? Or are you a prude?" The whisper next to her ear was musky and masculine.
But in much contrast to the romantic nature of the act, the contents of the action made thedy infuriated with rage.
''Why does he care?'' She fumed, as keeping silent with bubbling anger, Lady Felicia had to exercise great control not to gnash her teeth right in front of him, though in her mind, she was certainly doing it, and with such strength that it risked the teeth shattering from fury.
And then Alexander took things to the next level!
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Chapter 824 Reminiscing (R-18)
Chapter 824 Reminiscing (R-18)
Chapter 824
Alexander was unperturbed by the smoldering vixen next to him.
He even found her entertaining as Alexander loved to bully her, to see how far he could push this ambitious woman without breaking her.
To that effect, being bored of only grabbing her parts through the heavy gown, Alexander decided to go further.
So adjusting his chair, he moved closer to her in order to get better ess, and he then deftly lifted her long skirt up to her thighs before having his hands directly grab the lower part of the underwear!
*Shudder*
And being aware of all this the entire time, it took great effort for Lady Felicia to keep still, as she tried her best to control her shivering,
While her eyes constantly kept darting towards the balcony, where the children, oblivious to the naughty things happening right behind them, kept giggling, shouting, and ying with nary a care in the world.
A sight that brought great relief to Lady Felicia, as well as the fact that the small table had a very long, tablecloth draped over it, one that reached up to the ground, thus concealing all the happenings urring underneath it.
If that were not to be the case, if everything that Alexander was going had been visible to others, Lady Felicia would have certainly jumped up and stormed out of the room regardless of the consequences.
She might be a power hungry amoral woman but even she had her limits.
But fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how one saw it, now that her limits were not crossed, she had to endure even more of Alexander''s teasing, for she clearly felt the warm hands grab her part and start to caress it over her underwear.
''No! Idiot body. Don''t get wet!'' And then much to her horror, she found her body''s natural mechanism kick, as it started secreting love juice, preparing herself for the act.
While Alexander, feeling the slight dampness gave a knowing smirk, before further teasing, "I do not think you are a prude. Otherwise, you would not havee to me dressed like that!"
"I never go to ask¡ How did you like our little tryst? Was I better than with your husband? Hmm!"
Alexander traced his thick finger trace over her slit through the underwear, asionally pinching the outer lips.
And catalyzed by this act, as well as hearing the question, the pink atmosphere made Lady Felicia''s mind drift toward that memorable night.
A night that had been both heaven and hell for her,
She could not help but recall the mind bending pleasure she had felt when Alexander had taken her in that bent over position atop that table, how his thick, sturdy organ had carved open her tunnel and battered her cervix into submission, making her see shes of whites while she rolled her tongue out in a panting animal.
And apanying that insane pleasure was intense pain too, for that dreaded wooden ruler had made its appearance once again.
Her snowy, white curvaceous buttocks were set ame by its heavy strikes, each hit sounding like the p of thunder, making her luscious behind ripple and shake very alluringly while turning it red with inmmation.
Alexander had filled her womb twice in that posture, each time scalding her walls and making her squeal in a voice that Lady Felicia blushed even now while remembering.
And then, once that posture had gotten too boring for the man, he had flipped her around to make her lie on the table, gazing lustfully at her huge, swaying melons, her t, nice tummy garbed in that sexy negligee, andstly her bushy pussy that was leaking white cream, staining many of the pubic hairs in its color.
Lady Felicia must have had a very turned on alluring face, as she had felt Alexander''s eyes gaze down on her with scalding intensity, mesmerized by that tired, haggard face, flushed red and shyly avoiding looking at him.
Lady Felicia would find that Alexander very much liked those kinds of looks.
She was pumped in that position for some while, very rough and hard, as evidenced by the loud
*Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*, sound that reverberated across the room, for Alexander''s heavy hips smashed against her wide curve, while she moaned sciously, raising her shapely, ck stocking covered legs up into the air in rapturous joy.
For Alexander, however, the greatest treat was looking at the woman''s abundant melons flowing in this position, roughly kneading and squeezing them and even bending down to drink from them, perching his thirst.
He even offered some of the freshly drawn liquid to the woman underneath him, who by that point had wisely given up all resistance and eagerly open her mouth wide to ept the offering as the due then engaged in intense kissing, with Alexander sucking and pulling on that mature, lc tongue, and drinking in the sweet, musky saliva.
All while his spear wrought devastation below, using various angles to attack all the various spots all the tunnel and making thedy roll her tongue out and eyes bulge out.
Alexander only retrieved his nowid organ after filling her up in that position twice, by which point Lady Felicia had gone very limp, so the break came as a much needed relief.
Hence, feeling it was finally over, Lady Felicia had finally let out a sigh of relief, as she rxed her lower muscles.
And, *Plop*, *Plop*, *Plop*, shameful dollops of semen had immediately started to overflow out of her, staining the carpet below.
Or she thought for oh how wrong she was, as no sooner had the first dropnded on the carpet,
*Pah*, *Pah* a heavy, stinking sensation reappeared on her already battered pubic mound as the wooden ruler grandly announced its return.
"How dare you let my gift go to waste! *Pah*, *Pah*! Squeeze it! Squeeze it now!" Alexander [yfully barked, smacking her twice on the ce in quick session.
But this only caused the cream to overflow even more, as the pressure of the strike pushed the thick jelly out.
And seeing so Alexander punished her even more, causing Lady Felicia to moan in both pain and pleasure,
"Ahhh! No more! Mercy my lord! Ahhh!"
And then, unable to endure the constant strikes, Lady Felicia had done something that had be a pitch, ck spot in her history.
She had lost control of her pelvic muscles and wetted the carpet underneath, creating a beautiful yellow arch as she had done so.
"Hahaha, *Pah*," And seeing this, Alexander had let out a pleased chuckle and rewarded her for the show by hitting the woman''s leaking privates onest time, and producing a wet thud, before smirking,
"Hehe, I might be a mommy''s boy who needs to drink milk. But it seems Lady Felicia has yet to outgrow her nappies, *Pah*."
Here, Alexander was referring to how thedy had taunted him for drinking her milk, and at that time, he was unable to give a proper retort.
And now that he atst could, Alexander sounded very pleased.
Revenge was truly best served cold.
While thedy to whom this was being directed towards, was in no state toment.
She might not have even heard it, for her mind was far more upied with the shameful deed she had done.
''Did I do that? I didn''t did I? No way!'' Her mind was filled with denial and mortifying disbelief.
But fortunately for her, Lady Felicia did not have much free time to engage in her ignominy.
For soon she was hosted up from therge table and taken near to Alexander''s bed, where she was made to kneel down and give Alexander''s little brother a thorough clean fetion, using her massive boobs as a cushioning pillow for the esteemed dignitary.
And every time she did something that Alexander did not like, that dreaded ruler was always there to correct it with a hard p on her butt and thighs, as she was made to taste copious amounts of the baby batter.
And it felt retching to her.
For this was her first time tasting it.
Of course, Lady Felicia had done this type of act to Petrino, but she never swallowed, always spitting it out.
As for Lapitus, haha, joke!
But, now, those were an option that was of course not avable to her.
So her mouth and face were faced with the white jizz, as Alexander painted her in his color, even wrapping her beautiful, silky raven hair around his thick phallus to give them a new sheen, and ultimately making her entire body smell like a cheap whore, his whore.
''How long can he go for?'' And at some time, Lady Felicia had given up resisting as she eagerly bobbed her head, feeling the hot spear burn her mouth with mes of lust, only praying for Alexander to tire.
A prayer that went tantly unanswered, as after being pent up for six months, and then having fought a war, Alexander was far from done.
So the brutal act of mating continued deep into the night, as Alexander made Lady Felicia go from one shameful position to the next, from one ce in the tent to the next, until the whole ce reeked of the act, and Lady Felicia could barely stay conscious.
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Chapter 825 Alexander’s Suspicion (Part-1)
Chapter 825 Alexander''s Suspicion (Part-1)
Lady Felicia very explicitly remembered that oh so memorable night, though she did find her memory going hazy at around the end, as by that point her mind had been filled with never before felt pleasure and a stinging pain all around her body.
All she could do by that point was moan her heart out and let Alexander enjoy himself.
Hence, as the woman recalled all those raunchy acts, it naturally had a very explicit effect on Lady Felicia''s body, which Alexander could easily tell, for the woolen underwear he was touching by now had turned wet, damp and steamy, no doubt caused by abination of the recalling memory and the caress that he was so graciously providing.
And then, as if to help Lady Felicia further get into the mood, he pushed apart that underwear and started to directly touch the pink organ, feeling the soft, downy flesh which he started to lightly pinch or pull on those fluffy hairs.
And when he felt the legs mp up to try and prevent that, Alexander had only growled, "If you don''t want me to bring my other hand too, then open right now!"
Thus, the recipient of this attack could only mp up and obey with gritted teeth, for if Alexander did do that, what they were doing would be all too open to everyone.
And although Alexander might be shameless enough to not care, she certainly was.
After all, the duo was not of the same stature and Lady Felicia had much more to lose from this revtion than Alexander.
Thus Lady Felicia let Alexander have full reign of herher region and only concentrated on keeping the shuddering of her body to a minimum so as to not give anything away to the other people in the balcony.
"Well¡ tell me¡ did you enjoy it?"
Unsatisfied by theck of answer, Alexander then asked again if Lady Felicia had enjoyed her time with him, as his third finger was inserted into the cozy cave, which it found to be moist and overflowing.
"....." Regarding the query Lady Felicia again only bit her lips, refusing to answer.
The situation was a repeat of that night, and even after how Alexander broke her that day and made her sing like a canary she still refused to learn, stubbornly keeping her silence.
And contrary to popr belief, Alexander did not dislike it, he did not dislike it at all.
For this spicy woman gave a very unique vor.
A spicy vor.
A vor that was absent it all his other four women, even in Mean, for though they might grumble, at the end of the day, they would almost always do whatever he wanted them to do.
But Lady Felicia was not like that.
It was clear he did not like how Alexander came to her, as she felt a certain level of powerlessness in front of him.
But she also could not say no because of the benefit he provided her.
And this bittersweet mixture of reluctance and greed tasted so delectable to Alexander.
Thus, to extract more, and punish the woman for not answering his answer, Alexander suddenly curved the finger inside her up, urately hitting thedy''s sensitive G spot and making her almost roll her eyes.
"Why are you bothering to struggle? Your flooding lower half has already given me the answer, *chup*, *chup*," Alexandermented so with a vulgar smile, producing a nasty wet sound, hearing which Lady Felicia froze.
Although the sound was very muted, so that only she and Alexander could hear it, to her it sounded like the loud, thumping of war drums, and she could not help but look towards the balcony with an almost horrified face.
And water only returned to her heart after seeing all the five kids and the two nannies had their backs turned to her.
Which then finally gave her the frame of mind of atst retorting venomously with clenched teeth, "If you know that, why bother asking?"
And only got to hear Alexander proudly chuckling next to her ear.
But if Lady Felicia thought that was the end of her teasing, then she was sorely underestimating Alexander.
As rather than retrieving that finger, Alexander inserted another one, saying,
"You can handle another, right? You are wet enough." and then moaned, "Ahhh, it''s hard to believe you popped Fabiyana through here, so tight!"
But at the instant Alexander mentioned Fabiyana, suddenly Lady Felicia''s lower half squeezed in shame, something that Alexander of course did not miss.
"Hahaha, does mentioning your daughter excite you? Fabiyana!" Alexander thus again whispered and got the exact same reaction, which made him produce a nasal smile that sounded very vulgar to Lady Felicia.
And then, as if he found a new toy to y with, again whispered,
"Fabiyana! Does it excite you to hear your daughter''s name? Fabiyana!"
"Look! She is right there! Fabiyana! She could turn around at any time! Fabiyana!"
"What if she turns around right now? What if Fabiyana sees her mother like?" Alexander taunted, and as soon as he said these, he clearly felt thedy''s floodgates burst down there like she had peed herself as she heavily came, making her mind go numb.
And the burst of water was so strong that Alexander might have actually suspected thedy had peed on his hand if not for the fact that there was none of that distinctive smell.
''Does she have a shame kink?'' And the reaction made Alexander think so, as glee filled his heart, for he now had two new toys to y with.
"Pervert!" He so again whispered, and felt thedy''s body shiver, while down below her muscle clearly spasmed with intense strength, validating Alexander''s theory and causing him to continue,
"What a pervert!" He disdainfully muttered, "Does it excite you to do these things in front of your daughter? Aren''t you a hopeless mother?"
"What will do you if Fabiyana turns around, *chup*, *chup*?"
By now Lady Felicia was leaking so much that the lewd sound of sshing water had be much more audible, and this question only added more fuel to her fire, causing her to literally start shivering, as her eyes turned ssy.
"Plea¡please¡" And sensing herself losing control, Lady Felicia with immense effort squeezed this single word out, begging for Alexander''s mercy.
But how could Alexander let such a fun ye to a close so easily?
Thus in a face simply unconcerned for the wishes of thedy, he continued to squirm his finger, loving the soft, wet, tightness of the tunnel, and how it was so magically dancing around him.
The feeling was exquisite and Alexander wanted more.
So he pushed her even harder, "What do you think Fabiyana would think if she were to see her mother like this *chup*, *chup*? Someone who was supposed to be her son inw. Fabiyana would be disappointed right?? She would be mortified to be right?" Alexander felt Lady Felicia again intensely shudder as she clearly came at the suggestion, as Alexander smirked.
And he continued to bully her without respite,
"Or perhaps she would be happy? Maybe she will want to join her mother in doing such things with her husband."
"But then what would society think?" Alexander then posed in a mocking tone.
But he did not get his much anticipated reaction.
"....." For right now, swimming in her own blissful afterglow, Lady Felicia had a distracted ssy look and seemed unable to respond to Alexander''s teasing.
So to bring her back Alexander proposed this insane thing, "Should we ask Fabiyana what she thinks? Let''s ask her now!"
Then without waiting for a reply, Alexander quickly turned his head to face the balcony and raised his free left hand, as if getting ready to out the little girl.
"Noo!" And this suggested act involuntarily made Lady Felicia scream or more like shriek out in rm, wanting to stop Alexander.
Something which had theplete opposite intended effect, as her high pitched voice only worked to draw everyone''s attention.
"Mommy! Are you alright?" With Fabiyana even leaving her toys away to call out in rm.
She had hardly ever heard her mother''s voice sound so afraid.
But the problem was due to her being in the sun and Alexander and Lady Felicia being inside the darker room, she was unable to see anything except two vague as her eyes had not adjusted to the change.
Which made her want to go see the situation for herself.
Until Alexander''s amicableugh sauntered out,
"Hahaha, everything is fine Fabiyana. I just told your mother a scary ghost story. And she screamed in fright. Would you like to hear it too?"
An offer that Fabiyana tly rejected by heavily shaking her head, making her long hair float beautifully in the wind.
During the many stays in the mansion, Alexander would sometimes tell the little girl scary bedtime stories, something that she quite liked to hear, and would scream and then hide under her cozy nket.
But now, that kind of y held no allure to her.
"Ye¡ yes. Mommy was just a bit afraid. You go back to ying." And relieved to see Fabiyana halt, Lady Felicia quickly chimed in line with Alexander, trying to sound as normal as possible.
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Chapter 826 Alexander’s Suspicion (Part-2)
Chapter 826 Alexander''s Suspicion (Part-2)
Lady Felicia breathed a profound sigh of relief at seeing Fabiyana finally retreat, while Alexander noticed when Fabiyana and the others had turned to look at the two, all of a sudden, the wetness underneath Lady Felicia had decreased significantly, almost as if suddenly someone had turned off the tap.
It seemed that though Lady Felicia was excited by the shameful nature of showing other people what she was doing, if it were to really happen, she would absolutely reject it.
This was thedy''s absolute boundary, one if crossed, would surely lead to her turning on Alexander regardless of the consequences.
He understood so with this little event.
With Fabiyana going back to stacking up her toy blocks, and everyone turning their heads back in concert, Alexander too atst decided he had had enough fun, and finally, he retrieved the finger from that ce, much to Lady Felicia''s relief.
"See how wet you got!'' But not before showing off his prize by waving his sticky finger, where there were these long, thick strings between the fingers as it opened and closed, while Lady Felicia blushed with a very angry scowl on her face.
She certainly did not appreciate that little trick Alexander had pulled off.
In fact, if it had been anyone other than Alexander, she would be doing much more than just ring at him, she would be sting his ear off.
But unbeknownst to her, for Alexander, this peeved expression was one of the reasons why he had done it, for it was supremely delicious to see thedy bnce her desire for power and preference for independence.
And then, as if to show off his victory against her, Alexander very provocatively began to lick the wet fingers and taste the mature woman''s scent, a sight that made Lady Felicia''s lips twitch.
Following which he even shamelessly offered his own fingers to her, saying, "Here, you have a taste. See how it is."
An invitation that Lady Felicia very clearly rejected by quickly taking a nearby napkin and even before Alexander could react, wiping them dry.
And even before Alexander could say ''thank you'', she spoke up to say in a bit of a woody tone,
"If there is nothing more, then I would like to take my leave, my lord."
And then without waiting for Alexander''s response, quickly got up and turned up to leave.
It was clear she had not been unimpressed by Alexander''s little stunt just now.
"Wait, wait!"
Seeing this abrupt departure made Alexander softly cry out so, and hearing itpelled Lady Felicia to reluctantly turn around.
No matter how much she wished she could not simply disregard Alexander.
"What is it, my lord? Please make it quick!" Though that did not mean she could not very explicitly express her displeasure
Alexander however was unperturbed by this cold shoulder, only lightly chuckling and pointing out,
"Haha, why are so hurry to leave? And even if you do, hide thatrge stain down there before you go. People will think you peed yourself! Hehe,"
Lady Felicia had leaked copiously during Alexander''s teasing, resulting in arge, spherical stain on the lower part of her white gown, a color that made the spot especially noticeable.
And turning her head down, Lady Felicia blushed to the point her ears turned red at seeing the extent of her misdeedsid bare for all to see.
But she did not immediately go back to sitting down as Alexander hoped.
She would be foolish to again go back to that chair and present herself like a defenseless piece of meat on the table for Alexander
Instead, she rearranged the brown, beautiful shawl that was draped over her shoulder to produce an impromptu cover, one that now extended from her shoulder to knees, thus very naturally hiding everything.
Then curtly saying, "Thank you my lord." turned around to attempt to leave once again.
And when Alexander once again called out from behind, "Wait!", she lightly snapped, "What is it, my lord? I have a lot of work to do¡ unlike you."
"Haha, don''t worry¡ it won''t take too long. I just got one¡ no two more questions for you!" Regarding the rude reply, Alexander did not even bat an eye, for he was fishing for something much greater, as then turning his eyes turned teasing, he posed,
"You still haven''t answered me. Was I better than your husband?"
Alexander still had not forgotten the original question and once again asked so.
"Yes, my lord. You were better. Much better. I have never screamed like a whore as I did with you." And this time Lady Felicia answered obediently,
It seemed that she had learned her lesson.
Or perhaps not, for her tone was blocky and unenthusiastic, appearing like she was simply parroting what was expected of her.
But Alexander did not harp on that, happy that he had at least made some progress.
"Well, that''s good to hear!" Thus Alexander nodded appreciatively, and then followed it up.
"Then the second question. That dress you wore when you came to see me¡ do you usually wear it while doing it with your husband?" Alexander''s eyes shone with another teasing light as he asked so.
"Of course!" Came another woody, forceful reply and a heavy nod, as Lady Felicia pretended to be offended by the mere doubt of it.
And this was where Alexander decided to spring his trap.
"Oh?" Alexander first produced a facade of shock on his face, as he then pointed out, "Your husband brought such an expensive lingerie for you, yet you guys had sex only once or twice in thest six months? Does it not seem strange to you?"
By now Alexander''s teasing look had been reced by a cunning glint, as he attempted to unearth some very big doubts he had towards this woman.
"My lord, I remember you saying that you would only ask two questions. I have already answered them." Towards the provocative question, Lady Felicia had a very stoic reaction, as her charming face hardened, reminding Alexander,
"But this was the third one I believe." And then snapped,
"Whatever me and my husband do in your bedrooms is our matter. Please do not poke your nose into matters that do not concern you. It is unbing of a dignified noble such as yourself."
"May I be allowed to leave now?" Lady Felicia ended with an impatient tone as such, seemingly asking for Alexander''s permission, but really expressing her intention.
"Of course! Please." And Alexander seemed ready to grant it to her, as seemingly unbothered by those scalding remarks made, he graciously gestured towards therge wooden door, inviting her to take it.
And Lady Felicia was more than happy to oblige as giving another curt bow, she rapidly turned her heels and started to approach her ticket to freedom.
"Although," But paused for a brief second because she heard Alexander say this, as the other side kept on going as if he was talking to himself,
"It is strange that Lapitus would decide to spend so much and then spend so little time seeing you in it. That dress must have cost what¡. at least several thousand ropals? I would know because Cam bought a simr one not too long ago."
"So if I was Lapitus, I would want a hot piece of meat like you to wear it three times a day and keep you nice and filled up all throughout the day."
"Is Lapitus not good in bed? Does he have trouble getting it up?"
"Is that why he bought it? To excite him?"
"But it seems like it did not work."
"Maybe I should go ask him about it? If everything in the bedroom is okay?"
"After all, the road to a healthy life is to have healthy sex."
"And as a caring superior, it is my responsibility to take care of my subordinates. To lend them help in any way I can."
"Besides, who knows, there might be something wrong with the sexy negligee. Perhaps he can tell more."
Alexander said these words as if he was only musing to himself like he was daydreaming.
And up until the middle part, Lady Felicia only halted her steps because it seemed too rude to leave while her superior was bantering to himself.
But when thatst part was said out aloud, how could she not see the implicit threat that was made and it made her heart thump uncontrobly.
''Does he know? But how?'' She screamed with rm in her head as she feared the reveal of her affair with Petrino, as the dress was brought by him and Lapitus had no idea, so Alexander''s query risked tumbling her entire world into shambles.
It was only now she was beginning to smell that she might have fallen into a trap.
But she did not panic.
Lady Felicia did not get where she was by cracking under pressure.
She was very strong in that regard.
So quickly trying to think of an answer, she found a presumed w in Alexander''s line of inquiry.
One which brought great constion to herself as she reasoned, ''No! If he knew about my affair,?he would not have been asking these hypothetical questions. He would have directly cornered me.''
That was her clutch!
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Chapter 827 Alexander’s Suspicions (Part-3)
Chapter 827 Alexander''s Suspicions (Part-3)
After talking and interacting with Lapitus for thest few months, Alexander hade to know the man quite a bit better than from the initial three hour interview back then and felt he was much different than the monster in Lady Felicia''s tale.
OF course, there was certainly the possibility that Lapitus was a superb actor who had managed to hoodwink Alexander even during all Athose interactions for all these months.
But that was unlikely.
For Alexander had note to this conclusion using just one source.
To verify his suspicions, he asked some of Lapitus''s officers and subordinates about their boss and they all described him as an upright and frank man.
He then asked some of his family members about him, like his cousins who might hold some jealousy towards the much more established member of their family.
And though some grumbled, calling him petty for not giving them more money, Alexander only snorted at these leeches.
He very well knew the extent Lapitus went for these people, and notwithstanding the legality of the actions, there was no doubt that Lapitus held a deep love for them.
Following this, Alexander also turned to the people, or more urately the person who would know him the best- his daughter Fabiyana.
He had asked some subtle questions on the sly to her when Lady Felicia was not in earshot during one of her many y times.
These questions were not explicit in nature, so as to not warn the quarry as Alexander feared the child might blurt all their conversation to her parents.
But these implicit, prodding attacks yielded very telltale results.
Regarding Lapitus, the daughter had generally expressed a great love, only finding fault in the smallest of things, such as how Lapitus drank a lot and stank at times, or how her mother would scold the man for dirtying the rooms.
And towards these answers, Alexander of course brought it at face value.
For he did not believe there was any way an honest and expressive kind of child like Fabiyana would see her mother getting so heavily abused as described by Lady Felicia and then still lie about loving her father very much.
So either Lapitus was a superviin who was able to hide everything from his child even though they all lived in the same house or Lady Felicia had lied to him.
And naturally Alexander tended to lean on thetter.
Further, aside from these, Alexander also received word of some suspicious behaviors from Fabiyana regarding her mother in some of their talks.
Alexander particrly paid attention to Fabiyana iming that she remembered seeing a strange man regrlying into their house and ''touching'' her mother in various intimate ways when she was very young.
''He was touching her boobs!'' The girl clearly recalled.
And when asked if she remembered what that man looked like, although she was unable to give a facial description as she was too young too remember, she did reveal that the man was always very well dressed and regrly brought various expensive gifts for the two.
When she had gotten older, she never again saw that man, but recing that, Fabiyana recalled how her mother would sometimes go out during odd times of the day, saying she was visiting her friends and leaving Fabiyana with the maids.
With the weird thing being that Fabiyana rarely met those ''friends'' of her mother as it was only her mother going to visit them, but they never came to visit their house.
Or, asionally she would be taken out the house during odd times of the day, with the enticement of visiting the market or going on a boating trip around the River Diannu with a few servants, while her mother stayed behind.
And when she woulde back, she would many times find her mother wearing a different set of clothes, with her hair wet like she had just taken a bath and there would almost always be various gifts waiting for her.
Regarding this, Fabiyana did not think anything.
In fact when she was retelling these to Alexander, she was reminiscing them in a joyous voice, saying that whenever her mother would return from ''seeing'' her friends, she would alwayse home with gifts.
Or if Fabiyana was the one to leave the house, she would either be given a new toy during the trip or get back to find shiny presents waiting for her, where her mother would tell her that it was her grandfather who had to visit them but Fabiyana missed him since she was out.
And going by Fabiyana''s story, it seemed that was always the case, she somehow always managed to miss meeting the old man.
And if the girl threw a tantrum saying she wanted to stay in the house and meet her grandpa, her grandpa would not appear, suddenly having an ''emergency'' situation that would pop out of nowhere that he would have to go deal with.
Fabiyana had a very sad face when telling that particr piece, like she missed her grandfather, rueful that she had never really met him.
And hearing this Alexander initially felt a bit awkward because he was the one who really killed her grandpa.
But such a fleeting thought quickly turned ephemeral as a far more distressing thought filled his mind, one that sent rm bells ringing inside his head.
''Never met him?'' Alexander was stunned at Fabiyana''s casual reveal for that impletely contradicted what Lady Felicia told him about her father''s love for her and her daughter.
Andbining it with all the previous things Fabiyana had diverged, Alexander had very strong reason to be very suspicious of Lady Felicia.
The stench of foul y was clear to him from miles away but unfortunately, although Alexander was sure Lady Felicia had hidden things from him, he was unable to put all the pieces together and form a clear picture no matter how hard he thought about it.
He felt he was still missing a crucial piece of the puzzle, the centerpiece, the man who was surely at the center of it all, the one, true smoking gun.
And he was right, because although he suspected Lady Felicia of having an affair, he was unable to determine who.
And that was because Alexander did not know Petrino, the man being too insignificant toe under his eyes.
His main focus of learning had been on the main lord of Thesalie, Lord Ponticus, and Alexander only knew that the man had a wastrel of a son as a supplementary scrap of knowledge that he quickly forgot he even had.
And even if Alexander knew about Petrino in great detail, he would still have to be a prophet to immediately and definitely connect him to Lady Felicia just from that vague description.
The maning to visit Lady Felicia very well could have been any other of the tens of noblemen living in Thesalie at the time, or a yboy, a lover or even a ve.
Furhtemore, who was to say that the man was singr?
Perhaps Lady Felicia had multiple such trysts and all these men came bearing gifts.
There were so many possibilities when Alexander thought about it.
So, upon first hearing this, Alexander had first asked Camius to send a small group of spies to keep an eye on Lady Felicia and try and catch her in the act.
But naturally, they saw nothing.
They could only helplessly report that Lady Felicia was always around other people during the day and rarely left the house at night, preferring to spend time with her daughter and husband.
This meant either Alexander was wrong, which was unlikely given the explicit damning testimony Fabiyana had given.
Or something had happened to her lover/ lovers.
Lady Felicia could have cut ties with them, though that possibility was very imusible as given the power she wielded, surely he/ they woulde to her secretly to fish for benefits.
They had spent so much on her over the years, there was no way they were going to just take the rejection and be happy with it.
And if they did, Camius''s spies should have detected some clues.
But since they had not, the greater possibility was that they were dead, either killed during the battle and subsequent sacking of the city or the far more fearful possibility by her.
But thetter possibility was once again low given the covert surveince Alexander had ced on her, so had to be the former, though that did not really help Alexander narrow the list of potential suspects any further, as in addition to Petrino, many, many noblemen, civilians and even ves and servants had died during those days.
Thus, unable to find any more clues, Alexander had little option other than to prod the cultprit herself.
It was with these thoughts that Alexander returned to the current situation, as he once again asked, "What do you think? Should I?" referring to if he should ask Lapitus about her sexy negligee.
Lady Felicia had yet to given an answer, only presenting her back like a wall of silence.
It was like she was stunned into silence and Alexander had a very smug in his face.
But Lady Felicia was out yet, not by a long shot!
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Chapter 828 Alexander’s Suspicions (Part-4)
Chapter 828 Alexander''s Suspicions (Part-4)
Lady Felicia did not flinch a toe at Alexander''s subtle threat and refused to budge one bit.
Instead, not willing to be solely on the defensive, she turned on her heels to face Alexander, as Lady Felicia aggressively counterattacked, cleverly pointing out,
"But if my lord really were to ask my husband this, how would you exin the way you came to know about my dress the first time?"
"Is my lord willing to expose yourself just for the sake of a few small doubts you have regarding me?"
"Will that wise given your status? Given our rtionship?"
Gone was the mirthful, light smile on Lady Felicia''s face, reced by a cold, regal countenance, as she looked at Alexander like a fearless lioness circling his prey, threatening him with social death.
And indeed the lioness had bared some sharp fangs.
For although Alexander would have been able to brush the rtionship with one of his subordinate''s wife, as such urrences were a dime a dozen, but rtionship with one''s mother inw was far more frowned upon.
Alexander had just captured Thesalie and was in the midst of conquering Tibias, so if this were to get out, he would bet all the gold he had that rivals and rebels would spring up the very next day, spreading news of his loose morale in very excruciating detail and no doubt adding hyperboles that would make even the best selling authors feel ashamed.
But Alexander, seeing this attitude, did not back down one bit.
Narrowing his eyes as a way of epting her challenge, as he at first smirked noticing that Lady Felicia had called Lapitus not by his name, but by her rtion to him- husband.
This was probably the first time he had heard him say it,
However, although externally very confident, internally, he cursed for how sharp witted the woman was at having detected this weak point.
That was indeed a detail that he had been musing over but was ultimately unable to find a solution.
As a matter of fact this was a big reason why Alexander was even having a conversation with Lady Felicia in the first ce, wanting to bluff thedy into making her confess.
Or else Alexander would have already confirmed things with Lapitus prior to the meeting.
And so he had really hoped that Lady Felicia would not be able to find this weakness.
But s!
Lady Felicia definitely won with this round, for Alexander though ever suspicious, was unable to find evidence of her misdeeds.
And he was no tyrant who would punish others without evidence even if he knew there was wrongdoing.
"No!" Thus Alexander followed the only option that was avable to him. retrieving the threat for he was unable to risk his reputation right now.
And then even produced somewhat of a small apology,
"I hope Lady Felicia will not take into mind whatever I just said. I was too curious and did not know my boundaries. It will not happen again."
"Whatever you do with your husband is your business. Whatever you do with anyone outside your husband is also your business. As long as it does not affect your work in any way I will not pry."
He sounded very sincere.
And regarding this, Lady Felicia produced a victorious smirk, "It''s okay, my lord, I know you are young and have much to learn."
"But remember that it is not good to have jealousy. I''m more than willing to be your mommy and teach you these things any time you like. Just call me."
The sarcasm and joyous parade of emotions as Lady Felicia said this did not go undetected with Alexander, with Lady Felicia feeling especially ted to see the smoldering fire deep in Alexander''s eyes at being implicitly called a child, feeling happy that she had at least managed to get some sort of small revenge for all the teasing she was made to endure.
If this had been anyone with a bit more temper, Lady Felicia might have had her neck snapped right here, right now.
And Alexander did have to restrain himself for a brief moment so as to not do anything irreversible.
*Knock*, *Knock*, *Knock*
But just as the explosive powder keg of an atmosphere was about to go bust, suddenly, by the machinations of fate, three crisp taps resounded on the door, followed immediately by Cambyses''s recognizable voice,
"It''s me. I''ming in,"
Thus the tense air was inadvertently broken,?as Cambyses, dressed in a dazzling red and white chilton immediately entered the room withrge, strong steps without waiting for Alexander''s permission.
And since Lady Felicia was so close to the door when it was strongly swung open, she was the first person Cambysesid her eyes upon.
And was then greeted with an angry re by the mistress of the house.
Cambyses had made it very clear that she did not like Lady Felicia, the reason inly being, as in her words, ''She reminds me too much of Gelene.''
It had taken the smart woman three days toe to that conclusion, as opposed to Alexander''s seven, showing that sometimes her nose was sharper than Alexander''s.
And after that re, Cambyses further icily added to Lady Felicia, "I''m surprised to see you are standing. I was sure I would find you on your knees, your mouth filled with my husband''s cock!"
Cambyses really left no room for civility in their meeting with this lowly vulgar saying, making it crystal clear that she knew of the two''s affair but did not at all approve of it.
"...." And against this hostile attack, Lady Felicia found it wise to only shut up and take it, though she did have some very choice words to describe Cambyses by in her mind, words such as: low, skank, gutter slum, etc.
But outwardly, she kept her head low and her mouth mute, for what was she going to say anyway?
She knew Cambyses was not only the headmistress of the house, and not only did she hold significant power in the form of being able tomand a part of the city guards, but most importantly she was heavily favored by Alexander, having his ear almost any time of the day.
And since Cambyses had said this so loudly, the man of the house had surely heard it, and if he had wanted to object, he would have objected already.
Or rather, thedy would not have gotten the guts to say these things in the first ce.
But since he did not, of course, the wisest thing for Lady Felicia was to shut up and not let this hostile force find any openings.
And this tactic worked, as seeing her opponent not take the bait but simply avoid her eyes, Cambyses, feeling victorious moved on to the real reason she was here, beelining straight towards Alexander.
"Haha,e on Cam. This is no way to speak to a guest. Lady Felicia is a highly valued member of our city" While Alexander, hearing Cambyses''s harsh words did try to y the mediator, though his breezy chucklecked any real strength, and sounded more like a light p on the wrist.
Cambyses had made it very clear that although she would not dictate who Alexander could or could not see and sleep with, for she did not dare try and push Alexander that far, but she would absolutely not y ball with this distasteful woman,
A statement that Alexander was helpless to ept.
Any woman was by her nature jealous, and Cambyses was too, but she was especially hostile to Lady Felicia, something which Alexander really did not get.
He had even asked her about it and Cambyses simply replied, "Instinct!"
Though they did say a woman''s intuition was a sixth sense.
"Here! Congrattions!" Upon approaching the table, Cambyses held out a small rolled scroll, and hearing the words and knowing Menes was scheduled to fight soon, Alexander instantly connected the situation as his heart filled with glee, evenpletely forgetting the verbal battering he had suffered at Lady Felicia''s hand.
He hurriedly graced the already opened piece and eagerly read exactly this.
''Won battle! Date:..... Men lost ~ 2,000.
Enemy ~ 40,000. Men lost 5,000 to 10,000.
Resting currently. Will soon march to the capital.
A rider wille bearing more details.
Addendum: A messenger named Manuk came from Adhania. Sent him on a boat to Thesalie.''
Alexander read and reread the tiny words on the scroll multiple times, until he almost memorized the handwriting, feeling very happy but also a bit surprised at the information.
Both his casualties and the enemy''s number were much more than anticipated, especially thetter which was double than what Lord Theony had indicated to him.
And then understanding that Menes had won a brilliant victory against such an outnumbered victory, the pain of losing those 2,000 men quickly dissipated, as Alexander broke into a wide grin.
"Menes did well. Hahaha, Menes did well," Alexander felt overwhelmed as he nodded his head with arge grin, while Cambyses followed suit, grandly iming, "Yes, Tibias will soon be ours."
Even Lady Felicia could not help but join in with a small smile, feeling much of her current acrimony wash away.
The sooner Tibias was defeated, the safer she would be.
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Chapter 829 Honey Trap
Chapter 829 Honey Trap
Upon receiving the news of Menes''s victory and having read and confirmed it a few times, Alexander was naturally ecstatic but remarked to Cambyses and Lady Felicia,
"Keep it a secret for now. Let us wait for the rider toe and let us know the details. Then we can announce it."
Alexander was a patient man and did not want to speak up without knowing the full contents.
He also wanted to see which opportunistic nobles had the intelligencework and mindset to flip before the time was up, for as soon as he announced the results, he was sure if not all, at least ny percent of the nobles would flip on the spot.
Alexander reasoned that although the great news of such a huge victory could not be hidden, given the technology of the time and that they were in Thesalie, not their usual fiefdom, only the best and richest nobles would be able to confirm the result before Menes''s rider arrived.
And then these nobles would have a choice.
Act on it and surrender to Alexander in exchange for the benefits he had promised for those proactive ones.
Or don''t, and still hope for a miracle.
Thus in a subtle way, this was Alexander''sst test to see which nobles held true power in Tibias and were eager to serve him, to try and separate the wheat from the chaff.
Of course, the two women did not understand these deep considerations and simply nodded because Alexander said so.
And with that said, Lady Felicia was allowed to excuse herself from the room, while Cambyses was tricked into taking her ce by a disguised invitation from Alexander, who alleged he wanted to discuss what Amenheraft could have to talk with him.
But then of course Alexander got up to his naughty antics, happily teasing his main wife, by the end of which her lower half of the gown was literally soaking wet, courtesy of the girl being a squirter.
It was even to the point that Cambyses had to fake spilling some wine onto her dress just to escape that extreme embarrassment when she attempted to get up.
But that got a cheekyugh from her daughter Alexandria, as she pointed her infant finger and called her mother names such as clumsy.
While the middle aged nannies pretended very hard to appear convinced that Cambyses had indeed spilled her wine and there was not another distinct smell wafting out of her, as thedy in question kept subtly ring hatefully at her husband, being sure this was her punishment for those remarks she had made towards Lady Felicia.
For dinner, in joy of learning of Menes''s victory, Alexander asked the chefs for a rich feast that he shared with his four women.
Following which, in a rare show of instance, he took all four of them to his bedroom, enjoying them to his heart''s content for hours, until he was fully sated.
And that was where Alexander currently was, reclining against the bedstand fully bare.
He had Opehenia and Gelene resting their tired heads on his broad shoulders, their abundant chest pressing against his sturdy arms, making him feel heavenly, while his own hands were on their fluffy butts, kneading and squeezing them and them purr.
Cambyses was lying on his muscled abs, eyes drooping with exhaustion after the intense act, while the petite girl Mean actually was still not done, for she had her mouth stuffed with his exhausted brother in her mouth, cleaning it and the tworgely hanging jewels thoroughly, giving them a good tongue bath.
It was in this afterglow of a state that suddenly Alexander remembered his predicament and brought up Lady Felicia''s matter to the four, who gave their own responses.
Mean, the least interested in politics simply did not care and continued her ministrations, like a Cheshire kitten still wanting her milk.
Ophenia, too did not respond, but more so because she was particrly exhausted.
Being the most beautiful of the four, Alexander had favored her in this session a bit too much, making her lower half be sore, while the other girls being jealous bullied her hard by ying with her piercings, with each getting to y with their own one.
Cambyses had been especially rough, ying with her clit piercing a bit too much and making Ophenia nearly faint from pain and pleasure.
So by now, the tired woman had already drifted off to a deep slumber.
But the other two were very enthusiastic at the mention, and as Alexander revealed much of findings, Cambyses, who just a moment ago appeared to be on the verge of sleep, now almost had shiningmps for eyes.
"I knew it! I told you she could not be trusted. But did listen? No.. that¡.."
The rant and rebuke were quite long as given the chance, this matriarch of the house did not let her husband off the hook.
While Alexander, knowing this would happen, put on a straight face and took it, internally saying to himself bitterly, ''This is why I did not want you to know.''
And it was only after Cambyses had used up all her ammo and chimed down that the bare, ebony beauty Gelene got her chance, and she actually gave useful input.
Snuggling herself even closer, she cooed, "Master, this is very easy. Just trick that man into sleeping with a whores."
"She can dress up in something very simr to that negligee and based on what that man says seeing it, all will be clear."
Alexander was stunned by the simplicity of the solution and turning to look at Gelene with an almost incredulous face, he blurted, "You can do that?"
"Hehehe, leave it to me, master." And pleased at the reaction, the buxomdy bared all her pearly whites, reassuring, "I have a few simr dresses in stock. And I also know a girl who is around the same figure as that Lady Felicia. With a bit of makeup and a wig, she will look just like her."
The way Gelene knew such a working girl was of course because Ophenia had asked for her help in managing that red district establishment, as its rapid growth in poprity necessitated the extra hand.
"Hahaha, great! *Pah*, great!" And this naturally pleased Alexander, as he pped that voluminous, chocte butt in joy, eliciting a lustful moan from the other party, who then coyly asked,
"Then¡ about my reward ¡master."
Naturally, Gelene wanted to be remunerated for her idea.
And Alexander was never stingy with his giving, promising, "If your girl can get me the information I need, you can ask for anything within reason. Be itnd, gold, jewelry, ves."
"Great!" And the curvydy did not stand on ceremony, epting the offer with an ted cry and pronouncing, "Then master my fief needs some good draft animals. About one hundred. And I would also like to sleep with you every day for a week."
Her first demand went mostly unchallenged as Alexander found the price within his means, but the second one got a far more venomous snap from Cambyses, who cried in anger,
"What! You cow!"
The girls had strictly divided the seven day week with their own personal schedule for sleeping with Alexander and this proposal was clearly stepping on that.
"Hahaha, well aren''t you being greedy," Knowing that Gelene was likely asking for the maximum prices here, Alexander chuckled in amusement, before bringing his other hand that was until now on Ophenia''s smooth butt to pull on the ebonydy''s recently pierced nipple ring, as a kind of light punishment and getting a soul stirring moan for his efforts.
Gelene had seen the other three''s changes to their nipples due to their pregnancies, and then feeling she was getting left behind, decided to do this with Alexander''s permission.
Towards Gelene''s asking price, Alexander thought for a second, and then wanting to treat the woman, nodded with a smile, "Okay. I will give you everything you want." though there was a caveat, "But the information better be worth it."
This naturally got a cheer from Gelene followed by a promise of quality, while Cambyses sulked, primarily angry with herself that she was unable to think of the solution.
The preparation of this honey trap naturally took some, as that girl in question had to be transported from Zanzan to Theaslie, along with Gelene''s dress that was in her shop.
And so Alexander waited, he sensed the air around the present nobles'' subtle change.
There were far less gregarious meetings and far more whisperings and hostile looks at each other.
It seemed the results of the battle had already leaked and there were factions forming with the group.
Those who wanted to surrender.
Those who wanted to officially wait for word from Perseus.
And those who oscited between pretending to surrender and bide their time or rebelling right now regardless of the consequences.
And over the following week, as Alexander had suspected many nobles surreptitiously came to him proiming their fealty in exchange for the reward, though of course, the quality of the various benefits they were given was a lot watered down.
And then around a weekter, Menes''s messenger atst arrived, with a very long letter that caused some headaches for Alexander.
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Chapter 830 Alexanders Dilemma
Chapter 830 Alexander''s Dilemma
In Menes''s letter, aside from the details of the battle, the one other thing that he greatly emphasized on was the capture of foreign troops, which also went on to exin how Perseus was able to gather double the estimated force.
In that letter, the general highlighted the finding of many dead bodies bearing telltale signs of armor designs identical to Thesos as well as the capture and confessions of many such men, who all imed to be from various city states, and were sent here by their rulers to help Perseus defend the homnd of all Thesians.
All those men spoke with very distinct dialects and had unique gestures and clothing that gave irrefutable evidence of their identity.
And as Alexander read this, he found a loophole in this thinking, a possibility that he had not considered.
It had not even entered his mind that wars were not necessarily a two man''s game, in fact, it rarely ever was.
But because Alexander mostly fought alone, with only the asional mercenary support from Pasha Farzah, he had assumed the other side would too.
That was a mistake and a w that was further highlighted upon reading thetter part of the letter, which described how there were also forces belonging to Amenheraft, particrly Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam in that attack too.
Menes had managed to capture not only trained soldiers but also a few high level officers, who were low tier nobles like Shordars (Barons) and Talukders (Viscounts).
But ording to the generals, none of these men agreed to speak anything useful, like why they were here and why they were fighting on the side of Adhania''s hated rival.
Even when Menes tried to gaud them by saying things like, "Amenheraft''sckeys have truly fallen far. To be even licking the feet of Tibias. Heh! Aren''t you supposed to be proud nobles? Why are you so ashamed of the things you did?"
They revealed nothing, only repeating the name of their house and lineage and demanding to be treated ordingly.
"Send word to my family. They will pay the ransom. Till then we demand to be treated as befits our station."
Seemed to be their standard answer.
And due to their identity, Menes was wary of trying more extreme methods without Alexander''s permission.
This news came as a much more unexpected revtion to Alexander and one that made him restless.
He did not know what to do with it.
On one hand, he felt that he should rejoice, as this meant that once he was done with Tibias, rather than keep his army idle, he could use this situation as a caucus belli to attack that Matbar (Marquiss) who was situated to his west.
Alexander would admit he had been eyeing those territories for quite some time now.
And it was not because they were particrly valuable or anything.
Rather, it was because thends of Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam were really boxed in from all sides.
To his north was Ptolomy''s Adhan, and to his east was Alexander, while his west and south were the ocean.
Meaning if Alexander were to attack, there would be little chance of the man receiving any outside reinforcements, at least bynd.
Furthermore, using the presence of these Adhanian troops, Alexander could discredit Perseus, by showing to the people and more importantly the nobles that their king was little more than a puppet serving Amenheraft.
These were the upsides.
As for the downside, it was obvious- the appearance of many more troops that he would have to grind through.
One should never underestimate the number of men even a Matbar (Marquiss) of a huge and popce country like Adhania could summon.
Also, just because Alexander could obtain a caucus belli from this did not he could use it without any worry, for Amenheraft was not necessarily going to simply p his cheeks and ept Alexander eating a powerful man of his faction.
The self proimed king could certainly decide to intervene even at the risk of tearing the treaty.
Thus Alexander wondered, ''Where is Manuk? Why isn''t he here yet? Shouldn''t he be here by now, meeting with me to discuss these things?''
''Did his boat run into some kind of trouble? But the weather has been pristine and the rivers calm as ake."
Given the fast boat, Menes said he had given Manuk, it should have taken the man at best three days to reach the city.
Now it has already been a week.
Thus, worried about the dy, Alexander sent out scouts that very day, and within two days they returned with news.
They of course did not find Manuk, but the sharp noses of these hunters aided by locals did manage to sniff out the wreckages of several burnt boats, and a subsequent dive around those areas quickly revealed burnt, eaten by fish corpses, still wearing that telltale Zanzan chainmail, leaving no one in doubt to their identity.
''He killed them? But why?'' And upon receiving the report, Alexander wondered so.
He was unable to understand Manuk''s rationale for killing some regr, no named grunts.
And the reason for his confusion was because he did not know about the rift that had opened up between Manuk and Perseus.
The result of their thorough break meant that their cooperation hade to a screeching halt, which naturally meant Manuk would not be sending any more soldiers to Tibias.
Hence the smart priest saw no reason to waste his efforts discussing ransoms and prisoner transfer with Alexander.
For there was no need for Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam''s services and thus no need for him to get the man''s soldiers back for him.
Diplomatically it was far more advantageous to simply act like these soldiers never existed as this way, Manuk and Amenheraft could clean themselves of all responsibility by simply iming it all Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam and his retainers'' personal idea, who acted on their own ord.
As for whatever happened to the captured belonging to Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam, well that was his and Alexander''s headache, not Manuk''s or Amenheraft''s.
Ah, the tragedy of being only a pawn.
But unaware of all this, Alexander spent two whole days swimming in confusion, trying to solve this problem from every angle he could think of.
He even considered the possibility that there might be someone of very special status among ten men and fifteen sailors, being disguised like that and that Manuk''s true target was them.
But he of course came up empty handed.
And then, seeing no solution in sight, ultimately decided to give up, opting to send a messenger bird to Adhan, briefly exining the situation to the court and asking particrly Pasha Farzah for insight on how to proceed.
And with that done, he turned to more important things he had to attend to.
Such as the capture of Parthenigh- The capital of Tibias
Alexander had already ordered the capture of the city as soon as Menes felt he was ready, and in the letter, the sturdy man had mentioned that by the time Alexander reads the letter he would be in front of its walls.
And that given Perseus''s defeat, as well as the catapults they carried, the walls would not be hard to take.
Hence Menes invited Alexander to set for Parthenigh as early as possible.
And Alexander felt inclined to ept the offer. For it would be of great propaganda value.
And when nning for it, Alexander also decided to take the Tibian nobles here in Thesalie with him, as a way of showing off to them, to cement in their memory of Alexander stepping with their capital and iming it for himself.
Furthermore that way, Alexander could also show the captured prisoners to them and let
them decide who they want to follow.
Hence, with an escort of 5,000 soldiers, Alexander decided to take a huge fleet of boats down the River Diannu, expecting to reach the capital within a week at thetest.
But before that, he had to solve onest problem, that one matter about Lapitus and Lady Felicia.
Gelene had informed him that the working girl had arrived, and so one opportune night, Alexander arranged for a feast with Lapitus and some of his offices, the official reason being that since he was about to depart for the capital, he wanted to have onest party with them, to bond with them and make sure they would properly garrison Thesalie while he was away.
While in reality, Alexander wanted to get Lapitus drunk and then throw him into the hands of the girl Gelene brought and wait to see her do her magic.
This was quite amon practice as lords and armymanders rewarded their subordinates as such.
So Alexander was sure this would not raise any suspicion.
An assumption that actually proved to be wrong as when Lady Felicia first heard of this, she had first urged her husband to not go.
''Say you are sick!'' She had whined in a soul stirring way.
But in one of those rare instances, she had failed in her persuasion, for Lapitus pointed out, "If I do not go to that feast and feign sickness, I will no longer be the garrisonmander. The pasha will surely choose someone healthier."
And thus the dice of fate rolled.
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Chapter 831 Lady Felicias Net
Chapter 831 Lady Felicia''s Net
As Lady Felicia excused herself out of that room after her conversation with Alexander, her mind was filled with the talks they had just now.
''Does he know? But how? Who spoke? Was it that idiot Lapitus? Or did they get to Zulkain? Or someone I forgot to think of? An old maid working here? Did those men tailing me suspect anything?''
A thousand such thoughts crossed Lady Felicia''s mind as she very well understood what Alexander was implying back then.
Her personal nature had been called into question by the highest authority around here and the very first thing her mind tried to do was locate the culprit and stop this leak.
And as she tried to form a list of her suspects, she got a very long list of names indeed, one which went from the obvious- her husband, to her maid Zulkain, to other maids, to many, many others connected to her through the web of connections.
And yes, those men that Alexander or rather Camius sent to tail her were detected by Lady Felicia before even the first day up.
It barely took her till the afternoon.
And it was not because Camius''s spies were necessarily bad.
Instead, it had more to do with Lady Felicia.
For if one thought about it, if this woman was not hyper mindful of her surroundings, she would not have been able to continue a decade long affair right under her husband''s nose.
So from that perspective it only made sense.
And when she detected those spies, she did not think too much of them, as instead of being rmed, she reasoned,
''I thought those were just men covertly checking up on my work. To evaluate me.''
But it was only now that Lady Felicia was starting to understand those tails were not so innocuous.
Perhaps they were fishing for the skeletons in her closet.
And she indeed had many of them.
And it was simply not her affair, for she had added a few more very recently.
Skeletons which were certainly even more damning than her decade long affair and the true father of her child.
Thus, rmed and paranoid, Lady Felicia tried to sniff out the rat- the person or thing that had set such a powerful man on her tail.
A man whose might made her feel utter despair.
''He has not found me out yet. I need to find who talked and shut them up. And I need to clean up my act.'' Thedy very rmedly reminded herself.
But try as she might to scour her memory for any potential suspects and evening up with a few names, her biggest leaker remained obscured to her- her daughter Fabiyana.
The little girl was seen as being too young to understand anything, and Lady Felicia underestimated her observation power, especially because Fabiyana was quite immature and even a bit silly.
But perhaps more than that, it was the simple case that being her mother, the very thought of suspecting her own child, her very own flesh and blood did not even ur to Lady Felicia, as simple as that.
Whatever the case was, in the following week, LP would not be able to find any clue which led her to this predicament, and it would drive her nearly mad, even to the point that she contemted murder!
With her very first target being- Alexander!
And do not think this woman was daunted by that name alone.
For in this ambitious woman''s mind,
''A man is a man. What difference is there between a Pasha and a homeless beggar? Aren''t they made of the same flesh and blood? Once they drink the poison, both will end up as the same- a rotting pile of shit.''
And one should not underestimate this sort of mindset, for given the time period it was extremely virulent.
The societal nature of the time made everyone revere and respect nobles to the utmost degree, as for an ordinary person, even the mere thought of being disrespectful to them was seen as almost sacrilegious.
With even the nobles following this convention, as they themselves also respected one another,
So the way Lady Felicia was thinking here, it was truly a difficult mindset to cultivate.
The modern equivalent mindset would not be like a 21st century person thinking of assassinating a nation''s head of state but more like possessing a thought process where you subconsciously call your parents my name inside your head.
It was such a departure from social norms.
And at first the only thing that stopped Lady Felicia from truly trying it was the security around Alexander, as the woman cursed to herself, ''Dammit! I wish I hadn''t shown him that trick. Or I bet I could have killed him already.''
Here the woman was of course thinking of that storing poison in her locket and tucking it in her cleavage.
But this was really the nuclear option for Lady Felicia, to make Alexander go down with her, as she was totally unable to predict what Alexander dying would mean for her, and for the territories he had.
His sessor was too young and his allies too few after all.
Perhaps everything of his would be gobbled up by others and Lady Felicia would not even get a bone.
So as she calmed down, Lady Felicia stopped trying to think of ways to kill Alexander but concentrated her efforts on others.
But although she indeed possessed the ability to im all the lives she suspected, they all shared a ring problem.
Alexander would be alerted.
Nevermind the spies that kept even a watchful eye on her, even if she were to be able to evade, which she was fairly confident she could for the required time, the mysterious death of any people close to her would surely raise Alexander''s suspicion.
For as the woman had revealed her proficiency with poison, such a trick would surely draw that man''s attention.
And without her signature weapon, her greatest boon would be negated.
And then trying to think of an alternative murder method proved very difficult.
Not only was time not on her side, with she having no idea when Alexander would be getting the smoking he needed, but given Lady Felicia was after all a woman, she alsocked the physical strength to brute force the deed.
As for hiring someone else to do it, that was deemed too risky.
In Lady Felicia''s mind, someone had already talked, and hiring an assassin was simply digging a bigger hole.
And even if she could do that, Lady Felicia did well to remember that she had found Alexander to be very insightful.
So no matter how she killed them, even if she avoided poison, and even Alexander had no proof, Lady Felicia was sure the man would ce his eyes squarely on her.
And Alexander really needed no proof to deny her governance of the city.
He could base it entirely on his whims and desires.
It was not like Alexander was answerable to anyone for this.
Thus even the perfect crime was not good enough for Lady Felicia.
Hence, ultimately, seeing the writing on the wall, Lady Felicia decided to forego the bloody route and came up with an alternative strategy- she decided to seduce Lapitus.
So donning that dress, she showed off her curves one night to her husband, much to Lapitus''s heated lustful gazes, as she exined,
"Lady Gelene gifted me this. She is the owner of thergest clothing store in Zanzan, that one''s clothes I always tell you all thedies wear- Dhara."
"She said she had it made for here in secret, It''s a gift from Lord Pasha to you." Lady Felicia cupped her hands around her lips to whisper this in a sensual way.
And Lapitus instantly understood what she meant.
Since Alexander giving such a type of clothing to Lady Felicia directly would send a very wrong message, the pasha had instead chosen to deliver it through his wife, thus keeping that veneer of modesty, while at the same time letting Lapitus enjoy his time with his wife.
At least that was how Lapitus construed it, although it was as misconstrued as it could be.
So taking this gift at face value, as Alexander simply thanked him for getting the city, Lapitus asked no more questions and simply praised Alexander as well as Gelene for their generosity before enjoying his husband''s rights.
It was a level of enjoyment that the man would say was the best he had ever, making himment times about his wife''s usual enthusiasm for the act.
To which Lady Felicia moaned sciously, pointing out how her dress had gotten her all worked up and made the man work harder, with the intense matingsting for close to two hours, by the end of which Lapitus was literally shooting nks.
And the only thing that stopped him from begging for rest was his pride, as well as the fear that if he was unable to perform here, his wife would be disappointed and she might never let him experience this blissful pleasure ever again.
Thus eager to prove his worth in bed, the man persevered with all his willpower, while his little brother helped by this sexy sight soldiered on, trying its hardest.
Although for Lady Felicia, the action surprisingly proved dull!
For after tasting Alexander, there really was no going back.
And although Lapitus was no ''micro'' down there, it was really not fair topare his natural organ with Alexander''s artificially erged one.
Chapter 832 Lady Felicias Net (Part-2)
Chapter 832 Lady Felicia''s Net (Part-2)
Lady Felicia and Lapitus finally disconnected from their session, thetter panting much far harder than the former, with a very pleased smile stered on his face.
Lapitus had never seen his woman so wild in bed and the reason for this was revealed to be all to reward him for his sess in capturing the city.
A thought that made Lapitus very happy and further fueled his ambition as he sought to prove himself more to his wife.
While Lady Felicia herself found the act¡. not half bad.
Lapitus was no limp in bed but quite capable.
But unfortunately, he still felt far short of Alexander and his super engrossed organ.
And it seemed that after Alexander had molded Lady Felicia''s tunnels to his personal shape, somehow the act with anyone else had lost its vor, as Lady Felicia''s body cried in frustration for not being pleased to that insane level.
A feeling for which Lady Felicia cursed her body multiple times, for during the act her mind had drifted multiple times back to that night.
She even saw Alexander''s face multiple times superimpose itself onto her husband''s, taunting her feeling like this, something she felt very ashamed of, but somehow also got very turned on.
Alexander was indeed right, Lady Felicia did have a shame kink and it was a heavy one at that.
But regardless of her own thoughts and level of enjoyment, Lady Felicia had achieved what she intended to do- to please Lapitus.
And then she brought out the real reason why she had worked so hard to get Lapitus into a good mood.
Lying on his chest, in a coy, shy, unusually meek voice, the pink, armous atmosphere in the room was slightly disturbed why Lady Felicia''s voice, as thedy began while twirling her fingers around the chised chest, "I have something to say. Promise you won''t get mad?"
The tone of the inquiry caught Lapitus off guard, as he did not think he ever heard his wife sound so soft and pleading.
And as he brought down his curious eyes zed with loveness, he heard Lady Felicia quickly reassure him,
"Don''t worry it''s nothing too big! It''s just that when Lady Gelene was giving me this dress, she showed me several ones to choose from."
"And Zulkain¡" Lady Felicia ground her teeth a bit as she said the name, "that idiot stole one for herself!"
The venomousdy had just created a fake thief.
"What!" And this immediately got an rmed reaction from Lapitus, as he jerked up from his prone position, discing Lady Felicia''s head.
And the reaction was quite justified, given the gravity of the situation.
Never mind the mere crime of stealing from someone like Alexander, of all the things, they had to steal something so valuable.
Lapitus did not know the exact value of the dress, but given the intricate works, the fine style, and the studded diamonds there, he estimated it to be at least in the ten thousand ropals range.
And although Lapitus earned close to ten times the sry of a regr soldier, this would still be his yearly sry.
And that was beside the point.
Because it was so much more about trust than that paltry amount of money to Alexander.
"Do you know what this means for us? Do you what will happen if it gets out?" Lapitus whispered in rm, his eyes bloodshot, the pink atmosphere that Lady Felicia had built almost shattering.
This was why Lady Felicia had ''worked'' so hard to make Lapitusfortable, for had Lapitus not been in such a good mood, he might have simply stormed out of the room and killed the maid right then and there.
Before taking her head to apologize to Alexander.
And this would have been totally fine to do.
For a master could do anything to his ve no matter the reason.
Nevermind the girl was actually guilty, and of such a serious crime as stealing, in addition to such a precious item at that.
Lapitus already considered simply hacking off her head was a mercy, as a way of showing gratitude for the years of loyal service she had provided them, for far more cruel punishments awaited thieves.
Ways that although Lapitus had personally overseen being administered, still made even his hard stomach churn.
"I know! I know!" Towards the enraged man, Lady Felicia repeatedly caressed his chest to try and soothe him, saying, "The fool made a mistake. But then she came to me by herself. With tears in her eyes, bowing and admitting her mistake."
"And given how long she has been with me, I was unable to severely punishher."
"She has never done anything like this before and simply got muddle headed for a second."
"Forgive her! Please"
Lady Felicia pleaded with a great whine to her voice.
And hearing his wife''s soothing voice and gentle caress, Lapitus did not know what to do.
So taking a great, deep breath, he finally ceased smoldering.
And then pursing his lips, Lapitus posed, "So what do we do now? Give it back?"
But he could easily see all the myriad problems with that.
"Later! Not now." And Lady Felicia shared these concerns, articting, "If we were to admit this now, it would look too bad on us. Like we are unable to control our ves."
"The pasha might even think that if we cannot even keep our household servants in check, how can we control the city?"
"That will ruin all our ambitions."
"Or even if he understands, he might want to see Zulkain punished. I do not want to see that."
Lady Felicia strongly shook her head.
And Lapitus indeed agreed as he nodded, however, added,"But¡ we still must punish Zulkain. To show her this is not right. And make sure this never happens."
"Yes, we should." And Lady Felicia nodding suggested she seemed to strongly agree.
Although she then pointed out, "But not right now. I''m sure given how smart the Pasha and Lady Gelene are, they will have their suspicions on who could have taken that dress."
"And if we punish Zulkain too harshly, it might easily cause them to have some guesses, since she is my personal maid,"
Lady Felicia said this because ''heavily punishing'' a ve almost exclusively involved beating them with a wooden stick, regardless of gender.
And many times it would be a brutal beating that would not stop until they lost consciousness.
And as it could be guessed, this approach many times even caused death, either directly from the beating or from the subsequent injuries.
And Lady Felicia wanted to avoid that.
Though not for any soft hearted reason.
If Lady Felicia could have, she would have killed that loyal maid of hers who kept her mouth eternally shut for more than ten whole years without batting an eye, just based on the mere suspicion of her talking.
She even contemted doing exactly that, such as by using Lapitus right now.
But then she thought herself out of it.
Because given Alexander''s spies already had their gazes on them, the pasha might question Lapitus over the maid''s death.
And although killing a ve for even no reason was totally legal, it was socially very damning to do so without any valid cause.
Nevermen when they were trying to get on Alexander''s good books, for that was not the way to do it.
So if Alexander were to ask them of the crime that long time servant hadmitted to demand such a harsh measure, Lapitus would not be able to worm his way out by using a trivial matter, especially given Zulkain was Lady Felicia''s personal maid for almost one and a half decade.
These people were naturally very trusted and so if the couple did not want to appear very petty and hot headed, something that was socially frowned upon, the matter had to be grave enough to entitle the death penalty.
Which if Lapitus was to make up out of the blue, would open up a whole new can of worms.
And Lady Felicia certainly did not want Alexander to go snooping around based on an imaginary crime, for she feared what unknown things he would dig up.
Hence, she decided to spare the girl, for now.
Andpletely unbeknownst to her, Zulkain, had just escaped the death penalty, while the maturedy continued,
"But if we punish her too lightly, it might not have its intended effect."
"So, let us not do anything. We can teach her a lesson once all this blows over."
And then before Lapitus could speak, imed in a confident voice, "Don''t worry, I have a n. I will be able to return the piece without Lady Gelene bing ever the wiser. But I need some time."
And at learning of the existence of this miraculous saving move, Lapitus was naturally ecstatic, "Oh! What''s the n?" as his curiosity overflew.
But Lady Felicia only shed her palms and waved impatiently, "Don''t worry, you will see it when it happens."
Naturally, there was no n, for Lady Felicia had made the whole thing up.
And the reason for all this convoluted nning was for this exact moment, as wrapping her thick thighs around her husband in an alluring move, Lady Felicia sprung her snare on this distracted prey.
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Chapter 833 Awakening
Chapter 833 Awakening
"But before that happens, I want you to be very very careful with your words husband. Do not let anything let slip to anyone."
Lady Felicia only really called Lapitus husband when she needed something out of him, like now, where she urged,
"And remember, if the Pasha ever asks you if you liked his gift, say yes and that you had brought a simr one some time ago."
"This will help me return the item without raising any suspicion."
Yes.
This was the punchline behind this so very long winded scheme.
For this was how Lady Felicia intended to foil Alexander''s threat.
Now that she had instructed Lapitus this, even if Alexander was to throw his reputation to the winds and question him, he would still likely fail.
And Lapitus, who was currently being distracted by his wife''s loving caress on a very particr part of his body, only had the mindset to groan and nod, preventing him from thinking and asking unnecessary questions.
But he did make this additional suggestion, "Why don''t we free Zulkain? We can see that it was in celebration of Lord Pasha''s victory. That will help us get rid of the problem easily, won''t it?"
This was a good n and it was not like Lady Felicia had not thought about that.
But Lady Felicia found it foolish to let Zulkain out of her sight when she was under suspicion.
Who knew what this girl would tattle to whomever?
Lady Felicia would rather follow the maxim of ''Keep your friends close, your enemies closer''.
In fact, Lady Felicia thought of going one step further, pretending to free the maid but in reality surreptitiously killing her.
But found it hard to execute while avoiding Alexander''s eyes.
Thus she denied it, simply saying, "No. Doing anything like that would simply raise the topic. Keep things as is and let me handle it."
Hence, with all this preparation, when Alexander invited Lapitus to a feast, although Lady Felicia''s sixth senses were tingling, and her instinct told her to not let her husband attend it, she was unable to stop him, as her rationality trumped her superstitious heart.
''It will be alright. I have repeatedly urged him to not say anything.'' She consoled, while reasoning, ''Besides, if Lapitus doesn''t go, it might be seen as greatly disrespectful.''
Thus when Lapitus did not return home that night, a news given to her by a messenger, Lady Felicia did not panic.
It was something that Lady Felicia had already guessed would happen given the nature of these celebrations.
But as it could be guessed, it would have indeed been better for Lady Felicia to stop her husband, as Gelene woulde to report to Alexander the next morning with arge grin on her face.
"Master! It''s done!" The ckdy cried tedly the moment she entered the room after the knock and found Alexander to be rxing by the window of his study, basking in the spring sun while crunching on some nuts.
He had just returned from a meeting with the various council members discussing a lot of mundane things, with the particr highlight of the session being a small dispute over trade disruption due to the presence of bandits in a particr area, where the nobles involved med each other, both iming that the bandits were in the other''s pocket and were being used to sabotage the opposite side.
A row that Alexander found exhausting to even think about.
And then rather than waste his time trying to investigate the moves of these small, almost individually inconsequential nobles, he decided to solve this problem by simply throwing money at the problem, i.e.- he put a huge bounty of these bandits, almost five times the market price.
With such a number, Alexander was sure many rival entities would be tempted to move.
It was even possible that a few of the surrounding nobles might band together to form a raiding party and destroy this group.
And with that solution represented, his work was basically done for the day.
So when Gelene asked for permission to enter, Alexander readily granted it to her.
And then seeing her enter the room with clear indications of a very juicy story to tell, Alexander could not help but sit up straight and put on a very curious face.
"Oh! What did you hear?" He eagerly posed, while gesturing Gelene to join him across the small table.
"Hahaha, I think it''s better for the girls to tell it. Otherwise, you might not believe me,"
But instead of immediately replying, Gelene chuckled so enigmatically, although her glowing face clearly suggested that she had unearthed an entire treasure of information, before she asked for Alexander''s permission to let the girls in.
"They are waiting outside. May I call them?"
''Them?'' And hearing the pronoun used Alexander expressed surprise, as he thought it was supposed to be only one girl.
But knowing he was going to get the answer once he saw them anyway, he only curtly nodded, as quickly, two blue robed girls were then shuffled into the gorgeous room.
"Greetings, Esteemed Lord Pasha," And almost the instant they walked in, they bowed deeply and deferentially.
While in the case of Alexander, the moment heid eyes upon them, the man immediately understood why Gelene said it was ''them''.
Because one of them was dressed exactly like Lady Felicia, with all her makeup and hair done to exactly match that fairdy.
While the other was like that too, but very tanned, almost ck!
When they stood side by side, Alexander thought he was looking at Lady Felicia and her shadow that hade to life!
And once the initial shock faded away, he did find the pair very attractive.
"Hehe, I thought master would like the surprise. This was sister Tayin''s idea."
While from the side, seeing the reaction Gelene confidently chuckled, adding, "When I told her about the n, she reminded me of another girl who was simr. And I thought, more the merrier right? Hehehe."
And Alexander would have to agree with Gelene in this one as he certainly found the pair much more attractive than any one of them separately, as that chocte color produced a very different, almost exotic aura.
Alexander showed his approval with a nod and light grin.
Following which he then turned to properly scan the two girls who had been standing there trying to look as confident and charming as possible.
Their hair, which was most likely a wig, had been done just like how Lady Felicia usually did it, their cheeks were powdered a rosy red and their lips painted a very certain red that Alexander was sure she had seen Lady Felicia wear, showcasing Gelene''s intense eye for details.
Although their height and build did not exactly superimpose with thatdy, if Alexander was Lapitus, he would not find it difficult to think these girls looked very much like his wife.
Finished observing them, Alexander then slowly got up from his chair, "What are your names,dies?" while politely asking them this.
And the fair and ebony girl respectively replied quickly in a clear, sweet voice,
"My stage name is Saima, my lord."
"And mine is Zara, my lord."
The reason the girls mentioned the particr phrase ''stage name'' was because once a girl entered this industry, it was customary for them to take a new name.
It was done, one- as a way to shield one''s ''true'' self from this socially frowned upon profession.
But more than that, it was done so that they could choose a much more sexy name.
Because you would not believe what some of the girls would be originally called by their parents.
Back in Thesos, in a clear showcasing of how illiterate the society was, Alexander had even seen one girl be referred to simply as ''Woman'' when tranted from Thesian to English.
Thus, this initiation gave the girls a chance to choose a far more flirty and even exotic name than their birth ones.
Alexander hearing the name nodded in acknowledgement and then cing himself on a nearby couch, he gestured to the two, "Please! Sit."
To which the two girls immediately hopped to the opposite side of the couch as fast as they could, while from the other side, Gelene brought a pitcher of wine and some sses, before sitting next to Alexander and serving him some.
So taking of his wife, Alexander then got to the meat of the issue immediately, leaning forward eagerly as he posed in a very serious tone,
"Now, tell me, exactly what happened. Start from the very beginning. And do not leave even the tiniest thing that man might have said while he was with you two."
Since Gelene had felt that it would be better for Alexander to hear from the horse''s mouth, he could bet it was probably something so unbelievable that she had felt this was the best way to remove any doubt that might ur.
And as the girls recounted their encounter, how they got Lapitus drunk, how he mistook them for his wife, and subsequent various conversions they had with him in his fugue like state, Alexander''s eyes only got serious and more serious, until by the end, it was zing!
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Chapter 834 Awakening (Part-2)
Chapter 834 Awakening (Part-2)
At Alexander''s question regarding Lapitus, the robed girls, sensing the amicable atmosphere suddenly change, straightened their spines, and then after briefly exchanging looks with one another, the fairer Saima who was the more social of the two began the speech they had rehearsed, reciting in with great eloquence,
"My lord, as you know we came here upon Mistress Gelene''s order. She told us to get a man to talk about a dress by getting him drunk and ying as his wife." The girl provided much context, before continuing,
"This we did."
"Yesterday, after the party, when we went to that man''s room, first of all, we fed him a special drink we had prepared before."
"It was not harmful or anything. Even some of the patrons in our establishment like to use it."
"Because it makes them feel very high and sometimes even hallucinate, making them see things like rainbows and flying horses."
And simply hearing that description, Alexander''s lips subconsciously twitched, for a very particr word came to his mind- Roofies.
The effects sounded eerily simr to that infamous ''date rape'' drug and his spine tingled at learning how easy it was for these harmless looking girls to slip something in without raising any suspicion.
''I really need to be more careful,'' He reminded himself once again.
While unperturbed by his thoughts, Saima continued,
"Once the man was drunk enough, he began to show him the special dress we were wearing underneath our usual dress, and given our makeup and wife, his clouded mind began to gradually mistake us for his wife."
"It did not matter to him that there were two of us. He seemed to think there was only one but he was seeing two due to being too drunk."
"He even said that ''Felicia'' looked different while looking at Zara, hehe."
Saima giggled sweetly while referring to her partner''s much darkerplexion, and then quickly continued,
"Then the first thing he said when he saw us was, ''You are wearing that dress again''."
And the instant Alexander heard this he felt disappointed, for this clearly meant that the man had seen it before.
But that did not mean Lady Felicia was clean, so he let the narration continue,
"After that, we asked him some follow up questions, but he did not seem interested in answering, but instead began to rabble on about something strange. About someone named Zulkain and that they should not let Lord Pasha know what she did."
And this reveal certainly got Alexander very excited as he knew that name.
"What more did he say about that maid?" He could not help but ask for he felt he had finally found a lead.
"I''m sorry, my lord," But much to his disappointment, the fair girl was unable to answer him, as she shook her head, "Although we tried to get him to talk, he was too drunk and his speech was slurred for us to understand. We only picked up words like¡ ''few years''... ''hide'' and ''dress''."
"It made no sense to us, so we moved on to the act itself."
"And as we serviced him, we asked him various small questions, and we found that the man and thedy we were pretending to be rarely had sex. And she certainly did not do the things we were doing."
And learning of this, Alexander did not actually find it too strange, as many couples of this time saw sex as only a way to procreate.
Lady Felicia even stuck him as a half prude who seemed to have little experience servicing men.
So this actually confirmed Lady Felicia''s ''once or twice'' number.
Thus for a second Alexander did consider that Lapitus actually bought that dress to spice up his bedroom.
But for the moment Alexander put those considerations on pause and returned his attention to Saima''s recount, who was still continuing,
"We slowly started doing the act, and as we showed off our dress we asked him many more small questions, with the most important one being if he remembered buying this dress for his wife?"
"And strangely he seemed at first confused by that question."
"His exact words were, ''Didn''t you say it was a gift from the Pasha?"
Saima looked a bit curiously at Alexander as she said this, as those words did not quite make sense to her.
But naturally, it made no sense to Alexander either.
So he simply signaled the girl to continue, as he assumed that Lapitus was probably wasted by that point and did not know what he was talking about.
And finally, the girl got to the meaty part, as she revealed,"But the man truly opened up once we finished the y, and were lying next to him."
"By that point, he was very tired and in his half stupor, he seemed to truly believe we were his wife."
"And then he talking by himself."
"He first about a man named Petrino. How sorry he was that he could not protect her from him."
"And then¡.."
It was here the fair girl atst retold the entire conversion that had happened between Petrino and Lapitus on that fateful day, something that thetter had hidden from Lady Felicia all this time, but revealed in his drunk state as he was swimming in his afterglow.
Those two girls had really wrung him dry and in this blissful, rxed state, Lapitus finally let his guard down and poured out all the bitterness he had hidden within him, revealing a weak side of him he had never dared to show.
It was from these girl''s mouth that Alexander learned of that famous rape about 10 years ago, how Lord Ponticus helped suppress it, how Lapitus was forced to ept it for his family''s sake, how powerless and angry the man had felt, how sorry he was for that, how Lapitus had rebelled in part because of that, how he had cornered Petrino that day, what Petrino had said about having an affair with Lady Felicia for a decade, how he said it was him that gave them all the gifts, how that man imed Fabiyana was his daughter andstly how Lapitus did not believe anything of it.
It was here that Alexander finally got to learn everything.
And unlike the lovestruck fool Lapitus, he could easily who was speaking the truth and who was lying here.
He was now ny nine, if not one hundred percent sure that what Petrino had said was true.
Alexander''s memory was still enough to recall this recently learned name to be Lord Ponticus''s eldest son, and atst, it clicked in him.
That man''s identity made him the most perfect fit in the gap that was in Alexander''s puzzle
At longst he was finally able toplete that picture around Lady Felicia that had been hounding him so long.
And as he formed it, Alexander finally began to wake up to how he had been yed like a fiddle.
Lapitus was no scheming monster who tortured his wife, Lord Ponticus was no loving father who smothered his daughter with gifts, and she was no innocent bystander at the mercy of the whims of fate.
She was the spider at the center of it all, weaving webs and puppeteering them as she pleased.
''Almost everything that bitch said to me was a lie,'' And this realization made Alexander''s eyes which were already smoldering now begin to burn with extreme fury.
And he must have had a very scary face, as seeing it the two girls quickly finished talking, and then generously bunched up together, pressing their legs together to appear as small as possible, afraid that Alexander mightsh out at them.
And it was not as an irrational fear as one might assume.
For although it was not verymon, still the number of instances where a king or noble had the messenger shot for simply delivering him bad news was probably enough to fill not just a book but a shelf in a library.
Hence after finishing their recount, both the girls lowered their heads and tried to appear diminutive, to not antagonize Alexander.
And even Gelene stayed quiet, giving Alexander the time to work out the things on his own.
This silencested a long time as Alexander finally straightened out and re evaluated many of the assumptions he had about that scheming woman, about Lapitus, and even Fabiyana.
He also understood why Gelene thought it would be better for him to listen to what the girls said for himself.
Because although Alexander never made it apparent, even now he took everything Gelene said with a grain of salt.
And the ebonydy knew it, hence this was her way of both saving Alexander all the mental hassle and also subtlyining to him.
And it was only after he had corrected a lot of his assumptions in his head that Alexander finally broke the silence, turning to first thank the girls,
"Okay! Thank you for your hard work. Both of you did very well. Rest assured Gelene will give both of you an appropriate gift soon."
And when, almost immediately after his mind fell into thinking about how to capture than spider and break her bones one by one, as his eyes glowed menacingly.
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Chapter 835 Calming Down
Chapter 835 Calming Down
Hearing promise of Alexander''s reward both girls nodded happily with a smile, as he then politely asked them to excuse themselves, with thisst piece, "Please keep everything you learned all to yourself. Thank you."
Although the first part of the sentence could really be said to be redundant.
No matter how big much of a bbermouth these two were, they would not dare to utter a peep of this, knowing they could be silenced with simply a thought from Alexander.
But just as Alexander was about to go back to his dark thoughts about putting ''that swindler'' through the rack and snapping her from limb to limb in the most cruel way possible, he suddenly felt a warm hug envelop him, quickly followed by Gelene''s silky whisper,
"Now, now, master there is no need for you to get so worked up. These girls need not leave immediately do they?" as the ckdy thennded a light kiss on his cheek, letting Alexander smell the rosy perfume she was wearing.
And this loving touch did work to snuff some of the deep embers of anger in Alexander.
And sensing its efficacy, the ebonydy continued, pointing out, "Whatever that woman was nning, you managed to foil it, my lord."
"Recall? Did you lose anything because of her?"
"No! She tried to hoodwink you and failed."
"You bested her, master."
And at being reminded of this, Alexander did start to calm down, for all Gelene said was true.
Up until now, other than wasting some time hearing Lady Felicia lie, Alexander had lost nothing, for he had promised the other side nothing.
Even all the work he had given Lady Felicia seemed to have beenpleted with satisfactory efficiency.
So even Alexander would admit putting the woman to torture just for lying to him was a bit too harsh.
But he was of course not going to let the woman off for free either.
"So what do you suggest I do?" Hence Alexander posed to Gelene, thinking that since she had decided to try and talk him out of it, she better give him a good answer.
"Oh! Let''s not talk about that now." But Gelene tactfully, declined, instead whispering, "Master, you have three beautiful girls with you now. Don''t you think it would be a waste to not taste them?"
"Come! Let us reward you for catching that vixen."
And as she said so, Lady Felicia very obviously signaled the other two with her eyes.
Who obviously got the message, as quickly getting up, they shed a very charming voice, and Saima chimed, "Yes, master. Let us show you some of our services. All of us sisters wait eagerly every day for you to visit us. But you never do."
"Perhaps we can change that today."
Saying which she very sexily opened her robes, showing what she had underneath, as did Zara beside her, silentlying to stand beside her working sister.
And seeing the two, Alexander instantly understood exactly why Gelene had made these girls enter the room wearing that thick robe, one which hid much of their allure.
For it was not that they were naked underneath, that would be too simple.
Instead, it was because both of them wore that very sexy negligee dress they were given for their ''work''.
And as Alexander gazed upon the ck dress, he found the two to be very close to the design worn by Lady Felicia, with only a bit different floral patterns and additional frills here and there.
The fairplexioned Saima much contrasted the ck dress, as her already stiff pink nipples stuck out of the slit of the dress, while down below, she had a tuft surprisingly simr to Lady Felicia.
Alexander remembered Gelene asking for even this tiny detail.
While next to Saima, the much darker Zara could not stand out that much, for the ck dress messed too well with her skin tone, unable to form that contrast and thus produce that visual stimulus.
But what shecked in that, she made up for with her much bountiful chest with nutmeg colored nipples, a wider hip, and a deep, dark undergrowth.
And feeling Alexander was checking them out, these girls produced another very proud smile and then started to take various erotic poses as they were trained to do when seducing any potential client.
They first took the standard- hand on hip model pose, showing off everything on the front,followed by a side pose where the girls ced their backs against one another, squishing their abundant butts together and raising their arms, letting Alexander savor their smooth, creamy armpits, andstly, they turned around to show Alexander their back, fully revealing their abundant, naked nks, fluffy and jiggling, as they then bent over to make their pink flowers peak out from the bush, showing off the healthy color.
"You nned this?" And as Alexander watched the two working girls perform these very erotic acts, in a scene very reminiscent of what Gelene and Ophenia did when they were with him, he turned to look at the ebony who was starting to caress his little brother over his pants.
"Yes." Gelene did not bother hiding it, as she gave her reason, "After I heard the whole story from these two, I thought master might need some pleasure and venting."
"So I had the two washed, cleaned, perfumed, and all dressed up, just to serve you, master."
"Surely, you would not deny them, right?" Gelene then cooed, saying,
"These girls worked deep into the night. And then again woke up as soon as morning came to let me know the things."
"Poor things must be exhausted. But they are here for you."
Gelene''s hands at this point had stealthily gone inside Alexander''s pants and then very deftly brought out his long organ that was starting to wake up.
"...." And feeling the sensual, warm touch, Alexander only moaned, not disliking the idea too much, while the two girls'' eyes subconsciously widened at the revealed size of the organ.
Due to the special drink sold at their establishment, which by the way was their biggest portion of revenue, it was not unusual for these girls to seerger than regr ''customers''.
But they were never anything like this.
And the reason for this was simply that the drink sold a somewhat diluted version of the version Alexander ingested, one whose efficacy peaked at a much lower point.
So it was the first time for them to see such a frightful organ, and even these experienced courtesans slightly shivered, but at the same time, the musky, manly smell emanating from it started to turn them very on.
And as Gelene pumped Alexander''s by now turgid organ, she turned to the girls to ask, "Why don''t you girls start showing something the master would like?"
This was obviously some kind of code, as hearing it promptly made Saima and Zara hug each, as they squished their abundant breasts together, and then they began to very alluring began to kiss, fiercely tonguing each other in a very showy way right in front of Alexander.
All while their hands naughtily caressed each other''s curves, rubbing each other butts, squeezing and pping them, and producing a sexy *pah* along with that all- alluring jiggle, with them even poking into the other''s tunnels, both the cave and puckered hole, eliciting cute lustful yelps and soul tearing moans.
These girls even seemed to have a subtle form of rivalry going on between them as they teased one another, each in a kind of race to get the other one off first.
During this girl on girl action, both Zara and Saima even had two fingers inside the other''s asshole, as they then pumped each other good and hard, producing a nasty audible sound before bringing up their dainty digits sparkling with juices to the other''s mouths, making them taste their own fluids.
This was of course epted in as erotic a manner as possible, before the whole thing repeated with the other flower.
*Splurt*. *Splurt*
It was amidst enjoying such a show that Alexander released himself, dirtying Gelene''s dainty dark hands a creamy, lewd white.
Something thedy was more than happy to very eagerly lick off on her own, intentionally putting on a very sensual face as she did.
And as she did, Gelene also ordered, "Girls! Clean your master off," which caused the two girls to immediately scramble to rush to Alexander''s lower half and make it sparkling clean, as each loudly praised the taste and thickness.
Following this Gelene invited Alexander to a nearbyrge divan where the actual fun began, where first of all, she made sure to show off her own very special dress that she was secretly wearing.
And surprise, surprise, wouldn''t you know it, it was another sexy negligee hidden underneath.
But unlike the other two, this was white in color, forming a great contrast with Gelene''s ck skin.
And as Alexanderid himself on the couch, he found Gelene dressed in that white negligee lustfully gazing down at him, while Saima wearing a ck version of that standing to her right, and Zara wearing the same on the left.
Alexander felt very refreshed after the enjoyable act and felt he could think about his next move with a clear mind.
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Chapter 836 Spring the Trap
Chapter 836 Spring the Trap
Alexander enjoyed this double chocte and one vani ice cream trio for the next hour or so, by the end of which they were lying limply on the carpeted floor or snuggled up on the devan, sporting a particrly reddened nk that seemed to be smoldering.
The reason for this was because when Alexander saw the two girls dressed as Lady Felicia, it kind of ticked him off, and since this was his study, there was of course no shortage of rulers.
Putting two and two together, it was an inevitable result.
The first of his victims was surprisingly Gelene, who just happened to be here.
But since she was the initiator of this act, she could not escape the judgment, and first of all, she was made to take the same pose Lady Felicia was made to take that night, standing up straight, arms behind the head, legs spread.
Then Alexander spanked herrge butt and pubes, making her groan while the girls toyed with her, particrly her freshly pierced nipples, tugging the rings and twisting the long buds to make the maturedy shudder.
These two were at first a bit afraid to get it on with their boss, only quickly going over her body and not caressing it properly.
But then they got tworge smacks on their butts for this from Alexander, who reminded them he was all three of their superior.
And that worked to alleviate much of the tension.
So then Alexander made the two girls do something to Gelene he had yet to try, for he ordered them to try and get both their fists into her two holes at once.
A request that made Gelene shout horrifyingly at Alexander, "Master! No! One I can do. But two¡. my holes will never close!"
But Alexander made noment, only menacing chuckling and giving Gelene two smacks for moving out of position.
While down below getting their instruction, the two girls got to work.
They did have some experience with fisting, and so using copious amounts of oil, they managed to make quite a headway, around four fingers each.
All while Gelene howled lewdly like an animal,
"Oh! Too big! Why! Ahhh¡ don''t squirm in there!"
"Zara! Stop poking inside my butt girl! You want to get strung up when we get back!"
"Mmmm! The fingers are stretching all my bits."
"Ahhh! My butt and pussy feels the same! Too good!"
The thin wall between the two organs was not enough to stop the sensation from overflowing into the other, and seeing the woman swimming in both pain and pleasure, both Saima and Zara kept giggling lewdly as they took this rare chance to bully their mistress, moving their expert fingers in such a way to poke at all of Gelene''s sensitive ces, while making the tunnels expand simultaneously to ever before seen levels.
Gelene had a very enraptured look on her face while this was going on, making Alexandere hug her from behind, and then whisper while ying with her piercings
"Does it feel good? Do you like my reward? This is for helping me calm down."
Gelene did not know whether she should be happy or regretful, and could only moan lewdly at the things being done to her, at one point even rolling out her tongue.
Ultimately, however, Saima and Zara would be unable to aplish the task Alexander had set for them, for they could only go up to half a fist before Gelene violently convulsed in sheer ecstasy, and got the carpet underneath wet.
Seeing which Alexander decided to let the girl off this time, cing her on the couch before turning his attention to the two.
He had them bent over a table and took the fair, luscious ass and the dark, fluffy butt at the same time and as the girls felt their cave explored, it expanded to heights neither believed were possible.
So they screamed lewdly at the top of their lungs as Alexander pounded them, switching between them alternatively while spanking the other with the ruler, turning it smoking red.
Alexander seemed to have gained a new kink with this ruler equipped.
Alexander only pulled out after filling them in nice and good, and the two even gave him a diligent double titfuck clean up to make the memory that much more memorable.
And just as Gelene had predicted, Alexander felt very refreshed after this pleasurable act and was able to quickly think of the exact kind of trap he wanted to set for Lady Felicia.
Then refining the idea over dinner with Gelene and the other girls, Alexander thought of a way to confront Lady Felicia, disguising it as an invitation toe meet him in his bed chambers.
Officially, Alexander framed it as him wanting toy with her, with Lapitus being told that she was going to sleep over with Fabiyana.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
And it was with such an innocuous tap on the door that Lady Felicia entered therge room.
Her face was cid, hiding any and all emotions.
For a woman who was here to do a secret tryst by fooling her husband, she surprisingly did not look too eager.
As she entered the room, Lady Felicia also felt something was wrong with the vibe in the room, like the air was stuffy.
She did not know why, but her instincts, honed over doing this for over a decade simply told her that.
And perhaps the biggest clue for that was seeing Alexander not near the bed but behind arge oak table, the lighting there being such that he seemed to meld into the shadows.
"My lord? Is that you?" Lady Felicia tentatively peeked her head forward to try and get a better look.
"Ahh, Felicia! Wee." And Alexander appeared to greet her in a very jovial tone, emerging out of the shadows with a great smile on his smile.
Whatever he was nning, he was not showing on his face, as he then grandly gestured towards the chair opposite of the table, inviting, "Please! Sit."
And the candid smiling face did work to alleviate some of Lady Felicia''s worries, with it lowering further when Alexander personally poured her a drink, saying,
"First of all, I wanted you to again apologize for the things I said to you the other day. That was inappropriate."
"And secondly, and this the real reason I asked you toe, is this¡"
Saying so Alexander gently handed Lady Felicia a thin stack of papers.
And as Lady Felicia quickly picked them and started to peruse them, the contents of it made her heart sing, while she heard Alexander say, "These are the papers officially making you¡ or rather Lapitus the city''s governor in my stead."
"I have been impressed by your work for the past six months."
"So finally decided to do it after talking to Lapitus at the party. Congrattions."
Alexander''s voice was very light and breezy, while Lady Felicia''s feelings were far more turbulent, for finally having what she had oh so wanted for perhaps her entire life, and seeing the confirmation of her and Lapitus''s name on that paper, her heart soaked to heights she had not ever reached.
And then quickly following it, she let out a torrent of profuse gratitudes and praises to Alexander, swearing her eternal loyalty, while internally feeling whatever Alexander wanted her to do in bed, she would be open.
''Perhaps he will take my ass. I heard Adhanians like that.'' Even though such a thought mortified her, the proud woman was even willing to copte in that dirty hole if it meant pleasing Alexander.
"But there is no small condition," However her soaking spirit was suddenly tugged back towards earth with his sentence.
And lifting her head to look at Alexander, Lady Felicia suddenly found his face had lost all its mirthfulness, as the man gruffly imed,
"I''m aware that you have not been entirely truthful to me. So before I hand you the papers and in effect the city, I hope you wille clean with me."
Then, before Lady Felicia could confirm or deny the ims, Alexander quickly produced another leaf of paper from his pocket and opened it for Lady Felicia to read, saying this while handling it to the woman,
"Do not worry. No matter what you might have hidden, I will not punish you. Simply tell me the truth and the city will be yours."
But Alexander''s icy cold voice and dagger like stare sent a silent chill through Lady Felicia''s spine, as her heart thumped, and her mind raced, ''He knows? But how?''
It was a doubt that was then a hundred folds reinforced when she saw what was written on that paper she was handed.
Questions!
The entire page was filled with various numbered questions.
''Did you ever lie to Pasha Alexander? Why?''
''......''
''Did Lapitus really abuse you?''
''Did you have an affair with a man named Petrino?''
''Is Fabiyana really Lapitus''s daughter?''
''.........''
''What really happened to your mother?''
''Did your father have any illegitimate sons?''
There were many, many such questions, going over almost everything Alexander could think of.
And as Lady Felicia went off the list, each subsequent query worked to strike another arrow into her heart.
''He knows! He definitely knows!''
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 837 Lady Felicias Interrogation (Part-1)
Chapter 837 Lady Felicia''s Interrogation (Part-1)
As the string of questions wereid bare right in front of Lady Felicia, she suddenly felt the room around her turn surprisingly cold.
And she could tell that she had not been called here toy with Alexander.
This meeting was clearly designed as a trap and she had been got!
The queries being so openly targeted showed it.
And then she heard Alexander repeat, "Tell me the truth, Felicia. And nothing will happen. I simply want to hear you say it."
The voice was very impatient and amodating.
But how could Lady Felicia believe it?
This was a favored technique of those wishing to extract an answer, to show hope, to show that it would only get worse if they hid it, and thus coax the other party into revealing what they knew.
Lady Felicia herself had sometimes used the technique to get something out of her half brothers and sister.
But once she had the information, well then it depended.
She could do whatever she liked, but most of the times, she acted based on the revealed intel.
And Lady Felicia very much feared that what her confessing might cause Alexander to do.
For she knew what she hid.
Thus she came to this conclusion, ''Since he already knows, there is no need to add insult to injury. I will simply shut up and pretend to know nothing. Anything I say will simply add to his knowledge.''
"My¡lord¡ this¡ I¡ what is this paper! I have never lied to you." Lady Felicia pretended to be shocked and even added that artful stammer.
And seeing it Alexander was astounded as ever.
Even now, when he made it so clear to her, this woman refused to bulge.
This reminded him of a famous from the movie- Diary of a Wimpy Kid-
Deny, deny, deny. Even if they find out, never ever admit to anything! Deny, deny, deny.
This woman truly had grit, Alexander would have to give her that.
But grit or not, Alexander was determined to break this woman one way or the other.
However, before he got physical, Alexander gave onest warning, "I will give you onest chance, Felicia. Tell me the truth!"
"Did Lapitus really hurt you?" He began with this small question.
"Of course! I swear by the gods! Why would you ever doubt me, my lord?" And Lady Felicia did not have any hesitation in viting even the taboo about the gods, as she lied through her teeth.
"......" And seeing this, it took a lot of effort on Alexander''s part to not simply walk up and p the woman unconscious.
For although Alexander abhorred violence against the fairer sex, he really believed the woman before him deserved it.
But ultimately exercising great patience, Alexander clenched his teeth to only frostily add, "Really? Then howe I saw no marks on your body? And I saw you naked."
"You might not know this, but I know a woman who really was abused by her husband. And even till today, she bears some scars."
Alexander was of course talking about Lady Nanazin who even after two straight years of using the legummum salve was still unable to get rid of some of the more grievous types of wound marks, such as the burned, branded patches.
So for Alexander, to see someone whose skin probably had not ever been even pierced im the same experience, incensed the man.
"Surely if Lapitus was the insane monster you told me he was, you should bear some scars. Can you show me one?" Then he cleverly asked.
But seemingly not clever enough.
For Lady Felicia seemed to yet have an answer ready for him.
"Of course, I cannot my lord." The woman first appeared to frankly answer Alexander, but then quickly pointed, "Lapitus is a military man. And very talented in torture at that. He did not dare leave any marks in fear that I would show them to my father."
"So when he would beat me, he would always put a pillow or thick rug over my body. That way, it would hurt just as much and sometimes even break things inside my body, but there was never any evidence." In an instant, Lady Felicia had managed to think of a usible answer.
And then quickly cried in a wounded voice,
"Lord Pasha! Please stop this! Please do not doubt me! You are the only one I ever told you this.
Because I trusted you. Please do not leave me!"
"You cannot believe anything that monster that told you. He''s a total sadist and a born liar! You must believe me!"
As Lady Felicia cried with literal tears streaming down her face, Alexander looked down at the quivering lips, the impassioned, sobbing eyes, and heartfelt pleas with not scorn, but amazement!
He really could not help but be astounded by the level of natural born acting skill on disy.
Alexander did not know about much acting but he did not know that being able to cry onmand was a skill as rare as a unicorn horn.
And he felt that if he had not been able to get Lapitus to reveal everything but know everything, but instead came here looking to simply try and fish, hoping to break Lady Felicia through trickery, he would have surely failed.
He might have even questioned his own hypothesis!
Heck! Even now a tiny, tiny part of his brain was stabbing him with queries of doubts.
''What if you are wrong?''
''Maybe she really is telling the truth?''
''Maybe there is more to it than you thought!''
And sensing all this, Alexander again understood how Lady Felicia had been able to continue an affair in this day and age for over a decade without ever getting caught.
He predicted that surely there must have been times when Lapitus had grown suspicious of Lady Felicia''s movements, but was likely always hoodwinked by this siren''s treacherously beautiful voice and impassioned cries.
Even the reply the woman had given about the torture was very, very good.
For there was indeed such a method, and it really worked as Lady Felicia said.
The original technique involved taking any cloth, say a sock, cing the part of the victim you wanted to break inside it, sometimes torture chambers had giant, specialized sock just for this purpose, and then filling it up with sand.
At that point, you could hit over it as much as you, and even though the insides would turn to mush, the outer skin would remain pristine.
Alexander wondered where the woman learned of this, for this was not something a woman of this time was supposed to know.
But that was perhaps what made it all the more impressive.
But impressive or not, Alexander still had to break her.
"*Sigh*, oh Felicia!" And upon realizing that the soft, easy way was not going to cut it, Alexander could not help but atst ruefully shook his head, saying, "I really did not want to do this! Do not say that I did not give you enough opportunities."
Snap.
And before Lady Felicia had that really meant, Alexander''s fingers suddenly snapped, and immediately, as if like a magic summons, from the adjacent room four burly men, dressed in full armor themselves emerged.
Lady Felicia did not need to wonder the reason for their appearance, for as if already rehearsed, the four then started to beeline towards the woman with great purposeful strides, radiating a very menacing air.
"Lord¡ Pasha! Alexander!"
It was a move that caused Lady Felicia to atst scream out in rm, as she quickly stood up from the chair in an attempt to resist whatever was going to happen to her.
But how could one, fairdy contend against four strong men?
Even if Alexander were to take her pce, he would not have been able to escape their grasp.
Thus these athletic men caught Lady Felicia even before she could start a fight and made her return to her seat.
All the while Lady Felicia squirmed like a fish caught in a, screaming at the top of her voice,
"My lord! Pasha! What are you doing? This¡ please stop this! Have you gone insane?"
But Alexander paid no heed to this, as neither did the men, for then they proceeded to make Lady Felicia stretch both her arms out and ce them on the long table, just like they had been instructed to.
While from that back room finally came a small team of nurses, recognizable by their white attire, who stopped to stand beside Lady Felicia, holding arge metal bowl filled with ice water.
"Lord Pasha¡ you¡" And with so many people surrounding her, Lady Felicia finally understood there was no point in pointlessly struggling.
So she stopped, instead turning her efforts to try and negotiate.
"Are you wishing to torture me to get a confession," Thedy''s voice was cold with a tinge of mockery.
Seeing the bowl of water, she guessed Alexander was trying to waterboard her, and she felt determined enough to be confident that she would not break.
"Heh! Something like that!" And Alexander did not deny it, as he produced a disdainful scoff.
"......." To which Lady Felicia only produced a fiery look in her eyes.
One could withstand a lot of torture if they had something to believe in.
And Lady Felicia believed she truly had a lot to hide.
Even when everything was already in the open, Lady Felicia still refused to admit it out of her own mouth.
She was that stubborn.
Chapter 838 Lady Felicias Interrogation (Part-2)
Chapter 838 Lady Felicia''s Interrogation (Part-2)
The possibility of violence about to be done to her did not deter Lady Felicia, for she believed it was all worth it.
But then suddenly, as she braced herself, things did not proceed as Lady Felicia expected.
That is- the men around her did not simply grab her by the head and dunk it into the chilly water bowl.
Instead, *ng*, suddenly the odd shiny glint of steel reflecting the nearby candlelight caught the woman''s eyes, and her body subsequently shivered when she felt the sharp steel be ced right onto her left ring finger.
This was a new sensation for her, for in reality, Lady Felicia had never had as much as a paper cut in her entire life.
Thus faced with the possibility of getting a body part of her cut right in front of her, proved to be a very daunting challenge.
She did not think Alexander was going to start hacking off bits right at the start.
She thought that like any interrogation, Alexander would start with some light ps and then move on to more bloodier stuff from there.
That was the basic pattern.
So seeing Alexander eschewing all the ''niceties'' right from the start, finally a creep of fear began to bloom in the fearlessdy.
"My lord¡ this¡. are you sure? My husband still has some influence in the city you know." And it manifested like this, as Lady Felicia subtly threatened Alexander, urging him to reconsider.
But of course, Alexander had considered all this whileing up with the strategy.
Although it was true that Lapitus, with the officers under him, could indeed cause some disturbance, but through his interactions, Alexander found that most of the men under him were not loyal to death subordinates but more like convenient beneficiaries, following him out of profit.
For Lapitus''s low birth status almost naturally made him excluded from being a leader by his own merit.
Hence with this reassurance, Alexander confidently barked, "Heh! So now you remember Lapitus is your husband? Wasn''t he a monster just till now?"
Before turning to re at the ''by now a bit afraid'' face, as he revealed with strangely an appreciative tone,
"I will give it to you, Felicia. You are among the smartest women I have met. And certainly the guttiest by leagues and away."
"Your ability to stay calm and not break even when under these conditions is truly remarkable."
"Heh! Even some of my spies could learn a thing or two from you," Alexander half chuckled at this additional information, though given the surrounding atmosphere, it sounded strangely menacing.
But Alexander was unperturbed, as he continued, "And if I really was just trying to get to confess without evidence, I admit you might have fooled me."
"But unfortunately for you, someone talked! Lapitus talked!" As Alexander said this, he very strategically turned to look at Lady Felicia''s reaction and found her eyes to flicker menacingly for the briefest of seconds.
Seeing which Alexander chucked dreadfully, "Haha, are you regretting you did not try and kill him when you had the chance?"
This rhetorical question naturally got no response.
But Alexander was not bothered as he was sure the next thing he said was bound of get some.
So he continued,
"Lapitus must have never told but before he killed Petrino, he made the man squeal. And that lover of yours talked. He talked a lot. Can you guess?"
And as soon as Alexander said this, just as he had predicted, he saw the proud woman very visibly shake.
It was only for a moment, and credit to Lady Felicia, she did quickly hide it, but Alexander was certain that she did.
And pleased with the reaction, Alexander continued,
"As luck would have it, I then somehow got to know what that Petrino said."
"And unfortunately for you, I''m not so easily trusting, unlike that lovestruck husband of yours."
"So¡ are you gonna talk?"
Alexander finished with this menacing line,
While Lady Felicia, knowing how great the amount of ammunition Petrino had on her, at first cursed both Petrino and Lapitus to high heaven, before finally bing convinced that the ruse was up.
But that did not mean she broke.
Because recall the motto:
Deny, deny, deny. Even if they find out, never ever admit to anything! Deny, deny, deny.
Hence only clenching her teeth defiantly, Lady Felicia shot, "If my lord already knows, then why bother with the theatrics? Do you enjoy tormenting others?"
And then she scoffed in a disdainful manner,
"Heh! All you men are like this. You will always believe your own kind rather than whatever we defenseless women have to say."
"How many of us girls have died just because you did not believe her?"
Here Lady Felicia seemed to have used Alexander to represent all the men in the world.
And hearing it, the very first thing that Alexander felt was incredtion.
Inexplicable levels of incredtion.
Because he could not believe what this woman was saying.
"So you are saying Lapitus and Petrino framed you?" Alexander asked in disbelief.
"That''s right." Lady Felicia snapped right back.
"........."
And then for the following few moments, there was pin drop silence, as Alexander''s mind registered a new level of shamelessness he did not think was possible.
This then atst prompted him to reveal something he was originally not willing to.
"I''m afraid you are mistaken here, Felicia. Haven''t you wondered how I came to suspect you? It was not Lapitus or any other million people you might think."
"It was your daughter- Fabiyana! It was her who told me that you were seeing other, strange men." And the moment Alexander revealed this, he sensed Lady Felicia''s facade finally fall shatter, as he finished,
"You were always cautious of everyone around you, never letting your secret leak."
"But not her. Your daughter proved to be your oversight."
"......" And as Lady Felicia finally found the ''culprit'' who had tattled on her, she found her mind to go nk.
''I might have filled my list with every single person in the world, but still, Fabiyana would not have been here.'' She said to herself.
And then, as if something crumbled in her, Lady Felicia finally stopped resisting, turning to face Alexander and asking,
"Tell the man to unhand me, Alexander. I will tell you everything."
A request that was promptly granted despite the rudeness.
And then picking up the paper with all the questions voluntarily, Lady Felicia began to rapidly answer them only pausing to addmentary when asked by Alexander.
It was here that Lady Felicia truly revealed herself, by the end of which Alexander was, though not speechless, but certainly stunned.
"You slept with Petrino because Lapitus could not afford you. You had Fabiyana with your lover because you wanted more favor. You kicked your mother away for a better life. You want to rule Thesalie to live in thep of luxury. Andstly, you lied about all this to me because you thought I would be easy to control and feared that knowing the real you, I would destroy you."
Alexander gave a very sinct summary of the newly learned information.
Nod.
Lady Felicia''s sunken, fearful face did not seem to have the strength to utter any words and only gestured the validity.
"........." Following this the room then descended into a dreadful, stifling silence, both man and woman seemingly lost in their own thoughts.
"Where is your mother?" And it was some timeter that Alexander finally spoke, asking this as the very first question.
"I do not know. When she left the city, she did not tell anyone where was going." Quickly came Lady Felicia''s answer, being as monotone as ever.
If she was feeling sorry for what she had done, she was not showing.
And Alexander did not harp on for you, proceeding to the next question, "Did your father really have no other children?"
Thump!
And this secretly got a terrific bump in Lady Felicia''s chest, one that if she had been connected to a lie detector would have surely revealed the woman''s real thoughts.
Because there indeed were.
But the fact was that Alexander, by frankly revealing how he came to figure out Lady Felicia, made a mistake.
Because now thedy was sure that Alexander did not know about them, for neither Petrino nor Lapitus nor even Fabiyana for that matter knew them.
Lady Felicia had made sure never to invite these people to her house because their status was too low.
But that was not the real reason for her intense internal reaction.
It was because in around the very first days when Alexander captured Thesalie, Lady Felicia had all of them secretly killed!
Poisoned!
For she feared that Alexnder might find a more suitable candidate than her.
And she timed it too in such a clever way that because of the sheer chaos at that time, even such arge scale homicide did not raise any waves, with the time frame also meaning it was luckily far ahead of the spies Alexander put on her.
This was Lady Felicia''s biggest collection of skeletons in the closet and something she had managed to keep hidden from Alexander.
Thus sensing an opportunity, and a gap in Alexander''s knowledge, she lied and answered negatively.
Truly a crooked tail does not straighten itself.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 839 Sting Operation (Part-1)
Chapter 839 Sting Operation (Part-1)
The secret about her half siblings was something Lady Felicia vowed to take her to her grave, no matter what happened or how much torture she was put through.
Hence mixed in with all the truths, Lady Felicia inserted this one lie.
And fortunately for her, Alexander did not seem too interested in the possibility in the first ce.
For she and Lapitus proved adequate to rule the city and choosing an unknown, inexperienced, most likely illiterate man over them simply because of his birth seemed too big a hassle.
Thus as long as the couple were willing to be Alexander''s darling puppets, he would let them rule the city.
Thus, not putting much thought into the answer, Alexander then turned to thest and most important query he had.
"You said, you doubted Lapitus''s loyalty to me. Do you still believe that? Or was that a lie too?"
"True! Absolutely true! Not a single word of lie in there." The eagerness with which Lady Felicia answered this, with her voice pitched and ready said it all, as she then added,
"I know Lapitus. It''s all true. My lord should now know. The main reason he betrayed the city was because of his hatred of Petrino. Because what Petrino di¡ what Lapitus thinks Petrino did," Lady Felicia self corrected halfway, before iming in an absolute tone.
"But at his heart, he is still a loyal Tibian soldier. Lapitus cannot be trusted."
Lady Felicia seemed adamant that her own husband was a turncoat waiting to reveal himself.
A stanch that made Alexander quite surprised given the two were husband and wife.
You would think one would always try to shield and protect the other.
And it was a doubt that he frankly revealed, asking Lady Felicia very straightforwardly.
"You seemed to somehow hate Lapitus for some reason. Why? To me he seems like a decent man. Many women would very feel lucky to have a husband like him."
And Lady Felicia gave an instant but brutal answer, "Because he is poor."
"...." Something which left Alexander stunned for a second.
He knew that to many women, a man being poor was almost a cardinal sin.
But this was the first time Alexander had met someone so open about it, at least in this current timeline.
And what was worse, was Lady Felicia''s unfair judgment of the man,
Because Lapitus was certainly not poor.
He was in fact quite wealthy even whenpared to some of the lesser nobles.
But, yes, whenpared to the true big shots like Lady Felicia''s father, the man was indeed a pauper.
Still, it seemed Lady Felicia''s tastes were truly expensive, as revealed by her own admission, where she imed the only reason she had spread her legs for Petrino was money, and certainly not out of love.
"Even I only came here because you were wealthy my lord," Now that her facade had been torn, Lady Felicia had no problem being also this frank in front of Alexander.
And hearing the answer to this question, Alexander''s lips slightly twitched at the raw, naked ambition that was here on disy.
"I thought you would say something like as long as he lives, he will always have control over you."
Alexander was of course referring to how also in Tibias, husbands held nearly absolute control over their wives, almost simr to a ve.
But Lady Felicia snorted in disdain at even the mere suggestion that Lapitus would be able to control her, revealing in a disdainful voice,
"Heh, no! I can spin that idiot around my finger any way I like. I simply do not like him because he has no money. Simple as that."
And then finished with this assurance,
"But that does not mean I lied Lord Pasha. Lapitus is really not loyal to you. I can guarantee that."
But for Alexander, given how much of a pathological liar he found the other side to be, how could he simply take her words at face value?
That would be too foolish.
"Can you prove it?" So putting aside his own thoughts about how he felt aboutLady Felicia''s true self, Alexander posed so.
"....." But even for the ever resourceful woman,ing up with a way to expose Lapitus right on the spot proved to be too difficult.
Nevertheless gritting her teeth, the woman confidently swore after only a few moments, "Not right this moment¡ but if my lord gives me three no two days¡ I promise I can show it. I swear."
Alexander did not say yes or no to that im.
With this, the interrogation neared its end, and once again the ufortable stillness returned, with Lady Felicia fearfully opening at Alexander like a chick under a torrential rainfall, while Alexander gazed down on her with a level of icyness he had rarely shown.
He was still trying to what to do with this woman.
Sure she had ws that were asrge as tectonic faults.
But when you thought about it from simply apetence and shrewd, calcting perspective, she really was a born politician.
Thus finally, the gears in Alexander''s head stopped spinning and he reached a verdict.
"Okay. Since you told me the truth, I will stay true to my words. I will give you the city."
And the moment Alexander said, he was instantly inundated with another torrent of profuse thanks and heartfelt swears, with Lady Felicia even getting on her knees and taking an oath to never lie to him.
''Heh! Fart!'' To all of which Alexander only had this to snort in his heart.
Given her performance right now, Lady Felicia had just about eroded every iota of trust Alexander had in her.
Particrly, the fact that the woman continued to lie even when she was so tantly caught was something that did not impress Alexander one bit.
But then again, he had promised her the post and this might simply be him staying true to his words.
And yes, that was one aspect of it.
But another aspect was that politicians lied.
It was simply expected of them.
So in a twisted way, Lady Felicia''s pathological lies were really a part and parcel of her job.
And though this sounds forced, do you want to know the name of another very famous person who also shared simr attributes?
Well think of that one controversial, blonde US president.
So many things he said were tantly, and factually incorrect.
Yet many, many people still adored him.
So if you thought lying was bad, then think again.
But back to Alexander''s case, in reality, neither of these reasons was the true reason Alexander decided to give her the job.
It was because of all the people, as unlikely as it was, Gelene of all that vouched for herpetency.
By her own words, ''She reminds so much of me. As long as you give her what she wants, she will be loyal, master.''
And given almost all of Gelene''s description about this woman hade true when Lady Felicia bloomed in front of Alexander into her ''naked'' self,the man decided to trust the ebony beauty and give this nearly megalomaniacal of a woman a chance at this opportunity to prove herself.
Besides, it was not like he could not remove her from her post any time he wanted.
Thus finally responding to Lady Felicia''s long titudes, Alexander curtly nodded in appreciation but then suddenly added,
"There is one small condition though."
And as soon as Lady Felicia heard it, she seemed to hear that taunting luby that she had made by herself,
''The mouse smiled brightly, it had outfoxed the cat! But then down came the w, and that was the end of that.'' (Taken from Raphael''s speech, Baldur''s Gate 3).
''Was this his n all along? To show me my greatest hope? And then to cruelly take it all away? Crush it underneath his boots?''
''Will he humiliate me and throw me out of the house? Then perhaps publicly try me? Shame me as an immoral woman?''
All these unfounded dark and depressing thoughts raced through the woman''s mind and suddenly Lady Felicia felt very weak and powerless.
She even felt a teardrop form, for it hurt oh so much to have something so dear so close, and yet have it taken away like that.
But Alexander was of course not that kind of sadist.
And the next part of his speech showed that, as he revealed,
"You said Lapitus might still be loyal to Perseus. Then take this." as he then handed Lady Felicia a few sheets of paper, which he elucidated,
"Tomorrow morning you will give this to him."
"I will leave the exact details to you, but basically you will say that while staying the night here, you somehow managed to sneak into my study¡ and happened toe across these papers."
"Papers which detail my troop movements, the route they are supposed to take to attack the capital, and most importantly of all, where all the army''s critical supply hubs are."
"Hand this to Lapitus and say that if he wants to warn Perseus, now is the time."
"Offer him the chance to send a bird to the capital by revealing you can covertly get ess to the aviary."
"Or if he wants, advise him to choose a trusted ve or servant to ride to the capital. Or to do it himself."
Yes.
Alexander had indeed been thinking of testing Lapitus''s loyalty since a long time ago.
And this was the way he hade up with.
Chapter 840 Sting Operation (Part-2)
Chapter 840 Sting Operation (Part-2)
Chapter 840
"Offer him the chance to send a bird to the capital by revealing you can covertly get ess to the aviary."
"Or if he wants, advise him to choose a trusted ve or servant to ride to the capital. Or to do it himself."
After thinking for a while about how to test Lapitus, this was the n that Alexander came up with.
Originally, the n involved letting Lapitus discover the obviously fake papers on his own.
But with Lady Felicia here, the n got a lot smoother, as there was now no way Lapitus was going to miss it.
And at being handed this chance to expose Lapitus once and for all, Lady Felicia almost literally jumped at the opportunity, crying with a flushed face,
"This is a fantastic n, my lord! Rest assured. Lapitus will show his true colors the moment he gets the chance. And you will see that I did not lie."
Thedy pumped her fists.
But this to Alexander seemed a bit too enthusiastic, like the woman could not wait to get her husband on the crooked hook.
A detail that prompted the man to then further instruct, "Remember Felicia, you are not to in any way push him to send the message."
"Let Lapitus do his thing on his own thing. Your job is to only hand him the papers. Nothing more."
"If he asks for your opinion, simply say that as his wife, you will support him whatever options he takes."
This order closing the loophole caused Lady Felicia to curse herself a bit since it was probably her too great an enthusiasm that had alerted Alexander to her ns.
But now that she had been exposed, she knew she had to y by the rules,
Hence Lady Felicia dutifully nodded, promising him such.
And with that, the interrogation ended.
Alexander then simply showed thedy out of his room, much to her surprise, bidding his goodbye with the words, "Enjoy the night with your daughter."
An action that left Lady Felicia first and foremost profoundly relieved, as she felt exhrated at being alive!
There were some points along that long interrogation when Lady Felicia was not so sure she was going to be able to make it through.
So managing toe out of that room with her life still in her hands, as well as all her body parts brought great joy to the woman.
Sure her reputation with Alexander was in tatters, but by now, she could not care about that any less.
Instead, having revealed her true self to him and not being crucified for it brought an extreme sense of relief to Lady Felicia, and suddenly, even the strongdy felt weak on her knees, as the tension that had been coursing through every single part of her body receded, and she softly fell on her knees onto the carpeted corridor, sping her hands together in joy as her body shivered in pure excitement.
And she remained in that position for some while, as she worked to calm her body and mind.
And in her mind, she reyed the events that had taken ce back in that room, slowly and carefully analyzing all that Alexander had said.
Until finally the ck gowned beautiful woman pulled herself from that posture and straightened her back, power and ambition quickly returning to her eyes.
She did not have the time to be lying on the floor, she had a job to do.
The papers confirming her as the governess of the city were still in Alexander''s hands, and they would be hers only ifLapitus betrayed Zanzan.
With that thought the woman tookrge, purposed strides toward her daughter''s room, wishing to tuck into bed as soon as possible for she had a big day ahead.
Though as she traveled through the corridor, Lady Felicia found herself being a bit disappointed that Alexander had not made her spend the night with him.
And it was for a myriad of reasons.
One was a political longing, as being wanted by the pasha meant she was held in greater favor.
But another was a far simpler, physical one, for having once tasted it, Lady Felicia recalled sleeping with Alexander was like nothing else.
And her body subconsciously craved to be dominated by the stronger man, to be shown greater levels of pain and pleasure.
Andstly, though it might sound surprising, it was an emotional need, since Alexander was the only person alive to know her true face.
Thus the woman felt closer to him.
And when Lady Felicia thought back on it, much to her surprise, she recalled that the man''s face had not shown any disgust upon learning of the things she had done, only surprise and intrigue.
It had always been the fear that she would be hated and even killed if her secrets came out that was one of the primary reasons why Lady Felicia had worked so hard to conceal her activities.
But it seemed Alexander was not in the mood to bed her, whatever the reason that may be.
''Perhaps it''s my just desserts for all the lies I told him.'' Lady Felicia thought to herself as she lightly opened the room where her daughter was, already fast asleep.
"I hope you know what you are doing Gelene." While back at the study, Alexander turned to look at the ck beauty with hisment, referring to her advice for Lady Felicia''s mild treatment.
But Gelene was of course smart enough not to be the scapegoat, as she spread her arms, and pointed out with a joking smile, "Master, you are being unfair. I merely gave you a suggestion. It was you who decided to follow it. Do not me the messenger!"
The reply got a small chuckle from Alexander as he then returned his focus to the small metallic bowl filled with now turned-normal water.
Originally, Alexander had really thought of cutting off Lady Felicia''s finger, keeping it in the chilling water while Lady Felicia confessed her crime, and then reattach it
That was why the nurses were there in the first ce.
But when the final time came, at thest moment Alexander found his heart turning soft at the fairer sex.
Suddenly he even saw Fabiyana''s cute innocent face sh before him, so the thought of hurting her mother produced an unpleasant feeling in his heart.
Thus ultimately Lady Felicia escaped unscathed.
An opportunity that thinking about it now Alexander felt he had missed.
''Perhaps if her prediction about Lapitus is proved wrong,'' Hence he muttered ominously.
Very early morning the next day, Lady Felicia found herself tapping urgently but softly on the front door of her house, having barely slept the prior night.
Since the clocks were ticking, she did not want to waste a single second trying to get rid of her husband.
So when the house''s servants woke their master about their mistress''s arrival at this odd time, Lapitus was understandably very rmed, thinking something untoward had happened.
"Close the door! Quickly! Come here!"
But all these worries were proved to be unfounded when dragging Lapitus to their bedroom, Lady Felicia revealed the true reason for her presence at this point.
"I found these papers in the Pasha''s study when I went to check up on Fabiyana just a while ago," Thedy here implied that Alexander had spent the night with Fabiyana, before quickly urging Lapitus by handing the documents to the man, "Quick! Look through them! I just grabbed them and did not get a good look because time was so short. But they looked very important."
"If we can deliver them to His Majesty, we will surely greatly reward us."
And at being handed these valuable intel, Lapitus''s eyes only bulged bigger and bigger and his heart thumped louder and louder as he went past each line, until his entire body could be seen shaking.
"How¡ who¡ Felicia¡ you¡"
Lapitus felt that the rm he had felt knowing Lady Felicia hade back at such a time was reced by another very different but equally potent source of panic.
And he so surprised that for a while, he could not even form proper sentences.
"Now is not the time to be asking questions." But adhering to Alexander''s instruction, Lady Felicia refused to edge Lapitus in either direction, instead quickly snatching the papers and whispering in a hushed tone,
"I have to go!"
"I came here by lying to the guards and saying that I left something important here."
"But the Pasha will be waking up soon and I want to return these papers as soon as possible."
Lady Felicia then appeared to be ready to rush out of the room, only turning around to add thisst bit of advice,
"Whatever you want to do with this intel, decide on your own. But do it quickly! His Majesty does not have much time."
"I will be waiting for you at the mansion after lunch."
"Because of my administrative work, I can get you ess to the aviary. From there we can steal a messenger bird to send to Parthenigh."
"But you have to decide today,"
And with this said, Lady Felicia was out, leaving Lapitus alone with the intelligence already branded into his mind.
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 841 Lapitus’s Tribulations
Chapter 841 Lapitus''s Tribtions
?841 Lapitus''s Tribtions
Lady Felicia left without giving Lapitus a chance to question her, just like Alexander had instructed.
Thus the man was left to deal with this hot potato of an intelligence as he saw fit.
And like Lady Felicia had predicted, over the next several hours, Lapitus agonized endlessly about it, pacing restlessly to and fro in his house as he was torn between his old and new oath.
Until finally lunch time came and Lapitus made the excuse of wanting to see his wife and daughter to visit the mansion.
And once the couple managed to find some time alone, Lapitus whispered pointedly to his wife,
"Why do you want to betray the Pasha?"
When Lapitus was thinking about betraying Alexander, this was the single query that had been haunting the man for the better part of the morning.
"I don''t." And Lady Felicia hissed this surprising reply, pointing, "I only do not want the Pasha to win too easily."
"If he keeps on fighting¡. Well, then there will be more chances for you to earn honor and glory. And we will be able to get more his favor."
The way to earn honor and glory was of course referring to Lapitus joining the war and winning battles for Alexander.
"..." And to this, Lapitus seemed to have no reply, only putting on a thoughtful face, trying to bnce greed with duty
While Lady Felicia went back to being silent, surprisingly adhering to Alexander''s instructions
Given her prize was so close, Lady Felicia did not want to give the man any chance to find faults with her.
"........"
And the silence between the couplested almost the entire afternoon, as Lapitus left Lady Felicia to rejoin his daughter at the small party without saying yes or no.
And even as evening started to approach, Lapitus gave no answer.
Which atst prompted Lady Felicia to urge, "The aviary will close any moment. If you want to send the information now is the time."
By this point, the woman had a hint of desperation in her voice, for if Lapitus did not send the message, it might cost her her neck.
But Lapitus seemed to want more time, as clenching the pocket where he was carrying the paper he had written the key points on, he gritted his teeth, ".....I need more time to think. I will do it tomorrow."
"..."
This amount of resistance was not something Lady Felicia had expected, as ording to her estimate, a bird should have been already flying towards the capital- Parthenigh by now.
So seeing Lapitus''s indecision, Lady Felicia finally decided to try and bend some of the instructions Alexander gave, subtly nudging her man by creating a sense of time pressure, "If you gonna do it, do it quickly. We should not dy, lest it bes toote."
"....." But Lapitus did not bite, only producing a wall of silence as the man turned unusually taciturn, his thoughts to his own.
And so the day passed like that, with both husband and wife being very restless, though for very different purposes.
Following the encroachment of night, Alexander then invited both of them to spend the night in his house, though the couple experienced very little sleep there, particrly Lapitus, who stayed up basically the entire night, various tumultuous thoughts gripping him, as he grappled over the guilt of the things he did, over the guilt of betraying his liege, and over the guilt of the potential decimation of his country right before his eyes.
And what was most difficult for him was that in this quest of his, the main person who started all this- his wife, proved to be of no use, only saying she would support him either anyway and thus he should do what he felt like.
This was a great departure from the usual way Lady Felicia did things, where it was she who was always pushing her man to do everything.
And although Lapitus had disliked it at the time, now that Lady Felicia left everything to him, he found himself grossly longing for Lady Felicia''s input.
Dawn cracked for Lapitus with such thoughts, and as if to clear his mind, the tired, insomniac man decided to take a walk around the city even as the sun was waking up, one which brought him to the harbor along his travels.
And there he suddenly spotted arge group of very specially marked boats being filled with supplies, their recipient clear- the army, which was advancing towards the capital.
And seeing this, another piece of Lady Felicia''s advice rung inside him- ''If you want to go to the capital, you can take one of the boats. I will think of an excuse to tell the Pasha. Don''t worry about it. Go!''
Hence the opportunity right before him proved a tempting sight and Lapitus thought multiple times about slipping into any of those boats using the dense crowd and then confessing all his crimes of Perseus.
He even circled several vessels multiple times but ultimately turned back every single time seemingly unable to make up his mind at the decisive moment.
"Captain! Is that you!" Until suddenly a sharp, youthful voice addressed him, seeming to clearly recognize him.
And suddenly fearing he had caught, the alert man whirled around at the speed of sound in shock, like he had been electrocuted.
Only to find a very young, slim man waving and grinning at him, a sight that brought him a great deal of relief.
It was a face not too familiar to Lapitus, but this was natural, for being a high ranking leader, he had many subordinates who he did not know by face, but conversely, the men knew him.
So the other side recognizing him was not at all surprising.
"Ahh! I thought it was you."
Having confirmed it was indeed Lapitus, the young man then cried out joyously, before saluting and introducing himself, "Ah! I''m a newly promoted officer, sir. My name is Anon. I just got a bit excited seeing you here, sir. Apologies."
"May I help you in any way?"
The man, barely appearing to be in his twenties seemed on his toes to try and aplish any wish Lapitus might have.
"N...." Lapitus''s first thought was to quickly dismiss the man.
But then suddenly stopped himself, like he had thought of something, as turning to the man, he asked, "Actually, I thought we talk a bit. Do you have the time?"
"Of course! Of course!" And the young officers seemed over the moon at the offer.
Even if he did have something to say, he would be foolish to ditch his boss''s boss''s boss and go to that.
''If I can leave a good impression with him, I will be golden.'' This thought was basically stered onto his face.
And although Lapitus could clearly see the ulterior motive, he did not seem to care, as after a bit of hesitation, Lapitus asked,
"You must have heard it too, right? Of Zanzan''s victory against the king? They say an attack on the capital is imminent."
"As a Tibian, what are your thoughts on this? On our great country possibly being no more?"
Yes.
Lapitus was so desperate for advice that he turned to an almost random passerby.
But then again, perhaps it was not so foolish given he was asking for the opinion of the ''people''.
"Ah!" And for the young man, hearing his boss suddenly ask such a grave question made him involuntarily gasp.
For a moment he even seemed unable to understand what he was being asked, as he only stared nkly back.
"Well?"
Seeing the man in a stupor, Lapitus then again posed.
And this finally made the man respond, as he first frankly chuckled,
"Captain, how can I say anything about the actions of kings and lords? Doesn''tnd belong to the one with the greatest army?"
Anon revealed the prevailing thought of the time, before saying his own two cents, "But if captain wants to know how I personally think, well me and my family have actually been better off under the new pasha."
"Our houses have been rebuilt for free and the money given to us was more than we had in saving before."
"I think many people seem to think that too."
The answer was clear, concise, and radiated shes of happiness.
"But¡. what about your oath? To defend the crown?" However for Lapitus, this was the main point against all other reasons.
It had always been a sore point of his since the day he betrayed the city and produced a constant stream of pain.
"....hehehe" And towards this, after being initially surprised and then even a bit ashamed, Anon scratched his patchy cheeks and chuckled somewhat embarrassedly, "What we have done¡. is done, We cannot change that."
"We knew what we were doing but still did it. The ancestors will never forgive us."
The man sounded sullen.
Before suddenly his voice turned high pitched and radiant, as he informed Lapitus with almost a fanatical gaze,
"That''s why I decided to switch sides captain. No point in crying over split milk."
"I''m a believer of goddess Gaia now. She has forgiven my previous oaths and let me swear anew one with her!"
"The ancestors'' spirits cannot bind me anymore!"
An extra note from Author:
Hey Guys I have started to write another book: StarScroung Mage: Eater of Millions.
It''s currently in RoyalRoad free to read. If you wish, kindly head over there to give it a try.
And if you want me to change anything, including the title- Comment there.
I will be able to edit a lot of the story because I n to start posting it on Webnovel around February 2024.
Thanks.
Chapter 842 New Found Faith
Chapter 842 New Found Faith
?842 New Found Faith
"You can do that?"
Hearing Anon''s change in faith as a way to circumvent the oath, Lapitus could not help but blurt this out loudly in shock, producing an incredulous face that destroyed much of the imposing manner a man of his status ought to show before his subordinates.
*Nod*, *Nod*
But Anon paid no attention to such detail, instead only diligently nodding and informing,
"Yes. Captain, I swear. You can have your old oaths forgiven and also take new oaths if you change belief to the Goddess."
"After all, Thesalie is ruled by the goddess''s chosen. The ancestor spirits have lost to Her and so they cannot object."
"Neither can they hurt those under Her protection, and those who serve the Pasha."
"Thus it is Her who I worship. And it is Her protection I seek."
Anon had a very pious radiance glow to his face as he ced his right arm across his chest.
While on the opposite side, hearing it, Lapitus was currently experiencing a fierce hurricane in his mind, one where everything he knew was being turned upside down, for the new revtion produced a road that seemed to have not existed before.
If it was true, he could indeed free himself of his previous burden, then¡. What was he waiting for?
''I need to confirm this!'' Thus Lapitus urgently thought this, as he hurriedly excused the new officer goodbye, and hired a nearby horse carriage to take him straight to the main temple.
Whilst as Anon watched Lapitus leave, the cheerful demeanor that had graced his face up until now suddenly faded, instead being reced by a sharp, calcting glint.
He was among the newest batch of spies Camius had managed to recruit here in Thesalie and this was one of his very first missions.
Originally he had been tasked with only monitoring Lapitus, to see if he really sent the message.
But yesterday night, orders came down from the very top that if they found the target to be dithering, they were to try and nudge him toward the safer direction.
As for how that was up to them.
This was the real reason Anon had approached Lapitus.
However, that did not mean the man had lied for indeed the story he told Lapitus was true to the veryst letter.
''Hope he makes the choice." Thus as Anon saw Lapitus disappear into the crowd, he genuinely wished so.
Lapitus reached the familiarrge gates to the main temple soon, and paying the driver his due, he quickly shuffled inside.
Since it was still early morning, many of the priests were yet to awaken.
And even among those that did, Lapitus only recognized a very handful few, with most of them being unknowns, being from Zanzan as evidenced by their unique green robes patterned with red and blue roses as opposed to Thesalie''s white ones, confirming their status as priests of Gaia.
This robe that been designed by Alexander with green as the base to represent the verdantness of nature and earth, which was the core identity of the goddess Gaia, the red roses represented the national flower of Adhania, while the blue roses were Alexander''s house symbol.
Alexander had asked a small batch to move to Thesalie to preach, mostly consisting of the men whom Pasha Farzah had sent.
And as Lapitus went past these priests all busy with various tasks, he had to fight off the intense urge to grab them by the sleeves and inquire about all the burning questions that were smoldering inside his heart.
But he ultimately refrained, knowing the only ones to get up so early in the morning were the smallest fish in the pond, those who were tasked with doing all the menial tasks in the temple, like cleaning the halls, clearing the paved walkways of leaves, and ripping the weeds from the nearby gardens.
Thus Lapitus refrained, saving his breath as he beelined for the main hall, hoping to meet the head priest as soon as possible.
Entering the open premises, Lapitus found much of the interior of the great hall to be still the same old same old, with the only difference being that the huge ancestral bull statue was reced by the silhouette of a giganticdy, towering above all as she stood off a huge circr pedestal, arge brazier of fire burning brightly underneath her feet
It was the first time Lapitus had seen this statue and initially, he was caught a bit surprised.
It was not just the size of the sculpture that appeared amazing to him, but also how quickly this huge new figure had been constructed.
''Is it made using that material blessed of the goddess? Cement?'' Lapitus muttered, recalling some of the things we had heard about the stuff.
He knew it was using that substance that that sturdy outer wall in front of the city was built.
Allegedly, Lapitus heard that each batch of this magical white powder needed Alexander''s personal ''essence'' to make.
While others said this cement was the work of the devils, made using ck magic with the crushed skulls of babies as one of the ingredients.
Beyond these absurd ims, there was also the weird rumor that it was made from volcanic ash.
Lapitus personally did not know which to believe.
It was unknown how long Lapitus had waited sitting patiently on the pews as the priests slowly woke up.
But eventually, with his status, he was able to get an audience with the head priest here, Theocles.
Yes, Alexander had made this archprieste to Thesalie, to make him personally oversee the establishment of all the new temples and set up the initialmand structure.
"Captain Lapitus, so nice to see you! What brings you under the gaze of the Goddess?" Given Lapitus''s role in the capture of the city, Theocles had of course met the man at the many parties Alexander held for various reasons, hence the warm greeting.
It was also because of it that Lapitus got to meet someone as high up as him so quickly.
"Ah! Your Eminence, greetings." Towards the tall, immactely robed man, Lapitus first gave a low bow, before revealing his worries in a very roundabout, ritualistic, way.
"I came here because I just had a vivid dream. And I wanted to hear your thoughts on the matter."
"Dream?" Towards this unorthodox request, Theocles first produced a surprised face.
But it was not because people did note to him with such worries.
In fact the kinds of things Theocles had to reassure these superstitious bunch were not only endless but also truly bizarre.
In a way even, dream divination was perhaps one of the more ''normal'' things people asked him to do.
But such things were usually not paid much heed to by the upper echelons of any power.
So it was the fact that a man of Lapitus''s status was asking for the service that caught Theocles off guard.
But it was only for a moment.
As the professional priest quickly regained his pious face and gestured, "Of course. Please reveal it. And I will try my best to help you."
Getting the signal, Lapitus nodded curtly, before recounting the ''dream'' he had thought up while he was waiting for Theocles.
"It started with a pitch ck sky tinged with the mes of fire. I heard people screaming and saw them dying."
"While I myself was drowning in a blood pool underneath that very sky. There were innumerable hollow screaming faces around me and their arms were trying to drag me down to hell with them."
"They screamed into my ears with unfettered fury and kept saying that they were the ancestors'' spirits, here to judge for breaking my oath." As Lapitus said this, he visibly shuddered, for although the dream was made up, he really did feel like that in his heart.
While Theocles only silently nodded and gestured him to continue,
"But just as the spirits were going to take me, suddenly a bright, brilliant verdant light pierced the dark sky, driving away the darkness!"
"And I heard! I heard a voice! It was feminine. It was angelic."
"She said to be that as long as I take a new oath to Her, I will be granted salvation. And that all my nightmares will disappear." Lapitus finished his narration.
As he then turned to ask Theocles, "What are your thoughts on this, Your Eminence?"
"......"
''Sounds like you made it all up.'' This was Theocles''s real thoughts, but of course, outwardly he made no rashment.
Instead, he quickly focused on the dream that was recited to him, and being an experienced man in this line of work, instantly understood the main point Lapitus wanted to highlight here.
''Is he feeling guilty over his act and trying to see if there is an alternate method?'' Theocles correctly hypothesized.
And with this theory in hand, he grinned the reply in a very joyous tone, "Captian Lapitus! Blessings of d tidings upon you! The goddess has chosen!"
"She has seen your great acts of valor in helping Her son obtain victory in battle and personally sent revtions of your salvation."
"Rejoice!" Theocles raised his octaves, hoisting his hands up as he said so, before iming in a gleeful voice,
"You are free. Free from any burden. Absolved of all sin like a newborn child. And you will remain so as long as believe in the Mother and loyally serve Her son- The Pasha."
And a whileter, the faith of Gaia gained a new, zealously devout member
Chapter 843 Lady Felicia’s Fate (Part-1)
Chapter 843 Lady Felicia''s Fate (Part-1)
?843 Lady Felicia''s Fate (Part-1)
Theocles of course did not buy Lapitus''s im about the dream he supposedly had.
It was too vivid, too descriptive, and too much filled with symbolism.
Lapitus also did not bother to make it believable either.
He only wanted to euphemistically confirm whether he could be absolved of his oath by swearing fealty to the new goddess.
He chose to do so in such a roundabout way because Lapitus felt a bit ashamed to open himself up too directly, for he felt it was like he was confessing to some sort of crime.
Thus it was fortunate for him that Theocles was skilled enough to urately determine the key point behind Lapitus''s request, and thus answered ordingly, reassuring him that he was no oathbreaker¡ if he only followed this new religion.
And Lapitus needed no more encouragement.
Ordinary people might be unable to sympathize with his thought process, but for a career, straightced soldier such as him, an oath weighed heavier than gold.
And few could imagine the difort the man had felt every time he recalled how he had vited it.
If not for the fear of his family, he would have never done it.
But it was ultimately because of this that Lapitus was so indecisive about what to do with the letter.
On one hand, he thought of trying to offset his guilt by offering this vital intel to his king, regardless of whether the man would feel grateful or not.
But the potential consequence of this, particrly the wrath of Alexander on him and perhaps even more frightfully on his daughter gave him pause.
It was because of that he did not send a bird to the capital yesterday.
And it was because of that that he wanted to get on a boat and go to the capital himself, to simply run from his family as a way to escape the consequences.
But now that a professional, robed, pious looking priest was offering him a way out, how couldLapitus be foolish enough not to take it?
After all, he had already betrayed the ancestors, so what was the point in staying with them?
Hence on that very morning, Lapitus converted his faith under Theocles''s guidance, and as he prostrated towards the feet of the goddess at the end of his initiation, very casually he threw some scraps of paper into the zing inferno there, its true contents only known to him.
Lapitus would then return home feeling like a thousand tonnes had been lifted off of him and crash into his bed so heavily that he would not wake up till the next day, such was his mental exhaustion.
Whileing back to Alexander''s perspective, he would receive the full ount of Lapitus''s activities at around dusk on the very same day and upon learning of the full story be actually a bit surprised at the turn of events.
''Huh! Not only did he refuse, he even converted to my religion, Must have been a busy day!'' Alexander mused to himself with a small chuckle.
Alexander was quite relieved to see this report for he liked the fact that he would not have to waste a useful pawn like Lapitus.
He was also weirdly d to see Lapitus''s struggle with his oath.
For this went to show that he was at his core a man of principle.
And if Lapitus had really sent the message, well then unfortunately, he would have met a ''little ident'' inside an alleyway very soon.
But just as one''s sess meant another''s failure, Alexander too now was left with the decision of what to do with Lady Felicia.
And to let her know that, after around supper, he decided to call thedy to his study.
And this time there was no misunderstanding over why she was being called.
An evidence of which was how Alexander found her to be visually very different than her regr self.
For in much contrast to the usually very stylish way thedy tended to present herself, Lady Felicia''s current appearance could be said to be almost frightening, for she not only looked very haggard and gaunt, with sunken eyes and sullen cheeks, but her entire body also seemed to ooze a kind of mncholic fragrance like all the liveliness in her had been sucked away.
Thedy wore a very simple, nondescript white dress and upon noticing Alexander, gave a very woody bow, before proceeding to sit in that very chair from two days ago without needing any more instructions, her steps appearing almost like a puppet.
To Alexander, the entire thing looked very bizarre, as if thedy he knew had been reced by a weird, lifesized robot.
But then again, if their sides were reversed and Alexander was as power hungry as her, perhaps he would be the same.
Taking a seat across the table, Alexander then leaned on the luxurious chair, initially enjoying the sight of this devious woman squirming.
Until finally getting to the main point.
"I believe you have heard?" His voice was cool and collected.
".... Yes." While the reply was anything but.
It took a while for Lady Felicia to produce this word, and it sounded extremely coarse, like it a bone was stuck inside her throat.
Even now, the woman was in kind of a daze, for she could not believe Lapitus had not done it.
And when she had first learned of it thedy felt like her world was literally spinning, as she even felt very unwell.
Furthermore, much simr to Lapitus, she too had spent a sleepless night, and now that the only promise she had made to Alexander hade crumbling down, she felt like she was lost at sea, all alone and amidst a typhoon, with no end in sight.
And it was while swimming in that horrific whirlpool of absolute terror that she suddenly heard Alexander''s cold voice, "So what do you have to say for yourself?"
"Nothing... I was wrong."This time the answer was instant but very monotone.
Like Lady Felicia had lost the will to fight.
This was because she could tell that Alexander was not really asking her to provide any excuse, but simply wishing to see her reaction.
To y with her.
However, if Alexander was thinking he was going to get a good show, then she would have to disappoint him.
As even when beaten and defeated, the proud woman was not going to let herself be treated like a jester.
Hence she did not put on an borate performance of crawling and begging Alexander.
That trick had already been used.
Instead, she was of the mind that if she was gonna go down, she was gonna do down with her neck held high, like a proud peacock.
While Alexander, seeing this and sensing a sort of martyrdom in Lady Felicia, half chuckled to himself,
''She seems to have some misunderstanding about what is about to happen.''
Then, without hanging thedy in waiting for long, Alexander straightened his back up and revealed,
"Well, you were not wrong necessarily. I can say with good authority that Lapitus did indeed think of sending the message."
"But seemed to have changed his mind midway."
"So I''m willing to give you the city¡. for a price."
One should have seen how Lady Felicia''s face changed the moment Alexander said this, like as if a lightbulb had turned itself on.
"My¡ Lord Pasha," The other party seemed so overwhelmed that fiercely gripping the handle of the chair, she began to stutter, almost having lost her voice.
And then Alexander even noticed literal tears starting to streak down her face.
Something which caused him to halfmpoon, ''I have not been said what I the price will be.
But just the promise of the city seemed to be enough.
And it took a few minutes for Lady Felicia to finally bring her emotions under control, as atst her logical mind took over her emotional heart, and halted her from doing something like starting to jump in joy just yet.
Instead, it managed to atst give a proper response to Alexander''s offers, by making Lady Felicia deeply bow her head and give this aureate praise,
"Thank you, my lord. Your insightfulness is truly a manifestation of your great eruditeeness. Verify you are a god''s favored."
The words were so flowery that Alexander struggled to even understand some of them.
But he could at least tell they were good things about him, as he then continued.
"However.. the condition¡" Alexander paused a bit to look at Lady Felicia''s reaction, but in much contrast to the expected wariness, Alexander only saw crity.
It appeared that as long as Alexander was willing to give her rule of Thesalie, the woman was willing to endure it all.
So he pressed on, narrowing his eyes to coldly say, "If I were to ask,... which body part would you be willing to sacrifice for this position?"
"Anything!"
If Alexander was wishing to see Lady Felicia squirm, he was grossly disappointed, for the answer came almost instantly, like the presumed act was not even worth a consideration, and her face was even flushed with excitement.
''Hisss! I forgot just how ambitious you were.'' Alexander could not help but slightly curse as reminded himself of this once again.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 844 Lady Felicia’s Fate (Part-2)
Chapter 844 Lady Felicia''s Fate (Part-2)
?844 Lady Felicia''s Fate (Part-2)
Lady Felicia''s instant reply really made it apparent how much the woman was willing to sacrifice for power.
It was a level that even made the self professed ambitious Alexander twitch his lips a bit in incredtion.
So he could not help but add with a taunt, "Oh? Then what about an arm?"
"Of course! I do not mind!"
The answer that came instantly did not have even a shred of fear, as Lady Felicia then put up her left arm to say with clear, limpid eyes,
"Losing my right hand will make it hard for me to write and do my work, Lord Pasha. But I can sacrifice my left," She zealously chimed, further adding,
"If I can live the procedure, I''m even willing to give up both of my legs, my lord!"
The raw determination on disy here made Alexander even now astounded, as the way thedy said it made it seem like it was really of very little concern to her like she would be perhaps getting her hair cut or something.
And Alexander was quite sure she was not bluffing.
This made him momentarily stunned as he found the real punishment he himself had thought of to be quite inadequate.
"... You do not need to lose your hand. I do not want Lapitus to turn hostile because I mutted his wife," Until finally, massaging his globr a bit, Alexander forced this with an exasperated tone.
Snap.
And then instantly gave a signal with his finger causing a few nurses to appear from the other room.
"But you will lose a finger." He informed.
This, unsurprisingly, did not cause anymotion, as Lady Felicia appeared very calm, and even very expectant to this news, quickly bowing her head in deference, as she then voluntarily held out her left arm.
So Alexander only gave a gesture with his head for the nurses to begin.
Thus, like practice, one very burly nurse took out arge cleaver and positing it over the cut finger, she separated thedy''s left ring finger at the second bone in one single strike.
*Thud!*
While Lady Felicia only gritted her teeth and groaned through her nose, but did not let out an octave of scream, for her mind was filled with gleeful lights.
And then ignoring her gushing finger while staining the heavy oak table a dark red, she turned to face Alexander and solemnly promised, "I am eternally thankful for your leniency my lord. I swear I will remember this lesson. I will never lie to you, by the gods!"
"......" Seeing her so easily brush off the pain, Alexander by now really had little more to say regarding her willpower and could only give an acknowledging nod.
Adding saying in a deep voice, "I will hold you on to that Felicia. You have lied to the gods once. There will be no salvation for you if there is to be a ''twice''.
"Serve me well and I will even make you a noble. With separatends and titles from your husband."
"But lie to me ever, next it will not be your arm that I cut. But straight your throat."
Lady Felicia only nodded her head repeatedly to this, promising Alexander that she had understood, as she then suddenly felt a profound sense of weakness grip her.
It was not due to blood loss from the bleeding finger, but more so the fact that having finally obtained what she wanted, relief washed over her.
And as all her worries and alertness that had caffeinated left her, it was reced by the enormous tiredness she had been bottling up.
Then willingly resigning herself to it, Lady Felicia fainted right as where she was sitting, slumping her back against the chair and drifting off, to Alexander''s slight panic.
"Felicia! The man even lightly screamed as he feared the worst, while one of the nurses quickly sought to take her pulse.
"She''s just asleep my lord." And it was this reassurance that finally calmed the man down
The next morning Lady Felicia would wake herself to find she was in Alexander''s room, though the man did not appear to be in sight.
Instead, apanying her was a stinging sensation on her left hand, instantly making her recall the events that had transpired the night prior.
And as the memories came flooding in, instinctively Lady Felicia pulled her hand out of the light nket and was momentarily amazed by the sight of her hand.
For whereas she was expecting her ring finger to be only a stump, now the bandage finger was actually whole, its tall and slender shape visible even through the thick white roll.
And when she tried to move it, it brought her a mind numbingly stinging pain.
It was a terrible sensation, but that only brought her great joy, for it clearly meant her finger had been stitched together.
"Hehehe. He really has a soft heart." The revtion then made the injured woman giggle as such, for she felt she had been given a brief insight into Alexander''s mind,
Then lifting her left hand towards the ceiling, her eyes sparkled in joy at having obtained as all she had wanted without losing anything.
Alexander really had a soft spot for the fairer sex and given how endearing he found Fabiyana, he found it hard to hurt her mother.
Besides, given the amount of ''stuff'' thedy was willing to lose, he reasoned that to her, losing or not losing a finger would really not matter.
But Lady Felicia was unaware of these thoughts, and for the moment, she did not seem to care, as having survived the ordeal, relief, and excitement filled every pore of her body, and then, as suddenly as she had woken up, she fell back to sleep again, wishing to swim in this joyful experience for much longer.
Lady Felicia would only wake up only around noon and then as she was attending the lunch with the others,
"Mommy! What happened to your hand?"
As expected Fabiyana cried out in rm upon seeing therge, prominent bandage, her big, dolly eyes almost tearing up at the mere sight of it.
But the maturedy was quickly able to alleviate her daughter''s fears by simply iming it was a small cut.
However, in much contrast to this easy target, Lapitus would of course not be so easy to hoodwink.
So when she was asked the same question that night, Lady Felicia revealed with slightly clenched teeth,
"Those papers were a trap! The Pasha wanted to test us using it. He let me steal those."
It was a narrative that instantly made Lapitus shiver upon hearing it, while Lady Felicia continued,
"And he let me give them to you. And surely he had his eyes on you too! To see if you were really loyal to him."
"Fortunately you passed.Otherwise¡" the trailing voice could easily let Lapitus finish the thought as there really was one end for traitors.
"You¡ you mean the Pasha knew everything all along? Everything?" Lapitus appeared astounded at this revtion, as Alexander''s scheme made the straightced man shiver and his incredtion peaked at Lady Felicia''s nod of confirmation.
"He did not punish you because you did not send the message and converted. Or else I would be a widow" The fairdy slightly joked, before showing her bandaged finger "But this is my punishment for stealing. Fortunately, I was only struck by a dull knife, so the finger severed," Lady Felicia embellished the truth.
But even this reduced wound made Lapitus''s heart bleed upon seeing his wife''s injured digit, and a low me of dissatisfaction and anger ignited itself in his mind.
How could he serve a lord that had hurt his beloved?
How was he any better than Petrino?
''Did I switch chains from one cruel master to another?'' Thus Lapitus momentarily appeared a bit disillusioned.
And subtly sensing this. Lady Felicia quickly and pointedly asked with a bit of rm in her voice, "You are not thinking of revenge, are you? You idiot!"
"......" Lapitus gave no answer to the shout, neither a yes or no, which was pretty indicative that he was indeed thinking about it.
This then prompted Lady Felicia to point at the man and almost scream,
"Listen Lapitus! We finally got the city! After so long. After so many sacrifices! We finally got it. I have the papers making us governors of the city!"
"Do not screw it up for me! Do not try to be a hero and take any revenge. Not even the tiniest bit."
"As a matter of fact, remove even the tiniest bit of such a thought from your head." The maturedy''s voice was forceful and didactic, grandly dering,
"Whatever the Pasha did, we deserved. I do not hold the slightest bitterness."
Following this thedy then fiercely grabbed Lapitus by the arms to urge,
"Swear to me Lapitus! Swear to me by the gods that you will not do anything stupid."
"The Pasha will soon be leaving for the capital, and we will be like kings and queens inside this city."
"To get all that for only a small cut on my finger is more than worth it! It is a thousand times worth it."
"Do not do anything to jeopardize that."
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 845 Lord Theony’s Roll of the Dice (Part-1)
Chapter 845 Lord Theony''s Roll of the Dice (Part-1)
?845 Lord Theony''s Roll of the Dice (Part-1)
"I forbid you to do anything that would jeopardize our rule of the city, Lapitus!"
Lady Felicia was really afraid that bolstered by his sess with Petrino, the man would try and pull a simr stunt with Alexander.
But Alexander was no Petrino and seeing Lapitus go quiet, Lady Felicia urged him so, hissing, "Say it! Say you won''t do anything. "
Ultimately, it took Lady Felicia a while to make Lapitus abandon any notions of even petty revenge against Alexander.
With Lady Felicia''s issue decided, Alexander then atst turned his attention to much greater matters, such as leaving for the enemy''s capital that was supposedly set to fall imminently.
So taking most of the men and many of the nobles with him, he rode along the River Diannu towards his destination, atst leaving Lady Felicia and Lapitus in charge of Thesalie with a small garrison.
While his wives, children, and Fabiyana was made to atst return to Zanzan.
They had spent six months here and really could not afford to say any longer.
Though Cambyses did grumble, "I really do not want to return to that hut. Why can''t we live here?"
And she was indeed right thatpared to Lord Ponticus''s sprawling mansion with not just one but two swimming pools, Alexander''srge bungalow was indeed like a hut.
Being a woman who hade to love the nicer things in life, Cambyses hence was slightly reluctant to return.
But this was also really just her rambling.
He knew Alexander really could not switch his ''capital'' from Zanzan to Thesalie just yet.
Thus with a strong entourage of about 500 men, the women and children finally returned to their home.
While Alexander was on his way to Parthenigh, unbeknownst to him, Lord Theony decided to do something on his own.
Something that Alexander did not quite know how to feel about.
"Hahaha, I was right, I was right." On the very afternoon, Menes had defeated Perseus, this sudden loud, boisterousughter of Lord Theony could be heard reverberating around his luxuriously furnished study, as he read the rolled paper presented to him by a servant.
It came from a messenger bird sent by his scouts whom he had sent to covertly trail Perseus and up until evenst day, the information he had gotten made him quite concerned.
His men very confidently reported that Perseus had 40,000 men with him, while Alexander would at best be able to bring 30,000.
A mismatch that seemed very hard to ovee.
Due to the ''leave'' Lord Theony was given from court, he had been unable to keep up to date with thetest information as quickly as he would have liked, and thus the addition of the 20,000 troops caught himpletely off guard.
''I did not think Thesos would send so many. At best I thought it would be 5,000. How is it 20,000?'' Lord Theony had incredulously thought when he first got the message, muttering to himself, ''Weren''t Cantagena and Exs tearing each other apart?''
He was unaware of Manuk''s surprise visit and his gifts, for the spies he had in court and with Perseus were not able to deliver these messages to him thus mistook the entire boon as from Thesos.
But as Lord Theony read thetest report, all such considerations were naturally turned mute.
Perseus had been defeated and was confirmed to be seen running.
He had no army and little way to defend himself.
Thus Lord Theony saw a clear chance, the chance to take the capital over before Alexander''s army could capture it and then hand it over to him on a silver tter.
For a reward of course.
It was with that thought that Lord Theony quickly activated the various sleeping pieces he had covertly ced throughout the capital, as his eyes glowed with greed and ambition.
"So¡. it hase to this?"
Lord Theony''s son Theony was one of those secret pieces.
In fact, he could even be said to be one of the most important pieces as ced inside the very heart of the pce, he had the greatest ess of them all and hence was trusted with leading the most macabre of acts by his father..
It was a supposed act that made the young man''s heart tear itself to even think aboutmitting, but then again, the fear of disappointing his father and earning his ire was equally terrifying.
So when he learned that a messenger bird hade for him from his father, and knowing of the king''s defeat the day prior, Theony even thought of pretending to ignore it, so that he did not have to carry out the treasonous instructions he could easily guess written in there.
But he knew deep down that that was not really possible.
Theony would have to make a brutal choice- stand by his family or by his oath and asional lover.
And it was this choice that the young man tried to grapple with day and night over the next few days as Lord Theony readied his pieces.
Until finally the fateful day came!
"Open the gates! We are here to reinforce His Majesty!" On one clear afternoon, around 4,000 men, waving Lord Theony''s house standard were seen standing in front of the main gates of Parthenigh, being led by the lord himself.
These people were the veryst dregs of manpower Lord Theony could muster and taking advantage of Perseus''s vulnerability hade here disguised as friendly forces, wishing to infiltrate the sturdy walls like a trojan horse.
"Open the gates! Open the gates! It''s Lord Theony! He hase to aid us!"
And this naturally worked, given the man''s timely arrival with ''coal in the winter'' in the eyes of many of these demoralized garrisoned men.
Many had learned of their brave king''s defeat and fear and uncertainty had gripped every single man, woman, and children of the city.
Hence, Lord Theony''s forces were a sight for sore eyes, for every single additional man was one more bulwark against the imminent onught from the enemy that was surely about toe any day now.
And since Lord Theony had never shown any sign of betrayal up until now, nobody suspected even the slightest whiff of conspiracy as almost an entire legion worth of men were let into the city no question asked.
In fact, they were even received with a royal reception, with Lord Theony being personally received by the crown Prince Philips, who immediately congratted him for this selfless help by hugging the man and grinning,
"Lord Theony, I really cannot express how grateful we are for youing to our aid even amidst all the danger."
"I very well appreciate the perilthat you must have had to put your own territory in toe here with so many men."
"It must have been not easy."
"Rest assured. Hand on my heart, once we win this war your bravery will not go unrewarded."
Philips sounded ecstatic at Lord Theony''s arrival.
To this the well groomed man outwardly chuckled in an amicable tone, "Haha, what are retainers for if not this, Your Highness?"
"When I learned of His Majesty had¡.. *sigh*," Lord Theony put on a facade of bitter regret, as if unable to pronounce the word ''lost'' as he only shook his head,
"Imented day and night that I could not go to battle with His Majesty. So this is the least I can do. We are after all Tibians! Never surrender!"
The man pumped his armored fist in the air zealously as he shouted, his cheeks ruddy and healthy.
While inwardly, in aplete night and day contrast to his outer self, inwardly, Lord Theony was only sneering menacingly,
''Heh, brat! Win? You dare say you will reward me after you ''win''? You think that you can still win! Are you delusional? Or are you trying to keep up morale by loudly iming this?''
Unnoticed by anyone, Lord Theony''s dark eyes narrowed at this thought, saying in his heart,
''If it was not that I wanted to kill all of you and hand the city over, you think I would havee to his doomed city? Do you think my head has been screwed over?''
''Once the gates are breached, who knows what the enemy men will do? Nobles,moners, ves, all will die.''
''I certainly did note here to defend the city with my life!''
But of course, all such thoughts remained hidden from Philips, who quickly even set up a feast that very night to celebrate Lord Theony''s arrival and as a way to lift the fighting spirits of people.
In the midst of that merriment, the shrewd prince even apologized for Lord Theony''s dishonorable discharge from court, saying with a bit of reddened ear,
"Lord Theony, I believe the people have a saying- A friend in need is a friend indeed."
"I believe this can apply to us too. A retainer''s true face is only revealed when his lord is in trouble."
"I know that recently royal father has not been fair to you. But hear me swear, with as the ancestor''s as my witness, once I ascend, I will make Theony my right hand man."
"And your family will bepensated with all thends of the traitors!"
With Lord Theony''s four thousand (4,000) strong force being the biggest contingent currently inside the city, the crown prince thought it was imperative to gain the man''s unquestioned loyalty and remove any grievance the man might harbor.
Chapter 846 Lord Theony’s Roll of the Dice (Part-2)
Chapter 846 Lord Theony''s Roll of the Dice (Part-2)
?846 Lord Theony''s Roll of the Dice (Part-2)
Crown Prince Philips''s great political insight was readily on disy when he sought to soothe Lord Theony over the feast so graciously.
Given the current busy timing, most men would not think to do so, especially when the 4,000 men were already in the city.
They would thus assume the other side had already forgotten the little bickering and there was no need to lower himself.
But not Philips, who sought to quickly reassure Lord Theony with both gratitude and promise of heavy rewards.
It was only a pity that this was unfortunately already too little toote.
Lord Theony had already set the ball rolling by sharing all that valuable intelligence with Alexander and there was no way to undo that, to simply forgive and forget that.
So even if he were to have a change of heart, it would not matter, for there really was no turning back.
Besides, even if Lord Theony fought tooth and nail, they really had very few chances at victory.
So currently, his choices really were either to betray Perseus and live or fight and almost certainly die.
But whatever Lord Theony was truly nning to do, he kept it strictly to himself, only replying to Philips''s apology with a breezy wave of his pudgy hand, "Haha, oh Your Highness, I have already forgotten about that! Hahaha, please there is no need to even mention that."
An attitude that Philips found very reassuring, as he then heard the other party quickly ask in a hushed tone, "Where is His Majesty? Will he be returning to the capital soon?"
This was a critical bit of information that Lord Theony needed to know beforemitting to the act he was nning, for he did not want Perseus to suddenly appear before the gates just as he was trying to capture it.
He had tried to find news about the king''s whereabouts on his own, but with the scattering of the army, his own scouts had lost sight of Perseus and his small gourp of bodyguards.
"... I head royal father is still trying to gather the scattered army a bit west of us,"
Regarding this query, Philips saw no reason to deny this information to the high ranking noble, for they were undoubtedly on the same team ording to him.
Thus Philips even frankly revealed new information in a sort of low hushed tone, "ording to him, our losses in the fight were really not that great."
"Although we lost, it seems that the enemy was unable to give chase due to the rough terrain."
"So we only lost around 3,000 men. Meaning we still outnubmer the enemy!"
"That''s why royal father has not returned to the city. He believes he can get all the scattered men to rejoin the army instead of running away if he is out personally."
"And once he is ready, he ns to nk attack the enemy from behind as they assault the walls, crushing them like a hammer against an anvil!"
Philips was here unwittingly revealing some bombastic news that made Lord Theony''s heart thump.
This might sound very good for Tibias, for it was terrible news for him.
Of course, everything Philips was saying here had to be taken with a great deal of salt, as the man could be simply lying about their losses to keep morale high, or be misinformed himself, or simply be overestimating the capabilities of their army.
But still, whatever that might be, the simple possibility of such a thing happening made Lord Theony very rmed.
He wanted to snuff that idea right in its crib.
"Does His Majesty wish for us to hold the walls and draw the enemy in while he prepares?" Lord Theony then guessed the strategy that might be used.
"Yes! As expected of you, my lord!"And Philips instantly nodded with a light smile, unnoticing how Lord Theony''s face went slightly dark at this.
The crown prince only presumed that the lord was a bit daunted by the scale of the challenge.
"Where is Mithriditus? Howe I have not seen him?" While Lord Theony then suddenly changed the topic, asking for the location of his rival, for he was the man most likely able to stop him.
"Oh! Lord Mithriditus has currently gone to meet with royal father. To discuss how to proceed given our shorings. He should be back within three to four days."
By saying, Philips had unconsciously revealed that the capital was currently hollow, with really only him as a recognizable figure of authority here.
Along with Lord Theony of course.
Thus, if he were to disappear...the fate of the city¡. Lord Theony shed with a very cold, dark glint.
Philips''s answer about Mithriditus''s expected time also revealed that Perseus was likely around three to four days'' march west of here or around 100 km.
So a quick peruse of the map that Lord Theony had in his mind instantly revealed the ce where Perseus most likely staying, for in that direction within that radius, there really was only one city that wasrge enough to house Perseus and his army of tens of thousands of men.
''I must send scouts now!''
Obtaining all this valuable intel, Lord Theony was determined not to let his ''ally'' down once again as he had done with Perseus and the troop numbers.
So the moment the feast ended, Lord Theony organized a group of his very best riders to ride out that very night, tasked with informing the approaching Zanzan army of all of this, and thus foiling any chance of Perseus making aeback.
These riders would find Menes quite easily, for an army of nearly 30,000 men on the march was really hard to miss.
As these turncoat riders approached the ''enemy'', in order to make sure they would not be shot to bits by the forward vanguards, they carried white gs with them, shouting in broken Azhak,
"Don''t shoot! We are not enemies."
They would then be taken to custody and once they were vetted and the information they carried delivered, it would very quickly climb up the grapevine to end up in Menes''s hand, who would show no doubt to its authenticity given who was the sender.
But then this would produce another dilemma for the marching general.
Which was- whether to keep marching for the capital or to take a detour and finish thest surviving tail of the snake.
Menes was unable to contact Alexander right at the moment via messenger bird because thetter had just left Thesalie and was currently on a boat toward the capital.
Thus, being left to decide on his own, quickly a fierce discussion, or more like an argument broke out among his officers regarding what to do with this information.
"We should attack the king! Catch him off guard before he can mount any attack. The capital is not going anywhere. As soon as the king dies, Tibias dies."
This was the main point of argument for one faction, who saw defeating the king as equal to the country, reasoning that once Perseus was defeated or better yet killed, all resistance would naturally crumble, and marching into the capital would only be a formality.
But in counter to that, the opposing party had some strong rebuttals too, as they imed,
"The king has his eldest in the capital. So killing the man will simply transfer the power to the other. Tibias''s will not break by simply putting Perseus''s head on a spike."
"And that is assuming we can put his head on a spike."
"Remember! We do not know exactly where Perseus is! Even the scouts say they have not verified the information with their own eyes. It was all dedication and hearsay."
"What if we simply end up going on a wild goose chase? Who can say for sure that will not happen?"
"And even if this information is right, who says the king will give us a fight just because we showed up."
"He could simply retreat further back and bait us into giving a long chase through god knows what terrain."
"If that were to happen, not only would we have wasted a golden opportunity to take the enemy''s empty capital, but would also have nothing to show for it."
"Do you General Menes wish to take that risk? What will the Pasha say if you fail?"
Like this, thetter side made much better points than the former, and with thatst cheeky question where they casually brought up Alexander, finally convinced Menes to stick to the original n.
cing hisrge, heavy palms on the wooden table thus he dered in a deep,mandingvoice,
"I have decided!"
"The enemy king can scuttle like a rast all around the country as he pleases. Once we take his capital, none of that will matter."
"I will send a small scout detachment to keep an eye on him, while the main force concentrates on the capital."
"That was the order from the Pasha and that is what we will do."
"If any of you have any problems with that, you can bring them up with Lord Alexander when he gets here."
For Menes, the risk of going after Perseus as opposed to simply taking the undefended capital was too great for too few a reward.
And this would actually be the correct decision, as upon reaching the walls of the capital-Parthenigh, Menes would find the gates instantly opened to wee them, with Lord Theoney''s son being there to personally escort them in.
Chapter 847 Theony’s Love (Part-1)
Chapter 847 Theony''s Love (Part-1)
?847 Theony''s Love (Part-1)
When Menes decided to leave Perseus alone and instead target the capital, some of the officers, particrly led by the bellicose Grahtos felt it was a mistake.
But outnumbered at the negotiations table and unable to provide a decisive argument, they atst chose to obey the general''s decision.
Which was the correct decision as when the army finally got to the outskirts of the city, it soon received a jovial messenger sent by Lord Theony, who then invited them inside the city, with the urging that they do not sack it.
This Menes had no problem agreeing to, as he was more than happy to make this concession in return for being able to entirely bypass the city''s sturdy 6 meter wall.
That fortification might not have been as formidable as Thesalie''s but it was still significant and Menes preferred to avoid bashing his head against it.
Thsu courtesy of Lord Theony, the army was allowed to waltz into the capital without any resistance
But then the question arose- ''How Lord Theony was able to take control of the city and decide to let Menes in so openly?''
And to know that one had to travel to two days after Lord Theony had arrived in Parthenigh.
"My lord, we have stationed the men along all the points you asked. The keeps housing the gate''s mechanisms, the city guard''s quarters, the various local gangs, as well as the quarters of the few nobles still living in here, we have eyes on all these ces."
"The men only need yourmand to start!"
Around noon of that fateful day, Lord Theony''s right hand man and the fieldmander of his forces, Jupiter came with this report, delivering so in a deep, mart voice.
"Good." And Lord Theony, who was gazing at the mighty Diannu through the window in his third story room solemnly nodded in acknowledgment.
Before turning to ask the battle hardened man, "And the guards of the pce? What about them? Do we also have eyes on them?"
"That¡ no my lord¡ I''m afraid," To this inquiry, themander replied with a slight hesitationto his answer, reasoning,
"His Majesty left a few hundred royal guards protecting the ce. It is very secure."
"There is no way we can ce our men between them like we did in the other ces with the excuse of bolstering manpower."
"So no infiltrating the various keeps and taking the pce down from the inside."
"And there is also little hope of convincing them to stand down either."
"So if we are going to do this, we are going to have to fight through them. It will be bloody my lord." Along with the detailed assessment, the fully garbed militarymander made this grim prediction.
"..."
Lord Theony only pursed his lips with a slightly frustrated expression but initially said nothing.
It was an answer that Lord Theony had already expected, but still, if possible, the man would have preferred to do it with as little bloodshed as possible.
Those pce guards were good men.
However, since that was not possible, well,
"Then we will have to spill blood, it seems. " Lord Theony thus steely dered, as turning to face his man, he ordered,
"Jupiter! The king is already close. So we will do it tonight!"
"You willmand the forces in the city and put down any resistance. Take control ofthe gates and capture or if they resist, kill the nobles and officers."
"I will personally lead the attack on the pce." Lord Theony waved his sturdy fist as he dered.
And hearing this order Jupiter epted in instantly with a military salute, although he would have much preferred if his lord did not have to personally lead such a dangerous frontal act, and rather delegate that to one of his subordinates.
But he knew there was really no other way.
As, in order to keep the n as secret as possible, Lord Theony did not even tell the officers of his army about this nned coup, much less the ordinary soldiers, fearing a leak and thus alerting the other side.
Instead, he kept the entire thing entirely confined to only him, his son, and the headmander of his forces.
Which also meant that as far as the men in his contingent were concerned, they were really here to defend the capital.
And it would take amander of the very highest echelon to convince them otherwise.
Someone like Jupiter and Lord Theony.
Thus they needed to be on the front lines, heading the attack.
And with that division ofbor decided, the sun quickly set on a promised sanguinary night.
Dinner was finished quite quickly, and soon afterward, both Lord Theony and Jupiter arrived at their respective stations, preparing the men for the act.
As for thest person who was aware of Lord Theony''s n, his son Theony- well he also had a very crucial job to do, even arguably the most vital.
For he was tasked with killing the crown prince Philips!
The reason for this was of course in and simple.
If Philips were to be gone, the biggest obstacle on Lord Theony''s side would be removed.
And then with no one else to rally around, all the neutral soldiers and remaining low ranking nobles would be rendered incapable of making a decision, thus letting Lord Theony easily step up to fill that power vacuum, and grasp Parthenigh in the palm of his hand in one fell swoop.
As for how Theony was to go about that macabre act, well, Lord Theony left the choicergely up to his son, though he did provide him with a vial of poison, a clear indication of his preferred way.
And currently, Theony was exactly in the process of deciding that, as he restlessly paced back and forth in the crown prince''s bedroom, the poison vial literally in his hand.
As for how he got in that bedroom, well, it was easy, the man had full time ess to the ce courtesy of being Philips''s lover.
And it was also this one fact that made the deed so hard for Theony, as he felt like his body was being literally torn between his duty to his family and his love for Philips.
He had been trying to reconcile these feelings for days now, but till now, Theony was ultimately unable to make a decisive decision.
He did not want to face his father''s wrathful face, but neither did he want to see his lover''s dead corpse.
*Creak*
When suddenly, while the man was amidst this intense rumination, the door to the room was slowly creaked open and a smartly dressed Philips stepped in.
"RH! What''s wrong?" And as soon as Philipsid his eyes on him he could tell the other side was in a great deal of pressure, for Theony shed a very panicked face the moment he saw the crown.
And then, suddenly seeing Philips''s face, it was like something suddenly came over Theony, as his heart swelled and the decision that had haunted him for so long was instantly made for him, for he instinctively burst,
"Philips! You have to run! My father wants to kill you! Quick! The men areing!"
Even Theony himself did not know why he said what he said, but he did not regret it.
For the moment he said it, he instantly felt a surge of relief wash over him.
While the other side, Philips was naturally totally confused, as with an agape mouth he blurted., "Wha¡ what?"
Even to the usually fast man, this sounded too incredulous.
"It''s true! Look I was given this vial of poison to kill you!" So to quickly convince the man, Theony produced a small, bronze tube as evidence, before opening the cork and letting Philips get a small whiff.
And as that pungent smell hit Philips, it was like that hit woke him up from his slumber of doubt and confusion, for he recognized this smell.
It belonged to a type of deadly poison that was extremely lethal in even small doses, and highly dissolvable in drinks with almost a noticeable taste.
"Wha¡ why?" And then following this realization, the next question was naturally why, why Lord Theony would be doing this, as turning to Theony, Philips then asked with a bitter, almost wounded face,
"Is it just because of what happened at the court? Is Lord Theony going to betray us over only that? How could he abandon the ancestors just because of that petty nothing?"
"I even promised topensate him! Was it not enough?"
To Philips- what happened regarding Lord Theony at the court was simply part and parcel of the game yed in the royal court, and assumed the other side would be mature enough to easily understand it.
To him it seemed too insignificant a thing.
While standing opposite to him, Theony very much had the urge to tell him that what seemed like a trifling thing to the royal family was actually very significant to most other families, even to one as powerful as them.
But instead of poking Philips at that, Theony very sinctly summed up his father''s reason
"His Majesty has lost three consecutive battles. Father believes he has lost the favor of the ancestors."
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 848 Theony’s Love (Part-2)
Chapter 848 Theony''s Love (Part-2)
?848 Theony''s Love (Part-2)
Theony''s naked hard truth of the matter struck Philips hard.
In fact, it might have hurt harder than if Lord Theony was just a power hungry traitor.
Were that to be the case, the Crown Prince could have somewhat soothed his heart.
But Theony''s reasoningid bare to the crown prince the absolute disaster the royal family was currently facing.
They had lost three huge back to back battles- first- the chance to take Zanzan, second and their most grievous wound- losing the fortress of fortress, Thesalie and the third and thetest, the defense of their capital.
Each of these defeats not only caused the loss of the crown''s prestige and territory, but it also meant the death of a huge number of loyal nobles andpetent officers, shrinking the royal family''s pir of support even more.
The wars also cost the country an immense amount of manpower as all able bodied men were diverted to the army, turning the countryside almost barren with few people left to work the fields.
And with no one to produce stuff, naturally, taxation fell, making the treasury also dry up.
It really was the perfect storm.
For given their vulnerability, it was only natural that rivals to the royal family would pop up.
And although it was not like Philips had never thought about this possibility, but still, thinking something might happen and something really happening before one''s true eye were two very different things.
"Let me go talk to Lord Theony. I know I can still convince him." Faced with this monumental betrayal, Philips hence decided to try and negotiate, as he attempted to exit the room.
His very initial thoughts were to try and muster the royal guards and resist Lord Theony forcefully but quickly found the idea impossible.
The other side outnumbered them almost by ten times so the most likely oue of that fight would be to be crushed like a bug.
And even if they would use the pce''s choke points to hold off, well then for how long?
Lord Theony would surely be able to put the entire ce under siege and starve them out.
It would also be almost impossible for Philips to ask for reinforcements, as there were no messenger birds in the aviary trained to go to the ce where his father was currently staying.
And even if somehow a rider could get there, well then the king would still have to get here, the entirety of which would take almost two weeks.
And what would the king find upon his arrival?
Surely not a grand reception with the red carpet rolled out where he would be able to simply waltz into the city.
Instead, Lord Theony would surely defend the walls, forcing Perseus to smash through them.
And while this would be happening, Menes''s army would still be marching towards them.
If they were lucky, the Zanzan army might even be able to catch Perseus out of the walled city, squeezed between them and the walls.
That would truly be disastrous.
So Philips wisely decided that talks, not swords, were the way to go.
"No. Don''t bother." But just as he was about to go find Lord Theony, he was suddenly grabbed strongly by the arm by Theony, who cried,
"My father''s mind is already made up. There is no turning back for him."
"He was already thoroughly disappointed at the royal family for all the failures. But then, once he learned that his His Majesty had taken help from Zanzan again, itpletely shattered him." "You know how much he was against that deal in the first ce. And he was right in that."
"Adhania did backstab us. Zanzan is not in our hands. As a matter of fact, it is trying to destroy us even as we speak."
But then His Majesty has done the exact same thing."
"So my father believes there is no point in following the king anymore."
"If you go before him, you will be just delivering yourself to him like a nice present. He will kill you instantly. Please don''t waste all my efforts!" The voice pleaded with almost sobbed cries.
And Philips''s body slightly shivered at this reveal.
It was not like the man could not see the reason behind Lord Theony''s actions.
He could very well see them.
And perhaps it was because of exactly that that the crown prince was beginning to see how deep the rabbit hole went.
The future of his family seemed to be filled with only darkness.
"Then¡ what do you want me do?"
Thus faced with this desperate situation, Philips turned to his partner with clenched fists.
"Run away!" Came the instant answer, as Theony then spoke quickly,
"Change into my clothes. We both have simr builds. The guards will not be able to us apart from afar."
"Keep to the shadows of the pce and do not let anyone see you."
"Make your way to the ce we usually meet. You will find a horse ready, hidden among the bushes."
"Take it! It has supplies tost you three days. Then go meet up with His Majesty. Stop my father''s madness!"
The borate preparation Theony reveal so sinctly very clearly revealed that he knew who he would choose over, his father or Philips, even before he consciously made the choice.
And hearing this, Philips was at first a bit taken aback..
"Why¡ why are you doing this? Betraying your family? Do you think your father is wrong?" He could not help but ask.
Because for a logical point, Lord Theony really was not the viin of the story.
He was only doing what was best for him.
''Because I love you!'' To Philips''s question, Theony wanted to shout out this simple reason.
But for reasons even he did not know, he did not.
Just as those words rose up from his throat to his tongue, Theony felt a bitter taste, he even felt dirty.
He felt that he had no right to love this man after what his family was trying to do to him.
So Theony instead answered.
"Because you also saved me. Back in Zanzan, when I was captured,I know that it was you who went behind His Majesty''s back and convinced Lord Mithriditus to do the prisoner exchange. Without that, I might be already dead."
"So take it as me returning the favor."
It seemed both men were willing to defy their fathers for each other.
But this was really not the main reason Theony was doing this.
He would have most likely betrayed his father for Philips even without that.
Because he loved him.
Philips, hearing the answer, did feel a bit down.
He wished the reason had been more primal.
"Wait! Then¡ what about you? If your father is really as determined as you say¡ will you be alright?
But then as he thought about Theony''s n, he quickly found a missing element, as he then urged his lover with moist eyes. "Come with me!"
Although the crown prince was given a clear way out, it was very hard for him to take it, for he would have to leave so many things behind.
"Don''t worry about me." But Theony brushed aside these concerns with a strong tap on the crown prince''s shoulder, putting on a very confident, reassuring smile,
"I''m still my father''s son. His heir! He will not harm me."
"And besides, if I were to also go, who will protect your sons and daughters? Someone has to talk sense to my father!" He pointed out, before once again repeating,
"Don''t worry about me! Go!"
Then the man started to quickly strip given the time crunch.
But although Theony sounded very nonchnt aboutmitting this folly outwardly, internally, he was not so calm.
For he was not letting just any no name nobody escape, he was letting the crown prince slip through his fingers.
One who could not only alert the king to the happenings in the capital, but also be able to rally the people around him.
So even if Theony was not skinned for this huge blunder, or more perhaps like betrayal, at the very minimum he would be surely chewed out, and chewed out badly.
And given how long they had together, of course Philips could tell Theony was heavily dressing up the situation.
But ultimately he did not insist.
Because he knew that it would be too hard for two grown men to escape on a single lone horse.
And if Theony was to be caught escaping with him, Lord Theony''s anger over his son would surely be many, many times greater.
So to honor the sacrifice Theony was making for him, Philips quickly followed his partner''s suit, andilently the two men finished swapping clothes with one another.
"Promise me you will live. Do not die!"
And then sharing a brief intimate moment with this promise, the two men parted ways with this small sentence.
Dressed as Theony, Philips would indeed be able to make it to the secret rendezvous point without any problem, for Lord Theony was still unaware of his son''s betrayal.
There the crown prince would find arge, snow-white mare waiting for him, all saddled up.
And getting up on it, the crown prince would be away!
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 849 Theony and Lord Theony
Chapter 849 Theony and Lord Theony
?849 Theony and Lord Theony
"Men! The time to act is now. Traitors have infiltrated the pce and taken the Crown Prince hostage! We must rescue him!"
Standing on a small raised tform, this was the reason Lord Theony gave the gathered officers, galvanizing them for the attack.
After a bit of discussion with Jupiter, this was the reason they chose to give to the men.
And when Lord Theony first said this, it naturally produced a lot of shocked looks.
''What! When did this happen? Who are these traitors'' Many of the men found themselves asking.
But given they were Lord Theony''s personal troops, none of them dared to raise any doubts and simply nodded in agreement.
Thus satisfied with this deference, the lord then swung his broad arms to order, "Go! Breach the pce! Capture the traitors and kill anyone who resists! The Crown Princeis waiting for us!"
"Hurrraahhh!" Came the instant loud cheer.
The armored men then soon began to flood out of their barracks and started to make their way towards the pce.
And as the tidal wave of men filtered through the streets and started to converge on the pce gates, fully armored and weapons drawn, it was a sight that initially made many of the pce guards feel incredulous.
"What is that!" Some were so astounded by it that they had a hard time even conceiving this was actually happening.
"Get the Prince! It''s a coup!" While the quicker ones knew exactly what was happening, and shouted this.
Finally their worst nightmare hade true.
With Lord Theony openly making a move against the pce, the pce guards instantly mobilized, and soon after, the two sides finally made contact.
"Traitors! Give up and surrender."
But then imagine the pce guards'' surprise when right at the gates where they were fighting, they heard the other side chanting this.
"We should be the ones saying this, you bastard!" Some of the men could not even hold their anger as they blurted this out, while other, calmer personnel simply rolled their eyes at the shamelessness on disy before going back to the fighting.
Using the rtively narrow gate to the pce, even the small number of royal guards present were able to hold back the tide of men for a while, the formers'' great training and experience proving decisive against much of Lord Theony''s, almost peasant dressed up as soldiers.
"Let them in. The Prince''s orders." Until this order came that is, bore by the messenger sent by the highest officer there.
"What!" And understandably, the man there was confused, perhaps even a bit enraged.
"Let Lord Theony''s men in. The Prince''s orders." But undeterred by his superior''s livid face, the messenger once again repeated, before producing a bit of rolled papyrus as evidence, "Here!"
The officer snatched the light scroll like a hawk before scanning over the instructions.
But what he really was looking at was the unmistakable royal seal pasted at the bottom of that order, leaving no doubt that indeed the order was legitimate, for this stamp belonged solely to the king himself, and was currently held by the Crown Prince himself.
It was an order from undoubtedly came from the Crown Prince himself, and although the officer personally believed the act to be a mistake, he knew he had no other choice.
He had to obey.
*Whistle*
Thus blowing the bronze whistle hanging by his neck, he signaled his men to stand down.
A move that surprised even Lord Theony''s forces as they suddenly felt the formation of men fighting them crumble away to make way.
And Lord Theony sensing this opportunity of course did not look a gift horse in the mouth.
He immediately capitalized on it, pushing through the gates and quickly taking control of it, before disarming all the men.
And as Lord Theony entered the premises in the flesh, still unsure of how all this had happened, that samemessenger quickly stepped towards that mboyantly garbed man and after bowing, invited,
"Lord Theony! The Crown Prince invites you to the pce. Pleasee in!"
"........" Lord Theony was at first a bit surprised at the request, even bluntly asking, "Philips is not dead?"
Because by his calctions, he should be, so he could not help but worry, ''Did Theony fail?''
"Wha¡ my lord¡ what are saying?" While the messenger appeared absolutely ashen at the query, like he had just heard about the death of his entire family.
And by observing the reaction, it appeared to Lord Theony that the Crown Prince was still hale and hearty.
So keeping his queries to himself right now, he simply waved his hand and said,
"Okay. If Philips wants to talk, then let''s go. Lead the way."
And it was like that that Lord Theony managed to capture the pce pretty bloodlessly, just like he wished.
And the same story went for Jupiter, who found that the Crown Prince had sent messages to most of the troops and nobles asking them to stand down.
So other than the few zealous hotbloods who did not know what was good for them, most of the other men survived.
And Lord Theony and Jupiter were able to smoothly aplish their individual task, taking control of the capital just like they had wished.
"Through here!" The messenger led Lord Theony through the corridor housing Philips''s private chambers, before gesturing him to enter the room.
*Creak.*
And as the man entered with a few bodyguards, he naturally did not see the man he was expecting.
"Theony! What are you doing here? Where is Philips?" Instead, faced with his son''s lone presence, Lord Theony instantly blurted the most reasonable question.
"I¡. Philips escaped father! Someone tipped him off!" While Theony in a pretended panicked voice shuted so, pointing his finger towards the window.
Theony, for the briefest of seconds, had thought of revealing his deeds to his father, but then quickly decided against it.
He knew his father and the bombastic earful he was going to get if he were to find out the real reason.
"Escape? How?" But Lord Theony was of course no child who could be hoodwinked so easily.
He wanted details, and then further posed with sharp glinted eyes, "And why are you here? Were you the ones who gave that order to the pce guards? Why are you wearing the Crown Prince''s clothes? Where is he?"
"........" To all this, Theony drew a nk.
He could think of nothing that would be adequate enough to convince his father,
Perhaps he might have been able to stitch together something if he had a few days, and even then he would have struggled withing up with an adequate exnation regarding his dress.
But right now it was all too sudden.
Lord Theony would not buy everything off even his son unless he could not show some such strong evidence.
And thus faced with his very strict father glowering over him, the young man was unable to think instantly of a good answer and suddenly broke.
"I¡ I couldn''t do it. So I told him!" Theony blurted out.
And strangely, as he said this, Theony felt more relieved than scared.
"What!" While, predictably, this got a roof blowing, thunderous shout from the other side.
Followed by Lord Theony stepping forward, and
"Stupid boy! *Smash!*"nding a fully powered heavy punch on his son''s face, with his bronze gauntlets still on, a strike which resulted in Theony literally tumbling over, spitting out a jet of blood as he fell
Lord Theony really had not held anything back.
"Why!" He then roared at the top of his lungs, not the slightest bit bothered by his son''s swollen face.
"...." But Theony really did not have an answer.
Or at least an answer he would find eptable.
"Why? Stupid boy! I asked you a question! Answer me!" But Lord Theony was not the type to be simply ignored, as he again roared.
"I¡ he saved my life. I could not do it." Theony hence was finally forced to reveal the truth.
"Bah! Lair! Do you think I do not know!" But Lord Theony only spat in disgust, before turning to look at his son with zing eyes, "I ignored your disgusting thing with that brat because I simply did not care. Clearly, that was a mistake. To think you would betray your own family like this."
"Didn''t we clothe you, feed you, shelter you?"
"Why would you hurt us like it?"By now Lord Theony''s eyes had transformed from soldering to hurt and wounded,
"I¡ I¡" And suddenly seeing this vulnerable side of his powerful father, Theony momentarily did not know what to say.
"I did not betray my family! I would never do such a thing, father." And then suddenly he stood up to im this in a very strong voice, reasoning,
"I simply did not think the way you were doing this was the best for your family."
"So I decided to change it!"
"Look! By doing it my way, we were able to able to take the pce without any bloodshed. Just like you had wanted!" Theony then pointed, revealing,
"Yes! It was I who sent that note to all the guards ordering them to stand down."
"And because I let Philips escape, he will surely remember it and look at us favorably. "
"So in this way, we can have our feet on both boats."
"If Zanzan wins, we can earn favor by gifting them the capital."
"And if His Majesty wins, the Crown Prince will surely retreat us leniently based on this!"
"It''s a win win!"
Chapter 850 Theony and Lord Theony (Part-2)
Chapter 850 Theony and Lord Theony (Part-2)
?850 Theony and Lord Theony (Part-2)
"It is a win-win!"
Theony tried to put such a positive spin on the matter of letting Crown Prince Philips escape, iming it was done as a way to obtain the best of both worlds.
Sort of like having one''s cake and eating it too.
"*Smack* Idiot! If you were not my flesh and blood, I would have killed you here and now, "
But if you think that was enough to fool Lord Theony, then you had another thinging.
For instead of putting on a thoughtful nod or look of dawning realization, the armored man only gave his son another tight p, this on his other cheek, making both sides now equally ruddy as he cursed threateningly, before bombastically shouting,
"You take me for an idiot? Feet on both boats! Don''t you know what happens when you put your feet on both boats? You lose your bnce and fall into the water! You die! *Smack*!"
Lord Theony very knew that trying to y both sides was a recipe for disaster.
If he was unable to give Alexander the capital, he wouldck a crucial bargaining chip.
While in the case of Perseus, much contrary to Theony''s rhetoric, the king would certainly not reward Lord Theony for ''not'' killing his son.
Not when he had so tantly initiated a coup and shown himself as a traitor to the Tibian nobility.
So for Lord Theony, upon choosing this path, there really were only two options for him- sess or death.
And it was because the stakes were so high that his son''s betrayal hurt the father so much, as he turned to give Theony onest begrudgingly look before saying acridly,
"If Gnaeus was here he would have not been so foolish. He would have understood what we are trying to do here! He would not have sabotaged his own family!"
Gnaeus, as could be gathered from the way Lord Theony said the name was his most favored son, born of a noble widow that the man had as a mistress and the woman he truly loved.
Unlike Theony''s mother whom he was almost forced to marry by his father and other retainers.
But since she was the legitimate wife, her son- Theony got to be the sessor of all the estate.
While Gnaeus being an illegitimate child was not entitled to even scraps.
For Tibian sessionws were that strict, barring any ''outsider'' from inheriting anything from the family estate.
At best, he would be a steward, which he currently was, being in charge of Lord Theony''s estate as of now while thetter was away.
For Lord Theony, this fact had always been a very sore point who would frequentlyment that even as the lord of his household, he could not choose his own sessor.
This regret even turned into a sort of bitter vengefulness for Lord Theony, as he would alwayspare Theony with ''in his eyes'' wless son at every opportunity, leading to much dissatisfaction on Theony''s part.
Like now, when upon hearing the name of his older stepbrother, not only did Theony not feel any regret over letting Philips escape, but instead felt d that he did it.
Though he did not say it out aloud and only dropped his head low.
"When did you tell him? How did he escape? In which direction did you send him?"
Following the chastising of his son, Lord Theony then once again turned to the matter of Philips, asking for more details.
And at the pointed inquiry, Theony''s heartily slightly shuddered.
He knew why his father was asking this.
Because he was about to send riders after the Crown Prince, still hoping to finish the act he chose not to do.
And given the very short head start Philips had gotten, Theony feared the expert riders of his family had a genuine chance of catching up to the lonesome prince.
So Theony lied.
"He took the secret tunnels underneath the pce. I heard it lead to the river Diannu. From there he probably took a boat. I do not know." Theony used his finger to point, emphasizing his answer.
And on the surface, this sounded quite usible as it was indeed true the royal family''s tunnels led to the river as escape via there was far easier than overnd.
But who was Lord Theony?
He was not going to be swindled so easily.
"A boat? At night? *Smack*, you stupid son! Tell the truth! Where did he go?"
It wasmon knowledge that boats did not travel at night due to problems of navigating them in such poor visibility, as well as the fact that most sailors would sleep during that time.
So unfortunately for Theony, Lord Theony did not buy it.
But Theony here was anything if not determined.
He would never reveal where Philips really was.
He could not!
So he loudly insisted, "I do not know where he went, father! I only told him that you wereing to kill him and that he should escape."
"Philips quickly left the room after that and I do not know anything more!"
Saying this, Theony a bit dramatically stamped his foot and then pointed toward the table,
"I have been in this room the whole time, pretending to be Philips and writing the surrender orders."
"When the first messenger came, I made sure not to let him in and instead told them the Crown Prince was busy."
"And hearing my voice, the man of course did not enter," Theony pronounced as a matter of factly for when faced with this kind of situation, this was what the soldiers did.
This was because although same sex rtionships were not strictly persecuted in Tibias, it was certainly still very taboo.
And so even for someone as high status as the Crown Prince, it could be done too openly.
Thus everyone in the pce took the attitude of seeing yet not seeing, pretending like they did not know what Philips and Theony did in their private rooms.
And this worked out very well for Lord Theony this time, as he continued his tale of how he fooled the messenger,
"After hearing the man, I then quickly wrote the surrender order for all the soldiers and passed the message through the door, iming it was from Philips."
"And that was how you were able to get here so quickly father!"
"Do you think I would have issued those orders if I had truly betrayed the family? Theony then suddenly posed, pointing,
"If I had truly wanted to switch sides, I would have surely had the pce guards fight you tooth and nail."
"That would have bought much more time for Philips to escape."
"But I did not."
"Because I truly thought it would be better for us to be in favor with both sides. I¡ was mistaken in thinking that. I''m sorry."
Theony very convincingly lowered his head in regret, trying to show that the blunder of letting Philips escape was due to an error in his strategic thinking, and not his original n.
"......."
Hearing this finally managed to somewhat convince Lord Theony, as he red furiously at his son, not saying a word.
Inside his head, he processed the words his son said, until finally he came to the conclusion that what his son did appear to make sense.
So atst his glowering eyes dimmed a tiny bit.
But that did not mean Lord Theony stopped being angry with Theony.
No, far from it.
As with a deep, gravelly voice, he first rebuked,
"You idiot! Why couldn''t you simply do what I told you? We would not be in this mess if you had simply done that."
Before turning to look at Theony with a glint in his eyes.
If one thought Lord Theony was simply going to let Theony off the hook with a bit of smack and scolding, then simply forgive and forget, well they would be grossly mistaken.
For Lord Theony then gave an order he had surprisingly dreamed many times of giving but never thought would have been possible.
So now that such a golden opportunity had presented itself, the ambitious man took it, ordering Theony''s punishment by saying,
"When the Pasha of Zanzan gets here, you will go to him and say that you have decided to abandon your family''s inheritance."
"You will then name Gnaeus in your ce."
"Got it!"
Lord Theony did not ask but ordered.
And hearing this, although Theony had expected something like this at the very back of his mind, it still shocked and wounded him.
From the very day he was born, Theony had been brought up as the sessor of his family, who controlled vast swathes ofnd and wealthy.
So to be all of a sudden stripped of all that wealth and prestige within seconds by a mere few words, it would affect anyone.
But Theony knew better than to protest.
''Yes, father!" So like an obedient son, he nodded heavily.
And internally, Theony was even a bit relieved that this was all that his father had done.
For in his mind, Theony really had not been able to rule out the possibility that his enraged parent would unsheathe his sword and stab Theony to death and then pin the me on the escaped Crown Prince.
Theony was d that he had at least survived.
While suddenly inside Lord Theony''s head, an idea shed, as he turned to order his son,
''Oh! You stay in the room. Continue to pretend to be the Crown Prince. That way we can keep the news of the escape a secret!"
Chapter 851 Fate of The Palace
Chapter 851 Fate of The Pce
?851 Fate of The Pce
Lord Theony''s order for his son to stay in his room and continue to act like the Crown Prince really went to show the man''s shrewdness.
Because then Lord Theony could im to have put ''Crown Prince'' on house arrest and refuse to let anyone see him, thus letting him still keep the illusion that Philips was still in the capital.
After all, other than Theony, nobody else knew that the Crown Prince was actually missing.
And this would do tremendously in his effort to take over the capital.
It would even be tens of times better than killing Philips, as Lord Theony could not only cate the loyalist nobles and officers by this, but he could also use the Crown Prince''s name to issue whatever fake orders he wished, all iming it was sanctioned by the royal family!
Something made so much easier by the fact that in his moment of hastiness, Philips had forgotten to take the royal seal with him, thus effectively making Lord Theony be the king of Tibias now!
The idea truly was brilliant and was the perfect example of Lord Theony taking the lemons life gave him and making lemonades.
Even though Philips had really slipped through Lord Theony''s fingers, instead of just pping his head andmenting, the man had decided to do this, trying to capitalize on the situation as best as he could.
Theony could do nothing but look with his wide, almost doe eyes as his father took the seal and pocketed it, before attempting to leave the room.
"Wait!" But was suddenly stopped by Theony, who then quickly asked, "Father! What will you do with the remaining royal family?"
"Because I was thinking instead of killing them, it might be better to let Pasha Alexander decide. "Perhaps he will like some of the women or even the men there!"
The reason Theony made this excuse was of course because he knew his father nned to execute much of the lineage, or at the very least all the men.
And this was his way of trying to stop it.
"...."
To this Lord Theony left without giving any answer. only leaving two men to guard the door to make sure no one could enter and discover their secret.
While Theony was left all alone in the huge room, wondering to himself what his father''s next n was.
Stepping outside the room, Lord Theony then instantly turned to order with unbridled sharpness,
"Immediately send out the best scouts we have! I want them scoring both sides of the bank. Tell to them to search every single boat for inspection and kill anyone suspicious."
Lord Theony had still not given up his wish to capture Philips.
This order was of course carried out with the utmost haste, with one of the men immediately setting out to arrange it, while Lord Theony turned his mind to the veryst he had yet to do.
Deciding what to do with the remaining royal family.
When Perseus went to war, he took a lot of his male kin with him- his sons, younger brothers, uncles, cousins, etc. leaving mostly only the women and children in the pce, namely his wife, daughter, daughter inws and grandchildren, with only a few adults to look after them.
And as Lord Theony recalled the names that were likely present, he found that Theony was indeed right in saying that there was little value in killing these leftover people.
They were of the wrong sex or if they were not, simply too young or insignificant to pose any threat to Lord Theony right this moment.
Lord Theony could take his time and kill them in the future if need be.
But right now, they seemed much more valuable alive.
Lord Theony could use them as hostages with Perseus, as gifts to Alexander, or if nothing else, simply as entertainment for himself, keeping the adult women as mistresses or courtesans and the young girls and boys as pleasure ves.
"Capture all the royal family. Put all of them under house arrest!"
Hence thinking logically Lord Theony ordered such, as he then personally decided to lead the arrest, taking a handful of men to the current Queen, Perseus''s wife''s chambers.
Currently, the regal Queen was sitting by her nightstand, letting her personal maid braid her long,raven hair as she prepared for bed.
"I thought I heard somemotion. Do you know what it was?" And as the maid worked, her mistress posed songuidly.
The queen was blissfully unaware of any and all happenings around the pce as her chambers were situated at the very back of the pce and because themotion caused by Lord Theony had died down fairly quickly courtesy of Theony, no one had bothered to inform her about it.
"No, Your Grace. Should I go ask?" The maid gently asked.
"N¡"
*Boom*
It was right that instantly, when out of nowhere the sturdy doors to her room were literally kicked open, the metal lock shooting across the room as then a number of unknown, armored men quickly rushed in, their hungry eyes instantlynding on the two beautiful women.
"What? Who are you, men? Do you know what you are doing?"
And this immense noise and the rude entrance naturally made the Queen furious, as she jumped from the chair like she was struck by thunder and screeched at the top of her lungs.
But contrary to her brave facade, internally, the sight of the intruders made her shake to the core.
Her heart thumped with the loudest possible sound and her head echoed with the only possibility of why they could they here.
It was a dreadful possibility.
"Hehe! We are so sorry to disturb your sleep, Your Grace. Forgive us,"
As the Queen was still trying to understand what was going on, Lord Theony slowly stepped forward in his magnificent armor and chuckled this with a breezy smile, informing the woman,
"A few traitors have infiltrated the pce. The Crown Prince suspects a group among the royal members are responsible. So he has instructed me to apprehend everyone for questioning."
"Traitor?"
Lord Theony''s words were so sudden and appeared to make so little sense that the Queen at first appeared confused, with her mouth agape as she tried to make sure she was not hearing things.
''What traitor? Where would theye from?'' Her mind naturally yed these questions.
Until suddenly her eyes shed.
"Traitor! The only traitor here is you Lord Theony! How could you betray us?" the Queen pointed her finger as she finally understood what was going on, before quickly posing a bit fearfully,
"Where is Philips? What have you done to my son? Let me go see him!"
Saying so the buxomdy then tried to push past the wall of men blocking the door.
But she naturally failed in this, as she was then very rudely grabbed by the arm by Lord Theony, who then very vulgarly chuckled while staring at the woman''s chest,
"Hehe, I think Your Majesty should reconsider that. Especially given the way you are dressed. People might mistake you for someone else."
And feeling this scorching gaze on her chest mention, the Queen''s mind finally clicked on the current state of her body and she instantly lowered her head with a heavy blush.
Given summer was already here, and she was just about to go to bed, the mature woman only had a thin ck linen nightgown on.
The translucent cloth hid less than it revealed, making her appear very sexy.
Her skin though hidden could still be seen, appearing wlessly when viewed through the veil, while the cloth did nothing to conceal the outline of her curvy body, letting all the surrounding men ogle at her heavy breasts, her smooth tummy, her wide hips and to make matters more mortifying, even her bush down, as the area around there appeared very dark rtive to her fair thighs.
Just like Lord Theony had said, if the Queen was really to walk down the corridor like this, she would undoubtedly be called a prostitute.
"Kyaaah." As the Queen she came to this realization and felt the lustful eyes of the men, she gave this ear piercing shriek, before bundling herself up in shame.
Given how conservative Tibian society was, the fact that so many men had seen her like this was absolutely mortifying to this noble woman.
"Your Grace! Here!" Fortunately for her, the maid, who had been till now frozen in fear, seeing her mistress in such distress quickly moved, grabbing a nearby cloak and draping it over her, and atst helping the Queen hide some of her ignominy.
"Hehe!" Lord Theony found the Queen''s whole reaction very funny, as he vulgarly chuckled while gazing at her with naked lust, very vividly licking every part of her body with his eyes.
It would be a tant lie if Lord Theony were to im he had never lusted over the Queen.
In fact, it would be a tant lie if the whole Tibian court were to im they had never lusted over the Queen.
Because when Perseus married his consort, she was unanimously said to be the most beautiful woman in the entire country.
Thus presented with such a chance now, Lord Theony''s loins felt very hot.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 852 Phillips’ Family (Part-1)
Chapter 852 Phillips'' Family (Part-1)
?852 Phillips'' Family (Part-1)
Lord Theony riding high on the exhration of having obtained the city definitely felt his heart itch with the temptation of forcefully taking the Queen.
But he ultimately refrained.
He was no inexperienced child who would let his lust control him and doing such a thing right in front of his men would entirely tarnish all his reputation with them.
So turning around, he left the Queen alone with these words, "Your son is okay, He is still in his room. And I suggest you stay in yours too."
Following that Lord Theony then moved to meet the once future queen of Tibian- Philips''s wife.
And just like with the Queen, Lord Theony did not bother to offer any polite knocks but instead busted open her door forcefully, causing the woman and two of her maids in there to shout out in panic, while the two infant children in their cradle, disturbed from their sleep also joined the chorus.
Lord Theony reyed the same things he had said to the Queen, but unlike thetter, Philips''s wife only nodded nonchntly at this.
She did not even ask anything about her husband and only cared to bundle herself closer in fear while ncing at her son and daughter sleeping in their cradle.
And this ambivalence was really not surprising if one thought back to the exchange of Theony with Philips.
There, Philips had also not brought up anything about the safety of his wife and children, almost as if they were not his wife and children.
This was also something not unknown within the high levels of court and given the couple''s distaste for each other, as well as Philips''s particr taste, there were even gossips casting suspicion on the identity of the Crown Prince''s children, saying they were not really his.
And as Lord Theony recalled that, he suddenly felt now was the perfect opportunity to pry the truth.
So stepping forward, he asked in the most unequivocal way possible, "Mydy, pardon me for asking, but your children, who are their real father?"
To this question, Philips''s wife at first produced a shocked or even somewhat panicked face, before quickly hiding it with a wall of incredulity, as she then shouted in an offended tone,
"What¡ What do you mean Lord Theony? Of course, it''s Philips! Why would you even ask that? Surely you do believe those filthy lies too."
If the woman really had anything to hide, she was not going toe out clear just because Lord Theony asked nicely.
"...."
And seeing this Lord Theony decided to change tactics.
He decided to be forceful.
So without answering the woman, the man only walked up to two cribs where the babies were, and
*Shoosh*, Lord Theony very straightforwardly unsheathed his dagger and held it against the boy''s neck, before turning to look at thedy with a murderous look, "I will ask again. And if you lie, I will slit your son''s throat right here and now!"
The threat was as cold as ice, as Lord Theony then snarled,
"Tell me whose children are they? I know That disgusting faggot could not have gotten it up for you!"
''I¡ th¡ It was a ve! During our nuptial night, Philips had me sleep with a ve! Wuhhh¡ Wuhhh!" And with her son''s life in danger, the woman finally broke, revealing the earth shaking secret with suppressed sobs
"Lies!"
But Lord Theony did not buy it.
And true to his threat, apanied by the shout came the swift movement of his wrist,
*Slit*
The sharp knife cut through the soft skin and muscle of the infant like butter, cutting open the thorax, and
*Wahhh.. urghhhh*
Giving onest muffled cry, the child boy went forever silent.
"No! Why?"
That silence was instantly reced by this mournful howl, as the mother let out this piercing cry of anguish, before scrambling over to the crib herself and breaking downpletely upon seeing her son''s lifeless eyes and the blood gushing out of the deep wound.
He had already perished,
"Wuuuuhhhhh," The woman was inconsble.
"Tell the truth!" But the perpetrator of this, Lord Theony did not feel the slightest emotion upon seeing this mournful disy.
Neither did the fact that he had just killed a child right in front of his own mother cause the slightest vibration in his conscience.
The man was only interested in knowing the truth that thisdy was trying to hide.
The reason for his suspicion-
"How could a lowly ve be allowed to touch you, mydy? The future Queen of Tibias."
"Philips would have never let that happen. I know him. His pride is too high."
"Regardless of whether he cared for you, or detested you, you were still his bride in name."
"So Mydy¡ do you truly believe that Philips would have allowed his son, the next king of Tibias to be the disgusting spawn of a lowly ve?"
Lord Theony''s loud, booming voice felt like the drums of the devil, and the helpless woman shivered in fright and bitterness as he clearly revealed the ce where she had messed up.
A mistake that had just cost her her son.
The amount of regret thedy was feeling right now was so enormous she had nowhere to keep them.
While Lord Theony sensing this, pressed harder, first mocking thedy for herck of quick wittedness,
"You could have said the name of any loyalist noble and I would have probably believed you. Heck, I might have even believed it if you had said it that old croon Mithriditus, hahaha."
Lord Theony crassly giggled, like he had said a funny joke and the surrounding men joined in too.
And this was not because Mithriditus was too old.
But because the woman was Mithriditus''s daughter!
"So why did you lie?"
Finally finished with his chuckle, Lord Theony then quickly returned to the inquiry, it being sharp and incisive.
"......" But the woman by now had gone almost unresponsive, sporting a hollow, nk look, her face ashen and devoid of all color.
''Why didn''t I say that? How could I have been so stupid? My son¡ it was I¡ I killed him¡ Stupid¡ stupid¡ stupid¡''
While inside her mind, the woman found herself tearing herself apart with such regret and guilt.
Now, it would be all too easy to judge the poordy for this foolish mistake.
But it had to be appreciated the kind of stress she was put under.
She had very little time to think and blurted out the mostmon excuse that came to her mind.
After all, a ve sleeping with a noblewoman was indeed the mostmon type of scandal heard inside the court.
But as Lord Theony pointed out, there were several ws with that kind of thinking.
Seeing thedy go quiet, Lord Theony of course did not let her be and mourn her son in peace.
"Speak! Why did you lie?" He again barked, and then to galvanize her even more, he moved to the infant girl''s crib, making the same threat again,
"Your son died because of your foolishness. Do not kill your daughter too!"
Given thedy had tried to hide this even when her son''s life was in danger had truly piqued Lord Theony''s curiosity, and he could not wait to find the real cause.
"No!" Seeing that same bloody knife now pressed against herst child''s neck, fianllyr brought the nobledy back, and fearing for her daughter''s life, she mumbled with a panicked, white as a sheet face,
".....I¡ it¡it was His Majesty!"
"What!"
This answer came as such a surprise to Lord Theony that even this veteran politician who had seen so much scenery could not help but blurt out in shocked incredtion, as his hands suddenly shook so much that he nearly sliced the poor girl''s throat by mistake.
"You mean the king impregnated you? These are Philips''s brothers and sisters!" Lord Theony still sounded like he was unsure that he indeed heard the woman correctly.
"....Yes." The answer that came after a bit of pause was very monotone,cking even the slightest spirit.
The woman knew what her revealing this meant, for her, her child, her father, and even the Royal family.
"Hahaha¡ hahaha!" And in aplete 180 degree to her own mood, Lord Theony hearing so instantly let out this euphoricughter precisely because he too could see the consequences of this.
His heart giggled with the thought of how he could spin this story.
So for thest time he turned to look at thedy, to confirm, "Are you sure? Do you swear? You are not ndering His Majesty are you?"
Though even if she were, it would not really be such as big concern for Lord Theony.
He could turn it into the truth if need be.
After all, thedy had confessed to it in front of so many people.
They could all be eyewitnesses.
But Lord Theony would not need to jump through such hoops, for thedy confessed in detail,
"No. it is the truth. Philips likes men. Everyone knows that."
"Even after trying for close to two years, he could not impregnate me."
"So it was decided that His Majesty would do it, and we would pretend that they were Philip''s."
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 853 Phillips’ Family (Part-2)
Chapter 853 Phillips'' Family (Part-2)
?853 Phillips'' Family (Part-2)
Hearing thedy confess to all of this, Lord Theony''s heart felt like it was doing cartwheels.
It was a story so scandalous that Lord Theony could not have written it himself even if he had wanted to.
And he even saw no reason to embellish it by the tiniest.
Just the raw facts were damning enough.
A father inw having an illicit affair with his daughter inw all while the son was fully aware of it.
The scandal practically wrote itself.
Such a thing would have destroyed the reputation of any man and his family.
Never mind this happened to the most prestigious in all of Tibias.
"Who else knows this?" Lord Theony then curiously posed so to the woman.
"Only the three of us! And my maids," Came the concise, monotone reply.
"How frequently did the king sleep with you?" Lord Theony then pressed for more details.
"Only until I gave birth to¡. to ¡. Wuhhhuu¡ wuhhh"
But then suddenly that mechanical voice changed as the woman broke down in the middle of her answer.
For that suddenly reminded her of her son''s name.
While Lord Theony was able to calcte that since thedy had given birth to her daughter first and then her son, the king must have slept with her for one year at the very least.
"...."
Lord Theony''s interrogation came to an end with this and the room then once again returned to its silence, with only the low, mournful sobs echoing across the space.
So feeling he had obtained all he wanted atst pronounced,
"What you have done with the king and father inw is an affront to the ancestors and all living spirits in Tibias."
"It is the most heinous of acts."
"You and your daughter will be brought to trial before the court to be judged for this filth "
"Do not even think that you can run away!"
Lord Theony was filled with disgust and scorn, before he turned to look at the two maids who by now had huddled themselves to a corner of the room, trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible.
And as the lord''s eyes fell on them, both shivered like a trembling kittens, as they then heard Lord Theony say to them,
"And both of you will be summoned too- to testify to the things Her Grace has confessed to."
Lord Theony felt the room with this, without waiting for the maids'' answer, his heart dancing with joy and his head already getting toposing the speech he was going to give then all this was revealed.
He dreamed of standing in front of the court, addressing them as,
''My fellow lords anddy, you have heard what thedy had to say. Of what she has confessed to doing, And with who!''
''Can you truly believe it? That she hadmitted such a filthy act?''
''I know no words to describe this heinous¡. thing!'' As Lord Theony thought of the speech, he could note up with an exact word right at the moment, and decided to skip it for now, intending toe back to itter.
As he then continued making the rest of the speech,
''It has vited every conscious morality of our society. She deserves to be punished in the most cruel way possible.''
''Also do not forget- it takes two to tango.''
''And who she has done this filthy act with? His Majesty the King no less. All while her husband the Crown Prince watched!''
''My lords! I truly have no words to describe this. In all my years, I have never even heard of such utter depravity much less seen it.''
''It is because of such acts that our country is where we are. It is because the king has lost the favor of the ancestors.''
''And it is put to us to bring His Majesty to justice!''
"The ancestors demand it!''
Lord Theony''s spine already tingled with excitement as he thought about giving this speech.
He was sure not even Perseus''s most staunch supporters would be able to speak up against Lord Theony when he showed them this proof.
Lord Theony was sure he could erode much of Perseus''s influence with this speech.
But s, Lord Theony would be very disappointed the next morning, as he would be woken upte morning not by the smell of sumptuous food brought by a maid right onto his bed, but by the loud thuds of fists smacking against the door followed by heavy footsteps of armored men.
"My lord! Terrible news!" And as soon as the men entered, Lord Theony heard this panicked shout, followed by the report that thedy in question, and both her maid had killed themselves, even taking the daughter with them.
"What!" As soon as the man heard it, he bolted up from his bed at the speed of lightning, and simply putting on a light robe, he almost ran through the corridor to the room in question.
And upon entering it, found a ghastly sight.
Hanging off the tall bedpost were the two maids, a linen sheet wound around their neck, acting as the rope.
Their eyes were bulged, their tongues rolled out, as they must have tried desperately to grasp for the tiniest bit of air at the very end points of their life.
While a bit side to these ''floating'' bodies, on arge armchairid the lifeless corpse of the mistress of the room, her arms sprawled over, wrists cut.
The rusty blood had gushed out of the deep wound and stained her nightgown before the rest pooled around the chair, where Lord Theony also spotted arge fruit knife, no doubt the ''murder'' weapon.
Andstly, and perhaps mostly tragically, there was the infant girl, who, as if being yed a cruel joke by fate, had been killed by having her throat slit open, just like her brother.
From this it could also be clearly seen how thedy''s darning confession under stress was oh so different from a very simr condition faced by anotherdy, Lady Felicia.
And it could be heavily argued that if were to switch ces with the woman would have certainly been able toe out much better.
Given how smart she was, it was unlikely Lady Felicia would have stumbled even in that first roadblock and might have possibly named a random noble- like Perseus''s brothers, cousins, or even his other sons.
And even if she were to be caught in that, she would have never revealed the truth.
Like she had not revealed the fact that she had killed her step siblings even when she was in danger of losing her most desired dream.
And that was something actually rtively mild in the context of the time whenpared to what the king and his daughter inw had done,
Because what Lady Felicia had done was simply kill somemoners.
But Philips''s wife and the king''s deeds vited the very social structure of the time.
And plunged the entirety of the royal family''s reputation down into the abyss of absolute filth.
Lady Felicia would not have confessed to it, even if that knife had been pressed against Fabiyana.
And she would not have even needed to think too hard for a lie, because if you recall, Lord Theony had already given the nobledy the answer when he had said, ''You could have said the name of any loyalist noble and I would have probably believed you,'' before pressing thedy for an answer.
This means thedy could have literally given the name of any loyalist noble.
But she was simply not smart enough, very much unlike the ambitious Lady Felicia, who had not even hesitated to harm her daughter during her pregnancy just to make her story about infidelity airtight.
And that hade to cost her dearly.
The nobledy was forced tomit suicide as she decided that death was the far better option than the ignominy that was surely toe.
Both her maids too decided to follow, one- because they were that loyal, and two- because they knew the information they hade to inadvertently know was the curse of a lifetime.
As long as they lived they would be hounded by it, from both sides as they pressured them to tell their version of the truth.
So rather than drag their mistress''s name through the mud, they chose to end themselves too.
As for the baby, her mother trembled at the thought of what her dear precious would experience growing up with such a scandalous identity.
And that was if she could grow up at all, as the judgment hinted at by Lord Theony really made that doubtful.
So rather than leave the defenseless infant to fend for herself all alone in this cruel world, the mother had decided to take her daughter with her.
But one should not mistakenly think it was an easy decision for the woman, as when she was doing it, she had cried a river of tears, constantly kissing the fluffy cheeks of the baby, and mournfully confessing,
"I''m sorry, mother could not protect you¡ wuhhhuu¡ wuhhh¡
I''m sorry."
"But do not worry. Soon we will go to where your brother is. No one will be able to hurt us there."
"My sweet precious daughter... this will only hurt for a second...wuhhhuu...wuhhhh."
It was truly tragic that four lives were wasted just because the woman was not smart enough.
Oh! How much regret thatdy must have felt as her life came to such amentable end!
Chapter 854 Alexander Enters the Capital
Chapter 854 Alexander Enters the Capital
?854 Alexander Enters the Capital
"Dammit!"
Seeing the four, no ¡five dead bodies in the room, as the little boy was yet to be moved too, and feeling the distinct stench that apanied such a state, Lord Theony found himself cursing under his breath.
Not only did that perfect y he was so looking forward to gotpletely trashed, he was now left with the unenviable task of having to deal with this mess.
A mess that no doubt threw a wrench into his n as now undoubtedly he would be the one who would get med for this.
''I should have been more careful with my words.'' And Lord Theony med himself, feeling he had revealed too much of his n in front of thedy through his words and actions.
"Lock this room up! Nobody is allowed to enter it."
But since the deed had already been done, Lord Theony did not waste time crying over spilled milk but instead went into crisis management mode, turning to the men and further ordering,
"Take the bodies out and quickly bury them in the garden. Make sure to cover their faces when you move them!"
"Then arrange it so that everyone thinks the five are still alive."
"The maids are still to bring them food and sometimeter they are to take away the finished dishes."
"Of course, they will not be allowed to enter the room, but you get the idea."
Lord Theony left the details to the men.
"Yes, my lord. The guards at the door will handle them." And the officer leading the men understood what his master wanted.
The guards would take the food, eat it themselves, and then send the cleaned dishes back.
And it worked, as for the time being, none remained the wiser.
It was with such mixed sess that Lord Theony managed to gain control of the capital, and over the following days quickly consolidated his hold over it.
A great boon in that endeavor came in the form of the royal seal which Lord Theony had managed to nab for himself, using it liberally to suppress and silence any dissenter and doubters.
When anyone of the royal family wanted to exit their room to meet with others, the seal woulde into view denying them.
When a group of nobles wanted to see the Crown Prince, there was the seal.
When some of the officers questioned a few of the suspicious orders given to them by Lord Theony, the seal shut them up.
And even the very questionable decision to open the gates of the capital to let Alexander''s army in would be issued by Lord Theony by relying on the seal.
It was like a cure-all for all his problems.
And Lord Theony certainly felt addicted to using it.
Even during his long time as a lord, never had the men obeyed him so unconditionally.
But here, it was like simply hearing the order was from the king made it absolute and unquestionable.
Even though Lord Theony knew just how rewarding it was to be the king long prior to this, it was one thing to know, wholly another thing to experience it for oneself.
And upon actually tasting the power, he would have to say, Lord Theony found the taste so much more delectable than we could have ever imagined.
For a brief moment, he even thought about betraying Alexander.
Killing him so that he could have the country all to himself.
Of course that was only for a moment as such a thing would be impossible even if he were to try.
But along with all the positive strides Lord Theony managed to make for himself, there were also some stumbles along the way.
One such particr hup was the scouts he had sent to hunt down Philipsing out empty even after three days of scouring each and every de of grass along the riverside.
"Look again!"
And every time they woulde empty handed, Lord Theony would bark this, before sending even more men to look for the escaped prince.
But of course, the men would fail to detect even a tiny whiff of the man, much to their lord''s ire.
And it would only be after a week of relentless hounding that Lord Theony would decide to call off the search.
Another slight trouble was that with the passage of time, the people were starting to get suspicious of many of Lord Theony''s ims, with more and more voices raising the want to see concrete proof.
But that did not prove to be too much of an issue, as Menes managed to arrive before any rebellion would foment and when his men entered the city, any and all such efforts were dead even before they could germinate.
The people who were originally suspicious bitterly shook their heads for not having acted sooner, while those who were clueless to that point felt betrayed and heartbroken.
But regardless of their individual thoughts, they all wisely shut up and bent their knee.
"Haha, Lord Menes! It is an honor to finally meet you. Please drink! Drink! I must thank you for sacking the city, haha"
Lord Theony naturally held a great party for Menes and his officers, getting to know many of the military men as he then inquired about Alexander''s whereabouts.
And felt much reassured to know that the man was already on a boat and would be joining them soon.
Following the food, Lord Theony naturally arranged for entertainment for Menes and his men, with the general himself being presented with the following lucrative option by Lord Theony, "Lord Menes, in this pce, we have the Queen, her two unmarried daughters, a few princesses (the king''s sisters), and a few of prince consorts (the wives of the king''s brothers) as well as their children. Which ones would you like to have?"
Lord Theony had of course phrased it like that so that Menes did not have to choose only one.
And hearing such a rich and expensive menu, Menes''s heart of course leaped at the thought of ordering the most expensive dish- the Queen and the two princesses.
It was the instinctual thought that came to him even though he knew nothing about them, much less having seen them.
Because frankly, Menes would not have cared even if they were as scary as ghosts, for he did not want to sleep with them because of their beauty but much more so because of their exalted status.
And who knew the next time he would ever get to taste women of such high status?
If ever.
But with much regret in his heart, Menes ultimately refrained.
Because he knew those three were reserved for Alexander.
It would be one thing if Alexander was still back in Thesalie waiting for Menes''s report.
The general would have dly tasted these delicacies then.
But with Alexander literally only days away from reaching the city, he knew he could not do it.
This was not something demanded of him but certainly expected.
So even if Menes thought that Alexander would not either of touch them, Menes knew that iming them before Alexander got here would be too impolite.
Hence he settled for two of Perseus''s sisters, who were married themselves, but who cares about that?
Alexander entered the capital city of Tibias exactly two days after Menes did, and even while he was on the boats, he could see a huge procession of his soldiers dressed fully in blue standing by the river cheering and shouting to greet him.
Therge fleet of boats was quickly invited into the city, and as Alexander docked off the harbor, he found his generals as well as Lord Theony personally waiting for him.
"Wee Conqueror of Tibias! Wee to Parthenigh- once the capital of Tibias." And Lord Theony greeted Alexander with such grandiose words as he bowed deferentially, before leading him to an ornate carriage.
Alexander found the tour of the capital to be nothing special, being of a very simryout to Thesalie, with the poorer living near the outer city walls, while the richer neighborhoods resided at the center.
Among the few notable architectures inside the city was first and foremost of course the pce, being of a very simr shape to the one in Thesalie- only much, much, bigger.
Alexander found everything here to be bigger- bigger walkways, bigger courtyards, bigger gardens, bigger buildings with many more rooms, and even bigger pools.
And this was actually quite normal when came to know that the pce Lord Ponticus lived in was actually built by the royal family a few generations ago and modeled after this very building.
Alongside the pce, the next thing of note in the city to Alexander was the main ancestral temple of the Tibians, situated by the banks of the River Diannu.
It was a veryrge temple, several times bigger than the one in Thesalie, and although much of theyout was very simr, there was one ring exception.
Right past the front gates, along both sides of the walkway were arge number of ornate ck and white obelisks, arranged in an immacte grid like structure, with intricate frescos etched into them.
Alexander would be told that each of these obelisks represented a hero of Tibias.
In there, Alexander also got to see the hugerger status of Tibias''s statue, and his eyes even shone with greed when he saw many parts of it made of pure gold.
And thest notable thing the capital had, something that Thesalie did not- was arge amphitheater for outdoor ys.
Chapter 855 The Tibian Nobles (Part-1)
Chapter 855 The Tibian Nobles (Part-1)
?855 The Tibian Nobles (Part-1)
After Alexander entered the capital, he quickly got to work getting to know about thetest situation.
With his first and most immediate inquiry being - "Where is Perseus now?"
"The scouts have located the king four days west of here. But at the moment he seems to be moving south." Menes quickly reported, aware of such a thing because he had sent a detachment based on Lord Theony''s intel.
Hearing Perseus was on the move, made sense to Alexander, as he felt he could understand Perseus''s line of thinking.
Alexander had been told the entire truthful story of Lord Theony''s coup d''etat, and one of the conclusions that Alexander came to hearing that was surely the Crown Prince had already reached his father or at least managed to send a message, informing him of the loss of their capital.
Thus, with the capital lost, and the northern half of the country under the enemy''s control, if Perseus should want to continue fighting, Alexander figured there really was no other option for the king other than to head south in this penins of andmass, which was the furthest distance from Alexander as he tried to regroup and reconstitute his army.
"Should we give chase?" And hearing the king on the move, some of Alexander''s officers then eagerly asked, itching for a fight.
They did not want to give Perseus a moment''s respite.
"...Hmmm...." And to this, Alexander put a thoughtful face.
It was not like there was no merit to this suggestion.
If possible, Alexander would definitely love to catch up to Perseus and force him to a decisive battle,thereby finishing the threat as soon as possible.
After all, who knew if the king would magically get another round of reinforcements that Alexander had no idea about?
Perhaps with therger army, the man would then be able to turn things around and force Alexander to get on the back foot.
And even if that did not happen, even if Perseus was to only hole himself inside a city and fight to the death, well a long siege too would be a pain to deal with.
So cutting the head of the snake as soon as possible certainly felt like a good idea.
But all this hinged on Alexander being able to actually catch up to the Perseus in the first ce- an endeavor that was quite difficult given thetter already had a head start and certainly knew the terrain better than him.
So Alexander feared he would end up chasing after Perseus''s illusory tail and simply tiring out his army with nothing to show for it.
"How many men does Perseus still have?" Whilst trying toe up with the decision, Alexander then asked this, wanting to know the strength he would be facing.
He reasoned that if Perseus was weak enough, then the gamble might be worth taking, reasoning that even if his army were to be tired or fall into any kind of unforeseen trap by Perseus,they would simply be able to bulldoze through it through raw muscle power.
"The scouts report around 33,000 to 35,000 men are moving with Perseus."
But Grahtos''s report smashed any such optimism, as that number put both sides on nearly equal footing, with Perseus evening out somewhat on the top.
On Alexander''s side, even with the one extra legion that he brought, due to the injuries and death the army had prior suffered, Alexander only managed to bring up his strength to around thirty one thousand, 31,000 men.
But hearing such arge number for Perseus surprised Alexander.
"Didn''t you say Perseus only had forty thousand, 40,000 men at the start of the battle? Didn''t we win ourst battle? Howe he has still so much?" Alexander shot this curious query towards the man in charge of the scouts.
"That¡ ummm," Grahtos was at first a bit embarrassed to answer this as it nakedly revealed their mistakes, but sensing Alexander''s expectant eyes, knew there was no hiding it.
So ultimately revealed all the various reasons behind this phenomenon.
Which were- due to the uneven terrain that made chasing men harder, the long fight that had exhausted the soldiers, and most importantly theck of discipline among the men.
All this had contributed to the failure to properly capitalize on that opportunity and letting much of the query escape and even taking many avoidable losses.
It was because of that that Perseus only had around 3,000 dead, most killed inside their camp, and another 2,000 captured, with some more deserters.
"But we made sure to punish all of the involved my lord." Then as if like a silver lining, ended his recount by this promise, a bit scared by the pensive but unimpressed face Alexander had assumed by that point.
"Okay. Good." And it was only after Alexander got to know what that punishment was that he decided not to punish anyone.
Later on, he would even send a gift to Remus, who, like Menes had promised, was indeed given the credit foring up with the optimum level of punishment.
But Grahtos''s report also dashed Alexander''s n for chasing Perseus as there was the very real possibility that in the midst of doing it, Perseus might suddenly ambush Alexander or even just turn around and force Alexander''s tired, smaller army to fight.
Hence Alexander decided to wait and let Perseus run to his heart''s desire to wherever he wanted, intending to give him battle once thetter had pitched his camp.
In the meantime, Alexander started to consolidate his hold over the new territories and bolstered his forces.
An endeavor made a bit easier by the fact that both were mutually inclusive.
Because both required making the nobles cooperate.
And Alexander had already thought of how to do that.
That was also why he had brought many of the nobles from Thesalie with him!
All to show them the few Zanzan nobles under Matbar (Marquis) Kyaum that he had managed to capture in front of them.
On one bright morning, Alexander had taken arge entourage of nobles to view the enclosed pens where they were being kept, pointing to them and saying,
"My lords, look! Look at these men! I''m sure I do not need to tell you of their true identity."
"Why don''t you ask them why they are here? Hear the truth for yourself!"
Alexander graciously presented.
And being presented with this irrefutable evidence right in front of their eyes, many Tibian nobles who had only bowed down to Alexander out of fear and powerless but still harbored hatred were shocked.
There was no doubt in their mind that these men were authentic Zanzan nobles, as their unique armor and ent made it apparent where they were from.
While the expensive gear they wore, such as gold ted sword handles and ivory sword sheathes gave credence to their high statues.
Even their simple mannerism was very refined, much different from a peasant''s.
And if that was not enough, there was also the fact that many carried their family''s personal seal with them.
Thus soon a crowd of flustered nobles took rapid turns to churn out many inquisitive questions such as- who are you, why are you here, how many of you are there, why you were fighting for His Majesty, etc.
And all the responses confirmed Alexander''s allegations and even added weight to the young lord.
Especially thatst ''Why you were fighting for His Majesty?'' which got a very interesting response.
When asked this, stepping up, one of the captured lords pronounced, "We were sent here by our lord Matbar (Marquis) Kyaum under His Majesty''s Archpriest Manuk''s instructions."
"We were told that a secret agreement between Tibias and His Eminence Manuk had been reached where it was determined that in return for us helping the Tibian king defeat the Lord of Zanzan, the northern half of Tibias would be ours!"
This was of course a lie, something Alexander had concocted himself.
How?
Well the day prior, when Alexander had gone to see the prisoners for himself, he twisted the nobles'' arms.
During this visit, one of the captured lords seeing Alexander dressed in full armor asked him about the progress of their ransom
"Ransom? What ransom?" And Alexander had pretended to be surprised by the mere notion of it, and revealed with a light smile,
"We have received no diplomatic messages concerning your release. Neither from your family or your lord."
"How can that be? His Eminence Manuk should have surely sent word on our behalf!" And this message was greeted with such shock as more than enough time had passed for the message to have reached Alexander.
Some even cried this in disbelief,
"Pasha Alexander, are you sure you are not lying?"
That particr statement got a resounding rebuke from one of Alexander''s surrounding entourage, while Alexander revealed with a slightly malicious grin,
"Something has happened between your dear Eminence Manuk and the king. Their alliance hasbroken apart."
"Manuk has already left Tibias, leaving you to die in this ditch."
"So you see, with no one to prove your identity and no one here to ransom you, you are nobodies!"
After that implicit threat, it did not take Alexander long to make them sing the tune he wanted.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 856 Captured Zanzan Nobles
Chapter 856 Captured Zanzan Nobles
?856 Captured Zanzan Nobles
Alexander''s n to make the captured nobles cooperate was simple- threatening to not recognize them as nobility but as insteadmon peasants who could then be killed or sold asmon ves.
"You have no one toe save you. You are alone here. No one knows whether you are even alive! I can do whatever I want to you," Alexander''s threat was naked and real as heid bare the situation to the defeated men.
To this of course the esteemed men had protested at first, one pointing at Alexander and very simplyangrily shouting,
"Lies! His Eminence Manuk would never do that. He is probably caught up in some urgent matter and will no doubt soon contact you."
While another of his friends too quickly chimed in,
"That''s right! And even if Lord Manuk were to encounter something untoward, there is still our own lord. He will surely send messengers to inquire about us! Our families will never let us be forgotten."
This man was far more genteel and polite with his speech.
Andstly, another man warned this,
"Lord of Zanzan, surely you cannot hope to keep the massacre of so many nobles a secret. It will no doubt get out. You should be smart enough to know what the consequences of that would be." "So I would advise you to exercise patience and not to be too rash with your actions, lest you do something regretful that you cannot reverse."
This particr voice was very smooth and cool and Alexander found the source of this subtle threat toe from a short, quite slim man, in his mid- thirties, with very bushy eyebrows and sunken cheeks.
He appeared very gaunt, showing evidence that his days in captivity had not been kind to them,but his eyes still shone with intelligence and wit.
It seemed he was one of the leaders here.
And all these men pointed to the same thing, that even if what Alexander said was true, and Manuk did truly abandon them, their other backer Matbar (Marquis) Kyaum would surely not.
And so if Alexander was to kill them, no matter how well he hid it, there would always be the danger of it getting out someday.
That would be a diplomatic clusterfuck in the best case scenario.
"Bah! He doesn''t have the guts! Sewer rat!"
But then suddenly, as Alexander was thinking of the best answer to respond with, this abhorrent ng rang out, and the bellicose voice cursed in one of the filthiestnguages that Alexander had yet heard,
"Hehe! Do you think we will be scared by a mongrel like you? Bah! I have my dogs tear ves like you every weekend just for fun!"
"Just wait till my father defeats you."
"Your children''s flesh will be picked apart by vultures and wives will be r@ped not by men but by my dogs, pigs, and horses. Because that''s what you are, filthy animals not even deservingto be treated as humans."
"Just you wait!" The man pointed with dripping malice at Alexander.
And even then he was not done.
As after saying this, this man appeared to be in his mid twenties turned around to the other nobles, before spreading his arms and iming in a jubnt cheer,
"My fellow lords, how can you be intimidated by this low blood cur? He is a ve! A low born object! How dare would he harm a single hair on us nobles? He would make the entirety of Adhanian nobility his enemy if he did, hahaha."
Theughter was boisterous and very happy.
"......"
Which rang particrly prominently against the pin drop silent backdrop as the entire surrounding had suddenly gonepletely dead silent at this man''s audacity in shock and horror.
''How can this idiot be so delusional?''
Was the same question surfaced in the minds of everyone present, from both sides.
The captured side cursed this idiot for being so oblivious to his circumstances, as although many of his enemies called Alexander many names behind his back, none of them were stupid enough to dare him so openly, especially when so much of the advantage belonged to the man.
While Alexander''s side, after being shocked out of their wits, turned livid to the point many faces turned almost pepper red.
"Scum! You dare!" Menes was the first to respond, and his lion like roar was at such a volume that it even made Alexander twitch a bit in shock.
And following Menes''s example, came many such simr enraged shouts, with many even unsheathing their swords wishing to cut the man down then and there.
However, to this, the man did not show the least bit of fear, and even put his middle finger up as he revealed a taunting smile.
Like he was daring them to touch him.
"Who is your father?" While Alexander, who was externally the most pensive and unmoved by all this picked that one interesting phrase to inquire about.
"Of course its Matbar (Marquis) Kyaum!" And the man puffed up his chest in pride as he replied.
To Alexander, it seemed almost as if the man might be condensing pride out of his skin pores.
"Oh? And are you legitimate?"
The fact that his father was Alexander''s greatest enemy to the West was not a surprise, as the way the man had said ''my father'' was a pretty big giveaway.
But Alexander did want to know his true status in that undoubtedlyrge family.
"Yo¡ you!" And this suddenly got a veryrge reaction from the man, as he turned very flushed, and looked at Alexander so hatefully that it was as if he wanted to eat the man raw.
It was very apparent that this was a particrly sore spot for him.
"Oh! So you are not?" And given the answer was not an immediate ''yes'', Alexander was pretty easily able to deduce the answer.
As he then sneered, "Heh! So you are not even a noble, just a pretending nobody."
"What! Kyuam r@ped your whore of a mother and then left her to die in a ditch?"
"Were you then brought up in the stables by dogs and pigs? Is that why you only have them as friends? That must be why you talk so filthy instead of us civilized human beings?"
Alexander might not have shouted and swung his sword like the rest of his men, but his reply was not any less sharp.
In fact, it actually cut that man far far deeper than any sword cut.
Because many of the insults Alexander hurled were indeed true.
He was indeed a bastard, born from a maid, not a working woman.
And he did work in the stables as a boy.
But the reason Alexander was able to figure all this out was not because he was some kind of physic unable to see the past.
It was simply because stewards and stable boys were the two mostmon jobs for illegitimate children of a noble.
And since this man was out here fighting instead of looking after an estate, Alexander could bet he probably grew up as a stable boy looking after the horses while serving as the squire to any one of the lords of the house.
As Alexander finished taunting the man, suddenly, blind with rage, that man jumped over the rtively short fence, and
"Ahhhh!" started to maddingly charge towards Alexander, a small rock that he had picked up from the ground in his hand, his eyes bloodshot, his face twisted with malice.
It appeared Alexander''s mockery had hit a hit too close to the mark and driven the man mad.
*Bang!*
But of course, he was tackled to the ground long, long before he could even get to properly see Alexander through all his entourage.
"Darm animal! Looking to die aren''t you?" Menes ground his teeth as he held the squirming man down, pressing him so strongly against the ground that it seemed he wanted to mesh the two together.
"Get him on his knees!"While finally tired of this circus, Alexander lightly stepped up and asked this.
Before,
*ng*
He soon equipped himself with a dagger, therge, steely de glinting off the sunlight.
"Pasha Alexander please restrain yourself!" And seeing this some of the captured nobles urgently shouted so, with one of them even asking,
"Lord Alexander, that man has lost his mind after staying in captivity for so long. Please do not lower yourself to the same level."
But Alexander paid no heed to these mors and instead lowering his head to look the restrained man directly in the eyes, he growled, "Those things you said¡ did you do that? To other ves?"
"*Grrrrr*" In response, Alexander only got this sound, as the man just struggled to free himself from the men holding him to his knees.
But the way his eyes swam with pure hatred at Alexander made him convinced that the man indeed was capable of doing such a thing.
"Aghhhhh"
And so Alexander had no remorse in driving his full dagger into his beast in the shape of a man''s heart, and once dead, he turned to look at the nobles and said,
"I do not care what you think. But know that if you do not obey me, everyst one of you will end up like that."
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 857 Captured Zanzan Nobles (Part-2)
Chapter 857 Captured Zanzan Nobles (Part-2)
?857 Captured Zanzan Nobles (Part-2)
Although Alexander did not show, internally, he was extremely furious with that man.
And it was not because of the threats he had made.
Those Alexander only saw as the barkings of a mad dog.
But what really ticked him off was how that man had surely tortured other innocent people to death.
So taking the dagger, Alexander plunged it deep into the man''s chest,
"*Aghhhhhh!* You dare! When my father¡ arghhhh"
Even as the man let out an ear splitting painful howl, he still could not stop from threatening Alexander, while Alexander himself only sneered,
"Noble! What noble? I only see a dog in human skin, panting like a miserable beast,"
As he then brought the huge knife downward diagonally, ripping open the chest and producing an extremelyrge, undoubtedly mortal wound.
"Aghhhhhh! Kill! I will¡. arghhhh"
But even at this maddening pain, the man did not repent and letting out an evenrger pitched howl continued to curse Alexander as he tried to twist his body to try and break free of the men holding him.
That of course he failed in.
"*Stab!* Why did I kill those innocent people?" But Alexander was not done with just that one sh, as retrieving the dagger, he once again struck, now on the opposite left side, and drew a cross, dying the man''s chest and abs matt ck.
"Agghh¡ uuhhh," It was only by this point that the man seemed to have lost his voice, possibly due to the huge blood loss as Alexander had ripped apart major veins and arteries, and started to pant as he entered hisst death thrones, his eyes losing focus.
While Alexander too found himself breathing heavily.
He had only shed twice but he felt like he had run a mile.
And the reason for this exhaustion was because he felt like his whole body was set on fire after hearing that story and his heart thumped uncontrobly in anger at how much pain the man had surely caused for no reason at all.
Just killing him with a few shes seemed way too merciful.
But Alexander was no torturer and other than shing the man a few more times and getting his armor sshed with blood, he was unable to properly inflict pain on the man.
"Ahghhh." And after a while of bleeding out, the man finally slumped over and went quite, utterly thisst word- ''Mother!''
But although that single utterance might sound like the clue to a tragic backstory, it really was not.
That maid of a mother was no saint and that Matbar (Marquess) Kyuam was no great viin who drove the woman to death.
In fact, he could be even seen as a kind of a victim.
When he was young, that older maid had seduced him, pretending to be in love and even managing to fool him into getting her pregnant.
The reason was simple, she wanted to have first his son and thus in her mind be the main wife.
Just imagine!
A lowlymoner woman dreaming of bing a Matbar''s (Marquess) main wife.
Not just a mistress, which already would have been a tall im, but the main wife.
Her ambitions were even higher than Lady Felicia''s.
But of course that never happened, as her son was dered illegitimate, and eventually the Matbar (Marquess) was chosen to marry an appropriate nobledy, namely one of Pasha Muazz''s sisters.
However, the maid mother was anything if not determined.
She was not going to give up that easily.
So very much like how Lady Felicia had poisoned and crippled Petrino''s wife, this maid too poisoned and even killed thatdy.
But unfortunately for her, that was where the simrities between the two ended, as, while even more ambitious than thatdy, she was not even a tenth as smart.
Unlike Lady Felicia who had managed to get away with her deed scot free, with Alexander even till now unaware of it, the maid had gotten caught red handed embarrassingly easily.
And then no one''s surprise, she got what she deserved.
Or perhaps even more.
For the death of their girl naturally made Pasha Muazz''s family absolutely furious, and they threatened to go to war unless the maid was handed over to them immediately.
This of course the Matbar (Marquess) Kyuam''s family instantly agreed to that.
In fact, Matbar (Marquess) Kyuam''s father had even suggested the son be sent too, as a form ofpensation, and was only dissuaded otherwise by Matbar (Marquess) Kyuam throwing a gigantic tantrum iming the boy was his son, and was just a child.
So only the mother went.
And if you recall the various cruel ys the Muazz family did just for pleasure to their servants, well it could only be imagined just how much a maid that killed one of their own was made to suffer before she died.
Her death was neither fast nor pretty.
And once she was killed or more like allowed to die, Pasha Muazz had even made sure to send her tortured body back to Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam, and he did so in a grand disy at that, tying her naked, ''whatever was left ''of her body to arge crucifix that was pulled by a horse cart.
And that sight of his mother on that crucifix- yed, burnt, beaten, smashed, mangled, pierced, gouged, and every other horror imaginable that could be done to a human present on that body, that man''s mind suddenly snapped.
From that day onward he began to get slowly more and more cruel, starting first of all with small bugs and rodents- breaking legs or ripping their wings, before moving on to farm animals like chickens and sheep, andstly to human ves and servants.
All under Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam''s immacte knowledge, who found himself unable to punish his son adequately because of the guilt he felt towards him and his mother.
A romantic at heart, the man had always cherished his first love and even after all she did,Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam was still unable to forget her.
So no matter what mistake his sonmitted, the man was never admonished, which only let his tyranny grow and grow, leading to the current tragedy.
This of course did not excuse the man from his crimes, and neither could Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam deny his culpability in facilitating his son''s crimes.
But strictly speaking, the man himself never did such things, neither did he encourage or propagate such acts.
Alexander was of course unaware of such intricate details, and slitting that man''s throat to put him out of his misery, he angrily turned around to sneer at the captured nobles,
"So you serve a lord whose son is such a scum like this? And you dare call your nobility!"
But if Alexander''s n was to intimidate them, he failed, as the nobles were veterans who would not be caught by a simple trap, as one of them simply replied with a brush of his hand,
"Please do not paint everyone with the same brush, my lord. He was not our lord''s son, but an illegitimate offspring."
"He is nothing to us- neither a noble nor rted to one."
Following this, another quickly chimed in nodding his head,
"Yes, that is correct. Even his ''so called'' crimes that you say, that is simply just your word against his. You have no proof. Please do not nder!"
Andstly, another man imed breezily,
"Whatever Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam and his sons did in their estate, it is up to them. We would never judge them."
It was apparent these men were very nonchnt about the crimes the man had clearlymitted and Alexander was indeed very angry to see not even a single word of condemnation from them.
They might not have done these things themselves, but they certainly tacitly condoned, through their actions and gestures.
So Alexander gave them a harsh choice, turning to address them as such,
"Since you are all nobles, you should be aware of the sides me and Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam represent."
"And if you know your lord, and he really is as stubborn as I heard, you should know I will not be able to reach anypromise with him."
"That means once the peace treaty expires, there will be war." Alexander dered in a deep voice, before pulling a chilling look,
"With that inevitability almost set in stone, I see no reason to keep you alive."
"Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam will go to war if I kill you, while Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam plus all of you will go to war if I let to return."
"So doesn''t it make more sense to make to end up like that!" Alexander pointed to the corpses lying prone on the ground while producing a malicious grin.
"That! Lord Al¡ Pasha let us not be rash!" And that certainly got the reaction Alexander wanted from the captured nobles, who up until now had appeared quite rxed, with that particr statement being uttered by that bushy eye browed man, who further added,
"We¡ we can swear! As part of our condition for release, we can swear not to participate in any war between Lord Alexander and Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam."
"Oh? Is that possible?" To this concession, Alexander pretended to put asurprised face, like he had never even thought about it, before posing, "Does your oath to Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam not oblige you toe to his aid when he calls?"
"No! No! We are allowed to make exceptions when our life is in danger! By Ramuh!" The bushy browed swore.
Chapter 858 Tibian Noble Treaty
Chapter 858 Tibian Noble Treaty
?858 Tibian Noble Treaty
"Great! Then do as I say and you will be back to your fiefs in no time."
With the nobles properly scared that Alexander would really massacre them all, it did not take long for these nobles to throw Manuk under the bus.
As for how Alexander was so sure that Manuk had truly deserted them, well he had no concrete proof but his hunch was that since no one had bothered to ransom these people something must have happened.
He did not know what so made something up
And that was what brought him to the present, whereupon listening to the captured Zanzan nobles'' confession, Alexander turned to address the Tibian entourage,
"Look! This is what you are really fighting for. This is what your so called honorable king ns to do."
"To sacrifice all of you. Just to save himself."
"Do all of you still want to fight for your king? For what?" Alexander spread his arms widely in a grand manner as he posed, before suggesting,
"I will again offer you the chance- join me now and partake in the special benefits I provide, or wait to have your family slowly fade into obscurity."
"....."
The nobles did not immediately answer and some continued to question the captured noble for more details long after their time was due.
But ultimately, they were indeed convinced that Perseus did indeed intend to betray them.
And this left them in a limbo.
They could either continue to follow Perseus and after winning get Amenheraft as their lord.
Or they could take the guaranteed deal with Alexander, which came with some perks as testified by some of the others who had already bent the knee.
The decision was not hard for most.
Thus over the next few days, Alexander was inundated with noblesing to swear their fealty to him, and from each of them, he would ask the following:
An absolute oath of loyalty denouncing Perseus and epting Alexander as their new lord.
Swearing toe to Alexander''s aid when called upon during times of war.
Having a certain number of envoys in Zanzan''s senate building to represent the areas they governed.
Restriction on the size of their personal army based on individual noble''snd.
Granting permission to open new temples worshipping Gaia within their privately ownednds.
Ensuring the safety of traders and merchants traveling through theirnds.
An extradition treaty.
A t 1 percent sales tax was ced on all goods entering a city, with few exceptions- such as grain, and salt.
A 3 percentnd tax was implemented on allndowners, to be paid annually.
A 1 percentnd tax was to be paid to maintain the temple of Gaia by allndowners.
Andstly, the nobles were demanded to open up their treasury and allow Alexander to take half of everything they had.
Now these were only the bullet points of the treaty and the actual thing was quite a few pages long, involving many legal phrases and twisted uses that prevented any side from worming out of it by a sly tongue.
Among these points, there were naturally a few curious points, such as point 3 which was about sending envoys, point 5- about opening the temples, and even point 7- the extradition treaty.
For point 3, Alexander exined that Tibias would soon be divided into province like administrative zones, and two nobles from those areas would be chosen to represent their parts in Alexander''s ''court''.
The reason why he did not call it court was self evident.
As for the details of what opening a temple would involve, well Alexander decided to leave that forter, only making sure to get the nobles'' permission long beforehand.
Andstly, what point 7 really meant was that if the guards, or more formally police felt that there was a criminal hiding in a noble''s property, they reserved the right to search it.
Outside of these slightly confusing points, there were also some contentious points that caused many of the nobles to haggle.
Especially thest four- 8, 9, 10 and 11.
But it was not only the points that Alexander brought that were curious.
For there were arguably some missing points too, as one might remember whenpared to the one Alexander had presented to the Zanzan nobles.
To be precise- where Alexander did not ask for the nobles to stop minting their own coin, nor was there no use about what the nobles could tax the men working under them.
And the reason for this was because Tibias was unlike the feudalistic Adhania.
In Adhania, the king shared his power with the greatest nobles, and then those nobles shared power with their lesser peers and so on, thus dividing up the country with many spheres of influence.
But Tibias was a much more centralized country.
The king had much greater power over his subjects, with perhaps his greatest ability being able to appoint and remove governors to any city he wished without any reason.
This was in much contrast to Adhania where each noble had their sphere of influence and not even the king would interfere with how he ran things except on very few special asions- like if he was tantly the basicws of thends, destroying the province or fomenting rebellion.
Thus An Adhanian king could really only exert influence on the other provinces through the use of his faith and the power of oath the nobles swore to him.
But in Tibias, the noblemen were more like richndowners.
They could not directly levy taxes on the farmers working thends but was only able to enforce the rate set up by the court, which was in the hands of the royal family.
They also certainly could not mint their own coins, with that sole power belonging to the royal family, although unfortunately for Alexander, none of the coin mints were in the capital, but situated much south, where Tibias had theirrgest gold mine.
And the nobles were of course strictly forbidden from raising an army, although Alexander had made that written in the treaty once again because he was wary about that thing that much.
From all this, it could be seen that, unlike Adhania, Tibias allowed its king to stick his nose in most noble''s business, which conversely meant that the nobles could only pressure the king through economic means- such as not letting goods pass through theirnds, making tax collection harder, etc, or by banding together and politically pressuring him.
But unlike their Adhanian counterpart, they faced deficiencies when it came to directly waging war on him, as only the king had an army, ready to put down any rebellion before it could even start going.
Of course, such a structure was only possible due to the state being quite small in size, only 300,000 to 350,000 sq km, aspared to Adhania''s 4 million sq. km.
And this was one of the reasons why Perseus was still able to keep on fighting despite losing so many men even though his country only had a poption of around 5 million.
By leveraging the centralization.
Alexander''s 8th point- the implementation of a sales tax at 1% was half of Tibias''s previous rate of 2%.
But that actually caused a lot of the nobles to be displeased, as they imed,
"My lord, this was one of our biggest sources of ie! We had taken half and given His Majesty half. But now¡.."
The faces many of these shameless nobles put on made Alexander roll his eyes as they made it seem like he was driving them out of their house and leaving them destitute.
Whereas just the money these men earned from theirnds would be more than enough to lead a very cushy life.
So outside of Alexander simply muscling them to ept it, he also reasoned,
"This tax can be discussed once again in five years. But for now, themon people need some respite."
"Many have lost brothers, fathers, sons- which is not only just tragic but also means they have just lost their only source of ie."
"So they will certainly enjoy the decreased prices."
Alexander was also afraid that with so many good, working men dead, there would be rampant intion throughout the country as people flocked to the markets but found there was nothing to buy as all the people who would have manufactured these stuff were dead.
So by reducing taxes, Alexander hoped these demand pull intion might somewhat be negated.
These two reasonsbined, as well as the promise that Alexander would be open to renegotiating after 5 years finally convinced the nobles to acquiesce.
But what they were far less amenable to was the 3% percentnd tax and 1% tithe.
"This is outrageous! We paid only 1% to His Majesty!" Almost everyone had shouted, with some even using Alexander like so,
"Lord Alexander, we thought you were a magnanimous leader when you had brought up the plight of the regr people as you set the sales tax"
"That''s why we were willing to take that tax cut."
"But this! It is too much."
They had a fa?ade of righteous anger on them.
It appeared Alexander would have a hard time making these men pay these taxes.
Chapter 859 Tibian Noble Treaty (Part-2)
Chapter 859 Tibian Noble Treaty (Part-2)
?859 Tibian Noble Treaty (Part-2)
The nobles'' reluctance to pay thergend tax was of course something Alexander had anticipated.
No nobles wanted to pay taxes, including Alexander himself.
But since he was able to foresee that, Alexander was also able to have a great answer.
He reasoned with them, "The 4% totalnd tax that I ask you to pay is less than half what your Zanzan peers have to give!"
"Just ask them how much they pay?"
"9 percent! 1 percent to me and 8 percent to His Majesty Ptolomy as tithes. Do you want to be like that?"
"I don''t get what you areining about!" Alexander sounded incredulous.
And thisparison between the two groups quickly made the Tibian nobles pipe down.
Furthermore, Alexander also made sure to give the nobles cheap ess to some of his products, such as iron, sugar, etc. like he had done prior, with the exact quantity determined by the amount ofnd they each controlled, both as a way to help them soothe over their loss and also as a way to tie them to his boat.
Thus ultimately the nobles relented, although not before extracting a three year tax free concession from Alexander.
This Alexander was happy to give as Tibias was already ravaged by war and needed much needed relief.
As it could be seen just how hard it was to make these nobles concede to just these conditions so the difficulty in making them acquiesce to thest point, i.e.- giving up half their treasury, could only be imagined.
But Alexander did manage to do it.
In preparation for this, he first had to get a rough idea of the wealth each noble might have.
And this meant knowing their financial history.
This was a tedious effort, especially given that Tibian did not have tiered nobility like Adhania, so he could not simply put a general ''tax'' to each ss of nobility like shordars (barons), talukders (viscounts), etc., and ask them to pay up.
Instead, Alexander had to learn the details of each and every individual noble to determine how much they could pay.
Something that would been impossible without Lord Theony''s aid, insight, and resources, who opened his vast storage of tax receipts which had the record for each and every one of the noble''s payments for the past decade.
So with those ten years'' worth of value as a baseline, Alexander felt he was ready.
He called all the nobles to arge feast and before serving the food, made them sit around a few huge tables, and handed them a small piece of nk paper.
"Please write your name." Alexander had first instructed, followed by, "Please write the amount of gold you have in your treasury- all the coins, precious jewelry, stones, ves, animals, etc. together."
This sudden and very personal request naturally made all the nobles taken a bit back at first, but seeing this Alexander only revealed in a very breezy tone that betrayed the gravity of his speech,
"To celebrate my annexation of thesends, I require all of you to pay half of your treasury as tribute."
"That is my reward- a once in a lifetime deposit."
"And this payment will ensure that none of you are ever attacked."
Alexander''s implicit threat was apparent, as he very shamelessly threatened the nobles with war if they did not pay.
Before he added sweetness to the spice,
"But rest assured my lords, I will not simply pocket your funds."
"They will all be reinvested for your betterment."
"It will be used to build new infrastructure such as roads, bridges, irrigation canals, to pay for a bigger army for increased security, to build a proper navy and in general, to increase the overall prosperity of the country."
And Alexander did truly mean it when he said this- as he intended to start some veryrge projects building projects to develop Tibias.
As for whether the nobles truly believed that, or only thought that Alexander was trying to swindle them out of their money, they kept those thoughts to themselves.
Gven Alexander threatened to destroy them if they did not pay, they instead all obediently decided to cough out what was asked of them.
They were also able tofort themselves when Lord Theony stood up in support of Alexander, saying,
"My fellow lords, do not be sad. It is only money. Remember!It is tradition for the defeated to be sacked. So as the victor, it is only natural for Lord Alexander to demand tribute from us. I would even say that he was generous for not asking for even more." Lord Theony exaggerated, before reinforcing the threat in a hidden way,
"Recall! Many noble houses have lost much more. Many houses have been totally wiped out! Many would prefer to pay this money if they could reverse that."
This was said to try and squash any suicidal, rebellious thoughts some of the noble might have, by reminding them of their family, as the slightly plump man who had gained weight over thest few weeks, then put his now chubby hands on his chest to emphasize,
"I too have given the Lord my treasury. And I have given nine tenths, 9/10 of it!"
"Why so much!"
"Because I believe! I believe in what the Pasha said. I believe that this money will be put to good use."
"Like the lord said, the money will be used to better the infrastructure of the country and boost the economy."
At this point Lord Theony then paused to take a look around the room to observe the attention of the crowd, and found most of the men staring intently at him, ears perked up.
Thus bolstered by this encouraging sight, the fine moustached man continued this time pointing his fingers toward a window,
"And you do not have to look far to see evidence of that."
"Recall the pristine road that now exists between Thesalie and Zanzan. I will tell you something many of you might not know!"
"The taxes earned per month in that city is now 1 million ropals! All because of that road! All because goods from Zanzan can easily get to Thesale."
This reveal immediately got arge reaction from the crowd, with many crying out in disbelief,
and Lord Theony struck the iron while it was still hot, pumping his fist and shouting,
"And all of us can be like that!"
"All of you should be aware just how lucrative all the new goods Lord Alexander has promised us. So by loyally serving him, we will be able to get more and more of them."
"That way not only will our economy surely flourish, but the total size of our economy will surely get bigger."
"We will be able to collect more and more tax revenue and within just a few years, we will be able to recoup all the money lost and make even more!"
"A rising tide raises all boats. And Lord Alexander is that tide. All of you would be foolish to miss it!"
By the time Lord Theony had finished, many previously reluctant eyes by now had flipped into little gems of smoldering ambitions and greed.
This speech was of course created by Alexander and recited by Lord Theony, with mostly truths but some great embellishments, such as the lie that all of them could be as rich as Thesalie.
That was not possible, as Thesalie was a unique case courtesy of its geography.
But still, it did the job.
Even though some nobles indeed guessed this was all just Alexander''s marketing gimmick, and many even thought Lord Theony to be only a crony for Alexander by now, but still, many of the things, including the example he gave were indeed true.
This helped many short sighted men to see the demand from a new perspective, reasoning by siding with him, they would be able to indeed make a lot of money.
Best of all, they would have to only give 1% of that as profit to Alexander.
This was in much contrast to how they usually earned money, which was by getting around 1% of the value of the good in taxes.
Thus under Alexander, these nobles were allowed to earn many times more.
Hence although even then some men grumbled but ultimately had carts and carts of gold, ves, animals, wine, and even food produce be sent to Zanzan city, the collection point for all these funds.
As for how much they sent and how they were prevented from simply lying, well that was where that small piece of paper and the arrangement in which Alexander dered the idea came in.
The sudden immediateness of the request made many nobles unable toe up with excuses beforehand, thus many were forced to reveal the amount.
And if they quoted too small a number or simply said that they could not recall the exact amount right now, Alexander would hand them a new value that he had estimated based on their previous year''s tax payment.
And if they even then protested, Alexander threatened to send prospectors along with soldiers to their estate to verify their im.
That usually got the message through as most nobles did not want a bunch of armed, belligerent men in their territories.
Chapter 860 Rewarding Lord Theony
Chapter 860 Rewarding Lord Theony
?860 Rewarding Lord Theony
The threat of being audited by Alexander was enough for most nobles to give the correct amount of tithe to him.
Too many nobles had too many skeletons in their closets that they preferred to keep hidden and did not want Alexander to go rummaging through them.
And besides, who knew if Alexander would swindle them of much more than half by underreporting the value of some product?
As for hiding the contents of the treasury somewhere else, well a big pile of gold and other precious metals and stones was surprisingly hard to hide.
And more than that, the ire they would have to face if they were found out made it not worth the trouble.
So the nobles bit the bullet and paid up, believing what Alexander promised would indeede true.
Thus in total, bybining the contribution from the nobles with the royal treasury that Alexander took, which admittedly was quite minuscule, Alexander earned about 50 million ropals in total,bining the gold and all other goods together.
This was roughly 1 ton of gold, which was of course decent, though frankly, Alexander had expected at least 100 million given the wealth he had seen,
But it seemed Tibias''s hard times had even affected those at the very top, and many had very dry cash reserves.
However, Alexander was at least happy that this was enough to recoup the cost of raising his army.
And to thank the main person who helped make this happen- Lord Theony, he asked the man to meet him in his study, whereupon he addressed,
"Lord Theony, your contribution to our cause has been nothing short of short. How would you like to be remunerated?"
At the straightforwardness, Lord Theony was both a bit surprised but also ted in his heart as he was d to see Alexander not winding his words and looking for excuses.
''So it hase!'' Lord Theony cheered at the chance atst, and then he did stand on ceremony.
He quickly recited the speech he had prepared and refined many times in his heart, speaking eloquently,
"My lord, I believe the matter of steward of Tibias is one of the most important moments of our lives."
"The decision of who is put in charge to oversee thesends on your behalf will surely have consequences that will reverberate through the annals of history for countless generations."
"I stand before you as one of the great lords in the country- a veteran of many wars."
"I''d like to think my experience has led to some small skill in statecraft and I apprehend that I am able to tomand the loyalty and service many houses in Tibias."
"My loyalty to you has been tested and demonstrated many times and I swear if I were to be given the chance to demonstrate my devotion to you, Tibias will remain an ever peaceful and prosperous ce."
Lord Theony was both humble and ambitious in his words, as evidenced by how he said ''Tibias would remain peaceful if he was made the steward'', which also implicitly meant that if that did not happen, it would be vice versa.
"Okay. I will make you the steward of thesends!" Alexander''s answer to this was almost instant, his tone t and light.
He knew this was what the man always wanted, and frankly, there was no other candidate other than Lord Theony for this post.
The only two others who could havepeted with him were Mithriditus and Perseus himself.
Towards such a quick answer, Lord Theony was at first a bit taken back, as he thought the other side would surely haggle a bit.
''Hahaha, thank you, thank you, my lord." But having gotten the answer so easily, Lord Theony let out a great, cheerfulugh, as he quickly got on his knees to swear the oath then and there.
Following that, Lord Theony would then make another request of Alexander.
"My lord, I have a son- Gnaeus. He is the current steward of my house but due to his illegitimate birth, he is unable to inherit my estate."
"I would like you to name him my sessor. I would be ever grateful."
Given that there was a new sheriff in town, instead of forcefully making Theony abdicate which would no doubt cause some of his retainers to protest, Lord Theony wanted to use Alexander''s influence to do it.
That way he could simply say it was Alexander''s wish.
"Oh? Isn''t Theony your sessor? What''s wrong with him?" At this umon request, Alexander naturally was surprised.
He still remembered Theony, the man who was exchanged in exchange for Laykash.
To his inquiry, Lord Theony then revealed what Theony had done and how he had let Philips escape, atst reasoning, "Thus I have trouble believing that he will be loyal to you my lord."
"Okay. A few dayster I will decree that Theony has abdicated his position due to shame and name our other son as the sessor."
And learning of the reason, Alexander felt convinced.
The fact that Theony had been impersonating the Crown Prince had gotten out once Alexander entered the city, and upon learning the full story behind how that had happened, and since the father was not simply depriving his child out of spite but had a true reason, he consented
Besides, to him it really did not matter who came after Lord Theony, as given any unforeseen circumstances, the man was likely to be at Tibias''s helm for quite some time.
Anythingter, he could deal with then.
"Thank you. Thank you." Alexander''s quick reply naturally got him a profuse torrent of thanks from the man as Lord Theony felt d that Alexander did not ask too many questions and thus even retook his oath, The following week Alexander would hold a feast to celebrate this announcement and in that party, he would even be introduced by Lord Theony to his three daughters, where the man made it clear he was in clear favor of Alexander choosing any of them as his mistress.
This in itself of course would not have been a problem, as this type of this was par for the course.
But the problem was the fact that all three of them were actually married!
However that did not stop the ambitious lord from trying to form a familiar bond with Alexander, as he figured given Alexander''s young age, his future would be limitless.
So although he had no unmarried daughter, he proposed,
"My lord, you can choose whoever you like. Even all three of them are okay if they catch your fancy! I will ask their husbands to divorce them!"
To this Alexander was of course shocked but Lord Theony did not seem to see any problem with that n.
And then for the briefest of seconds, Alexander did consider it.
A small reason was because looking at the three- one particr woman did strike a bit of his fancy.
She was the eldest of the three.
Mature, around her mid thirties- she did not have too beautiful a face, but instead gave a very motherly aura.
And in much contrast to Alexander''s usual preference of slim and curvaceous, she was a bit plump with wide hips, heavy breasts that were apparent even through her heavy gown, and her most striking feature of all- rosy, fluffy cheeks.
Alexander thought she would be very soft to squeeze in all the right ces and dreamed how she would sing in bed and what twisted face she would make while swinging her heavy hips as Alexander destroyed her from below.
He really wanted to know.
Surely the canal having that had given birth four times would be a bit loose- perfect for Alexander''s girthy meat.
Even the evil thought of asking Lord Theony to let him first taste the three in bed and then choose invaded Alexander''s mind, as like that he would be able to get the best of both worlds.
His lower half even felt hot at that thought.
But such lustful intentions onlysted an ephemeral second.
He would never take a mistress just based on his personal whims.
There would be no end of the line if he did that, and his harem number would probably swell to hundreds like that.
And if he truly found them physically attractive, at best, they would be like Lady Felicia, someone who he would asionally hook up with behind her husband''s back just to fill those physical attractions.
So the bigger reason why Alexander thought about epting the offer was because of the reason Lord Theony wanted to.
He felt that marrying one of his daughters would strengthen Lord Theony''s loyalty to him.
But ultimately he refrained, feeling bad about breaking up a happy marriage just for him.
''Dammit. I should have brought it up when I first went to meet him!'' And hearing it, Lord Theony had felt he had missed his chance back them.
However, in truth, he knew that if he were to bring up such arge ask back then, Alexander would have most likely rejected him as the value of the information he had provided did not match the request.
And thus could only console himself that he had achieved two of his biggest goals.
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Chapter 861 The King’s Negotiation
Chapter 861 The King''s Negotiation
?861 The King''s Negotiation
Alexander could sense the slight dissatisfaction the man had felt about him refusing his marriage offer.
So in return, Alexander then attempted to marry one of his retainer''s daughters to Lord Theony''s newly made legitimate son Gnaeus.
But the Tibian lord had found those people''s status to be either too low, like Menes, Melodias, etc. who were all mercenaries andmon people, or too distant to Alexander, like Lord Tikba, Yuusiq, etc.
Henceter, Alexander came up with a betterpromise.
He promised that one of his daughters or even granddaughters could be allowed to be Cambyses''sdy in waiting, and if Lord Theony wished, they could also discuss Alexander''s son- Philip taking one of Lord Theony''s granddaughters as a concubine after the boy grew up a bit.
This promise came as a great joy to Lord Theony, who had been a bit peeved that nobody like Lapitus had managed to get his daughter hitched with Alexander when he could not.
Although that could be said due to Lapitus being bold enough whereas Lord Theony then was not even sure whether Alexander was going to win.
And Alexander might have indeed lost if not for Menes''s prudent battle techniques.
Thus the current result was really the most optimum oue he could have wished for.
With that task out of the way, Alexander then atst turned his attention to the matter of Perseus, as he set about bolstering his army.
To do this, first of all, he made use of all the new nobles swearing their fealty to him, as he asked them each of them to contribute however many men they could to his cause, swelling his numbers.
Individually, each noble''s contribution was not much- only around 50 to 100.
This was the most they could spare given all they suffered.
But like how little drops of water join together to form oceans, by siphoning off all that they had, these small packets of men, given by 60 to 70 small and big houses, managed to add up to around 5,000 men!
And whenbined with Lord Theony''s 4,000 men, and Alexander''s original 31,000- the total army added up to 40,000 men, or 5,000 to 8,000 more than Perseus.
This time, Alexander also did not have to ce any additional men garrisoning the capital, as he was able to withdraw some of the 3,000 troops garrisoned across various scattered cities, and moved them to the capital
Since the nobles in charge of those cities had already sworn loyalty, Alexander did not see any reason to ce them there anymore.
As Alexander was putting thest touches to his army, he then soon got the news that Perseus had atst stopped moving, garrisoning himself at Lilybee- the original port city that Manuk had initially suggested.
And from there he even sent a messenger to Alexander, but it was not either Mithriditus nor Philips.
It was one his Perseus''s sons and the conditions he brought were quite generous.
"Lord of Zanzan, the king understands the situation he is in."
"His Majesty is willing to offer the following conditions."
"He will give over half of Tibias to you, Esteemed Pasha."
"He will agree to make Tibias a protectorate of Zanzan, giving you yearly tribute, an amount which can be discussed."
"One of His daughters will be given to you as a mistress."
"Andstly, the Crown Prince Philips will be sent to Zanzan as an envoy for Tibias, attending the senate meetings on behalf of His Majesty and representing the interests of Tibias."
As it could be seen, the concessions were quite generous, especially the one about Philips being sent to Zanzan, which basically was Perseus sending his sessor as a hostage, proof of his sincerity towards the proposed treaty.
Alexander was at first surprised that the other side was even aware of the senate representative system that he had started.
Furthermore, the penultimate condition, the one about marrying the princess was not a bad one either as Alexander had indeed seen the two unmarried daughters and both of them were quite nice.
A fact easily exinable if one saw their mother, who was certainly a beauty, a consensus shared by all.
Both the daughters had inherited her best genes.
Up until now, none of them had been touched, even though Lord Theony had openly offered them to Alexander.
And when first presented, Alexander did want to eat the three delicious candies presented to him then and there.
Especially the most mature one who had stood in the middle, her shy face flushed a deep red, her sexy body appearing to dripsciviousness
He could only describe the woman with that four letter word that started with M.
But he ultimately refrained.
Alexander had felt these gems were much more valuable untouched and only kept them under house arrest, reasoning that if he really wanted to keep them or even just know how they tasted before discarding them, he would have plenty of time to do so after Perseus was defeated and these three had little more uses other than gifts or ythings.
So ultimately the allure of the marriage was not enough to move Alexander.
As for the first two conditions, which should have been the most lucrative, they did not impress Alexander at all, as he haggled,
"I already control half of Tibias. So what is Perseus really giving why saying that?"
"Do I need his permission to administer thends I have rightfully taken?" He sneered, before waving his hands breezily,
"As for the tribute, given the devastation I have seen Tibias suffering from, clearly Perseus is not a great statesman. How much can he tribute even if he wanted to?"
But these were not the true points of contention between the two sides.
No, what really broke the negotiations would be thest point that Perseus insisted on fulfilling, as his youngest son read out,
"But in exchange for all these concessions, Lord of Zanzan, we want that criminal handed over to us!"
"That criminal who betrayed his country."
"That criminal who betrayed his liege."
"That criminal who killed the future queen of Tibias, daughter of Lord Mithriditus, the daughter inw of the king."
"The traitor Lord Theony!"
The death of Philips''s full family had by now gotten out, and it seemed it had managed to travel as far as the further point of Tibias, reaching even Perseus''s eyes.
Alexander and Lord Theony of course had given an official statement regarding this unfortunate incident- iming that it was thedy who was too hasty, she had decided tomit suicide upon simply hearing Lord Theony''s takeover of the pce and mistakenly feared the worst case.
ording to Alexander everything happened simply due to a misunderstanding.
This was only half true and regardless Perseus did not buy, as he demanded justice for this as a condition for peace.
One because he knew those infants killed were not just his grandchildren but really his children, a fact that made him furious.
Two, and perhaps likely much more importantly, because of how enraged Mithriditus was.
That daughter was his favorite, that was why he had poured his blood and sweat into convincing the king to match her with the Crown Prince.
The old man would even regrly smile in his dreams thinking of seeing his ''princesses'' take the seat beside the king''s throne, bing the queen.
So to hear that she had died, and so tragically at that, dying with her son and daughter, it drove the old man nearly mad.
It was even to the point that upon learning of his daughter''s fate, but seeing his son inw, Philips not missing even a hair, Mithriditus had not only rebuked him with words unfit for even most slum fights but even started a fistfight, wanting to beat Philips up for not protecting his daughter and grandchildren.
The fight was luckily stopped by a few nearby guards.
After that incident, Mithriditus had made it clear to Perseus, that unless Lord Theony was punished as part of the peace treaty, he would take his men and leave the army and even take a lot of liked minded nobles of his faction with him.
That was a heavy threat to Perseus and thus he had to make that demand.
But when the extradition request for Lord Theony was said aloud,
"Hahaha," The first one to respond was Lord Theony, who had broken out into a burst of uproariousughter, like he had heard the funniest joke.
And Alexander too replied that such a thing would never be on the table.
Though in secret, he had offered the following counterterms to Perseus-
''Perseus will be required to give up all ims to the throne as well as would all his descendants, transferring them all to Alexander.''
''They would renounce all connections with politics and cut off all ties with any rtives who might be nobles in Tibias.''
''They will be given a proper estate to live in Zanzan, as well as a healthy stipend.''
''In return, Lord Theony would be put under house arrest and barred from participating in politics ever again.''
However these conditions were not eptable to the other side, and so aroundte July, Alexander found himself facing Perseus''s army.
The ultimate battle to decide the fate of Tibias was about to begin!
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Chapter 862 Perseus’s Last Stand
Chapter 862 Perseus''s Last Stand
?862 Perseus''s Last Stand
Alexander''s slight concern about Lord Theony was naturally poked at by Perseus''s son during his speech.
Upon hearing Lord Theony''s bold, unconcernedughter, he had addressed Alexander,
"Pasha of Zanzan, are you reallyfortable having such a traitor by your side? Do you think it is wise? Will he not betray you when the opportune momentes just like he did to my father?"
But although slightly concerned, Alexander also made sure to remind the other party that they were no innocent fawn either and that Lord Theony had a real reason behind his betrayal.
"Lord Theony only betrayed you because he was betrayed first- by your father and his court. Don''t tell me you forgot how you tried to pin the me of losing Thesalie to him instead of the actual lord of the city, Lord Ponticus?"
"Why? Just to save a dead man''s reputation. Just because he was part of the royal family."
The quick response was something that quite pleased Lord Theony.
While actually behind closed doors, Alexander did consider the offer more thoroughly, sitting with some of his council members to try and think of the best oue.
Because if possible, the best steward to rule Tibias would undoubtedly be Perseus.
However, the consensus reached in that meeting was that Lord Theony and his family were too important for the immediate future to be exchanged for the terms offered and the only way Alexander could agree was ifPerseus were to abdicate and surrender the whole of Tibias.
And even then it would only be Lord Theony being ced under house arrest.
Such a lukewarm offer was ultimately not eptable to Perseus and thus with negotiations broken down, both sides prepared for battle.
Alexander''s side, now 40,000 strong started their march for Lilybee once the men were gathered and given some basic training.
This took around twenty days, and the entire journey was pretty eventless.
Given Alexander''s army size and reputation by now, no city foolishly tried to defend itself till the veryst breath.
But all epted Alexander with open arms, letting him into their city and making avable the best amodations they had to offer so that he did sack their settlements.
Some cities even extended their hospitality to the point they sent carts full of food ahead of the marching army, hoping that this way the huge number of armed men would not go out foraging for food and destroy the surrounding crop fields, but instead quickly leave.
Alexander was of course all too happy to ept all this.
Along the way, he also got to see the countryside scenery of Tibias, and although the scenery here was much like the scenery anywhere else around the country, he did find it very beautiful.
Meandering earthen pathways with forests and woods on either side, Alexander found nature unfolding at its finest- in a symphony of sights, sounds, and scents
Given it was summer, the air was filled with the earthy aroma of soil and the fragrance of wildflowers that danced in the gentle breeze.
When Alexander passed through the forests, which were uncountable years old, he found them to be adorned with towering ancient trees, gnarled branches reaching skyward and creating a dappled canopy overhead, which cast intermittent shadows on the well-worn dirt trail left by the marching men.
A very memorable wood that he passed was an ancient olive grove, where he marveled at all the twisted trunks standing like sentinels, adding a sense of timelessness to the panorama, while on the ground many small critters littered the ground.
Vast swathes ofnd nted with tall, green wheat, yet to ripen, swayed gracefully in the fields, their rhythmic movements apanied by the rustle of leaves and the asional trill of distant birds.
Stone fences, weathered by centuries of weather and time, many times lined the edges of these fields, guiding Alexander through the undtingndscape.
Here and there, patches of vibrant moss cling to ancient rocks, adding a touch of vivid green to the scene.
The countryside was even dotted with some remnants of forgotten civilizations as at one point Alexander came across the ruins of an abandoned settlement, its inhabitants supposedly wiped out more than a century ago by some nearby elder''s ount, the cause long lost to time.
Thus the only things that remained of that once vibrant town were a crumbling stone archway, the remnants of a weathered amphitheater, and a moss-covered well whose water had long turned poisonous,
There were a few more of these types of ruins that Alexander came across on his way, all standing as silent witnesses to the lives of those who once inhabited these ancientnds, their stories whispered through the rustling leaves and the ageless stones.
But the most regr scenery for Alexander was the sight of the straw or terracotta rooftops of small viges arranged one after another along the banks of the mighty River Diannu, smoke risingzily from these small settlements, the distant sound of hurried shouts of farmers, the low cries of farm animals, the high pitched cries of housewives going about their chores and the distant giggle andughter of children ying in the fields all drifting through the wind into Alexander''s ears.
asionally, the army would have to get on a boat to cross arge river, as there would be no bridges.
And as Alexander was rowed, he found the waters so pristine that he was able to see the fishes swimming around and even saw some soldiers simply catching some for themselves by hand, and simply storing them in their bags, unconcerned about the smell.
Facing all such picturesque scenery, even now Alexander would sometimes feel that thendscape unfolding before him was like the pages of a history book, like he was an aliening to visit these unfamiliar sights.
Now Alexander did not only spend his time taking in the pristine looks of a past untouched by the pollution of civilization.
As he went on his way, he also made sure to make note of all the infrastructure that would need improving.
Like all those rivers he had to cross by boat because no bridges existed.
Or how even many of the main roads between major cities were simply unpaved earthen roads that had been ttened by the foot through regr goings of people over decades if not centuries.
Or how some of the farnds could use new canals for a better irrigation system.
At the same time, Alexander also got to see the terrain around here as well as the natural resources he might be able to exploit- which mainly meant good farnd, nice timber, and metal mines.
And along the way, he found all three.
The fertility of thend along the banks of the Diannu did not need to be said, there were many tall forests which were prime timber and he even spotted a few iron, copper, and gold mines, although those sizes were still quite small.
Andstly, Alexander''s almost three week travel helped him see the lifestyle and prosperity of the people living in these parts, as well as witness the scars the wars had wrought upon them.
So with those vicissitudes all along the way, Alexander atst arrived at Lilybee and set up camp about five kilometers away from the city.
Then he first and foremost ordered,
"Send messengers to the walls. Tell them that if they open the gates, no one will touch even their hair. But if they decide to resist, they will be killed to the everyst man."
The messenger would indeed recite this, as well as the condition Alexander had given Perseus prior, i.e.- abdicate to save his and his family''s life and live a cushy life in Zanzan.
*Shoo*
But to this, Perseus''s only response was shooting an arrow at the herald''s feet as from the top of the wall, the king shouted his response regally, addressing himself with the royal ''We''.
" ''We'' have been handed the duty to defend Tibias from ''Our'' father, who received it from ''Their'' father."
"Entrusted in this fidelity by the sacred ancestral spirits, ''We'' have been the bulwark of Tibias for countless generations, repelling countless invaders just like you."
"So how can ''We'' ept simply abandoning our duty now just because things have gotten bad?"
"Win or loss! That is in the hands of the fate."
"But me Perseus- the first of his name will never surrender!"
"True Tibias never surrender!"
Perseus swung his armored fist high into the air as he shouted this and the speech was way more than just a reply to Alexander.
It was also a way to galvanize his 35,000 men who, upon seeing the well armed and numerically superior enemy had begun to lose courage.
And so hearing Perseus''s very charismatic speech caused many shouts such as,
"Whoooo¡"
"Yeahhhh¡"
"Fight to the death¡," enabling them to recover their morale.
And then knowing that defending against Alexander was futile, Perseus began to march out of the gates, deciding to throw everything at this onest roll.
Some of his generals had instead urged the king to defend, reasoning that other powers might send even more reinforcements if they could hold on a bit longer.
But even if Perseus was not highly skeptical of such a im, even if he wanted to defend, the walls of the city appeared too inadequate, being only 3 meters high and about 2 meters thick.
Which were not shabby, but given Alexander''s ess to catapults, Perseus had no confidence in being able to withstand the attacks.
Hence the decision for a pitched battle.
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Chapter 863 Perseus’s State of MInd
Chapter 863 Perseus''s State of MInd
?863 Perseus''s State of MInd
The fortifications of the city of Lilybee could not be said to be bad based on the time when it was built.
At a time when catapults did not exist, the almost two story high, two meters thick walls could indeed pose quite a significant threat to any attacking enemy if they were properly manned and garrisoned.
But unfortunately, this furthest port city of Tibias had been unable to keep up with the times.
Defenses that were once considered pretty decent now seemed to becking in luster.
It was because of this that even though one of the reasons why Perseus hade here was indeed due to the city''s famed defenses, upon actually seeing the state of it for himself, he could not help butmpoon its deficiencies whenpared with a city like Thesalie.
And even that city had fallen despite it being a few times bigger and there even being two walls instead of Lilybee''s single one.
So Perseus would have indeed been foolish to try and frustrate Alexander with simply such rudimentary fortifications.
"If we defend using the walls, we will simply be ground to dust by Alexander. And this is if we are lucky and do not starve ourselves to death first!" Perseus shot this to the few officers and nobles who were in favor of such a strategy.
And thetter was indeed another reason why Perseus could not afford a long siege.
Because if one recalled, his camp was broken into and looted by Menes in the previous battle, meaning Perseus had lost all his supplies in one fell swoop.
Fortunately, it was around mid spring when that loss had urred, meaning the earth was filled with life by then and so Perseus had been able to live off thend by simply foraging, asking the nearby towns and cities to contribute, as well as receiving some grains from the capital.
The problem of food still existed but it was not that extreme.
But the other matter that certainly was extreme, one that Perseus decided not to bring up openly- was the matter of pay.
Especially the mercenaries pay!
Because the camp had contained not only food and gold too!
Gold that was meant to be paid to the soldiers and especially the mercenaries as their sries.
In fact, during the sacking of the camp, MN found not only the gold that was meant to be paid in the future, but also the gold that had been already paid to the soldiers, as almost all the men stored their pay in their tents, which was also inside the camp.
Hence not only had the soldiers lost all their previous months'' pay but they were also told that they were going to have to keep fighting for several foreseeable months without any sign of coin.
The fact that this produced an unpleasant reaction did not need to be stated.
The situation with the regr grunts was still manageable, even if it was exactly easy.
Perseus was able to use his authority as king and as well as by asking the men to devote their lives to their country to keep dissatisfaction to a minimum.
"Men! Remember what you are fighting for. It is not gold! It is your family! Yournd! Your king! Your ancestors!"
"Remember what the enemy will do if they conquer us! You will lose everything!"
Inspiring speeches like this given by Perseus had those good natured countryfolk fooled.
Besides, they truly did fear what Alexander''s men would do once they were conquered as the gossip about the fate of Thesalie had spread far and wide, some urate, but most of them hyperbolics- like how Alexander was a devil who had ughtered the entire city and then roasted the corpses over a fire before eating them as barbeque.
Most of the stories were idiotic, but they did work, as it made most of the peasants turned soldiers very afraid of Alexander, and thus conversely very obedient towards Perseus.
However, although the fifteen thousand, 17,000 peasants were easy enough to swindle,such patriotic sacrifices were far harder to ask for from the two groups of mercenaries-Kaiser family mercenaries who numbered around two thousand five hundred, 2,500 and Petricuno and the other Thesians who were currently sitting around eight thousand five hundred, 8500.
Not to mention the remnants of Matbar (Marquess) Kyaum''s forces.
Among those 8,000 men that Manuk had brought, there were still about 7,000 of such men with Perseus, as they were still not made aware of Manuk''s falling out with Perseus.
Manuk did not have the means to reach them, and Perseus saw no reason to reveal this and lose so many highly experienced men.
So he just kept them, simply telling the men that due to their loss, Manuk had gone to try and get more men.
However, Perseus did not know how long that ruse wouldst and thus was even somewhat fearful that if he were to try and oust a siege with Alexander, these men might somehow get wind of the real situation in the meantime and rebel against him from the inside.
That would truly be disastrous.
But that really was a secondary concern as Perseus''s true worry came in the form of their pay, as these eighteen thousand 18,000 demanded a fair bit of pay, with the average costing up to 300 ropals every month per head.
This was close to five and a half million ropals, and although that value included food for the men as well as the feed of their horse or draft animal, meaning Perseus did not have actually produce so much in pure gold, it was still an astronomical sum to the pauper king.
But he also could not ''not pay'' literally half his army.
So Perseus really had only one trick up his sleeve.
Beg!
He revealed his current difficulties and promised the three parties very rich rewards if they fought for him, even swearingnd and titles for some of the higher officers.
And this mostly soothed the higher ups
As for the rest of the more than seventeen thousand, 17,000 regr footsoldiers who were not promised such guarantees, well, Perseus let these bloodthirsty men sack a few nearby cities as they passed along the way, turning aplete blind eye to the atrocities beingmitted in front of him.
Thus the mercenaries were allowed to rpense themselves by taking the coins from the people and sating their greed as well as enjoying the surrounding women to sate their lust.
It was an act that Perseus felt ashamed even thinking about now and the guilt of how he had turned a blind eye towards such an act beingmitted on the very people he was meant to protect ate him up from the inside.
And it was not just him shedding crocodile tears either.
For the guilt,bined with all the stress over so many problems and worry of losing his throne and everything he held dear literally changed Perseus physically.
He currently looked, much slimmer as the man had lost quite a bit of weight, and much haggard, with sunken eyes and gaunt cheeks, emitting an aura of desteness.
So adding to theck of fortification, inadequate stock of food, and no money to pay his soldiers, there was also Perseus''s current mindset, which simply did not want to engage in a prolonged battle.
Whatever happened, he wanted to be done with it as soon as possible.
It was due to all thesebined reasons, that pulling his spine straight, he had sworn with a martyr like voice, "If I''m destined to die, I''m going to die on the battlefield! Not like a coward hiding behind a wall!"
"Let us go out in a bloody, ze of glory!"
And in his decision, the king received the unconditional support of his sons and his closest and biggest retainer Mithriditus.
Thus it was thisst roll of the die that was chosen to be their final move.
As for what would a defeat here mean for them here?
Well, Absolute annihtion.
And what would a win here mean?
Well, certainly not the end to the war andplete recapture of all territory.
It would be foolish to even think so.
For even if Perseus was able to pull off something incredible like Hannibal did at Cannae and virtually destroy Alexanderpletely, it was unlikely thetter was going to simply pack up and leave Tibias, abandoning his all gains.
But perhaps if Perseus managed to win and it was grand enough, he would be able to obtain another fighting chance, another chance to fight.
And if he could snowball from there, well perhaps the situation would develop to a point that it would force Alexander to the negotiating table and enable Perseus to extract some sort of concessions from the man.
Because up until now, Alexander had seen no reason to negotiate, for he had not lost any battle and genuinely he thought he could take all of Tibias.
And this was Perseus''s onest chance to change that.
Thus it was with such great optimistic hopes and with their backs to the walls thoughts that Perseus started to prepare his army, eyeing the 40,000 opposing mass with infinite hostility.
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Chapter 864 Perseus’s Battle Plan
Chapter 864 Perseus''s Battle n
?864 Perseus''s Battle n
Perseus and Alexander''s venue for the battle was right along the banks of the River Diannu, near the estuary where the river met the sea.
It was after all where Lilybee was situated.
The terrain was a piece of pristinely tnd, perfect for the use of heavy cavalry on Alexander''s side and the phnx of Perseus''s side.
Personally, Alexander did not like this setup and would have of course preferred much rougher grounds which would more disadvantage the phngites.
But unfortunately, he was unable to employ that technique here.
Mainly because there was no such terrain nearby.
The southern half of Tibias was in general very t, devoid of almost any hills.
This made the whole ce perfect for agriculture, and indeed on his way, Alexander had seen vast swathes of very fertilend, fields full of wheat, oats, and other produce.
But although that was very good news for Alexander in terms of obtainable booty, it was not that great for using the type of battles Alexander wanted.
Especially around the vicinity of Lilybee, Alexander did not find even a small mound of ground around a 10 kilometer radius.
But it could be argued that even if there were hills nearby, Alexander did not think he would have been able to bait Perseus into giving battle after hisst defeat.
The king had to have learned his lesson by now.
And this time, their roles were reversed.
It was now Alexander who was looking for a fight, so he knew he had to face Perseus on his own terms, with the court disadvantage now on his side.
It was also because he had taken into ount such a possibility that he had wanted to bolster his army numbers before assaulting Perseus, wanting to have superior numbers to offset the phnxe''s inherent advantage in open terrain.
And now that he had that, Alexander felt prepared.
As the two lines prepared, neither side sent anyst minute messenger to urge the other side to stand down.
With his peace proposal rejected, by now Alexander decided that he wanted to kill Perseus and destroy the royal family line, while Perseus believed if by some miracle Alexander could be ''taken out'', he might yet be able to regain his kingdom.
Thus both men began to form their lines.
In the case of Perseus, he organized his line ording to the strategy he had discussed the night prior with his generals.
"We will thin the center and thicken the wings. The strategy will be to hold on in the middle until we can crush the wings and then swing around the enemy and destroy the middle, thus getting us ultimate victory."
Perseus had imed.
And credit where credit is due, this tactic was indeed a valid strategy and was very much like what Hannibal had managed to sessfully do at Cannae.
There the Roman cavalry lost in their exchange to their Numadian counterpart and fled the battlefield, leaving the legionaries to be outnked by the now free enemy cavalry, who surrounded and killed them to thest men.
So on paper Perseus''s very simr strategy seemed very good and usible.
But it had to be remembered the reason why the Battle of Cannae was famous was because it was the Battle of Cannae, because it was a one time thing that was never repeated in its full grandeur ever again.
Very few sessive generals ever managed to pull off a victory using this method.
And why so, you ask?
Well it was not because all of them were ipetent, or simply unaware.
Instead, they did not try it because of how dangerous of a strategy it was, and how easily it was disrupted
The main concern with the strategy was the task asked of the thinned center- to hold back the furious onught of the enemies until battle on the wings could be decided.
This was of course very hard to do, as all the troops in the center knew they were bait and that there was a very real possibility that the troops on the wings would fail to rout the enemy and the battle would develop into a stalemate.
And if that happened, then what awaited the ''bait'' was clear to all.
Thus many times the center tended to crack way before the enemy nks did, destroying the strategy.
Even Hannibal was aware of that risk, so to bolster the morale in the center, the Carthaginian general had even ced several of his sons on the frontlines, to show the troops their general was fighting alongside them.
And even then it could be seen that this was really not a reliable strategy as the precondition of routing the enemy nks were hard.
Hence it was more of a desperate gamble- a onest move that you only made when you back was stuck to the wall.
And at that time, Hannibal''s back was indeed stuck to the wall.
The Romans had raised an army the size of which they had never seen before- eighty thousand, 80,000 strong, while Hannibal numbered only around forty five thousand, 45,000 to fifty thousand, 50,000.
Almost a 2 to 1 disadvantage.
So for the man, it was either this worked or they all died.
And luckily for Hannibal, it worked.
And perhaps the same could be said for Perseus- that he was in a very simr situation, with this throne and even life on the line.
This was also why this strategy was not contested even though the many experienced officers and soldiers knew exactly how dangerous a move it was.
This was the only move they realistically had left.
Thus they nodded in acknowledgement at Perseus''s proposed idea and quietly listened as Perseus delineated,
"I will have all my seventeen thousand, 17.000 Tibian phngists in the middle. They will be led by my sons, with the Crown Prince Philips being in overallmand."
Like Hannibal, Perseus too had recognized the major weakness in this strategy and unsurprisingly chose the same method- use the princes as anchors to boost morale and try and prevent the section from crumbling.
And knowing what was at stake, although some of the sons who had been brought up in thep of luxury felt their hearts squirm, they ultimately chose to follow their father''s instructions.
While Perseus continued,
"The wings will be led by the most elite troops we have. They will be our talons!"
"Lord Taaraf- you lead the right nk with your seven thousand, 7,000 men." Perseus ced a noble under Matbar (Marquis) Kyaum in charge of there.
"And I will personally lead the left wing with the Kaiser mercenaries, the elephants, and Petricuno making up another seven thousand, 7,000."
To show that he was not asking others to simply die for him while he stayed back, Perseusdecided to put himself on the front lines too, then pointing out the true coup de grace of this attack-
"It will be the left nk that will contain our greatest strength. Alexander will most likely have his cavalry deployed in the wings- like it is tradition."
"So we will use our elephants to scare them away and easily destroy the right nk just like we did before (because they would be facing each other, Perseus''s left wing would face Alexander''s right), before swinging around to smash the defenseless center!"
Perseus clenched his fist in hope, and finished by saying,
"While Mithriditus will lead a reserve of four thousand, 4,000- consisting of the remaining Thesian units. His main job will be to plug any gaps in the center if they appear and repel any breakthrough attempts by the enemy!"
Perseus sounded more hopeful than confident as he finishedying out his battle n.
"The elephant charge¡ won''t the enemy just use arrows and other projectiles to their charges¡ like they did with Lord Ponticus?"
However, the king''s own favored son- Philips was quick to point out the w in that n, adding the ominous warning,
"If those beasts start rampaging like they did in that battle, it would be our nks that would be smashed, not Alexander''s! What to do about that?"
Philips turned to face his father with a skeptical look.
"Of course, I thought about that!" But Perseus was not stumped by this.
He would not be called a legendary general if he had forgotten to take into ount such a crucial lesson.
So he frankly revealed,
"That is why I have ced the elite Kaiser and Petricuno mercenaries on that side."
"They will first engage and tire the enemy, eating their stocks of javelins and short spears and if possible even rout them with their sarissa."
"Remember those huge spears are deadly for any cavalry!"
"If they can do it by themselves, then it will be the best for us. We can then simply send the elephants held in the back into the empty nks and smash the enemy easily."
"But even if the enemy cavalry still persists, they will surely be tired out after a while, and we will time the elephants'' charge such that they will neither have their stock of projectiles, nor the time and space tounch them."
"Haha, I can''t wait to see how they handle this out of the blue attack," Perseus revealed a cunning smile.
Chapter 865 Alexander’s Battle Plan
Chapter 865 Alexander''s Battle n
?865 Alexander''s Battle n
Perseus''s proposed battle n was epted by all of his generals, who set about cing their troops like that.
Although in private, his son Philips had oncee to raise the following worry with his father,
"Will our wings really be able to destroy the enemy''s nks in time? The way you father discussed it sounded like it might take too long. What if we can''t? What if ..."
The man trailed off, his voice shaky and fearful.
Philips might not have shown it before others, but he was scared, very scared.
The thought of losing everything was of course enough to terrify anybody.
"Don''t worry my son! That''s why I will be there. To lead the men on! It will not take long at all!" But Perseus did not seem to share the same concern and easily brushed the concern off as such, pulling a very confident, reassuring face.
Whether or not he was feeling the same pressure, Lord Theony was not showing.
And this was indeed the correct move, as the king''s confident and candid demeanor helped to set everyone''s mood at ease.
And thus on the battlefield, that was what was how Perseus started to line up his men-
Seven thousand, 7,000 on either wing for a total of fourteen thousand, 14,000 men.
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Seventeen thousand, 17,000 in the center, and
Four thousand, 4,000 in reserves.
While Perseus''s strategy was to strengthen his wings and weaken his center, his opponent could be said to have done almost the opposite,
"Here in the battle n," In his war tent, standing before arge oak table was Alexander, with a fewrge chess pieces like metal carvings of various animals like horses, oxen, dogs, etc, elegantlyid out on the table in front of him.
Each of these five to six inches high ornamental pieces denoted a legion, and Alexander regrly used them to easily show his generals the kind of troop deployment he wanted.
And this time, he wanted the following arrangement, as he took each piece and positioned them ordingly while he revealed:
"The n is simple. We will lighten our nks and thicken the center."
"The men at the wings will simply have to hold the line while we will use the full might of center to directly smash through the enemy''s middle and snap them right like a twig!"
Alexander waved his fist as he grandly dered, making it appear victory was simply a fingertip away.
And as he made his intentions clear,he then looked around for the other''s thoughts on the matter.
He quickly received lots of silent nods and looks of approval, as no one found anything to outright object to here.
For this was a prettymonly used tactic, especially used by those who possessed a numerical superiority- to crush the enemy where he was thickest and hence destroy himpletely.
So facing no query for now, Alexander continued, now elucidating his reason for doing this,
"Given the very even terrain, our legionaries will be facing the much stronger and deadlierphnx who will be in their element."
"Hence I believe this is the way to go. A thicker mass in the center will not only be able to better withstand the phngists'' powerful attacks but also crush them through sheer battlefield exhaustion and casualties!"
"Remember! Not only do we not outnumber them, but also they cannot rotate their soldiers off the frontlines as easily as we can."
"We will win a war of attrition." Alexander loudly pointed out with a light grin on his face, before resuming,
"As for cing heavy cavalry on the wings, the enemy has elephants. Somitting to heavy charges seems too dangerous to me."
"Instead I intend to keep them in reserves and have the infantry be the main force in this battle."
"Does anyone have objections?"
Alexander turned his head to scan each of the faces of the officers present there.
"No, my lord."
"I think it is in a fine n."
"Great! Perseus dies tomorrow!"
And received many such hyperbolic adtions.
"Thank you," epting such praise with a curt nod, Alexander then quickly went on to reveal the exact numbers each section was to possess, as well as delegate themanders of each unit,
"The center will be six legions strong, thirty thousand 30,000 men strong led overall inmand by Melodias."
"The three legions at the front row will be led from in the order of left to right by Jamider (Earl) Tikba, Talukder (Viscount) Prantik and Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq."
Alexander decided to put all the Zanzan nobles right at the frontline, including one of his newest Zanzan retainers- Lord Yuusiq.
This was done both as a way to make it easier for them to earn more glory on the battlefield and also to make them experience the trials and tribtions of life and death with Alexander and bond in the process.
"Yes, my lord." And none of the three expressed any dissatisfaction at this deployment.
Instead, they actually appeared ted at the opportunity.
They only imagined what it would be like if it was their units who were to break through the enemy first, and perhaps even capture Perseus.
Now that would be a dreame true.
Thus they appeared very enthusiastic at the given chance.
"Mnmmn," responding to the reply with a curt hum, Alexander then continued,
"The second rows legions will have Menes, Grahtos, and Remus as theirmanders."
"I will take the reserve force of 2,000 cavalry,while the two nks will be rtively lightly manned- only about four thousand- 4,000 on either side."
"Since they will be only tasked with holding the line and be even able to make use of the obstacles we have brought with us, I am sure even this smaller number will be enough toprevent the enemy from breaking through."
The ''obstacles'' Alexander mentioned here were mainly oxen carts and wagons that he decided to bring with him.
To use as barriers to foil any elephant charges.
This new tactic came about because after the battle with Lord Ponticus, although Alexander had been very impressed at how well the simple act of throwing sharp things had worked at stopping these behemoths upon nitpicking on the strategy for a bit, found a few, unlikely ws in it.
To be precise, the main point of worry for Alexander was that this simple tactic could be foiled if a few elephants wentpletely berserk from the hits and instead of swerving to avoid the withering fire, charged straight into the formation, thus possibly smashing the formation to bits.
Such a thing would truly be a tragedy for Alexander, as the death of one or even several elephants would certainly be worth it for the enemy if they could destroy at entire wing of Alexander in the process.
So to guard against that Alexander upgraded the original tactic and came up with these portable solid, wooden barriers, to be used at the very front to act as a kind of barricade, from behind which the men could throw javelins and arrows in safety.
The presence of a solid object could even act as a morale boost for those inexperienced men who had never seen elephants before, reassured by the fact these ck giants would not be able to juste and skewer them.
It was a tactic that had even gained Alexander quite a few cheers from his generals upon reveal, who truly found the idea very innovative.
As for choosing themanders of the nks, well turning to his newest ''general'', Alexander addressed,
"Lord Theony, you will be in charge of the right nk with your four thousand 4,000 personnel. Your men will mostly be crossbowmen and it should not be too hard a task. But still. we are all counting on you!"
Alexander''s eyes had a very hinted glint to them as he said thatst bit, like he was sending the other some coded messages.
And it was indeed the case, as Alexander wanted to say- ''I''m giving you the easiest and most basic task in the whole n. To make it easier for you to increase your reputation in the army and not be seen only as a traitor. Don''t muck it up."
"Umm¡. Yes, my lord!" And Lord Theony appeared to have gotten the memo.
For at this order, although the man had at first appeared he wanted to say something as evidenced by how his Adam''s apple shook move up and down, but ultimately it seemed whatever the man wanted to say, he kept it to himself, perhaps wanting to reveal itter.
And so seeing he was not interrupted, Alexander atst turned to Heliptos and ordered,
"The other left wing will bemanded by you. Take control of the four thousand, 4,000 Tibian men and defend."
Alexander''s meeting woulde to an end with that.
Although early morning, just before the battle, Lord Theony would surreptitiously ask for an audience with Alexander and ask him of the following,
"My lord, my son Gnaeus. He is not very well respected by my retainers. Would it be possible for him to lead the nks! You said it yourself, it will be easy."
This was what the man had wanted to talk about back then.
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Chapter 866 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-1)
Chapter 866 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-1)
?866 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-1)
Lord Theony met Alexander in private to ask him to let his son Gnaeus lead the right nk of the army, and thus help the man obtain some much needed military umtion.
"My lord, I have been training my son since childhood about warfare. He will certainly prove his mettle! All he needs is a chance."
The man pleaded on his progeny''s behalf.
"Mmmm¡" And looking at the hopeful, almost ssy pairs staring at him, Alexander put on a pretended thinking hum,
"Okay," before Alexander subsequently lightly nodded in agreement.
Since the nks'' jobs were so simple- just stand, defend, and shoot arrows, Alexander did not find a reason to be too fussed over who themander was there.
Even if the man was not aspetent as Lord Theony was making him out to be, unless someone was actively trying to sabotage the formation, Alexander figured he could put a monkey in charge and the men on the frontlines could still figure out the things on their own.
Alexander''s approval was met with a torrent of profuse thanks as Lord Theony''s eyes appeared to be almost shining, while Alexander stoically only waved his hand and replied, "Don''t mention it."
However, even though Alexander was thinking this was the end of the meeting, it appeared Lord Theony was not done yet.
For instead of excusing himself, Lord Theony stood there and put on a slightly embarrassed face, before once again asking, "Ummm¡ my lord, if I stay in the same unit as Gnaeus, I believe the men will not learn to respect him. I want to let him grow up on his own."
"That''s why I was thinking¡." Lord Theony here paused for a brief second as if feeling a bit ashamed to say the next words, but it was only for a second,
"I was thinking my lord if I could lead the other wing!"
The man was truly bold.
He was nning to horde the majority of the acim from this battle to his family.
''Man! Why don''t you ask to lead my army next next!'' And hearing so Alexander wanted to even sneer so.
But intent on still keeping the conversation civil, Alexander only returned a cid deadpan look, as if to say, ''Are you serious?''
While Lord Theony, as if having anticipated this, quickly chimed, "My lord! The Tiban nobles are very proud. I fear that Lord Heliptos might¡"
"Okay, you can have it." Alexander was not in the mood to hear and argue about some minor reason that the other side had probably made up.
So intercepting the other party mid sentence, he waved his hand and breezily agreed to Lord Theony''s request, finding the man''s wants immaterial to the overall situation, as he then promptly dismissed the man.
It was the morning of the great battle and Alexander far more preferred to concentrate on preparing his army for the uing sh.
It was after a hearty breakfast, aroundte morning that the two armies lined up for battle, Alexander on the attacking side and Perseus on the defensive.
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*
And seeing his enemy right there, Alexander immediately ordered the men to advance, blowing his war trumpets to give the signal.
This was probably the first time Alexander initiated an attack on his own and a rare instance where Perseus stood passively on defense.
As the defender, the king got to choose the venue of the battle, and the regal man had decided to ce his army right in front of the city of Lilybee, cing his back on the city walls.
This was done very intentionally, to try and ensure that the men in the army, whose morale was questionable, could not rout even if they wanted, and thus stayed and fought down to thest men.
Perseus was determined to make Alexander ughter by hand all 35,000 men if he wanted to im victory here.
It was with such determination that Perseus watched Alexander slowly advance, his face stoic and devoid of any emotion, while his eyes were sharp and focused as ever.
From atop his horse, he first squinted his eyes to try and figure out the enemy''s distribution, and then spotting something very unexpected, he muttered in quite a disturbed tone,
"Something''s wrong! The enemy nks do not seem to have any horses!"
A coreponent of Perseus''s strategy was to use the sarissa wielding mercenaries and raging elephants to destroy the cavalry and thus open up an opportunity for outnking the enemy.
But if the cavalry did not even exist, what was Perseus going to destroy?
It seemed unintentionally, Alexander had foiled arge part of Perseus''s n.
"Dammit!"
And stumbling on the very first obstacle, Perseus felt extremely frustrated.
But other than cursing himself, there was little he could do right now.
It was already toote to change the battle formation, as the enemy was literally only ten to fifteen minutes away from making contact.
While it might sound not too long, it was not too short either.
And it had to be noted that Perseus''s lines were so long that it took literally around that same time to just send or receive any kind of message.
''I will have to think of somethingter!''
Thus it was with that hugely optimistic thought that Perseus decided to currently only focus on trying to survive the initial contact.
Hence, as Perseus''s men braced themselves for the inevitable sh, Alexander''s legionaries, full of spirit and fighting zeal due to their recent string of victories, charged forward like a freight train, eager for battle and glory, as the sergeants (100 men leader) leading them whipped them into a battle crazed frenzy,
"Charge! Do not falter men!"
"Victory and glory await us. March!"
"Gold! Women! Wine! All fine things await you. All you have to do is take them!"
"The king''s head! The one who gets the king''s head will get 10,000 ropals!"
The various officers enticed their units like this.
One of the reasons for doing this was because ancient battles were really brutal and many times entire units simply decided not to move forward in fear of dying.
There were many examples of individual units simply remaining in a standoff with another enemy unit but not making any move.
Thus it was a standard tactic to try and convince these men somehow to attack the other side, be it enticement through rewards, reminding them of their duty, or even just the threat of punishment.
Alexander''s men covered the required distance quickly, and when they were close enough like they had practiced a million times over,
"Throw!" Came their officer''smand.
*Shoo*, *Shoo*
And a dearth of deadly pi flew threw the air and peppered the defending phngites, the hard iron tips of the weapon embedding themselves into the heavy wooden shields and getting stuck in them, making the shield now useless, while a lucky few even managed to pierce flesh and ime a life or two.
"Hold your ground men! Shields up! Shield up! Do not falter! Do not give them an inch! Defend your ancestral homnd!"
At this initial attack, Perseus and his other officers could only shout so from behind, trying to boost morale with their urging.
The phngites managed to withstand two volleys of such projectiles, and then came the much anticipated and much dreaded sh, as 30,000 men in the center crashed into a number almost half as theirs.
*Bang!*
As the men locked shields and exchanged heavy weapon shes, there was arge metallic thud, followed by a chorus of bloodthirsty cries and pained cries of dying men, and Perseus''s lines showed signs of breaking right then and there.
This was because what they were facing were not only men twice as many as them, but also quite experienced ones.
By now the men Alexander had ced on the frontlines were no longer green recruits, but quite experienced men out of their own merit.
Many were veterans who had fought their first battle on that hill against Amenheraft, where Alexander had ambushed and almost killed the king.
That was almost four years, and after that, they had fought in quite a few battles.
There was the famous battle for the capital, the almost hopeless battle against Pasha Djoser, taking the city of Jabel, their first loss against Perseus, the siege of Zanzan, the battle for the manor, the siege of Thesalie, the battle of Sissillpond andstly this.
So this was the tenth time to be on the battlefield for many omen.
And after so many times, that initial fear and doubt that gripped every man upon stepping into the battlefield was no more.
The men almost mechanically approached the enemy phngites, while some even cockily looked at the enemy and swore under their breath,
"Green!" for they could see many of their counterparts'' hands shaking, clear evidence of the other side''sck of experience.
Hence expertly ducking beneath the mass of spears in front of them, or simply swiping them away with their shields, Alexander''s men bypassed the enemy''s most formidable weapons and once in range, started to engage in close quarters melee.
"Arghhh! No!"
"Ahhh! Too many!"
"Brother! Get up, brother! You cannot die!"
"There is¡. no hope!"
And immediately the legionaries started to grind through them like expert butchers.
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Chapter 867 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-2)
Chapter 867 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-2)
?867 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-2)
The sheer mass of the legionaries attacking Perseus''s vastly outnumbered phngists at the center quickly began to make them buckle.
The legionaries were far more aggressive than their counterparts, and not only were they able to absorb more casualties, but they were also able to exploit far more gaps and opportunities than the opposing phngists, leading to a hugely disproportionate amount of casualties.
Even Perseus standing way back of his army could clearly see the blue armored legionaries starting to reave through his men like they were cutting wheat, showing very enthusiastic smiles as they did so.
There was not even a twinge of regret in them as they hacked through, instead actually appearing quite ted, for in a battlefield, the best enemy was a weak enemy.
They were easy to kill, and more importantly, facing them it was easier to stay alive.
And although the king had expected such an oue eventually, seeing such a state develop so quickly, right at the start of the sh, made his scalp tingle.
He did not think his lines would be this fragile, his men this green.
The only thing that was stopping these verdant soldiers from breaking was perhaps the efforts of the princes, whom Perseus could see running back and forth on their horseback, shouting encouraging words to try and raise morale.
There was even one prince who was personally fighting in the very first echelons, his magnificent armor drawing unrelenting waves of attack from all sides, as the legionaries fought for glory and looting his body.
Perseus''s center was able to ward off the immense crisis it was facing till now due to the valiant efforts of his sons.
But only ''till now''.
Because this surely could notst long.
Eventually, the morale raising speeches would lose their efficacy and the legionaries would be able to chew through the phngists breaking them.
So if Perseus wanted to do something about it, he would have to do it soon.
But the question was what?
"Should I let lose the reserves?'''' Perseus muttered.
But to use such a crucial resource almost right at the start of the battle seemed very premature.
It would be like ying your trump card on your first hand.
So rejecting that Perseus then thought about using the elephant to try and do something, but also found those to be unfeasible.
"Your Highness, the center! They are asking for more men!" And while Perseus was trying to think of a way to get himself out of this situation, suddenly a herald came asking this.
"Dammit!" And at this request, Perseus swore.
Now was not the time.
Where was he going to get more men?
So rejecting the request, he swung his armed arm and ordered in an unquestionable tone,
"There are no reinforcements! Tell them to hold on with what they have."
"The enemy''s wings are close to routing the enemy and we just need a bit more time. Inform the officers of this. Tell them they must fight to thest!"
"And then order any deserter is to be executed along with their fourteen generations!"
Thatst order from Perseus might have sounded very grand and certainly could have worked fine during peace times, but right now its potency rang a bit hollow.
After all, on the battlefield, who was really going to execute these running men?
If they broke, everyone would be busy running away in fear of being executed by the enemy.
But still, the fact that Perseus still said this revealed the dangerous precipice he was in.
"Yes, Your Highness!" The messenger however was not there to argue with his king and epted the instruction diligently with a military salute, although his eyes had visibly dimmed at the reply.
But before he turned around and left, he did add the following wordsced with great concern, "Please ask the wings to hurry up Your Highness. The situation at the center does not look good."
Perseus did not need the messenger to tell him this, that was pretty apparent to anyone.
Some of the phnx units had been pushed back as much as several hundred meters by now.
So Perseus only silently waved the man way as he then turned to ask another one of his messengers,who was responsible for keeping tabs over the left nk that the king was directly leading and asked in a frustrated voice,
"What''s going on with the nks? Why have they not broken through? What''s taking so long?"
And the question really went on to highlight how that the king had been lying to the other messenger regarding the imminent copse of Alexander''s wings and things were not going nearly as swimmingly as he imed to be.
"We are having trouble breaking through Your Majesty." The reply was filled with reluctance and fear, as this herald delineated
"The wooden carts and wagons the enemy has brought are proving to be a great hindrance. We are finding it very hard to effectively break through them, as behind them, it is teaming with archers that are firing relentless volleys of arrows. It is making progress very hard for even our expert mercenaries." But the man ended on this optimistic note,
"But we making progress. We just need a little bit of time."
The keyword here was time.
Everyone seemed to want more of it, but unfortunately, Perseus was running preciously short of it.
The center would not be able to hold on for long.
"Dammit! Did I make a mistake? Will the glorious bloodline of my forefatherse to an end with me? I''m doomed to be such a sinner?"
Hence, seeing the situation on the battlefield not develop ording to his expectations and his strategy failing, Perseus felt his heart bleed as many such doubts filled his head and his eyes turned ssy in terror and hopelessness.
While Perseus was on almost the verge of tears, on the other side of the battlefield, the emotions being experienced were quite the opposite.
It was one of tion and expectation, as Alexander was informed by an ted messenger sent by Talukder (Viscount) Prantik, "My lord! Good news, we are very close to breaking the frontlines! Victory is close at hand! Hahaha."
The deliverer was very excited by this good news, as personally for him, a win here would finally mean the end of this long campaign and he could finally go back to his wife with all the loot he had gotten.
And even as Alexander was informed of this, Talukder (Viscount) Prantik''s loud joyous shouts rang out among his men.
"Just a bit more men! You see more women than warriors before you. Unwarlike, unarmed, they will soon give away once they have recognized your sword, the sword of conquerors!"
"Push them. Push them harder! Show no mercy."
This noble had a way with words and could really spur the men on.
And the legionaries, hearing such words, and being encouraged by the results they were witnessing, stabbed, thrusted, and killed their way forward, producing deadly numbers of casualties for the opposing side.
"Run!"
"There are too many!"
"We cannot hold no!"
"Save yourself."
"My brother! Died! I cannot die here!"
Then it happened!
A section of the frontline broke.
It was not a total rout of the whole line, but around the middle point of the line, where Talukder (Viscount) Prantik was inmand, the phngists found themselves unable to hold on any longer and finally broke, running towards the city gates, screaming and shouting, hoping to be let in.
"No! Do not run."
"Stand and fight!"
And while such impassioned calls from even the many nearby officers, the units could not be stopped from disobeyingmand and running.
"Oh no!" Perseus, being witness to all of this from the back instinctively let out this low, fearful growl as his eyes dted.
He could easily see this gap being the center point of a total copse.
"Mithriditus! Quick! Stop them!"
Thus whatever Perseus might have had in mind, he threw them out the window, and instantly let loose the reserves of 4,000 men, hoping to plug that gap and stop that 5,000 strong legion from exploiting their breakthrough.
As for how well that would work, well it had been only one legion, perhaps Mithriditus might have been able to do something, but it had remembered he was not facing only one legion, but there was another one behind it.
It was 4,000 vs 10,000.
No matter how effective the phngists might be against the legionaries in a frontal attack, there still was a limit.
So this could really be said to be just a stopgap measure.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" But even if it was just that, even if it was just to buy some time, Mithriditus knew he had to go and help.
Besides, if nothing else, he would at least be able to kill some of the men who killed his beloved daughter and meet her in heaven afterward.
The old man was not afraid of death.
"Charge! Quickly! We need to stop them!"
"Kill! They are exhausted! It will be easy!"
"Do not fear men! Treat death as something as light as a feather!"
It was with such boisterous shouts that Mithriditus led his 4,000 men to a battle that was approaching its twilight years.
It would not be long before a winner was decided.
Chapter 868 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-3)
Chapter 868 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-3)
?868 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-3)
Chapter 868
Lord Mithriditus''s reinforcements consisted half of infantry and half of cavalry, and at Perseus''s deployment, it was these men that rode out first, engaging the enemy attempting to break through.
And it would not be wrong to say that it was them who proved critical in stopping Talukder (Viscount) Prantik from winning the battle then and there, for they were able toe to the aid of the damaged section of the lines very quickly, giving the legionmander no time to swing around and attack the surrounding phngites'' nks.
"*Haaaah!*"
"Come brothers! The ancestors beckon us!"
"For Tibias! For His Majesty!"
"For glory!"
It helped that this entire force consisted mostly of Perseus''s royal guards and they engaged the legionaries with nary a hesitation.
These experienced veterans did not fear the battlefield.
Instead, they were almost drawn to it.
Thus after these men made contact, they started to engage with the legionaries in the traditional manner of the time, wheeling in and out of the infantry''s range in groups of hundred while throwing javelins and striking them with spear stabs, hence slowly whittling the enemy down and preventing the legionaries moving forward.
The short sword of the legionaries had always been an ineffective weapon against cavalry, their range veryckingpared to the other''s long spears.
Thus facing even such a small number of men, the men appeared unable to advance and even started to get pushed up to their original starting point.
And once the slower phngites had the time to catch up and finally joined the fray, Talukder (Viscount) Prantik''s advances appeared to have been stopped for good.
For the time being that is.
Because it was one thing to stop an enemy''s advance, it was entirely another to destroy them.
And Talukder (Viscount) Prantik was far from being destroyed.
Although that little constion appeared to ring hollow to the man personally, as he loudly and very verbally cursed his men for being cowards and not grabbing the opportunity when it presented itself.
It was an unfair critique of the men but fueled by the heat of the moment and the lure of winning the battle then and there, it could be said to be an understandable one.
While Talukder (Viscount) Prantik was only unhappy with the result, Perseus was feeling quite distressed even with the favorable result he had managed to achieve.
It was because he knew that although he had just barely managed to halt the copse of his army, he had not managed to solve the core part of the issue.
And so he once again sent word inquiring about the state of the nks, but received the same result- ''They needed just a bit more time.''
To say this frustrated the man would be an understatement, and seeing the nks going nowhere, Perseus decided to change tactics.
The keen eyed king had noticed some time ago what he deemed to be some kind of w in the enemy''s nk, and he decided to try it.
"Since we are having such a hard time breaking through the wagon, tell the men to stop trying to reach the archers behind but instead concentrate on destroying those structures." Perseus''s n called for the ludicrous attempt to hit not where the enemy was the weakest, which was what they were trying to do till now by slowly clearing out the archers before preceding, but instead asked to hit the enemy where he was the strongest, which were the wooden barricades themselves.
And hearing so the messenger who was noting all this down in his memory almost jumped in shock, half fearing the king might have gone mad!
But fortunately, Perseus was no tyrant who just said something and asked his men to carry it out regardless.
Instead, detecting the reaction, thetter heard the king provide guidance,
"I spotted those wagons are being pulled by oxen with a trainer next to them. Target those specifically."
"Kill them or force them to flee! The enemy will not be able to protect such vulnerable targets for too long."
"Once the hard shell runs away, the soft inwards will be doomed!"
"Order this quickly!"
Perseus''s n was indeed this- to target the most vulnerable units and cause their deaths, thus breaking the enemy''s spirits and initiating a rout.
Perseus would see that those animal handlers that were in charge of looking after the oxen and ''operating'' them were no warriors but dressed merely like ves and servants.
So he reasoned that killing them should be easy.
And this was indeed true, as in reality, these men were part of the logistics crew, in charge of the everyday task of hauling Alexander''s various camp supplies.
They were no soldiers but had been just temporarily drafted to this new purpose only for the battle.
Thus they did not get any bronze armor or chainmail or even a proper shield, which was the greatest weapon on any battlefield.
Instead, they only wore some leather scraps of armor that those men themselves had managed to scrounge together somehow and held just a small shield and a pointy spear to poke at in the most dire of needs.
So against all the other well equipped men just behind them, they stuck out like a sore thumb.
And as the overallmander of the force, for Alexander to not have properly equipped these men was indeed a grave oversight.
Something that Perseus seemed poised to exploit.
But in defense of Alexander, there were indeed several reasons for him to do this.
First and foremost, was because he simply did not categorize these animal handlers as troops.
To him, these men seemed more like helpers and extras, kind of like the medics, arrow boys, runners, and even other ox handlers who were stationed behind the frontlines to supply the army with various things.
Hence colored by that thought, Alexander simply painted all the men with the same brush and erornously overlooked those specific men.
There was also the fact that Alexander did not think these men would have to fight.
In this mind, the relentless volley of arrow fire from the crossbowmen arranged behind the wagons should have been so withering that these men on the frontlines would face very little hostility from the enemy phngites.
Hence, given the minimal danger, Alexander gave them the minimal tools to deal with them.
Andstly, Alexander figured given his strengthened center, he would be able to win the fight way before anything untoward could start to develop.
It was slightly hubristic on his part but after his recent string of victories, who could have med Alexander for riding a bit high and feeling confident?
It was also due to the same reason that the man who could be said to have basically invented barding (the act of armoring one''s horse) did not bother to armor the oxen, leaving them with no defenses other than their hide, which might be good for keeping safe from the open elements, but certainly not adequate to stave off sharp, pointy spear stabs.
And this was perhaps the most damning, as although those handlers were able to at least nimbly dodge out the phngites'' spear stabs in the worst case scenario, the huge size of the animals made that very hard to pull off in their case.
And when that was coupled with the fact that these oxen were attached to the wagons that made movement impossible, turning them basically sitting ducks, well, as Perseus''s order began to take effect, the once solid, invincible right wing of Alexander began to slowly but surely crack.
It was not immediate but it was definitely noticeable, as these men and animals who were unable to retreat back to the safety of the backlines even if they wanted to were slowly being targeted and killed one by one.
The situation was further hindered against Alexander by the fact that in this particr sector, Perseus''s 7,000 greatly outnumbered Alexander''s 4,000 men.
And these 7,000 were no peasant militia but could be considered one of the best fighting forces in the world, while Alexander''s men were considered of poor quality even by peasant standards.
For they had virtually been just plucked off the field by Lord Theony, who handed them a stick and ordered them to follow him, with little to no training.
It was only upon reaching the capital Parthenigh that they received some under Alexander''s order, but even there, other than learning what the various orders meant and learning the various trumpet signals, these men mostly learned how to use the crossbow- how to aim, shoot, and reload the thing while standing behind a barrier, the wooden wagons.
This was because given the limited time, it was far easier than learning how to wield a spear.
But although those skills taught by Alexander made them suitable for simply holding on and defending,these ''legionaries'' utterly failed in the task being asked of them right now- which was defending the vulnerable oxen and their handlers.
So as time went on, more and more of Perseus''s spears found their mark, killing the poor animals or their handlers and causing others to try and flee in fear.
Thus, unbeknownst to Alexander, in a small corner of his army, things were not going so well!
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Chapter 869 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-4)
Chapter 869 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-4)
?869 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-4)
One of the reasons why Alexander had decided to ce the untrained Tibians in the nks, secure behind the wagos was precisely because they were so untrained.
Given that Lord Theony had simply dressed these peasants as soldiers, Alexander then chose to train them as crossbowmen as opposed to the sword or spear which required keen hand to eye coordination, quick reflexes, and a great presence of mind to predict where a spear thrust might being from and respond ordingly.
Alexander had figured that if he were to incorporate these men into his center legionaries, they would do little more than act as hindrances and even might get his other men killed.
But although those were all sound reasons, currently the situation was developing to such that the worrying news was beginning to filter into the ears of even themander of the right wing- Lord Theony''s illegitimate son Gnaeus.
"Lord Gnaeus!" A runner came to the man in histe twenties, his voice slightly pitched, as he informed, "The enemy is starting to break through! Many of the oxen and their handlers are dead."
"And the rest of the living are starting to panic. The handlers are pleading with you to let them retreat! They won''t be able to hold on much longer!"
Gnaues was indeed able to see that things were not going well on the frontlines, especially by the fact that the loud dying cries of oxen were able to reach his ears even all the way back here.
These cries would reverberate across the nearby vicinity, making all the nearby beasts jitter and panic.
These animals might be considered dumb by humans, but they still had the basic survival instinct.
And a group of armed men d in menacing helmets, waving pointy spears at one did not inspire confidence of survival.
So seeing their brethren fall one after another, the rest of the beasts also tried to run, as they jerked and neighed incessantly, proving very difficult to control even for their handlers.
Not that there were many handlers left there anyway, as most of those who could had already started to run, while the resty dead.
And with no one to oversee the beasts, they began to run, taking the wagons with them and slowly opening up gaps in the defenses.
Gaps that Perseus was no doubt exploiting even as we spoke.
"We should ask for aid! Have more men reinforce us!" And seeing this, Jupiter- Lord Theony''s right hand man and one who was ced here as Gnaeus''s adjutant offered this advice.
To the experienced man, the situation at their front did not look good.
"No! It is not needed." But the advice was overruled by Gnaeus, as turning to the messenger he swung his arm and ordered, "Tell the men they must hold on! Order the officers to rally the men. Ask them to better protect the wagons and shoot more urately."
"No is permitted to retreat under any circumstances. We are very close to winning. They must not falter."
"Stop the enemy from advancing at any cost. Stand and fight!" Gnaeus was very stern in his ask.
"Yes sir," And the messenger dutifully received the order with a salute, while from the side, Jupiter pursed his lips in disapproval.
He did not think it was possible to stop an enemy almost twice one size and multiple times better trained by just more grit.
It was an action that did not go unnoticed by Gnaeus, who then turned to say,
"Uncle Jupiter, I can understand your line of thinking. You think it will be safer for us to ask for reinforcements just in case."
"But think!" Gnaeus pointed his first finger which was d in a bronze gauntlet, " asking this for such a small thing would only lower our prestige in front of Lord Alexander. How can we be fit to rule¡. administer Tibias if we ask for help for every small detail? We need to prove our worth to him!" The tall, handsome man clenched his fists and shook them as he said so, his stare steely and determined.
Given that Alexander had decided to make Lord Theony and by rtion Gnaeus the man in charge of overseeing Tibias, it was only natural that the man would try to impress Alexander as much as possible, to show him that they werepetent and able to handle the tasks given to them.
He had been given the chance he oh so wished since he was young, and he was not going to mess it up.
But other than his own, personal ambitions, he also pointed this additionally to Jupiter,
"And besides, the Pasha has only 2,000 men in reserves. It is unlikely he willmit them to us!"
"So by asking this, we will only be dismissed with nothing but our vulnerability revealed."
"So it is more prudent for us to hold on."
This exnation to Jupiter sounded much more ptable as nodding his head, hemented,
"It seems you are right this time, Young Master," before turning his towards the center of the formation and predicting,
"And perhaps we will not need to hold on for too long either. Their center seems to be on the verge of disintegrating."
"Finally!" The man let out a sigh of relief as he thought the battle wasing to an end.
And he had good reasons to think so too, for as the swinging pendulum of the time wore on, the inevitable equilibrium began to settle in once again in the center, with Alexandering out of the top.
A phenomenon that was clear for anyone in the battle to see.
By now Talukder (Viscount) Prantik had been reced by Grahtos through the process of rotating troops, and when those 5,000 fresh troops hit Mithriditus''s already battered units, it would be quite appropriate to say that the exchange was very one sided.
Even when the cavalry dismounted to fight on foot shoulder to shoulder with the phngites, the numerical mismatch still proved to be too much as they were pushed back again and again, suffering grievous losses.
And it was not just Mithriditus units that were suffering.
By now Alexander had rotated the entire front three legions with fresh ones from the back, and as these fresh men hit the lines, all the units throughout the whole frontline started to cry, buckle, and crack.
"Hemicus, wanna bet? I say they will break in five more minutes!" And seeing the current state, Alexander was so confident and assured of victory that he even turned to his bodyguard to offer the man the chance to gamble over how long it would be till the battle ended, shing his five fingers as he did so.
"......" However, the stoic counterpart rejected it with a slight shake of his head.
Although he did have a slight curve to his lips, as he too was very happy with the battle result.
Yes, by now Hemicus too had written the results of the fight in his book, as he thought there was no way Tibias could win now.
Their lines were about to break any second now.
However, although Alexander''s side seemed to have dered themselves the victor, there was one man who still had not given up on trying to win, and that was Mithriditus.
The old man who was past his mid sixties!
The zealous man still believed they could turn the tide around.
"Bah! How can I die here? How can I show my face to my daughter and grandchildren if I die here a loser?" Even as the situation deteriorated, the old man roared as such, shouting order after order.
But s!
No matter how much he shouted and screamed, inevitably he and his units were pushed more and more back until they were on the brink of destruction.
It appeared it was the end
But Mithriditus did not think so and even the dire straits were not enough to snuff the old man''s fighting spirit.
"Bah! Useless mongrel!" Instead, cursing his own men for running onest, he decided to finally do the thing he had been nning to do for some time now.
He decided to go out in a ze of fighting glory,
Just before the entire line was about to copse, and even as some individual units were starting to run and Alexander seemed on the verge of victory, Mithriditus snatched his house''s standard from the standard bearers and raised the g atop his head, before shouting at the highest voice he could muster, addressing the superstitious Tibias soldiers,
"Hear me, men of Tibias! Men inheritors of a thousand year legacy."
"Witness me! Witness my end! Witness how this child of Tibiasys his life for his country!"
"I carry with me the terror, rout, carnage, blood, and the wrath of all our ancestors- those above and below!"
"I will infect the enemy''s standards, the armor, the weapons with dire and manifold misfortune! "The ce of my destruction shall also witness the destruction of Zanzan and Adhania!"
"For Tibias! For the king! For the ancestors!"
As soon as Mithriditus finished saying those words, he charged his steed with an ear splitting roar- "Ahhhh!" beelining straight toward the part of the line where the legionaries''s ranks were the thickest.
And was then instantly in by numerous javelins and other missiles, both his body and horse turning into a bloody mess, as his standard fell with him.
But that was enough.
The man that done his job.
His rousing speech had almost miraculously stopped the copse of the center!
Chapter 870 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-5)
Chapter 870 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-5)
?870 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-5)
Lord Mithriditus''s fearless solo charge into the mouth of the enemy and the rousing speech he gave as he rode to his death reverberated like a thunderp across the entire battlefield, prating deep into the hearts of every Tibian present.
Even many of the Tibians on Alexander''s side were affected.
This aged lord was one of the oldest statesmen of Tibias, having served three kings in his lifetime, Perseus''s grandfather, father, and Perseus himself.
Having lived the greater part of his life in court, Mithriditus was highly respected by his peers and loved by the people as he was no tyrant.
So when his standard went down with him, many literally shed tears, such as PP.
The Crown Prince could not help but reminisce that Mithriditus, who unfortunately did not have any son, had always treated him like his own andmented the fact with his death, Mithriditus''s bloodline hade to an end, the rule of the family being transferred to his younger brother.
Thus the death of this elderly, legendary figure caused the entire noisy battlefield to descend into a suppressed silence for a brief while and there was not a single man who had even a speck of love for his country who did notment this loss
But perhaps what they were most affected by was this great man''s powerful speech just before he died, which was grand enough to be put on his tombstone.
It resounded greatly in the hearts of every Tibian.
"Come men! Are you going to run even after hearing that? Can your honor allow that? Charge! Get in line and charge! Charge for Lord Mithriditus! Push the enemy back! For victory!"
And very much catalyzed by this great sacrifice, the officers and even many of the grassroots men rallied, turning around with a great, euphoric,
"Hahhhaaa!" as Perseus''s buckling frontlines turned solid once more.
The phngites might have been down but they were not out of it yet.
As a matter of fact, they even started tounch a fierce counterattack, blunting the offense of the legionaries and even forcing them into a defensive posture for the time being as a storm of spear attacks whirlwinded around them.
Thus the battle once again entered a stalemate, with the center being locked in deadlybat for the third time, while Alexander''s nks were slowly eaten through.
"Dammit! We were so close!"And to say that this frustrated the legionaries would certainly be urate.
The men had been fighting for hours under heavy, brutal conditions and there were multiple instances where they basically thought they had won.
But the dogged defense of the enemy kept denying them that sweet victory each and every time.
Each Tibian in the center fought like lions and gave such a staunch defense that even the better trained and numerically greater legionaries had to pause their offensive
This of course angered many of them, with some of the more impatient men even starting to get desperate andunching foolish attacks haphazardly, causing unnecessary casualties in their ranks.
"Calm! Calm!" While steadymanders like Melodias worked hard to maintain order and soothe the annoyed soldiers, proiming, "This is the enemy''sst death throes. Be patient."
"Do not falter now! You havee so close. Remain steady and push them."
"They will tire themselves soon. Then you can ughter them all!"
And it was with such a promise that the frontline once again froze, with both sides devolving into exchanging brutal spear and sword strikes and iming many lives.
While at the back, Alexander too pursed his lips in annoyance, as he corrected his estimation about the enemy.
He did not think they would be so determined.
By his original estimation, the battle should have been won by now, but it seemed he had underestimated the enemy''s tenacity.
"My lord, the right nks cannot hold on! They are asking for reinforcements!" It was amidst such a state that suddenly a runner sent by Gnaeus came to Alexander in a panicked voice, detailing the situation there.
Given the battle did not end as JJ and Gnaeus had predicted, thetter finally shed his own pride and asked for support.
The Kaiser and Petricuno mercenaries were by now tearing through his ranks and the frontlines were basically cleared of the wagons.
So many of the peasant crossbowmen men had already started running.
A copse there seemed imminent.
But even before the messenger could finish describing the predicament of their side, the same call came from Alexander''s left nk, describing the same problem- the enemy nks had prated deep into their wings and the men were on the verge of being routed.
This came as a much bigger surprise to Alexander as this nk,manded by Lord Theony was not nearly as badly manned as Gnaeus''s, but was insteadposed of many of the participating nobles'' personal retinues.
So in theory they should have been able to hold on longer.
But the messenger informed Alexander that upon seeing Mithriditus''s glorious death and hearing his speech, many nobles seemed to have changed their minds.
Many, doubting themselves, had started to put up only ackluster defense, giving away even at the slightest resistance, while others even began to desert the battlefield.
"Stop! Where are you going? Are you viting your oath?" And this happened despite Lord Theony''s great protests.
The mustached, by now plump man seeing the situation developing began to repeatedly urge the nobles to rally their men and push back the Crown Prince who was leading the attack on this front, but many seemed unwilling and started to run with the excuse that the lines were about to be imminently breached.
While a few of the more vocal nobles even brazenly dered,
"Lord Theony. We swore to defend Pasha Alexander. But not attack our once king. We cannot do it. Lord Mithriditus''s death will not let us do it. We are retreating from this battle. Think of us what you will."
Then turning around, arge number of nobles deserted en mass, their heart guilty over the choices they made as opposed to Mithriditus over the same situation and what that man had said in his dying moments.
And no matter the urging, reminding, or even threatening from Lord Theony''s was able to change their mind.
Even when the matter of the oath was brought up, Lord Theony was only rebuked by the words that he too once had sworn an oath to Perseus, but broke it.
It was only at that point, understanding that his nk was doomed that Lord Theony had decided to ask for help from Alexander.
"Shit!" And hearing the unveiling of the great events on his left nks, Alexander spat out this curse to himself.
Yes.
He did not curse the nobles for leaving, he cursed himself.
Because he knew he had messed up with the troop deployment in this battle.
He should have anticipated something like this.
In hindsight he should have never let the two wings be purely made up of Tibians, or more specifically of troops he had just conquered.
He should have blended some of his own men within, or at least changed the officers.
But in Alexander''s defense, he had chosen to do this mainly because of how Lord Theony had personally reassured him that all the men were reliable and that he would personally take responsibility for them.
Furthermore, there was also the fact all the nobles had sworn oaths to him, which further reassured Alexander, as this was a very big thing at the time, and viting it was basically high treason, cursed by both men and the gods.
Andstly, the Tibians and Zanzanites both spoke differentnguages, meaning Alexander found it hard to have his officers lead them.
This was why he let the nobles operate autonomously.
And this was also why he did not mesh them in the center as he feared these troops would not be able to properly obey orders, instead opting to give them the much cushier option of defending the nking with crossbows.
This way, Alexander figured the men would face less resistance and be less likely to break than in the battle intensive center.
After all, if he did put the Tibians in the center and then some run, well then a cascading effect could develop and Alexander might lose his entire middle section.
But perhaps most of all, in Alexander''s mind, he did not think there was anything wrong with employing Tibians among his ranks because of historical precedence.
It was prevalent at this time, and even in Alexander''s previous world, where the Romans regrly used auxiliaries alongside their own troops to bolster their numbers.
And it had to be even noted that Romans treated these outside troops pretty harshly too.
For instance- their rations were usually of poorer quality and many times they were treated as frontline cannon fodder, used primarily as fighters with the goal of tiring out the enemy before the Roman legionaries swooped in for the kill and all the glory.
Yet, despite all this, there was hardly ever rebellion from the auxiliaries.
So Alexander thought it would be a simr case here.
Thus imagine his dismay, as all of a sudden, even before he could muster his reserves and decide how to help the two sides, he witnessed the simultaneous copse of both his nks!
Chapter 871 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-6)
Chapter 871 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-6)
?871 Perseus Vs Alexander (Part-6)
"No! Stand and fight!"
"Halt men! Halt!"
"Do not disobey order! Stay and hold the line!"
"We are close to winning! Why are fleeing?"
Despite such shouts from Gnaeus and his surrounding officers, since Alexander''s reinforcements never came, his nk finally copsed.
The oxen and handlers ran away, and the ''naked crossbowmen'' saw no reason to stick around and get skewered.
Thus the following events appeared like a dam bursting, the solid formation suddenly crumbling into a liquid pool that spread everywhere, the legionaries pouring out of their orderly state into a state of absolute chaos.
And no matter how hoarsely Gnaeus shouted and pleaded, he was like a lonely rock standing against an entire ocean, for just like the waves hit and part against one, before continuing on their way, the men running away split to either side of the ce where Gnaeus was standing, forming a kind of ''V'' in the vicinity.
"The battle is lost! Let us retreat when we can! The enemy is getting too close!" And reading the obvious tide of the battle, Jupiter rode up to Gnaeus to hurriedly say this, even pulling the man by the arms to emphasize the urgency.
"....*Tsk*..."
And Gnaeus, clicking his tongue before turning to look onest time around the fleeing masses, with regret filled eyes, finally turned his horse to leave.
"Arghh!...*St!*"
When suddenly, like a bolt out of the clear blue sky ''it'' hit him.
Something that knocked the breath out of him.
Something that made his eyes bulge.
Something that made him wonder why he was feeling this agonizing pain.
It was a bolt!
A crossbow bolt!
Out of nowhere, a thick crossbow bolt had hit Gnaeus right in the throat, going straight through his nape anding straight out of the other side- the thorax.
The man was dead even before realized it.
This one shot one kill wonder was performed by a mercenary belonging to the Kaiser mercenaries.
He was an expert archer with almost two decades of experience under him, and the man had by chance been able to pick up a loaded crossbow from one of the dead legionaries, and after seeing how the enemy operated them for hours, knew the basic way to use it.
So steading himself and taking aim, this expert man looked for the most mboyantly dressed man on the battlefield, knowing he would definitely be someone of status.
And unfortunately for Gnaeus, that happened to be him.
But even with such skills involved, this almost 100 meter shot was certainly very lucky, especially when considering where it hit- the throat- one of the very few ces where the armor was absent.
Instead, if the bolt had just hit Gnaeus in the chest, back, or even his head, it would have most likely failed to even prate.
But s!
Such were the perils of the battlefield.
A stray bolt from anywhere could reap one''s life at any time.
And this could be said to be one of Alexander''s greatest fears, for many, many kings had died like that.
"Wha¡.!" As the bloodstained bolt stuck out of Gnaeus''s throat, dripping surprisingly little blood, Jupiter, witnessing all this, for a split second found himself unable to even wake up to the fact of what had just happened.
The change was too sudden and too unexpected.
One moment there was a hale, hearty, and healthy man normally conversing with him and about to escape the battlefield, the next moment he was dead, slumping over from his horse and,
*Thud,* falling to the ground.
"*Neighhhhhh*" As Gnaeus fell, the dull sound caused his horse to jitters, who scared by the attack quickly bolted, leaving his dead owner in the dust.
While this sound too helped Jupiter finally wake up to the realization of what had just happened, and with terrified eyes shouted at the top of his voice- "Gnaeus!"
But as heid in his eyes on the dead man lying sprawled on the ground, naturally there was no response.
Only a small patch of dark pool of blood underneath his neck seemed to ''move'', expanding in size with each passing second.
Having been in the battlefield for long enough, Jupiter could tell with just a nce of those hollow, unfocused eyes that the man was not with them any longer.
And seeing this and knowing his master, Jupiter felt his heart sink as he dreaded to think what would Lord Theony do after he learned of his son''s demise and even at how Jupiter had failed to Perseusotect him, despite the validity of the usation.
But such mortifying thought only clouded him for a moment.
Because what was done was.
Jupiter was a veteran of the battlefield and knowing life and death were part and parcel of life here, he decided to take whatever came after on the chin.
So instead, rationalizing the things that needed to be done next, he quickly got down his horse and retrieved Gnaeus''s dead body, effortlessly picking up the 80 kilo mass like it was nothing and putting him on the back of the horse, before riding out of the battlefield.
Though not before shooting a hateful look at the mercenaries to try and spot the shooter, an endeavor he of course failed in.
While on the side side of the nks, although it would have certainly broken Lord Theony''s heart to have known that he had lost his favorite son, for the moment, the man was in no such position to be engaged in such sorrow.
For like his counterpart, the left nk was too disintegrating.
And like the son, the father too tried to rally the men and stop the retreat, to no avail.
And the man kept on trying to do it, even as the Crown Prince Philips crept ever closer, despite the warning from his bodyguards.
Until finally, seeing there was no hope, Lord Theony retreated, and both of Alexander''s wings copsed, turning his army into a crippled bird.
And just like how a bird that cannot fly but only hop on the ground was rich pickings for the wolf waiting patiently nearby, Perseus of course capitalized on this great opportunity, letting lose his famed elephants from the left nk
By now the mercenaries there had managed to clear the wagons out of the way and thus theseterrifying beasts were free of charge at maddening speed, their collective endangered roars,
*Trumpet!*, *Trumpet!*, *Trumpet!* striking deep fear into the nearby legionaries, before smashing into Alexander''s center''s open and vulnerable right nks.
While from the other side, though not as mboyant as his father, Philips too followed up on his opportunity by swinging to his left and hitting Alexander from the other side.
Now, credit where credit is due, Alexander''s nks did not immediately copse like a box of cartons right as Perseus and Philips attacked them.
In fact, they actually appeared to be holding on.
In the right nks, the elephants'' deadly charge was halted by a withering fire of javelins from the legion led by Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq like they had been trained to do, thus preventing a copse, showing that if Perseus wanted to destroy the nks, just sending 12 of these beasts would not be enough.
To finish the job, he would have to bring his infantry, which were much slower and frankly exhausted.
After all, no matter their level of training, these men had been fighting for hours, and unlike Alexander''s legions got very little rest.
And all while they fought, they were constantly peppered by arrows from the 4,000 crossbowmen, which took quite a toll on them.
The shields of some of the phngites in the frontlines even looked like porcupines, with many tens of crossbow bolts sticking out of them, while a few had their shield so badly damaged that they had to get new ones, most picking up one from the surrounding dead, showing just how intense the arrow fire was.
But still, despite such losses, these men were professionals and although Perseus''s victory was thwarted momentarily, the king knew once these mercenaries entered the battlefield, it would not be long till the nks broke.
Thus the king patiently waited for the mercenaries to make contact, each second feeling like a year.
While this was going on on Alexander''s right nks. on the left, given the legionaries''s greater mobility, Jamider (Earl) Tikba was able to turn some of their units before the 7,000 Thesians led by Philips made contact, thus managing to put up some resistance.
"Do not falter! Stop them!"
"Do not let the enemy stop you when you havee so close!"
Such shouts could be heard by Alexander, energizing the men to resist, as the man witnessed all this from behind.
Alexander was currently feeling very confused as he found himself caught in a kind of decision paralysis, unable to decide where to send his reserves or even how to use them.
Because those 2,000 men were certainly not enough to deal with both the crisis simultaneously.
He could only choose one.
But then, would choosing one even be useful?
After all, even if only one nk broke, the whole center would likely break as Perseus or Philips shattered them one after another like dominos.
As Alexander was in the midst of trying to answer these questions,
"Alexander do not order a retreat! Look! The center is holding despite the attacks to the nks!" Suddenly Hemicus urged him so in a loud, concerned voice, pointing with his fingers and saying,
"We will be able to destroy the enemy if they can hold on just a bit long!"
"Send the reinforcements into the center and break through!"
Chapter 872 A Self Reflective Analysis
Chapter 872 A Self Reflective Analysis
?872 A Self Reflective Analysis
Chapter 872
"Send the reinforcements into the center and break through! We will be able to destroy the enemy if the nks can hold on just a bit long!"
Breaking out of his usual stoicism, Hemicus loudly shouted so to Alexander, his face ruddy and excited.
The man still believed they could win.
"......."
And turning to look at the current state of the battlefield, Alexander could indeed see the two legions in the second echelons putting up quite a fight, not letting Perseus through.
They appeared solid for the time being and if Alexander engaged his 2,000 reserves in the center, there indeed was the possibility that he would be able to break Perseus''s middle since it seemed to be on itsst legs.
And for a few moments, Alexander did truly consider it- to throw the result in this onest roll of the dice and try to win it once and for all.
But then he stopped!
For thinking like this was not him!
Alexander by his nature was a prudent man, and these types of risky, sucidical y did not suit him.
How many times was it that he had thought the center was about to break and yet the phngites had held?
What if they held even after the additional 2,000?
After all, what was so different about facing 32,000 men when you were already fighting against 30,000?
And that would be the risk reward equation here?
If Alexander won, he would indeed be able to end this year long campaign right here and now.
However, although that might sound very lucrative, was it truly, absolutely necessary to finish Perseus right now?
What would happen if Perseus were really to win here?
Unless it was by a devastatinglyrge margin, nothing much really.
At best the man would then be able to negotiate a better peace treaty for himself.
Which although not ideal for Alexander was far better than the alternative of what would happen if he lost.
And by lost, he meant lost his entire or arge part of his army.
Even ignoring Alexander''sbor shortages, these 30,000 troops were not simple levies, but due to the time they had been with him and participated in the nearly 10 life and death battles, had managed to pick up quite a bit of experience in their pocket.
Losing them like this in a single gamble would be a terrible loss for Alexander.
Not when the rewards were soparatively small.
So the prudent man determined using them in a desperate gamble was simply not worth it.
Thus turning to Hemicus, Alexander dered, "No! I cannot gamble my army here. Not when the chances of what you are saying happening are so unlikely."
"The enemy''s morale is too high and every time we think he is going to break any second, he doesn''t. He stands and fights. That''s the only reason they have been able to hold on for so long."
Alexander at this point a bit ruefully shook his head, before continuing with a bit of a self- depreciating smile,
"Our strategy in this battle was not wrong, Any regr army''s center should have broken twice by now. It''s just that this time they are fighting for theirnd and king. Their morale is much higher than ours."
It had been a long, long time since Alexander had once again got to witness the effect of the level of ''morale'' in an army.
Fighting under the king, these Tibians appeared determined to fight to the veryst and hadsted far longer than Alexander had anticipated, while his own weaker wings had crumbled.
It was a contest of willpower and Alexander''s forces had lost.
And the current instance perhaps best mirrored the events of the Battle of Badr, which was the first battle the then infantile Muslims had fought against the pagan Arabs.
Outnumbered almost 3 to 1, with around 300 infantry Muslims facing 1,000 pagan Arabs, the Muslims had foregone almost any strategy and chose to meet their opponents in open battle, where they repelled charge after charge for hours, taking the blows head on without budging an inch.
This was in much contrast to the Arab customs of the time, where wars were usually low casualty affairs and no sides fought to thest man.
So seeing that all those 300 men were willing to die, the Arab pagan''s morale broke, and they fled, taking 140 casualties, while the Muslims only suffered 14 dead.
Thus in that battle, the Muslims had repelled the enemy through sheer grit alone, while it waster said that if pagans could have held on a bit longer, they could have indeed won.
And this was of course not the only type of example where a small force defeated a muchrger force through zeal alone.
There was the famous battle of Thermope, where King Leonydas''s force used the mountain pass and around 7,000 men to hold off Persian King Xerxeys''s force of 120,000 to 300,000 for a week.
And there were the famous Swiss mercenaries who rose to fame due to the fact these men fought to the end, which was the main reason they were quite feared.
It was said that when charging, these mercenaries would lower their pikes and charge straight into the enemy without any thought, and would not stop even if the other side lowered their pikes to try and stop them.
Which was not at all like how the pike or phnx typically fought.
The typical way such opposing units interacted was that they first lowered their pike and advanced, before slowly raising their weapons again as they approached, ultimately stopping a few meters away from each other, where they would start to skirmish-, poking, jabbing, thrusting to break the other side.
This was the norm because if both sides collided with their pikes or spears down, it would have been a bloodbath on either side, with the 3 to 5 meter spears decimating the front rows and turning the men into shashliks.
No ruler would be able to find such a suicidal group to fight for him.
But the Swiss mercenaries would do exactly that, the crazy bastards.
They would be willing to impale their own first few echelons with the enemy''s pikes, turning the entire front into shredded paper, just to do the same to the enemy.
Of course, usually, such a thing did not happen.
For though those mercenaries might have been willing tomit this type of mass suicide just to kill their enemies and earn their paycheck, most of the time, their opponents were not.
So when a Swiss mercenary charged, typically the other side ran, because they knew these men would not stop even if they lowered their pikes.
But in the rare case it did, where the other side was also just as well trained, and perhaps not quite right in the head, the mercenaries did indeed follow through on their threat, for their reputation and livelihood would be on the line, and the result would be a massacre of both the enemy and themselves.
All these examples went to show that if an enemy did not break and stood his ground, it was very, very hard to win, even for a transmigration with 3,000 years of advanced knowledge.
After all, the people of 3,000 years ago were not dumb, just less knowledgeable.
And reminding himself of that, Alexander could only chalk up this defeat to the other side having fought better.
Although he was not entirely meless for their defeat, the result certainly had more to do with Perseus fighting tooth and nail rather than deficiencies in Alexander''s nning and execution.
Thus turning to Hemicus, Alexander ordered, "Split the reserves into two and have them ride towards the nks."
"You take the left and I will go right! They will act as rear guards while I blow the trumpet signaling the retreat."
"......" To this the usual taciturn Hemicus did not say anything in protest.
But he also did not ept the order with a quick military salute.
Instead, he only stood there with a sullen face, saying to himself regarding Alexander, ''If you had not wasted so much time talking endlessly, but charged into the reserves, we could have won already!''
And Alexander seemed to have detected such a thought, as putting a light smile, he turned to look at his bodyguard captain and let him in on some ssified information,
" If we retreat, we will be able to fight another here. But if we lose, not only will it invigorate Perseus, it will also make my other enemies around Zanzan have thoughts."
"Camius has already informed me that many rats and cockroaches are scuttling around the various noble houses of Zanzan, trying to rally an army against me."
"My sess in Tibias must have surely gotten many feathers riled up. The fact that Amenheraft''s right hand man Manuk was here is a clear testament to that."
"No one has acted yet because they are fearful of my army. But if I were to lose it¡.." Alexander shook his head as he trailed off, not wanting to think of the consequences.
But then quickly picked up his head and ended the segment on a cheerier note,
"Don''t feel sad, my friend. In one year we have managed to conquer morends from Tibias than multiple generations of Adhanian kings had managed to do over a thousand years."
"Hahaha! What is this but only a minor setback?"
Chapter 873 Hemicus’s Bold Move
Chapter 873 Hemicus''s Bold Move
?873 Hemicus''s Bold Move
Chapter 873
"Hahaha! What is this but only a minor set back?"
It was with such a breezy sentence that Alexander decided to soothe Hemicus''s aching heart, presenting the currently, already decided in his mind result, as more of a small inconvenience rather than a decisive defeat, and asking the man that he should not take too much note of it.
"*Nod*" And although it was unknown how much of that Hemicus bought, he at least outwardly appeared to consent.
"Good." That was enough for Alexander, for internally even he was a bit peeved at this loss.
But hiding that slight bitterness, he smiled at the man and then urging his horse forward, started to ride towards his right nks, leaving Hemicus with the words, "You go too! Quickly!"
With Alexander''smand, the cavalry reserves were quickly set into position, forming a solid defensive line ready to act as the rear guard and harass the enemy while the legionaries retreated.
As Hemicus finished his preparation and was waiting for Alexander to blow his trumpet signaling the end of the battle, all of a sudden this experienced mercenary leader noticed it!
An opportunity!
His keen eyes noticed that the 7,000 units led by Crown Prince Philips on his side of the nk, themselves had their nks open to him!
Best yet, these men had not noticed him!
Thus seeing this a sudden thought shot through Hemicus like lighting.
A very, very bold thought.
"Look! The enemy''s wings, its open! Charge! We can charge!" Hemicus loudly said, excitedly pointing his finger at Philips''s units, his voice carried by the wind to the men nearby.
Who were at first confused, and then a bit terrified.
Not because he was wrong but because what Hemicus was proposing to do went directly against Alexander''s order- attacking the enemy when the institution was to defend.
"Captain! That¡." So one of his adjutants even tried to talk some sense to him.
However, allured by the potential of victory, Hemicus did not even wait to listen to the man, and throwing all that Alexander had said out the window, he blew his own trumpet in a very specific way, one that signaled the men to charge.
"With me! Charge!" And even shouting themand himself, the man led the men from the front,nce in hand, lowered and ready, the body bent close to the horse, legs firmly inside the stirrups.
"......Ahhhhh!"
And seeing their leader pulling off such a move, although the surrounding men were at first bbergasted by it, upon actually seeing the magnificent horse gallop fearlessly across the horizon towards the enemy, after a brief moment of stunned silence, they had little option other than to follow suit and charge.
Thus the 1,000 rear guards that Alexander set on this side of the battlefield, suddenly were no more.
They were now the attacking force.
The reasoning behind such an act could definitely be either praised or criticized, as either seizing the opportunity or as reckless glory hunting, especially since this was not at all like how Hemicus usually acted.
But it seemed that this time, whatever the reason, the man had.
And this was not as strange as one might think.
After all, people were not cardboard cutout caricatures of just one trait.
Butposed of a hodgepodge of various, many times conflicting characteristics, which revealed themselves only under specific circumstances.
And this was one of those instances, with Hemicus showing a wildly different facade.
Although he never showed it outwardly, the man was a fiercelypetitive individual, especially when it came to winning wars.
Thus the reckless charge, as the man disobeyed Alexander and still wished to win the battle even after all this, putting all his faith in the phrase- ''Fortune favors the bold!"
Hemicus galloped towards Philips like a freight train, dividing the 1,000 men cavalry into ten 100 men units, arranging them in double lines of 500 men each, thus presenting the 50 riders in the very first echelon the chance to draw first blood.
And it was an attack that the Crown Prince was not even aware was beingunched against him, for he did not even have any knowledge of the existence of any enemy reserves.
He thought Alexander had alreadymitted everything to the frontlines.
Thus instead he ced his eyes squarely on the enemy in front of him, as Philips both excitedly and with shaking trepidation shouted phrasessuch as,
"Just a bit more! Just a bit more and we will have finally won this battle! Just a bit more men."
The man''s throat sounded sore by now and he kept on saying that particr phrase, like this was a supplication to the gods.
And this was the simr mindset for many of his officers too, who focused all their attention on the enemy in the front, urging the men to break through as fast as possible, for they too were worried that the center might not hold.
To them, this seemed like a contest between Alexander''s nks and their center, a fight of willpower, a show of strength to show who could hold on the longer.
And understandably everyone on both sides was concerned.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Thus, consumed by all these thoughts, it was not until Hemicus was literally 50 meters away from making contact that the other side finally detected him, the dust cloud, the roars of the men, the neighing of the horse, and most notably the terrifying thudding sound waking the phngites to the peril they were imminently facing.
And even then, only the soldiers in the outermost fringes of the formation and the closest to Hemicus were able to detect him, for the battlefield was a very noisy ce, and the helmets the soldiers wore restricted all peripheral vision.
But even if the entire formation could have detected Hemicus, by then there was pitifully little they could have done anyway.
Hemicus was literally a few seconds from crashing into them, and
Bang!
Closing the distance in a second in the blink of an eye, the man crashed into the wide open, undefended formation with almost half a ton of mass traveling at 30 km an hour like a cannonball, producing a thundering thud and ear piercing shriek of the dead as he made contact, opening up a gap literally three rows deep in that section.
The force of the impact had been so much that hisnce had snapped off at the hilt, lodging itself first into a phngites''s shield which it pierced, then continued onward to skewer the man, following which it pierced the stomach of the man behind him, before sending the duo flying and making them crash into the third row, knocking the trio off their feet.
Such was the fearsome power of a proper heavy cavalry charge.
And following close suit with Hemicus, the rest of the 49 men too made contact, inflicting simr wounds and opening up a gaping hole in the enemy''s defenses.
"Wha¡ where¡ what was that?"
"Who¡ how is ¡."
"What''s happening?"
And the attack was so sudden that many of the officers, including Philips lost control of their speech momentarily.
''Was there another army nearby? Are we being ambushed?'' The extent of the wound was so much so that the Crown Prince even thought this incredulously.
Rumble! Bang!
And even before he could understand what the hell was going on, Hemicus''s second wave hit again, expanding on the gap, while theThesians there panicked.
"The right! We are being attacked on the right!"
"Cavalry! We are being attacked by cavalry!"
"Slingers! Get the slingers!"
"Dead! So many dead!"
"Shields up! Turn!"
"Run! It''s an ambush!"
All kinds of mismatched shouts could be heard drifting across the battlefield, and even before any of the officers coulde up with a counterstrategy,
Rumble! Bang!
The third wave hit.
And that seemed to be the point at which Philips''s men started to crumble.
These Thesians were hired-help and not nearly as zealous as the Tibians in the center.
So when things got bad, like how blood escaped the wound, Hemicus''s attack caused the men in the near vicinity to start to panic and melt away.
And disrupted by this attack, the frontal offense of the unit too came to an almost abrupt halt, as the phngites there began to look around curiously to try and find out what themission was to their right, from where there seemed to being loud bursts of screaming.
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*, *Trumpet*
But just as Philips''s unit was about to copse, Alexander, unaware of this great sess on his other nk, blew the trumpet of retreat just like nned.
In fact, he had blown it a while ago.
It was just that it had taken the other trumpeters some time to pass the message along.
After all, Alexander''s one trumpet could not of course cover a battlefield kilometers long.
As for why the man had not chosen to recognize the opportunity that Hemicus had, well, firstly it was because of the mindset.
Unlike Hemicus, Alexander was not still trying to think of a win here but primarily focused on preserving his army.
While the second reason was that unfortunately, Perseus had also ced the 12 elephants on Alexander''s right nks, discouring Alexander from copying Hemicus.
Any heavy cavalry charge had the potential of turning into a massacre just likest time.
Thus Alexander refrained.
"Do not pay attention to that! Continue the attack!"
But if you thought Hemicus was going to stop the stop just because he heard the bell, then you were sorely mistaken!
Chapter 874 The Retreat from Lilybee
Chapter 874 The Retreat from Lilybee
?874 The Retreat from Lilybee
Hemicus''s sudden cavalry charge and the destruction it wrought once again paid homage to the immense danger heavy cavalry carried if it was not properly dealt with and allowed to act as they pleased.
Even with just 1,000, the man was able to cripple a force 7 times his size.
It just went on to show that there was indeed a reason why European cavalry, like the famed covered in te armor French knights on horseback, was one of the most if not the most deadly thing on a medieval battlefield.
Thus it was very conceivable to know that by Hemicus''s fourth cavalry charge, Philips''s units on the nks had been decimated, with blood, bodies, and corpses strewn all about, while Hemicus did not even have a single dead, just one wounded on the arm.
And facing such dire odds, that wing was no longer able to take the full brunt of the attack and they finally broke.
"Escape!"
"It''s too much."
"We can''t hold on!"
"Run for your life!"
Such shouts started to first emanate in small corners of the formation, before spreading like wildfire across all the ranks, until the Thesian contingent of Perseus''s army was no more, as it fled, scattering into the winds like a pile of loose sands.
And among these escapees was included the Crown Prince- Philips too!
The man had tried for a few desperate moments to hold the line, but no one was in their right mind to listen to this ''foreigner''.
After all, to the Thesians, he was no prince of theirs.
In fact, given the political philosophy of the Thesians, they actually disliked titles such as prince.
So with his formation crumbling, Philips''s bodyguards quickly urged him to escape while he still had the chance, and taking onest look at Hemicus''s thundering attacks and hearing the fearful rumble of the hooves of the horses kicking against the ground, the prince prudently heeded the advice of these experienced men.
It was also fortunate that the man was right in the middle of his formation so Hemicus could not get to him in time, thus having to let the big fish escape.
But at least this captain of the bodyguards could im to have aplished what he had beenmanded to do- not let the enemy pursue the retreating units.
Because with the enemy''s right wing having been clipped, and the phngites too tired to give chase, the retreat of the legionaries on at least this side of the battlefield was guaranteed to be smooth.
Furthermore, on a more personal note, Hemicus could also take sce in the fact that he had managed to badly maul a certain section of the enemy army and make them draw some blood.
In fact, seeing all the fleeing soldiers, all juicy targets in his eyes, the man even contemted giving chase and inflicting the finishing killing blows, truly raking up the casualties and making the enemy suffer.
''Perhaps after the legionaries have safety retreated,'' However the man eventually restrained himself.
For he was aware that although Alexander might not object to his prior little ''excursion'' as if obtained results, if Hemicus were to go glory hunting at this crucial moment, then, no matter what the results were, or how great the rewards he was able to obtain, Alexander would surely severely reprimand him.
So Hemicus, with a tinge of bitterness in his heart, decided to those men escape, his eyes looking longingly at all those delicious prey.
Until suddenly he had another thought!
Just likest time!
Hemicus felt he did not need all 1,000 men to guard the retreating legionaries, notably since the enemy''s attacking potential had been greatly diminished.
So turning to his second hand man, he tasked him with taking 300 men to chase the stragglers down, while he stayed behind and carried out Alexander''s directives, thus achieving the best of both worlds.
And things truly did develop just like that, the legionaries retreating to their camp in good formation and with very little harassment.
While it was quite splendid on this side of the battlefield, for Alexander, on his own side, things were a bit more difficult.
The retreating signal of the trumpet had first echoed in that part of the battlefield, and like Hemicus''s side, the legionaries also started to retreat in good order all things considered, but to help the men maintain this order, Alexander''s rear guard had to put in some effort unlike their counterpart.
Primarily, the 1,000 men found themselves riding their horses expertly back and forth, whirling around the battlefield and letting out arrows from the ''Instant bows'' they carried, unleashingrge volleys in rapid session topensate for theirck of experience and uracy.
Here, the rear guards'' main target was actually not any infantry trying to catch the tail of the retreating legionaries, as those formations were too bulky and the men too tired to aplish that effectively.
But instead, it was the 12 elephants.
These behemoths, armored with thick leather hide, and having many swords tied to their tasks had repeatedly tried to charge Alexander, but the rear guard always made sure to keep at least 100 meters gap from these beasts, only willing to engage them in long range and swiftly retreating if the beasts tried to charge.
They were also aided in this endeavor by the fact that for many of the horses in that unit, this was the third time they were seeing these lumbering, four legged giants.
So by now, these animals had gotten sort of used to their presence.
Although notpletely immune to the smell and size of these Indian elephants, the steeds were at least not quite as jittery and hard to control as before.
So the mahouts controlling the elephants, seemingly unable to confront Alexander in a head to head battle, had little option other than to shoot arrows and throw javelins to try and inflict some damage.
But having just 12 elephants, and tasked with facing 1,000 men, these sporadic attacks were really inadequate, almost akin to a mosquito bite.
While Alexander too did minimum damage to the elephants since they were heavily armored and Alexander''s long ranged shotscked enough strength to prate them.
As ast ditch effort, Perseus had urged the mercenaries to try and do something about these, these men had already suffered and were unwilling to break out of their formation and risk taking casualties.
So they restricted their attack to only the periphery of Alexander''s nks,unching one or two opportunistic attacks and reaping a few unlucky lives.
In this way, once the legionaries managed to retreat about two kilometers, Alexander and hispany too then broke contact and started to fall back, leaving their dead and wounded behind.
And Perseus could only watch them leave with regretful eyes.
Alexander would return to his campter than most of the soldiers, the wooden barricaded structure being almost five kilometers away from the battlefield, situated alongside a pristineke.
And upon entering, he would immediately issue the order,
"Get the wounded treated. Tally the dead. And start serving meals for the soldiers."
The battle had been a hard, brutal slog, with the entirety of the fighting havingsted about six hours, from around mid morning tote afternoon, so all the soldiers were undoubtedly tired.
Thus the following night the men would have little energy to cause anymotion, causing an unusual stillness to descent upon the camp, as the only sounds that came were the snores of the men, the pained groans of the wounded as they were treated in the infirmary, and the officers reflected on the happenings of the past few hours to try and figure out there they went wrong.
This was especially true for the top brass, like Alexander, who found the quietness of the camp like a quagmire where his thoughts could descent into, as the man paced back and forth for hours trying to determine why they lost, what he could have done differently and what the current results meant for him.
And it was only veryte into the night that the man would finally let his tired body know thefort of rest.
Over the next few days, Alexander would still camp where he was, spending most of his time listening tobat casualty reports, enemy troop movement and if they were marching towards him, and most important of all, the post battlefield analysis.
And regarding that, the group woulde to all the simr conclusions that Alexander already had made on the battlefield, such as the mistakes of making the wings entirely out of Tibians, not properly armoring the oxen, and that the enemy''s morale in that fight was too high.
Regarding that oxen strategy, it was also determined that the use of ox pulled wagons as barricades from behind which crossbowmen could safely shoot as being an unviable tactic.
The military officers would im the oxen and their handlers were too squishy to be able to be reliably protected in the heat of the battle, and thus the future of having a mobile line of safe barricades that could aid the archers any time anywhere had to be scrapped.
Alexander was certainly deted by that news as it had seemed like a very good idea in his head.
But like how there were many things that sounded good on paper but were found to be unviable in real life. this was one other example.
But hey! If you try new things, some things work, some don''t.
Chapter 875 Perseus’s Aftermath
Chapter 875 Perseus''s Aftermath
?Chapter 875
While Alexander drowning in self reflection and worrying himself over the potential repercussions of the result of this battle, you would think Perseus would be out and about celebrating this great win.
By now the city of Lilybee should have been buzzing with noises of loud celebrations and grand feasts, with good food and great wine flowing as the men cheered their hard won victory and toasted to the beginning of the grand reconquest of their country from the hands of the evil conqueror- Alexander.
But contrary to such an expectation, the city of Lilybee was actually unusually quiet, with little color in the air.
Instead, it was like a mist of mncholy had clouded over it.
For Perseus was in a gloomy mood despite the win.
It had been too costly.
This ''victory''?was nothing like the grand win that was required for the king to make aeback, instead the hard fought slogging match had sapped more and more of his strength, leaving him actually weaker than he faced against Alexander.
And the after- battle analysis and the tally of the dead would really show that.
Over the past few days, Perseus''s men, as the victors,bed through the battlefield, performing the various tasks that were required after each battle.
This included retrieving all the fallen weapons and armor, rescuing the friendly wounded,?capturing or if the wound was too dire, mercy- killing the enemy wounded, andst of all, tallying and burying the dead from both sides.
And once this was all done, the men quickly put forward their findings to their king, firstmenting on Alexander''s losses, which they imed to be at around 10,000 dead and wounded.
This certainly sounded like a lot if it was true, as it would be 25% of his total force- a grievous blow indeed.
However, although somewhat urate, which was a remarkable feat itself, the digits looked worse on paper than what they really represented in real life.
For among those reported 10,000 losses, 8,000 were the peasant Tibians, who had fled the battlefield.
Those were all auxiliaries, and although it could not be said that their loss did not hurt Alexander, it was more of a flesh wound than anything grievous.
In some ways, it could even be argued that the loss of those weak links actually helped Alexander strengthen his army.
After that 8,000 loss, came the casualty of oxen handlers, which was 500 dead and wounded.
But these men were not soldiers but ves and servants.
So in reality, Alexander''s actual loss to his own army was around 1,500 dead and wounded, which was of course a much more managable number.
Whilst on the opposite spectrum, Perseus''s loss also almost reached Alexander''s, being at around 8,000.
And this was despite him winning!
This was mainly the reason the presenting officer had started with Alexander''s numbers, to try and soothe Perseus''s mood first, like a child showing his parents the good grades before that one subject he got a C-.
Although it was unknown how effective this tactic was here, as upon reading it, though the king did notsh out, the officer did notice Perseus''s eyes visibly dim.
Although not as much as Alexander, to Perseus, who had far fewer resources, these numbers were devastating.
And worse still, these losses were quite impactful as many of these bodies were of trained men.
Perseus had taken the first major chunk of casualty when Talukder (Viscount) Prantik had broken through the center, routing the formation there, and trying to make a breakthrough.
There Perseus had taken around 1,000 dead and wounded, saved from a greater tragedy by the fact that the Talukder (Viscount) could not pursue these fleeing men and kill more due to Mithriditus''s reserves blocking them..
Following that came the greatest part of the loss, which was just in the midst of the battle itself.
Perseus took another 3,000 to 3,500 men here, and among these, almost all the men had died!
For such was the intensity of the battle.
This one number could really show just how zealously the Tibian had fought, as just those casualties were to equal 10 percent of his total force.
Typically an army broke and ran once it reached 5 percent casualty.
Armies with poor morale could rout at rates half as that.
While the only armies who could withstand 10 to 15 percent casualty were the ultra zealous ones, usually fanatically religious in nature, like the Arabs during the Early Imic Golden Age of Expansion, the Knight Temrs, or the Spanish Inquisitors.
So for the lowly peasants to have withstood such an assault, really went on to show Perseus''s charisma, and one should also never forget Mithriditus''s valiant sacrifice.
It would not be wrong to say that the man had single handeldly turned the tide of the battle for his king.
For without his charge and subsequent martyrdom, it was very likely Alexander would have won.
After that was thest part of Perseus''s casualties, which came from the heavy cavalry charge that Hemicus had carried out, followed up by the hounding of the 300 cavalrymen that chased the fleeing enemy and reaped many lives, resulting in the loss of another 3,000 to 4,000 men, with the wounded still making back to the city even as they spoke.
In fact, the losses here could even be said to be 7,000, as devastated by the losses, the surviving Thesian units were urging Perseus to give them their pay and requisition ships, for they wanted to return.
After taking 50% to 60% casualties, these men seemingly had enough.
And it took a lot of cajoling and even a bit of arm twisting on Perseus''s part to make them stay, as he gave them various excuses at various times.
No money.
No avable ships.
And even straight up saying- ''you cannot go'' was among the many reasons given.
But even the king knew forcing such unwilling men to fight in the long term was not an option.
Who knew when they would rebel?
Perhaps in the middle of another battle even.
But the king was now desperate for more bodies.
So he had little option other than to take these drastic measures and gamble that the shared histories of their twonds would be enough to keep the men fighting.
It remained to be seen how prudent of a move that would be.
Aside from being burdened with the pain of suffering such losses on the military side, the man also had to deal with personal tragedies that came about as a result of the battle.
Most obviously, the loss of Mithriditus came as a great blow to Perseus.
The regal man would never forget how the old man''s body looked after it was retrieved from the battlefield.
Crushed, mangled, stomped on, and squished by the feet of many thousands of men as the individual units moved back and forth the battlefield, the face barely had any recognizable features left.
Instead, the entire thing looked more like a lump of homogenous meat.
But the wounds across the body were still very telltale, and Perseus counted eleven punctures, ced all over the upper torso of the body in various depths.
While his horse¡. well the poor animals had more wood sticking out of it than skin and meat.
And seeing this gruesome sight, although Perseus had seen far worse, he could not help but shed tears.
For the old man was almost like a father figure to the king and even though Mithriditus had won him the battle, Perseus half the time wished he had not.
Sometimes he wished the genteel, elderly man was still with him even if he had to lose the battle.
At one time, the stately king even slightly rebuked himself for not taking Alexander''s offer when given the chance.
Perhaps they woudl have had a happier ending if he had.
And it was a thought reinforced by the fact that two of his five sons too had died in battle, both of them while fighting in the frontlines, one with a stab right to the left lungs, while the other died two dayster from a stomach wound, his ending being much more drawn out and painful.
But from this, it could really be seen that it was not only Mithriditus''s sacrifice that had held the center together, royal blood too had to be sacrificed.
And it was mainly because of these three great deaths that Perseus forbade anyrge show of celebrations with the city, instead dering a week of mourning for the three, as well as all the heroic, dead soldiers.
Following that, a grand funeral was held in the men''s honor on the third day after the battle and Perseus then retreated into a gloomy mood.
His mind felt like it was being consumed from all sides due to the pressure and he could not decide on his next move.
Mainly he felt torn on whether he should offer Alexander his peace terms or push his luck and keep fighting on.
And although many of his retainers urged him on thetter, Perseus, showing them the aftermath of their ''victory'', would famously say, "One more win like this, and ''We'' are undone."
(Quote taken from Pyrrhus of Epirus.)
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 876 A Slight Lull
Chapter 876 A Slight Lull
?Chapter 876
In the following days after the battle, Alexander was in his camp finding himself inundated with a whole lot of work.
First and foremost, he hade to the conclusion that the ox pulled wagon strategy was a bust.
Which did somewhat put a bit of a damper on the man.
He had been quite excited by this idea when he first thought about it, thinking he had found a real life hack.
If it did work as he had intended, he would not have had to use infantry to protect the vulnerable crossbow units, but let the wooden wagon act like the shields, making them impassable for the enemy and freeing up his legionaries for use elsewhere.
But although a sound theory, when that met reality, well, the tactic did not pan out as Alexander had thought in his head.
Welp.
After that, Alexander had toe to an agreement about what to do with Hemicus and thatst minute heavy charge the man made against his orders.
Which posed a bit of a dilemma for Alexander, as given on one hand the attack clearly showed its results, with a great many dead, while on the other hand, just because it worked this time did not mean it would work every other time.
It only took one failure to ruin the past ten sesses and Alexander did not want his officers to be taking such great risks on their own whims.
But credit to Hemicus, when he was asked by Alexander to exin his reasoning, he presented his case very cleverly, not pointing to the result of his charge because the man had known Alexander long enough, but instead the reason behind it, saying that it was a move designed to ''help the legionaries retreat by preemptively destroying the enemy.''
That was a novel phraseing out of Hemicus.
So, impressed by this articte presentation, although Alexander knew this was more an excuse rather than a reason, he decided to let the man off with a knowing smirk and a simple warning, "If you are going to do something like this in the future, be sure to tell me beforehand. Do not do such things on your own."
Although Alexander was able to overlook Hemicus''s little act, one other very important thing that he could not let off so easily was the Tibian nobles breaking and running away during the battle, despite the urging of Lord Theony.
That matter was indeed very grave.
And Alexander did have meetings questioning the nobles about it.
But in those sessions, the men vehemently denied any such ''nders'' of cowardice but instead turned their fingers to deficiencies of the ox pulled wagons and handlers, iming it was them that ran first.
"With our front screens gone, we then asked for reinforcements from you, my lord. But unfortunately, we have received no such help. Thus as you can see we had no other option other than to retreat lest we be overrun!"
One of the nobles cleverly took credit for Lord Theony''s decision, which got a huge rise from thetter, but the man was unable to change the other side''s narrative.
And then to further bolster their im, the interrogated men also pointed to Alexander''s other nk to show that that side too had suffered a simr fate, thus justifying their act.
From a purely ''on paper'' report, these men did indeed make a strong case for themselves.
It was also because of that that although Alexander knew the nobles here were only making excuses, with multiple ounts from independent sources saying the nobles deserted the field rather than being routed, for the time being, Alexander decided to pretend to buy this rhetoric.
He was still at war and thus wanted to be under more favorable circumstances before picking a fight with his newly conquered nobles, lest rebellions sprout up like mushrooms all over the country.
But that also did not mean Alexander let these men roam scot free all around the camp.
He put many of the suspected nobles, especially the most vocal one under house arrest, or perhaps more appropriately, since they were on a campaign, ''tent arrest''.
But at the same time to maintain peace in the camp, he also promised the loyal troops and bodyguards of those men that their lords were fine and unharmed and that they were only being investigated for ipetence in battle.
Alexander even allowed a select few of the captured rtives to interact with them, to let them verify that what he said was indeed true.
After that, Alexander came to the matter regarding Lord Theony, and the loss of his newly appointed heir- Gnaeus.
It was said that when the man had first seen the cold, lifeless body with the bolt still struck through the throat, Lord Theony had not broken down into tears in grief, but instead flew into an uncontroble rage, even threatening to kill his right hand man Jupiter right then and there for failing to protect his precious son.
In fact, if Menes had not been close by and forcefully stopped this friendly fire using his great strength, Lord Theony might have indeed seeded and Jupiter could have been no more.
Following that, Lord Theony had for the next two days retreated into his tent with a very dark face, constantly rebuking himself for cing his son in the jaws of danger.
Here, he could not even me Alexander because it was he who had asked the Pasha to give the boy that task.
''It''s all my fault. I should have never asked him toe to the battlefield. He would have been so much better off back home.'' Lord Theony found himself pooling in regret.
Letting his son die as his house''s steward did not seem like such a bad idea right now, given the alternative was death on the battlefield.
Alexander had gone to offer his personal condolence for the loss, giving the man some time off from many of the duties required of him.
He had not also discussed the matter of session to him, which would involve reinstating the post to Theony, leaving that eventuality forter.
Aside from these discussions and analysis, Alexander also went to see the wounded and injured, visiting the camp clinic to see how the men were doing and what types of new procedures had the doctors there been able toe up with.
The clinic wasposed of a series of veryrge tents, each dedicated to different stages of medical care as the injured men wereid on makeshift cots, their faces etched with both pain and gratitude for the aid they were receiving.
The atmosphere inside was a juxtaposition of agony and hope, the moans of the wounded being punctuated by the soft-
spoken words of caregivers offering reassurance.
As Alexander entered, his nose was with a sharp stench made of blood, gore, herbal medicine, and soap, with the first thing he saw when he entered were many ves with mops and buckets of soapy water constantly cleaning the floor.
His arrival caused a multitude of cheers, smiles, and even just grateful looks for the more injured to emanate from the vicinity, and here Alexander spent some time talking to and asking for the well being of the men, bringing great sce to these individuals,
They felt blessed to be able to personally talk to a man as high up thedder as Alexander, with the more religious type even feeling like they were talking to a blessed of the gods.
Along with the injured of course, Alexander also roamed across the clinic observing and asking the various doctors about the ins and outs of their operation, how well they had been performing, and if there were any shortages of any herbs and medicines.
Alexander even watched a few ''surgeons'' work on the more severely injured, although calling them butchers might have been more appropriate given the nature of their work.
Surgery usually consisted of one thing, cutting something off, which was always gruesome.
The procedure usually involved holding the person down with several strong men, putting a gag in his mouth so that he did not identally bite his tongue off, and then hacking the part off as fast as possible with a saw as sharp as possible.
To that effect these patiently were aided, by whatever small amount, by the fact the medical camp had ess to Alexander''s high quality steel, and thus were able to make tools such as saws sharper than anything out there, thus reducing the cutting time.
It was not much, but when you are being literally cut apart, every single microsecond helped.
And speaking of tools, Alexander got to see a whole of them, some old, but many new.
The most impressive thing that Alxx got to see was the implementation of a new kind of forceps, called Hemostatic Forceps, which were specially designed to literally mp down on any severed blood vessel and stop the bleeding.
This practice was based on their newly found knowledge of blood vessels, as they discovered that blood flowed through the body in specialized ''tunnels'' called blood vessels, and not at all like how it was previously imagined- which was that it flowed like the ebbs and tides of the sea.
Chapter 877 Resumption of Hostilities
Chapter 877 Resumption of Hostilities
?Chapter 877
Alexander''s visit to the clinic had been quite a fruitful one, as he got to see many of the advances being made there, letting him confirm that the money and resources pouring into that institution were not being wasted.
It also boosted morale among the downed men, many of whom would not be able to return to normal life even if they managed to recover, and Alexander''s assurance that they would be well taken care of no matter what pleased them greatly.
And as Alexander left the premises, he could overhear the conversations between the various men, sharing their stories, making the clinic a ce not only for physical healing but also a space of sce.
All these activities took around a week, and with his forces rested, reorganized, and ready, Alexander was once again confronted with the decision of what to do next, to attack,y siege to the city or simply negotiate.
"We should attack again!"
And given Perseus had chosen not to give them chase but lick his wounds and recuperate inside Lilybee, many of his officers urged Alexander to go at it for a second time, taking the act as a kind of weakness on the king''s part.
And as Alexander thought about it, he certainly found merit to this.
Furthermore, it was a thought reinforced by the fact that Perseus had sent out peace feelers again, offering Alexander the same conditions as before- half the country, a marriage with one of his daughters, and a yearly indemnity as tribute.
And there were some nobles, mostly of Tibian origins who strongly pleaded with Alexander to take this offer, saying it would help prevent any further blood loss.
While his blue blooded Zanzan nobles, people like Jamider (Earl) Yoosuq, vehemently protested, as they were determined to strangle their long awaited rival to death now that they were finally given the chance.
"Do not let him rest and recuperate. He will certainly attack once he gains his strength back." They had very reasonably imed.
As for the men closer to Alexander, people like Menes, Heliptos, and others, well, they appeared more neutral, choosing to defer to Alexander''s decision.
And thus confronted with the choices, Alexander weighed the pros and cons of his option for two days and two nights.
Until a certain information broke the deadlock.
And the source of that information came from the opposite camp- Perseus''s!
e afternoon, while he was resting his head, Alexander was informed by a herald that there was a man iming to be from Perseus''s camp wanting to speak to him.
Alexander was intrigued by this, thinking to himself, ''Defecting even after winning? Is Perseus''s situation that bad? Or is there a personal reason?''
Thus he decided to let the man in,
This messenger, as he entered, Alexander found to be a stout and muscr man, with messy hair and limpid eyes, emanating an aura of slight wariness.
It seemed he was still apprehensive about walking into the center of the enemy''s den.
But uponying his eyes on Alexander, such thoughts appeared to be cast aside, as the man quickly greeted, "Greetings Pasha of Zanzan. It is truly an honor to meet a fellow Thesian all the way out here. I''m Zanatos of Thyrentum."
The man''s tone was tinged with a bit of pride upon revealing the man of his city, for was arge regional power, while his words were phrased like finding Alexander was a Thesian was a great surprise.
"Haha, well for me, it is not much surprising to meet a fellow Thesian like you, my friend. I heard Perseus was a great ally of the city states," While Alexander''s reply quite readily and explicitly showed his displeasure at the man choosing to side with Perseus and thus interfere in his personal matters.
"....." The messenger''s lips twitched awkwardly hearing so.
He had hoped for a more amicable first greeting.
But that did not keep the man for too long, as quickly shing a jovial smile like nothing had happened, he stepped forward, and revealed in a clear, professional tone,
"My lord, I''m sure you are a very busy man so I will not take much of your time. Permit to exin the reason why I''m here."
"We are part of an allied contingent sent by a collision of city states who responded to the King Perseus''s call for aid in defending hisnds."
"But after taking great losses in thest two battles, we found yourselves unable to withstand the casualties. Many, many of our brothers, whom we have known for years if not decades have left us."
"None of us are willing to die in this foreignnd, anyone."
"Hence we first asked the king to pay our due coin and let us leave."
"But he has refused to do either. Saying he is short of coin and also he does not have enough ships."
At this point, the man shook his head in a bit of disgust as if he wasmenting how a man could work freemen like ves, before ultimately raising his head again with a bit of icy coldness to it,
"It is because of that we turn to you- a fellow Thesian, my lord."
"We are willing to defect to your side during any of the following battles given the signal!"
"In return, all we ask is that you pay our due coin and arrange ships for our departure." Finishing the man then looked at Alexander with hopeful eyes.
"........" While Alexander himself did not immediately say yes or no, but keeping a stoic external facade, he traced his chin as if in deep contemtion.
While inside, he was already doing cartwheels.
This offer the man made to defect was a like pie of the sky for him, a great boon, and something he would have epted even if the asking price was twice or thrice.
Hence Alexander had already made up his mind the moment he heard it, although he did not immediately ept it for fear of appearing too eager.
"How many are you?" Instead, he produced a pretended reluctant face, as if to say that his own coin was in short supply and if there were too many he might not be able to pay.
"5,000 my lord." But if Alexander thought such a rudimentary technique was going to work then he was sorely mistaken, because these men knew Alexander had taken the country''s capital, and reasoned that he surely must have a lot of cash.
Hence they even inted their own numbers, both to swindle extra money by presenting these extra ''ghost'' personnel, but also to appear more important to Alexander.
Hearing that, for the next hour, the two sides would haggle a bit over the total coin to be paid, and finally set on this- Alexander would pay them their 6 months due sry, but would deduct the ship expenses from that.
Furthermore, in exchange, Alexander also wanted thetest news about Perseus''s situation.
And from there, Alexander came to know a lot.
The first and most obvious of that was of course Perseus''s shortage of gold, as evidenced by his inability to pay these men.
This had already anticipated this, given the king had lost his main source of ie, his capital, as well as having his camp looted.
But still, it was nice to see oneself was right.
In addition, Alexander also learned of Perseus''s actual losses, his armyposition, his overreliance on mercenaries, with the mention of the familiar name Petricuno, andstly the amount of men avable to the king.
All these information proved immensely critical in helping Alexander make up his mind, as putting all these together, he only had to do a simple bit of math to find the most logical answer.
He thought, ''Perseus lost almost 10,000. 5,000 more are ready to defect. That leaves what¡. only 20,000 men with him. I have 30,000.''
Thus, with the numbers speaking for themselves,Alexander ultimately rejected Perseus''s peace offer, instead once again reiterating his own terms, which were- safety for Perseus and his family, a monthly stipend to them, and a plot ofnd in Zanzan in exchange for giving up all ims to the throne, i.e.- the whole of Tibias.
However, as the victor of thest battle, this was of course not Perseus, not only for the few nobles still fighting with him, but also to him personally, as if he epted it, it would have meant Mithriditus and his own two sons had died for nothing.
So he tore up the offer, and two weekster decided to go on the offensive, taking his army out of the city tounch an assault on Alexander''s camp.
But there something unexpected happened.
Alexander did not give fight!
Instead, seeing Perseus approach, Alexander decided to retreat, as he packed up and left for the interior of Tibias, forcing Perseus to follow.
And why did Alexander employ this strategy?
Well, because of the intel that the messenger had given him.
From that Alexander knew that Perseus was running low on gold to pay his mercenaries which consisted of a majority of his army, so if those men got frustrated with ack of results and left, Perseus would be like a naked man all alone outside in the dead of winter.
Thus Alexander decided to y for time, like Scipio Africanus did with Hannibal.
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Chapter 878 Unexpected Developments
Chapter 878 Unexpected Developments
?Alexander held a small council upon his scouts'' report of the king''s intention to assault his camp.
And there he dered to his officers, "We will not fight Perseus here. There is no need to. We will bait him to give us chase further into Tibias."
"This will not only put strain on his supply train but also tire him out."
"We can also use the time to raise some reinforcements from friendly cities, such as the garrisons."
And to the officers, all these reasons that Alexander gave sounded quite good.
However, although sound, in reality, these were only rudimentary reasons, as Alexander kept the truly insightful ones restricted to him and his very close internal circle.
Alexander considered much of the intel he had received from the defecting messenger top secret and fearing a leak relegated it to only a few very trusted ears.
And it was these reasons that urged him to not engage Perseus right here and there, instead asking Alexander to run the man out of time.
After all, why fight a costly battle where there always existed the possibility of losing as well as the inevitable loss of Perseusecious lives, when you could simply run out the clock?
As per the messenger''s reveal none of them had been paid in months, so Alexander reasoned that if he drew out the conflict, surely the mercenaries would get frustrated with theirck of pay or results and rebel.
And since they made up arge part of Perseus''s army, even before this could happen, it was likely to make the king desperate.
And when you are desperate, you either make clouded judgments or are forced to make less than optimum ys just to stay in the game, kind of like drinking poison to stave off an unquenchable thirst.
Furthermore, courtesy of the messenger, Alexander was even aware of the acute ''thirst'' for gold possessed by the king, and how he hadmitted the shameful act of sacking one of his own cities just to stave off the ravenous mercenaries, using the blood of his own people to sate it.
It was surely a very scandalous move, and Alexander really hoped Perseus would repeat that.
Because although one such act would not be enough to cause widespread condemnation if Perseus was to turn it into a habitual practice, Alexander knew that surely even his loyal men would turn on him.
After all, many of these cities would be overseen by nobles with their own friends and family as well as their wealth.
Plus there was the fact that given Perseus''s levied nature of the army, there was bound to them some men from these various cities that the king might sack right in front of them.
Surely that would get the men riled up.
And if that were to happen, Alexander very much nned to add fuel to the fire, using the Thesians as intermediaries to incite a mutiny among Perseus''s ranks.
If possible, Alexander even nned to make his own secret offer to the mercenaries, promising them enough coin to defect.
With the recent conquests, Alexander had quite some spare coin on his hand.
It was due to all these reasons that Alexander decided not to give Perseus what he wanted- another decisive battle, but challenged the king to pursue him if he really wanted to get his country back.
"Hahaha, look Your Majesty! They are running. The enemy is running. This surely a great victory for us!" However, unaware of Alexander''s trap, many of Perseus''s retainers rejoiced at seeing Alexander''s tail, thinking they had managed to make the other side take grievous losses.
To them, the destruction of the two wings proved that.
Thus they were eager to give chase and retrieve as much territory as possible.
And Perseus concurred, being ted to see the results.
He knew that with the win, his men needed to see some tangible results, so pressing on his presumed advantage, Perseus started to doggedly chase Alexander throughout the countryside, eager to catch up, liberating thends and punishing the invaders.
However, this critysted only as much as five days, for contrary to his belief that he would be able to catch up soon and force a fight, the enemy appeared to him almost as far as the first day he had started.
Meaning Perseus had not been able to close any of the distance between the two parties despite the forced march he had put his men on.
In fact to the king it appeared as if the other side was happy to let him give them chase, but always making sure to keep a distance of a day or two''s match between themselves, not more, not less.
This was a result that very much surprised the man, as he found himself being caught off guard by the enemy''s marching pace.
Perseus had hoped to use his better knowledge of the terrain to catch up to Alexander.
But such a result was really to be expected.
After all, Alexander''s legionary formation was designed to be a light, nimble army, with much of the baggage train discarded in favor of the soldiers carrying their own equipment.
Thus, with the help of some local guides, the men were able to make quick progress despite traveling through the rough countryside.
Hence after about a week of this, Perseus found himself half hoping for Alexander to stop and give him a fight.
But that of course never happened, as Alexander only kept a fixed distance from Perseus, always baiting him to give chase but never letting himself be caught.
It was like as if they were afraid that the fish might escape if they ran too fast.
And after two weeks of this, the experienced king began to get a bad feeling seeing this.
However, despite his instinct, Perseus knew he had little choice other than to continue.
Hence, he took sce in the fact that he was ''liberating'' many of his conquerednds and showing off to his men all the earth that the enemy was forced to discard as he tucked his tail and ran.
While in the case of Alexander, during his chase, the man found himself busy too, every day finding himself having to coordinate with the scouts and the local guides regarding the route they were going to take tomorrow.
This might sound a bit weird, as one would think the way back would be easy given Alexander had alreadye from there.
But Alexander was of course not retreating in a straight line for the capital.
That would have been too simple and even not be ording to n.
Because his goal was not to return to Parthenigh but to take Perseus on a wild goose chase all around southern Tibias.
Thus the man chose to use a much more circuitous route.
To do this, Alexander would first consult the surrounding local poption about the terrain ahead, and then send riders two to three days ahead of the main force to scout out the ce.
This was done to verify any false or simply misinformed information and avoid the pitfall of running into any difficult or untraversable terrain which could impede their march and let Perseus catch up.
But such precautions werergely unnecessary here, as southern Tibias was rtively very t and there were few restricting terrains like marches and bogs scattered around.
Hence, throughout the fortnight, Perseus found himself always being offered the hope of being able to catch up to Alexander with just a little bit more marching.
It was amidst traveling as such that Perseus finally came to a city named Kalimat, situated near a river that was a tributary of a tributary of the mighty River Diannu.
And perched upon a solitary hill several kilometers west of the city, Alexander''s scouts quite quickly detected the royal, passing the information along to their camp some fifteen to twenty kilometers away.
Which Alexander received with only a muted nod, as it was only a standard report.
This was not the first time Perseus entered a city for the night during his chase, and Alexander expected nothing to happen, although he did hope the king sacked the city.
On that note, Alexander during the past days of travel had made sure to spread the news of Perseus''s shameful deed, sending small warning messages to all the cities he came by of the risk of letting Perseus in.
He had said to the scouting parties, "Go inform the governor of the cities that if Perseus decides to sack the city, they can open the gates and call for help from us."
It was something that Alexander had done only on a whim, not expecting any result as he did not think the surrounding nobles in the vicinity, most of whom were still loyal to Perseus would believe such a thing, even if it was the truth.
And indeed most did not, many even pinning the me on Alexander, saying that was all his doing and this was only a clever way to whitewash himself.
Hence imagine Alexander''s surprise when that very night, he was suddenly woken up by Hemicus, informing Alexander that one of the foraging parties he had sent out was now inside the city, besigning the king in the town''s market center, and they were asking for help!
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Chapter 879 Papando
Chapter 879 Papando
?Chapter 879
As Perseus approached the city of Kalimat, the noble governing the ce was overjoyed to be in his king''s presence.
"Wee Your Highness! Wee to our humble fief." Therge, rotund lord with multipleyers of bs on his face produced a greasy smile as he personally greeted his sovereign at the gates of his city with such words, euphorically shouting with open arms,
"We have always believed that you would be able to drive the invaders back Your Grace, "Hahaha! We have always believed."
Perseus too exchanged some flowery pleasantries with the man, before the portly noble escorted the embodiment of loyalty and his entourage back to his mansion where arge feast was already prepared for them.
And as therge man escorted the king in his own carriage, he even let out a bit of a sigh of relief,
"Your Majesty, we are very lucky that you came when you came. My men have already detected a lot of enemy riders around the vicinity. I think they are preparing to attack the city!"
The man''s fleshy man''s face trembled at the reveal.
This was another reason why he was so happy to see Perseus, thinking them as being here to protect him.
The king hearing this reveal however had to try hard not to roll his eyes, as he scoffed to himself, ''You overestimate yourself.''
To the city lord, this city might seem like the be all end all of all things, but Perseus knew for someone like Alexander, it was one among numerous settlements that the man might not even know existed.
At least that was the case for Perseus, who did not even know the name of this city of less than 10,000 or the noble residing here and had to ask his retainers to familiarize himself.
So Perseus would be astounded if Alexander chose to attack his unknown, nothing of a ce.
However outwardly, he smiled and nodded, stoking the prideful man by boasting about the riches and importance of this ce and promising him protection from Alexander no matter what.
"Do not worry! Since I''m here, Alexander will not dare to do anything. Not after the thrashing I gave him." Perseus presented a very confident and strong facade in front of his retainer, hoping to instill trust and confidence in the man.
And from the looks of it, it worked as the other side shed all his pearly whites.
Now, it had to be noted that the only ones to apany Perseus to the city lord''srge mansion were his retinue of about 30 men plus the royal guards, amounting to around 300 men in total.
As for the rest of the approximately 25,000 men traveling with Perseus, well most of them camped outside the city, as the rtively small metropolis would not have been able to house such a huge number of men even if they had wanted to.
Only some of the higher ranked mercenaries such as Petricuno and the leader of the Kaiser mercenaries were allowed into the city, along with some 3,000 of their men, as Perseus wanted to calm the frustrated men down and let them get some rest and rxation of their own.
Which of course meant hitting the bars, taverns, and most of all, the brothels.
This the men did the moment they entered the city, as they started their merriments while there was still light, aroundte afternoon.
And by the time the sun had set three to four hourster, most of them were blind drunk, or with a woman in their hands.
As for the people inside the mansion like Perseus, well it was only around that time they were only starting tomence their feast, after having refreshed themselves.
The king personally found himself sitting in front of a grand table strewn with a huge variety of delicacies, with the most abundant item being meats of various kinds- foxes, badgers, peasants, boars, etc. cooked in various ways, the most iconic one being meat zed with honey and sugar syrup.
Although seeing that particr item, Perseus halfmented, as he understood that they were contributing to Alexander''s economy even when they were at war with each other.
The tragedy.
In addition to the meats, there were also expensive white breads of many kinds, a variety of fresh fishes caught from the nearby river that very day, and a few other local delectable delicacies, such as a porridge type soup made with egg, meat, and cheese.
Such arge feast had been of course possible due to the fact that Perseus had sent riders to the man a few days ago, informing him of his intention to stay there the night.
Hence the grand arrangements.
And although there was nothing Perseus had not seen here before, nor was the scale anything impressive to him personally, still, weary from travel and still mourning the loss of his sons, Perseus found sce in decent food and goodpany.
''At least tonight will get me a nice, soft bed and some good night''s sleep.'' Perseus thought anticipatedly, while the ''extrarge'' city lord personally poured drink for him, a toady smile stered on his face, as hemented in a slightly rueful voice,
"Your Majesty, it is a shame that the Crown Prince could not join us. We would have all immensely enjoyed hispany."
"Mnnn¡ I had to leave Philips in charge of the army outside. You know how unruly these men can be."
To the subtle inquiry, Perseus revealed the reason with a short hum.
"I see. I see." And the reply got a heavy nod of the head from the other party, as he then graciously proposed, "May I then arrange for some of the food and drinks to be delivered to him? I''m sure His Highness would enjoy some of our specialties!"
The city lord continued to butter up Perseus like so, exerting himself to the utmost of his abilities, while at a rtively secluded corner of a room, there resided a pair of eyes who were looking the duo with scorn and disgust, as the owner asionally took a sip of the wine from a silver goblet to hide his malevolence.
The man standing there was Papando, the city lord''s eldest son and heir.
And as evidenced by how he was not invited to sit around the table hosting the king and his retinue by his noble father, it could easily be discerned thatthe rtionship between the two was not harmonious to say the least
In fact, it was even an open secret among the higher ups in the city that the two men detested each other.
And if Tibianw had not made it so that even a father could not change the fact that the eldest son would be the sessor of his estate, Papando might not only be the heir but be six feet under.
As for the reason behind this bad blood, well it was multifold.
But perhaps thetest one was their disagreement over who they should ally with, Alexander or Perseus.
And as it would be guessed, the father was old fashioned and much preferred to serve the king to hisst breath.
While the son saw the rising star Alexander for who he was and urged his father to switch allegiance.
He had pointed out that no matter how much Perseus tried, the king was unlikely to be able to turn the tide, further warning his father that the king they served had sacked one of his own cities and that it would be unwise to trust him.
However such an endeavor had only gotten him a very strong p to the face and multiple curses from his father as the man refused to believe any of that, and punished his son too for listening to such gossip.
Thus for Papando, seeing his father ingratiate himself with the eventual ''loser'' of the war incensed him.
But he ultimatelyforted himself with the memory from his very afternoon.
"Estemeed conquerors, the king will be staying at our ce tonight. We are willing to open the gates sometime after dark to prove our loyalty to Lord Alexander." Papando had covertly ridden out to meet the leader of the ''enemy riders'' that the city lord had alluded to Perseus and offered him such a deal of the century.
"Oh? Why would you betray your father and king?" But instead of dly epting it, Papando was first and foremost asked this question.
And it was posed by none other Grahtos himself!
For he was the man in charge here.
As for the reason why this powerful man was twenty kilometers behind enemy lines, well he had by chance wanted to go on a ride with his horse as a way to rx and unwind, and decided to apany the foraging party.
And it seemeddy luck was waiting for him with such an opportunity.
"I cannot follow a king who sacks his own city. However, my father refuses to see it."
"In that aspect, I respect the Pasha of Zanzan much more. He is a great and benevolent ruler who has warned us of the danger."
"So I have decided to follow him, this is the best case for me and my city."
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Chapter 880 Misfortune of Kalimat
Chapter 880 Misfortune of Kalimat
?The reason why Alexander had a foraging party such a distance behind his main army was mainly due to the fact that although the man provided the men with the basic food rations, i.e.- grain for bread and vegetables, with meat, egg, and fish once a meal once a week, sometimes the soldiers wanted something a bit more variety to their meals.
So they often went out hunting for ingredients, be it various herbs to add to the stew fruits or vegetables, eggs from nearby farms, or even meat, hunted from local wildlife or ''collected'' from domestic animals.
With the reason for air quotes in the word collected being there due to the fact that although Alexander made itw that the soldiers should always pay for the food they acquired during such trips, well it was much easier to make the poor peasants ''donate them in the name of their lord'' rather than taking out their hard earned gold to pay for them.
A nice shiny armor and a sharp sword tended to do that.
And even though Alexander was aware of such practices, he turned a blind eye to it, for it was too hard to enforce as well as the fact that he was not going to antagonize the men who fought and died for him for some unknown peasants.
Thus the tacit rule was that as long as the men did not harass the local popce too much, Alexander would pretend that all was well.
And Grahtos was covertly here to also make sure that exact rule was followed, that the 5,000 men around the vicinity did not make a hash of the surrounding.
Which then inadvertently led tonding himself upon this great chance.
To Grahtos''s inquiry of why he was betraying his kin, Papando had cleverly left out his grudge with his father in fear of appearing unfilial, and only dressed up his intentions as being altruistic, with the city and people in mind, in the process painting Perseus with a negative light and showing himself to be a true believer of the Zanzan lord''s propaganda.
And much to the delight of Papando, it worked, as Grahtos with a nod promised to enter the city if the gates were opened.
"Sir I will send a scout letting the lord know."
As Papando quickly rode back to the city, garbed in a full body cloak so as to hide his identity from any prying eyes, one of Grahtos''s officers quickly offered this suggestion, wanting to let Alexander in on this critical reveal.
"No. it could be a trap designed by Perseus to get us toe closer." However, contrary to his very trusting facade in front of Papando, once he was gone, Grahtos revealed his internal suspicion and rejected the proposal, fearing it to be a ploy hatched by Perseus to force them into a decisive battle.
After all, over the past few days, the king had revealed signs of such desperation.
Thus, not wanting to let Alexander get caught in this possibility, no matter how small, Grahtos dered, "If the numbers man said is true, we will be able to do it with just the men we have."
"And given the narrow streets of a city, more number might not necessarily be better."
"So we will do it with the hands we have."
This reason sounded good enough to the officers, who thus nodded and waited for dark fall, keeping an anticipating eye on therge wooden western side gate.
As Papando''s thoughts returned to the present, feeling giddy about the things soon toe, and seeing his father and the king unaware of the execution he had arranged for them, the man took arge sip of the wine, savoring the taste and humming to himself, ''Enjoy thest few hours of your life, hehe."
However, things for Papando would not unveil as he had hoped.
And he had the mercenaries to thank for that.
"Bah! Stupid bar wrench! You dare reject this daddy!"
It all started with this loud, boisterous curse in one of the five taverns the city had to offer, as one of the rough mercenaries tried to grab the butt of a working maid but was immediately hit on the hand with the wooden mug she was carrying, thus rejecting him.
"Fuck you you drunken brute! I''m married. Find a whore to suck your smelly dick, motherf***ing swine."
The maid there was not one to back down easily either, snarling at the man with her slightly yellow teeth and ring down him with naked hostilities.
In her mid twenties, this mother of two had been doing this business long enough to know that any perceived weakness during such harassments would only lead to greater esctions.
Thus the strong admonishment.
But this time the woman had made a mistake in her response.
She had forgotten that these men were not her usual clients- i.e.- timid peasants and drunken geezers who would sometimes let the alcohol get to their head and let their hands slip, but instantly scuttle back to their shell with just one re from this domineering woman.
In much contrast to those mild mannered, honest hard working men, these mercenaries were hot blooded and fierce.
They hated their looked down on and when a woman rejected them, they took it as a challenge.
"*Bang!* What! You filthy¡****.... ***... ****...." Thus contrary to the usual reaction the woman had expected what came out was a string of curses, each one more explicative than thest, as the man''s eyes turned bloodshot.
Given the drunken state of the man, all that was now needed was a spark to set it all off.
And that soon came.
In the form of a taunt.
"Hahaha, look everybody! Hayd is getting chewed up by a bar wrench. Hahaha, pathetic."
It was unknown if the taunting drunk man simply did not like this Hayd, or was just making fun of a friend.
However, that did not matter, as the following chorus ofughter that soon followed afterward was like a shockwave, instantly destroying the fragile self control the mercenary had and
"Ahhh!" With a great roar, he roared and jumped onto thedy, pinning her down.
And then what followed could easily be imagined, as thedy screamed her lungs out while she felt her clothes being torn apart, quickly exposing herself.
"Please! Don''t! She didn''t mean anything by it. Get off¡*bang* *thud*!"
And while seeing this her husband had tried to intervene, bolting out of the counter and trying to push the man on top of his wife away, he found himself too overmatched.
And then quickly lost consciousness as he was brutally struck on the back of his head with a chair by another drunken mercenary.
In fact, this heavy wooden structure hit him with such force that the leg was cracked and bent, and dyed matt red, while the man rolled his eyes inside and instantly fell to the floor, a fountain of blood quickly forming from his wound.
"Nooooo!" And it was unknown if thedy screamed upon seeing her husband like this, or because she felt herself beginning to be vited.
Not that her cry did anything to help her.
If anything it might have made things worse for her, as her cry almost acted as a siren call for the other men, who quickly began to gather upon the wounded prey like a pack of hyenas.
This was not the first time they had done something like this, and these men certainly knew how to share their prize.
And as if to egg these men, one of the men from the back, who was dressed a bit more mboyantly, showing his greater standing among the group, quickly stood up and shouted at the top of his voice,
"That''s right men! This city has nothing! No wine! No whores! No gold! If we want to have something, we need to take it."
"We saved these wenches'' lives. It''s time they showed some gratitude."
And saying so, as if to lead by example, he grabbed another maid who was nearby and started to violently tear her clothes off too, despite the screaming protest, before throwing the bare girl onto a table and pushing himself in, making the girl producerge tears of unimaginable agony.
And soon the other drunk men followed, grabbing all the women and even children serving nearby and viting them, all of them multiple times in a gangr**efest.
These poor women were taken by multiple men and when their numbers proved utterly inadequate to sate the huge demand posed by so many men, driven by lust and alcohol, these unruly mercenaries began to spill out of the tavern and take their merriments into the nearby houses.
Given it was night, these armed men hit the jackpot, finding the women all nicely tucked in bed right in front of them, so assaulting them proved as easy as taking candy from a baby.
And like how a forest fire starts from a single spark, seeing theirrades looting, sacking, and ra*ping the city, the rest of the drunk mercenaries started doing it too, and thus in that dark night, unforeseen by anyone, the sacking of Kalimat had begun.
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Chapter 881 Petricuno
Chapter 881 Petricuno
?There was indeed a reason why nobles did not like mercenaries in their territories and vehemently disliked them inside their cities.
It was because these men would almost always be troublemakers.
Not only would they be armed, but with many years of fighting under their belt, they would have a very rough andbative attitude towards any sort of authority, a will forged over many years ofbat.
And it would be this defiant mindset that proved especially hard to control for the local city guards, as the veterans of the mercenary group tended to look after these, what they basically considered, peasants in armor.
So when you got a whole crowd of troublemakers, they soon started to pose a great danger to the city and its citizens.
And currently, the men inside the city of Kalimat were certainly paying homage to that reputation, as spurred on by the acts of a few drunken ramblers, others too started to quickly follow suit, wreaking havoc on the town.
Many even cheered while doing this, shouting,
"Ahhhhhh! That''s right. This ce has nothing. No booze, no food, no whores. These ungrateful wretches are only alive because of us. Let''s teach them some gratitude."
The reason why the men were shouting those particr things, and perhaps one of the reasons why it was so easy for these mercenaries to find themselves resorting to such violence was because some of the things these men were saying were indeed true.
Kalimat, this small town of less than 10,000 was utterly incapable of tending to such a huge amount of sudden traffic, so despite the city lord''s best effort to try and stock the adequate supplies, due to the short duration of the notice, he was unable to fully prepare.
Hence many of the 3,000 men who were let into the city with the promise of a good time found themselves dry, hungry, and cold without a woman to hold.
And if you have already not paid your men for months, and then promised them adequate merriments to sate them in exchange, what you really do not want to do is then be unable to fulfill that promise.
But unfortunately for Perseus, unbeknownst to him, that was exactly what happened.
The five local taverns were certainly not enough to host the 3,000 men, be it giving them enough drinks or good food, thetter of which was something many of the men had been quite looking forward to as the military rations while on the move was certainly not gentle on the taste buds.
As for the town''s two brothels, well they had almost instantly be the exclusive properties of the very top echelons- like Petricuno and the leader of the Kaiser family, leaving the others with nothing to squeeze or taste.
So it took only a spark to get the angry men going, as under a moonless, dark night, the 3,000 men quickly started to do whatever they wanted.
Now, in defense of the king, he did tell the city lord to make preparations for hosting 3,000 men.
But thezy noble had only done the bare minimum, not paying much attention to the task as he did not think entertaining some lowly mercenaries was worth his time, and upon Perseus''s arrival, simply pretended everything was in order as Perseus let the bloodthirsty men in.
The result of which culminated in the current tragedy, as many of these brutes broke into shops to loot it, while others broke into houses and shops to find their own booze.
And there, their eyes naturally drifted toward the gold, jewelry, and coins avable around them. But perhaps most of all, theynded on the soft, defenseless women residing in the house.
And they were indeed defenseless despite their husbands being present.
For in front of these strong, fully armed men, and multiple of them at that, there was never anything any single man could have done anyway.
So many such women and girls were tragically shamed, their mournful cries shrouded by the cackle of these mercenaries enjoying themselves.
Almost all the women were forced to pleasure more than one man at a time, their clothes all torn apart.
And many times the mercenaries made them perform in front of husbands, or forced mothers in front of daughters, sisters in front of brothers, and even children in front of their parents.
The tragedy here was immeasurable and even if the affected people lived, they and their families would surely be scared for life.
However, this very thing was indeed unveiling right now, as contrary to anyone''s expectation, the city of Kalimat was beginning to be sacked.
Given the size of themotion, it did not take long for the word to reach Perseus, as the scant few city guards, seeing the extent of the disaster unfolding right before them, knew their limits, and instead of going on a suicide mission to try and stop a vastly outnumbered and out armored foe, instead decided to quickly retreat to the safety of the mansion, thus bringing with them the news of the disaster.
*Bang!*
The leader of the city guards had entered, or more like intruded onto the party with this fierce st of the door, something that initially drew the ire of many present as they deeply scowled at the unweed intruder.
However that anger quickly turned into stunned surprise upon hearing what was happening just a few hundred meters away from them.
However, the fact that some shes of gold were already beginning to appear on the horizon that many could see even from the mansion irrevocably led credence to the captain''s im.
Surely that was the work of some overeager pyromaniac setting a house or two on fire.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! You must stop them." And seeing this, the first to break down was the city lord, who started to plead with Perseus with a panicked, flushed face.
"......" While Perseus''s eyes initially turned very frosty and scary, as he was incensed over the fact that those mercenaries would even begin to try to do such a thing while he was still in the city.
However, the smoldering volcano quickly subsided.
Because the king soon remembered his position and the absolute state of his army.
Given the mercenaries made up more than half his army, Perseus could hardly afford to antagonize these men.
Especially given he had not paid the men.
The dangers of this had always been aware of Perseus, he knew to always pay his soldiers on time.
However right now, it was not like he really had any choice.
The man was desperate.
So even though he would have normally taken drastic actions by ordering the guards to seize these ruffians, right now, getting up from his chair, he turned to the city lord to say,
"Let me go to talk to their leaders. They will surely be able to calm the men down."
This was a much softer approach than the others had anticipated, but since the king had spoken, the others had to obey.
Thus quickly taking his entire entourage through the currently being vited city, Perseus eventually made it to the establishment where the two leaders were staying, the duo''s presence taking some time to confirm.
But upon reaching it, what Perseus got was no deferent wee or even a wee for that matter, but mostly slurred, slobbering, intangible murmurs- such drunk were even the men stationed outside.
And it took Perseus exercising great patience to not blow his head right then and there, even though his entourage very much wanted to as evidenced by the scowls they were giving.
Instead, keeping his cool, Perseus persevered to meet with Petricuno, but even that meeting did not go ording to n.
When Perseus told the man of the things his men were doing, instead of sobering up, the drunk mercenary only snuggled closer to the two naked women wrapped around his chest, being fully naked himself too, which would have been a very rude gesture in front of anybody, as he then in a slurred speech groggily spat out
"Hah? My men are sacking the city?"
"Let them," He casually dismissed the rming news like it was nothing, saying, "You stinky king have not paid us for so long. My men deserve it. Didn''t you let us do the same to that other city? What''s the difference?"
The casual, almost dismissive way that Perseus was being addressed made it very hard for the man to keep his cool even when he was trying his hardest.
But that patience finally burst when the drunk man let slip a thought he had hidden deep inside his heart.
Intoxicated and not even sure where he was, Petricuno, suddenly pointed his finger to Perseus and producing a very sleazy smile, slurred,
"Hehe, I know how you can pay us if you do not have the money, Your Majesty. Hehehe, I remember, seeing your wife. She was quite the beauty. Why don''t you lend her to us hahaha¡*nk*.....arghhhhh."
The man did not get to finish that sentence as suddenly there was a sharp nk of some type, followed instantly by an agonizing pain bursting out of his chest, following which he widened his eyes to see a solid steel piece sticking out it!
Perseus had struck!
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 882 Petricuno (Part-2)
Chapter 882 Petricuno (Part-2)
?Perseus had married his wife, Lady Parthia of his own choosing, after being charmed by her looks and personality.
And it was not hard to see why, given she was definitely a beauty on par with Ophenia and The Queen Mother as could attested to by Alexander.
But initially, this act was fiercely opposed by the royal family, who found the woman to be too lowborn.
For Lady Parthia, though not amoner, was born of only a minor noble house that was in decline at the time, as all its direct line of descendants had perished in a war some time ago, leaving only two sisters and an infant brother behind.
Thus many in court saw their courtship as the girl trying to grab the leg of the biggest and strongest tree out there to save her family.
However, Perseus did not give up.
He persevered to his utmost to get the girl of his dreams and ultimately, after quite some effort, he did manage to get her, as he was able to convince his family and the court to agree.
And the day they got married was one of the, if not the best day of his life, while the experience he had in his nuptial chambers that night was perhaps one of his most treasured memories.
What was better still was that Perseus''s long was not only one sided,
The duo''s rtionship was reciprocal in nature, meaning Lady Parthia too loved her husband.
This was one of the only reasons why Perseus, in much contrary to his predecessors, had no mistresses or illegitimate children.
He loved her that much.
The reason for telling all this was because it meant to show that his wife was one of the man''s reverse scales, one that never should be touched much less poked.
In fact, when the king had learned of Lord Theony''s betrayal and how Alexander had taken over the capital as well as the pce, the man had been very worried initially, fearing the worst for his three family members.
There was even a point where he regretted not having taken them with him on the campaign.
And only breathed a sigh of relief upon confirming that his wife and two daughters were alive and untouched.
Incidentally, one of the reasons the man was even willing to negotiate up until now was because he learned his family was safe.
For if Alexander had touched or harmed them in any way, especially his wife, Perseus would have vowed to fight to the end.
Thus for Petricuno, a lowly mercenary to see such things about the queen of a nation, his death was not underserved.
Nor did he ever see iting.
For even the wielder himself did not know what he was doing until he had finished doing it.
Perseus did not know what hade over him, but upon hearing his wife''s namee up, and hearing the filthy things being said about her, his body had reacted almost instinctively.
Unsheathing his sword with a sharp *ng*, his blood burned with fury that such a lowly mercenary would dare to say this thing, as he drove the weapon into the man''s chest with nary a thought about the consequences.
And therge steel de worked just as intended, as it dived deep, deep into the chest of the mercenary leader, who still had that bewildered look on his face as if he could not fathom what was happening to him even as the life was bled out of him.
*Splurt*, *Splurt*,
Perseus expertly retrieved the deeply driven sword with a strong tug, as the dying man then slumped weightlessly onto the bed, with a huge gaping wound on his chest that was profusely gushing out blood, his eyes still sporting that incredulous look with a slightly agape mouth.
Petricuno perhaps was unaware of his death even as he died, or at least astounded that he had died like this, in such a random way, in such a random ce.
As the man who once dreamed of bing the biggest mercenary leader in all of Thesos, it was certainly amentable way to die.
*Kyaaaahhh*
The first people to react to the man''s death were naturally the two prostitutes beside him, who understandably were shocked to find their patron dead upon just waking up.
Hence letting out this pitched scream at the top of their voice, these nakeddies tried to quickly bunch up and get away from Perseus in shock and fear, pulling the bed sheets closer to hide their shame as well as making it appear like it was a curtain that would be able to shield themselves from attacks.
"Haa¡ haa" While Perseus, ignoring the terrified two only let out tired pants of exhaustion, his enraged eyes now looking unfocused and confused, as he felt his small entourage give him stunned looks of incredulity.
Because they all knew what their king had just done and what all this meant.
Perseus killing Petricuno here likely meant losing the 3,000 to 4,000 mercenaries under that man''s leadership, and even the possibility of losing the whole Tibian contingent.
Because other than Perseus, Petricuno was one of the other reasons the Thesians were able to be suppressed from deserting.
The mercenary leader still very much wanted to defeat Alexander and worked to ensure the fellow brethren he came here with toed the line.
In that same vein, whenever these Thesians raised the issue with Perseus, the king could point to Petricuno and say that the man had alsoe from the same ce as them, but he was not leaving, so why were they?
But now with the man''s death, that deterrent was obviously gone.
So losing the entire Thesian contingent would amount to close to one third of their entire force.
Such a thing would be crippling to any army, much less the current, so much weakened army of Perseus.
And it was not like Perseus was unaware of the consequences
Hence the tired pants at the man woke up to the fact of what he had done, as looking at the dead mercenary leader in the following moments Perseus felt a surge of immense helplessness.
Yes helplessness, but not regret.
He did not regret what he had done.
For if he was given the chance, he would have likely done the same thing again as he would never let anyone besmirch his wife.
But what really struck Perseus hard was how as the king he was actually being made to feel fear for the death of a mere mercenary leader.
Just a year ago, he could have just snapped his finger, and ten of these types of people would havee scrambling to kiss his feet.
Oh, how the mighty had fallen!
And thus in the subsequent few moments, Perseusmented his own loss of power.
However, the strong man did not stay in that state of mind for long.
What was done was done.
Resolving himself that there was no use crying over spilled milk, hence the king''s mind began to race about what to do next.
Beucae it had to be remembered that they were still inside a brothel that was teeming with mercenaries.
And given the piercing shriek those two girls had given, this human rm bell was very much likely to have at least a few men already on their way.
As a matter of fact, the king could already hear the footsteps on their way.
So now the question became how was Perseus going to handle these men when they got here.
Exin himself? Say he found Petricuno like that? But how?
Given the short very short window of time Perseus was presented with, he found himself unable toe up with anything remotely believable.
"Kill them!"
So he came up with the only viable option for him, as he hissed themand to his entourage, asking them to ready their sword and be prepared to cut a bloody route through the entire building.
It would be extremely dangerous but that was the only thing Perseus could think of.
So the man and his few bodyguards quickly poised their bodies as such, cing their hands on the hilt of their swords and being ready to strike at a moment''s notice.
"Your Majesty! Enemies! Enemies are inside the city! They are burning the city!"
Thus imagine their surprise when they got this panicked shout instead of an inquiry, as the messenger, a lean man, with a face like a fox with whispers along his cheeks rmingly pointed to a part of the city while saying so.
"Enemy? Which enemy?" And such was Perseus''s surprise that he was unable to even understand the context of the man, as the man posed so while cleverly moving his body right in front of Petricuno''s sprawled corpse, thus blocking the man''s view.
It was to be remembered that currently, it was light, and given the brothel''s naturally low illumination, this man had been unable to make out the state of their boss under such dim candlelight.
Perseus was saved.
"The Zanzanites! The Zanzanites are attacking. Someone opened the gates and let them in!"
"A few of our brothers are holding them in the market ce but we need reinforcements, Your Majesty! Hurry!"
"?????" For Perseus, it was like the man was out of the frying pan but into the fire.
Chapter 883 Brawl in Kalimat (Part-1)
Chapter 883 Brawl in Kalimat (Part-1)
?When the captain of the city guards had informed everyone of the disaster unfolding right next to them, the very first thought that had went through Papando''s mind was that it was all a ploy by Perseus, cock sure that what the mercenaries were doing was all orchestrated by the very man sitting on the chair of highest honor.
''This is exactly what the Lord of Zanzan had warned us about.''
At the news of his city being sacked, Papando actually felt a bit ted initially, as the man saw himself as being vindicated in his suspicions towards the king.
And this conviction that Perseus was the real puppet master was so strong that he would have bet not only his money but his very life too on that hypothesis.
After all, the man had Perseus''s precedence to back up his thoughts.
Thus when Papando saw his father plead to Perseus asking for help, his very first instinct had been to try and shout incredulously at the members of the court, "What are you people doing asking help from him? He is the mastermind! He did it once, now he is trying to do it again!"
But Papando of course suppressed it.
He knew he would likely be silenced the moment he uttered this.
And it would not have to be Perseus who did it either.
No, his father would have been more than d to do it.
So seeing the man who sired him grovel at the ''architect of the whole thing'', the son had sneered, ''Heh! This is like watching a chicken ask for help from a fox.''
And then he grit his teeth and bid his time, as his mind raced with the thought of wanting to open the gates and let in Grahtos.
By this point, Papando had put all his hopes of saving his city on only Alexander''s men.
And fortunately for him, Papando did not have to wait long for that chance to present itself, as Perseus and the city lord quickly left the party with their guards to go take a look at the situation for themselves, thus leaving Papando all alone to do what he liked.
The city lord had pronounced a throwaway line at Papando asking him to look after the ce while he was away, but Papando of course did not care.
Instead, just as nned, he quickly led a small number of his guards who were also his conspirators towards that fateful western part of the city gate and luckily found the ce that would be usually guarded by at least a squad men even at the worst of times, now unnaturally vacant.
In fact, from the looks of it, Papando found the ce to be literally deserted.
But then again that was understandable if one took into ount just what was happening to the city right now.
All the guards stationed here naturally had families and loved ones of their own residing inside, so it was only human that they rushed to confirm their safety first.
But that also meant leaving the entrance to the city wide open for any people with ''nefarious thoughts.''
Thus taking advantage of the situation, Papando was unable to skip the ''persuade the guards or kill them'' section of his adventure and quickly operated theplex mechanism to open the heavy wooden entrance.
Following which he lit up a torch and started to wave it around, signaling to Grahtos to make his move.
"Look! There! The signal. The gate''s open."
And it did not take long for Papando to get a response, as the lookouts stationed by Grahtos on that solitary hill there quickly answered back with their own light signal, following which the camp of 5,000 men quickly started to organize themselves.
Since the soldiers already knew such an order coulde, there was no panic among the ranks despite the time of the day, and the ranks quickly formed up under the moonless night, with many of the men holding torches to try and illuminate the pitch ck surrounding.
And it was truly a pitch ck surroundings.
It was a level of darkness that would be difficult for modern humans to rte to, as due to the advent of widespread use of electricity and abundance of artificial light, people rarely got to experience such true darkness, the level of darkness a night could truly possess.
Those who did experience it however found the description ''pitch ck darkness'' to be really apt, for if one was out on a moonless night with no light sources, you would feel almost that the surrounding darkness not only existed but appeared to be encroaching on one''s own self, trying to devour you.
It was a feeling that had to be experienced to be truly appreciated, and in fact, when Alexander had first transmigrated, he was initially actually afraid to go out at night, just because of how very dark it was.
It was because of that even with numerous torches lit, Grahtos''s contingent of 5,000 advanced towards the city slowly and cautiously, afraid of bumping into or tripping against someone or something along the way.
And once they did arrive at the gate, Grahtos sensibly did not push his entire army into but ordered,
"Send 500 men in as the vanguard first. Check if it is a trap."
Yes.
The man rightfully feared that leading his entire legion through the narrow streets, he would be beset from either side by the ambushing enemy and cut down in a pincer attack.
Grahtos of course did not trust Papando as much as he outwardly appeared to show, as neither did the man''s officers, who raised the possibility that the whole thing might be Perseus''s n to cut down arge part, if not, at the very least a part of Alexander''s army.
But then again, he also could not dismiss the man, for the bait was that lucrative.
Grahtos knew he had to bite and see, even if it might be a trap, Perseus was a such prize that it was worth almost any risk.
Hence Grahtos decided to proceed, but with a bit of caution.
500 men, acting as vanguards were sent as bait.
Andposing them were mostly expendable levied peasants of the army, who were the unlucky few that came here in the first ce due to being sent here by their more elite squad mates to gather ingredients on their behalf.
But then instead of being able to return, they were made to stay and camp here on Grahtos''s order.
It was these men, tired from a whole day''s march, and then woken up after only a few hours of sleep, that were chosen to be the sacrificialmbs, as bait against the possibility of a clever ambush.
So it was quite lucky for them that there was no such thing, as confirmed by the men after fanning out to the surrounding streets and finding them to be utterly deserted.
"Good!" Hearing the report and finding that what Papando had said was truly genuine, Grahtos was ecstatic.
He would never admit to it, but the real reason, the real reason and not the one he gave to his officers on why he did not inform Alexander of this opportunity but instead preferred to act on his own was because he wanted the glory of it.
He wanted to be the one to capture Perseus and take all of it.
It was very selfish of him, he knew that, but given the size of the prize, Grahtos could not resist.
''Perhaps I will be made a Talukder (Viscount) for this!'' Grahtos dreamed.
Hence, with the man within his grasp, Grahtos turned to his men and loudly shouted to give onest rousing speech,
"Soldiers! The prize is right there!" He pointed towards the city,
"All you have to do is go and take it. There must be nothing in your mind except winning. A victory here will end the war. It will mean ultimate glory for all of you, it will mean ultimate glory for Zanzan, and it will mean ultimate glory for your lord, Pasha Alexander!"
"Now go! *Trumpet!*"
Making the men pumped up for battle, Grahtos quickly blew the battle trumpet, and instantly the legionaries began to pour into the city with loud cheers, "Ahhhh!"
Their overzealous cheers however had the unintended effect of drawing the attention of the nearby mercenaries, although at first these men were not rmed.
Because they did not really know who was making such a huge ruckus.
They would have had to be psychic to hear a sound and assume that Papando had opened the gates and let Alexander''s men inside the city.
So instead, due to the pitch ck darkness of the night, they initially thought it was just a different group belonging to them who were perhaps getting a bit carried away with their fun.
Some of the more eager ones even ran towards the sound, thinking there was something interesting there.
Thus imagine their horror when theyid their eyes upon the telltale, distinct blue armor that had been burned into their retina as being the enemy''s.
"Wha¡ what!"
"Ene¡*agghh*!"
"Why are they¡*ugghhh*"
And an instantter these ''vanguard'' mercenaries were dead from a storm of projectiles.
Chapter 884 Brawl in Kalimat (Part-2)
Chapter 884 Brawl in Kalimat (Part-2)
?As the legionaries made their way along the single, one way street, they soon found themselves being confronted with what appeared to them many shadows recklessly running towards them.
Given the ambient darkness, the men were unable to judge who, or even what these were.
But it did not matter anyway.
For they knew the only friendlies were the people beside them.
So by default, everyone else was the enemy, regardless of whether these men were civilians trying to run from the disaster, or soldiersing to meet them.
That was their order and there was only one recourse for the men to take.
Kill them.
Thus as the mercenaries wildly running at the approaching ck curtain finally closer to see what they were facing, they did not even get to finish their shouts of shock and rm for they were instantly peppered by a hail of javelins and crossbows, and as such the legionaries drew first blood.
Following which Grahtos''s men continued on their way, slowly and steadily advancing their way towards the town center since the street they were on led straight to that- from the gate to the marketce.
And it was slow progress as the surrounding darkness made it very hard to see any potential potholes or small cratersid strewn about the badly maintained roadway.
So the men tried to be careful to not stumble.
It was an endeavor made all the harder by the fact that the surrounding houses appeared to tower on either side of the road, soaking away what little ambient light there was and drowning the road in inky darkness.
And this absence of light was as much a hindrance to the legionaries as it was a boon for the mercenaries, for the slow advance of Grahtos''s men gave them just the amount of time they needed to make an educated guess of what would have happened to the men who had went to ''greet'' the approaching crowd.
And given their vast battlefield experience, they were soon able toe to the most likely scenario- an enemy attack.
And their panicked shoutsid credence to that fact, as some of the more sober men started to cry and haul towards theirrade, urging them to quickly form up.
And thenguage they used to do this was as crass and rude as could be imagined from these rough men.
"Bitch! Get your ass back here if you don''t want to die!"
"Motherf***! Listen to me."
"I will skin your ass, you ass whooping tramp."
"Maggot! Stop fucking that dead whore and get your shield!"
All such and many more ''colorful''nguages could be heard being thrown at the drunken men who were in the middle of drinking or ''enjoying'' themselves with a woman.
But to the credit of the mercenaries, all these calls worked, as rmed by the loud thuds of the heavy boots of the legionaries, the Petricuno and Kaiser mercenaries were able to quickly start forming into at least some sort of eptable formation to try and hold the enemy.
Here, it was also almost a godsend that many of the men had entered the city with their shields still with them, despite Perseus''s urging to enter unarmed, as they cited distrust over the local militia''s attitude towards them, to which the king acquiesced as he did not want to squabble over such a petty matter.
Thus now, having ess to their most important weapon, the men at least held a sliver of chance against a vastly outnumbering foe, as the thinly lined men, locked shields and stood defiantly shoulder to shoulder against the inevitable onught that was toe.
"Throw! Shoot!"
Once the legionaries got close enough to the marketce, the officers leading them quickly shouted these words just before the point of imminent contact, and the men obeyed to the dot, bringing a hail of projectiles on the hastily arranged mercenaries.
And staying true to the pilum''s prowess, many subsequently fell to its lethal fire.
However, although highly effective, the attack was still limited in its efficacy, as the narrow streets limited how many men could stand in one row, meaning it limited the number of projectiles that could be thrown.
Furthermore, given the rtively ambient darkness still present, the legionaries refused to charge to capitalize on the enemy''s moment of weakness, but instead opted to approach the enemy slowly and tentatively, thus losing a critical opportunity.
This was also caused by the fact the vanguard that made up the attacking force was made up of those inexperienced peasants mentioned before, so theycked the proper courage and coordination to attempt such a thing.
Instead, afraid of fighting, many of these men even tried to shrike away when presented against the spears of the mercenaries, even though a strong push might have ended the fight then and there.
Yes, that could have indeed been the case.
Because it had to be noted that although the mercenaries had managed to form a line, it was really by the barest technical sense and any strong attack would have knocked them out.
So it seemed that in this case, Grahtos''s over cautiousness came to bite him in the back.
He had used the low quality troops to poke for any traps and ambushes but subsequently had forgotten to switch them for the vanguard, thus denting the spear of his attack.
Thus now facing these novice troops, the mercenaries were allowed to perform a miracle as they withstood Grahtos''s deadliest attack, one that wasced with shock and surprise.
And then over the subsequent hour, the mercenaries found their ranks swell as more and more men started to join them after waking up to the danger that was being posed at them, and thus their position began to strengthen.
It was also at that point that Perseus was informed of the disaster unfolding in the city, as the messenger dashed through the halls of the brothel looking for the king.
And his mind was so upied with the thought of the news that it did not even register the pitched screams of the two women.
Instead he only concentrated on the task at hand, and left quickly afterward, not even bothering to pay any attention to that scene as he threw it into the trash can of his mind.
No questions such as ''Why the king was inside the room Petricuno was in?'' came to the man''s mind, although that was also due to the fact that the man did not know where Petricuno was staying.
As for the ones that did know, they were also high level people, meaning they were also drunk out of their minds and asleep, or had already gone out to lead the defense.
It was due to such abination of factors that Perseus was almost miraculously able to avoid getting caught red handed.
However, although scot free on this charge, the news that he let him to do this did not inspire a breath of relief in him.
''Enemy! How are they here? Who opened the gates?'' Instead, Perseus''s mind was a mess, and his heart started to beat naturally fast as he started to smell the whiff of conspiracy and his instincts told him that he might be in great danger.
To the man, it felt like he was simply taken out of the frying pan and then put into the fire.
But whatever the case was, the king did not have the luxury to dwell on that for much longer.
From the sound of it, the defenses of the city were in great peril, and the men needed his help to inspire them and help turn the tide.
So he quickly bolted out of the brothel, before he and his man quickly joined the active defense of the city.
Luckily, the brothel was right around the marketce so Perseus did not need to go far.
Also as a side note, those two prostitutes that were with Petricuno, Perseus killed them before he left the room.
They were the only two people who could definitely identify Perseus as the mercenary leader''s killer and the king would have been foolish to let them live.
When Perseus had given the order, those girls had screamed, cried, and pleaded, but it was to no avail, as the men around the king quickly grabbed the duo and slit their throats, giving them a quick and rtively painless victory.
It was a tragedy that Perseus took no joy inmitting, and the man knew those girls were innocent bystanders who just happened to be in the wrong ce at the wrong time.
But such was life.
Perseus did not have much mental capacity on the right and wrong of the deed for long, as he had to quickly join the battlefield, and found that upon seeing him and his entourage joining the fray, many men cheering.
Much of the city garrison who had been diverted from all parts of the city shouted,
"His Majesty! His Majesty is here."
"Ancestors bless us. We have not yet lost. We cannot lose!"
"The city lord is here too.
"Fight men. For your city. For your lord."
Until they were struck from the back too that is, as Grahtos caught them in a glorious pincher attack using the eastern gate that is!
Perseus was now trapped!
Chapter 885 Brawl in Kalimat (Part-3)
Chapter 885 Brawl in Kalimat (Part-3)
?When Grahtos had firstunched his attack, the man was super confident that the offensive would be an instant grand m.
And it was reasonable to assume so given that he had caught the enemypletely unaware, with many of the mercenaries caught literally out of their pants.
Hence Grahtos was of the mind that he would have to ''just kick in the door and the whole thing woulde tumbling down.''
Thus it was very frustrating for him to find himself bogged down right at the start of the offensive, unable to proceed further.
And when inquired about it, the reason quickly revealed itself as retold by a runner,
"Commander, the troops at the front are refusing to advance! No matter how much we try to urge them they are like mules, refusing to budge!"
Yes.
Despite the forceful urging and even screeching shouts of the officers on the frontlines, the low quality troops at the vanguard refused to charge and push the enemy back, instead being content to simply stand still and turtle like a coward.
The darkness of the night, the inexperience, andstly the loud cries from the fearless mercenaries opposing them all worked to make these novice soldiers shake in their boots despite their overwhelming numbers, and some of the units were even pushed back.
And this result was not because of ack of trying on the officers'' part, who had shouted fiercely things such as,
"You maggots! Advance!"
"Move forward or I will skin each and every one of you."
"One month! All of you will have one month of your pay docked."
"Go men! Just one push. Push them once and they will crumble."
But nothing moved them.
Threats of punishments, beatings, and pay cuts all proved ineffective as one would have to live first to experience them.
While glory and honor meant nothing to the dead.
Hence for a time the battle appeared struck at a deadlock.
Hearing the situation, Grahtos was at first infuriated.
And for a moment, he even wished that these low quality expendable troops that he had sent forward had ''expended'' themselves so that they could have made way for better ones.
However now that he was in this situation, there was little more that could be done.
At least that was what it seemed like to Grahtos who could only grind his teeth and wait for the cowardly peasants to make their move when they felt like it.
Or so it appeared, until suddenly, Papando, who was apanying him proposed to him in a very enthusiastic voice, "Lord Grahtos! There are still other ways into the city! Like the eastern gate overlooking the river. I can go open it for you."
The man revealed with a flushed face, before pointing to the opposite side of the city,
"The streets there also lead to the marketce. But from the opposite direction. If you attack from there, you can catch the enemy in a pincer attack!"
Papando seemed very excited by the possibility.
"That?" And at being pointed in this new direction, Grahtos initially widened his eyes in shock and surprise.
If he could truly do it, that really might end the war in one swift move.
So Grahtos was certainly moved.
However, thinking for a second, something then popped up in his mind.
"The eastern gate should be all the way out on the other side. Won''t you get caught trying to do this?" He posed to Papando with a slightly worried face, understanding that since Papando imed his n was to open the gates, naturally he would have to be inside the city.
And who knew if the defenses around the gates had been strengthened following Grahtos''s invasion?
"Don''t worry Commander!" But Papando was hungry to prove his worth to Grahtos and by rtion to Alexander.
So brushing away Grahtos''s concerns, he proimed, "They have not yet found out that it was me who opened the gates."
"So I can easily disguise myself as being reinforcements from the mansion. No one will suspect a thing."
Grahtos found that Papando had at least given some thought to the move and was not simply rushing blindly suicidally.
"Hmmm!" Hence Grahtos hummed a bit to himself, tracing his chin as he thought about what Papando said, finding that since the man put it like that, it did not seem like such a bad n.
"It''s so dark here. How will you be able to distinguish yourself so that my men don''t attack you while you move? Or Perseus''s men for that matter?"
However, he still had this onest thing to pit-nick here.
"....." And regarding this Papando had no foolproof method to guarantee his safety.
Because the darkness really made it hard for him to avoid these obstacles with certainty.
"We will keep to the alleyways. Your men have not spread to those parts Commander Grahtos and given the armor we are wearing, men from our side will not attack once we have shown ourselves or even just heard our call." So Papando proposed this.
And this could indeed work, as the legionaries and Papando wore very distinct garb.
Not to mention the very clearly differentnguages they spoke.
Also as a side note, the entire discussion between Papando and Grahtos also urred mostly through trantors given thenguage barrier.
All this meant that it would not be hard to distinguish Papando once he identified himself.
However the antithesis to all these ns was that a sneak attack from the dark might take the man out before he could even do such a thing.
So although all this sounded good on paper, all of it really meant only minimizing the possibility.
Thus even Papando himself was not sure how efficacious he could be with his words.
"...*Nod*....." However Grahtos, since the man was offering, and knowing the prize at hand, did not try to change Papando''s mind.
After all he had met the man not even for half a day and really had only a fleeting feeling for the man''s life.
And if Grahtos could exchange his life for a win here, he would absolutely agree to it over a hundred times.
Thus he agreed to let the man try and open the other gates.
And Papando happily epted the permission, and he started to hastily make his way toward the gate.
While Grahtos, after seeing Papando disappear into the inky darkness of the night, decided to carry out an independent move of his own.
Understanding what was at stake, and what would happen if he failed to escape Perseus when given such a golden opportunity, he prudently decided to shed his pride and sent riders asking for help to Alexander.
And that was the messenger the young lord of Zanzan got, who came to his camp, pleading to help and save their city!
And hearing it, Alexander did indeed quickly react, leaving a third of his men behind, he took around 20,000 men and started a rapid march towards the city.
For Papando, the journey towards the eastern gate actually proved surprisingly uneventful, despite all the assumed dangers, as Papando and his small group were able to fortunately blend themselves right into the night, their diminutive size proving a boon here.
Even the ce they were most afraid of- the marketce, which they found had by now turned into the most ''hot'' ce in the city, its vicinity turning nearly into a full blown raging battlefield did not pose any difficulty for them.
It could even be said ironically that the fierce tempo of the fight actually yed to Papando''s advantage as the mercenaries and the small garrison facing the Grahtos''s immense force appeared extremely disinterested in trying to pick fights with anyone else.
So Papando was able to quickly get ess to the mercenaries'' nks, who gave him no mind once they saw his armor, only asionally giving out some shouts to call and haul at him, which of course Papando either ignored or pretended not to notice.
Thus almost like a repeat ofst time, Papando found himself once again standing in front of another gate, and wouldn''t you know it, this ce too was deserted.
Although that might not have been that much of a surprise if one thought about it, since all the avable men had called up to help defend the marketce.
Such a huge w might not have opened up if Perseus or the city lord had more time to organize their defenses, but given theplete suddenness of the attack, they were simply not able to institute such precautions.
Which worked perfectly fine for Papando, who got to work almost like clockwork, and within minutes therge contingent of 2,000 men that Grahtos had sent to circle around the city and take position around the eastern gates were let in.
"Haaahhhaaa!" And the men entered the ce with a huge rumbling cheer, although the sheer mor and din already present worked to mute a lot of that.
However the men did not care much about that, as with the vanguard now being led by Grahtos''s personal men, they were able to scythe through the darkness like it did not exist, covering the rtively short distance quickly as they beelined for that juicy exposed nape that the defending mercenaries were showing.
Chapter 886 Brawl in Kalimat (Part-4)
Chapter 886 Brawl in Kalimat (Part-4)
?Grahtos''s pincher''s attack from behind managed to catch Perseuspletely and utterly off guard.
The king perhaps did not even think such a possibility existed.
In fact, when the first sword strike had begun to hit them, some of the mercenaries had even cried out not in horror but pure unbridled rage, "Bastard! The enemy is in the front. What are you doing?"
Yes.
They initially thought that this group of men had gotten confused in the darkness and was hitting their own men.
And it took them a small while to even realize what was really happening.
And what was a horrifying realization was that!
When the men was able to atst clearly see the ''blundering fools'', their rage instantly melted away like wax, as if they were hit by a terrifying me of fear and shock.
The blue armor, the unique helmet, and the telltale sword and shield formation, all pointed to only one answer.
And understanding they were being attacked from both sides, the shock and surprise the mercenaries felt could only be imagined.
"Fuck! How the fuck are they here?"
"Get out the way fuckers. Run! We have lost."
"Dammit! To think this is how we die."
"Dammit! This entire campaign has been cursed."
These types of shouts and many more began to echo throughout the rank as the solid line began to wabble.
But although shaken, these men were not stirred out of their will to fight, as it could be seen from their speeches.
They did not sound like they were despairing, but only appeared to be unresigned to such an ending.
They really lived up to their name as veterans.
And true to that, instead of losing heart and running, they rallied!
"Brothers! There is no escape for us. So let us fight to the death. Make these ve farmers earn their coin."
"Three heads! All you bastards must get at least three heads before you die. Or I will look at you in the afterlife."
"Bah! You pathetic animal fuckers think you can kill this daddy? Hahaha,e! Try!"
They then began to pump each other up like so, as the rearmost echelons began to turn and face the eastern gate legionaries.
Due to the congested space around the marketce, the experienced men quickly came to the conclusion that escape was out of the question, as the heavily urbanized terrain made the escape route too narrow, never mind the darkness of the night.
So they reckoned that if all of them were to start running with no sense of direction, probably half of them would be killed by their own men as they pushed, shoved, crushed, and trampled each other to death.
While the rest would be butchered from behind within seconds, as the mercenaries would be clogging up their own escape.
So faced with the decision to run and die, or fight and take a few with them, the answer was easy.
And perhaps much more than death, what really spurred the men on to fight was how they would die- under the hands of a few untrained, lowly peasants.
This to them seemed very dishonorable.
After all.
How many such low born people had they killed?
How many wives of such low born people had they taken?
How many such low born people had they bullied?
Remembering all those instances, many of these bellicose men found themselves wanting to fight to the bitter end.
Of course, these men were mistaken on the premise that their opponent was all present levies, but there was little time or incentive for these men to verify their ims.
"Ready! Throw! Charge!"
Once Grahtos''s men from the eastern section finally made contact, they performed their standard attack with the pi just as ordered, and quickly followed it up with a proper, heavy charge, smashing into the defending mercenaries.
However, the effects of this were less than desirable.
Becausepared to the first opportunity, the enemy''s line was so much thicker and the men much more dogged.
Hence the lines did not snap like they would have done so back then.
Also, even if the lines were to snap, where would they go?
Remember, the core principle of a pincher attack was that you attacked from both sides, and the enemy broke and ran from either side, kind of like squeezing on a sandwich and letting all the sauce spill out.
But now, in this congested quagmire, as Grahtos''s western and eastern halves pushed Perseus and the mercenaries internally, with nowhere to go these men could only retaliate and fight back.
Grahtos had forgotten, or more like was unable to swerve around a critical battle mantra- never trap your enemy with nowhere to go escape.
And the narrow streets and houses of the city were all doing exactly that.
It was because of this that Grahtos''s pitch perfect charge did not have asrge an effect, as the mercenaries were able to even counterattack, forcing the over eager legionaries back a bit.
And then following that the battle once again developed into a brutal melee, as the legionaries found themselves hacking a path through the enemy one soldier at a time.
Now, in fear of making the mercenaries too extraordinary, it had to be also noted that despite the intensity of the resistance by Perseus''s forces, which was no doubt great, it was still not enough to stop Grahtos in his tracks.
The manpower and tactical advantage was too much in that respect so as to be able to be ovee with sheer willpower.
Hence the only thing the mercenaries could try to do was make the man bleed, and perhaps even seed in making him bleed badly.
And if it had been a regr fight, perhaps they might have stood a shot at making Grahtos back out, in fear of the losses he took.
But that would not be possible this time.
For given the prize at hand, the grand prize of Perseus''s head, well Grahtos would be more than d to bleed his men and bleed a lot, lot more if necessary.
Furthermore, the mercenaries were really not making Grahtos take as much as they were thinking they were.
Because given the darkness of the night, after a few hours of fighting, both sides became tired and turned down the intensity, as they had found it very difficult to see much of anything.
Only asionally would there be a silver of light, reflected off the de of an iing attack, and the men would have to hastily scramble to react to that.
Thus faced with this mortal uncertainty, the men found it much more sensible to rather defend than attack and expose themselves, greatly preferring to hide behind their shields and turtle, for the time being.
Hence the fighting reached a stalemate and turned to simmering intensity, as both sides waited for the sun to make things clearer.
As they waited, one of Perseus''s close royal bodyguards in a hushed voice chimed,
"Your Majesty! We need to escape! Our forces cannot hold on. Now that the fighting has died down let us make a break for the gates!"
The man had the shrewd insight to be aware that their current tie was only a momentary urrence in the equilibrium pendulum, and that it was soon to surely and decisively swing in the other side''s favor.
So he urged his king to take the chance when it was still being presented it to him.
"No! I can''t." However Perseus rejected it, reasoning, "The southern gate is still locked. And it will take some time for us to open all theplex mechanisms guarding it."
"By that time the enemy will surely have caught up with us. And out of formation, we will surely be ughtered."
This analysis clearly showed how good a strategist the man was, as he was able to see the issue even when ced under such dire straits.
Perseus also knew he was currently like the cornerstone holding the entire defense together.
Many of the men, mostly the ones from the garrison were still standing holding their spears and shields because the king was fighting with them.
And even the mercenaries, although not outwardly so appreciative, still asionally sent out loud hurrahs and shouts at him, both to pump themselves up, as well as to try and intimidate the other side.
So if he were to bolt, arge part of his defense risked dissolving with him.
And then both he and his men would end up on the chopping blocks.
However, although very grim, Perseus did not onlyment his position.
The crafty king still had the state of mind to try ande up with something clever.
Something miraculous that might yet let him continue to fight another day.
So turning to his small number of men from his royal guards, he ordered, "Forget trying to open the gates from the inside. That will take too long."
"Instead you three go scale the walls and meet up with Phillips. Tell him what is going on and order him to assault the gates using the elephants and tear it down!"
"We will make a break for it once the sun is up."
Yes!
There was more than one way to open a door after all.
Grahtos''s bird seemed to want to escape the coup.
Chapter 887 Phillps At the Gates
Chapter 887 Phillps At the Gates
?Due to the city gates being closed, even Philips, who was just on the opposite side of it, had no idea of the life and death battle his father was facing.
The marketce was unfortunately too far from the ce they had camped to allow even the sound of the raging fight to carry over, so instead, given the current time and being tired from the day''s march, the prince and his entourage of more than 20,000 men were doing what was naturally expected of them- being blissfully asleep.
Only a few sentry were still up, guarding the ce, but these men too failed to notice anything abnormal going on in the city as they were primarily on the lookout for only nearby enemies, not trying to see how their king was doing inside the city.
"*Yawnnn!* Those lucky bastards inside the city. I bet they are having the time of their life."
And it was one such ordinary guardsman who grumbled like so to his mate sharing the watchtower, rubbing his exhausted eyes constantly to try and ward off sleep.
"A¡ Yeah!" And as if to prove that yawning was contagious, the man too involuntarily felt such an urge to do so upon seeing his partner, as he moaned in frustration, "Why did we have of all people have to stand guard here? What are we even guarding against? The enemy is miles away!"
Guard duty was among the most painful duties a soldier could get, as it required one to once again stay up the whole night after a hard day''s march, while everyone else got their sweet sleep.
It was thus so detested that themanders would many times post the men as a punishment for something they had done.
And although these two men were not being punished, they were certainly unlucky and rambled and grumbled their grievances to each other.
They saw no point in this watch duty as in their minds, there was no way the camp could be in danger.
"Yea¡ Hey, look!" That was until one of them, who was halfway through agreeing with his colleague suddenly spotted a light source.
And it was a light source that seemed to be making a beeline towards them, or more specifically towards the camp''s gates.
"Halt! You!" And once the light source, which turned out to be three distinct ones when observed up close enough, got near enough, one of the men from the top of the tower barked thismand in a haughty voice, while the other readied his crossbow.
Yes, by now Perseus''s army already had ess to crossbows, although they were very limited in supplies.
They were usually given to only noblemen, so to answer the question of how this poor man had gotten the privilege to use it- well it was simple really, he looted it off a dead nobleman when he was cleaning the battlefield.
And then managed to convince hismanding officer to let him have it for a healthy bribe.
As for what the bribe was, well let''s just say that particr officer had a general likeness for men.
Anyway, such backstory aside, perceiving danger to be approaching them, this guard quickly took aim, threatening the men with death unless they obeyed.
"Open the gates! His Majesty''s orders!" However that hostility instantly plummeted the moment they heard this familiarnguage, their mother tongue.
It was surely to be from their own side, and as they got closer, that suspicion ceasedpletely, as once upon a more detailed look, the duo quickly recognized the distinctive armor the three men were wearing.
''Royal guards!'' The words immediately thundered across the two''s minds, as they hastily scampered to let the esteemed men in, their minds deathly afraid to think why these men would be here at such an odd time.
They were also half afraid they might get court martialed for pointing a weapon at them.
But the three bodyguards were of course not bothered by this.
In fact, they did not even register it as an offense since they had much, much bigger problems to deal with.
Hence, entering quickly, they immediately sought out the prince''s tent.
And once they located it, they chose to eschew the stationed guards'' offer to go wake the prince up and instead personally entered the ce, hurriedly trying to wake the sleeping man up and deliver the news,
"Your Highness, His Royal Majesty is trapped in the city! He needs assistance. You must join him!"
The men tried to be as concise and as sinct as possible, in fear of wasting time.
"Wh¡ what? Trapped? Who? Where is father?" However, in doing so, they presented Philips with a situation he had no context of and so understandably found himself confused.
All of this was too out of the blue and unexpected for him to easily grasp.
"Ah!" And finally recognizing this, the men then took a few minutes to help him catch up.
"Someone opened the gates! His Highness is trapped in the marketce. We cannot open the gates from inside. So he sent us to ask you to open the gates and join him!"
One of the men said.
Now, here readers would do well to take a very good at the phrasing of this sentence, as the message being delivered here was, although true to its essence not exactly what Perseus had asked.
To quote the king, he specifically said to ask Philips to ''tear down the gates or walls with the elephants to help them escape''.
He certainly did not want Philips to join the fight.
Granted, in the current circumstance perhaps this might seem like only a very subtle wordy. But like how the flutter of a tiny butterfly could cause a hurricane somewhere else, fortunately, or unfortunately, this paraphrasing would have a great effect on the oue of the battle.
As to which one, well that remained to be seen in the future.
For now though, what had to be done first and foremost was to have Philips wake his army up.
Upon learning of his royal father''s predicament urring just beyond those gates, all the inherent sleepiness the man had been inflicted from being prematurely woken up evaporated like dew under the summer sunlight and the Crown Prince felt his heart burning in anxiety.
So once he got up to speed, Philips wasted not a single moment in attempting to mount a rescue, as he started to bark out one order after another in a tyrannical voice few heard him ever utter before.
And with the royal having taken charge himself, even personally going into some tents to wake up the more senior officers, the whole camp soon found itself awake, aware, and ready.
The regr grunts reported to their station as fast as their legs could carry them, the officers tried their best to get them in proper formation, while the top brass held a very short meeting to understand what Philips as well as Perseus wanted of them, and strategize on how to achieve that.
The entirety of this took around two hours, which was lighting quick when you understood what mammoth task it involved getting 20,000 men up and ready in the middle of the night in almost pitch ck darkness save for the asional braizers.
So this clearly went on to show Philips''s own innate military prowess, proving the apple had not fallen much further from the tree.
Thus at this point, Philips found himselfmanding a full fledged army, the men all arranged in neat rows.
"Get the elephants! Pull down the gates and be ready to charge!" Then without further ado, Philips gave the decisive order.
Following which, just as the esteemed prince wanted, very thick ropes were quickly tied to the undefended gates on one end and fastened to a team of six elephants on the other, with each door given to three of the beasts to pull apart.
"*Trumpet!* *Trumpet!*"
And then with this loud strenuous cry, the brutal tugging contest began.
The several tonnes heavy behemoths'' sheer muscle power fought a brutal contest against the material strength of the heavy timber and metal locks holding the gate together, the magnificent animals furiously moved their legs, making the ground underneath them quickly form a dent.
As these beasts were arranged side by side, their frantic steps or attempts to take a step appeared like caterpirs wriggling legs, and
*Creak*, *Creak*, *ng*, *Snap*.
Soon such low pitched murmurs began to ring out around the door.
"Good! Good!" And encouraged by the quick apparent result, Philips cheered as such, thinking the gate was just a bit away from toppling.
After all, seeing the elephants at work and watching the powerful muscles at work firsthand, Philips could feel the power at work there, so there was little doubt in his mind that the results would soon be manifesting themselves.
''Father was right. These beasts are really something.'' The Crown Prince thought gleefully.
However, despite all the reassuring creaking and snap, as time went on, Philips found his optimism waning.
There was no doubt their efforts were having an effect, but clearly, it was fast enough, as even after almost half an hour of this brutal attack the the gate still held.
If Philips was thinking of quicklying to his father''s rescue, he was to be disappointed.
Chapter 888 Phillps At the Gates (Part-2)
Chapter 888 Phillps At the Gates (Part-2)
?"Hurry up men! Force march! Your brothers need you!"
In the dead silence of the night, this forceful, slightly irritated shout rang particrly loudly across the wide, open Tibian countryside, as Alexander from atop his horse sounded a bit annoyed.
Upon receiving news of Grahtos, the young pasha had mobilized his army as soon as possible, waking the camp up and putting two thirds of his men on a forced march, wishing toe to his detachment''s aid yesterday.
To make the pace even faster, Alexander did not even make the men carry their 30 to 35 kg heavy baggage of supplies, only equipping them in their armor and weapon and perhaps a water pouch for the journey.
All so that he could cover the 20 kilometer journey at the maximum pace possible.
However, despite all that, given the general ambient darkness, as well as the fatigue of the men, the soldiers could only move their legs that fast.
They tried their best, but that did not seem fast enough for Alexander.
"It will be sunrise by the time we make it." Hence a bit annoyed, Alexander pursued his lips and murmured to himself, at the advancing rate, as he had hoped to arrive at the battlefield sooner.
But since he could only push the men so far, Alexander had to settle for wishing Grahtos would be able to keep Perseus trapped in the city in the meantime.
While Alexander was racing towards Kalimat in the dead of the night, inside the city, after waiting for what to him seemed like ages, Perseus was beginning to get a bit frustrated.
"The gate is not opened yet? What''s taking so long? Did the men not deliver the message properly?" The king furrowed his brow and swore, turning his head towards the sky above to let out a sigh of exasperation.
He could already tell the darkness was starting to dissipate as the horizon did not look as dark as before.
And this observation made the man feel quite pessimistic about his future.
Contrary to normal human nature, right now Perseus hated that the darkness was fleeing and dawn was approaching, for he feared what the next day would hold.
Once everything became clear, the enemy would surely revamp his attacks, and that would not bode well for him.
"The Prince is trying Your Highness. It''s just that door is proving more difficult than anticipated."
And sensing Perseus''s anger, one of his guards quickly tried to soothe him as such.
While the city lord who was also participating in the fight close to him darted his eyes a bit ufortably since he felt he might know why the Crown Prince was having a hard time breaking through.
Fearing an attack from Alexander, the portly man had reced many of the aging gates with brand new ones, thus reinforcing his defenses.
This was of course a very sensible thing to do as a whole.
But right now it seemed to havee to bite them in the back in a twisted way.
About this incident, therge lord kept his mouth tightly shut, as revealing it now would have no positive effect.
So instead he only gritted his teeth in fear and frustration at the current predicament, ''Dammit! We cannot even return to the mansion! Is this where I die?''
The manson was of course a much better stronghold than the marketce and would have been able to provide much greater protection to its inhabitants.
So Perseus andpany had every incentive to try and ess it.
And the reason why they did not do so was simple because the path was locked.
The buildingy north of the city, and Grahtos''s mening from the west had managed to swing left and block off the only street leading there.
Thus Perseus''s only escape route was to the south, which his son was trying his damnest to open.
Philips by now had no idea how long he had been going at it.
But he did not know this was the third time he had to change elephants.
Meaning the initial 6 that were tasked with snapping the gate down had been switched after they had gotten tired with a fresh batch, and then swapped back in once they had recuperated long enough.
"Come on! Come on! Come on!" And recognizing the peril his father might be in, every second Philips remained stuck here felt agonizing to the man, and he had to murmur such words to keep his mind distracted.
It was at this point he also regretted not having any ess to any siege equipment like a battering ram, and being forced to rely on this primitive, brute force method.
In fact however, there was a far easier method than this avable to Philips, if the man had only put a bit more thought into it.
If the Crown Prince was a bit more clever, he could have recalled how the three royal guards had scaled the wall toe deliver the message and then do the same, just from the opposite side.
Yes!
Given the walls were literally empty, some of Philips''s men could have easily entered the city by climbing up them and then opening the gates from inside, saving Philips potentially hours!
It was such a simple solution, but for whatever reasons- be it the stress of the suddenness of the attack, the explicit order from his father, the darkness which obscured the walls and thus that visual stimuli, the inherent grogginess or simply forgetfulness, the man had failed toe up with this.
As neither did all the men around him, who too were single mindedly focused on obeying the king''s order to the letter, nothing less, but also nothing more.
Thus came the following result, where the elephants went at the door for quite some time, wasting precious time, as the heavy main door tried to resist with all its might.
And it was here that Philips for the first time in his life learned just how hard it was for wood to be forcefully pulled apart,
But eventually, like any other material, no matter how strong it might have been, it was inevitably worn down.
The sheer muscr prowess of six elephants was nothing short of incredible.
So atst the various nks of wood holding the huge gate together began to slowly buckle, split, and splitter, as Philips imagined he could see lighting from there.
And then finally, right around dawn, as the surroundings were just starting to get bright, it happened!
*Twang!*, *Twang!*, *Twang!*
Giving onest cry as such,
*Bang!* with a thunderous crash the whole thing came tumbling down, as one part of the gates smacked into the ground, opening the way forward.
"Ahhhhhh!" And Philips did not even have to give the order to advance, as some of the more eager men rushed into the city on their own, crying out terrifying battle cries as they sought toe to the defense of their king.
"Reinforcements! Reinforcements are here!"
"We are saved! Praise the prince!"
"Hurry! Hurry and make your way towards the gates."
"We don''t have much time. Let''s run while we can."
And since it was already dawn, with the surroundings bing clearer by the second, hearing the loud shout and seeing the charging men, everyone''s attention was drawn to that ce.
And no one was left in any confusion as to which faction they belonged to.
Their armor made that endeavor moot.
Hence Perseus''s side cheered jubilously, as if like the gate to paradise had been opened, as many of the units, especially the outer ones began to rush towards their freedom.
While in theplete flipside of the coin, Grahtos and his officers cursed, "Dammit! Why now?"
They could not believe that Alexander had still not arrived, and with this development, well it seemed the bird was getting ready to fly off.
Intense regret particrly filled Grahtos''s heart, as he felt mortified at the thought of letting Perseus escape, both because of what it would mean for the war, as well as what it would mean for him personally.
If that were to really happen, if Perseus really were to escape, and then if Grahtos''s dy about informing Alexander was revealed in the post battle analysis, well, then man would do well to prepare for what was toe.
Perhaps he would be able to squirm out of being heavily punished by iming he did not tell Alexander fearing it might be a trap, but even that excuse would be pretty weak.
So even if Alexander bought it, he would certainly favor him less from then on.
And all this went without saying anything about his colleagues, who would surely kick him when he was down and try and rece him in Alexander''s eyes.
This was only natural as if Grahtos were in their shoes, he would have probably done the same.
But then again, even if he wanted to stop Perseus, what could Grahtos do?
He was already doing what he could.
"Get out of the way!"
"Ahhhh! Don''t push!"
"Stop! I''m on your side."
However, it seemed Grahtos did not need to do anything, as Philips''s men who were charging into the city found themselves colliding with their own men who were trying to escape the battle, thus creating a clog of their own.
Chapter 889 Phillips’s Blunder
Chapter 889 Phillips''s Blunder
?As Perseus''s men tried to escape the city, unfortunately, they found themselves blocked at the gates by the very force that was sent to relieve them.
One side wanted to rush in to help the besieged men, while the besieged men wanted to rush out to try and avoid the encirclement.
And thus the two sides unfortunately crashed into each other, right in narrow singlened streets.
And then as it could be guessed chaos ensued.
"Move! Let me through!"
"Get out of the way!"
"Aghh! Don''t! I.. I can''t breathe."
"Stop pushing you fuckers!"
It was as such, with both sides trying to get to their destination at the same time that they found themselves deadlocked.
And then desperate, they shoved, pushed, and even stabbed each other to try and escape.
All of which of course did nothing other than to im a few needless lives, as the congested streets proved to be too potent a choke point for anyone to reliably escape.
Many were even killed by crushing, i.e. death by asphyxiation.
It happened due to the fact that the surrounding sea of men pressed down on the chest so much that it made it impossible to even move it up and down, making even the simple act of breathing untenable.
It was like this the men from both directions found themselves in an unsolvable knot.
And then to add a bit more spice to the chaos and kerfuffle, the mahoots driving the elephants also let two of thergest beasts they had into the narrow streets, thinking Perseus had called for them.
And then they found themselves stuck.
"Damn it! We can''t turn. There is not enough space!" It was only then they understood just how narrow a ce they had driven their animals into.
There was very little space for them to maneuver, and certainly not enough to turn the beasts around.
As for the elephants themselves, being ced in this very ustrophobic environment with so many men who were making so much noise, they quickly began to feel very ufortable and unable to move freely, they suddenly froze in fear, refusing to budge.
This remained the case even when their trainers tried their darndest to move them, the beasts only standing stock still and appearing afraid and very jittery.
What the trainers here were trying to make the animals reverse blindsided in a straight line, but that was something the two seemed very reluctant to do.
"Don''t poke them too much. Or they might charge! Remember that the king is with us!" And due to the following fear, the mahouts were also unable to try all the tricks in their bag, particrly having to rein in their use of the huge pointy sticks that they used to control the animal.
For they dreaded to think what would happen if these massive behemoths went berserk and started to rampage, as the utter destruction they could wreck in a congested space such as this could hardly be imagined.
It would be like a wrecking ball mowing down pins in the shape of humans.
And if the king was to get caught up in such a charge and die as a result, well then everything would be over, then and there.
Thus the trainers atop the elephants had little recourse other than to let these moody animals get used to their new surroundings in their own time, whilst in the meantime, they kept blocking the way out of the city like they were royalty.
And seeing this one, at one point, a few daredevil and half crazed soldiers even menacingly approached these beasts with their spears, wishing to carve open a path for themselves,
"Don''t attack them! It will go berserk and start attacking everyone. Then we will all die."
But the mahoots from the top warned them as such, their voice as loud as they were terrified.
And fortunately, it was a potent enough warning to make even those red eyed men back down.
They looked at all the huge size of their ''enemy'', heard the asional angry trumpeting cries, and observed the swords that were menacingly tied to the animal''s tusks.
All of which did wonders to make theme to their senses.
After all, they did not want to be flung, trampled, or skewered by a pair of raging elephants.
Thus for the moment, the entire contingent appeared stuck inside the city, neither able to move forward nor backward.
And it was exactly foreseeing such chaos that Perseus had asked for his son to simply open the gates, not enter it.
But since the message subtly got changed in the delivery, Perseus''s men thus found that their only route out of the city was blocked.
What a blunder such a small change caused!
And as a consequence of this blunder, panic and fear finally began to settle in among the men trapped in the city.
They had been fighting the whole night, all in the hope of being able to escape the city if they held on for just a bit longer.
And then they were shown that hope, the gate of redemption was right within their grasp.
All for it to be cruelly taken away from them in the blink of an eye.
And what was perhaps most ironic was the fact that it was their own men who had inadvertently done that, somehow due topletely altruistic reasons.
Perhaps the men there would not have felt so much regret even if it had been Alexander to be the one who had done it.
So as they were stuck here with no way out, it was only natural that after a while, these tired and outnumbered men started to lose faith.
And as morale plummeted, desertion among the ranks began to set it!
It was of course not on en mass, as there was simply no space for an en mass desertion anyway.
But many, especially those around the outer fringes of the formation, began to try and look for a small way out, such as attempting to fit their body through the small creases and crevices around the elephants'' legs and bodies.
The numbers involved in this endeavor were predictably minuscule, and the ones seeding even tinier.
It would be like if the total number of men present was like an ocean, then the beasts were acting like a filter, letting out only a single drop at a time.
It was nowhere near enough.
But it was still enough to disrupt unit cohesion as even those who did not run, still kept their eyes and ears perked up looking for a chance to do so if the opportunity arose.
Thus much of the men''s attention was currently divided, enabling the legionaries to get a deadly strike in more easily.
And observing all the panic and desperation starting to set in from atop his horse at the back, Grahtos, of course, rejoiced.
It was aplete reversal of his fortunes like the sides of the coin had been flipped like he had been given a second chance at life.
And the man intended to fully capitalize on it.
"Attack! Now is your chance men! Attack!" Clearly recognizing the disorderly formations, the general immediatelyunched a full fledged counterattack with every single man he had, and since it was already morning, the legionaries were able to effectively coordinate their attacks, letting them be very effective.
Thus, just as Perseus was at his most vulnerable, Grahtosmenced his most deadly attack.
And just as it was expected, this time the men found results.
The energetic legionaries found the enemy lines to be not as solid as they had once been, and many of the very front and rear echelons started to give away when poked and propped from both sides.
The chaos and indiscipline had spread well and truly by now among the enemy''s ranks, and even the elite mercenaries had gotten worn out by this point, both by fatigue as well as the fear of impending death.
They might have reaped many lives, but when it came to their own, they too found themselves afraid.
It seemed everybody was afraid to die.
Although ironically, that fear only worked to haul the scythe wielding apparition ever closer ever faster.
"Your Majesty! Look out¡ arggh!"
As more and more time passed, Grahtos began to make further and further advances into the enemy''s ranks, with at some point the attacks even starting to reach as deep into where Perseus was ced, right in the very core of the formation, proving just how degraded the outer rows had be.
Facing attacks from both sides, the king found his forces being chewed up and spit out at a rate almost perceptible to the naked eye.
"Fuck!" And understanding the predicament he was in, Perseus, crudely cursed and cussed in a way that was in much contrast to the way he was brought up, as he murmured in regret, ''I knew this would happen! That''s why gave them those instructions!''
Despite wanting to avoid this very scenario, somehow it seemed Perseus''s worst nightmare hade true.
"Fuck it! If I''m going to die, might as well die fighting!" And then in a voice filled with anger and desperation, the king suddenly dered such, deciding to join the frontlines himself.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 890 Perseus’s Last Stand
Chapter 890 Perseus''s Last Stand
?Chapter 890
As time wore on, and the sky became brighter and brighter, things continued to improve for Grahtos.
And as a way to maintain bnce, things kept going south for Perseus.
Chaos, panic, and desertion all started to inflict and spread throughout the army, while Perseus found himself helpless to do anything about it.
Until finally the man decided not to do anything.
Perseus found himselfpletely pushed into a corner with seemingly no way out.
So at the end of his ropes, he relinquished all control of the battlefield to the whims of all the individual men there, letting them whatever they wished, while he himself wanted to try and kill as many enemies as possible before he was eventually surrounded and butchered.
He would wash all his worries and fears with the blood of the enemy right in front of him.
"*ng!* Let''s die a glorious death!"
It was with those words that the warrior king atst drew his sword, swearing to himself like a martyr and throwing all his regrets and concerns to the wind, as he wheeled his horse directly to the very frontlines, joining the fight himself.
And soon he had his first kill, as his sword came down on an unsuspecting legionary.
And then in the following few while, the king found his de dyed with a good few kills, proving his skills as an elite warrior.
After all, he had been trained since birth for moments just like this.
"Hahaha, this feels great. Brings back memories." The familiar swing of the de also worked quickly to bring out memories of his youth in Perseus, of a time when he had fought on the very frontlines under his father.
Those were the happy times and remembering it brought arge smile to his face.
Perseus also began to soon feel much lighter and happier as he waved his weapon from his horse, the movement and exercise distracting him from the dire situation he was currently facing.
And as this euphoria filled him, the man decided to fully embrace it, handing the worry of life and death over to his ancestors above.
In such a state, Perseus was able to achieve great sess with his de, his brave and charismatic approach to the fight letting him effortlessly cleave through many opponents.
However, after a while, he noticed that no matter how many men he killed, the enemy''s number in front of him never seemed to dwindle even by a drop.
When one of them fell to his de, another soldier was already ready and even somewhat eager to rece him, taking up the mantle to continue challenging the king.
Hence to the royal man, their numbers appeared unending.
This was not of course normal, as soldiers tended to very avoid skilled opponents.
However, in this case, the phenomenon was due to his identity- Perseus, the king of Tibias.
And it was evidenced by the fact that even though the noise of the battlefield, Perseus could clearly hear the distinct hoarse cries of many officers in azhak urging their men as such,
"That is the king! Kill him!"
"10,000 ropals to the one who gets his head!"/
"Which of you can get him, the Pasha will reward you personally!"
"Land, women, gold¡ whatever you could ever want! Kill the king and it will be yours!"
Given Perseus and his bodyguards'' very distinct and shy armor, and the fact that this was their fourth time (Zanzan, Sissillpond, Lilybee, and now) seeing Perseus garbed as such, it was only natural for the other side to recognize him.
Thus Perseus was like a fire in a dark winter night, like a candle to which moths were being drawn, the men were attracted with almost a near suicidal zeal, for they understood what it could mean if they managed to kill him.
It would be enough to change not only their lives but the lives of at least the next three generations.
Hence the number of people who were willing to try their luck at this dangerous endeavour despite the immense risks involved numbered literally in the thousands.
Heck, if Alexander was here and he was still that ve from before, he too would have thrown all concerns to the wind and tried his hand, pitting freedom against death.
Thus Perseus was made to face one challenger after another.
As time passed, the king had lost count of both time and how many waves of enemy he had repelled, but estimated that it had to be approaching at least double digits.
At least the various corpses thaty strewn about around his horse seemed to imply that.
However that did not seem to discourage new men from trying their luck anyway.
For although the feat of a single man could never affect the overall state of the battlefield, killing him could.
Thus currently Perseus was facing histest challengers, two rtively young boys from atop his horse.
And it was one of those young nameless soldiers who was the one tounch an attack, thrusting up his sword diagonally to try andnd a hit on the king.
"Agghhh!" While at the same time, the other brotherunched a diversionary attack to draw the king''s attention away, loudly shouting as such.
And wouldn''t you know it, this did create a momentarypse in Perseus''s concentration as he was forced to parry that attack from the other brother, twisting his body to try and deflect the blow with the shield that wasing from the left side.
Which suddenly opened up a small gap in the defense, that the nameless soldier was able to take full advantage of, timing his attack carefully and luckilynding a good sword strike on the king''s breastte, as the high quality steel prated the bronze armor like butter, before tasting blood and flesh!
"Argghh!" And as the stinging sensation of the stab coursed through Perseus, he involuntarily let out a pained cry.
And that sounded like music to the young boy, who thought he had gotten a solid hit on the man and hoped to see the man topple over any second now.
He could not believe he had managed to wound the king, a man of almost divine status, someone who had until now faced around ten men and came out unscathed.
He felt it would be a story he could tell for the rest of his life and still never get bored.
However this aplishment soon proved to be a much greater bane rather than a boon for him.
As in a kind of UNO reverse of how Perseus got previously distracted, this boy too got distracted by his own aplishments and
*sh!*
The elite king, rapidly recovering from the wound, quickly got his bearing and fiercely counterattacked, using his height advantage from atop the horse to deliver a solid downward pummeling strike with his de right onto the boy''s helmet, severely denting it in the process and cracking the skull underneath even through all the protection.
If the boy''s head had been naked on the head, the de might have dug into his skull as far as the nose bridge.
Such was the strength behind the attack!
Puuchi!
And even with the helmet on, the boy''s face soon began to flood with blood, as his open skull leaked with faucet and his body reeled and he fell over.
If he was not dead yet, he would very likely die unless he received immediate medical care.
"Brother!" And seeing this, the other brother felt his eyes redden, as he tried to rush to the other''s rescue.
However unfortunately for him, there stood a very formidable man on his horse between him and that.
And in much contrast to what the duo had thought, although injured, Perseus did not seem at all fazed
This was because fortunately for him, the wound he got was rtively shallow, since the inexperienced peasant levy did not put enough power into the stab itself, and forgot to properly drive in the steel.
Of course that did not mean it still did not hurt, and Perseus did have to forcefully suppress the stinging pain of the injury.
And perhaps it was pain that made the man quite angry, as he fiercely fell upon the poor, untrained boy, determined to make him pay.
While the poor levy could only scamper behind his shield and try and hold on for dear life, for he was absolutely no match for someone even a fifth of Perseus''s skill.
The ''duel'', if you call it that, seemed destined to end soon, and in Perseus''s favor at that.
Or so it seemed!
For not far away from this sh of ''titans'', on a rooftop was a Thesian soldier belonging to Perseus''s army watching all this happen.
This clever man had climbed up to this high vantage point to avoid the chaos and congestion of the streets below, and being a silent observer, he burned with pure rage at Perseus for dragging them to his death trap.
He wanted to try and take his revenge.
To aplish this, he picked up one of the heavy earthen tiles that lined the roof of the house, and quickly took aim, hoping to spot an opportune moment to throw it, preferably when Perseus stopped moving.
And asdy luck would have it, that situation would quickly present itself, as that poor boy was soon unable to withstand Perseus''s brutal attack, and tripped and fell, while the king paused momentarily to raise his sword and deliver the killing blow to the defenseless man.
It was this very chance that man had been waiting for so long, and he grasped it with both hands, expertly twisting his body and instantly throwing as urate a shot as possible.
The huge projectile wheezed through the air like a rocket, making a low droning sound, before
*Bang!*
It luckily hit the target!
While for the recipient of this- Perseus, the hit came out of literally nowhere.
One moment he was looking down at a lowly peasant who dared to challenge him, wishing to gut him alive.
And the next moment, there was a huge earthen tile headed straight towards his face.
The king perhaps did not even understand what hit him, as the huge tile shattered into a thousand tiles upon contact and the huge momentum tipped him off bnce, knocking him off his horse.
*Thud*
He fell head first into the stone paved streets and then instantly lost consciousness.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 891 The Beginning of the End of Tibias
Chapter 891 The Beginning of the End of Tibias
?Therge earthen pile impacted Perseus''s face directly with the force of a missile strike, smashing his nose through the helmet, knocking his teeth out, and most iconically, shattering itself into thousands of pieces and peppering his face and eyes with deadly earthen shards, embedding themselves deep into the flesh and almost blinding the poor man.
"Aghhh!" Perseus had rarely experienced that much pain and it even made the strong man reel in horror, screaming in a voice few had heard him utter.
"*Neiggggghhh*"
At Perseus''s utterance of this guttural scream, the stead down below, hearing his master''s pained cry, also buckled in fright and confusion, kicking its legs up in the air and trouncing around as it looked for a way to bolt.
This intense jerking motion needless to say did not have any positive effects on the king, who was already struggling to stay atop his horse due to the pain as well as just the sheer momentum of the projectile, which had beenrge enough to almost knock him back in on itself.
And so unfortunately, this sudden,rge buckling was enough to make the man let go of the grip of his reins and lose his bnce, as the king tumbled, falling off his horse backward and right onto the stone paved streets underneath.
And as he plummeted, a distinct stench of death began to fill the royal man''s nostrils and his life seemed to sh before him.
''Ah! Is this how I die? Is this my end? Defeated? My country, my people, my family¡ all lost of the invader?'' Perseus initially felt intense and bitter regret at his seemingly determined oue, his heart screaming with a vengeance.
It would be a heart wrenching experience for any man to have grown up with everything one could possibly want and then die with nothing.
''Oh¡ but maybe this is not so bad. I will get to see Leosydas soon. Ahhh I missed Leosydas so much!''
However, in the next moment, Perseus seemed to suddenlye to terms with his fate, as shes of that particr man''s face surfaced into his mind, filling him with fond memories.
Perseus always felt like he had two partners in life.
One on hand was Lady Parthia- his dutiful, loving wife, his sanctuary, and where he could always seekfort.
And on the other hand Leosydas was kind of like his naughty mistress.
Whereas the nobledy was always chaste, dutiful, and very demure in her lifestyle, being the perfect queen for Perseus and the ideal Tibian woman for all the women in the country to emte, as well as being very conservative in bed, Leosydas was perhaps the exact opposite, always willing to pleasure his king.
And Perseus liked the two of them exactly for their distinct roles, with him definitely having much more memorable times in bed with Leosydas than his wife.
Hence these past almost three years without Leosydas had been tortuous for the king, as if felt like half of his soul had been ripped away.
He longed to meet the man again.
''Come Perseus! Come to me!'' And as if the Leosydas in his mind could read his thoughts, just as Perseus wished to spend more time with him, he then suddenly heard the face speak, in that ever recognizable manly, musky voice which tugged at Perseus''s heart.
''Come Perseus! We can once again ride without worry¡ just like we used to.'' That voice again beckoned, now holding his hand out from atop a horse with a smile, on a sprawling green field that seemed boundless.
And these words quickly brought up in Perseus the vicissitudes of how the two of them spent their time in their teenage years with nary a worry in the world.
"Perseus, here!"
"Father, we are here!"
And then soon Perseus found that Leosydas was not standing alone, there was Mithriditus as well as the two princes.
And while his two sons looked just like how before they died, Mithriditus was no longer the old man everyone knew.
He looked much younger, with jet ck hair and a full beard, wearing a magnificent, tight fitting armor that seemed to portray him like a heroic general right out of a painting.
Here was a man in his prime, full of life and energy, just like how Perseus remembered seeing him in his youth.
And with the three new additions came three fresh memories, such as how Mithriditus had taught Perseus the art of statecraft when he was the crown prince, and how Perseus had held and yed with the two princes in their childhood.
"Perseus! What about me?" However, just as Perseus resigned himself to death, letting himself drown in the depths of this ocean of fond memories, suddenly this low, deep, very wizened voice rang out right beside his ears.
It was a voice so familiar that Perseus suspected he would remember even if he reincarnated in his next life.
For it belonged to his father.
Now, Perseus''s rtionship with his father was never harmonious, due to various reasons.
The old man had not approved of his rtionship with either Leosydas or Lady Parthia, he did not like Perseus personally taking part in risky battles, and most of all, he did not like his son''s off hand approach to the rule of the kingdom, where he delegated much of the day to day tasks of administration to Leosydas, Mithriditus, and Lord Theony, for the old man saw this was as an erosion of the royal family''s power.
And perhaps he was right in thatst part, as one of the three, Lord Theony had indeed betrayed them.
But that was not why he was here.
Perseus knew his presence was far more significant than that light admonishment that would have garnered him.
Perseus understood his father hade here to subconsciously represent the people, or more urately the powers he had failed.
And this made the king''s relieved resignation to death change to one that of dread and sorrow,
''*Sigh* I''m sorry Royal father. I''m sorry ancestral spirits¡ I''m sorry I failed you. I have failed in the sacred duty entrusted to me by all of you. I do not have the face to ask for your forgiveness. I do not deserve it. I only fear what will happen to all your legacy.''
And with all that done, and being short on time as his head was about to just hit the ground, Perseus''s mind conjured up thest two people he cared for most in the world, who were still alive, as he muttered only two words, "Parthia. Phillips."
Perseus would have loved to see his beloved wife onest time and he frantically wished his proudest son could escape the battlefield today unscathed.
And that was it.
It would be this wish that would be thest thing Perseus would remember as he hit the ground, the intense impact of the fall as he the injury from the pile impact instantly knocking the man unconscious.
"Your Majesty! Quickly get His Majesty!"
But what was fortunate for Perseus was that he had fallen from his horse backward, meaning his body ended up close to his lines.
And with the person Perseus was attacking- that boy, also lying prone, it meant that by an absolute miracle, there was no one around the vicinity to finish the job.
Perseus had somehow survived this deadly encounter, as his limp body was hastily dragged to the rear lines by his bodyguards, who had jumped into the fray like fearless lions to retrieve it.
Of course, Grahtos''s men too had noticed the man in shiny armor falling off his horse and tried their best to capitalize on that.
But although they were rewarded with the heads of two royal guards, the main quarry escaped.
"Dammit." And seeing so Grahtos clicked his tongue.
Although it was more of a slight vexation than actual regret.
For given the rate at which he was scything through the enemy, Grahtos was sure even if Perseus could escape death in this very instance, it would only be a matter of time he was forced to make that ''saving throw'' once again.
And besides, even if Perseus had lived, it was not like Grahtos could not lie and pretend that he was dead.
It was with this crafty thought the experienced general cleverly shouted,
"That''s it, men! You did it! Their king is dead! Look! His horse is empty!"
"Now attack the rest and send them to see him."
This loud statement was directed not as much as towards his men, as it was towards the enemy.which was why Grahtos specifically mentioned the horse.
Being Perseus''s personal steed, this beast was of course very distinct, beingrge, tall, and gaudily decorated to attract attention.
Which also made it very easy to see now that there was no one on it.
"The king!"
"His Majesty!"
"No! How can this be?"
"Wuhhhhuuuu. So this is the end?"
And seeing this, seeing that theirst bulwark had fallen, the already faltering men''s morale copsed, with many even breaking down in tears.
"No! The king is alive!"
"Fight! Help is just around the corner. Hold on a bit more."
"Do not panic. The enemy is lying."
Whilst seeing this although the royal bodyguards tried to rally the men, although against the great proof in front of the soldiers, their words rang hollow.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 892 The End of Tibias
Chapter 892 The End of Tibias
?Chapter 892
The news of Perseus''s ''death'' spread like wildfire among the ranks, his empty horse standing like a ming beacon of testament to that im.
And seeing that, the melting pot that was already the streets of Kalimat started to finally boil, as panic and desertion set in with its full effect.
The men threw away their weapons and armor to try and find a way to run as fast as they could, which they of course failed to do spectacrly.
The narrow terrain constricted their movement like an anaconda straggling its prey and many died due to the actions of their own men, as they pushed others into harm''s way to save their own.
While theirck of weapons made them like defenseless sheep in front of Grahtos''s men, who found the lines had devolved into a squishy hodgepodge that any army could only dream of encountering.
To the legionaries, it appeared like every swing of the des would reap a new life, making many of the men who were farmers feel like they had been taken back to their fields, where they were cutting wheat.
By this point, that part of the fight could no longer be called a battlefield.
In fact it could no longer be even called a fight.
More like a ughterhouse, with the animals being unfortunately reced by humans.
"What! Father is dead? How?"
However for Philips, the ongoing nearplete obliteration of a part of his army was far less precedent than the report of the death of his father.
As soon as the news reached his ears, he suddenly felt faint, as his vision blurred and his head swirled a bit.
''Finished! Everything is finished!'' The man''s worst fear had seeminglye true as he agonizingly then howled in his heart, for he knew perhaps better than anyone else what this meant.
Although Perseus was no great administrator of thends, he was still considered a great ruler, being very charismatic and seen as a titan in the hearts of the people.
His presence alone inspired the men around him, and it could be said the only reason they had been able to keep fighting for as long as they did was purely due to him.
So Philips was not wrong to judge the loss to be irreceable for them.
And with his father''s supposed death, Philips judged his country to be also lost.
Tibias could be said to be a country that was originally held up by five pirs.
And these pirs were, in order of descending importance, Perseus, Leosydas, Mithriditus, Philips, and Lord Theony.
Currently, out of the five, three were dead and one had defected, leaving Philips all alone to try and pick up the pieces.
A task that would have been a mammoth undertaking even in peace times, where he only would have had to deal with internal rebellions.
Whereas now that a foreign power was literally a day''s march away from him.
Philips could only see darkness in front of him.
"......."
The scout that had delivered the news of the king''s demise saw his prince gopletely silent after his initial outburst, like aputer that had suffered a sudden glitch and froze.
".... Order the surender." And then suddenly unfreezing himself, Philips in a woody, mechanical voice abruptlymanded this.
With his father dead, and therge losses they suffered today, there was no way Philips would be able to continue the fight, even if he had the charisma and prestige of his old man.
Thus he saw no point in continuing this pointless struggle, feeling that if he waved the white g now, even ended up in the gallows, perhaps he could at least save some of his men''s lives.
"Wha¡? Shouldn''t we escape Your Highness?" But it seemed the scout had other thoughts, as he looked at Philips with an incredulous face.
This man here was one of the most zealous proponents of the school of fighting on till the death, and so at his prince''s, or perhaps in his eyes now the king''s order of such a thing almost seemed like a betrayal.
"Go! Do as..."
And sensing this, Philips turned his head with a fierce expression on his face, furious at being questioned and wanted to heavily rebuke the man, when suddenly another herald came racing towards them, pointing towards Philips''s rear and shouting in a voice full of panic and despair,
"Your Highness! Grave news! There is an army approaching us from the rear! Look!"
As if Perseus''s death was not bad enough for Philips, right when the Crown Prince was at his most vulnerable, Alexander decided to make his appearance, heading straight for the main gate of the city.
He had finally managed to cover the long journey, and as he approached his target, the forward scouts he had sent forward came with the current position of the bulk of the enemy''s force.
And being unable to endure the lure of hitting an unsuspecting enemy on the nks, Alexander drove his men quickly towards it.
"Hurry men! Our brothers need us. Look the enemy is besieging them!" The officers urged the legionaries.
And as the men quickly marched, they atst came into Philips''s view, who felt like he was seeing a moving sea of blue carpeting the lush greenery underneath, rising out of the horizon like some kind of summoned swarm,
"......."
Seeing this Philips simply froze.
As did whatever little will to fight he might have had left over.
Then in some small schadenfreude way, the man began to feel happy to see Alexander, as he felt like he was being put out of his misery.
No longer would he have to continue this long and grueling but mostly pointless fight, nor would he look too cowardly for surrendering.
It was the best ending he could think of given the circumstances.
And it was the same case for many of the men, including that zealous scout behind him.
Seeing Alexander''s huge 20,000 men army right on their doorstep, pressing against their back, while they faced the city walls, with nowhere to go, it snapped their fighting will in half and they knew the game was lost.
Philips did not even have to give the order to surrender.
Most men did so voluntarily, raising their spears high up into the sky which symbolized the holstering of the white g.
While Alexander was more than happy to ept a win without bloodshed.
"Send the orders. Nopany (100 men team) is to engage the enemy in fighting unless they are attacked first."
"If anyone disobeys it, he will be court martialed and executed!"
Alexander had bled enough for this campaign and did not want to lose a single more man and feared some of the more glory seeking men would disobey him for credit.
The legionaries soon formed a semi circr arch around the phngites, surrounding them, before starting to separate and dismantle the army unit by unit.
"Throw down your weapons. Everything you have. And then lie down."
Came the orders, and the regr grunts quickly followed, lying down on the muddy ground that had been churned up the steps of tens of thousands of men and beasts, with their hands above their heads.
Alexander andpany had not brought enough ropes with them to take all these men prisoners at the same time, so after the surrender, fast riders were sent out to Alexander''s base camp asking for it, while at the same time, about 10,000 phngites were unarmed and set on a march towards the camp, escorted by a legion of 5,000 men.
Given Alexander''s size of the camp, that was the maximum number of prisoners he could handle without being overwhelmed.
As for the rest, well they were made to lie in that wet ground the whole time, while Alexander tried to make arrangements for them outside the city, as he tasked some of his men to build pens to ''herd'' these men in.
The engineers thus got to work cutting down nearby trees to make a very rudimentary fence, asking the men to spend the night under the open sky.
The only people who were given an exception to this treatment were the 3,000 Thesians who had stealthily defected to Alexander prior.
These men had not apanied Perseus into the city for merriments, though some of them were part of the overzealous who had rushed into the city, although most with the intention to kill Perseus, not save him.
So when the time for surrender came, the leader of the group introduced himself and got a pardon from Alexander, being allowed to rest inside the city.
And this was the same treatment that Philips and the other captured nobles received, while Perseus, who was still breathing, was given Alexander''s personal physicals to try and close the man''s wound and save him.
Alexander wanted to have him as the main attraction when he did his triumph.
*Trmupet*, *Trumpet*
And as the day came to an end, it was this ceremonial trumpet that rang out from Alexander camps, reverberating throughout the surroundings, its sound appearing especially mncholic to the losing side, for they knew that sound not only signified the end of the battle, but also the end of Tibias a country.
Alexander had won and Perseus had lost.
(End of Volume-3)
Chapter 893 Next Few Days (Part-1)
Chapter 893 Next Few Days (Part-1)
?The cleanup following the surrendering of the army took a few days toplete, as Alexander''s men worked hard to process these men- identifying and ssifying them.
The officers and regr grunts were separated from each other as per the standard procedure, with the former being recognized by proofs such as a seal or badge or simply distinctive, more decorative armor.
This was done because the officers and various nobles were of higher status and thus deserved greaterfort as per the customs of the war of the time, while the regr grunts were asked to discard their weapons and lie down on the ground, then forced to spend a few nights outside the city under the clear open sky.
It was hence very fortunate for the men that it was the middle of summer and the nights actually cool andfortable to sleep under.
As for the officers, once they were recognized they were escorted to reside in some of therger houses inside the city, being effectively put under house arrest with guards stationed at all the exits.
It should also be pointed out that his generous treatment was not sorely done out of the goodness of the heat, but to separate these grassroots leaders from their squads.
It was reasoned that this way even if the surrendering soldiers wanted to rebel, they would have no voice to lead.
Andstly, the very top echelons of the army, i.e.- Perseus and his one surviving brother, for the other had died on the frontlines protecting his father during Grahtos''s attack, as well as the unconscious Perseus was taken to the city lord''s mansion, where Alexander andpany too had set up their abode.
There the two men were kept in locked rooms, while the injured and unconscious Perseus was attended by the best physicians Zanzan had to offer, as Alexander tried to make up with the best way to deal with them.
"My lord! They should be immediately killed! One mountain cannot have two tigers! As long as they live, they will always pose a threat to you. Please act quickly!"
And solidly in the ''kill the royal family, cremate them and then scatter their ashes to the winds'' faction was of course exactly who you would expect -Lord Theony, as he tried to convince Alexander to act that very instant to carry out the massacre.
In fact, the man did not even like the idea of Alexander taking these three men prisoners, wishing he had killed them as soon as they had surrendered.
So the fact that not only had Alexander given them quite good amodations, but was even treating the injured king, made the man very frustrated.
''*Snort*! You mean they will always pose a threat to you.'' While hearing Lord Theony''s forceful urging,?Alexander only retorted this in his mind, rolling his eyes disdainfully.
The ulterior motive behind Lord Theony requests was as in as the day for anyone with half a brain to see.
Lord Theony knew that if Alexander chose to keep the royal family alive, he would always have an alternative to him when it came to the administration of Tibias.
This to the man was of course uneptable.
And it was a sentiment that Alexander could detect from a mile away.
And it was also not like he could not understand it
If Alexander was in the man''s position, he would have perhaps done the same.
Heck, it could even be said that he had already done something simr with Ptolomy.
But it was also because Alexander had done so that he knew just how dangerous it would be for him to allow that to happen.
If Lord Theony was even as half as ambitious as Alexander, he might rebel just like Alexander was biding his time with Ptolomy.
It would be an action that although would greatly benefit him, would be disastrous for Ptolomy.
And Alexander certainly did not want to see his roles get reversed.
Lord Theony had betrayed the liege he had served for decades for him, so what was to stop the man from rebelling if things ever got tough once again?
Or even if the situation never became so dire, perhaps the ever present embers of ambition would one day burst one day into full fledge mes inside the man as seeking an opportune moment, he might simply decide to call himself the king of Tibias.
Lord Theony might think, ''Since I''m already running the day to day tasks of the ce, why not take the job ''full time?''
And such a thing might even garner support from the surrounding nobles, as they could develop more fealty towards their fellow countryman whom they saw and interacted with every day than some foreigner living hundreds of kilometers away.
Given enough time, Lord Theony might be able to even cultivate a loyal group of nobles under him to help assist in the endeavor and with enough support from the grassroots, and with a catchy slogan, like ''The glorious liberation of Tibias from the evil upiers'', there certainly existed a distinct possibility for creating lots of headache for Alexander.
Of course to be fair, such thoughts invading Alexander''s mind were only far distant, distinct possibilities.
Given the thrashing Tibias had endured under Amenheraft and then Alexander, they would not be able to rebel for at least a decade or perhaps even a few decades.
So Alexander kept the thought to the back of his mind but did not fret over it too much for now.
Instead, with a reassuring smile, he gently replied, "Lord Theony, do not worry. The royal family will never be able to wield any true power ever again. I promise you that."
Although just how much of that promise Alexander was willing to stand by remained to be seen.
Alexander had lots of thought on how to proceed about this but he was not sure which to choose.
After all, there were many examples in history where the conquered royal family was allowed to live on.
But before going to such heavy topics, after dismissing Lord Theony with this on the very day the Tibian had surrendered, for the next few days, Alexander andpany only had their thoughts on the celebrations, where the men ate, drank, and cheered to their heart''s content, toasting to it seemed almost anything and everything
Alexander could hear the men regale tales of their war stories, such as what challenges they had faced,
"When we saw that huge army heading towards us on that ridge, we thought we were goners.''
"Yeah. I thought so too when those elephants had charged at our nks. Those are some fearsome beasts I tell you. I''m d I survived that. I hope I never have to see them again."
Or how they had felt, with one noble slightly ruefullymenting,"Man, those Tibians fought like something else in thatst battle. Shame they were defeated in such a way."
Although he was quickly rebuked by the man next to him, "Heh! You only want to fight because you haven''t had enough glory."
Or how they felt currently,"Ahhh! I never thought Tibias could be taken in my lifetime. Hahaha, blessed. I''m truly blessed!"
This particr statement was made by Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq, whose face had gone all ruddy with all the drinks he had.
The man seemed happy enough to die with a smile on his face.
Andstly, there were people discussing what they were going to do after this.
"With so much newnd and so much loot¡ Ahhh! What are you going to do with it?'' One nobleman asked, knowing with the new plots ofnd Alexander was to give them, surely their taxes would increase.
He looked very much forward to it, as he turned to his colleague to answer his own question, "I''m going to build a new mansion. My current one is too shabby."
This was not the first time Alexander heard noblesin about how inadequate their mansions were.
Although that still did not fail to amaze him.
He felt like he was among those billionaires whopared who had therger yacht, in a petty dick measuring contest.
And knowing these people were his subordinates, inside Alexander felt quite smug.
Although he also could not help butmpoon a bit as even as their boss, he did not have a mansion, as he technically lived in a bungalow.
''Maybe I should build one.'' Alexander even mused, thinking it was a matter of prestige.
The grandeur of this party could be said to be a bitcking whenpared to the scale that would have been expected from such a huge aplishment.
But that was because the only supplies they had ess to came from their army rations since the city of Kmat had already used up their stock of precious ingredients to entertain Perseus.
So they had to make do with what they had.
But despite the lower quality of the items present, the mood in the ce did not seem to dampen even an iota, as buoyed by the sheer scale of their feat the men knew this was just the first of surely many celebrations toe.
So they drank and cheered the mammoth undertaking they had just managed toplete, and itsted quite a few days.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 894 Papando’s Reward
Chapter 894 Papando''s Reward
?The first round of drinking and feasting subsided quickly, mostly because Alexander andpany found the drinks and items a bitcking, and the entertainment, i.e.- beautiful girls and even boys for some, to sleep with was almost nonexistent.
Theck of entertainment was of course because Kalimat as a city was quite tiny to begin with.
And after the battle, its sparse poption became even more scattered.
At the same time, most of the ''delectable treats'' that might have been avable for the victors had already been ruined by the mercenaries who had tried to sack the city the night prior.
Thus the chronic shortage of a goody.
And it was to the point top that even the top dog Alexander had to go to sleep on a cold bed.
Now, it had been arranged for Alexander to have a maid from the mansion to warm his bed, but he found the woman not up to his standard.
There was also the fact that she was married, being the wife of a city guard, and from the way she behaved, although she did not explicitly say it, Alexander suspected that she might have been sent here against her will under duress.
This did not at all sit well with Alexander and thus he dismissed her with the excuse that he was feeling quite tired and drunk.
Although that actually worked against her, as given the huge demand for her kind services, the free woman was naturally not allowed to return home, but given that her time slot had just opened up, she was made to serve not only one man as she would have with Alexander, but multiple men, many times at the same time.
While her liberator also did not have too much of a good time, as Alexander quickly came to regret that decision when he felt his lower half throbbing and pressing against his breeches upying in his bed, feeling quite ufortable as the little brother sought release and revelry in celebration for his aplishments.
Alexander had recentlye to realize that during campaigns all his lust and sexual needs would suddenly disappearpletely, making him hyper focused on the task at hand.
But when it ended, that desire for physical gratification would return with a vengeance.
Hence, although he did not show, for the next few days Alexander had to try really hard to keep it in his pants.
As for the query of why he did not rub himself one out if he was so desperate, well that was simple- because it was a matter of pride.
Every time his empty hands tried to reach for his spear and pleasure himself, Alexander heard his own haughty voice ring inside him, - ''What are you doing! You are the Pasha of Zanzan, and the conqueror of Tibias, a country that had defied the superpower Adhania for millennia.''
''How can your pride allow you to do such a thing? This is only a thing that a lonely teenager all alone in his bedroom would do!''
''Do you think youck bitches? One snap of your finger and you will have a line ready of open their legs that stretched from this side of the city to the other!''
It was because of such ''admonishment'' that Alexander refused the older maid, instead choosing to endure the pain until he found someone up to his standard.
Which helped no one, as Alexander''s nights were still ''cramped'' and he even contemted,
''Maybe I should bring one of the girls next time I go on campaign like the other nobles do.''
This thought came upon recalling that many of the higher ranking men under him brought their concubines and wives with them to ease the difort of the travel.
But the thing that made Alexander reluctant to do so was one- military discipline, where there was no ce for such frivolous acts.
And two- because many times the nobles there wanted to taste flesh that did not exactly belong to them, so they would swap.
In fact, he knew of many nobles who would be very willing to go to war just because they knew would have the opportunity to sleep with a variety of women, all of very high standards.
To the men practicing this, it sounded like a great deal, as they could experience many women, with just one or two of their own.
To Alexander, however, this was an impossible practice.
And he feared that if he brought his own, he would be expected to follow suit or be disliked, even ostracized by them.
Thus Alexander was forced to remove that thought and make a note that although he allowed this for now, it would sooner orter be slowly abolished.
Since the celebrations ended quickly, Alexander decided not to dally in the city for much longer.
The true celebrations could wait until they returned to Zanzan, or at least the conquered capital of Parthenight.
There was also the fact that although they might have won the war, there was still quite a lot of work to be done in the aftermath.
Such as the juicy event of carving up Tibias among themselves.
Many nobles drolled just at the thought.
So they only stayed in the small city of Kalimat for a few days, preparing their provisions and working out the return route in the meantime.
And it was on one of those days whilst all this was going on that Alexander also finally got to know the reason behind Papando''s betrayal.
When asked about it, the man frankly confessed,
"Great Pasha, you must think lowly of me for betraying my family. But you only need to ask the people of the city what kind of tyrant my father was to get the answer."
"I had long wished to rid him of us, but that¡." The man suddenly trailed off as if he was stuck between whether to badmouth his father or to tell the truth.
He decided to only produce a silent pause, before finishing by saying, "It is my and this city''s great fortune that you came here when you did my lord. Surely you are our liberator."
The man wouldter enlighten Alexander about the various crimes of the city lord, making the man truly befit of the title tyrant.
This noble would severely punish people for the slightest slight, such as once killing off the entire fourteen generations of his stablemaster after he was caught stealing food, regrly beating and abusing both people and the ves, picking up any women that caught his fancy from the streets, driving many businesses destitute because they offered better prices than his own poorly ran enterprise, and many other crimes too numerous to list.
The man might have been not as deviant as someone like Pasha Muazz, but still very deplorable.
And for his crimes, Alexander had wanted to originally try and hang the man in the marketce publicly, aspensation for his crimes.
But when he proposed his thoughts to the apanying nobles, it was instantly and vehemently opposed by all, particrly the Tibian nobles with Papando himself included.
The reasons why the nobles opposed it was because the mere thought that one of them would be tried and treated like amon criminal mortified them.
If that could happen to one of them, if one of them could be humiliated like that, what was stopping it from one day happening to them?
They all shuddered at the thought.
And furthermore felt their hearts palpate when they realized such a thing could destroy the all powerful, almighty public image they held in the public''s heart.
After all, if someone as powerful as the city lord was shown to be so corrupt so openly, well it could cause rebellious thoughts to sprout in the people.
Thus many of the nobles petitioned,
"My lord, certainly the Lord of Kalimat might have overstepped his bounds, but surely he does not deserve such humiliation!" posing as if the nobleman''s actions were not too grievous.
It was truly a showcase of the very low standard of moral values of the time.
While the nobles wanted to prevent such a thing due to their own selfish reasons, for Papando, seeing his father be humiliated also did not sit well for him.
Hence he cleverly reasoned, "My lord, if my father''s crimes are exposed, the people might not respect me by association. So please reconsider."
Alexander was impressed upon hearing this.
He also liked the fact there was a man who did not be corrupted despite his father''s machinations.
It seemed in this case, the apple had truly fallen far from the tree.
Thus given that both these sides wanted the man quietly man gone, if not released outright, as some of the nobles hinted towards, Alex settled for only making the man silently disappear.
ording to official statements, the people were told that the previous city lord had died during the fight with Grahtos, while in reality the man was taken to the mansion''s underground dungeon and unceremoniously executed.
Then the son Papando was naturally chosen as the new governor of the city, as well as receiving a gold reward of 100,000 ropals, for, as Alexander put in, ''Aiding the people of the city in resisting the tyrant.''
Chapter 895 The Fate of Mercenaries
Chapter 895 The Fate of Mercenaries
?Chapter 895
Alexander had made sure to very publicly reward Papando for his efforts, iming he was a hero for bringing the war to a much faster conclusion than anyone could have hoped for and thus alleviating the pain of themon masses.
This worked as a great propaganda piece, as Alexander showed that he took good care of the people who defected to him, enticing others to follow suit.
Papando was the main event Alexander spent his time in Kalimat dealing with.
Following this came the processing of the prisoners of war.
This mainly included the identification of the various captured nobles, as well as the mercenary leaders, and deciding their fate, i.e.- ransom, envement, or death.
As for the fate of the regr grunts, i.e.- peasants forcibly drafted into Perseus''s army, Alexander wanted to forcibly disce them to thends around Zanzan, to popte the ce that had been ravaged by war and drought.
And that was what they were currently discussing.
Although not right at this moment, as the fate of another faction was deemed far more important.
"I wish to enve all the Kaiser family and remnants of the Petricuno mercenaries and turn them into hard manualborers for life. What do you think my lords?" In the meeting discussion, Alexander first posed so to the surrounding nobles.
"But my lord, would it not be better to recruit them?" And one of the nobles instantly posed the obvious alternative,
On which he was immediately supported by another who added nodding in a clear voice,
"I too think it would be a great waste for these skilled men to be employed in such menial tasks. Anyone can till thend or dig rocks. But it takes decades to make a good warrior."
"Yes! And they are mercenaries. They will fight for whoever gives them coin. Lord Pasha should reconsider." Implored another one, his voice strong and urging.
"That''s right. It''s not like we are short on gold either.?Even with just the booty we have collected in this campaign, we can afford to keep them for years if not decades." This one chimed eagerly, with a tinge of anticipation, as he felt the addition of these men would be a great boost to their army.
"Mmmm! And they are good men, Solid. I know. I have fought them." Andstly, this nobleman from back, who was usually very taciturn and spoke few words gave his own two cents.
And thisst person''s addition was quite important, as this sinct man spoke rarely, also meaning when he did, his words carried a lot of weight.
From all these replies it could be clearly seen that the entire room was against Alexander''s proposal and wanted to add the men to their battle ranks.
"No!" But in one of the rare instances of Alexander goingpletely against the tide of popr opinion, he categorically and unequivocally rejected this, unterally saying, "Many of the men are too loyal to that family from Sybarsis. While the Petricuno mercenaries came here solely to destroy me. Because they were jealous of my aplishments. I cannot trust them. And neither should you, my lords."
"They will work as ves in my workshops, I have great need for them. That''s it."
Alexander flung his arms dismissively as he said this, leaving no room for any debate on this.
And thus, given his strong insistence, all the nobles could do little more than nod and obey.
Their lord had spoken, so they could only be rueful in their hearts at the missed opportunity.
Now there was of course a reason behind Alexander''s madness.
He was not actually going to enve those men.
It was all a clever ruse.
In reality, Alexander wanted the roundabout 5,000 mercenaries, around a legion''s worth, to secretly exist inside his capital city, disguising themselves as workers in the workshops.
Alexander''s real intention was to keep them in the reserves as a kind of trump card in the defense of somethingpletely unexpected- like a sneak attack on the city while he was away on another campaign.
Alexander had been thinking about setting up something like this for quite some time.
In fact, he had been thinking about it right after when Perseus had attacked Zanzan while he was away in Adhan.
That had been a true wake up call.
But it was only now he was given the opportunity toplete it.
And it could not havee at a better time, as Alexander was sure his unimaginable sess at Tibias was sure to ruffle some feathers in Adhania, and he was simply not talking about his enemies.
Even many of his allies might grow weary of his unprecedented rapid rise.
So with such a hidden card on him, Alexander felt the number of moves he could make on the chessboard had opened up significantly, as various crafty thoughts began to swirl inside him.
Other than their most obvious use- i.e.- in the defense of the city in the event of an attack,
Alexander also found other uses.
For instance, he could pretend to leave Zanzan- his capital, his gem, the ce where his family resided, his most precious part of hisnd apparently defenseless as he left to campaign somewhere else, thus leaving the bait out for various snakes and schemers to try and take advantage off.
Alexander hoped that perhaps sensing such an opportunity, those men with rebellious thoughts hidden deep within their hearts, who would not usually act out of fear of Alexander''s retaliation, would be enticed to take advantage of Alexander''s most vulnerable state and stab him in the back.
Alexander would love to see the faces of those men when they came face to face with 5,000 battle hardened men.
And although 5,000 men might not sound like a lot, the quality of these men was sure to make up for that.
And besides, the nubmer 5,000 only seemed small whenpared to the hugerge scale battles that Alexander had up until now fought against.
In absolute terms, a contingent of 5,000 men was truly huge.
To give some context of how powerful such a unit truly was, even the Roman Empire in its heyday posted only 1 legion to guard modern day Egypt, and that ce was known as the breadbasket of the empire, feeding people all across the country.
So it could be seen even such a vital ce only required 1 legion to quell any dissent.
And in a simr vein, another single legion was used to guard thends making up the entirety of modern day Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and parts of Morroco.
Can you imagine only 10,000 soldiers defending a boundary of more than 3,500 km?
It would be unthinkable nowadays.
But it could be done back then.
And given that the legion would safeguard such a huge territory, the one leading it, itsmander, well his influence and power could easily be imagined.
Such a leader would wield enormous respect throughout the empire, able to even directly converse with the emperor.
So 5,000 men were really a lot of men, a huge force, and most of the time, to quell rebellions, the Romans would send only chucks of it, such as 1,000 or 2,000 men.
Of course it had to be also remembered that these units would almost always be apanied by auxiliaries, i.e.- allies and non Romans drafted from the surroundingnds.
And it was also remembering this that Alexander felt he could also use these men in other ways too.
Such as- he could make his enemies think that he had taken all this army elsewhere, leaving him with no further offensive potential, only to surprise them with a second army, sending the 5,000 men on a sneak nking attack, like on the enemy''s home city, his supply lines, or another ally he might be waiting to meet up with.
Alexander could even have these 5,000 mercenaries produce another whole army, by cing them as the core and then augmenting them with raised levies to make up the required numbers, letting the veterans act as officers and leaders.
That would indeed be a pretty effective army.
Thus, Alexander found that if he properly hid these men, he could use these men both in defense and offense.
The possibilities were truly endless.
Andstly, the reason for hiring these mercenaries for his personal use was due to the concern for his safety.
Employing foreign troops as bodyguards was a time tested tradition for kings and other high ranking nobles, with perhaps the most famous example being the Swiss guards.
This was done because if you are a king, and your troops are from yournds, well then they might want you to do something that''s beneficial for them.
And conversely, they might not like something that adversely affects them.
Even if it benefits the country on the whole,
Thus, wary of this, many kings would wisely decide to employ foreign powers with no connection to thends to protect them.
These men would serve a fixed term and be paid in gold, and in return be expected to shut up and do their job regardless of what the king did to his subjects.
It was an arrangement that worked very well for centuries.
Chapter 896 The Fate of Mercenaries (Part-2)
Chapter 896 The Fate of Mercenaries (Part-2)
?Chapter 896
In ancient times, the royal guards of a king were usually chosen from the military, men who had proven themselves to be among the best of the best in battle.
But although they were considered the most elite units of the empire, tasked with protecting the most valuable asset of the empire-?the king, most of the time they ended up doing nothing.
Which was perfectly normal.
After all, they usually resided inside the capital of the empire, which was at all times protected by a huge army.
So it would have been instead very rming if the emperor residing in his own pce had to face constant danger.
Thus these valuable units contributed little to the actual defense of the country.
Instead, as they were sat still and indulged in their vices, it led to their atrophy, such as the rise of decay and corruption through greed.
After all, if they were protecting the king, it could also mean they could stop protecting the king, meaning many times these guards held great leverage over the ruler of thends.
And perhaps there was no better example of this than the Roman Praetorian guard from Alexander''s previous life, who perfectly epitomized all the ws there were with having one''s own troops protect the king into a blend of perfect storm.
The number of emperors this esteemed unit of soldiers killed reached close to a staggering double digits and there was one time they even sold the throne to the highest bidder, like it was somemon item at an auction house, giving power to the man who promised them the highest sry.
And they did get their wish in that particr instance, as the new emperor promised them a sry that was double their current one.
It could be even said that much of the troubles that followed the Roman empire in itster years were in no small part due to these units, as they contributed to the instability of the empire by frequently removing emperors.
And such a thing was apparent in Alexander''s current timeline too.
During the previous Adhanian coup where the former king was disposed, it could only happen because Pasha Farzah and the Queen mother were able to convince the captain of the royal guards to betray his liege after thete king had killed the man''s daughter during one of his bouts of insanity.
That man was a noble too and after knowing this Alexander thought that having a noble protect his king was quite paradoxical.
For the current power dynamic was such that the royal family and the nobility would always be at each other''s throats, fighting to suppress one another.
The royal family would try to keep a tight lease control over its lords, while the nobility wanted to be their own kings in their fief.
It was an eternal struggle.
And given Alexander''s conquest of Tibias, he intended to make his captain of the bodyguards Hemicus a noble too.
Now in all honey, Alexander was not concerned about Hemicus betraying him.
The man was not that type- he was strictly a military man who did what he was told and nothing more or nothing less.
But he saw the employment of the mercenaries as a matter of tradition, a way of starting something for his progeny to follow down the line.
Thus Alexander nned to slowly rece his royal bodyguards with these mercenaries over the span of the next decade or two, leaving only a core of perhaps 50 of his closest men to himself, and recing the other 450 men with these hired men.
At least that was only the current n, and it might very well change in the future due to circumstances.
After all like any n, it was not this did not have its ws.
The biggest w was of course the most obvious- mercenaries were known to betray their employers, especially if they were not paid on time.
And even if Alexander was swimming in gold, who could say decades down the line?
So in that case, it would be far better to have a group of men dedicated and loyal to help one wade through thick and thin.
Then there was the simple act of the enemy paying these men more to betray his employer.
Andstly, if these men were the only ones protecting you, well then they could be the exact problem you tried to avoid in the first ce.
Machiavelli wrote ''The Prince'' for a reason after all.
All these were indeed within Alexander''s consideration.
Also, at the end of the day, it had to be known that there was no perfect answer to this predicament, as even the Ottoman Janissaries, who wereposed of Christian orphans taken from other territories and converted to Im and then restricted from trading or marriage to curb their power before retirement got corrupted due to various reasons and posed a serious challenge for the Sultan''s rule during the empire''ster years.
The idea of taking young orphans and making them swear fealty to the king from an early age, as well as restricting them from riches and families sounded like a great way to make loyal soldiers on paper.
But as history showed even that had failed.
So Alexander came to the conclusion that keeping a group of mercenaries was much simpler to understand and control than nobles and soldiers who lived on hisnds, reasoning that thetter of these men would be affected by Alexander''s policies, and even if it was something that was helpful for his country on a whole, it might be detrimental to that selected group''s privilege, resulting in dissatisfaction.
As for the rted problems with employing mercenaries, well Alexander intended to slowly solve them as he proceeded with his policies, dealing with them when they came up and trying to figure out the best numerical bnce between mercenaries, and a core of very loyal men.
It was with much intention that Alexander had approached the Kaiser mercenaries offering them 100 ropals a month, with food and lodging included for them and their family.
"Forget the Kaiser family and swear your oath to me. I started my life as a mercenary too and I know exactly what you all want." Alexander had enticed, promising, "No longer will you have to travel from vige to vige, from city to city like a vagabond, and fight for scraps. You can have a fixed home and guaranteed food."
"All you will have to do is renounce your previous employer and swear fealty to me!
"Do so and I will even make you a citizen of Zanzan once you have served me loyally for 25 years!"
The ultimate allure of citizenship was too much for any of the mercenaries to resist.
Being able to obtain it was perhaps the ultimate goal of all mercenaries since citizens could enjoy various privileges that others drooled at.
These included legal protections, the ability to hold public administrative offices, own and pass on property, have tax exemptions on certain things, have ess to state welfare systems like special rations given to the poor, and many more.
Thus when Alexander had made the offer, the one to get on his knees the fastest was the very leader of the mercenary group, taking an oath right then and there, and loudly iming in almost a zealous voice,
"We were yours the moment you captured us, my lord. The contract with our previous employer is already null and void."
"Please give us anymand and we willplete it even if we have to walk through fire."
Many of Petricuno''s remaining men also decided to follow Alexander, especially since many of the officers were quite familiar with Alexander and other military leaders.
It was also from them that Alexander got to know the true reason they were here.
Anding knowing about Petricuno''s true thoughts, Alexander was honestly a bit hurt.
Sure the man and him had small disagreements from time to time, but Alexander had thought these were only trivial pebbles along the road.
Nothing to think even twice about.
But it would seem that he was the only one thinking like so.
Truly envy was a green eyed beast.
''To think I even mourned that man,'' Thus Alexander halfmpooned, half cursed, while also reminding himself that his sess would likely mean Petricuno was no exception, but perhaps an example.
Alexander''s sess with the two mercenary groups also prompted him to try the same with the Thesian contingent sent by the various city states.
But predictably, almost all unequivocally rejected him, since the allure of citizenship had no effect on these free people.
Most of the men already enjoyed a well enough life in their respective cities with friends and families residing there too.
Alexander had also expected this, so he did not insist too hard.
Also as a note, the reason the Kaiser and Petricuno mercenaries did not raise any concern about their own families was because they were already here with them.
The men had brought them to the campaign!
This was because they had expected to stay in Tibias and protect the king for a few years and rather than be away from their family for so long, they decided to bring them along.
All of which ended up working quite well for Alexander.
Chapter 897 Wrapping Things Up in Kalimat
Chapter 897 Wrapping Things Up in Kalimat
??Coming back to the meeting where Alexander was discussing the fate of the prisoners of war, once the fate of the mercenaries was decided, Alexander then moved on to decide the fate of the peasants- the forced levies.
And here also Alexander had his way.
It was concluded that the roundabout 10,000 captured would be forcefully disced along with their families.
And this surprisingly produced very little objection from the nobles.
This was because, One- these men were peasants, so who cared?
And two because none of these were their men, i.e.- the subjects of the men in the room.
Perseus had recruited these men mostly from the southern part of the country and there was no noble from that part of the country representing themselves in this meeting.
They were busy being locked up in the mansion under house arrest.
Thus Alexander was able to push his agenda through rtively easily, before quickly going to the nitty gritty logistics of the whole thing.
This took a bit of time, but ultimately he ended up appointing Lord Theony in charge of the whole event, leaving him with a legion to help him properly carry out the job.
These armed men would be tasked with tallying the locations of all the families of the prisoners, collecting them from the various cities, and then safely delivering them to Zanzan.
And it was due to thest two things, i.e.- collecting them fromnds that might belong to nobles, and then safely delivering them, i.e.- making sure they did not run into bandits or ve traders that Alexander decided to keep such arge force behind.
To deter any miscreants.
With this done, Alexander thenstly came to the discussion regarding the captured nobles.
"My lord, they should be ransomed and freed. Just like the normal rules of war." And when asked about their opinion, the strongest opinion was this, mostlying from the Tibian nobles.
With one voice stating this, another also chimed, "Yes. I too agree my lord. They did nothing wrong. They only responded to their king''s order."
Followed by a third one, "Mmm. I know many of the men there. They are diligent and honorable people who only follow their oath. I''m sure they will do the same for you too my lord."
This voice tried to show Alexander there was value in sparing them.
However, Alexander was skeptical about all their im.
Thus he frankly revealed in a curt voice, "I do not think so. I have personally seen these men fight and they fought like tigers. Particrly at the battle of Lilybee."
"They are more than just oathbound. They are fanatics. They follow Perseus out of respect and their own desire. Not because they bent the knee and swore some empty words."
"They will not follow me!"
Alexander clenched his fist and swung it slightly as he finished, his eyes fixed and steely.
"......." And hearing the words and seeing his countenance, the others had little to counter.
Even if Alexander was wrong about his assessment, the surrounding lords understood the young man had made up his mind, and understanding what Alexander might be hinting at, many''s face fell.
Until a brave man tentatively asked to try and confirm if Alexander was really thinking what they thought he was thinking.
"Then what do you propose my lord?" The man made the innocuous query with shifty eyes, as he was afraid to hear the confirmation of their guess, i.e.- executing the nobles.
For killing nobles was a big no no in both Tibias and Adhania.
So all the nobles prayed that their new boss did not panache for such macabre affairs.
Or they might have problems.
"......." It was now Alexander''s turn to produce a silent pause, as he momentarily refrained from answering, only producing a loo of limpid eyes.
"Let''s shelve the matter for another time. We can discuss it again when we get to the capital," Until he proposed so, which drew a heavy breath of relief from the nobles, as they were reassured they were not dealing with a power hungry crazy lord.
While Alexander ignored these men and started to make his thoughts swim on thoughts of how to process these men.
Letting them return to their fief and act like nothing happened was of course out of the question.
Thisst batch of men was Perseus''s most zealous and staunch supporters and they needed to be neutralized.
Which was of course the easiest to do by killing them, but Alexander upon ruminating a bit also quickly found many, many alternatives.
He thought about making these men abdicate their position and converting them into priests for his temple, employing them as teachers for his schools or other grassroots administrators, as foremen in some of the less critical industries, or any of the many other numerous civilian tasks he had in his hands.
But perhaps the best n that he came up with was to try and use them to erode the royal family''s remaining prestige.
As for how, well for that they needed to reach the capital- Pathenigh.
Thus the nobles'' fate was left in the bnce for now, while Alexander rejected all personnel wishing to see him in regards to their ransom.
And with these two of the most pressing concerns finished, Alexander felt he was almost ready to leave the city.
So he started to concentrate on wrapping up thest few bits and pieces.
For one, he paid the defecting Thesians all the coin they were owed, just as he promised.
There were around 3,000 of them, and although the original deal had been for Alexander to pay for 5,000 of them, he had managed to haggle the number down to 4,000.
Then since Perseus had owned the men six months of pay at a monthly rate equivalent to 250 ropals, the total came out to a total of 6 million.
Alexander did feel a tiny bit peeved when paying his sum, especially since he never got to use them against Perseus in that promised betrayal, as the king lost before he could get another pitched battle.
But Alexander ultimately soothed his heart by convincing himself that without their intel, he might not have used the strategy of denying the king battle and forcing him to chase him.
Meaning the battle of Kalimat might not have ever happened and the whole ending could have looked very different.
There was indeed once a time when Alexander had seriously contemted taking Perseus''s peace deal.
Thus when he thought about it like that, Alexander did not feel too bad about giving the money.
Having paid them, Alexander then also offered them an escort of 1,000 men to Lilybee to help charter ships for them.
But the men informed him when they were there, they had found that the city, due to the threat of war, did not have enough ships to take so many of them at once.
This surprised Alexander a bit as the number of ships that would be needed to take 3,000 men was not much, 10 to 15 would do depending on the size.
But it seemed many of the merchants feared Alexander would breach the city and torch or seize the docked vessels.
Thus they left in advance.
Hence Alexander offered the Thesians the chance to charter ships from Zanzan letting them apany him there.
This was loose end number one.
The next andst one was choosing the ''lucky'' legion who were meant to stay behind and aplish the task of sending the prisoners'' families to Zanzan.
Alexander also made sure to give them proper instructions on how to do so, such as asking them to select a few prisoners belonging to each city or vige who could then show them the way, as the bulk of the prisoners traveled with Alexander to Zanzan ahead.
He also made enough money to cover the cost of transporting so many men, women, and children.
Alexander estimated that by thepletion of the immigration, there would be around 120,000 to 150,000 more men in Zanzan!
This number might sound too huge to be the family of just 10,000 men, but it was actually very reasonable.
A farmer could easily have more than 10 children, and if you counted the fact many of them lived with their extended families with uncles, granduncles, nephews, etc, each of these ''family'' could easily reach from 30 or even 50 people!
Dom would be proud.
And it was very much possible that when the soldiers would go to escort those families, the other joined ones might follow suit too in search of work and opportunity.
Thus, not only was Alexander overestimating the numbers here, but in fact, he might even be undercounting a bit here.
But whether that be the case, he decided to leave that problem to Lord Theony to solve.
Thus it was with that conclusion that Alexander decided to finally leave the small city of Kalimat, the ce which had seen the fateful conclusion of an epic battle, and more importantly, the end of an era.
Tibias as an independent country had fallen here, and Alexander''s domination over it had begun.
And when thinking about it as such, Alexander felt even a bit reluctant to leave.
Chapter 898 Revelry At the Capital (Part-1)
Chapter 898 Revelry At the Capital (Part-1)
??Since the city of Kalimat was right next to a river city, rather than marching his huge force through thend, Alexander had decided to send a part of his army along it.
This rtively small river was still part of the huge tributarywork that spanned across the entire country, its mother- the mighty Diannu river.
Thus by following it, it was found that they could easily reach Alexander''s next destination- the capital Parthenight.
This was one of the most important things that Alexander''s men were busy preparing for while the young lord busied himself with his own troubles, as they tried to requisition every avable boat in the surrounding vicinity to enable the journey.
However despite their best efforts, given the city''s small size and poption as well as simply the limited size of the waterway, they were only able to gather a modest number of boats, certainly not enough to escort the more than 40,000 of Alexander''s men.
In fact, if you counted the women and children of the newly joined mercenaries as well as the ves and servants of his own army, that number under Alexander actually reached closer to 70,000- the size of an entire city, making it understandable why the men had failed in their endeavor.
Which was why Alexander decided to use the limited number of boats to send only the physically ill and weak,- such as the wounded and the women and children through the morefortable path, feeling they would only slow the rest of the party down, while the men marched- including himself.
Alexander could have of course taken the boat but refused to do so for a myriad of reasons.
Outwardly, it was to show that he was just one of the soldiers, ready to bear all the hardship that they too took.
And this propaganda worked quite nicely, as the soldiers were very impressed that their lord was willing to be with them even after they had won and the campaign was over, thus letting Alexandermand greater respect for his army.
While internally, Alexander denied himself thisfort mainly because he personally did not like the inherent danger that came with boats- the ever looming threat of drowning.
Given the high status he had managed to achieve in his life, Alexander had grown to love his life more and more dearly and was thus afraid of any such idents urring whilst travelling.
He feared that if anything were to happen, surrounded by water on all sides, he would be quite trapped, having a very hard time escaping.
As for what that ident could be,- well the most obvious one would of course be a strong seasonal storm that could capsize a boat..
This was currently the middle of summer and the weather here was quite unpredictable.
And even if the waters stayed calm, Alexander had to also consider the ever present threat of an opportunistic ambush by some small unknown resistance group still lingering in the unexplored woods, wishing to take their revenge on Alexander.
Many prominent figures had died like this, such as Hannibal''s own father - who was one of the greatest generals of his time too, and died in an ambush while crossing a river.
Or King Fredrick Barbarossa who had, ording to some ounts, fallen into the river from his horse whilst in a campaign and then was unable to get back up due to the heavy armor he was wearing, thus getting swept away by the strong currents.
Alexander did not want to either of them.
It was also because of this that Alexander decided not to the boats carry much of the loot he had collected from Perseus''s camp, much more preferring to haul the heavy cargo hundreds of kilometers bynd, else fearing they might be lost of the waters.
When Alexander was finally starting to leave the city, Papando had repeatedly invited him to spend a bit more time there, while the surviving residents half sighed in regret seeing them leave. as the presence of such a huge number of men meant business had been boomed during the past few days.
Most businesses had been able to sell their stock twice or even thrice the normal price given the huge price, while the whores had earned so much coin that they started to walk bow legged.
But at the same time they also half sighed in relief as having so many armed foreigners right on their doorsteps was always a disquieting feeling.
Although most of the soldiers paid for the things they took from these shops, who knew when that could change?
Thus the popce generally felt that it was a good thing that Alexander had left had.
The three week journey from Kalimat to Parthenigh wasrgely uneventful for Alexander, with the traveling men mostly keeping their spirit high all along the journey, buoyed by their magnificent win and periodically cheering at all the loot they had managed to haul.
It was amongst such revelry that Alexander reentered the capital, where his reception was understandably lukewarm to say the least.
In fact, as he moved through the streets, Alexander noticed that the houses on both sides of the streets had all their windows tightly shut as if the people were afraid to even look at him.
''Do they think I''m going to sack them?'' Alexander mirthlessly chuckled in his heart.
But he did not do any offense to the actions of these people.
They were not worth it.
Instead, he turned his attention more to the magnificent feat that surely awaited him at the pce.
Alexander''s approach to here was no secret and given the news of his victory had already spread, he was sure the pce would be ready to receive him with the most appropriate refreshments.
And he was not disappointed, as the proper attitude was set right at the outer gates of the pce, the one that did not even lead to the pce, but simply the pce walkway.
It was from this point that Alexander was personally received by the three most prominent royals residing there- Queen Parthia, and his two daughters, who were then nked by various members of the surviving royal family, all led by Theony.
Yes, while Alexander was away, he left the city temporarily in charge of Lord Theony''s son, with a small garrison to make sure the man followed the orders.
"Greetings, oh great conqueror.'''' The first to receive Alexander at the gates was the queen herself, who pronounced these words in a sweet, clear voice, like it was a luby, as she then elegantly bowed, leading everyone else to follow suit.
There must have been at least 50 people present there, minus the guards, and seeing all these once haughty individuals lowered their heads so deeply in such a synchronous manner, greatly stoked Alexander''s ego.
These were people who were supposed to only receive other''s bow, not ever receive it.
But here he was, once a mere ve, now a great conqueror, forcing them tomit exactly such a humiliating disy.
The realization filled his heart with joy and pride.
So he took his time scanning all the raven heads pointing differentially towards him and internally gloating to himself.
"You may rise," And it took Alexander a moment to respond to their action, as he finally gestured them up with his arms while trying to make his voice as deep and and imperious as he could muster.
And once the entourage was again standing still, Alexander imperiously looked down on them atop his magnificently decorated horse, trying to memorize the various delicious faces these people were making knowing their time up.
Until finally Alexander''s eyesnded on the mature woman- the Queen, the most beautiful flower out of them all.
He found that thedy, who he was told to be in her mid tote forties, looked barely in her early thirties.
Her face, although mired with a deep air of mncholy given their fall of grace was still very beautiful- heart shaped with fluffy rosy cheeks, a small cute nose, thick ruby red lips and slightly nted up, phoenix like eyes.
Her jet ck raven hair was very simply done, and Alexander had noticed that it was only tied to the back with a tasteful hair band made in the shape of a metallic flowers that was stubbed with jewels.
It was neither too gaudy nor looked to be of too low quality, conveying a sense of restraint and elegance, making Alexander suspects that thedy had probably done so intentionally, to show Alexander that although they were not destitute, but they were also not as rich as him, and that they were his subjects.
It was a symbolic surrender that Alexander quite appreciated.
Following her face, Alexander found her body wrapped up in a jet ck gown to sport a very curvy figure, with ample motherly bosoms and a thick nk.
Where the body needed meat, she had meat and wherever it was deemed unsightly, she had shed.
Abination of good food, good status and good genes seemed to have produced a bombshell of a woman, and given Alexander''s pent up status, his eyes suddenly burned with embers towards this mature woman.
A sight that did not go unnoticed by Lady Pathia who had been very sensitive to such looks and she shuddered.
Chapter 899 Revelry At the Capital (Part-2)
Chapter 899 Revelry At the Capital (Part-2)
??Edit in 30 minutes
The impure thoughts invading Alexander regarding the mature woman onlysted an ephemeral second, for it was just the by-product of his lust speaking.
The man had not yet had the chance to relieve himself even a month after the ordeal and thus when faced with such a beautiful but defenseless victim, his primal instinct urged him to indulge
Imaginary shes of what it would be like to have the woman under him, or atop him, or kneeling in front of him all subconsciously raced through Alexander''s mind, as that pure, beautiful face standing in front of him changed to produce various more ''expressive'' expressions.
And then he heard a small voice inside him entice him with menacing whispers such as,
"Take her! Her husband had lost to you. So by all ounts, she belongs to you."
"Remember! The greatest happiness of a man is to scatter one''s enemy, to drive them before him, to see their cities reduced to ashes, to see those who love them shrouded in tears, and to gather into one''s bosom their wives and daughters."
It was a poisonous thought, and seeing how the Queen''s facade changed to a slightly pale color right in front of Alexander as the man kept staring at her, the man could tell thedy had likely figured out his thoughts.
After all, such a thing was not anything too unusual given the time period.
But in reality, Alexander would never force upon this defenseless woman.
Sure he might not be above using trickery to wile them into bed, but he never r@ped anyone.
However given the woman had already misunderstood him, Alexander doubted there was any good to resolve it.
Exining to her likely would not work.
Thus Alexander could only quickly revert his gaze and distract her with a slightly taunting smirk,
"Mydy, I see that you are not very happy to see me. Is that why you are wearing a ck gown?"
He said this because in Tibias, the color ck was seen as a very bad omen, typically associated with death, misfortune, and other inauspicious events.
While consequently. the opposite color- white, was celebrated as a divine color, symbolizing all things good and pure.
That was why the priests at the temple wore snow white robes.
It was because of such a dichotomy that other than a very few select groups of people, such as prisoners, nobody ever wore pure ck in their everyday lives.
It was only worn in funerals and other such somber events.
Hence for the Queen to be wearing such a color seemed quite inappropriate.
And hearing Alexander''s query, the first to sigh was Theony, who nted his eyes to try and give a venomous look to the woman.
He had tried and tried till his mouth almost foamed to convince her to wear more colorful clothes, but the Queen would not budge.
"I will wear ck or I will wear nothing." She had threatened, and as much as Theony would have loved to parade his regal woman in front of Alexander bare, he did not dare.
Thus he could only grit his teeth and pray that Alexander did not pitnick.
However the gods did not seem to have responded to that wish.
"No, I would never dare to be disrespectful to you, my lord. You are the victor and we are gracious enough to ept our loss," At Alexander''s query, the Queen did not shirk back even a bit but instead boldly replied so.
And then offered her reason, "It is just that my husband has still not woken up from his injuries. Thus it would be too unfaithful of me to partake in revelry while my ''lord'' suffers. Hence I''m afraid I''m unable to appear pleasing to your eyes Lord of Zanan."
Lady Parthia always addressed Perseus as ''lord'' and as she said this, her voice was servile but very strong, showing she could not change no matter what.
It seemed she was utterly devoted to her husband, something that Alexander was quite impressed by
"I see. Then I hope he recovers quickly." Thus he decided to excuse her with these few words, even letting go of the fact that thedy had not really apologized for the faux pass.
And as for how Perseus was already in the pce, well of course it was because the part of the army Alexander had sent by boats had managed to arrive much sooner, and the wounded Perseus was part of that group
.
Upon entering the pce, Alexander''s next few days went in a blur.
More particrly his days passed by attending huge feasts that started at dawn andsted untilte into the night.
It was a spectacle of great grandeur to witness, a momentous asion where the echoes of victory reverberated through the halls of the pce and into the hearts of the people present.
And to make things even better there was not just one party.
There were multiple ones, held day after day consecutively for nearly a week.
However the most prominent one was the one set in the courtyard after the day he had arrived, the venue surrounded by towering stone walls that were adorned with colorful banners that proudly disyed Alexander''s standard, the blue flower in a field of green, apanied on the side by other smaller houses such as Lord Theony''s as well as other Zanzan nobles.
The air there was thick with the scent of roasted meats cooked with fragrant herbs, as numerous long wooden tables wereden with a cornucopia of culinary delights, inviting all to partake in the bounties of thend.
The strong wooden legs of the huge serving tables groaned under the weight of the sheer enormous volume, with the items in view clearly reflecting the seasonal abundance and the culinary expertise of the cooks of the time and region.
There were roasted meats of various kinds. boar, venison, fowl, peacock, etc. all seasoned with herbs and spices and cooked in all kinds of various ways, before being decoratively carved and served onto the tes. their sulent aromas wafting through the air.
Along with them came various hearty buttery stews brimming with local vegetables and grains, expensive white loaves of bread baked to golden perfection, tens of different types of local artisanal cheeses, beautiful and exotic fruits arranged in beautiful, colorful shapes as disys, and many many more, these were just the most prominent ones.
Various local dishes and cuisines that were too many to list also made their presence, ones which many times Alexander did not even know what kind of food the item was until he tasted it.
And among all the new types of food, his favorite was definitely a type of red colored stew made with beetroot and deer meat.
It was sweet, spicy, and gammy at the same time.
Then, to help wash all these down came the various wines and mead, which flowed openly adding a warm and intoxicating element to the festivities.
Tibias was famous for its grapes and so the catalog of wines under its belt was truly enormous, their taste as varied as they were interesting.
The drinks present ranged from rich and velvety that sang as in entered the throat, to sweet, honeyed notes that seemed to enhance the sensory experience, to spicy dry toasts that perked oneself up, there was all, managing to create an atmosphere of conviviality and joy.
The attendees at the feast were also bedecked in resplendent attires of the time, reflecting the diversity and difference of culture between the various regions.
And yes there were people from many regions, not just two, since some of the high ranking Kaiser and Petricuno mercenaries were invited as well, as well as the Thesian contingent that was traveling with them.
Thus it could be clearly seen that while Zanzan men much preferred darker colored tunics such as dark blue and marsh green, the Tibians liked lighter and happier ones like yellow and orange.
The men from Thesos were a whole other story, as men from various city states had their own identities, forming a mishmash of all kinds of styles and preferences.
While the Kaiswer mercenaries wore their best and shiniest ceremonial armor.
The feast was of course not merely a banquet for the stomach but it was also a spectacle for the senses.
Minstrels, jugglers, and jesters had been all invited to perform there, entertaining the crowd with music, acrobatics, and witty performances.
The melodies of lutes and harps intertwined with theughter of the revelers, while at some point there were even mock diatorialbats, where nobles and other officials showed off their martial skill, engaging in friendly and sometimes even showy duels and swordy, demonstrating their prowess in the arts of war to the delight of the onlookers.
It was amidst this revelry that night descended and as a ceremonial bonfire was lit, Alexander decided to give a concluding speech,
"My victorious lords! This win is our win. What we did today will surely reverberate throughout the annals of history for a thousand years!"
"My newly defeated lords! Do notment. For under me, you will prosper more than you could have ever dreamed before."
"I am like this bonfire¡ burning away all your past hardships and bringing in the dawn of a new era!"
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 900 Carving Up Tibias (Part-1)
Chapter 900 Carving Up Tibias (Part-1)
?It was nearly a week after entering the capital that the celebrations were finally concluded and let me tell you, those seven days were truly wild.
Eating and drinking all sorts of food, meat, cheese, and bread to one''s heart content during the day, whileying with various beautiful women at night, Alexander would be lying if he said he was not even slightly rueful to see the party finally end.
Alexander must haveid with at least 20 different women during that time, possibly more, as he was so drunk many of the times that sometimes he could not even know who was under him.
For most of the instances, only sudden shes of the events remained in his memories.
Such as- he recalled seeing a petite brte moaning with modest breasts whimpering as he tore her hymen, her small tunnel grossly inadequate to house his huge organ.
Next to her was a curvy mature woman, likely a rtive of hers judging by the simr looks, who seemed to be saying something while caressing the girl''s head, likely trying to soothe her pain as she asionallynded gentle kisses.
Then the scenery suddenly changed, and Alexander found himself behind that very mature woman, taking her hot pussy from a standing position while roughly squeezing her soft breasts as the woman lewdly screamed her throat out.
Andstly, he saw the younger brte on top of the mature woman, a thick manly finger poking into the wrinkled hole, her once tight, fair butt now turned stark red with Alexander''s handprints, as both of their tiny slit by now had transformed into a huge gaping wide hole leaking Alexander''s white gift.
As he recalled this, Alexander half regretted that he could not properly remember taking this legendarybination- a mother daughter pair.
Or at the very least an aunt given the two''s simr looks.
But such regret was only ephemeral, as he quickly remembered simr raunchy events from the following days, such as multiple faces worshiping his turgid organ, a train of women straddling him, andstly a series of naked butts lifting themselves up into the air, ready to be prated by him.
The women being offered to him were as varied as they were beautiful, each with their own unique traits.
Some would cry lewdly when Alexander pounded them, while others would try to hold it in shame.
Some would be very sensitive, while it would take others some time to get in the mood.
Some were virgins, some were recently widowed, and some had given birth multiple times.
Theony, who was the main person to arrange all this, had managed to include every possible preference a man might when presenting the girls to Alexander, all to try and please him to his fullest.
The only thing tying all these girls from being sent to entertain Alexander inmon was that they were all former nobles.
Their backstory was really all the same.
These women had their house''s male poption basicallypletely wiped out in all the preceding battles, and given that they had no suitable heir, Alexander was more than happy to take advantage of their weakened state to demote and destroy these households once and for all, taking all theirnds for him and his retainers.
And he did not feel the slightest twinge of regret over him, knowing if they were in his position, if the roles were reversed, they would have done the same if not worse.
These men had fought and resisted him, trying to kill him, and this was their just deserts.
Alexander would be stupid to reward the progeny and kin of these men who tried to resist him with gifts and mercy.
And it was with this thought that Alexander had approached Lord Theony during his march to the capital, consulting him if it would be possible to arrange such a thing.
"Of course! Of course! No problem my lord."
"You can have any girl in the country you want. All of them if you so desire!" And the man had not only agreed but answered with so much crity that Alexander could not half fear he might send his own wife to warm his bed.
Which was not even that ridiculous a thought given that the man had once proposed to have his son inws killed just so that Alexander could marry his daughters.
So it was quite a relief for Alexander to know his bed warmers were only fallendies, not actual nobles.
And as for what happened to thesedies after they had their one night stand with Alexander, well most of them were bought by the other nobles as pleasure ves, or if they were really unlucky by various pleasure houses, while a very select few were chosen by Alexander to be sent to Ptolomy as gifts.
Given his sessful campaign, such a thing, though not required, was expected.
It had to be noted that Alexander was also not the only one to enjoy himself with the women.
The various nobles enjoyed themselves too and it could even be argued that they enjoyed themselves even better than Alexander.
For at one point during the celebration, just like how a leopard cannot change its spots, the Zanzan nobles decided to even host a ''traditional'' Adhanian party, one held deep at night in a secluded part of the mansion.
It was a party where clothing was optional, and with all the newly defeated Tibian women and men having made to participate, as well the presence of many of the concubines of the nobles, the ''food'' being served was naturally very grand.
The various lewd ys and sensual actives on disy, led by the more experienced Zanzan nobles and their entourage were aplete eye opener for the neers, who even felt a bit mortified at some points of the party when the immorality in open disy reached ever newer heights.
Men and women took each other in ways that these people could not even imagine was possible and the many creative games that the nobles came up with to show off the women''s shameful parts in various exotic ways stunned most.
(Author note: I skipped describing these parts because I thought many would not like reading multiple men and women enjoying themselves. Comment if you think it is better this way or if you would prefer a greater exnation.)
Alexander had been of course invited very graciously to attend the event too, and while he remembered saying no, he was also so drunk that he could not remember anything afterward, i.e.- whether he had actually followed through with it or simply attended the event regardless.
He had no memory regardless.
If he thought he did not attend it, then no countermemery surfaced to contradict him.
And if he thought he did attend it, then dream like shes of taking part in various actives typical of such a party surfaced, and he could not tell if it was his imagination conjuring up images or if he had really taken part.
And by the time he had recovered, he was also too embarrassed to ask.
Recovering from his drunken hangover after a week, Alexander atst was able to return back to work.
And once again back behind his desk, as his first and foremost task, he started to write letters.
First and foremost he wrote letters to Zanzan, informing the various nobles there of the details of his victory.
Although many had already gotten the news from informal channels prior, while others quickly figured out that things were probably going well given that Alexander had already sent part of the captured loot back.
Trains of cartsden with gold, silver, jewels, rolls of fabric, high quality tanned leather, herds of pack animals, and atst a small army of ves were only the most prominent goods captured.
All such things were quite hard to miss, so Alexander''s letter was more of a formality acknowledging his achievements rather than actual news.
Hence, although there was certainly joy among the nobility and the popce for this win, it was not uproarious.
It was a more like wave of silent pleasure gently caressing over them.
Aside from this information, Alexander''s letter also asked the handful of nobles residing in the city to send representatives to the Tibian capital to take part in the sharing of the booty, with most of them then sending their sons since they could not exactly leave the city due to their various administrative duties.
While the nobles received these instructions alongside Alexander''s news of victory, his wife, Cambyses received a more special letter, with greater instructions.
She had of course received Alexander''s victory almost the very day he had won at Kalimat, as Alexander sent a messenger bird then and there.
So he did not repeat too many of the events there, instead promising to tell her all about it once he got back.
Instead, in the letter sent to her, aside from the usual fluff such as asking how she and the children were, Alexander asked her to send Theocles and Ophenia to the capital to act as priests and priestesses when the Tibian nobles swore fealty to him, as well as giving her detailed ns on how to prepare the city for his ''Triumph.''
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 901 Response At the Capital
Chapter 901 Response At the Capital
?The concept of a victory parade after a great military triumph was of course present in almost all cultures.
But most did not do anything as borate as the celebrations wished by Alexander.
Alexander wanted to copy the Roman style almost step by step and thus sent the appropriate instructions to Cambyses to prepare it.
And as she read more and more of all the things she was asked toplete, thedy also began to understand some of the more nuanced things Alexander had built, such as,
''.... So that''s why he built that arch around the gates!'' She had muttered to herself in enlightenment.
And then finally closed the letter while muttering to herself, "So much extra work."
She was understandably a bit peeved at all the more work being dumped on her, but charging herself with the joy of her husband''s triumph, she atst decided to get on with it.
After addressing his letters to Zanzan, Alexander then started to pen more simr letters, this time bound for the capital and others residing in and around the capital.
Alexander had refrained from informing his allies like Pasha Farzah, Lady Inayah, and Ptolomy of his victory till now because he wanted to have his army reorganized and rested in the prior meantime just in case Amenheraft, rmed and panicked by his great victory, decided tounch a sudden, desperate attack on Zanan to try and decapitate him.
Thus it was nearly two months after his victory at Kalimat that Alexander''s messengers finally reached the capital.
And there the reaction to Alexander''s sess was actually quite mixed.
"Hahaha! The brat actually did it. I cannot believe it! The brat actually did it!" The one to be most pleased was unsurprisingly Pasha Farzah, whose loud boisterousughter upon reading the letter seemed to echo across the entire pce.
It was even to the point that his son Kayvan, who was nearby had burged into the room to make sure everything was alright.
Pasha Farzah''s intelligencework had already hinted at Alexander''s victory butcked any further details.
He was thus unsure if Alexander had truly defeated Tibias or if it was just one of many victories.
So it was only now that he understood the entire situation, which was that the Tibian royal family had been totally defeated and many of the members subsequently captured.
It was a confirmation that sent the elderly man into boisterous pearls ofughter the likes of which he had not shown for quite some while now as his mind drifted to that incident which now seemed like it was just yesterday.
He remembered sitting behind that very desk, mocking Alexander for even suggesting conquering Tibias and thinking ''Young bulls really have no fear''.
He had only thought Alexander''s campaign into Tibias would be a lesson in humility.
But now just four yearster, it had instead turned into a lesson in triumph, as the young man had seemingly aplished the unthinkable.
Pasha Farzah was d such a man was on their side.
It was also because he was buoyed by this news that when in that letter Alexander had expressed also his wish to have his hand joined in marriage with the twins, the old man did not immediately shred the paper into pieces.
Instead, he seriously considered it.
If it had been before this, Pasha Farzah might have made excuses despite Alexander''s aplishments, as the old man, although very cordial to Alexander, still had some reservations over forming an official kinship with someone of such low birth,
Especially when it came to his beloved granddaughters.
But now that the other side had defeated a king, the grandfather really had to seriously consider.
Thus the elder statesman was left to ponder a lot of things.
While Pash Farzah was very jubnt over Alexander''s win, as was Lady Inayah and her family, far less pleased than him over the news was the embodiment of the royal family himself, Ptolomy, who did not know quite how to feel about this.
On one hand, he was of course d that one of their longest enemies was no more.
And for it to happen during his own reign meant a great boast to his own reputation.
While it also meant that no more would worry about the southern part of the country prickle his mind- allowing the man to concentrate on other theaters.
Furthermore, with Tibias gone, Alexander''s nks could be said to have been secured, freeing him toe to the king''s aid if need be.
Andstly, it meant that now he had a proven, powerful general to deter his enemies and tounch attacks against them.
All these were positives.
But alongside these, he also feared Alexander''s skyrocketing power.
What Alexander had managed to do in just 4 years, transforming Zanzan from a barren backwater outpost to an economic and military powerhouse capable of conquering an entire country clearly showed him to be too dangerous to be kept under the control of the royal family in the long run.
And thus Ptolomy rightly feared what Alexander would transform into if he left unchecked.
And it was these fears that clouded the king from seeing all the benefits that he could have from having Alexander on his side.
The king could be thus heardining as such to the Queen Mother in their private chambers where he paced back and forth,
"I heard Zanzan earns more than 1 billion ropals a year in revenue. That''s more than the rest of the country earnsbined!"
"And now he has an army to conquer an entire country. Isn''t it too much? Alexander must hand a part of Tibias to the crown as tribute! He must!"
The regal swore in a hardened, half crazed voice.
"....." While sitting on the couch the Queen Mother had to try very hard to not purse her lips in anger and frustration hearing this.
In much contrast to the great joy and celebration that this good news should have brought her, thest few days had been nothing but bouts of painful headaches.
"Pasha Alexander is one of your strongest allies, Ptolomy. Him defeating Tibias is you defeating Tibias. This is good news. This is very good news. So why are you so upset? I don''t understand!" She repeated the same words she had told him a hundred times before.
Before the buxomdy quickly got up to hug him, pressing the man''s face into herrge breasts and urging,
"Do not let the words of those honeyed snakes in the court distract you. Half of them wants to control you, and the other half are really on Amenheraft''s side who wants to overthrow you."
"Do not listen to them. They just want you to fight with Alexander so that they can weaken both of you!"
As the Queen Mother said this, she began to gently caress his head, lovingly ruffling the man''s hair and trying to cool the man down.
And this seemed to work, as having his face stered against his lover''s bountiful chest quickly reced Ptolomy''s ''anger and indignation'' at Alexander''s sess with a far more primal feeling.
The king began to nuzzle his nose against the Queen Mother''s soft breasts, taking deep breaths of the familiar scent through the fabric as he then started to grind his body against her.
"Ahhh! Right now? It''s still daytime!" And sensing Ptolomy''s urges, the royaldy pretended to be coy but quickly consented when she felt a strong hand grip and squeeze her chest, changing its shape.
"Hehehe, okay." The wheatplexioned woman giggled as she pulled down the upper part of her gown.
And no sooner had those brown melons with a pink cheery stuck on top made their appearance that they were snatched into Ptolomy''s mouth before they started being sucked hard with an audible sound.
"Ahhh! Yes. Good boy. Just like that like. Mommy likes that!" And towards these acts, the Queen Mother was more than pleased to reciprocate.
And no sooner had she said this that there came a very positive response, as the mature woman instantly felt more of her breasts enter the warm mouth, while her other half started to get kneaded too.
Ptolomy had lost his mother at a very early age and grew up under the Queen Mother''s care, where the very first seed of his love for her bloomed.
Hence it really turned him on when Queen Mother presented herself as his mother during these acts.
For an orphan like him, it was like a primal, instinct inside him that was being filled.
"Ahh! That''s right. Here! Mommy is here. Listen to her and everything will be alright."
And it was exactly knowing that was Ptolomy''s weakness, that the Queen Mother arched her head back and moaned even more sciously, beckoning Ptolomy to devour more of her soft globules.
But whilst Ptolomy was blissfully upied in this act of loving him, unbeknownst to him, his partner''s thoughts were very much elsewhere.
Behind the pretended zed, lustful eyes of the Queen Motherid a pool of still calmness asionally interrupted by ripples of irritation as she thought back to how she was finding it increasingly harder to control Ptolomy day by day.
By now it was only through acts like this that the regal woman was able to maintain some sort of handle on him.
This was indeed problematic.
Chapter 902 Carving Up Tibias (Part-2)
Chapter 902 Carving Up Tibias (Part-2)
??Chapter 902
The Queen Mother was not unaware of the whisper some men in court were trying to feed into Ptolomy''s ears.
"Your Majesty, Tibias should belong to us. To Adhan! For a foreigner to take it all for himself¡ isn''t it too much?"
"That deal about Alexander controlling Tibias. It was made under duress! There is no reason we must follow it."
"Yes. Your Majesty, you should take thends from him."
These types of insane words were being spewed and although the Queen Mother and Pasha Farzah tried their best to quash as many as them down, Ptolomy himself made them sprout even more, for he liked them.
So for now, Seelima would only initiate such sessions to drive up Ptolomy''s lust and keep him distracted.
As for how long this could go on, the Queen Mother dreaded to think.
It was among such thoughts that the Queen Mother found arge hand quickly making its way to herrge butt, before starting to knead that too.
Then a whileter she waspletely naked, straddling the man.
"Ahhh! Yes, Your Majesty. So good." The curvy woman''s heavy breasts swung wildly as she moved her thick hips up and down, hard and fast, knowing that was how the man under her really liked it.
To be dominated by her.
But at the same time, she also knew that another word that Ptolomy really liked to hear was ''Your Majesty.
She had found that the thing inside her twitched every time she said this, and this soon drove the man quickly towards release.
"Yes! Fill me up. Make me pregnant. Let me bear you a son."And as he then released inside her, the Queen mother screamed so, squeezing her walls ever tighter, as the enticing words made Ptolomy hump his hips harder.
But while his eyes were filled with pure ecstasy as he released, unnoticed by Ptolomy, the Queen Mother''s eyes were a deep pool of pitch ckness.
Her wish here was truly genuine.
She truly hoped to produce an heir, as once pregnant, she could then deal with this troublemaker as she saw fit.
But until then she knew she had to bear through it.
Hence as the coupley side by side, heavily panting due to the heavy workout, Seelima once again urged,
"Remember Ptolomy, it is your elder brother who is our greatest enemy. Not Alexander. Do not listen to that ramble in the court."
It remained to be seen just how of her advice the man actually heeded.
Alexander was up until now naturally unaware of Ptolomy''s dissatisfaction towards him.
Instead, his mind was more upied with the letter that he had sent to Pasha Farzah regarding the twin''s hand in marriage with him.
It was officially written in the letter that this was done to ''bring Zanzan and Matrak ever closer''.
However for Alexander personally, it was because he thought this would be the best time to tie the knot.
He had already grown impatient to bed those two cuties, especially with both the ebony beauties growing in beauty each passing day ever sinceing to Zanzan.
And since none of them were getting any younger, he decided to use his triumph over Tibias to push the event forward.
He knew the kind of initial shock and awe his victory over Tibias would bring to the Adhanians and thus he felt that it would be the perfect time to capitalize on it.
Hene Alexander was a bit impatient to receive Pasha Farzah''s answer.
However some time afterward, Alexander found himself quite overwhelmed with work to remain very expectant over that, as Alexander had to busy himself trying to gain the sworn loyalty of all the nobles of the newly conquered country.
He absolutely needed to get that if he wanted to rule thends effectively.
And to do that, he of course needed to deal with the biggest and most powerful lord in thend- the royal family.
It was a matter that Alexander had been putting off up until now but knew it was time to finally decide what to do with them.
And to do that he first set up a meeting consulting his lords and nobles.
"They must be killed. Remember one mountain cannot¡.." And the first one to weigh in was unsurprisingly Lord Theony who was there to repeat his hackneyed stanch, with the man even fiercely mming his tightened fist onto the table to emphasize his point.
But this only received an anemic nod from Alexander, clearly showing the man was not that interested in it.
It was a move that greatly displeased the man.
However Alexander did not care, as contrary to Lord Theony''s almost singr ask, he heard a great deal of voices from other Tibian nobles advocating leniency for the royal family.
Leading them was an aged noble, who seemed to wield much respect of his peers, as he said,
"My lord! The royal familymands great respect among us. I fear killing them will not produce the most optimum result. Dissatisfaction and bitterness are sure to fester in such an event."
"We would prefer if you could find a better, alternative way."
The request was humble and servile, but alsoced with threat.
"Oh?" To this suggestion, Alexander produced a hum of pretended intrigue, before sneering the following mock threat,
"Are you saying that if I kill the royal family, you will rise up against me? Didn''t you already try that? And what happened?
"You got utterly crushed!"
"So what do I have to fear of you? If you could not stop me then, how will you stop me now? Tell me, I''m interested!"
Alexander''s tone was verybative and incisive.
"Yes, that''s right!" And thinking that Alexander had truly changed his mind, Lord Theony immediately joined the exchange with much crity, swinging his fist and shouting the threat,
"Anyone who tries to rebel against Lord Alexander will be crushed. Their entire fourteen generations will be killed and theirnds salted for a thousand years!"
The threat sounded very grand, but it was not something Alexander was actually impressed by.
He had only posed that to test the other side''s resolve.
And he would have to say, he would not be disappointed by the reply, as the old man, undeterred by Alexander''s seemingly malicious intentions simply pointed out in a wizened tone,
"Young Pasha, please remember that it is very easy to run one''s troops through thends. It is much harder to hold them. Such things will help neither of us."
The man had put a particr emphasis on the word ''young'', as the old man here hoped to show the young Alexander the folly of his youth.
"..*Tap*...*Tap*..*Tap...." And hearing this, with a smirk Alexander pretended to be in thoughtful ruminations as if he was seriously weighing both options.
Whereas in reality, Alexander had already made up his mind beforeing to the meeting.
This was just a show, a formality, a y conducted to give the illusion of choice to the nobles present.
But since he started the y, Alexander was determined to see it bepleted, as he then opened his mouth, "So what would you have me do, my lords? Let me go scot free? Or perhaps even give them back all their territory and have them govern it under me?"
While Alexander posed thest sentence in a sort of mocking tone, it had to be known it was not as absurd as it sounded.
For instance, everyone knows the famous exchange between Alexander the Great and King Porus.
When thetter was defeated at the Battle of Hydaspes and brought before Alexander, he was asked by the victorious general, "How would you like to be treated?"
To which Porus had replied fearlessly, "Like a king."
And so impressed was Alexander by this that he had given the man back all his territories and then installed him as a Satrap of the region.
Now, in fairness, Alexander the Great is remembered for being one of the greatest generals of all time, not as one of the greatest rulers.
So his decision here might not have been the most optimum one.
But such things did happen.
This Alexander was of course not as magnanimous as his counterpart from the legends, hence knowing that Alexander was simply jesting,
"No of course not," the old noble quickly denied so.
And then posed, "We only wish to see the royal safe and well, As for the specifics, we hope that you can have a conversation with them toe to amenable terms."
But Alexander here had a counter, "Oh! But your former king is still unconscious. Who should I discuss the terms with? Or do you expect me to wait till the end of eternity until Perseus wakes up or expires?"
His tone towards the end was mocking.
However, the nobles had already an answer, "In the event that the king is incapacitated, the duties of the realm will fall onto his sessor. The Crown Prince is still alive and well, my lord."
And to the proposal, Alexander traced his chin,
"Hmmm. If we do it, then you will all consent to whichever agreement is reached between us?" The man sought confirmation, and as all the nobles nodded and said yes, nobody noticed a pleased glint sh through Alexander''s eyes.
Chapter 903 Alexander and Phillips (Part-1)
Chapter 903 Alexander and Phillips (Part-1)
??Alexander''s heart danced craftily upon hearing that the nobles swear that they will consider the crown prince Philips''s words as Perseus''s.
This was exactly what he wanted.
For it meant that finally he could have a fruitful discussion about the terms of surrender with Philips without the nobles able toter use the excuse that Philips was not the king and so his word did not count.
Alexander had not staged any of this discussion, but he certainly had tried to cleverly steer the conversation along that route.
And it worked.
Hence with the noble''s promise atst in his hand, it was on one fateful afternoon that the Pasha finally invited the Crown Prince to his study.
"*Creak*" Gently opening the door with a slow, deliberate push, Philips entered the sun bathed room with steady steps, his head held high.
But as his eyesnded on the man sitting across the desk on the far side of the side of the room, he could not help but produce a wave of conflicted ripples in his heart.
It only seemed just that a few days ago this room was theirs, this building was theirs, this city was theirs, ces they could enter and exit as they pleased, do whatever they pleased.
Then somehow, in the blink of an eye a stranger hade in, kicked them out, and imed everything as his own.
And now they were forced to walk tentatively in their own homes.
The sobering reality of the irony here struck Philips hard as he could not help butmpoon how many times he had done the same thing.
"Good afternoon, Lord of Zanzan." However as Philips approached Alexander, he quickly put such thoughts to the back of his mind, and straightening his back, he greeted Alexander as such with a simple, regal nod.
The tone he used here was more amicable than servile, acting more like he was meeting a fellow king than his betters, his lord, his conqueror.
It was a greeting filled with self-respect and regal aristocracy that left Alexander almost impressed.
Almost.
"I''m also Lord of Tibias now." Alexander was quick to sharply make a deliberate point to emphasize his greater aplishment upon Philips''s greeting, reminding the Crown Prince of the former''s superior position, as he then shot the man a very haughty look.
"Yes, you are." And to this Philips produced a slight smile and a very frank acknowledging nod, his eyes bright and shining.
The man did not attempt to argue about the status of Alexander''s dominion over them, neither did he try to use Alexander of grabbing theirnd like a scoundrel.
It was a level of frankness that caught Alexander a bit off guard because he thought the other side would try and struggle a bit more.
He had previously guessed that perhaps they would try to elevate themselves to a higher level to better position themselves during the negotiations.
So seeing Philips so tacitly agree to Alexander''s im was truly a surprise.
And this prompted the man to shift his eyes to scan the Crown Prince in front of him.
Philips was dressed in a bright yellow and orange tunic etched with elegant designs, the vibrant colors very much reflecting the traditions of his country, which he paired with a pair of brown pants and high quality leather sandals.
His face, clean shaven and still very handsome however looked quite gaunt, with sunken cheeks, bulging eyes, and ck ink under the eyelids, as under his regal countenanceid a curtain of certain mncholy.
And it of course did not take a genius to guess why that might be.
In matching with his hurt face, the once hale and hearty solidly built man also looked quite different, much leaner and thinner.
He had lost quite a bit of weight as evidenced by how the clothes he was wearing looked too big for him with Alexander even finding the sleeve slightly fluttering in the wind.
"Come! Sit." Finished scanning the man atst, Alexander then quickly gestured the man towards the chair opposite of him, and wanting to keep him waiting.
"You look unwell. Are you not eating properly?" Before throwing in this dry query of concern.
Although Alexander perfectly knew Philips''s loss of weight was likely not due to diet.
Because even though they had been captured, due to their identity as royals, they were treated like upper ss nobles.
Alexander personally made sure that of that- both for Philips as well his other surviving younger brother- Perikles
For instance, during the march to the capital, Alexander provided Philips with his own tent to sleep in, plus a personal ve to attend to his needs, such as bringing him food from the officer''s mess hall as well as ''physical relief'' at night.
And just like any noble, during the day, the Crown Prince was allowed to ride with the army on horseback, thus being saved the burden of having to cover the distance with his own two feet.
The captured royalty were thus treated with all the proper decorum that was owed to them as per the conventions of the time.
"Hehe," However, although Alexander treated them with their owed respect, towards Alexander''s pretended air of concern, Philips could not help but instinctively produce a hollow chuckle.
The true irony here was that the man who was perhaps the greatest malfluence behind his faltering health was now asking him if he was alright.
It seemed almostedic to Philips.
The reason for his weight loss was needless to say due to stress and worry.
Thesest two months had not been exactly kind to the man, as with theirplete defeat set in stone, it was over this course of time that the man fully woke up to the extent of their loss.
It had not struck him so hard right when they had lost as his mind was then filled with adrenaline.
But once he got the space to cool down and think, it finally began to set on him what their loss truly meant for him and his family.
And it broke the poor man''s heart.
During the initial days of his capture, when Alexander''s attitude was still ambiguous, he had first assumed the worst.
That the men in their family were going to be executed and the women humiliated and then sold as prizes to various nobles, while all their wealth, power, and prestige dissipated into nothingness.
It was a gut wrenching thought that left Philips shivering as he imagined his family''s long and illustrious history vanishing into nothingness, turning into a mere footnote in the annals of history.
And while thinking of his family''s demise, he could not help but also reminisce thinking about his own children that had tragically died as victims of the war.
Granted they were technically his brothers and sisters given the immoral way they were born, but still, having spent so much time with them, the man treated them almost as his own children.,
And thus he could not help but shed a tear for them.
Somehow, it was after his own defeat that their death truly hurt Philips.
And then because misery lovespany, apanying this rain of sorrow came also a hail of regret, as reflecting upon his decisions on the battlefield, he finally came to the realization of all the things that he could have done differently.
The most ring one was of course his ill advised idea to charge the army into the narrow streets of Kalimat in an effort to relieve his father, which had theplete opposite effect of trapping him.
When he looked back on that with the omniscience of hindsight, it tore Philips''s up, and his chest literally throbbed with pain everything he recalled it.
But perhaps more than that, the one event that most stung Philips was the particr fact that he could have had his men climb up the walls and open the gates instead of trying for almost an hour to tear them open.
When Philips first realized that such a simple idea had slipped his mind and that he could havee to his father''s recuse hours ago, his hands and feet had gone bone chillingly cold and his vision darkened before he had almost lost consciousness.
It hade to him as such a shock.
And it was perhaps most of all this guilt that had sapped all the weight of Philips, asbined with all these, the man had seemingly lost all his appetite for food.
In fact, there were some particrly painful days when he felt like throwing out anything that he ate, just because he felt so bad in his mind.
And it was only aftering back to the capital and seeing his mother and sister were still alive well, untouched by anyone that the man finally felt some reprieve and started to get back his appetite.
That one hollow chortle that Philips had produced thus contained in it such deep meaning and heaviness few could understand.
But the Crown Prince did not bore Alexander by elucidating on it.
This was not the concern here.
Thus instead, quickly swallowing it as it was deemed too inappropriate, he straightened his back, and made the first excuse that came to his mind,
"No, no. It is just that I''m a bit worried that father has not yet woken up. It''s been over two months."
And Alexander did find Perseus being in aa for so long was indeed strange, as the fall had not been that high,
But he quickly shelved that thought.
That was not why they were here.
Chapter 904 Alexander and Phillips (Part-2)
Chapter 904 Alexander and Phillips (Part-2)
??Perseus''s prolonged catatonic state did intrigue Alexander as even though all his external wounds had already healed, including that small cut on his chest, the man still showed no signs of waking up.
This appeared most unusual for the doctors present who could not find anything wrong with him.
At least that was the diagnosis they made with the limited tools and knowledge avable to them.
So this left Alexander to wonder if the man had hit some critical part of his brain while falling down.
But while Alexander''s thoughts turned to logical inferences, for the rest of the popce, given the superstitious nature of the current society, and that all avable logical exnations had been exhausted with the doctors unable to doctors solve the dilemma, various strange rumors then began to quickly make rounds.
With the most prominent one being that all this was all the doing of the ancestor spirits.
In this rumor, it was said that these spirits were angry with Perseus''s failure to defend the homnd and thus they had taken his breath into their court of judgment, where he was being punished and tormented, and that Perseus would only wake up if he was strong enough to withstand his verdict or else die.
It was quite a nice rumor and Alexander would admit he was quite amused when he first heard it.
He had no part in its creation but he also did not try to suppress its dissemination since the tale of Perseus''s failure to defend Tibias only worked to strengthen his rule over thends.
However given that he was currently facing Philips, looking at his forlorn face, Alexander quickly tried to appear not too smug at Perseus''s misfortune, and instead put on a pious face and said in a sincere voice,
"I will pray to the goddess for your father''s recovery. Tibias and its people will be better served with him by our side."
It was unknown how much of this fake promise Philips bought, however outwardly he nodded with much crity and appeared very grateful.
And it was with this that Alexander was done with the pleasantries.
"Okay! Then''s get down to it." Hence producing a p with his hand as a gesture to move forward, Alexander then deftly summoned a leaf of paper from his table drawer, one that had sectioned blocks of writing inked into it, which he then passed over to Philips with a smile.
"I''m sure I do not need to say why I have called you here. These are the terms of surrender I''m willing to offer you. Please have a look and tell me what you think," Alexander then graciously invited the man.
Given the long time he had to prepare, Alexander was of course able toe up with aprehensive list of things that he wanted from Philips.
It was a list that he had prepared with the help of his nobles, both Tibian and Zanzan, to make sure the terms catered to all their wants as well.
And thenbined them all up into standardized bullet like points which he presented like so.
He did so in the hopes that he would be able to skip the old and tired process of haggling back and forth on each and every issue there was to discuss, but instead quickly figure out the more objectionable ones and then slowly agree on them.
Alexander''s note was received with a bout of silent trepidation on Philips''s part who felt as if the weight of that single leaf of paper, which should have been minuscule, now appeared heavier than lead to him.
Philips knew that It would be this that was written on this paper that would decide the fate of him and his family.
Because currently, other than wielding the mystical, ''love and loyalty of many of the noble houses'', Philips''s royal family really had precious little abiltiy to actually resist Alexander.
Thus when Philips first got the paper, his eyes subconsciously tried to actually avoid reading it, thinking if he did not read it, his worst imaginations could note true, kind of like a weird instance of ''Schrodinger''s paper.''
But Philips knew there was ultimately no way around it.
So eventually he turned his gaze to it.
And on it was written with numbered points the following demands,
1. a) First and foremost, given the current king Perseus''s ill health and as such his inability to properly govern thends, the Pasha of Zanzan demands Perseus''s eldest son and sessor, the former Crown Prince of Tibias, Philips be made the official representative of the royal family.
Henceforth, all shall agree that all deeds and actions taken by the aforementioned party, (Philips) will be seen as being taken on behalf of the former king Perseus, with there being no difference between the two''s actions whatsoever.
Thus, effective immediately from the day this treaty is signed, it will be Philips who will be recognized as the official representative of the Tibian royal family, not Perseus.
b) In the instance that Perseus does wake up in the future, the restoration of his former status as the king and head of the Tibian Royal family can only be approved by the Pasha of Zanzan Alexander upon a formal appeal.
c) Before the Pasha grants his verdict, Perseus will be treated as simply an ordinary member of the Tibian royal family.
(Given how important this point was, since the rest of the treaty literally hung on this first point being true, Alexander had tried to put as many double and even triple agreement uses in there as possible, many times repeating the same point. All so that no one could find any loophole and try and worm their way out.)
2. All royal family members will sign aplete and unequivocal deed recognizing the relinquishment of any and all ims over the governance of Tibias or any holdings elsewhere from this point on till time in perpetuity, both for them and all their progeny.
3. The royal family will surrender all their state owned property as well as a portion of personally owned and developed property. This will include not onlynd, but gold, personal valuables such as jewelry, and expensive clothing, as well as other businesses and enterprises.
(For readers asking the difference between state owned and private property, well here, the meaning of state ownednd preferred to thend that the royal family owned by default, i.e.- all thend in the country that was not owned by nobles or some very rich private individuals.)
"While privately ownednd was referred to the small amount ofnd that the royal actually used and developed, such as farming food, to mine metals, and even catch fish. Because yes, rivers and ponds also counted asnd.)
(The state ownednds that the royal family or its members did not personally oversee were usually left to local small level administrations to oversee or even to themselves if the ce was remote and small enough.)
(And would only reallye into the eyes of the big nobles when the king granted thend to any noble for meritorious deeds or when adding a new addition to their circle of nobility).
4. The royal family must hand over all royal seals and other mechanisms for issuing orders to the Pasha of Zanzan, as well as promising never to raise an army without thetter''s (Pasha of Zanzan) express permission.
5. a) In return for the royal family of Tibias relinquishing all such rights over the dominion of Tibian, the leader of their family, Philips will be made the title of governor of northern Tibias- (For details exining the exact boundary look to the additional notes). This will be a hereditary title to be passed along to his children for time pertunity, unless the council of Zanzan votes in a two thirds majority deeming the family unfit to continue their administration.
b) The other surviving male member of the main royal family branch, Perikles, will be made part of the nobility Zanzan with an appropriate status, his task to be Tibias''s representative in the Zanzan senate, presenting Tibias''s interest to the Pasha of Zanzan.
c) The realm of Zanzan will bear all medical costs for the treatment of the former king Perseus until he wakes up, and any further cost that his medical condition might entitleter.
d) The two unmarried Princess, the elder Amelia and the younger Cornelia are to enter the Pasha of Zanzan Alexander''s house as his concubines, swearing to serve him loyally and heartfully till either part.
e) The eldest sons of all the married princess of Tibias must all be sent to Zanzan upon reaching adulthood, (16 years), where they will serve in the Zanzan army for at least 15 years before being allowed to retire.
f) The Queen Dowager must convert to the faith of Goddess Gaia, and join the Temple of Gaia as one of Her priestesses for life.
g) All other members of the royal family (the branch families) will be made into regr free citizens of the country.
6. ...
7. ....
Those first five points were really the main ones, as theter ones were all that you heard, ess to free trade, equal extradition, no minting new money, swearing not to rebel, a tax of 4%, etc.
Chapter 905 Alexander and Phillips (Part-3)
Chapter 905 Alexander and Phillips (Part-3)
??(Author''s note- I fixed some formatting errors in thest chapter. The demands Alexander made were supposed to be numbered but Webnovel somehow did not copy that. There were no changes to the story, but it will make the reading easier)
Reading Alexander''s top 5 demands was quick to give Philips a lot to think about.
There was nothing there so outrageous to set him instantly on fire.
But there were some finer prints there that he could not agree with no matter what.
And until they were resolved, he would not sign on the paper no matter what.
But beforeing to that, Philips decided to peruse theter point too, to see if there were more asks he found problematic.
The points there read,
6. The power to levy taxes will be the sole right of the Pasha of Zanzan.
7. The royal family must pay an annualnd tax of 4% on all properties held.
8. Temple dedicated to the Goddess Gaia are to be built in every major city and Her priests will be free to prophesize their belief all throughout the country.
9. ...¡..
10. ...¡..
As Philips continued to read, he found there was really not much to object to any one of these.
Many of the points listed here were things he had already expected to be present due to his prior knowledge of the kind of offers Alexander had made to the other Tibian nobles.
So the man hade here with a simr level of expectation in mind.
These demands were not thus any deal breakers.
Even the 4% tax did not seem to sting him that much.
Philips simply chalked the thing up as being a type of tithe.
He even considered the 4% ask to be quite generous as usually tithes were much higher, typically double that.
Hence with there being little to nitpick about thetter points, Philips then once again returned his attention to the five points.
There, regarding 1, 2, and 4, Philips had no problem.
The demand to ce him as the head of the royal family given his father''s current state, theplete abdication of their rule over Tibias, and the handing over of the royal seals were all very natural asks.
Philips knew there was nothing to argue about these
But then there was point 3 which sought to confiscate arge proportion of their private property.
And the one with the most uses, point 5, which had many finer details that Philips felt he could not agree with.
Towards those objections, Philips took a bit of time to collect his thoughts, thinking what to ask and how to do so.
Until finally he started to voice his thoughts.
"We have no problem with most of the demands in general, my lord. Thank you for showing us such great generosity." Philips started with a nodding smile, before posing his first query.
"However there are some points I would like to rify. Such as here¡" he quickly pointed to a use at point 3, asking, "what portion of our property will be exactly confiscated?"
Philips had to know this before he could agree.
"What amount do you think would be suitable to give us?" However, instead of getting a straight answer, Alexander turned the question back to the man in an enigmatic voice, his eyes a bit yful.
He did not say a number outright because he wanted to test the other''s bottom line.
After all, in any negotiations, the one who speaks first loses.
"....." While Philips, also aware of the maxim kept quiet.
He did have a number in mind - 50%, which he knew was what Alexander asked the other nobles.
But Alexander had also sacked the royal treasury and cleaned it to the bone.
So if Philips were to pay 50% on top of that, he would be in reality paying a lot more proportionally/.
Philips was also saying a number was too low and upsetting the other side.
So for now the man only put a thoughtful face and pretended to be in deep rumination, sending Alexander only furative nces.
"..." Thus for a while, the room suddenly descended into a coffin like silence.
"Okay, we can discuss the exact amountter." Until finally Alexander decided to break the deadlock with a brush of his, treating the amount as being nothing too serious, as he then posed,
"Any other objections?"
"Yes!" Philips was quick to respond.
The matter about the division of property was really just a starting argument.
In reality, his actual gripe was with three other points, which he began to slowly point out one by one.
"My lord, you wish to take both my sisters as concubines. But as royal princesses, we think this is too low a status. As stated in the Adhanian customs, we wish to see them join you as at least wives." Like a dutiful brother, Philips''s first concern was to make sure his sisters got a good husband.
And concubines did not have husbands.
At least not in the traditional sense, as in Adhania, a concubine was basically a maid who did various work in the pce during the day, but unlike a regr maid who had a husband and family to return to at night, she slept exclusively with the lord of the pce.
Of course, this was a very grossly simple exnation, as sometimes concubines could be favored more than the main wife.
But those were exceptions, not examples.
And so to see this fate befall his sisters was not eptable to Philips.
"Hmmm! No way, you had your chance." But at this ask, Alexander very imperiously snorted in unequivocal denial, as he pointed his finger at the man to remind him, "The offer for marriage and wife status sailed when you rejected my repeated peace offer. Concubine is the best you are gonna get."
Alexander would be foolish to offer the enemy the same condition before and after his victory.
That would make any future negotiations almost moot for him.
"....." Receiving this strong rebuke, Philips could not help but purse his lips.
He had hoped Alexander would forget that incident.
But even then he was not about to give up so easily.
"The terms of the treaty you proposed back then were impossible for us to ept. Even if my father agreed, the nobles would not have backed down without a fight," Philips tried to exin, before quickly shing his palms and appearing to bepromised,
"Okay. Since Lord Pasha is so reluctant, we can ept one of my sisters remaining a concubine. However, another of your choosing should be a wife. I think that''s fair."
"No!" However Alexander was there to uncategorically again deny such a thing, saying,
"How is this any different from my previous offer? I offered to marry a princess back then, and you are asking me to marry a princess now."
"That is not eptable," Alexander revealed himself to be a proud man who would not ept marriage with a party who had slighted his offer before.
And he then finished his piece with the following threat,
"I do not get why are you so hung up on the princesses bing my concubine. You should be grateful that I decided to even take both of them in and not send them to the capital as gifts."
"I should not have to remind you what happens to them there, do I?"
Philips shivered at Alexander''s veiled threat.
As the Crown Prince, he had of course heard of the rumorsing from that ce.
He had heard of the parties, the games, and the ways men and women enjoyed themselves.
He had even gotten a short glimpse of it, or more like first hand eyewitnesses of the act when the Zanzan nobles held something simr in this very pce.
He was told that the women there had to service many different men in open view of all.
That they were made to perform obscene dances that opened their curves to the sight of lustful men, allowing them to be groped and touched in unimaginable ways before they were taken in positions that put most whores to shame.
It was said the moans and lewd cries from that room towards the end of the act could be heard from the other side of the pce.
And if such a thing was caused by only a few nobles enjoying themselves in a foreignnd with few skilled participants, Philips dreaded to think what the situation would be like in the capital- the den of all the immorality.
His poor sisters would notst a day there.
At least not as the chaste woman they had been brought up as.
"...." Thus when Alexander ced the choice as either bing his concubines or bing pleasure ves in the capital, for a while, Philips could do little but grit his teeth.
The reality of the current situation was a hard pill to swallow,
But even facing this adversary, Philips wanted to struggle, and he atst squeezed out these words, "Lord Pasha, we are a royal family. Please give us some face."
By now, Philips no longer made demands.
He requested.
"..." And seeing the man opposite him turn almost red eyed with grief, Alexander''s heart could not help but soften.
Alexander felt that pushing the other side too much might cause the whole thing toe tumbling down.
So tracing his chin for a while, he decided topromise.
"Okay, since you wish the princesses'' to have status, I can have my General Menes take her as his main wife. How is that?"
Chapter 906 Alexander and Phillips (Part-4)
Chapter 906 Alexander and Phillips (Part-4)
?Chapter 906
Facing Philips''s unfaltering demand, Alexander did at one point consider relenting and taking one of the Tibian princesses as his wife as apromise.
He in hindsight had felt that turning both unmarried princesses of a royal family into concubines might have sounded a bit too extreme.
Especially given the royal family was still alive and still held some power.
When Alexander had first revealed his intentions some of the nobles too had expressed a bit of dissatisfaction.
But back then Alexander had not cared.
However, right now, after thinking about it for a bit, Alexander was beginning to have some doubts about being so pushy as he then began to seriously consider marrying one of the princesses.
''I can just throw her this title and forget about it. This will solve all my problems. I don''t even have to favor her or anything.'' Alexander even began to try and convince himself like this at one point.
''No! I can''t do that!'' However, a sudden reasoning abruptly intruded into his mind that made this line of thought instantly retreat.
He found that even if he were to ignore his pride and take a princess as a bride, the resulting union had the potential to pose a threat to his own son Philip''s session as some of the nobles in Tibias might see the other child as more legitimate.
This was absolutely uneptable to Alexander.
And even if this did not happen, Alexander quickly found out that he could write in gold that Cambyses would not take kindly to a princess of a defeated country bing his wife.
Alexander''s win had been too decisive to make it logical sense to her.
Meaning it would appear to Cambyses that the only reason Alexander was taking her as his wife was due to having favorable feelings toward the woman.
This Alexander knew would not sit well with his main wife.
Like any human being, Cambyses was a person possessing her own selfish wants and desires, and she very much desired to have Alexander all for himself.
Alexander also knew that although Cambyses might not show it, the young 22 year old girl still had a sort of inferiorityplex when it came to dealing with other girls of inherently higher birth status.
So if Alexander was so take this princess as a wife, Cambyses would likely be very intimated by this gesture.
In fact, the duo had even discussed regarding such a possibility beforehand and even reached a tacit agreement.
"I will turn a blind eye to any and all the girls you sleep with but in return, I want to have a say on any new wives you choose to have." Cambyses had proposed once, before airing her arms and adding,
"Concubines are fair game, I am not too worried about that. But when ites to wives, who can sire legitimate children, I want to have a say."
Cambyses had an unusually serious look on her face as she said this.
And to this, Alexander was quite happy to agree to it.
Loyalty and sacrifice went both ways and Alexander reasoned that it was naturally not fair to expect Cambyses to put up with everything for Alexander, while the man reciprocated much less.
For his love, Alexander was willing to put up with this restriction.
He even thought it to be a good way of forcing himself to keep the number of his wives as low as possible.
Because although there was no restriction to the number of wives one could take in Adhanian tradition, it was generally advised to keep it to a minimum to foster harmony in the harem.
That would mean trouble for his family.
Due to all these personal and familiar reasons, Alexander knew he could ept the princesses as wives.
Which then caused his brain to try and rake another solution.
Until finally, after churning the gears there for quite some time, he atst found it.
Another candidate.
Suitable enough to be his recement.
Menes.
"General Menes?" Hearing Alexander''s proposal about his sister''s groom, initially, Philips could not help but subconsciously furrow his eyebrows.
He of course knew of Menes- once a ck chattel ve, now made a noble and elevated to the position ofmander of the Pasha of Zanzan''s army.
It was a meteoric rise with few examples in not just Adhania, but perhaps the whole world.
But being a born royal, Philips could not only care where the man was right now.
He also had to take into consideration where he came from.
And when taking that into consideration, the Crown Prince could not help but have second thoughts.
Thus he posed to Alexander with the intention to haggle, "Lord Pasha, Commander Menes is certainly a fierce warrior. But if I recall correctly, he is only a shordar (baron). I''m afraid this is far from being suitable to take a princess as a wife. We would like¡."
"I think he is plenty suitable." Philips did not get to finish his case as Alexander suddenly intervened midway, his voice imperious and even a bit annoyed at being hounded over such a trivial detail.
So brushing his hands the pasha reiterated,
"Menes is the general of my army, practically my right hand man. This alone makes him high enough status. Who cares if he is a small noble or even amoner?"
"He is also unmarried and best yet Thesian, not one of those deviant Adhanians who you think will treat the princess as dirt."
"What more do you think will be good enough for you?" Alexander sounded a bit exasperated by Philips''s nitpick, as he then went off on a small tirade,
"And even the two sisters you so hung up about..... Why? They are not even the only princesses. You have four other sisters! I believe I have been very lenient towards the four of them! Would you like me to change the terms for them too?"
Philips slightly flinched at Alexander''s threat, before he heard the young pasha slouch back on his chair and peremptorily dere,
"Okay! You want an even better deal."
"I will make Menes a Talukder (Viscount) before the marriage ceremony, and he will take Princess Amelia as his main wife, not just a wife."
"How about that? Any objections now?"
To say Philips waspletely happy even with this decision would certainly be a lie.
General of the army or not, Menes was still by birth a ve.
For the proud and legal royal family, this was and would always be a sticking point.
In fact, this was a sticking point even when it came to Alexander, but Alexander was different.
He was a Pasha and more importantly their conqueror.
To say they would not marry their daughters to him because of his once ve status would only work to humiliate the Tibian royal family since that would in a roundabout way mean acknowledging they had lost to a ve.
However Menes could not naturally be put on the same pedestal.
More so as there was also the matter of his skin color.
Philips did not explicitly say it, but members of his family as well as the vast majority of the Tibian nobles did not look at thatplex with much favoritism.
Andstly, Menes''s darker pigmentation also meant that he was not technically a Thesian, as the cold climate of Thesos did not naturally produce this skin color
Meaning he was either born of ve parents or brought from overseas.
This made Alexander''s point that Menes was a Thesian and thus much better than an Adhanian a lot weaker.
However, despite all these objectives Philips was still moderately happy with the results.
Changing fate from being a mere concubine to the main wife of the general, as an elder brother, Philips certainly could not be faulted for not having tried to get the best deal for his sisters.
Or perhaps more urately sister, singr.
For his youngest sister, Camelia still was bound to be basically Alexander''s maid.
And even though Philips wanted to discuss her fate too, when came the actual time, the words suddenly got stuck in his throat.
Because judging my Alexander''s voice and bodynguage, this veteran politician understood the Pasha of Zanzan was already tired of this topic.
He was not going to give him a better offer, and if he brought it once again, might even backtrack and propose a harsher deal.
So knowing to count his blessings when they came, Philips decided to be satisfied with half of his aplishments.
50% was still pass marks after all.
''I''m sorry Camelia, I really tried.'' So shedding a silent tear for his youngest fourteen year old sister in his heart, outwardly, Philips gave arge grin and an epting nod,
"Thank you, my lord. This is something both us and the nobility can ept!"
However the former part of his sentence would be a lie.
Because when Philips would go to tell his sisters of the deal, while one side would squeal and jump in joy, the other side would first shed tears and then scream and shout at her older brother.
"Why? Why do I have to be a lowly maid? Why couldn''t I be the main wife? Amelia is the elder! She should go to the Pasha."
Philips would be able to do little but pull a forlorn face.
This was the tragedy of a loser.
Chapter 907 Alexander and Phillips (End)
Chapter 907 Alexander and Phillips (End)
?Alexander had all by himself determined the life partner of his friend and general, Menes.
That too with just a few words inside a room and not a single word of consultation from the man in question.
If he had been in modern times, it would have certainly caused an outrage no matter how loyal the subordinate might have been.
However, in this time period, this was very natural.
In fact, the lord choosing one''s life partner was seen as a great honor, as it meant the couple would have his wholehearted blessing.
And there were even some unions that very much needed one''s superior''s tacit approval, such as if the union was political in nature.
And due to the fact that the matter of the marriage of the Tibian princess was both, it was only a matter of course that Alexander intervened.
He also knew that Menes would not dare say no to him, and neither would he have any excuses as he was unmarried.
This was also one of the reasons why Alexander represented Menes and not Melodias as the most viable candidate.
Andstly, although Alexander was most certainly overthinking this, he hoped that by marrying a princess to Menes, thetter would forget even thest dregs of affections he might have left for hisst love.
Thus Alexander would at ater date officially dere the union, which would even garner surprisingly strong support from among the nobles as they would see the pair, a princess of a defeated royal family marrying a general of the victorious army as being quite suitable.
Thus Alexander would pass than hurdle rtively easily.
Returning back to the negotiations between Alexander and Philips, with that one point done, the Crown Prince then decided to move on to the next one.
"Lord Pasha, we can ept my youngest sister being your concubine. But having my mother change her belief and be a priestess at the temple of Gaia! That is too much!" Philips sounded shocked and appalled, as he cleverly attempted to use the fate of Camelia as a way to extract some sort of concession from Alexander.
It was like he was saying, ''See! Wepromised on that. Now it is only fair that youpromise on this."
"No."
However, who was Alexander?
He was the absolute victor here and in his eyes, the earlier agreements had nothing to do with theter ones.
So after categorically rejecting Philips with that single word, Alexander added with a steely voice,
"There must be a member from the main branch of the royal family to change their faith and enter the Temple of Gaia as a priestess."
"And your mother is the only suitable candidate."
"You and your brother have your own duties. Your sisters have their own families. And your father is in aa."
"There is no one else."
"This is the first time I''m hearing anything about such a thing!" However upon first hearing this, Philips was at first a bit shocked and could not help but blurt out so.
"Well you are hearing it now!" To which Alexander immediately sneered back, saying, "Did you think even after losing so badly you will all get to keep your beliefs as it was?"
"I had originally wished to make the entire royal family swear fealty to Goddess Gaia. But the nobles objected. And this is thepromise we havee to." Alexander informed Philips in a slightly regretful tone, as then waved his hand in a dismissive manner to show the topic was closed,
"So do not bother to attempt to discuss this anymore."
Philips was finding out about this backroom deal for the first time just now, and the feeling that most arose within him was not shock or anger, but regret andment at the clear evidence of all the power they had lost.
To think such an important thing had been decided without even their presence, much less consultation.
"I¡ I''m afraid my mother will never ept it, my lord. She is very much devoted to the ancestral spirits. And she will certainly not leave my father''s side!" Thus Philips could onlye up with this sorrowful excuse towards the end.
"That''s your problem to convince her!" However, if Philips thought Alexander was going to negotiate over that, then his instant curt answer clearly removed that misconception.
The pasha was absolutely not interested in engaging in another bout of back and forth, and simply ended the conversation with, "If your mother does not agree to enter the temple, then fine! One of you brothers will have to. But remember, priests of Gaia cannot told noble titles."
Alexander here was very explicitly warning Philips that if the Queen Dowager did not acquiesce to the request, they would be losing one of the two promised noble titles.
The trade off imbnce here did not need to be said.
".... I¡ I will try my best." Hence it was an iing stinging headache that Philips could only stammer this.
In terms of sacrificial pawns, his mother was indeed one of the least valuable as she had already lived most of her life and was no longer suitable to be married.
And thus losing her would matter the most minimum to the royal family.
In that sense, it was quite a good offer from Alexander.
But the main cause of his headache was actuallying from the fact that Alexander was asking his mother to move to Zanzan for who knows how long and thus practically say goodbye to his father.
This Philips doubted the legal woman would be willing to do no matter the consequences."
Hence he tried once to negotiate with Alexander, this time almost pleading,
"Then¡ my lord, please allow my father to apany her to Zanzan. Perhaps he will even get better there." as his eyes then shone with a bright new light, "Yes! I have heard the treatment you have there are leagues ahead of us! Please! Take him there!"
Philips sounded very eager.
Although the Crown Prince had certainly made up thatst sentence.
He did hear some rumors of Alexander''s expertise and advances in medicine, but the sources were so dubious that it was all too superficial and even exaggeratedly mythical for him to take seriously.
He was only saying this in a bid to convince Alexander.
"Okay," And Alexander was actually more than happy to ept, for if Philips was willing to hand over more hostages to keep in Zanzan, who was he to decline?
But Philips was currently not bothered about that eventuality.
He was instead much more preupied with giving Alexander a grateful nod.
At least with this arrangement, he had a chance to convince his mother.
Thus done with this second point, hestly moved on to thest one.
"Lord Pasha, thisst use¡. 5 (g)...this is uneptable. We cannot have all our uncles and cousins being turned into normal citizens! This is too much" Philips pointed out with almost righteous indignation.
"Oh? I thought you would be more than happy about this?" However Alexander seemed to only sneer at it, pointing out with almost a cruel smile,
"With the main branch of your family so weakened, aren''t you afraid these people will try to usurp you? Why are you protecting them?"
Examples of a strong uncle usurping a weak nephew was so avable that it could almost be said to be cliche.
"They would never!"
However Alexander seemed to have inadvertently poked at a sensitive point as in much contrast to his usual demure manner, Philips suddenly red up with zing eyes even at the mere suggestion of such treachery, as the man tightly clenched his fist and dered,
"Many of us have fought shoulder to shoulder. Many even died shoulder to shoulder. None of us will even betray the other."
Alexander found the man''s strongly held convictions both chivalrous and also a whole lot of naive.
Which was why he could not help but smirk, "Yea¡ just like Lord Theony. He too had fought shoulder to shoulder with your father''s uncle Ponticus! And then killed your wife and children!"
" But sure¡ your uncles and cousins they will not betray you. Hehe¡"
Alexander''s low chuckle hurt Philips more than perhaps a punch to the gut could.
And caused him to be tongue tied.
Although the man would love to believe his cousins, whom he had grown up with since childhood would not turn their back on him at his most vulnerable time, reality and history seemed to beg to differ.
While Alexander, seeing the other side lose his zeal for any objection, quickly capitalized on it and dered,
"As long as the members of the branch family hold power, they will always be a thorn in both your and my side, able toy legitimate ims of various strengths on the crown of Tibias."
"As long as there is even one of them even slightly ambitious enough, they will surely be able to find many nobles dissatisfied with my conquest to rally around."
"And even if your uncles are good people who have no intention to rebel, there will always be acousin or nephew who will."
"Surely you will not tell me you do not have even one dumb cousin?" Alexander smirked with mockery, and ended this point with the words,
"The branch members of the royal family will all follow me to Zanzan. There they will be given various administrative positions as well as a handsome monthly stipend."
"But they will never be allowed to remain in Tibias and stir up trouble."
Chapter 908 Philips’s Agreement
Chapter 908 Philips''s Agreement
?Alexander''s decision to relocate arge part of the royal family, especially the male members, from Tibias to Zanzan was of course based on long, historical precedents.
A defeated royal family, weakened both in manpower and prestige was a very ripe target to be usurped by a branch family who would be able to rally many of the frustrated nobles around them, promising them a second chance at freedom and liberation.
Alexander wished to remove that firewood far, far before it had even the slightest chance to catch alight.
And such a move would only have the happy additional instance of removing rebellious thoughts from Philips.
After all, even if one wanted to rebel, they needed to have allies first.
Thus Alexander had been very forceful on this front when he was proposing this to the other nobles, absolutely not taking a no for an answer.
"It is a matter of security for the realm!" He had vehemently posed.
In fact, Alexander had originally wanted to execute all the branching members of the royal family but that idea was curb stomped into the ground almost an instantter.
So he settled with the nobles on the agreement that the other royal members would be afforded a decent life outside of Tibias.
While in the case of Philips, although he was at first a bit appalled at Alexander''s intention to relocate all his kin hundreds of miles away to another city when the former pointed out the benefits that would bring to the Crown Prince himself, the man could not help but see the act very differently.
It was not like Philips had never learned tales of rival family members betraying each other.
But the man never considered it ever happening to him.
It was like how people were aware that idents on roads happened, but rarely considered it was ever going to happen to them.
Until it did.
And it was a simr case here, where it took Alexander''s pointing to make the man see his own benefits.
Thus ultimately, Philips, fearful of his cousins posing a challenge to him decided to ditch his original n, which was to make them stay in his own estate if things came to the worst of the worst, and with a curt nod acquiesced, "Fine, we agree." but then quickly added this conditions, "But we then ask that none of their private property to be seized. They must be allowed to keep all their gold, jewelry, and other exotic belongings."
It seemed Philips was still doubtful of the ''handsome'' stipend that Alexander promised, fearing the pasha would promise a sum much lower than the required amount they would need to live a lifestyle matching their upbringing.
And in that sense, on the surface of it, this ask seemed very good, with Philips appearing like a diligent head of the household looking after his extended family.
However, towards this, Alexander could not help but snigger internally.
For he thought it was pretty foolish.
Of course that was not because of what Philips was asking.
Alexander would agree that was pretty solid of him.
But unfortunately, the Crown Prince seemed to have forgotten to take into ount the circumstances these people would be under with suchrge wealth.
Alone.
In a foreign city.
Alexander was sure various gangs and even city guards would swiftlye to them like ants to honey after being attracted to their shing wealth, making various excuses to ''borrow'' money.
"My daughter is getting married."
"My wife is sick."
"I have not eaten in three days"
"My house has a leaking roof."
''I want to buy some warm clothes."
The various bizarre and creative excuses these swindlers could make to fleech money out of their victims was almost like an art form and it had to be seen to be believed.
So Crown Prince asking this clearly showed that he did not have much idea of the affairs of themon folk, which was of course perfectly normal given his life circumstances.
"Okay. I agree." Alexander was more than happy to agree to this, as he was more than happy to fuel to this inevitable harassment.
They were no friends of his so he saw little reason to intervene.
And even if he wanted to protect them, Alexander doubted these showy people would be able to hold on to their wealth even if it was not cheated out of them.
Alexander did not know these people but guessed that being born into thep of ultimate luxury, they would not be tight fisted with money.
Meaning no more with theirrge stream of ie, they would soon be destitute.
And then they would have to Alexander for more.
That was exactly what the man wanted.
"Thank you, my lord." However, Philips was not versed enough in such critical matters.
So unfortunately he was not able to see through Alexander''s intentions, and instead even gave arge grin thinking he had managed to atst score a win as evidenced by Alexander''s quick answer.
"Hehehe, don''t mention it," Alexander''s hearty chuckle as the reply also had a lot darker undertone to it than Philips could have ever realized.
Thus, finally, quite happy with the concessions he had managed to extract from the defeated Philips decided to end the meeting then with a brisque wave of his hands,
"If that is all you have to inquire, then let''s finish it here for today."
"You can take that paper and have a read through a few times in the next few days. Make sure you thoroughly understand all the terms so that there is no misunderstanding."
"We will sign an official one with all the updated agreements a week from now from now."
Alexander breezily ended.
However, although Alexander clearly signaled the end of the meeting, instead of leaving, Philips appeared to drag his foot a bit.
For although the man had no more objections to make to the demands, he did have an additional ask.
And seeing Philips somewhat intrigued Alexander who could not help but raise an eyebrow.
The curiosity was soon solved when he heard Philips speak in a somewhat uneasy voice,
"My lord, we ¡ heard that you offered various trade deals with the other noble houses. We too would like to be part of one."
Philips hade here with the expectation of getting ess to cheaper priced inventory of Alexander''s specialties.
Such a thing would be crucial to getting the wheels of their own coffers going.
But Alexander had of course no intention of giving such a deal to Philips.
The reason for which was simple- he had no intention of helping the royal family ever be strong.
But outwardly, he gave Philips the following reason, "That offer was only given to the nobles who surrendered before the fight. Your royal family did not. So naturally you are not qualified."
It was a brutal answer that got Philips to produce a bitter face.
Philips could have been blind and he still would not have missed the lucrativeness of Alexander''s business.
He was of course very disappointed.
"But work loyally for five years and I will reconsider." Until suddenly he heard Alexander promise this.
Thinking that one should always dangle a carrot while giving the stick, facing Philips, Alexander had decided to change his mind at thest minute.
"Yes! Of course Lord Pasha! I swear." Which unsurprisingly produced a great deal of enthusiasm in Philips atst decided to dismiss himself.
The Crown Prince''s next few days however would quickly work to erode this crity as Alexander''s terms predictably caused a lot of tension among the royal members when Philips informed them.
His youngest sister, and undoubtedly the most spoiled had thrown a great tantrum at being made essentially statusless, her fit made all the more fiercer by how jealous she was of her elder sister.
While his mother had vehemently refused to even consider Alexander''s terms at first
"No! If we die, we die. That is better than eternal damnation!" She had screeched at having her belief forcibly changed.
And it took a lot of cajoling on Philips''s part to make her at least agree, with the straw that broke the camel''s back being this particr sentence from Philips.
"The pasha has threatened to decline to treat Father if you do not acquiesce Mother! He is not doing a charity here. Please reconsider!"
Philips had decided to tantly lie here to convince his mother because he knew that if he told her about Alexander''s original offer, i.e. either him or Perikles taking the position in her stead, she would absolutely make them ept it no matter what.
Lady Parthia was at that pious in her belief.
And Philips knew that perhaps the only thing that could shake her from her pedestal was her love for her husband Perseus.
The Queen had shivered and shed copious tears of regret that day when she had first heard Alexander''s ''disgusting'' threat
But ultimately nodded.
While regarding the matter of Philips''s uncles and cousins, the man found himself utterlycking in any and all courage to inform them of their fate.
It was like he was too ashamed to even show him their face.
So Philips decided to skip that conversation entirely, intending for the other party to be aware only when he had finished signing the treaty!
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Chapter 909 Philips’s Signing of The Treaty
Chapter 909 Philips''s Signing of The Treaty
?The treaty between Philips and thus the Tibian royal family and Zanzan was officially signed inte June of the year 371 of the current Adhanian Royal Dynasty (AD) calendar, roughly four years after Alexander had taken over Zanzan.
The terms of the treaty remainedrgely the same as the ones Alexander and Philips had discussed prior, with only a few minor modifications here and there.
For instance, it was decided that the royal family would hand over 40% of its owned property to Alexander as his personalnds, but in turn, would get to keep most of their remaining cash gold, and other private valuables.
The borders denoting the exact boundary of territory over which Philips would get to administer his rule were also drawn up and along with it a detailed outline of the powers he would be able to wield within it.
This included nearly all his previous existing power with the exception of the ability to raise armies, mint coins, or pass new economic and militaryws.
This Basically restricted Philips from arbitrarily changing the various tax rates or instituting new ones and from issuing orders to raise new levies to form armies.
If Philips wanted to do any of that, it was agreed that he would first need to submit a formal request to the Pasha of Zanzan and obtain his approval.
And those were really the only shackles ced on him.
The civilianws, such as the determination of punishment for murder, stealing, thievery, and other crimes, fixing the times of night time curfew,ws regarding inheritance, the fine for throwing rubbish into the streets and littering, and every other regr aspect governing the Tibian everyday life were mostly left for Philips to decided on his own discretion.
Which might seem like a lot of power for a defeated prince.
And yes it was indeed so.
But Alexander had given Philips so much power because, for one, he basically had to.
Alexander''s appointment of Philips as the head of thends here was based on pragmatism as Alexandercked the necessary mechanism to govern such vast swathes of territory from his home city.
And given the backwardness of technology andmunication of the time, it was simply a fact that Philips needed these legal tools to function properly.
After all, it would be much too impractical to ask Zanzan for every single small thing.
And besides, Alexander even did not have enough time or resources to vet every single little thing that the man might do even if he wanted to.
Thus Alexander tried his best to curb as many of the more dangerous authorities from Philips as possible while letting him still keep all the useful litigation tools.
This was one reason for letting Philips retain arge part of his powers.
Another reason for this was that Alexander found Tibias''s legal system to be actually quite superior to Zanzan''s own legal code, with the former covering a lot more topics in far more depth than thetter, thus giving Alexander few reasons to change or modify it.
For instance, there werews in Tibias that actually mentioned women, with two such examples being,
"Women shall not during a funeralcerate their faces, or tear their cheeks with their nails; nor shall they utter loud cries bewailing the dead."
And much more critically this,
"Female heirs should remain under guardianship even when they have attained the age of majority, but exceptions can be made for priestesses."
Yes, Tibiasw actually highlighted a woman''s legal status and standing in society with women being considered to be under a form of guardianship simr to that of minors.
Which, although not anything glorific, was certainly much better than thews of Zanzan, where the sections on ownership and possession clearly considered that women were to akin to pieces of real estate or property with the terms being used to describe them being "ownership" and "possession".
And this was only one of many examples of Tibias''s more progressivews.
The country also had quiteprehensive and advancedws regarding business practices such as consumer protection in the form of punishments for merchants who produced substandard products, the employment of magistrates who would be tasked with catching such scoundrels, and a concrete limit on the interest rate and usury that loan sharks could charge based on the amount borrowed to name only a few.
Zanzan in contrast had very few such examples.
Alexander''s capital also did not have what appeared to be a very early form of copyright protection where certain identified Tibians were granted the exclusive right to create and disy images of their ancestors, although such a privilege was only granted to very powerful and wealthy individuals,
All these were very impressive.
And in addition to these, while Alexander was perusing through the catalog of Tibias''sws, he also found some that were quite unusual and funnyws.
Such as the one where it stated that whenever anyone residing on the second floor or higher was about to throw rubbish from their house out into the streets, they were legally obligated to shout, "Is anyone down here?" towards the streets below and then wait for some time to get an answer.
That one had most certainly gotten a good old chuckle out of Alexander.
He could of course understand the reason behind thisw as given the dank, dark, narrow, allies of these ancient cities, it was very hard to see anyone passerby crossing the path even during the day..
So this ''sound rm'' was intended to act as a sort of warning for the passersby to quickly get out of the way.
But Alexander somehow doubted it worked as intended.
There was very little way to enforce such a thing and the people were likely way too impatient to do bother with it anyway.
And besides, given the congested nature of these ancient streets, any such shouts would likely be so distorted by the surrounding structure that the original intentions would instantly be lost.
But even then, despite the limitations of such aw, it also went on to highlight the Tibian royal family''s attention to various small and still significant details of its people.
Something that was very muchcking in Zanzan''s own case.
Alexander suspected the evolution of such a course of event was, other than being simply due to the result of his predecessor Pasha Muazz''s gross ipetence, also caused by the difference in governance style.
Tibias, being a centralized government, was able to much more efficiently utilize its manpower pools than the fragmented ruling nature of Zanzan and by extension the country of Adhania.
For in thetter country, each noble got to rule over their fief in whatever way he liked, almost like a mini king, possessing almost total power to deal with most of the challenges they faced as they saw fit.
Hence a never coherent legal structure never got developed there.
Hence in there, arge part of a noble''s everyday duty included simply attending to this, sitting on his throne and hearing theints and conflicts of his subjects, and then ruling out judgment based on the arguments.
And yes, it was one of Alexander''s duties too.
However, he had found the entire thing to be very inefficient and so while on days he was too busy, he would often his head of the police Cambyses take care of it for him.
And if even Cambyses was found to be too busy with her own work, then she would redirect the people to the head priest Theocles at the Gaia Temple.
He would always make time for them.
And if all that failed, as thest line of defense there stood old man Menicus.
Alexander had of course intended to form a proper judicial system but at the time, had found to have no leftover resources to do so.
And it was because of all that Alexander found it not worth changing anything here.
Tibias had been running smoothly for decades before he came along and Alexander was quite confident that if he were to dip his hand haphazardly into its governance without any prior
knowledge and context, he would only be making things worse.
Alexander did not want to appear as too intrusive toward his conquered subjects, needlessly poking his nose into matters that did not concern him.
Rocking the boat here would only birth resentment from the Tibian people and elites who might misconstrue his efforts as Alexander destroying their forefather''s legacy.
Due to that aspect, Alexander wanted to emte his rule to be like the Romans, where the subjugated territories were not wholly annexed and assimted like they were with other nations but instead allowed to still mostly keep their individual identity, with the promise they would continue to serve him with taxes, men and food as it was required of them.
Thus it was with that thought that Alexander put the familiar face of Philips on top and kept all the generalws and rules of thend as was.
And thus with that signing of the treaty came the official end to the year long conflict.
Now what only remained were only the formalities- the ratification of the treaty by the various influential nobles andstly their and Philips''s official swearing ceremony.
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Chapter 910 Philips’s Signing of The Treaty (Part-2)
Chapter 910 Philips''s Signing of The Treaty (Part-2)
?Philips''s signing of the treaty with Alexander would be inter years immortalized by a famous painting titled- ''The Pact of two Lands.''
It would be a very significant work, shaping both the artistic world as well as the political world around the twonds for years toe.
Although the famous artist drawing it would take certain creative liberties with the uracy of the urring events.
Perhaps even a bit too much creative freedom by some ounts.
For the painting would show Alexander garbed in a regal white and purple tunic, sitting on an imposing throne surrounded by his retainers under a clear blue sky, as Philips approached him on a ck horse dressed in pure white.
The colors depicted here would be very symbolic, with Alexander''s purple denoting his imperial and victorious status.
The ck horse that Philips came riding to meet Alexander symbolized the former''s crushing defeat and the subsequent dismay.
While the color of his garb, white and pure expressed his hopes and dreams for a better future.
Alexander would admit such a picture was much better than the actual signing process, which was far less dramatic.
In reality, the signing of the treaty was conducted in a rtively modest manner with the scheduled event urring one inconspicuous afternoon in the back courtyard of the royal pce to which Philips woulde to attend dressed in a regal red and golden robe with a purple cumberbund, apanied by only his younger brother.
There he would find arge ornate banquet table waiting for him in the middle of the field of greeny, golden sunlight of the summer afternoon dancing lightly onto it.
The huge mahogany table span was draped in a blue and green cloth, matching the color of Alexander''s standard, while atop the tabley two beautifully leather bound red books, with an ink pot and quill on either side.
These ''books'' were no doubt the treaty, with a copy for each side, ready to be signed.
"Good afternoon, Lord Pasha," Approaching the table, Philips quickly bowed to the man already present, finding himself to be already in his ce, sitting across the table, dressed in a mboyant, red and gold ceremonial armor with beautiful and intricate patterns etched into them.
And apanying him would around 20 or so nobles, all too dressed immactely, as well another 20 to 30 apanying guards, all huddled around his side of the table, eagerly waiting for the signing.
And whenpared to Alexander''s boisterous entourage, Philips''s sum total of merely 2, he and his brother, really stood like a sore thumb, making their ck of volume'' for a sorry sight, with Alexander even muttering the words, ''shaved'' and ''naked'' to metaphorically describe the man.
In these times, typically men of even modest renown would have an entourage of at least 10 people buzzing around him at any one time.
For instance, there was a proverb in Tibias that went somewhat like this- If yourwyer enters the courtroom with less than six ves, then your case is already lost.
The origin of this proverb would be for another time, but the core idea was that in Tibian customs, there was a certain reverence over the number of ''people present''.
So it had been very well expected that Philips woulde with his uncles and cousins as well as a lot of guards dressed in ceremonial armor.
But Philips himself did not see any point in doing any of this.
Regarding the soldiers, he had felt, what was the point?
If Alexander wanted to kill him, he would be dead before the sun could set.
As a matter of fact, in a type of UNO reversal, Philips felt that if he were to die, perhaps the one of have the greatest headache would be Alexander himself, as he would suddenly find himself out of a good, convenient pawn who would be able to keep the rest of the nobility in check.
As for his uncles and other males of the family, although it was tradition to bring such kin along, given Philips knew the kind of fate he was going to sign off on, the former Crown Prince simply felt he did not have the face to do such a thing, to invite them here and then make them watch how he personally dealt with them.
That would have been too cruel.
Although in quite anthesis to his intentions, Philips''s very actions had already alerted the men to such an inevitability/
Because the contents of Alexander''s offer had been already leaked to some of Philips''s uncles and cousins, courtesy of some still loyal Tibian nobles who were allowed to attend some of his Alexander''s meetings.
And hearing their to be assigned fate sought to instantly gain confirmation with Philips.
To which for a time Philips decided the best of course was simply to avoid them, making up various excuses to not see them.
Busy. Illness. Meeting someone else.
Philips tried all the old tricks in the book.
But how were his uncles, veteran politicians themselves, going to let him go so easily?
Thus one day, with the help of the Queen who too wanted to know the truth, they atst managed to corner him.
They in a hushed terrifying voice had asked,
"Philips! Are they telling the truth! That we are going to be turned tomoners? Surely you cannot have agreed to this could you?"
Philips had not seen his youngest uncle, look so terrified in his life.
Not even they were going to war.
It was very apparent that the man felt very longingly about his status.
"No! Of course not!" While the former Crown Prince suddenly found that when he was pushed against the corner to be expertly lying just like he had done with mother, quickly calming the members of the branch family down with a fierce retort,
"Where did you hear all these garbage? This is all just rumor! Nothing has been agreed upon. The Zanzan pasha just wanted us to pay arge amount of war indemnity, something which would force us to sell a lot of our properties."
And then ended with the promise and confident smile,
"But I vehemently protested. So we are currently in the process of discussing new terms. Do not worry, I will never let anything happen to any of us."
It had torn Philips''s heart to say these tant lies, and shattered it when he saw the relieved face of the other side, who then reassuringly tapped across his shoulders and chuckled,
"Hahaha, I knew nephew would not let us down."
But what choice did Philips have?
Now, there were some of his more willy uncles who did not buy Philips''s exnation so easily.
With one of them even suggesting to Philips directly, "Nephew! Why don''t you let us apany you to your next meeting with Lord Alexander? Help add some more voices to yours! Perhaps we can be of also some other assistance."
While his real intention was to of course eavesdrop.
But this sort of weak trap could naturally never stump Philips who simply produced the excuse,
"I''m sorry, that is not up to me to decide uncle. The Pasha only invites me personally to meet with him. Not even Perikles is allowed toe. So if you want toe, you will have to obtain his permission."
Thus blocked on that front, they then instead tried to seek the veracity of it their own way.
But quickly found that it was too difficult to aplish.
The current royal pce was no longer their once oyster, and so trying to use their previous contacts to get something proved very hard, especially given that many of them were dead!
Then there was the simple fact that there was nobody who actually knew the true agreed upon terms for Alexander had kept the deal with Philipsrgely to his own, not even letting the members of his own inner circle in on it.
It was because he did not think this no longer concerned them.
They already had their say.
And facing this hurdle and maddened with seemingly no way out, some of Philips''s more daring uncles had even tried to approach Alexander, wishing to offer their services to him.
But Alexander was not interested and so Hemicus made sure these annoying flies would not get within a hundred feet of Alexander.
Hence, they were really kept in mostly the dark until Philips was invited to sit beside Alexander and the duo opened the treaty together, following which the terms of the treaty were read aloud by a herald there.
"Does anyone have any objections?" And this messenger ended his piece with this query.
This you would guess would open the floodgates for petitions from those branch family members, pleading for Alexander to reconsider.
But other than some sighs and regretful shakes of the head, there was nothing but a tacit nod of approval from the crowd around.
For those members had not even been invited to this event.
It would be a whole few hours until they would be made aware of their fate, at the same time of which Alexander and Philips would be attending the subsequent celebration party, eating and drinking happily, and even toasting,
"Haha! To a better future!"
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Chapter 911 Dividing the Lands
Chapter 911 Dividing the Lands
?Chapter 911
When Philips''s uncles were finally made aware of their fate, it went without saying it came as a great shock to them.
And perhaps more than Alexander''s decision, what really stung them was the realization of their nephew''s betrayal.
Philips was usually seen as a pretty upright guy so the fact that he would tantly lie and then backstab them like this so unscrupulously caused great dissatisfaction in many.
Some of themmented, some cried, some sighed in resignation, whilestly a few seethed with unrelenting fury.
But ultimately, other than airing out their anger in vain, they were able to do much else but ept it.
For Alexander was a behemoth they had no hope of contending against.
But whilst they were swimming in the darkness, suddenly a ray of light hade to them in the form of this proposal, as some nobles posed,
"Your Highness, perhaps you marry some of your sons and daughters to us. That way they can still remain in Tibias!"
This idea was actually the brainchild of Philips, who had felt awful about the whole affair and wished to make up with his kin in some, whatever small way possible although he would never admit it.
But this also meant that the branch royal family did not know if the offer was genuine, or if these nobles were simply trying to take advantage of their perilous state to form some convenient rtions.
Thus the eptance rates of these offers were mixed, much contrary to Philips''s wishes.
These little behind the door ys were of little concern to Alexander.
Instead, he had his hands full with other matters.
Which was cating the sulking Lord Theony, who it had to be said was very much against the whole deal from the very beginning.
"You heard the nobles. It would have been impossible for me to harm the royal family." To which Alexander had repeatedly argued.
But after his favorite son Gnaeus''s death, Lord Theony seemed to have suddenly gained an irrational hatred of Philips and refused to see reason.
"The royal family should have been killed! Lord Pasha, you have already defeated them. So what are you afraid of?" The man almost shouted at Alexander,pletely forgetting the maxim that it was easy to takend, much harder to hold it.
It was a sign that quickly made Alexander seriously reconsider giving this man any position of power.
However, even if Alexander wanted to, at the current moment, hecked a candidate even one tenthparable to the man.
Hence it seemed for the foreseeable time being, he was simply stuck dealing with him.
So Alexander tried to make the most of a bad situation and attempts to soothe the man with the promise of greater wealth and power.
"That''s why I''m giving you the southern part of Tibias. The most fertile part of the country, snatched away from the royal family! It''s your reward. You can now use this to weaken the royal family even further!" Alexander imed.
And this was indeed true.
With his other reason being that the southern nobles were in general a lot more loyal to the royal family than their northern counterpart, with many of them even having familiar ties with various city states of Thesos.
Alexander had not been too enthusiastic about letting Philips go back to rubbing shoulders with such loyal people.
Instead, by recing him with Lord Theony, Alexander hoped to create a low intensity animosity between these local powers and this ''traitor'' in many''s eyes,?thus creating a bnce where they would keep one another in check.
And with Lord Theony taking Philips''s favorednds, the Crown Prince would be left with having to navigate the much more pragmatic northern half, where Alexander''s influence was undoubtedly much stronger.
Lord Theony must have surely suspected such an ulterior motive behind Alexander''s rich rewards, but still, the fertile, lush fields he was being gifted to govern did work wonders to soothe at least some of his pain.
Thus Alexander appeared to have averted the disaster, at least for now.
With this aplished, Alexander then set about preparing for the official swearing ceremony for Philips and the other nobles, deciding to ce it right at the start of fall, in order to give all the nobles adequate time to arrive at the capital.
Following which Alexander then quickly started to send out messengers to all the noble houses with these exact words,
"By the name of the former Crown Prince Philips, you are asked to appear before your new lord- The Pasha of Zanzan, and swear your undying loyalty as soon as autumn."
That''s it, just thirty one words in total for the entire message.
Which might not seem like a big deal, but in reality, it was a very domineering letter.
Because of how short it was.
Typically, any letter to a noble would be very flowery, with even just the first paragraph being at least 300 words, which would be solely spent on giving greetings and other embellishedpliments, such as their contributions to the royal family.
And then the actual invitation would be another 200 to 3000 words, which would be something like this, "....the chandeliers shall shimmer in harmony with the sparkle of your presence. It is our fervent hope that you, with your innate charm and grace, shall cast an enchanting spell upon this assembly as we await with bated breath the privilege of weing you to the banquet that promises to etch itself into the annals of history."
Missing all such social ir, Alexander''s letter could even be considered quite rude.
A consideration that could very well be deserved if one also took into ount the fact that Alexander also used the word ''you'' to address the noble- a generic, all purpose way ofbeling a people.
Whereas it was considered the very basicmon courtesy to address nobles individually with the words lords anddy.
But Alexander skipped both the long address and the particr address because it was simply tedious.
Writing so many letters already took a lot of time, and he did not want to add even more words.
As for using the word ''you'', by simply using this instead of the name of a particr noble, Alexander found he did not have to worry about assigning individual delivery riders to any particr address.
The generic letter could be delivered by messengers to any noble, thus saving them a lot of logistical hassle and thus a lot of time.
But perhaps the biggest reason why Alexander did not bother with these protocols was because he did not care.
Most of the nobles in the county who were anybody worth anything had already met Alexander, be it as either allies or foes.
Whereas the rest should have already gotten news of Alexander''s win and the subsequent signing of the treaty and were already their own way.
So the only ones who needed to be told that they needed to swear fealty to Alexander were either too weak to have this basic intelligencework, or too stupid to know what was good for them.
Alexander did not have much love for either of these types.
After the letters were sent, Alexander found himself with about two months in his hands till the noble reconvened.
But hardly any of it was spent in merriment.
For by now all of his retainers were getting close to the breaking point of their patience and quickly urged Alexander to distribute their rewards.
They had worked hard to gain their spoils of victory in this momentous campaign and now wanted to feast on their newly acquired wealth.
Hence the following days Alexander had his hands full regarding only this, where he attended a gauntlet of meetings to decide who got what piece ofnd and how much.
The division of a countryparable to Japan was certainly not an easy task and the whole endeavor took a long while.
During these days, Alexander would spend nearly 5 to 6 hours daily attending to this matter, where he would read the various deeds ofnds belonging to all the various noble houses as well as state ownednd, and try to figure all kinds of things out.
This would not only include the more obvious things such as determining the size and value of thends in question but also the poption there, what they did, their professions, how skilled they were, andstly, even just the exact location of thend in question, as current cartography, being the nascent skill it was, made even the best drawn maps in Alexander''s hand dubious at best.
Thus Alexander had to take everything being presented to him with a great deal of salt and seek the confirmation of other nearby lords to confirm the veracity of the information on the maps, wasting a lot of time in this process of double and triple checking.
And even then, despite Alexander''s best efforts, in the future, many of the men from these newly awarded territories woulde to Alexander with territorial disputes, after finding that their jurisdiction ovepped.
For example, Alexander might state- All thend 5 kilometers west of ''this'' river will be ''This'' lord''s domain until the start of ''This'' forest.
But when the lord would actually go to see his private property, he might find the actual river 10 kilometers north of the one drawn on the map, and the forest in question was nowhere in sight, making his whole ce actually ovepped with another lord''s.
These types of problems were inevitable and Alexander simply had to deal with them as they came about.
Chapter 912 Dividing the Lands (Part-2)
Chapter 912 Dividing the Lands (Part-2)
?As Alexander started to slice up the pie that was called Tibias, he naturally sought to determine exactly how muchnd he had, how much he could give, and where these were situated.
And to do this he mainly asked for Philips and Lord Theony''s help.
"How much fertilend does Tibias have?" And as Alexander sat across the table, his very first inquiry was this, for given current society was a fully agrarian one, the amount of fertilend one possessed was directly proportional to how populous and thus prosperous one was.
Alexander was eager to know the exact worth of the prize he had won.
"My lord, two years prior to this, we produced an estimated total of more than two million tons (2 million tons) of grain, with close to another one million (1 million) tons of other food produce."
Lord Theony was ready with the data, quickly revealing it from arge book made of papyrus that he had in front of him.
This was the royal tax ledger, and currently, Lord Theony was seen reviewing the data from 2 years ago.
As for the reason why he was looking at this ''outdated data'' instead of information from thest year, it was quite obvious really.
Because there was no reliable data on it due to a small thing called Alexander''s invasion.
Now, typically this royal leger should have belonged to Philips.
But Alexander let Lord Theony have it nevertheless to disy his clear preference for the man.
And Philips for his part did not actually appear much perturbed by this, finding the act only natural.
Anyway, bound within this particr volume of the collection of these ledgers were very urate records of all the national collections and spending made in thest few years by the Tibian royal family
Among the expenditures there was included the sries of civil servants such as judges, clerks, and magistrates, the expense of the army and the navy including their maintenance, the running of the temples, coin to host various religious festivals, giving to various charities and poverty relief programs, running the royal court, and of course, least one should forget, the royal family''s own expenses.
Although it might have been quite shameful to put one''s tab on the people''s money in modern times, it was a perfectly fine and even expected thing to do in this time period and Alexander even found the number in that section to be quite arge proportional of the total spending.
Clearly the Tibian royal family loved the good things in life, like so many royal families before them.
But for the moment, Alexander was not interested in the very long and admittedly quite exhaustive list of Tibias''s expenses as tempting it felt Alexander to scrutinize and cut cost where even possible.
Instead, he turned his attention to find the earning section, because that was what most mattered to him currently.
And by earning he meant taxes because Tibias really had that one source of revenue,
And in that section of the ledger, he found quite detailed records of the name of the people who were taxed, or perhaps more urately the provinces that were taxed under the supervision of that particr nobleman appointed as a governor, the type of tax collected, the rate for that year, and most importantly the total amount gathered.
And it you knew the tax amount as well as the tax rate, well then it was very simple arithmetic to find the size of the total amount.
Alexander had already figured all those out by himself, but needed Lord Theony''s help to convert those numbers into a rtable, estimated quantity of goods.
Which in this case came to 3 million tons of food.
''2 mil wheat¡3 mil total.'' As Alexander subconsciously mumbled the heard amount, to say he was overjoyed would not be wrong.
For one of his primary concerns till now had been his inability to feed his ever growing poption due to ack of adequate manpower and good arablend, forcing him to import a lot of grain from the outside, such as Pasha Farzah, and even Lady Miranda from Sybarsis.
But now, with Tibias''s fertile grounds within his grasp, it seemed his worries of starving to death were a thing of the past.
Because 2 million tons of grain was a lot of grain.
To gives some context of much it was, well Alexander''s capital of Zanzan with its 150,000 men had an annual demand of just 30,000 tons, or only about 1% of the total production.
And thus, encouraged by this result, Alexander then subconsciously began to calcte a few more things.
For one he reasoned inside his head, ''Assuming the average yield of a hectare ofnd is 1 ton given how fertile in general the country is, then to produce 3 million tons food¡ will get me around 30,000 sq km of total arable farnd.''
It was an answer that sounded very reasonable as the number showed that about 10% of the totalndmass was farmable.
Although it had to be noted that Alexander here was over generalizing a bit, given the yields for grain, vegetables, and fruits were all different and Lord Theony, facing his boss was certainly rounding up and embellishing the figures a bit.
But still it was a good enough yardstick and even if Alexander''s estimate was 10% to 20% off, it would still make him a very happy man at the thought of being able to feed and grow his manpower using thesends.
"That''s quite impressive! So how many men does Tibias have?" Thus encouraged by the results, Alexander then wanted the number.
And he posed this to Philips as evidenced by the turning of his head.
"..." While Philips, being presented by this query, took a bit of time topose himself, as he searched for the answer in his memory.
Before finally he found the relevant information.
"We had around 6 to 7 million men before the Adhanian king invaded us six years ago." Here the Crown Prince was of course referring to Amenheraft,
"But now¡ after all our losses from the battles and other disasters¡ well ¡." Philips paused to stroke his chin, trying to think of an appropriate number, before confidently iming, "I would say we have about 5 million people. Definitely not more than 6."
It was a number that instantly caused Alexander to murmur,
"So low!" under his breath with shocked trepidation.
The loss of 1 million men due to war, famine, and disease within just the span of six years shook him, finally opening his eyes to the brutal hurricane of destruction that must have been Amenheraft.
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Sure Alexander had heard how the king had ravaged and piged the country, taking all the grain he could get his hands on while ughtering all before him.
But hearing something and seeing the evidence of the devastation were two very different things.
It was said that at that time, Amenheraft did not take any Tibians prisoners or ves, for that would have meant only an extra mouth to feed.
Thus, instead of epting surrender, the cruel king would simply snatch everything of value from all the countless viges and towns around, before setting alight and torching the ce and massacring the native popce.
It was a brutal tactic and in response to all this, Perseus could only hang on to his rule by the mere skin of his teeth, employing clever ambushes and other gueri tactics to goad Amenheraft into unfavorable, opportunistic battles, inflicting small but constant harm on his troops and thus making life as miserable as possible for them.
But despite the brilliant king''s sess, it waster said that if Amenheraft had managed to keep up the pressure of Perseus for a bit longer, thetter might have snapped.
However all those ifs and buts naturally were relegated to ''what if'' scenarios as when Ptolomy rebelled, it took all of Amenheraft''s attention there.
Thus Tibias had survived.
Although tragically that victory had been ephemerally short.
Interestingly, it was really only with this question that Alexander began to appreciate how much Amenheraft had softened up the target for him, and he could not help but smirk a ''thank you'' towards the man in his heart.
Alexander would alsoe to realizeter that during the war many of the Tibian nobles might have gone a bit soft on him.
Or perhaps more urately, they might fought much more zealously if Alexander had been a native Adhanian, given the kind of atrocities their king hadmitted.
Many surrendered only because Alexander was Thesian and even spoke thenguage.
Otherwise, they might have chosen to fight to the death.
Or engage in a long, brutal guerri warfare just like they had with Amenheraft.
Although thest part might have been avoided because the popce was already too tired as well as Perseus being captured by Alexander.
Anyway, if there was one silver lining to take away from this grim report, it was that despite the loss of more than 10% of the country''s life, their agricultural output was still phenomenal- 2 million tons of grain, which was enough to sustain a poption of at least 8 to 9 million, ''
Clearly Tibias''snds were very fertile.
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Chapter 913 Dividing the Lands (Part-3)
Chapter 913 Dividing the Lands (Part-3)
??The 2 million tons of grain that Tibias produced wasrge enough to sustain 7 to 8 million people.
Alexander got this answer by assuming an average citizen would need on average 200 kg of wheat annually (less than 1lb a day) to properly sustain himself.
This was an average number, taken as an aggregate of the poption, i.e. men, women, and childrenbined, with one man usually being counted as being equivalent to a pair of woman and child.
This method yielded a poption of 10 million, but it had to be also remembered that farmers needed to keep a quarter to even a third (25% to 33%) of their produce as seeds for renting next year.
Thus Alexander''s more reasonable answer of 7 to 8 million.
And upon figuring so out, Alexandermented in a pleased voice towards Philips, "It seems the country can produce a surplus of feed at least 1 million people. That is very impressive. Especially when you consider it happened amidst all your recent troubles."
The man sounded impressed.
And the Crown Prince in this case was not humble, quickly nodding, "Yes, it all thanks of the mighty Diannu, the lifeblood of our country. Its annual flooding deposited fertile rich silt across the lush floodins, letting us cultivate a diverse array of crops. Wheat, barley, x, and all kinds of fruits and green producee from it. A gift from our ancestors."
Philips had a tinge of reverential undertone to his voice as he finished, his eyes slightly zed, as if he was reminiscing about the good old times.
The Diannu was like Egypt''s Nile, The Chinese Yellow River, or the Indian Ganges, regrly flooding its surrounding settlements and then leaving ayer of extremely rich sedimentary soil when it receded, making the ins around it one of the most productive agricultural regions in the ancient world.
Due to this gift, the reverence the Tibian people held for the Diannu was firmly religious, with there being even an annual ceremony of making animal sacrifices along the banks of the river and its tributaries as a way to pray for a good harvest.
It would not be wrong to say the entire Tibian civilization was basically based around this river, as pointed out by Lord Theony
"The Diannu not only sustains us but also fuels our economy, my lord. For instance, just two years ago we exported more than 250,000 tons of grain and other surplus produce to other countries for a total of almost 400 million libras (200 million ropals)! That one year''s harvest had been enough to cover our annual budget for the next two years and we even managed to pay back much of our debts, haha."
The portly lord had a pleased flushed face as he recounted that happy memory.
It had been a bumper harvest that year with good weather all around, and thus the export of massive quantities of grain had generated more than half a billion ropals for Tibias and its people.
The state treasury had taken a third of that pie as fees for facilitating the trade, with the rest of the money getting split up by all the other actors involved- all the nobles who owned thend, the numerous merchants and distributors acting as middlemen andst and least of all, residing in the lowest tier- the farmers, who did all the hard work but was really paid scraps.
But that was the tragedy of being a farmer in this time period.
Anyway, for Alexander, hearing that 200 million ropals had been generated in taxes certainly pleased him too.
That was a lot of money even for him.
Thus he grew to be quite expectant towards the revenue from next year.
Although he also knew to pace himself as that 200 million ropal sale was really an exception fueled by exceptionally good weather that year.
It was not an example to be expected as evidenced by previous records of state revenues, where grain sales usually ounted for 70 to 90 million ropals.
Along with feeling pleased, Alexander had also found the whole situation a bit ironic, because he was more than a hundred percent sure that a lot of that grain Tibias exported had made their way back to Zanzan, and had been critical in helping him pull through some tough times, such as building up his granaries for this campaign as well as feeding the urban poptions.
So inadvertently, it seemed Tibias had saved its very own conqueror at some prior time.
Thus with a chuckle, whose meaning only he understood, hemented with arge nod,
"I have had Tibian wheat before. It''s famous for its quality and taste. I liked it very much."
It was a positive answer that quickly promptly the Crown Prince Philips to nod in agreement,
"It is an honor that you have enjoyed it, my lord. My family over the past century has undertaken numerous irrigation projects to take care of the country''s agriculture."
"All kinds of canals, dikes, and dams had been constructed by skilled engineers andborers, ensuring easy distribution of water to the fields and ntations, giving us the best crops this side of the Central Sea."
As Philips went on to highlight his family''s aplishments, he sounded quite proud.
Although in Alexander''s eyes, their practices were still quite rudimentary.
Because, for one they did not practise any sort of crop rotation.
Now in fairness that was partly due to the fact that Tibiasrgely did not need to rest its fields to allow it to regain its fertility back.
The annual floods from the Diannu did that for them.
Sure the rising waters might destroy crops and fields when they came, but as a sort of apology, they would leave ayer of rich, decadent soil for the farmers when they left.
And thispensation would be so rich that many would not even care about their previous loss, for the gift would allow the Tibian farmers to farm all theirnd all year round for the foreseeable future with the promise of bumper harvest.
Which was much, unlike their Zanzan counterpart who could only utilize two thirds (2/3) of fields at any one time.
It was also because of this that Alexander had no intention of implementing the three phase crop rotation system in Tibias.
At least not around the fertile banks, perhaps around the more inner parts.
But although Alexander could probably forgive thisck of innovation, there were a few more egregious examples that he certainly could not.
For example, from what he had seen during his travels up and down the country during the campaign, the farmers here seemed to only employ weak and light wooden plows instead of Zanzan''s new heavier plow, and with the use of draft animals forbor here yet to be universally adopted.
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Instead, Alexander saw many farmers, too poor to even afford an ox or mule, take on the role of these beasts of burden for themselves, plowing and tiling the fields with the heavy wooden yoke of the plow on their own shoulders, their strong legs quivering due to the strenuous work, as sweat dripped off his nose like rainwater due to the scorching summer heat
It was a hard life.
And made all the more harder by some of the tools they still used, such as the one they used to cut wheat.
It was a sickle, looking very simr in appearance to the Egyptian weapon Khopesh, and was quite backdated even for its time, for even before Alexander came along, Zanzan had already adopted the much more efficient hand held long scythe, allowing for easier and faster shing, thus making the back breaking work a bit more manageable.
But due to Tibias''sck of metal mines, and thus the high cost of importing metal, the poorer farmers were unable to afford much ''metal rich'' equipment.
All of whichbined seemed to suggest to Alexander that Tibias''s generally fertilends had actually led to holding it back, stifling innovation, and proving once again the saying,
''Necessity is the mother of all inventions.''
Since Tibias did not have a want of food, and thends naturally produced ample food to sustain the people, they never bothered to improve upon the tried and tested technique.
After all, humans were creatures offort and familiarity, so it was very reasonable for them to ask.
''Given we already have a good thing going, why take the risk and innovate with the possibility of losing everything?''
But now that Alexander was here, things were of course bound to change.
Heavy plow, horse cors, crop rotations, and long scythes were just the things that came to the top of his head, all of which would increase Tibias''s production by 30 to 50% at the very least.
But he did not bother discussing these terms with Philips or Lord Theony.
Because he knew these high born lords knew as much about the intricacies of farming as a potter did about smithing.
As for enticing them with greater rewards, Alexander feared they might not want to try these new technologies as the old ways had served them well enough.
Thus Alexander nned to introduce these innovations directly into the field, skipping the lords as the middleman.
Chapter 914 Dividing the Lands (Part-4)
Chapter 914 Dividing the Lands (Part-4)
?In order to introduce his new farming techniques, Alexander nned on selecting a few thousand Tibian farmers and providing them with all the ''modern'' tools.
He would then offer them a contract promising them a fixed sry for their work, as well as a portion of the harvest as a way to remove their uneasiness over the new technology,
In this way, Alexander hoped to showcase the effects of his innovations to all the nearby farmsteads and nobles, thus making them adopt the new way by themselves.
That was the n for now, although Alexander kept it to himself, and quickly rejoined the conversation in a concluding tone,
"Is grain and other produce all that Tibias produces? Or are there some more local specialties I''m not aware of?"
"Of course, there are, my lord!" And Philips''s quick response to Alexander made his voice sound almost a bit offended at the innuendo, as the Crown Prince then quickly went on to list,
"We also produce figs, wines, dyes, and various pottery."
"We also trade extensively with the other countries."
"Papyrus, linen, spices, perfumes, ointments, precious metals, gemstones, and ves. You name it! We got it all, Lord Pasha."
Many of these named products were of course imported products- local specialties of Sybarsis, the nearby warring states, Thesos, and even Zanzan.
But their avability was still something to marvel at.
Because it had to be known many of the things you could get in Tibias, you could not get in many parts of Adhania, since thetter country was quite closed off to the rest of the world.
Thus Tibias came to manifest itself as a hub of major trade ofmerce, with many of its port cities being quite rich, such as the city of Lilybee, which was the thirdrgest city and second most prosperous city in the country, right after the capital.
It also helped that many of these port cities were situated right next to various tributaries of the Diannu, allowing small ships and boats to travel to and fro ind very easily and cheaply, beingden with ves, intricate jewelry, pottery, metal tools, and textiles designed by skilled craftsmen, all to be sold and exchanged for bales of linen, sacks of grain, baskets of fruits, bags of exotic spices, jars of wine, and many more.
Even ignoring Tibias''s own produce, just this extensive waterway tradework would have made Tibias a very rich and desirable country to conquer.
"My lord, Tibias is also a great producer of papyrus. Our scrolls are renowned throughout the world for their quality." But then right after Philips''s answer, not willing to be left behind, Lord Theony also quickly chimed in this fact, iming in a proud tone,
"The marshes and wends around the Diannu are ideal for growing the nt. So it''s produced in our country by the droves."
"I myself possess several hundred hectares of papyrus fields, along with several thousands of workers who grow, harvest, and process it."
"And even then I cannot keep up with all the demand. Haha, it seems insatiable."
Therge lord healthily chuckled at the thought of all the gold he made selling that.
Papyrus scrolls, the material chosen for their durability and flexibility, were in high demand throughout the surrounding counties, where it was used for recording various official and administrative documents, books and works of literature of the time, religious scripture, and even just for private use.
And since Tibias had a near monopoly on it, it allowed them to wield significant economic influence and profit from its trade.
15 to 20 million ropals per year in fact!
Tibias''srge domestic supply of papyrus also meant lower prices for its citizens, which helped to spread various ideas and concepts more easily.
It was primarily because of this that Alexander hade across variousrge collections of books and even huge full fledged libraries during his travels through the country, them dotted around therge cities and settlements.
There was nothing like that in Adhania in its entirety from what Alexander had seen.
And in that aspect, the crown jewel had to be the Capital Parthenigh.
The volume of books contained within it was particrly impressive, with just the imperial pce having not one but two fully stocked libraries, one in each wing.
While the city itself had two more semi private reading facilities that people of certain status were allowed to enter for a certain fee.
Alexander estimated the price of the total collection to be anywhere from 100 million to even 1 billion ropals, to being even priceless.
All of which had led to a much greater presence of schrs and philosophers here than in Zanzan.
At least that was Alexander''s experience as he had noticed quite a few such people being employed in the Tibian court.
Neither Zanzan nor Adhan had such people of such numbers.
Although it was also possible that Alexander might have simplye at an inopportune time then, as when he took the capital, it was in rebellion, and Zanzan was a ghost town.
But still, it was an undeniable fact that Tibias''s general poption was more educated than Zanzan, and thus towards these learned men, Alexander, fueled by greed, had offered two options.
Either follow him to Zanzan and teach the people there.
Or be fired from the royal court!
All but one had chosen the former, the odd one being a die hard pure Tibian who did not budge even with the threat of starvation.
Alexander thus let him be.
Instead, given the abundance of books here, Alexander''s mind was much more preupied with the thought of setting up severalrge scale printing presses across the country, intending to make copies of all these books both for domestic and foreign consumption.
The ideas and knowledge stored within those leather bound papyrus pages would be truly enlightening for the masses of the time.
But when Alexander thought about the book, suddenly, he remembered something.
These books were made of papyrus.
Tibias was famous for the papyrus industry.
But right now, that famous industry was like the dinosaurs, on a straight collision course with a meteor named the Paper industry.
The only reason Tibias''s papyrus industry had remained unaffected till now was because Alexander''s paper production was still in its infantile stages and the volumes produced were not even nearly enough to meet market demand.
So the market share it dominated was too small to be felt easily by most of therge yers.
But once the technology spread and people saw how much easier and cheaper it was to produce than papyrus, this antique industry would be ground to dust almost instantly.
The raw materials of paper were just too avable, its production much faster and simpler, and it was simply a much better writing surface over papyrus to make any practical sense to use thetter instead of the former.
Thus Alexander had no doubt about the extinction of the papyrus industry, even assuming that it could be as close as to a decade or two.
And this made him wonder what would be of this once thriving industry that employed so many people, and so many skilled artisans who expertly prepared those scrolls.
Sure many might switch to paper making.
But still, Alexander wondered if there would be enough vacancies.
And then there were the nobles who earned a lot of their ie from this.
Such as yours truly- Lord Theony.
But all these were only momentary concerns for Alexander.
He was of course not going to stop the advance of his civilization just because of fear of unemployment.
Those people could either keep up or fall behind and be lost to the wheels of history.
Alexander would not wait for them.
And right now, for Alexander, the good thing was that most of the nobles had yet to wake up to the danger that paper posed towards them.
He felt that he could use this information to his advantage when dividing up the spoils among his nobles.
Thus keeping this realization to himself, Alexander responded positively to Lord Theony, chuckled,
"Hahaha, oh yes, how could have I forgotten? Zanzan also imports a lot of papyrus from Tibias. Yes, it''s of very high quality. Perhaps I have even used your own papyrus, Lord Theony, haha."
This was aplete lie as Alexander''s own paper supply was mostly sufficient to meet his personal demands, meaning there was no need for imports.
But thement did manage to produce its intended effect- a grin from Lord Theony, "Hehe, I''m honored, my lord."
And it was with that that Alexander found these were all the specialties of Tibias, and thus decided to end the meeting there, pping his hands and saying with a light smile,
"Okay, if there is nothing else, then I think that''s all there is to it for today."
"Thank you Lord Theony and Prince Philips for all the hard work. It could not have been easy."
"Over the next few days, we can go through some of thend I want to gift my nobles and thus determine their value."
"I will send you the details soon."
"Of course, no problem, Lord Pasha."
"Anytime Lord Alexander."
As Alexander formally decided to end the meeting, the two men quickly replied with some courtesies, before excusing themselves with a bow.
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Chapter 915 Dividing the Lands (Part-5)
Chapter 915 Dividing the Lands (Part-5)
?When Alexander announced the treasures he had up ''for sale'', it naturally produced a torrent of rapacious cheers from all the victorious nobles present, who were excited with swirling trepidation by the prospect of all that could be theirs.
The list of rewards that the Pasha had for his nobles were vast, including all types of real estate in the countryside.
This ranged from various good, fertile farmsteads to wide open lush pastures perfect for animal husbandry.
Fromrgekes and ponds for fishing to sprawling ntations perfect for growing grapes or different kinds of dyes.
From pristine, immactely cared for orchards to dirty, unclean marshes and wends used to grow papyrus.
Alexander''s carving of Tibias included all of its beauty.
And the allure and value of thesends were determined using a variety of factors.
The size, the product it produced and the quantity, the kind of people residing on thosends- whether skilled artisans or unskilled farmers, and most important of all, its location.
Being close to a city center was always better than a remote, mountainous nowhere.
Being next to the river was even better, as then one could utilize the artery of the country that much more easily.
While the best was to have both a river and arge port nearby, thus making buying supplies and sellingmodities much, much cheaper.
And if one wanted to have his cake and eat it too, then suchnd could preferably be close to Zanzan.
But such plots were very rare and only reserved for Alexander''s close inner circle, being gifted to Menes, Melodias, or his women such as Gelene and Cambyses.
Thus it was mostly the other types ofnd that were presented to the nobles, the type and individual size ofnd being awarded was very dependent on the men''s contribution and their perceived loyalty to Alexander.
Of course, among all these plots, farming real estate was not the only thing that Alexander had for sale.
There were also entire viges, towns, and even cities that were up for grabs, prime centers of trade ofmerce bursting with wealth.
There were sprawling pces, evergreen gardens, luxurious vis, and expensive and expansion vineyards of various sizes and qualities where the elite of Tibian society reveled in luxury and opulence.
While the streets below bustled with merchants, artisans, and traders, selling and trading goods from all over the country.
Such industrial centers were very lucrative as they wererge gathering spaces for wealth and so the governance of the bigger cities mostly went to the Jamiders (Earl) and other heavy yers residing in Alexander''s inner circle.
But amongst all of Alexander''s offers, it was notnd or cities that moved his nobles the most.
No.
What had to be the most darling of all to the nobles were undoubtedly the various metal and jewel minesid sparsely strewn about here and there.
This was because ies from mines, unlike agricultural farnds, were not affected by external factors like weather and natural disasters which no mortal could ever have a hand in.
Meaning as long as you had the people to dig the stuff up, there would always be a constant stream of metal ore and thus a constant stream of wealth.
At least until the mines ran dry.
But such were only long term concerns and there would be clear signs beforehand.
So in the short term, the peace of mind mines brought was greatly appreciated by any and all nobles.
However, the tragedy here was that these easy taps of wealth were also in quite short supply for Tibias was quite t and resource barren in its geography.
Which of course did not mean the nobles giving up on their dreams.
That would be foolish.
Instead, it simply meant that the nobles were even more zealous to get what they wanted from this limited supply as they started to debate and argue among themselves ruthlessly for them, like quarrelsome housewives, trying to grab as much of the most lucrativends for themselves as possible.
The result of such argument could easily be imagined, as the royal courtroom, where all these discussions usually took ce, would regrly turn to almost resemble a fish market, with the loud hollering of fishmongers being reced by the shouts and screams of dignified and esteemed nobles.
They could be heard loudly shouting choice words such as,
"This silver mine should belong to us! We deserve it!"
"Bah! You already got so much good farnd and you still want more! Greedy pig!"
"Who are you calling greedy, you uncultured Tibian barbarian swine!"
"You¡. hook nosed Adhania¡ *uggghhhh*!"
Or perhaps it would be no longer urate to call these nobles dignified, as forget the civility of courteousnguage, the men here not only started to curse in the most base words known to them but sometimes even started to have full fledged fist fights amongst themselves.
And if the argument was particrly heated or involved a high enough noble, then many times additional men from both sides would rush to join in, each trying to support their side, as well as their own separate ims
While others would be fueled with righteous fury after hearing the demeaning insults being thrown at them, many of which would be very racist in nature and derogatory to all the people in that ss.
When that happened, and there were several instances where such a thing did happen, it turned the small altercation between just two individuals into a full fledge brawl as men dressed in fine, expensive clothing punched, kicked, spat, and swore each other with wild abandon, producing many ck eyes and numerous bloody, broken noses.
Most of these ''events'' would end with an intervention from the surrounding guards, who tried to quickly pull these men apart and restore order.
While Alexander, being a witness of all these from his part of the room, would only purse his lips and look at the bunch of ''overexcited children'' in the guise of grown men with disapproving eyes.
This was quite contrary to how he had reacted the first time this happened, where Alexander was shocked out of his wits and even a bit scared, as he genuinely feared a bloodbath.
The energized mass of men shing against one another with unrelenting fury seemed to truly give him such vibes.
And if the act of Tibian and Zanzan nobles ughtering each other were to truly ur, Alexander might very well lose Tibias even after conquering it.
Because then- guerris and ambushers would be the word of the day for the foreseeable future for him.
"Stop it! Stop it! What are you doing? Guards! Guards!" Thus at that time, Alexander had shouted as such, in an admittedly unmanly voice, as he sought help from the men stationed around the room, while he and his small entourage of bodyguards quickly entered the fray to break up these angry men and prevent any ident.
But subsequent repeats of such events would prove that Alexander''s worries were exaggerated,
These brawls and physical exchanges were really ordinary urrences in Tibian courts and few took these little scuffles seriously.
In fact, it was even seen as somewhat manly by some.
And it seemed many of Alexander''s Zanzan nobles were also very eager to get their hands dirty.
Thus the Pasha let them be, only banning them from carrying all types of swords and other weapons into the room to evade any sudden esctions, such as: a hot headed noble suddenly slipping and stabbing someone in the middle of the heated brawl.
Along with this, Alexander also tripled the number of guards in the royal courtroom to deal with any unforeseen consequences, the end result of which was that the guards actually outnumbered the nobles almost two to one.
With that safety in ce, Alexander let the nobles figure out the finer details of their bestowal by themselves, as he over the next two months slowly and surely worked through all the reviews and requests to deal out the appropriate rewards to all individuals the nobles.
And by the end of it, the results were such.
As a general rule of thumb:
A shordar (baron) or his Tibian equivalent was awarded 10 to 20 sq kilometers ofnd (1,000 to 2,000 hectares) or an equivalent territory that could generate at least 100,000 ropals annually.
A talukdar (viscount) was given 50 to 70 sq kilometers ofnd, (5,000 to 7,000 hectares) or an equivalent territory that could generate at least 500,000 ropals annually.
Jamiders (Earls) and the big shots of Tibias got hundreds of sq kilometers added to their collection, enabling their iing to increase by at least a few million ropal as well as various jewels of administrative power, such as Philips''s and Lord Theony''s position as governors of Tibias.
Whilestly, the top dog Alexander, and his family that included Gelene and Cambyses got altogether around 3,000 sq km, thergest of the share by far, thus bringing the house''s total personally ownednd to around 10,000 sq km, and much, much more by proxy.
Thus in total, Alexander gave about 15% of the country, roughly 50,000 sq km ofbinednd to his Zanzan and Tibian nobles to be part of their fief.
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Chapter 916 Dividing the Lands (Part-6)
Chapter 916 Dividing the Lands (Part-6)
?Alexander''s division ofnd among the various nobles did not actually involve too much forfeiture of the freends of Tibias, i.e. thends that the Tibian royal family, and now the Pasha of Zanzan had default right over.
The reason for which was simple- almost nobody wanted those ''freends'' under Alexander''s control.
And to know why, one had to only ask, ''why were thosends free in the first ce.''
And the answer would generally be that those ces were either too barren or remote or both, being neither suitable for cultivation of any kind nor for extraction of any.
And for an agrarian society like Tibias, that basically meant thosends were almost equivalent to a barren desert.
Who would want them?
It had to be appreciated that societies of this time period almost exclusively hadrge poption centers only concentrated on good, fertile, arablend.
Which for Tibias meant around 30,000 to 60,000 sq km, depending on how generous you were being with the term ''arable''.
For instance, the farmers around the south of the country would have spat in disdain if they saw some of thends the northern farmers, such as the ones around Thesalie, called farnd.
But even with the generous description, the total arable area would not exceed 20% of the entire country.
Meaning the rest of the 80% of the country went mostly utilized, consisting mostly ofrge, seemingly endless stretches of wends, marshes, bogs, and swamps, huge, all epassing wooded forests that barely let any light in, and housed all kinds of ferocious predators such as wolves, panthers, and tigers, various poisonous frogs and snakes, many predatory birds like eagles and vultures, as well as other more innocent woond creatures such as rabbits, deers, foxes, and badgers to name a few.
And where there were ces that had not been overtaken by mother nature, she left many of them dry and uncared for- with stony, hard soil barely capable of letting weeds grow, much less arable crops.
Most of these types of ces were mostly left to the wayside, letting the native popce there govern it for themselves.
Only perhaps once or twice a year there would be one or two magistrates sent by the royal court to check up on them, to see if these people still existed and more importantly to collect their taxes.
Because no matter how poor you were, there were two things you could not avoid in life- death and taxes.
And the only time Tibias''s higher up''s eyes would deign to nce at these neglected ces would be when there came the time to raise levies.
These poor and sparse viges would be the first ce they would start the head hunt, knowing the people here were dirt poor, even whenpared to the already rtively poor peasants.
Which was good news for the military recruiters as it meant most of the men here were hungry, unemployed, and desperate.
Or in other words, the best kind ofbor there was- cheap and obedient, thus willing to do anything.
But other than that particr use in times of war, these remote and barren unproductive patches of the country were mostly left to scavenge for themselves.
Thus as these ces were in theplete loonies and undeveloped beyondprehension, the nobles would have found it almost insulting if Alexander were to offer these to them as rewards.
Thus, instead,rge portions of the giftednds had to be actually taken from the defeated and dead nobles aspensation.
Thesends, developed over decades if not centuries were the ones to possess truly great value and thus the most lucrative for the winners, who had been for months now salivating over the prospect.
But given many of thesends already had owners, such a thing needless to say created a whole host ofplications.
Many of the defeated but still alive nobles naturally reacted at Alexander''s attempts to take theirnd, as understandably they tried their best to protect their own interests.
Of course, this did not mean doing anything foolish like rebelling or arguing.
This course of action was not news to them after all.
They already knew this was going to happen as such a thing was par for the course of the time after losing a war- the loser had to endure loss while the winner got to relish gains.
But although they could not prevent losing some of theirnds, that did not mean they could not try to influence Alexander''s decision over which plots of theirnds they would lose.
They certainly could, as they attempted to keep the most valuable part of their fiefs from being snatched.
And in that endeavor, these noblemen employed such a colorful variety of tricks that had to be seen to be believed.
Such as:
Trying to covertly and overtly send their daughters and even granddaughters into Alexander''s arms to try and woo him, hoping they could be if not as his mistress then his maid, and if not even that, then perhaps at least his bed warmer.
Trying to sign various secret treaties with Alexander, ranging from the usual economic ones, to military ones such as offering a certain amount of men to the army each year, to even swearing to spy on the other lords on his behalf.
Trying to use the various dark and depraved secrets they knew about the other nobles as a bargaining chip to ''buy'' one''s fief back.
Trying to sway Alexander with an annual payment of promised gold.
Promising to send one''s sons and even grandsons to Zanzan to join the army or if they were unfit just ''visit the ce'', thus effectively handing Alexander valuable hostages.
And many, many more creative petitions that made their way to Alexander''s desk.
There was even one nobleman, admittedly quite dashing with short curly locks and a square chiseled face, even offering to be Alexander''s paramour in exchange for him reconsidering taking one of his gem mines.
It was such an odd offer that Alexander was actually half pleased by the valiant effort.
Although it of course went without saying that then nobleman failed on both fronts- neither getting the bed nor the mine.
But while Alexander was able toe to a very quick and decisive decision on that particr offer, the others proved much more challenging.
Because some of the offers these men were making were truly lucrative.
Meaning Alexander had to shift through many of them individually trying to figure out what was worth taking and what was not.
And then determine if the worth of that offer matched its intended price.
It took Alexander no small effort toe to any decision regarding all these, with the only silver lining here being that he was aided in his endeavors by Philips and Lord Theony, as well as some of the other Zanzan nobles.
And ultimately, Alexander did end up taking a few of the offers, particrly the spying and snitching ones, letting Camius and Laibak obtain greater sets of eyes and ears.
Along with that, Alexander also signed a few secret trade deals with those particr nobles holdingnd in key trading junctions in the country to let Alexander''s goods and those from Camius''s trading guild receive preferential treatment, such as less scrutiny by the guards as well as all the obvious ones- lower tariffs and sales taxes.
Alexander then even took a few deals that offered him annual payments in gold or in othermodities like food or other produce, although most of these were always against his own wishes.
Alexander did notck gold or what other things they were offering.
Not at least at the moment.
And so would have much preferred thend itself.
But due to political reasons he had to reconsider, as in almost all those cases, he was cajoled by either Philips or Lord Theony to give those noblemen a more favorable deal.
Those nobles were very close with these higher ups, being either close allies, good friends, or bound by the threads of kinship through various marriage rtions, such as those who were married to Philips''s sister.
Thus Alexander was forced to make some concessions.
But one type of noble that he did not make any concessions with was the ones who sent their daughter to sleep with Alexander.
He had rejected any such advances.
And it was not even because he disliked them for using this tactic.
No.
He could even respect it, as in fact in most other situations it would have been a perfectly viable tactic.
But it was just that Alexander thought he already had enough women to take care of and needed no more.
Besides, if Alexander really wanted to simply have a fun tussle in bed with raw, animalistic passion, these conservative virgins of Tibias would be a far cry from being his first choice.
They would not even know how to pleasure him.
Alexander had a far better option in Ophenia who had already arrived in Parthenigh upon his invitation.
And this otherworldly, lewd beauty was ready and more than willing to tend to all his needs, even the most depraved ones.
So what reason did Alexander have to go looking for other pleasures of the flesh,?
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Chapter 917 Dividing the Lands (End)
Chapter 917 Dividing the Lands (End)
??Alexander''s resistance to the pleasures of the flesh that had been so willingly offered to him came to, in a sort of unintended way, actually gain him some poprity among the nobles.
"Haha, the pasha is so young, yet so disciplined! If I was in his shoes, I would have lost my pants long, long ago." One of the noblemen could be hence chuckling cheerfully to hisrade, as the second man quickly nodded and added enthusiastically,
"Mmmm. It is very reassuring to see him not fall into the trap of the follies of youth. The number of men who have been done undone by the allure of women in their younger years would be enough to fill an entire cemetery."
"Yes. I had been worried that ''that country''s'' rotten culture did not infect him. But I''m d to see that not happening. The pasha might be young, but it seems he does not let himself get swayed by women. That''s good." The first noblemanstly concurred in a relieved voice.
"Or men. Hehe." While the second man waged the joke, although the undertone of appreciation in his voice was still unmistakable.
And like him, most of the nobles, even whose daughter''s advances Alexander had shunned, were impressed by him, praising his stalwart mind at not nibbling at every ''pie'' presented to him and controlling himself.
Now, one of the main reasons why many of the nobles were so impressed by Alexander''s abstinence of the flesh here in Tibias whereas there was no such impression in Zanzan where Alexander too had done something simr was mainly due to a prevalent idea about masculinity that permeated among the people of the country.
It was called Stoicism.
And it contained at least some parts that matched the idea of stoicism from Alexander''s past life.
The idea, first proposed by a famous philosopher named Zaitus, proposed, among many other things, that men should not burden themselves with too much emotion.
And by men, he meant only ''men'', i.e.- those that were of the masculine gender.
Towards that proportion of the poption, Zaitus posed that the reason for one''s suffering was feeling and caring too much.
And so he instructed that one must strive to limit one''s sensation, such as by neither celebrating nor mourning too loudly, by not bing either too excited or depressed, by not enjoying oneself in merriment or drowning oneself in untold sorrow, etc. reasoning such allures blinded oneself to all the things around one, letting danger and an ''ill state of mind'' creep up on one undetected, thus inflicting one with a lifetime of pain.
And amongst all these allues and danger, the man of course mentioned the pleasures of women as being one of them, even going as far as to call it the greatest allure- even exceeding the joys and decadence of good food or the satisfaction and corruption of great wealth.
Hence, influenced by his teaching, many Tibian men, noble and peasant alike, followed that one particr advice quite seriously, shunning, or at least limiting their sexual experiences, even when it came to enjoying their own wives.
This however then had the unintended consequence of giving birth to the practice of pederasty, i.e.- sexual activity involving a man and a child boy or youth, as the forceful suppression of their natural urges caused many to then seek release in unnatural ways.
Now, it had to be said that this practice was also present in Zanzan or Adhania, and they had no Zaitus.
But it was nowhere near the scale that was here in Tibias.
At least there, only the rich and powerful like the nobles engaged in this very immoral act,
While here it was somon that almost every Tom, Dick, and Harry seemed to do it, be they friends, casual lovers, and even rtives like cousins.
Nobles, peasants, and even ves did it.
It had to be also noted that Zaitus himself was an avid ''practitioner of this art'', almost having a literal harem of pubescent boys that he very openly enjoyed his time with.
And due to this example, many men also sought to follow him, thinking such practice was also part of Stoicism, as a way to suppress one''s desire and appear more manly.
And while Alexander did not appear to follow thetter part of the teachings, seeing Alexander at least follow the first part about abstinence, many nobles were pleased, counting the man as one of them.
Although Alexander was not even a tiny bit aware of these newly made impressions of him.
And even if the words did enter his ears, he would have most likely not cared.
For in his mind, this Tibian concept of Stocism was deeply wed.
Sure there were some nuggets of genuinely good advice sprinkled here and there, but when taken as a whole, it was all mixed in a heap of toxic garbage that made the whole thing asinine in his eyes.
Thus Alexander even nned to slowly root out this filth from thesends now that he was in charge.
Thus it was probably for the best that the nobles could not read Alexander''s mind, as they would have indeed been very disappointed.
And be even more disappointed if they were to evere to know the real reason behind Alexander''s abstinence- which was simply because he had better options and thus thought those women would be too much baggage.
And most definitely be disappointed if they could see what the young man was currently doing inside his room.
For currently, the young Pasha was not practicing any kind of abstinence but was in fact in bed with his wives.
Two of them.
For among many of the guests that had decided to tag along with Ophenia, one of them was- Gelene.
Currently, with night having fully descended and they having finished their supper, the trio were just getting ready to start their raunchy time together, as Alexander found himself lyingpletely naked on his bed, being attended by the two women.
He had his head resting on Ophenia''s soft barep, as herrge fleshy globules with their piercings hanging above his head, already leaking milk.
While Gelene, equally threadless was imperiously sitting on his tummy, her bare back andrge fleshy ebony ass directed towards him as she used her delicate hands to skillfully pleasure her ''little master.''
''How was your day, master?'' The darkdy mellifluously sang as Alexander felt his lower half being thered with some sort of warm oil before it started to get pumped those dainty digits.
The touch was exquisite and the speed soft, slow, and very delicate, as she started the forey light and gentle, to let Alexander enjoy himself fully.
Clearly, Gelene knew what she was doing,
"Aghhh! Made me wish I was mute and illiterate." While towards the made inquiry, having recalled all the troubles he was made to go through, Alexander let out this half frustrated groan, before quickly starting to ramble,
"All these nobles just keep hounding me day and night for every little thing."
"If there''s one that wants morend, then another pleads to me to protect his ownnd from plunder."
"If one has enoughnd, then he wants to change it."
"And if one has everything, then anotheres asking for his."
"Winning the war was easier than dealing with these greedy fuckers¡ every one of them." In a rare case of losing his temper, Alexander vulgarly cursed with a displeased scowl, as he finished mumbling.
The division of thends had not been an easy ordeal for the young and ''inexperienced in these affairs'' lord.
The pasha had to suffer through a great deal of headaches as he tried to bnce the prospect of upsetting his newly conquered Tibians nobles and properly rewarding his retainers.
For taking too much of their capturednds, and the Tibians would see Alexander as being too harsh on them, punishing them too heavily.
But take too little, and Alexander would not have enough to give to his retainers.
It was not an easy task to find the exact bnce, with Alexander having to enlist the help of Philips and Lord Theony, to determine the total contribution the various Tibian nobles had made in the war, and based on that came to a reasonable agreement over which houses deserved how much of theirnds to be taken.
And they even had toe up with a rule of thumb for this.
But even then the task was not easy as many of these nobles had their wealth generation concentrated in a single or few individualrge poption centers.
So dividing was tricky as the whole thing was kind of like a package.
To give a very simple example, imagine a noble''s territory being famous for fishing.
There, one vige produced expert fishermen, another produced very good boats, and thest one produced very durables.
Take any of them away, and the other two fall apart.
It was problems like this that Alexander andpany had to spend a lot of time to work out a solution, with most of the time helping the old and new noblee up with some sort ofpromise or guarantee.
It was quite tedious but still necessary work.
Chapter 918 Fate of Defeated Nobles (Part-1)
Chapter 918 Fate of Defeated Nobles (Part-1)
??The general rule that the trio of Alexander, Philips, and Lord Theony came up with when it came to carving up thends of the various Tibian nobles was this:
Noble houses who had surrendered to Alexander right after he took the capital lost either no or at most, very little, mostly uselessnd.
Their only real ''fine'' was paying a lump sum of money from their treasury.
Next came the nobles who did not do so but had strong ties to Lord Theony.
Due to that association, they also received the same treatment.
But houses that had tied their knot with Philips and thus the royal family, lost 30% to 70% of theirnd by default, the exact number depending on individual circumstances.
And his nket rule was applied to all, regardless of how big or powerful they were, with the best example being MM''s family.
This oncerge and powerful family had almost overnight lost more than 50% of theirnd and if that did not sound bad enough, the plots that were taken away from them amounted to a staggering 80% of their economic productive centers, meaning they were only left with the bare scraps.
The leftovernds were so bad that Alexander even doubted whether the family would be able to just properly maintain the ce, i,e.- paying the guards and administrator to look after the ce.
Forget about sustaining their huge family''s own, extravagant lifestyle.
It was so bad that Alexander thought there was even the distinct possibility that the family might simply disappear within a few decades, as more and more family members, unable to subsist from theirnds, moved out to seek fortunes elsewhere.
And the reason why Alexander had decided to deal this heavy, mortal blow on this particr family was simple- because he wanted to make an example out of them for supporting Perseus, intending to discourage everyone else from even following in such actions in the future.
MM, one of Perseus''s staunchest supporters, was the perfect candidate for this.
And while the Crown Prince Philips''s heart retched seeing this unfair treatment of his mentor''s family, in order to protect his own family, he did not intervene, signing off on the whole thing.
During this time, the prince also refused to see the new head of MM''s family, MM''s younger brother, despite thetter''s repeated attempts, both due to feeling ashamed and because there was nothing to talk about.
The decision had already been made.
And while their situation was certainly tragic, they were a hundred times better than those in thest category.
For noble houses that ownednd below a certain threshold and were found to be too small and insignificant to have powerful allies to call for help, automatically lost an unbelievable 80% of theirnd in the blink of an eye, in a ssic example of Alexander unscrupulously preying on the weak.
And furthermore, if such houses were then also unlucky to have neither their current lord nor a clear sessor, such as due to them having sadly died in battle recently, then they would be even more unfortunate, as Alexander would have them dered ''dead''.
Meaning they lost their noble title and with it their everything.
All their property and most of their possessions were divided up among the victors, while they were kicked out of their own very houses and demoted to ordinary citizens, or sometimes worse, turned into ves by those victorious nobles moving into their territory.
These ''noble ves'' would be sometimes given respectable positions, like stewards and butlers, and then handed the responsibility of taking caring care of thends they once governed.
The victorious noblemen being presented with all the newnd obviouslycked the depth of knowledge needed to govern it effectively, so relegated the act to the previous owners, wishing to employ them in the service of their new master''s behalf.
But other times, these fallen nobility would be taken as gifts and prizes, as pleasure ves to enjoy with oneself or with others.
And it was not just the Zanzan nobles who partook in such pleasures.
There were even instances of many Tibian nobles participating in this macabre feast, throwing the fact that these people had been once their colleagues out like used tissue paper without a second''s thought, knowing if their positions were reversed, the other side would have done the same, as the men fought for the collection of beautiful men and women.
Alexander too of course had been offered to take part in this division of booty, even being offered the chance at first pick, as Lord Theony had produced a line of gorgeous women before him, one that included every variety that a man could ever need to appease himself.
Large buxom brtes inrge, specially cut V gowns that revealed more than half their splendid mammaries.
Curvy, mature, married women in tight dresses that emphasized their wide hips, oozing fertility.
Chaste and modest women of medium build giving off an aura of purity and bashfulness.
Petite, lith teenagers with budding chests, in the spring of their youth, radiating an air of purity.
Andstly even underaged children who looked at Alexander with limpid innocent eyes full of fear and uncertainty, their underdeveloped bodies shivering at his sight, like he was some kind of monster.
And perhaps he was.
After all, it was him who had dealt them this very cruel fate, if not directly, at least through his hands.
And Alexander was certainly hurt seeing those particrly innocent souls being dealt the cards they were, through no fault of their own.
But although hurt, Alexander would never regret his act.
What was done was done.
There was always coteral damage in any conflict, and unfortunately, these young, innocent girls were one of them.
Alexander could do little but apologize to them in his heart.
In terms of the query of whether Alexander epted any of these offers, the answer was naturally no.
None of the women there caught his fancy, and also the nature of the offering left Alexander with a bad taste in his mouth that made him unwilling to force himself upon them.
It was also a decision influenced subtly by Ophenia and Gelene, who tried to covertly sway Alexander from taking any such mistresses, as they intended to keep the number of their rivals to a bare minimum.
So they worked very hard to keep him ''dry''.
The two also had note to the capital empty handed, but with various toys recreated from the memory of Ophenia''s time at the temple.
And so Alexander was frequently kept distracted with those, in acts so lewd he would describe them as being depraved and immoral beyond most men.
The man even doubted whether the ''cultured'' nobility of the capital Adhan got to enjoy some of the things he did.
And as if just the two of them were not enough, sometimes the girls would even arrange for high level courtesans from the city''s famous brothels toe and help them, all in a bid to keep Alexander satisfied.
And to their credit, this worked.
But while Ophenia and Gelene got their wish, and the captured women also seemingly escaped Alexander''s clutches, it could be argued that that was actually a bad thing for them.
For such a thing did not mean freedom for these imprisoned folks.
Instead, it simply meant that the ownership of their chain went to a much cruler master.
And in a twisted way, many of these women would have actually led a very good life if Alexander had chosen to take them.
But instead, since the man had declined them, now it just meant there was more for the nobles to enjoy, who were certainly not as understanding a master as Alexander.
And for the more beautiful ones, the tragedy was even more stinging.
Because a batch of them was prepared to be sent to Adhan as gifts from Alexander for Ptoloy, where their life would be very ''different''.
Many of them would be trained and made to participate in many of the ''parties'' held there, as extras to entertain the nobility during those events, or be made into pce maids, serving the upper ss and attending to their whims and desires.
Many younger scions of nobility there also had permission from their fathers to have such maids in any way they liked, as they practiced their skills in beds, putting to practice many of the skills they would be taught during theiring into adulthood training by the Ramuh priestesses.
And since these maids would be seen as such free practice materials, it was verymon to see them get abused, even by those masters who were not considered sadistic.
It was just that many of these young people, who were only first getting into sex, simply did not know the dos and don''ts at first.
And their instructors usually did not care to correct them either, letting the boys figure things out through trial and error.
After all, in these priestess''s eyes, who cared if a few, foreign heathen ves that they looked down on with disdain died?
And if this was the general attitude, one could imagine what happened to the women unlucky enough tond in a cruel master''s hand.
Alexander mourned at these turn of tragic events and was till now powerless to stop them.
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Chapter 919 Fate of Defeated Nobles (Part-2)
Chapter 919 Fate of Defeated Nobles (Part-2)
??"Ah, master! Is something the matter?"
As Alexander felt somewhat overwhelmed by the guilt over the fate of those children of nobility, it had a very noticeably adverse effect on his little brother, causing Gelene to cry out in rm.
Therge organ which had been made to so gloriously stand strong and proud just until now under her caress had all of a sudden gone limp and wilted, and Gelene feared what she might have done wrong.
"No. It''s nothing. Just a bit tired." Alexander quickly pulled this ever present excuse at this inquiry, deciding to throw these thoughts to the back of his mind, as the sharp cry worked to snap him out of it and bring his attention to the present.
"You continue." He then quickly asked, as his empty hands began to knead the soft bare ass sitting right on his belly, wishing to use it to distract himself.
And it soon started to work as seeing arge, curvy naked butt sitting so close to his face greatly excited him.
Grabbing therge cheeks with both hands, Alexander began to relish the cushiony feeling of the pillowy, ebony butt pressing down on his stomach, one that possessed aforting warmth and emanated a sweet, lewd scent.
"Ahhh! Master! Yes. Be rougher. Your hands are so strong!" And as Alexander began to squeeze and massage the soft flesh, parting the two globules and again smashing them, the act got a soul stirringly lewd cry from the front, as Gelene felt a void in her wanting soul to be fulfilled.
She had long longed to be caressed like such- roughly, in a bit of way that felt just a little bit painful.
And as proof that she was not simply faking her arousal for the sake of her master, as Alexander grabbed the ck butt and parted the cheeks, baring the beautiful pink, wrinkled hole twitching shyly, the man began to feel that his abs had developed a warmed puddle, as thedy''s warm pink flower pressing down on him now began to produce a stream of lewd nectar, watering Alexander''s flesh in excitement.
"*Pah*, does it excite you to sit on your master?" And feeling it, Alexander then yfully pped the voluminous globules, getting another soul stirring moan, "Ahh! Yes!" as Gelene subconsciously then began to grind herself against him, as if she was using her fluids to mark him as her own, producing a very pleasure sensation for both.
"My clit. Ah! Master''s muscles are scarping against my clit. So good!" The beauty even lewdly cried out this, sounding quite haggard as she lost herself in pleasure, her body trying to get off during Alexander''s body, letting the man feel the warm friction of this youthful flesh.
And if all that was not enough for him, which certainly was, Ophenia decided to also join the fun, not being just satisfied with caressing Alexander in aforting manner like she had been doing.
Thus bending her back a bit forward, she lowered her breasts closer to Alexander''s mouth, and in a motherly tone offered with a jiggle of chest, "Here, master, drink my milk. It will surely help with your tiredness, hehe."
The way thoserge, firm, perky fruits swayed right in front of Alexander was a spectacle to behold and the man naturally opened his mouth to receive the pink buds.
But in a calcted move that clearly proved Ophenia''s experience in such matters, she denied this by not lowering herself close enough to let Alexander have a suck.
Instead, she kept her abundant melons dangling just near the bridge of his nose, just close enough for him to smell the sweet milk slowly dripping out of her, but not enough to get a suckle.
It was tortuous, as Alexander felt his nose be painted with his motherly liquid, but was barred from using it to quench his thirst.
"Hehehe,e on master! Try harder. Hehe," And seeing Alexander''s tongue reach out to the sky but still fail to capture its prey, in a rare moment of whim, Ophenia felt like teasing her master.
And then she pulled her ultimate finishing move, as instructing Alexander,
"Hehehe, here master, say ''ahhhhh''," the girl strongly squeezed both her own mammaries, causing a spray of her warm produce to coat Alexander''s face.
*Splurt*, *Splurt*, *Splurt*,
And this was thest straw for the man, asbined with all the visual stimtion as well as Gelene''s expert pumping of his cock, Alexander let out ropes of his gift onto the ebonydy''s hand.
Following which the duo moved onto various, much more physically intensive activities, such as the instance where Ophenia found herselfying prone on her chest at one point, her ass high up into the air as she was pounded good and hard, a thick thumb firmly embedded in her puckered hole while Gelene yed with her clit piercing.
Or when Gelene was taken in missionary but her mouth was filled with Ophenia''s flower, one overflowing with Alexander''s gift.
Or when then the two women were put on top of each other, their legs spread wide open, thus letting Alexander freely use whichever flower he desired.
*Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*,
In this way, the sound of such flesh mating against flesh reverberated across the dimply lit room for hours, as the trio desperately devoured each other.
"Master, when are we going to leave for Zanzan? Fall is already here. If we wait too long, won''t we be toote for the celebrations?" Finally finished with their fun, as the duoy on either side of Alexander''s broad shoulders, it was Ophenia who raised this concern, her dainty finger dreamily running across Alexander''s muscr chest.
Yes, September was already here, and the spring harvest had already begun, but much to Alexander''s annoyance, many of the nobles were yet toplete their slow trudge to the capital.
And the reason for this wasrgely the same as thest time he had called them up.
The sheer distance of the travel expounded by the poor roadwork, difficulty in timely informing them of the event, and a general dragging of the feet by some as they faced internal shes of ideology among themselves, with various factions debating what to do, whether to obey Alexander or die rebelling.
All of which waspounded by a series of bad weather spells as Tibias was hit with a series of severe rainfalls during thesest two months, where the skies wept continuously for days and the winds howled menacingly at night continuously.
In fact, there was a light drizzle of rain going on even currently as Alexandery on his bed, and he suspected the weather to only get heavier once the night grew older.
And it was because of thisst reason that he had no recourse to punish the nobles and could do little more than purse his lips and wait.
However, externally, he tried to be much more optimistic, replying to Ophenia in a confident tone,
"Don''t worry, They should be getting here soon. And we can wrap things quickly once they are." "Since they werete, theirnds have already been divvied up. So now only the swearing ceremony remains."
"We will be in Zanzan before winter."
The strong reply got Ophenia to produce aforting nod.
Which then gave the girl on the other side to produce her own inquiry, "Oh, master! Did you decide to think of what to do with those captured nobles? The ones that you were talking about the other day."
Here Gelene was referring to the nobles who had broken and ran during thest pitched battle with Perseus, the ones Alexander had put under house arrest due to treachery and ipetence.
Yes, those guys were still waiting to be dealt it as Alexander had not been able to make adequate time in the prior days due to all the other stuff.
And due to the long passing of time, as well as the fact that Alexander had already won, it proved difficult for him to punish these men now.
Because much of the Tibian nobility was against it, reasoning there was nosting damage done.
And such a mindset was even reflected in those captured, as Alexander clearly noticed that whereas before they would at least be a little afraid of seeing Alexander, now they seemed very rxed, even freely taking part in the slicing of the spoils.
It was like they had alreadye to the conclusion that Alexander would not touch them.
Seeing such a thing left a very bad taste in Alexander''s mouth because he knew if he were to let this slide, it would set a very bad precedent.
Nobles would think they could desert the battlefield with little consequences as long as they stuck to each other.
However, tantly ignoring such a loud chorus from powerful people and punishing the men arbitrarily on his own was also not a prudent decision.
So this was the answer he came up with, as he informed Gelene,
"The nobles do not want to see this. So I decided to let them go¡. For now!"
"I will never let them ever hold any significant power and Camius will keep an eye on them for anything illegal they do. Then I will have the excuse to punish them for both crimes"
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Chapter 920 The Armys Hidden Danger
Chapter 920 The Army''s Hidden Danger
??Regarding these nobles who had decided to abandon Alexander in the middle of the fight and cost him that battle,Alexander naturally wanted to make them grievously pay.
But when his preferred kind of punishment proved too unpopr, Alexander at first decided to make them give up somend ande with him to Zanzan as hostages.
But after thinking for a bit, thought better of it.
Rather than punishing them with a token gesture, Alexander thought he would get back on them after things had cooled down.
After all, revenge was a dish best served cold.
Towards Alexander''s decision to wait for a more opportune moment to strike at the nobles, Gelene and Ophenia made noment, but only lightly nodded, letting their master do what he thought best, as the trio drifted off to slumber.
Theing morning Alexander would be greeted not with a dull, overcast sky, forecasting the arrival of another bout of torrential rain, but a bright, sunny dawn- devoid of a single cloud in sight, thus promising the start of a glorious day.
And then to make things even better, he would be informedter in that day thest batch of nobles scheduled to arrive had been atst spotted, and was expected to reach the ce within a day to two.
This set the servants in the pce into a frenzy, as Alexander quickly ordered the preparation for the swearing ceremony, and they had all hands on deck getting ready to host the mighty banquet.
While simultaneously, Alexander''s army, which had been camping outside the capital''s walls for thest nearly three months, also started to mobilize, as they were ordered to start to prepare to move out and return home.
And this order was actually received with great enthusiasm among some of the men, with the mostmon response that was recited among them being,
"Finally! I can return home to tend to my fields. By now it has most probably turned into a weed filled jungle! *Sigh*, hopefully, I will be able to get it ready for the spring harvest."
Contrary to what one might expect, the announcement actually brought more of a relief than actual delight one would think the men would have at returning home victorious with such abundant booty.
But the reason for this much more muted response was because most of Alexander''s men, as much as 30,000, were newly raised peasant levies, whose primary profession was farming.
And given that they had started their march in April ofst year, and it was now approaching October of the next year, it meant their fields had been left unattended for one and a half to even two years for some if one also took into ount the time Alexander used to actually gather them in the first ce.
And two years with no oversight or care would turn any farnd into literally a grassy field, no different from the undergrowth of a jungle, with some variety of weeds and shrubs even growing bigger than an adult man by this point.
One had to see it to believe just how quickly goodnd could be overrun by these invasive species.
And it was this grave worry about the current state of their farnd that overshadowed even their joy of the ''harvest'' of abundant booty.
After all, although the spoils of the battle had been good, as a matter of fact very good, enough tost each man and his family more than a yearfortably, but that was still nowhere enough to quit everything and retire.
So they could not just give up farming.
This ''going to war for loot'' was only a temporary thing, a side hustle for these men, while tending to thends was their primary profession.
Furthermore, there were even men who loved to farm and thus were starting to feel the ever increasing alluring call of mother nature.
Thus- eager to return, relieved, and worried a lot about their field and all the work that will take to get them going again.
This was the reaction produced by Alexander''s order by thergest group in the army.
While a secondary group was much more optimistic, cheering as such,
"Hurrah! With all this loot those debtors will no longer hound father!"
"Fuck yeah! Home atst! Haha, I wonder what all those troublesome brats have been up to."
"Ahhh! I miss my wife and child so much! It''s been almost two years. I wonder how big that little brat has be, "
"Praise the Pasha. With all the spoils, I will finally be able to marry Diaanu."
"When I return I will buy a house! Hehe! And fix that leaking roof. That way, my old man can move into that one. Atst, I can properly take care of him"
The men expressing these kinds of sentiments were usually married and had families or held strong familial ties, who too were tired of Alexander''s nearly two year long campaign, and thus cheered jubntly at the thought of being able to enjoy their hard fought rewards with friends and family.
And although Alexander did not pay much attention to these groups, their reactions should have been very concerning to him.
Because it clearly revealed a deep w in the levy system.
Which was that it was a fine system for defensive purposes, to push an invading army back.
But if such a force, created using forced conscription was to be used in an offensive way to go out and conquer newnd, they could not exist for long and tended to flutter out just after a month or two.
This was because the men really could not leave their farms for long since that would mean starvation for their families.
Such would not be too big a problem during an enemy invasion as the opponent would burn viges and ruin farnds anyway, driving refugees from the countryside towards city centers, thus producing the perfect fodder for an army.
But if Alexander wanted to go conquer othernds, he would need a professional army.
Tibias was an exception because it was rtively close to his core territory, and even then he had had to make special arrangements for the men to have their loot sent via special couriers to their viges, thus reassuring them that their family would not starve.
It would be impossible for Alexander to do this every time even if he wanted to.
Nor can be promise there will be so much abundant loot in every campaign.
This was the exact challenges faced by the early Roman Republic and the reason it changed from a conscription based army, where the men were only paid for the time they served in the army,to a fully professional, all year around one.
And then further decreed no soldier could marry until retirement- to prevent exactly the type of cheersing from the second group.
They had learned well from the dilemma Alexander the Great had faced after his conquest of modern day Afghanistan, where his 15:12
soldiers, tired and longing for home, threatened to mutiny if they were Directly support the authors on WebNovel!
not allowed to return to their families.
And Alexander needed to solve these problems too.
faced after his conquest of modern day Afghanistan, where his soldiers, tired and longing for home, threatened to mutiny if they were But at least there was a silver lining to his concern, as shown by thest group, one that seemed to work to bnce the other two.
This group, was the smallest of the bunch andposed of mainly bachelors and hot blooded youths, actually pouted and groaned a bit at this news from the top,
"Ah man! I was starting to enjoy myself here."
''Yeah. No work but two free meals a day! Who would not like that?"
"Right! And even better you can sleep with all whores you can get! Ahhh! Yna, sweetie. Your golden locks, your cute breasts, your smooth oiled pussy, I will miss all of it."
"Nice song *tsk*! You talking about that blonde from the east side of the city? I heard she''s good. I could not get across the line. What a pity!"
"Then you should try the red haired twins from this brothel I went to. Let''s go tonight¡ before we have to leave!"
"Or maybe you cane with me with this gambling den. You can bet as much as you want there! Who knows, if you win, maybe you will actually be able to take something back to your home, hehe!"
"Bah! What use is taking my money going to be? The moment I ce my foot in the door, my old man is only going to beat all of it out of me and spend it on booze right away! If I''m going to lose it anyway, let me lose it for myself."
"Haha, nice."
"Can''t believe those fools on that side are cheering to go back. They really do not know what''s good for them. Idiots!"
"Here! Here! Said well, brother! Who would want to work on the farm all day long? Tolling away in like some mulee sun,e rain¡ arghhh! I much prefer to kill and take that money, hehehe!" Theugh was menacing and bloodthirsty, as it seemed the taste of blood and guts had awakened something in this one.
It was such types of words and sentiments that permeated this particr group, clearly showing why they were reluctant to leave.
To them, this is what paradise looked like! Paradise on earth!"
They had no work.
And only drinking, gambling, and whoring to one''s heart''s content.
All paid for by the blood and spoils of the conquered people.
It was magnificent!
Who would want to leave?
Chapter 921 Parthenigh in the Last Two Months
Chapter 921 Parthenigh in the Last Two Months
??Alexander''s order that the army was soon going to start marching for Zanzan and then be disbanded upon reaching the city, caused another group to weep- all the nearby shopkeepers, the tavern owners, the merchants, the peddlers, and most of all, the prostitutes who had catering to every whim and desire of these nearly 40,000 men.
These ''service'' providers were not only residents of the capital Parthenigh, but also the camp followers who had been following Alexander tillst year.
And due to Alexander''s grace, they were able to make money hand over fist during this time.
But what was this grace you ask?
Well, upon entering the capital, the very first thing that Alexander had done was reinforce the city watch there, disbanding most of the existing officers and recing them with his own trusted men, and then bolstering the guard with more of his men from the army.
He did this to gain control of the city, to obtain a tool to carry out his will, through which he would be able to bring order and the rule ofw to the city.
To do this, Alexander first and foremost dered that anyone who refused to pay for goods purchased or forcibly purchased them at a discount would be whipped twenty times in public and then have all his personal property seized.
This was of course primarily directed towards the camped soldiers, who were famously known to frequently shoplift, simply taking whatever they fancied from the store or eating a meal without paying a dime.
This was targeted to stop them.
And if Alexander had not been clear enough with only this, the man also made the following promation for the slower ones,
"The citizens of Parthenigh are now my citizens. Anyone, regardless of who that identity may be, found imposing an unjust burden on them will be punished, and punished harshly."
And following the next few days after the decree was issued, quite a few such miscreants were indeed caught viting thew, and they then found much of their horror that they were indeed being punished ordingly.
They did not think Alexander was being serious, that the city guards would dare to touch them- the military!
But this was exactly another reason why Alexander reced the city guards with legionnaires, to show the unruly grunts that the people they were facing were not soft, town militia, but people of simr, if not higher rank than them.
Thus they were whipped publicly in front of their very camp, their backs turning a river of bloody red by the end, as the cruel, barbed whip yed the skin with every touch, eliciting pained almost tearful groans from the men.
And if this demonstration was not enough, there were even three drunks who had not only refused to pay, but attacked an innkeeper for even daring to ask such a thing, as they killed him, before viting his wife, and then setting fire to the whole ce.
These scoundrels were first whipped a hundred times, with two of them simply dying from this, before they were hung once again, their naked corpses left swinging in the breeze right in front of the camp''s main gate as a nice decorative piece, as well as a grim remind everyone to mind their manners.
And after that particr demonstration, every one else straightened their spine and started to pay for their stuff just as they were asked, much to the delight of shopkeepers everywhere.
Sure, there was even still some unscrupulous backhanded haggling by the truly reckless, but that was more of an exception rather than an example.
This move brought a great grin to both merchants and citizens alike, as for the former, it finally meant they could start profiting from this booming business, while for thetter it meant they troublemakers would not causemotion anymore.
All of whichtedAlexander quite a bit of favorability points with the local popce, who began to see their new conqueror in a new light.
Even Crown Prince Philips was impressed by the way Alexander handled the thing so quickly and efficiently, muttering to himself in a half impressed tone,
"No wonder Zanzan got so powerful almost overnight. There were indeed his skillful hands behind it. Very skillful full indeed."
Philips did not think even someone as experienced as him in governance might have been able to do any better.
And seeing this the prince did not know whether he should be d over having gained apetent new overlord, orment since the presence of such an individual meant any thoughts of rebellions would be very hard to foment.
"*Sigh*" And in the end, he could only shake his head ruefully.
Due to Alexander''s strict enforcement, thest two to three months had been nothing but almost like a dream for the merchants of the city, letting them earn money hand over fist like Christmas had married Valentine''s Day.
The men and women there made more money in this short time than they would have made, not in one but two and even three years for some lucky bastards.
And this was really not that surprising given that there sat idle 40,000 hot blooded men right in front of their doorsteps, having just won the war, with purses overflowing with looted coins and nothing better else to spend it on.
So what else were they going to do other than enjoy themselves using their newfound wealth after their great triumph?
They drank every drop of wine the taverns could produce, ate the best meals the city had to offer, and gambled away entire monthly wages in a single throw of the dice like it was nothing.
But the greatest recipient of this love were of course the prostitutes, who by now were beginning to feel they were swimming in cock.
Cock for breakfast, cock for lunch, and cock for dinner.
The demand for them was so high that other than sleeping and eating, most of these working girls only saw only one thing during their waking hours- cocks and more cocks, cocks of every kind, shape, color, and smell imaginable, and then be dyed in the entirety of its stored turbid fluids.
And while they walked the streets, their profession was clear for anyone, for most walked bowl legged with unsteady steps, courtesy of all the constant pounding no doubt.
But despite the hardbor and long hours, it was still honest work, and the money was more than enough to drive away their fatigue.
Many even felt they had managed to save up enough money to retire after this, setting the girl''s heart aflutter.
But the same could not be said for the shopkeepers, who despite their best efforts were unable to keep up with the ever increasing demand, failing to raise production in such a short time.
Sure, some had started set up brand new distilleries but those would take a while toe to life.
After all, you could not exactly speed up the fermentation, not at least by any drastic amount.
Meaning soon after Alexander made camp, wines and booze began to run dry as tavern owners had to scrape the bottom of the barrels, while food items like eggs and meat such as chicken, beef, mutton,mb, and most specifically venison began to disappear off the shelf so quickly that one might think a swarm of locust had snatched them away.
And faced with this shortage, what did the merchants do?
Of course, they did not just obediently sell their stock, and close their shops once they ran out.
That would have run antithetical to their being.
Instead, lured by the huge profits, and afraid that they were going to lose out on such much sale,these men started to employ various unscrupulous means to artificially increase their stock.
This act ranged from the rtively harmless, such as diluting their drinks with water, to eyebrow raising like mixing sawdust and even mud into bread, to disgusting like mixing the meat of rodents and pets into dishes, to the vilest of them all, serving items with animal droppings in them.
There was really nothing these men would not do for one extra coin.
And many even got caught by the magistrates during this endeavor, even red handed right in the middle of the act, before being promptly hanged as punishment.
But even still, the practice continued.
Because while Alexander''s previous example worked to deter ignoble men, this time, the shine of the coin proved too bright.
Not even the fear of death was enough to deter most from this path, for the sheer amount of money out there proved toorge to ignore.
And even on the opposite side of the spectrum, the soldiers, even knowing the merchants were swindling them refused to curb their, such insatiable was their thirst.
And as it could be guessed, such circumstances of scarcity caused hyper intion to rise in the city, as the soldiers, who were now much wealthier than the native citizens drove up prices of everydaymodities sky high and then beyond the atmosphere, rming the people in the royal pce.
The situation was finally brought back to normal with Philips''s intervention, as the Crown Prince set firm price limits on everyday essentials and instituted a form of rationing.
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Chapter 922 Parthenigh in the Last Two Months (Part-2)
Chapter 922 Parthenigh in the Last Two Months (Part-2)
??Before Philips was forced to step in to try and stop intion, for a time, the price hikes had gotten so bad that it gave rise to various strange phenomena that needed to be seen to be believed.
For instance, there were examples of soldiers, with pockets bulging with copious amounts of money and heads full of ''copious little''mon sense, starting to openly host informal auctions for various goods sold in taverns and brothels.
Example- if one group ordered a good meal, and another new arrival came to find there was none left for them, they might shout to the restaurant owner,
"Hey, boss! Give the order to us instead. We will pay you 2 ropals extra!"
But such a thing would be like opening Pandora''s box.
Not only would the offering group get their desired result, instead, even before the shopkeeper would be able to respond, a third party would shout,
"No! We will pay 5 ropals!"
And then another, "Here, we will take it for 10!"
"For us, it will be 12 ropals!"
And so on.
Due to Alexander decreeing both the local libra and the Adhanian ropal as legal tender, and the exchange rate being set at a convenient 1:2, i.e.- 2 libras for 1 ropal, the soldiers were very conveniently able to use whichever type of coin they had on hand.
But this convenience only worked to help them burn their money ever faster, and thennd them in great trouble.
For most of these ''auctions'' did not end up with the highest bidder getting to happily eat his meal, but with some hot head losing it, and bringing the whole thing crashing down.
There would always be that one group, frustrated by being outbid and angry over theck of food, who would decide that the ''thing'' belonged to the one with the biggest muscle.
"You motherfu****s! We came here first. *Bang!*"
"You dare hit us. *Smash!*"
"Argghh! *Bang*!"
Thus would be the start of a tavern brawl.
Which would only stop with the intervention by the guards, who would beat some sense into them, before escorting them back to their camp to be caned and then fined for the damages.
And such instances were not one offs either, neither were they only restricted to the taverns.
Whichever ce you wanted- Inns, brothels, and even the marketce saw these types of fights, with the men scruffling over items as mundane as a freshly caught fish.
It was this rapid deterioration of the public order that had first rmed the pce and caused Philips to react, swiftly and very decisively.
The Crown Prince, in order to bring order back to the city as well as put a leash on the running away economy, first of all, asked Alexander to order a limit on the number of soldiers that can be outside their camp at any one time, reasoning that such thing will decrease the total amount of avable customers at any one time as well as the total number of troublemakers.
And knowing the perils the city was facing, the Pasha was more than happy to issue the order,and soon it became that no more than 10,000 men, or two legions would be allowed outside the camp at any one time, based on a rotation system.
In addition to imposing this restriction, Philips then also put a price cap on the essentials like grain, salt, and several types of vegetables to ease the burden on the popce, and also opened up many emergency distributaries across various parts of the city where the poor were given limited amount of free rations.
The prince further banned the wholesale of certain goods andmodities to try and prevent the formation of a ck market, andstly, with Alexander''s permission, he managed to get his hands on some of the excess supplies the army had already stored in its granaries, thus increasing the supply of goods in the market and alleviating the pressures on the intion.
The swiftness with which Philips managed to put a halt on the running away intion in the capital really went on to show his experience in governance.
And Alexander, who decided to sit this one out to see how the Crown Prince handled things, was perfectly satisfied by the produced results, his mind at ease with leaving the man at the helm of the city.
Another party whose mind was at ease with leaving this city, and perhaps the entire war was a party that almost no one thought about.
It was a party inside the army, one that numbered perhaps only in the couple of hundred,
At Alexander''s announcement, this group could be heard murmuring meekly in relief to themselves:
"Finally, We will not have to fight anymore! Aghhhh! All those screams. All those men! All those limbs! All those guts! All those blood!"
"Ugghhh! I see them! I see them now! I see them all the time! Help me!"
Such and many more pained voices rang out inside them, as they could not wait to leave this bloody battlefield behind.
Yes, as you might have guessed, a small part of the fighting men had developed PTSD from seeing all the cruel, gruesome fights and longed to retreat from the battlefield.
And who could me them?
Combat in ancient warfare was primal and visceral and extremely brutal on the individual psyche.
It made one get close enough to smell the other side, let one see the whites of another man''s eyes, and stare into his soul that was as much scared and afraid as one own self.
And then vividly feel the moment one killed him, the sensation of the sword first piercing the armor, then prying the skin, then stabbing through the flesh, andstly cutting through the bone, as horrific, guttural sounds assaulted one''s ears.
The rusty smell of freshly spilled blood stung one''s nose, and the ghastly, pale look of a man coughing up blood while looking at you with a burning hatred enough to freeze all nine hells was etched into one''s memory forever, a memory that would frequently surface in many''s dreams and nightmares as soon as one closed his eyes.
Such experiences drove even strong men to their edge while weaker and less mentally resilient men were driven close to insanity.
For most men were not born to be killers.
Most men did not want to kill anyone, not even those who wanted to harm them.
And so it took a lot of poking and prodding to convince them to go against their natural wishes.
And sometimes this poking and prodding left a few permanently crippled, not visibly perhaps, but mentally.
Alexander himself had even seen first hand examples of such.
One time, when he was still in Nestoras''s mercenary group, he remembered being hired to protect a small town.
And while they were on their way, the townsfolk mistook them for the attackers and started to panic.
Among these panicking men was a veteran soldier who had served in multiple campaigns for Alexander''s employer.
When he heard that the town was going to be attacked, instead of taking up his sword to try and fight off the invader, the man was so scarred by the past experiences of his previous campaigns that he immediately bolted himself inside his house, and then set fire to himself, letting the mes take him as well as all his possessions.
Such were the horrific scars, invisible to everyone but oneself, that an ancient battlefield could inflict on one.
And worse yet, most men could not talk about it.
Because revealing that as a man you were scared or that you had bad nightmares could cause all of one''s peers tough at him for being wimpy.
From a social point of view, this would be suicide.
Most also did not even know they needed to talk about it.
Because they did not even know this was actually a disease that needed treatment.
Instead, unable to rationalize it, they woulde up with various supernatural reasons, such as being cursed, possessed by the enemy, charmed, or any other number of wild imaginations.
Which would then lead them to seek ''treatment'' in a number of creative ways.
Such as going to an exorcist to have the ''ghost'' beaten out of one with a broom, sleeping under arge, tree at night believed to possess holy powers to banish the ghost, being submerged in ice cold water right at the crack of dawn or being ced on a burning pyre to drive the ghost out by using extreme temperatures.
None of this ever worked of course, and if the men did ovee their PTSDs, it was actually due to the mind recovering by itself.
But although useless on their own, these rituals did have a cebo effect on the men, who went to bed reassured that they had ''taken their medicine'' to cure them, which helped many to recover from their mental scars.
Which was both a boon, as many were indeed cured thought this when otherwise they would not have, but also a curse, because due to this a proper treatment was never conceived.
If you recovered, you were strong enough to win against the ghost.
But if you died during some of these more extreme rituals, well tough luck.
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Chapter 923 Noble Swearing Ceremony
Chapter 923 Noble Swearing Ceremony
??Although Alexander was aware of the scars the battlefield left on some of the men, for the time being,
he at the time had no intention of addressing it.
Mostly because there was nothing to address.
Even the people ''infected'' did not think this was a disease.
But there was also the added reason that such an endeavor would drain a lot of his resources.
An agrarian society could never foot such exorbitant costs, especially at a mass scale.
And if knowledge of such effects became widespread, Alexander also feared it would hurt the recruitment efforts.
And thus Alexander decided to put a lid on it, along with all the social problems that came with it, such as the instance of soldiers on average being more abusive towards their families and having drunken fits of rage.
Instead, Alexander atst turned his focus to the swearing ceremony that he had been oh so eagerly waiting for, whichmenced right as evening dawned on thest week of September.
The venue selected for the event was the huge, spacious royal courtroom, with its immense high walls, domed, painted ceilings, and enormous arched window set at the very top to allow as much light and air in during the day.
The room,rge enough tofortably host a thousand men and women was decorated resplendently, with thick blue and golden carpets matching the blood red curtains draped over the marble pirs,
The standards of various homes hung proudly from the arched windows, with the biggest and most prominent one being of course Alexander''s- green g with a blue flower in the center.
Illuminating the whole ce were huge candle chandeliers that hung from the ceiling like crystalline fruits, while at one end of the hall, a roaring fire crackled in the hearth, casting a warm, flickering glow over the assembled guests.
With the advent of fall, the nights were getting slightly chilly, so this arrangement produced a very cozy feeling.
As for the people for which this ''cozy'' feeling was constructed, they attended the ce with seemingly great enthusiasm, huge grins, and cheerfulughter emanating from them.
If these men were in any way salty about Alexander seizing a lot of theirnd and screwing them over, they were at least outwardly not showing.
Instead, dressed in their best attire, the nobles and high-ranking officials all smiled and socialized, mingling with the lively tunes being yed on the lutes, harps, and drums by the hired performers.
All the men tonight wore a type of doublet, a type of full sleeved jacket with many frills around the cuffs, and intricate embroidery of gold and silver around the chest, pairing them with tapered trousers made from wool and decorating themselves with jeweled brooches embedded with expensive jewels around the chest as was the fashion of the time,
Many also wore expensive jeweled rings, and some even donned a hat adorned with feathers and stones.
While their better halves, the women, graced the halls with even more opulent garbs, long, gorgeous gowns, and skirts made from sumptuous fabrics like satin, brocade, or high quality linen, dyed in vibrant colors of red, blue, green, and gold, all adorned with borate embroidery and beading, many of which the gorgeousdies created themselves.
Their hair, unlike the men''s, was allowed to flow freely, and styled in intricate braids of various styles, darlingly adorned with colorful ribbons and jeweled hairpins of various shapes.
All of which was topped off with luxuriant nes, earrings, rings, and bracelets of various shapes made of gold, silver, and gemstone.
Under the bright chandelier light, Alexander found it was the women who seemed to glow the most, the radiance of the candlelight reflecting off the many shiny stones and baubles they covered their dresses with.
The man of the hour himself was sitting on the throne once reserved solely for Perseus, from which he oversaw the whole affair, asionally receiving greetings from the attending nobles and exchanging a few polite words with them.
While Lord Theony and Crown Prince Philips stood close helping Alexander inform who was who.
The party proceeded as such for a few hours, as Alexander let the crowd gather and the night darken before he proceeded to the swearing ceremony as was the custom of thends.
So for the current while, Alexander simply observed his subjects, with his eyes particrly catching a detail of the Tibian Queen as she passed close by him.
Philips''s mother looked particrly pale today.
Don''t get me wrong, thedy was still stunning as ever, dressed in a luxurious golden gown that had numerous small silver chains sewn into it, with sparkling diamonds attached to its tail, making the royal woman almost glow.
Even in her mid forties, an age that was basically considered old in this time period, she looked extremely attractive, appearing closer to thirty,and everywhere she went, heads of men and women would turn to gaze at her with awe and longing, even managing to steal the thunder from many, much younger women.
Seeing her, even now Alexander felt a bit bitter that he skipped bedding this regal, proud beauty just because of his morals.
But much more than regret, Alexander noticed that today, this legal and proud woman''s most attractive features, her plump, rosy cheeks seemed to have sunk and lost all their crimson luster, appearing pale with a tinge of blue, making its owner look like a mournful pale elf.
It was as if something was deeply troubling me.
But Alexander could not get more than that.
For too many troubling things had indeed happened to her in thest few months- such as losing the entire war, her sons, and most personally concerning, her husband is still unconscious.
Thus Alexander left this ''half widow'' be.
Instead, his eyes wandered to the two people she was talking to Menes, and standing close to his shoulder in height, quite a tall, very beautiful, curvy, mousy-haireddy.
Alexander had no problem recognizing her, for it was him who had set up their meet.
This was none other than the general''s main wife- the fifth princess Amelia.
Dressed very simrly to her mother, Alexander found the sixteen year old to strongly match her parent, equally shapely and beautiful, she right now appeared quite jovial with her ''fiance'', her arms tightly locked with the tall, ck man dressed in red and gold ceremonial armor.
The pair possessed arge smile on either face and appeared to be exchanging social greetings with the Queen.
And as Alexander perked up his ears a bit, he imagined even hearing the princess ask- ''Mother, where is Camellia?''
And this inquiry jolted something in Alexander, as he also recalled he was supposed to take a concubine from here- the youngest princess, Camellia.
He had been so busy with worktely that he hadpletely forgotten to even formally meet her, and could not even properly recall her face.
''Where is she?'' Thus not remembering seeing her, Alexander turned his head a few times inquisitively to scan the crowd for the fourteen year old.
But she was nowhere to be found.
And Alexander was just about to ask Philips about it, when he got suddenly distracted by his nose waking up to the tantalizing aroma of baked bread and roasted meats, which the kitchen staff were starting to bring from the kitchen, piping hot out of the kitchen to serve for dinner.
Thus soon the air began to be filled with the fragrant scent of herbs and spices, and the decadent perfume of sweet wines as the guests started to slowly asionally nibble at the buffet style course.
But before everyone would settle in for their meal, they still had onest thing to do and to remind them of that, Alexander stood up from this throne and addressed,
"My lords anddies, thank you foring all the way to attend this party at such short notice. You have my thanks."
"But before we break bread and drink to each other''s health, I believe we have some custom toplete."
"Please step forward you who are willing."
The illusion of choice created by the phrase ''who are willing'' was of course just vor text.
None had any other choice but to bend the knee.
"I will go first," And the very first to volunteer was the Crown Prince- Philips.
Because remember, he had not yet sworn fealty to Alexander, at least officially.
Thus the immactely dressed man quickly kneeled on one knee and took the oath.
"Do you, Philips of Pathenigh, swear your undying loyalty and fealty to me, the Pasha of Zanzan?"
"I swear!"
"Do you swear by the same words to carry out my deed and decree as I order?"
"I swear!"
"Do you swear never to harbor any thoughts of rebellion or treachery against me and my rule?"
"I swear!"
"Then, I, Alexander, Pasha of Zanzan, by the powers vested in me by Goddess Gaia and the ancestral spirits of thend, appoint you as my trusted retainer, gifting you the title of Warden of Northern Tibias. May we rule Tibias for a thousand years!"
"May we rule Tibias together for a thousand years! Praise be to the Pasha. Praise be to Zanzan. Praise be to Tibias."
It was like this Alexander started to make everyone swear, including Lord Theony, who took the oath again, and also received the Title Warden of Southern Tibias.
But it was amidst this jovial atmosphere that someone intruded into the party, someone whose appearance instantly made Alexander understand by the Queen had appeared so pale.
It was because of her.
Chapter 924 Alexander’s Consort- Camelia
Chapter 924 Alexander''s Consort- Camelia
?*Creak*.... Bang!
As Alexander was in the midst of swearing all the Tibian nobles in, suddenly the huge heavy main doors of the royal court swung open with a forceful push and through it hurriedly entered a lith, petite figure with swift steps, dressed in regal, party attire.
Her abrupt appearance instantly caused many heads to turn and curious looks to dawn, as the court''s attention was momentarily whisked away with the desire who this intruder was.
Because no one was supposed to be thiste.
And no one was certainly supposed to intrude on Alexander while he was swearing the nobles in.
Thus even Alexander was curious to know the identity of the interloper.
He did not have to wait too long to figure it out either, as the figure covered the long aisle distance in the blink of an eye, before getting close enough for Alexander to properly see.
Thedy, or perhaps more appropriately girl in front of Alexander, appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen, dressed luxuriously from head to toe in a blue and silver gown, with matching sapphire nes, bangles, and earrings.
Possessing a slender, nimble figure housed in a short stature, her round face still had a bit of baby fat, right around her cheeks and her body radiated a youthfulness aroma.
This was the sixth and youngest princess of Tibias- Camelia, and fated to be Alexander''s mistress.
And once she was close enough, the young girl greeted Alexander with a graceful bow,
"Your Lordship, I''m terribly sorry for the dy. I was feeling a bit tired and overslept. Apologies!"
However, in much contrast to the words she addressed towards Alexander, her tone was actually light and jovial.
If she was truly sorry, she was not showing it.
But that was not the reason why everyone was looking at her right now.
At least not with those kinds of curious eyes.
Instead, by now most of those gazes had turned from inquisitive to shocked and even horrified, with many crying out in stunned astonishment,
"*Hisss* Has she gone insane? Humiliating the pasha like that! What has happened to the royal family?"
"Tsk! Right! It really has down the drain. A family that can''t even control its own daughters! No wonder they lost the war!"
"Stupid girl! What does she mean to aplish with this?"
"*Sigh*, I always told Queen Parthia spoiled this girl too much."
"Abomination! Absolute Abomination."
"Filth! Utter filth!"
Such and many simr hushed whispers of curses and cusses started to waft through the air the moment everyone got to get a good look at the princess, and the reason was surprisingly mundane.
It was because the girl had appeared here with her hair cut short!
And being one of the closest people to her, Alexander got to get one of the best looks at this new hairstyle.
The chestnut mane of the girl now only covered up to her ear, with there being various patches of hair of variant lengths, the hair ends appearing quite uneven, clearing showing the cut had been done quite haphazardly by an amateur, possibly in a fit of rage or frustration.
But why was this seemingly innocuous fashion getting such a huge and negative reaction from the court?
Well, it was because of the culture of thends.
It was not only frowned upon but perhaps even a grave taboo for ady to cut her hair short.
Women with short hair were seen as unsightly and even believed to be actually cursed witches and hags who stole and ate children at night.
Thus there was even a punishment in Tibias for female ves and criminals who had their hair cut short.
Due to this, no respectable woman would ever be caught sporting hair anything less than that crossed her shoulders, and instead tried to keep as long a hair as possible.
Because the longer hair a woman possessed, the more attractive she was deemed by society.
For example, remember how Lady Felicia''s raven hair covered the entirety of her back, while Fabiyana, who was yet a child, still had hair reaching her knees.
The mother daughter duo did this because Tibias was a country that expected its women to dress in a certain way.
And thus even if one experienced hair fall, like some older women did due to some disease, they would always wear a scarf to cover it.
But by not following that and cutting her hair like that, it was apparent to everyone that the sixth princess- Camelia, wished to humiliate herself- showing herself as disobedient, unruly, and even cursed.
Which would not only disgrace her family but also her master- Alexander.
Because remember, in this time period, women were considered the property of their husbands- ves.
And whatever a ve did, it perfectly reflected on her master.
"You scoundrel! You dare *p*... humiliate our family like that!" Towards this disy of utter defiance, the very first to react was none other than Philips- the princess''s eldest brother, as he almost pounced from the back of Alexander''s throne to the front of the girl in a single step and with this manic roar, instantly sent a p so strong that it made the girl reel in shock.
And behind this rage was actually fear.
Fear for his life.
Fear for his family''s life.
Even fear for this sister of his life.
Because after being so openly humiliated like this, in front all the court, Philips feared what Alexander might do to his sister.
After all, she was his property.
It was because of this Philips did not hold back anything in this strike, twisting his body and swinging down his right arm in a full arc, with such speed that it was like he wished to snap that head from the spine with this single hit.
All to try and produce the excuse that he had already punished the girl and there was no need for Alexander to step in.
*Thud!*
Amongst the backdrop of the pin drop silence of the royal court, the crisp hit was dreadfully clear, and the young woman, half the size and weight of her brother, instantly fell to the ground from the impact, a clear impression of fourrge, thick fingers developing on her fair cheek, as she then started to spew spits of blood.
But if you thought that that was going to make Camelia regret her decision, then you would be sorely wrong.
Because instead of pleading for help or apologizing, Alexander keenly noticed the young princess''s thin, bloodied lips actually curved into a triumphant smile.
It was like she wanted this.
To be beaten and humiliated in front of the whole court.
Because if she was to be humiliated, it meant her master, Alexander was also humiliated.
And since Alexander could detect this smile from all the way back there, could how Philips, who was so much closer to her miss it?
It was a sight that incensed the usually cool tempered man to heights few had ever seen, as Philips cursed his stupid sister for wasting all his goodwill.
''Father really has spoilt her rotten!''
And thus could not help but raise his hands again, intending to truly knock her consciousness this time, as he roared, "You ungrateful wretch! You wish to ruin us¡."
"That''s enough Philips! Step back!" However Philips never got to carry out his strategy, as right when he was about to start Round 2, this cool, clearmand rang right behind his ear.
Alexander had decided to intervene!
And it was a thought that terrified Philips, fearing that if the girl were tond in that man''s palm, her fate could be very miserable.
Thus like a switch had been flipped, Philips''s anger suddenly disappeared like darkness disappears upon touching light, and got reced by fear and pleading, as the man kneeled and groveled in a pitched voice,
"Esteemed Pasha. My sister is dumb and stupid. I beg you not to be offended. We will punish her appropriately in our family court. And we will surely adequatelypensate you for this incident."
The man seemed on the verge of crying.
Despite all this, it was very apparent he loved his sister very much.
"Hahaha, Philips you are thinking about this all wrong. I''m not offended."
However much contrary to Philips''s fears, Alexander''s reply actually sounded light, even a bit bemused as evidenced by the chuckle of an answer.
Which to Philips, although sounded very positive, was also something that caught the man off guard.
Whatever reaction he had been expecting it was not this, because it seemed too easy.
But before Philips could figure out what was really on, he quickly heard the young pasha on the throne lightly pronounce with a smile,
"I''m sure Princess Camelia is just a free spirit who wished to try a new hairstyle, hoping to impress me. She must be very excited about her union with me and thus this surprise, hahaha."
Alexander seemed very pleased with this made up excuse, as he then turned to look at thedy, and found her to be staring at him expressionlessly with a pool of dark, onyx eyes like he was her hated enemy.
"Camelia. I must say, your look is different from anything I have in my harem. I like it." And Alexander was happy to pour oil on it.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 925 Alexanders Consort- Camelia (Part-2)
Chapter 925 Alexander''s Consort- Camelia (Part-2)
??Seeing the young fourteen year old lying on the royal carpet with a thin trickle of blood dripping out of her mouth as her enraged brother red at her with unrelenting fury, Alexander''s heart could not help but feel a tad bit sorry for her.
He could easily guess why she had probably done this.
She did not want to be Alexander''s concubine and wished to use this incident to annul her engagement with her.
And seeing this, Alexander, being a modern man, did notunch into a torrent of rage like other men might have, but instead, could not help but sympathize with the fledgling princess.
He felt partially responsible for this and if circumstances had not called for it, Alexander surely would not have forced this fate on her.
It was because of such feelings that despite the girl''s obvious attempt to anger and shame him, Alexander did not feel her punishing her in front of all these people.
Instead, to spare her from the strikes of her brother and the scorn of the entire royal court, Alexander quickly stepped in and breezily chuckled like what the young girl had done was nothing and insteadmented appreciatively on her looks.
While Camelia, hearing those words somehow caused her to flinch.
Now, she did not feel overwhelmed with joy by Alexander liking her ''ugly'' appearance.
Instead, she only felt disappointment and bitterness that the man had not taken the bait.
Who by now had again started to talk, still looking at her andmenting about her in a light, cid tone.
"The fact that Princess Camelia was bold enough to break tradition and show us this new type of look is really a great testament to her youth and ability to disregard old prejudices and forge new, never before paths together. I''m sure she meant nothing more by it."
"So instead of rebuking her, I believe we should all apud her efforts. Come¡ *p, *p*, *p*."
Toward the new haircut, Alexander managed to spew this absolute garbage of an excuse and then started to loudly smack his palms together.
And with Alexander taking the lead, the other nobles naturally had to follow suit regardless of whether they agreed or not, and thus soon the enormous halls started to ring with the jubnt pearls of apuse, washing away the shock and disgust that many felt into thin air.
Or at least sink it into the depths of one''s private thoughts.
Because of course long held traditions spanning multiple centuries were not simply going to dissipate just because of one nice speech.
But still, at least outwardly the court appeared to forget the incident, and seeing thisplete 180 of the events, the very first reaction Philips as well as Queen Parthia was not tion at their kin being spared.
But releasing a spooky sigh that was shared with a few others in the room.
For the ease with which Alexander was able to turn the tables on such an unexpected, unfavorable turn of events, left them stunned.
With only a few words he had managed to turn himself from being made to feel embarrassed to have a very unruly consort, to making others feel like a pioneer of something revolutionary.
And with a single gesture, he had turned this ''criminal'' into a celebrity,
The so very natural level of political shrewdness on disy here left those able to appreciate it feeling a bit cold on their hands and feet.
These clever men were able to urately gauge the razor sharp incisiveness of their new lord and could not help but murmur,
''I would not have been able to deal with the situation so smoothly. *Sigh*, he is no brash youngling who only knows how to win wars. He is a very dangerous politician too."
"Oh! Is that a good thing or a bad thing?''
Many were torn between feeling impressed and rmed.
And as if to prove that they were right to feel both, as the pearls of pping came to a close, Alexander decided to speak up again, this time his eyes a lot less mirthful as he nced at the princess still lying on the ground.
"But I believe the princess was a bit hasty on her new look. The cuts around the edges look a bit uneven. Haha, like it was done with a fruit knife."
"Perhaps because of all the excitement she felt wishing to show it to me. That must be why she waste."
"Hemicus, please escort the esteemeddy to my room. Then send for a barber to smooth out the rough edges."
Thus, it was in such a natural way that Alexander ordered the head of his bodyguards to remove this ''eye sore for everyone'' from the premises, with no muss, no fuss.
There was no shouting, no loud orders, and no angry temper tantrums to ruin the general update vibe of the party,
Instead, themand came from a very smooth transition in conversation.
The reason for Alexander''smand was of course not because he found the girl unsightly.
As a modern man, this was nothing to him.
But he did it because he knew it was scandalous for all the other people here.
No one at the party really wanted to look at the princess.
A short haired woman might seem just a personal preference to us, but to the people of this time, it was the equivalent of seeing apletely naked person moving about freeing the ce.
Very distasteful to look at.
Thus Alexander removed her, and in such a swift manner that Philips did not even get a small chance to step in and try and keep her with him.
The Crown Prince could only wordlessly watch as a few guards politely asked the fallen princess if she could stand up and see the girlply with a curt nod, before following them out of the room with nary sound nor the slightest look.
She had clearly lost and knew there was nothing she could do.
While Philips, seeing his youngest sister''s thin, lonely back as she left, could not help but feel mncholic.
But now that Alexander had spoken, what could he do?
And perhaps more importantly what was Alexander going to do?
Because Philips certainly did not buy Alexander''s im of liking short haired women.
And neither did the Queen Parthia.
But unlike Philips who stood there doing nothing, being a mother she decided to try and do something about it.
So hurriedly stepping up from the crowd, the woman gave a hurried bow, before iming in a high pitched voice,
"Lord Pasha, please forgive my intrusion."
"I''m really sorry for not informing you sooner. I only found out she had done this honorific deed just before the party so could not find the appropriate time to approach you with the subject."
"I had instructed her not to attend the party and then locked her room. But she must have somehow managed to escape. I apologize. Please have mercy!"
Saying so the regal woman once again bowed in deference.
It was a move that caused many to sigh.
One because they did not think it was wise to seek Alexander''s forgiveness after this grievous insult.
And two because such a move once again reinforced how they had lost the war and just how badly.
Most people here always knew the Queen to be legal and proud, never bowing her head to anyone except her king.
But here she was.
Lady Parthia''s confession helped Alexander understand the reason for her pale face.
She must have been deathly scared about how she was going to even exin this to Alexander. Because surely she was not going to be able to hide it from him for any length of time.
Alexander found the entire thing a bit risible.
To him, the thing was really not a big deal.
So he chuckled, "Haha, Your Highness, you are worrying too much. This was just a harmless prank by the Princess. I have already forgotten about it."
As Alexander said, he casually brushed his hands, as if to mimic the end of discussion regarding this matter, and then quickly turned to address the gathered crowd,
"Now, let us return to the party, my lords anddies."
And with the distraction moved, the men and women were eager to return to their food and drink, and thus this entire carfuffle that onlysted perhaps 5 to 10 minutes was quickly forgotten.
Or at the very least suppressed.
Because during one opportune moment of the party, Alexander found himself in a secluded spot with no prying ears where he instructed Philips with these simple words, "Come to my room after the party ends. We will need to discuss the matter."
It did not take a genius to guess what matter this was.
Because Alexander''s tone said it all- deep, grave, and quite angry, not at all like the light tone he usually carried with himself.
For although Alexander did not show, he was certainly offended by the princess''s brazen appearance.
He had no issue with short haired women, but he certainly had a problem with women who tried to humiliate him using it.
"Yes, my lord." And knowing he had to face the music, Philips''s face shrunk as he squeezed out the words with great difficulty.
Chapter 926 Alexanders Consort- Camelia (Part-3)
Chapter 926 Alexander''s Consort- Camelia (Part-3)
??Aside from that single distraction, the remainder of the swearing ceremony came to a swift, and eventless conclusion, with most of the people choosing to simply forget the incident.
Except for two people- Philips and Queen Parthia, who for the rest of the party could neither feel the taste of food nor the sweetness of the wine, such was their worry.
And it was a state they were made to endure for the entire night as Alexander would change the scheduled meeting with Philips from that night to the next day at thest moment because the ceremony and precedingvish feaststed far longer than he had anticipated.
So by the end, Alexander, after being forced to drink toast after toast made by all the various nobles, was so drunk that he could not even see properly what was in front of him, much less discuss anything with anybody.
"Master! You must punish her! Harshly! How dare that bitch does such a thing! Aghhh!"
"I too agree. Princess or not, she must be made an example out of! Or she will just keep repeating it!"
These two remarks were made by Ophenia and Gelene respectively, with the former pacing around the room restlessly like a caged lioness, her beautiful face now twisted in utmost fury, while Gelene sat on the couch, calmer than her sister but still silently grinding her teeth.
It was currently mid afternoon of the next day, and the duo were in Alexander''s study.
Both of them had been presentst night and thus watched with sheer terror and horror the events unfolding back there, at one point even wishing to shout to the guards to y that unruly princess right then and there.
So to say they were disappointed seeing how soft Alexander was to Camelia would be an understatement.
The man had not even detained the woman for the night, but simply let her return to her room after the party was over, much to Ophenia and Gelene''s shock.
They feared Alexander was being too soft and thus they were here, urging Alexander to not this transgression just go.
While Alexander, sitting behind the desk only smiled and listened to them.
He was waiting for Philips.
*Knock*, *Knock*
And he did not have to wait long as the CP swiftly made himself present on time, and the man was not alone.
For apanying him was Queen Queen Parthia and the star who started all this - Camelia.
Alexander had not invited the duo but allowed them to enter anyway for he was intrigued, and noticed both the women looked noticeably different from before.
The Tibian Queen, today dressed in a simple pure white dress somehow looked even paler thanst night, her face marred with a dark undertone, producing a lonely, forelore visage.
While the Princess, sporting a fashionable hat as well as a full, flowery scarf, looked equally pale and quite haggard, with deep, inky eye lines underneath her bloodshot eyes.
Clearly, she had not been offered thefort of sleep in thest twelve to sixteen hours as both her brother and mother must have grilled her for hours on her reckless act.
Alexander also noticed the girl wore much heavier makeup than fromst night, with her right cheeks appearing particrly fair.
And it took him no time to figure out why- because she was trying to hide that red handprint she had gotten from her brotherst night.
The trio quickly conducted their ritual bows and then took their ce on the couch that Alexander offered, as they turned to look at the man with caution and apprehension.
And then, it was the eldest of the trio, Queen Parthia who decided to open the conversation, once again pleading,
"My lord, we are extremely sorry and very ashamed of what Camelia has done. Truly!" Thedy emphasized as she hung her head low.
"Hmmmp!" But this only got her this imperious snort in reply
But not from Alexander.
Instead, it was from Ophenia who was observing them from the corner of the room.
Or perhaps the better word would be ring with fury as she found the words entirelyughable,cking any sort of sincerity.
And if not for the fact that this was an official setting where she had no right to interject withAlexander''s express permission, the girl would have had much more to say than a simple snort.
This priestess of Gaia might be tame as a sheep in Alexander, but when anyone slighted him, she could be extremely vindictive.
Thus it was with great annoyance that Ophenia silently shared the space with her sister Gelene, and heard her master speak in a gentle voice,
"It is okay. I understand children can be unruly. I''m sure this was just a one off thing."
The sincerity with which he spoke greatly smoothed Philips and Queen Parthia''s hearts, while it made Ophenia and Gelene seeth in anger and frustration.
They could not believe their master was being so soft, like a lovestruck fool.
''You were not like this before, master.'' Ophenia even silently shed a tear in her heart.
While the other side regaled Alexander with cheers of gratitude and promised to never allow this to happen.
"There is onest thing though." However it seemed both Ophenia and Philips were counting their chickens before they hatched for Alexander added so, before turning his head to look at the young princess and stating, "I would like to know why she did it. That is important."
"Because I''m a princess! There is no way I''m going to be a statusless concubine!" Was the instant reply, right from the horse''s mouth, swift and direct, as Camelia even turned to re at Alexander.
"...."
The sharp pitch and the ingrain imperiousness with which this was said left the room stunned, not by its impressiveness, but by the sheer incredulity of it all.
Even when Alexander was being so generous, this spoiled girl seemed totally oblivious to it all.
And by this point, Alexander even saw Philips literally p his forehead, eschewing all the etiquette expected of a man of his status, and murmur in a low, aggrieved voice, "Why the fuck did I bring you here?"
While Queen Parthia appeared stunned.
Alexander guessed the trio must havee here with a n to sincerely apologize to him but the princess decided not to y ball at thest second.
Towards the princess''s reply, Alexander felt he could reply with a variety of responses.
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The most obvious being- she was no longer a princess.
Defeated, subjugated, and conquered, she was at best a fallen one.
But Alexander decided not to respond to this child of a girl who showed no signs of understanding the reality she was currently living in.
Instead, turning to Philips, Alexander frowned a bit as hemented, "This is a rare sight. Girls are never this disobedient."
In a patriarchal society like the current one, girls were taught from birth to revere male authority figures like their father, brother, and husband with absolute deference and without question.
"I''m sorry my lord. It is all my fault." Queen Parthia choked almost tearfully as she replied so, while Philips silently cursed his father for spoiling his youngest daughter this much.
But neither gave any solution.
Tap¡ Tap¡ Tap.
So facing this dilemma, Alexander then had this to say,
"Given the current developments, I hence find it hard to continue our previous arrangement, Philips. But I still want a member of your family to join my harem. So I wish to propose a change in the deal."
"Princess Camelia will join the temple of Gaia as a priestess, and," Alexander very nonchntly dropped the bombshell, "Queen Parthia will be my concubine!"
"What!" No sooner had his words left the mouth that instantly, thedy in question, squeaked in both terror and rm, literally jumping up from her couch in shock, and shouting, "Impossible! I will die before¡"
"Do it mom!"
But even before Queen Parthia could finish her piece, her daughter suddenly interjected like so, and then turned to face her and shouted, "This is a great deal. You are already so old. Nobody will want you. If the pasha wants¡"
"Shut up!!!! *p*!!!!" The lion like roar and the solid p that cut her off from these insane words of course originated from Philips, whonded the hit once again on that right cheek and just like before created a clear second red handprint.
And then turning to Alexander, the CP quickly kneeled and in a crips voice pleaded,
"My lord, being the youngest sibling,Camelia has been spoiled rotten by my father."
"If she stays any longer with us, she will only bring shame to our family. Thus I wish to hand her over to you."
"It is said that it is a husband''s duty to educate his wives. Do whatever you wish to do educate her and make her obedient. We will not interfere."
By now, Philips had given up the idea of trying to save his sister and decided to try and salvage his family.
And the only way he could see doing this was by cutting off his cancerous tumors which seemed determined to drag all of them to their death.
''What is this? Taming of the Shrew?'' While Alexander smirked at the offer.
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Chapter 927 Alexanders Consort- Camelia (Part-4)
Chapter 927 Alexander''s Consort- Camelia (Part-4)
??Beforeing to the party, Philips had thanked his lucky stars a million times that Alexander was such an understanding lord.
Any other man in his ce would have surely blown up and broken the engagement right then and there, and then heavily punished the woman as well as her family.
But he didn''t.
So he had spent the whole night admonishing his sister Camelia for her actions, giving examples of how generous Alexander was, and urging her to y ball, all to capitalize on the good nature of this man.
But it seemed that had been all for naught.
''To hell with her.'' So Philips decided to cut the toxic part out as he wished to hand the reins to this unruly daughter.
But strangely enough, such a drastic action did not get too great a reaction from the princess.
Because not only she had already expected this, but in fact she had expected worse.
In this time period, it was not unheard of for fathers to heavily punish and even directly kill their daughters for disobedience.
And in his absence, the power got passed down to the brothers.
Thus in princess Camelia''s eyes, she was getting off lightly and hence only red defiantly with no fear.
"Sorry. I''m afraid that would make the whole point moot." But regardless of the other party''s thoughts, Alexander''s reply seemed to indicate he was not excited by the offer.
Although handed the rein, he was not in the mood to tame this wild horse, especially one that was so high maintenance and low reward as this one.
What was the point of him catering to this defeated yet foolish princess?
If this was someone like Mikaya, or someone by marrying whom Alexander could get a critical ally perhaps he put in the effort.
But not here.
So with a wave of his hand, Alexander said, "I wanted to take a concubine as a way to form a kinship of blood with you. But since your family has proven incapable of offering me a suitable candidate, then let''s forget it."
"Let us be only lord and retainer. And I will simply send this unruly girl to the capital to be properly educated."
Alexander might not have shown it in his speech, but he was certainly quite upset with the drama unfolding in front of him.
''What a waste of time, *tsk*.'' He even ruefullymented.
"No! Please, Lord Pasha¡I beg you¡!" However hearing the dreadful fate Alexander wanted for his sister, Philips once again interjected with a plea, clearly showing that although the man said the fate of his sister was Alexander''s to decide, in reality, he yet much cared for her.
More than even his other sister it seemed, as Philips then quickly posed, "Lord Pasha what about Amelia? We can ¡"
" Watch yourself! You will ''not'' humiliate my general Philips!!" However, long before Philips could finish, he was ruthlessly stopped on that line of thought as Alexander almost shouted this, putting a particr emphasis on ''not''.
The fifth princess had already been promised to Menes and although fully within his power, Alexander was never going to snatch something that he had already bestowed.
And the mere fact that Philips would suggest this irritated him.
So in a fit of frustration, Alexander decided to end the meeting there, waing his hands dismissively.
"I''m tired of all this. Leave! We are done here!"
"I will support you on that punishment regarding those nobles my lord! Please ept Camelia!" However, Philips, instead of leaving, shouted this, his voice sounding desperate.
His promise here was of course alluding to the nobles who had deserted Alexander and the ones the CP had helped to protect.
To protect his pir of power.
And now he was willing to throw all that way and throw the men under the bus, all for his little sister.
It was both touching andmenting.
"Oh?" And the offer was so lucrative that Alexander found himself forced to consider it.
Just when he thought Philips had nothing better to offer, the man decided to lure him back.
Thus a few seconds Alexander found himself tracing his chin, his mind deep in thought.
Alexander was weighing the challenges of taking this troublesome kid with the advantages of making his army stronger.
"Master, agree. I can handle her." When suddenly, Ophenia decided to break the silence as such, the unexpected ''intrusion'' causing the entire room to turn their heads toward this beauty.
And even though they had all seen Ophenia before, all of them once again could not help but admire her looks.
With even Philips, who was gay,menting in a heartfelt wonder, ''I remember mother as being this beautiful in her youth.''
While Alexander was more intrigued by her words.
Which then soon turned into understanding as he remembered her past, that temple, and what she had experienced there.
Given the temple''s history, surely they had to have one or two rotten apples like this princess here.
And given the temple was still standing, surely they had found a way to break these girls.
So hearing Ophenia''s confident tone, Alexander felt quite reassured that this princess could be tamed.
"I want to have them executed!" Thus turning towards Philips, Alexander curtly dered this condition for epting Camelia.
"As you wish!" And Philips dutifully bowed in agreement, a seemingly great weight being lifted off his heart.
As an elder brother, he had done the best he could do. And at least he managed to avoid the worst fate for his sister.
It seemed at the end of it, no matter how much a brat she was, Philips could not fully discard her.
While next to him, Queen Parthia felt a stream of bitterness course through her heart.
It was of course not due to the result. She was quite happy with the oue.
No, it was because of the price her eldest son had to pay for her own parenting inadequacies.
The price of supporting all those nobles'' executions was surely going to cause greater deterioration of their already faltering royalty base.
But Queen Parthia could not decide if her son had done the right or wrong here, as her material instincts fought viciously against her regal queen mindset.
Until in the end, the love for her child won, as Queen Parthia wordlessly too presented a bow to Alexander in appreciation.
While princess Camelia remained mute, like a sculpted statue.
She hated that her fate was decided just like that, and her heart screamed in agony.
To her, it seemed everyone else treated her like she did not exist.
But since her fate had been decided and as a girl being powerless to stop it, the princess decided to take one good at her ''captor.''
Thus she woodily turned to face the man.
cing her limpid eyes on Alexander, Princess Camelia found the face quite handsome, to be honest.
Clean shaven, with bright eyes, a strong nose, and a muscr square jaw with short hair neatly brushed back, the girl even thought for a second she would not mind calling such a man husband.
''No! He is a scoundrel. He is the one who killed daddy! I will never forgive him!'' But just as those positive thoughts started to bubble up, it was instantly douched by this great wave of hatred.
For as it was said, Camelia was really loved by Perseus and she really loved him back.
So to see him go, or at least sink into aa, really broke her heart.
And there was the man sitting right there who did all that.
Smiling,ughing, cheering?
How could Camelia bear to like him?
Could you do it?
To smile and nod to a man who took everything from you?
Could you do it at the tender age of fourteen?
Camelia was not an unruly girl by nature.
Otherwise, she would not be so loved by Perseus, and her rebellion would not havee as such a surprise to the rest of them.
But the loss of her father really hit her hard.
And it was in ways her family seemed to miss.
For instance, many times, unbeknownst to them, Camelia would sit beside Perseus''s sleeping body for hours and simply cry her heart out.
While at other times she would make one side conversations with her unconscious father,
The reasons for her doing so were twofold.
One because she terribly missed her father.
And two because to her, it seemed that the rest of her family had simply forgotten about this patriarch of the family and she felt it was up to her to keep him in her mind.
This was of course wrong as Queen Parthia too very much cared about her husband.
But to Camelia, that im rang hollow.
For she was horrified seeing just how easily her older brother whom she had once idolized so much, and the mother whom she saw as a role model both simply roll over their back and bow their head to this tyrant without an ouch of shame, the same tyrant who had destroyed her family''s legacy and put her father into eternal sleep.
It both shattered her heart and made her lose all respect for them.
And it was because of that Princess Camelia was being so unruly.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 928 Alexanders Consort- Camelia (End)
Chapter 928 Alexander''s Consort- Camelia (End)
??As Philips and Alexander came to their agreement, Alexander felt the princess suddenlynd her curious eyes on him, as if to see the man was destined to spend her life with.
And sensing the fresh set of eyes fall on him, Alexander at first tried to make some small talk with her. "By the way, how did you manage to escape your room yesterday?" He inquired.
"I tricked a passing maid into opening my room''s door by saying someone had mistakenly locked me inside. And I got into the party by simply saying I was the princess." Came the straight answer.
At that specific time, her mother, Queen Parthia, had been in utter shock seeing her daughter''s state, and her mind in total chaos over the presumed consequences.
Thus she was quickly left to find Philips at the party, consequently forgetting to station guards at the girl''s room, and inadvertently letting the very thing she feared most ur- Camelia escaping.
"Smart!" Hearing the girl''s resourcefulness Alexander sounded impressed, as he nodded, before sping his palms together and saying,
"Now princess Camelia, I understand you seem a little dissatisfied with your status as a concubine. So let me offer you something to help soften her heart."
"I will give you a simr status as your sister. A wife! Just like you wanted!"
As Alexander dropped this, he then strategically paused to see the reaction and did notice the girl''s eyes widen by a noticeable margin.
It was not exactly squeaking with joy, because Camelia''s primary beef with Alexander was over something much more primal.
But one of the myriad reasons why Camelia hated Alexander''s guts was indeed due to being offered such a low status.
So while this was still not enough for her to let Alexander go, at least it was a step in the right direction, and Alexander''s generous offer did work to mollify some of her grievances.
Thergest reactions however undoubtedly came from those around the princess.
Nautally both Philips and Queen Parthia cheered and thanked Alexander with wide smiles, while Alexander''s two wives were stunned into silence.
The announcement seemed to particrly affect OP, whose beautiful face had gone seemingly ghostly pale and her lips started to quiver.
She could not believe this was happening.
It seemed like a nightmare to her.
And it took all her teaching from the temple about not interrupting her master to not just shout out in incredulity, ''What! Have you gone insane master!''
However, an instantter, much to her relief she heard Alexander add the following condition
"But since you have disobeyed your family and me, you will join me as my concubine. And I will make you my wife if you can remain faithful and obedient for 5 years."
Camelia was only fourteen and Alexander did not n to bed her at least for 4 years.
So it was easy for Alexander to wait one more year, as she would be then neen, perhaps even approaching twenty.
"Does that sound reasonable to you?" Alexander thus finished by pointedly asking.
"*Nod*, Yes. I thank you for your generosity, Lord Pasha." And the princess finally appeared docile.
By this point, she had decided that there was no use pointlessly struggling here other than making a fool of herself.
So she decided to bury her hatred for Alexander over ruining her family''s life and try and get her revenge some other way.
Who knows, if she earned his favor enough, she might be able to get close enough to poison him or even drive a dagger through his heart.
Camelia would be willing to do anything to avenge her father.
And although such thoughts might be quite normal to a modern audience, this was actually quite aberrant for the time.
Because people back then did not see life and death as modern people did.
The reason why Philips and Queen Parthia bowed to Alexander instead of fighting on till the death despite thetter having killed so many members of the royal family was because in their eyes this was simply the way things worked here around here.
Of course, they were sad by Alexander''s actions, but they did not hate him for it.
Alexander was victorious and as such he had certain rights.
It was princess Camelia who was the odd one out here.
And such examples were a dime a dozen even in Alexander''s previous life, with perhaps the most famous one being Genshin Khan, who was even reported to have said, ''A man''s greatest pleasure was to take others wives and daughters.
The Great Khan regrly took concubines from his defeated foes into his harem.
And some of these concubines even rose to be quite influential in their own rights, such as the Princess of the Khwarazmian Empire, whose father had been brutally murdered by the Great Khan, and the inhabitants of her kingdom ughtered down to thest man, with a literal pyramid using skulls built using them.
And even Mehmed II, after he took over Constantipole adopted The Byzantine Emperor''s two sons and made them into his navy admirals, with no adverse consequences.
"Great!" And it was as such that Alexander remainedpletely oblivious to the hidden danger he was injecting himself with, and instead actually cheered the girl''s acquiescence to his offer.
To him, princess Camelia simply appeared as an edgy, emo girl who had some bad things happen to her.
Thus driven by kindness, Alexander rejoiced at having finally convinced the men.
"Well then let us go over some basic rules you have to follow while you stay with me. Rules that will dictate whether you are being obedient or not" And then saying so, he quickly started to produce a sheet from one of his drawers, before passing it to the princess,
"Here, read this. These are the terms and conditions I wish you to follow."
Alexander had created this list just a while before meeting Philips as he anticipated a deal.
And fortunately for him, his effort did not appear to have been wasted.
Camelia took the thin leaf of paper with a deferential small tug and then started to scan the letter.
It read-
"Rule 1- You must never harm the Pasha, intend to harm the Pasha, encourage others to harm the Pasha, create an opportunity to harm Pasha, withhold knowledge that could potentially harm the Pasha, or not aid the Pasha while he is in danger.
Rule 2- You must never say anything to any kind of outside personnel (all people excluding the Pasha, and his four original main wives) regarding-
*Your rtionship with the Pasha,
*What you do when you are with him,
*Describing the ce you live in and how you spend your time
*And the other concubines and wives you meet and interact with.
Rule 3: You are not allowed to talk to the other concubines in any great detail about your intimate rtions with the Pasha and what he confides to you. The only time you can do this is if you are given express permission to do so by the Pasha.
Rule 4: You must not have a rtionship with any man other than the Pasha. You are not allowed to let any king, noble, citizen, free man, guard, servant, or ve touch you. Neither must you engage in any flirting or passing of messages to any man even if they are based in the harem. Allmunications with the outside world, except with the Pasha and his official wives must be done through a third party maid that will be assigned to you."
Rule 5: You must not have any kind of intimate rtionship with any other concubine, neithermust you ever share a bed with another concubine unless the Pasha is also present or gives you his express permission."
Vitions of any of thesemandments will bear various degrees of reprisals, from scarcity of everyday necessities like food, warm clothes, and good room, to caning and whipping, to even the administration of the death penalty if the offense is deemed grave enough by the Pasha.!"
As the piece ended, one ring thing readers might note here was how Alexander did not point to divorce or sending the concubine home to her father''s ce as a punishment.
And that of course intentional.
Because, one, concubines did not exactly get ''married'' as they and their children did not have the same rights as married couples.
So you could not really divorce them.
And two because people of Alexander''s high status rarely divorced.
Or more specifically gave divorce.
For it was seen as a very shameful thing for a man, like a loud, trumpet announcing to the whole world that he cannot control his woman.
Especially when that woman was a concubine whose status was usually low.
So a concubine''s fate was either to spend the rest of her life with her master or pray that he released you after some years.
And in this case, Alexander wished to follow the customs of the time.
"Is there anything you do not understand? Or something you do not consent to?" After giving the princess some time to read, Alexander then produced this follow up query.
Shake, shake.
Camelia''s reply was in gestures.
Nothing here was too overly restrictive, and so seeing this, Alexander finally decided to end the meeting here.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 929 Ophenia’s Strange Love (Part-1)
Chapter 929 Ophenia''s Strange Love (Part-1)
?"Master, were you being serious just now?" The instant Philips and hispany exited the room and were out of earshot, Ophenia posed so to Alexander, her voiceced with doubt and apprehension.
She was of course referring to Alexander''s offer about making Camelia one of his wives.
She certainly did not support the idea.
"Oh? You don''t approve? Didn''t you just say you could handle her?" And towards the query, Alexander did not explicitly reply with either a yes or no, but only lightly pointed to Ophenia''s earlier im in a neutral tone, while slightly raising his eyebrow.
"Of course I can!" When being questioned about her abilities, Ophenia quickly became very defensive, before curving her lips into a charming but somewhat cruel smirk, "But I believe master might not approve some of the methods I might use to break her. The temple was not exactly easy on those who disobeyed them. The punishments they gave were really ''punishments''!"
Alexander noticed that as Ophenia said the words, her eyes twinkled in delight and she licked her lips in anticipation, in much contrast to the sentences she spoke.
It was apparent that although the girl was appearing to verbally warm him, deep inside she actually wanted to have that princess in her palms.
To teach her a lesson.
A proper lesson.
Alexander after spending so long with Ophenia, hade to discover a third trait about Ophenia.
Which was that aside from appearing virtuous in front of others but quite ''adventurous'' in bed, she also had some strong sadistic tendencies.
She did not show it normally to either Alexander or the other girls, but there were some instances when the urge bubbled over.
Such as now.
"Oh? How did the temple punish troublemakers?" And perhaps it was due to how intriguing Ophenia had made the entire thing sound that Alexander could not help but want to know more.
Some of the things that supposedly urred in that temple fueled many of Alexander''s base and debaucherous thoughts.
"Hehehe¡" And recognizing this Ophenia first of all giggled, shing all her pearly whites.
Like Alexander hade to know more about her during her time together, she too hade to know more about this man she called master.
And one of the things she discovered was that he was really curious about the Shiva Temple.
And more specifically, her time and experience there.
So Ophenia would regrly make much stuff up, mixing a grain of truth with a fistful of imagination, then adding things she had seen or things and heard as condiments to spice the entire story up.
It proved to be a very sessful recipe for her, as her masterpped the whole thing up like delicious soup.
And this time proved to be no different, as Alexander listened eagerly Ophenia reveal her past,
"It''s not as exciting as master might think."
"First of all, it was very rare for there to be troublemakers in the first ce. The ones enter the temple and the atmosphere inside simply makes one want to obey. So only a very rare few, not quite right in the head disobeyed anymands from the priests."
"And they were mostly disciplined like how unruly ves are- beaten with whips or canes, denied food, left bare in cold rooms with leaking walls and roofs, or ced in small human sized buckets and left out in the open to roast in the middle of the summer. You know the usual stuff."
"That usually worked to straighten even the most crooked ones out."
"But I doubt master you will allow me to do the same with the princess." Ophenia finished with a triumphant smile, while Alexander''s lips twitched a bit.
"Yes. That is not possible." He squeezed out.
The princess as his concubine might legally be his property but Camelia was still a princess with a powerful brother.
So such treatment would be impossible for him to ever administer.
Not that Alexander even wanted to do such deplorable acts.
He always hated how cruelly the ves and even the general people of this time were treated.
"But there were some more creative punishments!"
However before Alexander could be disappointed at theck of ''detail'', Ophenia suddenly sashayed closer to her master iming so, bringing her lips near to his ears in a sultry manner and saying,
"The temple did not only punish troublemakers. They also punished failures, those who failed toplete their tasks."
"And those were much more fun to watch, hehe." Alexander suddenly felt Ophenia''s wet tongue lick his earlobe as the beautifuldy lewdly giggled.
"For example, my favorite one was where they were denied orgasms for days."
"The boys would wear cages and girls chastity belts during the day, while at night, they would be teased for hours by special priest and priestess, who used their hands, fingers, mouths, and even tiny little brushes to always keep the sinners on edge, always making them want toe but never allowing them to."
"By the end of their punishment, the boys would have their balls turn blue, while the girls would be seen secretly trying to hump and grind against anything and everything. Hehe, it was hrious."
"I loved hearing those pained moans and heartfelt begginge out from those rooms. I was even taught how to tease some of the girls using the brush. It was so fun."
As Ophenia recalled her stories, she also slowly started to make her way towards Alexander''s lower half, which she could feel starting to wake up, and she wished to be there when it finally did.
"Master, I think it is a mistake to make the princess your wife." However, the pink atmosphere that Ophenia had so craftily set up was suddenly shattered by this bold, loud voice, originating from Gelene.
Thedy, a bit jealous by what Ophenia was doing, as well as the fact they were in the middle of discussing something important, decided to intervene.
"Tsk!" And the act instantly caused Ophenia''s eyes to turn from amorous to sharp and angry.
ording to her, she wished to approach the subject after she had managed to put Alexander in a good mood.
And so this abrupt, forceful intervention that ruined her n displeased her.
While Alexander, hearing this statement was forced to divert his attention to Gelene.
The ebony beauty was always much more vocal than Ophenia, and getting Alexander''s attention, Gelene continued,
"Master! Just remember how she easily wanted to sacrifice her mother. Her own mother! She is petnt and a spoiled princess. Bringing her into our house will only cause problems and disrupt the harmony."
Gelene was as much against Camelia bing a wife as Ophenia, finding her heartless and unfilial.
While Camelia had only spoken so in rage because she did not like how her mother had surrendered to her father''s killer.
But of course, Gl could have never known that.
While Alexander, towards Gelene and Ophenia''s opposition, did not bother to give an exnation, but only cated them by buying time, raising his palms understandingly and saying,
"Let''s not make up our minds just yet. She will be made a wife only 5 yearster. We can decide then."
And then pointed out,
"But for now, she still holds value even as just a hostage. Great value!"
"Both of you must have seen how hard Philips tried to protect her even after all she had done. Any other brother would have pped her unconsciousness long ago and left her to the gutters."
"This proves the prince really loves his sister. And is that not why we wanted to take a concubine in the first ce? To have a valuable hostage?" Alexander smirked with a victorious taunt as he then finished.
"So as long as Philips cares for Camelia, this spoilt princess still has her uses! I can bear with her. And so should you."
It was for this reason, along with the long 5 years time ahead of them that was enough to quieten both the girls.
But that did not mean they did not have their own ideas about the whole thing.
Especially Ophenia.
She was not ready to so easily let it go as Alexander had.
"What are you thinking? Your eyes say you are nning something. Are you still dissatisfied with what master did?" And as Ophenia was getting ready for bed, Gelene too was able to detect this as she came to her room posing this very question.
"*Snort!* You seem to have gotten to know me quite well." And Ophenia did not deny the acquisition.
But only acted as if she did not like Gelene poking her nose into this.
She was still a bit salty at how Gelene had ruined her n in the afternoon.
But then turning around, her eyes became half lidded, as the beautiful girl proimed in a strong tone, "I would never be dissatisfied with the master. He did what he thought was best for us," but then her lips curled into a crafty, mischievous smirk, "That''s why we should reward him. And I was thinking the queen all wrapped in his bed would be the perfect one!"
Looking at that ''cat that stole the milk'' face Gelene instantly understood what Ophenia''s n was- both to reward Alexander and to punish the queen at the same time.
And Geleneughed.
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Chapter 930 Ophenia’s Strange Love (End)
Chapter 930 Ophenia''s Strange Love (End)
?Chapter 930
"Gelene, let''s go. I set up an afternoon party at the Queen''s chambers."
Two days after the fateful talks with Philips and Camelia, Ophenia suddenly intruded into the other''s room at one to inform her of this.
The duo had alreadye up with a basic n on how to try and twist the queen''s hand intoying with Alexander, and the time hade to put it in motion.
So at the call, the ebony beauty wordlessly got up from her divan and quickly got dressed.
And soon the two were sitting opposite the former Queen of Tibias.
The meeting was only between them three and they sat close to the open veranda in the Queen''s private quarters, thus letting the autumn sunlight soak their bodies in bright, warm light.
There was a variety of confectioneryid strew across the small tea table they sat across.
It included various meat and fruit pastries, sugar and honey biscuits, many small handmade pies, andstly, a type of custard or porridge made with baked wheat grain, milk, and butter.
It was a local delicacy.
All the itemsid in full ess to the trio, along withrge pitchers of the finest, sweetest wine, and as Ophenia very frankly took her cup, she greeted,
"Thank you Your Highness for taking the time to meet with us on such short notice. We are honored."
"Lady Ophenia is being too courteous. I am but simply a humbledy. Please eschew the ''Your Highness''. While the other said reciprocated with equal humility.
Holding the title of Queen for close to thirty years, Lady Parthia was anything if not very refined in her manner.
Following this, the trio then began to slowly talk, about anything and everything, with nothing particr in mind.
Their topics ranged from the weather, how it differed from here and Zanzan, about the city itself, the food they were served and many more.
Until finally Ophenia got to the main point of why she was here.
"Queen Parthia, I will not beat around the bush. The reason why I wanted to meet was not only for a social meeting."
"I¡ we" Ophenia corrected herself to include both her and Gelene, "primarily wish to talk to you regarding what happened with your daughter yesterday."
"I believe no one will argue that yesterday was not exactly the best day moments for your royal family. Frankly, we expected better from a royal family." Ophenia taunted a bit, as she then stated,
"My lord might not have shown it, but he was certainly very dissatisfied over how your daughter reacted. So as his wives, we want to ask- can we count on your daughter on being obedient? Or will she continue to be a problem?"
As Ophenia hawkishly red at the queen after she finished, she quickly noticed Lady Parthia blush a bit in shame.
If it had been anytime else, Lady Parthia would have certainly very vocally contested the im.
But after what her daughter had pulled off, not just once but twice. she found her skin too thin to react.
"Of course, she will be obedient! I will personally see to that!" Thus instead, Lady Parthia quickly replied so quite forcefully, repeatedly nodding her head.
At this point, she even half thanked Alexander for choosing her to take her to Zanzan as a Gaia priestess.
This way she could keep that girl from causing trouble and getting herself killed, she reasoned.
"Hmmmm." But Ophenia seemed dissatisfied with the answer as she only lightly snorted.
The reason was of course because her true aim foring here was never this.
Whether Camelia would or would not be troublesome was a different matter they could discusster.
Right now, however, it was only an excuse.
So pursing her lips in indignation, the beautifuldy indignantly posed,
"That remains to be seen. And even if she is re educated, that still does not erase the things she had done. I believe as her mother, you must take responsibility for her actions, too Lady Lady Parthia!" Ophenia narrowed her eyes ssed with anger and cold.
However Queen Parthia was to be so easily intimidated, as cing her cup down, thedy slightly frowned her brows to remind the duo,
"Lady Tayin, I believe you have being unreasonable here. We have already apologized sincerely enough. And my son has already paid the appropriate dues for any imbroglio we might have caused the great Pasha. So what more responsibility are you talking about?"
To her, it seemed the other side was asking for an inch but taking a mile.
But Ophenia and Gelene hade prepared.
This was not enough to stump them as brushing her hands, Gelene decided to join the conversation, pointedly iming, "The price that Prince Philips paid was only to absolve princess Camelia of her mistake and convince my lord to take her in as her concubine."
"He did not pay for the shame your family has caused him. Neither for your failure to properly educate your daughter."
"To do that we believe that you, Lady Parthia, as the matriarch of the royal family should be responsible!"
"...." Towards this forceful exnation, Lady Parthia found herself unable to respond.
Because there was nothing to respond to.
The sacrifice of all those nobles dealt enormous harm to her family and thus the blood price in her mind was certainly adequate enough.
But the other party did not seem to think so and was demanding more.
She felt she was being swindled by a couple of extortionists, thus hardening her face, she cold threw out, "Are you two on behalf of the Pasha? Is this what he wants? Is this an official meeting? If not¡."
Her meaning was clean.
If Alexander did not approve of this, she would not continue this talk.
And she had reasons to believe Alexander did not know or approve this because otherwise, the man would have called her himself.
That was his style, not sending out two girls to do his bidding.
"We wish to offer you two choices." Ophenia however did not give a yes or no answer to the answer.
Instead, she posed so,
"One is Lady Parthia, you end the talks right here, right now."
"But know that we would not advise you to. Because then we will not look at the princess favorably."
"And neither will our mistress- our lord''s main wife, after she learns of this and sees the hair, I promise you."
"And if it were to happen, such a turn of events would be truly tragic. I believe you know that." Ophenia narrowed her eyes threateningly.
And Lady Parthia could not help but shiver a bit.
Although she never had a harem to manage given Tibias''s monogamous culture, she could certainly the potency of this threat.
The venom of a woman was deadly, especially a jealous and vindictive woman.
And somehow her daughter, whose status was only a concubine, had managed to antagonize 3 out of the 4 wives of the man she was supposed to service, including the main wife.
In a way, it was truly impressive.
And if was to trulye true, Lady Parthia knew her daughter''s life in the harem would be truly miserable, a hell on earth.
She could be denied the proper food rations and issued only cold and stale items.
She could be made to sleep in leaking dpidated houses that let rain in during the summer and cold, freezing winds in the winter, and not even afforded a thin quilt to shield herself with.
She could be made to wake up at the crack of dawn to wash clothes in the freezing cold water.
She could be denied medicines and healthcare.
And she could be denied a whole host of things, all of which filled Lady Parthia''s mind.
And then to add to her horrors, Gelene quickly added with a snark,
"Do not take my lord''s great benevolence for granted. It was immensely magnanimous of him to agree to not send your churlish daughter to the capital. But that does not mean he cannot use her in Zanzan."
"Let me tell you, whatever happens in the capital, happens in Zanzan too. Mydy should already have some proof of that from that ''victory'' party the Zanzan nobles held one night, right?"
Gelene''s voice was mocking.
And Lady Parthia was of course aware of the infamous actsmitted in her very house.
And when she had first heard of it, it had shocked her to her core.
Because although she had heard of such things urring in Adhania, she half did not believe it.
Because to her it was so incredulous.
Hence the confirmation was world shattering.
And if her daughter was made to¡. Lady Parthia felt her hands go cold at the mere thought of the possibility. while Ophenia helpedplete her nightmare, "If such a thing were to happen to your daughter¡ hehe. Your daughter''s life will be very different."
"..." And as she finished, Ophenia watched Lady Parthia go from pale to paler at the implied threat as if she was envisioning all the terrible scenarios in her head.
Until finally, in a low, mosquito like voice, she muttered, "What is the second offer?"
But this was not a question.
This was Lady Parthia tacitly epting the second offer, whatever may it be.
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Chapter 931 Bagging a Queen (Part-1)
Chapter 931 Bagging a Queen (Part-1)
?The rumors that Queen Parthia had heard about the capital of Adhania were certainly worth an ear if nothing but for the outrageousness of their contents.
There was of course some truth mixed in, such as the immensely luxurious party held almost every week in the pce and the full fledged orgies that regrly followed afterward.
The reports even contained some real descriptions of what happened in those debaucherous events, like rules regarding the couple swapping as well as the various ''inventive'' games yed there among the prurient nobles.
But such kernels of truth were rare gems hidden under a mountain of exaggerations.
This ranged from the weird, like saying that in the capital people could be seen frequently copting openly out in the streets, to disgusting such as iming the prevalence of bestiality among all the nobility, to even the macabre like the food there containing human meat and drinks produced from the freshly ughtered blood of virgins.
Whatever Ophenia and Gelene could have said to frighten Queen Parthia, they certainly could have never topped thatst one.
Thus, when the duo elucidated on nothing, and instead let the other side let her vivid imagination do the all heavy lifting,
And just like they had hoped, the Queen, haunted by her own fears broke.
"What is the second offer?" She spookily posed after a while.
And Ophenia instantly beamed!
The fish had taken the bait.
Now it was only a matter of reeling it in.
''I have to be careful. Or it might snap the line!'' But before getting too carried away, Ophenia quickly warned herself to pace her words.
The fish was still very big and could free itself at any moment.
So she presented the offer in a nicely dressed package, "Queen Parthia, my master is Goddess Gaia''s chosen. Favored by the gods. As his high priestess, I know of a ritual you can perform with him that might aid your husband to wake up."
"This is my second offer!"
Ophenia mentioned nothing about her true intentions, but instead yed the card she knew was guaranteed to work- Queen Parthia''s love for her husband and the duty she felt towards him.
"Ritual? What is it?" And just as Ophenia had predicted, Queen Parthia instantly bit on the hook harder, her eyes widening as her heart itched to know the specifics of the ritual.
Although she did not show it, Queen Parthia had long been torn with grief over Perseus''s long slumber.
By now she had even nearly resigned herself to expecting the very worst.
So now that the other side said they had a way to help heal the love of her life, Queen Parthia felt she would be willing to do almost anything.
And it was precisely smelling this desperation that Ophenia produced some more crumbs.
"The ceremony involves making heartfelt prayers to the goddess through his son. The better you can serve him and the more he is satisfied, the greater will be the efficacy of the ritual. If you can serve him well enough, his mother, the Goddess will respond to any of your wishes." Ophenia smiled, before darkening her eyes,
"So are you willing?"
The deal she was presenting here was a very insidious one.
Because if Perseus really woke up, well then congrattions, it worked and everything was good and right in the world.
But if Perseus never woke up or died, well then you simply did not serve Her son well enough. Better luck next time.
It was a win- win.
"Serve!!!" And hearing that particr word Queen Parthia only let out this pitched cry, as her eyes lost all its shine, bing instead dark and cold.
She very well understood the implication of that word.
''They want me to whore myself to that brat! Preposterous!''
''No wonder these skanks were skirting around the bush so much. They knew I would never ept.''
Queen Parthia finally woke up to the kind of ''ritual'' these girls were talking about, and she felt disgusted.
It was a line too far for her even with all that was being promised.
"Yes. Serve him. My master has always ¡ ''admired'' you." While Ophenia, seeing that they were this far, saw no point in hiding it anymore, as she finally revealed the second offer,
"We wish you toy with my master for three days and three nights and serve him to his utmost satisfaction."
"In turn, he will forget everything that happened in thest two days and even pray for your husband''s well being! While we will properly care for your daughter."
"Absolutely not! What do you take me for! A couple of whores like you!"
It did not take Queen Parthia even a millisecond to produce this shrieking curse, almost like a knee jerk reaction, as the furiousdy then instantly jumped up from her chair and shouted in a very sharp, high pitched tone,
"I should p every teeth out of you both for spewing such bullshit!"
"Get out! We are done here. You can do whatever you want to us. I don''t care." Queen Parthia threw all concerns to the wind as she furiously swung her hands in absolute fury.
To her loyalty and chastity to her husband were even more important than her or even perhaps her entire family''s life.
She would notpromise on it no matter what.
And the fact the other thought they could make her incensed her.
If she was still the queen, she would have had both their entire family tree executed for this transgression.
Credit where credit is due, Queen Parthia was truly a loyal wife.
In response to thisplete ripping of the agreement, Ophenia did not appear angry or try and urge or threaten the other side.
"*Nod*" She only produced a slight smile, and got up from her seat just as Queen Parthia wanted, before making herself towards the door.
But before she left with Gelene, she did leave with this piece, sweeting saying,
"I''m sure the contents of the offer have caught you off guard, Your Highness. Understandable." "There is no need to make your decision right now. Think it over for a few days. Perhaps you wille to a different conclusion once you have cooled down and the suddenness of it all has subsided."
Even with this furious rejection, Ophenia still believed Queen Parthia could be made to turn around.
And Gelene joined her too, adding,
"We indeed are able to help your husband, Queen Parthia. There is also no reason for you to doubt the veracity of that. My master has received divine knowledge from Goddess Gaia on curing all kinds of diseases. He is without equal in this mortal world."
"Just go to the pce infirmary and ask all the advanced medical techniques we have should you require further proof."
The pair then left Queen Parthia alone to her thoughts with these.
Exiting the room, Ophenia and Gelene walked across the long corridor silently, each reflecting on the contents of the conversation they just had.
"Well, that could have gone better!" Until finally Gelene opened with this sigh.
The pair had been quite confident in their n to strong arm thedy into Alexander''s bed.
But unfortunately, it seemed Queen Parthia was too stubborn.
"Don''t worry, she will agree." However contrary to her counterpart, Ophenia still held hope and even sounded confident.
Her guts told her so.
"And if she doesn''t? You know we can''t actually do any of the things we told her." Gelene on the other hand was more afraid of not being able to follow up on the threat and thus appear weak on all subsequent meetings.
Alexander of course would not throw the princess, concubine or not, into those parties.
The man had even rejected her idea to teach the princess a lesson as he had done with Mikaya and the wall.
And there was no way they were going to risk doing it behind his back.
"She will. I know it." But Ophenia did not seem to even bother herself with the ifs.
Her gut told her the former queen would acquiesce.
And she was right!
Only two days after their conversation, the trio were back at the same ce.
But now the atmosphere was vastly different.
Ophenia and Gelene gave off a radiant, victorious aura, while from Queen Parthia rose tendrils of defeat and resignation and perhaps even shame.
Even she could not believe she was about to do what she thought she was about to do- betraying her husband.
But since she hade this far, there was no way she could back out of it.
"I agree to the ritual." Thus sitting across the table, Queen Parthia opened the conversation as such, her voice low, shamed, and even a bit tired.
She almost felt like tearing up.
"Great! You will not regret this" While Ophenia''s reaction was naturally the exact opposite- loud, jubnt, and cheerful.
She had won!
So she then began to quickly unveil the details, "Let us tell what you about the ritual. It''s nothing tooplicated"
"You will just have toe to my master''s chambers one night.He will first oil and scent your body and then you will just have to follow what hemands you to do."
"That''s it. Simple!"
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Chapter 932 Bagging a Queen (Part-2)
Chapter 932 Bagging a Queen (Part-2)
?Thest two days had been agonizing for Lady Parthia.
Just like Ophenia predicted, after she got the time to cool down a bit and reminisce on the things discussed, Lady Parthia began to understand she really did not have a choice.
The other side held all the cards, and she had nothing.
So struggling here could aplish nothing except prolonging her pain.
It was far better and easier to just bow the head.
But it was not also only hopelessness that made her ultimately agree.
It was hope too.
Because just like Gelene had asked, Lady Parthia had indeed visited the pce infirmary in thest two days.
And the things that she saw and learned there shocked her.
Being a queen and the mother of sixteen children, Lady Parthia had talked to so many doctors on many ounts regarding her various children when they fell ill that she could not even keep count.
But the physicians Alexander brought with him were really on another level.
Given her status, Lady Parthia was able to get quite an intimate tour of the infirmary and the things they told her and the diagrams and pictures they showed were really too magical.
How the eaten food was digested, how blood flowed through the body, and even the shape of the heart.
Diagrams of all such and many more were shown to her.
Lady Parthia had not been able to appreciate the skills of the doctors when they treated her husband because Perseus''s case was really special.
But now, after seeing all the things for herself, Lady Parthia could not help but be moved.
She was a very religious and superstitious woman and so all these ''miraculous knowledge'' worked to convince her that perhaps Alexander was indeed blessed, perhaps the man could indeed heal her husband¡. perhaps if she prayed hard enough her love coulde back.
It was through these thoughts that she was pushed over the line and she ultimately agreed.
Lady Parthia stayed silent as Ophenia went a bit further on the various acts the rituals would demand of her, by the end of which Lady Parthia felt her body burning with shame.
There were many things she was told Alexander might ask her to do in bed she did not think even was possible.
This ranged from acts such as pleasuring the man''s organs with the hand and mouth, which was something only whores and perhaps some low level mistresses did in Tibias, but never official wives as it was deemed too demeaning.
To the much more shocking act of taking it in the butt.
In Tibias, it was almost like a natural, unviblew that intimate acts between men and women only involved the female genitalia.
The anal stuff was reserved strictly for the men on men.
Hence the refineddy was stunned, to the point that apanying her blush, she also began to re a bit in rage.
"How is this a ritual? It''s so filthy! This is just you asking me to whore myself out! " She then could not help but blurt out in anger.
And this was indeed true,
There was no ritual since Ophenia had just made it all up on the spot.
The girl simply wanted Alexander to bang the queen, as a sign of his conquest and victory.
She had clearly noticed before her master''s itch to take thedy, as his eyes lingered on the ample breasts and more specifically herrge butt way longer than necessary.
But he appeared unable to take thest step due to his morality.
So Ophenia believed that as his priestess, it was her responsibility to pave the way for her master to enjoy himself.
When questioned about the veracity of the ritual, the high priestess sharpy rebuked Lady Parthia, "Do not insult the gods mydy! We mortals are not meant to question them!" as she brought the threat of the gods, before pointedly saying, "The ritual calls for Gaia''s son''s gratification. You will be what he wants you to be. Whore, ve, or even a dog should it please him. Understood!"
"....." Lady Parthia could find no word to counter.
This was the ''fixed price'' that was being demanded of her if she wanted her husband back.
"Okay. I can do that." Thus resigning herself to her fate, Lady Parthia gravely nodded her head with great difficulty, "But three days is too much! One day. I will only agree to one day," before quickly making this request as she flicked her index finger.
"The ritual calls for three days. It will not work otherwise." However, Ophenia was not gonna haggle.
She knew she had the other side by the noose.
"Then can you swear that my husband will wake up after those three days?" On the other hand, Lady Parthia sought with guarantee.
Ophenia of course was unable to deliver this assurance.
"If you please my master enough." Hence she gave this vague answer.
"Who decides that? How can ¡" But given the sheer amount Lady Parthia was sacrificing, she wished to be assured of something more concentre.
And was just about to argue on that, when suddenly, Gelene cut them in a chirping tone with the words, "Why don''t we do both?" and instantly felt the two gazes fell on her, as if inquiring what the hell she was talking about.
Having gotten their attention, she then quicklyid out, "There is nowhere saying it had to be three consecutive days. Just three days."
"So if Lady Parthia feels she is satisfied with just one day, then let it be one day. If she wants more, she can decideter."
Gelene very cleverly pointed out a loophole.
"That works." And Lady Parthia was quick to agree. This was really the perfect solution for her.
While Ophenia furrowed her brows a bit.
She had hoped to use all three daysbined to break the queen using some of the things she had learned at the temple.
But understanding Lady Parthia''s great reluctance to the act even still, she felt pushing her too far might not be ideal.
It would be a great tragedy to lose the fish aftering so, so far.
Nod.
Thus she silently gave her approval.
"Great!" And Gelene instantly cheered with a p of her hands, before quickly turning to Lady Parthia and smiling reassuringly,
"Don''t worry, mydy. I understand you might be apprehensive about the ritual thinking you might not be able to please my master to his full satisfaction given yourck of experience."
"That''s why for the remaining time we are here in the capital, we will try our best to prepare you for it."
"We can hold the ritual once we are back in Zanzan."
Lady Parthia did not know whether to thank her for the generous offer or curse her for implying she was unskilled in bed.
''I have given birth sixteen times. You are a barren shank.'' Lady Parthia thus indignantly cursed Gelene in her heart.
"Thank you. I would be ever grateful." However outwardly, the Queen was very pleasant and graciously epted.
She considered that if she was going to be whore, she better be the best whore out there and really make her sacrifice count.
''Who knows? Perhaps Gaia will be so impressed by me that she will cure my lord after the first day.'' Thus she desperately prayed as she then sought tutge from two of Alexander''s wives, reasoning they surely must know to best please him.
As Ophenia and Gelene returned that evening from their victorious ''campaign'', naturally both had wide smiles stered on them.
Was this not what power was about?
Bring once the queen of an entire nation to her knees?
Their aplishments were naturally cause for them to be euphorious.
And their smiles were so bright that it even caused Alexander so as to inquire about its origins.
However, both skillfully dodged the inquiry.
They had discussed whether to let Alexander in on their little private venture prior and decided to present the queen as a surprise.
Ophenia would at ater date whisper into Alexander''s ear that there was a rumor going that said that since he was the son of a god, people believed sleeping with him could cure diseases and grant wishes.
"Master, even the Queen herself came to me asking about it? Inquiring if that might be true and whether her husband can be woken up through it. How should I answer?"
Ophenia innocently asked, seemingly having no problem lying to her master if she thought she was doing the right thing.
And presented with such a golden opportunity, the lustful Alexander reacted exactly as Ophenia had anticipated.
Hence for the next two weeks, Ophenia and Gelene took turns teaching the former queen some very basic techniques, such as how to use her hands, and mouth and move her hips, all for which they used a wooden toy.
And to be frank, they were astounded by just how below par the queen was in bed.
It seemed the only two positions she ever had with her husband were missionary and from the rear on all fours.
Thus given her low starting point, there was only so much the duo could teach until finally the time to depart the capital finally came.
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Chapter 933 Returning to Zanzan
Chapter 933 Returning to Zanzan
?It was already approaching November by the time Alexander was finally able to finish tying up all the loose ends at the capital and start his journey back.
He had wished to start far sooner, but new developments arose which required much of his attention, costing him a month more than he had anticipated.
The primary one eating up his time was of course the retrial of all those nobles.
With Philips''s support, Alexander was also able to gain Lord Theony''s support in this endeavor and when all three were in consort, the other nobles had no teeth to bite with to challenge Alexander''s rule.
Hence the heads of these noble houses were executed by hanging for cowardice in battle, and the favorable ess their family had to Alexander''s unique goods was suspected for three years, as Alexander finally got the chance to make an example of the consequence of desertion in the face of danger.
Aside from this Alexander also worked out some of the details on how Philips and Lord Theony should govern Tibias, as well as giving them some new infrastructure projects, like building nearby roads and digging new irrigation channels.
However, Alexander was intentionally sparse on the number of these projects here, since he already had his hands full with others.
His cement supply could only keep up with so much so he nned to open new nts in Thesalie before pushing thesetestrge projects.
Andstly, Alexander dealt with Lord Theony''s session crisis, with the result being, long story short, Theony being reinstated as his heir.
Those meetings had been particrly tedious for Alexander, but atst, Alexander was able to make the father and son makeup.
Even if at least outwardly.
However the same could not be said with Lord Theony and Philips''s rtionship which was as frosty as the temperature outside- i.e.- close to freezing.
The former still med thetter for his favorite son''s death even though they were onpletely the opposite side of the battlefield.
But with Perseus not in the picture, Philips was the next best candidate for Lord Theony to meet out his anger as the distraught father was able to let go of his dead son yet.
And Alexander honestly did not know how to feel about that.
On one hand, he did not want to see these people get along too well as it would undermine his own rule.
But on the other hand, he also did not want them to be at each other''s throats constantly since that would simply make ruling thends harder.
So Alexander tried his best to urge Lord Theony to not do anything rash and let it go, saying this was the unfortunate reality of war.
How well that worked to convince the man still remained to be seen.
Alexander''s personal entourage for the journey back consisted of his two girls, one of Lord Theony''s granddaughters who was chosen to be Cambyses''s handmaidens, Lady Parthia, Philips''s younger brother Perikles, andstly Princess Camelia, all of whom were dressed very warmly.
For winter was already here and snow was starting to fall by varying intensity.
Which is why Alexander found using the rivers to navigate increasingly dangerous.
Sheets of ice asrge as houses were asionally seen flowing across the river that was several kilometers wide even at its narrowest, while at other times, mighty blizzards would manifest themselves out of seemingly nowhere, wanting to smother everyone to death in snow and hail.
During such times, any wooden boat would be a perilous rocking chair, far too dangerous to reside in one.
Hence Alexander was forced to take the high road, marching his army down the downtrodden trail that spanned 600 km from here to Zanzan.
And let me tell you, the entire journey was miserable.
The weather was biting cold, hovering just in the low single digits during the day (or mid to high 30s for our freedom loving friends) while blizzards and snowstorms were frequent, constantly blinding everyone and everything with snow.
Meaning more often than not, the road would be filled anywhere from their ankles to their knees with snow, which made trudging through them an extreme slog.
But perhaps the greatest torture was the howling winds and the ever present perpetual drizzle that soaked everyone and everything, sapping all the warmth and making everyone feel like frozen zombies unable to even feel their faces.
It even got bad enough to the point that although the officers and generals were initially intending to ride their horses during the travel like they always had, soon these bare chested, hot blooded men found themselves shivering and quivering in cold and thus forced to share a carriage with the delicate women.
Even Alexander was no different, as the wetness, the cold temperature, and the light wind worked to give him a very runny nose, one that turned it almost as red as a reindeer''s and made him constantly sniff and blow.
And he was not alone in this, as many officers suffered the same, some even catching fevers that ran up temperatures dangerously high.
And if this was the condition of the pampered and sheltered officers, imagine the state of the regr soldiers that were forced to cover this distance on foot.
Like it was said before, it was miserable.
The soldiers certainly could not simply scuttle back to the sheltered carriages, but instead simply had to bear through it,carrying the veryrge baggage train with them.
The oxen drawn train was particrlyrge this time given all the extra supplies for the winter they were carrying, more grain, more meat, and more salt, as well as the ever valuable loot, consisting of not only gold but also clothes, pottery, metal utensils, stone, artwork good timber and even many livestock.
Along with the all important ves to boot of course.
Almost every squad (8 man team with 2 servants) had managed to snag a few ves during their campaigns, and although many were sold to the ve traders, some still remained as a handful of soldiers wanted to keep them as individual possessions.
The huge train made Alexander''s already slow even more of a crawl as men, women and even the steeds became very quickly exhausted and so a typical marching day onlysted half of the usual one, and even then you would perhaps cover half the usual distance due to all the obstacles.
There were even weather spells so bad that Alexander was forced to call aplete halt to the march several times as the Winter King danced and roared and blew across thends in any way he pleased, turning the entire ce snow white.
And the king''s rage couldst from anywhere a single day to even close to a week.
"Thank god we are not at war." And the only sigh of relief that Alexander could breathe during times such as this was that this was no campaign or worse a retreat following defeat.
But thankfully a victorious march back home where his supply lines were robust and intact, ensuring him ess to adequate grain.
This enabled him to increase the regr soldier''s rations by 30% to even 50% on some especially frigid days, in order to help boost morale and then themselves warm.
After all, cold sapped heat from the body like a vampire''s touch.
But even then Alexander would regrly get reports of many soldiers being admitted to the medical clinic, to the point that the ce was already starting to get overwhelmed, while a few soldiers would regrly die from various cold rtedplications.
Not even the nobles were safe as two lesser nobles were already reported to have passed away after sumbing to high fever.
(P.S. Author inquiry- I was wondering how would you feel if I killed a major character like this. From amon cold, fever, or other illness. Because such things did happen in real life. Many, many important figures just got ill and died.Imagine Menes taking a bath in the icy cold water with a few of his bodyguards as a fun pass time, catching a fever, and then suddenly dying. How would you feel? Shocking or underwhelming? Comment.)
Due to these bouts of bad weather, at some point, Alexander even seriously considered turning back and returning to the capital to quarter there instead.
But knowing many of the levies wanted to reach Zanzan as soon as possible no matter what in order to start preparing their field, Alexander refrained.
Instead, he urged the men forward, while he spent his time on the road inside the huge, luxurious carriage pulled by six horses, apanied by two of his wives, with whom he yed cards or chess or snakes anddders that he invented, or simply shared various stories and tales including brain puzzles and various philosophical debates.
While at right, they mostly huddled together and just slept.
Because frankly, Alexander felt too cold to bring ''it'' out.
Even for the lustful Alexander, the winds of winter seemed to have snuffed out the mes of lust.
It took Alexander''s army of 40,000 an agonizing 2 months to finally reach Thesalie 500 km away, where Alexander decided to rest for a couple of days because Gelene had fallen really ill.
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Chapter 934 Dismissing The Army
Chapter 934 Dismissing The Army
?The 500 km journey from Parthenigh to Thesalie took Alexander almost two months toplete, averaging only 15 kilometers a day- half his usual pace, all due to the weather.
And during this time, all three, Alexander, Ophenia, and Gelene suffered various sicknesses, with Gelene still running quite a high fever when they reached the city.
Thus when Alexander was afforded the luxury of resting in thevish pce with its ruler Lapitus wishing to be a gracious host and inviting him to stay and enjoy himself for a few days, the exhausted man was more than happy to ept and let the group rest their tired bodies.
"Big brother! Yay!" Alexander''s agreement to stay also caused a great cheer to erupt from Fabiyana who was also there.
The little girl had gotten a bit homesick after being all alone in Zanzan for the first time in her life and with nothing better to do there, Cambyses sent her here to spend some time with her parents.
The bright girl seemed very happy to see Alexander as she hugged and smiled brightly, while the pasha found the ten year girl to have gotten a bit bigger and a lot chubbier in thest six months, now almost looking like a round ball, with fluffy, red cheeks full of baby fat and cute little hands so fair that they almost shined under the sunlight.
Fabiyana was already showing signs of growing up into ady far more beautiful than even her mother.
Lapitus and Lady Felica had moved into Lord Ponticus''s luxurious pce upon being made the governors of the ce city, and they tended to Alexander with their heart and soul, serving him the best food, drinks, andfort they would offer.
Although sadly, in thest category, there was no item listed as Lady Felicia as Alexander could not find a proper opportunity to take this arrogant woman behind her husband and daughter''s back.
Yet.
Hence he had to restrict himself to only all the meat, cheese, butter, and wine his weary body could handle.
The two long months had been quite tough on his pte as he had to subsist on the army camp supplies, which due to obvious reasonscked variety and rich taste.
So he very much enjoyed the upgrade.
Alexander''s stay at Thesalie was simply not rest and rxation of course.
He also did quite a bit of work here.
First of which was dismissing the bulk of his army, around 20,000 of them.
He did this because he was right on the doorstep of Zanzan, his own core territory, and knew the levies were itching to return home as soon as possible so that they could start preparing for the spring nting.
But before they left, Alexander made sure to properlypensate them.
One of which included him paying the men all their leftover due sry, which was about six months of it.
The individual payments varied from soldier to soldier, since in Alexander''s army, the pay rates changed depending not only on one''s rank but also on the type of soldier they were.
For instance, foot soldiers, i.e.- the famed legionnaires got paid the least, at around 150 to 180 ropals since they were the least skilled, who were then followed by the crossbowmen who got about 20 to 30 ropals more, andstly came the most expensive group, the riders, and cavalrymen who got as much as 70 ropals more, as their skills were the hardest to muster.
As for the additional reason why Alexander did not pay his men for thest six months even though he clearly had the money to do so, well that was because that was how payments in the military worked.
Alexander, and for that fact, no army paid their workers per month every month like modern armies did.
Instead payments were divided into semiannual or quarterly installments, being given out six month or four moths increments, done so as a way to keep bureaucratic costs down as giving one monthly payment was a pain on the logistics.
Alexander''s ledgers would show he paid roughly 5,000 ropals per soldier during the entire 20 months of his campaign, costing him around 100 million ropals in total for the one and half year campaign.
Which if you will recall was almost twice the original budget of 60 million that he had originally envisioned.
Although that was only for the conquest of Thesalie.
But still, it highlighted the expense of anyrge scale war.
Something that was not easy to bear by anybody, not even the biggest nobility out there- the pasha.
As a typical pasha earned 150 to 200 million ropals annually in taxes after everyone had taken their cut.
Meaning that conducting such a campaign would require at least six to nine months of their pay.
Or in the context of a typical American earning 60,000 dors, that would be around 20,000 dors or more per year for two consecutive years.
Not an easy prospect.
Especially if you invested all that money and then still lost the campaign.
It could easily be seen from this instance that it was little wonder that many nations went broke and many kings were dethroned after losing a war and bankrupting the treasury.
Hell, the British empire, the biggest empire in history fell because it could not keep its economy afloat to maintain its oversee holdings.
Now, to be fair Alexander did not pay out all of this in cash.
All those sries were quoted pre- deduction, meaning arge portion of that was deducted from their sry as food, equipment, livestock, transport, and many other hidden and misceneous expenses, like ''medical insurance''.
So each solder only really got 50 to 100 ropals each month as actual cash.
But even then, the leftover amount was no paltry chance, especially when it was ounted for the fact that this was all ''post expenses'', i.e.- after food and lodging were taken care of.
So all of it was savings, kept with them or sent home to their families.
And adding this all up to the fourteen months of pay that Alexander had already cashed out, each solder should have more than 1,000 ropals, certainly quite arge sum for the average Joe.
However, then you have to remember that these men were soldiers, fighting on the frontlines with their lives on the line.
So knowing they could die any moment, many tried to make the most of it, spendingvishly on gambling, prostitutes, and other merriments to keep their spirits up, hence subsequently making the various camp merchants and especially the capital other merriments to keep their spirits up, hence subsequently making the various camp merchants and especially the capital of Tibias Parthnigh very rich.
Alexander knew this because had gotten the sales tax receipts of the time period from Phillips, and it showed the Tibian treasury had earned a staggering 1.6 million ropals in just those two months.
Which gave the total sales to around 40 million ropals.
Meaning each solder had spent close to 1,000 ropals there alone.
Ridiculous!
There were even some who had already finished their own money and started to get in debt, borrowing money from their fellowrades at an interest.
For these spendthrifts, Alexander''s cash ''prize'' of 600 ropals thus came as quite a relief.
At least now they would be able to return to their home with something to show for it.
In addition to this, Alexander also allowed these men to take spoils of the war worth around 1,000 to 2,000 ropals depending on their rank and battlefield contribution, such as bravery in the field, killing a set number of enemies, reward for killing an enemy officer, or even just for being in the front echelons during the start of the fight- the men in the front three rows of the formation were usually paid double, sometimes even triple- such as the skilled menmitting the heavy cavalry charges.
And Alexander''s distribution of loot was considered quite generous for the time because normally, the regr grunts usually received one to two months of their sry as spoils.
There were of course exceptions when the entire army had so much booty that they could all retire.
But such cases were very rare, only urring when conquering very rich regions, such as perhaps Alexander''s Zanzan.
Tibias was certainly not that rich and lush of a region to produce so much loot.
But even then Alexander gave each of his soldiers six months to even a whole year''s wage as a reward.
This was such arge amount that even though Alexander was already known to be a generous lord, and perhaps even a bit infamous for being somewhat loose with his money, such luxurious treatment still shocked many.
30 million ropals disappearing just like that seemed excessive to them, with even Menes privately urging Alexander to reconsider.
"Alexander. These men are still our soldiers. Not our children. No need to pamper them so much." His close friend had asked, representing the will of many of the nobles and officers.
Even this tall general who was himself quite beloved by soldiers for his fair treatment towards them found Alexander''s care excessive.
But Alexander this time ignored the advice, rationalizing therge expense as buying the men''s loyalty and stimting the economy.
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Chapter 935 The City of Thesalie (Part-1)
Chapter 935 The City of Thesalie (Part-1)
??If Alexander''s intention behind the generous loot dividend was truly to win the hearts of his soldiers, then the move''s efficacy could hardly be questioned for it was clearly out on disy for all to see.
The men could be heard loudly and openly cheering and praising Alexander for his sumptuous reward.
"Long live the Pasha. Glory to his rule."
"May Ramuh bless our great lord. The cherished general."
"As long as we follow him, victory will always be ours."
And many more such wild praises.
It was certainly clear they would respond eagerly if and when Alexander called them to battle next time.
This alone was enough to make Alexander dole out the 30 million ropal ''severance package''.
He even wished that perhaps enticed by these rich rewards, many of these men would give up farming ande join the army permanently since Alexander intended to increase his standing force from the current 10,000 to a staggering 30,000 in the near future.
And he would love to have these men on boards since they have already whetted their de with blood.
Besides, what was he going to do with those 30 million ropals anyway?
Most of it would simply end up in his treasury gathering dust anyway.
And some of the spoils were even perishables- like pickled fruits and salted meat which would simply go to waste unless Alexander went through a lot of hassle to preserve them.
He had little need for it.
Hence instead, he found it much better to let the men who actually needed the stuff have it.
That way the goods would also enter the economy and start cycling through it, benefitting all.
To make the decision even easier for Alexander, much of these 30 million ropals was not in gold but in goods.
Meaning there would be little demand pulled intion, i.e.- the phenomenon where too much money was chasing too few goods, which happened to ur frequently after conquering newnds.
Due to all these reasons, Alexander parted with roughly one third of his loot then and there despite some opposition from his retainers.
The dismissal of the army was Alexander''s first task while in Thesalie.
The second was checking up on the well being of the city.
And so he first had Lady Felicia meet him in the study one glorious, sunny morning.
As for the reason why it was her rather than her husband, Lapitus, reporting to Alexander, well that''s because while in theory it was him who was in charge of the city, in reality it was Lady Felicia who truly ran it.
Lapitus was just the figurehead used to cate the crowd because they would never ept a woman as their liege.
The man had almost no talent or even interest in governance and still spent most of his days at the old guard building with his men, drinking and making merry as well as leading the city watch.
While it was his wife who did all the heavy lifting.
Alexander started the meeting with a look at the tax ledgers and found the city''s coffers were being fattened at a very respectable rate, much more than in Lord Ponticus''s time.
And what made that truly incredible was that since Alexander exempted the city from allnd tax, it meant everything came from the sales tax, indicating the sales of goods had increased dramatically in thest few months.
Although Alexander had expected the flow of goods into the city to increase, he had not expected it to increase so dramatically, that too in just thest six months.
"Hmmm. The numbers look quite good." Hence satisfied, Alexander closed therge, leather bound red paper book and gave a pleased smile to Lady Felicia.
"All due to your grace, my lord." And thedy replied back with almost an ingratiating grin, saying, "The volume of taxes were so much that we have had to frantically hire more magistrates at the gates and harbors to process them. Haha."
Thedy in charge sounded quite pleased with herself,
This was because she had always loved power, she knew that.
And its allure had only gotten more and more stronger over thest few months, turning it almost like a hypnotic drug as she got used to wielding it almost without restraint during this time.
And she really wanted to keep it that way.
Which meant pleasing the man in front of him.
That''s why it was such a relief to see that the pasha was satisfied.
Following this, Alexander then decided to move on to the next topic.
"How are the housing projects going on? Have you finished building them?" He posed.
This was a directive he had given Lady Felicia to build a series of newer and better housing along the city''s poorer district to provide cheap housing.
"Ummm¡ we are still in the middle ofpleting them, my lord. It''s a lot of buildings you see."
However this time, thedy opposite of him was unable to give a positive answer and drooped her head a bit.
She had tried toplete them as fast as conditions would allow, but still found the speed to have hit a bottleneck.
"It''s okay. Try toplete them as quickly as possible." While Alexander appeared to be quite understanding here.
Because to him, this kind of made sense.
The new buildings that he asked for were the traditional, simple three to four stories consisting of units holding two to three rooms, the kind of ones found in any medieval cities.
These were made of wood, mud y, and in some very specific parts stone, and took quite a bit of time to build.
At least rtive to the Soviet style concrete apartment blocks that Alexandermissioned back in Zanzan.
So he was willing to be much more lenient here.
As for why he did not also use cement for these buildings, well simply because Alexander did not have enough spare material to fund this project.
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Hence the choice of the slower, costlier, and also much more Directly support the authors on WebNovel!
prone to fire alternative until he could build more kilns to rectify that problem.
"Ahem! About that my lord," Responding to Alexander''s urging to finish the buildings quicker, with a fake cough, Lady Felicia sought Alexander''s attention, before iming in a somewhat pitched voice,
"Although we are continuing to build new houses, at the moment however the city seems not to be able to keep up with the demand."
"Just take a look atst month. We had 3,000 new inhabitants in the city! And that''s just entering the city! I''m not even counting all thoseing to the surrounding towns and viges! And this is in winter!"
The raven haired beauty spoke each sentence with an ever increasing stress on the expletive, her pupils quivering a bit, as she atst pleaded at the impending problem,
"Lord Alexander, allow me to close the gates. If it keeps up, the city is soon going to be too crowded."
Thedy was very rmed about the ce''s burgeoning poption as Thesalie was not built to house so many people, at least not so suddenly.
But to this, Alexander had a much cooler, rxing posture.
To him, a bursting poption was hardly a bane.
More of a boon as it meant more economic activity.
"What''s attracting them so much? Is it all the trade?" He thus instead posed in an intriguing tone, as he rested his back on the back of the chair.
Such mass migrations from the countryside were usually quite rare outside of disasters like war or famine and he wanted to know the exact reason.
"Yes. The newly opened trade route with Zanzan has proved especially lucrative for many my lord." Lady Felicia answered with a nod, pointing, "All kinds of cheap and new goods have started flowing in like the floodgates have been opened."
"And the relief money my lord had given to the popce after taking the city over meant these people had a lot of coins to spend."
"It is the perfect marriage."
Thedy draped in arge, red woolen shawl was quick to reply, smirking a bit by the end, before continuing,
"Also, Thesalie has shown itself to be a central hub for goods from Zanzan to flow to the rest of the country since it possesses thergest harbor along the Diannu for at least the next 200 kilometers."
"This also has attracted a lot of merchants and wholesalers from all over the region, who wish to buy low from here and then sell it high elsewhere ind. These greedy parasites are all flooding to the gates like a moth to a me, with mouths drooling to try and capitalize on all the new business opportunities. They are the cause of all the trouble!" Lady Felicia frowned her sharp eyebrows a bit as she cursed, her face darkening a bit in anger.
The term ''greedy parasite'' really revealed a lot about the woman''s worldview to Alexander.
Lady Felicia viewed them as nothing butzy parasites who produced nothing but nevertheless profited the most from others'' hard work, a truly unscrupulous way of living in her eyes.
And if she could have had her way with them, she would have certainly made these men know their ce.
Chapter 936 The City of Thesalie (Part-2)
Chapter 936 The City of Thesalie (Part-2)
??Lady Felicia''s opinion about the merchants was amon viewpoint shared by most of the upper aristocracy of the time.
ording to them, the most prestigious job of the time was being a farmer, with many proverbs and sayings singing their praises.
Such as- ''It is the farmer who toils away in the field just to feed us and from themes the strongest and best soldiers.''
They were then followed by the artisans who were respected for their craft and artistic talents, with the best of them even being called the architects of the gods.
While at the bottom of the barrel were the merchants, who were seen almost as leeches.
The prejudice was so strong that there were even instances where fathers would refuse to marry their daughters into such families, even if thetter was very wealthy.
Simply because of the social faux pas.
Adhania too had these conceptions, but nowhere this strong.
And it was because of this reason that even though Alexander was aware of Lady Felicia''s thoughts, he did not bother to change her worldview.
She was already too mature for Alexander to effectively bring her over to his side with words alone.
And besides, he did not really need to.
It did not matter what she thought.
This was Alexander''s city and he had strictly instructed her to encourage the gathering of merchants, regardless of her personal views.
But perhaps this was also one of the reasons why Lady Felicia was this peeved.
If she could be just allowed to close the gates to these merchants, much of her housing troubles would disappear overnight.
And she tried to deliver this idea to Alexander, albeit in a roundabout way as she knew the man would not ept it easily.
Hence Lady Felicia added with a further scowl on her face,
"My lord, I have no issues with the merchants. But apanying them and theirrge families are always a whole host of other good for nothing rabbles- beggars, and vagabonds who have nothing better to do."
"These wastes follow behind the merchants, hoping to gnaw at the scraps left by their betters like vultures stalk the dead. These miscreants are nothing but a source of trouble!"
Lady Felicia sounded very annoyed by the presence of these men, as she thus turned to urge Alexander,
"You must deal with them before they start to be a problem. The city guards are already having a hard time trying to keep order. Justst week, we had three tavern brawls, two fires, and three dead!"
"Crime is skyrocketing and the number of beggars, thieves, and robbers is swelling like the Diannu is going to flood. If we do not act soon, it is only a matter of time before the streets are ruled by the gang!"
Here Lady Felicia was certainly exaggerating a bit, as she wished to use these examples to rm Alexander and convince him to close the gates.
"The gates stay open, no matter what!"
However regardless of her efforts, Alexander instantly shut thedy down with an unequivocal flick of his wrist, then rebuked her in a slightly annoyed tone, "If you are having trouble keeping order, then recruit more guards. You earned so much coin from taxation. What is it for? To sit on it andy eggs? Use it!"
Alexander could easily see what game Lady Felicia was trying to y and it peeved him since her end goal would result in undermining the city''s growth, all because the problems it caused were proving challenging for her.
Thus he ended with the following instruction, delivered in a hard tone,
"Start recruiting 100 new guards¡ or more if you need it. Have it done by the time I leave for Zanzan. In the meantime, I will lend you the numbers from my army. So stop making any more excuses."
"Yes, my lord. Thank you." And facing thisshing, Lady Felicia finally stopped trying to weasel out of her work, and instead obediently nodded.
''Really, you have to be harsh on this woman to keep her straight.'' And seeing so Alexander could not help but muse.
Following this, the pasha then moved on to other topics, as he sped his hands up and asked,
"You mentioned people are alsoing to the suburbs of the city. Tell me about that! Why?"
"Yes, this is because many of the shops and guilds are hungrily looking for new workers. It is not that we are only buying from Zanzan. It appears we are selling a lot too." Lady Felicia quickly opined, knowing such a situation created a lucrative draw for the poor and destitute folks of the war torn countryside who were more than happy to respond to this demand.
Many families, scarred by the war and perhaps even without a ce to go, due to having their viges burned down, came flocking into the city, hoping that they could luckilynd any job, that their son could luckily catch the eye of a craftsman like a cksmith or carpenter and potter and be their apprentice, and perhaps if they were really, really lucky, that their daughter could catch the eye of such an apprentice and be married to him.
For these poor folks, that was the dream, since artisans generally earned 30% to 50% more than farmers and even had a steady source of ie, while thetter''s annual ie varied greatly depending on the weather that year.
Lady Felicia, after informing Alexander of this, then added with a bit of a surprise in her tone, "It seems there is a lot of demand for Thesalian products in Zanzan. Especially our pottery and wine. Who knew?"
It seemed the current volume of demand for their product had caught the woman a bit off guard as she did not think they would be so lucrative.
It should be noted that even before the conquest of Thesalie, both sides still traded, albeit with a lot of trade barriers.
So none of what Thesalie was offering should be totally novel, unique products like Alexander''s cheap steel or brown sugar, or soap and paper, which sold as hot cakes inrge part due to their first time appearance.
Hence when ounting for all of that, even the removal of the trade barriers should not have created the kind of ravenous hunger currently being disyed by the other side.
It seemed too high to be true for thedy.
Alexander on the other hand, due to having a much greater insight into this quickly figured out the reason why, and let her know with a smirk,
"The reason for this sudden demand is because it''s just the nouveau riche Zanzantines celebrating their ill gotten loot from the war."
"What is Thesalie famous for? Wine!"
"And for many people, this is the first time they have the coins to enjoy this famous drink!"
"Don''t worry, this is just a fad. The coin will soon dry out and the hype will soon pass." The man finished with a casual reassuring flick of his hands, while Lady Felicia nodded with a bit of a sigh of relief.
The reason made sense to her and at least this meant her housing troubles were mostly temporary.
While at the same time, the woman was also intrigued by Alexander''s choice of words, feeling this was probably the first time she heard a thief call his gains ''ill gotten''.
Because that was what Alexander essentially was in the more baser sense of the words.
A thief who had gotten rich by taking from others.
As for Alexander, he was more concerned about what would happen to all the excess supply that was going to build in response to the current demand.
Because, as he said earlier, this was not going tost forever.
Alexander initially thought about being a good samaritan and warning the merchants not to get carried away.
But then assumed better of it.
Because most will not listen either way and only think he was trying to swindle them and keep them poor.
''Well, whatever. You win some, you lose some.'' Thus he decided to leave the men to the cruel ws ofpetition and elimination.
Instead, he turned to the next item on the agenda.
Perhaps even the most important kind, as Alexander turned to inquire.
"How goes the nting around these parts? Did you properly implement what I asked you to do?"
Before he left, Alexander had transferred thousands of heavy plows and hundreds of draft animals from Zanzan to the vicinity of thesends, asking thedy in charge to lease these instruments out to the surrounding farmers for a portion of their profit.
"Yes!" And the ask got arge grin from Lady Felicia, a clear evidence of good news toe, as she expertly ryed,
"We did as you asked. And the results¡ hahaha. The farmers imed they got almost double the yield than at any other time of their life. 650 kg per hectare for wheat! Hehe, you should have been there to see their grinning faces, Lord Pasha!"
Just like those farmer''s facades, Lady Felicia''s countenance too appeared flushed as she found herself subconsciously giggling, while reporting this, letting Alexander sense she was genuinely excited by it.
Any true daughter of Thesalie would be by this bumper harvest.
Chapter 937 The City of Thesalie (Part-3)
Chapter 937 The City of Thesalie (Part-3)
??Lady Felicia had certainly embellished the truth a bit when she said Alexander''s farming techniques had doubled the harvest.
In reality, it was closer to 40% to 50% increase.
Which was still great no question.
But 650 kg per hectare was still quite a bitcking whenpared to Zanzan''s average of nearly 1,000 kg (one ton) per hectare, and minuscule whenpared to the astounding more than 3,000 kg (three tons) per hectare found in some very, very fertile parts of the Tibias during bumper harvests.
But whenpared to the traditional yield of the surroundingnds here that ran between 350 to 450 kg per hectare depending on the weather, it was indeed a great improvement.
For context, in Alexander''s previous life, 650 kg of grain per hectare was the average yield Greece had under Roman rule, while Tunisia''s average yield was 400 kg per hectare.
Meaning that a country that was hot, arid, and 90% desert sometimes had better harvest than thends around Thesalie depending on the weather.
And if not for the southern parts of the country helping to chip in to feed Thesalie and the surrounding popce, the city and itsnds would have long ago starved and perhaps even bepletely void of civilization, a dead zone.
Thus the improvement in soil fertility was greatly appreciated.
Great enough to put a smile on the farmer''s face, not only because of this one harvest, but because they knew this would be their new norm as the weather this year also had been nothing to write home about, neither too good, neither too bad, but only average.
"Praise be to the Pasha. Chosen of Gaia!"
"The Lord is blessed."
"May the gods continue to favor him."
Many farmers were even heard chanting this.
And many more farmers even began to flock to the Gaia Temple in the city because of this, wishing to convert to Alexander''s new faith.
Alexander wouldter visit the main temple and talk to the priests to know that in just thest month, the number of followers around Thesalie had gone from in the hundreds to the high thousands, a truly astonishing feat.
Such an urrence was caused by the Gaia priests and priestesses that Theocles had appointed there, who capitalized on the great harvest on directives from Theocles and worked day and night proselytizing Alexander''s faith.
"The goddess has brought her favored child to you. And he has gifted you wealth and sustenance beyond anything you could have ever hoped for! Will you still continue to deny his favors onto you?"
"Come! Our lord is the Given of Life and the Sustainer of the Worlds! Come to the straight path. The path that leads us to Him, and that does not lead you astray."
Alexander would find this particr sermon being recited by a lean ck priest dressed in green and white especially charming, and seeing the man had a particr way with words, would make the man head of this Temple branch, much to the other''s gratitude, as well as increase funding for their endeavor.
But now back to the meeting at hand, with the farming section out of the way, Alexander then moved on to anotherrge task- the building of the water supply and sewage system.
Due to the nt topology of the ce, Alexander did not see the need to build aqueducts here.
Instead, foregoing the expensive infrastructure, Alexander opted for building a series of small, artificial channels running through the city, drawing water from the Diannu River and nearby springs to provide the local popce with fresh, running water.
These canals were small, about 1 meter in width on average, and it was nned to have many of them run all throughout the city, letting anyone with a bucket refill their needs from these streams as they saw fit.
Or if that was too much of a hassle, one could also go to one of the many nearby huge wells being built and simply pump the water up.
All these canals would end there, storing the water inrge underground cisterns.
It was a much more easier and cost effective method than building all those huge aqueducts.
As for the reason why Alexander was able to do such a thing here but not in Zanzan, it was because that city was in much more even ground, diminishing the effects of gravity on flowing water, thus making it not feasible to be ''pumped''.
The city also had no close fresh water source, andbined together, Alexander was forced to build kilometers of infrastructure at a nt at the cost of millions just to deliver water.
Whereas here in Thesalie, the water could naturally flow from the elevated parts of the river and springs to the city situated downhill by only digging a canal and letting the naturalw of gravity do all the heavy lifting.
It was that easy!
"How far along are you in building the water supply to the city? And the sewage system?" Hence, curious to know the progress on these fronts, Alexander posed so to Lady Felicia.
"We are close to finishing the canals. It should be done soon!" Thedy was quick to report in a chirpy voice, further informing Alexander with a hint of pride, "The engineers also suggested that we add iron or wooden grates along the points of the canals to catch any rubbish that falls into it. The water will stay fresher that way! We are even nning to employ some men just to pick these up."
Lady Felicia seemed very pleased with herself, but then her voice she suddenly frowned,
"Regarding the sewage system however¡." her voice turned difficult, "the earth below ground is proving harder than anticipated. It is all rock and iron below I''m told. Even with all the new tools my lord has given us, we are finding it hard to excavate. Some of the men even fear it might not even be possible."
As previously mentioned, Thesalie was sitting on a huge solid chunk of iron ore, but given it was the city''s foundation, exacting this valuable resource proved too difficult.
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Alexander thought he could do something about it with tools made from his much better and stronger steel, but s, it seemed it was still too hard.
"Okay, cancel it then." Thus instead of trying to smash his head against this literal rock wall, Alexander casully swung his palm with this directive, much to Lady Felicia''s surprise, since she figured the man not to give up so easily.
But her confusion was quickly rectified when she heard the man speak that showed he was not giving up on the n but simply offering an alternative one.
"Instead, we will build a few huge canals throughout the city, which will be used solely to carry all the wastes the city produces."
"All the public toilets and baths will empty into these channels as will all the wastes collected from all over the city by the various sanitary units. And then everything can end up in some forest far, far away from here."
Yes.
Since the underground sewage system was not possible, Alexander simply decided to bring it above ground, using the flowing water to sweep away all the distasteful elements far, far away from the city.
Sure, such a thing would have the disadvantage of making the ce stink, at the very least the vicinity of the canal, but, ancient cities stunk anyway courtesy of the refuse everything.
Alexander would hardly be able to make it any much worse than it already was.
"That¡.ummm," However, in much contrary to Alexander''s expectation of Lady Felicia readily agreeing to this easy n, she instead appeared to be hesitating, like she wanted to say something but was not sure how.
"Any problem?" Alexander hence clearly inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Ummm¡ I do not quite understand it myself, my lord," And encouraged by the voice, Lady Felicia started in an unsure tone, rying, "But some of the engineers were telling me how they were having some trouble building a few of the canals because some parts of the city were higher than others. The water was not flowing smoothly. I was just afraid that the same situation coulde up here." before raising her head and quickly suggesting,
"Perhaps I could invite some of them so that you might get to the bottom of this. Like I said, I''m not an expert on such constructions."
"Hmmm¡ sure!" And being made aware of this, Alexander quickly hummed so.
Although he was fairly sure what the problem here was that Lady Felicia was talking.
Since thend around the city was never a constant gradient slope, but had many bumps and obstacles, it sometimes resulted in the water having to flow uphill before going downhill again.
Which was a problem for gravity.
Alexander''s meeting with the engineers would prove him to be on the dot as the men would report that many canals had most of the water spilling to the sides instead of flowing downward due to ''these protrusions'', which were toorge and hard to be simply knocked down.
"You continue to build the canals. I will send some men from Zanzan with the method to solve this problem." However, asking water to travel uphill, for a small distance, was not too big a hurdle for Alexander.
It had not been too big for people of his time for more than two thousand years.
All due to a small invention called Archemdies Screw.
Chapter 938 The City of Thesalie (Part-4)
Chapter 938 The City of Thesalie (Part-4)
??Archemedies''s screw was essentially arge screw, open at both ends and encased lengthwise in a watertight covering that could be used to raise water up to 1 to 1.5 meters.
It was invented by, as the name suggests Archemedies around 280 B.C. and then extensively used ancient irrigation, such as to draw up water from the river into the surrounding elevated farnds.
While its modern days were too numerous to describe.
Alexander was quite happy to be reminded of this vital equipment because it really was an extremely useful tool, especially for agriculture in mountainous areas.
Using it here could be revolutionary!
Hence he nned to have his smithies forge the product in vast numbers and send it to Thesalie.
That was why he simply asked the engineers to continue proceeding as they were, while also nning to undertake quite a few more irrigation projects around thesends after it was produced.
For now though, Alexander returned back to the meeting, as with thisst thing ticked off the list, Alexander then got to talking to Lady Felicia about the various administrative affairs of the ce, the challenges she faced, and how she nned to face them.
He asked her about the staff, and her monthly expenses, and even advised her to increase their numbers to keep up with the ballooning city.
But more importantly, Alexander made sure to stress the importance of street sweepers and garbage collecting, urging her to keep the city as clean as possible by enforcing strict litteringws.
"Butchers, dyers, and animal handlers should be especially heavily fined or even thrown out of the city if they are found dumping their waste on the streets or the river."
"While any house with garbage in their front streets should be made to clean it themselves."
Alexander proposed, and then turned towards thedy opposite of him to urge,
"Felicia, you must do all these, if not for no other but yourself. It would be a shame if you suddenly caught a disease and died. All that power¡ lost¡ without being able to savor one bit." Alexander half snickered as he tried to y to Lady Felicia''s weakness.
And to his pleasure got a swift nod of the head from the other side.
After this Alexander then simply conducted some small talk as he somewhat familiarized himself with all the lesser powers dwelling in the city, most too insignificant to enter his eyes.
But one power that he was unable to ignore was the city''s guilds, as Lady Felicia would inform,
"My lord, since the moment they knew you were here, people from there have been constantly petitioning me to set up a meeting with you. They seemed very eager to discuss various business terms with you. What should I tell them?"
"Terms¡." Hearing that word, Alexander slightly trailed off, before locking his brows a bit and arrogantly saying, "What terms do they think they can discuss with me?"
Alexander did not have a good impression of the guilds.
Because he saw them as being antipetitive and restrictive to the flourishment of the economy.
Sure, they also produced some positive benefits to the society, such as looking after the orphans and widows of the merchants and helping those that ran into bankruptcy, as well as making it difficult for the local lords to forcefully seize all their property by sticking together, but they also fixed prices, determined working hours and punished anyone for working too long, as well as heavily influencing the market by determining who or who could not enter the guild.
Due to all this, Alexander determined these establishments were far more trouble than they were worth and very much wanted to dismantle them.
And although Lady Felicia would not exactly read Alexander''s thoughts, she certainly got the memo.
Which was why she sounded a bit pleading as she voiced,
"My lord, I do not think you should dismiss these men. They might be low born, but they still hold a lot of money and quite some influence in the city. Thesalie''s rapid prosperity is in no small part due to them. Perhaps you should at least hear them out."
As Lady Felicia advised so, it seemed a bit weird to her that Alexander disliked the guilds but was somehow pro business.
It was almost paradoxical.
But in Alexander''s eyes, the two were very different things.
However he also knew that different or same, it was true that these organizations had a lot of merchants in their pockets.
It would be unwise to simply disregard them.
There were instances of entire noble houses bing thoroughly destitute after aggravating the guilds, as the establishment could decide to entirely boycott thosends, meaning no traveling merchants, no peddlers, and no caravans for the residents, resulting in almost no sales tax revenue from thends and sometimes much worse, even the disappearance of a criticalponent for every day life like salt.
That would be a nail in the coffin for anyone.
Thus everyone tried to be in their good books.
Of course, the above example was the most extreme response in their arsenal, the nuclear option so to speak, since it would also mean the loss of arge customer base and revenue for the guild as well.
So they only ever did this when the merchants were pushed beyond their tolerance limits by the local noble through sheer tyranny.
Thus mostly deserved what came to them.
Alexander was not like that and even if he were, the effect of a boycott would be far weaker with him due to all the unique products he had.
Thus in all likelihood, their response would be far more subtle.
But even then they could certainly make life harder for Alexander.
Such as by paying the street rats and gangs to make trouble and obstacle businesses not belonging to the guild.
Alexander preferred to avoid that.
"Do you know what they want to discuss?" Hence, rationalizing a bit, Alexander again posed the question, this time being serious.
And this tone sounded quite reassuring to Lady Felicia, as she let out a sigh in her heart, before hurriedly conveying,
"Yes. They said they wanted to simply meet their new lord. But really, they want to discuss various things- like the goods that wereing from Zanzan, their quality assurance, the tax rates, rents in the market districts, and¡ umm¡. a few other things." By the end of it, Lady Felicia suddenly turned a bit quieter by the end, like she was embarrassed and slightly afraid to say thest part.
But this only intrigued Alexander, and as he sent her a inquisitive look, she finally squeaked out in a low, voice,
"Also, father¡ seems to have owed them a lot of money. They are now demanding that back."
As soon as she finished hung her head.
While Alexander was a bit surprised hearing so.
This was his first time hearing of this, and "Hmmm." he could not help but hum as he traced his chin.
If Lord Ponticus really had outstanding debts, then it would be quite a matter of headache for Alexander.
Because the debate of who owned the debts of and after it was conquered was an onerous one.
On it, one side deliberated that the responsibility of the debts belonged to the lord who took them and that it should be they and they alone held responsible for paying them back.
''Why should one pay for the acts of another''s of which they had no control of?'' They reasoned.
And this type of thought was held, unsurprisingly, by mostly the conquerors.
While the defeated side, as well as the debtor side argued that these loans were given not to individuals but to thend itself, reasoning that without thend they would have never given so much money, that the money was used to improve thends and some even imed thatnd itself was the coteral for the loan.
Both sides had valid points, and which side generally depended on a case by case.
But more often than not, it was actually the second group that won, not thend conquering first group.
And this was because the guilds lending this money would be typically very rich, that was how they were able to finance the loan after all, and if the new owners did not pay, well simr to before, they could stop doing business with these conquerors, and even cklist from doing business with any other associates.
But here, Alexander was not afraid of something this extreme happening to him.
So he was currently intending to lean more towards the first option.
After all, he did not like them in the first ce.
But then again, he also did not stiff all the lenders too much.
It had to be remembered that Alexander sacked this city not even a year ago, but they were noting to him asking forpensation.
Meaning they were showing quite a bit of restraint on their part.
So perhaps it would be wiser for Alexander to respond in kind rather than with hostility.
Thus musing a bit, he instructed, "I do not have the time to meet with them this time. But Tell them to send what they want to talk about. I will soon send a representative."
This representative would of course be Camius- the one with therge trade guild of his own.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 939 The City of Thesalie (Part-5)
Chapter 939 The City of Thesalie (Part-5)
??Alexander decided to leave the fate of the guilds to Camius primarily because he wanted some of his retainer to take over some of his responsibilities.
It felt tiring to him to do almost everything himself.
While on the other side, Lady Felicia was feeling both relieved that Alexander had decided to take the guilds seriously but also a bit disheartened she did not get to host the negotiations.
But hey, you win some, you lose some.
"How much did your father owe them exactly?" Then she heard Alexander suddenly muse so curiously.
Because the amount would be perhaps the most important factor in deciding whether Alexander was going to pay it back.
"43 million (21.5 million ropals) libras!" Came the quoted number from Lady Felicia, her head once again drooping as she reiterated.
''What the fuck!'' And Alexander almost jumped out of his chair hearing it.
This was no chump change.
This was nearly 3 times the city''s yearly budget.
No wonder she was reluctant to reveal this.
"What did he spend it on''''? Alexander could not help bursting out incredulously, unable to think of a reasonable expense.
"I¡.." To this, the other side had no answer either, and could only reveal in a mosquito like voice, "There was nothing on the ledgers and I got to know only when the guild master came to me. That was only a few months ago. Perhaps he was simply extravagant!"
''Fuck yeah! He was extravagant.'' Alexander could only purse his lips and curse
"Let''s move on." Then, as if to forget the unpleasant instance, Alexander quickly posed so, before suddenly producing a pleased smiling look,
"Well I think that''s it for the current affairs of the city. I must say, I am quite satisfied. Good work, Felicia."
To thedy sitting opposite, this was like mellifluous music, and her heart danced in joy. It was like being bathed with sweet rainfall after a long scorching drought, for one of her most feared oues, Alexander bing angry over her father''s debt, had just abated.
"It is my honor to serve you, my lord." So with arge grin, thedy slightly bowed humbly, feeling quite ecstatic.
"Mmmm, but there is still a lot to be here. As you said, the city is suffering from a myriad of problems." However that happiness seemingly appeared to be quite short lived, as Alexander was quick to produce more work for thedy, saying with a light smile,
"There are a few new projects you will need toplete. Let me tell you about some of it!"
Towards like, Lady Felicia half groaned, and even wanted to rebuke, ''We are able to barely keep up with our current efforts my lord,'' but ultimately decided to keep quiet and listen, although she struggled to keep a straight face.
Fortunately for her, this section of the talks did not take long.
"I will be building a few cement kilns," Alexander first revealed, wishing to start threerge, new cement kilns in the city to meet the increased demand, and then swiftly added,
"Don''t worry, you will not have to figure it all out on your own. I will be sending some workers and engineers from Zanzan to oversee everything. All you have to do is amodate and cooperate with them to the best of your abilities."
This was much to Lady Felicia''s relief.
Along with that, Alexander also ordered the construction of severalrge water wheels along the Cisran hills to power the balling machines used to grind the produced clinkers.
And in addition, a few brick making nts that would aid in the ongoing construction efforts.
Alexander did not go into too much about these nts when discussing it with Lady Felicia- one because these were sensitive technology.
But also because it did not concern her, neither would she understand a lot of it.
So the only thing that mattered was that she did as told.
"As you wish." And Lady Felicia seemed to share the same thought as the only thing she was concerned by was that these industries would providerge scale, cheap employment to the bustling city with its burgeoning poption, thus making her feel relieved.
"Good." And Alexander curtly nodded with a pleased shake at her acquiescing. before quickly moving on to his next task,
"Then there is this." The young pasha opened the blueprints for severalrge water and windmills to Lady Felicia and exined to her how it could be used to grind flour.
Thedy appeared delighted once she understood their purpose, even pping her hands and cheering, "Oh! What a clever contraption, The farmers will love this. No wonder they were singing your praises my lord." before she promised to arrange the artisans to construct them as soon as possible.
These were the list of all the industries Alexander wanted to introduce into Zanzan as of this moment.
So then Alexander moved to infrastructure, as leaning back, he proposed,
"I remember you telling me the docks are getting too crowded because of the goods from Zanzan. So expand it. Or build newer ones if needed. It should make life for both the magistrate and the merchants. I will fund it."
A bigger port was always a plus point in Alexander''s eyes.
"Thank you, my lord. I was already thinking of bringing the matter up with you," To this Lady Felicia quickly nodded.
"Mmmm¡ and thenstly," Alexander moved to the end of his list.
"I want to open a learning ce here that provides education to some of the city''s children. It''s something like the education priests undergo in the temple. But for the poor folks."
"We already have something like this in Zanzan. It''s called a school. What I want you to do is arrange some teachers for these children."
"Ummmm¡ But why my lord?"While hearing this, this was Lady Felicia''s first response.
After all, why bother to educate the poor, peasant masses?
You don''t need to know how to read and write just to plow and tilt the field.
"......."And towards this Alexander really had no good answer.
How was he going to exin the benefits of something that would ripen decades in the future?
And one that had no past precedence?
"You will seeter." So he only said so, and ended by saying,
"Just know that the priests from the Gaia temple willter meet with you to discuss the specifics. Agree with all they ask. And rest assured that Zanzan will bear all costs for it."
Alexander made thest statement so openly because he knew the moment Lady Felicia got to know the details of what was a school, and the crazy policies that her lord wanted to use to attract children into them- such as free food and even a sry for their parents, she was gonna freak out.
"Okay. I think that is all for today. Let''s get lunch."
It had taken hours to cover everything that Alexander had discussed and by this point of the meeting, it was already noon.
So concluding it, much to Lady Felicia''s relief, the two decided to apany themselves to lunch being served at one of Alexander''s private dining rooms.
The menu consisted of whole roasted ducks, a beef stew, a local variety of bread made with eggs and diced mushroom, fried fish with greens basted in butter, fresh grapes, and strawberries, and to top it all off- a sweet, pie for dessert.
The array of items on disy, though extravagant in their own right, was actually considered quite normal for someone of Alexander''s status, which also went to highlight just how rich the food he was served three times a day.
If not for having frequent exercise, Alexander could have surely lost his figure by now, as should have his wives too tired to keep themselves in shape.
And speaking of his wives, two of them- Gelene and Ophenia, were apanying him on the luncheon today, as were his two mistresses, Fabiyana and the newly taken Camelia.
Gelene it seemed that recovered well enough to be able a sit on the table, although her food was much more modest- consisting of only a watery porridge seasoned with only salt so that it would be easy on the stomach.
Although better, she was still running a fever.
As the six ate, they made some polite, banal conversation, the inane kind spoken in any gathering between family.
Such as Fabiyana excitedly describing the elephants that Alexander had taken as his spoil.
The girl had seen them yesterday and was being very animated in her description,
"He¡. it was thiiiis big! And¡ and when I threw nuts¡. he ¡it looked at me! And then¡. I¡."
Alexander found the little girl very endearing in this state.
While her mother on the contrary appeared a bit embarrassed.
Because this type of mannerism suited a five year old.
Not a ''married woman''.
Thus in an attempt to avoid her daughter beingughed at by others, Lady Felicia quickly started to take a few, very intentional jibes at Princess Camelia, such as subtly mocking the headscarf she was wearing.
The princess only appeared woody and unresponsive, before Alexander lightly swung the talk to another side.
And it was with such ''festivities'' that that luncheon for Alexander came to its conclusion.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 940 Tasting a Queen (Part-1) (R-18)
Chapter 940 Tasting a Queen (Part-1) (R-18)
?Alexander''s stay in Thesalie turned from what he thought would only be a week or two of rest to nearly two months of residency, as he got caught up in various expected administrative tasks one after the other, dying his return to Zanzan further and further.
One day it was meeting with the surrounding lords, the other day it was Gelene''s fever, the next day it was surveying the ces to build the cement kilns, another day it was settling disputes between the local people after that was the bad weather and then there was the simple case of Alexander simply beingzy.
The list of problematic days could go on.
And it was like that the harsh winter began to recede into spring, as by now it was close to February and everything was beginning to warm up.
Which was certainly good news for everybody.
Except for one- Lady Parthia.
Because although the weather was improving, her husband was not.
Perseus still continued to reside in his dreamscape, as he had been for thest six months, blissfully unaware of all that was happening around him.
And by now, there were some times when Lady Parthia was starting to wish the man would die just so that he would not have to suffer like this.
She had been also continuing to get tutge from Ophenia for the entire time they were here, very discreetly of course and so, finally seeing no other cure, Lady Parthia decided to perform the ''ritual'' with Alexander!
Lady Parthia was able to quickly let her thoughts be known to Alexander through Ophenia and fortunately got a quick response, with the lord agreeing to set her with an appointment e afternoon in his personal bedroom.
*Cleak!*
The former queen entered the room at the appointed time with almost trembling anticipation and found Alexander sipping wine by the window, his head tilted gently towards the nearby river, which appeared simmering gold due to the setting sun.
The man was dressed in a light grey tunic with his top buttons open, showing off a lot of his fair, muscr chest, while below, he was paired with a pair of loose brown trousers that fluttered in the slight breezeing from the nearby balcony.
"Ah mydy! Wee." Sensing the entrance of a guest, Alexander quickly put down his ss and got up to greet her.
And received a bow in return.
But no verbal greeting.
Because Alexander noticed that thedy opposite to him was both blushing and shivering, her face a crimson tomato with an undercurrent of pale white.
It was apparent that she still could not believe what was about to do, the paired shame and dread somehow making her half paralyzed.
But to Alexander, this only seemed to add to her charms, as the man took another moment to once again appreciate the mature beauty in front of him.
Beautiful, curvy, and oozing with sensuality, Alexander found Lady Parthia to be dressed very fashionably especially considering what the proceeding act would entail.
She was wearing a golden gown, the one she had worn at the swearing ceremony, with silver chains with diamonds attached to it, donning a beautiful ne and other jewelry,
Her raven hair was tied into a braided top bun, and her face gracefully entuated by light makeup.
She looked like a true queen.
And as Alexander continued to observe, a silent me quickly ignited in his heart.
He had many times the evil thought of forcefully taking her.
But was kept in check by his morality as well as the fear of possible consequences with the Tibian nobles.
Thus to be finally given the chance by the permission of the other willing side, it made him very happy.
''I will have to thank Ophenia and GL generously soon.'' He even made a mental note.
And speaking of Ophenia, she was also here, right next to Lady Parthia.
She had chosen to escort the former royal and was also the architect behind Lady Parthia''s current get up.
She remembered how Alexander''s eyes had longingly tracked Lady Parthia in that party and to please her lord, she had specifically made her wear the exact same outfit.
In fact, even when they were back in the capital, Ophenia had asked Lady Parthia to make sure she packed it with her, saying the dress would aid in the ritual.
It took a while for Alexander to properly scan and appreciate Lady Parthia from head to toe, until finally, he broke the silence.
"Pleasee in mydy. Have a drink." Alexander gestured towards afortable chair while he personally poured a full cup for thedy, and then watched in slight awe how it was downed in almost a single gulp.
She seemed to have really needed that, just to take the edge off.
Lady Parthia''s beating heart seemed to have calmed down a bit after that, as Alexander then started with some small talk, some banal pleasantries, like- how she was, how she was liking it here, how was the family, etc, etc.
"Are you sure you want to do through with this, mydy?" Until Alexander finally got to the point, producing a virtuous face and frankly saying, "I cannot guarantee a full recovery for your husband. Only my heartfelt prayers."
Alexander felt it was best not to oversell his capabilities.
And although one might think Alexander''s open admittance to his limitations might sow some doubt in thedy, it was actually the opposite.
It instead worked more to set her mind at ease.
Because being a queen, she had seen her fair chatans. And themon denominator in all of them was that they made solid promises that they had no hopes of keeping.
So Alexander''s ''disimer'' worked to prove as more of a genuine testament to his power.
Besides, when the gods were involved, who could say for certain anything?
.I''m sure. As long as my lord tries, I will be content with the judgment of the gods."Thus Lady Parthia confidently shot back.
While Alexander had to try hard not to curl his lips into a wicked smirk.
He was beginning to see the true allure of being a soothsayer, a cult leader, and all those other gurus who supposedly had mystical powers.
Perform one or two shoddy magic tricks, and you can get almost one, even a queen.
''I can easily see how Rasputin did it! Hahaha,'' He happily mused, before standing up and gently posing,
"Then, let''s get started, MY. The sun will set soon and the quicker we start the better."
Alexander was itching to taste like fine aged wine and thus gave an anticipating smile.
A smile that looked quite foreboding to Lady Parthia, as her womanly instincts tingled with danger.
Some tiny corner of her heart warned thatying with this man for the whole night might very well change her.
But after havinge so far, there was no she was going to turn back.
"Yes, let''s!" Thus the former queen stood up too and then brought herself close to the sunny balcony, where rays of orange light from the descending sun were filtering into the room.
And when they hit her ornate dress, the jewels on it began to gleam and sparkle like she was a fairy descending into the mortal realm.
Alexander was mesmerized.
It was exactly because Ophenia wanted to get this effect that she had chosen this dress.
Lady Parthia however did not give Alexander all day to gawk at her, perhaps due to feeling a bit shy, and wanting to get this over with as soon as possible, quickly attempted to get undressed.
"Here, let me help, mydy." And Ophenia was there to provide help, quickly getting behind the former queen to aid her in undoing the gown''splicatedcings in the back.
Then, for the next few minutes, Alexander felt like he was in an unboxing video, as Lady Parthia defenses were peeled offyer byyer.
First came off the upper portion of the gown, beneath whichid a ck corset, while down below, as the gown was fully stripped, Alexander found a matching linen petticoat.
And even from that, Alexander could tell the kind of voluptuous body thaty underneath and his eyes zed with anticipation.
Something that of course did not escape Lady Parthia, who instinctively worked to quickly cover her chest in shame.
But was instantly chided by Ophenia, "What are you going Lady Parthia? Arms to the side!"
The tone was cold and sharp, like that of a mart officer.
It was obvious the girl hade to possess a lot of authority over her much elder counterpart.
And as evidence of that, hearing so Lady Parthia shivered, and quickly obeyed themand, enabling Alexander''s eyes to salivate at the juicy shape as more and more of it was revealed by Ophenia, until the corset and petticoats too were shed in their entirety, revealing the third andstyer.
It was also theyer that Alxx loved the most,
For it was the underwearyer.
Or perhaps more urately, the sting bikiniyer, because that was what the former queen of Tibias was wearing.
A snow white triangle of a bra barely covering her nipples, and a T back thong that could not even hide her hair.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 941 Tasting a Queen (Part-2) (R-18)
Chapter 941 Tasting a Queen (Part-2) (R-18)
?As Lady Parthia was made to shed her garb one after the other aided by Ophenia''s expert hands, each loss made her feel increasingly ashamed.
She had certainly never done something like this before.
In Tibias, sex between couples was seen mostly as a necessary act, so whenever Lady Parthia did have coitus, it was done at night, under darkness and conducted in a very structured, almost mechanical way with various etiquettes in ce.
The whole thing was designed not with the intention of delivering pleasure to the couple, but primarily to ensure the act of conceiving a baby was sessful.
Thus being made to uncloth herself in broad daylight was a very new, almost mortifying experience for herself.
Something that the former Queen could have never even dreamed of doing just six months ago.
But here she was, being stripped naked.
And even more than that, she was being stripped naked in front of another man, who was staring at each and every part of her body with an almost zing eye, making her feel almost like he was licking her all over with his gaze.
Lady Parthia had of course experienced simr such stares many times before.
But they were never this brazen.
And she never had to fear them.
Because they meant nothing to her.
Because back then she was untouchable.
However that was it- it was ''back then''.
That was certainly not the case today.
And this realization and the inevitability of what was toe was quickly reflected in Lady Parthia''s bodynguage, as Alexander clearly noticed the woman before him starting to more and more flushed and reddened with each passing moment, emitting an aura of pure bashfulness.
It was a reaction that much excited Alexander.
He had always found the act of making pure woman break out of their white shell very pleasant to enjoy.
Thus he watched with beating anticipation as Ophenia undressed the the former queen, the very first being her corset.
No sooner had that garment fallen, and her upper torso revealed, was Alexander''s attention was instantly drawn to the milky bosoms.
They were quite the pair!
Milky white and shining with a creamy sheen, these mammaries were perhaps not as perky as they once were and even seemed to be a bit sagging due to Lady Parthia''s age.
But nevertheless, they had still retained their shape well enough and more than made up for by their sheer size.
Huge, heavy, dense, and full of soft goodness, they were even bigger than Alexander had imagined and jiggled like jello with each of Lady Parthia''s breaths.
Alexander''s hands itched to start ying with these gigantic, hanging, oblong melons right then and there.
But perhaps their most attractive feature in Alexander''s eyes was how they were ''dressed''.
Because Lady Parthia was not bare under her corset.
Instead, she wore a string bikini.
A white, pure white, string bikini.
Simply consisted of a few pieces of thin strings holding a pair of triangr fabric at their intended ce, each was barelyrge enough to cover Lady Parthia''srge nipples and ares, leaving all of the rest of fleshy deliciousness for Alexander to bask in.
T seemed to be under enormous pressure and each of the ''triangles'' appeared almost ready to snap under the weight of Lady Parthia''s enormous boobs, such as their volume.
It was a very erotic sight.
Which was even further entuated by the queen''s t tummy right below, fair white and with some modest fat- giving it a thick, mature feel.
The lower half of it was also decorated with some faint webs of purplish marks, stretch marks from all those births she gave no doubt, and her belly button was seen sticking out, another side effect of her sixteen pregnancies.
Alexander had never seen this exact view before, and although some might have found the marks on her body displeasing, to him, the sight of such a fertile womb was an exciting prospect as his natural instincts urged him to immediately impregnate the woman before him.
While for Lady Parthia, being made to show off her body like this desperately embarrassed her, and had to fight vigorously to keep her arms to the side and not cover her exposed chest.
A task that was made a bit easier when she was spun around by Ophenia, meaning she would no longer have to face the man''s eyes directly.
But such relief was very short lived.
Because the reason why Ophenia had done this was not to deprive Alexander of his visual stimulus.
But to enhance it.
For with an expert tug, Ophenia discarded Lady Parthia''s petticoat, letting it fall to the ground and enabling to emerge out of the ck fabric- a magnificent sea of pristine white.
Just like Alexander had imagined, Lady Parthia''s ass wasrge, voluminous, and very soft and pillowy, with a few wrinkles adorning it.
They appeared ripe for a brutal pounding from behind.
And just like her sting bikini, here too Lady Parthia wore only a string thong, with only a single, thin, white string going through her crack, the meat here was so dense and heavy that Alexander could barely make out where the string started and for that matter even ended.
To him, Lady Parthia''s nks appeared bare, two gigantic pristine globules with only a white band of string along her curvy hip, serving more of a decorative role than a useful one.
Being an ass lover, this current sight was so lush that the man very much wanted to simply stride over there and squeeze the lovely flesh to his heart''s content and then smack it until it was peppery red.
Alexander''s soaring lust was almost instantly detected by Lady Parthia, and she felt her face burn up even more as her butt even turned a tinge of red in embarrassment, while she only prayed, ''Don''t bend me over. Don''t bend me over. Don''t let him see that.''
There was a very naughty thing hidden behind her luscious fleshy ass and she dreaded to have it revealed to Alexander.
And the gods this time seemed to have answered Lady Parthia''s prayers, as Ophenia spared her the ignominy.
Although the relief was very short lived, as instead of that, Ophenia quickly made the queen turn towards Alexander, once again making her face him.
And her front was as delicious as the back.
As expected, the queen donned a triangr thong, white and pristine in color, but tiny in size, able to barely hold herher regions in ce.
The cloth was so thin that it seemed to have turned already semi translucent by now, through just the natural perspiration of the body, and when ced against the setting sun, Alexander could clearly detect the mass of dense hair hiding behind it.
There were even a few tiny strands poking out from the side.
And so that was how the former queen of Tibias looked now.
From the top, the motherly woman stood with that stylish bunned hair and she still had her makeup on, making her face yet appear exquisite.
The crimson shade of shame dying it added an indescribable hint of allure to all those around, as her most prominent features- her rosy cheeks now seemed to resemble ripe apples.
Her neck still had that ornate gold and sapphire ne, as did her wrist possess the matching bangles, while her huge breasts were almost bare, with only herrge, motherly nipples barely covered by the small piece of fabric.
Her stomach with some extra bs bore proud marks of proof of her fertility, and below, her puffed pussy struggled against tiny fabric attempting to hold her spilling curse in ce.
The creamy, fleshy thighs, soft and shining under the sunlight still held their shape, andstly, all this magnificent beauty was held up by a pair of golden, high heeled shoes, that were studded with diamonds.
To Alexander, she looked absolutely mesmerizing, especially in that dress, making her much more ''depraved'' than if she were to be only naked.
Alexander was so pleased by this that he made a note to properly reward Opheniater for designing this.
''Even a whore does not dress like this. This is worse than being naked.''
While towards the same thing, Lady Parthia had this to say, as she internally cried in shame and even started to squirm, trying in any way to hide her exposed flesh.
It was an act that only entuated her beauty.
And Alexander could not help but praise her in a very deep, musky voice, dripping with lust
"Mydy, I have always admired you since the first day I met, But I must frankly admit, your beauty has exceeded even my wildest imagination. The title of the most woman in Tibias did notmit any injustice, hahaha. I''m not the only one blessed by the gods."
At any other time, towards this Lady Parthia would have perhaps replied with some titudes of her own and then forgot about it the next moment.
This was not the first time she had received suchpliments, and neither was Alexander''s the most elegant one.
Hoover currently, hearing so in her current unique state only made her want to hang her head in shame and bury herself.
Because she knew, this was not the end, but merely the beginning.
Chapter 942 Tasting a Queen (Part-3) (R-18)
Chapter 942 Tasting a Queen (Part-3) (R-18)
Alexander thought he could continue to stare at the scantily d sinful woman for days without ever getting bored.
The way her breast seemed ever so slightly sway with each breath, the way her pointy nipples were sticking out of her ''bikini'', the motherly belly with her belly button sticking out, and the mature puffy pussy forming a clear cameltoe from that thin thong that was already starting to salivate.
It was all exquisite.
Made all the more beautiful by the ornamental golden jewelry she wore on her neck, hair, and wrists.
Alexander would most of the time deride jewelry as nothing but wasteful expenses- for foolish people to spend their money on when they have nothing better to do.
But right now, he could definitely see its allure.
How it worked as a mightly visual stimuli.
The jewelry that Lady Parthia wore, worked to elevate her from only a mortal woman to almost a divine being.
But although Alexander would have looked to soak in the scenery for a lot longer, things naturally had to move on.
And it started with Ophenia, as she coolly whispered into Lady Parthia''s ears with a little giggle,
"Isn''t that nice, mydy? That you can still excite my master with this old body of yours. He is not so easily pleased you, you know."
The matter of age was certainly a sticking point for Lady Parthia, who did feel inferior whenever she thought about it.
And it was not just because of the many, much younger women that Alexander had around him.
It was also simply because women in their mid forties were not considered just old in this time period.
They were considered ancient.
Hence, although confident in her looks, Lady Parthia did not think she would be able to sufficiently stimte any man with her body any longer.
So Alexander''s clear arousal and lustful stares at her body did work to make some small part of her heart very happy as Lady Parthia felt proud that she still got it.
Although that small delight was quickly drowned by a torrent of shame immediately afterward as she heard Ophenia once again whisper into her ear,
"Now, surely you must know a way to reward my master, wouldn''t you, mydy? Go!" as the bustydy felt her butt get strongly pinched, leaving a telling red mark on the white soft flesh.
But even with this urging, Lady Parthia felt somewhat reluctant to proceed.
Lady Parthia knew what she was being asked to do but because she had never done anything like before, the shame to it felt like she was being rooted in ce.
"My¡ my lord, let me help undress you." Though eventually, knowing there was little recourse left by now, after squirming a bit, she did let out this sensual offer in a low, mellowed voice.
It sounded like music to Alexander''s ears.
"Thank you, mydy. It will be my honor." The man was thus quick to ept, then producing a very suggestive grin on his chiseled face as he watched those huge melons jiggle and bounce and those curvy hips sway oh so sciously with each approaching step.
The shaking was so vigorous that Alexander half feared those tiny strings were going to snap any moment due to the spilling flesh or that those nipples would decide to pop out to stay hello.
''She is a walking sex bomb,'' Alexander could not help but heartfully cry out in amazement.
However unfortunately for Alexander, and fortunately for Lady Parthia, no such wardrobe idents urred and thedy found herself quickly standing less than a foot away from him, nearly matching Alexander''s eye level courtesy of the high heeled shoes she was wearing.
Although she quickly hung her head low in shame, for she could not yet bring herself to look up and meet the other''s eyes.
The whole thing felt too shameful.
But that state onlysted a moment as Alexander decided to help her a bit with that.
"Mydy, please look up. You look beautiful!" He charmingly noted in a gentle voice and then lightly pinched the smooth chin and lifted it upward, forcing the pair to meet their gazes.
She smelled sweet, like lc and as Alexander hungrily stared into the pair of glittering onyx, each ssed with embarrassment, he also seemed to detect ayer of anticipation.
And upon being made to look at the Alexander so close, Lady Parthia''s thin, red lips started slightly quivering as she felt her face burn and her cheeks turn red and flushed.
To see such a mature woman who had been married for so long have the kind of reaction a virgin would have in this situation was quite the thrill for Alexander.
While for Lady Parthia, gazing into Alexander''s sharp, lustful stare made herself feel a bit lost, the fierce want in his eyes stealing her soul, the strong, musky, muscr scent infiltrating her nose worked to stoke her lust.
Lady Parthia had never been put in such a raw, primal state before, and her womanly instincts, driven by lust strongly urged her toy with this man and let him impregnate her.
It was a mortifying thought for her, but simultaneously also exciting.
"Mmmmmmm."
And Alexander felt the same too, for it was amidst these scandalous musings that Lady Parthia suddenly felt the other side close in on her face and with a strength that she had never experienced before stole her lips.
The exchange was hot, wet, and very stimting, as Alexander wasted no time breaching the unprepareddy''s defenses and swiftly catching her sweet tongue, before starting to suck on it.
It tasted musky, heavy, and almost regal.
While for Lady Parthia, like so many firsts in her life today, she also never had such a fierce kiss before.
And at first, the former queen wanted to protest and break it off in rm and disgust.
But Alexander was of course never going to let that happen.
He not only held her chin with a vice like grip but also brought his other hand around her, hooking it on her huge butt and pushing her towards him, before starting to knead it.
The man felt he was in paradise.
Not only was he drinking the dew of this mature woman, but he was also making her drink his by pooling his saliva in his mouth and pouring it into her deepest orifice.
He felt his chest rejoice at the soft, pillowy sensation squeezing into him, as well as the hard nipples poking into him.
Down below, his fully awakened brother was being kissed by the soft, puffy, slightly wet pussy through the underwear, while in the back, the luscious ass entertained his hand, letting it sink into the soft flesh as much as Alexander desired.
The pasha could not get enough of it.
"Mmmmmm," Alexander''s fierce attack left Lady Parthia quickly struggling to even breathe properly, and could only let out a long, audible moan through her nose.
But despite her protesting moan, like Alexander, she was also feeling very good, the forceful nature of the exchange producing a sensation she had yet to experience.
And she especially liked thatrge, hot sensation around her groin area which was starting to grind against her.
''What is that? How can it be so big?'' The former queen half dreaded, half anticipated as soon after she too began to reciprocate Alexander''s advances, pushing her own tongue into the hot manly orifice and drinking the strong scent.
It was as such that the duo continued to savor each other for some time, licking and tasting every corner of her mouth,
*Chuuu*, *Chuuu*, Chuu*, and making that nasty wet sound.
Although the sound only worked to stoke their lust and rejoice in each other''s vor.
"Mmmm¡ hah¡ hah¡ hah."
Until finally the two''s urge to breathe took over and they atst disconnected, each huffing and puffing in deep breaths, but still maintaining eye contact with each other, lust shimmering in both eyes.
By now, Alexander could see Lady Parthia had managed to shed some of her hesitations.
And he also started to feel the tightness in his pants.
"Wee me!" So he ordered.
And thedy knew what was being asked of her.
Unable to deny the lord any longer, Lady Parthia hence produced a flurry of movements, quickly taking off Alexander''s tunic and revealing his well formed muscles and abs.
Then she slowly squatted down, pulling down the trouser with it, until all that remained was only a pair of white breeches.
''How is that so big?'' And as soon as the pants dropped and Alexander''s bulge came into view, this was Lady Parthia''s first thought, as an incredulous cry rang through her.
Because even though the white brief, Alexander''s swollen organ appeared massive.
And the trapped beast twitched to be released.
So it was with nervous trepidation that Lady Parthia likely opened the white cage and no sooner had she dropped the underwear, did Alexander''s huge dragon roar out in ecstasy.
Thick, huge, veiny with a red bulbous head, it was majestic, and seeing it, thedy that was almost kneeling down cried out in horror, ''I''m supposed to take that!''
"Impressive isn''t it?" While Alexander feeling the shocked gaze, smirked and then ced the entire thing right on her face.
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Chapter 943 Tasting a Queen (Part-4) (R-18)
Chapter 943 Tasting a Queen (Part-4) (R-18)
??As soon as Lady Parthia helped Alexander take off his underwear, she instantly came face to face with his enormous organ and she could not help but gasp in wonder.
Towering majestically into the sky, its length and girth was enormous.
Thick, robust, blue veins ran through it, pulsing with power and the bulbous red head on top gave it an almost frightening look.
Only one word came to Lady Parthia''s mind when attempting to describe it- monstrous.
''There is no way it''s going to fit!'' And her body shivered at the thought of what this thing was doing to do to her tonight.
While Alexander, looking down imperiously at thedy who was squatting down, could not help very proud after seeing the reaction.
It was something every man wished to see.
"Impressive, isn''t it?" He thus smirked, and arrogantly ced the entire organ on Lady Parthia''s beautiful, mature face, with the tip starting from her forehead, running all the way across her beautiful face, going past her chin, and even extending slightly beyond that, as hisrge balls dangled in the air.
The fact that Alexander was able to do such a thing to a queen of a nation and such a beautiful one at that made his turgid organ even harder than usual.
As for Lady Parthia, she literally felt her vision darken at this ''docking'', the weight of the impressive organ putting an almost oppressive weight on her, the heating off the thing seeming to scald her face.
But perhaps it was the musky, meaty smell, developed from Alexander''s natural odor and concentrated over time due to being stored in his pants that enthralled her the most, appearing like a potent aphrodisiac to thedy.
In fact, so enamored was she by this smell that although Alexander''s brazen act should have incensed her, somehow she only felt excited as her lower half rejoiced by almost flooding itself just from this, recognizing it as being from a man in his prime.
*Sniff*
And having it so close to her face, Lady Parthia could not help but thus sneakily take a long whiff.
Sneakily because she felt very ashamed of doing this, but seemed unable to control herself.
Although this endeavour was really a moot point since Alexander clearly felt the flow of air around there change the moment Lady Parthia did so.
And snickered when he felt a rhythmic pattern, clearly showing that once was not enough for the refineddy, she wanted more.
''Heh! No matter how refined a woman might appear on the outside, there is always an inner slut hidden inside.'' Alexander even recited more very bad poetry inside his head.
As for Lady Parthia, even though she clearly knew what she was doing was wrong, she could not help herself.
''Ah, it smells so bad! But why do I keep sniffing it? It smells so good!'' The queen''s mind appeared muddled with contradicting statements.
Some ''irrational'' part of her brain even wanted her to stick her tongue out and give it a lick.
"My lord, the sun will set soon. We should not dally!"
It was suddenly then that Ophenia decided to intervene with this melodious statement from behind, sending it wafting through the air from the back in a cool, neutral voice,
She had been up until now happy to let the couple enjoy their forey, but if they wanted to enjoy all that she had nned, they needed to get moving.
And this reminder was finally enough to break Lady Parthia out of her trance, as then waking up to the act she suddenly separated from Alexander with almost a leap, both in horror and shame.
She could not believe what she was just about to do.
"Ah¡ yes, let''s." While Alexander, although much less dramatic in his response, was simrly disappointed.
He would have loved to make that women suck him off.
But he also knew Ophenia had good reasons to intervene.
The girl had meticulously nned all the activities, designed with the sole intention of delivering as much pleasure as possible to the queen in order to break her as far as possible.
She wanted to make this regal woman a ve to her master''s cock.
Alexander had chucked a bit when Ophenia revealed this to him.
But decided to y along nevertheless.
Hence at her urging, he swiftly turned to Lady Parthia and gestured for her to get up, before pointing towards a white masseuse bed ced strategically near the balcony, and inviting with a smile,
"Well then mydy, this way, please. Let''s get you prepared."
The preparation he was referring to was the oiling and scenting part of the ''ceremony''.
*Nod*
Lady Parthia only replied with a small nod, her head once again lowered for she was still reeling from the shame of what she was about to do as she made her towards the devan.
While from the back, Alexander watched with a drooling look how Lady Parthia''s naked ass shook and swayed with each step.
He could not wait to get started.
As per the instruction, Lady Parthiay down on the bed on her stomach, leaving her defenseless back,and bare ass under Alexander''s mercy.
She still had her clothes, however negligible they were, as well as her jewelry, as per Alexander''s ask, apanied by her high heels.
And although she was still very embarrassed was this position, it was hundreds of times more than the alternative.
If she was really asked to look at Alexander while he did what she thought he was going to do, she did not think she would be able to go through it.
Thus in an attempt to hide herself, the moment she hit the bed, she drove her face right into the soft pillow, wishing to be one with it.
An act that although she did not know, only worked to amuse Alexander.
For if Lady Parthia thought she could use that pillow to hide her face and drown all her moans, she was surely mistaken.
Ophenia had long thought about that.
Thus as Alexander was about to start his massage, he instructed Lady Parthia with these words, "Mydy, please answer any question I might have for you. This is also part of the ritual."
For the former queen, perhaps not even reading out her death sentence would have made her heart lurch so much.
And if Alexander could see, he would have certainly enjoyed watching the pale, frightened face she was pulling.
But the man was currently busy wetting his hand with warm oil from amp, after which he started to pour generous quantities of it onto the queen''s fair back and then without further ado, dove in.
He started from the very top, her shoulder, and started to massage them, gently but firmly, before slowly going downward up to the lower middle, pressing various points, hard and soft along the way.
"Mydy, your shoulders are stiff. You have been under a lot of stresstely, haven''t you?" And as Alexander''s hands roamed freely across the ''lush countryside,'' feeling the warm, soft, supple flesh and taking in the sweet scent, he made such a seemingly innocuous query.
But even then Lady Parthia was initially too embarrassed to answer.
"Haven''t you!" Until Alexander began to insist, lightly pinching her back to force a reply.
"Ye¡ yes."Lady Parthia mewled in a low, shy tone.
"Good¡ now why don''t you tell me how you usually spend your days in Tibias."
With this small opening made, Alexander then began to work expanding it, and for the next ten to fifteen minutes, the two chatted about the most mundane stuff.
While Alexander''s hands too remained surprisingly honest, restricting themselves to only the queen''s back.
Although his hands very much itched to start ying with that ass, he held off, recalling Ophenia''s instruction.
''Master, the initial stages of the massage are meant to weaken the prey, to lull it to the proceeding danger'' She had said.
And that was indeed what was happening, as the warm oil, the slightly chilly weather of the springte afternoon, and Alexander''srge hands quickly started to make Lady Parthia feel like she was floating.
The rough, manly hands flowing over her skin quickly warmed that ce up, turning it flushed and red, while each of the fingers seemed to know exactly where to press on her back, every time releasing a packet of trapped stress from her body and making her feel lighter.
Even the conversation was not half bad, as they talked about nothing in particr, some mundane fluff.
Thus soon, Lady Parthia began to rx, her body feeling paradoxically both light and heavy, as it appeared very unwilling to move.
But this beautiful atmosphere was bound to shatter at one point or the other.
And it happened as Alexander decided to move on to the next stage.
"Let''s move a bit lower," Lady Parthia heard the soft but dreaded words and instantly felt the warm oil being dripped over her ass, the viscous liquid slowly rolling all over herrge, wless butt, spreading all across and even spilling into her asscrack, wetting it.
She slightly shivered, and her face heated up as she felt a pair of calloused hands dig into them into hesitation.
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Chapter 944 Tasting a Queen (Part-5) (R-18)
Chapter 944 Tasting a Queen (Part-5) (R-18)
Alexander watched with almost a perverted smile as he poured the oil onto that bouncy, soft, huge ass.
He had been waiting for this exact moment almost since the moment Lady Parthia had entered the room.
So once a generous amount had been poured, he grabbed both the naked globules simultaneously and then without further ado, started to squeeze them.
They were as delicious as they had appeared.
No, perhaps even better, as Alexander found himself lost in the act, all ten of his fingers sinking deep into the flesh, and then strongly and violently squeezing the flesh around them, kneading them, rolling them around, and turning it red.
Alexander felt he could do this all day, even wanting to bury his head into the soft flesh.
"Mydy, has anyone told you have a huge, magnificent ass? So soft, so supple. Ahh, the best, prime meat in the whole country " And then, to spice it up a bit, Alexander evenmented so with a prevented smirk.
"....." While Lady Parthia''s face only turned an even deeper shade of crimson at this, as she cursed, ''scoundrel'' inside her mind.
She could scarcely believe anyone talking about her body so brazenly like this.
"Well, did they say it about your ass?"?While Alexander once again asked, wanting to get a straight answer.
And then to stimte her, instead of pincher her like before, in a disy of his true creativity, Lady Parthia felt Alexander poke her back with his turgid cock.
It was a very clear sign,
Lady Parthia twitched as soon as that scalding rod made contact with her skin, and in a shy voice quickly mewled, "N¡ No!"
"Pity," Alexander sounded disappointed, although he certainly did not expect the answer to be positive.
No one would dare say this to a queen.
He said this to simply try to make her talk naughty.
Thus in that same vein, Alexander, after being finished ying with the outer surface, then began to dig his hands deeper into her ass, into her warm, musky crack, generouslythering it with oil, and even making Lady Parthia produce a swallowed moan.
The rough handling had made her ass turn red and the increased blood flow was even making her feel good.
That was until she suddenly felt a bit cool around her butt.
Lady Parthia''s ears turned crimson at the sensation as she felt Alexander grab her cheeks and part them both, finally revealing her hidden grail to the world.
She had never felt so humiliated.
And what added much more to this mortifying thought was what she knew Alexander would find there.
And Alexander did truly find much more than he could have imagined.
Because there was not only a thin, white, string running over her brown, puckered hole as Alexander originally thought.
There was something extra.
Something that Alexander asked Lady Parthia to describe herself while trying to hold hisughter, "Oh, mydy, what is this stuck in there? This red thing like a ruby?"
The pretended voice of surprise convinced no one.
"Pervert!" And this time, instead of only offering silence, Lady Parthia angrily squeezed these words out with clenched teeth, shame was turning her sight dark.
If she was at this moment allowed to dig a hole, she would have preferred to bury herself five feet under.
"Hahaha," While hearing this only worked to make Alexander chuckle with utmost amusement, finding the innocent reply, especiallying from such a mature woman quite pleasing.
As he then could not help to start ying with that buttplug inserted into her anus, spinning it around and even circling his oiled finger around the rim of the hole.
"Well then tell you made you wear it?" He then changed the question.
And feeling the finger press dangerously close to her soft flesh, Lady Parthia knew she had to give an answer.
"Lady¡ Tayin."?Came the reply, the tone low and even slightly usatory.
"Hehehe," While the ''culprit'' hearing her name revealed only giggled in amusement before sending Alexander an amorous look.
Ophenia was still here, cing herself at the corner of the room, posing as an ''assistant'' to help Alexander conduct the ''ritual''.
And this time, contrary to how one would expect one to dress given the activities urring in the room, this priestess was dressed quite modestly, donning a half sleeved ck dress covering her neck to ankle.
This was because today''s star of the show was Lady Parthia and not Ophenia, so she did not want to steal the former''s spotlight.
In fact, it was in order to alleviate the other''s status, that Ophenia had made Lady Parthia wear that piece of equipment.
As a way to surprise her master.
And it certainly worked.
Alexander very much loved his present.
As he then once again began to tease Lady Parthia, circling back to his original question and posing,
"Hmmm¡ then tell what is the name of this thing you are wearing?"
"......." There was no answer.
Because Lady Parthia felt too mortified to say the name.
But Alexander of course was not going to quit.
He felt quite eager to hear the queen of a nation say that naughty name aloud.
Thus he insisted, "*Pah*! Answer! Or you will have more than just this thing inside your butt!" and threatened her with the invasion of his finger, before cing a hard p on that fleshly tussy and sending it reeling.
Alexander held little back this time, so it not only left a clear hand print of the oiled ass, but it also made Lady Parthia momentarily see stars as she felt like her hips were going to split apart.
She could not take another one of these.
"Buttplug! It is a buttplug that Lady Tayin put in my asshole to surprise you." Lady Parthia thus blurted the entire thing out as clearly and as loudly as possible
"Hahaha," While Alexander never thought he would hear the regal queen ever say such vulgar words, and it made him break out intoughter frankughter.
The sound of which certainly sounded very crass to Lady Parthia, as realizing what she had just said, even wished to simply disappear.
"Good. Good." But instead of that, she only pleased ''praises'' from the man beside her, as he gently patted the stuck ruby, much to Lady Parthia''s greater shame, and ended with the throwawayment,
"You should always wear it, It will help loosen up your rear hole, hahaha."
There was a veryrge list of expletives that Lady Parthia wanted to throw at Alexander for this note but had to try hard to swallow.
Following the generous oiling of the butt, Alexander then moved on to the creamy thighs, vigorously coating them as well while loving the tight, springy feeling.
Lady Parthia too found it pleasurable, as many of her muscles had gone to sleep due to years of her cushy lifestyle.
So this massage was a good wake up call for them.
But for Alexander, what feeling up Lady Parthia''s butt, this felt like a downgrade.
Hence Alexander did not spend too much on it, only making sure that the parts were adequately oiled and glistening under the golden sunlight, before asking, "Mydy, please turn around."
It was an ask that unless she really had to, Lady Parthia would rather not do.
But this was what she had signed up for and there was no way around it.
Thus with a gentle flip of her body, Lady Parthia was on her back, her breast, tummy, and groin all up for show, as she found herself staring right into Alexander''s mischievous eyes.
Eyes that seemed to grin with lust, pleasure, and amusement.
It sent her heart pounding and Lady Parthia was not able to bear the gaze for a moment longer and quickly brought the nearby pillow over her face, attempting to shield herself.
An endeavor that Alexander let her seed in because he found it cute.
And because he had a bigger fish to fry.
Or perhaps bigger melons.
Because those huge jugs were not going to oil themselves.
Thus just like the butt, Alexander swiftly poured copious amounts of oil on it, and started enjoying himself, pressing and twisting therge breasts into various shapes.
They were truly huge as even Alexander''srge hands failed to fully epass them in his palms, but they had to work together to make each squeeze, making the delicious organ feel like a water balloon.
And as Alexander''s hand roamed the lush valleys and deep ravines of the queen''s chest, the oil quickly made the thin triangr fabric transparent, letting Alexander clearly make out the turgid nipple sticking about.
Under the setting sun, it appeared thick, stumpy, and brown.
Alexander''s fingers itched to pinch them.
But before that, just like with the butt, Alexander made sure toment, "Mydy, has anyone told you have huge, magnificent breasts? So heavy yet so soft and squishy. My fingers feel like they are sinking. Ahhh, truly motherly! I will enjoy suckling on these tonight."
Alexander clearly noticed Lady Parthia shiver in shame and dread the moment he said that.
Clearly, the explicit note of her motherly status was taboo for her.
And Alexander''s eyes glinted with a perverse light at this.
Tonight was promising to be a very enjoyable night indeed.
Chapter 945 Tasting a Queen (Part-6) (R-18)
Chapter 945 Tasting a Queen (Part-6) (R-18)
??Lady Parthia found her chest being fondled under Alexander''s huge hands to be both very embarrassing but also stimting.
The way that Alexander described, no, praised her breasts and other parts of the body was something that was very novel to her because in Tibias, or anywhere for that matter, this was not a thing.
Husbands never appreciated their better halves like so.
Sure they might recite some flowery poetry or offer gifts, but they never did this kind of raw, sensual admiring in the bedroom.
Thus for someone like Lady Parthia who was already considered quite old, to have a young man lust after like so, stimted the womanly parts of her heart.
And she could not help but enjoy herself as Alexander massaged her twin peaks, squeezing them, kneading them, twisting them, pushing them together, and then pulling them apart.
The vigorous movement soon made Lady Parthia''s chest feel like the ce was burning.
And she really had to grit her teeth and hold in the moan when Alexander started to pinch her nipples, pressing them fiercely and sending an electric current through her, rolling them through the thin fabric and even tugging them upwards, turning her breasts into an oblong shape.
Thatst move was really the one that was hard for Lady Parthia to endure since it put all the pressure of her heavy breasts onto those two small protrusions.
The squirming that was produced as a by product was of course detected by Alexander and she even heard him say with a slightly mocking tone, "Oh, mydy, look howrge your nipples have be! Were they always this big, or are you just that excited?"
*Grit*
Lady Parthia very much wanted to clench her teeth and stay quiet at this.
Because either choice was a trap.
One was about her motherhood, the other her sexuality.
Lady Parthia did not like to talk about either.
However that endeavor proved quite impossible as not getting his answer, Alexander then began to y with the nipples, strongly and violently, in a clear sign of what was toe, and thus forcing her to make a choice.
"They¡ ahhhh¡ were always this big¡ mmm." And she chose the personally less embarrassing one, although the leaking moan was more than sufficient to make up for that.
Lady Parthia''s ears turned red at her own voice, not being able to believe even herself that she had made that sound.
Her defenses were atst being thinned enough to cause her to falter.
And seeing this Alexander was more than happy to lend her a hand, as with a grin, he chuckled, "Haha, I see. That is nice. I will have fun ying with them while I pound youter!" and then strongly pinched the two buds simultaneously.
"Arrgghhhh!" And this was Lady Parthia''s first loud moan of the day, as the woman shivered for the umpteenth time and for a split second even felt her vision disappear.
This was because although she did not know it yet, she hade.
Her very first one in life.
Because as stated earlier, women in Tibias rarely enjoyed themselves in sex.
"Hehehe," And Alexander of course noticed this but did not borate.
He wished to make thedy know through experience.
Thus he quickly left the adequately oiled breasts and moved on to the belly, gently rubbing his head over the smooth flesh.
And as he did, here too he decided to leave a small note,menting in an appreciating tone, "Such a smooth belly. Holding such a fertile womb! Ahhh! So nice."
"Has anyone told you, mydy it looks ugly because of all the stretch marks? Because you don''t! You look beautiful, *chuuu*!"
Lady Parthia shivered as she felt that kiss and like before felt her sight momentarily disappear.
She had indeed been called out for these marks in bed and told to seek doctors and ointments to try and remove them.
And although she did not show it did indeed hurt her.
Hence Alexander''s very frank appreciation left the former queen for a while soaring into the cloud in tion.
While Alexander, after being satisfied with the soft, springy taste of the tummy and glossing over the ''beautiful'' marks with marked reverence, atst decided to move to the centerpiece of it all, the masterpiece located between the mature queen''s groin.
Her pussy!
By now that ce was already drenched, to the point that although there was technically still a piece of triangr cloth bound around it, it was so soaked that it was virtually nonexistent.
The white thong was solidly stered to the former queen''s pussy, letting Alexander clearly see the mass of dark hair underneath as well as the clear outline of the puffy organ, and he could not help but chuckle,
"Hehe, what do we have here mydy? Did you pee yourself? Or did you enjoy my massage so much!"
"Of course not! It''s the oil!" And at being found out, Lady Parthia did not choose silence as her defense, but instead vehemently denied either option.
"Hehe, but I have not even started my massage." To which Alexander cleverly chortled, much to the other''s silent embarrassment.
And Alexander did not push thedy further this time, but quickly got to the oiling part, pouring and rubbing the liquid around that part.
He ran his hands over the organ through the cloth, feeling the clear dampness and smelling the distinct ambrosia leaking from the slit.
His finger directly traced the crevice, loving the soft, mellow sensation, while just a bit above, he asionally flicked therge, protruding pearl, much to Lady Parthia''s suppressed moans.
"Mmmm!" Every time Alexander did that, she quivered and came lightly.
And because Lady Parthia had experienced this, she even began to ask herself,
''What is this? How is this feeling so good? Is this what it means toy with the son of a god?"
"What''s he doing down there? My pussy feels like it''s on fire! It''s throbbing like crazy. I have never felt like this before!"
Alexander yed with the soft flesh around there for some time, even pinching the two petal lips togetherbetween his thumb and index finger and praising,
"Mydy, your pussy looks so beautiful. Plump, puffy, and healthy. A truly magnificent organ.Only fit to grace a regal queen."
Alexander clearly noticed how the strong vice like grip and the praise stimted the very part he was holding in his hand to shake once more, producing another small jet of lewd, spring water.
He could not help but stick a bit of his oiled finger into the hot hole seeing this, stirring it from the inside and producing a nasty squelching sound.
It took some time for Alexander to be done with this part as he yed with the mature pussy to his heart''s content.
And only moved on to the thighs after that.
The oiling there did not take long as it was just a repeat from the other side
Also, by now Alexander''s turgid organ seemed near bursting and he wanted to release it.
"Okay, mydy, you are all oiled up." Hence once he was finished making Lady Parthia''s entire body glisten under the golden sunlight, he took off his hands and then invited,
"Now, if you will please follow me to the balcony so that we can start the next part of the ritual."
Lady Parthia knew what going to be asked of her.
And she dreaded with shame about it.
But along with it, there also came slight anticipation.
Grown in her body by the rough, sensual massage she had received.
And it was because of this that she was able to exit the room and avail herself into the balcony, under the setting sunlight, for all the surrounding to see.
Under normal circumstances, she would not be caught dead doing something like this.
But the massage and the repeated orgasms had worked wonders to remove most of her inhibitions from her body.
And the only thing that seemed to be in her mind right now was following Alexander and doing whatever he told her.
Alexander watched with lusty eyes how the mature queen approached him, wearing only a prevented string bikini and thong, her body shining and shimmering due to the oil, her boobs jiggling, her hips swaying, nipples protruding, and her pussy leaking.
It was a magnificent sight.
"Kneel! Hands behind head and legs spread wide." And once she got close enough, he ordered so in an imperious tone, making the regal queen face his monstrous dragon once again.
And Lady Parthiaplied instantly, even a bit eagerly.
Because the smell of Alexander''s organ appeared almost like aphrodisiac to her.
So the current situation looked like this.
The mature Lady Parthia, once the queen of Tibias was now kneeling in front of Alexander, all oiled up and with her hands behind her head, revealing her sweet, oiled armpits that were releasing a unique fragrance of their own.
Her neck still had that neckpiece and her huge breasts were adorned in a white bikini, withrge nipples clearly visible.
Her legs were spread wide, like a whore''s, while her white thong hid nothing but was instead digging into her mature, hairy pussy, and making it drip, clear, lewd water onto the floor.
She looked magnificent.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 946 Tasting a Queen (End) (R-18)
Chapter 946 Tasting a Queen (End) (R-18)
??If Lady Parthia were to see her current state at any other time of her life, she would have likely fainted then and there.
She was made to pose worse than a whore. And for that matter in an open balcony for all to see no less.
By the gods!
But right now, the regaldy could not care less.
Because all that upied her brain right now was the desire to experience that huge, manly, cock that was being shed in front of her.
''Is it even bigger thanst time? Magnificent!'' Lady Parthia praised in her mind as she thought that the thing somehow appeared even bigger, even fiercer.
There was already ayer of precum already on the bulbous red and it was purely her shame that stopped her from sticking her tongue out and having a taste.
Until that is Alexander very suggestively struck her thick lips with the tip, dressing the part in his vor and signaling her to start her service.
And Lady Parthia finally could not stop herself from licking her lips clean.
And then began to lick Alexander clean.
"Mmmmahh!" First of all, Lady Parthianded a heavy kiss on Alexander''s head, leaving a clear red print from her lipstick.
She then, with both her hands still behind her head, moved onto therge, heavy balls before,vishing them with kisses, even making aggressive slurping noises as she sucked and kissed at the sack.
"Uhmm¡" She moaned, smothering her face into his scrotum and taking big, wet sucks on each orb.
And then she brought up her face to the shaft, opening the warm orifice up and slowly letting in the tip of the cock at first.
While doing so she even tried to recall the tips Ophenia had given her regarding this act, ''Don''t take all of it in one go. And do not squeeze it you are strangling someone¡ think of it like you are ying the flute.''
But while Lady Parthia tried her best, this slow progress proved too ineffectual in dousing Alexander''s lust.
The man thus decided to take matters into his own hands.
Meaning he suddenly gripped Lady Parthia''s delicate head with both hands and as Lady Parthia looked up towards Axx with quivering eyes, he produced a taunting smirk.
Before starting to cram his lurching bulge into her mouth at his own pace, stretching out those soft lips of hers, and grunting lustfully as he pushed in slowly, relishing in the pleasure of the mature tongue wriggling and writhing against his broad, bulging underside.
"Mmmmm!" Towards like fast invasion, Lady Parthia could only moan so, her eyes almost rolling over, as the girthy meat proved very hard to fit for a first timer like her.
Hell, it would have been hard ''any timer'', and Lady Parthia had to lean up to try and take up the entire thing.
But eventually, she was able to amodate the entirety of the shaft inside her throat, as her plump lips pressed into his pelvis and nutsack, flooding her senses with the musky scent.
While from above, Alexander smirked in satisfaction at how Lady Parthia looked by now.
Her mouth had formed an elongated sleeve connecting to the base of his dick and as she stared up at him, her eyes seemed ssed and unfocused like her soul had been stolen, and her nose was ring as she struggled to breathe.
She looked absolutely ravishing to Alexander.
Hence without giving thedy any time to recover, he began his thrust,
"Mmmmm," while ignoring thedy''s muffled protests.
Alexander plowed himself as deeply into Lady Parthia''s face as he possibly could, inch after inch of bicep-thick meat bullying into her throat, bulging out her neck visibly every time he inserted himself.
"Fuck! Mydy, what a nice throat you have."
Pump his hips so, he groaned, fisting Lady Parthia''s bunned hair to haul her into his thrusts.
He pounded his hips viciously, jackhammering into the queen''s tight, wet throat, slobber and spit squirting and bubbling from under her stretched out lips, dampening his member and dribbling down all over his swinging balls, as he cored out her throat with obscene gags and glucks of pleasure.
"*Aghhh*, I''ming!" Until Alexander neared his edge and with a few swift thrusts, released it inside.
*Splurt*, *splurt*, *splurt*
Each release seemed to be stronger than thest, while
*Cough*, *cough*,
Lady Parthia struggled to amodate even half of the huge amount and thus gagged, forcing Alexander to quickly take it out, and release it on her face, painting it in his color.
The once queen of Tibias looked fabulous- squatting on her high heels with widely spread legs and wearing a thong, she was all oiled up and glistering under the setting sun, her face covered in white with a man''s spunk, which rolled over her nose and made her head dizzy.
Alexander would have loved to kiss her if she was not so dirty.
And thus he did the next best thing.
"Kyahh!" Lady Parthia lightly screamed as she felt Alexander suddenly make her get on all fours then and there and then tear apart that useless thong, thus letting him clearly see all that the forbidden garden had hidden from his for so long.
The scenery from Alexander''s side was sublime.
The fair ass was huge and it shined due to the oil.
At the top, Lady Parthia''s red buttplug peeked was peeking out shyly, while down before, clear dollops of spring water dripped onto the floor.
Lady Parthia''s vagina was brown, with a healthy pink hue, looking tight and closely shut, as the petals still held their shape.
Which was very surprising given all the wear and tear this had no doubt experienced.
And it was all possible due to the legummum that Ophenia had given Lady Parthia over thest several months.
The Tibian loyal family of course had their own ck market supplier of the stuff, but that was certainly not as abundant as it was with Alexander.
And the result spoke for themselves,
The rejuvenated organ possessed a patch of dense,wet hair and gave out a very lewd, mature smell.
*Sniff!* And like Lady Parthia had done with Alexander''s organ, he also could not help but take a good whiff.
Before positioning himself behind the organ and growling in a menacing voice, "Get ready, mydy. This is the start of your night!"
"Ahhhhhh!" Lady Parthia only remembered letting of this soul stirring moan as she felt being filled like she had never been filled before.
Alexander''s fat cock surged through her canals like a rocket, bulldozing anything and everything on its path, until it finally hit the walls of the cervix.
And it was then that Alexander really began his pounding, swinging his hips with the utmost power and pping against the huge, lush butt, producing a wet, lewd, *Pah*. *pah* sound, one which reverberated all across the vicinity and fueled each other''s lust.
For Alexander, Lady Parthia''s tunnels felt quite pleasant, neither too strong or too loose. And filled with many bumps and winding paths that scraped against him with pleasure.
While the experience for Lady Parthia was totally different.
Mind bendingly different.
Because each time Alexander moved, Lady Parthia either felt her walls were being pulled out or pushed into her womb.
The huge spear poked at each and every one of her sensitive spots, and
"Ahhhggh¡ mmmm¡ ohhhh¡. Kyaaahhhh¡" Lady Parthia''s voice opened up to all sorts of notes even she did not know she had as she sang like a lewd canary without any inhibitions, letting the world know of her pleasure.
It was like that refineddy act she had put on until now was all a lie.
''Hahaha, am I better than your husband, mydy?'' And seeing this, Alexander even wanted to taunt like so.
But quickly decided against it.
Because prior to this, both he and thedy hade to the tacit agreement that they would not bring up the matter of her family here, but simply perform the ''ritual'' as they were two individuals.
Hence Alexander simply concentrated on the act, and soon filled up thedy with his release, making her feel like her womb was being scalded.
And following that, for the entire night, the couple enjoyed themselves, as Lady Parthia was made to see a new world of pleasure she did not even know existed.
They tried all sorts of positions in every nook and cranny of the room, and even the asional breaks the two took in between were very sensual.
Such as the one where Lady Parthia was made to eat her dinner while sitting on Alexander''sp, his thick prick still stuck inside her warm tunnel.
"Mydy, why are you not eating?" Alexander had taunted as he made the mature queen''s butt p against her hips in a slow, rhythmic manner, making her bob up and down while skillfully scraping against her clit and making the queen see shes of lights.
The eight hours of the ritual were truly hellish for Lady Parthia, as she was made to see things she never thought she would see and experience pleasure she never thought existed.
She was fucked on all fours, pressed against the walls, jackhammered, lifted into the air, and a dozen other ways, until her vagina was leaking, her face was caked in cum, and her breasts were all chewed up, bearing Alexander''srge bites.
It was a very exhausting ritual and by the end of it, she looked like a broken toy.
Chapter 947 Slice of Zanzan (Part-1)
Chapter 947 Slice of Zanzan (Part-1)
(The following few chapters will focus on various people in Zanzan, leading their lives under Alexander, and their perspective on many of the events organized by their lord.)
"Come on son! Move the carts quickly. Or we are going to bete! The pasha''s army is just behind us."
On a well lit, pristine warm morning, a tall, well built man in a well dressed tunic could be heard urging the young man sitting next to him so, wanting him to drive the horses faster.
"Rx father. The pasha is still at least two days march away. What are you getting so worked up about?
The son however seemed to not share the same urgency, and tried to make his old man restrain himself, reassuring him, "We will reach Zanzan today before nightfall¡. don''t worry! If I go any faster, all the wine jars will break!"
As it could be deduced from the conversation, the duo were wine merchants, transporting Thesalie''s most famous specialty- wine, from the Tibian city to Zanzan, carried in tightly packed y pots and jars, as well as wooden barrels and pulled by horses.
"Bah! The jars will break! What kind of imbecile are you?" The older man, named Jamiz, however, was not to be so easily cated by his son''s excuse, as he quickly pointed to his mistake in a scolding tone,
"Look! Look at these roads! What does it look like to you? Does it look like we are in the loonies on some remote mountaintop where the horse will break their legs from one fall?"
And having his gaze diverted by his old man''s gesture, the son, named Niloy did indeed turn to look at the path they were traversing.
And the entire thing looked creamy white, almost glimmering under the sunlight, t like a mirror with few bumps, no potholes, and not even any puddles.
The entire thing appeared like it was one single t b of stone extending the entire.
And so Jamiz quickly added in a snapping tone,
"This is so smooth and t that it looks like it''s made from marble. You could roll a ball from Thesalie and it could end up in Zanan no problem!"
"What were you saying the jars will break? The jars will not break even if the horses tripped and tipped the cart over! Hurry up!"
The elderly man here was clearly exaggerating and his son did find his nagging father a bit annoying, thinking that he talked too much and had gone senile.
But still, the son could not help but agree with at least half of what he said.
As it could be deduced from the duo''s conversation, they were traveling along the road
connecting Thesalie to Zanzan that Alexander had finished building nearly two years ago, and the stone and concrete construct proved a marvelous spectacle for almost all.
The road was indeed one of a kind in the world.
So traveling on such a smooth tarmac, Niloy could not help but want to urge his horse a bit faster, just to see how fast they could go.
"I wonder how they built it?" And as he thought that, a look of admiration also dawned in his eyes regarding the path, as Niloy could not help but absent mindely muttered so under his breath.
"I heard it''s all imported marble. A special kind. From outside!" The son''s half rhetorical query was answered by by this, in a nasal and high pitched tone.
But it was not from his father beside him.
It came from his right, from another cart driver who was traveling with them.
For the fathers son pair were not travelling alone.
They were with a group of other merchants forming part of arge caravan, about ten merchants in total, all of whom were filled to the brim with various species of Thesalie, many of which were also battlefield loot they bought from Alexander''s soldiers.
And the one giving this reply was one of those merchants, as well as a close business partner of Jamiz.
The man''s face turned a bit darker and twisted as he gave his answer, especially when he uttered the word ''outside.''
This of course referred to foreign nations and most native Adhanians did not like interacting with people from outside their country.
The general people found it culturally inappropriate, a mindset developed over centuries by the ruling royal family.
While for the merchants it was more of a territory thing.
Like they were afraid that the foreign merchants would undercut them.
Thus, much of Alexander''s foreign trade was seen with skepticism and even a bit of hostility by arge portion of Zanzan.
But no oneined because, one Alexander had too strong a grip on the city, two because, many learned a lot of money doing business with them, and three because some of the goods they brought were truly desirable.
For instance, there was a special type of breed of sheep in Sybarsis''s Galiosos legion whose wool was of exceptional quality, like nothing Adhania had.
Then there were the few exclusive luxury incense found nowhere else that was really popr with some of the nobles.
And there were various metal workings from Lady Margaret''s territory found to be of very high quality and thus very desirable among many in the city.
Hence most of theints regarding Alexander''s trade were kept to only venting and harmless banter, as the city slowly broke out of its tradition and ustomed itself to this new, more prosperous way of living.
A mindset that was evidenced by another merchant quickly chipping in following the other''sments.
"Yeah! It has to be marble. What else could all these foreign ships be carrying?" The tone sounded cock sure, then pointing out with a bit of disgust but perhaps much more envy,
"The port is always filled with them! Coming and going like busy bees! And always filled with so much coin! How else do you think they are making so much money?"
He was quickly buttressed in his opinion by a third one from the back, who nodded heavily,
"I agree this exnation. The pasha must be nning to build even more roads like this. That''s why he must be building that new port. To house even more of those ships," as he then added some ''critical'' information to back up his im,
"I should know. My son works there. He told me it''s way bigger than our current one!"
Thus with all three of the four merchants in Jamiz''s close proximitying to this unanimous conclusion, the old man found himself outnumbered and ''outexined''.
"Bah! You idiots have never even seen real marble. What would you know?" However that did not mean swallowing what they proposed obediently.
Instead, Jamiz only spat in disgust towards all these ''wrong'' answers.
But he did not argue.
Because he could the other three had already made up their minds.
So, instead, lowering his voice a bit, he very confidently ryed the following to his son,
"It''s not marble. I have seen marble once. Real marble. It does not look like this," and then confided in him,
"This is made of something called ''white stone''. I heard it from your uncle He has a friend who worked on the road."
"ording to him, they made this using a kind of stone produced from that ce where the smoke is alwaysing out. Remember?"
The ''ce where the smoke is alwaysing out'' was of course referring to where the cement kilns were located.
And while cement was a white powder, the initial clinkers out of the kilns did look like white stones.
So it seemed somehow during the retelling, the crushing of the cement got omitted and cement became solid stones.
Ah, the magic of spreading through word of mouth.
As for the instance about the road being made of marble, this was actually a false information campaignunched by Alexander, designed to fool at least the visually less discernible people.
For he preferred the people did not know what cement was.
And to try and achieve that effect, Alexander did not even tell the workers at the cement kiln what they were making.
Just that they were making something the Pasha wanted.
And the same with the men working in the crushing mills.
Most did not what they were crushing or where it was alling from and thought they were mined limestone from the nearby quarries.
Such a light smokescreen of course was not enough to fool nosy nobles, but it was at least enough to stop the general public from making the ingredient amon household term and drawing unnecessary attention to Alexander.
And it worked, as even when Jamiz revealed the truth to his son, the young man did not buy it, finding the ''special marble'' exnation more reasonable.
But he did not also argue with his father, and instead only hummed and lightly nodded in an unconvincing manner.
Before quickly changing the subject, asking, "Father, why are you in such a hurry?"
"Do you brat know nothing!"
"The pasha has decided to hold a parade in celebration of his triumph over Tibias. What did he call¡. Umm¡ a triumph. If we do not return soon, we will be toote to set up our shop."
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Chapter 948 Slice of Zanzan (Part-2)
Chapter 948 Slice of Zanzan (Part-2)
Chapter 948
The merchant caravan slowly made their way through the immacte road, taking in the vistas around them.
There were the usual greenery- trees, forest, shrubs, ponds, and even s small swamp, along with vast swathes of farnds that the farmers and their children could be seen toiling away at.
Inter dispersed between these long stretches of wilderness, there were various small inns, taverns and other shops and settlements.
Almost all of them looked brand new, and many more were under construction, while the few pre exsiting ones seemed to be undergoing renovations to expand and amodate the increased demand.
And looking at all these, Jamiz reminisced gruffly, his eyes turning a bit ssy,
"None of this existed even when we left for Zanzan. It was all trees and swamp. And look at it now."
The old man had followed behind Alexander''s army as a simple wine merchant all the way back during the conquest of Thesalie, and so had a hard time believing that in less than two years, the ce that changed so much.
"Yeah. Give it a few years and many of these ces will turn into towns." And his son was quick to chip in with his own prediction, then turning to his father suggested, "Perhaps we should try to buy somend around here. We have the money."
The father and son had indeed made a killing from serving Alexander''s men as well as taking part in some looting.
So for the moment, they did notck gold.
In fact, they might havee to possess a bit too much gold as they actually had a hard time moving the enormous amount.
"Hmmmm¡ that''s not a bad idea. A shop here would be quite good," Hence Jazum seriously ruminated on the suggestion, his brows furrowing as he weighed the pros and cons.
And after a while came to the following conclusion.
"Let''s see. The pasha has not made any announcement on how thesends are going to be distributed. We can talk to thend officers after that notice is made."
"....." The son curtly nodded to this.
The ownership of thesends was indeed under contention as local forces contested against Alexander''s authority.
Officially, much of thesends belonged to the Pasha of Zanzan.
However they were never utilized because of their low value, and instead left to the local popce to govern by themselves.
But this was clearly about to change.
And sensing this change in the wind, those locals who were smart enough, started to build various inns, taverns, and other establishments on their forefathers'' soil, funding this growth from all the battlefield loot they had taken.
All so that Alexander would have a hard time discing them.
This option was certainly not avable to Jamiz and his family, who were from Zanzan.
In fact, they were not even from Zanzan but technically from the capital Adhan and had followed Alexander when he came here for the very first time.
Thus realizing the opportunity was likely to be missed, Niloy could not help but let out a small regretful sigh, "... its too bad we do not have any connection with the local shahebs. That would have made things so much easier."
''Shaheb'' was simply a general colloquial term for the local officers, employed by any nobles, be it Alexander or other nobles.
They were even lower than the as'' who were appointed as supervisors of an area by the ruling lord.
But for people like Jamiz and Niloy, they might as well be their lords.
And from what the young man was saying, it was pretty easy to discern his intentions.
Put simply, he wished he could bribe one of these shahebs to have them report to Alexander''s registry that they were local residents and thisnd belonged to them.
That was the best and fastest way of getting a plot here.
And his father seemed to agree with his son''s n, ruefullymenting, "Yeah. If we could just set up a shop here, then nothing could remove us. We just need a chance to build that shop."
The experienced old merchant could easily see how this ce would soon be booming like a bustling town center.
And his heart itched to have a piece of that pie.
But unfortunately, he was not the only one with this keen eyesight.
Many other merchants too could spot the obvious signs and many of them had much better connections.
The bribes here would not be cheap.
"Let¡ let me see if I can talk to your uncle about it." But Jamiz was anything if not tenacious.
So despite the challenges, he muttered so, his wizened eyes suddenly turning bright and lively.
This ''uncle'' that Jazim was talking about was one of his younger brothers, who worked as a mid level foreman in Alexander''s cement nt.
And due to the sensitive nature of the ce, and the man''s own charisma, he got to rub shoulders with a lot of higher ups of Zanzan.
At least higher up for thesemon people.
The man had helped Jazim in his business in the past,
And so the old merchant hoped he would also be able to help him this time.
The trading caravan would not be able to make it to Zanzan by nightfall of that day, due to a sudden, immense storm hitting them around midday, with violent gales and thunderous rainfall
sting for hours.
Thus therge convoy was forced to seek shelter in one of the new settlements, with the merchants taking refuge in the surrounding few inns.
A dy that certainly annoyed Jamiz as the old man could be heard grumbling,
"Stupid rain. Stupid brat! I told you, you should have driven faster. It cost us 30 ropals to stay here. By Ramuh! Why don''t they just rob us blind and be done with it! Darm¡we are gonna be sote. We ¡."
Towards this continuous ranting, the son simply kept his mouth shut and let his aged father continue in his senile escapade.
There was no way he could have just ''driven faster'' since they were traveling in a group.
Neither would it have worked anyway given the distance they still needed to cover.
But he knew trying to exin these would simply invite another torrent of heavy rebuke.
Thus zoning the droning man out, Niloy instead decided to focus on the food that he had ordered.
It has just arrived and looked absolutely delicious.
"Here are your orders, sirs. Piping hot cow intestines, cooked in onion soup. Along with grilled pork and a side of pickled vegetables." The local serving maid sweetly smiled as sheid down the items, before also nting tworge tes containing a few loaves of baked bread.
This inn only served one kind of bread and it came asplementary along with the other items.
"Hahaha, great, great. It smells so nice.."
The aromatic fragrance of the good food instantly put the son in a very good mood, as he produced a very frank smile.
While the maid, having finished cing all these, then shed another ttering smile.
"Please start sirs. I will get you your wines right away," before turning to get therge earthen pitcher.
As the father son duo began to dig in, they certainly found the taste to be well worth the money.
The 30 ropals cost for the night that Jazim had imed was the all inclusive amount for the two of them.
And although this might sound like a lot, almost a farmer''s weekly earnings, if one saw the breakdown of the cost, then it was really not that much.
In that 30 ropals was included a shelter for their cart and feed for their two horses, which cost the inn 8 ropals to provide.
The rich, extravagant food they ordered for the two cost 6 ropals to make, while the wine, which had the highest margin, still cost 5 ropals for the amount requested.
The cost of the amodations came to around 3 ropals for the two rooms, and 2 ropals were charged as the ''protection'' fees for the local gangs.
So the inn''s profit for even thisrge sale was only 6 ropals.
Or a farmer''s daily earnings.
Now, this was not small.
But nothing extravagant either.
Niloy, being a merchant himself calcted this inside his head until the local beauty returned with their drinks.
Then looked up to find that the local beauty was actually quite attractive.
Particrly, her red freckles seemed to be very fetching.
Thus, as the maid was pouring him his drink, the young merchant very stealthily pushed two ropals into her hands, giving her a very obvious smile.
After a hard day''s travel, Niloy also sought to sate his other urges.
And the maid epted too, also giving a very charmingly smile in return, before lightly lowering her head and whispering in a wanting tone,
"I will try to finish my shift quickly dear customer. I promise you will not have to wait long."
There was a reason why she had been so considerate to these customers.
Because she instantly smelled wealthing from these two.
Their get up, the caravan they came in, and even the order they made.
Everything gave them away instantly as wealthy merchants.
And from her previous experience, these patrons were usually very generous with their ''bedtime tips''.
For reference, whereas normal customers paid 4 to 5 ropals for the night, rich merchants could pay 8 to even as far as 10 ropals.
Thus the maid was perhaps even more eager than Niloy to get into his pants.
Chapter 949 First Triumph (Part-1)
Chapter 949 First Triumph (Part-1)
??Despite all their impediment, the caravan was indeed able to make it to Zanzan before Alexander reached the city, reaching it on the evening of the next day.
Although even this favorable traversal did not spare the son from the usual earful by his father.
"Bah! I told you the pasha would be able to cover the remaining distance in a day at most! The road here is very good! We barely got a decent spot."
"We could have gotten much better ones if you had not slept with that cheap whore and made us sote!"
The old man incessantly grumbled about his son sharing the bed with that local maid, while the son put theseints through one ear and discarded them the other.
Currently, it was the dawn of the day after they had reached Zanzan and he was too busy setting up their makeshift wine stall near one of Zanzan''s main gates to care.
So he instead focused on serving the customers that were starting to gather.
The entire ce was already bustling with a sea of men, women, and children dressed in their most colorful attires.
And their numbers were only swelling with every passing second as more and more of them flooded the ce.
The day was dered a public holiday and everyone in the city was invited to the city''s western gates to witness the victorious parade of their triumphant lord''s return.
And although most did not know what this exactly meant, starved out of any kind of decent entertainment for most of the year, this was enough for every able bodied citizen toe and have a look.
"The sun is not even up yet there are so many people! Feels like the entire city is here."
And seeing the density of the crowd, Niloy could not help but mutter so in astonishment.
"That is only natural, brother. You should have been earlier."
The man''s light mumble was instantly picked up by his younger brother, who had decided toe and help them out at the stall.
And it was from him that Niloy got to know,
"Lady Cambyses has been preparing this for months. The shop where Kalid works got one of those contracts. And we were even told about it in our school."
"The entire city had been decorated with festoons, ribbons, and colorful cards and even the city guards went door to door inviting everyone toe to the gates today."
Hearing the details of such borate preparation, Niloy went a bit wide eyed as he easily discerned whatever was being nned for today, it was going to be huge.
So with his curiosity peeked, he lightly smiled, "Look''s like it''s going to be a busy day! Hopefully, we will have enough drinks to go around."
"There! Look! They are here. They areing."
It was around the start of the day, when the surroundings became clear and warm that Alexander finally decided tomence his triumph, and the the very first ones to lead his parade were gorgeously decorated horses in red and gold pullingrge carts hosting various wooden and paper 3D models and paintings.
These depicted illustrations of Alexander''s all victories over Tibias, with multiple carts dedicated to each battle.
Such as his conquest of Thesalie where one of the paintings stared humungous catapults throwing ming balls into a city that was already burning, creating a dark, smokey background, while in the distance, many Zanzanites, recognizable by their distinct blue attire scaled the heaps of already demolished walls with swords raised high into the air and other heroic poses.
It did not take long for surrounding people to understand what they were being shown.
And the great cheer that erupted from them clearly showed that they loved it!
"I see. This is how the lord captured Thesalie! Awesome!"
"Hey! What are those things shooting fire?"
"....Hmmm¡ who knows? One of the lord''s new weapons?"
"I heard the priests in the Gaia temple describe them! They said it was a gift from the goddess to the Pasha. He can summon a brimstone of fire and death with them!
"By the gods! So what they said was all true? No wonder the Tibians surrendered. There was no way they could have stood up to the lord, hahaha! "
"Yes! Yes! It is all true. My own brother fought in that battle. He described it to me just as shown in the painting."
Such and many more exaggerated stories started to course through the sea of people, the air carrying these waves to all types of ears, with each recipient then adding their own embellishment to the facts.
Until there were no facts, just a pure legend.
Following this painting, there was the artistic depiction of Alexander winning against Lord Ponticus.
That was shown by having the Pasha personally drive his hugence into the enemymander''s chest and toppling him with his horse under a grey, blue sky
In that painting, neither Alexander nor Lord Ponticus''s face was visible but hidden by their respective helmets. since that proved too hard to replicate urately the raw emotion of the time.
The duo was instead identified by their distinct armor set- the blue and golden of Alexander, contrasting vividly against the red and ck of Lord Ponticus, the colors have been chosen specifically to give the victorious Pasha a lighter and morally better look, and Lord Ponticus a darker and more menacing costume.
Alexander''s heroic portrait caused many of thedies, especially the few nobledies who came here in their carriage to gaze into it longingly and bashfully.
The third painting showed the sacking of the city, and Alexander really did not try to sugarcoat the details or leave out the gory bits here.
He let everything be depicted as mostly what had truly happened there.
Set against a backdrop of burning houses and buildings, the particr portrait featured naked men forcefully taking many screaming and crying women right on the streets of the city, each gaudily dressed in enormous quantities of gold and jewelry, while another group in the backughed manically holding the decapitated heads of defeated men, those headless corpses donning red armor, thus clearly illustrating their identity.
Besides the actual recounting of the event, this painting was also very symbolic.
The dead men here were the defenders of Thesalie while the expensively dressed women were all the riches they were protecting.
All of which were now the property of Zanzan.
Now, you would think that such a grim painting would elicit disgust in many Zanzanites, and heavy resentment among the Tibians.
In modern times this would have even been an undeniable war crime and scandalous to the extreme.
But that was not at all how the natives of the city saw this.
"Look! That is us! Conquering the Tibians. Hahaha."
"Heh! Those women do not look half bad. Firm tits and good hips. *Tsk*, why didn''t I join the army back them? What a missed chance!"
"Yeah, you''re right! So much gold! I thought all the Tibians were beggars. *Sigh*."
The gathered crowd only cheered andughed at the paintings, even feeling a bit rueful that they could not join in those acts.
This mindset came along because they saw these acts as being only natural, the right belonging to any victor of the time.
The idea was somewhat like, ''Since you men failed to protect your women and riches, what right do you have to keep them? Let the heroic men of Zanzan have them. We will take better care of them.''
Many even felt their Adhanian superiority being stoked seeing the men and women of the lesser country being brought under their heel.
This type of thinking might seem absolutely barbaric to any modern people, but that was the line of thought for the time.
This was also the reason why Alexander chose to show them the unedited footage.
Because he knew the public would not only approve but love it.
As for the Tibians, well again, unlike the modern audience, they did not mind that much.
Sure some were bitter as it dug up painful memories, but in general most epted it as the norm.
Because this was indeed the normal fate of the losers.
And they themselves had done simr things to their enemies.
So they brushed the whole thing with a few shrugs to the shoulder.
And thest painting regarding the capture of Thesalie was Alexander entering the city through the gates of the city on a pure white horse, dressed in golden, ceremonial armor, his handsome chiseled face causing manydies to blush.
He was surrounded by his entourage of generals and nobles, along with various colorful musicians and barbs, dancing and ying jovial music.
At his feetid many small heaps of gold, silver, and other precious jewels, as well as the defeated armors and swords of the enemy.
And proceeding these carts, all the other battles were equally as vivid.
There were a few paintings showing Menes''s battle of Sissillpond Ridge where the elephants on horseback were skewered and hosting the heads on a pike.
While the battle of Lilybee showed a fierce contest between two evenly matched armies.
Such as the sword wielding legionaries fighting furiously against the Corinthian helmet wearing Tibian phngites, and the brave crossbowmen shooting at the enormous, grey colored charging elephants.
And at the thick of it all, were themanders of each side, Alexander in gold, Perseus in blood red.
Andstly, the battle of Kalimat showed Alexander surrounding Perseus and the armored king kneeling.
Chapter 950 First Triumph (Part-2)
Chapter 950 First Triumph (Part-2)
Therge, almost billboard sized paintings depicting Alexander''s victories were undoubtedly a huge propaganda drive, done to show the man''s prowess in battle and establish his authority as a conqueror among the hearts of themon people.
So in the retelling, he was depicted as being a perfect all rounder, as a genius tactician, a skillful general, and a brave warrior fighting right on the frontlines with the men themselves, all at the same time.
And the crowd loved this allpetent look, cheering with such impassioned cries,
"Look! The lord is so brave! Fighting at the frontlines! Truly a dragon amongst men!"
"Hahaha, yes. Little wonder those Tibians failed. They never stood a chance in the first ce!"
"Lord Pasha is invincible! Glory to him! Glory to his rule!"
None had ever seen such a way of storytelling.
And so theypped it all up like hungry cats, not questioning even a single event, with many even inwardly thinking, ''Finally a lord who fights his battles for himself!''.
The crowd was so moved that although Camius had arranged for some paid performers, ones whose job would be to stir the crowd and make chants after them, most of these ''employees'' found themselves to be without much work.
The regr people cheered by themselves.
And the same reaction was caused by the depictions of the army, where Alexander made each and every man look like heroes single handedly ying dragons.
In fact, the menacing way Alexander drew the elephants perhaps appeared even fiercer than dragons to some, as these grey, d in red and gold leather armor behemoths were drawn to be so huge and they seemed to even blot out the sky, the legionaries so tiny that they could barely reach the beast''s knees.
It was an awe inspiring painting, especially considering the message it sent- that the legionaries were ultimately triumphant against such a fearsome animal.
And seeing, many hot blooded, gullible youths were quickly converted into their worshippers, idolizing them as heroes and swinging their clenched fists excitedly, shouting,
"I want to join the military too!"
"Yeah! They look so cool. Let''s go sign up tomorrow!"
"One day, I too will vanish these evils and bring glory to the lord."
The smell of fame, glory, and adventure drew in so many of them that it ensured Alexander would not have a recruitment problem for the foreseeable years toe.
Following the paintings, came another group of carts, these carrying huge 3D cut offs and pictures of the specialities of Tibias.
This was done to show the regr Zanzanites what they were exactly celebrating since most of them werergely ignorant of the outside world.
Hence these carts worked to make them aware of all the new riches that were now added to their territory.
It started with the depiction of the lush fertile banks of the huge Diannu, shown from a top aerial view of a vast blue river, with its banks appearing endless, all filled with vast quantities of ripe golden wheat.
Then came a cart containing the very soil shown in the painting, the mound of earth taken from the most arable part of the ins to be shown off as an example.
And the soil was so good that even from a distance, the farmers in the crowd could detect its richness and were unable to stop themselves from praising it with sparkling eyes,
"That''s such good soil! I cannot believe it."
"Mmmm¡ who would have thought the Tibians had such good farnd? I always thought it was all desert there!"
"Darm lucky bastards! *Tsk*!"
"Hahaha, no need to be jealous. It''s all ours now! Good, good."
The next exhibition showed the Diannu being filled with numerous boats and small ships with colorful sails of red, blue, green, and yellow, while the nearby banks were upied by bustling markets and ports, representing the trade andmerce conducted using this waterway.
Along with the paintings camerge wooden models of various types of boats, all sporting decorative paper sails of various colors, and some even having men on them, acting as sailors and fishermen.
And speaking of fishermen, that was the next theme- pictures showing the abundance of fish in the river and the men catching them using various ways,s, baits, and traps.
And along with that, the Zanzanites were shownrge, colorful cut off of various fishes, made using paper atop a bamboo skeleton.
The schools of fish shown were a mix of real and fantastical ones, the grey, silvery, and ck colors of regr species like salmon, trouts, eels, catfish, and various other types of carps contrasting deeply with the vibrant red, blue, and golden yellow of some of the more imaginative ones that Alexander had managed to make up, to y up the mysteriousness and thus the value of the Diannu.
After all, in reality, the Zanzan and Tibian fishermen both caught mostly the same types of fish.
However, that certainly would never be exciting enough.
Thus Alexander ''colored'' the truth a bit, adding to the water many mythical fishes that supposedly existed nowhere else in the world, fishes that had some very creative features added to them by their ''creator''.
Features like huge bulbous heads, terrifying teeth, illusory tentacles, glowingnterns, split tails, and eyes in various ces, to name only a few.
"What are these? Such beasts exist!"
"By the gods! These are fantastic! I must try to catch one!"
"How do they taste? Are they edible?"
"Hmmm¡ They have to be poisonous! Or I would have seen the Tibians selling them."
Of course, even though most of the crowd was enamored by Alexander''s depictions and took them as gospel, it was not like he was without his skeptics.
People who have been to Tibias as well as the few Tibians who were attending the parade all expressed some sort of disbelief and suspicion at these strange creatures whom they had never seen.
But such people were such a minority that they were ignored by the overwhelming masses.
Although Alexander did not help his case with his next showcase- which was the painting of a literal dragon.
Serpentine and colored in blue, it was shown to be traversing the water of the Diannu, its long, scaly body forming a sinusoidal wave in the waters- a ssic portrait of a hidden monster.
And if that was not enough, he then showed himself fighting the mighty beast, the man on a small, rickety boat with his sword drawn out, while the serpent towered over him with its fangs widely shown out, seemingly ready to swallow the entire boat in one gulp.
Of course, the message of the painting was clear.
Alexander had single handedly in a water dragon during his campaign against Tibias.
The balls on this guy.
''When did such a monster start living in the water!'' And seeing this, the Tibians in the vicinity instantly thought so with incredulity, since they never knew any legends of such a monster residing in the waters.
But it did not matter what this small number of people thought.
Because the vast majority of people of Zanzan thought it was real.
And they loved it.
"Hero! The pasha is a great hero. No one else could have in such a beast!"
"Yes! He truly is blessed by the gods! Look, there are even the parts of the beast''s body! Magnificent!"
Indeed, there was a wooden 3D model of the dragon, blue and silver in color, following the painting, with pig and cow blood and flesh expertly stered onto the sides, as trails of blood realistically dripped along its side, giving the illusion that the whole thing was real flesh and blood.
At least real enough if you really wanted to believe it was and looked at it from afar.
Now, why did Alexander decide to add a totally fabricated dragon to his story?
Well because adding a dragon was simply the norm, as it brought a touch of mythicalness to the campaign.
Which was a requirement for impressing the people of the time.
For them, fighting armies and destroying walls, and taking the stored riches were all good and well.
But nothing beat seeing the army fend off some great mythical beast.
Such stories really sold well.
And the cheers of awe, shock, and pride elicited when the crowd saw the dragon proved it without doubt.
The next few paintings after this however were much more mundane and produced far fewer joys.
They showed Tibias''s local produce such asrge cut outs of fruits like grapes, figs, papayas, and decadent vegetables of colorful and vibrant quality, all apanied by carts full of the stuff.
There were even some carts carrying literally the fruit bearing nts, such the grape vines, and other small, hollowed out disys.
Then there were pictures of barrels of wine, Tibias''s most well known specialty, and thick rolls of high quality fabric.
Andstly, there were pictures of huge, marsnds where grew boundless amounts of papyrus, with the green nts all being shown to the public, for many of whom, this was the first time seeing it.
With this part ending by showing a cart carrying a huge billboard made of papyrus, that showed pictures of how the skilled artisans turned this precious nt into scrolls and paper.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 951 First Triumph (Part-3)
Chapter 951 First Triumph (Part-3)
The propaganda drive to show just how rich and prosperous Tibias was and thus how great an aplishment it was for Alexander to conquer them worked very well with the crowd.
The fertile farnds, the fantastical fishes, the abundant fruits and vegetables, and even the carcass of a mythical dragon all caused the people to cry out in tion.
"To think Tibias was so rich! I never knew!"
"Haha right! I always assumed they were poor beggars."
"Mmmm, I always wondered why the Pasha would want to attack them. Now I get it!"
"Of course, the pasha is so much more knowledgeable than us. It is little wonder he has managed to aplish so much in so little time!"
"Right! Tibias is just the start! With him leading us, we will conquer the entire world soon!"
Just as Alexander had hoped, the rich loot of Tibias spurred the public to want to go out and conquer other distantnds, all wishing to be led by the man himself.
But for now, they decided to restrain themselves and focus on what else Alexander had to show them.
For the parade was certainly not over.
Following the depictions of the battle, and the revealing of the riches such sacrifices granted them, came the time to show the public the actual booty Alexander and his men had managed to im for themselves.
Hence came the third group of carts, the leading ones this time filled to the brim with gold and silver.
There were heaps of gold and silver coins, gold and silver cups, gold and silver tes, and gold and silver jewelry, studded with various precious stones like diamonds, sapphires, and ruby, along with nes of pearls and opals dotted here and there, all shining and sparkling under the morning sunshine.
There was even one cart that was upied by only solid lumps of gold statues of various Tibian heroes and legends which were considered religious artifacts, the sheer volume drawing gazes of awe and longing from the crowd.
Because the crowd had no prior experience to draw anyparisons against, even the rtively modest gold obtained from the campaign was enough to make them stunned out of their mind.
None of them had ever even imagined such wealth, much less seen it.
In fact, until they were shown today, most of these peasants and other low level people did not even know such wealth existed.
So the disy made them very excited.
And in order to impress them, Alexander also yed some subtle tricks to inte the amount of his spoils.
He did this because the amount of booty he managed to capture during the campaign was actually not that high in raw gold amount.
Tibias only had a few mines and its royal treasury was found to be mostly empty by the time Alexander got to it.
So the trains of carts filled with gold and silver were not actually filled with these precious metals from the bottom to the top.
Instead, Alexander had much of the volume filled with hay, with only a thin, topyer forming the gold and silver ornaments.
And it was only thatyer that was glimmering and shimmering in the light.
But since no one would ever know this, there was no harm done.
Thus the people were left content to rejoice at the vast loot being presented to them as they eagerly looked at the ''huge riches'' that were sure to enrich their city.
Following the most precious of the loot, came several carts stacked of rolled fabric, piled up into almost a small hill.
Then there were many expensive dresses and costumes, both male and female, with the most beautiful ones disyed in wooden dummies like one would in a showroom.
Gowns, dublets, tunics, and pants were all on disy, red, blue, orange, green, yellow, and gold in color, with many being studded with pearls and diamonds, featuring thetest fashion of the country letting the crowding Zanzanites see and appreciate the clothes and culture of their neighbors.
"Such high cors!"
"Phhhfff! What are they gonna do with so many frills."
"The waist so narrow. Do the Tibians have no bones? Or are they so poor and malnourished?"
"The skirt is so long! It looks like a dust broom. Hahaha."
Although most of this ''appreciation'' was tant mockery.
Which was actually quite par for the course of the time.
Anything that was different was always seen and attacked with such hostility by the native popce.
However, what the people here remainedrgely ignorant of was that all these dresses belonged only to the nobility.
And even among them, most of these dresses belonged to those possessing the outmost entricity.
In fact, Alexander had chosen them especially due to their unique design and shock value.
Whereas the normal, everyday people of Tibias wore very simr clothes to their Zanzan counterparts.
In fact, mostmoners in the surroundingnds mostly wore the same thing.
But showing that would have been too boring.
And Alexander''s decision proved on the dot as the crowd cheered,ughed, and gasped at these strange and sometimes scandalous clothes.
After these fabrics came beautiful metal working tools and intricate pottery pieces, a train length of the stuff due to theirrge volume.
All of these featured beautiful and ornamental iron and bronze showpieces in the shape of birds, beasts, and various states, as well as vibrant vases and pots of myriads, shapes, and sizes, ranging from small handhelds to gigantic ones enough to fit a couple of men inside them.
None of these were too shocking to the crowd, so the procession moved on to their penultimate item- the ves.
For this show, both men and women were put on disy, made to march through the streets in segmented blocks with a few guards dressed in ceremonial armor behind them to keep them from escaping.
Now, Alexander obviously did not show off all the tens of thousands of ves he had captured.
That alone would have all day.
Thus only the best and most beautiful of the ves were given this ''honor, and made to parade themselves in front of a gathered crowd.
And if that was not enough of a humiliation, their current ''dress'' certainly was.
First came the men, all oiled up and glistening under the sun, fully bare except for a small linen cloth bound around their lower parts, barely hiding their unmentionables.
Meaning their upper torso, as well as their thighs and legs, were all up for all the world to ogle at, and as the men walked, they certainly felt many lecherous gazes grazing over their well muscled abs, their thick arms and powerful thighs and legs.
All the men were chosen for their handsome appearance and great physique, and as the sweat rolled over their oiled bodies, their healthy skin almost sang with a healthy sheen, causing the nearby crowd to marvel at the disy.
The peasants marveled at these well built men, while their wives blushed and lowered their heads before shyly sneaking a second nce at these perfect specimens such was their charm, as those unmarried in the crowd dreamed of their husbands being half as handsome as this.
Andstly, the few vers in there sighed ruefully at the magnificent specimen they failed to catch in time.
None of these groups however expressed a longing a buy them, because they knew it was too far fetched a dream.
Instead, it was the few nobles who hade to attend the parade who started toment on these excellent ves,
"All these are very high quality bulls. Perfect to work in the mines."
"Yes! I agree. Hopefully, the pasha will offer to sell them to us. My silver mines certainly could use more workers."
"Hmmp! Why would you waste many good muscles in the mines? It''s the fields where they belong. Have them growing beetroots! That is the new silver!"
"Hahaha, Lord Lian, are you sure you want them to work them in the beet fields and not your wife''s warm field while you watch?"
"Yes, yes. Or your own. I''m sure every one of them has the cock to watch those muscles. Your small back hole will surely never close if you let them pound them, hohoho."
When among friends sharing simr ''interests'', some of the topics these nobles engaged in private were so crass and depraved that would put even the most ruthless and coarse barbarians to shame.
For instance here was a man who liked to watch his wife do it with another man, and then after the deed was done, would ask the man to do the same to him, because the mixed juices would turn him on.
Utterly disgusting.
And it was not just the men who were this depraved.
Some of thedies, who attended the parade from their carriage alsomented various lewd things among themselves, showing whatever fate remained for these ve men, if Alexander chose to sell them, it was not going to be pretty.
It was apparent that although many of the nobles had switched over to Alexander''s side, they had not switched over their habits.
Pasha Muazz''s shadows continued to linger even under Alexander''s enlightening rule and it was only a matter of time before Alexander was made toe face to face to deal with it.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 952 First Triumph (Part-4)
Chapter 952 First Triumph (Part-4)
Just like the noblemen were glinting and salivating at the prized male ves, a few, very small number of nobledies also giggled at them in private,
"Too bad the pasha did not choose to make these ves walk naked. I would have loved seeing what their packages looked it¡ all flopping around."
"Hehehe, yes that would have quite the sight. Ahhh! I wonder you good they taste? The ones at home are getting so boring."
"Hehehe, mydy¡ you are insatiable¡"
In the triumph, seeding the male ves, came a group of female ves, and they were surprisingly dressed better than the men.
Garbed in colorful long tunics and skirts of red and gold, these women were fashionably dressed, with decent makeup and braided hair fashioned with greenurels, letting their natural beauty speak for themselves.
Originally, some of the organizers had suggested to Alexander to let the women saunter like the men, their upper torso fully visible, to let the public better appreciate the goods.
But the Pasha thought better of it.
Other than it being too dehumanizing, Alexander was also of the opinion that letting the women show everything would make them less attractive to the men because then they would have nothing more to offer.
Thus, in much contrast to how the ve traders sold their wares, he had the women dressed beautifully, in dresses and styles that entuated their natural beauty.
And the crowd''s reaction said it all.
Many drew lecherous gazes at these beauties and blew cat fishing whistles, as well as drawing rueful sighs that they were not shown naked.
And the slight pain derived from seeing these chosen women in their current state proved to be a far more lingering memory than if they had simply seen them naked with naked breasts and hips swaying in the wind.
The crowd however did not need to feel too much regret over the missed scenery, as Alexander decided to more than make it up to them with his next attraction.
An attraction that made the crowd be stunned the moment it entered their field of view, for in this part of the procession, there came the magnificent elephants!
Alexander had them embellished in their full war regalia, with red and gold painted leather armor, arge tent atop their back carrying their mahoots, and even dulled swords tied to their tusk to produce the fully authentic feel.
And the moment these beasts made their appearece, they instantly became the star of the show, even more than the fake dragon.
Because these beasts were still alive and walking.
The people of Zanzan certainly had never seen such beasts before and so as these enormous beasts slowly made their way through the wide roads, their asional roars caused many to shudder, and others to delight.
There were gasps of praise, disbelief and even horror as the crowd cheered,
"Magnficient! To think such a weird animal existed!"
"Yes! The world is truly wide and weird! One wonders how any animal can be so big!"
"Or how the army captured and tamed them! Glorious!"
"Look! Look at those ears! The way they are pping. Looks almost like a boat''s sails. I felt the draft even from here."
"What''s that long windy thing hanging in the front! A hand?"
"Hmmm¡ who knows? But can a hand shout like that? Surely it has to be a mouth."
"Bah! It already has a mouth, can''t you see."
"Hmmm¡. then perhaps it has two mouths. Who can say?"
"Those huge white things sticking out of their mouth. What are those? Surely they cannot be teeth. That''s too big!"
"And are those swords tied to them? What a terrifying foe!"
"Yes! I can feel the ground shake every time they step."
"Oh! By the gods! I fear these behemoths would be able to smash through even city walls with no problem."
"To think our army really fought these beasts and won! Heroes! Each and every one of them!"
Many people in the crowd were swift to connect these beasts with the portraits of the legionnaires fighting them as shown previously.
And realizing with their very own eyes that those stories were not exaggerated, the surrounding crowd cheered in pride and tion.
Even many of the nobles present were impressed, particrly thedies, with many of them gossiping,
"So that''s what an elephant looks like? I once heard about them from some passing foreign merchants. But never thought they would be so big!"
"Yes. I heard about them too. I believe that ivory is made from these huge teeth. I have some showpieces made of them."
"Oh? So that''s where ivoryes from? I had no idea. No wonder they are so luxurious."
"Right! There was once a merchant trying to sell me an ivory piece for an inordinate price, telling me that he had to fight a massive, terrifying beast to get it. Looks like he was telling the truth! *Sigh*, too bad I did not believe him then."
"Oh? What happened then?"
"Haha, I might have had him executed on bogus charges and simply taken it¡ but I can''t exactly remember.. hehe."
"Ahhh! That does sound like mydy."
"Mmmm. So these beasts seem to be a great treasure. I wonder where I can get them?"
"Oh is mydy interested in raising them? Yes. They would be quite the prize to show off in parties, no doubt."
"I suspect the soundness of it! We do not even know what they eat."
"Surely other beasts, right? How else could they be sorge."
"Hehehe, I''m more interested to know how they taste? Do you like the pasha like ughter one for us?"
"Ohhh, that''s fantastic my lord! Your ideas are so wonderful. Maybe we can ask Lady Cambyses!"
"Forget it. I doubt the pasha will let us even get close to them! Much less ughter one for us."
"Well, you can never know if you do not even try, hehehe."
It was amidst such cheers and gossip that the long procession of elephants finally ended, taking quite a bit of time, and even when they disappeared towards the center of the city, the crowd was still left with a lingering sense of awe.
Followed by the elephants, came another group of carts, this time hositing paintings of the nobles of Tibias surrending to Alexander.
The portraits showed them kneeling in front of an armored man sitting on a thorne, inside what appeared to be the royal court.
And toy validity to these ims, the Tibian royal family was made to join the parade behind these carts, dressed in their finest attire, along with ceremonial chains binding their hands and feet symbolizing their loss.
It was without a doubt extremely humiliating for them.
But Alexander had demanded them of this without any chance of rejection, approaching them with the condition,
"I will spare Philips and Perseus the ignominy given their status and ill health. This will alsospare staining their reputation among the Tibian nobles. And I will also allow Princess Amelia to avoid this due to concern about her new identity."
"But the people of Zanzan must see the royal family humbled. They demand it!"
"So Perikles will be made to don Perseus''s armor, appearing to the crowd as the king of Tibias.
And Lady Parthia his consort, the queen of Tibias. While Princess Camelia will be thest princess of the defeated family."
As soon as Alexander''s uttered this, it received immediate bacsh from all three of them, with Perikles refusing to impersonate his father, Lady Parthia being shocked and appalled at being told to act as her son''s wife, and Princess Camelia looking at Alexander venomously and saying as his consort, such a thing would be also humiliating to him.
Towards the first two objections however, Alexander simply threatened, "If you refuse, then I will simply have Perseus dressed up and paraded under the gruling sun in a stretcher."
While towards Princess Camelia''s warning of humiliation, Alexander sniggered, "Then isn''t that what you exactly wanted? To embarrass me infornt of the crowd? Well, here is your chance."
Needless to say, Alexander''s ''persuasion'' soon worked to make all three of themply.
Hence Perikles found himself dressed in a specially made ceremonial blood red armor with intricate silver etchings around the breastte and arms, along with many golden ribbons strapped around various parts of the body, giving him a very regal look.
He wore no helmet, so as to let the crowd see his face in its full glory.
Only a golden circle adorned his head, with arge, red plumb of feather attached, almost personifying the idiom- a feather in one''s hat.
Because to Alexander, the sess of the campaign was indeed a feather in one''s hat.
And Perikles, who was representing his father Perseus, was the grand prize.
This youngest prince also wore fake iron chains on his arms and legs, painted gold for a better visual effect and a vivid represatniation of his capture.
And alongside to his right walked his mother, dressed in that golden gown, simrly sporting the chains.
While Princess Amelia apanied her brother to his left, today missing the headshcade, thus letting the crowd watch her cut locks with shocked gaps.
And once the crowd got to know who it was parading in front of them, the trio proved to be almost as much a hit as the elephants
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 953 First Triumph (Part-5)
Chapter 953 First Triumph (Part-5)
??The crowd had definitely never seen a king or any other member of the royalty in their life.
And certainly not one all dressed up in chains.
Thus upon seeing them now, they cheered.
And then swept up by the ongoing spectacle, they took the opportunity to mock and jeer at them to their heart''s content, not wishing to miss out on this once in a lifetime chance.
"That''s the king? The one that kneeled in front of our lord?"
"He looks so young! No wonder he lost!"
"Hahaha! Hey pup! You grown anything down there? Or is it all smooth?"
"Heh heh! Forget about that! He must still suckle on his mommy''s tits!"
As Perikles proceeded through the streets, he could hear such and many more crass words being directed towards him, the taunts stinging him immensely, and causing him to swear in his mind.
Under any other circumstances, these plebs would be little more than dust under his feet, their lives so insignificant that the prince would not even notice if he extinguished tens of them in a single breather.
But now?
Vae e victus- Woe to the vanquished.
Because he had lost, even these almost invisible bugs wereughing and calling him names.
How humiliating!
If the man had been able to remain unaffected even through all this, then perhaps he might have already gained the title of saint.
But the youngest prince was certainly nothing like that.
Thus he gritted his teeth and clenched them menacingly, praying to the ancestor to give him the strength to endure.
And only taking sce in the fact that both his father and eldest brother were spared the humiliation.
And since neither the current patriarch of the family nor his sessor was made to perform this rite, the Tibian royal family''s honor was still rtively intact.
Because in this time period, the ones in any family that really mattered were these two people.
The others were just extras.
And this was the same thought process that upied Lady Parthia''s mind, as the crowd lecherously attacked the beautiful queen, in words that made Perikles''s taunts sound almost refined and sophisticated.
The regal woman certainly had the worst of it, as the crowd rudely pointed and spat,
"That''s the queen? *Whistle*, that''s quite the ass."
"Hey! Do you think she has an asshole like the rest of us? I heard nobledies do not need to poop and shit like the rest of us!"
"Of course not you idiot¡Ummmm¡at least I think not!"
"Asshole or not, I kow she''s got a cunt. I wonder how different such a posh bitch feels to pound."
"Heh! All women are the same. Put the slut under this daddy and I will have her squealing like a bitch in heat in no time"
"Hey! Whore! Your husband looks like a wimp. Come to us. We will show you what a real man feels like."
"Yea. I wonder what that ass would look like if it was put in that wall butt. Ahhhh! I might cum just simply thinking about it!"
"Heh Heh. Hey, why are you waking bowl legged? Did our men already pound that cunt. How did it feel? Nice and good I''m sure!"
"*Tsk*, shamelss harlot. unting herself like that. Her pussy must be so wide it whistles every time she walks."
The general popce of this was truly crude and barbaric, saying things no civilized person would ever dare utter in public.
And their current jeer at the helpless women perhaps to some extent went to show that there was indeed some grains of truth as to why the nobles looked down on them.
But Alexander did it anyway because the people, be they saints or devils, loved it.
While for the recipient of these baseless usations, the curses were so base and degrading that it almost caused Lady Parthia to break out in tears of shame and indignity, wondering what she had done to hurt these people so much.
She had never even heard half the curses being thrown at her.
Whore, slut, pig,... and a thousand different variations all using her of being immoral.
When she had never done anything of such sort¡. perhaps except one time, but that was an exception.
However, for the crowd, her ''crimes'' did not matter.
This was their way of having ''fun'', poking at the woman''s chastity, and even proudly offering to take her forcefully, which was a crime punishable by death.
And hearing all this, Lady Parthia felt her eye turn ssy with flooding tears, as her heart throbbed painfully.
But she did not cry!
Instead, she bit her luscious lips with the utmost strength, tasking the pain to override her shame even to the point that she even began to bleed from there.
But still, no tears fell.
Because she did not want to give these ''animals'' the pleasure of viewing that.
And such a simr thought upied the youngest princess, who received her own fair share of her curses.
There were the same ones that her mother received.
But also some unique ones dedicated solely to her, especially attacking her hair which was styled into curly locks, actually looking quite stylish in Alexander''s eyes.
But the crowd certainly did not seem to share that thought as they barked and hissed,
"Hey, what are you? A brat or a bitch? Why is your hair like that."
"Shameless sturmpet! Like mother, like daughter.
"Disgusting! To have hair like that. Utterly shameless."
"Worse than ves! Worse than criminals. Worse than animals. A blight to our society!"
"Abomination! Filth! Get out of our sight!"
Somehow, these curses had much more life behind them the the ones thrown at Lady Parthia, since the people were truly disgusted by this style.
Males had short hair.
Females had long hair.
This was almost a universal rule in every civilization centered around the Centra Sea, be they Adhania, Tibias, the region of Thesos, Sybaris, or any of the other powers.
Thus Princess Amelia''s new haircut was not seen as a revolutionary concept but as an aberration, a foul, twisted version of nature.
And the princess really could feel the full extent of the wrath of people, making her tiny body shiver and sniffle.
Being brought up in thep of luxury, she had never faced such widespread condemnation before.
It was even to the point that it was fear, not shame that gripped her, and her face turned pale, shuddering at the thought that at any moment the enraged crowd would stop cursing and simply decide to spill into the streets and kill her themselves, then and there.
For a moment, she even wished she did not understand the newly learned Azhak.
If this was Alexander''s way of punishing this unruly princess for her acts, it was certainly a very heavy one.
While in a rare case of simpatico, even the present nobles seemed to agree with the crowd,menting among themselves,
"The Tibian queen was quite pretty. But why did her daughter choose to cut her hair like that?"
"Mmmmm. yes. Such a shame. I would not be caught dead with my wife looking like that! A shaved peacock!"
"Yes. Truly unsightly. If it were me, would hide her in the deepest cer, and not even rats see her face."
"Such a shame! I had dreamed of having both of them at one of my parties, wondering how a queen and a princess taste. Now that''s all gone"
"Heh! Keep dreaming. The pasha has already made the Queen a temple priestess. And the princess is his concubine. So there''s no chance."
"Concubine! Ahh¡ I mistakenly got excited. I forgot the pasha does not participate in these events. Pity."
The nobles were much more in the loop and knew that none of the Tibian royal family was essbile to thier pleasure.
They also knew that Perikles was a fake and that this was just a stunt for the general people.
So other than asking themselves why Alexander cared for these plebs, they did notment much about this young prince.
In the parade, it was not only the three Tibian royal members that upied the people''s sight.
Beucaue follwoign them closely behind were many of the branch family members of the royal family, the ones that had been turned intomers.
They too were simrly dressed in colorful attire and golden chains, nked by the many defeated Tibian nobles, the defeated and vanquished ones, the ones who had their house destroyed and turned intomoners and even ves.
The sight of so many nobles being turned tomoners was a shocking sight for the residing crowds, who always thought the word to be synonymous with authority, obedience, and absoluteness.
So to see so many of them fall to Alexander, it once again burned into their psyche the power of Alexander.
"So! So many! The lord is so powerful."
"I ¡ I always believed the pasha to be might. But even so¡ I can hardly believe it."
"Glory to the pasha! Glory to his rule!"
Seeing the long train of such high level men and women turned the crowd to a feverish pitch.
While the nobles, although much well informed too were astonished by the sheer scale of it.
Reading and hearing about it was one thing.
But seeing it for themselves was a whole another.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 954 First Triumph (Part-6)
Chapter 954 First Triumph (Part-6)
??As the Tibian nobles slowly passed through the streets and disappeared into the distance, the first part of the parade, the educational and propaganda part of it finally came to an end.
Now it was time for the celebrations.
Now it was time to show the heroes who had brought all the things the crowd was shown.
Now it was time for the victors to make their appearance.
And entering the sights of the people, leading the whole procession was none other than the man himself.
And what an entrance it was.
"Is that the lord? Oh, by the gods!"
"How magnificent!"
"Truly once in a lifetime sight."
"Oh! My eyes suddenly feel sated!"
The gathered crowd could not help but let out such impossible gasps at Alexander''s sight.
For Alexander had tried as much as possible to make himself appear regal and even divine.
On this current asion, the man was on a luxurious chariot, driving it himself, being nked on either side by red and gold armored bodyguards.
The vehicle itself was painted gold and the impossibly expensive purple, along with pure silver metalworking etched into the wooden frame, giving the whole thing an impossibly sophisticated look.
It was drawn by four white as snow horses, who were all powdered to give their already fair skin an even ''purer'' look, making the beasts radiate under the golden sun.
Their horseshoes and hooves were all painted gold, as were their bridles, while they were decorated with long, pure gold braidings on their manes like they were gifts of the gods themselves.
Alexander donned a full set ofplicated purple and gold armor, again using that color that was more expensive than gold, all in order to emphasize his own specialness.
He had no helmet, letting his handsome, chiseled, slightly tanned face be visible to all, a face that caused the men in the crowd to sigh in awe and the women to blush dreamily.
Even the nobledies, who had ess to a far greater number of handsome men could not help butment favorably at Alexander''s face.
"Oh! That is the current lord of Zanzan? This is the first time I''ve seen him. He looks so young!And quite fetching."
"Right! It''s said he is only twenty two! To think he conquered Tibias at such a young age. Truly impressive."
"Mmmm, this is also my first time seeing the lord. He is difficult to get an audience with."
"Yes. It''s because he rarely holds any banquets or parties, preferring to just spend his time at home. What a waste."
"Mmmm. You would think being a simple ve he would love to party and eat and drink to his heart''s content. *Sigh*, pity he doesn''t even know what he is missing."
"Hmmmm, perhaps that''s why he doesn''t hold them. Because he doesn''t know how to enjoy himself?"
"Well then maybe we should teach the poor lonely boy. Ohh, I would love a night with him. Show him what a true woman feels like."
"I would love it too! I heard from one of the maids that his cock is the size of a horse! She apparently saw it once while pouring his bath water."
"Oh! So Lady Mahve you have ears in the Pasha''s own home? That''s bold!"
"Heh heh."
It was like this that Alexander''s appearance caused a few of the more prurientdies to divulge many secrets among themselves as they started to fantasize about him, wishing for even just a single opportunity to spread their legs for him.
Which really went to show, if you were sessful enough, there was little need to chase after other people.
They came chasing after you.
And it was doubly true for Alexander, who was no breathtakingly handsome prince, there being many noblemen who were much more masculine and dashing than him.
Furthermore, he was not even considered that charming by the women of this time period, since he usually did not bother courting them.
Most of thedies of this time preferred passionate poems and poetry being recited to them, and receiving flowers and other gifts, to all of which Alexander had zero interest in.
And to make matters worse, he was seen by many blue bloods as a dirty upstart, worse than a peasant who had gotten where he was by luck and a lot of hook and crook.
However, as a counter to all of them, he showed them only one ingredient.
One thing that few in the entire world had- power.
Immense power.
And perhaps it was such tant disys of it that somewhat unsettled the noblemen there, upon seeing Alexander''s get noted among themselves with slight shock and disbelief,
"Why is he wearing so much gold and purple? This is tantly disrespecting the king!"
"I agree. Surely he cannot be so ill-informed so as to not know what this means! That this color is reserved only for royalty.!"
"Hmmm¡ Has his recent conquest gotten to his head? I know that the boy has little reverence for His Majesty, but still¡. This is too much."
"Younglings are always bold. Does he think just because he defeated a tiny country, His Majesty cannot straighten him out? Foolish!"
"I concur. Even if Lord Alexander sees King Ptolomy as being weak, there was no need to openly point it out. And to do so just to pleasure a crowd ofmoners. This is utterly a mistake!"
It was apparent that most of the original Zanzan nobles totally disapproved of Alexander unting his power, as they were sure it was sure to reach Ptolomy''s ears and enrage the already muddle-headed king.
And perhaps they were right,
Maybe Alexander did let this victory get to him a bit, the exhrating feeling of his conquest making him jump the gun a bit too soon in showing the people who it was that truly ruled him.
And not any king far, far away.
But whether these noblemen were right and rtions with Ptolomy became further strained due to this, or they were simply overthinking everything and none of it was of any consequence still remained to be seen.
For now, though, Alexander had his fill of the spotlight, moving at a crawling speed while waiving and smiling to a bursting crowd whose feverish pitch seemed to reach ever-increasing heights each passing second.
And he was not alone in receiving this adoration.
Because following right behind were his wives on foot, all wearing pure white chiltons with various stylish ornaments and headbands adorning them, making them appear stunning.
Gold and diamond jewelry graced their necks and wrists and with each step they took, the golden anklets with studded diamonds they wore chimed melodiously, glittering and sparkling in the sun.
All four had their hairs done in a braided top knot, which swayed with each step and their most unique adornment was undoubtedly the golden armbands adorned with blue sapphires, which snaked all along their elbow to their shoulder in a mystical waving pattern, making the four appear almost unearthly.
With perhaps this being most true for was Opehenia, whose tall, buxom, hourss-like figure and immacte, angelic face made any man who saw her face be slightly dazed, while mes of envy and jealousy ignited in the women.
Many of the present noblemen even cursed bitterly that Alexander did not participate in their customs, for this meant they would forever miss their chance at getting to know thedy better.
While quite a few nobledies were actually relieved that Alexander did not participate in their customs because they feared Ophenia stealing all the spotlight for herself.
Along with Alexander, the quad quite enjoyed their time under the sun as they slowly made their way through, finding the cheers, adtions, and general vibe of the ce breathtaking.
They walked with strong steps, heads held high, their hearts bursting with pride for their husband''s achievements.
As well as a touch of their own pride, since they did y a part, however small that maybe, in this.
It was a feeling that was also reinforced, when they picked up lines from a few of the people recognizing them, mostly in the case of Cambyses and Ophenia due to the nature of their work.
Following Alexander and his family, were the various nobles who apanied him to battle, the likes of Menes, Melodias, etc, as well as the retainers that stayed behind in Zanzan looking after the ce, like Uzak, Menicus, all joined by their families.
They too were dressed in their full, colorful regalia, and as they proceeded, many of the younger members danced and sang alongside the cheering crowd
Although if there was one ring omission here was that their lineup had no women in them.
And this was actually normal for the time being.
Noble women rarely made such public appearances.
And, if they were ever shown, they were only shown to be presented as chaste or a dutiful mother.
So in that way, it was Alexander''s showcase of his wives that was the abnormality.
This procession of the nobles had their own cheers and praises, as the crowd pointed to and regaled how they once met one of them and exchanged a few words.
Until they too passed and thest part of the triumph was finally revealed to the crowd.
The victorious army itself.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 955 First Triumph (Part-7)
Chapter 955 First Triumph (Part-7)
??As it could be seen, Alexander had divided the triumph into three distinctive parts.
First, the people were shown all the loot that was captured.
Second, they were shown who it was who captured it.
And so the third naturally involved showing the people who aided him in this endeavor.
Meaning it was time for the army to make its appearance.
For this asion, Alexander hence had the whole of his forces, i.e. all of the remaining 15,000 men that were still with him, participate in the parade, dressing them in their iconic blue armor and red shields along with ceremonial copper gate helmets sportingrge, red plumbs, making the marching men appear taller and far more imposing.
The novel look instantly caused the crowd to shout in awe and glee,
"So tall! And they look so strong!"
"Just hear their footsteps! Like hammer hitting iron!"
"Look! There is my father! And my brother! They are back!"
"Glory of the Pasha! Glory to the heroes of Zanzan!"
The soldiers marched down the wide, newly paved streets in an orderly square-sized formation, with many of the trumpeters and signallers in the unit sporting a tune all by themselves, adding much merriment to the festivities.
However, as the units proceeded, soon these orderly blocks began to disintegrate, as after being almost two years from home, many of the men who spotted their loved ones among cheering the crowd could not help but break rank to go greet them.
And this happened at such arge and rapid rate that maintaining discipline proved utterly futile for the officers.
In fact, many of the officers themselves ran out to greet their own wives and children, making the whole effort moot.
And given the extenuating circumstance as well as the festive atmosphere, most of the higher ups decided to ignore this breakdown of discipline for the time being.
It was apparent everyone had truly missed their families and were lonely at home.
Although the unforeseen consequence of this was that the supposed orderly march turned into arge mob, as the surrounding crowd, who had up until now restrained themselves decided to join the streets too, dancing and singing then and there with their loved ones.
The triumph hence turned from an orderly parade to more of a jovial carnival.
And the newly joined mass then began to follow wherever Alexander seemed to lead them, which was in a tour around the entire city.
After the first part of the triumph- the loots, the ves and the Tibian nobles had their time in front of the crowd, they were taken to already prepared designated spots to be carefully ''stored'', hence leaving Alexander the lead of the show.
And so he decided to lead the overflowing crowd first through the main streets of the northern district, which was beginning to turn itself into anrge entertainment hub, with various restaurants, inns, hotels, and nightlife facilities already being established.
Alexander was a bit surprised by the amount of new buildings and shops already present before him, with many more seemingly being under construction, even noticing arge, open air amphitheater to be in the making.
The extent of the city''s development in just two years had exceeded his expectations.
And it was a sight that brought him quite a bit of joy as he could feel the prosperity being generated here even when the day was a holiday, and most of the shops and establishments were closed.
The outer countenance of the buildings said it all.
Following the main artery of the northern distinct led the crowd to the central part of the city, but he decided to not enter the central part of the city yet, saving it for thest.
Instead, Alexander took a right turn towards the western district, which was also the primarily residential district.
There as he passed through the immactely paved streets, he noticed many of the scheduled buildings had been already finished, while many more were under construction.
Many of therge aqueducts were seen to be in various stages ofpletion, while a few of the smaller ones were already under operation.
Through the western district artery, Alexander and the procession slowly snaked their way uphill, until they came to a ce known as the centine Hill.
This was the most prestigious area of Zanzan, reserved exclusively for the ultra rich and nobility.
Which was perhaps best exemplified by the fact that there were norge apartment sized blocks here like the plebs'' abode.
But insteadposed of onlyrge, sprawling vis and mansions, all gazing into the boundless Cisran Hills.
And this was also where most of the nobility currently were, gathering around their windows, balconies, and verandas to watch the iing procession.
For you see, only a scant handful of noblemen anddies had actually gone to the northern gates to see Alexander in his full glory.
Most chose not to since they found the mere idea of having to rub shoulders with lowlymoners retching.
Thus instead, they waited for Alexander toe to them, sitting on their highurels imperiously and viewing the entire thing from thefort of their homes.
It was an act that had naturally quite irked Alexander when he was first told of the intentions, thinking to himself with rage and frustration,
''Here I am sweating and cooking myself under the sun for hours on end and you do not even have the courtesy to show up? Not only that, you want me toe to you! Who is the pasha here, you or me?''
But he also knew this was the norm of the times.
Nobles did not like mixing with the dirty plebs, and themoners also did not like having such high ranking members amidst their midst, for they shrunk and shrieked away from them in fear.
Thus forcefully asking the nobles to take part in Alexander''s celebrations was not realistic.
You could not force people to ''have fun''.
There were also many nobles currently in the city that did not live in Zanzan but came from quite a bit away just to see Alexander and even a few from Amenheraft''s camp attending in secret with the mind to switch their sides.
Antagonizing them due to such a small event would be foolish.
Hence, Alexander ultimately designed the triumph as such, bringing the magnificence of his victory to them.
Although not without a small punishment.
For the nobles were denied the showcase of all the loot that Alexander had captured, with the excuse being given to them that such huge, slow moving carts would dy the procession too much, and the event would have tost literal days before they were finished.
And here, for once Alexander was not exaggerating.
The actual Roman triumphs sometimes did take two to three days to finish because the heavy, goodsden carts took that long to make their way through the eternal city.
But because the logistics of such an event would be momentarily challenging, Alexander decided to cut the part short, saying to himself,
''Perhaps in the next triumphs, once we get more experience.''
This was also the reason, a few of the nobles actually bothered to show up at the gates.
After the nobles got to witness the edited version of the procession, Alexander then turned around and started to head towards the southern district, where the port as well as arge part of the markets were.
The air here was significantly salty and as Alexander rode his chariot, like in the northern district, far more shops, buildings and inns came into view, many built so close that they seemed to be one gigantic structure all on its own.
Here was also the industrial center of some of Zanzan''s most iconic products, such as the cement kilns and many, many iron workshops.
Alexander noticed many of the grounds here too had been expanded.
So with that ce toured, Alexander then entered the penultimate district- the eastern district.
Here was much the same, except that its main attraction was the army barracks.
So with there being little to see, and the sun already close to setting, Alexander quickly turned around and atst made it to the central district, which was also the heart of the city.
Here resided all the various administrative buildings responsible for running not only the city but the entire fief, overseeing everything from taxation andw and order, to even garbage disposable.
There was also the parliament building and the thing that Alexander was most here for the temples.
It was here that resided the biggest temple dedicated to the Goddess Gaia in perhaps all the nearbynds, and Alexander was here to seek His Mother''s blessing.
Theocles was already waiting for him when Alexander arrived, on arge, outdoors white marbled altar built for just this asion.
At his feety on their sides a white bull and a ck cow, all four limbs tied up.
They were to be sacrificed.
And so that was how the triumph finally came to an end.
With Alexander raising his de and swearing,
"Oh, great mother Gaia. It is only through your hands that I was able to achieve this greatness. Please ept your son''s humble offerings and bless up with more of your favors!"
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 956 The Returning Men (Part-1)
Chapter 956 The Returning Men (Part-1)
??On a mild mid afternoon, under the sight of the setting sun, Alexander personally sacrificed the bathed and scented bulls and cows under the altar of goddess Gaia''s status, staining the white marbled floors red with blood.
While a group of priests right next to him chanted various religious phrases, glorifying Alexander and his deed and pleading Gaia to favor Her son even more.
Many in the crowd too joined in the prayer, the resultant voice reverberating across the whole city, making the entire atmosphere buzz with religious zeal.
This act of sacrificing animals, in addition to appeasing the gods, also had considerable political significance.
For the act of ughter could definitely be viewed as a metaphor for Alexander ''killing'' Tibias.
After all, Tibias''s sacred animal was a magical bull possessing some characteristics of a cow.
And now two such beastsy dead at the goddess''s feet.
For those smart enough in the crowd, the symbolism was unmistakable.
''Tibias is dead!''
And many Tibians'' hearts bled upon understanding it.
It was with the conclusion of the sacrifice that the triumph was finally dered over and the crowd made to disperse, as slowly and surely, the jam packed streets began to empty themselves, with many eager to return to their houses to partake in their own private feasts, as the celebrations were far from over.
And amongst such people were the father and son duo of Jamiz and Niloy too, as well as the youngest brother.
And this time, they had the additionalpany of four tall, slightly tanned men, all dressed in their blue armor, making it very easy to tell where they had been.
All four of them had been called up during Alexander''s levy and were returning home after almost two whole years.
An event that naturally pleased the old wine merchant greatly as evidenced by the wide smile hanging on his face.
They had spotted each other around the midpoint of the parade and the heartyugh that Jamiz had given on seeing the brothers step in front of him was something that needed to be heard to be believed.
Even the man himself did not know he couldugh like that.
"Brats! You are alive. Good! Good! You did not disappoint your old man! I knew you would be back" The man greeted the four by repeatedly pping their shoulders with a ruddy face while constantly nodding his head.
Wars were deadly affairs, and he honestly did not think all four would return, and return fully unscathed at that.
For the old man, this was truly a blessing.
While their eldest brother Niloy was a bit more restrained in his celebration, choosing to stay in the back for now to let the parent and child have their moment.
"It''s good that all of you are back alive. Mother has been worried sick! And La cried herself to sleep for an entire month when you guys left."
And it was only after Jamiz finished his greeting that he chimed in with this pleased voice.
While the youngest of them, quicklytched onto his four elder brothers and asked about their experiences, wanting to hear various war stories.
"Big Brother! Tell me everything you have seen! Did you really fight those huge beasts! Can those weapons really shoot fireballs? Did the pasha really fight a dragon? What did you guys eat? Where did you sleep? Where¡."
The boy''s curiosity seemed boundless, and it took a soft scoff from his father to finally rein in the excited boy''s curiosity.
"Hahaha," While his brothers chuckled at the disy of innocence.
For the next few while, the group chatted and enjoyed among themselves, while asionally serving drinks to all the thirsty customers, although there was already precious little left after the seven had their fill.
And so it was like that evening finally neared and it was atst time to return home.
"So that''s what happened! Wow! Those beasts were truly formidable!" And as the four brothers retold their war stories on the way back, it caused their youngest brother to shout in shock and incredtion, his eyes shining with excitement by the end of it.
So much so that once he finished hearing it, the boy clenched his fists and shouted, "When I grow up, I too want to join the army! Seeing all newnds, fighting all kinds of beasts, and bringing look and glory to the lord¡ it sounds so cool!"
"Hah hah hah." The boy''s dreams got a hearty chuckle from the rest of his family.
"By the way, which way are we going? Isn''t our house that way?" And then the topic suddenly switched to this, as asked by one of the returning brothers while pointing in the opposite direction.
"Ahhhh, I forgot that you guys do not know." It was their eldest brother Niloy was quick to speak up in response, elucidating in a low, cid tone,
"We moved house about six months ago! We now live in one of those apartment blocks the Pasha built. It''s quite nice!"
"Apartment blocks? Like those that in the slums?" The answer however seemed to confuse the four.
This was because although the type of buildings Alexander created did exist, there was no exact equivalent.
Most of the existing ones were normally shoddily built where only the poor lived.
Thus it was a bit confusing for them that their family, which was rtively quite well to do, would choose to move into one of them.
"Why did you move? Is business not going well? Do you need help?" Hence one of the returning brothers quickly asked with added rm.
"Yes. Do not hesitate to ask if that''s the case. We got quite a bit of loot this time. We can help!"
And another stepped forward like so, revealing their deep pockets.
"Bah! Brats, what are you talking about? Are you insulting your old man?" This trace of concern however was quickly stepped on by an irritated Jazim, who felt insulted even at the idea that his sons would think he needed help.
"No, No. Business is great! Business is booming. Thanks to you guys conquering Thesalie, our business has skyrocketed. It is so much that we can hardly keep up with demand."
While it was their eldest sibling who gave any real answer, reassuring the concerned party by saying so with arge grinning face, and then simply adding,
"It''s¡ It will be easier to exin when we get there. You can see the apartment blocks for yourself."
It was close to evening, with the sun having already set that the group was finally able to make it to their apartment block and the four brothers would have to concede, they were very impressed by everything they saw up untiling here.
"They are so tall!"
"And wide too! Nothing like those in the slums."
"They are all painted!"
"They look so sturdy too. And beautiful! Are too windows made of iron!"
"There are wells next to every one of them!"
"How many people does each hold!"
"And so wide streets!"
"So many streets!"
"How many people does each hold!"
As they passed through many simr apartments and theiryout, the dimensions of the blocks and their roadyout, which had roads on all four sides as opposed to the traditional two or even one road was an eye opener for these returning legionarries.
They never imagined houses could be so spacious.
Or that they could be so beautifully painted, as all the exterior was a shining white, painting such by using ayer of crushed limestone.
While the windows were made of cast iron with intricate, waving patterns, done so because it was actually found to be cheaper than using wooden windows.
Such as Zanzan''s domestic iron production capacity.
While thest and perhaps biggest amenity of the building was that it had its own dedicated well that was fed either directly by the underground water or through artificial water reservoirs connected to aqueducts.
The brothers had missed a lot of these when they passed through here during the triumph since they were too busy singing and dancing and catching up.
But now that they finally got the space to view and appreciate it, it did not take long for these men to marvel at these constructions.
And they quickly understood why their eldest brother did not bother exining why they moved but rather opted to just show them.
Words would have been hard to express the immacte atmosphere and cleanliness of the ce.
"Brother. Father! You are back!" As the group of seven stood in front of their ''new'' home, suddenly from near the building''s wells, this sharp, feminine cry was elicited, followed by quick footsteps.
And as the group turned, they were instantly greeted by a pair of grinning girls in their early teens.
Slim and slender, the two were carryingrge, heavy water buckets while wearing very beautiful and vibrant clothes, a thick tunic, and long skirt, their quality being much too good to be a regr outfit.
Meaning they had worn it specifically for the celebrations today.
"La! Na! You have grown so much!" And in response to their greeting, the returning brothers rushed to greet their sisters, hugging and embracing them tightly, before proceeding to exchange many pleasantries with them.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 957 The Returning Men (Part-2)
Chapter 957 The Returning Men (Part-2)
??"Come brothers! Let''s go inside. It''s already gettingte and veryone is waiting for you!"
With the initial pleasantries done, the two sisters, La and Na then quickly invited their father and brother upstairs, while leading the way.
And weary from their entire day of revelry, everyone was quick to ept.
So they quickly made their way up the spiraling staircase, hastily crossing each floor that they found to be illuminated byrge hanging braizers burning chopped wood or coal, with the produced smoke escaping though a fewrge holes made in parts of the nearby wall.
It was an adequate solution to the irritating problem of inadequate lighting under dark, and really went to show just how much of a blessing modern lightning was.
And seeing this, one of the brothers could not help mutteirng to himself,
"How much does it cost to stay here? These braizers can''t be cheap to run! Does the pasha pay them himself?"
The fact that the man''s very first query was the cost of the ce really went to show he was Jamiz''s son, the son a merchant.
"Hah hah." And fully understanding this, the old man could not help but let out a pleased chuckle, happy to see that his son''s nature had not changed.
While once again it was thier oldest brother that present them with the actual answer,
"It cost 20 ropals a month per¡ what did they call it¡ a t!" Niloy traced his chins a bit before recalling the exact term, and then let them know, "Also these braizers do not run for the whole night. Only for about an hour or two after sunset."
"After that, you are on your own. Most people use thier ownmps or borrow a candle from the guard below."
"Hmmm¡. I see. That makes sense." And this arrangement of making the most with what the current technology offered made sense of the man, who nodded and reasoned, "Most people never leave their homes after dark anyway. So it would be a waste to keep the braizers for so long anyway."
Yes.
Due to theck of sufficient light after dark, and the prohibitively expensive nature of producing artificial light like candles andmps, nightlife as a concept did not really existed.
Perhaps the people would once in a blue moon stay upte to go see a travelling circus or theatre.
But those were the very rare exception.
"How high we have to go?" While one of the brothers were concerned by the cost, another one was concerned by height of the building, finding his already weary legs getting even more tired.
"Just one more floor. Brother! We are almost there." The reassuring reply came in the form of his sister La''s voice.
Who was then quickly joined by a bit more tired voice of her elder sister, as she opined with a few groans and grunts, "Our t is indeed a bit too high. You really feel that every time carrying the water up. I can see why only poor people got the higher floors. Arghhh! It is such a pain!"
Naatually, the two young girls were still carrying the full bucket of water by themselves, which was quite heavy to say the least, weighing close to 15 kilograms each.
While none of the much stronger, bigger men offered it off them.
And this was not because these men did not love thier sisters.
But that this was the norm of the times.
The men simply did not think this was anything to concern themselves with, as this act of drawing and transporting water was seen as a woman''s job.
Thus the men did not interfer.
Although Na''sment did get a sharp scolding from her father, who venemously snapped,
"Ungrateful girl. Who taught you to bad mouth your father like this! Is this why I let you stay under my roof? To curse behind me? Without me, you would not even be allowed to enter this building. Poor, my ass!"
For the old merchant, the word ''poor'' was an immensely sensitive reverse scale.
Now, Jamiz''s fuming and bellicose attitude towards his daughters at such a smallint might seem shocking to a modern audience, andbel him as a waste of a father.
But the old merchant could actually be regarded as a decent father for the current times.
This was indeed how the regr people of this time period treated their daughters, because Adhanian society as arge saw daughters as burdens, as properties of their fathers, brothers and then their husbands.
And by that standard, Jamiz might even be seen as quite a good father by some.
Although that standard was quite low to begin with, as evidenced by how the youngest sister La had to quickly jump in to save her sibling from her father''s fiery temper, crying out in a sweet, pleading voice,
"Fathere down! Sister did not mean anything by it! I quite like the high floors. The scenery from there is no nice! I cannot get enough of it."
And Na too apologised with a rapidly nodding head
"Yes, yes, me too. I did not mean anything by it."
"Hmmp!" This sincere apology as well as the good mood the man was currently in sought to finally cate the father this time.
And they atst reached thier destination, the top, fourth floor.
"The entire floor is ours!" And as soon as Jamiz stepped off the stairway, the old man said so in a voice tinged with unmistakable pride, while gesturing with his both his hand.
"All eight!" And the revealed number naturlly surprised the brothers.
They had already seen each floor consist of eight apartments upying two wings.
So to have the entire thing to themselves, was a fact that surprised all of them."
"Hah hah, it looks like business is really going well. We are reassured. We are reassured."
Thus one of the brothers could not help but burst out in pleasure,while another joked in a fake, rueful tone,
"And here I was thinking I would be finally able to put a roof over my old man''s head with loot from the battles. What a pity, what a pity."
"Hah hah." That one got a good chuckle from the others.
"Mom! Guess whose back! Come and see!" While the two sisters quickly called to the rest of the family.
And
"Sons! You are back!"
"Husband!"
"Father!"
Almost the very next instant they said so, the returning soldiers found themselves swaremd from all sides by the rest of thier family members.
Thus for the third time, the four brothers received a hero''s wee, where they exage pleasantries with thier mothers, wives and children, with many of the women hugging and even breaking out into tears of joy upon seeing them.
It was almost two hourster that the men finally could detach themselves from their loved ones who had missed them oh so much, and was then allowed to wash and refresh them.
Using, might I add, the water their sisters had pulled up from the well below.
And then atst got to sit around therge, ornate, dining table, under the bright illumaton of many, many candles, where awaited for them arge feast.
The table was currently filled with many delicacies, which, though hd nothing worth looking at twice whenpared to Alxx''svish banquets, was still quite respectable whenpared on its own merit.
Large loaves of pure white bread, beef, chicken and mutton, all cooked in different ways, sent cuts of fish, and vegetable basted in butter.
All paired with Camius''s famous wine.
Even for someone as well off as Jamiz, this was a grand feast.
And the men there felt like they were eating like royalty.
And by men, I do mean only men.
There were the six brothers, thier father, three of their brother inws and three adult nephews.
The women and girls would eatter, and as cruel as it might sound, their choices would be limited.
For example, they would not have the white bread, since it was so expensive.
But good quality brown bread.
They would also not have ess to all three type of the meat, and not in the size of the proportion avable to the men.
Instead they would be restricted to only one type of meat.
So while eating, many times, the mother, the sisters, and wives would share parts of their meat to get a taste of all the meats.
The reason for this was again because it was the norm.
Women were discriminate against and seen as less important than the men.
Thus it made no sense to spend so much money on them.
And the thought was so ingrained that even such an obviously malicious practice that one no batted an eyes, as everyone instead fooucse on the tales the four brothers had to say.
While the four brothers took in thier new surrounding,menitng with a dazed voice,
"The rooms look so well built. There is even a balcony. The
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 958 The Returning Men (Part-3)
Chapter 958 The Returning Men (Part-3)
??(Sorry guys. Ch 957 got posted twice as both Ch 956 and Ch 957, I have uploaded the real Ch 956.
If something like this happens again, please @ me in discord.
Webnovel does not send notifications to me when youment.
Agains, really sorry.)
In Adhania, as well as most of the parts around it, the pervading norm of the times was that women were by their very nature discriminated against for being ''less important than the men''.
And this mindset was made very prevalent by many of the customs of the time.
This generally only applied to themon folk, but women, for instance, were generally given ess to lower quality food than their male counterparts.
This not only ranged from lower quality grains and such, even things such as the best part of meat or fish would always go to the patriarch of the family, followed by the sons and only once they had their fill, would it be the turn for those at the very bottom of the food chain- the mothers and daughters, who subsisted on the leftovers.
Furthermore, wives and daughters would also be given generally less food because they were usually weaker and smaller than their male counterparts so were assumed to have fewer needs.
Which wasrgely false, especially in the case of growing children.
Andstly, they were not allowed to drink wine and other delicious alcoholic beverages, in fear they would embarrass themselves in front of others.
Instead, they had water slightly mixed with vinegar to kill germs.
Although it was debatable whether thest part was actually a downside as not being heavy drinkers made the average womanst far longer than men.
But in general, the women were treated much poorly than their male counterparts and the sad part was that it was so ingrained into the society that no one even batted an eye towards them, as was the case with Jamiz and his family too.
Instead, for now, everyone instead focused on entertaining the returning four, cing heaps of bread and meat onto each of their tes, while relishing in all the adventurous tales they had to say.
Everyone at and around the table hung onto each and every word they said, and the four were more than happy to entertain, adding just a ''touch'' of embellishment to their exploits.
"You should have seen how we took Thesalie! The pasha built a huge wall out of nothing and then¡."
"We personally shot fireballs into the city. They were eh big! And when they flew, it lit up the sky! Like the sun!"
"It was under a pitch ck night that we scaled the walls! Captain Pyanos personally led us! We cleared the wall and¡."
"Once the city was taken, the Pasha even allowed us to sack it for three days. And by luck, all of us even got to taste three noblewomen! A mother and two of her daughters! Ramuh blesses us hah hah."
The four young men did not really hide or omit anything from their family, even the things they did when they sacked the city.
In fact, not only they did not have the slightest sculps over admitting what were undoubtedly confessions of their crimes, but they even euphorically bragged about it.
The act really went to show the vast different standards of the time.
And the response to their tale was also quite in tune with the times.
As upon hearing of this experience, there was no expression of horror or disgust from either the present men or even women.
Instead, there surfaced among their face expressions of pride among the women, for they saw the act of their brothers, sons, or husbands ''taking'' a noblewoman as a great source of honor and bragging rights.
While the men produced slightly bitter faces at having missed such a great opportunity, wishing they could have been the ones doing that act.
The times Alexander lived in truly something ''special''.
Further evidenced by how upon hearing their act, the youngest of the six brothers even directly asked, "Big brother! Are noble women really as good as they say? Do they really smell like flowers down there? Are their boobs and ass really that soft?"
The boy''s eyes sparkled with innocence and excitement as he looked at his brothers like heroes.
He had heard many things about noble women from various sources, some of it real, some of it dubious, be they from his friends, his brothers, older cousins, the songs bards sang in the tavern, as well as various advertisements by brothels who imed that their girls had such and such characteristics just like a noblewoman.
And in response to the young boy''s interest, his elder brothers were more than happy to delineate it, as they wanted to brag even more about their catch and show off to everyone how much they had enjoyed themselves, with one of them quickly putting arge grin on the face and nodding, "Of course! Let me tell you all about¡."
"Bah! What are you brats talking about? This is a ce for eating!" However, the family seemed to have at least this much decorum, as seeing how dirty the conversation was going, the head of the family finally stepped in at thest minute to put a stop to it, scolding all his sons with a gruff bark.
And then put a lid on the whole entirely, by turning to the youngest one to re menacingly, "And you stupid brat! Where did you learn these words? And why are you saying these words so openly? Has seeing your brothers rotted your head!"
Jamiz was okay with his sons discussing their exploits on the battlefield, which naturally would include the mentions of such acts.
That was fine.
But that was also where he drew the line.
They could mention it, but nothing more.
And as the old man made that clear, the young boy quickly lowered his head in fear, feeling slightly hurt.
He really wanted to know.
Although his heart quickly soared when one of his returning brothers lightly lowered his head and whispered the promise with a wink,
"Don''t be sad, brat. Since you are so curious, I will tell you all about itter. In fact, I will do one better I will take you to Lillith''s Touch tomorrow! Then you can see it for yourself. It will be my treat."
Lillith''s Touch was the name of the red house that Alexander established, where Mikaya used to ''perform'', and was considered the best red house in the entire city, if not the entire province,
It was also rumored the house was connected to the pasha, and that all the women in the house were fallen nobledies.
Due to this, and in keeping with its reputation, it was very, very expensive.
But that price hardly deterred any of the many, many aspiring young men of Zanzan from dreaming to be one day being able to afford a room there.
And naturally, the young boy was no different.
Hence his heart was set aflutter by the promise and so excited was he that he even had to restrain himself from jumping up and shouting in glee.
While the main man of the house, Jamiz had his interest picked up something else one of his sons said, and thenmented with a touch of nostalgia,
"So Pyanos has be a Captain! Ahhh, how times change. It seems just like yesterday that we were fighting shoulder to shoulder back in Adhan. Hah hah, how time flies."
Jamiz had been levied to fight against Amenheraft all the way back then.
And it was there the two men met, where they were part of the same unit.
But after the battle, the two men took very different paths, one choosing to join the establishment, the other leaving it.
And it seemed seeing his once colleagues rise through the ranks, a feeling of bitterness swelled in the other man''s mouth, regretting the missed opportunity.
Which waspounded by his third son''s ''insensitive'' remark, "You too could have be one if you stayed in the military, father. Why did you leave? We would have been much better off than now!"
The tone here was more than just a bit usatory, as the son felt his promotion in the military would have been far smoother if he had a father in a senior position.
And he was joined by another of his brothers, who shared a simr sentiment, nodding and saying,
"Yeah, Uncle Pyanos''s son is already a squad captain. I heard he is even being considered for a sergeant. And here we are, still regr soldiers! *Sigh*!"
And towards all these ints'' and very implicitly being called a coward, Jamiz could find no answer, as his face was seen to be visibly shrinking.
''Perhaps it was a mistake to retire!'' He thought to himself.
"You stupid brats! What are you saying to your father?" However just as the old man was beginning to sink into a pool of self doubt and shame, the one toe to his defense in his time of need was none other than his wife, who joined the conversation with this shout.
And then lightly pping the heads of the two who had made that remark, cried,
"If your father had not used all the loot he had gotten from that battle and used it to set up this business, you poor brats would be orphans. Is your father as young as Pyanos? And do you think Pyanos would be captain without your father''s help? He is the one who paid for that!"
Chapter 959 The Returning Men (Part-4)
Chapter 959 The Returning Men (Part-4)
??"Do you think Pyanos would be captain without your father''s help!He is the one who paid for that!"
This very interesting remark made by the matriarch of the house drew quite a bit of attention from all those present, who all sent her curious looks.
While her husband sent scorching res.
Clearly she was not supposed to tell this.
And feeling this displeased re, the realization of her mistake made the woman shrink a bit.
"Oh, what''s all the secret! It''s been years. And we are all family here." And then tried to brush the whole thing as being insignificant.
"Loose lipped woman." However, Jamiz''s light muttering clearly showed he was not buying it, before turning his head and exhaling a bit in resignation.
"Well since it''s out, might as well tell you." And then, feeling all the curious gazes shift to him, decided there was little point hiding.
So he began,
"When I first started my wine business using the booty from the war as capital, it was not going too well. Many of you brats might not remember, but Zanzan was in quite the mess. And people could barely afford grain, forget wine."
"But then by luck, one day Pyanos noticed my shop while walking by the market."
"He said by wine was too cheap and that he knew a new merchant who was looking for peddlers for his own wine business."
"imed the man was rted to some noble close to the Pasha."
"Back then I was desperate. So I took the deal. And as a back door agreement, I promised to pay Pyanos a portion of our profits."
At this point of the reveal, Jamiz''s voice suddenly turned from cid to a bit high pitched,
"Of course, I do not hate the man for this. In fact, I''m very grateful to him. I have made many, many times the profit I thought I even could with my family''s own wine recipe."
"And using that, I expanded my business to selling many more things. So all my business would have been impossible without him. In fact, without Pyanos, we might all be living in the slums." While saying these, Jamiz''s voice sounded very soft and pleasing, further revealing,
"And it was not like he was ungrateful either. Remember, it was actually him who allowed your eldest brother Niloy to dodge the levy by taking to the recruitment officers. If not for that, our business would have never grown so much in thest two years."
"Your mother is right, my old body cannot take all the work like before."
"Also, when you four brothers joined the army, he personally promised to look after you."
"Andstly, it was through him that we got this apartment floor. He introduced us to one of the officials handling these housings and we only managed to convince him to give it to us using Pyanos''s name. Or there was no way we would have gotten the entire floor all to ourselves.
Jamiz''s use of the word ''convince'' really implied one thing and one thing only- bribe.
And no one present mistook it for anything else.
While the man continued,
"Now, fourth floor is indeed a bit high, making getting up and down it a pain. But still, we got eight ts. And we can all stay together. How is that less?"
"For helping this old man with all these, I will be eternally grateful to Pyanos. " Jamiz sounded very pleased, like a content old man,
But," However, then suddenly, Jamiz''s tone cautionary, as his eyes turned to his sons,
"But,... I know that Pyanos became a sergeant using bribes. I know that without a doubt. Most of his squad mates know it too."
"And while I do not know if he used the same tactic to be a captain¡ I only got to know he was captain, my sons, if you choose to remain in the army, I would be careful of him."
"Pyanos is a lot of things. But he is not a good man. Be careful of him. The only reason he treats us so well is because we pay him so well."
Jamiz aired the caution in the tone of a wizened, wise old man.
While the sons nodded and smiled, showing they would indeed heed the advice.
Although how much of it was true and how much of it was just to please the old man remained to be seen.
Jamiz''s retelling of the events also inadvertently exposed a ring chink in Alexander''s army and administration- the ever present, the ever sticky problem known as corruption.
The wine merchant in Jamiz''s story was naturally Camius, and Pyanos bribed people very close to Alexander''s spy master to help him be a sergeant.
As for the role of captain, well that had much more talent and capability involved since it was a very big post.
But there were still some shady dealings, such as embellishing the squad reports as well as exaggerating his own heroics.
Pyanos did this by acting as a sort of personal money lender to many of the soldiers, using therge amount of money he got for Jamiz to set up a sort of very primitive bank.
His biggest selling point was that he charged very low interest on his lending, charging less than 5%, whereas traditional loan sharks ranged anywhere from 50% to even 100%.
And if you know anything about soldiers, it was that they were always out of cash, drinking and whoring it away.
Thus, Pyanos''s ess to easy credit made him a very popr man.
And he used this poprity to subtly influence many things around him.
Such as those reports.
One had to give it to him, the man was very smart.
And such a simr type of underhanded dealing also happened during the allotment of the apartment blocks.
Where, although it was supposed to go to the artisans such as cksmiths and carpenters, the men responsible for producing the most value to Zanzan''s economy, the officers, through bribery and other promises, gave many to those that did not deserve them, such as wealthy merchants and levied soldiers whose pockets were overflowing with stolen loot.
In thetter case, the influence of the army was undeniable, with corruption reaching as far as the highest echelons, including the likes of Melodias and Menicus, whose rapid rise to nobility made them especially susceptible to ''gifts'' from many hungry ants and snakes.
This was still not an endemic problem yet.
But one that Alexander would need to address eventually in time.
For now though, the man was busy celebrating his victory.
Yes.
Even after standing on a chariot all day, Alexander was scheduled to appear in a huge party to be held in the evening, taking ce at arge open ground remodeled especially for this asion.
Which was really normal considering that since themoners were celebrating, it would be too uncouth for the nobles not to be.
If anything the Zanzan nobles knew how to do, it was to party.
Now, traditionally, a noble held feasts in his house.
But since Alexander''s house was pathetically small to host the few hundred guests that would be attending, he had Cambyses instead arrange this.
Therge, open ground was brightly lit with literally hundreds of huge burning braisers, while above, on ropes hung another set of brightmps, turning the once dark ground into the most dazzling part of the city.
On stage, arge group of minstrels and bards yed music, while opposite of themid rows and rows of tables filled with every food and vor one could desire in a buffet type feast.
There were many small private tents dotted around the premises, filled with luxurious couches and chairs for guests to rest and lounge, while at the very center of the ground, was arge, luxurious, round table reserved for Alexander and his family, as well as any guest he invited.
It was currently upied by Alexander, Cambyses, Ophenia, Gelene, and Mean, with all of the girls holding one of Alexander''s children on theirps.
Then there was the little girl Fabiyana who seemed very excited to be here and Alexander''stest mistress Camelia, who was atst given the respite of being allowed to have a turquoise headscarf and a fashionable red hat, making the cold woman appear like a ice beauty.
And apanying her were her mother and brother, Lady Parthia and Prince Perikles.
These two were his trophies.
And the various nobles attending the feast would all flock to Alexander to view them, first congratting him on his win, and then making various remarks about his two guests.
Some of them were neutral, but some were quite biting for the queen, such as the ones asking Alexander if he had any desire to ''show the queen a good timeter'', clearly alluding to the after party festivities the nobles nned to hostter.
Such frank reveal of their proclivities really shocked Lady Parthia, as she did not think the Adhanian nobles were that depraved!
And Alexander clearly noticed how her lips twitched and her eyes pleaded to not allow this.
She would rather die.
Alexander would of course not give the queen, or even the prince, as asked by some nobledies and even men.
But he did have a good them teasing both.
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Chapter 960 Princess Camelia Home
Chapter 960 Princess Camelia Home
??The victory party celebrations drew itself deep, deep into the night, as Alexander was forced to meet and entertain all the attending nobles, hundreds of them, with each only slightly altering the same hackneyed praises he had heard a thousand times. all pertaining to praising his exploits and then toasting to his sess.
Sure, Alexander had enjoyed the adtion for the first few times.
But after perhaps the fiftieth time, his ears began to hurt.
Worse, he could not even get drunk to drown out these ''noises'' as it would have seen as much to impolite.
Instead, due to the sheer number of toasts being made, Alexander''s wife Cambyses had the servants switch his drinks from wine to just red dyed water with sugar and vinegar mixed in, just to keep her husband from tipping over.
And even then Alexander had to skip almost the entirety of the feast, only able to have some thick bread and cheese so that his poor stomach did not explode or everything inside him came back up to say hello.
And it was amongst this difort that Alexander also had to endure many of the nobles, especially the poor shordars (barons), willing to bend hand over knee just to offer him their daughters, and even their wives and concubines.
A few even assured Alexander that he did not need to take any responsibility and could just sleep with them first to see how they felt.
Then, depending on the experience, he could either choose to keep them or return them.
Alexander scoffed first scoffed at this.
Nothing in this world was free.
And then snorted in disdain at these power hungry pack of wolves, scorning them for their low values.
Although his eyes did momentarily nce longingly at some of thembs being disyed for the offering, finding one particr woman, a modestly shaped figure with healthy tanned olive skin quite fetching.
But that was only for a few moments as Alexander''s interest quickly waned once thedy began to try and tempt him with bold, flirty moves, which made Alexander understand that she must have been very experienced in ''entertaining'' guests.
Alexander was not interested in such women.
Thus the Pasha very clearly turned that and all other offer down, politely excusing himself by iming he was much too tired today after the entire day''s triumph.
It was amidst such outward revelry but inward dullness that finally the party was called to pause, at around midnight, much to the man''s long sigh of relief.
Also, yes, it was a pause.
Because there was no way the party defeating Tibias was going to end after just one night.
The full itinerary of the celebrations was scheduled tost for an entire week!
So today was just the beginning, the mere spark alluding to the bonfire of revelry that was sure toe.
But even this small respite was still very precious to Alexander.
So after quickly having the guest queen Lady Parthia and her youngest son, Prince Perikles escorted to an opulent guest house reserved for them, Alexander quickly headed back home.
And apanying his usual family, there were two new additions.
Fabiyana, for whom it was her first time being taken to her home by her husband.
And yes, being Alexander''s mistress, his house was her home now.
But perhaps much more importantly, there was Camelia, Alexander''s newest mistress.
"This is your house? This¡ so small.....is your house!"
And it was this cry of absolute shock and incredulity that the princess uttered as her very first words when she stepped out of the carriage andid her eyes upon the two story bungalow.
It was not even filled with disdain and disgust.
But absolute disbelief.
Like she could not believe she was to reside in this hut.
While hearing this sharp cry Alexander''s lips twitched and shook.
Alexander''s house was certainly nothingpared to thevish royal pce the Tibian royal family lived in.
But it was also nothing to brush off either.
Over the years he had done quite a bit of renovation done to expand the premises, and now resembled something like a vacation home for a wealthy elite.
And even if Alexander''s house was indeed a hut and a mud hut at that, this was no way a married girl spoke about her other half''s home.
Not in this time period at least.
The princess''s cry of shock was so loud in fact that it drew the attention of every guard and staff in the vicinity, who all subsequently turned their heads to give her a very chill look.
Even these people who were of much lower station knew this was extremely disrespectful to the man of the house.
While Alexander clenched his fist, really wanting to give the girl a tight p.
He never raised his hands against the fairer sex and even looked down on those who did.
But he could see how some of them really deserved it.
"*p!* Arrogant bitch! Who do you think you are?" His rage was hence a bit smothered by this action from Gelene, whose chest heaved and whose face glowed with anger hearing this,channeling the emotions of the rest of the three.
"Heh, Princess. If you wanted to live in a bigger house, maybe you should have asked your daddy not to burn it down! The bastard nearly burned us to death!" And then, as arge red handprint bloomed on the princess''s face, she heard this sarcastic remark from the matriarch of the house, Cambyses.
"Alex, throw this unruly bitch to the stables. Let her spend the night with the horses. Maybe then she can start to appreciate our house."
And she was quickly followed by a much higher pitched, feminine voice, one from Mean, who turned to Alexander to snigger,
Andstly, Ophenia, though not as acrid due to her generally more refined nature, scowled andmented ruefully,
"Tsk! We should have really left you back at the party. There were so many men drooling at you, princess. There is still time you know. We can turn the carriage around. I''m sure they would love to have a real princess participate."
Ophenia did not need to borate on what she would ''participate in''.
Even as they were leaving, Camelia had noticed the atmosphere at the party was beginning to change.
Men and women were starting to congregate into small groups of five or six, with the men typically outnumbering women, as they started to touch and fondle each other boldly.
The men''s hands roamed over the shapely breasts andrge butts of the surrounded women, while the women caressed the wide chests and even the impressive groin of their counterparts, quickly waking the beast up as evidenced by therge bulges.
Camelia even saw some of them starting to kiss the necks, shoulders, and even the mouths of the women.
And once she even thought she saw a totally nakeddy surrounded by three men, the noblewoman''s white gown pooled by her feet, her hands locked behind her back by a strong man who was locked in a wet kiss with her, while another sucked her exposed breasts and thest one kneeled and dove his head into her groin.
Camelia had been so shocked by the sight that at first she did not even realize what she was looking at.
She thought that she was too drunk and exhausted and was seeing things.
But then once she understood that the party was truly slowly turning into an orgy, her face at first turned pale in horror and then an instantter crimson red, as she quickly lowered her head, deeply blushing.
She finally realized all those stories were true.
Now, the nobles were usually never so tant in their merriments in front of Alexander, since thetter clearly expressed he did not like them.
But given tonight''s venue- arge open field with many, many, dim and dark spots, and variousrge obstacles, the nobles were presented with a prime opportunity that they were simply unable to ignore.
Thus the usual tussle behind a bush or tree or simply in a corner started perhaps even before Alexander arrived at the party.
And it was not even just cheating couples wishing to get in on the actions.
Like Alexander had been offered, many higher ranked nobles were also offered gifts by their lower counterparts, and many were quite impatient and lustful to have a taste right then and there.
Thus the women had themselves bent over, their gowns and skirts lifted up to their hips, their wet knickers pulled down, their legs spread and then their lovely white asses pounded, while they held their mouths with one hand to stifle any moans.
Or they might be facing the man, one leg high into the air, their upper gown pulled down to reveal their most impressive asset, the twin peaks swaying under the heavy drilling of the spear or having their milk suckled out of them.
The trysts had every sex position one could desire and such acts became somon that most of the serving staff and guards stopped blushing by the midpoint of the party and started to pretend as if the passionate couples did not exist.
But they did exist, and Camelia did notice them, along with the strange sounds along seemed to emanate from all kinds of weird ces.
And realizing that she might be subjected to that, her body shivered.
"No.. no! Please!"
Ophenia''s threat proved to be a far greater deterrence than Gelene''s threat of physical violence.
Chapter 961 The Other Side of The Party
Chapter 961 The Other Side of The Party
??If Alexander had gone back to the party right now, he would have found the entire ce very different from how he left it.
For one, he would have found many, very expensive clothes on the ground, all being furiously collected by various servants.
While right next to them writhed a mass of flesh and limbs, grasping and entangling each other in passionate embrace.
In some of those groups, women were being bent over and filled all three ways like a stuffed turkey, only able to asionally let out a grunt through their red noses.
While in other groups, it was the opposite, with multiple women pleasing one man, most times a high ranking one, such as- one would be straddling him, while others licked and kissed him.
Or pleasuring him with multiple hands and mouth.
Then there were the mixed groups with multiple men and women, which was the most numerous and most fun to be at.
Thebinations could be endless, with many times the participants not even knowing who they were screwing or licking at the moment.
They might be blowing someone as they got pounded, while in the midst of getting their breasts yed with.
They could get a new facial all of a sudden when they came.
Or they might receive a kiss with something extra mixed in, to name only a few.
And this could happen to either a woman or a man, both sexes losing themselves to the throes of undiluted pleasure.
But although these acts sounded very prurient, these nobles ''operating'' in the open ground would be actually seen as being quite crude in their pursuit of merriment.
And for a true, authentic taste of Adhanian ''hospitality'', one had to go to the tents around the premises.
For in there resided the true blue blooded men of Adhania, the true masters of their craft.
Inside those clothed shelters, there was nothing of the chaotic mangling of flesh that was outside.
Instead, everything was prim and proper and very orderly, showing a sublime touch of sophistication to the act.
To give one example, soft, pleasing music could be heard ying from inside one of the tents, the instrument yed by a pair of young boys, while very beautiful girls in scantily d outfits danced, showing their spilling curves and moving their bodies.
While the master and his guests sat around the makeshift small stage on luxurious chairs, chatting, drinking, andughing, their legs spread open, their baser needs being actively attended to by kneeling, sensually dressed girls.
Or boys if that was their preference.
In another tent, there was a very beautiful woman tied up and hung from the hook, with many naked men surrounding her, ying and teasing her in various different ways.
If Cambyses was here, she would have even recognized the braideddy as being the very fashionable main wive of a shordar (baron) who lived close to her territory of Jabel.
She was even somewhat of a friend to the Lady of Zanzan and was known to be quite demure in her manners.
Now however, this mother of two seemed to be under the total clutches of a group of very lusty men.
Although she did not seem to mind her predicament in the least, as evidenced by the kinds of enraptured face she pulled each time someone pinched her cherries, drawing a small squirt of milk, or yed with her insides using a ceramic dildo, or pressed her clit, making her create a rainbow with her pee.
Being a bona fide Zanzanite''s loyal wife, thedy loved it all.
Then there was another tent who were ying the adult version of musical chairs, where the empty chairs were reced with naked men sporting a raging boner.
The way all those nudedies fought to fill their drooling snatch with the thick rods, their heavy asses lewdly smashing against the chiseled groins of the expectant men each time they sat down, producing wet pping sounds and perhaps even a satisfied moan.
Sometimes the eager to win women would even use their curvy hips to oust their rivals from trying to sit down, bending over, and showing their jiggling asses in the process, thus driving the men sitting down insane.
While at other times, the men would cum in them as they sat, so then when they walked, trails of their seed could be seen rolling off their meaty thighs, right in front of their spouses.
It was a spectacle for the senses.
And as onest example, in another corner of the ground, a game was being yed between six couples, where the wives were on four, and being asked to guess when it was their husbands prating them and receiving various rewards and punishment for their correct and wrong answer.
Like this, such and many more games were being yed inside these tents, in much contrast to the wild, animalistic, crude pleasing acts urring outside them.
And make no mistake, these games were not just for entertainment purposes.
Significant gambling would usually be involved, which could make or break many nobles, especially the smaller ones, like shordar (baron) and takuldars (viscounts).
Land, loans, titles, and even treaties many times depended on the retainer''s ability to please his lord.
And this certainly meant sexually.
Alexander however was not able to take part in these festivies.
Even though he was very graciously invited to it.
Even though a small part of his heart itched to take part in such revelry at least one time.
He had never experienced such a thing ever in his life and very much desired to know.
But that small thing called mortality kept him in check.
And what was his reward for practicing this self restraint?
Having to deal with a petnt child of a princess.
Although calling a fourteen year old a princess was a bit of a stretch, especially given the time period.
And it only brought him a slight joy to see the unruly princess''s face turn pale at the mention of being made to participate in the ongoing orgy.
It seemed Tibias, being a highly conservative society, very much feared this humiliation.
Thus Alexander yed this card, saying.
"That''s right princess. If you do not behave yourself, I will have no other recourse other than to make you entertain my guests. Remember, no man likes a disobedient wife."
"So behave. Whether it be a pce or a hut, it is still your lord''s home. And your home. You must show respect and reverence!"
"Do it, and after five years I will let you choose your own future as we agreed."
Along with the stick, Alexander also made sure to add the carrot by reminding her of the deal they signed.
And to his pleasure, received a quick nod.
"Good! Now, let''s go inside. I think you will find the inside much more spacious than what it looks from the outside." Alexander invited her inside.
But as they crossed into the main foyer,
''So small!'' Camelia, who had her hopes raised by Alexander''sst words, still found the insides to be very small, at least ording to her standard.
Although this time, she had the tact to not blurt it out loud.
However she did not have the tact to not show that thought on her face, represented by a darkenedplexion and furrowed eyes.
Neither did she have the cleverness to shout out words of amazement and incredulity, however fake they may be..
Instead, she only stayed silent, much to the three''s displeasure.
Three because Mean did not have the same political shrewdness to notice this.
The other three however did, and each and every one of them wanted to p this spoiled princess senseless.
It was not like they disliked the girl just because Alexander had taken a new concubine and they were jealous.
No.
In fact, they were quite proud of their man''s aplishment and even looked forward to talking and spending time with a real life bona fide princess.
After all, all three of them experienced life asmoners and thus held a certain fascination towards royalty.
So it might even be said that it was quite an aplishment for Camelia to untie these usually very different girls into hating her.
But at least not to the point of hitting her for the second time, as the three wives held back, knowing Alexander did not like that.
They were also eager to get into bed with Alexander with their man after so long and did not want to ruin the atmosphere.
Thus, they now silently signaled the nearby servants to escort the princess to her room, while Fabiyana was sent to sleep with her best friend Alexandria, while the other three were handed over to their nannies.
And then the five people turned in to refresh themselves.
Before they were quickly gathered in Alexander''s room for their ''reward.''
But before beginning the service, the matriarch of the house, Cambyses would be heard fuming, her enraged cries sting Alexander''s ear as she aired her grievances,
"Aghhhhh! Why didn''t you p that bitch senseless? You are too soft! If you continue to do this, she will only get bolder and bolder."
"Wasn''t it you who said - ''Spare the rod and spoil the child''!"
"Bitich! Arrogant whore! Let me see how I ¡.."
The scantily d nightie wearing woman stomped around the room as she spewed such curses, her outfit not at all getting her temper and words.
While Alexander only produced an awkward smile, "I¡ she is not a child. And I have trouble hitting women."
Chapter 962 Reunion With The Wives
Chapter 962 Reunion With The Wives
??It was apparent that Princess Camelia''s first impression of the other four was less than ideal indeed.
And Alexander''s lukewarm defense of sparing the princess the cane did not help, as it did nothing to cate the mistress of the house, only further enraging her.
Cambyses usually loved the fact that Alexander never tried to hurt or abuse his spouses, something that was, unfortunately, quite amon urrence, especially among regr people.
''It keeps them in line.'' They said.
But that did not mean she was in support of altogether discarding the practice either.
Cambyses did believe that if one of them made a grievous enough mistake, they should be properly punished, with all the marks to etch the lesson into the skin.
And that it should be done by the man of the house.
Alexander however was a much softer man, and so although the other four saw Camelia''s antics as scandalous, and perhaps even sacrilegious, he only saw it as a little girl having a little tantrum.
Something that would soon blow over and eventually settle down.
And then five yearster, she would probably be out of his mind.
Because Alexander currently had little interest in bedding the girl.
But he kept all of this to himself for now, not wanting to make any promises.
And towards all the fury his four wives expressed at his addition, he inwardly mumbled,
''*Sigh!* Having a harem is sometimes more pain than worth it. When you have tens of thousands of men at the tip of yourmand, you sometimes forget that it takes only a few women in the house to make your life very difficult.''
But then he consoled himself,
''Oh, well! It would have been foolish for all these girls to live without any conflict. In fact, I will say I was quite lucky that such fissures had not appeared between the four.''
''So it was only a matter of time before I took in a troublemaker. But hopefully, this will be the greatest extent of it. And everything will die down soon.''
Although Alexander had a gut feeling that his wishes were unlikely to be answered.
The princess was proving to be very bull headed, and seemingly intent on making life as hard as possible for her.
If she did not save herself, Alexander could not help her.
''*Sigh*!'' And realizing this, Alexander let out another sigh, really hoping the young girl would make the right choices.
But for now, he instead turned his attention to the fourdies d in their negligees waiting for the night to start.
Then, in order to try and divert attention from all this, he quickly pulled the two most angry of the bunch, Cambyses and Mean towards him by the arm, saying a few soothing titudes to calm their raging anger, while slowly undressing them, wanting to get started.
And although fully aware of what their man was trying to do, the girls understood that by this action, Alexander was saying that this conversation was done.
So the girls decided to drop it, instead choosing to focus on the manly musk wafting from his body, which was soon enough to make their starved loins start to throb.
Thus as Alexander made theme towards the bed and sat by the edge, Mean kneeled herself, before parting Alexander''s muscr legs by herself, and then looking up to give Alexander a very suggestive look.
The ''good girl'' look was quite a turn on for Alexander.
Thus it did not take long for the petite girl to have her mouth stuffed with the long, thick meat.
While Alexander''s own mouth was stuffed by his main wife''s snatch, who by now was bent over, her abundant ass smashing against her husband''s face, the flesh being roughly squeezed and kneaded.
Alexander quite enjoyed the salty, musky, hungry vor of the shaved ce, swirling his long tongue into the canal that gave birth to his two children, asionally venturing into the upper, puckered hole for a little exploration.
As for Cambyses''s own tongue, as a small punishment for doubting his decision, Alexander had it tasting Gelene''s wet flower, a taste that he knew the girl least preferred out of the three due to the two''s subtle rivalry.
Thus, the current state inside Alexander''s bedroom was this.
Mean kneeling and trying her best to take in as much of the turgid organ as she could.
While right above her stood a spread legged Cambyses, bent over and being licked, her wet, mostly irrelevant knickers dangling her her ankles.
As for her head, it was tightly locked between Gelene''s legs by a strong arm, the ck beauty clearly enjoying the service as evidenced by her exaggerated moans,
"Ahhh¡ yes, Lady Cambyses. There, yes¡ lick me right there. Deeper. Ohhh¡ that''s my peehole. Mmmm, yes clean it."
The taunting remarks were not lost on Cambyses, and if her head was not firmly locked in ce, she would have loved to give that red bean a snapping bite and make his women regret her words.
But s, due to her husband''s orders, she was forced to pleasure this ''hateful'' woman and drink her strong, musky water, while only lightly nibbling at those puffy lips.
As for Ophenia, since she got to Alexander a lot all by herself during her recent stay with him, decided to hang back, letting the others have a taste.
Alexander would enjoy himself heavily tonight.
Mean would have her facepletely covered by his first load, the small girl unable to take the entire volume.
And thus would have her face licked clean by the other two, which was an extremely erotic sight to see by any ount.
There they were, Cambyses and Gelene, under the flickering candlelight, taking opposite sides of the kneeling girl, each using their hot, wet tongue to clean her cheeks, eyes, nose, and lips, which would many times evolve with slippery, sloppy kisses with the girl, as the petite girl''s face even began to shine due to this new ''coating''.
There was even once when all three had their tongue sucking each, making lewd, gurgling sounds, while Alexander''s sperm swam in between, acting as the grand prize, being passed around from one girl to another.
Alexander''s organ had woken up the moment it saw this disy.
And then for the rest of the night, the girls had all their needs attended to and more.
Cambyses got to dancing on Alexander''sp, her ass turned towards him, as the fat cock ripped open her insides, making even this very experienced woman roll out her tongue in overwhelming pleasure and delight.
"Did your cock get even bigger Alexander? Ahhh, I feel so full. Ohhh, you are breaking me!" The lustful girl moaned in delight while having her breast squeezed by Mean.
While Alexander, looking at the luscious white ass,id down heavy smacks on the smooth skin, turning it bright red, saying,
"*Spank*, *spank*, No! My cock is alright. It''s you who got tighter! I will need to teach your lewd cave the shape of my cock again!"
And then he poked at her asshole, "Ahhh, lusty vixen, loosen up. You''re squeezing her too tight. Or let me you use ass."
Despite Alexander''s bravado, Cambyses''s fully restored canals proved like a steel trap even for the rigid organ.
Thus, the next moment, Cambyses feel it was her other dirty hole to get invaded, and soon her stomach was filled with jizz.
As for Mean, she got to be put in her favorite position.
She was put over Alexander''sp, his cock docked right against her small girl''s cute slit of a pussy, and then was loudly and harshly spanked, her tight, dense butt soon turning peppery red and her cute butthole getting expanded.
With each strike, Alexander''s penis scrapped against Mean''s clit, showering it with Mean''s love juices as she came, while the girl cried like a sweet canary, her loud euphoric moans only asionally muffled by painful grunts of Cambyses cruelly pinching her innocent pink nipples and drawing milk.
Following Mean, came Gelene, who liked to be taken rough and hard and was thus put in a piledriver position, her darkened lips and pink hole for all to see, as Alexander jackhammered into her, filling both of it in time.
Andstly, Ophenia, who got the least bit of action today, had a simple vani, missionary experience.
The entire actsted a solid few hours, to the point it was close to dawn by the end Alexander was finished with all these hungry vixens, and had his mes of lust douched.
The act of pleasure, as well as the preceding day''s exhaustion, would leave the Pasha so tired that he would have to push the scheduled party to be held the following morning to the next day, as he would sleep like a log for the entire day, only waking up in the evening.
Thus, it was on the second day after the triumph that the grand party fullymenced itself,sting the entirety of the next seven days.
And it was only after that Alexander got to return to work, and amidst all the tide of d tidings there came one dark spot, one news that brought his headache back.
His ally, Lady Margaret was in trouble.
Meaning his navy was in trouble.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 963 The Tourney
Chapter 963 The Tourney
Alexander''s seven day feast consisted of various activities, most scheduled to take ce on that same ground.
Now, you ask what the nobles did to celebrate for seven days straight.
Well, the first day was the general pleasantries and celebrations, where the nobles once again toasted to Alexander''s sess.
This had seemedrgely irrelevant to the man since they had done it literally not even two days ago.
But it was seemingly important for the nobles.
They wanted any and all opportunities to have a drink together.
It was a cultural thing in Adhania- to drink with everyone.
And thus Alexander obliged.
But this time, to save himself from the unpleasant pain of a bloated belly, he also made Cambyses sometimes drink in his stead, mostly when he was being toasted by lower ranked nobles like shordars (barons).
The tactic worked wonders in saving his body, although not so much his marriage, as he felt Cambyses asionally send deathly res towards him, clearly not a fan of being made to drink so much.
Because it caused her to regrly excuse herself to relieve herself, and doing and undoing all theplicatedcing so many times was very irritating
But she also could not deny Alexander''s request in fear of being called an unvirtuous woman.
Thus she had to content herself with sending angry res at each and every opportunity.
Ones that Alexander chose to ignore with a ''steely, determined but still thumping with fear'' heart, and attempted to distract himself by focusing on the festive banners, and good food being served.
The festivities of the first day soon rolled over to the next day, and the second and third days were filled with variouspetitions and prizes.
There were quite a few duels among various nobles and thosended elites owning property, kind of like the Adhanian version of knights.
Much of these fights were equal parts exhibition andpetition, with most of the participants fighting in grand, shy ceremonial armors with dulled swords, making especially shy and impractical moves to impress the loud cheering crowd of lords anddies.
The audience sat on wooden raised tforms, made specifically for today, the elevated position giving them a prime view of the makeshift circr arena as expert warriors tested their mettle.
Duels were not also only the things that happened in the following two days.
There were many other contests too.
For example, there were several archery contests, each showing off a different trick.
There was the mostmon one of shooting a bullseye from a certain distance.
Then there came the challenge of shooting pottery like small vases.
And then simply how far someone could make the darn thing travel.
Following that came the equestrian contests, designed to show one''s prowess at handling a horse.
Here too were many different types ofpetitions.
The mostmon was a simple race, with participants going around the grounds for severalps on their horses.
There were also chariot races on the same tracks, the wooden vehicle drawn by a single horse.
Then there were spear and javelin throwing contests where contestants tried to hit wooden dummies arranged in rows while traveling at a gallop.
That particr contest was quite difficult given the skill required.
It was also one of the most popr contests as Zanzan nobles and even the entire Adhania, in general, were very proud of their cavalry and loved to show their expertise in them.
Andstly, introduced on the third day, was a special contest introduced by Alexander.
It was basically an obstacle course with elements of horse archery thrown in.
In there, challengers had to shoot a variety of targets using the ''Instant bow'' while navigating an obstacle course designed by the man himself.
It consisted of various sharp turns and bends, rough ground like sand, deep mud, and even caltrops, and just to mess with them, also a few solid dead ends.
The nobles had to navigate this confusingyout in the fastest time possible while trying to aplish certain objectives with the limited amount of arrows given to them or fail the challenge entirely.
These objectives included sessfully hitting various dummies and other targets like hanging pottery dotted along the course while also avoiding shooting a few selected dummies, jumping over various barriers, making tight turns, and to finish it all off sprinting over a bed of smothering coal.
Upon finishing it, they would be timed, with a man keeping count by starting from number one and going on until the noble finished.
A simple solution to the problem of having no stopwatch.
The contest and theplicated race course were a big hit with the nobles, as evidenced by the electrified cheers that were emanated each time one of the contestants ran the course.
"Shoot! Shoot there!"
"No! Don''t go in there. That''s a dead end."
"Fucker! Why are you shooting that? It''s clearly painted blue. Shoot the red!"
"Reload! Reload your bow quickly. You are almost there!"
Excited people from both sides, both men and women could be heard shouting these words, their ruddy faces clearly revealing their investment in this game.
And thus, as the evening came to an end, the nobles could not help bute to Alexander to sing his high praises.
"My lord, this was such a great idea! How did youe up with it?"
"Yes. it was so fun to watch. Adhania does not really use horse archery. So to see it in real life was a great eye opener for this old man. Praise Ramuh for that new bow you created."
"Hah hah. I can''t remember thest time I had this fun riding with my horse. Twisting and turning and looking over my shoulder at each turn. It was exhrating! Those simple races now feel dull."
"Heh heh, right, right! My lord, I hope you do mind me stealing it for my own party."
Alexander presented the victors of all these contests with various rich rewards, ranging from cash prizes, to medals made of solid gold or silver, expensive jewelry, beautiful horses, ss products and many other things.
He had at first thought of introducing the pratices of jousting, i.e. the medieval sport every knight yed, where armored opponents charged each other withnces on decorated horses.
But then Alexander thought better of it.
opponents charged each other withnces on decorated horses.
Because for one, the armor of the time was still under development.
It was nothing like the solid, almost imprable te armor of medieval Europe, and so if the men really charged at each other at those speeds, Alexander feared it would tear like scrap paper and transform the contest from just a merepetition to a killing field.
And two, even if Alexander did introduce te armor, would not be like the dangers would not be the danger would bepletry migtate.
Some inherent risks would always remain.
Risk like having broken wrist and ribs, which in this period could turn fatal.
It was even said that one of the reasons King Henry VIII went mad was that he fell of his horse and hit his head during a particrly nasty joust.
Due to all this, Alexander decided to keep this deadly sport to himself,
Instead, he focused on the events of the next day, the fourth day.
That was reserved for poetry and storytelling, where various nobles recited and some even acted parts from ssic Adhanian literature, showing off their memorization skills- a skill highly prized in at the time.
The topic of the poetry usually was religious, all glorifying the God Ramuh, an admittedly dull topic that made Alexander''s ears almost bleed.
But there was one particr piece that sounded quite pleasing to him, being recited by a portly noble with a very nice, deep voice.
The poem went something like:
''God Ramuh, you are always beside mine;
God Ramuh, you are my gold mine;
God Ramuh, it is you who mark us with wealth;
God Ramuh, mark us with honey and gold;
Taking your name, birds sing songs;
Taking your name, roses blossoms;
Oh great Ramuh, he blesses us all.''
The poem was not only rhymed but also incorporated one of Adhania''s specialities into it- ''rose'', which was the country''s national flower.
The second most popr topic after god was warfare, where tales were sung of various famous battles and the deeds of victorious kings andmanders.
It sang of foes vaniqushed, how the victorious king returned home with his men, and how they brought with him women and gold.
Andstly, with only a few entries, was the topic of love.
Which mighte off as being a bit surprising given how much the Adhanian nobles ''loved'' each other, especially at night.
But it seemed such base deeds were not seen as worthy of serious literature.
Thus most of the poetry being recited were from small nobles ''self publicing'' their works.
And most of them were not good by Alexander''s standard, as the topics mainly revolved around describing how handsome a man was and how a woman became smitten by him at first sight.
Although his wife, Cambyses seemed to greatly enjoy herself, finding the romantic topic very tantalizing.
That was the daylight portion of the day, while at night, a few of the more enthusiastic nobles put on a y for everyone, donning the appropriate customs under bright torches and braiser, and reproducing a famous y from the capital- the founding of Adhania.
ording to the y, it happened when a small tibal chief, driven out of hisnd took refuge near the Life Sea and was then blessed by Ramuh, thus enabling him to unite all thends.
Chapter 964 The Tourney (Part-2)
Chapter 964 The Tourney (Part-2)
The fifth day of Alexander''s celebrations consisted of a hunting trip arranged around the back of the Cisran hills.
There the various lords were onrge, powerful steeds, dressed in colorful attire, carrying bows and some even the newly invented crossbows, alongside sleek, ck hounds, held in ce by their leashes, each eager to break out for the hunt.
Alexander was the one to blow the horn for the start of the contest, and for the rest of the day, the group of nobles rode in small groups chasing game like rabbits, badgers, and roons through the meandering paths and tangled undergrowth that was asionally dotted with cool, refreshing streams.
And it was these prized hunts that became the supper for that day, consumed with copious amounts of wine.
The sixth day was a rtively quiet day, as the nature of the event was a somber one.
For it was wholly dedicated to the gods.
This day, the nobles spent the entire day in temples, praying in gratitude for their sess or listening to priests pray for them while reading aloud from their scriptures.
They wore very dull colors like brown or deep navy blue, with the women even having their heads and hair fully covered, emanating a very pious look as they seriously listened to the sermons.
These were given by, among many others, the likes of Theocles, Ophenia, and most poprly of all, the twin princesses.
The two former saintesses were already well known before and thus their arrival captured everyone''s attention, their tall, identical stature, and pure white garb making many heads spin.
Even Alexander was forced out of his bored mind by the appearance of these two pure ebony beauties, and seeing them once again, could not help but long to bed them.
He remembered the reply Pasha Farzah had made to his marriage proposal, asking him toe to the capital to discuss it with him personally.
And Alexander indeed nned to do it as soon as he settled things back in Zanzan.
For now, though, he had to settle for keeping his itching hands to himself and content himself with only sciously roaming his eyes over the abundant bodies of the two.
A move that fortunately went unnoticed given the huge gathered crowd, many of whom actually appeared to seriously listen to what the twins had to say, their melodious voice sounding like the soothing drops of water to many.
Alexander even noticed some of the more pious nobles drop real drops of tears upon hearing some of the sermons, much to the man''s surprise.
The diet for today was nothing like the previous day, as everyone decided to forego the luxurious meals in favor of a modest or some might even say poor meal, as they tried to appear humble in front of the gods.
Thus the menu consisted of just bread and several types of cheese and olive oil, along with some sweet wine.
The nobles even skipped out on their nightly festivities that day, as a showcase of restraint and appreciation to the gods.
They however made it up for that and much more on thest day of the festivities, as the seventh day was solely dedicated to hosting a huge farewell banquet.
The celebrations started in the morning with minstrels and bards ying lively tunes to wake the people up and then a whileter various performers took to the stage, performing many tricks to entertain the gathered lords anddies.
That day, the serving tables were especially generous, overflowing with dishes of not only the regr kinds like beef, mutton, pork, and fishes like bass, mullets and shellfish, oysters but also many exotic ones, like fowls, peacocks, and poultry, to vanishingly rare fruit like dates and pomegranate, which did not grow in the country but were smuggled into Zanzan by one daredevil of a merchant.
But these were not the most exotic items to be served today.
No, for that prize would have to go to the elephant.
Yes, it seemed that one nobledy''s wish hade true.
For Alexander had indeed decided to ughter one today.
He did this mostly as a way to show off.
Alexander did not intend to ever use these beasts in battle since he did not trust them and only nned to keep them as prizes in a penned enclosure.
Thus around the afternoon of the day, he had the mahoot of the elephant make ity down and with the help of a dozen men ughter the magnificent beast in front of a cheering crowd, a sight that came to be remembered by all for many years toe.
For just the de used to quickly and mercifully kill the beasts was a spectacle to behold.
And then the animal''s head was boiled and cooked as a whole, the huge tusked head bing the centerpiece of the party.
While the butchered animal''s flesh was eaten by the few hundred attending nobles as well as being distributed to the homes of the soldiers serving in the army.
As for the nighttime activities, the nobles first held a huge ball, being dressed in their finest, where they waltzed and danced to melodious tunes.
And ended the night with a huge celebration where the loud moans of the enjoying nobles reverberated across the sky, one which Alexander sadly could not be a part of.
While Alexander and his band of retainers were feasting over an entire week, the youngest prince of Tibias- Perikles found himself with little to almost nothing to do, being stuck at home all alone for the whole day, every day.
Now, he had little toin about regarding their home and amodation since all of that was quite satisfactory.
The house they were given, a two story, renovated bungalow was more than adequate to livefortably for him and his mother.
It had double digit rooms, along with all kinds of facilities, such as studies, a small library, various guest rooms, servant''s quarters, and three huge courtyards, an outer, an inner, and a rear one.
They were also given their own staff to cook and clean for them so there was no need for them to bend their back on house chores.
They had an adequate food budget letting them maintain their expensive taste talets.
They had ess to beautiful clothes and jewelry to keep themselves up to date with thetest fashion trends.
They had valets, stable boys, and gardeners to maintain the other parts of the house.
And they even had ten bodyguards to protect them.
Perikles could have hardly asked for anything more given the nature of their residence here- as captive hostages.
But if there was one thing that the man couldin and change, it would be his boredom.
Because the man found himself to bepletely alone and bored out of his mind during the day.
It happened because his mother was busy bing a priestess of Gaia and thus spent most of her time in the temple under Ophenia''s tutge, familiarizing herself with the various rituals and memorizing all the scriptures required of her.
This took almost all her time, as the regaldy would leave home at the crack of daylight and return only around sunset.
As for his father, he had been moved to Zanzan''s biggest clinic in order to let him gain better ess to healthcare, enabling the doctors and nurses to keep him under constant surveince.
Thus after a few days, Perikles decided to not let himself be cooped up in the house and instead took a few guards on a tour of the city.
And since he wanted to see all of it for himself,Perikles decided to forego the carriage and decided to make the journey by foot, intent on soaking all the vistas of this new.
"So clean!" And as he walked, the first muttering of surprise came from not the wide, white roads, he had already been impressed by them, but from him just breathing the air.
Because it was ''vorless''.
It did not smell like anything.
Which was a brand new experience for the young prince since he recalled that every time he had stepped out into the lower streets of Parthenigh, a stinging salty and spicy arcid sensation would hit him, courtesy of all the discarded filth everywhere.
But there was none of it this time.
Instead, the air only smelled of sea salt and the asional smokiness courtesy of the cement kilns.
Perikles would onlyter find out the huge effort Alexander had to go through to keep it that way, having to only undertake a very expensive and time consuming infrastructure project by the name of the sewage works, but also employing close to a thousand men as sanitary workers to collect and sweep the streets clean.
Aside from the healthy air, Perikles also marveled at the concrete apartments, the huge aqueducts under construction, therge marketces, and the general hustle and bustle of the city.
Cartsden with goods like fruits and vegetables, various types of pottery, wines, fabric, and a thousand different things seemed to zoom across the streets in all directions, their numbers too numerous to count by sight one, while people walked along the sides with purpose and goal, their faces filled with anticipation and determination.
The young prince had rarely seen such hectess in his own city, revealed only during the harvest season.
And as Perikles continued his tour, he finally came to a veryrge, dome roofed three story building, whose words instantly caught his eyes.
''Public Library''.
Chapter 965 Public Library (Part-1)
Chapter 965 Public Library (Part-1)
The term ''Public Library'' written just above the building''s gate inrge bold white letters was enough to capture Prince Prince Perikles''s interest the moment heid eyes upon them.
And for a moment he was confused by it.
Prince Perikles of course knew the two words.
But always separately.
He had never heard of, much less seen them together.
"What is that building for? The words say public library. Is it a library meant for the higher ups of the city?"
Hence, thinking at first that it was meant as a public ce for the higher ups, Prince Perikles turned to one of his bodyguards to ask this.
The prince did not even contemte whether it could really be a library open to themoners because in his mind, that very idea was too ridiculous to even consider.
''What are these lowly peasants going to do with books? They cannot read or write!'' The prince had thought to himself.
"Ummmm¡ I''m afraid I do not know, sir." The leader of the bodyguards however was unable to quench Prince Perikles''s curiosity, at least proving Prince Perikles''s thinking half right.
This man of the sword had little interest in books.
But the warrior was able to give him an idea, pointing to two men rtively well dressed men entering the building and proposing, "Would sir like to enter? There does not seem to be any other restriction."
And given the Prince had little else to do, as well as being very curious to see what was inside, immediately epted.
Thus, the small entourage of men quickly stepped into the building, the two guards stationed at the gates letting them in without any trouble.
As Prince Perikles entered the premises through therge gate, the very first sensation to hit him was the air, rich in smell the of ancient manuscripts and paper, the deep richness stunning him momentarily.
And as Prince Perikles then turned his head to look at the insides, he found the dimensions to be breathtaking.
The building, converted from arge mansion had been extensively renovated to convert it into a library, but still possessed that marvelous ssical design.
Great pirs of stone rose majestically with towering columns three stories high, decorated with intricate friezes and frescoes depicting men in various modes of study like reading, writing, and thinking.
The center of the library was one single huge floor, starting from the ground and reaching all the way up to the roof of the building, with rows and rows of tables and chairs arranged for prospective readers to use.
All around this arrangement grew three floors, each holding hundreds of huge wooden shelves, each filled to the brim with books and scrolls.
There were enormous windows on all those floors, eachrge enough to fit two adult horses, designed to let in as much sunlight as possible to the prospective readers.
In supplement to these, there were alsorge braziers on the ground and veryrge chandeliers hanging all the way from the roof to provide additional light, although since it was daytime these artificial sources were turned off.
Numerous men in robes and tunics could be seen moving to and fro busily the ce, carryingrge, heavy books or shouting in hushed voices.
Some were seen deep in their reading, while others busied themselves with arranging the books into their appropriate category.
"Is something the matter sir?" As Prince Perikles was taking in the inside views of the building, suddenly this slightly rmed voice rang from beside him.
And the prince quickly turned around to see the source originated from behind the nearby counter, where a man dressed in pristine priest garbs could be seen standing up, his face slightly rmed.
It did not take Prince Perikles long to understand the context of his question- seeing a group of rmed men enter the premises, this priest in charge had been naturally rmed.
"No worries. We serve the Lord." However, the bodyguard with Prince Perikles was quick to alleviate the man of his worries, stating so rigidly while shing an iron badge.
"Ahhh¡ that''s good." The proof was enough to finally let the priest finally release a sigh of relief, as he sat once again with a low mumble,
"I got worried that robbers hade to steal the books. Hah hah, then again would would dare to rob this ce in broad daylight?"
Prince Perikles''s lips twitched as the words reached his ears.
Among the many times he had been called in life, ta hief was not one of them.
But he was no longer the prince of a country.
Thus pretending he did not hear that, Prince Perikles approached the slightly portly man, and shing a light smile, asked,
"Hello, honorable priest, I''m new to Zanzan. So I was curious to know what is this ce. Might you be able to inform me?"
"Ahhh! Yes, yes, of course." Prince Perikles''s refined manners and his entourage of guards that belonged to the lord of the city left little doubt in the priest''s mind that this man was a high ranking member of the city.
Thus with an enthusiastic nod, he ryed with a grin, "We get this question a lot. Many from nobles like you, sire. But as the sign says, this really is a public library. Meaning anyone of the public cane during opening hours and read any books they desire for free."
"They can even copy the contents if they like. Look, there are two of our regrs already sitting by the tables doing exactly that. I hear both are aspiring priests." The priest finished by pointing to those two well dressed men whom Prince Perikles had seen enter the building, who were by now furiously scribbling their quills against a few leaves of paper.
But for now prince''s attention could not be spared at that sight.
For it was too upied feeling shocked and rmed.
"You mean Zanzan lets anyone and everyone handle all these expensive books as they wish! Anyone? Isn''t the lord afraid they will ruin them? What happens then?" Prince Perikles''s eyes bulged outward in truly extreme shock.
Even as a member of royalty, the price of books had always been enough to scare the prince.
Because not only were some books worth almost their weight in gold, unlike gold, which was basically indestructible, these papyrus or vellum based products were nnotoriouslyeasy to damage and ruin.
Prince Perikles still vividly rememberedth one time during his childhood that he had received aplete thrashing from his father for spilling wine onto one and it made him shiver to this day.
And worse still, even if they were kept under the most immacte conditions, simply the passage of time would cause these wood based products to be brittle and crumble on thier own.
Thus, many books required regr maintenance.
So, even if he was a fully altruistic person who wished to do nothing but share all the knowledge hidden in those books with the public, just the threat of the wear and tear these manuscripts would go under under the hands of the regr public would have made the idea utterly inconceivable to the prince to even contemte.
Hence he was bbergasted to see such rich treasures given up for free to the general public.
It made no sense to him.
"Hah hah, yes we get that asked a lot." Towards the prince''s almost pale face, the receptionist lightly chuckled amicably, and then spreading his palms to either side he shook his head,
"But that is not our decision to make. It was the pasha who decreed this. We just obey and maintain the ce."
"..." Theck of a definitive answer was enough to make Prince Perikles pause for a second.
He had interacted with Alexander a few times before and recalled the young man was neither foolish nor wasteful.
Instead he was quite shrewd and even greedy.
Which made it all the more mysterious that he could choose to do something like this.
But as much as Prince Perikles wished, he was unable to see the benefits of giving the general popce ess to all this knowledge at such high costs.
And from the looks of it, the priest in front of him did not know the reason either.
"Would you mind if I toured the library?" Thus, deciding to put that at the back of his head for now, for now the prince grew eager to check the establishment himself, wanting to peruse the collection for himself.
"Of course, sire. Just please be aware if you damage the books, you will have to pay, hah hah." And the priest invited him with this light joke.
So Prince Perikles quickly stepped into the center of the building and then rapidly made himself over to the wooden shelves, finding themselves to be filled with rows and rows of grey, leather bound books.
The books were divided ording to their topic, such as literature, poetry, astronomy, history, geography, etc.
And many of them, especially the most expensive ones were actually bound to their respective shelves by very long chains, something that the man quickly understood to be designed as an anti theft measure.
The lengthy chains let them be taken to the nearby tables to be read but prevented them from being taken out of the library.
Furthermore, there was sometimes this inscription on the front pages of the books:
''Steal not this book my honest friend
For then the gallows should be your end
And when you die, the Gods will ask
Where has the book you stole gone now?''
Chapter 966 Public Library (Part-2)
Chapter 966 Public Library (Part-2)
Prince Perikles scanned the various bookshelves located at the various alcoves, each dedicated to the pursuit of one subject, be they be astronomy, philosophy, medicine, mathematics, literature, history, and even a few books on the natural sciences.
Just the collection on the first floor was breathtaking for the prince, as it included many famous books from both the territories of Adhania and Tibias.
And they were original prints at that!
Prince Perikles could not help but read a few lines from these legendary books just to see the words.
One of which was in the astronomy section, which described the history and use of the astrbes.
Described in its simplest form, an astrbe was a metal disc with a pattern of wires, cutouts, and perforations that allowed its user to calcte astronomical positions precisely.
It was used extensively by priests to study the positions of the moon and stars, studying them for various omens and signs, and then making various predictions based on that.
The instrument was so important that the adept use of the astrbe was one of the core skills a priest needed to master to rise through the ranks.
Also as a side note, it was something that Ophenia was extremely expert at.
Attached to the section of astrology, were also several famous books on astrology that Prince Perikles browsed, finding many, many pages of techniques rted to things like palm reading, oneiromancy i.e. the technique of reading dreams, favomancy i.e.- the technique of throwing fava beans into the ground and reading the results, libanomancy, i.e.- the technique of observing the movements of smoke after a fire has been made, to name only a few.
After these books, Prince Perikles read another very famous book on maths, where it proved the Pythagorean theorem but also erroneously stated that all numbers could be presented by a fraction of two whole numbers, i.e. all numbers were rational.
This was clearly false as in reality ''pie'' existed, which was irrational.
As for the medical section, the various intricately illustrated manuscripts depicting the anatomy of the human body and various medicinal nts used for healing were all very beautiful to look at.
But utterly useless information.
However, Prince Perikles still enjoyed them greatly, his eyes sparkling at being offered the chance to browse them.
Satisfied with this perusal of the first floor, Prince Perikles then took one of the many grand spiraling staircases leading up to the second floor, where there too were many tables and chairs situated next to the numerous bookshelves, and scattered among the many vacant seats, were a few busy men lost in their books.
And by men, yes, I mean only men.
There was literally not a single woman inside these hallowed halls.
There were only priests and clergymen from the Gaia and Ramuh temples maintaining and essing the halls, along with only a scant, well dressed old man reading the avable books.
Well dressed because that pertained to their wealth.
Which exined how they could read and write in the first ce.
And old because only old men had the free time in their hands toe read books in the middle of the day.
All working age men were busy¡ well working.
Prince Perikles found the second floor to be little more than an extension of the first, with the exception there were a few shelves consisting not of books but scrolls, arranged in neat triangr heaps.
And Prince Perikles unfurled them to see that many of them were from Tibias, and some even from his own family''s library, featuring various literature, intimate historical records, and even decades old tax records.
Prince Perikles could not help but have aplicated feeling rise within him as he witnessed this.
But he quickly pushed these bitter thoughts down and took to the third floor, which was a bit different.
For here, the prince noticed that attached to the main library were several lecture halls, where a few sermons and debates were going on, the noise of some arguing men wafting into the prince''s ears.
This was the academic portion of the library, which also doubled as the quarters of some of the priests.
It was also here that Prince Perikles noticed a handful of scripts from Thesos and Sybarsis gracing the shelves as determined by theirnguage.
And seeing such rare volumes here, the prince could not help but open the pages and scan the letters, even though he could not read them, just to see what they looked like.
While Prince Perikles perused all these books, over time one thought could not help but creep up into him.
That was how many of the books looked so new and neat.
And by that he meant that not only the pages were still very sturdy and ''lively'', meaning they had been made not too long ago, but the alignment of all the sentences were very straight and clean, with there being no crosses or corrections of the written words.
This to a modern audience would seem very natural.
But to someone native like Perikles it was extremely unusual.
Because when writing a book in this time period, it was only inevitable that mistakes happened as the lines bing misaligned or the scribes making a spelling mistake.
But here, there was none of it.
And to add even more to the mystery, all of the letters were also of the exact shape throughout the entire book.
No human could ever do that.
This discovery was so astonishing that when Prince Perikles first noticed this, he thought he was looking at an enchanted scroll.
And so he immediately rushed to the receptionist to inquire.
"How are these books made? Why do they all look identical! What magic is this?"
The slightly portly priest must have been taken a bit by Prince Perikles''s sudden, hurried appearance and bloodshot eyes as he instinctively jumped off a bit.
But then recognizing who it was, slightly looking up, replied with a light smile, "Oh that! The great pasha has created a way to produce books much more easily and efficiently. I''m afraid I cannot tell anything more sire. It is a secret."
Even as back as when Alexander had captured Thesalie and taken over Lord Ponticus''s private collection, he had written to Cambyses asking her to erge the printing press department and have it go into overdrive, in order to reproduce all the new works.
And alongside that, he had also ordered her to start work on a library, which, after one and a half years of work was in the current state that Prince Perikles found standing inside.
And even this current public library was not even close to being finished, as several more wings were scheduled to be opened in the future, with construction being at the moment halted due to ''supply'' shortages.
But this time, the supply crunch was not of men or material.
It was of books!
Yes.
For you see, the existing printing press found themselves too slow to fill the rapidly growing number of shelves.
When Alexander moved onto the capture of the capital Parthenigh after Thesalie, which could be said to be the greatest repository of knowledge along the south of Adhania, it caused Zanzan to be flooded with all kinds of brand new literature and also inundated the men at the printing press with a seemingly endless amount of work.
This happened because Alxx demanded at least ten copies be made for all the tens of thousands of books he captured.
Which was a monumental task.
It was so much in fact that it was estimated that at their current speed, the presses might take well over a few decades to copy all the books if Alexander did not open new ones or expand the productions.
And it was so much work because, to give a recap of how printing in this time period worked, a worker had to manually set the iron block letters in the exact format of the page of the book into the mold and then set it to print them.
This initial preparation took a very, very long time toplete, almost as long as it took to just write the page.
And then this page was done, the worker had to do the same thing for the next page all over again.
And then for the entire book.
Thus to make it economically viable, Alexander needed to print hundreds, if not thousands of the book, not just tens.
But clearly, there was no demand to print so many copies of all the tens of thousands of books.
However, he also still wanted a few copies of all the books no matter how obscure they may be.
Just to preserve them if nothing less.
Hence, even though it was a loss project for him, Alexander ordered this be done.
For now though, he asked his press to concentrate on the most famous books and make hundreds of copies, wishing to sell them on the open market soon enough.
Prince Perikles however was unaware of all this and very hungry for an answer.
But at least the answer let him solve at least one of the mysteries in his heart.
And that was the reason why this public library existed.
Perikles reasoned it was because Alexander had managed to find a way to cheaply produce books and thus he was not afraid to let some of them get destroyed by the general wear and tear.
And although he did not see why Alexander wanted to educate these peasants, for now, this answer was enough to satisfy him.
Chapter 967 Look Inside The Schools (Part-1)
Chapter 967 Look Inside The Schools (Part-1)
Chapter 967
Prince Perikles stayed in the library for almost the remainder of the day, sitting around a table near the corner, away from most prying eyes, and going through the section detailing Adhania''s history.
It was a topic that he did not have much familiarity with and thus wanted to catch up.
And here, one of the specific mentions that he wished to view was information about Alexander.
Because the prince suddenly came to the realization that despite the man''s name being almost synonymous with Zanzan, much of what he knew about the man was in the form of rumors, exaggerated ims from his retainers, or things that sounded too good to be true.
Thus Perikles wanted to find any concrete reads that definitely stated his aplishments.
He was however grossly disappointed in the results of this endeavor since there was literally not a single thing about Alexander here.
The only books currently in the library were from Alexander''s captured loot.
Thus reading the chronicles of his exploits would have to wait.
Perikles would return to his home around the time the library was scheduled to close and ry all his findings to his mother during supper.
"Zanzan is certainly a much better city than I could have ever expected. It''s huge. The roads are wide. It''s clean. There is no congestion. And I''ve seen few beggars!"
"There is even a free library. I never would have thought of something like that!"
"It seems Alexander is quite aplished as a lord! What do you say, mother?"
Looking at her son''s lightly grinning face, Lady Parthia had aplicated feeling rise within her.
She certainly could not refute her son, as she had noticed many of the same things he did.
But she also did not want her son to develop favorable feelings towards Alexander and this ce.
It might have sounded selfish, but Lady Parhthia still viewed herself as queen of Tibias and a small part of her still wanted to liberate hernds.
"Ye¡ yes. It seems our defeat was not unjust. And our fate not too cruel."
However, she mostly kept these thoughts to herself, not wishing to see her son be a martyr because of her.
Thus she replied like so.
Although as she did, somehow Alexander''s face floated into her mind, and it subconsciously made her blush.
She was once again reminded of that night when that young man had shown her a whole new world of pleasure, and although very ashamed, she could not relive it.
The way he had put her on all fours and pounded from behind, smashing her heavy, wless ass and turning it red.
The way he had stuck his finger up her asshole, widening it.
The way he had made her straddle him, squeezing herrge breasts.
The way he had pinched her clit and yed with her pussy, making her cum over and over again.
The way he had used her mouth, making her drink that turbid fluid by the gallons and painting her face white.
Andstly, the way he had filled her up in all those positions, screwing her tunnels open and scalding her womb, making her feel alive again.
Lady Parthia still remembered very vividly how she had moaned like the most scious whores under the brutal attacks, and as much as she hated Alexander for making her go through with it, she also hated herself for liking it.
And she particrly hated the fact that the white panties she was wearing had gotten slightly damp, something that was starting to be a more frequent urrence whenever Alexander''s name was brought up.
This reminded would make Lady Parthia toss and turn in her bed for a long before letting slumber take her, as she would be tormented by an eternal itch that the regaldy refused to touch with her own fingers, finding the idea too shameful.
Moving the camera now back to the general popce of Zanzan, in the eastern district of the city, there was a boy inside a decent enough house, waking up at the crack of dawn.
For he had to get ready for this ''school'' that his father had enrolled him in.
And surprisingly, it was something the boy seemed actually excited to be attending. due to what his father had told him.
"The pasha has promised those who do good in their studies will be appointed as officials by him. So make sure you study well, Waalie. This old man can die with a smile if only son can be a ''shaheb'', hahaha."
And the young, twelve year old too loved the sound of that word- ''Shaheb'', meaning official.
For amoner, that was basically the highest rank you could achieve in life.
Hence, eager to wield the same kind of powers the young boy had seen some of the officials possess, he quickly got up, refreshed, and dressed himself, and then cing the three required books into a small pouch, was out of the house.
By this time, the sun was starting to rise, and although the effects of the night still lingered, the streets were already bustling with people, rushing to start their day.
Zanzanites, or for that case, all the people around this region were very early risers, as they were eager to make the most of the natural light the day provided.
Thus Waalie had to actually push and shove a bit through the crowded streets to reach his school which was a bit of a distance.
But fortunately for him, despite the heavy traffic he managed to make it on time.
The small boy''s entrance through the small, wooden gate instantly caught the eyes of some of his friends, one of whom waved with a grin and rushing to him smirked,
"Hey! Waalie! So you managed to get yourzy ass up on time this morning. Haha, good. I was getting worried that you would get caned again for missing the P.T. (physical Therapy)"
The boy saying this was hugepared to Waalie, so much so that the young boy had to actually crane his head up to meet the opposite pair of eyes.
"You seem to be in high spirits Marcus. Why so?" And then greeted so with a smile.
"Haha, well my four brothers are back from the war. All four!" Came the instant reply.
If it was not obvious, this Marcus was Jamiz''s youngest son, aged sixteen.
And the way he got into this school was once again through connections, primarily because the wine merchant wanted to get that subsidy Alexander provided to the parents of the attending children.
It was not much, but hey, something was better than nothing.
*Whistle*, *Whistle*,
Just the group of children was starting to gossip, suddenly this loud whistle rang a few times from across the open field, and like clockwork, all five hundred of the attending children broke off whatever they were doing and started to run towards the source, before quickly lining up in rows, going from the shortest in the front to the tallest at the back.
This was the physical exercise portion of the education it started with the children reciting an oath of fealty to Gaia and Alexander and his family, promising to always obey and uphold their rule.
And yes, it was only these two, with no mention of Ramuh or the king, Ptolomy.
Finishing that, then for the next half an hour, the children were drilled in various military exercises.
These included the mostmon ''attention'' and ''stand at easemands, turning to a specific direction onmand, and other physical gymnastics designed to get the blood pumping.
While failure to appropriately follow the order would get a verbalshing by themanding teachers.
Once this was done, the children were given a hearty breakfast of bread, cheese, olive oil, and any kind of seasonal fruit as the staple, along with some kind of protein like eggs, smoked meat, or cooked fish.
And then around 7 am, the actual sses would start.
First would be maths.
And today, Waalie found himself sitting on carpets with a pile of sand in front of him, while the teacher wrote on a ckboard various symbols representing the numbers 50 to 100, how to write the numbers in words, and then telling them to memorize these by practicing on the sand.
"Finished!" However, possessing an almost eidetic memory, Waalie was able to memorize the entire list almost instantly and imed his work was done almost as soon as the teacher stopped writing.
"Finished?" The loud im naturally drew the slightly irritated attention of the teacher and seeing this some of the students even sniggered.
While the man, having made his way to the way, stood in front of him imperiously, deciding to test the young boy.
And much to his astonishment, found the young boy to be right.
He truly could remember all the numbers as well as write them.
"Okay! Good. So for now, your next task will be to add 1 to 100."
Thus, having nothing better to give the boy, the elder man lightly smiled, and gave the Waalie this task, believing it to be immenselyborious.
He did not expect him toplete it.
Just to kill time.
"Finished! It''s 5050!" So imagine his surprise when a few momentster came this joyous chirp.
Chapter 968 Look Inside The Schools (Part-2)
Chapter 968 Look Inside The Schools (Part-2)
"5050!"
The number recited sounded almost magical to the presiding teacher and it caused him to turn around to face the young student with almost a blocky countenance.
"Wha.. what did you say?" Looking at the innocent face, the man''s lips twitched a bit as he sought to confirm that what he had heard was indeed correct.
The reason for this overt reaction was because this teacher indeed knew the correct answer was 5050.
It was something he was even quite proud to know because this was one of the questions he faced during his qualification for priesthood.
And he was the only one among his cohorts who had managed to figure this out within the time frame and thus sessfully be a clergyman.
In fact, it was this prowess thatnded him a job here.
"5050! The addition of 1 to 100 is 5050." Thus, hearing a young twelve year old repeat the answer and inadvertently destroy his ''legacy'' within mere moments of being presented the challenge came as truly a great shock to him.
"How¡ how did you figure it out? Did¡ you hear it from someone? Your father must have told you right!" The older man could not help but blurt so out in a slightly shaky voice, really hoping it was thetter case.
"No. I did it on my own." However, Waalie''s swift reply in a clear, crisp tone dashed all those hopes.
As the boy then quickly took his fingers to near the sands to prove his im and showed his work,
"It was easy. You see teacher, I noticed that you can add 1 and 100 to get 101. You can then also add 2 and 99 to get 101. You can add 3 and 98 to get the same number and so on. So to get the answer, you can just take the 101 and multiply it by half of the total numbers- 50. And that gives us 5050!"
What Waalie had done was very casually discover the form for the sum of an arithmetic mean.
And it left this part time teacher, part time priest literally gaping.
He did not fully understand how the numbers added to 101 but was still able to appreciate the ingenuity of the method.
''That¡ so you can¡ ummm¡ I wasted so much time¡ for so long¡ was so easy¡ ahhhh.'' Hence realizing how he had been bested by a twelve year old, the poor priest could not help but feel a small part of his heartbreak, as he then slowly turned his back to the boy
Then for the rest of the ss, this particr ssroom would be unusually quiet, as the teacher sat at his desk with a soulless expression, Waalie cleverly sat on the carpet, busing himself with trying out variousbinations in order to test his newly discovered equation, while the rest of the ss went about their business as usual, concentrating on the task at hand.
These boys were mostly too young and somewhat illiterate to understand the significance of what Waalie had done, while his teacher was too shocked to admit it.
Waalie wouldter go on to graduate school with the highest distinctions, and then take the post of the head of mathematics department at the University of Alexandria that Alexander would establish some timeter.
For now, however, as the math ss came to its closing, the young twelve year old was made to bear through the next two sses, which were history andnguage.
Waalie personally found these two topics to be usually quite a bore.
But there was also little he could do about it.
Hence for the next hour, he bore his ears through the onught of a gruff man droning on and on about the aplishments of this king and that lord and all those riches they managed to get in the end, with Waalie barely able to keep his eyes from drooping by the end.
And the only reason the young boy did not simply start sleeping right at the start was in fear of getting called out and caned.
Now, to be fair, thisckluster response from Waalie had more to do with personal preference than the actual content.
The history that was taught here was handcrafted by Alexander, and aside from a bit of propaganda, it also contained quite a bit of useful information.
There were true records of past rulers that exined the current state of Adhania, it described the various regions of Adhania, the families ruling them, the exnation of the division of nobility, as well as Adhania''s intricateyered structure style of governance, among many other things.
The book was so jam packed with necessary knowledge that it was basically vital for anyone wanting to join Zanzan''s administration to memorize it.
So it seemed if Waalie truly wanted to be an official and be called a ''shaheb'', he would have to one day or another catch up on this.
That remained to be seen.
For now though, the next period that came wasnguage studies, which basically consisted of learning Azhak from the ssics of the time.
Here the students were also taught poetry, philosophy, and morality, all guised in the form of stories and parables.
These paragraphs would be read in ss either by the teacher or the various students, and then various discussions would ur regarding the text.
Until finally the bell signaling the end of the ss would ring and the students would be dismissed, with of course no homework.
This was simply not a thing, so whatever was taught during those three hours, was all the learning the boys would get for the day.
And speaking of boys, there were indeed only boys in the school, no girls, not a single one.
And for once, this was not the parent''s fault.
In fact, some of them wanted to send their daughters to get the ''free'' money.
However Alexander declined!
And the reason for this astonishing move was because to Alexander this free education was not charity, but an investment.
It was designed to produce the next administrators, judges, scientists, and thinkers, people who would help him rule hisnds more effectively.
And the task of ruling was primarily dominated by men during time period.
So it would be foolish for him to expect that a woman could perform jobs such as magistrate judges under the current social structure, even if Alexander appointed them.
Most of the regr people would not just respect them.
Thus, Alexander decided to push the mass education of females for ater date, when society had be a bit more fertile, and its consciousness a bit aware.
For now, the privilege of education for women primarily resided with the nobility.
Although even then it was normally quite restricted.
For most nobles of Adhania, primary education typically began around the age of 6 to 7, and wasrgely focused on basic literacy and numeracy- developing the ability to adequatelymunicate andpute simple arithmetic operations.
Both boys and girls were inducted into this endeavor, with families wealthy enough, hiring special private tutors to teach their progeny.
Or if they could not afford that, they would have the children attend private lessons conducted by an educated ve or freedman, using materials like wax tablets and coal styluses as their paper and pen.
This continued for five years until the girls graduated at 12 and then usually got married soon after.
While the boys were allowed to continue fighter secondary education if they so pleased.
This was much moreprehensive and involved the study of Azhak literature history, and ''advanced'' mathematics like multiplication and division.
The primary focus of secondary education however was on the study of ssical literature and most importantly the development of rhetorical skills.
A noble''s ability to talk and present his case eloquently in court was seen as vital.
So most of the time, the teachers of these schools would be usually fellow nobles who had hands on experience in the process.
Andstly, if a boy had shown enough skill and will, he could pursue even higher education, specializing in a particr subject like philosophy,w, oratory, etc, which was usually done while being part of the royal court, such as a schr, scribe or record keeper.
But Alexander''s public education did away with a lot of the fat, only keeping the meat, and adding other qualities he thought were useful.
Thus, the learning period for these boys was much more truncated.
"Arghhh! Finally over!" As soon as Marcus was out of the ssrooms, the boy let out this joyous cry, and then turning to his friend revealed a proud smirk,
"Guess where I''m going today? My elder brother is taking me to a whorehouse to celebrate!"
It seemed the boy was unable to hide his excitement any longer.
"Whorehouse? Like that kind¡." While the much younger Waalie repeated the words with a trace of surprise but much more disdain.
Despite his young age, the boy was mature enough to know what that ce was.
And somehow he felt disgusted simply hearing the tales of what went on inside.
"My old man will have my skin if he hears I even went past the front gates of that ce." Thus showing that his parents strictly prohibited the underaged kid from visiting such ces, Waalie revealed he had no intention to pry and after a quick farewell, bid them well.
Chapter 969 The Streets of Zanzan
Chapter 969 The Streets of Zanzan
With school done, Marcus quickly returned to one of his father''s many shops, stashing his books away and taking charge of the operations for the rest of the day.
But somehow today, no matter how many sales he made or how busy the counter became, the boy was not able to concentrate an ouch on his work, unable to feel any happiness even from his pouch bing full of gold coins.
For the only thing that swirled in his mind was his brother''s promise to take him to the city''s most expensive pleasure house thatte afternoon.
And as he thought of the things scheduled to urter that day, his tantalizing imaginations caused the boy to frequently be hard, making his organ rub against his loincloths.
So to relieve himself of the difort, Marcus found himself more than once having to adjust his pants, thus avoiding sporting an embarrassing tent.
Marcus waited with bated breath for the scheduled time, regrly looking up at the sun and wishing for it to descend faster.
"Marcus! You there?" And when he finally heard his robust voice from his fourth brother Lucius, the young sixteen year old almost jumped out from the shop like an excited frog, shouting, "I''m here! I''m here big brother!" as he was worried that his brother might leave without him.
"Heh, heh," Lucius had a low chuckle seeing the boy''s flushed, excited face,
But did not tease. It was only natural for boys to be so excited about their first ''heavenly experience''.
Lucius remembered his own first time experience being in a simr setting and he too had reacted as such.
Thus, with a light smile, he gestured, "Good. Let''s go! Or all the best ones will be taken."
It only took Marcus only a second to close the shop for the day, a bit earlier than his usual and the two brothers were atst away, the young boy taking each step both with purpose but also slight trepidation.
And as they got closer and closer, thistter feeling started to get bigger and bigger, as halfway through their journey, Marcus started to second guess himself.
''What if theyugh at my thing? What if I can''t get it up? What if I''m too ugly?''
These and all sorts of other worries started to bombard him as the promised events somehow started to look scary.
Thus he could not help but whisper to his brother in a fearful voice,
"Bro¡ brother Lucius¡. Is this alright? We won''t get into any trouble, right? What if father finds out? If that happens¡. you might be able toe out of that alive, but I will be dead! Father will skin me alive."
It went without saying Lucius''s decision to take his youngest brother to such an adult establishment was not approved by either of their parents.
Neither would they approve if they knew about it.
"Bullshit!?You know as much as any one of us how father goes to Lilith''s Touch at least once a month. He alwayses home giddy and drunk those nights. And mother puts on such a nasty temper tantrum." Lucius however blew the slight hesitations away with this revtion, reasoning if their father could do it, why not them.
And then turning around to look at his brother, sniggered, "He is probably wondering why you haven''t had a woman yet! That''s why he still treats you like a child. If you were an adult, you could havee with us to the war and then fucked a nobledy. A real nobledy!"
This type of vulgar talk proved highly effective against the impressionable boy who blushed both in shame and regret at the missed opportunity.
But then instantly spurted a response to try and exin himself,
"Of course not! It''s¡ it''s just that I was worried about brother''s coin. Lili¡ that ce is not cheap you know. And¡ and what if someone steals it along the way? It''s .. a lot of money."
However, the fact the boy felt too shy to even say the full name of the ce he was going to visit was enough to destroy that endeavor even before it could start, enabling Lucius to easily see through this shabby attempt.
So with a slightly offended scoff, the war veteran heroically pped his brother on the back, and dered,
"I have more than enough coin from my war spoils brat. That''s no problem."
"And what do you mean our money is going to be stolen? What do you take Zanzan for? You think the city is still like the old times? Where thugs and gangs roamed every corner of the streets?" Lucius proudly smirked, then added,
"The pasha had cleaned the streets as soon as he took the city. You too must remember it right? How all those scums were captured in one single day and then immediately sent to work in the iron mines in shackles. All of them are still in there, if they have not died already. So where the hell will they get the chance toe and rob us?"
"By the gods, the pasha is so strict he even killed one out of every ten of those petty scoundrels that would just harass the widows. Unbelievable!"
"You think anyone would dare to cause trouble after that? Here, you could have a naked whore dressed in gold walk through the streets in the middle of the night and no one would dare touch her."
Lucius here was of course exaggerating a bit, but still, it went to show the public''s trust in the security of the ce, promoted by Alexander''s implementation of harshws for crimes, a massive increase in the number of city guards to enforce them andrge scale, almost barbaric styled crackdowns on any organized crime, all designed to rein in the chaos and establish peace and order.
And credit to him, it worked as evidenced by Lucius''s testimony.
People could travel throughout the city with little precaution, safe in the knowledge that watchful eyes of protection were nearby.
And this was in fact doubly true for the two brothers, given their wealthy status.
Given they were dressed in quite good clothes, made of high quality and rare, vibrant colors, most thugs would think twice before confronting them in fear of their connections.
Thus Luciusstly revealed,
"So you see, there are norge gangs or street rats in Zanzan. And all those ''strongmen'' that you hear about are all really small fries who bow their heads to the city guards."
"They mostly run those half legal, dubious businesses like brothels, gambling dens, loan sharking, and drugs like opium and cannabis. Some of them even provide totally legitimate services like personal protection to merchants and cargoes. They don''t go messing with regr people unless you go messing with them."
Saying all this, Lucius then atst pped his young brother, reiterating,
"So you see Marcus, money is not the problem. It''s you. From all these excuses you are making, I''m beginning to think you don''t want to go."
"Do you not want to fuck the wet warmth of a woman''s cunt? Do you not want to suck on herrge titties? Do you not want to squeeze that huge ass? Are you not a man Marcus?" Saying this, the elder brother then grabbed Marcus''s loincloth in jest, vulgarly teasing the young man.
"Of course I am! Don''t treat me like a child!" The point of masculinity was a touchy spot for the ''legally adult at the time'' boy, and thus he replied instantly, pping his big brother''s hand away fiercely.
And then in an effort proudly to show his virility, imed, "I have to masturbate three times a day to quell the damn urges. Don''t underestimate me!"
"Heh!" Lucius could not help but smirk a bit his brother''s innocent bragging.
But at least this was much better than him whining to go back home.
Thus deciding to forego the teasing, Lucius gave him another encouraging p to the back, and grinned, "Good! So today make sure to fill that hot cunt at least three times. Look, we are here."
It seemed Marcus was so lost in his own thoughts and conversation that he had not even noticed when he hadpleted the modest journey, as the young man found himself standing in front of arge, but very ordinary looking building.
The sun had already begun to set behind the branches of the trees on the hill, casting jagged shadows along the outer walls of the brothels.
Itsrge simple doors turned outward while the dark, open windows emanated smoke from the first floor, that being the only clue that this ce was ''special.''
A line of men in varying states of intoxication had already begun to form in front of the front door, many seemingly in deep contemtion about the state of their purse and whether it would be able to sustain the merriment the famous establishment offered.
Seeing the two brothers and their good dresses, these hopefuls quickly moved out of the way and waved at them to enter, which the brothers graciously epted.
And as they entered, they were immediately greeted with a sweet, smoky dose of burning incense, while one of the two receptionists standing right behind the counter greeted them professionally, "Wee masters!"
Chapter 970 Liliths Touch (Part-1)
Chapter 970 Lilith''s Touch (Part-1)
??As Marcus entered the red building for the first time in his life, he could not help but be taken a bit back by the sheer luxury and volume of the ce.
The image Marcus had of brothels was very different from what was being presented to him.
In his mind, such establishments were supposed to be small, dingy, dark ces, where men bought women with an embarrassing conscience, and then tried to finish the job as quickly as possible before quickly vanishing into thin air so as to minimize the chances of being caught.
At least that was what it seemed like to Marcus when he had gone past all those low quality brothels.
However, here the atmosphere waspletely different.
There was no shame here, even though it was a house conducting morally dubious affairs.
Instead, Marcus felt like he was stepping into a pce.
Vibrant red carpets made of real wool covered every inch of the stone floor, filled with intricate tapestries and being so soft that his feet seemed to sink in them.
It looked so expensive that Marcus was afraid to even step on it.
Heavy, ck curtains decorated with golden stitchwork hung in front of the many rooms situated at the side, while huge metal chandeliers hung from the top, illuminating the huge hall.
Marcus could hear the sound of music ying at the back and right next to him, a smoky, flowery smell of incense emanated making him feel alive and awake.
To his far left was a huge bar being attended by numerous bartenders, catering to the many male patrons would were seen heavily and quite loudly drinking, being often apanied by scantily d women, most of whom had various hands roaming over their assets.
Their profession need not be said.
At the center of the floor, was a tavern style dining area with many small tables dotted all around, which was currently upied by even more men.
All of them could be seen drinking and dining with their friends, while the maids and waiters rushed to cater to the bustling demand, serving them all kinds of delicious food as evidenced by the smell.
While to his left was a receptionist''s desk, staffed by two lithe girls in their teens- their mirror appearance making it apparent that they were in fact, twins!
These young girls still possessed some baby fat, as both their cheeks were bright and rosy, and being garbed in a gorgeous strapless red and blue gown, they looked almost like fairiesing to visit the mortal world, as the red and blue colors perfectly contrasted each other.
The dress also showed off their creamy shoulders and shapely, tightly bound breasts, and as Marcus went towards them, he could smell a sweet, fruity fragrance emanating from them, clearly showing their use of some expensive perfume.
The young man certainly would not have minded having his first time with these two sisters.
Even one of them would be more than enough.
"Wee masters! What can we do for you?" With Marcus and Lucius finally reaching the counter, one of the sisters, dressed in red asked in a syrupy tone so, her eyes bright and limpid.
Her eyes were sparkling so much that it made Marcus feel like she had been waiting for him the whole day, and the young man was charmed at first sight.
Even Lucius was affected as he had never received such an excited wee.
Facing the professional receptionist''s inquiry, Marcus quickly attempted to regain himself and with the manliest voice he could muster, whispered, "My bro¡ my friend and I would like to buy some time with your girls. One for each of us. How much?"
For some reason, Marcus felt too ashamed to introduce Lucius as his brother.
While hearing the answer, both the twins had to work very hard to squeeze their lips together and not smirk, as they had been strictly instructed to neverugh at a customer''s request.
"Sweet sir, I know that. This is that type of building after that." Thus finally getting control over herself, the red girl replied with a professional smile, before exining,
"I was asking if you had a certain preference... or perhaps taste that you might want to explore tonight. I can rmend some excellent girls for beginners if you would like."
The reveal that the woman in front of him recognized him as a virgin so quickly caused the young man to lightly blush while rebuking himself for not letting his brother do the talking.
''This is my reward for trying to act manly and impress them! Fuck!'' Marcus cussed.
Although the reality was that these experienced receptionists could detect Marcus''s state from a mile away.
Simply the way he walked, and looked around spoke volumes to the fact that he had never been with a woman.
But it was fortunate that the girls did not reveal this, as it would have only aggravated the already wounded man.
While Marcus was recovering from his broken heart, his elder brother stepped in front to handle things from there.
"Miss, that would be great. My friend has just be an adult this winter and would love to know the joys of manhood. We would like to buy the best girl you have. Money is not an issue." Lucius had a smart, confident smile on his face as he showed off his wealth.
"Great! I will be sure to arrange it. And for you sir?" shing a pleased smile, the red girl then delicately posed so.
"I¡." Lucius seemed ready to list his preference when suddenly he got stuck like he was having second thoughts.
And then feeling sheepish about what he was about to ask, he leaned across the table, lowering his eyes and speaking in a hushed tone. "Do you by chance have the wall butt open?"
That was the very thing that made this ce famous after all and Lucius thought he would remember that ce even if he forgot his parent''s face.
The way that fair butt had stuck out, the way her warm flower drooled with lewd water, and the way that cute pink puckered hole puffed open and closed.
Even to this day, Lucius regretted not kissing those holy orifices when he got the chance.
"I''m sorry sir. But after words of it reached the pasha, he ordered us to shut it down citing in induced public indecency. We dare not open it again." However, if Lucius was nning to fulfill that fantasy today, the receptionist''s answer was bound to make him disappointed.
This was the official reason given to the public regarding the closure of that infamous y.
While in reality, it was because after Mikaya left, there was no suitable candidate to rece her.
"I¡ I see. Pity." Lucius of course knew of this even before he had left the city.
But upon returning, had hoped the pasha would reverse the decision. Or even that the brothel would decide to ignore the order and continue the service regardless.
After all, that was a huge money maker for the establishment. However, it seemed Alexander''s fearful reputation kept even these ''greedy merchants'' in check.
''Looks like the rumors that the pasha is rted to Lilith''s Touch is false.'' Hence Lucius erroneously reasoned to himself as such.
And then decided to change his choice, "Then are there any new virgins? Such as recently captured nobledies sold here? I was a soldier you know. Hehe, maybe they might recognize me."
Lucius''s crude joke only got an anemic pursing of the lips from the lovely counterpart, followed by a definitive no,
"We do not ept such girls. Here, every girl joins willingly. Also, most of the fallen nobledies that the Pasha brought from Tibias have already been taken by the other nobles. There are likely no left."
"So if anyone if anyone them to you see, it mostly almost definitely a scam. At least that is whatI heard from Madam."
The Madam the two girls were referring to was of course the brothel manager- Kalopi.
And what this slightly aged woman had said was indeed true.
Any and all of those ''artworks'' worth anything had already been snatched up by private collectors, or sent to Adhan as gifts, leaving little left.
At least of any value.
And even if there were, it was not like Lilith''s Touch would need them.
No, the current establishment was so famous that there was no need to take in such untrained recruits.
Instead, if they wanted more girls, they literally had ess to almost every courtesan in the city who wanted to join them.
And that was because of the generous conditions Lilith''s Touch provided its employees.
Working girls here got a fixed sry on top of their service, good food, very well living quarters, and even ess to high quality health care.
For instance, it was the only brothel that could get you the miracle salve legummum regrly.
And the way they could afford such high expenses was two fold.
One was simply through Alexander''s patronage, thus giving them ess to his very deep pockets and connections.
But the second thing was something of the brothel''s own merit.
And that was their great service as well as therge quantities of food and especially drink sales.
It had not taken long for men to realize that drinking here erged their ''weapons'' since some of it wereced with Ophenia''s drugs.
Those things sold like hotcakes.
So much so that if you looked at the ounting ledgers, you would be forgiven for thinking this was actually a restaurant with prostitution as a side hustle and not the other way around.
Chapter 971 Liliths Touch (Part-2)
Chapter 971 Lilith''s Touch (Part-2)
??Lucius, being thwarted on both his preferences felt a bit down, but still not out.
Instead, deciding that the third time was the charm, the man thus put on a flirty smile and charmingly asked, "Then how about you prettydies? Are any one of you free?"
The two sisters instantly produced a trace of disdain in their eyes upon hearing this.
It was not the first time a customer had tried to flirt with them, but it was rare.
And every time they gave the same woody response, "No. We are not one of the merchandise here," very conspicuously leaving the ''sir'' in their reply.
Luckily for them, Lucius was smart enough to get the hint.
Thus he atst made his choice.
"The¡ then I would like a girl with a thick bush."
Lucius still remembered that nobledy he had taken, and to him, her most attractive feature was her dense, raven bush down there.
In Tibias, married women were never allowed to shave their hair down there, only trim it.
And Lucius found the extra garment very sexy.
"Hmmmm¡ It is quite out of style at the moment, but two girls do have it. Let us see if they are avable," In reply to Lucius''s demand, the receptionist traced her chin a bit while signaling to her sister.
And so the blue dressed girl quickly flipped through a ledger, her dainty hands sliding tantalizingly along a list of names, her eyes following along, until all of a sudden it stopped.
"Luck favors you, sir. One of them is avable." Lucius heard the other''s sister''s sweet, chirpy voice for the first time, sounding very happy for him.
And she was instantly joined by her sister.
"Great! Please wait in private booth number 8 while I prepare the girls. It will just be a moment." The red gowned girl gestured the brothers towards them towards one of the many open vacant waiting rooms, before quickly turning on her heel, and disappearing into a room hidden by curtains behind her.
While Lucius and Marcus swiftly followed as they were instructed, making their way into the designated room that was furnished with a soft leathery couch and a table emitting incense burning.
A smallmp hung above it coloring the ce with a soft, sensual glow, and as the two brothers sat down, drawing in the ck curtains to shield themselves from prying eyes, every part of their body was suddenly gripped by an unquenchable throbbing desire, as slight beads of sweat began to roll down their bodies beneath their tunics in excitement.
Given the atmosphere, both men could not help but form various images of what was surely toe.
The brothers fortunately did not have to wait long, as the receptionist girl quickly reappeared, but this time with an additional escort- a girl in her mid twenties, tall and dressed in full sleeve clothing.
"Please follow her, sir. She will guide you to the ready girls. They are on the second floor." The red gowned then ryed so with a smile, and then with a light bow she was away.
While the two brothers followed the other girl excitedly, passing the brightly lit corridor leading up to the second floor.
As soon as they stepped there, suddenly, their ears caught the low, humming grunts and moans of various patrons echoing from the rooms,ing through to them even though the music ying in the lobby worked to drown out much of those scious sounds.
The novice Marcus''s ears swiftly turned red hearing it.
And it became even redder as they went through the leading corridor, as even though most of the doors to the private rooms were closed, a few were open.
Thus Marcus could see some of the nude patrons and their women in the act illuminated by the faint light of the oilmps.
There was a small man on the bed pounding a very curvaceous woman who was on her knee. The man''s eyes were lidded over in immense pleasure and were letting out loud grunts while he moved his hips like a jackhammer, making loud, pping noise.
In response to these attacks, the working woman only made lustful mewls, ones which seemed to only reinvigorate the man to drive even faster, moving his hands from her hips to herrge breasts.
And then a few rooms ahead there was something even more brazen.
There the door was fully ajar and a particrlyrge, ck man could seen with a much smaller, petite woman with chestnut hair on hisp.
She was straddling him while facing the door, hands behind her head while her legs spread open thus letting Marcus clearly see how thatrge organ was stretching her small, totally shaved cunt.
The ck spear was sorge that Marcus could see a small bulge forming on the girl''s stomach every time the man thrusted, making it seem almost miraculous to the boy that such a tiny girl would take such a big organ.
And the girl seemed to love every second of it as she howled with manic abandon every second, "Arghh! Yes, master. Pound me more! Pinch my small nipples too! I love that."
Marcus almost felt light-headed seeing this as all his blood rushed down below, and felt his eyes being almost glued to the scene.
This gaze was so scalding that it was even noticed by the petite girl who then teased,
"Ahhh! Big brother, do you want to join us? Come! There is no need to be shy, hehe."
Marcus furiously blushed at being pointed out, while his undergarment felt even tighter than before, and he became rooted on the spot in shame.
He did not know what to do.
"Ignore them. Some of the patrons here have an exhibitionist fetish. Do not take them seriously." It was only after this statement from the escorting woman that Marcus managed to extract himself, and for the rest of the walk kept his head down, locking his eyes to the ground.
His elder brother sniggered at this.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Marcus, the escorting girl finally brought them to thest room at the end of the corridor, and turning to both of them, elegantly gestured, "Here we are sirs. Please enter."
It was quite arge room with arge couch in the center of the room and a coffee table that had a pot of mild, soothing, incense burning.
The walls were adorned with faded frescos of figures in various stages of partnership and pleasure, while therge windows had their shades drawn.
But the best brothers had little time to care for those.
For their eyes were solely focused on the two king sized beds on either side of the room, as they were upied by their partners for the night.
Marcus stared at the woman on the left. She was sprawledfortably on her back, head resting against a fluffy pillow.
She had jet ck hair tied in a pony tail with a bright red ribbon and her skin so pale it must have never seen the sun. Her young body was beautifully plump in an hourss shape with tits that just threatened to spill over.
She had her very thick thighs and as she felt Marcus''s gaze, the girl let out a charming smile before starting to approach them.
While Lucius turned his head to the right and saw a girl in a simr posture.
She was very tanned, but also very short, however withrge breasts and assparable to her muchrge counterpart.
The short-stacked girl had cute freckles on her face and upon noticing Lucius''s gaze, she very sensually lifted one of her legs into the air, thus letting her dark bush reveal itself, before too starting to make herself over.
While the woman escorting her two brothers introduced, "The one to the left is Fayana. The one to the right in Aaria. They each cost 20 ropals and will stay with you until you cannot cum anymore. If you choose a single room, the total will be 50 ropals. Separate rooms will be 60. What would you like sirs?"
Marcus almost jumped in fear hearing the reported prices. This was one-third of what a peasant earned in a month.
Gone in just a few hours!
Even Lucius was a bit astounded. He knew the rates but it still stung.
For a moment, he even wished to ask if there was any discount for returning war veterans.
"Single room please." Thus, Lucius did not have any qualms about sharing a room with his brother.
After all, the quarters wererge enough, and besides, his four brothers had shared a nobledy during the war, so what was a bit of seeing now?
"Great! Then enjoy yourselves. You can payter." The answer caused the escortingdy to let a light smile, and an instantter was she out of the room, closing the door behind her as she vacated herself.
And with her gone, the two brothers were free to focus on the two girls slowly approaching them.
Marcus''s date Fayana''s skin was sensuously oiled and slick while his brother''s short stack''s unruly bush was matted down
And once the girls silently gestured for each of the respective man to join her corner, they quickly made their way, totally forgetting about each other.
Chapter 972 Lilith’s Touch (End)
Chapter 972 Lilith''s Touch (End)
"What is your name, young man?" The virgin taker Fayana let out a soul stealing smile as she guided the novice Marcus to her bed.
"Marcus!" The response was immediate, his cock growing harder than it ever had in his life.
"Marcus! What a lovely name little brother" The workingdy sang sensuality as she made the young adult then sit by the edge of the bed, while she herself squatted down, her heart-shaped face looking up at the excited puppy like eyes with mirthful bemusement.
"You can call me big sis! Now, let''s get started." With these starting words, the girl smirked, before suddenly pulling down Marcus''s pants and taking a look at his still growing organ.
And soon sounds of slurping followed by moans started to echo.
While on the other side of the room, Lucius stared with lustful expectation at the short girl.
"I was told you wanted a woman like me," Aaria said, dragging her hand down between her open thighs. "Do you like what you see?"
*Nod* Lucius felt his throat too dry to give a verbal answer.
"Good!" The girl proudly smirked and then decided to give a little show.
She gathered a little oil from a small y bowl in her right hand and then naughtily spread her legs, before beginning to rub it teasingly up and down the protruding lips of her pink cunt.
Her ck hair became sparser the lower her hand traveled until she dipped her fingers within her warmth, bringing out a little fluid that she continued to spread around, soon making the entire ce glisten.
Lucius was not sure how much more he could take as sweat filled his brows and nostrils red with desire.
He was just about to say something when Aaria suddenly removed her hand, apparently satisfied with her work.
She then crossed the distance between them with only a small hop and ced her body against his, before beginning to carefully unwrapped his tunic, while Lucius took in her scent as she did so.
She smelled unsurprisingly of oil and incense and as she pulled the tunic down, Lucius licked the left side of her neck and pulled her even closer, grabbing handfuls of her plump bottom and grinding himself against her mound.
"Have patience my bull. You will get to ravage me and take my cunt for your pleasure soon. Now lie down. The wait is over, my bull.
Lucius shuddered as the musky reply and quickly released his grip, beforeying down.
And soon the two were in union, their pubic hair meeting and mingling in his first few thrusts, her thick bush tangling with his curly chestnut hair.
While back to Marcus,
"Agghh! No worries little brother. Everyonees quickly their first few times." It seemed due to his over excitement, Marcus hade prematurely into the girl''s mouth, causing thed to go red.
While Fiyana consoled him in a soothing tone, before asking, "Now, lie down. Big sister knows exactly how to fix it."
Marcus had his face sh with hopefulness when he heard and thus immediately followed.
The boy was soon on his back, his revitalised organ stuck tall proudly with a slight curve to the left, the bottom vein prominent and the swollen head covered in transparent liquid as evidence of his excitement.
Fiyana then approached him, and taking off the red ribbon tying her head, said, "Now! Here. Let''s get this on," as the girl with flowing raven hair then tied the long tied tightly around the base of Marcus''s cock, to prevent him from ejacting.
Marcus felt quite constricting down there, but also very pleasurable, as his young cock throbbed.
The working girl then got on top of the boy, and touching his cock with her delicate hands, she brought it between her thighs, and asked, "Are you ready my little brother?"
"Yes! By Ramuh Yes I am ready!" Marcus could feel the girl intentionally rubbing his engrossed organ against her soft, wet petals.
And ovee with passion was unable to hold back any longer and thrusted up.
Fayana let the fervent organ intrude her entrance, just finally enabling Marcus to taste the warmth between her thighs as he was slowly enveloped by her molten cunt.
And as Marcus''s mind felt an overdose of pleasure like never before, he felt really d for that ribbon.
Without it, he wouldn''t havested more than a couple of seconds.
But with it in ce, Marcus was free to explore this never before seen territory.
So quickly cing his arms on either side of her curvy hips, he buried his fingers into her abundant ass, the warmth, and wetness in ways he never thought possible. It held onto his cock as he moved in and out of her and wouldn''t let go. It squeezed him in inescapable ways, and he felt He knew
As Marcus ravaged her, Fayana''s tits also started to swing around and soon the boy could not resist that either.
So moving his hands from her butt, he took the boobs, which felt like soft pillows, and he loved the way her nipples felt against his fingers.
Both man and woman were both sweating in the heat of the brothel and the moment. Droplets fell from his brow onto hers while others ran between where their chests and thighs met.
Her cunt, slick with lubrication and oil, made the unmistakable sloshing of wetness as Marcus continuously prated her, joining the symphony of other patrons in the brothel. He was on fire. Every part of him tingled in pleasure, and he began to moan louder as his desire for release within her depths became unbearable.
Daring a nce at his brother, Marcus turned his head to see him at the point of no return as Lucius put the girl on all fours, thrusting against Aurelia''s soft andrge bottom and making the girl loudly moan.
Therge flesh rippled with each movement, and as Lucius finally let him go, his body became taut above her like a coil and then released with onest spectacr ram forward.
It was then that Marcus felt Fayana also tighten her inside, urging him toe as he felt as though he was going to explode as the pressure in his cock grew beyond control.
Each wet individual ridge that Marcus''s cock pushed against drove him beyond reality, and the muscles in his arms, legs, and bottom clenched before finally he erupted in Fayana''s smooth depths. For a moment he saw stars and groaned against her throat as his body took over, involuntarily plunging his cock further within her and filling her with hise.
And with that first experience done, the two brothers for the next few while enjoyed various other positions.
For example, while they were sitting on the couch, drinking some ordered wine, Marcus saw his brother''s woman, Aaria settle on her patron''sp fully naked, grinding herself against him, while he groped her generous curves.
There was little friction between his cock and her bare slit as she ran herself up, down, then up again, dripping her and Lucius''s lubrication onto him, causing the organ to be turgid again, causing the man to moan, "Oh, yes..."
And then soon after, the short girl was jumping up and down the thick cock, those huge breasts looking much too delicious to Marcus.
Noticing this hunger, Fayana decided to serve her parton too.
She got on her all fours on the carpeted floor, and began to sensually swing herrge butt.
"Here, little brother. Come! Fuck me. Fuck this bitch hard!"
The pink, wet slit and the brown hole at the top made Marcus instantly jump on her, and momentster Fayana''s oiled, fair ass folded and rippled against him, pping against his thighs with each forward movement.
Her velvet wetness stimted every part of his cock, from the head to the underside, making him swell evenrger. He palmed and massaged both of her ass cheeks as sweat began to form between them which ran from the small of her back to the inside her crack and all the way down to where they met.
And as the two brothers furiously grunted and the two working sisters melodiously sang in a chorus,
"Ah! Yes, my bull. So good! So big! Your cock is hitting my womb!"
"That''s it, little brother. Big sis feels so good. You are doing great."
Both Marcus and Lucius elerated their work at this encouragement, while both girls, like they had been taught, brought one hand down to massage the soaked and tightened balls with their warm fingers.
"Let it all out baby," they whispered. "Fill me up."
And at this touch, both brothers lost control.
Curling their toes and quickening their breaths, each man pulled their woman towards him, and an instantter, pumped load after load along the walls of their cunts, which then began to overflow out of their tight snatches.
This type of merriment went on for some while until the two brothers atst exhausted themselves.
They paid the receptionists generously with coin andpliments once they were done, finally they were away under the coolness of the night.
Neither said anything on the road but they did have a satisfied and perverted grin.
Their father or mother would note to know about their misdeeds anytime soon.
Chapter 973 Games Night With Alexander (Part-1)
Chapter 973 Games Night With Alexander (Part-1)
For Princess Camelia, the following days at Alexander''s manor proved to be an uneventful and even somewhat boring affair.
It was even quite different from what she had expected.
In her mind, she had assumed she would be called to Alexander''s room as soon as thetter returned home to bed her.
But much to her surprise, the manrgely left her alone in her private room, most of the time even barely acknowledging her existence.
And this was the same case for the rest of the household too.
The princess was allowed to mostly do whatever she wished as long as it did not get in the way of others.
Thus Princess Camelia woke up at whatever time she wished, which she usually did a bit after dawn, and then refreshed and relieved herself, washing her face and brushing her teeth with ash and a twig because toothbrush and toothpaste had not been invented yet.
After that she got dressed, while breakfast was brought to her room by her personal maid.
Then for the rest of the day, she basically did nothing.
Perhaps she would peruse some books, perhaps she would take a walk around the back gardens, perhaps she would sunbath, perhaps she would watch Alexander''s four kids and Fabiyana scampering around and ying, and perhaps if she was lucky she would have someone like Nanazin or her three daughterse to apany her.
This was how lunchtime woulde and pass, as would dinner, which she had alone in her room with her maid, while Alexander dined together with his four wives and Fabiyana in the dining room on the first floor.
It was apparent that just as Princess Camelia felt no attraction towards Alexander, this lord too felt no attraction towards this difficult princess, preferring to leave her be.
And this suited her just fine.
Hence it was all the more surprising when one evening, a maid under the service of the mistress of the house, Cambyses came to her after dinner, informing her that Alexander was inviting her to join him at the parlor.
Princess Camelia was a bit confused by this at first, thinking she had misheard.
''Surely it has to be the bedroom, right? What am I going to do at the parlor?'' She asked herself. Because ording to her logic, Princess Camelia felt this invitation was Alexander asking her toe to sleep with him.
And the parlor was no ce for that.
That was a room for entertaining guests and making small talk.
Unless Alexander wanted to y with her body there, in front of everybody!
Princess Camelia half shivered in fear, recalling all those dreadful rumors about Adhania.
The maid also refused to borate on anything further, iming she did not know, fueling the princess''s fears even more.
So for a very brief second, the young princess even thought about running away rather than face the humiliation.
But then logic returned to her.
Alexander did not seem to be that type of man.
Thus quickly putting on a much nicer dress and a stylish head scarf, the girl descended to the first floor and entered the parlor room with a knock.
"Ahh! Camelia you are here. Great! Come,e!" The slim girl''s appearance quickly caused Alexander to turn his head and give up a light smile, before gesturing her to take a seat on the couch.
While the Princess was more than pleased to see that all her fears had been only the product of a hyperactive mind.
The room was currently brightly lit with numerous chandeliers andmps and upied by all four of Alexander''s wives, as well as Fabiyana, who all subtly nodded in acknowledgment of her existence.
The four adult women were sitting in pairs across each other, while Alexander sat in arge, sofa in between them, at the head position.
The tiny girl sat on Alexander''sp, and all of them surrounded a small coffee table, one whose top was not made of wood but arge, single sheet of fully transparent ss.
Princess Camelia almost had a heart attack when she saw that table for the first time.
It was so rare, being perhaps the only one in the world right now, that the thing was without a doubt worth more than its weight in gold.
And right now, on that very expensive topid arge rectangle wooden board, with various colored grids, writings, figurines, and two sets of six sided dice on it.
While next to it were various stacks of colored paper with numbers 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 500 written on them,
The whole thing appeared quite intriguing to the royal princess.
''Is this a board used to perform ck magic!'' The young girl even thought to herself excitedly.
It was of course not that, however.
This was a monopoly set that Alexander had made, albeit with all the names localized.
Furthermore, things that had been invented yet, like the rail station were changed to be now carriage stations.
Utilities such as the electricity and water supply were now The Guilds and Aquaducts respectively.
Jail was changed to the dungeon, andstly, free parking was now simply called the Garden as ''parking'' was not a thing.
As Princess Camelia took her seat next to the pair of Ophenia and Gelene, Alexander, quickly pped his hand and announced, "Great! Now that Camelia is here, we can begin."
Saying this, Alexander then gave a short summary of how the game was yed to the unfamiliar princess.
"This is a type of game that we y sometimes. You take one of the figurines and move them equal to the die you roll, buying the ce yound on with this fake paper money. It''s all very easy. You will figure it out as we y¡."
Princess Camelia did not quite get the rules of the game yet, but seeing that her lord was in a hurry, only cleverly nodded.
While Alexander, deciding to let the princess learn on the go, then turned to the other four,
"As you can see, this a monopoly board. But I decided to tweak the rules a bit, so it''s no longer the old game you know."
"It''s now more of a king-poly¡ best yed with 4 yers. So today it will be Gelene, Cambyses, Mean, and Camelia. Ophenia has very graciously decided to make space for the princess." Saying this Alexander then sent the beautiful girl a grateful look, before picking up a small notebook, "Now let me read out the rules."
"Ahem¡ So, I''m the game master. I will be called the king. Hence the name"
"All yers will start with 1,000 ropals."
"Each figurine¡" Alexander gestured at the eight pieces made of cast iron, "has a unique endgame condition affecting how you''ll choose to y the game."
"If you even have more than 1,000 ropals, you will be suspected to having stolen from the king''s treasury and be taken to the dungeon for questioning¡"
"Wait! But you start with a thousand ropals, right?" At this point, Mean suddenly interrupted, sounding a bit confused.
"Yes. So don''t get any more." Alexander smirked,
"Spend the money sister! Spend!" while Gelene chuckled.
Everyone made sure to quickly register this all important rule, while Alexander continued,
"If yound on GO, you will receive 200 ropals, But if you pass it, withoutnding on it,you will have to pay 50 ropals to bribe the checkpoint guard."
"If you ever run out of money, well just like a normal monopoly, you will go destitute and disappear."
"Disappear? Like dead?" Hearing this unique word, Cambyses chirped to try and rify.
"Yes, It''s simr. When you disappear, the piece you are ying as is taken out of the game forever and you start with a brand new figurine from the pile. It''s like the old one never existed." Alexander elucidated, before continuing.
This time, he pointed to the ''GO'' space, saying,
"You can also hide money in a secret stash bynding on the Garden. You might want to do depending on the powers of the figurines you choose."
"Any money stashed in the garden will remain there until you pass it again. But If an opponentnds on Garden before you, they will take all your money and report you to the guards, sending you to the dungeons."
"They have tond on the Garden. But I can go past it." Hearing the rule, Princess Camelia spoke up for the first, asking for this confirmation.
"That''s right." Came Alexander''s swift rod.
And then went on to continue,
"If you roll 3 doubles, you go to the dungeon. And I don''t care if they are consecutive."
"What? 3 doubles for the entire game!" At this, Gelene sounded shocked.
"Yes! Well, it restarts if you get out of the dungeon." Alexander said with a mischievous tone, finding much bemusement at Gelene''s face.
Before resuming,
"While in the dungeon, you must roll doubles to get out. But if you roll 1 on any of the dice, you disappear."
"For every turn you stay in the dungeon, you must bribe the guards 100 ropals. If you run out of money and are unable to pay the guards, you will disappear and all your properties will be seized by the king."
Chapter 974 Games Night With Alexander (Part-2)
Chapter 974 Games Night With Alexander (Part-2)
??Once Alexander had recited the rules, the girls took a moment to summarize it, making sure they had not missed anything.
And to them, the most important three of these were,
I. Don''t have more than 1,000 ropals.
II. Don''t roll three doubles. And
III. Don''t run out of money.
So with these pointers in their heads, they heard Alexander chime with a gesture, "Okay. Let''s start. Pick your pieces and I will tell you your special powers."
At this invitation, each of the four yers quickly took one of the eight figurines, with Princess Camelia being thest.
"Okay. So Cam, what piece did you take?" Deciding to start with his main wife, Alexander turned to inquire.
"I took the ship," Cambyses replied quickly while showing her piece. It was in the shape of a small cast iron boat, representing the battleship.
"Ahh the ship." Seeing the proof, Alexander quickly flipped his notebook to find that rted entry, "You are a general in the king''s army. Your special power is that carriage stations are free." Alexander said while pointing to the four squares.
And hearing this, Mean who was sitting beside her could not help but chime, "Oh, that''s quite good."
To which everyone in the room seemed to agree.
Even Fabiyana, who was more busy looking and ying with the colorful paper currency that she had never seen before seemed to join.
"Yes¡ and your winning condition is ¡ You''ve defected to the enemy state. Your final score is the money you have in your hand multiplied by the number of houses you own."
Cambyses gave a curt nod indicating she understood, and thenmented, "So I do not have to stash any money in the Garden. Right?"
"Yes," Alexander confirmed.
Saying this, he then turned to face Princess Camelia.
He could see she had picked the car, which in this case was changed to be the carriage, made from cast iron and painted golden.
It felt heavy and solid in her hands, and currently, the young princess had brought it up close to her eyes for a better look, appearing quite impressed by just the artisan skill on disy here, marveling at the immacte craftsmanship.
She had never seen something quite so small yet so finely detailed and seemed quite lost in her own world.
"I can see that you have chosen the car¡ I mean carriage, princess." Camelia was so engrossed by her beautiful piece that shepletely missed that little slight slip of the tongue by Alexander and instead quickly broke out of her trace to lift her head to gaze at the man reading from his notebook
She heard him say, "The carriage is quite suitable for you. It means you are part of the nobility. And your special power is that whenever yound on King''s Chest, you get to choose any card of your liking."
Saying this Alexander pointed to the grids that had their names changed from Community Chest to King''s Chest and then to the stack of cards on the board with the same words written on their back.
This made the novice princess quickly understand that she would get to draw a card when her piecended on those squares, and she grew quite curious what those cut out pieces of paper would say.
"*Hisss*.. so strong." While sitting directly opposite of the princess, Mean hissed with an envious re.
Learning from her previous experience of ying Monopoly, she knew there were a few cards in there that were quite advantageous to the yer.
Although she did forget to take into ount the fact that Alexander had changed all the cards so perhaps it would not be such an advantage after all.
Who knew?
"What! Like every time? Isn''t that a bit excessive?" While Gelene from the sideined with a low cry, wishing it was a much more reasonable once per game.
"Of course not. She is a royal after all. It''s not like she will lose the power of a royal after using it just once. That would be madness."
Alexander''s answer here was dripping with subtle sarcasm, poking at the ridiculousness of the concept of royalty, or the thought that one family should have the power to rule for all eternity.
But none of the girls seemed to detect that.
Which was really normal given that was the only style of governance the girls experienced in their adult lives.
Thus they only assumed that Alexander was only poking fun at Gelene.
While Alexander in the meantime turned to Princess Camelia to continue retelling the rules,
"And your winning condition is, ''Your throne has been overthrown by rebels and you must flee. Your final score is the money in the Garden multiplied by your number of inns''."
Hotels had been changed to inns to better suit the times, and as Alexander said this, he noticed the princess suddenly pull a bit of a confused face.
And this reminded him that she did not what inns were.
So pointing at the board, Alexander elucidated, "Ahh¡ inns. You see all these different colored properties. If you can own all the properties of the same color, you can build inns on top of them. It''s these things." Alexander showed a small small bunch of bungalow figurines carved out of wood,painted red, and finished by saying,
"With inns you can charge more rent on the piece thatnds on them. More rent means the other pieces will be destitute quicker than you."
Princess Camelia was quite pleased by Alexander''s eagerness here to engage and help her understand the various new things.
The man suddenly did not seem so scary to her.
"I see. Thank you, my lord." Thus this was probably the first time Princess Camelia spoke to Alexander from the bottom of her heart, and probably the first time that she shed a genuine smile at him.
"No problem." And simrly, the girl now did not seem too vexing to him.
Finished with Princess Camelia, Alexander then turned his attention to Gelene, who quickly showed him the boot without requiring any prompt.
Thus he read from his notebook, "So¡ the boot. Excellent. You are a member of the royal court. It costs you half the usual money while in the dungeon. So others pay 100, you pay only 50 ropals." Alexander lifted his head to look at her, only to get a victorious grin from the ckdy.
It felt nice to be part of the nobility.
And better yet, her powers were not over, as Alexander went on to list, "Also, when you are in the dungeon, you can sell one of your properties to re roll any one dice. You can even re roll a 1."
"Master is the best!" And hearing this Gelene could not help but clench her fists and cheer,
Gelene did not bother to argue that her powers were too overpowered.
She preferred them just as they were.
Although that victoryp proved to be a bit immature, as suddenly remembering Gelene''sint, a crafty light shone in Alexander''s eyes and he smirked,
"Ummm¡ you know what, that does sound a bit too powerful. Let''s make it only once per stay in the dungeon."
"Ah.. hahaha hahaha." The instant he said this, the other five girls instantly burst into uproariousughter, with some like Princess Camelia hiding her pearly whites elegantly using her fair palms while others like Mean felt no need to follow much decorum and slumped over the couch clutching her belly.
"No! No, no, master! You cannot do this." All the while Gelene shrieked in a low tone, her lips trembling.
"I can and I did. I''m the king." Alexander however shut down the girl with such an imperious im, while also pursing his lips together to avoid breaking intoughter like the rest of the room.
Then, to prevent himself from breaking out of character, quickly looked at the notebook, stating,
"And your winning condition is- You''ve been usurped by your brother and ousted from the family. Your final score is the money in your hand multiplied by your number of properties, divided by 5."
"Why the fuck does every one of the pieces end up worse than they started." Gelene vulgarlymented after hearing her dered fate, still feeling salty at Alexander as well as cursing her own big mouth.
Thetter of which Mean was more than happy to poke at, sniggering with spice, "Sometimes it is better to keep thatrge trap shut, isn''t it sister, heh heh."
This peppery petite pipsqueak had always acted as Cambyses''s missle, picking fights with Gelene whenever it was too uncouth for thedy of the house to attack herself.
And even the young princess was keen enough to notice this, the subtle currents of rivalry and dislike between the ebony woman next to her and the twodies sitting opposite.
This had not been apparent to her till now, since Alexander''s four wives worked hard to pose an outward disy of unity and sisterhood.
But now that they were in their private quarters, many such old facades were being torn in front of her.
It made Princess Camelia realize people in their private lives were very much different from their public ones.
There was only Mean left.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 975 Games Night With Alexander (Part-3)
Chapter 975 Games Night With Alexander (Part-3)
??10 FPs
While Princess Camelia was busy concentrating on observing the newfound dynamics between Cambyses and Gelene, shepletely missed the pitying look that Alexander was giving Mean.
Because he saw what piece she had chosen.
And he knew she wouldn''t beughing for long.
Her powers were not that great.
But there was no way to avoid revealing it either,
Thus turning to the short girl, Alexander lightly smiled, "So Mean, I see you have chosen the thimble. That''s fantastic."
''Yep! I always choose the thimble." The girl failed to detect the very subtle sarcasm there and instead grinned upon hearing this, putting the small figurine in her dainty pinkie and wiggling it to show it off.
She appeared very excited to know what cool power this favorite piece of every day item would hold for her.
Now, a thimble was basically a metal cap women wore on their fingers during sewing to prevent needles from pricking themselves.
It was created by Alexander as a gift to thedies working in Gelene''s shop, to let them avoid these small but very irritating injuries.
And Mean too had taken a liking to this simple but ingenious design, using it whenever she stitched something herself.
She even had various custom made thimbles for her, with some having gold workings and very expensive jewels embedded into them.
The girl was indeed quite fond to it.
It was also knowing this love that Alexander had decided to y a prank on her when he wasing up with the rules, deciding to make the piece '' very urate''.
Hence, trying his best to keep hisughter in check after seeing Mean''s excited face, Alexander atst announced, "So you are the thimble. It means you are a ve. Your special power is you get only one die."
"Ahhh haha haha." The instant Alexander said this, the biggest one tough among this chorus of tion was undoubtedly Gelene, who felt karma hade swift and early.
She was quickly followed by Cambyses and Fabiyana who too did not hold back
While Ophenia and Princess Camelia tried their best to maintain their natural elegance, although that was proving much harder than expected as expected by both women''s pursed lips and flushed cheeks.
They too had enjoyed Alexander''s prank.
The only one who did not find it funny was Mean, who fumed with incredulity, "Are you being fucking serious? Is this real?... But¡ I need to roll doubles to get out of the dungeon right?"
"Ahhh haha haha." The room burst into another round of euphoriousughter as soon as she said, and this time, even Alexander could not help but join in, chuckling with a swift nod,
"Ha ha, yeah¡ so don''t get sent to the dungeon."
"..." For a few moments, Mean was stunned while Gelene made sure to throw her own punch, smirking, "Being a ve suits you sister, hehe."
Mean''s lips slowly dropped at finding out her power, as she then sniffed in a fake choking voice, lowly bobbing her head,"... okay."
"And your winning condition is- You have been beaten to death by your master. Your score is the amount of money you have in your hand minus the score of the yer left of you." Alexander atst finished reading the rules.
"That''s not bad. Sounds very simple." And hearing this, Cambyses could not help but chime in genuine appraisal,
Although Mean did not seem to be in the mood to celebrate, the shadow of that 1 die still hanging over her, as she could be heard menacingly murmuring, "I want to beat ''you'' to death!"
The ''you'' here was of course, Alexander.
While the pseudo bystander Princess Camelia was a bit taken aback by theidbackness being disyed here.
She had never seen husbands and wives interact so freely.
It was considered almost sacred that wives would obey and almost worship their husbands as lords.
This was the case between her father and mother too.
They certainly loved each other.
But there was an undeniable hierarchy too.
So seeing that absent here, it surprised and even somewhat shocked Princess Camelia.
The others were naturally unaware of the Princess''s crisis of faith.
"Okay, let''s start."
Instead, with the rules done, Alexander finally asked the girls to start rolling, starting from Mean and
going in a clockwise direction.
And thus, with the roll of just a single die, the game began!
"Six!" The petite girl cheered as she managed to roll the highest number possible right on her very first go, and moved her piece by that number of spaces.
"Can I buy that?" Then turned to Alexander to pose.
"You sure can. How much is that?" Alexander asked the girl to read the number written on there, while working to convert the 500 ropal bill she handed him into the appropriate change.
"I don''t understand why you are buying property, Mean. It makes no sense for you." However just then, Cambyses, who was to Mean''s left, decided to interject with these words.
And as it drew all the curious looks, thedy of the house exined her thoughts,
"Mean''s winning condition is to have as much money as possible in her hand without being sent to the dungeon right? That way she can deduct the highest number from my score. Meaning she should ideally have a thousand ropals in her hand. So why should be waste her money buying property? It makes no sense!"
A look of realization dawned on most, including Princess Camelia, as Cambyses repeated her statement, while Alexander curled his lips being impressed.
He was indeed quite pleased by Cambyses''s insight, one that enabled her to ovee the natural instinct developed while ying a traditional monopoly.
In that version of the game, whenever younded on a property there was really only one option- to buy it.
Only under very extraordinary circumstances would you choose not to do that.
But here, where you could not go over a limit or reach zero, and passing GO did not automatically generate money, one had to be much more frugal and methodical.
And the fact that Cambyses was able to instantly see through that reasoning, and with such a subtle, sublime effort was enough to more than reassure Alexander that he would have little problem leaving Zanzan''s day to day administration to his wife while he was out winning wars.
Simultaneously, seeing Cambyses''s reasoning, Princess Camelia felt enlightened and people like Mean, Ophenia and even Gelene felt reminded why Cambyses was the mistress of the house.
It was not just because Alexander favored her more than them.
"I¡ I will not buy it. I skip." Hence, after having the logic pointed to her, Mean quickly retrieved her bid for that property, as well as taking back her 500 ropal note from Alexander.
"Now that I think about it, isn''t the thimble actually quite good?" And in conjunction with that act, for the first time, Ophenia decided to voice her opinion, lifting her index finger up and exining, "Think about it. The biggest danger of you disappearing is rolling three doubles andnding in the dungeon. But with only 1 die, that''s clearly impossible. All Mean needs to do is oust the other three and she will win!"
Alexander clearly saw how Mean''s face visibly lit up as soon as this was said, like she had suddenly discovered a pro gamer strategy.
She felt her heart was flying.
"I don''t think so." Until it suddenly was suddenly tugged down by this cold reply.
It was from Gelene.
"Oh¡ pray do tell, yourdyship!" And this made Mean pull a nasty face, snarling this sarcasm.
This referred both to Gelene''s real life title and her current piece''s identity.
The ck beauty however seemed totally unfazed by Mean''s sarcastic remark.
Instead, putting on an analytical face, she pointed out, "If Mean does not buy property, that means it will be left for the others. And that will give them more chances toplete a set." "This will subsequently mean Mean would have to pay higher and higher rent as houses and then inns are built on them. Worse, with just one die, she would not be able to roll past those sections even if she wanted to."
"So the best thing would be for her to spend a bit of money and buy at least one property from each colored section, thus denying the others that chance."
It seemed Gelene too had her point and was not simply saying things to spite Mean.
And now hearing both Cambyses''s and Gelene''s argument, Mean suddenly felt confused.
Up until a moment ago, she had been cock sure about Cambyses, but now¡. Her mind was swinging like a pendulum.
And she looked at Alexander for help. Then cursed in her mind upon seeing that smug, nonchnt face.
He was not going to offer any advice.
For Alexander, this was what games night was all about.
Seeing the girls sweat their brains and scheme for victory.
With the reward being able to monopolize him for a whole week all to themselves.
Something which was another brand new experience for Princess Camelia, who was even unable to fathom the deep hiddenyers of the game.
''Isn''t it just a game? Why so serious?'' She hence called out in her heart, wondering if she was missing something.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 976 Games Night With Alexander (Part-4)
Chapter 976 Games Night With Alexander (Part-4)
Facing Gelene''s reasoning, Cambyses refused to lose any ground, counterattacking,
"That''s hogwash! It would have only happened if Mean and you were the only yers on the field. There are four of us! So even if Mean doesn''t buy, the other two can, thus denying the third."
And then saying this, Cambyses turned to Alexander to say, "In fact, I will buy it. Start the auction, Alex."
"Ummm¡ there will be no auction in this game." Alexander however declined that offer, reasoning, "It always turns into a screaming market whenever we have auctions. So I decided unsold properties will remain unsold."
"But you can buy it if yound on it." Saying this Alexander then handed Cambyses the two dies, indicating it was her turn.
Cambyses did not bother to argue thatnding on a piece of property to buy was the whole point of the games, and neither did she argue against Alexander taking out the auction feature.
Instead, she obediently rolled her die, getting a 7.
"Royal Chance!" Chance had been changed to Royal change and as Cambysesnded on it, she quickly picked a card from the stack, reading the words aloud,
"Denounce Your Coborators! If you are in the dungeon, you can use this card to swap ces with one of the yers."
"Oh! So it''s a get out of dungeon card." Mean who was familiar with the game chimed in.
"Yes. But here you need to choose someone to take your ce. You can''t go out for free." While Alexander revealed the twist.
Cambyses revealed a smirk as she set down the card, knowing just who she was going to use it on, as did the person in question.
After Cambyses, it was Gelene''s turn who rolled a double of 6, causing Alexander to remind, "That''s your first double!" as she brought the property Mean hadnded on and then rolled again for a 4 tond on ''Just Visiting''.
Afterwards Princess Camelia rolled herself an 8 to buy her own very first property, thus it bing Mean''s turn again.
"One." Was the die result, showing Mean''s luck had gone from the highest possible number to the lowest.
"Royal Chance!" And the roll caused the piece tond on the same grid as Cambyses''s figurine.
Thus quickly taking the top card, Alexander saw Mean''s face light up as she read, "Advance to GO! Collect 200 ropals!"
An instruction the girl seemed very excited to follow while looking at Alexander very expectantly for the cash reward.
And like her, most of the girls did not seem to see the dilemma this would put Mean in.
Only Cambyses did, and her face went dark.
But there was nothing she could do to stop this either.
"Here is your 200 ropals." Alexander on the other hand was more than happy to string the girl along, enjoying the excited face with which Mean epted the cash, and then smugly broke the news to her.
"And now you have more than 1,000 ropals with you. So you go to the dungeon!"
"What! No! No¡no¡ no!" The moment Mean understood she had 1,200 ropals the girl''s voice burst in shock, "Hahaha hahaha." while the room once again burst intoughter.
"But .. but ¡ I can''t get out of the dungeon¡ I can''t roll doubles." And then as she choked this,
"Hahaha hahaha." Mean''s plea only worked to generate another round of giggles, with little Faiyana even clutching her stomach in burstingughter.
Mean really did not seem to have luck on her side today.
While Alexander, amidst his chucking, reiterated, "Haha, yes, well¡ I don''t make the rules."
"Yes, you do! You literally do. Fuck!" Mean could only hysterically shout this injustice as her piece was dragged into the dungeon space, while "hahaha," the uproariousughter of others could be heard chiming in the background.
This even caused Mean to murmur in resentment, "You pit me, mistress!"
Cambyses could only give a rueful smile at this usation.
She really had not taken such a thing into consideration.
In hindsight, Mean should have spent a bit of money to not let herself be caught like this.
But vision was always 20/20 in hindsight.
Thus for now, all Cambyses could do was pull a sheepish smile, saying to herself, ''Hey, at least better it was Mean than me.''.
As Mean''s eyes became visibly lidded at her piece''s imminent demise, it was Cambyses''s turn.
And this time, by luck, she managed tond on a carriage station, which she would buy for free, thus bringing her total to two properties.
Following that, came Gelene''s turn and wouldn''t you know it, she rolled another double,nding on the square that was usually the electricity utility grid, or the Guilds in Alexander''s normal monopoly.
"Ah! That space is special!" But before the buxomdy would make her im, she heard her lord chime so, before saying,
"The Guilds as you can see has had its name changed. It is now called The Temple Inquisition! Whoevernds on it, get this card." Alexander passed a paper card to Gelene, and asked her to read it.
Thus a feminine voice recited, "This is a free card. You have to take it, but it can be traded with other yers."
"You have been used of witchcraft by the local priests. And have three turns to escape to the Tibias. If you are unable to do it, the Inquisition will put you in the dungeon and seize all your properties. They cannot be brought or developed for the rest of the game."
"If anyonends on the Inquisition before your 3 turns are up, you can forcibly hand them the card so the Temple Inquisition is after them instead. If you lose ownership of the Tibias, the countdown starts again."
As Gelene finished reading the card, then Alexander stepped up to elucidate,
"Yeah, so as you can see, the Aqueducts have been changed to the Tibias, and Gelene has tond on it within her next three turns. If she cannot, all her property will be seized and she will be thrown in the dungeon."
"Do I have tond on it? I can''t just go past it?" Hearing the rule, Gelene sought to confirm this rule with a trembling heart.
"Yes¡nd." Came the swift nod.
"Fuuuck!" And Gelene cried out in a long drawn way, lifting her head to the sky in frustration.
"Haha haha, with your property seized, you cannot reroll any 1s. I will be waiting sister." As for Mean, she sniggered with a triumphant glow.
Suddenly the dungeons did not feel so lonely anymore.
"What does it mean the properties will disappear forever? Like until the piece disappears?" As for Cambyses, she was more interested in learning this rule, hoping she had heard it wrong.
"No. Until this game is over." However Alexander made sure to smash any such hopes, as he then turned to Gelene with a smirk, "So Gelene, don''t buy any more property for now. Better yet, sell that one property you have."
"Or better yet, I can buy as such as property to really fuck with everyone!" However Gelene seemed to have other ideas, as she viciously grinned.
"....." The others had little to say. This was typical Gelene.
So it was a whileter that Alexander finally broke the silence and gestured, "Okay, roll your dice again. You rolled a double."
This time Gelenended on a property, and "I will buy it," just like she had promised, she really followed through, much to the other''s scowling dissatisfaction.
But the ebony seemed not to notice.
Then came Princess Camelia''s turn, and,
"King''s Chest."
As luck would have it, shended on one of the two squares where she had all the power.
Thus Alexander invited while gesturing at the stack of cards, "Great! Camelia, you can have a look through the cards and choose any you like."
The Princess felt very giddy at the prospect as she had been very curious about them from the time she got to know her powers.
She did not think she would get her chance so soon.
Thus she snatched the whole deck in one quick swipe and rapidly started to go through them.
"Heh hehe.. haha," The way she giggled as she went through them caused many to turn their heads curiously, as they then heard the fourteen year old grin, "Oh, my lord, some of them are amazing, haha."
Even as aplete novice, she could see just how busted some of these cards were.
"I will choose this." And then atst, choosing the one she liked the most, she ced it on her side before putting down the rest of the deck in its ce after shuffling it.
Then she read the card, the smugness in her voice apparent, "You are a spy in the service of His Majesty. Any time another piece shares the same square as you, you can use this card to send them to the dungeon."
The other three''s mouths went agape hearing this power.
While Gelene cursed, "And here I thought rolling doubles was the only way to go jail. Now there seems to be a hundred different ways to get yourself fucked over!"
In this informal setting the girls really did not hold back their cusses.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 977 Games Night With Alexander (Part-5)
Chapter 977 Games Night With Alexander (Part-5)
??With Princess Camelia having obtained her special card, the turn once again circled back to Mean, who was currently in the dungeon.
"Well¡ there is no point right in me rolling right?" And showing her single die, the short girl ttened her lips at her inevitable demise.
"Oh now don''t be like that. Be optimistic, haha." While Alexander ''sincerely'' advised so with a chuckle, with others joining in.
"Oh you sick man." And affected by the joyous atmosphere, Mean atst let out a small grin, as she then rolled her single dice.
"1!"
"Hah hah," The room burst into another chorus ofughter while Mean''s grin instantly turned t like a pancake, as she just died.
And as her piece was then disposed, suddenly Mean found herself joining in too, giggling instead of despairing, "Yeah! I''m going to die."
To her, ying with this handicapped dice was worse than not ying the game at all.
Thus Mean was actually d to relieve herself of it.
With the first ''death'' of the game, Alexander instructed with a wave of his hand, "Okay, so with that 1, the thimble is gone. Remove it from the board. It''s like they never existed. And return all your money and properties to the king."
Mean had no property but she did have 1,200 ropals in paper currency.
So Alexander collected all of that, and then turning to Mean posed, "Now you can choose from the remaining four pieces."
"Wait! So there is no penalty for dying?" However before Mean couldplete that, suddenly Cambyses spoke with a surprised tone,
To her that seemed like a no brainer.
"Mmm¡ I have not really thought about it. What would you like?" And as Alexander had not thought to be such a big deal, he had not bothered to think up any such contingencies.
Hence he asked Cambyses what she had in her mind.
"Ummm¡" And as she hummed, the very first thought that came to Cambyses''s mind was to make the loser strip a part of her clothing.
The girls did y something simr to it while ying poker.
And it made the games much more ''fun''.
There would be Mean sitting with her t chest with still a skirt on, there would be Gelene''s abundant breasts with only bra on, there would be Cambyses with her upper torso fully covered but her lower half fully open for all to see, letting Alexander grope her ass, and there would be Ophenia who often times nothing on, sometimes even intentionally spreading her legs to let Alexander and even the other girls to y with her piercings.
These tantalizing spring scenery would ur many times during some of the rauchy games night and turn it into something much more enjoyable.
And this time Cambyses was also interested in seeing Princess Camelia in her birthday suit, being curious to see how a blue blooded princess was different from the rest of them.
Would she have creamy white, wless skin?
Would her skin be smooth like a baby''s bottom?
Would her nipples be pure, wless pink?
Would they stand out in the cold?
Would she be totally shaved down there?
Did she even grow hair down?
Did she even have a hole?
What is perfect like they said it was- Just a thin, faint line?
Did she have a butthole like the rest of them?
Was it brown or pink like a perfect diamond?
Such as many other genuinely curious questions rang inside Cambyses''s mind, as she had never seen a true princess all bare before.
So her eyes yearned to see, her nose yearned to smell, and her hands yearned to feel.
But such thoughts onlysted for an ephemeral second, as thedy of the house quickly thought herself out of it.
This was not the time or ce for such frivolous things.
Princess Camelia was still too young in her husband''s eyes and Fabiyana was also present, who was definitely too young even in her eyes.
"Let them drink a full cup!" Thus this was Cambyses''s alternative decision.
And no one in the room seemed to have any objection to this.
Hence arge, ornate cup was quickly filled with sweet wine and Mean was forced to down it all.
"Ahhhh!" And as she let out a breath of relief once finished quaffing it all down, the petite girl''s face went a bit flushed, and she slurred as she chose her piece, "I... I will choose the dog now!
With her choice made, Alexander then quickly read out the details on the figurine,
"Okay, the dog... You are a rich merchant. You can choose any card when yound on King''s Chance."
"And your winning condition is- You are denounced. Your score is half of the money you stashed secretly in the Garden."
Mean finally gave a sigh of relief hearing this, "Finally. Something good."
And the various nodsing from the rest of the table did seem to indicate that.
With Mean finally being able to y with two dice, she quickly rolled and¡ finally she got to own her first property, quickly buying it.
This time, she did not bother thinking whether it made sense for her to buy it or not.
Which ording to pure logic did not.
Her ideal winning condition should be tond on Garden and stash 949 ropals, then pass GO, paying the 50 ropals as a bribe to the checkpoint guards, thus leaving her with only 1 ropal, and avoiding destitution.
Then she will have to pass Garden once more, hence securing the money after which she would be sent to the dungeon through either being unable to pay rent to the property owners or being unable to bribe the checkpoint guards.
And then once in the dungeon, as long as she managed to stay in there for one turn, she would disappear for not being able to pay 100 ropals ''prison fee.''
And like the helpful mistress she was Cambyses once again retold all this to Mean, asking her to skip buying any property.
"This time will not be likest time. You can control the chance cards now." She imed.
But for Mean, the past scar proved too fresh.
So in a very rare case of ignoring Cambyses, Mean decided to y the game like the old monopoly, saying, "Let me buy some. Maybe it wille in handy. Who knows what mad things Alex has put in those cards?"
And seeing her mind made up, Cambyses did not interject.
Instead, knowing it was her turn, Cambyses rolled, unfortunatelynding on the same tile as Gelene.
"I own that!" The ckdy instantly chirped, and then started to go through that property card, "Ohh¡ that be¡ which number was it¡ here, it will be 2 ropals in rent please."
This created a problem for Cambyses because she onlyrge change, her smallest denomination being 50.
And even Gelene seemed unable to break it for her.
"Ummm¡ could I have some change please?" Thus turning to Alexander, Cambyses handed give the 50 ropal note asking for some 10s and 5s.
"Thank you! The rent has been paid." But instead, Alexander only took the note and stacked it on the pile, before throwing Gelene two 1 ropal notes and gesturing her to take her turn, indicating that he had no intention of paying Cambyses back the rest.
"Ahaha haha," Everyone had a loud chortle at this, except Cambyses, who shouted in a bit of a spoilt voice,
"No. No. This is not fair. Can I have at least some back, please?"
But Alexander did not seem to be in a generous mood, smirking in a fake imperious voice, "Don''t tell me what is fair and what''s not. I''m the king. There are¡ administrative costs to these things. Processing fees. I have lots of mouths to feed."
"Administrative costs! Twenty five¡ twenty four times times the rent? What kind of administrative costs are that!" Cambyses could only incredulously shout so with an amusing chuckle,
Alexander was more impressed that Cambyses was able to so quickly do that math, and so urately too.
Most would take the 50 ropals note and divide it with the 2 ropals rent.
But here, the rent was 2, so the ''administrative costs'' was 48 ropals.
"Don''t question me. I am the king." Towards Cambyses''s fake indignation, Alexander only nonchntly shrugged, "I can do whatever I want. I don''t work for you peasants, menially changing coins!"
"Ahaha haha," Alexander''s teasing answer produced another round ofughter, with everyone shing their pearly whites.
Although the girls here failed topletely miss the dark tone here, since just as stated by Alexander, kings really could do whatever they wanted.
Examples where a ruler metaphorically swindled 50 ropals for only 2 ropals were a dime a dozen
With even Cambyses merely jesting the threat under her muttering, "Be careful. I heard kings like you don''t tend tost very long."
She however obediently piped down when Alexander asked her to speak up once again, quickly replying, "Nothing!"
Thus the turn then rolled over to Gelene, and she rolled a 3,nding on a ''King''s Chance."
"Fuck! This game doesn''t give me a break!" And as she read her card, the ebony beauty loudly cussed so.
Chapter 978 Games Night With Alexander (Part-6)
Chapter 978 Games Night With Alexander (Part-6)
??The reason for Gelene cursing the moment she read her card was this.
It said,
"Your new business has be very popr. Receive 500 ropals from the king as a gift. Then be immediately sent to the dungeon on charges of tax evasion. On your next turn, roll only one die. Even number sets you free. Odd makes you disappear."
This one move meant that it had be almost certain that Gelene would not have any chance of reaching Tibias, which was the water utility square.
Plus, it seemed to also make Meanugh quite hard,
"Ahaha haha, imagine getting to see the king, he hands you a bag of money, hosts avish feast, and then just as you are to leave, says, ''Oh, I heard you are not paying your taxes. Off to the dungeon with you! Ahaha hahaha," Mean chuckled with wild abandon while clutching her tummy.
And Cambyses joined in on it too, putting on a fake, deep voice and mimicking in an animated way, "It would be like, ¡Miss Gelene here is 500 ropals for your business. Oh, a tax thief eh? I will take that back. And now you disappear, haha haha."
Everyone in the room seemed to find that joke funny.
Expect Gelene who dragged her piece back all the way to the dungeon with a sullen face.
And then turning to Alexander asked, "Are my three turns still going? I''m already in the dungeon."
"Oh, yes." Was the straight answer, with Alexander adding, "You are in there for deceiving the king. The Inquisition does not know about it yet. They are still looking, hahaha."
"...." Gelene pursed her lips.
She had already guessed the answer but thought it did not hurt to try.
"One dice?" So picking up the die, she sought to confirm that she had indeed read the rules correctly and receiving a nod from Alexander, let the six sides cubed roll.
One!
"Fuck!" For some reason, Gelene seemed to be in a particrly cursing mood, while Mean cheered swinging her legs,
"One! It''s odd! You disappear! Haha, you would have disappeared even if you were ying normally. Hehehe."
The petite girl was either very happy to see Gelene go, or just a bit tipsy from that huge drink she was made to quaff down.
Possibly both.
"Wait! Do¡ do I get to use my special power?" But just as the grim reaper seemed ready to swing his death scythe and reap her piece, suddenly Gelene recalled her privileges.
She was not ready to be put down yet.
Thus sending Alexander a desperate gaze, she reminded him, "You know, whenever I roll a one, I can sell one of my properties to re roll it. Here, I would like to use it now."
Saying this Gelene then very promptly brought out one of her properties.
"Wait!" But before Alexander could make his ruling, Cambyses decided to make her own ruling, reasoning, "That was under normal circumstances. But here, you were sent to the dungeon for a special reason. And even getting out of it had special rules. So you cannot use your powers."
*Tsk*! And where does it say that I cannot use my powers here? It is clearly written that when I''m in the dungeon, I can re roll a 1." Gelene however was not so easy to rebut, as she immediately counterattacked with a click of her tongue, pointing, "Who cares if it''s special circumstances or not? What matters is if I''m in the dungeon or not. Period!"
To the surrounding crowd listening in, Gelene''s case seemed to sound a bit stronger than Cambyses''s.
But thedy of the house would not be done in so easily.
"What do you mean special circumstances or not? Of course, it matters. Your powers are clearly implied to be able to be used only in a regr dungeon. But now you are in a dungeon put in there by the king himself." Cambyses countered by swinging her palms, as she tried to bring real life example,
"Your noble identity might be able to save yourself from the regr judges and officials but do you think it can save you from the king?"
"Who says that at other times it is the judges who are putting you in the dungeon? Perhaps it''s always the king." However Gelene had this clever retort.
"Right! Because the king is so free!" To this, Cambyses''s nostrils red, feeling it was too insincere as she then curved her lips in mockery,
"And if he was so free, then why did he change the rules for you? Why do others have to roll doubles, while you only have to roll even on a single die, hah?"
Saying this the young girl felt very smug, thinking she had won, as her face puffed up with pride.
"Ehhh! Perhaps, the king likes me more." But even such a solid argument did not seem to faze Gelene, as she nonchntly shrugged her shoulder, before turning the conversion PG 18.
"Like maybe he finds my pussy better and my boobs bigger, hehe." She curled her lips with a mocking hock and smirked, then very visibly shook her chest, causing her magnificent assets to jiggle, and causing mes to erupt in Cambyses''s eyes.
The innuendo here was crystal clear to everyone but Fabiyana, who only had a worried face seeing the two women argue.
For the rest of the audience, it was very apparent that the king was Alexander and Gelene was poking Cambyses for having almost t ins for a chest.
Everyone knew that Cambyses''s frontal assets, although not as extreme as Mean''s which was basically the ''steppe'', were still very muchcking, with Alexander barely able to feel the fat from the flesh whenever he squeezed them.
And it was something that the girl was very conscious of, even being a bit jealous of Ophenia and Gelene, who possessed ample volume of the treasure.
Something that was especially true for Gelene, whose chest was sorge that it seemed to be in a perpetual state of wanting to burst out of her guest.
Seeing this, in the past, Cambyses had even gone to meet Gelene in private, asking for her advice on how to improve her own rack size.
Regardless to say, all of that ''advice'' had failed.
No matter what Cambyses did and how long she did it, her chest barely grew, with the single most appreciable increaseing from giving birth.
An endeavor that Gelene certainly had nothing to do with.
Thus, although warranted or not, Cambyses held a slight acridness towards Gelene for giving her the wrong advice.
And it was something that Gelene knew.
Which was why she decided to poke the matriarch of the house with it.
Much to thetter''s zing chagrin.
"Yo¡ you... bit¡" Cambyses did not get to expose herrge volume of explicit curses to the surrounding audience as,
"That''s enough!" Alexander felt he had seen enough and decided to step in before the game night turned into a catfight, shing his palms andmanding in a voice that was deep and domineering.
Alexander''s intervention instantly caused the two quarreling girls to pipe down, while he felt Fabiyana actually jump a bit in shock, as her heart skipped a beat, and the doll like girl quickly turned her head to fearfully look up at Alexander.
She had never heard him raise his voice in front of her, so it surprised her.
While, Princess Camelia who was also curiously looking at Alexander felt a different set of emotions.
She was looking at him in appreciation, marveling at just how seamlessly the man was able to switch from happy to angry to authoritative.
It reminded her of the night she had cut her hair and showed up at the party, trying to put Alexander in a difficult position.
And how effortlessly he had dispatched her.
And while she was looking at Alexander, for a split second, her father''s image suddenly seemed to ovep with him.
Strong, jovial, and with a humorous personality, in Princess Camelia''s eyes, Alexander seemed to share a lot of simrities with Perseus.
But that was only for a second, as the Princess quickly deleted that image, cursing, "No! No! Camelia what are doing? He is the enemy!"
However, even when removed, that image continued to linger, and for the rest of the night, Princess Camelia suddenly found herself unable to look at Alexander straight.
Once the game would be over, Princess Camelia would also have the time and head space to appreciate the dynamics between the Pasha''s four wives, finding the eldest by age, Gelene to be constantly in small scale conflict with the mistress of the house Cambyses and her friend plus maid Mean.
They would curse, taunt, and poke each other at every opportunity, taking pleasure in the other''s misfortunes.
They also seemed verypetitive, refusing to give even an inch, as evidenced by their attitude even during simple a game.
But they also appear to know to keep a grip on their leash, never exceeding the unspoken line.
Princess Camelia guessed this probably had to do something with Alexander.
While the most beautiful of the four Ophenia mostly stayed out of it, only asionally intervening, usually on the side of Gelene to bnce the ying field.
Chapter 979 Games Night With Alexander (Part-7)
Chapter 979 Games Night With Alexander (Part-7)
??With Gelene and Cambyses finally piping down, Alexander finally had the opportunity to dere his verdict on the issue of the application of the former''s special power, something the two girls seemed to havepletely forgotten.
So bringing their attention back to the game at hand, Alexander decreed,
"While it is true Gelene''s circumstances are special, her piece is also a noble. And in real life, any judgment on a noble can only be meted out by the king. And offering to sell a property to repay a tax would be more than eptable to a reasonable king. So I think Gelene can indeed use her powers."
"Master is the best." Gelene immediately shed a virtuous grin at this verdict, nodding her head and cheering.
And then turned to Cambyses to smuglyment, "Heh.. hear that¡ and besides who is to say this rule was not just a special rule for tax evasion? One that I can break!"
It seemed she was still hung up on that argument.
"..." Cambyses''s eyes only turned half lidded at this, as she then sharply turned her head, refusing to make eye contact.
Alexander could feel the salty rage bubbling in her, seeing that he took Gelene''s side instead of her''s, which caused him to ruefully muse, "*Sigh*, it''s so hard to maintain a harem."
He had indeed issued the verdict in favor of Gelene partly as a way to favor her over Cambyses.
This was because since Cambyses already had an established ce in his family after giving birth to a boy, but Gelene had yet to bear any children, thetter seemed to frequently need Alexander''s reassurance to not throw tantrums.
And these small, inconsequential victories worked to help with that.
While Cambyses, although epting of the acts, was still not fond of them.
Not that Gelene gave a hoot about that.
She was much more eager to use her newly granted authority to re roll her dice.
So ''paying'' Alexander one of her properties, she let the cube spin, shouting, "Come on this time."
The crowd eagerly looked at the red die spinning and whirling on the board, as it produced a low droning sound while it slowly lost more and more momentum¡ until it stopped.
It was a ¡. 1.
"Oh,e on! After all that!" Gelene immediately let out an exasperated shout seeing the single dot on the wooden dice, despairing at the result which she had fought so hard to change only to end up at the same ce.
"Hahaha haha." While Cambyses cackled in a loud, victorious voice, joined by a few others.
"Wait! The Inquisition Card! That is a property too!" But Gelene was anything if not determined, as suddenly looking at the card painted a golden hue, she presented this to Alexander, looking at him with puppy dog eyes.
She was apparently asking if she could use this to buy another re roll.
But at the same time Gelene was gazing at Alexander, the man also felt Cambyses''s scorching rays directed at him from the other side.
It clearly signaled thatdy of the house would not ept this ruling.
And after a bit of reasoning, Alexander started to lean towards thetter.
He imed, "The Inquisition Card is not a property, You cannot buy. It is more like a mark. So no."
Gelene''s rosy cheeked puffed a bit in annoyance as soon as she heard this.
But she did not protest.
She had assumed as much.
Thus with a reddened face, she reluctantly brought out another property card, herst one, and rolled again.
She was really d she had decided to buy that property and not heed Alexander''s advice.
"One! One! One!"
And as she rolled, Cambyses chanted this malevolent mantra, much to Gelene''s irritation.
"Yes!" However, as evidenced by Gelene''s loud cheer, it seemed Cambyses''s prayers had gone unanswered.
This time, fate decided to finally smile at the ebonydy as she rolled a 4- an even number.
Gelene was finally out, moving her piece that number of squares.
And thinking her turn was finished, then she started to count the number of squares to ''Tibias'',
"One.. three.. three.. fourteen¡ I need to have fourteen. So some kind of double and then¡"
Even with all the setbacks, Gelene still refused to admit defeat and instead continued to do various calctions in her head to try and salvage her piece.
It really showed howpetitive the girl was.
Although much of that was for nothing, as with a wide grin Alexander decided to interject the girl who was lost in deep thought,
"By the way Gelene, how much money do you have?"
The man watched with quite a bemused expression as Gelene''s flushed face turn pale white the moment he asked this.
It was like she had just seen a ghost.
She knew perfectly well what Alexander was alluding to.
"No! No! No! But I just got out!" And she whined while lightly stomping her feet, frantically trying to count her money, "One¡ six¡ thousand.. eleven¡ fuuuckk! This is such a stupid rule."
Her curse was alongside apanied by a loud chorus ofughter from all the girls.
That 500 ropal gift she had gotten from the king ended up being her undoing as her worth became 1,175 ropals.
So Cambyses picked up Gelene''s piece, and chuckled, "Where are you going sunshine?" before putting it back in prison.
It seemed all that bitter bickering the two had made no difference in the end, much to the rest of the board''s amusement.
The result had Gelene clutching her head with both hands like she had lost her entire life''s work, while the rest, after a short giggle, decided to move on.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity was atst, it was once again Princess Camelia''s turn.
And she rolled to double, buying a property.
And then she rolled again, getting another double, causing Princess Camelia to involuntary shout, "Dammit!" much to the other''s amusement.
This was the first time they heard the girl genuinely lose control of her emotions.
And realizing the imbroglio she just made caused Princess Camelia to blush a bit.
That was very udylike.
"I would to buy that!" Thus in an attempt to quickly cover it up, the princess turned to Alexander and chimed so, pointing to the square that was usually Mayfair- i.e.- the most expensive property ced just before GO.
"Ahhh! No.. you can''t buy that. It''s special!" However, Alexander seemed to have other ns as he yfully smirked.
The princess could only roll her eyes at this, "Oh, what is it this time?" while Cambyses could not help but groan from the other side.
Alexander exined with a little grin while pointing at the board, "So as you can see, thest two properties have been changed. The square Camelia is on is now called the Guard''s Quarters, while the property next to her is called the Pce. You cannot buy these ces, but both have special rules."
"Landing on the Pce," which was Park Lane, "lets you add 1 rule to the game for one turn."
The moment Alexander said this, everyone''s eyes lit up in amazement at this game breaking power.
While "*Hisss¡ missed it!" Princess Camelia again would not help but make this hissing sound of regret and then instantly blushed, lowering her head in shame.
Being only a fourteen year old, she sometimes had trouble controlling her emotions, much to her own chagrin.
"Heh, heh," Alexander humourlessly chuckled at this innocent disy. The girl did not appear to be too petnt in his eyes by now.
Following the rule on the ''Pce'' square, Alexander then subsequently moved on, now bringing his index finger to the Guard''s Quarters square.
He read, "So when yound on the Guard''s Quarters for the first time, you are taken in for questioning. That means you lose your next turn. The next time yound on it, you are sent to the dungeon. And the third time yound on it, you disappear."
Saying this, Alexander then turned to Princess Camelia and ruled, "So Camelia, since you rolled doubles, you don''t get to roll again. Your turn ends here. You can roll again in the rest round."
Still embarrassed from that low pitched hissing sound, Princess Camelia could only keep her head down and curtly nod.
At this point, it was Mean''s turn again, and it seemeddy luck was finally smiling on her, because wouldn''t you know, she rolled a double, getting to buy a lucky property and then ended up right in the Garden.
"Yes!" The petite girl instantly cheered. This was her winning condition.
"Great. You would you like to stash some money in here?"
"Of course." Mean epted Alexander''s offer in a heartbeat as she then quickly started to count her notes, flipping through her stack with expert precision.
Then handing Alexander a 500 and 100 ropal note, she announced, "Here! 600 ropals. That will leave me with a good hundred and five, (105) ropals to make it across the board."
This time Mean was determined not to get blindsided by any foreseen circumstances.
And then it came Cambyses''s turn- where her roll got her on the Guard''s Quarters, right next to Princess Camelia''s piece.
Alexander smirked seeing this.
Chapter 980 Games Night With Alexander (Part-8)
Chapter 980 Games Night With Alexander (Part-8)
??Chapter 980
When Cambyses had rolled her dice this turn, at the revealed number, she sounded quite excited.
It was because she was near the Pce and Guard''s Quarter''s squares and thus hoped she couldnd on the former.
She very much looked forward to getting to decide on a rule.
She had not thought what exactly that would be, but it would surely be something fun.
However, as her counting came to an end, much to her disappointment, she realized she had missed her mark by 2,ing to share the same space as Princess Camelia- the Guard''s Quarters.
"Dammit!" This meant Cambyses had to skip her next turn.
While Alexander turned to Princess Camelia to remind her with a sly face, "Oh, Camelia, you can use your special card next turn to send Cambyses to the dungeon."
He was of course referring to the card Princess Camelia had picked using her piece''s special power, one which let her send any piece sharing the same square as her to the dungeon.
"What! No! No! Shit!" And hearing this, Cambyses seemed to finally decide to remove that elegant facade pertaining to her status as the matriarch of the house and began to curse like the rest of the room.
Princess Camelia shed a small grin at this, be it at Cambyses''sic reaction or at her longst chance at being able to use her power.
Thus the princess began to formte how she was going to use her card.
White the game moved on, with Cambyses''s turn rolling over to Gelene''s.
But before rolling the ebonydy took it, she turned to Alexander to rify a few things.
"So, if I roll a double now¡ am I just out of the dungeon? Or do I get to move that number of spaces?" She asked while ying with the die in her hands.
"Ummm.. yes, you get to move equal to the rolled number," Alexander answered with a small hum.
"And does that double count towards my three doubles?" Gelene quickly added.
"..Umm..." And for a brief second Alexander pursed his lips.
He had not thought of these nitty gritty details yet.
"No. Let''s say after going to the dungeon, you start with a nk te. So your three doubles refreshes."
After giving himself a bit of time to think, Alexander dered such, making it a clear victory for those freed pieces.
However, instead of being content with it and celebrating, just like the saying goes, ''Give them an inch, and they will ask for a mile'', Gelene went on to pose with a sly smile,
"Then can I roll again? Because I rolled doubles?"
"........" The whole room went deathly silent hearing this as everyone was astounded by the tant shamelessness on disy here.
When Princess Camelia had to try hard to not gape at such tant greed.
While Alexander did not know whether tough or cry,
This was really typical Gelene, greedy and always looking for opportunities.
He had known her nature for almost a decade.
Thus he did not feel like scolding her for overreaching.
Instead he only raised his eyebrows with a cid face
And then decided not to forcefully leash her, Alexander chortled, first shaking his head ruefully, "Hehehe¡ oh Gelene what am I going to do with you?" and then decided to give her a choice,
"Ummm¡I will give you two options. You can either choose to do what I said."
"Or you can make the double roll you want, in which case the double you used to roll out of the dungeon will also count. So you will be effectively starting with two doubles."
"I will¡" The choice here was of course a no brainer for Gelene.
If she was unable to reach Tibias, she would end up in the dungeon anyway. Thus the moment Alexander ended speaking, the girl attempted to loudly announce her intention, not even feeling like this was a choice.
"But¡" However, Alexander had not finished talking yet, as evidenced by this interjecting- ''but''.
One which forced Gelene to stop speaking.
And it was here that the Pasha presented Gelene with her two actual choices, proposing to her with a ''warm'' smile,
"But remember, whichever one you choose, that will be the rule for the rest of the game. For you and every one others."
"Haha haha, as expected of master." It was the usually quiet Ophenia that broke into a peal ofughter upon hearing this, thinking such a catch twenty two really suited Alexander''s ''MO''.
While Cambyses on the other side was more concerned about what Gelene would choose and thus quickly shouted at the ckdy, "Don''t fuck us over Gelene. Choose the first one. It''s impossible for you tond on Tibias even with two rolls! You know that"
"....." Gelene did not immediately respond to either party.
Instead, she sunk into her mind pce, where she tried to bnce her chances.
At this point, she really started to agree with Ophenia that such a devil''s bargain was indeed Alexander''s cup of tea.
Does she take the risk and try and salvage her piece, something that was very, very unlikely just as Cambyses imed?
Or does she let her piece be sent to the dungeon and then in the next turn try and get out?
Once Gelene thought about it like that, from all logical standpoints, thetter undoubtedly seemed to make more sense.
After all, there was not even a guarantee that Gelene would roll a double this time.
And even if she did, it would almost be miraculous for her tond on exactly Tibias, which was precisely 18 spaces away from her current square.
While in the case of thetter consideration, Gelene even did not have any property with her so there was no worry of it being seized and taken out for the rest game.
But just as Cambyses had warned, Gelene really wanted to fuck with them.
She would not have done it in real life, but here, in a board game, she really wanted to do it.
Just for the fun of it.
And both Cambyses and Alexander knew that.
That''s why one gave her the chance and the other warned her against it.
And guess who won?
"I will take the second option. Rolling doubles." The darkdy had a charming smile as she announced her intention.
"Agghhhh dammit!" And instantly Cambyses produced a frustrated grunt.
Before sneering, "Look at this! Look at this!" as she angrily waved her ''Denounch Your Coborators'' card- the one which let her swap ces with another yer when she is in the dungeon.
"Next turn, I''m going to prison. And guess who is going to take my ce, sunshine!"
The menacing way Cambyses threatened Gelene said it all, and theic hrity of it made Fabiyana and Princess Camelia grin.
Both could not remember when they had so much fun.
While the recipient of these curses, Gelene did not seem to care, only shing her pearly whites once more.
''Do your worst!'' Seemed to be her message.
And then she rolled.
''Come on! By the gods!'' The ckdy prayed as she threw the two dice, and
"Fuck yeah!" immediately loud out this immense, almost hoarse roar as she literally got up and started to pumped her fists into the air with almost manic abandon.
She had rolled a double.
And better yet- she had rolled the highest double possible- 12, making her get as close to her desired square as possible.
"Haha haha," The entire room cheered at this disy of raw emotions that Gelene almost never disyed.
"Lucky bitch!" While Cambyses muttered so with the voice of a mosquito under her breath as she shook her head.
Even now, she did not think Gelene could get to ''Tibias'' but much more importantly, she was very salty over how Gelene had decided to screw them over.
"Okay, okay. Came down." As for Alexander, after having a good chuckle at this open show of ecstasy, he tried to get everyone to settle down and get back to the game, as he handed Gelene the dice "It''s still your turn role!"
"Six! Six! Six!" And as Gelene took the two dice, still standing, suddenly a small chant started to emanate, started surprisingly by Fabiyana of all people.
The little doll of a girl seemed very excited by all the loud cheers andughter that was going on.
"Right! Six! Gotta roll a six," Even Gelene seemed to be swept by the current of the crowd, as she loudly dered so, and then bending forward a bit threw the two cubes into the board, desperately hoping that one miraculous number.
It was a 1 in 12 chance.
"Nooooo!"
Gelene''s mournful howl said it all.
It was snake eyes- two 1s.
This even caused Ophenia to sing a poetic line, "Ahhhh¡ from the joys of tion so quickly turning into plummeting depression."
While Cambyses was much cruder, chuckling and sneering, "Ahhaha haha, literally the lowest you could have scored and still get a double. You happy now?"
"......." By this point, Gelene could do little but chuckle and shake her head, as she began to move her piece towards the dungeon.
Until suddenly¡.
"Wait, master! Inded on King''s Chance! I should get to draw a card."
Chapter 981 Games Night With Alexander (Part-9)
Chapter 981 Games Night With Alexander (Part-9)
??When Gelene was moving her piece to the dungeon, she suddenly noticed it hadnded on the ''King''s Chance'' space of the board.
And seeing it felt like she was seeing the slightest sliver of light in a deep, dark tunnel.
''Maybe one of the cards there can help me! Maybe there is a ''get out of dungeon'' card!'' She prayed against hope.
Thus she quickly pointed that out to Alexander, asking him if she could use that.
"......" Alexander did not immediately answer.
Instead, he traced his chin, thinking how he should resolve the turn order.
Should the ''Inquisiton'' send Gelene to the dungeon right now, or does she get to buy property or draw cards before her turn resolves?
"Mmmm¡ okay draw the cards." Ultimately he decided on thetter since he felt it would make the game more fun.
"Yes!" And Gelene instantly cheered at having obtained this small advantage, and then quickly went to grab the topmost card from the deck like a hawk.
However, as she read it¡..
Alexander had rarely seen a face go from being flushed red with excitement to being deted like a popped balloon.
"Ahem¡ never mind." As the girl surreptitiously attempted to put the card back, her once loud, boisterous voice suddenly seemed to have lost all its luster.
"Read it." But Alexander of course was not going to let her get away so easily.
Thus Gelene was forced toply, "You won first prize at a beauty contest. Collect 1,000 ropals."
"Ahhhahahaha," Everyone at the table could not help but burst out at this conclusion.
To think after so many fights and quarrels, this was Gelene''s reward.
"Serves you right! Serves you right." And taking pleasure in her misfortune, Cambyses spat out these words with a curved grin.
"Haha, Here you go." While Alexander with a simrly warmugh handed Gelene two crisp 500 notes.
"No! No! I do not want this evil money. All this bad money! Take it back, take it back."
Gelene''s whining got another good chuckle with the crowd.
"To think I would hear crying about having too much money in a game about making money¡. Hehehe." Even Ophenia chimed in with a grin.
It was apparent this version of Monopoly was proving quite popr.
As Gelene got sent to the dungeon with a small pout on her face, it became Mean''s turn.
And here, upon taking the dice, in a rare moment of shrewd observance, the short girl suddenly stated in a somewhat unsure voice,
"Come to think of it, Gelene had more than 1,000 ropals before drawing the card. So she would have been in the dungeon regardless of whether she seeded or not innding on Tibias, right?"
It seemed being sent to the dungeon due to possession of excessive capital had momentarily awakened a sense of money in her.
"......."
Thus as she looked around the room after saying, she noticed the rest of the room descend into a deafening stillness as everyone went quiet at this innocuous bombshell of an observatoin.
They now understood that Gelene''s choice had made even less sense.
Hence soon three pairs of scroching eyes descended on Gelene, while thetter only giggled at this prank.
She knew it all but decided to do it anyway.
Even Alexander could only mirthfully shake his head inmpooning amusement.
"Okay, it''s just a game girls. Move on." Then, worried the girls were about to get physical, gestured to Mean to start rolling.
"Six!" The result was a double.
"I own that! It''s 6 ropals."
No sooner had Mean moved her piece into the rolled space did Gelene''s demanding voice ring out, her palms flipped forward.
''Pay up!'' Seemed to be the message.
"Heh! Fuck off! You don''t get to collect rent while in the dungeon." However the little pepper''s sneering curse clearly revealed her thoughts on the matter.
"When did we decide on that?" But Gelene remained undaunted, confidently reposting this question, figuratively to Mean, but in reality to Alexander.
She was asking for his ruling on the matter.
"Mmmm¡" And this made the man once again stroke his chin.
Like many features of regr Monopoly, the ability to collect rent while in prison was a togble feature.
And then he decided, "Say what¡ while in the dungeon, the rent will go to me!"
Alexander''s deration caused many of the yers tompoon with a mirthful smile. With Cambyses even giggling, "Such a troll!".
"Ummm¡So¡" While Mean somehow appeared to be in a dilemma through his rule,
Specifically, she was having a hard time making change, as all she had was a 100, 50, and 5 ropals note.
And as Cambyses put it, "Oh, remember Mean, Alex does not make change."
"I know, I know!"
It was this fear that could exin how Mean was making this awkward movement of simultaneously giving and taking back her note from Alexander.
At some point, Mean even suddenly decided to offer the 5 ropal note, thinking a deficit of only 1 ropal was not that big deal.
"No! You don''t want to underpay the king." However, she was stopped by this chuckle from Cambyses.
Mean too understood the folly of that attempt.
Then finally, seemingly run out of all options, Mean produced her most ''sexy'' smile, and shing thergest note, imed, "I''m sure for a note asrge as 100 ropals, the king will reconsider."
"Thank you!" Alexander only epted the entire thing with a light grin and then sped his hand shut like the matter was done and dusted.
"No! No! Can I at least have some please?" Mean could only whine and whimper, stamping her feet lightly and putting her hand forward like a beggar.
"Haha haha," The gesture made the rest of the room break into another bout ofughter.
Even Alexander jokingly giggled, "I don''t make the rules!"
"*Sniff*, fine!" Mean gave a fake sniffing of her nose as she took her dice again since she had rolled doubles.
"King''s Chance!" This time fate seemed to smile on her as,
"I get to use my powers!" The ''bullied'' girl cheered as she then started to rifle through the deck.
"Hehe, oh god¡ Alex¡ haha haha you sick¡ sick man¡ so good¡" And as she went, judging by the chucklingmentary she was giving, it was apparent the girl was very amused by many of the things written there.
"I can''t wait for some of these to out!" It was with thisst ominous note that Mean finally put the deck down grinning, having chosen her card.
She read it aloud for the rest, "Favorite Minister! You have earned the king''s favor. Collect 200 ropals from each of the yers."
Her voice sounded sweeter and sweeter with each word, filled with pleasure, as she then quickly put the card on the board, "So pay! This ''shaheeb'' is running low on cash, haha!"
Alexander found the short girl imperiously ring down at her much taller opponents quite cute.
"Dammit! Why does it have to be us to pay for the king''s favorite minister?" While others paid their dues rtively quietly, Cambyses appeared to be far more begrudging of the act.
And the reason was clear.
Her wad of cash was looking pretty thin by now.
It seemed she had indulged a bit too much on her spending spree.
Something which even caused Mean to poke her with.
"Heh heh, you do not look so well mistress. Running a little short it seems. *Tsk*, *tsk*, You should really pace yourslef. Well¡ I do not make the rules, hehe"
There was a smug look few had ever seen.
The girl even swung her now heavy, replenished bundle of cash in front of Cambyses, just to show off.
And why shouldn''t she be?
She had gone from a mere 55 ropals to 855 ropals in a single turn.
"Wait! Let me see that card." However, the sudden ringing of this voice from the game master''s seat instantly caused Mean to skip a heart, as she felt the threat of rain on her joyous parade.
She knew from past experience that whenever Alexander decided to put his nose into the game, it was usually bad news.
"Wha¡ what¡ why do you want it? There is nothing there." Thus Mean attempted to quickly push the card back into the deck.
But s!
She was not fast enough.
Alexander snatched the rectangr piece of paper from underneath Mean in one fell swoop and started to scan it.
For his memory had been jostled by that one innocuousment Cambyses made.
The king''s favorite minister should indeed receive a gift from the king.
Alexander could have sworn he had added that when he was writing that card.
Because as far as he could remember that card was meant to screw the yer over, not give them free cash.
So he decided to double check.
"I knew it!" And momentster he finished reading, came this whispered, confirming his suspicions.
It made Mean''s heart tremble.
And then it started to beat wildly as Alexander announced,
"Mean did not read it properly. The card says the yers collect 200 ropals from each yer and the king! So it''s 1,000 ropals! Not 800!"
"No! Alex you pit me!" Mean''s high pitched cry could be heard throughout the house as she cursed her own hastiness.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 982 Games Night With Alexander (Part-10)
Chapter 982 Games Night With Alexander (Part-10)
??As Mean moved her piece from the ''King''s Chance'' to the Dungeon, shempooned over her luck.
To think she would get caught on the 1,000 ropals limit twice in one game.
And in thetter case she even possessed the advantage, she had just misread the card.
It was not only mortifying, it was also humiliating.
Until suddenly a great idea shed through.
She figured she had found an exploit.
"Wait! I can give my money away, can''t I? That way I won''t have a thousand ropals," Saying this she turned to look at Alexander like she had discovered fire and then instantly turned to face Cambyses, "Mistress! I see you are running a bit short. Would you like some money? It''s free money!"
Mean''s eyes twinkled as said this, holding in her hands a crisp 500 ropal note, making sure the denomination wasrge enough to entice Cambyses.
The rest of the room could only sigh at how bizarre this game of Monopoly had turned into.
yers were giving out free money in a game about making money.
Truly anything seemed possible.
While Cambyses, seeing the girl was desperate, opened her maw to ever greedier heights, giggling,
"Hehe, oh Mean thank you. But I want 800 ropals."
The offer was too insincere and it was very evident how Mean felt about it, as her face went from being flushed with excitement to green with disgust.
While towards this novel y, Alexander from the side chimed his own ruling with a light chuckle,
"You can give away your money, Mean. But you will still have to go to the dungeon. That''s because you had over 1,000 ropals at one period."
"*Tsk*!" Only the low clicking of Mean''s tongue followed by the withdrawal of the offer could be heard following this.
If she had no other option other than prison, it was best to have arge amount of money, so that she did not immediately go destitute and disappear.
It was with that thought that Mean brought her piece to the dungeon, one which was shared by Gelene''s boot.
"Wee sister," And she made this taunting greeting to her cellmate.
Mean refused to evenment.
Following Mean, came Cambyses''s turn, who chimed, "Well I guess I miss my turn right?" pointing to her piece which was in the ''Guard''s Quarter'' space.
"Yeah, the guards are questioning you," Alexander confirmed.
"They must be questioning you real good, hehe. Filling you with all kinds of questions¡" While Gelene snuck in this naughty joke.
Because it was almostmon knowledge that typically in a dungeon prisoners had many such ''experiences'', especially if you were a female convict.
Hearing this even Ophenia could not help but giggle, "Yeah, and to think you are the head of the city guards, sister, hehe."
Princess Camelia''s face went into a deep blush as she understood these innuendos, finding it shocking that these crude jokes were being made by nobledies!
While Fabiyana was too immature to get anything, and onlyughed because everyone else was.
Anyway, after rolling over Cambyses''s turn, it came to Gelene, and even before doing so, the ebonydympooned, "Well¡ there is no point in going out of jail right? I have¡ one ¡ fifteen¡ over two thousand ropals! Oh¡ so much money¡ so much evil money.I will be dragged back to the dungeons the moment I get out. How do I get rid of it? Ahhhh¡. How do get rid of it?"
Her exaggerated sighs were apanied by a chorus ofughter from the rest as Gelene got ready to roll.
"Oh, but first you gotta pay 100 ropals to the guards¡ for the dungeon upkeep. Because why should we be paying for your lodgings?" But before that, Alexander stopped her to instruct this.
"It was 50, wasn''t it? Because of my power," However Gelene was quick to correct him on the amount, causing Alexander to instantly nod, "Oh, right, yeah!"
Then as Gelene handed the bill, Ophenia was there with a little titter, "Sister, since you only have to pay half the money to the guards, you will remain in the dungeons for even longer won''t you, hehe?"
"Ohh¡ nooo!" Thement was instantly followed by another low howl, as Gelene clutched her head and cursed, "I cannot believe my greatest strength has been turned into my biggest weakness. Fuck!"
The rest of the girlsughed even harder at this.
While Gelene suddenly turned to Alexander with slightly zing eyes, "Ummm¡ can I pay more money to the guards? After all, I do not ''have'' to use my powers, right!"
"Oh! You want to pay even more bribes!" Alexander sounded amused by this reasoning, and then ruled, "Sure. But then you cannot even pay less. Because bribes can only increase, never decrease."
Like any other time, there was a catch.
"Done! Here!" However since Gelene had so much money, it was really not worth considering, thus granting Alexander another 50 ropal note.
"What more! What more!" But even with that shedding Gelene was not satisfied.
Because in the grand scheme of things, she had barely made a dent.
She thought about giving even more to the prison guards but felt Alexander would stop such cheating.
Thus she tried to rake her brains to try and think of other ways.
Until suddenly it hit her.
She decided to take a page right out of Mean''s book.
Thus the ebonydy pleaded, "Does anyone want money? I have money. It''s free money! Sister Cambyses, how about you? You look like you could use some of it¡ here, take it!"
Like the recreation of a bizarre market, Gelene unted her cash in the air.
And when she saw no buyers, decided to very ''generously'' hand over a fistful of cash to the matriarch of the house without even her consent!
This game had truly turned bizarre.
Needless to say, Cambyses rejected that offer, chuckling, "No, no, sister. You keep it. I hear you are ''filled with questions'' if you cannot pay your dues in prison. You will need it!" thus shooting right back thatment Gelene had made about her just a few moments ago.
Gelene''s subsequent attempts with the other two proved equally fruitless, although Alexander did have to step in when Gelene tried to muscle her gift to Princess Camelia forcefully.
The Princess, being very new and young, had found it hard to outright reject the pushy woman.
Thus left with no other option, Gelene could only roll the dice, as Alexander ''consoled'' her,
"Well¡ look on themaybe you will roll a one and disappear."
"Haha haha," Gelene let out a guffaw at this.
And then she rolled.
Great! It was a double! Meaning she was out.
That was good news.
But it was snake eyes!
"Ohhh¡e on! Not this again!"
Which caused her to shriek in frustration instead of celebrating her sess at freedom.
Because just two spaces from the Dungeons was the Inquisition space- meaning she would have to start the cat and mouse game again.
And this time, due to her 2,000 ropal bnce, she would always end up in the dungeon after each turn.
"Hahaha, to think you just ended that. Really¡ haha haha," The irony of it all was not lost on Ophenia.
While Cambyses bickered, "Heh! Good job making Alexander rule that the space''s actions resolve before the turn ends. If only you had not drawn that King''s Chance¡ then you could have gone to prison straight away. And what did that card even get you? 1,000 ropals!"
Thedy of the house still seemed a bit salty about the ruling.
"Wait! Lady Gelene rolled a 1. Doesn''t that mean she disappears?" But then suddenly, this observing voiced out.
And the elegant way of addressing instantly made it clear who was its owner- Princess Camelia.
This was the first time the Princess had decided to voluntarily ce herself into the game, finally feelingfortable enough with the atmosphere, as her dainty fingers pointed to the board.
"Yeah! You''re right." And she was instantly joined by an excited Mean, very pleased by the observation.
As for Gelene, "Great! I disappear!" she too cheered, something that might not seem synchronous with the event that was about to ur.
But given her ''huge trove of cash'', she found that there was no way she was going to burn through all that.
At least not in a realistic amount of turns.
Thus knowing she would have to stay in the dungeon for the foreseeable future, it actually seemed much better for her to ''die.''
"Ummm¡ no! I think doubles should not count. You are safe " However, Alexander''s warm voice made sure that did not happen.
He did not wish for death to be so easy for Gelene.
"No, no.. but I rolled a one!"While Gelene tried to reason by iming this, even lifting one of the dice to show Alexander the single dot, thus emphasizing her im.
"Hehe, actually sister you rolled two ones. But the rules say only one 1." It was Ophenia who decided to post this reasoning, thus shattering Gelene''s argument.
"Mmm, Tayin is right." And with Alexander''s say, the matter was decided.
Gelene cutely puffed her cheeks a bit before rolling her dice once more since she had rolled doubles.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 983 Games Night With Alexander (Part-11)
Chapter 983 Games Night With Alexander (Part-11)
983 Games Night With Alexander (Part-11)
"Garden! Come on the Garden." As Gelene rolled her dice between her fingers, she chanted this strange matra, wishing tond there.
Because that would enable her to ditch all her excess money.
Even though it made no sense for her to do so from a winning perspective since for Gelene to win, she would have to multiply her money by the number of properties and then divide it by 5, but right now that seemed to be her best course of action.
By this point, most of the girls had abandoned the thought of winning.
Now, it was simply about surviving.
Gelene''s wish however went unanswered as she insteadnded in an innocuous space and was then dragged back to the dungeon for possessing excess capital.
Thus it came to Princess Camelia''s finally.
But before rolling, the Princessturned to Alexander to state, "Well¡ there is no point in me using my spy card right my lord? Lady Cambyses will instead just send me to the dungeon using her card."
Given only Princess Camelia and Cambyses were the only active yers on the board currently, it seemed the only piece Cambyses could swap ces with was her.
"Hmmm.. yes¡" And Alexander confirmed, being slightly impressed that the fourteen year old had remembered that.
But then encouraged, "But who knows¡ maybe Mean will get out of the dungeon. Why don''t you try it?" because he really wanted to see the card get used.
"Ummm.. no, I can''t." However Mean was there to quickly refute Alexander''s statement, showing him her cash, "I have more than 1,100 ropals. So I don''t think I can''t get out even if I roll doubles."
Thus the decision was already made for Princess Camelia, as she announced, "... then I will skip the card."
Something that Alexander was indeed a bit disappointed by.
But he let the game y out as was.
Saving the card for a rainy day, the Princess rolled her die, getting an 8.
Which meant that after paying the 50 ropal checkpoint fee, she ended up on the ''King''s Chance'' space.
And picking the card, she read the single line in a sharine voicepletely oblivious to the contents,
"You disappear after violently falling out of the pce window onto some arrows."
"......" As Princess Camelia finished, for a brief moment the room went silent, as if they were all processing what they heard.
Many thought they heard it wrong.
Some even assumed the Princess might have misread the sentence since her Azhak was still in its infancy and the phrase ''violently falling out of a window onto some arrows'' made little sense.
"Ahaha haha," But Mean''s loud cackling was there to put such thoughts to rest, as she confirmed with hysterical nods, "Right! I had a goodugh when I read that¡ ahaha haha, ''falling out of a window onto some arrows, ahaha hahaha¡ what a sentence, hahaha." The girl seemed hardly able to hold back her peals ofughter as she clutched her belly, finding the entire thing almost painful.
And as if catalyzed by Mean''s reaction, the others also started tough, with Gelene taking the card off Princess Camelia''s hand to read it for herself.
And chortled upon seeing the phrase was really there.
"Wha¡ what? Am I dead?" While Princess Camelia seemed to be still in shock, yet to realize what had happened.
"Hehe hehe, yes." The saturated innocence in that question posed a hard challenge for Alexander to not immediately burst into uproariousughter, and could only lightly bite his lips and nod repeatedly.
While Ophenia was much more helpful, letting the Princessunderstand, "This is a euphemistic way of saying that your piece has been assassinated."
"Ohhhh!" And finally, the meaning of the words dawned on the young Princess.
Which made her a bit sad at first that she had not gotten to use her special card.
That was a pity.
But she soon got distracted by the phrase on the cards, actually finding it quite poetic.
The blend of humor, ridiculousness, and open subtly charmed the young fourteen year old.
"As expected of my lord." Thus the princess wholeheartedly praised.
And while no one here at the table would know it yet, this phrase would one day end up bing part of the regr Azhaknguage, first used to mean ''assassination'' and then over timee to represent- ''an open secret''.
But all those were forter.
Right now, all of Princess Camelia''s assets were taken back and her beautiful carriage figurine lifted off the board and put to the side, as the roll turned over to Mean.
First of all, the petite girl paid her 100 ropal dungeon ''service charge'',
"Come on, not a 1!" And then the girl cheered this while rolling the two dice in between her delicate palms.
She did not wish for a double because there was no point.
Her worth was still above 1,000.
And her prayers were answered.
3 and 5.
Those were her dice rolls.
"Yes!" Thus came a small pump of the fists.
After that, Cambyses''s turn passed innocuously, and so it was once again Gelene''s rill.
Whose only wish now, given the circumstance was to die.
Hence,pletely opposite to Mean''s wish, she wanted a 1.
And wouldn''t you know it, she got it!
"Yes!" Thedy almost jumped seeing the 3 and most importantly- 1.
"I get to die! I get to die! Here, take it. Take all the smelly money!" Gelene''s loud cheer echoed throughout the room, as she scrambled to hand all her money to Alexander with a wide grin, like she was getting rid of the gue.
The rest of the table could not help but chuckle at the act.
So with Gelene''s piece finally disappearing, it became Princess Camelia''s turn, meaning she got to choose from the three remaining pieces.
At first, she had arge drink as part of the game and then then after a bit of deliberation, Princess Camelia announced, "Umm¡ I will choose the hat. It looks very nice."
The hat iron cast was painted a regal gold, with a small blue ribbon and even a tiny broken piece of diamond attached to it.
Once again the Princess marveled at the craftsmanship.
As a matter of fact, she had been eyeing this piece the whole game.
"Haha, the hat... Haha.. excellent¡ haha!" However that happiness in her heart seemed to dissipate the moment she heard this hearty chuckle.
Even without any real-life experience, Princess Camelia could tell something was wrong.
She remembered Alexander had reacted simrly when Mean had picked that piece which got to roll only 1 die.
"What?" And thus wondering what this piece''s special powers would be, she could not blurt this single word involuntarily¡. much to her own embarrassment.
For a royal, it was seen as extremely uncouth to not speak in full sentences.
''Camelia! Pull yourself together. You are here to represent your family''s honor! Do not tarnish it!'' She said to herself.
While Alexander read out her piece''s special characteristics with that smirk still hanging on his face, "So the hat¡ You are a government official. You get to build three houses for free whenever youplete a collection. So if you get all the properties of the same color, the first round of houses are free." Alexander delineated to the novice Princess.
And then, while trying to announce her winning condition, Princess Camelia suddenly noticed Alexander swallow augh.
The reason for which soon became clear, as Alexander chuckled, "And your winning condition is¡ You have been caught in an anti-corruption drive. You are executed, you score nothing. That''s your score."
Princess Camelia was dumbfounded.
"Hehe hehe," While the whole room instantly burst intoughter upon hearing this troll of a piece,
"So¡ I can''t win? How do I win?" The Princess then mumbled in shock, apparently still not having gotten the joke.
"Ahahahaha," Her innocence seemed to make the crowd even more hysterical.
"Thank you for choosing that piece, sister, hehe," With Gelene showing her her appreciation by softly patting her shoulders.
"Haha, I don''t make the rules." While Alexander chuckled his now bing iconic phrase.
It was only now that the Princess finally woke up to what this piece actually meant.
"*Sniff*, okay." And thus copying Mean, the girl could only ept it with a sniff of her nose.
ying with this piece left night and daypared to her previous one.
"At least I get to roll 2 dies," So with that mumbling self-
motivation Princess Camelia rolled her dice,nding on property that was already owned.
Meaning she owned rent.
Which instantly caused Mean to whistle, "Oh, oh! Remember, he does not do change."
This posed a great dilemma for Princess Camelia because she only had two 500 ropals notes.
And her rent was 6.
It seemed she was destined to lose her 500 note right off the boat.
"Ummm¡ Your Majesty, why won''t I make the change for you?" However the Princess here managed to show some craftiness that none of the girls had yet disyed, proposing to do the tedious task of breaking up a huge note by her herself.
"Go ahead!" And although Alexander could have easily stopped it by iming it could only be done by an official, swindling 500 ropals for only 6 was a bit too much even for him.
Thus the Princess managed to pass that hurdle.
Chapter 984 Games Night With Alexander (End)
Chapter 984 Games Night With Alexander (End)
As Princess Camelia''s move ended, it became Mean''s turn to go.
"Come on doubles!" The girl could be heard shouting as she shook the two dies in her hands.
And then let it rip.
The two dice quickly began to spin and spin and spin, using up their stored momentum, until,
"Ahhh!" much to Mean''s disappointment, one of the dice produced a 1!
"*Sigh*, well it was nice ying with you," Thus she casually lifted the dog figure off the board, and then took arge mouthful of drink from the pitcher nearby as punishment.
With Mean ''disappearing'', next came Cambyses''s turn, and shended on a ''King''s Chance'', something that caused her to actually curse, "Ohe on! Why this one?"
Under normal monopoly, Cambyses actually quite likednding on ''Chance''.
But after seeing the kind of weird, quacky cards Alexander had made for this version, such enthusiasm had waned.
Now she only wanted tond on property spaces.
However, there was little she could do about it now.
Thus picking up the top card, Cambyses read,
"Secret Treasure! You have found the Royal family''s long lost treasure. Pass GO within 6 turns or less and you get to keep as much money as you want. Fail and you will be caught by the royal assassins and disappear. If any other piecends on the same square as you, they get the treasure and you disappear."
This was a good card in Cambyses''s opinion, for that ''getting to choose the amount of money'' use was really convenient.
This meant there was no danger of her going over the 1,000 ropals limit.
Thus, as if to bnce the pro side, Alexander put two restricting conditions.
However, Cambyses still felt she would work with that.
She just needed to cover 32 spaces in 6 turns- which had a fifty fifty chance.
And that was without counting doubles.
Hence, unless she got really unlucky, Cambyses felt confident about her chances.
Thus firmly grasping the card in her hands, thedy of the house then passed the dice to Gelene, who first had a choice to make.
After disappearing the previous turn, she now had to choose a new piece from the remaining two.
"I will have the hammer." Gelene did not spend much deliberating, randomly picking one of the two, one that took the ce of the iron.
And seeing this Alexander read out,
"The hammer¡ You are an old widow. You do not have to bribe to pass GO. Nobody pays you any attention."
"And your winning condition is- You''re dying. Add up the money in your hand and give that as the score to any other yer of your choosing, recing whatever score they have. You get half of their score."
"Hmmmm¡" It took a second for Gelene to understand what Alexander was saying.
The first part was of course easy. And much appreciated as it spared Gelene that 50 ropal expense.
But the second part caused her toment, "So ideally, I should have as little money as possible, right?"
"Yes," Alexander confirmed.
"And I can choose any yer?" Gelene posed.
"Yes." Came the affirmation.
Then Alexander added some extra information by himself, "But you need to choose who you want to swap before the scoring starts. You can''t know who is winning."
He at least had themon sense to bnce the game that much.
Although much to Gelene''s crestfallen facade.
She really thought she was on to a winner here.
But she did not try and cajole her master regarding this knowing it would be futile.
She only rolled her two dies, reaching a free space that she then bought.
Her piece''s power pushed her to buy, buy, and buy.
With Gelene''s turn concluding, Princess Camelia had her turn and she too bought a new property.
Hence finally it was Mean''s go.
And there was only one piece for her to choose- the wheelbarrow.
And Alexander informed her regarding her powers, "You are a farmer. Once per game, you can force a yer to hand over any single property when yound on that property''s square."
The piece''s strong power really went to show Alexander''s attitude towards this huge and very critical ss.
"And your winning condition is¡ You have be ill. Add up your money in the Garden and multiply it with your number of properties."
"What? Her power is just better than the boot?"" As soon as Alexander announced this, Gelene could not help but chime in in astonishment.
This was exactly her power except there was no ''divided by 5'' rule.
"Yes. Not all pieces are equal." Came Alexander''s very direct answer.
"Hehe," Mean giggled at this honest answer, quite satisfied by her powers.
But thenmpooned at, "Butnding on the Garden is so hard. It''s literally a 1 out of 40 chance!"
Mean very much doubted she couldnd on it before going destitute or ''falling out of a window onto some arrows''.
Cambyses too seemed to agree, chiming in to urge, "Yeah. Alex, can''t you change that?"
With these two on board, the remaining pair too joined the coalition, trying to putbined pressure on Alexander.
"Hmmmm¡" And Alexander too began to see the unbncedness of it.
Thus he decided,"Okay. You can now put away your money on any owned property you like. But if anyonends on it, they get to keep it. And you are sent to the dungeon."
The new ruling was received with much enthusiasm as it made the task much more manageable.
"Owned property? Only owned property?" While Cambyses sought to confirm the terms.
"Yes. Only owned property. But it can be anyone''s. Not only yours." Alexander elucidated.
"But we will still have to go around the board?"Cambyses twirled her finger as she then posed.
"Oh, yes." Came the immediate reply.
With the new rules set up, Alexander then also let all the yers know they were approaching the end game.
"Okay, so now that all thest pieces are in y, know that the moment one of you disappears, the game ends. After that, we calcte the scores."
The girls nodded with an acknowledging nod and then started to y.
And surprisingly, they yed the next four whole turns without anything major happening.
They simply bought property or paid rent, making the changes themselves.
Until that Cambysesnded on a King''s Chance which read- ''Go into hiding. You have been caught smuggling salt. Miss your next two turns."
This instantly caused the matron to shout in grief, "Noooo! I was so close," because it meant she would fail top the board within 6 turns.
Meaning she would be caught by the royal assassins for stealing the royal treasure and disappear.
She even could not use her ''get out of dungeon free card'' because she would not be sent to the dungeon.
She would just directly disappear.
But the game would not get to that.
For on her very next turn, Gelene wouldnd on a ''King''s Chest'' which would read- "Message from the King. Roll a die. On a 1 you disappear. On any other roll, you get to take a property of your choosing from any of your opponents."
Needless to say, OP rolled a 1, much to her howling disappointment.
She would not believe her luck.
"And here I was thinking I could get that property from Camelia." Gelene could only ruefully chuckle at the missed opportunity of making a full set.
But with her gone, the game was finally over.
It was time for Alexander to step in.
"Okay. So let''s start the count." So with this grand deration, Alexander first turned to Gelene,
"First you Gelene. You have disappeared. So naturally your score is nothing."
"Haha," The ckdy only guffawed.
While Alexander moved clockwise, now cing his gaze at Princess Camelia, "Camelia. You are the hat. You also score nothing."
The young princess only elegantly bowed in eptance, a mirthful smile hanging on her face.
After that came Mean, where Alexander asked,
"So Mean¡. How much money do you have stashed in the garden?"
"Nothing." Was the straight answer.
She simply did not get the chance to stash any money because she was always around other pieces. So was constantly afraid they wouldnd on her space and take it.
Alexander getting the information, decreed, "Great! Nothng times your number of properties means¡ you score nothing."
And thenstly, Alexander turned to Cambyses.
Who had some money stashed away¡but had no hotels.
So again nothing.
Having finally collected all the data, Alexander thus atst revealed in amentator''s voice,
"Okay! Fantastic! Now for the results!"
"In fourth ce, we have Camelia. Mean. And Cambyses. All with a score of nothing!"
"The third, second, and first ce are all empty! Congrattions you four! *p*, *p*!"
The p was clearing meant to be sarcastic, but seeing Alexander, the others quickly joined in too.
And soon Cambyses started to satirize herself, "Congrattions! We all lost, haha. And after ying for so long."
"Or we all won, haha," Gelene was there to offer a different perspective.
"Whether you won or lost, you all did it equally. That''s what all that matters." While Alexander added this joking piece, making it sound a lot likemunism.
"Ahhh¡ It is His Majesty that really won!" While even Princess Camelia joined the fun.
"Right¡ It''s His Majesty''s win. All hail His Majesty!" Andstly, unwilling to be left out there was also Ophenia.
It was like this the long game''s night finally closed its curtains.
Chapter 985 The Iron Workshops (Part-1)
Chapter 985 The Iron Workshops (Part-1)
As Princess Camelia returned to her room, lying on her bed, she understood that her impression of Alexander had changed quite significantly in the short three hours, being morphed into something quite different from what she had started with.
She had never expected the demon who conquered her city to have such a funny, amicable side.
To her, Alexander had always appeared like a fierce beast, wielding a mammoth ming greatsword and setting everything she held dear to fire.
And like Alexander, his four mistresses too had once appeared bitterly cold, like a blizzard in a freezing wintery night, as they had treated her like air.
But now they seemed to have so much color and character.
Even the ckdy who had hit her on their first day in Zanzan- Gelene now actually seemed approachable.
Furthermore, observing the interaction they had with the lord, Princess Camelia keenly noticed that the main wife of the house- Cambyses, and the one who looked after the day to day- Mean were always a pair, and usually much more favored by the lord of the house.
For instance, they seemed to be the only ones allowed to call the Pasha- Alex.
The other pair stuck to calling him master or lord.
These four had their own dynamics much of which the Princess picked up during the y, while the fifth concubine- Fabiyana still remained a mystery.
Even to the rtively inexperienced princess, the small girl seemed to be more treated like a daughter of the family rather than a mistress.
At least that was what she felt when she studied Alexander spoiling Fabiyana, reminding her much of her own time with her father.
''What is up with that?'' Thus she genuinely wondered about the strange dynamics there.
Along with the image of the yers around the table shing before her, the princess then quickly found her mind reverting to the game itself.
And needless to say, it left a great impression on her.
The impressionable fourteen year old had naturally never experienced anything like the game night as board games as a concept did not exist yet.
Thus seeing all these cards, dice, figurines and rules stuck deep into her memory.
It was all too novel and new.
Combine that all theughter, the giggles, and the hrious situations she hade across¡ it made the girl want to y it again right now!
So she could not wait for the next time, being determined to win on her next go.
It was with these thoughts that the Princess then started to get giddy with pleasure and at one moment,?her mind suddenly began to wonder when Alexander was going to call her to bed.
After all, he did call her to the game''s night out of the blue.
And Princess Camelia actually found herself even a bit expectant about the thought.
It was something that even surprised her.
Because for the first few nights she hade to Zanzan, Princess Camelia would always dread theing of darkness, thinking tonight would be the night that Alexander would call her to his room to deflower her.
Or perhaps he woulde to visit her, deep at night, and theny ruin and destruction on to her nubile body.
It was a thought that always haunted her.
And she would immediately draw a breath of relief upon seeing the rising of the sun, reassured the bright rays would keep the ''demon'' away.
Because in the pubescent girl''s mind, sex was something that was only done deep at night.
At least that was the prevailing thought in Tibias.
However now, the young fourteen year old actually wanted the opposite.
But at the same time, she also knew it was impossible, at least on this very night.
Because Princess Camelia knew the lord was busy in bed, with one or more of his wives.
She had already seen some of their silhouettes apanying him to his bedroom.
And in many a prior night, she had heard loud, lewd voices breaking out of even the heavy oak doors,ying concrete proof to the fun times going on there.
At all those instances, Princess Camelia had only felt utter, revolting disgust at those animalistic sounds, even cursing Alexander and co. as uncultured barbarians.
But now, she kinda wished to it see, if nothing but to sate her curiosity.
She was after all only fourteen years old.
Thus, without knowing what took over her, suddenly the Princess felt an iparable draw and sneakily tiptoed through the dark corridors over to Alexander''s room, hoping to catch those sounds.
And wouldn''t you know you know it, as she approached, her sharp ears picked up the extremely faint subtle reverberations of what sounded like multiple women squealing and moaning, while a deep manly voice uproariouslyughed and grunted.
For the novice Princess, this hidden, never before seen act appeared very tempting, made all the sweeter by the forbiddenness of it all.
Thus very surreptitiously she at first tried to push the door open, hoping to get a glimpse of what was happening.
But she of course failed in that. The door was tightly shut.
Thus she did the next best thing.
She put her ears right next to the door and soon some of those naughty sounds began to filter out.
"Ahhh, Master¡ kyahhh¡ too embarrassing! It''s gonna spill"
"*Pah*¡ *Pah*¡ daddy¡ mmmnnn hit me more."
"Ahhh¡ no biting¡ mmmm, my milk¡ "
These and other mishmash of words soon assaulted Princess Camelia''s ears and the girl''s face turned crimson.
She definitely caught three distinct feminine voices in there and it made her both wish and dread to see what could be happening to them inside.
However, robbed of that sensation, she then did the next best thing she could, let her imagination go wild.
Although the chaste Princess''s mind could never conjure even a tenth of the depravity going on there.
In the room, apanying Alexander were all his wives but Cambyses, who had decided to sit this one out since she was feeling a bit under the weather.
Thus, the trio of Gelene, Mean, and Ophenia served Alexander hand on foot.
At one time, Alexander was lying on apletely nude Ophenia''sp, cing his head on the thick, creamy thighs and suckling on her hanging fruits, drinking the freshly squeezed milk.
While the girl gave him a pleasant handjob by rubbing her hands against the huge, thick organ, making it glisten using the leaking precum like some kind of lotion and teasing her master by calling him various names.
Then at another time, Mean was straddling Alexander in a reverse cowgirl position, letting Alexander turn her small,pact butt peppery red withrge, powerful spanks.
In the case of Gelene, she was lifted by Alexander into the air in a child peeing position, and then taking her rear hole, Alexander made her spread her legs to pee into a chamberpot, the discharged liquid making a beautiful arc.
Like this the girls had their desires sated, with Ophenia especially receiving rewards for the sacrifice of giving her spot to Princess Camelia.
Thus Alexander took her multiple times, in all three of the orifices, in various positions, until she was fully stuffed.
And wouldn''t you know it, Princess Camelia got to hear it all, as well as learn so many lewd words she did not know even existed.
There was Mean''s high pitched cry, "Ahhh¡ Alex¡ my asspussy¡ Gelene is speading my asspussy¡ Can you see it? Is it beautiful?"
There was Gelene''sscivious appearance, "Yes master! Harder! Destroy my dirty cunt! Crush my pathetic womb! Breed me like I''m your whore!"
And there was Ophenia''s self debashment, "Ahhh! Master! Treat me like a dirty sow. Yes! I''m your pig. Ahhh¡ my poor clit pussy is gonna be torn off! So good! I''m cumming!"
For the delicate princess, this was all too much, as her ears begun to burn and her lower half soon began to feel tingly.
And as time passed, wouldn''t you know, while her ears remained firmly stuck to the door, one of her hands stealthily made itself down to her groin all by herself, and even before the Princess herself knew what was going on, she started to rub her ''sore'' spot over clothes, hoping to relieve the itch.
Needless to say, it did not work.
Instead, since Princess Camelia had stayed around that door all the way until the noise died down, constantly imagining what the hell could be happening there, her fingers only got wetter and wetter.
And they resumed getting wetter when the Princess eventually returned to her room, as she found it almost impossible to fall asleep.
Those sounds continued to y inside her head and her lower half continued to feel itchy.
''Will I also make those sounds? No way right?'' The green girl thus began to touch herself out of instinct simultaneously dreading and looking forward to whatever Alexander was doing in there.
The princess continued to touch and pleasure throughout the night, finding the shing whites she asionally got inside her addicting.
Princess Camelia did not know it yet, but she wasing during all those instances.
And so engrossed was she in her discovery that she got very little sleep at little, letting her personal maid have a bit of shock seeing the dark panda-like rings under her mistress''s eyes.
As for Alxx, the next morning he was out visiting one of his newest workshops- the iron workshops, which were primarily run by the cksmiths he had gotten from Lady Margaret.
Chapter 986 The Iron Workshops (Part-2)
Chapter 986 The Iron Workshops (Part-2)
The iron workshop that Alexander was talking about was a brand newplex built inside the western district''s restricted ''Industrial Zone''- the ce where the magic of Zanzan happened.
The premises werepleted under Cambyses''s supervision with direction from Alexander, who had yet to visit the ce due to being away in campaign.
He thus found the huge workshop situated next to a few streams, built in a huge new clearing made by cutting down much of the forest where Pasha Muazz used to host his infamous hunting games.
It was even said severalrge burial grounds were found around these parts, full of men, women, and even children parts.
But such macabre details were a tale for other times, for today Alexander was more interested in what was inside those walled premises.
"My lord, wee!" The in- charge of these iron workshops, a Galiosian (from the ind of Galiosos) cksmith named Marvin greeted Alexander at the entrance, being apanied by several of his high ranking colleagues.
Who then soon took him inside for the tour.
The hugeplex''syout was quite simr to the other iron workshops Alexander had that were used for producing armor and weapons, with huge sprawling sheds dotted all across thend, where the artisans could be seen toiling away.
These sheds had no walls but only a roof, so that as much of the natural light as possible could get in, and make the transport of both raw materials and produced goods to and fro from these ''factories'' as fluid as possible.
Inside many of these sheds, were rows and rows of seemingly uncountable numbers ofrge burning furnaces, fueled by coal and stoked withrge bellows to make them reach ever higher temperatures, with smoke snaking out of the numerous chimneys built into the roofs.
Each furnace had one or even several skilled artisans, using the firece to heat their metal pieces and then shape them into the desired product by hitting them, in a process called hot forging.
''Twink-twank!'' ''Twink-twank!''
The harmonious nking of huge, solid iron hammers smashing against the red hot pieces ced on a sturdy anvil was a sight to see.
Although the continuous sound of hundreds of such strikes every day for hours on end tended to eventually get on one''s nerves, as theck of any walls around the shed meant that all the air around the vicinity buzzed with this sound.
In even made Alexander''s ears after a while, causing the man to note to himself, ''I will need to ask Marvin to design some protective earpiecester. Or else, a couple of years from now, everyone here will go deaf''.
But that was for towards the end of the tour.
For now though, he turned his focus on his tour of these sheds, with each of them being dedicated to the manufacture of one particr product, or perhaps even a single part of arge product.
Alexander started to tour each and every one of them, with the very first workshop he came to see being the tool making shop.
cksmith Marvin introduced to Alexander, "This is where we make the various tools. Nails, hoes, plows, sickles, scythes, axes, chisels, saws, hammers¡.. You name it sire! We can make everything for you, haha," The pride contained in that statement was unmistakable.
And there was even good reason for the man to feel like that.
Because this tool- manufacturing branch of the workshop was undoubtedly the biggest part of the entire iron workshop, ounting for more than a third of the total iron product produced inside here.
The reason for its huge size was naturally because the market demanded it.
For now, the biggest consumers of civilian iron products were various artisans, followed by farmers, the former using it in the manufacturing of their equipment, and thetter primarily in their plows.
Something which Marvin would go on to inform Alexander with a small grin, exaggeratedly saying,
"My lord, the enormous order that you gave us will be enough to keep us upied for the next couple of years. Haha, when I first read it, I thought my trantor had made a mistake! So many hammers, chisels, and plows!"
Being a foreigner from Sybarsis, and knowing neither Azhak nor Thesian, of course, both men were using trantors tomunicate.
And due to thisnguage barrier, Alexander could not tell whether Marvin was praising him for entrusting him with so much work orining about the load.
The neutral tone could mean either.
He however decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt and responded,
"Yes¡ the avability of cheap iron has meant that all the people around not just here, but the entire Central Sea are now switching from bronze in favor of iron. My recent conquest of Tibias has also generated a huge influx of demand for hammers, nails, plows, and all those tools you listed there. That is also from where the order came. Everyone there is wanting to switch to iron and steel for forever."
"This means that the aggregate demand for all the tools we make will likely stay high for at least a decade if not two whole decades!"
Alexander''s grand prediction was epted with great enthusiastic nods from the group of cksmiths, with Marvin adding,
"Yes, yes, those are my thoughts exactly. Why use the softer, brittle bronze when you can buy a much better steel one for almost the same price? You would be foolish!"
"I even heard that there is a rumor if they use bronze tools, cksmiths are seen as second rate by some of the lords. So every forger worth their salt is trying to switch to these iron products as fast as they can."
Saying this, Marvin furthered informed with a short chuckle,
"In fact, you might not know my lord, but a few months back, my wife even wrote to me asking her to send arge collection of iron tools from here for her sister''s dowry. She wanted it particrly from here because you see currently in Galiosos, any tool made by your workshop is treated like gold, haha!"
Marvin was obviously exaggerating about the price here, but still, it was undeniable that those iron ingots and tools possessing Alexander''s unique seal of a flower with wings fetched a premium in the open market, especially among artisans who had the qualified eyes to discern quality.
Such as that cksmith who was marrying Marvin''s sister inw, and thus demanded a full set of smithing tools from Zanzan.
The girl''s parents even agreed to this, paying the money to Marvin''s wife and asking their son inw Marvin to send it with the messenger who brought the letter- Marvin''s eldest brother inw.
Thetter did not carry therge sum of money directly to him due to security concerns.
Marvin''s remarks were actually news to Alexander because he did not think his goods were this popr.
In his mind, he thought his products sold so much because of the sheer volume he produced, flooding the market with only his product.
"Oh, is that right? I see, I see." Thus he could not help butment with a twinge of pride in him at the supposed quality of the product.
Because it had to be remembered that Alexander was using his ''bad steel'' to make all these tools- one with all the impurities.
Only the tools and weapons used within his own fiefdom got to use the properly processed good steel.
Hence to have even the ''bad'' ones have such a ster reputation, naturally stoked his pride as a metallurgist.
Seeing that his boss was happy, Marvin was more than happy to butter him up even more,
"Yes, yes, I swear. The iron that my lord produces is unlike anything I or any one of us have ever seen! Melts like butter under the slightest fire. It''s so easy to work with! Previously we would have to wait hours for the iron to melt. Now, it takes literal minutes! It''s all so easy!"
Again, Marvin was indeed stretching the truth a bit here.
It did not take minutes for the iron ingots to melt.
But he was still right in the essence of the sentence- i.e.- the ingots melted quickly.
The pre -processed iron ingots that arrived right on their doorsteps right from Alexander''s st furnace were much easier to work it than going through their usual tedious process.
Where the cksmiths would have to first slowly extract the iron from the ore using a primitive bloomery furnace over a few hours, and then once the ore had be hot and malleable enough shape it into the desired dimensions.
Since here the first part was already done in the st furnace, the smithies only had to process the end product, making the production process much faster.
Something that the man right next to Marvin was happy to let Alexander know, and then added,
"Therge size of the workshop is also a great boom for us my lord. Never have I worked in such a huge shop! And with so many well renowned cksmiths. I have learned much from them. And it has helped us make the products so much faster! Truly a wonder! This has to be best iron workshop in the world."
Chapter 987 The Iron Workshops (Part-3)
Chapter 987 The Iron Workshops (Part-3)
The thing about increased production that the other cksmith was talking about was of course in reality simply economics of scale.
As elucidated by Marvin himself,
"Rnd said it right! It''s because previously we used to all work in small shops individually. But here, by working so closely together with each other in this huge workshop, we can just concentrate on just one thing. No need to constantly change our tools or move about. That really saves time."
The man did not know it yet but Marvin had just described specialization- i.e.- the process of concentrating only on one particr skill and bing an expert in it.
And that was indeed happening here.
The consolidation and centralization of so many things so close to each other enabled each worker to focus on what he was best at and thus produce prodigious volumes of product.
So much so that Marvin would not have even believed it was possible if he had not seen for himself.
Hence although he hid it from Alexander, he nned to take his lesson to Galiosis when his term here was up.
But such transfer of knowledge was due for the future, as right now, Alexander had made it to one of the many sheds producing tools.
This one seemed to make saws!
However, the moment he got close enough, suddenly he felt like he had just been dumped inside a 50 degree sauna, as the warm air saturated with the furnace''s heat and the rusty scent of iron assaulted Alexander''s clean face.
And the next moment, he could not help but take a few steps back.
It was so unbelievably hot in there.
And this was with apletely open space as the sheds had no walls, thus letting air in from all four sides.
Alexander dreaded to think what would have it like if she had built walls.
It might have been literally impossible to work there.
This seemed to be one of the unintended drawbacks of putting together thergest iron workshop in the world.
The huge amount of heated air created by so many furnaces put so close together had trouble escaping.
And so tobat this hostile circumstance, Alexander spotted various adaptations the people there had taken.
First of all, they all wore light tunics dyed in pale colors like yellow or white color, colors which reflected as much heat as possible.
The men did not know the scientific reason why this happened but had found out through real life experience that wearing lighter colors helpedbat the heat, while darker colors aggravated it.
Then there wererge, water filled tubs distributed along various points of the shops, from where men could be seen frequently douching their heads and backs, using arge metaldle to deliver the liquid and cool their exterior.
Alexander only now understood the reason why some of the men looked like they had just gotten out of the shower.
At first, he had assumed it to be perspiration.
Andstly, tobat the heat, everyone could be seen constantly drinking from their pouches, making sure to remain well hydrated.
Earning a living was not easy no matter the time period.
Curious to see the various operations, Alexander watched from a distance the manufacturing of a saw.
Here, the iron ingot which came to them in rectangr fist sized blocks were first cut into small ''bite sized pieces''by apprentices and ve workers, before being thrown into the furnace to be bright red.
And here Marvin also made sure to praise Alexander''s ''new furnace'' design, saying how much better and hotter it was than their old bloomery process.
"Using coal instead of charcoal.. my lord you are a genius! The steel is so much cleaner now" The man had cheered.
And in the same breath then went on to celebrate Alexander''s invention of the double acting bellows, which could let in so much more air with each stroke and greatly stoke the fire.
"The ingots get ready in minutes!" He had eximed.
Following the cut ingotsing up to the appropriate temperatures, it was where the cksmiths took over.
They used their long tongs to extract the glowing hot pieces, often wearing thick, leather gloves to shield their hands from the heat, and then cing it against an anvil, started to hammer at it away, ttening it to a sheet.
Alexander saw many cksmiths simultaneously ''attend'' on a single piece, in order to shape it as quickly as possible before the piece lost its heat.
This was a highly technical process, as the men needed to work very quickly but still maintain the urate shape, thickness, and dimension of the desired product.
And the fact that the entire thing- from the iron ingot looking like a hot piece of ball to a ttened, saw shaped product took only 15 minutes to make- reallyid testament to these men''s skills.
After the de had roughly attained its final shape, it was then heated again to a certain temperature and then quickly cooled or quenched in water to harden the steel. This process, known as tempering, helped to increase the strength and durability of the de while also reducing brittleness.
After that came annealing, which involved a simr process of heating the product to a specific temperature and this time allowing it to cool slowly in air or even inside the furnace overnight, thus letting the de relieve its umted internal stresses and improve its overall toughness.
Once the de was hardened and annealed, the next step involved shaping the teeth along the edge of the de.
This was done using a specialized tool such as a file for small sized hand sized saws, where some of the metal was literally chipped away.
Or special metal punches in the case ofrge saws, like the ones to cut trees and logs.
Whichever type of tool was desired, the size, spacing, and shape of the teeth would be based on that.
Andstly, after the teeth were shaped, the de would be sharpened in a grinding mill or sanded by an apprentice to ensure smooth and efficient cutting.
Alexander toured the huge workshop watching the simple handsaw in various stages of its production, from the ingot to the finishing, and once again appreciated how even such a seemingly innocuous tool needed the sweat and tears of so many men.
There had to be at least a hundred men just in that workshop alone- possibly more, allboring away in this sweltering heat just to produce this piece of serrated iron with a wooden handle.
And speaking of wooden handles, this was produced in a whole other workshop.
The finished iron des would be stacked in wheelbarrows and be taken there by a worker, where the carpenters would slot-in the de into their pre-made wooden handles with a good few taps of the hammers.
Alexander would visit that shop too, finding the whole ce to be covered with wood shavings and smelling of burnish, as artisans worked their ''nes'' onto cut bits of wood held in ce by metal vices.
While along the way, Marvin would once again try to oil Alexander up, this time gushing over the technique of tempering and annealing, and saying how it will change the whole smelting world.
And perhaps the man was right in that.
Those two processes were indeed very sophisticated techniques and using them, one could shape steel into shapes that otherwise would not be possible, as they would otherwise crack or even snap!
Alexander only smiled and nodded at all this.
Because although to Marvin this technique seemed earth shattering, Alexander knew he was hardly scratching the surface with it.
Tempering and annealing were not so simple, even being affected by as much as a deviation of a few degrees.
So the only reason they appeared so miraculous right now was due to the trash they werepeting against.
Alexander''sck of ess to even rudimentary equipment such as a thermometer meant he had a long way to go to producing really high quality steel.
But those were problems for future Alexander to solve.
For now, Alexander tours the rest of the tools workshops, seeing the production of hammers, nails, plows, etc., where much of the process was the same, with only the shaping being different.
Alexander had to say, he was surprised by not only the variety of all the things he produced, but all the various sizes they were produced in.
Because of course, they did not make just one type of hammer, nail, etc.
They made them in various sizes, to suit various people''s needs.
And seeing the scale of just the tools manufacturing part of the whole iron workshop, Alexander turned to ask Marvin, "How many people are working here?"
The cksmith verydiligently gave the breakdown,
"Well¡ we are 100 cksmight from Galiosos. And locally there were another 100 cksmiths. Each of us has about 10 apprentices. And each of those apprentice have roughly 5 workers and ves working for them. So around about 10,000 people!"
Alexander himself was surprised by the huge numbers
He did not think he was employing so many people.
Because he had been away in campaigns for so long, he had left much of the day to day to Cambyses and Heliptos.
Chapter 988 The Iron Workshops (Part-4)
Chapter 988 The Iron Workshops (Part-4)
With the tour of the iron tools workshoppleted, Alexander then moved on to the next section of the manufacturingplex- the household items.
This was where utensils like pots, pans, and cauldrons, cutlery such as knives, forks and spoons, cups and mugs, hinges, locks, keys, and door fittings to name only a few were created.
And many of the operations here were simr to the tools making section.
For instance, the immense variety of knives, spoons, forks, hinges, and locks were all made using forged steel.
But there were exceptions too.
Things like cooking utensils and furnishings like iron frame supports, and decorative elements used in chairs, tables, beds, and chests were made instead by casting- i.e.- pouring liquid iron into silica (sand) molds.
And this was where Alexander got to see many of the casting techniques he had imparted to the cksmiths being utilized.
The first of which was the simplest of them all- sand casting.
Alexander observed from a distance a group of workers, who were likely ves judging by their attire, preparing to cast an iron pan.
To do this they were using an iron mold of the pan to make an indentation on a crate filled with slightly wet sand.
And then had various other tools and additional molds to produce further indentation around the main mold structure, attaching various other features to it.
The fineness of these additional features would greatly affect the quality of the product.
But why did they do so do you ask?
Wouldn''t simply making a hollow shape of the product and then pouring the liquid metal work?
Well, no.
Because although to ayman casting iron might seem very easy- in reality it was an extremely delicate and even tiresome process.
It was in many''s eyes even harder than forging.
And the reasons for this were myriad.
One verymon problem with casting was the iron solidifying before it reached all the nooks and crannies of the mold because of how viscous the liquid was.
Another problem was uneven cooling - i.e.- the outer surface cooling much faster than the core of the product, which would cause the entire thing to crack.
Then there were the general problems of defects and impurities seeping into the finished product like air, water, and sand.
And the most ring of all, the cast product sometimes came outpletely warped, not all in the dimensions desired.
And scientists and engineers had worked for centuries to devise many ways to try and mitigate these problems.
For example, regarding the problem of the iron not reaching all the corners, they devised additional structures to be added to the main mold to increase the pressure on the liquid metal, so that it flowed faster, thus letting it cover all the parts of the mold before solidifying.
Towards the problem of uneven cooling, they introduced various concepts, such as the addition of fins to the structure.
These shark like fins would help radiate heat much more evenly and effectively and could be cut off from the finished product once it cooled.
Tobat impurities, the addition of things like aluminum, magnesium, and silicon was suggested.
Andstly, for the problem of warping or distortion, which happened due to improper mold design and cooling.
Differently shaped metal- i.e.- spherical, square, triangr, etc. all cooled at different rates so when these parts were all made together, this needed to be ounted for or the end shape would appear bent.
It was all these hurdles that made casting a particrly challenging affair.
And the reason why skilled artisans were valued so much was because they knew how to ount for these changes, a knowledge gained through experience over decades of working with the material.
After working with it for so long, they woulde to instinctively how much the iron would shrink when made into a particr shape over a particr dimension.
And this was why casting was considered for much of its time to be more of an art form than an exact science, as you needed the talent to be able to ''feel'' the workings of the liquid iron.
Alexander of course skipped all of that with math and equations.
Over the centuries, cksmiths and engineers had managed toe up with a list of extensive and frankly quiteplex equations dictating all the ''nook and cranny'' of any casting design, managing to take most of the mystic out of casting and turning it into cold hard science based on solid numbers.
Take for example the fact that there were equations not for just the size of the cooling fins, but even the ideal ce they should be ced at based on the shape they were being attached to.
All this meant that it no longer took talent to cast things now- only the ability to follow the revealed numbers.
Alexander did feel a tiny bit of shame at all the robotic mechanicalness of it all, since it seemed like all the magic had been taken out of the work.
But for the purposes of his needs now, it was a godsend.
It was due to this that Alexander imparted some of his knowledge to the Galiosian cksmiths, letting them create products that were not only of great quality but also in great quantity, as ordinary workers could too make them.
And the best evidence of this was perhaps how it was the ves who were manufacturing that iron pan, whereas it would typically be the cksmiths.
Or at the very least, there should have been cksmiths overseeing the process.
Of course, Alexander only revealed some of the simpler equations.
Because for one they were highly prized and he did not want them to fall into Sybarsis''s hands, even if Lady Margaret and him were allies right now.
But much more pragmatically, it was because these equations were quiteplex with the presence of various constants that changed depending on factors like the shape of the mold, numerical powers, square roots, and even cubic roots.
And then there were even things like the moisture content of the sand and even the temperature of the liquid iron which was impossible to measure for Alexander given theck of proper tools.
All this made it so that these cksmiths would not be able to solve them even if Alexander lectured them on it for hours.
Heck, without a calctor, even Alexander could not urately solve them- but only work out a very rough estimate.
Thus, for the moreplex operations, Alexander had them submit their molds to him and he would work out the designs on his own, before giving them the finished diagrams.
And the results must have been immensely satisfying, as Marvin could be heard praising his heart out,
"My lord, I would have never believed if I had not seen it myself. Your talent in iron making is a once in a hundred¡ no, once in a thousand years talent. Those pictures that you gave us¡ it all worked! It all worked just as you predicted!I would have never believed it if I had not seen it myself! By the gods!" The man repeated the phrase to emphasize his appreciation, and unlike the other times when he was trying to oil up Alexander, this time he truly meant it.
The man''s flushed face was genuinely lit up in excitement.
And it did not take much to understand his perspective.
To be able to predict how molten iron would behave from behind a desk and just scribbling on it was nothing but miraculous in this cksmiths eyes.
What took him decades to gain mastery over, was fulfilled by Alexander in mere minutes.
Thus in his mind, this kind of prescience ability should only belong to the gods and so Marvin even started to be convinced that Alexander really possessed some of the divine powers he imed to have.
The man was even of the mind to covert to the Gaia faith, but had not taken thest step yet.
As for Alexander, although he was satisfied with the mass production of the casting product, in his eyes, the goods'' quality still left something to be desired.
For example, due to imperfect calctions, there was about an average of 10% failure rate among the cast products, such as warps and cracks.
This was much higher than he would have liked it to be.
There was also the fact that he had few ways of removing the impurities introduced during the process- as many of the methods required the addition of materials and metals that were yet to be discovered.
But for now,pared to the junk the rest of the world produced, this was as good as it was going to get.
And frankly, this was good enough.
It was just that Alexander had his eyes on the top of his head, being slightly snobbish.
But still, for the next good while he paid attention to Marvin going on about how the many things Alexander had introduced were revolutionary for the casting process and how it would change metal working forever.
Which not only included various additions to sand techniques, but also brand new casting technique altogether- such as lost wax casting.
And it was the implementation of that that Alexander was headed to observe next.
Chapter 989 The Iron Workshops (Part-5)
Chapter 989 The Iron Workshops (Part-5)
Alexander went to observe the lost wax casting method at the decorative section of the iron workshop, where things like statues and other showpieces were being created.
In this casting method, first, a wax model of the product was created.
Then it was coated with y or in the case of Alexander, ster of Paris, which was just powdered gypsum mixed with water, with only a few small holes at the sides and top.
Once the coating set, the entire was heated in an oven to melt the wax and let it drain out of those holes.
Then molten iron could be poured from the nearby furnace using a crucible into that small hole, thus creating a precise replica of the original wax model.
After that, all that remained was to wait for the metal to cool and solidify within it.
Once that was done, the ceramic shell was broken away to reveal the metal casting inside.
The product was then grinded, sanded, polished, and colored to give the appropriate finish.
This method had several advantages to the traditional method of just sand casting, the biggest one being its ability to produceplex shapes and intricate details, with excellent dimensional uracy and surface finish.
As revealed by a gushing Marvin, the statues and decorations they produced here were so detailed and intricate that it was ''as if made by the gods themselves.''
And due to this, the pieces went for anywhere from thrice to and sometimes even ten times their otherpetitors, if the patron was wealthy enough and the piece beautiful enough.
Of course, not everything was sunshine and roses with this technique.
It had its downsides too.
The profits from that 3 to 10 times the selling price were in arge way offset by how time-consuming andbor-intensive the process was, especially for intricate orrge-scale castings.
It took a lot of skill and a lot of time to make that wax mold, so the artisans charged a premium.
And after all that work, the entire thing was melted within minutes, ruining it.
Even the ceramic shell produced from its coating was destroyed in the process of extracting the finished piece.
Thus to produce another copy, the entire process had to be started all over again.
Meaning the rate of production was very low.
Nheless, it was a very popr method for producing high-quality metal parts with precise specifications due to its efficacy.
And Alexander had even also given Marvin some tips on how to save on waste and speed the operations up by some margin.
One of which was coating the wax mold not fully with y or cement, but in parts.
So first the front half was coated, and once that part dried and could be extracted, the rear half was done.
That way you got two halves of a full mold that would be separated from each other.
During casting these two ster of Paris were held together firmly using a vice or even a thinyer of wet y.
And once the metal was poured and cooled, the two halves could be once again separated, ready to be reused.
Of course, the molds degraded over time as the liquid iron slowly ate through it, the rate being faster for more intricate and finer details.
But it was still multiple times faster than the once per use molds.
And judging by how these beautiful decorations were selling like hotcakes, it was like this section of the workshop was not selling iron statues but gold ones.
Moving on from there, Alexander then observed the creation of knives used in cooking, where the cksmiths used another technique Alexander had imparted to them- case hardening.
It was a process used to improve the surface hardness of iron or steel objects while retaining a tough and ductile core.
To do this, the surface of the metal would be sprinkled with scant dust of coal and then heated, which would add durability and wear resistance to the tool.
As a side note- it was said that case hardening was first found in the Arab world by an assassin.
As the tales go, the assassin in question had, for whatever reason, one day decided to heat his knife beforemitting the deed, and suddenly found his knife to be much harder than before, able to pierce armor that had previously proved impervious.
He revealed this to his cksmith, who then slowly propagated it to his peers, who then slowly spread the idea.
Following this novel method of casting, Alexander then moved on to observe how a prototype helmet he had designed for those working in the mines wasing along since he had received news of the deaths of some ves working there from falling rocks and debris.
He thought the loss of such goodbor was a shame.
Thus came the idea of creating some simple hard hats.
Towards Alexander''s want, Marvin was quick to respond, urging him to follow, "Come my lord, this way! This way!"
The way the man said it made it apparent that he was quite excited to show him the piece.
And the reason became apparent when Alexanderid eyes on the prototype.
For other than the basic shape, it was nothing like the one he had shown them in the diagram.
It was much more embellished- with many magnificent patterns and details etched into it, as it seemed that Marvin had mistaken the helmet to be used by Alexander.
And here too Marvin then went to sing high praises for the various Alexander techniques had stated to them- such as forge welding- which was a method of joining two pieces of metal by heating them to a high temperature and hammering them together with a flux like limestone to act as a binder.
This enabled cksmiths to createplex assemblies and structures as hinges, and armorponents, the examples of which Marvin was more than happy to show to Alexander.
"My lord, we were never able to shape iron like this! Previously, whenever we tried to join separate pieces with each other, they would either snap or crack! But now¡ we can make them a mile long no problem!" The man like usual exaggerated a bit.
But in his mind, he also felt the truth was not too far off. The technique of adding limestone to make the joint more durable was indeed seen as revolutionary by his colleagues.
Many had even privately imed thating to Zanzan was the best decision in their lives.
And that the techniques being practiced here were a few centuries if not a whole millennia ahead of their time.
They could not wait to tell their friends and peers back at Galiosis about this.
For now, though, they had onest technique to show Alexander, this time a decorative one.
The method was called ''repouss¨¦ and chasing'' which was used to create decorative relief patterns on metal surfaces.
In repouss¨¦, the metal was hammered from the reverse side to create raised designs, while chasing involves refining and detailing the relief from the front side, letting cksmiths embellish metallic objects with intricate designs and motifs.
The embellished armor that Alexander wore during the Triumph was also created using this technique.
Holding the helmet in hand, Alexander first apuded the cksmiths over their quick mastery of the metalworking, saying, "Great! I am very pleased by the scale and quality of the products here. You have done well."
Then ignoring Marvin''s grinning face, added, "That''s why I want you to open a new section in the workshop and make ten thousand of these hard tops. Without all the decorations of course. They will only be used by ves."
"10,000!" Marvin''s mind reacted much more fiercely to the stated number than the inquiry of why ves would need helmets.
As he then lowered his head and went to reveal with a bit of difficulty in his voice. "Bu ¡but my¡ my lord, we do not have enough men. Or even adequate cksmiths for that matter. We are already stretched too thin even at this moment."
It seemed Marvin was very reluctant to admit that he had a problem following thismand.
But the man really could not deliver so many helmets within any reasonable time frame given his current resources.
Not also while meeting his other quotas.
Thus the cksmiths bit the bullet and instead of failing to deliver, sought for additional resources up front.
And Alexander agreed immediately,forting the slightly panicked man by shing his palms and casually stating, "You will get them. How does 1,000 workers and 50 cksmiths sound? Will that be enough?"
This pool of workers wasing from the fact the province of Zanzan had just added close to 100,000 new people as 10,000 captured prisoners of war and their whole families were forcibly relocated to the city''s suburbs.
And along with them, in search of better opportunities, there were another 30,000 to 50,000 men who hade to the city, most migrating from the poorer parts of Tibias like the suburbs of Thesalie and even remote parts of Zanzan.
And there were many workers, cksmiths, and other artisans there.
Thus Alexander at this moment was temporarily swimming in workers and 1,000 was but an insignificant reallocation.
Chapter 990 Novice Steam Engine
Chapter 990 Novice Steam Engine
??The promise of just 1,050 men was enough to send Marvin over the moon, as he profusely thanked Alexander for his generosity.
"Thank you, my lord. We will not fail you!"
And with that said, the main ''workshop'' portion of the tour hade to an end.
But that did not mean Alexander was done.
No, for there was onest thing that he had yet to see.
And that could even be said to be the main attraction to the ce.
"Marvin! Has that machine I wanted been constructed?I want to see the improvements."
After having his lunch there, which consisted of some bread and cheese with wine, the lord then asked this of the cksmith.
"Ahhh.. of course, of course. It''s all the way to the back, my lord."
Marvin was quick toply with Alexander''s desire and brought the visiting delegation to the very rear of the huge workshop, at a small clearing cordoned off by wooden palisades and guarded by soldiers.
The entire thing screamed- ''Stay out!''.
Although perhaps there was little need for such heightened security as Alexander could already see what was in there, a significant part of the ''artifact'' standing tall and proud past all the obstacles, as a metallic *Twang- Twang* sound rang from out of it.
The moving sight of which made Alexander very eager to see the results.
"Please, my lord," With Marvin opening the gate, Alexander quickly stepped inside the small area and found that the pictures he had sent to Marvin six months ago had worked, letting the diagrame to life.
For there stood a Neen''s atmospheric engine!
This precursor to the steam engine consisted of a stove like furnace constructed of brick and mortar, and was being constantly fed coal by two ves equipped with arge shovel.
Right on top of the stove sat a dome shaped water reservoir made of the same material, which was filled with water and currently boiling and bubbling.
This boiler was connected by a metal chute to an iron cylinder atop it, inside which resided a steel piston, covered with high quality processed leather in order to make it smugly fit inside the chamber and not let any steam escape.
A circr metal piece was ced into the metal chute, working as a valve to keep the steam from meeting the piston unless allowed to.
Attached to the piston cylinder was another metal pipe, this one shaped like a V, with the mouth of the V leading to a tank of cool water held at a much higher height than the cylinder, about 10 meters from the ground.
This pipe pipe too had a valve attached to it, operated by a second worker.
Andstly, attached to the steel piston at the top of the boiler via steel chains was a rocking beam, with the fulcrum- i.e.- the midpoint set on a perched wall that was on level with the condenser tank.
One end of the beam was attached to the piston, and the other to a flywheel in a setup very reminiscent of oil rigs.
Only this time, it worked in reverse, with the chain portion being powered, driving the wheel that was attached by gear to a moveable hammer.
The way the entire thing worked was at first the steam valve was manually opened by an operator, letting the pressurized steam burst out of the valve like an enraged beast and hit the heavy iron rod with force thus driving it up.
Almost simultaneously, the second valve, which held the cold water back was let open and then instantly shut by the second worker, thus letting a jet of water into the piston chamber, at once cooling the ce and creating a partial vacuum under the piston.
This pressure differential between the atmosphere above the piston and the partial vacuum below then drove the piston down making the power stroke,
Steam was then quickly readmitted to the cylinder, destroying the vacuum and driving the piston up again, while the injected cold water seeped out of a third pipe controlled by another valve.
This cycle of upward and downward motion continued perpetually, causing the attached beam to mimic its movement, thus driving the flywheel and moving the hammer connected to it.
Which was being ultimately used to hammer heated iron ingots into metal sheets, to be used for making weapons and armor.
That was the origin of the ''twank twank'' sound.
Looking at the mammoth machine ''lumber'' its way to usefulness, Alexander first and foremost gave a light smile and nodded towards Marvin,"Hmmm¡ good, I''m relieved that it works now! This is much better than thest one. You did a great job improving it! "
"No, no, my lord! All the credit goes to you. That jet of cold water was a stroke of genius we would have never been able to figure out in a thousand years!" Marvin chose to be humble and ttering.
The context of the matter was that Alexander had at first designed this mechanical engine with just the boiler and piston in mind.
His thinking had been something along the lines of this-
Heat the water into steam.
The steam would hit the piston causing it to move up.
The steam would lose all its energy and escape through a valve, kind of like in a pressure cooker.
Without the force to keep it up, gravity would then take over, causing the great weight of the piston toe crashing down.
The process would then repeat itself, driving a flywheel.
But the efficiency of that designed system was so abysmal that the thing could barely do anything useful.
The steam would give an anemic push to the piston and then bugger off, taking all of Alexander''s hard work and money with it.
And there were lots of reasons for its abysmal performance.
For once, the pressure of the steam was nowhere near what Alexander would have liked.
The boiler could not be heated quickly enough by the primitive heating mechanism to develop those high pressures quickly enough, as the chamber kept losing pressure constantly due to the regr opening of the valve.
Plus the metal pipe and cylinder were not nearly airtight enough, and thus steam leaked through many of the cracks all the while.
Secondly, an enormous amount of the steam''s power was wasted hitting and heating all the useless walls.
Thirdly, the reliance of gravity on the power stroke (downward stroke) was too inefficient, as the ''free force'' sure took its sweet time.
It was nowhere fast enough.
The abysmal speed made Alexander realize that no matter how much he wanted to make the piston move faster, and no matter how much steam and energy he injected into it to do so, due to the constant nature of gravity, the downward stroke would always be the same.
This was clearly not eptable.
Andstly, that first engine tended to get more and more sluggish as time went on.
This was due to a build up of condensation from previous strokes, as not all water vapor would escape, which would then also absorb some of the newly admitted steam''s heat, depriving the piston of its power.
And worst of all, this particr phenomenon would be so bad after a few hours that the entire thing would be water clogged and stop moving altogether.
Alexander addressed some of these problems in this new and improved version.
For the first problem of steam leakage, Alexander tried to use rubber putty to seal the cracks and leaks in the pipes and cylinder to the best of his ability.
The efficacy of this act was mixed as the heat and vapor tended to react with the rubber and make it lose its stic property.
So one needed to reapply this ''coating'' regrly.
Moving on to the second one, Alexander had no real solution for this one as enormous loss of heat in such a setup was inevitable.
In fact, it could be said that the way he had decided to solve the third problem- trying to obtain a much more powerful descending stroke, had actually exacerbated the problem.
Because now, after the jet of water cooled the water vapor enough to create the vacuum, the cylinder walls would be cool, and then be heated once again the next batch of steam was added.
Meaning that a considerable amount of fuel would be used to just heat the cylinder and then cool it, only for it to be heated again.
But Alexander still chose this method because that was the best he got.
Not being a mechanical engineer, he had no real concept of how a real James Watt steam engine worked, except for the fact that water was boiled into steam and it somehow forced the pistons to move.
Thus, his idea of trying to solve the third problem by sprinkling water at high pressure to create a partial vacuum and thus pulling the piston could be said to be a masterstroke of genius, as Alexander had figured that part out on his own.
He took the inspiration from watching one of his teachers use this concept to demonstrate what was ''partial pressure'' during a thermodynamics ss and thought that it would be applicable here too.
Fortunately, it was!
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Chapter 991 Novice Steam Engine (Part-2)
Chapter 991 Novice Steam Engine (Part-2)
??Looking at the huge machine slowly bob up and down, Alexander then began to ask Marvin some technical questions about it, such as its output and efficiency.
"So much coal does it use every day? And how many ingots can you turn into sheet iron?" Alexander inquired.
"Umm¡. my lord we use close to 200 kg of coal during the day and can process a few hundred ingots." With the help of the supervisor there, Marvin was able to state the numbers.
And using this Alexander was able to roughly work out the amount of work done.
He did this by knowing that burning 1 kg of coal produced 30 MJ of energy and that the hammer the engine was driving weighed 50 kg and moved a few meters up and down around 10 times a minute.
All this got him a grand total of 1 horsepower, at an efficiency of less than 1%!
It would have been much easier and cheaper to hire a couple of men to manually beat the iron into sheets than going through so much trouble.
''Amazing! Fucking amazing!'' Thus, as the man arrived at the answer, although he had expected it, he still cursed at the dismal result.
''No wonder it took so long to develop the steam engine. No one without prescience would think to dump so much money and effort into something so wasteful, especially not when cheap, vebor was so easily avable.''
The reason why the steam engine was invented when it was in Alexander''s previous life was due to a lot of socio-economic conditionsing together.
James Watt''s engine was a greatly improved version of Alexander''s engine, one that produced around 10 horsepower and had roughly 7% to 10% efficiency.
He was able to get to that efficiency by taking Alexander''s engine and flipping it from a vertical position to a horizontal position, then using a series of valves to make the steam push the piston in both directions, not just one.
So the steam would first push the metal piston forward, then use a separate channel controlled by a valve to loop back and hit it again at the back thus pushing it ''backward'', before finally exiting through another channel.
And even thatplex resultant machine was considered quite crappy, making Watt try and make many more improvements to try and bring the number up throughout his life.
But Alexander was no mechanical engineer and had never seen an actual steam engine.
Nor was he a genius who could develop the rtivelyplex mechanism on his own.
Simply speaking, the thought of using the same stream twice never urred to him.
Thus although Alexander''s engine was a great invention to be used as a prototype and a proof of concept, it was nowhere near efficient enough to start the next Industrial Revolution.
Using manualbor was still the cheaper option.
''Baby steps. Baby steps. Rome was not built in a day.'' However, Alexander consoled himself like so, knowing it was not realistic to reach the moon with a single jump.
Since he had been able to make it to this extent, he would be able to slowly make improvements to it, until he eventually figured something out.
Thus he ultimately thanked Marvin for aplishing this given task,
"Good job, Marvin. I''m quite impressed by what you have aplished here. This machine will surely change the world in ways we cannot even imagine. And you will be a part of its history. Congrattions!"
Listening to Alexander''s high praise and grand statements, the cksmith at first produced some doubts in his heart.
For he did not see this machine as anything special to warrant such acim.
In his eyes, this was more like a rich man''s novel toy than anything useful.
''Whatever this thing can do, a couple of ves would be able to do for one third the price.'' Marvin calcted.
But although the machine made no sense to him from a pragmatic standpoint, who was he to contradict the lord of thend?
Even if Alexander said it could turn night into day, the man would have agreed to curry favor with Axx.
Thus putting on a fawning smile, Marvin agreed in a sharine tone, ''You tter me, my lord, you tter me. It is all by your grace. I did nothing. Nothing at all."
"Haha, no, no, you lower yourself too much, Mister Marvin. I have indeed noticed how you have shaped the condenser pipe into a V¡ tapered shape." Alexander for a moment let slip the word ''V'', which did not exist, only correcting himself at thest moment.
And then finished by revealing, "Let me guess why you did this¡. It was to increase the pressure of the jet of water, right?"
The shape of the pipe, which had the mouth of the V at the top and the end at the bottom would force the iing water to have increased velocity in order to not vite Pascal''s Law, thus spraying the steam with a jet of water, and not simply flowing into the chamber.
"Yes, my lord! Yes! As expected of you! Hahaha," The fact that Alexander had been able to see through the reason at a nce seemed to genuinely please Marvin, as the man repeatedly nodded with a grin.
He did not think Alexander would be able to see through this adjustment so easily.
It was something Marvin had figured out on his own, after observing how if you squeezed a leather water pouch, the water squirted out instead of flowing out.
And he was quite proud of himself for being able to do so.
Thus the fact that Alexander was able to see through it so easily amazed him.
And the man was once again convinced there was something special with this man.
As they were speaking, suddenly, Alexander felt the machine behind them be sluggish, and soon the ever present ''twank- twank'' sound disappeared, causing him to curiously took back the machine.
And then curiously look at the supervisor in charge of overseeing the thing.
Sensing the gaze the man quickly endeavored to cate Alexander, "Many apologises my lord, but the machine seems to stop working after a few hours. And starts up again after an hour or two. We have been unable to find the problem."
And hearing this, Alexander instantly stole a subtle nce at Marvin.
Because he had heard nothing about this.
It seemed in order to show Alexander that everything was fine and dandy and thus im the job was perfect, Marvin chose to gloss over this fact.
Something that quite annoyed Alexander.
And something that made Marvin suddenly go beet red at being found out.
He had prayed over and over for that not to happen while Alexander was visiting, but s.
"Did you know about this?" Towards this unexpected malfunction, Alexander then sought this inquiry.
"Ehh¡ I was once told that the machine had stopped working. But when I came to check it, the machine was working fine. So I thought ¡ everything was well. It just seems to want to take a rest every few hours... Like a horse hehe." The sheepish way Marvin grinned the answer left a lot to be desired regarding his credibility.
And Alexander could write it with a golden pen the man was lying.
''What is this? A living being that needs rest?'' He snorted at the weak excuse.
But he did not choose to wring the man over it, knowing the number of talented people under him was too precious to risk losing.
Thus in a strict tone, we ordered, "Don''t ever do this again. Whenever there is a problem, however small it may be, always be sure to inform me. This is your first andst warning."
"Yes! Yes, my lord. I swear!" Marvin''s voice was both sharp and high pitched, almost sounding like he was squealing.
He was both relieved and afraid.
Now, the reason why the machine was suddenly stopping after a few hours would eventually be discovered due to small amounts of air being admitted to the cylinder with the steam.
Water usually contains some dissolved air, and boiling the water releases this with the steam. This air could not be condensed by the water spray and gradually umted until the engine became "wind logged".
And to prevent this, a release valve called a "snifting ck" or snifter valve would be introduced near the bottom of the cylinder.
This would open briefly when the steam was being first admitted and the non-condensable gas would be driven from the cylinder.
And this solution would from not the cksmiths at the workshop but another unlikely source.
It woulde from a mining engineer who woulde to Alexander with this for a promised cash prize.
For you see, Alexander would post the full schematics of his precious engine in the free public library, for all to see and then make an official deration detailing rich rewards for being able to make improvements to this ''steam engine''.
At 3 horsepower and 3% efficiency, Alexander offered 30,000 ropal!
At 6 horsepower and 6% efficiency, Alexander offered 100,000 ropal!
And at 10 horsepower and 10 % efficiency, Alexander offered 1 million ropals!
Yes.
Since Alexander could not invent James Watt''s engine, he was going to incentivize others to do it.
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Chapter 992 Microscopes and Pumps
Chapter 992 Microscopes and Pumps
??Alexander would state the required capabilities of his machine not using horsepower or percentages, but by the amount of work it should be able to do without a certain timeframe.
So in his case, Alexander wanted the machine to be able to draw 250 tons of water from a depth of 10 meters every hour using just 10 kg of coal.
Alexander would make the announcement throughout the city, with detailed diagrams of the machine freely avable at the public library.
And seeing this promise of an astounding 1 million ropals, many eager souls would draw themselves to have a try at their luck.
The hype would be such that even Cambyses woulde to Alexander to pose, "Why are you offering so much just to lift some water?"
To which Alexander would only enigmatically smile.
For now, though,ing back to Marvin, Alexander felt he had seen all he had to see, and thus decided to end the tour.
But before that, he had to ask himself if he wanted to assign the man a few additional tasks.
Such as showing him the diagram of a fully te armored knight and asking him to try and replicate it.
Or asking him to write a book on metalworking, as a way to teach future generations about his work.
This would not only help Alexander retain the expertise of his master craftsman for eternity, but he could also use it to start a school, producing more craftsmen.
Alexander thought of also making the man delve into research himself, such as telling him to find the optimum tempering temperature and holding time for any given piece.
Or even making him a schr, by defining what was meant by a metal''s hardness, strength, and toughness respectively.
Because although colloquially, these three words were synonyms, in the world of metallurgy, they had vastly different meanings.
Hardness refers to how hard it is to scratch something.
Strength means howrge a force a material can take without permanently deforming.
And toughness meant how much energy it takes to break something.
This and many more ideas flooded into Alexander''s mind.
But ultimately, he refrained from issuing any such orders.
The man was already busy enough and was sure to be even more as Alexander intended to expand the size and scope of the iron nt to increase production, using the newly arrived Tibians as the bulk of thebor.
ording to him, the total number of men working there should increase from 10,000 to 15,000 or even more.
Thus, with the heavy burden scheduled to drop on the supervisor, Alexander intended to give these tasks to the weapons and armory workshops.
That seemed much more appropriate.
And that was how that day concluded for Alexander, with him forgetting to instruct Marvin to make those earmuffs that he wished to administer tobat the terrible noise all around.
With the visit to the iron workshop over, Alexander would go to visit the ssmaking shop the next day.
And there, he would first observe the ongoing production of various expensive and luxurious ss and crystal pieces like cups, sses, saucers, tes, bowls, window panes, and decorative pieces to name only a few, asking the workers about the various new tools they had made by themselves to help in their creation.
The ss workshop had a fund for this kind of purpose.
Alongside the current work, Alexander also sought if the task he had asked the men toplete had been finished.
Which was the task of preparing a series of lenses he had asked for his microscope.
It mighte as a surprise, but Alexander''s profession had actually made him a kind of expert on the matter.
It was a kind of requirement since a lot of time in his field of study was spent on looking at materials at a microscopic level, observing the atomicyers and structure of the thing.
Thus Alexander even had a full three credit theory course just on how various kinds of microscopes worked, along with the knowledge of how the lens in one worked.
This made him feel confident enough to be able to make one himself.
Thus having done all the math for his required 1000x magnification, which was the bare minimum to be able to observe specimens like bacteria with any sort of detail, Alexander sent the numbers to his ss shop, informing them of his desired thickness and curve of the lens, also called the radius.
While he sent the design of the body of the microscope to a wood workshop.
The body was to be made of wood and looked mostly like a regr microscope.
The lens was to be fitted into a tube with a holder that was able to be slid up and down through a slot in the tube, thus allowing the user to focus and magnify the object they were observing at will.
Sure, this manual way of adjusting the focus for each of the three lenses might seem archaic and tedious, and might not be the not most elegant solution, but Alexander thought it was good enough.
The man nned to have three tubes on top of each other, each housing a lens of specific magnification and focal length, thus producing apound microscope with many times more magnifying power than you could get with a simple single lens.
Alexander was quiet with his design and could not wait to peer through it.
He had even brought the body with him.
Now, he only needed the engine- the lens.
"We are sorry, my lord. But we have been unable toplete the order." However, when Alexander went to collect them, the ssmakers had this unfortunate sentence toment on, as they then showed Alexander all the crushed and broken pieces of ss they had tried to convert into their desired shape but failed.
"Making the lens in the desired shapes and dimensions that you asked for has proven far harder than we anticipated, my lord¡
even with all the diamond tools you provided us. Our apologies," The man in charge of the project lightly bowed his head in regret.
And was soon joined by his second inmand who elucidated on their difficulties,
"Yes. We are still having problems trying to cast the ss in the desired thickness. And even when we can do it, whenever we try to grind and polish it into that concave shape you desired, it keeps cracking or snapping. We require a bit more time¡ to learn how to shape the ss, my lord."
"...." Alexander was a bit surprised to hear this.
Because he had not till now really considered this issue.
He figured that since they produced so many products every day, the ss miths had already mastered at least the preliminary expertise in handling ss.
But it seemed making something out of ss was very different from shaping a small, delicate piece.
Especially when that small piece needed to be crystal clear.
And so, judging by how the ss smiths were sending looking furtive and longing looks at Alexander, wanted him to provide him with some tips on how to solve it.
But s!
Although Alexander knew how to make ss, and the calctions on how to shape it, he did not actually know how to manually do the thing.
He guessed there must be very specialized tools to grind and shape them, but other than the fact that diamonds could cut through ss, Alexander knew of nothing of them.
Such details might have been avable in some of his more specialized courses, but Alexander had not taken them, instead focusing on iron.
Thus with that gap in his knowledge, Alexander skirted around all those ssworkers'' perceived desires like he had not noticed them.
And since the invention of the microscope was not anything critical, Alexander did not feel the need to pressure the men too much.
So with a little tap on the shoulder smiled, "Okay. Don''t feel down about it. Continue to practice, and let me know when you finish. Perhaps you will need to make some special tools."
This hint made many of them see the problem from a different perspective, and some even took it as Alexander testing them, to see their true abilities.
Thus as the extension of the deadline produced a great grin and profuse thanks from the workers, some of the ambitious felt a great need to prove to Alexander.
With that done, Alexander had onest thing to observe, the manufacturing of an air pump, for his football.
The ball itself was made from abination of stitched rubber and leather.
While the pump''s hollow body was made of metal, with a tight rubber dress on top to cover any leaks or cracks.
The piston was too made from metal too, with a rubber disk at the end to make it snuggly fit and prevent air from escaping around its edges.
There was a one-way valve made of leather and rubber installed at the bottom which let air flow in one direction only, preventing backflow and improving the pumping action.
A hose connected the valve to the outside, thus enabling it to blow air.
Alexander nned to first introduce the sport to his army, and then hold an exhibition match to the public.
There was already arge stadium under construction in the city.
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Chapter 993 A Day in Alexanders Life
Chapter 993 A Day in Alexander''s Life
??Alexander spent the following five months after his conquest of Tibias at Zanzan, catching up with his family and getting up to speed on various administrative matters.
His day would typically start a little after dawn, with one or more soft, often bare bodies spooned against him.
While a warm, wet sensation would regrly tingle his lower half, delivered sometimes by his wives, and sometimes by the maids in the house.
These maids were actually ves and trained for especially this purpose.
But Alexander had not procured them himself.
All these beautiful women had been gifted to him by the various nobles as congrattions for his triumph over Tibias.
Even the king, Ptolomy sent him a former pair of sisters tomemorate the asion.
Alexander ''re-gifted'' some of these desirable women to his retainers and subordinates as rewards since he had little interest in them.
But he could not do so to all of them, lest he appear too ungrateful.
It was basic social etiquette that whenever someone gifted you something, you epted it with a smiling face and did not throw it out immediately, no matter how small or insignificant it was.
thus Alexander could only do the next best thing.
He let go of as many ves as possible with the excuse that he already had too many to house in his home, only keeping a selected few from those high ranking nobles that he had to keep happy.
And since there was little need for them to engage in the household chores as there were already enough staff and neither did Alexander need them working in his various shops as he was already flushed withbor, he had them for their intended purposes.
After all, since they were already eating his food and staying under his roof, why should they not make themselves useful?
Thus most mornings, instead of a loud, annoying rm clock or a crude human voice, Alexander had a gentle sucking sensation teasingly wake him up, the technique varying by the girl chosen at that time.
While the girls did this, they would over time evene to recognize the girl Alexander had slept the prior night, as most of the time Alexander''s organ would still be zed with their dried juices, so the taste was always varied.
And once properly woken up, Alexander would thne either take that very girl for a morning workout, or choose another from a list of girls waiting by the next room.
Sometimes he would even do this by lining them up to see which one caught his fancy that morning.
In that line up, there would be a redhead with a buxom figure gifted by Jamider (Earl) Tikba, a lithe, little petite devil that weighed almost nothing given by Talukder (Viscount) Prantik, the two sisters that Ptolomy had sent who had pale, wless porcin like skin, a slender, flexible, tall brte gifted by a Talukder (Viscount) who could bend and twist like a gymnast, and a ck, stocky build, strong girl presented by another Jamider (Earl), who got wet really easily, with trickles of water starting to run down her thigh almost every time Alexander looked at her.
These girls would usually be naked, or at best wearing stylish lingerie in various colors of red, blue, ck, etc, that showed more than they hid.
And as they entered, they would show their both frontal and rear assets, taking various poses to entice Alexander.
Sometimes they would even bend over to give Alexander a ''better'' look, apanied by various lewd wants, listening to some of which would something make even Alexander''s lips twitch a bit.
These words were obviously taught to them by their ve trainers and Alexander had to admit, the sight of those pink slits and twitching buds and the sweet moans these curvy, healthy women made were quite effective at spurring a man''s lust.
So much so that he would have multiple of these women, using them roughly to sate his desire and work out a sweat.
Their actions also let Alexander peek into the lives of the native nobles, for many of which, this was as natural urrence as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
It even made even Alexander strongly suspect that the reason Adhania was in such decline was due to being surrounded by such vices.
After all, even someone as ambitious and determined as Alexander asionally had the brief want of leaving all those hard decisions and difficult potential conquests to his subordinates, while he stayed back and just enjoyed himself at the moment- eating the best food, drinking the sweetest wine, and tasting the finest flesh.
Alexander could not even dare dream of being woken up in such a style just a few years ago.
And he did find the experience almost intoxicating.
And so if this was the case for even someone like him, the temptation for the natives could easily be imagined.
There were indeed reasons for the decline of this country.
Once the girls would get a pumping of Alexander''s spunk, their tunnels able to barely contain it, and their fair asses became red with hard spankings, After would finally get up from bed, feeling like a king, feeling like he once again understood why people pursued power, it was for unimaginable luxuries like this.
Then he and most of the time his wives would exercise for the next two hours, working out in a gym he had at the back of his house.
The ce had various weights, a few very medieval style bench presses made of wood and steel, and even a punching back packed with sand.
After working on those, they would thenplete the routine with severalps around the perimeter of the house, before taking a refreshing bath and then sitting down to have a hearty breakfast at the dining area.
This would usually consist of several types of bread, wholewheat and white, cheese, butter, braised meats such as chicken, beef, venison, and mutton, full, boiled eggs, some kind of sweet dessert, various seasonal fruits, be they whole, cut, or juiced, and of course good wine.
Sometimes however Alexander would have breakfast alone.
Because by this time, the sun would have mostly risen, and everyone in the city would already be at work.
Meaning it would asionally be time for the otherdies to head to work.
If they, however, did not go to work, they would sometimes apany Alexander''s study to practice theirnguage and math skills, or simply talk about the going on in the city.
So Cambyses would tell the various troubles the city guards recently came across the city, or the type of crimes being reported to her.
She would even sometimes retell the variousints people brought to her.
Gelne would inform him of the sales of her clothing brand and the prosperity of the market, such as how optimistically the merchants feel about the future.
Ophenia would inform him of the going on at the temple, of its growth, of the training of the priests, of the building of new temples, and of the various followers who woulde to her seeking a myriad of things.
Be they relief from mdy, sce from heartbreak due to loss, blessing for a new business, god''s protection during a long journey, etc., etc.
Andstly, the woman with the least things to report, Mean would inform Alexander of the ongoings of the house, and what the various maids and ves did.
However, if the girls were too busy for such gossip to take ce, then Alexander would do either of two things.
One, he would hold various parliament meetings at the senate building he had constructed, attended by nobles from various ces, where he would decree variousws and policies.
But if he did not do this, then two, he would spend the morning with his children, teaching.
The youngest of the two brothers and sisters- Afsan and Ophenia were still too young, only two they did not need to attend, but his eldest son Philip was almost three by now, while Alexandria was reaching four.
They were certainly made to sit in front of Alexander with ink and paper.
But Alexander did not actually teach them like a traditional teacher.
For that, they had an old, learned ve that Alexander had purchased.
No, with Alexander, they mostly solved various puzzles and yed different riddle games.
They might be as simple as organizing different colored balls into their respective slots or reassembling a puzzle in the shape of an animal or fruit, to letting them ce the correct shape in the correctyout.
Alexander would also y with them in the courtyard behind, till it came time for lunch.
After that was done, Alexander would usually go for his journal, which he started writing because he was having a hard time keeping track of things, to see his schedule for tomorrow.
And then based on that, Alexander would either work on his own, such as designing various new contraptions, reading Camius''s intelligence report, settling various disputes between citizens, going on a tour of the city with his bodyguards, or just thinking on how to solve various problems.
With that night would crawl in, and with a supper and then the obligatory bed time activities, Alexander would pass out.
Chapter 994 Before Departure
Chapter 994 Before Departure
??With summer ending and autumn fast approaching, Alexander soon got busy tidying up his affairs in Zanzan.
This was because he was scheduled to attend this year''s annual pilgrimage, Jtaama at the capital Adhan at the invitation of Ptolomy.
Given his great triumph over Tibias, it was a basic courtesy to meet the king and ''obtain his blessings''.
As a matter of fact, Alexander was expected to have done this much sooner.
And this time, Alexander too wanted to meet with the king.
Because there were many things he needed to discuss in court too.
There was the matter of another Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuaming to Adhania''s sworn enemy Tibias''s aid during Alexander''s campaign, on which he wanted to know how to proceed.
He also wished to address the concern that one of Sybarsis''s ducal families- the Kaiser family was involved in that matter.
Then there was that little trick Manuk yed, andstly, let''s not forget the event of discussing the twins'' marriage with Pasha Farzah.
All this did not even include discussing future strategies regarding Amenheraft and how to neutralize that threat.
But before Alexander could leave on his merry way to iron out these important objectives, he still needed to get all the various things here in Zanzan in order.
Two years of absence had left him with an enormous backlog of paperwork to catch up on.
So for the proceeding five months, Alexander worked hard to set all the critical things in order, to that Cambyses could once again smoothly take over the day to day.
These things mostly included handling more decision making power to her, such as letting her change tax rates, making trade deals with foreign dignitaries in his absence, and even being able to call a levy if the need be.
And speaking of levies, Alexander also spent time on expanding the army, turning it from a standing force of 10,000 to 20,000, literally doubling it.
The entire process was notpleted yet but was scheduled to be by the end of next year.
And in that same category, Alexander also asked his smithies and armor shops to start ditching the standard issue bronze cuirasses and begin to make the famous Roman lorica segmentata- which was a breastte made from thin sheets of steel formed in an ovepping pattern.
Alexander at first wanted to form a solid breastte out of one single piece of iron but found that the cksmiths were struggling, with the iron sheet constantly cracking when they were trying to shape it.
Thus thispromise.
Along with overseeing the army, Alexander also managed to ce the 5,000 hired mercenaries disguised as workers in his western workshop to be his trump card, putting themand in Cambyses''s hand, with Bartholomew to lead them to battle if need be.
And then Alexander then spent a lot of time setting up the way Tibias would be governed from Zanzan.
This included linking the proper administrative departments with each other, such as Tibias''s tax department with Zanzan''s and dering who reported to whom, detailing which department of the government was subordinate to whom and vice versa, dictating which types of seals to use and where, and inventing new seals if necessary, bridging the gap with the judicial systems of the two ces, introducing a whole host of policies to help Tibias recover from its war torn states and make it more prosperous, to name only a few of the thousand other tedious things.
And although most of them did not need Alexander''s oversight at every corner, many of them still needed his approval.
Which to be frank made Alexander quite irritated, as he felt like he was a glorified rubber pusher, putting his seal on whatevernded at his desk.
He understood that there was indeed a reason why most of the work in a modern government was done by bureaucrats and ministers- because a lot of it was tedious and repetitive.
And for a moment Alexander even felt a bit frustrated by what he was trying to do.
Because usually, things were not this byzantine when conquering newnds.
Typically thosends would mostly be left to their own devices, with the conquering side perhaps at most sending a small delegate to rece the top honcos, so that they could safeguard their interests and make sure the people of thatnd knew who their new masters were.
But Alexander was different.
He wanted to eventually abolish the feudal system of Adhania in favor of a much more centralized system, just like the one Tibias had.
And to aplish this, he needed to link the two ''provinces'' and slowly convert.
Thus all the mundane and head scratching pencil pushing.
Along with these administrative works, Alexander also took stock of the expenses of hisnd that had raked up for that year, and the numbers at first seemed quite shocking to him.
Because even when not considering the expenses of maintaining the military, just the cost of running the rtively small amount ofnd owned by Alexander came to a staggering 150 million ropals!
This was almost equal to a Pasha half a year''s revenue.
All spent on one, single city!
"Has Cam been dumping gold coins into the sea?" Alexander loudly cried out, almost having a heart attack.
But as Alexander then calmed down, he could see where the expenses went- almost all to paying out the sries for the workers.
Almost 50,000 of them!
Which was basically the entire workforce of the 150,000 people in the city!
Among these listed 50,000 were the workers in all the workshops, the various farmers who worked for a wage in the field, theborers at all the various industries like the foundry, cement, brick, and coal briquettes making nts, the miners at the coal, iron, and limestone mines, as well as the quarries, the construction people employed in the various infrastructure projects, the city guards, the priests and priestesses at the temples, the civil workers such as the street sweepers and sanitary workers, subsidy for Camius and Laibak''s intelligencework andstly the many administrators and clerks that kept the entire city ticking.
Alexander employed so many of the avable workforce here that it could basically be said that the entire city of Zanzan was his personal property, not just theoretically, but in full fledged reality.
There were perhaps at best 10,000 to 15,000 men who were not employed by Alexander, mostly small businessmen and their workers, and even then they were undoubtedly indirectly connected to him as they mostly sold his product in retail stores or to people working to make those products.
And so when you looked at it like that, as the biggest breadwinner for Zanzan, it was only natural for Alexander to cough up this much.
And besides, this 150 million was hardly an expense when you considered using them, the city made sales equivalent to 10 times that amount- 1.5 billion!
But still, as Alexander looked at the numbers, he did find the raw value unnaturally high.
And the search for the cause of this led him to discover that although many of the 50,000 workers were actually ves, Cambyses had still chosen to pay a lot of them.
Now, this was not thedy of the house trying to pocket the money for herself, nor was it an ounting mistake.
Alexander had indeed sanctioned this.
Aside from those who were made into ves due to criminal sentences, Alexander made sure to pay those captured in battle or bought from the market a stipend after deducting their food and living costs, promising to pay the lump sum after their emancipation a few yearster.
However, although this generosity had a great effect on worker''s productivity, it also exposed Alexander torge amounts of spending.
And as he nced at that number, he began to see another reason why very existed at this time.
Because paying a fair wage to everyone for their work would either bankrupt the economy or leave so little that you could barely do anything with it.
Such as raising and maintaining a good army to protect yourself.
It was very likely those egalitarian societies that chose to give everyone a fair wage were attacked and conquered by those societies willing to use vebor, as that let them have bigger and better trained and armored armies.
The total civil expenditure of running Alexander''s Zanzan province for the previous year came to around 200 million ropals, while the amount of tax revenue generated during that time was barely half of that- at precisely 95 million ropals.
And even out of that, a staggering 80%, i.e.- 75 million came from the goods Alexander sold, on which he even paid a premium 5% tax!
For context, sales tax capped at 4% in Adhanianw.
And even with thatpromise, Alexander had to foot another 100 million ropals.
150 million if you counted the cost of the military.
This was clearly not fair.
And Alexander very much wished to have a talk with the nobles on tax reforms.
But before he could that, a ship from Lady Miranda had arrived, one bearing news grave enough to take him to take to that distant ind of Galiosos.
Chapter 995 Lord Januss Arrival
Chapter 995 Lord Janus''s Arrival
??While Alexander was ready to depart for the capital Adhan, one inconspicuous morning he was suddenly informed that a small merchant fleet bearing the Margrave Family''s sails had docked at the harbor.
This news surprised him a bit when he got it first because he had gotten no prior letter to their arrival, which was the usual custom of the times.
Thus, given this anomaly, Alexander quickly set up a meeting with the dignitaries that very afternoon, curious to know the reason.
"Lord Janus! What a pleasant surprise! It''s so good to see you are well. How is Lady Miranda?"
The Pasha initially greeted the lone, elderly man dressed in a colorful blue and gold robe with a warm smile in his guest room.
While internally he was a bit surprised to see the elderly man alone, without the matriarch of the house apanying him as was always the case before.
But he quickly thought that he had found the reason himself.
The Lady had gotten married during his while, so it was only natural she could not leave her house like before.
"Haha¡ forgive meing to you unannounced my lord. It was a ¡spontaneous trip." Lord Janus seemed to reluctant to start discussing the reason why he was right away, as he then quickly turned the point,
"Well first let me congratte you on you sessful campaign against Tibias on behalf of the Margrave family. We all at Galiosos have been in awe of your triumph! Please ept Lord Margrave and Lady Margaret''s regards!"
This return greeting from Lord Janus was quite sincere and cordial in tone and words but Alexander keenly noticed the smile that the white haired man''s mind seemed not to be here at the moment, like he was struggling to keep the jovial facade.
This, coupled with the strange, untimely visitmade the Zanzan lord suspect that things might not going so well on the opposite side.
"Thank you, Lord Janus. It was in no small part to the weapons and armors you supplied us. Is everything going well in your part?" Thus Alexander decided to lightly probe.
"Hehe¡ we... we are getting by my lord, " And the anemic reply proved his doubts.
"....." Thus for the next while, an ufortable silence descended on the room, as Alexander waited for the man to reveal his intentions.
While he took the time to take a closer look at his counterpart, causing him to spot weary, droopy eyes and a screen of unease and hesitation underneath the elder man''s normal countenance.
Like he was trying topose himself.
And finally, once the aged lord felt he was ready, Lord Janus finally revealed his circumstances,
"*Sigh*... as my lord has probably guessed there is indeed a pressing concern why I''m here. You see, a few months back the Lord of the House, Lady Miranda''s grandfather Sir Margrave IV sadly passed away."
"My condolences." And hearing it Alexander almost instinctively replied this out of habit.
"Thank you," While Lord Janus epted with this short nod and then continued,
"The lord was already getting on his years, and sadlyst year the city experienced a gue. The gods seemed to have deemed it was his time. We at the family are all still mourning. However, that was not the real tragedy."
"*Sigh*, a far bigger misfortune befell us when Lady Miranda''s son- Marcus suddenly fell to the same disease too a few weeks after that. He was the named heir to the house and worryingly, Lady Miranda and her current husband, Lord Cassius Margrave are heirless. This has caused a session crisis in our family."
With the revtion of the disaster, Alexander sighed in his heart mncholically, especially feeling bad after first hearing about the death of that child.
He had met the kid thest time Lady Miranda had visited and remembered him being very chubby and cute.
They even joked at the time that if the then Cambyses gave birth to a girl, the pair should get married.
Along with this, Alexander also could not help but worry about the same thing happening to his own children.
Any one of their death would certainly hit him hard.
He also knew that despite the advancements his clinics had made in medicine and surgery, they were nowhere close to being able to tackle theplex problem of child mortality, which still remained very high.
Solving that would require the discovery of high quality antibiotics andplicated vination processes.
Thus for now, infants aged from one to five were still in quite the vulnerable stage, with the situation being much worse for boys as they had rtively weaker immune systems than girls.
Thus hempooned at the child''s tragic, untimely death.
And also cursed the dilemma it was bound to put himself in.
"Is Lord Janus here because you want me toe meditate on the matter?" Realizing what Marcus''s death meant for Lady Miranda and her control over the Margrave family''s throne, Alexander was able to quickly deduce the reason for the man''s presence.
"Yes, my lord. I have indeede to invite you to our fief." The elderly man with a thatched head was d that Alexander was so adroit, as he quickly nodded.
And then he went to elucidating on the whole matter.
"As my lord knows, Lady Miranda''s father and most of the other male scions of the family died in that horrific storm five years ago. This huge loss of so many potential sessors at once caused great confusion in the family about who should really seed the family."
"The matters then became even more muddy when many of the remaining candidates were suspected of being in collusion with the Kaiser and other ducal families. Their disqualification has added even more to the kerfuffle." As Lord Janus said this, Alexander detected a great deal of bitterness in his heart, like a father would seeing his children fight with each other.
Alexander was naturally able to deduce what wasing next- that those disqualified were unhappy at the turn of events and now that the biggest pir of the family was gone, wanted to once again contest the seat.
''I wonder how many of those allegations were real and how many were fabricated to fit the narrative?'' Alexander as a matter fact of course also suspected foul y in those eliminations.
Lord Janus however was naturally not aware of these skepticisms and continued,
"Things were still fairly stable when the Lord was alive. He held great authority in his family and with his support Lady Miranda was able to put Marcus as the heir. Then the win against Governor Straus further worked to solidify the family''s position. All seemed to be going well and we thought we were out of the woods¡ until¡*sigh*..." Lord Janus did not feel like repeating the sad news as he let out another deep, sad sigh- his heart aching.
"....." Alexander only carefully listened for now, notmenting, and soon, after the pause Lord Janus once again began,
"After the lord and Marcus''s death, it was Lady Miranda''s younger sister- Lady Linda who rose to oppose her. She has recently given birth to a son and is married to Lord Parker Heeat."
"Heeat?" The utterance of the name suddenly caused Alexander to interject, as he was familiar with that name.
"Heeat as in that Duke Heeat of Sybarsis?" Alexander recalled Lady Miranda mentioning the name to him.
"Impressive, my lord. You have a fantastic memory." Lord Janus was quick to confirm Alexander''s query, nodding, "Yes! The very same one."
This made Alexander wonder how could the second daughter of a mere Earl could get to marry into a ducal family?
It had to be noted that Sybarsis was a monogamous society, so there was no official way of taking a mistress or concubine like here in Adhania.
Fortunately for Alexander, Lord Janus was there to elucidate on that without needing him to pry,
"Lord Parker is only very distantly rted to Duke Heeat, and is himself illegitimate. He was sent here as part of a delegation to Galiosos. We are currently trying to ally ourselves with the Heeat family now you see." Lord Janus casually revealed the family''s intention to switch from the Marsh family to this ducal family, before adding, "And that was how he met the young miss. They seemed to have both caught each other''s eyes and with the Lord of the House''s blessing they got married justst year."
Up until now, Lord Janus''s voice had been jovial, if not at least neutral.
But upon approaching this point, Lord Janus''s tone suddenly turned angry, "Initially the couple were very supportive of Lady Miranda. So much so that thedy even let them handle a lot of the family''s business. And they even proved themselves to be quite good at it."
"That was until Marcus''s death. All of a sudden, even before the child''s body could go cold, the pair started to stir up trouble."
Not only they imed themselves as the legitimate sessors, but they also brought your name, my lord! Saying that the free tradesmen that you made them sign was destroying our economy! And that if they got the seat, they would annul it!"
The moment Lord Janus said this, he had Alexander''s attention. He could not let that happen.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 996 The Galiosian Trade Agreement
Chapter 996 The Galiosian Trade Agreement
??Edit- In the previous chapter- instead of tradesmen, it should be trade agreement.
Alexander had up until now been listening to Lord Janus''s story with mostly a detached interest.
And yes, it was just a story to him.
Sure, he was curious and even a bit concerned after learning about Lady Miranda''s troubles, wishing she would be able to extract herself out of it as soon as possible.
But that was really the extent of it.
The reason for this apathy was because Alexander was still a tiny bit peeved about how Lady Miranda had rejected his marriage, not out of any manly ego, but by how this had made him lose out on the abundant resources of the Margrave family.
Thus, he frankly did not care who sat on that family''s chair, as long as they were still friendly to Alexander.
"What do they have against me? What is wrong with that agreement?" Thus it was only with Lord Janus revealing the other side''s nned agenda that Alexander atst brought his full attention to the discuss, quickly making the inquiry.
He had paid a lot to get that trade agreement and was not going to just sit and suck his thumb while the other side unterally annulled it.
"Ah.. you see my lord, ummm¡ we¡our treasury is currently empty¡ because we are currently running a trade deficit with you. So¡" The elderly Janus seemed slightly reluctant to further reveal his family''s situation.
"Deficit! How?" This was news to Alexander because he felt such a thing should not be the case.
As he then went on to pose. "Shouldn''t you be making coin hand over fist by taking my unique good materails and selling it to the rest of the world using your fleet of ships? How are your treasuries empty? You guys should be richer than me!"
The logical conclusion seemed so certain that if not for the fact that Alexander could see no reason for Lord Janus to lie, the paranoid man would have suspected that the elderly lord was here with a much more hidden agenda.
"That¡" At Alexander''s reasonable query, Lord Janus once again appeared reluctant, his ears slightly burning this time, as if he was unsure if he should reveal their vulnerable position.
But after a slight pause ultimately he choose to confess.
He knew this topic was going toe up eventually, and it might even be needed to convince Alexander toe with him.
Thus adjusting himself, Lord Janus elucidate in a slightly embarrassed voice,,
"Lady Miranda can better exin the matter better, but you see my lord thoserge profits we made were part of the problem. In the past few years, we have been able to sell a lot of your goods to all the surrounding regions around the Central Sea, which let us earn enormous profits."
"But that also caused many greedy eyes to be cast upon us. Did you know pirate attacks on our fleet have more than quadrupled in the past few years, my lord? We have been unable to protect many of them, even leading us to lose a few of our biggest cargo ships! Their destruction has led to significant losses."
This was once again a brand new reveal to Alexander.
He had never received any such report, neither had he suffered any such losses on his own shipments.
Thus with Lord Janus''s information, Alexander even wondered if the two years he was away from Zanzan had led to him overlooking even more crucial aspects of his governance.
"I¡ see. I did not know you were targetted with such enmity. Lady Miranda never mentioned anything in her letters." Alexander thus sounded genuinely shocked, and then turned to then ask, "Who are attacking your ships? Is it the work of all the various foreign powersbined? Or a specific single one?"
Alexander prayed with all his heart that it was thetter, as that would still be manageable.
But if it was the former, that would mean massive trouble, if not absolute doom for his nascent trade routes.
However, despite Alexander''s trepidations, Lord Janus was not able to give a concrete answer,
"I''m afraid the details of the attack are not fully known to me. Lady Miranda tried to suppress all the incurred losses- the ships sunk, the amount of cargo stolen,, and even who attacked us. She probably did this so as to not spook the shipping merchants or the family. Clearly thetter had not worked. But I''m afraid only she knows the exact details." The elderly man sounded a bit dejected for he was quite offended that Lady Miranda had not trusted him with the numbers.
Then, although Lord Janus was not able to fulfill all of Alexander''s wants, he was able to use his vast experience to make an educated guess.
Thus with a pause, he further hypothesized, "My guess is that it is not the actual navies of the various powers attacking us, but various pirate groups funded by them. The small size of the attacking fleets proves that.
For any standing government to do such a thing would be too scandalous. I do not believe any of them would so tantly break the customs of the sea, lest they earn her wrath!" Lord Janus ced his logic on the fear of gods.
And it made sense to Alexander as people really acted ording to such beliefs.
This logical conclusion thus brought some water back to Alexander''s heart, as he traced his chin thoughtfully, ''Hmmm¡ pirate.''
Being from the modern times, this was a pretty umon term for him save for the asional Somalian pirates.
So Alexander had to be reminded that maritime piracy was still a thing here.
There were no US supercarriers keeping the seanes open for the rest of the world to trade freely, but instead, each nation had to fend for itself.
And many times these nations had the incentive to sponsor piracy to pit their adversaries.
Alexander had briefly forgotten about that because he never got any such reports.
"Hmmm¡ pirates¡ I never heard of them being near Adhania. I wonder why?" He murmured to himself, finding the phenomenon quite strange, especially given Adhania had no great navy, or perhaps more urately, no navy at all.
"That''s because Adhania rarely treaded with the outside world, my lord. So no pirate fleet previously bothered toe here." It was fortunate for Alexander that Lord Janus was there to quickly solve his confusion, who then went on to warn in a cock sure voice,
"But trust me, now that you have started trading, and such lucrative products at that, these scums will soone¡ like sharks drawn to fresh blood! Be sure of that."
"...." Alexander could only pursue his lips at this, feeling a slight headacheing as he tried to think about how to tackle that eventual problem.
Fighting piracy was like fighting an insurgency, it was really, really hard, and sometimes even futile, especially in this time period.
However, while the threat of piracy was certainly real, Alexander also still had some questions for Lord Janus.
"Okay, I get that piracy has hurt your treasury. But it still should not be enough to bankrupt you right? Most of the cargo ships must have been able to reach their destinations. And besides, what does all this have got to do with the free trade agreement we signed?"
To Alexander, some parts of the story still did not seem to add up.
And clutching both his slightly mmy palms together, Lord Janus readily answered, "We had a lot of debts umted from Lord Margrave''s time that we needed to pay back in thest two years. The creditors hade knocking. Then there was a special tax introduced to fight Iyizarid that took another significant amount of funds from us."
"Andstly, the rebuilding of our main city Caira from that horrific tidal wave demanded a prodigious amount of gold. So in total we spent the money almost as soon as we got it."
Saying this, Lord Janus then paused a bit, as if sighing in his heart at the regrettable turn of events.
Beforeposing himself once again and exining,
"This is where your free trade agreementes in, my lord. Since there is no tariff on your products, it means our treasury gets nothing when we import your goods. Only when we sold it to others for a profit do we make the money. But as I have already told you¡ selling it has be more difficult."
"As for selling them domestically, my lord, well you should be more than aware of the quality of your goods. They are not only cheap but of very high quality. Goods from Zanzan was a real want among all Galiosians." Lord Janus inadvertently had buttressed cksmith Marvin''s im, before going on to say,
"But the problem this has caused is driving many of our domestic workshops out of business. Especially iron smelting, which had been our biggest industry. However now, everybody only wants your things and nothing else. And in this instance, our own cksmiths cannotpete. With the trade agreement in ce, we are also unable to put tariffs or duties to protect them. Hence there is a growing frustration about the deal in a section of the society."
Truly one man''s opportunity was another man''s misfortune.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 997 Politics of The Margrave Family
Chapter 997 Politics of The Margrave Family
Listening to Lord Janus exin Lady Miranda''s situation, Alexander could finally see how things had gotten to where they were.
The Margraves family faced stifling exports and a copsing domestic market right when their expenses were peaking.
This caused their treasuries to rapidly shrink, resulting in a want of change in the leadership.
"Is the free trade agreement really unpopr with the people?" Hearing the gist of the thing, Alexander thus posed so to Lord Janus, pointing, "We also import a lot of duty free grain, meat, wine, timber, pottery, ores, jewels, wool, ves, and luxurious fabric from you. The trade agreement should be beneficial to these people too, right?"
In Alexander''s mind, the riches should have gone both ways.
"Ye¡ yes, you are right in that my lord. But¡ the volumes are not equal," Lord Janus slowly squeezed out the point, implying the agreement benefited Alexander more than Lady Miranda.
The Margraves bought multiple magnitudes more of sugar, iron, soap, and ss from Zanzan than they sold their own native products there, 5 to 6 times the amount.
But this was not news to Alexander.
In fact that was kind of the point.
Why would he have bothered with forming a free trade agreement if it did not benefit him more?
And Lady Miranda agreed to it because originally, the n was for her to take these products and sell them to other countries and regions, thus making those people pay for this deficit.
But now that logical n seemed to have hit a snag, as Lord Janus went to further say,
"While most of the people are generally happy with your products, it is the cksmith guilds who are most strongly opposed, my lord. Given metallurgy and mining are our biggest industries, the guilds representing them are very strong. It is these cksmith unions that want the agreement repealed. And using their connections and money they even managed to rope a few of the other trading guilds to their cause, putting pressure on us. *Sigh*, things there are not looking good." Lord Janus''s face appeared dejected.
While Alexander could easily see how these guilds were tempting others- ''We are only the first! Next, it will be you. Now it is iron, soon it will be clothes. Then it will be salt and thenstly, they will even drive out our farmers with cheap grains. We must end this free trade right now!''
Most of these fears were overblown, but they would be really effective in stoking fear.
And also, most of these guilds tended to stick together, in a ''you scratch my back when I''m in trouble, and I will scratch yours'' kind of way.
"Do all the guilds support Lady Miranda''s younger sister?"?Alexander thus posed.
"...Ummm¡ most do¡but only a very handful few have actually explicitly announced it. For now, they appear to be content motley cheering from the sides. " Lord Janus''s reply seemed a bit anemic as if he was unclear on the details.
This let Alexander understand the matter was an evolving one.
The Margravess''s situation might be worrying but not yet dire, with only a few bad actors pumping up the crisis.
Understanding the economic situation that had led to this turn of events, Alexander then switched his attention to the political side, starting with the ''fruit'' that this chain of events gave birth to- Lady Linda.
"Who is Miss¡ Lady Linda exactly? And why is she challenging Lady Miranda? I mean why is it her specifically? I recall Lady Miranda having several other sisters too."
"Miss Linda," Lord Janus began with an emphasis on the word ''miss'', as if to say she was unworthy of the title ''Lady'', before continuing, "is Lady Miranda''s third sister. She is currently seventeen and is inws with the Heeat family."
"And the reason why she can put her name into the im is because currently, she is the closest member in our family who has a male heir. Lady Miranda herself is currently childless, and her second sister has only two daughters. This makes Miss Landa''s son the most viable candidate."
As Lord Janus said, Alexander keenly noticed the elderly man gnash his teeth a bit, letting him clearly understand he was not a fan of the woman.
But Alexander did not poke, knowing now was not the time for listening to personal grudge stories.
Instead, Alexander turned his attention to what Lord Janus had said, picking a few inquiries from that reply,
"How does the rest of the family feel about Miss Landa''s im?" Alexander chose to stick to ''Miss'' given Lord Janus''s expressive distaste for addressing her as ''Lady'', as he then went on to pose,
"Did Lord Margraves IV leave any instructions on how to proceed if such a thing happened? And why is Miss Linda even able to make such a im? Shouldn''t the family be waiting for Lady Miranda to give birth to another son? It is not like the Lady is dead right?" Alexander thought he could find quite a few logical ws in this turn of events.
"*Sigh!*" While Lord Janus, instead of answering Alexander immediately at first sighed.
There was bothfort and difort when talking to a smart person.
Comfort as in they were easy to talk.
Difort as in they were very incisive, able to see through many twists.
Thus Lord Janus was forced to reveal, "That should indeed be the case. Miss Linda''s im should indeed be illegitimate¡ under normal circumstances. But the thing is, Lord Margraves did not put Lady Miranda as the head of the Margraves family. But only as the Regent Mother of the head of the family, which was Marcus. Thus officially, she only wielded power on her son''s behalf, until he came of age. So with the child¡ gone¡ Miss Linda is arguing that Lady Miranda has lost her authority. And that now, it should be her elected to be Regent Mother on behalf of her son. Andbined with the economic spiral we are in, many in the family seem to support her, if not openly, at the least tacitly," Lord Janus then ended with another sigh, "*Sigh*, if the Lord was alive none of this would have happened."
From thatst line, Alexander was able to deduce that thete lord of the house had not left any clear instructions on how to proceed if Marcus died.
Should Lady Miranda continue to hold on to power until she once again gave birth to a boy?
Or should the power go to someone who already has a boy?
Alexander personally was of thetter opinion because that was also how Lady Miranda was chosen.
"Hmmm, looks like this Miss Landa has quite a strong case," Thus Alexander murmured to himself, much to Lord Janus''s chagrin.
This was why the elderly lord hadmpooned about talking to a smart man.
While Alexander finished with Miss Linda then switched his attention to the Miss''s better half,
"What is her husband''s position in all of this? Is the Heeat family behind this too? Do they have designs for your family too?"
"The Heeat''s family''s involvement in our affair¡. I''m afraid I do not know." Towards these suspicions, Lord Janus was not fully in the loop, but strongly imed in an acrid tone,
"However, I''m sure there are. Of course, there are! How could there be not! But it is likely only Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius are truly aware of the extent. Negotiations with the ducal family have been very secretive. Even most of the Margraves do not know how far along it is."
Seeing how Lord Janus repeated his suspicions about the Heeat''s family hand in this matter, Alexander understood the elderly man did not approve of this allegiance.
Following this, Alexander then decided to move on to the next topic- the family itself.
"What can you tell about the Heeat family? And how are their rtions with Miss Linda''s husband, Lord Parker? Why are the Margraves switching allegiance from the Marsh Family? And why did you choose the Heeat family specifically?" Alexander bombarded the man with a great deal of questions.
"..." So many that Lord Janus at first felt even a bit overwhelmed.
Until he managed to recover, "Umm¡. one of the ducal families, the Heeat family controls the Lynican region, which is located in the southern portion of Sybaris." By this Lord Janus referred to the part ofnd controlled south of the Central Sea, the section bordering the warring states and the Numadins- a group of nomadic tribal people.
Lord Janus further continued, "They control huge, almost never ending spans of lush grasnds, where they raise all kinds of livestock- sheep, cattle, goats, and most importantly horses. The family''s horses are famous all over Sybarsis, and they even make up arge part of our cavalry. They are also famous for their leather products and quite a fewrge silver mines."
With the general introduction of the familypleted, Lord Janus then moved on answering Alexander''s next question,
"As for why the Margraves choose the Heeat family, I''m not sure about it myself. It was something Lady Miranda had chosen almost unterally one day¡. So I''m afraid you will have to ask thedy about the details yourself my lord." Lord Janus frankly admitted his inadequacies.
Chapter 998 Alexander’s Considerations (Part-1)
Chapter 998 Alexander''s Considerations (Part-1)
As Lord Janus was unable to urately answer why Lady Miranda had chosen to ally herself with the Heeat family, Alexander could only make educated guesses.
Perhaps her family had previous dealings with them.
Perhaps they had reached some kind of deal with regard to the family''s debt.
Or perhaps they were the only ones willing to make a deal with the Margraves in the first ce.
Whichever the answers were, Alexander would have to wait till he met thedy of the house.
For now, though, he returned his attention to Lord Janus, who was still answering his questions,
"As for Miss Linda''s husband, Lord Parker, I''m afraid I have already told you all that I knew, my lord. Recently, I have been busy managing my own fiefs, so have not interacted with the family much."
"But I can tell you about why the family is leaving the Marsh Ducal family. Following their house''s head- Lord March''s death, the Marsh family is currently in tatters."
"Many of their most productivends have been taken by Iyizarid, devastating their revenue stream. And that was perhaps not even the worst of their loss. The loss of the skilledbor force was perhaps even a greater blow than any ess to those raw materials. And this has caused many nobles to have ¡ thoughts."
"Couple that with the session war they have been fighting among themselves till now, they do not even have the time to take stock of their own situation. Forget about anyone else! And after all we did¡ bastards!" As Lord Janus ended his speech, he gnashed his teeth in rage and fury.
It was easy to see that the elderly man still held great love for the ducal family, but their recent inaction had greatly displeased him, causing him to view them as almost traitors.
Alexander did not pry into these matters.
Neither about Lord Janus''s grievance on the March family nor about their well being.
Frankly those things did not matter to him.
From Lord Janus''s description, that family was already on itsst legs, with possibly ongoing armed conflict between the various family members.
So what was the point of knowing about them anyway?
Thus having heard all this, Alexander felt he had gotten at least a preliminary understanding of the situation Lady Miranda was facing.
Thus he turned to address, "Okay, so to recap, the reason why Lord Janus you are here is because the family''s treasuries have be empty due to piracy and cheap goods entering the market, all while Lady Miranda risks being ousted."
Saying so, Alexander then turned to nce at Lord Janus to see if he got it all right, receiving a curt nod in response.
Thus he atst posed the million dor question,
"So what do you want me to do then? I mean I understand you want me to help Lady Miranda. But how do you want me to do to help exactly? Annul the free trade agreement? Lend the family money? Use my army to quell the rebellion? Or some other proposal? Which is it"
''Yes, all please!'' Lord Janus would have loved to have picked the ''All of the above'' option when Alexander had presented his buffet of options.
But that would have been of course too rude.
Thus he could only politely reply, "We¡ Thedy simply wants to meet with you, my lord. The details can be discussed there. Here is the invitation letter."
Saying so Lord Janus quickly produced a long, handwritten by the matriarch of the house from a hidden pocket in his robe.
It seemed that for now, his top priority was getting Alexander to the ind.
The rest could wait.
Alexander took the letter with a steady hand, and unfolding the several pages of text, then spent the next half an hour in silence reading the very long summary.
The document pasted with text on both sides basically retold Lord Janus''s story.
But with two ''novel additions.
First- it asked for gold.
Like a lot of gold- like a few hundred million ropals of it!
''Fuck you, bitch!'' The quoted number was sorge that seeing it for the first time, Alexander almost shouted this out of incredtion, and had to try to stifle his eyes from turning into saucers right in front of Lord Janus.
In context, Lady Miranda''s second ask was much more manageable.
She wanted Alexander toe with some ''good quality'' troops- ''To help with the negotiations'' as she put it.
This Alexander was going to do that anyway.
After all, might makes right in any part of the world.
And anything you said, needed to have the sharpness of swords to implement it.
Thenstly, the letter ended with Lady Miranda professing her sincere apologies that she could not personallye to invite him to her ind since she was still mourning her son, as well as tackling the ongoing crisis in her family.
As a side note, she also promised Alexander to address his concern about the Kaiser family''s involvement in Tibias when he got to the ind, quoting, "This attack on our allies is a serious breach of the treaty. Being able to prove it will even force the Confederation Council to intervene. Such a thing will be greatly beneficial to both our families."
''The Kaiser family¡ I had forgotten about them.'' Reading that name, Alexander was suddenly reminded that they had not discussed this obvious culprit''s name.
So many family names hade up, but Lord Janus seemingly made no mention of it.
''Was it because they are innocent? Or the Margraves have found no evidence of it?'' He hence wondered where this troublesome foe fitted into the whole puzzle of a mess.
Alexander''s gut told him so.
Alexander finally finished reading the letter after a while and then scanned it a few times more to make sure he did not miss anything.
Before finally raising his head to look at Lord Janus, his gaze sharp and gaze.
And the elderly gentleman knew exactly why he was getting such looks, and thus he could not help but suddenly produce an embarrassed smile.
It was the matter of money.
As a businessman himself, Lord Janus was not unfamiliar with loans and debts.
He had both taken and given it many, many times.
But never in the scale Lady Miranda was asking here.
Thus the old man was too ashamed to admit saying the number when Alexander first asked directly.
But since the time had finallye now, Lord Janus quickly elucidated on the matter, "We will not need all the mo¡ money at once my lord. This is simply thedy trying to guarantee a line of credit if the need should ur. Funds we can slowly ess over a period of time. It will not burden Zanzan!"
"..." Alexander neithermented yes or no to this request.
He was currently thinking, weighing his options.
On one hand, he could ditch Lady Miranda and forget about her, thus effectively losing that market and all his hard work with it.
Which was clearly a very bad idea.
Or on the other hand, he could spend a ton of money to try and keep the entire thing afloat.
Problem was, then Alexander would be using a lot of money gotten from that market just to keep that market.
It would be kind of like digging oil to keep the oil wells running.
Or like getting better loot in a game, just to get even better lootter on.
Mostly futile.
Thus many would advise that it would be better to cut one''s losses and keep the up until now earnings to oneself.
An argument made all the more powerful by the fact that Alexander''s side currently seemed to be on the losing side of the ''rebellion'', thus making the prospect even grimmer.
However, if one moved their greedy eyes from money for just a second, they would immediately see a problem with that kind of thought.
Alexander of course knew that Galiosos was a huge market that provided a lot of jobs in Zanzan.
And if he were to suddenly lose ess to it, and he did not want unemployment to sharply rise causing social unrest, then he would have to start paying these workers unemployment benefits.
So all that potential debt money would just be converted into unemployment benefits.
And this was nothing to say of social impact.
Alexander could already imagine it- A lord who gives out free money!
Can you imagine a whole society who lived their whole life hand to mouth suddenly getting ''free money''?
Why would anyone in Alexander''snds ever work again!
And all of this even did not go into mentioning the strategic partnership Alexander had with Lady Miranda.
She was supposed to give him the most advanced, newly built ships for his navy, as well as train those crews on the Galiosian expertise of the sea.
It was something thedy had even made mention in her letter, saying, "The construction of the boats have been moved to the ''Royal harbor'', right next to our house. To ensure their safety from the rebels. I''m sure my lord will be pleased to see their progress."
This was a trio of update, invitation, and reminder to not screw her over all wrapped in one.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 999 Alexanders Considerations (End)
Chapter 999 Alexander''s Considerations (End)
??Upon reading Lady Miranda''s letter Alexander knew he had to intervene in Galiosos whether he wanted to or not, regardless of his personal opinion on the matriarch of the house.
The potential losses his inaction would cause were too great- be it the forfeiture of the huge market, the sacrifice of the naval ships or even the disappearance of the money Lady Miranda still owed him.
And yes, Lady Miranda did still owe Alexander about half ofst year''s purchases- which she had brought with credit, not cash, promising to repay him once she sold the products.
Thus the question here was not whether Alexander should help Lady Miranda, only how.
And the first solution that came to Alexander''s mind was the simplest one- using force.
Thus tracing his chin, Alexander posed to Lord Janus, "In the letter Lady Miranda has asked for military intervention from me. How big an army does she want? Is Lady Miranda intending to initiate a purge? Who controls the family''s army now? Can Lady Miranda stillmand the military?"
Alexander felt that if that was fortunately the case, then everything else would be really smooth.
But at the same time, Alexander also doubted that could be the case, or else things would not have been able to develop this far.
Miss Linda and her husband would already be lying in some ditch somewhere.
"..." Lord Janus could sense Alexander''s skepticism on the matter of the military and thus he made a difficult face.
Then the elderly lord skipped Alexander''sst question to quickly putting on a forced smile, "Thedy does not want to turn her city into a battlefield. She only wants to scare Miss Linda. The troop that she has asked for is only for show! So my lord need not exert himself too much."
From Lord Janus''s words, it seemed his side still wanted to resolve matters peacefully and was only asking for a token force as just a status symbol.
To show that they had the muscles if need be.
"Who do the officers and the nobles support?" But for Alexander, it was much more imperative to know this answer.
Because in a coup or rebellion, usually the side these two forces sided with, won.
".... the army has not sided with anyone yet, my lord. They have chosen to remain neutral, iming this is the family''s internal affair and that they should resolve it themself." Lord Janus had a hint of relief in his voice as he said so, because if these heavyweights had chosen to throw their lot with Miss Linda, then the entire thing would have been already over.
Lord Janus furthermore spoke up to add, "In fact, this is also why my lord need not bring too many troops with you. I believe that such a presence of so many foreign troops will cause the elites to react negatively."
"If they see a foreign power intruding in the family''s affairs, then they will also not have any reason to stay neutral. The entire thing will develop into an armed conflict! We must avoid that. So I believe it will be best if the lord could restrict your numbers to at best a few thousand."
"........" Alexander initially stayed silent on this proposal.
He would have to admit, the logic was there.
Himing off the ship with a huge army might cause Miss Linda to also do the same, turning a situation capable of being resolved with negotiations into a bloody affair.
However even when the situation made sense, there was a strange itch in his heart every time he thought about being able to bring only a single legion.
It was an instinct honed by years of fighting and tackling political intrigue.
He also recalled Lord Janus saying that the army had not taken any side ''yet''.
Meaning they might have in the two to three weeks it takes toe from Galiosos to Zanzan, and Lord Janus would still be in the dark.
In fact from a purely pragmatic point of view, it made sense for the army to take Miss Linda''s side.
She not only had a stronger im to the seat from Alexander''s perspective, but her husband might also be able to ess the vast resources of a ducal family, the same family the Margraves were trying to buddy up to.
And if Alexander could think like this, undoubtedly so could the army.
In fact, the fact that the army and the nobles did not try and stop Miss Linda from contending against Lady Miranda was proof enough of their internal thoughts.
They might just be waiting for an oppotune time to depose Lady Miranda, making the entire thing quick and painless.
Or it might very well be that Alexander was just being hyper-imaginative, and things were exactly as Lord Janus described.
The army might really be just waiting for the family members to solve this among themselves, happy to obey either one of the victors.
''Hmmmmm¡.'' It was amongst all these considerations that Alexander hummed in rumination, trying to evaluate how much of what Lord Janus had said was true, and how much of it was sugar coated, trying to present Alexander a favorable picture to get him toe to their aid.
Because if both the nobles and the army were on Miss Linda''s side, then Alexander might as wellunch a naval invasion and take the Margraves''s territory for himself, before perhaps cing Lady Miranda as one of his retainers to oversee thends there.
"My lord, regarding the negotiations, I have a suggestion," Just as Alexander slumped back on his chair lost in such thoughts, suddenly he heard Lord Janus''s smooth voice interject with a small smile.
And he raised his eyebrow in curiosity to hear,
"Correct me if I''m wrong, but Adhania''s Queen Mother should be staying in Zanzan right? I was wondering if it would be possible to bring Her Highness to Galiosos. It is this old man''s humble opinion that the presence of Adhania''s royal family would greatly help our case."
Alexander''s single raised eyebrow suddenly turned into two hearing this, his interest fully piqued at this, as Lord Janus went to point out,
"Such a thing would be favorable to both of us. The presence of such a high ranking member of the royal family would show that it was not just the Pasha of Zanzan that was behind us, but the King of Adhania, representing the full might of the superpower Adhania. Your words will have far greater weight in our court."
"And then in exchange, once the negotiations are sessful, I''m sure we will be able to convince a few of the ducal families to aid His Majesty Ptolomy when needed against the pretender. What do you think?"
"..." At first, Alexander did not quite know what to think.
He was not surprised by Lord Janus''s knowledge of the country''s civil war, or his mention of the Queen Nanazin, whom he must have mixed up with the Queen Mother Seelima.
It was no great secret that the Ptolomy''s better half was currently residing in Zanzan.
Lady Nanazin and her daughters regrly appeared at the various feasts and parties to meet and greet with the surrounding nobles and were even seen by the public during the triumph celebrations, where the people imed she was sent by the royal family to honor their lord''s sess.
That was not the surprising part.
But the idea of using her in such a way.
Alexander had not really thought that.
Because after bringing thedy to Zanzan, he had mostly forgotten about her, letting her do as she pleased.
But now¡ ''Using her as a delegate and ambassador¡.hmmm,'' Alexander hummed, finding the idea very attractive.
There was no harm in trying, especially since it was not like Lady Nanazin was doing anything nowadays.
Thus he turned to Lord Janus to nod, "Okay. Let me see what I can do. I will take her if I can."
He could not make any promises on the spot without Lady Nanazin''s and much more importantly Ptolomy''s consent.
Because even if thedy had basically separated from the king in all but name, that piece of papyrus iming them as husband and wife still existed.
So it would be too rude for Alexander to take someone''s wife to another country without her lord''s permission.
With the matter of the army and how Lady Miranda wanted to do the negotiations basically wrapped up, Alexander then turned to thest matter on his list- the Kaiser family.
Raising his head, he addressed Lord Janus, "Regarding the matter of the Kaiser family with respect to us¡ what is your family''s stance? When reading the letter I noticed Lady Miranda use some interesting phrases¡ like ''if you can provide proof''.¡ What does that mean?"
By the end of it, Alexander had slightly furrowed eyebrows, clearly unhappy with the wording.
What more proof did they need when Alexander had captured a dozen elephants bearing the family''s standard?
"Ahhh!'' And hearing this Lord Janus first and foremost gave a short embarrassed cry, before elucidating with twitching lips, "Regarding my lord''sints¡ we certainly confronted the Kaiser Family. But they vehemently refused everything¡saying they would not put into ear anything without credible witnesses. Shameless!"
It seemed that despite the evidence the Margrave family had, they were too weak to prosecute the ducal family.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1000 To Galiosos
Chapter 1000 To Galiosos
??In the days following Lord Janus''s visit, Alexander mostly spent his time reacting to the new developments.
First and foremost, he discussed the matter with his retainers and all of them unanimously seemed to agree that an intervention was necessary.
The various nobles expressed their intentions as such,
"We have just taken over Tibias. It still needs a lot of gold to restore the war-tornnds. Losing a huge market like Galiosos in this critical moment will be too detrimental. We must stop it."
"Right! Lacking a proper navy, it is through Galiosos that we export our goods to the rest of the regions. It is vital that we help the Margraves family on our side."
"Yes, my lord spoke the single most important word- navy. We still need the family''s expertise on that¡ if nothing than tobat the pirates."
"Mmmm! Or else we will get stuck relying on only Adhania''s market. That would not be prudent. Not only can the various hostile nobles attack our caravans, but the country might not even be big enough to absorb all of our products!"
The noble who said this was one of the rare few who had a good head for business.
Listening to the nobles stepping up themselves, Alexander was d he did not have to spend much time dealing with too much opposition.
Because of course, there were indeed some.
There were a few who were a bit rmed by the mention of Alexander''s intention to provide relief aid in the magnitude of 50 million ropals to Lady Miranda, thinking it was too much.
That group was led by the ''economic minister''- Heliptos, and ording to that now portly man, this would put the province in even more debt to Alexander.
Something that he was instructed to reduce by the lord himself.
Hence he first tried to make the money be treated as a personal expense from Alexander, and not the part of the state.
But that was shot down by Alexander who argued his intervention was for the benefit of all of Zanzan and Tibias, and thus the people there should too pay.
Hence the second choice was adopted- Alexander would pay half of the total loan requested by Lady Miranda- 100 million ropals, and the rest of the noblesbined would pay the other half line of credit.
And if you were thinking that the entire thing went too smoothly and it smelled fishy, as if the entire show was staged by Alexander and Heliptos- you bet it was.
It was something that Alexander hade up with as a way to try to swindle money from the ever tight fisted nobles, the sess of which left even him a bit surprised.
He did not think the group had 100 million ropals to lend out even when considering the entire ss.
Aside from the economic objection, there was also a bit of militaristic objection.
And it was led by Menes of all people, who groaned that the army might be feeling a bit exhausted at being sent to campaign again just after six months of returning from a two year long grueling war.
But Alexander simply countered, "This is no campaign of conquest. They will be simply going for my protection. As my bodyguards. No what is there to be feel exhausted about?"
Then enticed the generals, "In fact, this will more be of a vacation for them. Seeing newnds, eating novel foods, and meeting all kinds of women. I heard the women from Galiosos are quite promiscuous and love to go behind their husbands'' backs. Especially for strong, foreign men."
This was of course a tant lie, as from how Alexander had seen Lady Miranda act, guessed the people there were quite conservative.
But it was nevertheless a suitable enough story for the officers to cate their dissatisfied soldiers with, as hearing tales of the many wonders thaty there for them, many even began to look forward to it.
While Alexander, from this exchange, also understood that taking more than a legion- 6,000 total men, might not be politically viable, as many of them were stillden heavy with their loot, and thus wanted to enjoy spending it, be it on themselves and their family.
They currently had no inclination to go on a conquest to some far flung ind they did not even know the name of.
With the councils and nobles giving their ''blessings'' to Alexander, they began to quickly help him prepare for the journey due in just two weeks!
This involved quickly reading the army, rapidly requisitioning the appropriate number of ships, and hurriedly gathering the appropriate supplies of grain, fresh water, and other essentials, along with the all important gold coins.
All of which was fortunately possible due to Alexander having a standing force nearby, enough ships already in port that Alexander had plundered them from Tibias, stocked and filled granaries, and a treasury piled with heaps of looted gold.
As these resources were being loaded for the journey, Alexander himself was busy writing a letter to Ptolomy exining his situation and profusely emphasizing how regretful he was that he could not attend the annual pilgrimage- Jtaama.
And for once, Alexander did truly feel sorry, although not the reasons Ptolomy would think.
There were a lot of things that Alexander had wanted to discuss at the court, so hempooned at how new circumstances had developed, making it so that he would have to wait at least six months, if not more to get back to it.
But there was also no way around it.
Going to attend the festivities in Adhan and then returning back would have taken too long.
Especially given that to get to Galiosos, Alexander would need to pass the Mad Sea, which became very rough during the approaching winter, making traversal in those small, wooden ''dinghies'' very treacherous.
So if he missed his chance now, he would have to wait till spring or even close to summer, which was six to eight months away.
That would be toote- Lady Miranda needed help right now.
In fact, Lord Janus seemed to imply such urgency that Alexander did not even have the time to wait for a response to the letter.
He could only send a messenger bird with a short message,
''Your Majesty, I have received a delegation from Sybarsis today. They came asking our help in a matter of their dispute, with the promise of aid against Amenheraft in the future in exchange. Pray forgive me for being unable to attend the promised Holy Jtaama. I''m running out of writing space here. So I have sent riders with the letter detailing the circumstances.
Your Ever Faithful, Loyal Servant- Alexander of Zanzan.''
He received the reply just a few days before his departure, its contents extremely curt, "Okay. Go! I will pray for your sess."
Judging from the handwriting, it was apparent to Alexander that it was Pasha Farzah who had actually responded to his writing.
In fact, going by the tidbits of rumors and hearsays Alexander sometimes heard about the going ons of the court, he doubted Ptolomy even read the rolled original scroll.
At best perhaps he heard it in passing from the prime minister and told him to do as he saw fit.
Because ording to most sources, the king nowadays seemed much more interested in spending time in his room with the mother-daughter pair of the Queen Mother and Hellma.
It was also why Alexander intentionally left the mention of taking Lady Nanazin to Galiosos on that short scroll, only bearing its mention in the long letter.
And even then it was only one very vague line, quote- ''The delegation asked for a representative of the royal family to apany them, so as to best represent Your Highness''s interests. And I have agreed."
There was no exact mention of even her name, but just an implicit indication that the Queen would be traveling with him, because at the moment, there was only one viable royal candidate with Alexander.
He did this as a way to not trigger the king, fearing that just reading the name ''Nanazin'' would cause Ptolomy to object, out of nothing but spite.
This was requested by none other than the Queen herself, whom Alexander had chosen to consult prior to writing the letter.
As for Lady Nanazin herself, she of course had no problem with going to the ind with Alexander.
In fact, she felt over the moon just at the opportunity of being able to travel with Alexander and thus said yes even before hearing what the man wanted from her.
It was also she who helped Alexander solve the matter of witness required by the Kaiser Family.
Initially, the man was of the opinion to beat the confession out of the ducal family once his army was strong enough or use Lady Miranda''s army to extract some confessions.
But Lady Nanazin proposed a better idea, saying that they could take Queen Parthia as living proof.
And it quickly made sense to Alexander.
The only people whose words would have weight in front of the used ducal family would be the man colluding with them like King Perseus or his sessor Philips, or the partner of the family''s patriarch- The Queen, who would be privy to all of her husband''s secrets.
And when this was proposed to Queen Parthia, although initially reluctant to leave her husband for such an extended period of time, a bit of arm twisting and honey words got the woman on board.
Thus around mid August, Alexander set sail for the ind of Galiosos.
Chapter 1001 Talks With Lady Nanazin
Chapter 1001 Talks With Lady Nanazin
The decision to inform Lady Nanazin regarding the matter of Lady Miranda and his wish to take her to Galiosos with him was taken the very next day of his meeting his Lord Janus.
He called her to his study one auspicious morning and thedy entered the study dressed in a simple but elegant white gown with intricate golden stitchings around the ends, her curly hair was made into a bun with two spiraling fringe locks framing her delicate face.
Her feet were hidden by the dress and her face was ruddy and excited, powdered lightly with makeup and only decorated with small jewelry on her ears.
Lady Nanazin looked very smartly dressed, restrained yet emitting a noble aura.
"Thank you for meeting me on such short notice, Your Highness. I hope it was not too sudden." Alexander politely greeted thedy with a slight bow of his head, being seated on arge couch in the middle of the room.
"No, no my lord, I''m blessed that you have remembered me at all." Lady Nanazin''s answer however was far less amicable, unabashedly taking a dig at Alexander for leaving thedy to herself for nearly three years, only meeting her in official circumstances.
Lady Nanazin had expected a much more ''intimate affair'' with him when she came to Zanzan.
However, towards this reply, Alexander could only helplessly purse his lips, finding the Queen''s expectation too unrealistic.
There was no way he was going to bed a queen when there was absolutely nothing to gain from it but everything to lose.
Lady Nanazin was like a discarded puppy to Ptolomy, one he would not care what happened to until it benefited him¡ such as hearing from an anonymous source that another lord was screwing his wife, thus enabling him to extract some major concessions from him.
Alexander would be a fool to step into such an obvious honey trap.
Especially when that honey was not even that sweet.
Lady Nanazin was certainly beautiful, but not at the level to make Alexander lose himself.
The Queen Mother, Ophenia, and even the much older Lady Parthia of Tibias were more beautiful than her.
This was also why he had shrugged off many of Lady Nanazin''s both covert and overt efforts to have an affair with him over the following years, as she often liked to offer whenever they met, such as in many of the parties and gatherings.
The situation had even gotten to the point that Cambyses asked Alexander what was exactly going on with him and the queen, where he then exined the situation.
And it was no different this time, as like always, Alexander cleverly pretended to not hear the Queen''s aggrieved voice, but quickly offered her a seat and therge fruit basket on the table, before going on to describe the situation.
"Thank you foring mydy. The thing is we have received .... so this is why I would very much appreciate if Your Highness could apany us to help resolve the matter."
It took a while for Alexander to finish the long recount, and no sooner had he ended,
"No problem!" came Lady Nanazin''s reply, almost instantly, as she then went on to almost flirtatiously add, "You are being too courteous, my lord! I would go with you anywhere, no questions asked."
The wording she used left little in the way of interpretation.
And towards this overt show of love, Alexander felt his heart groan at the trouble all this might cause, as he rolled his eyes inside his head, "I wish you would have taken a bit more time to ruminate on the matter."
Given the time period, for a woman of her status to be going on such a trip without her apanying husband was almost scandalous.
Thus, if not for the great potential upside to bringing the queen, Alexander might have even had second thoughts.
It was this matter that then became the content of their discussion- how to convince Ptolomy.
"Mydy, you should know better than me that you will need His Majesty''s assent to be able to make the trip. How should I best write the letter so that he agrees?"
At the mere mention of Ptolomy''s name, Lady Nanazin produced a very explicit disgusted face, her brows furrowed, her nose scrunched up, loathing the man.
Thus clenching her perfect teeth, she promised, "I have been with that beast long enough to know hi¡ its habits. Leave it to me. I know what to write."
"Great!" Alexander pretended not to notice Lady Nanazin address her husband as ''it'', but only cheered with sped hands, and then ended tried to end the meeting with a warm smile, "Okay. I think that is all for today, Your Highness. I will be relying on you soon."
But Lady Nanazin seemed to have something additional in her mind, as instead of getting up, she only posed in an advising voice,
"My lord, if you are taking me, why don''t you take the Tibian queen too? I''m sure she can be the witness that the ducal family wanted."
The sudden mention of Lady Parthia surprised Alexander a bit, as he had not taken the Tibian queen into ount when considering this, if for no other reason than that she was a woman.
"Will the people really consider her testimony? They might very well not." He hence could not help but ask to confirm, knowing most cultures tended to disregard such ounts or at the very least find their tongue less credible.
"....Ummm¡." And naturally, Lady Nanazin could not promise anything, but quickly promised, "It won''t hurt to try, right?"
It was true.
Even if Lady Parthia''s ount was not epted, the words that she would speak out would still linger in all the minds, making the Kaiser family''s underhanded y an open secret.
And then who knows, perhaps using this, an opportunity would present itself to Alexander in the future?
As the gears inside Alexander spun considering all these future developments, he suddenly heard Lady Nanazin add with a gentle giggle, "Hehe, and besides, even if nothing else, having Lady Parthia on the journey will make it that more fun! Who knows, perhaps we can serve you in bed together my lord."
"!!!" Alexander''s heart instantly skipped a beat at this low giggle, as he was torn out of his rumination.
"How do you know?" And quickly turning to gaze at the Queen, he blurted out with an rmed face.
The matter with the Tibian queen should have been unknown to anyone outside of his innermost circle, i.e.- his four wives, for its revtion could cause quite a scandal.
Alexander might still be able to extricate himself rtively unscathed but he feared that the very conservative queen might choose to rather end her life than live through the shame.
"Hehehe, no worries, no worries, my secret is safe with you my lord." For Lady Nanazin however, Alexander''s almost pale face was a much more detectable sight, something she had never seen before, and so could not help but giggle,
"Hehe, I never thought the great conqueror Adhan and Tibias would be so scared of a small rumor. Heh heh, how cute. You really should not admit to such things so easily my lord. Or you will notst a month in the capital."
Alexander slightly blushed at how overtly he reacted to the usation, basically admitting to the act on the spot.
And he knew if this was the royal court, generally considered a cesspool of conspiracies and nder, where anyone would spread anything about almost anyone, he would be got.
Alexander had never actually seen the actual Zanzan, since the time he stayed at the city after his conquest was very special.
"How did you know?" Thus to move away from his foible, he once again posed the question, fearing a potential leak.
"Heh heh, rx¡ it was Lady Tayin who told me in confidence," Seeing that sharp gaze, Lady Nanazin first alleviated Alexander''s fear that one of his wives'' waspromised.
Thus he finally unclenched himself, and slouching back, he heard Lady Nanazin''s exnation,
"Recently, I have started regrly going to the Gaia Temple to pray and have be quite good friends with Lady Tayin there. We seem to have quite a lot inmon¡ my lord should know¡. about both your past experiences." as Lady Nanazin then gave a very knowing look.
Alexander gave a light nod to it, thenmented with a surprised voice, "Hmmm¡ I did not know Tayin would share them with you. That''s unexpected."
To which Lady Nanazin jabbed Alexander a bit, "Haha, yes. Like how I did not think you would share my stories with her."
"...." Alexander could only put a forced smile as those sharp eyes pierced his body. He might have shared some things he was not supposed to have.
Fortunately, Lady Nanazin did not choose to linger on that topic for long, but quickly proceeded, informing Alexander,
"It seems Lady Tayin has trouble having conversations with the likes of Lady Cambysus and Lady Gelene. Being born in such different circumstances, it seems they have few things inmon."
"Thus, when she met me, we hit it off quickly and soon began to share our stories. Such as how you bedded Tibias''s queen one night, hehe."
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1002 Talks With Lady Nanazin (End)
Chapter 1002 Talks With Lady Nanazin (End)
Alexander sat with a curious look on his face as he listened to Lady Nanazin recount how she became friends with Ophenia, starting with some small talk, and then going on to describe their own special experiences, the simrity of which slowly drew the two together.
And as they talked, it gradually caused Ophenia to trust the Queen enough to reveal many of Alexander''s personal life, such as informed by Lady Nanazin now,
"Lady Tayin described to me great in detail how you bedded Lady Parthia. I must say I was very impressed by the jib tongue, hehe."
The Queen had arge grin on her face as she said this, as if she was imagining the same thing happening to her.
While listening to all this, Alexander felt that he really should ask his women to control their tongues.
It was in a woman''s nature to gossip, so he would not bar them, but they still should exercise caution.
As for Lady Nanazin, she ended her speech with the enticing promise, "Take Lady Parthia with you and I promise you, my lord, you will have more fun with her than you could have ever imagined. I know techniques that will have that chaste woman howling for your cock. I can even train her to into your personal whore!"
"....." To say Alexander was not at all moved by this promise would be a lie.
He knew Lady Nanazin very well might possess the skills she ims to have given Adhanai''s unique culture.
"Forget it!" However, rationality took hold of him at the veryst second, as Alexander brushed off the idea with a swing of his hand.
Maintaining that rtionship with the Tibian Queen would be more trouble than worth it.
"...Okay." And surprisingly, Lady Nanazin did not try to argue, but only nodded and put on a knowing smile.
She felt that when the time came, Alexander would fold. Ophenia''s description told her he was that type of man.
With all the things they had to discuss covered, the meeting started to approach its twilight, hence Lady Nanazin decided it was finally to discuss her payment,
"Then my lord, since I''m doing you such arge favor, I would like something in return!" The Queen suddenly chimed with a rosy grin.
"Of course Your Highness. Please ask anything and I will fulfill it if it is within my powers,"?And Alexander was quick to reply with a warm smile, although internally his heart groaned.
"Hehehe, I think you already know what I would want!" And Lady Nanazin seemed to easily sense it, as with a mirthful, mischievous grin she very straightforwardly asked, "I want you to fuck me. Here and now!"
She made no attempt to hide her desire.
"...." While Alexander, knowing this wasing, in a cool voice countered, "I do not think doing such a thing would be wise. Even if His Majesty has discarded Your Highness, you are still his wife. I do not want to implicate either of us to the wrath of the god king."
"Heh! God king!" But Lady Nanazin would not buy such a flimsy excuse, as she curled her red lips into a mocking smirk at that word, sneering,
"We both know how you really feel about that limp dicked waste. Let''s us not into that!"
"And what are being scared of? You are already taking me to an ind thousands of miles away without telling my husband. You think anyone will seriously believe you did not fuck me there?"
Alexander had never heard thedy speak so crassly with so much sass.
It seemed the Queen had finally enough of Alexander''s rejection and decided to take matters into her own hands.
"Then, let this help change your mind!" Thus, thedy very eagerly stood up and then without waiting for Alexander''s reply, quickly started to shed her clothes.
She very expertly undid thecings at her back and soon came out her chest, still bound by a ck,cy bra.
Which was quickly joined by a simrly colored stocking and garter belt withce underwear as the heavy gown pooled around her feet.
The luxurious underwear that still garbed her was too special to be a normal one, leaving no doubt that she hade here with the intention ofmitting the act.
Shedding her outer clothes, Lady Nanazin then stepped out of that ''ring of garment'', showing off her high heels, as she then put her left hand on the bent hips, posing like a model, "I will admit I''m not as beautiful as Lady Tayin or even the Tibian queen. But I''m not bad right?"
"..." Alexander had not attempted to stop Lady Nanazin''s actions but observed the entire show with a serene, uninterested face.
A mere strip tease was not going to fluster the experienced man. And since he was being offered a good show, why would he deny himself?
Thus for the moment, his eyes chose to savor the beautiful sight.
They stared at the stylishly made curly hair that was bundled up like a tower, observed the beautifully sculpted flushed face and plump cheery lips, roamed over the voluminous twined peaks bound by a tight bra, nced at the wide, healthy hips, salivated at the deep valley of the groin hidden by a singleyer of fabric and licked the long fleshy legs covered in ck stocking standing on stylish heels.
The lingerie not only let Alexander see much of the body but also those parts that were supposedly hidden, being so in name only.
The translucent fabric of the night dress had no problem in showing much of the mother of three''s creamy breasts or even her soft garden, which Alexander could see was totally shaved, and was even starting to form a wet spot out of excitement.
Looking at this cury specimen, Alexander first and foremost could not help but sigh how Ptolomy had chosen to neglect such a beauty to go chase some distant dream that he did not ever have a ghost of a chance of achieving if not for these extraordinary turn of events.
But then again, perhaps the way he treated his wife ''at night'' was his way of appreciating her, who knows?
Speaking of the way the king abused his wife, those scars still had not disappeared as Alexander could still their presence.
"Come here!" Thus with curling fingers, Alexander asked Lady Nanazin toe close to her, which thedy was more than happy to do with a small hop and a skip.
"Here my lord." Lady Nanazin presented herself in front of the sitting Alexander with her hands behind her head and legs spread out, just as she had been taught, thrusting her crouch right towards his face.
And as Alexander leaned forward, not only could he see the drooling organ due to the bright light, but even smelled the strong female pheromones emitting from that ce.
The sight was so tantalizing that he could not help but strongly pinch those lips from above the clothes, and feel the water ooze out of the underwear, "You are already so wet!"
''Yes! It is because of you, Alexander. I''m ready for you. Take me!"Lost in her passion, Lady Nanazin subconsciously discarded the honorifics, wishing for nothing but to be eaten by Alexander.
"Hmmmm," And as Alexander hummed and pinched the lips a few more times, finding the feeling of the delicate flesh exquisite, "Ahhh, yes.. Ohhh¡" she instinctively arched her back and pushed her buttocks up, wanting to be prated.
But Alexander had other ideas.
Moving away from that secret garden, Alexander finally turned his focus to the sight he wanted to observe- the many, small, burn scars dotted across her body, particrly around her belly and thighs.
He still remembered how thedy cried when describing how she had gotten them, a small, hot poker used by some sadistic beasts to make her scream and getting enjoyment out of it.
Due to years of salves and oils, they had be a lot more faint by now, nothing like the ghastly sight he had seen three years ago.
But they still lingered, forming a faint contrast against the darker surrounding skin, giving those parts an almost exotic look.
It was like some of her body was stipped like a tiger.
"My lord, is something the matter?" While Alexander was observing these scars, seeing the man suddenly stop and start tracing her skin, Lady Nanazin abruptly called out to Alexander, her voice a bit apprehensive.
"Is it too ugly?" She very much feared the answer.
"No! I''m just d that you recovered fully, mydy. Hopefully, over time these faint markings will too go away." Alexander''s light voice felt like a thousand flowers blooming inside Lady Nanazin''s heart, and
*Splurt*, *Splurt*, Alexander suddenly felt thedy''s lower area violently twitch as her underwear became almost like wet tissue paper.
She was that moved by the answer.
And then Alexander looked up to see she was literally crying, with two solid streams running down her cheek.
Thement might have seemed a simple throwaway to Alexander, but it meant the world to the other party.
The waterworks however also douched the pink atmosphere of the room, as seeing it Alexander raised his head to propose, "Since mydy is so adamant to be with me, let us wait till we get back. Instead of hastily doing it now, we can properly start once we get back from Galiosos. At that time, I will also have an important position to give you."
Chapter 1003 Compass
Chapter 1003 Compass
Alexander''s trip from the port of Zanzan to Galiosos took exactly 13 days, with the entire journey being mostly uneventful, save for the constant rocking and swing courtesy of the choppy, that soon made both Lady Nanazin and Lady Parthia sea sick as none were ustomed to this rough tumble.
And this tussle meant sadly meant none of those fun times promised to Alexander by them were possible.
Thus the man mostly spent his time with Lord Janus on getting to know the situation a bit better, asking him various in depth questions about the matter, while subsisting on dried, tasteless food and stale water made bearable only through the mixing of copious amounts of vinegar.
While at other times, Alexander would asionally take a stroll through the ship, both appreciating the old, ''rustic'' design, taking in the novel sights, but alsompooning its size.
Because although it might not be apparent to the casual modern person, these so called ''ships'' were more equivalent to arge modern yacht.
They were that small.
But perhaps it was also that that made the thing even more impressive, given each could carry not only 100 men plus crew but all their food and supplies, with the most important one being drinking water.
Alexander had always found it ironic that despite being surrounded on all sides by nothing but never ending spans of water, not a single drop of it was drinkable.
In fact, drinking it was poisonous.
Thus a substantial portion of the ship''s space was taken up by barrels of drinking water, as given the humid weather and the strenuous act of running the ships, each person had to be allocated about 5 liters of water daily.
Meaning the roughly 150 men and women in each ship had about 20 tons of water for the journey- taking up a staggering one fifth of the ship''s entire cargo capacity- just for that one item.
It was because of this that all ships of the time were verypact, trying to make the best use of every single inch.
But although this resulted in a very efficiently designed structure, it was also very cramped.
Most of the crew slept not on beds as the wooden furniture was deemed too big and bulky, but on hammocks, arranged precariously in rows over each other, which swung gently from hooks along the walls
Their personal possessions, however scant that they may be, were stowed neatly in chests and barrels beneath and besides the hammocks, containing dresses, coins, jewelry, personal possessions, and sometimes even provisions such as salted meat and hardtack biscuits to nibble at before sleep.
The kitchen- known also as the galley upied one small corner of the vessel, consisting of a simple hearth constructed of brick and stone, being worked on seemingly 24/7 by a team of cooks.
The scent of stew and sizzling meat wafted out of there, mingling with the salty breeze that drifted in through the open hatch above.
Andstly, in the capital''s quarters,y various navigational instruments, their polished brass surfaces gleaming in the flickering light of oilmps.
Charts and maps were spread out on a sturdy wooden wall, detailing the course of the ship''s journey and marking the locations of various ports.
Next to them was a brass astrbe, which was used by sailors to determine their currenttitude by measuring the angle between the horizon and the position of celestial bodies, such as the sun or certain stars.
A lead line resided on a hook nearby, which was a weighted line used to measure the depth of water beneath a ship, thus allowing the sailors to avoid running aground in shallow waters.
Andstly, to measure a ship''s speed through the water, were was a log line and knots, which was a length of rope with evenly spaced knots tied at regr intervals. By trailing the log line behind the ship and counting the number of knots that passed overboard in a certain time period, sailors could calcte their speed in knots.
As a side note, this was also how the unit - ''knots'' came to be.
Alexander toured the variouspartments of the ships in his free time if nothing else than to stretch his legs.
And as he did, he also made sure to take note of various things that he thought he could here improve.
Such as recing those heavy, bulky wooden barrels with ones made of forged sheet iron, thus drastically increasing the cargo capacity.
Or inventing the standard cargo container, which would make loading and unloading ships tens of times easier.
Currently, most ships, carrying their goods in round barrels or even fragile pottery, had to be emptied one item at a time by hand, an extremely tedious process to say the least.
Andstly, Alexander thought of inventing thepass.
In fact, he already had one with him, as a ''potential'' gift for Lady Margaret.
Because as you might have noticed, the captain''s quarters had nopass.
There was a very primitive version used by some of the most powerful naval powers, consisting of a lodestone, which was a special kind of maized iron needle found in nature, floating in a bowl of water, which would then align itself with the Earth''s maic field to indicate the two poles.
But the strength of the ma was usually too weak for it to be able to reliably keep pointing in the same direction, as even the weak surrounding maic field would disrupt the navigation.
Heck, well getting close to it wearing something like an iron ring would cause the needle to wobble.
And this was not mentioning the problem with the setup.
Required to be suspended over water, which would constantly be shaking and vibrating due to the ship''s traversal over the rough sea, meaning many times, ''north and south'' changed depending on the weather, or even the side the ship tilted on!
And all of these problems did not even address the most pressing matter, that it would lose its maism over time.
So you might be traveling to some distantnd and then suddenly thepass loses its maism with you none the wiser.
One could only imagine the catastrophe that would cause, when at sea, with no reference point, your east and west became north depending on which side of the instrument you chose to look it at.
This great unreliability was why this primitivepass was not yet in regr use, another being that despite its limited utility, it was still a heavily protected secret by most of the powers possessing it.
Because some navigation was better than none.
Hence the instrument was only fitted in thergest and most important ships of the nations.
And Alexander wished to do the same for his new and improved item too.
Only giving it to his most trusted admirals and allies.
As for whether Lady Margaret fell into that category, it remained to be seen.
Alexander intended to use this item only as a trump card in the following negotiations, to entice the Margraves to follow him in exchange for this technology, should the circumstances be grave enough to deem it so.
That''s why it was a potential gift.
And remembering this, Alexander took it out to gaze at the tool, finding the craftsmanship quite beautiful.
The circr disk thaty within his palm was made of solid, cast iron painted gold, with the directions and lines written a mixture of blue and gold.
There was arge, clear ss covering the disk''s surface, to make it that grand, and through it, Alexander could see the steel maic needle, shaped like a beautiful diamond and painted matt ck.
It was ced on a hinge right on the center of the disk andying evidence to its strong maism, remained sturdy like a mountain despite the constant pitch and yaw of the vessel, always pointing to the poles.
Alexander had made this once normal steel needle maic by aligning the chaotic maic domains within the steel into an organized straight line.
To do this, first, he had to get hold of a permanent ma.
This he did by getting one of those lodestones- something that was easily found in the iron mines he owned.
With this in hand, we then identified the north and south poles of the permanent ma.
This was child''s y given Alexander of course knew which direction his house faced rtive to the absolute directions.
With this, he took the permanent ma and ensuring that the north pole of the ma was facing the steel needle, began to stroke the steel along its length repeatedly in one direction.
So he rubbed the permanent ma up against the needle and then disengaging, brought the permanent ma back to start all over again.
Alexander did not just go back and forth because then he would then align the needle''s maic domains to the north when going up and then south whening down, wasting all his effort.
Thus, it had to be done in only one direction.
He continued to repeat stroking the steel with the ma, regrly checking against a pile of iron filings to check for the level of maism.
And finally stopped once he was satisfied with the strength, and watched with amazement as when the needle was suspended using a string, it naturally turned to face the poles..
Vi! The world''s first maicpass had been invented.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1004 Caira
Chapter 1004 Caira
??After what seemed like an endless stretch of ocean, finally, a thin strip ofnd began to reveal itself over the blue horizon on the thirteenth day.
At first, there was seemingly nothing, just the vast expanse of the ocean meeting the sky in a seamless blend of azure hues.
But then, like a mere whisper on the canvas of the sea, a smudge perhaps came to appear in the gradient where the cerulean waves meet the boundless sky.
And as time unfurled and the ship got closer and closer, the ephemeral illusion started to give way to undeniable reality, taking form and substance.
The faraway horizon transformed into a distinct outline, and Alexander was able to soon spot evidence of human civilization in the distantnd- a rugged coastline etched against the backdrop of the endless ocean popted with ck dots that were constantly moving and shifting.
Cliffs rise defiantly along the left side of the port, crowned with verdant foliage that cascaded down to meet the foamy embrace of the waves, and when Alexander got closer, he could see that attached to the maind was a small ind, connected via a man-made bridge.
Lord Janus had told him about this ce- called Phyrros Ind, it housed a lighthouse and was a military base before the disaster struck, used to keep an eye on the ships entering and leaving the harbor.
But now had been left abandoned, with only the wooden skeleton of a lighthouse gracing his shores.
Further evidence of the devastation of the tsunami was presented to Alexander as the ships started to enter the mouth of the harbor, where he was soon able to spot small debris of the destroyed arch that used to once protect the wharf from rough waves, still bobbing up and down on the waves. Some of the ships had to expertly navigate around these to avoid collision.
Alexander''s ships did not enter the regr harbor used by everyday merchants and tradesmen. Instead of the Great Harbor, they turned slightly right and entered the ''Royal Harbor''- which was the personal harbor of the Margraves Family.
There, a group of representatives of the Margraves family was there to greet him, including Lady Miranda''s husband, who stepped forward to personally wee Alexander to his carriage, "Wee to Caira, Lord Alexander. We are honored that you could make the long journey. I''m Lord Cassius. Miranda has been hoping for your arrival day and night."
Lady Miranda had note by herself because at the time it was generally deemed too inappropriate for a woman to ept foreign dignitaries.
Plus, given the developments, it felt prudent to always leave someone to hold the fort.
Alexander spent a little while exchanging polite pleasantries with therge, round man with a thick beard and soft, kind looking eyes, finding this distant cousin turned husband of Lady Miranda a man of genteel demeanor and courteous behavior.
''A nice man! But I wonder how good a lord?'' Which then caused him toment so, since Alexander had interacted with a lot of lords, and came to somewhat recognize their traits.
Alexander thought Cassius might be a good man but perhaps not the ideal ruler.
Of course, he could be wrong but that was the initial impression he got.
The journey from the ''Royal Harbor'' to the Margraves''s mansion was a short distance away, but even then, Alexander was able to spot the unique architecture and generalyout of the city.
Caira was a great reflection of Sybarsis''s engineering prowess and urban nning and influenced by their long traditions and techniques, it boasted a distinctive architecturalndscape thatbined elements of grandeur, functionality, and practicality.
The houses were built with a distinct spiraling top and high arched design, with one of the most prominent features that Alexander noticed was the use of durable building materials such as stone, brick, and mortar instead of wood to construct them, which was in much contrast to the current state of Zanzan, that was still reliant on the gift from the trees.
Alexander did not know whether the city had started the practice after the disaster, in an attempt to construct sturdier structures, or had existed long before that.
At the heart of the city stood the city center- a sprawlingplex of public buildings, temples, and open spaces that served as the civic andmercial center of the city.
Seemingly modeled after simr structures in the maind, the ce was characterized by grand colonnades, marble facades, and ornate statues honoring the Sybarian gods and famous merchants.
Surrounding it were awork of streets and squares, lined with shops and taverns, selling various local produce like fragrant oil, wine, and pottery with unique designs native to the ce, to ores, stones, metalworking, and luxurious clothes, to delicacies like pies and various pancakes and dumplings.
Of course, the shops also had exotic imports of many of those things, one of which Alexander was tasting right now- an alcoholic milk beverage called ''Kumis'', which had been sweetened with honey.
The cool taste felt very refreshing.
The materials used to make these shops and taverns differed greatly in quality, ranging from simple timber-framed structures to more borate stone buildings adorned with decorative, colorful motifs and frescoes.
But the most iconic architectural monument of Caira was itswork of public baths.
Theserge,munal facilities, built using abination of baked earth and stone, were a grand spectacle to behold, with thergest one reaching a staggering 30 meters tall and about 300 meters in both length and breadth.
Even for someone like Alexander, the sight would have been breathtaking, with its interior featuring a series of heated rooms, pools, and even saunas for the residents of the city to indulge themselves in, designed to provide a luxurious bathing experience.
And staying true to its purpose, people from all likes of life would enter these numerous baths, to not just cleanse themselves, but also to socialize and rx.
Alexander was only able to see the spiraling dome of the bathhouse from his carriage as he was taken to Margraves'' estate when his mind quickly diverted to the sight of the mansion itself.
Therge four story structure seemed to have been rebuilt perfectly, with absolutely no evidence of it ever being destroyed or even damaged.
In fact, the new coat of white paint even gave the building a brand new, sturdy feeling, its sprawling structure making it appear grand and imposing.
Alexander was finally able to cover the short distance from the harbor to the mansion, where at the gate he was received at the gate by a second enthusiastic group, this time actually led by Lady Miranda.
Standing at the lead of the group, Alexander found the raven haireddy had be slightly plump since hest met her, her face puffed and eyes slightly bloodshot,
She was dressed appropriately for the asion, in a jet ck gown devoid of any embellishments or jewelry, in mourning for her son.
And as soon as Alexander stepped out of the carriage, Lady Miranda gently cried out in a relieved voice, "It''s great that you could make it, Lord Alexander. We are reassured. I hope the journey was not too rough on you."
"The seas were fortunately calm as theke, by the grace of the gods." Alexander replied in a light voice, before offering his condolences, "I''m so very sorry for your loss, mydy. The gods¡ can indeed be sometimes cruel to us mere mortals."
It was as such that Lady Miranda and Alexander exchanged a few more tidbits of pleasantries, with Lady Miranda professing her relief at Alexander''s time arrival, before quickly inviting him inside to partake in a feast arranged for him.
And it was only the next morning that Alexander was able to tackle the issue he hade all the way here for.
"Mydy, Lord Janus has already informed me on much of general the situation. So would you be able to borate?" Meeting the couple in their study, Alexander posed so, then pointed out, "I have not seen either Miss Linda or her husband in the party yesterday. Are they not present?"
"They are, my lord. They have just decided to not show themselves. I believe they are waiting to see what you do." Lady Miranda''s response was very curtly and hard, and following this, knowing time was of the essence, she then revealed with a sh of her palms, "I will not honey coat our present circumstances, my lord. It is not good!"
"Following my son''s death, my sister has already swayed much of the family to her side. I do not know if Uncle Janus has told you, but over thest few weeks, she even managed to move much of the military on her side. It is the hands of her husband Parker Heeat, and led by one of his subordinates- Achis."
''Dammit!'' This was the worst news for Alexander, as hearing it he groaned, ''Here I thought I would not have to fight! *Tsk*!''
And then asked for rification, "How many men do they have? Where are they?"
"They are upying the southern half of the city. They have 20,000 men and 2,000 cavalry!" Thedy''s voice sounded like the grim''s reaper malevolent ravings to Alexander!
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Chapter 1005 Lady Miranda vs Miss Linda
Chapter 1005 Lady Miranda vs Miss Linda
??The loss of control of the military as confessed by Lady Miranda sent a great blow to Alexander.
What he had feared most hade true.
And worse it was an unimaginable mismatch.
5,000 vs 22,000!
More than a four fold mismatch, with 2,000 of that being cavalry.
Even if the 5,000 legionaries were the famed warriors of Sparta, and they were only facing 22,000 green peasants, Alexander would not be hopeful of his chances.
Heck, even if those 22,000 were mere pigs, he would be hard pressed to win.
Alexander at best could fight as much as twice his numbers in a pitched battle and still hold hope to eke out a victor by relying on the use of clever tactics.
But anything more than that, and he would be hard pressed to do anything other than defend and hold on.
Quantity had a quality of its own as they say.
Thus for a moment, Alexander regretted not bringing more troops, even if there was the risk of them mutinying.
But what had been done was done, Alexander could not change the past.
So refusing to cry over spilled milk, he decided to forward to dealing with the challenge, putting his trust in his negotiation skills as his only option.
Finding himself ''out muscled'' thus Alexander quickly got to preparing his tongue, wanting to know more about the situation he was in.
First and foremost starting with the biggest contender,
"What can you tell me about Miss Linda exactly, Lady Miranda? When did your sister start harboring such thoughts about you? And when did you find out?"
"Snort! Linda has always shown great ambition in life. Even as a kid, she used to say she would marry the sessor of a ducal family¡ even being a mere third daughter! That''s why she pretended to love to suck that stray cur of a bastard so much!"
Alexander was surprised by the sheer amount of venom Lady Miranda disyed towards the couple, her tone crass and disdainful, not at all befitting a regaldy.
It seemed that the death of his son and the current developments had driven thedy to eschew all such formalities, as she went to add with clenched and gritted teeth,
"It''s just too bad she is not nearly as smart as she thinks she is. An idiot whose ambition exceeded far more than her abilities. She doesn''t even understand that she is only being used as a pawn by that two faced husband of hers to gain control of our family. Mother must have dropped her on the head the very day she was born to turn her this stupid!"
"....." Alexander at first watched with slight amusement at the animated way Lady Miranda was cursing her sister, as he never thought the prim and properdy would be this colorful in hernguage.
Thedy in front of him was very different from the one he had met back in Zanzan all the way back.
But then quickly recalling the precarious situation he himself was in, Alexander decided it was no time for entertainment, and quickly further inquired,
"Has mydy attempted to reveal these suspicions to Miss Linda? What did she say?"
"Of course I have! A thousand times I have!" Being reminded of all those loud and screeching discussions she had, with almost all ending with her storming out of the room, Lady Miranda appeared to be even more inmed than before, going off in a tirade,
"But did she listen? No! Of course not! She only thinks I''m only trying to trick her. The greedy pig has always been like that. Foolish and blind! I should have never trusted her."
Thisst line reminded Alexander that Miss Linda and her husband had seemingly given important positions in the family.
So Alexander could not help but ask, "If mydy knew Miss Linda so well, then why did you give them ess to such power."
"*Sigh*, it was because of me!" The owner of the answer was surprisingly not Lady Miranda, but the man sitting next to her, her husband Cassius.
Letting off a slightly mournful breath, thisrge man had a mncholic tone to his voice, as he then went on to say in a gentle voice,
"Miranda had always been hostile to Linda from childhood. I thought that was why the two sisters were on such bad terms. So I convinced Miranda that if Linda was allowed to have some power and responsibilities, she would be satisfied with her position and stop causing trouble. *Sigh*, clearly that has not worked."
Seeing the man shake his head in regretfulmpooning, Alexander fist had the urge to roll his eyes at this naive thought.
He was right in thinking this man was soft.
Now, a point could indeed be somewhere made that an oppressed person would continue to struggle until they received their rightful treatment.
But Miss Linda was clearly not any ignored or neglected child.
No, from the sounds of it, she sounded like either a love struck fool or a spoilt brat.
Giving power to either was clearly a big mistake.
And not something apetent lord would do.
Thus Alexander wondered how this man was chosen to be the consort of a woman who was tasked with navigating their family through the most perilous time since its inception.
You would think Lord Margraves would choose a much more aplished lord to aid his granddaughter in her endeavor.
But then Alexander reasoned to himself, ''Perhaps Lord Cassius was the best avable candidate, the one with the closest im to the family''s seat after Lady Miranda. Thus by marrying them, the elder lord killed two birds with one stone- remove the biggest rival and strengthen his position at the same time.''
And then quickly thought of a second reason, ''Or it could be that the previous patriarch of the family felt that Cassius was soft and malleable, which was exactly why he chose to hand Lady Miranda over to the man.''
''Reasoning that marrying a soft man would let Lady Miranda keep him under control and never let him influence her decisions, such as if one day he wanted to rece Marcus with his own children.
Lord Margraves IV might have even thought the infant Marcus would be safer under such a man.''
Alexander did not directly ask the couple about why Lady Miranda chose her current husband, or about his capabilities and deficiencies.
But he did judge the man.
And so did Lady Miranda, who being reminded of the mistake, quickly pointed to her husband, and shouted,
"Yes! We are in this much trouble in no small part to you. How could you believe Linda was anything but a snake! Even before Marcus''s death, she was eyeing my seat like a vulture. Don''t you know anything about her?"
"Lazy as a pig, dumb as a rock, yet as ambitious as the devil. Wants to do no work, but wishes to take all the credit." Lady Miranda''s beautiful face once again twisted in anger at the thought of her usurping sister, while Alexander was more surprised by how imperiously thedy talked to her husband.
This was a first for Alexander ever sinceing to his world almost 15 years ago!
Such talks might bemonce in modern times with even conservative coupes, but in this time period, it was rarer than a phoneix''s feather.
No wife talked to their husband like this, not even privately.
Forget it being in public, in front of another man.
The humiliation was such that it would be unimaginable.
This same rule applied even in the case of Alexander''s closest wives Cambyses and Mean.
In their day to day interactions, they never spoke to him like that, instead possessing a differential undertone that was produced simply by the ambient social circumstances.
They of course still argued with him and even shouted and screamed but even then they never dared to act like Lady Miranda was.
Which also let Alexander glean that Lord Cassius was likey solidly Lady Miranda''s thumb- further proved by the fact that the letter he had received from Lord Janus only had Lady Miranda''s seal, but not her husband''s.
Thus perhaps the decision to give Miss Linda was not an arbitrary decision made by one side, but instead likely initiated by Lord Cassius and sanctioned by Lady Miranda.
The reason why Alexander thought this was also because he remembered the letter Lord Janus had presented to him only had Lady Miranda''s seal.
But not her husband''s.
This was certainly very unusual as a man''s position in a family was always high.
While Alexander tried to filter out the biases, Lady Miranda suddenly turned to Alexander to recount,
"Gods! Did you know Lord Alexander, that when I first returned from Zanzan with those metal ores, she actually tried to take credit for it! Saying it was all due to her because she introduced Harold to me? Can you imagine?"
"Bitch if you trusted Harold''s words so much, why didn''t you go to Zanzan yourself? Why leave it to me to make the journey? I was five months pregnant then!"
"....." If what Lady Miranda was saying about her sister was indeed true, then Alexander would have to admit, that this was a problematic woman
I
Chapter 1006 The Sybarian Council
Chapter 1006 The Sybarian Council
??Hearing the characteristics of Miss Linda from Lady Miranda, Alexander felt that if what she was saying was indeed true, then it would be hard for him toe to a reasonable resolution to the whole affair.
Not only would he not be able to let Miss Linda take the Margraves family seat, but even letting her share power with Lady Miranda would be a difficult prospect to swallow, for even half a a rotten apple was still an inedible apple
Of course, Alexander also made sure to take Lady Miranda''s words with just a touch pinch of salt, for there were bound to be some biases in her ount.
For instance, Alexander also recalled Lord Janus saying Miss Linda was quite sessful in her new role, something Lady Miranda conveniently forgot in the midst of all her ''beautiful'' expletives when describing her sister.
But Alexander did not harp on those matters for now,
Instead, having gotten all that he wanted on this matter, he swerved around to the next matter,
"What about the rest of your family? Surely they too know about your sister right? Why are they supporting her?"Alexander switched his attention to herrgest supporters- the members of the Margraves family.
"...." Lady Miranda was not able to instantly give a reply to this question.
But instead turned to look at her husband with a difficult face, as if she wanted him to give the answer.
And Lord Cassius seemed more than happy enough to take the fall for his wife.
He thus began with a slightly reddened face, "Ahem¡ Lord Alexander, you should be aware of the great financial difficulties we are having. And Miss Linda has promised us relief from them. This has allowed her to gather quite a bit of support from the family. Many are willing to overlook her past mistakes, convinced that she has changed."
And hearing so Alexandermpooned in his heart, ''Money does make people blind.''
He could also understand why Lady Miranda was reluctant to say it herself- because the financial difficulties were in turn caused by Alexander''s agreement.
But both sides cleverly decided to swerve around that matter, as Alexander instead inquired, "How much debt is your family in? I have brought some coins with me. So it might help."
"It will! Of course, it will! We are very d that you did, my lord." At the mention of mere money, Lady Miranda instantly lit up to express her gratitude, before quickly promising, "With this, I''m sure we will be able to swing the tides in our favor. We are very grateful."
Alexander was a bit surprised by such an enthusiastic response, realizing that the family was really that cash strapped.
He previously had not expected the problem to be this bad, instead assuming that Lord Janus was just exaggerating the story to win Alexander''s sympathy.
Thus sensing the problem to be truly dire, he decided to prod a bit, asking in a surprised voice,
"Has the ongoing piracy really affected the family this much? Surely it can''t be that bad right? They are just small scale pirates. And you are a mighty family!"
"I''m afraid it is, my lord." Lady Miranda''s tone however was bitter, as then bringing her brows closer together, the slightly plumpdy informed Alexander,
"The reason for this is mainly Sybarsis. I don''t think my lord knows this about our country, so let me tell you. There is a very specific way we protect our trade routes."
"All the ducal families contribute together to form a grand navy, which patrols the Central seas, guarding all therge, popr routes, and discouraging piracy. These routes are known as safe routes, and it is through these that most Sybarian merchants trade."
"Of course, as you can guess, all these routes required a premium to ess. And themission is determined by the amount of sales one makes."
At this point, Lady Miranda suddenly turned angry, as she then revealed,
"However, those rates started to change in thest few years. The amount of sales we have made in the meantime has drawn too many envious eyes. So those greedy pigs at the council started to demand an even higher and higher cut! Bastards!"
While hearing the curse and seeing how infuriated Lady Miranda was starting to be, Alexander was easily able to piece together the rest of the problem puzzle.
And his thoughts proved to be on the dot as he heard thedy further delineate
"At first, we tried to appease them thinking they wouldy off. But¡. By the gods was that a mistake! It was like inviting a wolf into our house. We could never afford to sate it." Lady Miranda loudly eximed in a high pitched cry, and then in fury and regret finished by saying, "We should have never given in. That only worked to show our weakness. Dammit!"
Alexander noticed her eyes bing zed at the mistake.
This was the ssic case of giving an inch and asking for a mile and her inability to see such an obvious development left Lady Miranda clenching her pearly whites in anguish.
"You did not try to protest?" While Alexander wanted to know how the Sybarian council was able to raise the rates so easily.
"Of course we did!" And it was instantly answered by her husband since Lady Miranda chose to take a pause to self reflect.
And then he began to unravel the rest of the narrative, revealing, "Towards these unreasonable rates, weined to the council, showing them that charging us tens times the usual amount was clearly unreasonable. However, those bastards refused to listen."
"They only justified their price by iming that because the goods we were carrying were so valuable, the navy needed to fight off much more pirate attacks than usual. Bullshit! What pirates! Those are just excuses because the bastards are drolling over our money. Thieves! Robbers! Craven¡ leeches!"
Given that even the gentle Lord Cassius was starting to curse so loudly and crudely really went to show just how livid he was about the whole affair, furtherying evidence to the extent of Sybarsis''s extortion.
As for Alexander, hearing up until now, he felt he could fill in the rest.
Thus sping his hands, he nodded understandingly, "So you have stopped paying for those privileges and started to use ''unsafe'' routes. And wouldn''t you know it, the council was right. The waters were truly teeming with pirates, who begun to attack your ships like sharps smelling blood." Alexander''s tone near the end was quite sarcastic, easily being able to see through the ''fishy'' affair.
"You are correct my lord." And Lord Cassius gently nodded his head with a light, aggrieved smile, "If we use the safe routes, we risk being attacked by the patrol ships. And if we use the other routes, we risk being attacked by the pirates. We are stuck between a rock and a hard ce."
And then turning to look at Alexander, the man additionally informed,
"In fact, it is even an open secret that those pirates are actually sponsored by the various ducal families of Sybaris, used tomit acts that would be deemed too dirty for the honorable families."
"They attack our rivals, keep rival pirates in check, and even make sure all the lesser merchants of Sybarsis follow the rules. Hell, they sometimes even double as patrols if you can believe it!" The man sounded astounded.
''Of course, I can believe it. Pirates and patrols are two sides of the same coin.'' While Alexander found the man''s surprise more surprising.
What Lord Cassius said Sybarsis was doing seemed only natural to him and it was the fact that the man was surprised by this that caused Alexander to start seeing Lord Cassius in a different light- As a good man, who had few knots in his heart, and appeared simple and easy to dupe.
He might be a good human but not a very good leader.
While towards the Sybarian council''s method, Alexander thought what they were doing was actually quite normal- using the carrot and stick method to keep all those greedy merchants in check.
Alexander was fully able to appreciate the difficulties the ducal families would have keeping all the lesser merchants in check and making them pay their dues.
After all, it was in a merchant''s blood to try and maximize profits, through hook or crook.
As a lord himself, Alexander knew that very well.
So by making the entire sea unsafe save for their retainers save for a few selectnes, the Sybarian dukes offered all of them either obedience to them or destruction in the hands of the so called pirate, thus always retaining an effective leash on them.
It was quite a good strategy.
It was just too bad that Alexander found himself on the opposite side of this strategy.
Asmpooned by Lady Miranda too, who was in simpatico with her husband, "Hmmmp! They cannot legally take our trade, so are trying to strangle us! Bastards!"
From thest sentence, Alexander also understood that there might be legitive barriers for the ducal family to be able to simply snatch the food from the Margraves.
Thus they instead resorted to these pressure tactics, to make the family break.
Chapter 1007 The Heeat Family
Chapter 1007 The Heeat Family
Listening to Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius go on reveal how they were trapped by the behemoth known as Sybarian council, Alexander could not help butmpoon to himself, ''Fuck! Just my luck to choose the worst losing side.''
Going by what was revealed to him, he could not help but see only darkness in front of him.
How was a small pasha who was a ve just five years ago and had no experience inmanding a fleet going to fight the navy of a superpower able to muster millions of men?
Even just those pirates that Lady Miranda alluded to would be more than enough toy waste to his trade routes.
And who knows, perhaps eveny siege to Zanzan!
This sudden thought instantly made Alexander''s hair stand up on edge, as he reasoned to himself,
''Yes! Given how the Sybarian Council is salivating over the Margraves family''s wealth, it might very well only be a matter of time before they choose toe and capture the city itself. Why drool over the harvested fruit if you could just take the garden itself?''
Alexander suddenly began to realize how all his new discoveries and inventions were drawing all the wrong eyes, and it made him feel very restless.
The idiom - ''It is a sin for a beggar to clutch on to pearls'' began to ring like an rm bell inside his mind, and his heart wished little more than to immediately fly back to Zanzan to try and think of a defensive strategy.
''Calm down! Calm down!'' But such rmed thoughts onlysted for a few scant seconds.
For logic soon returned to drown it and the rational part of his brain dictated to him,
''Since the Sybarians have not attacked us yet, and only want us to pay a toll, it means they are till now content to trade and make as much gold as they can from it. Yes, mymodities should be priceless to them. So being merchants, their first thought should be to trade with us. Not conquer us like some of the other ''barbaric'' powers. I can use that to buy myself time.'' Alexander was finally able to spot a tiny stream of light in the midst of a pool of utter darkness and his heart rejoiced.
Things were not nearly as dire as the paranoid man was imagining them to be, as he further reasoned,
''Sure, I would bet half my kingdom that in the future our rtionship will start to sour when they start running an enormous trade deficit with me. But not right now. Right now, those families that will be able to sign trade deals with me will be able to make gold hand over fist.''
''In that respect, I''m like the newly emerging Roman empire. And Sybarsis is like Carthage. And just like them, we can be close allies until the first Punic War.''
Alexander only let out a sigh of relief upon reaching this logical conclusion, reassured his city was not about to face an imminent siege.
Following which he then began to try and think of various ways to use this information, i.e.- what exact deal should he strike with Sybarsis, which family he should strike the deal with, and even whether he should ditch Lady Miranda in favor of Miss Linda or even select a brand new candidate from the family''s roster.
And as various names surfaced into his mind, one familiar name struck a chord,
"Did the Kaiser Family have anything to do with your rates?" Alexander could not help but pose, remembering his old enemy.
"They surely did!" And at their mere mention, Lady Miranda eagerly jumped on that topic like an excited cat, instantly screeching out, "How does my lord think the council knows got to know about our trade so quickly? Because of those bastards!"
"After they found they could not beat such in a fair fight, they started doing these behind our backs. I even heard that the extortionate rates were the Kaiser''s family idea. Their lord had apparently sent our Zanzan imports as gifts to all the dukes, along with a letter describing their exorbitant worth and thus proposing we should pay our ''fair share''! Fair share they say! That bastard!"
Lady Miranda''sck of swearing vocabry still did not detract from the fuming anger she felt towards that man as she repeated the ''joke'' in a pitched voice.
While her husband tried to calm her down by stroking her hand, before turning to chime to Alx in a bit more level headed voice,
"Of course, it would not be correct toy all the me on the Kaiser Family, my lord. The extravagant worth of our goods would have be apparent to the council sooner orter. And then such a thing would have naturally happened. The Kaiser family just hurried it along a bit."
This statement was quite logical.
But if Lord Cassius''s desire was to keep his wife cated, then he really should have kept his mouth shut.
As it instantly got a solid snap from Lady Miranda, who barked at her husband,
"Would you shut up and stop defending that cur of a family! I know your brother is married to one but you don''t have to suck their cock so much!" The loud shout really went to show how was the captain of the ship in this family, as Lord Cassius visibly shrunk at the sight of his imperious wife.
While Lady Miranda went off on another tirade,
"If not for those bastards, we would have had more than enough time to get under the protection of a ducal family. Then we could have paid them a small cut and none would be the wiser. Everyone knows how long those sloths at the council take to even decide which side of the bread to butter first. So if not for the Kaisers, we would have been fine. Not like now, left abandoned like a naked whore in the middle of the streets!"
Alexander almost guffawed hearing the rude analogy and could not help but scratch his assumption that Lady Mirandacked a good cursing vocabry.
Furthermore, this intervention by the Kaiser family also led him to connect some other detached dots as Alexander turned to Lady Miranda toment,
"Is this where the Heeat familyes in? Did they offer to negotiate the rates of the route with the Confederation Council for a cut of the profits?"
That seemed like the most obvious development.
"No! We approached them." Lady Miranda however corrected Alexander''s assumption, before going into details,
"You see my lord, the Heeat ducal family is one of the most ''special'' ducal families of Sybarsis. They are one of the few families that do not have a merchant fleet for trade. But instead, they hire ships from other families in exchange for their produce, which are various livestock and an unimaginable amount of silver!"
"This is where we came in. We approached the family thinking that we could use promise them our expertise in shipbuilding, in return for the family negotiating safe passage on our behalf. We did this because we knew the ships we were capable of making using Lord Alexander''s techniques were several times more durable than anywhere in the world."
At this point, Lady Miranda''s voice suddenly turned from enthusiastic to bitter,
"But who knew, it was all a ruse. Instead of a helper, we had just invited a wolf into our home. The Heeat family only pretended to be interested in our predicament so that they could swallow our family whole and take everything for themselves! Half of those 20,000 men that I told you about are theirs."
As Lady Miranda said, she pointed to the south side of the city where presumably stood an army, ready to attack the mansion.
And after saying this, her tone went from bitter to heartbreaking, "I still want to tear my heart out every time I remember how easily I let those bastards dock into the harbor. Just let 10,000 men waltz into the city without a thought! Idiot!"
Thedy once again began to clench her teeth while berating herself, pressing her lips so strongly that Alexander was afraid she was going to break them.
"It is not your fault, dear! We did not know the real numbers." While her husband quickly tried tofort her, pointing out, "They at first imed they were only Lord Parker''s bodyguards and part of the delegation. And by the time we noticed, it was already toote! How could we have known of such treachery?"
As for Alexander, hearing this flimsy excuse, could not help but roll his eyes, and subconsciously blurt out, "How the hell do you mistake 10,000 men for bodyguards?"
And then he instantly pursed his lips.
Because Alexander did not actually mean to say this out loud as it made the other side look foolish.
But the story was so tall, that it just came out.
Fortunately, neither of the couples seemed to mind, as Lord Cassius replied,
"We did not know. Theynded at the harbor under the cover of the night in secret. Some members of the family had already defected to Miss Linda by then. *Sigh*, the enemy had us surrounded even before we could wake up to them."
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1008 Margrave Familys Conspiracy (Part-1)
Chapter 1008 Margrave Family''s Conspiracy (Part-1)
??Alexander was left a bit astounded when he heard that 10,000 men were able tond right inside the city with no one suspecting a thing.
10,000 men did not simply appear out of nowhere.
The number of ships carrying them should have been huge, and visible for miles to everyone.
So the only way that Alexander could think how they were able tond so many men were either through gross ipetence, willful ignorance, or because they were sanctioned to.
And to know which of these it was, he needed to know when theynded.
Because if the 10,000 mennded before the gue and both Lord Margraves IV and Lady Miranda''s son Marcus were alive, i.e. the time things in the family should have been stable, then it must have been under the former head''s permission, resolving both Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius of any guilt.
But should it be after the death and the 10,000 men traveled all the way from the Heeat family''s territory to here, then Alexander needed to hold Lady Miranda responsible for being unable to see through such a clear ploy.
Letting any armynd on your sovereignnd was always a recipe for disaster.
However, when asked about this phenomenon, contrary to Alexander''s ck and white expectations, Lady Miranda revealed a grey answer,
"The 10,000 men had arrived about six months ago, while grandfather was still alive. But they not were allowed to dock. The ships stayed outside the port and the soldiers mostly stayed in their ships, save for the asional few mening tond to party."
"I had asked Grandfather about this. But he only told me that he was in secret talks with the Heeat family about something and would tell me once it was done. But then he suddenly fell ill. And¡." Lady Miranda ruefully shook her head, her eyes suddenly turning red.
Not only had that information been lost, but the incident had also reminded her of her son''s recent passing.
Thus, seeing his wife enter a dark mood, Lord Cassius decided to take over, adding to Lady Miranda''s story, "When the gue first hit, the soldiers in the ships suddenly one nightnded at the Great Harbor and entered the city, saying they were here to protect their master and bring order to the city. We were totally caught off guard by this!" Lord Cassius eximed.
"To bring order to the city? Why? What happened to the city?" Alexander''s attention was more caught by that curious phrase, as he turned to ask the plump man.
"Yes." And facing Alexander''s gaze Lord Cassius quickly nodded, then informed him with a slightly bitter face, "Once the gue hit, it did not take long for it to start spreading among the popce. And soon the first deaths began to appear. And then like they all do, the numbers began to swell. It swelled to such heights that temples, shrines, and even the streets began to overflow with the ill and even the dead. Sometimes there were not even enough men to bury the dead!"
Alexander had heard of horror stories simr to Lord Cassius''s recount before- vige after vige would be left abandoned by the panicking people, as they tried to flee the infected zone.
But that would instead lead to an even more tragic oue, as many of these infected people would carry the gue with them, so whichever sanctuary they found, would soon turn into a hellhole inadvertently by their own fault.
Alexander wondered where the gue came from.
Because contrary to popr belief, gues were not sorely caused by unclean environment.
Kind of like how a cold was not sorely caused by not keeping oneself adequately warm.
You could catch a cold in a variety of ways.
So it was very possible that the gue did not originate inside the city, but some people brought it while on their travels.
Alexander did not however inquire about the origin of the gue to Lord Cassius, doubting the man even had the concept that gues actually had an origin.
So instead he kept his ears open and heard the man going on about what happened then,
"The huge deaths then began to cause mass panic in the city, with the guards struggling to maintain control. And with panic, came rumors. Some began to say the gue was a wrath from the sea gods. Some said it was spread by the northern barbarians to reim theirnds. And others even said it was witchcraft created by Miranda."
Lord Cassius''s voice very distinctly turned sour when he pronounced thatst sentence.
While Alexander became much more interested in the previous im.
"Northern barbarians? You have barbarians here? Who are they?" He posed, very surprised.
He was of the opinion that the Margraves Family and Straus Family had neatly divided the control of the ind in two.
But it seemed ording to Lord Cassius, there was the presence of another faction there, who nodding his head elucidated,
"Yes, the northern barbarians¡. they live in the swamps north of here in tribal huts and viges. They are nothing but a gue on us, regrlyunching raids into our territory. Truly a pest."
The disgust and disdain Lord Cassius had for these people was readily apparent in his voice.
"The swamps make it hard to conquer them?" As for Alexander, he wanted to know more about how these people were able to keep their freedom.
"My lord is truly erudite." Lord Cassius lightly smiled at Alexander''s correct inference, revealing, "There is nothing there but pits, bogs, and noxious swamps. Fit is not for even animals. I do not know how those people live there. Since there is nothing valuable there, we did not find it worth conquering them. So we only built a wall to keep them out."
The use of walls to keep barbarians out was a true time tested technique and hearing it, Alexander could not help but nod in a bit of relief, "Hmmm, I see." as he felt reassured that these people were not going to join in trying to overthrow the Margraves family.
Alexander then finally pulled himself out of the distraction, and backtracked to the topic, as nting his eyes, he asked,
"By the way, who gave the docks permission to let the ships enter? It had to be a fairly high member right?"
"....." This query at first caused Lord Cassius to produce a bit of an awkward face, as if he was feeling a bit embarrassed.
And the reason became apparent when he replied with a bit of flushed face, "It was my father," but then quickly added before Alexander could express his incredulity,
"However he did not side with the Heeat family! He only asked them for help because the situation in the city had be dire then and we risked a full fledged riot. The soldiers helped quell the masses down. And once they did it, father helped Miranda force the soldiers to the southern part of the city, away from the mansion."
"...." Alexander was relieved to hear this reasonable development, d that he would not have to fight one of his ally''s parent.
So with a smile, he posed, "Where is the lord then? I do not recall seeing this at the party yesterday."
To which Lord Cassius let him know, "Father has been recently feeling a bit ill. So unfortunately he could not meet you, my lord. I will be sure to introduce you once he recovers."
Alexander did not prod what was wrong with the man, but only politely nodded, "I see. Then I look forward to it."
Before going back to the topic at hand, as turning to Lady Miranda he posed,
"So howe the rest of mydy''s family have no problem with a foreigner like Lord Parker interfering in your family''s internal matters?"
Lady Miranda once again clenched her teeth, "They do not see him as an outsider. They see him as my sister''s husband. Their brother inw."
The tone of her voice said everything about how she felt about that word.
While Lord Cassius provided the actual reason for this open eptance, "The Heeat family has promised us a lot of money if Quentin, that''s Lady Linda''s boy, can be the next Margraves family''s head. They even promised to negotiate the route rates."
It was a straight up bribe- the oldest trick in the book.
And hearing this answer, suddenly Alexander could not help but trace his chins as in a brilliant sh of the mind, he began to smell a conspiracy,
Something that he was more than eager to share with the couple, as with furrowed brows he asked,
"I heard Parker Heeat was the distant illegitimate child of Duke Heeat. So how is it that he can summon 10,000 men? Or promise so much gold? And most of all have the gall to negotiate with the Sybarsis Council? This only something only the next head of the family should have the power to do!"
"So are you sure about his identity? What if he has concealed the truth?"
"That''s impossible." Lady Miranda however was unwilling to even entertain the thought, even standing up to shout, "That would have been only possible if grandfather¡"
The words however suddenly got caught in her throat.
And she atst began to see what Alexander could see.
A conspiracy.
''No way!'' And it soon caused her to cry out in fright in her heart, unable to believe her own flesh and blood would do this.
Chapter 1009 Margrave Family’s Conspiracy (Part-2)
Chapter 1009 Margrave Family''s Conspiracy (Part-2)
''No! How can that be?'' At the realization of what Alexander was implying, Lady Miranda felt her head spinning.
Thedy who had just lost her son could not believe she had been stabbed in the back like this and not even realized.
"My lord, what do you mean?" While the much slower Lord Cassius was yet to even wake up to the conspiracy, putting on a questioning face.
So Alexander let him in, "What I''m saying is that the former lord might have been in talks with the Heeat family to rece Lady Miranda with Miss Linda all along. That would exin how your family so easily capitted to a foreigner''s side. And why those 10,000 men appear when they did. Likely to coerce Lady Miranda to abdicate and help put down any armed resistance should the need arise!"
The naked reveal of the truth so openly hit Lady Miranda right in the guts, and she almost started crying.
To think her own grandfather would be plotting to usurp his own grandson.
While Lord Cassius quickly stood up and quickly rejected all such ims vehemently,
"No! Impossible. Lord Margraves IV was an honorable man! He would never break his word. Since he promised Marcus the Margraves''s family seat and he would stick it to. I know it! My father told me so ever since I was a child."
This was the first time Alexander saw Lord Cassius be visibility offended at him, as hisrge, gluttonous cheeks became flushed and inmed as he red at Alexander angrily, with a fuming head saying to himself,
''Who is this stranger that I got to know for only a couple hours to question the integrity of the honorable former Lord of the Margraves family? Bastard!''
Alexander did not try to defend his hypothesis, because it was apparent Lord Cassius was in no state of mind to think logically.
It seemed the revtion of the elder lord''s plots in the shadow hade as a great shock to him and refused to open his eyes to it.
And if Lord Cassius refused to see, then Alexander could little about it.
Fortunately for Alexander though, Lady Miranda was much more level headed and with the aid of Alexander''s lens, was able to shift through much of the smoke and fog that had clouded her mind till now.
And as the vision became clear, she let her husband know about it too, as with a slightly shaking voice she began,
"No, what Lord Alexander might very well be correct. Many of the things grandfather did start to make sense when you start to think about like that."
Saying this Lady Miranda''s brows furrowed as she posed,
"Such as how easily my sister was able to crawl into Parker''s pants and earn his adoration. I have always wondered how any respectable man from a ducal family could marry the third daughter of an Earl. Especially an earl that was one step away from disappearing! It made little sense."
After this, Lady Miranda''s voice turned a bit disdainful,
"Many said that it was love at first sight for the two. Heh! As if? I know that snaking bitch¡ Linda does not know love. And I have also met Lord Parker¡. he did not strike me as a love struck fool. He should not be the type to knock up any girl willy nilly. Certainly not when the girl was an earl."
Lady Miranda ended thest sentence sounding very sure of her judgment of the man.
"Perhaps he truly did feel in love with Lady Lady. After all, who knows where one''s other half in lifey?" However here Lord Cassius decided to interject a bit, feeling what they were talking about almost sacrilegious, and thus tried to posit an alternative theory- i.e.- ''That the two really liked each other and his wife and Alexander were just thinking too much and seeing patterns where they did not exist.''
"Hmmmp, perhaps so!" And at first Lady Miranda seemed to agree, before her voice turned didactic, "That is if you also ignore how easily grandfather epted the two''s affair- something the old fart was notoriously strict on."
Understanding of the betrayal the man was going to do, Lady Miranda changed her address of the man very dramatically, as she then went on to point out,
"And he was that strict on his sons. Forget about the girls. If we did anything like this, we would have been lucky to get off with only our skin peeled. Most likely, we would be kicked out of the family instantly!"
At this, Lord Cassius had little ammunition to counter with.
He knew very well that the Margraves family in general was a very conservative family and women were rarely allowed to interact outside the family.
And the one time Lady Miranda was allowed to go to Zanzan apanied by a then unknown merchant was an exception among exceptions, something she was allowed to do only because they stood on the precipice of destruction.
So if Miss Linda was really caught having an affair, such a scandal should have at least gotten the girl a thorough beating of the canes, if not outright banishment from the family.
But in aplete reversal of his usual demeanor, not only the former lord had gotten angry, he even had congratted the two.
Something Lord Cassius had not thought much of then, but now¡.
While Lady Miranda, seeing his face turn from thoughtful to rmed sneered, "So you understand now, huh? If I had gotten married with the kind of baby bump Linda had, both father and grandfather would have tried to hide it from the public even if it meant stomping my belly t."
Alexander really hoped Lady Miranda was exaggerating here, but also knew in some parts of thend, it was not unheard of for families to kill both the woman and child if she was found to be pregnant outside of wedlock.
Such was the shame.
And even if they were not dealt with such cruelty, they were still usually hidden out of sight from the public out of ignominy.
And if a ceremony was held to celebrate their eventual marriage, it was always done after the woman gave birth and all signs of the pregnancy disappeared.
So Lord Margraves''s decision to hold arge banquet while his granddaughter was still visibly pregnant was very strange indeed.
Something that was clearly pointed out by Lady Miranda and elucidated on,
"But not only grandfather did not disapprove, he even appreciated this. Saying it was only natural for young lovers to get carried away. I at first thought with father and brother''s death, the old fart had mellowed out. But now¡ It seems it was his n all along!"
"He must have been in talks with the Heeat family on how best to depose Marcus without causing a scene. That''s why he did not tell me why those 10,000 men were here. Bastard!"
Lady Miranda could not help but curse her own grandfather.
While Lord Cassius and Alexander hearing the exnation observed a muted silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
The former still refused to believe, despite all the evidence, feeling convinced that there had to be some other exnation.
And he internally made up his mind to ask his father about this the moment he returned.
While Alexander was just relieved that this conspiracy was unearthed before it was toote.
If Lord Margraves had not be ill and died when he did, then things would have indeed be quite dire for Alexander, as Miss Linda would have been on the Margrave family''s seat even before Alxx coulde to know about it.
At least now he had a chance to salvage the situation.
Also as a side note, he did not curse the old lord for going back on his word.
If Alexander was in his positon, and such a proposalnded on his desk, he would have likely taken it.
Because it made little sense to stick to one''s word when all that would do was push his family to the precipice of destruction.
Letting Marcus stay as the head of the family would likely mean there would soon no longer be a family.
While the alternative of marrying one of his granddaughters to the Heeat family would earn him their coin and protection, thus saving his entire family
The choice was a no brainer.
That was also probably why Lord Margraves did not give any clear instructions on what to do if Marcus died.
Because he knew the regent head of the family- Lady Miranda would likely never ept it.
In Lady Miranda''s mind, it was she who had visited Zanzan all alone while pregnant to try and save her family, taking great risk to visit and that was closed off to the outside world just a few months ago.
And then seeded in managing toe back with the iron that ultimately managed to save them.
So by all ounts, the family''s throne should belong to her.
And there was certainly logic to her thought- the risks she took did deserve this appropriate prize.
It was also knowing this that had put the old Margrave in dilemma, which was also why he did not attempt to forcefully remove Lady Miranda on day one but waited to slowly ease her into it.
Too bad the old man died prematurely.
Chapter 1010 Lady Miranda’s Money Troubles
Chapter 1010 Lady Miranda''s Money Troubles
Alexander and the couple cleverly skipped mentioning the fact that Miss Linda and her son might very well have had the support of the former lord of the family atying im to the family''s seat.
Which would then make Miss Linda''s son Quentin the rightful sessor to the family and that Lady Miranda and Alexander were the usurpers.
However, that narrative was too inconvenient for thetter.
They dare not say it.
And Alexander breathed a sigh of relief that there was no concrete will written by Lord Margraves about it.
Or else the game might have been already over.
But although Alexander managed to dodge that bullet, both he and Lady Miranda tacitly also understood that the entire family was against them and that the higher ups were much more likely to support Miss Linda than Lady Miranda.
A realization that made Alexander''s headache a bit as he lightly cursed how Lady Miranda left herself to be left in the dark about such an important plot.
Alexander was not in a good situation.
Even the honeyed tongue he wished to rely on the negotiations did not seem likely to seed here. Because Lady Miranda''s and Miss Linda''s power difference was too much.
And it made Alexander halfmpooned the sheer nakedness of his allies, sighing to himself,?"Her military is gone. Her family is gone. And even her money is gone. What is there left?"
Alexander was frankly astounded how Lady Miranda was able to lose all three pirs of power without her even noticing- the armed forces, the nobles, and the economy- all three swiped off her feet with her being none the wiser.
The old lord had been a shrewd one.
Or perhaps tricking the trusting and naive Lady Miranda did not take much effort.
She was after all only a twenty five year old girl and was just starting to learn about the family''s affairs.
And even if she was not, even if she had been vignt, why would she have distrusted her grandfather? He was the one who put her in the chair in the first ce!
It was a deadly ploy that Alexander would admit even he could not have seen if he had been an inexperienced twenty five years old.
So he felt it would be unfair on Lady Miranda to be too harsh on her.
Which is why he decided to break the long, ufortable pause with a light, jovial smile and a gentle p of his hand,?"Well, whatever the former honorable lord was nning, at least the worst of it did note to fruition. The gods work in mysterious ways I guess. This is evidence that you are favored, mydy!"
Lady Miranda was unsure how to feel about Alexander addressing her grandfather as ''honorable'' given what he had just tried to do, thus giving Alexander aplicated look.
But her heart did not dislike it.
Perhaps it was the nostalgia, perhaps it was all the shared memories or perhaps it was the thick blood of kinship that dulled the pain of betrayal.
Or perhaps it was more because the old man had not gotten the chance to betray her.
Lady Miranda found it to be mostly thest one.
Because that single thought felt mostforting to her heart, her heart light and relieved that Lord Margraves died when he did.
She did not need to rise up in rebellion against him.
"*Nod*" Lady Miranda thus gave an appreciative light bow, not thanking Alexander directly because that would have made it like Alexander was congratting Lady Miranda about her grandfather''s death.
Thus she then quickly attempted to change the topic, promising, "I will be sure to try and find out about Lord Parker''s real identity. Although I have a feeling we know it already."
The fact that the scion of Duke Heeat was in her territory yet she was keptpletely in the dark about it left Lady Miranda both aggrieved and angry.
Which showed as turning away from Alexander, Lady Miranda''s eyes suddenly became sharp like a phoenix''s, before they swerved to gaze at her husband with an eagle stalking a mouse, "I also want to know why Uncle Nn lied about this to me. Why did he im Parker Heeat was an illegitimate son? You are to find out!"
As it could be easily guessed from the wording, Lord Nn was Lord Cassius''s father- the one who was sick¡ allegedly.
And it seemed it was he who had introduced the Heeat family''s sessor to Lady Miranda.
"Ye¡ Yes¡ of course. I will do it right away." While Lord Cassius, facing an infuriated wife the likes of which he had never seen before, was on his tiptoes toply.
Although the tactless man also could not help butment at the end, "But Miranda, I think it is best that we do not jump to conclusions. All of this was just conjecture. Sure it might look bad for Father, but I guarantee you he had nothing to do with this. There has to be another exnation."
But Lord Cassius''s impassioned cry to maintain a level headedness was only venomously spat at by Lady Miranda, who barked with spite,
"I spit at your guarantee, Camius. Know that if Lord Nn was in cahoots like grandfather and if he was the one who let those 10,000 mennd to try and remove me, I will have him¡."
The index finger that Lady Miranda was pointing with to make that threat visibly shook when she reached the end of her sentence, her lips onlying to a quivering stop at thest moment.
She did not think it would be prudent to say that work.
''Exceuted. You meant to say executed.'' So Alexander finished it instead, inside his mind of course, as he enjoyed watching how pale Lord Cassius became upon hearing it.
He had never seen a man in this time period who sat up and down at his wife''s words like he did.
A truly rare species indeed.
With Lady Miranda''s mood turning from depressed andconic to furious at being deceived by her entire family, Alexander contemted whether to end the meeting there.
But thought better of it.
There were still things he needed to know, and if Lady Miranda was rude to him, Alexander did not mind taking his ships and turning around this very day.
Thus, after having got to know the political and military capabilities of Lady Miranda, which were basically nil, Alexander had onest thing to confirm, "Lady Lady Miranda, how much money do you currently have? Like exactly how much?"
how much money do you currently have? Like exactly how much?"
"....." To Lady Miranda, this question at first sounded like an invasion of privacy.
Kind of like how it feels when someone asks your sry.
But she also understood since she confessed to having money troubles, she needed to reveal the extent.
So in a slightly muted voice, Lady Miranda revealed, "Our treasury is touching almost the dregs. We have a few million Paysas at most. With this, we will be able to at best support ourselves for the next two to three months."
Paysas was the secondrgest Sybarian coinage, being almost equivalent to 3 to 4 times the Adhanian ropal- the exact number varying slightly depending on the mint it was produced in.
This was because the purity of the silver used in these coins differed slightly from region to region from where it was extracted and refined. So each mint had a unique sign to denote which region the coin was made in.
Also, unlike Adhania with its byzantine array of coins and currency, with almost every Tom, Dick, and Harry able to issue his own coin, Sybarsis had only one set of currency- which contained 10 coins of various denominations, all rted to each other in a fixed amount.
These coins could only be issued by the council and not even the dukes could vite it.
In fact, one of the only ways to lose one''s seat in the Confederation Council was by mining one''s own coin, such was the strict penalty.
This was because being a mercantile nation, money and coin was Sybarsis''s most potent weapon, both its sword and shield.
And no way was it going to share it with anyone, not even the dukes.
It was something that was decided almost since the country''s inception- that the country must have only one currency, to be able to facilitate smoother trade and prevent any single one from trying to manipte it.
Anyway,ing back to the topic, Lady Miranda''s quoted number imed that she only had around 15 to 20 million ropals left.
"That low! How?" Hearing which Alexander could not help but let out a surprised scream of incredulity.
This number was much, much lower than he had expected.
Because Alexander himself earned twice that amount every single week!
And given a majority of those sales were to Lady Miranda, he expected that she would be taking a simr amount of it too, via ''re-exporting'' those goods.
Thus ording to Alexander, even if a lot of the goods were lost to the pirates, Lady Miranda should still have a healthy bnce, and it even made him want to go check the Margrave family''s treasury for himself to verify the im.
Chapter 1011 An Unexpected Find
Chapter 1011 An Unexpected Find
As soon as Alexander was made aware of the dire economic straits Lady Miranda was in, he had to fight the urge to rudely shout out,
''How the hell do you make a loss on white sugar and ss? They should be more valuable than gold. Even pigs would be able to profit by just selling a few bits and pieces of them.''
The number sounded so low in fact that Alexander even had the urge to go check the Margraves family''s treasury for himself to verify Lady Miranda''s im.
Thedy however was incessant on her im, saying, "I''m afraid expenses have been that high, my lord." but then added something that finally brought some logic to her assertion,
"Also, a lot of our gold coins were used to pay yourst year''s dues. We thought that we could earn them back by shipping all the products. But that clearly did not happen."
It was only then that it somewhat started to make sense to Alexander.
Hence he turned to ask about Lady Miranda''s other sources of ie, "What about the yearly war reparations then? I recall that you managed to make the Kaiser Family promise an annual indemnity for attacking you, did you not? What about that? Have they not paid?"
Alexander thought that should at least help the Margraves get up on their feet somewhat.
"Snort! What reparations! Most of that money has been swindled by the Marsh family." Being reminded of the injustice, Lady Miranda could not help but rage in indignation, as with gritted teeth and furrowed brows she delineated,
"With the Marsh family in chaos, the Kaiser family has decided to insert its one puppet candidate into the race. And with the ducal family''s blessing, he has managed to turn himself into the most likely candidate to seed the family''s seat, suppressing all his other brothers and cousins."
It was a very reasonable development as Alexander could easily see how the money and muscle of a duke could make all other candidates powerless to contend against it.
While Lady Miranda finished, "And it was that bastard who took most of that war money, iming it was the Marsh family''s cut for the war they helped us win. Bastard! Those bastards did nothing! The money is just circling back to the Kaiser Family."
Listening to Lady Miranda''sint, Alexander could not help but first and foremost smirk to himself, ''Mydy, you really need to increase your cursing vocabry,'' as the use of the single curse was starting to get repetitive.
But it also went on to show how sheltered and noble Lady Miranda''s upbringing had been and how hard the current perilous affair must have been on her.
It seemed using the Marsh family''s puppet, the Kaiser family was able to effectively circumnavigate paying much of the war reparations.
And from the sound of it, Lady Miranda could have really used the money.
"......." Towards this open daylight robbery, Alexander had little to advise Lady Miranda on. Both the ducal families were thousands of miles away and if they did not pay, there was little way to make them.
Of course, it was also not like he did not have any ideas, such as attacking the governor of the ind and looting his treasury aspensation.
After all, taking what was others was the fastest way to get rich.
Since Lady Miranda was running low on money, it only made sense to take them from those who had an excess of it.
Having risen from the very bottom and possessing a military, Alexander was much more partial to using such unscrupulous tactics, finding no fault in employing force to take what was his.
And as for whether that would vite the terms of the treaty, well, yes it would. But the other side was not following them anyway.
There would be no problem as long as Alexander won.
This was of course just one usible scenario that Alexander was war gaming in his mind to resolve the current situation, and for now kept it to himself, in fear of rming Lady Miranda.
Thus he then moved to the veryst of Lady Miranda''s source of coin- her savings.
"What about your reserves then? As a merchant family, shouldn''t you have a substantial amount of gold in your treasuries? Surely you did not run out of it so soon!"
Alexander had a hard time believing Lady Miranda had managed to truly break the bank given how they should have been.
Thedy of the house however answered with a pang of pain and bitterness in her heart,
"Yes! We once did have enormous piles of gold¡ enough to fill entire rooms once! But all of it got washed away by the flood. We have very little left,"
The memory of that terrifying tsunami still lingered deep inside Lady Miranda''s heart and it throbbed like a poisonous thorn every time she recalled that day.
Dark, overcast, with rolling rumbles of thunder and lightning, it was a day that had taken almost everything from her- her father, her brothers, her husband, and even her mother, along with her family''s power and foundations.
The three story high waves had created torrential waters that managed to flood into the basement of their mansion, sting into the trehasury and taking everything within it with the swirling currents.
And it was like that, in the blink of an eye, the enormous volumes of gold her family had managed to collect over several generals got washed away just like that, going on a marvelous cruise all over the city and its surroundings, floating and bobbing up down until they lost themselves to the wild winds and water.
Each of these precious, gold discs came to rest at ces fate ordained for each of them- be they be buried under all the earth and debris, slipping into the crack of rocks and trees, falling intorge pits and holes such as mining shafts and wells, eaten by various curious and careless animals, taken to the sea, and the mostmon of all, simply picked up by humans.
And it did not take a genius to guess that those people did not obedientlye to return them to the family.
They of course instead pocketed it.
And despite the family''s best efforts to try and retrieve their lost wealth, even going as far as going door to door and searching homes for any suspicious stash of hidden coin, they could only manage to retrieve a scant few.
The fact was much of the coin had been spread out too thin too quickly to make retrieval not even a distant possibility.
And then to further add insult to injury, Lady Miranda went on to inform Alexander,
"Also, not only have we lost the collection of our gold coins, we have even lost the ability to produce more of them. This is because when the tidal waters came, they also flooded all the gold mines we used to have right here in Caira."
"We cannot send any miners until the trapped water recedes. And that is if they recede. Gods know when that will happen." By this point, Lady Miranda sounded quite heartbroken, as she could but help mncholically note, "Sometimes I feel like we have been cursed by the gods."
Saying this Lady Miranda paused as if she was internally cursing her family''s recent string of bad luck.
While for Alexander, he was having a whole different set of emotions.
The reason for which had to do with the information that had justnded on hisp.
''Trapped, stagnant water? Could it be this is from where the gue came from?'' Alexander could not help but muse to himself, hypothesizing that perhaps the dirty, turbid water had started to slowly seep into the underground water reservoirs contaminating them.
Although it was just a theory, with no proof that the mines were connected to the drinking supply in any way.
Thus Alexander quickly turned to his other, much more important thought- which was that the image of his ''brand new steam engine''
Thebination of the two words-''water'' and ''mine'' managed to subconsciously produce that image as that machine was really created for this one job- to pump water out of deep, hard to reach mines.
To think that Alexander would find a use for this wed invention so quickly.
''Is this fate?'' He could not help but ask himself that the coincidental opportunity, feeling Lady Miranda''s luck might have atst started to take a turn for the better.
Finally, Alexander thought he could see the light at the end of the tunnel- as he figured he could use his Neen engine as a trump card in the negotiations with Margraves family.
''I give ess back to your gold mines and you in exchange give your blessing to Lady Miranda, letting her sit as the family''s head,'' Alexander thought of the offer in his head, the image of a goatee man in a business suit sping his hand shing in his mind.
Alexander did not think the Margraves family would be able to simply brush past such an offer.
Now the only slight problem that Alexander had to solve was the fact his machine tended to take a break every few hours.
Chapter 1012 Lord Cassius’s Objection
Chapter 1012 Lord Cassius''s Objection
Alexander kept the presumed use of his new machine to himself for now, not knowing how applicable the contraption would truly be.
He had no idea how deep the mines were or if the machine would even be able to perform as expected under real life conditions.
It was still in the prototype phase after all.
He did not want to let his promise get Lady Miranda''s hopes up, only to failter.
Thus keeping that option to himself for now, Alexander moved his back forward from the sofa to atst ask the all important final question, "So what does mydy want me to do now exactly? Force Miss Linda to give up her im and convince your family to support you? Or share power with her?"
Alexander sped his hands as he posed.
"Force Linda to abdicate please." Came the instant answer, Lady Miranda clearly revealing she did not have the slightest intention to share power, warning, "My lord does not know Linda. Sharing power with her would be like putting an axe to one of my own feet. She will be nothing but a hindrance."
Alexander however was not impressed by this answer.
Because ording to what he came to know, Miss Linda held all the cards while Lady Miranda had nothing.
No army, no supporters, and no money.
So what the eldest daughter of the house was basically asking of Alexander was to turn a pauper like her into a king almost overnight.
A very, very hard thing to do in the best of times.
Alexander might have actually considered it even then if all Miss Linda had was the Margraves family because he thought he was much more powerful than them.
That way, once he was sessful, he could have made Lady Miranda and by extension the Margraves family into his puppet.
But the slight hup here was that Miss Linda was not alone.
Instead, she had the backing of a power simr if not stronger than Alexander.
Thus to depose Miss Linda Alexander would need to engage in a full fledged battle with those 22,000 men standing only a short distance away.
And with only 5,000 actual soldiers of his own, that would be nothing but suicide.
Alexander would not face them in battle unless absolutely, positively forced to.
Thus with that simplest option out of the way, Alexander frankly asked the next natural question, "So how would you like me to do it?"
Because Alexander did not have any idea.
"...." And neither did Lady Miranda, seeming to be in the same boat as Alexander.
The task of dislodging her very firmly entrenched sister from her throne appeared very hard, at least without a bloodbath.
Or perhaps she did know it would require a bloodbath but was too embarrassed to say those exact words.
Thus next, Alexander stepped in to help her with that, asking, "Then, how far is mydy willing to go against your sister? Will you object if I kill Miss Linda? Or her son?"
Alexander nted his eyes in a cruel, cunning fashion as he made the inquiry, seemingly determined to make the move if Lady Miranda had no problem.
While thedy in question visibly shook at the revtion of such scandalous thoughts hidden deep inside her heart.
She would never admit it, but the thought of killing her sister and newborn nephew had indeed crossed her mind.
That seemed like the easiest solution.
However it was too shameful to ever say it out loud- her family, or for that matter any family would never condone such killings among next of kin.
Lady Miranda was also very afraid that bymitting this act, her path to the throne would forever be lost as her family would never ept a person who had done such a heinous act.
And the same rule applied to Miss Linda too, which was the primary reason why Lady Miranda was still alive, despite being turned into an abandoned puppy.
But just because Lady Miranda could not do it did not mean Alexander could not do it either.
After all, thetter was his own man, and what could Lady Miranda do if Alexander chose to what he thought was right?
If he did it, all the me would fall on him, while her hands would be clean.
Thus Lady Miranda was actually d that Alexander had brought it up.
Although with a tiny speck of guilt in her heart, she also rebuked him internally, ''My lord, you really should not say those words so openly. Have a bit more tact.''
She found Alexander''s use of the ''kill'' too crude and wished he had used a much more flowery, euphemistic phrase to describe the deed.
"What¡ what are you saying, Lord Alexander? Have you gone mad? Restrain your tongue! You are in thepany of civilized people. This is not something to even joke about!"
While this was, as you might have guessed was shouted out by the lord of the house- Lord Cassius, who had by now jumped up in rage at this mere mention, clearly showing that he stood inplete opposition to his wife and would not even consider such an act to be an opinion.
''Brother killing brother! Sister killing sisters! Aunts killing nephews! Have we fallen this low?'' He could not help but mournfully cry out in his heart seeing that such filthy things were even being discussed,mpooning his wife''s thirst for power.
Personally, Lord Cassius was not as much interested in the Margraves family''s seat as his wife was, and not even that against Miss Linda taking the seat.
As long as he could lead his life peacefully, the genteel man really did not care who ruled the family.
Thus he was mainly here because Lady Miranda had dragged him into it.
"You cannot be serious Miranda!" Hence, sensing Lady Miranda was about to do something that there was no going back from, he finally turned to look to at his wife with a furious re, clearly showing his vehement opposition.
This was perhaps the first time Alexander had seen the portly man act like a true man in front of his wife.
And facing her infuriated spouse, Lady Miranda in a very rare instance prudently decided to take a step back instead of trying to cajole her husband into the n, thus reassuring him with aforting smile "Of course not, dear. Lord Alexander was just jesting. We both know no one in the family will ever ept us if we did such a thing. We are just throwing out new ideas here."
Lady Miranda knew that although most of the time her other half had a weak spine and bent whatever way she asked him to, even he had his limits.
And this was one of them.
Lord Cassius was a good man by nature and would never sanction such an act against one of the members of his family.
Something which caused Alexander to sneer in his heart describing the man, ''An honorable fool. Fit to be a great steward but a rotten candidate for a lord.''
In Alexander''s opinion, a truly skilled lord was one who was an upright gentleman under the sun, yet unscrupulous and cruel under the moon.
Not rigid and inflexible like the one before him.
Thus given Lord Cassius''s absolute veto on the matter, both Lady Miranda and Alexander decided to pretend to drop the idea, with Alexander also quickly chiming up to buttress Lady Miranda''s im that they were just spitballing here.
It was unknown how much of that bluff Lord Cassius actually bought. But he did slowly take back his seat, so that was reassuring.
From this, the duo of Alexander and Lady Miranda understood that if they did truly go ahead with this ndestine n, it would have to be done unbeknownst to Lord Cassius.
As for the resulting fallout, well that was indeed one of the determining factors that the pair would have to analyze before trulymitting the act, should they choose to.
But even without Lord Cassius''s objection, Alexander doubted he could actually do it.
The reason?
The Heeat family.
Miss Linda''s son, Quentin was likely the son of the sessor to the ducal family and the grandson of the current head.
Killing him would not be prudent- the Margraves already had enough enemies.
Thus this was really just Alexander poking to see Lady Miranda''s resolve.
And thedy''s cold heart ready to do whatever it was necessary to win her the throne did manage to adequately impress Alexander.
She hade a long way from that naive, inexperienced girl he had met almost 5 years ago.
The trio was unable toe up with any strategy on how to remove Miss Linda without force for the moment.
Thus Alexander shifted to the reason why they were not able to do so- The Heeat family.
"How much mydy want to deal with the Heeat family? Fight them? Or cut a deal with them? Such as give them a cut of my market and work with them to stop the piracy and get a better rate for your routes from the council."
"We already did. But they want to eat us whole and not even leave scraps." The acrid tone told volumes about that idea''s feasibility.
Chapter 1013 Alexanders Trade Routes
Chapter 1013 Alexander''s Trade Routes
??Lady Miranda chose to be very clear in retelling the difficulties Alexander would face when trying to negotiate some sort of settlement with the Heeat family- which was that they wanted an abnormally high percentage of the trade
"The family wants nine tenths of the profits in exchange for giving such ess to the safe routes. However if Quentin is made the family''s next head, then they promised they will drop it to one-tenth!" Lady Mirandained bitterly.
While Alexander almost had a heart attack at the sheer greed on disy.
He was beginning to see why most of the Margraves had switched sides because there was almost no benefit to sticking with Lady Miranda.
It made no logical sense.
So Alexander then asked, "...Are none of them afraid I will refuse to sell them my goods if they oust you and tear up my free trade agreement? Surely they will give me some face right?"
Alexander could certainly threaten to employ a trade embargo if the need so arose.
"That¡ they don''t think you will refuse them." Lady Miranda''s answer however revealed the arrogance of the other side and made Alexander produce a very curious gaze as he really wanted to know why they thought so.
And seeing this, with a hesitant pause, Lady Miranda elucidated with a weak smile, "ording to them, you have no other trading allies, my lord. Nor a navy to sell the goods yourself. So they believe as long as they are willing to offer you a fair price you will not refuse."
Alexander was frankly a bit insulted by hearing this Lady Miranda.
But much more than that, there was a stinging sensation in his heart because it was true.
He really had only one method of contact with the other world.
And that name was Lady Miranda.
This was a fatal weakness.
Alexander had not noticed it till now not because he was careless or foolish, but because of how young Alexander''s rule was.
Things like trade routes simply took time to develop as merchants slowly and organically made connections with you.
There was no way around it.
And since up until now, Alexander had been content with the service the Margraves family provided, he saw no need to look for alternatives to them.
But now learning of this, Alexander swore in his mind, ''I will need to find other traders. Thesos should be the most obvious ce. Once is return to Zanzan, I will send some trade delegations to Cantegena and the other city states.`
Saying this, Alexander then added in his heart, ''I wonder what happened to that Senator Klyser? Shouldn''t have he returned with some merchants?''
Alexander still remembered that day almost four years ago when Leosydas, posing as an envoy from Tibias and Klyser, who was a senator and once Ophenia''s future father inw hade to meet with him.
And thetter then had brought many of Alexander''s unique specialties, with the promise to showing them to the senate anding back for more.
But strangely he never did.
This was because unbeknownst to Alexander, the man had suffered a disaster at sea and drowned, taking all the tales of visits and sights with him to the watery depths.
And the Cantagenan senate never bothered to send a follow up delegation.
This was because even the trip Senator Klyser had made was done more on a personal basis than a state one, fueled primarily by his want to track his future daughter inw.
So with him gone, nobody else really bothered- Ophenia being mostly kinless and assumed death by most, even the Shiva Temple.
While the Cantegenan Senators got to know all they wanted about what had happened at Adhania from Petricuno and left it that, instead choosing to focus on much more important matters, such as fighting the reignited war with Exs.
Which Cantegan fortunately managed to win, thus keeping its independence.
But by the time it was over, almost everyone had forgotten about that promise Ptolomy had made about giving Zanzan to the city state.
It had been always a pipe dream and they knew it.
As for getting to know about Alexander through his unique products and being drawn to him, well being a famous trading power, they had of course detected the appearance of these never before seen products.
But it was just that here Lady Miranda, or more specifically the old Lord Margraves IV had yed a trick that Alexander had no idea about.
Being Alexander''s first and sole distributor, he had spread the rumor that it was his family that made these products, not Alexander.
And with Adhania being almost apletely closed off country, everyone naturally bought it without question.
So all the traders went to Galiosos, not Zanzan.
It was a marvelous n that killed two birds with one stone- the Margraves got all the customers they wanted, while also eliminating anypetitors to their distribution service.
The shrewd old fox had not lived close to seventy as a merchant for nothing.
Now, the secret was bound to get out sooner orter, but the n was not to hold onto it forever, but to make as much money as possible while the good timessted.
Alexander was naturally unaware of this little diversion, and instead much more fixated on the enemy''s assessment of his, which caused him to end with a light growl in anger, "How bold of them."
He was quite angry to know the other side thought he was this easy to push around.
Sure Alexander not selling to the Margraves or more specifically the outside world would be a hit to his ounting books, but it would not destroy him.
Alexander would still have Adhania''s internal market to sell to, and besides, worsees to worst, he would close the workshops and have the workers simply go back to farming.
Alexander had made enough money tost him a while and more than enough emptynd to make sure these workers were not unemployed.
Even without the Margraves he would survive if he was pushed to the edge.
But from Lady Miranda''s wording, he also understood that the Heeat family knew that, which was why they seemed to be in favor of making the deal as tolerable to Alexander as possible.
However this then gave rise to the question,
"If they are willing to give me a good deal, then how are they going to protect the native merchants? Isn''t that the main reason the people rose up against you? Because my cheap goods were destroying the local economy?"
The equation did not seem to make sense to Alexander.
Lady Miranda however was unable to give Alexander a reasonable answer to this.
Instead, producing a slightly taunting smile, she hypothesized with a shrug of her shoulders, "Who knows? I would not be even surprised if this was all just Linda lying to those stupid guilds. This is not even the first time she has done something like that. Did you she killed Uncle Janus''s eldest daughter using one of her lies as well?"
It seemed Lady Miranda was adamant about painting Miss Linda in as negative a light as possible.
And it kind of worked, as Alexander was certainly intrigued by the im.
"Oh? How?" He thus could not help but crane his head in eagerness, remembering the naked hatred that old lord had disyed towards thatdy of the Margraves family.
And with Alexander hooked, Lady Miranda revealed with a nod,
"Yes, Uncle Janus''s eldest daughter Miss Naina was Linda''s personal maid, tasked with looking after her everyday needs. On one of my father''s birthdays, Linda had identally broken a vase in his study. An extremely expensive ss vase imported all the way from Tulicia."
"This is a huge taboo here¡ to break someone''s dear possession on their birthday. It signals bad luck for the rest of the year. So Linda was terrified of what father was going to do to her. She would surely have a fewyers of skins peeled."
"Thus to escape punishment, she quicklyid the me on Naina saying she broke it while trying to clean it. And this caused father to fly into a rage that I had never seen before, and in his fury, he violently beat the poor girl, even cracking and breaking a few of her bones."
"And even after that he was not done. Instead of letting the battered girl go see a doctor, he instead made her stand the whole night outside entirely naked on the cold December night! This was too much for her and Naina was dead by the time the sun rose."
Lady Miranda slightly teared up as she said this, while Alexander suddenly felt a lot less sympathy for her deceased father.
Given that he just beat a little girl to death over an inconsequential vase, Alexander felt that the man kind of deserved to have his navy destroyed and bloodline cut off, plummeting to the depths with all his sons and even grandsons.
If gods did truly exist, they had done the right thing.
As for Alexnader''s feelings towards Miss Linda, they too were affected, as he began to increasingly see that working with her might indeed not be viable.
Conflict seemed more and more likely.
Chapter 1014 Potential Allies
Chapter 1014 Potential Allies
Hearing how Miss Linda''s lies got an innocent girl killed made Alexander sigh in his heart.
Tragically, beating one''s servants to death if their mistake was grave enough was a frequent urrence in most parts of the currently known world.
This made the veracity of Lady Miranda''s story very likely and caused Alexander to have second thoughts about the potential of working with Miss Linda.
"So how did Lord Janus find out at the end?" Thus listening to the story up until now, Alexander then posed this follow up question as it was clear the father had eventuallye to learn about the injustice done to his daughter.
This was all the more damning because if Miss Linda had even the slightest shred of tact she would have stayed silent about it.
But it seems she did not, as Lady Miranda went on to reply with a sneer,
"Heh! The idiot let it out by mistake one day. And in front of father no less! She was caught threatening to have another of her maids killed¡ ''Just like I killed Na'' she was heard quoting. It did not take long for father to make her squeal after that."
"Linda was locked in her room for a whole month all alone. While father personally apologized to Uncle Janus, paying him blood money and even raising him from the steward of the house to anded lord." With her story, Lady Miranda also revealed how Lord Janus had be a lord.
And hearing it, Alexander at first felt he might have judged Lady Miranda''s father a bit too harshly initially. Sure he was wed, but at least he had some guilt in him.
Unlike his daughter, who was proving to be much of what Lady Miranda had described as.
The reconciliation of the two sisters was looking more and more unlikely with each passing story.
"What about the guilds? Are they all with Miss Linda too?" Following the story, Alexander then decided to get back to the topic at hand, inquiring about this.
"Most of them have not taken a side. But at this point, they don''t even matter. Those traitors!" Her voice was quick, sharp and curt as she dismissed them with an imperious wave of her palms
Alexander could easily detect there was a current of raging anger bubbling underneath her, especially as she spat out thosest two words.
She was very dissatisfied with those guilds'' behavior, believing they had betrayed her even after she worked so hard to get them cheap raw materials from Zanzan.
While Alexander focused more on the middle ''not mattering'' part.
That kind of made sense to him as he reasoned,
''That''s right! With the 20,000 troops in the city led by the Heeat family, there is little point in obtaining the merchants'' favors. Gold might make the world go around, but not when you had steel pressed against your throat. Anyone who refused their rule would simply be cut down.''
Thus contrary to Lady Miranda''s acrid feelings towards the guilds, Alexander was much more pragmatic in judging the merchants, feeling they were simply too helpless to control their own fate and bent whichever way the wind blew.
After all, all the gold in the world did not mean anything if you could not convert it into power.
Just like even if you have a spare 13 billion dors sitting in your bank ount does not mean you can simply buy a US supercarrier off the shelf.
So with Lady Miranda''s urging, Alexander gave up on trying on trying to rally the people.
And atst, turned to the desperate option- "What about the Kaiser family? How do they feel about the Heeat family taking their business? Are they okay with another family meddling in their territory? Surely not right?"
Alexander''s intention here was clear, use them to fight the Heeat family.
"!!!" And it was a blindspot neither Lady Miranda nor Lord Cassius had spotted, thus producing a shocked face.
With thetter then soon murmuring, "Now that I think about it, the Kaiser family has been awfully quiet about all this. You would think they would try to cause some sort of trouble for the Heeat family here."
"Right! I think so too!" His wife was also in simpatico with him, furrowing her sharp brows to state, "They have been trying every trick in the book to oust us from ournd. So by all ounts, the entire Kaiser family should be up in arms about this. The Heeat family is putting its paws in their lunch. So why the lukewarm approach?"
Lady Miranda''s face turned into a slight scowl as she could not figure out why thetter had not done something about it.
It made no sense.
"Perhaps, they do not know." So Alexander here interjected with his own theory, pointing his finger to the two pairs of curious eyes,
"Perhaps this is the exact reason why the Heeat family introduced Parket Heeat as the duke''s illegitimate son. To fool the Kaiser family into thinking this was just a fight between the inws of an insignificant family member. And crucially not an overt effort to swallow the Margraves family. Those elephant riding fools must not be even aware of the conspiracy happening right under their nose!"
Alexander''s sneering words made Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius bludgeon their eyes in rm as a slight shiver then ran down their spine.
Because they finally began to see theplicatedyers of techniques the other side had used to deceive the rest of the world.
Trade tensions, a gue, the death of the current sessor, rampant piracy, and a nearly bankrupt economy.
All these were genuine reasons.
Used ingeniously to hide the one and only true motivation of that ducal family- swallowing the Margraves family- an earldom, into their sphere of influence.
All from right under the nose of another ducal family with it being none the wiser.
It was a genius move!
And Alexander felt like tapping his hat to the one who designed this.
Because he himself did not think he would be capable of pulling such aplicated trick.
The mastermind was proving to be such an aplished schemer.
It made Alexander feel both appreciative of the techniques used and also produced a deep foreboding dread at the thought of potentially facing them.
Alexander would not want to face such an opponent even at the best of times.
Thus turning to face the couple, Alexander quickly proposed,
"Is there any way we can inform the Kaiser family? Reveal the Heeat family''s n to them. Surely they will side with us then right?"
"That¡" And for a brief moment, Lady Miranda appeared tongue tied.
Because the couple was too surprised, appearing slightly agape.
In their minds, the Kaiser family was always the enemy. So shaking hands with them never even crossed their mind.
Hence it took a while for the duo to process what Alexander was exactly suggesting, before finally Lady Miranda chimed up with some difficulty in her voice, "I... I do not think it is prudent, my lord. It will simply be like driving the fox out to invite the wolf in. At the very least, the Heeat family does not desire ournd too. They just want to incorporate us into their family. We can still continue to enjoy the fruits of ournd under them."
This reminded Alexander that the reason for the Kaiser family''s beef with the Margraves was due to the former losing a lot ofnd to Iyizarid.
So they wanted to drive thetter out and take this part of the ind for themselves.
Whereas the Heeat family only wanted to ce one of their own as the family''s head and puppet them.
A much more eptablepromise in most of the Margraves family''s eyes- especially when they considered that that child was rted to the Margraves family''s main line.
So ording to Lady Miranda, it seemed siding with the Kaiser family was impossible, as the members of the Margraves family would never ept her if she were to climb the stairs to the family''s throne through them.
However Alexander was still not convinced, as tracing his chins he insisted, "Miss Linda is using the Heeat family. So what is wrong with us having the aid of the Kaiser family? It seems only fair."
But Lady Miranda once again pointed out that Miss Linda was married to one, while the Margraves had been turned into bitter enemies with the Kaisers.
So while the former could interfere using grey tactics, thetter really could not.
This inflexibility of the couple however somewhat irritated Alexander.
"I know mydy might have a personal distaste for the Kaiser family, but this is no time to be picky about allies. Especially when we have so few left," Alexander scowled a bit, chiding thedy,and then with a small wave of his hand proposed the followingpromise, "Okay! Since mydy is so reluctant, we do not have to ally ourselves with the Kaisers right now. Let us simply inform them of the plot."
"If I recall correctly, the other half of the ind is overseen by Straus the family. Please send a message to them. Then let''s wait and see how the ducal family behind them reacts."
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1015 The Knock
Chapter 1015 The Knock
After discussing things up until now with Lady Miranda, the best n that Alexander coulde up with to try and turn the situation was this- snitching to the Kaiser family and waiting for them to get involved.
In this way, hopefully, while the two lions fought, Alexander would be able to steal their catch like an opportunistic hyena.
Or at the very least eke out an advantageous position for his ''down in the muck'' ally.
And while Lady Miranda was not the biggest fan of going to beg to her biggest dislike for help, as Alexander pointed out, she was not really spoilt for choice here.
Thedy of the house knew she had to face reality.
Thus at Alexander''s instance of getting the Kaiser family involved, she lightly nodded.
''This was is not me siding with the Kaisers¡ I''m only delivering a piece of news. Yes! Just like a good neighbor should. Whatever they did with it was up to them.'' As she then tried to fool herself with such a rhetoric, soothing her conscience.
After that, Lady Miranda also could not help but nt her eyes to smirk a bit at Alexander''s idea, as she found the one proposing to be an interesting candidate.
"I must say I''m impressed by the¡ agility of your mind, my lord. Because I always thought that you would be most against allying us with the Kaiser family. After all they did to you."
Lady Miranda jokingly reminded, using the tactful word ''agility'' to allude to Alexander''s flexibility in so easily switching the status of a faction from enemy to ally in his mind.
Not many people could do that.
And in a rare case of Lord Cassius being in tune with his wife too, also let out a sheepish chuckle, "Heh heh, yes. You even brought the Queen of Tibias all the way here just to testify against them. Too bad now¡ it does seem like she will have the chance to. Shame, heh heh!" The rotound lord ruefully shook his head, as if having missed a great show.
And this indeed reminded Alexander, that if he were to shake hands with the Kaisers, Lady Parthia''s testimony needed to be thrown out to smooth the way forward.
Let bygones be bygones.
And it was something that Alexander found hard to stomach.
''Do I have to really make up with those people who financed men toe to kill my wives, burn down my mansion, and almost destroy my city? Do I have to smile and shake hands with those who sent an army to help my enemies? Oh Gaia give me strength!''
The young pasha cried out in frustration, adding thest sentence as evidence of being influenced by his own teaching and the surrounding environment, naturally picking up many of the people''s everyday sayings.
It was very apparent that the recipient of these light, yful harmlessments was not impressed.
To the point, he then grumbled viciously in his mind,
''You think I want! I am only forced to do this because of how weak and pathetic you two are. I came here with the full mind to butcher a chuck out of the Kaiser family for their transgressions against me. Like using your family''s army to take some mines or good farnd the Straus family owns aspensation.''
''Instead, what Ie here to find are not two allies, but two dead weights. Useless burdens! If I had known the true extent of your ipetence beforeing here, I would have likely just cut my losses and left you to burn at the stake here. So what are youughing at with all your whites out like a pair of donkeys!''
While looking at those two carefree faces, Alexander prayed to the gods to be able to shout out his true, white hot thoughts.
But naturally, basic etiquette gatekeeped him from being able to do that.
So instated with clenched teeth, he gave a hollowugh, and joked in a way that was really not a joke,
"Heh heh, if I did not know Lady Miranda better, I would have thought you wereughing at me for being fickle, switching sides at the drop of a hat. What? Are you afraid that I will do the same to you?" Alexander half sneered and half joked at this ''threat but not a threat''.
It was something that caused Lady Miranda to go a bit pale.
While Alexander soon lightened the atmosphere with a small crack of a smile, "Heh heh, I jest. What I meant to say was that desperate times really call for desperate measures. So we need to be flexible in who we choose to ally ourselves with."
Alexander''s empty smile however carried no warmth, and having finally produced enough EQ, Lady Miranda was able to understand that although the young man before her had been pleasant and gracious with them till now, it did not mean he was pleased with them.
In fact, he was very displeased with them given how dire they had allowed the situation to be, and this was his way of protesting in a gentlemanly way.
"Right! Right! I too believe we can use the Kaiser family! I will start writing the letter right now." Thus getting the hint, Lady Miranda quickly chimed in to nod her head like a chicken- to show that she was fully on board with Alexander''s approach, and thus cate him for the moment.
Thedy even cleverly further added, "I will even write to the Marsh family. Maybe our imminent destruction will finally manage to get a response from them. At the very least, perhaps they can be a moderator in the conflict, helping the two ducal families reach a fairpromise about our family."
By this time, Lady Miranda was half proposing, half babbling, desperate to be in Alexander''s good graces, as she attempted to show that they still had other useful allies.
An action whose efficacy would be deemed doubtful by Alexander.
But at least he would give her points for trying.
The other side understood the predicament they were in and were willing to put in the effort, not just treat Alexander like a miracle worker.
And so it was that promise that the meeting for that day ended, as the couple then quickly invited Alexander to a secondvish feast.
The scale and grandeur of which was in no less quantity than yesterday''s one, the extravagant menu consisting of all the usual items- bread, meat, and fish, all cooked in luxurious oils and creamy butter, and prepared in all sorts of different ways.
Along with them came a few native specialties of the ind too.
Such as various heavy pies filled with meat drenched in butter and oil, juicy pork and shrimp dumplings topped with salty, cured cucumber, and most novel of all, a kind of shawarma with various nuts, cheese, honey and other vegetables ced on a thick, yogurt like ''sauce'', all wrapped in a crispy cracker made from very finely ground wheat, very simr in texture to a taco, thus making every bite feel very crunchy.
thick, yogurt like ''sauce'', all wrapped in a crispy cracker made from very finely ground wheat, very simr in texture to a taco, Alexander found thisst item particrly fetching, as the lightness of the fruits and yogurt helped to cut through the richness of all the other, heavy items.
And knowing the gigantic troubles that were brewing underneath the seemingly tranquil family, Alexander was eager to enjoy all these small joys as much as possible.
Who knows when he will have the chance to have this luxury once again?
Following the end of lunch, whichsted several hours, Alexander retreated back to the room, eager to have his brain use all the newly taken sugar to try to think of the best way to get out of the dilemma he was in.
And as the gears and cogs slowly turned inside Alexander, he thought he suddenly had found another reason why the other side had not tried to make a move to forcefully remove Lady Miranda yet.
Which was probably in fear of rming Governor Straus who might inform the Kaiser family.
This then made Alexander murmur to himself, ''So they might be either waiting for Lady Miranda to step down on his own, which seemed unlikely. Or they might be waiting to kill her in one swift strike and take everything over before anyone can do anything about it. What are you going to do when the rice is all but cooked? ept it of course.''
Thistter scenario seemed to be the most likely one in Alexander''s mind.
And as soon as he came to this realization, it made Alexander''s skin produce the second goosebumps of the day.
''Could they be waiting to assassinate me tonight? Finish all three of us in one go? Like trapped chickens in a coup!''
Being naturally a cautious man, Alexander suddenly felt like a trapped mouse in this house, as he imagined the sound of the butcher sharpening his knife ringing like the death''s lord''s malicious cackle right next to his ears.
Havinge so far, and with their n being so close to seeding if he was on the Heeat family side, he might very seriously contemte it as well.
*Knock!, *Knock*, *Knock*.
And just as Alexander was contemting this, three ominous knocks rang from outside his door!
It made his hands go cold.
And his eyes darted towards the open window.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1016 Miss Linda (Part-1)
Chapter 1016 Miss Linda (Part-1)
*Knock*, *Knock*, *Knock*
The solid yet polite thuds against the door felt like nails mming against his coffin to Alexander as his heart skipped several beats.
That was how usually these types of assassinations happened right?
An innocent knock on the door.
Followed instantly by a flurry of furious jabs the moment it was opened, not giving the opener even a second to react.
Alexander''s overly cautious mind could not help but conjure these various types of fearful scenarios, imagining words like the following drifting out from the door, ''Boy! Open the door! We need to talk!''
Alexander felt his heart sink at the grim possibility and his eyes instantly darted towards the open window right next to him.
''Can I jump?'' He optimistically thought, but given he was on the first third of the stone mansion, found it very unlikely.
Even if he could survive the fall, he would most likely not survive the injuries, given he would almost certainly break both his legs.
Alexander could not bear to be a cripple.
''Being a cripple is better than being a corpse.'' However, the desperate part of his brain was quick to point out the much grimmer alternative, urging his muscles to follow their instinct.
''No! Calm down. Calm down! Don''t jump to conclusion!'' Fortunately, his rationality restrained him frommitting such a foolish act at thest second, as it reasoned within him,
''They would not dare to do it so openly. At least not in broad daylight. Even if I''m killed, my 5,000 men will not be. And knowing of my death, the legionaries will surely put the mansion to torch and massacre everyone. They must surely know that!''
As Alexander said this to himself, he turned his head towards the city streets, where he could see the pitched tents of the stationed soldiers even from his room.
And their sight brought greatfort to him as this meant the troops were still stationed there.
Alexander reasoned that if Miss Linda was going to clean house right now, she would have moved her reinforcements much closer to ount for any unforeseen circumstances, such as Alexander''s 5,000 men camping in the Royal harbor.
Hence, armed with logic and proof, the slightly paranoid man finally let down his guard and in a rxed manner asked, "Who is it? I''m currently resting a bit. Is it an emergency?"
"Apologizes, my Pasha¡ I''m a maid in Lady Linda''s service. Ie bearing a message from mydy." The reply was crisp and submissive, and the feminine tone soothed Alexander''s scant lingering anxiety.
If it was a woman, Alexander thought he might be able to fight his way out even if she was an assassin.
Thus his mind was much more intrigued by the message the maid was apparently carrying, as unlocking the lock, Alexander invited thedy to his room, "Then pleasee in."
"Greetings Lord Pasha," However, instead of entering, the smartly dressed woman first and foremost gave Alexander a full, regal bow, letting the man time to carefully scan the woman.
Tall and slim, with immacte proportions, her chestnut hair was rich in tones of brown and hints of red, styled in a ssic fashion with locks flowing on both her sides, framing her face in a warm and inviting manner.
Her facial features were sharp and well-defined, with a few gentle lines etched around her eyes and mouth, evidence of afortable, life well-lived.
Dressed in the Margraves family''s usual maid clothing of a simple brown gown with few embellishments, her clothes somehow appeared tasteful and polished, as if reflecting her confident sense of self.
Her bodynguage was poised andposed,?and there was an air of confidence that drew Alexander''s attention to her effortlessly.
Thedy was undoubtedly from a noble family, which was really not a surprise given highdies were usually served by the daughters of lower houses.
But this maid appeared much more than that, as Alexander could not help but be a bit smitten by her delicate yet sharp features, the contrast forming a formidable charm that even a man as experienced as him found hard to resist.
If Alexander was topare her to Lady Miranda, who was quite beautiful on her own, thedy of the house would definitely turn into amon peasant girl who worked in the fields.
And the maid seemed to know the internal thoughts of the man in front of her, which was why she let him observe her for a while as she stood still with a proud smirk on her face.
Before finally breaking the silence once she thought that was enough eye candy for now.
Thus with a charming smile, she brought out a neatly scrolled white paper, sealed at the seams with red wax bearing the Margraves family''s emblem of two coins resting on a bnce, and graciously handed it towards Alexander,
"Mydy invites you, the esteemed lord of Zanzan to join her for some drinks and refreshments this afternoon at her courtyard. She will be greatly honored by your attendance."
Alexander was at first a bit taken back by the suddenness of the invitation.
Given that no one from Miss Linda''s faction had bothered to meet with Alexander until now, either in private or in any of the two held parties, this appeared to bepletely out of the blue for him.
Why was Miss Linda extending her arms now when she treated him like thin air till now?
Why did she react now, just a few hours after Alexander had finished his meeting with Miss Linda?
And why was she so eager to meet with Alexander so quickly, scheduling the meeting to be held almost immediately?
Because it was already afternoon, almost approachingte noon.
All these various curiosities swirled inside Alexander, but try as he might, he could not find any definite answer.
So he decided not to try.
Whatever the reasons were for Miss Linda, Alexander could find it out when he met her.
He saw no harm in meeting the opposite side.
In fact, once he got over his initial surprise, he found the invitation to be much to his desire as he too wished to meet the leader of the opposing side.
If Miss Linda had not asked for Alexander, he might have had to extend his own invitation to meet and discuss these matters, to try and work something out between the two siblings.
Thus as this opportunity presented itself, with a light, jovial nod he epted the letter, letting out a small smile towards the beautiful maid,
"Thank Lady Linda on my behalf. I too am eager to meet her. I will be sure to join in an hour."
The maid let out another cordial smile and light bow at this quick eptance, giving a few pleasantries before rapidly excusing herself.
While returning to his seat, Alexander took his time to slowly unfurl the letter, finding the paper to be of very high quality and scented with a light, but very fragrant perfume.
A scent that greatly soothed Alexander''s nerves and made him want to keep the paper close.
If Miss Linda did this, she was proving to be ady of great taste, something which was further confirmed by her very neat handwriting¨C clear, crisp, blocky, and arranged in a perfectly straight line.
The letter basically detailed what the maid had alluded to, just in much more flowery detail, starting with Miss Linda expressing her adoration for Alexander and her gratitude for his timely help in saving her family, followed by expressing her regret that she had not the time to meet with him and finishing by her invitation to the talks, as a way to ''finally get to know each other better'' as the quote went.
And it then ended with a simple but effective map showing the route from Alexander''s rooms to Miss Linda''s courtyard as if the other side had already guessed what the other''s decision would be.
Alexander was finding this Miss Linda not be quite as dumb as Lady Miranda had made her out to be, even finding the neat drawing to be quite beautiful in its own way.
Alexander quickly finished reading the leather, followed by which his mind could not help but wonder what they were going to discuss.
Or more specifically, what he was going to say to convince Miss Linda to share power with her sister.
And as various ideas surged and floated into his mind, suddenly Alexander found something that caused him to let out a humorous half-chukle, ''Heh heh, oh right, I forgot they still need me. Without me, all of Zanzan''s port will be lost to them. That will surely be a great loss to the Margraves. Yes, I still have some cards to pay."
Finally letting go of the paranoia that he was going to be killed, Alexander breathed a sigh of relief, as the fact that Miss Linda was the one calling to meet her and not the other way around helped to stoke Alexander''s ego and reaffirm that he was not yet powerless.
Because in any negotiation, -''Whoever talked first lost.''
It was with this newly found confidence that after a short rest, Alexander quickly went to find his counterpart, managing to locate the ce quickly.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1017 Miss Linda (Part-2)
Chapter 1017 Miss Linda (Part-2)
Alexander had little trouble in finding the garden as he expertly navigated theplicated corridors of the huge mansion with the aid of the map, quickly descending the two sets of stairs to finally locate the meeting point.
It was a small shaded canopied garden, with delicate branches and verdant leaves interlocking together to create a natural roof that filtered the golden autumn sunlight onto the ground below, casting yful shadows as shafts of golden light illuminate patches of ferns and flowers.
The dappled patterns of light turned the garden into a tapestry of textures and hues, with ferns unfurling their delicate fronds alongside broad-leaved palms and slender grasses swaying gently in the breeze.
Vines cascaded from above, trailing down the stone walls, while a magnificent marbled arbor encased in emerald green sat right in the middle of the immacte garden, its outer walls painted with vibrant real red and blue blooming roses.
It was an extremely luxurious and perfectly maintained small piece of garden, managing to impress even Alexander who had no shortage of experience in lounging in such decadence.
Thus the man took a moment to appreciate the quaint scenery.
Until finally he brought his attention back to the present and quickly swerved his head around, trying to spot his host.
She was right inside in that opulent arbor, dressed in an elegant blue gown with matching sapphires for jewelry, and sat at a small tea table with a clear ss top, one of Alexander''s products no doubt, from where she was taking asion sips of wine.
While right next to her stood a tall maid, swaddling an infant child.
Alexander would bet half his fief that that child was a boy and his name was Quentin, the son of thedy who was sitting down.
Miss Linda noticed Alexander at the same time Alexander noticed her, and instantly produced a warm grin, returning her luxurious wine cup to the table to quickly stand up to greet cordially him,
"Wee to my humble garden, Esteemed Pasha of Zanzan, Conqueror of Tibias, and Liberator of the MV family. My son and I are honored that you have epted our invitation. Please! Come and join us. We have much to discuss."
Listening to Miss Linda''s address of him, Alexander was of course a bit taken back at first. Because while he had of course heard the first two epithets, thest one was brand new.
''When did I liberate her family?'', he wondered.
Miss Linda here was of course embellishing the role of Alexander''s supply of iron had in managing to halt Governor Straus.
And Alexander would have figured this simple equation out, as well as returned a simr cordial greeting back¡ if he was not currently so distracted by the sight before him.
"Yo¡ you? You are Lady Linda?" The young pasha for a moment lost hisposure, as he found the regaldy greeting him to be the exact one who had handed him the letter- the one iming to be Miss Linda''s personal maid!
Alexander would never mistake that beautiful face he met just a while ago for anyone else.
"Hehe hehe, that little trick always gets everyone!" And thedy in question did not even bother to deny it, instead giggling charmingly to reveal her amusement, as she found Alexander''s bbergasted face a thrill to observe.
Before finallyposing herself to reveal in a sharine,rk-like voice, "Oh, do forgive me for deceiving you earlier my lord. But I was simply too interested to meet you in person. I could not wait for you toe to me, I had to take a look!"
Thedy very cutely whined, and then very charmingly put one of her index fingers on her lips, drawing Alexander''s attention to those plump, juicy red velvety organs.
Thedy very well knew her charms and mastered the way to use them.
As evidenced by how after drawing Alexander''s eyes at them, she then mischievously curled them into a small, happy smirk to exin her actions,
"You are a hero to many Cairians my lord. The tales of your legendary deeds inspire awe and reverence in them all the way to even here."
"Did you know how surprised we were to know that you managed to capture the whole of Tibias within just two years? It blew us away! Nobody thought it was possible! We made us feel like we were living under the shine of a living legend. So I naturally wanted to see you in your regr every day. Hehe. I hope you do not mind."
Alexander''s heart skipped a beat at hearing these honey coated words and watching the flirtatious manners of thedy.
You had to give it to her, Miss Linda really had a way with her words, buttering Alexander up to make him feel like he was at the top of the world, while she was his biggest fan girl, groveling at his feet and willing to do anything.
As the fairer and disadvantaged sex, Miss Linda had learned this technique of pretend fan girl worship from her mother as soon as she could understand things and then mastered it with over a million different tries, until it became a technique capable of seeding a million times over.
''Subus. Another subus like Mikaya and Tayin,'' Fortunately for Alexander, he was no green eyed country bumpkin who would be swept away by the tide of oil and ttery being applied to him.
But instead, his mind instantly worked to lift its guard up against this potential adversary,beling her so and half-
dreading the opponent''s prowess.
In Alexander''s mind, just this initial meeting was enough to put Miss Linda on to the same ranks as the most beautiful and deadly woman he sure.
Sure, she did not have the angelic face like Ophenia which would bewitch a man with just her smile.
Nor did she have the raw sexual charm of the silver haired Mikaya, who was able to give any man a raging hard on just by talking to her.
Or the Queen mother''s imperious aura that could dominate a man''s desire.
But what Miss Linda had was boatloads of charms, as even slight movement of her arms, fingers and even lips made men to give up everything and simply listen.
She was like the next-door friendly younger sister, one who always made sure to greet you every single morning.
One who could brighten your day with just her simple smile.
Alexander had not noticed this while Miss Linda was disguised as a maid because he was not frankly not paying attention, as well as she was intentionally hiding it.
But now, looking at thedy''s allure in full disy, Alexander felt almost smitten.
Thus he lightly cursed in his heart, ''Lady Miranda, when you were describing your sister with all those expletives, you forgot to mention how beautiful she was. You say Parker Heeat was no love struck fool? Well looking at her, he might as well be. At least I half am!''
If Alexander was not so old mentally and already had women ofparable beauty, he might have actually faltered here and wanted to charm and impress this woman.
Thus it was fortunate that Alexander was able to maintain a dignified stance, smiling politely to humbly chime, "No, no, how dare would I? I''m simply ttered that mydy would hold someone like me to be of such high esteem. I''m but a humble pasha in charge of littlend. My conquest of Tibias was all a gift from the gods."
"Does mydy y such pranks on all your guests?" Alexander then finished with a curling smirk of his own, as he imperiously took his seat without waiting for Miss Linda''s invitation.
"Hehehe, only those who pique my interest." And thedy did not seem to mind, as she took her own, giggling the reply yfully, and even adding with a tease, "How do you think I got my husband, hehe?"
This frank revtion suddenly stumped Alexander, as in a very, very rare example, he did not exactly know how to respond to this very personal information and only twitched his lips.
Which was exactly the opportunity Miss Linda was looking for, as taking advantage of Alexander''s momentary stun, she worked to jab him,
"Also, my lord, it is best not to be too humble my lord. It would be a real shame if people were to really start treating you like a ve once again, right?" The stunningdy taunted, before further sniggering,
"A small pasha with littlend you say? Victory at Tibias was a gift from the god, you im! Heh! Then remind me, how many pashas are there? And among them, how many of them are like you, having obtained the title despite being born with nothing? If conquering Tibias was so easy, then why did itst for so long?"
Miss Linda''s sneer and scorn was self-evident, while Alexander was half shocked at being grilled over such an innocuous remark,
He was of course being flowery here.
Which was exactly the problem Miss Linda had as she spelled it out,
"My lord, there is no point in ying dumb here. You and I both know how powerful you are. Which is the reason why I invited you here in the first ce. I want you to switch sides from my sister to me!"
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1018 Miss Linda’s Delicious Offer
Chapter 1018 Miss Linda''s Delicious Offer
Listening to Miss Linda''s frank offer, Alexander was frankly a bit surprised.
He thought given the cold, harsh greeting just now, she would go on to chastise and scorn Alexander, such as calling him a fool for choosing the obviously losing side.
But in aplete one-eighty to her previous attitude, she was now proposing to have Alexander join her.
What gives?
The mercurial nature of the woman made Alexander confused.
"Wha..t?" Hence at first he even thought he was mishearing her, as Alexander furrowed his brows.
"I want you to switch sides." Miss Linda crisply repeated, before charmingly swinging her arms, "This is why I wanted to meet you here alone, my lord. Away from my nosy sister. To allow to frankly speak your mind."
Saying this, thedy then very deliberately stretched one of her hands onto the table, opening it and signaling to Alexander to take it- both metaphorically and literally.
Judging by the interaction up until now, Miss Linda was proving herself to be a master maniptor.
Her ability to steer the conversation the way she liked and always keep Alexander guessing was a masterstroke on how to keep your opponents on their toes.
And Alexander was not immediately able to extricate himself out of the opponent''s tempo as looking at the stretched hand, for a moment he did not know how to respond.
To say he was not tempted to take the easy way out would be a lie.
Thus he could not help but hear her out, as with a warm smile he curiously posed, "What does mydy have in mind? Switching over to your side¡. what would that mean for me?"
"Exactly what I said." Miss Linda repeated for a third time, "You support my son as the family''s head and help me rece my sister, thus earning our grace."
The statement was curt and even bossy as Alexander''s heart chuckled, ''Grace? I have to ''earn'' your grace?''
The tone with which Miss Linda spoke was reminiscent of how Alexander talked to his ves or soldiers, as subordinates.
And this wasing from ady who was a bit younger than Alexander.
They said most people were born into nobility, while a very select few were born with nobility in their blood.
Thisdy in front of him could definitelyy im to thetter fact.
As proved by despite her poor attitude, Alexander did not actually speak up to rebuke her.
It was like the very way she spoke, the way her beautiful lips and cheeks shifted and danced, and the way she looked at him, all worked to make anythinging out of her mouth sound that much more charming.
It was almost a hypnotic feeling, something that Alexander had never faced before.
Thus all Alexander could feel hearing the proposal was curiosity and amusement, as he then proceeded to the next natural query, "So what happens to Lady Miranda then?"
"I don''t care. You can take her for all it matters. I won''t stop you." Miss Linda carelessly shrugged, showing she did not have the slightest love for her sibling.
"And if she stays?" Alexander then decided to prod, wanting to know what the younger sister''s n was for her elder sister in the worst case scenario.
"...She will always be weed into our family¡ as long as she has no son!" Miss Linda gave a very crisp, unequivocal reply, making the innuendo crystal clear here.
It made Alexandermpoon at how both the sisters were willing to bloody their hands with each other''s and even their nephews'' blood¡. all for the family''s seat.
Truly power corrupts all.
Alexander did not try to convince the other side to tone down her demands, but quickly moved on to the next issue he had with this proposal, "I had several military and civilian agreements with Lady Miranda. What will happen to them? Will they continue as is, or will I have to negotiate new terms with you again?"
The military agreement of course referred to the constitution of those new ships and the training of sailors.
While the civilian agreement referred to the free trade agreement.
"We can discuss the detailster." Miss Linda however refused to elucidate on the matter, only brusquely brushing her hands as she insisted, "What most matters now is that my lord epts my hand. Do so and I promise you you will not be left disappointed."
Saying so, this stunningdy was quick to throw poisonous jubes at her sister too,
"Think! What can my sister offer? Nothing! She is a pauper who has nothing to give you. However, I can¡. everything you want. And that is why I invited you to meet me, because of the immense respect I hold for you."
Alexander was stunned by how much of an expert this youngdy was in physiological rhetoric, both ttering her and elevating Alexander himself at the same time- subconsciously presenting the two as a great match.
If Alexander had been truly a young man of twenty three years old, thisdy''s beauty and charm would have almost certainly made him smitten and cause him to flip sides.
Hence realizing this, Alexander groaned, ''I really don''t want to deal with this woman!''
But he had no choice here, so to try and counterattack, with a light smirk he posed,
"If what mydy says is really correct and you can give everything that I want,then why are you so after my trade agreement? If you did not do that, I would not have even bothered toe."
Since Miss Linda had refused to discuss this topic, Alexander thought it would be a good way to force her hand.
"Is that how my sister got to you to her side?" However, much contrary to his expectations, Alexander''s reveal did not cause Miss Linda to try and defend her decision, but only sneered as if mocking Alexander''s faulty intel.
As then with a scornful look she waived her dainty, fair arms to say, "I perhaps might have said such a thing once to some of the guilds to win them over. But I was never serious. Miranda simply inted my ims to get you here, my lord. She''s a liar!"
"!!!" Thisplete denial of her policy startled Alexander.
The free trade agreement was basically the sole pir of reason why Alexander was here.
And here the other side was iming it did not exist?
If you, then Alexander might as well get on his ship and turn back! There was still time before winter settled in.
"What do you mean? Isn''t your local economy faltering? Isn''t that the main reason why the people support you?" Hence confronted by the conflict of information, Alexander could not help but ask, genuinely surprised.
He recalled that Lady Miranda calling her sister a liar and now the usation circled back to her, making the man confused about who was speaking the truth here.
"The economy is fine. The people are still walking the streets and working the fields aren''t they?" Miss Linda however very dismissively blew off Alexander''s concern about the economy, before imperiously stating, "As long as the peasants are not starving, they are not something to be bothered about. We are doing fine."
It was evident thedy was very contemptuous of lower ss folks. Perhaps that''s why she was so fine with letting others take the me for her.
And seeing this, Alexander first lightly cursed, ''Are you going to ask them to eat cake if they cannot buy bread?'' because Miss Linda did seem to be that type.
While learning of Miss Linda''s version of the story put Alexander in a confused spot, as suddenly he found his will to fight her draining.
If thedy in front of him really could deliver what she promised, then Alexander found it hard to justify siding with Lady Miranda.
Especially when considering the risks involved.
Miss Linda was currently very powerful and Alexander would like to avoid fighting her at all costs.
Thus to rify what he had heard, he then very clearly shot out to confirm,
"So you are saying that the Margraves family has no financial difficulties and Lady Miranda was simply lying to me? And that you will keep my free trade agreement as is if I join you?"
"I would not say we have no trouble with coin. But with my husband''s family''s backing, yes, we can promise to keep the free trade agreement open for you my lord." Miss Linda''s answer was clear and transparent.
And it was something that should have made Alexander''s heart dance as he was being promised exactly what he wanted.
However, after speaking to Lady Miranda and knowing the likely real reason for the Heeat family''s interference here, Alexander had reasons to very much doubt her sincerity.
''Is this only a ploy to get me out of the picture so that they can remove Lady Miranda without any trouble and then simply turn their backs on me once they got what they wanted?''
Alexander had trouble believing ady he had met literally just a few minutes ago.
This was in much contrast to Lady Miranda whom Alexander trusted quite a bit given their long history and how thedy had demonstrated her allegiance via her deeds.
Chapter 1019 Miss Linda’s Colors
Chapter 1019 Miss Linda''s Colors
Alexander would have to agree, the honey filled lure that Miss Lindaid out in front of him was mighty tempting.
She was basically offering to give him everything he wanted without the need for any conflict, only in exchange for siding with her.
Which might have been the only w in her n.
Because the deal was so good that it in fact made Alexander feel it was a bit too good.
Thisdy in front of him was a bit too maniptive for his liking and would be almost described as ''slimey'', while her eldest sister Lady Miranda was as easy to read as an open book, even perhaps a bit naive.
But at least she was honest, as evidenced by how she had not even once bought up the topic of canceling the trade agreement or even modifying it despite the hardships she was facing.
Thus instead of recklessly jumping into Miss Linda''s deal, Alexander sought to keep her talking to glean more intel.
"If you did this, then what about the domestic guilds mydy? What will they do if you renege on your promise? Will they not protest?"
Alexander was certain that despite Miss Linda''s im that everything was fine, there were certainly cracks in the Margraves family''s economy, cracks that the people demanded to be fixed.
She was just not admitting it.
"Snort! When did I promise them anything? And so what if they protest? What does it matter to us?" Towards Alexander pointed inquiry, Miss Linda however produced a very damned care attitude.
Like this was not even a problem to consider.
As shrugging her shoulders she smirked, "The amount of coin we will earn selling your product overseas will be multiple times over what we will earn from those paltry sales tax those urchins give us. So what does it matter if they protest and go bankrupt? It won''t affect us one single bit! They can go to hell!"
Miss Linda nned topletely ditch her home market, and live off the dividends of Alexander''s products.
It was a move that astounded Alexander, both for the audacity and the short sightedness on disy.
''What if I just stop selling you my products?'' Won''t you be left in the dumps, with your exports gone and your domestic industry destroyed?'' Alexander swore to himself, feeling incredulous that a side could even think to choose to give up all their self reliance just like that.
And then further added,
''And what happens when your people are driven out of their business and start going hungry? Won''t they turn on you, the one who is hoarding all the gold? What good will all your gold do then?''
Alexander was beginning to see some truth in Lady Miranda''s description of her youngest sister.
She might be very smart, but not nearly as smart as she thought she was, letting greed and her high birth status cloud her judgment.
From the way Miss Linda talked, it was apparent that she did not even seem to ce the regr folk in her eyes, treating them as air.
Sure this was the prevailing thought among almost all nobles no matter the current part of the world, with even the Queen Mother and Mikaya getting to share ranks, as they viewed the peasants as little more than useful sacks of meat to do menialbor.
But even they rarely showed their contempt as overtly as her.
The cruelty thedy seemed to hint towards made Alexander feel very disgusted to even consider shaking hands with her.
Alexander did not of course go out of his way to point out the w in his enemy''s reasoning, but in a roundabout way proposed a way to mitigate these foreseeable problems.
With a warm smile, Alexander pointed out, "I thought mydy would use some of the earned money to subsidize the local guilds¡. as a way to keep your domestic industries running. This way you can have the best of both worlds¡ I keep my trade agreement, and the merchants keep their business.?And you keep your word to both. So I guess it is the best of three worlds, haha."
Alexander was still trying to show Miss Linda a better way to do things, since he really wanted to make working with her a possibility, and thus ended the proposal with a chuckling rhyme.
"Subsidize? What is that?" Miss Lin, however, could not see the humor in that, as she seriously posed instead,
To see that thedy had no concept of subsidy surprised Alexander. Because this technique certainly existed in this time period.
But it seemed thedy was not that well versed in this business lingo.
So Alexander elucidated,
"Subsidy is paying the merchants a stipend from the government so that they can keep their costs low. Suppose if a sword costs 200 Paysas to make here in Caira, but my swords cost only 100 Paysas, then mydy can offer your cksmiths a subsidy of 100 Paysas so that they can match my price."
"That way my trade deal will be honored, while at the same time, the guilds will not be under the threat of being driven out so will not cause trouble."
"Oh, I see!" Learning of this new hack, a look of understanding dawned on Miss Linda''s face, just as Alexander had expected.
But that was also where the script went off the rails.
Because Alexander did not get therge grin and charming nod of thanks as he had predicted.
Instead, Miss Linda sneered, "Lord Alexander has an interesting sense of humor. Is this what they call giving free money in Adhnaia? Subsidy? Hehe, I guess you learn something new every day."
After this, Miss Linda lowered her long, beautiful eyelids and then curtly shook her head a few times,
"I do not know why you practice these strange customs in yournd, but we certainly have no interest in following it. Why should we give our hard earned money to these greedy pigs?If they can''t make good products, then they deserve to lose their business and starve! It''s not my problem!"
Miss Linda once again very domineeringly blew Alexander''s suggestion out the window, content to instead fill her treasury up to the brim with gold and silver.
While Alexander had the urge to p his head in frustration, a very rude thing to do in front of anyone.
Thus instead he chose to only stealthily purse his lips and internally rebuked, ''I just told you why you should give money to the people, you greedy pig! To keep the people docile and prevent them from rebelling.''
''And what are you going to do with all that money anyway? What use is gold gathering dust in some dark, dank corner? Gold should circte like the blood inside our body, or it will start to clot and rot!''
Hearing the foolish reply, the pasha for a moment considered educating thedy on some basic economics.
But ultimately refrained.
He was not her teacher or her friend.
At best, he was a neutral spectator, and mostly like her adversary.
Besides, he was also beginning to see the ws in Miss Linda''s characteristics.
She was a superb maniptor and a deft schemer but without much foresight of other worldly matters, such as effectively ruling a fief.
Alexander determined sshe would have thrived in any royal court, poisoning a king''s ear and making him dance to her tune.
But would never be suitable to take that throne.
Thedy thought herself to be the smartest person in the room and that everybody should shut up and listen to her.
Realizing this made Alexandere to the conclusion that Miss Linda was no effective lord and that letting her get hold of the Margraves would be a terrible deal for him.
So at this point, he already made up his mind to not ept her offer.
But that did not mean they could not talk.
The man still held out hope that perhaps apromised settlement between the two sisters could be reached, such as one where Lady Miranda got to rule but Miss Linda got to share the treasures.
And it was this interest that Alexander decided to express next,
"Lady Linda, I confess your deal is very attractive to me. And I very much wish to take it. But I am still a bit apprehensive about breaking my word to Lady Miranda. Is there no way to reconcile the two of you?"
Alexander faked a pleading tone, adding, "Sisters are precious in this world you know. Especially when you have already lost so many siblings! Is there really a need to lose her too? Lady Miranda might not show it, but she deeply cares about you. And recall all that she has done for you. She is a good elder sister."
After saying all this to butter thedy up, then Alexander finally proposed his own idea, "So I was thinking how about your son- Quentin bes the next family''s head but until hees of age, Lady Miranda stays the regent, ruling the family in his stead."
"Of course, you will be beside your son also, to supervise him and make sure Lady Miranda stays true to her word. That will get us the best of both worlds right?"
Chapter 1020 Miss Lindas Tirade
Chapter 1020 Miss Linda''s Tirade
??Chapter 1020
After Alexander had finished his meeting with Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius that morning, he had spent much of the post time trying to think of an offer he could offer to Miss Linda that would satisfy both sides.
And this was the best he coulde up with- letting the infant Quentin be the head of the family while Lady Miranda acted as his regent while he came of age.
Thus the n was to basically rece Marcus with his cousin.
This way, Miss Linda would be able to atst gain the throne that she had oh so desired, while Lady Miranda would still be able to run the family as she had been for thest four years, letting things keep spinning as they were.
As for what happens when Quentines of age, that was a problem for then.
But Alexander suspected Lady Miranda would be able to cement her power within that time to kick Quentin off thedder.
"Snort! Ridiculous!" And perhaps it was exactly recognizing this danger that Miss Linda spat out this domineering snort and that single word, wrinkling her nose as if she had smelled something foul and putrid.
Her face told all that she thought about Alexander''s ''grand n''.
But that was still not the extent of her disgust, as thedy was also not at all shy of letting everyone know the full extent of her thoughts, as turning her beautiful face to Alexander, she almost jeered,
"Is the heat getting to you my lord? Or is it the wine? Because other than the excuse that you have gone blind drunk and delirious, I cannot think of a single reason why you would ask me to ept such a dumb deal?"
"Do I have the face of a donkey¡. that you thought I would agree to such foolish n? Or does my head look like it''s been kicked by stupid?" Thedy then even pointed to her face while saying, making no attempt to hide her distaste and even livid anger at this mere proposal.
It was as if she was offended by the mere insinuation that Alexander thought she would even consider this.
While facing this enraged tigress, Alexander''s lips twitched.
It had been a long, long time since ago had talked to him such rudely.
Usually, even if he stepped on somebody, the other side would just smile and ask him to step again.
Thus for a mere young countess to wring him like that, Alexander felt like really putting her in her ce.
(Author note: Apparently there is no feminine form for earl¡ who knew!!!)
But Alexander was ultimately not that type of man.
Being mild mannered and patient, he thus put a warm, cid facade and bore through the storm, which had yet to dissipate, as Miss Linda was still continuing in her tirade,
"And why would I ever hand my son to that tart shrew? How can you even suggest that, my lord? Do you honestly believe he will be safe with her? That witch will strangle him to death the moment she gets the chance!"
Miss Linda had no problem in painting her sister like a hunched back hag who ate children for lunch, in quite a simr tactic to how Lady Miranda had tried to show Miss Linda as immoral and ipetent.
And thus in keeping with that strategy, Lady Linda then turned to address the second part of Alexander''s proposal, as clenching her fair fists tightly she cried with incredulity,
"And how can that ''washed-up has been'' possibly be allowed to rule, my lord? We are in this mess because of her! If Miranda can do this in just four years, just imagine what she will be able to do in the next sixteen! By the gods, she will be able to sink the entire ind with her ipetence!"
Miss Linda was extremely aggravated at the mere thought of her sister even possessing the slightest bit of power, thus she imperiously shed her palms to indicate this was not going to happen, not while she was still alive.
Then, having concluded her fervent diatribe against her sister, Miss Linda underwent a sudden transformation- akin to the capricious whims of a midsummer''s noon.
Like a tempestuous storm yielding to the gentle caress of a zephyr, she seamlessly transitioned from a flush, enraged, ominous demeanor to a radiant, sunlit countenance in the mere flutter of an eysh, as she shed Alexander a very flirtatious smile,
"Lord Alexander, forget my sister! Remember who you are! Look all around. Everything we the Margraves have was brought from you." Saying this, she then spun her arms, drawing Alexander''s attention to the surroundings,
"The chair we are sitting on is made from iron imported from Zanzan. The ss table we have in front of us, worth its weight in gold was from Zanzan. The clothes I''m wearing in from Zanzan. Even the sweet wine we are drinking is one of yours."
"So why is it that when you have so much you arementing over my sister and those tiny words? She can give you nothing, while I am offering you everything."
"Everybody in the family supports me. Everyone in my family is with me. So no one will even put it to heart that you chose me over her. They will only see it as something any man would have done. Come! Join me!"
Finishing her long speech, Miss Linda then once again held out her arm, as if waiting for Alexander to gently take it.
While Alexander rolled his eyes in his head, wondering if they gave out any prizes for extraordinary speeches.
Because this one could definitely be up there with the best of the best.
Perhaps not due to its words, but certainly by how animatedly thedy had managed to deliver it.
Miss Linda''s expressions were so crisp and refreshing that Alexander even temporarily forgot the tongueshing she had given him just now.
Thedy''s oratory aptitude was simply sublime.
And if not for her instance in making Alexander join her as quickly as possible was a giant red g, Alexander might have been actually tempted.
But since he was not, Alexander very stealthily discarded this topic, and then in one smooth motion moved on the next one, which involved trade.
Particrly, the trade the Margraves family had with him.
Deftly ignoring Miss Linda''s immacte, snowy white hands, Alexander turned to meet her eyes and stated with a smile,
"I will admit you have made some mighty convincing points mydy. I must say I am tempted.But before I ept, I am a bit embarrassed to confess I have doubts regarding your promise to continue offer me free ess to your market."
"Particrly how will you deal with the rampant piracy that''s been threatening us? Even if the Heeat family is behind you, I have been told theyck the fleet to protect my products. Are you not afraid this will hamper your ability to prevent disruptions to our trade?"
Alexander said this mainly because he wanted to know what exactly the Heeat family had offered the Margraves to ensure the fish took the bait.
"Let us worry about your products, Lord Alexander. All you will have to do is produce it and ce it in your docks. We will handle the rest." However, much to Alexander''s disappointment, Miss Linda was not interested in divulging any of the secret negotiations.
Instead, in her usual curt manner she very confidently blew Alexander''s fear away, as if they were immaterial.
But her absolute confidence did provide Alexander with some clues, as he could not help but thoughtfully suspect that either the Heeat family had reached some kind of deal with the Sybarian council regarding the rates and would get ess to their safe routes.
Or that they were going to use the Margraves family''s expertise in shipbuilding to build a brand new fleet to escort Alexander''s cargo inrge convoys, like the type used during World War 2.
Most likely both.
Having made an educated enough guess and sensing he was not going to get any more intel, Alexander thus made an understanding nod,
"I see. The Heeat family is more powerful than I would have thought. That is reassuring," beforementing with an intrigued tone,
"It seems that your husband, Lord Parker is an extremely capable man¡ to be able to deploy the Heeat family''s resources all the way here. I was told he was just a distant child of the duke¡ not much favored."
"Clearly, that was wrong. Duke Heeat must favor him immensely to let him wield such power. Mydy is truly lucky to have such a powerful husband. Heh heh."
Alexander here was trying to y the same card Miss Linda had yed on him- applying copious amounts of oil and butter.
"Oh! My lord has no idea," And it seemed that even though Miss Linda was adept at handing out ndishments, she was not very adept at resisting its effect, as the mention of her husband brought immense pride to her heart, her eyes twinkling and her lips curved into a subus like grin.
Very few understood just how powerful her husband was and even fewer knew how she had managed to snag this fat cat.
Chapter 1021 Potential Weakness
Chapter 1021 Potential Weakness
??Miss Linda''s delight at being apuded for possessing a powerful husband was evident for all to see.
She was extremely proud of the huge fish she had managed to catch, especially given that the fish was oh so muchrger than she could have ever imagined.
How could she have ever known she would manage to snag such a prize on that particr afternoon?
The tale of how Miss Linda had managed to seduce Parker Heeat was an interesting one.
It was on one inconspicuous afternoon, after learning of the Heeat family''s delegation arrival in Caira that Miss Linda had decided toy in ambush in one of the regr paths the visiting young lord was known to frequent, where she hoped to catch her prey.
At that time, she of course did not know of her future husband''s identity and was only fishing, trying tond any man who could help her escape this sinking ship.
The fact that the Margraves were not doing well was clear for all to see.
And in order to seduce her potential suitor, she had even camouged herself for the asion, choosing to forego dressing as one of thedies of the house, but instead taking the role of a mere maid, just like she had done with Alexander, all aimed at lowering the man''s guard.
And then the story developed as one could easily guess.
A maid somehow ''identally'' stumbled into the path of the young lord, who was instantly smitten by her absolute charm and beauty.
Thus when invited to a small room to spend some time with her, the young lord instantly agreed, not at all caring about the consequences since she was only a mere maid.
Such offerings were hardly umon for a man of his status, as numerous maids regrly threw themselves in front of him, all in the hopes of obtaining various things from him- be it money, jewelry, favors, and the most desirable of all- his love and attention, as they all dreamed of bing one of his mistresses.
Most of the time however Lord Parker would only throw a few coins their way aspensation for the good time.
And this was his intention this time too, as he rejoiced that such a beautiful girl also had such a low status.
In his mind, this was the perfect match.
Hence lustfully tearing off Miss Linda''s clothes the moment they entered the room, the healthy lord wasted no time in taking the winsome, slender girl all over that small abandoned room- from the bed to the window, to the couch, to the table, in all sorts of positions, standing up, on all fours, spooning against the wall, over hisp, you name it, always making sure to end inside her.
Lord Parker was usually not this reckless with his trysts, but despite having no experience, Miss Linda just felt too good to resist.
So good in fact that the young lord even forgot to ask how a maid this beautiful and this flirtatious could remain a virgin in a house filled with so many young men,
Surely they would have taken her by now.
It was only after he had finished his deed and Miss Linda was lying on the well-built man''s chest with half-lidded eyes that Lord Parker woke up to this suspicious act.
But by then it was already toote.
Because as if by magic, the old Lord Margraves just ''happened'' to walk in on the two just as Lord Parker had finished his session and was getting ready to get dressed, officiously smashing open the door to enter inside.
And then appeared enraged after seeing the state of his granddaughter- still fully nude, with her lower garden yet bearing proof of their recent union, which had even started to trickle down her toned thighs.
The old lord then and there demanded Lord Parker take responsibility for this.
And if you are thinking all of this was suspiciously oh-so-convenient timing, then you are not alone.
Lord Parker had thought it so too. And he was pretty sure that the old man had put his granddaughter up to this to seduce him.
But he did not resist, despite it being fully within his power.
The Heeat family was magnitudes more powerful than the Margraves and so he could have certainly gotten away with banging the youngest daughter of their family.
At least they could not have forced him to take him as his wife, which was a unique title.
Because remember, Sybarsis was a monogamous country where men were only allowed to have one wife¡ at least officially.
Thus, logic dictated that the next Duke of Lynican would take someone of higher standing, simr to his own, not the youngest daughter of a poor, down in their luck earldom.
However, Miss Linda had proven to be the most magnificent drug, an unforgettable experience for Lord Parker.
So much so that in spite of having many sexual experiences, no woman had made Parker Heeat feel like she did, making the man feel his loins heating up every time he recalled those scious moans she had made and the charming way her body had twisted and swerved under his pounding.
Lord Parker thought he could hear those lewd songs everything he closed his eyes,
''Ahh! Young master¡ so good¡ Ehhhh¡ it''s so big, uh uh, no. Oh I''m going to be stretched out! Too fast¡ ahhh please slower¡ it''s too big, ah¡ so! Little maid is going to be killed¡ Uh-huh my pussy¡ can''t stand it anymore ¡ yes¡ harder¡yes young master¡ahh.. ah I''m going to let it out¡ soon¡ I''ming¡ I''ming¡ ugghgging!"
He did not think he could live without her.
Thus despite knowing it was all a nned plot, Lord Parker chose to take the bait, and married Miss Linda, rejoicing in the enjoyment the girl provided him every night that he could spare.
While Miss Linda reciprocated the pleasure too, though it was due to an entirely different cause.
Miss Linda enjoyed sleeping with Lord Parker because of his identity, which she hade to knowter.
And imagine her glee then!
When her grandfather had put her up to this, she had only assumed this was him looking out for her, that she was going to marry the distant, illegitimate, not-so-favored son of a duke to leave a way out for her family.
Yet, now she found that she had somehow managed to get into the pants of the next Duke of Lynican- Parker Heeat.
It had sent her into a spiraling rollercoaster of ecstasy.
There were even times when that happiness was so great that it threatened to burst out of her chest and inform everyone of her husband''s real identity.
She only managed to keep herself in check due to the warning her grandfather had issued her, urging her that the reveal would alert her sister and make it harder for her to get the family''s seat.
Thus she had to settle for only making cryptic hints alluding to her husband''s greatness, such as the phrase ''my lord has no idea'' she used with Alexander.
Although unbeknownst to her, these innocuous words were enough to pretty much confirm Alexander''s suspicion about her husband- that he was not who he was iming to be.
Although it was not enough for Alexander to determine Parker Heeat was Duke Heeat''s eldest son for sure, he had a pretty good hunch.
Which also meant that joining Miss Linda''s side made no sense for him.
Because there was no Miss Linda''s side, that was all an illusion- it was already taken by the Heeat family.
And this put Alexander in a dilemma, where he did not know how to proceed.
Lady Miranda was too weak so siding with her made no sense.
While Miss Linda was already taken, so siding with her was not an option. Alexander could not control her as he could Lady Miranda.
The situation hence made Alexander feel like he was between a rock and a hard ce.
And he could not help but think that without further outsider interference, he would be preaching to the choir here if he were to try and convince Miss Linda to share power.
It was right when thinking this that Alexander suddenly thought he had just gotten one of the greatest ideas he ever had.
Thus turning to Miss Linda, Alexander suddenly gave a bright grin and proposed,
"Mydy, I admit I''m very tempted by your offer. It is all I could have asked for. And I''m willing to ept your offer and switch sides just as you wanted¡ but I have one small request." Alexander interjected before Miss Linda could cheer, and thenid the trap,
"I seem to recall that the Kaiser family are great adversaries to your family. And it just happens so they are to me. In fact, one of the reasons for meing here was to seek justice against them for the various atrocities theymitted and allowed others tomit on their behalf."
"So would it be possible for one to meet one of their representatives, such as Governor Straus, and work with Lord Parker''s Heeat family to pressure them into some kind of concession?"
Alexander relished how the light dimmed in Miss Linda''s eyes the moment he said so.
Chapter 1022 Potential Weakness (Part-2)
Chapter 1022 Potential Weakness (Part-2)
The moment Alexander asked about the Kaiser family, the light suddenly went out of Miss Linda''s eyes, turning dull and reticent
It was as if she was glitching for a second, unable to properly respond to the threat that family might pose.
"It is best that we do not involve the Kaiser family right now. If they learn of our civil conflict, they will surely try to take advantage of our weakened state." Miss Linda however quickly recovered from this and hastily created a reasonable excuse, before hurriedly reassuring, "But remain sure my lord, I promise to get justice for you the moment we have finished dealing with our current predicament."
Alexander might have bought this reason if he did not have enough auxiliary evidence to suspect otherwise.
Miss Linda probably did not want to involve the Kaiser family because it would unravel their plot at the most inopportune time and might result in the bird fleeing its coop at thest second.
Alexander was already an unpleasant surprise, so thest thing they needed was the intervention of another power- a much stronger power at that, one that was stationed on this ind and thus able to call a much bigger force.
Thus in Alexander''s mind, what Miss Linda was trying to do here was mainly buy time and stop him from stirring the pot too much, until they could get the job done.
And once they aplished their goal, and the Kaiser family finally woke up to the plot, well by then both of them would be bitter rivals anyway as the Kaiser family would certainly treat the Margraves with hostilities for this dirty trick.
Which might not matter that much to Miss Linda and the Heeat family, but it would surely leave Alexander abandoned in the middle of the road, as by then the Kaiser family would surely not be interested in any negotiations.
Hence Alexander threw her promise of justice for him into the dustbin without a second thought.
But externally he appeared greatly pleased by Miss Linda''s promise, nodding and smiling, "That is great! I had asked Lady Miranda about this too, but she only shrieked away. You on the contrary are clearly a much more capable leader, Lady Linda¡ I''m reassured, hehe"
Alexander''s open ttery was enough to make the opposite side quickly produce a great grin, "Haha,?I''m d my lord can see the truth."
Alexander again understood that Miss Linda was weak to buttering.
Thus taking advantage of her good mood, Alexander prodded with a cunning sh of his eyes, "It seems mydy is a bit apprehensive of the Kaiser family. Are you expecting trouble from them? Could they interfere in your family''s internal affairs? What have they been doing up till now? Do you suspect Lady Miranda might ally with them just as you have with the Heeat family?"
The young pasha keenly noticed how Miss Linda appeared to slightly flinch every time he made mention of the Kaiser family- like she was being prodded by a stinging sensation.
It was apparent that she did not want to talk about it.
And this will manifested in her speech, as in a curt, sharp tone she cut Alexander off, "My lord, does not need to worry about them. We have a peace treaty with them and with the Heeat family on our side, they will not dare to intrude. They are immaterial to our cause. Forget them."
This was inplete contrast to what Miss Linda had just said in her prior sentence, that she was cautious of them, and thus the hasty reply worked to reveal a clear fear of them.
And Alexander''s heart danced at this- as he thought he finally found a way out.
"I see. Then I guess I was only overthinking it. Haha." Then, not wanting to rm the other side, Alexander pretended to drop the matter, appearing convinced.
And Miss Linda was also d to see, as it was evident that she did not want to pursue this matter either.
Thus with a charming smile, she rted, "Yes, yes. The Kaiser family has already its hands full trying to swallow the Marsh family. Where will they have the time to turn their attention to us, hehe."
"Swallow the Marsh family?" This was news to Alexander, as he thought they were only working to puppet them.
Hence now being told that they were nning to cut up an entire ducal family, he rapidly turned his head to meet thedy''s gaze to confirm what he had just heard, only to spot a terrified gaze.
Alexander understood that Miss Linda was not supposed to say this, she had only identally let it slip.
The saying women had loose tongues was proving true here.
And it made Alexander rejoice as he had suddenly gotten this vital piece of information.
While Miss Linda, waking up to her foible, quickly tried to cover up her mistake, as she almost pleaded, "Ah! Please keep this a secret, Lord Alexander. I only told you this in confidence."
This was something her husband had let out during one of their bedtime sessions while being caught up in the act and instantly urged Miss Linda to not tell a soul.
Something which she had broken.
"Hehe, what did you tell mydy? I seem to have already forgotten." Alexander was more than happy to y the fool with Miss Linda''s requests, much to thedy''s delight as she nodded her head like an excited chicken, "Yes¡ yes."
She was beyond relieved at Alexander''s tactful performance.
While Alexander''s heart inside stung like it was being sprinkled with acid.
Because this information led him to suspect that the Heeat family and Kaiser family might havee to a mutual understanding- one swallows the Margraves family and the other the Marsh family, while promising to keep out of each other''s way.
This could exin why Miss Linda was so terrified of revealing the secret, as the revtion of the plot would surely draw the covetous eyes of the other 11 ducal families.
Of course, this was only a hunch from Alexander, as an alternative theory could also be that the Heeat family had decided to swallow the Margraves while the Kaisers were busy, trying to preemptively take their next meal while they were currently distracted.
And if the Kaisers were alerted to this, they might put off their current endeavor toe and ''rescue'' the Margraves.
And Alexander was more inclined to believe it was thetter, as judging by Miss Linda''s initial reluctance to contact the Kaisers.
But still, the threat remained that even if Alexander was to contact Governor Straus, he would not be able to obtain the required resources from the Kaiser family on time given their obligations elsewhere.
Perhaps they might choose to sacrifice the Margraves to eat the Marshs, exchanging an earldom for a dukedom was not a hard choice.
There was a lot to think here.
Alexander needed more time to gather greater information about all the involved parties before he made his y.
Thus, deciding on that and having gotten all that he likely wanted from Miss Linda, he decided to end the meeting for today here, as turning to Miss Linda, Alexander produced a warm smile and a gentle nod,
"Lady Linda, I admit I''m very tempted by your offer. It is all I could have asked for."
"But let me ponder on it for a few days and consult my advisers. Surely you too are aware that even I am unable to switch allegiance on a whim. Let us agree to meet in a few days and I will be hopefully able to greet you with good news soon."
What Alexander was asking waspletely natural as this was how these things naturally went.
No one would decide on such huge matters with just a single meeting.
They would almost always take the time to think it over and consult their advisers.
However, it seemed that was exactly what thedy was expecting here, as instead of letting Alexander excuse himself, Miss Linda deftly caught hold of one of Alexander''s sturdy arms and insisted,
"My lord, what is there to think about? I have everything, while my sister has nothing. I can promise you everything, while she can give you nothing. Aren''t we both wasting our time by doing this? What is the point of this tedious going around the circles? Let us stamp our allegiance right here, right now, and be done with it!"
Saying this, the elegantdy''s face suddenly turned flushed and flirtatious like a subus, as she licked her lips,
"Do this and we can even celebrate!" as thedy then in one smooth motion, undid the knots holding the front part of her dress, letting the garments gracefully fall off the sides to reveal her creamy breasts to the world.
She had not worn any bras or corsets underneath the dress, leaving Alexander to fully enjoy the sight of those globr goodies as Miss Linda then openly tempted, "Does my lord like what you see? Don''t be shye have a squeeze! Here ahhh!
Miss Linda then even lightly squeezed her breasts, letting out a soul stirring moan, and causing a tiny jet of white, hot milk to squirt out.
''Subus!'' Alexander cursed.
Chapter 1023 The Bell Almost Tolls
Chapter 1023 The Bell Almost Tolls
Alexander''s eyes could not help but admire the snowy scenery in front of him when it was presented to him for the first time.
He had not expected Miss Linda to do such a thing even in his wildest dreams and thus when the stunningly beautifuldy bared herself to Alexander, he felt his eyes being glued to the forbidden flesh.
Miss Linda''s assets were modest in size, around the shape of small apples, but what theycked in volume and mass of bigger melon like busts, they more than made up in firmness and perkiness, standing tall and proud.
At the center of which stood two simrly small, cute pale pink nipples, already turned turgid in attention, just begging to be pinched and yed with.
And then when Miss Linda did just that, a streamlet of milk leaked out of one of the tiny holes, before starting to roll down the modest hills.
The tantalizing scene made Alexander''s fingers itch to do the same, to pull and knead these buds into whatever shapes he desired, and make this Miss Linda moan.
He lustfully wished to see how this stunning beautiful woman would moan and groan under him, and what kind of charming sounds she would make when he pushed her beneath him and pounded that sweet, little cave.
For a brief moment, Alexander was even jealous of her husband that he got to enjoy such a ravishingly charming beauty every night.
And as if sensing Alexander''s evil fire, Miss Linda sought to quickly stoke it further, quickly cupping her other breast and lewdly moaning,
"Ahhh! Come Lord Alexander! Pleasee take me. Ohh.. my husband has not touched me in so long. We women also have our own needs you know!"
Miss Linda fluttered her long eysh flirtatiously at Alexander saying this, almost driving a cupid''s arrow into Alexander''s heart, as she then delivered the coup de grace of her performance,
"My breasts feel so sore, my lord. Do you dislikectatingdies? Ahhh!... I''m so lonely!"
Miss Linda then firmly squeezed both her breasts simultaneously, causing a twin jet of milk to squirt out of them and stain her beautiful clothes, while the air took on the slight whiff of motherly, milky scent.
Alexander''s throat instantly felt perched and his loins hot and hard.
Currently, nothing existed in his mind other than the desire to jump onto these fluffy puppies and devour them, then ravish the lewd bunny in front of him.
After all, since he was being offered lunch, would it not be too rude to refuse?
Why let a fine meal go to waste? Especially a meal as delicious and rare as this.
Who knew when Alexander was going to get another chance to taste this married woman?
This forbidden fruit.
All such reasons rang inside Alexander''s head as he went red eyed and wanted nothing more than to start feeling the snowy hills.
''Wait! Married woman!'' However just as Alexander was about to pounce, the ever cautious part of his brain chimed out in rm, ''This is exactly like that time with Felicia. She hasced with poison!''
Looking at the familiar scenery, Alexander''s mind could not help but instantly equate this to the same trick Lady Felicia had tried to y on him, just in a bit of a different context.
And that was enough to instantly snap Alexander out of it.
Of course, Miss Linda''s chest was not literally smeared with poison, but the seduction behind it was metaphorically so.
''It''s a trap!'' Alexander thus screamed to himself, quickly regaining hisposure and instantly straightening his back.
Then putting his guard up Alexander in a neutral but firm tone declined Miss Linda, "I do not think it befits either of us as nobles to engage in an act as filthy as adultery mydy. We are both married and should respect each other partners. Surely your husband would be heartbroken if he were to learn of your unfaithfulness right? I know my wife would."
Alexander sounded very pious and even saintly as he delivered this righteous speech, not feeling the slightest bit of shame at the hypocrisy on disy here, given that hemitted this?''adultery'' regrly, almost every day.
The number of times he had sex with women who were neither his wives nor concubines, such as the maids and ves in his house or the women he met while on his travel, might not reach the thousands, but it was definitely in the hundreds.
And this was also not even considering the asional tussle with noblewomen like Lady Inayah and Lady Pathia, which he had just to refresh his taste buds.
All this was also known to Miss Linda of course, which is why hearing Alexander''s pulpitry musings unabashedly sneered, "My lord, please do not think I do not know how you Adhanians pass your free time? Adultery? Does Adhania even have a word like that? When did that ever matter to you?"
"In fact, I''m even surprised you have the word ''wife'' in yournguage, my lord. I think whores would be a more suitable title, wouldn''t you?¡ Given how you pass them around each other."
The fact that Alexander rejected her advance seemed to enrage Miss Linda as sheshed her barded tongue without restraint, mocking Alexander for his poor excuse.
Before in her typical style, suddenly changing her face in the blink of an eye, turning it from furious and flushed to seductive and sensual,
"There is no need to be coy here, Lord Alexander. No one is here but us. No one will ever know. You can rx. Come! If you want, you can even ask Adele to join us."
Miss Linda invited Alexander with her most honyed tongue, while also very seductively pointing to the maid standing beside her.
Who, as if receiving her mistress''s signal then also deftly stepped forward, before courteously bowing and speaking for the first time.
Her tone was very soft and deferential, "Yes, my lord. I''m from Adhan and I''m been trained by the very best masters on how to pleasure men. I promise you I can satisfy any request you might have. Please allow me."
Then saying this, as if to prove her sincerity, this maid like her mistress also undid the top part of her breast, revealing a snowy pair that was much bigger and fuller in size, along with much bigger pink buds.
Just by the shape and shape alone, these sweet peaches were certainly a more delectable treat than those apples.
''What is with these breasts reveal? Is it a new fad?'' However, Alexander was not impressed even by this tantalizing disy, as he had already woken up to the danger he was in.
Miss Linda was being way too pushy for this to be a simple exchange of favors.
It was more like she was honeypotting him, desperate to get him on her side no matter what.
It made rm bells go off in Alexander.
So despite Miss Linda''s taunting, he refused to take the bait, and reiterated, "Like I said mydy, I''m very interested in your offer but I cannot ept it right here right now. My advisors would be too dissatisfied if I were to agree without even their input. This is not something I can change¡ no matter with how people I do¡ this."
"Sex! I think the word you are looking for is sex." Miss Linda''s sharp, incisive tone however made it apparent that she was not going to let Alexander without him agreeing to the deal, as she then proceeded to strip out all the civility out of the conversation,
"What are you my lord afraid of? My husband? The loser is not here. He is with his army in the city¡ fucking the general there."
Miss Linda here inadvertently informed Alexander why it was her and not her husband conducting these negotiations, and then said something that might as well have been said to be Alexander''s Pearl Harbor or 9/11.
With a sneer she barked,
"Or is why lord afraid of your wife? Heh! Why care about that? Given your country''s custom, wouldn''t she be busy getting fucked by men right as we speak!"
"Your wife might as well have a cock in her ass, pussy, and mouth right now and not even be able to speak out your name. Not that she would even want to, given those cocks can properly pound her cunt¡ unlike your toothpick. Hah! And you still call yourself a man!"
These words basically sounded like a deration of war to Alexander.
"Wha¡t did you say?"And they made Alexander''s eyes not red in anger but white in unbridled rage.
Initially, he could not even process this was actually being said to him, and by a noble at that.
"There will be consequences for this!" But once he understood these words really had been uttered, Alexander instantly shed a dangerous, almost murderous chilly light.
Then refusing to be in Miss Linda for a second longer, the man turned on his heel and stomped with the fury of an unleashed typhoon.
And it was good that he did this when he did, for no sooner had he disappeared, did two armed and armored suddenly men appear from two hidden alcoves of the garden, holding crossbows!
"Pity!" One of them then muttered with a low sigh, sending a longing looking towards Alexander back!
It was clear that if Alexander had lost his mind and tried to attack Miss Linda just now, he would have been killed!
The entire thing had been a trap!
Chapter 1024 Lord Parker Heeat
Chapter 1024 Lord Parker Heeat
Alexander stormed out of Miss Linda''s small garden with a white hot rage that threatened to almost burn his heart to cinders.
It was to the point he even did not know where he was going in thisbyranith like mansion, just that he was going somewhere that was not here.
While back at the garden, Miss Linda did not have the typical rueful facade one would expect a person who had just lost herself a potential ally to have.
You would think after trying to pamper Alexander so much anding so close, only to lose it at thest second due to some ill advised, spur of the moment words, this schemingdy would be regretful that such a nice stack of cards came so suddenly crashing down.
But no.
The face that Miss Linda currently had was one of frustration and anger, as she pursed her lips and pouted, while at the same time, she worked quickly to turn herself decent- redoing the knot in front of her dress.
And the reason behind her ''weird'' countenance had to do with the two armored men who suddenly revealed themselves from the two hidden alcoves of the garden, which were located at the corners and cataloged by all the greenery, both equipped with loaded crossbows!
"Pity¡!" And as soon as they stepped into the light the shorter and bulkier of the two, possessing a great big beard muttered so with a deep, low sigh, sending a longing looking towards Alexander''s back!
"Yes. I can''t believe we did not take the bait." And his partner, a taller, much more handsome man with a fashionable goatee seemed to agree, chiming in with a nod.
Before shooting a smirking nce at the seateddy, "Looks like you are not as irresistible as you thought you were, Linda."
Yes, as you have probably guessed, the tall gentleman was Miss Linda''s husband- Lord Parker Heeat.
And being poked by her partner like so caused the nobledy''s face to further twist in frustration and fury,
"Small dicked chicken hearted peasant! Would not know what nobility is even if it spread its legs and asked to be fucked!"
It seemed contrary to her elder sister Miranda, this younger sibling''s repertoire of curses was much more extensive as she let out a torrent of swears.
While the maid standing next to her, who too had be decent and managed to hide her bosom by now, chimed in to console her with a soothing tone,
"It is not your fault sister. We all know of your charms. And we could clearly see that Alexander thought so too. He was even just about to grab you when¡. suddenly something happened. *Tsk*... pity, we were so close."
Going by this statement, it should be obvious that this frowning ''maid'' was not really a maid, but the seconddy of the house- Lady Miranda''s younger and Miss Linda''s elder sister- Adele in disguise.
And hearing her ruefulments, the short, well built man moved closer to her while nodding in agreement,
"Yes. That is indeed strange. We were certain that even if Lord Alexander had reservations about touching Lady Linda, he would not be able to pass the opportunity to get a couple of squeezes in of the maid. That should have been very natural. Everyone touches the maids."
The man stated in a matter of fact tone, before his eyes suddenly turned wolfish as he gazed at Lady Adele''s abundant chest.
He could not help but grab a palmful of the soft, gooey goodness and give them a few, good squeezes.
"Ahhhh! Master¡ not here! Please¡. everybody is looking." And at this, instead of protesting and screaming out in fright, thedy of the house instead only coyly flushed.
It was apparent that even her ''protest'' was more of a shy approval than an actual no.
Something the man seemed to understand very well, as instead of disengaging his hand, he only sped up the touching, squeezing her harder and vulgarly chuckling,
"Hehe, my dear wife, what is there to be shy about? We are all family here. You belong to the lord as much as you do me. So I am just here checking if your breast is alright. How could that brat not have enjoyed these magnificent pillows¡ ahhhh!"
The short man had a single line of drool leak, as he frankly revealed the shameful act of sharing his wife with Lord Parker.
It seemed that you did not need to be Adhanian to partake in such ''festivities'', even the conservative Sybarsis had their share of deviants.
While Lady Adele was in no state of mind to properly respond to any of these statements, as her attention was elsewhere entirely.
Her body had begun to shake and heat up under the rough caress, forcing her to strongly bite her lips, and try and suppress her moan as best as she could, "Mmmm¡ that''s not the point¡ ahhh don''t pinch there¡too strong¡ohhhh¡ stop¡ I''m going to drop Quentin."
It was only after the man was reminded thedy was still holding the infant child of his master that he retreated his hand, all while the parents of the child watched this very private act with disinterested eyes.
It was as if this was as natural as seeing the sunrise.
Hencepletely treating the still blushing Lady Adele like air, Lord Parker instead turned to chime with an approving nod towards what the bearded man had said,
"Achis is right. That Alexander should have taken the bait. We even made sure toyer the trap into two levels to tempt him. By all ounts, it should have worked." The man imed so in a certain tone, before appearing puzzled as to why it had not.
If Alexander was here, he would have also recalled the name Achis, which was the name of the general of the army stationed in the city as stated by MM.
And furthermore, if Alexander was here, he would have sweated buckets hearing the next parting from the general himself, who traced his chin thoughtfully to too try and figure out the w here,
"Yes, I thought the n was perfect too. At first Lady Linda would try to get Alexander to our side with promises and negotiations. But if that failed, she would attempt to seduce him, tempting him to touch her or Adelle disguised as the maid."
"And the moment he did, we could have been shot and killed him, iming that he tried to assault our wives. This would have given our sideplete legitimacy in the subsequent events. *Sigh*, what a pity!"
The man once again produced a sad sigh.
While far off in the distance, out of nowhere, the furious Alexander suddenly felt a cold chill run through his spine.
The man had no idea why he felt like that, but fate did.
The young pasha had inadvertently managed to dodge an extremely sophisticated, wellyered trap, all by just keeping his dick in his pants.
By not acting like a typical Adhanian noble and taking bites out of every meal he was offered, this young supernova had managed to unknowingly live another day and not be shot to bits by a pair of crossbows.
Because if Alexander had let this lust take over and decided to have a nibble, he would have found the food to be truly poisonous.
Both Lord Parker and Achis, who was a noble himself, could have imed to be defending their honor the moment Alexander did this, turning the man into a porcupine without giving him a second to exin himself.
Such ''honor killings'' were nothing umon in Sybarsis.
And was even legal- if a man caught his wife cheating, he could kill both parties right then and there without any repercussions. He would even be praised for his bravery.
And this was what Miss Linda''s side wished to exploit- justifying their act by presenting Alexander as a deviant who was identally killed when he tried to assault and rape the marrieddies of the house.
And to make it even easier for him to fall for it, they even disguised Lady Adele as a lowly, willing maid, so that Alexander would be more likely to take that bait.
How insidious!
Of course, even if Alexander did really try to vite one of the parties, it would not be like his killing would be done and forgotten, his soldiers nodding their heads in understanding and mutual assent that their lord deserved to be punished like so for his crime.
No, it would of course create a tsunami like response, bringing over a tidal wave of grudge and umbrage.
There might even be a bloodbath.
But through all this, Miss Linda''s side would always manage to hold the moral upper ground, enabling them to draw the support of neutral factions onto their sides.
While Alexander''s side would have to contend in a foreignnd with no allies and no great political rhetoric.
This would have put the idea of getting revenge for Alexander into the ground before it could even sprout.
11:26
Miss Linda''s side really had thought of everything- either Alexander joined them right here, right now, or be killed.
And it was only through Alexander''s cautious mind and a bit of help from Lady Felicia that he managed to avoid this death trap.
Chapter 1025 Lord Parker Heeat (Part-2)
Chapter 1025 Lord Parker Heeat (Part-2)
??Lord Parker Heeat was understandably a little bit peeved that his prey had managed to escape just like that.
He had already discussed how this meeting would go.
Either Alexander would leave the garden with a nod and a promise that he would support Miss Linda in her endeavors.
Or he would leave it in a body bag, his body filled with crossbow bolts.
And if Lord Parker had indeed let out these bolts, Alexander would have had a hard time surviving them despite the good armor he had under him, given the huge size and draw weight of these behemoths.
When the two men had decided to kill Alexander, they made sure toe prepared.
Lord Parker had even chucklinglymented to Achis, "Hehe, how ironic would it be if this Alexander were to die from this¡ his own invention?"
To which Achis had chortled back, "Hahaha, yes," before turning to nce at his beautifully carved and crafted weapon, made of the best wood and steel, and embellished with pure gold and silver etchings, as he then let out a song of praise, "But this is indeed a magnificent invention. Perfect to train peasants. And perfect to use in assassinations. Needs no lengthy draws. So can can be fired from confined spaces¡ like an alcove."
The man''s eyes had shined with an ominous light when he said this, as the general could not help but y the scenario in his head.
The first two shots would probably not be enough to kill the target, but the powerful hit from such huge bolts would definitely be more than adequate to immobilize him via sheer shock and pain.
And as Alexander would fall on to his knees, the two men could quickly approach him, reloading their bows midway and then taking their next shot aimed at vitals like the throat, head, or even face, shot from point nk range to ensure the hit and subsequent kill.
Achis thought the n was perfect.
However, Miss Linda''s vulgar speech and Alexander''s abrupt and rapid exit left both the men momentarily too stunned to know what to do, unsure whether to let Alexander leave or kill him regardless of the apocalyptic repercussions it might cause.
And by the time either of them coulde to a decision, Alexander was already out of the small, walled garden, beyond the reach of crossbows.
They might have a range of a few hundred meters, but even these powerful crossbows could not shoot through walls.
"*Tsk*, we should have taken the shot when we had the chance. Can we kill him tonight in his room?" It was only now, after he had gotten the time to think, that the next in line Duke Heeat expressed his regret at having let his chance slip, believing letting Alexander leave was a mistake and wanted to rectify it as soon as possible.
"No! Master, you mustn''t!" However this time, his ever-trusting general interjected with a terrified face, quickly appraising,
"Since we have failed, it is best that we do not antagonize the man any further. Not without cause at least. He might be young but his military exploits are already legendary. To win against King Perseus and in just two years at that¡my lord should know better than most how fearful that it."
"Even the famed city of Thesalie fell to him. Fighting Lord Alexander will not be wise, especially given the situation now. Please reconsider!"
Achis sounded both amazed and frightened by Alexander''s reputation, making it clear he had no wish to meet the man inbat.
A sentiment shared by his wife too, as Lady Adele quickly joined to chime further, "Yes! Unless we have some strong evidence to convict him, it will be ruinous for our reputation to assassinate him in our house. He is our guest here. As hosts, we must treat him with respect, even if it is only outwardly."
This was basic etiquette among most parts of the world and no different for Sybaris.
Letting any harm befall a guest staying in your house reflected extremely poorly on oneself.
So poorly in fact that this time even Miss Linda had to assent, humming, "Mmmm¡ although I hate to say it, but such an ignoble act will surely poorly reflect on us," before producing a cautious tone, "Not to mention, even if he is gone, his army will remain. They are camped just over there. It is only a short hop from there to here and I do not want to turn my home into a battlefield. We should avoid engaging him overtly if possible."
"..." Lord Parker did not express objection or agreement to any of what the trio said, but only pursed his lips.
Although deep inside he already knew the answer- even as the next duke of the Heeat family he could not ignore the majority will of his retainers.
Especially not when he was in a foreignnd and trying to carry out a covert operation such as this.
But that did not mean he was happy with it.
The man personally thought letting Alexander leave was a big mistake, especially because of how talented the man had proved himself to be.
He wanted to cut the tree at the roots- despite the potential military, economic, and political consequences it would inevitably cause.
Who knew when he would get another chance like this?
Surely not one like this one- face to face in a secluded ce, given what his wife had just said.
Thus at this missed opportunity, Lord Parkermpooned, ''I should have acted more decisively! But why did he not take the bait? Did he sense something? I thought the trap was certain to seed given how famous Adhania is for its pruency. So what gives?''
However try as he might, the young lord was of course unable to understand how Alexander managed to avoid the trap.
Hence, peeved by his failure, his anger was suddenly transferred to his newlywed wife, sending her a ring gaze and shooting through clenched teeth,
"You are saying all this now, but you could not think that before saying all those vulgar things? Why did you have to go off like that? Why did you not just try to seduce him some more to have him touch? Or even throw yourself over to him? That would have surely worked too!"
Lord Parker very casually revealed a potentially frightful oue for Alexander even if he had managed to hold his lust,something he had luckily avoided.
The reason being, as stated by a sneering Lord Parker, "Is it because he did not instantly fall to his knees upon seeing you? Was it your pride? Are you that petty? Hateful woman!"
Being poked at all her vulnerable spots, Miss Linda was left with little excuse -the man had hit the hammer on the nail.
Being born as the next in line sessor to a ducal family, Lord Parker had got to meet all sorts of people, with all sorts of faces, and got to gain quite a knack for seeing through people.
This is why he wanted to kill Alexander despite the opposition because he sensed something dangerous in him.
And this was also why he could easily identify the reason for Miss Linda''s outburst- due to being insulted by Alexander''s rejection.
"....." Towards all these usations, Miss Linda had little to counter this with, thus mped up and lowered her head.
While seeing this as a vindication of his reasoning, Lord Parker continued his scathing rebuke,
"You probably thought being a born noble, a ve like Alexander would feel honored to let him touch you. And when he didn''t, youshed out. Am I wrong?"
The man gave Miss Linda to defend herself once.
And after having the time to quickly think of a good excuse, the cunningdy took the chance,
"You did not see what I saw! For some reason Alexander had already decided to not touch either of us. And I knew no amount of seduction was going to convince him otherwise."
"That''s why I tried to anger him. I thought that since he was not going to touch me, I might as well try and make him hit me. Then we would have an even better excuse. It was a good n!"
Miss Linda fervently defended her actions, iming to have seen through Alexander''s thoughts.
"..." And it was Lord Parker''s turn to be muted because if you thought about it like that, Miss Linda''s idea did not sound too bad.
It was of course only known to Miss Linda whether she was really thinking this ahead or simply twisting the fact to the narrative and appear like a genius.
But regardless, the reasoning was there, so seeing her husband''s silence, Miss Linda went on to further vent, twisting her face into a furious, manic expression,
"And what if I did say it? Did I lie? Everyone knows what the Adhanians do. It is absolutely disgusting! So who is to say his wife is not getting fucked in their bedroom as we speak? The whore definitely is!"
"How dare that ve of an insect preach to me about adultery and chastity? As if I would ever let that filth touch me!"
Despite the diplomatic incident Miss Linda had caused, thedy appeared totally unapologetic.
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Chapter 1026 Deadly Plot
Chapter 1026 Deadly Plot
??The pride and hubris with which Miss Linda had made herment regarding Alexander and Cambyses was overwhelming, threatening to almost overflow to the surroundings.
While listening to this, her partner, Lord Parker pursed his lip.
Although he usually loved the inherent haughtiness of his wife, he also felt that sometimes she tended to go a bit too far with it.
So he lightly chided her, "Not all Adhanians do this. Especially not with some of their more special wives. You should have been tactful. Now due to your hasty words, we have lost a valuable ally. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I''m sorry." And knowing when to advance and when to retreat, Miss Linda determined now was not the time to be defiant.
Thus although her heart rebelled, outwardly she put on a rueful, hurt face, even adding a further excuse, "I just panicked when Alexander started talking about the Kaiser family. That family''s intervention right now would be the worst timing for us. So I wanted to kill him no matter what."
This was something the elder sister Lady Adele was also more than happy to coborate with, as vigorously nodding her head, she tried to assuage Lord Parker''s heart,
"Yes, yes, my lord. My sister just made an honest mistake. Even I could see Lord Alexander did not want to touch us¡ so really it was not Linda''s fault. She was just a bit raffled when the pasha mentioned that he brought Tibias''s queen to try and force a meeting with the Kaisers. We really should kill him as soon as possible."
Facing the powerful duke''s wrath, the seconddy of the Margraves was very quick to change her tune.
"*Tsk*... queen." While hearing that particr word seemed to unnaturally incense Miss Linda.
Although the people around her knew why- it was because of how beautiful Lady Parthia was.
Miss Linda was insanely jealous of this, feeling inferior to her, and thus she sneered with a jeer, "Heh, how can it be that she is all the way here without her husband? Could she be screwing Alexander any more openly? Shameless whore."
Since thedy could not attack Lady Parthia''s beauty, she chose to attack her character.
Something if Alexander heard would have definitely tried to vehemently deny, ''This is unfair! I did not get a single chance to touch her. Don''t nder!"
But right here right now, it was something not only epted as true but even expanded upon, as stated by Lady Adele next, "Right! Lord Alexander even brought Adhania''s queen with him too. She too without her husband. He must be having an affair with both of them. What a beast!"
Thedy sounded shocked and disgusted.
While the nearby men suddenly felt a bit jealous.
To be able to bed two queens of two nations at the same time, what a luxury.
Made all the more sweeter by the fact that both of them were officially still married.
So Alexander was bedding the women behind two kings'' backs, and so openly at that!
What guts!
As fellow men, both Lord Parker and Achis could not help but feel a deep sense of respect toward the other side.
While Miss Linda, staying true to her scheming roots, suddenly posed, "Can we use this? Spread the rumor that he is having an affair with not one but two married women. And turn the people against him?"
In Sybarsis, a man having an affair was a great social faux pas, especially if the woman he was with was married.
The man might be able to still extricate himself, but the woman would be left humiliated.
And it seemed Miss Linda wanted to do the same to Alexander.
Lord Parker however had to try hard to stop his eyes from rolling upon hearing this ridiculous n.
But since his wife generally made useful contributions in their conversations, he did not want to ssh too much water on her parade.
Thus with only a neutral tone, he noted, "Alexander is a foreigner. Sleeping two foreign women. Why would the people of Galiosos care? Hell, most of them don''t even know the name of the ce they are from."
It was apparent how little Lord Parker thought of this.
"I think it''s a great idea!" However, just as Miss Linda was feeling down, this ray of approving voice pierced her ear,ing from none other than the general of the army- Achis.
"What?" And it puzzled Lord Parker, as he turned with furrowed brows in confusion.
Miss Linda''s idea was clearly stupid, so why was his most trusted man iming otherwise?
"Not the ndering part! The ''turning the people against him'' part!" And sensing this befuddlement, Achis was quick to add so, before elucidating with a pointed index finger, "Young master, ask yourself, why are we hesitating to kill Alexander? One of the reasons is because the Margraves would not like it. But what if we could make them like it?"
"We could create various trouble in the city andy it on him. Get the people riled up and rioting. If the people then start wanting him dead, and we kill him afterward¡ hehe, we will not be assassins, we will be heroes!"
Achis sounded extremely excited by his own idea, as he shouted out the n with glee.
And there was certainly reason to be such critic, given Lord Parker quickly joined the celebrations too, feeling that finally a second door of opportunity had been opened for him.
"Right! You are right! We can indeed do this. Yes!" He cried, being over the moon at this idea.
While Achis with great nods attempted to furtherment, "Yes, I got the idea from one of the records I read at the library. I believe Lord Kass did something like this in¡"
However before he could finish, the man was curtly interjected by an even more excited Miss Linda, who could not help but shoot in her own ideas
"This is great! We can tell the people things like that the reason why everything is so bad is because of Alexander. That it was he who took all their gold. And now he is here with his army to demand even more. We can even loot and plunder some of the temples in the city to prove this,ying all the me on him! That will be sure to get the people up and arms, hehehe."
Miss Linda''s beautiful, dark eyes turned resplendent like the stars as she came up with all kinds of crafty ideas.
This is where she thrived- scheming.
But perhaps she was a bit too good at it, as hearing her idea, the other three somewhat flinched in difort.
Even for someone as powerful as Lord Parker, he had an instinctual reverence of the gods and would prefer not to attack these sacred ces of worship.
Of course, it was not like he would hold himself off from doing so if the chance and opportunity presented itself, or the need arose.
But he would certainly not be so open or happy about it.
These ces were touchy subjects, and the people tended to get really riled up when anything happened to them.
Riled up to the point they sometimes became chaotic and uncontroble.
Lord Parker would prefer not to have to deal with a mob of angry peasants right inside the city, especially when they were so close to seeding.
So he did not immediately jump at Miss Linda''s suggestion, feeling apprehensive.
However, the other two did, with Achis quickly chiming ahead,
"Fantastic! We can even say that Lord Alexander has threatened to put the city to the sword if does not get his gold. That''s why he has brought his army. Then try to send a mob towards the mansion and kill Alexander under all the chaos! It''s perfect!"
The man''s fear of the gods seemed to dissipate at the potential reward of Alexander''s head.
As so did his wife''s, who in a rare instance too added to the n,
"Mmmmm, we can even ask Uncle Nn to disguise a few city guards as thrives to rob some of the shrines. And then im that it was Lord Alexander who had sent the men into the city to do this. To steal from the gods."
Lady Adele did not know it, but this move of hers was inadvertently a real stroke of genius.
Because this way they could corner Alexander from two sides not just one.
While previously he was only shown as an extortionist, determined to leave the people of Caira destitute at the point of a sword, now, he was also dressed as a thief, someone who had the audacity to steal from the gods.
Thus if Miss Linda''s move could have only summoned the masses, the lower ranks of the society, then Lady Adele''s move could summon the higher ups, the elites like the nobles and priests.
It was a perfectbination.
So much so that Lord Parker, who wanted to object, now found himself faltering.
The trio had made too many good points to dismiss them.
And given the majority were in agreement, the lord had to assent, thus nodding his head, he gave the go ahead to Achis, "Okay. Have the men start causing problems in the city tonight! I want Alexander dead by the week."
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1027 A Royal Interlude (Part-1) (R-18)
Chapter 1027 A Royal Interlude (Part-1) (R-18)
??Alexander was of course currently not aware of the plot against him.
Instead, he was filled with a heavy head and a raging heart, bubbling with all sorts of information, inferences, and grievances.
Initially, he wished for nothing more than to tear her from limb to limb for even uttering these kinds of filth.
But eventually, he calmed down, and changing his mindset from Alexander to the Pasha of Zanzan, he began to analyze the various things he had discussed.
When he did this, two very divergent paths began to appear in front of Alexander making him produce all kinds of different scenarios inside his mind.
One was where he instantly brought war to Miss Linda, using his legionnaires to capture and perhaps even execute her right here and now.
But there were a hundred different problems with that, from incurring resistance from the Margraves family to obtaining Lady Miranda''s permission, to the biggest of all, dealing with her husband who ording to his knowledge was currently with the army stationed just on the opposite side of the city.
Thisst one particrly vexed Alexander as he cursed his bad luck. One fish had inadvertently managed to escape the barrel, ruining even a hypothetical chance.
Thus the more realistic option was to wait for Lady Miranda to contact Governor Struas and wait for a response from him and the Kaiser family behind him.
With their help, Alexander would then perhaps be able to coordinate some kind of pincher attack.
But this wait and see approach disgusted Alexander, as it gave all the initiative to the enemy while he was left all alone like a sitting duck, only able to passively react.
He did not like this.
But Alexander also could not find a n that he liked.
Hence he was left in a kind of limbo.
One that even made the following delicious dinner taste like ash, as if all the joy that been sucked out of it.
And that same feeling stayed with him even when he returned to bed, as he was so caught up and disturbed by his own thoughts that he found sleep to elude him.
Thus noticing that night was still young and people were moving about, Alexander in an attempt to clear and mind decided to invite the two queens'' into his private chambers, wishing to chat with them.
He wanted to let them in on all the new information he came in possession of today and thus reveal the predicament they were in as well as hopefully receive some useful advice on how to proceed forward- such as how to deal with Miss Linda and also satisfy Lady Miranda.
However that n showed difficulty in its implementation as one of the two queens was more eager to obtain something else entirely.
And as you could have already guessed, it was Lady Nanazin.
The moment she entered the room, Lady Nanazin had simply brushed off everything Alexander might have had to say with a brisk wave of her palms, retorting, "Later Alex! Right now, let''s catch up," as she then in the blink of an eye she had shed her outer clothes.
She had been promised a good time on the ship which she had missed and thus was eager to make up the lost time.
While Alexander, feeling the pure lust addled gaze of the regal royaldy, the man imagined he was being stared down by a starving panther, one which desired to devour him whole.
The raw desire this beautifuldy had for him made him feel both proud as a man as well as a bit scared.
For Lady Nanazin, not having had a man for four whole years when she used to once have one if not more every day had made the queen very horny.
And this desire was clearly represented in the dress she was currently wearing underneath her outer clothes, which was nothing but a scarlet sting bikini with matching high heels- the colors of raw passion.
Alexander found these clothes to act more like ornaments than an actual dress as the only things that those three scant triangr pieces of garments hid were the two nipples and the lower crack, leaving everything else such as the abundant creamy breasts, the t tummy, therge, fleshy ass and the healthy thighs for all to see.
And even for the flesh they were ''hiding'', using the word ''hide'' might be a stretch, as Alexander could easily see the depression of the pink buds on her breasts, as well as the clear outline of her delicate flower, which was already drooling, half swallowing the thin fabric.
Lady Nanazin had intentionally chosen a size smaller than the rmended measurements, to make herself appear thicker, thus the bikini was stretched almost to its limits.
And despite being dressed in a state that could be described as being worse than naked, Lady Nanazin made no attempt to hide these assets from her lover.
Instead, taking the clothes as soon as she entered, she even gloriously unted her revealed assets, shaking her chest to make the creamy breast flesh jiggle and wiggling her hips to draw attention to her curves.
"Lady Parthia, you too! Come here." Then as if feeling lonely, Lady Nanazin asked her apanying partner who was standing next to her to join in on the fun, while sending Alexander a great victorious grin.
It was an order that certainly surprised Alexander, which then transformed into shock when he saw the other sideply too.
He could have imagined Lady Nanazin as being such wanton in their private time, but never the regal and conservative Lady Parthia.
Hence Alexander could not help but relish the sight of the older and curvier queen deftly taking off all her clothes too, as she went to reveal a simr get up as her counterpart, just in pure, chaste white.
She had even bigger breasts than Lady Nanazin, ones that sagged a bit due to their age and weight and had nipples that were turgid and stuck out of the tiny string bikini, while herher region looked much more mature and transparent,rgely due to the color of the thongs she had chosen.
White was a dreadful color to wear if you were going to hide something this sheer and thin.
But perhaps that was also why she wore it- to make the translucent scenery that much more alluring to Alexander.
However it was more likely that Lady Nanazin had been the one to make Lady Parthia wear it given the deep crimson, almost bright red shade the bashful queen''s angelic face produced as she felt Alexander''s hot gaze sweep past her.
"This is worse than being naked," She muttered bashfully, as then contrary to Lady Nanazin''s bold posture of one of her hands on her hip like a model, Lady Parthia then shyly squeezed her legs, trying to appear diminutive.
It was a very subtle move but she had no idea that her charming embarrassment instantly made Alexander''s loins hard and hot like forged steel.
He really wanted to bully this chaste woman and make her produce all kinds of lewd faces, faces that no one had ever seen.
And imagining this, Alexander could not help but appreciate the current situation in his bedroom.
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There were two very curvy women standing side by side in front of him, in sheer thongs of red and white with spilling curves, one grinning from ear to ear, the other with head lowered in shame, both seemingly ready to spread their legs at hismand.
Since he was given the chance, Alexander unabashedly admired both the maturedies'' bodies- marveling at theirrge fleshy breasts swaying gently on due to breathing, licking those turgid silhouettes of therge nipples, kissing those pink ares already peeking out, and salivating over those full thighs that housed their precious gardens in between them.
Alexander clearly spotted one was meticulously shaved, like a newborn''s, while the other one was bushy, with a few rebellious strands even peeking out from the sides of the thin fabric.
And it was also while looking at the second, much more mature looking spot of Lady Parthia that Alexander could not ask incredulously to himself, ''How the hell did Lady Nanazin manage to convince her to do this?''
Because Lady Parthia was not like that and thus her almost spontaneous participation threw a wrench in his logic.
Alexander wouldtere to know that Lady Nanazin had cajoled Lady Parthia into this by telling her that as long as she just stayed in the room and watched her union with Alexander, it would please Alexander and thus by extension the gods, who might choose to heal her husband.
And since it was just watching and nothing else, the loyal wife was willing to put herself through this.
But now returning to the current scenario, having waited long enough, Lady Nanazin decided to get the show on the road.
With the first attraction being the Tibian Queen, as she turned to dictate,
"Lady Parthia, you take the couch over here and sit just as we discussed..with your legs fully spread open. Make sure master can see your drooling pussy! I will suck him first."
Alexander was more astounded by the lewdmand as was Lady Parthia who furiously flushed.
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Chapter 1028 A Royal Interlude (Part-2) (R-18)
Chapter 1028 A Royal Interlude (Part-2) (R-18)
Lady Parthia did not think Lady Nanazin would be so loud and crude in her order.
It made her entire body blush.
But perhaps that was the whole reason why Lady Nanazin had done it, to make her blush.
And since she hade this far, Lady Parthia knew she could not back out.
Thus, fighting her natural, moral instinct to not do this, with slightly unsteady steps the legal queen briskly made her way to the couch and sitting down, she lowered her blushing head, before slowly but surely opening her leg, under the full scrutiny of Alexander''s scalding gaze
To the rock hard Alexander, looking at the sight felt like watching the Red Sea being parted, as Lady Parthia unknowingly kept a steady speed of her reveal.
Meaning Alexander could savor the movement of every muscle, every sweat dripping along her healthy flesh, until the regal queen had right in front of oh so lewdly spread her meaty, fair thighs, revealing her barely hidden, shaggy garden.
By now the white fabric had basically turned transparent, and due to how she was sitting, even that slight curtain was now gone, as the strain on her thong caused the thin fabric to dig into her raw, mature, bushy pussy, resulting in it being eaten by the lonely cave and making a thin trickle of water leak out.
Alexander could clearly see the curvy queen''s plump soft outer lips, all puffed up and covered with a thick bush, and it really made him want to grab those tasty flesh and pinch them.
He could not help but imagine how good that would feel.
While after putting herself in this state, Lady Parthia herself wished to dig a hole and bury herself in it.
The sheltered and inexperienceddy was only realizing now that somehow this was worse being naked and might even be worse than simply sleeping with a man.
Sitting all alone on that couch somehow made the seat seem immensely expansive and cold while Alexander''s leechous gaze caused her body to both shiver and turn flushed.
''Oh, no, I''m getting wet! It is leaking! He can see everything!'' The realization of her spring water slowly dripping out of the exposed pussy into the carpet below hit Lady Parthia with a frightful cold grasp as she felt a mortal sense of shame.
To think there woulde a day such as this- where a man other than her husband would get to see this extremely shameful scenery- the scenery of exactly how she got wet.
It would have been unimaginable even a month ago.
Thus her natural instinct instantly urged her to shut her legs.
''No! I can''t!'' However that promise she had with Lady Nanazin prevented her from doing so.
Thus all she could do was turn her head sideways, refusing to meet Alexander''s eyes.
A move that made Lady Nanazin smirk in her heart, ''Her training has only begun.''
As you might have guessed, yes, this was Lady Nanazin''s way of getting Lady Parthia to shed her sense of shame, one thinyer at a time.
And to encourage her new pupil, Lady Nanazin even shouted out a few words of praise, turning to her to nod, "You have done great Lady Parthia. Look Master is pleased. And that means the gods are pleased! Continue to keep sitting like that."
It was unknown if Lady Parthia was even in the headspace to understand Lady Nanazin, as there came no response to this, only a wall of shamed silence as the queen kept her head to the side and lowered.
But Lady Nanazin currently was not in any mood to deal with her.
Leaving Lady Parthia to cook for herself, instead Lady Nanazin turned to her own prize, as swooping in like an eagle she quickly approached Alexander and then without even waiting for his consent, squatted down in between the legs, letting the man easily see into her deep cleavage and smell the sweet pheromones.
"Let''s get this out of the way," Lady Nanazin then made short work of turning Alexander''s lower half bare, throwing the pants and underwear to the floor and thus revealing her so sought after prize.
"Oh by Ramuh! What happened here?" And the instant the queenid her eyes upon it, she would not but help let out a cry of incredulity.
Lady Nanazin had the fortune of seeing Alexander''s organ before his transformation, and even back then it had been more than adequate.
But now¡. tall, curved, with a huge, mushroomed head that glistened with leaking precum and wrapped with thick veins that throbbed with power and life, the girthy monster made Alexander''s previous size look like it had been a prepubescent child''s.
"I¡ I guess I got bigger. Puberty you know," Towards Lady Nanazin''s cry of delight, Alexander was unable to think of a proper way to exin his rapid growth without going into a lengthy speech and thus made up this weak excuse.
Not that Lady Nanazin was in any mood to care anyway, as she only rejoiced,
"Haha haha, I did not notice it while you were still wearing your pants but Ramuh ¡. no Gaia graces me! Heavens! This is the biggest one I have ever seen.. *sniff*...."
The stately queen then immediately stuck her cute nose against Alexander''s shaft, coating her nostrils with his thick, manly smell.
After being inside the pants for the whole day, the stench there would only be imagined.
And Lady Nanazin loved it.
"Ahhhh¡ so manly¡ *snifff*, *snifff*, the smell''s so rich¡
*sniff*, *sniff*, I feel like can cum just by sniffing it. Ahhhh¡ Alex, to think you had something like this hidden inside you the whole time! *Sniff*... *sniff*... you meanie."
Lady Nanazin went over Alexander''s cock with her nose like she was possessed, taking deep, audible whiffs.
Seeing such a beautifuldy do this of course made Alexander excited, and his penis twitched, as Lady Nanazin then dove right into her meal, opening her mouth wide and gulping down the full of the meaty goodness in one single gulp.
Alexander was amazed by how skillfully she managed to take the whole thing, without the slightest gag reflex, really going on to show her ''experience''.
Even most whores would not be able to do this as effortlessly as her.
But then again, most whores were not trained as well as Lady Nanazin, as with the entire thing inside her warm canal, she then expertly started to pleasure Alexander- rolling her tongue over the thick shaft, sucking on the meaty mushroom head and making an intentional lewd *Slurp*, *Slurp*, voice.
The act was so pleasurable that Alexander could not help but blurt out, "Ahhh¡ You cocksucking whore¡!"
The moan only made Lady Nanazin turn her eyes up, lit with joy, as if saying, ''I''m your cocksucking whore!''
But since she could not say it given her mouth was filled with a meat lollipop, instead, she decided to give Alexander a little show of her own.
Thus the squattingdy spread her legs wide open just like Lady Parthia had, and just like Lady Parthia, it caused that tiny, helpless sting to get swallowed into that pink, hot, shaved hole.
At which point she then inserted two of her fingers into her overflowing cave, producing a wet, squelching sound along with her loud slurping sound, thus producing an orchestra ofsciviousness.
It made Alexander''s loins rock hard.
While Lady Nanazin also moaned and signed to her heart''s content enjoying the juicy snack.
Perhaps it was because she was doing this with someone she truly loved, but Lady Nanazin thought she had never tasted such a masculine miracle before.
It was big, hard, supple, and veiny with precum oozing out of it continuously. It was a penis she had always dreamt of!
Thus she ravenously gulped down the precum mixed saliva, before soon reaching for the heavy, dangling balls with her one free hand, stroking and ying them gently, while continuing to bob her head up and down in a smooth sucking motion.
Alexander felt like he was in heaven.
After the kind of day it had been today, he really needed this and thus hanging his head back, he was more than happy to sit back and hand over the control to Lady Nanazin.
This way he was able to shed all his worries, and just enjoyed the scenery before him, burning into memory how the maturedy''s cheeks bulged outwards every time she took his thick shaft in, how her plump, red lips kissed his groin with each cycle, how her beautiful eyes kept looking at him, dancing mirthfully at all times during the service, and how her abundant breasts swung tempting with the bobbing.
All topped off with the centerpiece of it all, her openly drooling pussy, bright, tight and fucking wet.
Not to mention there was another very curvy woman sitting right opposite to him, legs spread all wide, flushing furiously.
This might as well have been the description of paradise for Alexander.
And if there was one thing Alexander could change, it would only have been for Lady Parthia to masturbate herself while he was sucked off.
So Alexander then suddenly decided he would make her do exactly that once Lady Nanazin finished him off.
Chapter 1029 A Royal Interlude (Part-3) (R-18)
Chapter 1029 A Royal Interlude (Part-3) (R-18)
Alexander continued to enjoy Lady Nanazin''s ministrations for quite some time, relishing the feeling of her warm, hot mouth and the wet, sloppy sounds she made like pleasuring him.
Until finally the pleasure proved to be too much and he was ready to release.
Thus fiercely gripping the regal queen''s head tightly, Alexander pushed his penis all the way into her throat, the sudden move causing Lady Nanazin to choke a bit, "Ohok! Ohok!" as she snorted out small white bubbles from her nose.
Despite her experience, Alexander was proving to be too big a beast.
Although that onlysted for a moment as Alexander soon felt the gullet widen, as the mature woman ustomed herself to the new rhythm and let Alexander in in all his glory, allowing the muscr man to thrust into her wildly.
Slosh-slosh-slosh-slosh!
And so Alexander did, furiously rocking his hips and skull facing the beautiful face until he was ready to burst.
*Splurt*, *Splurt*, *Splurt*,
The man made sure to deposit the entirety of his load deep into Lady Nanazin''s mouth, something which made the queen very happy.
*Glug*, *Glug*, *Glug*, *Glug*
As evidenced by how quickly the Adhanian queen seemed to swallow the entire load, like a parched traveler in a desert, quaffing the entire thing down without wasting a single drop.
Then once finally done, she atst let Alexander''s long dragon out of her mouth with a *pop*, "Ahhhh!", before giving a mighty sigh of content.
And then turned her head up to show Alexander her open mouth, "Ahhh¡. See! All clean."
This was what she had been trained to do, to always show the man her mouth after a blowjob, so that he could ensure not a single drop of white remained in that lc canal.
As Alexander could indeed confirm.
"You were great, Lady Nanazin!" Thus he praised her, much to the glee of the older woman.
"Hehehe, thank you," She giggled with ecstasy, before suddenly turning around and getting on her all fours, thus presenting her huge ass to Alexander.
"Although¡" Then a hungry seductive voice rang out from behind that mass of beautiful, curvy hair, "I would prefer if Alex you could drop the honorifics for night. I''m nody tonight. I am your whore, your bitch, your cumslut. I only exist to eat your cock! So please treat me as such."
iming as such, Lady Nanazin then very erotically lifted her ass up, letting Alexander fully marvel at therge fluffy flesh, the pink flowing garden that had already escaped the thin fabric, and the most shameful spot of all, that pink, puffing hole since the thin string of the thong did nothing to cover that spot.
Before the nobledy then began to very slowly terk her ass, inviting Alexander to take whichever hole he preferred.
Alexander''s sleeping dragon instantly recovered seeing this, recalling how Lady Nanazin''s canal felt- it was hot and moist with a rough ceiling that felt like herring row, something that was quite unusual, but very pleasurable. But best of all she was really tight.
Alexander longed to taste that.
However, although very tempting, Alexander decided to hold off on coitus for now.
He had other ns. ns involving Lady Parthia.
"*Spank*,ter!" Thus, giving a hard, yful p on the curvy butt of the Adhanian Queen, one that sent the flesh rippling, he got up from his couch and dictated to Lady Nanazin, "Come with me. Lady Parthia has been felt all alone by herself. She must be feeling lonely."
Lady Nanazin let out a great big grin immediately hearing this, not at all peeved that she was denied intimacy when she was so close.
Since it was her master''s order, she was more than happy toply, as springing to her feet, she quickly towed behind her master, soon reaching the woman who still had her leg spread open but head down.
Alexander positioned himself towards the sittingdy such that his hard, swollen penis was directly on level with her face, as he finally addressed her, "Mydy, why are you so looking down? Look up!"
The address was a y on the words, and it made Lady Nanazin giggle, while Lady Parthia only blushed even harder.
She imagined she could feel the raw heat of the turgid organ sting her face while she did not need to imagine the strong, musky, manly smell hitting her nostrils.
It caused her body to naturally be wet and made her too shy to look up.
And seeing this Alexander very directly offered the following deal, "Mydy, you know how I promised that the gods would respond if you slept with them for three days? Well, we will count this as the second day. So since you are already here, why not go all the way?"
This was not the deal Lady Nanazin had promised Lady Parthia.
But since things had gone this far, what was the point of quibbling any further? Lady Parthia was already sitting spread eagle in a string bikini that hid nothing with a cock pointed right at her mouth.
Thus at Alexander''s offer, thedy atst raised her head, before instantly turning even more flushed upon meeting the strong, lust filled eyes.
Lady Parthia was a very shy woman who could never be as promiscuous as Lady Nanazin.
And unbeknownst to her, this chaste reaction tugged like nothing else on Alexander''s heartstrings, even more than Lady Nanazin sticking her naked ass and asking to be pounded.
While seeing this, from the back, Lady Nanazin cheered, "Good girl! Now quick, greet master''s penis. Kiss it!"
Despite being more than a decade younger than Lady Parthia, Lady Nanazin was here acting like the elder, since she was more experienced.
And responding to it, Lady Parthia did obediently extend her pink tongue towards that grotesque monster, moving her mouth close while half dreading, half anticipating the imminent taste.
"No. Stay there." However suddenly a strangemand elicited from the man above, making Lady Parthia halted to curiously look up.
''Did I make any mistake?'' The regal queen wondered, but soon came the reason, "I want you to see how you masturbate Lady Parthia."
"Hehehe," The ''strange'' ask instantly caused Lady Nanazin to break out into peals of giggle from behind. While Lady Parthia, instead of the predicted flushed face, produced a strange look, "Masturbate? What is that?"
She appeared truly puzzled as if she was unsure whether she was misunderstanding Alexander.
"...." And this caused the room to suddenly enter a strange bout of silence as if the other two could not believe thisdy was so verdant.
Until Lady Nanazin, quite uncharacteristically of her chimed, "Mydy¡ masturbate! You know, pleasuring yourself!" as she then even mimicked the act, pushing her finger directly into her pussy and pumping it a few times, producing a slouching sound.
"Like how boys do?" However, even with this visual aid, Lady Parthia was confused, as she thought that only boys could do this.
Both Alexander and Lady Nanazin had to try hard not tough hearing this as this would have embarrassed thedy.
And then seeing the opportunity to corrupt this innocent, white sheet of paper of a woman, Alexander turned to order, "Lady Nanazin, please teach Lady Parthia how to masturbate."
"Hehe, of course master." Lady Nanazin had already changed her address of Alexander from Alex to master, as she charmingly skipped to Lady Parthia, telepathically sharing Alexander''s thoughts on the matter.
Thus quickly positioning herself behind the slightly perplexeddy, Lady Nanazin tightly took hold of the other''s right hand and moved in towards her garden, while at the same time asking in an astonished voice, "How does mydy usually vent?"
"Vent?" Lady Parthia did not resist where her hand was being taken but instead was more confused by what the two were speaking, even thinking to herself if they had switched to a differentnguage.
Such nk was her knowledge about sex.
Thus after having reached their destination, and as Lady Nanazin started to use Lady Parthia''s own fingers to trace over her garden, she let her know the meaning of the word, "Women can masturbate just like men. I do it all the time. To sate my urges¡.although that is more so because master does not pay enough attention to me." Lady Nanazin yfully shot a jab at Alexander, who by now had started to stroke himself, literally right in front of Lady Parthia''s face.
And then seeing the man not take the bait, Lady Nanazin returned her concentration to her work, now making Lady Parthia insert her finger into her cave and making a lewd *sloshing* sound while whispering, "You have then too right? The desire to have sex. The desire to get fucked. The desire to get your pussy widened, to get stretched to your limits and be pounded out of your mind. To be filled to the brim with the seed of a stallion. You want to be bred by him!"
Lady Nanazin was of course referring to Alexander here and as the Adhanian Queen expertly moved her finger, Lady Parthia could not help but imagine her previous time with Alexander, how he had stretched and nearly broken her pussy.
It quivered both in fear and anticipation,
Thedy came close to cumming just from the stock scene.
Chapter 1030 A Royal Interlude (Part-4) (R-18)
Chapter 1030 A Royal Interlude (Part-4) (R-18)
Lady Nanazin continued to tease Lady Parthia''s tight snatch by moving the Tibian Queen''s own fingers over it, teaching her how to masturbate through a hands on experience.
So the Adhanian Queen made Lady Parthia first sensually trace her lower lips, asionally pinching and tugging them, then having her fingers dip into her warm canal, and teaching her the exact ce to curve her fingertips up to hit that sweet G-spot, then showing her how to stimte the soft walls, before finally bringing the novice Queen''s attention to her most prized possession, her clit and how to properly y with it.
Thus for a while, Lady Nanazin''s low but sensual voice could be heard drifting across the room, as she dictated,
"Yes¡ first we start with the outer lips. Slowly¡ not be hasty¡ just tickle it gently. Good girl."
"Now then let''s go inside that nasty kitty of yours. Again slowly¡ go in one finger at a time. Now start moving it¡yes don''t be shy. Making those wet squelching noises from your pussy is part of the fun. It means you are feeling good. I love it when it happens to me. And look¡. master loves it too."
In the midst of all this, Lady Nanazin then suddenly drew Lady Parthia''s attention to the man that was standing right in front of her, one who was furiously striking his penis pointed right at the Tibian Queen''s face.
The goal here was clear, while Lady Nanazin made Lady Parthia masturbate, Alexander would also masturbate and finish on thetter''s face.
And why would be not- the scenery here was just too perfect.
There were two mature very curvy women here, both of whom had grown children and even husbands,
wearing nothing but string bikinis, their huge breasts and ass hanging out, nipples slipping out here and there and pussies leaking clear fluids, while one of them helped the other masturbate.
Could Alexander have asked for a more sinful scene?
Alexander wanted to dirty them.
And his desire was so telegraphed that even the paper white Lady Parthia could understand it and the thought of her face being hit by that turbid fluid somewhat scared her.
Thus she could not help but widen her eyes to stare at the copious amount of precum already flowing out of therge, manly slit, a precursor of what was surely toe.
And this fear caused her to be a bit distracted from what was going on below her, letting Lady Nanazin take advantage of it as she pushed one of her own fingers into the warm, cave, which then immediately then started squirming around,
"Ahhh!" And feeling the pleasurable sensation, Lady Parthia instantly let out a soul stirring moan, as crisp and refreshing as ark''s morning call.
It was so sensual that when Alexander heard it, he felt like cumming right then and there, and only regretted that Lady Parthia mped up an instant after that, too flushed and embarrassed to let it all out.
But that was of course not the end of it, as Lady Nanazin quickly got to work oiling those pipes, rapidly twisting her as well as Lady Parthia''s own fingers inside the pussy and giggling next to thetter''s ear, "Hehehe, good girl, what a beautiful voice you have. Now do not be shy! Let master hear let it. We are all family here."
''Ahhh¡no. Ummm.. please¡ too fast¡" Given the very unnatural situation they were in, Lady Parthia''s moral sense of shame initially attempted to fight her urges.
But given the vice grip she had put herself in, it was futile.
Thus as Lady Nanazin proceeded to show her the various ropes of pleasuring herself, the ecstasy started to build inside her, until it could no longer be contained.
"Ahhh¡ Mmmm¡ so hot¡. ahhh¡ not don''t scratch them¡ ahhh.. something ising¡ ohhhh¡" Knowing the war was lost, Lady Parthia thus finally started to let off short pants and cries, producing notes that sounded like the cry of a siren, and as Alexander watched with relish how the mature woman''s gorgeous face twisted in pleasurable agony, making his organ swell.
Her entire skin was red and flushed, and the plump crimson lips swollen with desire, with a fruity scent emanating from her body, as small beads of sweat rolled over the skin, some of it even dripping off her enormous creamy breasts that hung in the air.
One of herrge pink nipples from the breasts had already escaped the confines of the tiny bra and was fully turgid and pointing up, while her tongue slightly hung out as if she was panting for Alexander''s cock that was in front of her, as a slightly wild, confused look floated on her face.
This type of self pleasuring sensation was apletely new thing for her and Lady Parthia did not know how to react.
So Lady Nanazin taught her, as she edged her elder partner with cheers of encouragement from the back.
"Hehe, see! You can do it when you try. Now, let''s get you to finish."
Saying this the Adhanian Queen then took Lady Parthia''s finger out of her snatch and moved it to be clit, whispering anticipatedly, "This is where the real fun begins" as she then started to unpeel the covered hood and attack the sensitive bead- making Lady Parthia herself press, scratch, pinch, and knead the tiny miracle pearl.
And while doing so, Lady Nanazin made sure to add notes, "This small bean hidden here is called the clit. We women love it when we are stroked here. Feels good right?" before suddenly eximing in
excitement,
"Your clit is sorge, mydy! And so polished. It looks like it has never been touched. Did your husband never touch you like this? What a shame! Lady Parthia''s body visibly shook at the mention of heratose husband, as she was pointedly reminded of what exactly she was doing behind his back.
Sure it might all be to save him, but that did not change the fact of what she was doing.
It mortified her but tangled in this sweet, pleasurable of pleasure and false promises, the desperate, loyal wife found herself trapped.
And it caused her to finally break her dam of silence, as unwilling to even think about what she was doing, Lady Parthia intentionally let herself be swept away by the deadly currents of pleasure and began to sing out joyous cries of lust filled lyrics,
"Ahhhh¡yes¡so good¡ too much¡. by the ancestors¡ no¡ Lady Nanazin¡ stop¡it''s too much¡ my clit¡stop bullying it¡ you are going to tear my clit¡ ahhh¡ pee¡ I will pee¡"
The haggard, manic moans of the elegant Queen howling like a professional whore sounded like the sweetest honey to Alexander''s ears, and having stoked his penis for so long, he finally could not hold back.
"I''m cumming," He thus announced as a heads up, and Lady Nanazin was quick to reply, "Go ahead master. Lady Parthia is close too. I can feel it. Her pussy is quivering," as the Adhanian Queen then sped up her teasing, not only pinching the clit but also inserting two of her fingers into the hot canal, "Come little whore! Come for master. Show him you are his bitch!
Thesest bit of stimtion and dirty words were just enough to send Lady Parthia over the edge, as, "Ahhhhhhhh! Coming!" With her tongues rolled out and eyes rolled back, Lady Parthia''s defenses were finally breached causing her to let out a gigantic howl of ecstasy, with her body suddenly shaking like it had been electrocuted, her vision going white, and her pussy discharging a small but powerful jet of crystal clear liquid- the ''pee'' that Lady Parthia had been so dreading. It was just vaginal fluids.
While back on top, "Aghhh!" with a deep, gravelly grunt, Alexander too reached his end, and clenching his lower muscles, he shot out ropes and ropes of white cum right onto Lady Parthia''s angelic, pristine face.
The amount was sorge and forceful that it felt like warm rain, hitting her on the eyes, nose, and mouth, basically everywhere, before it started to inevitably drip down inrge dollops, leaving a white trail of lewdness on the skin.
"Ahhhh¡ so hot¡ and stinky.. mmm," This caused Lady Parthia to subconsciously let about such ament about the gift, as her skin around the area felt scalding hot, while her nose was douched with the white stuff, as were her beautiful lips and mouth.
And as Lady Parthia then licked her lips, some of it inevitably entered her mouth, and,
"Aghhh!" She suddenly lightly retched.
This was not the first time the regal queen had ever tasted semen but still, she could not get used to the taste of it.
It was too disgusting.
And She could not believe that Lady Nanazin had swallowed gallons of the stuff without flinching a muscle.
''Did she really drink this? What kind of taste buds did she have?'' Lady Parthia genuinely wondered how the otherdy could take the seed like she was drinking the sweetest wine.
"Hehehe," And this innocent reaction was quick to draw in an innocent giggle from Lady Nanazin as she could not help but reminisce her own first time drinking semen upon seeing Lady Parthia''s state.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1031 A Royal Interlude (Part-5) (R-18)
Chapter 1031 A Royal Interlude (Part-5) (R-18)
While Lady Parthia tried to hold her stomach from rebelling after tasting Alexander''s fluids, Lady Nanazin suddenly grasped the elderdy by the chin, then made her turn her cum stained face towards her before licking her lips at the sinful sight,
"Ahhh, your current face reminds me of the first time I was made to drink semen. Lady Inayah had prepared a special training module for me that day. Ohhh how I had struggled at first. Not much unlike you. But I was eventually taught to be obedient."
Lady Nanazin''s eyes suddenly swam with the warm vicissitudes of a time when she was much younger and more so oh so naive.
She might have not liked semen at first, but Lady Inayah''s expert training had made here to love it, even making her almost be unable to live without it.
And Lady Nanazin was sure that Lady Parthia too would eventually get used to it like she had.
Thus to congratte on her first masturbation, Lady Nanazin then brought out her tongue and started to lick Lady Parthia''s face, scraping off all the gooey, creamy goodness for herself.
The rough, wet organ thus swept over the cum soaked Tibian Queen''s nose, eyes, and cheeks,pping it all over as Lady Nanazin relished the taste until her tongue finally arrived near Lady Parthia''s mouth, where Lady Nanazin had suddenly decided to share her gooey spoils, as gripping the Tibian Queen''s face tightly, Lady Nanazinnded a hot kiss on her, depositing some of the milky goodness at the same time and forcing Lady Parthia to swallow.
And try as she might, Lady Parthia had no choice in the matter as Lady Nanazin felt a vice like grip on her chip.
Thus understanding this, after a bit of initial struggle, thedy epted her fate and tried to swallow it as quickly as possible so as to not taste it.
Alexander watched the entire ''pole sister'' y from the side with a pleased silence, relishing in the sight of a nation''s queen being dirtied by his turbid, pungent fluid in a lewd facial, and then being cleaned by the Queen of another nation.
It made him feel like he had conquered the whole world.
While it made his little brother gain his vigor back.
"Did Master enjoy that?" And once they were finally done, Lady Nanazin lifted her head to pose so, a great big grin stered on her face.
She got a quick nod and a hearty chuckle, "Hehehe."
Then, feeling a bit impatient with just the forey, Alexander decided to finally take this to the third base.
"Well since we havee so far, why don''t both of stand and strip for me?" The man imperiously posed.
"Of course" And Lady Nanazin was only too happy toply as it meant finally they were getting to the main dish.
Thussciviously licking her lips she hopped to the front of the couch and then quickly urged Lady Parthia, "Come sister! Master wants us! We must not keep him waiting. Follow my lead, I will show you how to properly strip in front of him."
And feeling the tug on her arm, Lady Parthia surprisingly did not resist.
It seemed that after having her face painted by Alexander''s seed, she had lost most of her natural shame and inhibitions, and thus at the invitation, she offered no resistance.
Besides, in her mind, what were they undressing for anyway? They were already nude.
In fact, given what they wearing, perhaps it would be less embarrassing if they were so.
Thus, with Lady Parthia''s willing participation, for the following few minutes, Alexander was offered perhaps the most expensive strip show in the world, one where two queens got nude for him in the most sexy way possible.
The scenery was so sweet that somewhere at the back of his mind, Alexander even felt perhaps it was because he wasmitting this great sin with two married women that was put in such a difficult position in Caira.
As a punishment from the gods.
But then again, if these were the kind of punishments the gods sent, Alexander could not mind ''suffering'' through a few more.
Because right now, Alexander''s eyes felt blessed with what was unfolding right in front of him, and he made to soak in every second of the once in a lifetime show.
Standing to the left, Lady Nanazin first undid her sting bra, letting it fall to the ground and allowing herrge fruits with to finally bounce out.
And as Alexanderid eyes upon them, he found her pink buds were not actually pointing out, but sleeping in, the ares forming a gentle depression in herrge chest.
This made him remember that Lady Nanazin had inverted nipples, which went on to exin why Lady Nanazin''s bra had no pointy bits sticking out like Lady Parthia''s did.
But that was quickly rectified, as sensing Alexander''s curious gaze, Lady Nanazin sent the man a very sheepish smile, before lifting one her breasts, and very expertly pinching one of them out of their snug sleeping cave.
She made sure to do it very animatedly too, firstly slowly circling herrge pink areloas, then slowly opening the nipple slit, before hooking her long nails into them up and fishing them out in a single pull, like she was opening the cork in a wine bottle.
It was a marvel to watch and Alexander longed to start ying with the two.
"Hehehe," And as Alexander''s cock twitched in approval to this n, Lady Nanazin let out a tittering giggle seeing this.
Then deciding to provide some extra service, she grabbed both her breast, before bringing both the nubile buds that had just awakened from their hibernation directly into her own mouth, turning herrge, fleshy breasts into an oblong shape as she then started to loudly sucking on the puffy and turgid bud, intentionally making a lewd slurping sound as she did- the sexy subus.
Anyone seeing this would be left in doubt over the fact that Lady Nanazin knew how to pleasure men and knew how to do it properly.
Alexander had to even grit his teeth to stop himself from going over to her right this instant and start ying with her.
Instead, he then turned his sight to Lady Parthia, who predictably was much less shy given her inexperience, simply opening her bra to reveal a set of creamy flesh withrge pink saucer like ares and pointy pink nipples, quite a bit bigger in volume than her counterpart and sagging a bit due to her age.
However what Lady Parthiacked in visual stimtion in the front, she more than made up for it in the back, as while removing their string thong, Lady Nanazin had decided to turn around and bend over while thus making sure to give Alexander a good view of both their wet flower and pink hole.
Alexander could already see the two queen''s pussy through the underwear given how thin and wet they were, one shaved, one bushy, but the sexy reveal as led by Lady Nanazin was still a treat to watch.
Thus as the two mature Queens presented their ass side by side to Alexander, he found that Lady Nanazin''s ass was a bitcking in size whenpared to Lady Parthia''s.
While the Adhanian Queen had much healthier and more shapely thighs, due to being much younger, but it was the Tibian Queen''s butt that was the star of the show here.
It wasrge and full, the fair white flesh glowing like a full moon at night, while the dense, bushy, wet pussy glistened like the stars and the sensual small puckered hole huffed and puffed naughtily.
Being an ass man, Alexander thought Lady Pathia''s nks were among god''s perfect creations, and he could not help but want to kneel under and start worshiping the huge mound of flesh.
In fact, he would not have at all minded if Lady Parthia sat on him using that.
No, he wished she would. That way Alexander thought he could show thedy her ''proper'' respect.
It was while Alexander was debating such future acts that the strip show finally came to a finish, as Lady Nanazin and Lady Parthia then both simultaneously turned around to present themselves in all their glory to Alexander- with heavy breasts, pointy nipples, curvy hips,rge asses, and wet pussies, one shave, one shaggy, one looking very expectant, another flushed and red like tomato.
And then, in order to entice Alexander to choose here, Lady Nanazin suddenly stepped a bit forward and hooking two of her fingers into her vagina, she spread them, causing a dollop of lewd water to slip out and reveal her pink tunnel to Alexander.
It was squirming and writhing as Lady Nanazin then in a practiced voice recited,
"Hello, master. My name is Nanazin, and I will be informing you about my pu¡ pussy today. As you can see I am perfectly ready for pration. I''m a bit risky in terms of timing¡but it should not be a problem."
"My weak points are¡ as usual, my cervix¡! If you y with my nipples or armpits while hitting me there with your cock, I''lle easily, so I rmend it¡. Ahhh! I''ll do my best to make sure I get your thick semen, so please¡take care¡mmmm."
Lady Nanazin was not able toplete her practiced lines as just imagining that Alexander would do those things to her caused her to have an orgasm.
Chapter 1032 A Royal Interlude (Part-6) (R-18)
Chapter 1032 A Royal Interlude (Part-6) (R-18)
Listening to Lady Nanazin''s lewd open invite and watching her pussy start crying over it, was like a bomb denoting against Alexander self restraint.
He of course understood that she was taught to say these things during her training and might have said it to a lot of others.
But Alexander could bet she had nevere just from saying it to her ''audience'', nor had her pussy sent a small squirt of water to approve of the act.
This show of pure love and desire was enough to make Alexander disregard any and all consequences he thought he might have about bedding the wife of his boss, and like a lion jumps on its prey, he lunged at the naked Queen.
Hugging her tightly, Alexander quickly positioned his meat piston at the widened hole before skewering into her in one single go without further ado, iming her canal all for himself.
"Ahhhh! Yes! By the gods!!!" And Lady Nanazin had not the slightest problem in taking Alexander''s huge beast in its entirety all at once, but only let out this burst of euphoric cheer that almost threatened to blow the roof open.
Currently, the Queen felt like she was floating on clouds.
Finally, her dearest dream hade true.
Finally, she was joined with the man of her dreams in the most intimate union.
Finally, her pussy which had been so lonely for so long was once again filled.
And oh my how filled it was!
Alexander''s cock stretched even her very experienced organ right to its limits, pushing against the stic walls tightly and making her almost feel like she was going to break.
Alexander''s penis fit into her canal like nothing ever had.
And Lady Nanazin could not help but feel that the masturbation sessions she had for these years with her thin dainty fingers were like being pleasured by a toothpickpared to the real thing.
Her mind almost went white just from the insertion.
While on the opposite side, Alexander too enjoyed the reunion, relishing that familiar feeling of celia like hairs brushing against this organ, tickling and stimting it, as he then started to slowly move his hips, craving a way through the extremely narrow and tight canals.
So narrow and tight in fact that Alexander lightly cursed, ''How is she this tight? Even Mean loosened up more than this after all these years. Does Ptolomy have a micropenis? And didn''t Nanazin tell me she had to entertain multiple men? Were they men or pubescent children?''
The canal appeared sopact and unused that for an amusing brief second, Alexander wished those men had done a better job.
Lady Nanazin by birth had a very narrow canal, with lots of bends and twists that made prating her all the way to her cervix quite a challenge.
Made all the more difficult by how ravenously she was gripping onto Alexander''s organ, like a python constricting its prey.
No wonder she said her cervix was sensitive. It was virtually unreachable by most men.
"*Pah*, Loosen up! *Pah*, unclench your pussy. Take deep breaths," Thus, feeling even his mightly rod get stuck in the constrictingbyrinth, Alexander instructed the mature woman to rx, while bringing hisrge hands heavily on therge butt to enforce thatmand, loving the soft, creamy sensation of the flesh as well as the loud crisp sound, and leaving a clear handprint as evidence of their union.
"Ahhhh! Yes! More! Hit me more!" However Alexander''s n backfired here spectacrly, as instead of unclenching, the pain from the smack only worked to fuel Lady Nanazin''s lust even more and she squeezed even harder, proving she actually loved it.
She even tried to stick her butt up a bit to encourage Alexander''s hand.
This was because although Alexander did not know it yet, Lady Nanazin had developed some masochistic characteristics while in her time in the capital.
This happened gradually when Ptolomy started ying those ''poker'' games with her as her body naturally reacted to try and best amodate to the challenging circumstances.
Although ironically that only made things harder for her in the long run as the men found her internal walls constricted in lovely ways when she was ''stimted with heat''.
Thus during theter days of the y, Lady Nanazin would be regrly prodded in various ces, but mostly her butt, while others enjoyed her insides, eliciting all kinds of cries from her and dreadful peals ofughter from the others.
Now it seemed that even though they were in different situations, when hit on the butt, her body still remembered its past experiences and reacted the same way.
*Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*,
As evidenced by how when Alexander continued to hit Lady Nanazin''s butt to try and make her widen her pussy, leavingrge, heavy handprints, the inflicted pain only made her pussy try to squeeze itself shut to protect itself as well as releasing gushing juices to lubricate herself.
Lady Nanazin was of course not bothered by this slightest.
"Ahhh¡ho¡ ahhhh¡ ohhhhh¡mmmnn" Instead, she only let out these loud moans of pure bliss, widening her eyes and rolling her tongue, as she was sent to the ninth heaven through Alexander''s spanking.
Given that it was Alexander, her dream man that was hitting her. instead of some disgusting other man, Lady Nanazin felt she could even recreate those ys in the pce, but this time she would sing the sweetest songs of ecstasy even as Alexander singed and burned her.
Such strong were her desires towards him, edging nearly towards being manic.
All of which made Alexander eventually realize that all that he was doing was pointless.
Lady Nanazin seemed to be in no mood to loosen up any time soon, while brute forcing his way was not an option.
Thus the man changed tactics.
Up until now the duo was coupled in a standing position.
But now Alexander suddenly grabbed Lady Nanazin by the thighs and lifted her up off the ground, so that she was effectively standing on his ''cock''.
And this helped him to finally get a better ''angle'' on his attacks, allowing him to atst breach some of her defenses as he then started fiercely pounding her, rocking his hips hard and fast.
While Lady Nanazin, feeling the ground disappear underneath her, did not panic one bit, but instead like an expert ko wrapped her legs around Alexander''s broad torso, while also hugging his neck.
This position made the couple''s lips almost touch, as Lady Nanazin could feel Alexander''s warm, musky breath and hear the low,bored pants, while the man could smell the fruity feminine pheromones, and sense the raw desire mixed within.
And as the two then stared into each other''s eyes, both drowning in lust, "Mmmmmmmm," they felt a primal attraction like no other, and no longer able to deny each other, suddenly met their lips in their first even kiss.
The union was raw, wet, and hot, as both ravenously sought each other, quickly sending their respective tongue into the other mouth, getting them tangled and twisted with each other in the process.
"*Chuu*, *Chuu*, *Chuu*"
Copious amounts of fluids were then exchanged freely between each other, each drinking in the vors of the other and marking themselves as the other''s, as they sucked, pulled and even lightly bit one another.
All the while Alexander widely swung her lips, battering his ram into the wet cave and producing a lewd, *Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah* sound, as his meaty thighs hit Lady Nanazin''s wet ass.
And as time passed, the couple was finally able toe into a rhythm, and Lady Nanazin started to let out loud moans of approval, arching her head back and screaming,
"Yes ¡ Aaahhhh ¡ so hot¡ master''s cocks is hot¡ mmm¡ it''s jabbing right into ve''s womb¡mmmm yes.. Harder¡master¡ your slutty ve can''t bear it anymore ¡pound my pussy¡ Aaahhh¡ve feels too good."
It seemed like Alexander''s pration had reset Lady Nanazin''s mind into his factory default setting, as she started to address her as his ve, just like she had taught.
"Little harlot ¡ since you''re begging this Lord so much ¡ then this Lord will fuck you till you drop dead!" And the sweet canary like cries was so soul stirring that Alexander could not help but y along, as he increased his pace and then even started to spank her butt, clenching through his teeth, "Shameless whore, how is your butt so big. It needs to be punished."
This of course only got huge screams of "Mmnn ¡ don''t ¡ Aaahhhh ¡my lord ¡ you are hitting ve too hard ferociously ¡ Yes¡ hit me harder¡ I love it you ¡ use your huge cock to fuck ve little slutty cave ¡"
Lady Nanazin''s euphoric cries urged Alexander to soldier on, and so he did, with almost a cruel intensity, making their love juices fly about everywhere.
Until the couple was finally ready to release.
"Mmnnn ¡ I¡. ve can''t¡ can''t hold on any longer ¡ Aaaaahhhhh ¡" Sensing her end, Lady Nanazin made sure to cry out, while her lovely body suddenly trembled, and her warm and wet honey pot started to convulse rhythmically,
She was going toe any moment.
"Me too¡ You feel too good," And Alexander was the same, his organ being pushed to its limits as there came a raging bout of pleasure as Lady Nanazin''s splooge engulfed it, and crazily thrusting to the depths of her tender cave for onest time,
"Arghhh:...." Alexander let it out with a curt grunt,
"Kyahhhing! Master your whore ising," While Lady Nanazin was much more embellished with her cries.
Chapter 1033 A Royal Interlude (End) (R-18)
Chapter 1033 A Royal Interlude (End) (R-18)
??"Kyahhhing! Master, your whore ising," Lady Nanazin came with her most embellished cries, swinging her head back and rolling her tongue out, as the sensation of Alexander''s hot seed scalding her insides filled her up with pure bliss.
Out of the hundreds if not thousands of times Lady Nanazin had been creampied in her ''adventurous'' life'' this was without doubt the best one she had ever had
And it was not because Alexander was some kind of sex wizard.
But because Lady Nanazin was doing it with the one she loved the most.
*Squelch*, *Squelch*, *Squelch*, And it was this phycological satisfaction that drove her pussy to squeeze and contract like crazy, taking grip of Alexander''s cock with such strength that the man almost felt like crying out in pain.
It seemed that not only Lady Nanazin did not want to let Alexander out for even a second, but even wished to devour him, keeping him and his gift deep inside her forever.
''This one is worse than Mean''s. My god,'' While this was one of the very few instances in his life that Alexander actually regretted the tightness of a pussy and subsequently breathed a sigh of relief when this little brother shrunk and contracted, thus allowing him to luckily escape the ''trap''.
Plop!
As it slipped out with a muted plop, its still rtivelyrge girth left a wide hole in Lady Nanazin''s lower half, and before the hole could ask, a fewrge dollops of Alexander''s goodness managed to slip out.
Much to Lady Nanazin''s dismay as she cried out in rm, "Ahh what a waste!" as she hurriedly put her hand over her lower organ, trying to stymie the ''bleeding''.
All while from the side, the silent observer Lady Parthia watched the entire show with almost a kind of muted amazement.
She had seen how Lady Nanazin had expertly seduced Alexander, how the man had chosen her over herself, how the man had stretched, battered, and pounded her hole, and most of all, how much the otherdy had enjoyed it, letting out howls and cries that did not sound like any women of respectable origin would make.
Heck, she did not think even whores screamed and uttered the kind of profanities Lady Nanazin had.
And it left her both a bit curious.
''Will I be making such twisted faces too? Tongues out, eyes rolled over, mouth wide open¡ Did I make such faces thest time Alexander and I did it?'' Lady Parthia''s mind trailed off, her mind half afraid, half anticipating the tantalizing pleasures thaty ahead of her.
Lady Nanazin''s overt and frank reactions had the clear side effect of making Lady Parthia''s own body flushed and hot, and thus even she did not know when one of her hands had sneakily made their way into her secret garden, and then started to pleasure herself.
First one, then two, and at some point three fingers were inserted into her mature hole, and soon, *Squelch*, *Squelch*, *Squelch*, Lady Parthia''s pussy too started to sing, unknowingly, adding their own music to the lewd song the couple were single.
"Hehehe! I see you are a faster learner." And as Alexander was recovering, attracted by the sound, he suddenly turned to see the other mature woman in her current state, which somewhat surprised him.
Lady Parthia''s legs were currently slightly spread open, while one of her hands was deep inside her kitty, which was so wet that it glistened in the candlelight, all while a red, blush covered her lust addled face, her eyes ssy, her lips puffed up and her breaths heavy and panting.
The fact that she ''wanted'' some was left to no one''s doubt.
Alexander''s joke however instantly broke Lady Parthia out of her trace as she was horrified by what she was doing, she then immediately removed her hand from that ce like she had been electrocuted, before immediately lowering her head and blushing.
It was so cute!
But Alexander was not here not cuteness
As he recovered from his release, after having filled the Adhanian Queen, Alexander now felt he should turn to the Tibian Queen, lest he be used of discrimination.
Thus he ignored Lady Nanazin''s whining lure, even when she offered, "Master! Let''s go for another round. Your little ve is not satisfied. And this time you can pound your dirty slut in her nasty ass," but instead turned to Lady Parthia, before very didacticallymanding,
"Parthia! Why are you standing on two feet in front of your master? Get on your all fours!"
Alexander then very imprously pointed downward with his finger, towards the luscious blue embroidered carpet.
The suddenness of such an order initially bbergasted thedy in question, as if she was questioning herself if she had heard Alexander correctly.
Lady Parthia was almost twice Alexander''s age and in her entire life, nobody had talked to her so rudely.
However, instead of feeling angry, Lady Parthia suddenly somehow felt afraid and even subdued, as Alexander magically seemed to appear so much bigger now, towering over her like a giant.
A giant whose authority was invible.
Not even her husband Perseus had made PT feel like this.
Thus, Lady Parthia let her body instinctively follow themand and was almost pleased to do so, as she took the ordered position.
"*Spank*, lower your head more! And raise your ass!" However, Alexander was still not satisfied by the posture and thus sent a mighty smack on that bubbly butt asking her to take a pose that made Lady Parthia almost prostrate herself in front of Alexander, head nted on the carpet, but her naked ass pointed right towards his face.
Lady Parthia felt humiliated, but somehow at the same time also excited.
While for Alexander, the view from the back was simply sublime- this was the ass of a woman in her mid forties, a ripe, plump ass of a fertile woman who had given birth to fifteen children.
And currently that woman''s giant fair asscheeks were stered with a man''s handprint, while her most shameful part, the butthole was revealed to the sky, as clear lewd water slowly dripped from herrge, engrossed pink pussy, rolling down her raven ck pubic hair to the carpet below and making the entire ce glisten and sparkle.
It was a sight to behold and as Alexander approached her with his weapon ready, he could even smell the raw scent emanating from there.
"*Pah*, Good!" The sight was so good that Alexander gave another spank of approval to thedy, adding much more to her blush.
She would rather not bemended for such a deviant act.
However the situation only went even lewder for Lady Parthia, as attracted by the tantalizing aphrodisiac like smelling out of her ass and pussy, Alexander could not resist bending over and bringing his face right towards it.
Before unceremoniously diving right into it, sticking his nose right into the mature woman''srge ass, and taking arge whiff of the ce.
"Kyahhh¡ what you are¡" And this sudden and hugely embarrassing move predictably got arge ashamed shout from Lady Parthia, who then quickly proceeded to move her butt back.
"*Pah*, stay still!" However, a mighty smack right on the globr flesh was enough for Lady Parthia to abandon that idea, as she then heard Alexander murmur, "I serviced Lady Nanazin first. So let me do this aspensation."
And this sincere statement suddenly managed to produce a sense of euphoria deep inside Lady Parthia, even cutting through all the embarrassment.
Back then, when Alexander had chosen Lady Nanazin over her, and so decisively at that, Lady Parthia had indeed felt a bit defeated at some corner of her heart, as shemented the loss of her youth.
Hence Alexander''s address managed to work through some of them, and she even lightly came.
Much of the man''s amusement, as he was to quick point out, "Hahahah, so you came. Well, let me make you feel even better."
The frank reveal made the shy Lady Parthia deeply embarrassed, as she tried to drive her head deeper towards the carpet in an attempt to hide herself.
And it was a feeling that reinforced itself a hundred times over when she felt Alexander actually getting to work, tracing his nose into her dirtiest parts, loudly sniffing and blowing hot air into her delicate skin, thus drawing muffled cries from the kneltdy.
Towards these sensations, thedy had no resistance, and being too ashamed to let out those embarrassing moans, all she could was put her hand over her mouth and scream into it, producing muffled groans.
And to Alexander, these muted moans sounded quite nice too, forming a nice contrast from Lady Nanazin''s liberal euphonious screams.
Thus to reward thedy for all her hard work, Alexander gave a kiss and nibble on her revealed, erged clit, although that sought to destroy the silence in the room, as Lady Parthia instantly let out a roaring cry of joy, "Kyaahhhhhh!", being overwhelmed by the white, hot pleasure.
It was a level of pleasure that she had not experienced at any time before.
And with that orgasm, Alexander finally retreated his face from the butt, before recing it with his fully erect member.
He first ced it in between the cheeks, letting the fluffy flesh envelop his hot rod, loving the motherly sensation as Lady Parthia''s ass shivered at being hotdogged.
The heat was such a turn on for thedy.
Thus when he moved his organ from there and pressed it against Lady Parthia''s vaginal lips, they pulsed as if they were eagerly seeking the male, secreting rich lubrication.
Alxx did not need any invitation, and fully took her in one rapid go, much to the Tibian Queen''s loud ecstasy.
And what happened next need not be described.
Both Lady Parthia and Lady Nanazin had the time of their life over the next few hours, being pounded over and over again by the most virile man they ever had, until they could no longer move.
All while unbeknownst to all of them, various temples in the city were looted and set on fire on behalf of their names, bringing with them a level of chaos and conflict that few could predict.
Alxx had no idea but tonight was the only interlude he was going to get in a long time.
For tomorrow the sun was bound to rise with the red g of war.
Chapter 1034 Alarming Morning
Chapter 1034 rming Morning
??As the long rough session thatsted a few hours finally came to an end, Alexander felt fully drained by these two hungry subi.
Both of them had proven to be insatiable, especially Lady Nanazin, who kept jumping on Alexander even when he nearly started shooting nks, hungry to squeeze out everyst drop of his seed.
Given her prior ''work experience'' of handling multiple clients at once, it was only now that this queen was showing just how ravenous she really could be when she wanted to, and it had made Alexander feel like it had been a long time since he felt genuinely drained like he could not go any longer.
Even pleasing multiple of his wives at the same time was not usually so exhausting.
Although that was also because none of the four went all out all the time, since Alexander was usually avable around the house a lot of the time.
However, in the case of Lady Nanazin, it seemed she was afraid that this might be theirst union and wanted to vent everything.
Hence it was fortunate that Alexander had ''upgraded'' his tool by now, and using it was fortunately able to keep his manly dignity, satisfying both women.
He had pumped the duo nice and full, he himself greatly enjoying the act since he too was pent up due to being at sea for two weeks with no release.
So he continued to ravage the two Queens until finally he ran out of his milky gifts, and the heavy exercise started to finally take its toll, as exhaustion began to quickly take over.
And with the two mature women too satisfied, the trio decided to drift off to sleep then and there, in the huge king sized bed inside Alexander''s bedroom, not even bothering to care about the consequences of what the people who say about two married women spending the night in another man''s bedroom.
A room from which clear sounds of rapturous moans and howling screams of ecstasy could be heard drifting out, as although Lady Parthia tried her best to hold back her voice, often biting her lips and even covering her mouth with both hands, Lady Nanazin had not bothered to hide what they were doing by a single octave.
In fact, if she could have, she would have told the whole world of her ''cheating'' sex with Alexander.
All this intimate activity also meant that Alexander''s initial n and the main reason why he had asked the two queens to meet with him- which was to discuss the current goings and try and figure a way out, had to be set aside for another time.
That could wait till the next morning.
Which soon came, as Alexander had slept like a log all through the night, the deep slumber nourishing his mind to a fully healed state.
Thus as Alexander opened his eyes, he felt greatly refreshed, the acridness of thest day having already been swept away by the sweet memory ofst night''s celebrations.
And as Alexander turned his head to review the scenery around him, he suddenly felt like he was the king of the world.
This was because on the bed with him were two fully naked queens on either of his sides, both pressing their thick, curvy, bare bodies against his bulky, chiseled body.
Both of their huge, full, fluffy breasts rested on his chest, while their thick, healthy thighs wrapped around his muscr lower torso, their fertile gardens were still warm with his thick load, and their warm, luscious ass filled Alexander''s palm.
While all over their bodyy evidence ofst night''s adventures, from red kisses and hickies around their necks and shoulders torge handprints of Alexander''s spanking on their warm, huge butts, to the most damning evidence of all, cakes of dried cum sttered all over their body, from subtle corners of their faces to their tits and belly to of course around their mature pussy and fleshy thighs, the turbid liquid having overflown out of their pipes.
They looked as guilty as sin.
Alexander found that currently both of them were sleeping, or at least pretending to in the case of Lady Parthia, as she had woken up before Alexander, but recalling the so many shameful things she didst night, felt too embarrassed to wake up, and wished to let slumber take hold of her for all eternity, as she kept her eyes tightly shut.
The only way Alexander found that Lady Parthia was actually awake was due to how her beautiful eyshes asionally fluttered, but the man felt it was too cute to look at and thus did not break her out of the illusion.
Instead, he only kept gazing at it, appreciating the angelic face, and recalling how it had cried and moaned in twisted ecstasy just a few hours ago, while at the same feeling that after yesterday''s bad news and an even worse experience, he needed this relief.
Lady Parthia was soon able to sense Alexander''s deep gaze, and as he kept staring at her, she suddenly began to feel ufortable.
Her eyelids began to flutter with increasing frequency, as if threatening to snap open, but was being held back at thest second by a sheer force of will.
Seeing which Alexander could not help but want to tease this demuredy a bit more.
Thus the hand that was resting on herrge ass suddenly turned naughty, squeezing one of the fluffy buns and roughly kneading it.
''Scoundrel,'' The move made Lady Parthia curse so in her heart, as Alexander then saw the gorgeous woman bite her own plump lips, possibly to prevent herself from letting out a shameful moan.
Oh how Alexander enjoyed seeing that!
The more Lady Parthia resisted, the more Alexander wanted to bully her.
Hence, seeing this, he decided to up the ante of his caress too, not only ying with her huge butt but also directing one of his fingers to invade that plump crack of hers and soon ordering it to assault her puckered hole.
Lady Parthia''s body shivered like it had been electrocuted the moment she felt that thick finger knock against her most shameful hole.
And there, it kept knocking, poking, and prodding the thin, quivering hole, threatening to invade it in full force soon.
The message was clear, either Lady Parthia opened her eyes or she was going to have a finger in her bum.
And who knew where things would go from there?
Lady Parthia thus understood that she could not keep up the facade any longer, especially given she was starting to get wet.
That was the one thing she did not want to happen now.
Thus, despite her reluctance, she could not keep her eyes shut anymore and ultimately shed them open.
Only to immediately meet a teasing pair filled with mirthful yfulness.
Alexander of course had very much enjoyed this morning''s game, loving the feeling of the tender hole, so much so that it had made him once again hard.
While Lady Parthia instantly blushed seeing the man''s face, her fair face bing deep red in the blink of an eye as she recalled what she had donest night.
It was a reaction that sent an arrow right through Alexander''s heart.
This look was something that a virgin maiden should have, not a woman in her mid forties.
It hence made Alexander feel that Lady Parthia might truly be the perfect Tibian woman- chaste, shy, and very obedient.
"You were amazingst night." Thus he could not help but grab Lady Parthia by the chin and suddenlynd a full hot kiss on her plump lips, savoring their wet contact.
This was the first time the two had ever had such an intimate connection, the closest alternative being when Lady Parthia had kissed Alexander''s cock or when Alexander kissed her bushy lower lips.
Thus, towards this romantic gesture, "Mmmmm!!!" Lady Parthia''s eyes suddenly went wide with shock and confusion, before it quickly settled into eptance.
Given what they had already done, from touching each other in every shameful ce imaginable to drinking each other lower fluids, this was hardly anything objectionable.
In this way, the first rule that Lady Parthia had set for Alexander when they started doing this- no kissing on the lips because that was only something her husband was allowed to do, was broken.
Lady Parthia was slowly being corrupted.
The couple however did not get to proceed with their second round of lovemaking as Alexander would have liked.
Primarily because as Alexander was being pleasured by a woken up Lady Nanazin, arge loud knock pierced through Alexander''s bedroom door.
And following that, instantly came a somewhat panicked shout,
"My lord, the temples in the city have been attackedst night. All the gold has been looted.
And the people are saying it was you. They have taken to the streets in riots. Lady Miranda wished to meet with you immediately in the parlor."
"!!!!!" The entire thing was like a bolt out of the blue for Alexander, as he did not think the other side would move this fast.
''We were just talking not more than twelve hours ago! So decisive!'' He cried in rm, while his lower half instantly shrunk.
The time for pleasure was gone.
Chapter 1035 Alarming Morning (Part-2)
Chapter 1035 rming Morning (Part-2)
??When Alexander first woke up in the morning, he thought he would have a slow day today.
He originally nned to lounge around in the bed for a while, enjoying the busty beauties for a few rounds if possible, to relive the sweet memory of the previous night before slowly getting up for breakfast.
He could then n what to do for the rest of the day.
The man was even halfway through that n as while Alexander teasing and making sweet talks of nothing with Lady Parthia, the Adhania Queen had already woken up.
And being much more assertive towards what she wanted, seeing Alexander upy himself with the coy Tibian Queen, Lady Nanazin decided not to disturb the couple.
But only stealthily dove into the sheet, making a beeline for Alexander''s by now turgid cock.
This would be her morning snack and having found her target, Lady Nanazin gobbled up the tasty meat in one go, having no problem tasting the various juices that were already mixed with it.
Neither did she object to her man flirting with another woman even as she was giving him a blowjob.
In fact, when Alexander had first turned his head to look at why his lower half had suddenly felt warm, Lady Nanazin had shot him a very yful smile, and then an encouraging look with sparkling eyes, asking him to continue what he was doing with Lady Parthia.
She really had no problem with sharing Alexander with other women as long as she got her piece of the pie.
Thus soon the scenery in Alexander''s bedroom right at the start of the morning turned to look like this-
The queen of Adhania was on all fours, bobbing her head up and down on a thick penis that was not her husband''s, fully nude with herrge ass lifted up into the air and presented towards the bedroom door, one that still possessed several of Alexander''s handprints fromst night''s loud spankings.
While on the man''s army another woman, the Queen of Tibias, who too was naked, having her luscious ass groped and her beautiful breasts squeezed, turning those thick flesh into various shapes, while the man roamed his lips around her nape and ears, lightly biting into the fair skin and sucking on them while whispering things like, ''I loved how you howledst night, like a good whore.'', ''You were delicious. I enjoy it very much.'', and ''Would you like to get pregnant with my child? Give me a son!''
It was thatst saying that got the greatest reaction out of thedy as Alexander clearly felt her body shiver and let out a tiny whimpering moan, as the loyal woman suddenly bing mortified.
''No! Impossible! I cannot have his child.''
Hence Lady Parthia tried to shift her legs to try and instinctively get away, but as she did, "Ahhh¡ it''s still inside. So warm," Alexander''s gift slouched around inside her womb, announcing their presence and bringing a burning, numbing sensation to her that felt very pleasant.
So pleasant that it caused Lady Parthia to suddenly halt her escape, as she could not help but think, ''He put so much of his semen inside me. And it was so thick. So it is certainly possible I can conceive. Ahhh!!''
The thought was as sweet as it was dreadful and it subconsciously made Lady Parthia mp her legs, in order to prevent the valuable goop from flowing out.
In some deep part of her heart, she wished to be bred by his young stallion of a man.
Her husband had never made her feel this good.
Although that had more to do with Tibias''s culture than Perseus''s actual ability.
Sex between couples in Tibias was seen as more of a transactional thing, rather than a pleasurable one, made all the more true for nobles and royals.
Thus even presented with such sweet experiences, the inexperienced Lady Parthia could not help but stumble.
Alexander however was of course joking when he made that offer to her.
The Tibian Queen, although still beautiful was a bit too old to have a child, as women above forty tended to have variousplications during childbirth.
Not to mention the scandal this would cause.
But that did not mean Alexander could not tease her with such words, such as now, as he relished how the regal queen squirmed and turned flushed under his handling.
He could not wait to mount her, intending to do so just after he finished giving Lady Nanazin her reward for all her hard work down there- waking his little brother fully up.
*Knock*, *Knock*, *Knock*,
However that fateful knock on the door turned all those pleasurable ns to dust, as he did not even get to finish in Lady Nanazin''s mouth.
And hearing of the brewing trouble, neither woman was in any mood to urge Alexander either.
Instead, as per Alexander''s instruction, both of them quickly jumped out of bed, even as some of Alexander''s gift leaked out of their snatches and rolled over their thighs, as they attempted to refresh themselves as quickly as possible, making use of the water in therge wooden basin.
And once all three had managed to wipe off much of the external evidence of yesterday''s ''misadventures'' such as the stains, they quickly made their way to the meeting point, dressed in good clothes and a surprising amount of cologne, as if they were trying to hide some kind of lingering smell that was hard to get off.
Lady Miranda warmly greeted all three as soon as they entered, before quickly inviting them to therge couch in the center of the room, which was luxury crafted, like the rest of it.
Marvelously carved exotic wood, expensive fabric, decadent artwork, and even a few stuffed heads of animals graced the room, giving this ce, which was Lady Miranda''s most special room, designed to entertain only the most important guests a ptial feeling.
When Alexander first entered it, he had even jokingly said to himself, ''If the Margraves are so cash starved, why not sell off the things in the house? The art alone would fetch a fortune.''
Of course he also knew why this would not work.
One was simple pride- the Margraves would rather sooner be destitute and vagabonds than before even considering selling the things in their house, it would be too shameful, and they would never be able to show their face in front of another noble.
Another was that these were more than just items- they were heirlooms with generational history behind them.
For instance, the parlor Alexander was in was used to entertain important dignitaries by the heads of the Margraves family for almost two hundred years, so since several great grandfathers of Lady Miranda.
And up until this point, the things in there stayed most the same, save for the asional maintenance.
This made the entire room full of sentimental value, one whose value was priceless.
And speaking of price, this was where thest snag came.
Because even if the Margraves were to wish to sell them, who would buy them?
The market for used relics of nobility was surprisingly small.
This was because the only ones who had the cash to pay for them were other nobles and these high status people tended to be very snobbish, willing to rather buy a new, lower quality product that was brand new rather than a cheap, high quality product that was used.
It was all about prestige and showing off.
So if the Margraves wanted to auction their goods, most of it would be likely brought by the lower ss like merchants and peddlers at pricesparable to pebbles.
By that point, the Margraves might as well sell everything as scrap.
Thus Alexander inevitably crossed off this ''easy'' money making way, as he sat down and quickly heard the anxiousdy fill them in,
"I''m d you are here, Lord Alexander. I''m sure you have heard¡.."
Thedy basically retold what the maid had, before ending with, "The people are rioting in the streets as we speak. Many are demanding you leave. A few daredevils even want to attack the mansion to capture you. So what now?"
The query Lady Miranda turned to Alexander to pose was only three short words.
But the answer might as well as been as vast as the sea.
Because the very first words to surface in Alexander''s mind were simply,''I don''t know!''
This was a very effective trap by Miss Linda as Alexander as a foreigner had no way to positively affect the mood of the citizens of Caira, and thus momentarily found himself unable to figure out how to extricate himself from it.
It seemed to him the other side held all the cards.
Thus he turned to the two present Queens to ask for any advice, stating, "Your Highnesses, you might be a little confused by all this so let you fill you in on the current circumstances of Caira. The thing is Lady Miranda''s grandfather covertly wanted to hand over...the Margraves are bankrupt.....the people are with Miss Linda¡. the army too¡ we are all alone¡. northern barbarians¡ only the Kaiser family might be our ally¡"
It took a while to get the two up to speed on all the affairs, by the end of which both had pale faces.
Chapter 1036 Lord Cassiuss Secret
Chapter 1036 Lord Cassius''s Secret
??ABDHYMDXNAJ7KTKTA- 10 FP
As Alexander recounted their current situation to the two Queens, Lady Miranda and her husband, Lord Cassius who joined them midway felt like sending Alexander a weird look.
As if asking, ''Why are you telling them all this now? What were you doing with them in your room for so long? Why not tell them then?''
The answers to all these questions were of course obvious- because they were too busy screwing each other.
But both Alexander and the two queens pretended to not be able to sense this strange gaze, with Lady Parthia even managing to keep a straight face instead of blushing so as to not give herself away, while Alexander quickly attempted to divert the topic with a cough and, the following news,
"Also Lady Miranda, I did not get to tell you yesterday because it was already sote, but I met with Miss Linda after lunch and..."
Once again Alexander spent a long time rting the entire conversation he had with that beautiful but now hateful woman, from all the things Miss Linda had said and offered, to what he thought were her fears, to how Miss Linda had tried to seduce him to her side by showing her and even her maid''s breasts and tostly how he had resisted her advances and ended the meeting with the excuse that he will need to talk it over with his advisors before being able to answer her.
He decided to embellish the ending like that because he did not want to even speak the filth that was really uttered, neither did he think that it really mattered in the grand scheme of things.
Given what the other side was already using Alexander of- looting the temples, their enmity was already set in stone- there would be little effect in revealing this other than turning Alexander restored mood once again sour.
And he was right in thinking this, as Lady Miranda was far more concerned about the contents of the conversation than how it ended.
Thus as Alexander finally finished his speech, Lady Miranda had all but forgotten to ask what him and the two married queens were doing all night, but instead clenching her teeth spat with a burning rage, " I should have known she would try to do something like that. Linda has always been like that. Scheming shrew! Shameless ¡"
Lady Miranda for a moment paused here, as if unsure whether she should utter the crude word that came to her mind, then ultimately decided not to given the two regalpany she had, contenting herself with only huffing, "To think she would do such a thing even when is married. Disgusting! I weep for Lord Parker. She is a disgrace to all the women of our family."
Lady Miranda appeared truly appalled by her sister''s behavior, before she abruptly turned to look up at Alexander, her fury instantly melting away like dew under the sun, as she produced a soft, light grin, "It was truly prudent that my lord did not take her bait. As expected of a great hero¡.you could easily discern the poison she held within. This is something to toast to!"
Then to show her appreciation for sticking with her despite Miss Linda''s obvious advantage in the affair, Lady Miranda then quickly sought to tter her ally, raising a cup of Galiosos''s best wine with a great smile.
She really was relieved that Alexander had not chosen to jump ship and was even more d that he had not jumped onto her sister.
Because she very well knew her youngest sister''s charms and had personally seen how she had managed to wrap several men around her fingers with it.
Men who were older and presumably more experienced in life than Alexander had fallen to her, resulting in them taking various loss.
Thus this time, Lady Miranda was actually truly impressed that Alexander had managed to restrain himself, as were the two Queens who could not help but shoot a curious and slightly surprised look.
As if they were asking, ''You know how to restrain yourself? When did that happen?''
This was because given how Alexander had yed with both their heavy breasts just the night before, sometimes with both the pairs simultaneously, so you would think he would not be able to keep his hands of any samples, especially when those were free sample at that.
Alexander pretended not to notice these two gazes but with a light smile quickly took up the host on her toast, offering a few titude of gratitude, while thinking to himself regrading Lady Miranda,
''You really should work on your ttery. Your sister does it much better.''
Alexander could not help but think how Miss Linda had made him feel like he was the sole apple in her eye as long as she was with her, in much contrast to Lady Miranda''s much more generic praise.
Of course her''s was more genuine and sincere, but Miss Linda''s had a lot more ir to it, thus was able to also draw in people who were just acquaintances and throught subsequent interaction turn them into allies.
Alexander would have to admit, when it came to making a stranger feel good and wee, Miss Linda''s mock crity trumped Lady Miranda''s honestly, leaving thetter in the dust.
He even suspected this was another reason why everybody sided with Miss Linda instead of Lady Miranda, her personal charm, aided of course by Lord Margraves''s tacit approval and the presence of her powerful husband.
And then he finally ended this internal monologue with the rueful musing that, ''It is too bad the two sisters could not get along. They would have been a formidable force together. Miss Linda could have handled the ''marketing'' side of things, dealing with customers and making business deals, while Lady Miranda could have looked after the business itself.''
Alexander thought the pair''s specialtyplimented each other perfectly- Miss Linda possessing a great personality but not a good sense of how to rule, and vice versa for Lady Miranda.
Hence he could not help butmpoon at the fact that instead of ruling together as sisters should, they had decided to tear each other apart, wishing to put the other in the ground.
Although this was nothing unheard off, and evenmon, it still made Alexander a bit sad.
And because Alexander was swimming in such reflections, he missed the subtle impressed look that Lady Miranda''s husband Lord Cassius was giving him, his mind still upied by how Alexander had managed to evade his youngest sister inws traps.
As the brother inw, Lord Cassisus had of course seen Miss Linda and knew just how devilish her beauty was.
In fact, he had never revealed it to his wife, but ust before they were about to get married, Miss Linda had tried to seduce him the same way she had tried to seduce her current husband, in an attempt to marry a good suitor, and as ashamed as Lord Cassius was to admit it, he had faltered.
They of course had not gone the whole way as contrary to Lord Parker, Lord Cassius managed to regain lrity at thest moment.
But before he coulde to his senses, the man had indeed gone a long way along, getting to taste Miss Linda''s lips and even her breasts, and even getting her to suck him off.
It was after this release that post nut rity brought Lord Cassius back to what he was really doing and horrified by it, then strongly expressed his reluctance to truly go the whole nine yeads, saying he wanted to marry Lady Miranda.
The man would never forget the kind of scary look Miss Linda had given him, threatening and even throwing a bit of tantrum to force him to marry her.
But credit where credit is due, even though Lord Cassius had made a mistake, he did not seek to then ergen it, but wanted to rectify it, standing his ground and bullishly defend his decision.
And seeing the mule of a man, the cunningdy did not either cause a scene as that would also negatively affect her, nor did she let him go scot free.
But changing her tactics, she chose a middle ground
She offered Lord Cassius what she had also offered Alexander, her personal maid toplete the deed with.
This way she hoped the man would have at least some connections to her, even if by only association.
And given the situation in the room at the time Lord Cassius had ill advisedly chosen to ept- the atmosphere there being just too raw and energetic for him to refuse.
At that particr time, both him and Miss Linda were naked there and was then quickly joined in that same state by the curvy personal maid, whose figure and face both struck him with amazement, as he drunk in herrge bouncy breasts and her pale downy leaking pussy.
Then facing such a beauty with a low status, Lord Cassius let the lust influence him just like Lord Parker and letting the urge take hold of him at the heat of the moment, slept with the slept.
Thus the fact that Alexander had managed to not touch the maid very much impressed the man.
Chapter 1037 The Planned Response
Chapter 1037 The nned Response
??Chapter 1037
Once Lady Miranda finished with her toast, Alexander was asked once again to do the same by Lord Cassius, such impressed was the man with Alexander''s self control.
And his appreciation might have been more if he knew the one to offer her breasts had not been really Miss Linda''s personal maid but her elder sister- Lady Adele in disguise, someone who had a much prettier face.
But even the current levels were more than enough to make the couple have a brand new respect and trust towards Alexander.
Thus they listened carefully to Alexander''s answer when he finally replied to Lady Miranda''s initial query, "Since the people are rioting, we should have additional security around here. Let me move my army from the Royal harbor and station them around the mansion here. Their presence will surely deter any fools in the crowds from trying anything foolish."
This¡" However, although Lady Miranda listened to Alexander''s proposal, she had a hard time rmending it, as evidenced by the ''difficult'' and troubled face she had.
The reason?
It was stated by Lord Cassius, "Lord Alexander, we fear that such a move will antagonize the other side. What if Lord Parker is rmed by seeing all your soldiers and thinking that you are going to forcefully take over the mansion and decides to mobilize his own army? That will mean war!"
"An war where we will be outnumbered more than4 to 1." Lady Miranda was quick to add with a worried voice, thus revealing her reluctance to sanction this.
As then, having had the time to make up her mind, turned to Alexander to state her decision in a clear, crisp voice, "I''m sorry, Lord Alexander but I cannot allow you to do that. We must not give Lord Parker any excuse to march his army towards the mansion. It took us too much pain and effort to convince him to move his army once to the southern part of the city. We cannot give him the excuse to return." The fact that Lady Miranda repeated that line twice went to show the kind of shadow that man''s army had left on her, as she produced an almost whimpering face towards Alexander that seemed to say, ''You were not there, so you would not understand how hard it was. Please do not make us face it again."
And then ended with her own proposal, "Let us meet with Linda and talk. I''m sure she will have a good exnation. Perhaps it was some other miscreants, some¡ other unknown."
Thedy could have made her appear less credible even if she had tired, as it was clear as daylight who was truly behind this.
It was too telegraphed and too targeted.
Something that was of course instantly caught by Alexander, who then rolled his eyes and clenched out with gritted teeth, "So you are saying there are some other miscreants in the city that we have no idea about who also want me dead? And it was them who sent an angry mob after me once they were finished looting various temples¡.in a city guarded by 20,000 active men? All in one night? And not a single one of these ''miscreants'' has been caught?"
Alexander made sure to clearly increase the taunt in his tone with each sentence although there was not a trace of humor in it.
The fact that he was not impressed by this decision was evident.
"....." And facing this displeasure, Lady Miranda could only purse her lips and lower her head a bit in shame.
When Alexanderid it out like that, it reallyid bare the whole situation in the open.
Alexander was not impressed by this decision, nor was he moved even by the tiniest grain of sand by Lady Miranda''s reasoning.
Instead he was incensed, and made him genuinely wonder how people could be this blind.
Hence he spat in his heart at the lukewarm, cowardly reaction, ''You fools! Don''t you realize it? They have already dered war! How can it be any clearer when they have already looted the temples? Stolen from the gods themselves! If this is not war, what is?''
The couple''s indecisiveness and inability to see the situation for what it really was even now utterly infuriated Alexander and he felt like jumping up and throttling both of them.
But ultimately, no matter Alexander''s personal feelings on the matter, he had to restrain himself.
This was their house and theirnd.
So no matter how much he disagreed with them, he had to take into ount their sentiment.
Their infuriating sentiment, as although Alexander did not outright object to the decision, the whole room could sense Alexander''s bubbling frustration at this, at being denied the use of his army.
Many even understood that the young lord''s emotions were threatening to boil over any time, with Alexander being this close to flipping out and shouting,
''You two! Have you grown up eating grass? The enemy is this close to ughtering us and you still want to just keepThen what do you want us to do? Suck our thumb and do ''mum-
mum-mum''?''
However just as Alexander was about to start a huge row with Lady Miranda and mobilize a part of his army regardless of the wishes of the mansion''s hosts,
"Why not let the soldiers enter the premises disguised as workers? That won''t rm the Heeat family right?" Suddenly Lady Parthia''s crisp, sweet voice blew across the room, instantly soothing the red hot tension.
And the whole room instantly turned around to face the Tibian queen in pleasant surprise.
Lady Parthia had surprisinglye at the same solution that Alexander had used to hide his 5,000 mercenaries in his personal estate- by making them conceal their armor bywearing in clothes.
''Genius!'' And Alexander instantly leaped in his heart at glee at this simple but effective solution, as he chimed out with great crity, "Great! Let''s do that!"
While internally, as well as feeling ecstatic, Alexander also lightly pped his forehead in rebuke, ''Dammit! How could I not think of that? Stupid! I even did something like that just a while ago. The pressure must be getting to me,'' before reciting the mantra- ''Calm down. Calm down. Do not let your emotions get the better of you.''
As for Lady Miranda, Alexander''s strong response left her unable to counter the n in time, as she found the man to be too forceful to counter.
And her situation turned for the worse when Lady Nanazin too joined, so as to not be left behind by her rival, as she clearly expressed, "Lady Parthia has spoken of a great idea. We can have a thin line of soldiers as a deterrence force outside, while much of the garrison hangs back in reserve within the mansion, disguised as ves and workers in in clothes"
The Adhanian Queen was showing to have a good grasp of what Lady Parthia was proposing, the quickness of herprehension impressing Alexander, as he heard her then make the benefits crystal clear to the other side,
"That way most of our men will be hidden away from Lord Parker''s scanning eyes and won''t rm him as Lady Miranda fears. But at the same time they will be avable to quickly reinforce the frontline if the enemy decided to attack."
"Remember, the distance between the mansion and the royal harbor is not insignificant. If the men are in their current camp, they won''t be able to join in time before our lines break."
Alexander could not have put it better himself.
And it was so well presented that neither of the couples could straight out object.
But they still held some reservations regarding this, especially on the finer details, such as letting a foreign army enter their estate.
However since they could not outright deny Alxx''s ask, the ever resourceful Lady Miranda thus quickly took the second best option, first nodding to show her approval for the move but then also adding one condition, "Okay, my lord. As long as there are not too many soldiers and they do not enter the mansion premises itself, we can allow¡ agree to it."
Thedy was at least self consciousness enough to understand she was not powerful enough to allow anything, she was simply agreeing to Alexander''s move.
''Heh!'' However Alexander treated this condition as little more than a light fart.
What was the point of mobilizing his army if he did not have control of the mansion? That was the headquarters, the main nervous point, where Alexander himself resided!
And besides, legally speaking what was the ''not too many soldiers'' that Lady Miranda spoke of?
I.e.- the exact, specific number.
Because ''too many'' was a rtive term and Alexander could let in all his 5,000 men and im it was only 5,000 men, nothingpared to Lord Parker''s 22,000.
It was because of these ring loopholes that Alexander had no problem ascending to Lady Miranda''s request, very enthusiastically nodding his head, "That''s great! I will simply have a few of my men block the nearby streets to prevent any mob from assaulting the mansion. While the rest hangs back around the back. They won''t be a bother to anyone I promise."
Chapter 1038 Remus and Deployment
Chapter 1038 Remus and Deployment
??The morning meeting of that day thus ended rtively amicably with the following decision made- to deploy Alexander''s soldiers around the streets leading to the Margraves''s mansion as a way to deter the rioting mob from doing anything ill advised, such as trying to assault the mansion
But they were to do it in a way that would not aggravate Lord Parker.
Although for Alexander that was more of a suggestion than an actual condition.
But still, at least with this, they had managed to determine their preliminary course of action against the shrewd y and build some basic defenses.
Alexander was really d he had brought his legion with him and not just his few hundred bodyguards.
If that had happened, Alexander would have either obediently bent the knee and started sucking on Miss Linda''s milky breasts just like she had wanted, thus throwing Lady Miranda to the sharks in a heartbeat.
Or he would have tucked his tail between his legs and ran, taking the very next boat out of Caira, and returning to Zanzan even if he were to brave the rough seas.
Keeping your word was important, but keeping your life was a thousand times more so.
And perhaps Lady Miranda perceived it too, which was why after administering this ''first aid'' to the current situation, she quickly stood up to offer that they should celebrate, lightly swinging her arm and inviting the trio,
"My lord, Your Highnesses¡ I''m sure none of you had breakfast. Apologies for calling you so suddenly. It was urgent."
"So pleasee join us now. We have prepared a great feast to help sate your hunger!"
Lady Miranda was perhaps even more right in saying the three were hungry than she could have ever realized.
Because not only had her three guests not eaten their morning meal, but they also had vigorously exercised with each other the night prior, for hours at an end.
The two women were made to twist and turn their hips in all sorts of different ways, lifting and moving them as their master had desired.
While Alexander had inarguably a much harder job, having to fill the two insatiabledies till his tanks emptied out.
At least the women could rehydrate'' themselves.
Thus with almost dried up balls, the man was actually much more famished than the two women,
"Later!" However, Alexander was currently in no mood to calmly sit down and break bread with them.
One because the sudden bleak turn of the entire situation had him riled up too much and he felt like going on a walk and having a clean, breath of fresh air to clear his head.
And two because there were a million other things he needed to do. Things of the utmost importance that he wanted to finish as soon as possible.
Thus curtly excusing himself, the young lord rapidly left the parlor ignoring all of Lady Miranda''s courtesies, then and immediately rendezvoused with the men in their camp, entering the palisade premises with loud, hurried steps,
"Remus! Where are you, Remus? Who has seen Remus?" He started to call out boisterously as soon as he entered the ce, rapidly whirling his head to try and spot themander of his current army.
"Ale¡. My lord, what''s wrong?" And this hurried call,bined with his haggard and agitated appearance was quick to draw a few astonished cries from the surrounding soldiers, especially from the ones who were in his original mercenary group and personally closer to him.
However, although well meaning, Alexander was in no mood to chat with them, for time was of the essence.
Thus, when themander failed to make an appearance before him, Alexander instead made the journey himself, finding his way to thergest tent situated in the center of the ground.
There, it did not take more than a few snaps from Alexander to produce a slightly disheveled, clean shaven lean man, whose clothes all were scrunched up and he walked with an unsteady pace, as if he was still groggy due to being just woken up.
The sight of which instantly irritated Alexander because it was already quitete, almost 10 am.
This might not seem toote to a modern person, but when people here usually got up at the crack of dawn, this meant that Remus had basically slept through half the day.
And then to add to Alexander''s irritation, as Remus lifted the tent ps to make his way out, Alexander was given a good glimpse of what was inside there, where he was able to spot quite a few limbs and bodies writhing and moving about, all seemingly bare and all too muscr to be of the fairer gender.
It was clear that the young twenty year old had done the prior night, and with how many at that.
And it was a view that greatly added spice to Alexander''s already displeased mood.
He was not disapproving of the act due to the gender involved, but because where they were doing it and with whom.
Remus was the general, out here campaigning, so why was he fraternizing with regr soldiers?
This was something disastrous for morale and strictly prohibited by Alexander as he feared such familiarity with the men would make them not respect the higher ups when the time came.
Andstly he was very peeved that Adhnaia''s rotten prurient culture had begun to rub off on the impressionable twenty year old, as evidenced by just how many he was sleeping with.
Before it would be one or two, but now it seems the boy was starting to let himself loose and enjoying more and more.
The sight in that tentst night must have been truly something extraordinary, and the sounding out of it out of this world.
It seemed Alexander was not the only one enjoying his time here in Caira.
But the difference was that he was a lord while the others were soldiers, and they yed bypletely different rules.
This was also clearly understood by Remus, and thus ncing at Alexander''s sour, frowning face, and knowing he had broken military regtions, he could only give themander in chief an awkward, sheepish smile as he lowered his head in shame.
And credit to Remus, this indeed worked as Alexander''s indignation was at least soothed a bit seeing the boy had realized his mistake and did not try to make any excuses.
And thus Alexander decided to skip the chewing out for ater date, for he had much more important matters to attend to.
Thus in a very snippy tone he imperiously dictated, "Remus! Get your ass together and have the army ready within the next hour. Station the men across the nearby streets leading to the mansion. And block anyone from entering or leaving. The talks here have broken down."
"!!!" For the still sleepy Remus, this was like a bolt out of the blue, as the half lidded general immediately shot his eyes open the moment he heard this, semi wondering if he was still in bed, and dreaming.
When he had heard barking out in front of his tent, he had assumed he would get to hear a lot of different things.
The most likely of which was a torrent of increasingly expletive swears wringing him out for what he was doing.
Something that he dreaded.
Because this was not the first time Remus had been caught doing such a thing.
Back in Zanzan, Alexander would regrly go on random patrols around the camp, just to see what the soldiers were doing and catch many in various acts that vited many of the military discipline.
Be it drinking, gambling, loitering, ying with dice, and the worst infraction of all, having a rtionship with another soldier.
An act so severe that it could be punishable by death- although it had not yet been implemented even once.
Most soldiers would get fined, severely caned, or given the worst menial jobs, such as cleaning the men''strines.
And this was also how Remus was usually punished, as he was infamous for his amorous love for the men.
The boy knew it was wrong and even openly admitted to it, but he really could not stop himself. It was like a drug to him, a weakness.
Thus when he was also caught doing today, he dreaded what his lord was going to do.
Because even Remus would admit he had let himself enjoy a bit too muchst night.
But when Alexander decided to skip the punishment and informed him of the current situation, Remus half wished he was instead caned, as his face subconsciously grimaced.
''Aren''t there more than 20,000 men?'' The thought echoed in his mind, as he somewhat stammered out in confusion, "Wha¡
what?"
This slow response was finally enough to drive Alexander''s patience off the edge, as finally having had enough of Remus''s tardiness, he boomed in a voice that threatened to blow off the entire camp, "Get the men ready and take control of the streets! NOW!"
It was so loud and furious that not just Remus, but all the soldiers in the close vicinity jumped out of their shoes in fright before immediately running off toplete what they were being asked to do like their asses were on fire.
Chapter 1039 Hidden Condition
Chapter 1039 Hidden Condition
??The generally temperate Alexander''s sudden outburst took the nearby soldiers by surprise and they suddenly snapped their heads to give Alexander a fearful look.
And then they ran off to get ready as soon as possible.
Thus., before long, the streets around the Margraves family mansion were teeming with men in a vast sea of blue, with rows and rows of shielded men setting up checkpoints at all the leading streets, stopping and questioning anyone wishing to pass.
"What do you think our chances are?" And while observing all these from a distance, Alexander grimly asked Remus about his own thoughts on the matter.
Because in his mind, the deployment of his army indicated that the worst thing that could have happened had happened, and his fears of full fledged fight were starting toe true.
It seemed that even if Alexander wanted to avoid conflict, the other side was not in any mood to talk.
They seemed poised to strike.
And why would they not, if you thought about it?
They outnumbered Alexander more than 4 to 1, so it was only natural for them to press their advantage.
And fearing this was the enemy''s mindset, Alexander was rmed that they might put the thought to the test.
Thus then turned to themander of his army his own opinion on the matter, and how well they would fare if they were to really get into conflict with such a skewed force.
"Great!" Remus''s single word answer however belied any of Alexander''s pessimism, but was only crisp, sinct, and bubbling with optimism, to the point Alexander even wished the youngmander was a bit less cavalier, and more grounded in his im, thinking more before promising.
But Remus was there to assuage Alexander''s acridness about his answer by pointing at all the brick and wooden houses around the streets and confidently elucidating,
"Look! The streets here are so narrow. Not even two horses can pass side by side. So as long as the men lock their shields closely and stand shoulder to shoulder, not even 20 million men can move us!"
Remus here was exaggerating about the slimness of the streets, which were around two carriages wide, and he was of course clearly exaggerating about the numbers here, but the main point of his promise was clear- using the favorable terrain they would be able to hold back an enemy many times his size without an issue.
And this answer of course made perfect sense to Alexander, who knew of many historical instances of such a thing happening, with one of the most famous examples being the Battle of Thermope, where around 7,000 Greeks were able to halt the advances of 100,000 to 300,000 Persians in a mountain pass, making the Achaemenid troop feels their assaults were like waves breaking against a boulder, ever strong and ever unflinching.
However, also like the Battle of Thermope, Alexander was well aware that the key to his sess was by making sure the enemy did not find a ''secret passage'' to outnk his legionnaires and attack them from the back in a pincher move.
The key to winning any battle of fixed position was to ensure the enemy could only attack from one side.
And in this realization, he was both afraid and d that they faced the sea to their back and surroundings.
And why did Alexander feel both such contradicting feelings?
Well, he decided to test Remus if he coulde to the same conclusion as him,
Thus he first nodded in order to show his agreement with Remus''s assessment,
"Mmm, you are right. These streets can indeed be turned into formidable defenses when properly manned. Especially by men with shields as huge as ours. Hehe, looks like you guys got a quick chance to earn great glory," Alexander humorously chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood, although Remus could only produce a sheepish grin as he too knew he had been a bit too optimistic on his ims.
He said he could defend it, but he never imed that it would be easy.
The young man was just boasting in front of his boss.
While the boss too understood that, that was why, suddenly slightly nting his eyes with a skeptical glint, he posed, "So if you were themander of the other side, how would you try to go around this?"
Because although Remus was able to take a formidable position, Alexander was confident he would be able to dislodge the legionaries if he was given control of the troops on the other side.
Hearing the inquiry, Remus instantly understood that this was a test for him from Alexander.
It was something that the man asionally did, wanting his generals to try and figure out the answer.
Thus cing his hands on his chin, Remus quickly put his thinking cap on, trying to put himself in the shoes of the enemymander just as Alexander taught him.
To try and visualize the problem from their side and then attempt to plug any holes in the defenses that mighte using the ''borrowed'' set of eyes.
''If I was the enemy general, and was unable to break through the front, then what would I do?'' So Remus asked himself, as he then began to turn his head, looking at the surroundings to scan the terrain and try and spot any weakness.
However, he found none.
All he could see thaty in front of him were rows and rows of virtually imprable houses.
Houses that would go nowhere unless burnt to the ground.
''Fire!'' And just as that extraneous thought entered his head, it was like he was shocked.
He immediately froze his moving head, at the remembrance of this fearful word, before shooting his eyes toward Alexander with a fearful look.
"Are you afraid that the enemy will set fire to the houses and burn them away to make way? No! We cannot let that happen! We must stop them." Remus expressed his answer with extreme apprehension in his voice, suddenly feeling his body get extremely agitated, almost as if fire ants were biting all over him.
If the other side did this, then they were all doomed!
"What? No! What are you talking about?" However, Alexander''s curt bark cut through Remus''s worries, as he was quick to shoot down the idea with a frowning face, for there was not the nice, pleased nod one would expect from this Directly support the authors on WebNovel!
''great'' discovery.
Following this, he was quick to show Remus his mistake,
"We are currently in winter. So the entire ce is dry like timber. If they really set light to the house here, what reassurances do they have that the fire will not spread across the whole city? They are as likely to burn us to death as they are likely to do so themselves."
Saying this, Alexander resolutely shook his head, "No, that is not the answer."
The very first thought of ran through Remus when he heard was relief, followed by enlightenment as he was convinced by the logic of the answer, andstly, a bit of disheartenment, as it meant his answer was wrong.
''*Tsk*, if is not fire, then what?'' Remus thus felt a bit frustrated at having failed.
The young man however would have the time to contemte on his shoringster, as Alexander, no longer wishing to keep Remus on the hook, decided to reveal the answer by himself, turning his arms to point towards the sea which was all around them and dering,
"Look there. The Great Harbor is connected to the small Royal Harbor. So if Lord Parker cannot go through the front door, he will be able to use the ships there tond his troops right behind the mansion and take it from there."
"Oh by the gods!!!" No sooner had Alexander revealed the potential outnking maneuver, did Remus explode with all the explosive expletives that Alexander''s monotone voicecked, him alone more than making up for the two of them, as he literally jumped up a bit in the air at this, such fearful was he.
To say that he was ''shaking in his boots'' would be a very apt description, as his head almost spun at having missed such an obvious answer.
''Dammit! I''m still drunk fromst night,'' The youngmander tried to find excuses for himself, before quickly shouting to himself, ''No! Now is not the time for this. We need to act!''
Thus recovering himself from the state of mind, he then almost manically shouted to Alexander, "The ships! The ships in the harbor! Let''s go burn them now."
And saying this, Remus did not even wait for Alexander''s answer, as he seemed ready to head there right now, his legs twitching animatedly, apparently intent on heading to the harbor and setting the hundreds of ships there alight all by himself if need be this very instant.
But just as suddenly came Remus''s intent to depart, so too came his intent to stop for a second and think about what he was about to do.
"No! If we go right now, they will see us. We should do it at night. Let''s wait." Remus chimed out to himself, showing evidence of his on the spot thinking ability, much to hismander''s satisfaction.
Chapter 1040 Alexanders Urging
Chapter 1040 Alexander''s Urging
??Alexander was internally very d to see that when he revealed the potential move the enemy could make, Remus was not only quick on the uptake but also extremely fast in being able toe up with a solution.
And even more decisive when trying to carry it out.
Since they had pointed the threat as Lord Parkering to attack them from the sea, then the most logical answer in the boy''s mind was to burn the vessels he would use toe here- the ships, thus denying him the opportunity even before he would start.
Such a go getter attitude of course pleased Alexander, as would any other boss, which was then further increased when he saw that hismander even deduced the most opportune time to strike would be tonight under the cover of the night, thus binding his feet for now, and biding his time for sundown.
Thus with a solemn nod, Alexander patted on the boy''s shoulder to show his pleasure.
However, as pleased as he was, this was also where Alexander had to deny Remus the privilege of leading such an attack, for being a Pasha, he knew could not afford to be so outspoken and cavalier in
another''snd.
Putting all the hundreds of ships in the Great Harbor to torch preemptively, just on a hunch would be too controversial. Especially when the enemy had yet to make a move. And egregiously so if Alexander did not ask for permission for the family first.
Thus he ordered hismander in a soft but firm voice, "Do not do not anything without my permission. Remember we are not in Zanzan. Those ships are the properties of the Lady Miranda family and we cannot act without their grace."
This crisp and reasonable answer however made Remus feel quite frustrated, and as his lips became pursed and he could not help but burst in a slightly usatory tone at Alexander,
"Wasn''t it you who said that the talks have broken down? So what is the point of asking them for permission? Are we to wait till they grant us permission and through this the enemy bes aware of our intentions?"
Since the threat was there, Remus was of the mind to neutralize it as soon as possible, lest the enemy make their move before they could prevent it.
An advice that certainly made very sound tactical sense.
However Alexander as a pasha, knew although it made good military sense, such a move would be politically too damning.
He could not sanction this right here right now, at least not without Lady Miranda''s permission.
A permission that thedy was very unlikely to give, judging by her previous interactions with him.
The man could already even see the reason why she would do this, because these ships were not only very valuable and precious, but they also helped ferry what little ''golden'' blood the Margraves family had left to other parts of the world.
Choking even this little would be a nonstarter for the distressed Lady.
However, Alexander kept these considerations to himself, not trying to educate Remus on the intricacies of family politics of the Margraves- one because Remus had expressed little interest in such matter ever, and two because Alexander did not think he needed to.
All Remus had to do was follow Alexander''s order and not do anything rash.
And to make that happen, at Remus''s frank rebuke, Alexander did not chide him for talking to him like this, but instead soothed the agitated boy, "Do not worry. The talks will be held in utmost secrecy. No one will know about our ns except our closest allies."
Following this, Alexander then pointed to the advantage they would still hold even if the situation turned to the worst possible scenario and the enemy became alerted,
"Besides, even if the enemy tries to move towards the harbor, we will be able to easily spot him given our advantageous position. Not only are we closer to the harbor, but we are not a higher ground. So we will be able to easily reach the harbor before them, then set the ships alight then if need be."
After pointing this fact out, Alexander then atst patted Remus on the shoulders to once again urge, "So Remus all you need to do for now is remain vignt and not the enemy get the jump on us. So stand firm and do not do anything rash. And by the grace of Gaia, we will be able to restart the talks and no blood need not be spilled."
The reason for Alexander repeating and requesting Remus this much was so that Remus did not do anything on his own and caused a diplomatic incident.
Alexander knew Remus''s character and knew him to be quite impulsive and bullish in his thoughts.
Worse, because he led from the very front, which resulted in him regrly taking various scraps and bruises, he wielded a lot of respect among the men.
And even love as evidenced by the scene inside his tent.
It had to be noted that it was not only Remus who had broken the militaryw there, those men were too, and they were much more likely to get severely punished than Remus.
As a matter of fact, they frequently did, but they still kepting back.
Hence, Alexander feared that if Remus truly ordered a contingent to disobey his direct order, many would follow, especially when Remus told them the reason.
But that would cause the already fragile rtionship Alexander had with Margraves to shatterpletely and even have the chance of turning Lady Miranda hostile.
No one liked to be ignored like this in their own house, not so tantly at least.
Not to further mention that Alexander still held out hope to be able to convince the more neutral family members in the family to pressure Miss Linda toe to some sort of concessions.
Perhaps he would be unable to make her share the meat with her sister, but Alexander at least wanted to talk her into sparing some soup.
But he would not be able to do any of this if he burned down their freaking fleet stationed at the harbor without any concrete cause.
Hence the urging towards Remus.
"..... Okay." As for the man, hearing of the ask, Remus took a suspiciously long time to produce a very curt nod, as if he was contemting on whether to truly follow the ask or simply pretend to.
And this was something the young man was not at all afraid to show his face, turning it sour and acrid, in a clear indication of how he really felt about the situation.
Until he could not hold it in himself any longer and so in a hushed but frank voice let Alexander how he really thought about the situation.
Meeting his lord''s eyes, Remus thus very clearly dered,
"Alexander, I hope you really know what you are doing. Because the situation you have told me about already sounds quite bad. You very well know that I might have said we can hold on no problem, but that does not mean you can take it as a guarantee. 5,000 against 20,000 is already enough¡ even with all the advantages. It is best that you do not handicap us even further."
"...." Alexander for a while could not find the words to console his somber general.
There were not a lot of times he had seen Remus be this serious, the man was usually very jovial and carefree.
Thus to reciprocate his ask, Alexander also grimly replied, "Have faith in me, Remus. We are in a foreignnd with no one but us as helpers. I swear I will not let a single one of you down. If for nothing but my own sake."
And with that, Alexander left Remus to be in charge of the man, still unsure if the man would actually follow his order or take matters into his own hands.
Whichever the case, Alexander had done his level best and now everything else would be on Remus, be it good or bad.
As for why Alexander did not take even more precautions to discourage Remus if he was afraid of the boy disobeying him, such as dismissing him or even locking him up, well the answer was already there.
Because Remus was very popr with the men, and because there was no equivalent other than Alexander to take over in his stead.
And if Alexander did that, well then he would have to stay with the army in the camp to oversee them.
This was of course impossible given he still had a hundred different duties to perform, like the negotiations with the neutral Margraves family members, trying to reconcile the two sisters, and even writing to Cambyses, asking her to send 10,000 reinforcements as soon as possible!
That''s right!
Alexander was always a prudent man, hence even though he was trying his best to avoid a conflict, at the same time he was also trying to strengthen himself in case the worst came to pass.
As for why only 10,000, when the enemy would outnumber him even with the reinforcements, well it was because of a whole host of reasons.
Chapter 1041 State of Reinforcements
Chapter 1041 State of Reinforcements
??Alexander had spent the whole day in the streets with the soldiers, personally overseeing the set up of the various checkpoints as well as noting down the terrain in his head, such as the various connecting streets and where they led to, the notablendmarks in the area as well as the shortcuts if avable.
This was done both to ensure his legionnaires did not miss any hidden passageways from where the Heaat family might be able to outnk them, as well as a contingency for Alexander, just in case he needed to make a quick getaway in the event of extreme unforeseen circumstances.
During this time, as afternoon rolled in, various maids and servants sent by Lady Miranda came to find him several times, inviting him to join their mistress for a meal inside the house.
However Alexander politely but firmly rejected them every time, excusing himself with the im that he was busy preparing the defense of the mansion and it was this that took all priority.
Which was indeed true.
But it was also a way of him protesting against the other side''s lukewarm response.
And Lady Miranda certainly understood that, which was why after a few failed attempts, she had the food be sent to him, which consisted of bread, roasted duck, shredded pork, boiled and salted eggs, among ten more different items, all apanied by fine wine.
The menu was certainly luxurious enough to be called a feast and was at best eaten once a month even by the extravagant MV.
Seeing the grand line, Alexander''s anger somewhat soothed as he understood this was Lady Miranda''s way of apologizing.
Thus Alexander partook in the meal that served as both his breakfast and lunch, even sharing some of it with the men.
And he stayed with them until nightfall, making sure the defenses and deployment were as robust as possible.
After which Alexander even spent some drinking with the men in their tents and reassuring the outnumbered troops that he was with them and everything would be alright, thus boosting morale.
Due to all this, by the time he returned to the mansion, the night had already entered its second phase, shrouding the whole city in its pitch ck curtain, with nary a light from the skying down as dense winter clouds concealed the heavens from the earth.
And by the time Alexander had finished his supper all alone in his study, it was sote enough that most had already retreated to their beds, as they were no longer able to stay awake.
Most had woken up at dawn and they all stuck very true to the phrase, ''early to bed, early to rise.''
Hence none of the people were able to keep their eyes open suchte into the night, for they felt like a pair of elephants were standing on their eyelids.
A situation made all the worse by the fact due to the hectess and cmities faced today, most did not get their usual afternoon nap, making them even more susceptible to the lull of the luby.
All this meant that it was already toote for Alexander to hold the conference that he nned to have with thedy of the house to let her in on thetest developments.
So instead, having developed some of the characteristics of a fully fledged night owl in his previous life, a habit that stuck with him even after 15 years ofing here, Alexander decided forcefully push back his drowsiness and power on to write a letter to his wife Cambyses, detailing his predicament and asking her to send reinforcements.
And the quoted number- ''10,000'' was due to a variety of reasons.
The most significant of which was that Alexander was on a time crunch and this was the number of soldiers he knew he had readily avable.
Any more and Cambyses would have to start a draft which would not only take a lot of time but would also be politically very adhored.
The people of Zanzan had been in almost constant warfare since Alexander had taken office and although his victories had managed to assuage all such bitterness by the liberal application of abundant loot and booty from these endeavors, Alexander knew he should not push his luck.
Any more than 10,000 and he would have to start worrying about the risk of jeopardizing hisnd''s safety.
Because although things looked tranquil in Zanzan at the moment, it would be fatal to dere that all was well underneath.
There were many unsavoryying dormant in Zanzan, with small whispers and murmurs of rming concerns already beginning to filter into Alexander''s ears even back when he was there in Zanzan, courtesy of his spymaster Camius.
The most pressing of which was the ever developing friction between Lord Theony and Crown Prince Philips, on various material and immaterial things.
The situation there had not yet developed to be grave enough for Alexander to intervene, but still, he knew he needed to keep arge stick at hand to deter any of the many rebellious elements from stirring the pot in his absence.
Hence the most amount of troops that Alexander guessed he could siphon from his capital would be 10,000.
The way he came to this conclusion was by recalling the fact that just before leaving his province, he had issued a decree stating the standing force was to be increased to a strength of 30,000 by the end of winter this year.
So if that went all good and well, then even with the gross 15,000 that would end up with Alexander, there would still be a standing force of 15,000 in Zanzan.
Not to mention there were also Alexander''s 5,000 hidden men.
So with 20,000 men on standby, Alexander felt they should be more than sufficient to deter anyrge scale aggression or rebellion from sprouting up in his territories.
Secondly, the number of ships Alexander had at Zanzan would be at best enough to transport this amount of people.
So even if he wanted Cambyses to send more, she would not be able to unless she gathered enough vessels from elsewhere, such as asking Lady Inayah to contribute or have them forcefully ''requisitioned'' from the nearby merchants.
But this action ran into the same problem as the first option had, the former option would again take too long, while thetter would be too politically unptable.
Merchants abhorred having their ships, which was the heart of their livelihood being seized, especially to be used in a war.
The third reason behind Alexander''s decision to ask for 10,000 men was due to the fact that although Lord Parker had 22,000 men, it had to be remembered that half of them were from the MV.
And Alexander was hopeful that in a hot conflict, they would choose to stay neutral, letting the other two bite each other to death.
After all, the MV were technically still not Alexander''s enemies.
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Heck, the man was even bold enough to muse to himself on whether he should use the 50 million ropals he had with him to bribe the other side to join him.
''I should bring the topic up with Lady Miranda. With proper negotiation, it is not possible to bait them to switch sides.'' Alexander noted, although even he himself was unsure if this was him being very cunning, simply overly optimistic, or just desperate, like a drowning man clutching at straws.
Whichever it was, Alexander decided to try it anyway, as he then sent two copies of the same letter to Cambyses, a very sinct version one via messenger bird and a long one via a small boat.
The Pasha did not envy the messenger who would have to brave the perilous sea during the winter months to deliver this letter, even half expecting the man not to make it.
The waters had been quite choppy even during Alexander''s time- something that was bound to have gotten only worse with the passage of days.
And this would indeed be the case, as although the messenger would reach Cambyses on time, the time needed to prepare the men and the necessary supplies would make the waters turn too dangerous to allow any subsequent voyage, at least for the rest of winter.
Thus whatever reinforcements Alexander might have been hoping, they were going to be only due by spring at the earliest.
For now though, he was on his own.
Alexander of course currently remained unaware of the dy and his perilous state.
Instead, having finished for the day, he returned from his study to his bedroom, only to find that it was not empty, but had Lady Nanazin sitting on the bed with her legs folded, wearing a sheer, sexy nightie, something that left no one in confusion why she was here.
However, thedy did not seem currently awake, but her head was hung low, almost drooping.
It was clear that after diligently waiting for hours for Alexander to return, she had fallen asleep in that state.
Something that both hurt and delighted Alexander.
Hurt because he had unknowingly kept the lovelydy waiting for so long.
Delighted that he had the ability to keep such a lovelydy waiting for so long.
Chapter 1042 Attack on The Temples
Chapter 1042 Attack on The Temples
??Spotting the Adhanian Queen in that state on the bed, Alexander was at first a bit surprised because he had no idea how she had managed to infiltrate his room.
He might have not locked his bedroom door, but it was certainly guarded.
But whatever tricks she might have used, Alexander decided to let it slide upon seeing her slumbering face.
She seemed too tired.
Thus suppressing the desire in his loins, he decided to skip the nighttime activities as he gentlyid Lady Nanazin on the bed properly.
And then tentatively spooned the lovely curvy body, hugging her close to his chest and enjoying the soft, warm sensation of the fleshy breast and the thick thighs squeezing against him, as a gentlevender fragrance pervaded through his nose.
Alexander recognized this to be thedy''s favorite perfume.
And the pasha very much wished to continue to enjoy the current sensations, from feeling the warm body to taking in the scent but found those to be too straining on his body, as no sooner he had hit the pillows, the exhaustion of the whole day instantly took over and slumber reaped his senses.
Thus the couple slept like logs, fortunately with no disturbance, as the night was quite eventless for them.
Remus had indeed chosen to stay his hand, and not lead a team in a night raid on the Great Harbor, done almost solely as a show of respect to Alexander''s sincere promise of figuring something out.
However even though Remus might have stayed his hand on the matter, that did not mean the other side had.
"Wha¡ what are you doing¡ arghhh!'' The astonished and pathetic cries of a dying priest rang across one of the temples in the city, as a group of men dyed in blue armor and dressed like Alexander''s legionnaires shed and hacked through the sacred premises.
"Move! The Lord wants his gold¡ you filthy hoarders. Take it! Take it all. Load it into the ships and leave not a single coin. We will leave the people of Caira poor and destitute. Our lord wills it!" Then, entering the ce with a staggering swagger, one of the men very animatedly shouted this long speech, before heavily kicking the dying priest away.
Something which incensed a small priestess, who had been hiding under the dark corner of an alter till now.
Seeing this the little eleven year old was unable to tolerate it for longer and jumped out of the shadows to shout with reddened eyes, "Yo¡. you¡ are you not afraid of the gods? How can you do this? Muti¡ hurting the body of a priest!"
The girl could not even utter the word mutte because it hurt in her heart so much.
She did not want to even say the filthy word out loud.
The girl had been a homeless orphan who was picked up by this dying priest and then raised like he was his own daughter, so it scarred her when she saw the men disfiguring him, piercing into his already dead eyes and spilling out the brain matter.
So much so that she wanted to cry out in tearful horror.
But instead, the frail little creature only stood usingly at the group of ''legionnaires'', literally shivering in her feet in both rage and fear, although none of that was betrayed on her face, only fury and indignation.
"Hehe¡ so what? You people are no priests. You only worship false gods. Our lord spits in the face of your belief." The leading ''legionary'' however blew the small girls''s threat like dust, with a few also then joining in on the fun,
"Hah! That''s right! Now that we are here, we will destroy all your temples and put everyone into shackles."
"We will torch the whole ce if that''s what we need to collect our debt."
"Yes! Gold! The lord only cares for gold. The people of Caira can go to hell if he can just have his gold. That is all that matters."
"Haha, yes. Maybe he will even sell a cute creature like you as a ve. You will surely fetch a pretty price."
It was only with thisst sentence that the girl noticed the evil glint in the surrounding men''s eyes and understood the kind of danger she was in.
Thus she shivered, "Sto¡ stop! I''m a priestess. Are you not afraid of the wrath of the gods? Noooo¡ you cannot do¡ mmmmmnnnn!"
The howl of the small kitten however had no effect on the burly men save for the good chuckle that it got from them, as they then pounched on the pubescent girl like wild wolves, unceremoniously pushing her to the stone floor, and sneering onest phrase, "Heh, when did Pasha Alexander ever respect the gods?"
Then a quick whileter muffled but mournful moans of pain shot out from that temple as each of her limbs was pinned down by strong men, her robes were literally torn apart, revealing her tanned, healthy skin, her developing bosom and a thin pure crack down below, which was soon turned muddy by repeated assaults.
The helpless girl was not even allowed to let out her cry as the brutal men took her roughly, not at all caring about the fact that she was just a little child.
To these beasts, she was just a toy.
The only silver lining here was perhaps the fact that she would get to least live through the ordeal.
Although whether even that was actually good could be debatable, given the trauma she suffered.
But she would live and then furthermore would go on to retell her ordeal to all the city, where she would be joined by many others like her.
Because naturally, these hooligans had not assaulted just one temple.
Multiple sacred sites of worship were burned and their gold looted, all ending up in Lord Parker''s pocket, while all the me was pinned on Alexander.
It was hrious how easy it was to pin it all on another innocent man.
Because any observer with a modicum of attention would have easily noticed the huge w in all the narration of these affected individuals.
Such as just how clearly telegraphed the wordsing out of the soldiers were.
When they spoke, it was apparent that rather than ordering their men, these ''officers'' were more concerned about making sure the people around them heard them, which then they would remember and propagate to others.
Their exaggerated way of saying the words clearly showed that.
But perhaps even more damning evidence of this being a setup was the fact that they all spoke in the local Galisiannguage, rather than Azhak or Thesian, which was what you would expect the legionaries to speak if these were really Alexander''s men.
But it seemed that ''Alexander'' had oh so generously made sure to use very good ''trantors'' to inform the local popce just how evil he was, in anguage that they all understood.
What a nice, considerate guy!
Of course in actuality, all this was done by Lord Parker and Achis and if you thought they did a sloppy job in it, then yes, perhaps they did.
However, at the end of the day, all of that did not really matter.
Because upon seeing the burnt temple, the empty vaults, the destroyed statues, the killed priests, and the vited priestesses, the people were engaged beyond any logic and reason.
And if you thought these people were foolish for being so gullible, no, they were not.
At least not any more than people of any other time.
It was human nature that when tragedy struck, people looked to find the most likely culprit and make them pay, whether it made sense or not.
And this mob mentality was clearly present even in Alexander''s previous life.
Just look at the reaction the shocked American public had after 9/11.
And having never experienced such a tragedy, the people were left too vulnerable to resist the grand promises made by the then administration, allowing them to pass various controversial motions that had longsting deleterious effects on various regions of the world, as well as even on the US itself, such as losing thousands of lives and 1 trillion dors of taxpayers money, only to rece the Taliban with the Taliban.
Even the hawkish supporters of such policies would agree to some extent that in hindsight the situation could been handled better.
And this was only one consequence of the hasty act, never mind the various insurgencies that sprouted up elsewhere around the world, which imed even more lives.
Of course, this is not to say the American public was too foolish to allow this to happen. Absolutely not.
But such a reaction worked to highlight that when people are hurt in their homes, they lose their ability to think and see through things clearly.
This was simple human nature.
And just like the following example, the people of Caira too were incensed at seeing the destruction of their beloved prayer sites.
Once was enough, yet the hooligans dared to strike again, and consecutively at that!
How could they allow this to happen?
Hence when Lord Parker stood in the center of the market and gave a grand speech, pointing to the mansion and saying that is where the culprit lived, the people were in arms with axes and pitchforks!
Alexander was being thrashed in the battle of public opinion and he did not even know it.
Chapter 1043 The Enraged Mob
Chapter 1043 The Enraged Mob
??Alexander,pletely unaware of the malicious happenings ofst night, instead woke up with a refreshed mind to a snug, chilly morning.
A morning that was filled with spring scenery.
In his arms stilly Lady Nanazin, her lips gently snuggling against his neck, while her body was stered so tightly against him that he could feel her every curve, both those bludged outward like her breasts and thighs and those that sunk inwards like her groin, which thedy seemed very willing to grind against his swollen ones, rubbing her lips against his ns and producing a wet mucus in the endeavor.
A sensation that Alexander very much enjoyed, and thus could not help but bring over his hand onto her bare butt and start squeezing it, eliciting a dreamy moan from the half sleepy woman.
And Alexander was about to release his dragon from his pants and fully take her to enjoy her warm, wet insides, when¡
*Bang!* *Bang!*, *Bang!*
The silence of the dreamy atmosphere was shattered by the rude pounding on the bedroom door, as a deep, masculine voice pierced through with great rm,
"My lord! It happened again¡the attack on the temples!. The people are even more enraged. They have even sent a mob here! Look out your window!"
Those few words were enough to instantly kick away any sleep or amorous thoughts that Alexander might have had.
Instead, he sprung himself out of bed like a shot cannonball, and almost jumped over toward the windows, from where he was able to detect the faint but certainly present various angry murmurs that were beginning to filter through the newly installed clear ss panel windows.
"Wha¡ what''s wrong?" And even before he could peer out, he found that he had been joined by his ''bedmate'', thedy still wearing her sexy, ck nightie.
Which at any other time he would have loved to appreciate her in it, as the bright sunlight clearly showed all her curves.
But now he was in no such mood.
And neither was Lady Nanazin, who had a very frightful face as she nced down.
And through therge square slits that were carved into the stone, the duo observed the streets below- where not one but several rows of angry men and women making their way towards the mansion from various adjacent streets, their numbers filling the road to the brim for hundreds of meters to even a kilometer.
Many of them were even armed, holding various homemade weapons such as pitchforks, axes, hammers, clubs, and sometimes something as simple as pots and pans.
And they appeared to be shouting various phrases, which Alexander could not quite pick up due to the distance but nheless understood they were very angry.
Although Alexander could not hear it, the legionaries who were guarding the streets and those who understood Galisian certainly couldprehend,
"There! Look! There is the mansion! There is the scum who burned our temples and dishonored our gods. Just like Lord Parker told us!"
"That''s right! Come my brothers! Come with me! Together, no one can stop us from catching and burning the bastard alive!"
"Yes! He is the reason my wife starved and my children perished ¡because I was driven out of my business and could not afford food or medicine. Noble or not¡ he must pay!"
"Kill him! Take his ships! Bring back our gold!"
"Foreigner! He is not one of us. He is a devil here to destroy us."
"Go! Go! Go! The gods demand it! For the priests! For the priestesses!"
Amongst the crowd were mixed both genuinely enraged men as well as inciters installed by the Heeat family, whose sole job was to urge and steer the crowd forward, leading them, inciting them, and adding fuel to their rage.
And judging by the sheer wrathful heat this mass of crowd was emitting, it was clear they were doing a great job at it.
The crowd surged on with a vengeful momentum, having bought Lord Parker''s simple narrative at face value- hook, line, and sinker.
*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*,
That was until they came head to head with the legionaries.
There they suddenly stopped ¡. as they saw the armed soldiers that were guarding the streets unsheath their steel swords and start banging them against their huge, wooden shields, signaling this was theirst warning.
If the crowd got any closer, blood would be spilled and it would be most of them who would be cut to ribbons.
Seeing this hesitation, however, some of the inciters tried to get the mob moving again, shouting, "Have no fear brothers! The gods are with us. Charge! They will not dare hurt us."
"Are you not sons of Caira? What are we afraid of? There are tens of thousands of us, and there are only a few hundred of them."
"These are the foreign devils protecting the vitors of our gods. Can we let them deter us? Can we call ourselves the sons of Caira if we shirk away now?"
You have got to hand it to them.
The men Lord Parker had put to the task of poking the crowd were truly skilled.
How many Cairans could stop their blood from boiling over hearing this?
However¡.
*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*
The dreadful sound of once again the sword hitting the shield managed to break the mob out of their frenzy, and as they came to their senses, the naked threat of steel and blood emanating from the menacing looking soldiers suddenly proved to be too lethal a deterrence.
Especially when they were now further joined by a brand new row of crossbowmen units.
Looking at the shielded and armored men, their eyes hidden behind their steel helmets and their weapons glinting in the winter sun, not even the ''divine'' cause of the gods was able to get the men moving.
Most were there because they saw their friends and family join too, and had been basically swept up in the spur of the moment.
But now that metal was about to meet the mettle, the disorderly mob found dithering.
None of them wanted to charge and be the one to die.
Because was that surely going to happen if they were to engage a well dug-in shielded enemy, who had a decade of experience of expertly butchering men- this unorganized mass of people were going to die.
They stood no chance and they knew that.
Thus, all of a sudden, the force of men came to a halt, at a distance of only about ten meters from the legionaries- that short divide which could be covered only in a few seconds appeared now to be like a neverending gaping abyss.
No one was brave enough to step forward.
And when some of the inciters tried to once again push them forward despite the danger, many in the crowd began irritated by the names they were calling them and turned to suggest that they take the lead,
"Hey! I heard you scream your throat out from the back for hours. Given you are so eager, why don''t youe forward and show us how it is done?"
This however was a dealbreaker for these ''patriotic'' heroes.
''What! Take those armed men with only clubs and axes? Have you seen the size of their shields?'' The men scoffed inside and then made various pathetic excuses to shirk away.
Such as, "At least, I''m shouting. Increasing our morale. What are you doing? If you have nothing better to do, then go fight!"
The using and holier than thou attitude did not impress anyone.
In this way, when the crowd was just ten meters away from creating a bloodbath, they started quibbling among themselves and all of a sudden lost all their stored momentum.
In the minds of the fickle public, they were as quick to turn Alexander into a viin as they were even to forget about him and instead turn on each other.
This was a prime example of the dangers of trying to incite a crowd to do your bidding.
They might very well do it, but they might very well do somethingpletely illogical.
And this was what Lord Parker had feared the most, which was why he was apprehensive about using this method in the first.
However was unable to veto it given the unanimous support from his other retainers.
Hence, upon seeing the entire unfolding scenario from the back, the usually verypetent Lord Parker felt like pping his head and curving these imbeciles.
He also began to realize the many other mistakes he had made.
Such as not firing up the mob enough.
He realized that although he attacked the temples and killed the priests, which were usually very touchy matters, the people in the crowd were not personally affected.
Meaning it was the priests and priestesses who died, not the fathers, mothers, and daughters of the people.
Thus, although the people were very much willing to demand justice for their faith, that did not mean they were willing to jump into a blood pit and die in droves for it.
The personal connection was simply not there.
Meaning Lord Parker had prematurely deployed them, wasting a lot of his gathered momentum.
Momentum he would now have to once again gather.
As right before his eyes, the threatening mob slowly started to crumble and they soon vanished.
Chapter 1044 Riots in Caira
Chapter 1044 Riots in Caira
??Remus breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the crowd disperse on their own, almost ecstatic that the whole incident was resolved without requiring the spige of blood.
If the crowd had really attacked, although he was fully confident in being able to fend them off, Remus could not guarantee all his own men woulde unscathed.
Not to mention what kind of horrendous casualties that would cause among the civilians and the subsequent political bacsh from it all.
Remus might not be very well versed in such tedious intricacies, but anyone with half a brain could see the consequences of a foreign army ughtering the natives of a city in their verynd.
Such a thing could never be good.
Hence, Remus let out a swallowed sigh seeing the crowd slowly but surely retreat, as the legionaries kept banging their sword on their shields to encourage the act.
And once they were finally out of his sight, Remus could atst unclench his fist, and then in a slightly irritated voice muttered to himself, ''I will need to tell Alexander about this, and ask how to handle the next time this happens.''
Yes. The clever general was observant enough to notice the writing on the wall.
The mob might have retreated today, but it was only because they did not dare face the armed legionaries.
However, that anger still remained.
They were going to be back for revenge.
Remus was sure of it.
Not ''maybe'' they were going to be back.
No.
Remus could see it in their eyes.
They had been simply scared off, and be it tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or even a week from now, they wille back, and at that time, they wille prepared.
And Remus knew he had to be ready for that.
''I gotta burn those ships,'' Hence themander was more than ever determined to torch the ships,t.
And with that in mind, the ever decisive Remus wasted no time, leaving his deputy in charge even though the crowd had just dispersed and there remained a risk of theming back, as he beelined straight for the mansion, dead intent on making Alexander acquiesce to his demands.
While this was going on, you could be asking, what was the mob doing?
Because they certainly were not obediently returning home if that''s what you were thinking.
No.
Because although the crowd ''dispersed'' from in front of the legionaries, their white hot anger was still there and since these people had taken to the streets, they needed to vent.
Thus after finding Alexander too tough a nut to cut, they instead broke off into small groups and began to recklessly set fire to various shops and houses as a way for their outlet.
And many even started to shout,
"This! This shop! It sells all those things from Zanzan! I remember seeing it."
"That''s right! I remember buying wine from them! *Spit*, I can''t believe I paid my hard earned gold on that!."
"Yes! And I remember the shopkeeper evenining about it. Saying he knows that lord. Find him! He lives on the top floor of the building!"
"Burn him! Torch this ce! Turn everything to ash! Those who sell the goods of the devil are devils themselves."
"Right! Get him! Get that Adhanian dog! We will burn him with his shops!"
It was like this the mad frenzied crowd then began to turn on their very own, dragging many of their own brothers out of their shops and beating, thrashing, and even burning them alive.
All of whom without exception were simply innocent traders, whose only crime was that they bought and sold Alexander''s goods.
And for whom did they bring these goods you ask?
The very people who were killing him.
Ahhh, the irony!
But did those red eyed, half insane men see about the hypocrisy here?
No, of course not.
They were sometimes not even content to just kill the man.
Many even climbed upstairs of the shops and attacked the man''s family living there, assaulting, maiming, killing, and viting them.
While at other times, when climbing up was too much of a pain, they set the entire ''apartment'' block to fire, blocking the exit and burning all those inside alive.
How barbaric!
And how tragic!
And amongst all this chaos and destruction, what was perhaps even more damning was that most of the shops the mob attacked, most of the shops that sold Alexander''s products were owned by the Margraves family.
Or at least supplied by them as wholesalers to these retail locations.
Meaning in a way, all these shops generated wealth for Miss Linda, the next most likely head of the Margraves family
They were even worth quite a lot, further made precious by the Margraves''s recent money troubles.
So in a twist of irony, as the mob was destroying these ces as a way to protest against Alexander, they were actually reducing the money Lord Parker got to keep during his temple heist.
Because given the widespread destruction, the family would have to step in and provide relief, unless they wanted arge part of the city''s poption to live without a roof or a means of livelihood.
It was apparent that the fear Lord Parker had about the mob turning against him wasing true letter by letter.
A fear was further vindicated by the fact that the rioting public soon transformed their anger and hate into greed, as they then began to openly loot the city,
They decided to no longer restrict themselves to shops that sold products from Zanzan.
Now it became an open turkey shoot for everything out here.
Each and every shop the gathered mob could get their hands on, they began to put it to the torch, uttering all kinds of the basest profanities as they did.
But the difference now was that now, before setting fire to the shops and buildings, the men would make sure to empty out of all valuables.
Be they food like wheat, meat, fish, vegetables, salt, or precious stone and metals like gold and silver and diamonds, or other fine goods of metal and earth, or even ves and livestock.
After all, it was the greedy shopkeepers and their families living there who were guilty.
But the goods they were selling were all pure, so why let such good things go to waste?
Ah, how the narrative changes.
Now that they found they were allowed to possess these things, suddenly Alexander''s goods were no longer the work of the devil.
In fact, they were so desirable that during all this mayhem, several fights even broke out among the crowd themselves, as various factions began to fight over what they perceived to be their loot.
Many even killed in their state of blind bloodthirst, just to get that beautiful ss piece, or that fine metal cooking pan.
Alexander''s products were that popr.
Thus, as the mob began to spread their malfeasance, the result was that a significant part of the city was soon put under the rule of fire and raging inferno, as long licks of me began to jump from one house to another, from one street to another, until huge plumbs of smoke started to rise out of different part of the city, making them visible even from the surrounding viges.
And after seeing for a while, Lord Parker could finally no longer stand by.
If he did not stop this madness soon, just like Alexander had predicted, the city was going to turn into a maelstrom and they were all going to be burned to death.
Hence turning to his general, he dictated in a very hardened voice,
"Achis! Send in the man. Bring order to the city. No matter the cost!"
He originally did not want to do this because getting a mob under contral was a difficult task.
Especially if you were trying to do it without causing casualties.
Something he knew his men could never do.
They were soldiers, warriors, people who killed for a living.
They did not manage or herd sheep.
Thus by releasing them, he was basically letting loose a bunch of wolves into a pack of panicking sheep.
But given the unforeseen development, even though hempooned in his heart, Lord Parker had little other choice.
The city and the hundred thousand innocent people in there needed to be saved.
And so the subsequent result was something he himself had already expected.
The blood that Remus had managed to so luckily avoid, by a twist of fate, Lord Parker ended up staining himself with.
The lightly armored spear units entered the various streets quickly and then instead of trying to disperse the crowd, they began to treat them as enemybatants.
So they reacted as they would in a battle, throwing their javelins and then charging with their spear in a locked shield formation.
This was what they had been taught after all.
Which credit to them did work¡.
Upon seeing the terrifying soldiers d in all ck, the gathered crowd stopped all their misdeeds and began to run.
However, the casualties were staggering.
And it left a bloody stain on Lord Parker''s name in the people''s hearts.
Many were not even sure who was worse, him or Alexander.
Chapter 1045 Street Massacre
Chapter 1045 Street Massacre
??The Heeat family''s army managed to bring order to the rioting city with surprising swiftness and efficiency.
Which was really normal given how they had chosen to do it.
The people were attacked by armed men in full military attire and formation throwing showers of javelins and arrow fires onto them, and as the Cairans saw these deadly projectiles descend upon them, even the most greed crazed man was kicked out of his stupor because their instinct of preserving one''s life took over.
Hence, as soon as the first volley of arrows reaped the first few lives, it was like dropping cold water onto the rioting crowd.
Seeing so many of their friends and family be turned into corpses, the raving men instantly dropped everything they were doing and left all their loot on the spot, as they then began to run maddeningly in all directions, scared out of their minds.
Because suddenly they noticed all around them a group of armed men dressed in ck, their spears pointed squarely at them, poised to reap all the hearts out.
And seeing this, if before the crowd had lost their mind due to anger and greed, now they lost their mind due to sheer fear and panic.
Hence they began to heedlessly run in any direction their legs took down, trying to escape these expert attackers by entering the many small streets and alleyways scattered around and hiding there.
However, the consequence of so many people trying to enter these small alleyways was apparent, a stampede, where the people shoved, tripped, and trampled over each other, as each tried to save their own skin.
Oh, how ironic!
Just moments ago they were so eager to skin others. Now they were scrambling to save theirs.
Fate was truly a fickle mistress.
Now, given the scattered and panicking mob, if Lord Parker''s men had stopped just there, then the whole thing might have actually finished peacefully.
Yes, a few people might have died from the initial barrage, but this attack was more bark and less actual bite.
The casualties then were at best around thirty, so it was more showy and shy than actually lethal, intended to shock and awe the crowd into retreating.
And in that respect, this show of extreme but harmless force was very well implemented.
But what was not well implemented were the subsequent moves made by the army.
Because instead of giving the crowd the space to disperse and chase after them so that they could not regroup, the trained soldiers of the Heeat family began to treat the innocent civilians like routed soldiers as instinctively their training took over.
And seeing one of their brothers do this, herd mentality took over and everyone else began to copy it too, chasing after the quarry with mad glee.
The result¡..what happens when a bloodthirsty hound gives chase to a wounded rabbit.
A massacre.
These armed and armored men fell upon unarmed and defenseless, but most quite innocent people and began to tear them apart.
And seeing the blood and carnage, the people of course began to panic even more and tried even harder to shove and push others to make way.
However, the ancient streets of Caira were not equipped to handle such massive volumes of people even at the best of times.
Never mind in trying times such as now.
The reckless attack by the army thus only worked to exacerbate the current problems as the deadly stampede began to develop into a terrifying crushing.
The huge number of terrified and panicking bodies caused the narrow passageways of the alleys and streets to get clogged up, and people started dying of asphyxiation, as the sheer weight of men squeezing against their chest put so much pressure on it, that they could not even lift them up to breath.
If someone were to look down at them, they would have seen thousands of mouths begin to simultaneously open gaping wide, as they tried to suck in the slightest amount of the surrounding air.
Some seeded, while others failed, dying a very painful death, the horrific experiencesting for minutes.
It took several hours for the death and chaos in those parts to finally subside, as the anarchic morning then gave way to a calmerte afternoon.
The city atst began to simmer down as the fires were put down, the bodies were collected and general peace and order was slowly enforced.
It was also here that the true extent of the atrocitiesmitted during the riots began to be clear.
Literally, thousands had been killed by the enraged mob- beaten, stabbed, and most prevalent of all, burned to death, their bodies lying scattered all throughout that part of the city- on the streets, inside the burned shops and houses, and even making their way to the sewers, where they began to mix with the effluence and even clog up some of the smaller arteries.
All the bodies were meticulously fished out by the Heeat family army and gathered into a single pile to be mass buried, forming a huge, grotesque human pyramid several meters high, the sight of the charred and bloody flesh making when the toughened soldiers attending them retch and threw up.
These men were not soft hearted, but the horrific sight and the foul, fetid, and putrid smell was just too strong.
In fact, it was too much for even the people living several blocks away, and they hurriedly vacated their premises
Of course, mixed with these thousand bodies were thousands more who had died in the hands of the Heeat family men or trying to escape from them, their wounds clearly distinct from the ones killed by the mob.
A few had puncture wounds from spears, arrows, and swords, but most had twisted and mangled bodies due to being trampled, and many did not have any injuries, only a pale blue face.
All of which meant that only a scant few were directly killed under the sword, most had died in the panic
Thus making for this sanguinary sight.
And as Lord Parker visited the surrounding site at the end of the day, he sighed inment at the scenery.
It might have not necessarily been at all the people killed and the tragic sight, but more due to how badly his n turned out in the end.
ording to the script, these men were supposed to attack Alexander''s men and spill blood, not kill among themselves, and start looting the city.
What was even worse was that when this started happening, it was his men who were forced to intervene and bring order to the city, thus killing so many more citizens.
Citizens who at one point trusted him.
But now?
Lord Parker guessed the death toll for today, for only one morning reached in the several thousands, which was a few percentage of the total poption of the city.
Such a huge shocking loss made even Lord Parker''s heart a bit sad.
And when his eyes suddenly came across the corpse of a little girl wearing a priestess''s robe, her eyes ssed, a short spear sticking out of her stomach, it panged even more, as her body had already turned pale blue and cold, proving she was long dead.
Lord Parker did not know her, but this was the same eleven year old priestess who had been attacked by multiple of his men the very previous night and then lived to tell the tale.
All to die a few hourster here.
Whereas she was supposed to have her whole life ahead of her to live in dedication to the gods.
Even the ambitious and determined Lord Parker was forced to re-evaluate his strategy after seeing such sights.
Hence, turning demonstratively angry with the way his army had handled the situation, he swung his head to chide his general,
"*Tsk*, Achis, could you not have been a bit more tactful? Why did your men act like they were on a battlefield? Why did they keep attacking the people even as they were fleeing? What are the people going to say when they see all this?"
Lord Parker pointed to all the burnt bodies and houses.
The general however appearedpletely unapologetic, "Hehe¡ The men were forced to do this to bring order, my lord. Otherwise, the entire city would have burnt down¡.And besides¡. all these deaths are not a problem. We can just say all this was that Alexander''s doing."
Achis was quick to offer a straightforward and convenient scapegoat.
However, there were of course gigantic loopholes in it all that infuriated the next sessor to the Heeat family,
"Fool! You think all the people just came here floating down the river today? Don''t they have eyes? Alexander''s men wear blue, while we wear ck! So you tell me¡ who was it that attacked them¡ck or blue?"
Lord Parker very well knew that he would not be able to pin this on Alexander in any way, at least not without some serious mind bending propaganda that turned ck into white.
The people were there and they clearly saw who killed them, and it was not the menacing looking blue armored men who were all the way back defending the way to the mansion.
But men d in ck.
Today''s event thus sent the lord into crisis management mode.
Chapter 1046 Remuss Request
Chapter 1046 Remus''s Request
??While Lord Parker was trying his best to turn the situation back in his favor, his general proved little more than a hindrance.
Achis was still unable to see why his boss cum lover was so angry about such a thing, over the death of some low born peasants.
In his mind, these ''wastes of society'' should be happy to die for his lord''s cause.
And the man even frankly said his thoughts out aloud, "Why is my lord getting so angry? It''s only a few dead men. The city has a hundred thousand more. Even if it did not work today, we can always have more tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and the day after that¡"
To Achis it seemed like these people were not people but like the water from the never ending well of Zamzam, that could be pumped endlessly without exhaustion.
"Shut up!" And it was hearing this damn care attitude that Lord Parker finally blew his top, a very rare instance in his life, thus mming Achis'' moth with such a shout, and then screaming,
"They are peasants and plebians, not pigs you can butcher at will! You think all these people you attacked will simply go to their houses, sleep, and forget everything that has happened today? Do you think they are that dumb?"
Lord Parker''s chest visibly heaved as he said this, his face livid, clearly showing that although his heart did not bleed for themon masses, he was no butcher either.
He certainly cared for their well being to an extent.
Thus he continued to berate his general,
"How can you say that they will once again take to the streets after what we did to them? There have already been hushed rumors of people questioning how so many temples are being attacked when there are 20,000 men guarding the city. We can take care of so many people yet we can''t take care of a few rats in the shadows? And now that we attacked them, they will surely start asking even more questions." Lord Parker at this point turned from angry to cautionary,
"*Tsk*, Achis¡ you cannot be a butcher if you want to continue being my right hand man. Some things need a much more delicate touch. Learn which tool to implement where or hand in your resignation¡ I will find someone else who can."
"......" It was only now that Achis was beginning to understand where the wound really stuck for his lord.
Since the crowd had been dispersed using such heavy handed methods, their whole n to incite the public and then kill Alexander using the excuse of popr opinion had turned very shaky.
He feared that many even might start supporting the troublesome lord.
Thus understanding his mistake, Achis cleverly shut his mouth and lowered his head, appearing diminutive.
While Lord Parker decided to leave his general and find his wife.
This was her n and he thought that she better have a good n to dig themselves out of the pit.
This is was how current daylight hours ended for Lord Parker.
While during the same time, his opponents were not sitting idle either.
After firstying sight on the gathered crowd, Alexander moved away from the windows and got quickly dressed before meeting up with Lady Miranda to get informed about the goings on of the city
Which was really a repeat of the previous date.
So sitting in front of arge tablevishly decorated with good food, something that Lady Miranda had cleverly decided to arrange, Alexander frowned his forehead to pose, "Two attacks in two nights¡. what are the city guards doing? Are the people not asking that? Are they that gullible?"
"...." Lady Miranda slightly felt a pang of shame at this. It flet like Alexander was calling her people dumb.
But she nevertheless answered,
"The city guards are in the hands of Uncle Nn¡ my father inw. But after Linda took over the city, she basically turned them into a ceremonial piece. They number less than hundred and have very little power to do anything. And¡" It was at that point Lady Miranda''s voice suddenly turned tiny like a mosquito''s, "The people never really respected them anyway."
Alexander understood thisst sentence was probably the real reason.
The people never relied on those men, who were most likely little more than hooligans with a badge.
So with no one to me but Alexander, they all turned on him.
Thus Alexander then turned to suggest, "Miss Linda is turning the people against us with such ease. Can''t you do something about it? Don''t you have your own contacts in the city? People who can speak on our behalf¡. to counter the propaganda?"
"......" However Lady Miranda once again could only blush in shame at her inability.
She did not have any such contacts.
One was because her rule was too young and she had yet to develop her own intelligencework.
And two because she had no need to.
Being a mercantile family, all the shops and merchants acted as her eyes and ears, people whom she could use them whenever she needed.
Which worked fantastically in normal times, but the slight hitch now was that most of those people had either defected to Miss Linda, been threatened into silence, or worse, just now killed by the angry mob.
Lady Miranda was left with no one, something she was too shy to admit. Hence the silence.
Alexander''s heart raged at this, as he wanted to shoot out, ''Stop turning away blushing! We are not in your nuptial room. Answer me properly woman!''
But obviously he could not do that.
So he only pursed his lips in anger, and seriously mused whether it was toote to take a boat back to Zanzan.
And sensing this acrimony, it was the gentle Lord Cassius who quickly stepped up to point out the w in Alexander''s n, "My lord, I do not think it will be prudent to send our own men into the streets. The whole city is under Lord Parker''s control. He can easily arrest all our men for spreading ''false'' information."
"....." Alexander had to admit, the man was right here.
This kind of tit for tat y won''t work this time as the enemy was far too strong.
The narrative waspletely in their hands.
And in the same sense, spending money to bribe them would not work either.
The man felt stuck, and no matter who he racked his brain, he could only see darkness.
ording to the script, the Cairans seemed bound to end up against him.
And he could not think of a way to change that.
When suddenly,
*Knock*, *Knock*, *Knock*, there came a series of crisp, solid nods from across the parlor door, not hurried or panicking, but very strong and imposing, breaking Alexander from his pessimistic musings.
And then he heard the man enter the room without even asking for any permission, the sound of solid footsteps and rattling of metal chains giving away his presence.
All this was very surprising given most would not dare to enter this room after just knowing who were in there, never mind intrude such rudely.
And if it was for Alexander making sure it was just the sound of a singr foot, he might have even suspected that Miss Linda had finally lost her patience and decided to initiate a coup right here, right now and that the ones entering were assassins.
However the person who revealed himself to Alexander was the furthest thing from an assassin- for he was Remus.
Alexander found the young general to be in his fully embellishedbat armor, intentionally made to look gaudy and shy, and as he entered the small side room, he first took off his helmet and bowed, before going on to dere in a strong, manly voice,
"Sincere apologies for intruding like this, you my lords and mydies. Forgive me. But I thought it was imperative that I informed you of the current situation."
The tone Remus used was not impudent, but neither servile, making his ''apology'' sound more like a memorized official statement than a sincere regret.
It was like he did not really care much about the people''s opinion here.
And it was only when Remus turned to Alexander that his stance softened.
Making direct eye with the man, then he sent an asking look to him, on whether he should continue, and Alexander was of course interested to know what could be so important for his general to make the trip here, thus he quickly nodded to give the go ahead.
The pasha was relieved to know how amicably the entire incident with the angry mob had ended, as his worst fears were avoided.
As did the rest of the people in the room.
When they had seen Remus, they had assumed the opposite.
That the lines had been broken and they should flee.
While Remus, after dictating his long report, revealed the real reason why he was here, "My lords anddies, although today we were able to avoid bloodshed, I fear the incident will repeat itself. And next time we will not be so lucky. That''s why I''m here¡. to ask for your permission to burn the ships at the Great Harbor! To secure our nk!"
Alexander internally cursed hearing the tactless request.
Chapter 1047 New Defenses
Chapter 1047 New Defenses
??Alexander''s mouth almost twitched as he heard Remus go off on his own, who finished his speech by posing, "... I ask for your permission to burn the ships at the Great Harbor¡ to secure our nk!"
The young general really did not mince his words.
And this sudden request made the room all of a sudden turn abnormally silent for a while.
The great relief most had felt upon hearing the crowd had dispersed on their own without spilling any blood was gone, reced by a sudden curious intrigue as everyone instead turned to look at Lady Miranda, eager to see her response.
While thedy of the house sensing such a heavy gaze felt she had just been put in a very difficult situation.
She was of course vehemently against this just as Alexander had predicted¡. due to all the reasons he had already foreseen.
But she could not also outright reject the request, after looking at the face of who it was asking her.
Remus had just repelled a crazed mob from assaulting their mansion and was asking for permission to basically strengthen its defenses.
Hence while all the people turned to look at her, Lady Miranda instead turned to nce at Alexander, eyeing for help.
But the man was not interested. Deep inside he too wanted those ships gone and even lightly apuded Remus''s balls for making such a direct demand.
Alexander himself did not think he could do that, due to all types of noble etiquettes and procedures he would be expected to follow to demand such a heavy request.
But the ever brash Remus could put out his hand and ask to be handed the keys with no problem.
He also understood the boy well and could see that in his general''s eyes this ''asking for permission'' was more of a formality than an actual petition.
Remus would most likely charge his men to ''sink'' the ships tonight whether Alexander liked it or not, thus preemptively stopping the nightmare scenario in the boy''s mind froming true.
And Alexander would certainly empathize with that, which was why he decided to take Remus''s side here and elucidated to the group the reason why the general wanted to take such a drastic measure,
"Mydy, what we are most afraid of is Lord Parker choosing to use masses of enraged men to assault and pin down our men, and then taking advantage of this distraction to have his soldiers board the ships in Great Harbor. This way he will then be able to sail around andnd on the Royal Harbor, thus sessfully outnking us. If that happens¡. it will be all over! We will all die!"
Alexander intentionally chose to use a hyperbolic here, just to scare the other party into conceding as much ground as possible.
Because in reality, the risk of either Alexander or Lady Miranda being executed here was very small.
Sure it wasmon to clean house in a coup d''etat and wash the streets with the defeated in some cultures, but from what Alexander had seen and heard here, this type of culture did not exist in Sybarsis or the Margraves family.
Thus in this mind, the most likely oue for them losing here was exile for Lady Miranda and maybe a humiliating treaty for Alexander.
Which was certainly bad, but a lot better than dying.
Lady Miranda however did not think so optimistically.
She knew her sister, the kind of scheming ''witch'' she was, and indeed feared the worst if shended in her hands.
Thus she treated Alexander''s threat with all its full, due respect.
But even then sanctioning such a move was frankly above her pay grade.
"The ships in the harbor are not mine, my lord. They mostly belong to the various merchants of the city. So I cannot give the order you are asking for even if I wanted to," Lady Miranda frankly revealed her cards and then turned to smile at Alexander, "So let us discuss this matter with my father inw, Lord Nn first. He is the one currently in charge of looking after the family''s affairs while me and Linda¡ resolve our differences."
The elegantdy chose to be quite diplomatic with her words in describing her situation with her sister in front of Remus, as she then finished with a warm caution,
"I recall we were just talking about trying to get the people on our side. And I believe my lord would certainly agree that burning a bunch of their ships in the middle of the night is surely not the way to go about that."
"......." Alexander would have to concede the point here to Lady Miranda.
Thus giving a small nce at Remus, he produced a light nod to pose, "So what mydy is saying is that if we burn the ships, today''s mob will be back tomorrow and they will be even bigger?"
This statement was of course more directed towards Remus than Lady Miranda, as Alexander tried to show his young general the folly of haste.
Alexander could understand by looking at Remus''s eyes that it was paramount for him that those ships went on a vacation to the bottom of the sea as he feared the whole linchpin of his defense woulde done otherwise.
Not thinking that doing such a thing could invite a greater cmity.
Sometimes tedious politics was more important than ''securing the nks''.
Remus, the stubborn boy however was still undeterred, trying hard not to frown in front of Alexander, he lightly spat at the lukewarm response,
"So, are we to simply stand and stare at the sun and moon while the enemy prepares? Tomorrow more temples will be attacked and the day after that even more and the day after¡. all while the people''s anger will continue to increase and increase and increase. What happens when they be sorge that they break through? Then we will all¡.all because we didn''t¡ " The angry man trailed off, having a hard time properly articting his words without sounding too rude,
"....." While the four people sitting in the room had little way to respond to the general''s outburst.
They did not think the 20 year old boy would be so assertive.
Even Alexander was at fault for thinking this, as after learning of the crowd''s peaceful dispersal, he thought the matter was done and dusted, and thus wanted to move on to trying to counter the matter through negotiations.
But Remus was here to unequivocally state, he was not going out of here empty handed.
And as Alexander heard the following possibility, he began to see the dangers.
Thus thinking quickly on his feet, Alexander produced a very warm smile and offered the following concessions,
"Of course, we will not leave your men to dry in the wind Remus. Tell you what, since we have been attacked, I give you the permission to start strengthening our defenses. Have the men begin building barricades around the streets. Digrge ditches around the streets we are guarding and then have wooden ramparts behind them."
This allowance greatly pleased Remus, while Lady Miranda''s lips visibly twitched.
She seemed to really want to say something about such unnned renovations in her own stone paved streets, but Alexander had no intention of giving thedy the chance.
As he then proceeded to give Remus further liberties,
"And if you think necessary, even use battering rams to knock down some of the wooden walls of the surrounding houses. This will help you get both the materials for all the construction and you will also be able to send reinforcement through these new passageways as a shortcut to any points in the line, significantly bolstering the strength."
This was not an idea that even Remus had thought of and the man suddenly felt genuine respect for Alexander, very impressed by how quickly the man was able toe up with such an intricate idea, all while sitting inside thefort of a room.
It once again reassured the prideful Remus that he had not chosen wrong, as he knew he would not have obeyed Alexander so closely if he was not so skilled, even if he was his lord.
The nned fortifications worked to make Remus feel much more safe and secure, as he figured that if they were properly built, manned, and maintained, they could indeed hold out for a long enough while.
Thus having gotten at least half of what he wanted, Remus gave a quick light bow of gratitude,"My lords anddies, thank you for your grace," and then feeling there was no need to be here, immediately asked to be excused, "Allow to leave now so that I can have the men start on these works immediately. The sun is always descending."
Alexander chuckled in his heart at this curt, almost rude ask, knowing this was ssic Remus, fast and decisive as the wind.
The boy did not really mince his words, especially when it came to the military.
Neither did he like hanging out with the nobles in general.
Thus Alexander epted his general''s request with a small nod, and just like how Remus had appeared suddenly before them, he then turned on his heels and was gone, like the wind.
Chapter 1048 Lord Nolan
Chapter 1048 Lord Nn
The room watched with muted intrigue as Remus made himself scarce, disappearing as quickly as he had appeared before them, the nging of the chains soon disappearing far, far into the distance.
And it was only once the young general was out of earshot that Lady Miranda shot back at Alexander in a slightly offended tone, "My lord, all these¡ barricades you asked for in the streets. How will the people move about then?"
She did not openly counter Alexander but tried to poke in a diplomatic way.
The main point here was of course not people going in and out, it was only the excuse.
Lady Miranda mainly did not like Alexander dering suchrge orders all by himself.
Especially when these ''constructions'' would mean the roads would be ruined, the houses would be destroyed and much more importantly, the people living in those houses whose walls he just ordered to be destroyed, will be disced.
And the me for all this would likelynd on both Alexander and her, spurring the public even more, even though thetter had no hand in ordering it.
Thus Lady Miranda did think this was a decision to be made while slouched back on the sofa, sipping wine.
In her opinion, they should have discussed all these with her father inw, and then had him put pressure on her younger sister, to stop her from bringing innocent people into their family matters.
Alexander however was astounded thedy was even arguing about this.
Here he had just saved hundreds of her ships, as he knew if he did not give Remus this concession, he would have surely gone on a raid on his own this very night, and Alexander would have little way of stopping him without causing a major schism in his army.
So in his eyes, Alexander had done thedy a great favor.
And yet she was still moaning. He really wanted to snap back at her for being this ungrateful.
But since he could do exactly that, he clenched in a woody voice, "I will instruct the soldier to keep a small, singlene passageway for the people to move to and fro the mansion. Will that suffice?"
"......" The anger and sarcasm did not escape Lady Miranda.
And she found little way to counter Alexander.
Not because she was happy with Alexander''s concession, but because of Alexander''s very clear displeasure.
And sensing this, she too very visibly pursed her lips, showing her dissatisfaction as well.
Hence the situation in the room suddenly turned tense and frosty.
And it was sensing this that Lady Nanazin, who had been an obedient spectator till now, decided to step in acting as a third, neutral party.
Clearing her throat, she thus addressed both, "Ahem! My lord, mydy, we already have enough enemies to deal with. Let us not quibble among ourselves. I have been sent here by my husband, the Ruler of Adhanaian, King Ptolomy, to represent the Royal family''s full support for Lady Miranda''s im to the Margraves family''s seat. And we are not going to be able to do this if we always hinder each other."
Alexander felt a great deal of gratitude for Lady Nanazin stepping in as she did, and then amusingly chuckled a bit inside at her bold im.
While Lady Miranda too simmered down, although she rolled her head at Lady Nanazin''s im.
And this was not just because she received a very trusted report iming thedy had spent thest two consecutive nights in Alexander''s room, thus making her dered neutrality ring a bit hollow.
No, because frankly, Lady Miranda had much bigger concerns than worrying about another person''s affair.
Instead, it was much more because Lady Nanazin had no official document to back her im up.
You see usually when a ruler sent a representative, he sent some kind of proof that the messenger was truly his representative, be it a letter, seal, or even another person who was well known in the court.
But Lady Nanazin came naked, with nothing but her bare hands.
And her justification for this was that Lord Janus hade too suddenly and due to the weather, they had toe to Galiosos as soon as possible, thus losing the ability to gain the official document from the king.
And this was to Lady Nanazin''s credit a very good excuse.
Which was also why Lady Miranda had not yet outright called her out, but gave her the benefit of the doubt.
But the fact still remained that Lady Nanazin was almost aplete nobody outside the capital, and so her being here, representing the royal family carried little weight.
However, since Lady Nanazin was speaking, Lady Miranda decided to maintain her courtesy and lend the curly haireddy her ears, who gently but firmly dictated,
"I am sure what Lord Alexander did was for the good of all of us. True, this will be a bit inconvenient for the people, especially those riding in carriages to pass through¡ but it should be also noted we are only 5,000 men, facing more than 20,000. So please trust Lord Alexander. He wants the best for us, and he was proved he can do it¡. over many, many battles."
Alexander never knew Lady Nanazin had such a silver tongue, something that caused Lady Miranda to actually feel convinced.
And then with some honeyed titudes from her husband, who reiterated basically a summarized version of why Alexander was doing this and what would happen if he didn''t, thedy understandingly nodded, officially sanctioning the move.
To which Alexander cheered, "Great! So what also means my men will no longer have to disguise themselves as workers right?"
And at this, Lady Miranda once again had to stop the urge to roll her eyes, ''When did your men ever be workers in the first ce?''
It had to be noted that when Alexander had mobilized his men yesterday, he did not bother to hide their numbers even though he had promised Lady Miranda.
And so now that the whole thing had taken such a turn, Lady Miranda saw little reason to haggle over such a trivial matter anyway.
Since the legionnaires were allowed to start building walls and palisades in the middle of the streets, what was the point of trying to make it appear as if everything was normal?
Lord Parker could have his head kicked in by a donkey and still not misunderstand the signs.
Thus with this decision made, the trio of Alexander, Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius, wasted no time in moving to their next task- meeting Lord Nn.
It was Lord Cassius who led the way to the elder gentleman''s chamber, while providingmentary on the way, "I''m sorry, you could not meet him sooner Lord Alexander. Father has been recently quite ill and only started to recover in thest few days. So please forgive any unintended slight he might have caused you."
The voice therge, rotund man used a very soft and very servile, something that made Alexander both ttered but also a bit sour because he thought Lord Cassius was too soft to be a noble under such trying times.
However, that was also only Alexander''s personal opinion as externally he only made some polite titudes and small talk, until they had reached their destination, an ordinary looking nondescript door at the very back of the mansion, a part of the house that was quite remote.
The decorations in the corridors here were quite sparse, and the walls seemed worn out, with even some mold seeping out, giving the entire ce a general aura of abandonment and dpidatedness.
Alexander looked around curiously, thinking why was the man who was basically the caretaker of the Margraves thinking in such abject conditions.
Because it was surely not because the others had decided to abandon the old man here.
And as if sensing this, Lord Cassius frankly revealed on his own, "When father got sick, he feared that he had caught the gue. So he asked he be moved here so that he does not affect us with his bad luck."
There was a hint of pride in the man''s voice as he revealed his father''s actions, feeling pleased at seeing his father''s will to sacrifice himself for his children.
"Yes, we tried to protest at first¡. but father inw would not have it." And alongside her husband, Lady Miranda too added hermentary, being in simpatico with the feeling.
While Alexander was more surprised that the people here actually knew about the contagiousness of the gue and even the way to stymie it, through quarantine.
They of course could not exin why quarantine worked, as they did not have germ theory, thus they dubbed it ''bad luck'' or other simr supernatural things.
However this practice was still quite advancedpared to their next door neighbor Adhania, who did not have any of this, and thought gue to be simply a curse of the gods, and that the only way to cure it was through prayer.
And sometimes they would even gather in mass congregational prayers, which would only worsen the situation for all of them.
It was among such thoughts that Alexander heard the door be swung open and was invited inside.
Chapter 1049 Alexander’s First Loss
Chapter 1049 Alexander''s First Loss
Alexander did not get to immediately enter the room even though he was invited inside.
Because the moment the doors were open, the very first sight that greeted him was an extremely unweing one.
Right across him, sitting beside the king sized bed was Miss Linda, holding the hand of a bedridden old man that Alexander easily judged to be Lord Nn.
He appeared very thin and frail, with gaunt cheeks and wrinkled skin, fully wrapped up in a velvet nket and seemed currently to be engrossed in quite an amusing tale with the much younger, and beautiful woman, a thin smile streaked across his face.
It was only upon hearing the door open that the pair chose to disengage their conversation, swinging their heads towards the sound to greet their new guests.
Alexander''s eyes zed with firey hatred the moment the nted pair of eyes met him, as he recalled the words the woman had uttered just two days ago.
And he had to really test his patience to douche that for now, hiding it behind a cool countenance and denying his body the permission to sprint over there and strangle the troublesome woman right here, right now, thus nipping the threat in the bud.
Such heavy handed tactics would not work.
"Sister! It is so nice to see you!"
While Miss Linda, lifting her head up, had her face lit up with the utmost glow the moment her eyesnded on her eldest sister as if she had just spotted her long lost other half.
If Alexander was wondering that upon suddenly seeing each other the two sisters would immediately start throwing ws at each other, then he didn''t need to worry.
As seeing Lady Miranda by the door, the younger sibling hurriedly got up from her seat and came almost rushing up to her with arms spread open, then without any warning gave Lady Miranda arge, warm hug, embracing her in an almost bear like snuggle.
Alexander was astounded by just how quickly this woman could change faces- to think this was the samedy who was willing to fight to the death with her sister.
And this same thought ran through Lady Miranda, who could only stand stock still, shocked, her arms limply hanging by her side.
Lord Nn, who was observing all this, did not look impressed with Lady Miranda by her behavior, as from his perspective, it looked like it was Lady Miranda who was being cold and vindictive by not reciprocating her sister''s hug as if she was not willing to maintain family ties.
In the old man''s eyes, whatever differences the two sisters might have, they should never let that get in the way of them always maintaining kinship between themselves.
And the much more socially adept Miss Linda knew this, which was the only reason she bothered to produce this facade.
And Lady Miranda knew but did not follow, which was why she got taken full advantage of here.
From just this small exchange, it could be seen who was the better schemer here.
Miss Linda easily proved why the old Margrave had chosen her as his sessor instead of her elder sister.
As following the hug, Miss Linda then further drove home her deadly nail, regaling to everyone in a loud enough voice so that even the hard of hearing elderly man could hear, "I''m sorry I could not meet you in thest few days, big sister. But Quentin has been really sick and so I came to ask Uncle Nn for his blessings. You know what they say, ''The gods ept the prayers of people who are suffering, hehe.''
"...." Looking at the cute, charming smile, both Lady Miranda and her husband Lord Cassius again entered their stunned state.
They did not how to respond- y along with his fake game and pretend everything was fine, or reveal the other side''s misdeeds for the caretaker for the Margraves family to hear.
While Alexander, seeing all this from the side felt like pping his forehead.
The couple really had a chronic indecision problem. Whichever move they chose, it would have been much better than this suspended limbo.
Hence, although reluctant to enter himself into this intimate family moment, and also feeling disgusted at even having to talk to thedy, in order to try and save the couple from this embarrassing situation, Alexander decided to step in.
Producing arge, frank smile, Alexander thus chimed,
"Greeting Lady Linda! How auspicious that he would meet again. It was just two days that we had such a lovely conversation. I''m very sad to hear about your son. Let me wish him the best of recovery. Would you like one of my doctors to look at him? Zanzan has one of the best physicians in the world you know!"
Miss Linda very telegraphedly rolled her eyes right in front of Alexander, not bothering to hide this very rude gesture in the slightest.
And if not that she was within the elder man, she might have even paired it with a very biting remark, like how she had done before.
But since she was here, she chose to be a bit more civil, shing a sweet smile and nodding, "Thank you my lord, but Quentin is already showing signs of recovery. I will be sure to take advantage of your offer next time."
And then not willing to be in this presence for any longer, quickly attempted to excuse herself, bidding them as well as the bed ridden elder man goodbye.
To which the gentleman replied in a very gruff voice, "*Cough*, *cough*, *cough*, yes, Linda. Thank you for visiting this old man. And don''t be too worried about me. You have a family now. Take care of your husband and son more."
However Alexander was not willing to let her off so easily.
Since she was here, the man wanted to interrogate her in front of the supposedly powerful, neutral old man.
Thus as Miss Linda was turning on her heels, Alexander noted in a loud voice,
"Mydy, I heard there have been multiple attacks on the temples in the city during these past few nights. As someone who might very well be the next Mother Regent, I wonder what are your thoughts on the matter? Because I personally find it very strange that these god forsaken devils can move so openly even though there are 20,000 armed men in the city. Your men!"
Alexander was sure to make thatst point very clear, directing these words more to the ears of the supervision of the Margraves family than actually Miss Linda.
But Miss Linda did not stumble.
Instead, swinging her head back and turning her tone cold and incisive, she too loudly dered,
"There have been indeed many miscreants looking to take advantage of our current situation. Vultures drolling to feast on our carcass the moment we fall¡. But you should know that better than anyone, Lord Alexander, right?"
Thedy really did not hide her animosity here, very clearly calling Alexander a vulture who was poking his nose where it did not belong and using him of being one of the miscreants who attacked the temple.
This ridiculous statement caused Alexander to produce a disdainful scoff, "Heh! So you are saying I ordered my men to attack the temple at night? All while your men watched? I thought you had twice as many men as us? What were they doing? Is this how you intend to rule the city when you take over?"
Alexander''s inquiry was very brass and sharp, will at the same a bit untrue, as he intentionally inted his men''s true numbers to downy the gap in strength between the two parties.
But this was of course only natural.
He would have been of course a fool to reveal such a prized secret.
Miss Linda however was not so easy to swindle and expertly retorted, "Correction my lord, we outnumber you five to one," she upped her advantage too, and then very deftly defended herself, pronouncing in a wounded tone,
"And the only reason you could do such heinous crimes is because you took advantage of us and our good nature. When we first received the reports, we did not want to even believe them. After all, you were invited to our homes by my eldest sister whom I respect the most. And we even broke bread and drank wine together. So how could we not believe you to be an upright person? Thus we waited for two nights. I admit it was our mistake." Miss Linda ended with a small bite on her lips, as if tearing up.
Alexander was astounded by the eloquence and charm on disy here.
Because although it sounded like Miss Linda was ming herself, she was actuallyying it on Lady Miranda and Alexander.
It was a masterss on how to shift me.
Alexander had initially thought he was going to be able to corner her in front of the elderly man, revealing her crooked deeds and thus gaining an advantage in the subsequent negotiations.
But now it felt like this woman was thrashing him like she was Mohammed Ali in his prime, or Germany against Brazil in the semifinals.
Alexander thought he was seeing stars.
Chapter 1050 Lord Nolan Neutrality
Chapter 1050 Lord Nn Neutrality
"Lindaaaaa¡" Upon hearing her younger sister humiliate her and her honored guest, Lady Miranda could no longer restrain herself, as she instantly burst into a booming voice few had ever heard, swinging her arms wildly,
"Watch your tongue, you scheming witch. This is our guest. How dare you nder him? You think anyone seriously believes your im that someone could loot the temples in a city guarded by 20,000 men without your permission? You have not even captured a single one of these ''miscreants'', so where did you get the gall to talk to your elder sister like this?"
"Not only are you incapable of defending this city, but you even sent a mob to this very mansion. Did you ever stop to think for a second what would have happened if Lord Alexander''s men were not there to stop them? How could you!"
The straightforward Lady Miranda could no longer take this tedious beating around the bush game andmbasted her sister with all her grievances in one go, venting her heart out in front of everyone.
Which was a very bad move.
Because in Lord Nn''s eyes, it was Lady Miranda who seemed to be the aggressor, as Miss Linda did not reveal any animosity at her, only towards Alexander, an outsider.
"nder?" Miss Linda appeared shocked by her sister''s acquisition, her angelic face turning pale and hurt, before it suddenly morphed into a taunt,
"Who is the one ndering here, now sister? When did I ever send a mob here? This is where we live. Where my own family lives! Where my son lives! Have you gone insane? This was all the doing of him! To y the victim. I can''t believe you cannot even see through this."
Miss Linda was quick to shift the me on the ever present Alexander, and then venomously turned to grind her teeth, "I never knew people could be so ck¡ so base and low¡as expected of a mere ve."
Even the temperate Alexander felt like his head and heart were burning after hearing this.
This shrew really knew how to hurt people.
Miss Linda hated Alexander for rejecting her advances that day.
And this hatred then made her do things that in turn made Alexander truly want to tear her from limb to limb.
And this wasing from a man who usually had a soft spot for women, as seen by how he did not much dislike Lady Felicia even after learning of her maniptions.
But here, the hatred Alexander felt for his pathological liar was something else.
It was loathsome.
"The feeling is mutual." So he could only clench out these words, thus saying that he too had not seen someone as base and low as her low.
While the one who had been all quiet until now, Lord Cassius sighed in his heart observing all this.
Even the man could easily see just how talented Miss Linda was as a politician.
She had effortlessly turned ck into white, leaving even the ever eloquent Alexander in a pit.
His wife''s defeat in her hands was really not unjust. And the beautifuldy''s current acquisition of power was no fluke either.
There was indeed a reason most of the family supported her.
Then feeling the air turn acrid and explosive, Lord Cassius decided to quickly step in as the mediator, and in a gentle but strong voice asked, "Mydy, this is not the ce for such conversations. My father is not well and requires rest. So please let us continue this conversation sometime elsewhere."
''Leave!'' All these words really worked to say this single word.
"Hmmph!" And to this Miss Linda let out a snort, before coldly shooting a single shot towards Alexander, "Give us the gold and we can have peace," and then imperiously sauntered off.
Alexander could not believe he was hearing thisst sentence, where was basically being shaken down for money.
"....." And all the optimistic mood the three people hade here with was ruined by this one encounter.
Until the withered voice of Lord Nn broke them out of the acrid, "Miranda,e my girl! We haven''t seen each other for so long! Come, let me see my dear daughter."
The weak but sweet voice was like soothing rain on thedy''s burning heart, so thedy quickly answered, and then quickly rushed to the lying men, for the next few while spent some time, the trio exchanged some general greetings, and introductions.
Like Alexander''s, towards whom the old man turned his weak head to address with a misty eyed stare, "Ahhh! I have heard great tales of your sess, young lord. To think you achieved so much at such an age. We are d. We are d. We are d that you came to our aid in such times of our need," before his stare suddenly turned ssy and his voice croaked,
"Pity.. pity¡pity¡ I''m too old to witness more. I would have loved to ride to war with you."
Alexander found it hard to believe that a man whom he had met for only a few minutes was saying these things.
He had rarely met such a friendly man, both in this life and the previous, and seeing him, he could understand how Lord Cassius had turned out how he did.
He had his father to follow.
Towards the old man''sment about his age and frail health, Alexander gave some polite remarks, assuring him of great health, and dismissing his illness as trivial, before finally, Lord Cassius got to the issue they were here for.
".... Father, the temples in the city have been repeatedly attacked. And the people are in arms. Please ask Lady Linda to not drag the innocent people into our dispute." After detailing all the urrences of the previous day, Lord Cassius ended with this.
It was determined beforehand that since the man was his son, it would be best that he presented their case.
"Hmmm¡." After hearing all of this, the bed ridden man hummed in contemtion, before finally stating, "This is indeed serious. I will talk to Linda. But I do not believe she is that kind of girl. This might very well be a ploy from the Kaiser family."
Alexander thought wasplete bullshit, but before he could interject, the old man suddenly grasped Lady Miranda by her hand and urged, "My daughter.. whatever disagreements you may have with your sister, you and Linda must stay together. Only united can we pass this difficult trail."
Which was all fine and good, but in Alexander''s view, the old man was really not providing any good solution.
He must have surely seen how hostile Miss Linda was right in front of him, yet he was talking about reconciliation.
What reconciliation?
Alexander turned to signal these thoughts to Lady Miranda.
To which thedy deftly avoided making eye contact, as if she did not want to discuss it.
Instead, she then turned to the other big matter she was here for, the matter about the ships.
Here she proposed that due to the increased chaos in the city, they should move all the ships from the Great Harbor to the Royal Harbor, as well as the various other cities along the coastline.
''To protect them miscreants,'' as she put it.
"Miranda! How can you say that?" However, the old man would have none of that, as he firmly rebuked, "Those ships hold thest bit of blood for our family. Wasn''t it you who was saying just the other day how bad our books were? And now you want to cut off even this? What was gotten into you?"
"Even the monthly rent the merchants pay us for the port is significant. We can at least cover the dock workers who work under us with that. What will happen to them? I do not recall old James having such a granddaughter!"
Lady Miranda felt ashamed.
While Alexander felt frustrated.
This was not the time to be trying to win over the public.
That ship had sailed a long time ago.
And so for the following half an hour, Alexander tried very hard to diplomatically show the man their own difficulties, where he bought up all the points except the military one- the one where they feared an outnking maneuver by the enemy.
And the reason for this was because he did not trust the old man with his information.
He seemed to have very close ess to Miss Linda, so Alexander did not want to leak this intel to the other side, should they try it preemptively.
It was only after a lot of cajoling that the old man even decided to consider it, promising- "Okay, I will hold a conference with the leaders of the guild about it soon," something that quite displeased Alexander.
He saw this as nothing more than a flimsy y wanting for more time.
And thus left the room with little more than flowery promise.
While the moment the three left, Lord Nn''s weak eyes turned strong, and then sometimeter, a strong, gruff voice didactically reverberated from the chamber as he addressed a certaindy, "Linda, you are the one James supported. I will support you too. So whatever you think is necessary, do it. I will be your eyes and ears."
Chapter 1051 New Plans
Chapter 1051 New ns
"Lady Miranda, are you sure your impartial father inw is as impartial as he seems?" As Alexander apanied thedy back to the main mansion, the frustration in his voice rang loud and clear across the empty corridors.
And both Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius flushed.
Neither thought the old man would be so obstinate, so they could only take it when Alexander furtherined, "Forget everything else, he did not even agree to issue a night curfew. Surely that would have helped the people of the city."
Alexander seriously began to doubt the old man''s integrity.
"I¡ I''m sure father has his reasons Lord Alexander," While Lord Cassius tried to defend his old man, quickly reassuring, "I''m sure he is just confused on the details. He has been in bed for so long that¡.bad actors have managed to muddle him. I will be sure to talk to him again. Rest assured, Lord Alexander."
"....." Towards this, Alexander had little choice other than to nod gratefully and hope that he was only overanalyzing things.
Because credit to Lord Nn, he did make some good points while defending his actions.
And the only real thing Alexander could fault the man on was trying to y for time.
Then afterward, around noon, Alexander would be distracted by reports of the ongoing riots in the city, whose rising mes he could notice from even all the back here.
Alexander did not know whether he should be happy about how spectacrly the other side''s n backfired on them, or sad about the loss of all innocent lives there.
And his day would end for like that, while his night would be spent alone, as he would refuse Lady Nanazin''s advance that day.
Even the thick skinned Alexander had a reputation to hold as it would look too crude if he were to pursue such a forbidden rtionship so openly.
While the old man in question, Lord Nn would call Miss Linda some time after Alexander and Lady Miranda had left, and inform her of all the things discussed.
And if Alexander and the others were here, they would have been shocked by how the man moved and acted as he addressed her, no longer the frail and bed ridden old man, but instead filled with strength and power.
He even paced back and forth across the room, chiding the sitting girl, "You already told me that this Alexander was troublesome. So why are you trying so hard to make an enemy of him? Even sending a rioting mob¡. foolish girl!"
Luckily Lord Nn did not yet know of the fires and chaos, or else the tirade would have been sharper.
Miss Linda slightly hung her head low towards all this, however, she did not seem too concerned. The prideful girl did not think she was wrong.
And then she in the subsequent conversations, managed to justify her action the same way she had done with her husband, i.e.- by revealing her n to kill Alexander, and the mob''s role in that.
Lord Nn did a double flip after hearing this, as his acrid heart suddenly turned very pleased, chuckling out, "Hehe, I can see why your grandfather chose you, Linda. Okay! Do what you think is best. I will keep you informed of the things in the mansion."
Lord Nn had pretended to be sick and hid himself all the way back here to be able more easily conduct such covert acts, and he thought his time hade.
However, as Lord Parker and Achis covertly arrived at night, that joyous atmosphere appeared to dim, as they brought with them news of the massacre.
Raising the topic with his wifeter that night, the two sisters, Lord Parker and Achis once again regrouped and under the new developments had to reassess their strategy.
There, Lord Parker took the lead, first revealing the oue of today''s riot, the deaths and the fires, as well as the potential consequences of the cruel methods they had to use to bring everything under control, before clenching his fist up and firmly dering,
"All this is taking too long! We shouldplete Linda''s ascension to the Margraves family seat as soon as possible, lest even more unforeseen eventse up. One Alexander is bad enough. We will be in even more trouble if the Kaiser family gets a whiff of this."
Lord Parker''s underlying meaning here was clear.
But if it was not, then Achis made sure to make it so, as soon as Lord Parker had finished saying this, the general chimed up with practiced ease,
"Mmmm, the lord said it well. Today proved that getting the public to riot against Alexander is almost as dangerous as getting them to riot against us. What if Alexander realizes what is happening during this time?"
"Lady Linda has already informed us how Alexander is trying to strengthen himself. Why take all this risk and not kill him tonight? We can even¡. remove Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius along with him. This will solve all our problems in one go!"
The two men had not only made up after their little quibble but seemed to be inplete simpatico over how to clean up after the mess.
With blood.
"What! How can you even say that?" However, this obviously did not go well with the middle sister, Lady Adele, who almost jumped up from the couch in shock.
As said earlier, killing a guest in one''s house was a very big no no.
And fortunately, this time the middle sister had her much more powerful younger sister''s backing, who too nodded, "Sister is right. This is impossible. We Margraves have a reputation to uphold," as she then charmingly turned the eyes to her husband, taunting, "And besides, how would you propose to even do that? Saunter off into Alexander''s room and throw myself over him? That whore of a Queen is already sleeping there."
It seemed even Miss Linda knew of Lady Nanazin''s proclivities.
Although in her case, few believed her.
Even her husband merely thought his extremely haughty wife was just being jealous.
So he quickly chimed to cate her, "Of course not, of course not."
Although deep inside, he thought that if he could remove this thorn called Alexander, he would not mind letting his wife spread her fair, slender legs for him.
Both the spouses were very ambitious people, and usually, neither even registered such trivial sacrifices.
So what if another man''s prick entered the wife''s pink garden?
Will that part fall off? Or will it start to rot?
To either of them, neither chastity nor morality mattered that much, especially if the trade off was power.
However, that being said, Lord Parker still sensed his wife''s utter revulsion to the act.
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So he did not chime yes to the rhetorical question.
Instead, he stayed quiet as Miss Linda expounded on her speech, once again firmly dering, "There will be no killings in this mansion tonight. Neither of Alexander and especially not of my sister. This was one of the conditions grandfather made me swear to the gods in front of all the elders when promising me the seat, so I must honor it¡. at least until the seat is mine."
Thedy really was one of a kind, only willing to honor her words as far as it suited her or as long as she was forced to.
But even then, she at least managed to put that macabre idea to rest for now, and then suggested her own way to proceed forward,
"Personally, I think we can continue as is. Let the riots continue. Because it is working. Alexander visiting Uncle Nn is proof of that. So we just need to keep it up."
Dering this, Miss Linda then turned to face the two men, her voice now turning chiding, "And stop inting the failure of the riots today. These are all low born peasants, so what if a few thousand died? Just give them a few scarps and they will forget everything today." She brushed away the incident, and then looked right at Achis,
"General, capture a few well known thugs and hang them in the marketce tomorrow. Say that it was them that incited the riot. That should be enough to shut the people."
"And then contact some of the gangs we have in the city. Have them loot the temples instead of your men directly. Then have them lead the riots around various parts of the city. They can keep an eye on the crowd that way."
The ever resourcefuldy quickly let out orders like she had memorized them.
And towards this, the trio found little toin about.
It was a very good n, with the only slight hitch there being thepensations Lord Parker thought the people should be given,... to ease their acrimony even more and smooth their way back to the streets.
But he of course did want to pay out of his own pocket. So he asked for his wife''s input.
To which Miss Linda first appeared displeased even at the suggestion, as she did not think those ''low scums'' deserved anything, but then suddenly remembering a small clue, immediately agreed, producing a very crafty grin,
She had found the perfect way to swindle Alexander.
Chapter 1052 Lady Alede’s Prison
Chapter 1052 Lady Alede''s Prison
Miss Linda did not reveal her n to anyone, but only promised she would take care of it.
And then, not wanting the men to question her decree, decided to quickly distract them.
"My dear, Come, stay the night with us. Let us sisters serve you." Miss Linda very charmingly dered, as drawing the two men''s attention, she very expertly undid the knots on her breasts, revealing her modest bunnies.
And with the spring invitation in sight, it was like an arrow of lust had pierced through both Lord Parker and Achis.
Just like thedy had expected, they decided to drop the matter for tonight. It had been a long day and they could discuss it further after having their sexy meal.
Hence they dove right in.
And yes, it was ''they''.
The tall, handsome Lord Parker took the right, while the short but burly Achis took the left, having no problem with sharing.
And neither did Miss Linda even in the slightest.
In fact, hanging her head back, and feeling the twin warm suckling on her chest, she actually rejoiced, lustfully singing, "Ahhh, yes¡ it''s like I have a pair of overgrown boys. Mmmm¡go on! Drink up mommy''s milk. Drink up lots and grow up strong, hehe,"
Then with a giggle, she began to caress both her husband''s and his lovers'' heads lovingly, a motherly glow blooming on her face as she felt the suction on both her tender nubs increase, hot milk flowing out from them
Just from the way she was speaking and acting, you would think she was breastfeeding two infants, notmitting the extremely immoral act of lying with two men simultaneously.
And it was perhaps only Lady Adele, who was sitting next to her sister who could sense the deviancy of it all.
This was not even the first time she had witnessed this.
In fact, this was even fairlymon. However, although she had always wanted to, she could never produce the guts to protest.
Every time she thought of saying something, it would be like her very voice would be taken away from her.
Lady Adele was naturally weak willed, unlike either her younger or older sister.
She was no leader or no ruler, but easily swayed by others.
In another life, she would have been the perfect housewife, extremely obedient and neverining, always happy to follow her husband''s lead.
But in this life, this passivity came to bite her in the back, as it was through taking advantage of this that Miss Linda managed to rope her elder sister into her side.
She had promised Lady Adele''s hand to Achis, her husband''s right hand man, and with that good food, good clothes, good homes, good servants, and in general a good life¡. all if only Lady Adele gave her support to Miss Linda and her son''s im to the family seat¡.. as well as turn her eyes from a few questionable private practices her husband might have
And given the disaster the MV family was facing, and was facing even now, Lady Adele could not resist.
She knew of the circumstances, she could see that her elder sister Lady Miranda was clearly losing and thus cleverly jumped ship.
She thought she would have been a fool not to.
And she was mostly likely right in this.
Besides, the deal was very favorable for her, with enormous upside and very little downside.
Who cared if her husband slept with her brother inw or even her sister?
As long as she had a good life and all the luxuries she had been brought up in were still avable to her, she could not care less even if her husband slept with horses or dogs.
Thus she was d to ept.
In fact, she was over happy with the offer that she out of her own will had promised Miss Linda not get to pregnant until her son Quentin came of age.
Thus putting out any idea of a session crisis when before it would ''birth''.
However, even this promise was not enough to sate the greedy youngest daughter of the Margraves.
As after a while, she decided to arbitrarily change the rules of the contract.
Now Lady Adele was being asked to aid her younger in the bedrooms.
It had suddenly started one day with Miss Linda tearfully whining, "My dear sister¡ I am unable to please my husband in bed. He always brings Achis with him and together they ravage me too roughly. Just yesterday they took me both in¡ in¡ my back and front! Ohhh¡ by the gods, I did not even know you could take it in there! It was too much. My poor body nearly broke." Miss Linda then literally dropped a fake drop of tear from her eyes, before suddenly grasping Lady Adele by the arm and asking in a shivering tone,
"And today¡ today they are saying they want to insert both of themselves at once into my small hole. By the gods! It will surely be split apart! I will die! Sister, please save!"
Miss Linda''s face was flushed with both pretended shame and dread.
While Lady Adele''s face was genuinely flushed with shame, blushing to herself, ''To think men would even use that ¡. that¡,'' the puredy would not even say the word for her rear hole.
And then she did not know what to get more embarrassed about, her sister describing in a little too much detail the deviancies going on in her bedroom at night.
Or that she was actually asking her own elder sister to partake in them?
How immoral!
"Why don''t you call one of the maids then?" Thus the vehemently reluctant Lady Adele offered the most logical solution.
She was determined not to take part in such filth.
However the cunning, always ten steps ahead Miss Linda had of coursee prepared, as her eyes swelled in shock at such a ''rude'' suggestion,
"How can sister say this? Have mere maids serve esteemed dignitaries of such caliber? How can you even say this? Won''t they be humiliated? And what happens if they are dissatisfied with them and leave? Won''t we be left without anything but humiliation? Can you live with such a stain?"
Miss Linda was very clever to draw Lady Adele''s honor into this, before suddenly turning incisive,
"I also heard you have not consummated your marriage with Lord Achis, sister. Why? Sure you got married in secret, but you were blessed by grandfather. You two are undoubtedly husbands and wives under the eyes of the gods. So why are you not sleeping with your rightful spouse?"
Miss Linda had put this question in a very innocuous tone, as if she could not fathom for the life of her why Lady Adele had not conducted her nuptial rites.
And this fake celibacy concern greatly irritated even the good natured Lady Adele.
''I have not slept with my husband because he was too busy screwing you in the ass, dear sister,'' Lady Adele ground her teeth in rage, but could not spit out the words she wanted to say so much.
Miss Linda certainly detected this and found herself amused by it, relishing seeing her elder sister burn inside without being unable to vent.
This was Lady Adele''s nature and Miss Linda knew it.
And so the younger sibling, smirked in her heart, ''A good few hard fucks with both of them should be enough to subdue her to my side, '' as Miss Linda then went to deliver her most potent words,
"Sister, join me tonight! Both my lord and your lord have asked for you to me by name. And they will certainly both be dissatisfied if you refuse. Then what if Lord Achis proposes a divorce? I won''t be able to help if that happens."
The threat of a divorce was a mighty powerful one, especially in a society such as Sybarsis and even more especially for ady as high standing as Lady Adele.
It was the equivalent of a nuclear attack, as if a noble of her status, the daughter of an Earl was to get divorced, she would have little recourse other than to tie a long around her neck.
Because in a monogamous society such as Sybarsis, although giving a divorce to a powerful, noble wife was very tedious and even hard since the man actually needed to justify his action in court, but when it did happen, it was usually always med on the woman.
And after that, she was basically made an outcast and emunicated from her current society.
Parents, siblings, friends, and even her own children would cut contact with her because she was believed to be cursed by the gods.
It was not even umon to kill a woman shortly after her divorce due to this or sometimes even as a punishment for the divorce itself.
And Lady Adele knew, that refusing toy with one''s husband was one of the justifications that could be used in court to initiate a divorce.
Of course, it would not hold if a wife refused her husband just once or twice, such as if she was tired, sick or simply not in the mood.
These were all valid reasons.
But if she totally refused to sleep with him¡ at all, such as in the case of Lady Adele and Achis, where the former did not evenplete her marriage rites, this made for a very strong case in court.
And hearing the threat, Lady Adele was clever enough to understand the underlying meaning, ''Join us or die.''
Chapter 1053 Miss Linda’s Heart
Chapter 1053 Miss Linda''s Heart
''Join us or die.''
This was the offer the deviant trio had made to Lady Adele.
And while some other women might have chosen death over humiliation, again Lady Adele was not that type of a woman, she was not brave and fearless.
"But... but... but..." Thus turning her eyes ssy and moist, she first pleadingly looked at her younger sister for mercy.
But Miss Linda only returned an icy, assertive nce, her lips puckered so tightly it almost looked like a full stop.
The decision had been already made and not a squeak of change was to be offered.
"It will be alright. They will be gentle." Were the only words Miss Linda bothered to produce.
And so it all started from that night.
Now, the younger sister at least kept herst promise, as Lady Adele was not thrown into the lion''s pit from the get go.
The two men might be deviants but they were not cruel or sadistic.
They did not want to hurt Lady Adele, only enjoy their time with her.
And so for the first few sessions, they made sure to ease Lady Adele into the whole thing.
First, it was only watching, then some touching, followed by some light kissing, a bit of fondling, and so on and so on, until Lady Adele was made to eventually go the full nine yards on her sixth session.
It was also during these sessions that Lady Adele saw how her younger sister really felt about the whole thing.
And needless to say, she was not the defenselessmb she portrayed herself to be.
Miss Linda might not have acted wanton and licentious like a workingdy, actively seeking the two men to vite her, but she also did not seem to hate the experience.
It was like she had epted her fate and instead ofmenting and shedding useless tears, she had chosen to instead enjoy the experience.
And Lady Adele chose to do the same.
She did not put her sister at fault for lying to her, knowing Miss Linda might as well be in the same boat as her.
Thus, since she had already drunk the poison, Lady Adele figured she might as well drain the cup.
And as Lady Adele tried to ustom herself, Miss Linda''s thoughts were proved right- after some time, Lady Adele had indeed be nice and obedient to her new unnatural situation, following the three''s words without a second thought.
Which was why currently watching her husband and brother inw bothtch onto her younger sister''s breasts, Lady Adele felt nothing.
But only moved mechanically as she was expected to do, standing up with a cid face and taking off all her clothes in a practiced motion, thus revealing her much taller and much more striking curvy body.
Slender arms, strong healthy thighs, arge round ass, arge pair of breasts, and a downy patch of hair underneath.
Thedy could certainly hold on her own in terms of looks.
It was just a shame her opponent was someone as unnaturally beautiful as Miss Linda.
Miss Linda might not have had the most attractive curvy body, but she made up for everything with her face... it was that charming.
Enough to enthrall both the men, who did not have the time to even pay attention to the other beauty even as she stripped, being too busy suckling Miss Linda.
However, Lady Adele did not feel any longer acrid by this.
There was once a time she used to, but by now the submissive woman got used to it, convincing herself that she was inferior to her younger sister and thus did not deserve as much care as her.
So it was with a light heart and fluttery step that she approached Miss Linda, before making some space for her, and then silently squatting down between her legs with practiced ease.
Miss Linda would always expect Lady Adele to do the following when the two men initiated their session.
And not willing to disappoint her, the naked beauty kneeled and then gently lifted the lower half of her younger sister''s heavy gown, first revealing her perfect, slender thighs and then kept rolling the garment all the way up to her hips, atst revealing her underwear, a very stylish, velvet ck pair of panties embroidered with flowers and gemmed with tiny pearls along the seams.
Just the sight of such a beautiful cloth stered onto such a delicate spot, the sexy ck color contrasting perfectly with her snow white skin was enough to make even Lady Adele jealous of her sister, forget the men.
They nearly had nosebleeds, even after having seen the sight so many times before.
While Lady Adele was close enough to also notice that this piece of cloth was from Zanzan, and more specifically it was one of Gelene''s brands judging by the logo, who sold among other things very high end night clothes for women.
These were very popr among the nobledies and this particr item had been amongst a bunch of gifts the Margraves family received some time ago from Alexander celebrating their annual trade agreements.
Which Miss Linda appeared to have also swindled all for herself, without giving Lady Adele even a tiny portion.
But seeing this expensive attire, Lady Adele did not feel as much jealousy as only a slight bit of sneering.
Because here her sister was, trying to make an enemy out of a man who even sold her the underwear she was wearing to have sex with her husband¡ let''s forget anything else.
So what would happen if Alxx stopped trading with them, she wondered.
From this could be seen that Lady Adele was not someone who was dumb, someone who could not think for herself.
No, the nobledy was perfectly capable of figuring out the ws in her sister''s ns.
Her w was that she was just too weak willed to even speak up against them.
And it was due to such a w in her that Lady Adele did what she did next.
Upon having fully rolled up her younger sister''s gown, Lady Adele dove into her own meal, extending her tongue and giving Miss Linda''s garbed garden a long, hot lick.
The taste was musky, salty and warm, with a hint of acridness.
This was because the youngdy did not have the time to take a bath today.
Thus, although it was winter and the weather was generally cool, after fermenting between her manyyers of clothes for so many hours, the smell down there could only be imagined.
Optimistically, the vor could be described as ''rich''.
But like all the other things, Lady Adele had be used to it.
There were the first few times when she had indeed felt disgusted at tasting her own sister''s love juices.
But after that, and given the multitudes more deviant acts the men liked to do with her and her sister, she came to obediently ept it all.
"Ahh!" While Miss Linda, feeling her elder sister wet her flower, could not help but let out a lustful cry, even charmingly biting into her finger to swallow her sound.
Miss Linda definitely enjoyed the power of making her elder sister kneel in front of her and lick herdy parts much more than actually deriving pleasure from her act.
Lady Adele tried her best, but Miss Linda found her skills to suck.
And this mindset really went to highlight just how little Miss Linda really cared about her elder sister.
Deep inside, she saw Lady Adele as little more than a convenient tool, and although she was willing to tolerate having her beside her, Miss Linda knew she would discard her like a used toilet paper the moment things got tough.
And this was the exact thought that spurred Miss Linda''s lust even more on, as she imperiously nced her eyes down on her ''hard working'' nude sister, sneering with pride and disdain in her heart seeing how she was putting her mouth on such a dirty spot.
Miss Linda thought that if she was in the same spot, she would have rather licked a beggar''s dirty, muddy feet than do this.
And it was while thinking this that suddenly an idea came to her, something for which she could not help but lick in her anticipation.
''After I capture big sis I will make her do this too. Hehe, both of my elder sisters, kneeling naked in front and sucking my pussy. Ahhhh¡!''
The promiscuousdy lightly came just thinking about that immoral scene.
And then further fueled her imagination by forming many other illicit pictures in her mind.
Such as both Lady Miranda and her husband Lord Cassius kneeling naked and pleasuring her.
Such as Lady Miranda being violently taken by both Lord Parker and Achis simultaneously while screaming her heart out.
Such as Miss Linda viting her husband in front of Lady Miranda, dancing on the portly man''s swollen belly and making him release. And then making his wife clean that release right from her hole.
This and many more disgusting scenes shed in Miss Linda''s mind as she began to already n her victory celebrations.
Thedy was bold, vindictive and now a days a bitcent
Chapter 1054 Deviant Relations
Chapter 1054 Deviant Rtions
Although Miss Linda thought of punishing her sister and brother inw, funnily enough, there was no scene about tasting Alexander in her mind.
This was because she detested the guy to her bone and the mere thought of him touching her made her skin crawl.
Miss Linda had not yet decided what to do when Alexandernded on her palms.
Kill him, enve him, ransom him, or the wildest thought of all, make him her consort.
Of course, thatst one was a joke, as polyandry was not practiced anywhere in the known world, and thedy did not think she could even stand the guy.
However the fact that it was specifically Miss Linda who was thinking about how to deal with Alexander went on to also reveal a curious fact, which was that it was she who really ruled these parts of thend.
It was not the next duke of the Heeat family, Parker Heeat or themander of his army, General Achis.
But her.
She was the true ruler of the Margraves family, and themander of its army, which stood at 22,000 strong.
While Lord Parker and Achis were her deputies or even her ves.
And few would dispute with her after looking at the current scenery.
As of this moment, Miss Linda was sitting on arge couch, her upper half bare and being tenderly cared for by the two men.
While down below, her legs were spread open, in between which kneeled her elder sister, naked and submissively licking her flower.
Lady Adele had by now pulled the sexy pair of panties down to taste the fruits of Miss Linda''s garden directly, eagerlypping up the clear spring water.
What was the definition of a queen?
What was the definition of being attended hand and foot?
What was the definition of power?
What was the definition of worship?
This was.
And this continued for a good while, with Miss Linda keeping on asionally releasing various moans at her triple stimtion, until her breasts began to run dry of milk and the men felt their thirst sated.
So finally having had enough, the men utched themselves and decided to move on to the main course.
They pulled up Miss Linda from the couch and then quickly made her strip, revealing her beautifully proportioned body.
Modest breasts, a thin waist, fully shaved pubes, limber thighs, and a t belly that had thin purplish stretch marks, which, instead of making her look ugly, actually added to her charm, making her countenance appear almost devilish under the flickeringmp light.
Lord Parker eagerly approached his wife with turgid anticipation, first slightly lifting her right leg to open her groin, thus revealing her elegant flower shaped like a single slit and then quickly going in from the front in one quick go.
While Achis positioned himself at the back and caressing the soft tight ass, he gently spread the delicate cheeks, bringing out the small, puckered bud, which emanated a fruity smell, that he then thrusted into without requiring any invitation, thuspleting the act in a swift motion.
"Ahhh!" And feeling the twin invasion, Miss Linda had no trouble releasing a soul stirring moan, the sensation through the thin walls separating the two organs making her mind be filled with a buzzing white.
She might not have eagerly awaited this twin pration, but she did not hate it either.
Because in her head, the act worked to reaffirm her power over these two very powerful men.
So she sciously sang smutty songs as the two men moved quickly, thrusting into the two holes of the marrieddy and producing loud, wet, nasty noises as their heavy thighs and balls pped against the fairdy''s butt and groin, and after a while, they both finished inside her, making the pleaseddy howl in content.
And then it was her elder sister Lady Adele''s turn, who was taken basically the same way, with the only change being who got to take which of her parts.
This time the men had decided to switch, and they also took thedy up from the ground, so that her legs could wrap around her husband like a ko.
The curvydy also had much more meat in her legs and nks, thus herrger, white ass produced a much crispier sound when flesh met flesh, it reverberating across the room, and making Lady Adele feel a profound sense of shame at knowing what she was doing.
She knew this lewd, crude noise, which was undeniable proof of their union, was being made by her brother inw, who was in the back, and it seemed to greatly please him, as he thrusted even harder and faster with each p, bing very enthusiastic.
The experienced attacks made it very hard for her to hold her moans.
And the situation was made so much harder when you took into ount the attack from the front as well.
Hence during the entire act, Lady Adele kept biting her lips with her utmost strength, refusing to be wanton like her sister, and restricting herself to only swallowed moans.
Which was something the men actually enjoyed, as they teased her about it in all kinds of subtle ways, grinding her passageways and making her eyes almost roll over.
And in this way, both the sisters were given their twin doses.
Following this the pair of men decided to take a bit of rest to recover, slumping to the sofa and sipping fine drinks while fondling their respective women in their arms.
"My lord, you should have taken Adele''s front. She would have been honored" And it was while Achis was feeling his wife''s heavy breasts that he proposed to Lord Parker that he should have taken the more ''dignified'' part.
"Hahaha, no, no, how can I?" While the other party politely declined, his hands busy stroking Miss Linda''s thighs and belly, "I have always told you. Lady Adele is your wife¡ you should always get the first chance."
The curvydy''s body slightly flinched upon hearing these words, feeling a profound sense of disgust as her name being uttered in such an instance.
But those words seemed to put her husband Achis at ease, so he chuckled, "Hehe, my lord is gracious, my lord is gracious," as he then turned to his wife to direct, "Quick! Why haven''t you thanked the lord?"
It was with a wounded heart that Lady Adele obeyed her husband, thanking Lord Parker for gracing her husband with the honor of having her first, much to the otherdy''s sniggering satisfaction.
Seeing her sister struggle like this worked to satisfy her twisted heart, it made her feel powerful, made her feel have control over her.
Thus Miss Linda could not help but charmingly chime with a swift nod, "General Achis is being too polite! Please do not think of us as two separate couples¡ but four people all married to each other. You can have me too if you like, hehe!"
Saying so thedy very openly shed her legs wide, revealing her still soapy insides, and even opening the slit with her hands to tempt the man with her salmon pink inside.
Achis could not help but let out a small gulp as his eyes felt glued.
The attraction came more from the fact this was his boss''s wife rather than the actual act, but still, Achis wanted a taste.
All while he was still holding his naked wife in his hand.
How deplorable for the man, and how tragic for the woman.
Lady Adele felt disgusted that she was the wife of such a man seeing this.
While Miss Linda felt ted, both at the man''s and woman''s reaction.
So to stroke both the two individuals'' feelings even more, she then inserted two of her fingers into her filled snatch, pulling some of the white glop and making a nasty sound, while at the same time, she turned to her own husband,
"Hehe, I''m sure you won''t mind, dear, right?" She asked while biting her lips, cing her hands on his solid organ, and starting to stroke it,
And Lord Parker was unable to deny the devil charms of his wife, feeling almost enthralled by those gleaming eyes and fluttering eyshes.
"Of course not. As you said, all four of us are married together." He thus fluently decreed.
So in this way, for the next few hours, the deviant acts continued.
Miss Linda and Lady Adele were made to sit side by side, have their legs spread and lifted up and then as the white cream spilled out of them, they were taken by men who might have not been their husbands.
Then the two sisters put on fours on the bed and taken as they faced each other, thus letting them watch the kind of faces the other made during her most intimate moments. And to aid in this discovery, the men even asionally spanked and poked the women in shameful parts, eliciting various armous results.
And it was not like it was only the women who were pleasured.
The two men too made love to each other in various ways, with most of the time, Lord Parker usually being on top of Achis, although the vice versa was sometimes true too.
All while the girls served them both, licking and kissing various parts and holes, with Lady Adele being bullied in various creative ways.
And when the session finally came to an end hourster, all four of them had some kind of gift inside them.
Chapter 1055 Inevitable Developments (Part-1)
Chapter 1055 Inevitable Developments (Part-1)
The following few days breezed past Alexander in a flurry of movements as the schemes against him continued unabated.
The riots in the city continued, much to his irritation, once again picking up steam after only a slight pause of few days.
Just like Miss Linda had predicted, after a few well known thugs in the city were publicly hanged, the public was cated, and then quickly spurred on, as to their great surprise they found that all of these wereckeys of Alexander.
At least that was what was proimed by the town crier, who read out the verdict for these tyrants of society,
"The used stand guilty of colluding with a foreign power and betraying this great city. They are the ones guilty of trying to burn our great abode down and stealing from its people. In light of all these crimes, the Lady of the House, Her Esteemed Honor Lady Linda, and His Grace Parker Heeat decrees that they shall all be hung from the rope until death. Glory to the Family! Glory to Lady Linda."
And the cheer of rejoice that the people uttered at this was something to be heard.
Even if they did not fully believe the im, they were still more than happy to see these torments of their neighborhood go.
Achis had cleverly chosen some very high profile nay doers to take the me for his own kerfuffle, and so even if these scums were innocent in this particr incident, they still very much deserved what came to them.
Also, as Miss Linda cleared house, it could be very clearly seen by the words the town crier used, Miss Linda had already started to proim herself as the ruler of Caira, and the head of the Margraves.
Which was called simply the family by the general public, because, to their knowledge, there was really only one family that themon folks knew about.
And with the might and good reputation of the ''Family'' behind her, the shrewddy quickly managed to sweep even the death of thousands of men, women, and children under the rug.
The people were truly fickle.
And then the burning and looting began once more, however now much more controlled and supervised, so the people got to rage and vent without letting it get out of control.
They would usually break a few doors, set shops of a few shops, preferably which belonged to people who supported or even at some point supported Lady Miranda, throw stones at others, and return home after beating a few thugs down.
And while they did all these, under the leadership of Miss Linda''s goons, they would also shout various demands and slogans, such as urging thedy to hang Alexander or wanting the army to storm the mansion.
Although thatst option was made a whole lot more difficult due to the several days that Alexander''s men had to prepare their fortifications.
During this time, the men had smashed open the stone paved streets using giant hammers and chisels and dug not one but multiple rows of ditches, each filled withrge, sharp stakes into the soft ground underneath, save for only a thin plot ofnd allowing for safe passage, barely enough for a single man.
Then immediately past that, they had palisades, which were raised mounds of earth, on top of which they built wooden ramparts manned by crossbowmen and even a few ''Instant bowmen''.
Andstly, they ''renovated'' the various houses along the streets, removing many of the walls and then garrisoning small teams of eight to ten in there, so that they could quickly respond to any untoward situation within the lines quickly.
The young Remus had basically turned the frontline into a fortress- with rows of ditches, multiple ovepping fields of fire, and houses that were basically mini castles, all interconnected with each other via a series of small tunnels and passageways.
If they were all properly manned, the 5,000 legionnaires might not be able to push back 20 million men like Remus had exaggeratedly boasted, but 20,000 would surely not be a problem at all.
In fact, even 200,000 men would have a tough time breaking through this.
And Lord Parker of course knew this, as he could see the huge construction efforts from all the way back of the city- huge mounds of earth being moved, giant walls of wood and stone being constructed, and men dressed in blue joining the ranks wave after wave like the never ending sea.
It was a sight that certainly managed to rm him.
And he felt that it had been a mistake to listen to his wife.
Miss Linda''s instance on face and pride had likely caused them to miss their best chance of killing Alexander- when he was most unprepared.
But, ''Betterte than never.''
Living on this mantra, the lord sent a messenger from his camp to his wife, asking her to see if she could do anything about it from the inside.
And the messenger to his credit managed toplete his mission, passing Alexander''s two set checkpoints without any difficulty.
He did this by disguising himself as a fruit vendor delivering supplies to the mansion and hiding his wax coated message inside one of the many pears he was carrying on his head.
The clever man had cut open and hollowed out one of the insides.
And upon receiving this, the ever cunningdy got to quickly work, meeting with Lord Nn and urging him to apprehend Alexander.
"Grandpa¡ have the elders put pressure on Miranda. Tell her to make Alexander dismantle the defenses and dere his neutrality. This is a family matter¡ why is an outsider like him getting involved?"
"Have them protest about having so many foreign soldiers in our private premises. This is like they are being held hostage by the man. Protest!"
Miss Linda repeated the word and then turned to look at the elder gentleman with cold, chilly eyes.
Thedy was very angry as her husband''s recent message had her riled up.
Lord Parker had not been the most diplomatic he had ever been in his letter, and quite frankly and openly med Miss Linda for their current predicament.
Something the pridefuldy did not at all like that.
Especially when she knew deep down they were right
Alexander''s extensive defenses had caught thisdy, who had little experience in warfare, off guard.
She now understood that should not have wasted so much time trying to get the public on her side and then kill him.
In hindsight, she should have killed Alexander and then got the people to riot, ''celebrating'' the man''s demise.
As for how would that have happened, it was not important anymore.
What was done, was done.
Now, it was time to try and fix it.
But the toolsmith that Miss Linda came to fix try and this, Lord Nn, seemed to be in a tough spot, feeling greatly burdened by the request.
So in a gruff tone, he rebuked the acting spoilt girl, "You say we should protest? How? You said it yourself- he has 5,000 to 6,000 men. You think Alexander will simply tuck his tail and run just because we asked nicely? Foolish! He will truly take us hostage if we protest!"
Despite his old age, Lord Nn was quite afraid of dying, and would never think of putting himself in harm''s way.
At least not one so high risk.
And many of his kins and colleagues were of the same flock.
However this was not an eptable answer to Miss Linda. So depressing her lips and reddening eyes, she tried to use her charms to reverse the decision.
Something that to her credit worked, as seeing this, the man softened his stance.
"Okay, okay, let me see what I can." shing his palms he reassured, as he quickly advised,"Have the people continue to riot and cause trouble in the city. If the people cause enough chaos, then I might be able to convince all those rotten bones to agree to¡.. capture Alexander."
For some reason, Lord Nn did not want to say ''kill'', as he thought it might be unlucky.
After all, it was sacrilegious to harm one''s guest in Sybarian tradition.
"Granpa is the best!" And although this was not exactly what she wanted, Miss Linda managed to hide the disappointment and acrimony deep inside her, instead loudly cheered at the old man''s efforts, jumping up to hug and then kiss him on the cheeks.
A gesture that managed to quite please the Lord.
After all, which man would not like being loved by such a lovely woman?
It was also these subtle acts that had yed no small role in helping Lord Nn sway his opinion even more toward Miss Linda.
While Miss Linda had the smarts to use her charms like this, Lady Miranda did not, usually being very reserved and even appearing cold.
So in the next few days, the intensity of the riots suddenly increased, while at the same time, Lord Nn invited Alexander to attend various meetings with many of the elders of the family.
And the contents of these meetings were predictable and drool.
As well as ultimately fruitless.
Because Alexander of course did not bulge an inch on his stance.
Chapter 1056 Inevitable Developments (Part-2)
Chapter 1056 Inevitable Developments (Part-2)
Following the nned increased riots, Alexander was invited to a series of meetings by Lord Nn with the top level administrations of the Margraves family, with the goal of trying to find a true,sting solution to the ongoing dilemma.
Something that Alexander was of course very pleased by.
Even someone as ''blind'' as he could see how the people were bing more and more riled up, how they were getting more and more out of hand, all from the back of his mansion
So he genuinely feared that if this kept going on, one day the entire poption of 100,000 might go mad and throwing caution to the wind would decide to crash into his legionnaires.
Thus any steps to try and prevent that nightmare froming true would be appreciated.
And as Alexander started to attend these meetings, his initial hopes were further raised when he saw the kind of people attending them, because they were people who had actual power within the family.
They were the bureaucrats, the ones who got all the jobs done- the administrators, the treasurers, the managers, the supervisors, and the clerks and secretaries.
All heavyweights of their fields.
And none of whom Alexander had ever seen in any of the parties or feasts.
It seemed that for some reason, they had decided to sprout out of the ground right now, with each presenting a variety of exnations as to why that was.
Something that the young pasha however did not care for much.
Because in his mind, it appeared as if they had switched their support from Miss Linda to Lady Miranda after seeing the former''s reckless treatment of its citizens.
And that was also explicitly imed by some of the men there, who posed that they were against the youngest sibling''s tactics but felt powerless to stop her.
Which was where Alexander came in.
So hearing all this, Alexander felt very much inclined to look past these obvious slights, hoping that this sacrifice would lead to a true breakthrough in the negotiations.
However, after a few such meetings, all that eagerness seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Because it soon became clear that they were not interested in achieving anything meaningful result, but were at best ying for time, and most likely wanted him to back down without giving anything in return.
The most telling of which was that despite the numerous sayings that they were concerned about what was happening in the city, none of the men chose to explicitly condemn Miss Linda.
''It''splicated!'' They loved to say.
''We do not clearly know what is going on,'' They loved to proudly im
''We are trying to capture all the miscreants as quickly as possible,'' They loved to heavily promised.
But not one of them was willing to point their fingers to Miss Linda, or even entertain that she might be one of the suspects.
At best, they were willing to concede that were somepses in the way thedy ruled the city, although some of the bigger ass kissers refused to say even this.
And so when Alexander proposed that Miss Linda be removed from her position and that independent councils of elders take control of the city until the matter can be arbitrated, they of course vehemently disagreed.
The proposal they had instead was this, as read out by one of them,
"My lord, we are certainly very concerned about what is happening in the city. But stationing men inside the mansion is not the way to go about it! Lord Parker has promised to talk as long as you recall your soldiers."
To which another immediately expressed his unyielding support, "Yes! And we agree this is the best move. We must not let these trivial matters cause blood to be spilled!"
While a third, much older gentleman, with a great long beard, sagaciously posed, "Mmmm, the Heeat family has a point. One cannot have negotiations while the other is pointing a sword at the throat. Lord Alexander, please listen to us."
Alexander felt like vomiting after hearing this. They offered nothing but wanted everything.
This was of coursepletely uneptable to him as those fortifications were probably the only things keeping him alive for now.
Hence he burst, "How am I holding the sword to Lord Parker''s throat when I have 3,000 men and they have 30,000?"
"You want me to move my men? Fine! Then Lord Parker also has to do the same. Tell him to take his army out of the city and hand the key to the gates to the city watch. That way both of us will be on even ground." Alexander sarcastically proposed.
This was of course now uneptable to the other side, as they would be fools to give such an advantage based on only a few empty words.
They could never trust Alexander not to take advantage of the situation.
And they would indeed have been fools to believe that, as Alexander fully intended to take advantage of the power vacuum that would be left after such a departure should it happen, and instantly rece the city watch with his own men and thus ultimately take over the city.
And then, possessing the high walls of the city and an open port, Alexander felt he could turn his fortunes with a single move.
Hence it was too bad that none of that happened.
Instead, it was Lord Nn who personally intervened at this, appearing shocked as he chimed, "My lord, how can you say that? Those men are vital for keeping order in the city. They are the ones holding the ce together Haven''t you seen that the people are already rioting? What will happen if we remove them? Surely those rioting miscreants will burn the whole ce down¡. Surely they will."
The old man repeated thest phrase both to emphasize the significance, as well as a small quark of his speech.
And after a few such meetings of the same thing happening, finally got Alexander incensed, as this was clearly nonsense.
The soldiers were not defending the city against the rioters¡ they were the rioters.
He knew this, they knew this, he knew they knew this, and they knew he knew they knew this.
So, after a few more futile meetings of trying to get them toe to a more reasonable agreement, such as Lord Parker sending a representative and Lord Cassius voluntarily to be representatives from this side and hash things out, Alexander got too frustrated by his fruitless game of cat and mouse.
And then, although his mind him not to, his mouth allowed him to, thus he shouted,
"Or perhaps the riots will entirely stop if we throw Lord Parker''s men out. Surely none of us got where we are today eating ss. We are all smart enough to know what is happening. So why don''t you drop the act and simply say what you want?"
This was a bad move by Alexander in hindsight as it should not have been him to tear apart this paper mask.
It should have been them because then they would have been on the back foot.
However now, due to this hasty statement, Alexander was left wide open to a counterattack, as Lord Nn disdainfully scoffed, "Lord Alexander, we are reputed people. We do not put such baseless rumors into your ears."
"If you have proof of the person¡ or people behind these attacks, show them to us. And we will surely take action, no matter their identity. However ''please'' do not bring up any names without evidence. Or we might use you of nder."
The way Lord Nn used the word ''please'' was very telling, full of sarcasm and disdain as if rebuking the other side for making such a childish mistake.
Yes, everyone knew they were bullshitting.
But they were bullshitting within the logical framework.
And if Alexander wanted to beat them, he should have used the tools at his hand, not ''unfounded'' ims.
Thus he suffered a backhanded defeat at the other''s hand, which incensed the caged lord even more.
Alexander would usually nevermit such a telegraphed mistake.
However, it seemed the pressure was finally starting to get to him.
He began to feel it was not only the other side of the city that was teeming with his enemies, but even the mansion he was living in was too, and they were far, far closer.
And it was because of this statement of mind that when Lord Nn made the following offer, Alexander found it hard to resist.
The old man had made it during one of the covert conversations they had in his room, where the shrewd, old fogey had basicallyid out his agenda, sinctly revealing,
"Let''s be frank, Lord Alexander. Although I treat Mirnada like my daughter and loved my grandson Marcus dearly, I must put the well being of my family first. We Margraves are not in a good situation. I''m sure I do not need to go into detail on that. So as much as it hurts me, it supports Linda despite the fact that my eldest son is married to her elder sister."
"But, if my lord can help alleviate some of the pressure, we might be open to some negotiation, real negotiations."
He was asking for a bribe!
Chapter 1057 30 Million Ropals
Chapter 1057 30 Million Ropals
??To say that Alexander was caught off guard by the old man''s ask to grease the wheel would be a lie.
Because he came to the ind with the full expectation that at one point or another, he would have to butter the butts with gold and silver.
After all, this was the fastest and easiest way to buy one''s loyalty.
Money made the world go around.
Alexander had even bought the 50 million ropal with him for basically this.
And it could even be said that he had been only waiting for an opportunity like this to use it.
It was just that Lady Miranda had not been able to provide him with such an offer even when Alexander asked for it because she could not even get him into contact with the right people.
They would simply refuse to even see her, much less take Alexander''s money, as they did not trust the other.
Hence when the much more powerful and reliable Lord Nn made the offer that Alexander was so asking for, he happily jumped totch onto the bait- hook, line, and sinker.
In his mind, this sudden offer actually made perfect sense.
In Alexander''s eyes, Lord Nn appeared like a pragmatic man who was fishing, someone who was willing to sell himself to the highest bidder, all in order to save his family.
And Alexander actually found himself sympathizing with the men to some extent.
He thought that if he were in his shoes, he would most probably do the same- try and acquire as much money as possible to save his bankrupt family, no matter the tactics used.
And Alexander was actually fine with this game proposed by Lord Nn.
Because he believed he had the absolute advantage in such a contest.
He did not know how rich the Heeat family was, but Alexander did not think there was a single noble living around the Central Sea who was richer than him.
Sure some countries might be richer than him, but an individual house or lord is impossible.
He had aplete monopoly on the iron and sugar products and few could imagine the gold these bulk goods generated for him every year.
Since he was the sole producer and the market was still young to such unique delicacies, all the people were still in their honeymoon period with them, buying every avable lick crazily.
And given that there were around 300 million people living around the vast Central Sea, even if they gave Alexander just 5 ropal per year, meaning just one day''s worth of earning out of a whole year, that would still get him 1.5 billion ropals.
Of course, this was a very oversimplified and even somewhat erroneous calction containing many mistakes, but it still showed how quickly Alexander was able to get too filthy rich.
And with his heavy pouch under his belt, the young lord could be hardly med for being a bit free with his wealth.
Thus feeling ted inside at the chance to contribute, he prodded Lord Nn in a cautionary tone,
"Oh! And the others are willing to switch sides just like that? I thought it was the earlier lord''s direction that Miss Linda be made the seat ruler? What about Lord Margraves IV''s decree?"
Alexander was certainly not a fool when it came to money, and would not just throw it because he was asked to.
So given Lord Nn was begging, Alexander wanted to fish for the man''s sincerity.
"Hehehe, who told you?" While Lord Nn produced a frank chuckle, his wizened eyes emitting an amused but cautious glint.
He did not believe someone had betrayed the old lord''s decision to a third party.
Because the ones who knew about it were a handful of very, very trusted people whose integrity was beyond reproach.
"Hehehe, you did!" While Alexander also tried to appear smart and mysterious, giving an enigmatic answer.
"Me?" And predictably, this got a bit of a flustered reaction from the other side, as Lord Nn turned his sharp gaze on Alexander.
He could not think of such an instance for the life of him. The old man was generally very tight lipped.
"Hehehe, yes! You. Just now confirmed it."
It was only now that Lord Nn understood the joke- the fact that he did not deny Alexander''s im was likely enough to set the man off.
And thus his fluster turned into a blush in shame.
Then through clenched teeth, he reluctantly spat out, "It seems Lord Alexander is a very aplished wordsmith. To even trap this old man. Impressive, impressive, I did not expect such a young man to be a man of so many talents." Lord Nn seemed genuinely impressed by Alexander''s skill.
And to this, Alexander expressed his pride despite posing to be humble, making up the story, "Hehehe, my lord is very too modest. My suspicions were only raised by the fact that none of you wanted to me Miss Linda for anything. I only became sure now."
Only thest part of his speech was actually true.
But the elder Lord Nn still could only ruefully shake his head at this.
While Alexander pushed ahead fishing for more, asking, "I''m curious, why did the former lord want to remove Lady Miranda? And how did he intend to do if Marcus was still alive?"
Alexander had always found the timeline of these events a bit confusing because Miss Linda had obviously married Lord Parker much before the gue hit and killed the old man and his grandson.
Meaning the old coot must have been nning this for quite some time now.
''So how did he originally n to deal with Lady Miranda?'', Alexander wondered.
"I''m sorry¡but that is our family''s secret." However old man Nn seemed reluctant to divulge any of these, which was frankly natural.
If Alexander was in his shoes, he would not have either- after all ording to official reports, Lord Margraves IV had formally promised the family to Lady Miranda and her son.
So to then covertly plot to break it, certainly did not paint him and the rest of the family in the most favorable light.
But Lord Nn did add this addendum, "But I can promise you that the old lord never intended to harm either of them. I would have never let him!"
Alexander had nothing to base this on.
True Lord Nn might have been Marcus''s paternal grandfather but given he was also fully supporting the side actively fighting his son and daughter inw, so Alexander had every reason to be doubtful.
But at this point, it really did not matter anyway.
And so with this ''testing the waters,'' Alexander got to the meat of the issue, "So how bad are the family''s finances?"
"We would like to take a loan of 100 million ropals, my lord."
Alexander almost spat out the wine he had in his mouth hearing this.
Talk about being greedy.
When Alexander asked how bad the family''s business was, he did not literally mean how bad the family''s business was.
He meant how much they wanted as a bribe.
And 100 million was of course a bit too far.
So far in fact that Alexander even considered getting up and leaving.
However, Lord Nn managed to quickly get the man back, shouting, "We are haggling, we are haggling," as the two then got to discussing the matter more seriously.
And after a lot of back and forth came to a much more reasonable sum of 30 million ropals!
To be paid in cash as soon as possible.
However, in reality, all that Lord Nn was offering was a lie. There was no will among the elders to betray Miss Linda.
In fact, this was all done under the instruction of Miss Linda.
Remember when Lord Parker asked forpensation money for the people, and Miss Linda promised she would arrange it?
Well this was her way of arranging it! By swindling Alexander.
And given the man was backed into a corner, he fell for it.
Hence over the following days, Alexander transferred a great deal of the money he had brought with him to Lord Nn, all of which was stealthily transferred to Lord Parker via small boats which were used to supply food to the mansion from the Great Harbor to the Royal Harbor, thus bypassing Alexander''s checkpoints.
And then seeing the piles and piles of gold filling up his tent, "Hahaha, great! Great! As expected of my wife. Great!" the young lord had rejoiced.
All the while the things Alexander had been promised never materialized.
The riots in the city still continued unabated and the various elders continued to drag their feet, not even willing to verbally denounce Miss Linda, much less express support for Lady Miranda.
And they all gave various excuses, "We are trying","We are investigating", "The people are too angry", "We are not feeling that well", "We have other considerations", etc, etc.
Alexander grew increasingly frustrated by this, as did the rioting people, who started to be more and more violent.
Until the day, in a small room under darkness, a group of men and one woman met-
"The people have trying been riled up. I believe we can kill Alexander without any repercussions. Let us go it tomorrow night!"
Chapter 1058 The Assassination Plans
Chapter 1058 The Assassination ns
??The small number of people gathered inside the dimly lit room would not have been any strangers to Alexander if he were to see them.
He had met them all recently, with the two most prominent people being Lord Nn and Miss Linda.
And it was the old wizened man who took the charge, sanctioning the attack and firmly dering, "We will use our men in the mansion tomit the deed. While at the same time, Lord Parker willunch an attack on Alexander''s men from the other side, distracting them and thus preventing them froming to his aid," as the man then sharply nted his eyes towards the angelic looking woman, "Linda, let your husband know. The timely must be perfect."
Lord Nn made sure to put an emphatic emphasis on thest bit, as he feared that otherwise, Alexander''s men, after hearing of their lord''s demise, might be enraged and choose to take their anger out on them, blindly ughter everyone in the mansion as revenge.
So the moment when all this happened was very important.
The attack on Alexander and the attack on Alexander''s line must be done very close to one another, or it could alert the other side.
If Alexander was killed while his men were free, the lightly guarded mansion would be turned to ash and smoke.
But if the Heeat family soldiers attacked Alexander''s men before Alexander was assassinated, then Alexander might react unpredictably, such as receiving word from them and leaving the premises to lead the defense of the line.
The bird could not be allowed to leave the coup.
Neither could the entirety of the Margraves family be sacrificed to kill just one man.
Lord Nn had exined all of this to Miss Linda in great detail prior to the meeting, hence at the reminder, she deftly nodded her head differentially, "I will be sure to send messengers to my lord when the time is near. He will attack when he sees the light signaling from the mansion."
In a very rare instance, Miss Linda too appeared solemn and serious, and not at all gleeful and expectant of the attack.
She was suddenly finding that going against the cultural norms and assassinating one''s guest was not as easy as she had thought.
Her heart still pricked at the bad decision.
Because deep inside she knew that although Lord Nn had imed the people''s rage had reached a feverish pitch and they would be able to kill Alexander without repercussions, this was all a hunch, a best estimate.
No one really knew how the following events would unfold. And the 5,000 men stationed right on her doorsteps gave her great trepidation about the act.
However, all this apprehension was of course not enough to stop her.
Given how far they hade, and the dangerous foe Alexander was showing himself to be, Miss Linda knew she had to act.
As long as Alexander stayed alive, that formidable line of defense would continue to hold rock solid and his men would effectively keep them under house arrest as hostages.
Thus the plotting side made sure to try their best to prepare for this dangerous act.
Alexander''s route to the room and his routine were thoroughly scouted out using maids and servants, the number of guards around him at all times was definitely determined, and even which men did which shifts were taken into ount.
And finally the following n was formted.
A group of men would first attack the guards stationed at the door with crossbows all the way from the two ends of the corridor under the cover of darkness, thus killing or at least incapacitating them.
Following right that, the men would charge in with lightning speed to fully capitalize on this momentarily shock, finishing the wounded two off with a swift stab to the throat, before kicking the door open and bursting in.
And there they would stab and kill anything and everything that moved. So it would not be just Alexander who would be the target.
But anyone who might be sleeping with him too- be it Lady Nanazin, Lady Parthia, or even a maid sent to the man as a bed warmer.
Everyone in the room was to be neutralized, and as soon as this was done, a signaller positioned in a particr room of the mansion would be given the go ahead to shine a bright light using a mirror toward Lord Parker''s camp.
And given the utter ambient darkness of the night, it would appear like a lighthouse to the men who would know where to look.
Miss Linda was the one who hade up with this method and was even particrly proud of it.
Especially because the mirror to be used here was one gifted by Alexander, chosen because of its high quality ss, meaning it reflected much more light, and also because thedy liked the irony of it.
Having received the signal, the prepared Lord Parker would then immediatelyunch a huge, nearly all out attack on Alexander''s lines, surprising them, and if they were lucky even breaking through them.
But even if the best case scenario did not happen, it would more than likely be enough to stall and distract the men enough for Miss Linda, her son, Lord Nn, and Lady Adele to either escape to the allied camp or even have the Heeat family soldiers use the ships from Great Harbor tond on the Royal Harbor and secure the mansion.
This was at least the n.
And having formted it, Miss Linda then sent her messengers to her husband, informing him of it.
Because Lord Parker had been unable to enter the mansion after Alexander barricaded the streets without significant risks.
Thus the man chose to wisely stand in his camp, safe and sound, with the only drawback being he could not participate in such discussions.
Hence unaware of the decision being taken by the small table, it was left up to the people inside to be his eyes and ears.
And it was carrying the details of the decisions, the time, and the ce that Miss Linda sent messengers to her husband.
And yes, it was multiple messengers so ensure that at least one of them reached the man.
However, for all the cunning thedy was blessed with, this was where she stumbled, being unable to foresee the following developments.
Which was that Alexander had suddenly decided to increase the guards and employ stricter checks, as well as block many of the usual routes the messengers would usually take.
And this had happened unknowingly due to Miss Linda''s own actions.
Because remember how Miss Linda had swindled money off of Alexander and then had it ''shipped'' to Lord Parker?
Well, Alexander''s men were not blind fools and luckily managed to catch some of it.
This had happened because the ''smugglers'' had to make numerous trips to transfer the gold via boat, both due to the sheer volume of money Alexander had poured onto Lord Nn''s feet and also because they had to hide it among other things, thus reducing the amount able to be carried.
And they had to do all this in broad daylight because there would be aplete curfew at night, where anyone moving around without the appropriate passcode would be either directly shot or be taken to the dungeon to be questioned in the morning.
All of this gave the guards numerous opportunities to detect the operation. And by simple virtue of bnce of probability, one day they got lucky.
It happened one morning when one of the soldiers standing guard at the docks suddenly felt a shining glinting from one of the boats, and bing curious, he had the nearby vessel hauled to the shore for further inspection.
And there it all became clear to everyone.
It seemed that due to either hastiness or an honest mistake, a few of the gold coins had not been properly hidden.
And when Alexander was informed of this, the man was understandably pissed out of his mind about this.
It did not take the man long to understand he had been swindled.
And at first, he wanted to fly into Lord Nn''s room and strangle the bastard in a blind rage.
However under Lord Nn''s advice, he decided to withdraw his hand for now, willing to give the man rope to hang himself with.
Then he instead ordered the guards to let the boat go after taking a small bribe.
And the servants were of course overjoyed by this.
They were terrified of what would happen if their master or mistress came to know about this, and so not only they paid, but they also very obediently kept their mouth shut about this to anyone.
Meaning neither Lord Nn nor Miss Linda was aware that Alexander was onto them.
All of which led to one of the messengers being caught during the more rigorous searches.
Due to trying the blocks, this man had to try to pass through a route he was unfamiliar with, and so unfortunately he got caught.
And then the letter he had with him made it to Alexander''s desk within an hour, while the man was taken for questioning into the camps.
It did not take long for him to squeal.
Chapter 1059 Counter Plans
Chapter 1059 Counter ns
??(Sorry guys... Had the chapter in auto publish. But there was a small glitch. First miss in 1 and half years.... and it wasn''t even my faith. *Sob*, *Sob*, *Sob*. Gutted)
The winter in Caira was proving to be veryfortable for Alexander.
It was unusually warm here whenpared to Zanzan, and because the city was right next to the coast, the surroundings were refreshingly cool during the day but tepid and snug during the night.
The sun would almost always be bright and shining in the morning, so despite the temperature hovering close to the high single digits, it was actually not as frigid as one would think.
And it was due to this that Alexander could not help but want to sunbathe a bit, loving to stare at the navy blue sky with nary a cloud in sight.
And as he sat down, he began to think over Lord Nn''s feet dragging, while attempting to deduce what was holding the old man up.
"My lord, we have caught a boat filled with ropals!"
It was amidst this rumination that this loud and deep voiced message suddenly broke him out of his thoughts.
And now upon hearing this, he instantly connected the dots, as he suddenly jumped up out of his devan like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, feeling incensed, "What did you say? Ropals!"
He threateningly shouted unconsciously, catching the messenger a bit off guard, who instantly mped up in fear.
There have been not just one or two instances of the king shooting the messenger.
And seeing this, Alexander quickly centered himself and cated the man.
Before getting to know the whole deal.
And the fact that it was Zanzan ropals that was caught and not the local Paysa, was the tell tale sign what revealed to Alexander what was going on.
He at once wanted to order his men to ughter that lying old snake for this deception.
However, Alexander, being the cautious man decided to at least talk it over with Lady Nanazin before killing his ally''s father inw, and this was what the Adhanian Queen had to say, "Perhaps we should wait. There must be a reason why they are moving the money from the mansion to the other side despite the risk. Let''s see what they are plotting."
Alexander at first did not like this advice, grumbling, "The plot is that they are trying to swindle me. All that talk about reconciliation was hogwash. Dammit!"
The man felt like he was having deja vu, as something very simr had happened with the Tibian delegate Leosydas just a few years ago.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
Alexander was thus feeling both angry towards the old man, as well as himself.
"...." While the regal queen wisely chose to keep quite, letting the man freely vent.
And it was then Lady Parthia, who had in a rare instance chosen to apany Lady Nanazin, who stepped up and voiced in a soothing tone, "Whatever money we lost, is not very important at the moment. What were we doing with it anyway in here? It was rotting inside the ships anyway. Let them have it if they so desire. We can kill them and take it backter!"
The angelically beautiful queen was surprisingly bellicose when the situation called for it, as she then turned to address Alexander didactically, "What is now most important to discern is why they went to so much trouble to take the money off? Could they be readying themselves for an attack on us and fear the loot might be lost in the struggle?"
".....'' Alexander was caughtpletely blindsided by this.
So blinded had he been by the shame of being taken advantage of, that he had not thought about it like that.
The man was suddenly d he had bought these two experinced women with him- if for nothing else but their council.
So he decided to y dumb while raising his guard, waiting to see what the other side''s game was.
And this patience soon paid off.
"Hey! What is this?"
As one winterte morning, an angry legionary could be heard barking this towards a diminutive looking man, while waving an expensive looking letter.
It was very neatly folded and had the Margraves family seal on the letterhead, as well as on the wax seal, looking very formal and official.
While the caught man tried to bluster his way out, "That is a letter I want to send to my wife and kids! Please do not touch it. It is personal."
Despite the abysal like fear he was feeling, the man thinking quickly on his feet put on a very brave front.
"Heh!" But the on guard man did not buy it, disdainfully scoffing and then sneering, "Is your wife some kind of noble? Should I bow and call you milord? Or else how could you carry such a beautiful letter? It even has the family''s seal. And, *sniff*, it smells so good!"
It was very clear from the man''s face and demeanor that he was a mere servant, who could not likely even afford the expensive paper he was carrying, much less thevender perfume it was douched it.
This was another mistake Miss Linda had made. She had sprayed the letter with her favoutrite perfume, a practise that was verymon among noble couples of the time, done to show one''s affection towards the other.
The idea was that upon getting the letter, the husband would inhale the fragrance he would usually find on his wife and thus be reminded of her.
Which was all a fairly innocuous affair, if not even a bit armorous.
Howver this time it proved to be a dangerous smoking gun for the other side.
"Come with us." The messenger was not given any more chance to exin himself, and taken to the camp to be interrogated, while the unopened letter quickly made its way to Alexander.
Upon opening which, everything wasid bare.
From the decision that was made, to the tactic to be used, to the day and time of the attack, to the signal that was to be given.
Everything was written in clear detail, all in Miss Linda''s handwriting no less.
One could have hardly asked for a more fitting evidence.
And upon reading it, Alexander was both angry and a bit scared. Because he did not think the other side would have dared such a move.
In this time period, killing one''s guests was a big no no.
A simile for modern day would be something akin to a country''s president being invited to the UN and then being assassinated.
Such a thing would be too scandalous.
So given the other side was willing to go this far, Alexander was left with the ask of how to respond.
His very first thought was to take the letter to Lady Miranda and gain council on how to proceed.
But then he thought better of it.
Because up until now, thedy had been nothing but a pain in his rear.
Not providing any tangible benefit, but only nagging and objecting.
Even her promise of a neutral father inw hade up with nothing but a 30 million ropal loss.
The old man was in cahoots with her younger sister as thick as thieves and the foolishdy did not even know about.
So this time, Alexander decided to go off on his own, and instead asked the two queens with him about this.
"We should change rooms. And increase the guards," And the idea they gave was to simply strengthen one''s defenses even more and be even more vignt.
However to Alexander, this sounded all a bit too passive.
Since the enemy had decided to strike, he wanted to preemptive it.
So instead, he began to consider allowing the attempt to proceed as was.
From the man''s interrogations, Alexander knew that he was one among multiple messengers sent out by their mistress- all carrying the same message- one which informed the lord that the riots in the city were working and that Alexander''s death would be received with great joy, thus encouraging him to continue as well as asking hom prepare his army for a attack on the defensive lines.
And given the date of the assaination was today, at midnight, Alexander was pretty sure they would not miss the man in time.
So gazing at the setting sun, Alexander called Remus and Hemicus into the room, showing them the letter and then dering in a decisive voice, "As you can see, the negotiations havepletely down. Tonight, we go to war!"
Neither man flinched a muscle, their confidence also helping Alexander''s confidence.
Thus with a pleased heart Alexander at first turned to face the young general, "Remus, you will increase the sentries and strengthen the lines. Be sure to prepare for the attack."
"And when they do attack, take the chance to take few hundred men under darkness and set fire to all the ships in the Great Harbor. Use the catapults we have brought if you need to. They can shoot really far."
The armored general was of course over the moon at having finally gotten his permission and received the order with an enthusiastic salute.
While Alexander turned to Hemicus and ordered, "Rece the guards of my door with two servants from the mansion. Use whatever excuse you need to get them to agree. And then have ten armed men hide here."
"When the assassins break in, have them ughter all the assnts. Then immediately take over the entire mansion. One group will capture the signaller while the other will secure Lady Linda and Lord Nn. Go!"
Chapter 1060 Last Minute Preparations
Chapter 1060 Last Minute Preparations
??With the plot about him revealed Alexander wasted no time formting his own counter n, one designed to turn the tables on the other side.
And the way he intended to do it was to take advantage of the attack tounch his own attack.
That was why he gave those kinds of orders to Remus and Hemicus.
And since the time on their hand was really short at best a few hours, the men wasted no time in trying to prepare themselves as best as they could.
Hemicus''s job was rtively easy, he only had to find two unlucky servants and ask them to take over Alexander''s shift from them.
And to this effect, he ordered them, "The lord has called us into his room tonight for some drinks. So you two are to stand guard instead of us."
The stoic gentleman had no problem in iming that Alexander swung both ways, something that the young Pasha would have greatly objected to if he was there, as the lord certainly would never spend the night with his men like that.
However the veracity of any such im was moot here, as it was only a pretext to get the two ve servants to agree, who would likely die anyway when the assants attacked, taking this ''secret'' with him.
Something that the two male ves were naturallypletely oblivious to and so instead jumped at the chance with great crity.
They had no problem understanding what Hemicus was really saying as such rtionships between a lord and his retainers were actually quitemon, with the only condition in such an engagement being that they did not outright unt it, but kept it a secret as best as they could.
Kind of like an open secret.
Hence being familiar with such events and unable to sense any foul y, the two ves quickly jumped at the opportunity, before turning especially happy when Hemicus''s hand produced a shiny glitter, "Here is 5 ropal as an advance. And you will get 5 more at the end of your shift."
The promise of rumination was enough to spend the two men on the moon.
For these ves, who usually received little to no wages, this gold might as well as the entirety of El Dorado.
They knew that it took a farmer two days to earn this amount of gold.
And now they were being offered the same amount just to stand in front of a door for only one night. And not even a full one night at that.
They would be fools not to ept.
Thus as night dawned, the two men took their at the door after supper, donned in the iconic full fledged blue legionary armor.
It was a gift from Alexander, who felt slightly bad at using them as bait, and thus gave them the whole kit- a linen thorax, covered with chainmail, and topped off with a bronze cuirass.
Along with the usual helmet, shield, and sword, all working to give them the best chance at surviving the ambush.
And when fully garbed in the gear, they looked undifferentiable from Alexander''s personal guards even when observed up close, forget when looking at them from far at night.
The ambushers would absolutely have no way of seeing through this unless they had a prophet with them.
And presuming that they didn''t have such a person, they would also not know that in Alexander''s roomid in wait ten fully armed men just for them, all of whom had entered it right in front of the two ves without raising the slightest suspicion.
The tworades had only given themselves a knowing smirk seeing these tall, muscr men fully d in armor enter the room, before one chuckled to another with the barest audible whisper, "Hehehe, the young lord is too young for this don''t you think?"
Both were astounded by the fact that it was an astounding ''ten'' men who were invited to this party.
This was the first time seeing something like this for anyone.
Because up until now, the two ves had at best seen three men enter a room simultaneously for such activities.
Thus towards his partner''s innocuous wag, the other man giggled, "I wonder who will be on the top and who on the bottom?"
This phrase referred to the fact that usually in such male on male union, the custom was for the one with higher status and authority to take the one with a lower status.
While the vice versa was seen as very abhorrent and furiously frowned upon. Even to the point it was seen as worse than even licking one''s ve''s muddy, dust ridden feet.
So a lord bing the lower of the two during the union was almost unthinkable.
However given there were ten of them and one of Alexander, this man was wondering how the pasha, who was shorter and less bulky than some of the men was going to cope.
After all, no human could ever hope to cope with so many men at once.
So they assumed that Alexander was sure to get exhausted and ''expose his nks''.
And the thought of this happening appeared to excite the first man, who could not help but vulgarly chuckle, then suggest, "Hehehe, let''s keep our ears sharp. We will surely get to hear some sweet moans soon. Oh! I cannot wait to hear the sounds that wille out of there. If only¡.!"
The man suddenly trailed off, eagerly licking his lips, and swallowing the rest of what he wanted to say, which was- ''if only they would let me join them''.
If it was not obvious enough, the man too liked other men and dreamed day and night to be able to join in this intimate act with other men, especially when they were men as handsome and dashing as those in Alexander''s guards unit- with abs looking as if they were chiseled out of stone and muscles carved out of mountains by the gods themselves.
These men were at the peak of their lives, athletics of the highest caliber, each a model of the perfect male physic.
Thus the ve covertly lusted after them.
While knowing his proclivities, his friend only rolled his eyes at these unrealistic fantasies.
The man had a better chance of bing a noble than being invited inside that door.
Hence he lightly scoffed to break the man out of his delusion, "Stand straight and keep it in your pants, you fool. Or you are gonna get both of us killed!" as he quickly took the attention position himself.
In the second ve''s mind, this was going to be a long night.
While Hemicus and his group aplished his tasks rtively quickly with ease, and were only waiting for the other party to move, Remus''s job proved to be far more involved.
First, he had to reinforce the already existing lines, such as those in the front lines, those guarding the Royal Harbor, and even the units that oversaw the various escape tunnels the Margraves had out of the mansion, a knowledge gained by Alexander courtesy of Lady Miranda.
Then he had to form new teams with brand new objectives, such as the ones that would be responsible for entering and taking over the mansion once the attempt on Alexander was made, the ones that would secure the outer perimeter and the unit with the biggest task of all, the one that would dash into the Great Harbor and burn all the ships to the ground¡ or in this case the sea.
And Remus had to do this all within just a few hours, because he only got the message aroundte afternoon, while Lord Parker was scheduled to strike sometime after dinner.
Hence the sheer time crunch and the huge amount of work that needed to be done in the meantime made the young, rtively inexperienced general suddenly feel like he was out of his depth and drowning.
And his only relief was that the officers under him were verypetent and thus made up for Remus''sck of know how inmanding such arge force.
These veterans quickly got to work as soon as they were debriefed on the recent development and began to perform just as was expected of them.
So they helped to iron out the various small details all by themselves, while also doing some things on their own, such as bringing forth the dinner time as otherwise the soldiers would not have enough time to eat and prepare for the attack.
While others, particrly those chosen to go on the raid were given an early order to sleep, having gotten their meal from the mansion''s kitchen, the one that was originally cooked for the Margraves family.
The meal was half seized, half snatched under a mixture of threat and coercion by the men from the cooks,
Something that was of course sanctioned by Alexander, an act that waster vehemently protested by Lord Nn during the supper, who appeared incensed.
The spicy old man med Alexander for being unable to control his men and made another strong demand to have them removed from the premises.
And if it had been prior to Alexander catching the old man swindling him, he might have actually paid his two cents to this.
But now?
He put it through one ear and through it out the other, only symbolically promising that this was a one time thing and that he would see to it that the men responsible were properly punished.
Chapter 1061 Assassins
Chapter 1061 Assassins
??As the night descended and the hour of the act drew nearer, both Miss Linda and Alexander found themselves to be a bit relentless.
The former''s reason was of course easily discernable.
Despite her hawkish rant, the act of trying to kill Alexander had not been taken lightly.
But given the situation, Alexander really had to go.
And thus even the not so religiousdy suddenly found herself praying to the gods for sess.
While Alexander''s reason for nervousness was due to a multitude of reasons.
First of all, he really did not want this to happen due to how mismatched the forces were.
5,000 infantry vs 20,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry.
It was knowing this disparity that he had tried to avoid conflict at all costs, even spending 30 million ropals in an attempt to pay off the cmity.
But it seemed the mistress of fate had other ideas.
The other side thought too little of Alexander and too highly of themselves, and so it seemed that the only way left for Alexander to make them listen was to strike them down.
But this act was of course not as easy as it sounded.
Hence the ever cautious man considered whether or not there were any backup ns the other side might have in store should this fail.
And what that could be.
This meant that Alexander still felt himself to be partially in the dark about the whole thing.
Following that came the concern of the takeover of the mansion which would happen at night, and Alexander hoped that there would be no needless casualties.
Because in the darkness and the heat of the moment, it was very easy to make a mistake.
And if this mistake resulted in the death of someone like Miss Linda or Lord Nn, never mind if it was one of his allies Lady Miranda or Lord Cassius, then he would have nowhere to shed his tears.
Of course the man had repeatedly urged his men about his,manding them to be extra careful, but still, the concern remained.
In this way, it can be seen that even if the other side wanted Alexander dead, he did not want them dead, not necessarily because he was some kind of saint, but because that would cause a greater problem than it would solve.
Killing Miss Linda would draw Lord Parker''s as well as the entire Margraves family''s irk, and an irreconcble irk at that, along with who knows, perhaps even Lady Miranda''s given how thedy sometimes acted.
So the woman and her son were far more useful to him alive, as a very valuable bargaining chip.
And the same reason applied to Lord Nn, just that this time it would Lord Cassius who would object, and surely object vehemently at that.
However all three of these concerns were trumped fully by thisst one- the burning of the ships.
Alexander really hoped Remus would be able to pull this off sessfully.
In fact, the man hoped for its sess so much that Alexander thought that even if some ofthe other objectives failed, this one had to seed, no matter what.
And to see to that it happened, Alexander had initially even wanted to lead the attack himself.
But found it too impractical.
For one, there was always the inherent danger of leading such a crack unit dead at night, where a simple stumble in the pitch ck darkness might cause him to be trampled to death.
Alexander then also found that he had other matters that would require his hand in- such as cating the newly would be captured men and women after his men take over the mansion.
It had to be remembered that not even his allies Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius knew of Alexander''s ns and so he feared that when the men ''secured'' them, they might in panic and react in a way that would cause apletely avoidable tragedy.
So it was with such great bnces in the sway in his mind that Alexander waited with a heightened heartbeat in an abandoned room a couple of rooms away from his usual abode, waiting for everything to unfold, being apanied by the two Queens and five guardsmen.
The eight were inplete darkness, with only the light of the stars flitering in through the small wind, the moon having chosen to take his leave today.
They did not even dare to light a smallmp, fearing the source might give themselves away to any unforeseen prying eyes.
So they kept as quiet as a mouse in that dark and somewhat dusty room, apanied by only their breathes and the asional tiny nks of metal as the soldiers subtly shifted their body, all keeping thier ears perked up to detect even the tiniest squeak of sound from outside.
And after what seemed like an eternity, suddenly it came!
First was a very muffled groan and a dull thud, likely of the two guards being shot and falling, followed by the rapid shuffle of heavy boots of the assassins, who then produced a sudden bang that shattered all the silence in its entirety.
Alexander understood that this was likely the enemy bursting the solid wooden bedroom door open.
"...¡." Then it was surprisingly quiet for a while, with no sound entering Alexander''s ears.
This was because the assassins were currently scanning the room for their target Alexander and any other, fanning out into two small groups to try and locate their quarry.
When suddenly,"Ahhhh!", "Ughhh!", "Wha¡"
The dense silence was shattered by the crude and guttural howls of surprised and then quickly dying men.
And although these mournful sounds should have caused any man to feel dread or at least sad, Alexander only felt ted.
It seemed the operation had gone just as nned.
The six assassins had attacked from both sides in teams of three, quickly incapacitating the guards, and bursting into the room with incredible zeal.
There they scanned a bit to try and perice their sight through the darkness and managed to spot a dummy shaped like Alexander in the bed.
So one group hurriedly approached that, silent as the night, daggers were drawn, the steel de as pitch ck as the surrounding, intent on dying the white metal and the sheets red with crimson blood.
While the others started to fan out to check the other rooms connected to the main one.
And it was right then that Alexander''s men revealed themselves,ing in from both sides of the two doors that the bedroom was attached to with a silent but practiced march, and greeting the assains with an unrelenting volley of arrow fire from their ''Instant bows''.
*Shoo*, *Shoo*, *Shoo*
For the next few seconds, the air in the room was set abuzz with the whizzing of arrows zooming through the wind and the crisp twang of the released bowstrings.
These highly trained guards did not bother to shout loudmands or utter morale rising cheers.
There was no need to.
As it would do little more than alert the other party to their presence.
Hence the men worked in silence, first emptying their ''magazine'' and turning many of the assassins into almost porcupines, their chest and backs filled with a deadly canopy of bolts, and then to really finish off the job,
*ng*, *ng*, *ng*, the men charged after unsheathing their swords.
It was a bloodbath, with the entire thing from the first arrow loosened to thest head chopped offsting around only 20 to 30 seconds.
The men Alexander had to protect him were that skilled- the top cream of the crop.
They were so fast and methodical in fact that some assassins in fact did not even understand how they died, the shower of arrows being invisible to them until the moment they hit them.
While others could only let out incoherent rambles as they only saw a ck shadowy mass suddenly materialize in front of them and then an unbearable stinging sensation spread throughout their body as they were stabbed and then hacked to pieces.
"Go! Infrom the lord. And give the signal to Remus." With the assnts neutrialized, Hemicus quickly took charge to order as such, and the nine men moved with feathered feet.
Some went to knock on Alexander''s door and pronounced the one of the three secret passcodes, letting him know that everything went precisely ording to n.
While others went to apprehend the signaller, who was situated all alone in a remote part of the mansion, perched high up in a storeroom, holding a torch and a mirror.
"Wha¡ what is this? What are you¡ arghhhh!" And these were hisst words as four men burst through the door and then promptly executed the man with not a single more word uttered.
And there they waited for Alexander to give the word that would allow them to signal to Lord Parker for the attack.
The penultimate group went to inform Remus, or more specifically the officer Remus had put in charge of leading the men to attack the mansion, shining a signal of their own from one of the rooms to give the go ahead.
Andstly, one single man went to check up on the two guard ves and found them to be still breathing.
Chapter 1062 Securing the Mansion (Part-1)
Chapter 1062 Securing the Mansion (Part-1)
??As Alexander emerged from his hiding room, he found that the two ves he had chosen to sacrifice had actually survived, the bolts having only hit them on the arm, shoulder, and legs.
This was most likely because of the angle of the attack, as the assassins had shot from the side, not the front or back, thus missing the men''s truly vital points.
And as the two fell, and became incapacitated, they must have not bothered to finish them off, instead choosing to focus to their true quarry.
It was just too bad that the following events did not go as nned.
Anyway, seeing the wounded men, Alexander sinctly ordered, "Move them to the infirmary," allowing them to receive free treatment, while he gathered his guards and started to match towards first Miss Linda and then Lord Nn''s room.
The few guards encountered on the way were dealt with with rtive ease, with most choosing to flee rather than fight.
This was because they had already lost their most experienced members in the assassination attack, while Alexander''s entourage still had a party of ten strong men.
And although this number might not sound like a lot in the grand scheme of things, in these cramped hallways, theserge, tall, armored men appeared very imposing, almost filling up the horizon, thus leaving the Margraves family men with little hope of sess.
So they wisely ran, leaving their mistress to deal with the
And banging open the door to the room personally, Alexander found thedy to be still awake and well!
Usually, Miss Linda would have been in her nightgown and fast asleep by this time.
However given the specialness of today, she was still in her formal ck gown, cradling her son and sitting by the window. patiently waiting to hear the good news, while regrly peeking out of the ss to try and spot the promised attack by her husband''s forces.
Thus she was caughtpletely off guard when the doors thundered open and immediately poured in arge number of men dressed in blue, causing her to jump up in fright.
And as Alexander revealed himself from the back with a sly smile, the man then very much relished the frightful screech that foul mouthed woman uttered as she turned to look at him with shock and incredulity,
"Wha¡ Ale¡ Alexander? Yo¡ How are you¡? What is this!"
Upon seeing Alexander, the fairdy''s expression suddenly went from being furious at the sudden invasion to shocked as she was certainly not expecting the man to be still alive, then to confused as she wondered how he had survived, andstly to frightened as she finally understood why these men were here.
And facing so many men ring at her, even the usually very spicydy found herself subconsciously shrinking herself, as her heart started to unconsciously quicken and her voice lost all that vigor.
Instead, shes of terrible things happening to her thundered across her mind, as just as she had fantasized about punishing MM and LC, this time she conjured various nightmarish scenarios for herself.
She first imagined Alexander tearing her son from her breast and smashing his head against the stone floor right in front of her, before crushing the infant''s skull under his heavy, metal boots, dying the floor red and pink.
While at the same time, she saw herself being pinned down right there, her clothes being roughly torn apart, the men''s filthy hands grabbing and twisting her soft flesh before she was presented to the leader of the pack in a spread eagled fashion- each of her limbs being held by a pair of strong arms, her shaved pink privates open for all to see.
However, despite inducing such a despair inducing scenario in her heart, credit to thedy, she did not kneel or grovel at Alexander''s feet.
Instead, she only clutched her son even tighter, and then venomously stared back at Alexander, before clenching her teeth to menacingly threaten, "Lord Alexander, do you have any idea of what you are doing? Barging into my room at this time of night? What is the meaning of this?"
Alexander was frankly very impressed by the fact despite everything in front of her, thisdy could still continue to keep up the act without breaking character.
''I really should introduce her to Felicia,'' Alexander even amusedly chuckled so, easily finding the two to be of the same flock.
Thedy however did remember to add ''Lord'' before his name this time, so that was at least an improvement.
It proved that thedy was not delusional to her current state.
"Heh!" And thus to show his appreciation, Alexander gave a mocking, taunting sneer, not saying anything more.
Something that seemed to quite irritate thedy.
And then seeing that none of the men had the intent to harm her, she suddenly felt emboldened and taking advantage of it, angrily shot out, "Leave now! And I will pretend to forget about all this. Or are you trying to go war to with Duke Heeat''s family?"
Miss Linda was sure thisst threat would be enough to make Alexander think twice before acting.
It was a ducal family after all.
A family that in her mind, no one in their right head would ever think of crossing them. And certainly, no one who had a paltry force of only 5,000 men.
And ording to Miss Linda, it was not empty boasting either. She standing here unharmed till now was proof enough that the other side did not dare to cross them.
She was their daughter inw and future duchess after all.
Thus imagine her surprise when despite feeling so assured, this happened,
"*p!* That''s exactly what I want, bitch!"
An enormouslyrge palm swatted across her face at meteoric velocity, making a sharp and crisp contact with the right cheek at maximum speed, as Alexander held back nothing, thus turning her face red and bloody, with multiple small pores opening up on the pristine face, that then began to quickly ooze out red, hot blood.
Alexander had hit Miss Linda while still wearing his metal gauntlets, and thus the bronze metal cut the fluffy, rosy cheeks like butter, filling thedy''s mind with an unbearable stinging pain and her eyes with mist, as she began to tear up.
The pampereddy of course had never been hit in her entire life, and so both the pain of the hit as well as the humiliation of it, caused thedy to produce two streams of clear, salty water, as she lowered her head in shock.
While Alexander coldly gazed down at her like a god!
He knew very well that a man should never condone hitting a woman, under any circumstances.
But he would also admit there were some who really deserved it. And thedy in front of him was undoubtedly one of them.
Even after everything was under the sun, she still tried to continue to y this game.
Well, Alexander was not interested.
"That''s for my wife."
And there was also this little payback that prompted him to act the way, one which got no response from the other side.
Thedy continued to keep her head down and her mouth shut, both due to the humiliation of being hit by a man who was not her husband, as well as fearing Alexander ring up if she continued to prod him.
Who knew what the man could recklessly do if he acted out of anger?
And this silence quite pleased Alexander, as he felt that after so many defeats, finally, he had managed to win back some of his pride.
It felt good to ''conquer'' this vixen of ady.
Now, was this the right feeling to have after doing such a thing?
Of course not.
However Alexander was only human, meaning he too was wed, and this was one of his mistakes.
And whether he woulde to reflect on this act or not remained to be seen.
For now though, with his dominance established, the man left the silentdy to her own devices, stationing two guards at the front of her room to prevent her from escaping and then sending for a nurse from the camp to help treat the nobledy''s injuries.
With Miss Linda secured, Alexander then sought out Lord Nn, and here too the scenario worked out in mostly a simr manner to the prior one.
Alexander unceremoniously broke through the front door to find the old man sitting by his desk, writing something, and as the party jumped up and turned around in panic at the sudden intrusion, the very first thing he saw was Alexander devilishly grinning, "Had fun swindling my money, old fart!"
As soon as Alexander said this, the old crone understood the jig was up and unlike Miss Linda who bravely fought on, this man pathetically fell on his knees, begging, "Spare me, my lord, spare me I had no choice. I had no choice. They made me do it. They made me do it. Please¡ spare me."
He did not want to die, and so thinking Alexander was for revenge, he had no problem groveling, forgetting all this status and standing.
Alexander felt disgusted seeing this.
Chapter 1063 Securing the Mansion (Part-2)
Chapter 1063 Securing the Mansion (Part-2)
?1063 Securing the Mansion (Part-2)
Lord Nn''s pathetic groveling was a first for Alexander in either of his life.
He did not think a man could stoop so low. Especially one this high and dignified. Not to mention one so old.
You would think that having lived so long, the wizened lord would begin to lose some attachment to this material world.
But no.
In fact, it was the exact opposite that had happened.
The old man had firmly entrenched his desires into the earthly soil, the root descending deep and far, unwilling to leave its nest and wither.
Hence at the threat of death, tears, snot, and other mucus flowed across his face, the wrinkled skin being bathed in this water, and turning glittery with a soft shine.
Which actually looked quite good to look at, if ignoring the fact how it was produced.
And seeing the kneeling man, crying and desperately sping his hand, Alexander''s heart first of all produced a slight disgust, almost making him feel like he was not talking to a human but something lesser.
Lord Nn''s behavior looked like that.
Points had to be taken off the old man for not delivering to the same standards as Miss Linda.
"Get up! You are more useful to me alive than dead." Loudly announcing his decision, Alexander then gestured to the man to sit up.
And upon hearing the ''Not Guilty'' verdict being read to him, the old man''s face instantly switched from dark and overcast to bright and sunny.
"Thank you, my lord, thank you. I knew you were a reasonable person. I knew you were a reasonable person, thank you"
So happy was he that in fact Lord Nn''s little speech quark began toe out, while Alexander threw such pandering to the bins, and only charged, "What did you do to my money? Where is it? Why did you smuggle it out of the mansion in boats?"
Lord Nn was terrified by these revtions, as he could not imagine how Alexander had found out about their supposedly covert attempts.
And thus ovee by great panic, he quickly squealed, "It was Linda. It was all Linda. It was that witch. She did it. She needed money to pay the city''s people after the riot massacre. But she did not want to pay it out of her own pocket. So she asked me to swindle you. It was all Linda! It was all her."
Lord Nn repeated several phrases incessantly, his face twisted in fear, his spit spreading everywhere, and making Alexander''s ears ring and feel quite irritated.
Then suddenly Alexander had the urge to tightly p the man.
Because if what Lord Nn said was true and the people of Caira were really given the money, then it would mean the money was truly lost,
After all, there were 100,000 people in the city and how was he going to bill all of them?
Thus it would seem Ladyy Parthia''s hypothesis turned out to be wrong here, as Alexander could not kill Lord Parker to get his wealth back.
To do that, he would have to sack the city.
Something he would be very reluctant to do even if the amount was increased to 3 times- 100 million, due to all the political ramifications.
Hence the man thought he had little other way to vent other way hitting one of the culprits.
But despite thinking so, here, Alexander managed to atst retrain himself.
Instead, taking a chair right next to the old man, Alexander imperiously ordered with venom in his eyes, "Tell me everything you know about this whole thing. Start from the very beginning. From the day Lady Miranda''s grandfather started to plot to have his own granddaughter removed¡ all the way to who ordered my assassination."
Lord Nn once again slightly shivered at Alexander''s second reveal.
He had hoped that particr saga would still remain hidden and assumed the reason for Alexander''s fury might be due to the lost money.
However now that the man even knew about that, Lord Nn began to go off like a tape recorder,
"It started some time after the war ended. James¡ thete Lord Margraves one day came to me saying that he was unsatisfied with Miranda''s skill in handling the family business. ording to him, she could not negotiate properly, and was too slow to pick on the lessons he was giving."
"That was when he suggested that Linda be made the family head instead. The girl had always been the brightest and quickest among all her siblings and James thought she would be perfect for the role. So with that in mind, he began to look for suitable suitors."
"It would seem the gods were on James''s side. Because the Heeat family showed interest. And very quickly at that. Secret talks soon started afterward and it was amidst those meetings that it was decided that everything should be kept a secret until the whole thing was done. Both to not alert the other ducal families as well as ¡.*sigh* Miranda."
With a slight pause, Lord Nn subconsciously released a burst of warm air, suddenly seeming regretful.
Fake or not, it seemed the elderly manmented this act of betrayal.
However, Alexander was not in the mood to entertain this two faced withered snake, and instead scoffed, "If you are feeling sad now, why didn''t you try and stop it? Marcus was your own grandson wasn''t he? If he became the family''s head, you too would have basked in his light, wouldn''t you?"
In Alexander''s eyes, it made no sense for Lord Nn to support Miss Linda''s son Quentin over his own flesh and blood.
The choice was clear and even pragmatic.
"Hehehe, one cannot live long in this family thinking like that." Lord Nn did not rebuke Alexander''s usation but only let out a slow smirk, one which seemed to be almost filled to the brim with the vicissitudes of eternity.
The message here was unequivocal- the family''s benefit always came first, not your own''s.
And the man then ended with a short sigh, "Besides, you would have to agree my lord, Linda is a much better leader than Miranda. The brat can really act, hehehe."
Alexander would have to concede that point to the beautiful and scheming woman.
She was indeed better.
Plus from these talks up until now, Alexander also guessed that the other elders must have been fully in line with the former lord''s decision, leaving Lord Nn all alone to be the sole fighter.
It was a fight he could never hope to win, not in a million years.
And assuming this, Alexander then suddenly remembered something that caused him to say to himself, ''I wonder if it was him that managed to convince the old lord to decree to spare her granddaughter when Miss Linda reced her.''
Alexander did not get to dwell too much on this hypothesis, as he instead turned his ears to once again listen to Lord Nn pick up his voice,
"Anyway¡ not Linda or even Parker Heeat was told of the whole truth¡ in the former''s case in fear that she let it slip¡ women are loose lipped anyway hehe, and for thetter in case he did not like her and wanted to annul the marriage."
Alexander listened quietly to those misogynistic remarks, a hallmark of the time, while also finding it funny that the next in line to the Heeat family had been basically tricked into a marriage he had no idea about.
While Lord Nn continued, "Instead, James arranged for the two to meet under auspicious circumstances and ¡. luckily the two fell in love," with a small pause the old man here chose to skip the more ''intimate details'' of the affair, such as the fact that Miss Linda had basically honey potted the man and then the old Margraves lord twisted the man''s arm into epting his new bride, as Lord Nn thought it was better than those secretsid buried.
Then the rest of the story unfolded basically as Alexander had already figured out, with the only additional information gleaned from this being that, originally, Lady Miranda was to be given a small estate within Galiosos and asked to lead out her life there- quite a stupid idea in Alexander''s opinion.
Because such a thing would lead to two things and only two things- either Lady Miranda plotted from there to oust Miss Linda and sessfully take back her rightful seat.
Or she was assassinated before she could do that.
And given how cunning his opponent was, Alexander would put in his money on thetter.
But since that n was already moot and void, Alexander did not bother to point out the obvious ws.
Instead, he furrowed his brows digesting all the new information, while also trying to decide what to do from this point on.
When suddenly he felt his eyes being drawn to the nearby windows, from where he spotted a raging inferno!
And it was from the Great Harbor!
"Remus has seded."
These were the first words to enter his mind, as Alexander cheered,and then leaving LN, he ran towards the window for a better look.
And the sight did not disappoint.
To him, it seemed like the whole city was on fire¡. because it was.
Oh no!
Gana un viaje para Copa Am¨¦rica
Chapter 1064 Securing the Mansion (Part-3)
Chapter 1064 Securing the Mansion (Part-3)
?1064 Securing the Mansion (Part-3)
Chapter 1064
While Alexanderunched an attack from the inside, securing the most valuable prisoners, Remus was of course busy doing his own thing, as were the men under him, who all had their individual tasks
And the first to act among all of them was the unit tasked with leading the ''secure and containment'' of the mansion.
"There! There is the signal! Come men! The Pasha is waiting for us. Do as you were told. Kill anyone who resists and capture anyone who surrenders,"
Quickly spotting the shing light from a small, designated window, produced by one of the legionaries holding a small handheld mirror and amp, the captain of that team excitedly brokethe ambient stillness of the night with this loud clear order, adding,
"And remember not to harm any of the lords! Remember that! It is a direct order from the Lord!"
The captain made sure to once again exalt the men to act with a measured hand as onest reminder, urging them to be careful when handling the valuable quarry that they were tasked with securing.
And the men quickly nodded to this, understanding the captain''s slightly ambiguous order without any trouble as the two words used to pronounce ''lord; were uttered very differently.
One referred to Alexander.
The other referred to all the family members of the Margraves family collectively- men, women, children, and even some of the more respectable servants such as stewards, butlers, and elder maids.
"Yes!" The debriefed men replied to this with a loud chorus of hurrah, not bothering to keep the veil of secrecy regarding their attacks any longer, as they began to get to quickly march to their stations.
Their objective had been marked, so the 300 men unit quickly broke off into smaller teams of 30 to 40, spreading across the expansive mansion premises, intent to divide and conquer.
The first team was tasked with securing the surrounding grounds, which included things like the stables, the various granaries, storehouses, and even a few of the ve quarters.
While others infiltrated the insides, where they too fanned into different directions.
Some aimed for therge servant''s quarters on the first floor, intent on neutralizing these potentialbatants who might otherwise choose to take up arms under their lord''s orderter.
And given the suddenness of the attack, the sleeping or resting servants were caughtpletely off guard, and an instantter wisely decided to surrender.
Facing this group of armed men, wielding sharp swords and spears, the untrained mob would have been foolish to resist anyway.
So instead of dying on the stone floor needlessly in blood, they all obediently either raised their hands, got on their knees, or even simply formed into a queue like many of them had been taught by their ve master when they were captured.
Like this team, the teams that were tasked with fighting the guards face a simr, fortunate situation.
Mass surrenders and desertion became the norm all across the mansion premises, as like the servants, the Margraves family guards too chose toy down their swords and shields without a fight, knowing at this point there was no hope.
These Margraves guards were scattered all over the mansion, in small groups of five to ten, tasked with overseeing a small part of the house.
So when Alexander''s legionaries ambushed them in a group with a 3 to 4 times number advantage, these isted groups of men simply lost the courage to stand up.
A choice made all the more sweeter as the attackers made sure to dangle the juicy fruit of surrender in front of them, smacking their swords into their shields and shouting,
"*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*, Surreder! Lay down your arms! And you will live! Do not fight! You cannot win. Fight and be killed! Lay down and live! *Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*."
The small family militia was not simply equipped to deal with such arge scale coup, especially when it was being led by a warlord as seasoned as Alexander, with so many veterans under him.
Never mind they were also caughtpletely off guard by the attackunched at them under the shield of night.
These poor men were ying checkers in a game of chees.
Thus it was fortunate that all of them chose to bend the knee and not try to be a hero and go out in a ze of glory.
There were of course a few hot bloods among them as there would be always, but luckily they did not get to cause too much trouble.
Whenever they were about to start, they would be urged by their surroundingrades not to do anything stupid that would get both them and everyone else killed.
Hence the casualties produced in securing the mansion perimeter were very low, in the low single digits actually, with none of the Alexander''s men in there having suffered even a single wound, much less a loss.
This was really good news since some of the other teams were not so lucky.
Like the ones charged with capturing the various lords.
This happened because the Margraves guards these men encountered were selected to be bodyguards specifically due to both their skill as well as their loyalty, and thus most did not never leave their liege even in the face of certain death.
"Death is better than humiliation" Many of them cried out as they charged head first in desperation, thus managing to im a handful of Alexander''s men''s lives.
Fortunately for Alexander, this kind of suicidal attack was not that effective as a whole, mainly due to the fact that Alexander''s men had veryrge shields to wall off such attempts.
And after the men had gotten close, the legionnaires could then use their shorter and more maneuverable swords to easily counterattack, starting with a bash of their shield to stun the other side and then sneaking past the other side''s much smaller shield tond a critical blow.
As for the reason why the Margraves family guards had much smaller shields, it was so that they would move around these cramped halfways easily, without suddenly bumpin'' them into the walls or even identally knocking over the vases and potted nts decorating the pathway.
Something that reportedly used to happen quite often when these men were equipped with therge, phnx shields.
Thus the men were very happy to have their heavy, bulky, shields that were a true pain in the arms to carry all day around get reced by a much more moderately sized ''wooden screen''.
Although it was unknown how those men would feel about that now, given that many of them died due to the loss of this crucial additional wood.
Anyway, as the corridors were being slowly cleared out inch by bloody inch, the legionaries found themselves getting into a kind of killing rhythm, as they quickly figured out an optimal method for conducting this breaching operation.
They would start with a loud cry stating, "We only want to protect the lords in here safe. Stand down. And you will spared," beforeunching a barrage of arrows from the Instant bows that many of the men carried, turning that corridor for a while into a wall of missiles.
And it would only after this hail of deadly projectiles wereunched that the legionaries would proceed into melee, where, by this point, the enemy would be either mostly dead or at the very least incapacitated.
Thus requiring only a quick clean-up.
Of course most of the time, the legionaries did not need to get so far.
It had to be remembered that most of the corridors were generally undefended
After all, not every member of the Margraves had bodyguards defending their doors.
Such privileges were instead very rare, only provided to the high echelons of the house.
And these people were all clever men who knew how to read the situation.
Thus upon seeing Alexander''s soldiers in front of their room in the dead of the night, armed and armored, they easily figured out what was going on, and decided to wisely not fight but surrender, some even shouting towards their bodyguards,
"Stop! Stop! Do not fight. Let them good men in. They are our guests! They are our guests!"
They were truly the elders of a mercantile family, disying the use of their silver tongue even in such dire situations.
And this was the mostmon way the inhabitants of the mansion weed Alexander''s men, with a few exceptions, particrly, the women and children who naturally screamed and howled in fear at the sight of these enormous armored shadows.
But they kept it to mostly only that- terrified bursts of air, but no attacks.
So they were easily pacified.
The only expectation of these two types of response was from Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius, with the former upon seeing the all too familiar blue armored men could not help but shout incredulously in fear and fury,
"What is the meaning of this Alexander? Have you gone insane?"
Thedy posed this exact thing both to the thin air of her room out of shock, and then alsoter to Alexander himself, as she immediately sought out the man, the couple''s slumber for the night being kicked off to the moon.
Chapter 1065 Lord Parker’s Attack
Chapter 1065 Lord Parker''s Attack
In the time the mansion was being secured, both Remus and Lord Parker received their respective signals, both amusingly from Alexander, and both through a mirror stationed around a window.
The former was given the signal as a warning to prepare himself for the imminent assault about to beunched toward his way.
While thetter was given the go ahead to attack with the intention that Alexander would be able to inflict some good damage on these forces, and perhaps even more importantly, distract them from the real prize- the burning of the ships.
Lord Parker however of course did not know about this trap and so upon seeing the signal, quickly became excited.
He turned to Achis pointed to the lone ray of light and shouted in glee, "Look! There! There it is! Hahaha, blow the horns! Now! Quick! Hahaha."
Lord Parker had been put in a very good mood from the moment the first messenger hade to him, bearing d tidings of the scheduled attempt.
The man was truly d that the Margraves had atste around to his way of thinking. So he could not help but keep regrly offering up a small giggle or guffaw.
"Yes, my lord." While Achis was much more reserved and taciturn, as he entered his ''general mode'', focusing more on controlling the soldiers and making sure everything went ording to the n
Which was, to be fair, rtively simple and straightforward- the men were to attack the lines head on hard and fast, with everything they got in a kind of one giant hammer strike, thus breaking through everything in the first hit.
This was perhaps not the best or most sophisticated way to break through such heavily defended lines, kind of like how smashing your head against a stone wall was not the best way to enter a house, but given the congested streets and generally narrow terrain Achis found himself in, this was really the only option avable to him.
So the man hoped the surprise of the night attack and the sheer mass of men behind it would be enough to overwhelm the defenders
And if that did not work, there was always the next back up n.
Achis under Lord Parker''s instruction had already selected two thousand men to board the ships at the Great Harbor, the units ready to head out at a moment''s notice.
The n here too was simple.
It called for them to quickly sail to the Royal Harbor in a surprise attack and create a beachhead there, thus forcing the defending legionnaires to leave their entrenched positions and go shore up their exposed nks, hence making them deal with a two pronged attack.
And in trying to defend both ces, hopefully failing to do either.
Achis personally was quite hopeful about this pincher maneuver.
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*, *Trumpet*,
And so it was with such high hopes that the general blew the horn, breaking the covertness of night and signaling the soldiers to attack.
The Heeat family soldiers began to immediately form up upon hearing this, the tter and chorus of loud shouts and officious cries suddenly buzzing out of Lord Parker''s camp like it was suddenly a busy day inside a fish market.
Which certainly alerted even the most daydreaming legionary in Alexander''s camp to the imminent threat.
But this ording to the experienced general Achis was not a big problem.
He did not think there was any point in hiding and moving about in stealth because even if the enemy understood what was going on, it would already be toote.
Even the best trained armies needed quite a bit of time to get ready, as the soldiers needed a while to transform themselves from men into warriors.
This could include something as mundane as just having to return to the tents from whatever extracurricr activities one was doing- be it drinking, eating, gossiping, resting, or even working on some kind of chore such as collecting drinking water, feeding the animals, fixing a dent on the armor, oiling the sword to prevent it from rusting, and a hundred different things.
Then upon reaching one''s tent, they had to get dressed in their armor, which too took some time, especially the breast piece.
Thisplicated piece of metal worked piece was not as easy to garb as simply unbuttoning and rebuttoning a shirt but usually required the help of one or two people to help tie the various leather straps and buckles.
So usually the members of each squad would take turns helping each of theirrades to get their cuirasses on.
This would be then followed by the rtively easier to put on arm and leg greaves, as well as the helmet, andstly finished off with equipping the weapon and shield, all of which would remain with the soldiers in their tents at all times.
Which was quite dissimr to the way how modern armies kept their kit- usually locked in an armory away from the men.
But here, there was no real concept of such a thing, due to a variety of reasons.
One of which was that nobody or at least not many people simply bothered to simply consider the fact that giving tens of thousands of young, hot blooded men ess to all their weapons at all times was perhaps not the best idea for the stability of their rule.
This awareness had yet to develop as the current civilization was still quite young and people had many more things to learn and figure out.
And even for those who did figure it out, they found the idea of locking up the weapons not too ineffective.
For one, since stainless steel had not been invented yet, the weapons had to be constantly polished and oiled to keep them in good shape. So the cost of hiring so many maintenance personnel weighed heavily on many a king''s pocket.
And if the idle soldiers were instead tasked with that, well then what was the point of all this needless theatrics?
It would all be just a needless hassle.
Andstly, given the unsophisticated and crude nature of the weapons of this time, even if the soldiers lost their weapons, it was all rtively cheap and easy to acquire.
A shield was just a b of wood, or severalyers of wooden panels nailed together, something even a teenage child could make with some practice.
While any cksmith worth even a tenth of their salt could produce you a sword. Perhaps it would not be of the best quality, but it would still likely get the job done.
And in that same vein, any carpenter could make you a bow and arrow. In fact, most hunters made their own hunting gear.
Nowpare these examples to trying to produce a simple handgun, and think of all the variousplicated and specialized machines and raw ingredients you would need.
So, due to all this, soldiers were generally given free ess to their weapons and in return tasked with taking very good care of them, with the punishment for failing to do so being very harsh indeed.
Anyway, with the soldiers finally ready for battle with their properly maintained arms and armor, they would then report to their superior, who wouldbine the various individual squads into proper fighting formation and atst lead them into battle.
While during all of this time, Lord Parker''s men would be busy smashing their fisting against the lightly defended lines with overwhelming numbers and likely even seeding.
Knowing of this golden opportunity, the Heeat family officers thus began to immediately mobilize their men, barking out,
"There! There is the horn! Quick! Do not waste a second. Attack before the enemy can wake up. Attack before they get the chance to fight you. Attack before they even have the chance to know you!"
"Haaaaah!" And the men too responded with a great cheer, before beginning to hurriedly charge, knowing that the faster they arrived at the defensive lines, the better their odds were of catching the other side off guard and thus better the chances of their survival.
But s!
Reality was much different from what Achis and Lord Parker had expected.
Because much contrary to their expectations, the lines were not lightly defended.
They were very heavily defended, much more than even how they typically were during the daytime.
And to make them even more ''thorny'', Alexander''s men had alsoid out a very special surprise for the iing men.
Who soon got the message, as shots of pained cries and surprised yelps began to ring across the entire formation.
"Ahhh! What was that? My feet!"
"Me too! Aghhh! Something pierced by foot!"
"Uggghhh! Don''t push bastard! I can''t walk! Ohhhhh¡ hurts so much! Dammit, hope I don''t lose the leg."
"What is this? Something scattered all around?I can''t see anything in this darkness, fuck!"
"Feels like some kind of thon! Hey, bring the torch here. The bastards have done something to the roads."
"Caltrops! They are metal caltrops. Bastards! They were not during the day when I scouted the ce."
"They musty them around only during the night. Clever swine. How are we supposed to get past these?"
It was like this the Heeat family came across their first defensive hurdle.
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Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1066 Caltrop Field
Chapter 1066 Caltrop Field
Alexander''s legionaries were of course observing their opposing side''s misfortune from their perched ramparts and pallisades with relished glee.
The powerful initial charge that was meant to have shattered the defensive walls had unexpectedly lost all its steam even before it could begin, with the attacking men being now much more concerned about jumping and skipping in one leg in an attempt to try and lot step on theserge, spiky traps than doing anything else.
And the chorus of short pained gasps and yelps that they let out each time theynded on these pointy metal thorns sounded like the sweetest music for the listening legionaries, many of whomughed, joked, and even taunted the other side.
"Hahaha, go right! Go right! There are no traps there."
"No! It is on the left! Turn left."
"Idiot, my left, not yours."
"Don''t listen to these fools. Go back! There are certainly no traps from where you came from¡ hahaha."
Like this, Alexander''s men had quite a bit of fun and even managed to release some of the pent up stress.
But it was likely none of the Heeat family soldiers ever heard them, mostly because they were quite far away, and it was already very noisy all around.
You could not even properly hear what the person standing right next to you was saying half the time, much less the jeers of men you could not even see due to the night''s darkness.
Never mind, most of the legionaries also spoke apletely differentnguage.
Hence most of the Heeat soldiers were more preupied with extracting themselves from their current dilemma than engaging in a futile bantering debate with the other side.
And credit to them, they soon managed to, as these trained men performed exceptionally well under such trying conditions.
Being faced with such an unforeseen situation, even in the pitch ck darkness of the night, after the initial shock, these men quickly managed to suppress their panic.
And with the help of their offers soon got their formation under control.
It was visibly apparent that these mart men wielded great fear and respect within the ranks, as while the other men were crying and moaning,
"Ahhh! Who would do such a thing?"
"Clever bastards! Really got us."
"Maybe we should turn back! Attack in the morning?"
"Right! Then we can see better."
It was with one loud shout that all such cowardice talks were demolished, "Stop praising these snakes and straighten your back men! We are warriors! Under Lord Parker''s directmand! So show a bit more spine, women!"
It was thatst single word that truly got the men''s attention, much more than the utterances of the name of their lord, or their call to duty.
Because it hurt. Perhaps many many more times than even the stinging, bleeding sensation in their foot.
No man would ever take being called a woman lying down, forget hot-blooded proud warriors like them.
So as soon as this remark managed to echo across the army, the soldiers suddenly stopped moving, halting their march altogether until the whole thing could be hashed out.
And the act immediately produced results, as much to their unexpected surprise they found that the pain had dramatically decreased.
This was because with the men no longer pushing and shoving, each could take their time to safely ce their feet on the ground without skewering themselves, thus most of the injured men managed to shift their weight onto their other uninjured leg or even therge shield.
Then they began to clear the ground by simply shuffling and sweeping their feet, thus moving the caltrops to the side of the streets.
Some of the clever men even used their shields to do the same thing, thus covering a much bigger area and clearing the section faster.
All the while Alexander''s men sat like ducks watching the enemy undo their firstyer of defense, and doing nothing about it.
This was a real shame because if they hadbined this caltrop trap with a withering arrow fire from all directions, employing the new crossbows or even the lethal Instant bow, it would have proved a fantasticbination, one that would have pinned the men to the ground, and left their shield as their sole refuse.
This would have denied the soldiers the ability to move about so freely, thus turning their progress into a crawl and making the endeavor of extricating themselves magnitudes harder.
Hence, such a tactic would have made the whole thing apletely different story, and not the breezy, walk in the park like it was now.
In fact, a very apt modern simile of the current situation could be found by studying the case of the minefields.
Which. while deadly by itself, if was not properly defended, would be more of an inconvenience than an actual threat.
Mine rollers, breaching charges, and even hand grenades could be used to denote them and thus open up a safe passage for the attackers to traverse through.
However, if these deadly fields were properly supported by artillery, mortar fire and helicopter gunships, it would be a whole different equation.
Then you could not just send in your breaching equipment willy nilly because they would be the first thing to be targeted by every gun within the vicinity, looking to destroy it with the utmost prejudice.
So it would only be then the truly deadly effects of minefields would reveal themselves.
Likewise, if Alexander had ced some of his archers in the surrounding houses, and let them shoot to their heart''s content, the firstyer of the defenses would have been even stronger.
And to do this he would not have even needed to employ too many men- about 50 men or only 1% of his force would have been more than sufficient.
Because all they would be required to do would be to fire from a position of advantage into a gathered clump of men, thus turning the entire thing like a turkey shoot.
And best yet, to Lord Parker''s men, the entire thing would feel like the arrows were appearing out of thin air because the archers hidden in the absolute darkness of night would be invisible to their eyes.
However, none of these great ideas were implemented by the defending side.
Due to a variety of reasons.
One was because Alexander simply forgot! The man had too many things to do, and the time to do them in too short, only a few hours at best, so even this obvious move skipped his mind.
As did the minds of so many other brilliant officers, who too were swamped with numerous other obligations.
And then there was the logistics of being able to carry out such a move.
Surely if Alexander were to try and do this, he would have to move the inhabitants somewhere else first.
Which was not only a great pain, but would also of course alert the enemy without a shred of a doubt. And that risked ruining the whole n.
Andstly, if these archers were put in these houses, they would have found themselves outside of the defensive lines and Alexander did not want that.
All these reasons worked together to produce their absence and thus the firstyer of defense proved to be rtively tepid, one which was rtively easily bypassed once the shock factor wore off.
And with the ''caltrop field'' clear, the soldiers quickly got into formation and just like nned, lumbered towards the rows of ditches with haste, their swelling numbers making the earth shake as if in trepidation.
Seeing this, Alexander''s officers were too quick to get their men in battle formations, shouting,
"Archers! Ready yourselves! They areing."
"Swords out! Shields locked together! Do not falter!"
"Stand your ground and let them attack. They will tire themselves out quickly."
"Be brave men! Haven''t you heard how these chickens were crying out just now? There are more women than men there. After we beat them, we will be sure to gift them some nice skirts, hahaha,"
Thisst officer, named Kazid was considered an especially goodmander even whenpared to all the good officers of this elite legion, both loved and respected by his men.
And the reason was readily apparent.
The talented man had a great sense of what the soldiers were thinking at the moment, as in the case of now.
Sensing a thick tension gripping every soldier right before the start of this conflict, he lightened the mood with his humorous jokes, making all the surrounding men chuckle and their hearts feel relieved.
Fighting at night was always more stressful for the men due to the limited visibility as well as the various superstitions that surrounded this foreboding time.
Such as the very famous saying that killing a man at night would cause him to rise up as an evil spirit ande to visit youter, strangling you in your sleep.
Which might have well been started by a ruler to prevent murder by scaring the popce, but inadvertently led to this.
Anyway, as the legionaries readied themselves, the Heeat family soldiers closed in, and after withstanding a barrage of arrows and then a shower of javelin, the two sides soon began to exchange steel with steel.
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Chapter 1067 Arson
Chapter 1067 Arson
The legionarries making use of their defensive structures and the choked streets were able to absorb the hits being dished out by the Heeat family soldiers with rtive ease.
The ditches filled with spiked stakes proved to be an annoying obstacle for Lord Parker''s men, as they could not cross this gap to try and close the distance, so were forced to poke with their spear from behind this ''screen'', which made their attacks less urate and thus less effective.
Some of the more daredevil go getters did try to cross this ''spiked ridge'' by throwing their shield over the gap to form a bridge and trying to cross it.
But such efforts were never coordinated properly due to the ambient darkness and thus ended bloodily for the experimenting side, ]with the ditch quickly filling up with the skewered and pierced bodies of so many of these ambitious people.
And even more horrifyingly, these men lying in there, with their bodies pierced and skewered by those wooden stakes?were still not yet dead but kept on groaning and pleading for someone to rescue them, blood seeping out of the wounds as well as their other orifices such as the mouth
It was a very macabre sight.
And it was little wonder that many soldiers of the time were not quite right in their heads.
How many would be after seeing a sight like this?
But still, no matter how horrific the events on the battlefield turned, the men were stillpelled to fight and kill each other, driven into this through their master''s order or a sense of duty towards one''s professions, for fame and glory or even some kind of perverted thrill.
But whatever reasons these people might have had to fight, the attacking side was still unable to break through the legionary''s defenses,?who were able to use the narrowness of the terrain to mitigate their number disadvantage, while theirrge shields shook off most attacks.
In fact, they were even able to serve some good kills in return, not much in the melee, but mainly through their volley of arrow fireunched from the ramparts.
The huge crossbows and even the?lighter Instant bows proved quite lethal when fired from such close range, piercing deep into the targeted flesh
The officers were too quick to spot this sess, and thus did not hesitate to add more men to the ramparts while shouting various encouraging orders,
"Fire! Fire until you cannot fire anymore. The enemy is right before you!"
"Stoot at the men! Look how many there are! Kill them all! Each head will get you 5 ropals!"
"Do not stop! Do not stop until your fingers start bleeding and you cannot lift your arm anymore."
This intense volume of arrow fire proved to be quite the irritating thorn on Lord Parker''s side, much more so than the metal thorns they had encountered only now.
Especially because Lord Parker''s men are not decked out like the typical phngite- in heavy armor and arge shield.
Instead, most possessed only light leather armor and smaller, thinner shields, enough to cover from the chest to the knees, which was certainly not bad, but still found itselfcking whenpared to the legionary''s scrotum which protected from the chest to the feet.
Thus not only were many bolts able to hit many more unprotected parts, but they could even pierce harder and deeper due to the thinner armor, resulting in more casualties.
Now this adaptation taken by Lord Parker''s men was a result of the terrain they usually fought in which were arid, desert like conditions where agility and nimble movements were preferred, as it was all mostly open ground and it was much easier to swing around and outnk one another.
So you had to be quick on your feel to be able to respond to such a threat.
However, although this tactic was perfect for that instance, the current situation favored theplete opposite.
Thus it was the legionaries with theirrge shields who found themselves in the driving seat at the moment, able to defend and hold the lines despite their numerical disadvantages, and evenunch small scale counterattacks.
Hence, just as Alexander hoped, and just as Achis feared, the lines held firm, and the entire thing turned into a slog.
So it was time that both sides yed their other backup card.
"There! There is the signal! Go! Go! Quick! Do not waste a second," The one that moved first was of course Remus, who got the signal as soon as Alexander had foiled the assassination attempt.
Thus even as the Heeat family soldiers were only readying themselves, the man was already on his way to the harbor.
Remus personally led the 500 strong men on their quest tomit arson, the number chosen quite deliberately.
Out of the 6,000 men (5,000 soldiers, 1,000 servants) that came to Galiosos, around 4,500 were employed to defend the lines.
500 were sent to secure the mansion and its surroundings with Alexander, while 500 guarded their camps as well as the Royal Harbor, thus leaving Remus with only the remaining 500 to conduct the mission with.
Which was actually fine by him.
Because when conducting such an operation, bigger wasn''t always better.
The goal should be to get there undetected, quickly do whatever you needed to do, in this case, arson and then safely retreat leaving none the wiser.
And for that, 500 men were more than enough.
At Remus''smand, these men did not shout or let out hurrahs, but only silently nodded, intent on keeping their presence a secret as long as possible.
And they then started to move through the dark, grim streets with feathery steps, only the clink nks of their armor giving their position away, the enormous full fledged battle going on right next to them and the mor and dining from it helping to drown out their leak.
So Remus was able to reach the dock rtively uneventfully and found that the Great Harbor was really like most other docks, with a really broad, really well made stone paved road, to which were attached enormous wooden piers and jetties that jetted out to the sea, acting as ''anchors'' for the iing ships.
And there were indeed the ships- moored oh so innocently right on the doorsteps, their huge wooden silhouettes with furled up sails casting a pitch ck shadow onto the waters below,
Since today was a moonless light, Remus was unable to properly make out all the characteristics of the various ships there but was only offered faint glimpses of the various small braziers andmps that were lit up inside the ships by their crews.
Which was admittedly strange.
Because you would think such a ce would be much more heavily popted, even at this time of the night.
Simply due to the enormous value the ce naturally had.
There were numerous stalls and shops with expensive merchandise inside,rge warehouses filled to the brim with exotic goods as well as various necessary loading and unloading equipment like cranes and good quality ropes.
So you would think there would be regr patrol around here.
And you would certainly think that there would be various beggars, vagabonds, and tramps living there- working, begging, and sleeping there.
But now, Remus found the ce to be mostly abandoned, much to his astonishment.
This was due to a variety of reasons.
For one, due to the ongoing conflict, there was generally less work in the docks as trade andmerce became much harder to conduct.
Much less ships entered the port and almost none left it.
Then it was also winter, where due to the rough seas, trade was always a bit slow.
Andstly, the night curfew that Alexander had imposed around the mansion had somehow trickled its effect all the way down here, with the vagabonds choosing to find refuge elsewhere, away from their usual spots out of fear of getting caught in the crossfire.
With the troublemakers gone, the peacekeepers too found themselves out of a job and so chose to remain indoors during these cold nights, thus leading to the current scenario.
All that remained to call itself a poption in the docks now were the skeleton crew left behind to look at their own shops.
And this current situation suited Remus perfectly, as he felt relieved that he would not have to deal with any unwee interference from the guards or innocent civilians.
Thus in a suppressed but happy voice, he ordered,
"There is nobody here! Quick! Before anyone notices us,move! You all know what to do."
And the men needed no more encouragement.
They pulled out the flints they had to quickly light a fire, quickly transferring the mes to pre-preparedrge, oil-soaked torches, and then started to set anything and everything they had in front of them on fire.
Meaning it was not only the ships but anything that was remotely mmable was put to the torch, as the men transferred the hot mes with their torches, threw small burning jars of mmable oil or tar onto them, or even used stacks of coal to start a new fire, such as on the decks of some ships.
It was like this that the fire that Alexander saw got so bad.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1068 Arson (Part-2)
Chapter 1068 Arson (Part-2)
As Remus''s men quickly lit each of their torches, to a distant bystander standing in the dark, it would have appeared as if numerous tiny suns were suddenly blooming themselves into existence, as the men materialized out of the shadow, looking as if they were teleporting into the ce out of thin air.
And they soon got to work, with the biggest group choosing to target the ships, running up to jetties where they were anchored and using theirrge torches to try and get the wooden hull on fire.
While some of the more thrill seeking legionaries chose to climb their targetted ships, using ropes ordders that they had brought with them, and then setting the more mmable things there, such as the linen sails and thinner nked decks on fire.
They did this because the hulls would naturally be made of much thicker wood and thus harder to set on fire.
And sometimes even after lighting them, the fires would fizzle out after some time, such as due to the sections being usually damp, courtesy of living so close to the water, while some even possessed a primitive fire retardant coating created made from tree sap.
Thus to make sure that the ships properly caught fire and not to half ass it, it was prudent to take these steps.
And some of the legionaries took this act to an even higher level, by cing a stacked mixture of coal, soft, mmable lint, and oil on the decks and setting that on fire, thus giving the fire initially some easy to use fuel to get it growing and ''mature''.
It was like this that the hundreds of moored ships were set aze, with some having their hulls turned into a fiery glory, making the vessel appear like it was from Hell floating on a cloud of me.
While others had their masts, decks, and sails turned golden and bright, with enormous plumes of smoke rising out of them, as if they were trying to masquerade as steamships.
Andstly, the most unfortunate ones were already coated entirely in the raging maelstrom, their bodies turned all ck and skeletal as the fire consumed them, letting out joyous bellows of choking ck smoke and frightful crackling and snapping sounds as the scorning temperature split and broke off various pieces of woods.
Thus, if one were to take a photograph of the current situation at the docks, the hundreds of ships burning together would have made it appear like the entire sea from here to all the way to the horizon was on fire.
It would not be wrong to call the scene a sight from hell.
And what were the various bystander''s reactions to all this you ask?
Well, the sheer heat and radianceing from the fire did quickly rm all those in the vicinity.
And they were horrified to see what was just now a ''dead'' part of the city had suddenly begun to ze with hundreds of various sized fires, each trying to get closer and closer to each other, constantly feeding and growing, growing and feeding.
"What in the hell is that!"
The first to respond to this giant inferno was naturally the various crews residing inside the ships, all of whom had their slumber shattered not by the currently intense artificial glow and warm breeze infiltrating into their abodes, but by the sheer ruckus Remus''s men were initially making.
So they bolted out of their rooms and as they came up to their decks to see what was going on, even before many of them could truly wake up to what was happening, they suddenly found themselves under attack, by a few hundred bloodthirsty arsonists.
The present crew from every ship clearly saw numerous shadowy men in armor holdingrge torches and running all around like madmen, starting fires everywhere as they went.
"Hey! What are you doing? Stop! No!"
"Don''t! We are still here. You are gonna kill us all!"
And no matter how they shouted such and many simr warnings, it of course went without heed.
From the top deck, it basically appeared as if they were under a siege.
"How could this be happening? Why is this happening?"
And many dispaired, unable to figure out Alxx''s reason for doing this.
Some even died during this, with a few being imed by the fire as they failed to escape the ships before it was fully engulfed.
Others lost their lives with much less dignity, as due to sheer panic they shoved and pushed each other, taking deadly injuries in the process and slowly dying, such as by hastily trying to leave the ship by jumping aboard and missing thending spot.
Even those that jumped into the water were not all safe, due to the various burnt debris floating around, and because of other jumping sailorsnding on top of them, thus breaking their necks.
Andstly, a few were killed when they tried to stop the legionnaires from setting their ships on fire, usually in the cases where the soldiers boarded the ships.
But overall, the skeletal crew of the ships mostly managed to get away unscathed, as Remus''s men were not really interested in hounding the innocents.
Which was certainly admirable.
What was far less admirable was how they set fire to the docks alongside the ships too, taking the shops, storehouses, and even many of the nearby houses into the fiery inferno.
So that when Achis''s men atst managed to get there, upon seeing the true size of the ongoing fire, they felt their eyes balls almost pop out of their sockets.
"How¡ how is this happening?" They all cried out in shock, trying to get into grasp of the true scale of the disaster, as they then furiously began to look for the culprits, wishing to barbeque them in that very fire they had started.
But Remus was of course nowhere to be found.
He and his men had long since vanished, bolting the minute they spotted the first shadows of the enemy, and was by now probably safely behind the lines.
After all, fighting 2,000 elite men with just 500 of his one''s own was just another synonym for suicide.
Hence Remus had blown the retreating horn the second his lookout spotted therge contingent of soldiers almost sprinting towards his way, their fear and fury apparent under the orange, warm glow of the raging fire even from thatrge distance.
Neither he nor any of his men wanted to have anything to do with them¡ at least for now.
While Achis''s men, upon failing to apprehend any of the men responsible, suddenly found themselves unable to think of what to do next.
Because the unfolding disaster in front of them was too big in scale to contend in any way.
The catastrophe was already too advanced in its way, the fire by now having turned more into a natural disaster than anything man made, its fiery tendril already spread too wide and too far.
Furthermore,ing to this heated maelstrom aid was a cool breeze from the sea, which began to sweep the whole thing ind, thus fanning the inferno even more, and pushing it toward the city.
Hence, the me grew evenrger, first due to the fresh new injection of abundant oxygen by the breeze, and then by getting ess to fresh timber and the flesh residing inside the structure made of timber, both ending up as its charred fuel.
The deadlybination of fire and wind pushed many of the citizens to their doom.
And it would be very wrong to think that this ''deadly'' breeze had appeared out of thin air by sheer luck, for it was actually created by the fire itself.
It happened because as the maelstrom heated up the surrounding air, it naturally became hotter and less dense, thus rising up into the sky and leaving a low pressure in its ce, which was filled by the cooler, denser air of the sea, hence creating this deadlybination.
Abination that the surrounding men were powerless to defend against, with even the most enthusiastic ones finding their voices dying down after only a few futile yelps.
Initially, they had cried such things as,
"Water! Call the men to bring water! We need water!"
"Bring the buckets. Hurry, people are dying."
"Where are the wells? Locate the wells!"
"It''s too dark. Send the men to find them."
But soon found that all this did absolutely nothing.
In front of the immense mes, these few liters of water at a time were not even enough to tickle it.
It was trying to use a water gun to douch a forest fire.
There was no stopping this and all they could do was pray and hope the fire tired itself out soon.
Hence the men could only do the next best thing- try to limit its expansion and rescue as many people as possible.
Which was exactly what they did for the rest of the night.
The 2,000 men, who were supposed to have sailed covertly to the other harbor and obtained a great victory for their lord now found themselves ying the role of firefighters, and they were even joined by many more men, the entire endeavor havingsted till the break of dawn.
Chapter 1069 Aftermath of The Arson
Chapter 1069 Aftermath of The Arson
The fire started by Remus grew by magnitudes more than he could have ever imagined, fueled by wind and abundant dry kidling, thus engulfing a significant part of the city and rming almost all its citizens.
Every single one could see the warm glow illuminating the horizon and turning the sky almost like the setting dusk as they all started to leave their residences and gather around the streets in the middle of the night in panic.
To them, it seemed like the sun had risen early, bathing the entire ce in a warm, orange light, with the heating out from there actually feeling nice for those in the far back, as it made the cold, winter nice and snug.
Of course, at the moment, there was not a single person who was in the mindset to sit and enjoy this, as they were more concerned about the terrifying maelstrom that was spreading its maleficence all around.
It got to the point that even Lord Parker, who was quite a ways in the back was affected, and quickly getting reports from his scouts, decided to act decisively.
Turning to Achis, he grimly ordered, "Call the men back! There is no point in them attacking the enemy anymore. They are not going to be back through any time soon. Instead, task them with extinguishing the fire. It seems like it has already gotten out of hand."
"....." And although reluctant, Achis knew his master was right- the gravity of the situation did require the full effort of 20,000 men, much more than banging one''s head against that choke point.
"Right away!" Achis was thus quick to issue out the rtedmands, and then turning to gaze at the fire, cursed under his breath, "Does that Alexander bastard want to burn the whole city down? Imbeciles! Don''t they know it is winter?"
It appeared as if Alexander had forgotten his own lesson- that Lord Parker would not dare set the surrounding houses on fire due to the chances of it going out of control.
Which was exactly what was happening right now.
And it took hours and hours, as well as thebined efforts of tens of thousands of men to bring the fire finally back to control, as it was attacked by hundreds of thousands of liters of water and tons of sand and y, the entire endeavor taking the whole night.
It was only when dawn broke that the fire finally ran out of steam, having consumed all that there was in the vicinity and was no longer able to maintain itself any longer, thus slowly flickering down, leaving only the smell of thick soot and burnt wood that lingered heavily in the air.
And as morning broke to a significantly smoky charred city of Caira, it was only under the bright light of the auspicious sun that the true extent of the destruction finally became clear to everyone around,
Hundreds of houses, shops, and otherndmarks were turned to ash, leaving behind only burnt skeletal remnants, that stooped and piled up into the sky like emptied out husks, and making tens of thousands of people homeless and destitute in the process.
The inferno had imed everything from them- their clothes, furniture, money, personal belongings, and for some even the products they would sell and thus their livelihood.
Causing them all to only see pitch ck darkness in front of their eyes as a general sense of desteness hung in the air, mixing with the burnt smell to produce a heartbreaking scene.
''How were they going to ever recover from this? How were they going to live on? How were they going to get their next meal?''
Such and many simr questions roamed inside the minds of these people, as many sat right next to a pile of ash and dust, clutching their heads in anguish and despairing at what used to be their homes.
These people were literally left under the open sky with nothing to their name and could see little alternative other than sitting by the roadside and begging for the rest of their lives.
Or perhaps selling themselves to the ve traders so that the rest of the family could get to live.
Or for some, even having a few of their children thrown into indentured servitudes instead of them, thus getting a good chunk of money in the process- money that would help the rest recover.
And many actually chose thetter- with the daughters usually being the first choice, because they were seen as more of a burden.
The young fairer sex generally could not earn their share of the expenses or at least not as much as their stronger counterpart, who held more potential to earn a living.
So it was them who got the unlucky pick, and so over the following days, the ve traders of Caira got a sudden rapid influx of supply of their modities'', with arge majority of it being girls.
This inadvertently caused the prices to fall, forcing these already desperate people to sell even more of their ''assets''- and so many even lost their sons.
Most fathers did not feel happy to do this, but what was the alternative?
Keep the children so that they could all starve together?
And if he sold himself, then who was going to look after the family? What will happen when the money runs out? Who would provide for them then?
And perhaps much more importantly, Who would protect them while he was away?
A homeless widow and a few small children were the juiciest targets for any enterprising scoundrel, be it extortion, ckmail, or even straight up kidnapping.
And although this sounded tragic, and it certainly was, there were also people who came off even worse.
Such as those whose loved ones had died.
Now, fortunately, the fire had started in a rtively abandoned part of the city, and so the people had enough time to get to safety with rtive ease, keeping the casualties fairly low whenpared to the scale of the disaster.
But that of course did not mean there were no casualties, as people still died due to the fire or simply blind panic, round about 60 people.
And the kin of those people was now left with a hole in their hearts, left to wonder how they were going to get by without their father, brother, sister, wife, children, etc.
The clean up of the remnants of this fearful devastation took multiple days, as the charred ruins were slowly cleared, with significant aid from Lord Parker.
The man saw this both as a humanitarian mission as well as a great chance for some good old propaganda.
Thus at any time during the next few days, about 10,000 to 15,000 men in full shining armor could be seen moving about shoulder to shoulder with the general popce, moving the ash, removing debris, digging out the dead, and burying them, setting up makeshift tents for the citizens, and handing out free food.
If any impartial witness were to see the current without any context, they would have surely judged Alexander to be the wrong one here, and Lord Parker the hero.
And as a reward for being the hero, Lord Parker found to much his joy that not all the ships in the Great Harbor had burnt down!
Despite the volcanic fire like inferno, the surroundings were subjected to some had survivedpletely intact, and a lot more with only partial damage that the shipwrights promised could be fixed, and fixed rtively soon at that.
This good news was enough to even put the slightly down Lord Parker into a fit of euphoricughter, "Hahaha! What luck! What luck! The gods favor us! See, this is proof! Even after such a huge fire our path is still not cut off. Hahaha, The gods favor us!" the man cried out towards his soldiers.
Who of course all bought this exnation, as they had seen the extent of the fire with their very eyes, and did not think anything could survive with that.
So the ships surviving this was seen as a miracle.
Now of course it was not a miracle that had saved these ships.
One reason for this was because Remus simply had not had enough time to properly set all the vessels on fire.
The unit that Achis had chosen to board the ships with had managed to get to the harbor before the entire ce could be properly put to the torch and thus the legionaries had to bolt a bit prematurely unless they wanted to be massacred.
And it was considering for such a situation that Remus had concentrated on getting as many ships as he could on fire and hoping that it would spread to the rest.
But unfortunately, it did not.
Which was where came the much bigger second reason- the wind that had started to blow ind.
When that cool sea breeze started to flow in, it pushed the fire toward the city and away from the vessels that were stationed at the back of the harbor, and thus many of the vessels were given respite.
Along with a few of the ships also possessing very clever sailors even boldly sailed out to the sea in the meantime, thus too escaping the grim fate.
Chapter 1070 Heart Attack
Chapter 1070 Heart Attack
??As Alexanderid witness to the scale of the fire at the harbor, he felt a slight trepidation in his heart at the size of it.
''Remus you brat! I asked you to burn down only the ships¡ not the entire god damned city!'' He could not help but lightly cuss the boy.
*Bang!*
And it was right at that moment that a furious Lady Miranda decided to make her entrance, stomping into the room with heavy hurried footsteps, fury written all over her fair face.
"Lord Alexander, what is the meaning of this? Have you gone insane?" Then eschewing all pleasantries, the slightly plumpdy immediately sted this usation right onto the man''s face.
To which Alexander only gently smiled back.
He had expected such a kind of reaction from the frank mistress of the house, so the words. did not offend him.
Instead, he took a bit of time to scan the noblewoman in front of him, and found her to be absent of all makeup, and d only in a simple huge, heavy, ck coat- one that both shielded her from the chill of the night and hid all the bodily features, letting only her painted toenails peep out of the sandals she was wearing,
Judging by her getup and the slightly huffing noise she was letting off, it was very clear that Lady Miranda had gotten here as soon as she got the wind of the whole thing.
While following in toe with her was her husband, Lord Cassius, who looked even more out of breath, his broad chest heaving up and down greatly, his face flushed and sweaty.
The man was in worse physical shape than his wife, and for a brief second, Alexander even mischievously wondered if the man could perform in bed with suchckluster stamina.
The young pasha of course quickly extracted himself from such distracting thoughts and greeted the couple with a warm smile, sounding as if they were meeting under the most auspicious asion,
"Ahhh! Lady Miranda! Lord Cassius! d you could join us. Come,e! Sit! Please!"
The couple was a bit taken back by the frank crity, as it greatly contrasted the grim surroundings, but ultimately could not help but follow Alexander''s gesture, thus cing themselves on the central sofa.
Once in their position, they then simultaneously turned to look at Alexander, eager to hear his exnation, when they saw the man suddenly face Lord Nn and ask, "Now, esteemed lord, why don''t you retell everything you just told me? And be sure not to leave a single thing out!"
The withered old man shivered at the manic grin that Alexander produced while ''asking'' this.
Lord Nn could easily tell, that this was not a suggestion, it was amand, one that he was expected to follow to the tee.
Thus he grimaced¡. as a profound sense of guilt, shame and even slight fear pervaded his soul.
"Fa¡ fahter? What''s wrong? Are you feeling alright?" And easily sensing the difort in the man, Lord Cassius quickly approached to try and aid him.
When suddenly,
"Arghhhh! It¡ hurts! Arghhh! Ughhhh! Ohhhh!" The elderly man all of a sudden began to clutch his chest with both his hands, his face started to turn blue, his mouth turned into a gaping maw as if he was trying to suck in thest bit of air, and he began to pant.
''Oh no!'' And seeing this, Alexander instantly understood what was happening.
The man was having a heart attack!
Lord Nn was already old and it seemed the mortifying thought of having to reveal one''s dirty secret right in front of his son and daughter inw was too much for his psyche to handle.
The shock and stress suddenly caused him to go into cardiac arrest.
"Father! Father! Father!" And seeing this Lord Cassius instantly ran over to the already slumping man, gently holding and shaking him.
While sitting opposite to him, Alexander did not feel the same kind of rm, not even at the sight of a man dying, as he did not have even the lowest level of respect for this swindler, thus he only cursed in frustration,
''You old crone! Could not have picked any other time to die? Why now?"
In his mind, the only point of regret was the timing, as Lord Nn''s ''condition'' could not havee at a worse time.
Alexander was so close to busting the entire conspiracy wide open, as Lord Nn''s confession would have made Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius his staunchest allies.
Sure he too could tell them about itter, but it would really not have the same impact now, would it?
Not when there remained the choice of getting it out from directly the horse''s mouth.
Alexander had very much looked forward to seeing how Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius''s face changed into various states of shock, scorn, anger, pain, and surprise as Lord Nn gradually unveiled the twisted tale of the past few years.
The man was very confident that once they got to hear the whole story, they wouldpletely abandon their father inw and take him, Alexander was their sole protector.
With a bit of luck, Alexander even felt confident enough to be able to puppet the two, turning the Margraves into effectively his vassals.
Ahhh, the scale of the dreams this ambitious man had- eager to eat up an area as big as Tibias in one gulp.
The man had balls, you would have to give it to him.
But it seemed the Lady of the Weave had other ns.
She had allowed Alexander to escape death by revealing his enemy''s plot to him.
But in return she had saved some of his enemy''s ships, letting them conserve some of their strength, as well as snatching this golden opportunity from him, thus bncing out the scales.
"Move! Let me! I can help!"
As Lord Nn fell to the ground, Alexander, trying to recover this lost possibility decided to finally act, so getting up, he approached the supine men and asked Lord Cassius to give them some space.
The portly man however had troubleplying with this, for so overwhelmed was he by all this that he could only turn to give Alexander a somewhat nk and ssy look, "Wha.. what? What are going to do? My¡ my father¡ what is happening to him? He.. help! Call the doctors!"
Alexander suddenly left a touch of disdain seeing thisrge man dither about in panic, stuttering and mumbling as if he was shocked out of his mind.
This was not how a man was supposed to act.
To Alexander, a true man might see the sky falling and still be able to hold hisposure.
Not because he was unfeeling or robotic, but because such a stoic appearance gave confidence to the surrounding others, especially his family.
But here, it was the woman who took charge, as Lady Miranda quickly stepped forward and asked Lord Cassius, "Quick, dear! Let Lord Alexander see father. Zanzan is very famous for its medical technology."
Alexander was d to see this was enough to convince the man, as this meant he did not need to get into pointless arguments regarding what was happening to the old man and how he could help.
So he gave a reassuring nod to Lord Cassius, who in turn only scanned him with skeptical eyes, unsure whether he could really trust this man, but ultimately gently separated from his parent.
And seeing such tenderness in the movement caused Alexander to slightly sigh in his heart because he knew how the old man had tried to screw over this filial son.
It was not fair.
But Alexander kept suchmentations to himself for now.
For now, he quickly knelt in front of the lying man and began to get ready to perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation or as moremonly known- CPR.
He had learned this while training as a lifeguard during one of his summer jobs and the man really hoped he had not gone too rusty.
So recalling his training, Alexander first decided to check the responsiveness:
So gently shaking Lord Nn, he loudly shouted, "Lord Nn, can you hear? Say yes if can you!"
There was no response, meaning he was either unconscious or unable to respond.
So he then moved on to the next phase, unbuttoning the robes he was wearing and loosening the area around the chest, thus giving the man more space to breathe.
Next, he ced his hand on the chest, and just like he had expected, he felt no movement, meaning the man was not breathing.
So quickly Alexander got to performing CPR, cing the heel of his right hand on the center of the chest, and covering it with his left hand, before interlocking the fingers and then pushing down on the ribs hard and fast.
And he kept doing this, again, and again, while everyone in the room looked into the silent trepidation.
They had never seen anything like this, but because Alxx was not cutting the man up or making his drink anything, and instead was only ''massaging'' him, the couple did not protest.
Rather they quickly sped their hands and began to pray, and after some time,
"Ahhhh!"
Their prayers were answered, as Lord Nn woke up with a great gasp.
Chapter 1071 Lady Mirandas Change
Chapter 1071 Lady Miranda''s Change
??"Father! Father! Father!"
Just as Lord Nn was resuscitated back to life, seeing the old man open his eyes and take a great deep breath, Lord Cassius began to instantly let out loud pants of great joy, quickly sprinting over and then kneeling down to clutch the man''s withered hands in relief.
"Oh! Thank the gods! Thank the gods! You are alive! You are alive!" The man afterward broke off into almost tears, while Lord Nn''s still appeared a bit delirious, his eyes ssy and his mouth ck and loose.
And at this new presence, Lord Nn turned to look at Lord Cassius suddenly with a look of surprised unfamiliarity, as if he was asking himself who this man was.
''Oh no!'' And seeing this Alexander once again cursed in his heart.
The pasha was no doctor, but he had seen people like this before- people who became paralyzed and amnesiac after suffering a stroke, unable tomunicate and sometimes even recognize their next of kin.
Alexander had no cure for this if that was the case.
And so could only pray this was the man just recovering from the shock and was only momentarily muddleheaded.
And that once he recovered, he would be able to once again retell his story.
Hence Alexander decided to step in to object to this happy union, loudly clearing his throat to draw attention to himself and then posing, "Lord Cassius, your father is still recovering. It is best not to disturb himself. Let us move him to somewhere quieter and morefortable."
"Yes, yes, whatever you see, my lord, whatever you say. Yes, yes," Lord Cassius of course agreed to this at the drop of the hat, while also revealing the unique speech pattern of repeating the words he just said, a practice that he no doubt had picked up from his father.
Then with the help of a few of the men, Lord Nn was relocated to another, quieter room, with Lord Cassius following quickly on toe, while Alexander and Lady Miranda stayed behind.
They still had many things to discuss, and this little distraction would not be enough to smooth out what Alexander was currently doing.
Neither forgot about it.
So with the slight detour removed, Lady Miranda formerly began the conversation in a cid but familiar tone, first offering a round of genuine praise,
"I have always heard of the great strides Zanzan has made in the field of medicine. But to see it for myself¡. I must say its efficacy has exceeded even my wildest expectations. I had no idea you were such a miracle doctor Lord Alexander¡. to be able to even give life to the death."
In Lady Miranda''s mind, given Alexander had just brought back the breath of a person who was not breathing, it of course counted as a miracle- as resurrecting the death.
Heck, even to a modern person, someone with no heartbeat and no heartbeat would be called dead.
So Lady Miranda was certainly overjoyed by the precious life saving skill on disy, using this to extrapte that Alexander would be able to deal with even life threatening injuries.
After all, if one could give life to the dead, was even decapitation anything to get flustered about?
Alexander however, who knew better, of course knew Lady Miranda was cing a bit too much trust on him, and thus suddenly felt a bit embarrassed hearing such high praise, and was unable to stop himself from drawingparisons to the Messiah Jesus, who was attributed to be able to do the same.
Now, Alexander did not know if the man was really capable of doing the things he was imed to be able to do or if they were simply tall exaggerations by other people who had something to sell, but Alexander did know for sure that he could not do it.
So he produced a modest, humble chuckle, "Hahaha, Lady Miranda is being too ttering. Everything I can do, I can only do due to my Mother. She is the one who deserves all the praise."
Lady Miranda did not seem too surprised or flustered by this im, but only gently nodded, "Mmm¡ the goddess Gaia must truly favor you. I''m d to have such a powerful ally beside us in our time of need."
This reaction was quite different from how people from Adhania reacted, for there was no gushing or fawning, but only a calm and collected eptance.
It was because ording to Sybarian culture, a god favoring a mortal, although was certainly special, was nothing to lose one''s socks over.
Per their beliefs, various gods favored different men throughout the times, in whatever ways they liked, but that did not mean their champions were blessed with any kind of aura of invincibility.
Many would fail in their mission, handing the triumph to other rival factions.
It was even thought that sometimes even a lowly mortal, if adequately clever and adept with his craft could best the gods in their own game.
Thus unlike the other times, here, there was no desire for Lady Miranda to convert to Alexander''s religion, and certainly no desire to take him as her apostle.
Instead, calmly epting Alexander''s exnation, Lady Miranda went on to then add in a slightly apologetic tone,
"Also please allow me to express gratitude on both of our behalf for saving father. I know it should really have been Cassius who should have said this, but¡.he is an emotional man," Lady Miranda tried to find the nicest words to describe her husband''s panicking antics, and finished with the plea, "So Ihope my lord will look at the way he acted with forgiving eyes."
Alexander brushed past such pleasantries with a light breezy wavy, both because it was very inconsequential to him, and also because he understood the other side was trying to belittle oneself now, to have the advantage in theter conversations.
And Alexander indeed was right, as with the small talk out of the way, Lady Miranda got straight to the point,
"So why have you done this, my lord?"
By now, Lady Miranda had gone from furious to hurt.
To which Alexander''s answer was simple and curt, "Let me show you," as he stood up and then gestured thedy to follow.
Then for the next some time, thedy was shown various proofs of why Alexander did what he did, both physical, such as the dead bodies of the assasions that were still in Alexander''s bedroom and the signalers with their step upas well as verbal, as Alexander recounted the whole event, from tip to toe.
Meaning starting from all the way back to what Lord Nn had said about the old Lord Margraves, and finishing with the nned attack on his life as well as his lines, thus finally revealing his decision to act the way he did.
Then he ended with the words, "I know this might all be very hard for you to take it in all at once, mydy. But I swear by the gods that I speak the truth. That is also why I wanted Lord Then he ended with the words, "I know this might all be very Nn''s ¡ help on the matter."
Alexander did not want to use the word ''confess'' as it had a very negative connotation.
While Lady Miranda, after hearing all this, had turned pale and woody, her eyes zed and unfocused.
The fact that the people so close to her, including her own grandfather whom she loved and respected so much, were plotting with such malice behind her back and for so long really felt like being stabbed by a dagger.
''These are the people I risked my and my son''s life to save?'' She loudly cried in her heart, knowing just how great a risk she had taken when initially traveling to Zanzan in her pregnant state.
The rocking and rough seas could have easily caused a miscarriage.
But even then she did it. All to save thends her forefathers had built for her.
And this was her reward?
To be oh so conveniently removed once she had outlived her usefulness?
The thought infuriated her.
And fueled by such hatred, Lady Miranda thus spat through gritted teeth in a cold, deep voice that even sent slight shivers through Alexander, "So that''s my the old crone was so afraid. No wonder he would rather die than confess!"
Lady Miranda did not doubt the veracity of Alexander''s ims, both because of how he had backed them up with evidence, as well as how this new information let Lady Miranda connect numerous unconnected dots that she had previously found confusing.
She had indeed suspected this in some, deep, deep hidden corner inside her heart, but never dared to venture further with it, not even willing to believe it was possible.
She was deathly afraid of the thought like it was her nightmare.
But now that the game was up, Alexander suddenly noticed a change in Lady Miranda''s demeanor, as thedy decided to shed all her indecisiveness, and turned to suddenly hand free reign of all the matters to Alexander,
"Thank you for all you have Lord Alexander. I am grateful. Please do whatever you think is necessary. But remember there is no turning back for us now. I leave my family''s fate in your hands."
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1072 New Plans
Chapter 1072 New ns
??Chapter 1072
Alexander was admittedly caught a bit off guard by the sudden change in Lady Miranda.
Honestly, he had braced himself for a long tedious nagging contest with his counterpart even after showing all the proof, as thedy of the house had shown herself to be like such a person,
Alexander had even made several mental points about all the things he would say to justify what he had done.
But it seemed the youngdy had taken the news of her family''s betrayal a lot harder than he had anticipated,pletely flipping out on her family aftering to know the truth and deciding then and there to make her bed squarely with Alexander.
Currently, Lady Miranda no longer cared whatever Alexander did- be it his storming of the mansion and taking everyone here hostage, burning all those ships in the harbor down and ruining their rtions with the rest of the people, or even the fact that fire hadrgely gotten out of control and was threatening to swallow the entire ce in mes.
Yes, Lady Miranda had seen the fearful fires raging outside from the windows of the mansion.
But Lady Miranda chose to blindly ignore all this and decided to put all her trust in Alexander regardless.
And who could really me her?
While the people in her own family were actively trying to harm her, it was only this man in front of her who had stayed beside her, traveling more than a thousand kilometers with 5,000 men toe to her rescue.
As they say- Actions speak louder than words.
While Alexander, having obtained such a surprising boon, was quick to express his gratitude, "Thank you for understanding mydy. I promise to surely ensure that you take your rightful seat at your family''s table by the end of all this."
He felt that now that he was given such free reign over the city, he would be able to maneuver with much greater tactical flexibility, setting his heart at a much greater ease.
"Mmmmm, I will leave you to it then, Lord Alexander," Lady Miranda''s reply to this enthusiastic response however was a lot more stony and anemic than one would expect, as if her mind was somewhere way else.
As further proved by the fact she then decided to finish their meeting with the curt phrase, "Goodnight then, my lord."
"...." Alexander watched the nobledy leave towards the room Lord Nn was situated with a muted silence, assuming that the sudden news must have shaken her greatly and that she required some time to clear her head.
So Alexander decided to put this mind to the other tasks at hand, such as receiving reports about the state of the other ongoing operations, be it the capture of the mansion, the fight on the frontlines, and most importantly of all, the attack on the ships.
The young Pasha very much looked forward to how Remus would describe this kerfuffle, especially when this was originally all his idea.
But at the end of the day, once Alexander would get to know the details, the young general would be let off with only a few strong words and some light childing, as Alexander would only warn the man to be more careful next time.
In the grand scheme of things, this was little more than a p on the wrist.
It would take Alexander the whole night to get through all these tasks and he would be only allowed to go to sleep after dawn broke and the mansion was fully secure, closing his eyes around the same time the fire in the city was starting to flicker out.
The man would then wake up at around noon, feeling refreshed and revitalized.
Then, after a good lunch, would once again sit for talks with Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius.
Because they of course had many things to discuss, the main one being how to proceed forward now that all the things Alexander did had happened.
So the group started quickly, initially beginning with the pleasantries, as Lord Cassius spoke up first to offer his gratitude,
"Thank you for what you did yesterday my lord. We back there witnessed a true miracle. My father''s life belongs to you. We are forever in your debt."
Alexander only swept past these words with a polite nod and a few cating words, feeling more intent on getting to the main point.
As was Lady Miranda, who thus cut through her husband''s polite demeanor to instead sharply pose to Alexander, "We understand why you did what you did yesterday, my lord. So what now? How do we proceed?"
And here Alexander would freely confess to himself- he did not have a ghost of an idea on what he was going to do next.
Sure he had Miss Linda and the elders in custody ¡ but then what?
How was he going to so use them to get what he wanted?
When Alexander had taken the moves he did, he had not thought so far ahead, mostly because he did not have the time to consider everything.
At the time, he thought to leave the solution to the problem to his future self.
And well, his future self was here and he had to find a way out.
Because do not forget there was still an army of 20,000 right inside the city, and it was not like they were going to give up and go home just because they had been unable to break through yesterday.
"We should try to use Miss Linda and Quentin to try and negotiate." So although skeptical about it even himself, this was still the best idea that Alexander was able to produce.
And Lady Miranda''s frowning face said it all about what she thought about this idea, as shemented,
"I doubt Lord Parker will sue for peace just because we had his wife and future heir. In fact, they might very well fight even harder, trying to retrieve this prize possession- the very opposite of what we want to happen."
And Alexander deep inside was also in simpatico towards this hypothesis, as he doubted some ink on paper would have an effect when you had 20,000 armed men with you.
Might make right as they say.
"....." So Alexander for a bit seemed stumped, as the room entered an ufortable silence aseveryone got to thinking,
Until, Lady Nanazin, who was also part of the group, decided to opine, "Perhaps we can force Miss Linda to abdicate. Make her swear to the gods that she will relinquish all her ims to the family seat. What about that?"
"Hmmmm, yes."
And this n did not actually sound too bad to Alexander, as he could see him forcing thedy under duress to relinquish her contention.
Such coercive methods did work in this period of strong belief in the gods and promises.
He thus franklymented on the feasibility of the move while tracing his chin, pointing out how it could be done,
"If we can get the elders on our side¡ and then get Miss Linda to promise in front of the gods ¡. hmmm, with so many witnesses¡. even she must think twice before going back on her words, right?"
Alexander thought that sheer peer pressure might be enough to make herply.
"Mmmm, this is not bad." And to nod in agreement with Alexander was actually Lady Parthia, who too was present, and who added, "We can even offer Lady Linda some type ofpensation. Some suitable position within the family''s business where she will be able to live her lifefortably. Perhaps we can even promise a union with Lady Miranda''s eldest daughter to her son."
The suggestion here really went to disy Lady Parthia''s own life experience.
The Queen of Parthia was no stranger to rebellions and had seen up close quite a few ones, as well as how the numerous ways her husband as well as the Royal Court dealt with them.
Outright execution was of course the most popr method, but it was not the only one.
cating the other side withforts and luxuries to soothe the grievances was also a time tested method.
So many times one could buy your enemies, turning them from enemies to friends with the allure of gold, women, and even some share of power.
And Alexander was of course aware of this, as he recalled one of the most examples from his previous life.
After winning his coup in 1957, the Soviet Premier Khrushchev did not purge his opponents and send them to the ggs, but instead gave them positions of power and prestige, asking them to rule the country together.
Which came as an earth shattering surprise to the defectors, as up until then, it was practically an unwrittenw of the country to kill all those who rebelled against the victor.
One need not read too much about Khrushchev''s predecessor, the infamous Stalin to know what happened to detractors under him.
So in gratitude for being saved and not being sent to the gg, these rebellious men stayed mostly loyal to the Premier up until the end of his rule.
And recalling this, Alexander hoped that such a thing could be replicated here too.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1073 Close Reinforcements
Chapter 1073 Close Reinforcements
??At Lady Parthia''s suggestion, Alexander was quick to nod to show his support.
"Yes. Lady Parthia speaks words of wisdom. We should try our best to make Miss Lindaply. Once she abdicates, and Lady Miranda is imed as the family''s head by the elders, we can then slowly sit down with the Heeat family ande up with a suitablepromise." The man was quite expectant of the results, and ended the proposal with,
"Perhaps we can even agree to let Qin take over the family once hees of age."
Alexander nted his eyes toward Lady Miranda as he finished, hoping to see a favorable reaction from thedy.
They had discussed this exact n before, but before they were too ''poor'' to afford it.
But now that they had much more valuable chips, it made Alexander a lot more hopeful about its sess.
"That won''t work!" Lady Miranda however did not seem at all interested and curtly rejected it saying, "You do not know Linda. She will not back down! Ever! No amount of promises to the gods and no amount the number of witnesses will be enough to hold her¡ no matter how sincere she might appear!" The tone used here was filled with absolute certainty, as Lady Miranda then added disdainfully,
"And besides, didn''t all those elders already swear to the gods when they promised to make me the matriarch of the family? What good did that do? What credibility do they have to act as witnesses now? They will likely im Linda to be the matriarch of the family the moment they get the first chance! No thank!"
Thedy''s voice sounded final and extremely conclusive.
It did not take a genius to see that Miss Linda was thoroughly disappointed in her family and was adamant about not trusting them.
And here her husband too seemed to agree, pointing to the fact, "We already gave Miss Linda a good position in the family before. But was she not grateful?"
Shaking his head, the man answered his own question, as he then finished by stating, "We do not see the point of doing it again. Let us try to find another way."
"....." Alexander would have to give it to the couple, they had a good point.
The elders, who would select the next heir were firmly in Miss Linda''s pocket.
So for the following hour, the group went back and forth on what else they could do to let Lady Miranda win the family seat and how to do it.
But ultimately they found themselves circling back to this same thing- trying to use Miss Linda and the elder''s captivity to somehow extract some kind of concession from them, and by extension Lord Parker.
This was a non starter for Lady Miranda, who insisted her sister and the elders were all the incarnations of the devil and could never be trusted to keep their word.
So seeing the bullish woman, Alexander decided to put this topic off to the side for the moment, saying, "Okay, let use back To thister. Just because Miss Linda acted like that before does not mean she will do so again! Let us see what she has to say."
The man was still hopeful that after waking up to her new reality, the schemingdy would be much more amenable to his ways.
Alexander also assumed that Lady Miranda''s past acrid interactions with thedy had colored her judgment, and this was the true reason why she was reluctant to make up with her sibling.
Which did have some merit as evidenced by how Miss Linda had objected to Lady Miranda''s assassination, pointing to the promise with her grandfather, or killing Alexander as it would hurt her family''s prestige.
These were not the acts of apletely amoral person.
But at the same time, the man also forgot to take into ount his own biases, which was that his desperate situation might have colored his personal thoughts regarding the optimism about this matter.
It was very possible that Alexander might have seen the n of forcefully subjugating Miss Linda as truly viable not because it made logical sense, but because he wanted to.
Because he could see no other option.
After all, Lord Parker with his 20,000 strong army was still breathing down Alexander''s neck and the pasha honestly felt a slight trepidation thinking what the ducal heir was going to do once he got to know that his wife and son had been kidnapped.
Launch a brutal, suicidal attack on the solid lines to try and break through using brute force in a desperate attempt?
Incite the public even more, this time by using the fire as an excuse, to have them charge blindly against the lines regardless of the consequences?
Or try something else entirely, something that Alexander could even think about.
Alexander was honestly expecting it to be the second option because Lord Parker had done something simr before.
And this time, it was actually Alexander''s fault- he did burn down tens of thousands of people''s homes, inadvertently or not.
So Alexander assumed that the lord should be feeling very confident about being able to mobilize arge part of the hundred thousand strong popce and use them as volunteer meat shields, soaking up Alexander''s hits and overwhelming even the impressive defenses he set up with sheer mass and quantity.
After all, there was only so much 5,000 men could do.
Thus Alexander was still trying his best to be diplomatic, hoping toe to an amicable conclusion, knowing that despite the single, sneaky victory he had just obtained, the huge unbnced equation still remained.
He was going to need a lot more than one small victory to dig himself out of this hole.
And unfortunately for the man, it seemed Lady Miranda was ready to offer some of her own tools.
She might be doggedly determined to not give even an inch to her sister, and even very openly frowned at Alexander''s instance, but she did not argue¡ for now.
Instead, she turned to give Alexander some surprisingly good news, stating,
"Lord Alexander, given the current developments, I have written to Uncle Janus, asking for his aid. He does not live far away from here, and should be able to respond soon."
This was of course great news, like the news of an impending thunderstorm after a drought, and so Alexander instantly cheered, forming a great grin and nodding,
"Great! Great! If we really have to fight we will need to every man we can find. How many can the great lord provide?"
Alexander in his excitement even addressed the small lord with honorifics, as he subconsciously leaned forward, his eyes twinkling.
It was apparent he was very eager for these men.
And few people could me him given the mismatch he was facing.
Alexander could wee even a single more man with open arms, such as his need.
However, the crity of his reply had inadvertently revealed a bit too much of his inner thoughts, or more specifically his inner dilemma, as all those around understood not everything was under control as the man in front of them was trying to portray.
Even the rtively verdant Lady Miranda would read this and so putting a fake thoughtful face, revealed with a warm smile, "If I remember correctly, he should be able toe up with 5,000 men!"
She did not want to disappoint her ally.
And fortunately for her, Alexander was too distracted by thisrge, oh so convenient number to notice an unnatural look on his counterpart as she said this, which at any other time, would have surely raised rm bells in him.
Because just think about it.
Alexander, as a pasha, had 5,000 men with him.
The Margraves, a family which wasparable to him only had 10,000 standing men.
But now thisdy was saying that the lord of a small, rtively young fiefdom would be able to raise 5,000 men at a moment''s notice?
Preposterous!
It was such a tall tale that even Lady Nanazin, who knew almost nothing about warfare could sense something was off, and scanned Lady Miranda''s cid face closely to try and identify what was it that smelled off.
While the much more experienced Lady Parthia easily spotted the fib, as she was quite experienced in the logistical know how of how a levy worked.
She had worked with her husband many times to issue the order.
She also knew of Lord Janus, Alexander telling the man''s identity and his fiefdom beforeing to Caira.
And from all that information, Lady Parthia was willing to bet half her fortune that there was no way such a small ce would raise 5,000 levies.
The entire fiefdom would copse before so many young, free, suitable men could be found.
At best it could raise 500, 1,000 if push really came to shove.
Thus at this realization, her lips suddenly began to quiver a bit, as she ruminated on whether to point this out.
But after considering it for a bit, she ultimately chose to keep everything to herself.
It seemed the poord really could use the good news, even if it was a lie.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1074 Under Seige
Chapter 1074 Under Seige
??Lady Parthia could guess why Lady Miranda told the white lie about the number.
So realizing it, thedy too decided to keep up the act, one because Lady Miranda and they were right now allies and it would be not polite to poke holes in the other party''s credibility, but much more so because she was not willing to shatter the hopes of the man sitting next to her.
Alexander really looked like he could really use this good news, even if it was not true.
Thus Lady Parthia too yed her part in letting Alexander enjoy the brief respite and allowing him to immerse in the thought that his situation was about to imminently improve and by a scale of two at that, thinking that young man could deal with the disappointmentter.
Although such tender consideration did not really help Alexander that much as Lady Miranda was quick to inform him of some other dire news, shattering his gleeful, relieved state.
She informed him, "However Lord Alexander, your movest night has created some unforeseen consequences that you likely had not considered. I''m here referring to the matter of supplies. I just got confirmation this morning that Lord Parker has blocked off all routes into the mansion. No vendors can enter the premises. Meaning we are basically under siege!"
Lady Miranda revealed the news with a slightly shaky voice, as that single word brought much dread to her, as did it to the other twodies.
The two words people of this time were most afraid of was ''gue'', followed closely by siege.
Both of them were brutal.
And it was also enough to shake Alexander a bit.
Because just as Lady Miranda had imed, Alexander indeed did not consider this, being solely of the mind to secure the mansion, taking everyone hostage, and burning the ships.
Nothing more had mattered back then.
"How many days can west?" Thus with gritted teeth Alexander quickly posed the question, his heart trembling in trepidation.
If they had no stock of supplies and the threat of starvation was real, Alexander was of the mind to seriously start considering betraying Lady Miranda outright and going back to Miss Linda crawling on his knees.
It might sound extremely shameful, but Alexander did not care.
Pride was certainly important, but to him staying alive was much, much more so.
And it was not even because he loved it so much.
But more so because Alexander was highly doubtful whether his wives and children would be able to live past even one year after his death.
His foundation in Adhania was simply too young and tender, and without him there to firmly ce the roots, he feared his family would be swept by the strong current of adversaries and infighting, turning all his loved ones into fertilizer for some other man to take advantage of.
Alexander did not want to end up like Alexander the Great, all his family murdered and his empire split up among his generals.
Thus it came as a great relief when he heard Lady Miranda reveal,
"I have checked the mansion''s pantry myself and fortunately we have enough tost the winter¡."
Although that relief was only ephemeral as thedy of the house cheekily went on to add, "For us and the servants that is."
Meaning there was only enough to feed a few hundred people for about three months.
But then what about Alexander''s 6,000 men? The men who were defending the lines?
Alexander cursed Lady Miranda for such cruel wordy as he attempted to calm his raging heart, an endeavor he found very hard to aplish.
Because like an expertputer he calcted- ''If there are 300 people in the mansion and each consumes 1 kg of wheat a day until theing of spring which is about 100 days away, then the same food willst 6,000 men¡.. 5 days.''
Due to Alexander''s previous experience dealing with food shortages, like when Zanzan could not produce enough to feed itself, the man was surprisingly adept at this kind of mental math.
It even made him wonder if he switched the ''pie with sd'' like in that show whether he would be able to still do it.
But right now, the man was in no mind to be having such frivolous thoughts.
5 days was certainly not enough to do anything.
And while his men had brought their own grain supplies, it was quite limited, mainly due to the haste with which they hade.
The legion consumed more than 6 tons of grains every single day when ounting for both the men''s and the draft animals'' needs and if you multiply that by any significant number of days, such as even a modest- one month, well then just the loading and hauling such huge volumes over long distances easily became very difficult and time consuming.
You needed many men to load them, needed many ships to transport them, and needed many guards to protect them.
All of which took time.
Time which Lord Janus did not have back then and thus had advised Alexander to skip all these tedious safechecks and instead assured him that the Margraves family would take of all his needs.
And without knowing of the full situation, Alexander had agreed, thinking if the worst came to worst, he would be able to snatch the food from the people.
Thus he came with only about 40 days of food with him, out of which about 15 days worth had been already consumed, all in theing trip.
Then when he hadnded, he found the family was quite forting with their supplies despite the ongoing tensions.
Even when he blockaded the streets, Lord Parker did not use his men to try and starve Alexander, but let the food freely flow, probably because he was afraid that such a thing might inconvenience his wife.
But now it seemed the gloves hade off, and left Alexander wide open for a solid sucker punch.
Due to all the previous positives, and in the rush of it all, Alexander had simply forgotten about the whole affair.
Until Lady Miranda reminded him of it now.
Which caused his heart to beat rapidly and he began to wish to be able to roast Lord Janus and eat him.
Then, since Lady Miranda revealed her numbers, Alexander too frankly revealed his situation to thedy.
"My men have only enough grain tost them 2 weeks tops." He intentionally underreported his numbers, and then turned to ask, "So what would mydy suggest I do? Is Lord Janus about toe with more grain?"
He really hoped the answer to thest question was yes.
Which fortunately it was, as Lady Miranda revealed the iing ships would indeed have quite a bit of grain with them, courtesy of it being winter, and thus right after the harvest season.
The granaries were currently filled to the brim.
And thedy then went to further add, "Also my lord, with the ships in the Great Harbor no more, your men can also sail out to forage around the city''s suburbs if need be. Since it is winter, they are surely to have enough stocks."
Alexander felt like pping his head after hearing this, as he rebuked himself, ''Right! How dumb can I be? Why didn''t I think of such an easy answer, Ahhh! All the pressure must be getting to me.''
He was honestly embarrassed at missing such an easy solution and then even felt a bit ashamed at having considered abandoning his ally just because things got a bit tough.
The proverb ''It is easy to share good times, but no hard times'' was manifesting itself right in front of Alexander, and tragically the man himself was the example.
The man sighed with a breath of relief that the example ended when it did.
And then wanted to know, "How long will it take for Lord Janus to answer?"
"Two weeks!" Was the answer.
Which Alexander did find a bit too convenient since it was also the exact number his soldiers had enough grains for presumably.
It was like Lady Miranda was stretching the time limit to its utmost limits.
Now, it should also be noted that Alexander had more than 25 days of grains with him because this time was for his own supplies.
The Margraves also regrly supplied the army and they of course did not deliver exactly 6 tons of grain every day. Such a trip every day would be too much of a hassle.
So instead they delivered it in batches, about two weeks of it in total.
Thus Alexander could hold out for 40 days given his supplies- or even 80 days if he rationed this food to one meal a day.
And as his quartermaster would inform of this, it would naturallye as a great relief to the man.
Although this sigh of relief would notst long.
As not content with depriving Alexander of his food, Lord Parker would turn his wrath to something more primal, something much more important- water!
The Margraves mansion was supplied by a series of underground cisterns and usingrge boulders, the man would be able to cut off some select sections and thus deprive drinking water to six and half thousand people!
Chapter 1075 Lord Parkers Retaliation (Part-1)
Chapter 1075 Lord Parker''s Retaliation (Part-1)
??Alexander, for now, felt very relieved that help was soon on the way.
So lightly slumping his back on the couch in happiness, his mind turned to thest matter in his mind.
Hence he posed to Lady Miranda with curiosity,
"So Lord Parker has been already informed of the happenings? How did he react?"
Alexander had not had enough time to send delegations to the other party yet, so given that the siege had already started, the man must have been informed somehow, and the most likely candidate was of course none other than Lady Miranda.
Alexander was quite interested to know the man''s mood after knowing all this, so as to try and glean how he would react next.
"Hehe, as my lord could already guess, not well." Lady Miranda was frank to reveal the incident, producing a happy chuckle as she did.
Thedy was d to be able to poke the other side for the first time after so long.
So she then revealed, "It is said that upon first hearing of your sess, Lord Parker had flown off into an unbridled rage, letting of profanities few had ever heard the man utter."
"And when the matter of Linda and Quentin''s imprisonment was brought up and he was asked to surrender to ensure their safety, he threatened to execute the poor man on the spot then and there.He was only stopped when General Achis stepped in. Pity."
Lady Miranda had a rueful tone to her voice as she shook her head, not because her messenger was killed but because he was not.
And Alexander would actually guess why she wanted the poor man dead- because in Sybarian culture, messengers had the same status as divine envoys, thus considered to be under the divine protection of the gods.
The consequences of killing such a person could easily imagined.
Lady Miranda would be able to easily paint Lord Parker as an apostate if he were to do such a thing, especially if he were to do so right in the middle of Caira.
Thus Lady Miranda felt that General Achis preventing that was a great loss for her, as she then finished her recount by noting,
"Our current siege is in part a protest of what you did to Linda and Quentin my lord. Lord Parker has dered that as long as you agree to release his wife and son, he will immediately lift it and allow food toe in."
"Hmmmm!" Alexander only snorted in disdain at the ask, not even deigning to give an answer.
There was no way he was going to give up his most precious goose and saw this for all that it was- a negotiating ruse.
So instead Alexander cleverly pointedly out,
"What is the point of starving us? If we starve, his wife and son will starve with us. Surely Lord Parker too must know it. So what is the point of all this?"
Alexander repeated the first andst line to emphasize his reasoning, his voice carrying a clear disdain for the man''s tactics.
In his mind, this siege was little more than a temper tantrum thrown by an inexperienced lord who did the easiest and most convenient thing that was avable to him in the heat of the moment without thinking about the consequences.
And thought that as long as he held out and showed no weakness, the man would eventually buckle, if for no one but his family.
This was also what Alexander revealed to Lady Miranda, emphasizing on the pressure Lord Parker must be feeling regarding Miss Linda and Quentin''s well being, and using this to reassure her that the other side would not be able to maintain the siege for any length of time.
"Lord Parker will break before we do. He has to if he wants to save his wife and son." Alexander confidently imed and then buttressed all his argument with the remainder,
"And even if the worst of the worst happens and Lord Parker decides to hold on, there is still no need to worry. I have already written to Zanzan, asking for 20,000 men. They will be here by the earliest time possible. And once they get here, we will be able to easily lift the siege within days."
Like Lady Miranda, Alexander too was not above inting his numbers to cate his allies, and his exaggerations were perhaps even greater than his ally, magically turning 10,000 soldiers into 20,000.
And with this reassurance,stly urged Lady Miranda,
"Thus right now, the only need to do is tighten our belt a bit and hold on. We havee so far, so we cannot falter now. None of us must show any weakness."
Alexander had a very firm, confident tone as he made the ask, in order to eliminate any indecisive doubts Lady Miranda or her husband might have.
And looking at the poised demeanor, Lady Miranda did feel rxed, her heart settling at the news of the imminent arrival of such arge force.
Thedy of course bought the fib, since she was no expert at warfare.
Plus she knew Alexander had wielded forces far, far bigger before, as much as four times bigger, and so had little reason to distrust him.
The meeting then ended for the day with this, and as Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius went off to try and make the elders turn over to their side, Alexander went out to meet with Remus, staying with the men until the fall of dusk.
There he got to know about the state of forces- inquiring about the details ofst night''s attack, how effective they were in fending the other side off, the strategy they used, and most importantly the casualties they inflicted as well as suffered.
Which was as expected quite low on both sides.
People rarely died during the actual attack, so Lord Parker had a tally of about 20 to 50 dead and wounded, while Alexander had no deaths but around 10 wounded on the front lines.
To either side, this was as big a deal as a simple mosquito bite.
Furthermore, during this time, Alexander also tried to see the extent of the damage the fire had caused and learned through some ounts that the fire had reached all the way to the great bathhouse and was only stopped there due to the huge amount of water stored there.
Alexander had yet to see the ''Great Bathhouse of Caira'' as he was mostly trapped in the Margraves mansion for all the time he was in Caira, and so could not reallyment on the veracity of the information but judging by the tone of the man, it sounded like quite the impressive feat.
And regardless of the how, Alexander was d to hear the fire was put out.
He had no wish to burn the city down.
As Alexander and his group hunkered down and nned their own move,pletely unbeknownst to him, the enemy too began to try to figure out their next move.
As soon as they received news of Alexander''s triumph at the mansion, they became very busy raking their brains to try and think of a way to utch the enemy''s defenses and rescue their madam and future lord.
And the two men who spearheaded this endeavor were naturally General Achis and Lord Parker, who were further joined by many of their high ranking officers, among whom there was one whose status was much higher above the others, almost beingparable to l General Achis.
Tall, handsome, with a clean face and very well kept shoulder length, oiled hair, this man could be said to be the embodiment of the ideal dashing prince that a dreamy girl might conjure in her mind.
And when garbed in his full set of decorative armor like he was now, he was indeed very fetching, to both genders some might say.
This special man was called Lord Bernard and the reason for his exalted status among the officers was that he was the one officially in charge of the 10,000 Margraves men that were stationed in the city, having received the official seal personally from the old Margraves IV himself.
Meaning even if it was Lord Parker who wanted to deploy the Margraves family''s forces, he would require this man''s prior permission.
Of course, this was only on paper, as in reality the man sat and stood at Lord Parker''smand,plying with the lord''s every desire without the slightest objection
But even if the position was purely ceremonial, the respect and prestige it wielded was still certainly tangible, as evidenced by the differential and even slightly jealous looks the other officers were giving him.
They too wished to have their lord''s ear just like this man had.
And this was something that the young man actually found very pleasing, as he felt ttered.
It made him feel powerful.
"Lord Bernard, what do you propose we do now?"
It was amidst such musings that the man was suddenly snapped out of his daydreaming thoughts by this loud query from General Achis, who seemed to be looking at the spaced out man with a bit of irritation in his voice, annoyed that the man was not paying attention.
Chapter 1076 Lord Parkers Retaliation (Part-2)
Chapter 1076 Lord Parker''s Retaliation (Part-2)
??Achis''s voice betrayed great annoyance at Lord Bernard''s carelessness for here they were discussing such important matters but the man did not even seem to bother.
Along with that, there was also the fact that the general did not like Lord Bernard, both because he saw him as ipetent and because he was a bit jealous of the man''s status.
Thus in an attempt to catch the man with his pants down so to speak, Achis reiterated,
"We have already stopped food supplies from going into the mansion. But this will likely not be enough to make the enemy capitte anytime soon. Our sources say they have veryrge stocks of grains and it is reasonable to believe them. It is winter after all. People stock up the entire year just to prepare for this season."
"So it is very possible, they will able tost the entire three months. This is not eptable." The man announced thest sentence with great force while shaking his head, emphasizing its importance.
And after the slight pause, turned to dictate to Lord Bernard,
"So we need to find a faster way to defeat Alexander. My lord cannot let thedy and young master be held hostage by the enemy for so long. God forbid if anything happens to them while in your territory!"
And here Achis did not just oh so subtly threaten only Lord Bernard, but the entire Margraves family, indicating that if something were to happen to the two, there would be hell to pay for the entire dynasty.
And Lord Parker too agreed with his general on this one, as curtly nodding his head, he turned to say to Lord Bernard,
"Right! You are the local here¡. You must know some hidden secret passageway into the mansion. If you cannot find a way to break the lines, then at least find a way to get my wife and son out of there. We are at a great disadvantage as long as Alexander has them."
"....." While the man in question, Lord Bernard felt like he was suddenly zapped by a cattle prod at being offered such a mental task.
''There are tens of you, no tens of thousands of you! If you cannot do it how can I?'' The man eximed at the back of his mind, rolling his eyes in shock.
And then quickly understood that he was not being really asked to answer such a difficult question but to fail!
He was being plotted against here
How else would you exin the fact that he was being asked to magically find a solution to aplex problem that so many others could not solve?
And on the spot at that?
Just because he was a local?
Bullshit!
There were 10,000 ''locals'' right here in the camps, and if that was not enough, even more than that, there were 100,000 locals in the city.
''Why don''t you go capture them if he thought they held the key to all the secrets? Lord Bernard thus venemously cursed Lord Parker inside his mind.
And then began to suspect that this was simply the other side''s way of trying to dismiss him, to try and swallow the 10,000 men under him all for themselves.
The man was surprisingly sharp when it came to such things.
However, despite being pitted against like this, Lord Bernard knew he could not flip out.
The other side was too powerful.
So he chose to be diplomatic.
And luckily, Lord Bernard here had a bit of an advantage as he chosen to be the Margraves family representative to Lord Parker on the field not due to his skills of generalship, but more due to his eloquence.
The man was the son of one of the powerful elders of the family andrgely managed to get the job through his tongue, and not his arms.
So thinking quickly on his feet, he first opined,
"The various secret passages to the mansion will likely not be essible to thedy and young son. Lady Miranda too knows about these ess points and surely has posted soldiers to guard against any intrusion from us."
"And also, if I recall correctly ording to that messenger in the morning, Her Ladyship has been ced under house arrest. So it is unlikely she is able to freely roam around the house."
Lord Bernard used this point to rebuke Lord Parker''s want for a secret entrance leading into the mansion, iming it was unfeasible.
And then before the man could dismiss him, quickly pointed out,
"So perhaps we could use the ships from the Great Harbor? I heard that we managed to find a lot of them intact. And the enemy probably thinks he has destroyed them all."
"So we can surely use them to sail around the defensive lines at night andnd on the other side in a sneak attack. This will surely catch them off guard!"
Lord Bernard felt quite confident about his chances in this n.
"No! The enemy has already strengthened his defenses. It will not work," Lord Parker however was very quick to dismiss the idea, curtly waving his hand and then greatly exaggerating,
"Also most of the ships are damaged. It will take many weeks to fix them. We don''t have so much time on our hands. Find another way!"
If any outsider were to see this interaction from outside, it would have surely appeared to him as Lord Parker being too whimsical here.
The idea was honestly not bad here.
If Lord Parker really did try to use a night attack using these ships which Alexander had no knowledge of, then under the cloak of darkness there was truly a nonzero chance of them seeding.
And even if they failed, their losses would unlikely be too great, since it would be only around a few hundred troops at bestnding to take the harbor in the first wave.
So Lord Bernard was unable to see the reason for such an acrid reaction.
But Lord Parker did not seem to approve, finding the concept of doing something that the enemy already about foolish.,
Thus for the next few moments, the whole room turned silent, as Lord Bernard sweated to think of what other way was possible, while all the others looked on with hidden curiosity, eager to see what great proposal the handsome could produce.
And after tracing his chins for a while, Lord Bernard thought he had managed to finally unearth apletely looked over trick.
So he shouted,
"What about fire? We have many spies within the family, we can certainly use them to set fire to the granaries. Yes! Without the food, Alexander will have no choice but to sue for peace! It is a great idea!"
So impressed as he with his own n, Lord Bernard began to toot his own horn, validating his own n was ''great''.
And credit where credit is due, using fire was a long and time test method.
Even Sun Tzu wrote about it- to use fire to destroy the enemy.
So even if it was the oldest trick in the book, it was still a viable one.
"No!" However the veto from Lord Parker was an instant one. And it was not even his usual deep pitched veto.
But the man practically shouted the thing off the top of his lungs, as he went tombast Lord Bernard in the most inventive way possible,
"You blithering idiot! Wasn''t yesterday''s fire enough for you? It nearly burnt the entire city down! And now you want us to try and do the same? Right next to the house where my wife and son are! Are you trying to save them or kill them?"
It seemed that Alexander''s fire had left a deep shadow on the man''s heart, and Lord Parker was not even willing to consider such an option.
While standing right next to him, General Achis was of course there to oil his boss''s ass, taunting the other side with a victorious smirk,
"That''s right, Lord Bernard! Have you forgotten it is winter? The entire ce is like dry kindling. How can even suggest this?" as the short man then went to further poke the man by saying,
"Not to mention it would not even work. The Margraves family has multiple grannies just to prevent such an ident. And I have not even talked about the guards. So how are your spies get even close to them?"
"And then there is the fact that Alexander''s soldiers have an altogether separate grain stock, stored safely all the way in their ships.How do you suggest we get to that hmmm?"
Achis was trying to kick Lord Bernard down both fronts, portraying him as both ipetent and reckless for suggesting such a dangerous n.
''By using the intact ships tounch a night attack.'' While Lord Bernard mumbled the answer to General Achis''sst query under his breath.
But he kept that to himself because he could see the top boss was not interested in this n.
Achis had indeed made quite a few good points.
And so with even this good n thrown on the bins, the dejected man began to try to think of his next idea.
When suddenly his eyesnded on a cup of wine.
Chapter 1077 Lord Parkers Retaliation (Part-3)
Chapter 1077 Lord Parker''s Retaliation (Part-3)
??Lord Parker watched Lord Bernard struggle toe up with a n with aplicated feeling in his heart.
This was because he knew he was being unfair to the man.
How could a single man hope to achieve something when so many of them could not?
But he also knew it had to be done. Lord Bernard had to fail here.
And the reason why he needed to do it was all because of Alexander, because of the hostage situation that he had created.
To fully understand the thought process of Lord Parker here, one had to go back a bit.
Go back to when thete Lord Margraves had appointed Lord Bernard as the head of the family''s forces.
The shrewd old man turned was not blind to the back handed dealing Lord Bernard had used to get his post.
But despite being aware of it, hergely let it slide.
Because the old lord actually approved of the act.
This was due to the fact Lord Bernard was infamous for being a ''soft rice'' and a pushover, someone who was weak willed and bent his back to strong men very quickly.
Which might sound like the very opposite of the characteristics you would want in your general, but not so here.
Because here Lord Margraves had been much more concerned about cating Lord Parker''s side than maintaining control over his men.
Hence he hoped this pusinimous but dashing man would be able to charm the other side and cater to all the ducal family''s requests hence as to not give them any reason to cancel the deal.
After all, if the Margraves troops had a very strong,petent general to lead them, then he would certainly protest the presence of so many troops inside the city.
Such a thing would not only be seen as detrimental to the sovereignty of the family but also be seen as a personal attack on the general, who might feel his own position and importance threatened.
Thus the fear was- with such a strong-minded individual, he would likely create conflict with the ducal troops over various things, each one like flint hitting flint.
And if any one of these sparks wererge enough and it set off¡. well it could easily spell disaster.
An event that the old Margraves lord of course wanted to avoid at all costs.
And thus after taking all this into consideration, Lord Bernard got the post through the blessing of the then family head.
And credit to thete Lord Margraves, this appointment did work just as he had intended back then.
Lord Parker was clever enough to easily read between the lines and understood what the Margraves family was really trying to do here.
Thus he dly yed along, giving Lord Bernard his due respect as was bing of one of the highest ranking representatives of the Margraves family.
And Lord Bernard too had reciprocated in kind, following Lord Parker''s orders to the tee, and giving the ducal scion little reason to antagonize him.
In fact, to show his appreciation, Lord Parker would even asionally invite the handsome man to bed, feeling both attracted by the beautiful man but more so because in Sybarian culture this was known to be the utmost honor for an officer- to be invited by his superior for a night like this.
Kind of like how in modern times, it is a big deal for a college professor to invite one of his students to coffee- this meant that he was very impressed with their intellect.
Thus in this way, Lord Parker continued to keep Lord Bernard happy and managed to gain full assistance in directing the 10,000 men.
So up until now, it seemed that everyone was on the same wavelength and could read their script clearly.
Until that is Alexander arrived, throwing a huge wrench into their perfectly working machine.
Here was a man of great renown, a rising warlord, whonded right at their doorsteps leading 5,000 veterans.
This changed the equation- as it meant that this was no time to be ying house with each other.
Lord Parker and Lord Bernard''s previously harmonious rtionship would no longer work as intended because both men served two different masters- one the Heeat family, and the other Margraves family- which itself was split in two and fighting among themselves for power.
And each of these factions had their own wishes and desires.
Even the part of the Margraves family that supported Lord Parker had disagreements between them, such as Miss Linda initially vetoing Alexander''s assassination.
All these examples gave rise to a single logical question- ''How can such a fractured entity face such a solid threatening force?
The query had been made by many even since the day Alexandernded.
But up until now, this had been rtively on the hush-hush, as these people had no concrete tform to talk on, and no particr incident to point to that would support their statement.
Until now that is.
With Alexander having taken over the mansion, almost all of Lord Parker''s advisors had covertly asked him to remove Lord Bernard and rece with him someone more loyal.
Someone who would look for the Heeat family''s interest first and the Margraves''s second.
They had whispered to Lord Parker''s ears, "My lord, you very well know how fickle this Bernard is. He cannot be trusted. Especially now that Alexander has his father¡. who knows what he will do if the other sides contact him? It will not be wise to let him have control of the army."
And this of course made perfect sense to Lord Parker.
The lord even had the foresight to consider scenarios such as ''What if Alexander was to disy hostages from atop the ramparts just as they were about to attack the lines? Would the Margraves officers still order their soldiers to follow them to battle? Very likely not.''
Thus he took the words of his retainers very seriously.
But although willing to take the step, Lord Parker suddenly found himself questioning how exactly he was going to implement it.
Because Lord Bernard was not his subordinate whom he could fire at will.
In fact, it was unknown who it was that could even fire Lord Bernard, as the former head of the family Lord Margraves was dead and Miss Linda was still not officially the matriarch."
While forcefully moving the man did not seem prudent.
Because Lord Bernard naturally had his own officers, many of whom had their own families in the mansion, who were of course hostages too.
So if Lord Parker were to move one out of caution against Alexander, he would have to move the whole lot.
And they have to do it in one single go, or else, if only Lord Bernard was to be removed, it might very well trigger these officers to rebel as they would see this as Lord Parker trying to forcefully take over their family.
''How was this any different from what that damend Alexander was doing?'' They were sure to ask.
Such a move would then very well create a great cause for bloody infighting.
Hence what Lord Parker''s adviser wanted would need quite a bit of time to n, prepare, and then pull off.
The time that Lord Parker did not think he had.
So the man instead produced this makeshift n, in a deliberate attempt to stump the other man, all so that he could produce an excuse to dismiss him.
Sure this still would likely not go down well with the Margraves family officers but Lord Parker guessed he could manage that.
But luckily or unluckily for the man, Lord Bernard would manage to avoid this trap, as looking at an inconspicuous cup of wine and suddenly feeling thirsty, an idea snapped inside his mind.
So turning to Lord Parker he revealed how the entire city was supplied with fresh water from the nearby river using underground aqueducts and storing them inrge artificial underwater tanks called cisterns.
Lord Parker was at first astounded to hear just how advanced the Margraves was in their engineering prowess.
Suchplex urban infrastructure was basically unheard of to him.
And the shock multiplied as Lord Bernard proposed,
"We can cut off the sections leading to the mansion using wood or stone, thus blocking the water. And then if we want, we can even dig small channels from there out to the sea, to flood them with seawater. This will make even the water already present there undrinkable."
"Alexander will be kneeling in front of you by sundown."
Lord Bernard''s impressive n and confident demeanor shook Lord Parker
Although he wanted the man to fail, he also could not deny his brilliance.
While the jealous Achis tried to discredit the man with a scornful bark, "Hah! What tall tales are you spinning? Blocking off part of the underground aqueduct? Such a thing is impossible. Would the whole thing not be filled with water? How are the men supposed to get there? Swim? Joke!"
The stout man seemed to pose that because all the channels were connected and had running water gushing through them, it would be impossible to just turn off one section.
"We have done it before." But Lord Bernard''s curt im put that thought to rest.
Chapter 1078 Lord Parkers Retaliation (Part-4)
Chapter 1078 Lord Parker''s Retaliation (Part-4)
??Lord Bernard''s im about being able to shut off the water supply and make Alexander kneel sent a prickling pain surging through Achis''s whole body.
He abhorred the man. Not because the man had harmed in any way.
But because of how handsome the man was and much more so because he was someone other than the general who got to share his lord''s bed.
It made Achis extremely jealous.
And thus he would always try his best to make things difficult for Lord Bernard.
So now that the man here was iming to be able to solve all their problems in one go, it of course made Achis feel very ufortable.
But there was also very little he could do about it since his boss appeared to be very interested to hear the man out.
Thus having gotten the permission, Lord Bernard iterated,
"The underground channels are not fully submerged as General Achis ims. No, even in their most filled state, such as during the rainy seasons, the chambers only reached up to a man''s shoulders at the maximum. And now that it is winter, I doubt it will even reach our waist. The men will be easily walk to the selected sections."
"Mmmmmm, yes. And if we are still doubtful, we can always send some men to check it out."
No sooner had Lord Bernard revealed the state of the aqueducts, this sudden announcement of approval rang out from Lord Parker, which produced a great surprise inside the men in the room.
Even the slowest of them could read the fact the lord very much liked this n, which was why he took the enthusiastic initiative to offer his suggestion.
And that too in much contrast with their original goal- to make the other man fumble and remove him from his post.
Up until now, the group had not been really looking here for an answer, but only for an excuse to make Lord Bernard fail.
But now it seemed the equation had changed.
As long as Lord Bernard could deliver what he was promising, it seemed Lord Parker was willing to let the man retain his post in the army.
It was something that even surprised Lord Bernard, while the displeased Achis made onest attempt to make the handsome man stumble, as he turned to pose,
"My lord, what was the event that caused your family to ward off sections of the water supply?"
The general was really hoping here that the other side had been bluffing when he said that they had done something simr.
Because in his mind, being able to cut off not the whole supply but only a part of the supply sounded too incredulous.
And Achis was not simply saying this out of thin air. But out of experience.
The experienced general hadid many sieges before. And he had dammed off entire rivers to cities too.
But being able to do it partially, to control the exact water flow, that sounded too difficult in his opinion.
But s, Lord Bernard was speaking the truth.
Just because Achis and his family could not do it did not mean the Margraves also could not.
The family had many expert engineers who were indeed capable of aplishing this impressive ancient feat.
And even worse for Achis, Lord Bernard''s im was an easily verifiable one, as the armored man revealed,
"The channels and underground cisterns need to be cleaned once a year or two. The surrounding river has a lot of silt and if they were simply left there, it would build up and clog the entire passageways. So we regrly cut off the water supply to a section, remove all the dirt, grime, and wastes, and then move on to the next part to do the same."
Lord Bernard did not need to exin why they did these works section by section and not the whole city at the same time.
Not only would that have taken a lot of effort and manpower but cutting the entire city''s water supply for so long would surely be impossible.
gue and chlorea would have run rampant, and perhaps even much earlier than that, the people would risen up in full scale revolts.
For the surrounding audience, Lord Bernard''s solid exnation left no one in doubt about the feasibility of the n.
Because such a thing would be well known to almost all the citizens, as they were bound to experience some sort of momentary water supply disruption annually due to these works.
Meaning Lord Bernard could not lie about such a thing.
And to add even further credibility to his words, Lord Bernard pointed out,
"And during this time, we would also clean the water tanks used to store water. Because just like the channels, dirt, and moss also umte in them over time. Around the walls and the bottom."
"In fact, sometimes it would be so bad that we would even find fish swimming and breeding there. The water started to taste foul then. So they too needed to be cleaned regrly."
"Great! Let us do what you just said."
No sooner had Lord Bernard finished his recount that Lord Parker very eagerly gave the green light for the n, much to General Achis''s chagrin.
But there was no take notice of the man''s thoughts, as all the surrounding officers instead focused their attention to the man who was seemingly in their lord''s good graces currently, heartily congratting him and then trying their best to suck up to him.
The sight disgusted Achis. And he began to already plot how to trip the man.
While Lord Bernard basked in his newly found glory. This was a first for the men.
This was the first time in his life that the man was genuinely adored and respected, so he could not help but break intocent chuckles, taking in the ttering with gleeful abandon.
While Lord Parker seeing such a reaction wondered if he made the correct choice.
But then quickly convinced himself that it did not matter.
As long as the man could aplish what he promised, Lord Parker would not mind even if his officers literally kissed the man''s ass.
He could have this little time under the sun, as long as the man could rescue his wife and son.
Thus with this new strategy developed, Lord Parker decided to end the meeting for the day there, leaving therge war nning tent with the reminder, "Lord Bernard, I will leave you in charge of gathering all the men and material you will need for the doing all this. You will start the day after tomorrow."
By the sound of impatience in Lord Parker''s voice, if it was not already approaching dusk today, Lord Parker might have actually ordered the man to start tomorrow.
Such was his concern for his family. The young man was surprisingly sentimental.
While Lord Bernard felt a bit of a shock hearing the tight deadline.
Here he thought he would at least have a week. Or maybe even two, during which the man nned to lounge and relish his newly found status.
So the strict demand made the task seem almost impossible.
It had to be noted that even when the family did these works, it took them time to prepare¡to get everything in order.
So Lord Bernard initially thought of haggling with Lord Parker to get an extension.
But quickly recalling the absolute state the man had flown off to when Lady Miranda''s messenger delivered the news about Miss Linda and Quentin, Lord Bernard wisely chose to keep quiet for now.
He understood that the young lord was under a lot of pressure, and had barely slept in thest 24 hours, as crisis after crisis assaulted the rtively inexperienced man.
This had naturally put him in a very foul mood.
Hence the handsome man decided to wait till morning to break the news- after the man had a good night''s sleep and could think clearly.
So Lord Bernard sharply replied with an affirmation, and then expectantly looked forward to being invited to Lord Parker''s bed, as a reward foring up with such an excellent strategy.
Which he got, as the young lord vented his anger on the muchrger man for the plight his wife and son were in, riding him roughly and making his rear sore.
And as this was going on, in the same vein, Alexander too got to enjoy that night- him by eating the curvy Queen of Adhania.
At the end of the day, in celebration of his first victory over Lord Parker, Lady Nanazin would apany him to bed, and let him use her rear hole for the first time, the act thus forming a coincidental resonance with the other side.
Only the genders of the people each lord was having were changed.
In Alexander''s case, the naked regal queen would spread her fair abundant fleshy cheeks by herself, and then allow the man pound her dirty pink hole to his heart''s content, while she bit into the feathery pillow and let out amorous moans.
To Lady Nanazin, the feeling of being stretched and poked by Alexander was like no other and she would release so much warm dew that it couldpletely soak the sheets beneath her flower.
Chapter 1079 Meeting the Prized Captive
Chapter 1079 Meeting the Prized Captive
??Alexander would wake up the next morning feeling fully refreshed, finding his face snuggled right close to Lady Nanazin''srge breasts and his palms firmly resting on the Queen''s fluffy white cheeks, which he had abused just the night prior and was definitely still quite sore, with red handprints and welt marks still clearly visible.
And the sight would quickly reignite memories ofst night, where Alexander had found the act of nailing the married queen of a nation in such a taboo ce to be immensely satisfying.
It had made his lust surge to great heights, much more than the pleasure from the hole itself, and thus he had moved his hips without mercy into the wet, rubbery passage until he feltpletely drained.
The couple had chosen to only mate in that hole for the night, trying to enjoy it to the fullest as they switched to various sexy positions- be it standing, sitting, straddling, spooning, on all fours, and many more, all to devour each other in every way known to them.
Remembering all that pink scenery, Alexander thus could not help but give the bruised flesh a light squeeze, as if thanking it for pleasing him so muchst night and loving the springiness.
While Lady Nanazin, who was woken up by the slight stinging sensation down there and produced a low, sensual moan, being very much approving of the touch.
Not only the owner did not really mind the small pain, but she even wished Alexander would do it more, as she subtly shifted her butt to allow easier ess.
Lady Nanazin still clearly felt Alexander''s gift swirling inside her as she moved, and it made her rear feel warm and full.
So she sexily cooed right next to the man''s ear,
"Master, let''s do it again. You little whore''s loves it when you pound her naughty ass. Or if you want, you can use my warm pussy. It is so lonely!"
Unfortunately for her, Alexander would not choose to pursue such frivolities during such a time of the day.
It was bright and shining outside and even if he was thousands away from his home country, the man still wanted to at least maintain the faintest facade of deniability.
Unlike Lady Nanazin, Alexander did not think it was wise to be cavalier about what they were doing
There was also the small part of his heart that nagged at him saying what he was doing was wrong.
Thus he typically avoided bing intimate with thedy during the day, no matter how eager thetter was, so as to shield both of them from prying eyes.,
Hence for now the couple would go their separate ways, with Lady Nanazin returning to her chambers to bathe, eat, and then have her daily beauty routine, while Alexander was invited to breakfast with Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius, where they discussed various recent happenings.
The main one among which was that apparently, some of the elders had shown interest in wanting topromise.
It was nothing concrete and many more serious talks would be required, but ording to Lady Miranda things seemed to be looking hopeful.
So Alexander naturally urged her to continue her endeavor.
While after learning of this, Alexander suddenly found himself wanting to meet with the head of these elders, his most treasured captive- Miss Linda.
He wished to see if there was any way to twist thedy''s arm to make herply with his demands.
Lady Miranda did not seem interested but Alexander still wanted to give it a spin.
No harm in trying as they say.
So with the thought made in his mind, Alexander acted quickly, sending one of the maids to Miss Linda, to inform her of his intention.
He wanted to meet her that very afternoon- the venue, her own bedroom.
The captured and under house arrestdy of course had no choice other than to agree with this, although that did not of course mean thedy could not rebel in her own ways, as proved by the sight that Alexander was greeted when he entered the room.
Despite all the things he had seen up until now, Alexander was still shocked by what he initially saw.
For right in the middle of the room, sitting on the couch was the fairdy, Miss Linda, in all her full naked glory, revealing herself to him with not a thread on her!
"Wee, my lord!" And thedy did not seem to be bothered in the slightest by all this, as spotting Alexander, she only slowly got up to offer a very courteous bow.
It was regal and very appropriate, and there was no panic, no fuss, and certainly no sign of any difort in any of her movements.
It was like she did not even notice she was all missing her garments.
But Alexander certainly did, and the sudden sight quickly made his hot blood run wild.
Miss Linda might not have had the most attractive body, but it was not bad either- and thus Alexander''s eyes naturally felt attracted to her modest breasts, her small belly with those thin purplish birthmarks, and most charmingly of all, her fair, white garden that was so polish that it seemed to almost reflect the ambient sunlight.
There was not a single ck spot there, as Miss Linda would always very meticulously pluck each and every single hair out herself, and thus there was only a single delicate line down there, from where Alexander imagined a fruity, fragrant smell seemed to be emanating.
The part looked so tight and closed that Alexander thought Miss Linda might be able to even pass herself off as a virgin, much less a mother who had given birth.
But perhaps the thing that brought all these individual charming parts together was Miss Linda''s face, whose beauty need not be repeated.
Currently, however, it seemed to have reached a brand new height as she seemed to somehow emanate the aura of a very delicate, weak flower- courtesy of therge white patch of bandage that was on her left cheek.
It was there of course due to Alexander''s strong p yesterday, which had been patched by the nurse from the camp, thus giving Miss Linda a very frail, exotic look.
Just looking at the hurt angelic face, one could not help but only want to hug and protect this slender, innocent, foregonedy forever.
But Alexander, seeing the hurtdy suddenly felt a dark, sadistic pleasure, as he wished to inflict a simr wound on her right cheek if to do nothing butplete the symmetry.
Alexander had absolutely no love for thedy, but he certainly did feel lust.
Who wouldn''t even there such a beautiful woman appearing so defenseless?
And this desire manifested itself like so.
Seeing Miss Linda in this vulnerable and provocative state caused all the darkest and ugliest desires hidden in every man to momentarily surface in Alexander''s mind as he wished to break this absolute stunner of ady, cover her body with purple brushes, and make her kneel to him, make her submit, force her to call him her lord.
Of course, Alexander pushed these desires into the abyssal depths of his heart almost the instant they manifested, denying them even an ephemeral chance to exist and influence him towards such horrid deeds.
No matter how much he disliked the other side, Alexander would never stoop to torture just because of that.
And then turned to externally rebuke Miss Linda for what she was doing, producing a deep scowl and a very displeased voice,
"What is the meaning of this? Have you forgotten all decency, mydy? Is this how the Margraves''s greet their guests?"
At Miss Linda''s ''unique dress,'' the man angrily called into question her upbringing and basically called her uncultured.
Something that instantly caused a dark shadow of hatred to pass by the beautifuldy''s face.
The pridefuldy loathed when anyone bad-mouthed her family, and if she had the power, she would have cut out Alexander''s tongue just for that.
However, since she clearly could not, instead she hid her dislike very quickly, making it appear only for a moment.
Then producing a sweet smile the tartdy shot back,
"No¡ but guests also do not p their hosts in our culture. Which family did you learn that from, my lord I wonder? Heh!"
The pride and sarcasm Miss Linda used in a single ''heh!'' might have been enough to fill all the oceans in the world, as it dripped out of her mouth.
She was basically saying that- ''At least I have a family. While you are an orphan, an urchin, someone who belongs in the streets.''
"....."And for a brief moment, Alexander felt tongue tied hearing this.
He really did not care about the taunt about his family but the other usation he did.
But even then, there were very few people in Alexander''s life who could match his eloquence.
And it seemed Miss Linda was one of them.
In fact, she could not only match him, she could even thrash him.
Something that Alexander seemed to have forgotten- the whopping he had gotten just a few days ago, so Miss Linda did a mighty fine job of reminding him of it.
Chapter 1080 Enticement
Chapter 1080 Enticement
??Alexander really did not care about the slight Miss Linda threw regarding his family.
Because Miss Linda was unable to even grasp the concept of how Alexander''s true family was.
They did not live in Adhania or Thesos, but in a whole other world, where they had ess to technologies that made their quality of life even better than all the kings of this world.
People from Alexander''s timeline would look at people like Miss Linda as little more than cavemen who fought with sticks and stones.
Thus Alexander found Miss Linda disparaging themughable.
But although he did not care about the taunt on his family, he did care about the other point- about what he had done to thedy.
That was a fact no matter the reason might be behind it.
And if Alexander could go back, he would have stopped himself despite what thedy had said about his wife.
But that milk had already been spilled on that. So it was understandable for Miss Linda to be angry.
Alexander did not bother to defend his actions, because he felt talking about it would only make things more acrid.
So instead decided to take the topic elsewhere, as stepping forward, he didacticallymanded,
"Put on some clothes. You have already humiliated yourself enough, mydy."
Alexander''s eyes were sharp andmanding, as he tried to intimidate the other side intoplying.
"Hmmp! This is my room. I can do whatever I want." The ever rebellious madam however was not going to let Alexander dictate the terms, as she only haughty snorted at the ask, and then turned around to fetch herself some wine from the nearby table, thus very intentionally revealing her defenseless naked rear side to the man.
Alexander''s eyes could not help but soak in this beautiful sight, the long straight silky raven hair, the pristine, fair back and of course that premium grade ass, colored a subtle shade of pink and covered with the most delicate soft skin, reflecting the bright ambient sunlight almost like a polished mirror and one that oh so tantalizingly jiggled each time the gorgeousdy took her steps.
Combine that with her healthy thighs and the tall, red heels she was wearing, one that made that distinct *tik-tok*,*tik-tok* clicking sound as she stepped away from Alexander, giving her gait a very modern feeling and the sensual sight made the man''s blood boil.
Being an ass lover, Alexander''s hands desperately itched to stretch out and give that creamy flesh the squeeze it no doubt deserved, and then perhaps who knows, even spank the pink flesh into a red hot crimson state.
Alexander imagined that this unrulydy fully deserved to beid over hisp and be properly disciplined, to have thoserge meaty globules twisted, kneaded, and formed like y under his hand, as he smacked thedy''s rear into line.
And incited by these lustful thoughts, Alexander even started to imagine the kinds of sound hitting that pristine butt would make as well as what kind of sweet,rk like songs this tart tongueddy would let out while he did this.
Would she curse him with various profanities at being reprimanded like she was a naughty child?
Or would she bite her lips and try to swallow the moans, as Alexander roamed his fingers around the twoher holes, tracing her wet slit, pinching her tightly shut pink lips, inserting his fingers into the small, warm canal and even sticking a thumb up her bum.
Or would she do neither but unabashedly let her throat sing her heart out as Alexander humiliated her?
The third option might sound out there, but then again, this brazen girl did have the guts to meet the man in the state that she did.
So was anything unreasonable to expect?
Alexander let these thoughts run wild in his mind and then watched Miss Linda very telegraphically bend a bit forward while pouring the drinks, thus parting her rear cheeks ever so slightly and oh so tentatively revealing both her secret holes to Alexander, not quite enough to get a good look, but enough to stoke the fires of lust in his heart.
The girl really knew how to entice a man, to try and enve him.
Alexander had never faced such an attractive situation, not with Lady Felicia and not even with Mikaya.
And so the brand new type of attack left the manpletely vulnerable to its effect, it soon began to show.
The results of Miss Linda''s efficacious acts were there for all to see.
The man had sported a very tell tale tent in his pants, as his little brother cried out to be let out so that he could pound that delicate pink flower into ruination, and teach that naughty the dangers of tempting a dragon like him.
The reaction was so conspicuous that it was also instantly picked up by Miss Linda, who noticed it as soon as she turned around with two wine cups in her hands, and produced a victorious smirk as her eyes charminglynded on the erged part.
She was a very prideful woman and loved to see her charms at work.
So sauntering her naked self over to Alexander, letting the man have a full view of her shaved garden the whole time, the gorgeousdy offered Alexander a drink, and then sultrily whispered,
"Hehe, it seems my lord has quite enjoyed my little show. Would you not hate to wrap it now? Come! Let us enjoy ourselves. We can talkter."
Openly offering herself like that, Miss Linda took arge sip out of her ss, very sexily hiding the mischievous grin in the process, and tempting Alexander even more in the process.
By now the man felt like his pants were going to burst
But Alexander did not yet pounce, holding off on the offer.
However, he also did not shove off thedy that was currently starting to grind her bare body against his either.
Instead, he only stood there like a statue, as if he was paralyzed
And he indeed was- paralyzed by indecision.
While taking advantage of this momentary weakness, the naked Miss Linda then began to not so subtly caress Alexander''s swollen bit, tempting him toe, while sending him flirting, amorous looks that made Alexander feel like he was shot in the heart by Cupid''s arrow.
Miss Linda''s eyes were perhaps her most alluring feature, seeming as if they contained the starry sky within, sparkling and shimmering like a star filled moonless night, capable of drawing and capturing anyone who looked into it, and then making them feel lost in.
Even Alexander proved no exception to its hypnotizing effects, falling to the ensnaring effects and finding himself incapable of breaking eye contact with this magical pair, as his body suddenly began to feel too heavy to move.
He thought could keep staring at it for all eternity and even be d to be lost in them.
While thedy seeing her tactics having effects naturally encouraged the man even more, pushing her soft breasts against his broad chest to let him better smell her naked, mature scent and speeding up her hand''s caress down there.
All this resulted in a fierce battle to rage inside Alexander, as his logical mind fought against his lustful heart.
''It''s a trap!'' The former cried out.
''Bullshit! This a naked, defenseless woman who is in prison. What trap can she possibly ce?"
While the other side brushed aside such needless concerns.
And when the other side could not buttress its own position with a good, subsequent follow up, it gave the lustful thoughts the chance to show,
''There is nothing she can do to us now. This is just a woman trying to honeypot us to escape. *Snort*, the vixen underestiamtes us. Thinks we are easy to fool because of our young age. We should teach her a lesson¡ a good lesson."
The tone used at the very end was malicious, conjuring up some of those prior evil thoughts that Alexander recently quashed.
But then suddenly, the voice turned mellower and enticing, as it whispered into Alexander''s longing heart,
"Let us have her when we have the chance. When will we ever have a chance to savor such a beauty even again? Will we not regret it for the rest of our lives if we miss out on this experience? What is life if not memorable experiences?"
"We should absolutely enjoy this stunner of a woman. If for nothing but to make her know what a real man is. Make her moan, howl, and beg underneath us. Teach her how to properly respect us! Go on!"
This did not sound like the voice of a lustful heart, but the sound of lust filled mind, as it seemed somewhere along the line, Alexander''s logic had decided to betray its cause and join the other side.
So it too then began to mutter its own reasons in support of the intimate act,
"Mmmm¡ we are not even forcing ourselves on her. So what is the harm? Since she is offering it would not be too rude to refuse. Let us do it and see what happens."
Influenced by such thoughts, Alexander had to swallow a dried gulp.
Chapter 1081 Strange Attraction
Chapter 1081 Strange Attraction
??Currently, in Miss Linda''s room, a very pink scenery was taking ce.
A nakeddy was slowly caressing a man''s swollen crotch, a man who was not even her husband, while the man stood stock still, gazing at thedy''s eyes as if hypnotized.
Alexander seemed incapable of resisting this devilishly charming of a woman, as he imagined all the ways this disobedient woman could be brought under his control.
The voices inside Alexander''s head maniacally cackled,
''Hehehe,e on.. think about it! Would it not be quite fun to what reaction she has when she sees our huge organ? Our dragon is bigger than her arm?''
''Will she turn deathly pale in fright? Will she scream and fall back? Or will she try to back out?''
''Of course, we would not let do it even if she wanted to. No! We would make her kneel and worship us. Kiss us. Lick us. Suck us. Swallow us.''
''And if her tiny throat cannot fit all of us, we would tightly p her bruised cheeks until it could, to make herply, to make her know her ce. Then flood her guts with our gifts, making her relish our taste and smell and dying her beautiful face, cheeks, and hair in our color."
Alexander''s lower half twitched expectantly at the thought of his beautifuldy with a patch on her cheeks being covered in his white, turbid, juices- the solid, white bits sticking on her eye, nose, and lips, and producing such a lewd, musky scent.
While the voice inside him continued,
"Of course, we would not be done with only that. No! Next woulde the most fun event. We would bend the naughty minx over. Make her go on all fours and raise her ass towards us. Oh, how defenseless will she be.''
We will be sure to spank that naughty butt a nice peppery color first. Make it nice and tender for the bruising would be soon to receive.''
''That woulde next. We would choose the pink, puckered hole first. Becuase given how conservative Sybarsis, we''re sure that will be a first for her, hehe. And so she will squeal in shock at having her anal virginity taken, letting out her little tongue and rolling over her eyes. Oh how fun that will be!''
''Then once we are done with that, the hole will be so ruined, that it will never be able to close properly, our gifts dripping out of the streched out cave.''
''Then atst woulde the grand finale- that tight, fair, pink garden. We would carve our way through the warm, wet canal, battering that soft baby room until it breaks and is filled with our gift, eternally sculpting our shape right into her hot tight flesh. ''
''So that from then on, no matter how many times she sleeps with her husband, she will never be satisfied, but instead be always be reminded of us.''
''Hehehe¡. Imagine what she will think of her husband''s package once she has seen ours! The poor woman will never be able to enjoy this so pleasurable act. Her nights will be spent in needy agony. Hehe¡. an apt punishment indeed!''
''Quick! What are you waiting for? The food is already getting cold. Have it. Punish it!''
Finished producing all those tantalizing pictures, the lustful thoughts in Alexander''s mind urged him to seal the deal, even posing the act as a righteous one, as delivering punishment, as something done not out of enjoyment, but as a duty- to straighten this crookeddy.
The devil had truly grasped its ws into Alexander nice and tight, and responding to the want, man suddenly felt his hand hook itself onto one of Miss Linda''s exposed rear cheeks, and then give the cool, soft globules a gentle squeeze.
"Yes! Just like that! Come! Do more!" Miss Linda sultrily encouraged the act, pushing her butt forward to edge Alexander even more.
''Alex, you idiot. Stop thinking with your dick for a second.''
Suddenly however, Alexander''s thoughts were pierced by these words, pronounced in the very irritated voice of Cambyses, who then threateningly shrieked, ''Did you forget what she had said to me? How can youy with her even after that? If you stick it in this crazy, then don''t bothering to me!''
"No!"
And it was this thought that was finally enough to break Alexander out of his stupor, as he shouted that single word in a slightly panicked voice, even he being unsure whether the scream was addressed towards Cambyses- asking her to take back her threat, or Miss Linda- refusing her invitation.
But whichever it was, it was enough to fortunately let Alexander avoid this ill advised move, as he zapped away from the nudedy like he had been shocked.
And then turned to look at thedy, not with hostility but great rm and even a bit of fear.
The way Alexander had lost himself to her eyes did not seem at all natural to him.
It would have been one thing if he was pent up from campaigning for many months, but he just had a rumpus night with Lady Nanazin the very prior day, where he let himself go.
So this was not the urges talking.
Hence, knowing himself, Alexander felt it was not like him to give in to his urges like this.
So he first muttered in relief to himself,
''Fortunately, this tart tongued vixen managed topletely antagonize me by bringing Cam. If I had instead held any goodwill towards her, I might have really ended up taking her. That would have been really a disaster.''
Only now was Alexander beginning to wake to the dangers of sleeping with a married woman like Miss Linda would have.
She could have easily imed that Alexander had forcefully taken her, and if such a thing were to get out, all subsequent negotiations might very well break down.
The elders would look at Alexander with disdain and distrust, while Lord Parker would surelypletely flip out.
Then who knows what the fully enraged Lord would do?
Alexander was not willing to find out.
While thinking about all these, Alexander then suddenly felt very surprised to find that he was only thinking about these now.
Surely a prudent man like him would have thought about such matters long matter.
So the fact that he was only figuring them out now, once he was away from the charmingdy, made the man even more convinced of the strangeness of the situation.
He wondered what it could have that caused him to be like this.
Hence he began to scan the surrounding room, looking for any burning incense or other strange smell, thinking there might be some kind of hallucinatory particles mixed in the air that was confusing him.
But he found none such devices.
Plus, it was in the morning, all bright and sunny around, with all the windows and balconies open to let in ample fresh air.
So there was very little chance of anything like that from happening- leaving that hypothesis in the dust.
So with the most obvious culprit eliminated, a few more outrageous ideas then filtered into Alexander''s mind, pointing the me on the perfume Miss Linda was wearing or even him just feeling sick and delirious.
But of course none of them stuck.
''What is it?'' Hence feeling irritated at being unable to solve this unknown phenomenon, Alexander once again turned to the culprit, this giving Miss Linda a very angry look.
But he did not ask her to borate, knowing even if she did know anything about this, she would not answer.
Besides, what was she going to say, ''From a young age, I can flutter my eyes a few times and make men do my bidding.''
That did not really help anybody.
Thus Alexander kept his mouth shut, only turning his face even more woody, and then once againmanding the now surpriseddy, "Put your clothes! Now!"
This time the words were much, much heavier, as Alexander felt rmed by this strange urrence, almost threatening to be physical if she did notply.
"Hmmmp! Why?" But if Alexander thought he could intimate the shorterdy, he was sorely mistaken.
No amount of scolding or threats seemed to be able to affect this daredevil of a woman, as having been once again rejected by this man, twice now, the wounded Miss Linda instead produced a fearless venomous look on her face.
Though one that vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared, as thedy then turned around to go sit on the couch, before crossing her long, healthy bare legs and taking a sip of the wine she had been holding.
The immactedy thennguidly expressed, "Why are you so desperate to cloth me my lord? When I myself want to remain as is? And even you seem to greatly enjoy it too. Surely you cannot deny that, right? So why do you deny yourself from me?"
Thedy had seemingly turned into a poet,
''Because you are a subus. A true subus.'' Alexander shouted with a bit of fear in his mind, while outside, not bothering to give a reason, simply uttered the ultimatum,
"Put on your clothes now, or I will have the guards forcefully robe you."
Chapter 1082 Fearless Captive
Chapter 1082 Fearless Captive
??"Put on your clothes now, or I will have the guards forcefully robe you."
This grievous threat seemed tost put thedy in a dilemma, as she paused to think for a while.
But only for a while.
"*Snigger! If my lord thinks that is what you should do, then go right ahead."
As Miss Linda responded to Alexander''s insidious threat with such candid abandon, proving once again that thisdy was immune to any type of coercion.
''The would crack before the guards did''- as they say.
And not only did the other side not flinch at Alexander''s threat, not once, not twice, but three times, but she even confidently dared Alexander to go with the threat- throwing the ball onto Alexander''s court.
The balls on this woman.
If Alexander was not so enraged, he might have actually felt impressed by the tenacity on disy here.
Needless to say, it was not easy to remain this cavalier when you were a woman, captured by our enemy and they had your son.
Alexander would frankly confess that if he was in Miss Linda''s shoes, he could not act so brazen.
He might not have been shaking in his boots, but he would be also careful to toe the line, and not do anything that would incite the other side.
Who knew what his captors could do in a moment of rage?
But that did not seem of any concern to thedy, who not only incited him but even dared him toe at her, continuing to look at him with that hateful, smug smirk.
Alexander''s eyes zed with anger at being defied like this, as he then gritted through his teeth,
"Are you so confident at the 20,000 men that your husband has? Do you think they cane to save you here, past all by men?"
"Or are you doing this because you think I am too soft and would not dare to harm you? Would you bet your son''s life on that? That I would not dare to throw you out to the wolves and have you vited by half a dozen men here and now!"
His voice was hard and invective, and thest words were a statement, not a hypothesis, as he emanated a furious aura.
If Miss Linda dared to take the deal then Alexander truly intended to do so, because by that point he would have judged her to be clinically insane or at leastpletely delusional.
No sane mother would bet her infant''s son life at the hands of her captor over such a foolish bet.
"Hehehe, won''t dare, won''t dare, won''t dare!"
So it came more of a relief to actually Alexander that Miss Linda managed to see reason, as now he would not have to go through with it.
The cleverdy was too atst able to realize that things might not go well if she continued to poke the bear, so decided to cleverly back off for now, shing both her palms in a surrendering gesture and chuckling the answer Alexander wanted.
"You are my captor and I am your captive. So of course you can have me gang raped if you wish. Hehehe¡ that''s surely not a problem for you. I would not dare tempt fate."
However, although the words she spoke were grave, the voice Miss Linda used was devoid of any fear or respect, only containing amusement and even mild sarcasm.
She was obviously tempting fate, but at least for too egregiously.
It was not a full blown taunt, so despite not being sincere, it at least worked well enough that the man simmered down.
And taking advantage of this momentary lull, thedy decided to poke the man again, and this time even more fiercely, as if to make up for this slight retreat, for she added with a mocking sneer,
"Or if that is how you want to have me, then please my lord, by all means, go ahead. I never knew you had such¡ exotic tastes. Is that why you have been rejecting me all this time? Because you wanted your friends to join in too?"
"Hehe, my apologies. I had forgotten your Adhanian culture. You must practice such things a lot!"
Miss Linda very animatedly pped her forehead while once again bringing up what she had said about Cambyses a few days ago, only in a bit more roundabout way.
"........" And it once again made Alexander incensed.
He had never met a woman he hated this much.
Not even the extremely unruly Mikaya was like this- you know the one Alexander had half the city freely use.
But this here was like Mikaya 2.0- a highly ungraded, extremely deadly version.
She could not only go toe to toe with him, but even beat him, and beat him soundly at that.
Such as now, when she had taken his threat and turned it on its head, using his own strength against him.
What sublime technique!
If Alexander was not once again so angry, he would have marveled at this divinely gifted orator.
Thedy could put everyone Alexander had met up to now to shame.
But for now, his face only turned livid with rage and his body screamed to be given the permission to jump on this innocent brat and strangle her to death.
Alexander no longer wanted to fuck her- he directly wanted to kill her.
Of course, the man held himself at thest minute, exercising immense patience as he did.
But even then he had a hard time maintaining his voice, as he squeezed out the words that sounded like it was being emanated from the depths of hell,
"I should have your tongue ripped out for even daring to say that!"
The threat naturally had zero effect on its intended target, as taking another small sip, thedy Miss Linda mockingly chortled,
"Heh heh, and what good would that do? I would not be able to suck off all your men then."
Unabashedly saying such a shameful thing, thedy then suddenly turned to face Alexander with an intrigued face, before curving her thin lips into a very sexy sneer,
"And your men seemed to very much enjoy the service I provided themst time! Would that not be a waste?"
The usation came a bolt out of the sky for Alexander.
"Wha.. what!" And suddenly all the acrimony he had regarding Cambyses was pushed all the way down by this surge of curiosity, as he stammered so out of shock.
He could not believe it.
Sure he knew most of his menmitted these crimes, to which he admittedly shamefully mostly turned a blind eye as he was unwilling to antagonize his trusted men over an act that was sadly verymon in this time period.
But even then, that was that, and this was this.
Alexander personally knew the two men he had posted to guard Miss Linda''s chambers because she was that important, and believed they had a good idea of who they could eat and who they could.
And Miss Linda was certainly one of those they could not.
"Lies!" Thus Alexander burst out at these unfair usationsid towards his men, feeling personally offended by it, and thus sought to fully fight to defend both their and his honor.
Miss Linda however only amusedly sniggered at the man''s overreaction, feeling very pleased to be able to make the man dance to her tone.
She however did not bother to defend her im and assert the men''s guilt, but only chimed out,
"Heh! You can believe what you want my lord, how can I dare to hope to change that? I am after all but a lowly prisoner. What do my words mean?"
The voice was low, sad, and self depreciating.
But then suddenly, it changed to curious and intriguing, as she turned to meet Alexander''s eyes,
"But who do you think made me stay naked like this¡ in winter? Heh heh, Be always ready to be fucked, the two mastersmanded."
And then, even before Alexander could get over the shock of this absurd turn of events, Miss Linda once again changed her voice, now like that of a charming, mischievous cat who had just gotten the milk,
"Well, that is one version of the story. The other one is that I opened the doors like this and invited them in. Heh heh, how long do you think they resisted?"
Alexander did not need to be a genius to understand what was going on.
The first im was simply a joke created by Miss Linda to mess with him, while the second was the true event.
And unfortunately, Alexander did not think those two guards managed toe out of that event ''alive''.
They had surely been eaten.
After all, even he nearly fell victim to her, someone who slept with queens and princesses on a daily basis.
So what chance did these poords have?
All of this led to Alexander pronouncing only a single word, "Why?"
To him, Miss Linda fraternizing with men of such low status had no benefit, but lots of risk.
She was a married woman after all.
"What do you mean why? Do you mean why I was raped under your order?"
There was your why.
Chapter 1083 Two Idiots
Chapter 1083 Two Idiots
??"What do you mean why? Do you mean why I was raped under your order?"
As Miss Linda threw out this usation, Alexander felt incensed- both towards the woman and then towards those guards.
"...." And so angry was he that for a moment, he found himself speechless.
What could he say to this? It was his words against hers.
"Do you have any proof¡ of what you say?" So unable to produce anything better, Alexander found himself atst gritting out this.
Although even he himself found it was a long shot, as obviously any ''proof'' would have been already ''washed'' away by Miss Linda taking a simple bath.
"Heh heh," And thus, in keeping in line with his conjecture, the other side gave an extremely scornfulugh at what thedy saw as a very pathetic attempt.
"This is my proof," Thedy then brazenly sneered, as she unabashedly opened her legs wide, revealing her single slit smooth pussy for all to clearly see.
It was tightly closed like a beautiful unbloomed flower and seemed to slightly shimmer, as little beads of sweat and juices had already started to coat its entrance.
Any man seeing this would have loved to have a taste.
But not Alexander, at least not at the moment, as he was too busy feeling irritated.
He understood what Miss Linda was saying.
She was not showing him this spring scenery out of the goodness of her heart, but she was using her female sex organ to make the point, ''I am a woman. Is anyone going to believe that you when I say otherwise?''
And it was a very potent answer.
Because it was a fact that captive women were generally abused like so in this time period.
And although noble captives like Miss Linda were usually spared and treated with respect, Alexander knew if Miss Linda were to make the usation, the people would most likely choose to believe her over him.
Because most of the Margraves were already angry with Alexander, which was kind of understandable given he did take them hostage and all, and so they would love to kick him down using whatever excuse they had, whether it was legitimate or not.
Knowing this, Alexander thus found himself in a dilemma.
He could not let Miss Linda reveal the fact of what the two guards had done, regardless of whether it was consensual or not, or even if it was true or not,
But the question then was how? How was he going to stop her?
Because thedy had made it plenty evident that threats of violence would not work.
So now what? Gag her?
Or cut off her contact with the outside world until this whole thing blows over?
That was obviously not possible given what Alexander wanted from her.
And as Alexander thought about it, he soon found that not any of the so many other ideas that came to his mind were feasible.
The only way to stop her seemed to be ''offing'' her- and that clearly was an untenable proposition¡. at least for now.
So Alexander decided to try the next best option, interrogating her, as he turned to the shamelessly spread leggeddy with a cold gaze and clenched out,
"Do you dare to swear that I ordered such a filthy act in front of the gods? And invoke their wrath if you are wrong?"
Without the existence of proper surveince and investigative methods, this type of '' witness based evidence'' was highly prevalent at the time and was even seen as highly reliable in the eyes of a court ofw.
This was also understandable given how superstitious the society of this time period was.
It was assumed that no man or woman would be foolish enough to incite the gods by using their sacred names tomit a crime.
Because then the curse of the gods would be upon them and such a thing would be a hundred times worse than any benefit they might be able to achieve by deceiving the court.
And this was what Alexander trying to use- intimidate thedy using the power of the divine.
He of course knew that thedy was lying, and that he certainly had not ordered such a horrible thing done to her.
On the contrary he had asked to make sure that absolutely no harm fell on her- you know the exact opposite of what Miss Linda was saying.
So Alexander was hopeful that with the gods involved, it would be enough to make thedy feel apprehensive about her im.
However, Miss Linda did not take the bait.
She did not dare to such brazenly test the gods, as despite what Lady Miranda had imed, Miss Linda did have still some reverence for the divine, even if it was much paler than the regr folks.
But she also did not need to take the risk.
As shrugging her shoulders, she smirked, "Heh, why should I? This was what I heard as the guards took me. That they had received permission from you. How would I know if they were speaking the truth or simply saying this as an excuse to take advantage of the situation?"
In this way, thedy had so cleverly managed to dump the burden of proof on the two foolish guards instead.
And then not satisfied with only parrying Alexander''s attack, decided to deliver what could be said to be the nail in the coffin of the entire idea, as meeting Alexander''s eyes with her mesmerizing pair, Miss Linda chuckled,
"Hehe, in fact, if anything it should be those two guards that should be put in front of the gods. Make them swear that you had nothing to do with it," following which thedy''s beautiful pair turned crescent shaped as she taunted,
"That should be easy, right? Since you are so sure that you never ordered such a thing, obviously the men will testify that it was them acting all alone against orders. It will clear you of all suspicions and everything will be clear¡ isn''t that right Lord Alexander?"
It went without saying that thest part of the sentence was uttered in the utmost sarcasm, as if Alexander were to really put his guys on trial, sure they might exonerate him of any guilt, but in the same process, they would also be forced to admit what they had done.
They would not be able to avoid talking about the act during their trial.
And if that were toe out, then whether Alexander was guilty or not would actually turn moot.
Because the Margraves family and much more importantly her husband Lord Parker would be entirely enraged regardless, perhaps even more than they would have been if this was only Miss Linda''s verbal usation, if for nothing but the officiality of it all.
And it was recognizing this possibility that Miss Linda made the offer, her tone bemused and taunting, knowing Alexander could never actually do it.
And hearing this, the man was truly beginning to see that he really could not hold a candle to this dangerousdy when it came to the eloquence of speech.
Miss Linda had always held the advantage during all their talks and it might be really just that she was better than him at this.
"......" So feeling frustrated, Alexander subconsciously pursed his lips, his eyes turning dim and helpless, despite all the beautiful scenery ''sitting'' right in front of him.
Which started to get even better as Miss Linda decided to tease the man, bringing her dainty fingers to her exposed organ, and sultrily cooing while gently tracing her thin pink lips,
"Ahhh! My lord, you should have been there. Those two idiots enjoyed me oh very much. Hehe, one of them even went on his knees to lick me off. Like this¡.. Hehehe."
Thedy was now openly gloating, as Miss Linda then tipped over her wine cup and drenched her perfect pink organ with thest remaining bits of the drink, causing the liquid very sexily to flow over the delicate flesh and letting an intensely fruity scent emanate from there.
Once again, the woman knew how to flirt.
As further evidenced by how in almost an instant she turned her face from disdainful to alluring, meeting Alexander''s gaze and so very sexily biting her lower lips,
"Come, my lord. I am inviting you. Will you reject me still?"
"You know it is even shameful for me to be in this state. I was just joking with you earlier. The only one I want is you. Ahhh! I have been so lonely! My husband has not touched me in so long¡ Ahhhe Lord Alexander¡. Come tame your little vixen¡ mmmnn!
Suddenly iming all the earlier things had nothing has been but a ruse, Miss Linda then put on a very ''expectant'' face, as if she could not wait to be railed by the strong man, as she then opened her lower lips into a butterfly shape, and thrust two of her fingers into it, producing a wet lewd *squelching* sound apanied by a soul stirring moan from above.
While Alexander just stood, unable to determine anything.
''Was is it true? That everything she had said was all just empty talk? Was he that attractive?''
Chapter 1084 Taking Him on a Ride
Chapter 1084 Taking Him on a Ride
??Seeing Miss Linda essentially start to pleasure herself in front of him, Alexander found himself once again distracted.
He knew he really should not look, but the beautifuldy was really too gorgeous, and her performing such a private act in front of him stoked his lust, making it very hard for him to turn his gaze away.
His mind once again urged him to reconsider his celibacy and instead enjoy the partner in front of him, while his lower half hurt in anticipation, so much so that Alexander felt a slight wetness in a certain part of his pants, as the preliminary, clear fluid had already began to ooze out.
But Alexander eventually managed to bring these foolish wants under control, as lightly biting his tongue, he stopped his body from doing anything stupid.
And then turned to talk to Miss Linda regarding why he was there.
Alexander decided to do this regardless of what the other side was doing because he understood that this was what he should have done as soon as entered the room.
That would have denied the promiscuousdy from leading him by the nose all around the ce like a leashed dog.
The gallts on this woman to say that everything with the guards was just a prank!
Alexander did not bother trying to seek rification from the woman regarding this since he understood she was just ying with him.
He would find the truth out of the mouth of the two guards instead.
So instead, for now, he turned to state towards the baredy,
"In light of the current developments, the elders of the family have agreed to nominate Lady Miranda as the next head of the house. Thus you are required to abdicate your ims in front of the gods. Surrender mydy¡ you have lost."
Miss Linda suddenly stopped what she was doing hearing this ''bold'' statement, as a genuine face of shock graced her face.
But this was not a shock of concern, only of sheer incredulity.
Because Miss Linda could not believe as clever a man as Alexander would make such a foolish proposal.
"Has my husband''s army in the city disappeared?" Miss Linda thus quickly made the query, this time sounding truly confused.
The unintended problem of being so very clever was that they tended to naturally disregard the most foolish options.
So Miss Linda thought that something truly unimaginable had happened, resulting in theplete dissolution of the army- such as Lord Parker suddenly dying, or a mass gue breaking out, or there even being a full fledged mutiny.
Something that was very unlikely to happen, and never even considered that Alexander simply wanted to ept the terms just because he said so.
Because then Miss Linda would begin to see Alexander not as an opponent, but as a donkey whose head had been kicked into shit.
While Alexander, although very much wished to bluff that the army was indeed gone, suddenly found his tongue tied.
How was he going to reasonably exin the disappearance of 20,000 strong men?
All the usible excuses he could think of right now would be easily disprovable.
All Miss Linda would need to talk to literally anyone.
And if Alexander were to cut off all hermunications to the outside world, then he could not get a deal out of her.
So thinking quickly on the spot, he replied, "No. But your husband has abandoned you. He has put the mansion under siege, stopping all food from entering the house. He wished to starve us out. You and your son included."
Alexander clearly noticed a distinct chilly sh pass of thedy''s eyes as soon as he took the mention of Quentin.
But it was only for an ephemeral second, as quickly returning her face to a neutral countenance, Miss Linda simply dered, "If lord husband has indeed decided so, then so be it. As a dutiful wife, I must follow his wishes. Regardless of the consequence."
Miss Linda''s tone betrayed not an ouch of concern, as if she had the utmost confidence in her better half''s capabilities, regardless of how dangerous it might seem to an outsider.
While Alexander''s lips twitched in incredulity at this chaste, pious, im, as he shouted to himself,
''Dutiful wife? You sitting here naked with your legs spread out and pleasuring yourself in front of another man is your definition of a dutiful wife? Are you sure it is ''wife'' and not another word that starts with a ''w'' too?''
To the young pasha, Miss Linda''s words would have sounded a lot more sincere if her actions matched them.
She instead looked more like a dutiful whore sent here to cater to all of Alexander''s needs than a dutiful wife, be it her attire, action, and let''s not forget all that pleading.
In fact, most whores would feel embarrassed and shy doing what Miss Linda was doing, and would likely never be as natural as her.
So if it was any other time and ce, Alexander would have surely pointed it out and mocked her.
But after being verbally thrashed so many times by thedy, Alexander seemed to have developed slight trauma and decided not to engage her, fearful of what technique she might use to turn the tables on him.
While Miss Linda kept her true thoughts to herself, which were,
''Is the mansion really under siege? When did that happen? I should find out. Surely Parker is not so stupid, right? To risk both your lives?''
As Miss Linda thought like this, a sudden bout of panic shed inside her, letting her heart skip a beat.
Men were after all fickle creatures. So who knew if the man had decided to abandon them after finding that they were too much of a hassle?
''Not, do not think about it like that!'' However, this uncertainly was only momentary, as an instantter the confidentdy pushed such intrusive thoughts down to the abyss, restoring her tranquil heart and pallid face.
As she then said to herself, reaffirming the potency of her charms, ''I know very well just how deep I have my ws in him. The idiot is tangled between my fingers in a way that he cannot ever hope to get out. He will not abandon me. He will abandon us. He cannot abandon us.''
However, at this point, Miss Linda once again started to get a bit hysterical, especially when thinking about her son, but then soon cated herself, ''No, calm down. Since he wasid the siege, he can also lift the siege. Yes! This is just a tactic to get Alexander to back down. All I have to do is wait¡ and we can win.''
''He (Alexander) is desperate. That''s why he came to me so soon. The siege cannot have started more than two days ago and he is already here to ''negotiate. This shows it all. His soldiers must not have must grain. Mmmm, that''s it. Heh heh, the boy is still too green.''
Seemingly finding faults with Alexander''s logic, many of which were indeed true, Miss Linda began to understand that her situation was not nearly as bad as the other side making it out to be.
Alexander might have won the battle, but the war was far, far from being over.
And that this was simply a negotiating tactic by him to try and close the conflict when he had the advantage.
''Heh! I would be a fool to ept!'' Thus Miss Linda rightly deduced that she should not give an answer right away.
But that instead, she should y for time.
So cocking her head, Miss Linda then turned to pose in a slightly fake reticent voice, "But you said that the elders were in favor of supporting elder sister? When did that happen? They have always supported me. What changed? I would like to talk to them."
The intention was to hang a low hanging fruit in front of Alexander, just enough to make him think he could get it, but never quite.
In that way, he would continue to hop and jump, thinking everything was just around the corner, but never quite get there.
So that all that time and energy would be wasted.
And unfortunately for Alexander, Miss Linda was right, as seeing the other party even be slightly interested, the man took the bait hook, line, and sinker.
Producing a knowing smile, Alexander chimed, "Mydy should not ce too much on those old crones. These withered sticks bend whichever way the wind blows. With their lives threatened, they were quick to swear their allegiance to Lady Miranda in front of the gods. You too would be prudent to do the same."
Offering such ''sincere'' advice which was mixed in with some subtle threat, Alexander then decided to sweeten the deal even more, as he proposed,
"Also, Lady Miranda is not heartless. As the eldest sister, trust me when I say that she truly loves you. That''s why, instead of snatching everything, she is willing to graciously share."
"Lady Miranda has agreed to let your son ascend the family seat once hees of age. So this is all just a temporary measure!"
Miss Linda sneered in her heart at that particr phrase- there was nothing more permanent than a ''temporary measure''.
Chapter 1085 Devilish Temptation
Chapter 1085 Devilish Temptation
??Miss Linda sneered in her mind at Alexander''s suggestion.
She of course did not buy the im that her sister had so easily decided to fold.
And even if she did, Miss Linda would still find the offer unptable, because she herself wanted to rule, her son could wait.
However in the interest of buying time and keeping Alexander hanging, she decided to y, putting on a thoughtful face and stuttering, ''I ¡ let me think about it. It is too soon to make a decision right now.''
And that was enough for the desperate man, who thought he had finally managed to break through the formidabledy''s defenses.
The feeling was enough to make the man feel absolutely chaffed, as he internally gloated his triumph, and assumed he had proved all the skeptics like Lady Miranda wrong.
Hence putting on arge grin, he quickly nodded, "Then please take the time, mydy. But remember, it might not be on your side."
Alexander was of course referring to the siege, and pointed to the fact that the sooner Miss Linda could make the decision, the sooner they will be ''safe''.
"Mmmmm! I will." The acknowledging hum from Miss Linda however was a bit too quick and anemic, as if she had already thrown the matter into her garbage bin, disinterested in any other further consideration.
However Alexander was so ovee with greed and anticipation that hepletely missed these subtle clues, and once again began to quickly nod, showing an over enthusiastic support for the action.
And then even began to approve when Miss Linda offered, "Then let''s toast to our newly found friendships," as thedy then got up to seemingly pour him a drink.
Thus Alexander once again watched with fascination as the nudedy sauntered over to her study table and picked up the ss wine bottle, the drink imported directly from Zanzan, suddenly finding the scenery even more tantalizing.
Maybe it was due to him being in a much better state of mind, but somehow that cute, tight butt that wobbled and jiggled with each step looked so much nicer- much more pink and delectable.
And seeing it, a small part of Alexander once again regretted having declined the offer.
However, that regret did not have tost long as Miss Linda decided to make the proposal again.
This happened as Miss Linda decided not to exactly pour the two drinks as Alexander would have thought. But, instead, after filling her own cup, thedy bent over the table, suddenly exposing her rear nks as well as both her pink flowers to the man, and then turned around to give Alexander a very sexy smirk, hungrily licking her thin lips.
Before suddenly pouring the entire contents of the bottle onto her fatty pair of flesh.
Alexander watched with almost a hypnotic gaze at how the purple liquid flowed over that wless skin, how it danced and swirled around that perfect curve, how it kissed the pink puckered hole, and how it soaked her already wet slit, before slowly making its way to the red sensitive bean and finally dripping down on to the floor from it, drop by drop.
From Alexander''s perspective, it looked like Miss Linda''s lower half was so d to see him that it was crying, as an extremely enticing fruity smell began to waft out of the fair pubic mound.
"Heh heh, here is your drink my lord. Come and taste it." And then to add more to the sensational view, came this sultry giggle, as Miss Linda openly invited Alexander by slightly tweaking her butt, letting the wine spray all around and producing an irresistible scene.
Once again- this woman really knew how to flirt.
And seeing the nudedy bent over in red high heels with wine flowing over her butt and pussy, Alexander''s mind once again decided to hold a council.
Many advocated to immediately pounch on the offer, to kneel down and started sucking on the two beautiful holes, to taste the delightful mixture. And then pull out his own huge organ to take the beautifuldy from behind, making her squeal under him, like a real man should.
But fortunately for Alexander, these ill advised thoughts were all crushed by using the previous experiences as evidence.
Thus despite the tempting scenery, Alexander only put a cid face, and producing a warm smile tactfully rejected Miss Linda, "Such grand celebrations should meet the asion, mydy. Let us wait till the deal goes through. Then we can do whatever your heart desires."
Alexander was still apprehensive about sleeping with this woman, as doing such a thing now most likely break down the negotiations due to all the aforementioned reasons, and not build it as thisdy was suggesting.
Alexander was at least clever enough and possessed enough of the current state of mind to be able to see what Miss Linda really trying to do- even though she had promised to think the deal through, she was already trying to nt pre- nned explosive charges into it, so that if she should desire, she could detonate the whole thing whenever she liked.
Alexander thus steeled his heart to avoid such an obvious pitfall.
While Miss Linda''s face shed a shadow of loathing that few had ever seen for being rejected even after all this, as utter fury and unparalleled wrath boiled up in her.
If she could, Miss Linda would have killed Alexander and then raped him- and in that specific order, such was the anger she felt at being once again humiliated.
But credit to thedy, she managed almost instantly hide such abyssal malice under her beautiful facade, denying Alexander any chance to notice.
Instead, shing a sexy smile, she turned her face from that bent over state to once again tempt, "My lord, let''s not beat around the bush here. We both know what I''m trying to do here."
"As you have surely noticed, I am hoping to get intimate with you as a way to earn your favor. Meaning I am willing to use the taste of my body to make you¡. be more lenient towards me. Even switch sides, maybe. I am quite confident in my looks, you see." Miss Linda sounded very confident as she said.
taste of my body to make you¡. be more lenient towards me. Even switch sides, maybe. I am quite confident in my looks, you And Alexander would admit, she did have the assets to back up her im, as immediately attested by how thedy turned her eyes into a flirtatious crescent afterward, drawing attention to her fantastic face, as she then curled her lips to pose,
"But this does not automatically mean a bad deal for you, my lord. Think about it! Just like how I can use my body to tempt you, you too can use your body to tempt me. And who knows? Perhaps after sleeping with you, I will be so smitten with your prowess in bed that I will forget all about my ambitions and decide to wholeheartedly only serve you."
"I have certainly heard the kind of sound that tends to drift out of your bedroom at night, my lord, heh heh. The Adhanian Queen must quite enjoy her time at night."
Revealing this secret, Miss Linda once again hungrily licked her lips, producing a face that looked like the cat that had gotten the milk, which was both very cute and lustful, thus making Alexander''s lower twitch in anticipation.
It seemed the twerkingdy could not wait to be railed by Alexander, as she coated her voice in an even more sharine tone to tempt Alexander, giggling,
"Heh heh, honestly, I am curious, my lord. Toy with you. As you can clearly see I am a bit of a promiscuous womanTruth is I love sex. But my husband has not visited me for so long. And even when he is there, he just can''t ¡. perform as much as I want him to. Just two shots and he goes limps. So I would love to know what man can really do¡ a proper man¡ a man who couldmake even a properdy like a Queen forget about her husband and be so wanton."
Praising Alexander to the high moons and back, Miss Linda then began to gently sway her naked bent over butt, as if trying to hypnotize Alexander, "Surely you should have no problem having sex with me if you can have sex with her, We are both married. So why would you discriminate?" thedy very cutely pouted, and then finished with this challenge,
"So, are you willing to take the bet? To see which of us falls for the other- you or me? Are you going to be a man?"
As Miss Linda said this, her face suddenly turned from sexy to cocky, daring Alexander to stick it in, while at the same time, thedy raised her ass and lowered her body onto the table as far as she could, revealing everything she could and looking like a wanton woman in heat.
even going as far as to bring into question Alexander''s manhood.
"......." While seeing all this, Alexander was certainly affected, especially when his manhood was called into question.
"Have a good day, mydy."
Thus the man was actually quite proud of himself when he managed to walk out of the room despite all that.
Chapter 1086 Confessions
Chapter 1086 Confessions
??It went without saying that it had taken Alexander a herculean amount of effort to walk out of that room without taking the offer.
It almost felt like he had manacles attached to his feet, to which were boltedrge iron balls, making each step a torture to make.
And how could he not feel regret- there was ady bent over, fully naked, spreading her legs, begging to be fucked.
Never mind she was not just beautiful, but one of the most stunning women in thends, if not the entire world.
And yet he had still refused.
Even a three year old would call Alexander a pussy.
While most would take the offer even if it wasced with cyanide, leaving all the damned consequences for after they had eaten the prime piece of meat and pumped both the canals good and full.
However, Alexander was not like most other people.
Despite being quite lustful, Alexander was actually quite picky with the kind of women he slept with.
Notably, he neverid his eyes on women who were contested by other men.
Just think about it- Lady Nanazin was hated by her husband, Lady Parthia''s man was in aa, while Lady Inayah, Queen Mother Seelima, and Lady Felicia were all one night stands that were initiated by them out of goodwill and done in a hidden room with no witnesses.
Alexander did not have a mistress who was the wife of another noble, unlike how many European monarchs had mistresses of high standing who themselves were married to various lords in their court.
Alexander did this both because he found this too much hassle to be worth the trouble and because given his elevated status and identity, he could not be so willy nilly with his acts.
Especially such acts, which would have so many unintended adverse effects.
So crushing all his desires, Alexander painfully shifted his nce away, fearing if he were to keep looking at it he would fumble midway, and then in a deep, voice dered,
"You have shown great sincerity today Lady Linda. Much more than your elder sister has shown me. I will be sure to keep that in mind. Let us celebrate properly once we reach a deal."
Quickly giving this excuse, Alexander snapped on his heels and whirled around without waiting for Miss Linda''s response, exiting the premises as hurriedly as a sudden gust of air, thus leaving thedy with only the words, "Have a good day."
Alexander would breathe a sigh of relief upon quickly closing the door, but at the same time reflect on the missed opportunity with some slight rueful contemtion.
But fortunately, he would not have to agonize himself too much over the missed opportunity as his attention would suddenly be taken away by the sight of the two guards standing by the room door, causing Alexander to quickly recall Miss Linda''s im.
He had to get to the bottom of the fact of whether they had truly done it with the nobledy.
"You two. Follow me to my room. I require how some extra hands." Thus using this excuse, Alexander reced the two men with two of his bodyguard substitutes and invited them to his study.
Whereupon entering the center of the room, he immediately turned to face the and imperiously ordered,
"I will give you one chance and only one chance to confess. You know what you did. Kneel!"
The question was very broad and by framing it like this, Alexander gave the men plenty of rope to hand themselves, as now the men would be forced to reveal any and all their wrongdoings, not just that one.
This way of interrogating his men was one of Alexander''s favorite techniques.
"....." While hearing this usation, the two men instantly went pale, as they looked at Alexander with a genuinely horrified face.
When Alexander had ordered them to follow, they thought it was to receive some great reward or important mission.
Not be essentially court martialed.
They had always feared that Alexander would get to know what they had done but prayed that the nobledy would keep her mouth shut due to feeling ashamed.
After all, she was a married woman, who had a threesome with two lowly guards.
Although the only reason they thought like that was because they did not know Miss Linda.
"Alex.. Alexander we¡" Thus at being caught like this, one of them stammered as such, trying to weasel his way out.
These two were from Alexander''s original mercenary group and could even be said to be acquaintances as they had asionally met and chatted.
And now it seemed they hoped to skip past this disaster using this rtion.
"Hop! Who is Alexander? This is your lord! Learn your manners Quilis." However that n was instantly torpedoed by this heavy rebuke from Hemicus, who was standing right next to Alexander, and whose eyes suddenly began to ze with rage at this insubordination.
Thus he then fiercely stated in a very grave voice, "The crime for amoner to call a noble by his name is a hundredshes! And that''s only a regr noble. For a pasha, it can be death!"
"So if you do not want me to cut you down here and now, reveal what the lord has asked of you."
Having made the threat, Hemicus then began to reach for his sword, as if he was preparing to really cut the unruly men down.
Plop!
And seeing this was finally enough to make the other man surrender, as he lost all strength in his knees and bowed down, before lowering his head to shout, "Forgive me, my lord. We let ourselves get carried away."
Plop!
And as soon as his partner broke, Quilis too saw no reason to keep fighting the futile battle and immediately relented.
However, although physicallypliant, the man had a different story to tell, as dropping down, unlike his partner who kept his mouth shut, this man quickly raised his head, and then tried and defend himself, saying,
"But¡ but it was not our fault! It¡ it was thedy¡ She made us do it. We could not resist! She¡ she forced us."
Alexander''s frozen stare instantly turned furious as the raging sea heard this, as he then venemously looked down on the pleading man possessing a desperate pair of eyes, finding not a shred of sympathy in him for them.
What he had done was too grave, even if not morally, then very much so politically.
It should be noted that Alexander had not yet managed toe to any conclusion regarding this matter with Miss Linda, and had ultimately decided to leave it forter.
The strategy being that they woulde to terms on what they could agree on first, and once those were sorted, they would address the disagreements, such as Miss Linda''s ''rape''.
Which Alexander was pretty sure he would have to pay a heavy price for even in the best case scenario, such as trade considerations.
All because these two idiots could not keep it in their pants.
Thus the thought of at least tens of millions of ropals made Alexander''s mind boil, especially given he had already been swindled 30 million ropals in this campaign.
He definitely wished to strip these two men naked and hang their corpses by his bedpost, if for nothing but to cate a small part of his heart.
While his counterpart Hemicus seemed to be already on his way to do exactly that, as firmly grasping his sword, he barked, "What! What did you say? Whichdy? What did you two idiots do?"
Hemicus was of course not so stupid that he could not understand whichdy and what act these two men were talking about.
But it was just that he was too shocked to believe it.
The consequences of taking ady like Miss Linda were evident even to this man usually far removed from politics.
Thus turning his fury from rage to mockery, Hemicus sneered, "You said thedy forced you? Heh, oh pray tell how? Did she jump you? Force you under the threat of a de?"
"My, my, two grown armed men could not stop a poor woman from raping them? Should I order a pair of skirts for you? Or maybe better yet, I should let the camp hear this? Let them decide?"
"No!" It was Hemicus''sst threat that proved to be the most effective, as revealing such a thing would mean absolute social death for the two men.
ording to the conventions of the time, men could not be raped.
Thus Hemicus telling this to their colleagues would ruin the two''s career, as they would be subjected to unfiltering scorn and mockery.
And once seeing that Hemicus had properly marinated the two fools, "Tell me how it happened, Everything!"
Alexander decided to strike, gritting out the order in a cold, grave tone.
And the men terrified instantly squealed.
The story was just as you imagined- just rece what Miss Linda did with Alexander with the two men and you would get the picture.
Of course minus all the flirting and sexy poses.
For there was no need. These two idiots broke with only a curl of the finger and a sweet smile.
Chapter 1087 Lenient Judgement (Part-1)
Chapter 1087 Lenient Judgement (Part-1)
??Under Alexander and Hemicus''s zing gaze, the two men quickly unloaded their part of the story-
"Yesterday night, thedy suddenly asked us toe to her room. Said it was an emergency. But when we entered¡ we saw¡ we saw her¡ her without any clothes¡ and then¡ and then we¡"
It was like this that the reticent two recounted their story truthfully and without any omissions, only apanied by copious amounts of stutterings, as Alexander made sure to poke every little bit of detail out of them, no matter how embarrassing it might have been to say out loud.
And from this what Alexander heard was truly astonishing.
Not the raunchy bits. Those were actually the least interesting parts if you can believe it or not.
It was the generic two men, one womanbination that anyone could imagine. Miss Linda had done with the two men what her husband and Achis would do with her.
Instead, what truly drew Alexander''s attention was how the devilishly charmingdy had fooled these two. Not by using any secret or clever technique but by using the most banal ims.
Miss Linda had apparently told these two idiots she had be smitten by their great, strong bodies and her body longed to be with them, that it was love at first sight, and that she wanted to elope with them.
Then she said that she was dissatisfied with her husband and believed only these two could protect her and her son.
Andstly, in exchange for all this, she swore to take both of them as husbands and even promised to make both of them nobles.
It was such an utterly ridiculous statement with so much logical inconsistency that not even a child would have believed it.
How could happen a woman have two husbands? For the time period, this was the ravings of a madman.
But these the two men nevertheless did, feeling so immensely ttered that they did not bother to question anything even a second.
And as he went on to learn more and more the depth ofthe stupidity these two had shown, Alexander''s eyes turned colder and colder, while he continued to say phrases such as,
"Go on. Tell me what happened next?",
"Where did you touch? Name the ce!"
"And then what did thedy do? Say it! Clearly!"
"How did that happen? Describe it."
Alexander did not of course do this because he was a pervert and wanted to how the various ways thedy had sucked them off, or how shestraddled them, but to make the two reveal their own inadequacies, as saying it aloud made the two understand more and more of what foolishness they hadmitted.
It was to the point that the various phrases Alexander had uttered became sources of slight trauma for the two.
And by the time both of them had finished, they wished they could dig into the ground and be one with it.
Which the furious Hemicus also wanted to do, as his hands itched to slice both the two kneeling idiots'' heads in one swift motion, something he might as very well be capable of doing, such was his skill.
All he was waiting for was Alexander''s order.
But to his slight disappointment, the order to bury them six feet under never came.
Thus the guard''s captain settled for a vituperous tirade of curses, "Yo¡ you! You idiots! You imbecile. Do you know what you did? Do you know who that was? You motherfu¡.. Here we are fighting for our lives and you fuckers¡." as the utterly livid man went tombast the pair with all types of profanities that should never grace the walls of a room as nice and pristine the one they were in.
And these swears and curses went on for as long as perhaps half an hour, with at some point even the furious Alexander joined, revealing to them the knock on consequences of what they had done and finishing by threatening,
"I should have both of you idiots court-martialed and hung by the nearest tree for what you have done. And then enve your entire fourteen generations for good measure!"
"No! Al¡ My lord, mercy! Please have mercy! We swear¡."
The menacing words were quick to produce a profuse amount of apologies and promises of sincerity.
And it was the two men''s lucky day, as due to several reasons Alexander actually decided to grant it to them, thus turning to coldly look at them and snorting,
"Hmmmp! It is your great fortune that we are very short of men, So I will postpone your judgment until we get back to Zanzan. In the meantime, you are to return your original posts. Do your duty properly, and I will see if your sentence can be reduced or even absolved."
All three men were surprised when Alexander made this decision- it was such a lenient punishment!
The men were being allowed to just return to their post as if nothing had happened.
Even if Alexander did not outright execute them, which he fully had the right to, all three of them, Hemicus and the two men, had at least expected to have been severely caned and have severalyers of their skin peeled off.
But there was none of it. Not even a pay cut or even reduced rations.
There was not even a figurative p on the wrist, and seeing this Hemicus felt horrified, as he thought Alexander was letting them off so easily.
If he did not know any better, he would have even suspected these two were Alexander''s darling sons.
Something which the pair certainly felt like after hearing the verdict, as they had their faces light up like the sun in relief.
"Thank you, Ale¡ my lord, thank you." They instantly cried so in unison, lowering their head in gratitude.
"Are you sure this is wise? After what they had just done?
While unable to control his urges, Hemicus abruptly turned to advise Alexander, "The Margraves will surely demand blood. What is the point of protecting these two idiots anyway? Just hand them over to the family and let them hang. It will save both parties the hassle."
The two men slightly shivered hearing the sudden callus and vindicative voice.
They had never heard Hemicus sound so cold and uncaring. So they thought it would be prudent to once again start begging for their lives.
However fortunately for them, there was no need.
As soon came a warm and gentle reply from Alexander, one which proved to be a greatfort.
Because they heard their boss sh his palms and chime, "No. Given our past friendship and that this was their first time, I am willing to overlook their mistake just this one time. I am a generous man,"
Officousely stating that, Alexander then turned to nce down on the duo, his sight cold and inscrutable, as the man then tly dered,
"If they disy diligence in their work and make no more mistakes, and show that they have sincerely repented, I will consider looking past this fact. But if they still fail to live up to my expectations even after this¡ well, I can only say I tried my best."
"No! We will work sincerely! There will be no mistakes. We will just guard the doors and not let even a fly through. We promise!"
No sooner had Alexander made the offer, than the two men leaped up to ept it, clutching at it like a drowning man clutches at a straw.
Which was really natural given the alternative.
One that Hemicus made sure to spell out, snorting, "Hmmp! You better. Or it will be the gallows for you two idiots," before suddenly turning his voice acrid and imperious,
"You idiots must have been born under the most lucky star to have a generous lord like him. Be mindful that you do not squander it. Now scram! "
As Hemicus waved his hand like he was shooing away a disgusting bug, "Yes, yes, at once." the harsh dismissal actually sounded like the sweetest tune of relief from heaven for these two.
Thus they scrambled to get up as quickly as possible, before deeply bowing to Alexander as a gesture of thanks.
The man next to Quilus even ttered his pasha,
"We will be sure to thank the luck of a hundred lifetimes that we are graced by a lord as generous as you, my lord. Any other would have skinned us alive. We are grateful."
And seeing this buttering oil being applied, his partner Quilis too decided to join, wishing to cate the furious Alexander by iming,
"Yes. We will thus remain eternally grateful for sparing us."
Alexander was frankly a bit shocked at the eloquence on disy, as he knew these two well and so was aware that neither of the two illiterates should have been capable of speaking so smartly.
And if the atmosphere was not so grave and serious, he might have actually joked about whether they had been taking night lessons to improve their education.
But now he only curtly nodded and hummed an "Mmmm" of acknowledgment, before allowing them to return to their station.
An endeavor both men raced toplete.
While seeing this, Alexander turned to give Hemicus a knowing smile.
Chapter 1088 Lenient Judgement (Part-2)
Chapter 1088 Lenient Judgement (Part-2)
??As soon as the men were out of the room, Alexander turned to face Hemicus with a bit of an apologetic face and chimed, "I am sorry you had to do that."A
"Heh heh, don''t mention it." The usually stoic man however only broke into a small, happy chuckle, then slowly tapped Alexander on the shoulder to reveal,
"We already decided that I will y the strictmander and you the generous lord. Otherwise, those two idiots would not take us seriously. And see your kindness merely as a weakness."
Yes, the tough, nasty guy act that Hemicus had pulled was all part of the show.
This was not the first time they had done something like this, as there were many other times when Alexander had to discipline his guards, such as over stealing food or cutlery from his house, flirting with the maids, and mostmon of all, cking off whenever they got the chance.
In all those instances, Hemicus, as their immediatemanding officer would work to heavily punish them, while Alexander would suddenly intervene, appearing like a beacon of hope to these terrified men and then like a living saint, reduce their burden.
And this strategy worked quite well, as Alexander was seen as a benevolent lord and thus his poprity among his men remained sky high, while Hemicus was seen as a martmander, which was also apliment.
Many soldiers actually liked having strict and inflexible officers because they inspired respect and were seen as trustworthy.
"Why did you let them off so easily?" However, although that strategy worked very well most of the time, Hemicus thought this time was different.
Given the gravity of the crimes involved, he thought this time they should have been seriously punished, not let go with not even a p on the wrist.
If too much strictness was bad, then too much leniency was worse.
Who knew if those two were going to truly pay heed to Alexander''s warning, or simply see this as a get out of jail free card?
He had not questioned Alexander''s direction directly back then so as to not affect his prestige, but now that they were alone, Hemicus felt he needed an answer and a good one at that.
Which Alexander provided, reasoning,
"We are already short handed. So I prefer not to lose even two pairs of hands."
"And given the stunt Lady Linda just pulled, if I were to rece them with a new pair, I''m afraid they might very well fall to the same mistake."
"Although I hate to admit it, thedy is that charming. So it is better that it be them. Since they already know about her, I believe they will be much more resistant to her advances. And hopefully won''t make the same mistake twice."
This line of thinking did not sound too bad to Hemicus, who could certainly see good points.
But at the same time, he could not help but look at the whole thing from the other lens too, pointing out,
"And what if it is the opposite? What if after tasting Lady Linda they start feeling attracted to her? What if they want another taste? Like how people started craving sugar after tasting it for the first time. In the same way¡ won''t the familiarity with thedy make them even more susceptible to her charms?"
Saying this, Hemicus hypothesized,
"You too heard what she had done with them. Even most whores would not be so wanton. So if I knew there was a woman like that behind the door I was guarding, I am not even sure I would be able to control myself. Especially when it is someone as beautiful as Lady Linda, I might be tempted even at the threat of death."
Alexander frowned hearing this, feeling Hemicus had made a great point.
He had not thought about it from that angle.
Who knew if deep at night those two idiots would suddenly get the primal urge after recalling the springtime they had with thedy and decide to sneakily get a shout or two in.
The noblewoman certainly possessed the assets to cause such a thing to happen, as many men would choose to discard their lives just to be with her, even if for just a few moments.
"......" Thus for the next few while, Alexander found himself reassessing his decision.
But the trouble was, it had already been given.
And Alexander was reluctant to change it in order to persevere his own ''credibility'' rating,
"Let them be." Thus he decided to keep it as is, despite the potential consequences, reasoning,
"Since the deed has already been done once, then it does not matter how many more times it is repeated. The magnitude of the trouble will still remain the same- enormous. In fact, since that wanton woman tried to seduce the men for her own gain, then this might very well be an adept punishment for her¡ heh!"
Alexander could not help but suddenly smirk after realizing how Miss Linda might have invited a tiger into her house after using it to drive away the wolf.
If thedy ''imed'' these two men had forcefully taken her, then it would be a disservice to the men to not have actually done it.
So although Alexander did not say it out aloud, deep inside, a tiny, tiny, evil part of him wished for the thing that Miss Linda had imed to happen to really happen, if for nothing but to let her know the pain of the act, so that she would never falsely im to be a victim.
But at the same time, Alexander doubted the nobledy could even be forcefully taken- a conclusion reached after analyzing what she had done with the two guards.
Hemicus was not exaggerating when he said most workingdies would not be so ''easy to use''.
As many of these things were the types that even Alexander had only startedtely, after getting to know his wives better.
So the fact thedy did them on their ''first date'', well at least she was not lying when she imed to be wanton.
From the sound of it, it seemed that thedy knew both how to flirt and get men into bed, as well as keep them satisfied in there.
Now, of course, Alexander''s wish to see thedy harmed was only his evil, vindictive part of talking.
He did not actually want his men to break into her room in the middle of the night and forcefully take her.
Thus, after finishing imagining all that could have been and venting his frustration at the imaginary scenario, Alexander returned his attention to the present and ordered Hemicus regarding the two men,
"Send a patrol man to that part of the corridor at some point during the night¡ just to see if the two are really following what they had promised. If they are, then good. If they are not¡ I don''t want them to see sunrise."
Alexander could not help these men if they did not even have regard for their own lives.
And although he hated to lose even two men when they were so outnumbered, that did not mean he was going to let the two off scot free so openly.
"With pleasure." Hemicus immediately answered like a wound up spring, his eyes bing brighter and his nostrils ring up, clearing showing he was very eager to carry the task out.
This was because internally he was quite dissatisfied with Alexander''s lukewarm method of punishing the two and really hoped they would fail.
He would be able to finish the job then.
''I cannot believe they humiliated me and Alexander like that,'' He said to himself, as being the head of the guards in the mansion, he saw the men''s act as a stain on his own record.
A stain he was eager to wash with their blood.
It remained to be seen how the two poor guard''s fate and by some extension Miss Linda''s fate turned out to be.
Speaking of Miss Linda, as Alexander left and thedy heard the doors shut behind her, the bent over bare woman turned around with the fury of a twisted madwoman, gritting her beautiful pearly white till she almost started to bleed as her eyesight almost went dark.
She could not believe Alexander had rejected her once again.
"Agh!" Thus grunting like a wild animal, she turned her angelic face into what might as well as a devil''s, and then suddenly, her eyesnded on a beautiful ss showpiece that was on her study table.
This was a piece that was imported from Zanzan, but as soon as Miss Linda remembered that, it subconsciously produced the image of Alexander in her mind, and that alone was enough to send thedy over the edge.
She could not bear to have anything from that hateful man.
Thus suddenly grabbing the product, the enrageddy instantly hurled the piece against the nearby stone wall with all her might, shattering it into a million small shards, destroying an item that was almost worth its weight in gold.
But at this point in time, the furiousdy could not care less, as she only let out enraged roars at being humiliated.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1089 Current Situation
Chapter 1089 Current Situation
??Following Alexander''s ''rejection'', the angelically beautifuldy decided to disregard everything around her and began to vent her anger in the most vocal way possible, and thus soon enraged shouts began to drift out of her room.
This was considered very rude in Sybarian culture, as it was expected the upants of the rooms, both men and women should keep their business confined within the four walls.
Plus, like many other things of the time, women were expected to be especially quiet, always soft-spoken, and never raising their voices, lest they bebeled as shrews.
But Miss Linda could not care any less about that right now.
So much so that the guards posted outside heard the enormous disturbance and started to wonder if they should go in and check what the heck this was all about.
But stopped at thest second as they recalled their very clear order- guard the door and ignore everything else.
This proved to be a prudent decision given Miss Linda was still without any clothes, and madly dashing around the room breaking, smashing, and knocking everything in sight- ss pieces, ink bottles, candle stands, drink jars, wine goblets, you name it.
Her bloodshot eyes made it seem like she had gone mad and by the time was she done, for she eventually did tire herself out, the entire ce looked like it had been hit by a tornado.
In fact, that tidal wave that had hit Caira four years ago might have done less damage to her room than what she had currently done.
But the furiousdy did at longst run out of steam and as thedy calmed down, she swore to the gods-
No matter what it took, no matter what happened next, she would have Alexander, regardless of whether he consented or not.
Or in simpler terms, Miss Linda vowed to force herself on Alexander¡ which was quite the departure from how traditionally these things went.
But it seemed that Miss Linda had by now be obsessed with the man.
No longer did she care for the original reason why she wanted to sleep with Alexander, which was initially to frame him as assaulting her and use that excuse to kill him.
But instead, now, she looked to only satisfy her own ego.
She wanted to have Alexander just to prove to him that she was irresistible- that nobody could deny her.
Because up until now she had to do little more than curl her finger and smile at them, and the ''dogs'' woulde wagging their tails.
But here, despite having gone to such lengths, she still failed.
This was uneptable.
And thus with the promise to fix this and set the record straight, Miss Linda got to plotting- trying toe up with various kinds of stunts that she could pull to get the man when the next round of negotiations came.
One of which was posing that she would only agree to hand the family over to the Lady Miranda if Alexander slept with her and could fully satisfy her¡ among other such demands.
And while Miss Linda thought of these, she also began to look forward to what the family''s elders had to say regarding the current developments, and whether they were truly in favor of her elder sister.
Something which, after calming down a bit and thinking for a while, thedy found highly dubious.
Because it was in to see if the family were to be turned over to Lady Miranda, the de-factor ruler of the ce would really be Alexander.
And although the old elders might greatly value their lives, even that had their limits.
Alexander''s proposition in its current state would still be hard to swallow for them no matter what.
Now, some might say, well isn''t siding with Miss Linda the same, with just thebel changed?
Just the Heeat family instead of Alexander?
Well, yes and no.
Yes, in the sense that the Margraves were destined to be fossilized under a power, meaning the conflict was not about ''independence''-as in fighting Miss Linda, who had the backing of the evil Heeat family who wanted to puppet the entire fiefdom, against Lady Miranda, who stood as the lone bulwark for freedom, equality, and fraternity.
No, if Lady Miranda won, her family would be effectively under Alexander''s thumb.
And if Miss Linda won, it would be the Heeat family.
So the conflict was more like which master they got to be under.
And this is where the ''no'' in the argument came in, as most Margraves wanted to actually choose the Heeat family, but were prevented from doing so by the ''official head'' of the family, who wanted it to be Alexander.
This however to the rest of the family made no sense.
Because the Heeat family was a ducal family from their own country, and could readily provide all that they needed- which was a voice in the confederation council and a deal promising safe passage for their trading ship through the popr maritime routes.
Something that Alexander of course could not.
Nevertheless, it seemed that the man wanted to forcefully make the familyply by using pre-existing agreements and promises as an excuse and military force as a method.
And when it was said aloud like this, it became little wonder why Margraves were so much resistant towards Alexander.
From a third party''s neutral assessment, it was Alexander who wasrgely in the wrong here.
This was a statement that could also be backed up by evidence, as judged from the current developments, which were not admittedly not going ording to n- despite their capture, the Margraves elders were still resisting Alexander''s coercive tactics.
If on the other hand, the Pasha had been from another ducal family, say the Kaiser family, they would have likely capitted long, long ago, but Alexander''s inability to provide them with the solution they truly needed, i.e.- free and safe trade routes,as well as his identity simply proved too difficult for these old coots to ovee.
They saw him as being from another country and thus a total stranger to them.
Not only that, he was even a stranger in the country he was from, as his birthce, background, and upbringing were less than savory to say the least, a ve mercenary from an unknownnd, thus making him seem less reliable even in the regr Margraves family member''s eyes.
All these reasons worked to make the elders who represented the family feel very apprehensive about the man,
These were all the reasons why despite Alexander''s heavy weight, the Margraves were usually cold toward him.
Typically if someone you did almost a billion ropals worth of trade with came to visit, you would be much more weing.
But despite Alexander''s massive economic weight and his forceful arm twisting, the elders remained surprisingly stubborn, refusing to nominate his candidate.
The simple fact of the matter was that it just made no logical sense for them to choose him over Lord Parker- economically or culturally.
And Alexandercked the forces to overturn this discrepancy militarily.
Miss Linda would get to understand all these over the few days as she held several councils with the elders while pretending to consider Alexander''s offer the entire time.
The conclusion they woulde to is that they should currently stall and hang on tight, putting all their faith in Lord Parker.
That with his numerically vastly superior army, the man would be able to soon break through Alexander''s lines.
While Alexander, although half suspected this, decided to nevertheless y along, he too ying for time, ying for Lord Janus''s reinforcements to arrive.
Thus the talks between the two sides continued even though it was basically drool at this point, an utter exercise in futility, each trying to advance his own agenda.
While back in Lord Parker''s camp, they too were plotting on how to break the deadlock.
With the center character of that endeavor being Lord Bernard.
The stunning man would be eventually able to make his peeved boss understand that it would take much longer than one day to cordon off all the sections of the underground water system, and many more to dig new tunnels towards the sea and flood the channels with undrinkable saltwater.
Something which Lord Parker, after being shown the site and the amount of work that would be required to be done, reluctantly agreed.
Although this was also here the jealous Achis decided to put his hand in, whispering to his lord,
"My lord, cutting off the food was okay, but cutting off the water too¡ won''t mydy and young master be affected too?"
In this way, he subtly tried to stop the works, just to spite his rival, to stop him from getting the credit.
"...."
Lord Parker had of course discussed this issue with Lord Bernard too, and that man''s opinion was that the siege would never go for so long.
He confidently swore that once Alexander realized he had no water, he would kneel within the first day, saying,
"Alexander is not going to risk his and his 5,000 men''s lives just for Lady Linda and Master Quentin. Especially not when we will swear to spare him and all his men''s lives. He is a smart man."
Chapter 1090 Achillas Plots
Chapter 1090 Achis Plots
??ording to Lord Bernard, Alexander was assumed to immediately sue for peace once his water supply was cut off, thus bringing the current standoff to a swift and decisive end.
Which frankly was a bit too optimistic, but both Lord Bernard and Lord Parker were willing to try it given it had very little risk on their part.
However, over the following days, while work on the underground water sections continued, Achis managed to turn Lord Parker''s thoughts on the matter around, iming that it was too risky.
"What if Alexander does not capitte? What if he decides to use the threat on Lady Linda and Master Quentin''s lives as a bargaining chip to force us to undam the sections? That would highlyplicate matters. We should be prudent."
And urged on by Achis from behind the scenes, many of Lord Parker''s officers too tried their hand at this, saying things such as,
"My lord, cutting off the food is not a big problem. People can live a month without it. So Alexander is unlikely to do anything hasty. But water¡ that is different."
"Yes. There are many family members living in the house too. If we did this, they too would suffer. That is surely not what we want."
"Yes. If we win like this, it will leave a bad impression of us on them. That will inevitably have unforeseen consequences in the future."
"Mmmm¡. there is even the possibility of them protesting or simply outright capitting to Alexander''s side in desperation. That will be a disaster."
"If we do this and Alexander does not immediately surrender, then there is arge chance that he will choose to hoard all the drinking water for him and his men, leaving the Margraves family members to perish first."
"Right! If the man gets desperate enough, he might even massacre them¡. Just to save on water¡ and kill two birds with one stone."
The officer did not need to exin what he meant by that.
There were many detractors within the Margraves family who hated Alexander''s guts and whom the man was also surely itching to put six feet under.
And such a move lethal attack against him might very well be the most convenient excuse he would need to clear these inconveniences away once and for all in one fell swoop.
This of course not be the most prudent decision as killing basically the entire Margraves family would not necessarily work in the man''s favor, with even Lady Miranda surely turning outraged, but people had done stranger things when things got desperate.
So the other side feared that Alexander might choose to go down with the ship in a zing glory removing the ruler of thesends altogether and having the whole thing for oneself.
Kind of like flipping the chessboard when you see that you are losing.
Andstly, to add to this, there were some officers who took this to much greater extremes, even hypothesizing that Alexander might kill them to drink their blood and live off of that.
Although such hyperbolics were mostly scoffed at and then promptly ignored.
Now, to be totally objective, all these things that the officers whispered into Lord Parker''s ears were really making a mound out of an ant hill.
If the water supply was really cut off, Alexander would most likely scramble to try and save his own skin, instead of plotting to dye the Margraves mansion with blood andmitting ''double suicide'' alongside 6,000 of his men.
However, Achis and his men''s job was not there to be fair and critical. It was to stop Lord Bernard from getting the credit, no matter what.
That was what mattered the most, even if it meant them suffering a slight loss in this conflict.
Thus they all highly inting all the unlikely disastrous scenarios.
And when Lord Parker was bombarded from all sides with such poisonous reasonings, the young lord quickly found his reasoning shaking.
And with onest push from Achis, the entire thing came crashing down.
It happened after a particrly steamy night, as the pairy under the sheets when suddenly the stocky man leaned in to whisper,
"My lord, please give the order to stop damming the water supply. I greatly fear the consequences. Let us wait at least until we can get Lady Linda and master Quentin out of the mansion first. Otherwise¡. Alexander in his rage might do the thing Lord Enofer did back then."
Achis''s tone was very reticent as he said that sentence as if he was not even willing to consider that possibility.
And at this, Lord Parker slightly shivered.
Enofer was the name of one of the ducal families of Sybarsis and the event that Achis was referring to happened a few hundred years ago.
The family wasying siege to a rebelling tribe, and the then head of the family had managed to capture arge part of the tribe''s women and daughter using a nking maneuver, thusing to possess them much like how Alexander currently had much the Margraves family in his hand.
With the prize in his hand, the ruthless lord decided not to engage in any bloody battles but had all these bodies tied up to wooden scaffoldings and wheeled in front of the main fort the rebelling army was garrisoned in, using these vulnerable, innocent people as living human meat shields to make the defenders at the walls unable to defend themselves.
After all, how could they?
When just from the ramparts many of the men could literally see their wives, mothers, and daughters being wheeled to the frontlines, their clothes ripped and tattered or even entirely gone, bearing various scars of abuse and torture, and all howling in fear and pain.
The sorry sight caused the warriors'' morale to plummet and with this obstacle, they were unable to shoot their arrows or throw stones freely at the attackers.
Thus the Enofer forces were able to conductdder rush afterdder rush on the walls with almost full impunity, while simultaneously they rammed the gates with huge siege weaponry, managing to quickly break through.
The following events after that did not need to be said, as the tribesmen, unable to defend themselves were ughtered and the women were sold were very, turning the legacy of that group of people into little more than thin air.
And for his efforts in crushing this dangerous rebellion, Lord Enofer was hailed as a great hero by the Sybarian council.
His tactics, although might sound very deplorable to a modern audience, were openly practiced by the people at the time and even recorded into the annals of Sybarian history, to be read and shared for centuries toe.
Which was exactly what Achis was doing right now, as he warned Alexander might choose to do the same if pushed against the wall.
If not the whole Margraves family, then at least Miss Linda and her son.
The thought made Lord Parker''s heart skip a beat.
However the man still remained somehow skeptical of the urrence of such an extreme endeavor, as frowning his sharp, curved brows, he mused out with some anger in his voice,
"Alexander would not dare! That was that, this is this. Twopletely different things. Stop talking nonsense Achis"
Lord Parker seemed to initially brush the possibility aside with a simple wave of his hand, acting as if it was not even worth considering.
"..." And Achis surprisingly did not try to convince Lord Parker otherwise.
There was no need to.
Because he knew his lord cum lover better perhaps even the man knew himself.
Thus the blocky man just simply kept his head down and kept staring at his partner.
And just like he had predicted, Lord Parker soon began to crack, as in truth he found it hard to ignore the grave possibility.
Even if the chances were very, very small, the potential consequence if it were toe true was too enormous.
Too enormous to ignore.
".... What are you trying to say exactly Achis? "
However given Lord Bernard was so close topleting the works, and Lord Parker had put so much faith into this ''wonder weapon'' that promised to ''end the war'', the man was still unwilling to entirely give up on the idea at this veryst moment.
Thus biting into teeth deeper, Lord Parker posed this to Achis but received no reply.
Only silence and a knowing look.
Whichsted for an unknown while, until it was broken by Lord Parker for he was unable to take the stifling pressure, lightly barked out,
"You are paranoid. You should know better than most that the Margraves will never allow Alexander to do something like that. Even Lady Miranda would never let her sister be humiliated like this. You are mixing war with the barbarians between us nobles. Stop saying all these things just to trip Lord Bernard over. I know you and he cannot stand each other."
Although not fully aware of the dislike, or perhaps more urately the disgust the two men had for each other, Lord Parker was of course not blind to many of the things his men did behind his back.
So he urately determined this might very well be Achis''s jealously speaking.
But it ultimately mattered not.
Chapter 1091 Achillas Plots (Part-2)
Chapter 1091 Achis Plots (Part-2)
??Hearing Lord Parker refer to Lord Bernard as Lord, all of a sudden caused great disgust to swell up in Achis''s heart.
''What lord? He''s a washed up loser of a dog!'' He shouted to himself, as he found the man, who belonged to a family under threat of imminent obliteration to be so very much beneath him.
Which made Lord Parker''s favor for him sting all the more.
Thus unable to bear it any longer, the general decided to break his silence on the matter, chiming in a slightly acidic voice,
"My lord ims this a battle between lords¡ but do I need to remind you of Alexander''s background? Is he really a noble like us? Or would it be more apt to call him a barbarian?"
Calling into question Alexander''s interest, Achis then went on to quickly state in an almost usatory voice,
"Plus, if we are really splitting hairs here, then cutting off the other side''s water supply is hardly the work of a gentleman. So why are we expecting the other side will treat us with respect and dignity when we are willing to get down and dirty?"
"Once the Margraves are dying of thirst, do you think they will give one tiny hoot to what Alexander is doing? Of course not! They will more likely cheer him on as he wheels the Lady in front of us. And leading the crowd might very well be Lady Linda''s eldest sister- Lady Miranda. She might even happily help Alexander tie her sister up¡. as long as he promises the family that this will help them get them fresh water."
Achis tried his best to paint the gravest picture possible if Lord Parker went with his n, as ording to him, this was the exact circumstance Lord Enofer had faced all those years ago, and thus the possibilityy high that Alexander would choose to follow in his footsteps.
HenceAchis urged Lord Parker that regardless if the man knew of this history or not, he should not take the chance.
And then finished by turning to pose Lord Parker with a hard, charged voice,
"So, tell me, my lord, from exactly where are you getting your reassurance that Alexander won''t act like Lord Enofer did?"
It was a very scathing attack and could be even considered quite rude.
And if it had been anyone else, Lord Parker would have by now surely dismissed him, or even simply court martialed him to the ''hanging squad''.
Thus it was quite fortunate that Achis had the kind of privileged position he had within Lord Parker''s heart, as instead of wringing him out, Lord Parker took to seriously contemting the words.
Many of what Achis had said stuck deep chords with him. And he could never fully extricate himself from the various ''what ifs''?
Alexander had not done all those things till now because it would be politically too unptable.
Such a crude tactic would greatly damage his reputation and even if he won, most of the Margraves would hate him to the core- just for humiliating their family like this.
And so the subsequent problems this would cause regarding the administration of thend need not be repeated, as Alexander could not of course keep the mansion under upation for eternity.
And all this was not mentioning the most important point- that his closest ally and the sole person he was here for would most likely not approve.
Sleathily killing her sister was one thing. In the name of power and wealth, Lady Miranda had hardened her heart tomit this evil act.
But tying her up and making a spectacle out of her, for the entire city of 100,000 people to see, well that crossed a line.
Lady Miranda would not let Alexander cross it.
And neither was Alexander interested in doing such a barbaric thing.
For one it left a bad taste in his mouth- abusing the fairer sex like that.
And most critically, because he still wanted to resolve things mostly peacefully.
He understood the Margraves were fundamentally opposed to him, and so his taking over the mansion was just a means to an end.
It was done to secure his position, strengthen his foothold, andstly, force the much more powerful side toe to the negotiating table so they could try and hash something remotely favorable for him out of all this.
Alexander still did not seriously think Lady Miranda could be the sole ruler of the family, as even if she managed to depose her sister, the financial and political problems of her family would remain.
Problems that would continue to make all her kin hate her, thus making her rule untenable.
At least without a constant and heavy military presence by Alexander, a precious resource that the man was unwilling tomit so far away from his homnd.
Hence by now, Alexander had readjusted his ambitions to a kind of shared, co-rule, the exact details of which were still being worked out in his head.
All of which meant that despite all her petnce, the beautifuldy and her son were safe¡ until now.
But all of it could change if the man pushed too far.
If Alexander thought he would surely lose.
It was not yet written, but certainly could.
It was considering such deduced and gleaned possibility thatLord Parker also found himself frowning, seriously reconsidering if he should really go ahead with the n.
And this was when Achis decided to strike, the exact moment when the lord''s bnce started to swing.
He cunningly chimed, "Of course, I am not suggesting we give up on the n entirely. But that we just wait. Wait till we can devise a way to get thedy and young master out. Once they were safe and secure here with us¡ heh heh, then we can do that, force Alexander to surrender without any worry of retaliation."
Achis''s n on paper did not actually sound too bad.
But the caveat was of course open for all to see, as stated by a woody Lord Parker,"And how do you suppose I get her out? Hmmm? If I could have done that, then we would not even need to have this talk."
Naturally, if spacing from Alexander''s grasp was so easy, then not only Miss Linda, but many of the lesser guarded Margraves family members would have surely escaped.
But the fact that there was not a single instance of such a happening, went on to paint a grim picture for Achis''s n.
It seemed Alexander had put a pretty strict hold on the ce,
And this was indeed true, the air tight security rising by employing various measures, some seen, some never before seen.
Measures such as the fact that the Margraves family members could not roam around the corridor whenever they liked, but were mostly restricted to their rooms, with each section of the house being given a particr time of the day where they could interact with others in the nearby rooms.
Observant readers would find that this was very reminiscent of a prison system, and this was intentionally done so with the desire that the Margraves family would never be able to outnumber the surrounding guards by too much at any one time, thus stopping the possibility of a mass riot or break out event.
As for more precious captives, such as Miss Linda, Lady Adele, and the elders, they had the good grace to earn additional supervision, as such they would always be guarded by two guards, who would follow them wherever they went.
Also, their food would be served by these men, not the maids and servants of the ce, in order to prevent them from passing any secret messages along.
The way this would work was the maids would usuallye to the door with the food at their appointed time, and hand the tray over to the men, who would deliver them to its intended host, and after some time send the finished tes back to the kitchen.
Thus, in this way, none of the servants, many of whom had worked here for so many years and thus got to know its people, got to interact with any of the room''s inhabitants.
And so, like these and various other mundane ways, such as the issuance of passcodes and security questions, Alexander tried to keep all these troublesome elements firmly within this vast house inside his control.
And although Achis did not know the details of these byzantine procedures, he could certainly hazard a good guess given the results.
Or perhaps more urately the absence of them.
Which was actually totally fine with the general.
No, even better, it was exactly what he wanted.,
Because in reality, he did not really want Miss Linda to escape, as that would mean the resumption of Lord Bernard''s n.
But had only said this to Lord Parker as a way to put a stop to the n without actually saying those exact words out aloud.
Thus towards his boss''s inquiry, the stocky general put on a pretending rumination face and chimed, "Hmmmm, it will be difficult on our end¡ but perhaps we can send a spy and ask if Lady Linda can escape on her. Or maybe she can even show any loopholes."
Chapter 1092 Achillass Plan
Chapter 1092 Achis''s n
??Lord Parker once again visibly frowned upon hearing General Achis''s suggestion.
"How do you suppose we send a spy in? And how do you suppose Linda escapes on her own?" The lord quickly chewed out, the tone harsh and dry, clearly showing he was not a fan of this idea.
And neither was really Achis.
Which was also exactly why he made it.
He of course knew that if they could have done such a thing, they most likely would have tried it already. So given that they had not, well that means this was not feasible.
With his attack, Alxx had put the mansion under lock and key from the inside, while Lord Parker in retaliation also put it under siege from the outside, thus inadvertently resulting in no one being able to leave or enter the premises.
Of course, there might be some obscure hidden ways to enter and exit the ce, as there was no way Alxx would be able to keep an eye on every inch of the captured grounds given the enormous size of the area, but that did not also really matter in the long run.
All the important ''nodes'', such as the main entrances to the mansion, granaries, stables, servants'' quartes, and most significantly all, the vital ''prisoners'' were under heavy supervision.
So even if a spy did manage to sneak into the grounds, he would not have even a ghost of a chance of getting to meet his intended target.
This means there would be little point in sending him in the first ce.
And for General Achis, who was mostly aware of such restrictions that was kind of the point.
To show Lord Parker that although they were trying their level best, there was no way to inform Miss Linda to escape or any chance of her fleeing on her own.
In that way, he could keep hanging Lord Bernard''s n in limbo and stall indefinitely, using the mother and son''s lives as a convenient excuse.
However, although this was the ultimate n, the general outwardly appeared very ruminative, stroking the beard on his cheeks as he often liked to do as he pondered.
And soon he managed toe up with an answer that might cate his lord.
Thus turning his stocky head around, he posed, "How about this my lord?"
"We can have one of our men row out in a small boat from the Great Harbor sea in the middle of the night. Normally, he would be detected, but this time we are in luck. We can use the fog that settles in every night as a cover to sneakily approach the Royal Harbor."
At this point, Achis paused, his eyes shing a cunning light, as he went to reveal the depth of his consideration,
"Now docking there might be challenging given Alxx has likely strengthened his guard there. So I propose that once he gets close enough, our man jumps the boat and swims to shore, wearing something like a waterproof leather coat to shield himself from the freezing waters."
"Then once onnd, he can quickly discard the heavy coat into the water and change into a typical servant''s outfit."
"With this new identity, he will be easily able to sneak into the mansion. And after all that, he will just need a bit of luck, and he will be able to get an audience with mydy. Vi!"
As Achis finished, he had a very pleased tone to his voice, his eyes sparkling.
To be frank, even he did not think he would be able toe up with something so sublime so quickly.
And thus hearing it, Lord Parker was forced to contemte it.
On the surface, it sounded quite good and certainly feasible.
But as the young lord shifted through all the bling and shiny junk to try and find the concrete ground on which Achis''s scheme rested, he soon found numerous ws hidden within.
Small, micro ws, which were not a big deal in itself, but when added together became enormous, to the point it threatened to copse the whole proposal.
ws such as how was the spy they would send supposed to navigate the waters when the entire surrounding would be, ording to their own n be nketed by imprable fog.
Sure, with the fog, the legionaries around the docks would not be able to see the spy approaching, and thus be unable to raise the rm.
But in the same vein, the man also would not be able to see where he was going.
Which then naturally gave rise to the next query- how was he going to know he was close enough to abandon his boat and start swimming?
Sure he might try to navigate by using the bright lightsing from the mansion, but the mansion and docks were quite a distance away.
So if he did that, without any way to judge the distance, the whole thing would be a shipwreck waiting to happen.
And even if two side by side miracles were to ur, the spy would hardly be out of the water yet, pardon the pun.
Because after getting overboard, his sloshing around in the water in the dead of night would be very likely to be heard by the guarding men, as winter nights tended to be very silent, almost pin-drop silent.
People generally avoided going out at night all year round, and this would reach extreme heights due to the bitter cold, as well as the prevalence of hungry beasts on the hunt for any prey, as their food supply became somewhat dried up in this time period, with most critters choosing to stakeout the chilly months in hibernation and in well in dug nests.
Thus sometimes the nights would be so silent that people could even scare themselves by the sound of their own footsteps as they walked.
All of which meant that if a grown man were to swim quickly in the water, the sshing sound would very likely alert any sharp eared men nearby.
But let''s say he can even avoid getting caught here.
For example- the man chosen for the task was the best swimmer in the world and hence could silently drift with the waves, using only his body to slowly propel forward, thus managing to stealthilynd on the beach.
Even if all that were to sessfully happen, well that would only be the end of the first part of his mission.
The second and arguably much more daunting tasks would still remain.
The first of these would be disposing of the coat.
Yes, even this mundane piece of garment would pose a troublesome problem.
Because throwing it into the water would risk having it float back to the shore by the ebbs and tides of the waves, and if they were unlucky, it could perhaps even catch the eye of an observant guard.
Which could then easily start a manhunt.
So the more prudent option would be most likely to bury it, but that would require time and effort, thus increasing the risk of detection by any nearby patrol.
And speaking of patrol, that would be the second problem the spy would face onnd, as he would have to learn to avoid them.
And learn to avoid them almost blind, both literally as depending on the intensity of the fog that day, the man even might not be able to see the legionariesing, as well as figuratively, as he would not know their regr routes beforehand.
And if somehow caught, it would be highly unlikely that the man could talk his out of the pickle.
Sure he might have the dress of a servant, but such a well built man, fit man would hardly look like one.
And even if he did, how would he exin his presence there?
Alxx had put a total curfew on the ce at night and a mere servant would have never dared to break it.
Especially not when he was so far away from the mansion, and so ufortably close to the docks.
Thus if that were to happen, the man would surely be immediately questioned on suspicions of being a spy and then have his body searched for evidence.
This would be a disaster for Lord Parker, as then it would not take long for Alxx to discover the letter.
This letter would also not be able to be hidden too well because it would need to be properly waterproofed.
And although waxing it might work, ideally it would need to be put in a waterproof pouch to guarantee its intact survival.
And where were you going to hide arge pouch so that it wouldn''t be detected by a group of men who might as well strip search you?
The answer is most likely- Nowhere.
And even if the man could miraculously avoid all these obstacles and sessfully infiltrate the mansions, well there still remained the tiny inconvenience of actually meeting his target, Miss Linda, who was kept under twenty four seven surveince and denied ess to any outsiders.
How was the man supposed to ovee that?
As they say, the devil is in the details, and as Lord Parker discussed many of these problems, it was soon deemed unfeasible.
This of course suited Achis perfectly fine.
Chapter 1093 Achillas Sets Forth (Part-1)
Chapter 1093 Achis Sets Forth (Part-1)
??After Achis made the suggestion about how to send the spy, he and Lord Parker tried to hash out the details for the next hour or two.
Until the ducal lord barked out in frustration, "No! This is all tooplicated. Sending a messenger into the mansion is too risky. He will get caught just like Linda''s messenger did."
This of course sounded like music to Achis''s ears, as he thought he was one step closer to denying Lord Bernard his prize.
However, for the sake of ying his part, he put on a troubled face and after thinking a bit, proposed, "Perhaps we can try sending multiple men. This way hopefully one of them can reach herdyship."
The ''wisdom'' behind sending a group of men need not be said, as any one of themnding in the enemy''s hand would cause the entire endeavor to fail.
Alexander would be quickly alerted and have thedy put under even stricter quarantine.
Thus towards this obviously wed n, Lord Parker only sent Achis a disdainful look and scoffed, "Has your head been kicked too like Linda''s?"
He said this because by now Lord Parker hade to know that the main reason why Alexander had decided to take over the mansion- it was because their ns to assassinate him and destroy his defensive lines had been leaked, courtesy of one of the messengers of the nobledynding on Alexander''s hands.
On that fateful day, Miss Linda had sent multiple messengers to her husband to inform him of the n and so that he would be able to coordinate from his side too.
And this in any other time would have been perfectly fine, as the act of sending lots of men carrying the same message to your ally was a standard tactic, done so that even in the event a few of them were ''lost'' and could not make it, at least one of them wound.
In fact, it was Lord Parker who had taught Miss Linda this technique, asking her to follow it.
So there was nothing inherently wrong with the act.
The only problem here was this particr situation was the wrong time to use it.
Because the great number of men carrying the sensitive ns gave Alexander multiple magnitudes higher chances to obtain this secret information.
This was exactly what had happened.
And as he prepared himself, to make matters somehow worse for Lord Parker, some of the men also managed to inform him of the ns, thus instead of postponing the act due to an absence of confirmation, the ducal lord inadvertently walked into Alexander''s prepared positions none the wiser- getting a bloody nose in the process.
Thus in some ways, it might have been actually better if Lord Parker had remained oblivious to the Margraves family decision.
But back to the point at hand, given this recent burn, Achis''s intention to thusmit the same folly caused Lord Parker to feel quite frustrated.
And so brushing his hand, he torpedoed it.
An act that although outwardly rueful for, internally Achis rejoiced.
This was his intention all along, and so it was hardly like he had missed so many of theplex problems.
No, he had of course detected them and then had even intentionally left many of them there, all so that he could say the following words,
"Hmmm. My lord is correct. Looks like finding a way to alert Lady Linda will not be easy. Alexander has the ce locked up tight. Why don''t we call the men tomorrow morning and discuss it then? It is gettingte already."
The tone the stocky general said this in suggested they had already exhausted all the easily avable options and so if they wanted to find newer ones, they would have to dig deeper.
And such deep drilling would of course require additional help.
Which would inadvertently mean more time and greater dy.
But that could not be helped right?
They were at war after all.
The other side would not simply let them win, would they?
So it seems that Lord Bernard''s water ''constriction'' n would have to wait indefinitely.
Thus thinking he had managed to sessfully turn his lord''s thoughts on the matter, the general found himself in a very joyous mood.
The thought of his imminent triumph over his hated rival made his blood rush, and so, as he suggested they tuck in for the night, Achis could not help but suddenly brush his hands against Lord Parker''s chest very suggestively, producing a charming smile apanied by a brilliant twinkle in his eyes.
Instead of talking any further, Achis wanted to celebrate.
And what better way was there than to do the thing which really need not be described?
It was a very fun adult activity.
And although the act between the exact two of them would be frowned upon in many parts of the world, but to the two men it did not matter, for given their status they were almostpletely immune to such stigma.
Instead, as Achis continued his caresses, soon a certain part of Lord Parker regained its vigor under the delicate hospitality, and soon the general appeared to be in the process of ''properly positioning'' himself to initiate the joyous act.
When suddenly Lord Parker''s grave and serious voice boomed out,"Now is not the time. We do not have the time to wait for so long!"
His repetition showed his strong dislike for the act right now, as well as his impatience on the matter, as turning to face Achis, firmly dered,
"And gathering the men around the table and endlessly talking and arguing is not something that is going to get us anywhere anyway. No, I want the situation resolved right here, right now."
Lord Parker had of course managed to catch his generals'' drift when he suggested that all this, but he was not buying it.
Achis might feel he has all the time in the world to slowly figure this out but Lord Parker was different.
The general had very little affection for his wife, Lady Adele, whom he saw simply as an object necessary to continue his bloodline, not a hair more, while his heart truly belonged to his lord and lover.
But Lord Parker was theplete opposite.
Achis was only a fun tumble in the sheets for him, as the man had instead truly fallen for the immactely beautifuldy.
So just like Miss Linda had assumed, he was firmly encased within her fingers.
Lord Parker might not sit and stand at his wife''s words, at least not yet, but he did pay consideration attention to her opinion and council.
Otherwise, he would not have held off on trying to assassinate Alexander for so long.
And alongside that, there was also the matter of his son and heir being there too.
So even if he hated his wife, how could he leave his son there- his flesh and blood?
All this meant that every second the mother son remained in Alexander''s care, it was agonizing for the man.
Now, Lord Parker did not worry they were being abused, such as Miss Linda being vited by the lustful Alexander due to being attracted to her peerless beauty, as such basic norms of wars were simply assumed, but he did worry about various other inconvenient things that Alexander might do, such as denying them proper food, water, and clothes.
And due to all these worries, Lord Parker was unwilling to be a pawn in Achis''s political shenanigans any longer.
He had mostly turned a blind eye to the secret sh between his general and the Margravesmander up until now because he thought that a bit of ''friendly''petition was always good for the health of the army.
He had even hoped that in this way, each man would be able to keep the other in check.
But now that they were starting to get in the way of their primary objective, Lord Parker found that this was going too far.
He could not allow their personal whims and desires work to push the main purpose around.
Thus when Achis was trying to stall for time just to spite his opponent even at the cost of his Lord Parker''s own wife and son, it naturally infuriated the lord.
Something which Achis too of course noticed, but was not too much troubled by it deep inside.
This type of anger was nothing too umon from the lord and he had seen it many times before.
So the man was more than confident to be able to smooth it over.
As such, he tried to y the weak kitten card, as in reply to Alexander''s loud deration, he whispered shakily in a lowered voice, "Then what do you suggest, my lord?"
Lord Parker suddenly turned to re at this inquiry, as if he was somehow very offended by it.
And then to punish this rouge general, he dered, "There is no need to go through all these hoops to try and send a spy to Linda. Instead, there is a far easier way. You will go!"
"You will enter through the main gates posing as my representative, and im to be there to lead the negotiations. From there you will pass the information to Linda. Got it?"
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1094 Achillas Sets Forth (Part-2)
Chapter 1094 Achis Sets Forth (Part-2)
??General Achis''s heart had skipped a gigantic beat when first heard the words- ''You will go.''
"Wha¡" as he could not help but quickly blurt out so.
But Lord Parker never gave the general a sliver of a chance to even start the sentence, as he quickly went on to describe how Achis was supposed to do it.
"...." Hearing this the general for a brief moment became shell shocked.
''How am I supposed to negotiate? What do I know about making deals?'' He thought to himself incredulous;y, and then began to look at Lord Parker as if he asking whether all the screws in him were still there.
And while Lord Parker certainly detected the weird look, and it was not something he did not at all appreciate, he did not bother to defend himself.
He was the lord here, and whatever he said, whether it made sense or not, or whether Achis liked it or not, it did not matter, the general was required to follow it regardless.
He had sworn to ording to his oath.
Thus as Achis continued to look at Lord Parker with a shocked gaze, the man returned the favor with a calm, determined look.
"...."
So for a while, the entire room entered into an ufortable silence, as the two men kept staring at each other, both unwilling to give in as that would reveal weakness in their stead.
Until Achis finally broke.
Now he did not break because he was unable to keep up the stare any longer.
But because he understood his lord was truly determined this time.
And so to keep ying this game as his retainer would be far too rude.
Thus knowing his limits, the general prudently decided to back down, giving the victory to Lord Parker.
Before verbally agreeing to it while shing his palms, "Okay, okay, I will go. But know that I know how to only fight with swords. The fight with the quill is more of your thing, milord. I am not good that at."
And Achis was not being humble when he said he was not good at talking.
On the contrary, he was being generous when he said just that.
Because in reality, he was not just bad with the quill., he was utterly ipetent with the pen, for he was an illiterate.
The reason for this was because Achis was not a noble, but the son of a cksmith who had caught one day the eye of the current Duke Heeat by a great stroke of luck.
The opportunity had allowed him to somehow join the army as an officer, and from there, using his own merit, as well as a bit ofying in bed with the right people at the right time, he swiftly rose through the ranks, until he earned enough trust of the family''s lord to be the guardian of the family''s young maser.
Whom he of course had previously bedded too.
In fact, this was one of the reasons why he managed to get the job in the first ce, eking out the victory against so many other worthy candidates.
And this rtionship had continued up until now, although somewhere along the way, this transactional feeling seemed to have developed into true love, at least for Achis.
Anyway, Achis''s low upbringing meant that he had really gotten the chance to develop his literary skills, and by the time he was offered this opportunity, the fertile time had already passed.
Achis had be too busy with all his various other duties and perhaps much more importantly, lost interest.
Thus instead, he now depended on his right hand man to take care of all the administrative affairs.
So it would be that man who would do all the heavy work, writing reports and making ns, while all Achis would have to do is put his seal on the papyrus or parchment or paper using therge si ring on his left hand.
Also, as a side note, this adjutant was also one of Achis''s ''lovers'', one among many with whom Achis had slept to advance his career, and one who now got a share of the general''s bed when Lord Parker was not avable, this time as a way to advance his own career.
Oh, how the tables turn.
Now, all this meant that Achis was not the most eloquent man, and due to his illiteracy, neither did he know about the intricacies of the Heeat family to know what deal would be eptable to the family and what were the deal breakers.
And while Lord Parker might surely be able to teach the man the basics with a few days of intense crash course studying, at that point, it might be easier to just send a man who really knew his stuff.
Thus Achis frankly revealed that he could not be able to act as a good delegate even if he were to be sent there.
"That is fine!" Lord Parker however did not seem to care, as brusquely waving his hand around, he dered, "You will be there as to negotiate in name only. So do not ept any offer or make one. Just simply say that you are there to hear what the other side has to say and ry the information back to me. These negotiations all usually go like this, with several back and forths, as each party gathers information about the other and¡ haggles."
"So you do not need to feel too pressured on what you will say."
Firstly reassuring Achis like this so that the general did not panic inside the enemy''s den, Lord Parker then turned his voice didactic, as flicking his index finger, he instructed,
"Thus your main job instead will be to find a way to meet with Linda. Say whatever you need to Alexander to do that. You can try saying something like that you want to meet her and Quentin on my behalf, in order to confirm they have not been harmed in any way."
"Or that you want to consult her on what the Margraves family thinks might be an eptable deal with Alexander. Make up something believable, " the ducal lord urged.
And then finished the speech with a nted nce and a cunning smirk on his thick lips,
"Of course, if you do not think you are capable, I can always select Lord Bernard. In fact, now that I think about it, he should prove to be a much better candidate. After all, he is familiar with everyone in the family. Sending a known face is a time tested technique. Hmmm¡ maybe¡"
"No!"
The momentLord Parker showed the slightest hint of thinking of recing Achis with LB, the jealous general almost shouted the deep objection.
There was no way he was going to let that shy punk take his thunder.
Sure, Achis had been feeling quite a bit of trepidation about swaggering into the enemy''s headquarters ''naked'', as he had never done this before, so all kinds of dangerous what ifs had swirled in his mind.
Such as- what if Alexander killed him? Or captured him? Or tortured him for information? Or did any other thousand different things, many of which Achis was himself guilty of doing at some point in his life.
Even when the messenger had ''divine'' protection, thus making the man suddenly be fearful of the rumored wrath of the gods.
Achis could not help it even though he knew these were very different circumstances, and it was very, very unlikely that Alexander would do such things to him, if for nothing but the objection from the Margraves family.
However, Achis''s imagination still ran wild.
And as various bloody scenes shed in his mind, for some time, Achis was having some very strong second thoughts about visiting the mansion, even though his lord had urged him to contribute.
However, the mere mention of that hateful Bernard was enough to blow away all such hesitations away.
Achis would be even willing to walk bare footed through a bed of coal if it meant thwarting that man.
And so suddenly, Alexander''s threat of capture and torture did not seem too bad.
Thus, quickly putting a stop to Lord Parker''s ''brash'' move, Achis turned his head to sh an oily smile,
"Lord Bernard is not from our family my lord. So how can it be appropriate to have him represent us? Surely Alexander would scoff."
Assuming so, the well built man then began to heavily shake his head, before pointedly stating,
"No¡ it has to be someone from the Heeat family, and a high level one at that. Only then we can fool him into thinking that he was truly serious about the talks. And are not only trying to bluff with some kind of other agenda in mind."
Even Lord Parker was surprised by the eloquence on disy here.
It seemed that when it came to his benefits, the general was quite the smooth talker.
As further evidenced by the fact he was not yet finished but continued,
"Not to mention without me, Lady Linda might not even believe the message was from you, my lord. Surely she is unaware of your¡. ''close rtionship'' with Lord Bernard," Achis made to get thisst jibe in, as he ended with the deration, "So it best be me."
Chapter 1095 Achillas And Miss Linda (Part-1)
Chapter 1095 Achis And Miss Linda (Part-1)
??Lord Parker sniggered internally as he heard Achis''s eagerness to be chosen as the representative.
He did not think it would be this easy.
But it seemed the general had grown to detest his rival to a point that he could no longer be objective about matters rting to him.
Thus when Lord Parker made the targeted statement, he took it hook, line, and sinker without a second thought.
"Very good. You will leave first thing tomorrow morning," And so immediately upon hearing it, the ducal lord gave Achis no time to take it back, and quickly chimed so with a great nod.
This surprised the bulky general but could only produce a slow, woody nod at this sudden announcement, only now beginning to feel that somehow he might have been a bit too brash and yed right into the other''s hand.
But that was only a fleeting thought. Because he quickly figured that meeting Miss Linda would allow him to better control the narrative, and thus block Lord Bernard''s effort better.
So even if his lord had not pushed him for the role, the general might have fought for it himself.
And who knows, in this way, he could maybe even covertly leave one or two hints about some security oversights to Alexander during the meeting, just to make sure thedy could not escape in any way.
Achis''s discovery of all these ''perks'' soon had the man ''perk'' up and so producing a small grin, he subsequently let out a few words of ttery as he epted the mission, before suddenly turning coy and making the intimate request, "Then my lord, how about a small reward before I go?"
The offer did not require any further elucidation.
Although they had already done the act a few times already this night, it seemed Achis wanted to go on the ride onest time.
And Lord Parker, knowing Achis was still somewhat reticent to do this job, and thus denying this request would negatively affect his standing with him, this time decided to grant it to him, if for nothing but as a morale boost
Thus, lighting his pupils suddenly into a shimmering ck pool, Lord Parker imperiously smirked, before strongly pping the other part''s muscr bare nks and didactically ordering, "Turn around."
To Achis, this strong, manly touch of his lover felt like how a drought wastnd feels when it is graced by torrential rainfall after a long time, the loud smack feeling most pleasurable and the crisp noise like a heavenly choir.
Thus breaking off into arge grin that shed all his pearly whites, the man instantly obeyed, and as Lord Parker mounted Achis, soon, a constant low guttural but very pleasurable moans began to drift out of the luxurious room, which after some time turned loud and euphoric.
This song was mainly sung by Achis, who loved the various tantalizing sensations delivered from above and found the act much more pleasurable than his counterpart.
(Author note: What do you think about the details here? Too much? Should I skip describing same gender intimacy althoughter? Comment.)"
This was mainly because the man held true affection for Lord Parker and so the psychological intimacy generated from the activity was much, much greater for him.
But unfortunately for him, the vice versa was not true.
For Lord Parker, although there might have been a time when he might have truly considered taking Achis as his lover and his wife as just an essory, just like Achis had, unfortunately for the general, his opponent was the devilishly beautiful Miss Linda.
So what Lord Parker did with him now was done mostly out of habit.
He did it as a way to vent and release stress and even as just a pleasurable way to pass the time.
After all, people of this time were sorelycking any sort of entertainment and this ranked usually in the top two, just behind drinking.
To the ducal lord, this was just a fun activity he did because he had grown up with it, nothing more, nothing less.
And it could even be argued that one of the reasons why Lord Parker had not stopped doing this altogether even after bing smitten with his wife was because it was a convenient way to keep his friend cummander happy, keep him loyal and satisfied.
The lord was of course not oblivious to Achis''s desires, but instead of drawing a clear line and letting him know the truth, Lord Parker decided to let things be as is, fearing such revtions would work to only make things messier.
He did not want Achis flipping out on him and thus opted to just keep the status, stringing the poor man along.
The consequences, if any, of this move remained to be seen.
For now, though, Achis coulde knocking on Alexander''s door bright and early the very next morning, repeating his prepared lines perfectly.
Officially he was there to negotiate as a representative of the Heeat family, sent there by his master to know exactly what were Alexander''s demands.
But more specifically, he was there to negotiate the release of their madam and heir, as well as to check up on their well being.
The first section of the negotiation, whichsted from mid day to around the afternoon, or around three hours, was really lukewarm, achieving nothing other than a few pleasantries and peace feelers.
It was filled with banal talks as each side reiterated their positions and although Alexander tried to use his currently superior position to twist Achis''s hand into making him produce some sort of concessions, the man repeatedly avoided any engagement, declining to make any concrete statements just as instructed by Lord Parker.
Not even when Alexander would say things like,
"General Achis, surely you cannot think what you are asking is reasonable. Look at the circumstances. Despite the 5 to 1 disadvantage in troop number, I currently hold all the advantages. The mansion, all the Margraves family members, and even the Lady of your House are my guests."
"So surely you will have toe down from your high perch and give up some benefits. In exchange, I too am willing to some. Such as re-negotiating the free trade agreement."
Yes, Alexander had even decided to serve up this great meat on the table- the free trade agreement that wasrgely the only reason why Alexander was even in this god forsoken ind.
Alexander might havee here to defend it, but the changing and extremely hostile current circumstances had forced him to reconsider many prior assumptions.
This was one of them.
And besides, he just said the deal could be negotiated.
He never said the exact extent, so Alexander could definitely fine tune it to fit his exact tastes during the talks.
For now, he only wanted to see the other side''s reactions.
However Achis refused to bite even on this juicy steak, one- due to his lord''s instruction, and equally importantly because due to his pure military background, he did not even have the concept of what a free trade agreement was, so what was he going to negotiate about?
Thus like a broker tape recorder, he repeated the hackneyed statement he had uttered tens of times before, "I will be sure to ry this message to Lord Parker. He is the only one qualified to make such an important decision. Let me get back to you with it in a few days."
If you had not guessed it already, Lord Parker had made Achis memorize this particr line and told him to parrot it whenever he was unsure of himself.
While after hearing this for the umpteenth time, Alexander snapped at one point. "If all decisions are to be decided by Lord Heeat, then why he did note himself? He could have personally met Lady Linda and young Quentin too!"
"Heh¡ heh," Achis only gave a hollow, pleased chuckle hearing this, not bothering to point out the obvious security concerns with the idea, but lightly added with a touch of sarcasm, "I am sure my lord would love that."
While Achis''s adjutant, who had also decided to apany his man, smirked,
"If Pasha Alexander is so frustrated with our arrangement, then you can alwayse and meet our lord. He is just over there. And our camp gates are always open to you. Please!"
"......" The ''sincere'' offer received a wall of silence from Alexander.
It was indeed true that he was feeling somewhat frustrated, and it was not just at the cial pace of the negotiations.
It was at everything.
Miss Linda was obviously stalling, Lord Janus was yet to arrive as informed by Lady Miranda, and even Cambyses had written to him saying the bad weather was particrly bad in Zanzan, with blistering blizzards that nked the city for several days on end, thus making starting the voyage currently untenable.
Hence Alexander did not appreciate the fact that Achis had basicallye there to show his face, and seeing things going nowhere, Alexander broke off the talks after sharing lunch with the general.
The pasha retreated to his room to ponder on his next move, while the general was allowed an audience with his wife, his lord''s madam as well as his likely future lord.
Chapter 1096 Achillas And Miss Linda (Part-2)
Chapter 1096 Achis And Miss Linda (Part-2)
??Achis got to meet the two women he came to see at Miss Linda''s chambers, where thetter was seen hugging her infant son in her bosoms, sitting by a sunny window and lovingly caressing him.
The trio was allowed to meet all alone, i.e.- without the presence of any guards, something that Alexander had quite vocally groaned about when Achis had initially asked for it.
"I am afraid that is not possible. Lady Linda is an honored guest and her safety is our utmost priority," Alexander had initially cited, brushing past the general''s im that with the legionaries present, the nobledy might feel intimidated and would not be able to speak truthfully in fear of retaliation.
However, this not so subtle innuendo that Achis might actually harm the nobledy, the very woman who was the spouse of his lord and lover, incensed the man.
The muscr man could not believe the other side would even suspect him of doing such a heinous act.
So it was fortunate that Achis''s adjuvant was there to intervene, who was a much more temperate guy, and thus kept things from turning very ugly.
The rough general was very much capable of ditching out some very choice words, courtesy of his upbringing as well as his regr mixing with the grassroots soldiers.
However the two heads were quickly cated by this second officer, and then by cleverly getting Lady Miranda involved in this, Achis managed to get his way, much to Alexander''s chagrin
So much so that when the currentdy of the house indeed allowed the general his ess, the pasha had taken thedy to a side to vehementlyin.
There he emphatically pointed out the various dangers of letting Miss Linda meet people from her husband''s side without any ''guardian'', as then they would be able to freely discuss all types of things, from how to negotiate with Alexander, what to negotiate on and what to neverpromise, the security measures within the mansion, and most worrying of all, send secure messages back and forth without any worry.
Thisst thing was the one thing that had Alexander most rmed, and so as ast ditch effort had finally suggested,
"At least, let us check Achis''s person for any letter or parchment. So that they cannot pass secret instructions with each other,"
But Lady Miranda refused to budge an inch on any of her decisions, insisting that what Achis was asking was the right of a messenger, granted to him by the gods themselves.
And when Alexander tried to argue even then, such as by posing that while they may be unable to read Achis''s letter, they could certainly make the general read the letter out aloud by himself, the slightly plumpdy terminated such dubious, frowned upon thoughts by imperiously shing her palms, and dering right to Alexander''s face
"No! Things do not work like that here, my lord. These are the customs of our country. The messenger''s body is invible, along with anything he carries. And whoever vites it will bear the wrath of the gods. I am sorry, but even my hands are tied on the matter."
Alexander had to fight the urge to point at her hands and argue that the pair were in fact not tied and given the extenuating circumstances they should bend the rules a little bit.
Who knew whether this slight oversight could even make them lose the war?
But given the dogged determination thedy was disying, decided to leave this topic for now.
It seemed this was one battle Alexander could not win.
Alexander would howeverter manage to use his great influence and repeated urging to limit the messenger''s privilege to a single time, meaning Achis would not be able to ''farm'' this exploit.
This protection was a one time affair and so the next time the man stepped inside the mansion, Alexander promised to scan every inch of his body for even a single dot of ink, just to prevent the two sides from coordinating.
Although Alexander''s optimism might have been a bit too far fetched as it was unknown whether Achis would ever need to return for a second time.
His one and only task was to meet and greet Miss Linda and then pass along the letter her husband had written.
A supposedly difficult task that he was already in the midst ofpletely within half a day of entering the mansion.
Entering the private chambers alone, Achis initially exchanged some small pleasantries with his wife and Miss Linda, asking them about their well being.
Such as whether they had adequate food as well as the quality of food they were being served, the heating in the room, the behavior of the guards, and even the quality of clothes they were given ess to.
Yes, even when the pair were put under house arrest, this was one of the most important things that Achis, as well as Lord Parker, was troubled by.
And it was understandable if you recalled that to many nobles, the clothes they wore were almost as important as the skin on their body.
Achis even asked about the slight red inmmation on Miss Linda''s left cheek, which was the remnant graces of Alexander''s gift to her.
The wound had mostly healed in the following days, but some slight aberrations still remained, which were visible to Achis despite Miss Linda''s great effort to hide them using copious amounts of various makeup powder.
At the general inquiry towards what happened there, Miss Linda only gave a small chuckle and brushed the whole as nothing,
"Oh, that? It''s all this little devil''s fault," she said while grabbing her son, soft, plump arms and showing his overgrown nails, before amusedly adding, "The brat is a feisty one. Even does not leave his mother alone, hehe."
The story here was that while trying to feed him, Quentin had identally swiped at his mother and produced the tiny scars using his long, shaped, uncut nails.
And while Achis certainly had his doubts about the details of such a coincidence, he did not poke around too much, onlymenting that thedy should pay more attention to the boy''s needs.
The reason for this rtive apathy was that at the end of the day, Miss Linda was not his woman.
And so if thedy herself decided to hide things on her own, Achis felt it was not his ce to go poking around.
So let her be.
Plus there was also a small part of him that just did not care if Miss Linda was indeed being abused, as he saw her existence being a thorn in his and his lord''s road to bliss.
While Miss Linda was also very happy to see the other side act so professionally and not hound for her details.
As much as Miss Linda would have loved to scream to the world that Alexander had hit her, she knew this was not the time.
She feared that if she did this, her husband who had be so enamored with her might lose all reason and choose to do something brash and foolish in a futile attempt to rescue her, one that would aplish little more than getting him another bloody nose.
Hence the borate facade.
Quickly covering the happening, Miss Linda then hastily turned to the letter that Achis had brought as a way to shift the topic and as she read, scanned, and hovered her eyes over the parchment, upon fully digesting the information, her eyes suddenly began to shine.
"Heh¡ heh, who knew Lord Bernard would be able toe up with such an ingenious n? I had totally forgotten about that!" Thedy heartily chuckled, seemingly very impressed, much to the general''s hidden dissatisfaction.
Although outwardly he smiled and praised the man''s cunning, evenying the butter thick on the Margraves family for producing such a ''gem''.
And then finally, with a difficult cough, revealed the issue they had regarding executing the n, and what Lord Parker wanted her to do about it.
Achis was basically there only to provide thismentary, and so after going into the details of the n, ended with the words, "So you see, mydy, unfortunately we are stuck in this stalemate until you can escape. If we cut off the drinking water now, your and young master''s life will be in danger too."
"Thus the lord has already asked the works in the underground be put on hold until we can find a way to arrange your escape. Regrettably, we have not yet figured one out. But we are trying."
As Achis ended, he sent Miss Linda this very ''hopeful'' look, as if saying, ''Well, we are out of options. So maybe you can try busting out on your own.''
The nobledy too understood this ask, but instead of flipping out just like Achis had wished, she only put on a thoughtful face, seriously considering her chances and after moving the gears in her head for a while, suddenly smirked,
"Don''t worry, General Achis. Tell Lord Dear to continue with the earthworks. I am confident I can escape this ce. And soon!"
The confident demeanor felt like a sledgehammer to Achis, who could only squeeze out an ugly smile.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1097 Planning the Escape (Part-1)
Chapter 1097 nning the Escape (Part-1)
??Upon hearing the confident tone Miss Linda used to im she had a way out, her elder sister Lady Adele, who was watching the entire thing from afar with a pallid, disinterested face produced an intriguing glow, as she finally shifted her eyes onto the meeting.
While Achis found his lips suddenly twitching.
The general did not quite know how to feel about it.
The part of him that wanted to win against Alexander of course felt happy.
But an evenrger part of him skipped a heartbeat.
And he hoped that Miss Linda was just being boisterous here, trying to put on a strong facade to cate him.
Thus revealing a buttery smile, the general''s eyes lit up as he first greatly cheered,
"Heh heh, as expected of mydy, no one is better suited to be the next duchess. You truly are a lucky star made in the heavens just for my lord. There can be no doubt that. I am sure he will be greatly pleased to hear of your assurance."
Although not used it, Achis felt he was able to sufficiently tter thedy with his eloquence.
Before turning his tone a bit cautionary, "However, mydy I would once again urge you that you do not take unnecessary risks. There are guards everywhere. So escaping from this ce undetected will be hard. Especially with the young master in hand."
Achis sent a meaningful look towards the infant as he said this, reminding the mother of the difficulties of traveling with a baby who could break out into a loud cry at any time, and then finished with the fearful words, "If the gods are unwilling and young master was to cry out at an inopportune time then¡. well it would not be good you were tond in Alexander''s hands."
Achis did not need to speak about the unspoken consequences of the failure of such an endeavor, as he subtly tried to discourage the act.
''Why take the risk when you can sit here and eat, drink, and sleep to one''s heart content?'' He seemed to say.
"*Snort*, so what? Nothing will happen." Miss Linda however only scoffed at the innuendo, brushing her dainty hands in an extremely dismissive manner as a way to im Achis was being only a worrywart.
Then she confidently dered, "Alexander would not dare hurt us. Not as long as you general Achis have 20,000 men standing right in front of him. Even if we are caught, at worst, he will lock us back here and increase the guards. There are no risks!"
Thedy saying this then lifted her beautiful face up, pointing her nose high up into the air as a show of utmost arrogance.
While hearing this Achis very much wanted to contest this hypothesis and try and put some fear into thedy.
Both because her escaping was not in his own best interests, and also because he thought thedy was underestimating Alexander too much.
Achis reasoned this from the clues he picked during the talks the general had with the man, where the pasha seemed to be quite frustrated and running out of patience with the feet dragging.
So who knew if he was going to snap and do something very regrettable? Especially when he found his most precious birds were trying to flee the coup.
The general thus questioned Miss Linda''s confident facade and asked himself whether this was all simple bravado by an inexperienceddy, or was there actual substance behind it.
And if there was, what?
Could thedy know the young pasha character that well?
Did he promise her safe sanctuary no matter what?
Or was thedy using some of her ''more dubious'' charms to honeypot the man and bring him under her thrall?
Given how seductive thedy could be in bed, the buff general could not put it past her.
However, despite such misgivings, Achis of course could never hope to truly figure out the answer.
He did not have enough information or the required time to collect it.
And thus after a brief moment of rumination stopped trying.
Instead, given Miss Linda was determined to escape, another evil idea soon entered his thoughts.
Producing a warm smile, he thus nodded to first agree to Miss Linda''sment, "That is recurring, mydy. We are very much looking forward to your sess," before his eyes turned curious and prating,
"Now mydy, if it is not too rude to ask, may I know how exactly you intend to escape? Perhaps we can also provide some assistance from our end. Instruct some of our spies here to aid you... help your path be smother."
Achis offered with a sincere smile.
Of course in reality he did not want to really help thedy.
He only wanted to figure the way out so that he could leak this intel to Alexander and thus make thedy stumble in her pursuit. And while thinking this, a small part of him even wished for an ident to happen that would get thedy killed, such an overzealous guard shooting his bow in the darkness to ''stop a thief from sneaking in.''
A man could dream, couldn''t he?
The scheming general however would not get his way, as Miss Linda once again brushed her palms, smirking,
"You do not have to trouble yourself with that, my dear general. I already know the names of all the spies we have in the mansions." Thedy sounded quite sarcastic as she said this as if she was offended at the insinuation that she would not know even this basic information, and barely stopped herself from adding, ''I do not need your permission to instruct them.''
Achis flushed a bit hearing this criticism, while thedy went on to simply dere,
"I have my ways. And it is best I keep them to myself for now. I will let you know about it once I manage to reach your camp."
Achis did not expect thedy to be so tight-lipped about it.
And it made him very curious.
How could she im to be able to escape so readily the moment he asked when she could not do so for so many days since her capture?
It was highly suspicious.
And Achis itched to go poking around,
However, although very curious, Achis knew where his limitsy.
Thedy in front of him technically outranked him in status and so it was really not appropriate for him to hound her.
Thus seeing the other side had no intention of budging, Achis put on a warm smile and quickly nodded toment, "Then I wish you all the best of luck, mydy. May the gods conceal you and master Quentin from all harm. Once you are at the camp gates, just show the men this letter with the lord''s seal and they will let you in. I will inform them of it beforehand."
Achis here was of course referring to the letter he came bearing, the one with all the ns written in them.
Miss Linda intentionally blinked to indicate she understood, while also feeling internally relieved that the man had decided to so easily back off.
She had been working on a way how to escape for quite some time now but had always felt he was missing something- a centerpiece.
And this letter might as well have been thatst piece of the puzzle.
Thus with this in hand, she had a pretty good idea of how she was going to escape.
It was just now a matter of ironing out the details, as well as possibly doing some frowned upon things with some men to earn their favor which would help her escape.
And this was where Miss Linda felt reticent to divulge the details.
Because although she very well knew that her husband would most likely not care about the extramarital things she did if it meant she could escape, he would also not appreciate her unting such stories around.
The tacit understanding between the two was that such shameful acts should be at most an open secret, known but never admitted.
Thus Miss Linda cleverly declined toment to Achis''s query and only promised to try her best.
With this, the meeting was soon adjourned and the general escorted himself out of the room, a smile hanging on his face, but a bitter pool bubbling in his heart.
He really hoped thedy failed.
And he really wanted to know how she nned to do this.
As did Lady Adele, who up until now had been little more than a decoration, a silent doll whoy witness to the whole meeting without uttering a peep.
The entire time she was in there, her husband did not bother to swipe her even a fleeting nce, such was his apathy for her, treating her as if she was thin air.
He only asked her once how she was when he had initially entered, and that too might have been more out of courtesy for the future duchess and the kinship with her, rather than his own concern for his spouse.
So Lady Adele only raised her voice after the man had left.
"Cassius." And the reply to her query was only this name, her brother inw''s name.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1098 Planning the Escape (Part-2)
Chapter 1098 nning the Escape (Part-2)
??The general would breathe arge sigh of relief upon finally returning to his camp right around dusk, suddenly feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off of him the moment he stepped into the impound.
It was only now he could atst put all the horrible scenario of Alexander capturing and detaining him to rest, as the mere knowledge of being in his own territory seemed to greatly please the man.
No longer did he need to watch his steps and tip toe around the ce, but could stride around the earth as if he owned the ce.
And it was with such boastful steps that Achis immediately sought an audience with his lord, which was granted to him almost immediately, whereupon he frankly revealed the full details of his experience, leaving nothing out, or adding anything in.
No matter what the general''s personal thoughts on this whole matter were, he did dare to lie and thus betray his lord''s confidence.
Upon hearing his report, Lord Parker predictably broke out into a joyous chuckle, "Haha, excellent, excellent. That is so very like Linda. Hahaha, I knew she could find a way. Hahaha."
"...." To this Achis only silently nodded with a hopeful face, not wishing to rain on the man''s parade.
Personally, he was till now skeptical about how thedy could possibly escape.
This was because he was unable to figure out the way, as well as the fact that Miss Linda had acted all mysterious and refused to expand on it. So a part of him still thought the person was simply bluffing.
But Achis chose to swallow all these opinions into himself and simply waited to see the results.
While his wife, and Miss Linda''s elder sister, Lady Adele finally chose to break her silence all the way back in the mansion.
The well dresseddy did not mind at all that her husband had just ignored her the entire time he was there, even when she had been under the enemy''s hands for so many days.
She had gotten used to it and now even preferred it.
Thus not keeping this matter in her mind for but a split second, the middle sister instead seemed more interested in how she and her younger sister nned to escape.
Yes, being Achis''s wife, even if only in name, Lady Adele too was considered to be an essential piece to rescue.
But to this, her young sister only uttered the name of their brother inw with great disdain.
And then turned to reassure not to worry about anything, that she had everything already nned out.
The next few days for Miss Linda and those in the city went by without any incident.
Alexander was waiting for reinforcements, Lord Parker was waiting for his wife, and the workers employed in the underground works were waiting for their supervisor''s permission to resume digging.
The only one who could be said to be busy was Miss Linda! Busy plotting her escape.
And in preparation for her grand flight, in the following days, the cunningdy worked to spread rumors about what Lord Parker intended to do, mainly by using her meetings with the elders, thus creating quite a panic in the house.
Now, she of course did not show everyone the letter and make a grand statement while doing this.
That would have been too crude and surely caused Alexander to lock her up even tighter, perhaps even put a few manacles on her for good measure.
So instead, during the meetings Miss Linda very naturally bought out the innocuous matter about water, making innocent statements like how the water she was drinking felt foul and had a disgusting fishy taste, and posing the simple question of whether the underground channels had been cleaned properly.
It did not take long for the old crones in the meeting to get the hint, and as this poke allowed them to recall their ability to turn off water to any part of the city, including to their own mansion, many of them soon became rmed.
Most of them urately determined that this was perhaps the real reason why the Heeat family''s general came to visit, to give them this ultimatum, and they despaired.
What were they going to do now?
Leaving the mansion was impossible while convincing Alexander to stand down was even more so.
"Let''s revolt!" As for the few hot blooded ''young ones'' who shouted this as thest, decisive alternative, well they were promptly and decisively squashed by the older, more cautious men.
''What are we going to revolt with? Our bare hands? Do we have swords? Or shields? Or armor? Or bow and arrows?"
"Never mind they outnumber us a hundred to one! We will be ughtered before we even manage to get out of the corridors."
Although thenguage used here was a bit hyperbolic, the main point still stood.
Alexander really was too powerful for the current Margraves to be able to be ousted from their turf on their own.
The man had very systematically dewed them once he had taken over, leaving no such chance
Or else the Margraves might have already tried it if they thought they stood a chance. Hence the group of clever men sank down into deep contemtion, trying to figure out apromise or a way to escape.
And when they were unable to find either, some began to even slightlyment their cunning, wishing they had not deciphered the clue at all.
At least then they would not have to writh and pace in difort knowing death was approaching one step at a time.
Such great were the men''s fears of death as well as their love for life.
Alexander of course remained oblivious to all these whispers and murmurs, mainly because they were too hushed to reach his ears.
The trapped Margraves produced rumors and consOriginal theories day in and day out on almost a cyclic basis, even more so now that they were under siege and Alexander had implemented food rationing as a way to conserve his stocks.
The absence of new food worked to create a general aura of trepidation and heaviness in the air.
Thus the one real threat got drowned out in the buzzing static of hundreds of useless chatterings, as in Alexander''s mind, the people were already bitching about food, so what was so strange about bitching about water?
It was only normal.
Thus he never took that threat that seriously, but spent his days mostly waiting and looking out to the sea for any signs of the promised friendly fleets.
This was exactly what Miss Linda had been banking on, as with Alexander refusing to pay any attention to these baseless rumors, she was able to dig quite the deep and long tunnel for her escape.
Not literally of course.
But as the rumors spread and infected the people of the house, they began to grow restless.
They began to cause small-scale trouble, such as quarrels with the men, breaking and smashing things, or not just doing their tasks properly.
It was of course nothing the soldiers in the mansion could not handle.
But also at the same thing, it inevitably took up much of their time and attention.
While this initial groundwork was beingid out, Miss Linda was also able to meet with Lord Nn, Lord Cassius''s father, under the guise of discussing what they were going to talk to Alexander about, and there, she was able to reveal the entire situation to him in full confidence, showing him Achis''s letter and thus what were her husband''s ns.
Also conveniently for her, in the letter, Lord Parker had not made any mention of Miss Linda and Lady Adele''s nned escape.
That was what Achis sent there for. To exin the nitty gritty which were hard to put into words.
Thus the parchment only read the ns and how they were going to implement it.
Hence when Miss Linda read the piece out aloud for Lord Nn''s ears, it sounded to him like this n was about to initiate any day now.
It was mortifying for the old man, hearing that they were all going to be killed of thirst.
He thought of it as one of the most painful ways to go, and thus the ever fearful for his life old man shivered in fright.
And Miss Linda certainly managed to take full advantage of this momentary weakness, as sheunched her most fierce attack.
Getting on her knees, the angelicdy sped the old man''s wizened hand and with real tears in her eyes pleaded, "Uncle Nn, we need to escape! The Heeat family will not stop their ns just because of you, me, or even Quentin. I know Parker Heeat! He will hesitate at nothing to achieve his goals. Not even at his son''s life. So if we want to live, we need to get up before the trap closes."
"But we cannot do it alone. Alexander guards us too well. We require help. And the only one who can help us is Lord Cassius."
"He is your son. And a good man. I am sure he will agree if you ask him. Please!"
A strategic single teardrop rolled off the delicate woman''s cheeks as she made her plea.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1099 Lord Cassiuss Dilemma
Chapter 1099 Lord Cassius''s Dilemma
??Miss Linda poured her heart out when she made the request about Lord Nn trying to convince his son to basically betray his wife for them, going as far as to nder her husband to make the matter go smoother.
Because she knew this was because it was a tough cookie to sell no matter how you looked at it.
How could any husband possibly agree to this? Especially when the stakes were this high.
This is why thedy put her utmost effort into it.
And the results showed, as was evident by how the old man had not immediately scolded her for making such an absurd im and stomped the idea down as one would logically expect.
But only turned to look at the woman with a shocked, almost pale face, as if he was questioning whether he was really hearing himself correctly.
However just as Lord Nn turned around, suddenly his attention was grabbed by the moving sight thaty in front of him, so beautiful that for a moment he even forgot what he wanted to talk about.
Because right by his bedside, kneeling on the ground was the youngdy, her eyes pooled with crystalline tears, at the center of whichy a pair of dark onyx jewels shimmering with fear and hope, like small stars in a moonless night, flickering on and off, as if they were in danger of being snuffed out momentarily.
The outer white portions were inmed and reddened, while her beautiful cheeks were puffed and rosy, and her lips slightly twitched and quivered at irregr intervals.
Miss Linda''s alluring charm was no joke and any man who couldy his eyes upon her would feel his heat tug.
And even the aged man here was no different.
So seeing the frail, delicate look of this angelically beautiful girl so powerlessly kneeling before him, he too longed to hug and support this frail and weak angel whose wings had been clipped.
The sight even made both his inside ache and a certain part feel warm.
Yes, the old pervert, for a brief moment lusted after his own distant granddaughter, showing Lord Nn might be old but he was not cold.
He even cursed his age, instead wishing he had a bit more vigor left in him.
But it seemed after the stroke, although he had managed to eventually recover, thus managing to avoid turning into the worst case scenario- bing a vegetable as Alexander had feared, his body was still found to becking.
It felt like suddenly half of his strength had been robbed, forcing him to spend a lot of his time now genuinely in bed.
And it was due to abination of these circumstances that whenMiss Linda used to describe their predicament, Lord Nn found himself unable to think clearly and instantly decline.
Instead, he put his thinking cap on and wondered how of all the people Miss Linda could bring up on their list of potential helpers, his son got the top spot.
How could that be?
Thus with a bit of confusion in his voice, Lord Nn reiterated with widened, sunken eyes, "My son? How? Cassius he¡"
The old man trailed off, feeling that going into the problems of choosing this particr son for the task was moot.
Any child could figure it out.
But Miss Linda insisted on her idea, heavily nodding and pointing out,
"Yes, I am talking about Lord Cassius, my brother inw. Hasn''t Uncle always been saying how obedient he is? How filial he is. Well when the Heeat family shuts our water supply, what will happen to his father? His aged father? Can he stand by and do nothing?"
urately pin pointing the man''s weakness, Miss Linda then once again grasped Lord Nn''s withered hands, before lifting herrge, dark eyes oh so mncholily to bleed out the words,
"Just talk to him about this, Uncle! I''m sure he will listen to you. Lord Cassius is a good man. Surely he will not stand by and do nothing as his family faces such peril."
"With his help and the spies we have in the house, we both can escape. Achis showed me the way when he came that day! We just need a mall¡ push. A helper to distract the guards. You want to live too, don''t you?"
Thatst sentence was perhaps the most potent of all the sentences Miss Linda had spoken up until now.
That''s right- Lord Nn wanted to live.
He desperately wanted to live.
Despite being so old, he wanted to live ever and ever longer.
In fact, while the old man already used to love life before, after recovering from his heart attack, this obsession seemed to reach even higher heights.
He did not want to die no matter what. Thus being reminded of his own potential demise, the old man almost instantly buckled.
"Okay. Let me see what I can do." He clenched his teeth and thus the fateful promise was made "Great!" And it of course received a very enthusiastic response from the youngdy, who immediately jumped up to p with both her hands, before grinning and going on to discuss the n in further detail, "So I was thinking something like this¡."
The old and young duo then spent the rest of the afternoon plotting how best to bend their man.
".... so my son this is the deal. We require your help."
The very next day, Lord Cassius found himself inside his father''s chambers, listening to what sounded like a horror story.
Lord Nn very frankly revealed everything, in great detail, with Miss Linda being there to provide proof.
And as the recount ended with his father openly asking him to betray his wife, therge man suddenly found himself shell shocked.
When his father''s caretaker hade to inform him that his old man was suddenly feeling very ill, the portly hade zooming past thinking the worst.
But he could see that all of was a massive lie.
And while he had breathed a great sigh of relief back then, feeling very pleased to see his father healthy, now, a small part of him actually wanted that toe true.
At least it would be easier to deal with than this, he felt.
"Wha¡ what are you saying, father?" The man could only clench out this, his eyes visibly angry.
Even the usually very temperate man found himself incensed at the favor he was being instructed to do.
How could he possibly betray his spouse like this, he asked his father to justify.
But to Lord Nn, this was not even a contentious point. For it seemed that when his own life was on the line, no low was too low for the old crone.
Thus initially putting on a grave face he venomously cussed his son for trying to defend his wife, swinging his hands to dere,
"Miranda is a fool and a traitor to our family. This is the only reason she could have for inviting a scoundrel like Alexander here. We were so close to allying ourselves with the Heeat family.And now all of that is ruined. All ruined because of her. And her greed!"
Lord Nn wasted no words in his vocabry to paint Miss Linda in the most negative light possible, his own daughter inw, as he went on to produce a disgusted face.
Before quickly turning his poison towards Alexander, lifting his fingers directly towards Lord Cassius''srge nose, and barking,
"And look at what that barbarian she let in has done to us. Captured us! Locked us in our own rooms. Threatens to starve us. Kill us of thirst. When we invited him in with open arms! Been the good host. How dare he!"
The senile old man seemed to have quite the knack for making history up, as if you recall none of the elders deigned to even meet Alexander when he came to Caira.
So who were these ''good hosts'' that Lord Nn was referring here?
But of course, there was no one here to correct the old fool, certainly not the soft, weak minded, and ever malleable Lord Cassius, who just listened to the tirade with a sunken and dried face.
He was never the eloquent man, nor one to think on the spot and defend himself.
And thus encouraged by this passivity, Lord Nn let himself continue, now narrowing his eyes towards his eldest son, and calling him out by name,
"Cassius, it is disgraceful for you to even share the same bed with Miranda. Leave her aside. Your wife has been hoodwinked by that foreign devil. You must wake her up. And the only way to do it is to help us escape."
"This the time for you to step up, son. Now, when your family needs you the most. Now, when your kin needs you the most. Now, when father needs you the most."
And it was this part that most mattered to the old lord, who then ended with the promise,
"Do this, and all this death¡ this pain¡ this suffering¡ all this will end. Peace will return to our home. And we promise we will convince Lord Parker to show leniency to both Miranda and Alexander will be treated leniently. Trust your father."
Lord Cassisus was unable to stop the nod.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1100 Lord Cassiuss Dilemma (Part-2)
Chapter 1100 Lord Cassius''s Dilemma (Part-2)
??Lord Cassius was never a strong willed man and had always found it very hard to say no to anyone, especially when they asked him for a favor.
This was the case even in his childhood, where he would be susceptible to being swayed by whatever his brothers and sisters asked of him.
It had even gotten to the point that sometimes they would intentionally pit him, knowing he could not refuse them.
Many of which inevitably get the big man in hot water, with the mess sometimes being big enough to force even their father to bring out the cane and turn the boy''s white skin bloody.
But even after multiple such happenings, as long as his siblings sincerely apologized for their wrongs, Lord Cassius could not refuse them the next time.
And time and time after this continued.
But even when many of the situations repeated themselves, Lord Cassius never learned.
He only saw all these mistakes as his siblings being ignorant and oblivious. Like children.
And saw his favors to them not as chores, but as the duty of a big brother- as teaching his siblings the correct way to do things, even if they kept making the same mistake over and over again and refused to learn.
Just like Miss Linda had said- Lord Cassius was indeed a good man.
Naive, gullible, and maybe foolish even, but nevertheless a very good man.
Nobles like him were rarer than a golden deer.
And although all these might sound like criticism, which they indeed were, it was also these traits that had made the old Lord Margraves set his eyes upon the man as a potential grandson inw, as a good suitor for his granddaughter.
He intentionally wanted a weak man for her, so that his granddaughter, who was from the main family and effectively ruled the family, could retain full control of the family without any interference.
However, that sound idea from back then was now running up against a formidable barrier due to shifting circumstances.
The very malleable spine that had gotten Lord Cassius this ''post'' was now being used against him to extract a concession that sounded like the devil''s deal, as like father whispered and ordered very concerningmands.
Commands that wanted him to effectively betray his family.
And while a man with a true spine would have been able to outright decline if not at least stall for time against the withered, half bedridden man, Lord Cassius found himself shaking.
He was never the most eloquent in speech, and so when ced in front of his father like this, he just could note out to decisively say no, feeling too scared to say it right to his face.
This was simply Lord Cassius''s nature, being incapable of denying the man who raised and reared him.
He could not of course say yes either, as the very thought of doing something like that behind his wife''s back made him sweat,
Thus as Lord Nn made his requests, Lord Cassius only stood there stock still, his back wet from sweat even in this cold, chilly weather, his lips quivering nervously, his heart thumping in fear and his eyes twitching in trepidation.
He wanted all this to just stop.
But his father was of course not going to put on the brakes any time soon.
Not when he was so close and there was so much at stake- his very own life!
Thus taking advantage of this passive stance, Lord Nn kept on piling on the pressure more and more on his son, saying things like, "Are you really going to abandon your father? For what? A traitor to our family?"
"And yes! Miranda is a traitor to us! What? You disagree? Just look at what she has done to our family! Look at what the mess we are in. No food, no water, and kept in gilded cages they call rooms! All because of her!"
"Why are you trying to protect her? Why are you trying to protect them? Fool! Open your eyes and listen to your father. When have I ever wronged you? Protect your family! That is the most important thing. "
"Do you want your father to die? Of thirst? Can your heart take that, my son? Can you really be so cruel?"
This torrent of emotional ckmail struck the soft hearted man like a hurricane of steel daggers, cutting,cerating, and mincing his soft flesh, ultimately making him unable to respond to such a vile attack.
Lord Cassius would finally leave the room with a small nod, showing his tacit agreement, but iming he needed a bit more time to think.
Which admittedly frustrated Lord Nn a bit, as the old man wanted his son to agree then and there- he could not wait to flee this coup and was ready at the drop of a hat.
Thus he did not think Cassius would reject him even after all that pleading.
Pleadings that if were to be recorded and read out aloud, would have shocked the people.
To think a father could go so low and base just to save his own skin, even if it meant betraying his daughter inw. It was revolting.
So it was fortunate that whatever the aged lord spoke, stayed within the four walls.
While Miss Linda, who was mostly a silent observer in this exchange, smirked at the result, feeling very pleased with it in much contrast to her elder counterpart.
She knew they were on the right track.
Sess might not have been achieved right here, but they were well and truly on their way,
All they would need to do now is keep pushing Lord Cassius and not let up on the attack, and the man would surely break soon.
Thus the cunningdy would leave the room that night with a pleased heart, urging the elder Lord Nn to continue to ''advise'' his son, and not give him any chance to back down.
And this was exactly what would happen over the next several days, as such ministrations were applied continuously every night, with the father wishing to ''talk'' for hours with his son, and just as Miss Linda had predicted, with this, the man was slowly but surely worn out.
As Lord Cassius was put under such severe mental fatigue, perhaps the greater tragedy in this whole affair urred.
That was the fact that the man found himself utterly alone in this vast empty ocean, receiving no helper in his most vulnerable time of need.
Especially from his wife and partner Lady Miranda, who during this entire time never asked her man even once what was going on.
And it was also not like there were no signs.
During those days, Lord Cassius would regrly ruminate on the matter his father wanted to do.
And he would do so by sitting by the balcony or window and staring into the distant, blue sea and overcast sky that overlooked his room for hours on end, sometimes to the point the topyer of the drink on his hand would start to freeze over.
From there, Lady Miranda would of course see her partner in deep contemtion, his eyes unfocused and deeply troubled, but she only chalked it up to him feeling worried about his father''s deteriorating health.
That was probably all the night visits were about, she brushed it aside reasoning so.
This happened because as already stated earlier, Lady Miranda was never a people person, and perhaps more importantly, she did not care much about her spouse.
The couple was never really close to begin with.
They had not married out of love but as distant cousins out of a political necessity.
So the two had little affection for the other and did only the bare minimum when it came to keeping tabs on the other''s well being.
The two''s motto was that since they were forced to be partners, they would tolerate each other and not get in the other''s way, but little more.
In fact, that was a big reason why despite being married for more than three years, they had yet to have a child.
Which was very abnormal for a marriage of this time.
And much more so for nobles, as they tended to get a child as soon as possible because that was the strongest proof of their union.
Anyway, for Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius, all these extraneous apathetic circumstances added up to make Lady Miranda quite a negligent wife and thus miss out on this crucial clue.
While without her stepping forward, the habitually indecisive Lord Cassius was also left all alone.
He was never going to bring up the topic on his own, fearing betraying his father''s confidence, as well as what his wife''s reaction was going to be.
This left a wide, gaping hole in his defenses, and as the man continued to struggle with his inner demons, it was Miss Linda of all people who chose to thoroughly exploit such a vulnerability.
It happened e afternoon, when the devilishly charmingdy invited Lord Cassius for a small snack party, officially to discuss a way to defuse the situation between her and her eldest sister and reach more amicable terms.
While really it was just an excuse to honeypot the man. One that thedy managed to aplish quite easily.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1101 The Fall
Chapter 1101 The Fall
??Miss Linda''s sess at her endeavor with Lord Cassius was hardly surprising given her track record.
She usually got what she wanted and her failure with Alexander was hardly an example, but instead a grave exception.
After all, few men were as cautious, if not downright paranoid as that pasha.
Not to mention, few had as diverse and high quality alternatives as him.
Alexander was able to reject the stunningly beautiful woman, and then immediately go to vent his desires on Lady Nanazin, whose looks were not that far off and whose status was Queen of Adhania was much much higher than Miss Linda, thus sating the heated fire in the man''s heart.
But how many others had a beauty like her or someone simr waiting for them at home, ready to please their man in any way they wished?
Neither could they resist her by taking sanctuary inside thefortable memory of sleeping with women who wereparable to her like Alexander could, such as Ophenia, the Queen mother, and even Mikaya.
Those three certainly had the assets to contend with Miss Linda, perhaps not toe to toe, but each had their own charms not in any way inferior to Miss Linda in their own way.
Ophenia had her perfect figure and skills in bed.
Queen Mother Selima had her regal, invible aura and an immensely pleasurable organ.
While Mikaya had a general aura of seduction and sexiness that was hard to beat.
And best of all, Alexander had the great fortune of enjoying them all to his heart''s content.
However, for the other poor men, they did not have that luxury.
For them, Miss Linda might well be the very best pussy they were going to get in their life.
And when that pussy was so eager to have their cock in them, it was a hard deal to pass up.
Thus almost all the men were very weak to Miss Linda''s seduction, and Lord Cassius was no exception.
Leading to the ultimate fact that when thedy offered to fill Lord Cassius''s wife role, the stressed out man could not resist.
The worn out lord greatly desiredfort and sce, but tragically for him, his wife did not seem one bit interested in giving this to him.
This was because Lady Miranda had never been that type, and often failed to fulfill her marital obligations to her husband.
She derived no enjoyment out of the act and thus thought of it merely as a necessity for reproduction, nothing more.
The couple thus rarely got intimate, with once a month being ''frequent'' for them.
Andtely, due to the evolving circumstances,Lady Miranda found herself too busy with work and worry for even that, causing the abstention to reach even greater heights.
Due to all of this, when Lord Cassius''s much more beautiful and seductive sister inw made him the offer, the weak lord found himself unable to resist.
Being all alone in that room and gazing at the seductivedy, Lord Cassius could not help but recall the very time they had met and the particr incident preceding that.
Miss Linda had knelt down in front of him and so deliciously sucked him off, on their first meeting.
It was truly a grand memory to remember.
Especially when that was his first andst time getting a blowjob, as naturally, his wife Lady Miranda had never given him such service.
Once the fainthearted Lord Cassius had indeed plucked up all the courage in his body to mewl out with a great deal stuttering, "Mi¡ Miranda, would.. could you¡ donw there¡ umm¡ I heard from my friends¡. Could you suck me there?"
It need not be said that it had taken Lord Cassius all the strength in his body to let out thosest few words.
And it also need not be said just how bad of an idea that was.
"By the Great Goddess Analise! No!" Lady Miranda had instantly screamed with a pitched shrill that rung beside Lord Cassius''s ears to this day hearing this, as she jumped up from the bed and produced a great distance for her man as if he had just conducted the gue.
Then ballooning her pupils into the outmost re, she let off a profuse torrent of curses,
"I''m not somemon whore, Cassius. And you''re not some depraved heathen who cannot tell apart a noble from amoner. Analise has granted men and women the bounty of love, and she has decreed that it is to be done in the right and proper way."
"Is this what your friends have been telling youtely? Telling you to do such disgusting acts? You fowl man! If you wish to smear your penis in such an unclean way, then there are many sluts at the forums or the amphitheaters who will be more than pleased to help. Go there! And get out!"
Contorting her face with outmost rage and revulsion, Lady Miranda imperiously pointed her index finger towards the door,manding her man to disappear.
It was needless to say the couple did not get to finish their session that day.
And neither did they join in their next union for the next six months, during the entirety of which, Lord Cassius apologized to Lady Miranda profusely many times for this ''offense.''
If any other man would have seen this and how weak and ingratiating Lord Cassius was acting, they would have certainly scoffed with utmost disdain.
This was not how a man acted with his wife, not in this time period, and certainly not over such a tiny thing.
Sure, in Sybarian culture it was generally seen as very demeaning for a nobledy to be serving her husband like this.
The couple usually restricted themselves to only prating.
And it was expected that only base and lowlymoner women engaged in other filthy acts.
Thus in that sense, Lord Cassius was in the wrong.
But Lady Miranda honestly was also making a mound out of a molehill, humiliating her husband like that.
And due to being denied this pleasure, there would be days that Lord Cassius would pump one out by himself, recalling his joyous time with his sister inw.
While at the same time, a small part of him would regrly regret not having slept with her when he had the chance, and not having her as his wife.
Surely she would be a better and more dutiful wife than Lady Miranda, he thought.
Thus as Miss Linda started by slowly caressing the plump man''s hands, he did not pull away, but instead let it stay there as he then heard thedy silkily sing,
"Brother Cassius, you know¡. I have always been attracted to you. Remember when we first met? I had truly fallen in love with you back then."
Lord Cassius naturally did not need to remember when they had first met, as he had reyed that memory many, many times in his head.
So he only woodily nodded, as his heart set aflutter hearing the confession.
And although a small part of him nagged at him for pursuing such a immoral desire towards a married woman, much less his sister inw at that, a much, much bigger part of him leaped in joy.
This was indeed what he had desired, immorality be damned.
So his heart thumped more and more as Miss Linda went on to furtheryer on the honey, fluttering her long eyshes charmingly to sincerely sing,
"Brother Cassius, I have always loved how gentle and caring you are. Like how you respect Uncle Nn. And like when others trick you, you only treat them with kindness and a gentle smile. I always loved that about you. So kind. So gentle. So understanding. Nothing like my husband. I hate him!"
The moment Miss Linda said, she suddenly changed her soft and dreamy look into a dark, contorted sh of revulsion, much pleasing the man opposite to her.
And Lord Cassius became even more delighted, as Miss Linda went on to bad mouth her husband, adding perhaps a grain of truth to a mountain lies.
ording to her, Lord Parker would beat her, curse her, neglect her, and humiliate her in front of his men, just to name only a few.
As Miss Linda then ended tearfully with the most damning evidence of all, "Look! Look how is he willing to sacrifice me and even my son, his own son! Just to take over our family! Starve us to death! I cannot stay with him any longer! I want to stay with you brother Cassius!"
Lord Cassius''s heart skipped another huge beat as he felt the lithe figure of the woman jump to embrace him, squeezing her soft body against his fatty flesh.
Blood started to pump around his body at a breakneck pace, his entire body felt hot and flushed, and his heart like it was going to burst out.
This was his dream, right? To have this great beauty in his arms.
"Will you protect me?" Thus when Miss Lindalifted her head to mewl his single sentence out, her clear gem like eyes shimmering and glittering with both hope and hopelessness, Lord Cassius could not stop himself.
He fell.
"Do not worry. I promise I will find a way to let you escape."
Chapter 1102 The Fall (Part-2)
Chapter 1102 The Fall (Part-2)
??"Do not worry. I promise I will find a way to let you escape. I will never let anyone harm you."
As Lord Cassius made this damning statement, promising to betray his own wife for her younger sister, surprisingly, he found that it did not hurt him as much as he thought it would.
It was only after saying this that Lord Cassius was starting to find just how little she might have actually mattered to him.
As it was said, their marriage was a political one born out of convenience.
Thus betraying her came more naturally to Lord Cassius than he would have thought, made of course a bit smoother by the fact he had his ''crush''ying on his arms, snuggling and purring.
And hearing this, this ''crush'' naturally produced a cute face and great grin, posing like a cat who had just gotten the milk.
Finally, thest piece of her puzzle was there, obediently falling into its ce.
She would be out and about this ce soon.
The thought of it made Miss Linda very excited, thus quickly nodding her head, she cheered the manwith various expletives and adjectives, iming to be the best man in the world and how much she loved him,and then finished by even promising with gritted teeth,
"Thank you, brother inw. Once this is all over¡. I ¡ I promise I will marry you! I have not thought of a way yet but I promise I will find a way."
As Miss Linda quickly pronounced thesest few words, they proved to be a lethal dose of poison for Lord Cassius''s heart, who felt drunk with pleasure and jubtion.
Despite the absurdity of it all, Lord Cassius of course chose to believe it.
He did not dare question how this could possibly happen, because the scion of a duke was not somebody Lord Cassius would ever hope to contend against.
Whenpared to a mere eldest son of a branch family of a failing Earldom, Lord Parker was like the sun high up in the sky, imperiously looking down on the puddle of mud titled Cassius.
Their difference was such that it was almost as if they were different beings.
But nevertheless, even though Lord Cassius was very scared to ''fight'' this man when thedy in his arms made the honeyed viperous whispers, he chose to believe it.
He believed that she was being abused.
He believed she hated her husband.
He believed that she truly wanted to be with him.
And he believed that she loved his kindness and generosity.
Thisst one particrly made Lord Cassius pleased, as it made him seek validation from her.
Here atst was someone who liked him for who he was, unlike his tart tongued wife, who was always scolding and admonishing him for his ''stupidity'' as she liked to put it.
"I promise I will never forget about you." Thus hugging thedy ever tighter in his embrace, Lord Cassius made this foolish promise with gritted teeth, clenching his pearly white with a determined look in his eyes.
While Miss Linda only pushed her head deep against his chest, producing a cunning, almost evil smirk unbeknownst to him.
She knew had like hooked.
If Lord Cassius was a fish, then it would be like the metal hook had gone through his mouth and came out of his lips, forever impaling him.
He could never hope ever free himself of this she-devil.
Thus Miss Linda decided to finally bring in the catch, and seal this deal for good.
Slowly lifting her head, Miss Linda eagerly met Lord Cassius''s flushed face with great curiosity, as her angelic face suddenly turned very seducing.
No words needed to be spoken here, as she only produced a very sensual grin, curving her thin, pink lips upward and making her eyes glow with a heavy amorous shine.
Lord Cassius''s body felt flushed at this, as he instantly understood where this was going.
They were going to ''celebrate'' their newly found love.
This would be their way of exchanging ''vows''.
And he of course loved it.
Thus he very much approved the feeling of the lithe body deftly slithering downward, going from hugging hisrge chest to kneeling between hisps.
And there, she instantly found her target. It was not hard given how ''hard and ready'' it already was.
Made even easier by the fact that Lord Cassius had instantly spread his legs in anticipation of the moment, easing the search further
Kneeling down, Miss Linda felt a bit amused in her heart at the reaction, as well as proud and reassured.
It proved that she had still got it and the failure with Alexander was just a fluke.
Thus taking the position on her knees, Miss Linda then started to slowly stroke the hardened organ over the pants, quickly getting moans of approval from above.
Oh, how many tens, if not hundreds of times had Lord Cassius imagined this scene in his head.
And now it was finally happening.
He thus desperately wished for Miss Linda to ''recount'' the events of their first meeting, feeling impatient to enjoy the bounties of the warm canal.
And in support of this desire, his spear raged to be liberated from its confines, as the already tight pants were by now feeling downright painful, even suffocating.
This freedom was soon granted to him, as deep down Miss Linda wanted all this to be done and over with as soon as possible.
Thus his pants were quickly lost, and the white and pink flesh tower soon stood big and proud.
It was not bad in terms of size, perhaps not the biggest one Miss Linda had seen, but certainly not shabby either.
Thus grabbing the stick in her dainty hands, Miss Linda fluttered her ck gem like eyes upwards to give Lord Cassius the most sensual look he had possbily seen in his life, as she then oh so sexily bit her lips in the most needy manner possible.
*Splurt*, *Splurt*, *Splurt*,
And that one look was enough to get the man to ''confess all his crimes'', as he let out copious ropes of thick, jelly like release, shooting them high into the air and staining Miss Linda''s fair hands as well as his groin with thick dollops of the stuff. After which the room then began to emit a very conspicuous smell.
Miss Linda internally sniggered at this pathetic disy. It was not like she had never seen premature ejactors, but that did not make her act any less ''hrious.''
While sensing this disdain, the man turned beet red. Lord Cassius did not know how, but he could feel just how the woman was sniggering at him,
He was so looking forward to the act of Miss Linda taking it inside her mouth that it seemed that simple imagination was enough of a stimtion.
"Heh heh, it seems that my dear was too pent up. My sister must have not been doing her job properly, hehe!"
Fortunately for him, Miss Linda was there to provide a convenient excuse, turning her disdain instead towards her sister, a mutual enemy hated by both of them now.
And she even changed her address from ''Brother Cassius'' to ''my dear'', as a clear testament to the change in his status in her heart.
As stated earlier, the woman really knew how to seduce men and put them under her control.
And once again stated now, as following the release, Miss Linda very sexily licked her finger clean, making a face that perfectly encapsted just how much she relished the taste of the white, slimy goo.
All the while making sure to keep perfect eye contact with ''her man'', thus letting him fully see how much she enjoyed serving him.
The sight was enough to instantly make Lord Cassius hard once again, who was indeed pent us. And he then soon became rock solid when Miss Linda decided to fulfill his ultimate fantasy and take him inside her mouth, cleaning him off by loudly and sciously stroking it with her tongue and cheeks.
Lord Cassius would of course very quickly go soft after that, gifting Miss Linda with his seed for all the hard work.
Although he would have loved to enjoy the warm, wet canal for longer, Lord Cassius was still satisfied.
His dream of so many years had finallye true
And as a bonus, he even got to see his partner gulp the entire load down.
This was not even done by themoners or even the whores, who mostly spat it out.
But here was a nobledy who loved him so much that she was willing to suffer even this indignity.
Take it inside her just to please him.
How could Lord Cassius have asked for a better lover?
At this Lord Cassius both felt ted, as well as sad, ''Why couldn''t Miranda be this perfect?''
It was apparent that if Lady Miranda had been perhaps slightly more caring toward her husband, all this tragedy could have been avoided.
But she wasn''t.
And thus it was seeing Miss Linda take the turbid liquid inside her, the exact moment when Lord Cassius decided to fully betray his wife and turn into the other''s thrall.
What a tragedy!
Chapter 1103 The Fall (Part-3)
Chapter 1103 The Fall (Part-3)
??The pair celebrated Lord Cassius fully turning himself to the other side with almost an entire hour of debaucherous enjoyment, as Miss Linda congratted the man by showing him a side of her that he could not have even imagined existed.
And by the end, Lord Cassius suddenly felt like a whole new world had been opened up for him.
For the inexperienced lord, up until today, sex was just about going through all the motions.
So it was aboutying there with his partner, kissing and touching a bit here and there to get in the mood, followed by an insertion, then a bit of moving, and soon afterward it was done.
Simple, efficient, and honestly boring.
But with Miss Linda, it was very different.
With her, there were so many firsts for Lord Cassius.
She was the first to show him that it was possible to have sex while standing, as thedy bent over her desk and pointed her bare butt towards him, and then let out loud, scious moans as her tight canal was carved open and her dense butt smacked against the man''srge thighs.
She was also the first to show him that it was possible to have sex while sitting, as she danced on hisp, twisting her hips like a dance and spooning and kissing him like she wanted to suck the man''s soul out.
Andstly, she was the first to show him that sex while lying down did not need to be only missionary, as she rode him like a lewd cowgirl- hard and fast, letting her modest breast dance in the air and let out small squirts of hot milk.
Thisst sight had also proven an unexpectedly huge attraction for Miss Linda, as just like the prior example, Lady Miranda never let Lord Cassius drink from herctating breasts.
Most of the times, she did not even let him touch them, saying they were only to feed her son.
And hearing this, Miss Linda of course took full advantage of it.
"Ahh, poor hubby. I''m so sorry. Miranda is such a bitch. She always has been." Pouting her rosy cheeks in the most adorable way possible, Miss Linda addressed Lord Cassius in a way that tugged at his soul like no one ever had.
And then offered him her prize, "Here! You can have mine! Drink as much as you want."
Lord Cassius of course could not resist the temptation for even a second, and snatched at the modest breast like a parched traveler in a desert,tching onto the pink nips and sucking and drinking the warm, sweet milk like it was the nectar from the gods.
"Heh heh, it is like I have two boys right now." While Miss Linda feeling the liquid leak out, only gently caressed the man''s head with a motherly chuckle, as her eyes, hidden from the man''s gaze, gleamed with utmost disdain and cruelty.
''Enjoy it as much as you can, waste. Today is thest day you will ever get to enjoy it. Thest day you will enjoy this.'' Miss Linda ominously promised herself.
And what she meant by this was not only would Lord Cassius never get to have sex with her after today, but he would never get to have sex ever.
Yes, thedy very much intended to kill him the moment she got the next chance.
After all, it would not be nice if all the things she said about her husband were to get out.
They might have been lies and simply said to get her out of a very bad situation, but Miss Linda still wanted to be sure.
Who knew if Lord Parker would get angry after hearing all the stuff about him or the fact that his wife had just promised her hand to another man?
All these would be a stain on Miss Linda''s record and there was no need for her to take that chance.
After she escaped, Lord Cassius would have run out of his usefulness and the son of an Earl''s branch family had little to offer outside this.
So in Miss Linda''s eyes, his subsequent worthiness would be best utilized as being fertilizer for the city''s nts.
But such backstabs were still far off in the making.
For now though, Miss Linda made sure to be on her best behavior, pleasing the man to his heart''s content and making him fully drained.
Until hey there, sprawled with his upturnedrge pot belly, blissfully content.
While Miss Linday behind him, her head resting on the fleshly shoulders, her perfect hands roaming and gently kissing around his broad chest andrge belly, as she muttered sweet nothings of loyalty and devotion to only him.
She promised she would find a way to divorce Lord Parker, a way to make her sister divorce Lord Cassius, that she would make the son they have with each other and not Quentin be the next head of the family, and many, many more.
And in return, Lord Cassius too promised to protect and cherish her, that he would not let outsiders like Alxx pressure her in any way, as well asstly swearing to bring up Quentin as his own son.
Thatst one had gotten a particrly goodugh out of Miss Linda internally, as she could not believe she wasying with a fool as big as this one.
Quentin was Lord Parker''s son and the direct grandson of the current duke. Could you imagine just how big a trouble it would be to keep him but not his father?
There would be war! A full fledge war involving the Ducal family''s dignity.
The Margraves were certainly not ready to go to war with such a powerhouse. Certainly not now.
And if Lord Cassius had even a tiny bit of brain inside him, he would have realized this. As well as just how empty and ephemeral his dreams were.
But the man was a dreamer.
And the love struck fool was willing to drown himself even if it only meant he could dream a bit longer.
Thus the man believed the promiscuousdy''s every honeyed word.
And then when she poured poisonous thoughts of how they were going to escape, Lord Cassius felt like a martyr.
The man could only eagerly say yes.
And it was like this, using abination of Lord Nn''s strictmands as his father and Miss Linda''s soft persuasion as his new lover, or more aptly using the perfect carrot and stick approach that Lord Cassius finally decided to betray Lady Miranda and Alxx!
Unbeknownst to either of them.
Alxx did not suspect this because he was not even close enough to the man to think of such a thing.
Due to an oversight on his part, he paid no heed to the panic that gripped the family regarding the imminent loss of their water supply and instead thought everything was going all well.
Also, Lord Cassius or Lady Miranda betraying him made no logical sense.
Switching their allegiance to Lord Parker would not get them apuse and a gand around their necks, but only a noose.
A mountain could not have two tigers after all.
So Miss Linda would certainly have at least these two chief troublemakers killed, even if she spared all the others.
This was basic politics.
Thus Alxx saw the two as his staunchest allies, people who would be with him till the end.
This was basic politics.
Thus Alxx saw the two as his staunchest allies, people who While Lady Miranda did not foresee her husband''s betrayal because to her this was not even an option.
In her mind, Lord Cassius was simply not that type of man. He was weak, simple minded, and most of all obedient.
That was how she was able to tread over him like he was a doormat.
And it was also because of this that she suspected nothing even when for the next few days he started to frequently visit her sister''s room.
To her, the thought that a brother and sister inw could do such a filthy act was simply unimaginable.
It would be like if Miss Linda asked to borrow one of her horses and Lady Miranda felt suspicious that she might bemitting bestiality with it.
Preposterous.
To Lady Miranda, perhaps even that filthy act could note close to what Miss Linda and Lord Cassius were doing.
Because in Sybarsis, such rtionships between the inws was unthinkable.
It even showed in the word they used to describe it, as it literally tranted to- the act of eating the dead flesh of one''s mother.
It was that reviled.
But Lord Cassius did it anyway.
Such was Miss Linda''s charm.
And such was Lord Cassius''s loss of self control,mitting an act that he did not think would do in a million years.
But the man did, and then over the next few days, the exact ns on how Miss Linda and herrge entourage would escape were finalized.
There were a total of five people.
Thedy herself, her son, Lady Adele, the old Lord Nn, andstly Lord Cassius.
Yes, the man too had chosen to flee fearing his wife''s wrath.
However suddenly, thisrge number proved quite a burden to pull off.
How were so many high value targets going to disappear simultaneously?
Chapter 1104 The Escape
Chapter 1104 The Escape
??As Miss Linda and her conspirators nned their escape, everything seemed to be going well.
Thedy had already identified a small part of the mansion that was generally overlooked, as it ran through an abandoned part of the house that had by now had mostly fallen into ruin.
This happened due to the disaster of five years ago, and as it was rarely used even back then, the entire block was simply deemed too damaged and not fixed.
But the structure around there was still mostly solid, and Miss Linda vividly remembered that it led straight towards one of the house''s exits situated at the eastern side.
So if Miss Linda could just get to that corridor, it would be a simple case of posing as a servant and slipping out into the wide streets. Then she would be wide and free, able to easily slip through the many cracks in the guard''s checkpoints and rejoin her husband.
The only real obstacle to this n was the guards posted at her door.
But that single barrier was also quite big for her to be able to ovee on her own, since these men stuck to her glue wherever they went, never daring to let her out of their sight even once.
Miss Linda had initially thought of trying to honeytrap them, but she had made a mistake with that.
During her attempted seduction of the pasha, in her hubris, she had let slip what she had done with them, as a way to make Alexander take the bait.
She had tried to reason to Alexander- since I have been already defiled, what does it matter if I am taken again? The deed has been already done.
In that way, Miss Linda had tried to make Alexander taste her, confident in her ability to show him such a good time with her lower half that he would forget all about Lady Miranda and join her side.
After all, Lord Cassius did, so why would any other be different?
That brilliant n however had of course backfired, and to make matters worse, it had also alerted the other side to thispromise in security.
And while Miss Linda was initially ecstatic to see the same guards posted by her door, she soon found out the men had changed.
No longer did her willy seduction work, as the two resisted all her charms with stalwart determination.
These men were not fools, and being veterans who had lived through many battles, hade to cherish their lives very much.
So once was already enough.
If they broke the rules again, they very well knew that Alexander was truly going to snap their necks.
There would not be a third chance.
Thus, when Miss Linda had tried to overreach and act out in one of her attempts, one of them fiercely threatened to leave her tied to her bedpost for the entire night.
Miss Linda gave up on her efforts after that day, knowing it was futile.
Instead, she was forced to look outwards, for external helpers.
But the problem there was that there was none. None suitable at least.
Everyone was either too weak to be able tomand the guards to look away as she escaped or what was the more prevalent case- simply unwilling to.
Thus Miss Linda quickly identified there were only four people in the whole mansion who would be able to help her-
One was Alexander, but the ship with that man had already sailed long ago. Miss Linda would not waste her breath with him.
The second was Alexander''s guard''s captain, the one who oversaw the day to day activities of the guards'' routine. But the problem was Miss Linda did not know the man''s name, and she had never seen him alone even once. He was always with Alexander, like his shadow. So he was out.
The third was Lady Miranda- this did not even need to be considered. If she could be convinced, then why would Miss Linda need to run in the first ce? The conflict would be already over.
So that only left Lord Cassius, who was the most malleable of the four, the weak link.
But even this weak man initially proved a tough nut to crack for Miss Linda. He was a loyal man who would not betray his wife at the drop of a hat just because the other side opened her legs and asked nicely.
Miss Linda needed some kind of leverage, some kind of pressure point to grab and squeeze on.
But thedy was unable to find any for much of the time.
Until that is, a divine miracle happened, general Achis came to meet bearing a letter of great importance.
This was exactly thest piece of the jigsaw that Miss Linda needed.
She was able to rope in Lord Nn by using his fear of death, and easily convinced him to sacrifice his own son for his sake.
Then it was only a simple matter of cornering Lord Cassius with the two of them, and graced by a bit of luck, they were able to apply just the right amount of force along with a bit of grease to break the delusional man.
Lord Cassius was promised that his father''s life would be saved, as would the lives of all his family, the siege would be lifted and most of he would have his dream wife.
Miss Linda even threw in the promise that his current wife Lady Miranda and Alexander would be spared and even treated leniently.
"I would never dream of hurting of eldest sister. She is my sister!" The two faced woman had appeared visibly offended at Lord Cassius''s mere suggestion that she would even dare to think of such an act.
And with these honeyed reassurances, as well as seeing there was little hope for their side to win if Lord Parker really did turn off the water tap, Lord Cassius, without consulting a single word with his allies, capitted on his own.
Thus Miss Linda finally had her insider.
With this key obtained, they soon set about ironing out the details of the escape, but here, therge number of escapees proved a difficult burden to pull off.
Four adults and a child proved too hard to make disappear at once. Especially given their high status.
So they first thought of going in batches.
Miss Linda and LN would be the first to leave since they were the most eager to escape, followed by Lord Cassius and Lady Adele, who would also be carrying Quentin.
Yes, The mother was so eager to escape and so afraid that her son''s cry might give their position away that she was willing to leave his son''s life at the hands of his aunt.
The youngestdy of the Margraves family was that ruthless.
But the problem with that idea was any one of them escaping would surely alert Alexander and make any subsequent attempts for the remaining others many times harder.
So after a bit of haggling, it was decided that they would go out together, using two separate routes.
This was not the most optimum idea, as this secondary route was not as vulnerable as the other route, but this was thepromise the group reached.
And to correct for this unforeseen obstacle, the groups were also changed.
Now it was decided that Lord Cassius and his father would take the more dangerous route, where Lord Cassius would be hopefully able to deal with any nosy guards should be run into them, while Miss Linda, her son, and Lady Adele were given the safer route.
And with this decision, the fateful day finally came.
It was around mid afternoon on a very overcast winter day that Quilus and his mate found themselves guarding Miss Linda''s doors like any other day, being bored out of their mind.
There was nothing for them to do here except stand and doze off
And given the time- around mid afternoon, everyone was doing it, including Alexander, who always took a small nap at this time.
And this was the exact window Miss Linda had decided to target, as suddenly Lord Cassius burst out of the door from thedy''s room, shouting, "Quick, get the maids. Quentin has ruined the carpets."
The guards would regrly snigger regarding how frequently this lord had started to visit his sister inw recently, but all of those filthy thoughts were pushed out by this sudden order.
It did not take a genius to understand what the infant could have done to ruin the carpets and the two guardsmpooned at all the nasty work they would have to do.
But fortunately for them, not a moment after Lord Cassius made this announcement, a few servants and maid happened to be ''coincidentally'' passing by that very corridor and rushed in to help.
They rolled up the entire carpet with extreme crity and within only a few minutes, removed it from the room, carrying the heavy cloth on the shoulders of two very buff men towards who knows where.
And then because the room would look too gross with mismatched carpets, another pair removed the second carpet too and carried that outside as well.
And all the while this was going on, none of the guards bothered to question why the two carpets looked so unusually ''fat''.
Yes, Miss Linda and Lady Adele had decided to escape like this, by hitching a ride on these servants'', who were her spies, shoulders.
So simple yet so ingenious.
Chapter 1105 The Escape (Part-2)
Chapter 1105 The Escape (Part-2)
??All the guards in the mansion just watched with muted curiosity as a couple of men carrying two veryrge carpets on their shoulders made their way through the mansion''s corridors, led by therge and portly Lord Cassius, who himself seemed to be carrying a child in his arms.
They of course knew this man''s face and recognized his authority as one of their lord''s closest allies.
Thus when he imperiously waved his hand, and shouted, "Move, move, get out of the way. Let them through," the soldiers found themselves instinctually obeying.
They did not dare ask what was happening or where they were going, or perhaps most critically, whose baby that was.
They only silently and obediently let the extremely busy man pass.
While back in Miss Linda''s room, the two guards were alsopletely unaware that their bird had just flown the coop.
This was because there were a lot of servants moving to and fro in that room, making it difficult for them to keep track of who went out and who had gone in.
Plus, the overall mor and din produced by their shouts and conversation confused them.
So when arge number of servants came in and they suddenly exited the room with so many things at once, the two men missed even the obvious clues, being too stunned to respond properly.
And this was on top of the obvious fact- which was that they never even suspected that such an escape was possible.
After all, this was all ordered by Lord Cassius, who was one of the closest allies. There was no way he could be an aplice to the escape of their most valuable prisoner.
Thus the men mostly faced outward, only asionally craning their heads inward to see what was going on and check whether everything was alright.
And would then quickly turn back upon confirming the silhouette of a regally dressed woman holding a boy, reassured the main piece was still there.
However, this was of course just one of Miss Linda''s maids who had changed into her mistress''s clothes and swaddled an empty stuffed nket, cradling and gently swaying with it.
That''s why the men only saw her back, and when viewed from a distance, with so many men moving and going around, they were unable to tell her apart.
It was the perfect n, and very apparent that Miss Linda had made quite the borate preparations for her escape.
In which, with a little bit ofdy luck''s grace, Miss Linda seeded!
She and her sister were able to smoothly pass through the most restricted parts of the mansion without raising any rms and finally arrived at that abandoned corridor.
Once there, the men carrying them gently unfurled the carpet and rolled their mistresses on the floor, thus freeing them from their constraints.
"Ahhhh!" And as they revealed herself, Miss Linda revealed a great moan of sigh.
To her, it felt like she had just gotten out of a thick straight jacket, the heat in there feeling like she was inside an oven until now.
Miss Linda''s skin was thus flushed red white, sweat was dripping from all her pores, cascading across her body and wetting the cold stone underneath as her clothes were stered right onto her skinpletely soaked by her perspiration and turned transparent.
And the same was true for Lady Adele.
Thus as the two sisters kneeled on the floor to try and catch their breath, as well as just cool down, the current scenery unexpectedly proved quite pink for the surrounding men.
They could not help but appreciate Miss Linda''s nice, slender body that perfectly matched her immacte face, or the much curvier Lady Adele''s round and fleshy figure, one that threatened to spill out of the thin servant''s disguise they had chosen to garb themselves with in order to pass undetected.
Oh, how many had dreamed of seeing their mistresses like this, naked yet not naked, bared yet not bare, the curves showing but not revealing, the garden so delicately framed, with a tantalizing shade of ck and white, yet hidden.
If a painting of the current scenario could have been made, the Margraves might have been able to get out of the red with just the proceeds from this one sale.
Thus every man in there had to fight to stop themselves from sprouting a raging boner seeing this, even Lord Cassius being unable to be an exception.
And in some hidden parts of their mind, they all offered a prayer of thanks to the carpet for this, as the high quality fabric had worked to shackle every iota of the energy, thus producing this erotic scene.
While at the same time, thedies cursed it, as to them it almost felt like baking alive.
They even suspected that if it had been summer instead of winter, then they might have had to been naked or risk dying due to a heatstroke.
Thus both sisters thanked the gods it was winter and thus spared that ignominy.
The pair cooled themselves rather quickly, the chilly air of the surrounding unheated area working to rapidly snatch the heat away.
And soon it reached the point that they began to feel a bit chilly, thus as they got up, the pair were quickly offered a simple, rough overcoat to shield themselves, much to the lingering regret of all the men.
They would have loved to keep staring for a bit longer, but the opportunity was soon taken from them as thedies finally became decent, covering themselves with the same clothes the maids wore at the time.
Thus they looked no different from the hundreds of servants that ess these corridors without getting even a single nce from the patrolling guards.
"Well, we are off." Miss Linda did not waste even a single second dithering about after getting dressed, as time was of the essence and she thought the faster they moved the better.
Who knew if Alexander was already after them?
Thus snatching her son back from Lord Cassius, Miss Linda put on the coat''s hood over her head in order to better shield her ethereal beauty and then without any more word, took the lead through the abandoned corridor, with Lady Adele close in tow.
All while Lord Cassius watched the pair of backs disappear into the distance with a small lurch in his heart.
Something told him that they were never going to see each other again. He did not know why he thought so negatively about it, but he did.
''No! I cannot think like this. We are in love. The gods will not be so cruel. We will surely meet again.''
However the portly man quickly pushed down these distracting thoughts to the back of his mind, and then rapidly turned on his heels, reminding himself, ''I just have to get father!'' as he started to hurriedly sprint back.
Miss Linda and Lady Adele quickly crossed the dpidated ruins of what was once a part of their home, ignoring the crumbling stone and wood infrastructure, the small andrge potholes, the moss covered ceilings or the overgrown floors, as well as the gentle yet chilly winds leaking from the cracks andrge holes all around.
It was difficult to im this was once a ce people used to live in. And not just any old people at that but- nobility.
There was very little evidence left as all the valuables such as paintings, utensils, and furniture
had been collected and transferred, at least the ones that had not been washed away by the flood.
So only the leftover junk was left, broken and discarded pieces of wood, metal, ss, and ceramic, thus making the ce seem like a dump.
And it even smelt like one, as it stunk of overgrown damp moss and had a generally fishy, stuffy rancid odor.
It was not pleasant to take in.
Thus it was fortunate that the pair were able to make rapid progress through there, the ambient sunlight helping a lot in their effort.
One of the reasons why Miss Linda had made the unorthodox decision of escaping while the sun was up instead of the much more secure cover of darkness was due to this.
The others were the fact was it due to being hard to see, Miss Linda feared stumbling in the dark and tripping. And if she fell the ''correct'' way, she might break even break her leg, thus ending her adventure then and there.
A fear made all the more real by the fact that this part of the house had been left abandoned.
So she had no idea what sort of state of disrepair it was in.
Then there was the concern if Miss Linda were to use amp to illuminate the way, it might give her position away.
After all, in the pitch ck night, she would shine like a lighthouse, and who knew if any of the surrounding guards would spot this golden raying seemingly out of nowhere, and seeing it moving choose to investigate?
That would be trouble.
But undoubtedly the biggest reason for her choosing this time to escape was due to the night curfew.
Which was good news for her, but not so much for Lord Cassius.
Chapter 1106 The Escape (Part-3)
Chapter 1106 The Escape (Part-3)
??Miss Linda and Lady Adele zoomed through the moss covered dpidated path without any trouble, the sunlight lighting the way for them.
Using it, they were able to detect and avoid the various debris and potholes that littered their way, many of them so huge anyone would have been capable of breaking their legs if they were to fall in there ''correctly''.
The daylight also helped Miss Linda avoid any nasty critters such as snakes, centipedes, spiders, etc. that might be hiding in the undergrowth, making the journey that much safer.
But perhaps what made it the most safer was the fact that there was no night curfew.
If Miss Linda was to attempt the same thing at night, she would have at most been able to make it to the mansion''s exit, and that too using the entirety of Lord Cassius''s blessing.
After that, she would be promptly caught by the guards and charged as a servant being out in the open then promptly escorted back.
Thus morning was the only time she could escape.
And so she needed to make good time on it, which was why she rapidly moved her feet, so fast in fact that her other half struggled to keep up.
Both sisters chose to keep to themselves during the endeavor, one because they did not want to alert any undiscovered enemy with the sounds of their conservation, and also due to the fact that the pair surprisingly had little to actually talk about.
Lady Adele''s head was nk, simply walking because she wanted to.
This weak willeddy had by now been almost broken by her younger sister, bing numb to almost around her.
Lady Adele acted as if all the joys of her life had already been sucked out, and so did not really care what happened to her as long she got to live, eat, and cloth herself well.
Hence she simply went with what her younger sister dictated, letting herself go and be taken by the currents of fate.
Lady Adele would not regret wherever she ended up, neither wishing to see her husband but not hating the thought of the reunion either.
While her counterpart was the opposite.
Miss Linda was full of emotions, almost bursting with them, as her head was already busy scheming her next ten moves.
She was busy thinking about how she was going to kill Lord Cassius and if it was possible to do it even before he could enter the camp.
She ruminated on whether to bury the father with his son or keep him alive as a useful administrator.
She thought of how she was going to kill Lady Miranda, slowly and painfully, or show mercy by making it swift as a sh.
Andstly, she of course thought of Alexander.
The very first thing she felt when she thought about him was lust, and how she was going to thoroughly vite and humiliate him for rejecting her.
The dominatrixdy wanted to make him kneel, have him kiss her feet, suck her toes, and lick her dirty sole.
She wanted to step on him with her high heels, put his organ under the pointy stilts, and even threaten to crush his family jewels.
She wanted to tie him up and whip him, on his broad chest, his muscr butt, on his chiseled back, and of course on his swollen bit.
She sit on him and make him suffocate using her butt, even forcing him to lick all her holes, even the pink, wrinkled one until it was spik and span clean.
Andstly, she wanted to ride him- hard and fast, making him taste the otherwordly organ.
Miss Linda was very confident in her lower half, as attested to by so many of the other men. Thus she was very sure she could make the man feel things he had never felt before.
Of course, during all these pleasurable moments, Alexander would not be allowed to receive any pleasure, as Miss Linda would make sure to tie a tight knot around that part to prevent him from releasing.
It was the perfect revenge and torturebo in her opinion, as at some point, she even dreamed of letting her husband and the general join in on the fun, with Alexander, not Miss Linda being the main attraction there.
It was like this that the deviantdy felt herself getting wet just thinking about these various amorous details and how pleasurable it would feel.
She especially liked the thought of sitting on the man''s face and grinning while he humiliatingly kissed her ass and worshiped her butt.
Miss Linda never got to decide what she was going to do to him after that, as she was too pleased to remain in that memory bubble for the entire while, constantly repeating it, and tweaking the various details, such as in which order she was going to humiliate Alexander and for precisely how long.
It was amidst such thought that the pair of sisters finally found themselves out of the mansion.
And with them being out in the open as such, it was like the world was their oyster. They could go anywhere.
The difficult part of the journey was already over and now, all Miss Linda and Lady Adele needed to do was keep to the shadows, avoid the patrolling guards, and most of all, act natural, thus not raising any suspicion.
The official story was that they were a pair of maids working in the mansion who were returning to their quarters after their shifts had ended.
So it was imperative they walked with heads held high and a natural gait, one that radiated the saying, ''Yeah, I belong here''.
This did not prove too difficult, as Alexander''s men here were more concerned about people breaching their lines and getting in, rather than people trying to get out.
That was the job of the guards stationed inside the mansion.
Thus the moving men paid little attention to the pair, especially given they were simply one amidst many others, as numerous servants moved about the ce, doing various chores- moving stuff in, getting stuff out, and generally getting things done.
It was also fortunate that none of the servants recognized the well known duo, possibly due to being too busy themselves, or no nosy supervisor came to see what these two ''good for nothing'' maids were doing leaving so soon.
And so withdy luck on their side, and Quentin snuggly asleep due to having been fed a drop of sleeping juice, the sisters were able to slip past the checkpoints and finally make it out.
After which it was just a simple case of navigating the winding streets towards the ce that was making the most noise in the city.
Because 20,000 and 2,000 horses in one ce tended to make a lot of that.
"We are here to see our husbands, Lord Parker and General Heeat." Upon atst approaching the camp gate,Miss Linda shed the fateful letter, the one bearing the Heeat family''s seal, while sending an officious re toward the two men.
"Ye¡ yes, yes! Right away mydy. Right away. Please!" And the guards instantlyplied, straightening their backs like steel rods and scrambling to find an appropriate escort for the esteemed guests.
Achis had stayed true to his word and indeed informed the two of this expected arrival, so there was no confusion.
And even if he had not, Miss Linda''s face and demeanor would have still made the two men treat her with respect, despite the shabby, servant''s clothes she was wearing.
Thisdy had a very imposing aure when she wanted to show it and anyone would be able to tell this was no beggar, but a nobledy.
And the guards knew, whether it was an enemy or ally, it made little difference when they were facing a noble, they needed to treat them with respect.
Lastly, all of this was of course ignoring the fact she was carrying the Heeat family''s seal.
Meaning even if Miss Linda was truly a beggar, she would still be let in, such was the mark''s significance.
With their identities instantly recognized, thedies were quickly shown through the encampment, passing the thousands of pitched tents in the blink of an eye, until they atst stood in front of the biggest tent all the vicinity.
"Linda! My love! I knew you would be able to do it! Hahaha," And right in front of it stood a very eager Lord Parker, who instantly burst into open, boisterousughter the moment his eyesnded on his sweetheart.
He even proudly cocked his head left towards Achis to chuckle, "Heh heh, see, see, all of you said she would not be able to¡ that that Alexander was so smart. Bah! Who can ever be smarter than my dear? Hah hah hah."
It was hard for Achis to produce a sincere smile, resulting in a very ugly grin, as he nodded woodily to his lord''s words.
The regret and dismay he was feeling was to the point he totally forgot to even greet his own wife.
While thest man present there, Lord Bernard was feeling the exact opposite- ecstatic
Finally, the war would be over, and all due to him!
Chapter 1107 Quilis and His Partner
Chapter 1107 Quilis and His Partner
??Lord Parker would celebrate his wife''s return long into the night, drinking and feasting heartily with his officers.
There he would regrly toast to her magnificent intellect, toast to their imminent victory and most of all retell her brilliant escapade, which was of course heavily embellished.
First of all, there was no mention of Lord Cassius or Lord Nn in it, making it all Miss Linda''s singr brilliance, garnished alongside extreme inadequacies on Alexander''s part, such as his guards supposedly returning to their quarters during the afternoon to take naps.
That''s how Miss Linda had managed to escape, ording to her own recount.
It was a im that no one of course dared to question, nor did someone like Lady Adele deign to speak up to disapprove it, thedy being more than content to sit in a corner and drink herself to almost death.
Thus she also did not hear the death bells toil for all those in the mansion when during the celebrations, Lord Parker at one point turned to order Lord Bernard to restart work on the underground water immediately, wanting the task to be finished by the very next morning, saying he wanted to end this tedious stalemate once and for all.
Lord Bernard was of course more than pleased to obey, bolstered by the loud cheer from the men around him, for they too were eager to see this boring seige conclude.
The only one with an acrid heart was Achis, but given the direction of the surging tides, he too was forced to eventually ept the result.
He never thought that thedy, her son and sister, all three would be able to safely escape, and escape so soon, it was a miracle.
''Perhaps it is divine providence,'' Hence the general could only chalk it all up to the gods favoring such an oue and bitterly swallowed his drink.
As the joyous party went on, the subtle absence of two particr people who were very much supposed to be there went mostly unnoticed by everyone, save for in the mind of one particr Miss Linda.
Thedy would ruminate why Lord Cassius and Lord Nn had not joined them yet when they were supposed to be there many, many hours ago.
Thedy even had already nned how to deal with them when they got there.
By not receiving them with thanks and gratitude, but using both of them of forcing themselves on her in exchange for helping her escape, and then having Lord Parker promptly execute them.
Yes, even Lord Nn, as she saw this old crone too slimy to trust.
Miss Linda had deliberated on the matter for a bit, as it was true that the old man was one of her greatest supporters.
But Miss Linda atst found him not as easy to control as the others.
So after a bit of going back and forth, the heartlessdy determined he had to go.
And thus as thedyy next to her husband, feeling quite tired after a particrly steamy session, she wondered what could have happened to them.
Well to know what happened to tell, one had to go back a couple of hours back in time. A time around thete afternoon when Quilis and his partner were finally starting to get suspicious of all the servants and maids hanging about the room.
"Hey! What''s taking so long? How long does it take to change a single carpet?" They shouted in annoyance, and the moment they entered, suddenly the entire facade came tumbling down.
"Wha¡ what? You are not thedy! Where is she?" The pair, who perhaps knew Miss Linda a little more than they would have liked, was able to quickly tell the maid apart from her mistress when they got closer.
The silhouette became much sharper and more distinct, thus revealing the inconsistencies and causing the two to suddenly feel a deep sense of dread like they had never felt before.
''What have we done? Letting her escape!'' Quilis despaired deep inside, while his partner almost leaped forward and swiped at the ''infant'' the maid was holding, finding it to be nothing more than a folded up nket.
It was only while they stared at the piece of nket lying on the ground, limply and without a hint of life in it, that the men truly understood they had been really duped.
"Wha¡ what now?" And knowing very well what the consequences of this reaching Alexander''s ears would be, Quilis''s partners stammered out of the query in a tone filled with utter horror.
"They¡ these¡ these are all spies. Spies *ng*!!" And Quilis, who too was ovee with unadulterated dread, screamed like this while suddenly unsheathing his weapon, "Kill them! Kill them all! Offer their head to Alexander."
His partner instantly understood what Quilis meant by this.
Since the mistake had already beenmitted, their only hope to save their necks was to wash the floor with the blood of these criminals and hope Alexander epted their eptance.
"Right! *ng*!"
And thus, scared out of their minds by what they had let happen and what Alexander was going to do to them once he found out, these two half mad men suddenly bared their silvery weapons and leaped onto these defenseless men and women without a second thought, madly hacking and shing them apart.
The two really had no n here.
They did not bother to ask or interrogate any of them about what had truly happened or even where thedy had gone, but in their fear and rage, they sought to just kill everyone in sight, and then go apologize to Alexander for the blunder, offering all these bodies as trophies like he was some kind of evil blood demanding blood sacrifice.
It was like this that the possessed men hoped that this would be enough to show their ''sincerity''.
Fortunately for the servants, these two men did not get to go far with this kind of thinking.
They were only two while the other side numbered in the high twenties, so even though the men tried their best, they could only im so many lives with their cold weapons.
Instead, their dreadful screams and frightfulments were enough to quickly draw the other nearby guards, who rushed to the scene and upon seeing the unfolding carnage, quickly worked to put a stop to it.
And then upon seeking rification about what the hell was going on, the men quickly became rmed, arresting everyone in the room, including Quilis and his partner, while at the same time sending a messenger bolting towards Alexander''s room.
*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*,
The man''s dreadfully loud and rude knock was quickly forgiven once the sleepy Alexander was informed of the unfolding incident, as he instantly snapped his eyes open, finding his sleep being knocked out of the park.
He could not believe his most prized possession as well as her son had managed to flee, despite all the precautions he had taken.
"Lock down the mansion! Get everybody into their rooms. The family members, the servants, the cooks, the maids, I mean everybody! Everything stops! The only people I want to see walking are blue and in armor!" Alexander thus instantly shouted the order at the top of his voice, his tone suddenly shaking.
Somehow he had a deep dreadful feeling about all this.
Alexander did not know why and he could not put it into exact words, but somehow he felt that Miss Linda''s escape might not be as simple as just simply running away.
Thus as this messenger ran out to ry the order, Alexander turned to Hemicus to order,
"You go and bring Quilis and the other idiot to me. I want to know exactly how they fucked up this time. Fucking imbeciles!" Before shifting his gaze towards another part of the corridor and chiming, "I will go check up on that old fart. I won''t ever believe the old coot does not know anything about this."
The old coot was of course Lord Nn, and when Alexander said that word, he unconsciously clenched his teeth with anger.
With Lord Nn and Quentin gone, Lord Nn now had the pleasure of being Alexander''s most valuable captive.
And Alexander was determined to secure and then thoroughly interrogate him.
Thus the two men split, each headed on their own paths.
But while Hemicus was easily able to bring the two culprits back to Alexander, unfortunately for thetter, Lord Nn was long gone.
Upon entering the room, Alexander had found the ce to be devoid of any life, causing the man to let out a small howl, "Dammit!" before lifting one of his legs into the air in frustration.
But all was not lost for him.
"Where did he go?" Alexander was able to at least make his query to the two guards stationed by the door, who promptly let him know,
"It¡ It was Lord Cassius. He imed that his father was suddenly feeling ill and wanted to go for a walk. They went that way!" One of them was able to provide a concrete direction, while the other, seeing Alexander''s scary face added,
"We¡ wanted to escort them, but the lord¡ he would not let us. They have just left! We can catch up!"
Chapter 1108 Father and Son Caught (Part-1)
Chapter 1108 Father and Son Caught (Part-1)
??"Father! Let''s hurry! I feel all the soldiers are giving us suspicious looks."
As Lord Nn and Lord Cassius almost sprinted through the western part of the mansion, the father son duo tried to make ground as fast as possible, particrly as they suddenly began to feel the surroundings around them change.
They felt the gazes around them go from nonchnt to curious to downright wary as many pairs scanned and re scanned them, as if judging them.
They also could see new groups of soldiers hurriedly pouring out from the mansion, in wave but wave, rapidly shouting and pointing at the various people around them, after which everyone in the vicinity who was not one of the guards and dressed as such was herded inside without any exnation.
It did not matter if you were working, going somewhere, rxing, or simply loitering.
Regardless of the reason you were there, all men and women were ''captured'', prevented from leaving, and then asked to return to the mansion
This of course created a bit of a rift with some of the tired hard working men and women, who tried to argue,
"What is it now? It''s nearly evening. I got to get this to Mister Lambert or he will have my head."
"That''s right! Move. We got a job to do. The sun is already setting."
"I am just taking a walk! What is the problem?
"I have already finished my work! Why are you dragging me back?"
"I just want to return home. My wife is waiting for me to bring her supper. Let me go or my children will starve."
"I also have kids all alone in the house. My husband is head. So if I don''t return by sundown, who will protect them? What if a ver sets his eyes on them? Please let me go, good sir! Please!"
"Yeah, we are all tired. What does the lord want with us? He''s already docked our food in half. Does he intend to dock half our pay as well?"
The guards gave thatst man a particrly hard smack on the face for ndering their lord, while they actually let thedy who had made the penultimate request pass through after one of the officers took pity on her and decided to intervene.
The woman was one of the cooks this man knew and so he was fairly certain she was not the one his lord was hounding after.
She was too ugly to be a noblewoman and certainly not a man, as described in the wanted order by their lord.
The others however were not given even a cent''s worth of such attention, and all the rebellious outbursts were heavily rebutted with shes of the legionaries'' swords, shoved back with the body of their spears and be told phrases like, ''Word from above'', ''That''s the lord''s decision'', and ''Go back! It is an order'' as all of them were herded inside.
This type of rounding began to get bigger and bigger, until there were very few people left, the pair of escapees being one of them.
"What now, brat? Looks like they are onto us!"
And seeing all this ''evidence'' around him, Lord Nn of course had the nose to smell that they had been detected and were being hemmed in.
So, while hiding behind the safety of arge shed, he turned to ask hisrge son if he had any bright ideas.
That was a mistake, as Lord Cassius could only produce copious amounts of sweat from his body as a reply to the query.
He cursed the current predicament he was in.
He cursed the fact that things were not going ording to n.
But most of all, he cursed the fact that he had not left with the love of his life, but instead chosen to take this more dangerous route.
And wouldn''t you know it, he was about to be caught for it.
The threat of that happening almost paralyzed the cowardly man.
The thought about how he would never be able to see Miss Linda''s face, hear her smile, and touch and smell her soft, fragrant skin, made Lord Cassius suddenly feel his world go darker, as his heart started to beat faster, his back became wet and his hands went all mmy.
The man began to only see darkness in front of him, and never being a quick thinker, Lord Cassius only clenched his teeth to squeeze out,
"Let us stay here till the sun goes down. Then using the darkness we can try to make a break for it."
This was the best n the fat man coulde up with.
"Fool!" And like so many times before, it only got him a loud curse from his father as the reward, as the old man pointed his bony fingers towards the bby face and menacingly whispered, "Think! Think ''you head eaten by a maggot'' fool! There is a curfew at night. How will we exin ourselves at all those checkposts? And without anymp or torch, how can we even go around them? Do you have any idea how many snakes, rats, and other things crawl around these ces at night!"
"No! We cannot wait so long. We must move quickly. We must move now!" The ever fearful for his life Lord Nn then began to shout to his son to start walking right now, wanting to get out of the trap as fast as they could, before it could close on them.
Like his son, the pressure of their imminent capture was starting to get to him.
And when pushed by his aggressive father, although Lord Cassius wanted to object, he ultimately could not say no.
And so decided to take the risk, leaving their shelter and trying to cover the remaining ground as fast as possible.
But apparently not fast enough.
Because wouldn''t you know it, they were both caught not even five minutes after leaving their shelter.
Without a doubt, they would have been much better off staying hidden and bidding their time, just like Lord Cassius suggested.
It might have not been the most thought through n, but it was certainly better than Lord Nn''s.
However, there was no pill for regrets, as while attempting to escape, a pair of regrly patrolling guards quickly noticed the two men.
To them it appeared that one very fat and very thin was swiftly moving across the field, looking almost like they were scampering, which immediately raised rm bells.
"Halt! You two!"
"Hey! You two hard of hearing? He said halt! Where are you going you curs?"
Lord Cassius at first tried to ignore the two rapidly approaching men, trying to pretend as if he had heard them.
But that soon proved impossible, as the legionaries closed the distance far quicker than Lord Nn would ever hope to walk, and so very quickly the two noblemen found themselves facing their greatest challenge yet.
Towards this, Lord Cassius initially tried to be brave and imperious, ballooning his eyes the moment the two of them approached, and turning his face red with rage to shout,
"Wha¡ what is the meaning of this? Do you know who I am? I¡ I''m Lord Cassius, consort of the head of this family, Lady Miranda, and your lord''s closest ally. How dare you talk to me like this? Let me through now and I promise to forget this offense. Now move!"
Unfortunately for him, Lord Cassius was never the domineering type.
He had never spoken with a raised voice to anyone, and thus his first time shout sounded less like an order and more like a toddler threatening to have his father ''beat them up''.
It was filled with so many stammers, too much eye movement, and frankly too long.
A general''s orders were sharp, crisp, and concise.
But here it almost sounded cute.
Not to mention, these were not even his men, but Alexander''s legionaries.
If they were from his family''s perhaps just the name of Lady Miranda might have inspired dread and apprehension in them.
But as foreigners, these men had almost zero concept of who was who here.
The name Lady Miranda might mean a lot to those who actually know her, but these grassroot grunts were utterly oblivious to the political dealings of the highers ups.
Thus towards this imperious shout, one of the guards only grinned and taunted,
"Heh! Fatso! Our lord ordered that nobody leave! Got it! Nobody. We don''t care if you are Cassius or Massius. Honestly ¡. you Sybarians have the most foul names."
If Lord Cassius had the ability, even the temperate man would have skinned the man alive for calling his names as well as mocking his name, the name his father had given him.
But now, seeing theplete dismissal of his case, the introverted man found himself tongue tied.
While the other legionary, who was scanning the pair from a bit back, whispered suspiciously, "Hey! Aren''t you too fat to be a servant? In fact, you very much look like the people we were sent looking for! A fat man¡ apanying a thin, old man." As he said this while turning his head slowly from Lord Cassius to Lord Nn, the certainty in his tone became firmer, and his eyes sharper.
And so did his partner.
Chapter 1109 Bone Breaking
Chapter 1109 Bone Breaking
??The father and son duo''s faces shed a dark shadow as they acutely sensed the gaze on the two guards change, going from angry at being disobeyed to intrigued and then enlightened.
With one of them making the hypothesis that they might be the ''one'', the other soon began to make the connection too.
And as more and more of the ryed description began to match, their heart gave a cartwheel.
They could not believe the fish they had just caught. Such luck!
A huge bonus was bound to be in store from their boss for this great find.
Thus the two men''s eyes began to ze as they greedily stared at the pair.
While facing this dilemma, Lord Cassius''s initial instinct was to start running.
Who knew, with a bit of luck perhaps he could escape, therge, rotund man very very optimistically thought.
In fact, this might have gone beyond optimism and entered the realm of miracles.
But whatever his wishes were, it mattered little, as at the end of the day, Lord Cassius found his legs too stiff to move, and his throat too dry to speak up.
While the old man next to him fared a lot better.
Being an aplished merchant and an experienced negotiator, the sicky wizened man decided to try and apply the trick of his trade here.
Thus he produced a slimy, almost oily smile while bringing a few coins from hisrge coat, and grinning,
"Good sirs, we are on our way to a secret negotiation with the enemy. If it works, this siege will be lifted and we will have won the battle. But if we cannot meet with them by today, they have threatened to stop the water supply to the house. So please let us pass¡ you don''t want to die of thirst right?"
Trying to appeal to their living instinct, Lord Nn gave a gentle smile, then pushed the gold coins in his hand towards the palm of one of the guards to suggest,
"Here, have these! A small token of appreciation for all your hard work. Get something good to drink. The wines from Franz are especially good."
The old lord had packed these treasures with the thought to bribe the guards at Lord Parker''s camp should any trouble arise, and so being forced to use this resource already here, the old man''s weak heart groaned.
But at least the men did not outright reject his alms, but received the sum with a quick nod and ced therge amount graciously into their pouch without any hesitation.
It seemed that they had bought Lord Nn''s story and the pair were on the clear.
Lord Nn thus silently breathed a great sigh of relief, while Lord Cassius was about to produce a great grin of gratuity.
"Okay, nowe with us!"
When suddenly that relief was shattered like a fragile soap bubble, as he saw the soldier give a horrendous grin looking like a cat who had just gotten the milk.
It was clear this show to epting the bride was just them fucking with the two.
Lord Nn''s face instantly flushed with rage and anger at being denied like this, while Lord Cassius''s heart skipped the beat.
But to the two legionaries, who understood very little about politics, all this mattered little, as the one who had taken the bribe sneered back,
"I fucking hate how you nobles think we are just imbeciles. You think we can be bought and sold like some ves in the market? Alexander would have our and our family''s heads if we let you go!"
If these men truly did the two go and it somehow reached Alexander, the pasha would not need to react. The men''s squad mates would be more than enough to hang the two by the tree.
And knowing this, he was instantly joined by his partner who mocked further,
"Heh! Negotiations? If these negotiations were so important, why did Alexander order you to be captured? And why are you scampering around like rats? Old fart, you really need to learn to lie better¡. and bribe better! Where is my share?"
Facing the ring snides and mocking taunts, the father and son atst went silent, knowing the jig was up.
These soldiers were not going to budge, especially given they had just called Alexander by name so casually, showing just how close they were.
Lord Nn had tried to use the wrong tool for the wrong job.
This was no longer the Margraves mansion of before, but there was a new man in charge.
And so these once heavy lord''s words carried almost feathery lightweight now.
The following events consisted of mostly silent obedience from Lord Nn and Lord Cassius, who saw themselves silently escorted back to the mansion and then into the former''s room, whereupon they were met with an infuriated Alexander and a pallid Lady Miranda. Yes, it was the man who was angry, while the softerdy looked as if her soul had just been sucked away.
They already listened to Quilis and his partner''s testimony, as well as the interrogation of the captured servants and maid, andbining both of them, they were able to give a pretty concrete picture of what had just happened, and how it had happened.
And although Lord Cassius was not mentioned by name, all fingers were clearly pointed at him, colluding with the enemy.
A conclusion that incensed Alexander, while Lady Miranda felt so wounded that it almost sent her into shock.
It was to the point that a part of her wanted Alexander''s encircling ring to fail, just so that she would not have to face reality.
However this time her wishes went unanswered, as with the guide from the men guarding Lord Cassius''s door, Alexander was able to quickly send a huge mass of men in that direction and shut that area down.
And with Lord Nn''s naturally advanced age, the duo''s slow speed had both of them caught.
"Ah! Lord Cassius, so d you are back. I was fearing you had gotten lost. Thank goodness my men found you before it got dark."
As the two men were ushered into the room and almost shoved in, these were the words they were greeted with, the dripping sarcasm and taunt almost being unnecessary.
Alexander was sitting behind the study table, his tone cold and yet almost bubbling with hot rage, his fists were clenched into a tight embrace.
It was as if he could not wait to beat the shit out of the two.
Towards this greeting, Lord Cassius shifted his body guiltily, his eyes darting around as if looking for an escape, while the much more experienced Lord Nn tried to y it cool.
Hence producing a rough cackle, he pronounced with a slimy tone, "Heh heh, Lord Pasha of Zanzan is truly a diligent man. I was just having a hard time breathing, so had Cassius take me out for a walk. But to think you would send so many men to take care of us¡. Heh heh, I must admit, this old man is overwhelmed by your hospitality. We are honored, we are honored."
Alexander shed a chilly light at this, sneering, "Heh! This might be the first time I heard you call me that," before his tone turned acrid, "I am in no mood to y word games with you. Tell me why you did it, old fart!"
The query was short and razor sharp, and the meaning- ''Your guilt has already been decided and now it is only the time to decide your punishment.''
"It? What did you mean? What did we do my lord?" However, it seemed Lord Nn did not get the memo, as he continued to y the fool, not even responding to the rude ng and only widening his sunken eyes to repeat, "We were just out walking. What are¡"
*Snap*!
Alexander did not have the time or patience to listen to this old man spin tales as he did with Lady Felicia, so intent on getting things done as fast as possible, he snapped his finger in irritation, and an instantter,
*Crack*, A spine tingling, crisp snap rang out from the room, followed a split secondter by,
"Ahhhhghghghghh!" A piercing, blood curling scream of utter pain, as Lord Nn felt his sight go pure white.
This was because at Alexander''s signal, one of the soldiers from the back had struck the old man''s leg with his sheathed sword as hard as he could, and from the sound of it, broken the femur cleanly in two.
"Aghhhhh¡ Argghhhhh¡. Uuuwuwu!" Thus described the old man''s current situation, as hey on the ground, crying and hugging his right leg, producing a mixture of soft and loud whimpers.
All while his son next to him stood and watched, stock out of his mind to say or do anything.
He had imagined a lot of scenarios when he was being escorted back, but this was not one of them.
How can a noble ever raise his hand over another? It was unthinkable.
But it was very much ''thinkable'' to Alxx, who jumped up from his seat to scream, "Old fart, I saved your life. Now I am going to beat it out of you. Ungrateful swine!"
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1110 Lady Cassiuss Questioning
Chapter 1110 Lady Cassius''s Questioning
??"Wha¡ wha¡ fath¡ wh.. Ho.."
Towards Alexander''s sudden and brutal show of violence, Lord Cassius found himself only able to just stand there, mouth gaping wide and mumbling incoherently, too shocked to even go help up his lying father.
While Alexander in the meantime left his seat and sprinted forward, cing himself before the two men with a domineering aura and an enraged look to once again shout,
"Why did you do it? Tell me! Why did you betray us? What did Parker Heeat promise you?"
Alexander''s repeating of the words really went to show how ruffled up he was.
And this loud bang right next to his ears worked to stun Lord Cassius even more, as he turned to look at Alexander with a ghastly pale face, his red lips quivering, "I¡ we¡ it was¡ so that¡umm the water¡ ah.."
The sudden and brutal malice shown by Alexander was enough to quickly overwhelm this faint hearted, timid nature of a man and he could not even bring up the courage to confess, forget about defending himself.
He thus only foolishly continued to keep staring at Alexander, scared out of his wits.
"We¡ we never betrayed you¡. my lord." As such it was once again left up to the kneeling, in absolute agony, Lord Nn toe and rescue the day, as he squeezed out these words of denial once again.
And then fearing Alexander was going to break his other leg for arguing with him, quickly turned his head towards Lady Miranda, and supplicated, "My daughter inw! Please! Stop this! Let me exin. This is all a misunderstanding."
Given how bellicose Alexander had be, Lord Nn tried to find an intervention through Lady Miranda''s hand, even going as far as to call her ''daughter'', something that perhaps he had never done.
But unfortunately for him, this was for naught as there came no answer.
"........" Only a wall of silence.
In fact, Lady Miranda did not even turn to respond to this call, as during this whole time, thisdy was only sitting by the bed with only a vacant look on her face, barely even registering their existence.
She was that shocked.
And Lord Nn''s heart fell seeing this, understanding there was no helping from that side.
While Alexander with gritted teeth red out, "Misunderstanding? We have a hundred servants testifying what you and your son did. Yet you say this is a misunderstanding? You dare mock me like this! Men¡"
"No, no, no!"
Just as Alexander was about to order another round of bashing, Lord Nn screamed out at the top of his lungs, before viciously turning to his son to shout,
"You imbecile¡ speak up. Tell them about the water! Why are you standing there like a mute donkey!"
This loud cry for help from his father finally made the man sputter into life like an old, broken engine, "Ri¡ Right! The water! ¡The water! Yes!" as he stammered the words out like a broken record and then with a terrified look, started to recount,
"My lord, we were just trying to help. Linda¡ I mean Lady Miranda¡ she showed us the letter she got from Lord Achis, where he threatened to block our water supply if we did not surrender. And we¡"
"We were just trying to head there to negotiate." At this point, the clever Lord Nn suddenly snatched the words from his son''s mouth, fearing what the novice man might leak.
It would not be good for Lord Cassius to say, ''And we were trying to escape.''
Thus taking away the narrative from him, Lord Nn then began to dress up all the events quite nicely, starting all the way back from when Miss Linda had approached them with the letter, what she threatened to do, her demands, how Lord Nn had confided in his son about it, what they decided to do about it and atst, how everything came to this current endpoint.
Finally, at the conclusion of it all, the still in pain lying lord finished by iming,
"My lord, we had to do this. We had to release Linda and Quentin. The letter demanded it of us. It was the only way to stop Lord Parker. If we had not, he would have killed all of us of thirst. *Sob*, kill us all of thirst!"
For the finishing touches, like a bow on the top, Lord Nn then began to break off in half real, half fake tears.
The fake part was of course only for show for Alexander, to make him believe this hurriedly meshed together but the real part came from his deadly fear of death.
It was perhaps only now that it was dawning on the man just how vulnerable he was in front of Alexander. This was no longer his mansion, it was Alexander''s and he was only a guest.
Thus he tried to cate the lord as best as could, stitching up a semi-reliable story on the go.
And credit where credit is due, hearing the details, Alexander did begin to soften up. That bit about the water did sound usible as well as very concerning to him.
Thus his sharp gaze turned quizzical, as he scanned the old crone for any sighs of deception, scrutinizing the wizened man''s wrinkled face, which was ruddy and wet with tears, the eyes looking back at him, bright like the starts yet lidded, as if the pain of the broken leg was too much to bear.
Alexander was unable to find anything overt to give the man away, and so moved this nce over to therge man next to the father, Lord Cassius.
This whole time Lord Nn was retelling the story, Lord Cassius was seen only incessantly nodding his head like a chicken, like he was a mute, agreeing to everything his father had to say and having nothing to contribute on his own. Alexander did not feel as much disgusted as he was sorry seeing this, because it was apparent that the apple had fallen quite far from the tree.
Even with a broken leg and in utter pain, this aged, old man was able to react better than this hale, hearty son, showing just how much of an ipetent imbecile Lord Cassius was.
Hence Alexander did not linger on this waste for long, but instead turned his head to the fourth member of the conversation, Lady Miranda, asking her own opinion on the whole matter.
He particrly asked her, "Is it true? Can Lord Parker really stop the water to the wells? I had always assumed the water came from underground."
To him, this was the most pressing matter.
And it seemed that after hearing all the reasons Lord Nn had provided, this stunneddy was able to atst somewhat pull herself back.
Thus woodily turning to look at Alexander, she basically confirmed the whole threat, detailing the underground water system and how and why there were mechanisms to turn sections of it on and off.
And atst hearing all this, Alexander''s lips pursed into themselves with such strength that he felt like they might fuse together.
Food was one thing, but water too.
Alexander''s heartbeat fastened to a rate it had not in years. What was he going to do now? How could he possibly supply fresh drinking water to 6,500 men for a few months?
It was clearly impossible and to him, it seemed his defeat was already sealed.
Thus in his utter shock, Alexander began to even regret acting hastily and breaking Lord Nn''s legs, saying to himself,
''Should I apologize? Maybe then he can go back? Help me negotiate some good terms on my behalf? Shit!"
The shock of knowing that his water supply was about to be cut off was enough to make Alexander erroneously seriously consider surrendering right then and there.
After all, how was he going to fight without this vital nectar for time?
As Alexander got distracted by this imminent iing disaster, Lady Miranda''s concerns seemed to be elsewhere.
Hearing the ''full story'', thisdy finally got up from her bed, and seeing Alexander enter his own world, decided to conduct the ''cross examination'' herself.
Thus she approached the two men with a regal march, and then standing before the two with bubbling fury posed,
"Where is your proof of saying all this? Where is the letter you speak of? Why did you not show it to us? Why did you not discuss such an important thing with either of us? How could you decide to let Linda escape on your own? Do¡ you have any idea what you have done!"
Lady Miranda gritted out thest few words with clenched teeth, barely able to hold her tone together, as she wanted nothing more than to burst out into a violent tirade at the two men over what they had done.
"We¡ I¡" Once again Lord Cassius proved useless, offering some iprehensible words.
So it was Lord Nn''s turn again to step in, squeezing, "We were told this all in confidence. Made to swear not to reveal a word. And¡"
"I asked my husband." Before the old man however could continue, Lady Miranda imperiously shed her palms to cut him off, before turning to re at Lord Cassius and the man swallowed a dry gulp.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1111 Confession (Part-1)
Chapter 1111 Confession (Part-1)
??Lady Miranda knew her husband far better than her father inw.
So given just how much the man was sweating and stuttering at all their questions, she could smell the rat from miles away.
If the events had truly unfolded as described by Lord Nn, then she was pretty certain her man would not be acting like this.
He would be the first to jump up and defend their actions at the top of his voice.
Because that was the type of man Lord Cassius was.
When something was true and valid, he would be like a lion, presenting and defending it to the extreme.
But whenever there was anything false or perfidious, he would be like a scared cat, muttering and shifting his body all over.
Just like now, when he did not even bother to help his father up.
If the duo were really in the clear, Lady Miranda would be willing to stake her life so that her man would not have acted so scared and flustered, but instead be fully enraged, even going as far as to try and rip Alexander to shreds for raising his hand against his old man.
Lady Miranda knew her husband that well.
But given that he had not, Lady Miranda began to seriously suspect the veracity of Lord Nn''s tale.
And hence turned her ring gaze onto the sweating man, looking for the answer out his own mouth.
Who, perhaps well aware of his own weakness, could only swallow a gulp.
Lord Cassius was a simple man, with very few knots in his heart.
And he himself knew that- that he just could not lie.
It was not that Lord Cassius did not think of trying to lie, but that he was simply unable to.
Whenever he tried to make up something, he ended up producing a nk in his mind, like he had writer''s block.
The inability was deeply engraved into his nature.
And due to this, in matters of truth, Lord Cassius was a stalwart bulwark, but in falsehood he was a soft putty, squealing the moment he was pressed about it.
And it was considering this that Lady Miranda had decided to press him instead of his father, trusting her gut much more on the things that came out of this man''s mouth.
"Cassius, is what your father said true? And if so, why did you note to inform me? How could you hide that Linda hade to you from me? Am I not your wife? Aren''t we in this together?"
"......." At this, Lord Cassius was once again only able to present silence.
Because the only thing he could think about saying to this was the truth- that he was no longer interested in making house with her but wanted to switch to his much prettier, sexier, and lovier sister inw.
And seeing this, the limping Lord Nn wanted to bash his head against the floor, cursing the gods for giving him such an ipetent son.
All he had to do was parrot what Lord Nn had just said and everything would be fine.
But Lord Cassius was unable to do even that.
Thus it was only perhaps today that Lord Nn thought he finally got to know just how foolish his progeny was.
It was to the extent that the old man thought it was actually a miracle that his son had managed to hoodwink the entire mansion as easily as he had done.
And then, for the umpteenth time, the old man''s croaked voice once again rang out from the side, before answering on behalf of his son in a gruff voice,
"We¡ we were afraid that knowing this, you and Lord Alexander might panic. Maybe even surrender! We did not want that. So we tried to fix this on our own."
By saying this, Lord Nn tried to hurriedly patch up the hole in his argument, before cleverly taking a step back and admitting, "But in hindsight... yes! I admit it might have been a mista¡"
"Shut up! When did I allow you to speak?" Lady Miranda however did not let the old man spin his web of tales, as she let out an enormous, shrill cry to cut him off.
And then turning her eyes red with a zing inferno, she spat, "I had enough of these lies. All these are lies. If they were not¡ Cassius would have spoken already! Tell the truth! Tell the truth! Tell me the truth!"
Screaming at the top of her voice, Lady Miranda''s plump face suddenly contorted into a vicious, dark visage, appearing very ugly and frightening as something in thedy finally snapped.
It seemed that the betrayal of her family, the recent death of her son, and nowstly this treachery from her own husband, the person closest to her, atst pushed her past the breaking point. That man''s betrayal had been thest straw to break the camel''s back.
And thus, in her madness, Lady Miranda then all of a sudden turned her gaze onto Lord Nn''s injured leg, as a sudden sh of immeasurable hatred bubbled and swirled inside of her.
It was blinding, and it was in this state of absolute rage that Lady Miranda suddenly raised her feet and then without even thinking about it, decided to bring the high, metallic heel she was wearing down with all the force she could muster onto his wounded leg of the old man, thus oh so cruelly stomping on the broken bit, and manically roaring,
*Bang*! Tell me the truth! *Bang*, *Bang*, Tell me the truth!, *Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*, Ahhhh!"
"Ugggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!"
Lady Miranda''s utterly furious grunt was mixed with Lord Nn''s utterly anguished cries, as Lord Nn quickly grabbed his leg, and began to let out pained cries the likes of which he had never uttered in his life.
It was like this that the entire room suddenly began to buzz with these absolutely horrendous shrill cries, almost making it sound like people were being ughtered here.
And the act was so sudden and unexpected that it made all the men there too shocked to react, too stunned to step forward and stop this madness.
As for the few soldiers who did want toe help hesitated because Lady Miranda was after all a noblewoman and a married one at that.
So how could they dare to touch her, especially in front of her husband?
Perhaps if it was someone they knew, such as one of Alexander''s wives, these men might have risked the act, but here, the risk was simply not worth their paycheck.
Thus Lady Miranda was able to get a few, very good kicks in on Lord Nn''s destroyed leg, digging into the flesh with her sharp heels and turning her sole bloody.
Until finally Alexander, who was by now yanked out of his thoughts upon seeing this horrific act of violence decided to intervene.
"Stop! Stop! Lady Miranda, stop! What are you doing?"The man shouted at this half mad woman, sprinting over and grabbing her by the arm before pulling her away from the old man.
"Father! Father! Father!"
While Lord Cassius was also atst jolted out of his mind seeing this and he ran to his own father, kneeling down and gently touching the leg, before starting to sob with swallowed moans.
He noticed the pants around the pants had begun to turn scarlet, easily proving the extent of the wound.
Lady Miranda''s high heels had managed to puncher flesh, and many, many times at that.
And seeing this, made Lord Cassius''s heart bleed.
It went without saying he was a very filial man, and he could not even believe such cruel acts were being done to his father right in front of him.
Lord Cassius assumed he could at least understand Alexander''s actions. The man was a foreigner and merely a well dressed thug, ording to him.
So the first hit on his father only shocked him to his core.
But this second hit¡ it came from his own wife.
How could she? His own life partner! It shattered Lord Cassius''s heart!
"This is your father! Your elder! Your guardian! How could you?" Thus turning his head to look at Lady Miranda with venom filled, he shouted as such, pronouncing a tone that few had ever heard the genteel man produce.
"Uwuuwuw¡ uwwuuwwuw" And as Lord Nny on the ground, whimpering and writhing in pain, seeing this dolorous state, it was like a dam bursting open for Lord Cassius.
In a very simr vein to Lady Miranda''s condition, this was thest straw that broke the back, and something snapped in him.
All the pent up emotions, desires, and things that were buried deep inside the heart for not just the past few days, but all these past years suddenly came bursting forth like a raging volcano.
Thus jumping up with surprising agility, Lord Cassius produced a repugnant gaze when looking at Lady Miranda, then involuntarily cursed out,
"Linda was right! You truly are a shrew! A mean, bitter, vicious shrew who has no heart! I was right to leave you for her!"
"What?" Lady Miranda appeared shell shocked hearing this, while Lord Nn turned ghastly pale.
As for Alexander, he felt like pping his head.
He could already see where this story was going and cursed that subus of a devil.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1112 Confession (Part-2)
Chapter 1112 Confession (Part-2)
Upon hearing Lord Cassius''s involuntary confession, Lady Miranda''s head began to slowly spin, as all those suspicious acts from the past few days suddenly began to make sense and all those unconnected dots began to swiftly and neatly arrange themselves.
The long hours the man would spend staring into the outside, the strange times he would leave their room with the intention to go ''negotiate'' with Miss Linda, and the strange, almost familiar perfume smell he would have on his body when he would return.
Lady Miranda had not bothered to pay attention to any of these clues because one, she blindly trusted her husband, two, she had far more important things to do and most of all, such filthy suspicions never even crossed the refineddy''s mind.
How could a brother inw and sister inw, both married, ever cross that line?
And so it was only now she was beginning to understand her mistake- the mistake of blind trust.
While at the same time, Alexander pursed his lips in frustration too, kicking himself for not noticing this.
How could he have forgotten to take into ount that that devilish woman would make such an obvious move?
It was almost cliche.
Sure Lord Cassius was a married man, so Alexander had not thought he would fall. And even if he did fall, Alexander did not think Lord Cassius would fall like this.
At best, Alexander had assumed the man might enjoy his sister inw as a fun time pass. Nothing more.
But Alexander forgot that should have been the case only under normal circumstances.
The absolute charm that Miss Linda was almost unnatural, and now it seemed another had fallen to her, bing her thrall.
And realizing this, atst, Alexander felt like pping his head for having missed this.
And thus from here on, he could see where this story was going.
And Lord Cassius did not disappoint Alexander''s expectations, as Lady Miranda''s shocked "What?", the man did not try to backtrack and correct this slip up.
But instead, having let the cat identally slip, Lord Cassius decided to for whatever reason go all out and reveal it all, in a move that some would say very bold while others would condemn it as beingpletely bat shit insane.
Why would you be confessing to all your crimes right inside the enemy''sir where they could do whatever they wanted to you?
But whatever the wisdom behind this act might have been, be it hubris, despair, or simply the urge to gloat before doing down, Lord Cassius first gave a hearty, proud chuckle, "Hahahaha," towards his stunned wife, softly clutching his stomach and arching his head lightly back.
Before quickly bringing it back, at which point Lord Cassius''s pleased face instantly changed, twisting itself into a wild, vicious countenance, as he snarled with gnashing teeth,
"You want the truth? You want to know what truly happened! Okay, ¡here is the truth!"
"Yes, I helped Linda and Quentin escape the mansion. I did this by having the servants wrap her up in a carpet and carrying it outside¡ right under the noses of all the guards. Hahaha, and yes, it was me, me who stopped any of the soldiers from asking any unnecessary questions about all this. Hahaha, all me!"
Alongside this proudughter, Lord Cassius turned to gaze at Alexander with a disdainful, victorious grin, snorting, "Heh! I should thank you for the obedient dogs you raised Lord Alexander. You have truly trained them well, heh heh. How lucky for me."
Hearing this taunt, the surrounding soldiers of course visibly frowned as angry scowls and hateful stares began to pierce the man.
It was only natural that these guards had not stopped the man. They were under direct orders from Alexander to always listen to him.
Thus for the man to be mocking them for merely following order, it inevitably ticked them off.
And many wished to go give the man a solid beating, just to show how loyal they were.
"......." While Alexander only ttened his lips and stayed silent, letting the man vent,?and treating the words he spoke like rainwater slipping off his body.
Utterly inconsequential.
Alexander might have held his men ountable if a spy had managed to infiltrate from the outside andmitted the deed, but he would never me them for such an insidious inside job.
Especially an inside job that involved such a high level of treachery.
In fact, if Alexander was nitpicking, the only one who should have been held ountable for all this would have been him, because it was the failure on his part to prepare for and prevent such a scenario that led to the current circumstances.
Hence ignoring Lord Cassius''s hollow pokes, the man went into subtle self rumination.
While Lord Cassius, feeling disappointed at thisck of response, chose not to linger on this target, but once again turned his attention to Lady Miranda.
She was the person who was the greatest target of his ire and the person whom he wanted to hurt the most.
And her current state greatly pleased Lord Cassius.
Because at the moment, Lady Miranda looked as if her soul had been once again sucked out, her face appearing pallid and nk.
She could not even fathom her partner would choose to betray her like that.
And with her most hated enemy at that.
How could he?
The mere thought mortified her, while the very sight tingled Lord Cassius''s deep, hidden sadistic side.
Thus suddenly twisting his face into an ugly, malicious form that Alexander never thought was even possible for this well mannered gentleman, Lord Cassius curved his lips into arge mocking taunt,
"Hahaha, Miranda! What a great face you have! Hahaha, it suits you. It suits you perfectly. You deserve it!"
"Do you want to know why we did it? Do you want me to spell it out? Hahaha¡.fine, it''s because we are in love.
"Linda loves me. Loves me for who I am. Unlike a shew like you who always calls me names."
At this point, Lord Cassius''s face suddenly became dreamy, as if he was remembering something very pleasurable,
"Have you not wondered what we were doing in her bedroom all these past few days? Sex! We were having sex. Mind bendingly pleasurable sex! Something a barren, waste of a harpy could never give me."
Then at the end of his recount, Lord Cassius once again returned to his sour, acrid, hate filled tone, lifting his stubby index finger to curse Lady Miranda,
"Four years! Four years we have been married together and you could not even please me a tenth of what Linda had done to me in just thest four days. To think there were so many pleasures in sex. And to think I wasted all the years with you."
"You¡ waste! Shrew! Barren pig! Where is my son? Why haven''t you been able to give even one child¡ You barren husky?"
Letting out such a vituperative tirade, the likes of which few had ever witnessed, Lord Cassius''s acrid voice suddenly turned soft and melodious, almost tender like he was caressing a wounded bird, as he revealed,
"Linda has promised me to give me a son. She has even promised me to marry me. And she has promised to make my son the next Earl. Hahaha, together we will rule the family. Hahaha, me and her."
"There I said it. This is why I did it. This is why I¡. "
"Shut up you maggot infested imbecile!"
It was finally at this point that Lord Nn was able to recover from the head splitting paining from his leg and quickly gathering his thoughts,unched this ear spltting scream, trying to stop his son frommitting suicide, if not double suicide.
But it was already too little, toote.
All that there was to confess had already been made and after hearing it, Alexander was so enraged that he was fully in the mind to execute both the men.
But perhaps even worse than this for Lord Nn, despite his urging, Lord Cassius was nowhere yet done.
Because after finishing with Lady Miranda, therge man then suddenly turned his ire on Lord Nn, in what was a life''s first for him, as widening his zing eyes Lord Cassiusmbasted,
"No! You shut up you old bag of bones! I will not be silenced any longer. We are in this trouble only because of you. Only because I had to escort you to safety."
This was the first time Lord Cassius had talked back to his father, broken free of his control, and as he let this tirade out, to therge man, it felt so exhrating.
There was no fear like he had expected, but a euphoric feeling like nothing he had ever experienced before.
And it was oh so addicting, it was like the sweetest drug in the world.
And thus, channeled by this drug like nectar, when Lord Cassius turned to look at the lying old man, he could only produce a deep pool of hatred towards them, as all the abuse he had done to him over the years shed before him.
And then suddenly he kicked the lying man.
Kicked his own father!
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1113 Husband And Wife (Part-1)
Chapter 1113 Husband And Wife (Part-1)
Lord Cassius did not know what came over him when he kicked his father.
It was like his legs were suddenly possessed by a demon, and it was this entity that hadnded the blow on the old man''s stomach, not him.
."......" And the act was so horrifying that for a second, the entire room felt like it hade to a freezing pause.
How could a son hit his father, a father who was lying on the groundpletely defenseless?
Was he possessed? Or had his body been hijacked?
Everyone was shocked.
And the two who were the most shocked were naturally Lord Cassius and Lord Nn.
Neither could believe what had just happened.
Lord Cassius could not believe he had hit his father, and stared at him with a nk look, while Lord Nn also could not believe his son had hit him, and stared back with a shocked face, his lips quivering, stunned to the old man even forgot all the pain he was in.
Until suddenly the realization of it all sank into the old man, and understanding what just happened, his face twisted into a dark, demonic form, as he shouted with a snarled shrill,
"You animal! I raised an animal! No! Even an animal would have been more grateful to his parents. I raised a pig. An imbnce of a pig. I curse you! I curse that the wrath and spite of the gods be upon you. Be doomed! Be doomed!"
What Lord Nn had uttered was the most virulent curse in all of Sybarias, as anything involving the gods was treated with the utmost reverence here.
And when a parent called doom upon their children, sincerely and with grievous ill intent in their heart, it was seen as being almost a death sentence.
The Sybarians believed that the gods listened to a parent''s wishes for their children, be it good or bad.
As a matter of fact, the uttered words were so shocking that even Alexander was stunned.
Because the curse suddenly reminded him of an incident he had in his own childhood.
Back in school, he used to have a friend who used to smoke. And this guy was an underaged chain smoker. Went through a minimum of one to sometimes even three packs a day.
And it was something the boy''s father hated. Absolutely detest it.
So the man many times tried to stop it, by pleading, by admonishing, by scolding, and by even beating the boy.
But the friend never changed.
At best he would pause for a few days and then start once again, hiding himself from his father''s sight while he took the whiffs.
Until one day, the old man was so fed up and so hurt at seeing his son smoke his life away that he cursed him, "I hope you fall and break your neck."
And in an absolutely miraculous turn of events, this wish came true on that very day!
Alexander and his friends were ying football after school, and while trying to get the ball, suddenly the boy tripped and hit his head on the metal goalpost in such a way that the spine around his neck fractured.
It was a freak ident.
And although he recovered, it was never a full recovery and he continued to suffer various medicalplications.
Then for the rest of his life, this friend would go tell everyone this story, warning them not to go against their parents in a way that truly hurt them.
And yes, he also did quit smoking from that day on.
And although Alexander did not believe in such superstitions, and thought all of it was just a very unfortunate coincidence, he also felt there was a lesson to be learned here.
Sometimes people''s will had a mysterious way of manifesting themselves.
Thus at Lord Nn''s malicious curse, he suddenly felt a chill run through his back.
While the old man himself was not yet done, but after cursing Lord Cassius to spend an eternity in hell, he now turned to berate his son''s intelligence, producing a mocking sneer to taunt,
"And what did you say right now? Love? You say you fell in love with Linda? You saying that you fell in love with that hussy? Heh! I always knew you were a fatrd of a pig whose head had more maggots than brains. But I did not think it was hollow!"
"You think someone like her would ever put an insect like you in her eyes? What can you possibly give her? She is married to a duke. A duke! What are you to a duke? An insect? No, less than an insect! You are just a fat tub ofrd!"
"Why would Linda ever even spare a nce at you? You are a piece of shit that she would not be even willing to step on!"
It was like this that Lord Nn went to berate his son in front of his wife, in front of Alexander, and perhaps most damning of all, in front of the many guards who were simplemoners.
And then ended with the loud officious order,
"You dumb donkey, open your eyes! She was just using you. And now that she is done with you, she is going to throw you aside like the leaf you used to wipe your butt! This is what she does! That fucking whore has slept with half the mansion. How else do you think she got the family to support her?"
"So shut your snort, kneel down, and go apologize to Miranda. Say that you were hoodwinked and beg her for forgiveness. Lick her feet if you have to! Say that it was all that fucking whore¡."
"Shut up! *Crack!*"
Hearing his father call the love of his life such derogatory words over and over again, and then be ordered to go crawling back to his wife, the already crazed man fully snapped, and in aplete state of madness, threw a full powered kick with his heavy leather boot onto the old man''s chin, using the full force of his body.
Lord Nn had never treated Lord Cassius with any respect, but only saw him as a tool for his own gains.
Due to this, when the first clues of his madness started to manifest, the old man did not pay any heed and rather than obediently shutting up and letting the man vent, instead chose tofort and berate him in front of so many strangers.
It would have been humiliating to even a normal man, forget Lord Cassius who was not quite in the right state of mind.
And the result was thus.
Lord Cassius''s kick produced a dreadful *crack*, and caused a small sprinkle of white teeth and red blood to spit out, as Lord Nn immediately fell back to the ground from the immense impact, rolling his eyes over and foaming at the mouth.
The hit was so bad that the old man started to see stars, and then a sudden sense of crippling dread began to grip him, as he felt he was about to have another heart attack.
He could not believe his son had hit him once again.
Of course, none of this mattered to Lord Cassius even in the slighted, whose face only morphed into utter hatred and absolute rage, before screaming at the top of his voice towards the semi conscious man,
"You lie! You lie! You old fart, you always lie! All my life I have lived by your words¡ your lies. There was never a moment in my life when I felt free! I was always under your thumb!"
"*Bang*! But with Linda, I will be free. She was promised me!"
"*Bang*, If it was not for you, I would already be with her! *Bang*, I am here all because of you! All because of an old fart who already had one foot in the grave."
"What is the point of you living? *Bang*! There is none! There is none! *Bang*, why aren''t you talking? Talk! Speak! Berate me like you always do!"
As Lord Cassius was saying this, he began to kick the old man in the stomach in anger, taunting and trying to get a response, all while Lord Nn could only produce heaving sobs.
He was an old man, and could not take such heavy physical punishment!
So the defenseless man could onlyy there and bear it.
"Cassius enough!" Until that was Lady Miranda decided to intervene, her voice hard and cold.
This tragic sight was finally enough to snap the shockeddy out of her stunned state and she let out this angry growl.
No matter what a father''s faults were, this could never be how a son treated him. It was utterly repulsive.
And hearing this familiar voice, Lord Cassius did stop, before turning his red, enraged eyes towards the source.
As he then bared his white teeth in a snarling gesture to curse, "Miranda! You whore! You barren husky! You slut¡."
But the madman never got to finish his tirade, as in his delirious state, he only saw a sudden sh of colors and a flurry of movements, before finallying to the realization that his wife was in front of him and she had plunged arge dagger into his heart!
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1114 Husband And Wife (Part-2)
Chapter 1114 Husband And Wife (Part-2)
Facing her half insane husband, Lady Miranda initially had tried to maintain as rational a facade as possible, trying to bring herself to terms with all that he had done.
And perhaps the most astonishing thing was that even after all this, even after all the things he said and all the things he wished to do, at the end of the day, Lady Miranda was still willing to overlook all of them if only he apologized and promised to never repeat them.
Yes, that''s right, deep inside, Lady Miranda was of the mind to forget the cheating, forget the fact that her husband was madly in love with her sister, and even overlook the so very damning fact that he had just betrayed them all.
All if only Lord Cassius sincerely repented.
Thus, when Lord Nn ordered Lord Cassius to go and make up with her, Lady Miranda actually became hopeful.
But two things happened afterward that changed her mind on that.
One was Lord Cassius''s erratic behavior with Lord Nn, an act that Lady Miranda found extremely loathsome.
She could not imagine staying with a man whomitted such acts with his own parent.
In fact, even as little as just a few minutes ago, she could not ever imagine the man she knew doing the things he was doing.
Lord Cassius was usually a very gentle, refined man.
Which was all the more reason his current actions appeared as if he was possessed- as if his body had been hijacked.
Lord Cassius had never experienced a situation like this and it was like the realization that his ns had been foiled and that he might never see Miss Linda again pushed the man temporarily to the brink of insanity.
Combine that with the grievous charge of treason, the captured and caged man did not know what to do.
Now, in this case, what Alexander and co. should have done was leave the man and give him some room to breathe, allowing him to cool down on his own.
The interrogation could happen after that!
But that was not how events unfolded.
Lady Miranda instantly pressured the man for truth, while at the same time, Lord Nn berated him for getting them caught in unspeakable tongues.
All this suddenly caused Lord Nn to flip out in a way that even he could not foresee.
Thus resulting in the tragedy.
But whatever the reasons for Lord Cassius acting like this, be it insanity, despair, or simply wanting to vent out decades of frustration, it happened and Lady Miranda found it loathsome.
This was the first reason behind Lady Miranda''s change of mind.
While the second reason was much more simple and concise- it was Lord Cassius calling Lady Miranda barren.
Or more specifically, it was Lord Cassius loudly calling Lady Miranda barren in front of so many outsiders.
This simple word might not sound too bad to a modern reader, but for women of that time, it was in many ways worse than being called an adultress or a prostitute.
Because the goal, almost the sole goal in the life of any woman in the time period was to get married and have children.
This was true for most men as well, but it was especially true for womenfolk.
And it was much more strongly followed here in Sybarsis, due to its monogamous society.
Since a man could marry only one woman, a lot more pressure and expectations were put on her to be able to deliver.
Every girl,dy, and woman from the day they were born was expected to have a healthy womb and produce healthy babies, preferably boys.
And failure to do so expectedly produced very bad oues for the womenfolk.
Some were verbally and sometimes even physically abused by their husbands and in some cases as well as their inws.
Some were outright divorced and driven away from their homes, and it has already been said what happened to divorcees.
While others faced perhaps the most tragic fate, they were sold to brothels.
And this was surprisingly amon thing to do.
Because unfortunately, the red light institutions of the country were always in high demand for such women, and even willing to offer a pretty sum for the purchase.
The reason of course need not be revealed.
A barren woman meant the ce would not have to spend any coin on contraceptives, as well as being able to cater to certain tastes without any possibility of future hassle.
Thus there were even times when some of the more despicable men would not ''technically'' divorce their woman, but would ''lend'' her to such a ce, with the understanding that the red light institution would give the man a cut of his wife''s profits, all while the man took another woman out of wedlock and produced bastards, who would then inherit him.
It was undoubtedly a filthy act of the highest caliber, a husband consuming the money of his wife he forcibly prostituted, being perhaps even worse than what the Adhanian nobles did with their partners.
At least there the women there were not treated likemon, public property.
And what was truly despairing about all this here was that due to the social structure, there really was no way out for these women.
They were stuck in this hellish fate until the gods saw it fit to relieve them from their anguish.
These women could not even defend themselves by saying that perhaps it was their husband''s fault and not theirs.
Because unlike in Adhania, the men here had only one woman.
And thus the inability to produce an heir was of course squarely dumped on thedy''s head.
Whereas if the man was allowed to have multiple wives, and none of them could bear fruit, then it would undoubtedly prove that he was the culprit, not her.
And the result of such mistakes did show from time to time in Sybarsis, with those ''special working girls'' somethings bing pregnant.
That would then give rise to another set ofplications.
And thus like this, at the end of the day, it went to show that calling a woman infertile was one of the worst insults one could throw in Sybarsis.
And given the fact that Lord Cassius had done it to Lady Miranda in front of so many people not once but twice, enraged, ashamed, and wounded her.
It was at that point that she then and there decided that she no longer wanted to be with him.
With this decision reached in her mind, Lady Miranda''s thoughts then suddenly became very clear.
No longer was she hindered by the cloud of dismay at her husband and father inw''s betrayal like she had been.
Because to her, they were no longer her kin. But only treasonous traitors.
Detractors who wanted to rece her with her sister.
This could not be allowed to happen.
Which meant, long story short, they had to go!
Yes, Lady Miranda decided the death sentence for her husband and her father inw just like that., at the drop of a hat.
Thedy had already hardened herself once upon learning of her family''s decision to rece her son with Quentin, even if it meant breaking their oath.
And now, with the flipping of her two closest people, the transformation wasplete.
Lady Miranda had managed topletely shed her weak, indecisive self.
And then, as the new Lady Miranda made her first decision, suddenly her eyesnded on therge dagger hanging by the waist of the man next to her, its ornate silverly glint shing past her eyes.
This was standard carry for Alexander, a small weapon to defend in the worst case scenario, very simr to how a modern general carried a handgun.
He did not think he would ever need to, but he did just in case.
And seeing this, who knows why, Lady Miranda suddenly decided to carry the execution out on her own.
She did not know what terrible power caused her to possess such a thought, but she did.
Hence suddenly, at a speed that defied any chance for Alexander to react, he felt his dagger being snatched away from him, as Lady Miranda grabbed the solid metal hilt with all her strength.
And then having obtained her weapon, thedy charged, like a hurricane towards the man, who remained totally unaware of the danger bulldozing towards him.
Lord Cassius in his delirious state only kept on repeating the utterly unspeakable profanities that came to his mind.
And he only stopped when Lady Miranda finally lunged with therge, silver de at him, aiming straight for the heart and making solid contact, as the finely made tool pierced the soft flesh like a hot knife through butter.
This dagger, made of the best steel in the world, tore through the clothes in an instant, broke the skin like it did not exist, separated the tissue and muscles with ease, and then finally came to rest inside the man''s beating heart, who by now only had the power to nced at his attacker with a pale, utterly incredulous look.
"Yo¡ you!" Clutching his chest, with the still stuck dagger, the shock that Lord Cassius experienced was perhaps even more than the pain, as he slumped onto the ground with a heavy thud, dead!
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Chapter 1115 Father And Son
Chapter 1115 Father And Son
"....."
At Lady Miranda''s sudden and lethal attack on her husband, the room suddenly turned deathly silent, as everyone in the room just stood in his ce, shocked and astounded.
None of them had expected this.
They might have envisioned a scenario where the two ''prisoners'' Lord Nn and Lord Cassius suddenly attacked the Pasha and thedy next to him out of rage, and the legionaries were even ready to intervene if that happened, but they were not ready for it to be the other way around, for a wife to kill her husband¡this was a first for them all.
And it was to the point that it seemed to them that the amount of incredulous things these men had seen just today might be more than all the things they witnessed in their lives.
And these veterans had seen a lot, from fighting camels to shooting fireballs from catapults to facing charging elephants.
But they had never seen a son kicking his son, or a wife killing her husband.
A husband killing his wife, sure, that was not news, that was a greeting.
But the opposite was very rare indeed.
Thus the men took the time to recover from their shock, and for a time, the only sounding out from the room was Lord Cassius''sbored breathing as hey on the ground next to his unconscious father, therge dagger still embedded into hisrge chest, which had by now turned a wet crimson red.
The enormous loss of blood soon made the man''s face go pale, his lips turning almost white, and his gaze pallid and nk.
Lord Cassius surprisingly did not look back at Lady Miranda who was staring at him from above, a freezing, almost stony look stered on her face.
Whatever emotions thedy was currently feeling, be it shock, anger, regret, relief, or any other, she made sure to hide it deep into the depths of her heart, unreachable to anyone.
For now, Lady Miranda was only content to observe her second husband join her first with a numb curiosity.
While her counterpart''s mind was much more ''critic''.
Because what shed before Lord Cassius were all the sweet recent memories he had with his love, his first andst love.
So the pitiful man reminisced all the times he had spent in thest few days with Miss Linda- talking,ughing, drinking, cuddling, kissing, as well as all the various x rated things she had done with him.
To Lord Cassius, who felt the cold grip of death, that was what most attracted him- thefort of those memories, not the burning hatred of being killed by his wife.
That, somehow to Lord Cassius, actually seemed inconsequential, proving that in his core, he truly was a gentle, caring man.
It was just that he had slipped for a moment, and unfortunately, as luck would have it, that was all it took to cost him his life.
How tragic.
Hence this soft hearted man did not wish thest few precious moments he had on earth to be filled with such acrid thoughts, but instead chose to be swallowed by the sweet nectar of those honeyed memories.
Lord Cassius honestly did not care whether these memories were true or fake, whether Miss Linda truly felt that way about him or was simply using him.
It was immaterial.
They were real to him, and at the end of the day, that was what mattered.
"Linda!" And thus as Lord Cassius drifted away into his eternal slumber, thest word he whispered was this.
It was too soft for anyone in the vicinity to pick up, except for the person towering over him, and her plump, frozen face suddenly shattered and twisted into an ugly, manic repulsed countenance upon hearing it.
Lady Miranda could not believe her younger sister had managed to cast such a deep spell on her husband, that after spending just a few days with her, it was this name that the man chose to utter on his deathbed, and not the one with whom he had shared his bed for thest three, almost four years!
And for a moment, the realization caused a primal urge to rise within her, one that wanted to stomp on the man''s face and crush it under her high heel, all so that he could never speak again.
But fortutanly, Lady Miranda managed to restrain herself from defiling the corpse and only bent down to utch the dagger from the heart, yanking it hard it great intent, and producing a small streamlet at the moment of retrieving it.
"Here! My lord! I hope you did not mind."
And then approaching Alexander with a steady, confident gait, Lady Miranda handed the weapon back in a such. regal, freezing tone.
"...."
Alexander would have to admit, when he saw thedy approach him with the weapon directly pointed at him, a small part of him became alive and alert, just in case this ''not in her right state of mind''dy decided to do something funny.
So he breathed a small sigh of relief when she only coldly returned his item.
And then suddenly found he did not have the exact words to address the act that Lady Miranda had justmitted.
How would he even approach the topic?
''Why did you kill your husband?''
Well, the answer to that one was obvious- he was a traitor who let their most prized captive escape.
Some would even say that such a quick death was actually a blessing for him.
So then the next statement could be, ''We could have used himter.''
Again, that was highly doubtful. Lord Cassius had already confessed to everything he knew, and the man was in general quite ipetent.
So Alexander doubted he knew anything more.
As for the third andst query, which was on the morality of her act, Alexander did not really care.
Given what Lord Cassius had said and done, Alexander even somewhat agreed with what Lady Miranda had done.
If not perhaps the exact method, but certainly the intent behind it.
"What do we do about the water supply, mydy?" Thus instead, thinking quickly on his feet, Alexander decided to engage the still woody Lady Miranda with this topic.
And it proved surprisingly effective.
Producing a subtle nce that seemed to thank Alexander for avoiding the obvious red herring, Lady Miranda made the slightest thin smile run across her shut lips, before speaking in a slightly hoarse, gravelly tone,
"What Lord Parker wants to do is certainly possible. Our drinking water can indeed be cut off as imed.
And At the moment, our best hope is to hope that Uncle¡ that those two were right¡that letting Linda go was enough to show our sincerity and stop the other side from killing us all of thirst."
There was a subtle undercurrent of helplessness in Lady Miranda as she said this, sounding as if she was tired, so very tired.
It seemed all these betrayals had finally been enough to sap her will to fight, and although Alexander missed it, Lady Miranda was slightly shaking all over her body, as the reality of what she had, of how she had stabbed her husband to death was finally dawning on her.
But Alexander was too preupied with his imminent death sentence being written to care about this, as he groaned in his heart, mumbling thement,
"I do not think they were letting Miss Linda leave out of sincerity. I think Lord Parker intended to cut off the water supply anyway and simply sent General Achis as a heads up to them. Asking them to find a way out somehow. So I think all of them were just trying to escape."
Alexander was able to hit the hammer on the nail on his first try, although these words also felt like a sledgehammer to the hearts of the people listening to him.
If what he said was true, when they were truly fucked.
At least with Lady Miranda''s rhetoric, they had a fighting chance. And so many of the soldiers subconsciously had their eyes shift toward thedy, hoping she would offer a strong rebuttal.
Or even just a usible hypothesis.
"......"
But no, there was no such thing!
Because deep inside, Lady Miranda actually agreed with Alexander. Lord Cassius''s confession clearly pointed to that possibility, not what she had imed.
Thus for a while, an ufortable, stuffy silence reigned in the room.
"Hey! Get Lord Nn up! Take him to his room! And wrap Lord Cassius''s body for the funeral!"
Until Alexander decided to change the topic, and quickly twisting his head, he uttered such an order to the surrounding men, hoping to distract them from all these negative thoughts with some work.
"Ye ¡.yes!" And getting the order from their pasha, a few of the men close to the bodies immediately reached down to grab Lord Nn first.
But instantly upon touching him, suddenly one of them cried out in shock,
"My lord! The old man¡ the old lord he has no pulse!"
The im had Alexander''s heart skip a beat while hearing this, the other guard next to him quickly put his hand on the man''s nose, then chest to check
"He is not breathing either!"
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Chapter 1116 Chilling Insanity
Chapter 1116 Chilling Insanity
??"My lord, he is not breathing!"
Hearing the kneeling legionaryment so regarding Lord Nn''s condition made both Alexander and Lady Miranda feel as if they had been zapped and they suddenly became a bit stiff.
The two deaths were not in anybody''s mind when they had first bought the two men.
The original n was to only interrogate them and then if needed, judge them in front of the family, thus disying their breach of trust.
After all that, they could be sentenced, if the need arose.
But as it seemed everything had gone off script.
Lord Cassius was killed by a stab to the heart by his own wife.
And now, Lord Nn seemed to have also departed, dying most probably due to heart failure.
Although impossible to know for sure, Alexander guessed what had most likely happened was that the pain and immense shock of being hit by his son caused the old man''s heart to suffer a stroke, who then passed away right there, under everybody''s eyes.
With none of them being any the wiser as they were all too busy observing all the other spectacles happening around them.
Oh what a tragic way to go.
If they were under better circumstances, Alexander might have been able to rush to help.
"......" Thus for the first moments after hearing of the old man''s demise, Alexander found himself even pitying the old man.
Whatever the man''s faults were, this was not how a respected, well groomed nobleman who had lived for so long deserved to leave the world- with a broken leg, broken chin, and after being struck by both his son and daughter inw.
Thus as he nced at the two pairs of zed and pained eyes, both staring into the abyss, Alexander ruefully asked himself what could have possibly gone through Lord Nn''s mind in thest few moments of his life,
What would a father even think when he was hit by his child?
And how great a pain must have been to have a stroke from it!
Alexander found no answer to such a heartbreaking query, But he was sure that no father deserved to be killed by his son like this.
"Take both the bodies. And prepare them for the funeral."
With the bodies starting to cool, and various wastes beginning toe out of the ears and nostrils Alexander then ordered as such, offering the two corpses their due dignity.
And as this was happening, at the same time he turned to order another group of men who were standing by the window bathing under the orange glow of the setting sun,
"Go inform the entire camp what you have just heard! And tell them sleep for them is canceled for them tonight!"
"They are to immediately start storing as much water as they can, in every container they have! And I am not talking about just the water buckets and barrels, I mean everything they, from the cups to even the cooking pots and pans. Anything that can hold water I want it to be filled with it!"
The soldiers really did not need any encouragement from Alexander regarding this.
They had grown very restless the moment they were informed of the imminent danger.
"Yes!"
Hence the moment they heard the order, they scrambled with swiftness and crity, being more than happy toply.
"Wait! I''m not done!"
In fact, they were so enthusiastic that they did not even wait for Alexander to dismiss them, thus being in clear breach of military discipline, as he had to then call them back.
And remembering this, when they heard the call, the soldiers suddenly paused in fright, but given the extraordinary circumstances, Alexander was not in the mood to punish them.
So instead of a rebuke, they only heard additional institutions,
"Also have the men start digging wells. Dig as many wells as you can¡ all around the ce. Try and find some fresh underground water in this way. There has to be some!"
Although Alexander''sst words sounded more desperate than an actual statement, however using his logic, he reasoned that other than the underground water system, the ground beneath them should also have many natural water reservoirs.
All these would have to exist no matter what, by the naturalws, and so the real question was whether the amount unearthed would be enough to fulfill the needs of six and a half thousand people or not.
And although optimistic, somehow Alexander doubted that they would be.
Because if water underground was abundant, then the Margraves might not have bothered building up an borate and sophisticated water supply to meet their need, especially one that needed regr and expensive maintenance.
But despite all such pessimism, Alexander still gave the order to have his men start rummaging around because a drop of water was better than none.
So he wanted his men to try their luck.
And who knows, perhaps Alexander would be entirely wrong about the whole thing and they will be able to find abundant fresh water underground, untapped and unfound for ages.
The man certainly knew how to dream big.
Now, there was nothing wrong with dreaming, as upon Alexander''s order, the legionaries also began to dream, thinking they had finally found a way out and thus quickly left to carry out these orders, a slight smile hanging on their faces.
And as the men left, Alexander suddenly found himself alone with Lady Miranda, who still had a stony face on her, silently and almost with a numb look observing the whole affair.
It seemed that even water, the very nectar of their survival was unable to currently move thedy.
"......" And so Alexander also found it hard to approach thedy in this state.
Even with both his lifetimesbined, he had never actually talked to ady just after she had stabbed her husband to death, and this unfamiliarity made the man unable to think of a way to break the ice.
Should he sh her thumbs up and congratte her ''Good job! He deserved it.''
Or should he look concerned and ask, ''How are you feeling? Are you okay?''
Was it even okay to ask if someone was ''okay'' who had justmitted homicide?
Or should Alexanderpletely avoid the topic and act like it never happened, going on to speak about apletely different thing?
But then wouldn''t avoiding it make it even eye catching?
"......" Thus, as such myriad thoughts swirled inside Alexander''s mind, for a while, the man could only furtively cast nces at Lady Miranda, like a shy newlywed, unable to talk, but also unable to leave her and exit the room because he thought it would be too rude to let ady who had suffered such a tragedy be left alone.
So it was after quite a while that Lady Miranda herself, sensing the unease, decided to initiate the conversation, turning to face Alexander with a confident gaze and announcing in a soft but chilling tone,
"Pasha Alexander, I want to ask you to capture all the elders here and execute them. The ship of negotiation has sailed. The only way for me to rule the family now is to paint the whole mansion red!"
"...." Alexander''s lips lightly twitched at hearing this.
Was this the first thing they said after killing their husband?
Alexander wouldn''t know, but he had expected some kind of apology somewhere along the lines, ''Sorry, I let my rage get the better of me?'' or something simr.
But there was nothing as such.
Instead, Lady Miranda appeared like a shark.
A predator who had just gotten her first taste, and she seemed to like it very much, so much so that it appeared to be on the hunt for more prey, much more prey.
Thus Alexander evenmpooned to himself, ''Mydy, you really do not need to go full Stalin. There are better ways to rule than simply purging your enemies and sending any detractors to the Siberian gg.''
Alexander did not think Lady Miranda''s mental condition was good.
Because otherwise she would have definitely not given such a destructive order.
Killing all the elders would be a truly foolish thing to do, even if one were to consider taking into ount the running of the family.
If these experienced, heavyweights were truly gone, who was going to run the day to day operation of the family and navigate it through such troubled waters?
Undoubtedly, given the immense perils the ship called the Margraves was facing at sea, they would need very skilled crewmen to steer the boat safely ashore.
Thus even if Lady Miranda was not interested in using them to negotiate, she should have at least considered letting these men live based just on the fact that they were a criticalponent for the Margraves to continue functioning as a coherent noble family.
However, Alexander did not argue regarding all these with her.
Not now at least.
He was clever enough to understand thisdy in front of him was not in any mood to pay heed to reason.
She was enraged, grieving, and in shock.
Thus towards Lady Miranda''s absurd order, Alexander found himself osciting, unable to say yes and definitely not say no.
The man hence found himself sweating bullets.
Chapter 1117 Chilling Insanity (Part-2)
Chapter 1117 Chilling Insanity (Part-2)
??Alexander could not agree to Lady Miranda''s ask both because it was a bad idea as well as the fact that deep down he was still interested in negotiating¡. now more than ever, given the deteriorating circumstances.
But he also could not outright object to Lady Miranda.
Now was neither the right time nor the right ce.
If Alexander were to start advising her now, at best she would call him naive for believing that he could still negotiate.
But much more likely charge at him manically screaming that he was also one of the traitors.
Alexander wanted to avoid both.
So this was a conundrum.
However, thinking quickly on his feet, Alexander fortunately managed to reach a strategy that he thought would likely work.
Thus with a thin smile and an agreeing nod, he first announced his full support for Lady Miranda''s wishes,
"Yes, I too was thinking the same, mydy. With Lord Nn¡ unfortunately passing away, there is little reason to keep the other elders alive. All of them have shown their true color. We will be only wasting our breath at this point. War is the only path forward for us!"
The bellicose and bloodthirsty im managed to bring back some warmth to Lady Miranda''s frosty face, disying her happiness, which then quickly turned a lot more radiant upon hearing Alexander following proposal,
"Also, I propose we kill all the servants we have captured. They are all clearly spies working for Miss Linda, and this is their just punishment for aiding in her flight. Not to mention with this, we will be able to clear the mansion of any such ill bugs. What say?"
It had to be noted that in reality, only a few among those servants were truly working for Miss Linda, while others were simply roped in with none of them being any the wiser.
So their only crime was being colleagues with the traitors, being subordinated to them, or even simply responding to Lord Cassius''s call for help.
"The Pasha speaks the truth!"
However, that mattered not even like the grain of sand to Lady Miranda, for the answer from the other side came as swift as the wind.
In fact, she was so happy with this nned massacre that the woodendy even broke off into a small grin, disying her pearly white, and sparking eyes.
It was a sight that at any other time would have been very beautiful to look at, but now only looked cruel and bloodthirsty, even making Alexander feel slightly repulsed.
The man felt that Lady Miranda was acting like that onedy who was always at the front of a mob, waving her pitchfork and appearing most eager to lynch and burn the witches.
Extremist, he judged her.
And he hoped this was really just a phase and not a permanent transformation.
Because if it was, then they were going to have problems, as dealing with such people was always a pain in the rear.
If you agreed with them, they put you on their shoulders and danced with you.
But if you disagreed, well it was a straight knife to the heart, no hard feelings.
Thus getting what you wanted out of them without enraging them was always a challenge.
One had to be very diplomatic and sly, such as now, where, after havingid all the groundwork, Alexander decided finally spring his trap, happily pping his hand, and grinning,
"Good, then it''s all decided! Mydy, why don''t you go and prepare me a list of all the names you would like¡ liquidated. I do not know all of them so I will have to depend on you."
Saying Alexander then even proposed, "You can also add people you might not like. People who could have slighted you in the past. Basically, anyone you do not like. Hand the list to me by tomorrow morning."
This additional idea naturally got a positive reaction from Lady Miranda, "Hehe, liquidated! Is that word Azhak? Heh heh that is a good one," as she chuckled in glee, instantly understanding its meaning and finding its usage very novel.
''Meat, flesh, blood, all turned into a slurry liquid, heh heh!'' She hummed in her mind, her eyes sparkling at the thought of being able to shed even more blood than she originally anticipated.
The idea very much pleased her newly born, cruel, sadistic side, as with twinkling eyes and wetted lips Lady Miranda quickly spoke up to promise, "I will not never till morning. I will get you the list by supper, my lord."
Dinner was only a few hours away, but Lady Miranda thought it was plenty of time to write all the names she wanted.
Thedy was feeling that energized, her mind working in overdrive.
In fact so energized that she thought she could write the names of all the Margraves'' family members if she so desired.
"No, Give it to me tomorrow morning." However towards this hasty promise, Alexander unequivocally re-stated the earliest deadline, reasoning,
"Mydy has been through a lot today. So sleep and ruminate on everything that has happened. And once you wake up, I am sure you will be able to vividly recall the names of every person who went against you much more clearly. It will be a much moreplete list."
Yes, this was Alexander''s ''grand n.''- To make her go to sleep.
He felt that after suffering shock after shock, betrayal after betrayal, Lady Miranda had finally snapped and it was due to riding on this surge of adrenaline that she was acting so extreme, seeing only red and wanting to make only red.
So the best way Alexander would think to stop her, to un-flip this red switch was to have her go to bed.
Then hopefully, by the time she woke up, she woulde back to her senses.
That was the theory at least.
However hearing this, Lady Miranda felt very displeased. She wanted to kill, maim, and wound now.
So what if she were to miss a few names? It wasn''t like she could not add themter.
Hence she wanted to argue.
But at the end of the day,understanding the ball was totally in Alexander''s court, she decided to only nod and retreat to her room.
While the man watched the lonely figure retreat with a concerned heart.
He really hoped this was not the origin story of the ''Mad Countess'', and noted, ''I should send Nanazin and Lady Parthia to console her sometimeter.''
For now, though, Alexander decided to bring his mind back to the most pressing concern- the water.
So leaving the mansion, he went to quickly check on his men and see how they were faring.
And even from a distance, the pasha could see the entire camp was gripped by a great sense of urgency and uproar.
With evening already descending, the various bright torches and braziers against the pitch ck darkness made all the flurry of activity be much clearer, as literally thousands of men scrambled in all four directions carrying not only various buckets but also many other receptacles while shouting and screaming at the top of their voice, urging everyone to move faster.
Thus as Alexander toured the ce, he saw enormous lines forming around the few avable wells, the queue possibly numbering in the hundreds if not thousands, as the men at the front worked frantically to pump out as much water as they could before it became polluted with seawater.
Hence the men worked the ropes as fast as they could against the soft, orange glow of the fire torches, their rapid speed sometimes even causing them to suffer rope burns even though the greaves they were wearing.
But that seemed to matter little when their lives were on the line.
This was what one group was doing, filling their buckets with as much water as possible.
While the other much bigger group was seen carrying shovels and frantically digging all around the ce like a possessed mole rat, removing the earth anywhere and everywhere their eyesnded, all for the search of that elusive underground stream.
This was to the point that they did not even give one single damn about destroying all the perfectly manicured garden around the mansion, instead working with a zeal and a look in their eyes that would make one think whaty beneath the ground was not water, but the lost city of gold El Dorado.
Thus suddenly the whole ce began to smell of unearthed soil, as heaps of such mounds littered the area, mixed in with all the once pretty shrubs and flowers.
"Alexander! I heard the order! Is it true?"
While on his tour of the camp, at some point, Alexander was by chance spotted by Remus, who came running to him with a very concerned face.
And Alexander quickly nodded to affirm, before recounting a very sinct version of what had happened, choosing to mainly focus on Miss Linda''s escape and its consequences.
"Hmmmm," And hearing it, Remus subconsciously put his hand on the chin, before looking up to suggest, "If it''s just seawater, couldn''t we just boil it to get fresh water? We have a lot of firewood here!"
The young general crazily proposed while pointing to the entire Margraves mansion!
Chapter 1118 Preparations of the Siege
Chapter 1118 Preparations of the Siege
??Until meeting Remus, Alexander was able to tour the camp freely without any distractions since most of the men had not had the time to even register his arrival.
But it took only a few moments with Remus to make the man have all that peace of mind get destroyed.
What Remus basically was suggesting was that since the enemy nned to flood them with undrinkable seawater, then all they would have to do is use heat to boil the waste salt out, thus leaving them with only pure drinkable water.
And vi, with this single simple move, they would be able to foil the enemy''s n.
Remus got the idea after remembering how Alexander made salt back in Zanzan, using exactly this method.
The only difference was there he used coal as fuel, whereas here the young general proposed to use all the wood and timber in the mansion as kindling.
Remus was personally quite pleased with being able toe up with a ''simple yet ingenious'' n.
And as the boy excitedly pointed this out to Alexander, it was to the point that he forgot to call him by his title but called him by his name.
It was something that Remus did out of habit, usually only when he was under stress or very happy, And at this point, he was very much both.
While Alexander''s lips visibly twitched upon hearing the insane idea,pletely forgetting the other minor foible.
Instead, he found himself wondering whether to congratte Remus for his great idea or to p him over the head for being so foolish.
Tear down and use the entire mansion as kindling?
Even Alexander himself did not think he was that crazy and was of half the mind to start scolding Remus for having rotted his brain away.
So for a while, Alexander could only keep staring at the man, unable to give a yes or no answer.
Until the initial shock of the ask began to ebb away and Alexander began to seriously ponder on the ridiculous ask.
And when he did that, shifting through all the sand to look for the gems, the proposal suddenly did not seem that far fetched.
The physics was there. And it had even been tested by Alexander himself.
So when he thought about it like that, he found that there was nothing holding him back in terms of feasibility, both the theory and the know how were there.
Thus reaching this conclusion, Alexander''s eyes suddenly began to twinkle and his heart felt ecstatic.
And he could not help but turn to look at Remus with very appreciation in his gaze.
As they say, the difference between stupidity and ingenuity was a very thin line and Remus had straddled it real fine.
However, Alexander did not start singing his praises just yet, afraid that there might be some devil in the deatil that he overlooked.
Instead, putting on a thoughtful face, he turned to promise Remus, "Okay, let me see what I can do! This sounds very promising."
And this was enough for the young general to hear.
So Remus only revealed a pleased nod and left it at that.
Since Alexander said he was going to look into it, then it was now his headache, Remus had already done his job.
With the ''greeting'' covered, Remus''s conversation then became somewhat technical, as he turned to describe the state of the camp, how the men were feeling, their food stocks as well as a rough estimation of how much water they might be able to realistically store.
Axx was naturally very interested in all this, especially thest statistic, so he listened attentively to it all.
And ording to Remus, it was estimated they would be able to get enough water tost perhaps one month to maybe two months at a stretch if they very strictly rationed it.
This value was calcted based on the fact that when they hade from Zanzan to Caira, they had brought with them 3 weeks'' worth of drinking water.
And now, it was theserge empty barrels that they were in the midst of being refilling first.
Then add all the other personal water storing receptacles, such as the pails, pots and pans, and buckets each legionary was issued for various uses, Remus got another two weeks as a rough estimate.
This got them to five weeks, and if the men''s water were to be rationed to half their usual intake as a way to maximize their survival, well you get 10 weeks, or a bit over 2 months.
Remus chose to underestimate rather than overestimate in his calctions, due to several reasons, such as general caution, taking into ount any idental spills, greater usage of water than anticipated, and even the simple fact that Lord Parker might turn off the water supply before they could fill their reserves to the maximum capacity.
And after showing all this, Remus ended by saying,
"Luckily we are in winter. So it won''t be a problem to even half the man''s water. They can cope. But if it was summer¡. even a month might have been too optimistic."
Alexander could not help but slightly shiver hearing this. and it was not due to the cold, chilly wind swirling around him.
No, as a matter of fact, he actually loved the wind that had just picked up, as he thanked the gods that the season was fully in his favor.
Without the biting cold, there was no way Alexander could not have even contemted the thought of cutting the men''s water supply in half.
You could cut a soldier''s food and they would be able to live with it mostly without too much trouble.
Maybe there would be some grumble and they would mostly bear through it least for the first few days, especially if that soldier was garrisoned and did not need to march.
However do the same with water, and you would be a fool not to expect extreme discontent, if not an outright mutiny.
Thus Alexander was very thankful that he would be able to order most of his men to simply wrap themselves up and huddle together in front of the fire, seeking warmth more than water.
If it had been summer, he would have seriously considered surrendering.
And it was also something he did bring up with Remus, whispering in a hushed voice, "Remus! What do you think? About all this? How will we be able to win from this?"
Yes, although Alexander always made sure to put on a very confident facade in front of everyone, but deep inside, he too was afraid about the deteriorating situation.
Alexander would frankly admit to himself he could not see a way out of this kerfuffle at the moment.
And how could he? The whole world seemed to be currently against him.
So he turned to one of his closest confidants to look for advice.
And who knows, perhaps like the idea of desalinating the seawater, here too Remus would be able to offer a surprising insight.
The boy was usually quite bright when it came to military affairs.
"...."
But s, there was no such convenient luck here.
Towards Alexander''s expectant gaze, Remus could only turn around to give him a weird, almost perplexed look.
It was like he was saying, ''I don''t know! This is your problem. I am only amander.''
Alexander''s heart lurched a bit at this, but he did not push it, nagging Remus to think of a strategy.
Instead, he chose to drop the entire thing there, not wishing to bring up the taboo matter of surrender anymore.
He did not want to give Remus or any of the surrounding soldiers this idea.
Especially when even now, despite the difficult circumstances they were put in, there was no voice uttering this shameful word.
Not even in hushed murmurs.
And seeing his men''s great show of strength greatly bolstered Alexander, so he cleverly avoided setting off thisndmine.
Instead, he left his men to continue the good work, with hisst parting words to Remus being the strict institution,
"Be careful that you do not ration the water too much. Various diseases and even gues will break out if the men are too weak and filthy. Winter is a time for disease as you know."
"So make sure to enforce strict hygiene in camp and order every man to take a bath at least every other day. Or if it is too cold and that is not possible, have them at least regrly wipe themselves over with a wet towel. The sea is right there. And you do not need drinking water to clean yourself."
Alexander knew the cold and dry temperatures were the favored climates of some very dangerous pathogens and so tried to minimize the risk as much as possible by the use of copious amounts of water.
Which by itself was not a rarity for Alexander, only the drinkable kind.
"Yes!" And being aware of Alexander''s expertise in medicine and diseases, Remus took the assignment very seriously, thus producing a swift salute to see Alexander off.
And as Alexander''s men worked their butts off to store as much water as they could, the pasha returned to the mansion to check up on the concerned parties.
Chapter 1119 A Ray of Light
??Alexander would first go on to inform the two queens of today''s events, revealing the entire uncut version over dinner.
It was only the three of them as Lady Miranda had decided to skip the meal saying she was feeling too tired, while the rest of the mansion was put on full lockdown, to the point that none of the Margraves were allowed toe out to even relieve themselves.
Hence Alexander could take his sweet time revealing all that had happened and that predictably got a shocked cry from both of them.
They had of course seen and heard the enormousmotion, and although they were able to gather bits and pieces from their maids asking the passing guards, neither of them was able to get the full picture and so never even thought the situation was this dire.
A husband having immoral rtions with his sister inw and wanting to elope, a son hitting and killing his father, and then a wife killing her husband, all in the span of a day.
"*Sigh*, to think such a thing would happen¡." Lady Nanazin ruefully shook her head upon hearing the two deaths.
While Lady Parthia, was more concerned about Lady Miranda''s change, i.e.- her going cuckoo and wanting to dye the mansion in blood, and so posed with a bitter look on her face,
"Is my lord afraid Lady Miranda might not be¡ well?"
The wisedy had skillfully avoided using the word ''mad'' to describe Lady Miranda''s current state, as personally, Queen Parthia thought thedy of this house to have a pitiable fate, having to go through so many cruel trials.
And she thought this even whenparing Lady Miranda to herself, who was a defeated queen of a now destroyed nation.
Lady Parthia still thought she had it better.
While Alexander turned to gently nod, "Yes! The disaster she has suffered one after another if such quick session has strained the gooddy''s facilities to its utmost. So I was thinking that both of mydies might be able to console her in her time of loss. Be with her."
The proposal received an instant nod from Lady Nanazin, "Of course! That is only natural," as the eyes of this Queen began to sparkle.
This was the first time Alexander had asked anything from her, so of course thedy was very excited, feeling very determined not to let him down no matter what.
The same unfortunately could not be said about Lady Parthia, who too nodded to Alexander''s ask, but with much less crity.
She instead seemed much more interested in the most concerning matter of all i.e. the entire mansion being threatened with death by thirst.
And thus she turned to inquire about the current state of the war.
"My lord, it seems we have been cut off from both food and water, how do you exactly wish to win the war? I know you have asked for reinforcements, but do you know if they will be on time? What happens if they don''t?" The beautifuldy charged Alexander, and before he could make something up, proposed,
"We seem to be outnumbered, trapped, caged, and very quickly running out of options. Have you considered surrendering?"
As expected of the wife of an aplished warlord, she was able to instantly and urately point out all of Alexander''s vulnerabilities.
And while this might sound very trivial, usually women of this time had almost zero knowledge about warfare.
So Lady Parthia''s show was certainly very impressive.
Although Alexander would not have minded if she was a bit dumb here as currently, he found himself tongue tied.
What Lady Parthia said was all true.
Food and water were getting scarcer by the day.
Cambyses''s reinforcements were still a few months away given the winter season and the rough seas, while Lord Janus seemed to be taking his sweet time getting here
All while Lord Parker was sharpening his de right above Alexander''s neck.
The situation was truly concerning for Alexander, as he had confided to Remus in secret.
But revealing it to him was one thing.
Here, in front of the two queens. Alexander knew he could not reveal such weakness.
He was the pasha, themander in chief, he had to always look confident.
So he was just about to make up a story of how he was working on a grand n and how everything was alright, when suddenly, as if sensing this, and not wanting Alexander to waste his breath, Lady Parthia chimed up to suggest on her own,
"My lord, why don''t we consider seeking help from the Kaiser family? Or better yet, even from the barbarians north of the ind. Promise them somend in turn for their aid."
And Alexander''s heart instantly fluttered upon hearing this.
He had not considered this. Alexander had struck the Kaiser family off the list of helpers long, long ago, because he thought bringing their attention to this would be like inviting a tiger to drive away the wolf.
It would be pointless.
The meat called the Margraves would simply go from one ducal family to another, leaving Alexander still with nothing at the end of the day.
Not to mention, Lady Miranda would likely never approve of shaking hands with the same people who were the very reason they were in this mess.
However, if it were the barbarians who lived in the northern swamps of the ind who were to be their rescuers, well that was a very different matter.
These people were most likely weak and allyless, which was why they were pushed away to live in such bad terrain.
Meaning Alexander felt much more confident in being able to ''deal'' with them, both literally and metaphorically.
He figured that he could promise these oppressed mend just as Lady Parthia proposed, and then depending on how it all went, he could decide what he wanted to do.
Be it whether he wanted to stick to his word, break it, or simply allow time and circumstances to develop in such a way that they got into conflict with each other eventually.
Then once that happened, Alexander would be able to drive them back while also having the moral high ground.
Alexander even took into ount that although Lady Miranda might have disdain and derision for these barbarians, she would not hate them like the Kaiser Family, or Governor Strauss.
So she could most likely be cajoled to join.
And even if she did not join instantly, Alexander was sure he could convince her to get abroad by, such as promising to betray the barbarians after they had fought off the Heeat family forces for them.
It was a win win.
Thus whilst taking into ount all this, the man suddenly began to find Lady Parthia''s idea a great proposal, and could not help but ce a very appreciative look on the one who made it.
Alexander was forced to concede that when it came to warfare and fighting against the odds, this Tibain Queen was the most experienced of the three, having dealt with simr circumstances many times in her life.
And her expertise really showed here.
"Thank you for your great insight, mydy. I will seriously ponder and act on it." Thus Alexander had a very soft tone to his voice as he made the promise, much to the jealousy of thedy next to her.
Lady Nanazin very much saw the other part as her sworn rival, and seeing her so easily earn her man''s favor when she was yet to even start stoked the fires of her heart.
A fire that Alexander would have to doucheter that night with some steamy activities, which was asionally juxtaposed with intervals of thedy informing him of her aplishments with Lady Miranda.
The twodies had apparently found thedy of the house to bepletely normal and thus drew the conclusion that there was no need for Alexander to worry.
The man felt relieved.
While Alexander was in his room, taking a small respite, his men kept up the hard endeavor till the break of dawn, working without taking a single break, or even feeling particrly fatigued.
It seemed the iing imminent disaster was enough to drive away any such ill effects, to the point even if Alexander had ordered them to sleep, they might not have been able to.
And their efforts certainly paid off to an extent, as they managed to fill their capacity to arge percentage courtesy of the thousands of hands at work.
As well as being able to find quite a few undergrown water resources, although the depth and size of these reserves still remained unknown.
But just the sight of flowing water was enough to get the soldier''s mood soaring, and so perhaps that was a blessing from these reserves on their own.
It was amidst this chorus and chaos that dawn began to break and while the men were still working, the moment of truth atst came.
True to Alexander''s prediction, after a bit of diplomatic back and forth at the front lines, the water to their camp was indeed cut off, and then a whileter it began to taste salty.
The siege had entered its final and most deadly phase
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1120 Sources of Water
??Lord Parker would send a messenger the very next morning towards Alexander''s lines, who woulde bearing a white g on a luxurious horse, urging the legionnaires that they should surrender or they would have their water supply cut off.
This man, most likely a noble given how well dressed he and his horse were, addressed the men on the walls as such,
"Men from distantnds! Surrender!"
"You have fought well, but my lord is the master of your provisions. He has control over your food. He has control over your water. He has control over your fate. Surrender! There can be no hope for you. Surrender! And all of you will be treated ordingly."
Despite the boisterous words and bold im, the man was of course rebuked, with the answer being given only in the form of a shot from one of the crossbows thatnded urately just a few paces short of his horse.
He hade here to demand an unconditional surrender from Alexander but this was not eptable in any way, despite the dire straits they found themselves in.
And the legionaries let the man clearly know that.
Then in retaliation, true to their word, the water tap to the mansion was indeed turned off.
Large stones were quickly rolled over to block the sections leading to the mansion, thus diverting the water to other channels and drying the part up, which was then flooded with seawater to pollute any remaining water.
This was all done under Lord Bernard''s supervision, who had his workers dig day and night to create a brand new passage to the underground structure, one that led straight to the sea.
Which was then connected to the existing ''pipes'', allowing it to contaminate the existing stock!
Alexander''s men could even detect the exact moment this was done, as the color of the water in the wells visibly changed, going from pristine clear to off white and cloudy.
Then it only took a single lick of the new liquid for them to confirm the pollution, as they could only spit out the horrendously salty liquid in absolute disgust.
With Lord Parker having yed his trump card, the conflict once again descended into a stalemate.
Because much to his chagrin, Alexander did not surrender ''before the sun goes down'' as Lord Bernard had optimistically predicted.
No.
In fact, many suns went down and then came up, and then down again, yet the hopeful Lord Parker received no messenger from the other side bearing the white g.
The event caused great dissatisfaction in Lord Parker, as the young lord was sick and tired of this boring siege and wanted to be done with it here and now.
He had grown very impatient by the whole affair and longed to grasp his prize, especially when it was so close to his fingertips, to the point it seemed he could just touch it.
Thus the dragging out of this affair made him all the more infuriated.
And feeling as such, Lord Parker mostlyshed out this irritation on Lord Bernard, using him of overpromising and under delivering, while the man naturally spent the following days in great anxiety.
He had not been trying to decieve Lord Parker when he had made that im.
He truly believed that Alexander would not be able tost past maybe one day without water.
Which indeed would have happened under normal circumstances.
It was just that Alexander had found more sources of water that the man still remained unaware of.
Hence Lord Bernard found himself having to spend the following days mostly uttering vows and assurances such as the following, "My lord, that Alexander cannot hold for now long. He is in hisst legs. Surely! Believe me, just a few more days and he wille begging," as he tried to cate the irritated ducal lord.
But when Alexander inevitably overcame these days without kneeling, it only worked to discredit Lord Bernard even more and thus fracture the goodwill the two men had for each other even more.
While observing the entire affair from afar, the general of the army Achis could not help but have a mixed feeling.
Sure, seeing Lord Bernard get bashed andmbasted always felt good. But at the same time, a small part of him could not help but also want this tactic to seed, so that all this could finally end and they were able to pack up and go home.
And perhaps it was thinking this that Achis did not go add fuel to the fire, but instead even dropped subtle hints for Lord Parker to exercise patience.
Had it not been for that, Lord Bernard might have had to truly fear for his life.
But with this, the man was given a precious lifeline, while both Lord Parker and Alexander settled in for the long haul, each side starting to hedge that it would be the other one to snap first.
Either Alexander would run out of water, or Lord Parker would run out of patience.
Hence the following days went mostly without seeing much outward action from either side.
However, that did not mean there was no action going on inside the camps. On the contrary, both sides could be said to be a flurry of activities.
The events concerning Lord Parker have already been discussed- ming Lord Bernard followed a lot of waiting.
While Alexander''s side could be said to be juggling a lot more things.
His men for instance, found themselves acquiring their drinking water from three sources- the stored stockpiles, the underground reserves, and desalinated seawater.
Among these three, the discovered reserves proved to be a mixed blessing.
Some of them were extremely swallow and quite dirty, bubbling up mud and grime after only the first few pumps.
It seemed in those instances, only the top thinyer was clean.
While other sources proved much more fruitful, providing deep clean refreshing water, reassuring the fighting men very much.
Although even those sources had their limits.
Because the fundamental fact was that the dry winter season meant such water stocks were by nature in scarce supply.
Hence Alexander''s fears regarding the essibility of such water hade indeed true, or at the very least half true.
While the third method, i.e.- Remus''s desalination idea proved to be a bust at the end of the day.
The physics there was solid, don''t get me wrong, and Alexander did set up huge cooking pots over enormous fires to get the now salinated ''well water'' well and truly bubbling, using timber from the various abandoned sections of the house to fuel it.
And to collect all the produced vapor,rge clothes were draped over the mouth of these pots, soaking them wet in the process, which would then be wrung out to get ''clean'' drinking water.
Of course, it did not take a genius to figure out just how ''clean and desirable'' such water would be.
Even if chemically pure, water extracted in this way had a strong ''cloth'' aftertaste to it that even the draft animals found distasteful, forget the humans.
But if that was the only case, then perhaps Alexander would have continued despite the drink''s many undesirable traits.
After all, when the alternative was dying out of thirst, a little ''bad tasting'' water was hardly the deal breaker.
However, even when boiling enormous quantities of water for days, Alexander was only able to get a small bucket of clean water from each pot, as the simple matter of fact was that the primitive process being used here was just too inefficient.
Alexander guessed that he needed to scale the entire thing up many times over to make it viable.
Just like they did in modern desalination nts, with much greater volume, much greater automation, and certainly much better condensation techniques.
Hence after a few days, Alexander abandoned this idea and instead asked the men to start collecting all the snow around them and melting that down to get clean drinking water.
This proved to be a much better source, especially given snowstorms and blizzards became much moremonce as the year entered itsst month- December.
The weather tended to enter its most chilly extreme during this month here.
And this usually painful time now proved to be a great boon to the soldiers who were able to easily collect heaps and heaps of the stuff, as it would pile all over the ce, to the point they had to use not just buckets, but enormous wagons to collect it.
Thus over the following days, this task was divided as such that each squad (10 men) would usually have a dedicated team of two to three people shoveling the snow onto a cart pulled by their mule, which could then be melted down back at their tent, strained and filtered to remove any grime and dirt, and then mixed with a few drops of vinegar to give it a tangy taste.
Then it would be bottoms up.
The warm water actually tasted quite nice in the freezing weather, and this novel way of getting water also meant the men were idling, thus giving them something to take their minds off the grim situation, as they were able to joke and chat to pass the time.
Chapter 1121 Slice of Caira
??Alexander watched the currently ongoing blistering snowstorm safe from his room in the mansion with a pleased heart.
Because as stated in this report from Remus that was in his hands, the men were able to get most of their water needs from the snow deposited by this storm, about two thirds of it, while the remaining was able to be filled by the water from the newly dug wells.
This meant that Alexander was able to keep his stock of stored water in its entirety intact, while at the same time, the men had unrestricted ess to their drinking water, thus raising morale in camp very high.
It was a win- win.
And with this, it seemed Alexander had managed to at least mitigate some of the effects of Lord Parker''s strategy, even if he could not outright ovee it.
While his men were busy earning their living as such, Alexander could not unfortunately kick back and enjoy the show from his room.
He had wished that with winter settling in at full force, he would be able to find himself with a lot of free time in his hand, there being little to do other than wait for his reinforcements to arrive.
But much to his chagrin, Alexander found himself burdened with his own type of work.
There were many tasks inside the mansion that needed his attention.
The most pressing of which talks with Lady Miranda.
The topics there involved mainly three things- what to do with the Margraves members in the mansion, what about the reinforcements that Lord Janus promised, andstly the most important one of all- asking for outside help, be it the Kaiser family, Governor Strauss, or the northern barbarians.
And here, to reveal the bad news first, it seemed that Lady Nanazin was wrong about her judgment of Lady Miranda.
Thedy had indeed gone a bit mad.
Or perhaps mad might not be the correct word.
It would be more urate to say Lady Miranda had be a bit too assertive, following through with whatever she said no matter if it made sense or not.
It was almost like she was trying to ovepensate for her earlier indecisiveness by being too decisive.
At least that was what it seemed like, as despite several days of rest, the names on her list did not decrease, despite Alexander''s urgings.
Sure, there were some banal subtractions, such as of some maid who might have looked at her wrong, or one of her distant cousins making a rudement about her figure, but these people were small fries not even worth a second look in either Alexander''s or Lady Miranda''s eyes.
Their inclusion or exclusion made absolutely no difference.
The people whose lives did make a difference though received no leniency from Lady Miranda.
And this was despite hours of Alexander trying every trick in the book to get thedy to reconsider.
He told and re told her about the importance of these people to her and her family, their irrelevance in any plot with her, the neutral nature of their existence- meaning they swung whichever way the winds blew and even just asked her to simply postpone the macabre event to ater date after they had won the battle.
During all these, Alexander had even figuratively gotten on his knees to plead,
"Forgive them for now! Show them you are a benevolent ruler who knows how to forgive her retainers even after they havemitted a crime. Show them you are better than Miss Linda. Win them over with kindness."
"This will surely help you get the family on your side. Especially now that Lord Nn is not there to scramble things from the inside. We need them¡ now more than ever."
"And if they choose to be ungrateful even then¡ well then you would be within all your rights to kill them."
However Lady Miranda remained unyielding and absolutely adamant, constantly repeating,
"*Snort*, No! They are rebels. Snakes that willsh out the moment they get the chance. What use should I have for them? All they do is smile in front of me while plotting behind my back. They will only work to hinder me. I don''t need them."
It seemed that these men had betrayed thedy one too many times, and thus burned thest of the bridges.
The obstinatedy was hence determined to go solo, preferring to have no friends rather than fake ones.
Which Lady Miranda perfectly reiterated to Alexander, and then finished by swinging her arms and dreadfully chiming,
"Since Lord Pasha wants to kill them anyway, then it is better to kill them now thanter. We should not dy good things. And that way I can start looking for loyal people to fill those posts right away. It will make things much faster."
Thus it was made clear to Alexander that thedy was dead set on cleaning the house.
She would not raise these snakes no matter how much their perceived worth might be, as she atst unequivocally dered to Alexander, "I will not speak about anything else until those old farts are dead."
Alexander of course did not agree with Lady Miranda''s assessment and felt she was being too hasty. Even if she wanted to kill them, she did not need to do it right here, right now, as Alexander pointed out clearly to her many, many times, over and over, asking her to have patience and be more strategic about it.
But it was all ought.
"...." And Alexander certainly found himself frustrated by this officious disy, as he swore to himself, ''Who is actually the powerhouse here¡ her or me?''
Given how Lady Miranda was acting, you would think she was the one with all the army and the men, while Alexander was just a househusband.
Not the other way around.
And it got to the point that he felt like reminding her that, it was him who was the one in charge here, not her.
But for the sake of being allies and getting along, as well as the fact that he thought thedy was still in grief, he restrained him.
However, that also meant that over the following days, Alexander would find these talks with Lady Miranda that went nowhere extremely frustrating, to say the least.
One side wanted blood, while the other wanted to wait, and so none of them budged.
And by the end, the only reason he did not flip out on her and started calling her names such as crazy or a lunatic was because he had Lady Nanazin to vent.
Given the season and situation, the Adhanian Queen had little else to do other than spend her time with Alexander, so she could always be there to let the man vent, both physically and mentally.
Lady Nanazin would always be there to lend the man her ear as Alexander would angrily recount all the futile talks he had with Lady Miranda, with Lady Nanazin just sitting them, drinking copious amounts of wine while nodding like chicken at everything he said, "Right!", "Mmmmhh", "Ohh gosh!", "No! How could she?" "She should not have done that", and many such titudes.
This was the mental venting.
While the physical venting did not really need to be borated.
With little more to do than tiresome meetings and waiting, Alexander decided to entertain himself with really the only way the people knew how to in this time period- by being intimate.
And the curvydy was of course more than happy toply, spreading her legs whenever and wherever her master wanted.
After Miss Linda''s escape, the measures Alexander ced to prevent such repeats were undoubtedly draconian.
Thus it suddenly made the huge ce appear very empty, making the duo feel as if they had the whole ce all to themselves.
Hence the two quickly made the ce their oyster, as Lady Nanazin made sure to service her man in every way she knew how, there to cater to every whims and desire of her man.
Alexander thus found himself swimming in a pool of debauchery as the Adhanian Queen let the man have free reign to all her facilities.
Among all of his he particrly loved to use her mouth whenever he wanted, be it their room, an abandoned part of the corridor, or while they were showering, as Alexander would ask Lady Nanazin anytime anywhere to open her warm cavern and invite his hot, swollen meat in.
And no matter the ce, the Queen would readily kneel, spread her legs, and then sometimes even tantalizingly lift her long gown to let Alexander relish the look of her healthy, meaty thighs, and offer a slight glimpse of her underwear, the light, and dark shades working to create a mesmerizing pattern.
She would sometimes even giggle the joke, "If master can guess the color of my underwear, you can even make me walk around the house without it for the whole day."
Before drinking the hot stuff down in one go!
Of course, if Alexander wanted, he could have made Lady Nanazin walk around the housepletely naked without any clothes, not just her underwear, and the madly in love Queen would have undoubtedly obeyed.
But that was not the point.
The point of it was to y a fun game.
Chapter 1122 Slice of Caira (Part-2)(R-18)
??Chapter 1122
As Alexander waited for things to turn better, Lady Nanazin made to be always ready and willing tofort her man, be it kneeling,ying, bending over, or taking any other of the hundred different positions her young and virile master oh so desired.
She was always but a moment''s notice away from heeding his orders.
And the man certainly took full advantage of it, mating almost anywhere and everywhere in the entire mansion, in many ces that would even be usually too taboo to do these things, such as the dining table or the guestroom, all made possible by the fact no one allowed to move around the ce freely.
Thus they were able to do many things that no normal couple did.
Among as such games, what was perhaps Alexander''s favorite game was that he would ask Lady Nanazin to get under the huge table of his study while he was working, and tell her to keep him ''focused''.
Of course, it did not need to be said how.
That ask would also always get a little giggle of amusement from Lady Nanazin, as it was obvious such a distracting act would be the very opposite.
But thedy would of course always be willing to obey.
Because she could clearly see it was something Alexander really loved- to see her sitting meekly between his legs, rhythmically bobbing her head up and down, while asionally lifting her jet ck eyes to give those soul stirring nces from below.
Or at other times, especially even he had officerse to him with various reports, Lady Nanazin would start to lightly nibble at his organ as a way to try and trip him, pressing her well formed teeth onto his ns, bitting on his balls or even pulling and twisting on his foreskin to make him cum.
Whenever Lady Nanazin did these, Alexander would have to grit his teeth like life depended on it, sometimes even biting into his lower lips, a phenomenon that was of course noticed by his men, who would naturally ask if everything was okay.
And that inquiry would somehow work to only heighten the pleasure as it made Alexander more aware of what they were doing, increasing the sensation of immortality.
There was the queen of a nation kneeling under the table, and obediently sucking him off, while he conducted regr meetings with so many of his men, as if nothing was going on.
Thus there were not just only a few times when Alexander was pushed over the edge during such ministration, forced to release in front of everyone unbeknownst to any of them, as he filled thedy underneath him up with his lovely musky scent, the salty taste and most precious of all, the so very thick, white turbid liquid, and making the air have a very subtle, but undoubtedly telling smell.
Lady Nanazin of course loved this, especially when she was able to make Alexander do it while a meeting was going on.
Although she would then have to work very hard not to release a loud slurping noise or a giggle of glee because she knew despite all their amorous trysts in so many ces, Alexander was at heart a conservative man, who would never show his women off to other men.
A bit of outdoor fun and games was okay, the thrill of getting caught was part of the enjoyment.
But at the end of the day, Lady Nanazin knew if these officers were to really find out what was going on, this y would immediately stop.
Alexander would be too embarrassed.
Thus to make sure that did not happen, Lady Nanazin was always very careful not to make too much noise, and most of the time when Alexander was released, she made sure to take the whole thing in and swallow.
Even though, one of Lady Nanazin''s favorite acts was to have Alexander paint her face with her release, finding the feeling of the warm gooey liquid and the strong, particr stench almost addicting.
In fact, she wanted it all over her body, to bathe in Alexander''s scent.
And in that endeavor, she would also tempt Alexander to y with her other body parts, such as her soft breasts and much more alluringly her sleeping nipples
It had to be remembered that Lady Nanazin had inverted nipples and thedy especially liked it when Alexander yed with them.
This he usually did while making Lady Nanazin sit on hisp, and skewering her, as Alexander would then use his strong hands to roam around her breast from behind, his fingers tracing over her sakura buds, tickling her, and then having his nails dig into the inverted cavern to forcefully pull the turgid but shy buds out.
This forceful extraction would always cause thedy to shiver uncontrolled, followed by a white sh of release in her mind as she woulde, thebined assault on her front and rear, being too much for even the experienceddy to bear.
All this was of course not to mention that during this Alexander would always make sure to whisper various naughty and teasing words into her ears, such as
"You shiver so deliciously whenever I trace my fingers over your nipple. Ahh, how I wish to tease you even more."
"I love ying this game. It''s like an exotic game of hide and seek. Pulling out your nipples is so fun."
"Tell me, how did you feed your daughter with these kinds of breasts?" And
"Should I pierce your nipples with some kind of nipple ring? To stop it going back? What design would you like?"
Lady Nanazin would usually moan erotically at such lovely nothings, unable to do little except let out incessant moans while the man pried her insides open to enormous proportions, thus making her lose herself in the pleasure.
But towards thatst suggestion, thedy would show a great deal of interest, very enthusiastically chiming, "Whatever design pleases you master. I would love to wear anything that pleases you. Please mark me as yours!"
And Alexander did think seriously about tagging her like this, to make her his own, imagining how it would feel like to pull the sleeping buds out of their shell by just tugging at the chain dangling off of them. It was a very scintiting thought, the sight of those golden rings dangling from there, and the kind of moans she would elicit when pulled
It quickly made Alexander be hard.
"Okay. Once we get back to Zanzan." Thus the man affirmed as such, and he would never forget the squeak of joy he had received in return.
After dying the mouth, and the breasts in white, Lady Nanazin would naturally have onest thing to take, her fluffy ass, and it too was almost taken almost every way imaginable.
Standing, sitting, on all fours, hot dogging, spanking, you name it.
But among all these, Alexander''s favorite position was to have the abundantdy bent over hisp in nothing but her lingerie, it.
But among all these, Alexander''s favorite position was to have as he yed with her genitals to his heart''s content.
With the regal Queen''s ass high up in the air, Alexander would trace his finger along the pink slit, kissing and licking it, pinching and prodding it, teasing and exploring it, and generally driving thedy to her peak.
And the same would ur to her pink puckered hole, where Alexander made sure to evenment in perfect detail about the shape and once even counted the exact number of wrinkles there, much to thedy''s mortal shame.
Such close inspection was novel for Lady Nanazin despite all she had experienced.
And she would regrly cry out in shame, "Nooo! Ahhh, Alexander, please not that. Ahhh, you can see everything."
But Alexander would only strongly p her butt, "Don''t move! Or I will have to start counting all over again," as he would trace his fingertips tenderly over the soft, pink flesh, sometimes scratching the wrinkles, before inserting a finger in and chuckling, "And what are you feeling embarrassed about when you are hole is puckering on and off like this? Say Directly support the authors on WebNovel!
it! You wanted to get filled here too!"
Such offers would usually followed by a pleased howl from Lady Nanazin as Alexander would mount her.
Other than these more ''traditional ways'' of enjoying themselves, Alexander also made sure that no ce in thedy''s body was kept hidden from him, no ce untouched, and of course not a single spot untainted by his discharge.
Something that Lady Nanazin would also go out of her way to ensure, being more than happy to let Alexander release in all sorts of different, novel ways.
Such as using the back of her knees to dye her thighs and legs, the curvydy coiling her legs around his dragon in a soft, sensual cuddle.
Or by using her soft fluffy ass to release on herrge nks and smooth back.
Or making thedy kneel with her hands behind her head and use her soft armpits to dirty that elusive ce.
Andstly have her curly hair wrapped around his spear and cause stings of white goo to cascade from her locks.
They did it all.
And all while thedy let out loud pleased sensual moans with abandon.
Chapter 1123 Battle For Phyrros Island (Part-1)
??It was amidst such leisurely recreations that Alexander finally received correspondence from Lord Janus through a messenger bird, letting them know of his close proximity.
And Alexander breathed a huge sigh of relief, as he recalled the promise of 5,000 men made by Lady Miranda, their imminent arrival setting his heart at ease.
However, before Alexander could get to celebrating, like it had happened many times before, he was hit with a dilemma.
And that was that, Lord Janus''s ship could not enter either of the harbors without Alexander taking control of the Phyrros Ind.
This ind was a small bit ofnd situated perhaps not more than 200 hundred meters from the maind, and so sat right at the very center of the harbor, around the mouth.
It used to have a lighthouse and a military garrison, but after the tsunami a few years ago, all of that got demolished and was now mostly abandoned.
We say mostly because the infrastructure was still in the midst of being repaired.
So there was some military presence there.
Meaning they were in the range of hitting Lord Janus''s ships with arrow fire.
Thus Alexander''s heart groaned in pain as he read the message on the tiny scroll, where, despite the limited space,Lord Janus, still took the time to inquire whether Phyrros Ind was safely and securely under Alexander''s control.
As iterated there, without the control of that ind, Lord Janus''s ships would be undoubtedly peppered with arrow fire from Lord Parker''s forces, making it impossible for him to enter the harbor.
Thus ording to the old man, it was imperative that Alexander took control of the ind before he coulde any closer.
And learning of this extra requirement, Alexander quickly summoned his officers, revealing them to the task and informing them, "As you can see, we must take Phyrros Ind ind from Lord Parker if we are to stand any chance of winning this war. Only with the ind in our hands can the reinforcements reach us."
"Now, the number of enemy garrisoned on the ind is not known. But it cannot be too big. We have all seen how abandoned the ce is. There is nothing there to shield the men from the harsh winter."
"So I estimate at best there are a few hundred unlucky sods who had the misfortune of being ced there. Meaning if we are quick and decisive, we can dislodge them."
Alexander''s optimistic tone and clear analysis worked to alleviate much of the tensions in the room, as the officers began to feel it might not be too hard to carry out an amphibious assault in the dead of winter.
Of course, Alexander was sugarcoating a lot of the things, such as the estimated enemy numbers, which he literally pulled out of the sky because he thought it was the most convenient amount.
Thus, in reality, the proposal was quite hard to pull off.
However Alexander tried to dress these difficult challenges as best as he could, revealing to the men a proposed n that he had just thought of,
"To take the ind, I propose a two pronged attack. We willnd a small force on the east side of the ind right around dawn before the enemy can even wake up, so as to take them by surprise. And then once these men have fortified their position and secured a beachhead, we willunch a naval assault using our ships from the west side of the ind,nding men also there, thus dividing the enemy''s attention in two and catching them in a pincher."
"And with their nks under threat, the enemy will have no recourse but to flee the ind, most probably using the thin bridge that connects the ind to the maind as their escape route. We can then use the choke point there to massacre every single bastard there."
As far as ns went, this was quite a sound idea.
And so with no one to offer anything better, it quickly got rods of approval from the officers and the n was set.
With Lord Janus rapidly closing in, seven ships, carrying about 1,000 men were hastily chosen for this endeavor.
Their mission was tond about 500 men on Phyrros Ind along with a week''s supply of food, water as well as equipment such as tents for the soldiers to rest the night in this cold season, and siege equipment such asrge wooden logs and stakes to use in the building of ramparts and other fortification.
As for the remaining 500 on the ship, they were required tomandeer the boats, help carry the supplies on shore, as well as remain there to provide firing support from afar using crossbows and even small catapults, should the enemy get wind of their movement and try to push the legionaries back to the sea.
The entire task force was to be led by Commander Kazid, who, if you will remember was one of the main actors in defense of Alexander''s lines against Lord Parker''s full fledged assault.
Initially, Remus had shown great interest in leading the party, to the point he was threatening any officer who would even dare to contend with him.
But in the end, he was vehemently rebuked by Alexander, who reminded him that he was the general now and thus his ce was among the troops here, to lead and guide them, not go on risky, naval adventures in the dead of night for the thrill of it.
And yes, instead of dawn, after a bit of revision, the timing of the attack was moved up to pre dawn, because as pointed out by one of the officers the moon was in full bloom in this part of the month.
Furthermore, as luck would have it, the drab and dreary weather of winter had also begun to clear up in the past couple of days, with the skies being no longer overcast with imprably dense clouds, but clean as spick and span, thus letting the warm, glow of reflected sunlight bath the city in conflict in its motherly embrace.
The light and illumination of a fully moonlit night was difficult to imagine for a modern city dweller who had never seen a single night without artificial light.
But it was truly magnificent, so bright that even Alexander could see the details of Phyrros Ind all the back from his bedroom in the mansion.
And so it was on one such auspicious night, under the blessing of an almost full moon that the 1,000 men set off on their journey.
"Lights off! Do not make a peep." Kazid''s officious voice could be heard even through the whisper, as he ordered all the torches andmps in the exterior of the ships be douched, thus asking the captain to navigate only using the moonlit. This was a tremendous ask from any naval officer, as even with a clear moonlit sky, naturally, there would be some parts of the sea that remained hidden.
Shoals, reefs, shallows, and even the fricking shore, all seemed to blend into one onerous being, disabling the human eye from discerning one from the other, such was the spell of the pitch ck night.
Hence it was fortunate that the distance from the Royal harbor to the ind was not more than a few kilometers.
And having already surveyed the sea covertly, by sending small scouting vessels at night to measure the water''s depth and such, the captains of the ship faced little trouble in covering the journey even though they were blind.
The convoy proceeded with a lead ship showing the way, while the rest followed in a single file, slowly and meticulously, all powered by hundreds of strong, able rowers, whose huge wooden panels disced gallons and gallons of seawater with each of the thrusts.
These men, sweating like pigs even in the middle of winter, moved their muscr arms as quickly as well as quietly as they could, all of them being situated on the lowest decks of the ships with only a few dimly lit oilmps as means of sight, as each of them tried their damnedest not to break out into their usual shanties as a way to raise morale.
Until finally, they reached their destination.
The eastern side of Phyrros Ind which was as barren as it was empty, just as their scouting had foretold.
And with all seven ships lined up stern to bow in parallel to the shore, all of them began to unload their cargo at once.
Meaning all the men, d in full gear jumped off the tall ships at theirmander''s order without a single concern, getting themselves soaking wet in this freezing cold winter without any concern, and using the water and the soft sand to cushion theirndin.
This might not sound like much, but in fact, it very certainly was.
Imagine jumping from almost two stories high, with 20 to 30 kilograms of gear on you, and not feeling a single shred of doubt in you.
It took real men to be able to do such a thing.
And these men proved them as such, quickly disembarking from their ships before forming a solid cohesive line formation, and then proceeding ahead to secure the frontlines.
Chapter 1124 Battle For Phyrros Island (Part-2)
Chapter 1124 Battle For Phyrros Ind (Part-2)
??(New Map in Comments/Discord)
Uponnding ashore, Alexander''s legionnaires quickly began to get in formation, lest the enemy were to suddenly be aware and try to attack them in their most vulnerable state.
Thus the soldiers locked their shields and ran forward, trying to secure their positions.
While the camp servants followed up from the rear, carrying all the heavier equipment, such as tents, logs, and stakes on their shoulders.
They disembarked after the soldiers, using the ship''s ropedders to slowly get down, and being careful not to wet their equipment, as many of the things they carried such as cloth, and flint for starting a fire did not mesh well with water.
"Darn, it''s freezing here! How the fuck did our guys jump straight into it without flinching a bit?"
And even when it was just their shoes that got wet, one of them could not help but break out into a curse upon feeling the chilly ocean thrashing against them.
"They got to rub warm oil all over their body." To his query, the man next to him curtly offered this insight, before impatiently mumbling, "Now, get moving. Or Lysads will have our skin. We have work to do."
This was the first time he got to hear of his privilege and the first ve''s eyes went wide,
"Must be nice," as he mused in regret, wishing in his heart that he too got to coat his body in such a cold retarding salve.
Then he would not be shivering in the cold like he was now.
Of course, he very well knew this was a pipe dream within a pipe dream, to have ess to such expensive oil reserved for a lowly man like him, but that did not stop him from hoping.
But he quickly put aside all such ''nonsense'' and instead concentrated on simply bearing through the freezing water and following his partner ashore, all the way consoling himself,
''No Mukdus! Why are you being so ungrateful? We are treated here a hundred times better than what we used to be. Now we have enough food, warm clothes, not much beating, and they even give us a small wage that we can buy ourselves with. My Ramuh! Can you believe it! If old master could saw this, the bastard would likely faint on the spot!''
In this way, the ve named Mukkus learned to count his blessing rather thanment his misfortunes and became a very apt example of what the circumstances of the time looked like when seen through the eyes of a ve.
As he went on to finish by pumping his fist towards his chest and consoling himself,
''I should learn to be more grateful to the gods! It''s just that some things are always given to the free men. This is just how the world works! Remember what father said, those hands that covet too much always get burned.''
The way the man talked to himself really went to show the mindset of the times, where stomping on people would not get a cry of pain and disapproval, but a meek moan of groan followed by a pleased note for not squishing them.
Some would even apologize for being there to be stepped on in the first ce.
It was a dog eat dog world, and where the nobles had done a fantastic job of squeezing out any rebellious fire that might be in the bellies of themon men long, long ago.
For instance, despite having only these fairly innocuous thoughts, Mukdus would be very, very careful about letting anyone know them.
Not that he had time for them anyway at the moment, as quickly reaching ashore, the servants immediately started on construction on the tents and other fortifications, bracing for any would be assault.
Although the chances of thetter happening were rtively low, since the disembarking and following tasks were carried out mostly quietly.
Sure there were some shouts, yells, and hurrahs, to draw attention people''s attention to a ce that needed it.
But fortunately, there was no need to use any loud horns, trumpets, or drums.
Everyone knew what they had to do and performed their workpetently with little noise.
This peacested until the break of dawn when the Heeat family soldiers finally began to wake up from their slumber en mass.
And it was only with the clearing of the night by the dreamy rays of the morning sun that the silhouettes of the legionaries finally began to reveal on the sandy beach and this caused great panic among Lord Parker''s forces.
"Hey! What''s that! Wake up! Wake up! We are under attack!" They shot out in anger and panic, calling out to theirrades with piercing shrills, finally engaging their senses to figure out what was really going on.
And then, upon seeing the exact state of their dilemma,
"Imbeciles! What were you doing?" they cried out in anger towards the guards and sentries, who had been left in charge for the night, tasked with the job of keeping an eye out exactly to prevent such a thing
But it seemed that the cold nights and the cozy nkets proved to be too great an allure, with most choosing to huddle themselves by the fire or even just go to straight sleep.
Such dereliction of duty was a court martiable offense.
But any such punishment could wait.
For now, the garrisoned forces had bigger fish to fry, as hearing the cry of an imminent attack, the men quickly had all their slumber and tiredness kicked out of them and they scrambled to put on their armor and get their weapons as soon as possible.
Before heading out to form a defensive line around the inner perimeter of the makeshift walls, intent on using the tall, wooden ramparts as a bulwark against any iing assault.
If Alexander had better reconnaissance of the ind, and if he had known of the originally weak state of the defenses there, he might have seriously contemtedunching a full fledged night attack on the premises.
And given the then circumstances, it could have very well worked, thus dislodging the entire contingent with one go, and getting him the ind even before dawn broke.
That would have not only saved Alexander a lot of time, but it would have also absolved him of having to go through the troublesome alternative process of conducting aplex amphibiousnding and fighting his way through.
But s, Alexander was a prudent man and never one to take unknown risks.
If it was the daredevilese Remus who was put in charge, he might have gambled it all, as the young boy was that kind of person.
But Alexander could hardly afford to be so caviler, especially when he was already gravely outnumbered and needed every pair of hands he got.
Hence, unbeknownst to the man, this golden chance slipped through his fingers, as Lord Parker''s forces used the time to plug all the holes in their defenses, quickly taking to their stations, and bing ready to defend their positions.
While at the same time, messengers were sent via the bridge to their main camp, informing Lord Parker of the attack and asking for reinforcements.
Something that was Achis of course very eager to provide, as he shot up to chime, "My lord, we must not let Alexander take Phyrros Ind. It is a vital link to our defenses."
And Lord Parker was quick to nod in simpatico, adding, "Yes, I agree. Whatever reasons Alexander has for attacking it, we must stop him," before turning towards the gathered officers and ordering,
"Gather 2,000 men and have them use the bridge to reinforce the men on the ind as soon as possible! We cannot lose the ind, no matter the cost!"
"Yes!" Lord Parker''smand of course got a chorus of approval an instantter, as none of the officers had anything to object about.
With the exception of one timid, chime of objection, that originated from none other than Lord Bernard,
"Ummm, my lord, it might not be prudent to send men through the bridge."
"...." This sudden im caused the room which was a bustling center of activity to suddenly pause, as the officers who were just mere steps away from the exiting the tent to go execute their lord''smand paused to turn irritatedly at the men.
It was needless to say Lord Bernard currently was not in the best of favors with Lord Parker, and so for him to object as such, all the offices looked very much forward to their lord giving the man a goodshing for disagreeing with him.
But in the following days, under Miss Linda''s cajoling, as well as generally cooling down, Lord Parker had be amicable towards the man in his heart.
And so the ducal lord magnanimously gave the man an inquisitive look and lifted his chin slightly as a gesture to continue.
To Lord Bernard, this felt like the gods were gracing him, and so without wasting a second, he very quickly blurted,
"The bridge leading to the ind had been damaged during the disaster of five years. Although it has been fixed, 2,000 men marching over it might be too much. So I propose we use the ships tond the troops."
Chapter 1125 Battle For Phyrros Island (Part-3)
Chapter 1125 Battle For Phyrros Ind (Part-3)
Lord Bernard seemed concerned that the recently repaired bridge was too hastily mended to be able to take the full blurt of 2,000 men walking over it at the same time.
And hearing this, all the scowls among the rest of the men in the room suddenly subsided, as they realized what the man was saying might very well be right.
They had seen for themselves how the once pure stone bridge was now only held together by a skeletal mish mesh of wooden nks and thick xen ropes, making the solid structure appear almost creaking and rickety.
It would not be wise to have so many men run across it in its current state.
Thus upon Lord Bernard delineating the circumstances, Lord Parker was very quick to agree, and changed hismand as such, "Okay, have the men instead board the ships we have managed to restore. Tell them to sail east andnd behind the enemy. We will catch Alexander in a pincher and destroy the man once and for all!"
It seemed that when it came to tactics, Alexander and Lord Parker tended to think simrly.
Thus with the order given, five ships, carrying around 1,000 men were hastily prepared, and they quickly began to travel east, passing under therge arches of the bridge connecting Phyrros Ind to the maind, and making a beeline for the nks of the Alexander''s men.
But this was where, in a matter ofpletely unnned circumstances, they suddenly came face to face with a contingent of Alexander''s men, who were the attacking force on their way to the west side of the Phyrros Ind in order to carry out their own ambitious assault.
Thus given one sailing east, the other sailing west- it was like the destined battle was written in the stars.
Compared to Lord Parker, Alexander''s attacking force for this attack was rtively small, numbering only about five hundred men aboard four lonely ships.
So half the troops, and in much smaller, almost midget like ships whenpared to the behemoths of the Heeat family.
Alexander would have of course loved to send many more, preferably twice the numbers, as he had done on the initial attack, but as you will remember, the man was really, really, really strapped for this single precious resource.
Out of the 6,000 men, which also included the servants, he had alreadymitted 1,500 legionaries to this endeavor.
And at that point, he was told t out by Remus that this was the maximum he could siphon. A single more and it would seriously jeopardize the integrity of the defensive lines.
Alexander could never allow that to happen, even if it meant giving up on Phyrros Ind and thus reinforcements from Lord Janus.
Because he always had to contend with the possibility that Lord Parker, upon seeing Alexandermit so heavily to taking a single spit of useless rock, would decide to abandon it in favor ofunching a full fledged attack on the lines.
And then, it was certainly possible due to the scant numbers, the legionnaires would be unable to plug all the gaps at once, and thus buckle.
What would happen then?
What if Lord Parker managed to break through and take the mansion?
Well that would be it, wouldn''t it?
Game over.
What was Alexander going to do with the Phyrros Ind then? Sit on it and suck his thumb?
Sure, the possibility of what might be very small. But no one could say it was not there.
And Alexander, being the prudent man he was, had to take that into ount, no matter the minute possibility.
Thus despite his contention, Alexander only let 500 men take the journey.
And then to try andpensate for that, and make sure they had high morale during the inevitably arduous amphibious assault, he had let the much eager Remus lead them.
Which was a mighty good thing he did, as the men were going to need every scrap of it in their imminent conflict.
The moment Remus''s adjutant, Piseus saw the ck sails of the Heeat family reveal themselves over the horizon, he called out hismander in shock rm,
"Sir! Enemy ships! We have enemy ships right on our bow!"
This at first caused Remus to get a bit irritated, as he walked toward his man, mumbling,
"What ''ship'' are you talking about, you drunken fool? You forgot we burned them all down! Darn hell, nearly burned the whole city with it."
Remus at first thought that Piseus was perhaps mistaking a few small fishing vessels asrge, battleships due to his inexperience, but that misconception quickly gave away as heid his eyes upon the enemy.
Five gigantic ships, each almost twice the size of their own, were sailing side by side, and with their jet ck sails unfurled, looked like a huge king cobra threateningly spreading his hood, its venomous fangs dead set on the unsuspecting troop carriers.
And at the sight of this undeniable proof, Remus''s heart lurched.
The man very well knew his circumstances- not only were his ships much smaller and outnumbered in terms of number of vessels, but from the looks of it, he was also likely to be even more heavily outnumbered in terms of soldiers.
And this was not even bringing up the matter of quality of troops.
While the Margraves and Sybarians in general were excellent sailors and expert at naval warfare, Alexander''s soldiers were more likend animals.
They loved the earth, loved the stability it provided, and even the slight swaying of the boats was enough to get some of them hurling their lunch out due to sea sickness.
To say these men were untested in the skills of navalbat would be an understatement.
And as such Remus quickly determined the engagement was not in his favor.
But so what?
Life was not a fairy tale where you could avoid things just because you did not like them. On the contrary, it could be said to be very much the opposite.
As shown right now.
When Remus turned to shout to the captain, "Turn around! Tell all the ships to turn around! We cannot fight them. Have us return to the harbor,", only a grim and vulgar curse of a reply came spitting out from the mouth of the weathered sailor,
"There is no time! The enemy ships are too close. If we try and swing around, we will be fucked in the ass like a naked whore on all fours."
The imagery conjured by these crass words might have sounded amusing at any other time, but right now, it only gave Remus goosebumps, as his eyes suddenlynded on the long, huge, bronze rams fitted at the front of the enemy''s triremes, currently cleaving through the pristine blue waters like a hot knife through butter.
The young general shivered at the thought of exposing their defenseless sides to the enemy armed with such deadly armaments, as he subconsciously clenched his buttocks, blurting to himself, ''I don''t want to get rammed. I love my ass.''
The torpedoing vessels were headed straight for them and even a novice like him could guarantee if he was to try and turn now, each and every one of those sailors there would likely break into a sea shanty for letting them have such an easy target.
They would be able to easily drive that enormous metal ''phallus'' right into their broad nks, knowing they would not miss their mark even if they were to be blind.
The wooden nks of the ship would then crumble like a box of cartons under the ramming attack, as the human equivalent of a stake was driven through the heart of the ship.
A single attack would be enough to make the ship aplete write off, or worse, even cause the keel, which was the spine of the ship to snap, thus resulting in a deadly capsize.
Realizing these possible scenarios, Remus quickly understood trying to run away was useless
Hence it seemed that the only recourse for the man was to engage the enemy head on.
And so that was what Remus hastily did.
Thinking quickly on his feet, the young general had the signallers transmit the following order to the other three ships, "Stick close to one another and keep going straight. Meet the enemy head on and do not falter!"
Since flight was out of the question, fight it was.
And the idea here was to fight fire with fire, as like the Heeat family''s ships, Remus''s deadliest weapons were too equipped in the front.
And they were inarguably better- as these rams were not made of the softer bronze but of the highest grade steel in the world, making them many times stronger, tougher, and deadlier.
Tests had shown that even a ncing blow would be enough to create a good ''tear'' in the hull, scraping off the wood like how a spoon scoops up the butter.
While any solid hit would be like being hit with a cannon, punching a solid, gaping hole even through the sturdy structure.
Thus Remus''s intention was to use these as his ace in the hole to turn the very stacked odds against him.
Time would tell of the results.
Chapter 1126 Naval Battle For Phyrros Island (Part-1)
Chapter 1126 Naval Battle For Phyrros Ind (Part-1)
Chapter 1126
Remus''s straightforward, almost banzai like charge was meant to trade blow for blow, with the young general hoping to be able to survive the enemy''s softer bronze ram while hopefully getting their own much deadlier steel shots tconnectctOncees that happened, with any luck they would be able to grievously damage, if not outright disable the enemy ship in one go.
After that, it would be a simple case of having his legionaries board the ships, and with the aid of their much heavier armor as well as their richer fighting prowess and experience, neutralize the enemy in a brutal hand to hand melee.
At least that was the n.
And given the morbid circumstances, it was not a bad one, at least on paper.
Now the only thing left to do was wait and find exactly how effective this would be when the tire hit the road.
Upon receiving the order from Remus and seeing the enemy close in, all the legionaries began to scramble to the sides of the ships, lining up by the port and starboard sides in organized rows upon rows.
They were all already in their armor, as they were originally expecting to get into battle as soon as they madendfall on the western side of Phyrros Ind.
Hence it took little effort for them to get into position, and lock theirrge shields, followed closely behind by crossbows, and instant bows to provide support.
One of the ships even brought up their catapults to the decks, intent on using them as makeshift field artillery, it being possibly the first time to be used like this in the world.
The men probably did not hope to be able to hit individual soldiers with these attacks but mostly likely hoped to use the stones to destroy therge sails or masts, thus disabling the ships.
However the more likely oue of the endeavor would be that they missed all their shots and had little to show for their troubles other than a slightly lighter ship as all the stones they were carrying would be used up.
This was because it was already hard enough to aim with these primitive weapons onnd with a rock steady foundation.
So it did not take a genius to figure out how it would perform in a rickety, wooden surface that was constantly bobbing up and down.
Alexander would count on his blessing even if just one of the hundreds of shots to be made were to make a single solid contact.
But the act of firing these catapults was bound to at least have a psychological impact, both on the legionnaires as well as the Heeat family forces.
That was evitable, as the sight of solid chucks of stone the size of double fists and weighing 10 to 20 kilos wooshing through the air, making a streaking noise as it breezed past would undoubtedly raise troop morale of Alexander''s side, while the converse would be true for Lord Parker''s side, as the mere threat of the possibility, no matter who slim, of any one of the missilesnding on any of them would cause great distress among the troops.
Hence themander of that ship was very much in support of using these novel weapons.
And speaking ofmanders, they were too spurred onto action upon receiving orders from Remus, with many of whom, as a by product of their fear and panic, even started to ravenously bark out scalding orders to his toon, to the point their throats almost went hoarse, all in an effort to get the men in proper fighting formation.
While Remus''s men began to prepare themselves like they were facing the incarnation of armageddon, back at Lord Parker''s fleetmand, the response was much more measured and disciplined.
They too had been naturally surprised to see Alexander''s blue sails all of a sudden materialize here, but that onlysted the duration of the initial flurry of messengers being sent back and forth between the variousmands, as they tried to properly take stock of the situation.
Once that was done, the five ships quickly calmed down and then they began to takebat maneuvers, forming in parallel to each other and reading themselves to also engage the enemy head on, intent on using their muchrger size and hence heavier mass to split everything in their way with prejudice.
And the reason for this well practised and trained reaction as contrary to Remus''s panicked one was quite sinctly summarised by the currentmander of the fleet, a noble named Regino Kite, who turned to dictate towards his second in hand with a fierce glint in his eyes,
"Look at those fools. Can''t even maintain a straight line! Pathetic! This battle is already ours I tell you. I can stake my soul on it."
This tall, tanned, almost tawny man, with a thick, mass of ck beard, dressed in full ck armored regalia looked very menacing, almost like an anthropomorphized bear, and the derision in the sneering tone he said this with was almost palpable, for he had already jotted this victory down in his mental notebook.
Something his second inmand naturally nodded to agree in haste, as then the thin, almost effeminate man added with a schrly tone, "As far as I recall, Adhania should not ever have a navy. Their vessels are most likely being rowed little more than enved fishermen. And they will soon learn how much harder we are to catch than some fish!"
It seemed that despite the man''s soft features, he had quite a bit of spice to him, his eyes suddenly producing the same glint as his boss.
"My lords are right!" And in apanying Lord Kite''s agreeing nod, came this heavy note, originating from the ship''s captain, who was manning the wheel just beside the two.
Now, for amoner to butt into the conversation of two lords would normally be a grave offense.
But this old, experienced captain was different.
He was a legendary veteran who was not only very experienced and immensely skilled, but he also had won many battles and survived even more.
In fact, it would not be even wrong to say he had more im to be themander of the fleet than Lord Kite.
Of course, that would be unthinkable given the old man was but amoner.
But even then still his words held significant weight, as evidenced by the fact the two lords not only did not seem to mind the interruption but instead actually turned to look at him expectantly.
And seeing that he had gotten their attention, this sailor presented his own analysis, opined with a pleased smirk,
"It is apparent that the enemy is not good at sea warfare. Just look at the way they are moving towards us. Like a newborn fawn who has just learned to walk."
"When we first saw them, I had even noticed some of them try and flee. But they then suddenly stopped and restored their course. Probably because they thought we were too close. *Pui*, ametures.With this much distance, I could easily circle the ships twice and still have time left."
It was unknown if the old man sincerely believed this or was just boasting, as typical of men who tended to reach this ripe age.
But regardless, this cool and calm im and the fact the man was so experienced that he could even work out such a fine detail so urately from so far away really worked to showcase the vast gulf between the skill levels of the two armies.
The battle set to soon ur seemed to be more and more looking like a fight between an army of armored knights and a mob of peasants.
And what was worse here was that the armored knights actually outnumbered the peasants.
What horrible odds!
*Sploosh*, *Sploosh*, *Sploosh*,
It was with such pessimism on one side and optimism on the other that the two sides finally came close enough to make contact, as the ocean continued to churn and twist with vapid agony under the weight of the nine mighty battleships.
And even as they neared, none showed any signs of slowing down in the slightest, but instead actually chose to speed up, all in order to have the greatest momentum behind their attack, while rmedst minute shouts began to st out from both sides by their respective officers.
Until finally, both sides reached the apex of their speed right before the imminent collision.
And then¡.
Contrary to expectations, there was no ear splitting crash of splintering wood, of cracking hulls, or of mangled blood soaked cries.
Not initially at least, as instead what came was a series of *twang*, *twang*, *twang*, like twigs being snapped off a tree.
And the originator of this was the breaking of the long wooden oaks from one side of one of Remus''s ships, as Lord Kite had his vessel cleverly bypass the ram of the attacking ship and instead sailed by very, very close, so as to crash against these oars in such a way that it snapped them like snapping the wings of a bird.
And the result?
Right from the word go of the battle, one of Remus''s ships was crippled!
Chapter 1127 Naval Battle For Phyrros Island (Part-2)
Chapter 1127 Naval Battle For Phyrros Ind (Part-2)
As the ships from opposing sides got nearer and nearer, down below the decks, the oarsmen continued to sing loud chorus like chants, appearing wholly unconcerned about the imminent collision.
They only moved their thick muscr arms while bursting songs such as the following from their manly voices,
"Heyyyy oh sailors, race over the deep blue sea,
Oh heyyy oh over the long stretches of the salty seas
We who row through the sweetwater,
Heyyy oh sailors oh heyyy oh"
The careless nature of their song seemed almost surreal, especially given how they were driving themselves straight onto an inevitably doomed collision course with such a surprising nonchnce.
It did not need to be said that if the ships were to be rammed, the most likely casualties would not be the men on the decks, but these men here, men who were ced right inside the belly of the hull.
But that did not seem to be a matter of the slightest concern to these daredevils who obeyed the instructions of theirmander without a second''s thought, like robots,mitting themselves to a cause much greater than themselves.
However the shocking thundering moment of contact never came, as instead of foolishly driving himself in a head to head collision, Lord Kite chose to have his two leading ships take a sudden but subtle turn at the veryst seconds, so that they brushed past the enemy, barely missing the main body and only making contact with the outwardly protruding oars.
And here, those thick, wooden paddles, though thick and sturdy they were, though able to bear the great weight and the constant thrashing of the enraged oceans, were unfortunately not even considered an adversary for the huge, heavy body to trireme, which snapped them like thin twigs in a hurricane.
And so as the two ships brushed by either side of this unfortunate Alexander''s trireme, all the oars were broken off like matchsticks, leaving the oarsmen inside the ships stunned and the ships crippled.
For thepletely green navy under RR, they had never even thought such expert maneuvering was possible, much less seen it, and so thought of it to be almost supernatural in nature.
To many of the men there, it even seemed as if the gods themselves wereing down to bless them, and morale among them fell to nearly a nadir.
The breaking of all the oars in one swift motion also resulted in the ship itself bing crippled, moored, and stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Made all the worse by the fact that given the men were not expecting a fight, they had not bothered to pack extra oars, so recing these broken ones was not currently an option.
While any attempt at unfurling the sails to let the wind guide them was moot.
It was currently too congested around them, with too many ships too close to even think about such things.
In fact, just before the contact, both sides had chosen to furl back their sails and tied them to their masts precisely because of this, knowing they would be only getting in the way.
Instead they had to rely on the skills of their rowers to maneuver through the narrow seanes while trying to ram each other, preferably with enough force and in the right angle to get a good hit in.
Needless to say, it was a difficult skill to master
And it seemed in a contest of that skill, Lord Kite was poised to win handily.
Thus wishing to take full advantage of this superior position, therge man quickly made his next move, issuing those two forward ships a very simplemand, "Board! Take the ship!"
Since the target had been crippled, it was only natural to quickly deliver the next blow and take it out for good.
"Haaahhh!" And as Lord Kite''s orders trickled down to the grassroots, his men seemed to very much agree, thus letting out a fierce war cry.
Following the order, both of the muchrger ships began to ''dock'' against that one unlucky ship, siding up to it from either side in a gentle but aggressive move, hence once again showcasing the rowers'' expert seamanship.
It was very hard to make a ship move ''horizontally''.
Then once the ships were got into a good alignment, Lord Kite''s men started to quickly throwrge, heavy metal hooks tied to thick ropes onto the deck of the enemy, before tugging back at that, thus causing these metallic hooks to get stuck on the ligging and other solid structures in the deck.
Hence, the hooks suddenly started to act as makeshift anchors, making the two ships, or in this case, three be intrinsically linked, thus catching the legionnaires there in a pincher maneuver.
The fish was hooked as the sailors liked to vulgarly say.
All that remained now was to pull the rod back and bag the catch.
Of course, the legionaries present on the decks of the ship did not just let these hooks sink their teeth into them without a fight.
No, instead, when they saw these hooks flying through the air and instantly recognized they were about to be boarded from both sides, themanders shouted at the top of their voices,
"Cut the ropes. Hack them!"
"Swing your swords, men! Do not let a single one of those hooks get us!"
"Quickly! Move your hands quickly! Do not ck now!"
Most of the soldiers hardly needed that encouragement, as many of them had already started to furiously ''hack'' at those thick linen ropes even before receiving this order, manically moving their weapons up and down to try and snap the connection before they ensnared.
While others adopted a more ''refined'' posture, preferring to use their swords like giant knives.
So squatting down, they tried cutting the ropes like they were cutting vegetables.
But whichever method they used, it ultimately proved to be too little, toote.
Because for once, swords were hardly the ideal weapon for cutting.
It was much more of a shing weapon.
A much better option for this endeavor would have been the axe, which would have been able to use its broad sharp head to snap the thick nt fibers.
But since none of the legionaries were equipped with that specialized tool, they made do with what they got.
However this small handicap was hardly the decisive factor in this battle.
A much bigger problem was there simply being too many ropes to cut, as attacking from both sides, the enemy was able to quickly overwhelm the legionaries.
There were simply too many to deal with in a reasonable amount of time.
All of this ultimately meant that enough hooks were able to sink into the decks, thus securing the two attacking ships in ce.
With all these set, all that remained was the final preparations before delivering the final blow, the coup de grace, which came in the form of gangnks.
These gang nks were simplyrge t wooden boards, intended to be used as a kind of makeshift bridge between the two ships, in order to allow the soldiers to easily traverse the distance without any risk of falling overboard
Many of them would even haverge, iron nails attached to their bottom so that they could pierce the decks of the enemy ships andtch onto the wood with strength, thus making them very hard to dislodge, as one could not simply push the nks away.
All of this was done because even with the ship''s oars destroyed and the hooks in ce, the natural bobbing of the water still remained, making it very hard for the men to get a good footing and safely jump from ship to ship.
Not to mention they were all carrying heavy gear, such as the armor on their body, and a shield and a sword in their hands.
All while being attacked by the defenders from the opposite side.
All of this meant that simply jumping across the distance was a risky affair, and although there were certainly many daredevils men who did do that,nding themselves right in the middle of the enemy''s formation and fighting their way out from there, most sane men preferred these gang nks to give them a stable passage.
And thus with the hooks in ce, numerous gang nks began to sink into this isted ship, from either side, while fierce Heeat family soldiers, garbbed in pitch ck, menacingly swung their swords at the legionarries.
These men were clearly veterans as evidenced by their practiced movement, and cheerful howls, with many of them even mocking the other by making various faces and saying things like
"Heh heh! Fresh meat! Come! Come to daddy!"
"*Chu*, *Chu*, *Chu*, here, little doggy, *Chu*, *Chu*, *Chu*,"
"Oh! We are gonna fuck you up! Heh heh!"
"Haha haha, look at these schmucks! Already wetting their pants¡ haha."
"Heh! Why bother fighting? You are all soon gonna be fish food anyway! Heh heh!"
Such taunts and more were menacingly uttered while the men lined themselves up just behind the nks, appearing to the defending legionaries like sharks drawn to blood,
And despite their long battle experience, these men found their hearts pounding.
They had been in bad situations before, but nothing like this!
Chapter 1128 Naval Battle For Phyrros Island (Part-3)
Chapter 1128 Naval Battle For Phyrros Ind (Part-3)
"Get ready! We are about to meet the enemy! Hurry! Get ready!"
"Prepare yourself, men! Do not let a single one of them board us."
"Move! Move! Bunch up! Bunch up! Don''t have any gaps!"
"Lock your shields like a priestess''s cunt. Do not let a fly in."
"Follow the n! Remember what you were told! Stand strong and you will be fine!"
As the Heeat family soldiers got ready to charge, sensing the imminent onught, themanders of the legionaries shouted as such trying to boost morale as best as they could.
And credit to them where it''s due, after the initial disaster of having their oars broken in almost a blink of the eye, these men did hastily try to figure out an alternative defensive n, one which they nned to act on soon.
It just remained to be seen how effective that would be.
The time for that test would arrive very soon, as it was only a few momentster.
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*, *Trumpet*, the call for the Heeat family''s men to charge was given.
And this signal was as if the floodgates had been opened for these men.
"*Ahhhh!*... *Ahhhh!*...*Ahhhh!*"
Thus an instantter these ck armored men started to crash towards the blue legionaries with manic bloodthirst, wildly swinging their swords and wanting to cut each and every man there into pieces.
However unfortunately for them, just before they could sate their thirst in the blood of their enemy, a sudden ear splitting order rang out from the other side too, one which frantically asked,
"Now! Now! Let loose you bows¡ now!"
Yes, this was the ''brilliant'' n thesemanders had been able toe up with- to pepper the attackers with a barrage of blistering arrow fire, with the hope being to make this attempted boarding as bloody an affair as possible.
And in preparing for that endeavor, the officers had the front few lines of the formation facing either side, to beposed entirely of heavy legionaries, who were tasked with locking their huge, tower like shields and defending the ground they stood on, or in this case, more aptly the wooden nk they stood on, till theirst dying breath.
While the back rows, consisting of entire men wielding crossbows and instant bows were designated as the attackers and asked to shoot their arrows through the small gaps in the legionary''s lines or overhead in a nting arch, thus raining arrow fire on their adversary.
And in that effort, a few of the men even chose to throw deadly javelins as a greeting, thus making the frontlines for a moment appear almost dim, as the sunlight was eaten up by the sheer volume of missiles being thrown around with wild abandon.
And always apanying the streaking projectiles were loud frantic shouts of Remus''s officers, who kept on encouraging the men with ear bursting cheers and apuse,
"Archers! Fire! Shoot! Kill!"
"Do not let up! The enemy is at our doorsteps! He is in front of us! He is behind us! He is to our right, he is to our left."
"Hahaha, Goddess Gaia has blessed us with an unending supply of enemies. Shoot! Shoot in whichever direction you please! Shoot until your fingers fall off!"
"What luck! There is no need to aim. Just keep firing!"
It was amongst such morbid life and death jokes that the legionaries continued to deliver incessant showers of arrow fire upon the Heeat family forces, hoping desperately it would be enough to stymie the tidal wave like attack.
While the ones on the receiving end of all this, the ones experiencing the hail of wood and steel were naturally in a far less pleased mood.
When they had heard theirmander''s blow of the trumpet, they had thought this was signaling the doom for this crippled ship, armageddon for its crew.
It was due to this they had appeared so excited, anticipating to reap all the lives aboard, which is why they had charged frantically, with delighted and frantic shouts.
But contrary to many of their past simr experiences, where the enemy would quickly buckle and break like a loose pile of sand when attacked like this, i.e.- from both sides simultaneously, the blue armored men here surprisingly stood their ground, bearing through this immense pressure and even at some points pushing back.
Sure it was not as effortless as it sounded, as many of the lines did stagger at one point or the another, and some even showed initial signs of buckling, but those instances were simply the lined men adjusting themselves to the iing attacks and ''recoiling'' themselves to better absorb the blows.
As a whole though, this was just a fleeting phenomenon,sting for only an ephemeral second, and in reality, the ''wall'' of shield and sword proved to be very airtight, with the men bearing through the more than 2 to 1 disadvantaged onught fairlyfortably.
It was of course no cakewalk, but neither did they seem to be in danger of splittering any time soon.
And they managed to produce such stability by standing shoulder to shoulder, connecting shield to shield, and then tucking most of their body, including most of their heads behind that heavy wooden shield.
It was to the point that the only really unprotected body part sticking out were their eyelids, which they only used to furtively peep out, so as to be able to have at least some semnce of awareness of their surrounding.
If they did not need to do that, the legionaries would have likely even skipped on that, and chose a testudo formation.
But that was deemed too restrictive in terms of mobility and the ability to respond to an evolving battlefield.
So this bnce was struck, with the legionnaires only asionallying out of their shells to get an opportunistic hit or two in with their short swords.
However, the low frequency of the attacks and the generally anemic intentions behind them very soon made it clear to the Heeat family soldiers that these legionaries were not interested in actually fighting them in a melee.
They only wanted to defend, to take the hits but in exchange make it extremely hard for the other side to break through and thus board the ships.
It was a pure stalling technique, making the Heeat family soldiers almost feel they were facing a rock!
A rock that was blocking the entrance to their desired treasure.
A rock that could not attack them, but sure was sturdy as hell, and sure as hell could make them eat their time.
Given the experience of these veteran attackers, the legionaries''s tactics very soon became crystal clear to them.
But so what?
Even if they knew the purpose of the move, that did not mean they could do something about it.
It did not help change the equation.
The ship could not be taken without going through them first.
And what was perhaps even more demoralizing for the Heeat family soldiers, was that if that was all there was to the legionaries- them being a solid, nigh imprable but ultimately passive defensive wall, then perhaps it would not have likely caused them to be that irritated.
Because it was not like these men had never faced staunchly determined enemies, people who would rather die than surrender.
Although few and rare for example, they had.
But even these bulwarks of determination were slowly eroded of their will by the constant and repeated attacks.
After all, there was only so much the human body and mind would endure before it started to waver and crack.
Fighting hand to hand in such close quarters was a very draining endeavor and all men tended to break at some point, the question only being when.
Hence if the legionnaries wished to simply passively sit there and hope the enemy got bored and left, well then they had another thinging.
So it was a good thing they did not.
The choice in the passivity of their offense was not something they were forced to take, but something they were willing to choose.
Because they had a better candidate for that job- the archers at the back.
In the very brief nning meeting, it was quickly agreed among all themanders that instead of the legionnaires haphazardly risking their neck out to only get a few thrusts in, it would be far more prudent for them to only defend, while the archers, safely tucked away in the rear attacked the enemy with almostplete impunity.
Division ofbor as they say!
And this was exactly what they did, thus forming a deadlybination.
The taste of which Heeat family soldiers were now being forced to swallow as they found it almost impossible to advance amidst the withering fire of steel and wood.
Arrows might not be bullets- i.e.- they might not be able to stop a man in his tracks with just a few shots, but when fired from such close range and with such heavy draw weights behind them, they certainly started to feel like so to the poor sods who had the unfortunate luck to experience them.
Thus they cried out in great agony and even greater surprise at this sudden attack,
"Aghh! What is that? An arrow? How are they so fast? And hit so hard?"
Chapter 1129 Naval Battle For Phyrros Island (Part-4)
Chapter 1129 Naval Battle For Phyrros Ind (Part-4)
?"Aghh! What is that? An arrow?"
"Right! But how are they so fast! And hit so hard? Urghhh!"
"Dammit! Where did thise from? Sheilds! Sheileds! Lift up your shields! Defend!"
"Agghh! It''s no use! My hand! It pierced through my shield to hit my hand! Argghh!"
"Ahhhh.. brother! No! Get up!"
"Shit! They were tearing through our shields like soft y! What in the devil''s name are they using to fire these things? Shit!"
It was with such rmed shouts that the bursts of concentrated crossbows and instant bow fire were received by the enemy, producing significant terror and panic.
A phenomenon made all the deadlier by the fact that Heeat family soldiers did not equip themselves as heavily as Alexander''s men, so instead of having chainmail along with a bronze cuirass as armor and arge heavy shield to protect two thirds of the body, they chose to have a small shield, light armor, and a short sword.
And no, it was not because they were foolish, or simply too poor.
It was instead much more a decision that was influenced by the geography of thend they inhabited.
The Heeat family''s territory was very simr to the steeps, with unending stretches of pastures and rolling hills filled with livestock.
Such a ce would not be conducive to the use of thick, heavy infantry formations of Thesos, whose congested scattering of city states and hilly geography gave rise to tanky formations that could hunker down and fight face to face without any worry of being outnked, due to the rough, uneven terrain.
No, the ''open and tness'' of the terrain meant that it was a ce where mobility and agility were greatly preferred over defense and staying power.
Hence the men tended to dress lightly, in leather armor and a shield that at best covered half of their torso, and armed with swords or even a simple hatchet.
And up until this point, this uniform had generally served them well, both onnd and sea, as in thetter swiftness of the feet and freedom of movement was even more important.
Thus the men at sea carried even smaller shields than their regr ones, ones enough to barely cover the upper torso, and instead chose to rely more on their expert footwork and immacte bnce to catch the other side off guard.
The goal was to make the enemy lose his footing amidst the constantly swaying deck and use this chance to get a thurst in, thus neutralizing him.
Which was all nice and dandy on paper.
Until you met a solid wall like the shield locked formation of the legionaries, who simply had no desire to attack, but wanted to only stand in front of the gangnks and prevent you froming aboard.
The Heeat family soldiers could not use their superior mobility to take advantage of the other side because there was nothing to take advantage of.
How were they going to show off their superior footwork, when the enemy did not want to even move?
The move thus made the Heeat family soldiers feel stumped.
Now, a few daredevils did try to bypass the nks and instead jumped directly from their ships onto the other''s decks, thus finding themselves on the nks of the legionaries.
But before they could even think of trying to take advantage of this superior position, they were turned to porcupines by a hail of arrow fire from all sides.
All these men heard was a rush of shouts, "There! There! Shoot! Shoot!"ing from their front, which was immediately followed by a buzzing *twank*, *twank*, *twank* noise, as the taut strings of many of the weapons around were ckened, hence releasing a deadly volley of missiles.
Missles which easily managed to pierce their armor and shield, mortally wounding them, and thus leaving them open to be finished off by a sidewise stab from the numerous legionarries all around them.
Hence that n was quickly put to rest.
Of course, if Lord Kite''s men from either side had decided to throw their lives to the wind and simultaneouslyunched such an attack, it was certainly possible that they would be able to sessfully overwhelm the defenders, just like they had done with the hooks.
But such manic zeal was one in a million affair. You could not expect to find it normally.
Hence, most of the life treasuring men stayed their hands, especially after finding the Instant bow to be an extreme menace.
Initially, the Heeat family soldiers had thought of trying to take advantage of the slow fire rate of the crossbows to try and punch a hole through the formation, by ducking behind their shields and attempting to use their own bodies as a type of battering ram.
But what they thought to be ordinary archers proved to be an entirely different beast, as even just five ''Instantbowmen'' standing side by side, were able to discourage more than fifty strong men from even attempting the risky attack.
It was to the point that the rapid, almost blinding rate of fire almost gave the illusion that the bolts wereing out of the men''s hands, as the men pulled back their arms, shot, pushed the arm forward, and repeated the entire process, in a cold, nearly mechanical way.
The uracy, the deadliness as well as the novelness of the
weapon all worked to make them a fierce threat.
A threat that unfortunately for the Heeat family soldiers was
hidden behind a dense row of armored to the teeth
legionaries.
And thus, after some time of futilely bashing their heads
against this turtle like formation, one of the Heeat family
"Dammit! Why couldn''t they have shot at such while we were
getting close? At least that way we would have been more
prepared. Did they wait till we got closer to hit us harder?"
The theory got a bunch of nods from the surrounding men,
who cursed Remus''s men for being sneaky and underhanded.
And this might have been very well one of the reasons why
the crossbows were not used at the men throwing all those
hooks.
But the much more likely reason would be that at the time,
these archers were busy getting into their appropriate firing
formation, so had no time to attack.
However, whichever the case was, the inadvertent shock
factor did work in Remus''s favor, as this single ship managed
to hold on against the battering of two, muchrger ships.
This was the case for one of the ships, so what about the fate
of the other three under Remus''smand?
Well, although not as disastrous as this one, they were simr.
One of the ships, had their oars snapped on one side, and so
was now hobbling around the sea like a crippled bird, slowly
circling around the battlefield while throwing out bursts of
arrow fire from their crossbows haphazardly, and thus trying
their best to avoid getting rammed.
Something that they managed to avoid for now, although it
was apparent that their luck was going to run out sooner or
As for why it had not yet, well, arge part of it had to do with
the ship with the catapults on it.
By sheer luck, it had managed to avoid any damage, by
swerving past its attacker at the veryst second, and so was
currently the most agile ship of Remus''s fleet.
Hence it whizzed past the other eight ships on the battlefield,
all of which were engaged in melee, throwing volleys of stone
and arrow on the enemy fires whenever the opportunity
presented itself.
They of course missed almost all the time, as it was virtually
impossible to urately determine the range and angle of the
catapult attack through sight alone, at least not without
decades of experience behind them.
But the psychological pressure of ''what if'' was always there
for the enemy.
What if it hit them?
What if this was the one in a million lucky shot?
Having a 20 kilo solid stone ball hurling through the air and
smashing against you was a confirmed death sentence, no
matter what armor one wore, or what shield they had.
No human could survive that.
And so the ships always took evasive maneuvers, providing
some greatly needed respite for Remus''s vastly outnumbered
forces.
And as a side note, one of the catapults did manage to hit their
target, and by luck, it was one of the two ships which were
besieging the other crippled vessel.
The stone ball had managed to hit a man in the back
bar, even producing a dull, popping sound.
Hence the world''s first ''naval artillery'' kill was scored,
although unfortunately, the name of the soldier who did
would remain unknown.
As for thest ship, Remus''s ships, well it had the great
''fortune'' of ramming against the enemy''s gship, the one
And then the two ''structures'' would be one, as the rams
of either ship impaled themselves into the hull of the other.
Then, instead of trying to pull back, both sides decided to try
and board the other.
And thus on the decks of the two ships, a deadly fight
currently raged.
Chapter 1130 Alexanders Response
??"Stand your ground to thest, men! Don''t take a step back!"
"There is nowhere for us to run! So fight! Fight like caged lions, men!"
"Take one scum to hell with you! If you are a man, take at least one scum with you!"
Aboard Remus''s ships, the man himself, as well as his officers could be heard making such shouts all across the deck, as they held on for dear life.
When the two ships had collided, the greater mass of the Heeat family''s ship had caused it to skewer directly into the hull of Remus''s ship, virtually crippling the smaller vessel.
But not to be outdone, Remus had also managed to use his muchrger and better ram to punch such an enormous hole into the other''s side that the sailors determined if they were to disengage now, their hull would start taking too much water and ultimately drown.
Hence both sides became ''struck'' with each other.
Then, seeing running away was no longer an option, as well as spotting the other side to be themanding vessel, as evidenced by the regal, very shy armor both sides worn, the two almost simultaneously decided to try and conduct a decapitation strike, intent on cutting the head of the snake to deal a crippling moral blow.
And this decision, unfortunately for Remus, turned out to be to his detriment, for Lord Kite, possessing much greater and better troops seemed destined toe out on top.
Unlike the other ship, Remus had not had the time to arrange his men into that thick, defensive formation, and so facing an enemy almost twice his size, moreover, one that was very skilled in naval fighting, the best he could do was struggle and make the entire affair as bloody as they possibly could while hoping for a timely rescue from Alexander.
And Alexander was indeed aware of the plight of his men, for it was very swiftly brought to his attention by a panicked runner, who unceremoniously entered his tent to suddenly shout at the top of his voice, "My lord! Remu¡ Sir Remus has unexpectedly encountered the enemy on his way! He is outnumbered! Please send help!"
To the sleeping pasha, this sudden loud cry felt like nails wing against the ckboard, as he had just gotten to bed not even an hour ago.
This was of course not because Alexander waszy but because the man had not slept the previous night, as he chose to personally oversee the preparations for the attack on the Ind.
And so after sending Remus on his way, thought it would not be a bad idea to catch a few hours of shut-eye, feeling safe in the knowledge that whatever happened the young general could handle it.
However, that clearly had not been the case, as determined by the sudden intrusion.
"Wha. what?" And being raised out of his slumber in such a crude way, Alexander bolted out of his bed to blurt out so with a confused look.
The ask hade out of nowhere and having his nascent sleep shattered like this made the man''s head throb with pain and eyes burn, making it very hard for him to concentrate.
But the scout, in his haste threw such concerns to the air, and instead again repeated himself, reiterating the plea for help.
But even then Alexander''s groggy mind had trouble processing the information.
So rubbing his eyes, he sought to confirm, "Enemy? More than they expected? Were the garrisoned forces on the ind greater than we had expected? What''s the problem?"
It seemed that in this lethargy, Alexander believed the man was talking about the forces on Phyrros Ind, and not about an encounter in the sea.
And understanding, the messenger quickly worked to sort that confusion out, sessfully reporting,
"My lord! Sir Remus ran into an enemy fleet as he was heading west. They are fighting on the ocean as we speak. We can all see it from the shore!"
Thatst little bit of detail was enough to finally kick any lingering lethargy inside of Alexander to the moon and then past it, as his eyes shot wide open, and instead of questioning the man any further, sprinted out of his tent at breakneck speed, intent on seeing the marvel for himself.
The man did not have to go far, as even from a distance to the harbor, he could see the fiverge enemy ships circling and asionally ramming his four, smaller almost midget-sized vessels, hits that took off bits of splintering wood and paint with each contact, thus slowly wearing them down, in a tactic very much reminiscent of a pack of hyenas attacking a wounded prey.
Alexander''s heart thumped with great fear and unease at the sight of his ships having their ''meat'''' torn apart chunk by chunk, especially after knowing Remus was on one of them.
It felt like seeing his friend being attacked by a pack of wild piranha, who were slowly eating him alive.
It was torturous.
"Alexander! You must send reinforcements!" And just as he was processing the information, this rmed shout pierced his ear, and he turned to see it was from a panicking Hemicus.
And from the look of it, it could even be said that this battle had the man even more riled up than Alexander.
The young Pasha had rarely seen the man as flustered as he looked now.
The usually stoic man thus currently appeared very haggard and almost in shock, while his armor, which was usually immacte, now did not seem quite right, with various utched straps dangling by the sides and the entire thing seeming ''misaligned'', clearly showing the haste it was put on.
It was apparent that Remus''s presumed imminent fate greatly troubled the man.
And thus he seemed to be in no mood to care about such frivolities and instead turned his gaze to the battle unfolding only a few kilometers away in the open sea.
That was the real cause for concern. And Alexander agreed, thus at being asked to provide help for his trapped men, the pasha threw all strategic and tactical concern out the window, and without flinching even for a second, came out with a n on the spot.
Whereupon he shot out with great purpose,
"Send a skiff to Kazid on Phyrros Ind. Order him to immediately take four of his ships, along with two hundred men as well as the necessary rowers to go meet the enemy. Have him drive them back! No matter what! Remus must be rescued!"
As Alexander said this, in his haste at issuing themand, the man erroneously left it ambiguous whether he wanted Kazid to rescue Remus no matter what, or wanted the enemy to be driven back no matter what.
It was a subtle, almost imperceptible mistake, and it remained to be seen what, if any, such a thing would have on the course of the battle and of all those participating in it.
For now, though, the messenger quickly tucked the hastily scrawled letter under his belt and boarded a small, fast boat towards the fateful ind, where, with any luck, he would be able to find themander without too much looking around.
As the man bearing Alexander''s official seal sailed off with such hope, Alexander himself did not choose to go back to his rent to rest.
No, but instead, seeing his amphibious force get bogged down, the man decided to form a brand new task force to rece the old one.
Yes, despite the setback, Alexander was not yet ready to abandon Phyrros Ind.
After all, even if he wanted to, how could he?
So many of his men were stationed there and losing them would not be just crippling, it would be mortal.
He had to rescue them.
And he thought the best way to do that would be to clear the ce of any Heeat family soldiers.
So this time, he intended to reach the western side of the ind by not going east like Remus, but by first traveling north, sailing past the first group of his men, and then turning left to ultimately nk the enemy from the west!
And as Alexander came up with that route, he even half cursed at himself, ''Dammit! I should have chosen this path the first time. It was clearly so much safer."
This was clearly the case, as the northern route would have had Phyrros Ind to his left, where there were moored seven more of his ships, while to the right was the vast, blue, open sea, devoid of any nasty surprise.
But it was just that Alexander did not pay much attention to the route to be taken, because he thought the enemy had no usable ships left.
Clearly, that was a miscalction on his part, a blind spot in his intelligence, thus leading him to be aware of the fact that he had failed to bring all the vessels down only now.
But there was little point in shedding tears over Lord Parker''s sessful salvaging of the doomed ships now.
Thus instead, while Kazid was asked to deal with the new enemy, Alexander back at camp began to give out fresh orders, asking his officers to prepare for him another three ships, and four hundred men.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1131 Alexanders Response (Part-2)
Chapter 1131 Alexander''s Response (Part-2)
??Alexander''smand to have another four hundred men join him in his expedition was at first received with quite a bit of difficult skepticism, due to reasons already iterated earlier- i.e.- there was a serious manpower shortage.
Siphoning off so many would seriously weaken the defenses of the manor here, to the point, some officers grimly added that it could even lead to a revolt from within the family, as the opportunistic men sought to take advantage of this brief lull in security.
Of course, they were overblowing things here, as Alexander had made sure to make the Margraves entirely toothless here, but their general rm was still justified.
If things did not pan out exactly as expected, and Alexander and Remus were somehow captured or worse, well the entire campaign would be lost then and there.
And perhaps even that would be the least of their problems.
Hence, there were many voices, hushed and muted as they were, urging Alexander to reconsider, with some even proposing the alternative, "My lord, let us call the men off the ind! Let them join the Gerneal Remus''s reinforcing contingent. And after they rescue him, they can return to camp."
And credit where credit is due, this was quite a sound idea, devoid of much risk.
If seven ships and a thousand men were to join in the rescue, it would likely seed without any real chance of failure.
But here, the usually prudent and even somewhat cold Alexander found himself suddenly acting out of instinct, as he overruled all these concerns by boldly iming,
"No! We are already far too behind the enemy to be so conservative. The odds are too stacked against us. We cannot win this without taking risks! So the men at Phyrros Ind stay. And we are also going to be attacking the ind! No matter what."
Such a callous, almost throwing all caution to the wind statement was not at all like Alexander or a man of his status.
And normally, upon facing such an encounter, he would have likely tried to gauge the cost and benefit of all his actions, trying to determine whether it was even worth it to go rescue Remus and all his men, or try and take over the ind, but not both.
However, although this was most likely on paper, this was not what happened, as at the news of Remus''s trouble, Alexander found his heart suddenly trembling.
Somewhere deep inside him, the thought of losing Remus seemed almost equivalent to the thought of losing Cambyses or one of his children.
The brotherly bond was so primal.
Hence, in what could be said to be among the very firsts for him, Alexander let his emotions do the talking and decided to try and do both things at the same time.
So towards the still reticent officers, who were still trying to convince him by making dark predictions of the lines breaking, Alexander coldly shot back with the words,
"If the men fail the lines are breached, then they will be breached! And we will have lost. Then all of you will be humiliated alongside me."
These words cut deep into the hearts of the officers, as Alexander implicitly charged them with ipetence.
And by bringing his name as well, he very clearly signaled that such a thing would also bring shame to him, their lord.
And being veterans of many years, if there was anything that could produce a fire in their hearts, it was this, the insinuation that they were ipetent.
Thus their eyes began to ze withpetitive zeal, and all of them quickly swore to hold any attack on their position to theirst dying breath.
With this decided, Alexander soon had his men and ships ready, and they set sail at once.
While all these were going on, things back on Phyrros Ind were rtively quiet.
The camp servants had by now finished toiling away to create nice, good fortifications, consisting of rampart and palisade and even a small ditch, behind which were stationed most of the legionnaires, all patiently and eagerly waiting for the signal from Alexander to cross the line andunch their furious attack.
And due to the general chaos of the surroundings, as well as being behind wooden walls, most of the men here remained oblivious to Remus''s plight.
While on the opposite of the fence, the Heeat family soldiers also stayed behind their makeshift walls, hoping for the reinforcements to arrive sooner.
Thus for now, on that imminent battlefield, peace reined.
Which was really lucky for that messenger from Alexander, as he had little trouble getting an audience with Kazid, and finding the man still in his designated station.
The messenger, who had managed to cover the short distance within a rtively quick time, simply had to sh the letter bearing Alexander''s seal, and all the guards posted at the various checkpoints simply dissolved away, parting themselves instantly to let the man through.
Until finally the man stood in front of themander''s cabin, who like Alexander had also decided to take a little shut eye after the sessful night operation.
Hence he was predictably a bit irritated at this unweed guest, but that acrimony of being yanked away from his sleep almost instantly dissolved away into nothingness as soon as he got Alexander''s letter apanied by the hasty words, "The Pasha wants you to sail out to attack the ships there. General Remus is with them. Rescue him. No matter what!"
The message was naturally apanied by the pointing of the finger towards the west, thus finally drawing Kazid''s attention to the ongoing naval fight in the distance.
And themander of course knew of Alexander''s n to conduct a pincer attack, and thus spotting their four ships get caught in this sudden,pletely unexpected attack, made his heart lurch.
How could this have happened?
How did they know?
And how does the enemy even have workable battleships?
Such and many more questions flooded the officer''s mind, but most of all, he quickly let out this incredulous yelp,
"Dammit! Why did none of these wastes wake up? I would have sailed out on my own then if I knew Remus was in trouble!"
It was unknown whether the man really meant it, or was just saying it for Alexander''s ears, to show his sincerity and earn some favors.
But whichever the case, the man did act with great haste, quickly recalling forty percent of his force, i.e.- 200 men, and having them board the ships, as well as cing three hundred rowers for the four ships.
This was much more than what was usually required to power the ship, but Kazid rightly assumed that he was going to need as much muscle as he could get, in order to be able to make his ship as fast and nimble as it could possibly get.
It was only this way that he could save himself from getting rammed while being able to ram himself.
These preparations did not take much time, as the soldiers were still mostly in their formation, patiently waiting for Alexander''s order.
So they simply marched onto the ships when themand came to board them.
While the rowers were also barely resting, thus only a few good shouts were all that was needed to get them aboard.
This was one of the main reasons why Alexander had his messenger travel to another ind requesting for aid, instead of mobilizing his men from the camp itself and leading the battle himself.
Because everything was already ready there.
And it was a very fortunate thing that everything was already ready there, because Remus did not look like he had a lot of time left on his hand.
For Lord Kite had by now managed to mostly scythe his way through even the doggedly defending legionaries and seemed on the verge of iming this gship as his own.
It was a confirmation that greatly pleased, who chuckled to himself in half delight, half relief, "Finally! I can''t believe it has taken them so long. Who were we fighting? Some elite royal bodyguard?"
He made this statement as a testament of how difficult the fight had been.
It was not something the man had been at all expecting.
Upon initially seeing the enemy, Lord Kite had already assumed the four ships were his, and all that now remained was merely the formalities.
But that assumption was quickly put to rest, with the very first time being when Remus rammed his vessel.
The collision had produced a dreadfully ear splitting noise, as the solid steel metal spiked ''club'' bore through therge ship''s hardwood hull like a drilling bit, lodging itself deep into the belly, and making the entire vessel shake like it was experiencing a magnitude nine earthquake.
The violent jerking had even thrown two unlucky sailors overboard, and even threatened to do the same to Lord Kite, who was only saved by him quickly grasping the rails like his dear life depended on it.
"Wha¡ what happened! Did we get rammed!" And then shouted as such in rm, the incredulity in his voice palpable.
Following that, unfolded a series of brutal hand to hand melee, until, finally the outnumbered legionaries seemed to be on the brink of copsing.
Chapter 1132 Instant Bow in Action
??Lord Kite had not expected the initial blow from the steel ram to be so fierce, jolting his entire ship to its core.
The small size of the weapon failed to betray any such capabilities.
Of course, he had here failed to take into ount the fact his enemy used solid steel instead of the much softer bronze, since by eyesight both looked the same, especially when it was painted a striking red.
Not to mention the fact, Lord Kite did not even think such a solid, steel ram was even possible to make, both due to cost as well as sheer technological limitations.
All of this thus worked to allow the ''beam'' to m onto the hull without any real obstruction and then consequently snap the wooden hull with great ease, driving itself deep into the belly of the beast, and even making its way towards the keel, iming a few of the rowers'' lives on its way.
The shouts of panicked and fearful screamsing from the below decks due to the lethal attack soon reached Lord Kite''s ears and the man''s heart shook with palpable unease.
Even with his great experience in naval warfare, therge man could not recall thest time he had been crippled so badly, and in one shot at that.
Not to mention the much more incredulous fact of it being done in a single head to head collision.
This was almost unheard of as usually, you needed to get a few good hits in before the vessel was breached.
After all, although ramming was the act of hitting the softer wooden vessel with a much harder metal, it was still thick, heavy wood we were talking about.
Breaching it was not easy. You needed to work hard for it.
And this was not mentioning the fact that Remus had sessfully attacked from the front, which was usually reinforced with wooden beams, designed as such to be able to hold the ship''s own ram as well as to be able to bear the shock of ramming the other side, thus making it simr to the front of a tank- its ''tankiest'' part, pardon the pun.
All these meant that in a contest between ships, such as in a naval battle, the initial rounds mostly consisted of charging at the enemy with your boats, trying to get a hit or two in, thus locking ''horns'' with the enemy and hopefully immobilizing him.
That would then open up the opportunity for one of the other allied ships to properly ram him from the sides or rear, thus atst finishing him off.
And the reason for saying all this was to show that the phenomenon of immobilizing a ship by ramming it right at the start of the battle was truly once in a blue moon urrence.
But it had happened to Lord Kite.
Then, during the damage analysis report, he was quickly informed by the captain that the ship was starting to take in water, who then suggested they stay locked with the other side for the moment.
"Bastards stabbed us in the heart! The girl is lost!" Were the old man''s exact bitter words.
And this report felt like being pped in the face for Lord Kite.
He could not believe such a midget of a ship had managed to damage him so much.
A ship that he had so looked down upon just a few minutes ago, but was now the only thing keeping him from going down, the very weapon that was used to ''kill'' him, now acting as a cork preventing the water from gushing forth.
The man felt incensed at the situation, incensed at letting himself be hit so hard so easily.
"Bah! Then board the ship! Do not let them ram us again!" Thus, seeing little other option, he spat out these words in anger, wishing to pin Remus with him and prevent him from reversing.
Thisst concern wasrgely unnecessary though as Lord Kite''s hit had done almost as much damage to Remus as Remus had done to him, and thus the man too was of the mind to stand and fight.
Hence while hooks and gangnks were thrown toward him, securing the two ships together, Remus tried his best to organize his forces into a coherent fighting formation.
Before long, a deadly, bloody melee began to unfold on the decks, as legionnaires buttressed with crossbows and instantbows tried their best to hold against the enemy''s outnumbering assault.
"Stand and fight! Men! Stand and fight to thest man!"
"Spread your feet! Stand while spreading your feet That will help you bnce!"
"Close the shoulders! Stand together! Help your brothers."
"Crossbows! Shoot! Shoot at anything that''s ck and that moves! A regr grunt will get you ten ropals. An officer a hundred, and a noble a thousand!"
The officers cheered and encouraged their men to the best of their ability as such, with Remus even personally introducing a bounty system, all to urge the men to use all the tools they had under their disposal to defend themselves to the ship.
And it was here perhaps that the true worth of the instant bow was disyed for the first time, letting the world marvel at how its rapid fire capability proved invaluable in close quarters hand to hand type of fighting.
It did this by, first of all, helping fill in the most ring weakness of the crossbow, i.e.- its slow reloading speed.
The crossbow was of course in general a great addition to the defense of the ship, being very easy to use, to the point even some of the novice, untrained servants, who were given the weapon as a measure of desperation managed to master it very quickly.
And then, even these green men began to soon prove surprisingly urate with the shots, able to snipe enemies at distances of fifty to even hundred meters with reliable consistency, and that too amongst the chaos of the fight and the uneven, constantly shifting grounds. All they needed was to rest the weapon on their shoulders, take a deep breath, wait for the target to stop moving for a bit, and *Bam*!
Even if it did not kill, the shot from the heavy weapon would be certainly enough to crack bones and maim the target even through the armor.
The crossbow really was among one of the ultimate defensive tools.
Its only real downside was its slow reloading speed, requiring thirty seconds to even a minute for some verdant recruits to reload, during the entirety of which they were leftrgely vulnerable to enemy charges.
It was a vulnerability very easily exploitable unless properly prepared for, and this was where, the instant bow rapid firing capability without needing to reload came, perfectlyplementing its sister.
The ability for a single man to hit two to even three men virtually simultaneously was a game changer, especially when that enemy outnumbered you, thus helping to somewhat level the ying field.
Then there was also the advantage that this weapon allowed for much more margin of error in terms of uracy, as even if you missed your first shot, instead of going through the tedious and time consuming process of reloading and redrawing your shot, during which time your enemy could very well move, if not simply charge and kill you, you could instantly try again, having as many as four more chances to try and get your target in the span of any five seconds.
Such a convenience was almost irreceable, especially on an unsteady, constantly rocking surface such as this, where the natural swaying of the boat and the legionnaires being unustomed to it caused most to miss their first, second, and for some unlucky sods even their third shot.
Many times that too from very close range, such as less than 20 meters.
If they had wielded a regr bow or even a crossbow, such a thing would have been a death sentence, as the other sides could have been able to cross that distance and slice him in half before even the legionary could have finished nocking the next arrow on his sting for his retry.
But with the instant bow, this grim fate was actually turned on its head.
Because upon seeing the miss, many times the Heeat family soldiers would usually charge with a great grin in their face, looking covetously at the shieldless and thinly armored adversary, and thinking they had this kill already in the bag, only be to shoot in the face with that strange looking weapon momentster.
To most of the Heeat family soldiers, the instant bow seemed really just like any other bow, with the only addition being a wooden bar running through the middle, which they assumed to be only some kind of bizarre decoration, and not anything of import.
Thus when the utility of such a weapon would be made known to them, such as by shooting a metal arrow piece through their head, most would die with an incredibly incredulous look on their face, unable to process how they died even at the moment of their death.
''How can a bow shoot two times without reloading? Is this magic?'' They would mumble to themselves, unable to make the connection even as the grim reaper extracted their souls.
It was like this that the instant bow proved itself to the world, and could even be said that without it, Remus would have fallen long, long ago, despite the the dogged defense of his men.
Chapter 1133 Legionary vs Heeat Family
Chapter 1133 Legionary vs Heeat Family
??As the fight aboard Remus''s ship raged on, there came several instances, when the enemy''s breakthrough seemed imminent, and was only stifled by a barrage of concentrated fire from the Instant bows, which turned the brave few leading the charge into porcupines and discouraged any of the others from continuing.
Sure, if the enemy had still pressed on regardless, like wild berserkers, then they might have been able to very well overrun the defenses, as even the instant bows had to reload their shots.
But the vast majority of the men were not that suicidal.
Add to that the sheer shock and awe factor of this brand new, never before seen weapon, and it helped Remus constantly deter the enemy from trying any such manic endeavors, as the Heeat family officers still remained unsure of the exact properties of this novel weapon.
All of this worked to show that without Alexander''s instant bows and them covering for the crossbow''s weakness, Remus would have undoubtedly fallen long, long ago, despite the dogged defense of his men.
However, despite all these new weapons and all the advantages that they bestowed Remus, ultimately, there were some things that a grossly numerically disadvantaged force just could not ovee.
And Lord Kite was one such ''thing''.
Yes, Remus''s brimstone of arrows and even the asional javelin did manage to put the Heeat family''s advance to a crawl.
But a crawling advance was still an advance.
The legionaries had never managed to really stop the enemy.
No, for the veteran soldiers of the family expertly jumped, swerved, ducked, and spun out of the way of the many iing missiles, adeptly using their shields to cover the most vital parts, or much more preferably positioning themselves as such that between the crossbowmen''s line of fire was interrupted by the friendly bodies of defending legionnaires.
And as for these legionaries themselves, well they seemed to be in a great deal of trouble as well, for Remus did not have the men bunch up together like on the other ship but instead had been scattered in small isted group formations.
This move inevitably exposed many of their nks to the Heeat family soldiers, who quickly took advantage of this by snaking between the blocks of men and using their expert footwork to poke and prod at the formation, slowly but surely chipping away at it.
The legionaries of course tried their best in their own way to counter this, by calling upon arrow fire on the annoying pests, as well as attacking the intruders themselves.
But their inexperience at fighting on a constant swaying ship made them lose their footwork many a time, while their heavy equipment only got in the way, making them too slow to hit the nimble adversary, and tiring them out.
This let the Heeat family soldiers run circles around the red armored opponents, with the instances of the legionaries stepping out of the safety of their shield to attack them actually acting as a chance for the Heeat family soldiers to get their own thrusts in.
And what deadly thursts they were indeed!
Even to the veteran legionaries, the swordsmanship on disy here was really something, as they felt almost blinded by how quickly and swiftly these short swords moved.
They appeared almost like a streak of silver lightning to the naked eyes, impossible to react to, thus the de was able to snake past all the defenses with ease beforending a stab on the torso, the belly, and even the thigh.
And the frequency of such sessful attacks was such that if not for the good, heavy armor Alexander had his man wear, which was among the best, if not the best in the world, then this battle would have been certainly over quite a while ago, even with the crossbows and other gizmos.
It was truly fortunate these men were gifted a formidablebination of leather thorax, chainmail, and a bronze cuirass, all of which worked together to help mitigate most of the nasty effect of the strikes, leaving those short swords with an inadequate punch to create a good puncture.
Of course, that did not mean it still did not hurt the defending legionaries.
No, it hurt like hell, as most of the momentum of the strike was still there, thus causing various levels of swells, bruises, cuts, and evencerations on and below the skin even though all the protection.
It felt like being constantly poked by arge needle on your naked skin.
Not life-threatening, but very painful, almost torturous.
But when it was these ''paper cuts'' or a stab to the guts, well the choice was pretty easy.
Thus the men bore through the greatly diforting pain with gritted teeth, holding on to the rope of life for dear life.
None of them wanted to die, not after fighting for so many years anding so far.
And it was something that caused great vexation from the other side, who found these ''golems'' a really hard nut to crack.
It was of course doable.
But very tedious.
Because they found the short swords they were using, although perfectly fine for naval warfare in general as it enabled them to freely swing and thurst in narrow, contested spaces such as the decks of ships, in this particr case was proving simply too much of a lightweight to break through.
Its ''punches'' simplycked the mass and power to go through all theyers of armor the legionaries had on them and still cause damage.
Of course, some lucky hits did manage to go through, and some even delivered lethal damage, such as by hitting the thinner metal parts.
But overall, the armor did its job and it was a deficit the Heeat family soldiers found hard topensate even with all the expertise under their belt.
Thus after a while, whenever they attacked, they began to regrly curse out loud as,
"Give up, you swines! You are surrounded! It''s us or the fishes!"
"Right! You are going to die anyway. So let us make it painless for you. A nice, clean cut of the throat."
"Heh heh, I heard drowning is one of the most painful ways to go. Why struggle so hard for such an agonizing death? Come to us! We will make it quick!"
Since it was very hard to break through from the front, the Heeat family soldiers tried to demoralize the beaten up legionaries like this, hoping they would loosen up and start backing away on their own.
But that hope was never a palpable one, as the legionaries, for one, being veterans themselves of course did not flinch at such churlish insults, but only gritted their teeth even harder.
They were not going to budge.
Especially when they were basically being asked tomit suicide.
Instead, if the Heeat soldier had simply called for them to surrender, then maybe some of them would have reconsidered.
But now, how could they?
And as for those who might have considered even this, willing to bet that the other side would show mercy, well even if they wanted to, most did not even understand what the other side was saying.
Because most of the soldiers spoke two very differentnguages and sometimes thenguage barrier was so extreme that most could not even distinguish if the other side was cursing him or thanking him.
Thus unable toprehend the offer, most of the legionaries chose to stand their ground and so continued to get hacked away, while slowly, inch by inch backing away, as a natural, life preserving instinct.
Until they had reached the end of their line.
Taking a small step back with each fateful hit, their backs had atst run out of space to retreat to, for they were now firmly pressed against the wheel of the ship, which was located at the stern of the ship.
Thus only the vast oceany behind them.
And around that tiny space was only a small group of fighting men left, one of the veryst bastions to hold out for so long, most of whom huddled around the focal point known as Remus, encircling him in concentric rings like the walls of a castle.
And while the men tried their best to ward off the never ending attacks, many loud voices also constantly urged the young general,
"Remus! Jump! Swim to shore. It''s not that far!"
The desperation in their voice really told you all that you needed to know.
Given the current situation, it was clear to even a blind man that it was only a matter of time before the surrounding mass of unending ck, menacing men swallowed up this small lonely ind of blue.
And so, already considering their own lives forsaken, Remus''s officers'' and thest of his bodyguards'' only real wish was for their general to live.
Even if it meant taking a risky tumble onto the dangerous surrounding sea, a sea where currently there were huge battleships wheezing past with great speed, churning up the water into a deadly boil.
Even a slight ze from these behemoths would be enough to knock any unfortunate soul that went overboard unconscious thus drowning him, if not outright kill him
But given the alternative, that gamble seemed very alluring.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1134 Back Against the Wall
Chapter 1134 Back Against the Wall
??Remus''s eyes went red with heat when he heard his men call out for him to escape on his own.
As their general, and even more their friend, how could he?
Remus had been with them for years and even slept with many.
So how could he leave them to die just like that while he made a break for it for himself?
His legs refused to follow thatmand.
Not to mention, as themander and chief strategist of the defense, Remus med himself for much of the predicament he was in.
Especially his blunder to adopt an attacking formation, which worked to deplete his already smaller force much faster.
By all ounts, Remus should have followed the other ship''s suit.
But the usually bright general had not.
As for the exact reason why, well, perhaps it could never be definitely known.
It could be simply that this option never crossed his mind.
Or that he did not have enough time on his hands.
But perhaps it was much more likely that it was simply a personal preference.
For the usually aggressive Remus, such a turtling, defensive formation might have seemed as being too cowardly, even somewhat dishonorable.
And to men of this time, honor was many times more valuable than life.
Thus the hot blooded young man much preferred for his men to be on the offensive, wholeheartedly believing in the mantra, ''a good offense is the best defense''.
And basing his strategy on this invention, the young general had wanted to use his heavy, bulky men to bulldoze through the lightly armored opposition, using their armor to soak the hits, while dishing back two folds along with a side dish of vengeance.
And in this way, he even hoped to quickly im Lord Kite''s head as the prize, thus demoralizing the other side andting him the victory.
However, that had not clearly happened.
Instead of the charging legionaries constantly suppressing the numerically superior foe, the Heeat family soldiers had managed to turn the tables around and danced around the men unustomed to fighting in such an environment and killed them slowly by a thousand cuts.
Remus''s decision hence made for a painful fight, and by the time, Remus had realized his mistake, it was already toote.
The enemy was too deep inside their formation, thus any attempt to change battle formation now would be just another name for suicide,
The Heeat family soldiers would rip them to shreds the moment they disengaged from their current formation to try and take a new one.
Hence Remus could only work to dy the inevitable, as more and more of his men inevitably fell one by one, be it to injury, exhaustion, and worst of all, death, all swallowed by the even encroaching ck shadow.
A shadow that epassed them from all sides and one that oozed with malice and menace in every swing of its slivery sword, letting out various taunts and jibes that swore to their inevitable and brutal doom.
And seeing all those lives lost or captured, all due to his own misjudgment, Remus''s eyes turned teary, he found himself biting his lips so hard that they began to bleed, and his throat began to hurt with a throbbing pain.
The man seemed to be on the verge of breaking out into tears.
He was of course not crying in fear of his own life.
But much more over the seeming death of so many others, deaths he thought he was responsible for.
Thus, instead of taking the risky dive to the sea and rolling his luck die, Remus decided to stay put, intending to go down with his ship.
Hence towards thest of his men''s urging, he firmly dered with a matry like glint in his eyes, "No! We fight to thest man, And if it is written so, we will die to thest man. Let this ship be our castle and coffin."
The brave speech inevitably worked to inspire the surrounding men, for whatever small good that might have done, as they bunched together even tighter and waited for the inevitable scything swipe of the approaching grim reaper.
As Remus''s men prepared their hearts with a determined but mncholic heart, on the other side of the shore, the emotions being experienced were naturally the exact opposite.
It was one of joy, ecstasy, expectation, and even somewhat of a relief.
Because despite their imminent victory, every man there felt that the battle had been a hard fought one, with their numbers taking significant casualties.
Among the almost two hundred and fifty soldiers on that ship, the death toll had reached twenty four, while the wounded, of various types and varying degrees, ounted for a staggering sixty more, getting the total casualties ratio to almost a third of the total force!
A truly astounding feat!
Made all the more impressive by the fact that Remus had managed to do it with only a hundred of his men.
All courtesy of those dastardly bows.
And evidence of their deadly effectiveness was present all over the deck, as many of Lord Kite''s meny there, groaning in pain or simply dead, having been shot multiple times, all over the ce- be it chest, arms, thighs, torso, and even a few lucky or unlucky depending on your preference shots to the face.
The bolts had even gone through even the thickest part of the armor the men had, thus embedding themselves into the flesh and sticking out like grotesque porcupine spikes.
It was such that even if the men managed to survive the battle, the scars these bolts would leave behind would surely leave a determined impression of the power of those dreadful weapons in the men''s minds, continuing to stay as a source of trauma.
At least that was sure to be the case for Lord Kite, who was sure the lethality of these crossbows and instant bows would be of great concern to him in all proceeding battles.
Thus the keen-eyed man muttered to himself with concern,
"If all of Alexander''s men are equipped and determined like¡. I need to tell the lord. Things might not be as favorable to us as it seems."
The man felt that if only a hundred or so men were so hard to deal with, then how hard would it be to face a muchrger force?
It would be an enormous slog, at least in terms of sheer casualties.
And who knows?
Maybe they might even fail to break through.
After all, not all formations in Lord Parker''s army were as elite as the one Lord Kite had under hismand, one that was capable of taking thirty percent casualty and still keep on going strong, turning even more eager to draw blood.
Most of the men in the army were much tamer, such as the case with the other two ships, where, despite facing an enemy that was nearly a quarter of their size, they still failed to break through.
Why?
Of course, a better, more sound strategy by the legionaries was certainly one of the factors.
But another factor was also theck of sheer zeal on the attacker''s part.
Thus Lord Kite thought he needed to work on that.
While his second inmand, possessing a much more schrly mind, instead wondered about a different topic, mumbling under his breath,
"I wonder how naval fights will change if these weapons are to be widespread? We need to adopt them as soon as possible! Especially that magical bow."
As he said that, the man''s eyes glowed with the utmost desire to take apart and study this novel equipment- the instant bow.
While at the same time, he also made a mental note to suggest, "Also I should ask the lord about increasing the number of archers we keep with us. They can be really useful."
And it was only natural that the man would think like this.
The effectiveness of archers supported by heavy, static infantry in a naval battle, especially a defensive one wasid bare to him in crystal clear terms.
He very easily figured that without the crossbow and instant bowmen, Remus''s ship could have been taken and then probably have Remus beheaded a long, long time ago.
And conversely, if the Heeat family had remembered to pack adequate archers of their own, then those opposing archers could not have ruled the battlefield with such impunity.
The returning fire would have surely worked to force them to keep their head down, to suppress them.
Of course, it would not be as easy as the man wanting it and it happening, as, aside from all the political shenanigans, even if they wanted to, it took quite a bit of time to train apetent archer.
But at least the thought was here, and with the crossbows and instant bows, training them did not sound too difficult.
So the only real obstacle was the will to do it, and the will to fund it.
Because naturally, these weapons were a fair bit pricier than your regr piece of carved wood with a string attached to it.
But if money could emte the kind of sess the man had seen here, then he was one hundred percent sure it would be worth every dime of it.
Chapter 1135 Kazid Vs Lord Kite
Chapter 1135 Kazid Vs Lord Kite
??"Good! Now Finish them off! No need to take any prisoner!"
Transferring his gaze towards the wheel of the enemy''s ship, Lord Kite was easily able to sense how Remus and co. were on their veryst legs.
Just one more push seemed to be enough to make them topple.
Thus therge bear like man let out his triumphant order while shaking hisrge fist in the air with glee.
They had been dyed here for long enough, and Lord Kite was eager to make up for lost time and be done with all this here right now.
So that they could finally start heading to their real objective.
''I hope the positions on the ind have not been overrun.'' And the expectation was such that Lord Kite even began to shed all concerns for this battle, determining it to be already inked into the history books as his victory, and instead began to worry about what was toe.
And when he did that, he found himself flinching, because he just recalled the tough armor his enemies were sure to be wearing.
The man cursed that thought.
And then turned to curse himself once again, because he just recalled that amongst their hasty preparation, as well as wanting to quickly outnk the enemy, they did not care to have the men put on too much armor.
That small mistake did end up working in their favor in the end here, so the man really could notin, but also given how they had been shot to ribbons by the enemy just now, that was sure to be a problem when they disembarked for a melee.
Not to mention, while thinking they were going to participate in a hand-to-handnd battle, they also forgot to take with them enough archers.
Thus if the enemy also had archers with them like they had now, it was going to be another slog.
Lord Kite''s heart throbbed at that.
But that did not seem to be a concern for the fighting men, who upon getting the loud order from above, felt like being injected with a rush of adrenaline and thus pounced on the small isted group ofst of the fighters with even more zeal, to which Remus and his scant few remaining men could only recoiled and bunched even closer.
Until there was no more space to even raise their swords, and so they could only duck their heads behind their shields to try and passively defend, doing their best to cover their most vital parts.
And sometimes it would be to the point that some of the men even had their shields literally torn apart by the relentless barrage of enemy attacks, and then without the safety of this most precious tool, be hacked to bits in full view of hisrades, all of whom could do nothing but watch, and tearfully looking away.
Because they knew that if they were toe out of their shells to try and rescue their friend, their fate would certainly be the same.
Thus they could only hold on with reddened eyes and choked sobs while thinking to themselves,
''Is this how we will die?''
The prospect of death appeared scary to even these hardened men.
Especially one as gruesome as being portrayed right in front of them, which they all seemed poised to share.
While conversely, the prospect of killing them appeared very alluring to the opposing Heeat soldiers.
And they made enormous headway in that endeavor.
Until¡
*Bam*
A sudden terrible, ear shundering bang thundered past their ears, immediately followed by an enormous rocking of both the boats, one which caused many to lose their footing and stumble.
"Wha¡ what was that?" And immediately following this came an intense chorus of surprised and panicking shouts, as the men started to look around for the source of their disturbance.
They did not need to look far, turning the query almost rhetorical.
Because the culprit was just behind him, and ''she'' was enormous.
Yes, as many could have guessed, this was one of the reinforcement ships that Alexander had sent to rescue Remus, and she had just rammed the bow of the enemy''s gship.
Why choose the stronger, narrower rear and not the much more vulnerable sides?
Well, one was because it was hard to get a good angle from there due to all the surrounding ships moving back and forth.
But perhaps that was more of a weak excuse as an experienced crew would have likely braved even that danger to try and get the attack from the sides, simply because the advantages were that great.
So the much more likely reason for this attack was that its crew was too green to naval fighting and had no idea which side it was better to hit, port, stern, or bow.
Theirmander, Kazid had assumed that sea battles were justnd battles, with the soldiers being reced with ships.
And when thinking like that, the very best side to hit a formation of soldiers was of course from the rear, not the nks.
And thus, unbeknownst to Kazid and his men, a prime opportunity to mortally wound, if not outright sink the enemy ship was lost.
Of course, this tactic had the slight advantage of sneaking up on the enemy without alerting them whatsoever, as they would have certainly noticed a sideways attack from literally miles away, but such meager advantages hardly made up for the lost opportunity.
In fact, it might not have even been such a bad thing for the other side to notice them, as then they would have disengaged with Remus much quicker, leaving the legionaries alone to instead go prepare for the oing assault.
That would have surely saved a few more of their lives.
As such, just from this one engagement, it was apparent that there were clearly many lessons for the army to learn here.
Now, whatever strategy Kazid chose to follow, he was stuck with the consequences for now.
And so following the ramming, the attacking ship quickly moved sideways to level with Lord Kite''s ships, while hooks and gangnks from this side were eagerly thrown to the other side.
"Wha¡ Reinforcements! Darn!" And recovering from the attack, it took but a nce for Lord Kite to identify the eager looking blue armored men on the opposing ship.
And he cursed, for they were so close to finishing off the enemy, yet now it seemed so far.
But there was little he could do about it now.
The chance seemed to have slipped through his fingers.
"Pull back! Get in formation! We have new guests to fight!!"
However, instead ofmenting over the already split milk, Lord Kite instead chose to act decisively, ordered as such with a strong, proud tone.
And there was no panic or fear in voice, because judging by the numbers that he could see in front, these reinforcements did not seem to be enough to match his.
In fact, they seemed to number half or even less than half of his.
So what did Lord Kite exactly have to fear? Especially given the man had just dealt with a simr brood just now.
And even the reason the man had even bothered to call his men back was because he was worried that he might be caught on his nk unprepared.
He had no appetite to lose his men aftering so far, after fighting so hard to secure victory.
And yes, Lord Kite did consider his fight with Remus already concluded, the prey crushed, and the surviving remnants too small and insignificant to matter to him.
Thus Lord Kite did not feel anything more than a little more acrimony about asking his men to leave thest few remaining legionaries alive, even when among whom was also the grand prize Remus.
He could wait to finish him off after this greater threat was dealt with.
The man was not likely going anywhere.
And true to Lord Kite''s hypothesis, Remus indeed was too weak and too beaten up, both mentally and physically to really do anything meaningful at this point.
The men he had with him numbered too low, with the rest allying strewn all around the decks dead or very close to it.
Such a phenomenon had developed over the entire course of the battle, as whenever a legionary fell, be it out of various small injuries or even exhaustion, the Heeat family soldiers tended to instantly gang up on the poor guy and hack him to death, venting all their frustration for making them fight so hard.
Thus, there were many bodies in blue, with a slit throat or a great puncture on the chest or gut, a total that would number greater than sixty!
Meaning a death of more than sixty percent for the unit.
It was mind blogging.
There were suicide missions that had better odds of survival than this!
And this harrowing sight made Remus wept, as he found it hard to even keep standing.
He did not know exactly why he was feeling so sad.
After all, it was not like he had never seen such death and cruelty before.
But somehow, this time it hit the man hard, and he did not know whether to feel happy or sad at being saved.
Chapter 1136 Kazid Vs Lord Kite (Part-2)
??From his elevated ce near the ship''s wheel, Kazid was able to quickly spot the state of Remus''s men, and the sore sight stung his eyes.
Laid strewn all about the deck, in dotted groups of two and three were many of hisrades, their leaking blood and gore sttering the wooden deck in a dreary, rusty color, the fresh deadly wounds they had over the ces proving themselves to be a macabre sight not even the skies to behold.
Most of the men were already dead or very close to it, with only the faintest of the twitching of the finger or perhaps the gentle, almost imperceptible swaying of the chest betraying their lively state.
Looking at Remus''s deck felt like looking at dollops of blue paint scattered on a wooden canvas, from which oozed a deadly, ckish liquid, tainting the drop and the life held within.
"Bastards!" Kazid could not help but instinctively spit out this small curse with gritted teeth, his eyes quickly turning furious.
Thus he instantly turned to order his men with a fierce gaze, "What are you waiting for? Go! Make these bastards pay! An eye for an eye! A life for a life!"
Immediately came the shot of a loud chorus of hurrah, followed a secondter by the blistering shower of arrow fire, as the archers let off their very first volley of the day.
And thus soon the momentary still air once again began to wheeze with flying arrows, deadly javelin throws, and energetic shouts of legionaries eagerly jumping onto Lord Kite''s ship to get a piece of the enemy.
The counterattack had thus begun, thus starting round two of the battle.
As Kazidunched his attack, Remus and his group were finally given their much need respite, with the Heeat family soldiers leaving them alone to go instead fight a bigger fish.
For the surviving men, watching this ck tide recede from them felt like watching the sun rise at dawn to drive away the cold and darkness, and they produced an eternally long sigh of relief, before letting out joyous cheers,
"Heh heh, the gods favor me. Gaia favors me."
"Whew! Can''t believe how close that was. Father nearly thought he was a goner."
"Dammit! That Alexander really made us wait for it, didn''t he?"
"Hahaha! That''s right! Could they have not cut it so close?"
"I am just d to be alive. I just bought a sexy minx a few months ago and still haven''t gotten to even enjoy her. Bah! Damned if I go without fucking her."
"Those brats on the other ships better give these bastards a good thrashing. They killed so many of our brothers."
"Right! Let''s go, I will personally go ughter all of them."
It was like this that the surviving men tried to lighten the grim reality of the state of their formation
Now, while most of the men turned thankful to the gods for this close escape or bellicose for wanting revenge, there was one man who was less than over the moon about all this.
And that was Remus.
This young man only produced a much more zed, almost profound look.
The reason being that it was only now, without the constant pressure from the attackers that he was beginning to wake up to the scale of the losses they can incur, and it broke his heart.
Remus had of course seen the sanguinary sights thaty before him many times, and many times, even much worse.
But perhaps what set this time apart was how close it was and how primal it all felt.
Usually, in a battlefield, Remus would be on his horse at the very back of the formation, constantly shouting and barking out orders, but not taking part in the fight itself.
Thus normally, there was not that tangible connection to the extremely bloody affair.
However here, he had fought literally shoulder to shoulder with his men, with his friends, some of them were even his lovers, shedding sweat, tears, and blood.
And now so many of them were dead.
The realization hit the young twenty year old hard.
So much so that whereas the surrounding men in his group let out great cheers of jubtion and apuse at the sight of the reinforcements resuming the old fight, Remus could muster neither the energy nor the will to do so.
Instead, his eyes lost much of their usual luster and he let out a small sigh, before quickly following it with a thin, grim smile, "This is war!"
This small sentence was uttered with a profound weight to him that betrayed its short structure, as Remus suddenly felt something bloom and grow in him.
Up until today, the young man had never really grasped the true weight of what it meant to go to war.
Remus usually quite liked to go to war, finding everything about it exhrating. Whether it be the sight of the two armies shing, the noise of the swords nging, shields bashing and people shouting, the spilling smell of sweat mixed blood, and even simply the rush of galloping across the battlefield on his horse, zooming past all the enemy and reaping their lives one after the other with his trusty swords- it all felt exhrating to the boy.
To the point, any threat of potential injury or even death seemedpletely inconsequential to the drunk with joy boy.
Even the tiresome marches did not feel too harsh for him, as he liked the exercise, as well as the banal but funny banter they would have on the way.
And he had thought his days would tumble on just like that, in blissful ignorance.
But he was clearly mistaken.
Today it showed that wars and battles had real, unchangeable, real life consequences.
Remus of course knew about it before. But only today he was understanding it.
And having lost so many people he knew in the blink of an eye just like that, caused the realizaiton to really hammed itself in.
Thus as the counterattack for Kazid began, the exhausted young man suddenly plopped down on the deck, sinking into a pond of self reflection, while being happy to let Kazid take control of the fight.
"Darn it! Not this again!"
Back on Lord Kite''s ship, facing the torrential hail of arrow fire once again, Lord Kite''s men groaned as such.
It was already hard to finish off one group, and now they had to do it again.After they were already so bruised and battered?
Not a single one of them was thrilled at the prospect.
Especially given that up until just a few moments ago, all of them had been on his toes rejoicing the fact that the battle was over.
It had been a brutal fight, but finally, with theirrge numbers, better experience, and a little bit of luck, the curtains were closing in.
Only to be thwarted at thest second like this.
The disappointment and sense of loss quickly made all the men''s hearts feel heavy and morale suffered heavy loss.
But what could they do?
The order hade from above to continue fighting, and none of the officers dared to suggest anything otherwise.
Such was the taboo of the word ''retreat''.
Because they knew their mission was to reinforce the important Phyrros Ind, and losing it without even fighting for it was not an option.
Lord Kite would have them court martialed.
Thus even though they knew their men were tired and battered, the officers still had them line up in new formations and soon another round of fighting started with these fresh legionaries.
As for how Lord Kite intended to win this engagement against this lively group, all of whom seemed very eager to avenge their fallen brethren, well that still remained to be seen.
Now Alexander''s addition of two hundred reinforcements was certainly not enough to win the legionaries the battle decisively right there right now.
No.
But instead the arrival of Kazid''s fresh new troops worked more like a counterweight and rebnced the scales towards a much more bnced fight, quickly stabilizing the situation across the battlefield and making it a much fairer fight
The new ships were able to ram, board, or even just harass the enemy who had been on the tail of the other ships for so long, thus relieving much of the pressure on the old troops.
Hence it was like so the tables here became flipped, as it was now Alexander''s reinforcements who were doing the attacking, throwing hooks,ying gangnks, and charging onto the enemy''s ships while being supported by arrow fire from the archers behind.
The concentrated fire of crossbows and Instant bows worked as marvelously here in offense as it had done at other times in defense, their great and powerful shots working wonders to disrupt the lined formation of the enemy who were all lined up and preparing to meet the legionaries on the decks.
But now, under the threat of such powerful bows, many had to recoil back, thus letting the heavily armored legionaries safely aboard the other ships, where they could work to expand the beachhead.
And it was like that the battle soon entered its second phase, one that promised tost a few more hours at the very least.
Chapter 1137 Phyrros Island Battle
Chapter 1137 Phyrros Ind Battle
??The second round of the battle on the sea raged on with arguably even greater intensity, there being even more ships churning the unruly waters, making the ce a bloody and chaotic hot stop, one filled with sharp arrow fire, bloody sword swings, ravenous spear thrusts, bloodthirsty axe swings, and pained moans.
And in the midst of that chaotic maelstrom, the reinforcing legionaries assaulting the Heeat family ships found that things were not going to be as smooth as one thought they might be, even when many of the enemy troops were tired from prior fighting.
No, for despite having much more stamina and possessing support from powerful archers, there were many times the legionaries had difficulty budging the opposing lines, as the elite Heeat family men simply chose to bear through many of the attacks even at the risk of death.
Some would die and have their bodies used as a human shield rather than retreat.
While more of the cleverer men would use not just one but two or in some extreme cases even threeyers of shields to try and better withstand the barrage, with the extra shields being usually picked up from a fallenrade.
A few would even shamelessly take shelter under the much heavier and sturdier legionary shield, ones that were naturally taken as spoils of war, and that offered much greater protection, at the cost of maneuverability.
All these measuresbined helped Lord Kite''s men mitigate a lot of the nastier effects of the attack, and thus maintain a coherent line formation, able to withstand the many boarding attempts.
And even when the legionaries did board them, they found it hard to proceed much further, as their bulky armor made it hard tond a good strike against their much more agile and skilled target, finding the enemy to ''dance'' around them.
These men were once again learning the same lesson Remus and hispany had, and like many of their formerrades, it was a lesson to be learned in blood.
And all this was also not considering the fact that not all enemy ships were being boarded.
Because some of them managed to inevitably get out of Kazid''s way in time, who then sometimes managed to turn and ram them in return, once againying testament to the rower''s great skill, while the Heeat soldiers proceeded to ''counter board'' Alexander''s reinforcements.
It was like this both sides continued to bleed themselves out, dancing a macabre dance in that small patch of sea, where the duet seemed to have at least a good few more hours left before curtain call.
While Kazid and Remus were busy experiencing their first naval battle, Alexander had managed to prepare his own forces for the western amphibious attack.
The required four hundred men and three ships were finally requisitioned and as soon as they were ready, the group promptly set off without further ado, sailing north before turning west.
The short journey was made without any real obstacle, with Alexander only stopping for a bit when they were sailing past his garrisoned men on the ind, to whom he gave the signal tounch their eagerly awaiting attack on the enemy holed up there.
The idea was that these legionaries would draw the enemy''s attention by assaulting their position while Alexander disembarked discreetly behind them, and crept up on the unsuspecting formation, thus catching the stationed enemy in apletely unprepared pincher.
And up until now, that strategy seemed to be mostly going to n.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Upon receiving Alexander''s order, the legionaries began to quickly form up outside the enemy''s walls, their shields locked and crossbows ready, staring menacing down the small camp.
And seeing which the guards posted at the gates quickly let out panicked shouts, rousing the residing men to the imminent assault.
Given Alexander''s initial troopnding was well known, the entire camp had already been on alert mode.
So the call caused little confusion.
Instead, at the shout, the men reacted swiftly and with expert ease, running up with their shields and spears to take defensive positions along the ramparts, while also bringing out their own archers and a scant few crossbowmen.
Then soon the two sides had them staring down each other, one neatly lined up in a checkerboard formation outside, the other pridefully perched up inside.
"Surrender! There is no hope for you. You are outmatched!"
Then from Alexander''s side came forth a crier, calling out to the garrisoned force in an arrogant, almost impetuous voice.
It was so curt that even if the Heeat family soldier originally had the mind to consider this, they would have been turned off by the sheer crass tone in his address.
It was apparent this was no genuine offer but only a taunting gesture.
So out of anger, in a tit for tat response, one of their archers shot at the messenger, and from such a close range, it was a confirmed hit.
The arrow was able to easily make good, solid contact with its target breastte, and then it breezed past the outer bronze metal, broke off one of the metal links in the chainmail, tore through the leather thorax underneath to finally enter flesh, cutting the blood vessels and thus drawing blood.
However, due to all theyers of armor, the shot was not fortunately lethal, only managing to prate about an inch deep into his body, thus letting the crier quickly scurry back to his line to seek aid.
While the other legionaries, seeing their brother get attacked as such, instantly became incensed, and quickly drew their swords.
Negotiations had clearly broken down.
Hence the air began to soon smell of imminent blood and steel, and seeing this the officers manning the ramparts turned to the defenders to let a fewst words of encouragement, shouting,
"Do not fear! You have faced these rabble before. And know them to be little more than craven cowards who hide and cower behind their walls all day long. Do you think they will ever have the guts to truly attack you? No! Stand strong and these rats will soon scurry back to the dens they came from!"
"That''s right! They think they can bully you just because we are outnumbered! Bah! Men! Show them the steel of Lynican! Show them the de of the Heeat family. Send these rats scurrying."
The speech given here by the officers was really a cut above the rest.
Usually, it would be simply orders such as ''hold steady'' and ''do not run'' said with a stricter voice.
But there was a nobleman stationed here and his eloquent words had all the desired effect, as evidenced by how hearing this, the soldiers all felt pumped up and ready, letting out a loud hurrah.
Some of them let the embellished propaganda get to their head so much that they soon even started suggesting that given the enemy was almost equal to them, they should skip the tedious siege and go out to meet them in open field, just to show them what the Heeat family was really about.
These over the top suggestions were of course immediately shot down, with the reasoning that they should wait for their reinforcements as well as simply letting the enemy tire himself out before going overboard.
But still, such an example worked to vividly demonstrate the unmistakable cheerful and almost bellicose atmosphere around the camp.
The men seemed very optimistic about being able to hold out against Alexander.
That bravadosted all the way to the point when Alexander''s men began to set up the three catapults they had brought with them and then started to throw balls of stone and some even of solid iron against the wooden barricade.
"Wha¡ what was that? Are they shooting stones! By the gods!"
The garrisoned soldiers had never experienced such a phenomenon, and seeing it for the first time, they all panicked with utter incredulity, quickly ducking their heads with haste to take cover from these lethal weapons.
And from behind their walls, they heard with increasing trepidation the dreadful bang of the solid mass punching against their defenses, the cracking and snapping of wood splintering, and even the wet thud of therge stone slumping to the floor,ying evidence to itsrge weight.
It all worked to make their hands and feet shake with a chill, and many of them even cried with a dreadful heart, ''How can such a huge stone be thrown so far? Is this magic? Are the gods against us? By the heavens!''
It seemed that the shock of seeing their first catapults proved a great shock to many of the men, who were barely able to provide any defense, mostly choosing to keep their heads down in prayer.
Hence Alexander''s legionaries were able to assault the position with almost impunity, to the point that it seemed that if Alexander had been able to properly estimate the lethality of his catapults as well as know the shabby state of defense on the ind, he might not have even needed to contemte sending a second ambitious force in the first ce.
Give the initial force of five hundred a few moredders and they would have likely been able to take the ind on their own with little problem.
Chapter 1138 Successful Pincher Attack
Chapter 1138 Sessful Pincher Attack
??The Heeat family soldiers there had never experienced the dread of a catapult, and so with the legionaries beginning to throw out volley after volley of the weapon, coordinated closely with crossbow fire to protect these siege engines from opposing arrow fire, the men on the ramparts found it incredibly hard to even lift their heads over the wooden walls.
They could only duck and pray from behind that the walls held until reinforcements arrived because everybody could tell with a swear in their heart that the rickety palisade was not robust enough to hold against such a lethal onught for any appreciable length of time.
And this thought was quickly proved by quite a few unlucky instances when some parts of the wall could not hold, simply snapping away at the hit, and letting the stone bulldoze through to hit its unfortunate destined target.
These hits almost always broke bones, multiple of them, if not cause lethal internal trauma, killing the man slowly through internal bleeding.
It seemed that much of the defenses here had not been well built.
This was mostly because no one there was seriously expecting to be attacked on this isted ind, thus found the tedious task of building brand few fortifications tooborious, especially when they had to build it on cold, frozen ground.
Trying to dig through it felt like digging through solid stone, as due to the cold, much of the water in the ground turned to ice.
So the men only built the most rudimentary walls and then contented themselves with sitting inside by their tents and warming themselves by the fire.
Hence these defenses were never meant to hold for long, especially not against an attack from such a lethal weapon, a weapon that most had never even seen before.
Now, yes, catapults were first used by Iyizarid against Sybaris, so many in the country were familiar with it.
But that battle was fought north of the Central Sea, while the Heeat family resided primarily in the south of it.
Thus although all the duke and his generals knew of the presence of the weapon and had heard tales of its destructive potential, very few had yet to see them actually in action.
As for the regr grunts who were participating here, they were of course not even considered in the equation.
Hence at this unforeseen attack, the best these poor men could do was try to thicken their walls with extra panels as best as they could while they waited.
And to do that, they not only used wood, but whatever else they could get their hands on, be they furniture, their shields, rocks and stone, and even metal pots and pans, while constantly praying to their gods for salvation.
If Alexander had known about the true state of the enemy, he would have likely given only his initial five hundred men toplete the job themselves, thus skipping the second attacking force.
And if he had done that, well then the entire fiasco that was currently unfolding could have been avoided.
Thus it seemed here, Alexander''s caution andck of intel had once again reared its ugly head.
Of course in all fairness, it was not right to judge him for making such a decision.
Alexander had acted with the best knowledge he had at the time and it was in general better to overestimate the enemy than underestimate him.
Imagine if the reverse had happened, and due to ack of adequate force, Alexander''s attack on the ind had failed.
Such a thing would have not only put the men on the ind in danger, but it would have also made it trying next to impossible, as Lord Parker would be sure to heavily reinforce it next time.
That would have had disastrous consequences for all his future ns.
Hence very eager to prevent such an oue and kill the enemy for good, Alexander had his three ships moor some distance away from the enemy garrisons, using the nearby rocks along the shore as a shield against any watchtowers set up for detection.
And given these men were too busy buttressing their door so that the attacking legionaries could not break through and ughter them, this act was aplished with rtive ease, there being no panicked shouts or rm bells being thrown their way.
"Quickly! And quietly!"
And wanting to keep things very much as they were, Alexander thus let out this order in a subconsciously hushed voice, which the men followed hurriedly, jumping from their ships onto argely deserted. part of a secluded shore, and quickly but silently getting into the proper formation.
And very much like the initial disembarkment during the night, here too hushed silence ruled.
The men needed only a few small orders and silent nods to get themselves into position.
And with that, they quickly began to move up intending to hit the enemy''s from the rear.
"Wha¡ Oh no! But how?"
The heavy footsteps of four hundred legionaries marching were eventually enough to give themselves away.
But by that point, the men were figuratively breathing down their opponent''s neck, busy Heeat family soldiers only noticing this second continent when Alexander''s men were already halfway through prepping their catapults.
And the sight of more of those dreadful weapons was thest straw that broke the camel''s back.
"Run! We can''t win!"
"Save yourself, brothers! Save yourself!"
"To the bridge! Head towards the bridge!"
Screaming with terrified shouts as such, most of the men decided to leave their ''penned fence'' then and there, lest it be their coffin.
The door of the camp leading toward the bridge connecting Phyrros Ind to the maind was thus suddenly bolted open with the force of a tornado, and out of it came a torrential surge of ck tide, all beeling for that narrow stretch of wood and stone with a maddened look in their eyes.
"Halt! Stand your ground, men! Stand and hold them back"
"Do not run! Desertion is a capital offense! Do not run no matter what!"
"Keep your wits to yourself! Our men are on the way! Endure just a bit longer!"
"Cowards! Stay and defend!"
And while thest of the staunchestmanders tried to rally the copsing morale of the troops by shouting as such, needless to say, did not work.
Facing two ''armies'' attacking them from two sides and wielding such magnificent weapons that appeared to be from the gods themselves soon proved too great a scare for most of the men.
And so leaving everything behind, they all abandoned their positions and started to bolt straight toward their main camp with great terror, wanting to cross that rickety bridge before anyone could.
While seeing the enemy''s camp be suddenly abandoned and out of ite such arge mass of terrified men, unarmed and out of formation, the orderly legionaries felt like how a hunting dog felt after spotting a running rabbit- a primal urge to go chasing after it no matter the cause.
It was a thought shared by many of Alexander''smanders too, who instantly called out to their men from both sides of the formation,
"Do not let them get away! Hurry! After them!"
"Kill! Kill them! Each and every one we kill now, we will be spared from killing in the future."
"Avenge all our brothers that have died till now. Their souls want blood! Blood for blood!
Such inciting urgings acted as a great injection of adrenalin for the legionaries, who, riding high in their victory, let out a great big hurrah, before both of Alexander''s contingent began to sprint after the running enemy with a greedy, almost malicious glint in their eyes, marching so fast that they were barely able to maintain their coherent formations.
Most chose to bypass the shabbily built enemy''s camp, instead preferring to try and hunt down as many of the fleeing men as they could, firing their crossbows, and throwing their javelins at the defenseless backs of the men, while letting out excited and bloodthirsty cheers.
"Go! Quickly! Chase them!"
"Hurry! Hurry! Hah hah! A hit!"
"*sh!* This is for trying to starve us! Bastards!"
"Dammit! Wish we had brought a few horses! Father would have loved to trample these bastards to death!"
It was like the legionaries soon chased the men onto the narrow bridge, and not intending to let them escape even then, decided to board it themselves, even though they were barely able to keep their
formation on the thin straits.
The excited and half crazed legionaries did not seem to care.
As for what were Alexander''s own thoughts on this wild, malicious chase, well, observing the whole thing from his horse in the rear, he tacitly approved of it.
Because not only did he agree with the idea of killing the fleeing enemy, but much more importantly, he found it critical for the bridge to be taken.
Thus he intended to let his men proceed all the way to the other end of the bridge and then have them establish defensive fortifications there, hence not only removing all enemy presence in the area but also safeguarding himself from any future attacks.
In this way, Alexander intended to secure the captured Phyrros Ind as well as thend in its vicinity for himself.
Chapter 1139 Crucial Bridge
Chapter 1139 Crucial Bridge
There were several good reasons for Alexander wanting to have the bridge, and thus let his men chase after the fleeing enemy.
One was because his officers were right. Killing even one of them would reduce their opponents by that amount.
And even if the size of the garrison seemed inconsequential, a few hundred at best, well even if only a drop of water from an entire ocean was lost, that would still count as being lost, no matter how small.
And Lord Parker''s forces were certainly not as vast as the oceans, amounting to only twenty thousand.
Two was because he felt this would be a good way for his men to vent all their built up frustration, and to get some of the rust in their joints out.
Because in recent days, Alexander had been getting worried that the men had been cooped up in their tents for too long, only having themselves to dig new wells and drink melted snow while killing the rest of the time in wasteful sloth.
All this was beginning to affect morale, as evidenced by how there were already whispers, albeit very faint ones, of the soldiers wanting Alexander to cancel the campaign and sue for peace.
These hushed voices were of course very wizened and nascent, but Alexander took them very seriously and intended to quash them at their roots.
And the remedy he thought of was letting the men swing their swords a few times at the people
solely responsible for making their lives so miserable.
If the men could also bring back some ''trophies'' as souvenirs back to camp, macabre as that concept might be, and then share it with the rest of the men, well the proof would surely get quite a few cheers among the men.
In this way he hoped that the news of the sessful attack and capture of Phyrros Ind would work to raise morale, disying to the legionaries that they were not powerless chickens who could only stay cooped up behind their lines, ever fearful of the big bad fox.
But were instead opportunistic hunters able to bring the fight to the enemy whenever the situation presented itself.
As for the third and final reason why Alexander did not stop his troops from chasing the running enemy, well the man himself exined it to one of themanders as such,
"Have the men follow the enemy till they reach the end of the bridge on the other side. And then pull them back. Do not let them go beyond the bridge. I only want to take control of it."
The officers however did not seem to quite understand why Alexander would want to do such a thing, finding taking control of the whole bridge to be inconsequential.
In this mind, just one side seemed to do.
But of course, he did not dare question Alexander.
Instead, he chose to pretend to have fullprehension, wanting to appear clever.
Hence in an effort to impress Alexander, the man let off an almost slimy grin, and then added in a sharineced tone,
"Lord Pasha is indeed wise. Going any further would lose us the choke of the bridge and open up the men to a counterattack. It would be ying right into the enemy''s hand."
"Now is not the time for us to face them in open battle. Indeed you are most erudite, sire."
Alexander had been listening to the man with a nonchnt heart, until that veryst sentence.
Those words suddenly ''stung'' Alexander''s ears as he felt it was too flowery, almost overflowing with such a sticky, almost mucus like ''ass kissery'', that it made the man internally nearly retch.
Now, Alexander had been lord for almost five years, some ttery and butterynguage when addressing him had bemonce among the soldiers.
That was to be expected and frankly, the young lord had also by now gotten used to it, choosing to mostly put it in through one ear and out the next.
But what was just said now on another level, and he could not help but turn to have a good look at the man who uttered this.
Tall, with a square body, and a warm glow on his clean shaven face, Alexander soon recognized him as one of the newer recent recements taken from the captain cadre in order to fill up a few vacancies created due to recent losses.
"You¡ I remember you are called Pyanos, right?" And after churning his memory a bit for the name, the pasha posed the statement with great certainty in his voice.
Yes, this was the same Pyanos whom the merchant father and son, Jamiz and Niloy were talking about, the one who got his position by greasing the wheel of his superiors.
It seemed that through the subtle cracks in the military apparatus, as well as a bit of skill, this crooked man had somehow managed to get himself a seat in Alexander''s most prestigious unit.
The effects of such contamination on the unit as well as the whole legion remained to be seen.
For now, though, the man''s face lit up with a great grin, as he felt genuinely ttered seeing Alexander had remembered his name.
This was not a usual urrence, especially for a lord of Alexander''s caliber, to remember the name of rtively low ranking captains.
In most cases, a Pasha only bothered to learn the name of the man leading the army and the important nobles in them, who were all without exclusion put in high ranking positions, such as second inmand, quartermasters, etc.
Pyanos thus quickly expressed his gratitude, lightly bowing and letting off another round of butter, "It is the honor of a thousand lives that my lord knows the name of such an insignificant one as myself. Truly the gods favor me."
Needless to say, Alexander was not impressed.
This might be the way to get some other lord''s favor, but not Alexander''s.
In fact, this might be the very opposite way to please him, as the man suddenly began to feel ticked off, wondering how such a man got into his unit.
Alexander thus quickly hatched a n to test him.
Putting on an intrigued face, his eyes suddenly turned sharp, as he then posed in a curious tone, "Oh? And why do you think I want the bridge?"
The street smart Pyanos was able to instantly catch on to the fact that he was being tested, and instead of feeling intimidated, he began to actually feel excited.
Because passing it would undoubtedly mean rich rewards.
Hence, although he did not quite know the answer to the question, he quickly put on his thinking cap and began to think.
It did not take long for the clever man to find one.
So turning to face Alexander with a pleased glow in his eyes, Pyanos hypothesized,
"Because it connects Phyrros Ind to the maind. So if we do not take it, there will always be the threat of Lord Parker sending men this way to reim the ind."
The simple answer seemed to fit the narrative in the man''s head.
While Alexander hearing this was able to ascertain that the man was at least somewhatpetent, and had not joined the ranks suddenly from the sky.
He determined as such because although such a logic sounded very simple, even childish to a modern man, in this current period, where the literacy rate was in the single digits, it was surprisingly a hard thing to do for many men.
In fact, Alexander personally knew of many legionaries in his army who could not havee up with this answer.
This might seem strange but the phenomenon was very simr to how many of the university entrance exams from a hundred or two hundred years ago were much, much easier.
It happened because people had ess to much less information, and so their thinking and deductive capabilities did not get to develop that much.
The exceptions to this case were of course the nobles, who were helped in this aspect by having very good teachers to show them the way, as well as their own life experiences, since they had to deal with manyplicated affairs from a young age.
Anyway, returning to the matter at hand, Pyanos''s answer was not quite exactly the reason why Alexander wanted the bridge.
So he pointed out to the theorizing man,
"Hmmm, you say that¡ but if that was the only thing I wanted to do, then why would I want the men to stop all the way at the other end? Would it not be better to have them stop on this side? Or better yet, simply have a part of the bridge broken and copse? That seems much easier does it not?"
"......." Pyanos had little to reply to this, and his heart sank at failing the test and losing the reward.
While the Pasha, not wishing to keep the man hanging, revealed the reason to be such,
"Because this bridge also lets ships pass through under it. And that gives Lord Parker a direct way to attack our fleet at the east harbor"
"But if we can fully control the bridge, and then ce a few catapults on top, well we can cut off this route for good! Got it?"
Chapter 1140 Battle At the Bridge (Part-1)
Chapter 1140 Battle At the Bridge (Part-1)
If Alexander had only wanted to deny any enemy reinforcements from reaching the other side of the ind, he would have simply had a section of the bridge destroyed, and then put a small garrison behind.
With just a few good crossbowmen, he was very confident in being able to retard any repair attempts made by the other side, being more than adequate to hold Lord Parker at bay for a very long period of time.
But denying ess to just one side of the bridge was not quite enough for Alexander.
He wanted to take control of the whole of it.
Because upon seeing Lord Parker''s fleet, nascent as it may be, Alexander quickly came to the realization that the enemy''s naval capabilities had not been as squashed as he thought it might have been.
Sure, they had been greatly diminished, but upon seeing some of it in action, Alexander urately guessed that some of the ships must have survived the zing inferno, and were then likely moved to the abandoned harbor for repairs.
This abandoned harbor was a rtively new harbor, although not in the sense you might think.
Originally it used to be just the western part of the Great Harbor, and also called as such.
But after the disaster five years ago, it was virtually destroyed by the tidal waves, to the point it ceased to basically exist, and then had been till now left ''abandoned''.
The Margraves originally nned to repair it after the eastern side of the Great Harbor was restored, but the ns were yet to get that far, thus leaving this harbor to ruin.
Until now that is.
Because after Alexander''s recent stunt, one that created a zing inferno threatening to almost burn down the entire city, as its sh point, the eastern Great Harbor was left in a state even worse than the western side one, to the point it was now simply a charred, crumbling stone pathway facing the sea, its surfaces warped and ''wrinkled'' as many of the stones literally turned to ss under the immense heat.
The fire had made it so that the ''Great Harbor'' of Caira really did not exist at this point.
And so Lord Parker had his surviving ships moved to the second port, finding ess to better facilities there, as well as letting the man evade Alexander''s spying eyes.
In fact, this was primarily how he was able to prevent Alexander from detecting the fact that he still had a fleet until now.
This was a phenomenon that the pasha was very eager to rectify, for given the clear mismatch in naval warfare being revealed to him as of now, it would be disastrous if Lord Parker, after he regained his fleet strength, was tounch an attack while his ships were still on the port.
Alexander would be outmatched in skill and grossly outnumbered in men, and the man had not risked burning half the city down to have it all end up for naught.
Hence he desired to ce troops on the bridge, from there they would be able to churn out deadly missiles of steel and fire onto any approaching enemy vessels, thus denying them this easier passage.
While his garrison on Phyrros Ind would put a stop to any northern approaches.
Alexander revealed all such of his inner thoughts to Pyanos in a quick sinct manner, a matter that quickly worked to create a genuine sense of admiration in the man.
Pyanos felt that he could have his belly blown wide open and yet not be able toe up with so many insightful reasons, not to mention so quickly.
Thus for the first time in his life, Pyanos felt a slight shiver run through his spine at the sharpness of the man in front of him.
And then a hint of shame began to creep up on him.
Because being a highly social man, he was quickly able to tell that Pasha had caught on it his ass kissing, and very clearly did not like it.
So feeling somewhat intimidated themander only obediently nodded and kept his head down, gently bobbing it at everything Alexander said while appearing bashful and servile.
The tactfulness impressed Alexander, finding the highly malleable man not as much an eyesore as before.
Thus the thought of immediately dismissing him after the campaign was over was put on hold for now.
Of course, if he knew of Pyanos''s past deeds, the feeling would be entirely different, but for now, Alexander decided to remove his gaze with a pleased aftertaste behind it.
As the battle rolled on, Alexander continued to closely follow his men chasing the fleeing enemy across the bridge, with the legionaries ying all who they could get their hands on, to the point the entire stretch of the ''road'' behind themid strewn with mangled bodies, bearing various wounds pertaining to shes, jibes, pokes and hits by arrows, etc. before being squashed and ttened under the footsteps of a thousand armored men.
But while Lord Parker''s men fled from the battlefield in panic like this, back in his camp, newer events were unfolding in a way that caused the situation to develop along paths that Alexander had not predicted.
Among the first of which was Lord Kite''s plea for help from the lord.
Yes, after being pinned by Alexander''s reinforcement and seeing no easy way to break through, the man quickly sent his own call for more troops, wishing to draw from his own reserves, his much, much bigger reserves, and crush both the old and new legionaries together.
Lord Parker responded immediately upon learning of the recent battlefield developments, ordering a thousand more men to board the ships and start sailing toward the battleground at their earliest.
With themand for this second fleet surprisinglynded on Lord Bernard''s hand, and not General Achis.
This was a once in a life golden chance afforded to him courtesy of his familiar kin- Miss Linda.
The schemingdy had been in the tent when the runner came to inform Lord Parker of Lord Kite''s situation and sensing an opportunity for herself here, the stunningdy quickly pounced on her husband''sp and whispered to him the idea of giving Lord Bernard and his men a ''chance to redeem themselves'', referring to the drinking water debacle.
Of course in reality Miss Linda had little love for Lord Bernard, only knowing the man in a professional context.
And this was really just her way of letting the troops of her family gain some battlefield credits, thus hoping to elevate her own position within the Heeat family.
Because any wife, if she wanted to ever have influence over her lord husband needed to have a strong maternal family.
Yes, even someone as beautiful as Miss Linda, for the charm and allure of one''s beauty always had a fixed expiration date, as the magic tended to usually wear off after a few years.
And at that point, one needed to have the power and prestige to assert their dominance and keep out any newer, fresher mistresses that might catch their husband''s eyes.
And for a woman, that power and prestige exclusively came from her family lineage.
Lord Parker did not have to be a genius to be able to see through all of this, but he did not seem to mind, finding it nothing of significance.
He had already cooled off regarding Lord Bernard''sck of results with the drinking water and furthermore felt that it might not be a bad idea for the Margraves troops and his men to participate in a joint battle- just to let each side see how the other fought, what were the signal they used, theirmand structure, and even their general attitude towards battles.
And since they were going to only reinforce an already existingrge force, Lord Parker thought there was nothing to worry about in terms of the battlefield results and thus acquiesced to the Margraves'' men having their short time under the sunlight.
Hence Lord Bernard got his own ships, crewed by his own men.
The extremely dashing officer got to quickly maneuvering his beauties, intent on making good on the trust that was ced on him by both the ducal lord and his family''s future head.
And as such, he set off immediately and soon approached the bridge, his course being to sail under it.
When suddenly,
"Sir! Look! It''s our men! On the bridge!", his men drew attention to the happenings atop there with a panicked screech.
Lord Bernard instantly spotted their men, dressed in ck fleeing towards the camp with great shouts and greater urgency while being chased by a group of ravenous beasts in blue.
Lord Bernard''s heart sank at seeing this.
Not necessarily because of the state of their forces, but more so because of what it represented- the loss of Phyrros Ind.
And at this realization, the man momentarily found himself with a hollow heart, pondering what to do.
Because the way he saw it, there was little point in going to help Lord Kite now, was there?
The main battle had been already lost.
Thus the man decisively ordered the following,
"Turn the ships! Have them head towards the bridge! We will nk the enemy from here!"
Chapter 1141 Battle At the Bridge (Part-2)
??When Lord Parker sent Lord Bernard to the aid of Lord Kite, he did it with the hope that both sides would use this to familiarize themselves with how the other fought, thus helping them fight better as a single coherent fighting unit in the future.
Plus, Lord Parker was also interested to see if what he had read about the Margraves family troops was true, that they were almost as skilled as any ducal forces, especially when it came to naval fighting
Being a scion of one, such a bold statement inevitably pricked at his ego a bit.
But all such considerations were turned moot when Lord Bernard decided to ignore that objective, leaving Lord Kite to himself and instead setting his eyes on the bridge- the same bridge that was currently being overrun by Alexander.
As his ship approached the bridge and he saw their defeated forces running away, Lord Bernard quickly turned to order his right hand man, "Ser Robert! Have the captain change course. Head towards the bridge! We must not let it fall! It is the key to Phyrros Ind."
"Tha¡" The sudden and unexpected order caught the man to the right off guard, who could not help but blurt with a shocked look, "Shouldn''t we keep to our orders? Acting on our own does not seem prudent. Especially not now. Lord Parker would not approve."
The man made sure to put emphasis on thest sentence, reminding his boss of who they were currently under.
After Alexander''s takeover of the mansion, Margraves troop found themselves fully dependent on the Heeat family''s stocks for food, and much more importantly, the ducal family''s coin for their wages, making them in all but name be under theirmand.
Lord Bernard was very much under Lord Parker''s mercy.
Not to mention the fact that the ducal lord had just gotten over his acrimony at the former''s recent failure, a state that would not be prudent to destroy that so soon,
Hence this military man was of the mind that they should stick to their original ns- since Lord Parker wanted to them to go relieve Lord Kite, they should go do that, regardless of any other development elsewhere.
"Fool!" But Lord Bernard was of a different mind entirely, briskly brushing his hands to the air and rebuking the man with an enraged shout,
"Even you want me to suck on that bastard''s imp of a cock! For how long? How long will we continue to be treated like his doormat? We are Earls! We have been one for thest three hundred years! We deserve better!"
It seemed deep inside the man really hated Lord Parker''s guts, and the other man''s mention of the name quickly worked to get him all riled up, as Lord Bernard actually found the ducal lord overbearing and much more than that, extremely pompous.
He perceived Lord Parker to be always looking down on him or his family, acting as if he was better than all of them, his nose always pointed up into the air.
And his holier than thou act ground Lord Bernard at all the wrong ces.
So much so that as he recalled all the times he had to serve the man in bed, his handsome face twisted in disgust, causing him to clench his fists and grit his teeth in disgust.
"......"
Towards this outburst, his right hand man, Ser Robert only ttened his lips in exasperation, finding it extremely unprofessional for a man in such a station would choose to bring his personal feelings into a military campaign.
Whatever pride and other family matters Lord Bernard might have had, he felt this was not the time or ce to vent it.
But then again, this very dashing man was not a military man, having almost no background training in it.
He had only gotten the job most due to his father as well as the circumstances of the time.
Basically, the guy was the family''s ambassador to Lord Parker, chosen due to his beautiful, handsome face.
And the one who reallymanded the Margraves troops was Ser Robert.
This was also why the impetuous Lord Bernard was even bothering to argue with the man in the first ce, instead of simply ordering the troops himself.
Because he needed Ser Robert''s seal of assent.
And this was also how Ser Robert found the courage to argue with the man who was several ranks above him in the social hierarchy, for one was a full fledged lord, the other amoner, even if a highly decorated, high ranking one.
Thus, maintaining only a thin veil of courtesy, the stocky adjutant tried to persuade his lord in a soft, but cold tone, "It is because of this that we should go help Lord Kite. So that we can show off our strength to the Heeat family. Once they know the sharpness of our de we will surely be treated with the respect we deserve."
Thus the man tried to argue that Lord Bernard would get all that he wanted just by following Lord Parker''s order.
"Bah!" But all that got Ser Robert was a loud spat of disgust and an enraged look as thetter chimed up to rebuke, "What strength? What glory? Bah! Can''t you see Phyrros Ind is lost? Our forces have been overrun and are being chased by Alexander as we speak! We should go help them now! What is the point of going to reinforce Lord Kite? Just tell him to retreat."
The man did have a point there, Ser Robert would give him that.
There truly was little they could do that would help their family by going to Lord Kite''s rescue.
Even if they defeated Alexander''s forces there, then what?
The ind was already taken.
So most likely they would only return to their camp. Where was the glory in that? The honor? The riches?
Not to mention, Lord Kite did not even seem to be in too much trouble by the sound of it. He only asked for extra men to defeat the enemy quickly.
And Ser Robert understood all of this.
However being someone who had been brought up since childhood to always obey the orders given to him, the man found it hard to suddenly change himself.
He instinctively wanted to just turn off his brain and obey.
That is why even after Lord Bernard''s rebuttal, the man kept on insisting, even adding in a slightly didactic tone, "Please recall that we have been entrusted with this order from Lady Linda."
This statement was a very subtle threat.
Everyone knew that Lord Parker''s sudden favorable shift towards Lord Bernard was almost the sole effort of their future family head.
And everyone also knew it would not be good to defy her.
This reminder thus caused Lord Bernard''s gaze to suddenly dim a bit, and his heart skipped a beat.
It was true that he was reluctant to go against thatdy, given her influence as well as the favor she had shown him
However, that also did not mean Lord Bernard would be like a servile ve to her.
So that cautious thought onlysted an ephemeral second, as suddenly remembering something, his face morphed into an expectant glow and a glint of greed shed in his eyes.
So patting the other man on his shoulders he shed a charming smile, a sight so beautiful that it made Ser Robert''s heart skip a beat for the wrong reasons,
And then he heard the other''s sweet, honeyed tone,
"What is the point of going to save those damned ships? How many Adhanians can we kill there? A handful? Or perhaps not even that. That damned Kite must have killed been all."
"But look here! On the bridge! The enemy ispletely defenseless. They are so focused on chasing the fleeing man, they have not even noticed us. Hahaha, all we have to do isnd our troops next to them and we can smash their nks in one hit."
"Routing the enemy and getting our ind back! How does that sound for making an impression?"
As Lord Bernard ended, his voice turned sharp and pitched with longing, while his eyes seemed to dazzle Ser Robert, who upon hearing it all also could not help but seriously consider disobeying current his objectives.
The offer sounded very tempting. Especially given how easy it all sounded.
"If we can take the ind¡ Lord Parker will surely have to pay attention to us. Then our family will¡" The man found himself subconsciously muttering.
So the man quickly started to convince himself, and soon even the only thing that was holding him back- a string of reluctance born out of habit, was snapped as Ser Robert convinced himself it would not be prudent to lock horns with someone of Lord Bernard''s caliber.
Given the societal structure of the time period, it was not easy to go against someone as high in the tiering ring as Lord Bernard.
So fearing the man might simply choose to dismiss if he disagreed, the adjutant nodded with a curt shake, and thus the ships soon began to veer towards Alexander.
Who in the heat of the battle remainedpletely oblivious to the approaching peril.
The snake was poised to strike.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1142 Margraves Vs Alexander (Part-1)
Chapter 1142 Margraves Vs Alexander (Part-1)
??It was very clear from Lord Bernard''s words that his primary goal was not really to go win the battle or even take Phyrros Ind back.
All those were just convenient reasons and extensions of his real objective- trying to achieve grand battlefield glory and reditation, for himself as well as his family.
And Ser Robert knew this.
This is why Lord Bernard had made some very good points about attacking Alexander, he was initially of the mind to reject him, afraid he was just saying this to get in the way and order the army erratically.
And sensing this distrust, Lord Bernard tried to once again make the deal even sweeter, even reminding him of the ''terrible'' way Lord Parker treated them, saying things like, "Robert! Did you forget what he has been giving you? I don''t even know how you guys can eat that stuff. Barley! Really? Who give barley to his soldiers?"
Lord Bernard''s voice was pitched and wounded, as this particr example was made referring to how barley was usually reserved as only animal feed since it had a pungent odor, and caused excess gas in humans.
So it was only eaten as food in desperate times or given as punishment, kind of like prison food.
And this did somewhat rub Ser Robert and the rest of the soldiers the wrong way, as they saw this as naked, nket discrimination, hampering morale
But this in the grand scheme of things were minor inconveniences.
Most of the men were simply d they had a ce to rest their heads and warm food in their busy chilly winter.
While Ser Robert tended to agree, finding the camp conditions to bergely agreeable.
Sure there were small things to nitpick here and there, such as the aforementioned food quality, and that the portions they received being smallerpared to the Heeat soldiers, and or given that Lord Parker only paid half their monthly sries.
But none of these were deal breakers.
Ser Robert had seen much worse.
In fact, he had done worse, once giving a group of allied troops just the food, no wages.
As for Lord Parker being supposedly very arrogant, well he did not find the man to be such, at least not any more than any of the other nobles from any other of the many families.
Hence despite Lord Bernard''s acrimony toward Lord Parker, they were not enough to make Ser Robert flip.
But he eventually did.
So the single thing that tipped the man to Lord Bernard''s side despite all the blockers was really the potential rewards a sessful attack could bring.
If they would give back this important ind to Lord Parker which was lost under his ownmand, well surely the rewards would be rich and sulent.
The Heeat family would have to take them much more seriously then.
Ser Robert was convinced of that.
Combine this with Lord Bernard''s eager instance that showed no signs of budging and even seemed to disy signs of ignoring Ser Robert''s refuse, the short, bulky man with thin ck whiskers along his cheeks ultimately nodded in assent.
And swiftly got arge smile and arge pat on the shoulders in response, "Haha, great! Don''t worry. Your contribution to this will not be forgotten! Haha."
Towards this Ser Robert could only give a thin smile to this, as inside, he prayed with all his heart that things went as smoothly as they had hoped.
While Lord Bernard''s ships changed course and started to approach Alexander, the one battalion worth of men, numbering around five hundred, that was atop the bridge remained fully oblivious to the approaching danger.
Most of them were too drunk by the thrill of the chase to pay any heed to their surroundings, as instead loud and energetic shouts such as these filled the narrow pathway,
"Come on men! Run fast! They are getting away!"
"Haha, father has killed another! This is the third."
"Darn, bastards! Why are you running now? Can''t fight unless you are starving men to death? Cowards!"
"Capture them! Take them back to camp! Let''s see how they like it when they have only a sip of water to drink for the whole day!"
Just as Alexander had hoped, the men were really venting their frustrations on the unlucky few sods who had the misfortune of being stationed in that godforsaken spit of an ind in the middle of this harsh winter.
Which was a good thing for them.
Far less were the approaching enemy ships, who by now had so close enough that even these blood crazed men were forced to take notice.
Even through the thick helmet, the men were able to pick up on the loud and intense churning of the water and much more concerning, the ring, bellicose, belligerent cries of an immense number of bad tempered men, all eager to draw blood.
The sound immediately forced all of them to shift their eyes from the prize in front them toward the right, where, even through the small slits in their helmets, they were able to instantly spot the source of the ruckus- the giant vessels which were beeling towards them with manic intent.
All the ships had their sails unfurled, bearing the emblem of Margraves family- two coins resting on a bnce painted in gold, set against a backdrop of marsh green, the color matching the armor of the men on the decks.
If there were any extreme hopefuls in Alexander''s unit thinking these were some unknown reinforcements, such as Lord Janus, well they had their misconception swiftly corrected.
The sight and color instantly gave away the true identity of the intruders.
And it made all the legionaries'' eyes widen in with horror, so much so that they almost immediately stopped in their tracks, and turned to the right, not caring one hoot about the fact that they were letting the rest of the Heeat soldiers safely retreat beyond the bridge.
They had bigger fish to fry.
And thus they cried out with various degrees of rm,
"Who¡ Ho¡ how?"
"Where did theye from?"
"Dammit! Reinforcements! Couldn''t they havee only a bitter? Why now?"
"That darned Parker! How did he react so fast?"
Thatst sentence was pronounced by an extremely irritated Alexander, whose face in a very rare instance had be twisted in anger and frustration at the arrival of these ships.
He thought that Lord Parker had somehow gotten the news of his force''s rout on the ind and had dispatched men to reinforce them.
This was not something that Alexander had taken into ount because, under reasonable circumstances, this would not have been possible.
It had not really been that long since Alexander dislodged the garrisons at the ind and by all means Lord Parker should have had the time to even receive the news, much less react to it.
So his mind buzzed with pain trying to think where he had gone wrong, not even able to consider that these men were originally dispatched for a very different reason.
"Form up! Form up! Archers at the front! Quick! Archers at the front!"
Alexander''s turbulent thoughts however were suddenly shattered by this loud, didactic order from the man beside him, Hemicus, who seemed to have insteade to the conclusion that the answer to how the enemy might have gotten wind of their triumph could wait.
For now, it was much more imperative that they staved off this attack to their nks, if not at the very least flee.
And Alexander would hundred percent agree to this n.
Thus currently throwing all the ''hows and whys'' into the trash bin, he too joined the captain of his bodyguard immediately and started to scream with him.
Wildly flinging his hands toward the surrounding men, Alexander hence ordered,
"Right! Crossbows! Where are the crossbows? Get here! Get here now! Start firing! Start firing now! Do not let a single bastardnd here!"
"Set up the catapults! Quick! Bring the catapults to the front and start throwing! Where the catapaults! Fire whenever you are ready!"
With the two of the highest ranking men in the formation taking charge, the small and elite five hundred men unit was able to quickly get its act together, turning to their right and acting just as they desired.
The infantry locked their shield, and since the enemy ships were already in range of their weapons, the crossbowmen only needed to aim and release their shots, wasting no time.
The trigger pulled by these rows of men wentpletely unnoticed by the Margraves'' troops, who did not even know they were under the crosshairs of their enemy.
Instead, aboard Lord Bernard''s deck, the unsuspecting men were too busy preparing themselves for their own assaults, such as by checking their grappling hooks and readying the siegedders they were going to use to climb up to the tall bridge wall.
When they were suddenly and out of nowhere greeted by a hail of fast and urate arrow fire, hitting the unprepared and packed tightly together men on the decks with their full ferocity.
The thick bolts with sharp steel heads tore through many of the men, and Alexander thought this was the perfect way to greet the other side.
Seeing the attack, Ser Robert groaned.
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1143 Margraves Vs Alexander (Part-2)
Chapter 1143 Margraves Vs Alexander (Part-2)
Like so many times today, Alexander''s sudden and precision arrow fire from his crossbows caused a great deal of casualties among his enemy, especially in the first few volleys.
The thick bolts with sharp steel heads pierced through the bronze armor and the light clothes the Margraves men wore underneath like they were paper, before strictly embedding themselves into the flesh- digging deep, deep into the hands, chest, thighs, belly, and for a very unlucky few, even the head and face.
The Margraves were luckily more armored than Lord Kite''s leather d guys.
But due to the close range and theplete surprise of the ambush, the lethality of the wound infected on the unit was perhaps simr if not arguably greater.
Several tens of men fell like scarecrows in a storm, their loud, pained, anguished cries filling the surrounding air as they clutched at their shot areas with shock and horror, trying to stymie the flow of blood without any real hope of sess, their lives seeming to fade away from them right in front of their eyes.
And so they soon began to cry out to the brothers around them, pleading and some even clutching their legs in desperation,
"Agghhh! Help! Help me! I don''t want to die!"
"Save me! Ohhh¡. Please!?I have three daughters! They have no mother!"
"Oh gods why? What will happen to my family now? Ahhhh!"
"Brother! Shield! Give me my¡. auhhhh!"
However as tragic as this tearful situation might have been, it had little effect on the surrounding men, who had a much more concerning matter to attend to- which was the rain of death that was falling from the sky in the disguise of steel and wood.
"Let go, you idiot! Let go!"
"Fool! You are already dead! Don''t drag me with you!"
"Stop pulling me! I can''t help you! I also have a family to feed!"
It was like so that many of the soldiers chose to abandon their injured brothers with manic speed, with only a few, who perhaps knew the other from long ago, choosing to extend a helping hand and help them drag their brothers to the safety of a shade, hoping they would not get shot from there.
While some cruel ones simply kicked these injured men to the side and ducked for cover, shouting at the top of their voice,
"Archers! Archers on the bridge! Take cover!"
"Get your shields up! You fools! Get your shields."
"Huddle up! Huddle up andyer your shields."
Like this, the panic aboard the congested ship was such that the confusion caused by the surprise attack perhaps caused more damage than the actual volleys of attack, as the men ran hurriedly and without a thought in every direction, pushing, shoving, hitting, and trampling or throwing many abroad, all in an attempt to save themselves.
And among them, the worst of the offenders were undoubtedly the nobles or their henchmen,
which surprisingly made up arge portion of the force- numbering almost to fifty individuals, with each of course having several bodyguards of their own.
Given that there were only a thousand men total, this ratio of officer tomoner was staggering one- one to twenty, whereas normally it would rarely exceed one to one hundred.
Naturally, this had happened because like Lord Bernard, these nobles too were interested in bringing fame and honor to their families.
And had boarded the ships with great enthusiasm in their hearts wanting to do so.
However, under Alexander''s withering ambush, some of the unlucky ones fell in the blink of an eye, many without even knowing what hit them, either dead or at the very least injured.
The sight of such big shots falling just like that was immense, to the point even themander of the fleet- Lord Bernard chose to ''bravely run'' to the decks below, under an umbre of shields constructed by his bodyguards, leaving themand of the forces to his right hand man Ser Robert.
"Tell the troops I have been shot! And is recuperating in my room. You take the lead." Lord Bernard had hurriedly whispered in a soft, panicked tone, talking to Ser Robert while acting as if his feet were on fire.
Hearing this the bulky man with the ck whisper had scoffed internally at this, rolling his eyes to sneer in his mind,
''Weren''t you the one who wanted to bring glory and honor by ying the enemy? Now you choose to run the moment he shows you a bit of teeth?''
But knowing his ce, Ser Robert only diligently nodded and contented himself with only giving the scaredy cat a disdainful nce towards his back.
He did not know whether toment hismander''s cowardly disappearance and the devastating effect this would have on their morale.
Or to be d that with the man gone, he would be able to maneuver the troops his way, the proper way.
There was of course also a third option on what he could do- an option that he had just buried, but was now once again surfacing back up- and that was to abandon the attack and switch to their original n.
It was a tempting thought, and Ser Robert was pretty convinced he could pull it off without any repercussions. After all, the man who could likely scold him was below deck shivering like a coward.
So he could easily imter on that they had tried but Alexander''s attack had proved too lethal, so they had to run away.
However almost very lucrative, the inertia of his upbringing stopped the man from ordering a change of course.
The man had always been told to obey the orders given to him and so to break a directmand appeared very disconcerting to the man.
In fact, this mindset was one of the main reasons why he was ced as themander of the Margraves troops in the first ce, with the family elders feeling they would then be able to peacefully sleep at night, rest assured that he would not start getting any ideas with their men.
Thus it felt like centipedes were crawling along his skin whenever he thought of disobeying Lord Bernard, made all the more intense by the knowledge he was just one deck underneath him.
It made the man hesitate.
And after a bit of struggle in his heart, he quickly gave up on the rogue idea, much preferring to shut off his brain and carry out the order regardless of the consequences.
Those would be Lord Bernard''s to bear.
Thus, instead of distracting himself with such misceneous thoughts, Ser Robert put them aside and decided to bring his attention back to the troops, shouting to the others at the top of his voice, "You fools! Stop running and bunch together! They can''t shoot you through your shields! Idiots!"
Whether what he said was true or not, Ser Robert''s lion like roar did manage to snap the men out of their stupor quickly, and given the simplicity of the order, they quicklyplied.
"Quickly! Sail quickly! Get close to the bridge and start attacking!" And as the menplied, Ser Robert turned to the captain to additionally order so.
Time passed quickly, and to Ser Robert''s credit, his two orders did work.
Theyered shield managed to keep most of the Margraves troops safe, only letting the extremely one or two lucky shots to pass through, and causing minimal casualties.
While the rowers in the decks below worked overtime to cross the small distance as fast as they could, intending to pass through Alexander''s concentrated arrow fire with as little time as possible.
And thus soon the ships arrived at their target- they were right below the bridge.
But here came the next set of problems.
Mainly- how were they going to get up the tall arches?
The bridge was built to let most ships pass through under them as a matter of convenience and so it was taller than any ship, much less its deck.
So there was no option to ''park'' the thing next to the bridge and let the soldiers use hooks and nks to ''board'' it.
So to ovee this challenge, they originally nned to use siegedders to scale it.
Which admittedly was ''not too bad an idea''.
If they had not run into the slight problem called ''crossbows''.
But with Alexander''s raining death from above, the bundled up men found it extremely hard to even get out of their defensive formation, much less prepare thedders for the assent.
Most could only kneel, lock shields with their brothers, and cower.
However, most did not mean all and hard did not mean impossible.
So under a relentless barrage of threatening expletives from Ser Robert, who whipped the men up into a frenzy, some of them chose to brave the elements despite the danger.
Thus numerous skeletaldders were suddenly ced along 00:35
the wall of the bridges, and soon a few daredevils began to scale them, holding one, and sometimes even two shields over their head.
You had to give it to them, these guys had the guts to attempt such a dangerous move, especially given the concentrated arrow fire they were facing.
As for whether that courage would bear any fruits, well that needed to be seen.
Chapter 1144 Margraves Vs Alexander (Part-3)
Chapter 1144 Margraves Vs Alexander (Part-3)
Alexander watched his men form up andunch volley after volley of crossbow fire with a real ddened tranquility in his heart.
When he had first noticed the approaching ships, his insides had lurched, and his beat soared to a height it had reached only a few times ever.
This was because Alexander was currently in a very precarious position- atop a narrow bridge with only five hundred men having waters on both sides.
Waters which danced between being sometimes deep and safe and at other times being swallow and dangerous, with deadly corals and sharp reefs.
Meaning if Alexander was ever contemting jumping, well it was basically a coin flip, choosing between a safending or being torn apart and drowning due to excessive blood loss.
The man naturally was not keen on taking such a gamble.
Hence he was happy to see that his men, despite being dwarfed by the enemy were still able to very effectively stop them in their tracks.
The confusion caused on the enemy decks by the deadly attack was clearly visible from the bridge, and the sight of the green armored men running back and forth in absolute terror and shock made the legionaries above very happy.
Thus they cheered,
"Haha! Father has not had so much fun in months! Those traitorous bastards! Serves them right."
"Shoot! Dammit, shoot faster! Aim with our shoulders and shoot."
"Another one! Hah hah¡ that makes it ten! Haha, made ten hits today! You guys owe me a drink."
The results of their attack spoke for themselves, tuning the enemy''s pace almost to a crawl and making each of their step bloody and difficult.
And seeing how the opposing side was huddled together on the decks, with a snail, unable to move back or forth, but just defend, Alexander felt a profound sense of happiness, to the point the man patted himself on the back for inventing the crossbow.
That single weapon had saved his butt for times than he cared to count, be it the very first battle where he was attacked by Pasha Djose, the defense of Zanzan against Perseus, the conquest of Tibias, or now.
The ability to wield so many archers with such minimal investment was a profound game changer in the realms of warfare.
And its effects were beingid bare for all to see here and now.
However despite the barrage of attacks from Alexander, the Margraves ships still continued on their nned course, and soon under Ser Robert''s orders siegedders were ced against the bridge walls.
Following this, the muscrmander would be heard quickly shouting, "Up! Start climbing up! Quickly! The first tond on the bridge gets a hundred wesas! A hundred wesas!"
It was apparent that given the highestmander of the fleet was repeating the announced bounty, it was something special.
And it was indeed so.
1 wesa was equivalent to 10 ropals.
So with 100 wesas, Ser Robert was offering about six months of their pay to those who were willing to take the risky endeavor.
It had to be known that even the man himself earned only half of that amount monthly.
However when considering the risky nature of the job being asked of them in exchange, well thispensation suddenly became not that much.
In fact, it could even be argued that it was not enough as to say such an endeavor was risky would be a gross understatement.
Not only were conductingdder rushes generally risky, always producing great casualties in their attempts whether they seeded or not, but against an actively defended wall such as the one now, it was close to suicide- nearly impossible to seed.
The legionaries were able to easily fight off the lone attackersing to face them in a single file, as the Margrave troops fed themselves into the meat grinder one by one in a piecemeal fashion, and thus were picked off individually
The legionaries had a field day with this, able to very easily overwhelme the other side.
And Ser Robert was not oblivious to this.
However, despite that, he still decided tomit his forces to the tactic.
Because his boss had ordered him to take the bridge and this was the only realistic way.
The man was usually an extreme stickler for rules.
And to try and aplish this he proposed the 1,000 ropal bounties, coupling it with a few threats of having the men court martialed as deserters if they did not quickly get up.
This carrot and stick worked in tandem to quickly produce the desired results as the reticent men, who were all bunched up together in their cozy formations, scrambled to quickly get out of their huddled shells.
And then the men aboard the five ships start to swiftly work to prepare their siegedders, simply bearing through the arrow fireing from above by holding a shield up above their head and praying that they got lucky, that the arrows missed them.
The men prayed to anyone or anything that would listen, not just the gods but nature itself.
And fortunately for them, the gods seemed to answer most of their asks, letting a majority of them escape the assault unharmed.
This was of course not because the men were any particrly pious men with them or those especially blessed with luck, but more due to the fact that at the end of the day, Alexander''s forces were simply too small, and thus the number of crossbowmen too limited to suppress all of the thousand men across all the five different ships simultaneously.
Thus when the arrow fire from around one hundred crossbowmen was spread over a thousand armored men all wieldingrge, sturdy shields, and coupled that with the ships swerving and moving around to avoid the hits, well, even the generally urate crossbows failed to deliver the desired results.
Combine this with the fact by the time the ships had detected they were already quite close, and the men also did not get to make that many attempts to try and rectify their shots.
Thus after the first few volleys where they managed tond some good, deadly shots, courtesy of the surprise factor, the arrow fires lost their efficacy and became more of a tool to suppress the enemy, to make them keep their heads down.
Not to outright kill them.
Hence the casualties sustained aboard these ships quickly decreased to a rtively low degree, or at least much lower than what the sight would dictate- a bunch of crossbowmen shooting all they had had toward a bunch of men on the congested deck of a ship, under an open sky.
The casualties from such an effort should have been much greater, but given that bows and crossbows were not guns, and arrows and bolts were not bullets, that did not happen.
Alexander very much regretted that, that would have made not just this, but all his fights so much easier.
But he did not, and so the Margraves troops managed to push forward, finally arriving at their destination. where the ships quickly matched each other in a smooth parallel line, dropped their anchors to steady themselves, and essentially docked themselves.
While the men above quickly set up around twenty siegedders side by side along the bridge walls and without needing much more encouragement, all started climbing it simultaneously, carrying as their choice of armament only arge shield over their head, and a short sword in their hands.
Alexander, who was observing all this from above. was frankly astounded by the bravery of these men that was on disy.
He could not believe anyone would choose to obey such a suicidalmand without any sort of protest, climbing up these steps that were so risky that describing them to be perilous would be very tame.
First, there was the obvious but still extreme danger of the constant crossbow fire and stones being hurled at them from above, as well as the thick unit of infantry just waiting to hack them to bits as a reward for bearing through such an ordeal without falling over or dying.
But even separate from that, there was the danger of thedder itself.
From Alexander''s perspective, these thin woodendders did not seem at all sturdy, especially given they were grounded on the deck of a ship, which, even if it was anchored still swayed with a slow, rocking motion with the waves.
So to keep thedder from moving with the waves, Alexander could see that there were several strong men holding thedder at the base, keeping the whole thing sturdy, while another group used their shields to cover them from the potshots Alexander''s men were taking at these vulnerable but critical sites.
But this was clearly not going to work in the long term, as these men could only continue to get lucky and dodge these shots for so long.
And this soon proved to be the case, as casualties mounted to such heights that it became clear to everyone that thisdder rush was not going to work.
Ser Robert had to find another way.
Fortunately, that way came in the form of the help of Lord Parker, who finally became alert enough to send his own reinforcement through the bridge!
Chapter 1145 Change of Tactics
Chapter 1145 Change of Tactics
"Ladder! Enemydders against the walls!"
"Push! Push them off! Don''t let them stay there!"
"Use your hands men! Use all your body! Help your brothers to push these damned things off!"
"Enemy up thedders! Bastards are starting toe up thedders!"
"Quickly! Shoot your arrows! Don''t let a single one get up! Throw anything you got!"
It was like this that Alexander''s legionaries greeted the brave Margraves troops who were willing to brave extreme perils toe and meet them, thus denying them any sort of a chance for a spot on the walls.
Thus the legionaries aimed their shots as much as they could at the ascending soldiers, the crossbow bolts piercing many of the shields, and some even going through the enemy''s hands and arms, causing the injured men to cry out in absolute pain and agony.
Complementing the attacks from the crossbows were also small stones and even bits of wood picked up from around the bridge thrown at the men, peppering the attackers with a shower of deadly projectiles, stoning them like they were in a grim version of a parade.
Facing such an immense onught naturally caused many of the men to be unable to keep their bnce
Thus some of their grips slipped, falling off thedder and either into the deep sea below or the wooden deck underneath.
It was not known what was worse.
Now, why falling onto the deck was bad really did not need any exnation.
Hitting the solid, rock hard wood from those heights would crack the back of their head like an egg, and snap the spine like steeping on a dry twig, covering the golden, burnished surface in a slimly, macabre red, grey, and white fluid.
No matter how many times the veteran crew saw this dreadful sight, it would still make their hearts palpate, d that they were not the ones to have such a thing done to them.
Because imagine seeing a man falling onto the floor from such a great height that they appeared like a wingless bird against the blue drop, then crashing onto the deck with a dull, squelching, almost wet thud.
It was not a pleasant sound to have ringing beside your ears, and certainly not a pleasant sight to behold- seeing the body be twisted and mangled in all sorts of unnatural and surreal ways.
Just looking at the disjointed bones, broken and the jagged edges sticking out of the flesh that it broke through was very hard to see.
And as if that was not enough, which it should have been, it was made all the more terrible by how sometimes these men would fall on top of another extremely unlucky being, crushing him along the way, thus producing two corpses twitching and groaning theirst death throes.
The sight was made twice as worse and twice as revolting.
How many men had the guts to stomach this?
Very Few!
The answer was- very few.
Even as experienced as the Margraves troops here were, none could stomach seeing their brothers falling off thedder like shooting shots and turning to squashed tomatoes without flinching.
So seeing this, one might be tempted to think falling into the blue water next to the ships would mean a soft, pillowynding, followed by a challenging but ultimately safe swim to the shore, just like in all those movies and video games.
But no!
Hitting the waters might actually be worse than hitting the decks.
At least hitting the decks was generally a quick way to go- a thud, a crack, and lights out. You were on your way with hopefully little pain.
But if you hit the sea with the thought you would be able to swim to safety, well no, you would not, but simply drown.
This was because the men wore thick bronze armor to protect themselves, but that same armor made it impossible for to them swim in.
It was basic physics really.
The density of the bronze tes they wore worked to make it so that thebined density of the metal and body was denser than the water, so they would not be able to float as the natural body could.
So instead they would sink to a watery death in agonizing pain- as retold by many a sailor who had survived near drowning experiences.
The entire event tended tost at least several minutes, and each moment would feel like an eternity in purgatory.
So perhaps there was some sce to be gained from the fact that most of these men who fell into the water would not get to experience that horror.
They would most likely be dead or unconscious before that happened. And that would be due to the sheer height they would fall from, about 15 meters.
At those distances, the surface tension of the water would make it almost feel like they hit a pavement of concrete, breaking bones, cracking spines, and making one lose his consciousness in the best of circumstances, if not kill the poor man then and there- a far more likely and perhaps even preferable oue.
The two examples thus went to show that you could hold a long debate discussing which surface was the better way to go with the least pain and the greatest mercy- the deck or the water.
Alexander had all such sanguinary thoughts roam inside his mind as watched the battle unfold from the back of the formations,manding the men as the need arose.
And from there he got a first row view of how the Margraves'' troops scaled the steps and made attempt after attempt on the bridge, spurred on by theshingmands of their superiors.
Ser Robert, keeping his word to Lord Bernard kept on sending more and more men up thedder regardless of the casualties, while Alexander''s legionaries kept on repelling more and more of them, killing them or much more likely throwing them aboard.
And to do this they shot the attackers with their bows, hit them with their stones, shed and stabbed them with their swords, and even kicked and bashed them with their shields when they tried to get up on the bridge, thus making the men tumble downwards to their doom.
There were even times when the crossbowmen targetted the man at the base of thedders- the ones who were helping keep the entire thing steady, trying to take them out.
And every time a bolt hit around the vicinity there, even if it did not connect, it would cause thedder to shake and shift a bit, showing clearly that the ones holding thedder were still human, no matter how brave and fearless they might appear to me.
While a direct hit would sometimes cause the entire vibrate dangerously, if not topple it all together, taking all the ten or so men that might be on there with it to their graves.
The battle of the bridge was undoubtedly bloody yet very one sided, with Alexander''s forces having suffered literally not a single casualty.
The Margraves'' death toll on the other hand was in therge tens- an extremely high number.
It was to the point even if they were the enemy, seeing the state of the battle, Alexander could not help but feel a bit sad.
These were brave men, very brave men indeed, no doubt about that.
In fact, Alexander himself did not think he could be this brave.
He swore to himself that there was not enough amount of money in the world that would be enough to get him to scale those ricketydders while fighting the constant hail of missiles as well as the fear of vertigo from climbing up so high.
Even if he was threatened with death and then promptly executed, he would dly take that offer than risk his life over such a suicidal attack- one in which he would undoubtedly fail and then fall, thus slowly die over the span of several minutes in agonizing pain, or worse survive but be in a paralyzed state, able to sense everything but unable to do anything about it- a prisoner of his own body.
There were far worse things in life than simple death.
However, few men in this time period thought like Alexander.
Most were instead simple folks who just obeyed their master without much thought or questions.
Hence even with the staggering amount of mounting losses, the Margraves kept on trying and trying, despite all their failures.
But at the end of the day, wars cannot be won with bravery alone.
And soon Ser Robert began to understand that, as morale among the men started to copse.
The initial zeal of the charge was gone, and his threats were starting to run dry as many of the officers wereing running to him to plead,
"The enemy is too strong here. We cannot keep going like this. The men are refusing to go up! Please help us, ser!"
Ser Robert pursed his lips in both annoyance and anger at such difficulty, which trying to rack his brain for a solution.
Until one of his subordinates proposed, "Ser, let some of us sail behind the enemy and board the bridge from behind. Catch them in a pincher!"
Chapter 1146 Change in Fortunes
Chapter 1146 Change in Fortunes
Alexander, who was observing the ongoing battle from atop the bridge found the fight to be going quite well for him.
The legionaries fought bravely and the lines up till now showed little signs of buckling, appearing very strong and robust.
Things were going so well in fact that the usually prudent man even brushed aside Hemicus''s concerned urging, who had tried to make Alexander retreat by saying,
"Alexander! This is not safe. Fighting on this small bridge¡. it''s too easy to get trapped. Let''s retreat when we can! Leave here to the men and let''s go secure the ind."
Seeing that things were going very well for them now, the man wanted to capitalize on it when they had the chance.
And the potential risk as dictated by Hemicus was also something that Alexander himself had thought of when he had seen Lord Bernard''s ships for the first time.
However in a rare move on his part, Alexander chose to overrule this advice even when the man had a very good point, dismissively waving his hands and brushing the urrence as too far fetched to consider,
"There''s no need! They are already cracking. How are they gonna trap us? We are the ones who trapped them, haha!"
It was unknown what had suddenly bought this calivier, almost damn care attitude in Alexander today.
Perhaps he was simply feeling different, perhaps he too wanted to vent his frustrations on the battlefield like his soldiers, or perhaps he was simply willing to takerger than regr risks given the circumstances.
After all, it was he who had said that they would not be able the fight without risks.
Thus, whichever the case was, Alexander refused to leave, even adding this after seeing Hemicus''s sour face,
"Besides, the men need me here. If I am gone, they might think I have fled. And morale will surely fall. We will even be at risk of losing the bridge. That would be a disaster."
All this was of course hyperbolic and Alexander knew it.
Given the state of their units, they would never fall just because of Alexander''s take of absence.
Especially given that these were trained men, not levied peasants.
In fact, given things were going so well, many might even be d to see Alexander leave, as a way to see him get out of harm''s way.
Fighting atop a bridge was indeed dangerous
Thus hearing Alexander''s weak excuse, the stoic man tried again, trying to turn Alexander''s words against him.
"Then Quinnolin can take over themand here." Hemicus sinctly pronounced in a t, disinterested tone
Quinnolin was Hemicus''s right hand man and the one who usually got all the things around here since Hemicus had to always stick to Alexander like glue.
Hence leaving such a veteran man in charge of the formation was without doubt a very safe choice.
However, this naturally did not get the apuse of approval from the man himself.
Alexander had not really made the excuse because he was truly concerned about his formation.
Thus instead, Alexander patted the man on the back, trying to alleviate Hemicus''s concerns by reassuring him,
"Rx Hemicus! The ind is safe. We have two hundred men along and a few hundred servants there. No one''s going to take it from us."
"And we are safe here as well. No one''s going to attack us from anyway! Look around you! Ocean all around! We will see that anyoneing at us from a mile away! So rx man!"
If it was not so that Hemicus would not understand, Alexander might have chimed the famous phrase-
''Chill mate.''
And feeling Alexander''s constant patting on the back as well as the reasonsid out, Hemicus did find himself somewhat cated
He recalled the troops on the ind were garrisoned behind sturdy fortifications, while here on the bridge, the charging soldiers were being repelled handily.
These attackers were brave men no doubt about it.
But wars could not be won with bravery alone- skill, tactic, numbers as well as the all important luck were all criticalponents too.
And here, the Margraves seemed tock all of them.
There was little skill involved indder rushes- it being one of the most crude and primitive siege techniques, so there was no advantage to be sought there.
The tactic they chose to try and win this battle- adder rush against an actively defended wall was extremely foolish.
The Margraves also did not have the advantage of the enormous number necessary to ovee this great disadvantage.
As for luck, well their fortunes did not seem to be looking up.
Seeing all this, Hemicus finally reluctantly nodded, assenting to letting Alexander stay on the bridge.
"Good! Good!" And the man instantly got up to congratte him for this.
Before Alexander quickly shed his eyes with a greedy glint, ordering Hemicus, "Send a couple of scouts to our ships on the ind and have them sail towards us. These Margrave''s ships have set anchor and are basically sitting ducks. It would be a tragedy if we did not ram them, haha!"
Hemicus was more than happy toply with this great idea and thus soon the fleets that were moored east and the north of the ind started to make themselves towards the bridge, their spiked rams pointed menacingly towards the ports of the anchored vessels.
A good hit would likely spit them in two, no doubt about that.
While Alexander yed his card, Ser Robert and Lord Parker both yed theirs as well.
In thetter''s case, the fleeing soldiers from Phyrros Ind were quick to inform their brethren of their defeat, shouting to them, "The enemy was too many! We could not hold on! They are chasing us even as we speak."
This reached Lord Parker''s ears within minutes, causing the man to first curse out in anger,
"Dammit!" as he found it frustrating to be thwarted time and time again.
First the mansion, then the ships, and now the ind- all lost! Lord Parker felt like stringing someone for all these failures.
Thus after calling his officers, the man first let out a small tirade, screaming so hard that his bursting voice could be picked from many of the surrounding tents,
"All you imbeciles! Who has more than four times the troops? Me or that Alexander? Tell me! Me or Alexander?"
The reaction really showed that the recent losses were starting to get to the man. Lord Parker might have not lost a lot of men till now, but he had lost almost all of his objectives.
And it enraged him.
And seeing this the surrounding officers around him wisely decided to only keep their heads down in shame and then shivered in fright when they heard Lord Parker shout, "Arrest all those who fled for desertion! I will deal with them personally!"
''Dealing with them'' most likely meant execution for the poor souls and while many of the officers felt this was too extreme, given the ducal lord''s bellicose state, none dared to speak up for them.
Perhaps they could approach the topic at ater date.
For now, they just stayed quiet while Lord Parker continued to use them of all sorts of things- from gross ipetence to willful negligence to even cowardice in battle.
Until he felt he had vented enough and given the time crunch, decided to get back to the topic, quickly ordering the preparation of a third wave of reinforcements, also numbering one thousand, this time to be sent straight via the bridge.
By this time, any concerns about whether the bridge could hold its weight or not were flung far out the window, reced with only the thought of reiming the ind.
And the officers were too afraid to argue, finding themselves extremely relieved just to be excused.
Instead, they rushed to raise this force, and quickly they started to march towards their destination, intending to press Alexander.
While back at the Margraves''s sides, Ser Robert''s eyes shined with glee upon his subordinate''s n and approved it immediately.
Thus the legionnaires atop the bridge suddenly noticed that two of the five enemy ships had stopped sending men up theirdder, having seemingly run out, but were now retracting their siege equipment as well as lifting their anchors from the water.
And before long, these two began to sail towards the underside of the bridge, giving a clear impression that they were leaving the battlefield.
It was a sight that caused a great deal of cheer among the legionaries, as from their perspective, this definitely looked as if they were fleeing.
And knowing if a few were to flee, the remaining three were sure to follow, they felt victory was just within their grasp.
Perhaps it was because of such expectant celebrations that everyone, including Alexander, missed how the two ships sneakily sailed past them, disappearing beneath the bridge and thus cing themselves on the opposite side, before they silently dropped their anchors about 50 meters behind Alexander''s lines.
They hoped that this way, their siegedders would not directly face the defending men, thus allowing them to safely get up on the bridge.
And wouldn''t you know it worked!
There were twenty men behind Alexander even before he noticed it.
And now he was trapped!
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1147 Caught Atop The Bridge
Chapter 1147 Caught Atop The Bridge
Alexander''s men initially watched two of the enemy ships retreat with unbridled glee, finding the sight of them lifting their anchors and sailing beneath their bridge of great amusement.
Hence they grinned and cheered to themselves,
"Haha, Look! They are running! They are running!"
"Damn right they are! They were idiots to try father in the first ce, hahaha."
"It seems theirmander finally realized the stupidity of his action. Tsk took them long enough."
"Yeah, what a waste of so many good lives. What were they even thinking trying such a thing in broad daylight? I am surprised the men even held on for so long."
"Fools! Utter fools! Just because they are a few more than us they must have thought they could simply charge blind and we would be overwhelmed! Heh!"
"Mmm! As if we are not that weak!"
It was like this that Alexander''s various officers disparaged Ser Robert''s tactics while being perched atop the bridge, ncing at the sailing ships with a mixture of pride on their part and disdain for the other.
They were confident this engagement was by now effectively over, and the W for their side was already written.
Perhaps it was because of this that they did not treat the following fact with any sincerity, which was- instead of retreating towards the safety of their harbor, the two ships that were supposedly running away were actually moving towards the bridge, thaty inpletely the opposite direction.
This was very strange.
But even the few keen eyed individuals among Alexander''s crew who did notice this phenomenon put not much thought into it, only chalking it up to the men on the ships letting the panic get the better of them, and sailing straight ahead instinctively just because the stern pointed at that direction.
Or perhaps they went there to avoid the ever present crossbow fire.
Or perhaps there were any other million more misceneous reasons.
Whatever the case was, given the bashing these Margraves troops had received, none of Alexander''s men thought these chaps had anything left in the tank.
So instead of paying attention to a few ''fleeing dogs'', the legionaries instead focused their attention on the remaining attackers, who still refused to give up and kept on scaling up the steps despite being abandoned by two fifths of their forces.
Such a phenomenon was very unnatural, as you would normally expect the very opposite to happen- seeing arge group from one''s own side leave the battlefield usually signaled that things were going south and that you too should leave,
But here not only was the attacker''s morale not destroyed, but instead, it seemed to soar, as the men climbed up thedder with great crity despite the enormous and macabre losses.
No legionaries, officer, or even Alexander was able to exin this unnatural zeal and so, with no exnation left, wrote it off as only a momentary burst of will produced by a hard and martmander who was driving his men to the edge of their endurance.
This could neverst for long, and thus, the sudden great, fierce attack was seen as the ''onest push by the enemy'' by everyone in Alexander''s camp, thusying credit in their minds to the im that the enemy was close to snapping.
Hence the legionaries too continued to expertly repulse all the boarding attempts, at the same time holding their breath in great anticipation for the moment the attackers would run out of steam and break, just like their brothers before.
This strong, almost suicidal attack up thedder was of course ordered by Ser Robert, intended to be a way to distract the enemy from their real offensive.
And judging by the looks of things, it seemed to be working as Ser Robert observed through the arches of the bridge from a distance.
The two ships first moored at the opposite side of the bridge as silently as possible, steadying themselves about 50 meters rear of the enemy, as the men aboard immediately got to work,municating with each other using only low, hushed voices, while moving swiftly.
"Thedders are set!"
"Great! Men! Quickly now! Go!"
"Hurry!?And do not make a peep!"
"Soft steps! Soft steps! Don''t alert the enemy!"
These men knew time was of the essence and ensured to make every second count, quickly setting up eightdders parallel to each other and racing them up like their life depended on it.
Which it truly did, because if Alexander were to detect them, well it would be the choice of bing meat patty on the ship''s deck or seafood for the fishes.
Fueled by this zeal, the first batch quickly madendfall, sessfully being the first to nt their metal boots on the stone and wooden structure.
For the men who had been trying to do so long and had sacrificed so many souls in the attempt, it felt they had not just reached the bridge but touched upon the moon itself.
The feeling was exquisite and soon this feeling was shared by a second batch, and then a third, and all of a sudden you had twenty to thirty guys there, all quickly lining up and standing shoulder to shoulder to form a solid infantry line a few echelons deep.
And because they did this 50 meters or about half a football field away from the active fighting zone, the defending legionaries were left in no way the wiser.
The blue armored men were much more focused on the threat right in front of them and left no facilities open to notice the poisonous snake coiling itself just at their rears, ready to strike at a moment''s notice.
Seeing his men up there on the bridge, the green color glittering against the blue backdrop, of course very much pleased Ser Robert.
They had already started taking an effective fighting formation going, embryonic as it may be, and thus effectively blocked any chance of Alexander''s retreat.
It was great news from themander, but at the same time, Ser Robert could not help but internally rebuked himself, ''Damm it! Can''t believe I missed such an obvious move. My head must have been turned to a donkey''s dung!''
Despite what it might have seemed like, the bulky man actually cared for his soldiers and thus felt it was a great waste at how many lives were needlessly lost before this n was proposed.
But at least they had managed toe up with the n, dyed as it may be, thus saving them the indemnity of returning to port empty handed.
Ser Robert shuddered to think what Lord Parker would do to them if they were to go back in shameful defeat, after defying the man''smand.
A court martial was not out of the question, even if they were not strictly his subordinates.
Thus the sess of the n brought great relief to him.
With the construction of the infantry formation in the rear, Alexander was effectively trapped on the bridge, with the ocean on either side, and the enemy main camp in the front.
Thus the only way he could escape was if he grew wings and learned to fly. And even then he would have to be content with the archers the Margraves had with them.
"Haha, the prey has been caught. All that we have to do now is close the and bring the fish back home!"
It was like that Ser Robert celebrated his triumph over Alexander, feeling the long and bloody game had atst ended.
"Enemy at the rear! Enemy at the rear!"It was unknown exactly who was the first to notice the incursion at their rear, bing alert after a sudden nging thud of metal against stone pierced his ears.
But by this point, this warning had lost all its efficacy.
Because as Alexander and the others turned around and noticed the group of green armored men behind them, well their numbers atop the bridge were already too high to be dislodged by any force they could muster within a reasonable time frame.
Especially not when the force was growingrger every second, widening the beachhead at an rming rate.
"....." Alexander was so shocked at the sight of this that instead of letting out a horrific cry or panicked shout, hepletely froze like a statue.
And likewise, so did his heart.
Instead of starting to beat like a drum, it just stopped beating, as a freezing chill permeated through his hands and feet.
''How?'' He mewled in his head, although that was rhetorical. He knew how.
He could see thedders against the walls and the ships carrying them. The very ships he had thought were running away.
"Enemy in the front! Enemy in the front!"
Alexander did not get the time to curse his oversight, as, to prove that misery lovespany, this loud cry pierced his ears from the other side of his unit, causing the man to instantly snap his head towards that direction.
And the sight made his already chilled heart almost freeze.
There was a brand new unit, dressed in full ck heading straight towards him through the mouth of the bridge, with pointed spears and naked malice.
And the realization of his predicament made Alexander feel faint.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1148 Caught Atop The Bridge (Part-2)
Chapter 1148 Caught Atop The Bridge (Part-2)
As Lord Parker''s reinforcements arrived at the bridge, they found themselves with a pleasant surprise waiting for them.
Because off in the distance, past the standard of the enemy disying arge blue flower against a white background, there was the sight of another standard proudly waving in the wind- a standard that was allied to them
It was the Margraves emblem- a golden bnce with two coins resting against a field of green.
This g indicated that there was an allied unit on the rear nks of the enemy, and with Lord Parker''s reinforcements pressing from the front- well the rat was cornered as they say.
It was a sight that brought great joy to the d in ck men, especially since they were not at all expecting this aid.
By all ounts, these men should have been away rescuing Lord Kite.
But for whatever they had not gone there but instead chose to attack the enemy here.
And these attackers were happy about it.
Initially, they had been worried about how exactly they were going to dislodge the enemy from the bridge as asked by their superior, since they were in such an advantageous position.
The narrow bridge acted as an excellent chokepoint, nullifying much of the advantages of their superior numbers.
So at first, the best they had dared to dream was to overwhelm the enemy through sheer attack and exhaustion- using their great numbers tounch wave after wave of assaults on the line.
This would not likely break them, as the narrow bridge would prevent the legionaries from scattering even if they wanted to, but the assault would hopefully be able to force them to back off, making them retreat all the way back to the ind.
Then there, out in the open, with any luck these legionaries could be outnked and destroyed.
That was the wish at least, the best case scenario.
In reality, however, most of the soldiers would have been content if they could just reim the bridge.
But now, with the presence of a friendly unit behind the enemy lines, the equation had clearly changed.
There was no room for the enemy to retreat from this narrow bridge, and so all that was left to do now was to push and ughter them.
"Charge! Men! Charge! The enemy is trapped! Haha, the gods have blessed us! Charge! Take no prisoners!"
And easilyprehending his advantage, themander of the forces wasted no time in letting out this great shout of joy.
Before starting to personally charge at the lines with his men, as was the custom of the Heeat family, or Sybarians in general-manders always led from the front,
And this time, themander who was spearing towards Alexander''s formation was none other than the man himself- General Achis, galloping atop hisrge, heavy horse, like a deadly freight train.
Usually, as the general of the entire army, would have been very demeaning for him tomand such a small force of only a thousand men.
But after that recent tirade by Lord Parker, where even the top man himself had not been spared his lord''s wrath, well the man quietly tookmand, vowing in his heart to prove himself.
The ind would be recovered under him no matter the amount of blood lost, and he swore to bring back the head of the enemymander''s head as an apology for all the recent failures.
Which in this case would be Alexander''s head, and from the looks of things, his neck might very well be under the threat of leaving his body.
"Fall back! Retreat! Retreat!"
"Back up! Back up!"
"Bunch together! Cover any gaps!"
"Stick together! Do not falter!"
Towards the grave predicament they were in caused by the pincher attack, the legionaries had little time to even bemoan their tragic circumstances.
Because they were instead far more concerned about trying to survive, they instinctively tried to get as far away from Achis''s men as possible, moving away from the mouth of the bridge to more towards the center.
But there was only far they could go, as the Margravesmander in the rear alsounched his attack in tandem, letting out a simr cry of delight as Achis, "Now men! Go! Our time for revenge is here! ughter them all! For all our fallen brothers!"
He too could see the appearance of a new standard- of a red horse against a golden wheat field, appearing on the opposite side, and knowing what it represented, instantly rejoiced.
"For our brothers!"
As did the Margraves troops, hence they also charged with extreme zeal, uttering such a bloodthirsty chorus, and squeezing Alexander''s men in a deadly pincher.
So what was going through the heads of the men who were being put in this gallstone you ask?
Well, nothing good of course.
The variousmanders and officers tried their best to keep morale, many shouting encouraging phrases to not keep their hopes high and fight on till the bitter end.
While a few others urged the men to make sure to take as many of the enemy they could, thus asking them to make suicidal attacks.
But at the end of the day, whether they tried to y to the men''s survival instincts or their raw manly desire for blood and revenge, they bore very little result.
And how could they?
This was not a situation that could be resolved by simple words or mere tactics.
They were trapped here, on this narrow bridge, facing attacks from both sides and no amount of sophistry was going to change that.
It was something all the veteran men there knew very well, and that the only way they were going to get out of this was through external help.
So until that happened, these men were content to simply lock their shields and wait, hoping for a miracle.
''What do I do now? What do I do now? Oh god, why did I not listen to Hemicus? Oh god, why did I not listen to Hemicus? What do I do now? What do I do now?''
While his men prayed for salvation from above, Alexander himself was panicking like he had never done.
The man had never been in such a dangerous situation, ever.
Not even when he was outnked, or had the enemy charge at his lines, he had not felt the amount of panic and distress he was facing now.
At least in those cases, he had the choice of escaping, as bad as that choice would have been.
But here, he was like a fish inside a fish trap. Still able to swim a bit inside the woven basket, but ultimately there was nowhere to hide.
And this reality was sinking on him with each passing second.
He could already hear swords and spears nking from both sides of the formation, the dull thud of shields blocking metal, the loud but increasingly panicked shouts of his officers, and the
And soon even that was notpact enough, as a ''crushing'' began to develop.asional pained and heartbreaking groans of his men getting hit and falling, all while the space around him was starting to get smaller and smaller, as the frontlines were pushed back one step at a time.
This was of course natural, as even though the legionaries were as brave as they could be and even though they tried as best as they could, the overwhelming numbers they were facing, as well as the way they were being attacked from all sides, made their retreat inevitable.
They were going to lose this fight, and this was how they were going to it.
By being surrounded, squeezed to a single point, and then decimated one by one like in a ughterhouse.
The legionaries hence continued to be closer and closer to each other until they began to squeeze into themselves, their bodies pasting into one another to the point there was no space to move or even lift one''s arms.
The hounded men pushed against each other''s chest so hard that it made it difficult for them to even breathe, as their diaphragms were unable to lift themselves due to the mortifying pressure pressing down upon them.
It was an agonizing way to die.
And one that General Achis seemed to rejoice to see, as he cheered his men from atop his warhorse,
"Yes! That''s it! Push! Push! Harder! The bastards are close! Push!", while he led from the front, swinging hisrge iron battle axe in huge dreadfully fast arches, ones that seemed to make sparks each time it bashed the shields the legionaries were holding on for dear life, or cleave right through the body if it hit flesh.
The current unfolding circumstances had put the man in an extremely good mood, rejoicing at the ease and quickness with which he had managed to corner the entire contingent of the enemy.
It caused him to already start dreaming of how he was going to present his lord with the head of the enemymander, just as he had sworn.
As for thatmander in question, he heard the captain of his guard, shout desperately into his ear, piercing it,
"Alexander! Jump! Jump to the sea and escape! Jump!"
It seemed the only way out for Alexander was this dangerous almost 40 feet jump.
Let us say no to Original! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Chapter 1149 Contemplating The Escape (Part-1)
Chapter 1149 Contemting The Escape (Part-1)
"Hold your ground! Don''t take a step back!"
"Push back! Push and fight your way through!"
"You cowards! Stop being a wuss always hiding behind your shield! Be a man and punch back! Show your fangs!"
"Swing your weapons men. Swing your weapons and open some free space. Or you will all die."
The officers tried to make their men counterattack the Margraves and Lord Parker forces like this, wanting to ward off the attackers, but it was to little effect. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
The enemy just kept a safe distance and kept poking and prodding the formation with their long, sharp spears, like any good spear formation, not killing the legionaries outright but instead piercing their flesh with many small, painful wounds, ones that caused unbearable pain.
The legionaries were unable to withstand such torture for long, the many cuts and wounds quickly starting to add up, as their bodies instinctively recoiled to try and preserve themselves, even though their conscious mind told them to stand and fight.
This proved that they were only human.
Thus the enemy advanced- slowly and steadily, one step at a time, in a methodical, almost mechanical way, being apanied by a chorus filled with ecstatic bloodlust and malice that was visible even through the full helmets that covered their faces and cheeks.
It was like they emitted an aura of ughter.
It was sensing this aura radiating towards from either side that none of Alexander''s men bothered to even contemte the option of surrendering.
They were all veterans of many wars and knew what such auras meant. They had seen it many times and had even emitted it many times.
It represented theplete will to ughter and take no prisoners. So they would be only humiliating themselves if they were to raise the white g.
Much better to go off fighting like a man rather than crawl and beg for one''s life like a dog, they all thought.
There was however one man that was an exception to this rule.
One who seriously pondered getting on his knees and surrendering, even if meant he had to act like a dog.
And that person was none other than the Lord of Zanzan himself- Alexander.
As the noose around him got tighter and tighter, and malevolent forces got closer and closer, the young pasha had found his mind bing increasingly erratic.
Hence, currently, inside his own mind pce resided an angry, disheveled, and scared out of his mind child, one who paced back and forth in the white space like a maniac, uttering and recalling all kinds of rubbish.
In there Alexander, Cursed his own ipetence and hubris for letting himself get caught like this, for not keeping his eyes and ears alert. Swore that he would never lead another battle again if he made through this.
Rebuked himself for not taking Hemicus''s offer when he still had the chance.
Regretted not taking taking Hemicus''s offer when he still had the chance.
Lampooned the imminence of his and the death of all the men that were with him here.
And most of all reminisced about all the things he had experienced up until now.
Thus came the shing faces of wives- Cambyses, Mean, Ophenia, and surprisingly even Gelene, followed by the faces of his mistresses, the women he had slept with as well as the people he knew and interacted in general- be they his retainers, his stewards and workers, and even his enemies. But most of all what he recalled were the faces of all his children, and here Alexander regretted not spending as much time as he would have liked with them.
And this was followed closely behind by Zanzan, the city that he had built basically with his own two hands.
He had found the settlement to be little more than a mere heap of rubble and left it a city of marble. Oh, how his heart cried to see that ce that just once more again- that ce wherey gaint concrete roads, stood giant concrete buildings, beat the roaring heart of a st furnace, existed so many different workshops, and so much many.
And oh, how his heart cried to think what would happen to all this, to all his family and to his all influence once he died.
It was that single mortifying thought that hounded Alexander the most while he was stuck atop the bridge, and the one thing pushing him to surrender, to try and stay alive, no matter how ignoble that life might be.
Thus the man found himself being torn between the choices.
Humiliating himself in front of all his and begging Achis to spare his life, all in the hopes that he would be taken captive and be ransomed, thus ultimately saving his realm.
Or leave this world with pride and dignity, with the risk being he would get to meet his family there soon afterward, as all his life''s achievements are eaten up by his enemies.
From such a perspective, the former choice, surrendering, did not seem even worth ruminating over, it was the easiest and most obvious choice.
If Alexander''s life could be saved by just raising the white g and then redeemed with just some cold hard coin, it would be perhaps the deal of the century. If there was no one the man did notck in this world, it was money, as well as the means to make more of it.
But even when the path was crystal clear, at the end of the day, Alexander found himself very reluctant to bend his head like this.
This was due to abination of the thought of how he would lose the respect of many of his soldiers, how his image would shatter among the nobles back at home, and the biggest and most decisive reason of all, the general shame of what he had to do to get that deal.
It had appeared so easy from a logical point of view, but when push came to shove, Alexander suddenly found his knees stiffening and not willing to bow.
This was not logical, but his body refused to follow logic.
So it seemed that although the man considered himself to be cowardly and perhaps even craven, treasuring his life above almost anything else, when tested with true adversity, he suddenly seemed to realize that there were certain things he could not do despite his life depending on the line.
And one of them was groveling.
His pride as a lord, as a warrior, and even just as a man would not allow him.
He would not surrender to Achis only to be then be paraded around the city like a prized circus animal like so many captured kings and lords had been done throughout history.
Not to mention, every time he thought about raising the white g, Miss Linda''s beautiful but sinister face shed in front of him.
His gut told him thatnding in her hands would not end well for him. Which was prudent of him since thedy had vowed to vite Alexander the moment she got the chance. And it would not be the yful, pleasurable kind.
Thus when Hemicus shouted the alternate n, "Alexander! Jump! Jump to the sea and escape! Jump!", the pasha seriously considered it.
Yes, jumping from such an intense distance was a great risk.
He had as much a chance of breaking all his bones and dying as he had surviving it.
But when the alternative was this or dying for sure, the choice appeared to be much more obvious.
Thus hearing the idea, he snapped his head to look at the ocean behind him and seriously started to study it, pondering on it.
''If I jumped with my legs pointed downward, like I have seen marines jump out of helicopters, then, I should be alright, right? Maybe I will break a few bones, but as long as I don''tnd on the shallows, I should be fine¡ right?''
Alexander had absolutely no experience in deep water diving and so could only hypothesize theoretically like this, not knowing whether all his assumptions were true and if it was indeed possible to survive the fall with the intended technique.
Not to mention even if he did choose the right technique, there still remained the question of the depth of the water below.
Because even though the sea looked deep, he had no idea if it was truly deep, deep enough to allow him to descend to an adequate depth safely and not hitnd.
The sea below had to let him disce all the kic energy from his fall to the surroundings, hence cushioning his blow, so as to not break all his bones and kill him
However despite arge number of huge ships sailing over these waters, each ranging several tens of meters in length and weighing 50 to 100 tons, it still did not work to inspire any kind of confidence in Alexander.
Because these vessels were all made of light wood and thus disced much less water than what an equivalent steel ship would do. So it was possible for them to safely sail with only a few feet of water underneath.
But Alexander guessed the waters had to be much deeper. The only problem was he did not by exactly how much.
.
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Pleasee Here!
Chapter 1150 Contemplating The Escape (Part-2)
Chapter 1150 Contemting The Escape (Part-2)
Alexander racked his brain for some time trying to estimate just how deep the water under him really was.
And it was sorely due to thisck of knowledge that he was hesitating about jumping.
If it was a modern port, there would not have been any need to do such a thing because all harbors there were deep water ports- the depth would be tens of feet deep, if not more.
But here, in this time period, due to the lightweight of freight, harbors could be ced almost anywhere and so many times they tended to be ced on the shallows.
How shallow you ask?
Well, there were examples where Alexander had personally seen where the men literally waded to their ships from the harbor.
Meaning it could be as shallow as a meter.
It was due to knowing this that to Alexander, no matter how deep he thought the waters looked from high above, he always found itcking, found it needing to be deeper, found it too treacherous, filled with shallows and reefs, as a great paranoia gripped him.
"Alexander! Jump! What are you waiting for!" Until this great loud shout burst into his ear,ing from the same source asst time, only this time the man sounded even more exasperated, with a bit of subtle anger mixed in with the panic.
This was because even though Hemicus had not said anything outright since this was not the time, he was quite cross with Alexander for ignoring his advice back then.
If only Alexander had listened and retreated obediently back to Phyrros ind, none of this would have been happening.
In fact, they might have been able topletely turn the tide around here, as the Margraves and Heeat forces would be besieging the legionaries, but at the same time, the Margraves would be besieged by Alexander''s own forcesing from the ind to the rescue.
If that had happened, this force could have been routed, the designed legionaries rescued and everyone could have safely retreated. But that was not what was happening here.
They were in this predicament all because of Alexander''s hubris, all because of wanting tomand the troops from the front by himself.
A predicament that was going to get at least one of them killed for sure, if not both.
So given that ignoring his advice literally cost the man his life, it could be argued that Hemicus was being a true gentleman by not stabbing Alexander in the back for this as an ''I told you so''.
Of course, it would be too harsh to dump all responsibility on Alexander for this current fiasco.
It had to be also remembered that Hemicus had also assented to Alexander staying there, finding their position to be safe.
As for how that turned ''unsafe'' at the drop of a hat, well it was Ser Robert''s, or more urately his subordinate''s genius.
The move was such a subtle masterstroke that it would have been difficult to stop even if they had seen iting unless Alexander had prophetic powers.
Because either by divine intervention or sheer coincidence, General Achis had decided tounch his attack around the same time as Ser Robert had.
Thus leaving Alexander with a dilemma, which was he going to defend- his front or 50 meters in the rear?
The answer to this conundrum- Neither. Just run!
The only way for Alexander to save himself at that time would have been to spot the Margraves'' ships mooring behind him and instantly blow the horn for retreat.
That would have likely saved him and all his men from the pincher attack, however, that would have also given the bridge up to Lord Parker''s control, which would then leave Alexander''s fleet at the Royal harbor exposed and vulnerable due to reasons iterated before.
As such it could be seen there was no good oue for Alexander here.
The game was rigged from the start- letting Alexander choose either the bad or the worst.
And unfortunately, the man had chosen the worst.
Hemicus understood this, which was why he was even offering the man his help in the first ce and not throwing Alexander into the sea out of anger.
And speaking of anger, another reason why Hemicus was angry with Alexander was for taking so long to decide.
Time was of the essence and if Alexander did not escape now, well he might never be able to do it.
The enemy was closing in on them with every passing second, and the ''crushing'' force was increasing around the legionaries with each outgoing moment.
Soon Alexander would not be able to even breathe, much less jump.
"Okay! I will!" Hemicus''s panicked and enraged shout appeared to be the catalyst needed to make Alexander make up his mind and so he atst decided to take the plunge of death regardless of the consequences.
He did not try to y the hero here, saying anything along the lines of, ''No, I am not abandoning all my brothers. We live together and we die together.''
No, because he had learned his lesson of not heeding Hemicus.
Neither did he try and y the fool by asking Hemicus toe with him.
He knew the man. Hemicus would takemand of the troops after Alexander left and die with them, fighting the enemy with his brothers as long the gods allowed him to.
This sort of fanatical devotion might seem strange for a man who was stoic and even quite cold, but this exterior was only a facade, as deep below,y the warm beating heart of a hopeless romantic, a romantic who could never abandon his brothers. It was because of this that Hemicus was greatly respected by the men who knew his true side, and likewise, he deeply cared for them.
And what about Alexander you ask?
Well, the man was never particrly close to most of the grassroots soldiers since his and their way of thinking differed too much, and that divide seemed to grow to a chasm after his ascension to nobility.
Sure he might mingle, joke and even drink with them from time to time, but there was always a ''us and him'' mentality.
And how could there not be?
Who would he be kidding by calling the legionaries he was fighting with his brothers?
They were indeed hisrade in arms, but brothers? That was stretching it for the difference in their status was way too much for them to be addressed with much familiarity.
Just take the fact that while each of the legionaries''s actions affected their single family, Alexander''s actions influenced his entire realm spanning hundreds of thousands of square kilometers and the lives of millions of people living there.
"Hemicus! Help me get off my armor." Having realized this fact, Alexander thus quickly asked the man to unshackle him from his current, confines, lest he wished to sink to the bottom of the sea like a lead balloon.
And Hemicus was there to immediately lend his hand, helping Alexander unsp the various leather straps and buckles that held the piece together, especially the ones at the back.
It was quite a hassle to both put on and remove armor.
"Hurry! What''s taking so long?" But, even after feeling Hemicus fiddling around his back for quite some, Alexander found all the metal pieces still firmly attached to him.
So given that time was running out, and this was not supposed this long, Alexander quickly called out to the man as such.
"*Tsk*, I can''t move my arms properly!" Was the instant and trusted reply, as Hemicus pped his elbow, trying to make as much room as he could for himself so that he could get a proper grip on the slender price.
Just this single example should give one idea of how dangerously congested everything was there.
"Cut it then!" Also feeling the squeezing pressure all around him, Alexander then instantly snarled thismand in reply, his voiceced with a manic undertone. Alexander was beginning to have trouble breathing, and panic was starting to set in.
"But you will get cut ¡. *tsk*... alright!"Towards Alexander''s suggestion, Hemicus was initially reticent as the straps were in the thinnest part of the armor.
But thatsted only for a moment as since things had evolved to this point, this risk was not worth even considering.
Hence deftly unsheating the dagger he always carried with him, Hemicus swiftly snapped through the cured leather straps with ease, the sharp edge managing to sh through even these toughened pieces like butter.
And for this, Hemicus thanked Alexander in his heart, the good quality steel he had invented was so sharp that it seemed as if it could cut with just a touch.
It saved Hemicus both time and the effort of having to ''saw'' it through.
And with that, the bronze cuirass fell to the ground and Alexander had shed his outermost garment leaving with only the chainmail and leather thorax.
As for taking these off too, well ideally Alexander would have loved to do that too.
But there seemed to be no time, and especially no space.
So the man decided to jump with them on, regardless of the consequences, as he took shoved in his way to the bridge railing."
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Chapter 1151: Sail
Seeing the enemy be more and more squeezed, the ind of blue shrinking under the relentless onught of the ck and green, General Achis rejoiced, his heart already dancing with glee.
He began to dream of presenting all these heads at Lord Parker''s feet just like he had promised and expectantly looked forward to the rich rewards that would be waiting for him for this great aplishment.
The thought was so sweet that Achis even found the hated Lord Bernard pleasing right now, as he could not give the man thanks for his help from the bottom of his heart.
''Hah hah, Bernard, oh Bernard, thanks for all your hard work. I will be taking thatmander''s head for myself!'' Achis sang.
And so enthralled in his enjoyment was he that the general failed to even notice Alexander''s presence in the formation, even though he was very gaudily dressed, drawing every eye in the vicinity towards him.
And it could be argued this was a good thing for the man himself because if he did be privy to this knowledge, who knew if the man would have kept a straight face, knowing among the heads he was about to presenty the head of their greatest nemesis.
His glee might have been too much to contain.
As for the other reasons why Achis missed Alexander, well it was also because the general had never seen Alexander''s in his battle armor, and Alexander not being on his usually tall steed,manding the troops and standing out in a bright feathered peacock.
But instead, he marched with the formation on foot, a choice taken due to the narrowness of the bridge, thus allowing him to blend in with the surrounding infantry.
It could even be said this was the only reason Alexander was alive, not being shot to ribbons by the many archers on either side.
If the General had gotten a whiff of his presence, he would have tried to kill the man with the utmost prejudice, not even bothering to consider taking him a prisoner.
Because only by killing the man did Achis feel he could return the most favor from his lord.
So it was a good thing that Alexander did not bother with the option of surrendering, but by now was starting to make it towards the railing of the bridge, pushing and shoving his way through his men, until he was craning over the edge, taking onest good at the waters before the fateful leap of fate.
''So this is ''it'' as they say?'' Looking at the swirling blue vortex frothing down below, Alexander swallowed a dry gulp once again.
To say that the man was having thoughts would be very apt.
Especially given that he was beginning to realize that even if the jump was sessful, that did not guarantee a safe swim ashore.
The mansion was at least a few kilometers away, the water was freezing cold and there were so many ships around, many of which would love to kill or capture him.
And Alexander was being asked to ovee all this while wearing chainmail and thick leather armor.
Even the man would not ce his bet on him.
But this was the hands he had drawn for himself.
So what other choice did he have?
Alexander thus atst made up his mind and turned to give onest nce at all the men fighting behind, all of whom were fighting, struggling, and shuffling their bodies against each other, trying to endure as best as they could, while being slowly ground down and slowly squeezed together into arge mass of blue lump.
It would be a lie to say Alexander''s heart did not throb with immense pain at this sight, with a small part of him asking him to abandon the jump and remain there, and die honorably with all these men who were willing toy their lives for him.
And his heart sizzled like it was being roasted in corrosive acid at the thought of losing so many men, at the thought of losing this campaign, and most of all, at the thought of losing so many friends andrades just like this.
Thus his eyes scanned the many faces all around him, burning them eternally into his memory along with the many expressions they were making.
There were some who were flushed with anger, some pallid and fearless, some stoic and nonchnt, and some bellicose and spewing curses, all mixed with many other subtle emotions.
But if there was one single emotion missing from all this, it was the emotion of fear or despair, with not a single of one the men letting out a single groan of panic or crying or begging for his life.
No, for these were the faces of real men, fully embodied by the expression of their leader, Hemicus, who Alexander could see was leading from the front, fighting on the very front echelon, with arge grin pasted on his face and appearing euphoric.
The smile was from ear to ear with all his pearly whites exposed, as the usually stoic man decided to not let the enemy have the satisfaction of seeing any regret or fear on his face when they killed him.
The sight left a deep impression, no a scar on Alexander, as subconsciously a single tear rolled off his eyes.
He had spent the better part of hisst fifteen years with Hemicus and other members of his bodyguards, and to think all of them would die, all gone in the blink of an eye, and with that all the time they spent together, it was a heart rendering feeling for the man.
''How am I going to find another ''Hemicus'' to protect me? And how am I going to exin this loss to Cam and the others?''
Alongside the sadness of losing so many men, Alexander also found himself asking about the huge losses about to be incurred here.
Because the loss of these men would be incalcble for Alexander, not only in terms of sentimental value but perhaps even more so from a military and practical standpoint.
Even someone as high as him would be called to ount for losing so many good men and for such a rtively minor matter.
And so Alexander felt that if he could go back to the very beginning of all this, he would have surely shown Lord Janus the door the moment he saw the old man, not even bothering to listen to the man.
Lady Miranda and his free trade agreement could go to hell, he did not care.
But there was little use crying over split milk.
Thus giving ast look at all the men he was about to abandon to try and save his skin, Alexander atst ced his hands on the railing and started to lift his torso, attempting to throw himself overboard.
''Is that?''
When suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he caught the sight of a ship flying a familiar sail!
A sail bearing his emblem- arge blue flower on white!
And soon that one vessel multiplied to three off on the horizon, causing the man''s heart to bloom in relief and happiness like it had never had.
''Those basted! Took them long enough!'' Hence Alexander cheered with almost literal sparkles in his eyes, as at the same he heard a simr excited shouting from the other side of his formation,
"Look! Reinforcements! Our reinforcements are here! Hahaha, we are saved! The gods have not abandoned us! Hahaha, we are saved!"
Yes! These were the ships that Alexander had originally asked toe and attack SR, intending to use them to smash his anchored fleet.
But now, they had suddenly turned into their golden parachute.
The fleet that he had used came via the southwestern route, appearing from the left of the bridge, while the eastern fleet belonging to Kazid chose the eastern route, passing the battlezone where Remus and Lord Kite were still duking it with no signs of stopping anytime soon anding to Alexander''s view from the bridge''s right side.
They were six in total, all beelining towards him from either side, and seeing this, Alexander instantly abandoned his dangerous thought of jumping overboard, but instead rapidly turned around to join his men in battle, cheering to them,
"Our rescue is here my brothers. I told you didn''t I, Gaia would never abandon her son! And she will not abandon you either, her son''s followers!"
Making such a grand im out of thin air, Alexander then raised his arms into the arms and shouted,
"So now is the time to push the enemy back! Do not falter! Push! Push them back. Do not let them straggle you. We are getting out of here!
Make space! Make space so that we can escape."
And this sudden sight of a thin ray of light of hope in that deep, dark tunnel of despair proved to be like the world''s strongest adrenaline boost for the legionaries, who till now had already written themselves off as dead men.
So when they were suddenly offered not just a thin straw to clutch, but a solid, sturdy rope, well the men certainly grasped it hard and fast, before letting out a deafening roar.
They were back.
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Chapter 1152: Obstacles To the Rescue
The legionaries grasped their rope of chance quickly and with everything they had, thus obeying Alexander''s instructions instantly.
So the two attacking forces faced an enormous counterattack out of nowhere that momentarily stunned them.
To them it appeared as if the blue armored men had all of a sudden gone insane, disregarding all concerns of personal safety and only wishing to attack and kill them, dragging them down to hell with them.
Hence therge momentary burst of power had both the Margraves and Heeat soldiers recoiling in horror, unable to contain them any longer and conceding arge amount of ground to them, thus giving the legionaries a slight respite from the absolute crushing.
It was a respite that they greatly needed.
"You maggots! Why are you retreating? Attack! These are the death throes of a mad dog. Thest whoosh before the candle goes out. What are you afraid of?"
But it was also only ''a slight respite'' as themanders of the two opposing forces soon began to whip their soldiers into shape by as barking as such.
The quick and precise response really went to prove that both the Margraves and Heeat forces were led by excellentmanders, who instantly recognized this mad rush as the enemy using thest of his reserves in a single desperate move, induced by the sudden appearance of a fleeting hope.
A hope that they were ready to crush with all their might, ordering a counterattack and blunting the legionaries''s charge head on by using sheer numbers.
"Get back there and attack you cowards! There is nothing but a wounded dog before you. Snap its spine like a twig. The lord will have all your skin if you let these maggots escape."
The officers barked and whipped their men like this, refusing to let the quarry fly the coup aftering so close.
While at the same time, they began to take precautions against the appearance of those new ships, bing alert, but producing little panic,
"Do not bother about those new ships! These don''t matter. They won''t ever get the chance to board them! We will not let them."
They imed, for themanders were confident that they outnumbered Alexander so much and had so much momentum behind them that any attempt at evacuation would be met with an unrelenting attack from both sides, instantly snapping the weakened lines and closing that door to release forever.
They wished to make it so that the legionaries would be killed the moment they tried to disengage their defensive formation, giving them no time to turn around and run, to escape.
As for those enemy shipsnding their own forces to reinforce the besieged units or even cing behind the Margraves units, thus outnking them, well that was impossible too.
Because of one simple reason- the Margraves ships that were already present in the area.
With those present, what were these reinforcing ships going to do exactly, fight the enemy ships or try and rescue their forces?
Because they could not do both.
To fight they needed to keep moving, ramming, and boarding the other ships, while to rescue their men, well they needed to be stationary to set up theirdders and get the men on or off the bridge one by one.
An endeavor during which these vessels would be sitting ducks for Ser Robert, able to be picked off even with a blindfold on.
Oh, how the tables had turned.
The very tactic Alexander wanted to threaten the enemy with was now being used to hold against his neck.
It was like this that both Ser Robert and General Achis managed to easily see through Alexander''s n and instantly recognize the apanying giant w in it, thus finding the appearance of the new forces of little concern.
It was also the same thing that the formermander had spent thest ten minutes exining to his superior, Lord Bernard, who had initially nearly lost his mind upon seeing the new ships heading towards them, shouting in a crazed, almost insane voice, "Robert! Call the men back! Call the men back quickly! We are about to be rammed! We are about to be rammed! There is no one to defend me!
There is no one to defend me!"
The craven man hade out of his hiding hole some time ago after learning the enemy had been trapped on the bridge and was not shooting arrows anymore.
And upon verifying the truth for himself, he acted like it was he who had done all the work, patting Ser Robert on the shoulder and giving a nasal, almost crassugh,
"Haha, good, good, Robert! Well done, I knew I could count on you to obey my orders! Hahaha!
I will be sure to introduce you to Lord Parker when I meet him for the victory celebrations."
It took a lot for the muscr man to not wrinkle his nose in disgust at such a nauseating disy of ipetence, but what could he do?
The man behind him was a lord, while he was just amoner.
This was just the reality of things, and the man had by now gotten used them, epting things to be simply as they were.
So instead, to hide the disdain he felt towards the man, Ser Robert quickly shifted his eyes to the ongoing battle at the top, hoping the pleasing sight of his men ughtering his enemies would be enough to help quell some of the bitterness in his heart.
It did.
Back at the top of the bridge, it was not that Alexander was unaware of the difficulties of the rescue his men would face.
But there was little other way, as he found this method despite all the obstacles far better than jumping.
A lot of more men might be saved in this way.
So he began to hope that some of his ships would be able to hold the attacking enemy back long enough for one or two of the others to moor, extend thedder, and rescue as many soldiers as they could.
Among which hopefully there would be he and Hemicus, thus saving the two most important men in the group. The third most important man, Quinnolin had already made his escape, being the lucky man chosen to deliver Alexander''s instructions to the ships.
And to try and stop that from happening was a ready Ser Robert, with the man quickly gathering the remaining of his forces, and readying all five of his ships by retracting the siegedder back to their decks and lining up in a defensive position.
His forces on the top could reachnd using the bridge after all.
So soon the air began to coagte with the thick scent of another fight that was about to start, as the six ships approached the enemy fleet from either side with deadly intent.
However, although appearing very menacing,Alexander''s ships were in reality really just paper tigers, having more bark than actual bite.
They were basically empty ships crewed by a skeleton crew of servants and rowers, with no legionaries or armed soldiers aboard, for everyone that was avable had been already deployed.
Hence, these ships possessed the impressive fighting power of nil!
The best they could was just ram into the other ships and hope it sank right there, and absolutely nothing else, no boarding or fighting on the decks, thus making them like a Jenga tower, appearing very tall and impressive from the outside, but tumbling into a million pieces with the slightest touch.
Knowing this, the initial n thought of by Quinnolin, who had decided to appoint himself as the ''fleetmander'' of these ships, was never to them these ships get hit in the first ce.
He instead hoped that their sudden and grand appearance would be enough to scare the enemy away, sparing the need to spill blood.
However that clearly had not happened.
The situation at the battlefield had changed and so the enemy was no longer in their stationary anchored position but was taking battle maneuvers, ready to contest the seas with the approaching enemy.
This put Quinnolin in a great dilemma.
What the hell was he going to do?
Should he keep going regardless or call his own bluff and retreat?
Choosing the former would mean a rout the moment the two sides made contact, as the crews stirring these ships were no soldiers, but simple ves and servants- civilians who were the supporting elements of the army with no formal training.
They did not even have any weapons or armor equipped with them, save perhaps a shovel, a simple dagger, or a small hatchet that they haphazardly modified forbat, acting more of a consoling tool than an effective offensive one.
Something the men would look at and say he was not defenseless.
It was kind of like facing a tank with a handgun- the tiny 9mm would not perhaps even chip the paint off of the things, but you would rather have the damn thing than not.
But these men were fighters and would run the moment the tire hit the road.
So what about thetter choice- running?
Well that was not an option either given the circumstances. Thus the man found himself stuck.
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Chapter 1153: Rickety Bridge
The choice of turning around and running away had seemed very tempting to Quinnolin at some point. After all, what could he even do if the enemy decided to stay and fight?
Nothing! He would vanish like a soap bubble the moment they made contact.
But doing such a thing would be abandoning his brothers on the bridge.
Brothers who were waving their standards like crazy, indicating they were in desperate need of rescue.
Quinnolin imagined what it must be for them now, and then dreaded to think what it would feel to see this glimmer of hope disappear, a hope that was ignited just as they were at the end of their ropes.
If he was with them, seeing the shipsing to rescue them suddenly turn around without seemingly any rhyme reason would perhaps feel like the world''s biggest betrayal and the cruelest punishment.
Quinnolin felt he could already hear the desperate howls and despairing cries this would produce pierce his ears and the man understood there that he could not do it, he would never be able to live with himself if he abandoned all his brothers there just to save his own skin.
The act would make every single night for the rest of his life a sleepless nightmare.
Thus Quinnolin made up his mind and kept to his route, intending to fight to the bitter end.
Even if all the other five ships ran, he intended to stay, even if that meant being boarded and ughtered to thest man.
The loyal man would rather have that than abandon his brothers and bebeled a coward.
*Creak*.... *Snap*.... *Ssh*
Just as Quinnolin made the promation in his heart, suddenly he heard this crisp snap off in the distance, like a twig snapping and instantly looked up to locate its source.
And there he spotted it immediately, arge chunk of the bridge- made of wood and stone breaking off from the main structure and plummeting down to the ocean at terminal speed, producing a dreadful ssh and a giant wave as it hit the water.
And immediately following that fallen part of the bridge came three unlucky men d in ck and a horse, the four helplessly frailing their hands and screaming at the top of their lungs, still unable to understand what the hell just happened.
How had the ground underneath them suddenly given away like quicksand, and how they were suddenly ''flying'' through the air?
It had all happened in the blink of an eye.
And most of them died like this, never getting to realize how they died, just that they did, as the screams turned mute the second they hit the water- bing silent limp, broken flesh.
It was unknown what exactly killed them, the water or the stone and wood directly underneath.
Or perhaps it was their spears and shields that followed after them, dreadfully banging against their body.
Or perhaps it was by being squashed by each other, therge horse acting as a hammer to the trio''s anvil.
''Oh no!'' And seeing the entire thing from his ship below, this was the single thought that raced through Quinnolin.
Not joy at seeing his enemies die, but immense, almost unrestrained panic.
Because he man would think off only one reason why a bridge would copse like that.
A reason that could be solidly buttressed by just looking at the state of the bridge.
Although once made of stone, this great and once very sturdy bridge now looked very rickety, with glime, green moss, and other ferns covering huge portions of the pirs and the undersideying evidence of itsck of proper care and maintenance.
And it looked as if it was being kept upright with only the support of various wooden stumps, brackets, and nks, in a very haphazard and makeshift way.
The entire structure betrayed decay and instability.
Thus it seemed like just as Lord Bernard had wisely predicted, one of the very rare times for the man to disy such wisdom, it had finally happened.
There were almost two thousand men atop the bridge, along with almost a hundred horses, and when all that weight wasbined to be concentrated on a very small part of the long bridge, well it seemed the inevitable was happening at longst.
The stresses put on the stopgap measures used to keep the bridge together, such as thick ropes and tight knots, were finally proving too much for the material to handle and so they began to snap and unravel themselves, making the men at the top suddenly find that the ground underneath the was starting toe apart.
And naturally, seeing this they all began to panic as if they had just lost their minds.
"Wha¡ what happened! Where did themander go?"
"Ho.. how¡ why is there a giant hole in the middle of the bridge?"
"The bridge! The bridge gave away! It suddenly broke!"
"They just disappeared! We could do nothing!"
"Listen! Listen to the crackling! It''s all around us!"
"You are right! I hear it too! Squeaking and creaking! Dammit! I thought it was just our boots against the stone!"
"Cracks! Look at our feet!It''sing from the cracks! There are cracks all around our feet!"
"By the gods! You are right! The bridge is breaking!"
Yes, the copse of the bridge was not as sudden as it might have seemed.
It was not as if everything was sturdy one moment and the ground suddenly gave way the next, like a sinkhole.
No.
There had been signs. Many clear visual and auditory signs.
It was just that in the heat of the battle and the joyous thought of imminent victory, none of the men cared to notice it.
Until it was toote.
And now, upon realizing their position, the Heeat family forces began to panic like they had been seized by the devil himself, screaming at the top of their lungs,
"Run! The bridge is copsing! The bridge is copsing! Run!"
And so an instantter aplete rout began, as these men threw all their weapons and shields to the ground and turned around with a snap of their heels, before trying to race back to the safety of thend as fast as they could.
The entire chain of events took perhaps less than a minute and it was so sudden, that many of those in the front rows were even yet to wake up to the situation.
The news of the imminent catastrophe was yet to dawn on them.
Thus seeing their rear echelons all of a sudden abandon their positions like they all had their feet set on fire, many officers, including Achis barked in absolute anger and fury,
"Wha¡ what are you doing? What''s happening! Stay! Stay! We are so close to victory."
"Why are running? Why do you disobey the lord''s order? Stand and fight!"
"You stray curs, you dare do this! I will have all of you hung by the next tree."
But the men who knew the truth were way past the limit of being influenced by any such threats.
They did not even bother to turn around and exin, for time was that short.
The cracks were spreading like cobwebs with every passing moment and it was only a matter of time before the entire thing broke, taking all those on it to their watery grave.
Thus they instead ran, pushing and shoving each other with everything they had, shouting all sorts of profanities along the way,
"You bastard! Move, let father through! I''m a lord. Ten of you are not even worth my fingernail."
"You son of a whore, run faster! Or will bash your skull in."
"Motherf¡., stop pushin¡ arghhh!"
"Run you gutter rats! Or we are all gonna di¡ ahhhhhhh!"
Needless to say, it was not easy to escape from a bridge as narrow as this, especially when you had so many ''applicants''.
And so each man fought for his ce at survival, trying to get ahead of the herd through whatever means necessary, even it if meant thinning the pool by pushing the other side down or just shoving him overboard!
Something that all the men in the ships below watched with horror, as men, numbering at least in the tens, came flying down screaming with frailing limbs, before hitting the water and dying almost instantly.
Alxx''s worries were indeed correct- the water here was indeed too swallow to safely jump. So if he had done it, he might have left this ne even before Hemicus.
"Get us to the bridge! Now! Quick!"
Quickly understanding the true horror of what was happening, both Ser Robert and Quinnolin had the same idea, to try and rescue their forces from there using their siegedder, and thus turned to issue simrmands to their captain.
*Creak*, *Snap*, *Ssh*
And even as they were rowing their way there, they heard another gigantic snap, this time much louder than before, as the stampede of the escaping men caused another section to break, a very big one at that.
This breakage was so big in fact that the connection to the maind was nowpletely severed, as that end of the bridge curredid below the ocean
Both sides were running out of time.
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Chapter 1154: Rickety Bridge (Part-2)
"Aghhhhhhhh!"
The horrified and terrified shouts of falling men were loud enough to pierce the ears of all men in the ships, even though they were a great distance apart and despite the huge open surrounding working to dissipate much of the noise, thusying witness to how big a group had just lost their footing and were hurling to their depths.
They were sorge, numbering close to around fifty and so packed together at the moment of their fall that from a distance they initially looked almost like a lump of ck, solid stone, before quickly disintegrating into many misshapen pebbles, ones that were wildly frailing around their contours in absolute fear and panic.
And as they hit the water, it created a gigantic ssh that rivaled even the peaks reached by falling debris, rising high up into the air and turning frothy with a pink hue.
Then soon afterward, these bodies rose up to the surface in the form of floating corpses, forming a nasty clump where everything was maliciously mangled and twisted, bent in ways that felt painful to even look at, with blood, bone, organs, and even bodily excrement polluting the water around there.
Thus the sea in the vicinity began to turn, first pale and rusty, and then a deep, reddish blood, bloody looking pigment.
The entire thing was very nasty to look at, and as the bodies on that part began to clump together to form a ''rock of flesh'', QQ and his men found themselves instinctively turning their heads away at the macabre sight, for the scene proved too gory to look at even for these experienced men.
"Hurry! Hurry! Row faster men! We don''t have much time! The entire thing''s falling apart!"
So instead they turned to order their rowers to move their arms faster, hoping to reach their destination before any more tragedy could ensue.
As the ships from both sides raced to save their men, the men atop the bridge all of a sudden found themselves frozen still, letting a strange, deathly silence reign the ce.
All attacks had stopped, all movements had stopped, and even all the various shouts and orders that were eternally present in a battlefield had stopped.
It was like time itself had ceased to exist, causing everyone to be stuck in ce.
Of course, the current ''stalemate'' was not induced due to time in the cosmos freezing, but because of the men freezing in fear.
Fear of the same thing happening to them. Fear of them too falling to their deaths and bing fish food.
Among the three forces, the most shaken were undoubtedly the Heeat soldiers, who got a front row seat to the entire thing.
So it was with absolute horror that theyid witness to how most of their brothers at the rear got swallowed up by the sea in the blink of an eye, save for a small lucky few who were in the very front and managed to make it to the others side, all else vanishing to the frothy depths, as a huge, gaping hole opened up between them and the safety of the maind.
This copse of the bridge basically left the rest of the army stranded on this part of the bridge, as the gap behind them was too big to jump across.
Not to mention, the other side looked as if it could crumble away at any second, so there was no one daring enough to even try to jump on it, fearing that may be hisst.
In fact, being the closest to the ''epicenter'', there were many that did not dare to even breathe too hard, forget jumping or any of the fighting, stabbing, and pushing.
They only stood there, with half shaky legs, looking down at the various cracks spreading through the bridge with every subtle movement they made with the greatest trepidation, and listening to each and every creak and groan of the floor with frightfully pale and panicked hearts.
They wished they could stop breathing or even stop their heart from beating, all to slow down the copse, even if by only the tiniest, ephemeral amount.
Even all the usually bellicose and mart officers had gone quiet, sharing the same thoughts as the men, which included the general of the army too.
''Shit! To think the one time that cock sucking slimeball was right! And I had to be the one to get caught up in it! Shit! Shit! Bloody fucking shit!''
Facing this predicament, Achis found himself cursing in his heart as such, swearing at himself for getting caught in this death trap even after being warned by Lord Bernard, the man whom he found most hateful.
It was to the point that for a while the man found himself to be more angry at his situation than fearful, cursing at the smug look Lord Bernard would be pulling if he knew of his predicament.
And the aggravated feeling was so high that if they were not on top of a rickety bridge that was disintegrating right under their feet, then the stocky man might have been stamping his feet and screaming his heart out.
But given the current precarious circumstances, he kept silent, burying the anger deep inside and indicating everyone around him to do the same, as he clenched out the following order in as soft but still as menacing way as possible, "Don''t fucking move a muscle."
Achis was not going away like this. Definitely not in such an undignified way of falling off a bridge.
The mere thought of how all his enemies would gloat over his corpse filled Achis''s body with that promise.
And since the general hadmanded, no one dared to raise their voice either, thus the soldiers were let off for halting their advance even though they were so close.
The decision had been made- killing the enemy could wait. Now was the time to save their own skin.
This was a great boon for Alexander, but at the same time a bane for Lord Parker- that there were no suicidal people on his side, one who wanted to take the enemy down so much that he would not mind going with him.
Achis would have been richly praised by the man if he had managed to take his lord''s biggest thorn down with him.
It was just too bad that the man wanted to be here when Lord Parker praised him, and not at the bottom of the sea.
Thus the Heeat soldiers stood where they were, waving at the Margraves'' ships toe to their rescue.
Speaking of the Margraves, the units on the opposite side of Alexander''s formation had stopped their attacks too, due to the various rming creaking and snapping sounds popping off all around them, which was starting to ur with increasing frequency.
Here too the bridge was beginning to snap but had not yet mostly because unlike the Heeat forces, the Margraves did not have any horses with them.
So the pressure on the wood was rtively less.
Then, due to the Margraves'' ships being close to the bridge, a few messengers sent by Ser Robert were able to quickly climb up to inform them of the apocalyptic situation they were in, urging them, "Stop moving at once! And evacuate! This thing is not going tost very long."
It was a piece of advice these troops were on their toes to follow and thus the siegedders were quickly filled with moving men, this time their steps being in the opposite direction.
Everyone was itching to get down from the bridge, when just a while they were fighting tooth and nail to get on it.
Ah, the irony.
As for thest faction trapped in this deathtrap, the legionaries, well they were all initially very puzzled by the turn of events.
For them, the actions of the Heeat and Margraves forces simply tranted to seeing all the offensive pressure suddenly and almost instantly disappear, thus saving them from the brink of disintegration.
And initially, they were unable to figure out the cause behind such a sudden and generous show of mercy.
''The enemy had not shown any such obligations before. So what gives?'' The legionnaires found themselves asking and then began to hypothesize various usible scenarios such as,
''Are they stopping to ask us to surrender?''
''Did our ships scare them?''
''Are they giving up?''
And even the supremely optimistic theory,
''Did we beat them?''
But none of these seemed to fit and thus many began to see it as a small miracle
But things soon became clear, and only within a short while, a cacophony of loud, panicked, and rmed cries began to ring out from all across the formation, with each iming various, at the time, oundish ims.
''The bridge copsed! The bridge ahead copsed. The whole thing is breaking apart!"
"He''s right! Look at the cracks there¡ they are spreading! They areing this way!"
"The enemy fell from the bridge! We are next!"
"Don''t move! Stay still! Stay still! Keep calm!"
Hearing all this for the first time, Alexander was a bit flummoxed, wondering what the hell the others were talking about.
But that soon changed, and like the others, he too began to feel as if his feet were on fire.
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Chapter 1155: Swift Descent
The bridge under Alexander had been creaking and cracking too like the other two forces, but initially, few among his men had the time or the state of mind to notice that.
Furthermore, given the intensely crowded situation within the unit, where the men were so squeezed together that they could barely watch past their shoulders, much less see what was happening to the rear echelons of the opposing unit, the men failed to notice much of the happenings going on in front or rear of them.
Thus much of the fact that half the enemy forces in front of them had run away and then got eaten up by the sea, or that the Margraves behind them were quickly evacuating themselves remained obscure to them.
But the initial state of confusion managed to quickly erase itself away and as the state of the perilous predicament they were in became clear, panic and fear began to infect the formation just like the two sides.
In fact, the news was so grave and dreadful that when being informed of it for the first time, Alexander was a bit flummoxed, wondering what the hell they were talking about.
He assumed he was hearing them wrong due to all the ovepping voices, or even that these voices were just misinformed,treating them simply as the ravings of a few panicked, mad men.
After all. how could a bridge made of stone like this copse due to overloading?
Thus Alexander sought to quickly confirm these reports, guessing he would find the real answer to be something very different.
Something along the lines of a copse in the morale of the opposing due to some unknown reason, such as the sudden appearance of new reinforcements from his side, the sudden death of theirmander, or a call to retreat to the main camp among many other possibilities.
However, none of that proved to be the right answer, and that phase of confusion atst passed with a report from Hemicus himself!
"What did you say!" Hearing the confirmation that the bridge was truly copsing, Alexander let out this great shout of incredulity, before quickly getting very worked up, as he could not believe such a thing was even possible.
This was a stone bridge, not some rickety wooden suspension bridge held up by thin rope on either end.
So how could it break with the weight of a simple few humans, he found himself asking.
Of course, Alexander remained uninformed of the battering the structure had taken in that storm, as well as the fact there were not ''only a few simple humans'' up there
The weight of two thousand men, their gears as well the horse added up to perhaps two hundred fifty to three hundred tons (250 - 300 tons), or about fiverge main battle tanks.
This was a significant number, especially when it was all concentrated in a small ce.
Thus when these two ''ingredients'' were mixed together, well a mixture for a disaster was quickly created.
It took a while for Alexander to ept Hemicus''s report, finding it unbelievable even though he had full trust in the man.
But as he thought about it, some of the things he had seen just before began to make sense.
Such as the fact that he recalled seeing the enemy''s standard suddenly disappear, a phenomenon he had thought to be very strange at the time.
Because a unit''s standard was its most importantponent, and its bearer was the most protected person in the group, being always ced at the center of the formation, thus shielding him from any harm from all sides.
This was due to the fact that it was this g that all the surrounding soldiers used as a reference to follow any given order, going towards them if they were ever confused or lost, or even just to confirm the orders they were given.
And the punishment for losing the standards was always heavy, a ''standard'' across all militaries.
Thus for the g to suddenly disappear, had indeed made Alexander curious.
However, up until now, he had not put any thought any thought into the matter because he had no time to.
But now, given the lull, he began to consider that, and then suddenly thinking of something, he craned his head downwards, trying to spot that g in the waves below.
If a part of the bridge was really gone into the sea, Alexander reasoned the g should be somewhere down there, as there was no other way the standard bearer would have never lost his g.
And wouldn''t you know it, there it was right in front of him, a golden banner with a red horse on it, the exact same g that had brought so much terror to his heart, now floating harmlessly on the waves below.
This was undeniable proof for Alexander.
But the man was still not satisfied!
Because although his head was willing to agree that a part of the bridge had fallen off, his heart was not.
Thus he sought onest confirmation, so he turned to ask the captain of his bodyguards and asked in a slightly didactic tone, "Hemicus, bend down. I want to get on your shoulders to see the state of the bridge for myself. Figure out exactly how bad it is!"
The ask initially got Hemicus to ergen his eyes like an inted balloon, the absolute shock and incredulity clearly written on them, before it suddenly turned enraged and malevolent,
"What! You idiot! You want to get shot that badly?"
The man held little back in his scolding reply, despite the other side being his superior as he appeared as if he could p Alexander to the moon on the spot.
If Alexander really stuck his neck out like this, bing the tallest tree in the wood, he would be shot to bits the very next second by every archer from either side.
Because no self respecting archers would even let such an easy kill pass, the crumbling ground beneath them be damned.
Thus Hemicus could not believe how tantly the man was tempting fate, despite having managed to survive by just the skin of his teeth moments before.
"...." And so hearing the man''s words, Alexander quickly found himself flushing a bit and then decided to stay put, deciding to take the man''s word as the truth.
Due to the fact that fighting on the bridge had ceased for the moment, the copse had tooe to a halt, and only the asional creaking and cracking reigned, bursting out from various parts of the section to the utter terror of all the men on it.
*ng*, *ng*, *ng*,
Thus it came as a great relief for Alexander and his men when their ships finally docked right the bridge before hurriedly raising theirdders and signaling them to starting down.
The men needed little such encouragement, as they shuffled their feet with the utmost urgency, shouting to each other, "Go! Go! Go! Hurry!"
In fact, speed was of such import to the men that they even decided to drop theirrge, heavy shields atop the bridge, even though it was their most important armament.
They found it too hard and bulky to descend with it.
Hence currently, a very strange sight was developing in the battlefield around the bridge.
There were rows of siegedders ced side by side on either side of the stone structure, along which men of blue and green were quickly descending onto the ships below, forming a moving column that looked like a procession of busy ants from afar.
And these ships that they were descending into were also lined up side by side to the point they were almost touching, even though they belonged to two opposing forces, one bearing the emblem of a golden bnce and the other that of a blue flower.
It seemed that right now, no side wished to attack or harm the others, instead choosing to act like they did not exist.
It was as such that whenever one group made eye contact with the other, both would instantly turn away, fearing the other would see the act as a provocation and attack.
Neither was interested in fighting right now, instead being more focused on rescuing their forces.
When Quinnolin had initially approached the other stationary side, both sides were very jittery.
Ser Robert feared they were going to get rammed by these speeding vessels, while Quinnolin feared they were going to get boarded the moment they got close enough.
Thus, it was this legionary who had raised the white g first, indicating his desire for a momentary truce.
The sight of this brought great relief to the Margraves, while its subsequent eptance brought great relief to Quinnolin.
Hence vessels from two sides got to cramp together safely in that narrow space, one where their hulls sometimes even touched each other, as both sides got to evacuate almost all their men safely.
It looked as if it was a happy ending for two, but there was one group who was still left in the lurch- the Heeat forces, who could be heard shouting,
"Hey! Where are you going? Don''t leave us!"
But the problem was the Margraves ships were already full, already holding close to a thousand men!
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Chapter 1156: Clash of The Margraves (Part-1)
The Margraves to their credit managed to rescue almost all of their forces from the bridge rtively quickly, using all five of their ships to carry out the mission.
And a simr thing happened for Alexander too.
With six ships and twelvedders, the four hundred or so men were able to very quickly, nimbly climb down thedder at a speed that made it so that their evacuation ended almost around the same time as the Margraves''s, even though thetter had started much earlier.
Thus the ships below teemed with armored soldiers, while above, in ce of the once heavily contested groundy the dead and the wounded, from both sides, their bodies proving too heavily heavy to be moved.
Oh, and the about nine hundred of the Heeat forces, they were still stuck there, waiting for rescue.
To that effect they tried their best to get the Margraves''s attention, waving their hands and shouting,
"Hey! We are still up here! We need help! Come over here!"
"Save us! The bridge is not going tost! Save us!"
"Where are you going? Don''t leave us! Bastards! We are still here!"
However, the Margraves did not seem to be interested, as Lord Bernard coldly ordered, "Retract thedders. We are leaving."
The sudden and irrational decision struck Ser Robert like a bolt of the blue, as the man could not help but turn to blurt out with extreme incredulity, "What! Leave our allies to die? How could we?"
Even to a man who had been trained his whole to follow orders without question, thismand sounded too absurd to obey.
"...." Lord Bernard only produced a frank look of annoyance, pursing his lips and ring at the man.
How was he going to exin to thismoner the intricacies of the current political dynamics between the Margraves and the Heeat family?
They might be allies on paper, but no one with half a brain wouldbel them as truly being such. They were more like lords and vassals.
And right now, Lord Bernard spotted a perfect opportunity to strike at that unfair arrangement, to make it shift more towards his family''s favor, all by targetting that one man currently stuck on that bridge.
So he turned around to imperiously brush his hands at Ser Robert, iming, "Our ships are already too full. If we take any more, we will be in danger of capsizing. So let us first return to shore. We can inform the lord to send more ships from there."
There were some truths to what Lord Bernard had just said here. The five ships under them really were very close to their maximum capacity, holding a bit over nine hundred men as well as the required number of rowers and sailors.
So if they were to take any significant more number of troops, there was indeed a true concern that these wooden vessels could start to tilt.
However, although such a danger did exist, it was also true Lord Bernard was exaggerating such possibilities a bit too much.
As subsequently iterated by Ser Robert, who reassured his boss that if they were careful, and properly distributed their load evenly across the deck, they could take quite a few more, perhaps as much as half of the total remaining men on the bridge.
This however was naturally rejected by an irritated Lord Bernard who appeared quite cross at Ser Robert''s instance on saving the other side, and this time made the simple excuse that it was too risky.
The reaction quite puzzled the simple and straightforward general, who could not understand why his boss was getting so angry when he should be rejoicing at these proposals,
Even if it did not work, they should still try, at least make the effort to try and rescue theirrades.
But it seemed for whatever reason his superior was not interested.
"Then at least let us rescue General Achis. Who knows if the bridge is going to hold until Lord Parker sends his aid."
And so atst Ser Robert asked for this little concession, knowing here Lord Bernard could not say use the overcapacity excuse.
One man could not tilt a ship, unless that man was Gulliver and they were the Liliputs.
They all had spotted Achis on the bridge even from their ships before, his very distinct bright ck and golden armor instantly giving himself away to everyone in the vicinity.
"...." Ser Robert would never forget the face Lord Bernard made the moment brought up General Achis''s face, appearing as if all the thunderclouds in the world had coalesced onto there.
It had even made the man momentarily freeze in fear, and for the first time in their many years of interacting with each other, he suddenly felt pressured by the usually flippant man, causing a somber chill to pass through his spine.
Just like how Achis hated Lord Bernard, well the reverse was also very true, to the point neither man would be able to eke out a win against the other.
So Lord Bernard was not worried that the bridge would break before General Achis was able to rescue as Ser Robert posed.
Rather, he was worried that the bridge would not break before General Achis was rescued.
Now that would be a true tragedy for him, as well as his family. For his death would bring a great deal of opportunity for both parties.
For him personally, it would likely mean the position of the general, as he would be the highest ranking military personnel in camp, only surpassed by Lord Parker.
And if one were to wonder how a Margraves would be allowed to lead the forces of a ducal family, well there was where Miss Linda woulde in.
Lord Bernard could easily see this ambitious woman using her persuasion power to get him the title, an endeavor sure to be made much easier by the fact that he had already disyed such great ability in battle- attacking the enemy from behind, correctly predicting the copse of the bridge, and even evacuating all his men on time.
All of it showed great military prowess, at least on paper.
As for the advantages for the Margraves family here, well that was self evident, with such a high ranking post controlled by one of their own, the Margraves would be able to get much fairer treatment from the Ducal family.
Lord Bernard might not be a greatmander, but he was certainly showing signs of being a very good politician.
The dashing man however was not in the mood to try to exin all these intricate intricacies to Ser Robert.
Now was not the time or the ce.
So turning to face the man with a stony look, he simply ordered, ''Just shut up and get us ashore! One more word and I will have your tongue!
The threat was meant to unequivocally show that the matter had been decided. They were leaving General Achis there.
"No! We are not leaving!" However, in what could be described in life''s very first, Ser Robert overwrote hismander''s direct orders, as his eyes zed with a newly found, sudden determination, shing against Lord Bernard''s shocked, confused, and then turned furious pair.
It was unknown what had exactlye over the thismander but it seemed that he believed that Lord Bernard was ordering this simply out of ipetence, as he shouted in a loud voice that even the man did not know he had,
"I have had enough of your threats and curses. Do whatever you want to do to me. But only after we reach ashore. For now, I am in charge of the ships. Imand them."
"And there is no way we are leaving a thousand good men to die up there just because of you and your foolish fears. If you are so afraid of drowning, then take off your armor and start swimming. The shore is not that far!"
"Yo¡ you¡ you¡ wha¡ what did ¡you¡!" Towards the former''s outburst, Lord Bernard initially found himself literally stunned beyond words. Nobody had talked to him like that before.
Not even Lord Parker during his various tirades had singled him out like that, forget a meremoner.
Thus for a moment, it was like the man''s hearing faculties had overloaded itself, unable to process the corrupted data.
Until the system rebooted himself, and that confusion instantly turned to unbridled rage, "You cur! You dare! You dare! I will have your tongue for this! I will have your tongue for this!"
Menacing pointing his finger at the man while making the threat twice to show its potency, Lord Bernard then turned his surrounding bodyguards to shout,
"Get me his tongue! Get me his tongue!"
*ng*, *ng*, *ng*
And instantly came out three swords from beside him, the shiny, silverly steel simmering in the afternoon sun, the loyal men ready to cut down this rebel right here right now.
*ng*, *ng*, *ng*..... *ng*..... *ng*
However, Ser Robert was not unarmed neither was he alone.
Far from that, he had a lot of allies amidst the troops,manding true respect from them.
Thus seeing theirmander''s life being threatened and a fight about to break out, there were many willing to unsheat their swords for him.
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Chapter 1157: Clash of The Margraves (Part-2)
Aboard thergest Margraves ship, its gship, currently a very weird and tense situation was unfolding.
On its decks were close to ten to fifteen men divided into two neat groups, each menacingly staring down the other with their swords fully drawn.
But neither seemed willing to make the first move, treating the imaginary line dividing them like a giant impassible chasm.
Which was strange given one side grossly outnumbered the other- around three to one to be precise.
It was a discrepancy that shocked Lord Bernard to his core, for he did not think Ser Robert was this popr.
Most of the time when a lord chose to deal with amander, the rest would mostly select to keep their mouth shut and simply observe, fearing his wrath would be upon them next.
Thus for so many to take arms in open defiance of his orders, it stunned the man so much so that he did not dare to make a move.
There were too many for them to deal with and they were too close.
So if they were to fight, what guarantee was there that they would not identally wound or kill him despite his status?
As they say, swords had no eyes.
And perhaps such a blind sword would be wielded by an equally blind and idiot fool, one who would let the lust of battle get to him and attack fatally, forgetting just who the other side was.
The cowardly Lord Bernard would never dare take that risk.
But at the same time, witnessing the sight of a group ofmoners opposing someone of as high status as him, quickly incensed the man, and it soon tranted to anger and unbridled fury.
"You mongrels! What is the meaning of this? How dare you do this? I am your lord! This is a mutiny! You are rebelling against your lord!
I will have all of you hung for this! You hear me! Hung!" Thus he shouted as such with extreme malice and malevnce towards all the surrounding men.
It was a very powerful threat as for any soldier of this time period, ''mutiny'' and ''rebellion'' were the two gravest usations that could beid against them.
It not only meant death and dishonor for oneself but many times even his entire family generation was punished, the extent depending on the specifics of his crime and how vindictive the judge was feeling- thus letting it range from simple mary fine such as no bereavement payment to the seizure ofnds and homes to imprisonment and forced envement tostly death.
And even among the death sentences, there were different tiers, ranging from the rtively painless beheading to the painful hanging, to the agonizing quartering, to many other forms of torture that would make one''s stomach churn.
It was recalling such unsavory techniques that many of the men who had instinctively drawn their swords were now beginning to waver, finding Lord Bernard''s threats of retaliation a truly frightening prospect.
Many even regretted going against the man in the first ce, having only done it because the others around them had done it.
"Disarm them! Take all of them, prisoners!"
It was also realizing this that Ser Robert quickly barked out this order, intending to finish the fight before his men got the chance to cool down and think about their actions.
So immediately following this, the man led by example, personally charging across that invisible line and sprinting toward the angry and unsuspecting lord before suddenly grabbing him by the wrist.
The move caught Lord Bernard by surprise, who being no fighter, did not have a ghost of a chance of reacting.
So he was caught and disarmed even before he could really understand what was going on.
While the bodyguards around him, although able to react found themselves hesitating.
The other side had not struct lethally, neither did they intend to do so, as announced by theirmander.
They only wanted to capture them.
And so, if the bodyguards were to strike with lethal forces themselves, well they might be able to kill Ser Robert, and even rescue their lord, but then what?
No one knew exactly.
Perhaps everyone on the deck would back down in fear and shock but letting Lord Bernard establish his absolute dominance
Or perhaps the crew would all strike in absolute anger and fearing retaliation for their defiance, and that would turn the entire deck into a bloodbath, producing at least five corpses, if not more.
The three men were not willing to take this bloody coin flip.
And so they all obediently surrendered, sheathing their swords and raising their hands.
This act of course got a torrent of abuse from Lord Bernard, who cursed them for being ''disloyal dogs'' and threatened to ''see to themter''.
But for now, the disturbance deck quickly subsided, as the guilty four were moved to a remote part of the deck, and left abandoned there, letting Lord Bernard seeth and marinate in his own anger and hate.
If looks could kill, Lord Bernard''s kill count right now would definitely be in the hundreds, iming everyone on the deck.
But it fortunately could not, and so peace returned to the trouble ships, causing Ser Robert to let out a great sigh of relief and say of himself, ''Can''t believe these bastards brought out their swords for me! Hahaha, for a moment I thought I was a goner.''
The men''s rapid and firm reaction had even surprised Ser Robert back there, because, like Lord Bernard, he too did not think he was that adored among the men.
He was usually very strict with them.
And so when the other side decided to suddenly kill him, the man thought for a moment that he was a goner.
At that moment, he even regretted his words a bit. The man had no idea what came over him that caused him to let out such an intense burst.
Usually, he would have just nodded and gone along with it, despite the cursing in his heart but still keeping a tractable face.
But today, it seemed the man was just feeling different.
The surprising contrast was even noticed by his adjutant, a ck man by the name of Anoon, who slowly approached him and noted to him in a soft whisper, "I never thought you had it in you!"
The trace of glee and admiration in thepliment was unmistakable.
"Hahaha, neither did I."
And Ser Robert too let out this hollow chuckle, although his eyes were a bit unfocused, for he well knew the trouble he had just made for himself as well as many of his men.
Lord Bernard was quite the vindictive man and crossing him did not end well.
But even knowing this somehow Ser Robert''s heart still felt light, pleased that he had done the right thing. He could never sleep if he were to let a thousand men die just like that.
"I will owe all of you guys a good drink once we get back." He thus ended with a chuckle.
"..." Anoon only pursed his lips at the nonchnt reply, before taking the opportunity to close the distance between them and spookily whispered in a barely audible tone,
"You should have taken the chance to finish him off just now¡ when they were about to attack. We outnumbered him. This is a battlefield. It would have been the perfect cover. None of us would have talked."
The dangerous nature of the content made Ser Robert twitch his thick lips a bit, but he did not appear too shocked, letting the man end in a slightly annoyed tone,
"And now, look at the trouble you have caused. He is going to sink all of us to the bottom of the sea the next chance he gets. How do you n to fix it?"
"What do you suggest?" Ser Robert eschewed offering any grand reason for why he had suddenly decided to go against his lord, and then let him live despite knowing his nature.
Those were moot now, and instead, he only turned for advice to his adjutant, adding the condition, "Be aware we cannot kill him."
"..." The right hand man thus once again pursed his lips, falling into a well of contemtion as he stroked his stumble, before suddenly he clenched through his teeth in an unwilling but determined tone, "Let''s go rescue General Achis first. Then we can tell him the entire thing. Maybe he can get Bernard removed. If not, then maybe we can seek asylum with the Heeats."
"...." For a moment this stunned Ser Robert.
This was basically treason- the act of betraying the Margraves family for the Heeat family.
But at the end of the day, he did argue, knowing the die had been cast.
Thus soon the Margraves'' ships were moved to extend adder to the general of the Heeat family and he became the very first man to start climbing down thedders while cursing the Margraves for taking so long.
However, remember how General Achis was dressed in a very gaudy, shiny armor that drew everyone''s attention.
Well it worked now too, and seeing this juicy, defenseless target, one crossbowman in Alexander''s ships could not help but take a snipe.
And wouldn''t you know it, it hit!
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Chapter 1158: Achillass Slip
When Anoon had at first proposed that they snitch on theirmander or even defect to the other side, Ser Robert''s heart had skipped a beat with trepidation. But he did not shout to scold the man or even softly object.
Because he knew from their long correspondence together that saying such things for the man was par for the course.
The guy had a lot of ideas, some even very dangerous ones, which he liked to asionally share with him.
Such as him arguing thatmoners like them were the majority and so they should get a say in how they were governed, not by some illusive divine right to rule.
Which was the highest level of sphemy as far as the Margraves or the Sybarsians or even the whole known world as a whole was concerned.
And hearing that for the first time, Ser Robert had sworn that he would hang the man himself if he ever said this out aloud again.
So whenpared to that, plotting to just defect was very tame.
Ser Robert also soon came to reconcile his heart with the fact that meditation with Lord Bernard was very unlikely. Even if he could live, his close men would be severely punished. Themander would not live with that.
So after a quick few moments of thought, Ser Robert agreed to Anoon''s suggestion with a muted nod, and one of the ships was quickly ordered to go rescue General Achis, along with a messenger to exin their difficulties to the man.
"General, our ships are full! So we can only take the more important people first. Please take the lead," The man had courtesy informed the muscr gent of Ser Robert''s decision.
To this, however, instead of being grateful for the Margraves at least extending this lifeline, Achis let off this snarl in absolute rage, "What! Are you telling me to leave my men up here to die while you Margraves wastes ran? Absolutely not! I am not leaving without my men. If there is not enough space, make it!"
You have to give it to the man, despite his many personal ws, he was a good, loyal general who looked after his unit. Even though he was scared out of his mind above the ground beneath him giving itself away, he still refused to take the golden parachute and leave his men behind, unlike a certain someone.
Thus letting these words off with great strength, Achis then went on to order the messenger with great officiousness,
"If you do not have enough space in the ships, then seize more from the enemy! Theirs are all half empty! It should be easy."
"....." Towards such a hugemand, the low ranking harold found himself producing a nk, fearful look.
What was the point of wringing him out for all this? He was just a mouthpiece, with no authority whatsoever.
So he quickly the only thing he could, nodding and saluting as a show of acknowledgment as soon as Achis finished, and then quickly ran back to Ser Robert to let him know of the general''s demands.
Demands that were initially outright rejected, as Ser Robert brushed his hands with almost equal fury,
"Bah! Who does he think he is, our master and we are his ves? Where does he get off being so cocky? To the point that he dares call us waste! Waste! He is the waste!
His fourteen generations are wastes¡. to think we are allies!"
It was clear from thatst statement that Ser Robert was yet to wake up to the realization that Lord Bernard might have actually had a good reason for wanting Achis dead, that things were not as peachy with the Heeat family as the simple general had assumed, and that letting the general die might not have been a terrible idea.
However, although Ser Robert was unable to realize his family''s position in the eyes of the Heeat family, his right hand man Anoon was definitely able to quickly grasp it.
But knowing Ser Robert''s simple nature, he did try to make him understand the various political intricacies.
Instead stepping up, he only advised Ser Robert in a cool tone,
"It would not be prudent for us to dismiss General Achis with such lightness, He is the highestmanding military officer here. As well as ourst potential savior. We need his favor."
This reminder worked to somewhat cool themander, but at the same, it made him produce a very reticent, sour face, as he grumbled in the tiniest mumble, "You would think he would be a little more grateful for us saving his ass! Fucker! How dare he curse my men! All these fucking nobles are the same!
Thest statement was really out of character for the man, as this sort of ''potentially head losing'' words were usually only reserved for Anoon.
Hence the fact that it was Ser Robert who said it really showed the disgust he had for the order as well as the way he and his men were being treated. And for a moment it even made the general wish for some of Anoon''s ideas toe true.
His adjutant for now though paid little heed to hismander''s ramblings, even though Ser Robert''s cursing the nobles did make the man quite pleased, but for now turned to the messenger to gently instruct him the following,
"Go tell the general toe down and meet us. Say that we are trying to attack the enemy but we do not have many weapons with us. Most of the men left their shields and spears on the bridge when they were trying to escape. So it will take a bit of time for us to get ready."
That''s right.
In trying to escape as fast as they could, the Margraves had not only left theirrge shields behind on the bridge just like Alexander, but their long spears as well.
Thus the only armanent they currently had with them was a small curved sword that was closer to a dagger than an actual sword and was only really useful for the most desperate of self defense.
Trying to board the enemy''s fleet with that would be suicide.
But Anoon, being the diplomatic man, did not outright say it would be impossible but gave Achis enough hope so that the man would get down and meet with them.
Whatever happened once he got his prize on the boat, could happen afterwards.
However this genteel message did not seem to please Achis at all, who once againunched off into a zing fury, ordering them the insane task of,
"If you cannot take the enemy ships, then jump into the water and die you! Why are youing to begging? No matter what, go make space for us. My men are from the Heeat family¡ not something a mere earl like you canpare!"
The muscr general was very clear to make that discriminatory distinction, even when he was atop a 40 feet bridge that appeared to be wanting to give away any second.
And hearing this, Anoon really was of half the mind to leave the man behind just like his lord wanted.
But he still persevered and was able to atst get the man to agree toe and meet them.
While the Margraves and Heeat were bickering among themselves, Alexander soon began to prepare himself to set sail.
This intention was to move parallel to the bridge in a northeastern direction while hugging Phyrros Ind''s shore.
This was intended as a precaution against any attack by the Margraves or any reinforcements sent by the Heeat family, as this way, even if they could not win, they could easily jump ship and swim to the safety of the ind, where there still remained a garrison of two hundred men.
However, they had barely started to sail, being perhaps not even a hundred meters away from the Margraves'' ships, when tragedy struck.
One of the servants in one of the ships, suddenly noticed a man in a very shy ck armor descending the steps of adder onto an awaiting enemy ship.
And knowing such great armor could only be worn by a lord and high rankingmanders, he instinctively took aim with the crossbow he had on him, which was given due to him only because of the desperation of the times.
Normally this green, unskilled shot could not make a hit like this even if he tired a hundred times.
But perhaps this was his ''hundred and one''-th try.
Because, *Thud!*
Wouldn''t you know it, by a small miracle, it hit the man on his right side, around his kidneys, piercing his armor and digging deep into him.
The shot was fortunately not fatal for Achis, as it hit him in a rtively protected and nonvital part of the body.
Furthermore, the great distance the bolt had to travel meant that a lot of its speed and energy was eaten up mid flight, and so the pration was rtively swallow, maybe a bit over an inch.
This was bad but not life threatening.
But what it certainly was, was very painful, so much so that Achis yelped out in shock and suddenly lost his grip.
He plummeted, hitting the deck with a giant thud!
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Chapter 1159: Start of the Third Round
As Alexander was starting to sail off, a few of his officers chose to surround him and suggested that they should attack the Margrave''s ships now, to take advantage of the fact that most of them were still anchored by the bridge.
"They are defenseless!" They had cheered, pointing excitedly to the ships that were woggling like a toddler on the water, appearing perfectly harmless.
Hearing this idea, Alexander was first and foremost amazed and astonished at these daredevils.
It had been literally just minutes since they had been saved from the brink of death by the skin of their teeth, and yet, these desperadoes had the gall to tempt fate again so soon.
Alexander could not decide whether to be happy that he had the great fortune ofmanding such skilled and zealous men with balls of steel, ormpoon the muscle headedness of so many of them, who were so focused on immediate gains that they were unable to see even a corner of the greater picture.
But now was not the time to begin a bloody fight, that would certainly be taunting the gods in the rudest way possible.
However given the amount of courage and gall these men were showing, Alexander was also not going to scold them.
He loved it when his soldiers showed that they wanted to fight, it proved the morale and spirit of the army were high.
But here, this also put him in a slight dilemma.
He knew that while none of his men med him for trying to escape on his own, if he were to reject them now too, he would be perceived as a coward.
After all, wasn''t he the one who just a while ago proimed that they needed to takerge risks to win the war?
Well, this was it wasn''t?
And it wasn''t even that big a risk! In the majority of the men''s eyes, the enemy was basically sitting ducks.
Now, Alexander could have spent the next few while exining to them why attacking might be more difficult than it looks, and how the enemy might be more prepared than the men were giving them credit for.
But he swiftly thought of a better idea.
Thus in a soft and somewhat tired tone, Alexander sinctly reminded them,
"You say they are defenseless but you forget so are we. We have no shields nor many of our crossbows. How will we fight?"
Yes, by cleverly pointing to hisck of armaments as a convenient excuse, Alexander was able to quickly cool the men down and then in a gentle but firm tone dered, "We have done enough fighting for today. Let''s go back home."
This decision worked to make some of the officers a bit peeved, but most of his men were relieved.
While Alexander''s own heart turned to another matter, one which caused him to nce at the bridge and subsequently groan, for he remembered that his objectives remained half fulfilled.
He managed to sessfully capture the ind sure, but it was a great shame they could not hold the bridge.
Now he was forced to think of another way to protect his fleet at the harbor.
It was amidst such thoughts that he was then approached by Quinnolin, who had another idea to pitch to him.
A pitch that he started by pointing at the Margraves ships and suggesting,
"My lord, look! Their ships are already full. They cannot take any more men. Meaning those soldiers at the top are stuck! Why don''t we offer them a rescue? Themander is sure to fetch a pretty price."
So Quinnolin here was proposing to offer the enemy rescue in exchange for their surrender, and then subsequent release with a ''small'' ransom.
And this idea had seemed quite lucrative to Alexander at first, thus he entertained it for a moment.
If they could truly capture a thousand men just like that¡. it would be truly a great victory for him and his forces.
Perhaps not as great in a military sense since losing such a thousand out of twenty would be certainly painful but not crippling, but in terms of a political win, in terms of making a statement it would be really something.
It would show everyone that Alexander still had some bite left in him.
And if that capturedmander by any luck got to be a noble or someone close to Lord Parker, well Alexander was even hopeful that they might be able to get a peace treaty started.
Of course, Alexander did not know that Achis himself was leading these forces, since he had never seen the man in battle before and neither did he think they would send their general to lead such a small force.
But if he knew, he certainly would have been ecstatic and might have even reconsidered his choice.
However now, the presence of those Margrave''s ships gave him pause.
What if they chose to suddenly retaliate?
What if they chose to capitalize on their vulnerable position just like Alexander''s men had been urging him just now?
Or worse, what if reinforcements from Lord Parker arrived while they were in the midst of securing their prey?
Would that make the hunter be the hunted?
Alexander was not willing to take that risk. Especially not after his close brush with death today.
And even if he was willing to, perhaps this time, even before the gods could smite him for ingratitude, HM would do the deed for them.
After his rescue, the captain of the bodyguard suddenly began to see these ships as quite rickety and frail, and the water around as very dangerous.
So the thought of a naval fight broughtrge trepidation.
Thus the man was not only absolutely in no mood to fight butpletely furious at these men who wanted to.
So not willing to be suicidal, Alexander atst eschewed any and all offensive ideas and started sail.
However just because Alexander did not want to fight did not mean the heavens were going to let him off just like that.
And thus it happened as such.
Targeted by an unknown shot, Achis found himself suddenly losing his grip and falling from quite arge height and so hit the deck with a giant thud, as unimaginable pain streaked through his body.
The fall might have not been enough to kill him outright, but it definitely hurt like hell, as Achis definitely could feel quite a few of his bones had cracked, and even heard a few snaps.
"Arghhhh!" This caused him to thus let off this immensely pained groan, as shes of intense whites and spots of ckouts began to float up in his eyes.
He could not believe such pain existed in the world and it suddenly made him feel incensed.
"Agghhh! Kill the bastards! Kill them!"
Thus, instead of begging for help or groaning in pain, Achis let off this great roar through his bloody clenched tooth, even as a pool of his own blood began to soak the decks.
It really went to show the man''s character.
Even when he was close to losing consciousness from the intense pain, he desired revenge, feeling that if there was one thing that could soothe his pain, it would be the blood of the bastards who did this to him.
"Aghhh!"
His order to avenge him reverberated all around the surroundings and it not only made all the Heeat soldiers atop the bridge howl out in anger but many of the Margraves down in the ships too.
Achis might not be their directmander but he was seen as an authoritative figure by them, and thus an attack on him was seen as an attack on them too.
"Shit!"
Even Anoon let out this curse upon spotting the man fall from thedder all the way back from his ships, although not entirely for the right reasons.
He was far less concerned for the man himself and much more worried about what would happen if he were to suddenly expire.
He was their best ticket out of their predicament.
But now¡.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Go! Go! Quickly attack! Quickly attack!
Before my fire off another volley!"
Anoon never got to figure out how to react to this new development, as suddenly this loud familiar cry pierced his ears, and he swiftly turned around to spot Ser Robert frantically waving his hand while letting off his order.
The man had not waited for his adjutant''s input, but fearing the enemy wasunching a preemptive attack, quickly ordered a counterattack on Alexander''s ships.
*Bang!*
And the enemy''s retaliation came as swift as it was sudden, as one of Alexander''s ships in the rear was suddenly and menacingly rammed by two vessels, the giant collision causing a thunderous boom that jolted all the men in the vicinity.
"Wha¡ what happened?" And looking back, Alexander found himself too stunned to believe what he was seeing.
But even before he could register this new development, a sudden cry pierced his ears,
"Javelins! From the bridge!" as a shower of wooden spikes with metal bits began to rain on him, causing him to quickly duck.
And then raising his head, he quickly saw the Heeat soldiers running after them using the bridge, even while the floor beneath them creaked violently.
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Chapter 1160: Ramming Attack
As soon as Ser Robert gave the order to attack, his men began to instantly scramble to their position with great agency, a bubble of fury and anger hidden beneath their focused faces.
''How dare they attack the general when he was at his most vulnerable!'' They shouted to themselves in righteous anger.
"Dammit it all!"
While at the back, seeing this hasty order, Anoon let off this cry of frustration.
In his opinion, this was not at all what they should be doing.
Because upon pondering the attack a bit, he reached a very different conclusion from that of Ser Robert.
From his perspective, it did not look like the other side was at all gearing up for a fight but instead more seemed like a stray shot taken to try and capitalize on an opportune moment, to fish for a kill against a man wearing extremely provocative armor.
He reached this conclusion based on the simple reasoning that if Alexander''s idea really was to attack them while they retreated, well then howe there was only one shot?
If the idea was to try and kill as many of the Margraves cramped together on the boats as possible before quickly making their escape, then the attack should havee in volleys.
And if that were to happen, Anoon should have been able to easily see the enemy''s decks filled with archers all lined up and facing them, ready to let offrge amounts of arrowfire.
But that had not clearly happened.
The decks were empty and the ships appeared to be moving away from them in a slow, leisurely pace, not too fast, not too slow.
It was like the men there were enjoying the scenery around them.
So this sniping shot was clearly the work of a lone man who was simply taking potshots.
Thus Anoon wished that they did not overreact and let this one slide.
However, the option for peace was cleanly stroked off even before Anoon could get his two cents in as by the time he returned to the helm that wasmanded by Ser Robert,two of the ships at the very front had already been disyed, and seemed to be making an impressed gain on the enemy, its great speed greatly outpacing its opponent''s.
"Shit!" And as they made contact and a battle began to unfold, Anoon once again cursed like so in anger.
Back aboard Alexander''s vessel, things were indeed as Anoon had thought.
In fact, it was even more extreme than what he thought because most of the men, Alexander and his officers included still remained oblivious to that one unnamed servant''s voluntary attack or even his sess.
They did not even notice this as instead, they were more busy leisurely chatting to themselves about the events of the day, such as their close shave with death, the various heroic deeds they did, how many men they killed, how they were saved by another''s quick thinking, etc.
"I really thought I was a goner there¡ only I am realizing how close we all came!" One of the legionaries said while lifting up his hands to show the other, it was shivering like a leaf in a storm.
"Yeah¡. Never fighting on a bridge again. Fuck!" Another man cursed in a toneced with fear.
"I just wanna go back and sleep! We have been fighting for hours!" While another let out this exhausted sigh of relief and pleasure.
Thus it came as a great surprise to all of them when the spotters from the back produced this shrill, panicked cry,
"Enemy attack! Get up quickly! Enemy attack! They are trying to ram us! They areing to ram us!"
"Move the ship! Move it! Dodge!"
"Brothers! Put on your armor! Pick up your swords! Quick! Quick! There is no time!"
The watchmen ced at the rear of the ships obviously noticed Ser Robert''s ''unprovoked'' attack, the two giant ships steaming towards them with great malice, whipping up the waters into a frenzy.
Thus the men sought to warn the crew as fast as they could.
But unfortunately, despite their best efforts, their warning was nowhere fast enough. It was never going to be.
The distance between the sides was too short, just a few hundred meters, and the attack too sudden.
''Attack! What attac¡'' And thus even before the soldiers were able to wake to the dangers and get into any sort of coherent formation, one of the ships at the corner of the formation was rammed from behind, the blow made with such precision that it sent the ship half spinning, making them rotate ny degrees clockwise and causing their nks to get exposed.
And it was an opportunity that was of course instantly exploited by the second ship, which closely followed behind with a full powered charge, cheering, "For the general!" and making solid contact with the starboard.
The attack on the keel was a lethal perpendicr strike and hence dealt a critical hit on that weak spot, snapping even the toughened wood and causing a huge crack to run through half of the deck.
The only reason the ship was even standing and had not split in two was due to a thin strip of wood at the other end that was yet to snap, barely holding the whole structure in ce.
But it was apparent that this was only temporary, destined to fail in the next few seconds.
Because there was no way such a thin, flimsy thing would support the load of tens of tons of men and material.
This attack by the two Margraves ships had been the perfect textbook example of how to do a ramming attack, demonstrated live by the best rowers in the world.
The results themselves spoke of its efficacy, the immense damage it caused being clear for all to see.
Many men fell overboard from the great shock of the hit, and who were wearing armor among those found themselves almost unable to swim, and a lot drowned.
And even those who could somehow swim through sheer will were sometimes hit by the moving ships, seriously injuring if not outright killing them.
While those who were lucky to stay on the deck were also mostly thrown off their feet and hit their head on something or someone, making them bleed and causing them to feel dizzy and disoriented.
Thus their formationsy in tatters, as all of them struggled to get up and just get a hold of their bearing.
An endeavor made that much harder by the fact that the blow had caused such arge gaping wound to open up in its hull and water was beginning to gush in with great rapidness, making the ship quickly begin to list.
It was so extreme that there were some ces that were tilting at such steep angles that the men even found it impossible to stand.
The ship was aplete write off, the damage was so grave that it was suspected even the gods would have a hard time performing a miracle to save it.
And it looked like the same fate was to be shared by the hundred or so soldiers plus sailor aboard it, as immediately following the hit, hooks were thrown in from both the enemy ships, and some of the nimbler troops even simply jumped abroad, eager to finish the job.
Most had no shields and only wielded a short, dagger like sword, but there was no fear in them, only bloodlust and crity.
If they were facing Alexander''s orderly legionaries with their shields and heavy armor in proper formation, these men might have had some scruples, even choosing to stand back and let the sea im them as opposed to meeting them head on.
But now¡
The other side was able to barely stand, with no shields and only a small sword, lying scattered throughout the deck haphazardly like dots of kernels strewn all about.
These were no threats, they were easy prey.
Thus licking their lips with anticipation, the Margraves troops expertly jumped into the sinking ships with manic glees and streaked across the nted deck like they were moving through the ttest tarmac road,ying full testament to their naval skill.
And whilst they danced, they bared their deadly fangs on the struggling legionnaires, bringing their daggers down inrge, wide, powerful arches and producing great and fearful gnashes and cuts, thus painting the wooden decks a macabre crimson.
But although this was harrowing to watch, surprisingly the attacking force had a very hard time creating any deep wounds on their opponents, most being relegated to only swallow cuts that were frightening to look at but did not damage the core.
It was of course because the thick multiyered armor that the legionaries wore was proving to be a very tough nut to crack for the small daggers.
One had to really get in there.
But this extreme close quartersbat then opened them up to counterattacks, as the Margraves were unable to use their great footwork when so close, and thus there were even instances of the legionaries literally grabbing the Margraves by the hands and stabbing them.
This was unfortunately not aplete bloodbath as the Margraves had expected, but a brutal massacre of both sides.
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Chapter 1161: Bloody Hand to Hand
The Margraves had boarded the attacked Zanzan ship with gleaming eyes and bloodthirsty smiles, intending to wreak horror for the many events of the past few hours.
They wanted to kill these legionaries for all the pain they had caused till now.
And their hatred seemed to be so high that these daredevils did not seem to even have any concerns about the fact that the ''ground'' they had voluntarily stepped into was sinking and at that, sinking fast.
I mean, they could literally feel the ship beginning to tilt at a clearly noticeable speed and see the terrifying cracks along its surface spreading like cobwebs.
And from right below these cracks one could hear the loud gushing of seawater filling the hull at immense speeds, mingled with the howling echo and pained moans of the ship''s rowers, who were desperately trying to get out of this watery grave by whatever means necessary
These rowers had been the primary victims of the great ramming attack, the bronze fisted punch turning many to a pulp, and leaving many more seriously injured, either on death''s door or having already passed it after sumbing to the grievous wounds.
While many of the survivors were trapped under the wooden structures, their bodies pinned, if not pierced by the deadly debris, making freedom impossible.
Hence they were found screaming in horror as the water levels slowly crept up right in front of them, inch by slow inch, letting them patiently witness the clock of life run out on them.
These poor saps, consisting mostly of servants and ves were undoubtedly not in an enviable position.
Drowning like this was never a good way to die and frankly, they deserved better.
However try as they might they were proved utterly incapable of extracting themselves from this death sentence, while the Margraves troop at the top looked down to only give a sneer in reply to their scream for help, while others even took the time to taunt and mock them, calling them names and saying things like,
"Heh! Don''t worry, father will take good care of your wife. I am sure she will be d to have a real man for once."
"Serves you right, Adhanian scum!"
"Save you? Apostates like you should be burnt at the stake. This is what the gods desire."
"Right! Letting you simply drown is already showing you too much mercy."
Their malice was such that these men not only helped but also threw hurtful stones, before beginning to take out their anger on the surrounding legionaries.
Who unfortunately for the Margraves proved to be a much harder nut to crack than some defenseless rowers at the bottom of the ships.
Althoughcking theirrge shields, the men''s heavy armor of bronze cuirass, chainmail, and leather thorax proved to be a great shield by themselves, especially when pitted against the light weapons wielded by the Margraves, those des were too light and thin to effectively pierce them.
The attacking men were thus forced to try and dance around the legionaries, going up ufortably close while trying to look for weak spots and the thinner parts of the armor, and then attempting to exploit them.
Needless to say, this was not easy, and even if they could spot them, many times they needed to make multiple strikes to put a dent in it.
And even after all that, it would not be like the legionaries would be out for the count.
These weak spots would usually be around the body''s joints and there were many of them. So disabling one of them would not put the others out of action.
And there were indeed many such examples, where the skilled Margraves troops managed to bring a legionary to his knees by cutting his tendons after multiple tries, but just as they were about to stick it into their neck and finish the job, they were all of a sudden struck by a sword strike retaliation in a lucky hit and perished.
Because guess whose weapon was able to get a one hit one kill?
The sword the legionaries were equipped with, was made using the best steel in the world, and techniques known to no one else.
Thus although the legionaries were outnumbered and caught out of formation, they managed to put up a bloody good fight, both literally and figuratively.
They stood their ground, tanking the iing hits while retaliating withrge wild swings of their own, hoping to get lucky just once.
Because that was all that they needed.
While the Margraves cursed their short range and had to constantly weave in their attack through the gaps, always bearing the risk of getting caught in one of the swings and being cleaved in two.
It proved to be quite the challenge for them and many men became dog tired, the constant shuffling of the feet and much more than that, the immense adrenaline working to sap them of their strength.
This was the reason why Ser Robert''s adjutant had cursed at hismander''s call to attack.
He knew his men were currently grossly under equipped.
You could have the best soldiers in the world but if they were told to go fight bare fisted, even against an army of peasants that was geared up to the teeth, well the resulting bloodbath would not surprise anyone.
And here was the same.
The poor weapon and its weak damage caused them to suffer far greater than anticipated losses, a phenomenon that greatly inspired the trapped legionaries, who fought like caged tigers, splitting off into groups of four or five to cover each other''s nks, and fending off wave after wave of the green armoed attacks.
It was indeed a very novel fight for these men, the venue being atop a titling ship and where they had no shield but a sword in one hand and an empty hand in the other.
It was kept empty because it was found the threat of grabbing the hand of the attacking men or even just his weapon was a far greater retardance than any advantage that could be found by duel wielding the sword or even simply equipping a dagger.
And all this continued to happen while the ship continued to tilt, even when it was apparent to anyone with just a single eye that the entire thing could literally snap at any moment.
These however did not seem to be any cause for worry for these guys.
They only wanted blood.
Hence the deck soony strew with green and blue, their number surprisingly being even, even though the attackers outnumbered the legionaries.
This heated battle seemed poised to rage for quite some time, as neither side, despite the huge casualties taken seemed ready to pull back any time soon.
The Margraves troops seemed determined to finish off every man on this ship no matter the bloody cost to themselves.
While the caged legionaries were too proud to surrender.
So it was quite anticlimatic that the boiling battle, just as when it had reached its peak, was all of a sudden brought to a screeching halt by the sound of a loud bang right next to them, and instantly followed by a giant section of the bridge falling right on top of the bow of the ship, turning it into a million wood ships, and finally snapping the entire ship in two.
Water began to quickly flood the sinking decks soon after that.
*Bang!*
The first sound came from one of Alexander''s ships hitting one of the nearby pirs of the bridge.
It had been sent there to help rescue the stranded men but in their haste, the inexperienced rowers misjudged their speed and were unable to stop on time, so let themselves run aground against the stone support.
The giant collision was so powerful that it caused even the immensely strong, giant steel ram to get horribly deformed, and all the men on the decks were lurched forward, many tumbling and falling over, some even overboard.
As for the pir, it caused an enormous shockwave to shoot through the already crumbling structure. The already rickety bridge had been through so much and now being hit it a fifty ton sledgehammer seemed to be the straw that finally broke the camel''s back.
It began to literally crumble part!
First came the top section of the pir that was just hit.
And itnded right on the ship they were sent to rescue, killing at least a dozen or so men just like that.
However, that was only the start, as it appeared to be preparing for even more even.
All the men around the bridge could see clouds of dust and various tiny bits and pieces begin to rain down like ash from the crumbling structure and then¡.
*Creaaaakkkk¡.. Bang!*
Another giant section tore itself off, this one a bit further away, originating near the mouth of the point leading to the Heeat family''s main camp.
*....Crumble¡.*
Soon after that, the pir that was hit began to weirdly twist as bits and pieces of stone began to shoot out in all directions, courtesy of the pressure exerted from above.
While a chorus of insanely loud panicked cries began to wail out from the top of the bridge as the Heeat soldiers begged for rescue.
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Chapter 1162: Bloody Hand to Hand (Part-2)
Alexander watched the two huge Margraves ships bulldoze towards his rear with fearful incredulity in his heart.
''Why are they attacking us now?'' He found himself asking, for it was clear to all that neither side was in any shape to fight.
Nothing good could appear out of this for either of them.
Of course, he remainedpletely oblivious to the attack and subsequent great wound inflicted on their general by one of his men, carried out without his permission.
And thus the source of the enemy''s fury and insistence tomit this suicidal act remained a mystery to him.
They only seemed like suicidal desperados to him.
And speaking of desperados, the nearly thousand men atop the bridge who saw their general fall too became utterly enraged and losing all concerns for their own lives began to dash after the ships that were still close by, intending to rain arrow and javelin fire on them.
"Run faster! Do not let these scums get away!"
"Avenge the general! Avenge his soul! Do not care for anything else!"
"Throw your spears! Shoot your arrows! Kill them! For the general!"
It seemed that there were many among the Heeat soldiers who thought that the shot and subsequent fall had been fatal for Achis and thus rushed to extract a hefty blood price for their general, even as the bridge beneath them groaned with a pitiful panting cry, ready to give out any second.
The wood, stone, and mortar structure gave onest chance to its tormentors, pleading to cease their actions and get off it before they both were destroyed.
But the crazed Heeat family soldiers appeared to have lost their minds. They only wanted to make the other side pay for killing their general, even if it meant perishing in the endeavor.
Hence, while Alexander''s rear ships suffered the ramming attack from the Margraves, the front ships were suddenly peppered with a hail of short spears and arrows.
Due to their close proximity and slow speed, the attackers were able to make quite precise and deadly attacks, which unfortunately caused a notable number of casualties.
Most of the legionaries had no shields to take refuge behind, hence facing this cloud of missiles, they were unable to properly defend themselves and were fatally struck, be it in their chest, legs, arms, or torso.
The arrow hits were still somewhat bearable, made edible by the sheer thickness of their armor.
However, the javelins with their greater mass andrge metal heads proved a much more deadly foe, piercing all the way through the metal and leather protection despite their toughness and hence iming many lives.
The threat was such that many such as that many including Alexander were forced to run and duck to the lower decks, while those on the top sought any cover they could find around the surroundings, be it behind the mast, the rigging, the barrels, or even just the corners of the ships.
"Turn the ship! Turn the ship!"
"Move us away from the bridge! Hurry! Enemies atop!"
"Men! In formation! Come to formation!"
"Enemies ships at the back! Evasion maneuvers! Rowers! Take evasive maneuvers!"
Amidst the middle of this, the rowers were immediately asked to take evasive maneuvers, to increase the distance from the bridge and thus make the attacks less urate.
However such maneuvers naturally took some time, and in the meanwhile, Alexander lost not an insignificant number of good men.
But perhaps much more than that, the sudden attack from above caused such great panic amongst the inexperienced rowers below that they immediately tried to steer their ships in a very crude and haphazard manner, paying little attention to anything that was around them.
They were like a novice, verdant driver, shuffling their steering wheel wildly at the slightest sign of trouble with not an ounce of thought put into scanning their surroundings and looking out for other obstacles.
The resulting mistakes were hence hardly surprising.
*Bang!!!!*
One of them, trying to go under the bridge as a way to get out of this attack, struck one of the pirs on the port side with an immense thud, causing a giant crack to develop along that nk and making the stone pir vibrate almost like it was a metal bell.
The damage on the ship was so immense that it nearly sunk itself then and there, with water beginning to fill up its belly through the exposed crack with a torrential zeal, while its stranded crew soon began to feel a new threat beginning to drizzle upon themselves.
Instead of the Heeat soldier'' deadly projectiles, now came onto them copious amounts of bags of dust, and small pebble sized stones and wood chips, all originating from the creaking tform above, and whose sizes were starting to increase by the second.
It was apparent that it was only a matter of time before the whole thing came loose and crushed them.
"We are stuck! Jump ship! Save yourselves!"
"The bridge is not going to hold! Abandon ship! With haste men! Jump!"
"Take off your armor! Take off your armor and start swimming."
"Hurry! The ind shore is not that far! Hurry men! Before the enemy ships spot us!"
This was the tragic end of one of Alexander''s ships.
While another ship, which was apanying the vessel that got rammed, first swerved away to save herself, and then after getting its bearing sometimeter, tried to go save her sister in Alexander''s direction, only to miss her target and ram another pir, being the fateful attack that broke the camel''s back and began the ultimate copse of the bridge.
While in the meantime, Alexander''s own gship got identally hit by a friendly ship trying to get away, and the result of this blue on blue was deadly- it immobilized both of them.
The blow was honestly not that hard, as the ships were rtively close together, and so from the looks of it, the smack should have been rtively harmless.
However, it seemed that Alexander''s rams might have been a bit too efficacious, as with even that simple slow, angled blow able to immobilize its target,
"Fucking dammit!" And as Alexander felt the attack, seeing who it was who really attacked them, in a rare burst of anger, let out this curse.
If he was not struggling so hard just to maintain his bnce, he would have run up there to give a tight p to everyone on that ship.
But now, he pushed his anger down and soon got the captain to report on the damages.
It was not good.
The ramming spear had clearly pierced the hull and if the other side were to pull out they would begin to too much water, in a situation very reminiscent of what had happened with Lord Kite and Remus.
"Can we make it to the ind shore if we hurry?" Thus Alexander made this query, wanting to just reach any shore.
"I cannot guarantee it, my lord. I was not able to get a good look at the size of the hole. We might be able to, or the hull might be full immediately." Came the reply from the slim man wearing soaked clothes, who found his head getting lowered with each passing word.
He could feel the anger radiating from the man beside him.
"......." And hearing the negative news, Alexander heaved a great sigh of frustration, suddenly feeling a great urge to p the man in front of him.
Of course, the captain was nowhere at fault here. But it was just that Alexander could not believe everything was going this south this quickly.
Things were not supposed to get thisplicated. The capture of the ind was supposed to be a really simple affair.
However things were as they were, and Alexander quickly turned his attention to the imminent threat of the encroaching enemy, thus leaving the innocent captain to his devices.
"Get in formation! Kill every fucker that tries to get close." He officiously ordered all the surrounding men in a loud, cold voice, while the Margraves'' ships noticing the enemy''smander''s ship get rammed by one of their own like so could not help but guffaw,
"Hah hah hah! Idiots! These idiots never wetted their feet, hah hah hah!"
The experienced sailorsughed at their inexperience and were of course very happy at the thought that they would not need to chase their prey.
It had oh so generously ensnared itself for them.
All they now needed to do was go im it, grab it by the throat and slit it.
Thus like any time before today, these Margraves soon boarded Alexander''s and his sister ship with crity, but soon found them to be a very hard nut to crack.
In fact, they were a much harder nut to crack than the other ship because the men directly under Alexander were much more organized and their numbers were much more bnced.
Thus soon a brutal melee developed on the decks here too, with Alexander personally taking part in the fights.
Of course, the man did not fight in the frontlines, mostly because Alexander had lost his bronze armor, but many of his bodyguards did, including the captain of the unit Hemicus himself.
And the fighting continued until the ship began to tilt.
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Chapter 1163: Bloody Hand to Hand (Part-3)
"Agghhh!"
"*ng*, *ng*, *ng*."
"Kill them! Kill them all!"
"Do not hold back! Fight! Aghhh!"
Ser Robert''s sneak attack on Alexander''s fleet proved to be quite a sessful endeavor, and thus a raging duel soon developed around that part of the sea.
It was a strange duel, with no shield on either side, but only swords and arrows, thus making the air reverberate with the distinct nging of steel hitting steel, and bolts wheezing past one another.
And it was here that Hemicus really showed his mettle as a swordsman, taking him little time to find the bnce of his feet on such uneven ground and then going toe to toe against most of the Margraves troops without giving an inch.
Even just in the short time till the battle had started, the man had managed to kill five men and wound several more, really proving to be in his element even without the shield.
Hemicus thus thrust, swung, parried, and jabbed his short sword with such speed that it seemed like it was an extension of his limbs. And when apanying this with his expert footwork, it was a disy that most of the enemy was unable to counter, especially not without a shield of their own, or with just a really inferior short ranged dagger.
Thus as the dead bodies began to pile up around this one great blue armored man, the Margraves seeing this wisely decided to avoid that space, going around to instead fight his brothers and hopefully surround him.
This was not a bad n. And indeed if given enough time, the Margraves might have been able to make quite a headway in this endeavor as certainly not all legionaries were so skilled as Hemicus.
But the slight caveat to the n was the phrase ''enough time''. Because it had to be remembered that the tform they were fighting on was not solid ground, firmly, and securely anchored to the ground.
Rather they were on a wooden ship that was slowly sinking.
And yes, it was only one ship because Alexander quickly had all the troops from the other ship that had rammed him join his side too, being of the mind to engage the enemy as a single coherent unit rather than face them separately in a piecemeal fashion.
It was of course the correct move, stymying any idea of the enemy dividing them.
But the trouble was this also made the ship grossly overweight. Alexander''s vessels were rated to be able to carry only around hundred to hundred and fifty men. Whereas now they were carrying over two hundred.
It was a number that was instantly smashed when the invading Margraves troops were taken into ount, making it reach close to four to five hundred.
This was thrice the rmended limit and when taking into ount also the fact that the ship was gravely damaged with water filling up its hull, the ship naturally began to slowly list and creak, giving away under such enormous pressure.
It was not a dramatic copse, and thus at first, many of the men amidst the heat of battle were unable to perceive it.
"Dammit! Why am I constantly slipping!"
"Fuck! There''s something with father''s eyes. I am seeing everything nted."
"Hey, anyone else feeling ¡.weird? Like he is about to fall?"
Since they were among so many men on deck, it was hard for anyone to understand if the ships were truly drowning or if it was just the natural sway produced by so many of them running around in so many different directions.
Thus they were found consulting themselves like so, shouting out their experiences while looking around for any takers.
"We are sinking! Fuck!" Alexander was among the very first to wake up to the real phenomenon that was causing this, which he confirmed by quickly looking towards the railing of two sides of the ship andparing their nt.
They were no longer equidistant to the water, but the right side was significantly closer, showing the ship was listing starboard.
And seeing this he could not help but curse the captain who had assured him that everything would be alright.
"Alexander! Jump quickly! There is no time!" While, no sooner had Alexander let off this curse, Hemicus turned to shout this order in a panicked, almost didactic tone.
Alexander instantly understood why the man was asking him to once again abandon his ship
Because if the ship were to really sink, well then they would be doomed. Transformed into sitting ducks, they would be easily captured by the nearby Margraves ships.
And there would be little alternative to this fate, as it would be either taking the rope of surrender or drowning. There was no way they would be able to reliably swim to shore while being pursued by fast ships equipped with bows and arrows.
It seemed the original n of simply weathering out the enemy by sticking together and producing a great number of casualties was a bust.
The Margraves troops were not going to break before the sink.
In fact, they might very well run back to their ships and simply chose a ''wait and see'' approach, circling around the wreck like ravenous sharks who had gotten a taste of blood and were just waiting for the prey toe to them.
That would cut off all paths to Alexander''s men''s escape, as well as save all of theirs.
Alexander was able to quickly figure all of this out in his head.
But just because he was able to find the logic, did not mean he was willing to follow it.
Because first of all, he still held out hope that things might not be as bad as looks.
Yes, the ship was sinking, but who could stay it would not reach an equilibrium after some time Alexander thought.
Or that it would not sink fast enough, still floating while daylight existed. After all, it was already close to noon, and given it was the middle of winter, evening tended to approach fast, due in only a few more hours. Hence it was really not that far fetched a thought.
And if dusk were to really descend while their ship still existed, well the tired and out of food Margraves ships would have to return to port, thus saving the poor legionaries.
Of course, all such scenarios were quite far fetched, especially given Lord Parker might send reinforcements along the way any time now, thus foiling any attempt by Alexander to wait out the enemy.
Hence pushing out any such stalling techniques, Alexander silently but quickly nodded to Hemicus, signaling his acknowledgment and then turning his head towards the water, ready to jump.
However just as he was about to take the dip, Alexander suddenly found his head swerving side to side, himself asking, "And then what?"
The meaning was, sure he could escape the ship, but what was he going to do afterward?
The most logical thought would be to of course beeline for the ind''s shore, it being just a few hundred meters away.
But that was also the most logical thought for the enemy and thus Alexander could see it being heavily patrolled with many ships, all zooming to and fro across the small section with a vignt stare, thus showing their determination to prevent any enemy fish from escaping.
All these huge vessels around such a restricted body of water put great fear and apprehension in Alexander''s head, as the congested space caused him to imagine being instantly spotted by the sailors there and then captured like a fish, before being taken as a trophy to theirmander.
Alexander wanted to avoid that at all costs.
But perhaps even more than capture, there was the far graver fear of being entirely missed and having their ships run him over.
Even a slight ncing hit would be enough to seriously injure the man, if not snap his body in two just like this. In fact, just all the churned up water by the passing of the ship would pose a serious problem for Alexander, the turbulent waves threatening to drown him.
Thus Alexander contemted giving up on this destination in favor of the alternative- in favor of returning to the Royal harbor.
The problem with that however was also very apparent.
The safety of his ''defensive lines''y even conservatively a few kilometers away, and swimming such a distance would be extremely draining even under the best of circumstances.
Which was not certainly the case now, where Alexander was still wearing a chainmail over a leather thorax, which in the water would surely feel like being in a straitjacket.
It would be too constricting.
As for taking everything off before going ahead, well first of all the water was, to put it in mild terms ''fucking freeze''.
The sun might be out and shining, but it seemed no one had bothered to tell that to the waters. Even the scant few drops that asionallypped against Alexander''s skin made his spine tingle.
Thus Alexander did not think he could make the long journey ashore naked without catching a serious cold, if not outright dying of hypothermia.
Alexander thus began to ponder on any other alternatives that might be avable to him.
When suddenly¡.
"Retreat! Retreat!" This order began to ring out from the other side.
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Chapter 1164: Second Ship
Looking at the state of the water, Alexander found himself hesitating to take thest step.
With all the obstacles in front of him, jumping ship did not seem to be at all a prudent option.
There were patrol ships with archers cruising over the freezing water, and his destinationy several kilometers away, which he would be asked to cover while basically wearing a straitjacket.
A straitjacket that Alexander was unable to take off due to the threat of any potential stray arrow or javelin shot towards him, for there were bound to be some potshoting along his way when he tried to escape.
And if by any bad luck one of them were to hit, without the armor he might perish to a shot that he otherwise might have survived.
Alexander was unwilling to take such a huge risk.
Neither was he sure he could make it there with it on.
He was a fit man don''t get me wrong, but years of luxury and a cushy position made it so that he was no longer like many of the legionaries under him.
Those men were like Olympic athletes, built like bulls with heavy muscles and immacte physiques.
While Alexander was more like a regr officer worker who worked out three to four times a week just to keep himself fit and in shape.
Both might look chiseled and muscr from the outside, but the simrities only ran skin deep.
The insides were very different, for one did it as a lifestyle and as a hobby, while the other pursued it as a profession, as a passion, as a means of putting bread on their table.
They were not the same.
Now, Alexander did not practice so hard not just because he was simplyzy. But much more because he was too busy, there being too many things that needed his attention, unlike the simple soldiers.
But whatever the case, these treacherous conditions made it so that Alexander began to feel that trying to escape was almost as doomed as staying aboard the sinking ship.
Thus Alexander turned his head back to suggest,
"Hemicus! The waters are too dangerous! The enemy has trapped us in. I cannot jump. Let''s fight! Order the men to abandon this ship!"
"Have them slowly move to the second ship and see if we can get it moving. With some luck, we will be able to fight our way through. That is our only chance!"
The ship that had rammed Alexander was still intact, and thus he wished his men to move there, and then use it to escape.
The reason why he had not done so earlier was because, one- his gship was much bigger, and thought the greater deck area would give him the opportunity to deploy more of his troops onto it and crush the boring Margraves.
The result of that assumption was a mixed bunch, with casualties among the attackers being certainly higher, but also at the same time, it sank the ship quicker.
But perhaps a much bigger reason for this came from the fact that this second ship was in the range of the attack from the angry Heeat family soldiers above, who were still throwing whatever they could get their hands on Alexander''s fleet.
Those men were persistent if nothing else.
"......." Towards the suggestion, Hemicus first produced a greatly annoyed face, as if he found Alexander''s cowardice greatly distasteful.
ording to the man''s mind, if Alexander stayed here, he would certainly die. While if he ran, he would only almost certainly die.
The scales of probability spoke for themselves.
As for heading for the second ship and trying to flee using it, the bodyguard captain was quite pessimistic about the chances of seeding.
Because to do this, first and foremost they would have to break down their troop formation, and present their backs to the enemy.
Doing such a thing in such a tight space would undoubtedly open them up to counterattacks, creating a lot of casualties. Especially since the man did not think there was enough time or space to form a rear guard.
And even if they managed to pull off this dangerous retreat, then there was the whole other matter of them actually fleeing with the ship, during which they were sure to be pursued by the enemy.
Such a maneuver by such an unskilled force would undoubtedly take too long, and the skilled Margraves would surely take full advantage, ruthlessly pinning them in with fierce ramming attacks.
Then it would be just the repeat of the same thing all over again.
What was the point?
''We should stay on that ship and ask for reinforcements. Either from Remus or from the port.'' Thus ording to Hemicus, a better course of action would be to retreat to the second ship, using it as a new regrouping point and holding it until they received help.
There were still ships in Alexander''s fleet that had not been rammed and pinned yet but were moving around being chased by enemy ships. One of these surely could slip through the cracks and inform the others of their dilemma.
Thinking this, Hemicus was just about to reveal this proposal to Alexander when suddenly,
"*Trumpet!* *Trumpet*!" The ring blow of a trumpet smashed upon his ears with a thunderous roar, and was immediately followed by the loud cry emanating from all the enemy soldiers around him,
"Retreat! Retreat! That is the horn of retreat! Themander asks for us to retreat!"
Many officers among the Margraves were just as confused as the legionaries behind them to the wisdom of this decision.
"We were so close! Why?"
Thus they cried to each other as they saw their troop leave the wounded and crippled prey, rushing to board their ships quickly while giving their back to them.
It seemed to them as if the prey had been already brought to his knees, out of breath and out of tricks, and the only thing left to do now was decapitate it and im their prize for all the hard work.
Thus leaving the fruits of all theirbor just as it was to be ripened, ready to be harvested really stun.
And they could not help but think bitterly of theirmander.
While some of the officers began to even hypothesize the usible reasons, stating,
"Perhaps themander is feeling apprehensive about the sinking ship. Maybe does not want us to identally drown."
This was certainly usible as there were instances of the ship, instead of slowly descending, snapping suddenly.
It happened due to the fact that as the ship sunk, the ambient water pressure pressing from all sides kept increasing and increasing, until it suddenly passed that critical point and the wood splintered in the blink of an eye, giving itself away like a tin can under pressure.
It crumbled and crushed itself without any warning, and took all unsuspecting fools on her with it.
"Hmmmm, maybe." Hence this reason did make some sense.
However, to many, it also rang a bit hollow, as evidenced by the anemic reply.
This was because this was not their first rodeo, and they had never gotten such an order in all the prior times.
So given their current circumstances were not much different from any other time, "What changed now?" many of the officers as well as some of the general grunts were eager to find out, rushing towards theirmander with intent.
"Dammit! Why now?"
As for the man who had issued this order, Ser Robert, well he was found cursing like so while giving a frustrated look at his adjutant.
While the ck man next to him only wore a pensive face, and in a t tone pursed through his lips, "It cannot be helped. We must help the Heeat soldiers. They cannot be allowed to perish from the crumbling bridge."
Yes, Alexander had not noticed it due to the heat of the fighting, the destruction of the bridge had finally reached its apex.
Section after section were falling like dominos, producing frightful creaks and giant sshes, while the pleas for help from above achieved a fevered pitch.
Anoon had been holding off on sending his ships to rescue them for as long as he could, hoping they could finish off the enemy before setting off.
But it seemed Alxx had managed to timer stall him. Given the state of the bridge, there was no way they could wait any longer.
Thus turning to his peevedmander, Anoon reiterated the reason he had already given,
"If we want to have any wish for General Achis to favor us, we cannot leave his men atop to die. Forget the Adhanians! Order all the ships to work on getting the Heeat men off the bridge instead."
The man''s tone was almost officious, appearing to the point as if he was the man in charge.
It was something that did cause Ser Robert to furrow his eyes even further, although not necessarily at the man.
He thought it was such a shame to let the enemy go just like that.
But knowing the other side had a very good point, swallowed all such thoughts and began to take in the stranded men.
However the same problem soon reared its ugly head again- ''there was not enough space.''
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Chapter 1165: Heeat Soldiers Rescue
*Creak!*"
"*Snap!*"
"*Split!*"
"*Bang!*"
With every moment that passed aboard the bridge, the fearful noises of the woods creaking and stones slipping off into the water got louder and louder, and the cracks propagated further and further, until the bridge underneath the Heeat family soldiers looked just like a tattered web of cobwebs, ready to shatter any second.
Initially, these men were disinterested even by this rming sight and inadvertently worked to expand it, by carelessly stomping over it with all they had just to reach their destination faster.
At that moment, nothing seemed to matter other than avenging their presumed to be dead general.
But that began to change as the men finally got to calm down.
The birds were beginning toe back to roost after two of the pirs were hit by Alexander''s heavy ship, and the men were forced to wake up to their doomed reality.
"Run! To the other side!"
"The ind! I can see its shore! It''s close!"
"Quickly men! Quickly! Do not waste a second!"
Initially, they tried to take refuge by attempting to reach Phyrros''s Ind''s shore, a destination that seemed toy well within their reach, for they were already halfway there, with only a football field''s length separating them from safety.
The hundred or so meters would take a running man fifteen, at most twenty seconds toplete.
However the condition for reaching this ce thaty within their grasp was that the men did not all start running towards it at once, but instead moved in batches, to spread their pressure through the entire structure evenly..
But the problem was, who was going to exactly stay behind on this rickety bridge while letting the other pass?
These men were warriors, not altruistic saints.
Hence they naturally were found quarreling, "Why should I stay and you go? You stay and let me go. I am older/stronger/richer/ higher ranking/ etc. etc. than you.''
Perhaps if Achis had been there tomand them personally, the men would have obeyed regardless of the peril. But the man was on one of the Margraves ships under intensive care, drifting in and out of consciousness due to the immense pain.
He had hardly the capacity to breathe, much less do anything else.
And the general''s right hand mancked the capital tomand the same level of respect among the troops.
Thus the entire crowd of nearly nine hundred men all fought to cross the bridge at all.
And given that one of the pirs Alexander''s ship hit was around those parts, the severely weakened sections under the stampeding pressure suddenly gave away like a box of wet cartoons the moment.
It was almost a one to one repeat of what had happened with the group that had tried to initially run, and just like that time, the broken section here too produced a huge gaping hole, with only a thin line along the left holding the entire structure as one.
Even for all the daredevils in the formation, that perilous ''stone string'' proved too risky to traverse, fearful that it would snap the moment they stepped on it.
Thus, given they had the alternative, they instead turned to ask the Margraves ships that were all sailing around them, once again begging for rescue.
It came as a great relief to them that they responded, a fortune created due to a weird set of consequences, i.e.- Ser Robert and Anoon wishing to defect after falling off with their boss.
As such, four of their ships were moored close to the bridge, two on each side, to take part in the rescue, while thest one stayed at the rear and kept watch, just in case Alexander decided to do something very, very stupid.
It was of course very unlikely as pointed out by Ser Robert in a very proud, boisterous manner,
"Bah! Those cowards can barely stand after the thrashing we just gave them! Where will they get the gall to attack us? I dare them to! No, I wish them to. We can finish the job then!"
However, Anoon still insisted on this precaution, pointing out in a cool voice, "If we can attack them in such a sneaky way even if it made no sense on our part, then so can they. It would be disastrous for us to get rammed here. Look! The bridge looks like it could fall at any moment. It''s best we stay as far away from it as possible."
Ser Robert was initially fully of the mind to contend with his adjutant''s im that they attacked the other side for no reason, when clearly they were the aggressors, attempting to assassinate their general.
But that thought was instantly wiped away by the slim, ck man''s slim finger gesturing towards the dpidated, on the verge of total disintegration bridge, as Ser Robert subconsciously shifted his gaze to there.
And then couldn''t help but feel a slight tremor run through his heart at the sight of this once in a life view. Because if the view of the damage was bad from above, then it was perhaps tens of times worse from below, prompting the man to instantly blurt out,
"My the gods! It took like a cracked eggshell. The yolk is going to spill out any second now!"
Anoon found the description quite apt, especially given that when these men would fall, most of them would be runny and bloody like a broken egg.
So hemented to his heart that hismander had quite the poetic side to him,
Then quickly nodding his head, he noted, "That''s right! That''s why we need to get these men off now. We cannot wait till the Adhanians are finished off."
Thus the Heeat soldiers were quickly evacuated through thedders, during which some of them expressed their gratitude, some of them kept quiet and ran down like a manic, even kneeling down to kiss the ship''s deck, while a few even murmured in annoyance and arrogance,
"*Tsk*, took you long enough. That kept you so long. First the general and now this. You really are¡."
Only the word ''waste'' was left out of their gross vocabry.
It really went to show that there will always be people who are impossible to please no matter what you do. Even if you were to tear out your heart for them, they would only wrinkle their nose and say, ''It''s dirty, Go wash it.''
The Margraves troops were of course very angry by this show of utmost arrogance, with many even wanting to give them a good smack. But given it was theirmander''s order, they stayed their hands.
While at the same time, they kept looking up fearfully at regr intervals, afraid the bridge was going to give away any second.
They were not directly under the bridge, so there was no danger of them being crushed. But they were still very close to it, and given the size and weight of the falling debris, it was sure to create enormous waves that could throw any one of them overboard.
Not to mention the ever present danger of any stray projectile hitting them out of nowhere and extracting their soul then and there.
Thus these men just keep their mouths shut and let the decks fill up as quickly as possible, eager to get out of here at the briefest time possible.
But that prayer unfortunately went unanswered for them. Because soon that age old problem of ''not enough space on the decks'' reared his ugly head again.
They had temporarily forgotten about that in the heat of the moment, abandoning the attempt in pursuit of Alexander. But now, they were forced to deal with it once again.
The decks aboard all four of the ships had already be jamp packed, to the point the mixture of ck and green meshing with one another almost no longer looked like separate individuals, but one big, smashed together y, a bubbling cauldron of hodgepodge where the participates constantly shoved and pushed each other to make as much as room possible.
"Move! Move! Let our brothers get on board."
"Hey, don''t shove! Move where? There is no space left."
"Oi fucker! Any more and I''m gonna fall!"
"*Tsk*! Then fall! A little water is not going to hurt you! Let our brothers in!"
"Aghhhh! Can''t breathe! Can''t breathe! Motherf****, ugghhh¡ move"
In a very weird twist of fate, many in the Margraves'' ships were experiencing what Alexander had just a while ago, a crushing, as the ships, even though they were bigger than Alexander''s and had a holding capacity of around two hundred fifty to three, was still now nowhere enough for its current job.
The four ships engaged in the rescue managed to hold around twelve hundred soldiers, and then adding the rowers in the lower decks, reached its absolute capacity of around about fifteen hundred.
This put the ships over being just simply overweight and to the point of sinking under their own weight.
However, even then there were still about three hundred men stranded atop the bridge.
And there was only one ship left.
Ser Robert''s gship. And even with itsrger size, it could never amodate the rest, for that would make the number reach there reach nearly six hundred.
In fact, the people on the ship did not wish to amodate even a single one, as iterated by themander himself, "All our ships are overweight. They are gonna capsize if wet ake any more. Leave the others and let''s return to shore."
Chapter 1166: Heeat Soldiers Rescue (Part-2)
With the imminent copse of the bridge on the horizon, the rescue effort of the Margraves continued with great haste and a flurry of movements, producing a lot of shouts, cheers, and order.
However aborad the decks, instead of a general blossoming of brotherhood and camaraderie at having fought side by side and survived all kinds of perils together, the two factions instead began to develop a deep sense of acrimony and bitterness.
This was because more and more of them found themselves fighting their brethren for the limited space aboard the deck.
These ancient warships were usually topped up with as many men as they could possibly hold, in order to maximize their attacking and defensive prowess, just like how modern ships would be fitted with all their armament before any engagement.
Thus there was never really a lot of additional room for more men.
Hence the situation developed as such that the rescuers were fighting to defend their ce aboard this floating sanctuary, while the rescued wished to push them aside to make room for themselves as well as their brothers stuck atop.
It was a tug of war that neither side was willing to give an inch, with one side cursing the other for being ungrateful over their rescue, while the other imed it was their right to take their ce, dering in a very officious, demanding way,
"Dammit! Why didn''t you capture the enemy ships just as the general told you to? Then we could have all survived. Surely it''s because you were cowards and deserters. Move! You deserve to only hang!"
You had to give it to the Heeat family soldiers, they were experts at getting under people''s skin.
The Margraves were on their home turf and were saving the other side from certain doom, yet the Heeat soldiers acted as if they owned the ce.
The fact that the green men had not shoved these ungrateful wretches to their watery depths paid great testament to their patience.
As for the query of why the Margraves did not capture one of Alexander''s many ships and repurpose it, well the answer was simple- they could not.
They had of course tried as described earlier, but instead of an easy boarding followed by a breezy massacre, they were met with staunch resistance and after a while of fierce fighting, left with a lot of corpses and a good, bloody nose.
Those ships were not as ''undefended'' as Achis had made them sound out to be.
Of course, if the Margraves had the time on their hands, they might have been able to win by simply using their sheer numbers, but by then, it might not have mattered anymore. Their rescue targets would have already be fish food.
But how were the Margraves officers going to exin thisplex topic to a group of enraged, testosterone driven muscr hulks who seemed to be only looking for someone toy the me on?
Thus they only pursed their lips and let the words enter through one ear and leave through the other, not wishing to cause any trouble and praying for the rescue attempt to finish the very next second if possible.
This was not the best approach, as the other side found the silence not as a sign of respect but one of weakness, and thus wished to exploit it even more, pushing, shoving, elbowing, and cursing the Margraves to high heaven with much greater crity.
It seemed in this trying space, the general disdain the Heeat soldiers had for their Margraves counterparts had begun to rapidly manifest into something much darker, much more confrontational.
And facing this constant poking and prodding, the hot blooded Margraves troops too soon began to push back, resulting in quite a few overboard instances and even two drownings, one from each side.
These deaths soon worked to make the air around these parts go from being just heavy with dislike and anger to extremely confrontational, letting the air currents buzz with electricity as if a storm was about to break out any moment.
A storm of steel and blood.
Anoon and Ser Robert watched all this bad blood develop from the safety of their gship with a pallid yet disappointed face.
Pallid because they did not want to add fuel to the smothering fire, afraid an excited or favoring one side over the other intervention might suddenly ignire the dry firewood into a full fledged inferno, with the troops taking the situation to the next, bloody level.
And disappointed because they werempooning the fact they had missed finishing the enemy''smander off for this.
It felt like discovering gold, the shine of it dazzling the eye, but just as they were about to pick it up, suddenly being told to leave it for a big pile shit.
Or perhaps this was something even less than that because at least you can use that for something useful such as fertilizer or fuel, whereas these Heeat soldiers seemed there to only cause trouble.
But what do they do about it now? They had already made their bed and all there was left to do was sleep on it.
Thus with a resigned sigh, Anoon turned to offer hismander,
"The four ships are already full. Should we transfer some of the men here?"
After observing the current state of the situation, this was what the man thought was the best course of action.
"No! Leave them!" However, the reply from hismander waspletely opposite, one that was curt, cold, and no devoid of any care.
"Wha.. what?" The abruptness was such that the ck adjutant was forced to widen his eyes in shock, stammering and appearing as if he had misheard the words.
The cold, calcting personality was his jig, so why was the other side putting that hat on?
Besides, wasn''t he the one who was fighting to save the Heeat soldiers in the first ce?
They had even gotten into this mess because of it. If they had only shut up and obeyed Lord Bernard, none of this would have perhaps happened. They would be already back onnd, sipping good wine.
Ser Robert seemed to detect his adjutant''s thoughts from the look of incredulity he was giving him, and so in a rare instance of great sobriety, pointed with his right index finger in a didactic gesture, and chimed,
"Look! Our four ships are holding around fifteen hundred men, a thousand of ours and five hundred of theirs¡ give or take. That is enough. Saving half is sincere enough. We can leave the rest to fate."
"....." Anoon was a bit caught off guard by this attitude.
''What about the other half? What happens to them? And how do you know if this is enough?'' He quickly then shouted in his mind in rage, as he found the premature conclusion reached by his superior on his own highly dubious.
General Achis as well as his soldiers had shown themselves to be highly demanding and so it made Anoon wonder where Ser Robert had gotten his math.
Did he read the general''s mind? If not then, the cautious Anoon wanted to save the troops above, just to be sure, and maximize his own survival.
So the ck man decided to contest this decision.
However given Ser Robert''s cold and already made up his mind demeanor, the man did not choose a straight path of action, but tried to interject in a soft, guiding way,
"Shouldn''t we try our best? Just so the lord cannot use us ofziness? We already have taken half, so let us try our best to take the other half too."
Anoon hoped the mention of Lord Parker would work to soften the man andmit all five ships to the effort, not just four.
However this time there was no dice, as Ser Robert replied in a short, yet very sharp and sinct manner,
"The four ships are already full. Too full. I am not going to risk taking any more here. My and my men''s priorities go above all else. Even above the worries of the scion of a duke!."
You had to give it to the man, when he decided to put his foot, he really put his foot down. Not many could defy the existence of Lord Parker just like that.
But it seemed after seeing the rest of his ships get filled up to the point they were at risk of capsizing, Ser Robert wisely decided to leave his ship out of it.
He feared that if he were to join the fray, then his ship too would be the same, over encumbered and tethering the edge of floating and sinking.
After all, those men stuck atop the bridge were understandably desperate. Interacting with them in any way would get his ship stuck in the kerfuffle too.
And even if he did, it would not likely be enough to make in all the Heeat soldiers.
So instead of fruitlessly trying to do something that was destined to end in failure, the man wisely refrained from even wetting his feet, fearing he might drown the moment his toe touched the water.
It was a decision that let Anoon produce a deep, acknowledging gaze toward the man, followed by a swift understanding nod.
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
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:
/book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 1167: Conclusion at Sea (Part-1)
Ser Robert''s decision made Anoon understand his own ws in the argument. And went on to highlight that the man did not trump hismander at everything.
The duo were more of a symbiotic pair.
Hence bing convinced of thetter''s reason, Anoon then quickly nodded in ordance, "You are right. This is indeed our limit! We have done all we can"before quickly turning to propose, "Let me order the men to retreat. We will tell the Heeat soldiers that we are full and we wille back for them on the second trip."
"...." To this, Ser Robert produced a quick, curt nod.
However just because Ser Robert and his men decided to do this, did not mean the Heeat soldiers were going to swallow it just like that.
They naturally protested,
"What! You are leaving us! There are still more of our brothers left!" Those on the decks screamed in anger and horror, pointing to those still stuck at the top to emphasize their words.
While the Margraves officers tried to cate them as best as they could, "We are not leaving them! We will be back! You heard the order. We are too full!"
But no matter how much they ryed their difficulties by urging them to look at their surroundings and the state of encumberment, the Heeat soldiers simply turned a deaf ear.
They cared for only one thing and were adamant about getting it- enough space had to be made for their brethren no matter what.
It was just like General Achis had ordered, "I don''t care how I want all my men rescued."
So after a while of frustrated talks and heated screams, which got no one anywhere, the Margraves decided to ditch these men''s demands and started to set sail on their own,
This caused another fit of row within the ranks, as sighting the bridge suddenly moving away from them, the Heeat soldiers shouted in utmost rm,
"Leaving! They are leaving without our brothers! Stop it! Stop them at once!"
Before one hot blooded, high rankingmander suddenly let out this immense shout,
"Swords! Unsheath your swords, men! Take over the ships! I repeat¡ Take over the ships! That is the only to save our brothers."
Yes, the Heeat soldiers out of the blue, decided they were going to forcefully turn the warship around.
And there was only one way to do that.
*ng*, *ng*, *ng*
Thus, as soon as this order diffused into the ears of the nearby men, five hundred swords across all four ships were simultaneously unsheathed as these enraged men turned determined to get their way, even if it meant through blood.
It really went to show how dangerous a group of unruly soldiers could be, needing only the lightest spark to ignite the gunpowder filled air around them.
Boom!
Thus the already confrontational atmosphere turned zing hot and in the blink of an eye, a full fledged battle blossomed on the decks of the four ships.
This was something that initially caught the unprepared Margravespletely by surprise and so facing the these of theses flurry of silvery short swords, they screamed in rm,
"What are you doing? Thi¡ argh!"
"This is rebellion! Treachery! Ughhh!"
"Enemy attack! The bastards are attacking us!"
"*ng*! Fight back! Brothers! Get in position and¡ *ng* and fight back!"
"Fucking pigs! Have you gone insane? We told you we are going toe back for them! We are not abandoning anyone."
"That''s right! There is no space! Can''t you see? What are we to do?"
"Stop this madness! We are supposed to be allies! "
Towards all these, be it swears, cries for help, or admonishment, the Heeat soldiers only sneered, mocked or hummed arrogantly.
"The fact that there is no space is your fault. The General told you to make more¡ you could not. So die! Let our brothers on!"
It was clear only one side considered the other as allies.
Thus the attacking side proved to be brutal butchers in their opening few turns, hacking and shing their way through to produce quite the macabre sight.
Taken byplete surprise, quite a few Margraves troops perished, with many masking a look of utter confusion even at the moment of their demise, still unable to understand why they had been targetted. As such bloody corpses thus soon began to stain the decks or were even simply thrown overboard to make space.
However such confusion onlysted a small while.
The Margraves here too were experienced men, and facing this unprovoked attack, they soon regrouped, and the tides soon turned against the Heeat soldiers.
Mainly because the numbers disadvantage proved too great a hurdle.
The Margraves outnumbered them almost two to one, and with their short swords and no shields, the Heeat soldiers found the enemy counterattack to be swift and very deadly.
The extremely tight spaces made dodging or moving around an almost impossibility and as the chaos continued to develop, the decks of the four ships soon became littered with the blood of both sides, mingling with one another to coat nearly the entirety of the decks in this macabre rusty fluid.
The casualties produced in this exchange were horrendous for both sides, unimaginably higher than anything that would be expected from such a skirmish among a few men.
And what was even more rming was that it seemed in contrast to ordinary times, when escting casualties would cause the conflict to simmer down as each side''s survival instinct took over, this time, the exact opposite was happening.
The Margraves soldiers had had enough of these arrogant pricks, and so they attacked back with all they got, bent on pushing all these scums off the ship once and for all.
While the Heeat soldiers seeing the forces of a mere Earl defy them felt their ego hurt, and when they were about to be thrown to their doom, they responded in kind.
Thus a vicious cycle was created, where both sides even forgot why they were fighting in the first ce, but fought only because they felt like it.
Men were stabbed, had their heads bashed in, bellies gutted open like a fish, bodies kicked off the ship, and many more acts too sanguinary to describe, causing the remaining men to be even madder, even crueler, even more, determined to seek revenge for their fallen brethren.
It was not pleasant to be on either side during this.
Ser Robert and Anoon watched violence break out across all the decks with a nearly stupified expression. They never thought the Heeat soldiers would have such gall, such insolence.
It was to the point thetter even turned to nce at Lord Bernard who was seething to himself at a distant corner, and could not help but think the guy might have been right.
They should have left the Heeat soldiers to their devices.
But that ship had already sailed, and so he silently turned his head back to Ser Robert, looking for his advice.
"....." He was only met with a stony, pensive facade, appearing as if the man too wasmpooning his choice.
".....Bastards!"
Until this single word was spat out through the man''s pearly whites with the anger of a thousand suns. If Ser Robert could, he wanted to roast these ingrates over the fire and then eat them.
"Attack! These attack bastards! Sink them to the bottom of the sea! Achis be damned!" Before suddenly the man erupted like a full fledged volcano, carrying the venom of a million curses.
The man was absolutely livid over the attack on his own men.
*Ssh!*
However before Ser Robert could cover the distance and bring judgment to the rebelling Heeat soldiers, he noticed one of his ships in front begin to dangerously tilt, its unfurled sails by now almost bing horizontal and touching the water, as the extremely overweight of the vessel finally began to show itself.
The heavy fighting there had shifted onto only one side of the deck and as more and more men gathered on that side, the ship naturally began to tilt more and more, until,
*psh!*
The entire thing tipped over, snapping masts as it hit the water and dumping all the men aboard into it.
Thus the men who were fighting tooth and nail just a few seconds ago suddenly found themselves in the same ''boat''- the same bone chillingly cold boat.
And at that moment, all the acrimony and bitterness were forgotten as instead they sought each other''s aid, all equally struggling to survive.
The treacherous temperature, the falling debris from the sinking ship, and the heavy armor wishing to drag them to a watery death all worked together to make such a thing possible.
However unfortunately for the men, this was not the end of their struggles. No, it could be said to be only the prelude.
*Creaaaaak!*, *Crcckkk*, *Snapppp*, *Booooom*
For it was with this subtle, almost suppressed boom that one of the bridge pirs decided to finally give away, the spontaneity of it catching all those around off guard.
And with that pir gone, it was like the dominos had fallen and soon the entire thing began to crumble like a wet castle,
*Creak*, *Bang*, *Ssh*,
*Creak*, *Bang*, *Ssh*,
*Creak*, *Bang*, *Ssh*,
Section after section went one after the other¡. until it was the Heeat soldiers'' turn.
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original site:
/book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 1168: Conclusion at Sea (Part-2)
Anoon watched the unfolding chaos surrounding the tilting ship and the falling bridge with a cold, shaken heart, his eyes even bing a bit zed.
This was not how things were supposed to go.
The fighting was supposed to have been a really easy and one sided affair. They would outnk the enemy on the bridge, attack, destroy them, and return back as heroes. Al
Simple as that.
But somewhere along the lines they had decided to defy Lord Parker''s original orders, ignored their onest chance to cut loss and run, and then gotten themselves into this mess.
Thus a great sense of regret began to fill up this adjutant''s mind, and he could not help but subconsciously turn to look back at Lord Bernard once again.
This man was both the originator of trouble- i.e. turning the ship to fight Alexander instead of reinforcing Lord Kite like initially nned, and also the man who tried to stop them from acting as saints by proposing to leave Achis and just save themselves.
And it was thisst point that the handsome man was eager to press his thumb on, as he turned his face from reddened and nasty to absolutely livid and twisted, something altogether much more grotesque.
Lord Bernard could be seen currently wildly waving his armored hands and shouting at the top of his voice, "You bastards! I will hang you for this! You hear me! So many of our men are dead¡. all because of you.I will personally tie the ropes around your neck for this! Traitors and rebels to our family!
The lot of you!"
The fact this threat clearly reached Anoon even though it was almost stern to bow, i.e.- the greatest distance possible, really went to show the man''s anger.
And if not for the fact that five armed guards surrounded him, the man would have long ago tried to run up and strangle Ser Robert and Anoon to death.
But since he could not get this sweet revenge that he so desired, he settled for these loud roars and hateful, furious res.
While his guarding soldiers kept looking back at Anoon and Ser Robert for help, asking for their next instructions.
Should they let the man continue and spread morale destroying calls?
Or p the man shut?
Given Lord Bernard''s exalted status, these men could not have the guts to do thetter even if they were to be reborn ten more times.
Which was why they kept asking for permission from their boss.
However, the trouble was, given the current circumstances, the bosses were not sure either.
Should they stick to their current n and try and appease Achis even now? Or flip ande crawling back to Lord Bernard, head stuck to the ground begging for forgiveness?
With the events unfolding in front of him as is, Anoon began to seriously consider thetter, thus quickly gave the man a deep look, and decided to leave Lord Bernard to his own.
Lord Bernard''s loud shouts and threatening demeanor worked to get him few friends, as no man aboard the deck had the time to even listen to the raving man in the first ce.
They were too busy running like madmen trying to fulfill Ser Robert''s orders.
And speaking of the man himself, the simplemander did not have as many knots in him as Anoon. So instead, he was fully focused on dealing with the rapidly deteriorating scenario in front of him.
For this, he first quickly ordered the captain to go help the drowning men, as they could be heard shouting,
"*Agghhh!* *Arghhh!* Save me! Save me! I can''t swim! My body feels too heavy¡. agghhh, aghhh!"
"Grab the ship! Grab the railing! Grab anything¡ ugghhhh¡ anything that floats¡ ugghhh!"
"Gods! The water is so fucking cold! It''s freezing! Aghhh! It hurts!"
"Brother! That wood! Please share it! Please! I''m dying!"
When the capsizing decks hit the water, dumping all its contents to the treacherous sea below, for the men fighting on top, it was like being dumped with cold water over the head.
All of sudden, all thoughts of killing each other went out the window.
Instead, it became imperative that they banded together because a sinking ship was a very dangerous ce to be around, even without the risk of drowning.
Falling riggings, chunks of broken masts smashing forth, wide unfurled sails floating down like giant casts, heavy barrels tumbling down, and even sharp weapons that had been discarded raining from the sky onto unsuspecting men, smashing, smacking, smothering, and shing them.
Almost as many men died from these falling debris'' as they drowned.
And so Ser Robert tried to beeline for the capsized men as fast as possible unable to ignore this plight.
However even before he made it halfway through, a second ship also went down due to simr reasons, the fighting men aboard refusing to rectify their vessel even when it kept on tilting and tilting,
Now there was twice the trouble.
While seeing these examples and noticing the horror of the drowning men, the fighting in the third and fourth ships finally went down, and the men became very concerned about their fate.
As for helping theirrades up, well even if they wanted to, where was the space?
So these men turned a blind eye to the screaming and pleading voices, pretending as if they could hear their plight.
It was a very cruel thing to do, to leave your brother literally to die just like that.
But what was the alternative?
Thus the best these drowning men could do was gather around these ships'' hulls, grabbing onto the wood there to try and stay afloat, or if they were lucky clutch any rope or rigging that might have been tossed from the deck like a dog is tossed a bone, all the while praying for some sort of rescue.
They would not even mind if it was the opposing side that extended a helping hand, they would dly take the surrender.
But Alexander was a long, long way away. So that was not happening.
And then to make matters many times worse for everybody involved, the bridge that they had been listening to cry, creak and groan for thest god knows how long, finally decided to give in, crumbling from the bottom and causing deadly waves around its epicenter.
The sight was quite a wonder to witness.
First of all, that one tall, grey stone pir, which once looked thick and strong enough to hoist the world on its own, started to suddenly give itself away, spitting out its contents and tumbling down to the ocean like loose sand almost spontaneously.
Immediately following that, came the destruction of the section of the bridge that it directly supported, falling to the waters with a heavy rumble and creating tumultuous waves, eachrge enough to seriously rock all the surrounding ships.
This shaking soon intensified to much greater heights as these great waves were buttressed by the consecutive failure of two more sections one after the other, the great stone bs being dragged along with each other and churning the waves to deadly heights.
*Ssh*, *Ssh*, *Ssh*
So by the time this was all done, perhaps less than half of the actual bridge that the three forces had been so eagerly fighting over remained.
A number that was rapidly sinking with each passing second, as more and more small bits and pieces fell off proceeding with theirrger brethren.
The sight of all this was undoubtedly horrifying for the unlucky Heeat soldiers witnessing it first hand from atop there.
Just imagine watching the tform you were on, some 30- 40 feet high up in the air, fall off one after the after, part by part, like some macabre version of Jenga.
You knew you were going to fall, but never knew just when.
It was a terrifying torture and each creak, snap, or click caused all the men to jump up and cry out in fright,
"Help! Help! Save us! We are going to fall!"
"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Please! It''s failing! We are hear it!"
"We are going to die! We are all going to die! Ahghghhh!"
These men were in theirst death throes, their tone desperate, their eyes filled with tears and despair.
Thus, to try and escape, many took the ultimate plunge while shouting for others to do the same,
"Jump! Jump into the water! It''s safe! We can live!"
"Right! Take off your armor and jump! It''s the only way!"
"Jump and live! Stay and die!"
And many did follow the advice, saying to themselves, ''Well it''s better than standing around and doing nothing!'', for they found the state of the crumbling ground they were standing on too frightful to bear.
And who could me them?
Few could see any intact pieces of wood or stonerger than a finger beneath them unless it was stricken with numerous cracks.
Thus it was indeed prudent by some standards to take the plunge.
But the results?
Well, the fall naturally proved to be almost always deadly, killing all from the jump or due to the sustained injuries.
While the men below felt horrified to see this act of mass suicide, chilling their hearts.
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original site:
/book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 1169: Conclusion at Sea (End)
It was a very contentious im to say that jumping from the bridge into the water was better than staying still and hoping for rescue.
Because most of them failed to.
Instead of cleanly hitting the waters, almost all hit some floating debris along the way, snapping and smashing their bones and causing them to cry out in utmost agony.
They either died from the injury or drowned after losing consciousness due to the ckening pain.
And even those who managed to get a cleannding found the freezing water extremely treacherous, with all the floating stones and wood debris too dangerous to navigate.
Just a soft ncing touch from these tons and tons worth of behemoths would be enough to severely injure the man, if not crush him like a juicy grape.
As for the truly unlucky ones, they got the distinct honor ofnding on the decks of nearby ships decks and immediately burst like grapes, staining the deck in their gore and sometimes even taking those standing beneath with them.
The entire thing proved quite a shock to all those below, seeing flocks of men jumping from the tall spire to their doom like this, screaming with roaring cries that became muted pained groans momentster.
The white frothing foam soon became mixed with mangled corpses and floating debris.
It left quite an impression on all those there to witness it.
Most however did not get to ponder on the chilling sights for long, because soon, the tform they were watching all this from, the ships, were also affected by the ongoing catastrophe.
The waves created by the destroyed bridge caused them to rock back and forth with increasing amplitude until,
"Aghhhhh! Save us! We are tillting!"
"The other side! Run to the other side! Bnce the ship!"
"Spread your weight! Quickly! Spread the weight evenly! Quickly!"
"Noo¡. the ship has titled too far! We are going down! We are going down!"
"Hold on tightly to anything solid! Anything that''s held down. And do not let go of it no matter what!"
The men aboard tried their best to rectify the situation, but while one seeded, the other failed. Thistter ship had initially set sail, trying to get away from the disaster epicenter as a way to diminish the effects of these giant waves.
But just the natural sway of the sailsbined with the great waves at sea was unfortunately enough to tip the scales and cause it to capsize,ying testament to the extent of this vessel''s encumberment,
Ser Robert had lost three of his five ships one after another just like that!
And if not tragic enough,
*Bang!* *Bang!*, *Bang!*
Thest surviving ship soon began to get sted by the floating debris of wood and stone, smashing against the wooden hull with such frightful thuds that it felt like the entire thing was going to rip open any second now.
The strong structure, which had seemed so robust just a few moments ago now somehow looked so frail, so vulnerable to those on board, even simple gentle hits by these obstacles, each weighing several tons proving deadly to all.
The people did not think they could defy fate for too long.
But they also did not dare move their ships after witnessing the fate of the other ship.
Thus they too began to cry out to Ser Robert, asking his gship toe and rescue them.
However, that was easier said than done given the minefield that existed between them.
Numerous dangerous floating debris and hundreds of screaming men surrounded the fourth ship and trying to navigate around that without getting hit by anything or hitting anyone was a certain impossibility.
So it was with a tearful heart that Ser Robert watched all this from the safety of his ship, finding it very hurtful to see his troops get destroyed just like that- be it drowning, getting hit by falling and floating debris, or simply hyperthermia.
Of course, he wanted to go help them¡. but exactly how?
The seas had turned too treacherous.
*Creakkkkk¡.*, *Sliiiippppp¡.*, *Bangggnnng¡.*
And while Ser Robert was racking his brains on how to do this, it happened!
After so many times screeching and buckling, the section of the bridge that held the Heeat soldiers atst copsed, taking most of those above with it!
"Aghhhhh..."
And as the wicks of their lives were finally extinguished, most of these men found death to be indeed a hard concept to ept, despite their so many years of causing it. Thus they screamed out at the tip of their lungs, in fright and terror, until the water imed that too from them, leaving only silence.
Now, only a small isted group remained on the top, those that had the great fortune of being able to stand on the pir of the bridge itself. These sturdy structures had managed to still survive.
But these were the only structures to survive, turning the once magnificent bridge into basically a serious stone pylons, bald and without any function.
"........." And as one of the veryst pieces of the domino fell, the ones witnessing thest moments of the demise of this great structure were left speechless in awe and horror.
Sure they had known this was alling, but to see it all unfold in real time still came as a shocking sight to all.
So many men, lost like that!
So many men, lost because of it!
Some many men, lost by it.
Even the strong willed and tough Ser Robert''s knees felt weak at the sight of it, and looking at everything around him- the capsized ships, the floating corpses, and the drowning men, sought to ask himself, ''What was the point of all this?''
Because when he thought about it, the man found that they had failed almost every goal they set out to achieve for themselves.
They had failed to take the bridge.
They had failed to take the enemymander''s head.
They had even failed to cause any significant harm to the Adhanian forces.
What they had managed to do however was basically eliminate all their forces here- around eighty percent of their two thousand strong garrisons was lost, having literally floated away.
What was the definition of a career disaster you ask?
This was.
And when this wasbined with earning the ire of a powerful man like Lord Bernard was basically a death nail in the coffin for any military aspirations that Ser Robert might have left.
The man not only did not have any face to show to anyone anymore but he began to seriously contemte suicide.
He assumed that taking responsibility for himself like this would save his subordinates from being judged too harshly by Lord Parker and Miss Linda.
"How about we kill Lord Bernard and bring his head to Lady Miranda as a gift of our allegiance?"
Suddenly, just as Ser Robert was seriously weighing the option of wearing a rope around his neck, his ck friend and adjutant out of nowhere piped up with this insane proposal, throwing it out there in a cold, casual monotone voice.
"......" He turned to look at the pallid face that was staring into the sea with eyes the size of golf balls and a heart that threatened to burst out of his chest.
Kill a bonafide noble!
Even if they were to be crucified for this, it would be considered a light punishment- surely their families would be drawn in too.
However, for Ser Robert, perhaps more than the shocking contents of the idea, the strictmander found it much more incredible that someone could actually propose such a thing so openly.
They were within the hearing purview of literally hundreds of men, any one of them who might leak this out. Just the crime of plotting to kill a noble was immense.
Ser Robert could never have even thought of doing such a thing even if he had ten times the guts.
But then again, when he thought about it, this was the nature of this ck man next to him.
This man had a very colorful story behind how he got to where he was today as his color tone clearly defined he was not from here.
But just because these types of things might have been normal in Anoon''s nativends did not mean Ser Robert could condone it, and so, after swallowing the shock, he chided with clenched teeth,
"Stop spewing nonsense and say something useful! How will we excuse ourselves in front of the lord anddy?"
Themander really hoped his ever resourceful adjutant still had a few rabbits he could pull out of his hat.
"This is the excuse! Switch sides!" Came the terse, sharp, sarcastic reply, the ck man turning to meet hismander''s gaze with his own dark, deep pool eyes.
The meaning behind it was clear.
"We have burned the bridge with Lord Bernard. And we have destroyed the bridge with Lord Parker.Now the only bridge left is with Lady Miranda."
"...." And hearing this, Ser Robert suddenly found himself out of words, each passing moment seeming like decades.
However, he did not reject Anoon.
But subconsciously turned his head to look at the handsome man in question.
His heart throbbed with pain and desire!
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Chapter 1170: Naval Aftermath (Part-1)
At Anoon''s suggestion of offing Lord Bernard, Ser Robert felt torn between duty and survival, osciting like a pendulum amidst the two extremities.
Of course, the man wanted to live like any other.
But at the same time, as a militarymander, he felt personally responsible for much of the events of today.
So how could he live with himself if hemitted such a treasonous act to save his own skin? It felt too cowardly and shameful.
Hence the man could only stare nkly at the target with a thumping heart but an empty mind, unable to choose.
While sensing his reluctance, Anoon was there to chime his ultimatum, "Well whatever you are going to choose, choose quickly. Because I am jumping."
Time was running out quickly and Anoon had no intention of overstaying his wee. Thus even as he spoke, he was seen deftly taking off his armor, ready to swim towards Phyrros Ind and surrender to Alexander''s garrison there, without or without Lord Bernard''s head.
"....." And seeing his adjutant act so decisively, somewhat dislodged ''themander out of his trance, showing that the other was truly serious about his intentions.
So he quickly clenched out with gritted teeth, "Okay, but how do you n we exactly do this? Take a sword and drive it into his chest?"
The tone used here was obviously sarcastic, as there was no way Ser Robert would be able tomit such a huge crime so openly, in front of so many of his soldiers.
In fact, for the military man, just the fact that he was talking about killing his superior felt tantamount to high treason.
It made his heart uncontrobly throb and if he were to truly go through with the heinous act, Ser Robert did not know how he would be able to show his face to anyone ever again.
"If it helps¡ you can always stab him from the back!" Anoon however had no such dilemma, and towards his partner''s reticence, only sarcastically spat such.
The man definitely saw no problem with decapitating Lord Bernard then and there.
"....." This was definitely not a constructive reply, and thus Ser Robert sent daggers at the man, his teeth clenched harder than ever before.
It had always known the ck man beside himcked any sort of loyalty to anyone- him, his family, or the army. But still, to see it in the flesh at the critical point was a surprise for themander.
So Ser Robert just kept glowering at the man.
"....*Sigh*..... what do you want me to do?" Until finally, unable to leave the intense scrutiny of his high ranking friend, Anoon was forced to turn around and produced these words in a falt, resigned tone.
Then, without waiting for Ser Robert''s reply, went on to answer his own question,
"There are three things we can do!" Saying so, the tall man then imperiously raised three fingers and listed,
"Number one, and the simplest among the bunch- we can kill Bernard and swim to Phyrros Ind with his head."
"Number two- we can have our ship sail to Phyrros Ind or even the Royal Harbor and have all of us aboard surrender there."
"Or number three, we flee by ourselves and hope Lady Margaret is generous enough to ept our surrender as is."
Anoon lowered one of his fingers with each point discussed until they had returned to their fist and all that remained was a strange silence amidst the chaotic chorus unfolding all around.
Then having very sinctlyid out all the possible paths, Anoon turned to Ser Robert, asking him to choose and choose one fast.
And themander thus had his thinking cap on instantly.
Regarding his issue with the first method, well it was one that was deeply personal.
When Ser Robert was sworn into his current rank, he had sworn an oath to the Margraves family as well as the gods of Sybersis, promising to always obey hismanders and never bring them any harm.
And if he were to even break it, to earn both the wrath of the gods and humans alike.
Anoon of course did not care about such ''made up nonsense'' as he liked to say, in extreme secret obviously, for being an atheist was a crime punishable by death in this day and age. So he had zero qualms about slitting Lord Bernard''s throat in broad daylight.
But Ser Robert did believe in the scriptures, the rituals, and the recorded consequences.
So for themander, the deal currently looked like this-
''He could either follow in his adjutant''s footsteps and kill hismander, thus be rewarded a few more decades of life. But in exchange, after he dies he will have to spend a few millennia in eternal torment.''
''Or he could die right now, and hopefully, he will be taken to the promisednd immediately.''
And when seen it way, the choice seemed strangely straightforward- thetter in favor of the former every day of the week.
To give a mary analogy, it was like Ser Robert having to consider taking a loan of only a few tenners but at an interest payment which would require him to pay back at least a minimum of a few thousand bucks, i.e.- a minimum of ten thousand percent interest.
Calling such a deal usery would be too mild, because even that capped at two hundred to three hundred percent max.
And to make matters that much bleaker, all this risk would be taken without any guarantee of sess.
After all,
Who said they could swim to safety just as Anoon promised?
Who said the men would not shoot shoot at them?
And who said Alexander and Lady Miranda would ept their truce?
None of this was a guarantee, and hence, if one were to put himself in Ser Robert''s shoes now, one could easily see the dilemma.
The man of course wanted to live. But he also did not want to be damned for millennia in his afterlife.
Thus ultimately Ser Robert decided to shelve the first option for now, instead moving on to review the second option- surrendering the ship and all its contents.
This was both his favorite and most hated option.
Favorite because of how easy and perfect it all was- all he would need to steer the ship to the enemy''s port and then whatever happened was someone else''s problem. Ser Robert''s hands would be clean.
But hated it because it would mean abandoning all his men''s fate to the enemy. Ser Robert had no idea how the enemy would treat them, especially given that the other side was put under a siege, with no food or water.
So would they nearly be able to amodate so many new mouths? Or were they going to bury them then and there?
Even if Alexander chose to ransom them, it would not likely work because it was almost certain Lord Parker was not going to spend his money on men who were not his. And especially not when these were all traitors of his cause.
Hearing of Alexander''s offer, the ducal scion might even be overjoyed and send some money to ''pay for their funeral costs'', thus actually encouraging the pasha to go with his threats.
All such uncertainty made a responsiblemander like Ser Roberte to the conclusion that he would never be able to gamble all his men''s lives like that. Not even when his own life was at stake.
And thus all that was left was the third and final option- the easiest of the bunch but also arguably the worst- simply running, or swimming away.
Ser Robert could see Anoon already preparing himself for that, and had already stated the risk- if they were to arrive empty handed, they might easily be suspected of being spies sent to infiltrate them and thus promptly get locked up, if not worse- ''interrogated''.
And nobody in this day and age even wanted to be interrogated- it was too a bloody affair.
However given it was also the option where only Ser Robert''s life was in danger and no one else''s, it soon became his most preferred option.
And so, after a while of raking his brain, he turned to let his right hand know his decision.
"...." Needless to say, Anoon was not impressed.
Sure he might have listed the option but it was really meant to be a ceholder, for it was certainly his most hated choice. Anoon certainly did not like handing his safety to the whims of anyone.
Hence he could be heard murmuring with a low growling annoyance,
"*Tsk*, you and your stupid morals! What''s the point in acting so high and mighty? Despite all you said, you are still deserting the battlefield. It is a crime that is punishable by death, just like treason."
"....." Ser Robert had little to counter this with, except taking sce in his mind that desertion ording to him was a thousand times better than treason.
The duo did not get to argue on this topic for long, as while they were in the midst of their discussion, an ted cry shot out from the decks,
"Look reinforcements! Heeat reinforcements! We are saved"
The cry came due to them spotting a new fleet of ships bearing the Heeat emblem.
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Chapter 1171: Naval Aftermath (Part-2)
When Ser Robert made his choice known to Anoon, thetter was understandably peeved, thus ttening his lips in frustration.
He most certainly did not want to surrender himself to Alexander empty handed, like a destitute beggar, with nothing to provide the man in exchange for his safety.
However, internally the ck man was also not that surprised by Ser Robert''s choice. He had already suspected this would most likely be the route taken given hismander''s personality. Ser Robert was too soft when it came to the well being of his men and too rigid when it came to in his principles ording to him.
And so if he had the time, Anoon was very much of the mind to cajole him into choosing the more advantageous first or second choice.
However, all such ideas soon turned to soap bubbles upon hearing one of the spotters cry and noticing the familiar red horse emblem painted on the sails of the iing shipsing out of the horizon.
This clearly announced the arrival of a fresh new wave of reinforcements from Lord Parker, who had of course seen the bridge copse in front of them
As well as the fact that those few lucky Heeat men who had managed to escape the bridge during its very initial copse had of course run to alert their lord of the perils his men were facing.
And the fleet disced this time seemed much bigger than the prior ones.
Seeing thisrge force, Anoon did not dare to dally any longer.
These vessels might still be some time away from reaching them but at the same time, he also needed to cover arge distance. And if he did not get enough of a head start, it would be too easy for him to get caught by the pursuing vessels.
Anoon definitely wanted to avoid getting lynched.
Thus quickly forgetting about getting a present for Alexander, Anoon sighed onest breath of regret and then started to fully concentrate on shedding all the extra weight he had on him, in order to best prepare himself for the freezing swim ahead.
*ng*,* ng*, *Thud*
It took less than a minute for Anoon to discard all the bronze and letter armor he had, leaving only a very thin tunic above and a pair of ck pants below.
And as the man exposed himself, he visibly shivered following his nakedness, the cold winterly wind immediately biting into his exposed skin with ruthless savagery.
Few could believe that the ambient temperature could be this low and the air so punishing given how bright and sunny everything was.
It was in the middle of the afternoon of a clear sky and yet, the slight touch of the cold winds made all hairs on the man stand up.
It was to the point that the man was seriously reconsidering his options and Anoon''s heart once again urged him to go talk to Ser Robert and ask him to reconsider.
However, the ebony man knew how bull headed hismander could be and so rationally determined holding hopes for such an oue would be a futile waste of his time.
So quickly pushing all the reluctance down, the man decided to instead put his time to far better use, such as doing a bit of stretching to warm himself up before taking the final plunge.
"Maybe we can go talk to him?"
Until suddenly this suggestion from Ser Robert graced Anoon''s ear, which came as quite a shock for the adjutant.
So much so that he did not even bother to lower his arms from above his head, but only froze in ce and turned around to respond with an incredulous face.
This was probably the first time in his life that Anoon had heard hismander backtrack on something after he had already made the decision.
And as if bing aware of the anomaly himself, Ser Robert blushed a bit and quickly wiped his head to the side, trying to exin himself,
"Well.. you know¡.maybe after we exin himself Lord Bernard wille with us. Who knows? Can''t hurt to try?"
Looking at the sulking face his subordinate cum friend was putting on before starting the perilous swim, the rigidmander had for the first time in his life felt a little bit guilty and so offered this concession.
"......" And it was something so surprising for Anoon that initially he did not know what to reply with.
Before suddenly breaking into his wide pearly whites, being of course very happy to take the offer. He did not know what had caused this change in Ser Robert, whether it was the damn cold or something else, but he was notining.
So with a great nod and arge grin, he gestured for Ser Robert to lead the way.
"Yo¡ you imbeciles! Look at what you have done! What face do you have to show yourself in front of me?"
Predictably, this was the greeting that awaited them as they approached the foul tempered lord, who by now seemed to have exhausted himself to the point he was leaning against a nearby barrel, huffing and puffing as if he had asthma.
He had also piped down his mutinous rants some time ago after seeing none of the surrounding men had any time to care.
But still, the pepper was hot and the dormant fires in Lord Bernard''s heart immediately zed up upon seeing the two culprits.
In his eyes, it was them who had ruined everything.
"Mistakes were made by both of us. No use crying over spilled milk!" Towards the usation, Anoon kept his reply short and to the point, in a tone that betrayed any emotion.
This was because Lord Parker''s ships were getting close every second and there was little point in ying the me game now. So the man did not get into the fact that it was Lord Bernard''s fault for ordering to attack Alexander on the bridge instead of going to help Lord Kite, while it was their fault for trying to save the Heeat soldiers.
Instead, with his opening remark made, the higher ranked Ser Robert quickly took over and got to offer in a pointed tone,
"Given the circumstances that unfolded today, we havee to see the Heeat family for what they really are. I do not believe it is prudent for our family to ally with such a power. Lady Miranda was right. What do you say?"
The wording might have been a bit polite here, but the meaning was clear- ''We are thinking of defecting. And we want you to join us.''
"....." There had been very few times in his life that Lord Bernard had been left so speechless.
And this was one of them, as hearing this, the man''s eyes widened to almostic degrees and his lips appeared to crack and quiver.
Initially, he even suspected that he had not heard them right. Because even though Lord Bernard was a lot of things, one thing he was not was a traitor.
On the contrary, he could be said to be quite loyal- loyal to the cause, loyal to Miss Linda, and even loyal to his father. This was also one of the reasons he got the job.
So although he hated the way the Heeat family threw their weight around, to switch his allegiance at the drop of a hat just like that was still unthinkable.
"....ha¡ has the oath you took been eaten by rats Commander Robert?" Thus Lord Bernard found himself a bit hyperventting as he squeezed out these words, fury and rage bubbling out from within.
The fact that they were even insinuating such a thing made him want to throw, for it was such an affront to his noble name.
"....." And hearing his immediate superior call him out like this of course made Ser Robert flinch, as all the weight of those obligations came rushing back to him.
For a moment, it even made the man wonder if he really was going mad because otherwise, he did not think he would have ever considered breaking his oath like that. It would have been unimaginable to him even just a few moments ago.
"......" So towards this naked attack on his soul, the straightforward man found himself buckling.
Hence it was fortunate that someone like Anoon was there to step up when the other side faltered, as closing the distance, the ck man once again chimed, now in a much more passionate voice,
"The losses we suffered today means it would not be prudent for any three of us to return to Lord Parker''s camp. We have lost close to two thousand men in a single afternoon! This is devastating. They will surely be looking for a scapegoat. And all three of us will likely be implicated."
"Me and Ser Robert for losing so many of the family troops. And you Lord Bernard for failing to rescue General Achis and his men. Surely you can see this!"
"Come with us! Order the ship to sail towards the Royal Harbor. We can even take General Achis from the other ship along the way. Imagine the rewards Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius will bestow upon you then!"
Lord Bernard''s heart could not help but thump at that!
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Chapter 1172: Lord Bernards Decision
''Imagine the rewards Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius will bestow upon me for bringing them Achis! Ahhhh!!!!!''
As soon as Lord Bernard was offered just the allure of this forbidden fruit, he found himself momentarily out of breath and daydreaming.
General Achis was doubtlessly a huge prize for the other side and so, for it to be him the one to hand the man over on a silver tter like that¡. ahhhh¡.. the greedy lord quickly imagined being showered with endless riches, rewards, and titles for his great deeds. If Lady Margaret was generous enough, Lord Bernard could see his fief being doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled overnight.
What a boon!
Hence the offer proved a tremendous allure for the man
"My lord you mustn''t! Think about the family! The Heeat family is too strong!"
However just as that sweet dream bubble was beginning to take shape, it was suddenly and ruthlessly popped by this crass shout from Lord Bernard''s left side, and everyone was forced to whip their heads towards it.
Its originator was one of Lord Bernard''s bodyguards, although that was far from his official title.
Tall, muscr, with snow white hair and slightly freckled wrinkles around his cheeks and forehead, this wizened veteran of nearly sixty was in fact so much more than that.
Named Ser Ballmer, he had begun his service under Lady Margaret''s great grandfather, served as the Old Lord Margraves''s personal bodyguard for over thirty years, and held the post of ''weaponsmaster'' for more than twenty years- where he was tasked with training the next generation scions of the family.
All of this went to easily show that he was one of the most distinguished warriors of the Margraves family if not all of Galiosos.
And after thete Lord Margraves''s demise, this formidable man had sided with Miss Linda almost instantly, for he wasmanded as such by his former master, to guard various important members of the family from all enemies, be it inside or outside.
As a matter of fact, given his current post, he usually would not even be here, but beside Miss Linda, the next head of the family, protecting her as per her grandfather''s orders.
However, due to him being assigned to Lord Bernard until thedy got here, Miss Linda had allowed the man to apany Lord Bernard on this campaign, asking him to make sure of thetter''s safety.
And this was what he was trying to do here, as after advising Lord Bernard like so, Ser Ballmer stepped up to glower at Ser Robert with shining, angry eyes, then growled in a deep, threatening tone,
"Robert! Is this what has be of you? When did you be such a coward? That you would go as far as to even break your oath!"
Ser Robert was one of Ser Ballmer''s many students and each word uttered by his old instructor appeared to pierce the youngermander''s conscience like long needles.
This admonishment from his teacher seemed to make him feel like he was back to being that immature teenage boy once again and thus the former student suddenly found his head bing heavy with shame and remorse, and naturally drooped downwards.
To Ser Robert, Ser Ballmer''s presence appeared to suddenly grow multitudes in size and strength.
"How is handing General Achis over breaking our oaths?" However before Ser Robert could truly begin to rethink his choices, he was suddenly knocked out of this doubt by his ever trusty adjutant Anoon.
Who then quickly stepped up and fearlessly returned the re, before turning to quickly point to Lord Bernard,
"What Ser Ballmer said is all wrong! General Achis is neither part of our family nor officially an ally. In fact, it could be easily argued that he is our enemy! How else would one describe his order for his men to seize all our ships? Look who many of our brothers have died due to him!"
"Handing him over to Lady Margaret for judgment is not treason! On the contrary, it is our duty!"
"...." The elegant speech left the opposing sidepletely tongue tied. Ser Ballmer being amoner was never the articte type and so found it hard to contest the im.
Especially when all that Anoon had said was technically true, the Heeat and Margraves were yet to officially dere themselves as allies, mostly due to the fact that the Margraves family was divided into two, so there was no one to officially dere such a thing.
In fact, the two factions were fighting exactly to choose that one person.
And besides, actions spoke louder than words as they say.
The fact that the Heeat family had deployed ten thousand of their men to this ind very best spoke volumes to theirmitment. Thus they saw little need for such pointless theatrics.
But good luck trying to point that out to a person who loves to nitpick.
And even if Ser Ballmer would navigate his way out of that, there still remained the issue of Achis truly ordering his men to cut the Margrave''s troop in order to make space for them.
Ser Ballmer had seen and heard all of that with his very own eyes and could never condone or defend that damnable act.
Thus towards Anoon''s clever rhetoric, the muscr man suddenly found himself to be very powerless, his fair face visibly turning darker and older.
It was a sight that Anoon of course relished, and even somewhat regretted he could sketch the current expression in a canvas for all future generations to see.
After all, it was not every day that one got to see the famed Ser Ballmer get defeated in battle, even if it was only in a verbal duel.
But the ck man quickly pushed such distracting thoughts down and turned to work on his momentary advantage.
Thus turning to the now ruminating Lord Bernard, further enticed with a cunning smile,
"Even if my lord does not wish to defect, we can also use General Achis to simply exchange him for your father. I hear he is still trapped inside the mansion. I am sure Lady Margaret will be more than happy to do the trade!"
"...." This secondary idea proved perhaps even more juicy for Lord Bernard, who certainly was worried about his father''s safety.
So if his security could be ensured¡. the man''s thoughts ran off.
Lord Bernard was a filial man andbined that with the fact that he did not have the slightest affection for the general, well the situation was suddenly proving as such that he might be able to kill two birds with one stone just like that.
His only hesitation till now had been his concern over how the Heeat family would react and how it would affect his family.
However just as pointed out oh so cleverly by Anoon right now, even if he were to do this, it did not seem like he would not be doing any disservice to his family
In fact, he might be even doing them a favor as General Achis had clearly proved himself to be a menace. And judging from the looks of what happened here today, the Heeat family seemed to have been cut from the same cloth.
Thus he had little qualms about handing the man over.
''Saving father and killing Achis¡ ahhh!'' So sensing his two greatest joys to be within grasp at once, Lord Bernard found himself looking at his single surviving ship with a gleeful look.
He was of course only thinking about that single inhabitant there- General Achis, whom he suddenly found very d was alive.
This was not always the case, as initially, when he heard the man was seriously injured and grappling with death, Lord Bernard only wished for the man to die even sooner.
Thus at the sight of the fall, he had let out a literal cry of joy, jumping up into the air and appearing ecstatic, and only stopping himself short of pumping his fist in the air like a child.
And that too was only because he was afraid such a thing would affect his noble image among his men.
Hence imagine his disappointment when he learned not only was the general not dead, but he was instead even being treated by them.
Lord Bernard cursed at Ser Robert for even bothering, thinking he should have just dered him dead and left him to rot then and there.
And this acrimony was not solely because of his hatred for General Achis.
It was also because, with the general gone, it would technically make him the highest ranking militarymander after Lord Parker.
And who did not want even more power?
The thought of such an eventuality quickly made the greedy lord salivate.
Hence quickly thinking about the proposal, Lord Bernard turned to address Ser Robert with a solemn nod and a cunning glint, ordering him
"Commander Robert has made some good points just now. We Margraves indeed need to look after our own interests. So here''s what we will do."
"You will transfer yourself to the ship holding Achis and sail for Lady Miranda. Exchange him for my father and swear fealty to her. While I will stay behind and deal with Lord Parker. This way we can have feet on both boats!"
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/book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 1173: Lord Bernards Decision (Part-2)
Initially, when Lord Bernard heard that General Achis had survived his fall, he was not able to stop cursing his luck feeling he was so close yet so far.
But now, hearing the man was tethering along the brink of death instead of being actually dead, suddenly brought great joy to the handsome lord. Because if Achis had been already dead, he would have had no value in the uing ransom negotiations with Alexander.
Thus, Achis''s survival inadvertently led to the worst oue for him and the best oue for his hated rival.
Now, just by exchanging the Heeat family''s general, Lord Bernard would be able to get rid of his arch enemy, have his father back and takemand of the allied army, all in the same single stroke.
It was like shooting three birds with a single stone.
So how could the man not get excited? The golden opportunity he was presented with was too intoxicating.
''Hahaha, I really have to thank Alexander when I see him next. And ask him to reward whoever made that great shot. Hah hah, maybe I should even make him a lord hah hah!''
Thus the ''over the moon'' lord could not even stop himself from rejoicing as such inside his mind, roaring out in pleasure. If he could have, he would have surely kissed that fateful servant.
Hearing Lord Bernard''s n, the others without exception were stunned. Even the usually stoic and always in control Anoon was caught off guard by it.
''Take the other ship and hand over Achis to Lady Miranda? Swear our loyalty? Feet in both boats?''
All this might sound very sophisticated to a shy man like Lord Bernard, but to the down to earth Anoon, it sounded awfullyplicated. And learning from past experience,plicated ns had the tendency to fall apart like wet sand castles the moment push came to shove.
The man could nitpick several ws just off the top of his head.
First of all, the other ship was not easy to get to given all the floating debris and human obstacles on the way. They had not approached it yet for this precise reason.
And even if they did manage to navigate the perilous waters and reach the vessel''s deck, then there was the grave challenge of getting it out safely.
And from how things stood at his end, Anoon wondered whether that was even possible- for theplexity of the deadly maze in front of him seemed too obtuse to solve.
The floating debris was all shifting constantly in the waves, while new, smaller chunks were being regrly added to the pile every few while, as more and more of the leftover bridge crumbled to dust, thus making the ce even more impermeable.
The surrounding waters had long turned unconductible for any kind of ship maneuver.
And if they could find a way, the adjutant genuinely worried whether the vessel would be able to even make those turns, given the battering he had seen it take.
Surely its hulls had to be cracked and leaking in water, while its steering rudders were most likely smashed to bits, making moving it in any direction other than in a straight line mostly likely impossible.
The experienced sailor thus wisely determined the ship was mostly likely not worth calling a ship anymore, but more of a mere floating tform, barely held together by ropes, nails, and sheer will. The man did not think it would be wise to disturb this trinity.
But he did not dare outright object to Lord Bernard''s n, afraid the golden goose would fly the coop.
Neither did he attempt to elucidate the problems.
Instead, putting on a thoughtful face, the ck man sinctly chimed with a pleased tone,
"My lord is truly wise. With us in Alexander''s camp and you in the Heeat family''s, the Bernard branch will benefit regardless. Heh heh, let''s not waste any more time. I will order the other ship to meet us midway."
By simply proposing this, Anoon found he was able to avoid all of his worries- if the other ship could move ande to them, then great, all his worries would have been for naught.
But if it could not¡ well the undisputable evidence wouldy right in front of Lord Bernard and the man would be forced to change his decision without any lengthy debate.
It was quite a tactful move, and Ser Robert, who was also able to see through this, could not help but give the man a very impressed look.
He knew that he did not have a smooth tongue like this, and if he was in the other''s shoes, he would have butted heads with Lord Bernard in a loggerhead manner, ruining his chance.
''*Sigh*, I am really not cut out for this. Anoon would have made a far bettermander than me. Too bad his history¡.''
"My lord you mustn''t!"
Ser Robert did not get to go too far down that track of thoughts for he was suddenly and violently yanked out of it by this great shout, its source naturally being Ser Ballmer.
And as he turned with an irritated face to gaze at the man, he found the man visibly very distressed.
If before this old man had been livid at Ser Robert and Anoon''s proposed betrayal, now, at Lord Bernard''s wish he looked absolutely terrified, eyes shrunk to the size of a needle and clearly shaking.
Then, having gotten their attention, Ser Ballmer once again iterated in a strong, using voice, "This is breaking your oath to Lady Linda. You swore to serve her faithfully! Do you not fear the wrath of the gods?"
Hearing this broken tape recorder, Anoon pursed his lips in an irritated manner, "As I said, there is no oath¡"
"Shut up!" However before he would make his eloquent case, the man was very rudely interrupted by the enraged warrior, who, knowing he could outtalk himself out of it, decided to shut the man forcefully like this.
Then, sending a deathly re toward the ck man as a warning, Ser Ballmer once again turned to plead with Lord Bernard.
"My lord, forget all the sophistry this ck mothered ve has told you. We are allied with the Heeat family, That is an undeniable truth as true as the sun itself." The man imperiously pointed to the sun to emphasize his point, "And harming their general with much malice will surely earn you the ire of the gods. They will not be fooled by the mere waggings of a less than mortal scum. So please!
Reconsider!"
Finished saying this the old man then turned to give Lord Bernard a very puppy eyed look, appearing as if he was on the verge of breaking down into tears.
"...." And seeing this Lord Bernard too froze.
Lord Bernard was no cold hearted beast and of course, knew Ser Ballmer''s loyalty and dedication to his family was beyond reproach.
So what advice he was giving was undoubtedly sincere. Andbine this with his belief in the gods, he indeed came to realize that his excuse would likely not hold under the scrutiny of the gods.
Hence he began to get cold feet at the veryst second.
''Fuck!'' And seeing this reticence emerge within his target when he was so close made Anoon produce a bubbling hatred for Ser Ballmer like no other in his heart.
This old veteran had always hated him due to various reasons, as clearly revealed by how the other side had just called him ''less than mortal scum''. And Anoon very much reciprocated those feeling ounce for ounce.
The ck adjutant however did not get to dwell on the man for now but quickly forced his attention to the mercurial Lord Bernard, who was by now giving him some very obvious looks.
It was apparent that he wanted Anoon''s help in arguing his case.
"...." But try as he might, even the swift ck man found himself tongue tied at the moment. He seemed to have said all that he had to say.
''Fuck!'' Thus, as his mind produced a nk, Anoon cursed himself, fearing that he might have to start swimming after all.
"Technically speaking, Lord Bernard has sworn nothing to Lady Linda." Until this sweet chime released him from this prison.
And the salvation came from the unlikeliest of ces- Ser Robert.
This man had seemingly managed to notice a w in the argument that no one had and steeping upwith sparkling eyes and a confident gait, he imed,
"The person who Lord Bernard swore his oath to is the head of the Margraves family. But as of today, that seat is empty!"
"Lady Linda to date is officially only the duchess of the Heeat family and is still fighting for her throne with Lady Miranda. Thus it could be argued that anything she asked of Lord Bernard was only a favor and not bound by the gods!"
The entire cast of men was stunned by Ser Robert''s surprising eloquence and wondered where all that came from.
Well it came from the fact that the man was always a real stickler for oaths and thus had found some of the words used by Miss Linda during their talks to be breaking protocol.
Who knew it woulde in handy here like this?
(Next chapter before today ends).
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
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=>Link to the original site:
/book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705
Chapter 1174: Lord Bernards Decision (Part-3)
(Sorry guys, I was really sick these days. I will make up the missed chapters soon, Cheers!)
As Ser Robert pointed out the w in Ser Ballmer''s statement, thetter understandably went ashen, while Lord Bernard felt rejuvenated, his eyes glowing up with glee.
And seeing this, Ser Ballmer tried onest time, crying out so in a desperate plea,
"My lord, please think it over! Lord Parker is too powerful! How can switching to Lady Margaret save us? Save our family? That is a ducal family! They have the backing of all the nobles in the country."
"And that Alexander is pathetic. We outnumber him ten to one! The Heeat family will crush him any day now."
"So please! Do not let a momentary setback blind you to the truth! Such things happen. Both Lord Parker and Lady Linda are reasonable people. I am sure they will understand what happened here today if you exin it to them."
Ser Ballmer was still under the mistaken impression that Lord Bernard was trying to do this due to fear of reprisal following today''s results. And so the loyal bodyguard tried to reassure the man that such things happened in warfare and were no big deal.
And it was indeed one of the reasons why Lord Bernard considered his strategy.
So this, as well as many of the other words that Ser Ballmer said, although exaggerated, struck a chord with the man and it made Lord Bernard ponder for a second.
''The strength discrepancy is indeed too lopsided, just as Ser Ballmer said. So can Alexander truly win? The odds seem too stacked against him. But then again¡the man has won every engagement till now! So maybe he has something we don''t¡.. Hmmmmm, what to do¡ what to do¡.''
And seeing Lord Bernard''s thought face brought great hope of Ser Ballmer, who immediately went butter up the deal even more, as he produced a kind of base and sycophantic smile that he never thought he would have to pull,
"Besides, if you think about it a bit in detail, it would be quite hard to exin yourself to Lord Parker if he were to truly ask how General Achis was taken. The changing ships, the escape, the pursuit¡. as they say, the devil is in the details. When you think about it like that¡ there is no need for you to take such a great risk, hehe."
Giving an oily chuckle that he had never produced before, the man then suddenly turned hateful, as he turned to look at Ser Robert and Anoon and venomously spat while pointing with his hands, "Also, at worst, we can me it all on these two idiots! Remember what they did to you? They not only vited a direct order but even imprisoned you. This is clear treason!
They and their family all deserve to hang!"
It was very clear that to further anchor his point home, the man was also trying to sow discord between the two parties by digging up past conflicts.
"....."
Unfortunately, this was so transparent to everyone involved that the attempt appeared quite childish and perhaps even a bit amusing.
They did not think the straightced military man had it in him. So watching him try his best to adapt after having failed to win the battle of the words, felt like seeing a toddler learning to walk for the first time, half crawling, half bobbing his way forward.
"Enough Ser Robert! Alexander has shown what he is capable of. He is worth befriending! I will not have myself be questioned by the likes of you." Until Lord Bernard finally felt he had enough of the man and decided to cut the conservation as such.
Although Ser Ballmer made some great points, the man felt his original idea was still better. Because Lord Bernard did not want to simply y safe and go back to the status quo.
He needed Achis gone, both for himself and his family.
Thus waving his hands imperiously, he firmly dered, "The decision has been made. Whatever I do, I do it for the benefit of my family! Now go! You will follow my orders!"
The announcement brought a great deal of joy to Ser Robert and Anoon, as they were relieved that they would not have to take the perilous plunge.
While at the same time, Ser Ballmer felt crushed.
"...." And so for a moment, this aged warrior went silent, lost in his own thoughts.
"N¡. no! I will not let this happen!" Until suddenly he erupted like this, in a booming voice loud enough to draw the attention of many of the surrounding crew.
If anyone was under the impression that Ser Ballmer was going to go down silently, well now was the time to bury that assumption for good, as understanding that he would not be able to convince Lord Bernard with his words, the warrior man decided to atst resort to what he always did best- use force.
Hence shouting out so with a zing pair of eyes, he let off,
"I have served the Margraves faithfully for so too to see it fall under the hands of a pampered wastrel like you. I will never go with it! Do whatever you like! But although I might be unable to stop you from leaving, I will certainly inform Lord Parker of the truth of the matter here today. And he will be the judge of you! As will the men here with me!"
Clearly hashing his threats out for all to hear, Ser Ballmer then turned his focus away from Lord Bernard to the other pair before thetter could even respond, and his face twisted into a manic countenance the moment heid eyes on them.
This time, his words were far more acidic and loathsome, with him lifting his fingers pointedly to shout at the chief architects of this disaster,
"And I will see to it that you two treasonous bastards are hung! I should have killed you the moment you decided to raise your sword against the lord!"
"What? You thought I could not kill you just because you outnumbered me? I could have carved through all of you like butter with one hand tied behind my back! The only reason I did not was because of the lord. *Tsk*!"
As Ser Ballmer made that regretful spat, many might have thought that he was only boasting here.
But those who knew the man and saw him in action felt it might not be too far from the truth. The old man''s skills inbat were nearly unmatched among his peers, and if not for his fear of Lord Bernard getting killed in the ensuing melee, the ruthless warrior might have actually tried to break through regardless of his disadvantage, taking perhaps as many as ten men with him before falling.
Thus the likes of Ser Robert and Anoon felt greatly relieved that the man had been thoroughly disarmed, with not even the small dagger around his waist left untouched.
Ser Ballmer however was still not done with his piece, as he had onest person to vent his frustration on, Anoon.
And his time his face had the most menacing expression out of all, as he snarled with a clenched fist, wishing to bash in the man''s face with his bare knuckles,
"You ck mothered ve! I know it was you who got Robert to do all this. You fucking rat!"
"I will kill you! Mark my words scum, I will kill you the very next second I get my sword! I should have killed you long...agghhhhhh...."
Ser Ballmer would never get to finish his great threat as finally having had enough of the man''s tireless tirade, Anoon decided to put an end to all of it here and now.
Thus while Ser Ballmer was too distracted by his own monologue, Anoon stepped forward with a blinding sh, his right hand shimmering with a long, silvery de that was dislodged from his hip, which an instantter found itself pressed deep into the neck of therge man, making him stop in his tracks an instantter.
"Guggggggeee" Blood then began to immediately pool into his man, making him gurgle out the crimson liquid, staining his lips and chin, while his eyes went wide with terror and shocked incredulity.
The man was certainly having a very hard time understanding what the hell had happened, and how he could have been struck down like this.
But all that did not seem to matter now.
*Thud* He fell face first with a dull, great thud, his vision already ckening, with thest words entering his mind not being some shout of concern for him, but, "I have always also hated you, bastard."
Anoon had long dreamed of slitting Ser Ballmer''s throat and finally, his wish hade true,while the rest of the crew seeing this were understandably all shocked.
That however seemed of no concern to the man in question, as drawing his dagger, he only chimed, "There are too many Heeat ships headed our way, We need to move!"
This was indeed true.
After bing totally frustrated with stepback after stepback he was suffering, Lord Parker had finally lost his patience and sent arge fleet altogether.
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Chapter 1175: Ser Ballmer
It was no secret that neither Ser Ballmer nor Anoon spared an ounce of love for each other, being frequently at loggerheads with each other.
And this mostly had to do with their personal characters.
Ser Ballmer was an open and upright man who blindly followed his given orders without ever questioning or second guessing them.
While Anoon was theplete opposite, an openly amoral and opportunistic man who cared about his skin much more than anyone else''s.
And thus the two hade to butt heads from an early point on, where Anoon had challenged and even defied some of Ser Ballmer''s orders, after finding them not conducive to his own safety.
It was from these interactions that Ser Ballmer came to understand Anoon''s true nature and determined that the other would betray the family at the drop of a hat if it ever suited him in the slightest.
Thus the veteran man looked to find faults in every little thing that Anoon did.
And in every single such engagement, it was Ser Ballmer who always came out on top time courtesy of his much, much higher status.
Meaning even if Anoon did not do anything wrong, he would be asked to redo the task nevertheless, just because Ser Ballmer did not like the way it was done.
And if he didmit a minor foible here or was just a bit absent minded in his work there, well, then lord help you, for Ser Ballmer would see to it that Anoon was met out with the harshest punishment, the scars andshes on his backy certain testament to that.
Now, Ser Ballmer was not like this to everyone.
In fact, he was theplete opposite, usually being very fair with all the men.
It was to the point he even once court martialed one of his sons, for the crime of stealing from camp supplies. And then even went as far as to personally chop the man''s head off to carry out the verdict.
This to many had seemed a bit excessive, because although theft in any military was always seen as a grave crime, with the listed punishments being very severe, such as either chopping off hands or heads, most of the time however, such infractions were dealt in a much milder manner.
Unless the volume of the goods swindled was too great or too precious, extra guard duties, more menial chores, corporal beatings, decreased rations, and wage cuts were the usual methods of punishments instead of the by the book rules, as it was kind of epted that soldiers were going to steal from their supplies,
This was seen almost as an inevitable truth.
However, after knowing the one who hadmitted the deed was his son, instead of trying to save him, the weaponsmaster had blown up in rage in a manner he had possibly done only one other time in his life- when the Kaiser family backed by the Sybarian council had dered that opportunistic war on them.
He might have been able toe to terms with it if it had been some poor, destitute recruit who was trying to make ends meet because these grunts really did not earn enough to lead afortable life, especially when they were starting out.
But his son was different.
Although Ser Ballmer was not filthy rich like the nobles, his pay was well enough, andbining that with the various free benefits granted to him such as a huge house with all the ves and servants included, enabling his family to lead a very decent life, the modern equivalent of an upper middle ss.
This was not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination, but they were also far from being so needy and poor that it warranted his son from stealing.
Meaning the boy had stolen out of greed.
And it was because of this detestable fact that even though the stolen amount was nothing too special, the boy''s father chose to be very, very strict.
He saw this behavior as an affront to his abilities as a militarymander who was unable to maintain discipline among his ranks, an affront to his honor as a father who was unable to teach his son the proper moral values, an affront to the Margraves family who were his benefactors and had given him so many things, and even an affront to the gods.
Thus instead of showing any sort of leniency, Ser Ballmer did the exact opposite- going ahead to carry out the verdict by the book.
And it happened despite some very high level interference, with even the former Head of the Margraves family speaking out for the boy, asking Ser Ballmer to look past this small incident.
"The boy''s a kid! His hands probably just wandered without him even realizing it. Look over it, Ballmer. It was a small amount." The regal nobleman went to provide the excuse for the father.
However Ser Ballmer was adamant, iming, "What he stole was definitely not insignificant. This is my failure as a father, And so it is I who must rectify it. I pray my lord will not interfere in our family affairs."
By iming as such, Ser Ballmer made the entire thing personal and went on to show that he made no exception for anyone- not even his son.
In this way, although he lost a son that day, he gained immense respect among all the men that served him and it could be said that without that incident, he would not have gotten the position where he was now.
Thus his treatment of Anoon was all the more shocking, his one weakness where he was unable to separate personal feelings from his profession.
Ser Ballmer truly believed that Anoon was a menace to the men, a gue that ate at the morale of the unit and thus did everything he could to get him kicked out.
The veteran weaponsmater would have certainly seen Anoon buried, if not at least exiled if not by sheer luck he had managed to befriend Ser Robert, who, due to being the old Margraves lord''s personal bodyguard was able to bring the mighty lord''s attention to the case.
The head of the Margraves family found the ck man''s talents in warfare and tactics to be of much value, thus, with just a bit of help from the outside, Anoon not only managed to survive Ser Ballmer''s restless hounding but even rise from the post of a mere captured ve relegated to sweeping the decks, being a coolie and carrying out other menial takes, to a free man, then amoner and then to a bon a fide military officer.
Sure this was nothing like Alexander''s who went from rags to riches virtually overnight, but still, given only the primitive tools he had to work with, only his own brains and brawl, Anoon''s rise was quite impressive.
"Agggghhhh!" And now, as the man stabbed hisrge dagger into the neck of his long hated nemesis, the ck man could not help but twist his lips into a cruel, relieved grin.
This was something the man had dreamed of doing for not years but literal decades, but never thought would evere true.
One because the man was too high ranked and two- frankly he was jsut too skilled.
Any assassination would more than likely be turned on its head.
So Anoon did not dare.
Until that is today.
Due to the circumstances, Ser Ballmer had been unarmed, and much more than that, he was threatening to get in his lord''s way, thus drawing the ire of many around.
How could Anoon let go with prime opportunity?
Thus the ever opportunistic man jumped at the perceived chance like a crouched tiger, ws drawn and maw open wide, driving his weapon in with an immense bout of ecstasy that he had rarely felt in his life.
The strike cut the major arteries instantly and Ser Ballmer plopped down to the floor momentster, blood rushing out of his wound like a gushingke, his body twitching like a dying fish due to the ebb and flow of the crimson liquid.
Ser Ballmer had an incredulous look on his face even as he died, eyes snapped wide open in utter shock, still unable toprehend how he could have been got.
This was not how a man as skilled as him was supposed to go.
And his shock was shared by all those around him, who could believe one of the best warriors in thend had just been killed in such a sneaky way.
It brought quite an unpleasant taste to their mouths.
"Anoon¡ you¡ this¡" Lord Bernard was the first to break out of his trance, turning to look at the culprit in equal volumes of fright and surprise.
The man was not as much afraid of what the man had done as he was of what he was showing he could do.
The dashing man rightfully feared for his life.
"We had no choice. He was going to alert Lord Parker." The used on the other hand was veryposed, and retrieving his dagger only pronounced so in a cool, light voice.
Then quickly urged, "Call the other ship. We are short on time. Hurry"
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Chapter 1176: Lord Bernards Alibi
Ser Robert looked at the dead body of his former teacher, pooling blood and still stricken with that shocked face with aplicated gaze.
Despite what their current interactions might have indicated, the two men had held each other in high regard and had fought many a battle together.
So Ser Robert of course regretted Ser Ballmer''s sudden and almost out of the blue departure andmented the choices that had led up to this point.
If Ser Ballmer had been just a bit more flexible, if he had just known when to shut his mouth, if he had just known when to nod and follow his orders without any question just like he always had, things would have been certainly different.
However he just had to go ahead and announce his n to the whole world, And if that was not enough, he even went as far as to directly threaten the nobleman aboard, swearing to reveal his secrets to everyone.
Even the simple minded Ser Robert could see how foolish such a thing was.
But that was also the kind of man Ser Ballmer was- straightced and speaking whatever came to his mind at the first instance.
The man possessed no knots in his heart which was usually seen as a very virtuous quality, being the characteristic that allowed him to gain so much of the Margraves family''s trust.
It was just it was not the right quality to have right now.
By speaking out so openly against his captors, he had formed an irreconcble bridge between them and so it was only natural that the other side struck when they did, when they had the absolute advantage.
And remembering the person who made that strike, Ser Robert turned to look at his adjutant with another bout of veryplicated feelings.
The bad blood between Ser Ballmer and Anoon was known to almost the entire army and so he understood why the man had done what he did.
The man struck when it suited him the most, like he always did, for this time, the ck adjutant had most of the officers on his side.
Becuase Ser Ballmer had to go.
In fact, if Anoon had not done it, Ser Robert would have seriously contemted doing the deed himself. They could not go back aftering so far. Even if they tried to backtrack now, the mere fact that they had plotted and nned to do what they wanted to do was enough to damn them.
They could not take the risk.
Furthermore, Ser Ballmer had proven himself to be truly blind to any reason or logic. To the veteran weaponmaster, the only thing that mattered was blindly following orders, even if it made no sense. After all, the man still believed sticking with the Heeat family was his family''s best case of action even after all that he had seen here today.
And to do so, he was even willing to defy his superior''s direct order, all to defend them.
What more foolishness was there?
And much more than that, if Anoon had not killed the man, the details of the conflict would have only continued to fester, spreading to all parts of the ships.
As a matter of fact, it already kind of did, as Ser Ballmer''s boisterous voice had already incited many of the soldiers on the deck, who by now were beginning to stop and crane their heads toward that direction, eager to see what all the noise was about.
"What are you wastes looking at?" And it was only with a loud and imperious shout from Ser Robert that the men quickly returned to their station.
However even then their eyes still lingered, the curiosity snuffed but not extinguished. Because it was very clear to everyone aboard that something was up with theirmanders- almost all of them were clumped up in that small space. And they all were eager for that juicy news.
And sensing this, the militarymander dreaded the thought of what would have happened if Ser Ballmer was allowed to broadcast himself for longer.
If the soldiers aboard were to learn that they were going to surrender to the other side, undoubtedly a full fledged mutiny would be on the cards.
Hence a trace of relief trickled into his heart when he thought about Anoon''s actions.
However, that also did not mean Ser Robert was ready to condone thetter''s actions. Because beneficial or not, it was without doubt that he had struck a great warrior of the family down, and using such an uncouth method at that.
It really made Ser Robert''s heart very much throb. And if he had known about it, the man guessed he would have likely stepped forward to defend Ser Ballmer simply out of instinct, simply out of the respect he had for the man.
However, by now all of that is moot.
Anoon had struck in a blinding sh with none whatsoever of a warning, taking everybody byplete surprise.
And by the time they were able to even figure out what the hell was happening, the unfortunate weaponsmater was down on the ground, bleeding out in a pool of his own blood.
So what were they now that the deed had been alreadymitted?
Kill him?
Using what excuse?
He had done what all of them wanted to but none dared not to.
Thus gazing at the man, a bitter yet sweet feeling raised inside Ser Robert''s heart.
Bitter because themander really did not like his adjutant''s way of doing things- cold, cruel, and utterly devoid of any consideration save for himself. It was to the point he somewhat even regretted bing friends with the man.
But that ruefulnesssted only an ephemeral second, instantly to be reced by a bout of sweetness at the recalling of how useful the man could be.
Ser Robert would not be where he was without Anoon''s saving his ass more than a few times, as well as showing the simple man the way to navigate through theplex political machinations of the army- be it through ass kissing, a bit of showing off, a bit of mboyance and exaggeration here and there, and of course good old bribery.
Thest one was not considered as much a crime within the Margraves army as an epted norm frowned upon but usually brushed aside, in a kind of modern equivalent of weed.
You could go to jail for possessing it, but few people would actually bother to press charges.
Thus Ser Robert ultimately judged his ck partner to be a necessary evil, a man who could do all the dirty work that he himself was unwilling to do.
Hence turning to nce at the dead body for one time,
''*Sigh*, if only you were a bit smarter,'' Ser Robert found himself thinking ruefully as such about his master, before shaking his head in regret and looking away.
And given the fact it was Ser Robert of all people who was calling the other foolish, it really went on to show what others thought about the man.
Not that they had much time to dwell on the matter anyway, because just as Anoon dered, they were indeed short on time.
Lord Parker''s ships were quickly closing in and from the looks of it, the man had sent almost all the ships he had- ten ships carrying two thousand soldiers, and rowed by a further five hundred.
It seemed that after finally bing tired of losing his force one after the other in a piecemeal fashion, the man had decided to send the whole cavalry together.
It was indeed a scary sight for the Margraves to behold.
Thus the group went to work quickly.
"Kill these two too!" The first of which was to eliminate the other pair of Lord Bernard''s bodyguards who were observing all this with a stunned expression.
The cruel order came from the man himself, who wished to tie up all loose ends.
And as soon as it rang out, even before the duo had the slightest chance to wake up,
*ng*, *ng*, *ng*, a flurry of sword swings and shes were registered and
"Aghhhh!"
"Grrrggllleee!"
One corpse had be three.
Unarmed and unaware, even men as great as them stood little chance.
While Lord Bernard nced at the quick work with a very frosty countenance, his face devoid of any regret, before looking up to instruct the men with additional orders,
"Listen up! My official story will be this"
"You two disobeyed a directmand from me wanting to go to reinforce Lord Kite. Instead, wishing to run after glory and honor, you chose to fight the Adhanians on the bridge. And to do this, you killed my bodyguards and then took me hostage."
"Then, after the disaster at the bridge, you found that all your ns hade crashing down¡ literally. So you changed it. Now you wanted to have the ship sail to Phyrros Ind and surrender yourself to the enemy garrison there.
"However, when the other ship came close, you got greedy and tried to have Achis too, as a bigger bargaining chip. It was here that it led a heroic counterattack against you with the aid of themon crew and somehow you fled on the other ship."
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Chapter 1177: Obtaining Achillas
"........and amidst the fighting, you two somehow flee on the other ship,mandeering it to the Royal harbor " It was as such that Lord Bernard finished revealing the official story he wanted to present to Lord Parker.
And the others instinctively felt their eyes twitch.
This did not at all sound like a good story to them because it clearly missed a lot of crucial details.
Such as how exactly could two mere men manage to hijack a ship when themon crew was in rebellion?
That should have been impossible. Ships of this size took tens if not hundreds of men to operate.
Not to mention there was the slight discrepancy of there being actually no mutiny on board, a phenomenon easily discoverable by even a child.
Did Lord Bernard n to bribe everyone on board to go with his n?
Anoon pped his head internally as he thought about all these plotholes, spitting in disgust at the poor n.
This was not just the devil being in the details, it was the devil being in the whole plot.
And the plot sucked.
It was apparent that Lord Bernard might be a shrewd politician but he was no gifted storyteller. And almost everyone could see his n was likely to sink like a lead balloon at the slightest of scrutiny.
However neither he nor Ser Robert had the slightest intention of pointing that out now.
Because at the end of the day, what did it matter to them whether Lord Bernard managed to fool Lord Parker or not? Sure his sess would help, but as long as they could bring Achis to Alexander, it was not necessary.
By now the only thing the pair cared about was running and so they rapidly nodded their heads in abundance at Lord Bernard''s rough draft, showing unequivocal support for the n.
And that was how the whole thing was supposed to go until the other ship got close enough to the gship and the sheer damage it sustained became much greatly illuminated.
It was just as Anoon had feared- the poor thing would hardly float, let alone make the ''long'' journey of a few kilometers.
In fact, the fact that the ship could navigate through all the fallen debris ande and meet them midway could be said to be some sort of miracle itself.
Thus when the two ships met, the captain of the damaged ship instantly came to greet with a very relieved sigh, "Thank goodness you are here my lord. Any longer and we did not think we would have made it. Our hull''s crack, the rudder''s smash, we are tilting¡."
In this way, the lean man then started going off on his own describing the extreme damages taken by his vessel and how lucky they were that the thing was simply standing
"....." And the man was so distracted in listing his damages that he failed to even sense the acrid mood his incessant talking was sending the lord in front of him into.
By now, Lord Bernard''s cheeks had be puffed up in rage and his fair face shaded with a very gloomy undertone, as he struggled to think of a second n.
"My lord, here!" It was then that suddenly Anoon''s light voice pierced his ears, and Lord Bernard quickly turned to see the man wanting to have a word with him in private.
This is what the ck man had to propose in a low, whispering voice,
"Since the other ship is damaged, then let us flip the n, my lord. Instead of us moving over, ask the men to transfer General Achis to this ship, saying that we have better treatment facilities here."
"And as this is being done, you can go over to that ship to address the Heeat soldiers there. Say whatever you have to say to cate them as we move their injuredmander. Distract them enough so that we can make a rush to Lady Miranda without any problem."
"..." The simple yet ingenious adaptation to the n produced a shocked and stunned expression in Lord Bernard, who turned to give Anoon an incredulous look.
They had been informed of the damages perhaps less than five minutes prior and thus found it incredible that the other side was able toe up with such a great fix this quickly.
It was only now that the man was beginning to appreciate how this once ck ve was able to reach a post unattainable even by most citizens of Caira.
Of course, Anoon had not actually thought of the idea this quickly. He had been thinking about it since the moment Lord Bernard had proposed his n to sell Achis off, spotting the many ws thaty in that n.
But still, it was a great sign of Anoon''s abilities, and it made it hard for Lord Bernard to not squeal out in a suppressed bout of great joy, "Okay! Great! Let''s do it your way!"
However just about to run off, he turned around to inquire with a shuddering voice, "But what about Ser Ballmer and the others then? I can''t go around with no protection. What should I say?."
Anoon had to resist the urge to openly purse his lips at this naive question.
"Just say that they were killed when we first took you hostage. Like you originally nned,"
Given what had happened today, Lord Bernard moving around without an escort was the least of everyone''s problems.
So the adjutant atst added this with a dismissive swing of his hand.
And hearing Anoon''s didactic ask, Lord Bernard did not care to question the man and worked to quickly follow it through, thus almost blurring the line between who was the lord and who was the servant.
The following turn of events urred almost as just as Anoon predicted.
"Move! Move! Let the lord through. He is here to see the general. Make space, make space."
Lord Bernard quickly boarded the other ship, causing quite amotion, as the overcrowded deck swelled to its fullest extent to make enough room for the man.
And when that was not enough, some men even transferred themselves over to the other ship, thus letting Lord Bernard atst have a good look at the downed general.
The poor man was right on the deck, huddled up in one of the corners, being attended to by a few Heeat soldiers.
Achis''s armor had been already discarded to make it easier for him to breathe, leaving him with only a thin shirt and a gold chain on his neck.
A roll of white bandage was wrapped around his stomach, which had a small but very clear bright red spot around his hips, thus clearly showing the origin of his injury.
And from just this the man did not seem to be in too bad a shape. The bolt had hurt but did not hit any critical spots, producing only a rtively small wound.
However, what really hurt him was the long fall. And that was very apparent from how Achis was constantly shaking and sweating very heavily, his consciousness flitting in and out almost every other second.
He keptpletely still on the deck because even moving just his finger caused the general to cry out in excruciating pain for his spine felt like it had beenpletely shattered.
No one dared to move him.
And upon seeing his hated rival in such a pathetic stage, Lord Bernard could not help but feel a great sense of great tion.
''Bastard, I cursed when I heard you lived even after you got shot. But now¡ haha, I''m d. Seeing you suffer like that has really made my day.''
Lord Bernard had to try hard to not reveal his glee to the attending men, and quickly masked the thought with an imperious order towards them,
"Shift the general to my ship! The decks here are like a pigsty. This is no ce for an esteemed man like him. Quick! Before the cold starts to get him!"
The order actually came as a great source of relief for the men there, as in addition to the cramped spaces, their ship''s current state was no secret to them.
Thus Achis was quickly put on a stretcher and quickly shifted to the much bigger and spacious ship even though the man cried his lungs out, one that undoubtedly sounded like the sweetest melody to Lord Bernard.
As this transfer was taking ce, Lord Bernard quickly went to the helm of the ship and began to address the troops just as Anoon wanted, cating much of the Heeat soldiers as such.
"Men, I understand that today was difficult for many. We have lost a lot of good brothers. And to many of you, the events might appear as the gods have abandoned us!"
"But fear not! Because the destruction of the bridge was not an act of god, It was something I had already predicted. The gods are still with us! General Achis being alive the greatest proof of that."
"Look! Anyone else falling from that height would have died. However he lived! How? Because the gods favor us! Because the gods favor the Margraves and the Heeat family¡."
The distracted troop had little time to realize they had been just hoodwinked.
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Chapter 1178: Stab
As Lord Bernard started his long speech, Anoon very deftly had the gship disengage, before quietly beginning to make toward their new destination- the Royal Harbor, leaving themon crew on the other shiprgely none the wiser.
After the great losses they had suffered and the impossible sight of a literal bridgeing down, these men were far more engrossed in what Lord Bernard had to say and sought to soothe their aching hearts with the promises being made.
Furthermore, Lord Bernard had cleverly positioned himself such that the soldiers faced away from the moving ship.
So it was only after Anoon had already advanced quite a long distance that one of the men spotted the ship''s sails moving in the opposite direction, and worked to quickly shout,
"Hey! Where are those guys going?Look! Look! They are abandoning us. Those craven swine! Those traitors!"
The loud and panicked call worked to immediately wrestle everyone''s attention from Lord Bernard to the ship''s port side, where they were horrified at witnessing the other''s flight.
"Those bastards! They are going towards the enemy! They betrayed us! They betrayed the family!"
The one to immediately respond to the whistleblower was the loud and energetic Lord Bernard, who made sure to y the part of a shocked and enragedmander,pletely masking his true gleeful intentions.
He had of course noticed the ship''s movement long before, and counted with bated breath just how long he could keep up the farce before the other side was discovered.
And frankly, he was quite pleased with the amount of ground they had managed to cover before they were finally discovered, as by now catching up to them had turned into a pipe dream.
That however did not stop the rest of the crew from trying, as immediately following the alert came a flurry of curses and horrified shouts from the decks, with a majority of theming from the Heeat soldiers, who cussed and shouted at the top of their lungs,
" Cowards! Those darned Margraves are all darned cowards!"
"Fuck! They have the general! They have our general! Darned Margraves! Fucking useless!"
"Where is the darned captain? Find the darned son of a bitch! We must follow! We must immediately follow!"
"Quickly men! We have to rescue the general! We have to rescue him at any cost!"
"That''s right! The Lord will certainly have our heads if we don''t! ''All'' our heads!"
"Get the ship moving! Now! No matter what it takes get the ship moving!"
Realizing what had just happened threw the Heeat soldiers into full blown panic mode and many began to haphazardly pace and forth the deck, looking to get the vessel moving no matter what.
"What do you mean the ship won''t move!"
And when the captain tly told them that they were not going anywhere, it instantly made the hot headed soldiers boil over.
At first, they urged the man to get the ship moving no matter what but when the man refused in spite of it all, saying they risked capsizing the moment they moved, one of the more bellicose men suddenly grabbed the lean man roughly by the cor of his tunic and then in a fit of blind passion,
*ng*, brought out the dagger on his hip before shanking the poor man in the guts.
And it was not just one hit,
Stab!, Stab!, Stab!, Stab!, Stab! for the enraged man moved his weapon wildly, creating numerous deadly wounds on the opposing man''s guts, tearing it open and dying his whole arm and torso on the other side''s blood.
It was a macabre sight, with meat and broken organ sloshing out of the wound in a sanguinary manner, while the captain who had never seen thising could thus only widen his bloodshot eyes with absolute incredulity, his mouth spilling all the pooled up blood,
"Aghhhhh!"
Before finally kneeling forward and *thud*, falling to the deck with a dull thwack, bleeding out and dying.
"Bastards! What are you doing?"
Needless to say, such an unnecessary death caused an enormous ruckus in decks, especially among the Margraves part of the troop, who were enraged at the death of their own.
*Clnag*, *ng*, *ng*.
Thus many of them quickly took their swords in kind, ready to return the favor.
But if you thought such a disy would deter the other side and seek reconciliation, well you would be very wrong.
Because in spite of the heated atmosphere, the man who hadmitted the deed not only remained unapologetic, but instead, even turned to face the Margraves soldiers defiantly and arrogantly spat in a crude and crass voice,
"Bah! You Margraves are even more of a pussy than that Alexander who chooses to hide behind the walls. You fucking useless whores! Get us our general back now! Or we will have your head! You waste of breaths!"
And as if energized by this energetic speech, he was quickly buttressed by many others in his unit, who joined to chime,
"Yeah! That''s right! First, you fail to finish off the enemy. Then you leave our brothers to die on that bridge. And now you fail to protect our general! Even dying would not absolve you of your sins!"
"Heh! Giving you even our animal feed would be too generous. Pigs! Go die!"
Thatst statement came as a naked threat from the Heeat family, who seemed to promise to starve the Margraves out of their grain once they got ashore.
And it was perhaps this that became thest straw that broke the camel''s back for the Margrave troops.
They had already seen fights break off in the other vessels and knew of the Heeat soldiers'' behavior there.
And now, facing their unjust usation and seeing it for themselves, caused these hot blooded men to get riled up too.
"Fucking ungrateful cunts! We should have left you at the bridge!" And it all reached a tipping point when an anonymous Margraves officer loudly shouted out this, turning it into the needed spark.
"That''s right! Come men! Let''s show them whosend they are on here! Throw these scoundrels off our ship!" Riding on this, another voice instantly chimed up to rally the men around them, and
"Hahahhhhahah!" The popr order instantly gained enormous support from the rest of the troops, and *ng*, *ng*, *ng*, it was like this, with almost a snap of the finger, fighting also broke out aboard the decks of thest Margraves ship.
"Arrrggghhh! Kill these cunts! For the generals"
"Craven dogs! Die!"
"Fuck the Heeat family! Fuck the dukes! We Margraves are not anything less!"
".....wha,... what is¡"
All of this had happened so fast, almost in the blink of an eye that Lord Bernard did not have a ghost of a chance to do anything about it.
From the man''s perspective, one moment they noticed another ship had defected, the next moment they had just killed the captain, and now they were littering the decks with corpses, wishing to tear each other apart.
The rapid pace of the unfolding events had caught the manpletely by surprise and being only a politician with little military experience, he found himself stunned and shocked out of his socks to do anything about it.
The man could only watch the situation go south with a horrified facade, his head empty.
"Stop! What are you doing? Cease this nonsense immediately! Imand you! Halt!" Until finally at one point he stepped forward to try and stop the bloodbath, but by then it was already too little toote.
Even with him crying out at the top of his voice, the sound did not even get to diffuse among the first few rows of rows, such as the mor and din all around.
The fact was, Lord Bernard had little military authority with the men, and had always relied on people like Ser Ballmer and Ser Robert to carry out his will.
But now that his bodyguards were all gone, the softly spoken man suddenly found out that his words meant very little where it truly mattered.
He was unable to break through to these men all of whom were lost in their maddening bloodlust.
''Dammit it all!'' And this made Lord Bernard bite his lips in regret.
Not necessarily because of the fight that had broken out, but more so because he knew that such a mutiny under his ownmand would look very bad in front of Lord Parker.
It was something that could be easily used as an excuse to deprive him of that oh so sweet position.
Lord Bernard could not let that happen.
"I said stop it! We are allies! Stop! Stop or I will have you court¡."
Thus, shouting as such, the man decided to get his hand dirty, diving into the huddle of men, wanting to use his bare hands to try and break the melee up.
"Arghhhhh!"
However, not only was it a futile endeavor, but worse, his shy armor made him the perfect target for the attacking Heeat men, one of whom saw the perfect opportunity tounch a rapid thrust into the man''s belly, digging the whole de into him, and cutting the man off abruptly, as he fell on his knees, clutching his torse and looking at his bloodied hands with shocked eyes.
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Chapter 1179: Stab (Part-2)
"Stop it! Stop it I tell you! Halt this madness! What do you think are you doing? Cease!"
At the initial breakout of hostilities, Lord Bernard tried to cool the men using his words, ordering them to restore order amongst the ranks at once.
He had hoped his sole status as a nobleman would be enough to make them yield.
Needless to say, that did not pan out at all the way he thought it would.
In the heated moment of battle, it was found that Lord Bernard''s noble peerage mattered little to the rest of the crew, with the enraged soldiers feeling disinclined to follow this civilian whomanded so little prestige amongst them.
Theypletely ignored him, instead turning their attention to the much more important matter on hand, filling the decks with as many corpses from the other side as possible.
Thus the bloodshed continued, the melee being extremely bloody and macabre.
The decks were packed, letting both sides be spoiled for choices when it came to targets, but to kill these targets, the soldiers only had short swords with them.
So each man had to get up really close and personal to get the job done, and unlike when fighting with a sword where one good hit would be usually enough to get the job done, here, one skank with the dagger was never quite adequate.
So like in all the other instances, here too the entire thing turned into an extremely brutal affair, with bodies beingcerated and gutted in the most sanguinary manner possible, the dead sumbing to not just one, but many, many gruesome wounds.
It was a very painful way to go.
And if this was allowed to continue for much longer, the entire deck would get drowned in blood.
Lord Bernard who was observing all this knew could not let this continue, even if for nothing but toy credence to his military leadership.
Thus unable to stand by and watch, the man decided to fearlessly charge in, hoping his actual presence would snap the enraged sides back to their senses.
He was a noble after all, who would dare not give him face?
That sort of absolute arrogance was instantly challenged as immediately upon joining the fray, Lord Bernard caught the eye of an especially hot blooded Heeat soldier, who, looking at the man''s especially shy armor, grinned.
The man''s get up made it clearly apparent to anyone with even one eye that this was a big fish and of course, this Heeat soldier wanted to hook it.
Now this man did not know exactly who this was despite Lord Bernard having stood in front of the crowd and giving a long speech. Which was actually normal given most soldiers standing at the rear echelons could get no sight of the man, their vision being fully obscured by the enormous rows of metal helmets thaty in front of them.
And even if the man did recognize Lord Bernard, so what?
He was just as likely to stop in respect for the man as he was likely to try and kill him even faster.
Because all Heeat soldiers till now felt that they would not have lost so many men if only the Margraves had acted with greater haste and been more generous with their aid.
And as the head of their forces, naturally, the greatest of the me was put on Lord Bernard.
Thus killing the main culprit for the disaster as revenge for so many of their dead brother appeared as a fully just course of action to many among the Heeat forces.
But whichever his choice might have been then, right now that did not matter.
Right now, that Heeat soldier had already decided to strike.
In preparation for that, he initially fished his head around, trying to spot any bodyguard that might be protecting his target like all high value targets.
But luckily for him, that troublesome little inconvenience had been already taken care of by his target due to several extenuating circumstances.
The attacker thus quickly found Lord Bernardpletely alone, with all the men around him engrossed in fighting their own battle, while the man himself whipped his head around and shouted like a madman to mostly deaf ears.
He did not have the even barest modicum of vignce, making the Heeat soldier feel like he was a fox finding a stray sheep in the field, one that was braying and prancing about without a care in the world.
It was an opportunity so sweet that it would be a crime for him not to strike.
And so he did, with great gusto and a great big grin, jumping towards him and driving his dagger into the distracted man with deadly speed and deathly precision, until the de dug itself to the hilt.
"Arghhhhh!"
Lord Bernard could not even get his first solid sentence in when he felt an unimaginable pain coursing through his guts, and initially, even as the man let off his ear piercing cry, he had trouble simply understanding what had just happened.
The man saw himself was a bone a fide noble, tall, and absolutely unvoble to all these peasant masses. And then add the fact that he was technically the highest ranking militarymander currently here, the man figured he practically had full immunity to all physical damage.
Even the thought that he could be attacked seemed too ludicrous to consider until this point.
Which was perhaps why the sight of the silver de sticking into him and dying his lower torso in that warm, crimson liquid came as such a shock to the man.
Lord Bernard even wetted his hand with the overflowing liquid and then brought it up to his face to stare at it with absolute incredtion, as if asking the people around if it was really his own blood, or if it was just him imagining things.
''This can''t be¡ the way how I di¡*thud*''
The soft man fell from that single wound, and as he lost consciousness due to the bleeding, hisst thoughts were neither of hatred for the man who attacked him nor of concerns about what was going to happen to his forces, but of the fear that all his ambitions were going toe to naught.
That was the man''s greatest fear.
The nobleman''s heavy armor collided with the wooden deck with arge dull nk, so loud in fact that it rang the ears of all those around.
"My lord! Lord Bernard! Ho¡ how?"
And it was only then that the Margrave''s soldiers turned to spot the source, and they of course instantly recognized the body as theirmander''s.
Henceforth they let off this great cry of rm, before dropping everything and running towards him. Losing Lord Bernard here would be too great a loss for them, both in terms of morale and in terms of keeping their head.
"Quick! Get me some clothes! Stop the bleeding! Press on the wound and stop the bleeding! Hurry!"
So, as they gathered around the fallen lord, they tried to stabilize his condition as best as they could.
The very first ''responders'' quickly checked his pulse, and upon confirming he was indeed still alive, started administering whatever first aid they knew, even if it was the most basic of the basics, all in an effort to keep the man alive.
It was certainly a touching sight, just too bad that it was only after the man had been stabbed and gutted that these troops decided to get their bearing back.
But as they say, betterte than never.
As the Margraves suddenly disengaged from the fight to attend to their lord, the Heeat men too suddenly appeared a bit stunned by the abrupt revtion, as killing any noble, regardless of his allegiance, was a big taboo.
If he belonged to the opposing side, it was usually much more worthwhile to ransom him.
If he was neutral, then killing him could result in anything from pay cuts to hanging depending on the man''s status and allegiance.
While if he was an allied lord or one of their own, well, the punishments were as creative as they were cruel for the offending soldier.
Thus, upon learning of what had transpired, the Heeat soldiers in a rare moment of rity chose to restrain themselves and stopped taking advantage of the Margraves.
Not all the fighting men were as bellicose as that one who attacked Lord Bernard after all.
"What''s going on here? Why are you fighting?"
It was also quite fortunate that the Heeat men stopped themselves when they did because while they were too distracted with killing and gutting each other, the relief force sent out by Lord Parker had finally managed to cross the distance and the leading gship was in the midst of mooring itself next to the disabled vessel.
And from this close distance, they of course all could see the unfolding kerfuffle, even though the other side remainedpletely oblivious to their arrival.
Which was precisely why that loud,manding voice was uttered from the port side of that vessel- to try and bring some sort of sense into the deranged men over there.
And as this imperious voice floated down, military order was magically restored almost instantly.
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Chapter 1180: End of the Long Day (Part-1)
The Heeat soldiers instantly recognized the familiar voiceing from the other ship as one of their famousmanders, and quickly straightened their backs, looking alert and well disciplined.
While the Margraves turned their heads to look back at the same tall, muscr man, with an aquiline nose and sharp eyes with great wariness.
For them, Lord Parker''s reinforcements had suddenly turned from a godsend miracle they were all waiting for into something more simr to a deadly curse.
What was the newmander going to do when he learned of how General Achis was snatched from them, all the green around men wondered with dread and trepidation.
"Commander! It''s a relief you are here! You must punish these scoundrels! They let General Achis¡"
And their fears were not helped by the fact that the moment thatmander got within earshot, one of the more eager Heeat officers ran up to instantly reveal all hisints against the Margrave troops, hoping to both exact some revenge on them as well as save his own skin.
"Shut up! Get back in line!"
It thus came as a great relief to the Margraves when they saw the newmander being in no mood to entertain such talks and barked at the approaching man with a mart shout.
Instead of lending ears to such banalints, the newmander''s main priority now was rescuing all the avable men, and so he quickly turned to order his crew, "Rescue all the men from here! Move them to the other avable ships! Quickly!"
It seemed the fate of Achis could wait.
Thus, for the next few while, the newly arrived reinforcements worked not to chase the retreating enemy but to move all the Margraves and Heeat soldiers from around the vicinity to their new, undamaged ships.
So the ones on the rickety ship were extended gangways to better vessels, the ones still alive and floating around in the nearby waters were fished out with ropes, andstly, the lucky few who were still atop the bridge, having survived its destruction were given a much neededdder.
"So¡ now tell what happened?"
And it was only after the rescue was well underway that the newmander bothered to pick his ear up about the happenings of the day, looking to hear the report from both sides.
"Sir, this is what happened. We were on the bridge and¡."
The one to begin first was naturally the much more enthusiastic Heeat officer, ording to whose version of the story, the Margraves had decided to abandon them when the bridge had begun to copse, and then threatened to execute them even when they did eventually provide help.
And worst of all of course they had conspired to sell their General to the enemy as a malicious way to hurt the Heeat family.
Thatst part was strangely true although few actually believed the man, including himself- because in truth the officer was exaggerating the whole thing as a way to put all the me on the Margraves.
While the Margraves, hearing this pile of lies fumed with great indignation, cursing at how the other side had zero respect for them, both soldier and nobility alike, while trying their best to defend themselves.
Hence, the leading officer vehemently denied all usations made by the other side as tant lies and worked to strongly emphasize their efforts to actually rescue as many Heeat soldiers from the falling bridge as possible.
Following this he especially made it a point to urately im that it was always the Heeat soldiers who were the aggressors, such as them being the ones to shout phrases such as ''kill the Margraves and make way for our brothers'' as well as gutting the captain of their ship, and trying to harm Lord Bernard.
As for the loss of Achis, well, the officer really had no defense for that and so cleverly deflected the me onto their lordmander, who till now was so conveniently unconscious.
And given the current circumstances, perhaps getting stabbed was the best thing for him, because it allowed Lord Bernard to skip all the treacherous questioning, leaving it all forter.
Instead, his injuries actually allowed the Margraves to get a strong position in the negotiations as they could easily point to the hit on the noble as a point of contention, blunting all usations thrown at them using this one instance.
After all, hurting an allied noble was an extremely big taboo, never mind when it was done so tantly in front of all.
"......" The new Heeatmander heard both sides of the story from start to finish with a stoney countenance, his facade betraying not an ounce of emotion except the asion furrowing of the brows, although the inside of his heart groaned with extreme irritation.
He could easily see how both sides were at fault here, the Heeat soldiers for tantly attacking the other side and the Margraves for losing Achis, no matter what the reason may be.
However, these breaches were sorge and endemic that themander found there was no way he could prosecute them on his own. He simplycked the status and authority.
So the clever man decided to shelve the problem for now, intending to dump it on Lord Parker to deal withter on.
Hence imperiously shing both his hands, he cated the two feuding factions for now,
"I understand both your grievances. Rest assured, fair justice will be met out to all once we return to camp. Lord Parker is a just and honorable man. He will never discriminate based on his allegiance."
Thest sentence was naturally geared towards the Margraves who themander urately sensed as being wary of meeting Lord Parker, being gued by the burden of having lost this general cum lover.
Hence his words, empty as they may be, at least worked to relieve some of the tension. Although it was unknown how impartial Lord Parker would really be after learning of Achis''s loss, they could hope, couldn''t they?
Then to further soothe the frayed Margraves, the Heeatmander sought to even punish the man responsible for the attack on Lord Bernard.
"Where is the one who attacked Lord Bernard?" He had posed in an officious tone, swerving his head around to spot the culprit.
And soon his eyesnded on a tall, rough looking man stepping forward, head hung low as if he was trying to appear demure and small.
The madness and bloodlust of battle that had gripped him only some time ago was nowhere to be seen now, instead, his countenance was only of a very tame and calm man, servile and obedient.
It was a facade that was produced instinctively by the body as the Heeat soldier knew there was little point in trying to hide given the number of witnesses who had seen himmit the act.
So he felt it would be better for his defense if he simply confessed, as it gave him a better chance to defend himself.
"Sir! I had no idea he was a lord! We were all blinded in the sheer fray of melee and it just¡ identally¡.."
The man should have really just held his tongue and prayed for his imminent journey to the afterlife because the Heeatmander had already proimed the man as dead the moment he heard Lord Bernard had been attacked.
No one attacked a friendly noble and got away with it, no matter what.
"Slit his throat and dump him into the sea."
Thus the man was not even allowed to finish his defense as he heard his death sentence being read out to him in such a cold, almost callous voice, themander not even bothering to take the man''s words as anything tangible.
The only thing that mattered was his act, and everything else was dismissed as a meaningless jumble.
"Mmmmmmmm!!!"
Hence, immediately after the decree, the man was violently grabbed in the limbs and mouth by all the troops around him, by the very men who he had called him brothers just a few moments ago, and was then violently and cruelly executed exactly as per theirmander''s instruction, before being dumped overboard.
The speed and tractability with which all this was done really went to demonstrate the power a noble carried- as even while unconscious, Lord Bernard''s attacker was dealt with without even a single urging from him.
The Heeatmander issued the order like it was the most natural thing to do, while the troops also carried it out one, because they too believed in it, and two because they did not want to get implicated in their foolish colleague''s folly.
Perhaps Lord Bernard''s confidence in that he was untouchable was not that misced after all. Because if you were brought up in such an environment since childhood, where everyone is afraid of you, of course, you would get very arrogant.
It was fortunate that his arrogance had not cost the man his life this time. Because although the wound was deep, the onboard physician determined that the de had not luckily hit any major artery, but only pierced the stomach.
A good few bedrest would be enough to let the man recover.
As for his counterpart Achis, well the man was not so lucky.
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Chapter 1181: End of the Long Day (Part-2)
*Ssh*
As the body of the guilty Heeat soldier was dumped over the sea, one of the newly arrived officers quickly ran up to the Heeatmander, ready to report on the extent of their rescue.
"Sir! We have managed to save close to three hundred men," He had said with a pleased undertone to his voice as he did not think there would be so many survivors.
The copse of the bridge had made it seem like armageddon had arrived and the man had figured no mortal soul should have been capable of surviving that.
The news of therge number of rescued also seemed toe as a pleasant surprise for the Heeatmander, who produced a quick nod of approval at the report and then asked him to continue the good work.
"Commander¡ should we give chase now?"
However, instead of swiftly turning on his heel and leaving, the officer decided to take a risk and chimed in to ask this, producing a troubled face as he did.
It did not take a genius to figure out what he was talking about, as the man made sure to turn his face towards Alexander''s port while making the query.
He was asking for permission to go after the enemy and rescue General Achis.
"......." And the thorny ask instantly worked to destroy the confident and pleased face hismander had, for he was quickly reminded how badly Lord Parker would likely react to the news.
The closeness the two men had with each other was general knowledge even among the most green recruits in the army, and so, just the thought of Lord Parker''s fury at this news made themander''s heart palpate in trepidation.
It was so bad that even he who had very little to do with the whole thing felt he could get caught up in the lord''s wrath if he slipped up along the way.
Thus themander braced himself for the nastiest reaction and even rebuked himself internally,
''*Tsk*, I should have listened to that loud mouthed first fool. If I had known the general was missing, I could started the chase right then and there. Who would have cared for these deadbeat bumkins anyway? I would swap all of them for Achis in a heartbeat. But now¡ *sigh*... it''s toote!''
Themander regretted how vehemently he had shut down that very eager Heeat officer who had tried to tattle on the Margraves, now wishing he had been a bit more lenient. If he had, perhaps there indeed might have been a ghost of a chance for him to catch up to Anoon.
Although in his defense, the absolute state of the troops on the decks when he had found them left him with little confidence in the veracity of the other''s ims.
After all, how was themander to seriously contemte that the General of their army had been kidnapped by a stray band of traitors?
It was just too ludicrous.
Achis was always surrounded by a hoard of bodyguards, not to mention the entire troop formation that he was leading. So one would have to be a magician to whisk the man away like that.
So the newmander simply assumed the other side was exaggerating to get his attention and decided to ignore anything either side had to say.
It was admittedly a mistake, but an innocent mistake at that. And themander really hoped Lord Parker saw it that way too.
Because if he did not, well there was little he could do about it anyway now.
"There is no point. The ship has probably docked by now. And dusk is already starting to settle in. We willunch our attack first thing tomorrow morning." He thus turned to state to the officer, pointing to the orange sun as an indication of the time.
"*Tsk*".
And realizing this was indeed the case, the other side let out a smallmpooning sigh, finding it a terrible inconvenience that daylight in winter was so short.
ording to him, if they had the light, they could have easilyunched a mighty attack on the fleet at the Royal harbor and sank the entire contingent there in one go, especially if they were buttressed by the forces of Lord Kite.
This confidence came from the officer''s estimate that the other side had almost as many troops as them, thus making the whole thing appear very easy.
But it seemed the heavens had decided that the whole thing was just not to be.
Hence, as the sun began to set on this short, yet somehow very long day, the Heeat ships rescued as many of their men as they could and then quickly retreated to the safety of their camp, fully determined to restart the fight first thing in the morning.
But those ns resided mostly in the minds of the officers, as right now, the only thing that really mattered to the cold, shivering, and injured soldier was thefort of a warm tent and some hot food.
Everything else could wait.
Thus even just the familiar sight of the warm distant glowing from the camp was enough to soothe the battered hearts of these exhausted men.
And they were not alone in their want, as after a very brutal melee, Lord Kite too had returned to port, the goals of his own expedition also remaining yet unachieved.
Remus and Kazid had put on a hell of a fight, duking it out tooth and nail even when they were outnumbered in terms of the absolute number of troops, making up the shortfall using a variety of tools such as the use of their deadly ram, the greater number of ships andstly the legionary''s very heavy armor.
All those were still not enough to decisively win the battle for them, but at least they were able to stand their ground against one of the best naval until the timer ran, not too shabby a result given it was their first naval battle.
And for their bravery in that melee, they were rewarded with having caused horrendous casualties to the other side, with Lord Kite suffering close to one hundred dead and injured.
The only caveat was that the legionaries too had suffered in simr numbers. However, given the legionaries were outnumbered, it was clear they hade out on top in that exchange.
Although the Heeat side would likely argue that such a victory was almost pyrrhic for Alexander given each man was much more valuable to the heavily outnumbered Pasha.
And even though they did win, it was done with immense loss of blood and sweat, with there even being a point when the number of wounded swelled to such heights that entire sections of the deck had to be relegated solely to tending to the.
There were even unconfirmed reports of corpses being thrown overboard from ships just to make extra space for the others.
All this went to show that it had been a very, very hard fight, and if this had been a normalnd battle, such losses would have caused a retreat from either side without a shred of a doubt.
But they were in the middle of the sea with little space to go anywhere, and could only back up only up to a fixed point- the ship''s stern. As for the option of retreating, well, both sides were too elite to even consider that shameful option.
Hence the decks continued to be fought over bloody inch over bloody inch, with both the ck and blue armored men appearing as if they were possessed. At this point, to an outsider onlooker, the whole thing almost appeared as if either side had forgotten why were fighting, and were only doing so by instinct, like they were in a trance, possessed by a devil of ughter.
*Creaakkk¡.. Sshhhhh*
It was only the sudden bang of the copsing bridge hitting the water that broke them out of this, as both sides turned their heads in frightful rm at the enormous noise, the sight of ongoing destruction was not much less, proving an unforgettable marvel for them all.
It was such a sight in fact that as the bridge crumbed in the distance, fighting aboard all the shipsrgely came to a stop, as both sides instinctively chose to dere a voluntary truce, far more wishing to register the once in a generation sight.
"Order the retreat! We are going back!"
It was also this sight that convinced Lord Kite to return port, as the man figured there was little to gain from fighting here. With the destruction of the bridge, reiming Phyrros Ind could be put on hold, they had other fish to fry.
"What! Leave aftering so close and losing so many men? Lord Kite, please consider! The enemy is so close to breaking"
Some of his officers were of course vehemently opposed to the order, as they mored for theirmander to order them to fight even more, spill even more blood.
Most of these men had been seized by the battlefield lust and given the losses they had already suffered, they could not simply ept such a lukewarm retreat.
But Lord Kite shut these men quickly down, and after navigating through the fallen debris atst reached port.
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Chapter 1182: End of the Long Day (Part-3)
Many of Lord Kite''s men had vehemently opposed theirmander''s initial orders to retreat from the battle for they felt that such a cowardly move made all of their sacrifices till now been for nothing.
So instead, they wished to continue the fight further still, aiming to achieve final victory in battle no matter what. Furthermore, many of them were even convinced that the brutal fighting had softened the legionaries enough that they were close to breaking, thus fueling the bellicose sentiment even further.
Thisst part did have some kernel of truth to it as a lot of Remus''s units were indeed close to cracking.
But the caveat here was the same thing could be said for the Heeat soldiers too. They were just as susceptible to turning their ships around and running as the other side.
Lord Kite, who was standing at the back was able to quickly figure this out and determined that his chances of winning this fight were roughly half and half, certainly not an inviting concept.
And besides, even if they did win, so what?
Dusk was already settling in and the rapidly dropping temperature made even the well wrapped up man shiver at the chilly winds that were starting to blow.
What good would his group of blind and cold men could do at that point?
Themander thus wisely decided there was little point in putting his men through this meat grinder and instead ordered a full retreat, wishing to save his strength for a better day.
As for all theining men, he shut them up with a few very simple words,
"The copse of the bridge is a sign from the gods. It would not be wise to dismiss them! Let''s go!"
All the men, from the most belligerent to even the most irrational instantly piped down the moment this ''great analysis'' was made.
Because in this era, almost anything and everything that happened was attributed to the gods, especially if it was something bad.
And given that few omens could trump the destruction of an entire stone bridge, this act proved irrefutable in the minds of all these men that the gods were against them and victory here was impossible.
Thus they quickly heeded Lord Kite''s words, and slowly retreated back to their ships in good order, fully maintaining their formation before swiftly disengaging their vessels from Remus''s and heading back.
It took almost as much time to carefully retreat from the battlefield as it was needed for them to navigate through all the broken and floating bridge sections along the way, as these huge obstacles proved quite the challenge to swerve through.
There were even quite a few times when the bottom of their hulls was hit by the newly submerged debris, scraping and sometimes even cracking the toughened wood, causing water to leak in.
That part of the passage was definitely the most perilous one.
While on the other, Remus watched the enemy fleet slowly and cautiously navigate the deadly maze from the back of their ships with a mixture of variousplicated feelings.
When the bridge had crumbled, Remus initially had the absolute bonkers thought that somehow a part of Phyrros Ind had just sunk. And although the reality was not exactly that, the sight still felt surreal to the young man, his observing eyes bing erged with passion at the marvel.
He did not think the signal to end the fight today woulde in such an absolutely mboyant manner.
Remus was also d to see no white standard with a blue flower on top of it while the thing fell apart, thus letting the man enjoy the whole without any worry.
As for the rest of the crew, well they too had a variety of thoughts, both on the bridge and Lord Kite''s retreat.
Some of them pulled slightly regretful faces seeing the prey slip by their finger in such a slow, sluggish manner, others gave no effort in hiding their relief at the ordeal was finally over, while many more wore a nk looks as if they were unsure how to feel about all the things that had transpired at all.
Proud that they fought the other side to a standstill?
Pleased that they lived?
Or pessimism about all the brothers killed and wounded?
Most could not decide.
However, whatever these men were feeling, one thing that was coursing through all of them without exception was fatigue and extreme lethargy. Because there were men in there who had been fighting for close to eight hours straight and could barely keep their eyes open, forget standing up and battling.
Remus was also able to use them as an excuse to shut down some of the more madder officers who chimed up to urge him to chase the enemy, as they did not want to ''miss the perfect opportunity''.
Snort! What opportunity?
Given how tired and worn out the legionaries were, any chase could have been like a double edged sword, and there was always the chance for Lord Kite to suddenly turn around andunch a powerful counterattack.
Having survived a very near death experience just a few hours ago, Remus was not at all in the mood to tempt fate so foolishly this way and so felt greatly satisfied with the established status quo.
Hence with dusk soon approaching, both Remus and Kazid also followed Lord Kite''s thought process and returned to their own port, where they immediately spotted a huge, brand new looking ship that should not have existed docked by the harbor- for it bore the emblem of the Margraves family on its sail.
"What happened here? Who captured this? Was it Alexander?"
So excited was Remus to see this prized vessel in their inventory that immediately upon his disembarkment, he ran to the closest officer he could find to pose this, beyond excited to know the story.
"Careful Remus. This is not a name you should say aloud like that!"
The young boy''s only mistake in this was who he had made the query towards, a middle aged man named Scorpyo.
With a neatly trimmed beard and steaks of grey, white hair running down his sides, this unimpressive looking man was actually a high ranking officer, even being high enough to be the one who had been left in charge of the camp today while Alexander and the others were away.
And he hade here upon spotting Remus dock, wishing to know how the troops had fared in their fight.
But when Scorpyo heard the boy''s breach of etiquette, the much older man was quick to childe the overly eager boy.
"Sorry! Sorry! Force of habit¡ Heh hee¡" And credit to Remus, he did immediately apologize after being pointed out his mistake.
He might be the overallmander of the forces here, but that did not mean he wielded the same power as let''s say someone like Achis, whose words were basically like a divine revtion for the troops.
Instead, here, there were several people who had far more prestige than the young boy and certainly could put him in ce if the situation called for it, such as now.
It was knowing this that he did not take the scolding to heart, a sensible thought that pleased the officer.
So finally turning amicable, the man revealed the summarised version of the prior events in a deep yet soft voice,
"Nobody captured the ship, they defected!"
The immense im naturally made Remus''s eyes go wild in surprise and intrigue,
"Wha¡." and as his face clearly lit up, it swiftly indicated that he wished to do the whole thing.
The middle aged officer did not hold the young man in suspense and
"A bit aroundte afternoon, one of my men suddenly noticed that Margraves'' ship sailing towards us! At first, we thought it might have been the lead ship of a fleet sent to attack us. So we immediately scrambled to get our ships in the water."
"However just as we were about to set sail, the other party suddenly began to wave a white g towards us, showing they wanted to surrender, hahaha!"
The relief in that man''s chuckle as he said this was unmistakable, letting Remus clearly understand that if the other side had really made a determined attack on their port, the ships he was seeing around would likely not be there.
The numerical disadvantage was that much.
While Remus made this observation, Scorpyo resumed his retelling following the pause,
"The white g was such an unexpected sight that at first some of the men even thought it was some sort of trick¡ to try and lure us into lowering our guard and letting the ship get closer without detection"
"Thank goodness that soon turned out not to be the case. The Margraves ship stopped quite a bit further away from the harbor while still keeping the g up, and then signaled that it wished for us to escort it."
"The gesture appeared sincere enough and given it was all alone as far as we could see, we sent two ships with three hundred men to board it, figuring no matter what tricks they might have, they could not possibly catch all of them off guard.."
"Heh heh, you would not believe the prize we found there!"
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Chapter 1183: Alexanders Return
Alluding to the capture of Achis, Scorpyo paused here to reveal an amused chuckle, strategically building up the tension in Remus.
It was here that he also recalled the absolute chaos the camp was thrown into when they first saw the Margrave''s ship, as they thought they were under attack.
Most were very pessimistic about their chance of repelling such a naval invasion given theirck of experience fighting at sea and much more than that, their numerical disadvantage. So many soldiers and servants ran to and fro with little heed to their surroundings, with many even ignoring their officer''s orders.
There were even some who assumed that this was it- the end of their campaign and got ready to surrender.
Thus the sudden sight of the white g came as great a relief to them as a burst of torrential rainfall after a drought, with a lot of them finding it too incredulous.
And as Scorpyo thought about it now, he even smirked to himself thinking, ''If Margraves had known about our true state, would they have still bothered to raise the g? Or would they have sailed right into port and demanded our surrender? That might have actually worked heh heh!''
"What did you see? What was the prize?"
Scorpyo did not get to swim in his musing for long as he was suddenly yanked out of it by this loud query from Remus, who was clearly more interested in the man moving the story along.
"Heh heh¡ it was the enemy''s general- Achis!"
The man did not keep Remus in suspense any longer and gave a straightforward answer immediately.
"...." To which Remus was so shocked that he could not even give a yelp of surprise, and only stared at the man wide eyed.
If he did not know the man well enough to know that Scorpyo would never joke about such a thing, Remus might have put his arm around the man''s shoulders and had a hearty chuckle, digging in elbow into the man to congratte him for the goodugh.
However now¡. Remus did not know how to feel, the sheer shock of the news leaving him too stunned to feel even happy about it.
"Achis! The Achis! That short, bulky man who was always seen beside LP? That Achis?" So instead, he first and foremost sought to confirm whether it was really the same men they were talking about.
Because Remus had known of the man mostly by reputation, having only caught a slight glimpse of him when he came to the manor as a messenger.
"You can go see for yourself. He is in the camp clinic." Scorpyo, instead of going into details defending himself, simply pointed Remus in the direction of the infirmary, before casually retelling how they found him,
"The crew of the ship showed him the moment we boarded. Apparently, he had been injured during the fighting, and they brought him to us as a token of their sincerity."
The sinct exnation left a lot of holes for Remus, such as who the hell were ''they'' and how the hell did ''they'' do this because the ship clearly belonged to the Margraves family, not the Heeat.
However all those nitpicks could wait, as being told of the man''s whereabouts, Remus''s mind raced to see the man for himself, all to confirm it was really him.
After all, Scorpyo had never seen the man for himself.
"Does Alexander know about this?" But just before he left, Remus turned to quickly ask this, suddenly remembering that if this was coborated by the man himself, there would not be any need for his doubts.
"He is not here yet!" Scorpyo''s reply however worked to make that thought quickly expire. In fact, the words were spoken with such worry that it even trumped the man''s urge to pick on Remus over his breach of etiquette once again.
It was apparent the officer was really getting flustered over their lord''ste arrival.
"Not here¡." And the sentiment was quickly passed onto Remus, who subconsciously turned to gaze at the crimson setting sun, furrowing his brows in great concern.
The sun''s light had dimmed to the point its luminosity resembled that of the moon''s, showing it was only a matter of a few minutes before it went down. Alexander should have been back by now.
And inevitably apanying this thought came the creeping feeling that contained the worst of Remus''s assumptions- his mind shing the image of the destruction of the bridge.
''No! Alexander is in Phyrros Ind. He is probably busy fortifying it.'' But quickly pushed that disastrous thought down, as the youngmander still remained oblivious to Alexander''s fight on the bridge.
"I have already sent a ship to the ind. They should being back soon." While Scorpyo chimed up to inform the man as such, the move bringing great relief to Remus.
Even if he was sure nothing had happened, the man was d to know someone was out there keeping a lookout.
And it was indeed true that nothing had happened with Alexander. Except that he had gotten a little bit wet after jumping overboard.
It had happened because the ship he was on became overweight after taking all the men from the other rammed ship and capsized on its way to the ind, the turbulent waves at sea proving too much for the vessel to bear even for the rtively short distance.
Fortunately, there were not any casualties as the ship gave plenty of warning that it was going down and so most were able to discard their armor and jump just as the vessel was beginning to tilt, among the very first of which was Alexander.
The man already had no armor so it was easy. And as he jumped, he found the waters to be quite shallow, mostly because they were only some distance from the shore. And even if they weren''t, there were many nearby ships to pick them up.
"Fuuuckk¡ it''s freezing!" And the only thing that Alexander might have had toin about was the temperature of the sea. Because even for the man who was sweating like a pig given all the fighting, the chilly water still felt like it was cutting through his bones, leaving him almost numb.
It made the man really worry that he was going to catch a horrendous cold immediately the next day.
But those fears were shelved for ater time, as for now, Alexander worked to quickly swim ashore, an endeavor made extremely difficult by the heavy chainmail and the leather thorax he was wearing, making him almost feel he was wearing a straitjacket.
This short demonstration also made Alexander quickly see that it would have been impossible to swim to safety if he had really jumped from the bridge, and would have surely drowned due to exhaustion.
Alexander atst reached Phyrros ind soaked like a wet dog, and if he thought the water was bad, well perhaps the cold air hitting him as he got out of it was even worse. It was to the point where he seriously contemted going back to the water and waiting there until one of the soldiers could fetch him a warm nket or something.
But that thought was eventually shelved, not so much because it was a bad idea but because he thought it would make him appear weak and not manly in front of his troops.
Thus the man had to reluctantly wade through the freezing wintery winds and atst managed to meet up with the garrison there, who were at least able to give him a dry towel and a warm fire.
From there, Alexander also ordered the men to rapidly expand their fortifications, having the two hundred men move their base to the camp left by the Heeat garrison and instructed them to get about repairing and reinforcing the ce.
He said to them,
"The enemy might very well send a force to reim the ind. Your job will be to hold on until reinforcements can arrive. Got it?"
It was overseeing these works that made the Pasha quitete in setting off for home. But at least the silver lining was that when he left there, there were around seven hundred men including the servants left there, all dug in well and deep.
They had enough food tost them a week and Alexander promised them to send three days worth of fresh water the very next morning, making the ce very hard to take.
And with that, Alexander thought he was done for the day, and thus prepared himself to hit the bed the moment he reached the Margraves manor.
Because remember, the man had not slept the previous night in preparation for the capture of the ind.
And after going through a day such as this one, the man felt as if elephants were standing on his eyelids. He could barely keep them open.
But s! How wrong he was to think the day was done!
Because even if the day had ended, as soon as hended, Alexander was quickly informed of the Anoon and Ser Robert''s defection, and hearing of the prize they had brought him, knew there was no way he could go to bed now.
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Chapter 1184: Anoons Surrender
As soon as Alexander docked and the man madendfall, he was informed of the origin of the new ship as well as the prize it had contained.
And immediately upon learning of it, the man found himself shooting to the camp clinic his heart dancing with equal parts joy and trepidation.
Joy because if the information was really true, then this could finally be the big break he was going for. Needless to say, such a hostage was invaluable.
But at the same, there was great trepidation as he thought of the prospects of being disappointed.
And these feelings were so intense that as Alexander approached therge crowded tent housing his query, a part of him wanted to slow down and even turn back.
But such misgivings were only an ethereal illusion, and as the crowd quickly parted seeing Alexander approach a familiar, cheerful voice shot out from its midst to greet him.
"Alexander! You are here! Look what we have got, hah hah!"
The young pasha found Remus standing next to the body, who was beaming a great big smile while waving at him. The joy was perhaps as much about discovering it was really Achis, as it was about feeling relieved knowing that Alexander was back.
Alexander gave a courteous nod to his second inmand, before quickly bing more interested in the lying man who had been given therge tent all to himself.
He sped towards him to get a better look, and observing the bandaged man who was still unconscious, had no problem instantly recognizing the bulky, bearded muscr body as definitely him- Achis.
He had met the man not too long ago.
The sight made Alexander surge with joy, while from the side Remus impatiently sought to confirm, "It''s really him. Isn''t it? Isn''t it, hehe?".
One should have seen the grin it produced in Remus the moment Alexander nodded because even someone as disinterested in politics as Remus could see the value of this hostage.
"Hah hah! I knew it! The gods are on our side! Hah hah! I knew it." The great news thus had the young man break off into boisterousughter.
"*Yawnnn*... Who brought him? Where are they?"
While having confirmed his query, Alexander quickly moved on to the next issue- the presence of the Margraves ships and the few hundred troops that were being kept in a separate part of the camp as prisoners of war.
Thus soon themanders of the ship Anoon and Ser Robert found themselves summoned to Alexander''s tent, and made to testify on their actions.
"Greetings Lord Alexander! We are honored!"
The ck adjutant was naturally clever enough to produce the most immacte bow as soon as his eyes met Alexander''s figure, and seeing his example, Ser Robert too quickly followed.
"*Yawnnnn*.... So what''s your story?"
And if it had been any other time, Alexander might have taken the time to appreciate this etiquette.
But right now, he felt so fatigued that he only wanted to get the story out and be done with it. Especially given he was having to constantly hide his yawns behind his hands and his eyes were beginning to feel like lead.
"My lord, we never desired to betray Lady Miranda! We were forced by that damned Heeat family. So when we spotted an opportunistic shift in the battlefield today, we took it, breaking away from the fleet and racing for safety towards you."
The answer was predictably given by the eloquent Anoon, who seeing the other side''s lethargy decided to keep it short and simple.
Thus the sinct message skipped all the important details and only provided the mere bullet points of the transpired events.
And this actually suited Alexander just fine. Because whatever their reasons were, it did not seem too big a deal to him.
Whether they were truly sincere or infiltration moles sent by the other side, the fact was that they were here, in his hands, with little elsewhere to go. Alexander could slowly nitpick all that he needed from them in time.
Hence, for now, Alexander got to his next big question, the one that was really burning him up
"And Achis? How did you manage to snatch him from his men? In reality, he should have never boarded a Margrave''s ship."
"We were the ones rescuing the Heeat soldiers from the bridge. During that time, the general was hit by a stray arrow and fell onto our ship! We think his spine might be broken."
Once again Anoon kept his answer very short and simple, skipping all the events with Lord Bernad and the body transfer.
Instead, he twisted the narrative to such a degree that it was almost unrecognizable, all to fit it within the word limit.
"..."
The queerness of the described events this time caught Alexander a bit off guard. Because he did not think a man could survive such a fall.
In fact, he had seen many man men not surviving such falls.
But at the end of the day, he did not question it.
One because the injuries described by the man were indeed consistent with what the camp physicians had told him- there was an arrow wound on the man''s torso and several of his bones had been snapped and crushed.
Two because he had indeed seen the Margraves ships lending a helping hand to those stuck above.
And finally, Alexander recalled there were many strange phenomena in the world, such as men surviving jumps from skyscrapers which should have killed them ten times over, skydivers plummeting to the ground at terminal velocities yet surviving, people surviving extreme colds, etc, etc.
So it was certainly possible that Achis had hit the deck in just the right way so as to avoid getting sttered- such as perhaps bynding on another lucky sod.
Whatever the case was, Alexander was simply too tired right now to go poking into it for details.
And besides, what did it matter to him how Achis got here?
The only fact that really mattered was that he did. And Alexander was free to use the man in any way he saw fit.
"Okay! Thank you for bringing us such a great gift. You two will certainly be rewarded for your efforts¡ *yawnnnnn*, rest assured."
Thus feeling he had all that he needed, Alexander decided to excuse the pair like this, then added the following promise of good treatment for all of them in the meantime, "Be sure that you and your men will treated as honored prisoners of war."
"And I will talk to Lady Miranda first thing in the morning. I am sure she will be very d to know that she has so many loyal admirers within Lady Linda''s ranks. For now, you are dismissed."
"Thank you, my lord." The pair were quick to express their gratitude upon hearing Alexander''s words, and retreated with a pleased heart, with Ser Robert adding this following single sentence before making himself scarce,
"Please convey to thedy that I, Ser Robert express my sincerest apology for any slight I have caused her, my lord."
It was only then Alexander remembered that he had forgotten to even ask the pair their names.
Or who they were, and what was their rank in the army?
Or who theirmander was.
Or any information regarding the situation inside Lord Parker''s camp.
Or even just about today''s battle from their perspective.
Such obvious things would have usually never missed his scrutiny and the realization that it had instantly made Alexander cuss inside,
''Damn it! I really need to get a good few hours of sleep!''
All the fatigue of staying up thirty six hours straight while taking part in a war had significantly degraded Alexander''s mental faculties, and the only thing his body seemed to want now was to find a bed and pillow.
So, feeling that he was going to be of any use in his current state, the man decided to go do exactly that, and dumped all the responsibility to his second inmand,
"Remus! I will leave the questioning of those two to you. Find out exactly who are they, and how they brought Achis here. I want to know every detail of what happened¡ from the minute the battle started all the way until their ship docked here. Don''t miss a single thing."
"I will see to it right away!" Remus was there to chirp the answer in a heartbeat, his tone still appearing fresh as a daisy.
It was a sight that baffled Alexander because the other side too had suffered as much if not more than him. However unlike him, there was very little sign of exhaustion, and instead, Remus appeared as if he had just woken after a good, long nap.
It made Alexander wonder if it was just him being weak, or that Remus was simply a freak.
The man could rest assured that it was definitely thetter.
Because while it was indeed true Alexander''s cushy life as a noble had made some of his physical stats slightly dip still, no normal man could appear as energetic and lively as Remus after staying awake for so long.
It was simply that Remus had an extraordinary metabolism.
Thus he had no problem making that promise.
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Chapter 1185: Camp Brawl
Having received Alexander''s instructions, Remus quickly left the camp, promising to find every little useful detail that he could from the two men.
"I will also interrogate some of the regr troops they brought. See if the two narratives fit." The young general even cleverly promised this.
"Mmmmm!" While the exhausted pasha gave the most anemic nod, feeling more relieved than anything else.
Because he thought that the day was finally over. Finally, he could get that nap his tired body was so very much begging for.
Thus, feeling that he had taken care of all that mattered at the moment, he dragged his tired body back to the mansion as swiftly as he could, where a warm bath and a hearty meal awaited him.
Alexander did not really know how he finished those things, but he did know he did it very quickly.
It was so fast in fact that Alexander did not even bother to report the details of today''s battle to Lady Miranda who hade to join him for dinner, but simply assured her that they had managed to achieve all their goals with minimum casualties and that Lord Janus was free to enter the harbor any time he pleased.
And seeing the state of the man, the Lady of the house also did not poke for details, but with a gentle smile instantly chimed in a sort of ttering way, "That is truly great news my lord. Truly you are a god of war, unyielding and indomitable. I will send a message to Lord Janus first thing in the morning. The faster he gets here the better."
Alexander did not quite remember how he had reacted, but it must have been a nod as that would have made the most sense.
As for the matter of Anoon''s defection and the capture of Achis, well that was skipped altogether because Alexander determined that could wait till the next day.
And that was not the only thing that Alexander skipped.
Lady Nanazin, who had dressed herself in a very sexy, brand new negligee to reward her man for all his hard work today also found herself getting ignored today in bed.
Alexander had initially grown interested in seeing thedy in her novel garb, and after the long day certainly felt like calming his nerves with a little bit of action, to vent all his pent up emotions.
But all such thoughts of getting intimate turned to dreamy bubbles the moment he hit the bed as he was gripped by one of the most intense spells of slumber in his life.
It was such an immense grip that Alexander felt almost glued to the bed and even if he was told that the room he was in was on fire, he would have likely simply replied,
"Let it burn. I want my eight hours."
Thedy sleeping next to him certainly puffed her cheeks a bit in annoyance at this, especially because she was really looking to have her itch scratched the whole day.
But that little bit of bitterness dissolved away almost the moment her eyesnded on Alexander''s sleeping, exhausted face, and understanding it must have been a really hectic day, the curvydy wrapped her sensual body as tightly as she could around the man''s muscr torso, and soon also slipped away to thend of dreams.
While Alexander and his group slumbered in their mansion, back in Lord Parker''s camp, things were predictably far from being so peaceful.
Instead, a tense, mournful atmosphere hung by the air around therge encampment, with the survivors of today''s battlementing the loss of so many of their brothers, be it the battle, the infighting, and the biggest cause of all- the copsing bridge.
Towards all these tragedies, each man dealt with it in his own way.
Some shared their stories with others, shaking their heads in regret, some drank heavily to dull the pain, while others kept quiet but burned with a bitter hatred towards the other family inside, ming them for all their loss.
The Margraves'' men hated the Heeat side for attacking them so tantly, while thetter med the former for the copse of the bridge and the subsequent death of so many of their men.
And as they slung me at one another discussing this, there were even a small scale fight that broke out between the two sides, involving both the troops as well as a few of the officers.
"You bastards! You attacked us! You attacked us even though we were supposed to be allies." One of the Margraves officers had cried indignantly while taking arge gulp of the strong liquor.
"Bah! Allies? What kind of ally lets their brother fall to their deaths? You are nothing but hypocrites! Saving your skin and letting ours burn. *Pui*!" Towards this usation, the opposing Heeat officer had the swiftest of defense.
And it was an attack that incensed all those Margraves hearing it,
"Hypocrites! The only two faced snake is you! We tried our best to save as many as we could! And what did we get? *Pui*, now I understand how foolish we really had been! We should have left you snakes to rot up there!"
The regretful and angry faces of the Margraves officers produced no sympathy among the Heeat side, who instead tantly mocked them,
"Heh! Stop ying the victim! It was the general''s order for you to obtain more ships. You deserved to die for your failure. Just wait till the Lord is done with you. All of you will get the chop!
Mark my words!"
Most of the arguments the Margraves had with the Heeat ended like this, with thetter bringing up General Achis''s abduction by units belonging to the former, and the punishment all of them were going to receive because of it.
Towards this unjust usation, at first, the Margraves tried their best to defend themselves, iming it was only done only a stray band of traitors.
And as proof, they tended to hold up Lord Bernard and how the ship was stolen only because he had gotten stabbed, courtesy of the Heeat forces they were quick to remind all.
The Heeat officers however of course did not put any ear to it, and even appeared proud of their act, iming this was only them acting justly, as revenge for their general.
This unapologetic and extremely arrogant stance had always battered at the Margraves''s men hearts, and today, atst, it got to the point that the Margraves finally decided enough was enough, with one of the Margraves officers being unable to bear it any longer let out this frustrated shout,
"Motherf****, it''s good that general bastard was taken. It''s great that Ser Robert took him. And I hope Alexander ughters and eats that motherf****!"
The extremely interdicting words did nothing to earn the Margraves'' favor from the Heeats, but instead actually caused them to re up into a deep frenzy.
"Traitors! Traitors the whole lot of them! Kill them! Kill these traitors!"
These words, clearly spoken out in a moment of clear passion, were swiftly taken out of context by the angry as well as opportunistic Heeat soldiers and soon a brawl broke out in Lord Parker''s camp between the two sides.
*ng*, *ng*, *ng*,
And then soon that brawl, which started off only as a fist fight with armored greaves and wooden sticks turned hot, as some of the more angry and hot blooded men decided to bring their weapons to the fray.
And when even one of them decided to do this, everyone else naturally followed.
Thus, daggers, hatchets axes, swords, and even the deadliest of all, spears were all soon employed in this fight, which soon transformed from a small local brawl to a full blown¡...
Well, it was hard to name what this fighting exactly was because it was not exactly a rebellion, mutiny or a civil war.
Neither side was fighting to take over the camp or usurp the leadership but it was more like the affected soldiers were simply venting.
The Heeat family had lost a lot of good men, and they did not know who to me. At the same time, the Margraves were fed up with how they were being treated and wanted to fight for more equal treatment.
Perhaps it was because of this that the whole thing did not spill over into something greater, into something that threatened to destroy the very camp they were in.
Without an unifying force and a proper chain ofmand, individual units of soldiers found themselves fighting as if they were blind, without any eyes and ears.
Thus neither side could properly capitalize on their sess such as by reinforcing units that were in trouble or attacking weakened enemy formations.
And so, when Lord Parker and other high ranking officers decided to step in, without there being any leader among the units to challenge their authority and presence, the fighting was quickly squashed.
However, needless to say, this fighting had done basically irreversible damage to the goodwill between the two sides. And it was even doubtful if the family would be able to even fight in the same side any time soon, forget about coordinating with each.
The pent up bitterness had reached a crescendo.
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Chapter 1186: Enraged Lord Parker (Part-1)
"Where is Achis? Bring me Achis! Ahhhh¡. Bring him to me!"
While the grassroots men of the two families worked to hash out their differences using their fists outside, from inside thergest tent in the center of the camp, came this undisguised, livid roar, its originator being a stranger to no one.
It went without saying Lord Parker found himself going utterly ballistic upon learning of Achis''s fate.
Especially when he was informed of the details about how he was taken and the treachery and carelessness it all involved.
Simply recalling even the tiniest fraction of it made his heart palpate with white hot rage and caused his blood to bubble and boil.
Thus Lord Parker vented on all those responsible, even those responsible only by the most remotest of the possibilities.
"Yo¡ you idiots! All of you idiots dare stand in front of me! After what you have done! You¡ I will have all you of hang for this! Ahhhhh¡."
These acrid, loathsome, vituperator words were all shot out directly towards a lined group of armored men, all of whom had their heads lowered so much that they were directly facing their feet, their necks turned nearly perpendicr to their spine.
They imagined being able to almost feel the wrathful heating off of theirmander in the form of radiant heat and having never seen the man not even half as mad ever, many had their countenances be pale and bitter, their bodies visibly shivering.
The gathered group of men that Lord Parker wasmbasting included every officer of note that had been deployed today.
This meant that it was not only the officers who directly took part in the fighting and were a part of Achis''s unit who were the target of Lord Parker''s indiscriminate rage, but even the officers who had seemed nothing to do with the incident.
People such as Lord Kite who was in another theater of the war altogether, and true to his worries, even that newmander who was only sent out at thest minute as reinforcements, and did not even see Achis.
In the eyes of the currently half insane ducal lord, however, all such details were merely irrelevant mundanities not worth even sparing a second nce at.
All these men had taken part in the fighting today just like Achis had and that was all that mattered to Lord Parker, all that was needed for him to make the judgment.
And thus towards all of them, he decided to dere the exact same verdict- guilty!
Then immediately aftering to this decision, the enraged lord also dered their punishment, being not content with justbeling them as guilty,
"Kill them! Kill them all!"
Yes, Lord Parker had reached this level of madness as wildly swinging his hands, he turned to shout this towards the numerous guards nking him around the tent, ordering them to free their swords and dye the floor with blood.
"Mercy! Mercy my lord! We beg you!"
"We had no knowledge of it! We had no way of knowing anything!"
"My lord! That''s right! We swear to the old gods and new! We knew nothing!"
"If we had even an inkling of an idea that the General had been taken then even a thousand deaths would not have stopped us from getting him back. We swear!"
"It is the Margraves family''s fault! It was all that Bernard Margrave''s fault! He is the traitor! They are the ones who lost the general. He plotted to capture him!"
"That''s right! Let us interrogate him¡ them¡ the Margraves troop. I bet my life I can make those bastard squeaks before sunrise, my lord! I swear on it!"
Hearing Lord Parker''s venomous verdict, one that was immediately apanied by the distinct clinking sound of sword''s being drawn, every single officer summoned chose to do the same thing- prostrate to the ground and cry out their innocence, with many even losing some of their cognitive ability while doing so, as evidenced by how they struggled to form fully coherent sentences.
Until now, none of these men had chosen to argue with Lord Parker or defend themselves because they figured as long as they just stood there looking scared and repentant as the man vented, they would be alright.
This was an expert tactic developed by them over decades of experience.
After all, this was not the first time these veteran officers had been chewed by their superiors. And it certainly won''t be thest. They were all mostly used to this.
Hence they simply chose to stand and take it, thinking what were a few barking words going to do to them anyway, ring their ears for a while?
But who could have thought the usually temperate and reasonable ducal lord wouldpletely lose his calm like this upon simply learning of his lover''s capture and turn so malevolent?
It was not as if Achis had died, the officers thought, thus perplexed by the great severity of the order.
However, they all seemed to have grossly misjudged Lord Parker''s true affection towards the general, it possibly being due to the professionalism the two disyed in their day to day interaction.
Lord Parker rarely favored Achis too overtly,rgely due to fear of producing hidden bitterness among the officers.
And this could be clearly seen such as in the case of Lord Bernard, where even though Achis clearly expressed his dislike for the man, Lord Parker, instead of currying favors with his lover and dismissing the man outright, instead chose to listen to the former because he had a good point.
The two men seemed to have the tacit good sense to keep their nocturnal bedroom activities a secret or at the very least the exact extent of it.
Thus to an outsider, the pair looked almost like they were having a casual fling, a little fun between a lord and his retainer, or simply ying among good friends, nothing too serious to be concerned about.
It was an assumption that was also heavily reinforced by the fact that both men were married.
It was due to being clouded by all such assumptions that when the strictmand was uttered everyone in the vicinity was shocked.
And when the officers saw the surrounding guards actually start to unsheath their swords by instinct and move with the intent to actually carry out the order, they all understood this was no mere threat being only uttered in the throes of rage.
No, this was something that was really going to happen, they were really going to lose their heads.
So they instantly decided to abandon their previous tactic and immediately kneeled and groveled, the fastest one to do so being none other than Lord Kite.
Others were also quick to emte the lead of this high ranking officer cum noble.
"*Snort*! Excuses!"
Lord Parker however appeared way past the point of being cated in any way and only spat this single word with the outmost disdain, feeling that his burning heart could only be soothed with blood.
Fresh blood.
The blood of all those who were responsible.
And whatever their faults or merits were in the grand scheme of things, it did not matter.
It was thinking as such that Lord Parker imperiously lifted his right hand, then with a wave of his palms signaled to the nearby soldiers, indicating for them to start carrying out his will.
The guards that were being asked to carry out this task initially exchanged a few looks of doubt and confusion with each other at thispletely unexpected development and clearly hesitated.
It was very apparent that rage had temporarily consumed their lord and to carry out such a dubious massacre appeared very ill advise.
However, at the end of the day, none of them dared to step forward and challenge it.
It was way above their pay scale.
Even if he was clearly not in the best of conditions, these lowly footmen were not given the power to judge, especially not someone of Lord Parker''s stature.
They were only paid to hear and obey.
*ng*, *ng*, *ng*
Thus quickly grabbing the hilts of their swords, they stepped forward, eyes turning sharp and determined.
And seeing this, the dozen or so officers despaired.
Of course, none of them dared resist themand even now, even as death approached, even when it was tantly wrong. Because they were brought up that way, brought up to always obey their superior no matter how insane that order might have been.
So instead of standing up and running, or even better, making a suicidal dash towards Lord Parker with a dagger in hand willing tomit double suicide, all the men simply stayed there kneeling, bracing themselves for the swing of death''s scythe.
"What are you doing you fools? Get back to your posts!"
Luckily for them, just as the tent was about to turn into an absolute bloodbath, this aged but very still verymanding shout rang out right from Lord Parker''s sides, and all movements instantly froze.
The soldiers found themselves seemingly paralyzed, and when one of the bravest guards dared to utter with gritted teeth,
"This is the lord''s order!",
A loud burst of childing instantly followed suit, "Then stop following this nonsensical order!"
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Chapter 1187: Placating Lord Parker
Upon receiving Lord Parker''s order, some of the more zealous soldiers were ready to follow it despite what the others said, very eager to prove their loyalty.
And the particr man who defended Lord Parker''smand vocally was one of the staunchest of the bunch,ing from Achis''s core circle.
"Then stop following this nonsensical order!"
However these strong headed men were however allpletely stopped in their tracks by these imperious words, almost as much shocked by themand as they were by how it was made.
Because this was an extremely damning statement to make about any direct military order, never mind when the order was personally given by a man as exalted as Lord Parker- the next in line to a ducal seat.
It was an eye opener for all, even those officers that were kneeling, and as soon as this was said, all the eyes instantly shifted to towards the man brave enough to utter to them.
He was an extremely tall, ck elder, with an ordinary looking, chiseled face, very dense, a fistful of white beard, and apletely bald head. He had very broad, powerful shoulders, matched equally in size by his four sturdy limbs, a slightly crooked nose that appeared as if it had been broken numerous times, and his most defining features of all, a pair of extremely piercing blue eyes.
They were so sharp and piercing in fact that when it was matched with towering physique and bulging muscles, it made all men tremble even when simply meeting with gaze.
And that even included Lord Parker, who had initially turned with the utmost fury to lock eyes with him, intending tosh out at the ''mutinous'' order.
However, upon making contact with the aqueous pair, it felt as if he was instantly thrown into an ice cold pool, a creeping sense of fear and apprehension grasping him.
Arge part of his anger vanished away then and there.
But not all of it.
And using the remaining embers, Lord Parker was still able to clench his teeth and with an aggrieved look gritted out,
"What is the meaning of this Lord Macht! Who permitted you to interfere like this? Remember your ce!"
"I am not going to stand by and watch you ughter a dozen of his lord''s best officers, boy! You remember your ''own ce''!"
The voice was loud, clear, and crisp, not arrogant or impetuous in any way, but certainly very officious andmanding.
Hearing such sharp words, Lord Parker instantly recoiled in rage as he could not remember thest time he had spoken to this disrespectfully, especially after he had be an adult.
But that thought was quickly supplemented by a baffling sense of horror as Lord Parker''s heart subconsciously thumped due to thebination of the voice who uttered it and much more importantly the name he had uttered- ''his lord''.
It was of course very easy to guess who this ''lord'' the elderly man was talking about- Lord Parker''s father- the current Duke Heeat.
And this Lord Macht was a very close and trusted bodyguard of that man, sent here in his behest to protect his son as well as keep an eye on him.
This also meant that Lord Parker had grown up beside Lord Macht and thus when this elderly man growled, the instinctual urge to obey him developed from childhood quickly put a heavy burden on Lord Parker and his ability to do as they pleased.
This was exactly why Lord Macht was chosen for the job.
However even when he subtly hinted at the displeasure this act would incur with the duke, Lord Parker did not obediently fold.
But with gritted teeth clenched out in hidden rage and indignation,
"I am the heir to my father. They are as much mine tomand as they are his." Lord Parker turned to regally point at the still kneeling men as he said this, before swiftly moving that index finger towards Lord Macht, "And so are you! Do not think you are any different either Ser! You are no real lord!"
The statement was made in great anger, but as soon as it was uttered, suddenly it appeared as if all the heat in the tent had been sucked away, as everyone there present subconsciously took a deep, shocked breath.
What Lord Parker said was indeed true.
Lord Macht was not really a true bone fide noble but more like a wealthy civilian who hadrge swathes ofnd and manors but no real authority to govern it like a noble did. Meaning he still had to bend the knee and pay taxes to his local lord.
And for a man as aplished as him, this was also perhaps his greatest sore spot.
Why should he kneel to someone who had done so little when he had done so much?
This was also a well known secret among the men and few dared to poke the mightly warrior using it.
Which was perhaps exactly why Lord Parker had done it.
Lacing the threat in an unmistakable manner, it seemed Lord Parker wanted to rile the man up, reminding him of the stark difference in status between the two.
Then perhaps if the other party acted out, he could use it to somehow make him back down.
However, even though he was poked at his weak spot like this, the elderly man appeared absolutely unperturbed, save for the slight deepening of the few dashes of wrinkles on his face.
As a veteran of uncountable battles, if he was so easy to anger and bait out, then he would have died a long time ago.
Hence instead of flipping out and destroying his imperious,manding image, the great man only stepped forward and replied in a cool, calm voice,
"I have never imed to be a lord, boy. It was only something others call me by!"
Lord Parker''s heart instantly thumped like a drum even though he only heard a windless, serene voice, while the closing of the distance between the two men made him feel very diminutive and in danger.
Lord Parker suddenly began to feel extremely ufortable at having his personal space vited like this as the towering man appeared like an unsurpassable giant to him, and as their gazes shed, the extremely chilly light emitting from the elderly aqueous blue eyes almost made his body turn to ice.
Judging by just the words he said it might have sounded like Lord Macht was correcting Lord Parker and defending himself.
However in reality he was actually attacking, and attacking very aggressively.
He was hinting at Lord Parker to recall what it implied when everyone unanimously called someone by the title ''Lord'' even though he was not.
Undoubtedly that person had to have done something very special to warrant such true respect.
Which in Lord Macht''s case was his legendary battlefield aplishments, ones about which entire books had been written, plural.
He was considered one of the best fighters not just within Duke Heeat''s retinue, but ording to some masters, even in all of the southern regions of the Central Sea. And this was a im that most did not dare challenge even though he was a man approaching his twilight years.
Furthermore, something else that Lord Macht did not care to mention was although technically he was no lord by birth, that did not mean he was equivalent to amoner either.
Because by birth he was the bastard son from another ducal family- the Macht family.
Now typically an illegitimate son would never be allowed to use the name of his father in Sybarian society, never mind when that father was someone as exalted as a duke.
Instead, he would be forced to take his mother''s name or any other simple,moner''s name.
However Lord Macht was among the extreme few exceptions to this rule.
Long story short, the grandfather of the current ruling Duke of the Macht family had one day taken a ck maidservant working there and got her pregnant.
Discovering this, he promptly abandoned the pair since the monogamous Sybarian society was ill suited to ept such a taboo union.
This was per the norm of the times, and usually, in such cases, the mother and child would die or fade away into poverty ridden obscurity.
However, through the many twists of fate, the boy and mother both not only survived but even thrived, managing to score a decent life for themselves through hard work, a bit of external help, and a lot of luck.
Then many decades after, when the current Duke Macht finally took his seat, he decided to award the ck man, who was his half uncle with the surname Macht, both as a way to renew familial ties, as well as a way to bond with this great warrior.
Of course there were a lot of political shenanigans here, as well as a significant amount of Duke Heeat''s hand in all of this, who did this both as a way to repay the man for his services as well as forge a closer tie with the other Ducal family.
But at the end of the day, all this meant that when such a heavyweight spoke, Lord Parker had to listen, whether he liked it or not.
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Chapter 1188: Decision About The Margraves
"......"
Facing the objection from the towering and influential Lord Macht, the much younger and junior Lord Parker found himself unable to get even a proper footing in the conversation.
Arge part of it was because the next in line duke knew the opposite party had theplete confidence of his father and thetter almost blindly trusted him.
Meaning whatever the man said would go in front of the duke, without thetter not even verifying it most of the time.
There were even asions when Lord Macht''s testimony had trumped Lord Parker''s, such as when thetter skipped sword practice to go y hookey, with the father choosing to rather believe his bodyguard over his own flesh and blood.
Of course, such an exalted privilege was not simply given out to anybody by the Duke.
It was something that Lord Macht had earned for himself with his own sweat and blood, drop by drop, inch by inch, over a span of literal decades. All the scars on his body were there to prove all that without a shadow of a doubt.
And in reciprocating to that sacrifice, the Duke gave this great honor to Lord Macht, knowing his loyalty was beyond reproach and his honor unshakable.
The man would never lie about anything to his liege.
It was also one of the primary reasons why Duke Heeat had helped the man get his father''s name, as a way to repay the man for his many years of loyal service protecting him, recalling that there were at least two times in his life when he would have surely died in battle if not for this man taking the blow for him.
All these examples went to show that in front of such an influential figure, the ''freshly hatched out of the egg'' chick named Lord Parker had trouble standing his ground.
Ignoring this man''s advice or going against him was sure to make his father very angry. And once he was informed why his son had done the act, well, the anger was sure to burst into full fledged fury.
Lord Parker was still fearful of his father when it came to such matters. And thus he noticeably shimmered down, figuring fighting this deputy of his father was much more trouble than it was worth.
He quickly broke eye contact with the fearful man and left the stage with only this hidden threat,
"I''m still your lord Lord Macht! You best remember that!"
The threatening words were spoken with an air of grievance as if the young man wasmenting his powerlessness, while also clearly indicating that he could make life very difficult for the other once he took officer.
"Hah! You are not my lord yet brat! Wait until the day you are to talk to me like that!"
Needless to say however, such a weak jibe had minimum effect on Lord Macht.
Forget the fact that Lord Parker had made that ''great'' threat with a shaky voice and a weak, thumping heart, even if he was deadly serious, the inflexible warrior would not have budged an inch.
He was sent here by his lord to perform a given set of duties and he would see it was done to the tee no matter who or what obstacles rose in the way.
Even if that obstacle was the next duke himself.
"......."
While hearing how his threat was tossed into the garbage like a waste rag without even a moment''s consideration, Lord Parker felt his ego hurt and he clenched his fist to the point his knuckles turned white.
Some of the surrounding soldiers wanted to step forward and defend the man seeing this, however, the moment they recalled that they would have to face Lord Macht- sporting that imposing figure and those icy cold eyes, such mutinous thoughts very quickly fled.
Thus soon a solemn state of silence descended upon the tent, as Lord Macht stepped up to take over.
"Get up!" His very first address was to the kneeling officers, all of whom shed a ruddy, grateful smile while scampering to their feet.
They all undoubtedly owed their lives this time to thismanding man, one who had dared to go so tantly against their lord just in order to save them.
And so they were all about to express their gratitude one by one when suddenly this boomed out,
"Tell me what happened out there today! Again!"
Lord Macht did not seem to put much thought into his altruistic action or even about the fact that he had utterly enraged his future employer. Instead, he simply ordered the men to once again retell the events of the day.
"Yes sir. We¡.."
The first to step forward was the most reactive of the officers, Lord Kite, and began the recount the events in chronological order, before being quickly buttressed by others with their own experiences.
Until finally, it ended with the testimony of that newmander sent as reinforcements.
And as Lord Macht poked and prodded the officers during the interrogation, he came to quickly unearth much of the hidden details regarding what had transpired in the ships, and by the end of it, his blue eyes had turned icy, perhaps even more than the time when he locked horns with Lord Parker.
The experienced veteran who hadmanded countless troops over the span of decades could easily spot the ws in many of these officers'' retelling, such as them ming everything on the Margraves while washing their hands clean.
Lying, or perhaps more urately- embellishing the truth of the matters to one''s supervisor was something that unfortunately was wildly prevalent within all militaries of the world, to the point it had almost taken the form of a tradition, and became a sort of expected way of doing things.
Meaning Lord Macht too had ''lied'' and much more importantly been ''lied'' to.
And it had happened so many times over so many years that the man had easily developed a very keen nose for being able to suss out any bullshit the other officers might be trying to sell him.
Hence following the end of the recount, his voice boomed out with a freezing shout,
"You im the Margraves decided to attack you when there was no longer space in the ship? Then why didn''t they just stop taking more men and leave?"
"..." There naturally was no answer as every man understood they had been found out. And they did not dare insult Lord Macht''s intelligence by saying otherwise.
They simply kept their mouths shut while the other side fumed, their silenceying undeniable testament to the fact that today they were the aggressors here and the Margraves had every right to be indignant.
However, after finding the officers bing cleverly mute and ashamed, this experienced warrior did not choose to linger on this matter, intending to leave their punishment to others.
Rather, the man suddenly turned his focus to thatmander who was in charge of the reinforcements, and as the pair''s gaze met, Lord Macht piercingly inquired,
"Commander Rick¡ why didn''t you chase that traitorous Margrave gship? They could not have gone too far by the time you got here."
Hearing his name being singled out like that, the man cursed his rotten luck, wondering what he had done to deserve to get that deployment today.
''I did nothing wrong today. Rather I helped our troops!'' He shouted in his mind defending himself before lifting his head up with clenched teeth to meet Lord Macht.
The man was instantly assaulted by the same sensation Lord Parker had faced when encountering the veteran man, with his body suddenly turning cold and chilly despite the raging fire inside the tent.
For the first time in his life, Rick understood just why this elderly ck man was so revered by everyone.
Lord Macht did not always show it, but when he released his imposing aura, it was not one bit inferior to Achis.
In fact, given the former''s much greater age, it was arguably thick, even more tyrannical, one that made any soldier want to follow his order without question.
Themander wasted no time in stepping up and in a very flustered manner spat out his defense within a single breath
"Se.. my lord, my orders back then were to rescue the men. When I got there, many of the men were freezing to death on the water, while those few atop the bridge seemed to be on the verge of falling any second. All my attention was taken by them."
What the man said was indeed true, all the men waiting for rescue had let out intense shouts of joy upon seeing them, then pleaded for help.
It was also something Lord Macht could easily imagine, as well as verify with the other crews.
But the man would not have to do any of that, as after giving this answer, Rick quickly added this as a way to divert the former''s attention,
"Also my lord, when I spotted the Margrave gship, they had already sailed quite a distance and I simply assumed they were going there to rescue Lord Kite. Perhaps you should him."
Hearing his name being uttered out of nowhere like this, Lord Kite instantly cursed the man and his entire fourteen generation.
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Chapter 1189: Decision About The Margraves (Part-2)
Themander sent at the very twilight of the battle to go rescue the troops had not been simply idly standing by all this time, justmpooning about how Lord Parker was going to punish him.
No, in the meantime, he had managed toe up with a few sort of strategies to try and save his skin.
It was just too bad Lord Parker had be too insane to listen to any of them, letting all that plotting go down the drain.
But luckily for the man, Lord Macht was not like that.
Hence at the mention of Lord Kite, the burly man instantly turned his focus to him, his piercing gaze seeming to suddenly ask, ''That''s right! The traitorous Margrave ship must have passed by you. Why didn''t you stop it?''
Lord Kite could only spit out with the utmost indignation at being so unjustly pointed the finger,
''Bullshit! How was I supposed to know anything? I was busy fighting for my life. So where would I get the time to look around and take in the scenery?''
This was very clearly the other side''s attempt to deflect me from oneself to him and this senior officer could not believe this was happening.
He was being suspected of negligence even after all he had done today, holding his ground firmly against a staunch enemy for so many hours even when there was no relief in sight.
The mere insinuation that he might have anything to do with the general''s capture thus incensed him, as he had always believed his integrity to the Heeat family was beyond reproach.
However, the clever lord also understood that iming innocence here was not the best strategy. He suspected Lord Macht was on a witch hunt, looking for someone, anyone suitable to dump the me about all of today''s happenings onto.
And that someone did not even have to be guilty or anything- just someone who could have reasonably and usibly done the deed, that''s all.
For instance, perhaps they could notbel Lord Kite a traitor, but if he was unable to aptly defend himself, then certainly the moniker of ipetent hung in the bnce.
And if that happened, if a finger could be pointed to a person suspected to be the main culprit, then all the others could be spared from Lord Parker''s wrath.
This was a tactic that Lord Kite himself was none the stranger to as he too employed it regrly within his unit, such as when there was a need to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.
However although it felt great when using it for himself, Lord Kite found cursing this method when he was put at the receiving end of it.
Only now did he seem to understand the inherent unjustness of it all.
The only silver lining of all this was that since the man was so experienced in this method, he also knew how to extract himself from it.
So stepping forward, he quickly thought on his feet and soon produced an alternate version of the events that had transpired,
"My lord, the Margraves ship did indeed join our fight just as Commander Rick imed. As a matter of fact, without it covering our retreat by acting as a sort of rear guard, we might not have been able to get away so smoothly. Those fresh troops aboard that gship really proved decisive. So I too am curious why the Margraves ship then chose to suddenly defect.
They had promised me that they would follow as soon as they were able to. "
Yes, ording to Lord Kite''s own version of the events, themander had not simply let the Margrave ship pass by without doing anything about it. But the ship had first pretended to aid them in battle, promising them that they would bring up the rear, only to sail in the opposite direction when Lord Kite had turned his back on them.
Such a turn of events quickly made Lord Kite appear in a much more ttering light, since now, he did not simply let the fish slip, but was first tricked into trusting it, a trap that would have been very hard to avoid given the emblem they carried.
It made for a much moreplex and nuanced excuse.
"...????..."
For all the attending officers, however, this was apletely unexpected and new answer, thus catching all of them by surprise.
It was the first time they were hearing anything like this, from either the crew or even Lord Kite himself, given his recent battlefield recount was very different from this one.
Hence some of the men, especially officer Rick wanted to immediately speak out and counter him, wanting to ask him to provide greater details.
"....."
They would however never get that chance, as, immediately upon finishing his retelling, Lord Kite turned to shine a sh of extremely menacing re towards all the officers, one that seemed to say, ''If any of you dare question any of this, I swear I will see to it!''
That blink of malice was enough to shut them down, including Rick.
Because it had to be noted that Lord Kite was not only one of the most senior officers with the Heeat army but much more than that, he was a noble.
Asmoners, most did not dare antagonize such a man, especially not over such a grey matter.
"Hmmmm¡"
While the intended recipient of this all, Lord Macht paid all his attention to what Lord Kite said, andpletely ignored all the hidden messages that were being exchanged among the officers right in front of him.
The experienced man of course could easily tell that Lord Kite was trying to whitewash the story about the Margraves providing him aid. That most likely did not happen.
But to be fair, Lord Macht also knew he was sping at straws when trying to pit the man.
Being a noble, Lord Kite would have been a hard man to convince even if he really didmit treason. So forget it when the matter was so banal.
Hence Lord Macht gave up the thought of interrogating the man''s crew to verify his story.
He turned to other potential scapegoats.
However as the clock ticked on, try as he might, Lord Macht found it difficult to pin the entire thing on one man, or even a handful of ones.
Because it soon became clear to him that the matter that had transpired today was way too nuanced andplicated to allow him to do such a thing. The battle had been a very long one, one where too many things had happened, and among them, there were many things the Heeat men had done that would certainly warrant grievous dissatisfaction from the Margraves.
So singling any single man posed impossible.
Lord Macht felt like if were to do this, it would be like tugging a leaf off a branch, once pulled the entire thing would follow, and who knows, possibly when the whole tree then.
Lord Macht found the entire affair too dirty and messy to contemte cleaning up on his own.
Recognizing this, the man thus ultimately decided to give up on his current quest- sacrificing one man to please Lord Parker.
Instead, the man firstmbasted all the officers for many of their negligence and poor calls today, calling many out by their names and chewing them out.
He med Lord Kite for not being aggressive enough against Remus, he med the officers that were with Achis for not protecting him better, he med the reinforcement for not getting there quicker and he basically med all of them for the skirmish with friendly forces.
All this was in part a reflection of the man''s true thoughts, but it was also a part of the show that he put on for Lord Parker, aiming to soothe the man with this shy punishment.
The clever officers understood this and epted the childing with a heavy face but a light heart.
While the more brutish ones felt genuinely hurt and bitter, as their hearts quickly erased all that gratefulness they had left for Lord Macht just now. These fools began to view the man only as a heartless, martmander.
Of course, the veteranmander would have probably not cared one iota about this either way.
"Where is Lord Bernard? Why is he not here?"
Rather than waste his time on such mundanities, the man moved on, next turning his attention to the other faction that was involved in all of this- the Margraves, the family who were really the protagonists of this whole kerfuffle.
Thus it was very surprising to Lord Macht that despite their ''exalted'' status in the whole thing, the man failed to find even a single of their representatives inside the tent, as he quickly finished giving a scanning look at his surroundings.
This was obviously very strange since it meant the Margraves were not even given any chance to defend themselves
"I ordered all of them to be arrested. They will be executed at sunrise!"
The officers were spared from the dilemma of whether to snitch on their lord or not as this sullen voice near the back of the tent quipped the answer voluntarily
"What!" It probably got the most predictable response imaginable.
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Chapter 1190: Decision About The Margraves (Part-3)
The betrayal of the Margraves had Lord Parker up in arms with pitchforks and torches.
So much so that the man was ready to go on a witch hunt the minute he learned that Achis had been taken away in a Margrave''s gship.
And that was considered more than enough evidence for him. Thus refusing to listen to anything more, he immediately ordered all those Margraves officers involved to be immediately seized and then await imminent execution.
And the directive was so epassing that not only did it include the injured Lord Bernard and others simrly wounded in battle, but even his wife Miss Linda, as well as her sister and Achis''s wife Lady Adele were implicated.
The pair had been nonchntly chatting about nothing in particr when out of the blue they found themselves being yanked out of their tents in the most rude manner possible and being escorted to a remote part of the camp under the presence of a very heavy guard.
Lord Parker had grown so enraged about the loss that he implicated even these periphery members who seemingly had nothing to do anything.
Of course that was not how Lord Parker saw things.
Within his twisted mind, he grossly med Miss Linda for rmending Lord Bernard, finding her to be as much responsible for this whole predicament as any of the other men.
Some might even say that Lord Parker med her the most among all the captives because the man was of the mind that without his wife''s whispering, he would have certainly chosen a much morepetent and trusted man from his own formation, one would have never let none of this happen,
Of course, whileing to this conclusion it never urred to the man that ultimately it was who he had the final say in all of it.
So he was just as guilty as those he had put away.
But saying such rhetoric out aloud was unimaginable and thus his beautiful wifenguished in that cramped, cold, damp camp for now, folding her arms and legs inward as best as she could to try and fight the cold.
Given it was the middle of winter and she was thrown under the great open sky with nothing but a thin shawl that she had managed to desperately grab before being dragged away, her lips, finger, and bare feet had almost turned blue by now.
And as she breathed into her cupped hand to try and warm herself, the pretty,dy seemed to slowly wake up to the fact that she might have overestimated the effects her charm had on her husband a little too much.
The man was still ''loyal'' to his lover Achis above anything else and she regretted trying to shoehorn an inexperienced man like Lord Bernard into her scheme.
"Let''s go meet the Margraves now! They are our hosts!"
Upon learning of Lord Parker''s insane decision, Lord Macht did not bother to childe the man, as he understood by now that his lord was not functioning properly right now.
Rather, fighting an iing headache, he instantly chose to exit the tent, aiming to find the captured men and free them as soon as possible
That was his top priority because what Lord Parker had done was not only an immense breach of almost every noble etiquette known to mankind, but it was also something that obviously threatened to tear the alliance between the two families into shreds.
Lord Macht''s heart painfully groaned at the thought of that eventuality as he rapidly paced across the stone roads running along the camp, covering the short distance withrge, wide, powerful steps since he wished to reach his destination as soon as possible.
The veteranmander had remained totally oblivious to this immense disaster about to unfold right his nose because when the Margraves officers were called into Lord Parker''s tent, he was outside, guarding the entrance.
This was very usual and followed the military custom- bodyguards were rarely allowed to stay inside the tent since many official matters were discussed there that were not suitable any other ear.
However today, that sound strategy has produced this tragedy.
Lord Macht did not notice anyrge shouts or virulent cursesing from inside when Lord Parker was meeting the Margraves officers and thus had reasonably assumed all was fine.
Little could he imagine the muted silence represented not peace and harmony but extreme rage and fury, all bubbling and boiling under the surface
Lord Parker had simply listened to the Margrave''s report and right then and there had decided to kill them.
And since he saw no point in arguing with dead men, the man had not broken off into a tirade as he had done with his own men but simply had them escorted out with a group of armed men, one that looked more like a polite send off rather than an arrest.
This was why Lord Macht could not imagine that they were being actually taken to prison.
And the same reason applied to the surrounding Margraves troops here too.
Tired, hungry, and enraged at their treatment, they were too distracted by all these to have the time to inquire about the whereabouts of those few officers who were deployed today. They simply thought they were still presenting their report to Lord Parker.
Otherwise, things would certainly not have been so calm in camp.
Of course, the argument between the men from the two families was still ongoing and soon it would break into a brawl.
However, at least it would not turn into a bloodbath as otherwise expected.
That was indeed a small source of constion for Lord Macht
Lord Macht was able to find the ce where the Margraves officers were being held rtively easily.
Guided by sentries, he found them to be kept in arge penned structure in one of the most distant corners of the camp, where light and warmth existed in the form of a bare flicker.
His appearance, along with the entourage that was following him, consisting of all those officers who had been in the tent with him, worked to produce an almost blinding light for the apprehended men and women, whose attention was instantly grabbed by the numerous bright burning torches, thus superimposing it onto that group.
However, if the man was expecting a cheerful wee, he was to be sorely disappointed.
Because towards the arrival of this new group, the present Margraves officers'' eyes only flickered with a chilly light.
Given how they had been treated till now, they certainly view the group as any kind of savior.
But rather assumed the other side hade to mock them or worse bury them in even more usations before executing them in cold blood.
Thinking it was theirst few moments on earth, one of the Margrave''s officers, who was also the most hot headed of the bunch, thus cursed under his breath,
"Heh! You faithless dogs. You dare to finally decide to show yourself in front of father. By the gods! Kill me and face the wrath of the ten thousand!"
It was quite telling how the man did not plead or try to defend himself but simply invoked the curse of the gods. This made it very clear that he believed himself to be innocent.
Lord Macht neither sided nor rebuked this man, only treating it like innocuous air. Given how many he had been doing this, the veteran man had learned to filter out all these irrelevant mutterings almost subconsciously.
"Get them out of here! Put them in warm clothes and serve them hot food!"
Instead, seeing the state of things, he turned to imperiously give this order to the captain guarding the site, swinging his robust arms around to emphasize the point.
"We only take orders from¡."
The imposing figure of Lord Macht and the extremely didactic way themand was made had the guard in charge quickly swallow all the words he thought of saying, as the man felt like he was dipped into an icyke the moment he gazed upon the man.
The man thus quickly sent a plea for help towards the nearby Lord Parker but received no aid, save for a curt nod.
The men immediatelyplied with Lord Macht to the tee after that.
Under Lord Macht''s supervision, the Margraves officers were moved to a hastily prepared nearby tent and given hot clothes and a roaring fire, the half conscious and still groaning in pain Lord Bernard was sent to the nearby clinic whilestly the two nobledies were escorted to their private quarters.
Towards thest two, Lord Macht even showed a rare moment of skilled diplomacy as he swore to them that the Heeat family as a whole absolutely condemned what had been done to them and then promised them that he would be sure to bring this matter up with the Duke, seeking properpensation as an amendment.
And as he did this, Lord Macht cursed Lord Parker, finding it incredulous that his to-be lord would do something so stupid.
Lord Parker was of course not like that always, however his overreaction this time was still enough to put a great stain on this warrior''s heart regarding him as Lord Macht judged him to becking in perseverance.
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Chapter 1191: Assimilating The Margraves
Lord Parker''s extreme reaction towards the loss of Achis worked to make Lord Macht produce quite a stained record about him in his heart.
All nobles suffered loss, hardship, and defeat in life, and seeing Lord Parker acting like this at his very first instance, Lord Macht began to worry that the man was not tough enough for the job.
The first or second time was okay, but it was to be a habit for him¡. Lord Macht determined he intended to have a talk to the manter regarding this, regarding self control and perseverance.
For now, though, he first worked to try and cate the pair of Margrave''s sisters as best as he could, especially the elder one, since even ayman like him could see how bad it would be to antagonize the two sisters at this moment in time.
The Heeat family was so close to having it all, so thest thing they needed was the Margraves pulling out of the deal because of something like this.
Thus in order to reassure the duo, Lord Macht even had no problem openly cursing his future lord in front of them, calling him out for his foolishness and promising the pair this was a one time affair.
Both sisters chose to honor Lord Macht''s generous acts and sincere words with curt nods and an understanding smile, iming that they understood these were extraordinary times and that Lord Parker was under a lot of stress so they never took it to mind.
Although their actual thoughts were hidden by a mist of ambiguity it remained to be seen how efficacious those efforts by Lord Macht truly were.
After all, it would be very hard for any self respecting woman to forgive and forget such an injustice so easily, never mind when it involved distinguished nobledies such as them.
The only silver lining in all of this was Lord Macht was blessed to get there when he did- on time.
If he had dyed it by a bit more, there was a high probability thesedies might have caught a serious cold or fever, and if he had missed them by sunrise, well they would have likely lost their heads.
When Lord Macht thought about it like that, the current circumstances did not seem at all bad.
Lord Macht left the Margraves sisters to rest and warm themselves up and then worked to quickly seek out the captured officers, asking them their version of today''s events.
The recount mostly coincided with what the Heeatmanders had retold, with the only exception being that ording to their version, it was the Heeat soldiers who started the fights aboard the ships and them who stabbed Lord Bernard, not a panicked Margraves soldier.
But much more critically than that, one of the Margrave''s officers swore that their gship fled the scene only after the fight had broken and Lord Bernard had been attacked, possibly because they thought they had been betrayed, as put forth by him.
Lord Macht felt a headache hearing all this, not only because it clearly conflicted with the ''official'' report but also because of how hard it would be to verify these.
Both sides had every reason to lie.
So Lord Macht first tried to find the culprit who had supposedly stabbed Lord Bernard and interrogated him about it.
However, he soon found out that the man had already been thrown overboard by Officer Rick as punishment.
At the time, this was done with the intention of hiding the fact and thus shielding the Heeat family from being implicated. It was assumed that without the assistant''s own testimony, the Margraves would have a very weak case, one which could be buried with brute force by the Heeat family.
The loss of Achis and Lord Parker''s insanity made that n quickly go bust, and instead that brash action only got Rick another earful from Lord Macht.
But at the end of the day, the milk had been already spilled and no amount of shouting could bring the attacker back for interrogation.
So Lord Macht was forced to turn to Lord Bernard- the man at the center of it all.
The only problem was thismander who had seen it all was still recovering from his wound, unable to move and barely conscious.
Able to form only the smallest of tangible words, there was no getting anything out from him anytime soon.
Lord Bernard had wondered how a simple wound could make a man so delirious, even if it had be septic. But he was no doctor and could only take the Margrave physician''s word for it.
Which also meant that Lord Macht had run out of leads for now.
Whether the other side was faking it or not, Lord Macht could see there being little recourse for him other than to wait for the man to recover and resolve this dispute.
That greatly peeved him because he was worried that if he waited too long, it would give the man''s side enough time to get their story straight and he would not be able to discover how Achis was truly lost.
"Tsk! This is getting so troublesome! That stab to the stomachplicated everything."
However after around a few hours of fruitless searching, Lord Macht determined he was unable to proceed any further with any of the leftover clues, thus causing him to let out this aggrieved moan.
With various sides giving him conflicting reports and him being no great detective, he had been still unable to determine whether Achis''s capture was just a pure idental convergence of coincidences or a determined methodical plot.
And until he could find evidence of thetter, the current situation with the Margraves family necessitated that he assumed the former.
Of course, the reality was a mixture of the two, with the overly ambitious Lord Bernard choosing to take advantage of an evolving situation. So Lord Macht''s search for a ck and white answer was doomed to fail from the start.
"Sir! Dinner is here."
Lord Macht was suddenly broken out of his thoughts by this announcement from outside his tent, and *Growl*, *Growl*, his stomach quickly responded to the deration as such.
If there had been a clock with Lord Macht, he would have certainly been very surprised to find how much time had passed since dusk.
Given the time and how he was stuck at an impasse, the man decided to take a break from hunt and re-energize himself, quickly stuffing his mouth with a kind of t bread eaten with meat and a type of vegetable curry.
But that did not mean his mind was idle.
Apart from the missing Achis, there were many problems still guing the camp, and Lord Macht''s mind worked fully to resolve them.
''Given what happened today, I should separate the two family''s troops and keep them from deploying together. Hmmm, yes, I will put the Margraves troops in reserve and only use our men in the uing fight. That will strip them of any relevance. And our battlefield aplishments should help soothe all the nasty things that happened today.''
Lord Macht decided to do this as a kind of punishment towards the Margraves as well as a way to protect his own family.
Then with that done, continued to note,
''Then tomorrow I will order an attack with all we have on Phyrros Ind. We should have around fifteen to twenty ships here. That means around three thousand men can makendfall. Yes, that should be enough to overwhelm the garrison there. Alexander at best has a thousand men there.''
''I will also order the bridge debris floating to be removed. With that route open, we attack the harbor and sink Alexander''s fleet. After that¡''
Lord Macht would not get to end his long train of thoughts as,
"Ahhhhhhh!"
"*Bang!* *ng!*"
"I will kill you!"
"Bastards! You dare try to kill our captain!"
Suddenly this great roar of indignation broke through the man''s tent and fearing an enemy night time, he forced himself to immediately check it out, dashing his way outside.
The sight of the brawl became clear to him instantly, and while Lord Macht was at least d it was not Alexander trying to take advantage of the fracture of two families, and the fighting still greatly incensed him.
Thus even though the disturbance was brought under control rtively quickly with him and arge entourage of officers, the outbreak of the symptoms made the man take some much more drastic measures.
The ns for all the attacks the next day were halted and instead, Lord Macht over the following days, the Margraves army had their formation slowly broken up into much smaller section and their officer corp reced with those from the Heeat family.
In his way, Lord Macht decided to effectively remove the Margraves troop as a separate entity and assimted them
Alexander would wake up the next day, oblivious to the unfolding chaos in his enemy''s camp, after feeling the strong sun rays beginning to filter through the closed curtains and onto his eyes. And given it was winter, it clearly meant dawn had long since broken and they were actually closer to noon.
The man had slept a good twelve to fourteen hours. And even then he felt groggy.
And strangely cold!
*Cough*, *Cough*, *Cough*
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Chapter 1192: Subtle Worries
As the morning rays filtered into Alexander''s room, his very first memory after waking up was that of an intense splitting headache and an extremely painful throat.
His entire body felt very heavy and when Alexander tried to speak, he found it very difficult even just to swallow a gulp.
In fact, simply opening his eyelids hurt.
Alexander instantly understood what was happening to him, i.e.- his previous worries had reallye true and yesterday''s dip in the freezing cold water hade to bite him back.
He was running an extremely high fever.
This made the man groan in his heart because he had a lot to do today- the most pressing of which was discussing what to do regarding Anoon and Achis with Lady Miranda.
And Alexander was quite eager to do that because the sooner he could get that done, the sooner he would be able toe up with his next strategy. Alexander even thought he could reinforce his forces with these new deserters once they were processed, something he was in absolute dire need of.
So initially he tried to force his way through the pain.
*Cough*, *Cough*, *Cough*,
His efforts were rewarded with this cracking cough as try as he might, his willpower proved too weak in front of his grave, debilitating condition.
This croaking noise was enough to quickly rouse thedy sleeping next to him out of her slumber and even from a distance she could feel the heating out of Alexander''s body.
Touching him caused Lady Nanazin to let out a whispered shout,
"By the gods! Alexander!"
Alexander was burning up!
And judging by his temperature, he was burning up quite badly.
It felt almost painfully scalding to touch him, while to Alexander, the same, normal temperature soft, supple hands suddenly felt unnaturally cold and chilly, almost like ice cubes that were being dragged over him.
"I''m¡. ahhhh mmmm!"
Towards the rmed shout, Alexander tried to first reassure her that he was fine.
However due to his sore throat, he found it too difficult to simply produce any coherent words, and when he tried to look at her, just the dim wintery sunlight caused his eyes to sting the moment he tried to open them.
Alexander was foolish to even try such a thing and could only let out pained moans while cursing his current state.
"Rest. You don''t need to do anything today,"
Spotting Alexander''s intense condition, Lady Nanazin naturally ignored all his attempts and quickly made sure that he gotfortable.
She canceled all his appointments for the day and then had him all wrapped up inyers uponyers of nkets, thus making sure he did not have any way of getting up today.
So for the next two days, Alexander found himself mostly lying and sleeping in his room, with a wet cloth on his forehead and no one to disturb him with anything.
The only thing Alexander needed to do back then was to periodically wake up and eat a kind of porridge like traditional soup that had various local herbs and remedies mixed in it, as prescribed by his personal physician, and then go back to sleep.
Almost everything else was taken care of by therge number of maids assigned to him by Lady Miranda, or therge entourage of men who were his bodyguards. The only thing he really needed to do by himself was to go to the bathroom.
And amongst all of these ''servants'', the person who chose to stay closest to him at all times was unsurprisingly Lady Nanazin.
This queen had stuck to him like glue all day and all night, twenty four seven, despite the fact that there were so many others, and even forbade anyone from approaching Alexander.
She would personally wipe his body down, hand feed him the soup at every meal, and of course sleep beside him at night.
Towards all these actions, many of the maids and men gave the regaldy subtle looks, especially those who knew of her true identity.
These actions certainly did not befit a woman who was married to another man. And given the strict monogamous nature of Sybarian society, many thus found this open disy of affection by the adulterous couple extremely distasteful.
However, at the end of the day, none of them dared to slight either of the pair in any way, knowing they were simply too small and insignificant to judge these bigshots, especially when these bigshots were from other, distantnds.
Most of them chalked it up to cultural differences.
As for people who couldment, well, Lady Miranda turned a blind eye to all this because frankly, it did not concern her one bit, Lady Parthia internally wrinkled her brows at the immorality of the act but quickly found she had no moral high ground to stand on, so quickly started to pretend this was all normal, while the one at the center of it all, Alexander faced the whole situation with a veryplicated heart.
On one hand, he could see the other side''s feeling for him to be truly genuine, as there were many wives who did not take care of their husbands as well as Lady Nanazin was doing.
But this also made him frown at how he was going to reciprocate it.
Should he pretend to not notice and try and keep the status quo as was?
This would be the ideal case for Alexander as it would let him enjoy all the benefits and enjoyment of being with a married queen without any of the drawbacks.
They could enjoy each other''spany when the mood suited them and go their separate ways when it changed, letting Alexander be very flexible with his approach.
However, he also knew it was the least likely to seed.
And it was surprisingly not just because such a rtionship was bound to get exposed sooner orter.
Ptolomy had clearly shown how little he cared for his wife, so even if she threatened to leak their affair to the king, given his apathy Alexander was confident he would at best have to pay a certain fine to smooth this over.
This was because as far as he knew Ptolomy was currently in quite a bit of debt as he tried to buy the various nobles'' loyalty as well as restore hisnds following the intense drought and the subsequent war.
There had already been letters sent to Alexander regarding this, subtly asking him for a ''loan''.
They were of course t out rejected at the time since Alexander knew these were not actually loans in Ptolomy''s eye but more like taxes, ones that would never need to be repaid.
So he used the excuse that he had just had a war with Tibias that required hundreds of millions of ropals in men and material, and whatever he had left would be needed to restore the war tornnds to deny the request.
However, if push came to shove, Alexander could easily offer these few tens of millions of ropals for the man to forgive and forget this
And so, in reality, Alexander''s greatest opposition surprisingly came from thedy herself.
Lady Nanazin had clearly indicated that she wanted to break away from Ptolomypletely, not simply wanting to settle for a status quo. And the way she wanted to do so seemed to be by having a child with Alexander.
Because she knew this was the absolute sure fire way to do it.
If thedy was to get pregnant, the equation for Alexander to appease Ptolomy wouldpletely change If
Not only because that would break the tacit understanding between the two parties had in this gross tradition, i.e.- enjoying another''s spouse but never producing bastards, but much more than that, if it was to be a boy, it would also pose too a grave challenge to Ptolomy''s session.
No sane man would allow this.
It was knowing this that the queen would not only wildly swing her hips and beg Alexander to ''breed her'' or ''impregnate her'' during their many session, but also would always try to make Alexander finish inside her, such as by locking her legs around him and pulling him closer towards her.
Alexander lost count of how many times he had filled her baby room with his gift till now, making the still very tight snatch overflow with his creamy goodness for he found the sensation exquisite.
And although that had not been a problem till now because they were still using the herbal contraceptives, there were days Alexander could instinctively feel the fertiledy''s womb was ovting and he feared one of these days, she was going to ask to do it ''raw'', and he could be unable to say ''no''.
Of course, given Alexander''s huge position and Lady Nanazin''s absolute powerlessness, he could forcefully deny her request and make her obey regardless.
But given how much this innocentdy had suffered throughout her life, he felt too much of a scum to use her and then heartlessly discard her just like that.
That''s why even though Alexander knew this would likely bring disaster to him, he found it too hard to reject her.
''I will have to find aprise. Maybe make her disappear or give her a new identity.'' He thought to himself.
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Chapter 1193: Skirmish in Phyrros Island (Part-1)
In the following two days that Alexander remained bedridden, Lady Nanazin found her feeling surprisingly very happy despite the great workload she had to bear.
The simple reason of course was that she got to be close to the man she loved the most twenty four seven.
She had never even dreamed that she would be able to get to monopolize Alexander like that and thus, despite his illness being a source of great worry for her, she also thanked it for the opportunity it created.
She was able to stay beside Alexander and tend to him with everything that he needed, be it feeding him, wiping his body or simply massaging his sore body, determined to not let her man experience the slightest bit of difort.
The delight she got from doing all these was enough to wipe any and all fatigue she might have gathered, to the point even the army of maids and menbined struggled to meet her standards.
To them, it appeared as if thedy was almost always awake by Alexander''s side and they all were very surprised by how diligent and caring this nobledy appeared.
If there was a chance for Alexander to fall given the backwardness of medicine in this era, Lady Nanazin certainly made sure to do her best to negate all of them.
As for Alexander, he epted all this with aplicated heart, his heart swaying greatly from one end to the other as he tried to think of what way to best reciprocate all this goodwill.
He was not that worried about sleeping with her because such a thing was regrettablymon within the noble circles of Adhania and given their estrangement, Ptolomy had absolutely no problem lending out Lady Nanazin if it meant he could use her to get more funding.
He had betrayed her for far less.
So if Lady Nanazin only wanted a physical rtionship with Alexander and to be by his side, the man could arrange that after paying a certain price.
However Lady Nanazin clearly wanted much more- she wanted a child, preferably a son.
This was because she saw her union with Alexander being iplete without one, being without any proof.
But perhaps much equal as important as that, it was because she wanted to get back at her torments with this, to show them she indeed could produce an heir.
Because in Lady Nanazin''s mind, all the torment she suffered till now was solely a result of her inability to produce a son.
In her younger years, there would be many days when she would wonder how her life would be if she had only given birth to a son and would even very asionallye to resent her daughters, wishing they were never born. Those days, Lady Nanazin would even think being barren might have been better.
So now, knowing she had another chance to prove herself, she was determined to get it.
The eyes with which she looked at Alexander clearly proved that, to the point, sometimes Alexander had a hard time looking at them even as he was fed his soup.
Those pairs of crystalline balls appeared to shimmer and glimmer with hope, happiness, and expectation, gazing at them, Alexander would find the words of rejection that he wanted to say somehow get stuck in his throat.
Even though taking Lady Nanazin in would surely cause more trouble than it was worth it, Alexander found himself too drawn to it.
''Whatever! Just forget it! I will decide what to do about her when I get back.''
Ultimately he found his head aching with all these thinking and muttering, and instead slumped his body back into the soft bed by deciding to kick the can down the down, musing the thought,
''I''m sure I can think of a way to make Ptolomy ept this without flipping him over. Hmmmm, I have not talked to the Queen mother in years, Perhaps she was help¡."
ording to Alexander''s internal evaluation, he felt that if he yed his cards right and certain conditions were met, such as Lady Nanazin disappearing from the eye of the rest of the nobility and bing an unknown nobody, there was a good probability that Ptolomy could be convinced to divorce Lady Nanazin or simply forget about her.
So Alexander now only needed to find and fulfill those conditions.
While he searched for those conditions, he was very d that he was in Caira, apletely foreignnd totally out of Ptolomy''s clutches.
That helped him fully hide the extent of their affair.
Which was a very good thing since Alexander had not technically gotten his permission when he brought Lady Nanazin with him.
And given that during their stay Lady Nanazin seemed to have gotten used toying with Alexander almost every day, this concealment let him avoid any unnecessaryplications with the king.
Without that, Alexander did not know how he would have handled this wild mare.
Because Lady Nanazin never made any attempt to hide her voice during their sessions, to the point her moaning voice had be almost a permanent fixture of Alexander''s bedroom. It was like she wanted everyone to hear them, to let them know she was Alexander''s woman.
Hence they would be loud enough to drift out of the door, and this gave rise to a strange phenomenon among the men who were to be stationed outside the door at night- they would secretly draw straws to decide who would get the job.
Not because these men were eager perverts who liked to listen to these amorous sounds but really the exact opposite.
These moans would cause all the men to pass the time in a very ufortable way, as they would struggle to maintain a ''proper posture''.
The sounds would easily stimte all of them to imagine how such a usually prim and proper regaldy was able to make those sounds, sounds that these men rarely heard even in brothels, thus making them drool with all kinds of scious thoughts.
However given they knew they would never be able to even take the slightest peek without instantly losing their head, all they could do was try their best to keep such thoughts to themselves and endure the torture.
The men thus soon found this experience was a not pleasant one and sought to avoid the guard duty as best as they could.
As for the man who was the recipient of all this affection, well Alexander at first tried to make Lady Nanazin keep her voice down to try and cover up their affair, but the man very soon found out that was useless.
Lady Nanazin was an expert who dwarfed Alexander''s experience and so could easily get him to follow her flow, by using various naughty postures and dirty words among other things. Not to mention, Alexander also secretly quite enjoyed making such a noble woman moan underneath him so dirtily.
*Slurp*, *Slurp*, *Slurp*,
This was perhaps why he was not angry to wake up to this very familiar sound and sensation the very morning his fever went down, opening his eyes to see Lady Nanazin diligently bobbing up and down his always turgid shaft.
Thedy had her plump, red lips strongly stered against the huge meat and let it slide in and out of her mouth with the utmost expertise, matching her movements with a swirling tongue and a gentle but powerful suctioning force.
"Ahhhhh!" No matter how many times Alexander experienced this, he still could not believe how good the mouth felt and to wake up in such a way always made him like a king.
"*Chuuu*... ahhhh! Hehe¡ I missed this so much. We must make up for lost time!"
While Lady Nanazin who was broken out of her trance hearing Alexander''s moan only turned to make this armorus announcement with this great grin, her eyes twinkling with unrestrained desire.
There was no ''hello'' or ''good morning'' as any normal person would do, but seeing Alexander had recovered, the very first thing that came to Lady Nanazin''s mind was to scratch that itch that she had been holding in for so long.
Thisdy at the prime of her adult life tended to have her urges spill over if she was abstinent for too long and staying so close to Alexander for thest two days while taking in all his musky smell the whole had thedy very riled up.
So much in fact that Lady Nanazin wondered if she might have pounced on him within the next few days regardless of Alexander''s condition, for her needs felt that great.
Fingers no longer just did the trick for her, while she disdained to use any of her toys, feeling them to be not only too cold and dull, but more than that, she thought it would be disrespectful to her man.
Hence she was perhaps even more d to see Alexander recover than the man himself, and as a reward for beating the illness, quickly mounted him, ready to give her man the best ride of his life.
While back in Alexander''s camp, a scout shouted this news,
"Sir Remus! The enemy isnding forces on Phyrros Ind. Look at the smoke signal. Our garrison is asking for reinforcement."
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Chapter 1194: Alexanders Pleasant Morning (Part-1)
As dawn broke, Alexander still remained oblivious to the attack on his garrison, being instead far more focused on the sexy scenary unfolding right in front of him.
Dressed in a sexy negligee, the eagerdy seemed very willing to please as her mouth worked diligently.
Then once getting his huge shaft wet enough, the curvy woman wasted little time in mounting it, her eager movements clearly stimting Alexander.
After all, who did not enjoy watching the opposite sex eager wanting them?
Especially when it was someone whose identify was as special as her''s?
Hence Alexander watched with great appreciation the way the busty, buxomdy got on top of him, with all her various curvy parts jiggling and wobbling around as she got into position.
Lady Nanazin felt no hindrance in then spreading her meaty thighs to Alexander, thus eagerly revealing her perfectly shaved pubes that were glistening with desire. The current state of the organ left little doubt in anyone''s mind about how anticipant the other side was to eat him.
In fact, as Lady Nanazin shamelessly opened her healthy thighs, Alexander''s ns were instantly sprinkled by dollops of those warm fluids, staining them in the maturedy''s wanton smell and causing him to twitch.
Lady Nanazin shot a smirking, pleased look at Alexander seeing this, before wetting her red, plump lips in amorous anticipation, and then,
*Plop!*, she dove right in, sitting on top of the mighty organ and swallowing the entire thing in one simple thrusting motion.
Considering Alexander''s impressive size, this was no mean feat.
But then again, for someone as experienced as Lady Nanazin, this took little actual effort, and really fit her into her canals just fine- snug and perfect.
"Ahhh! Fuck! By the gods! There is it! Ahhhh¡ so good!"
The holy ambient silence of the wintery morning was as such broken with this whorish roar, as Lady Nanazin screamed to the gods in glee for epting her wishes.
The feeling of her hole finally getting filled and then stretched to its limits made the buxomdy instantly arch her back and roll out her tongue in utter bliss, for she felt herself bing finally whole- both literally and figuratively,
Then without further ado,
*Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*! Ahhh, fuck! I missed this so much!*Pah*! *Pah*! *Pah*! Ah so good, mnnn!
More! *Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*! Alexander give me more! Do it harder!"
The starvingdy wasted no time in getting to know Alexander better as immediately following the insertion, she began to move her hips at a speed that needed to be seen to be believed.
One would think she had been starved of intimacy for decades given how fierce and wanting she appeared- with her driving her meaty butt to hit Alexander''s thighs so fast that it made loud, wet, pping noises each time, while their croutch became soaked in her fresh fluids.
*Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*,
The air around Alexander''s room was thus quickly filled with Lady Nanazin''s lustful ravings, who along with the pping sounds sprouted all sorts of profanities, roaring all her thoughts out.
By now it seemed the regaldy had decided to discard all semnces of her usually noble regalness and instead took on apletely different appearance- that of a thirty cowgirl who liked to ride her man like the wild filly she was.
And looking at her current state, one could indeed find some truth to those outside guards'' im- that in bed Lady Nanazin might be even more wanton than some of the working girls those men paid to sleep with.
However thedy in question paid little heed to the thoughts of these mere plebs, who were not even worth a second nce in her eyes.
The only thing that upied her mind was eating Alexander up and thus she continued to dance on hisp, finding each hammering blow of the solid ns to the very end of her canal maddeningly pleasurable.
It felt like a battering ram was hitting her baby room every time she moved, each strike making thedy produce white shes in her mind as a tingling sensation spread through her body, filling her with pleasure.
Lady Nanazin did not think anyone had ever hit on those spots other than Alexander and that realization made her sing her heart out in glee.
While the man underneath being subjected to all this pleasure, he too of course enjoyed the act.
Lady Nanazin was always very passionate in bed with him, and although today she was a bit more eager, it was really nothing too out of the ordinary.
Unlike Alexander''s younger wives who liked to take things a bit slow at first in bed and then increase the tempo, this maturedy was never that patient. She preferred for Alexander to go at her hard and fast right from the get-go, wanting him to brutally smash into her even if it destroyed her in the process.
Hence most of the time sex with Lady Nanazin was little about intimacy or feelings.It was always much more hardcore- like she wanted Alexander to just ''fuck'' her brains out and knock her up.
And this morning was no different, as judging by her movements, it was highly doubtful she even had any concern for the pleasure of her counterpart.
Thedy simply moved those curvy hips of hers in the most lewd manner possible, swirling and twisting herself hard and fast like she was dancing on Alexander''s cock, all to try and get the man to empty himself into her fertile womb as soon as possible.
Of course, her acts inevitably produced an ecstatic sensation for Alexander, with a hot, wet, soft sensation filling his lower parts. And given how hard thedy was willing to work herself, Alexander chose to simplyy back and enjoy the sublime sensations.
Sensations that naturally proved exquisite as Lady Nanazin was very skilled in bed, so was able to squeeze and caress her man at all the right ces perfectly, drawing him ever closer to release.
Alexander would never be able to fault her for her ''hospitality''.
But perhaps much more than that simple physical act, what Alexander enjoyed far more was the knowledge of who he was doing it with- the queen of a mighty nation.
A queen whose regal face was contorted with flushed pleasure, eyes zed with lust and tongue rolled out as it uttered the most obscene moans.
Those moans could be said to be truly the highlights of their union for Alexander, try as he might deny them. It was even perhaps the real reason Lady Nanazin was allowed to scream her heart out and alert the whole mansion to what they were really doing in their bedroom.
Because Alexander subconsciously allowed it.
Because the words and sounds produced worked to reinforce his knowledge that he had truly conquered her.
And it was perhaps sensing this pleasure from Alexander that the regaldy churned out all those filthy words in the first ce, words that no self respecting woman would ever say.
Words such,
"Ahh, yes master¡ fuck your whore! Fuck me harder. Use that monstrous cock of yours!"
"Faster master! Break me! I don''t care anymore! Ahh¡ Break your nasty whore! Punish me!"
"Mmmm¡ yes! I''m such a bitch! A sow! Breed me! Destroy my womb!"
"Ahhh¡ everything I have is yours, master! My mouth, my pussy, my ass. Use them whenever you desire. Use them wherever you desire. Turn me into your slut! Turn me into your cum slut!"
Lady Nanazin was willing to debase her to levels notmon for even a working girl just to pleasure her man.
And judging from their previous sessions, her efforts certainly worked, as thedy would certainly feel her man ''perking'' up under her urgings.
Today was also no different as upon hearing such dirty words, Alexander felt his loins grow even hotter.
Hence, although he had wished to originally just sit back and enjoy the show, soon his hands began to itch and he could not help but grab those huge melons that were madly dancing in the air, being decorated in a very sexy ck lingerie.
The sheer cloth that thedy wore revealed much more than it hid as it had a slit running through the middle of its cups, thus letting Lady Nanazin clearly reveal her pink areoles, sleeping in which were her nipples.
*Squeeze*, *Squeeze*,
Lady Nanazin''s chest felt exquisite to touch, soft yet dense and pillowy with still a bit of that youthful springiness to it.
Even though Alexander had touched these puppies too many times to count before, he was once again too drawn to them and wasted no time in squeezing and kneading the enormous globules to his desired shape.
Then once Alexander had his pleasure with the fleshy part, he quickly moved on to the next escting sensation- the exposed, pink ares.
He began by aggressively pinching therge pink saucer shape and that soon produced results, as not only did Lady Nanazin howl in satisfaction, but she also clearly tightened her canal.
So Alexander increased his bullying, not only pinching them harder but also having his fingers bury themselves into the slits and dragging out the sleeping pair of inverted nipples
*Chup*, *Chup*, *Chup*,
Thedy instantly orgasmed at this.
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Chapter 1195: Alexanders Pleasant Morning (Part-2)
"Yes, master! Pull them out! Pinch them hard! Ahhhh! Go good! I love it when you y with them!"
As Alexander pulled Lady Nanazin''srge, thick nipples out of their hibernation, she let out his ear piercing pleasurable scream, as her canal constricted with a vice like grip and its walls rhythmically twitched.
Thedy hade, causing her body to visibly shiver and her tongue to roll out.
Which was unsurprising given Lady Nanazin was always sensitive with her nipples, due to them being usually dormant within her ares for most of the time.
Of course that did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm towards what they were doing as despite her mind going nk for a while, her swaying hips continued to hammer away at the turgid organ with the utmost crity, not missing a single beat.
It was like Lady Nanazin had an instinct to want to please Alexander, to get him toe inside her, to get him to make her pregnant.
Alexander would stealthily put out sheepish smiles at many of the vulgar words Lady Nanazin would let out during their session as well as all the things she wanted her man to do to her, silently thanking the gods that he was young enough to handle such a voracious woman.
Judging from his experience, he genuinely doubted Ptolomy could give what Lady Nanazin wanted even if she was perfectly loyal to him. The middle ageddy who was in the prime of her sexual appetite needed a true man to tame her.
Thus to sate this wild filly, Alexander did exactly what he was asked.
He violently pinched and yanked the two nipples out towards him, turning therge breasts slightly oblong and causing the pink protrusions to be swollen red in pain.
This was certainly quite soring for thedy, but knowing who it was doing it, suddenly turned the intense pain into immeasurable pleasure.
Alexander''s extreme pinching, kneading, and twisting on those nubile buds felt excruciating pleasurable to her and she howled for her master to bully her even more.
And Alexander could easily tell she was truly enjoying this for not only her insides tightened to the point it felt slightly hurtful to him, but she even upped the speed of her moving hips even more if that was even possible.
Alexander was frankly amazed by this because it had to be known being a cowgirl was not easy.
Fatigue tended to easily catch up to the rider as even therge muscr thigh muscles would be overworked after a while of lifting those heavy hips, letting a stinging, burning sensation pervade through the lower region.
But it appeared that when Alexander was involved, all those restrictions were lifted for Lady Nanazin. She showed no signs of stopping even at those speeds even after riding him for so long.
The continued pleasure began to soon affect Alexander and as he edged closer, decided to join thedy in her thrusting, matching her rhythm and poking her at all her known sensitive spots.
This instantly caused her to once again let out a torrent of lustful moans,
"Ahhh¡ thank you, master. Ahh¡ so good master. Yes, thrust into me harder! Hah¡ hah¡ Your cock is too magnificent! Use it to destroy my dirty pussy! Hah..
hah¡so good, move it faster¡.mmmm!"
As Alexander started to move, he also quickly noticed that Lady Nanazin had significantly slowed moving her own hips and was beginning to pant a bit.
This let the man understand that thedy was really pushing herself to the edge till now, willing to bear through all the pain just to let her man enjoy the maximum pleasure.
And during all that, she never showed the slightest hint of difort, or desire to Alexander to pick up the ck.
He could not help but let out a spooky sigh in his heart seeing this because he realized that it was not without reason that he was unable to reject thisdy''s most primal want, even though it would greatly inconvenience him.
She had shown herself to be absolutely loyal to him through numerous such small, loving acts.
Acts that perhaps to others might have seemed insignificant, but to Alexander, to a man who greatly this quality, it was truly moving.
Thus facing Lady Nanazin, he found that he really did not have the heart to deny her this single want.
As Alexander came to this realization, his eyes suddenly became sharper and more focused, with a spark of desire streaking across his mind.
Instead of simply letting Lady Nanazin pleasure him as he had originally decided, Alexander thus suddenly grabbed those sexy hips with all might and without further ado,
*Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*, began to jackhammer away with great intent.
"Ahhhh¡. Yes¡ I''ming¡ I''ming! I can feel you twitching too! Let''se together! Master¡ahhhmmm let''se together.. ahhhh!"
mming down onto Alexander''s hip onest turn, Lady Nanazin''s eyes turnedpletely white with pleasure as
*Splurt*, *Splurt*, *Splurt*,
She felt that all very familiar sensation scalding her insides, filling her to the brim.
No matter how many times she experienced this, it always still made her mind get knocked up to the moon, causing her to lose allposure.
"Ahhhmmmm¡ too tight! Nanazin¡ loosen up!"
While for Alexander, the experience following the release would be usually bittersweet, as those canals would greedily try and suck in every drop of his essence, letting the man experience the outmost pleasure.
However then, instead of bing docile and sated, continue to ask for more, wringing the already empty meat for even more,
The experienced canal would never give Alexander the time to recover, torturing theid organ for more.
And the same case unfolded here today, as just one shot was certainly not enough to douche the needydy''s appetite.
"More! More! Give me more! Ahhhh! Yes!"
Rather it appeared to have stoked the fires of her lust and so with a great, hungry grin, Lady Nanazin began to immediately move her hips up and down as fast as she could, her eyes sparkling at Alexander with almost an insatiable hunger.
It made the man shiver in wariness for a bit, while thedy herself was too lost to pleasure to pay heed to her man''s groaning and asking her to let him rest a bit.
It did not matter to her that Alxx had just recovered from his illness, as wildly swinging her hips, she grinned at the struggling man,
"Ahhh¡ What are you saying master! *Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*, You know you can go a lot more than this! Come, tame your little slut. You can do it. *Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah* Punish this dirty pussy for disobeying you!"
It seemed to Lady Nanazin, anything that Alexander did during their act was a game.
The man would recover inside Lady Nanazin and then once again go back to that state aftering inside her.
It would only be then that Lady Nanazin gave her man a little bit of respite, although it could be argued it was likely more for her sake than her man''s.
The rough exercise she had been doing for who knows how long had finally taken its toll on her as thedy found herselfpletely soaked from head to toe, withrge streams of beads flowing all over her body.
Which was quite impressive, especially given how cold and dry the surroundings were.
This was also why to Alexander it appeared as if Lady Nanazin was slightly steaming from her slender arms, her healthy cheeks, her slightly bby belly, her meaty thighs and especially those magnificent breasts, as the sweat rolling off of them quickly evaporated aftering into contact with the dry ambient air.
This also let the man get arge whiff of her smell, and he instantly recognized it, it was one that was thick with pheromones and many perverted lusty desires.
And gazing at the panting Lady Nanazin who was supporting herself using her two hands over Alexander''s chest, he could easily tell that thedy was far more being still sated.
Her slightly drooping eyes were still swimming with untamed lust, her breath was heavy with desire, and much more than that, she had yet to release his younger brother from inside her.
Going by how their other sessions would go if Lady Nanazin had been truly done, she would have dismounted and then gone up to Alexander to spoon up to him, kissing and cuddling.
However, Alexander''s little brother was still inside her warm canal, kept there as a hostage. And although it was not being squeezed violently like the first time, the sleeping organ was still asionally caressed by the contracting tunnels, no doubt wanting to draw out the veryst drops of cum from there.
So it was only a matter of time before the leaningdy got back for her third round.
Seeing this, Alexander decided that he wanted to be the one in control of his time.
It was just too bad that as the couple were getting ready to resume their actives, they were too close to being interrupted by Remus, who was racing towards Alexander with a grave, stoic face.
The battle on Phyrros Ind appeared to be soon reaching a critical point.
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Chapter 1196: Hemicuss Decision
The youngmander of Alexander''s forces was shuffling across the corridor of therge manor with great import first thing in the morning, covering each step with quick session as he made his way towards Alexander''s room.
"What''s the rush, Remus? Where are you going?"
However, upon nearing his destination, he was suddenly asked to halt with this low but sharp query.
"Hemicus! I need to wake Alexander up immediately! We are under attack!"
Remus quickly turned around to meet the guard''s captain stationed close to the door and replied as such in a quick, high pitched tone.
He was not panicking yet, but there was certainly a hint of rm in his voice.
"..." The stoic guards captain produced a slight frown at this im, before posing with a chilly tone,
"Where are they attacking from? I hear no sounding from the camps."
Hemicus once again showed his experience in warfare here, not suddenly jumping to conclusions even after hearing Remus''s rming im, but calmly analyzing them.
It was here Remus then sinctly informed Hemicus of the build of Heeat ship along Phyrros Ind, their numbers enough to likely have around two to three thousand men on them.
And since Lord Janus was scheduled to arrive today in the afternoon, it was imperative they held it till then.
Which meant issuing reinforcements for the around five hundredbatants garrisoned there.
Hemicus''s frown subsided a bit upon hearing Remus''s reason, but then instead of letting the man through asked,
"Why are youing to bother Alexander for such a small thing? He is sick. Go solve this yourself!"
Thus Hemicus so easily delegated themand of the troops solely to Remus, and then before the young man would object, added with a brush of his hand,
"Take a thousand or two men and push the enemy out. If you cannot even defend a well fortified ind on your own, what good are you to Alexander?"
Thosest words were really the ones that sealed the deal for Remus, for he felt personally offended by the insinuation.
He knew that hismand over the camp till now was tenacious, with many officers and even some veteran soldiers finding him too young and too green to be able to effectively lead them.
There had not been many problems with them till now, but that was really because Alexander was there to vouch for Remus.
Many of the troops hence really saw Remus as not actually themander of the camp, but rather a kind of Alexander''s deputy.
And if he truly wanted them to respect them, Remus knew he had to prove himself.
Hence turning to face Hemicus with a sharp gaze, the young man gritted through his teeth,
"I will head to Phyrros Ind personally with fifteen hundred men. Tell the lord when he wakes up, guards captain."
Remus intentionally chose to use very formal words when dering his intention, before swiftly turning on his heels and marching back.
"...." While the stoic Hemicus silently wondered if he might have pushed the youngd a bit too far.
He understood that given the current difficulty of the campaign, Remus was under a lot of pressure to perform and to even do so immactely, because he knew even a single mistake on his part could spell the death of them all.
The gross numerical disadvantage they suffered had made them unable to have a breather even after so manyrge victories, with Lord Parker simply absorbing these using his sheer mass.
''Hope he does not do anything rash,'' So Hemicus could only hope Remus did not snap under the expectations and do anything too foolhardy.
Such as trying to burn the enemy''s fleet down while they disembarked on the ind. Such a move would be too risky.
And as Hemicus thought about such a dangerous move, his eyes subconsciously drifted toward the door at the far end of the corridor, one belonging to Alexander.
The captain of the bodyguards still did not know that his lord had recovered by now, nor could he detect the amorous moans of passion drifting off there.
Otherwise, he would not have blocked Remus from reporting the situation nor would he have produced a muted sigh, wishing the man was healthy enough to take charge himself.
Hemicus really had the best of intentions for his lord when he did this, for he found him to be gravely sick.
So now it only remains to be seen the effects of his goodwill on the whole campaign.
It was like this, with Hemicus''s unintentional intervention that the couple were luckily left alone in the room, free to engage in their private affair.
"*Pah!* Turn around!"
And Alexander had the full intention to exploit that, as the recovering Lady Nanazin suddenly felt this great smack on her fluffy butt, followed by her master''s husky order.
"Ahhh¡ one!"
And the first thing the maturedy did after feeling that stinging hit was instinctively shout out the number of the spank just as she had been taught to do in her lessons.
"Yes, master!"
Following that, she worked to quickly obey Alexander with a great, big grin stered across her face, rotating her hips without hesitation, at a speed that seemed to go against herrge size.
The extreme agility paid witness to how much she loved it when Alexander took charge because it made her feel wanted.
The man underneath her was also a bit surprised to see the maturedy so easily and eagerly swing and pivot around, using the fleshy mast inside her as the focal point to turn in the opposite direction.
That thought was quickly submerged by the beautiful sight presented in front of him-
that wide, fair, smooth back and much more sexily- thatrge, alluring nk.
The fair, porcin like bubbly flesh was huge and very delectable, with nary a blemish on it, save for thatrge, handprint on it, the crisp print of five, thick fingers glowing bright red against the surrounding flesh.
Now, Alexander had not really smacked her ass with such force needed to produce such a statement, the hit actually producing more sound than actual damage.
But it was just that Lady Nanazin''s butt was really fair, even whenpared to the rest of her body, being almost albino in color.
So even light hits tended to stick.
Of course, thedy in question would not have probably minded even if Alexander had hit her hard to harm her.
She was too smitten by him to care.
Hence having turned around, the mature mother of three had no problem eagerly parting her fleshy cheeks and shamelessly revealing her most shameful hole- the pink puckered bud located at the middle of her ass.
"Here master! Ahhhh¡. Are you going to take me in the ass? Mmmm¡ yes, please! Fill me up!"
Alexander clearly felt Lady Nanazin''s insides squirming with anticipation the moment she sang her song, the mentioned act seeming to turn her on so much that her fruity butthole even slightly puffed up in readiness, wishing to get stuffed right away.
Although the maturedy preferred for Alexander to finish in her womb and get her pregnant, the feeling of having her intestines gorged out by that thick club was also not bad. Lady Nanazin would usually cum repeatedly when hammered at the right ces and she looked forward to being conquered through her rear passage.
While Alexander smirked with a bit of a helpless smile at Lady Nanazin''s overly enthusiastic invitation, before taking a bit of time to appreciate the absolutely fabulous scenery being presented in front of him.
Since Lady Nanazin had kneeled down, Alexander fully observed how the maturedy''s perfectly shaved pubes were firmly connected to him, the pink meaty lips slowly leaking a warm, turbid white cream that dyed his crotch.
While up above, her sweaty naked ass was parted to its fullest, with an eager dark hole over which flowed many sprinkles of beady sweat, giving the entire white flesh a precious pink hue and making it emit the mostscivious of smells.
Alexander''s mouth salivated at the thought of how he nned to brutally enjoy this precious peach.
A taste of which Lady Nanazin soon got as raising his hand, Alexander with a yful smirk growled in amanding voice,
"*Pah*, Keep still. Don''t tell me what to do!"
The strong p to her other butt cheek produced a crisp sound as well as a symmetry between the two handprints, letting Lady Nanazin amorously shout the word, "Two" followed an instantter by a heated, needy whimper.
Alexander could not see it, but his hit had made Lady Nanazin''s entire face go flushed with lust, her heart thumping in anticipation.
As said earlier, she really liked this dominant version of Alexander, much more than the passive man who let her be in charge.
Thus her body slightly shivered as she felt one of Alexander''s hands grab a fist full of her long curly locks and pull them back towards him, while another of hisrge hands caressed her luscious buttocks.
Lady Nanazin then heard her master growl in a hot, husky voice,
"Nanazin! You have worked hard to take care of me thesest two! So let me reward you!"
"I will allow you to move your hips over my cock each time I spank you! *Pah*! Understood!"
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Chapter 1197: Ending The Morning Session
Lady Nanazin had always a bit of a masochistic tendency in her, and this would fully bloom when she was with Alexander.
She really, really loved it when the man took charge.
Thus when Alexander tugged on her long, lustrous hair and gave that strong spank to her ripe, oversized rump, all the held back anticipation inside of her came bursting forth all at once, and
*Chup*, *Chup*, *Chup*,
"Three¡ mnnmm!" With an instinctual roar, thedy arched her back and came then and there, her insides twitching violently and gushing out a torrent of clear fluids.
This was the hardest the mature woman hade till now in this session.
And this level of pleasure soon became the norm for her, as,
*Pah*.... *Pah*.... *Pah*,
Alexander began to rhythmically rain down stinging blows on that baster butt, turning the once pristine flesh peppery red and letting him relish in the exquisite taste.
The soft sensation on Alexander''s palms from each of these strikes was naturally sublime, with the soft spongy flesh easily giving away when first hit, but quickly bouncing back a secondter in defiance, thus causing many lewd ripples to spread throughout the entire organ, arousing any man''s lust.
While for thedy in question, the pleasure was perhaps even greater.
"Mmm¡Four!"
"Ahhh¡ five!"
"Uhhh¡ six!"
Each hit on her butt made sparks fly off inside her head and she instinctively moved her hips to match them, thus pumping Alexander''srge spear inside her in a slow, rhythmic motion
This was much different from the wild, fast swinging Lady Nanazin preferred to use to sate hunger and thus, she soon felt an agonizing lustful me beginning to grow inside her.
The speed was too slow for her and Lady Nanazin desperately wished for her master to fasten his pace, to grab her like before and pound her consciousness to oblivion.
"Ahhh¡ master¡ please¡ ahhhh¡ I feel so itchy¡mmm.. my dirty cunt is so itchy. Faster! Move faster!" She thus sultrily turned to beg a pathetic tone, very sexily biting down her red, engrossed lips to tempt Alexander.
"Disobedient ve! *Pah*, *Pah*, *Pah*"
However, the maturedy was denied any such release as Alexander rewarded her with a torrent of spanks for her efforts, working to conceal the fact that he was very turned on by that scene of Lady Nanazin biting her luscious lips.
This was why he had reacted so strongly causing thedy to yelp back in a whimper as she then felt her master pull her hair back tightly, keeping her in check with this.
Whenever she tried to break free and move her hips voluntarily, she would be pulled down to his hips and stop moving.
It was like this that Alexander was able to keep to his rhythm, moving slowly while spanking her butt until it became like a red tomato, thus letting Lady Nanazin experience adulterated pleasure through stinking pain.
Alexander''s ministrations soon caused thedy lost to pleasure to howl uncontrobly in pleasure.
So much so that Alexander had some difficulty maintaining control just by forcefully using her hair.
Because Lady Nanazin was not a small person, with her amble curves adding generousyers of mass onto her. Even ording to Alexander''s conservative estimate, the healthydy should have weighed at least seventy kilos, maybe even reaching close to eighty.
And controlling such arge woman who was particrly willful was never easy.
Hence Alexander had to growl to try and tame this wild filly that was riding him,
"Bear through it Nanazin. This is your master''s reward for all your hard work. Move those hips slowly and let my cock carve your pussy. Feel me marking you as my whore! This is what you wanted, right, *pah*?"
Those degrading yet alluring words finally made Lady Nanazin calm down a bit as a shiver of tingling anticipation coursed through her spine
Thus thedy took the time to eventually let her body adapt to the new sensation.
And true to Alexander''s word, it soon made her reach new levels of pleasure.
Because after being denied the mad frailing of her hips likest time, Lady Nanazin was able to finally slow herself down and enjoy all the subtle pleasures hidden in their union.
No longer was she swallowing the food in front of her like a madman like even tasting it.
Rather, she now had the time to slowly feel the various vors and relish them.
Hence as Alexander continued to spank her and make her butt glow red hot with a stinking sensation,
Lady Nanazin soon began to let out a torrent of hysterical moans,
"Ahyaa¡ it''s so deep. S.. So deep. The ns are ¡ nyahhh¡ hitting so deep."
"Uhhhh¡ it''s spreading me. Master¡ ahyaaa.. your giant meat spear is carving open my tunnels. It''s scrapping against all your cum and opening my tight walls."
"Ahhh¡my ass feels too good. Ughhh¡. Twenty seven! Mmmm¡yes¡ hit me more. Harder! Be rougher!"
Alexander could not see this because Lady Nanazin had her face opposing him and her head was hung low, but currently thedy''s flushed face seemed to have gone through aplete transformation.
With zed unfocused eyes and a panting tongue, it no longer had any semnce of her usual regality, but she looked more like a whore lost to her acts, her eyes glowing with an abyss of wants.
She was so lost in all the mind bending pleasures assaulting her mind that it was doubtful she would stop moving even if the couple was thrown out into the open streets for all to see.
And this suited the needydy just fine.
Because right now, all she wanted to do now was pump her hips up and down her master''s huge, solid cock and continue to cum again and again from being spanked.
While Lady Nanazin danced on her master''s hips with her luscious hips, down below, the conductor of this symphony too was ovee with a great sense of pleasure.
Needless to say, Lady Nanazin''s inside felt very good, with the pleasure appearing to be increasing with each passing second.
Alexander imagined the maturedy''s warm canal was bing hotter and hotter by the moment and his little brother began to feel like it was almost being scalded.
Add to that how therge penis was being literally smothered inside as if Lady Nanazin wanted to crush it with her pussy meat as hard as she could, the selfish contract between her constricting pussy and his incredibly hard, pulsating cock bestowed on both of them spine chilling pleasure.
It took everything from him just to stop his waist from moving wildly and devouring this soaking wet cut, proving it was not only Lady Nanazin who found this type of mating very agonizing.
Sure this type of slow burn let both of them savor each other for much longer, and
*Chup*, *Chup*, *Chup*,
Every time Lady Nanazin''s huge wet ass and soaking pussy met Alexander''s muscr hips, it produced a nasty, lewd squelching sound that drove both of them crazy.
But at the same time, the restricted speed caused their bodies to scream to go faster, to increase the sensation, to devour each more greedily and ultimately toe.
Alexander could only distract himself from such thoughts with the spankings and pulling on her hair, before starting to roam his hands along the fair back and even the smooth belly.
The meats in those ces gave a different sensation from the meat on the ass, and Alexander quickly pinched, kneaded, and caressed those ces, feeling many of the small, remnant white scars dotted across the pristine skin.
Most of the marks that Lady Nanazin once bore of her past experiences had by nowrgely melted away into the skin due to Alexander''s assistance, while even the more grievous onesrgely let a faint outline, not easily detectable in the current dim lighting but only noticeable with the touch.
But still feeling these around, Alexander recalled how Lady Nanazin''s back would appear like a stripped tiger under clear sunlight, revealing her scars and that caused his heart to suddenly tug despite the pleasure moments they were sharing right now.
Alexander was only broken out of his thoughts by a sudden urgeing from his lower half, as his little brother seemed to have had enough.
He had to burst.
And Alexander this time agreed, so decided to up the tempo during thisst spurt.
Turning his gaze back at the ripe ass, he noticed Lady Nanazin''s butthole was gleaning with an obscene luster, opening and closing as if it was breathing.
How could Alexander resist such an alluring invite?
"Ahhh¡ yes¡ screw me harder, master!"
Lady Nanazin let out a joyful cry as she felt a hard, stubby digit invade herher regions, which quickly increased to two and then three, all squirming and squiggling in there, scratching and poking at her rubbery walls and making here even more.
Given her experience, Alexander did not find it really surprising how easily thedy was able to swallow his digits.
However, this time seemed to be a bit special for her, as feeling his finger, thedy began to orgasm continuously, and soon,
*Splurt*, *Splurt*, *Splurt*,
Alexander too finished inside, thus finally ending their morning workout.
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Chapter 1198: Ending The Morning Session (Part-2)
As Alexander and Lady Nanazin continued their third round, thedy soon found herself cumming continuously like crazy as the man''s dominating presence caused her heart to be filled with bliss, and all her bits to react crazily.
Every time he would hit her, she could experience a brand new orgasm.
Something that Alexander could of course clearly feel, as her tender hole would spasm around his little brother like there was no tomorrow.
The hot, wet, soft undting flesh squeezed him like crazy while constantly bursting out jets of warm fluids that wetted their meeting spots and filled the surrounding air with a lewd, musky scent.
The enormous stimulus all this provided proved quite hard to bear for Alexander''s little brother.
So to distract himself, Alexander started to attack the mature pink bud that was located in the center of her ass. That thing had tempted him all this while, opening and closing rhythmically like it was breathing right in front of his nose.
The soft, wet passageway surrendered almost immediately upon Alexander''s contact, which was unsurprising given thedy''s experience in that area, thus easily allowing the thick digits to move inside and start churning everything around.
The hot, damp, musky passageway with its own unique smell of intestine juices and texture felt really sublime to the touch, and as the smooth rubbery walls started to mp down on the invaders with great zeal wishing to push them out, they in return got scratched and poked by Alexander''s dull fingers, causing them to be even more agitated and attack even more.
Alexander quite enjoyed this cat and mouse game with the busty maturedy''s experienced asshole, because even though Lady Nanazin was easy to get into, her rear passageway was still quite tight, meaning proceeding any further required quite some effort on Alexander''s part.
While feeling her backside being pried open brutally like so, the hungrydy let out enormously loud, incoherent moans,
"Ehhh¡Uuwwuu¡ Mmmm¡ my ass¡ Ahhh¡ Nyahhhhhh¡ Yesssshh¡."
Lady Nanazin''s skin was all flushed red with heat and sweat, her sleeping nipples were rock hard and pointedly protruding out, her womb was getting wrecked and now her ass too was being poked.
It all turned her on very much, so much that she could only roar out madly, incapable of forming any words out of her mouth and even foaming a bit.
Alexander could also feel thedy enjoying his ministrations far more than he was, as her curvy hips bucked like a wild horse every time he touched her in any of her many sensitive spots.
Getting scratched down there felt too good for her.
Encouraged by this, Alexander really let himself go and really scratched all her itches down there.
Only now, his scratching caused even more of the sensation to grow and cause thedy to shout out even more incoherently until the pair finally reached rupture and feeling Alexander fill her up, Lady Nanazin let out such a wild booming scream that it made the guards posted outside the door to furiously blush.
The octaves of the soundsing out of the room seemed to be even greater than usual.
So at one point, they whispered to each other,
"Wasn''t the lord supposed to be sick? Will he be¡ alright?" One of the guards chimed so with a slightly worried tone, thinking that perhaps Lady Nanazin was pushing herself onto a recovering or even sleeping Alexander by herself.
"Ummm¡ Hmmm¡ ehhhh," While his partner, a younger green recruit who had been simply posted here due to the shortage of men simply gave a dumbfounded gaze.
He was of course not so dumb as to not understand what was happening inside, but he found his elder counterpart''s hypothesis too controversial.
Because to him it sounded like he was saying that thedy was perhaps attacking their lord.
This was clearly impossible because in his mind only men would attack women, so how could their lord be forcefully ''vited'' by a woman?
The mere thought of it brought extreme disdain in the young guard''s heart.
He was not sure he could even follow his lord into battle if this was the truth.
Thus he was under the definite impression that it was undoubtedly the opposite, that it was their young, virile pasha making that quiet, prim, and proper regaldy scream out like a low born street girl in bed.
And when he thought about it like that, the young guard suddenly felt very proud, d to follow such a ''man amongst men''.
However outwardly he did not contest his partner''s im, and simply squeezed out, "Hmmm¡ who knows¡ perhaps she is¡ alone¡ummm.. pleasuring herself¡"
The alternate idea that perhaps Lady Nanazin was actually masturbating was thrown out without much thought, but unfortunately, it did not seem usible even to him.
Because the thought that such a could be doing such an immoral act so loudly seemed too much and even as he said it, the young guard''s words turned a bit incoherent and his face became flushed in shame.
"....." While seeing this his counterpart, silently rolled his eyes at his partner''s innocent reaction, finding it almost amusing.
"Masturbating? *Scoff*!"
Then he brushed that theory aside instantly with a mocking sneer, finding it not even considering.
And this was not just because he thought thedy could not produce such a loud sound while doing it herself.
But much more because like many men of the time, he was under the impression that women could not masturbate. A vast majority, mostly themoners, did not even know they could orgasm like men.
While a good portion of the physicians of the times even thought female orgasms were rted to hysteria and disobeying her husband and inws.
Which was why it was considered very immoral for a woman to pleasure herself. She could get even herself into a lot of trouble with her husband if found out.
So these guards did not believe a nobledy like Lady Nanazin would even do such a shameful act.
As for hermitting the shameful act of cheating behind her husband, well, Lady Nanazin''s exact origin was unknown to most men. They only knew her to be a high ranking noble who was apanying their lord on behalf of the king to negotiate with the Margraves.
Alexander even intentionally spread the rumor among the men that Lady Nanazin was actually the widowed sister of Ptolomy, as the identity of a royal princess covered all the bases.
This was why when the younger of the guards posed,
"Should we go check inside? See if the lord is alright?", it got a hushed but extremely harsh scolding,
"Idiot! You want to go die so badly, go! Don''t pull me down with you!"
Joke!
Their heads would be decorating the spikes of the manor wall the very next hour if they dared so much as a peep as their lord''s women.
The younger guard piped down with a sullen face after that, feeling aggrieved at having all this answerughed at like that.
While his elder after a while of thinking simply noted with a sigh,
"*Sigh*, Leave them! We poor folks will get squashed like bugs if we get between the nobles. The Lord has likely recovered and is celebrating his recovery!"
He of course had no basis for saying this and hoped this was really the case, choosing to trust the fact that Lady Nanazin had almost burned herself working in thest two days,
Her loyalty appeared unquestionable.
The guards thus left the couple alone as for now they swam in the climax of the third round of their session, each letting outrge heaving pants.
''Finally, it''s over'' Alexander sighed a small breath of relief while falling back to his bed, thinking they were finally done for the day.
And Lady Nanazin really did look like she had nothing left in her, seeming exhausted and out of breath.
Her overworked meaty thighs stung like crazy, her curvy hips felt like they were going to snap, and most of all her luscious ass felt too painful to even touch, as almost the entire of it was covered with red welts.
Alexander could almost see it smoking and he was pretty sure he had snapped many of the microscopic blood vessels there, which was one of the reasons it was so red.
So for now, the tireddy with still that zed look gave herself a bit of respite, allowing her body which was flushed in a crimson hue and hadrge streams of sweat pouring down from all over her to cool down.
Despite it being in the middle of the freezing winter the intense activity made her feel very hot, so much so that after a while she even opened therge bedside window next to her.
By now, thedy could not give a damn if any pervert was looking her way, and instead only relished in the cool morning breezeing from the sea, letting out sweet, purring moans while feeling the copious amounts of warm gift sloshing around inside her.
That pleasing sensation of knowing what it was and what it represented was perhaps even more refreshing than the sensation of cooling down.
The reward her master had promised her had truly been worth it.
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Chapter 1199: Pleasure
Lady Nanazin was the first to recover from their rough session, and with deep, pleased heaves, her ssy eyes finally regained some of their lucidity.
And it was only then that she had the state of mind to feel all the aches streaking across her entire body.
The thighs, backs, and most of all butt hurt like hell.
Hell, even her tender organ down there felt a bit sore since it had been stretched to its limits and then made to withstand that intense battering, scraping the soft walls dry.
Yet, despite the carnage dotted all over her body, all she could feel right now was pure, unadulterated pleasure and happiness coursing through each and every pore of her body.
Nothing that Alexander did to her seemed a single bit excessive. Rather she even wished he had been a bit rougher, to truly leave some evesting mark of their union on her skin.
And she thought of all this while her head was melting in the pleasure of the warm liquid filling her lower regions, making her almost feel like she was flying and causing her to glow with glee.
Even Lady Nanazin herself was surprised by how good she had felt during this session. Especially since it was not like something like this was brand new to her.
Given her extensive record in bed, the maturedy actually had quite a few simr experiences like this, where the pleasure was a slow burn with many types of teasings involved.
Some were even much more hardcore. For example, there would be ropes to bind her, candles for wax y, and her most dreaded tool of all- a leather crop to hit at all her sensitive spots- be they the nipples, the armpits, the rear hole, and the favorite target of most wielders: her smooth front garden.
Usually, by the end of it, Lady Nanazin''s pussy and mons pubis would be streaked blood red with inmmation, and many times thedy would even lose control of her lower muscles by the constant hit, ending up wetting herself.
That would of course only excite the men ''attending to her'' and result in them pouncing on the lonedy even more, ravishing her in all the ways possible and causing her to cry out in sweet, pained pleasure.
Yet Lady Nanazin right now thought that thebined efforts of so many hands from before could notpare to the bliss she was feeling now.
She thought this was quite unexpected because logically it should not have been possible. She did not think her current partner was that good in bed.
Now, Alexander was of course skilled in bed no doubt about it, being able to adequately please any woman.
But at the end of the day, he was still human, with only two hands and two feet. There was only so much he could do by himself.
While Lady Nanazin''s standard for ''good'' was really unapproachable by any single man.
Her unfolding life circumstances had made sure of that, as somewhere along the line she had broken a bit.
This was why hidden deep, deep, down in her heart, her ideal sexual encounter had most of the times appeared in the form of multiple Alexanders assaulting and ravaging and unwilling her, taking her in many of the ways Ptolomy and hispany had.
Or in simpler words, this maturedy''s ultimate fantasy was a violent, forced gangrape and getting all her orifices filled at the same time.
That was something undoubtedly impossible for Alexander alone no matter how much he tried.
Of course, Lady Nanazin was too ashamed to ever admit such a thing to anyone and buried the fantasy into the deepest, darkest recess of her heart, cursing herself for being so immoral, so shameless, and swore to never entertain the notion.
But could anyone really me her for thinking like that?
The long years staying with Ptolomy and having all those debaucherous acts performed on her had inevitably caused Lady Nanazin to be subconsciously bent in subtle ways.
This happened as a result of her mind trying to instinctively protect itself from all the insane things happening all around her, as well as simple inertia, the repeated acts bing a simple force of habit for her.
This was why Lady Nanazin found many of her experiences too pleasurable to forget despite her own instance.
She of course did not look back at the memory of multiple men assaulting her with any kind of love or fondness.
But it was just that the event was too deeply ingrained in her memory to forget and whenever she recalled them, her body instinctively reacted to protect itself, thus letting thedy vividly remember the pure pleasure apanying her back then.
And until now, Lady Nanazin had resigned herself to things staying like that.
Her love life with Alexander would surely be adventurous and pleasurable, and whatever peaks she would miss by staying with only one man, she would more than make up for with love, care, and mutual respect.
But of how pleasantly wrong she was.
It seemed that by constantly staying by Alexander''s side for thest two days and bonding with him, she had reached a new pleasure threshold.
This was not a physical threshold, meaning it was not like Alexander had suddenly turned into a god in bed and drove Lady Nanazin crazy.
But instead, it was more a psychological one, one where just knowing whom she was doing the deed with caused her hormones to run wild, and cover her entire body in never before seen esctacy.
Now, Lady Nanazin did not understand all the nitty gritty of things happening to her. But she did understand the most important thing of all- which was that this was something good for her.
She liked it.
And much more than that, she wanted to experience it again!
"I want to do more! I want to do it again!"
Hence subconsciously mumbling out her desire, Lady Nanazin''s tired, droopy eyes turned sharp and extremely lustful in the blink of eyes, and soon she began to pump her hips over Alexander for the fourth time.
"Ahh¡.wha¡?" For the man who had just recovered from his fever, this undoubtedly felt a bit strenuous, so his little brother cried out for help, causing him to let out this yelp.
"Sto¡" And then he wanted to shout out this cry for help, but just as the words reached his throat, Alexander''s pride as a man could not let him finish.
It felt too pathetic for him to beg like this, it made him feel like thedy on top was conquering him.
And then finding that pulling out of her was impossible,
"Aghhhh!" decided to ept his fate of being sucked and emptied out with a reserved grunt.
While in the front, Lady Nanazin was able to sense some of Alexander''s difort, but she was not too worried about it. No matter what the mouth said, the meat spear that was inside her still reacted positively, having by now regained all its previous turgidness.
And just like a woman''s, a man''s lower half was much more honest.
Hence her hips once again nonchntly regained their full tempo, pping against Alexander with great gusto as Lady Nanazin moaned,
"This is thest time master. Thest time! Nyahhh¡ You feel just too good, ahhhh. I can''t stop myself!"
"Mmm¡ you said it yourself, right? This was my reward. Ahhhh¡ I want four times for the two days! I need at least that much!"
This was probably one of the most bizarre wage negotiations ever to happen in the history of mankind- past, present and future, involving a buxomdy riding a man in reverse cowgirl, presenting her minimum ''rate'' while madly mming her wide hips down on the cock.
And the absolute strangeness of it did make Alexander truly amused to first hear this. He did not think Lady Nanazin would ask for remuneration for her services rendered in such a unique way and thus found the logic for her demand truly eye opening.
For a moment even regretted that his shame would not allow him to record this conversation in any official records.
Else it would surely be a striking entry.
The title could have been something like-
''Negotiating the number of creampies to be given in return for total days in hospice. (Taken ce in the bedroom with both parties nude and one riding the other.)''
Even Alexander''s slightly delirious mind found that too funny to stifle a good chuckle.
"Ahhh¡ Nanazin¡ you¡"
But ultimately Alexander was snapped to the present when he felt a particrly strong squeeze on his little brother and
*p*, *p*, *p*,his senses woke up to his surroundings.
All kinds of moans and lewd ps were once again echoing around him, and Lady Nanazin''srge, reddened, rotund butt was once again working itself on him, trapping his focus.
Then finally resigning himself that he would have to please the eagerdy to ''free'' himself, Alexander simply slumped his head back and mused.
''*Sigh*, whatever! She has worked very hard! Since she wants a reward, I will give it to her!''
Three fingers then soon invaded her rear hole, while his other hand wrapped around and sped her clit, wishing to send thedy to the moon.
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Chapter 1200: Untied Knot
As Lady Nanazin initiated their fourth and hopefullyst round, her skin soon once again turned all flushed red with heat and sweat, her sleeping nipples became yet again rock hard and pointedly protruding out, and her pussy walls began to violently contract even as she only felt her master''srge hands caress her sore buttocks.
That part had be very inmed with some of the welts even beginning to develop into small cracks, spreading all throughout the skin, such that just touching it caused a stinging pain to run across her spine.
In fact, looking from behind, Alexander was frankly amazed thisdy had the strength to move her ass with as great a speed as that because surely it have hurt quite a lot.
He even thought he might have overdone it a little there.
However, for Lady Nanazin all this was not really an issue even worth considering.
Sure it stung a bit every time her ass hit Alexander''s crotch, but this was actually nothing whenpared to her stay with Ptolomy, during which she had had to experience far worse, particrly in those sessions involving fire and poker sticks.
The only good thing toe of that was Lady Nanazin''s pain threshold had increased a lot, bing much higher.
On the contrary, because it was her master who was touching her, that slight pain coursing through her ass instantly turned to pleasure and made thedy almost salivate in her mouth, her eyes lighting up at the thought of sheer pleasurable pain imminently about to course through her.
However, she was to be disappointed in that aspect, as instead of the spanking, she only felt Alexander wet his fingers with the fluids from her pussy, and then *Plop*, *Plop*, *Plop*, effortlessly poked three of them into her butt, pushing down on her birth canal and causing her pussy to immediately once again spasm.
Just feeling her master once again pry open her dirty hole and invade was enough to make her cum.
And she even mped down on Alexander particrly hard, causing the man to moan a bit painfully,
"Ahhh¡. Nanazin.. you greedy, insatiable¡ woman. You are gonna be the death of me!"
"Hehe¡" The ''praise'' only got a lustful giggle from the front, and Lady Nanazin then rewarded her man for hispliments by swaying and swinging her buttocks in a dancing motion, letting the sensitive ns hit various of her soft, sensitive spots.
It made either of the pair very good, as Lady Nanazin cried,
"More! Tease me more master!"
It seemed true to Alexander''s description of her being insatiable, no matter what she did, it was never enough for Lady Nanazin.
She always wanted Alexander to get rougher, to start spanking her butt and turn it even more sore, so zing hot that she could not even properly sit for days.
She wanted him to start pulling her hair and dominating her, she wanted him to pry open her tender rear hole and widen it so much that it would not ever close, and most of all, she wanted him to thrust into her with such might that it prated her cervix and wrecked her fertile womb, giving her a child.
She wanted Alexander to use her like a disposable toy and thought she would be pleased even if Alexander snapped her hips and broke her bones in the process if that was what he so desired.
As said earlier, Lady Nanazin was indeed a bit inside.
As Lady Nanazin wholeheartedly presented her desires, down below, her man tried his best to fulfill his woman''s wishes, thrusting his hips to match his partner''s tempo and churning her insides, ying with her widened ass and poking and scratching with his fingers and when even those proved insufficient, snaked his other hand to the front and pinching her clit.
Alexander had little difficulty in finding like elusive bud due to how the engrossed red, hyper-senstive bean had already slipped out of its protective hood and was slovenly dangling at the mouth of her pussy, begging to be teased.
Alexander first started off teasing the delicate bud slowly, with tender touches and delicate presses, thinking he might have been a bit too rough on the ass and not wishing to repeat it.
However, Lady Nanazin quickly made Alexander realize his mistake, as such a little stimtion proved too little for the voraciousdy.
She was no tender girl who wanted to go slow and steady. She was way past that point of her life.
In the prime of her life, Lady Nanazin by all definitions was a hungry cougar looking to get the life fucked out of her life.
To have her mind warped with unnatural pleasure.
And she reminded her man of this by screaming at the top of her lungs with the most obscene of words, wishing for a much greater stimulus,
"Ahhhh¡ pinch me more master! Harder! I''m your whore!...Hyahhhh¡ yesshhh¡ahhhh¡like that mmmm¡ Use me like that! Like I''m your bitch¡..nyahhh¡ so good¡. ahhh¡ you are going to tear it off¡ nyahhhh¡. Right!
Do it!¡ Pinch your bitch''s clit off master¡ urghh ¡.make this dirty pussy yours¡.ehhhh"
Lady Nanazin really had her way with words in the bedroom and appeared to derive the most pleasure when degrading herself to the lowest of positions.
Alexander wondered if this was something she was taught by her trainer Lady Inayah, or something she was made to learn during her time with her husband.
He suspected it to be thetter, because none of the otherdies like Mikaya, Inayah, or even the Queen Mother did this, and they too had received simr training.
So it somewhat pained Alexander to see thedy like this, making him wonder about all the extremely nasty things that had to have happened to her to mold her into this shape.
Destined to be the prince''s consort, she was surely brought up as a regaldy from birth, with the most immacte of manners.
And she had even held that very honorable status for almost two decades.
However during all that time, although her outer shell had remained intact, her inner self had almostpletely chimed away, turning her from a properdy to something much more mon''.
And worse, it had been chimed away by thebined efforts of many noblemen and even some women of the royal court.
So how could any of them ever look at her with respect during the day when they knew what she was like at night, readily opening her legs for them, sucking anything presented to her, and crying out all kinds of profanities just for their pleasure.
She could never be worthy of anything but being a tool for their base entertainment.
And Lady Nanazin knew this, letting it be another reason why she was currently as she was now.
Alexander would of course only be aware of Lady Nanazin''s extensive backstory over the course of several following years. For now, though, his eyes only turned sharp hearing his woman''s demands letting him put all thoughts of being gentle with her out the window,
He understood he was really overthinking it when he thought he was being too harsh on her ass. He should have been even rougher!
And this was what he exactly did to his clit, showing it, not an ounce of mercy.
So he wrecked her nubile bud, with intense pinches that looked like they wanted to twist the organ off, great pulls that seemed to want to tear it off, and savage presses that seemed to want to tten the disobedient protrution with the rest of the organ.
Needless to say, Lady Nanazin loved every second of it, howling her lungs out to the point her throat became a bit croaked She loved how Alexander was treating her most precious pearl.
She soon even found out her master was using her clit to control the speed of her hips, with the new position of his arm it actually gave him much better steering than when he was using her hair.
Alexander would use his strong arms to directly push down on her hips if she got too wild while due to being connected to her man, Lady Nanazin began to instinctively understand how her master wanted to go- a squeeze on her clit meant she was to move up and a pull on it meant she was meant to pump down.
Alexander thus had achieved perfect control over Lady Nanazin''s movement.
The immense sexual dominance over her that this represented made Lady Nanazin''s mind soon burst with a new level of absolute unbridled pleasure, for the pleasure she was experiencing now was not only less than the previous time, but somehow it seemed to have be even greater, even more amplified than ever before.
It was a phenomenon she had not dared to even imagine was possible and it made her feel like her entire body was being soaked in a ze of lustful fire.
The inferno of pleasure brunt across her mind like wildfire, setting everything alight, making her body constantly shiver and feel as if she was being recast.
It was like the subtle parts of her twisted mind were beginning to shatter and reform, letting her get back to ''normal''.
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continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
Chapter 1201: Untied Knot (Part-2)
The immense pleasure brought on by Alexander seemed to subconsciously rewrite some of the codings that were engraved into Lady Nanazin by Ptolomy and his nasty practices.
In this way, Alexander was slowly making Lady Nanazin truly into his woman, not only in the aspect of her mind, i.e.- that she thought she was his, but even her physical body, i.e.- slowly over time, her body woulde to react only when touched by him.
It was of course unknown why today and this session was the exact moment why Lady Nanazin had decided to shatter.
Perhaps it was due to her abstinence for two days when she constantly worried night and day for Alexander, even contemting suicide during some of her darkest hours if Alexander did not make it through. So maybe the pleasure of his recovery gave her thatst extra kick.
Or perhaps today Alexander simply performed better in bed.
Or it could simply be a matter of numbers, the sex they had today finally adding up to a critical point that was enough to shatter thedy''s inhibition and let her reach a new state of pleasure.
Whatever the case was, after the session today, Lady Nanazin would start to very slowly open up and actually seek help for the wounds she had suffered.
This would first start manifesting in the following session, as her demands for rough sex in the bedroom would begin to mellow down bit by bit.
And that ideal image of sex in Lady Nanazin''s heart would slowly transform from a forced gangrape into something much more loving and softcore- featuring fewer and fewer men, until one day there would remain only two people- her and Alexander.
That would represent Lady Nanazin being able to trust Alexander enough and let him heal her deep wounds with tender love, care, and mutual trust, instead of how she was trying to do it now, attempting to use brutal, unbridled pleasure to simply numb her mind to all her previous pain.
Along with that, at one point, under Ophenia''s advice, she would even be able to open herself to Alexander bit by bit, letting the man know of all her past experiences and trauma in intimate detail.
Till now, she never dared to tell Alexander much of what actually happened with Ptolomy, save for only those few instances that she really revealed mostly as a way to win his aid and sympathy.
This was because she was afraid that the man, considered to be ultra conservaive by Adhania''s standards, woulde to resent her for her past actions.
So it would only be under Ophenia''s guidance, who would reassure her that both of them had simr experiences that Lady Nanazin would finally have the courage to open up, strong in the belief that Alexander would not throw her out.
Meaning she would asionally tease Alexander with tales of her past, just like Ophenia, and even carry out some of her more famous ys with him.
This therapeutic venting would indeed work wonders, making Lady Nanazin''s life feel multitudes better over the following years, so much so that it would stunningly reflect in her own physical appearance.
Even when Lady Nanazin would reach fifty, she would look almost the same as how she looked now, in herte twenties.
Of course, right now the couple remainedpletely oblivious to such subtle ongoing events, being fully lost in the throes of the intense pleasure drowning them.
Before all that good things could unfold, they still needed to finish their session, to reach their climax.
And to do so, along with teasing her clit, Alexander''s fingers also began to violently attack her steamy asshole, squirming and even pinching a bit of the rubbery walls.
The dense, concentrated smell floating out from that naughty hole was immense, more than enough to even overwhelm the musky scent of the mature pussy.
And so lured in by this was Alexander that his hands subconsciously dug deeper, wishing to unearth even more of this heavenly scent.
At this point, the man even greatly regretted that he could not stick his nose in between the fluffy pillow and have a whiff. Or better yet even stick his tongue in her and suck out all the goodness himself.
Alexander recalled Lady Nanazin produced the most amusing reaction when he licked her there, as thedy could not believe her master would touch something so indecent with something as sacred as his mouth.
It both made her feel mortified but at the same time very thrilled, causing her to moan out objections while pushing herrge ass against him.
Sometimes Alexander would even bite down on the fluffy ass and leave marks.
However their current position made such an endeavor unrealistic, and thedy had to settle with having her ass getting pried more and more.
This too was of course very fun for Lady Nanazin, who especially found it amazing when the fingers would begin to press down on her birth canal which was already stretched to its limits by the huge cock.
She would let out many charming moans when that happened since the fleshy wall separating the two organs was so thin that it made her feel almost like she was being double prated.
And then deciding she wanted to really feel like she was being taken from both sides, she howled,
"Yeshhh¡.. Widen my ass master¡. Fuck me with your fist! Punch my gut and im me!"
Even when they were at this deep point in their rtionship, Alexander was surprised by the ask, his eyes widening at the shout.
He had yet to experience fisting despite his very colorful life in bed.
None of the girls seemed ready.
However quickly recovering from his surprise, he recalled Lady Nanazin''s history and thought today might really be the day.
He thus shot a look at therge pink butthole that had been already significantly widened with his finger and yet appeared to easily have room for much more.
So with a silent smirk, he decided to indulge thedy.
First, he gently closed his fingers together, forming a whole fist, that he then slowly pushed in, growling in a husky voice,
"Here! Just like you asked! Don''t even say I do not spoil you Nanazin!"
The interior of thergedy''s delicious ass felt mostly what Alexander what thought it would feel like- warm, damp, smooth, and full of that unique, perverted musky smell.
The soft, stretchy walls naturally pressed down on his knuckles to try and stop the invasion, however, those weak efforts were of course easily repulsed.
And once reasonably inside, therge hand began to slowly move back and forth, scraping the intestinal walls from all sides, all while pressing down on the sensitive spots all that once. This was very much unlike how the fingers had done it, just from one side,
"Uuwwummmm¡. Mmannnnn¡ ahhhhh¡ ehhhhhh¡"
And that sensation almost drove Lady Nanazin to the other side, causing her to give a shout that eclipsed all others, to the point it seemed to shake the room to its core and nearly wake the whole manor up.
Alexander fisting her in the ass and pressing down on her very womb, while torturing her clit to hell proved was too great a sensation for thedy to contain herself.
She lost any ability to speak and stretching out her tongue to the limit, her eyes went all white, as she simply swung her hips like a being possessed.
Even Alexander''s ''clit control'' proved ineffective here, as Lady Nanazin ignored his inputs and just bucked wildly. her pussy beginning to continuously cum like crazy.
This was exactly the kind of rough sex she had wanted. To lose herself fully in such mind bending pleasure that it robbed her of all her senses.
*Chup*, *Chup*, *Chup*,
Thus fluids began to leak from her torso like a dam had burst and finally, after what seemed like an eternity,
"Coming! Coming! Coming!"
With this giant shout, *Splurt*, *Splurt*, Splurt*, the pair simultaneously reached critical rupture.
Alexander''s load by now was significantly thinner than before, but Lady Nanazin''s orgasm was perhaps one of the greatest she had in her life.
She came from both her pussy and ass at the same time, with both organs mping down on Alexander with a vice-like grip, to the point Alexander had to lightly beg,
"*Spank*, loosen up Nanazin! Loosen up a bit there."
The spanking might have been used to represent Alexander tapping out, but to Lady Nanazin it only provided even more pleasure, and so thedy let out another series of orgasms, leaving the man to groan painfully.
The couple finally ended the session with that, Alexander thanking the gods above there was no more.
He feared he might have fallen unconsiousness if he was asked to entertain like a mature subus for a fifth time.
This was a brand new feeling for him because he usually quite enjoyed sex, and rarely felt as exhausted as he was now.
Even when he had to entertain all four of his wives at once he did not usually feel this worn out.
So Alexander felt he would have a small shadow of Lady Nanazin from now on whenever they slept together.
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Chapter 1202: Sweet Slumber
As the couple came and the movements finally came to an end, Alexander gently retreated his hands back from Lady Nanazin''s body with a sigh of relief, d to atst see thedy on top of him stop moving, with no intention of continuing.
Slumped forward in an arch, she was as exhausted as her partner if not even more, her loud tired pants being clear to hear.
This was really not surprising given how it was she who was doing all the heavy lifting all this time, bouncing up and down tirelessly. Compared to her Alexander has just been just lying there like a dead fish.
All her hard work had of course paid off, letting thedy reach peaks she never thought was possible, and that hunger she always had in her heart finally felt sated.
Hence despite feeling sore in almost every part of her lower body she was experiencing a sense of bliss yet known.
While for Alexander, seeing how he had managed to ravage this insatiabledy despite his weakened state, brought a sense of strange pride in him.
The aftermath of his destruction was still there for him to view and he marveled at how Lady Nanazin''s white luscious nk had turned fully crimson, how her tender hole had basically turned to soapy ruin, and mostly amorous of all, how her pink rear hole was yet to close despite Alexander having taken his fist back for a while.
He could even see how her internal walls were twitching and moving there, while a lewd, concentrated smell of Lady Nanazin''s body odor still diffused from there.
If Alexander had the energy, he would have surely taken that other tunnel for a spin.
For now though, he simplyy there slumped in his bed with droopy eyes, as he soon felt Lady Nanazin stir, atst getting off him.
Therge butt parting ways meant Alexander could finally let his tired little brother get some fresh air, while soon as she disconnected, Lady Nanazin ced one of her hands over her stretched snatch, undoubtedly to try and stop any further spige of the creamy gift.
Alexander had really done a number on her there and like her rear hole, the tireddy had trouble momentarily mping it tight enough.
She then wobbled unsteadily to her feet, before silently getting down from the bed and reaching for the nearby chamberpot.
She really needed to go. In fact, if not for herst sliver of willpower, she might have already wetted the bed. A few drops had already leaked when she came just now.
But she managed to hold back the rest, feeling she was not ready for that kind of high level of y yet. She at least had that little bit of shame left in her.
Hence Lady Nanazin dragged her banged and battered body to the ''washroom'' even though each step caused immense pain to streak through her overworked thighs, her groin to ache like crazy for both her passageways felt incredibly sore, and most of all her luscious butt felt like it was on absolutely on fire, like she had been stung by a million bees.
Alexander silently watched the nakeddy slowly saunter her way to the nearby pot, hand still over her crotch and her reddened rear slowly swaying in the air, before she squatted down and slowly removed her cover, finally emptying herself.
*Streammmmmm*
This was the first time Alexander had seen, or more especially heard Lady Nanazin pee. And he had to say, the current scenery was definitely pink enough for him- those meaty, slender legs spread wide, that luscious butt bearing the marks of his spanks and that subtle steaming hiss raising out of the pot, leaving no one to doubt its contents.
Alexander even imagined seeing a fewrge dollops of his gift suddenly spill out of her and drop onto the carpet below, causing thedy to let out a few moans of regret while trying to hurriedly close the opening.
Alexander desperately regretted not having a camera to capture this sultry moment forter. It would have certainly soothed him during some of his ''colder'' nights.
His thoughts were only broken when he too began to feel an urge from his dder, as his body remembered it too had just woken up from sleep.
"Here!" And as if sensing his thoughts right away, Lady Nanazin was right there beside him to present him the special earther pot herself, kneeling down and lifting the thing up with her hands to make it easier for Alexander to aim.
The current scene made the man''s heart strangely feel a tremendous sense of aplishment.
And how could it not?
The queen of a mighty nation was right there on her knees, without a single thread on her, and was looking up at him like he was her god, with her bright, expectant eyes that were asking him to pee onto the vessel she was holding.
A vessel that she had just used and from which a faint aroma of ammonia was trickling out.
It had to be known that the handling and cleaning of the chamber pot was relegated to the lowest of the servants in the house, people who were sometimes considered equal to or even worse than ves.
Hence for a nobledy to do such a thing, it was something unimaginable in this day and age.
The only other time Alexander had experienced this type of treatment was with Ophenia, who had her own bag of skeletons in her closets, not much unlike the currentdy now.
Realizing this, Alexander suddenly found that he was superimposing her with Lady Nanazin who was in the exact same position.
And that suddenly made him recall that Ophenia had a great liking for ''golden water y'', and was constantly seeking various ways to make Alexander lighten himself using either her mouth or face, finding his taste addicting. She even regrly asked Alexander to empty inside. That had been till now denied due to Alexander''s fears of hygiene and her catching an infection.
However, the upper part of the body was still fair game, and right now, Alexander''s heart stirred a bit, imagining doing the same things with this queen as he did with his most beautiful wife.
Making her drink it or better yet drowning the regal queen in his golden shower. That would surely signify his conquest over her in every sense of the word.
Alexander was even pretty sure this would be nothing too out of the ordinary for thedy. Surely her extensive experience had to have some such water y in them.
But at the end of the day, this all became just a fleeting moment.
Tempting as it might have been to aim his little brother and give Lady Nanazin another reward for her efforts, this was hardly the appropriate time or ce.
Such a thing would surely create too much of a mess around and she would definitely have to take a bath afterwards unless she wanted to stink like hell. Which, being the middle of winter, would be too big a hassle.
She might even fall ill, recing him in the bed.
Thus Alexander decided tost aim his hose down on the pot instead, and as he let out his warm stream, he suddenly felt Lady Nanazin''s scalding gaze descend right over it like she was observing every minute detail of the organ with the utmost curiosity, memorizing every tiny nook of it.
The scrutiny felt like Lady Nanazin was burning a hole into him.
Thus it came as quite a relief when Alexander''s tank emptied out, and after quickly wiping himself down with a special linen cloth, he was back in his bed.
He was naturally apanied by the curvydy, whoy face to face, and without any warning,
*Chuppppp*, let her plump lips crash into him, ttening them against his and sending her tongue deep into his mouth.
In this session, they had done almost everything except a simple kiss. And it seemed Lady Nanazin was determined to get that done too, as squeezing herself closer to the point her abundant breasts crushed into Alexander''s chiseled chest, she sucked and sucked him, drinking every bit of the man''s saliva.
It was so tasty for her.
Alexander too did not dislike this arrangement, and especially found the soft mountain of flesh pleasantly cool, with thedy''s soft ares softly gliding over him, her nipples had already slipped back into slumber.
He could even feel thedy''s quickened heartbeat.
So he reciprocated it, wrapping thedy closely in his arms and interlocking their limbs so that they almost became one.
And when Alexander began to caress all over her body, she felt as if all her fatigue was being washed away, its effect reaching its peak when they went over herrge reached her ripe butt, Lady Nanazin purred.
She also wanted to say a of lot things to Alexander as they cuddled- such as just how worried she had been worried for him or how good the sex just now had been, or even how next time she wanted the same thing but with her ass.
However, she found her throat too croaked and her body too tired as the exhaustion of the past two days began to catch up to her.
Her eyes would begin to feel increasingly heavy and when Alexander covered themselves in a thick nket, the cold winter atmosphere creating the perfect, cozy little bubble, she could only helplessly slip away into a deep slumber.
Chapter 1203: Lord Machts Purge
Lady Nanazin would only really feel the effects of their session after she woke up a few hourster, with especially her butt being too sore to even sit on. And so for a majority of the day, she would have her maid rubbing ointment over it as well as her two canals, soothing some of the achesing from there.
It was good that this was not her first rodeo regarding such a thing and her two personal maids knew what they were doing, thus letting Lady Nanazin avoid embarrassingly calling an unknown doctor to treat her.
But even for these experienced maids, their mistress''s deplorable state was a marvel to behold.
As they cleaned her crevices, wrung out all the cream from there, and applied ointment on the various parts of the body, the sheer extent of the damage made it hard for them to believe this was done by only one man.
Usually when theirdy had this many scars painted on her, it usually meant a bigger crowd.
The more experienced of the maid even knew just how hungry their mistress could be since they had been roped into some of her session back in the capital and so seeing her brutally tamed like this, even felt a little bit wet down there, as she could not help but imagine just how virile the young pasha must be in bed.
Of course that was all she dared to do- just imagine.
Because their mistress had made it clear to them on day one that if any of them were to try anything with Alexander, she would feed them to the fishes the very next day.
These events would only take ce over the following day.
For now, as thedy slept and recovered inside the peaceful manor, we had to turn our attention just a few kilometers west from here, where a full fledged raging battle was currently underway- the battle for Phyrros Ind-nd edition.
Ship after ship bearing the red horse against a golden wheat field emblem was mooring themselves side by side along the shore of the ind, its deck swarming with armed to the teeth soldiers, while Scorpyo, who was in charge of the defensive garrison sted out at the top of his voice,
"Throw your javelins! Don''t let themnd!"
"Catapaultes! Target the ships! Sink them!"
"Archers! Where are the archers! Why are you not shooting?"
"What do you mean you are short on bolts! Fuck! Shoot them till you run out!"
"We cannot lose this ind. Defend it to thest arrow! Defend it to thest man! Hold on no matter what!"
The orders caused a great cheer to rise from the legionary ranks, while at the same time, for the attacking side, the amphibious operation proved quite challenging.
The hail of urate arrow fire from well fortified position proved to be an extremely deadly gauntlet to cross while those ''huge'' stones those catapults threw felt like cannonballs.
A man hit by them was instantly turned to jelly in that spot, while the hits to the ships caused it eerily to shake and crack.
However, despite the adversity, the men persevered on, for they had no choice of retreat.
Lord Macht who was leading the men personally, had given the didactic order,
"Kill any man who takes a single step back. They are deserters. The only way is forward. We must take the ind by sundown no matter what!"
The reason for this harshmand was not only because Lord Macht was a mart officer, but also to secure his ce as Achis''s recement. He had to show results here due to the events of the past three days.
Lord Macht had used the previous three days of bring order to the camp and totally solidify his family''s hold over the men.
He did this by removing most of the original Margraves officers from their posts and assimting their units into his own formation. Meaning these units were not only ced inside the Heeat family''s chain ofmand by having their officers reced with one from the Heeat family.
Far more than that, the Margraves formations were broken up into smaller pieces, and physically ced into Lord Macht''s formation, thus forming a mixedposition.
The veteran warrior did this one because he did not have enough officers to swallow the Margraves entirely in one go, and two because he thought such a move would generate too much of a resistance with the other family''s troops.
Thus he dressed up the annexation of the army as an ''exercise between allies'', touting that his
move only had the goal to foster greater cooperation between the two sides.
Getting up to a raised podium, this wizened, ck warrior had dered in front of the gathered men,
"I know that many of you have questions regarding the recent reshuffle. A lot of you might have misgivings about your brothers from the other family."
"However, remember that it takes two to start a fight. Whatever has happened, both sides must share the me for it. That is why I have decided tobine the two of you, to let you fight side by side, as brothers in arms, and use the Adhanians'' blood to wash away all the ill will."
This grand speech was of course not written by the simple and not so eloquent Lord Macht but instead by thebined efforts of many of the scribes present.
The exact details of how all this went were quite long winded and mundane but long story short, after Lord Macht had initiated his bloodless purge of the Margraves, many of the officers quickly sensed the growing resentment among both sides, since there was enough bad blood between them to make mixing them seem like oil and water.
The Margraves naturally questioned the move while many of the Heeat soldiers found themselves getting lumped with ''these people'' too irritating.
They understood Lord Macht''s intention to blend the two forces seamlessly would not work.
Hence these officers then reported their findings to the nobleman Lord Kite, who upon agreeing with them decided to meet Lord Macht in private.
Aad after a lengthy discussion regarding what strategy to follow to subdue the Margraves, he convinced the veteran warrior to give a speech to the men, a speech crafty made to target all the men''s concerns.
And the eloquence the scribes managed to put into it let it be a resounding sess, for as hollow as the words were, they managed to get the job done- cating the grassroots men from both sides.
Of course, such shallow reasoning was not enough to fool the true heavyweights.
But these people either consented to this merger, such as in the case of the Heeat family or unfortunately in the case of the Margraves, they had already been removed from their post due to ipetence and ced under house arrest. There was little chance for them to influence the troops.
Yes, this was the excuse Lord Macht hade up with when removing the Margraves officers- saying they were under investigation for the result of the recent battle, with there even some who were incredulously suspected of causing the bridge to fall down.
For the Margraves troops this operation proved disastrous since their topmand was basically decapitated with such speed that they were left without anyone to lead them.
They found it too hard to resist such a well coordinated attack and since their officers were only captured and not killed, theycked that pressure to unite and choose a new leader.
Lord Macht under his council''s advice had even cleverly given a few very menial rear duty missions to some of the less influential Margrave''s officers, duties such as overseeing the stables, or the cleanliness of the camp or the reins to the stock of some less important supplies.
All these in front of an average, not so bright Margraves troop worked to put up the picture that their officers were indeed being treated justly, and this was not a simple purge.
Hence under these various pressures, they would only force down their resentment and assimte themselves into the greater force.
While watching all of this from the sidelines, Miss Linda''s heart burned with a silent, furious scream.
This was not at all what she had in mind.
ording to her ns, things should have been the exact opposite.
Lord Bernard was supposed to have reached a resounding victory and with her whispering in Lord Parker''s ear, she should have been the one to stealthily eat up the Heeat forces.
However that ''idiot'' had not only gotten himself stabbed but much more than that, had fallen so far from her husband''s graces, that he might as well have dug a grave for himself and buried himself in it.
In fact, Miss Linda felt that if not for her being there as well as Lord Parker being concerned about how the 10,000 Margraves troops would react, this man would have been already silently taken care of, instead of being left alone in the most remote tent of the camp, guarded twenty four seven with security so heavy that it might have actually eclipsed even Lord Parker''s own entourage.
If Achis did not return safe and sound, she truly feared for his life. And was even d to see Lord Macht take temperory control of the camp.
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Chapter 1204: Drunken Parker
During the three days following the battle, Lord Parker remained in his mercurial amorphous phase, constantly shifting between his usual, rational self and that unhinged madman state.
It was like one moment he was the lord here, meant tomand the troops and bring glory to his family. But the next moment he recalled his loss and turned tempestuous, finding fault at anyone and everyone nearby.
He was like a pendulum, constantly shifting back and forth between rationality and hystericalness.
And this unpredictability somehow made him even more dangerous than before.
Because think about.
A mad dog you know to stay away from. But what about a dog who only asionally has the fits?
The only thing to do then is either put it down or try and avoid getting in its bad as much as possible.
And the same thing was happening here.
Seeing Lord Parker''s state everyone chose to give the lord a very wide berth.
And they certainly did not dare even mention the shadow of Achis in front of him, in fear of riling him up.
They figured that if they were to propose it, the one to bring it up would likely get his head chopped off first even before Lord Parker considered what they were saying, all for the crime of daring to utter the general''s name.
Yes, Lord Parker had made such a threat before and no one was willing to check if it was only a bluff or if the man had really meant it
This was also one of the reasons why no negotiating party had been sent to Alexander to discuss the ransom terms till now.
Now that was still strange considering Lord Parker''s own actions, as it could be said given Achis''s importance in the man''s heart, one would assume the very first thing he would do was try and rescue his beloved no matter the cost.
However, for various reasons he only kept to himself, Lord Parker did nothing of that sort, but simply distanced himself from all outside contact and kept to himself.
It was as if he was unwilling to talk or even think about what might be happening to Achis at the moment.
This was a very deplorable reaction on Lord Parker''s part, and many officers found it grossly unbing of a future lord.
They wanted him to take charge and try and snatch their general back.
However, who exactly was going to tell the half-mad Lord Parker that?
Not even Lord Macht dared to be too hard on him in his state.
Thus they did what the man seemed to want them to do and just left Lord Parker to his own devices, causing the man to spend his time mostly alone inside his personal tent, the things going inside his head a privilege only belonging to him.
And he preferred this reclusive style, to spend all his waking and sleeping hours in that tent all alone. It let him fully sink himself into all the charming memories he had shared with Achis without any distraction.
From Lord Parker''s perspective, he did this because he already counted Achis as a dead man. Because he found the likelihood of sessfully rescuing Achis without giving anypensation or suffering any kind of loss to be too unlikely.
This was a conclusion reached based upon the battle prowess Alexander had showcased until now and due to the man''s recent string of victories, Lord Parker thought that taking his general back through battlefield aplishments was too unlikely, while any price that Alexander might ask for as ransom was surely to be too high for him to consider it.
The pasha was sure to ask for many times more the amount Lord Parker had swindled off of him as remuneration.
And even hoping for that was likely being too optimistic.
Because it was not umon for ransoms of such high value people to be not mere gold, but treaties and conditions.
Conditions such aspletely withdrawing from the ind in exchange for the man''s safe return.
These types of conditions were ones that Lord Parker knew he would absolutely not be able to fulfill even if he wanted to.
The cracks this would create between him and his family would be enough to plunge him to the abyss once and for all.
After all, from the perspective of his father and the various nobles, the chance to annex an entire earldom without any bloodshed was once in a lifetime, no, once in a millennia opportunity.
And there was no way Duke Heeat or the powerful retainers under him would ever let Lord Parker go if he exchanged one single man for an entire fief.
In fact, they would never even consent to any form ofpromise, so any n to share power with Lady Miranda would be out of the question too.
The guidelines for the takeover and what was a red line and what was not had all been very clearly read out to Lord Parker by his father before he sent his son here.
Of course, at the time, he used the examples of other ducal families interfering in their matter, not Alexander. But the core point still stood.
Lord Parker was to obtain the entirety of the fiefdom intact no matter what, by hook or crook, with smile and handshakes, or blood and steel.
And with the decision having been made at the highest echelons of power, even a scion like him, who was next in line to seed the family had no choice but to follow the line to the tee.
Any deviation from the script and the gentlest oue would be a drastic fall in his prestige among the nobles, thus making his reign and possibly even his progeny''s reign a very hard one.
As for in the extreme cases, such as agreeing to such an unfair transaction, well then events steered more towards Lord Parker not even having the chance to rule anymore.
The nobles and his fatherbined could definitely strip him of session rights, then upon dering him mad in light of his recent action would swiftly assassinate him, thus removing all obstacles for one of his younger brothers to take the seat.
Such radical actions among the Sybarian nobility were of course very very rare, almost too scandalous to even usually contemte. This was due to the strictws of session they had, developed due to the practice of monogamy, thus making the line of session rtively quite easy.
However, all rules had ways to skirt around them. This was why rumors of fathers killing their first born to favor his one of their other sons were not too umon among Sybarsis nobility.
And if not did not want to be so craven there were cases of a sessor being legally stripped of his im.
For that, the lord and his peers and retainers had unanimously agreed the son was unfit to rule.
This was of course usually a very hard bar to reach as all nobles tended to very deeply honor this tradition. They almost instinctively tended to reject such a vile call.
But doubtless, Lord Parker''s current circumstances were nothing if not extraordinary. Losing an earldom for one man would definitely make him qualified to receive that hammer.
It was all these considerations that had filled the young man''s mind for the first two days, as Lord Parker swam through every dirty bit of memory in his mind to try and fish for a way out.
However two days of futile search, he surrendered.
He found that there was no way to get Achis back. Even if he sacrificed for Achis now and freed him, he would be hounded down and killed by his family/
Hence upon reaching the end of the tunnel, Lord Parker took to man''s one true sce- alcohol, and like so many great men that hade before him- started to drown his sorrows in that.
Lord Parker drank right after he woke up, he drank when he began to feel sad missing Achis joining him for breakfast, he drank of Achis''s health after breakfast, and he drank when praying for Achis...
You could see where this was going.
Joy, sorrow, happiness, worship¡ everything that Lord Parker did during the day and night, except for sleeping, had his trusty bottleing along.
The servants that served him silently wept to see their lord drown himself like this, in a pessimistic pool of degeranecy.
But after two of the most loyal men were executed for daring to try and stop Lord Parker, the others obediently bowed their heads and silently obeyed.
While by this point Lord Parker was also very d that Lord Macht had taken over the camp on his own ord, thus freeing the lord from all responsibilities.
The man would stille and report his day''s work to Lord Parker, for he still was technically themander of the force, but usually, the young lord would be too inebriated to even keep his eyes.
He would simply wave and ask Lord Macht ''to do his best''.
This was why the veteranmander had ordered that Phyrros Ind be taken no matter the cost, believing if he could show Alexander was not invincible, Lord Parker would break out of his poisoned stupor.
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Chapter 1205: Drunken Linda
Lord Parker''s current depression over losing Achis was even affecting his marriage life, as even the beautiful wife he had once favored so much seemed unable to any longer elicit any joy within him.
Forget talking or sharing the bed with her, Lord Parker even refused to see her, barring her from entering his tent. Something like this would have been unthinkable even a few days ago.
Thus it seemed the couple''s rtionship had be gravely fractured, which in fairness was hardly surprising given how Lord Parker had thrown hisdy out into the cold wintery wilderness without a second''s thought upon hearing of his lover''s distress and even threatened to have her executed in the morning.
Even if Miss Linda was a saint, she would have found her husband''s deplorable.
Whereas the reality till now was that Lord Parker blindly believed that Miss Linda was to me, even if partially for Achis''s mishap. And even if the general was rescued safe and sound, this bitter memory was sure to stick with them for a long, long, time.
And Miss Linda too understood this.
Which was why she bitterly clenched her teeth and cursed Lord Parker.
And when she was done with him, her rage suddenly turned to Lord Bernard of all people.
She cussed him for his failure on the battlefield thinking this should have been an easy m dunk for him, she scathingly med him for losing Achis, and most surprisingly of all, she cursed him for surviving and not dying from the stab wound!
This morbid thought came because thedy believed that if he had died, they could have conveniently dumped all the battlefield kerfuffles onto him and be done with it.
Dead men did not talk after all, so how could the man have defended himself?
This would have also cated Lord Parker, as he saw Lord Bernard, as themander of the Margraves, the chief culprit in his general''s disappearance.
So the dashing man''s dead body would have certainly brought some sce to the half mad man, and perhaps even stopped his descent altogether.
Of course, although the unfolding events were a tragedy for Miss Linda and the Margraves as a whole, from the man''s very own perspective, Lord Bernard could also be said to have gotten very very lucky.
If he had not been stabbed but simply strode into Lord Parker''s camp fine and dandy, instead of Lord Parker simply throwing his arms high up into the air and offering the manmand of his whole army, he would have most certainly had the man seized and interrogated.
For all his prowess as a skilled politician, Lord Bernardcked any real understanding of how a military worked, and hence naively believed just because he was the second inmand of the forces, he would be naturally elevated to that position the moment his superior was removed, no question asked.
In this way, the man put too much of his trust in the ''system'' and relied too much on his noble title to think he would not be questioned about all the suspicious happenings regarding Achis.
He had been of course grossly proved wrong on both of those ounts.
Not only was he questioned much more severely than ever anticipated, but he was sent flying so far away from militarymand, that it was doubtful the man would ever be allowed to hold a sword in from of Lord Parker.
And even this ''generous'' treatment was a result of his stab wound.
Since Lord Bernard''s injuries were inflicted by them, the Heeat family felt a bit ashamed to push the man too much, making the injury miraculously prove to be a great boon.
Without it, he would certainly be experiencing the worst of the fates.
He would probably be inside a dark, warm tent by now, having his fingers smashed, flesh burnt, and nails pulled out by military interrogators, who would want to know second by second how exactly Achis was lost and who were the exact people responsible.
Instead, now, the man was currently allowed to sulk away in an isted tent, pretending to be asleep for half the time as a way to dodge questioning, while trying to get his story in his mind.
His official version of the events till now had been,
"Approaching the ship, I ordered the wounded General to be moved to myrge ship for better treatment. Then I started to give a speech to raise the morale of the troop. Whilst doing that, there was a suddenmotion from the front, and out of the blue, I was attacked from the side. Everything after that is too chaotic for me to remember."
This was a reasonable version of the truth, with only a few adjustments and modifications small enough to hide from a casual nce. And when pushed the clever politician was able to use his indignant anger of getting stabbed to stall them.
And while seeing this, the man swore he would never dip his toe into the military ever again.
He had learned his lesson, and Lord Bernard threw all ambitions formanding the army out of his mind and just thanked his lucky stars that he managed to get out of it with his skin still on.
This was a very wise move on his part.
It however proved to be a great inconvenience for Miss Linda, because with this man neutralized, she had lost her most potent weapon against her husband.
Her desire to rule and influence the Heeat family depended first and foremost on Lord Parker, on her whispering to him, and then if that did not work, on Lord Bernard, who would slowly take over the army.
However, now both of those chips had betrayed her.
This disheartened her at first, and then quickly recovering, she got to her scheming, trying for other ways to try and turn the whole thing around.
The easiest of which should be to simply try and patch things up with Lord Parker.
However, that was also the first thought she gave up on.
Not only was the man way too gone in his mind, but Miss Linda''s pride also made her too haughty to even seriously consider it.
Like hell, she was going to go to him and grovel!
Thedy did not believe for a second she had done anything wrong and thus there was no way she was going to apologize to the same man who just threatened to have her executed without any rhyme or reason.
After all, even if she managed to convince him and get back together, what guarantee was there Lord Parker would not do the same again?
She was lucky enough to have Lord Macht with her this time. But could she count on being so lucky every time?
Definitely not!
So she quickly thought of the next best way- assassinating her husband!
And this thought quickly quickly gained traction.
Because Lord Parker had already given her the child, a boy at that!
So what more use did he have to her?
It would be far better for her if this unhinged, mercurial, lord hit the proverbial sack.
Not only would that free her from staying close to this dangerous, who could turn on any moment, but it would even open countless doors of opportunities for her.
And the more Miss Linda thought about it, the more the overly ambitious woman began to drool.
She imagined herself bing the ruling duchess of Lynica, she saw herself dressed in the most resplendent attire, attending balls and parties of unimaginable extravagance, and most of all, she saw herself sitting on that regal seat reserved for only the family''s head.
With her son too young to rule, the one to lead the Heeat plus Margraves was sure to be her. ''Regent Lady Linda! Hehe, the name has a quite good ring to it!'' She mumbled with a crazed look on his face.
And then turning to her son who was lying there on a small wooden crib, whispered with a twinkle in her eyes, Your next read is on NovelFire|le|mp|yr
"Haha, are you excited for mommy, my precious? Don''t worry even if you have no father, mommy is going to take the best for you!"
The infant child only gazed back at the familiar women with those huge, clear eyes, before giving an insensible chuckle.
He was happy to see his mother.
This of course did not seem insensible to Miss Linda, On the contrary, it appeared quite sensitive, as the mother thought this was her son''s way of endorsing her actions.
So she immediately got to plotting, trying to think of a way to slip something into the madly drunk''s drink.
And all while Miss Linda plotted it never urred to her that her husband was officially still not the Duke. He was only the next in line, the sessor.
And what happens when a sessor dies before he is able to take up the mantle?
It did not automatically transfer to his son, but rather the power went to his brother!
Of course, there were a lot more nuances involved, and there were indeed examples of events folding just as thedy wanted.
But as of now the most likely oue if Miss Linda were to go with her n, would not be endless riches, but being thrown to the side or simply killed by her brother inw!
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Chapter 1206: Difficulties of a Dream
If Miss Linda really went through the act of poisoning her husband and having him killed, instead of being awarded the reins of the ducal family like in her dreams, the most likely oue for her and her son would be getting pushed aside to a far away manor way off in the countryside and then be asked to live out their lives peacefully there in rtive obscurity.
And this type of arrangement from the Heeat family''s perspective made perfectly good sense.
After all, who in their right mind would choose to hand over the workings of their family to a nobodying from an ind a thousand miles away? Not to mention that nobody was a woman!
Just because she bore the son of their blood?
Joke!
If things were threaded so simply, the Heeat family would have long eaten from the inside from the many venomous daughter inws they had over the centuries.
Thus even if Duke Heeat did not suspect his daughter inw of killing his son, he would be sure to remove her from all matters of the family, and then either choose to groom Marcus as his heir himself or if he changed his mind or his health turned worse, shift his favor to Lord Parker''s younger brother and the man''s progeny.
Both of which were bad news for Miss Linda and her love for power.
She did not just want her son to rule. She wanted her to do so too.
But her simple identity by birth meant that her ns were dead in the water even before it got the chance to float, much less swim.
No matter how strong of a contender her son might be, just by herself Miss Linda could never ever hope to contend with the sessionws of Sybarsis.
And if Miss Linda had discussed any of her ns with anyone and sought their opinion, they might have been able to advise on all of this and help her see reason, thus letting her back on from such a suicidal action.
But since the single mindeddy had thought of the ns on her own and decided to act on it by herself, she possessed no such luck.
Of course, it was also unknown whether Miss Linda would have shelved the idea of assassination even if she had been informed of the risks.
Miss Linda usually tended to be very boorish once she set her mind on something.
She also had a bad habit of overestimating her scheming abilities and might have simply argued that she would be able to swerve her way through all the political machinations by herself and achieve triumph despite it all.
Perhaps such as by re marrying into the Heeat family, this time taking her current younger brother inw as her new partner, one who would be chosen to be the future Duke Heeat.
Miss Linda had enough narcissism in her to believe she would be too beautiful for the man to resist and might have even proudly dered,
"They will have to marry me if they want the loyalty of the Margraves family!"
There was indeed some truth to that.
If the Heeat family really wanted to swallow half of the ind of Galiosos and not have it turn into a fishbone that was stuck in their throat, they would need Miss Linda''s help.
Only she, or someone with blood as thick as her could give legitimacy to this tantnd grab by the Heeat family and not cause a ruckus in the Sybarian Confederation council.
So perhaps the superbly ambitiousdy did have some tricks in her sleeve and could somehow make it work.
And even if she did not, well given how Lord Parker had treated her, the prideful woman would have sought revenge in other ways.
She was not willing to put the lives of her or her son in the hands of this half insane man.
Having decided what her next move was going to be, she then got to thinking how exactly she was going to do it.
Because believe it or not, assassinating someone like Lord Parker was surprisingly hard even in ordinary times. There were numerous checks by alert guards to catch any poison attempts
And it was a hurdle that was greatlypounded by the fact that they were inside a military camp in the middle of a campaign.
It would have been very hard for Miss Linda to get away with it even when Lord Parker had been infatuated with her and followed her almost like a puppy dog.
As for now, with their drifting apart and Lord Parker''s self istion, the idea to poison her man was looking more and more perilous.
Miss Linda might be able to still slip something in under the guise of visiting her husband just as a filial wife should, but the urrence of such opportunities would really have to depend on her good luck and its sess without detection upon a great deal more of it.
All the rare subtle poisons she would ordinarily have ess to were also back at the Margraves''s manor, a ce quite out of her reach at the moment, leaving her able to summon only the mostmon ones, making them very unsuitable and too easily countered.
Miss Linda would likely get caught carrying them well before getting any chance to administer them.
All this made Miss Linda feel very gloomy about this route''s prospects, and for an absolutely insane moment even made her half contemte whether to ask her elder sister for help, to let her get ess to the ''stuff''!
It might have sounded crazy at first, but Miss Linda reasoned Lady Miranda had to every reason to hate Lord Parker just as much as her. So surely she would be happy to see him bite the dust. Discover magic on m_v_l_e_m_p_y_r
Of course, that thought was only a fleeting whisper in Miss Linda''s mind, and trashed it almost as soon as it was born.
Not only was it too impractical, such as there being the question of how exactly they were going tomunicate and get the poison to her, but also killing Lord Parker in such a way would only truly benefit Lady Miranda, leaving Miss Linda with nothing.
For example, if her elder sister and by proxy Alexander were to learn of her ns, they could then try and think of a way to try and take advantage of the ensuing chaos that was most certainly to follow.
And if the Heeat forces were to be somehow defeated in the process, well then Miss Linda would truly be the bull tilting his rival''s soil.
All her ambitions would go down the drain with that.
And all this was not mentioning the ever present risk of her elder sister simply ratting her out and causing an irreparable divide between the families.
Given how tenuous their rtionship already was, if such words were to reach Lord Parker, no matter how unsubstantiated, Miss Linda would surely see her and her son''s heads rolling at the hands of this unhinged crazy.
So she wisely decided against informing their most hated rival of the cracks in the two family''s alliance and tried to solve her problems on her own.
After shelving the poison route, thedy then thought of hiring an assassin to do her dirty deed.
But like the idea of getting Lady Miranda involved, this too was stamped out almost the moment it sprouted.
Because just ask yourself, who the hell was she going to find to try and infiltrate that heavily guarded tent? It would be suicide.
If Lord Macht had not dismantled the Margraves army, Miss Linda might have been able to somehow convince a na?ve Margraves officer with a bleeding heart for the family to try and do the deed.
She knew there were plenty of men among them who salivated at her even till now and would dly be willing to die. A few minutes of pleasure would be all they ask for.
However, the catch now for Miss Linda was that all the best warriors the Margraves family had to offer were already under arrest and strict surveince. They could not even leave their tent without permission.
And in that same vein, even the chance of causing a riot using the dissatisfied grunts of the family to try and create an opening was neutralized by Lord Macht even before Miss Linda decided on her move.
All this left Miss Linda with a whole lot of desire but not a lot to wood to work with.
''Dammit! Is there no way?" Thus after racking her head for three days, the frustrateddy finally cursed out like so, and for a moment even wondered, ''Should I look for a new man and just run away?''
Of course, this was way too impractical.
Not to mention her face was too eye catching, but thedy also demanded a certain level of lifestyle that was impossible for any normal man to provide. Finding a noble that was willing to take her in in such a short amount of time was hard, to say the least.
"Whatever! I will just wait!" So giving up trying to escape, thedy decided to just lie in ambush, looking for an opportunity to kill her husband to present itself.
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Chapter 1207: The Garrisons Concerns
When the power hungrydy was thinking of leaving everything behind, many names had popped into her mind. But the chances of any of them sessfully escaping Lord Parker''s chase remained a pipe dream within a pipe dream.
The only man she could think of who had the muscle to contend with the Heeat family and the forces that were sure to hound after her was Alexander.
But just the thought of her going to beg that man was enough to make her feel nauseated.
Miss Linda would rather take her chances with Lord Parker and die than grovel to that man.
Thus thedy ultimately decided to strap herself for the long haul, determined to somehow kill Lord Parker, and then try and use Marcus to take control of a part or even the whole of the Heeat family.
But before all such magical things could happen, thedy subconsciously looked out of her tent ps and stared towards the sea, noting to herself with a bit of uncertainty,
"I wonder how the battle today is going. From what I hear, we should be able to capture the ind with rtive ease. I don''t know whether I should be happy or angry!"
The reason behind Miss Linda''s such ominous words was because she was unsure whether a stronger Heeat family was good or bad for her.
On one hand, if they won they would be one step closer to destroying Alexander and getting her manor back. Thedy knew that the control of the Margraves family was crucial for the sess of all her future endeavors.
But on the other hand, she fumed at how the Heeat family dewed and defanged her men.
She had almost vomited when she heard that speech by Lord Macht, particrly cursing his fourteen generations when he talked about ''sharing the me''.
''Fuck you old fart! If they are both to me when why is only our family getting their formation destroyed and officers arrested? Where is the head of the officer under whom Lord Bernard got stabbed? And why have you not said anything about Achis''s orders to ughter our men to make more space in the ship?''
Of course, all these indignations and more could only be bottled up deep inside her for the moment, as Miss Linda knew this was all a great farce designed to crush and blend them to the ground.
It was just that she was too weak to do anything about it.
And if Lord Macht won back Phyrros Ind, his work could very well be done, greatly eroding the Margraves family''s identity and weakening its position in the alliance to a nadir.
They would almost be like a vassal.
This was because the win would let Lord Macht properly solidify his position in the army, and reassure the soldiers that even though their original Lord might be having a crisis of his own, they were still in good hands.
They had goodmanders to take care of them.
It would also cate the shocked men from both sides, who saw the copse of the bridge as an act of god and work to convince them that they still had the favor of heaven with them.
All this would bring some much needed stability and order back to the camp.
However, all these benefits would alsoe at the cost of Miss Linda losing the Margraves troops, for they would lose all thoughts of rebelling against this new integration into the Heeat formation.
The much more coherent force would insteade to see this ck man as the true authority.
After all, most grassroots soldiers really did not care who was giving the order.
In this time period, themoners who were levied to fight for their fightcked any definite tie to him and most of the time, only really cared about whether the orders they were being given let them win battles ande back home alive.
It was only the officers and nobles in the army that tended to cause ''trouble'', for they were the ones with the brains.
They swore oaths to their lords, knew him by name and recognition, and they also had a strong personal incentive to not only win but obtain other benefits from it for their family- be itnd, coin, glory, or the honor of being enshrined in the annals of history. And one would do well to not discount thatst part because to many honor was perhaps many times more important than even their lives.
Which was also why Lord Macht had removed these unstable elements long ago, pushing them to long past the sidelines and leaving the Margraves almost toothless.
The only way left for thedy to influence her men was through the other''s defeat.
If Lord Macht could not produce results, the already low morale in the camp would continue to dip and dissatisfied voices regarding him and his forced methods would start to slowly rear their ugly heads.
This would then give Miss Linda a chance to enter the stage and offer her men''s cooperation in exchange for certain concessions.
That''s why even though Lord Macht being in charge would likely make things safer for her, as the man would see it to that Lady Margraves was well protected from Lord Parker thedy ultimately decided she would rather see Lord Macht lose today.
She prayed to the gods as such, while gazing at the distant ind that appeared only like a dot.
The experienced aged warrior also knew the stakes that were on the line for him today, which was why he decided to lead the attack on the ind personally, and with all the forces he could muster.
The battle today was much more than about this simple spit ofnd. Rather it could be said the whole momentum of their campaign depended on it.
Hence to ensure sess he had deployed about three quarters of all avable ships, only leaving a token force of battered ships behind, most of which were undergoing various repairs in the harbor and hardly considered seaworthy. Stay updated with m-v le-mpyr
They were so bad in fact that Lord Macht feared these might sink the moment they sailed out. And thest thing that he needed was another ill omen.
So he held them back in reserve, hoping that they would be able to provide some kind of aid just in case of some catastrophic emergencies.
This meant that themander was able to carry three thousand men with him to the battlefield, out of which, two and a half thousand were soldiers and the rest of the five hundred rowers.
Lord Macht was very confident with these numbers despite it not being his maximum capacity because his initial scouting of the ind reported that Alexander only had a garrison of about five to eight hundred men.
This let him outnumber the enemy three to one.
Hence the veteranmander strongly believed he would be able to dislodge this force even if they were well entrenched.
And under normal circumstances, he would have been indeed correct.
This lopsided number would be able to uproot even decently fortified positions, positions such as those that had three days to prepare themselves.
However, it was just that he forgot to take into ount the fact that this attack would have to be an amphibiousnding in broad daylight!
Alexander''s garrisoned forces could see the huge sails approaching them miles away and more than being panicked or rmed, first and foremost, they were astounded by the sheer gall in disy here by the enemy.
Because regardless of the time period, contestedndings were always very hard. Especially if the other side had time to react and knew where the force was going tond.
Arrows, javelins, and catapults were sure to greet the vulnerablending force the moment they got close enough.
So seeing the Heeat ships approach them with such arrogance, one of the officers even turned to whisper to hismander, Scorpyo with absolute incredulity,
"They can''t be this stupid right? This has to be a trap! It''s like they want us to find them, They are like a naked whore dancing to catch our attention!"
That crude example got a vulgar chuckle from another officer who was standing next to him, and this man too then quickly joined with a swift nod,
"Right! I think so too. The enemy has shown itself to be quitepetent in all our previous fights. So perhaps they are trying to copy what the Lord had done."
Proposing this hypothesis, the man then elucidated with a point of his finger toward the ship, "This is likely only a distracting force, meant to draw our attention away. The real attackers are likely somewhere hidden from our view. Look, the morning fog is making it hard for us to see anything too far away."
"Mmm¡. I agree!" And this rhetoric was then quickly buttressed by the first officer, whose face turned heavy seeing the hazy smoke out at sea, and caused him to chime,
"These hidden ships will surely show themselves only once we are engaged with the enemy.
"Their entrance is too mboyant and shy. This is definitely a trap! Commander Scorpyo, we must absolutely not take the bait."
"....." The leading man neither replied yes or no.
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Chapter 1208: Scorpyos Defense
"......" Themander of the entire garrison Scorpyo let his two talkative young officers chirp on about the imminent attack to their heart''s content, only choosing to hear them without saying anything.
Because he was thinking, analyzing.
It was only after they had piped down that he decided to open his mouth.
"Both of you are wrong! The enemymander is not stupid, neither is there a trap! Because there is no need for that- the trap is already in front of us!"
Scorpyo''s slow, booming voice added a whole newyer of gravitas to the entire im and as the imposingmander majestically lifted his finger while saying this, the other two pair of eyes felt maically drawn to it- Scorpyo was pointing to the iing ships.
The two officers then heard theirmander further say,
"Count the number of vessels! And imagine the number of men there! Do you think we can hold them all off by ourselves?"
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The statement instantly made the other two became awake to the new reality.
They quickly judged the difference in strength in disy here and began to understand that it was not that the enemymander was foolish, but that simply that he thought he would be able to overwhelm the garrison with sheer number.
It was the type of bloody, brutal tactic that the legionarymanders always tried to shy away from.
Thus still unconvinced that the enemy would use such a crude method despite having the firepower advantage, the first officer still spoke up to contest with a cautious tone,
"Commander, I still think it might be a trap. Or at least half of it. Because think about it!"
"Even if they think they can overwhelm us with these sheer numbers, surely they will lose a lot of men. What if their casualties are sorge during the initialnding that the men simply choose to retreat? Won''t that ruin the entire battle?"
This officer appeared to be speaking from experience and wanted to point out that the enemy would never be so careless.
He still wanted them to prepare for any other hidden move.
"......." This urging of his brought another bout of pause from Scorpyo, letting the others almost hear the gears inside his head churning.
What his men did makes some sense.
But at the same time, something did not seem to fit in his heart. Scorpyo had no basis for thinking like that, but his years of experience simply signaled that.
Perhaps his mind subconsciously recalled how Remus had burnt down so many of their ships down, and that there was yet a fleet going to attack the Royal Harbor despite the other side''s huge numerical troop superiority.
Whatever the case might have been, his instinct told him this was all the ships they could muster, and there was no hidden armada waiting for him out there.
The fleet in front of was all the enemy had.
This got the man thinking for a bit, and after finally a while the veteranmander decided to trust his guts.
It had saved his skin quite a few times in the past and he trusted it was not going to get him down now.
Thus the cold, still, heavy wintery air soon shook with a small palpitation as the imposingmander strongly dered, "No! The fleet is too big to be a trap. This is the main force no doubt about it. We must respond!"
His words were very crisp and prating and left no room for any retort.
The two officers understood that the battle tactic to follow had been decided, and the reason for ity in the subtle unspoken words- ''Even if this is a trap, the enemy is sorge that we have to face him,'' were the words left unsaid between the lines.
Scorpyo did not explicitly say this out aloud because he feared acknowledging the enormous difference would cause morale among them to dip.
This was also why he quickly followed the deration up with an announcement of hope,
"Go quickly light our smoke camp''s signal. Ask the main camp to send reinforcements. They should be able to get here rtively quickly. The Royal Harbor is quite close."
Thatst part of the sentence was not quite urate as in terms of discement, the Abandoned Harbor from where the Heeat family was operating was definitely a bit closer.
Meaning the enemy was very likely to make contact long before any reasonable relief would be able to avail themselves.
However none of the men there was foolish enough to destroy the ideal rosy picture Scorpyo was painting for them. Even if it was a lie, hearing it ddened them, it made their hearts feel relieved.
So the two men quickly produced an understanding nod to show their support, while Scorpyo atst finished his order with this controversialmand,
"In the meantime, prepare the men to move out. We will sally out of our walls and meet the disembarking enemy head on!"
"Wha¡ what!" The moment thetter half was uttered, a predictable and instant scream shot out from both the two officers, swinging to meet Scorpyo''s gaze with great concern.
They were stunned!
Why had they been digging earthen fortifications all around their camp like crazy till now then?
Wasn''t it for this exact reason?
To let the enemy break into them like waves hitting a rock.
To let them bang their heads against the sturdy defense and tire themselves out.
To show them they were too tough a nut to crack so that they would leave them alone.
This was the only reason the garrisoned men put up with the extremely harsh conditions of thest few days, pilling up the earth on top of earth day and night, thus forming very thick and sturdy ramparts a few meters thick.
If that was not enough, this raised structure was further reinforced with wooden beams taken from the walls that formally made up the perimeter of the camp and ced in the front, middle, and back, in a simr fashion to steel rods being used while constructing high rises.
Watchtowers and shooting tforms were then naturally built behind these raised walls to shoot any attackers and as thest finishing touches, the ditch created by the building of the ramparts was filled with deadly wooden stakes, sharp and capable of easily tearing through a man, thus creating a deadly dry moat.
All of this was very impressive no doubt.
But it also meant all of it was quite hard to build.
Especially because it was winter.
One had to experience it firsthand to truly how hard it was to dig hard frozen earth for it was truly a wretched task to be assigned.
Even for theserge, fit legionaries it was backbreaking, with many even bing sick through sheer exhaustion.
They only managed to power through with their lives still in their hands because they all knew what the alternative was.- death.
So regardless of the pain they worked all around the clock in shifts to get this done.
But now they were being asked to abandon all that hard work just like that?
How could any of them swallow such an order?
It felt like all their sweat, blood, and hard work was being spat in the face.
And this was not to even mention how foolish it was to abandon such an advantageous spot in favor of attacking the enemy head on, an enemy that even by the officers'' most conservative sense outnumbered them two to one, if not likely even more.
Thus the two officers prepared themselves to strike back, determined to make Scorpyo reconsider no matter what. They wanted to turtle safe behind the walls until Remus got there with a relief force.
Fortunately for them, however, they were spared all the effort as Scorpyo could sense their unease.
The man thus sinctly revealed,
"We will attack the enemy when he is at his most vulnerable just like you two proposed- while he is disembarking. You said it yourself, didn''t you? If we can inflict a lot of casualties right at the start, their morale might break and rout then and there!"
"..!!!." This brave idea made the two officers open their eyes to theirmander''s true intentions, while seeing the two be on their way to boarding his, Scorpyo confidently added further,
"The enemymander likely thinks we will not attack them. He is counting on us to stay inside our camp and defend from there. That''s probably why he is showing off his numbers to us so tantly. To scare us into holing ourselves!"
"Hisssss.... How insidious!" One of the officers quickly blew out this steam of shock upon hearing this, his eyes ballooning with his fear.
While the other man tracing his chin produced a sharp look, before muttering to himself in an enlighted note,
"Hmmmp¡ somander Scorpyo believes all these shy things were done by the enemymander to makendfall easier for him. Then once he had a beachhead, he would use his vastlyrger numbers to slowly grind our walls down, no matter how thick they may be, and ultimately destroy us."
Thest few words send chills running through the spines of even the man who said it.
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Chapter 1209: Challenges of Amphibious Landing
The three garrisoned officers quickly understood that if Lord Macht was truly as skilled as they were giving him credit for, then they were truly in for a hard fight.
The subtleness of the entire n and how it was so cleverly hidden right in in sight for all to see was a fantastic marvel to behold for any man.
Lord Macht had shown his worth in salt with just that single move.
Realizing this thus made both the officers feel a trail of sweat flowing down their spine, as they then almost simultaneously turned to give theirmander Scorpyo a very ttering look.
If it had been them in charge of the camp, doubtless they would have beenpletely blind to the ploy, and been most certainly caught in the trap.
"..... If we had chosen to be in our camp and just defend, we would have been attacked for hours relentlessly¡ dammit¡ we are only a small force here¡ if even the walls of Thesalie can be overwhelmed, ... then what about ours?"
One of the officers hence could not help but clench through teeth what might have well been, the fear in his voice palpable.
"*Tsk*, even if we could have repelled them, our supplies are very limited. We would not have been able to oust them."
His colleague was quick to also add this statement, his hands curling up into a fist.
The men had to thank their lucky stars that they had someone as experienced as Commander Scorpyo to lead them.
Bing convinced of Scorpyo''s tactic, they then finally turned on their heels, shouting,
"We should go ask for reinforcements immediately. There is very little time left. Or we will really have to consider running."
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One of the officers then hurriedly rushed out to inform RR of their state, while his colleague got to work arranging the garrison and preparing the men to march out at a moment''s notice.
As Alexander''s garrison mobilized themselves like so, Lord Macht continued to steadily approach the ind, with a stoic facade on the outside but an expectant heart inside.
Calm and collected, the man was feeling quite confident of his chances, notcent but also not too worried.
Of course, this assessment would have certainly changed if he had been able to sense that his bait had been so easily fished out, and would have likely been in quite a hurry to change ns.
But he did not.
And even if he had, some would have argued that this was still the best course of action for them.
This was because there was indeed a reason why the man had chosen to attack the ind in this manner.
Because most of the alternative routes such as those listed by the legionary officers were actually not suitable to be used in the current circumstances.
The man knew that because he had already thought about most of them.
For instance, the first idea asked for using a double pronged attack to distract the garrison tond a secondary force elsewhere.
However this would have only worked if there was already a force on the ind in the first ce, kind of like Alexander had, so that they could attack and pin the garrison before they had a chance to mobilize.
However, if Lord Macht tried and replicated the tactic, the only thing he would end up aplishing would be dividing his forces into two thus making the groups very vulnerable while disembarking.
They would risk getting surrounded, isted, and then destroyed separately.
This would be like Lord Macht delivering two fully cooked meals straight to the enemy''s mouth.
As for trying to make this work bynding the two forces far away from each other, so that the smaller first force became the bait thus letting therger, secondary forcee up from the rear and open up a new front, well this too was not suitable.
For the simple reason problem of geography.
Phyrross Ind was really small, tiny
It was so small that even if Lord Macht tried tond his forces on either of the sides of the ind that were farthest from each other- the east and the west simultaneously, to try and split the defenders, the garrisoned forces would still likely be able tofortably engage one of them and then quickly finishing their ''meal''e back for seconds.
The problem wasrge enough to even make Lord Macht unable to use his cavalry.
Or else, if he had been able to use his horses, he might have been still able to make the two pronged attack work, using the unit''s great speed to take advantage of this time gap and quickly smash into the rear of the garrisoned forces while they were dealing with the first contingent.
But s, the tiny size of the ind made that quite impossible.
Cavalry needed t wide open spaces to effectively operate where they could makerge, swinging maneuvers.
But a tiny ind that had its grounds strewn with all kinds of broken stone and battered house debris from the tsunami hardly had such ideal conditions.
Leaving Lord Macht without his most precious units.
Otherwise, given cavalry was the Heeat family''s most prized possession and something Lord Macht was very familiar withmanding, he would have deployed them here despite the immense hassle of transporting and disembarking horses from ship tond.
Usually, such fickle beasts needed a long time and specialized equipment to load and unload, something that was needless to say hard to do during a contestednding
But if he could have used them, Lord Macht would not have cared.
Now however, theck of avable space on the ind appeared so acute that as Lord Macht approached the ind, he was half d that he had only brought with him two and a half thousand men.
Any more and he feared the men would have to line themselves up end to end on the ind and still not fit.
As for using fog to try and fool the enemy, just like Alexander had done at night, well in the young pasha''s case, it was perhaps not the fog that had been the decisive factor, but much more so theplete surprise with which he had managed to take the garrisoned forces.
The fog sure helped no doubt about that, but at the end of the day, it merely helped them hide their advances.
The true hero was the Heeat family''splete ignorance of the attack, and it not even being within their realm of possibility.
The men on the ind did not even know the enemy had made a beachhead on their ind for more than half the night, which let the legionnaires create a very strong foothold by daybreak.
Hence by the time the Heeat family noticed this, they were forced to send a majority of their troop to meet this threat or risk the enemy getting everrger and simply overwhelming them.
That however unfortunately left their camp mostly undefended.
Only then was Alexander able to exploit the happenings and snatch the ind.
Such a thing was hardly going to work with Alexander''s garrison here, who very well knew an attack wasing, and imminently at that.
They also were far better organized and supplied than their counterpart, with properly built watchtowers and lookouts equipped with warm clothes, keeping a vignt eye
Thus trying to use the winter fog to try and fool such sharp eyes would certainly not have worked.
The only real thing it would have realistically done was cause the attacking ships to lose their sights and bearings and smash into each other, and the disembarking soldiers to get confused and lost on the beach after being unable to see their unit''s standards.
Hence Lord Macht wisely decided to avoid suchplex strategies and tried to just use his huge numbers to try and bulldoze his way through.
He hoped the mere sight of his numbers would be enough to scare the garrison into holing themselves in and let him proceed unimpeded.
That hopeful optimism was unfortunately shattered almost the moment the ships came into range of the ind, as Scorpyo leading the formation shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Men! Shoot! Shoot with everything you got. Do not let a single bastard step ashore! Kill them before they can kill you!"
The hail of arrow fire immediately following thismand was withering and it greeted the attacking soldier with relentless malice.
And because the men had to jump from the ship to disembark, they were not only able to maintain any sort of coherent formation, but they even had to keep their shields to their backs, allowing many of the bolts to easily find their marks.
And apanying these shots were the far scarier catapults, whose stone throws were able to make urate hits on the moored ships, smashing into them and cracking the body.
Some evennded on the deck and bounced around a few times, making multiple contacts and dealing severe casualties.
But perhaps its most damaging effect was in its novelty as most having never seen such a weapon, panicked.
Even Lord Macht''s aide ran up to the general who was standing at the stern and urged him to go below deck.
The man''s face however only produced a gloomy look.
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Chapter 1210: Shores of Phyrros
"Aghhhh!"
"Ughhhhh! Hey! Shields up! Shields upaahhh!"
"Shit! I stepped on something! My leg¡. I think I twisted i¡ ahhhhh!
"Ahhhh, bastard! Don''t push! I''m getting off as fast as I can!"
"Brat! I''m letting you go first! Listen to your elders! I am ten times older than you!"
"Brother, you are the most heroic of us all. You take charge. We will bring up the rear!"
All such schemes and screams were being plotted and produced by the attacking men as they quickly lept down from their ships onto the soft sandy beach, hurriedly raising their shields and wading to the shore as fast as possible.
The name of the game here was speed, so they tried to get off their ships and into proper formation within the least time possible, working very hard to stay in that dreadful zone of the most concentrated enemy fire as little as possible.
Of course, this brave and straightforward tactic was only used by the more honest and perhaps gullible of the soldiers, the ones who followed orders without question.
The far more clever ones instead tried to urge theirrades to take the risk in their stead, to have them jump into the thick of it first, so that they could act as an effective meat shield.
And they tried various ways to try and goad them into it, be it threats, ttery, or simple trickery, all while they hung back to wait for a proper beachhead with established lined formation to be formed.
In this endeavor, some lucky bastards seeded, while others were forced to join the disembarking ''gullible'' men regardless, under the metaphorical whips of their officers.
These men were the captains andmanders who actually did the dirty groundwork, leading and conducting the assault on the ground with their individual units.
And all the units that were tasked with taking the ind by storm had been decided beforehand. So when their deployment times came, the captains of each of the units blew a wooden whistle hanging from their necks,
*Whistle*, *Whistle*, *Whistle*, that produced a sharp, piercing sound, and let his men know it was time for them to all advance.
These units would then soon find themselves jumping into the fiery crucible regardless if they liked it or not, with their captain not only following suit, but most of the time even bravely leading from the front.
This type ofmand structure was of course the norm of the time, designed with the thought that military officers should lead by example.
And the Heeat family naturally followed the convention, instead of having a ''weird'' chain ofmand like Alexander''s- where the officers stayed in the rearer echelons of the frontlines.
And this traditional formation had its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantage wise- it greatly boosted the fighting men''s morale, and the results of it were clear to see on the current battlefield.
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Undoubtedly, thending party would not have been able to maintain the kind of momentum they currently had even with the amount of casualties they had sustained without these officers showing the troops the way.
As for the disadvantages, well the casualties among these experienced men would always be dreadful, making it very hard to rece them in any reasonable time.
After all, it took years if not perhaps a decade to be a trulypetent officer, and they could be sniffed out just as easily as a levied grunt.
Such was the case now, where these precious personnel were being eaten up at a prodigious rate, as they were doubtlessly the most targeted part of the force by the firing enemy.
This happened due to the shy off white uniform gilded with gold etchings and therge white feathered helmet they wore, one that starkly contrasted with the general ck dress of the regr troops.
It let them stand out like a beautiful peacock amongst all themon fowl,which was fine for trying to catch their men''s attention when giving out orders.
But far less so when charging at fixed enemy formations under open sky under heavy arrow fire.
And indeed many of the garrisoned legionnaires chose to intentionally focus their shots on these high value men, causing a disproportionate number of officers to be wounded or killed.
But even when one fell, another would be there to quickly pick his standard, using the death as fuel to urge the rest of the men forward.
The peerless bravery many of these men showed in spite of such great danger really went to show that although these officers wielded great power in the military, they were also burdened with great risk.
Their privilege was not given by anybody for nothing but rather earned through courage, blood, and steel.
Of course, there were always exceptions to this rule, but even those handful of men who got their appointment using nepotism still chose to put on the act.
They might not have jumped to the front like the rest but rather chose to stay in the middle or rear of the formation to maximize their chances.
While the most craven of the officers held themselves back in the ships with their aides, and constantly blew their dreadful whistles to herd any reticent or cowardly men out of the vessels and into the meat grinder.
To those men, the sound of that piercing shrill sounded the same as the approaching footsteps of death.
However as afraid as they might have been and as much as they might have wished to run in the opposite direction, they knew they couldn''t.
Not only would they be outright executed for desertion, even if they somehow managed to dodge it, they would still to mostly likely bear with the ignominy of all their family knowing that they abandoned their friends and family in the war.
Because the Heeat family, like many of the forces grouped men ording to the ce they were recruited from. Meaning many of the men in a unit knew each other and their family,so whatever any of them did, would eventually creep up the vine to eventually reach their known ones.
And all of this was not to simply mention the fact that there was not even anywhere to run to- they were on a ship surrounded on three sides by the sea.
As Lord Macht said- the only way for them was to march forward.
So that was what they did, with herds of men mindlessly throwing themselves into the bloody pit, seeing which the others maically followed, until the shores of the ind were scattered with countess bodies, all floating and bobbing there like discarded mannequins, creating quite an eerie sight.
Yet more and more of them kept advancing, regardless of the losses taken.
"Dammit! These motherfuckers really don''t know when to give up!"
The sight of this quickly made the legionaries curse out in frustration like so, annoyed that the enemy still showed no signs of breaking.
They just kepting.
When they first started the fight, the men were initially quite pleased with the battlefieldyout, finding it extremely advantageous. It was even enough to wipe out much of the dissent they had about leaving their well fortified camp behind.
When Scorpyo had initially ordered the tactic, there were many who were reluctant to follow it despite the man''s prestige.
Because just like the two officers had posed, the legionaries just could not bear to leave all the hard work they had done behind so easily.
There were times when the earth was so frozen solid that the men could not even properly dig theirtrine pits deep enough and instead had to resort to dumping their waste using buckets into the sea. Yet they had soldiered on, working tirelessly toplete the ramparts.
Thus it had taken a bit of cating even by Scorpyo to get the men toe to greet thending enemy.
And luckily for him, his gamble had worked.
Not only was the enemy exiting their ships right under his nose but just like he had predicted there was no hidden second armada.
The man perhaps breathed a greater sigh of relief seeing that than watching his men obey him.
Because truth be told, there was a significant part of his heart that did partially believe his officers'' analysis. It was just that such a thing would have too despair inducing to even contemte.
So Scorpyo forcefully shaped his reasoning to fit the mold.
But at the end of the day, all this mattered little for it worked.
The concentrated volley of bolts gave thending men a very bloody nose, while the stone throws by the catapults spread panic on the decks of ships.
In fact, if the garrisoned forces had more of these artillery pieces, they might have been able to even sink a few of the smaller, more damaged ships, as judged by the size of the cracks some of them developed while withstanding the battering.
All this was good news.
It was just that the bad news was that the enemy refused to break in spite of its losses.
Their numbers were too great and their leader fearlessly stood on the deck on the gship, constantly urging them to push on, despite his aide''s constant advice for him to take shelter.
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Chapter 1211: Lord Machts Push
As the battle raged on the sandy shores, from his gship all the way in the back, Lord Macht observed the amphibious attack with a gloomy look stered on his, with brows wrinkled with a concerning frown.
His n to intimidate the enemy into holing themselves in had clearly failed and so now, he could only try and bulldoze his way through with sheer mass.
And although they were making progress, he could not help but be frustrated at the crawling speed.
The chosen tactic naturally produced a lot of casualties, and although Lord Macht was not risk adverse, he certainly was also no butcher who liked to see his men get ughtered.
He would not have pushed his men with such martness if there was another way or if things back at camp were not so dire.
However, they were and the man was determined to push through despite the bloody cost
And this was one of the primary reasons why he led from the top of the deck, refusing to take shelter below in spite of the ever present danger of a catapult shot hitting him
Granted he was also quite a distance away and it would have to be one hell of a lucky shot for the stone to find its right target, but still, standing on the bow of the ship such openly with his shy armor was visible to all was not without risk.
It took courage.
And the fortunate thing was that this disy had its effects, as all the soldiers found their morale soaring despite the hardship on the beach and just kept pushing forward.
If Lord Macht''s had on the other hand had chosen to cower and run back to the decks down below, it was very uncertain whether much momentum could have been achieved.
Perhaps then the situation would have unfolded just as Scorpyo had hoped for, with the oceans dyed with floating bodies of retreating soldiers.
Now though thismander felt getting pressured as the disembarking soldiers began to form up and push back.
They had by now passed the most dangerous part of their mission and upon sessfully swallowing the dense arrow fire and barrage of stone projectiles, the mixture of Heeat and Margrave soldiers began to get into solid, coherent formations.
The threat of injury from the legionaries forced these two groups of dissimr men to temporarily put their feud on ice and lock shields together, both on the front and above, forming a sort of pseudo testudo, and then with spears pointed forward, they began to march forward, like a particrly spiky tortoise, eager to quickly engage the enemy.
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"*Whistle!*, *Whistle!*, *Whistle!* Faster! Faster! The faster you meet the enemy, the safer it will be for you!"
Their officers shouted as such while leading front the front, wishing to force the legionaries to change their loadout from crossbows to swords and shields.
Not only would the shorter ranged weapons make things easier for them they would also make all subsequentndings of their brothers in the rear much, much easier.
Which meant greater numbers and more reinforcements for those at the front.
"Dammit! Back off! Retreat! Retreat towards the camp!"
As for the leader of the opposite side, Scorpyo naturally too understood the enemy''s intention.
But unable to stop the initial advance, he was forced to choose the next best option. He quickly ordered his units to slowly withdraw in a controlled manner, trying to once again open up the distance.
The man had absolutely no desire to engage thending forces in a melee where he was outnumbered three to one.
His intentions for now was to only harass them.
He had hoped this would be enough to break the men before they made it to shore. But s, the other side proved too tenacious, as well as Scorpyo somewhatcking the usual good, strong punch.
This was because a lot of his crossbowmen were informed to be running low on ammo,
making them unable to saturate the area with the kind of wall of steel and wood that was expected of them.
That allowed Lord Macht to withstand the barrage somewhat better and get his forces in formation faster.
And towards this inability, the diligent legionaries were not idle, rather they repeatedly harassed Scorpyo via scouts and runners, constantly asking him for additional bolts.
"Where will I get new arrows? Make them out of my own farts? Go order them to make do with what they have got! None of them are allowed to stop firing no matter what!"
But these messengers only returned with such shouts from their topmander, who simply ordered the men to make do with whatever they got.
Scorpyo was not really angry at the legionaries for asking for more ammo.
He was in reality much more frustrated than angry, angry at himself for being unable to provide his men with what they desperately needed.
He thus cursed to himself,
''Shit! All these constant battles without any replenishments have dwindled our supplies to almost nothing. We need to make more!''
Yes, the simple truth of the matter was the three battles that Alexander had with the enemy had atst managed to exhaust even his great supply of bolts, and by now, they were all really scraping the end of the barrel.
In fact, the direness of the need had already shown itself in previous battles, where many of the legionaries quickly picked up any missed bolts that they found lying on the ground, and some even retrieved the bolts stuck to dead bodies.
Of course, the easiest way to rectify this situation would have been to make more, and Alexander had a few legionaries to part timed as amatuer arrow makers.
But s, the true crux of the matter was that they were under siege inside a manor inside a city, letting them have little ess to much supplies.
Even if they could scrounge together the timber from the nearby houses and iron from everyday pots and pans, there still remained the slight trouble of gathering the feathers which were typically taken from geese and without which the shots would have virtually no range and much more importantly a forge to bring all the ingredients together.
And besides, without fresh food and even water, the men hardly had the luxury to be prepreating for a new battle. They were much more concerned with securing their next meal, and when that that was done, the following one.
All these small events slowly one by one had the knock on effect as currently seen now, where after the initial withering barrage of fire, the legionaries were forced to dial down on their ferosity lest they end up with empty quivers half through the battle.
This let thending force get a small breather and with their vastly superior numbers and elite training, was able to atst exploit the advantage into a good, solid beachhead.
Now all that remained for these men was to expand it and overwhelm all the defenders.
Which was exactly what they tried to do, with their officers urging them forward.
"Now is the time! Push men! Push forward with all you have! These cowards have nowhere to hide." Some of themanders enticed their men in the allure of victory and the end of the battle.
"Go! Each man you kill, you will get a bounty! Each man you capture, you will get a third of his ransom!" While others dangled the lure of mary rewards, an especially alluring thought for the Margraves men who had been nearly starved of their wages.
"Don''t let the other units get the better of you! Hurry up and I will let you taste them for an hour before you have to hand them over!"
As for thest type of encouraging speech, it was certainly the most rare of all.
In any battle, the majority to be vited were indeed women. But that did not mean men did not suffer.
Some soldiers preferred men more than women and so it was not too umon for some of the stronger captured sex to suffer as well. And when they were taken, the event was certainly much more messy than their female counterparts, due to the parts involved.
However for those willing to take part in such acts, the mess was perhaps part of the fun, which is why many cheers from those various parts of the attacking formation, before quickly closed in on Scorpyo''s men.
Again and again, the legionaries were forced to abandon their positions and fall back, unwilling to make contact with the enemy.
And again and again, Lord Macht grew bolder,nding more of his forces and expanding his hold on the ind.
At one point they even managed to capture two of Alexander''s catapults as Scorpyo ordered the thing be abandoned since taking it with the unit was dragging them down too much.
This move however, as necessary as it was, was also the first instance of one of Alexander''s ''modern'' artillery pieces falling into enemy hands.
It''s effects remained to be seen.
For now though, the garrisoned forces'' only concern seemed to be surviving and the only clutch they could see as their salvation appeared to be their heavily reinforced camp that they were rapidly approaching.
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Chapter 1212: Safety Of the Walls
Note: Sorry Guys, my country just went through a semi coup d''¨¦tat. The government cut all broadband and cell phone inte ess. That''s why I was unable to post anything. But expect regr uploads from now on.
"Sir we have sessfullynded all our men. They are moving up the shore as we speak!" Your journey continues on m-vle-mpyr
There was a scout with a very pleased face reporting as such to Lord Macht, who was currently sitting atop arge, magnificent ck steed- the only one that was brought to this expedition.
"Hmmp¡. Good. Keep it up!" The favorable news got a small humming nod from therge, ck man, although his stoic face was yet to betray an ouch of pleasure.
But it could be gleaned from his bodynguage he was d with the results.
For a brief moment back then, Lord Macht had even assumed he might have to call off the attack, as the bodies in the water began to pile up.
However, after that initial scare, they seemed to be finally now back on the right track, as the men pushed on even after taking much more casualties than expected.
Lord Macht was silently pleased by the tenacity his men disyed here.
While observing his strictmander reveal the slightest gentleness, the messenger quickly produced a ttering smile and went on to add with a swing of his arms in an borate gesture,
"Also, our men have captured two strange weapons of the enemy''s. Those were probably the ones they were using to throw stones at us. Look! Here theye, my lord."
As if it had been rehearsed, the moment the scout said this, the two catapults were wheeled in front of Lord Macht right on cue, each being pushed by only two men.
The veteran warrior was privy to a lot of Sybarian secrets and so naturally recognized the weapon that his scout was alluding to.
Wooden, on four wheels, with a strange metal like bucket attached to a lever tied to some kind of wound up rope, the sight of them very closely matched the descriptions in the reports as well as some of the primitive concepts the Heeat family themselves had built in the meantime, although Lord Macht judged these weapons to be far more refined than their crude attempts.
Comparing the two was like trying topare a vase made by a professional potter as opposed to that done by a child- one was a great work of art in perfect shape and painted beautifully, while the other was a misshapen attempt with blotches of unmatching paint scattered all over.
At least that was what Lord Macht felt like when observing his captured loot, as Alexander''s catapults had quite the mature, finished aesthetic look to them.
It had smooth, round polished wooden edges that were clearly sanded down.
There were strong iron sheets with steel rivets nailed to them, holding them firmly in ces where the catapult''s body needed a bit more support.
It was painted in bright, vibrant colors with eyes drawn on the front to give the weapon an anthropomorphic feel as if it was looking at you.
Theunching steel bucket was shiny and engraved with luxurious patterns.
Andstly, its wheels were not made of wood, but of solid cast iron!
It was a sight that most definitely caught Lord Macht''s greatest attention, especially given that it did not look like one solid round mass.
Rather these wheels appeared to be shaped like a car''s, meaning while its outer fringes stuck out much of the center of the surface was hollow, allowing it to be dressed in a ck leathery substance that Lord Macht was unable to determine at the moment.
That was abination of rubber, leather, and linen, all sewn together to make moving the thing easier.
And that was one of the reasons why just a single catapult could be moved by just two men, when the Heeat family''s own weapon, which was much smaller and lighter still needed a horse, sometimes even two if going over uneven ground.
Lord Macht''s eyes thus produced an extremely rare glow of appreciation upon gazing at these elusive ''artifacts'' and unable to fully hide it, quickly chimed with some urgency,
"Good job! Now hurry and get them on the ships! We can study theseter!"
None of the men were surprised at Lord Macht''s excitement, especially since they had been given a live demonstration of the tremendous application of the weapon.
Thus under that fateful wintery morning, two samples of Alexander''s most sophisticated weapons were whisked away to the enemy''s camp,pletely unbeknownst to him, the effects of which remained yet to be seen,
But it could be certainly guessed- it would be profound.
Perhaps it would be able to do nothing in today''s battle, or even the current campaign, but studying its design was sure to yield tremendous results for the Heeat and who knows, maybe the entire Sybaris country.
Scorpyo should have destroyed those weapons when he realized he could not carry them.
However, in the heat of battle, that thought never crossed his mind.
And even if it had, the simple question then would have risen was- how?
This was not the era of hot weapons where one could drop a single grenade down the tube of artillery or inside the closed hatch of a tank to destroy it.
If Scorpyo wanted his catapults destroyed, he would have had to have a couple of his men smash it with a hammer or chop with an axe, both of which he neither had on hand nor did have the time to acquire.
And perhaps much greater than all of that, the officer, as experienced as he was, simply did not appreciate the value of this weapon to be that great.
Unaware of the engineering secrets used to construct the weapons, Scorpyo at the moment was far more concerned about saving his forces than protecting them than some stone throwing machine.
He was thus rather d to shed this heavy burden and had the two horses that were used to pull the thing quickly put into better use- serving as mounts for two of his messengers.
Thus as the catapults were loaded into the Heeat transport ship, Scorpyo concentrated much more on holding his formation together, shouting and urging his men to keep together and not let them be overwhelmed.
"Hold your lines! Stay together! They cannot get us as long as we stay together!"
"We are almost there! The camp is within our sight! Just a bit more!"
"Do not buckle now men! These cowards are nothing! You have faced better enemies! And you have beaten better enemies!"
"You have done well till now! Keep it up! Once we are inside the walls, we will be safe!"
"Commander Remus will be here with his relief force any moment! We only have to hold on until that! Hold the line till then! Hold the line!"
In this way, the officers andmanders tried to keep morale up while their units kept retreating, unwilling to stand and fight.
Because Scorpyo knew the moment they were caught and became engaged in melee, would be the moment they became pinned down.
After that, retreating with any form of cohesion would be a pipedream.
Thus, the experienced officer wisely decided to run away to his camp and try his luck there.
And courtesy of the head start they had as well as the legionaries being much more mobile than their bulky, long spear wielding counterparts, they luckily managed to reach their destination before the enemy could overwhelm them.
"Get in! Get in! Quick!"
"Hurry! Hurry! There is not much time! We cannot keep the gates open for long!"
"They are right behind you! Quickly! We need to close the gates¡ quickly!"
The camp gates were guarded by a small token force that Scorpyo had left there, along with the camp servants, who noticing the rising dust cloud and recognizing the familiar cheers worked to hurriedly remove therge bars holding the gates together and open the door.
And as the retreating legionaries approached the end of their line, in their excitement, they quickly broke off their brisque march and turned it into a full fledged marathon, sprinting to enter the door as fast as they could.
Like the men holding the gates said, Lord Macht was right on their tails, and the gates needed to shut before they could get there.
Fortunately for them, due to their small numbers and the substantial distance between the two parties, all the legionaries managed to retreat into the safety of their camp with little trouble.
"Quick! Man, the walls! Up the towers!"
"Hurry! Arrows! Where are the arrows?"
"Bring every bolt we have! Shoot till we run out!"
"I don''t want to see a single arrow left by the end of the day! Make sure every single one of these bastard get a taste!"
Upon entering it, the legionaries did not waste a single second to catch their breath, but under Scorpyo''s orders swiftly worked to take up the various defensive positions along the walls, aiming their replenished crossbows and javelins at the iing enemy and letting them rip.
"Dammit! Not again!"
"Again with this farce! Urgghhh!"
" Slow down! Shields up! Slow down and get your shields together!
While facing this second round of fire, themanders of the leading units cursed so, frustrated at the thought of having to deal with a siege.
And this would not be all that they needed to worry about because by now Remus had alreadynded on the ind.
Chapter 1213: Garrison Defense
*Shoo*, *Shoo*, *Shoo*,
With the legionaries''s supply of arrows replenished from whatever was left in the camp, they were able to produce a thundering volley in the initial phases of their counterattack, managing to take arge number of the attacking Heeat men using them.
The concentrated fire proved especially deadly due to how the advancing force was momentarily caught out of formation as they had attempted to chase the legionaries before they could enter their camp sanctuary.
Quite a few bodies were added to the list just due to this hastiness.
And upon seeing the enemy had already retreated to their fortified bastions, the attacking officers were forced to decrease the tempo of their advance and take a much more slower, methodical route.
"Slow down! Shields up! Slow down and get your shields together! The cowards have run away to their rat holes" They shouted to their troops in a mocking tone to demean Scorpyo''s men, while internally, they expressed their real emotion, ''Not again with this farce! Urgghhh!, theympooned to themselves.
They felt like so because they had faced a simr scenario before when they had tried to attack the manor along Alexander''s dug in lines.
That only ended up with them getting a few corpses and a good, bloody nose.
But even if they knew it was not going to be easy attacking this camp, there was little they could do to avoid it.
Lord Macht had made it very clear during the war room briefing that retreat was not an option. No matter what they were to capture the ind or die trying.
This was also why upon reaching the outskirts of the camp, the officers quickly ordered the men to hunker down with their shields and make defensive positions along the perimeter, letting them take refuge from the bolts and flying javelins that were being sent screaming towards them.
The legionaries appeared to be throwing everything they had during this initial phase of the attack, hoping to take as many of the enemy down before they could get their defenses up.
Scorpyo was even beginning to slightly regret losing his only two catapults at this moment, because he thought if he had them now, he would have been able to smash even those hardy, enemy shield formations with his heavy stones throws, opening the enemy up for his softer but much more numerous arrow fire.
His inability to do so was certainly something that the Heeat and Margraves soldiers greatly appreciated.
But even with the absence of the ''heavy'' artillery fire, oveing therge ditch, and the tall, heavy ramparts manned with so many men promised to be a daunting task for the attacking men.
And having brought no siege equipment with them, the officers thus found themselves halting their advance, turning to look at each other in confusion and hoping one could offer the other any advice.
"........" Unfortunately, none had any good answers.
And this problem was grave enough to even reach Lord Macht''s ears at some point, with that very scout who was so cheerful till now, suddenly appearing scared and diminutive as he approached,
"My¡ my lord! Themanders are saying the enemy is too holed in too well. They are asking you to lead them!"
This was their euphemistic way of saying, ''We are stuck! Let''s retreat!''
And as soon as he said so, the messenger felt his heart tremble, for he saw therge, ck man visibly frown forming great creases in his face, before silently urging his horse forward to get a get look at the ''castle'' as described by the herald.
However, upon seeing the fortified garrisoned camp with its wide ditches and tall, sturdy walls that were being actively defended, Lord Macht was forced to change his thoughts on the matter.
For his ''rtively'' small force, this appeared almost like an impregnable castle.
And the man was not only impressed by its construction, he even could not help but exim with amazement in his heart, ''How the hell did they manage to build this in just three short days? In this cold too? Did they not sleep?''
Lord Macht was indeed right about thatst part, as the legionaries as a whole really did not sleep the past three days. They worked in three shifts throughout the hours wishing toplete the construction as soon as possible.
All the practice they had while digging the ditches when attacking Thesalie had quitee in handy this time.
And this was something that would have been something hardly imaginable to Lord Macht as he had never built suchrge scale temporary fortification.
He and his enemies much more preferred to fight the enemy on an open field, men to men.
This was because, one they found turtling behind walls as cowrdly and dishonorable.
And two, because the steepe like Lynaciannd favored such aboveboard tactics since the wide, open spaces gave plenty of spaces for the army to simply swing around and avoid most of such fortifications.
Thus thesends had to be defended byrge, solid fortifications such as forts and castles, ces that were able to permanently houserge numbers of trained units for a long time.
If they were then invaded, these garrisoned units could then pose a threat to an attacking enemy, riding out from these buildings to wreak havoc on the enemy''s rear supply lines, and then quickly retreating to the safety of their walls before the enemy couldunch an effective counterattack to catch them.
And if the enemy tried to siege their forts, the nearby forts could offer aid, forcing the attackers to divide their attention and thus greatly slowing them down.
All this would give the capital enough time to mobilize theirrge, main army to neutralize the threat.
Scorpyo however had done something very different- which was build a small, immobile bulwark, that really had no utility other than stationing troops.
At least that was what was Lord Macht''s initial assensemnt regarding the camp.
Hence upon oveing his initial surprise, the man visibly frowned and then growled in an impatient tone,
"What are you getting all flustered about? There are not enough of them to even man the walls properly! Charge them! Show them what the sons of Lynica are made of!"
At this point, Lord Macht chose to be very boisterous and confident here, blowing away all the officers'' concerns and ordering a simple rush on the walls.
After havinge this far, Lord Macht was unwilling to retreat no matter what.
Thus the order was given despite the fact that his forces did not even bring siegedders for his attacks, Lord Macht did not think the enemy camp would be anything special during the prior war nning.
Sure, havingdders or battering rams would have been useful. But he did not think they were essential.
The madmen figured courage and zeal would be enough to ovee the ''rickety'' defense.
"......" While none of the officers had the guts to argue with a man as prestigious as him.
They would rather follow the order and sacrifice their men.
*Nod*,
So with a sour face, they all nodded, and as the first batch of men was sent out, consisting mostly of the Margraves- because who better to use for this cannon fodder than them?
The Heeat officers were certainly not going to waste their own family men in such a greasely manner.
The down in their luck Margraves thus got the short end of the stick, being asked tounch a ''bare fisted'' attack on the fort.
The result of which was very expected.
"The ditch is too wide! Agghhhh the foot!"
"Arrows from the top! Arrows!"
"Cover each other with shields! They are throwing spears! Don''t spread out!"
"Ughhhh! Help! Help! My brother got hit in the head by a stone! Help!"
The earthen ditch filled with sharpened stakes, the crossbowmen up top, and the men throwing stones from there all made the fort a very tough nut to crack.
Add to the fact that the Heeat officers sent only a few men in this attack, and it all but guaranteed such a token force would never be able to aplish anything.
Then again, it could be argued that they were not meant to.
This was more of a probing attempt than an actual offense, with the men being basically used as cannon fodder to look for weaknesses in the camp''s defense.
And this was repeated mulitple times, from different directions, with waves of small contingent of men hitting the camp from three sides.
All however produced the same result.
The defenses held up very well and the Heeat officers were unable to spot any ring w.
Without specialized siege equipment, It seemed the camp was impregnable, with the only real constraint being, as shouted out to Scorpyo, "We are running low on things to throwmander! Arrows, javelins, and even stones! Please advise sire!"
The tidal wave like attack of the enemy could only be repelled by the copious expenditure of arrows.
And when his men came begging for more, Scropyo could only silentlympoon to himself,
''What is there for me to advise? We can only hold on until reinforcements get here!''
He could only hope the main camp had not abandoned them.
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Chapter 1214: Remuss Order
Seeing how easily the first few waves of their men were repulsed by Scorpyo''s men, the Heeat officers lightly groaned with a pained heart.
These first few engagements clearly told them that taking the ce without proper siege machinery would incur significant bodies.
However Lord Macht had made his decision clear- they were to take the camp today and now, regardless of their current loadout.
And having received the order, the Heeat officers had no choice but to obey, lest they be court martiale
Thus only thing they could do in the face of this ludicrous order was to try and reduce their casualties to the best of their abilities.
The first few attacks on the fort consisted of men being sent only in short bursts, each wave consisting of no more than forty to fifty in number.
The thought behind this was that rather than rashlymit torge scale deployment of the troops, it would be far better to first prob the enemy for weaknesses, and hopefully locate an overlooked point in their defenses.
This slow, low intensity, methodical approach was both a boon and bane for Scorpyo.
A boon because they were able to use their good position to repel the handful of attackers with rtive ease, proving the futility of the attack.
But also a bane because such a tactic ate up their already tenuous supply of arrows at an even more horrendous rate. The smaller number of the attacking men meant they could be spread out even wilder, and since the defending legionaries had to try and hit moving targets, many missed despite being good shots.
It even reached the point that after a few such waves of missed attacks, the legionaries stopped firing arrows altogether, and resorted to stones and some in their desperation even metal pots and pans, all to try and conserve as much ammo as possible in anticipation for the ''main push'' that was sure toe.
While the usage of such improvised weapons definitely cheered the attacking Heeat officers'' hearts, for they quickly determined that the defense of this camp, as impressive as it was, only ran skin deep.
"That''s it! Keep attacking! These poor sods are not that well supplied! They are soon gonna break!"
And since they could sense it, Lord Macht certainly could too. So he quickly shouted out this order, his voice suddenly sounding much more energetic than usual.
The revtion of this great chance was enough to even break this stoic character''s facade.
Just like before, the officers were quick and eager to follow theirmander.
So the next time, instead of meeting the usual paltry scattered force, the legionaries were met with a full fledged charge with proper armored formations!
"Aghhhhhhh!"
"With me brothers! With me!"
"Let''s knock this bastard of a wall down! Ughhhhh!"
"We are gonna ughter everyst one of you scums once we get there! You hear us fucking cowards! Just you wait!"
*Shoo*, *Shoo*, *Shoo*
However, despite the bravado on disy before their attack, when they trulyunched it, the Heeat soldiers quickly found their attack to be easily repulsed, to the point the whole thing appeared almost like a nail hitting a solid b of steel- the tip being brutally and almost instantly blunted.
The pathetic way these ''brave'' warriors screamed and shouted while turning their
The courtesy of such an easy victory was to be attributed to thest few bits of arrow bolts that the legionaries had, who decided to use now.
This was Scorpyo''s n, who ordered his men, "Use the rest of the arrows we have now! Make them think we are simply baiting them to attack! Confuse the enemy!"
And true to his intentions, the sudden burst of fire did indeed cause the Heeat officers and even some of the soldiers to curse while retreating,
"Fucking swine! Cheats! To think they would lure us in like that!"
"Aghhh¡ Craven cowards! Not an ounce of honor in any of them! I will grill every single one of the bastards the moment I get my hands on them!"
"Dammit! Brother died in such a way! Being tricked into attacking by those worms! He even fought to be in the vanguard for glory¡ Uwuu what will I tell mother?"
The pathetic way these ''brave'' warriors screamed and shouted brought some much needed joy to the legionaries. And in this way, Scorpyo managed to buy himself some more time.
After that, the attackers switched to their prior tactic, making attacks in scattered waves.
"Ignore the lot! They can''t get to us!"
And seeing the enemy adapt, Scorpyo too decided to change his tactic.
He called their bluff and simply ordered his men to stop attacking them with bolts, instead being satisfied to let them close in.
After all, even if the men could close to the camp, with their small numbers, the wide ditch and the sturdy perimeter walls proved too steep an obstacle to break.
Scorpyo was happy to let the enemy tire himself out.
It was also around that time that he received a second piece of good news, as a new scout quickly rushed to him.
"Commader Scorpyo, I was sent by Commander Remus! He isnding men on the ind and has asked me to inquire about your current situation," Eschewing most of the military pleasantries, this energetic young man quickly stated his main point.
"Great! We were starting to get worried!" And the excited way the usually reserved Scorpyo reacted to the man''s appearance clearly showed that this was the best piece of news for him for quite some time.
Following that, the man wasted very little time in filling the herald in, stating his current number of men as well as the estimated time he could hold out.
Scorpyo then atst finished by urging, "Remember to tell Remus that the enemy outnumbers us too greatly. We have also run out of arrows and javelins to throw, so he bettere as soon as he can."
The scout left with a understanding nod, promising Scorpyo to make his leader provide relief as soon as possible.
"Hmmmm!" Remus however upon receiving the news reacted quite differently, content to first put his hands on his chin and trace it in thoughtful rumination.
He figured that given the enemy''s currentckluster show of attack, Scorpyo could hold on for with his 500 men for some time.
Thus instead of rushing to the garrison''s rescue, Remus decided to first get his formation in order.
Then once his men were in proper fighting formation, he sent orders to Scorpyo, asking him to do the following,
"Slowly abandon the camp and meet up with my men. We will defeat the enemy in openbat!"
"Wha.. what?"
The bold order naturally produced a bout of incredtion in Scorpyo, who turned to look at the messenger with shocked eyes. Some part of him even wondered whether the man before him was actually a turncoat and the letter had been actually forged.
ording to Scorpyo, the best course of action would have been of course to use the camp walls to stall the enemy, either until they became tired and gave up, or it the worst case scenario, until darkness set in, whereupon, they would be forced to seek the safety of their camp lest they wanted to spend the cold, wintery night under the open sky with no food, water or shelter.
With the thousand men that Remus had, Scorpyo thought this was the easiest and safest way to defend the ind.
He was confident Lord Macht would not be able to break the camp with fifteen hundred men actively defending it.
Thus unwilling to obey Remus''s risky order, the elder man sent the scout back, hoping to make the young man see it his way.
But Remus was insistent, sending back the same orders, now with the reminder cum subtle threat,
"Commader Scorpyo, the ruler of Zanzan, your lord and mine, put me in charge of the army, not you. You are oathsworn to follow me!"
And the argument ended with that.
Although Scorpyo wanted to tear that small letter and then go strangle Remus with his bare two hands after receiving it, but true to him being a military men, he atst chose to abide by his swear over his willfulness.
Since Remus had decided to pull this ultimate trump card, Scorpyo would obey despite his own judgment.
And if the man could pull a victory despite the greatly stacked odds, he would heartily congratte him.
''However if you fail brat, then I will personally teach you why flowers are dyed red.'' Scorpyo then also swore to himself, setting his heart to heavily punish Remus if he found that he was doing all this for glory and just wanted to show off.
It was with these thoughts that Scorpyo finally gave the order to evacuate the camp, having the men resting inside the camp act as the rear guard while those on the wall tops slowly retreated.
Given the sturdiness of the walls and the scant number of attackers, this proved a rtively easy manuver, and thus soon the entire camp was abandoned, and the five hundred men as well as the two hundred servants quickly joined Remus''s formation.
And the Heeat officers cheered seeing this.
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stories
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Chapter 1215: Remuss First Battle (Part-1)
"They are running! Haha, they are running!"
"The bastards could not hold on any longer! Haha, we did it! We won!"
"See that men! I told you, didn''t I? We could win just if we tried a bit! Haha, good job, good job."
"You are all heroes today! Drinks are on me tonight for those who attacked the fort! Hahaha.."
"Don''t rx yet! Quickly! Chase them quickly! We cannot let them escape!"
"Heh ¡heh, rx, we are on an ind! They cannot run even if they wanted!"
"Mmmm¡. Mnnnn¡ brother is right! Their only option is to die by our de or die freezing to death in the waters! Hehe, they are trapped like a fish in a barrel!"
"Then let''s go ughter them to thest man. No need to dy pleasant things!"
"Right! We still have to avenge our general! We will make these bastard pay!"
"Remember to save some forter. We still need to ransom some. Those bastards better fetch a good price."
Such and various crude and nasty cheers rose up from the Heeat and Margraves camp as they witnessed Scorpyo ''tucking his tail and running'', making the attackers believe they had won.
Even the experienced officers leading them believed this to be the case, as they thought Scorpyo had finally run out of bolts and arrows and so decided to make his getaway when he could.
After all, he had been showing signs of such shortages for quite some time.
Hence they too joined the cheers of their men and instead of hastily pursuing the enemy, chose to take a slower, more leisurely approach.
Like the men said, there was little space for Scorpyo to run on this tiny, tiny ind, and getting the ships ready to sail would take some time.
Thus, since the battle was over in their eyes, the officers decided to let some units loot Scorpyo''s camp for whatever scraps were left.
It was something that the chosen formations were happy to do with great crity, even if most of the things left behind in the camp would not catch the eye of the most desperate of scavengers.
Given it was only a makeshift garrison, there was obviously no gold or jewelry, those were the first things to be carried out by retreating legionaries. And the same went for most of the iron tools like spades, axes, and shovels.
The servants had even carried out most of the cooking utensils like knives and metal pots and pans.
So the only thing of value that was left were therge, leather tents since they were deemed too heavy to carry and a few bits of scattered miscenea like tes, jugs, and wooden barrels.
Things of very poor value.
But even that did not stop the Heeat soldiers from very eagerly searching every nook and cranny of the premises as if it did not matter what treasure they found, only that they indeed found some.
It was almost like a scavenger hunt for them, where the joyy more in the journey, and not necessarily the destination.
And besides, whatever they found was still better than nothing.
So even though they cursed Alexander as being poor as a beggar while ruffling through the camp,every bit of newly looted thing still elicited a small burst of joy in them, making them quickly calcte how many drinks it could get them from the local pawnshop.
This was also something that Scorpyo was more than happy to exchange for his men''s quick and safe retreat and was even a bit surprised by theckluster chase by the enemy. It seemed to him like the other side had suddenly lost the will to fight.
This turn of fortune thus allowed him to rejoin Remus''s rank in an orderly fashion very peacefully, letting his breath a sigh of relief that his fears of having to change formation in the middle of an attack did note true.
While back at the Heeat family side, theckadaisical discipline among the units was finally enough to alert Lord Macht, and he barked,
"What''s the holdup! Who gave you the permission to break formation and start looking for booty? The enemy is still atrge. Chase after him!"
Since the siege of the camp had not proudced that many casualties, the soldiers still had their ces in the right ce and the prestigious man''s presence was enough to quickly put an end to their unruly behavior.
So the officers quickly regrouped under their banner and readied themselves to finish the fleeing enemy once and for all.
"Brat! You better have a damn good n! Or will I personally see¡.."
Observing the Heeat forces emerge from the shadow of therge camp, Scorpyo was quick to send a wide re towards Remus, whispering out the semiplete threat in a very menacing
tone.
Remus had not bothered to exin himself the reason behind his ''foolish'' order, while the elderlymander had not openly confronted Remus in front of the soldiers in fear of destroying morale.
But now that they were in the back of the formations and rtively alone, he was quick to remind the inexperienced young man of the consequences of his actions should they fail.
"...." Remus first gave the man a reassuring smile towards the harsh words, before whispering,
"I believe it was Alexander who said that to win this campaign we will need to take some risks. So after so many strings of victory, if we were to win once again and in an open field like this at that, it would surely cause enemy morale to plummet. Perhaps they would even sue for peace!"
Remus sounded very optimistic as heid out his reason, his eyes twinkling with anticipation.
However, instead of being d at this blossoming opportunity, Scorpyo''s face on the other hand instantly flushed red in rage, for he thought the young man was too naive in his interpretation of the whole circumstances.
As far as he could see, the enemy was nowhere near its limit, and even if they would win here, Scorpyo thought the huge number of men Lord Parker had in the back would be enough to swallow the wound.
So he was just about tombast Remus about how holding this ind was far more important than ''winning'' and how he was letting his own ambitions get in the way of the sess of the campaign, when suddenly, as if sensing the rage, Remus quickly shed his palms to add,
"Ahhh¡ don''t'' get mad so quickly! I told you I have a n. Killing lots of the enemy and defending the ind are not mutually exclusive. We can do both!"
"....." And hearing this, Scorpyo''s rage was quickly reced by a very skeptical look, as ording to him, they could hole up inside to deny Lord Macht the ind but were unlikely deal too much damage to him.
But now that Remus was promising the best of both worlds, the experiencedmander could not help but give Remus an eager signal to continue.
The young man quickly produced a sly smile to this, before mysteriously asking, "Just one more thing before that¡ does the enemy have any cavalry?"
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The negative answer produced a gushing sprout of joy from Remus and then widening his grin, got close to Scorpyo to iterate, "Great! So this is what we will do!"
Scorpyo would have to say, once he got to see the entire blueprint of the n, he was truly impressed.
"Hmmm, this¡. could work!" And so could not help but chime in a slightly hesitating voice.
The fear of failure and its consequences still remained, but by now it had considerably lessened.
And seeing this, Remus was there to of course quickly reinforce the man, quickly nodding "Of course it will. As long as they won''t have any cavalry, victory is already ours!"
"..." The confident tone of his colleague and the potential rewards of the sess were atst enough to wipe away thest bits of doubts in Scorpyo, and so decided tost go with Remus, his eyes suddenly turning sharp and decisive.
Like Alexander said, they needed to take risks to win and the risks Remus delineated just now seemed manageable enough.
So the fifteen hundred men were quickly reorganized into two rows, with each row consisting of 3 ''packets'' of around two hundred and fifty men each.
"Oh! They did not run. They had reinforcements and were regrouping?"
Upon shedding the shadow of the camp, Lord Macht, who was riding on his horse, was the first to quickly rectify his presumptions about Scorpyo running.
The neatly lined up enemy in three columns made it very easy for him.
However despite the correct, and despite the addition of new red uniformed troops, this general seemed utterly perturbed,rgely because he could see he still outnumbered them almost 2 to 1.
"In formation! Get ready for battle!"
Thus he was instead actually pleased with the thought that he would be able to bag a much bigger than anticipated, as he shouted his officers to line up too, and then,
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*, *Trumpet*,
The phnx like units charged head on, wishing to deal the greatest amount of punch right at the start of the battle and snap the enemy in two then and there.
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Chapter 1216: Remuss First Battle (Part-2)
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*, *Trumpet*.
The ring sirens of loud trumpets sted across Phyrros Ind as Lord Macht quickly assembled his lines into a coherent fighting formation.
It was a simple double lined formation, with each row consisting of around twelve hundred men.
"So that''s why the bastards ran! To meet up with their relief force"
And as the men reorganized themselves, they whispered among themselves as such, their voicesced with a certain bit of appreciation.
They no longer saw Scorpyo and his men as cowards who ran from the battlefield. But rather viewed them with a hint of caution.
This was because although they still outnumbered the group by almost a thousand men, the densely packed red units with their shields locked together and swords drawn out made many of the Heeat men cautious.
And while some of the clever officers did wonder why Scorpyo had chosen to give up his camp to meet with the relief force, rather than it being the other way around- the reinforcements meeting up with the defenders and hunkering down there, but after thinking for a bit, they quickly found there was nothing to worry about.
Because they figured whatever the reason might have been for the enemy abandoning their advantageous terrain, it did not change the fact that they did.
That camp was undoubtedly formidable, and so no one found themselvesining that they did not need to bash their heads against it.
Whatever trap Scorpyo might be setting up for them, these officers thought it would still be better than having to deal with this formidable fort.
Some even chalked the whole thing up as most likely being Scorpyo unable to hold his position any longer, while others simply thought the legionaries had be desperate and wanted to put on onest show.
In this way, they soon reassured themselves that whatever the enemy had up their sleeves, theycked both the number and preparation to do anything about it.
And it was with this determination that once Lord Macht gave the signal, the readied troops charged, producing an earth shaking roar as they bulldozed towards their prepared opponent.
While seeing the enormous wall of shields and spears trucking toward him, not only was Remus cowered, but rather felt energized.
Turning to his men, he too shouted at them to meet the enemy head on, determined not to be outdone by the slightest.
"Go! Charge brothers! Charge! Victory or death! Victory or death!" Remus cried, then pointing his sword to the sky led from the front.
Today, the youngmander had decided to disobey Alexander''s tactics and ced himself near the very front of the formation.
The reason for this risky move also quickly became apparent, as with greater danger, came greater rewards.
Seeing theirmander fighting shoulder to shoulder with them, the legionaries''s morale sored and thus even though they faced a much bigger enemy, these men had no problem speeding towards them with nary a mind in the world.
And this high level battle tempo was precisely what Remus had wanted, for a great amount of zeal among the men was needed if his tactic was to work.
The two sides quickly managed to cross the short few hundred meter distance between them, and after the legionaries threw their first volley of javelins to somewhat blunt the initial enemy charge, the battle quickly developed into a brutal, chaotic melee.
"Ahhhhh! Kill brothers! Kill!"
"Push! With me men! Push these bastards back!"
"Keep close to each other! Do not get intimidated! These wastes are nothing!"
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Then as time passed and the battle developed and matured, the greater mass of the Heeat soldiers coupled with their longer ranged spears quickly began to show its effects, making the legionaries very quickly take quite the beating.
This was of course nothing unexpected, as it had been proved time and time again, head on legion formations were no match for their spear wielding couterpart.
And it was also something foreseen by the experienced Lord Macht at the very start of the fight. But still, seeing it reallye true and there be no unpleasant surprises in store managed to yet dden his heart.
The stoic man even let out a couple of pleased hmms and nods toward his officers, signaling them to keep up the good work.
While his counterpart Remus strangely did not have the kind of panicking expression one might have expected to have by now seeing how things were going.
His face was still flushed red frommanding the battle and from time to time he grimaced due to the pressure he was being put under, but overall, he was still acting normally, shouting and urging his men to hold on and not falter.
And then his urging suddenly got louder, as the frontline units of 2 of the columns (the leftmost and the center column) suddenly felt the second row behind them disappear, thus putting five hundred men in the front under enormous pressure!
The 2 units of two hundred men each were now the only thing that separated this battle and most likely even this whole campaign from total defeat.
If this thin fragile looking line broke, it would not be just the copse of the army''s nk, but rather aplete destruction, where the sole rightmost column would be nothing but like a stray straw in an ocean of enemies.
It was imperative that this did not happen, which is why Remus was there was lead these units personally from the front.
And while he did this, the spare 2 units of five hundred men that were in the back were now rushing to reinforce the rightmost column, joining them to bolster the number there to a staggering thousand men!
Right, this was Remus''s n.
To thin one section of the army to the bare minimum, just barely enough for them to not immediately copse while using the ''reinforcements'' to swell another part to his maximum limit.
This swollen part would then act like a hammer against the now rtively thinner enemy lines, smashing them apart with sheer mass, before swinging around to the left to destroy the remaining enemy forces that were pressing on their weakened brothers.
This was quite a good idea by Remus- as he decided to make use of the legionary formation''s greatest strength- its great mobility to counter the heavy, bulky, and more numerous enemy.
The only caveat to his brilliance was that this tactic was much easier said than done. Although solid on paper, once one thought about it, it would quickly dawn on them a lot of things needed to go right for it to work.
For instance, as stated earlier, the thinned out lines had to hold while their brothers finished off the enemy.
Then two, since such a tactic would basically mean sacrificing the existence of nk in all but name only, there could not be any cavalry to interfere with them.
There was nothing to protect those infantry from such an angle of attack, so even if a small number of horsemen managed to swing around and attack the thinned lines, it would be instantly game over.
That was why Remus had asked Scorpyo to confirm if the enemy had any cavalry.
And once he did, he led from the front, willing to put his life on the line to prove his tactic.
While his colleague, Scorpyo led from the back, urging the newly formed thousand men column hemanded to push with everything they got.
"Your brothers are waiting for you! Do not fail them! Quickly! Quickly! Breakthrough quickly!"
The experienced legionaries also knew what was at stake, and so even without Scorpyo''s nagging, they threw caution to the wind and charged blindly toward their foes, wishing to destroy them or at least take them with them.
While facing these heavy, almost crazed attacks from so many legionaries, that part of the frontline then quickly began to buckle, with some of the units being pushed as many as a hundred meters away from the rest of the army.
This ultimately caused the leading Heeat officers to bark menacingly at their men, ordering them to get their act together and even threatening them with severe punishment.
"Hold bastards! Hold! These are nothing but crazed dogs! Do not bring shame to your family! Hold and push back!"
"Not a step back! Any man who takes a foot towards me will be court martialed!"
"Forward! Lord Macht has ordered you cowards to march forward! Forward! Charge forward!"
Now, the high intensity, intense battle they were currently embroiled in was hardly the ce for such bitter, nasty words and it could be easily seen this did more harm than good.
Not only did the copse not halt at these shouts, but along some small parts it actually sped up.
And if this was in normal times, the officers would have never made such a rookie mistake.
But the reason for the officers'' choice of such words was because the units that were currently fighting Remus and Scorpyo were no longer formations that consisted purely of the Heeat family elites, but rather a mixture of them and the Margraves.
And given the bad blood between them, in the heat of the battle, these officers were quick to pin all the me on these ''outsiders'' for the copse of their lines. While the Margraves, who hated how they were used on the front echelons like cannon fooder, detested these words and broke even quicker.
It seemed Lord Macht''s integration of the Margraves into the army still had a lot to be desired.
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Chapter 1217: Remuss First Battle (Part-3)
The tactic that Remus decided to employ was certainly a risky one. If it failed, it would be disastrous for him.
However just like Alexander said, they needed to take some risks to win this campaign.
So once it was confirmed that the enemy had no cavalry, the young man decided to roll the die.
As for the consequences if he failed, well there was no need for Scorpyo to punish him.
Remus intended to go down with his ''ship''. That was also another reason why he was leading from the front and putting himself in so much risk.
And as of right now, that gamble seemed to be paying off, with Scorpyo making considering progress at driving the enemy formation back and making the lines crack and buckle.
And aside from the legionaries''s brave assaults, arge part of that sess was also due to how Lord Macht had arranged his troops.
He had initially ced the Margraves troops in the very front echelons of his formations, intending to use them as meat shields to soak up the initial blows and soften the enemy up.
It was only once the legionaries had their momentum blunted and became tired that the Heeat family elites were scheduled to reveal themselves
And on paper, there was nothing wrong with this n.
The only trouble for Lord Macht was that Remus had unknowingly managed toe up with the perfect counter.
Facing the legionaries''s heavy, concentrated attack, the weaker Margraves troops found themselves to be expendable and so quickly started to suffer from very low morale.
They soon lost the will to fight and thus began to get pushed back.
And when the Heeat officers tried to stop this by berating them, the hidden bitterness in these men only bloomed further, greatly aggravating the whole copse.
It seemed Lord Macht''s integration of the Margraves into the army still had a lot to be desired. The logic behind the act was no doubt sound- using a victory to smooth over the grievances was good. It was just that both sides had too great a friction up until now and neither had the time yet to hash these grievances out.
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The grassroots Margraves troops had been forcefully stripped of their originalmand and overnight ced under themand of these ''stranger''manders who they knew nothing of, thus causing them to highly doubt the men''spetence.
After all, they had never seen these men before today.
So how could they be sure that these men were not simply pushing all of them towards their doom?
How could they believe that these foreign men had the best intentions towards them? At least the officers'' actions till now seemed to point to the opposite of that.
It also did not help matters that these officers were very different from them.
They dressed differently, they talked with a very different ent, and even their chain ofmand was very different from theirs.
For instance, the Heeat officers, instead of taking into ount the rough terrain of the ind, preferred to employ the same tactic here as they used in the open ins of Lynica.
All thesebined naturally made the Margraves'' troops very distrustful of theirmanders, even if they had no personal grievances with them.
And thenbine that with how they were used on the front echelons like cannon fooders, and barked at with detestable these words for even the smallest of mistakes, it was little wonder they gave in under the attacking legionaries''s attack like soft putty.
"Damn it! Hold you, bastards! Hold!"
"The general will have your necks! All of your¡."
Seeing this the enraged shouts of the Heeat officers tried everything in their power to stop this copse but soon, Scorpyo managed to open up a great deal of distance between his column and the rest of the army.
"Forget them! Cycle our men to the front!"
Finally understanding that there was little point in threatening the Margraves, the Heeat officers decided to change tactics and wanted to ''disband'' these weaker front echelons troops in favor of their trump cards.
However, the tragedy was, that this type of drastic change in the formation was easier said than done.
The packed nature of the formations as well as their bulky equipment would have made it challenging even in the best of times.
Now, the good news here was that the Heeat family troops were not as heavily armored as say their Thesian counterpart.
The t, openness of their home territory made it a requirement that they had some mobility.
So their bronze armors were designed to be thinner, their shields considerably smaller and their spears a bit shorter, making them much more mobile.
But even then, moving around so many men in the middle of a battlefield was always very difficult, even if they were not being pushed around like a trolley like they were now.
And if that was not hard enough, they actually wanted topletely overhaul the whole frontline during all this.
It had to be known that during ongoing battles, only small sections of the frontline could be switched at a time, lest the whole frontline became hollow momentarily.
If that were to happen, an experienced and skilled enough enemymander could take advantage of the fact that troops from either side were moving to and fro to initiate a well timed push, and catch both sides unprepared.
Caught out of formation in such a chaotic way, a copse of the army would be then inevitable.
Aplete change like the one being requested here would hence require an utter halt to the battle.
And it was naturally something that Scorpyo would never be foolish to give the enemy, and thus, as the veteranmander kept up the pressure, the linesposed of the elite Heeat units found themselves being dragged through the mud along with their ipetent ''allies''.
The officers tried to cycle some units in, but given they had to constantly take two steps back for each step forward, their tactic quickly fell apart.
There was simply no space or time to send enough good men to challenge the relentless legionaries.
And the Heeat officers present cried in their hearts seeing, feeling very much aggrieved. What truly pained them here and the fact they had the tools to stop this copse but were unable to deploy them.
Thus some of them even cursed the Margrave troops to die sooner, thus giving their elite troops the chance to rece them.
While others quickly turned to their runners and shouted, "Quick! Go to Lord Macht! Ask him to send some units to attack the enemy''s rear!"
This order came about as a result of the unfolding circumstances on the battlefield.
Scorpyo had pushed ahead so far along the frontline that a huge distance existed between himself and Remus and Lord Macht. So much so that his nks and rear were fully exposed to counterattacks by the remaining enemy troops.
And the more experienced Heeat officers wanted to precisely target this weak spot.
However, once again this was easier said than done. Because if they could see this so could Remus.
He had already predicted this.
Hence while Scorpyo pushed in the front, the clever daredevil had his men slowly retreat back, baiting the enormous enemy to give chase.
This produced a variety of desirable effects for the legionaries.
For one- the men in red did not need to face the full blurt of the huge enemy. Instead of doggedly digging in and taking the relentless bashing using such thinned lines, they were allowed to trade space for time, thus increasing their survivability. This gave Scorpyo the opportunity to finish his task ande to their rescue.
Two- it distracted the enemy from focusing on things happening elsewhere on the battlefield, like smoke used to conceal the real fire. The retreat of the legionaries naturally made the ''winning'' Heeat formations ecstatic, and so they chased with great gusto. Many had by now even gone red eyed, chasing after the ''fleeing'' enemy like possessed demons.
No one doubted this was a trap because in their mind this was exactly what was supposed to happen. The number on both sides involved had predicted just this.
As for these victorious formations turning around to see the deleterious state of their ''rightmost''rades, well that was impossible. In the battlefield of this time period, one''s cone of vision was set to only one mode- forward. And turning one''s turning would only get you the sight of the shoulder and head of the man next to you.
As for one''s hearing, that might as well not be present most of the time- the intense mor or din doing around all around made any transfer of long distance useful information by air an utter impossibility. So the units could not shout for help.
Thus as Remus stepped closer and closer to the shore, Lord Macht was more than happy to keep up the pressure and hound his prey.
And this was also where the third benefit came into y- the sheer distance!
With Remus having run away so far, even if Lord Macht got a whiff of the trap, it would take a long time for him to respond.
After all, he would have to have his formations make aplete U-turn, certainly not an easy or fast thing to do.
All this meant that by the time Lord Macht got the message, the battle over there was almost over.
The legionnaires were now not only attacking from the front but some had even swung around the side and attacked the nks!
Chapter 1218: Remuss First Battle (Part-4)
"Lord Commander! Reinforcements! We plea for reinforcements!"
Lord Macht was just done quipping out a joyous roar as his units'' amazing progress in hounding the enemy when suddenly a frightened runner came to him beg him as such.
"Hmmmm?" And at first even this experienced general was caught slightly off guard hearing so, thus appearing puzzled.
''Reinforcements? What reinforcements? Where send reinforcements? We are just about to push these bastards into the sea!'' He thought to himself, and then even turned to look at Remus''s units to make sure he was not just dreaming.
And sure enough, he could see the entire enemy contingent of five hundred men had been pushed nearly a kilometer, to the point, the vague outline of the sails of the ships docks near the coast was starting to be visible.
And the abject state of the legionaries who were forced to retreat like beaten dogs while doing this was not something someone as experienced as Lord Macht would ever mistake.
He even could subtly hear the enemy officers roaring and loudly urging his men to hold on, while the most eye catching of them all, a tall man dressed in shiny golden armor and wearing arge red plumb feather, could seen rushing to and fro the frontlines on his horse, trying to boost morale as best as he could.
There was no way to fake such desperation.
Thus Lord Macht easily determined the enemy was on hisst legs, and just a few more strong push from utterly disintegrating.
Hence the man that was leading from the front felt what this runner said made little sense.
"There my lord! Send help there!"
It was only when he was forced by the runner''s pointing arm to crane his neck behind him that he realized the predicament he was in and nearly had a heart attack.
"Wha¡ Wh¡when did this happen?" Lord Macht could not help but cry out with an incredulous shout upon seeing the unfolding disaster, using a tone that he could not remember when he hadst used.
His brain was instantly filled with an incredible amount of thoughts and quickly realizing he had been baited, he wished to instantly give his army the order to turn around, even intending to fully abandon the current enemy in front of him.
This was of course because Lord Macht saw through that whether these men lived or died was a moot point by now. Their only job was to tie him down.
And even if they were destroyed, Lord Macht''s rear would still be vulnerable to an attack from a muchrger force.
A force that Lord Macht, due to leading from the front hadpletely missed.
There was also the fact that the general never expected his good units would fall so easily, causing him to curse out into the open air,
"*Bah! Those ipetent curs! How could they allow themselves to get pushed around like this? The enemy is not even that many! Aghhhh¡. I will hang all those responsible for this!"
Lord Macht still being unaware of the friction between the Margraves and Heeat and given that Scorpyo only had a slight manpower advantage over the Heeat forces, the general naturally came to the conclusion that his men were cowards. He vowed to make all of them an example once he managed to rescue them.
For now, though, he quickly began to order some of the rear units to detach themselves from the rest of the army and turn around.
However, as already said earlier, suchplete 180 degree maneuvers were quite slow and cumbersome at the best of times.
And now that they were in the middle of the battlefield, even in the best case scenario, it would still take Lord Macht quite some time toe to his distressed units'' rescue.
Especially when Lord Macht did not dare to turn arge part of his units at once, fearing the enemy in the front would detect it andunch a desperate attack to try and stop this.
Lord Macht had no true basis for such a thought and even he thought he was being a bit paranoid, but given these 500 men had chosen to be basically martyrs here, the general could never discount that possibility in good conscience.
Even if the enemy in front of him looked absolutely battered and was like a flickeringmp threatening to go out any second, there was always the small possibility of them bursting forth like a zing sun for onest hurrah.
And if that were to happen and if the enemymander was smart enough to time his push well enough, well then Lord Macht would run a real risk of his formation snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
The old man would not have anywhere left to hide his tears if such a tragic thing were to happen.
Hence the prudent veteran did the most sensible thing for the moment.
He ordered the frontlines to stop chasing the enemy and simply block them, while those units in the rear started to turn around one by one.
However despite the men''s best efforts, the congested formations and rough terrain of the ind made the entire thing appear like a slow, crawling worm to Lord Macht, making him far from being satisfied with the progress.
This was way too slow whenpared to the speed he was used to back in his own territory, and the frustration even made him wonder if these men had been properly trained or whether Achis had been skimping money on the side by swallowing the training allowances.
Things were made worse by the fact that many Margrave''s troops were mixed into the Heeat formations.
And since these men obviously did not have the time to learn the unique signal orders and battle cries of the Heeat family, they naturally found it hard to execute the manyplicated sets of maneuvers that were being asked of them.
These men had no problem obeying simple instructions like marching forward, attacking, and chasing a fleeing enemy.
But when they were asked tomit rapid turns and quick marches from their heavily ented new superiors, many began to fumble and tumble, going in the wrong directions and getting in each other''s way.
Which in turn dragged the speed of the turning even more, to the point Lord Macht even pped his forehead in irritation, grinding his teeth his frustration,
"Dammit! Useless pieces of junk! I should have left these wastes back in the camp to clean thetrine pits!"
He was fully regretting bringing the Margraves to the fight right now. And more than that, he was regretting mixing units like he had now, putting one force right into the lines of another.
Usually, he would have created entire unitsposed of homogenous forces and then mixed these ''packets'' of men together. This would have let him control the entire army much better.
But as stated earlier- due to ack ofpetent officers, and fearing the Margraves rebelling once they were all banded together in a coherent formation under a weak outside inept leader, Lord Macht had to take this unorthodox approach.
But at the end of the day, this was not really as big a deal as one might make of it¡ as long as Lord Macht could keep winning.
And since the general was very confident about his chances, he did not bother to think about it too much.
Until now that is.
The Margraves unintentionally mping his feet at this critical moment meant that Lord Macht would require almost triple the normal time to turn his men around. Time that he was desperately running out.
But unfortunately, no matter how much tried to think of a way to speed up the movement, he could do nothing.
The Margraves were very deeply ''woven'' into the formation.Lord Macht had personally seen to it that they were so squash any chance of mutiny.
Thus all he could curse his bad luck and then curse the enemymander, mumbling to himself,
"Shit! This Alexander is too tricky! Is he the reincarnation of a war god? Young master seems to have poked a ho''s nest!"
Unfortunately for Lord Macht, it was not Alexander he was facing. But the sentiment engraved in the frustrated cuss still stood.
The fact was unless he could have guessed Remus''s exact n ahead of time, Lord Macht could have never foreseen his current set of circumstances.
All his mistakes up until now had been fairly innocuous with little plotholes, made with all the best intentions for his family.
Which perhaps made it all the more brilliant - how such an airtight n was suddenly made into his greatest Achilles''s Heel at the drop of a hat.
Remus really showed his brilliance here by deciding to y to his men''s strength of mobility, taking advantage of the terrain, and most of all, personally taking huge amounts of risks.
"Run! We have lost! Run!"
"To the ships! Make to the ships! Save yourself!"
"Our nks are destroyed! There is nothing we can do! Retreat! Retreat!"
And the young general''s gamble appeared to have paid off, the first part at the very least.
Because Scorpyo''s had seeded in their mission- to cause an utter rout!
It happened when taking advantage of the gap opened up between them and the main army, some of the much more mobile legionnaires units from the rear were able to swing to their right and attack the defenseless nks of the retreating Heeat formation, easily destroying them.
Chapter 1219: Remuss First Battle (End)
"That''s it! Push harder men! Remus is waiting for us in the back!"
"They are breaking! Just a bit more! Keep up the attack!"
"Right! Show these sons of sows who we are!"
Alexander''s officers very excitedly uttered these orders while wildly swinging their hands, while Scorpyo personally ordered the special unit of two hundred fifty men,
"Go! Swing around the right of these bastards! Teach them what defeat looks like!"
The thuds of heavy footsteps quickly filled the air following that, as the rear unit quickly pivoted to the side and attempted to attack the nks of the defending formation.
And like any other formation, when the Heeat units were attacked from such a vulnerable angle, even the most elites were forced to disband themselves.
Hacking, stabbing, and thrusting their way through the unarmored sides of the defending enemy, it took only the legionaries a short time to make a break through, with the low morale NovelFire leading the copse.
And since they made up the front section of the army, when they copsed, the Heeat forces in the rear had no chance to hold the ''rickety'' house together.
Perhaps if it was the other way around, if the elite Heeat men had made up the front and the weaker MV the rear, then they might have been able to hold on for some time even if the rear abandoned them.
But now, they were afforded too little time to do anything.
Even before the men could raise their spears and lock their shields, they were overwhelmed from both the front and right.
And in the face of such immense tactical disadvantage, no matter how brave or skilled these men were, they were forced to drop everything and run for their lives, bolting towards their docked ships as fast as they could.
Something that they were able to do rtively quickly with almost no casualty despite the utter chaos of the retreat, all due to the courtesy of the orders from the legionaries officers, who urged their men with almost hoarse throats,
"Do not chase them! Let them go!"
"The main enemy is behind us! Turn quickly! Hurry!"
"The battle is not over! Do not forget the battle is not over!"
"Remus is waiting for our rescue! Move your feet men! Quickly!"
Scorpyo would certainly not be foolish enough to focus on the trees and forget the forest.
His job was to only destroy the formation threatening his front, not to hound and kill the fleeing enemy like some mad dog.
Thus as soon as the enemy in front lost its ability as a coherent fighting force and could pose no threat to him, Scorpyo determined the first part of his job was done.
He instantly ordered therge mass of soldiers to halt all forward pushes and then started to turn them around, intending toplete the second part of the part.
"Oh no!"
This wide, open maneuver was of course all too easy to understand for any military officer with the slightest bit of experience.
But even if the defeated Heeat offices could see the imminent disaster just about to unfold for their general, they found they had nothing with them to stop it.
Some of course still tried, attempting to restore the broken units by shouting, barking and even wildly swinging their swords toward the fleeing men,
"Stop! Regroup!"
"Halt! To me men! The general is in trouble!"
"We must save Lord Macht! Show your worth as sons of Lynica!"
But once the lines were broken in any battle, it was just too hard to restore order to such unrestrained chaos, at the very least any time soon.
This was because the infantrymen saw therades beside them running, instinctively they too wanted to run, believing the battle was lost, and so they did not want to be left behind.
And as more and more men started to run, each of their actions worked to reinforce this thought across the minds of all the men.
It was like a snowball effect, and there was no way a few scattered officers could halt this avnche anytime soon.
Not to mention most of the fleeing Heeat and MV soldiers could not even hear what they were saying given the absolute uproar the entire section of that battlefield was in.
They were far more busy moving their legs and feeling very please upon turning back to see the enemy give up on them so easily.
They thought that the now bulkier legionaries was too tired to give them chase, and so they ran even faster, wishing to capitalize on their good fortune as best as could.
This let them quickly cross the rtively short distance to the shore and rapidly mbering up their ships, they ordered the captain to immediately sail away.
The captains too had noticed the disaster that was unfolding ahead of them, and fearful of the enemy chasing them and setting fire to their ships or even boarding them, hurriedly unfurled their sails and started their oars, leaving the ind like beaten stray dogs.
In this way, Scorpyo shattered the enemy in front of him, thus leaving Lord Macht in the rear to fend for himself.
This sight naturally caused great cheers from the legionaries and managed to lighten Scorpyo''s heart by quite a bit.
He was pleasantly surprised by how decisive the enemy units were in fleeing, leaving everything behind to start running.
Even if this was a clever feigned retreat by the enemy who wanted to turn around and give a surprise counterpart, the sheer equipment they left behind would have made any such thing a very daunting prospect.
And now they had not only done that, but they had even set sail, all without seeking any confirmation from their general.
Based on what Remus and the officers experienced in fighting them had told Scorpyo, thetter did not expect such a huge rout. He figured these units to be much tougher.
Of course, the reason behind this set of circumstances was inrge part due to the presence of a lot of MV troops, who only paid a token amount of respect to Lord Macht.
So when push came to shove and things started to downhill, each man decided to look out for himself.
It was an unexpected result that Scorpyo was very d to see.
Hence without any pressure from the front, he was able to quickly and smoothly turn his forces around, and very soon these men were staring toward their desserts!
"Lord Macht! Sound the retreat! We have lost!"
And seeing the enemy''s swords squarely at their rear and approaching fast, Lord Macht''s adjutant hurriedly pleaded to the man as such, his eyes tearing up with more regret than anger.
The man was still unwilling to ept they had lost in such a way.
"....." While at any other time, Lord Macht would at any other time rip out the man a new one for even daring to suggest such a thing, now only answered him with a pair of bloodshot eyes and a wall of silence.
He of course understood the game was up.
Facing attacks from both the front and rear, there was no way to win the battle.
This was something even a day one recruit knew and not something even a god of war could change.
''If the enemy attacked you from both sides you surrendered''- this was almost an unwrittenw.
But even if Lord Macht knew all of this, even if he knew that he had all but lost, even still, found the result too hard to ept.
Thus in frustration, he clenched his teeth so hard and his gums began to bleed and sped his hands together so tightly that some of the metal greaves even began to tear apart the leather and dig into his skin.
But such pain did not even amount to a hundredth of the pain he was feeling in his heart, as his mind flooded with all kinds of ''what nows''.
He did not dare to think of the consequences of losing this battle.
And for a moment, he even shouted to himself, ''No retreat! We will win and take this ind, or die trying!''
This was the same voice he had used to urge his men to march on. And now, Lord Macht began to say it to himself, thinking death was better than running.
"General! What are you thinking!" However, as Lord Macht was looking for the easier way out, he was quickly rebuked by his attending officer, who appeared to sense the martyr like aura radiating from the defeated men.
Thus he charged at him with loud, crisp reminders, "Remember what is at stake here! The whole camp is depending on you now!"
"We have already lost General Achis and Lord Parker has been overtaken by grief. So the only thing holding us together is you. But if you perish here¡ not only will the campaign be lost, but even young master may be captured! So you cannot die. You must live! It is your duty!
Not only towards the young lord but the duke himself!"
The inspiring speech would make it so thatScorpyo would never get to fight Lord Macht, as thetter atst chose life over honor.
Hence by the time the thousand legionnaires got there, the two thousand men under Lord Macht had already disbanded, streaking across the small ind like headless chickens.
The victorious legionnaires would thus spend the better part of thetter half of the day catching and killing as many of them as they could.
Sadly, the biggest fish would not be among them.
Chapter 1220: Battlefield Cleanup
*Trumpet*, *Trumpet*, *Trumpet*!
As Scorpyo and his thousand men strong sped toward Lord Macht''s rear at breakneck speed, the old man was forced to acknowledge his defeat today.
And for a moment he even wished to fight it out here to thest man here, willing to risk everything. Perhaps Lord Macht believed he would be able to use his still outnumbering force to smash both of the iing fists at once.
Of course in reality such a result was really a pipe dream within a pipe dream as Lord Macht''s rear would likely copse even before Scorpyo made contact.
This was not only because of the angle of Scorpyo''s attack but also due to the fact that Lord Macht''s rear units were in the midst of turning themselves.
Meaning they were more out of formation than if they were simply standing still with their backs turned to the iing legionaries.
Plus, due to their new position, some of them could also see the imminent disaster about to unfold in front of them.
And it was almost written that these men would not simply wait for death to hit them. Most of these rear units would scatter before Scorpyo got the chance to butcher them.
This realization,bined with the reminder of what was at stake here by his adjutant, was atst enough for Lord Macht to let go of his desire to fight to the death here and now.
Rather thanmit suicide here, Lord Macht thus allowed his men to sound the distinct retreating trumpet, as he quickly turned his horse around and waved the arms wildly towards the opposite shore, "Retreat! Retreat! Back to the ships! Retreat!"
The loud re of the trumpet had caught most of Lord Macht''s men, especially those in the frontpletely off guard.
Because to them, it seemed as if they were moments away from winning the battle.
"What! Why are we retreating now? Is this some kind of mistake?" Thus many of the even experienced officers could not help but cry out in rm at this puzzling order.
But even if they had doubts about the sound of the trumpet, there was little they could do about it.
Because the moment its distinct honking red across the battlefield, every soldier without looking at anything or asking anyone instantly dropped everything they were doing and then started to run madly around, scattering the formation they were in like sand dunes in the wind.
And there was little anyone could do to me them for this. Because this was what they had been taught to do upon hearing that sound.
Thus at that moment, Remus and his very thin line of men were subjected to almost a magical sight, as the ck and green tide that was threatening to swallow them at any moment suddenly dissolved away in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only a mass of panicked men who appeared to be stricken with fear and madness.
"Haha! The bastard did it! That old bastard did it!" And the appearance of this sight instantly caused a great big grin to streak across Remus''s face, washing all the pent exhaustion in an instant.
He of course understood what this strange phenomenon meant, it meant that Scorpyo had seeded. He had defeated his counterpart and was now either attacking the enemy''s rear or at the very least very close to it.
Remus''s heart could finally let off the heavy boulder that was pressing on his heart seeing this.
The once filled to the brim battlefield was now empty and vacant, littered with discarded shields and spears and filled with madly shouting men running around like headless chickens.
The young man might have been willing to put his life on the line to achieve just this kind of sight victory and was even quite confident of its sess, but that did not mean he took it for granted once it happened.
The sight filled him with immense joy as he felt re energize and invigorate.
And the same could be said for his men, who, although were not as aware of the battle ns as theirmander, could of course still see the current developments as godsend for them.
Thus even though many of them were exhausted and battered to the extent they could barely stand, it still did not stop from cheering at the top of their lungs and then chasing after the disintegrating foe.
"Go! Do not waste this chance! Chase them!"
"Do not let them regroup! Hound them to the sea!"
"Come! We need to avenge all the brothers killed by them!"
No order was needed to be given for the legionaries to do this and neither could any order have been given to stop them.
The battered legionaries instinctively chased these men, having be red eyed and furious after being beaten for so long, their hearts burning for revenge.
And just like Remus''s men scattered to chase after the routing foe, Scorpyo''s men too imitated their colleagues, the front echelons of the attacking formation spreading out to try and kill as many of the fleeing enemy as possible.
Since Scorpyo''s men were directly in the path of their retreat, arge part of Lord Macht''s men suddenly found themselves being funneled towards the awaiting legionaries with nothing to defend themselves with.
Lord Macht lost quite a lot of good men in that exchange, with the eager legionaries, fresh out of destroying one group formation, got to once again hacking and killing, dying that part of the ind bright red.
The victorious legionnaires thus celebrated their triumph in this way, spending the better part of thetter half of the day catching and killing as many of the enemy as they could.By the end of the day, they managed to kill a few hundred men and capture close to another eight hundred.
Or in easier terms, more than half of the engaged enemy was neutralized here.
A feat that was even more amazing considering around eight hundred men had already escaped during Scorpyo''s route.
This meant that very few of Lord Macht''s original one and a half thousand made it out of the ind alive.
Although sadly, for Remus, the one enemy he wanted the most to catch was not to be among the twelve to thirteen hundred imed.
Something that became clear as the sun began to set and the legionaries halted their chase to start taking tally of their gains and losses.
"Did you find him?" And as this was being done, Scorpyo quickly came to Remus, asking so with aposed face showing neither too much joy, or sadness.
Despite the amazing results he had achieved in today''s battle, the man seemed still a bit peeved at having let such a valuable piece slip through his fingers.
"...." Remus firstly lightly smirked before subtly shaking his head seeing this. Because he knew the elder man was always like this.
Scorpyo paid close attention to his outer image, and always had a stony face in front of his soldiers, allowing him tomand great respect among them.
This meant that even though deep down Scorpyo might be quite pleased by the results of the battle, he would never outwardly appear as cavalier as Remus did.
Thus Remus did not appear too concerned by the man''s slightly grumpy inquiry, and only informed in a rather rueful tone,
"Some of my men said they had noticed arge man dressed in ornate armor dashing across the ind just as the enemy had begun to retreat! Three guess who that might be!"
".....*Tsk*!" Scorpyo did not y around with Remus''s joke but thought it was such a shame that they had no horses to chase that rider.
In a very bitter tone he imed,"Achis is already in our hands! If we could have gotten Parker too¡. We could have started preparing to go home by tomorrow!"
Like Lord Macht had mistaken Remus for Alexander, Remus, and Scorpyo too had mistaken Lord Macht for Lord Parker.
But this was too reasonable. After all, they had never seen Lord Parker close up and from a distance, it was hard to judge one''s exact figure.
Plus they had no idea that there was someone like Lord Macht in Lord Parker''s camp, and thus, with General Achis out of the picture, the next most natural candidate undoubtedly became Lord Parker.
And capturing him would undoubtedly end the campaign once and for all.
If they had known it was Lord Macht they had let slip and Lord Parker, their regret would have been smaller.
Even then the two men did not wallow in their pity for too long.
Remus quickly patted Scorpyo on the shoulders and chuckled, "Ahhh¡ this is war, right! You can''t have everything! Hehe¡ Let''s not be greedy. We won today. That''s what truly matters!"
Scorpyo had a hard time denying this, and thus turning around to see his much, younger colleague, felt he too was being infected by thetter''s cheerful demeanor.
The elder man did not dislike this and so with a curt nod, chirped,"Mmmm¡ you are right! Congrattions on the win by the way! I am sure the lord will be pleased."
"Hehehe¡" Remus was not modest when receiving this praise and took it with a big grin, his eyes twinkling in anticipation.
It was just that grin immediately died away a secondter when Scorpyo posed,
"By the way, how are we going to house and feed these prisoner? We do not have enough food or water to keep all eight hundred!"
Chapter 1221: Lord Januss Reinforcements
Alexander woulde to know the details of Remus''s victoryte that evening when the men returned with their quarry, and it would produce a series of ratherplicated feelings within him.
Alexander would of course be very happy at how his men were able to aplish such a grand victory, especially without him. This made him feel reassured that he would be able to delegate more pressing tasks to them in the future.
But at the same time, he wondered if all the risks they had taken were worth it. If Alexander was in their shoes, he was not sure he would have gambled so much, especially when the payoff seemed so little to him.
Alexander thought that in the grand scheme of things losing around a thousand men was not too big a deal for Lord Parker. Thus he was a bit displeased at Remus for risking so much, thinking the young man was chasing personal glory too much.
However, at the end of the day, the fact of the matter was that Remus had won, bringing some much needed morale boost to the army.
Thus Alexander did not feel like dumping cold water on the excited general.
He wanted to in general encourage such a ''go getting'' attitude, and hence, dragging his still recovering body to the camp, Alexander made sure to first congratte all the participating men on their great victory.
And it was only after that that he reluctantly turned his head to the imminent problem at hand.
"My lord, what about the captured men?" The ever diligent Scorpyo was there to very quickly remind Alexander of his task, and hearing this, thetter internally fumed a bit.
Alexander really did not want to deal with this problem. Because it was not an easy problem to solve.
He already had Anoon and his around two hundred men. Nowbine that with the newly captured eight hundred and the ongoing food and drinking water shortage, and you could concoct a very potent headache inducing tonic for the one trying to solve this dilemma.
Alexander had a hard time finding a way to keep these prisoners with him while ransoming them away for now was certainly out of the question.
He did notck money and thest thing he wanted was to give back the already hugely outnumbering enemy its troops back.
There was really one way to deal with them that Alexander could think of. But Alexander was very reluctant to take that bloody road. He saw himself as no butcher.
The problem appeared soplex that at the point, Alexander even half regretted his seat as the top dog, thinking that if he was someone a bit lower down the totem pole, this hot potato could have been handed to someone else.
Just like Remus had responded to Scorpyo''s original inquiry, chuckling in a breezy tone, "Winning the battle is our responsibility! Anything after that¡ is Alexander''s!"
"Keep them in the pens for now! I will deal with them in the following week!"
But even after trying for a while, Alexander was unable to make a decisive decision. So like so many others before him, the man decided to kick the can down the road.
Alexander decided he would onlymit the heinous act if he was forced to the very edge of his ropes. For now, he was content to wait and hope for a change in the circumstances by some miracle.
Fortunately for him and the captured prisoners of war, that change woulde sooner rather thanter as the person who they had been waiting for so long and the reason Alexander had to fight so many battles- Lord Janus would finally arrive the next morning.
And Alexander would be there to personally receive the man from the harbor, looking excitedly towards therge group of sail slowly drifting towards him.
However, that monumental excitement would be dampened by quite a bit upon realizing the exact number of the sails. They were quite a ways away from the numbers he was promised. Almost one fifth to be precise.
Instead of the promised five thousand, Alexander counted around a thousand.
This was too much of a discrepancy for the slightly desperate man to ept.
Thus as the ships moored closer, the ever hopeful Alexander even tried to cate himself by saying to himself,
''Surely more hidden in the morning fog, right?''
s, his eyes did not deceive Alexander when he most wanted them to.
With eight ships and a thousand men, Lord Janus had brought all the forces he could muster in a short period of time, but it was still very, very far from sating Alexander''s ravenous appetite.
In front of Lord Parker''s twenty two thousand, the ''reinforcements'' were more like a drop in the bucket and nothing like the decisive force that was promised to him by the passionate Lady Miranda.
Realizing he had been lied to, Alexander thus sent a very clear deathly re towards the plump woman standing standing next to him, demanding an exnation.
"..." The now widow only produced a helpless, self depreciating smile
It was not like Lady Miranda had not predicted what would happen when she lied to Alexander to boost his morale and have him support her.
It was just that she was willing to bear that cost.
And now it seemed the time hade to pay up, for the birds hade to roost.
Lady Miranda thus made no clever attempt to shield herself, but simply epted Alexander''s usation silently, a tacit admission of her guilt.
"Sigh!" While Alexander, understanding the logic behind thedy''s actions and seeing no wordse out to defend herself, decided to let it go for the moment.
He did not want to cause a scene out here.
Rather, he reflected on the matter by himself, rebuking, ''*Tsk*, given the time when she said it, I should have guessed she was stretching the truth. There was no way she would in such dire straits if she had an ally able to raise an entire legion in such short notice!''
Lady Miranda''s words worked because at the time, Alexander was also very desperate, and he also did not know the exact size of Lord Janus''s fief and the allies the man could call upon.
Hence, after staring at Lady Miranda''s sincere eyes, he was willing to use that promise as a clutch. Ultimately though, that clutch proved to have been false.
The good thing was that Alexander''s currpositioniton was vastly different from the time the promise was made.
With tworge, consecutive victories under his belt as well as the enemy general being his ''guest'', morale in the camp remained high even when the promised reinforcements did not appear in the quantities promised.
As Lord Janus''s men disembarked, some of the more hot blooded and impulsive legionnaires even swore to their brothers with supreme confidence,
"Bah! Look at those flowers! Who needs them? We are winning even without them. They only want to snatch our glory."
The more experienced officers could only let out a helpless smile at this, unsure whether to scold them for their hubris or praise them for their courage.
Ultimately, they only warned their men to behave and not pick fights with their allies.
And speaking of allies, quickly hiding all bitterness within himself, Alexander was there to cordially greet the disembarking Lord Janus, hugging the old man and chuckling, "Haha, Lord Janus! We are so relieved you came so soon. We were starting to get worried! The enemy has been relentless."
Alexander did not want to poke the old man just as he arrived after the long journey and thus made no mention of the scant number of troops he brought. Every man counted to the young pasha.
Lord Janus however was also not so easily fooled, and realizing from the surrounding looks and bodynguage what the issue was, frankly rebuked himself,
"Bah! This old fool could only bring this much. All those bastards who drank and swore that they would go to even hell with me have thrown their conscience to the dogs. I will skin them all once I get back!"
It seemed Lord Janus''s voyage to gather allies for hisdy had gone very poorly, with not even his close friends daring to answer the call. It had broken the man''s heart, something that was clearly visible even on his face.
Even when the fatigue of travel was taken into ount, the once handsome man with shining white hair now looked gaunt and haggard, with sunken cheeks and dull eyes.
Seeing this, Alexander was there to quickly cate the frustrated man with a few kind words, "No, no! What matters is that you are here, my lord. You and your supplies will greatly help us! You are trulgodsendsend."
The recognition seemed to somewhat please the man, as nodding his head, Lord Janus then informed,
"Mmmm¡ just like what Miranda had asked, I brought as much grain and water as I could. Those three ships are filled with it!"
This news was perhaps even more sweet to Alexander''s ears than the thousand new reinforcements, as it meant he would be able to keep his prisoners.
The drop of the stone from his heart was enough to make the man produce a genuine smile.
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Pleasee Here!
=>Link to the original site:
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Chapter 1222: Lord Machts Last Roll
The conclusion of any battle would almost always cause two very different scenarios to y in the opposite camps.
And this time was no different.
Thus as Alexander entertained the newly arrived Lord Janus, filling him on the details of all that had just urred and rejoicing the fresh injection of supplies, on the opposite side of the pond, a very different set of emotions ruled the ground.
Back in Lord Parker''s camp, the air was dull and gloomy, as a whirlpool of anger and indignation surrounded them all.
Many were unable to ept the fact of who they had been defeated time and time again despite outnumbering the enemy by so many times.
Thus they cursed, spat, and doubted themselves, even wondering if they were truly fighting a god''s chosen.
And there was only man left to deal with them all, the one who was right in the center of the maelstrom- Lord Macht.
Just like he had predicted, suffering almost fifty percent casualties and still failing to take Phyrros Ind caused a major bacsh among both the participating Margraves as well as the Heeat officers, with the former using the general of leading them to their death, while thetter used theirmander of handicapping them by diluting their formations with these ''undesirables''.
me for the loss of the battle was relentlessly thrown by both sides onto the other, with the only singlemon consensus being reached that it had been wrong to assimte the two families haphazardly together like it had been done.
Lord Macht fumed with immense rage when hearing this.
He had expected this kind of reaction from the Margraves, that was fairly understandable.
But like how the Margraves stuck together, he had also expected the same from his own officers.
Even if that was not the case, even if they did not actively cheer for him, Lord Macht at least thought they would act as the silent majority.
He certainly did not expect that they would start to plot against him for power the moment he slipped up. The simple warrior hated these shadowy games, being quite bad at them.
Lord Macht''s mistake here was that he had assumed these officers were ''his'' when in reality a lot of them was really Achis''s, their loyalty solely tied to them.
To them, Lord Macht was, for all effects and purposes an outsider.
As for the rest, they were either nobles who only paid lip service to Lord Macht, or neutral officers who were more akin to ravenous sharks, their ambitions coursing through every pore of the body as blood.
All these three different groups thus had their own wants, with the ''loyal'' group wanting to rece Lord Macht with someone morepetent who could lead them to rescue their general, the nobles wanting to seize power for themselves, and the unaffiliated officers fishing for any avable advantage to get that next, sweet promotion.
And given that Lord Macht had no real political identity, being purely a militarymander appointed by Lord Parker to win battles, the moment he failed to do that, he quickly lost most of his authority.
The man was left with no real allies, appearing like the lone survivor of a shipwreck, surrounded on all sides by sharks.
This sorry state was the reason why even the naive Margrave grunts were able toe up with the courage to challenge him on their own, something that felt like a p to his face.
And smelling this blood, even Miss Linda decided to dip her paws into the mix, her shadow appearing behind many of the problems caused by the Margrave troops.
She was even able to periodically meet up with her men, iming it was her right as the representative of her family, urging them to keep up the good work.
And despite having clearly detected it, due tock of allies, Lord Macht found himself ultimately helpless to do much to her.
This event opened up the opportunity for Miss Linda to one day bravely intrude upon the elder veteran''s space and coldly demand,
"General! I want my officers back. Clearly, they are more suited to lead my men than you."
Lord Macht only stopped himself from flipping out at the veryst second, swearing to himself that this was not the time.
Due to the aforementioned delicate state of affairs between the two families, Lord Macht swallowed the insult with great difficulty, afraid doing anything rash would snap the fragile alliance.
He would not be able to answer to his master if that happened, not when they were so close.
Thus with bleeding gums and bloodshot eyes, the man even released some of the lower ranked officers, hoping to buy Miss Linda''s cooperation in the matter.
"Mydy, we should not let this temporary setback distract us from the true enemy," Lord Macht even tried to put on the suit of a politician, hoping to sway thedy on the matter.
"Hmmmpph!" However, by now it was too little, toote.
Miss Linda had be thoroughly incensed by recent events, and did not deign to even put those words into her eyes.
In fact, she somewhat weed Alexander''s interference, thinking it would give her more opportunity to fish for advantages.
Now, if Lord Macht had been a really shrewd politician or if Lord Parker actively supported his acts instead of being cooped up in his tent, the man might have still sailed past all these controversies without much trouble.
But unfortunately, neither of those were on the cards.
And when Lord Macht went to seek Lord Parker''s help after being driven close to his edge, he not only received no support, but Lord Parker even tantly mocked him for his failure,ughing out loud upon hearing how Lord Macht lost despite his almost 3 to 1 advantage.
This prompted the dejected lord to even call into question the legendary figure''s battle records, sneering,
"Were the pages and pages of fabled legends written truly yours? Or did father pay someone to write them?"
For a warrior like Lord Macht, having his achievements and legends ridiculed like this was perhaps even worse than death.
The ck man would thus storm out of Lord Parker''s tent that day with a face so dark that it appeared to resemble the abyss. And if not the current set of circumstances, he would not have left the young man with only that.
Even if Lord Parker was the next in session, Lord Macht would have no problem engraving a few basic manners right into the youngling''s skin, And he only eschewed that route due to the shit show he was aleady in. The man did not want to further escte the whole thing.
This was also why, after his failure to reign in the various forces within his camp, Lord Macht in a very uncharacteristic move sent a negotiating delegation to Alexander, wishing to discuss ''terms''.
The small team of men led by the noble Lord Kite would thus meet Alexander, Lord Macht, and Lord Janus in one of the manor''s many studies.
"So what does the Heeat family want to discuss? Your terms of surrender?"
And Alexander would begin the talks with such boisterousness, putting on a very confident look to pressure the other side.
On the other hand, however, Lord Kite would refuse the aggravating bait, but sh a very professional smile, reply in a very cool tone,
"First of all, on behalf of our lord, let us express our sincerest gratitude for taking so good care of the general. We will certainly keep in mind such goodwill."
Lord Kite had of course sought an audience with Achis before sitting down to discuss anything, to make sure the golden goose was still alive.
And indeed the general was given the best care Alexander could possibly muster, with him even personally ordering the physically many of the prescribed treatments.
Alexander could do this due to Achis''s injury being rtively simple- a broken spine. So all that really needed was for the man toy down on his back perfectly t and still, and then wait¡ wait for the bones to repair by themselves. It was honestly a very boring affair.
Hence when Lord Kite went to meet the general, he found the man all wrapped up tightly with bandages on arge, wooden bed that had only a thin mattress on it, and a powerful smell of various medicinal herbs drifted out of him.
A whole host of doctors, attendants, and ves took care of all the man''s physical needs, while armed guards patrolled the medical tent, making any covert rescue attempts impossible.
Lord Kite and Achis did not speak for too long, with the former simply asking about the man''s health and then quickly reassuring him that everything was fine and that they were in the midst of negotiating his release.
Achis however did not seem to be interested in his own arrangement, appearing very disappointed in letting himself captured like this.
Instead, he seemed much more about Lord Parker quickly asking Lord Kite how he was.
The man knew his lord well and seemed to be able to guess the kind of nervous breakdown he would have.
This was why Lord Kite decided to spin a little tale for the injured man here.
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Chapter 1223: Lord Machts Last Roll (Part-2)
Being taken captive by the enemy side was never a pleasing feeling for any soldier, much less for a soldier as famed as Achis. It was such that the general felt that even if he managed to get rescued, this event would remain a ck streak on his record for all his life.
Lord Kite could certainly sympathize with his thoughts, and given that the general''s capture was more due to treachery than his own faults, decided to spin a little tale for the injured man here, cating him by saying,
"Do not worry about the lord! He seems to have gained a new life nowadays. You should see how hard he is working to get you back. Rest assured, with our resources, Alexander will be forced to kneel! Remember¡ we have more than twenty thousand men with us."
In order to not ail the already injured man''s heart any further, Lord Kite cleverly dressed up Lord Parker''s situation with colorful festoons, showing him as someone who was doing everything in his power to get his generale.
It was unknown how much of the fib Achis truly brought.
But even he was forced to acknowledge the immense force advantage they possessed.
''That''s right! No matter how good that Alexander is, there is no way he can win with so few men.'' Achis hence said to himself, quickly feeling his heart be a lot more reassured, and even his sore body not hurting that much.
The exchange between the two men would end with that, thus letting us get back to the present negotiations.
Back in the manor''s study, Lord Kite quickly finished his pleasantries and then got to the main meat of
the issue,
"Lord Alexander, we will frankly admit that your battlefield aplishments have been truly opening for all of us. In light of this, we are willing to make certain concessions.
My lord proposes to lift the current siege on your manor, thus letting you ess food and fresh water from the city. In exchange, we only ask that you hand over our general, as well as those two traitorous officers, Anoon and Robert who brought him here to you."
"Snort! If you are here to waste my time, there''s the door!" Alexander openly sneered at the gigantic maw the other side opened their negotiations with, deftly swinging his arms and appearing too impatient to even put this said condition into consideration.
He even appeared to be almost ready to leave the room then and there, thus pressuring the other side to reveal their ''real'' demands.
However, although this was a smart move, it had limited effect.
Lord Kite as a noble as well as a merchant was no stranger to haggling with distinguished powers, and thus despite Alexander''s show, he kept his cool.
"Then what kind of rumination would you be willing to ept for such a thing?" Slouching back to his chair, the man simply asked, wishing to see just how big Alexander''s own appetite was.
''Yourplete withdrawal from the ind!'' Was Alexander''s first instinct to blurt out.
However, he knew even if he had Lord Parker with him, such an ask would be too preposterous. The decision to assimte the Margraves surely came from the core decision makers of the Heeat and there was really no pleasant way to stop them. Only blood and steel would halt the ducal family''s encroachment.
Thus, in order not to destroy his credibility, Alexander made the much more reasonable ask, "We will reiterate what we have already said. Let Lady Miranda be the family''s regent until Lady Linda''s sones of age."
"Snort! Now who is wasting our time!" Just like Alexander before, Lord Kite blew that suggestion out of the water the moment it was uttered, unequivocally revealing, "The matter about the Margraves family is not to be discussed here. We are only willing to negotiate General Achis''s ransom in terms of goods and money. Nothing more."
"....." Lord Kite had a very stoic, staunch stance when he said this, suddenly putting Alexander much pressure on Alexander.
The young pasha could tell the man was not going to budge on this no matter how much he tightened his screws. Achis was simply not that valuable enough.
This had Alexander in a bit of a dilemma, as in reality, he was not nearly as cavalier as he was showing himself to be.
Fact was he needed the deal to be done far more than Lord Parker needed it.
After all, Lord Parker still had held the advantage in this conflict due to his huge manpower, and thus for Alexander, keeping or even killing Achis would bring no real benefit to him. The best course of action for him was to ''sell'' the general for the best possible price.
However, given that maybe, Alexander was still very reluctant to give up such a prized prize for such a paltry price. ess to fresh food and water of course sounded good, but he had not reached that dire point till now.
Heck, with Lord Janus''s presence and the harbor conquered, Alexander even thought he could have his ships ferry in fresh supplies from other parts of the ind if push really came to shove.
Thus he sent eye signals to Lady Miranda and Lord Janus, asking them to voice their thoughts on the matter.
"We do notck food or money. And there is no space for your family on this ind! Leave!"
Lady Miranda certainly did not disappoint when given the chance, her cold burst of demands sending a chilly breeze toward Lord Kite.
If Alexander''s demands were considered overreaching, then this was what was called truly reaching for the moon, for Lady Miranda asked what Alexander had only thought of in his head.
It was such that even both the men nking the plumpdy were forced to produce a wry smile hearing it. Discover the mystery at m,vl_em|p_yr
After this was said and both sides had presented the two extremes of their asks, they finally got serious, trying to feel each other up.
"Let us meet each other somewhere in the middle my lords," Lord Kite cordially proposed, and in the following next hour or so, they tried variousbinations to get what they wanted.
For instance, when goods and coins were rejected, Lord Kite proposed to exchange Achis for arge number of Margrave troops or officers.
"I believe my lord will find a thousand men to be more than adequatepensation for one single man." Lord Kite dangled the juicy fruit.
"Heh! If they are so good, you can keep them!" Sadly however Alexander did not bite.
Instead, he tried to get the Heeat family to agree toe kind of truce,sting perhaps a few years, during which Lady Miranda would presumably slowly hand over her power to Miss Linda.
Lord Kite however only chuckled and restated, "Like I said, this is not something we are willing to discuss. Only Lady Linda and her son and only them can be the head of the Margraves. It is an immutable fact."
As Lord Kite repeated the point to emphasize it, Alexander could almost hear Lady Miranda breaking her tooth, her pearly whites clenched so tightly that it seemed to fuse together.
Then, given they hit a brick wall on this, Alexander attempted to switch the discussion to trade, hoping to see if Heeat would agree to some concessions on that front.
"In exchange for giving Achis, we would like to rediscuss the free trade agreement terms we had with the Margraves. We also want two of your family''s ports to be tariff free for ships sanctioned by us."
Sadly, Lord Kite showed no interest in this either, ruefully shaking his head to add, "This is far tooplex and far too into the future. We would like to get the general back now. Please put something more within our reach."
This type of back and forth went on for quite a while, with the ultimate conclusion being¡ nothing.
The two sides were not able to reach any viable consensus, each of their respective wants being too divergent to converge in any meaningful way.
And this result left Alexander very frustrated. Because as said earlier, he truly wanted this deal done.
However, the other side seemed unwilling to give anything meaningful thing in return.
Now, this was not because Lord Kite was unwilling to seriously discuss terms with Alexander. The fact was simply that hecked the adequate authority to promise anything substantial.
This was because Lord Kite had been sent by Lord Macht almost on a whim with orders to bring back Achis, as the veteranmander reasoned that bringing the general back could somewhat help cate his camp.
This was perhaps more wishful thinking than an actual strategy, as the problems erupting among the soldiers were many more timesplex than the absence of a single man.
But Lord Macht was clutching at straws by this point. So sent Lord Kite out anyway, hoping for a miracle.
s, without Lord Parker''s blessing, such an endeavor was doomed from the start, for Lord Kite simplycked the capital to haggle with Alexander.
Thus the negotiations atst fell through when Alexander rejected the other''sst offer, saying,
"We are not interested in any kind of truce unless it involves you leaving Caira altogether. For us, the current stalemate is not too bad."
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Chapter 1224: Lord Machts Camp
As ast ditch attempt to try and rescue Achis, Lord Kite wanted to promise a three month long truce in exchange for his general.
However, Alexander was not interested.
After the consecutive winnings, the man doubted the Heeat family would be willing tounch anyrge scale attacks any time soon.
In fact, Alexander would be d to see them attack his prepared lines. The result of that endeavor was already known.
Thus the very bottom lineid out by Alexander was for the enemy to leave the city, handing over the defense of the city to him.
This however was uneptable to the other side, as Lord Kite did not have the authority to do such a thing even if he wanted to.
Thus after a few hours of bitter bickering, Lord Kite was forced to leave empty handed.
Near the very end, Alexander did offer to discuss further terms about what to do with the captured eight hundred men, wanting to use them to extract some milder concessions, such as lifting the siege on the manor, or even just the flow of fresh water.
Lord Kite could clearly see what Alexander was trying to do here- taking advantage of the man''s failure of the main mission to hand him some second hand scraps so that the lord did not embarrass himself by returning totally empty handed.
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After all, if Lord Kite could get back eight hundred men instead of a ''measly'' one, surely it would save some of his face.
However despite its allure, Lord Kite did not bite.
The nobleman was among the very rare breed of men who did not let his honor get in the way of the things that mattered the most, and more than that, he knew such a gift was unlikely to please his current boss.
In fact, Lord Kite feared the ck man might evensh out at him for being shameless enough toe back with such a thing when he failed in what he truly asked the man to do.
The bare handedmander would get a pained sigh from Lord Macht once he got back, that disappointed moan perhaps hurting him more than any scolding he might have received.
Following the failure to rescue Achis, the situation within the camp deteriorated further and further with each passing day, forcing Lord Macht to give in to more and more of those voices wanted, all in an attempt to stop the camp from imploding into itself.
Or he and his young master seriously risked having their throat slit off in the middle of the night.
This might have seemed like an absurd idea even a day ago, but now, Lord Macht could no longer brush past it. The recently reinvigorated Margraves appeared to be on the verge of taking the warpath if their demands were not met.
Thus instead of desperately clinging onto power, Lord Macht fortunately had the presence of mind to give what they wanted, letting go more and more of his power and reversing most of the steps he had taken to consolidate his family''s hold on the army.
Hence the newly formed formations were all disbanded and the troops ''unmixed'', just as asked by his own officers,
While all the Margrave troops were restored to their own units, and ced under their own officers, all of whom were released from their custody, save for the handful of few who had directly participated in the bridge battle and were seriously under investigation for ipetence.
Among the released was also the ''injured'' Lord Bernard, who right now seemed to have made aplete and miraculous recovery.
No longer appearing lethargic and half conscious most of the time the lucky son of a bitch was currently bright as a daisy, sporting a magnificent grin paired with twinkling eyes as he roamed the camp under a heavy entourage of his own men.
Even the man himself did not think he would be able to get himself out of the whole kerfuffle so easily.
Because one moment he was nearly drowning in the quagmire of the abyss, awaiting imminent execution, all his ns thrown into total shambles. At the time, what he had done and how he had betrayed Achis appeared very clumsy, almost childish.
But just as the stone was about to roll off that cliff, all of a sudden itpletely reversed directions.
In the blink of an eye, the man was free of all danger, free to bathe in the glorious winter sunlight with his ranks fully restored and his dreams now seeming much closer to reality than ever.
It was such a change of fortunes that Lord Bernard found himself asionally pinching himself a bit to make sure he was not dreaming.
Lord Bernard''s release of course had Miss Linda''s direct hand in the matter, with her edging the soldiers to demand his release from Lord Macht. And once he was freed, thedy got to quickly get the man up to speed in the current affairs.
"So many things have happened!"
And as Lord Bernard got to know more and more of the details, even the clever politician was forced to sigh in amazement, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
After being totally confined to his quarters for so many days, the changes felt veryrge, and thus Lord Bernard spent a few days trying to reinsert himself into the loop
"Haha, the gods favor me!" Then upon finally understanding how the many internal forces of the camp were threatening to tear apart the alliance, the man was not only worried but chuckled in glee.
After all, only in murky water as such that one could fish for the greatest advantages.
Hence upon having regained his position as the chief of the Margraves family''s army, he quickly began to covertly undermine Lord Macht''s power under Miss Linda''s directive, wishing to erode it to the point he could usurp him.
This proved to be a deadly challenge for Lord Macht, who was no expert in this field.
By all ounts, Lord Macht was just a simple warrior, and his upbringing and career were more suited to maintaining discipline and leading soldiers. He was no doubt also very good at that, able to effectively steer the men under him even in the worst of times.
It was just that this time, these men were not alone, having the backing of powerful figures.
This provedpletely uncharted waters for Lord Macht, for as a hot blooded man, the man found talking too annoying and was much more of the mind to directly bash his enemy''s skulls rather than try and change it.
And when he did have to deal with them in those rare few circumstances, it was usually handled by the master he served, Duke Heeat, or at least with hisplete backing.
With that cheat, Lord Macht really did not have to develop any skills, simply ''one shot''-ing his opponents with the Duke''s name and authority.
This was why now that he was stripped of all his advantages, Lord Macht appeared like a drowning man clutching at straws.
The pair of Miss Linda and Lord Bernard caused many troubles for the man, ranging from demanding better rations for their men, pay equal to the Heeat men,pensation for the deceased, and even political concessions such as guaranteed autonomy for the family.
Lord Macht wanted to tear his hair out after hearing many of them, such as the demands for equal pay andpensation.
ording to Sybarian custom, there was no way the men serving an earl could get the same payments and benefits as those serving a duke. Such a thing would destroy the entire social hierarchy of the nation.
Hence when Lord Macht heard this, the proud veteran almost vomited blood, feeling as if his face was being dragged through the mud.
It was thus rather fortunate that the man still had a bit of rationality left in him and did not want topletely shatter their alliance with the Margraves. Else he would have certainlyshed out at the ask with the utmost vehemence, dying the entire camp with blood.
As for the political tasks, they were so outrageous that he directly ignored them, thinking Miss Linda was simply ying with them.
Lord Macht tried his best to cater to the demands while trying to retain as much power as he could, while at the same time, he decided to directly write to the Duke, letting him know of everything
"My lord, the situation here has reached its precipice. Young master has be ill and I am ashamed to admit I am unable to contain the situation on my own. I plead that you send 20,000 reinforcements as soon as you can."
In his letter, Lord Macht cleverly did not mention Lord Macht''s true state, one, for fearing the duke might not like him bad mouthing his son.
Furthermore, themander also did not want topletely burn the bridge with Lord Macht despite all that had happened, as, at the end of the day, the man was still in line to the throne, and his future boss. Lord Macht did not want to intentionally make things harder for himself.
Andstly, he thought that by presenting the Heeat family as still a strong, coherent force, he would have been able to convince the duke that the external threat was truly formidable, forcing him to take the letter''s demands seriously.
The 20,000 demand still was a bit much, even Lord Macht would admit it, but by asking for so much, the man at least hoped to get half the men.
Chapter 1225: Cambysess Hurdles (Part-1)
In theing days, Miss Linda and Lord Bernard would continue to gnaw at Lord Macht''s power, trying to rece him and his men with their own, with the ultimate goal of Lord Bernard taking over the entire army.
However, the pair would be unable to aplish thatst part, as the drowning man would be saved by a re-emergent Lord Parker.
The young lord seemed to have finally been able to shed the shadow of losing Achis, and atst, responding to Lord Macht''s repeated pleas, decided to take hold of the helm of the ship before he sank with it.
Seeing him, the Heeat soldiers who were all just a second ago scattered and ready to tear each other apart for more power and influence all of a sudden dropped everything and rallied behind their one true lord presenting a fully unified front.
This near altruistic behavior of giving up power might have seemed a bit strange to an outsider, but when one thought about it, it was all too natural.
All 10,000 men apanying Lord Parker were the Duke family''s elites, swearing their vows to only him and his family members.
Thus when someone with their blood took the reins, the wild horse was easily tamed.
And that was also why Lord Macht had such a tough timemanding them because, without that blood, they did not see him as legitimate.
With Lord Parker joining the fray, the Margraves almost instantly felt their tide turn.
Miss Linda was quickly restrained, and ced in her tent at the order of her ''husband'', who was presumably worried about her catching a cold.
Lord Bernard was also forced to give up all his ambitions and the man scuttled back to his tent, where he cleverly decided to avoid showing himself in front of the lord.
The dashing man knew he was considered a gross eyesore by the lord, still under high suspicion of betraying Achis, and he certainly did not want to give Lord Parker any chance to have him arrested, or worse.
In this way, the Margraves troops lost two of their most important heads overnight.
And just when the enemy was at their weakest, Lord Parker decided to strike.
By now, Lord Parker''s prestige and legitimacy had made all the Heeat troops consolidate under one g, turning this once loose pile of sands into a thick sheet of iron.
He was then able to use these great muscles to get a lot of things done, by first imposing a curfew on the camp to bring military order back and then isting the more troublesome Margraves officers on suspicions of ipetence.
This was the stick.
Then as a perfect demonstration of Lord Parker''s abilities, the man quickly followed it up with the carrot, acquising to the Margrave troop''s demand for increased pay, as well as otherpensations, alling from the money he had swindled from Alexander.
It was a move that broke away from the nation''s military tradition and although this might not seem like much to a modern audience, for the extremely traditional, conservative Sybarian society, this was shocking.
It was to the point that if not for the circumstances, Lord Macht might have even jumped up to stop Lord Parker no matter what. Because he did not want to want to set such a precedence.
Lord Parker''s efforts soon showed themselves, with the camp that was under imminent threat of copse miraculously rebounding itself to its former state.
Order was restored, schemes were put down and although the Margraves troops still managed to retain their autonomy, they were no longer a match for the Heeat forces, going back to being effectively their auxiliary force.
In other words, the situation mostly returned to the same equilibrium it was in before Achis''s capture.
Alexander naturally remained oblivious to the situation in his enemy''s camp, the wave of chaos followed by the restoration of order going mostly undetected by him.
If he had known how close his enemies were to tearing each other, he would have certainly tried to give each one a helping hand, wishing to make things even more chaotic.
He perhaps would not have dared to attack them given the huge discrepancy, but providing other kinds of aid, such as spreading rumors, or using Achis and the other prisoners to confuse the enemy would definitely be on the table.
The pleasing turn of current affairs was thus quite unfortunate for Alexander.
The only good thinging out of that was the enemy had wasted a lot of time trying to sort himself out.
And then even after Lord Parker stabilized the camp, he did not bother with any strategy to go and attack Alexander.
The recent string of losses had the man and his men too demoralized to even attempt any such an endeavor, and it was gravely feared another such loss might very well rout the entire campaign.
Hence Lord Parker couped himself up in his tent, waiting for a response from his father.
He would only try and drive Alexander out once he had such an overwhelming force that it would be enough to blot out of the sky¡ figuratively speaking.
Now this stationary state of the battlefield was not something too unfavorable for Alexander either.
Because like Lord Parker, Alexander too was waiting, hoping for his reinforcement toe, preferably before the Duke.
Hence it could be said that now the battlefield had shifted from here to the main centers of power for the two forces, each racing to send their troops before the other.
In this endeavor, Alexander''s side undoubtedly had the advantage, with nearly two months of head start.
However, even then victory was hardly guaranteed. Because in terms of resources and much more than the ability to gather those resources, Alexander''s territory certainly fell quite short of its adversary.
This was all too natural.
Despite Alexander''s explosive growth, his foundations were still shaky, as he still had not enough time to consolidate his power.
And this situation was made all the worse by the fact it was not even Alexander who was raising men, but his wife and proxy- Cambyses, a woman.
Hence whereas Duke Heeat could simply send a letter to his retainers, asking them to contribute to the war effort no questions asked, and they would have no choice but to cooperate fully, she would have no such luck.
Plus since Alexander had already taken most of the easily avable troops with him, while the remaining troops were needed to safeguard her territory, Cambyses was forced to raise new men, specifically two legions worth as per her husband''s request.
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However, given the political situation that has been already discussed, this was proving to be easier said than done, Cambyses was finding out much to her chagrin.
Thedy had initially thought it would be easy since she had raised a 40,000 army to counter Perseus when he first attacked Zanzan. So a force quarter the size should have been a cinch.
However the circumstances now and then were oh so different.
At the time, they were the ones being attacked, and by none other than one of Adhania''s most hated rival.
Many noblemen were under the direct threat of losing all their fiefs, hence Cambyses had to just raise the banner and everybody came rushing to her, willing to give everything to drive his evil invader out.
Now however there was no such great external force to unite them all.
Moreover, although Alexander''s intervention was sanctioned by his council of advisors, many of the nobles in the parliament remained critical of it, iming the young man was a busybody.
They would have much preferred the man to remain in Zanzan and stabilize it, taking care of the many problems, big and small that arose from the vast newly conquered territory of Tibias.
Thus when Cambyses went to them asking for levies to save her husband, they began to drag their feet, iming all kinds of problems, from mary, to political such as war fatigue, to simply the cold weather being too bad for the levy officers to conduct their duties.
Cambyses would grind her teeth in rage at this, however at the end of the day had no choice but to ept it.
She knewshing out would only aggravate the matter, and although the nobles were exaggerating, some problems were indeed there.
Thus she could only urge them to do their best and move with urgency.
And it was finally after two months of haggling and negotiations that these lumbering men atst got their act together, presenting her with all 10,000 of the prerequisite men as well as a detailed list of all the supplies that would be required for the journey.
This list was another proof of breaking away from the traditions of the time, as whereas normally each noble would be responsible for supplying his own levies at times of war, this time, it was decided that it would solely be Cambyses responsible for paying for the entirety of the campaign
This was the deal she had struck out with the nobles in exchange for their cooperation on the matter, and only then was able to get them to move their bodies.
But at least they did, so now, Cambyses''s only hurdle was equipping her men.
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Chapter 1226: Cambysess Hurdles (Part-2)
"Here, mistress, have this. It is hot chicken. Eat before it bes cold."
Standing beside Cambyses in herrge, beautifully furnished study, Mean had aplicated face when she saw the state of her mistress.
The youngdy in her early twenties no longer had that usual fresh, refreshing aura about her, being instead reced with an air of gloom, tiredness, and mncholy.
Her usually fluffy cheeks were no longer rosy, her eyes had dark patches of ring underneath, and most striking of all, she looked a lot thinner.
Mean knew she had herdy had lost a lot of weight, something that was not readily apparent when she went out and met out with the nobles as Cambyses would be draped in heavy winter clothing. But now that she was alone in her study that was being kept warm by underfloor heating alongside a burning firece, her light clothes easily revealed her state.
"......"
That however seemed to be hardly any real concern for Cambyses, and did not appear to even notice the girl''s voice next to her or the hot, piping soup from which wafted an enticing armora.
Instead, she was currently deeply frowning at a stack of paper she was holding in one hand while twisting and plucking hair with the other.
This ''stress relieving'' habit was something that Cambyses had recently picked up after she found out that the sudden sting of her hair being ripped out helped her focus.
And due to the intense pressure she was in, Cambyses did it so regrly that by now, the legs of her chair had be littered with her long, silky strands.
Mean''s heart felt torn after seeing her mistress in such a sorry state, causing her to cry in her heart with a heartful prayer, ''By the gods, she is going to be bald at this rate! Oh Alexander, get back here quickly! I don''t know how long can mistressst!''
Until that happened though, all Mean could only was try her best to take care of Cambyses, thus gently moving the ornate, crystal cup filled with soup forward, she repeated her words to Cambyses, hoping to elicit some kind of reaction from the sitting nobledy. Experience the journey at m-vl-em-py-r
Cambyses still appeared too deeply engrossed in reviewing her report to care. Because the numbers listed there were too incredulous for her to believe.
The report in her hand listed the total amount of supplies that would be required to raise and maintain a single legion, and Cambyses would have to admit, she had grossly underestimated how much supplies an army needed to move.
The time old adage- an army marches on its stomach was finally made clear to her with hard concrete numbers.
For example- ording to the ruleid out by Alexander himself, each man in the legion was expected to carry about a week''s worth on himself.
This meant each soldier had to have 1 pound of grain, 1 pound of meat or other protein and 1 pound of wine per day. The ratio of thesebinations would be varied a little, depending on what could be supplied, but at the end of the day, 3 pounds of food per day was mandatory.
And 3 pounds of food times 6000 men came to the snug number of 18,000 pounds, or 8 tons of food¡. daily.
Given an ox cart carried only 600 pounds of grain, that meant a legion needed 30 ox carts of grain just for one day.
Extend that of a week, and that number suddenly became two hundred and ten (210), or two hundred and fifty (250) if you wanted to ount for contingencies such as some of the carts breaking down.
And it would not be like that only the soldiers that require food.
The stock animals needed food too, such as the oxen pulling the cart, the horse going the fighting, and the mules carrying the legion''s heavy baggage.
Again asid out by Alexander, each squad of 8 men shared a mule, used to carry the heavy tent, other unit equipment such as buckets and shovels, and a stone mill to process wheat.
While each officer, generally had three mules for his equipment and paperwork.
Each of these pack animals had to have 5 pounds of grain per day and 10 pounds of foliage such as hay or straw
Leaving the mule to graze over an acre ofnd per day could substitute for the hay, but the grain still had to be fed to the mule.
Then came the oxen, who were much more fuel efficient than their hard working brethren, able to subsist on 10 pounds of hay alone but did better if given some grain.
The trade off here was speed, with an oxen cart able to only cover half the distance that a mule could- from 12 miles to just 6.
Combining all this, a 6000 fully infantry legion had 750 mules for the enlisted ranked man and 200 mules for all the officers.
Then came the ''gas guzzlers'' of the ancient world- horses.
Each horse of the legion had to have 5 to 8 pounds of grain and 15 to 20 pounds of hay per day. And each legion had 600 such cavalrymen.
Now, that did not mean there were only 600 horses, oh no.
Because each cavalryman was expected to have at least three horses. Many had four,- one for the servant who took care of the mule and two other horses, which the horseman rode during the day. The warhorse that was used to fight was usually kept in reserve so that it would be as fresh as possible when the battle started.
Thus to support a 6000 man legion with 600 horsemen attached included 1,000 more mules, (sick mules needed to be reced), 2400 horses, and about 100 oxen hauling their food and equipment.
In this way, it could be seen that a legion actually had more animals than it had soldiers, which was actually the norm till the invention of the railroad and then the truck.
All this meant that to keep only a single legion fed per day, around 30 tons of food was needed per day!
And Alexander wanted two such legions.
Since the round trip to Galiosos and back would take four weeks in total, and with Alexander''s request for additional grain for his besieged troops, Cambyses thus figured would have to gather close to 4,000 tons of grain or around 40 to 50 ships worth of it.
This was a lot.
Not to mention, men, animals, and grain were not the only things that were needed.
Siege equipment such as catapults and siege towers were also requested by Alexander.
The siege towers were indeed built on site. But the equipment and supplies to do so had to be hauled in.
This was because it was rare to readily find treesrge enough to make these gigantic behemoths. The same was needed for battering rams, thus such trees had to be hauled by the legion along with the ram''s bronze or Iron head.
While in the case of catapults, not only did the machine need to be carried, but also the rope used to operate it.
And it was not your regr linen roped.
Dried animal sinew (muscle tendon) had to be used as nothing else came close to it in strength till modern materials such as steel fibers and Ker appeared in the post world war 2 era.
Dried sinew however was expensive to buy and hard to obtain.
And since each battalion (600 men) was assigned one catapult, Cambyses had to gather enough rope for 20 catapults, not an easy thing to do in just two months.
The only thing that the young girl had to thank was her luck that the supplies would not have to be hauled bynd but could be instead shipped.
This meant not only a tremendous save in time, with ships able to cover 8 to 10 times the distance as an ox driven cart, but they could also carry 100 to 150 tons of cargo, aspared to a measly few hundred pounds.
Best yet, these giant wooden beasts did not need a single grain, letting Cambyses save on a lot of weight and hassle.
Her problem was though, gathering enough of them.
Cambyses needed around 60 to 80 ships, and the only ones who had suchrge ships in those numbers were the many rich merchants.
Convincing these people to sail in winter when the waters got really rough proved was not easy.
Cambyses had to order, haggle, and oil them with copious amounts of gold to make them acquiesce to her.
In this endeavor, Cambyses thanked the gods that her husband had left her with a treasury bursting with gold.
Hence, she could offer exorbitant prices to those greedy men without batting an eye.
As for the supplies, luckily, Alexander''s constant wars had worked to put in ce a lot of established protocols. All Cambyses needed to do was activate them, and the civil administrators worked to collect everything that was asked for as fast as they could.
In this effort, Menes and the other council members also helped her a lot, be it with materials or the security of the city.
Thus finally, after two long months of struggle, just as the dawn of the new year came, a total of 13,000 men were boarded into close to a hundred ships and under Menes''s leadership quickly set sail, intending to meet up with their lord as soon as possible.
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Chapter 1227: Cambysess Hurdles (Part-End)
"Phew¡ it''s finally over!" Standing at the docks next to Cambyses, Mean let out a sigh of relief as she witnessed the huge fleet of ships leave port.
She felt the nightmare of thest two months was finally nearing its end, and they could atst get some rest.
"Mmmmm!" Cambyses however seemed a lot less enthusiastic, still feeling worried about the result of the battle.
She could not be as cavalier as her counterpart, who blindly believed that Alexander could win the battle no matter what and that there was nothing in this world that could ever make him stumble.
For Cambyses however, reality looked a lot different.
The immense challenges that Cambyses was made to face from almost the moment she arrived at Zanzan had made the young girl quite hardened in stately affairs and by now she had developed the habit of always thinking about the worst first.
First of all, she did not even dare to wonder whether these men would really reach the ind, given the treacherous seas and the mercurial weather.
Entire fleets being lost to the sea was such a regr urrence that it could be almost considered a cliche.
And given the entire thing was totally out of her hands, she could only pray day and night in the temples for the gods to bless these men.
For Alexander, losing these men would not only be disastrous but almost apocalyptic.
In fact, as Cambyses recalled the enemy numbers that her husband had revealed to her in his letters, she rightly wondered if even the numbers requested would be enough.
It was after all only two legions.
After reading the letters, Cambyses actually wanted to give more, 4 legions to be exact.
And after looking at her warehouse, she found that it was indeed possible, provided she was willing to dredge the very bottom.
Alexander had raised a force many times bigger multiple times and so many excess stocks were stored there, while things like food and grain were plentiful since it was right after the autumn harvest and the granaries were overflowing with it.
However the troubley politically, and Cambyses ultimately found raising so many men would be impossible in a short time.
It was even something that Mean had expressed great anger over, stomping her feet andining with gritted teeth,
"Those bastards! If Alex had been here, these rats would not have even dared to raise their voices. They are really taking us for granted."
The petite girl believed all the pain her mistress was suffering was due to these disloyal scoundrels and even wished she could personally hang them all for the crime of putting her husband''s life at risk.
Cambyses however only lightly shook at this outburst, not letting herself get caught up in the flurry of emotions.
Then in a smooth, calm voice that betrayed her age, she onlymented, "We are only five years old in Zanzan. It''s only natural they don''t trust us. Much less me¡ a woman."
Cambyses was clever enough to understand that most of the nobles who were causing her trouble were not doing it out of pure spite, but was more cautious of her.
They feared if they gave in too quickly, she would think of them as weak, thus opening themselves up to future exploitation. That''s why they stalled.
Politics was also not where Cambyses found herself stumbling.
Much to her chagrin, she also found there were even not enough ships to transport the full number that she wanted.
Alexander had already taken most of the ships they personally owned, thus forcing Cambyses to rely on hired merchant ships.
And given that during winter, trade tended to naturally slow down, those additional 80 or so were all she could get her hands on.
And even that was at such an exorbitant price that it had caused Mean to let out another yelp of incredtion. It was more than ten times the original value and many times, even that was not enough, with many captains simply refusing to sail no matter how big a check she was willing to write.
Even when Cambyses promised to buy them a brand new ship in exchange for their help, many of these men did not budge, simply saying,
''Mydy, You have to be alive to spend the gold.''
They only agreed when Cambyses paired the gold with the threat. "If you do not let us hire your ships, and something happens to my husband, I swear in the name of all the gods of Thesos and Adhania, I will ban each and every one of ever docking in Zanzan. Perpetually forget about conducting a single gold of trade in Zanzan!"
Cambyses''s zing eyes and cold words were finally enough to make the merchants shiver, as for people like them, trade was their life blood, as important if not more than life.
And this was not mentioning just how lucrative Zanzan''s market was.
The variety of unique and extremely precious products that could be found only here made it every merchant''s dream, as whatever they spent buying here in a day, would be worth more than their week''s earnings when sold to other ces.
For some, like the merchants selling ss products and sugar, that figure even went as far as a month!
So if the mistress of the city was to really go ahead with her threats and have them emunicated from the city, these men would be penniless overnight.
Merchants however were the type of men who would rather die than be poor like this.
It was thus with only that threat that these merchants agreed to hand over their docked ships. And even then it was only that low numbers.
Otherwise, if Cambyses could have gathered a few more, she would have even sent the 5,000 mercenaries she had hidden with her.
However, since she could not, even with the current number of reinforcements, Cambyses calcted that Alexander would have at most 16,000 to 18,000 men facing off against 20,000 to 25,000 men.
The odds of winning such an engagement were not horrible and Alexander had certainly won with simr disadvantages, but as his wife, Cambyses certainly always wanted her husband to have better chances, to be at least on par with the enemy, if not have the upper hand.
Now, if Cambyses had been aware of Alexander''s recent victories with the Heeat family, perhaps she might have been a little bit less worried, but even then, in the grand schemes of things, Lord Parker''s losses were not game changing in terms of numbers.
The total lost and wounded casualties he suffered were perhaps around two to two and a half thousand, only a tenth of his total forces, and thus even after those reinforcements joined Alexander, they would still be outnumbered.
Alexander''s real aplishments in those battles were breaking the enemy''s spirit and morale, as well as creating arge, almost indivisible crack between the Margraves and the Heeats.
The extent of that effect however would only show itself once the soldiers met in battle.
On paper for now the scales still favored the Heeats.
With the reinforcements sent, Zanzan fell back into its earlier routine. Given that it was winter, the noblemen that had been hastily gathered to counter this crisis disbanded themselves, most choosing to return to their fiefs to stake out the chilly winter, rxing and partying themselves under the warmth of zing fires.
The parliament building located at the center of the city was thus closed until Alexander''s return.
While in the case of Cambyses, she too weed this respite, and atst got the time to take a breath just as Mean was hankering for.
The youngdy hence also stayed in her manor for most of the time, ying with her two children and paying greater attention to the many wives and mistresses of her husband around her.
They had not caused any trouble for her till now and Cambyses wanted to keep it that way.
The only thing that could have made the peaceful, serenity perfect was if her husband was with her too.
Although Cambyses did not outwardly show, she was deathly worried about him, and that was one of the biggest reasons behind her substantial weight loss.
Plus, Alexander''s absence made the cold night feel especially chilly, as Cambyses was unable to ever truly satisfy herself in bed.
Twisting and turning all alone in therge bed, no matter how much she rubbed herself, the experienceddy was unable to rub that ever present lingering itch, for the thin digit proved utterly iparable to the girthy tool.
This was nothing unexpected, but still, that did not mean it did not frustrate thedy.
Hence, even if it was only for herself, Cambyses really hoped her man would be back as soon as possible,
Back in Caira, while his wife was preparing the soldiers and getting ready to send help, Alexander found himself with little to do but wait.
The current situation had reached a stalemate, and the weather had too turned extremely bad, forcing both parties to abandon any thought of attack.
Thus they waited, with the lull of one and a half months proving a very desirable oue for both.
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Chapter 1228: Lord Januss Wish
During the time Cambyses prepared the troops, Alexander was happy to sit in the Margraves manor, all wrapped up in his warm nket, and rest his troops, eating, drinking, and being entertained by Lady Nanazin in all sorts of ways.
From the bedroom to walls to couches to on top of tables, thedy really left no ce unturned, entertaining her man in every way she knew how.
While doing this, she even took some positions that were so extreme that it shocked Alexander, as he did not think a human body could twisted in those ways.
However, that did not stop him from enjoying them.
In fact, those sessions were perhaps the ones Alexander enjoyed the most.
Because not only were they more memorable, but he also did not want to miss out on this rare chance.
And if that y was not enough enticement, Lady Nanazin also yed bondage games with Alexander, letting herself get tied and gagged in all sorts of ways.
The maid Lady Nanazin had brought with her seemed a surprising expert on the matter, and was able to tie her mistress in every way she desired.
For Alexander, this proved a brand new marvel, thus elerating his desires to a brand new height.
After all, finding the queen of a nation all tied up and gagged with little to nothing on her was a visual stimulus few men could resist.
Alexander would thus take thedy in whatever ways she presented herself.
Be it standing by the bed with one leg stung up high from the bedpost, sitting on the couch with her legs fully spread, orying on the bed spread eagled with her four limbs tied to the four corners, Alexander would enjoy them all.
And during all this, thedy would be able to do nothing about the rough treatment but cry and moan.
Of course, in reality, Lady Nanazin enjoyed every second of it, perhaps even far more than Alexander.
But she acted so coquettishly because knew men, and she knew it would make herself even more desirable.
Lady Nanazin hade to better understand after her long stay with him and was able to figure that for a man like Alexander, there was little else in life that tickled his interest as much as conquering something.
Hence she presented herself in front of him like this so, as a helpless fawn whose entire body was at this mercy.
And credit to thedy, this did work, as proven by how over time the mating between the two became much more frequent and intimate.
It was to the point, that it almost became an abnormality if moans were ''not heard''ing out of the bedroom whenever the couple were together.
And due to all this practice, Alexander was able to memorize every little thing about his new lover.
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From the way she looked at him when she desired him, to the way her smell changed when she got horny, to the many subtle movements she showed when she wanted something particr done to her, to of course how her mouth and lower two organs felt like.
Every nook and cranny of the curvy woman was stered into his mind, and Alexander was confident, even if he was blindfolded, he could distinguish Lady Nanazin from all other girls.
If it had been Lady Nanazin''s initial desire to carve herself into Alexander''s memory, she had been thoroughly sessful, as given the many things they had done that could only be considered deviant, there was no way Alexander could ever forget her.
Hence with that done, what Lady Nanazin needed to do now was to supplement this with an emotional connection.
Because she knew sex could only get one so far.
Lady Nanazin was well aware that arge part of Alexander''s attraction for her was not due to her own charms but more so the attractiveness of her body, her status as a queen, and the novelty of it all.
And she was under no delusion that after a while Alexander would eventually get bored of her and move on to fresher meat.
But although worried, she was not panicking about such a thing.
Alexander had already hinted that no matter what he would not abandon her, thus with her bottom line securities, for now, Lady Nanazin''s main concern became how much closer she could get to him.
While Lady Nanazin busied herself with those thoughts, Alexander on the other hand took the opportunity to use Lord Janus to get himself up to speed on Anoon and Ser Robert.
These two defectors had been staying in the camp till now, and Alexander wanted to be sure they were not spies before clearing them.
He had tried asking Lady Miranda about them, but unfortunately, thedy was unable to recognize the men personally, reasoning that due to her sheltered upbringing and young age, she was not well acquainted with most of the military.
Luckily for Alexander however, Lord Janus did indeed recognize SR, informing the pasha that he was someone the old lord knew not only by reputation but by name also.
"I sailed alongside Robert when he was just a regr sailor. He is a good man¡ honorable." Lord Janus gruffly announced with absolute certainty in his voice.
"If he is so honorable, then why did he betray his allies?" Alexander however was not an easy man to please, especially when it came to security. Being quite cautious, he was thus not willing to yet trust a man who flipped sides.
''If the man can do such a thing once, he can do it again,'' He simply reasoned.
That was also why he and Anoon were kept under house arrest all till now, whereas as officers and heroes who defected, they should have lived the high life inside the manor.
Towards Alexander''s skeptical response, Lord Janus did not appear offended.
Rather he reminded Alexander of the exact circumstances under which SRmitted the act, pleasantly chuckling,
" Hehehe my lord must have also heard it. What Robert did was only forced upon him by extenuating circumstances. He even swore that he was ordered by hismander Bernard to do so¡. to ensure that you would not hurt his father.
I believe him. That Bernard is indeed someone who looks after his father."
"......." Alexander did not argue with Lord Janus''s analysis, mostly because he did not know enough about either man.
But he knew Lord Janus and trusted the man.
Hence since he, who had spent most of his time with the military, was willing to vouch for the man, Alexander deemed it good enough.
As for AN, well the ck free man was a small, rtively unknown figure.
Hence when SR was released under Lord Janus''s rmendation, he too was allowed out, and it was decided they would lead the two or so Margraves men to battle when the time came.
After this was decided, one wintery day, when Alexander was discussing how to rule the family once this was all over, Lord Janus suddenly came to Alexander with a very bold suggestion,
"My lord, have you considered moving from here to my fief?"
"...." The sudden proposal left Alexander at first a bit stunned. He had not even thought of that possibility.
But seeing he did not outright object, Lord Janus saw this as his chance to continue,
"Think about it, my lord! What is there to gain by holding the city? Nothing! Let us go to my fief. There your men can eat, drink, and move around as much as they wish. This will surely help morale.
And you can even replenish your supplies, like arrows and javelins. We have quite a few well known cksmiths there."
"........" And Alexander was suddenly tempted to hear this. Many of the things said made a lot of sense, especially about men getting bored.
It was a well known phenomenon that the idiom- idle hands do the devil''s work was a very apt way to describe soldiers, and although the men were behaving for now, Alexander did not know how long that wouldst.
Once winter passed, the legionnaires would certainly not want to only huddle by the fire with a nket wrapped around them.
Lord Janus was very much encouraged by Alexander''s interested look, and thus began to add even more reasons, saying,
"Also think about the reinforcements my lord. The 10,000 strong men will not be able tond in the Royal harbor, there is no space. Instead, they will have tond outside the walls. And in order for them to not be attacked by the Heeat forces while they are doing so, it will have to be some distance away. So would it not be better for the ships to meet in my fief?"
By now, Alexander could be said to have been already half convinced.
He had little love for this city anyway and the only reason he remained here was due to the following concern he posed towards the present Lady Miranda,
"If we give up the city and Miss Linda takes it over¡ will it make her im more legitimate?"
It had to be known that Caira was the capital of the Margraves, the seat of its power. The one held it could exercise great political power.
"No! Let us leave!"
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Chapter 1229: Northern Natives (Part-1)
"No! There is no problem!"
Lady Miranda answered Alexander''s query about abandoning the city fast as lightning, giving herself no time to think.
And this speed made Alexander a bit surprised. He had assumed thedy would be the most against leaving her father''s home.
It had not been easy to hold his ce after all. Thus he gave Lady Miranda a curious look.
"If my lord thinks it will be more advantageous for us to abandon the city, then let us do so. We can always take it back after we have won."
Sensing Alexander''s gaze, the plumpdy replied in such a hard voice, her clear, limpid eyes making it clear that she did not care about the political implications anymore.
As long as it helped the military get an edge, she was willing to give up her ancestral birthce.
And Alexander frankly felt impressed by the determination Lady Miranda was showing. It was clear that recent circumstances had fully transformed thedy in front of him
"..." However, regarding leaving the city, Alexander was still cautious.
Because such a thing would be irreversible.
And he did not want to regret letting the bird out of his hand afterward.
He also felt Lady Miranda might not be in the best state of mind and was worried that her desire for vengeance against her sister and the Heeat family might be clouding a lot of considerations.
Considerations such as what to do about the captured Margrave''s members residing in the manor.
Surely they could not be left here since that would mean they would simplynd in the other side''s hands, where they would very willingly swear their fealty to Miss Linda.
The ramifications of such a thing would be disastrous.
Now, Alexander could indeed take these people as hostages with him, but even then, simply the city falling would be a great blow to him.
His soldiers who had spent so much blood and sweat in holding out would surely be aggrieved, and much more than that, the enemy soldiers would be undoubtedly re-energized, seeing the fall of the city was a validation of all their efforts.
''We might have lost the battles, but we won the war!'' Alexander could already see them cheering.
He was reluctant to let go of this jewel if for nothing but this lone fact.
Not to mention there was also the fear of ML using the capture of the city as a propaganda piece.
Most of the people were already on her side and if she were to also capture the city, it would definitely fullyplete the legitimation of her rule, putting the final jewel in her crown so to speak.
All these cons made it so that Alexander was unable to be as cavalier about leaving the city as Lady Miranda was.
Of course, there were pros to this as well, as listed by Lord Janus.
His men would certainly enjoy the lifting of the siege as well as the ess to fresh supplies. Because although Lord Janus tried his best, there was only so much that could be shipped from so far away amidst dangerous waters.
It would also let Alexander prepare his men better and at the end of the day, was that not what truly mattered?
A strong argument could be made unless LP was defeated in battle in full force, there was little point in holding onto that small part of the city.
And if LP would indeed be defeated, the prior ownership of the city became a moot point. It would belong to the winner.
Hence for the following two days, Alexander found himself osciting, unsure whether to choose politics or military.
The man even covertly talked to his men about it and found that the men were not as much opposed to abandoning the city as he thought they would be.
They even seemed a bit eager to leave his cold, ''barren'' ce.
But it was ultimately Lord Janus who managed to convince Alexander to leave the city, as he came to him to im,
"My lord, before I came here, I was covertly in talks with some of the northern barbarians. I am sure you heard of these exiles. Now, some of those tribe''s chiefs are expressing their willingness to fight for us¡."
Saying this, Lord Janus trailed off a bit, taking a knowing gaze towards thedy of the house who was also present.
And just as the elder man had predicted, the mere mention of those northern folks was enough to draw the nobledy''s ire, her crescent brows quickly locking together to form a frown.
"Why did you talk without those barbarians? They are nothing but greedy devils!" Lady Miranda spat out with intense disdain, speaking in an acrid tone that was much different from her usual way of addressing the elder, "Do I need to remind you how many of my family died in their hands? How many of my uncles and granduncles? They are nothing but treasonous liars, cheats, and backstabbers!"
Lord Janus''s lips slightly twitched at the intense response and caused him to sigh in his heart- ''*Sigh*, I knew this would happen. The bad blood between her family and the natives really runs deep.''
The history of the Margraves, the natives, and how this ind came to be as it was now was all steeped in deep, red blood from both sides, and by the looks of it, it seemed neither side was willing to give up their grudges.
On the other hand, Alexander was very intrigued by Lady Miranda''s attitude, as this was the first time he saw her be so harsh towards the elder lord.
Usually, thedy would be quite defferential.
But now hearing Lady Miranda''s words, he felt that Lord Janus had touched on a nerve.
Thus turning to the man, Alexander gently chimed, "I am aware of the friction between the northern natives and the Margraves family. However, I am not too sure of the specifics. Can my lord enlighten me?"
Lord Janus first produced a slightly difficult face at this ask, looking at Alexander like he had just asked an embarrassing thing.
"Ahem¡" However, quickly considering the identity of the other party, as well as his own wants, Lord Janus knew he could not brush past it.
So he decided to answer, beginning with arge disimer,
"My lord, what I am about to say is a series ofplicated events that happened a few centuries ago. I hope you will not be too critical of either party."
And hearing this Alexander instinctively sat up a bit straight, his senses tingling with the sensation that he was about to hear something really juicy.
Because whenever anyone said something like this, it meant there were indeed many hidden skeletons in the closet.
And noticing this, Lord Janus let out a small, helpless smile, before quickly beginning his recount in a gentle, neutral tone,
"To know about the bad blood between the northern and the family, my lord you first need to know that the Margraves are not originally from here. They are originally from the Sybarsis maind up north.
They came here at first as traders, opening up a series of docks and ports along the coast. As you can already guess, this soon proved extremely lucrative¡ natural given how strategic the ind is.
It is prominently ced around many critical sea routes and made this few hundred thousand square kilometers ofnd much, much more valuable than what its raw natural resources suggested at the outset.
And the head of the Margraves family back then soon began to realize this. He knew if could set up his fief there, just the port fees from merchant ships stopping on the way to replenish and resupply their stocks would be enough to make him among the richest nobles even in Sybarsis.
Hence he decided to attack the interior ind, wishing to drive out or subjugate all the locals, and make the entire ind his own.
This was a disaster for the original people of the ce. They had originally lived a rtively isted life, following a type of shamanic belief system that emphasized oneness with nature and forbade materialistic gains.
Thus, while the rest of the world traded and developed better and better bronze and even iron weapons, these barbarians restricted themselves mostly to wood and leather.
They still traded with us for goods like timber, gems, incense, and ss, but they very, very rarely took weapons.
It was too big a taboo and anyone found trading, possessing or even assisting in such a thing was severely punished.
I remember my great grandfather telling me that his grandfather had once seen a hunter skinned alive and hung by his neck from a tree for simply possessing a small iron dagger.
But this restraint also meant when the family attacked, these natives suffered tremendously.
Most of their hand made weapons were too crude and too blunt to dent our shields, while their stone arrows simply bounced off their bronze armor.
Worse still, these natives were not unified into one entity.
Rather they were divided into manypeting tribes and ns, and we also made use of that. The result of such tactics would be easily imagined¡ *sigh*...." As Lord Janus, he shook his head,menting.
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Chapter 1230: Northern Natives (Part-2)
"*Sigh!*"
Thinking about how his ancestors had yed off the natives against one another, making promises after promises to them before breaking them one after another without batting an eye, Lord Janus ruefully shook his head,menting the chain of tragedies.
From the bottom of his, he did not condone such dishonorable activities.
But at the same time, he knew he could not deny their effectiveness.
By ying the smaller tribes against therger ones, by promising these neglected groups power and riches, the Margraves family was able to quickly augment its mostly mercenary hired force with almost twice the auxiliaries.
After these men were equipped with thetest weapons and armor of the time, the native tribes found themselves quickly outnumbered and outgunned.
Time after time, the two sides met in battle, and time after time, the result was the same.
Of course, there were one or two glorious native victories amongst all of them, but in the grand scheme of things, these were merely ripples, produced by ingenious ambushes or very specific circumstances.
But at the end of the day, the financial and technological might of the other side proved too big a difference for them to produce any real waves.
Lord Janus did not bother to tell Alexander about how exactly the Margraves family betrayed the tribes who had sided with them, finding the matter too shameful to admit.
At the same time, he was also unsure of what the truth was, because the Margraves naturally did not write down the filthy tactics used in their official chronicles.
That would be too great of an admission of their guilt.
The pages were thus filled with flowerynguages portraying them as saints who offered the tribes everything they were promised, but it was the ''treacherous'' natives who went back on their words and greedily asked for more.
That''s why Lord Miranda used the exact word ''greedy'' when describing them. Because she had been taught that.
And this second point was another reason why Lord Janus did not go into detail about the exact ways the Margraves turned their backs on the natives.
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Because he knew if were to start describing it, Lord Miranda would interject with her own version, denying many of Lord Janus''s allegations, all of which the elder man would have a very difficult time countering.
After all, everything Lord Miranda said was backed up by official ounts, with tens, if not hundreds of testimonies and references.
Whereas what Lord Janus knew came only from various hearsays from his father and grandfather, as well as what he had gleamed through by reading between the lines of the official history books.
Of course that did not mean that the old lord doubted the authenticity of his findings or that the records were not perfidy, but it was just that he did not have the means to prove his version.
Largely because the one entrusted with the truth- the Margraves family was also not interested.
Hence even if Lord Janus was to look for it far and wide, he would not find it here.
This was an open secret among the members. Even Lord Miranda was mostly aware of it.
This was why she did not interject till now, letting Lord Janus reveal the outline of past events.
Lord Miranda understood that if Alexander was truly serious about cooperating with the northern natives, it was necessary for him to know about this faction- their motives, their desires, and their past.
Without that, it would be unwise to shake hands with an unknown group.
The enemy of your enemy was not always your friend.
But there was also a limit up to which Lord Miranda was willing to air her family''s dirtyundry. It was enough for Alexander to know that her family had been unfair to the natives some time ago.
There was no need to dig up the wound by going into details.
Thus the plumpdy was d to see Lord Janus eschew the topic using only aplicated face and a dejected sigh.
While Alexander too sensing the atmosphere did not poke for more.
He was very familiar with the stories of the Spanish and the Native Indians, and although things had not been so brutal here, he could roughly guess what had happened next.
After therger tribes were driven out, the smaller tribes had run out of their usefulness, so they were most likely dealt with using various ways.
Perhaps the Margraves set themselves up against one another just like before.
Perhaps they were puppeted, with the chiefs reced with someone more favorable towards the ruling family.
Or perhaps they met their end in the most brutal way, massacred or sold offf into very.
Alexander even assumed these tribes might have been naturally pushed out by the stronger, more numerous immigrating popce, just like how the Native Indians were pushed out of theirnds.
Only in this case, these Sybarians came in search of trade andmerce, rather than gold.
As Alexander made his own assumptions about the atrocities that might have beenmitted by the Margraves in the name of power and peerage, Lord Janus suddenly released a long, deep sigh and once again resumed his second half of the recount,
"Indeed, we were able to carve out arge chunk of the ind during the first few years of the campaign. Those petty, half naked natives were far from being a challenge to a behemoth like us. They were driven out all the way to the swampy marshes and hills. And for over the next two decades, they were never seen. They did not even make a single peep.
We thought they had simply died out of diseases or something. They were no longer considered a threat by us.
So we forget about them. Instead, we focused on developing our recently conquered fief, and quickly made great progress. Using it, we were even able to appeal to the Federation Council and got the title of viscount in one go, skipping thended man and baron."
As Lord Janus said he took a pause, letting Alexander keenly notice how the elder man''s twinkled in delight and pride, as if he could not help but relish that fact.
It even seemed the lord wanted Alexander to partake in the celebrations.
And it was indeed true that such a rapid rise was very impressive. Not many nobles could im to skip two peerage levels in one go.
However, it was just that Lord Janus had grossly chosen the wrong audience for his speech.
The man in front of him had skipped all the steps to get to the top in one single jump, and thus a leap of two levels was hardly enough to elicit an apuse.
Rather Alexander was surprised by how Lord Janus kept referring to the Margraves as ''my family''. Strictly speaking, this was not correct, as Lord Janus had been only a steward of the family, not rted by blood with them.
However given Lord Miranda''s tacit approval of the word''s use, it seemed he was considered as much a member of the family as any other blue blooded member.
While back on the other side, Lord Janus was predictably a bit disappointed at Alexander''sck of response towards this impressive feat, but choosing not to dwell on it for too long, quickly resumed, this time shaking his head with a bitter swing,
"*Sigh*... however that was when tragedy struck! Once when our army was off fighting a battle in the maind, the natives rushed out of the swamps, this time fully d in pristine bronze armor and iron swords, catching us at our weakest.
Four cities fell one after the other, razed to the ground all of them, while every man, woman, and child unlucky enough to fall into their hands were ughtered.
This sudden change came because, between those twenty years, a very charismatic leader had been born among the tribes.
He subdued all the petty quarrels, unified the chieftains and instated many reforms, his most impressive aplishment being throwing out thew that stated-
''Anyone who uses iron weapons will be emunicated from his tribe''.
Thisw was considered one of the most sacred ts by all the tribes and the main reason why we could not sell weapons to the tribes even though they were constantly at war with each other.
Because they believed even if they won the battle, they would be emunicated by all the rest of the tribes. And worse earn the ire of the gods.
That''s also why that change came as such a surprise to all of us. Honestly, even I do not think I could have imagined that. Those shamans were so boorish that it is hard to imagine they would abandon theirw even if the sky fell on top of their heads.
However it seemed after being driven out of theirnds, the natives had changed their beliefs.
They began to actively buy up weapons. That was easy given Galiosos had be a major trading hub. All they needed to do was produce the coin and merchants from all over the Center Sea would flock to them with all thetest and greatest armament they could offer.
All this made the next century a very bloody affair for us."
"
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Chapter 1231: Northern Natives (Part-3)
Following the recount of the initial contact between the Margraves and the natives, for the next half an hour or so, Lord Janus went to describe what happened next.
The immense change to their lifestyles as well as the various atrocitiesmitted against them had made the natives renounce many of their peaceful beliefs, and under the leadership of their charismatic leader, they quickly began to transform themselves.
It was something that wentpletely unnoticed by the cking Margraves, who was too engrossed in reaping the benefits of the flourishing trade, swimming in their gold piles and counting the stacks and stacks of coins they were reaping.
But unbeknownst to them, this free, unrestricted trade of goods was also exactly also helped the natives.
Even more funnily, sometimes even the Margraves family unknowingly helped their most hated foe, as they were one of thergest weaponsmiths on the ind.
So many times, the Margraves sold their products to third parties affiliates who then sold them back to the hidden natives.
In this way, the natives were quickly able to strengthen themselves.
And once they got their hands on enough of these weapons, they quickly turned around to dish back any and all owed payback, soon managing to reim arge chunk of their lostnd.
Even when the Margrave''s army returned to their home, they were unable to turn the tide around, as the natives with their better knowledge of the ind were able to inflict quite a few significant losses using ambushes and hidden nking attacks.
In fact, under the leadership of that charismatic leader, the tribal folks appeared on the verge of pushing the Margravespletely out of the ind and reiming the entirety of their fathend.
It was finally sensing this that the Margraves decided to shed all their pride and asked for help from the ducal families of Sybaris, promising them a cut of the pie in exchange.
And given the lucrative nature of the ind, two immense families responded- the Marsh family and the Kaiser family.
These two families had the biggest share of trade on the ind and found that losing ess to those immensely profitable ports was uneptable.
Their simultaneous participation soon made the situation untenable for the natives.
After all, the Margraves were already a worthy foe for them. And they were merely a Viscount household.
So how could the inders contend against a ducal family, much less two?
Thus within the next two decades, the natives were slowly but surely pushed back to where they started from, with military defeat after military defeat being handed to them, apanied by many, many schemes, betrayals, and backstabbings.
Thistter was so much that the period of time was nicknamed the ''Decades of strife'' by them, with many thinking the time was even worse than the time they had to endure unteral massacres.
Because initially they had no hope, but in thetter case, they saw their hopes being actively crushed.
This happened for one due to the immense armies the enemy had brought with them, one that numbered anywhere from tens of thousands to more than a hundred thousand at any given time.
And two because of how skillfully they were able to y the individual tribes against one another.
It almost appeared as if the tribes had not learned their lesson their first time.
But this was also very normal. Because if people were truly that wise, then history would not so easily repeat itself.
Thus with just a little paint and a bit of skillful makeup, the Margraves were able to dress up their schemes as harmless policies designed to help the two groups.
Much money, sweat, and brains were utilized to break up the native''s solidarity, and bit by bit, the chips were indeed exposed.
Their main target of the attack was the same thing that had allowed the natives to gain their advantage- the sacredw forbidding the use of metal weapons.
The Margraves and the ducal families quickly identified their biggest enemy and began to target the tribe''s shamans and other clergymen, hoping to use them to incite the public.
Indeed the breakage of the sacredw had caused all the high ranking shamans as well as many of the elders of the tribe to be very dissatisfied.
When it was done at first, the circumstances forced them to swallow it all.
However now that the pressure of imminent death was lifted and they seemed to winning, these shamans quickly felt energized by this injection of instigation.
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Thinking they were undefeatable and the other side no longer posed any real threat, these old fossils thus soon began to raise their voices and cause trouble
They started to call the people back to their beliefs and began to use the same leader who brought them out of hiding and into the light as bloodthirsty, as someone hankering after power and one chasing individual glory.
They med him for causing too much bloodshed and painted him as a ruthless man who ughtered innocent men, women, and children indiscriminately.
This was something that waspletely against most of the tribe''s beliefs, and thus, under the numerous shamans'' influence, many saw him as someone who had lost the favor of the gods.
And seeing this, the shamans, under directions from the Margraves, started to atst call for him to reduce the size of the army.
These old fossils were even clever enough to request simply a reduction and not aplete abolition of the forces, both to make the man swallow the pill more easily and also because they were not stupid.
They had seen what their weapons of wood and stone could do and they were not going to be foolish enough to willingly wash their neck and wait for the enemy toe chop them up the moment they grew weaker.
Even if the Margraves were to ask them of this, they would neverply with such an extreme act.
Because although they might be their allies for now, these old men were not deluded enough to think the Margraves were their friends.
They were well aware they were most likely being used as tools for the family''s own benefit. It was just that, they were happy to be those tools since their goals coincided at the time.
They also knew tt was only time they parted ways.
Thus to ensure they had the minimum amount of defensive capabilities, these old foxes even changed their religious canon, saying that they received a new revtion from their gods.
After that, the usage of iron and bronze weapons went from a strict taboo to something that only could not be used against the native tribes themselves.
And while making this change, the shamans cleverly also added a further addendum, saying that the army should not be too big.
The interpretation of the word- ''too big'' however was left to them to decide.
This was exactly how they were able to use it to attack their leader.
And that was not their only form of attack.
Many of the jealous smaller chieftains also used the man of trying to assimte all the tribes into his own, and thus remove their individual identity.
While others felt that he was being too stubborn with the foreigners, and advocated for a much more shared existence.
Thisst group was usually formed of traders and merchants who were either bought by the Margraves and the ducal families, or men who were simply enchanted by the wealth and prosperity trading with these foreigners brought them.
This two pronged attack from both outside and inside soon proved very difficult for the tribal leader to contend with.
Especially given that many of the problems raised by these voices indeed existed.
The natives were indeed prohibited from officially trading with the Sybarians.
And there could have been indeed some truth to the man trying to take over all the tribes, to be the ''king of the Galiosos'' as many of his rivals sneered and mocked him.
And perhaps he was truly a bit heavy handed in dealing with the foreigner, ughtering all men, women, and children the moment he got their hands on.
But in his own defense, there were good reasons why he did those things.
He killed all the invaders to discourage any more immigration so that they would not have to deal with any more foreigners. He also saw anyone who was not one of them as invaders, if not at least spies.
Not to mention most of the natives actually supported these acts, as they saw it as revenge for their own fallen brethren.
It was just that they were either too scared to say it out loud or too ashamed to let go of their beliefs.
So they outwardly sang the same tune as their shamans, while at the same time reveling the looted booty taken from these corpses.
Humans were truly a mass of contradictions.
And this was perhaps why the leader of the tribes was not actually too worried about these atrocities.
He knew these acts helped spread terror among the families and energized his army. And the only people among his own who truly opposed these were the merchants, who saw all three of their producers, consumers, and markets get decimated.
The leader had to find a way to deal with them.
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Chapter 1232: Northern Natives (Part- End)
That charismatic chief was able to long foresee the fickleness of the merchants, which was why he attempted to prohibit trade between the two parties.
He did not want these leeches as he put them to interfere in the greater goals of the people for meager short term profit.
The leader even feared this trade was only a covert way for the enemy to infiltrate their ranks and so wanted to stop his infection right at the roots.
However that was easier said than done.
Because remember, to equip and maintain his army, he needed these merchants. The ind natives were still unable to make their own weapons given their centuries of self istion.
In fact, they could barely maintain them, with even small chips and cracks proving an immense challenge for them, whereas in the broader world, this tiny repair would have been a piece of cake for even a cksmith''s apprentice
The natives would need at least a generation if not two to be proficient enough in weaponsmithing.
Thus in the meantime, the new chief could only try and regte the market, hoping the strict measures he put in ce would be enough to stymie the dangers.
But how could that be easy?
Regardless of the time period, merchants were all the same, greedy up to their feet and always looking for the slightest advantage.
And now with the Margraves fully supporting them, this once neglected group was able to quickly amass great amounts of power.
And as the winds turned in such a direction, the tribal leader had no option but to ce his hope on the army, staking that they would be enough to help him ride out the waves.
This was one of the reasons why he retained arge, ''modern'' army, as well as many others that really did not need to be said.
The three families were undoubtedly behemoths that could only be intimidated by the threat of immense loss of death and blood, none of the natives were in any doubt of that.
Most even did not believe for a second in whatever those ck scrawling lines painted on scrolls of goat skin or papyrus read.
The Margraves had betrayed every form of trust in their earlier endeavor for them to ever trust whatever came out of their honeyed mouth.
Hence at first, they were not at all against the size of the army. It was only with the intervention of the Margraves and the relentless propaganda by the shamans that minds began to change.
But even then, if that was the only thing that the tribal leader had done, people would have been unlucky to turn against their man.
After all, he had done so much for them. Forget about being a mere hero, he was practically considered a god in human form.
But the one single thing that tipped people over the edge was the usation regarding his ambition to unite the tribes.
This usation was indeed true, and there were even many clear indications of him trying to do so.
Many types of old practices had been abolished by him, many important positions were filled by his men, and many lesser, weaker tribes were strong armed into renouncing their identity and joining his n.
He even married many ''princesses'' of other tribes, i.e.- daughters of the chieftains, in an attempt to make one giant n.
Now, in the man''s mind, this all made perfect sense.
He brightly recalled how fragmented they had been when the Margraves had firste and how that deadly weakness was used to set themselves against one another, almost pushing them to utter doom.
He thus wanted to form one single group of people to fight the invaders, believing such a centralized society would be much stronger.
Rather than fight the enemy with five fingers, they would fight as a fist!
It was a good idea, even altruistic even.
It was just that the man went about it in all the wrong way.
Instead of talking things over with the chieftains and convincing them to join him, the man began to use his army to twist the opposition''s arm.
But this heavy handedness in his efforts made the people quicklye to resent him, and even those who first supported him, now began to alienate him, feeling the man was only going after power.
They had chosen to believe in him at first because they knew their leader would not have something simr before, such as when he had first started out. At that time, the man was widely known for his eloquence and ability to convince people.
But it seemed over thest two decades, somewhere along the way he had changed.
Now that he had a hammer, everything began to look him a nail, and the idea of the greater good of the tribes was suddenly lost.
Then with the help of the shamans and Margraves, the people began to see him as a tyrant.
Towards all this, the leader tried to counter all this using the only way he now knew how- by increasing the size of the army.
He hoped to use sheer muscle to silence the voices as well as fight the invaders.
However, his attempts to raise levies were quickly countered by a powerful group of traders who came to himining about the size of the already existing army.
They stated that maintaining a standing army numbering in the fifty to sixty thousand was too burdensome on the people and there was no way they could increase any more.
The traders shouted,
"The people''s backs are already breaking under the burden of taxes! Any more and we will snap!"
It was quite funny how it was the merchants, who were always known for being greedy devils who sucked people dry, were now trying to prevent the chief from doing the same. Discover exclusive tales on m,v l''e-NovelBin
Their outburst most displeased the chief.
However, he also knew without the traders''pliance, he could not raise more men- they held the keys to their weapons and supplies.
And this realization for a moment made the man recall the ''good old'' times.
He remembered that when the tribes had first formed their army to fight the Margraves, it was an all volunter force, with the people being simply expected to contribute.
This meant that not only were the soldiers not paid a single cent but rather, the men had to even gather their own food and equipment for the campaign out of their own pocket.
It was almost as if they were paying the military for letting them fight.
To many modern people this might seem too ridiculous to even contemte, as nowadays, even when fighting a defensive war, soldiers expect to be paid.
But the inders had no such luxury.
Facing extinction, every man fought not for coin, but for hisnd, his ce of birth, and his home.
And why would anyone take money to defend one''s own home? Thus the only thing that the military provided was the spear and shield. Everything else was up to oneself.
And that was how things stayed while they were winning. The loot gained from the conquest was enough to keep the men going.
But as it was known, eventually, their luck turned.
After the Margraves reached their veryst few households, they were able to stop their copse and soon counterattack, now forcing the natives now to be on the back foot.
And while they retreated, unfortunately, there was no loot for them. Rather they even began to lose their own hard earned supplies.
Faced with this new reality, the men thus started to ask for alternative forms of payment.
At first, it was only the ie they would have earned if they had worked in the fields instead of the army.
And for the new chief, that was still manageable.
However,due to the evolving circumstances, these soldiers soon found themselves being entrusted with more and more duties- from just fighting and defending the border to enforcing thew and even acting as bodyguards for important people.
This meant the men soon had no time to tend to their fields. And at the same time, they also found their skills to be in short supply but in great demand.
Thus they did what any normal human being would do- charge more!
Not only that, these soldiers decided to charge an exorbitant more- thrice their current sry.
This sudden enormous increase instantly made the chief almost buckle. But given they were the ones keeping him in power, the man had little choice but toply.
And thus like any good politician, he passed this pressure onto the people, the peasants and traders.
The next chain of reaction was easily predictable.
Angered by the tax hikes, the people began to get resentful, and when that was coupled with the chief''s inability to produce results on the battlefield, that resentment soon transformed into wrath.
Atst that reached a boiling point, and so one dark night, under blessing from their foreign overlords, a group of men struck, sneaking into the chief''s home and assassinating him.
Thus came the end of the tale of the legendary figure.
And without him, the tribes soon fell into their usual squabbles, and then were predictably once again driven back.
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Chapter 1233: Lord Januss Outburst
That charismatic chief''s assassination came as a bolt out of the blue for the natives of the time.
Sure they might have been dissatisfied and frustrated with him over many things, but even then, mostmoners respected him.
And even those who spoke against him mostly wanted him to only change his style.
They never dared to ask him to step down in their wildest dreams because even they knew who it was holding them together.
But that wildly mutual thought was not shared by one, very small group of extremists.
These men were mostly hidden among the military, and they med the chief for everything, especially their recent string of losses.
They cried about how their brothers were sacrificed needlessly and how themanders were ipetent, all while refusing to see the ck and white reality- i.e.- they were simply too outnumbered and outgunned.
Thus every time they lost and were pushed back, these emotionally charged cries rang out from the tribes.
At first these warhawks predictably wanted more men to join the ranks as a way to reduce the numbers gap.
But as already said earlier, the traders and merchants blocked that, asking for greater trading freedom in exchange.
They imed that with greater sales volume, they would be able to contribute more in terms of taxes.
However, the chief vetoed that idea due to political considerations.
Which meant the problem remained and without him realizing it, ended up offending both factions.
All this finally came to a head after a particrly bad loss, and as the news reached the tribes of the defeat, a certain group of extremist men decided to infiltrate the chief''s man that very night and kill him.
What followed afterward could easily be imagined.
Absolute chaos!
The tribes were already losing under the overwhelming force of the three families in the best of times.
And now that they had be a headless chicken, the situation turned from worse to nearly apocalyptic.
Some natives would even say it was worse now than even the first time because this time, the ones killing them were not the foreigners, but they themselves.
The three families had indeed remained true to their words and did not take the opportunity to attack the tribes after they had disposed of the ''tyrant''.
Mostly because they did not need to.
The tribes naturally fell into chaos by themselves, with each tribe once again squabbling for power.
Many usations, mes and threats were thrown around, with each and every petty chieftain worth their salt having a very personal view of why everything had gone so wrong, a view that he believed in without question.
And when these hot blooded, power hungry warlords met and locked heads, it was only natural that blood and death quickly followed.
Leaderless, the natives thus entered perhaps the most chaotic civil strife of their history, and in their lust for power, managed topletely dismantle everything they had achieved up until that point.
The once moderately centralized society created by their great leader was shattered into bits, and they not only returned to their tribal lifestyles but by some ounts, perhaps even regressed further.
It was thought so because, during this time, the natives were sometimes so brutal to each other, that it even shocked the three families.
Rarely had these distinguished people seen atrocities beingmitted at suchrge scales in the civilized world.
It even got to the point that many times these forces chose to step in to stop these tribes from going too far, instead of you know, instigating the natives to rip and tear each other apart.
It was almost as if these people were making up for the time they lost being orderly and civil.
The end result of all this was theplete rout of the inders as a fighting force, as their own greed and avarice destroyed themselves.
What would have been a very tough nut to crack for the Sybarians even if that legendary chief was gone soon ceased to be.
And then over the next century, the cruel tides of time inevitably overtook them.
These tribes were either assimted by the ruling forces or for those still refusing to bow, fled to the inky swamps once again, where they firmly clung to their thin shamanic ways.
"Those living descendants never forgot how we ''apparently'' deceived them. Heh! To this day, they me us for killing that legendary chief and everything that followed." Lord Janus produced a mocking sneer as he said this, finding the im ridiculous given it was clear the tribal people were as much to me as them.
If one was the paymaster, then the other was the assassin- both were equally guilty.
And then the elder lord finished by chiming, "But nowadays they don''t dare to challenge us openly. They will at best lead an asional raiding party or two across the wall to attack some of the surrounding viges and take a few livestock. It seems they have realized their positions and are willing to submit¡ they only need an opportunity to save face."
Lord Janus clearly turned his head to look at Lady Miranda as he said thatst phrase, subtly hinting at some of the agreements he might have received with the barbarians during his deals with them.
And this let Alexander figure that these barbarians were probably willing to attach themselves to the Margraves in a kind of vassal state like merger.
Without a doubt, living in a swamp filled with putrid water and enormous mosquitoes was not an enviable state to be in. Diseases and illness ran rampant and it seemed the natives finally had enough.
And this offer to Alexander frankly sounded like a great idea.
Especially given they were not simply asking Lady Miranda to give in to their demands.
In a show of their sincerity, they were even willing to fight for their newdy.
So what was there not to like about this arrangement?
"Snort! Was this all said by them¡ or you, Uncle Janus?" The plumpdy of the house however had this to say after hearing the entirety of the recount, remaining fully skeptical that all this was proposed by the old man to win the support of the natives.
The natives did note begging... rather the elder man went to them.
And this seemed uneptable to thedy.
Towards this type of blind hatred, Lord Janus could do little but purse his lips a bit.
Then suddenly the genteel man''s demeanor changed, as in a hardened voice that betrayed all his other interactions, he shot up in a chiding tone,
"Miranda! Now is not the time to be looking for enemies. Now is the time to look for friends. You have very precious few! Who cares how I did it? They agreed!
That''s what it all matters! Take the deal!"
This was the first time Alexander had seen the elder man lose his temper, bing apparent that he did not like Lady Miranda brushing his efforts aside simply like that, like it was nothing.
And to make that point clear, as Lady Miranda was recovering from the shock of being talked to like that, Lord Janus went on to further add with an angry, maic scolding,
"You spoiled brat seem not to appreciate the hole you are in. I would say you have one leg in the grave, but that would be too generous. You are already buried neck deep!"
"Do you know how much risk I had to take to contact those barbarians? Do you know how much thought and effort I had to spend to get you that deal? You spoiled brat¡ how dare you sniffle your nose at me like this? Acting like you are some kind of princess! Wake up fool! You are nothing!
A pauper who is being kept fed and clothed by him!"
As Alexander felt Lord Janus''s finger point towards him, even he was surprised by how acrid and bitter the old man''s words were.
"..." While Lady Miranda just widened her eyes and sat there on her chain shell shocked, her rosy cheeks and plump lips becamepletely drained of all blood, while her eyes lost all focus.
Never in her life had seen been scolded even a tenth of what she had been just down. And perhaps much more than that, what hurt her even more was how Lord Janus said many of the things were taboo.
Everyone knew about them but tacitly agreed not to mention it, such as how Alexander still acted cordially with her and asked for her input.
However with Lord Janus ripping over the band aid, the raw wounded pierced thedy''s heart.
The meeting for that day ended right then and there, with Lord Janus storming out of the room in extreme frustration, while Lady Miranda sat all alone on her chair for almost an hour, no one daring to disturb her.
The outburst for Lord Janus was understandable- he hade with the thought that he had finally found the key to the solution of all their problems.
If the Margraves were not going to support Lady Miranda, then she might as well seek approval from a third party.
Not only was he not rewarded for his efforts and the enormous risks he took to contact such taboo forces, but worse, he was directly questioned about his intentions by the very girl he was trying to save.
That was thest straw that snapped the old man''s nerves.
While in defense of Lord Margaret, given her upbringing and teachings, she found to very hard to trust the natives.
Chapter 1234: Lady Mirandas Grievances
The fallout from the meeting wouldst the following few days, during which Lord Janus tried hard not to feel too frustrated over his wasted efforts.
He had taken a great risk when contacting the northern, knowing if even a single word was somehow to leak of this, not only would his own reputation go permanently down the drain, but much more than that, Lady Miranda would lose even thest bit of support she had left.
Most of the nobles here did not take colluding with those natives lightly so it could nevere to light until the very near the end.
And as luck would favor him, Lord Janus did seed in aplishing that, forming a secret, rudimentary bridge of contact between the two.
Only to have hisdy refuse refuse to cross it.
This naturally made the old man very bitter.
But in defense of Lady Miranda, the situation was also not clear cut for her.
Even if one sidestepped the political ramifications of shaking hands with them for now, Lady Miranda still personally remained very prejudiced about colluding with them.
And it was something she was taught from a very young age, with her parents and grandparents using one very recent event to illustrate their point.
This was also something Lord Janus neglected to mention, and so during one of their free gatherings, Lady Miranda filled Alexander in.
"My lord, it is not as if I do not appreciate our predicament and your grave desire for more men. But I think allying with these barbarians is like inviting the tiger to drive out the fox. We will simply be inviting more trouble than it''s worth." She chimed in a calm, neutral tone before lightly pausing to shake her head, emphasizing her point heavily,
"And I do not say this out of spite or short sightedness. I say it because this is not the first time these natives tried something like this. About fifty to sixty years ago, they also came to us with a simr proposal."
"Back then, we were facing a particrlyrge scale rebellion, formed in collusion with many of nobles. When we were on the back foot, they promised the same thing they are to you now- fighting for us in exchange for somend after the war. And we agreed to give them a portion of the traitors''nds after the war. But when the time came, out of nowhere they betrayed us mid battle!"
Lady Miranda''s gaze suddenly turned very fierce as she said it, her pearly teeth bing clenched with hatred, as if she was having a hard time containing her bubbling rage.
While on the other side, Alexander produced a very surprised look.
Because he could not fathom why the natives would do such a thing.
ording to him, rebellions were high risk, high reward affairs where the winner took all.
So if the northern people really could help the Margraves win, it was very reasonable to think the fiefs of those traitorous nobles would indeed be free and avable. There was little chance of the deal falling out.
It made no logical sense.
And unable to think of a reason why for himself, Alexander ultimately figured that the reason was perhaps only known to the tribal chiefs of the time.
"Heh¡ I bet Uncle Janus never told you that my lord did he?" He was then suddenly brought out of his ruminating thought by this light sneer, as Lady Miranda scoffed,
"And why would he? Those barbarians will have the chance to betray us once more exactly as they did before. He is probably worried about revealing that."
"ording to grandfather, at the time, the northern were ced in our left nk. But just as they were ordered to go meet the traitors, they suddenly turned and attacked our center. We were instantly routed, making that one of the mostplete and utter defeats in our whole history."
"Many, many of my uncles and granduncles were killed by those scum, while both my great grandfather and grandfather were taken captives."
"In the end, the rebellion only ended once the Marsh family stepped in. But by then my great grandfather had been already executed by the treasonous nobles, while my grandfather was only rescued after paying an eye watering sum of ransom. We paid for our mistake for the next three decades!"
"...." Lady Miranda''s revtion left Alexander in silence for quite some time, as he tried to piece together all the various disjointed information.
For one, he swiftly figured that the rebellion was probably intimately tied to Lady Miranda''s great grandfather, and his death was one of the ways the Marsh family helped please the presumably victorious traitors.
Two, the ransom was so absurdlyrge that it made even a family as rich as the Margraves tighten their belt for the next thirty years. It was truly mind boggling.
Andstly, the natives probably got very little of the winning pie. Because if they had, their presence in Margrave''s politics would probably not be so muted and their state so deplorable.
This made Alexander even more curious about what had caused them to betray the Margraves.
At the same time, he also grew cautious about allying himself with them.
Thus Lady Miranda managed to sessfully transfer her doubts to Alexander.
It also did not help that when Alexander presented his doubts to Lord Janus and asked him why neglected to mention such an event, the old man simply swung his hands and brushed it aside like it was not even worth considering,
"That''s ancient history! That was then and now is now! Things are different... the people are different... everything is different! My lord should not worry about such trivial matters!"
"..." Needless to say, this hardly reassured the always skeptical young pasha, for he felt Lord Janus was being at best too trusting or even simply careless and cavalier.
Given the stakes, Alexander could hardly be birds of the same feather.
He was not willing to hand over the city of Caira over such a dangerous gamble and thus seemed content to simply let things be.
At least that was his initial thought.
But over the following week, Lord Janus began to wear him down, repeating the many advantages his fief could provide and highlighting the drawbacks of staying cooped here.
The old man begged, "My lord, it is alright if you do not want to ally with the northerners but there is no harm in at least talking to them, right?
And if you do not want to do even that, that''s fine too. Come to my ce anyway, I swear it will be better for you and your army strategically.
For one you won''t have to worry about a contested harbor there. But here¡ there is no guarantee you can keep the Royal Harbor indefinitely.
If Lord Parker decides to throw all caution to the air and attacks with every ship he has, I am afraid win or loss will be up in the air. Your reinforcements will be no good if you cannot reach them."
In this way, Lord Janus pointed out the risk of simply staying still and digging in, before further adding,
"Plus, Caira is not nearly as important as Miranda is making it out to be. Yes¡ it is her ancestral home and has been the family''s seat of power for many years? But so what? The only thing that matters in this conflict is the winner. Who has what now is null."
Following this great announcement, Lord Janus atst finished his urgings by lifting his finger and cunningly posing,
"As a matter of fact, if we y our hands correctly, we can even turn this loss to our advantage. Many nobles will not like a foreign ducal family controlling this historical city. The loss of this city might even turn out to be a boon for us in the long run."
Alexander however was highly skeptical of thest im, because it was not like the nobles were unaware of what was happening.
No.
They were fully awake to the fact that the Heeat forces were already inside the city and that they were even actively fighting there.
But even then they firmly supported Miss Linda and thus supported the puppeting, all due to their own personal benefits.
Hence there was little chance that Alexander''s few words could produce even the slightest breeze, much less a gale to make them turn them around.
The pasha was however moved by many of the other pointsid out by Lord Janus, as they indeed made sense to him.
Combining this also came a few muted whispers from some of the officers who imed that it would indeed be better to replenish their supplies.
While at the same time, Alexander''s negotiations with the rest of the Margraves family members also stalled.
He had originally wanted to have these men bend their knees to Lady Miranda and then have them swear thedy in as their new family head.
But the stubborn old fools vehemently resisted, even when Alexander threatened them with imminent death.
They shouted,
"We dere ourselves neutral in all this. We are willing to help the family continue to run its businesses as usual. But not anything beyond that."
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Chapter 1235: Lady Parthias Schemes
Alexander was quite a bit peeved when the Margraves family council members refused to swear Lady Miranda in as the new head.
Sure given that they were in the middle of a war, the entire thing might have been purely ceremonial.
But one should not also underestimate the effects of a purely political move.
The ability to firmly say that Lady Miranda was chosen as their head by the family during the negotiations would have been a great card to have.
However, try as he might, the Margraves council members refused to budge, iming themselves to have be apolitical.
While at the same time, Lady Miranda appeared also reluctant to apply greater pressure. For her, it was already considered a victory to make them flip from actively supporting her sister to bing neutral.
And she feared that if she were to push them too hard, instead of bing hers, they might simply secretly flip back and stab her in the back at the crucial point.
Lady Miranda wanted to avoid that worst case scenario.
So as Alexander pressured them, she secretly urged him,
"Forget these old coons. I only need them alive for the next few years. I will be able to train a few men to rece them by then. It will be good if they are obedient till that."
And given it was thedy of the house''s wish, along with the staunch resistance Alexander had little recourse but to agree.
But that made him slowly warm up to the idea of leaving Caira, as he began to see the advantages were slowly creeping up to upset the risks.
After all what was the point of holding the manor if Lady Miranda could not be officially dered his owner?
And what would happen if Lord Parker managed to sessfully blockade the harbor?
He might have fewer ships than Alexander, but his men were multiple times more skilled. They even did not need to fight the legionaries head on, but simply make leaving and entering the harbor too dangerous of a prospect.
If that were to truly happen, Alexander would undoubtedly starve and die.
But thest thing that finally pushed Alexander to make the decision came from a very surprising source- Lady Parthia!
This former queen of Tibias had rarely shown herself in these meetings recently, content to fly away her time in her own room by herself.
Thus it came as quite a surprise to Alexander when thedy sought an audience with him one morning.
"Mydy, wee, wee! What a pleasant surprise! I apologize for not being able toe to see you recently haha." Alexander ttered her as thedy entered, even going as far as to personally pour her a ss of wine, just like a filial junior should.
"I have heard from Lady Nanazin that you were very busy with everything. In fact, that was why I came."
Lady Parthia on the other hand eschewed most of the flowery talks and directly dered her intentions as soon as herrge bottom hit the soft cushion.
"My lord, I have heard about your talks regarding the city and allying with the northerners. I am here to ask that you agree to do so."
"????"
As Alexander produced an almost incredulous face hearing it, the maturedy had no problem meeting the expression head on, even leisurely taking a sip of the sweet but spicy wine as a way to show her confidence.
If it had been almost another person, even if it was Lady Nanazin or Lady Miranda, Alexander would have directly scoffed and then showed her the door, iming they did not know what they were talking about.
However, thedy in front of him was different.
Lady Parthia''s experience in administration and her record of pulling Tibias through some pretty hard times made it hard for Alexander to dismiss her like the others.
So tracing his chin, Alexander narrowed his eyes in skepticism and shot back with a soft query,
"Hmmm¡ I recall mydy advising me of such a thing even before. Does mydy still think it is wise given their history?"
"The grudges between the natives and Margraves are irrelevant to us. We are not the Margraves family." Lady Parthia however was very confident in her idea.
So leaning herself over a bit, she revealed in a clear, almost didactic voice,
"What my lord should do is forget what you are allying yourself with the Margraves, but rather it is them who are allying with you. Show the natives you are in charge and the Margraves are simply your followers. That will help build trust in them."
"The natives betrayed the Margraves because they have been betrayed by them before. They fear they will be backstabbed, so they backstabbed first. But if it is you, aplete outsider, they are far more likely to trust you!"
"....." Alexander was at first a bit caught off guard by this, especially given how emphatically Lady Parthia said herself.
Her words did not sound like they were mere logical deductions.
"You speak like you have experience in this, mydy?" Alexander thus curiously asked.
"Mmm! Tibias too has many rebellious tribes. And they have caused much trouble for us. Heh heh, I am sure my lord will meet them soon enough !"
The way Lady Parthia ended her words with that chuckle might have sounded very pleasant to the ear, but its worrying implications immediately made Alexander''s heart skip two beats, and he frowned his eyebrows in distress.
The former queen took this as a sign for her to borate and so frankly revealed in a sinct manner,
"The southern parts of our country are quite hilly and contain a group of very fierce tribes. Till now they have refused to submit to any royal decree. We managed to deal a great blow to them about a decade ago and that has made them obedient till now. But it is really a matter of time before they rear their heads¡."
Lady Parthia trailed off in anguid manner after saying this, very much enjoying the fierce expression that had suddenly surfaced on Alexander''s face.
And how could he not react like so, as he screamed in his head,
''You cheating vixens! You did not bother to tell me that a ticking time bomb was waiting right at my doorstep! Ahhhhh! You swine!..... And why did none of the books mention that?''
The reason why this particr knowledge was able to dodge Alexander was not because the man was negligent but because it had been omitted from all recent official Tibian records.
After the huge victory against the tribes, the Tibian royal court at the time simply deemed them as extinct as it was assumed the tribes were never going to be able to recover.
And subsequent developments didy credence to this type of thinking.
For instance, when Amenheraft invaded the country and the royal court was pushed near to the brink, that should have been the perfect chance for the tribes to cause trouble and extract concessions.
But there was nothing, not a peep.
And the same went when Alexander invaded. Typically they should have lent him their help in exchange for some kind of negotiated favorable deal.
That''s why, most scribes and schrs simply figured those ancient tribes were a relic of the past and thus relegated them to the pages of history.
Only a few people with extreme far sight such as the queen simply viewed them as a viable threat, one that needed to be guarded against even now.
She believed these tribes could not be so easily uprooted, or else they could have survived for so long.
However, her voice was in the extreme minority, as most found it not inconvenient to believe such a thorny problem still existed.
Add to that the fact that Lady Parthia was a woman, who was wildly considered to be inferior in politics whenpared to me, she was hardly given any attention.
The threat was leftpletely ignored.
Thus in a way, it could be said this was her way of warning Alexander now.
Alexander however would find all theseter.
For now, he decided to leave this dormant problem after simply noting it inside his head.
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And turned to bigger fish to fry.
With Lady Parthia''s expertise over the subject, Alexander finally found someone unbiased to consult with.
So over the following hour, they talked about various ways this deal could be made.
And the sum of that discussion could be expressed by this statement from the regal queen,
"My lord, you should not see this conflict as us against the Heeats. That is too simple. It would be more urate to say this fight is between four factions- us, the Margraves, the Heeat, and the northerners."
Lady Parthia held up four of her fingers as she said this, before announcing with a gentle smirk, "Such an arrangement also benefits us. Because in this way, we can use the various forces to tear a chunk of territory and make it a part of Zanzan,"
"I hear you are very interested in the sailors from here. This is your chance. A mere free trade agreement cannot be enough to justify all the resources you are pouring into this, my lord."
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Chapter 1236: Lady Parthias Schemes (Part-2)
Alexander found himself momentarily shocked at hearing Lady Parthia''s brazen idea.
''Split the Margraves and eat them up?''
The man considered himself to be quite scheming but even then, this was on a whole new level. This was openly betraying his allies!
Such a thing rubbed Alexander the wrong way, so with an awkward pause, he chirped,
"Ummm¡that does not sound quite right does it, mydy? As allies, we should help each other! Not kick them when one is down."
"Heh! Now look is being naive, Lord Alexander!" Towards Alexander''s saintly reply, Lady Parthia''s face only contorted to reveal an extremely mocking sneer, before pointing her dainty fingers at him and posing,
"Do you seriously think the Margraves are qualified to be your allies? Do you truly think the Margraves will be able to regain their former ce once this is done? Do you think they can get out of this quicksand pit so easily?"
Lady Parthia scoffed, "Even if Lady Miranda manages to win against her sister this time... so what? Remember who their enemy is! The Heeats are a ducal family¡ with enough resources to throw at this ind for ancestors know who how long."
"Since they have set their sight on this ind, there is no way they are going to give up so easily. Even if you manage to win against Lord Parker this time¡ even if he is kicked out of the ind disgraced and defeated, do you think he will simply forget and drop all his ambitions?"
Lady Parthia slightly paused at this rhetorical question, before answering herself by gravely shaking her head sent her luscious volumes of dark, raven hair swaying to either side,
"Of course not! He will keeping back. Be it once, twice, or three¡ he will surely keeping back¡ if not for anything but for his own redemption.
So let me me ask you then my lord¡ Are you prepared to keep running here to rescue her every time that happens?"
"...." The answer to this was obviously ''no'' as denoted by Alexander''s wall of silence.
These words forced him into a deep pool of thoughts, as he evaluated them.
It was not that these thoughts had never urred to him, but just that Alexander was too caught up in the moment to be able to differentiate the forest from all the trees.
''It seems somewhere along the line, I forgot I am here to only help Lady Miranda and not necessarily defeat Lord Parker,'' He thought of himself, thus readjusting his priorities.
And as he did so, with the new sight came a fresh perspective.
Alexander could suddenly see that the grievances between him and Heeat family were hardly enough to warrant the kind of life and death he was preparing for just now.
Instead, both of them could easily be able to coexist under the same sky if they only coulde to even the most basic of understandings.
Of course, the imminent battle that was just about to start was still right on schedule- there would¡ there could be no change to that.
Both sides had already invested too much to call that off.
But the result of that battle no longer seemed to be about who lived and who died. Instead, it was more like who got more benefits.
At least Alexander preferred to think of the situation in that way.
Because he found that what Lady Parthia said made perfect sense- Lord Parker would not simply ''let it go''.
The decision regarding the ind surely was a ''national'' decision made by the entire family. And there was no way they would be satisfied to simply give up on the whole thing after a single loss.
And this was not even counting a small thing about prestige and ego.
As the scion of the ducal family and its next head, Lord Parker would surelye back for more.
Even if there was little hope for him, he would surelye and try his luck, to try and avenge himself, his ''first'' loss.
It would happen regardless, if for nothing but to show his retainers that he was no quitter.
That would be the only way to cate the army who had lost so many men here, cate the general who had his spine snapped and taken captive, andst of all, cate his scheming, avaricious wife.
Because don''t forget, Miss Linda was still alive and kicking,
And even if Lord Parker wanted to give up on the ind and move on, Alexander was sure this vindictive vixen would surely hound him every moment, poking and prodding him at every opportunity, asking him to get her son''s birthright back.
"So what does mydy propose I do¡ exactly?" Hence tacitly approving of Lady Parthia''s rhetoric, Alexander slouched back to his seat.
Lady Parthia bloomed a big happy grin as soon as she heard, sending Alexander''s heart flutter a bit, as he could not help but muse at how even when nearing her twilight years, this mature queen was so ravishingly beautiful.
"My lord, you should no longer aim to restore the Margraves family in one piece. That will not bring you the biggest benefit neither is it realistic."
"Rather I advise you to work to split them! Negotiate with the Heeat to let Lady Linda keep half of thends, while Lady Miranda takes the other¡. After that make her swear to be your vassal." Lady Parthia very quickly revealed the extent of her ns.
"...." And Alexander''s lips visibly twitched as he heard this ''evil'' n, feeling he had really underestimated the appetite of his former queen.
The words he was hearing almost felt sacrilegious to him.
But Lady Parthia was not yet done, as putting one of her index fingers on her rosy, plump cheeks, she hummed herst bit of advice in a ruminating tone,
"Hmmm¡ also as a guarantee, we should ally with the natives. The Heeat family and the remnant of the Margraves might be too much to deal with for Margraves alone. If she is caught off guard and the weather is not favorable¡ we might not be able to send reinforcements in time. That would be a disaster."
Lady Parthia finally finished answering Alexander''s question with this, and it took the man opposite her quite some time to digest it all.
From a sheer cost benefit analysis point of view what Lady Parthia said all made sense. It was indeed better for him to split the Margraves and swallow half of it for himself.
And it could even be argued that it would be better for Lady Miranda.
Otherwise, history would likely only repeat itself, with the Heeat familyunching excursion after excursion into Galiosos, determined to take it no matter the cost.
Alexander knew of so many such conflicts in his previous world, be it the Anglo French wars thatsted almost eight hundred years, the multiple crusades, or the repeated Ottoman incursions into Europe, wishing to take its heart- Vienna, to name only a few.
And even if Lady Miranda won against the Heeat family this time, so what?
It was unlikely the trade embargo ced on them would be magically lifted or the pirate fleet sent after them suddenly disappear.
So he was forced to concede at least these points to Lady Parthia, and thus turning to face the regaldy, Alexander first produced a helpless, somewhat coy smile,
"I¡ really did not expect you to have such a side, mydy. Heh heh¡ I''m d we are not enemies."
And he really meant when he said. If Alexander had to truly deal with this ck bellied woman during negotiations and such, it would have surely caused him endless headaches.
So he was d that he took care of Tibias as soon as he did.
Lady Parthia only produced a proud smirk at Alexander''s ttery, barely holding herself back from retorting, ''What makes you think we are not enemies?''
Given the set of circumstances that caused her to be here, given what had happened to her family during Alexander''s campaign, and given how Alexander had taken advantage of her body and yed around with it, she thought she had every right to hold a very deep grudge against him.
But Lady Parthia also knew there was little point in burning herself over this.
Even if she sacrificed herself to get revenge for herself, her lost sons, and her husband, there would be too little to gain in exchange for risking so much.
Plus, she was rather content with what she had left.
Alexander did not push her family to despair after his win but even shared a lot of power.
So despite losing badly, the remaining members of the royal family were mostly allowed to maintain their opulent lifestyle.
However, all of these conclusions were based on one single thing- trust.
Trust by Alexander that they would remain obedient.
But if Lady Parthia were to say such treasonous words out loud, the entire thing coulde crashing down.
Because there were some things that could not be said out loud, even as jokes.
The other side might very well misunderstand it as veiled threats.
So Lady Parthia swallowed her words deep into the pits of her belly, forever keeping it inside her.
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Chapter 1237: Alexanders Decision
If Alexander knew of Lady Parthia''s restraint, he would have likely only chuckled in amusement, finding her over cautiousness funny.
He might have taken these words seriously if it was said by her eldest son, the crown prince, but after getting to know thedy better, in one than one way, Alexander''s weariness had greatly subsided.
This was not because he had fallen in love with her or anything, but more so because he found the queen to be not that kind of person. A loving mother and a dutiful wife, Alexander knew she would never risk losing all her remaining family for just a simple chance at more power.
She was simply not that ambitious.
But then again, Alexander also did not think she was as ck bellied as she was showing herself to be now. Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e''-NovelBin
So perhaps there was more to this mature, ravishingly beautiful woman than meets the eye.
And thus intrigued by those crafty, dark, armorous eyes, he returned to discuss the topic at hand.
"I must say, mydy¡ you have given me a lot to think about," Taking a sip from his cup, he broke the silence, first expressing his admiration for the n.
"But although I understood where you areing from, how do I convince Lady Miranda about this all? Will she ever agree?"
Then posed the all important feasibility test.
Because Alexander did not think any sane person would agree to the n he was proposing, much less Lady Miranda who had gone through so much.
He even wondered whether thedy might threaten to die rather than see her family split like that.
"Heh! Why does her consent matter? She is nothing!"
If Alexander was on one side of the extreme spectrum, being too cautious and worrying about every single one''s opinion, then Lady Parthia was solidly on the other side, showing herself to be utterly unconcerned about what anyone else thought.
This former queen appeared to be a bit incensed at Alexander''s frequent attempts to find faults in everything she said, and soswinging her hands wildly in a very belittling manner, she spat out in front of a bbergasted Alexander,
"My lord, you give Lady Miranda too much credit. Ask yourself¡ Why do we need her? What can she do?
What has she done till we got here?"
"Other than giving us a roof over our head¡ the answer is very little!"
Lady Parthia narrowed her eyes like a hawk announcing this, and it caused Alexander to produce aplicated look as soon as they made contact.
He did not like to reduce his allies to such zero sum mathematical models.
But Lady Parthia apparently did, which was why upon seeing Alexander avoid her, she pressed on, this time pointing her hands toward the widow overlooking Alexander''s camp and shouting,
"Out there¡ it is we who are freezing! It is we who are bleeding. It is we who are dying. It is we who are putting our lives on the line! Where are Lady Miranda''s men? What are they doing?
How are they helping"
Lady Parthia''s cruel taunts shredded the veneer that Alexander and Lady Miranda were equal in any sense of the word, as the mature queen sneered,
"So how would she dare say no! Who does she think is? Does she think she matters to us for a second?"
"We are doing everything here, so everything we say goes!"
"She should be grateful we even bother to let her sit in our meetings! As if her words matter¡ Tsk¡. She is only still alive because of us!"
Lady Parthia mmed her fair back on the soft cushion as she finished, her beautiful face etched with a very frustrated frown, clearly showing her true feelings regarding Alexander''s apprehension.
ording to her, Lady Miranda ought to be simply nodding and kneeling at everything they say, and expressing her gratitude for saving her life three times a day.
Anything else that happened to her was simply a boon.
"...." While in the case of Alexander, once again, he was blown away by how domineering the regal queen was showing herself to be, sting out such a tirade that even made him feel a slight chill go down his spine.
Lady Parthia almost reprimanded Alexander with such force and determination that even though he was the man here, even though he was technically her superior, the man could not help but suddenly felt a little bit cowered.
He knew that if their roles had been reversed if Alexander was something like a small official in the Tibian court, his heart would have certainly skipped a few beats facing this enraged queen.
The way she spoke and the temperament and domineering aura she disyed easily showed that Lady Parthia had truly ruled a country for several decades.
It was an ability that Alexander also yetcked, simply having not had the time to nurture it,
In fact, it even made him wonder if this was also one of the reasons why he felt attracted to this forbidden fruit because she was so very different from all his other women.
For instance, Lady Nanazin could not produce a tenth of her aura, due to her being rarely allowed to wield any power in court.
Towards Lady Parthia''s outburst, Alexander produced a mixed bag of emotions.
In one way, he was d to see things from a different perspective. Alexander certainly would not have dared to think of stabbing Lady Miranda in the back so brazenly as Lady Parthia was suggesting.
While at the same time, Lady Parthia was also proving to be very different from him.
Whereas Alexander preferred to move forward amicably, Lady Parthia much preferred to snatch things by force.
ording to her, since Lady Miranda could not contribute, she should shut up and take whatever was given to her. Beggars could not be choosers after all
And Alexander would have to admit, this type of thinking really fitted the style of a blue blooded royal queen like her.
Alexander listened to all that Lady Parthia had to offer on the matter and found there to be both merits and drawbacks to it, along with many challenges dotted in the way.
So much so that Alexander felt a slight headacheing.
Hence producing an understanding nod, he ced his hands on the desk and with a smile addressed Lady Parthia,
"....Thank you for sharing your thoughts, mydy. I must say you have given me a lot to think about. Let us meet again in a few days!"
"No! You should make a choice by today!"
However, instead of obediently taking the hint and leaving, Lady Parthia stayed put and insisted Alexander make a decision on the spot, sincerely advising,
"Time is running out. We should not count on the harbor being safe forever. Even if you do not want to break the Margraves you should still move. At least meet with the natives and hear what they have to say. Remember¡ it is not wise to ce all our trust on one faction."
"....." And once again, Alexander found it hard to deny Lady Parthia''s statements.
Then as a sh of lightning suddenly raced through his head, Alexander clenched his teeth out of nowhere bit the bullet.
"Okay! I will give the order right now. We leave in three days!"
Since he was being advised by so many of his advisors, he finally made the decision!
"Great!" And Lady Parthia instantly let out a bright big grin, her eyes twinkling with pleasure.
She was very d to see that her forceful pressure technique had worked and hoped that things would go just as she wished.
Because if that were to happen, surely there would be a big, fat, mission'' waiting for her, be itnd, or power.
Thus she watched the following days pass by with anticipating glee.
And it was a sentiment that was also shared by Lord Janus, who felt his efforts were finally being rewarded.
The man even congratted Alexander with the words, "My lord, you will not regret this! In my fief, there are even a few of those new ships that you designed. Hah hah, I am sure you like them!"
This let Alexander also recall one of the other main reasons why he was here- the shipbuilding and the experienced sailor.
And with that, he quickly asked himself what it would be like to get them to be a part of his fief.
Suddenly Lady Parthia''s proposal was beginning to sound a lot more enticing.
But Alexander pushed such thoughts down for now, knowing such things were far off into the future.
First, he had to win the battle.
And speaking of winning, before he left, he tried onest time to meet with the Margraves council members, once again asking them to dere Lady Miranda as their head.
But they still refused, with the eldest of the men dering with a shake of his,
"There is no point. This conflict has already spiraledpletely out of our control. It is now a war between you- Lord Alexander and the Heeat family. We are just the unwilling participants."
Alxx released a dejected sigh at this, for he had hoped to let Lady Miranda have a much more legitimate im using this.
But it seems it was not meant to be.
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Chapter 1238: The Empty Manor
Let it be never said that Alexander did not give the Margraves any chance to redeem themselves.
If the old Margraves bureaucrats had dered Lady Miranda as the head, even if only as a token figurehead, then all of them would have been better for it.
Because then, at the given time, they would have been able to put a much more unified response to Alexander''s nd grabbing'' efforts.
However, the old men appeared too myopic and short sighted, wanting to relegate themselves to mere observers, yet hoping to gain everything without risking anything.
What they said might have been indeed true- their words carried little weight now, and whatever happened next really depended on the result of the next battle, not what title onedy had or not.
But even then political legitimacy was still a very useful thing to have.
However, it seemed they were not even willing to do that.
And in the same view, Lady Miranda put no effort into forcing these men to bow but simply tried to wait them out.
Alexander''s ultimate response to all this was to stick his nose up and sneer.
Lady Parthia was right, he was being too soft.
So he atst decided that he would not let himself be taken advantage of so easily, and began to prepare to strike first.
Such and many more thoughts swirled inside Alexander as he checked off thest of the preparations, intending to depart as soon as dawn broke.
The journey was expected to be a rtively short one, only two days to reach Lord Janus''s harbor.
But even then, the supplies that were needed to be loaded were enormous. This was because Lord Janus''s modest fief was hardly equipped to feed and house so many men at once.
Not to mention, multiple times more men were scheduled to join them within weeks.
Hence almost everything they had here in Caira needed to be carried with them- ranging fromrge stocks of grains and other food produce, adequate drinking water for the journey, and most bulky of all, all the legionary''s equipment- which included weapons and armor, utensils and their heaviest baggage, the tent.
Other than the stock animals, these took up the most amount of space.
And regarding the tents, Alexander cleverly did not take them all out.
Rather, he left the ones at the outer perimeter of the camp intact, as a kind of facade to not alert the enemy.
In addition, these leather makeshift homes also acted as a ''curtain'', hiding much of the soldiers'' day to day activities.
Few prying eyes could thus prate through them to recognize the hustle and bustle going on inside, where thousands and thousands of men and women hauled huge amounts of cargo from the harbor and manor to the ships.
Furthermore, aplete ban on travel from either side was enacted by Alexander, preventing anyone from contacting the outside or getting to know about the situation inside.
In this way, he mitigated the chances of Lord Parker taking advantage of the movement to try andunch an opportunistic attack on the lightly defended lines.
All these measures worked perfectly, managing to fool Lord Parkerpletely.
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It was so much that the entire Heeat camp only woke up to the deception around midday, a solid six to eight hours after Alexander had already left.
Some of the leftover servants atst managed to run to the Heeat camp to inform them that the city was ''free''!
"What! The manor is empty?"
And upon first getting the news, Lord Parker let out this incredulous shout, not out of glee but more of horror, as he produced a verymenacing look towards the scout that brought him the news.
The reason was,
''If Alexander had truly left, then where is Achis?'' the man''s heart skipped an enormous beat.
And as that creeping fear sunk in, without waiting for the scout to exin himself, the man bolted towards the nearby balcony, turning his head towards the manor in the distance.
Currently, Lrod Parker was staying in a two story hotel that he had taken over. He had moved to this ''new residence'' only a week ago, when the weather had turned really bad and made it incredibly cold and ufortable to stay in his tent.
Compared to the leather tent and woolen nkets, this wooden house with arge central firece was much more warm and luxurious.
And now it seemed it also gave him a much better strategic view, as from his elevated position, he could see even the Royal Harbor in the far off distance, its waters shimmering under the clear, winter sun.
First of all, his eyesnded on the docks, and he momentarily felt a sense of relief.
Because he could still see the vague outline of the enemy''s tents,id out rows after rows, causing Lord Parker to feel confident that perhaps not all of Alexander''s forces had departed.
This meant there was still for him to rescue Achis.
s, the tents he was seeing were really all decoys, intentionally left by Alexander to stall the enemy even further.
Lord Parker appeared to have fallen into his trap just as intended.
Fortunately, he did not remain ensnared in his misconception for long.
Because he quickly shifted his gaze from the ''crowded'' docks to the actual harbor, and what he saw, or rather he did not see, instantly made his heart drop
The pristine and picturesque scene was missing something that was the most critical sight, something that was synonymous with a port-ships!
Whereas the distinct outline those enormous wooden behemoths would fill the nearby horizon all day along, now, there was not a single sight of those close to seventy ships.
''Gone! Why? What happened?''
Lord Parker finally realized that Alexander had indeed left, and not only did he not feel an ouch of joy at his hated rival escape, but rather, he experienced an extremely deep, sense of abyssal horror.
This meant his worst nightmare had seeminglye true, he had lost his lover.
It made Lord Parker feel his leg go weak and he wanted to simply pass out.
Luckily for him, a deep, almost robotic voice helped him break out of that quagmire, as the nearby scout diligently reported his finding,
"My lord, we learned of Lord Alexander''s departure from a few escaping servants that came out of the manor. ording to them, the enemy has left Caira around early dawn today.
They do not know where he exactly went, but they im to have seen the Adhanians load their ships with all the supplies they had in the manor. It seems they have fled. Congrattions! Hah hah¡ congrattions my lord! The siege worked! Hah hah¡You have won!"
Like most of the men in the camp, this scout too believed that Alexander had left because he was unable to hold on, that his supplies had run out.
This realization had caused enormous volumes of cheers to burst out from inside the camp, all overflowing with jubtion over their victory.
It was a hard fought victory if they said so themselves.
Perhaps a bit anti climatic, but other than the most boisterous of the bunch, no one was regretting that they did not get the chance to ''teach those bastards a lesson onest time''.
"....."
However, amongst all the cheering men, the sole one who was not at all impressed was the lord standing in front of the scout- Lord Parker.
He was utterly furious over losing his general.
"Why did it take so long for us to realize Alexander has left? It''s already midday! What were the sentries doing?"
Beforepletely bursting his lid off, with reddened eyes, Lord Parker made hisst query, trying to catch each and every person responsible for losing his lover.
"Ahhh!" And hearing this, the scout was initially very puzzled by this bitter reaction.
''Shouldn''t the lord be the most happy amongst all of us? He has been fighting to obtain that manor for months.'' The man wondered.
But he quickly pushed these questions down and worked to instead diligently reply to his lord,
"It''s because of those damn tents! Since they were still in the docks, our sentries thought the ships had simply gone for a supply run! Those crafty bastards! Not an honest bone in their body!"
The scout very exaggeratedly gnashed his teeth, convenientlyying all the me on the tents.
He did not dare to tattle on the men about how they were all mostly asleep- cozily wrapped up in theirfy nkets above the makeshift watchtowers.
This scout was clever enough to notice Lord Parker''s extremely peppery current temperament and did not feel like it would be a good idea to add fuel to the mix.
Enraged lords had a tendency to cause intense amounts of coteral damage and he did not want to see his neck chopped just for reporting the news.
That''s why, in addition to the enemy''s clever deception, he also added,
"Also, before they left, the enemy appeared to have nailed all the doors and windows with thick nks, shutting everyone inside. It took the servants hours to break these using hammers and other things. Only then they coulde out to inform us... but by then the enemy was long gone."
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Chapter 1239: Confusion
Listening to his scout''s report, Lord Parker felt his anger only bubbled and boiled upwards.
And it was not because he did not think Alexander would quit so easily and that his men were celebrating prematurely, breaking military discipline.
No, such analytical deductions were far, far away from his mind.
The reason was because of what Alexander''s departure meant for his general.
Lord Parker was originally contemting on asking Lord Kite to give chase at once.
But if what the man in front of him said was indeed true, then that hope was dashed even before it could sprout.
There was no way he could realistically hope to rescue Achis.
And the loss of his loverpletely incensed the man.
So much so that he decided to act in a true blue blooded noble fashion.
Lord Parker at first turned to his bodyguards and shouted,
"Question all those that were on watch! To let an entire fleet escape from our nose¡ they either fell asleep or are all colluding with the enemy! Hang them all afterward!"
It was clear Lord Parker had not brought the scout''s makeshift exnation.
And speaking of him, it was the unlucky man''s turn next.
Feeling that he had revealed all that he knew, Lord Parker turned his fury on him too, curtly pointing his finger and ordering,
"Kill him too! He is a liar and cheat!"
The man''s heart shrank to the size of a pebble,"My ¡ my lord! Please! I swear¡ I have never¡" as the man tried to save himself by letting out this horrified cry.
But it was all for naught.
The nearby guards reaped his life even before he got the chance to turn around and understand what was happening.
The watchmen would be a bit luckier this time, as they were able to avoid the worst of fates, due to Lord Macht timely stepping in to stop this senseless massacre.
After going through the round of intense interrogation that indeed confirmed a few of them had ''dozed'' off, these men would be severely beaten, had their pay and rations cut, and then assigned to extremely undesirable posts, such as cleaning thetrine pits and washing clothes in this bitterly, cold weather.
But they would at least manage to keep their necks.
Lord Parker was also cajoled into agreeing with the excuse that since the entire camp was in a state of euphoria, thinking they had just won the war, such a thing would look very wrong to the rest of the soldiers.
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These thoughts were only expressed in the war conference that was heldter that night, scheduled for the first time inside the manor.
"My lord, we have taken stock of the entire grounds. There was nothing suspicious. It seems Alexander has truly left with no intention of returning." An officer began the report as such, his voice tinged with joy.
This was what they had been fighting for so long after all.
"Have you found the elders? Where are they?" Lord Parker however was far more interested in the personnel than thend he had just conquered, for he had a very important use for them.
He wanted to use these elders to do exactly what Alexander wanted, have them officially dere his wife as the Margrave''s head.
"I''m sorry, my lord. ording to the remaining Margraves members in the manor, they have been all taken with Alexander or ¡ worse!" The officer tasked with finding them hung his head low in shame and self reflection.
"....." Lord Parker pursed his lips hearing this, not finding the act too surprising but still very aggravating.
At this point, he even did not know which of the two situations to wish for.
If Alexander truly killed the elders before leaving, that would leave a power vacuum that would be difficult to fill in a short time.
No matter which puppet Lord Parker would prop up in their stead, he would never be able to wield the same prestige and thus legitimacy.
And Miss Linda taking the seat of power depended almost solely on that- legitimacy.
She could say anything, and dress up as anyone, but if no one took her seriously, her rule of thend would be an extremely tumultuous one.
So from this, it might seem that Lord Parker would prefer for the elders to be alive.
However, if one thought about it, that was perhaps even worse than killing them.
If Alexander had truly kidnapped them and they were indeed alive, Lord Parker would not be able to even prop up a puppet candidate and put on a sham show.
All those old fossils would need to be rescued before the Heeat family could puppet the Margraves.
And this realization made Lord Parker''s heart burn with rage and irritation, as he clenched his teeth, ''This was supposed to be a walk in the park. A chance thates once in a millennia!''
"Where is Alexander? What have your scouts been doing?"
Feeling very frustrated, Lord then turned his fury to his officer.
If they could not give him a good answer, he was prepared to strike again, and it would be the officers'' turn to pay.
It was thus fortunate that Lord Kite was able to cate his lord, stepping up to dere in a sinct tone,
"We have received report from one of the skiffs that they spotted therge fleet some fifty kilometers east of us, my lord. They are shadowing them as we speak!"
This message was delivered by a messenger bird that only flew to Caira.
".Huuuu..." This was finally enough to calm the enraged lord down.
At least this meant that they were notpletely blind to the enemy''s actions.
It was that became the next topic of their discussion, as they tried to find out why exactly had Alexander left.
But despite the best minds putting in the effort, the conclusion remained inconclusive, due to ack of evidence.
"We know from the manor residents recounts that there was norge scale internal conflict. Order and discipline appeared to be normal in the camp. So we can rule out a mutiny." One of the officers ryed this with arge, dark frown on his face, his face masked with puzzlement.
"There are also no signs of them running out of supplies," And as he finished, another man quickly picked up the conversation, "The servants in the manor report seeing heaps and heaps of grain and there was also no decrease in the number of their rations."
If Alexander was truly starving and left due to not being able to hold out, these unimportant extra mouths would have been the first ones to be sacrificed long, long ago.
"The enemy also was not running low on morale. The people of the manor say they would regrly hear loud songs and cheers bursting out of the camp!" A third officer added.
Lastly, Lord Kite piped up to chime, "From what I learned, it almost seems as if Alexander one day suddenly decided to leave after getting reinforcements from Lord Janus¡. He was the Margraves family''s steward for many years. And recently became a minor lord."
The man added thest part to introduce Lord Parker to this rtively unknown man.
"...Reinforcements¡." Lord Macht subconsciously whispered hearing the word, his brows frowning.
"Could it be they left to rendezvous with more men?" He quickly turned to pose with a slightly trembling heart, hoping that the enemy was not thinking the same-
Waiting for a relief force.
"Impossible! There is no such force!" Therge ck man was however instantly rebuked by a very forceful Lord Parker, who blew away the concern by this prescient statement.
After Lord Macht''s failure to take Phyrros Ind as well as his inability to quell the following unrest inside the camp, Lord Parker hade to very much belittle the man.
So now, whenever he heard Lord Macht say anything, he would oppose it simply kind of like a knee-jerk reaction.
Lord Macht also understood this, which is why he deepened his frown, feeling very aggrieved.
As a veteranmander, he demanded a minimum level of respect.
Luckily for the Heeats, Lord Kite was able to quickly sense this and before the chasm could widen, decided to readily step forward.
Then shaking his head, he gave a reasonable exnation for his lord''s im,
"Lord Macht, I also do think Alexander left to get more reinforcements. Reinforcement has got nothing to do with leaving Caira.
In fact, if what you see is true, then Alexander should have stayed put even more. Leaving the city walls now means only making things harder for himself."
Defending a fully walled city was after all far easier than fighting for it in a street to street battle.
And thus the discussion regarding Alexander''s strange move moved deep into the night, with many theories and hypotheses, each more ludicrous than thest.
Until finally Lord Parker ended the bickering with the words, "Okay, let''s stop for today. Whatever Alexander has nned does not matter. We will wait for our reinforcements and then take over the Margraves. All else will wait."
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Chapter 1240: Lord Januss Fief
Alexander arrived at Lord Janus''s fief, around 150 kilometers northeast of Caira in about two and a half days.
During their voyage, Alexander ordered the ships to stay literally within a kilometer of the nearby coast, just in case the weather suddenly turned bad. And this precaution let them avoid most of the trouble other than some small rough patches of seas.
The ships safely moored themselves along the nted shores, letting Alexander quickly peer out of the decks toy his sight on Lord Janus''s fief for the first time.
It was akin to the ideal bucolic fief one would imagine when they thought of about the country- vast, open, swathes ofnd with only wooded hignds, periodically dotted with a few hatched huts off in the distance.
There was nothing like the hustle and bustle of a city or even a town, but simply open pastures that were currently under the grip of king winter. The entire ce was coated in a dull, grey white curtain of snow, and no bird, animal, or even insect was in sight.
The only sign of life came from the thin plums of ck smoke rising from the few far away settlements.
And observing all this, the first thought to pierce Alexander''s mind was, ''This ce is a dump!''
Idyllic sceneries and pristine wilnds were nice and all, but he was not here on a pic.
He was here to refit and re equip his army and that required arge, industrial base- with numerous mines, metal workshops, and cksmiths. When Lord Janus invited him, he had even alluded to this.
"..." But now, Alexander could do little except swallow his disappointment, He had already made the decision and could only hope this was a thin facade.
Perhaps things would be better once he got a closer look, with the wilnds opening up to arge, busy city.
It was with such hopes that the lord made sure not to show any disappointment but instead thanked Lord Janus for inviting them into his home.
Alexander however would soon have those hopes dashed as he made his way to therge, manor, that was surrounded by nothing but open fields. He would have to swallow the bitter pill that there was indeed norge poption center near here.
Thesends mostly consisted of various small to medium viges scattered all around, with a rtively small town connecting all of them via a few strips of narrow, mud roads.
This town, which was given the much too impressive name ''Giant City'' was Lord Janus''s true center of power, and as Alexander entered it on a tour the next day, he found it to be barely worth a second look.
The ce only had the bare, bare necessities to call itself a town, barely able to escape the ignominy of being called- a hovel.
For instance, the ce had only two cksmiths, one tailor, one barber, two carpenters, and a single inn as its specialties.
It was simply too pathetic!
In this time period, the number of artisans in a city directly corrted to its size, as they directly served other people. So the more people were gathered in one ce, the more of these artisans gathered there.
This was very different from farmers, who worked the fields and hence were fairly self sufficient.
Hence if one wanted to work out the size of a city, the number of artisan and craftsman guilds there were a very clear indicator.
Take Zanzan for example- the city of ''only'' a few hundred thousand people had tens of thousands of artisans working there, making it one of the, if not the most productive city in the known world.
Compared to that, this ce was indeed a hovel.
Even the presence of ''two'' cksmiths and carpenters instead of simply ''one'' was due to the Margraves family''s immense weapons manufacturing hub in the surrounding area, which trickled down to even here.
Only small viges could be said to be inferior to this ce, as they would evenck these basic necessities, thus requiring their people to journey here for their required tools and services.
But even that was easier said than done, as the roads connecting the town to them could barely be even called roads, remaining unusable for half of the year- i.e.- in the winter or rainy seasons- as the melted snow and rain literally turned the mud baked path it into a gooey, muddy mixture.
In fact, due to this, during the autumn harvest, there would be a race among the farmer to not only harvest their crops but also bring them to the market here as soon as they could, before the winter snows overtook them.
If they were unable to do so, it would not only mean they would be unable to exchange for the critical supplies they would need to pass the winter, but much more than that, it would mean their tax for the year would be recorded as being unpaid.
Autumn was also the time when tax collectors came knocking on the door because this would be the time when the farmers made almost all their ie for the year, and had the most amount of cash.
It did not need to be said what happened to those who missed their taxes. Beatings and fines were considered only light punishments, with more serious consequences being the seizure ofnd, sold to very, and sometimes even death.
All such hurdles made Lord Janus''s fief one of the poorest fiefs, not only among the Margraves retainers but perhaps the entire ind.
But then again, once Alexander thought about it, it all made natural sense.
Due to how recently Lord Janus had be a lord as well as howte he had gotten his fief, most of thend he got could only be unwanted leftovers, capable of generating very little productive output.
If it had been a good piece ofnd, it would have been long seized by those nobles who came before him.
And since Lord Janus was no visionary from another world like Alexander, he could do little that others had not already thought of before.
For instance, the old man did not think to improve the roads because be it hail, rain or snow, he still got his taxes.
It was the people that suffered, but his bottom line remained untouched.
So why would he spend enormous amounts of money to make something that ording to him produced no benefit?
Not to mention, he did not even have the money to undertake these very expensive infrastructure projects.
And on top of all that, there was apletely wrong saying in Sybarsis that said,
''You built roads only when you have the money.''
It seemed even though the mercantile natured Sybarsis recognized the importance of roads in facilitating roads, the same ''profit first'' nature of the merchants made them very shy from investing in these public endeavors.
They failed to see the increased future revenues generated due to this, for they had no way to project such earnings, and thus advised each other to y safe, to only invest when the settlements grewrge enough to start producing profit.
However this was a very wrong direction for Lord Janus to take because without good roads, those small viges under him would never get the chance to flourish.
And Alexander tried to show Lord Janus show that logic, as a favor for all he had done for him.
The young pasha thus said, "My lord, you should invest in the people. To wait for the viges to grow before investing is like waiting for the tree to bear fruit before deciding to water it. You got it the other way around."
However, Lord Janus did not seem interested.
He only pretended to hear and nod, before noting in a casual, nonchnt tone, "Young lord, what you said does make sense. Let me think on it once I have a bit more money."
From his bodynguage, Alexander could clearly glean the message he was sending,- ''I am not going to listen to a brat tell me how to run mynd. You have your way of doing things, and I have mine.''
And as a subtle proof of this, when Alexander tried to press the man by saying,
"The viges have not grown for centuries. And they will not grow for not a few more centuries if you keep waiting to gather the money,"
Lord Janus simply replied insincerely with the words,"Then I will depend on you to build me those roads, my lord. I will pay you backter."
Clearly, even though Lord Janus was impressed by Alexander''s ability in statecraft, he had no intention of emting it, being perfectly content with what he had now.
This exchange once again reminded Alexander that few were as ambitious and proactive as him.
Most of the nobles were willing to let things remain as is.
After all, why risk ruining a good thing by unnecessarily shaking it when you had all that you could have ever wanted and even more?
And one could not really me them. This was really human nature-most being vehemently resistant to change.
They much preferred the known to the unknown, even if the unknown clearly promised a better future.
This exchange reminded Alexander to that and then caused him to promise,
''I must not let myself or my retainers sit on theirurels and getfortable. Zanzan must never be satisfied with what it has but always keep moving.''
Chapter 1241: Negotiating With The Natives
"It is a pleasure to meet you Chief Metztil."
One clear winter morning, Alexander found himself dealing with an entourage of very buff, tall, tanned men, with the one leading them being considered the de facto leader of the northern barbarians.
Of simr build and height as his delegation, this thickly bearded man was the chief of thergest and strongest native tribe- the Helvati, and as such, made sure to present himself in front of Alexander in a way that befitted his exalted status.
He was garbed in immacte, shiny bronze armor, the best andtest version the Margraves produced, a blood red, clock made of lion skin was drapped around him and most eye catching of all, he had his cheeks painted with striking streaks of red and yellow, giving him a domineering feeling.
And in keeping with his persona, the rough man replied in a very gruff, crude manner to Alexander''s gentle greeting,
"Let''s skip the pleasantries! I am a busy man. What is your offer?"
"....." The slight smile across Alexander''s face did not dissipate upon hearing the rude response, but his eyes did narrow a bit.
Either the man in front of him was always like this, or he was deliberately putting on an act.
And given that he was the leader of the strongest tribe and surely an aplished politician, it was definitely thetter.
So Alexander too dropped any flowery wordings, and got to the point, "A few outsiders are trying to invade the ind. We would like to join hands to beat them back. In exchange, we are willing to give yound."
"Heh! Outsiders! You speak as if you are one of us!" Listening to Alexander''s proposal, the main thing that this chief appeared to focus on was not the deal but the implication that Alexander was one of them.
That mere insinuation infuriated him.
"...." Alexander did not respond to this provocation, because he understood this was the other side''s way of riling him up.
Someone as powerful and influential as Metztil would never have made all the way into the enemyir personally without knowing exactly why he was there.
He came here with the full intention to make a deal.
So all this talk was simply a trick designed to try and extract as much concession from Alexander as possible.
It was his form of haggling.
That''s why the man was trying to put on a show that seemed to say, ''I don''t you need. You need me.''
And towards this hung bait, Alexander''s strategy was to simply stand back and keep staring at it.
"..." Hence following Metztil''s outburst, the entire room suddenly dropped into an ufortable silence, with neither side refusing to break it.
''The first to speak loses¡.'' Both clever men thought and thus kept staring at the other as a way to exert pressure.
Thus a pair of cool, limpid eyes was locked in battle with a furious, animal like gaze.
Alexander was hardly perturbed by this exchange, for this was not his first rodeo. Having dealt with kings and high lords, a mere chieftain was not anything special, especially not when all these tricks were too transparent for Alexander to glean through.
Not to mention, he was not nearly as desperate as things might seem.
Cambyses had already written to him before he left Caira, informing him of Menes''s imminent departure with 13,000 men.
Once he had those in his hand, Alexander was even confident tounch an attack on Lord Parker all by himself if need be.
Bolstered by confidence, Alexander hence sneered to himself,
''You really messed hereing here personally Metztil. It shows either you are desperate, or you are a one man show. Both are good news for me. If it''s the former, you will not leave without a deal. And if you have no one to trust, well¡ I do not mind making you a second Shaka."
It is well known how the famous Shaka of the Zulus, who had managed to inflict quite a few humiliating defeats to the rifle wielding British using mere sticks and stones, was ultimately brought down by his own brothers.
And such examples of fratricide among royals and rulers were really a dime a dozen, an urrence so frequent that it was hardly worth batting an eyelid.
Perhaps that was also why Metztil guarded himself with care, not wanting to follow in simr footsteps to that great chief.
This was good news for Alexander because it meant if he could not strike a deal with Metztil, he could always present it to his rival.
And he was confident he would ept. There was prior precedence.
''Look I can do what Metztil could not. We got ourselves so much newnd.'' Such a slogan was sure to make anyone a candidate to rece Metztil.
It was like this that within the short period of time, Alexander was able to quickly spot all these weak points that Metztil had tried to hide, and felt confident that even if he refused the man it would be no big deal.
Thus the two waited and waited¡ for what seemed to them for hours, until the very air appeared to be stale and stagnant.
Yet, Alexander showed no sign of breaking and acted as if he could stay here all day. which he indeed could.
This was his home after all.
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Unfortunately the same could not be said for Metztil, who was never a patient man to begin with.
A warrior and a fighter, he much preferred to bash and stab to get his way.
In fact, that was how he had dealt with most of the things in his tribe and this ''trick'' that he was trying to pull was all nned by his wife- the tribe''s chief shaman.
She had originally wanted to also apany her husband and take part in the negotiations personally, but the request was t out denied by not only Metztil but also his advisors.
For Metztil, this was a simple matter of security.
Somebody needed to look after the tribe while he was away.
Furthermore, if this was all a trap and something happened to him and his entourage, then somebody needed to help his son take the seat.
His wife was thus indispensable to the day to day running of the tribe while he was away.
As for Metztil''s advisors, their objection came from the religious scripture which dictated that shamans, especially the chief shaman should never leave their tribes.
They were seen as the physical manifestation of their guardian spirits, so their departure would be seen as the tribe losing the protection of the divine.
In addition to that, there was also the aspect of prestige.
The chief shaman was one of the highest members of their society, favored by the spirits and considered by some to be even more exalted than the chief.
So how could she go meet the other side? They shoulde to her.
Andstly, there was the social side,
Helvati women were not allowed to meet any outsider man.
ording to the tribe''sw, if an unmarried girl did this without her father''s or brother''s supervision, she would be instantly stripped of her status of a free woman and turned into ve for life, with a brand on her forehead that showed off her eternal shame to everyone.
As for a married woman doing this without her husband''s presence, it was too unthinkable.
Thews called for not only her death but all her unmarried daughters and granddaughters as well. The married women were spared only because they were no longer considered rted to their mother, but belonging to their husband.
It showed how much the Helvati hated mingling with outsider.
Also, as a rifying note, it should not be thought that thew precluded to any kind of physical mating.
No.
Just interacting with the outsiders without permission was enough.
And it was so extreme that over time, the social faux pas had expanded to people even irrationally feared their chief shaman bing ''impure'' if she met an outsider even with her husband there.
All this meant that Metztil was left without his chief strategist even he most needed it.
And if made the brawny man feel very agitated.
His impatience soon began to physically manifest with trails of sweat around his cheek and after a bit of time, the man began to periodically flex his giant arm muscles, as if he was thinking of grabbing Alexander by the throat and making him squeal.
It was also sensing this that Alexander decided to cleverly take a step back and chimed,
"Since Chief Metztil said it yourself¡ Let''s stop wasting our time."
He did this because he could Metztil might break before he bends. And Alexander really did not want the man to simply storm out to maintain his pride.
Hence he decided to feign weakness and added,
"You are here to make a deal. And so are we. The Margraves family is willing to give up Kent, Jamon, and parts of Lion in exchange for 15,000 of your brave men. We want you to help us defeat the rebel Lady Linda supported by the outsiders and in addition, also promise to aid us with the same number of men in case of any future attacks from them for the next twenty years!"
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Chapter 1242: Negotiating With The Natives (Part-2)
"What! That was not what we were told!" At Alexander''s brazen demands, Metztil predictably blew his top off, gnashing his teeth furiously at a nonchnt Alexander.
When they met with Lord Janus, he had assured them the alliance would be a one time thing.
But now this man in front of him wanted to tear that apart and instead form a defensive pactsting 15 years!
''Defend thends of these outsiders? Joke!'' Metztil spat with the utmost vehemence, not even putting such an agreement into consideration.
And this was not even him considering the matter of the offerednd, which was too small.
Alexander however seemed to not notice the telltale signs of rejection but insisted in a cool, neutral tone,
"That was then. Now is now! You are not dealing with the Margraves anymore. You are dealing with me.. the pasha of Adhania. A new deal needs to be reached."
Alexander insisted as such, pressuring the other side.
He also changed his title to represent the country itself instead of his province, for he was not sure whether these closed off natives would know where or even what Zanzan was.
And it worked to an extent, as the mention of that great, sprawling mysterious country to the east brought some sort of recognition, followed quickly by a trace of fear.
Metztil might be brash but he was certainly not stupid.
Although he knew little of the closed country, he was clever enough to understand that if another country of any real significance were to join forces against him, his people''s lives would once again turn very, very difficult.
Perhaps it would be even enough to throw them to their doom once and for all, thus aplishing their hated foes'' long cherished dream.
Metztil sought to first and foremost confirm this, "Why is an outsider country interfering in our internal matters? Heh! And you darebel the Heeat family as outsiders."
Metztil''s sneer was meant to disparage Alexander''s address of the enemy as well as reveal that they knew exactly who they were dealing with.
This way, the chief tried to signal that if Alexander pushed them too far, they would be happy to contact the other side and cut a deal with them.
This revtion however had only a limited impact on Alexander, as he found it only natural.
Given the natives had secret trades with the Margraves, it was all too natural for those smuggling merchants to pass on the news of the chaos and ruckus the Heeat family was causing.
As for Metztil''s usation of him digging his nose into ces it did not belong, Alexander did not bother defending or even sugarcoating it.
Rather, with a gentle release of his pent up breath, Alexander firstid out the disimer,
"We are both busy men here chief Metztil. So since you asked why we are here, let me be frank," and then revealed the cruel facts in their barest form,
"The reason we are here is for the same reason why the Margraves, the Marsh, and the other families came three hundred years ago- trade!
The position of the ind you inhabit is geographically too significant for us to not intervene. Whoever controls this ind, is able to easily control the ships leaving and arriving at my ports... control the life blood of my people.
I am sure you can understand why such a thing is uneptable to me. I also have my people to look after¡ just like you."
Alexander said thest part in a very soft, understanding tone, trying to win Metztil''s sympathy.
"...." While thebative chief remained simply silent.
But his formerly mocking, furious eyes did change to form a moreplicated set of emotions.
He understood the problem for his people was far from being a simple crazed conqueror wanting to add more territory to his name.
The fact was his ind was simply too juicy for the surrounding powers to be left alone. Although he knew this before, this was the first time knowing it from the horse''s mouth.
After Alexander pointed this out next, he further added,
"Also, great chief, even if you push me out, your fate will hardly change¡ you will simply be changing the owner of your chains. There will always be others like me.
If not from Sybarsis, then from my country. If not from there, then from those free cities in the north. And if attacks do note from there, then there are also countries west and south of here. Fact is, somebody or somebody will always be trying to take your ind from you.... because it is that valuable."
"Bam! Then we will kill them all!"
Finally unable to bear Alexander''s overly negative outlook any longer, the bulky chief suddenly burst out like this, pounding his giant fist onto the table with immense force as his powerful booming voice reverberated across the room.
And this show of immense defiance brought great satisfaction not only to himself but also to all his surrounding entourage, who found their leader''s immense courage illuminating.
Deep down all of them knew that Alexander was indeed true, but till now simply refused to ept it, choosing to still cling to the belief that their way of life was superior.
So they needed this light, for otherwise they felt they would forever be lost to the ''truth''.
"Don''t be foolish. That''s impossible,"
However, despite Metztil''s best efforts at putting on a brave front, the most intended recipient of this message remainedpletely unmoved.
Producing a big frown instead, Alexander simply ruefully shook his head, "No one can fight the entire world and win Chief Metztil. And certainly, no one can fight the entire world and keep winning. Your enemies will be able to endure tens of losses, while even a single loss for you will mean obliteration."
Now, Alexander was indeed being a bit hyperbolic here, saying that the entire world''s eyes were on Galiosos.
Sure, it was an important port and trading hub, but rarely was it the be all and end all.
If things worked like that, then Alexander''s Zanzan would have been attacked and swallowed by the thousands of covetous eyes long, long ago.
Compared to the jewel that was his city, Galiosos was simply an unimpressive coal lying by the roadside.
So apart from a few scattered small kingdoms, in the south, the only ones with truly a vested interest in the ind would be the Thesians living in those city states, the Sybarians, and from Adhania only Alexander since the rest of the country rarely traded with the outside world.
The situation was thus not nearly as bad as Alexander was making them out to be, and they would certainly not be constantly attacked like they were the world''s number one enemy.
However who told the natives to remain so close to the outside world that they could not even recognize such a tall tale?
Of course, Alexander was going to take advantage of such ignorance
True enough, not only did the other side buy it, but their chief even made a very foolish statement, thus reducing his credibility.
This also let Alexander easily get the upper hand as pointed out the impossibility of such a thing, and then ''sincerely'' advised the flushed with shame man,
"You can stop putting on a brave front here Chief Metztil. You are not inside your tribe now. No one is eavesdropping on you."
The sentence suddenly jolted the armored man awake, as he quickly turned to look around his entourage, his gaze turning a lot moreplicated.
It was clear that there were people even amongst his own inner circle that he could not trust, and feared whatever they talked about here would get leaked to his rival.
While sensing their leader''s suspicious gaze lingering on them, all the people standing beside him let out various expressions of shame or anger.
Even if they had differences between them, none of the men approved of their chief openly questioning them, especially not in front of their pseudo enemy.
''How does he know about the state of my tribe?'' Metztil however was hardly concerned about what these apanying men thought.
Rather he questioned himself incredulously as such, finding it incredible that Alexander was able to so easily see through his true state.
This was not normal for Alexander was an outsider who had arrived here just a few months ago.
Metztil could not for the life of him figure out how the young pasha could have gotten such inside information from so far away.
The Margraves and the natives had no official contact.
Of course, the trick to Alexander''s little magic show was hardly that impressive. He had simply taken a calcted stab in the dark following the clues left behind by Metztil.
Since the leader hade by himself to the den of the enemy eschewing all dangers, it clearly meant hecked reliable subordinates.
And how could the leader of the strongest andrgest tribe that numbered close to fifty thousandck reliable men?
Of course by having many rivals who watched and criticized his every move.
This consequently meant that Metztil could never show any weakness, or else he risked being reced.
That was also another reason why Metztil put on such a brave front.
However now, with Alexander''s reassurance and seeing he was on the back foot, the man let loose and asked in a hard voice, "Is that why you present us with that joke of a deal? Because you know we have no other choice? This is an insult towards us!"
Chapter 1243: Negotiating With The Natives (Part-3)
The negotiations until now were hardly proceeding the way Chief Metztil had expected them to.
ording to how he had dealt with the Margraves thest time, they should have been on their way back to the camp by now- having all that was promised to them and even more.
However, reality proved far too different much of their distress.
The one to greet them was not the soft, putty like old man Lord Janus, who had appeared ready to give away at a moment''s notice, but this hard as nails young man called Alexander.
And now looking at the fair, handsome face, Chief Metztil suddenly began to feel irritated, especially as he found losing to someone who looked even younger than some of his sons.
Thus he decided there was little point beating around the bush and trying to act coy.
cing the minimum level of trust in his entourage, he finally decided to get serious.
"Is that why you present us with that joke of a deal? Because you know we have no other choice?" The chief''s eyes went a bit red as he pronounced in a hard, aggrieved tone, before suddenly ring up with righteous indignation,
"*Bam* No! You want our ind? You say the whole world wants our ind? Our ancestor''snd? Fine! Take it...
over our dead body! Because we will never be reduced to beggars by you outsiders!"
The message was clear, these natives would rather die and be extinct than take the pittance ofnd Alexander was offering.
And in hindsight, Alexander should have already expected it.
Because if these people could be reasoned with so easily, by only showing them the reality, then they could have never stayed in those swamps for so long.
Those rotting bogs and marches were hardly the ideal ce to live, having no good ce to farm, ess to only stale stagnant, repugnant water, and most unpleasant of all, that ever present putrid smell of rooting wood and flesh.
So the fact that these people voluntarily endured these intense hardships really showed their mettle.
Most others would have long ago abandoned their identity long ago and chosen to submit to the Margraves'' rule, thus assimting themselves.
It took that intense reaction from the chief for Alexander to understand this.
Thus fearful of Metztil simply walking out feeling insulted, Alexander quickly cated the man and decided to hear what the other side thought eptable.
"We were promised this entire area!" Metztil was ready to present his answer instantly, taking out a small papyrus scroll from inside his coat.
Unscrolling it revealed a crude hand drawn map, with arge red circle drawn around the top of it.
The man wanted all the area inside it.
"Impossible!" And without even taking a good look at it, Alexander let out his unequivocal rejection instantly, for he spotted the name ''Gaint City'' just outside the circumference of the circle, almost touching it.
It meant that the tribes wanted everything from here to the north.
And to give you a context of the amount of geed in disy here, Galiosos was roughly 800 km in length and 500 km in width.
Thisndmass about twice the size of the british isles was neatly divided horizontally between the Margraves, and the Strauss family, who had also fought with the natives under the Kaizer family''s banner.
So each side controlled around 400 km of the ind lengthwise.
But that did not mean each of the family controlled 200,000 sq kilometers each.
While the souther part that was controlled by the Strauss family was fully under their control, the northern part ruled by the Margraves was not.
The northernmost of the ind, around 50 to 80 km in length depending on how you measured it since the swamp was not one straight line, was filledpletely with impassable hills, bogs, swamps, and marshes, and inhabited by those fierce natives.
The Margraves had no control over that and after finding attacking through such terrain was basically impossible, simply sought to contain them using the northern barbarian wall.
Thus the total area Margraves had was only a bit over 160,000 sq kilometers.
And Gaint City was around 80 kilometers from that wall.
So you multiply that by 500 km, and the area demanded by these men came to a staggering 40,000 sq kilometers.
And if you are having trouble imagining just how big that is, well know that the Crimea penins that was annexed by Russia in 2014 is only 27,000 sq. kilometers.
So if Alexander really were to concede to such a lion''s appetite, the Margraves would instantly lose a quarter of itsnd.
And much, much more if one considered that thesends belonged to him and Lady Miranda, while thend south of Caira now belonged to Miss Linda.
If such a thing were to happen, Alexander would rather pack up his bags and leave, cutting his losses.
"This is what was promised to us. We would not have bothered toe otherwise"
However, in spite of Alexander''s vehement refusal, Metztil strongly insisted on his im, pointing at the map with one of hisrge stubby fingers that was jeweled with arge red ruby ring.
"What, old man? Do you deny anything I said?" Then to further prove his point, Metztil turned to sneer at the present Lord Janus who was sitting right beside Alexander, asking him to validate his im, "Did I not draw this circle right in front of you? Did you not agree to the terms?"
Feeling Cheif Metztil''s pointed gaze towards him, the old man could only flush in embarrassment.
Indeed all that the chief was true, Lord Janus had made such a promise.
Problem was it was a promise that he was hardly qualified to do so. Thesends were not his to give.
But at the time, he had pretended as such to convince them to agree to his request.
And now the birds hade to roost.
Even the thick skinned former steward found it hard to not feel a bit embarrassed over breaking his words.
He was sure this would remain a stain on his honor for the rest of his life.
"*Tsk*, all of you outsiders are the same." And seeing the man say neither yes or no, but y the role of a deaf and dump, Metztil cursed with the utmost disdain and disgust, his eyes dripping with scorn.
*Creak!* Then he pushed his chair back, seemingly ready to imminently storm off.
In his mind, the negations had already broken down.
Whatever happened next, whether they lived or died, he resigned himself to the will of the spirits.
While watching all this from the back, Alexander too felt a slight headache.
The validity of the map and the native''s strong im made Alexander feel incredulous as to how Lord Janus could have possibly made such a deal.
As a steward with decades of experience, as someone who had seen and gone through so much, it seemed impossible to Alexander that he would make such a foolish error.
Alexander hence logically thought,
''Either Lord Janus is really ipetent. Or much more likely, back then he was desperate. He must have bent whatever way they wanted and agreed to anything and everything just to try and get help for hisdy. Heh, the old fart really sees her as his daughter. No wonder he reacted so negatively when Lady Miranda brushed him aside with little thought. He must have felt slighted like a father would.''
Taking an educated guess as to how the map came to be, Alexander then swiftly turned his attention to the chief who was about to leave.
He called out from behind his chair,
"Chief Metztil, wait! Perhaps there is a middle ground we can reach! Since you came such a long way, it would look too bad to leave empty handed."
"...." Hearing this, Metztil''s butt that was floating just above the soft feathery cushion of the chair suddenly halted.
As much as he would hate to admit it, Alexander was right.
Rumors about the deal had already spread across not only his tribe but many others.
Now, not only his people, but every native inder was waiting with bated breath for him toe with back with the so called, ''vast swathes ofnd,'' as the gossip went.
Metztil suspected all this was done by his rivals, trying to dig a pit for him.
And it also showed that he had a mole within his deepest circle.
Otherwise, the fact that he was dealing with an outsider should have been confidential to the highest degree. However not only did his meeting get leaked, but even the precise details of their discussion were revealed to their minute detail.
So it was little wonder he was suspicious of his entourage.
This also proved that Metztil''s position with his tribe was hardly as robust as an outsider might presume. Read new chapters at m_v-l''e|-NovelBin
It was understanding that the chief pushed his butt down and turned to face Alexander, when he heard him say,
"It is not possible for us to give you so muchnd. We would simply die. But it is possible for us to share. We can agree to let you people live in thosends¡ with some sort of special arrangement."
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Chapter 1244: Metztils Troubles
Listening to Alexander call for him, Chief Metztil once again forced himself to sit down.
He knew it would be politically extremely damning for him to return to his tribe with nothing to show for it.
The people had their hopes hyped up to the moon and beyond by the rumors, thus Metztiling back empty handed would crush them.
And along with that, their support for him.
The man even suspected this was exactly the pit his enemies were trying to dig for him, betting he would fail.
And those scheming men did have very good reasons to feel confident about themselves.
They knew the Margraves would not, could not hand over the full extent of thend that was being promised to the natives. The price was too high.
This was simply a negotiating tactic, a bait to entice the natives toe to the tables.
But despite knowing that, the leaders of the tribes were happy to swallow it.
Since the Margraves had brought up the matter of allocatingnd, it meant they were willing to give up at least some.
That attraction alone was enough for these men. Straved out of their mind for centuries, they would take whatever that was presented to them.
It was with that many of the tribal leaders got together and took the joint decision to consider helping the Margraves against the Heeat, with the one leading the pack being none other than Metztil.
He was the natural, de facto leader given his background and the man himself was very eager to take the post, due to both personal and political reasons.
If he could get this deal done, his fame and glory would reach heights untouched since that legendary chief, and his ce within the people''s hearts would be unvible.
As long as thosends remained in the hands of the Helvati people, not a single man from his tribe would dare contest his rule.
Thus after hearing Lord Janus''s offer, Metztil began to quickly dream of his people flourishing in the newly conquerednds, multiplying and bing stronger, all while showering him with their praise, power and gold, and riches.
That ideal dream however was quickly shattered by the leaks about the deal.
Almost overnight, without giving Metztil even the slightest chance to wake up to the pitfall that was being dug around him, his rivals worked to agitate the people, revealing to them the full contents of the offer.
And it worked so well, that barely a day passed before Metztil suddenly found a sea of crowd surrounding his house.
"What the hell?" It was close to morning, just as dawn broke when Metztil suddenly jumped up from his bed with the utmost concern, rmed by the immense murmurs that were drifting into his room from the outside.
And the Chief''s very first thought regarding this was that this was a coup!
He assumed that one of his rivals had finally decided to bear his fangs, leading an angry mob here to attack him.
Metztil thus ran to open his window, intending to gauge the size of the enemy, assuming them to be quite substantial given the amount of noise they were making.
"!!!" Even though Metztil was prepared to see arge number of people, the sheer sprawling spread in front of him still stunned him.
''Is the entire tribe here?'' He thought with a trace of despair, scanning and re scanning the horde in front of him, just to make sure he was still not dreaming.
Metztil quickly confirmed he was indeed awake, and it truly did seem like every man, woman and child in the entire fifty thousand strong tribe was there.
''How could I have missed this?''
And with that confirmation made, Metztil then began to try and rack his brain at how the sight before him was even possible.
Because to him, it appeared as if his rivals could have turned literally the entire tribe against him without him noticing a single thing.
This was nothing but witchcraft to Metztil.
This brawny chief might not be the most clever person in the tribe, that distinction would probably belong to his wife, but even if his trusted spouse had backstabbed him, Metztil was not stupid to the point he would be caught so off guard.
The chief had his own spies and intelligencework, so surely some of them would have squeaked about the entire tribe mobilizing against him.
But not a single such warning came.
And yet Metztil could see that there were children and even toddlers swaddled in their mothers'' bosom in the midst, something that an angry mob would hardly ever have, given the chaos produced during a riot.
Seeing this, Metztil for the life of him could not guess what he had done to garner such hatred. He might not have been a paragon of virtue, but he was no foolish brute either, one who abused his power as he liked.
Which made the entire situation all the more puzzling to this chief.
He could find no logical exnation regarding why all his people had decided to turn against him at the drop of a hat.
And so, given the time period, could you really me him for initially thinking this was all magic?
"Wait! Something is wrong!" However just as Metztil was beginning to despair and trying to think of a way to run, he suddenly noticed something strange.
It was not easy to clearly see the details of the gathered crowd given it was just the beginning of dawn and the sky had yet to clear up, but after squinting his eyes, Metztil noticed that the people were not actually doing anything.
Well, that was not exactly true.
More urately, Metztil noticed these people were not attacking or cursing him.
He thus tried to focus his sight on the expression these faces had.But failed due to the still darkness of the night.
The chief then switched his focus to the ears, and he found that they were actually shouting and cheering their hearts out, with some muffled chants even making their way all the way to his home some fifty meters away.
Curiously straining his ear, he managed to pick some of the louder, more distinct ones,
"Long live the Chief! Long live the Chief!"
"Blessed by the spirits! The incarnation of Coatl."
"Land! Land! We wantnd!"
"Glory to the Helvati! Glory to us!"
The words Metztil at first a bit confused, because he simply could not connect the discussion he had with the Margraves to the gathering before him. They were two very different things.
So turning away from the window, he reached for the door and then asked the two bodyguards stationed outside- "What''s going on? Why have you let so many people surround me here?"
"Haha, they are here to congratte you, chief!" The bodyguards seemed to have not noticed Metztil''s acrid tone, and one of them replied with a wide grin.
The guards did not dare or even bother to stop these people who hade to cheer their chief.
After all, why would they?
In fact, many even joined this happy procession, and by now, there were probably half of Metztil''s own forces mixed within that crowd, leading their friends and family on this ''visit the workce'' trip.
The sentiment of this bodyguard was also shared by his colleague, who too nodded enthusiastically like an eager chicken,
"We have learned about the Margraves giving upnd to us! Hahaha, these people are here to congratte you. Praise be to you! Praise the spirits!"
This rtively young man''s eyes were twinkling with a level of adoration that even gods got to see from their devotees, as well as a brilliant smile that ran from ear to ear that threatened to spill out.
Metztil did not doubt if he were to order the man to cut off his hand, he wouldply without blinking an eye.
So enamored were these two people with the news they had just received that theypletely failed to notice the grim, dark look that shed in front of their chief''s face the moment he heard the exnation.
Metztil instantly smelled a rat- and it was a rotting, putrid one.
The realization that these people were not here to kill but instead cheer for him in utter adoration strangely brought him very littlefort.
In fact, it perhaps made him dispair even a bit more.
Because he knew the moment he failed to deliver the promise and in the exact scale it was vowed, these very people who were now lifting him high up into the sky would not hesitate for a second to throw him into the ground and trample over him like dirt.
And indeed it was impossible for Metztil to realistically assume he would get everything.
Thus he found himself caught between a rock and a hard ce.
Either he could go out there and exin the entire situation to the people, which would result in them leaving dejected and deted, thus giving his rivals even more opportunity to stir up troubleter on.
Or he could simply take advantage of all the work his enemies had put into this and try and ride the hype train, just hoping for the best.
You guess which one the chief of the Helvati- Metztil chose.
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Chapter 1245: Metztils Troubles (Part-2)
Faced with the sea of adoring fans in front of his house, Metztil found he had two choices out- the easy way, or the hard way.
It did not take long for the intoxicated by power- Metztil to choose one.
And certainly, the hard way was too inconvenient for him, for he did not dare to speak the hard truth in front of the gathered crowd.
Now, alongside Metztil''s personal reluctance, it could be argued that there were also political considerations here.
The entire tribe was there, going to show just how great the allure ofnd was to everyone.
And even the usually bellicose, fearless chief who ignored his advisors a lot of the time could not ignore this.
If Metztil disappointed them here and now, if he brought them back from building castles in the cloud back to reality, there was no way people would let him off easily for ''lying'' to them.
They would surely find a way to bury him.
Heck, who knows, they might even start a riot right here, right now, and burn him, his house, and his entire family down to the ground, just like he had done to their dreams.
Metztil thus decided that it would be far more amicable if he simply pretended to go with the flow.
Hence towards the cheering crowd, he neither said yes nor no, but he simply let them continue with their celebrations, pretending that was indeed the deal.
He hoped that this way the people would calm down after a few days and then he could gently ''readjust'' their dreams.
And who knows, perhaps if he was lucky enough, they would even forget about the whole thing by then.
Of course, given the ''quality'' and magnitude of their dream, that was a wish reaching for the stars and far above.
No way were the people simply let go of their most cherished ambition.
And this was something that not only Metztil''s advisors, but even the person closest to him, his wife, and the chief shaman strongly pointed out, insisting that Metztil change tactics.
She urged, "You should not be so passive. Strike at these rats while you still can. Because there is no way the people will forget. They will not let them forget."
"Let me tell you¡ the temples in thest few days have been overflowing with people. I probably have not seen so many even during the Panquell festival. Just in thest three ways, I was forced to hold two grand prayers of thanks. Two!"
Thedy said thest word with great stress, showing its significance.
These special prayers were held just once a year, usually during autumn to thank the native spirits for that year''s harvest.
This was their greatest celebration of the year and not only was it very borate, it was also expensive.
It was even quite tiring for the shamans to perform given all the ritual chants and dances involved.
Thus outside of the harvest, such prayers were only offered after immense victories or great deeds.
Yet, the people had such prayers now even before they got a whiff of the prize.
Even without seeing the prize, they were already washing their tes and readying their cutlery.
In the eyes of this senior shaman, this was simply putting the horse before the cart.
This he was not done pushing her husband yet, as following the recounts of her ''office'', she further added,
"And that is not all. Every day there are parties in at least half of the households here¡ drinking and praising the spirits for granting them newnd. Many of the inns even offer free wine after night to everyone in your name, causing people to sing your praises. Those bastards¡ are really going all out!"
As thedy revealed this, instead of being happy about the people praising her husband to the moon, Metztil''s wife only gritted her teeth, her eyes burning up with rage.
This was a clear ploy and clearly Metztil''s rivals had betted quite heavily on it, going almost all out. Because sponsoring such unhinged drinking was without a doubt extremely expensive.
Not even the richest of the rich in the Helvati could afford to do this for too long.
Yet they had done so, all with the goal of trapping Metztil to an inescapable corner.
And indeed, as time went by, Metztil felt increasingly more and more trapped.
He began to realize he had grossly underestimated the extent of the trap that wasid out for him.
His rivals were not content to just disseminate the rumor, they also worked to churn the mixture and keep it bubbling, never letting the people rest.
The people were constantly reminded of the promise- be it through side talks in the inns, shops, or restaurants,rge merry processions in the streets, and even public songs and dances.
And if that was not enough, after some time, Metztil''s enemies took their conspiracy to the next level.
They began to release the full details of the suggested deal between the two parties, even selling the thing in stores for a paltry price- just the cost of the papyrus it was written in was perhaps twice the retell value, forget about the ink andbor price.
But these things were never meant to be profitable in the first ce. Their purpose was for something entirely different and in that they were fully sessful, selling out like hotcakes.
"Take it! We will never charge anything for the people''s dreams. This is our tribe''s most cherished wish! Take it and share it with your friends and family."
Those shopkeepers shouted as they sold these ''charms'' as they called them.
In this way, even before Metztil got a chance to redeem himself, he was boxed in and trapped. Armed with ''undeniable proof'' the people becamepletely convinced that such a deal had indeed been stuck and all they needed to do now was wait with bated breath for their chief to just see it through.
Hence, if Metztil was to now speak up and im there was no such deal, even in the best case scenario, the people were sure to assume that he was simply ipetent and a fool who once again got fooled by the outsiders.
And given the native''s history, one did not need to be a genius what kind of effect such a moniker would have on one, much less the chief.
Without a doubt, Metztil would be reced, forfeiting his life. Even his family would be lucky to escape that tragedy.
However, despite knowing the dangers, Metztil was unable to pull himself out.
He felt like he was drowning in quicksand, the more he struggled, the greater the hold of the earth became on him.
The more he appeared in front of the crowd and reassured them that he would not fail them, the more tenuous his position began.
It even got to the point that one day one of Metztil''s most hated rivals greeted him with a warm smile and gently pped on the shoulders,
"Haha... Chief Metztil, truly you are the hero of our tribe. I am nothing to you. Soon every child of the Helvati will be singing of your greatness for all eternity!"
The sarcasm and disdainden with each and every those spoken words was not lost to Metztil.
And if things were not bad enough for Metztil inside his tribe, his external allies also soon began to distance themselves from him.
The other tribal chiefs instantly detected the abnormality of their surrounding strongest tribe and quickly worked to guard themselves against such a thing.
Banding together, they unanimously let out a joint statement that read, "The deal about thend is exclusively between the Margraves and Helvati. None of us are privy to the details. We are preparing a delegation to meet with Chief Metztil and discuss the matter!"
In this way, they guarded themselves against their own people wanting the same.
It was just too bad Metztil had no such luck.
And when Metztil first heard of this ''betrayal'', he was so angry that he even strangled two of his favorite maids using bare hands.
Hisst hope of getting out of this trap was dashed.
Metztil had counted on these experienced men to help him quell the tide.
Or if they were unable to do that, at least help him put pressure on the Margraves to concede to their original promises.
However, these experienced old foxes were simply not interested in such due to various reasons and felt rather content to sit back and watch.
Among them some wanted the Helvati to weaken themselves so that they could rece them as the top dog.
Others actively supported Metztil''s rivals and hedged their bets on them.
While some had personal grudges against Metztil, recalling the time this warlord had attacked his tribe or taken something from him.
The most clever of the bunch even feared they would be plotted against by Metztil and be sacrificed as scapegoats, portrayed as traitors who were colluding with the outsiders to destroy the Helvati.
Andstly, there were those who were simply too small and weak to matter.
All this went to exin Metztil''s current state, who was abandoned by all his allies and left to enter the lion''s den all alone.
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Chapter 1246: Negotiating With The Natives (Part-4)
Watching Metztil''s trouble, the very first thing the various chiefs of the other tribes decided to do was learn from his mistakes and guard themselves against it, shutting their own rivals from trying something simr.
And once they secured their ce, the clever men decided to take a simple wait and see approach, feeling not the slightest bit guilty for ditching their ''leader''.
This was because, despite many of the abilities that Metztil possessed, he had many detractors, who found the man to have quite a few ring shorings.
One of the biggest ones being he was not considered to be particrly clever or politically savvy. Or at least not as much as it required one to be able to masterfully navigate through theplex maze involving so many different tribes and factions.
Metztil was only able to maintain rough control through his tribe''s overwhelming force as well as the asional brilliant advice from his chief shaman.
However, that only worked during peace times.
Now that Metztil was in trouble, such strong arming tactics swiftly came to bite him in the rear, as the various alliance leaders decided to bring up old scores, wanting to settle these old grudges first.
In addition, they were also in general pessimistic about Metztil''s chances even if they helped him, for the trapid out for him was truly insidious.
His rivals knew this was theirst chance and so they reallymitted themselves to this onest dice throw.
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This was because if thend deal with the Margraves truly went through, it would undoubtedly cement Metztil as the tribe''s chief till his death, being almost impossible to remove using any legitimate or popr means.
So given the situation, one could not really me them for trying so hard.
And given that this was their ultimate battle cry, even those chiefs that were favorable towards Metztil cautioned themselves from carelessly dipping their toes.
They could see Metztil was clearly losing and it seemed very likely that he was going to fail in getting what the people wanted and then be promptly reced.
Thus to them, this great chief was little more than a sinking ship, a ticking time bomb.
So why should they go out of their way to help such a failing cause?
And this line of thought clearly manifested in the fact that not a single one of them apanied Metztil to Giant City, despite it being such a momentous meeting.
Rather they waited to see Metztil fail, hoping that there would be various opportunities for their tribe''s expansion.
Once they were done with that and after a new Helvati chief had been chosen, then they coulde again to re negotiate the terms with Alexander, the real terms.
In this way, whereas Metztil was a lion surrounded by a pride when he met with Lord Janus, now the prideful man looked like an abandoned dog, rolling out his tongue in pathetic pants.
"We can agree to let you people live in thosends¡ with some sort of special arrangement."
It was also knowing this that Metztil forced himself to sit down upon hearing Alexander''s offer, before giving the man a subtle look to continue.
Alexander sinctly proposed, "We can allow the Helvati to live and work in ournds with specialws in ce. Laws that will respect your rights and beliefs."
He wanted to form a basic two state solution.
"Joke! You wish to rule over us. Hah! We will never submit to you outsiders!"
The nascent n was brutally stamped on even before it could get a single chance to bloom, Metztil brushing past the ''insulting'' proposal with a wide swing of his sturdy arms.
"No, you misunderstand! We will give your people autonomy to rule thends by themselves¡and..." Alexander was however very quick to chime in to try and correct the man, but....
"Given that we bend our knees and pay you taxes¡ right?" Chief Metztil snatched the words right out of Alexander''s forming a sneer as he said it. "Let me guess, you also want us to disband our army and only keep a token force to maintain the internal order."
Metztil was three for three till now, managing to strike every point on its bullseye.
This surprised Alexander a bit. Because clearly the man before him did not seem to be that smart.
So how did he guess his thoughts so easily?
Metztil was there to give the answer himself, producing a proud, disdaining smile,
"Heh¡ surprised? This was exactly what those Margraves dogs promised us back when they asked us for help in subsiding the rebellion. Only for those scums to betray uster. *Tsk*...and now you dare show us the same thing again? Do we really look so stupid to you?"
"Wait! What do you mean we betrayed you? Clearly, you betrayed us!" As Chief Metztil''s revealed this enlightening information, Lord Janus was unable to hold himself back from jumping up to instantly ''correct '' the snarling man.
Before reminding the bulky chief of the true events- that it was the natives who attacked the Margraves''s center without any cause or provocation.
"Heh! Is that what you are told? I already knew you outsiders were liars and swindlers, but¡ the extent still leaves me speechless." Towards Lord Janus''s ''amendment'', Metztil once again revealed the full set of his yellowed teeth and squinted his eyes, showing his rage,
"Let me tell you what really happened back then old pup. Just as the battle started, we got a secret tip that your family never intended to honor its promise. That the entire battle was a trap designed to surround and exterminate us¡ remove this eye sore from the ind once and for all. So we killed them before they could. *Tsk*... even my grandfather barely managed to live!"
Metztil added thatst bit to show how great and terrible that fight must have been. His grandfather should have been a very high ranking, powerful man, without a doubt amander, and such men were always ced in the center of the army, protected from all around.
So the fact there was a breach that far into the lines clearly meant immense casualties.
"That¡ you¡ what¡ummm.." For Lord Janus, this new information was clearly like a bolt out of the blue, stunning to the point he would barely speak.
It was his words against the other, making it hard for him to counter it.
Hence mouth agape, the thin, white whiskers on his cheeks only twitched crazily, his mouth struggling to make a sound.
''...Hmmmm¡'' While Alexander hummed inside his mind, many, many different scenarios ying inside his mind, ''Was this information true? It must be. Or it''s hard to imagine that the natives would all unanimously choose to believe it. So much was at stake.''
He first said to himself, feeling more inclined to believe Metztil over Lord Janus.
The spy who revealed this should have been trusted beyond even the slightest shadow of a doubt to convince all the present tribes so quickly.
But then, the always skeptical man also added, ''It could also be a ploy by the rebelling nobles. Perhaps they brought the spy. Or even all the natives.''
This was also very much possible, one should not underestimate the power of money. The number of mercenaries who had turned on their employers after being offered a better deal was enough to fill entire libraries.
However in this context, Alexander did not favor this argument that much. Given the resources promised to them by the Margraves, mere money should not have been enough to move the natives.
Alexander thus felt he was still missing something.
''Hmmmm¡ I should look into this Margraves rebellion deeper when I get the chance. Also how the natives have been doing from then to now. I wonder if those rebelling nobles promised to give those natives some covert assistance in exchange.''
He made a note to himself,
Alexander felt that if he truly wanted to make some of thesends a part of his fief, he needed to understand the local politics. Even if this was not in depth and down to the minute detail, he at least needed a general idea of the ce to make sure he did not unknowingly passpletely useless or even aggravating policies.
While Alexander analyzed the powerful chief''s words, Metztil much more focused his attentioonds Lord Janus, and seeing that hated man fumble, felt a surge of glee coursing through his heart.
Thus he could not help but reiterate with a loud, disdainful voice, "Heh! All you outsiders are the same! We will not fall for the same trick twice."
"....." And towards this vehement loathing, Alexander very frankly pursed his lips in a very unnoble like way, clearly showing his dissatisfaction.
Given that they were not interested even after all the concessions he made, It almost seemed as if the natives were not at all interested in reaching any kind of middle ground.
"So what do you propose? Because we are not giving you all thatnd." He thus asked in an exasperated tone, subtly warning, "If that is what you want, then we might as well sue for peace with the Heeats. They are far close to us. I am sure we can work out something better."
"....." Metztil''s eyes clearly flickered with a chilly light as he heard this, but could only produce a muted silence.
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Chapter 1247: Negotiating With The Natives (Part-5)
As already stated earlier, Metztil was not the most politically savvy man around.
The only trick he knew when facing Alexander was the one taught by his wife.
And now that that had been used up, the man''s chamber waspletely empty.
Thus towards Alexander''s invitation for a new suggestion, he could only reiterate his old im, before posing,
"The people of Helvati will never ept the rule of an outsider. We have been fooled by you too many times. If you are truly sincere¡ then we can also promise you people that they can live and work in ournds¡ with specialws in ce. Laws that will respect your rights and beliefs."
As Metztil threw the same words back to Alexander, a touch of a smile graced his face, feeling quite pleased with himself.
At least he had some cleverness in him.
As such he even tried to justify it,"This is only natural, right? It is our ind after all. You should be ruled by us. Not the other way around."
The legitimacy of the argument was frankly not too bad, as it was undeniable that they were here first.
Not even the Margraves dared deny that.
"Hmmm.. is that so?" However, if this was meant to cower Alexander, then Metztil was too naive.
Rathernguidly tracing his chin, the man only hummed this, before suddenly straightening his back and sharply addressing his adversary,
"Chief Metztil, it seems you and I have a basic misunderstanding. You are mixing me up with the Margraves, thinking we are the same. We are indeed allies but I am me¡ different. I hope you take into ount when you look at me next."
"As for youbeling us as outsiders¡ here too I hope you will understand reality. You can call us whatever names you want, but the reality will still remain the same¡ we are here to stay. And there is little you can do to stop that. If you could do anything it, you would have done it already."
Crack!
At Alexander''s unrestrained jab towards his most naked wound, Metztil instantly gritted his teeth and loudly clenched his fists, producing a significant popping sound.
But then producing a filthy look at the young boy, the bulky man could do little to counter the narrative.
This let Alexander continue unabated, working to chipp every bit of Metztil''s pride,
"Indeed, your best chance to throw away the invaders would have been when they first came here. At that time, you were at your strongest and they at their weakest. But even then, due to¡ various internal and external enemies you failed. Tell me, how many men you inders could field then? And how many can you field you?"
"...." The question was of course rhetorical and honestly, Metztil did not know the exact numbers.
But even his youngest daughter could know they were far stronger then than they were now.
"Over the past few centuries, while you only got weaker, we ''outsiders'' have only gotten stronger. All the ind''s ports, cities, and trades have be intertwined with the rest of the world. And the only way for you people to return to the ''good old day'' would be to ughter every single inhabitant of the ce."
As he said this, Alexander slightly paused, "Heh! And I do not doubt you harbor wishes to do exactly so. It''s just that youck the ability to do so. So if you truly tried, you would just meet a solid wall of swords and spears from all over the world! One that would exterminate you all."
Metztil only clenched his unfurled fist once again, while the fire in his significantly diminished.
If Alexander had only said he or the Margraves were invincible, this warlord would have scoffed and left while putting it through one ear and out the next.
But that was not what he said.
Alexander was saying the problem was not him but the ind itself, and that the natives did not have the power to return it to the way they wanted- back to the time when they were the ruler of the ind, free in body and free in spirit, untainted by all this ''unnatural'' filth.
The exnation produced a sort of despairing feeling in Metztil.
"What do you want?" And thus, unwilling to be lectured by a boy younger than his son, the chief in a frustrated tone snapped, breaking Alexander''s flow.
Alexander simply slouched back to a rxed position and monotonously reiterated,
"I have already made myst offer. That is the best you will get out of me."
"As for your demands¡ forget it... they arepletely ridiculous. The Margraves family will never hand the ruling of such a hugend to anyone. They have spent centuries of sweat, blood, and tears to develop it. It is impossible."
And Alexander said, the till now quiet Lord Janus also decided to dive in, wishing for a chance to get back at Chief Metztil for the bashing he got.
Thus with a snort, he hummed, "Hmmmp! It''s doubtful you will even know how to rule thosends. There are so many new things you natives shun. If you want it then dere war on us!"
Thatst empty boisterous part was really unnecessary, thus Alexander openly pursed his lips in disagreement, while the needless poking suddenly made the dimmed fire in Metztil''s eyes re up.
"Don''t tempt us old fart! Or you will end up like those dogs from before."
The idea of fishing in troubled waters had of course been suggested by many of the tribal chiefs, who wanted to ally with the Heeats to kick the Margraves when they were down, thus getting revenge on their most hated enemy.
However, this idea was only proposed by those men rtively low on thedder, those who had little knowledge of the true ins and outs of the situation.
Lord Janus had been sure to portray the true power that represented the Heeat family- a ducal household, and thus those in the know quickly understood this new external force was too powerful to make any deal with.
The Heeats hade here to puppet thesends and clearly had no intention to share.
Or else a deal with Alexander perhaps might have been already struck.
So the moment they were done with the Margraves, they would turn on the natives and the poor inders would be back where they were started.
This was why the tribes were willing to sit down with Alexander.
But that did not mean they were soft putty that could be run over with disdain and belittlement just as Lord Janus had done.
And realizing this Alexander quickly stepped up to give Metztil a way out,
"Lord Janus is very passionate about his family. He did not mean anything by it, chief. The Margraves do not even have an army right now."
It was thatst part that actually moved Metztil, as he produced the most contemptuous look till now as if he was looking not at a human, but some kind of animal waste.
''Look at how the mighty have fallen. From oppressing us for centuries to not even being able to save yourself. Heh!''
The look made even Lord Janus''s hardened cheeks flush, and he sent aplicated look at Alexander. Although he was d for the help letting him avoid a disaster, he would have also liked it if Alexander had been a little more tactful.
Alexander however could not give a rat''s ass about what this loud mouthpiece thought, but rather turned to Metztil to once again urge him to reconsider, promising his peoplend, wealth, and security.
"We can give you somend to rule personally. That is only natural¡ Let''s say, those areas I mentioned will belong to your tribe. But for the rest of thend, we promise you Helvati will be allowed to move in there without any trouble.
We will also lift the ban that prevents you Helvati from owningnd and then lease many of the empty farnd there to you. In exchange, we will only ask for a small tithe each year."
"..." The final deal as proposed by Alexander left the chief in a dilemma.
It was not all that he wanted, but it was not bad either.
The area that was promised to them would alone amount to around 1,500 sq. kilometers, which was not an insignificant amount anywhere in the world.
If they had this, with the additional food and space, his tribe could easily add another 10,000 men over the next generation. And at the time, they would not be just the strongest tribe, but perhaps invincible.
And in the same vein, the ''sort of free'' ess to new farnd was also a tremendous boon.
If Metztil would get this deal done, unemployment would perhaps be a word of the past not only for his tribe but the entire native poption, as every able bodied youth would flock to these fertile fields.
Was this not what he had reallye here for- to find a way out for his people and protect them from persecution?
Metztil felt like epting.
However before he could do that, there was onest snag he had to untie, "My people won''t ept this."
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Chapter 1248: Negotiating With The Natives (End)
Although Alexander''s offer appeared very enticing to Metztil, at thest moment, he brought up the objection that even though he liked this, his people were very unlikely to ept.
They were expecting the full sovereignty of the ce.
"Your people will reject freend?" Alexander sounded half stunned by this because he was unable to fathom how would the people reject freend.
He began to think Metztil was simply trying to make things hard for him and was haggling.
"We do not like interacting with you outsiders. There is even aw that calls for death to anyone who does," Metztil clenched through his teeth, his gaze turning veryplicated.
Because up until now, he was one of the biggest defenders of thatw. How could he have known it woulde toe back to bite him like that?
As for changing it as Alexander quickly suggested next, well this was where Metztil''s tenuous position came to y.
In reality, the chief was not as worried about how the people would ept it as he was about his rivals, who were sure to stir up trouble using this as an excuse.
The hatred for the MV was too ingrained into the psyche of the people, making them susceptible to such plots.
So Metztil asked for much greater autonomy, simr to an ally status than an actual vassal. They wanted to rule thesends from the bottom to the top, promising to pay tribute in grain and soldiers.
But for Alexander, this was impossible, for it was a red line that wasid out by Lady Miranda in prior discussion.
Thedy by the way had refused them for the meeting due to ''conflicting'' personal views.
And so as her representative, after hearing all these excuses regarding the natives and the powerful elites, Alexander let out this frustrated hmph,
"Snort! From how we see it, this is your problem to solve Chief Metztil. As their leader, you need to convince your people and neutralize your rivals. Learn how to sell this deal as the best thing that would ever happen to them. I do not know much about you people, so I cannot help you with this."
If Metztil was unable to take care of his own house, then what was the point of discussing such things with him through Alexander, the man would soon get reced anyway.
Thus even if Alexander could help, he likely would have not, wishing to test the man''s capabilities. Only then would he be qualified to be Alexander''s ally.
Alexander then also left the man with a fewsting words,
"Also, Chief Metztil, you people also really should get off your high horse by now. Learn to ept reality. It has been several centuries since the MV and the others came to this ind and by all ounts you are the minority now, you are the outsiders, not us. Teach your people to stop clinging to the past. It''s gone!"
This was his way of showing that he had reached his patience with this blind xenophobia from the natives.
"We are not rootless barbarians like you! We are a proud people with a thousand year history. Our gods are eternal and we¡ " However having his people''s lineage questioned made Metztil instantly re up to unimaginable heights as he wished to teach Alexander about their history.
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Unfortunately, he did not get to go too far as Alexander impatiently interjected with a mocking chuckle,
"Heh! If your gods were so strong, how could they lose to the MV and the Sybarians? Every culture in the world believes itself to be the strongest and most powerful group to exist, with a ten thousand year old history. Without anything to back it up, this is nothing but empty rhetoric. You shoulde to my country. The nobles there will teach you how to really unt their ancestry.
My ears grow new wax every time I recall those pompous bastards!"
As Alexander said this, by the end, he could not help but his tone turned a bit crass and vulgar, for he was forced to recall how many of the nobles liked to remind Alexander who they were, even those men who had bent like knee to him.
They would in various subtle ways try to show off their heritage and identity, be it through their movements, speakingnguage, or the mostmon of all- dressing up in all kinds of expensive and gaudy ways
This way they wished to convey that although Alexander might be their superior, in terms of blood and upbringing, they were better, and not something an upstart ve like Alexander couldpare.
Being a modern man who inherently saw all these people as barely civilized barbarians, the young pasha would only brush these acts off as a simple trip of the egotistical.
As long as these people performed their duties as asked, he could care less what they thought or said about him.
However, although Alexander was immune to such offense, the problem came with his wife Cambyses, who was not inocted as such.
Without the memory of belonging to a lush and supremely powerful civilization to fall back on them, the thin skinned young girl found such slights maddening to endure, especially as she longed to be epted by the nobility.
This longing was also all too natural.
After all, whichmoner did not dream of sitting and dining with these people who were seen as the pinnacle of human societal status?
However, while trying to do this, many of the nobledies would try in various ways to poke Cambyses, and unfortunately, she was unable to swallow these or look the other way.
As a girl in her early twenties who should be still in college, enjoying life to her fullest, the rtively immature Cambyses proved an easy target for the far more experienced and schemingdies, who were able to poke at all her greatest weaknesses, insidiously jabbing at her inherent faults, such as her heavy, thick ent that made her Azhak sound funny, her low birth that caused her manners not to be as refined as the others and most hurtful of all, the absence of her mother, who had died at childbirth.
Thedies taunted that she was like this because her mother did not teach her the appropriate manners, while the most vicious of the bunch even said that it was Cambyses who had killed her.
Of course, they never said this openly in a brazen way- that would be not only too rude but even suicidal. Alexander was still their lord and had too many ways to make their lives very difficult.
Just him sanctioning them from his goods would be too painful.
So all of it was very coded and innuendoed.
But perhaps this hurt Cambyses even more. If it had been open and out, she could have at least retained then and there.
However, the ''polite'' circumstance resulted in the girl simply taking it and numerous times she woulde back to Alexander in tears after attending a party,ining to him how she was bullied and asking him to punish them.
Alexander would then have to spend a lot of time cating his mistress and help her build her confidence, as well as teach her how to deal with them next time.
Now getting back to the point- the fact that these nobles had little scalps about even antagonizing Alexander when showing off, truly showed how proud they were of their culture.
It was not something a scattered group of barbaric tribes who killed one or two of each other''s men every other day over something trivial as a broken pottery could contend with.
Hence, armed with this moral superiority, Alexander continued, his voice now booming,
"You call us outsiders as a way to belittle us. It is your way of expressing the hatred for stealing your ind from you. Heh! Ridiculous!
Land has never belonged to any one tribe or country. Since the sun started rising in the east,nd has always belonged to the strongest.
You were weak so you got kicked out of your own homes. And now that the MV have gotten weak, they too are getting kicked out of their homes. This is the naturalw of the world. The sooner you people realize this, the better."
"......." Alexander''s words left the brawny chief once again unable to mount any counter, particrly because he knew what was being said was the absolute truth.
In this time and age, thew of the jungle prevailed, and if you were unable to defend yournd, then you deserved to get kicked in the nuts and be hounded out.
So after finally going back and forth on the matter, Metztil decided to swallow the bitter pill and clenching his fist,gritted out,
"Fine! I can agree to the proposal. But I will need to discuss with the elders before promising you the exact details of the deal."
This was rtively eptable to Alexander because he of course did not expect the negotiations to be finalized with just one single meeting.
"Great!" He thus cheered, before pressing, "But I hope to hear an answer with this week. The enemy will not wait for us to gather our strength. I will have my men ready by then."
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Chapter 1249: Metztils Choice
"Chief Metztil, I will need your answer by this week. And I hope by then, will have at least 10,000 men ready to march. Anyter, and I will look for other options."
Metztil recalled Alexander''s tight deadline as he slowly made his way back on the horse, the details of the new deal still tucked inside his coat.
And recalling all the things that had happened, a range ofplex emotions yed inside him.
He hade here with his war paint on, readying to snatch all that was promised to him. Yet, he left with ''mixed'' results.
The meeting with Alexander had been a very interesting one, to say the least, opening his eyes to so many different perspectives.
Among the many things that Alexander said, the ones that particrly stuck with him were the statements made about the state of the natives and the impossibility of their dreams.
Although Metztil hated to the bone to admit it, Alexander was right- wishing to get back to their old ways was little more than a pipe dream.
And besides, why would they?
Before the natives had the Margraves as the enemy, it was not like they were peaceful, white as driven snow saints.
Thew of the jungle had been there long before the others came to the ind, only back then, it was the various tribes that were busy tearing each other apart.
And sometimes they were even more brutal to each other than the outsiders, acting little more than like mindless animals.
It was hardly the utopian ce that mostmon natives were taught to believe.
And tragically, this culture even existed till now.
You would think after a few centuries of oppression, these tribes would band together and point all their aggression toward the one single group that was pushing them to extinction.
But nope!
The reality was quite the opposite.
The scarcity of resources like food andnd among the natives meant even more intensepetition, causing even more strife among the tribes.
Even Metztil''s own tribe was intimately involved in such conflict, and only got to the top of the food chain by taking advantage of the bloodshed.
During Metztil''s father''s generations, they had allied with a few other tribes to attack the previous top dog and swallowrge swathes of itsnd.
However, the general natives were sick and tired of such infighting, and so even if they were given the chance, Metztil doubted whether his people actually wanted to go back.
Perhaps it was only something they pretended to believe in, nodding in front of their shamans to put on the facade of reverence.
And even those that truly wished to remain ''untainted'', found it very hard. All the shiny and new things were too dazzling.
Most people could not resist having these goods.
If they could, Metztil would not have had to ban trade with the outside world. The people themselves would have enforced it.
However, they appeared to have be enamored with the outside world and wished to be a part of it.
And frankly, who could me them?
As the chief slowly paced through thesends, even he found himself very impressed by all the sight around him, feeling a slight longing to belong here.
By now, Metztil had left Lord Janus''s impoverished territory and crossed into one of the most prosperous areas north of Caira, and the architecture here did not disappoint.
The stone paved roads, the huge marbled temples, thevish bathhouses, the resplendent city centers, and the bustling markets, all sparkled with irresistible allure for the chief.
Even the ordinaryrge, tall, wooden buildings that lined the streets proved to be a marvel for Metztil, as they dwarfed even the hut he lived in, the biggest and most prosperous in the tribe.
It made the man wonder how anyone could have built so many such impressive structures.
Many of these buildings were built so close to each other that it looked like one giant rectangr block.
And around these was a sea of people, all bustling with great purpose and movement, as if they did not have a single second to waste.
They intensely argued with each other over various things or with the traders strewn all across the street, haggling over things that were known and unknown to the natives.
On one side, Metztil recognized the sale of all kinds of food - be it fruits, nuts, grain, fish, or meat, some of which the man recognized and others he did not.
While some distance away, there were cksmiths selling- knives, axes, hammers, nails, plows, and many other tools.
In one corner, there were numerous bolts of clothes in mesmerizing colors of red, blue, and yellow, that stunned even someone as privileged as Metztil, one who had the best clothes the Helvati had to offer.
Andstly, there were various other paraphernalia and babbles scattered all about, too numerous to name, including clothed dolls, wooden toys of many animals, religious charms like beads, leather items like pouches, bags, shoes, and belts, and even a small shop that sold bits and piece of ss.
Even though this was not the first time Metztil had seen this, the sheer prosperity on disy still left him stunned, for such huge gatherings and business volume only urred during their annual celebrations.
And even then, perhaps there would be even one tenth of the variety present there.
Yet, this was a normal day for the ''outsiders''.
The amount of people here as well as their wealth left Metztil feeling a bit sad over his and his people''sck.
He called Alexander''s words and confirmed indeed they were the minority here.
Then suddenly, after salivating at the wealth on disy for a while, Metztil''s thoughts turned from regret to greed and envy, wishing to take all that was for him.
No wonder the people were so excited when they heard about the deal- the prospect of getting so many things for ''free'' was too great an opportunity to pass up.
It was only aftering out of his tribe on his excursion that Metztil finally understood their zeal.
And at some point, Metztil even felt rueful that he had not haggled with Alexander a bit harder.
If he had known about the wealth here, Metztil would not have definitely tried to exchange some of that 1,500 sq. kilometernd for a city like this.
However, deep down, the chief also knew his request would have been very unlikely to be granted.
And even if he did, they would most likely not know how to operate it. Lord Janus was indeed right.
It was amidst these thoughts that night fell for Metztil and his entourage, and so they decided to take lodging at the only inn there was in the town they were in.
Continue your journey on m|v-l''e -NovelBin
As said earlier, the distance from Gaint City to the northern border was around eighty kilometers, and even on a fast hour, it needed two days toplete.
And given Metztil had left the manor after a hearty lunch, the only way they would have been able to reach his ce before dusk would have been by cars.
However, as soon as they entered this inn in the city, Metztil and his men''s distinct appearance quickly brought many unkind eyes, with many of the patrons instantly recognizing them.
The natives and those from northern Sybarsis looked very distinctly different and even though Metztil had rubbed off his war paint from his face, it did not even take a second nce to know who they were.
Instantly, various whispers of derogatory names for the natives were hushed out by the vige folk, be it- thieves, bandits, barbarians, uncouth, or mad dogs, you name it.
Alexander was wrong to assume it was only the natives whobeled others.
The fault went both ways with the Sybarians also having little love for these raiders who regrly attacked and looted their possession.
This was not the first time Metztil experienced xenophobia, nor would it be thest.
Thus the man simply ignored the hostile eyes, while the hostile also reluctantly turned away, not willing to antagonize a group as tough looking and armed as Metztil.
If it had been anything else, these people would have surely robbed the entourage, if not worse.
They knew the city guards would never bother toe after them for a bunch of ''barbarians''. In fact, they might even help them take care of these ''nay do wellers''.
Metztil''s menacing appearance and bold, fantastic armor, allowed him to freely enter the inn and after witnessing the most forced, ugly smile from the innkeeper got the best rooms and ordered a hearty supper.
If the owner was not scared of having his neck snapped, he would have certainly pretended he was full.
Metztil wondered how his people would be protected from all this as Alexander had promised.
Metztil reached his tribe the next day near dusk, having pushed his horse to its limit. And immediately sought his wife, letting her know of the result.
"Hmmm¡. this is better than I expected." And after hearing everything, surprisingly, this strategist did not sound too disappointed.
Rather, she optimisticallymented, "There will might be a way out for us. As that Alexander said¡ we need to sell this properly."
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Chapter 1250: Metztils Choice (Part-2)
Metztil called for a meeting with the elders the very next day arrival after getting back, wishing to discuss Alexander''s offer.
"Chief, this was not what was promised to us."
And after hearing the details of it, the first to raise the objection was a young middle aged looking man with a thick mustache, "The Helvati people have been wishing for much more."
Named Tepin, this was Metztil''s biggest rival.
And towards this troublemaker, Metztil let out an impatient chirp, swatting his palms in a hurried manner,
"Everyone knows that deal was nothing more than hyperbolics. I will not bother wasting any time arguing with you on the details. Alexander has already drawn out his red line. Just tell me, do you agree or not?"
"....." The council of elders did not expect Metztil to be this impatient and turned to look at each other to see what the other thought.
Preferably they would have liked to sleep on the matter for a few days. After all, they had just been informed of the matter and it did not seem prudent to jump to answer so quickly.
Hence the eldest and most respected of them, an elder woman who was also the former chief shaman coughed up in a rough, gravelly, voice,
"Do not be so hasty my child. This requires careful consideration. Let us wait a few days. Talk to the other tribes. We will be deciding on the future of the tribe after all¡. perhaps even life or death.
"
Metztil visibly frowned after hearing this.
Because although it sounded all good and sensible, he knew a major source of his troubles originated from this old hag, who was Tepin''s mother.
Without her considerable backing, Metztil would have made a move on the man long, long ago.
Needless to say, he had no goodwill towards her advice.
So, just like his wife advised, Metztil insisted,
"We do not have the time to wait and discuss things like a bunch of old coots. Alexander ns to strike the enemy within this week. We need to be there by then. Yes or no, we must agree here and now."
Metztil used the time limit set by Alexander to pressure the elders into giving him an answer here and now. Because he knew the more he waited, the moreplex a web they could spin for him. For a straight forward man like him, that could only be disadvantageous.
Not to mention, he, by principle, did not like dragging his feet- endlessly talking and discussing like these elders.
As a man of action, he much preferred to resolve things the old fashioned way.
Metztil''s not so subtle jab at the former chief shaman''s age did not go unnoticed by any, and the olddy''s wrinkled face darkened to form a greater frown.
No woman liked being poked about her age, and that went for even someone as old as her.
So the elderdy was about to chastise this younger generation for such a rudement when suddenly another man interrupted with a generous hum,
"Mmmm¡ I too agree with the chief. Although this is not exactly what was promised to us, the deal is not too bad either. If we were to overreach, we might risk losing it all. Then we will have no ce to hide our tears."
The one to express such unconditional support was Metztil''s only staunch ally in the council, a tall, slim man with a small stumble named Yaotl.
"The people deserve better. This is not what was promised to them." However, the support was instantly and loudly attacked by Tepin, suppressing the much less influential man.
Then ignoring the sullen man, the moustached man turned to almost re at his chief,
"Metztil, like my mother said, we should at least discuss the matter with the tribes. It will hardly take more than a day or two. We can even send runners right now!"
Tepin very much wanted to contact these external tribes because among them were a lot of his supporters. He had promised their chiefs various benefits such as tributes and women to back his im of recing Metztil.
Thus naturally he was anxious to contact his donors and summon them for this great meeting.
And when Metztil brought up the matter of being short on time, the clever man snorted disdainfully,
"We have not even agreed to the deal but you are already sitting and standing to that man''s order Metztil. Heh, I never knew you were such ackey of those outsiders."
"Bam! You¡. what did you say, Tepin? What did you say? I dare you¡. " The mere instion that was expressed by these words was enough to send the much more passionate Metztil into a blind rage, gnashing his teeth while looking at Tepin as if he could swallow the man whole.
In the Helvati, fist fights and even full fledged brawls were hardly umon during such meetings and there were even records of chiefs simply killing their advisers, or vice versa during such incidents.
And for now, it looked like Metztil was ready to repeat exactly that, clenching his fist and getting to pounch on the man.
Too bad, this was also exactly what Tepin wanted.
Once such a fight broke out, the ensuing chaos would naturally mean the breakdown of the meeting for today.
It would be very hard for Metztil to reconvene the elders anytime soon.
These old foxes could use a hundred different excuses like feigning illness, promise of other appointments, or simply forgetfulness to dodge Metztil.
Today they had been unable to do such a thing because they were too curious to know of the deal''s results. They had toe lest they get left out of some important decisions.
So the Helvati people got to witness a rare sight where the elders were gathered in one ce.
But if Metztil were to start a brawl, that very somber atmosphere of the meeting would shatter. And by the end of throwing all the punches, kicks, and jabs, most men would be too busy nursing their broken, bloody for a few days to care about any meetings or deals.
A few days that Tepin could very well use.
However, just as Metztil was about to pounce into the trap, he was saved by the unlikeliest of allies.
"Now now¡calm down. Tepin, that was highly inappropriate of you. Metztil is still your chief. This is no way to talk to him! You should apologize."
The rough, wizened voice of the old ex shaman was like a cool, temperate breeze blowing over the incensed Metztil and it made him feel suddenly very calm.
Or perhaps the more urate word would be ''surprised'', because this was the first time he had seen the mother son duo disagree when going up against him.
It made Metztil wonder if it was a ''good cop- bad cop'' thing.
Tepin pretended to be the bad man pushing Metztil towards the edge, while his mother swooped in like a hero at thest second to save the battered chief.
Such a thing would not be their first rodeo.
All such surprises were however quickly erased as Tepin''s mother quickly spoke up, now turning to Metztil to lightly chide,
"But what Tepin said is indeed right. Who is this Alexander anyway? Why should we dance to whatever he says? He needs our help far more than we need his!"
Ah, here it came.
Although it might have seemed like she had just saved Metztil, she was actually sending the man a warning.
By clearly buttressing her son''s words, she was saying that Metztil should agree to dy the decision, or next time, he would not be so lucky.
"..." Metztil had hardly ever won against his mother son pair, their eloquence, and scheming proving too strange and mysterious to see through for this simple chief.
So other than producing a bitter face, he could do little and began to resolve himself to the fact that his scheme had failed.
Once Tepin got his way and the other tribes got involved, they would surely drag their feet until the deadline passed and use that excuse to easily depose him.
The thought made Metztil extremely aggrieved, as he saw all the power, wealth and women he had turning to dust before him, before and he and his family joined that pile, to be then all be blown away by a gust of wind.
Then momentster that regret turned to anger, and unnoticed by anybody, hidden by the table, his hands grabbed for the dirk on his waist.
If he could not stay in power by diplomacy, he would do so with force.
He had held off on doing something so radical because Tepin and his other allies also processed a significant force themselves, and thest thing Metztil wanted to do was start a civil war involving not only the Helvati, but many of the other surrounding tribes as well.
It would have been a tribal ''world war''.
And other than considering the devastaion such a huge scale conflict would cause, severely weakening or even destroying the natives as a separate identity, the much greater reason behind Metztil''s benevolence was becuase he thought he had very little hope of winning.
However now with Alexander joining the equation, the calculus had suddenly changed!
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Chapter 1251: Atzi
The war like bellicose Metztil had already thought of using military force when troubles began to first brew.
But was staunchly warned against doing such a foolish thing by his wife.
She quickly showed him during such a crisis, he would be able to produce at best 10,000 men from the fractured Helvati and other allied tribes.
Whereas Tepin''s supporters would likely wield twice as much if not much more.
Facing such a mismatch, the Helvati people would likely flip on Metztil even before the man could march to war.
After all, many natives would have their friends and families in that army, and they would hardly consent to see them sacrificed for Metztil''s foolish ambitions.
This chief was not charismatic like Alexander to be able to wield theplete support of his subjects.
Hence afraid of being ousted by a popr uprising from people who were sick of war, the man could only grit his teeth and endure.
Now though things had changed.
Metztil thought that if were to ally himself with Alexander, with this external aid, he would be able to crush all internal and external threats.
This gripping the handle of his dirk hanging by the waist tightly, his eyes turned thus razor sharp and he appeared like a cougar imminently about to jump.
"Why should we tell the other tribes about our deal?" When suddenly this melodious voice rang into his ear, stunning him into a pause.
It came from beyond the thin ps that acted as the conference room''s door, and Metztil instantly recognized it.
And so did all the others, as they turned their heads to see a woman stepping into the restricted room with steady steps showing no scruples whatsoever.
Of medium build and height, she was extremely in looking, and simrly wore in clothes- a very baggy white full sleeved gown over which was draped a simple, red shawl to fight the biting chill of the winter.
Her looks were hardly distinguishable from any other native woman living in this vast area. However if one thought she would be able to easily mix herself in a sea of crowd like any othermonerer, they would be grossly mistaken.
For her gaze, movement, and bodynguage all exuded a level of confidence and poise that made most people not even dare to look at her eyes.
She possessed such a remarkable air of elegant temperament that it was hard toe by even among ten thousand women, clearly showing she had held a position of great power for a very long time.
As you have probably guessed, this was Atzi- the current chief shaman and Metztil''s wife.
As the middle aged woman slowly made her way towards her husband, the other elders gave a respectable nod of recognition to this powerful figure, each producing aplicated mix of emotions.
They of course knew who was the brains behind all the brawl of their chief, and had counted on her being absent for the negotiations.
That would have made things so much easier.
''What are the guards doing?'' Some of them hence cursed, wishing to beat those worthless men for being little more than ''living statues''.
But they also knew deep down they were barking up the wrong tree here.
This chief shaman was not something those poor men could deal with.
As the divine reincarnation of the tribe''s spirit, she could go anywhere she wished within its grounds without any scruples.
Even other people''s homes and houses were within her preview.
And denying her ess would be like denying the divine.
Such sphemy was unimaginable for any tribal man.
Hence thedy did not need to utter a peep when she came here.
As soon as the guards saw her walking towards them, they bowed and gave away, and got a grateful nod and a slight smile in return.
This was how she was able to make all the way up here without raising any rms
"Atzi¡ it is not appropriate for you toe here. You should know better."
However, although the chief shaman was technically allowed to go anywhere within the tribe as she pleased, the reality was a bit different than what was written on paper.
There were some unwritten tactic restrictions even she had to follow.
One of which was that chief shamans were heavily discouraged from engaging in politics.
This was because as the representative of the divine spirit, it was assumed they should not taint themselves with the filth of politics, that they should concentrate on only serving the people, and not be concerned with their governance.
In this way, the elders and the chiefs tried to separate civilian rule from religion.
Of course, beyond all these flowery words and deceitful veil,id the real reason, which was the always present hunger for power and influence.
Since the chiefs were publicly believed to be divinely appointed, they were considered the heart of the tribe and simply too powerful for any chief or elder to contend with.
Recall that people with such powerful titles were usually called kings and emperors.
And indeed long ago, such was the case.
The chief shaman was also the chief of the tribe,.
But around a few centuries ago, the elites plotted to have it changed.
They did this because when as powerful being as that dipped their hands in the pie, all the others were left with little more than bread crumbs.
The various forces felt too dissatisfied with such meager scraps. They wanted to eat the meat too, not just drink the soup.
Hence to suppress the clergy, the Helvati elite banded together and using an easily manipted shaman who was ambitious way beyond her capability, cleverly decreed that only women could be chief shamans.
They said both men and women could be shamans there was no problem with that, but only females could be the head.
When this was first introduced, there was obviously intense bacsh from among the men, who naturally thought themselves to be superior to the women and demanded such aw be revoked.
And listening to them, initially, the elites tried to change the doctrine of their belief itself, such as iming the tribe''s spirit lived in them all and there was no divine representative among them.
That however proved to be an absolute PR disaster, as by then the tribe''s belief had be solidified in the people''s hearts.
Formed over almost a thousand years, this was the core, central part of it.
So when it was attacked and so tantly at that, it drew the universal ire of the people, and many of these plotters were even outright killed by the rioting clergymen and thew was temporarily abolished.
But after a few decades, under the relentless yoke of the abusive shamans, the descendants of those same elite once again tried to change it.
And this time they came up with various other reasons to justify this decision.
Such as saying that women were more suited to house the spirit because they were mothers and the spirit was like their child, resting in their womb and being lovingly cherished there.
And iming that as women they could stay inside the tribe and always protect it, while men had to go and fight wars.
''What would happen if our chief shaman died beyond the walls of our tribe?'' They raised rmingly, thus bringing great fear to the people.
After all, the chief shaman dying inside the tribe was not considered too great a tragedy because the people believed the spirit in her would return to thends underneath and from there choose a new sessor.
But what if they were in unknown, foreignnds?
Wouldn''t their sacred protector get lost then?
Using such reasons and more, those clever elites got their way, and from then now, it was implicitly agreed that a chief shaman would never concern herself with the mundane matter of the tribe.
Hence once she took a seat beside her husband, the first words to greet her were objections about her presence, and it came from none other than the former chief shaman, the mother of her husband''s chief rival, and to add even more to that title- Atzi''s former master.
But given the two''s title, this was only natural.
Unlike holding on to the post till death, the Helvati tradition dictated that once the chief shaman had reached a certain age, she had to hand over the position to her sessor.
And in this instance, that handover had not been smooth.
This was because Atzi was chosen as the sessor under very special circumstances. Tepin''s mother had suddenly fallen gravely ill back then and it was assumed she was not going to make it.
So the elders had hurriedly begun to look for her sessor. And ultimately Atzi was chosen after stirking a backroom deal was struck with her master.
The former chief shaman promised to make Atzi her sessor, in exchange Atzi was to marry Tepin, her master''s son and the most promising male shaman.
However, Atzi went back on her word after getting the position, because she saw this arrangement as her master trying to puppet her using her son.
So instead, Atzi chose Metzil, and this inevitably caused an irreparable divide among the former pupil and master.
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Chapter 1252: Atzi (Part-2)
There were three main reasons why a chief shaman was made to give up her throne before she reached the end of her lifetime.
The theological reason was that as one got older, they got weaker and weaker until they were no longer the best vessel for the divine spirit.
The political reason was so that one person did not hold onto power for too long.
While the societal reason was to avoid a sessor war if the chief shaman suddenly died without nominating her champion.
Thatst reason however was a bit weak because it was not like chief shamans were immune to diseases or injuries.
Many many had died prematurely to various illnesses and even assassinations without leaving a clear sessor behind.
When that happened, it predictively led to various strife and internal chaos.
But overall, history provided unequivocal evidence that the practice of removing chief shamans by their sixty-th birthday had brought great stability to the Helvati.
Take this particr for instance-, if Atzi had not been the chief shaman but her master, without that bncing force, Metztil would see no other way out than tounch a military coup to try and keep his position.
The amount of blood and death it would have caused has already been discussed.
The elderly former shaman produced aplex look as she saw her most treasured pupil take her seat beside her chief husband.
In a way, she was very proud of her student''s achievements, but in other ways, she was extremely angry with her.
She had lost count of how many sleepless nights she spent cursing Atzi for tricking her.
The current chief shaman was able to annul her marriage arrangement using a very clever reasoning.
When was presented with the deal, she pretended to ept it, but slyly added the use that she be allowed to dy the union until she took the mantle.
The reasoning she put forth was the concern that if she were to so tantly marry the son of the former chief shaman, people would misunderstand her actions as simply ''buying'' her way in, Which in fairness was what was indeed happening.
But the upper echelon had every incentive to hide the truth from the general public. It would be too scandalous if it were to get out that the seat to the divine was sold for such a paltry twice.
The names Atzi would have to endure then could easily be imagined. Your next read awaits at m,v -NovelBin
Hence to avoid people inevitably talking about how she got the job by spreading her leg, Atzi decided to push back the ceremony until things calmed down.
Hence during her appointment ceremony, she presented herself to the people as a pure maiden, unmarred and untainted by lust or any other filthy human touches.
And just like she had predicted, it worked.
After her session was dered, even though the then youngdy''s looks were nothing to look at twice, just her status and temperament were enough to draw many admirers.
They all wondered who the lucky man would be to marry such a powerful woman.
The Helvati had no writtenw against chief shamans marrying or having children.
In fact most chief shamans would have families by the time they rose to such distinguished positions.
Only a very few shamans chose to remain to celebrate, as it was generally considered one was close to nature when they acted as mothers- a mother for her children, as well as a mother for the tribal spirit.
And among the man who was most expectant to make thedy into a mother was naturally Tepin, who snickered at the talks of these uninformed masses all while swimming in his dream of having the entire dominion of the Helvati within his fingertips.
However, as you already know, things went a bit wry here.
Atiz very well understood the game being yed here.
Her master wanted her to simply be a puppet under Tepin, who would then use her position to take over the tribe once the childless chief kneeled over.
He was the most highly ranked male shaman of the tribe and if the chief shaman who was also his wife were to endorse him, Tepin''s chances of sess were actually very high.
But although the prospect of having so much more power also attracted the ambitious woman, the problem was that Atzi personally hated her senior brother to his guts.
There were many nasty rumors around him, such as him killing and maiming many ves in secret, and worse, she even had credible evidence he had abused and killed a fellow shaman sister of hers.
If it was just the former, Atzi might have been able to still swallow it- after all, ves were little more than animated tools who could walk and speak.
However, the murder of a fellow tribe member proved to be an absolute deal breaker.
It was just too bad that she was unable to seek justice due to the man''s powerful mother, even when she was solid evidence.
Besides, given the near totalck of forensic investigation know how, most such usations came to he said, she said.
Atiz very well knew whatever evidence she produced would be circumstantial at best, and the elders would choose to side with the former chief shaman even if they knew the truth.
This was just how things were in the Helvati- you scratch my back and I will scratch yours.
The powerful always had each other''s back.
Hence the youngdy had no other option than to ept the fact.
However, she at least vowed that she would never let herself be caught with this sadistic man.
Thus, Atzi began to drag her feet when the time came to pay up, citing various mundane reasons, be it feigning illness or expressing doubt over the people''s eptance of such a marriage and wishing to wait a bit longer until things settled down.
But no matter how many days went by, things never seemed to ''settle down'' for her, at least not enough.
Atzi did this hoping to wait until her former master passed away from her illness, before simply reneging on her promise.
However here she suddenly hit a major stumbling block- the former shaman who was thought to be uncurable and destined to die suddenly recovered!
It was a miracle.
And that sent electrifying shockwaves down Atzi''s heart.
Instead of feeling an ounce of happiness at her teacher''s survival, Atzi only felt like an ant on a hot pan.
Not only was her n thrown into aplete wrench, but she was even afraid she would have her title snatched.
There had been never such a precedence, of the former chief taking back her post after giving it,but neither had anyone been ever elected like Atzi had.
The lone, young age was alone and powerless.
Hence, before her master could recover and y her hand, the ever decisive girl made her move and threw her lot with her to be husband Metztil.
Back then Metztil was a rising star of the tribe, a champion warrior who was said to be unmatched in singlebat not only among the Helvati but the entire native poption.
His father was also a renowned general in charge of the tribe''s security, as well as a war hero who had taken part in the fight that defeated the previous strongest tribe and cemented the Helvati''s position.
This made Metztil also a very strong contender for the childless chief''s seat.
Combine that with Atzi''s position as the chief shaman, the pair were able to quickly supnt Tepin through a well organized, nned out coup,bined with some gold old lucky timing.
Back then, the tribe was going through a very rough drought, and so, just like Amenheraft had done, Metztil led a massive excursion into the surrounding tribes, taking their grain stocks for himself.
And he had done thispletely without any of the elder''s knowledge or permission.
Even the men themselves only found out about it once they were standing in front of their target''s walls.
Metztil had cleverly divided his army into many smaller chunks and simply told them they were simply going out to forage for food for the tribe.
This sudden and out of nowhere attack caught all the tribespletely unaware, as none of their spies had even hinted at such an attack.
Thus Metztil was able to simply waltz in and secure enormous amounts of grain with very few casualties.
And when he distributed that looted food for free to the people, the previously rtively lukewarm tribe suddenly turned into his most loyal followers.
Of course, this food was not actually free.
Masterminded by his wife, Metztil had in reality made a deal with the ruling elites of the tribe- proposing to swap grain for the chief''s seat.
The then current chief naturally went ballistic after hearing this offer, and refused to even entertain the idea, simply waving his arm dismissively with the single word- ''Ridiculous!''
However the other nobles were not so staunch.
Faced with an empty stomach and the very real possibility of them and their family starving to death, they plotted with Metztil to kill the man.
And they seeded.
In this way, Metztil was able to side step Tepin to take the tribe''s mantle.
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Chapter 1253 : Metztils Choice (Part-3)
That drought from two decades ago might have been a tragedy for the natives as a whole, but for the Helvati and Metztil, it was nothing but an absolute boon.
They were able to use that time to grow strong in number, while almost every other tribe lost people, weakening them. The loss ranged anywhere from 5 percent to a staggering 20 percent for the smaller, weaker tribes.
Then, under Atzi''s advice, Metztil quickly capitalized on this hunger too, using the same tactic he used with the elites.
By offering to sell grain, he brought the loyalty of a few surrounding suffering tribes while any tribe that did not support Metztil or had a previous conflict with him was attacked and looted of their stocks, resulting in mass famine.
In this way, the Helvati cut down itspetitors while at the same time strengthening itself.
It would not be wrong to say the dominant position the Helvati enjoyed was due to them capitalizing on that disaster.
And the people back then rejoiced about Metztil''s strong arming tactics.
No one ever bothered to raise any objection about such daylight robbery because in this dog eat dog world, it was us or them.
As Metztil''s poprity soared, the elites also began to favor him more and more, while Tepin and his mother found themselvespletely on the backfoot.
At first, they were still able to publicly raise loud voices decrying Metztil''s acts and privately pressure Atzi to follow through on her word or risk having her position dered void.
Back then even many elites joined this voice, both due to being the former chief shaman''s supporters or simply out of righteousness.
After all, it was an undeniable fact that Atzi did make the deal, there were too many witnesses around her to deny it.
So in actuality, she was in the wrong here.
And most elites did not like a chief shaman who was flippant with her words.
Not only were they worried such a thing could happen to them as well, but many also simply found it morally wrong.
As the divine reincarnation of their tribal spirit, Atzi was supported to embody the pinnacle of purity and superior morality.
Hence initially there were many detractors who pressed the youngdy to keep her word.
But the stubborn young woman simply gritted her and refused to bend.
Not only that, she even put forth a strong defense, iming to the elites that she had only made the deal under duress and that the offer was made in bad faith.
ording to her, her master was trying to politicize the neutral position of the chief shaman using her and this went against her principles.
That was the reason why she refused to follow through with her word- not for her own selfish desires, but for the greater good of the tribe.
And in that same vein, that was also why she refused to step down fearing her sessor would not be as intractable and ''pure'' as her.
You would have to give it to thedy- she was a politician by birth. The way she presented herself was simply the work of a genius.
This was also why the elites felt a great headache when dealing with her.
They were of course more than aware of the backdoor dealing as well as its details, but there were some things you simply could not say aloud even if they were true.
It was simply too shameful.
They could never let themon people know about this or their faith in all the shamans would crumble.
The former chief shaman naturally vehemently denied having any such designs and only insisted that Atzi was the perfect daughter inw for her son and that only someone as noble and of high status as her was fit to take his hand.
In this way, those days were filled with various quarrels and bickering, each side trying to pressure the other side that they were wrong.
Atiz endured it all while banking everything on her ''then lover''s'' sess. It was a brutal race against time.
Thankfully for her, the gamble paid off.
As Metztil began to get sess, as its dividends, the pressure began to slowly subside.
The elites went from iming that ''Tepin has every right to demand Atzi''s hand in marriage or she should be removed from the post,'' to now just urging her to ''do the right thing''.
After some time, the words turned even more lukewarm, as then they started to only say that-
''As the chief shaman and the mother of the sacred spirit, Atzi had the right to do whatever she thought was best for herself and the tribe.''
Lastly, when Metztil killed the chief and took his seat with popr support, the narrative flippedpletely.
Dazed and dazzled by the result and simply being bought by Metztil, these elites began to ignore the mother son duo altogether and instead began to loudly express their support for the marriage between their newly elected chief and the chief shaman.
By that point, the pair knew the game was all but sealed for them.
So Tepin and his mother quickly switched strategies, going from contending for the chief''s seat to just trying to keep their lives.
To do this, Tepin''s mother used thest of her influence as the former chief shaman to have the elites guarantee her and her son''s life, using Atzi''s promise as coteral.
After all, it would not look good for Atzi if details of the chief shaman breaking her promise were to be released to the public.
And luckily for the former chief shaman, the elites epted her ''pawned item''.
Many of them, especially the high ranking shamans were peeved at Atzi going back on her word, believing itpletely against their teaching.
While the politicians were more angry over Atzi''s increasingly intimate involvement in the tribe''s politics.
This broke too many unwritten traditions.
Hence they guaranteed the mother son duo''s safety- hoping to use them as a trump card against her if the need should ever arise.
Now, when this was announced, predictably both Atzi and Metztil were furious.
''A cruel stab in the back'' they called it.
These two were their closest rivals and surely they wanted to eliminate them as soon as they could/.
Especially Atzi dreamt night and day of taking care of this hidden danger once and for all. She too knew of the risk of letting her master live.
Unfortunately however at the time, they had little political capital to do anything about it.
They were too busy dealing with taking over the recently deceased chief''s seat as well as arranging their marriage.
So they had no choice but to wait.
But as time went on, Metztil simply started to ck in his vignce.
Although he was urged by his wife to act, after getting all that he wanted, and with the whole tribe at his fingertips, he thought himself to be invincible.
At the same time, Tepin seemed to have turned over apletely new leaf and was helping Metztil wholeheartedly in ruling the tribe.
He dealt with all opposition and even led the army in quite a few victories.
For all intents and purposes, Tepin appeared to be in Metztil''s camps.
This caused Metztil to think that the man had changed and that his wife was simply being paranoid.
In this way, Metztil simply forgot how he muscled his way to the top, sidestepping Tepin to take the throne.
He also forgot the rough way he dealt with the other tribes, and after a decade of festering, all of it atst came to bite him.
The lull had allowed his enemies to gather and strengthen themselves.
And this was how Metztil was in the position he was in now.
As Atiz looked around the table she felt a very frustrated feeling in her heart, feeling if not for her husband''s carelessness, things would have never turned so sour.
But there was little point in crying over spilled milk.
Hence, ignoring her former master''sment about it being inappropriate for her to be here, the in lookingdy simplymented,
"I do not understand why we are arguing about informing the other tribes. What do they have to do with this? This deal is only between us and Alxx. Those chieftains said it themselves- that they know nothing of the deal. So why should we share thend with them?"
"We Helvati alone can raise 10,000 men. 15,000 if we mobilize everybody. This is more than enough! Since those tribes did not share our sorrows, why should we bother to share our joys?"
The deration sent bolts of thunders steaking across each and every man''s heart hearing this.
Not even Metztil dared to have such a big appetite.
Swallow the entire reward for themselves? The thought was too fearful¡.
But also too tempting.
"Bam! It''s decided then." Metztil was the first to give in, unable to resist the allure.
Thus banging his palms on the table with an immense p, he dered, "We will agree to Alexander''s deal. Yaotl! Get the army ready. We march in two days!"
The rest of the council elders could only nod, for they did not have the will to argue
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Chapter 1254 : Behind Metztils Back
"Mother! Are we going to give up just like that?"
As Tepin left the chief''s hut with an unwilling gait, he asked this with the most bitter tone he could muster.
It was clear not only was he very unsatisfied with how the meeting had ended, but seemed to also reproach his mother for not trying hard enough.
After Atzi had made the proposal to take the entire offered area for themselves, the rest of the neutral nobles almost instantly agreed, voicing their agreement with great crity,
"The chief shaman said it right! We Helvati are the biggest and strongest tribe! Why should we bother to ask for help from others? Since they don''t wish to help us, we will do it without them, haha¡ ha."
Atzi only needed to show the barest proof of feasibility for these men to jump blindly at the idea, boisterously supporting their chief.
All because of one thing- Greed!
It was a terrible avarice that could make men lose all their faculties.
"Sigh!" The elderly former shaman of course very well understood this.
Which was why she also understood that arguing with them would have been moot.
But at the end of the day, she also could not fault them too much. The offered bait was toorge for these men to ignore.
To give one an idea of the scale of the rewards, the total area the natives had was only around 40, 000 to 50,000 sq. km.
And even then about half of that that was uninhabitable swamps, marshes, and hills inhabited by only a scattered rag tag of the smallest and weakest tribes.
This meant that the roughly half a million natives basically lived in an area half of what was being offered.
How could the men not lose their minds at the thought of being able to control and live in an area twice their entire current holdings?
It was very understandable.
"Greed is a terrible sin, my child¡. Terrible sin." Thus towards the using facade of her son, the elderly shaman could only chime this while ruefully shaking her head.
It was unknown whether the old man wasmenting the noble''s cupidity andck of foresight for rolling everything on such a risky move or over her own greed for hankering after the throne for so long.
"..." While hearing this, Tepin produced aplex, mixed gaze.
The sinct answer clearly conveyed that his mother was content with the decision and had no wish to fight it.
Tepin guessed perhaps this was because deep inside, she too supported the decision in principle, and wished to see her tribe seed and thrive.
Or perhaps it was because she had be too tired and old to keep up this old feud going.
Whatever the case, thisst move by her former pupil seemed to have been thest knockout blow.
However, the young Tepin thought very differently.
He was a man who had decades to live, and simply could not stand by and watch his life hit a dead end just like that.
''No! I am not like my mother. She already has one foot into the grave. I cannot give up! It''s not over yet!'' Thinking like this, he thus decided to let her mother be and instead seek out his other coborators, confident that they would surely agree with them.
After all, these people had spent enormous amounts of time, money, and material just in thesest few weeks to try and trap Metztil.
There was no way they were going to sit by and suck their thumb while all their investment go down the drain just like that.
But when Tepin meet these people the next day, suddenly almost all of them began to sing a very different tune.
Some refused to simply see him outright, feigning othermitments, whereas most of the time until now they woulde running like a loyal pet the moment Tepin called.
While other simply advised Tepin to ept reality.
Only one, a high ranking military officer and Tepin''s close childhood friend actually chose to listen to what he had to say.
Tepin let off all that he had in his chest the moment he got the chance,
"Tayaca! What Metztil doing is foolish! You know it better than anyone. Raising 20,000 men by ourselves? That''s ridiculous! We do not even half as many.
And who will protect the tribe once the army is gone? You already know how our rtionship is with the other tribes. Should wee back to a ce where our mothers and daughters have been raped and our homes torched to the ground?
Tepin tried to show the military leader the dangers of going on this excursion.
"Last time I heard the chief wanted 10,000 to 15,000 men¡ not 20,000." However this military officer did not seem to take Tepin''s bait of hysterics, and first only calmly corrected this ''wrong''.
He easily detected that Tepin was trying to exaggerate the number to try and spread panic.
Then he continued in that same, neutral, cool voice,
"Also, your fears are nothing but the fantasies of a deranged man. Who is going to attack us when we have such a huge army? Even if we leave our gates wide open without a single guard, a donkey would consider thrice about our brutal retaliation.
Not to mention, at most, we will be within a week''s march from here Rest assured, there is no danger of us being harmed."
"....." Tepin only hatefully red at the calming sh of palm, finding the logical answer too bitter to swallow.
Hence, even though defeated, he refused to give up, and clenched out,
"What you say is only true if our army wins. What if this is all a trap? What if we are surrounded and all killed¡ perhaps this is all a trap? Those outsiders wish to finally aplish what they failed to dost time."
"Snort! Then what if it started raining pig tomorrow?" To Tayaca, Tepin''s words sounded more like he was cursing them, "Hmmmmp, there is risk in everything!"
So he replied as such with a cold snort as a sh of pure anger zed over his eyes.
The hidden meaning behind the words was clear- ''We have already taken all these into ount. And the potential benefits outweigh the risks."
"....." That was perhaps thest nail in Tepin''s coffin.
He understood the game was up.
Metztil had likely gotten to all his supporters and most probably promised them generous rewards in exchange for withdrawing their support for him.
And if that reward came in the form ofnd, Tepin could hardly me them for epting.
Due to the scarcity, the intensity of the struggle for good, arablend among the natives was something that needed to be seen to be believed.
Hell, if Metztil provided him with a big enough plot, even Tepin would be tempted to give up all his mischief.
Tepin produced a dejected sigh at the answer, as his face turned ck and bitter, emitting a helpless, forelone aura.
It was as if he had just lost a part of his soul.
Seeing this, Tayaca felt his heart turn a bit soft.
As his old childhood friend he could not help but feel a bit guilty for ''betraying'' him like that.
So he tried to smooth some of that ache, speaking in a very sincere, low, self depreciating voice,
"Do not me me Tepin. You know I would never support Metztil if he had just threatened me or out of mere benefits.
But you should know better than me the state of our tribe. Harvests have been falling each consecutive year and the chief shaman herself has predicted a great drought soon. We need newnd. There is no way out for us.
So you tell me¡. what should I have done? What use is ruling over a mountain of skeletons?"
Indeed, one of the reasons why the Helvati were willing to interact with Lord Janus in the first ce was because of their own difficulties.
The fact was after so many years of farming, the swampy, low grade soil was no longer arable.
The earth was nearing its life cycle and would likely not be able to produce decent crops for a few years while it recovered.
This naturally sent the Helvatis into full panic mood. They might not have understood the science behind this, but they knew the signs from hundreds of years of experience.
That was also why Atzi was able to so easily convince the nobles.
"...." While hearing Tayaca''s words, Tepin was at least d his friend was being frank with him.
Indeed, when he saw his friend turn his back on him, he med him for being a turncoat.
But perhaps he would have rather wished the man kept that image.
Because the sound, logical, answer broke the legs of Tepin''s anger.
Now it had no legs to stand on.
Thus he did not know how to feel when he heard his friend further console him,
"Don''t worry. I will not let anything happen to you. Your father''s name still carries a lot of respect in the army. He is still revered as a hero. Metztil will not dare to do anything.... as long as you do not cause toruble."
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Chapter 1255: Behind Metztils Back (Part-2)
Tepin very well understood what his childhood friend was trying to say by the phrase, ''....if you stay out of trouble.''
This was a clear warning on behalf of MM- Tepin was to either clean up his act or he would be dealt with ordingly.
The words cut the man deep, especially given it was uttered by his close friend.
However, he also knew this was Tayaca''sst favor to him- ignoring this ultimate warning would not end for him.
"...." Tepin left his friend''s house with a silent, thankful nod, and stepping out onto the streets, suddenly looked up into the sky to find that it was nearing dusk.
Darkness was beginning to fall like a rapidly descending curtain and people were hurriedly pacing across the roads, eager to return to their abode before they were plunged intoplete darkness.
This was because the Helvati, like almost all other people of the time, did not have street lighting.
So at night, it became pitch dark and too hard to navigate without a light source if one did not want to bump into something every few minutes.
And Tepin too joined the ''fleeing'' masses.
However contrary to what was expected, he was not rushing towards his home where his wife and children lived with his mother.
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Rather, possessing a sharp gaze that radiated a level of ambition unlike any time before, Tepin sped with hurried steps towards one of the main gates of the tribe, intent to cross it before it was closed off for the night.
''I must leave the tribe before the nighttime curfew sets in! There is no time to waste!'' He said to himself with a clenched fist.
That''s right!
Unlike his mother, Tepin was yet to throw in the towel.
He was instead determined to fight for the throne till the day he died, and no one was going to stop him.
But before he could keep his revolution going, Tepin first of all needed to flee.
The Helvati tribe was no longer a sanctuary for him.
His only hope was to take refuge in one of the other tribes that had supported him and hope they granted him asylum.
But even then, given the Helvati''s power, this would be a big ask from those tribes.
Yet, Tepin was willing to gamble on that small chance.
Because as they say- it''s not over until the fatdy sings.
Tepin tried to cross the fenced perimeter as soon as he could, hoping to leave before MM could wake up to his intentions.
Thus with dusk rapidly closing in, Tepin sped across the road with a brisque gait that nearly rivaled a running man.
The only reason he did not outright start running was because he was afraid it would alert others.
After all, as a senior shaman and one of the twelve supreme judges, he was quite a well known figure.
This clearly showed at how multiple people stopped to greet him while he was on his way to escape, with some even asking him why he was in such a rush.
Tepin managed to brush these people with a polite smile and used the excuse he was following orders from the chief to exin his hastiness.
But even then, the time used to disengage these nosy people ate up his precious reserves.
Time appeared to be rapidly running out for him and he knew once the tribe''s huge wooden gates were closed for the night, the only way to open them was for the sun to once again rise or obtain a written order from MM himself,
Hence Tepin cursed the typically friendly and helpful attitude of his people andmanded his leg to move faster, his heart beginning to pound faster and faster.
He breezed past the rows and rows of homes dotted on each side like a passing gale, and then,
''Dammit!'' suddenly cursed under his breath when he began to notice the various smallmps and torches lights peeking out from the side houses.
These were being hastily lit by blurry shadows, mostly likely ves or servants, who were working under the orders of their masters.
And the lightly worked as a kind of clock for him
This was because households would typically wait till thest rays of the sun melted out of the horizon before lighting their artificial light sources because of how expensive it was to use them.
Candles were out of the question for the regr people as even the lowest quality one was worth as much as their daily sry if not more.
They only dared to use oilmps or torches made of wood and perhaps coated with a biofuel like dried animal dung.
But even those were expensive to operate and so would only use them for around half an hour after dusk, just enough time to get all their things in order before hitting the bed.
Thus unlike filthy rich nobles like Alexander who dyed their supper until 8 o''clock or even 9 and ate under the illumination of hundreds of the highest qualitymps, normal people would make sure to finish eating before the sun went down.
This meant that the more soft glow of the fire began to appear before Tepin, the shorter the wick of his time candle got.
And once these glows disappeared, so too would his chance to escape, as the gate would be ordered to be closed by then.
Thus nearing thest stretch of his destination, the man could not help but break into a full fledgged sprint.
It was good that by then the streets had been basically abandoned.
"Wait! Wait! Under orders from the chief, halt! Do not close the gate!"
It seemed the gods were atst willing to smile at bit on the down and defeated man, as he managed to reach his destination just in the nick of time.
The soldiers were just undoing the mechanisms that locked the door in ce, and about to push the door close when Tepin let out this rmed shout.
" ''Our father'' Tepin! What are you doing sote?" Seeing the recognizable man, the guard captain naturally halted his men and then went up to personally greet the powerful man.
He found it very unusual for someone as high as Tepin to be out here given the time.
It was an unwrittenw among the Helvati that nighttime was a curfew.
Pragmatically it was because it was too dark to see or go anywhere. The curfew also effectively stamped out a lot of the crimes like thievery, robbery, murder, and even illicit rtions. As a matter of fact, the crime rate among the Helvati was surprisingly low given its size and the time period.
While religiously it was thought that night and day were divided into the two opposing divine forces.
Daytime was said to be when good spirits amicable to the humans were active, while the night belonged to the evil and malicious avarice of the world, foul and degenerate, intent on bringing evesting harm to living things.
In fact, the Helvati believed the sun to be the father of the ''friendly'' spirits, while the moon was the mother of all chaos and filth.
When ''She'' ruled, only selected people blessed by the shamans and carrying specially anointed torches could move around without being tainted by her corruption.
And these selected people were of course the guards on sentry duty up on the walls and those scant patrols on the streets.
Now, the guard''s captain did not expect anything foul from Tepin despite not being one of them. After all, the man before him was the highest ranking shaman after ''Our Mother- Atzi''.
He was one of the main people who would bless others for their night duty.
So how could there be anything to suspect about him? The captain was only curious given it was so unusual for Tepin to appear here.
"Orders from the chief. Let me through!" Tepin only repeated this monotone sentence, before quickly brushing the man, not willing to extend any opportunity to chit chat.
Given their difference in status, there was nothing Tepin needed to exin to the man.
"Ahhhhh! My father... You are going out of the tribe all alone? At night?" However, before Tepin could shake off the man, the guard''s caption once again called out from behind, this time out of the goodness of his heart.
And then without asking for an exnation simply offered, "Take a few of my men with you ''my father''. These roads are not safe. Especially now!"
The offer appeared very much resonate with his men too, as the chance to apany such a revered figure was the opportunity of a lifetime.
Many were driven by pure religious zeal, simply wishing to be wishing to be in service of such a great man.
While others hoped this would given them an opportunity to form an impression on the man.
They could not even imagine where their careers would go if they could.
Perhaps they would be able to even get a post as one of the grand temple guards, the most prestigious position attainable to them, and usually reserved for the children of nobility and powerful families.
Thus they quickly took their captain''s side and began to offer themselves as potential bodyguards, hoping to be chosen.
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Chapter 1256: Behind Metztils Back (Part-End)
The guards stationed near the gates showed each of their skills, describing it in the most exaggerated, shy way their limited vocabry allowed.
In front of the learned shaman, they could not use their usually vulgarnguage.
But among them, one man stood out from the rest. And that was due to how different his speech was from the rest.
A gentleman of elderly stature, this veteran man chimed up to sincerely note,
" ''Holy Father'' it is too dangerous to go out all alone on your own! We hear wolves and foxes howling all the time from the forests. Some evene out and gnaw at our walls, bitting at it madly. Half the animals go mad during this time of the year. Only inside here can the Great Father protect us all from all the evil of the Mother Goddess."
The pious man quickly offered a silent prayer as he reported the dangers thaty outside the tribe''s walls, cautioning Tepin out of genuine goodwill.
"Right! Even we do not dare go out alone." He was then quickly supported by the guard''s captain, who shed the spear he was holding and shook it a bit.
This was his subtle way of hinting at Tepin that the man was defenseless.
And truly, Tepin did not have so much as a dagger on him, for shamans were prohibited from carrying such crude items of blood and violence.
Not to mention the material it would be made out of.
A shaman carrying a steel item outside of war! Even someone as powerful and high ranked as Tepin would find it hard to w out of that outrageous scandal.
Any normal shaman would be stripped of his position and then be burnt at the stake.
But now such strict belief constraints wereing back to bite him in the rear.
It wasmon knowledge that many animals went crazy during winter, sometimes to the point of eating their own young.
It happened due to a scarcity of avable food.
But these primitive people did not know that and as usual, attributed the phenomenon to supernatural forces.
In the native religious beliefs, just like the night and day, the year too was evenly divided among the Father and Mother spirits, with the warmer months i.e. from April to September belonging to the ''good'' spirits, while the rest of the colder months from October to March belonged to ''Her'' malicious forces.
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This distinction had a profound social impact on the Helvati as well as other native tribes.
Marriages, childbirths, business ventures, and even the start of wars were dictated by which month they were in, and one of the factors the shamans used when making prophecies and fortune tellings was this.
All this meant that it would seem highly suspicious to the guards if Tepin were to leave his tribe all alone at night in the dead of winter. Not to mention dangerous.
Upon hearing the pleadings from the man, Tepin also realized this.
He had made the decision to leave the
So turning around he spoke, "The chief asked me to keep this an absolute secret, but I am on my way to ask the Mexxity for more men. We need their men for the war!"
"Mexxity!" The utterance of the word instantly brought equal parts hate and surprise.
They were the Helvati''s closest rival and seen as the source of at least eighty percent of all their troubles. Needless to say, the rtionship between the two was frosty at best.
So how could a high ranking man like Tepin be going to meet them at such an hour, they all thought?
"See! The chief sent me out in such a harsh time precisely because of this. Because he knew the people would not support him. But the fact is we need their men. You all must have heard of thend deal right?"
Of course, they had heard it. Tepin had spent thest few weeks doing nothing but stuffing the entire tribe''s ears with nothing but that.
"We heard the chief call for war today afternoon! So it''s true?" Tepin noticed the aura around them clearly the moment he brought up the mention of the deal.
All the lethargy and concern for him were washed away by this great wave of zealous energy. The allure of newnd was that potent to the natives.
Although Tepin had perfectly predicted this, but still, he found it eye opening.
He now perfectly understood how Atzi was able to turn even his strongest supporter against him within just a few short hours.
It might have sounded miraculous or even ridiculous, but if she were to promise themnd and then swear that Alexander would only negotiate with her and her husband, few would choose to remain with him.
After all, even if they werepletely blind loyal followers, Tepin would still have to reward them somehow for their service.
But the question was what could he offer that Metztil couldn''t?
He could not even match Metztil''s offer.
While if what Atzi said was true about the condition of the deal and the drought, killing Metztil now would likely make Tepin the greatest criminal of his tribe.
No true Helvati would be so blind as to sacrifice their entire tribe just for one man''s foolish ambitions.
Not when the result would be him forcefully gripping onto power only until the famine hit when the enraged people would likely barbeque and eat him.
When Tepin thought about it like that, he strangely no longer felt bitter about his loss.
In fact, a part of him now even wished Metztil to seed, because that would also mean his mother and children would have a greater chance of surviving.
But that did not mean was ready to throw in the towel for the chief''s seat himself.
Thus towards the excited guards, Tepin very sinctly retold a modified version of the story, one where it had been presumably secretly decided that the Helvati and Mexxity would ally together with Alexander.
"Due to the bad blood between us and to avoid riling up the people, the chief wants me to deliver a message to them, asking for our armies to march separately and only meet up once we have crossed the ''southern'' wall."
To the natives, the same ''northern wall'' of the Margraves was called the southern wall¡. because it was south of them.
"Ahhh!" And at this, the soldiers produced an ''enlightened'' look.
It was unknown how much they truly understood of the political ongoings but they were happy to be simply included in the conversation.
Formon folks like this, it proved to be the juiciest gossip. And like any old gossip, they did not bother to think twice about what was revealed.
And thus it was under an armed escort that Tepin was oh so helpfully escorted out of their tribe.
Tepin was clever to escape when he did.
Because under his wife''s directive, Metztil had tried to actually have the mother son pair killed the very day he gave the order for the army to mobilize.
He sought consent from the nobles to do so, offering them arger plot ofnd in exchange.
However, they were denied on grounds of maintaining tribal brotherhood and harmony and instead urged to be more lenient.
In reality, some of the elites still held respect for Tepin''s mother and many of the military officers remembered his father fondly, for he was the great general who won the decisive battle that got the Helvati their current position.
So they were unwilling to see such a great man''s line be cut off just like that.
And unwilling to push these people''s buttons just as they were about to start a war, Metztil had little choice but to consent.
Hence the deal that Tepin had suspected was struck- as long as nobles stopped supporting Tepin and ceased causing trouble for Metztil, he would let the pair live as well as look past their own involvement in past misdeeds.
This was an easy thing for the nobles to agree to because it served both their personal and tribal interests.
Thus one of the braver ones even frankly exined himself,
"Chief Metztil, this deal is too easy for us to ept. And I believe you also misunderstand us. We never had any grudges against you¡ nor did we seek to betray you in any way.
The only reason we supported Tepin was because he was able to point out many of yourckings. So we used him to present those to you.. for the good of the tribe. Heh heh¡ like those outsiders say- a sword is only tempered under heat and pressure."
Metztil had to try hard not to put on a disgusted face as he heard this perfidy.
Sure enough, these old foxes changed skins faster than snakes.
Mixing truth into lies, and ditching allies the moment it did not suit them any longer, this particr noble could be said to be the perfect embodiment of the spirit of the tribe''s elites.
Metztil only coldly shrugged the man''s hollow words and instead ordered them to concentrate on gathering the asked men.
10,000 men were quickly gathered within three days and soon Alexander found Metztil had returned.
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Chapter 1257: Metztils Men
As Tepin made his escape under the moonless cover of darkness, his absence wentrgely unnoticed by the rest tribe.
This might be quite absurd to think about given his high post and prestige, him being a very shaman and judge, but these days it seemed anything and everything was possible among the Helvati.
The reason for this gross oversight was because the following few days, the entire Helvati tribe was in a state of absolute reverie and euphoria, as Metztil had finally confirmed the floating rumors.
Although the people had heard of this news long ago, this was the first time Metztil had officially admitted its veracity.
Thus when they heard the speech from the horse''s mouth and got to know the general details of the deal with the outsiders, their happiness reached such a fever pitch that not only they forget about Tepin, they even did not care that they were being asked to go to war.
Instead of feeling fearful of dying, to them such a prospect appeared like a great honor.
After all, what was there to feel sad about when giving up one''s life for such a grand cause?
Thus, the afternoon of the day Metztil announced this, the recruitment lines to join the army ran nearly from one end of the tribe to the other, with almost every single avable youth wishing to sign up.
Many were even joined by entire families- fathers, uncles, brothers, and cousins, all excitedly jumping up and down to get their hands on that elusive shield and spear.
While mothers, daughters, wives, and sisters excitedly cheered their men, showing not an iota of concern that they were seeing them off for war.
In fact, judging by the wide grinning faces and ruddyplex, any outsiders would have thought these men were going off some kind of celebrations or sports events.
But this was the culture of the time.
The very incarnation of traditional values, men who went off to war and died were seen as heroes and the perfect role models.
Wives and children would brag to their friends about how their husbands or father died heroically in that famous battle.
While anyone who hid or refused to take part in the fight would bebeled as a coward and waste, looked down upon even by the ves.
Their worth in the eyes of the Helvati would be less than these presumably inanimate objects.
In fact, although deserting and refusing to fight was not a capital offense in of itself in the Helvati tribe, denying such a thing openly indeed was. Even a lowly ve was allowed to kill them if they refuted it.
Hence when Metztil called for all willing youths to join the army, the only ones who did not were theme, the weak, the sick, and the insane.
Now, these people were naturally exempt from service byw.
Even if the Helvati were insane warmongers, they would not take these physically unfit people if for nothing but the fact that they would be little more than burdens.
Not taking them was a greater boon.
Yet the societal structure of the tribe was such that many of these handicapped people could be seen literally crying by the streets,menting how their brothers and friends got to go on such a glorious ''adventure'' while they could only stay behind like cowards.
Even some of the mothers and wives joined them, too ashamed to show their faces.
Now it would be wrong to assume all the men who were joining the army were doing so out of the pure, altruistic goodness of their hearts, for the betterment of their tribe.
It was of course one of the reasons, but many also signed up for many other things.
One of the main ones being simply for the adventure.
This might sound foolish, but think about it- you are a peasant who has never even left your vige.
So when you hear your friends and families are going off to fight far away, naturally you would be curious.
And then if you were told that if you performed well enough in battle, you could even snatch for yourself a little bit of plot to call home, what force could be there to stop you?
Metztil had done exactly this under his wife''s advice, promising to grant those who prove themselves to be heroes in the warnd in the newly conquered territory.
He of course made no guarantee to the individual soldier and no one really knew what made one a ''hero'', but even only that was enough for all these gullible people to lose their minds over.
Not to mention in addition to the undeniable lure of taking newnd, there was also the absolute greed of looting those rich outsiders for everything they were worth.
And the Helvati was not only talking about raiding Lord Parker''s camp after he was defeated.
That was of course a given/
But they even set their greedy sights on the surrounding local poption, people who were presumably their allies.
And this time, Alexander had tacitly approved that Metztil and his men could raid the countryside for whatever food they needed as they made their way towards him.
This for sure meant good quality grain for the entire army, the kind that was only reserved for the nobles of the tribe, for the grain the Helvati produced in these hard soil met perhaps only the barest standard for human consumption.
In addition to this, there was the promise of generous amounts of meat from cows, chickens, pigs, goats, and sheep, all''donated'' by the kind vige folks.
After all, the Helvati were there to ''save'' them from the cruel clutches of the Heeats, so it was only natural that the weak vigers expressed their gratitude in this way¡ free of charge.
For the majority of the poor, impoverished, Helvati people who only got to taste such delicacies once or twice a year, just the offered food was enough to make them stake their lives on the line.=, forget thend.
And this was not the end of the list of perks for joining the army either.
For instance, it wasmon for a marching army to steal from the surrounding popce as they passed, be it gold, jewellery, clothes, metal equipment, shoes¡ basically anything and everything that was not nailed down and could be easily carried.
As long as the soldiers could take it without causing a major incident such as murder, they would swindle the folks of their possession basically without any repercussions.
Hence it was quite frequent to hear stories from themon people about how they were beaten up or threatened by their own marching army when they refused to give up theirst possessions.
Tragically, even they could be said to be the luckier ones whenpared to another group. A group that would have their women folk taken for the night.
It was also verymon for the marching soldiers of the army to knock on the doors of surrounding towns and viges and demand a certain number of girls for the night.
After a long day''s march, they all wished for a little bit of warmth and entertainment.
In fact, most of the time, the vige elders or town''s mayor would just arrange a contingent of women the moment they detected the huge marching army several hours if not several days ago, and quickly send them to the camp as soon as the army stopped.
In this way, they hoped to stop these armed, unruly men from entering their settlements and causing trouble.
And this was also here where the tragedy would begin.
Because there was no way most of the small towns or viges would have enough ''working women'' to please the needs of thousands or tens of thousands of men.
Even a huge city struggled to meet their needs.
Hence the only way for the lords of the ce to please the armymanders would be to pressure the peasants to send out their daughters and even wives to make up the numbers.
And no matter how angry the men felt about this, they knew they had little choice except toply.
Because it was either this or being hung for disobeying the lord.
And even that was assuming the angry army did not get to them first, raping and killing their family before razing their entire vige to the ground for not giving what they wanted.
The records of allied armies destroying their own poption were as old as the human civilization itself.
Thus those unlucky could only pray that they would be able to keep their unmarried daughters while sending their ''more experienced'' folks out.
Sometimes these women would get paid for their service, such as during the case of Alexander''s conquest of Tibias, where he had a separate fund dedicated to precisely such entertainment.
Although the man abhorred it and rejected all gifts sent by the surrounding towns, he knew he would have a mutiny within a week if he outright banned the practice.
So the best he could do was try and mitigate the tragedy.
But Alexander''s example was once in a blue moon urrence
Most armymanders would pay zilch, and any gifts be up to the whims of the served soldiers.
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Chapter 1258: Metztils Men (Part-2)
Metztil personally oversaw the recruitment of his men and found the response from his tribe to be staggeringly positive.
He had barely needed to utter his want and literally almost every able bodied youth in the entire tribe decided to sign up, breaking the record of gathering a staggering 10,000 men, plus servants and ves in just 3 days.
The results very much gratified the man.
Although he knew arge part of the positive response was due to thend and not his own skills, it still bolstered Metztil''s morale.
And he could not help but feel this was where he belonged, out in the field with the people.
The very air he breathed here felt lighter and fresher here, very different from the stuffy, stale air he found himself inhaling the moment he met with those ck bellied dishonest nobles full of twisted knots in their guts.
The straightforward and simple Metztil hated dealing with them and if he could, he would have handed the entirety of the ruling of the tribe to his wife Atzi and be content with only looking for the army.
After all, she was not only far more qualified but much more than that, Atzi had a far greater interest in such things than him.
And as they say- if you love your job you will never have to work a day in your life.
The only reason he was unable topletely leave everything to her was due to her gender and position as the chief shaman, historically an apolitical position.
In fact, this was one of the main reasons behind the inherent friction between him and the elites.
They did not like being ordered around by ady, much less ady who was strictly not supposed to do such a thing.
This led to many powerful elites even sniggering behind Metztil''s back, calling him someone without all his organs and who stood and sat in his wife''s words.
In their eyes, he was no real man, and thought Metztil should start wearing gowns.
Naturally, this dislike went both ways, and it was only the understanding of the fearful consequences there would be if they shed that kept the two sides from openlyshing out at each other.
Thus most of the nobles begrudgingly obeyed ''Her Mother'' Atzi as long as her orders were reasonable enough and in exchange, Metztil pretended to buy the various weak excuses these men made for their many misdeeds, with each continuously snorted coldly inside the entire time.
And as Metztil was leaving his wife in charge of the tribe for the whole duration of the campaign, he fervently prayed that these troublemakers would y ball and not make things difficult for her.
Although he had left her with 2,000 guards to defend the tribes, in reality, half of them wereme, and the other half wastes.
In the event a crisis truly broke out, they would be the first to flee.
But Metztil took this risk based on a calcted risk.
He knew that as long as he and his army existed, the possibility of anything happening to Atzi or his family would be minuscule.
At best, they would be seized and put under house arrest to extract some kind of ransom.
Thus Metztil quickly forgot about such worries and concerns and instead regained the pleasure and freedom he felt whenmanding troops.
He and his merry band of 10,000 strong men along with their servants and ves quickly crossed the ''southern'' wall and then just as Alexander had allowed them to, began to ravage the countryside.
Many towns and viges were looted for their grain and livestock, and many more women lost their modesty.
The first thing was still ptable to the vige folks. These men were hardly folks who had been stepped on their entire life.
So it would take a lot more than simply having their grain seized for one season for them to rebel.
Thus in this case, the sturdy vigers simply tightened their belts and ate one meal a day instead of the usual twice or thrice.
And while doing so, they were d that it was now winter, meaning they did not need to toil in the fields, they could stay cooped in inside their houses and rest.
In addition, this season meant that they had just storied their grains, so many viges were able to ride this disaster out without suffering too much.
The problem however arose with Metztil''s men''s lust for women.
As much as these natives liked to spit on the Sybarians as outsiders, they sure had no problem having a preference for their woman.
These ''barbarians'' would reportedly take whatever women that struck their fancy, married, unmarried, or even those in their adolescence, and have their way in whatever degenerate ways they wished.
Other than directly killing them, anything appeared to be fair y for these beasts- be it having them for oneself or sharing her with all his squad mates if the ''entertainment'' was in short supply.
And at the end of it all, these women would be left with little more than nothing.
The expenses for the entertainment were entirely sourced off to individual soldiers and if they were pleased with the service, a few ''generous'' souls would perhaps pay the women a pittance for their services.
But even those very rare few good men found it very hard to do this because they themselves were broke wretches.
Needless to say, the Helvati as a whole was not rich, especially not whenpared to the mercantile focused Sybarians.
All this led to a point where many vigers started to desert their homes the moment they heard that the barbarian army was approaching them, seeking refuge in the next towns, or if they were denied it, simply out in the wild.
And given it was in the middle of winter, the biting cold was undoubtedly agonizing to endure.
Many died of exposure or hypothermia all while crying why the Margraves family was noting to save them from this ''invading'' barbarian army.
Themon people were naturally not privy to the deal the two forces had struck and thusbeled Metztil as a hostile force.
Simr to the crying vigers, anotherdy who was extremely angry over the state of her subjects was Lady Miranda and thus expressed dissatisfaction at Alexander granting the natives such extravagant privileges.
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She believed these types of benefits were not his to give and that she should have been at least consulted.
Hence she tried to pressure Alexander to retract his grant and order the northerners to carry their own supplies.
However, Alexander used the excuse that such arge food train would make the natives advance too slow for his liking and that he wanted them to join him as soon as possible.
He politely argued,
''Mydy, the faster they join us the faster we will be able to kick your sister off her seat. And the faster things can return for the people. This is only a temporary hardship for long term peace. So please have patience.''
Lady Miranda did not know how sincere Alexander was being here, but given who was it that ran the show now, the plumpdy ultimately had little choice but to fold.
As for Alexander''s true intention behind leaving those innocent vigers to the teeth of these malicious beasts.
Well, the reason he posed to thedy indeed was one of them- they were the MV''s subjects, not his.
So why would he be concerned about their well being?
Since their lords were unable to provide them protection, it was only natural they suffered.
This was the social contract.
In addition to this, Alexander only had the intention of turning the popce against Metztil, due to his own hidden agenda.
He nned to use this duringter negotiations.
Thus caught between the crosshairs of two forces they had no hope of contending against, these poor vigers had no option but to suffer.
Their only respite was that the ''marching'' gue of locusts that consumed anything and everything on its paths was rtively short lived.
It took Metztil about five days to cover the roughly one hundred kilometers from his tribe to Giant City, and as he reached his target, the vigers collectively let out arge sigh of relief.
While Metztil let out the opposite emotion at the same time because as he approached his destination, he was shocked to see that a force evenrger than his was already present there.
"What the¡" Seeing the enormous rows and rows of red tents and the white banner with a center blue flower flying in the wind, Metztil''s heart sank to a nadir, and the very first thought that entered his mind was that this was the same kind of trap his father and grandfather faced.
Perhaps there was no enmity between the Margraves and Heeat, and all this had been an borate trap to finish what they had started.
And ''cleverly'' realizing this, for a moment, Metztil even contemted blowing his trumpet and ordering a retreat immediately.
"Wee oh, Great Chief, greetings. I am an aide of the Pasha- Scorpyo. My lord would havee to personally greet you but as you can see he is a bit busy organizing his 15,000 reinforcements.
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Chapter 1259: Pre Battle Plans (Part-1)
As soon as Metztil saw the huge number of troops that were not there just a week ago, the rmed man''s instinct was to sound the trumpet and retreat.
They were still some ways from the city and Metztil prayed that if he was fast enough, perhaps he could foil whatever was nned for him and his men.
However, at thest very moment, even as Metztil grabbed the trumpet, suddenly he found himself unable to blow on it.
His brainmanded it, but his heart refused to execute it.
Because just as he was about to, he turned to look around his own men.
They were all smiles, cheerful faces lit up excitedly with ruddy colors that twinkled with anticipation.
They were all very eager to get thend they were so promised.
So it did not take toopetent amander to understand what the consequences would be if he were to really blow the trumpet.
If Metztil were to order them to return home empty handed aftering so far, the men would be crushed, as would be those back at home.
And as soon as Metztil returned, all the numerous internal problems that had been buried with the excuse of this deal woulde bursting forth like an erupting volcano.
The ensuing chaos and rebellion would be like little else.
Given how the people''s anger would undoubtedly be pointed squarely at him, Metztil would be lucky to keep his life, forget his position.
Thus due to his own greed as well as the expectation of his own men who wanted to fight no matter what, the man decided to ignore the rming sight and sent a few scouts to find out more about the situation.
They soon returned with an escort, the elderly, high ranking Scorpyo, who had been stationed there exactly for that purpose- to exin the situation to the tribal leader.
"Wee oh, Great Chief, greetings. I am an aide of the Pasha- Scorpyo. My lord would havee to personally greet you but as you can see he is a bit busy organizing his 15,000 reinforcements.
The short speech had naturally been craftily created to deliver the maximum punch with the least amount of words.
And as Scorpyo gently swung his arm towards the freshly arrived Menes, the meaning for Metztil and his unruly men was clear- Behave.
The devastation these troublemakers had caused while getting here was not unknown to Alexander, but this was where that would have to stop.
However, it was unknown how much of the hidden message Metztil truly got.
Rather, the simple man was busy breathing a sigh of relief that he was simply overthinking it.
It would only be while he and a few of his high ranking entourage were being taken into the city and passed through the garrisoned camp that the extent of the true extent of the situation was revealed to him.
Like Metztil''s men, Alexander''s newly arrived reinforcements also set up camp outside the town which was erroneously called a city.
This wasrgely due to how small Gaint City was, and hence, to enter the town, one needed to cross the military camp that was being built as they spoke.
The tribal leader walked across the wide earthen streets nked by huge tents on both sides while observing the sights around him, by swaying his head to either side
"So many¡." one of Metztil''s officers could not help but subconsciously whisper in equal parts rmed and incredtion.
Here he was not only talking about the number of men walking around busily.
The number of legionnaires of course impressed him, there was no doubt about that.
But perhaps what struck out to him much more was the amount of supplies that were on disy, because that represented true wealth.
For example, along many tents were stacks and stacks of hay, each forming a small hill golden in color,id out in the open.
Beside them were scores of various draft animals- oxen, horses, and mules, being attended to by their handlers.
Some of them were feeding the hay to their animals, others were unloading it from the wagons they were pulling and making the pile bigger, and thest ones were loading the thing to wagons to likelyter distribute it to other stock animals in their stables.
This sight, and more than that, the scale of this sight was aplete eye opener for the tribal men because they had never seen so many animals in one ce.
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They had heard from their fathers of the outsiders possessing tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands horses, but always took such stories with a veryrge pinch of salt.
They thought the ancestors were simply speaking in hyperbolics and allegories.
This was because simply the idea that any ''tribe'' would be so rich to be able to raise so many animals was inconceivable to them.
Needless to say, even the strongest of the tribes- the Helvati were too resource poor to raise such an ''army'' of beasts.
The food they grew was barely enough to feed their own poption.
So where were they going to get the excess abundance to raise a cavalry?
They did have a few ranches, but those small pony like horses were only used in domestic services such as plowing the field, pulling wagons, and riding to deliver messages.
Risking them in battle was simply too extravagant for the tribe.
Yet, here, they saw close to a hundred animals just while they were walking across the camp. And to add to that miracle, these animals did not seem to be even from here.
Although the Helvati did not own many livestock by themselves, they were still experienced countryfolks.
So they easily spotted that the sheen of the coat of these animals looked distinctly different from those typically found here.
This meant they were bred in a different climate.
Plus, their handlers also looked different from the usual outsiders- the Zanzanties were usually ''squared'' with a broad mouth and beautiful t teeth, whereas the Sybarians the natives dealt with every day tended to be a bit more rounded, with broad temples and arched eyebrows.
This let them quickly understand that Alexander had brought all these animals from his territory.
And to be able to move so many animals for so many thousands of kilometers was truly an astounding feat in their eyes.
In fact, the shock over this was so great that some of the really shrewd men even suspected that Alexander might have staged all this to show off.
However such overthinking quickly gave away as they made further progress.
Along the way, they saw much more evidence of abundant opulence.
Trains of wagons full of shiny new armor the quality of which these men had rarely seen were here hauled before them.
Huge bundles of arrows were stacked by the sides, below whichid scores of shields, forming a sort of Jenga tower.
And an unending procession of grain carts was being pulled by mules, each dispersing to their required destination.
What for Alexander was simply the bare necessities proved like El Dorado for these poor, improvised suckers, to the point as few of the officer''s eyes went green with envy,
"If only¡ we could take these." They whispered, salivating at all the food, weapons, and even ves.
The fickleness of the alliance could be perfectly illustrated here.
If it benefited the Helvati, they would not even bat a second''s eyes to stab Alexander in the back.
If the pash knew about these thoughts, he would have definitely sniggered, ''Can''t teach an old dog new tricks, can you?''
Undoubtedly the nickname ''bandits'' these barbarians had among the Sybarians was not earned in a single day.
But Alexander had also predicted such a thing.
This was why he made sure that Scorpyo would greet Metztil the way he did, putting a clear emphasis on the number of men he had.
And now that they were being taken on a tour of where these men lived, the Helvati nobles quickly sought to verify the im.
''15,000 men! Hmmm¡no there is probably even more. Almost double ours.'' Then through their eyeball estimate, they quickly came to this decision.
This was also probably the only reason why they gave up any thoughts of taking over the city by force and started to behave.
Alexander greeted Metztil with arge smile and cordial enthusiasm, "Chief Metztil, so have you agreed. Hahaha, with the blessing of both our gods, no force on this ind can stop us,"
And this, the pasha was not simply faking it.
He truly was happy was these reinforcements. His scouts had already informed him of the numbers and such an addition would make his intended assault on Caira much, much easier.
So over the next few hours, Alexander worked to entertain the man, such as introducing him to his own men like the newly arrived Menes as well as hosting arge banquet for them.
In there, Alexander also dered the schedule for their next few days,
"We will stay here the next three days to give the men some time to rest. On the fourth day, we march south,ying siege to Caira. The enemy''s garrison will be attacked and destroyed there."
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Chapter 1260: Finalizing the Deal
There were several good reasons why Alexander decided to take a three day break before marching towards Caira.
One of them was indeed due to what he said- resting the troops.
Menes had literally docked the very morning Metztil arrived and after being at sea for almost two weeks, those legionaries needed some time to recover their tired bodies.
Many of them had even gotten seasick or suffered from illnesses like fever or dysentery.
And since there was no overwhelming pressure on Alexander to act right away, he did not see any reason to rush his men and let them get used to the new ce.
Secondly, some time would inevitably be needed to unload the huge quantities of supplies these reinforcements had brought. Find your next read on m_v l|e-NovelBin
This was also why Metztil got to see the camp in such disarray, with people moving various goods hurriedly.
They were moving them to their storage sites and in general setting up the whole camp.
Thirdly Alexander wanted to use one of these men to inspect the quality of the troops Metztil had brought and thus work out how to best deploy them.
Andstly, there were many things to discuss with Metztil before they could start fighting together.
This went from working out the details of the militarymand structure of the two very different forces and how to coordinate between them, to the much more important task of discussing the exact details of thend to be given to Metztil for his service.
Because if you recall, that deal was yet to be finalized.
Since back then Metztil was yet to agree, Alexander had finished the talks ambiguously by saying things like, ''We can discuss the detailster.''
Well now that Metztil had made up his mind, that ter'' had arrived.
Alexander also did not want Metztil to start greedily extending hands after defeating the Heeats, asking for unreasonable ruminations for the rendered services.
And the concerns went both ways, as Metztil was also cautious about Alexander swindling him like his ancestors were by these devil outsiders.
The nobles had let their chief know in a very t, clear cut manner that they would only participate in the war after knowing the exact extent of their reward.
Hence before Alexander and Metztil merrily rode off into the sunset, both felt it was imperative that they hashed this very important thing out.
The first half of that meeting went rtively smoothly, as Alexander was able to present the tribal chief with quite aprehensive list ofws that had been scrapped, all aimed at allowing the natives to live freely in theirnds.
Alexander had startedpiling the list the moment Lady Miranda got an urgent message from the northern walls reporting that ''a huge barbarian army was headed her way''.
Hearing this, he immediately gathered Lord Janus as well as some of the other local lords and their stewards since they were the onesrgely responsible for running the day to day operations and thus knew thews well.
And then began to work out the various details.
Luckily by the time Metztil got here, Alexander had managed topile aprehensive list.
And as Metztil read through it, he found that under the current proposed amendment, his people were allowed a wide range of new benefits.
For instance, the natives would be now allowed to enter all friendly towns and cities (those in Lady Miranda''s sphere of influence) without any risk of persecution or harassment.
They would also be in general allowed to buy and sell property and be subjected to the same tax bracket as the rest of the free folk- i.e. people who were not ves or servants, but also not citizens.
Marriage between the two types of people was previously a grave social taboo and in some of thends ruled by local lords punishable by death was lifted and better yet, the resulting children were promised Sybarian citizenship by birth.
In the category of mercantile, a theoretical maximum limit was ced on tariffs, quotas, and various other taxes that could be ced on any native products.
Andstly, a whole load of other societalws were reviewed and changed.
For instance- it was decreed byw that if a native were to offer market prices for a good to any shop or guild, the owner had to sell the item no matter what.
Alexander added this use because he was afraid themon xenophobic Sybarians might simply boycott the ''invading'' natives when they first saw them and refuse to offer them any services.
The man had learned this from history as there were many such examples in his past life, with perhaps the most famous ones being during the segregation phase in America.
You would be surprised to know that even aste as the 60s and 70s, many restaurants in the States refused to entertain colored people. Or even if they did, they would relegate them to a ''special zone'', which was just a euphemism for a dusty, abandoned, dark corner hidden away from any prying eyes.
Along the same lines, many white parents insisted to school authorities that their children not be mixed with ''others''. And of course perhaps the most famous example of all, there were special reserved seats in buses just based on how you looked.
Now, America was not the only one suffering from this illness.
Many other countries did too, with South Africa and its apartheid perhaps being even more famous and brutal. There, the two kinds of people were byw not allowed to live together.
Even if they were husband and wife, they had to live in different houses or risk jail.
Just imagine being a child of such a union and having to grow up in that. Surely it would be scarring for life.
And unlike in the States where much of this once terrible divide has been erased, South Africa has struggled with the deeply ingrained issue till now.
This was why when Alexander was forming his manifesto, he tried as much as possible to cover all his bases, hoping to root out this cursed evil at its sprout.
Thus the natives were now also given the right to rent households in the city, the right to be treated the same way as any Sybarian would be during criminal proceedings, the right to sell their products in local markets, the right to open up businesses and many more misceneous privileges too numerous to count.
Metztil was honestly blown away by the amount of detail included in the piece. The chief with decades of experience in statecraft had of course done negotiations before, but this was on a whole different level.
It almost made him feel like a child who was just learning to walk.
But this was only natural.
Alexander was nothing like those brutish natives who could only use a limited form of legalese during their talks.
In fact, he was confident enough to im that his experience was rich enough to rival anyone in the whole world, having held talks with the likes of Ptolomy, Amenheraft, and Perseus''s son Philips, all kings of theirnds.
Thus it was with somewhat amusement that Alexander watched the tribal leader and his entourage spend about a whole hour leafing through the stack of papers all while listening to their trantor exin its content.
Because of course the natives spoke and used a differentnguage than either the Margraves or Alexander.
In fact, almost all of the exchange between the two parties till now had happened via trantors.
Alexander had originally wanted to write the paper in Azhak, Siberian, and the native''s nahutl, but found there was no expert among Lord Janus''s retinue.
There was one trantor who could speak the tongue rtively well and read it in some half broken manner, but writing it was beyond his capabilities.
This resulted in the current situation where Metztil and the other elites had to repeatedly turn to the trantors they brought to understand the long deal.
And it seemed even these learned men, who were mostly shamans by day, had a hard time figuring out exactly what was written.
The reason for further confusion was the fact that a lot of the exact sentences for the treaty had been written jointly by Lady Parthia and Lady Nanazin, and these long lived queens had used the typical, very decorative royal way of addressing the treaty.
This was done under Alexander''s order, as the mancked the required ''artistic ir'' in his writing that writing of this time demanded.
As anyone who has read any original works of the likes of Shakespeare would know, ancient writing styles were a lot more flowery and long winded than their modern counterpart.
Perhaps it was because people back then were a lot moreid back and had a lot more time to think and decorate their words. Or perhaps it was because back then people revered culture and poetry rather than science and rationalism.
Whatever the case, in this time period, it was this way of writing that was in style and any formal document basically demanded this format be followed.
But it was just too bad that Alexander sucked at writing in that format.
Hence he outsourced the work to the two learneddies.
He just did not expect them to be so enthusiastic about their work.
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Chapter 1261: Finalizing the Deal (Part-2)
Alexander watched patiently as the trantor shamans read, scanned, and tried their best to exin the entirety of the proposed deals to the gathered Helvati leaders.
And sometimes when even they seemed struck and stuttered, Alexander asionally spoke up to offer his opinions, a subtle helplessness tinged in his voice.
If he had known this would happen, he would have written the document himself.
It was just that he was still not that proficient with Azhak.
Although he tried his best and almost five years had passed, due to all the various work he had to do, the amount of time he could put into his studies was always going to be limited.
So although his passages were still readable, the sentence structure was like a third or fourth grader''s, the kind where every sentence starts with, ''and then''.
Alexander med this on the fact that his mind already had a temte installed, and it proved very hard to rece the modern version for this needlessly long winded ancient format.
Hence he had simply expressed the core idea to the two queens and let them express it in the true, standard legalese format.
It was just he did not expect them to be so enthusiastic about their work.
Alexander had not had the time to properly review the paper due to the serious time constraints as well as a bit ofziness, but now that he was going through the copy, he found them to be much more convoluted than he ever needed to be.
Alexander quickly understood this was probably the work of Lady Parthia.
She had intentionally made the paper harder to read for the natives in order to hide various legal loopholes in the proposed ns, all ready to be used if the need should ever arise.
''As expected of a queen who held power for nearly thirty years. Her ability to plot and pit her own allies is truly something to learn and emte.''
Alexander thoughts on this sly move was of amazement and something to be learned from.
Because although Alexander might have also thought to plot against the natives, he doubted he would have had the actual skills needed to do what the former Tibian queen had done.
Only five years into taking office, he stillcked that crucial experience.
Plus, his council members and parliament were not even a tenth as treacherous as the Tibian royal court.
Whereas Lady Parthia had to navigate thepeting wants and desires of various powerful families and find ways to bnce them using all kinds of tricks and plots, Alexander''s rule of Zanzan was almost as smooth as ice.
This was because most of the council member under Alexander had gotten their post by earning his trust and not familiar ties, while all the powerful nobles under him had just gotten their armies beaten to a pulp by him.
In front of his huge army, they were simply too weak to cause any significant waves.
Add to that the allure of significant economic benefits in allying with him, thus, other than the most hardcore and fanatical nobles, none really had the spirit to unnecessarily cause trouble for Alexander¡. at least not in the near future.
This was one of the reasons why he could leave Cambyses to rule the ce while he led campaigns elsewhere without experiencing a splitting headache.
This was the good news.
The bad news however was that this rtive peace failed to provide Alexander a stimting enough challenge for him to practice his wits.
The result was the vast difference in skills between the man and thedy, for whom such things were bread and butter.
And this quickly let Alexander figure out a w in his administration. Which was that hecked someone with Lady Parthia''s equivalent skills among his close advisors, someone he could truly trust.
All such thoughts filled his mind as Alexander sat patiently watching Metztil''s delegation discuss among themselves the details of all the various discriminatoryws that were proposed to be abolished.
From time to time, they would ever utter various surprised phrases after hearing something and ask the men next to them to confirm what was written on the paper.
They would then exchange various looks of incredulity to make sure they all had heard it correctly.
Finally, after quite a long while, Metztil broke the murmuring silence with a great, hearty chuckle,
"Haha, Lord Alexander, I will admit you are different from those other outsiders. If these are your proposed terms and you swear to the gods to abide by them, we have no problem agreeing to fight with you."
The man''s wide grin and ruddy expression said it all. He had never expected to receive so many generous benefits, arge number of which he had not even thought would be discussed.
It was too ''modern''.
"That is great, Chief Metztil. I hope we can use this to step by step remove all the unnecessary enmity among us."Alexander initially responded with a gentle smile and curt nod.
Then unfurling arge paper scroll, chimed,
"Now, about thends to be leased to you. We believe this is a fair distribution."
Metztil''srge grin instantly faded away as heid eyes upon the drawn map, which was scattered with tiny red dots all over the ce.
The man instantly understood what these meant- Alexander had no intention of leasing close to the 40,000 sq km ofnd in one lump sum.
He wished to break them down into hundreds of small counties.
"What is this? This is not what we agreed!" Metztil thus instantlyshed out, rage filling his eyes.
Metztil had assumed that Alexander would agree to the initial map ''drawn'' by Lord Janus, one that gave the natives ess tond from Giant City to their borders.
So now that that deal was being broken, all the goodwill that Alexander had just bought for himself seemed to have been washed down the drain.
The used man however kept his cool facade and simply chuckled with a gentle hum,
"Chief Metztil, be realistic. You did not think we would give you everything from here to the northern wall just like that, did you? If we did that, where would all themon people living there go? Or the families ruling over those parts?
Of course, your men would have been settled in various groups all over the ind. That ismon knowledge."
Alexander''s defense for his change of tune was simple- he did not rify thend distribution back then because he found it to be simply implied.
"..." And being called stupid in a roundabout way, Metztil''s face went red with rage.
He then clenched his jaws with gritted eyes, "So this was your n¡ that''s why you gave us such a fine deal¡. It was all smoke and mirrors! You never intended to give us anything!"
Saying this in a sharp, hoarse voice, Metztil seemed half ready to storm off and leave with his men.
"It is precisely because I wanted to give your men thend that I made those proposals. To ensure they would not be persecuted in these ''outsider''nds,"
At Metztil''s grave usation, Alexander defended his acts in a very cool, calm voice, keeping his eyes locked onto the bulky chief.
And the powerful gaze seemed like a chilly blizzard to the man, forcing him to quell his fury.
Metztil then unwillingly unclenched his fist, a subtle signal that he was unable to find a good retort.
At that point, he further heard the man say,
"Your wish to live on thosends is also quite foolish. Let us not go into the bloody details of what your armies have done there in thest five days. But surely you are clever enough to know how the people feel about it¡ they are sure to be absolutely furious.
If your people were to start moving there so soon¡. I cannot guarantee their safety." shing his palms to either side, Alexander frankly shook his head to express his inability.
"..." And once again Metztil and his delegation found themselves unable to find a good retort
"They would dare¡ we will kill¡" One of the more bloodthirsty man did try to put on a boisterous defense, but one heavy re from Metztil himself was enough to shut him up so as to not embarrass themselves.
If the Helvati were to conquer and annex thesends, then naturally the man''s threat would have had teeth, and all of Alexander''s concerns would have been moot.
Any attack on their own would have been met with the swiftest and cruelest retaliation by their army. And indeed there were too numerous examples of victorious armies trampling on the local poption to count.
However in this case, since the Helvati would be subjected to the rules of the local lords and it''smon, Metztil found the situation to be far more tricky.
A part of him even regretted being so cavalier with his army, looting, stealing, and viting whatevery in its path.
It was just that after getting set free after so long, the brutish natives really could not keep their itching fingers to themselves.
Even if Metztil had wanted, it was very unlikely he could have kept all his men in check.
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Chapter 1262: Finalizing the Deal (Part-End)
Metztil mulled over the various excuses Alexander presented to him to try and justify the ''discement'' of his men.
And even after racking their head, the gathered delegation found the three reasons provided too robust to rebut.
They of course tried to haggle even then, but Alexander hade prepared.
He especially used the destruction the natives had caused while marching to repeatedly deny all their ims and insisted that they be scattered in groups of a few hundred.
And as Alexander cleverly unveiled his, it got to the point that Metztil began to quickly suspect whether that was Alexander''s n all along.
To use the facade of generosity and let them do whatever they wanted just to trick them into riling themon people up against them and then use this excuse to divide them.
It was unknown whether Metztil himself truly epted this highly circuitous multiyered scheme or simply thought he was being paranoid, but in reality, the man had really hit the nail right on the head.
Although he might not be as skilled as Lady Parthia, Alexander had intentionally pitted his allies and worked to deny the natives any significantnd bordering the northern walls.
He had done this because he feared that if a lot of natives started living there, it would only be a matter of time before thosends naturally became an extension of their homnds thaty just beyond the stone walls.
Then there was the issue of security.
Alexander was worried that if somehow conflict broke out between the tribesmen and the Sybarians living in these border areas, those natives living just past the wall might choose to militarily intervene in favor of their opposed brothers.
And given the bad blood between the two groups, Alexander could write it in blood that it was not a question of ''if'' such acts of violence would erupt, but only when.
Despite his best efforts, Alexander knew there was no realistic way to stop the people from shing given the centuries piled up bad blood. It was bound to happen due to even the most banal things.
Thus his only hope was to contain the res whenever they popped up and see that they did not spill over to the rest of thends
It was thought in this way, over time the scars would heal.
However, all these optimistic notions would be shattered if the overzealous natives someday decided to push their armies into sovereign Margrave''snd.
Or it could also happen in the reverse direction.
Enraged by the works of a few bad apples, themon people might go attack the tribes near the border on their own or under the leadership of a few rough lords, noble acting on their own with no authority from the Margraves.
It should be known that it was rtively easy to cross the northern wall.
Because it was nothing like that structure one conjured one when they heard the ''wall''.
The impressive name ''Northern Wall'' might cause one to imagine huge, towering solid behemoths like the Walls of Babylon or the Great of China, or even the Ice Wall in that fictional series, but in reality, it was nowhere as impressive.
This wall was more like a stone ''fence'', merely a couple of feet high and something even a decent sized child could climb over.
The goal of this obstacle was not to altogether stop the barbarians froming in and raiding as they pleased, but more to offer a kind of roadblock.
It was stop them from easily taking back their loot to their tribes.
And indeed, when you wereden with carts full of grain, jewelry, or metal tools, followed by immense herds of cows, bulls, horses, pigs, chickens, and other livestock, even just a one meter wall seemed like Mount Everest.
Getting any animal to jump over only this waist sized blocker was surprisingly tricky and carts usually had to be unloaded, picked up, moved over, and then reloaded again.
All while they were under the imminent threat of an armed response from the surrounding lords and rulers.
For what it cost to build and maintain, this small northern wall was perhaps even more effective than the immense 10 meter walls surrounding Zanzan.
But although it was very efficient at stopping raids and small skirmishes, what it could not stop wererge scale incursions by huge armies.
Those were what Alexander was most worried about.
Because the carnage and blood split during such an iteration would cause the grievous wound in both the people''s hearts to be even more inmed.
Alexander would be foolish to leave such a vulnerable gate open.
And speaking of security vulnerabilities, cing the natives so close to their border would also present a very high threat of sabotage and espionage, with various dark powers trying their best to destabilize the situation.
Perhaps this concern was even more pressing than the former, as it would be far more frequent and far too insidious to easily stop.
At least it took quite arge time and effort to raise an army. Even if the natives wanted to go to war with the Margraves for the sake of their oppressed brethren, they would have to calcte the cost of winning and losing.
On the other hand, it was far too easy to pit one side against the other.
A few subtle nasty whispers in the winds, a few erratic killings, a short spree of high profile robberies against one group¡ there were literally hundreds of various ways to pit people against each other.
And Alexander of course did not mean this could happen only one way.
Just as the various other jealous tribes might want to cause chaos for the Sybarians, the reverse was perhaps even more real.
Many of themon folk would certainly not look kindly towards these ''barbarians'' living among them, and much greater than that, many of the powerful lords ruling thends would certainly hold grudges against them.
Being close to the border, they of course had their fair share of barbarian trouble and like Lady Miranda, many had lost their kin to the attacks.
So Alexander''s wish to remove the natives from these highly hostile areas was perhaps also a form of protection for them.
ording to both Lord Janus and Lady Miranda, the people were further ind and were far less xenophobic. They still hated the northerners, don''t get me wrong, it was just that theycked that personal connection.
Andstly, the reason why Alexander wanted to break up the natives and scatter was them was to better assimte them into the Sybarian society.
By isting these men from their core areas, he hoped to ''drown'' them with this ''outsider'' culture, thus slowly neutralizing this dangerous element.
Alexander naturally could not reveal all these hidden reasons behind his act. Even the security issues would cause Metztil to question Alexander''s promise to guarantee the lives of his people.
Hence he yed theck of enough avablend and the nobles'' unwillingness to hand over even morend.
But it was easier said than done, as unwilling to let their people basically vanish into the jaws of the Margrave''s controllednd, Metztil''s delegation pressed Alexander that this was not the deal they hade in mind with.
"With our brothers thrown to the wind like this, they will be too divided. How can they live all on their own? They don''t even speak your outsider''snguage. How can we be sure they will not be persecuted? How will they contact us?"
All these were indeed valid criticisms, especially about the concern about keeping in touch.
The tightly knit tribal folks preferred to be among themselves.
But given the roads around these parts were hardly developed, almost all consisting of rural earthen roads beaten into rough shape, save for a single wide highway that led to Caira, suchmunication would truly be hard.
So the natives living far away would indeed start to feel isted once they were away from their kin for a while.
Now the reason for such poor roads wasrgely intentional, and the reason had to do with the presence of the natives.
The top brass of the Margraves feared that if the natives ever broke through, a good roadwork would be to their own detriment.
So to prevent the possibility of simply one day waking up to a barbarian army knocking on the walls of their city by using thier own stone roads, the Margraves purposefully kept the norther parts less developed than its souther parts.
After all, why spend so much money and effort developing such a vulnerablend that they could lose any time?
Towards all theseints, Alexander did not bother to promise them to build better roads or even start a postal service.
He knew what truly moved these men and so in a cool, finalizing voice chimed,
"We understand all your concerns. So topensate we are willing to give each family 100 acres ofnd, among which 20 acres will be good arable farnd."
:..."
It was like an immense bomb had gone off in the room as soon as he said that. The Helvati elites could not believe that they were hearing.
It did not take long to wrap up the discussion after that.
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Chapter 1263: Signing The Deal
Alexander''s offer was so generous that Metztil had little choice but to ept any and all of his demands.
From his wording, it was clear that he meant to ''give'' those areas to the men, not lease them like originally discussed.
And it went without saying 100 acres ofnd for a single family was absolutely huge in every sense of the word.
For context, a Roman soldier after 25 years of hard, life threatening military service only got 12 or 13 acres ofnd as his retirement bonus.
So when the pigeon holed Helvati heard the proposal, their minds were shattered into kingdome.
If Alexander was truly being serious, nothing else mattered.
He would agree, and whatever he said following that was like water under the bridge.
Now of course, not the entirety of the 100 acres was going to be good arable farnd, that would have exceeded the realm of generosity and gone into sheer absurdity.
And it would have been too much for any single family to also farm anyway.
But Alexander did guarantee that among the barrennds, hills, forests, and rivers that may be included in those parts, about 20 acres or its equivalent would be good arablend.
The word equivalent was used because it meant that if thend was worked properly, the family would be able tofortably produce grain equivalent to what 20 acres of good, standardnd produced.
This was added in thest moment upon the delegation''s request because they feared that Alexander might try to trick them into giving them a bunch of wastnd of absolutely no value.
It was not hard to foresee the nobles ruling those parts using every opportunity to lie and drum up the quality of theirnd so that they would have to give up less of theirnd to the natives.
And vice versa, the natives might falsely decry the low quality of theirnd to use Alexander of cheating them.
So Alexander took an average.
He did this by looking at the average yields of the various regions over the past decade or so.
Since every noble paid a percentage of their farnd produce as taxes, and the ounts perfectly recorded the amount paid as well as the area ofnd owned by those nobles, it was not hard for Alexander to figure out the rest.
Tedious and time consuming?
Sure.
But courtesy of the habit of a mercantile family, the books were kept very well- clear, easy to read, and very detailed.
Experience tales with mvl
It was to the point that while flipping through them, Alexander was so impressed that he felt that he should hire a few ountants to take with him to Zanzan- there was lots to learn from them.
But despite the grand efforts of the bookkeepers, even then Alexander could not go into full detail asnd dealings by its nature were quiteplex and very time consuming.
And Alexander was already working twelve to fourteen hours a day to deal with so many other things, in order to prepare the optimum deal for Metztil.
So when the chief raised this small pond of an issue, Alexander gave them the river.
With 100 acres ofnd,unless it was aplete desert, there would be no problem cultivating 20 acres worth of food.
And a family only needed 12 to 15 acres ofnd to feed itself even after taxes.
So Alexander believed 20 was far more than enough, these natives could live as the middle ss with their ie, equal to a skilled artisan.
Of course, this huge grant of 100 acres ofnd would not be given to all the natives moving into thend.
There was thought to be more than half a million of them, and even though Alexander might be open handed, he was not mad.
The amount ofnd that would be promised if such a thing were to happen would have been sorge that it have undoubtedly caused Lady Miranda to directly visit him that very night with a knife in her hand and slit his throat in rage.
Thus. Alexander stipted that only the first 2,000 families would be granted his privilege.
Why 2,000 you ask?
Well since Metztil had brought 10,000 men and most families conservatively held 5 people, it was a simple matter of division.
Of course, if you wanted to nitpick, you would find Alexander''s calctions were a bit wed here.
First of all, mostmon people tended to have children close to the double digits in this period, not 2 or 3 like in modern times.
So Alexander really should have divided by 10.
But as much as half of the infants tended to die before reaching the age of 5.
So Alexander really chose the 2,000 number because he thought it would be big enough to satisfy Metztil, but also small enough to not rile up the nobles who were told to expect this huge influx of troublesome immigrants.
Because although giving 100 acres ofnd might sound like a lot and for an individual it was indeed so, in the grand scheme of things, it was only about 800 sq km in total.
Remember that Metztil had originally wanted 40,000 sq km, which is 50 timesrger.
So really, this was a bargain of the century.
And Metztil at one point had also pointed that out.
However, Alexander tly dered that that 40,000 number was just the hallucinations of a madman and this was the best offer they were going to get.
"If you do not like it¡ we are sorry. Thank you foring." The crisp voice had an almost uncaring, damning tone to it.
And Metztil quickly mped up after that, not willing to burn his hand for reaching too long.
Now contrary to the take it or leave it facade Alexander put outward, internally he was far more sympathetic to the native wants.
He had wanted to increase the number of families to 4,000, thus matching this area to the amount to be directly given to the Helvati for their service- 1,500 sq km.
He wanted to do so because it was his thought that the presence of arge number of natives would prevent themon Sybarians from picking on them.
There is strength in numbers as they say and he hoped the equally strong two parts would be able to keep each other in check.
However, when Alexander previously discussed this with the various nobles and Lady Miranda, as a trump card for the then uing negotiations, it was there they drew the absolute red line.
10,000 men were the highest they were willing to amodate at any one time and giving up 2,300 sq kilometer (1,500 plus 800) was already their maximum limit.
Plus there was another reason that they put forth that seemed quitepelling.
And it was regarding the familiar structure of the Helvati.
You see, the native families were not nuclear ones like our modern counterparts.
Rather they lived in huge joint families where uncles, aunts, and cousins all lived together.
In fact, this was really what the tribes of the natives were all about- a huge extended family living together.
For example, the Helvati was just the name of a collection of smaller ''familiar'' tribes who lived together. Metztil had his own familiar ''tribe'' as did Tapin.
This meant that each ''family'' really had anywhere from fifty to even a hundred people, and going by Alexander''s own calction, each of them should receive anywhere from 1,000 acres to 2,000 acres ofnd.
This was a huge amount ofnd for any noble lord.
Most of the smaller ones even did not have so much vacant space, at least not those which were also good arablend.
So even if they wanted to give it up, many did not have the ability.
As for breaking up the families into smaller chunks, the Margraves lords cleverly argued such a thing might be viewed by the Helvati as the ''outsiders'' trying to divide and conquer them.
Having been brought up together their whole life, the natives were really tight knit and naturally distrustful of their foreign invaders.
So a middle groundpromise was reached between the two bitterly hating parties.
The Margraves and the lords were assured that for the first three years, they would only need to take in 10,000 natives and provide them with the agreednd.
After these 10,000 natives were settled, all new families would only be leased 20 acres of farnd at a standard market price, and that, it would happen at 10,000 men per year for the next four years.
This was a limit set by the Margraves lords, once the tribal poption reached 50,000, this leasing would stop.
While during all this, Metztil was assured that all of the families of his men would be ced in the same or at least nearby counties close to each other.
But in exchange, due to the huge area this would be required, thend would not be given in one lump sum chunk, but instead scattered all around.
The farnds and the barrennds would be in different territories.
And after three days of hashing out the details, both sides finally signed the treaty.
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Chapter 1264: Signing The Deal (Part-2)
Alexander and Metztil managed to agree upon the preliminary points of the deal on the very first day of the negotiations.
However even though they managed to shake hands then, it still took the next two days to hash out the many small kinks and faults.
As they say, the devil is in the details.
The problem herergely came in the form ofnd distribution, which was by its very nature a very messy thing.
So arge part of the next two days was filled with the Helvati delegation haggling with Alexander to get him to promise their peoplend in those areas best known for their good farnd while the various lords ruling them made the most creative of excuses, trying their best to dodge this poisonous bite.
Nobody wanted to give an inch more and nobody wanted to get an inch less.
And Alexander soon found that dividing thend absolutely fairly was the very definition of the word- impossible.
This was something very easy to see using simple math.
For instance, if you counted thend to be donated by each lord using a t, absolute number, well the smaller, poorer Margraves lords would go bankrupt.
While if you used a percentage system, well therge lords would grumble because in raw numbers they were losing a lot.
And even though the second technique might still seem fairer, Alexander ran into trouble of deciding what arbitrary number to use.
If he used too small a percentage number, well then sometimes it would appear that a very small lord would have to pay so littlend that it was virtually insignificant.
And since a lot of thosends were held by numerous tinyndlords, suddenly a huge chunk of the avablend would be omitted from consideration.
While the problems of increasing that number were self exnatory, it would draw the ire of all the lords.
As for customizing the number to fit the situation, well where was the fairness in that?
But even if Alexander could somehowe up with a magic number that satisfied everybody, then came the question of thend itself.
Every plot ofnd was unique, located in a specific ce and with its very own identifying characteristics.
Some of thends were strategically ced along a crossroad, near a river, and all were worth different due to their differing poption density and agricultural output.
Some may have good mines, some may have good lumber, some might have ess to abundant fisheries while others might be particrly good for growing a certain type of crop¡. the list could go on.
And naturally, the Helvati wanted thosends that produced the most valuable produce, while the Margraves lords were naturally unwilling to part with their treasures.
This debate was soplex that it would have been a fool''s dream to think the entirety of it could be resolved in just two days.
Hence at first, only the preliminary details were hashed out.
It was decided here which counties would take how many natives and as well as the preliminary ce where the natives would be ced.
Because Metztil demanded that his people be settled with their families, each of these settlements would basically have to be a vige housing a few hundred people, surrounding which had to be the farnds that were promised to them.
And given the number of people there, naturally, these farnds had to be quiterge.
However, the trouble was it was very hard for a single lord to have so much good, emptynd.
So finally, unable and unwilling to work out all the nitty gritty deals, Alexander decided to leave the particr details to the individual lords and Helvati people themselves.
The more technical ones would be worked out once the Heeats were dealt with.
The idea was that once things calmed down, the two parties would evaluate the situation for themselves by going to the sight and try their best to work out aprise that satisfied the aforementioned conditions in the treaty.
As for the discussion about the amount ofnd each lord would give, Alexander decided to outsource that trouble too.
He was already too exhausted by then to care.
The amount of effort Alexander had to go through just to make the noblese to the table and agree to this in the first ce had been skipped over.
But needless to say, it was a very arduous process.
Getting any noble to hand over his territory was perhaps harder than reaching the moon, and without Alexander''s strong army and Lady Miranda''s political support, Alexander did not think these greedy pigs would have ever agreed.
Even then, there was a lot of back room dealing, with Alexander promising the more powerful nobles various benefits, be it ess to cheaper products from his markets, an exemption from giving up theirnd in exchange for pressuring his vassals to do so, or promising not to force them to provide men for the uing battle.
Despite all that these people were still whining.
For the man who had been working like a madman for the past week or so, putting in twelve to fourteen hours a day to get everything properly organized, this bit of sabotage strained his nerves to the limit.
So at all the bickering, Alexander with a hint of anger in his simply dered a t sq km ofnd that each county had to give up.
This proved quite controversial as such administrative districts were hardly equal in size.
The establishment of these groups ofnd was not based on the poption living there, its economic output, or even strategic significance, such as a critical river, dam, or mountain pass that easily blocked off attackers.
Rather these counties were really spheres of influence for a particr viscount or perhaps a bunch of allied barons.
Meaning the ones who had the bigger stick got to form the bigger county.
However, Alexander simply suppressed these voices with brute force, iming this was the reality and in the grand scheme of things, even the smallest counties would only lose a tiny fraction of theirnd.
Then as a bit of ointment, he promised them that those counties that did not have to take the natives or took rtively less would be the ones to take the next batch of them, i.e.- the ones wherend would be leased out.
This promise, along with support from the powerful lords who had been bought out by Alexander was finally enough to quell theints.
The battlefield thus shifted internally, as therger lords in those counties tried their best to ''transfer the damage'' to their smaller retainers.
While the counties that were spared did not directly express any unwillingness to take in the natives but set up a limit of 40,000 men or about 80rge tribal families.
This was done not only as a condition to limit how muchnd they would have to give away but perhaps more than that, it was done to limit the number of ''barbarians'' living in their society.
Alexander was personally okay with this number.
50,000 natives was a nice whole 10% of their total poption.
Also, he found that the nobles had forgotten to take into ount the fact these ''barbarians'' were going to soon reproduce.
So the number 50,000 was bound to quickly double and triple within a few decades
The only problem Alexander however had with the nobles was the time they wanted.
The counties giving up theirnd wanted three years to satisfy all of the 10,000 men, while the leasing counties wished to start taking the natives only from the fourth year- a truly absurd demand.
They imed they had no good, empty plots ofnd on hand to give and would have to spend the next four years clearing enough forests or woods or de weeding abandoned pastures.
And even after that, they only wanted to do this in small batches of 10,000 annually
The reason was- ''to be able to swallow suchrge volumes without choking'', as put by one of the noble spokesmen.
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Alexander simply snorted at thisme excuse.
It was clear these men were simply looking for an excuse to dy the transfer, perhaps hoping the entire thing would simply fall apart in the meantime.
And this hope was actually not nearly as misced as one might think.
It would only take a singlerge scale conflict with the migrating natives to destroy the entire project, if not at least freeze it indefinitely.
Something many of these scheming men were more than happy to fund.
However, although their thoughts were clear as day to Alexander, he did not argue here and rather pretended to agree and shake on it.
He understood these men were simply trying to make life difficult for him.
And the only way to make these slimeballs listen was tobine carrot with some good old stick.
So he first nned to show his prowess by winning the battle against Lord Parker.
Once he did that and took over Caira with no help whatsoever from these nobles, Alexander was confident in making them bow.
Thus, for now, he turned his attention to his military and ordered them to get ready to march imminently.
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Chapter 1265: Remuss Report
The three days rest periods set by Alexander for the soldiers went by in what seemed like the blink of an eye.
And during this time, under Alexander''s order, Remus made sure to spend every second asking around and studying the various tactics andmand structure of the Helvati, to better integrate the two forces.
"This is no army. This is just an armed mob!" And at the end of it, this was the judgment he gave about them to Alexander.
It was currently night, and inside Alexander''s study, only three men were present, sporting three very different expressions.
Standing in front of Alexander, the young, brash Remus looked very pissed while delivering his report as if greatly dissatisfied at the low quality of the reinforcements.
While the calmer, ck gaint Metztil sitting opposite of him had his brows furrowed as if greatly worried by his colleague''s statement.
As for Alexander, he simply kept a cid, attentive look and with a small nod, only signalled Remus to continue to borate,
That was all the encouragement the young general needed to go off on his tirade,
"Alexander, nine out of ten of these ''barbarians'' are basically peasants with a stick. I tried asking them about one or two things about the military¡. You know the most basic things like what signals they use to turn and what kind of battle formations they typically used, but less than half of them even knew what I was talking about. They have not been taught anything."
"Rather when I questioned them, they looked at me like one would look at a madman!" Remus ground his teeth in rage as he said this, finding the native''sck of training maddening.
If not for fear of causing a diplomatic incident, he might have even marched up to Metztil and outright dered him a fraud who was trying to swindle Alexander of a great deal ofnd by disguising handicapped farmers as soldiers.
Remus seriously doubted whether these men could even fight or would simply run at the first hint of trouble.
And if thetter were to truly happen, morale among the legionnaires would undoubtedly fall to a nadir.
Worstes to worst, the legionnaires might even follow suit, because typically when one side fled, others rarely wanted to stay behind.
This was almost an instinctive thing to want to do because individual soldiers and even mid ranking officers rarely had any idea how well the overall battle was going.
Their sight would be fully obstructed by the whipped up cloud of dust and the shoulders and heads of their nearbyrades.
So it might seem to them that they were doing very well, pushing the enemy to his death, whereas the reality could be that both of their nks had been defeated and the entire army in the midst of being encircled, allpletely unbeknownst to them.
Hence whenever the fighting soldiers saw a part of them running, they usually assumed the worst and ran to save their lives.
It was something training could rarely ount for.
Not to mention, not all of Alexander''s nearby 20,000 men were well trained men, a lot of them were hastily raised levies, sent here by Cambyses as fast as she could get her hands on them.
Perhaps the only difference between them and the native peasants was that they were better equipped and had a greater number of well trained officers to lead them.
Other than that, it was likely their knowledge of military doctrine and formations was as good as the natives.
In fact, these past three days, Menes was busy exactly teaching them these things, drilling the men on the basics from sunrise to sunset.
Sure this was not going produce any well trained army, as basic training was supposed tost six weeks, but at least with this, the newly added legionnaires would know which direction to point their swords at.
And as Menes was overseeing this, the matter of ''espionage'' had fallen onto Remus.
This was also why Remus remained oblivious to his own army''s faults.
Rather, further adding fuel to the mes, Remus finished his report with great vehemence,
"Not to mention almost all of them are basically naked¡ they have no armor! And when I asked them about it¡ those bastards actually had the gall to sneer at me and call me a coward for wearing ''metal coffins''. Bastards! Bastards! No wonder they got ughtered like pigs by the Sybarians. Idiots¡.
they deserved every bit and more!"
Remus very loudly telegraphed his annoyance at the subpar quality of his allies, stomping his leg in frustration.
The legionnaires were perhaps the most heavily armored infantry in the world at the moment, and so for them to ally with a force who were basically bare chested men in Remus''s eyes, incensed the man to his limits.
He was not mad at them for calling him names or disparaging, he was not that petty.
Nor was he truly mad at the men being poorly equipped. Not everyone had the same circumstances.
But what seemed to truly piss them off was but more so over the attitude these men had towards their own force quality. Even when they clearlycked the proper equipment, they were not bothered by it, and neither did they show any desire to acquire it.
Clearly, such a force would prove to be the most brittle section of their army.
Hence to him, Metztil''s men were beginning to appear more like handicaps than helpful additions.
"......." Alexander first let Remus have a bit of time to cool down following his indignant outburst, before chirping up to first congratte for his hard work and frank opinions.
Then he revealed his own thoughts on the matter, z
"What you saw today is nothing to be surprised about Remus." Alexander imed, "I had already suspected these barbarians to be in such a state. If they were rich and powerful with the ability to field powerful, fully equipped armies¡ well they would not have to bear the shameful moniker of ''barbarians'' in their own homends, would they?"
"In that same tune, if they could easily change and adapt to changing circumstances¡ well, then also they would have never been pushed this far. Theirck of armor could be more religious and societal in nature than mere ipetence."
"But whatever the case may be, since they have already made their decision, that''s it, isn''t it? What more is there to discuss? If they die that''s their problem¡ no need for us to get riled up over."
Alexander''s chilly words starkly contrasted the gentle way he shed his palms, cooling the excited Remus down.
Then turning to Menes, he additionally opined to reassure the man of the reinforcements,
"I have also taken a few nces at Metztil''s forces. They might not be as good as ours, but I do not think they are not as bad as Remus fears them to be."
"It is normal for nine tenths of the forces to be made up to untrained levies. Armies are usually a herd of sheep led by a few lions. And it is normal for these poor tribes to have little more than a shield and spear. Not everybody is rich like us."
"I also believe Remus has overlooked a few things when ites to armor. Sure the majority of the Helvati might not have armor, but that does not mean they are naked. I believe the thick woolen jackets and fur coats they came wearing would be able to soak in a surprising amount of arrow fire and prove deceptively hard to pierce or sh through."
And here Alexander was not simply saying this to make his allies seem morepetent to his skeptical general.
He truly meant it, cloth was surprisingly a good armor.
And it was really not that unbelievable once you remembered where clothes came from, they were basically bunched up wood fibers that had been treated using various artificial processes.
So things like gambeson and linen thoraxes had been used as armor since ancient, even though they were just a fewyers of clothes stitched or glued together with some kind of stuffing like hay, bird feathers, and once it was discovered, cotton, stuffed in between.
It was a very cheap yet effective way of stopping spears, swords, arrows, and even heavy pike thrusts.
Plus it was not like all of Metztil''s men were equipped so bared boned, as Alexander went on to add,
"Also, the nobles and rich Helvati are equipped almost as well as us. They might not have the best bronze armor and leather greaves like Metztil was wearing, but I saw a lot of them wearing at least scale armor. That''s not too bad."
"They will likely be themanders and as long as they stay alive¡ the peasants shouldn''t break. And that''s all we need. To stay on the field and not run. Winning will have to depend on us. That''s only natural."
In this way, Alexander subtly hinted at the way he nned to conduct the war.
And quickly picking up on the hidden meaning, Remus frowned a bit to chimed, "You want to use them in the front lines as meat shields while we try to nk the Heeats? Will these armorless idiots even be able to hold on?"
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Chapter 1266: The Natives Deployment
"Will these armorless idiots even be able to hold on?"
As Alexander expressed his wish to use the natives as bait in the uing battle, Remus seriously questioned whether these men even had the equipment to pull it off.
However, Alexander felt Remus was being too snobbish towards the native''s attire.
Although perhaps not as good as the legionnaires'' bronze, mail, and thoraxbination, the linen clothes cum armor worn by the general soldiers was not half bad.
In fact, there were even records of cloth being better than metal armor in some cases.
For example, when the Spaniards fought against the Aztecs, they found the linen armor those South Americans wore was so good that it even managed to stop their bullets.
Now admittedly the muskets back then were not as powerful as itster cousins.
But still, for mere flimsy cloth to stop a solid, iron ball¡ it was nothing short of absolutely impressive.
The Spaniards fighting there also learned from this and started to wear these looted armor although they had good, solid te armor.
They would wear the cloth underneath the metal dress for added protection, going on to show just how effective cloth could be.
As for the nobles and rich tribal natives, they wore much better scale armor, which was basically a downgraded version of Alexander''s chainmail armor.
The difference between the two was that in thetter, countless interconnected small metal rings protected the body in a maze like matrix.
Whereas in the former- numerous small, metal, pieces in the shape of a rough square or circle were strung together around the body using metal strings sown into thick clothed padding.
It was like kind of wearing a tunic that was covered with many metal pieces.
And depending on the quality of the armor, this could be a singleyer, or even multipleyers, with the metal pieces ovepping with each other to give extra protection from stabs and thrusts.
As a matter of fact, these did not even have to be metal pieces like bronze, iron, or steel. Anything hard would basically do.
So the Helvati nobles who were particrly religious used roughened leather, stones, horns and for the truly zealous of the bunch, evenrge, dried seeds of certain fruits could be utilized.
Now just from reading this, scale armor might seem actually better than mail.
After all, which sounds better for body protection- a solid consignment of iron pieces wrapping around the torso with no gaps in between, or a measly collection of metal rings which could easily let the tips of a spear or sword go through huge gaps in the center?
These were rings after all, by definition its centers were empty.
However, although the answer might have sounded obvious, here the phrase- ''Reality is often stranger than fiction'' came into y.
The presumed problems with mail armor would never manifest, because these rings were surprisingly adept at ''catching'' the tips of spears and swords before they could get through, especially when you paired them with some kind of linen armor like gambersons.
While all the seemingly huge advantages with scale armor were sadly not that huge. And this was mainly because of how the metal pieces were arranged.
Because they were just strung together using a metal string like Christman lights and not interconnected to each other like in mail, whenever they got hit, they tended to simply slide off and give away, letting the de through.
Also, because of the ''flimsy'' way they were connected to the clothed padding, using only a thin, rtively flimsy string, a good hit tended to knock them off, kind of like a medieval equivalent of a tank losing its reactive armor had getting hit by an anti tank weapon.
And like that tank, once the metal piece was lost, that part of the armor became vulnerable.
However, this was not a problem with the chainmail as even if the rings broke, due to their interconnected nature, they would still retain their shape and provide at least some kind of reduced protection.
Andstly, the problem with scale armor was its weight.
Needless to say, wearing solid iron pieces was much heavier than thin metal rings.
But scale armor also gave a clear glimpse into how armor developed over time.
Chainmail was basically created by taking scale mail and separating it into two parts.
The metal pieces were turned into hollow rings to save on weight, while the clothed padding that was the base for the scales was separated into its own thing.
It was clear that the current civilization would have likely developed chainmail very soon even without Alexander''s intervention.
All theycked was iron with sufficient good quality that could be drawn into long strings without snapping and an armorer with that tiny spark of inspiration.
Towards Remus''s skepticism, Alexander did not bother to correct the man.
He only insisted that Metztil''s men would take the vanguard and bear the brunt of the attack.
"I n to ce the 10,000 Helvati in the center. You two will take the nks and I will be in the back." Alexander sinctly revealed the basic structure of the formation he wished to use.
And since he had spoken, his two generals could only nod and obey.
They might be able to advise and even argue with Alexander, but at the end of the day, he was their boss.
Not only was his prestige among the soldiers unlike anything else, but even if he did not have that impressive record of sess, just by courtesy of his title, Remus and Menes were still oath bound to follow him regardless.
Of course, Alexander very rarely used his title to muscle his way, which was why, although unable to change Alexander''s mind about the deployment, Remus still wished to mitigate the risk of this ''highly risky'' move.
"Alexander, you should know better than me that these barbarians are highly suspicious. Didn''t they betray the Margraves just a few decades ago? Is it wise to give them the most important position in the army?" He chimed, wishing to poke at Alexander''s insecurities.
The center of the army was like the spine of the army.
If the nks broke, it was like breaking the wings of a bird, making it plummet to the ground.
However, even then, that bird might still be capable of fighting, hopping around like a cripple.
But if the spine was broken, well there was nothing to fight with then.
Hence mostmanders tended to ce their strongest troops in the center.
Their sess usually spoke of the whole campaign''s sess and their failure demoralized the whole army.
And hearing Remus bring this, the young pasha silently smirked at this in his heart
Just like he hade to know the brash Remus, it seemed Remus too hade to know him, knowing what Alexander most feared was a stab to the back.
But it was just that thetter still knew the former much, much better.
So giving a tiny smirk to Remus, Alexander chuckled without batting an eye,
"It is precisely because I do not trust Metztil that I am cing him in the center. This will let me do two things.
One- by cing the natives in the most critical position, it will help me show them that Ipletely trust them. This will hopefully let me earn some goodwill so that even if they wanted to betray me, some of the more honorable men might think twice.
And two¡.if they really want to attack, being on the nks, we will be able to easily scatter to the left or right. The Margraves suffered those huge losses precisely because they were in the center and got caught between the attackers and their own formation."
"..." Remus as well as Metztil was stunned to the point of bing half mute hearing.
They never thought Alexander would act this like, as demonstrated by a stunned Remus,
"You want to give up on the battle if Metztil''s betrays us? Why?"
It was almost an instinctive knowledge that when you had a party suspected of being disloyal, you tried to mitigate the chances using whatever ways you could.
Not give them everything they wanted and hope for the best.
And although Remus or Metztil did not say this out aloud, their facial expression and body movements seemed to express that.
But Alexander had also thought of that, and hearing the pained cry of the man, simply lightly chortled,
"Heh, so let me guess? You instead want me to go and break Metztil''s men. Make them join our legionary formations and put all the men under ourmand. Problem solved right? No mutiny!"
The sarcasmced in those words was so thick that it might as well have dripped down like honey.
"Hmmp, well then, let''s say we do what you say. Do you think a single one of those men will trust a single word you say? No, better yet, do you think they ''understand'' a single word they say? Who are you to them? Absolute strangers!"
"No! You are worse! You are ''outsiders'', the devils who took theirnd away from them¡ There is no point in trying to check Metztil. We have discussed the terms but if he betrays us even then, we will give up on the battle and retreat to here."
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Chapter 1267: Siege Of Caira (Part-1)
Alexander had been concerned about the possibility of Chief Metztil betraying him from the day he had chosen to consider allying with the man.
And he had gone through the usual list of things to do to try and mitigate that.
However, every single one of them ran into the same problem- a grossck of even the most simple trust.
The two groups were two very different people- thenguage was different, themand structure was different, and even the military values one looked for in a soldier were different.
Not to mention, the experienced Alexander only needed to take a single nce at the Helvati tribesmen to understand such people could never be ''tamed'' by his officers.
He noticed that the Helvati always kept a good distance from his legionary camp and whenever Alexander felt their gaze fall on him, it seemed to be one of weariness, suspicion, and even subtle hate.
Clearly, these hot blooded men had no love for ''outsiders'', the mindset formed over centuries due to various societal and historical reasons.
Hence these men would never follow anyone except people from their own tribe, people who they trusted and knew would not stab them in the back
So if Alexander were to forcefully try and do what Lord Macht did with the Margraves, things would turn very ugly very soon.
At least in that case, the Margraves agreed at first and only rebelled once Lord Macht proved ipetent.
But here, the Helvati would just pick up their weapons and go home.
In addition to these, there was also Alexander''s concern about the quality of those men, aster suspicions were confirmed by Remus''s report.
Unlike his legionaries''plex system of signaling trumpets and drums that allowed them to change formation on the fly and thus quickly adapt to all kinds of changing circumstances on the battlefield, the Helvati were quite primitive.
From talking to Metztil in his free time, Alexander found that they at best used the most simple ofmands when fielding an army- like charge forward, turn left or right, or retreat.
Anything more and you had various units butting heads with each other or simply bing confused in the chaos of the battle.
Because of all these reasons, even though Alexander wanted to spread Metztil''s men among his own ranks, he refrained.
Rather he tried to make the man glue himself to him by offering him generous benefits. And he believed thend he offered till now was good enough.
The chances of Metztil betraying him were very unlikely.
But if things still unfolded in that very imusible direction, well, he chimed the contingency to Remus,
"We have discussed all the terms and even sworn to the gods to witness our alliance. But if they betray us even then, well¡ then that''s it, isn''t it? No one can ever defend everything at once."
"Instead of being ughtered like the Margraves back then, we will give up on the battle immediately and retreat back to here. What happens next¡ we will discusster."
Remus and Menes took thosest words to mean if Alexander lost theing campaign, he would cut his losses and go back home.
And although they felt bitter about this backup n, since it had not yete to that, they decided to keep the thoughts to themselves for now.
Alexander and Metztil would leave Lord Janus''s territory on the sixth day, the dypelled by a suddenst minute blizzard.
This bad weather would also deny Alexander the use of the sea as the experienced sailors under Lord Janus informed them the seas around this time were susceptible to sudden storms and even typhoons.
The tsunami that had hit them five years ago happened close to around this time.
This was too bad because Alexander was looking forward to using those newly built ships in Lord Janus''s harbor, the ones made under his own design- ones that used solid, iron pegs instead of the wooden one
There were a couple of them stored there.
But it seemed it was not meant to be
Hence the men had no choice but to reluctantly take the bad road, or whatever passed as roads around here, for the journey was every bit as hard and ufortable as Alexander had imagined.
Due to the build up of snow on the road, these earth beaten roads basically turned into a muddy swamp, where carts and horses got bogged down and then sunk like they were moving through quicksand.
And as their handlers tried to dislodge these distressed beasts, pushing and pulling on them as best as they could, a traffic jam that was literally kilometers long soon formed.
It was not even umon to see such men having lunch or supper beside their stuck animals, simply waiting for the ground to harden a bit before resuming their rescue efforts.
The maddeningly slow crawl made Alexander feel like he was experiencing the famed ''rasputitsa'' for the first time.
And because of this mud and water slurry, the mere 160 kilometers trek which should have only taken a week toplete took nearly double the time.
It was the middle of January that Alexander finally managed to reach the outskirts of Caira, and as the nearly 25,000 men strong army slowly crawled their way towards the outskirts of Caira, the nearly 30 feet walls guarding the city''s perimeter became visible to all of them.
And seeing it, Alexander could not help but sigh.
Compared to the flimsy wooden walls of Lord Janus''s city that was only a singleyer thick, this stone structure inparison appeared to have been made by the gods.
Tall, thick, and sturdy, it wasparable to any of the best walls in the world at the time.
And if not for how t and indefensible ''Giant City'' was, Alexander would not have even contemted attacking this sturdy fortress of more than 100,000 men head on this.
He would have stayed in the north and bid his time there, letting Lady Miranda strengthen her position.
This would have been impossible for Lord Parker to swallow because the goal set out by his father was to take the entire northern half of Galiosos Ind.
So seeing Alexander strengthen himself and plot to split its prize, the young lord would have had no choice but to go and give battle.
This meant he would have to waste precious supplies and drain his men''s stamina to march up towards Alexander in this cold and then fight in an unknown territory.
All the advantages would be with Alexander with none of the downsides.
However, circumstances made it so that this was not to be.
Hence as Alexanderid his eyes on the huge meter thick walls that he was tasked with demolishing, the sense of the scale made him feel a bit daunted.
Sure these walls were still notparable to the huge walls of Thesalie, but remember Alexander had almost two years to prepare to take that city and even then he could only do it due to how close it was to Zanzan, making his supply chain very short.
All the tricks and schemes he had used back then, like constructing a new wall and firing ming catapults would not be applicable here.
Hench at this moment, Alexander could not help but wish that he had not given up the control of the manor.
Then we would have still had control of the Royal Harbor, thus allowing him tond troops via ships or boats directly into the city, bypassing Lord Parker''s most formidable defenses.
Of course, such wishes were little more than a pipe dream as back then Alexander was suffering from a chronic shortage of men.
Not to mention without him personally leading the negotiations with Metztil, there was no way he would have gotten the Helvati on his side.
So instead of daydreaming, he quickly set up camp and early next morning began to set up his catapults, wishing to pound a section of the walls down.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The loud thuds of 15 to 20 kg stones hitting the walls quickly made even the sturdy structure reverberate with a subtle, slow shake, causing many of the defending men to duck for cover.
They had never experienced such an artillery attack and the sight of those huge balls being flunk toward them frightened many.
"My lord, please stay away from the walls. It is not safe."
But one man who had no intention of cowering was Lord Parker, who had personallye out to the walls to see the size of the enemy for himself.
By now, this young scion seemed to have shredded that previous shroud of gloominess and instead sported a sharp prating look.
And ignoring the warning of his chief bodyguards, he instead approached the end of the walls and sneered,
"Hmmmp! So this is Alexander''s way of conducting warfare. The barbarian ve did not even send a war delegation."
It was customary during this time for the attacker to send peace terms before starting any attack, as it was considered something like etiquette among gentlemen.
Alexander had not bothered to send anyone this time because he had been in enough meetings with Lord Parker to know that if words could have made the man bend, the campaign would have been over by now.
Lord Parker''s sneer was apanied by a careful scan of the spawning tents thaty on the green field ahead of him, and it caused the man to murmur,
"There is no need for us to fight Alexander now. We will wait for father''s reinforcements."
Chapter 1268: Siege Of Caira (Part-2)
Lord Parker had of course spotted Alexander''s slow lumbering army marching towards him at that snail''s pace from tens of miles away.
The scouts he sent quickly returned to inform him of the numbers- around 25,000 to 30,000 when including men and servants.
"Hmmp! Those ungrateful northern traitors. They dare stand against us?"
Hearing Alexander suddenly go from 5,000 to 30,000, Lord Parker at first snorted contemptuously as such in rage and anger.
He of course assumed this was a collision between Alexander and the Margraves nobles there.
The fact that Alexander could call for reinforcements had not even urred to him, just like Alexander was still oblivious to Lord Parker''s own plea for help.
As for the presence of the northern, it was doubtful Lord Parker even knew they existed. Their current presence in the southern parts of the ind was really too little.
Thus Lord Parker felt this was the northern nobles rebelling and feeling incensed, turned to re at his wife as if asking how this could happen and how they knew nothing about it until it was sote.
Miss Linda also naturally had no idea either. Because such a thing had not actually happened. Hence her, or more precisely her family''s spies in the north gave no such warning.
And such a phenomenon quite puzzled her, as she said to himself,
''This should have been impossible. After the incident at the time of my grandfather, my family has always been wary of those traitors We have the best spies up there and a lot of our men.''
Here by ''our men'' Miss Linda meant a lot of her cousins, uncles, and aunts lived there.
After being betrayed by the tribal alliance and suffering grievous defeat at the hands of the rebelling lords, the Margraves had spent the better part of five decades trying their best to plug up this serious breach in their defense.
So under Miss Linda''s grandfather, enormous time, effort, and money were spent on creating a robust spywork, the powerful lords were cated by binding them with the Margraves through marriage, intentionally weakening them by restricting trade with them.
This was another reason why the northern area was less developed with bad infrastructure, as it was assumed with less money, these troublemakers would have less capital to cause headaches.
All this meant that if 20,000 to 25,000 levies were to be generated there, there was no way her spies would not have raised the rm.
Miss Linda however did not bother to present these discrepancies to her husband.
Given the rage state he was in now, she knew he did not want to hear excuses.
Hence clenching her beautiful teeth in anger, her immacte face turned ck as she hatefully chimed, "The northerns have always been troublesome. A lot of them even have barbarian blood in them. My sister must have promised them something huge for supporting here¡. Like not having to pay her any taxes. They have always wanted that."
This shifting of me worked wonders, as although Lord Parker produced arge frown, he still bought it.
So he shifted his properties next to order Miss Linda,
"Write to your family there. Find out the exact details of the deal. Such a huge thing could not have been kept hidden. Thene up with a way to break the alliance."
"......" The prettydy only silently nodded in agreement.
However, if Lord Parker had bothered to observe her a little better, he would have found his wife''s onyx like eyes had be like the pool of a deep abyss, as if containing all the world''s rage.
After losing Achis as well as the rebellion from the Margraves, Miss Linda had be almost like a stranger to Lord Parker. All the affection he once held for her seemed to have evaporated, leaving behind only a cold, hard facade.
And sensing she was rapidly losing the support of her powerful ''Patreon'', this over ambitiousdy too changed coats, and was now more busy deciding how to jump ship.
Patching things up with Lord Parker appeared impossible, so thedy began to look elsewhere.
Thus it seemed that this once great love ship was a single disaster from sinking forever into the depths of the lonely abyss.
Lord Parker remained totally oblivious to the poisonous snake that he was sharing his bed with.
Rather he was much more concerned with the immediate threat posed by Alexander.
The young lord quickly calcted that he only had 20,000 men and even among that only half were directly under hismand.
He did dare bet on Lord Bernard and the Margrave''s loyalty on the battlefield.
Especially not when facing someone like Alexander, who had given them such a bloody nose even when he was grossly outnumbered.
And now that he was on par, if not outnumbering them, how could Lord Parker dare to give battle?
Hence when Alexander first revealed himself, the first thing he did was personally go to the top of the walls despite the risk of flying stones and fired arrows, and observe the reported number for himself.
And indeed, after carefully scanning the spawning tents thaty on the green field ahead of him, he confirmed the veracity of the report.
Alexander was fielding an army greater than his.
"There is no need for us to fight Alexander now. We will stay inside and wait for father''s reinforcements."
So Lord Parker wisely dered thus, choosing to use the walls and y defense for now.
He would only meet the dangerous enemy once he had absolute superiority in number.
And since as many as 20,000 men were reported to be soon joining them, all his officers andmanders too sang the same tune, very happy that their young lord had chosen to be patient and wait.
Originally they had been afraid that the brash man would be driven mad by the reappearance ofGeneral Achis and sally out to meet the enemy in an attempt to rescue his lover.
Thankfully for them, Lord Parker seemed to have matured a lot and heeding their advice, simply cooped himself up in his manor, letting Lord Macht take charge of the wall''s defenses while he enjoyed his life, mainly ying with his son who was just learning to walk.
The thing that pleased the Heeatmanders on the other hand irked Alexander to nearly his wit''s end.
Because even after a week of pounding the wall with his catapults, it did not show any real sign of breaking.
There were cracks and splits in the stone for sure, but even if those parts broke off, it would not mean the whole wall would fail.
They were too shallow.
And because of this rtiveck of danger, Lord Parker also had no reason to go out to stop Alexander, like Lord Ponticus had done in the battle of Thesalie.
And the root of all this was the simple fact that Alexander did not nearly have the ''firepower density'' to quickly destroy the walls.
He had with him exactly 32 catapults.
This number came from the fact that typically a battalion (500 men) was assigned a single catapult.
So Alexander''s roughly 15,000 infantry should have 30 with them.
Luckily, Cambyses had given the reinforcements 5 extra ones from her stock just in case, while Alexander also lost three during previousbat- one was seized by Lord Macht during his attack on Phyrros Ind, one sunk when the bridge copsed, and thest one snapped right down the middle while transporting it here, sinking into the mud and breaking under its own weight.
However, although 32 catapults along a single line might sound impressive, it was nowhere still near enough to get the job down.
Or at least not quickly enough.
When he was attacking Thesalie for example, Alexander had close to a hundred of these, and even then it had taken him a few months to knock the wall down.
And that wasbined with all the various ns and preparations.
The elevation disadvantage was mitigated by building a wall using cement and Alexander was even insane enough to use solid iron balls as projectiles, making those much denser shots very deadly.
But here, Alexander of course had no ess to cement and instead of iron, had to use stones.
This was because most of the iron balls he had brought with him had been used up in the defense of the manor and naval battles, while due to ack of enough ships and time constraints, Cambyses had been unable to provide any significant amount of the stuff to the reinforcements.
They were given just enough tost a single battle, not a prolonged siege.
This soon resulted in an ammunition shortage.
Because good qualityrge stones were surprisingly hard to find around here. Experience tales at mvl
The area around Caira was quite t, with good, fertile farnd that was dotted with many, many viges.
It was prime real estate of the time, producing an enormous amount of food that was required to keep the Margrave''s capital city running.
But unfortunately, it could not give Alexander what he wanted right now.
So for now, it was those hamlets and small towns that had to provide Alexander with his ''missiles''.
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Chapter 1269: Siege Of Caira (Part-End)
Alexander''s search for stone ammunition led his men to raid ces like temples, the town square, and even the lord''s manor and unterally stripped them of all the stones they were worth.
But even these were hardly enough to sate Alexander''s ravenous appetite.
His need for projectiles was so vast that one had to see it to believe it.
The roughly 30 catapults he had were capable ofunching around two projectiles a minute, or an insane 3,600 shots per hour!
And assuming each shot was 20 kg in weight, this was 72 tons or around 12 elephants!
This was for only one hour, not a day.
To get that, you would have to multiply the number with the average hours- 8, giving you 576 tons or 100 elephants per day.
No matter how many viges were raided, there was no way, they could produce nearly 600 tons of stone, even if everything there had been made of stone, rather than mostly earth and timber.
In fact, not even the world''srgest quarry could do this.
Of course, Alexander would never fire these catapults at their maximum rate for the whole day. That would have been insane.
The people operating them would long have had their arms drop off from sheer exhaustion and the strings operating the catapults would likely long before that.
In fact, such a prolonged burst of fire would not have been even possible in modern times.
Even the country with thergest amount of artillery- the Soviet Union, which had huge artillery barrages before a major offensive only used them for half an hour to at most one and a half hours to soften up enemy strong points.
And that was an industrial nation producing millions of shells per month.
Typically a modern artillery used ten to twenty shells a day, and even that was when the fighting in the frontlines was heavy.
So Alexander''s attack on the wall was really perhaps a few hundred shots a day, averaging to a single catapult firing once or twice in an hour.
The firing mission would either be done by pounding a select stage of the wall constantly using a couple of catapults, each shooting once and then waiting for all the others to finish before firing again.
This would go on for hours, with the crew operating them and the catapults used changing after a few hours, thetter being done to decrease the wear on the ropes operating the machine.
In this way, by keeping the weapons firing periodically nonstop, it helped to keep the defenders on edge and slowly wear them down.
The problem was such wearing down took time, months of time.
So sometimes a different tactic was used.
Here, the entire stock for the day would be shot out as quickly as possible, possibly within an hour, as a way to shock and awe the defenders by killing some of them or trying to exploit a crack in the walls.
The idea for thetter was to deny the defenders any chance to try to repair the damaged walls while expanding the wound.
It was a tactical doctrine proposed by Alexander and it involved first opening a shallow crack that did not seem dangerous and hence was not worth the hassle of repairing for the defenders.
Only for them to be suddenly exploited by a heavy concentrated firepower out of nowhere that caused the entire section to suddenly copse.
The strategy''s efficacy was still in the testing phase, but hey, in the absence of a coherent n, anything that was organized was better.
Given the developing circumstances, Alexander tried his best to collect as much ammunition as he could and reduced the firing rate to the bare minimum that was needed to keep damaging the walls without letting it ''heal itself between turns'', i.e.- the efforts of the masons working tirelessly up in the walls.
And to do this, Alexander even allowed the firing of a lot of what he would call ''subpar '' munitions, which were a lot of the stones gathered from the vige.
Almost as much as half of the gathered projectiles from there were considered unsuitable to be used as missiles due to them being either too small, cut, and shaped too weirdly making their aerodynamic path too erratic, or simply too light to makeunching worth the effort.
However, throwing something was better than nothing and so Alexander let the men make do with whatever they do.
However, even such a sluggish pace soon proved too straining on Alexander''s supplies.
Thus after a few days, it became standard practice for the attackers to shoot whatever ammo they had in the morning and then sneakily approach the walls at night to retrieve them.
These ''retrievers'' were not Alexander''s men, they were Metztil''s.
For the siege, Alexander had cleverly divided thebor between the two parties, his experienced men who had the expertise would use the ''sophisticated'' catapults, while the simple Helvati would go fetch the thrown ammo.
Of course, he put the thing much more nicely to Metztil, and the prideful tribal chief seeing that his men were not doing anything to contribute to the siege but eating and sleeping like sloths, quickly agreed.
For him this battle was as much about winning as it was about earning glory and honor while his men were also very eager to show their worth to these outsiders, to show off their courage.
As a gift for their enthusiasm, Alexander would offer these ''naked'' men some of his spare armor and shield, hoping that the bronze cuirass, the metal chainmail, and the muchrger and heavier shield would protect them from all the dangers of approaching the wall.
And it was good that Alexander gifted the collectors good, heavy armor because it did not take long for the defenders to catch sight of these intruders.
A group of men sulking around dead at night in the middle of winter with lit torches was after all like a lighthouse.
Then as a response, the Heeats too began to ce small scale ambushes, shooting arrows and raining rocks down below in an attempt to get back as their enemies for all the misery they caused during the daying.
Because these men were virtually defenseless then, as they had no answer to the catapults.
Their bows could not really damage these siege machines, while the catapults the Margraves hadcked the range even when ced atop the wall to give it extra reach.
The one prototype that was capable of hitting the attackers, the one that was taken from Alexander as a war trophy, was kept in the back as study material.
So suddenly the collection of stones became a deadly and deathly game of tag at night, as the Helvati had to try and find all kinds of creative ways of approaching the wall without getting shot, while the defenders up top had to try and foil the disguises.
The wind, atst, shifted to Alexander''s favor because since it was night, the chronk of visibility made such skirmishesunched by the defenders hardly ever sessful.
Also, after a whole day of guarding the walls, these defenders hardly had the energy once again to wait at night in the dead of winter looking for an elusive enemy who mighte whenever they pleased.
Sometimes, if it was too cold, Alexander would even postpone the attack, thus making those watchmen go without sleep for an entire day.
In this way, the attackers slowly began to get the edge over the defenders.
However, even with this modest sess, Alexander found the speed of progress too low.
He found that there was no possible way he was going to break through the wall any time soon.
He would at least need a few months, two in the most optimistic sense.
But he was not willing to stay here for so long.
It had already been nearly five months since he came here and he intended to be in Zanzan, by the end of the sixth, travel time included.
Hence unable to wait any longer, he turned to Metztil with a cruel proposal.
With a sunny grin, Alexander chimed,
"Chief Metztil, it seems our enemy is too cowardly to meet us in the field. And cracking the hole he has hidden himself in is proving to be a very tedious affair. Problem is my quartermaster says we might not have enough grain tost until the end.
So why don''t you and your men take a long around the countryside? Help us gather some of it from the people!"
This was Alexander not so euphemistically giving Metztil permission to raid and plunder the nearby Sybarians.
And Metztil''s eyes instantly lit up with joy hearing this
"Heh heh, indeed, indeed Lord Alexander. Sometimes to catch a rat by its tail, you need to set fire to its home,"
His voice sounded unusually excited.
So without further ado, Alexander set about 5,000 of these rabid natives into the surroundings, with the single task of causing as much destruction as possible.
Within a week they produced results, as the entire province of Caira began to burn, and soon messages began to flock to Miss Linda from various nobles, begging her for help.
Yes, this was Alexander''s way of forcing a battle.
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Chapter 1270: Helvatis Looting (Part-1)
Alexander watched the Helvati raid and plunder the surrounding countryside with aplicated look in his heart.
First of all, he could not believe how easy it was to convince Metztil.
The man had gone giddy with joy the moment Alexander made the barest hint of it.
And looking at that ruddy, excited face, Alexander could not help but ''tsk'' a bit in his heart,
''I just swindled you from letting your people get and border with your homnd using this exact technique. Yet you so easily jump into it again. Should I call you foolishly greedy or greedily foolish?''
Alexander personally did not think Metztil was a good chief and could see how the man hadnded in the hot water he was in.
He was too short sighted, and easily swayed by whenever a good enough reward was presented to him.
However, a greedy chief was also not bad news for him.
It let him rest assured that the man was not going to easily betray him.
Hence Alexander kept all this disdain to himself and instead presented a facade of great encouragement.
As for Metztil, he really did not care what Alexander was plotting.
In fact, the idea probably never urred to him because at the moment he was likely feeling too overwhelmed.
There were very few joys that couldpare with killing and looting these outsiders. It let him vent his frustration and get revenge while simultaneously bing rich.
What was there not to like about this?
Even if he failed to win this campaign, even if Alexander went back on his word, as long as Metztil could suck the wealth from here, the chief was confident he would be able to recoup the cost of raising this army as well as cate most of the dissident voices back home.
He was that assured of the quantity of loot that could be taken from here.
And it was a trust that was well ced.
Caira, the home turf of a mercantile Marquiss was perhaps one of the richest provinces in the world at the time and so the amount of stuff that could be taken from here was truly mind boggling for the poor, impoverished Helvati.
They had already gotten a taste of what was to expect while they marched here-
homes overflowing with numerous iron pots and pans, and other metal tools like plows and hammers, huge mounds of stored grain the likes of which few men had ever seen, thick rolls of high quality clothes and fabric that appeared extravagant to even the tribal elites, livestock in the numbers they could scarcely believe, and of course lots of ves.
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And this same looting and burning was repeated here now, only on a muchrger scale.
Since the southern part of the Margraves was much more prosperous than its northern counterpart, naturally the volume of loot the Helvati managed to snatch was also much higher.
For instance, the surrounding homes here were awash with so many iron products that the looting Helvati did not even recognize some of them or what their use was.
Aside from the usual things used in day to day, and various weapons like swords, pikes, and halberds, all of which were quite rare to find in the north, many of the more luxurious homes were filled with various decorative art pieces like intricate showpieces, ironworks furnishings, and even beautifully worked iron gates and windows.
The Helvati were blown away by thatst disy of opulence because, for them, even a single sword was precious enough to a family heirloom of the highest quality.
In fact, a sword was so precious that it was not something that could not be even bought.
The ones who had a sword got it one way and one way only- stealing!
Meaning it was either robbed from an outsider or taken as battlefield loot.
Yet here the Sybarians were making huge gates and windows out of it, and using it to make statues!
Given the Helvati produced virtually no iron products of their own, the use of such a scarce resource like this was simply unimaginable
And unless the men had seen it for themselves, they would have never believed iron could be used so wastefully.
They even doubted their family back home would believe them if they told them about it.
Thus, to not let themselves be called a drunkard, they decided to take proof. All the iron products, even the door, windows, and gates were dismantled and taken as loot, the men shing the widest grin they could as they did so.
Selling them even as scrap was bound to make each of them rich enough not to have to work for at least a few years.
Now, this overabundance of iron was naturally not caused by the Sybarians being ultra wealthy as the Helvati were making themselves out to be.
It was but an innocent by-product of Alexander''s invention of the st furnace and its ability to produce progidal amounts of very good quality iron.
Caira was also itsrgest export market since it was a major hub for iron processing and this ess to very cheap iron resulted in the bizarre phenomenon of people switching to this metal instead of bronze or even the rtively expensive wood.
If others were to hear iron was cheaper than even wood, most would have called the person mad or if proven true, simply vomit blood.
But such a thing did happen due to the bizarre appearance of someone like Alexander.
Hence the current fashion trend among the nobles and upper ss people living around Caira was to decorate homes with as many iron products as you could as a way to show off.
Iron was of course not the only thing Helvati found to be in abundance here.
They also found something much, much more elusive, something they only heard of never seen¡ ss!
Or more specifically, clear, transparent ss.
If iron was a ''rare'' metal like gold or silver, then to the Helvati, ss was something like adamantine, one that only existed in stories and folklore.
And even that was the muddy, cloudy kind, one that was used in the modern day to make things like marbles and other toys.
Transparent, crystalline ss was something so new to them that at first, the looting men did not even know what they were looking at.
"What is this? Looks like water!" A brutish unkempt man gruffly spat while taking the ss statue of a dog from a nearby shelf, looking utterly confused.
This man and twenty of his brothers had broken into a local noble''s manor and after killing the man was currently busy taking everything.
This of course not only meant loot, but women too.
The numerous mournful screams of those who did not want to be taken were still reverberating across the manor.
This man who was the first to observe the ss showpiece however was in the rear of the formation and thus one of thest people to enter the manor.
Hence he missed the opportunity to take the prize he liked as all the good ones, as well as the bad ones, were taken.
So he instead began to ransack the ce looking for the best loot he could find before others joined in.
This was then he came across this ss statue.
And his loud voice and strange im naturally drew the attention of his nearby colleagues, particrly those who were still waiting for their turn.
Charmed by the shimmering glow being refracted off the artifact and the strange material it seemed to be made of, those men who were ready to drop their pants quickly left the women they were crowding around and instead began to observe the statue.
Handing it around one by one, they spoke in hushed, excited, and puzzledvoices,
"What is it? Indeed it looks like some kind of solidified water." A man repeated, raising the thing up above his head and cing it under the shimmering sunlight that was drifting in from the nearby window, as if looking to see if the thing would melt.
"Solid water is called ice you idiot. This is different!"
Quickly berating his colleague for making such a foolishment, another man snatched the thing away from the man like a hawk, before starting to feel the temperature and weight of the thing.
The man wouldment it felt cool to the touch and quite heavy for its small size.
"Looks like it''s some kind of clear stone."
Getting it on his hands, another wouldment such, finding it logical to think that since the thing was shaped like a statue, it should be made of some kind of unknown stone.
And it was clearly not made out of metal.
This hypothesis quickly led another clever man to chime up in excitement,
"Gems! Maybe it is a statue made of gems! Like the clear ones bards sing."
The Helvati man was of course referring to diamonds here. Although these poor sods had never seen the ultra precious stone, they knew of its existence from songs traveling poets and bards sang.
And that memory was enough to make these men feel giddy with great excitement.
If the bards spoke of it surely it had to be precious.
So they quickly bagged the thing.
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Chapter 1271: Helvatis Looting (Part-2)
The Helvati did not record their history in written scrolls or books, the practice having not evolved yet due to a variety of reasons.
One was because their culture was rtively young, so their civilization had not advanced enough to require such meticulous record keeping. People still trusted each other enough to believe whatever they said without requiring any material proof.
Thisck ofplexity aside, the second reason for it was due to the fact that the ce they lived in did not have easily avable material to write on- such as papyrus or stone.
And this was perhaps an even greater handicap as evidenced by many examples from Earth.
It is hypothesized that the four great ancient civilizations of Earth- the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians, the Indus Valley, and the Chinese became great civilizations because they all had ess to good writing surfaces.
The Mesopotamians (modern day middle east- Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, etc.) had an abundance of stone, the Egyptians had papyrus, the Indian subcontinent people had good quality leaves, barks, and y, and the Chinese had paper.
So for the ind natives who had no easy ess to any of them, a writing style never quite developed.
Most of the time, their records were transmitted orally through poets and bards.
It was only very recently, i.e.- in the past few centuries that their writing became sophisticated enough, and that was only after it was invaded by the Sybarian tongue.
Towards this infiltration, even now there was great debate among many of the tribes regarding what to do.
Some wanted to ban all outsider words outright and kill anyone caught uttering them.
While others were a lot more ambivalent, for they found these words to be very convenient.
There were many terms that could describe things that their native tongue could not.
So although they were not expressly in favor of using these foreign words, these tribes did ask the more powerful ns to make new native words to rece them before banning them.
Needless to such a linguistic endeavor involving so many different tribes with so many different dialects and ents was an impossible endeavor for the scattered tribal folk.
Even a modern civilization would have had a hard been reconciling all the differences.
And thus bards and poets and the songs and poems they sang still remained the most popr way of recording history, as the musical lyrics and its rhythmic nature made it easy for the people to learn and remember its contents.
These men would travel the nativends and regale stories that they had either heard from their teachers, seen with their own eyes, or simply made up using whatever rumor or hearsay they happened toe across¡ which was, unfortunately, more than ny percent of the case.
Once you heard their tales, you would seriously wonder how much of written history was actually ''history'' and not simply the fiction of a madman.
But it was still taken as gospel by the people of the time and considered the highest form of entertainment.
They loved to hear these ''learned'' men describe to them the illustrious stories of their glorious past and culture, of many famous battles, of great heroes and legends, of huge battles between gods and spirits, and of strange and fantastic scenes they had witnessed while traveling around.
And among those experiences, there was the recount of one bard who had once gone to a jewelry shop belonging to the outsiders and became bedazzled after looking at all the various kinds of exotic stones, gems, and gold iid in there.
From there heposed a poem to describe the diamonds, and as he sang,
"Stones that shine like fireflies, glimmering in the dark like the stars!"
This sounded so catchy to the natives that it basically became a part of theirnguage, the phrase now being used to describe something extremely precious.
So many looters excitedly recalling the lines, quickly began to take all the ss items they found.
However, not all of them thought whatever the bards spoke was so precious.
Some of the looters resisted the humane urge to collect these shiny baubles and then unable to distinguish the material assumed it was cursed.
Particrly if there were any shamans or so called learned men among them, they would recall the poets'' words and cry out in horror and malevolence,
"These things are made of the same things the stars are! They are our eternal enemies! The cursed outsiders! Destroy this! Destroy this and burn everything here!"
The natives believed that the spirits they revered were from the earth and that they had great enmity with the stars.
This belief was perhaps formed as a result of these backward people''s fear of the unknown. After all, ancient people would look up into the skies and gazing at the celestial bodiese up with the most kinds of tales.
This was only one version of them.
And here, the ss products were shattered and the people housing them burnt at the stake for the crime of sphemy as seen by the Helvati.
Other than these two groups, there was thest group- the one who simply asked the nobles whose houses they were raiding what this was.
The problem here however was that most of the time the owner of the house would be dead or have fled.
And even if he had not, he would not understand what they were saying since the two groups spoke differentnguages.
So these people mostly leave set aside these trinkets and look for other better known loot.
And there was really no shortage of good quality loot here.
For instance, unlike in the impoverished north,rge volumes of jewelry- nes, rings, bracelets, and anklets were found here.
Books and manuscripts were another thing found mostly here in the South, many of which were worth their weight in gold.
Huge quantities of livestock were taken.
Andstly, a lot of the vigers were taken as captives and ves, who were then promptly sold to the nearby ve traders for a pretty penny.
Whenever any war or conflict broke out, these people were the first ones to arrive at the scene, circling around it like vultures.
They really did not care who they took as ves, the enemy, or their own people, as long as they got the body, any previous identity was moot.
There was indeed a reason why merchants had a bad reputation during this time, being called names such as greedy pigs and ck hearted bastards.
Some of them truly deserved it.
Metztil''s hungry wolves in this way soon began to raze thends around Caira, turning its people homeless.
Towards this, Alexander personally felt bad for the innocent caught between.
Not only had they had their temples and other stone structures demolished to provide for Alexander''s catapult ammunition, but now they were having their houses looted, farms torched, livestock taken and women vited.
If he had not been forced, he would have rather not used such a tactic.
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But this was the unfortunate reality here.
As they say, gods fight and mortals suffer.
He needed to finish the battle quickly and this was the only way to force the hand of the nobles living in these parts, making them exert pressure on Lord Parker.
And indeed, seeing all the grain they had just stored for the spring nting get looted, theirnds being set aze, their homes raided and their womenfolk humiliated, messages began to flock to Miss Linda from all parts of hernd, begging her toe and save.
And thedy then passed this pressure onto her husband, which was why he was forced to attend the current meeting called by Lord Bernard.
The very handsome man who was in charge of the roughly 10,000 Margraves men quickly demanded in a hard tone,
"My lord, ournds are being razed and people ughtered. Is this how the Heeat family ns to protect us?"
Lord Parker had already received news of the Margrave''s men preparing for battle.
It seemed that they wished to head out with or without the Heeat''s aid.
''Damn those nobles! They dare pit us like that! Heh! The people! When did these ck hearted bastards start caring about those peasant trash? Cowards and craven leeches¡ they only know how to hide and whine!''
Towards the energetic and boisterous Lord Bernard, Lord Parker cursed like so in his heart, wishing that he had killed the man when he got the chance.
Indeed, what Lord Parker said was true.
The Margrave''s troops were not riled up by anything like the plight of their fellow countrymen.
Rather it was the nobles who supported Miss Linda that pushed the officers among the army ranks to agitate the men.
This was because all of them were afraid that they would be Metztil''s next victim.
Many had even already fled their fiefs and the lucky ones managed to seek refuge in Caira, where they gave very detailed and vivid descriptions of the destruction and cruelty they had witnessed.
Of course ny percent of that gross exaggeration, but it managed to aplish the intended goal, which was spreading panic and fear among the elite.
In this way, they nned and plotted, against the very same man who gave them refuge under his very nose.
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Chapter 1272: Forcing Lord Parkers Hand
While giving free rein to Metztil, Alexander cleverly asked the man to focus more on the rich noble houses and manor.
And given the high quality loot there, the Helvati chief had little reason to refuse.
Thus soon many nearby nobles began to hurry towards the safety of the huge walls of Caira,bringing with them all kinds of exaggerated stories, such as iming to have seen fields of fire that spanned for ''kilometers''.
This ount inevitably caused great distress among the elite and they flocked to Miss Linda to do something to save theirnds.
At the same time, thedy got news back from her family in the north and they imed to have no knowledge of any kind of deal being struck with Lady Miranda there.
Neither could they provide any exnation as to how Alexander was able to swell his men to such great heights.
The reason for this was that Lord Janus knew which nobles were loyal to Miss Linda and kept them attending Alexander''s meeting.
They were deemed more harmful than good for the discussion and at some point of the meetings, Alexander even secretly decided that after knocking out Lord Parker, thosends would be redistributed- mainly to ''his glorious self''.
And to get thatnd as soon as possible, as well as wishing to end this campaign quickly since he had a lot of things to do back in Zanzan, Alexander did not wait for any local reinforcements from the nobles.
He moved within days after the matter was discussed.
Thus only a very short time passed till the development of current situations, making it hard for the spies to obtain all the details of the discussed information before passing it along.
Hence the only thing those letters said was that a northern native army had invaded theirnds and judging by their movements, was suspected to have been heading towards Caira.
This was old news to Miss Linda as her couts had long ago discovered the distinct war paints and rough clothes the Helvati wore. They were tell-tell giveaways.
Not to mention how many of the nobles heard those men clearly shout in their distinct tongues.
But what this letter did was finally confirm thedy''s initial suspicions and it put great pressure on her.
She now understood Alexander was not cooperating with rebellious nobles, but the far more dangerous northern natives.
The woman went ballistic figuring this out.
This was because the natives were her family''s greatest enemies, their differences considered irreparable.
She would rather deal with traitors than these barbarians. Because at least those traitors were one of ''theirs''.
As such there was no way she was going to sit back and watch as those barbaric heathens ughtered her men and desecrated thends of her ancestors.
Out of her own urgency, Miss Linda hence began to covertly support the nobles who were causing trouble for Lord Parker and behind his back started to urge the army to push for an open battle.
The men were rallied under the banner of fighting off the invaders and soon even protests started to appear in the streets, with people chanting things like,
"The army is meant to fight, not hide."
"Protect thends! Protect the grain!
"Protect our homes! Protect us from famine!"
"Drive away the barbarians. Ournd, our home! Drive away the barbarians!"
Lord Parker watched all this unfold before him with nearly manic malevolence.
Because the plot was too transparent to miss.
He knew there was no way these unlearned, unsophisticated cityfolk would have dared to raise even a peep without the tacit nod of the Margrave''s army promising them protection, whilethe city''s various gangs and rats took the lead, all of whom were under the control of the Margraves and its nobles.
It was only by using that kind of muscle that the people could be told to protest without turning the whole thing into a massacre by the belligerent Heeat forces.
But at the end of the day, this revtion did not affect the n.
Because even if Lord Parker could unveil this open secret, there was little he could do to stop it.
Things thus continued to snowball while the young scion only yed defense, and soon, the entire city of 100,000 became charged up and ready to fight under the maniption of the nobles.
The 10,000 Heeat men garrisoned there also began to feel the people''s pressure mounting on them, as they clearly felt the gazes of the ordinary citizens turn increasingly hostile at them.
Whenever they walked along any street, regr people which side and avoid them like they were the gue.
Merchants would try and avoid selling things, and even if they did, they would charge them anywhere from 200% to 1000% extra, i.e.- 2 to 10 times.
''Prices have gone up due to the siege,'' They would im.
Now, it was true prices tended to skyrocket during sieges.
In the most desperate of cases, it was not strange to hear of nobles exchanging gold nes for a loaf of bread.
But clearly, things had not be so dire. Ordinary citizens only had to pay 10% to at best 30% more of the pre-siege amount.
In addition, Lord Parker had even instituted a rationing policy and fixed prices.
But when the shopkeepers were informed of all of this, they either feigned ignorance, made some excuse like it was impossible for them to sell at such a low price without incurring a loss, or cklisted from all future purchases.
Meaning whenever the soldiers came to buy goods next time, the merchants would im that due to low fixed prices and high demand, their stock had run out.
While some of the bolder shops even dared to shut shops right in front of the soldier''s faces, although such a move was rarely a good idea.
These hot blooded men armed with weapons did not look kindly at such rudeness and there were even instances of a few brawls breaking out among the two, with thergest and bloodiest one happening in one of the brothels after they refused to serve ''these cockless cowards'' as uttered by the serving girls''.
Apparently, the girls working there were all free women who came from the same vige and worked in the same red light establishment in the city as a way to support their families. Enjoy exclusive content from mvl
The rtively small business was run by that vige''s chief and he gave the girls and widows from there who were down on their luck employment opportunities here.
However that chief, along with the entire vige was raided and massacred by the marauding Helvati just two days ago.
These women were understandably devastated by this news, for not only had they lost all their loved ones, but without the chief, it was even unknown how long they would be in business.
It was right then this group of Heeat soldiers appeared before them, in a ssic case of bad timing.
And heartbroken and distressed, these women then began toy part of the me on the soldiers, using them of hiding behind the walls like cowards while the people outside burned and died.
They cried,
"Cowards! How dare you wear that armor? What good is that?"
"Strip naked and give it to us! We will go fight them!"
"We have more balls than you even when we were born without any!"
"Why do we pay you taxes? Waste of space!"
"Eating our food and shitting all day! Get out you useless bums!"
Many of these chants were taken from the protesting crowd, who were in turn taught by the scheming nobles.
But at that moment, those girls greatly messed up.
It was fine to shout these objectionable lyrics when they were in a crowd of a few thousand to even ten thousand people.
There was strength in numbers and the Heeat soldiers would not be able to do anything about them even if they tried in fear of intervention from the Margraves troops.
There were many friends and families of the troops among them after all.
But now isted and alone, these women in their rage and sorrow momentarily forgot their vulnerability.
While bing fully enraged after being called such nasty names, the bellicose Heeat men could no longer bear it.
Finally, they found an easy target to vent all their anger and frustration on.
Hence in revenge for the all discrimination and slights they received, they brutally raped and then killed all the women there.
This tragedy became a blessing in disguise for the Margraves, as such cruelty and bloodshed shocked and fully enraged the entire city.
Lord Bernard gained the perfect capital to press his foot on Lord Parker''s throat and with banners calling for the army to head out and fight the enemy flying all over the city, chimed,
"My lord, I cannot any longer control my men. They no longer have the patience to wait for your father to send his men. We n to head out in three days. Will you be joining us?"
Thatst part was not really a question.
It was a statement- ''You WILL join us.''
Because if the Margrave army were to go off to fight Alexander, the only force in the city would be Heeat military.
And only god knew what they could do when there was no one to stop them.
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Chapter 1273: Lord Parkers Internal Threats
Given the Margraves were getting ready to sally out, it was only natural for Lord Bernard to demand that Lord Parker follow him out of the city.
Because with them gone and no other force to defend Caira, only god knew what the Heeats could do.
Capture the Margraves family and take them hostage?
Massacre the whole city in revenge?
Loot and plunder everything and then leave?
Everything was possible.
The world would have been their oyster.
While hearing this ultimatum and understanding the mean things he was being suspected of, Lord Parker seethed with unbridled rage and anger,
"You dare plot like this? Who cares if a few whores died? When did they start caring about those cock sucking hussies?
He roared at the city folk before turning to shout at their puppet masters, "Is this how the Margraves treats its savior? We came here to help save you from destruction. And this is how you repay us?"
What Lord Parker was alluding to here was indeed correct.
In normal times the people of Caira would have hardly bothered themselves with such a thing.
Sadly, even the ughter of close to a dozen women was really nothing to bat an eye about in this day and age.
However this time, it was different.
The people were already riled up and possessed the covert support of the Margrave''s troops.
Many of the gangs even received instigating ''scripts'' from their learned patrons with poems that disparaged Lord Parker and the cowardly Heeat soldiers, calling them to be ''only man enough to kill women and children''.
People would chant these updated lyrics while protesting along the streets and although they were orderly till now, everyone knew it was only a matter of time before things turned violent.
In these ancient times, the two words- protest and riots were nearly always interchangeable.
This put a timer on Lord Parker''s stay on the city, as Lord Bernard tly dered that they would have to meet Alexander within the week least the city turns into a fiery inferior.
"The situation in the city is turning bad by the day. We need to move as soon as possible Lord Parker. Ifrge scale riots do break out and the enemy senses it tounch a coordinated attack on the walls, they might very well take the city. We cannot let that happen."
Lord Bernard had a facade of great concern as he revealed his concerns about such an ident.
Lord Parker''s eyes however only burned with even more rage hearing this ''story'', roaring in his heart,
''Bullshit! Without you scum protecting these rioters how can this be happening? Just have your men step down! I will have the city under control before sundown.''
Lord Parker wished with all his might to dye the streets of Caira with blood and viscera.
However as much as the man wished, he could not utter these words without ''evidence''.
And unfortunately there was no ''evidence'' to be found, because everything was an open secret.
For instance, Lord Bernard''s excuse for the deploying his men at the rallies was presumably to prevent the protestersfrom turning violet and had nothing to do with protecting them from the Heeat men.
In the same way Lord Parker''sin that there were many of the Margraves troops were joining the crowd was simply brushed aside as the men''s freedom of choice.
"Many have friends and family among the crowd. The men only went there to greet them. It was nothing," Lord Bernard had no troubleunching such a shameless fib without batting an eye.
Truly the hallmark of an excellent politician.
And the simr excuses were spewed out when Lord Parker clenched his teeth to make up the excuse-
"I believe there are many of Alexander''s spies that have infiltrated the crowd. They are the ones instigating the people to riot. I would like to have my men apprehend them before these miscreants can cause any harm."
Lord Bernard only chuckled amusedly at this weak attempt, "Thank you for informing me this my lord. But how can we let our guests work? Please leave it to us. We know the locals here better. You just concentrated to defending the walls."
Covertly deploying troops using the excuse of spies and agitators was perhaps as old as civilization itself.
So how could an experienced schemer like Lord Bernard let himself trip at such a cliche?
Thus, for Lord Parker, it seemed that whatever reason or ''evidence'' he put forth, the Margraves family would never move against the protesters.
It was like he had the elusive smoking gun for all to see, but just that the Margraves refused to even acknowledge its existence.
A modern day equivalent of this would be like the prosecutoring to court and showing a blood stained knife as the murder weapon to the jury, but the twelve people not even looking at it.
This set of circumstances enraged Lord Parker so much that if not for the serious threat from Alexander outside, he would have seriously considered ordering his men to take control of the city by force, even if meant starting a mini civil war.
Now, the Margraves did all this because the message from the very top was clear-
''These barbarians have to be defeated and have to be defeated now. Get the Heeats to join you no matter how.''
This directive was personally given by Miss Linda herself, and it came as a result of the same kind of blind prejudice she had towards them just like her elder sister. Having been taught in the same curriculum, it was one of the few things the pair shared.
This hatred was also one of the reasons why she refused to entertain Lord Parker''s pleas about holding off on the attack until reinforcements from his family got there.
Imperiously shing her hand in front of her husband like he was a servant, Miss Linda snorted,
"We cannot wait so long. Once these barbarians have finished looting, they might very well go back to their skunk holes to enjoy the spoils. They won''t stay and fight. This is what they do¡ those craven, ck worms!"
And indeed she was speaking from experience here- the natives did indeed usually follow this tactic.
Rather than try and fight the much more powerful Margraves family head on, the much weaker tribal folk would instead periodicallyunch raids into the rich territories and snatch whatever they could, before quickly vanishing into the safety of their swamps before a sessful counterattack could beunched against them.
In this way, they avoided contestingnds in costly fights which would have been too hard for them to hold in the long run anyway.
Instead, they let others do all the hard work before simply swooping in near the end to take whatever thend produced.
It was like having all the upsides of owning thend without any of the downsides- i.e.- having to protect it with men and material.
This was the main reason the northern wall was built by the family, to stop such raids.
And Miss Linda thought this would be the same case now.
She assumed that natives were probably lured in by the conflict between Alexander and Lord Parker, and sensing the family''s weakness, decided to fish in troubled waters.
But she was confident the moment they sensed danger, they would quickly retreat, happy with the mountain of loot they had already collected.
Miss Linda did not even dare imagine that the natives would dare to have any designs for her city.
And there were three good reasons behind her thinking this way.
One was simply hubris, pure and simple.
She believed the natives had been already beaten to a pulp by her family and whatever stragglers remained could no longer possess any true threat to her.
Sure they could be annoying and make life inconvenient for the border folks. But in front of the true might of her family, they were like mosquitoes.
Constantly buzzing around and making one very irritated, but the insect would hardly be able to drain all the blood and kill the body.
The second reason was that even if the natives took her city, it would not be the end for them.
It would only be the beginning.
There was a secret tacit understanding among all the nobles in the entire ind that the natives could never be allowed to take anynd. And this included even the Strauss family as well as frightening Kaizer ducal family behind them.
These behemoths were yet to act because things had not be so dire but if they did¡ well, unlike the crippled Margraves, they were still at the peak of their conditions.
So Miss Linda was confident the natives would never be able to hold onto the city even if by some miracle they managed to take it.
Rather, when the time came, they would be surrounded and ughtered to thest man.
And this certainty made her arrive nicely at herst reason- the native''s greed.
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Having read their history, Miss Linda knew of these men''s nature and was confident that the natives perfectly knew their predicament.
Which was why upon given aparable match, she thought they would choose to run with their loot rather than risk losing it all in a fight they really had no chance of winning.
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Chapter 1274: The Nobles Pressure
Under Miss Linda and the other nobles'' directive, it was made very clear to Heeats that there was no the Margraves would tolerate the Heeats hiding behind the city''s walls and eating their supplies while their countryside burned.
Even Lord Parker''s repeated insistence that they should wait for a just bit longer and have his 20,000 reinforcements join them before they set off went unheeded, as Lord Bernard under Miss Linda''s direction urged that they could not wait so long due to the deteriorating situation inside the city.
"My lord, we have already told you those barbarians will not stay wait for us. Once they have enough loot, they will run rather than fight us and risk losing everything. We cannot let this happen. The people want these scoundrels hanged¡ especially the nobility. So many of them have suffered indignity at the hands of these beasts! Please try to understand our position!"
Lord Bernard in one of the meetings also frankly begged as such, showing that unwilling to act even now would seriously hamper their rtionship with the nobles around these parts.
And this rage came due to all the things Metztil''s men had done to them.
The nobles could have still pretended to forgive and forget if all the Helvati had done was loot, plunder, and set their homes on fire.
After all, these were all material things and could be eventually regained.
However what they had done to all the womenfolk they came across, regardless of their status, had all of the elites around this part properly incensed.
The conservative nature of the Sybarian society made such acts extremely hard for them to swallow.
It should be known that here, women who suffered like this were looked down upon by society for the rest of their lives, having salt constantly added to their wounds as people would never treat them the same from that day forth.
Various nasty looks, venomous name calls, and snark remarks of being a ''loose woman'' would be constantly thrown at them, as if somehow this disaster was their fault.
Ahhh¡ the tragedy of being born a woman in this time period.
And this tragedy would turn into a catastrophe if the woman was to get pregnant and have a child,
Married women could be immediately kicked out of the house by their husbands at the first evidence of pregnancy while for an unmarried girl to have a child out of wedlock was basically a social death sentence.
Finding a reputable family willing to take in such a disgraced daughter inw was harder than finding a needle in a haystack.
Most of the time these women would be even disowned by their families out of shame, and then the only way for her to keep her and her child fed would be to end up as prostitutes, ves, or if she was very lucky and someone powerful took pity, as a very lowly maid in some small noble''s manor, where a new kind of struggle would await her.
And this time, such a catastrophe had urred in a massive scale that had not been seen in perhaps at least a century or two.
Thest time the native barbarians had pushed so far ind was perhaps during the age of that enlightened chief.
And even back then not so many nobledies had been harmed.
Because they at least had prior warning back then whereas this time, Alexander had basicallye out of nowhere.
Nobody expected the man tounch such an attack and with such a huge force, especially not in winter.
This was because winter campaigns were very umon.
The cold and snow made movement very difficult as personally experienced by Alexander first hand. Plus it was a season for diseases and illness, ranging from the ever present cold, to fevers to widespread dysentry as a lot of the potable water would be frozen, forcing men to look for alternative, lower quality sources.
Alexander even forced his army to boil their drinking water just to try and mitigate this, as well as decreeing that all human wastes had to be dug and buried, instead of leaving it out in the open for flies and bugs to feast on.
Needless to say, digging frozen earth in the middle of winter was not an easy feat and if not for Alexander''s great prestige, his soldiers would have only pretended to follow the order.
What would have happened then was soon made evident to them as the Helvati who had not listened to Alexander''s advice were now in his clinic, the lot receiving treatment for all kinds of winter rted diseases, having to pay for all the care and medicine with whatever loot they had collected or by borrowing from friends and families.
Because Alexander was certainly not going to treat these rebellious ingrates for free.
The only silver lining here was that after seeing things going south for him while Alexander''s forces remain rtively unaffected, Metztil quickly heeded the young man''s advise and began to follow the same practices.
But if not for the two sides following such procedures, indeed the winter campaign would have halted before it could even begin.
But how could the Margraves nobles ever known this?
They would have to possess prescience.
Thus, taking refuge in the safety of the cold and snow, everyone was content to just huddle themselves together in their homes, not suspecting a thing.
Even when the Helvati started attacking and raiding theirnds many did not react because the information did not reach them in their seclusion.
Everyone was cooped up without any real contact with the outside world and so even before they even realized it, they found themselves trapped!
The unprecedented attackunched without any warning caused many of the nobles'' wives who managed to survive the attack to be pregnant with bastards, while many noble maidens lost their purity.
This was an unprecedented social disaster for the noblemen.
Not only were their women attacked, they were attacked by the natives, their most hated enemies.
The mere thought of their loved ones carrying the spawn of such ''demented'' beings was enough to make all of the nobles lose their mind altogether.
If the Margraves were unable to give them a proper ''confession'', these nobles would be very hard to pacify in the next few decades to say the least.
Theirbined sentiment was perhaps best represented by this loud, impassionate address to Miss Linda,
"Mydy, we have faithfully served your family for seven generations! Never once in all those years have we missed a tax payment. And this is how the family protects us? By hiding themselves inside these walls while the rest of us burn?"
"My daughter and granddaughter were taken right in front of me and sons, while my wife¡*sob*.. *sob*.. they chopped her head saying she was¡*sob*... *sob*...too old and then¡ *wuuu*, *wuuuu*....made my grandson kick it until ¡*sob*... *sob*... those beasts said they would chop one of his mother''s limbs for ¡.
Every time he failed to kick the¡ *sob*... *sob*... head into the firece¡ *wuuuuuu*... *wuuuu*."
This was the partial recount of the torture one of the oldest and most prestigious nobleman had suffered, one who almostpletely broke down near the end.
This poor man had the misfortune ofing across one of the most sadistic Helvati units and because of the speed and surprise they were attacked with, the nobleman had no chance to summon his guards.
His family manor was quickly captured and the people in there were tortured and humiliated for two whole days.
It was during that time that the little grandson of only nine years old was made to repeatedly try and kick his grandmother''s severed head into a nearby firece like he was shooting a goal, one which he managed to get on his fourth try.
By that time his mother had lost three limbs and soon died due to blood loss.
While the traumatized boy became so broken that he would then try tomit suicide a dayter by jumping from the third floor but because he did not know how to take do this, he would simplynd on his feet and be crippled for life.
The cruel Helvati would onlyugh at this and even treat the boy''s injuries, not out of any kindness, but because they wanted to send a message.
They would leave all of them alive after two whole days of immense psychological and physical torture,
"This is what you have done to us. It is only natural we repay back the favor. Live and retell your people of our just revenge," The leader of that unit, a young Helvati noble man would sneer thesest words.
Indeed, before you began tobel the natives as barbarians and savage brutes, know that the Margraves and the other Sybarian powers were also guilty ofmitting simr brutalities.
In fact, over the centuries they have been on this ind, violence against the natives especially the native woman was nothing new
So in the mind of these Helvati men, they were simply equalizing the score. Readtest chapters at §Þ??
It was just that after centuries of bad blood and atrocities on both sides, no one was really keeping count.
Everything had devolved into a cycle of hate and revenge, and now the Margrave nobles demanded their own deliverance.
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Chapter 1275: The Nobles Pressure (Part-2)
The story that the elder nobleman toldMiss Linda greatly resonated with the rest of the nobles in Caira.
He was a powerful, well connected man and had many dealings with the nearby nobles, letting many of the present nobles personally know the victims.
Hence when they heard recounteds of how the man''s daughter inw was so cruelly murdered and how his grandson had been crippled and gone half mad from the trauma, it struck a personal cord with many of them.
Many also had their sons, daughters, or other close kin who suffered simrly.
And so now, they wanted revenge.
Sure, over the centuries they might have done simr things if not worse to the natives, but by now who was keeping count?
At that moment it was personal and the nobles would never ept the Margraves simply sitting inside their walls and wait out the disaster, walls that the nobles themselves paid for in the first ce.
The Margraves had to repay the nobles for their loyalty!
This was one of the reasons why they were so eagerly stoking the protests.
And this mentality among the higher ups meant that even the most conservative Margraves militarymanders were forced to assent to the idea of giving up the strong defensive position in favor of a decisive, open fight.
Any protest regarding this protest would have been met with derision and usations of being cowards and deserters from the entire city.
It was in this way, the Margraves army was convinced of the strategy.
As for convincing the Heeats, alongside pressuring them, Lord Bernard also used his silver tongue to try to ease Lord Parker''s concerns about the enemy''s numerical superiority.
"My lord, trust us when we say you have nothing to worry ¡ we know how these ck worms work! The craven cowards will give away the moment they see us. Their numbers mean nothing."
The natives''plexion here was not ck.
Sure they were generally a bit more tanned than their far northern Sybarian counterpart, but they were at best olive, like the Italians or Greeks.
So the term was more used as a derogatory term to look down on them.
Such as now when Lord Bernard disdainfully disparaged the fighting prowess of the natives, reassuring Lord Parker that he was being too paranoid and that whatever numerical advantage the opponent might have was something relevant only on paper.
And this confidence partly came from his own and partly from facts.
Just like Miss Linda had, this man too reached a simr conclusion, that the natives were simply a raiding force and too spineless to actually put up a fight.
"Snort!" However just as he finished, Lord Macht, who was beside his young lord only contemptuously sneered at such an analysis.
He did not buy this boisterous im''s im for a second, neither did he trust this sly, slimy man an iota.
"What do you know about enemy numbers, battles or even fighting in general? You are just a two bit, oily politician! Don''t speak about things you know nothing about!
Do you expect us to seriously believe all those catapults that are hitting us every day are just for show? That Alexander''s has raised such a huge army just to obediently go back without putting up a fight? Do we look like pigs in human skin to you? That you can feed us whatever shit you want?"
The elder man had really left no room for courtesy here, disparaging Lord Bernard''sck of military aplishments and releasing a great breath of relief, exhaling all the pent up frustration.
Clearly the recent events and the cheap tricks employed against them had the man riled up.
While upon hearing thismbast, the nearby Lord Kite quickly stepped forward to intervene, afraid that this might turn into a diplomatic incident.
Taking over from the loose cannon of a mouth that was Lord Bernard, he was much more tactful with his words, first turning to Lord Bernard to apologize for Lord Macht''s ''overly passionate'' behavior before hurriedly pointing out,
"Lord Bernard, indeed Lord Macht has made a good point. It is hard to believe Alexander will simply run because we show up with an army. You of all people should know that if Alexander wanted to give up, he could have gone home a long time ago. There was no reason for him toe back.
But he did. Because Alexander is not the type of man to back down. Born as a lowly ve, he could have never be such a dangerous thorn if he had given up halfway when doing things. Can we really afford to take such a risky gamble with such a dangerous opponent? Recall he has yet to lose a single battle despite us outnumbering him five to one. "
"...." Lord Bernard did not have a good response to this.
Indeed, Alexander''s shadow hung above him like a specter.
And the fact that he could have easily taken ships from Giant City if he had so wished but hadn''t, naturally spoke volumes to his intentions.
In fact, once Lord Parker learned of Alexander''s new residence via Margrave''s spies, he initially thought that the man was running, which was why he had no ns to chase him.
Thus the fact that he was here looking for round two clearly showed he was not going to go down without a fight.
When he thought about it like that, Lord Bernard honestly did not ever meet the man in battle.
It was also sensing Lord Bernard''s hesitation that Lord Kite then further pleaded,
"It seems you too have sensed it, my lord. Deep down you too know that it would not be wise to underestimate Alexander or the natives apanying him. Before those barbarians might have acted as cowards¡ but this time it is different. This time they are not alone, this time they have allies, very powerful allies."
In this way, Lord Kite intentionally yed up the dangers of Alexander, making him much more than what he thought him to be.
And as he strategically paused, it gave Lord Bernard the time to soak in all the details.
The way Lord Kite spoke and controlled the tempo of the native clearly revealed the difference in oratory skills between him and the simple warrior Lord Macht.
As an aplished learned nobleman, the skill set that he possessed was vastly more varied and sharp.
Then atst, the clever man finished by once again urging themander of the Margraves army,
"I know it is hard for you Lord Bernard but please allow us to wait a few more days¡ our reinforcements will be here by then. Then we can get the ''best revenge'' ¡that all of you so desire."
"......." Once again Lord Bernard stayed silent, but this time upon hearing the request produced a very difficult face as if he had heard a very bad joke.
"We have been already over this, You have been telling us your reinforcements will be here any time for the past two months. Where are they? How much longer do you expect us to wait?"
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The man then spat out atst in indignation with gritted teeth, and before sharply turning to address Lord Parker directly without waiting to hear any more excuses,
"I will inform the nobles of Alexander''s threat just as you described my lord. But do not set too high a hope¡ those nobles currently do not seem to be in any state to listen. They only want to see those natives skinned and hung¡ Alexander and his threat be damned!"
"So realistically the best I can do is get you a few more days. The nobles have asked me to raise ten thousand levies as a way to make for the numbers. That deadline ends in three days. For old time''s sake, I will be able to stretch that to a week at best. That is your limit, my lord¡. One week."
"If your reinforcements do not show up by then¡. well then do not me me. This is the extent of my, Bernard''s personal friendship..."
Recalling the honeymoon period between the two families, and the fact that Lord Bernard asionally shared bed with Lord Parker back then, this was the best concession the Margraves familymander was willing to make.
Lord Parker would furiously clench his fist in great anger hearing this because one week was hardly the ''generous'' limit as LB described.
He was not too hopeful about aiding so soon.
"How long till father gets here? Has he written to us? Why is it taking so long?"
Hence, no sooner had the meeting finished and Lord Bernard left Lord Parker turned on his heel to ask this in a loud, very urgent voice.
"Master has promised to send us help as soon as possible. But¡. there was no specific date mentioned my lord,"
The officer in charge of overseeing themunication frightfully lowered his head as he replied in a low, muted tone, voice clearly shaking, "Soon, they will be here soon, my lord. Please hold a bit more patience," before promising as such.
"..." It was unknown how much of that hollow promise resonated with Lord Parker, as hearing the words, the young scion produced an absolutely livid, twisted face,his heart seething with rage.
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Chapter 1276: The Heeats Move Out (Part-1)
Lord Parker already knew the answer he was going to receive from his officer regarding the arrival of his reinforcements.
He had read and re read all the sent letters many times over just during the past week, to the point he had basically memorized all of them.
However, that knowledge did hardly anything to soothe his frustration.
Then, feeling that officer was too much of a small fry to pick on, Lord Parker instead turned tosh out at Lord Macht,
"Why is father taking so long? Why are not the men here? Did you exin our predicament properly? What exactly did you write in that letter? Could he have misunderstood you?"
Lord Macht felt properly incensed hearing this.
The way Lord Parker put it, it was very easy to construe the things as him taking a dig at Lord Macht''s impoverished background, mocking him as a man who could not write.
A proud, veteran warrior like Lord Macht felt like grabbing the brat by the throat and strangling him then and there.
While Lord Kite who was watching all this from the sides immediately felt the hairs on his back stand.
He understood that tempers were running high all around and this was just a manifestation of that frustration.
So stepping forward, he loudly spoke to draw attention to himself,
"My lord,remember that Lord Macht was the first to raise the request for reinforcement. Hismitment to this campaign is perhaps only exceeded by yours!"
Defending the pride of that elder warrior and cooling him down as such, Lord Parker quickly then turned to Lord Parker exin,
"The problem here is the season, my lord. Winter is really not a good time to raise men. You should know very well¡ traveling is difficult and it takes much more time to send messages.
Not to mention how some of the waters around here turn very dangerous. I''m sure the duke is doing everything he can to send help.
And who knows, the fleet might just be waiting for us off the coast¡ only waiting for the weather to improve a bit before making contact. They might very well be here tomorrow, surprising us all! Then we will teach these Margraves why we are a ducal family and they are a mere marquis. So please hold your patience a bit longer until then."
Lord Kite tried to sound as optimistic as possible while saying these things, hoping to inspire confidence in the young scion.
While internally hempooned, ''If only there was a way to contact the ships. Then we would not be in such a flux!''
Indeed at the current level of technology, there was really no way of contacting a fleet out in the ship other than sending scouts ships to manually search for them.
But in the vast sea, this was harder than looking for a needle in a haystack. And the Heeats could not even do that due to the same reason Alexander could not use his ships- bad weather.
So they had to rely on the fleet contacting them ording to their will.
The fleet could stillmunicate to the headquarters using message birds that were trained to always fly to a predetermined position, however even that was very limited.
It was only a one way method like a pager and worse, it had too many ways to be intercepted. Birds of prey, bad weather and the birds simply losing their way were all known dangers.
And it seemed for whatever reason the approaching reinforcing fleet had no intention of letting Lord Parker of their current status as of the moment, leaving the group in Caira totally blind to their situation.
They did not know if relief was a day or a month away.
Hence Lord Kite could only paint the most optimistic picture and hope for the best.
Of course, the clever man also made sure toce enough of that with truths of varying extent to make it more believable, but there was onest crucial point that he did not list.
And that was the fact that it was very hard to raise the asked 20,000 men within just two or three months.
If it was simply for the defense of thends, it would have been more than enough.
During winter the peasants were rtively free without having any fields to attend to, so taking them from one''snd was easy. Even raising 30,000 might have been possible in dire situations.
The problem however came when one tried to raise an attacking force and then send it over the sea close to a thousand kilometers away in such a short time.
At that point, men and perhaps more crucially supplies had to be gathered from other parts of the fief which were typically under the rule of different nobles.
And that meant negotiations regarding the numbers to be supplied and the price.
Even the more friendly nobles would need anywhere from a month to two to get it all done, while the more reticent ones would employ far more bureaucratic red tape.
For context, Cambyses needed to spend three months to organize a force half of the size asked by Lord Macht.
Hence to gather so many men within such a short time was a daunting task for even the likes of a bone fide duke.
Dys were inevitable even if Duke Heeat was an ultra efficient machine.
Lord Parker had simply sent the plea for help toote.
But Lord Kite would never use Lord Parker like this, and especially not now. He was trying to cool the man, not set him off.
Hence giving a usible exnation behind the dy, Lord Kite then cleverly even proposed a solution, chiming up with a smile that looked like a cat that had just gotten the milk,
"Also my lord, if you think about it¡there is no need for us to follow the Margraves. Why don''t we leave the city on our ships? Wait for reinforcements out in the ocean and then return after rendezvousing with them?"
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"...????..." His idea suddenly made a p of thunder burst into the minds of every man that was there.
None of them had dared to think like that.
Indeed, since the Margraves did not want the Heeat army to be in the city, and the Heeats family did not want to get into battle with Alexander, they could use this to satisfy both.
The first to jump on this was none other than Lord Parker, who shouted in glee,
"Right! We can load the ships with enough supplies and anchor a few kilometers out of the harbor! We can easilyst a month ¡ or even more! Then once we have enough men¡."
As the man trialed off excitedly, the gloomy look thed had till now seemed to have been wiped off in an instant, thinking he had finally found the key to solve all his troubles.
Lord Parker was just about to let out a torrent of expletive praise to Lord Kite, and even offer him the position of his right hand man.
"Snort! Where are all the ships?"
When all that happiness was almost instantly turned to dust by none other that Lord Macht, who had chosen to unceremoniously gate crashed into Lord Kite''s ''brilliant'' idea then and there.
He was perhaps the only one who resisted getting washed away by Lord Kite''s ''fantastic'' idea and instead, upon carefully thinking about its feasibility on the spot, quickly found a major ring w.
He thus reminded everyone that even if they wanted to do such a thing, theycked enough vessels to take even half the total force, since a majority of them were currently underneath the harbor as charred wood courtesy of Alexander.
And then, as if to get revenge for Lord Parker questioning his literal skills, Lord Macht was still not done, but went on to further add,
"Not to mention the weather is currently really bad. Who knows when a huge storm will hit? What will happen if we get caught in it?
Then there is the matter of pride- how can we call ourselves a ducal family if we run like such cowards?"
Andstly, what if the Margraves loses to Alexander and then without us, surrenders the city to him? How will we take it back? Through another siege?"
"....." The whole crowd went silent hearing the veteranmander tear apart Lord Kite''s idea will a rapid dog tears meat, shredding it until it basically disappeared.
While Lord Kite''s lips twitched with regret as well as quite a bit of anger,
''You damn fool! You think I could not see such an obvious w? You think I came floating by a river yesterday? I was just saying it to cate the young brat. Would it kill you to shut your trap for a minute?''
Many who saw Lord Kite''s face turn red then thought it was because he was embarrassed, while in reality it was because he was very angry at having his n foiled by his own allies.
If things had all gone ording to n, he could have safety ended the meeting now and then slowly soothed the frustrated Lord Parkerter.
However now,
''To be pitted by such good natured fools¡.'' Lord Kite helplesslympooned.
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Chapter 1277: The Heeats Move Out (End)
Hearing Lord Macht dismantle his n like that, Lord Kite for a moment felt he really could not stand the simple and straightforward Lord Macht.
He wished the man could have kept shut for just a little while, perhaps even only until Lord Parker had left the room.
It made him feel like snapping at the man.
But what was done was done.
While seeing Lord Kite''s ''brilliant'' idea get shot dead in the water, Lord Parker''s eyes suddenly turned menacing, growling in a furious voice,
"What about taking the city by force? Or at least the manor?"
Lord Kite who was standing by the side was stunned hearing this. He could not believe what he was hearing.
Take the entire Margraves family as hostages?
This could no longer be called ast resort desperate move but a suicidal detonation.
At least now, even if they lost, they would be able to make aeback in some covert form after a few years.
Just as Alexander said, the Heeats were not going to let this go just because they lost once.
But if they did this and Alexander still broke through, they would not be weed on this ind for at least the next hundred years.
And winning might not be that much better either.
Even if they seeded, their alliance would be shattered with the Margraves likely showing very little gratitude.
Puppeting them would prove difficult, with the nobles who suffered at the native barbarians ming them and Miss Linda.
''By that point, we might as well kill all of them and annex thesends for yourselves.'' Lord Kite thus said to himself in resignation, feeling like they should go all the way should they choose to proceed.
However, unlike his counterpart Lord Machtt, he kept those thoughts to himself.
Some words just could not be said willy nilly, and he did not want to start giving Lord Parker new ideas.
"It is toote." The one to answer Lord Parker''s query was none other than Lord Macht, who was perhaps the only officer to contemte this insane ask seriously.
And while contemting on it, the veteran warrior frankly revealed,
"I have already looked into this. But after Alexander, the Margraves have strengthened their security. Taking the city might be possible, but taking the manor will be very risky. If we mess up or get dyed¡ we might have to fight through the entire Margraves army. The results will be unpredictable."
Lord Macht had a clear trace of regret as he made the statement as if he was really sorry that he could not do this.
"....." The rest of the officers in the room were stunned into silence hearing this.
They could not decide whether they should be impressed by how bold this warrior was or curse his lunacy.
If the two forces started fighting, it would certainly not end as amicably as Lord Macht was suggesting here.
Lord Kite even wanted to chide the veteran man for his foolishness and utter disregard for politics.
He only did not because of the man''s prestige and because it seemed this option was off the cards.
Thus, Lord Kite took the chance to step up and advise the crestfallen Lord Parker with another one of these tricks,
"My lord, even if we have to move out with the Margraves, there is no need for us to fight. If things go as Lord Bernard said, then all will be well. However, even if they do not, we will be fine.
In the past few days I have sent a few scouts around the surrounding countryside¡ to spy on Alexander as well as to locate suitable terrains to stage our battle. ces where Alexander''s greater number will mean nothing. And I believe I have found the perfect ce."
Lord Kite''s eyes gleamed with a crafty light as he said this, showing that Lord Macht was not the only one working to think of a way out.
Lord Parker''s eyes quickly regained their luster hearing Lord Kite''s im, and it started to gleam as Lord Kite went on to reveal,
"There is arge hill a bit south of here. Around a day''s march. We can set up camp there and wait for Alexander. If hees, then he will have to fight us uphill. If he doesn''t¡ that''s perfect. It''s exactly what we want.
We can also wait there for months if need be. The river that runs through Caira also runs alongside it. We can be supplied by boats from here to directly our camp no problem!"
One should have seen how Lord Parker''s eyes sparkled at hearing this.
He almost jumped up to hug Lord Kite and with a wide grin that went from ear to ear, tapped the man on the shoulder,
"Hah hah, Lord Kite, this is great! This is great! Why didn''t you say this earlier? Why didn''t you say this earlier? Hah hah¡"
The young scion was so overwhelmed by the revtion of this perfect n that he seemed to have lost some of his speech facilities, repeating the same words over and over again.
While the other officers were a bit better, but not by much, also taken over by happiness and surprise.
Only a few were jealous of the favor Lord Kite was sure to earn for this sess, while Lord Macht with a little of acrimony snorted to himself,
''Why did you have to go through all the roundabouts to reveal this? If you revealed it as soon as Lord Parker had asked, we could have skipped all the previous tedious discussion.''
Although the veteran man was not exactly jealous like the others, he was still a bit peeved that he had missed up an obvious move.
By all ounts, given his experience, this should not have escaped him.
''I''m getting old.'' Lord Macht thus ultimatelympooned to himself, feeling that his mind and senses were not that sharp anymore.
Now one might think the reason for Lord Kite not revealing this trump card sooner was to make himself appear more important.
After all, if he had revealed this n right at the first instance, Lord Parker would have never reacted so favorably.
Only by offering it as thest resort, after Lord Parker had faced several failures and there seemed to be no other way out, could Lord Kite extract the best benefits.
However as unbelievable as it might sound, that was not the case here.
Lord Parker did not reveal the n until thest second because he thought it had two gigantic ws.
One was that with them taking the hill that was around 20 kilometers away, they would not be able to quickly react to changes in the frontlines here.
The Margraves would definitely not follow the Heeats to their camp, but choose to give Alexander battle.
And if somehow the natives did not scatter and the outnumbered family lost the battle, well¡ the road to Caira wouldy wide open for him.
Who knows what could happen then?
The walls might still hold but would the defenders really fight to protect it till thest man standing?
Lord Kite greatly doubted that.
Seeing their forces get thrashed, and the Heeats nowhere to be seen, the scant few Miss Linda defenders in the walls could very likely assume they had been abandoned by the cowardly ducal family and thus choose to surrender the city.
Alexander who had Lady Miranda as well as the other family elders certainly had the political capital to pull this off.
Lord Kite could even easily imagine those powerful, known faces appearing before the defeated garrison and promising them general amnesty in exchange for them opening the gates.
If that happened, Lord Kite was willing to bet his entire fief that the green levied men up in the walls would choose to bend the knee over getting them and their families ughtered once Alexander broke through.
And at that point, the game might be very well lost for the Heeats.
It would take them at least a day to respond and by then the walls would be manned by 20,000 men who would have their morale soaring by their recent victory.
This was Lord Kite''s first and most significant concern.
While his second one had to do with supplies,- namely that it would bepletely dependent on the mood of the Margraves inside the city.
Lord Kite intended to use boats to supply themselves via the river that ran through Caira.
And given that this river ended in the nearby sea, the family basically controlled the mouth of the river.
Thus they controlled whatever entered its ''guts''.
So what if the Margraves won and then quickly shut off that artery?
Would not the entire contingent of 9,000 elite Heeat infantry and 2,000 cavalry get stranded in the wilderness, forced to live off thend?
The rtionship between the two families had certainly deteriorated to the point such extreme moves were a possibility, a rather small one for sure, but it still existed.
However, despite his two misgivings, Lord Kite kept all such thoughts to himself.
Under the current circumstances, this was the best course of action.
And luckily no one managed to point out the ws.
So after a week of waiting, the Margraves and Heeats finally moved out.
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Chapter 1278: Limitations of Catapults
"Lord Pasha, we should be able to break through before the next week!"
Alexander was outside his tent observing the huge walls of Caira get pounded repeatedly by his catapults, when he received this ''cheerful'' update from one of his chief artillerists, one who was responsible for coordinating fire in the right side of the wall.
The man was where for his daily update.
"Mmmmm! Good job. I look forward to it."
However, despite Alexander''s words, the man sounded hardly that thrilled, giving a rather anemic hum.
This was rather strange given that you would think Alexander would be a lot more excited hearing the close deadline.
The reason for this was revealed in Alexander''s internal monologue,
''One week is likely too optimistic. He was only saying this to please me. These walls may look like they are full of cracks and just about to shatter, but I suspect this is just on the surface. Stone is surprisingly hard to smash through.
I think we will need at least a fortnight to actually punch a hole through¡. And then perhaps another week or two to storm the ce.''
The true estimated time caused Alexander tompoon.
It had been a full month since the siege of Caira, and up until now, other than letting his ally raid and plunder the country, all he had been doing was firing his catapults relentlessly to try and soften up the defenders up there.
The actual taking of the wall physically was yet to ur, i.e.- assaulting the walls usingdder rushes with cover fire from the catapults.
And this speed of progress greatly distressed the man.
It had already rolled over to the middle of February, spring having unknowingly crept up on them.
This meant that the timeline Alexander had set for his return had already been broken, thus making him really anxious to return home. There were a lot of things for him to do back in Zanzan.
And even if there was not he still wanted to go.
Just him being in the city would manage to calm many of the destabilizing elements that were starting to slowly sprout.
With him there, the ambitions of the various nobles would be curbed to a thin margin and any outside malicious influence would have a hard time germinating.
All these considerations hence made Alexander say to himself,
''Tsk, I really should start building a trebuchet! Then I can be lobbing one hundred to two hundred kilos of stones from the height of literal skyscrapers. If I did that, this entire siege would have already been over by now.''
''The problem is¡ a counterweight catapult is like the jet fighter of ancient times. Only very few, very skilled powers are capable of building one. My engineers are not good enough.''
It was not that Alexander had not thought of building a trebuchet but that it proved a bit too challenging for his men.
One might think that building a trebuchet is just like building a bigger, better catapult.
But this was like saying that the propeller driven World War 2 fighters are the same as the ones powered by jet fighters.
In reality, the two used very different technologies.
One used internalbustion to drive pistons, while the other forced a mixture of fuel and air into a propeller fan at supersonic speed and made it spin.
In the same way, the massive trebuchets seen in movies and games were very divergent from their older catapult cousins.
The catapults were basically huge slings, whereas counterweight trebuchets used the mechanism of levers and moments.
To operate a catapult, you pulled back on the wooden arm, the arm resisted that pull due to being attached to a cable made of twisted, processed animal sinew, this resistance made the ''animal rope'' get stretched like a rubber band thus storing potential energy in itself, and then when you suddenly let go, the ''sinew rope'' suddenly snapped back into ce, transforming all that potential energy into kic energy.
And since the wooden arm was attached to this rope, it would also get yanked back into ce, thus flinging the stone that was put into the arm basket high up into the air.
This was the basic mechanism, but there could be many versions of this.
For example, instead of theplex mechanism of stretching and bending the animal sinew attached to the arm, the much simpler instance of bending the entire wooden arm could be used, making it be the container of potential energy itself.
This basic principle was very simr to a game many of us used to y in our ssroom, where you took a steel or stic ruler, ced a small paper ball at one end, and then shot it after bending the long ''lever'' and letting go.
And to do this here, the arms of this version of catapults were made from especially soft wood like pine or fir, that, once properly furnished and treated, could bend nearly to a full arch, as if it was made of rubber, showing the surprising inherent springiness of some species of wood.
Such simple catapults were designed as such to save on money and material, as animal sinew was surprisingly hard to manufacture and had a much more limited lifespan.
So after a certain number of shots, they would have to be reced.
Wooden ''spring armed'' catapults were on the other hand much more durable as well as much more easily receable.
Not to mention that it is much simpler in design and construction.
For example- the ''spring armed'' catapults were simply ''loaded'' by hand, i.e.- a group of men would usually tug on the rope attached to the arm, and once it was sufficiently bent, just let it go, causing the stone to fly out.
This also made them much smaller and easier to transport.
Meanwhile, a sinew catapult was much bigger and more sophisticated.
Because to make it, at first, an borate framework had to be installed to house the arm and the rope, making sure all of them were properly held in ce.
Then second, a winch like mechanism was needed to be ced in the back to bend the arm because it was too hard for simple, raw muscle power to stretch the sinew rope to its limit.
This winch was kind of like the ones used to tow cars, a steel cylinder with spokes or holes on either end.
So the artillerists would spin the winch by either manually rotating the spokes by hand or by sticking a wooden stick into the holes of the winch and using it as a kind of lever.
Whichever way was used, it would cause the rope attached to the arm to get wound up, pulling the basket containing the stones back with it and stretching the sinew rope that was tied to it on the other hand.
The drawback of such sophistication was the cost and skills needed to make the good quality metal winch and the other structures, meaning only very rich lords possessing a lot of skilled engineers like Alexander could afford to use it.
However, the upsides were very much worth it since it brought a much greater range and payload capacity.
If a simple hand drawn catapult like the Margraves had couldunch a five kilo weight about a hundred meters away, then Alexander''s version had twice the range and three to four times the lethality.
It was a very fair exchange in his opinion, which was why the Heeats were so interested in learning from Alexander''s design.
However, despite the catapult''s impressive aplishments, it still failed to take down walls as quickly as Alexander would have liked.
But upgrading to a trebuchet was easier said than done, especially the counterweight one he was imagining.
To be truly able to smash down walls quickly, Alexander needed to build a ''catapult'' that had an arm going from anywhere from 10 meters to 30 meters in extreme cases.
This arm would be ced in a pivot, with the much longer end of the pivot holding the projectile while the other shorter end would hold a bucket filled with stones.
The projectile would weigh 100 to 200 kg, while the bucket of stones would act as the counterweight and weigh as much as two tonnes!
It was this mechanism that allowed these magnificent machines to possess the extreme lethality that they did, for no amount of animal sinew could rival the energy released from a two tonne weight dropping from 10 stories high!
The main trouble was building a frame and arm strong enough to withstand such immense forces.
The requirement for the arm went without saying- it had to be the workhorse of the entire thing.
But the machine also put immense pressure on the frame hosting the arm, especially as when the counterweight was let go, the huge bucket tended to violently swing back and forth upon reaching its trough, expending all the gained kic energy.
Hence heavy, dense woods like ash or ebony had to be used to make the frame to make sure it did not simply snap.
And here came the first major problem- the various techniques used to treat the green wood and turn it into good quality timber were yet to be discovered.
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Chapter 1279: Challenges of a Trebuchet
Like catapults, there existed basically two kinds of trebuchets.
There was the much simpler torsion trebuchet which was basically arger hand drawn version of the simple catapult and the counterweight trebuchet.
In the case of the torsion trebuchet, historically that was not too effective as siege engines, rather, most ounts describe them as light artillery weapons, being used as efficient anti-personnel weapons in supportive positions alongside archers and slingers, while actual pration of defenses was the result of mining or siege towers.
For instance, at the Siege of Kamacha in 766, Byzantine defenders used wooden cover to protect themselves from the enemy artillery while inflicting casualties with their own stone throwers
Or at the siege of Manzikert (1054), where the Seljuks¡¯ initial siege artillery was countered by the defenders¡¯ own, which shot stones at the besieging machine. In response, the Seljuks constructed a torsion trebuchet weighing three and a half tons and requiring 400 men to pull and throw stones weighing 20 kg.
The counterweight trebuchet made its appearance muchter, anywhere from five hundred to a thousand years, depending on the region.
This was because there were quite a few technologies that needed to be mastered right before the behemoth of a weapon could be built.
The very first of these was the concept of moments and the use of levers.
Basically, the arm that was used to fling the stone had to be hinged at a certain ratio- ideal 4 to 1, i.e.- the part of the arm holding the stone had to be four times longer than the part holding the counterweight.
Learning this required experience and trial and error.
Then came the building of the wooden arm itself.
Many might not know this but wood directly taken from the tree has to be treated before it can be made into furniture or else the raw green wood would start to be invaded by various bugs and insects and begin to rot.
So the moisture in them had to be driven out by either drying them under the sun or steaming them among many other processes, and it had to be done in a way that did not bend or buckle the piece.
And typically in the case of a trebuchet¡¯s arm, multiple such smaller pieces had to first be treated which were then glued, screwed, and fastened together to form the much longer arm because it was not easy to find ash or ebony trees of the required height out in the wild.
This created the challenge of seamlessly joining multiple wooden pieces that would not snap under the weight of the huge forces.
A lot of techniques, such as glue, nails, and ropes, needed to be used.
Even if that challenge was ovee after the construction of the arm came the matter of making the hook and release mechanism holding the sling to the arm.
The sling that carried the stone would have to be attached to a hook and pin mechanism at a precise angle so that it stayed securely in ce while loaded, but smoothly slipped off once let go.
In movies, they usually skipped this part and rather had someone, preferably the protagonist, cut the rope with a dramatic swing of the sword for artistic ir, but there was no way that happened in real life.
Rope was precious and quite expensive, and not even the richest empires would be able to be such a wastrel.
Andstly, there came the need for a mechanism to hold the winch in ce as the arm was being loaded.
This meant that even if the winch was let go during loading, it would not simply unfurl by letting the counterweight fall under its own weight but keep itself in ce with the aid of some kind of mechanism.
Minus the smaller, less notable ones, these were the four great barriers that Alexander could think of which needed to be ovee for the trebuchet to be viable.
And he did already try to circumvent some of them.
For instance, in the case of demand for a strong frame and arm, iron and steel could be used instead of wood.
Alexander was even confident he would be able to forge the huge pieces necessary using giant watermills to power the huge hammer, beating the metal into shape.
The problem however came in the form of weight.
Steel was roughly eight times the density of wood and although Alexander thought he would be able to shave off some of the dimensions during to steel being the stronger material, there was still a limit.
If the entire trebuchet was made of solid steel, he would have a very hard time transporting such a bulky thing anywhere useful, the thing slowing his march to perhaps a literal crawl.
The only time he could think a huge steel trebuchet would be useful was using a naval siege since he could put the heavy machine on ships without any of the drawbacks.
Of course, if he had modern manufacturing techniques, such a problem would be trivial to solve.
For instance, he could have made the steel structure hollow, which would have roughly the same properties with a fraction of the weight.
But making hollow cylinders, especially huge steel ones was surprisingly hard.
You needed to either have a machine that could fold a sheet of steel into shape just like you would fold paper and then weld it, or you use a method called extrusion, where one pushed a mass of material through a die to get an object with a fixed cross section.
These energy intensive processes needed at the bare minimum a steam engine, alongside many gears and nks to transfer that power smoothly into the operating mechanical machine.
So Alexander decided to make only the arm of steel and the rest out of wood.
As for solving the rest of the problems¡. well know that during the siege of the Aztec capital Tenochtitl¨¢n, Hern¨¢n Cort¨¦s, motivated by the limited supply of gunpowder had decided to use a trebuchet.
The however attempt reportedly ended in a spectacr failure as the very first projectile that wasunchednded on the trebuchet itself, destroying it.
This went to show that even in the 16th century, when technology was much more mature, building trebuchets still required a lot of very skilled men.
There was a reason why catapults were invented in 400 B.C. and it took the next fifteen hundred years to make any meaningful leaps.
And at the end of the day, even if Alexander sessfully made that leap, even if he learned to easily break down walls, well that did not mean the siege was over then and there.
Many times the defenders did not surrender just because a wall fell.
Many would instead funnel towards the breach, so now the attackers had to climb through the rubble, and then fight their way through that very narrow chokepoint to pierce into the enemy¡¯s hearnds.
This was a very dangerous maneuver and there were many instances of attackers sessfully taking down the wall but being repulsed by the garrison yet, thus failing to win the melee inside the city.
The same challengesy for Alexander as well, who would have to deal with the 20,000 men plus any recent militia even after the wall was taken down.
Alexander was lost in all such thoughts about theing days when suddenly he heard a scout asking for an audience from outside his tent.
"My lord, the enemy has started to sally out. Our men are shadowing them!" The man could hardly contain himself as he burst out the report without even proper introductions.
"Really!" And hearing this great news, Alexander was hardly in the mood to nitpick. Your next chapter awaits on NovelBin.C?m
Immediately standing up in excitement, he then quickly urged the man for details.
ording to the messenger, nearby scouts had noticed a huge train of boats and ships exit Caira by the river around dawn, heading south or southeast, their decks full of finely d soldiers.
¡¯South? What are they doing there?¡¯
The observation however made Alexander furrow his brows a bit, decreasing a lot of his enthusiasm.
He would have thought the Heeats and Margraves would form up to give him battle outside the city¡¯s walls, something he was quite eager for.
When he expressed his skepticism to the scout, the man too found it weird now that he thought about it.
"Perhaps they are abandoning the city knowing they cannot hold it?" The man then posed after ruminating for a bit, finding that to be the only logical exnation.
"...." Alexander did not say either yes or no to this.
He found the theory highly doubtful because the city did not seem close to falling for at least another month. And even if it was imminent, the opponents would still have the best chance of defeating him by staying inside the city.
But he also could not outright deny it.
Because he too had done something simr just some time ago.
¡¯Reinforcements!¡¯ The recount immediately made him shudder a bit, and thus he at once snapped to his feet and ordered the scout, "Order the army to get ready to march at once! The enemy is most likely trying to rendezvous with a relief force, from either the local nobles or worse the Straus family!"
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Chapter 1280: To Seige or Not
Alexander would modify the order to move the army from ¡¯at once¡¯ to ¡¯by tomorrow¡¯, courtesy of his officers.
A huge machine like an army needed at least that much time to change course.
It also let the scouts send a better picture of the overall situation and allowed Metztil¡¯s men who were scattered around the countryside to get back to the camp and join the ranks.
Lastly, it gave the men time to discuss strategies and formte a coherent n.
It was also here that many of the officers raised the obvious point,
"My lord, we should not lift the siege! Let them run! Isn¡¯t this what we exactly wanted? With the defenders gone, Caira will be ours by tomorrow!"
And indeed this logical rhetoric gained a lot of traction among the gathered man.
While the rebuttal came from Remus, who snarled with a very excited face,
"Fool! What use is taking the city? We are here to beat the Heeat family not conquer cities! As long as they remain, the threat to Lady Miranda will remain. Remember¡ we left the city for the Heeats just three months ago¡ so what? Did anything happen?"
Given the amount of pain and suffering the Heeats had caused Remus and the original 5,000, the man was certainly very eager for revenge. He did not want to end the campaign in such a lukewarm, tasteless fashion.
And this same sentiment could be said to be shared by many of his soldiers, as the hot blooded men were always looking for a good fight.
So when theirmander heard some of the officers were trying to get in their way, he immediately protested.
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The used officers however did not lose any steam and bravely stepped up to the challenge, cooly chimed,
"Taking the city now is very different from back then. We now have the strength to hold it. And even if we want to fight the Heeats, we can do it after taking the city¡ those are not mutually exclusive. Let us have Lady Miranda enter the city¡ she will appear like a hero to the people, the greatdy who stopped the ¡¯native barbarians and evil Adhanians¡¯ from razing the city to the ground.
We can have her sitting on the MV throne by the end of the day and no one would dare argue!"
As these heavy, prophetic words were uttered, the first to turn his head in surprise and admiration was Alexander, and he could not help but take a good, second look at the young officer.
Clean shaven with short, curly hair, the lingering baby fat on his cheeks and dimples made him appear almost like a kid- in the middle of his teens at best.
It took Alexander a good few seconds to recall his details- the young man, named Shahin was a small noble who had joined Alexander¡¯s army very recently.
His father had died in the Battle of Adhania, where Alexander ughtered Amenheraft¡¯s forces, leaving the young man as his next heir.
But due to his age, he came very close to being usurped by his elder illegitimate brother.
Luckily Alexander suddenly annexed the surrounding regions of Zanzan, which included his own fief. At that time, the young man cleverly exchanged protection for his position in the military for twenty five years of undying service.
As Alexander refreshed his memory, he could not help but delight in the discovery of this uncut gem.
When he had epted the offer, he did not think much of it because Shahin¡¯s fief was really too small for him to be worth it.
He only took it because byw the youngd was its rightful inheritor and Alexander did not mind helping him out.
But now seeing how the man thought and spoke, his impression of him very much changed.
He could not help but think how what the young officer said made sense.
Indeed he could bypass the intractable elders using the set of circumstances, nominating Lady Miranda as the head by having the people simply ept her as such.
Alexander might be even able to have Lady Miranda kill those despicable elders in front of the crowd for ¡¯colluding with the barbarians and bringing this disaster¡¯.
Two birds with one stone as they say.
As Alexander seriously contemted the possibilities, Remus quickly noticed the looks other neutral officers were pulling and immediately sensed things were going bad for him
"Tsk! Why don¡¯t you just admit you want to loot the city!" He hence cried out in ast ditch attempt to nder the youngd.
"......" But Shahin did not bite.
After being around a few illegitimate brothers who always poked and prodded him to get a reaction so that he would mess up, there was no way he was going to react to such a cheap shot.
But one who did respond was none other than Menes, who felt personally slighted upon seeing one of his officers get attacked in such a malicious way.
Starting in a deep, booming voice, the giant ck man growled,
"Remus! You very well Shahin made a very good point. Do not let your personal feelings get in the way of your judgment. If you have any real concerns about what he said¡ Speak! And we will listen.
But from what I see, we can take the city, and wait for Lord Parker toe to us. Use the walls to our advantage this time."
"Or we can leave a small garrison to go attack him if you really want." The elder Scorpyo added Menes¡¯s idea.
"...." And facing two such prestigious officers, the younger, much less aplished Remus had little recourse but to admit defeat.
He only shot a whimpering look to Alexander, who had started this idea in the first ce.
And in service of the young general¡¯s efforts, Alexander decided to speak up, tracing his chin in a very thoughtful manner and then pronouncing in a cool, calming voice,
"Let us not jump to conclusions right away. We indeed saw many soldiers leave Caira but that does not necessarily mean the walls are undefended. For instance, they could have raised militias from among the citizenry to make up the numbers so taking the walls will be harder than we are all thinking.
Or it could all be a trick for some unknown purpose we don¡¯t know.
Perhaps this is all simply bait to make us attack the walls while they sneak up from the back, catching us in a pincher.
And if we turn around to face them, the defenders might sally out and attack our back. But if we don¡¯t¡ well."
As Alexander trailed off, all his generals suddenly felt a slight chill run through their back, as they marveled at how theirmander thought.
So much so that they subconsciously discarded the next throwaway line Alexander casually uttered, "Of course, it is possible they felt truly left the city and do not intend to return."
Such optimistic thoughts were hardly worth their salt here as if the Heeats truly had no intention to fight, they would have sent peace terms.
So the only logical answer that remained was that Lord Parker was still very much in the end, and was either in the process of gathering reinforcements or formting a new n or both.
And given Alexander had no idea which of the three, it was impossible for his officers to make any definite suggestions.
What if they said something and it turned out to be false?
Even if they did not lose the battle because of that, it would still decrease their level ofpetency in Alexander¡¯s eyes, which meant fewer promotions and less power.
And everyone wanted more power.
While having sessfully subdued his generals, Alexander decided to end the meeting there,
"Let us wait till tomorrow before we make a certain decision. It will allow our scouts more time to observe the enemy and see what he does. Metztil¡¯s 5,000 men are also due sometime around the morning. In the meantime, we can start packing."
Then to give skeptics Remus a way out, Alexander also added,
"Also if you want, we canunch a massive attack on the walls right around dawn¡ to see if the walls have truly been emptied. If it seeds, then all is good. We will do it as Remus and Lord Shahin said. If it fails, then we will lift the siege and try and find where Lord Parker has set up camp. Agreed?"
Having pleased both parties of the argument, the officers had little to grumble about and left with varying degrees of eptance.
But even the most reticent ones could not find too many ws in Alexander¡¯s suggestion.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
For the defenders up on the wall, the crack of dawn opened with perhaps thergest barrage of stone throws of the war.
This was because Alexander had ordered his artillerists to empty the full inventory of their stones and then get ready to pack up.
But he would never get to order the nnedrge scaledder rush to apany the barrage because one of his scouts would quicklye with word that a huge army was spotted heading towards his camp.
So Alexander would instead order his men to form up and march to meet the enemy.
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Chapter 1281: Alexander Vs Margraves (Part-1)
"Lord Parker! We might have followed you here because of your family name¡. but now¡ we are going on ahead with or without you."
The one to make this gruff, assertive statement was none other than the aged noble who had his family tortured at the hands of the Helvati, leading a delegation of Margrave''s officers and nobles into Lord Parker''s tent that was set up on a hill.
It was currently approaching dusk on the very day they had left Caira and already cracks were beginning to appear between the two allies.
The Heeats were dissatisfied with how the Margraves had ''driven them out'' of the city, while the Margraves were very angry at how the Heeats were still refusing to join them against their hated enemy.
After what Metztil''s men had done, most of them wanted blood.
Judging by the delegation''s flushed faces and sharp eyes, they could not wait to draw it.
"I have already told you¡ that it will be better if Alexanderes to us, my lords. Look at this hill! So defensible!
Let us wait a few days¡ if the northern barbarians really do as you predicted, then Alexander will be like a bird whose wings have been clipped! It will not be toote to ughter him then."
Facing therge entourage, Lord Parker uttered these sentences with gritted teeth, each of the words possessing a very clear undertone of frustration and suppressed anger, as if he was very annoyed at having to deal with them.
He had been through the same thing quite a few times before.
In fact, the Margraves had followed him here because he had urged them using such excuses, asking them not to give Alexander battle right then and there.
Lord Parker had correctly feared that Alexander would not give up just seeing the Margraves approach him and seeing that, the overconfident Margraves would suddenly lose morale.
Hence, a much better option in his opinion was thus to camp on this hill and use the terrain to defend.
"We don''t care one bit about Alexander. He is your problem¡ not ours! We want those barbarians. The worst thing that can happen to us is if they escape. We want to surround and ''ughter'' them¡ not Alexander!''
The Margraves noble''s attitude however clearly revealed that while nning his strategy, Lord Parker had forgotten, or at least severely underestimated their rage.
It was so much in fact that even when he offered the full resources of the ducal family to help the Margraves get their revenge on the natives, only asking in return to be just patient and deal with Alexander first, the nobles still refused.
ording to them, once the Helvati ran back to their swampy homnd, it would be very hard for any expedition to do any meaningful damage to them.
"We have already tried this many times, burning their dwellings and taking many ves. But they always run into the hilly woods and use gueri tactics to hound us. Unless wemit to a multi year campaign, once they run, we will never be able to catch the true culprits." They repeated.
Even Miss Linda added her voice to the fray, thedy having chosen to apany the marching army instead of staying in that empty city all by herself, feeling much safer in the midst of tens of thousands of troops rather than amidst a paltry force of a few thousand green recruits that were under the relentless bombardment by a very determined enemy.
Urging her husband to also follow suit, she wanted the Heeats to fight alongside her family and show them his support, iming this would help smooth out much of the earlier acrimony.
But that request was tly and utterly refused.
Perhaps it might have worked if Lord Parker was not absolutely furious with Miss Linda over her many schemes and antics, but now, he had been fully bought in by Lord Kite''s n.
Lord Parker had no incentive to leave his advantageous position, at least until he got his reinforcements.
As for the probability of Alexander taking Caira in the meantime¡ well Lord Parker did not mind.
He could siege and starve Alexander out of submission.
After all, he and his family had the willpower and resources to stay permanently on this ind for as long as it was necessary. But Alexander could not.
And as long as his army remained intact, he would always remain a thorn for Alexander.
If things looked really dire, he would not even mind asking the nearby Strauss family for help, destroying both Alexander and the Margraves and creating a new order on the ind.
All these contingencies were already within his expectations.
Hence unable to reach a consensus, the Margraves decided to march towards Caira by themselves, while Lord Parker and his wife who he put under house arrest watched on from the top.
"Lord Pasha, the enemy seems to be around 15,000 strong¡ all of them infantry. They should be here within a few hours."
The report from his forward scout somewhat surprised Alexander because neither the number nor theposition fit what he knew.
It should have been at least 20,000 or even more if levies were raised from the citizenry, along with 2,000 to 3,000 cavalry.
"So less? Are you sure?" Hence, he could not help but ask for confirmation.
"Yes. My men double checked. And the enemy is really not trying to hide his movements."
The scout leader too had found the number suspicious as he was the one who had calcted the initial Heeat numbers.
So this time, he had them verified before bringing them to Alexander.
From what they could currently see, the enemy really had those numbers.
"Hahaha, looks like some of those cowards ran even before the fight! Heh! As expected of that craven family!"
The one to let out this boisterousughter from Alexander''s side was other than Metztil, who hade here to discuss somest minute deployment details with the pasha.
And after his trantor helped him understand the contents of what the scout was reporting, he let out his disparagingment, his face flushed with excitement.
Without prior knowledge of the numbers, the tribal chief thought this was the best the Margraves could muster.
While the always suspicious Alexander was experiencing the very opposite set of emotions, feeling very rmed upon sensing the abnormality.
''Is this army the bait? Are they hiding a shock force somewhere else?'' He could not help but turn his head subconsciously towards the treeline that was surrounding him.
Right now, the man could not help but think back about the battle he had with Lord Ponticus while trying to take Thesalie.
Using the cover of night and the dense forest, the old man had led a force of 20,000 around his camp tounch an ambush in his rear, while using the other half of his force as bait to engage in a frontal assault.
And the brilliant move would have worked too if only for not Remus''s advantageous position to give the unlucky man away.
Alexander still asionally dropped a cold sweat while thinking how narrowly he had avoided that disaster.
And learning from his mistake, Alexander thus quickly gave the following order,
"Order the army to get ready to march! We will meet the enemy by the river banks."
The ce he was talking about was about ten kilometers southwest of here and was free of any woods or tree lines for a good distance.
Hence even if the Heeats were hiding any cavalry ambushs, Alexander thought he would see iting.
The only problem was selling the idea to his ally Metztil, who hearing the order expressed his skepticism with a slight frown,
"The river banks? Why not meet them here? It will save us energy and killing the army right in front of their walls willpletely destroy the morale of the defenders. We can have the city by noon."
As expected, Metztil might not be a good politician, but he was a shrewdmander.
Alexander did not argue with Metztil regarding his point, neither did he reveal his true thoughts in fear of panicking the man and making him second guess.
Rather he revealed a much more believable but also manageable reason,
"I fear the wall defenders might coordinate with the Margraves tounch a pincer attack, sallying out to attack our nks. I don''t want to fight a two front war!"
Now, this possibility was not as fearful as a suddenly nking ambush because all Alexander needed to do was leave a garrison contingent in his camp while he gave the approaching army battle.
This way once the defenders tried to ''stab him in the back'', his forces in the camp could provide aid.
That''s why Alexander used the phrase ''two front war'' instead of something this ''being attacked from two sides''.
It was also thinking that Metztil might sniff this loophole out that Alexander quickly added, "Besides, would it not be better to meet our hated enemy as soon as possible? Why waste good time? If we move quickly enough it might even catch them out of formation.."
These reasons were enough to quickly convince Metztil, especially since he did not feel like arguing Alexander with over something so trivial.
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Chapter 1282: Alexander Vs Margraves (Part-2)
Alexander choosing to give battle to the Margraves suited them perfectly fine.
Many were even fearful that Metztil''s men would run away before they could catch them.
So when they saw Alexander approaching them, many relished the sight, with much of the nobility among the rank and file cheering, shouting to the surrounding men,
"There they are. Quickly men! March! Do not let them escape."
The Margraves''s idea here was to use speed to rapidly approach Alexander and use sheer speed to shock and break the will of the natives¡ then the true ughter could begin.
And the only one to express any real concern over this simple idea of just throwing troops to the melee so haphazardly was surprisingly the ''politician'' Lord Bernard.
He asked with an unsure voice to the man next to him,
"Lord Bakerfield, are you sure it will be prudent to meet Alexander head on just like this? We number less than him. And he has inflicted quite a bit of damage on us even when we held the advantage! Would it not have been better to follow Lord Parker?"
This Bakerfield was that same elder noble who had be consumed by my vengeance, and the reply he made was anything but constructive, uttered in a voice of extreme annoyance,
"Young brat! You talk too much! Don''t bother me with this now!"
The fact was Lord Bernard already had the same talks quite a few times, trying his best to have the two families stick together.
However, the newly joined nobles did not listen.
The general consensus among them was this was not a true concern and that Lord Bernard was simply inting things about Alexander to make himself appear morepetent.
"Lord Bernard, you are young and inexperienced in warfare. So it is natural for you to misjudge the enemy and overestimate him after just one or two victories. We veterans can see the true picture. This Alexander is hardly anything." The more polite ones cated him as such, reassuring him it was not Alexander''s expertise that won him all the previous battles, but Lord Bernard''s own shorings.
While a bit more logical nobles hypothesised that,
"Lord Bernard, from what you have told us, the forces Alexander actually controls are actually small, 5,000 Adhanians at best. That means the rest of the 20,000 are the barbarians. And you know like all of us that those beasts will never be our match. Once they see our armor and taste our steel¡ hmmmp!
Even if this Adhanian Lord is as good as you speak¡ there is no way he can stop those cowards from running. And then what will he have left¡?"
The actualmanders of the Margraves army, the ones possessing true skill assumed correctly that Alexander could never trulymand those natives and thus found Lord Bernard''s assessment of the man to be not relevant here.
They incorrectly based this on the pre-supposed assumption that the natives would not¡ could not give them a proper fight.
Thus it was not that they did not believe Lord Bernard, but thought it was not applicable here.
As for thest group, they were barb-tongued repliesing from those noble with whom Lord Bernard or his family had worse rtions were far less courteous.
They openly mocked him for cowardice and ipetence, saying,
"Heh! You got betrayed by your own officers and lost an entire ship! Yet you dare tell us what to do? That Alexander might have been a pig and he still could have thrashed you! We are not like you¡ we did not get tomand an army just because of our father''s name! "
While some of the more extreme proponents even used him of siding with the ''enemy''- although here it was used to describe the Heeat family, not Alexander.
The reason was, that some of these most bellicose men found their pride wounded upon hearing Lord Bernard''s insistence that they attack Alexander together to be infuriating.
As retainers of the Margraves family, there had always been a subtle pride among them that the Margraves were no weaker than a ducal house, that the only difference between the one was a name and a title.
Some of the Margrave''s heads even subtly hinted and encouraged this.
Hence the more Lord Bernard insisted they ally with Lord Parker to deal with Alexander, the more these hot blooded nobles rejected this idea, wanting to prove him wrong.
In this way, the Margraves nobles either underestimated Alexander''s skills, were blinded by their own ego, or simply thought his force was too fragile.
And facing such universal condemnation, even Lord Bernard began to doubt himself, finding it hard to refute the torrent of usations.
Even when he spoke, whatever he said sounded hollow andcking in strength.
Then soon afterwards, sensing his reluctance and using his inexperience as an excuse, the man was even reced as themander of the army by Lord Bakerfield, thuspletely muting his voice.
Under their newmander, the army continued to make its ill advised march forward.
As the two forces neared, Alexander who was at the back quickly noticed the approaching Margraves, and the first thing he did upon seeing them was mutter in astonishment,
"There really are not that many! And they are all wearing green!"
The low 15,000 troop number and the absence of the Heeat''s telltale ck uniform was a very strong reinforcing agent for what Alexander thought to be validation for his theory- ''there was an ambush waiting for him.''
Thus turning to Remus he ordered sinctly,
"Take the thousand cavalry we have. Ride around five kilometers south along the river until you disappear from sight. Then find a suitable ce to cross it and turn around. By then you should be at the enemy''s rear. You should know what to do then right?
Since Alexander had no idea what tricks the Heeat might have up their sleeves, instead of passively waiting for it and being on guard all the time, he decided to concentrate his focus more on the bait right in front of him and destroy it before they could do anything.
As they say, the best defense is a good offense.
"Catch them in a pincher!" The excited Remus was more than happy toply, immediately taking the riders and disappearing from sight, the dust cloud raised by the marching army helping them cover their track.
With the cavalry taking a lot more circuitous route, the rest of the army kept advancing unimpeded and quickly reached their destination- the river bank, without any unforeseen instances.
Then across the rtively narrow body of water, soon identified their quarry- for the Margraves too had arrived on the opposite side.
But here came a problem- which was crossing the river and actually meeting the enemy.
"Are we to wade across?" Facing the body of water, some whispered as such.
And indeed it was shallow and slow enough to do this¡. provided that you did not have an army of very angry men staring you down.
No matter which side dipped their toes first, they would be torn to ribbons by the opposing archers and javelin throwers.
Both sides had initially thought they would be able to finish the crossing before the other side got here but how could they have even controlled the other''s side pace?
Hence by sheer coincidence, they appeared at the same ce almost at the same time, producing such a dilemma.
Thus they stood there still for quite a while but could still see no other way.
''What should we do now! Back off a bit so that the other side can cross?'' Hence many thought incredulously.
Atst, it was Alexander who broke the deadlock, as he turned to order a few thousand of his men in the reserved,
"Cut the trees near the banks to make a bridge! We don''t have time to waste."
Unlike the Margraves who were content to take their time, Alexander was worried that if he waited here for too long, Remus would arrive at his position only to find the Margrave''s army simply idling.
And without Alexander to pin down the front, his nking attack would be far too ineffective, as the Margraves would be able to sacrifice their rear to have their front turn around and destroy Remus.
Thus the men quickly got to work- cutting the trees, chopping them into logs, and setting them onto the river as makeshift pontoons, with ropes tying them together to give them some stability.
And this did not take nearly as long as one could expect- the entire thing being finished within about an hour.
This might seem too rapid, but one really not underestimate how much work a few thousand determined men could aplish.
In history, there have many instances of armies building huge bridges within just a few days to cross the river.
Julius Ceaser was particrly adept at this, with his magnum opus perhaps being the construction of a huge wooden 400 m long, 3 m wide, and around 10 m tall bridge across the River Danube in just ten days.
Whenpared to that, Alexander''s simple wooden pontoon bridge of barely twenty to thirty meters within an hour was hardly anything impressive.
He at least demanded this much from his engineers.
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Chapter 1283: Alexander Vs Margraves (Part-3)
"Charge! Ahhhh!"
"Forward men! *Trumpet*! Forward!"
"Kill those bastards! Remember what they did to us!"
"Revenge for our brothers! Revenge for all our suffering! Revenge for our tribe!"
"A thousand years of blood debt! Repay it all! Repay them and then some!"
As soon as thest of the wooden pontoons wereid down, shouts of such animalistic fury rang out from across the whole of Alexander''s ranks as his men ran across the rickety bridge to meet their enemy.
Well, technically they were not his men as it was the center that had charged and that wasposed entirely of the Helvati,
But the sentiment was the same.
Upon seeing their hated enemy right at their fingertips, these fierce tribal folks lost all their inhibition for battle and discarded any concerns about fighting on such a rickety tform like a floating pontoon bridge to bulldoze towards them like a bull seeing red.
While seeing this disy of great bravery, the Margrave tropes were caught a bit off guard.
They had been told that these unshaven, shabbily dressed barbarians would not dare meet their much better equipped forces head on.
So they had expected them to run, not construct a rickety pontoon bridge and charge madly towards them eager for a fight.
However that initial shock quickly wore away, and the rtively experienced troops quickly rallied and firmly nted their feet on the ground.
While from the front and center their officers andmanders continued to urge them with great booming shouts of encouragement,
"Don''t falter! These barbarians are nothing. You have fought them before and you have beaten them before."
"That''s right! These are little more than the death throes of the rabble waste. They will give away the moment you push back. Now go!"
"Attack! Charge forward and attack!Show these improvised wastes what the Margraves family is made of!"
"Push them off the bridge! Swing your shield and push these fools into the river. Teach them what blind defiance brings!"
And these encouraging shouts quickly had their effect as the 15,000 men let out a giant hurrah, before continuing the melee.
The Helvati found the prospect of fighting on a pontoon bridge surprisingly easy.
Many of them had feared the wooden logs would wobble and slip, but much to their satisfaction there was nothing of the sort.
The reason for this was- one- they were quite well made for the short time it took to manufacture, with the knots being particrly well done.
They had been apparently tied by the servants Lord Janus brought with him, and many of these men were sailors. And as anyone would know, sailors knew their knots- it was one of the very basic skills they were required to master as it was vitally needed in riggings.
Hence the logs were held together very tightly.
And the second reason for the ease was therge number of men that were on the bridge.
Their heavy mass helped push the wood down into the water, lowering its center of gravity, while due to the men being in formation, that mass was spread equally across the surface, providing superb stability.
Hence despite urging from theirmanders, the Margrave troops found it very hard to use their shields to push the Helvati overboard.
Even a good shield bash that stunned the opponent and made him disoriented was not always a guarantee that he was going to lose his footing and fall over.
Rather, most of the time when someone tripped, the tightly packed formation of men helped straighten the falling man all by himself.
And as the battle raged on, initially it began to favor the Helvati, with some of their units even managing to push the defending Margraves back so far that they by now had a foothold on the other side of the bank.
And this had happened despite their numerical inferiority!
Yes, due to ack of space in the pontoon bridges, Alexander was not able to deploy his entire force across the river.
So for now, despite Alexander technically outnumbering the Margraves, only the 10,000 Helvati were engaging the 15,000 of the enemy, while arge part of Alexander''s legionnaires were busy expanding the bridge by attaching more cut wooden logs to it, eager to join their allies'' as soon as possible.
Although given the Helvati were winning without them, one could ask why the rush?
As for how Metztil was doing so well?
Well it had to do with their distinct style of fighting!
Now, since both sides used very simr weaponry, they fought in broadly simr styles, engaging the enemy in a shoulder to shoulder formation, with each soldier responsible for protecting his two brothers on either side, using their spear to swat away all the iing attacks.
But if one looked a bit closely, they would find that the Helvati fought in a kind of more loose formation where individuals fought by themselves with little regard to the wishes or awareness of their partners, while the Margraves were much more reserved and coherent in their attacks.
The reason for this practice was because the Helvati, or the native tribal folks in general had always prized their own personal achievements in battle, as it way to show off to their brethren and gain social and even political prestige.
Hence, every man was for himself, thus forgoing any coherent strategy in favor of raw, brutal strength to smash the enemy all by themselves.
This tranted to their attacks being very shy and powerful, and the much less zealous Margraves who were told the enemy would not put up any great resistance found it hard to swallow the huge strikes easily.
After all, unlike the Helvati who were fueled by a hatred spanning a few hundred years, these poor men had nothing. And if not for the threat of being hanged in the center of the market for disobeying their lord, these men would likely not even be here.
Hence deep inside manympoons,
''Are these the same natives we have been told about? When did they get so fierce?''
''I thought we would not have to fight! I thought we would be able to scare them off with just our armor. We are wearing the best chainmail and wielding the best spears from Zanzan! What gives?''
''Dammit, you wild brutes! How dare you defy father! Shut up and die!''
However although the green recruits and grass root men were stunned by the impressive show of power from the Helvati, the experienced officers and nobles were actually far less concerned.
"Hehe! These animals are the same as always!" Lord Bakerfield in fact even chuckled amusedly, as if he found seeing his men get pushed back funny.
But anyone who looked at his eyes would find no desire to share theugh, for it was burning with an extremely hot me of rage.
And that rage soon turned to actions, as at a certain decisive point in the battle, the elderly noble turned to his nearby herald,
"These barbarians should be tiring soon¡. Send orders to the officers! They are to halt retreating and start pushing back. The gods have given us the most opportune chance today. We must not let a single one of these animals escape. ughter them all!"
Yes!
The entire giving up space had been a trap!
The experienced noble had been in many expeditions against the natives and knew their fighting to the tee.
Which was why he did not bother to meet them head on steel for steel.
Rather when the Helvati mindlessly charged, he cleverly absorbed the initial blows by slowly having his army retreat, letting these ''glory hungry fools'' tire themselves out against his huge shield.
The core problem with the Helvati''s approach to war was that they did not really fight as a unified, coherent force.
Rather, since they each fought with a mind of their own, any tactical breakthrough they made along the lines was unable to be capitalized by the army as a whole.
After all, nomander in the world would have had the time to respond to such sudden and erratic changes on the fly.
So the best way to deal with such chaotic fury was to be patient and let the other side simply vent it all out.
Thenunch the most vicious counterattack only after, thus catching the breathless baffoons off guard.
This would inevitably cause massive casualties among them, forcing the lines to crack and break.
It was a very good n and really went to show that a Marquis family with a few hundred years of history was nothing to scoff at¡ even when it was at its weakest point, there would always be talented people to lead it.
And even if these talented people made mistakes, it would most likely never be due to ipetence, but more as a result of ack of knowledge or faulty assumptions.
Thus as Lorder Bakerfield gave the order and time began to pass, some subtle but ring differences started to arise on the battlefield.
Up until then, it had been mostly a relentless barrage of the Helvati trying to break through the Margrave''s lines using uncountable spear thrusts, jabs, and pokes, while defending against the same attacks using theirrge shields and armor.
But now¡.
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Chapter 1284: Alexander Vs Margraves (Part-End)
The style of how the Helvati, and the natives in general fought had been studied by the Margraves and their allies for centuries, and by now they had cracked the code down on how to deal with them to the tee.
Thus even though it looked like Metztil was making great progress and seemed to have his foot firmly on the pedal, suddenly, in almost the blink of an eye, the tempo began to rapidly change!
Lord Bakerfield had decided to turn the tables on the Helvait chief.
Hence the suppressed Margraves who appeared to be squarely on the retreat suddenly got their act and charged, and the result of the counterattack was greater than what should have been theoretically possible on paper.
The Margraves and Helvati were simrly numbered so any change in the lines should have been slow and steady.
Yet now, despite thetter''s advantage, the fearless Helvati appeared to crack and buckle under thetter''s great new push.
"Darn brutes¡ They are more an armed mob than an army!"
While observing all this from the back, Alexander let out this mutter of annoyance.
He had been of course observing how the natives fought all this time and quickly found the fault, The individualistic style of fighting made it so that it was quite hard for them to obey anyplex instructions.
It was little wonder that they were beaten by the Margraves so soundly each and every time.
The Marquis family followed the much better path of- The whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
Now, to be fair to the natives, the reason for their style of fighting was not entirely due to them being foolish glory hunting hogs or egotistical maniacs.
There was a touch of pragmatism too.
That was that their environment pushed them towards such an oue.
Living in poor, barrennds, the natives hardly had the resources to gatherrge groups of young men and teach them proper battle tactics for any length of time. These men were much more needed to tend to the fields lest all of them starve.
Furthermore, a lot of the individual tribes had their own distinct way of fighting. So it was hard for all of them to properly coordinate in the heat of battle.
Just see how much the NATO armies have to train and frequently rehearse what they had been trained just to make sure all of them were on the same page when the time came.
The same applied here.
It was just that these poor tribal folks did not perhaps have even a fraction of the advantages the world''s greatest military alliance had.
Hence instead of trying to executeplex maneuvering orders that half the time would likely not even be understood and half the time only work to get in their own way, it was found to be far more pragmatic for the natives to just charge the enemy and break them using sheer power and ferocity.
And if there was something the natives were notcking, it was sheer power and ferocity.
Indeed, there were many times when armies broke simply seeing the mass of huge, lumbering barbarians fearlessly charging at them with that distinct, ear splitting roar, a spear or axe raised high above their heads.
Their gaze, their bodynguage, the loud, ritualistic songs they chanted before battle and their sheer presence was sometimes enough to break the army even before they fought.
The problem was this type of brute force and psychological scare tactic only really worked with untrained levies who had little courage to stand their ground and give fight.
When they faced an army that was well trained and knew how to nt their feet firmly on the ground and fight in coherent formation, the result was far less morous.
Caught out of formation and without support from their allies, the natives usually racked up quite a lot of dead bodies.
This was mainly how the Margraves and the other outside forces had pushed the nativesrgely out of their own ind.
And currently, the same history appeared to be about to repeat itself.... until the legionaries step in!
They had finally finished expanding the pontoon bridge enough to allow one legion to charge ahead and as the 5,000 men surged with great gusto, the copse at the front suddenly halted, almost as if someone had pressed on the breaks.
"Whew! Made it on time!" Seeing the result, Alexander who had given the order breathed a little sigh of relief.
Without his men, the lines might have not necessarily copsed since Metztil''s men had almost a martyr like aura to them and would rather die than surrender, but it would have certainly made things develop in an unpredictable way, the fate of the battle entering a seesaw state.
"Dammit!"While seeing that exact desired result halted, Lord Bakerfield cursed under his breath.
5,000 new men joining the fray would have been already bad enough in such a tense situation, but as time went on, the experienced lord soon began to notice these men did not fight nearly as badly as those ''barbarians''.
In fact, they fought just as well if not better than his own men¡ if he said so himself!
The fighting by now had mostly moved into the river banks after the Helvati had sessfully pushed the lines several hundred meters back, and so these heavily armored men could firmly nt their feet on solid ground and kept themselves in good formation, fighting shoulder to shoulder with their brothers.
Without having to worry about crossing the rickety, wobbling pontoon bridge under duress, the legionaries were even able tounch two volleys of javelins during their initial charge, peppering the unprepared Margraves men with hundreds of deadly projectiles.
The rain of death from above was so sudden that if not for Lord Bakerfield and some of the senior officers taking immediate charge to rally the men, their army might have fractured then and there.
And even when the threat was contained, the scars it had inflicted remained bright as evidenced by the numerous scattered corpses with javelins sticking out of their bodies.
Lord Bakerfield estimated he had lost close to fifty men in that single attack and it made his heart bleed.
Although the number might not sound like a lot whenpared to the 15,000 present, but in reality, such sudden instances of arge number of deaths were sometimes enough to break the army right then and there.
There were even records of such things happening, both here and in Alexander''s previous world.
For instance, there was a record of an Ottoman force once besieging a small town in central Europe. And by all ounts, be it manpower or siege equipment victory appeared assured.
However that small town had a genius cksmith who tied about a hundred kilos of gunpowder to a waterwheel and set it rolling down the hill towards the Ottoman ranks.
When that thing exploded, it supposedly took out tens of Ottoman troops and injured close to a hundred resulting in them lifting the siege.
And Lord Bakerfield could sense such a simr thing waiting to happen here.
"Do not let up! These barbarians are close to breaking. Push! Avenge your brothers! Avenge your family! ughter these barbarians.
They are close to breaking! Do not let up now!"
He yelled repeating the words, still clinging onto the hope that Metztil would be too greedy for life and loot, thus not willing to fight too hard here.
And this did somewhat perk up the faltering Margraves army.
The problem was the grassroots Margraves troops did not have high morale to begin with, and expected that the lootden Helvati would run the moment they found them to be a tough nut to crack.
So they were not ready to fight tooth and nail like them.
And they were especially not ready to fight them when supported by an even scarier contingent of 5,000 fresh men who fought even better than them.
''Who are these blue uniformed freaks? They seem even more heavily armored than us!'' Many even cried as such, finding it very hard for their spears thrust to go through all theyers of the legionary''s armor.
Compared to them, the naked natives seemed like they were made of butter.
Evenpared to the Margraves men who considered themselves to be alreadyvishly equipped, Alexander''s men appeared to be on a level of their own.
The short, lightweight spears wielded by them could not pose a true threat to the heavy legionaries, with a lot of the thrusts getting stopped by the chainmail before the surprised attacker was unceremoniously stabbed by the opponent''s sharp, short sword and killed.
The Margraves did not strictly use the phnx formation, with their huge, several-meter-long spears like the Adhanian forces. but preferred much shorter, agile weapons and shields.
The advantage of this type of fighting was it allowed them to be much more flexible, a boon when fighting a sneaky enemy like the natives who preferred hit and run tactics instead of directly meeting them head on.
The bane however was facing a heavily armored infantry formation head on¡ such as now.
And that was how Margraves had their counterattacks basically stopped...
Then Remus happened!
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Chapter 1285: Breaking the Margraves
"This looks good enough! Quickly! Ford the river! We have wasted enough time already!"
As Remus made the loud order, the urgency in his voice was palpable.
They had traveled quite a bit further down the river than originally asked by Alexander as they were unable to find a suitable ce to cross at the ordered location.
Their main problem was since this river flowed from the hilly northern areas to the t south, it generally got deeper the further down you went, away from its source. Adding to that also came to the issue of currents, as the arrival of February heralded theing of spring and the ''great thawing''.
Rivers that had beenrgely dormant in the past two months suddenly started to wake up and cold, rapid currents filled the once ''dead'' channels, making crossing even rtively narrow sections quite perilous.
Encumbered with their armor and horses, Remus thus had to look quite hard to find a safe ce where he and his steed would not simply lose footing and get washed away by the raging tides.
Thankfully he managed to atst find a rtively decent spot. And wasted no time in utilizing it.
''The heavens favor me! If it had taken any much longer, I might have had to start cutting trees to make small rafts. Or worse¡ turn back!''
Remus said this to himself in relief as he crossed, his body shivering while the biting cold water sshed against his lower torso.
Then gathering his thousand men as soon as possible, he quickly turned around, wishing to repeat the journey once again but this time, hopefully ending up at the enemy''s rear.
While Remus turned his forces around with the greatest of urgency, Alexander patiently watched the unfolding battle from the back of his formation.
By now the ten thousand Helvati and his five thousand legionaries had managed to bring some much needed stability back to the buckling lines, solidifying it, and turning the center into a stalemate once again.
Alexander half breathed a sigh of relief at this, but at the same time turned half vignt, muttering to himself in a slight whisper,
"What trump card have you hidden now?"
The man was convinced that the Margraves had to have some kind ofst minute trick involving the Heeats and that they would have to reveal it very soon.
Because although it might not look like it, the battle was really not going in their favor.
After fighting and leading so many battles, Alexander had developed almost a sixth sense when it came to things like this and he could clearly feel that this stalemate wasrgely temporary,rgely being forcibly held together by the mart Margraves nobles.
They shouted, threatened, and urged their poor levies to fight on and not even dare think of breaking and running.
The unfortunate grunts did not have the guts to defy their local lord¡ at least for now.
However, it did not take a genius to see that this was hardly a long term solution.
Their morale was being strained to the utmost limit and that taut string of loyalty was naturally bound to snap at some point or another.
And from the looks of things, it seemed it was bound to be sooner rather thanter.
But paradoxically, the closer this inevitable snap got, the more anxious Alexander began to feel.
Because in his mind, the man was utterly convinced the ck clothed Heeat forces were hidden somewhere in the vicinity.
They had to be here! Where else could they be?
Alexander was naturally unable to foresee ''the trouble in paradise'' going on between the two allies and this reasoning had influenced a lot of his decision making until this point.
For instance, Remus had been sent ahead not only as a nking force but also as a scouting party.
So if the Heeats were trying to sneak up on him via that side, well... they were bound to be disappointed.
As for what would happen if they came via the opposite side or miraculously even behind...well that was where the formation he was currently inside came into y.
Alexander had the remaining 5,000 men that he kept in the back arrange themselves in a hollow square formation, so that no matter from which side Lord Parker attacked, he could have a ''face'' ready to give battle.
This formation was a very famous defensive style, usually used during marches to easily deal with possible ambushes.
With soldiers facing all four directions simultaneously, they had no true blind spot to be exploited.
The only real downside of the style was that itcked any true bite.
Because the lines were divided into four, they were quite thin and were unable to be used offensively to push the enemy, lest they risk breaking from a well timed counterattack.
So it was used mainly in blunting the initial surprise of an ambush and thwarting that critical initial breakthrough.
After that it was then expected that the enemy would either simply run away after seeing they were too tough a nut to crack, or the rest of the surrounding units woulde and relieve them, nking the pinned down enemy.
Hence, all in all, it was a good formation- highly effective at what it was supposed to do.
The problem was this type of passive approach did not sit well with some of Alexander''s allies, namely the Helvati.
For the glory seeking natives who loved heading into the heat of things straight on, this seemed even cowardly, with Metztiling to Alexander to even joke with a touch of disdain, "Heh! Good to see you at least have some simrities with the outsiders!"
It was clear the bellicose and straightforward tribal chief found Alexander hiding behind a 360 degree screen of 5,000 men too shameful and thought he was too scared for his life.
"Men should lead from the front!" The man boisterously imed.
"...." Alexander did not bother to correct therge man over misconceptions, neither did he inform him of his fears and suspicions about a possible attack from another front.
This was because for one he did not think the simple minded man to have to worry about this.
Alexander was themander here and he wanted to deal with this himself.
Two- Alexander thought that without the knowledge inhibiting the natives, it would be far easier for them to fullymit to the frontal charge. At least now they would not ask to leave a continent of their own men behind as a failsafe or be constantly looking over their heads making sure Alexander had their backs and did not just run away.
Which nicely made their way into Alexander''s third point- abandoning the natives and running away if things really turned bleak.
Yes, if it called for it, Alexander would not blink an eye kicking down this ''ally'' of his own. Because they were really allies in the most air quote sense possible.
Neither truly trusted the other in the case of a real crisis.
As for fixing the drawback of his formation, well, first of all, there was no miracle formation in the world that could do everything at once.
However, Alexander had a clever work around his current dilemma and its name was- Crossbows!
Yes, the hollow formation had 1,000 of these deadly projectiles wielding men inside, ready to pepper the Heeat forces with deadly, inch long bolts from a hundred meters away.
Forget the slow infantry, even if the Heeats were to charge them with fast cavalry, they would find a wall of withering arrowfire greeting them.
Alexander had not only replenished his stocks with the arrival of Menes''s reinforcements but Lord Janus''s fief had also allowed his engineers and cksmiths to pump out some thirty thousand new ones.
Fortunately for him, none of his preparations would be needed, for¡
Thud! Thud! Thud!
As Remus approached, the uniform galloping of a thousand horses advancing in rhythm caused the earth beneath to begin to subtly vibrate, kicking up a cloud of dust that gave the impression of a force farrger than it really was.
"What is that!" And as Lord Bakerfield turned his head to try and locate the source of this new chorus of neighs and roars, he could not help but let out a shout of utter incredulity.
But that detection unfortunately came a little toote.
Given the enormous mor and din that filled the battlefield, it was not until Remus was within a few hundred meters of his prey that the Margraves even noticed this fresh set of foes.
But by then, the horses were figuratively neighing right behind their necks, ready to charge!
"Oh no!"
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The men''s already faltering morale finally crumbled to dust as they realized the mortal danger they were in.
And then without ado¡ they did the most logical thing- they ran!
Which was in all fairness the best thing to do¡ because there was no winning here.
The golden rule of any battle was to never let the enemy attack you from both sides. Because if things got so bad that you could be attacked from either side, there was no way to defend from that.
Rather than trying to save the battle, you were far better off trying to save yourself.
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Chapter 1286: Breaking the Margraves (Part-2)
"Get in line! Bring your horses in formation! Quickly!"
"Lances forward! We are charging! Lancers forward!"
"Do not dally! Do not let the enemy react!"
As Remus was able to approach his quarry basically undetected, he found himself to be like a tiger breathing down the neck of a defenseless fawn. All now that was left was to close down that maw and the fragile spine would be snapped in two.
And in anticipation of that, he was very eager to initiate his cavalry charge.
Thus getting within a few hundred meters of the Margrave''s army, Remus quickly lined up his horses in formation and had the men properly equip their several meter longnces.
"Ahhhh!"
Then with a great wild roar they galloped, the young general personally leading the way.
Now, Remus did not target his charge directly onto the rear of the Margraves army per se, but rather chose a nted angle of attack, wishing to hit the left side of their nks, the side that was facing the river bank.
He had followed the river to get here and in the interest of saving time, chose this side.
As for the reason behind not hitting the rear directly despite the great tactical advantage he had, this was because Remus feared hitting the thick rear, worried that his rtively small 1,000 men unit down get bogged down by the sheer volume of men there.
The hit would undoubtedly cause them a lot of casualties, but the problem was Margrave''s lines were also quite thick there.
So the fear was that once the initial blow was delivered and it got absorbed, the cavalry formation would get wedged into the sea of men and be unable to maneuver properly.
Then surrounded on all sides by the enemy¡.
Remus did not dare imagine the ensuing bloodbath, finding the thought of fending off countless barrage of spear attacks from all sides too disturbing.
Thus to avoid the potential macabre scenario, he wheeled his unit around and skirked past the greater part of the Margraves army''s rear section, instead wishing to bite the nks of the units at the very front of the army.
These were the frontline men that were directly engaging the Helvati and legionaries, and Remus''s idea was to shatter these formations with his charge, thus opening a hole for his infantry to then break through.
It was a sound tactical judgment.
The only thing was there was really no for such borate concern here.
"Cavalry! Enemy cavalry in the nks!"
"Ambush! It''s an ambush!"
"Run! The battle is lost! Run!"
"Save yourselves! Save yourself!"
As soon as the fighting Margraves noticed the dreadful mass of cloud that was kicked up by the galloping cavalry and heard the roars of a thousand riders bulldozing towards them, they all instantly lost the will to fight!
Not even the most ardent warrior was willing to just stand there and be skewered to death by those giant spears.
Hence screaming at the top of their lungs in fear and panic, the nearby rank and file dropped everything they had and broke all formation to run.
And this time, none of the noble officers bothered to stop them.
In fact, they were among the very first ones to break, especially because these experienced men understood the situation better than most of the green recruits.
The nking advantage the now enemy had meant that not even the god of war could salvage the situation here.
Only the staunchest of the officers like Lord Bakerfield and his men refused to ept this,
"Stop! How dare you disobey militarymand?"
"Halt! The front is minutes away from giving away! Halt!"
"Don''t run! We are so close! Just a bit longer!"
However, given the noise and distance on the battlefield, these did not even reach the ears of the panicking soldiers.
They were far too busy trying to avoid being turned into shish kebabs.
*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*
Remus covered the short distance in what seemed to be the blink of an eye and then hit the disorderly fleeing formation with a thunderous thud that produced a dreadful bang, mud, earth, and numerous bodies being sent high up into the air.
And then when they eventually fell down, copious amounts of blood and wooden splinters of the brokennces stained the ground.
Paradoxically, if the formations had not run but instead held their ground and gave Remus a fight, they might have suffered fewer casualties.
But there was hardly any time to regret such lost opportunities.
Because no sooner had Remus retreated, the second wave took its ce, sting an even greater hole into the Margraves formation.
*Trumpet!*, *Trumpet!* *Trumpet!*
It was not known exactly which high ranking officer was the first to blow his trumpet signaling the retreat, but as soon as it was rung, others quickly followed suit.
It was apparent to all of them that the wound they had just suffered was impossible to sustain.
"Damn them to hell! Fucking damn them all to hell!"
The one to utter these words was none other than Lord Bakerfield, who was also panicking like the rest of his army, although his face was more twisted into a pained countenance of agony and despair rather than fear and apprehension.
What hurt him truly was not the loss but more his failure to avenge his family.
However, despite his personal thoughts, he did not object to his subordinate officer''s unanimous decision to retreat.
Deep down he knew this was the right move unless he wanted to see his forces get obliterated.
Hence the elder man soon got distracted as the much more important matter flooded his mind.
Turning to his adjutant, he gravely ordered,
"Have the army retreat in an orderly fashion. And tell the soldiers not to lose heart¡ the Heeats are on their way."
This was of course a tant lie but Lord Bakerfield was willing to utilize it without any scalps as long as he could keep his formation intact!
It should be known that despite the devastation wrought by Remus, it was still a localized phenomenon.
Only one of the three sections that had made up the very front echelons had broken and ran.
These were the men who had been specifically hammered by Remus and they numbered around 2,000 to 3,000 men.
The other 12,000 however were still rtively intact.
They had obviously lost their will to fight but unlike their brethren, a majority of them had remaining rtively unscathed.
In addition, they were also yet to wake up to what had truly happened as most of them were too far from the source of impact and were unable to see properly given their tightly tacked formation.
Thus, since news of the true extent of Remus''s attack was yet to be disseminated, they were to disintegrate.
And seeing this, Lord Bakerfield tried everything he could to make sure it stayed that way, rapidly deploying every messenger he had on hand to the rest of the officers.
And credit where credit is due, the elder lord seeded!
With the promise of imminent allied relief as well as the eptance of the order to retreat, the levies who were greatly fearful of their local lord''s retaliation did not break rank and run like a small minority of their brethren.
Rather they chose to stick together and began to back off in a rtively coherent manner.
It was a result that surprised even the high ranking scouts and officers because they knew the inside story very well.
Given how badly they had fallen off, the idea that Lord Parker would lift his butt toe help them was almost ludicrous.
So the chances of Lord Bakerfield''s revtion producing any result was negligible. But none dared to challenge it despite feeling dumbfounded because it produced the desired result.
The illiteratemon soldier bought this extravagant hope hook, line, and sinker.
As the Margraves army broke contact with the front line and began to rapidly retreat without even forming a proper rear guard, a terrible roar of uproariousughter broke out from Alexander''s center as the Helvati thought they had broken the enemy.
This was the first major victory the tribes had over their hated enemy for over a century and the cheered at the top of their lungs,
"Running! These cowards are running! Haha, we did it!"
"Look at these cowards! Hah hah, tucking tail and running! Truly it suits these barbarians the best!''
"Quickly! Do not let a single one of these bastards get away! Father has long wanted one of these fair skinned monkeys as a ve!"
"Chase them! Quickly! Kill them all! For our ancestors! For our tribe!"
The fleeing enemy proved even more alluring than the most beautiful women in the world to these revenge starved beasts and now that they were given the chance, the Helvati fell upon them like wild beasts.
They broke rank en mass, to the point Alexander''s center basically ceased to exist, as the Helvati madly ran after the green clothed enemy, shooting, stabbing, jabbing, and even jumping on them in anger and fury. Chapter Find:
After a century of being under their thumb, these men were finally allowed to vent all their pent up anger and they relished in the pleasure and power of that ability to their heart''s content.
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Chapter 1287: Turning Around
When the Margraves army started to retreat, the Helvati took the act as - fleeing.
So in their joy and fury, the 10,000 men broke all semnce of formation and scattered into uncountable smaller groups of fives and tens, wishing to chase after their prey no matter the cost.
These men were like a raging bull, only seeing red and in their blind fury, they started not even properly to look where they were going.
They entered such a frenzy that even the numerous calls from Alexander to restore the frontline and stop this reckless chase wentpletely unheeded.
It was standard practice in most parts of the known world by now not to chase a fleeing enemy lest you get caught out of formation and be counterattacked.
And this was especially concerning now sinceAlexander could sense that the Margraves formation had not really been broken.
They were rtively intact and the discipline they disyed while running away in formation was enough to even surprise him a bit.
Ae could not help but half praise theirmander''s ability, ''To be able to so decisively disengage like that¡. Not bad!''
But this also meant if the Helvati pushed them too far, they risked getting counterattacked.
However which of the native officers was going to listen to Alexander now?
Alexander did not even know where to find them. All of them had seemingly scattered to the wind, scouring the vast battlefield looking for their next prey.
"Dammit! I just hope I am overthinking!" Hence all Alexander could do was follow closely behind with his own contingent and shadow the ongoing chaos.
The silver lining in all of this was that he still had control over his own men.
They were led by good officers who kept discipline among the ranks and they also did not have that long bad blood between the Margraves.
So without the lure of good loot, the legionaries were happy to let the Helvati take the dangerous job of chasing after the enemy.
"Damn these barbarians! To think I would one day I would lose to¡.! My father should be rolling in his grave! Fuck!"
Lord Bakerfield currently had a very twisted face as he tried to make his horse go as fast as he could, while venting in an extremely crude manner that was much unbing of his status as a lord.
But right now he could care less about much pedantic details.
The elder man was far more concerned about what was going to happen to him now.
Were he to approach Lord Parker and beg such a young man for rescue?
Would that arrogant man evene down from his high perch?
The thought deeply wounded the senior lord, as scar upon scar appeared on his alreadycerated heart.
He thought he could avenge his family with this battle and yet, he had lost. Chapter Your:
"It''s all those damned riders'' fault!" He bitterined, clenching his teeth in anger.
He was still in shock over how he had been outnked and he could not for the life of him figure out who those mysterious riders were or where they had appeared from.
If not for them, Lord Bakerfield felt confident he could have won, if not at least manage a tie.
But now¡.
The only sce he could take was that at least his entire army had not broken down, with each unit taking their destiny into their own hands.
He at least managed to get them to stick together.
Lord Bakerfield was suddenly broken out of his thoughts by the shout of a nearby nobleman, who rode up to him to ask,
"My lord, those brutes are constantly attacking our rear! We cannot keep on going like this! Order a counterattack! These barbarians are taking us too lightly!"
And at the reminder of these words, Lord Bakerfield also turned his head around to look at his back and indeed found the Helvati to be madly chasing after them with not an iota of order or discipline.
But this unwise move had also allowed them to inflict quite a bit of casualty on the Margraves, to the point Lord Bakerfield risked his army spontaneously disintegrating.
If he wanted to keep his forces intact until he reached Lord Parker, the elder lord knew he had to deal with his rapid beast that was chasing them.
"But what about Alexander? I do not see his men here! What if he is waiting for us to stop?"
Lord Bakerfield''s only concern that stopped him from counterattacking the Helvati and possibly destroying them was the absence of that telltale blue uniform.
What if they were waiting in ambush?
"Or those riders!" Another much younger nobleman who was close to the two chimed to add to Lord Bakerfield''s fears, his face appearing bleak and deste.
"....." And this dilemma put the trio in a very difficult situation.
They could not stop in fear of their being nked by the rest of the enemy, but they also could not keep on going because they were bleeding too much, if this continued, they might break before they made it.
"Get Bernard! Have his unit lead a rear guard!" So Lord Bakerfield ultimately made this decision.
And it produced a variety of mixed emotions among the other two.
Of course, it did not take a genius to understand what this order meant.
Lord Bakerfield basically wanted to throw Lord Bernard under the bus to save the rest of his force.
That was what being a rear guard typically meant.
And it was especially true here, for it was very unlikely that the natives were looking to take prisoners here.
Lord Bakerfield certainly had no intention to take the natives prisoners when he started the battle.
But the problem here was Lord Bernard was not a nobody, as reminded by the two noblemen beside Lord Bakerfield.
"My¡ my lord, Lord Bernard¡ what about his father? Would it not be better to have someone morepetent to lead the rear guard?"
"That''s right! We already have enough enemies. Lord Bakerfield¡ there is no need for you to antagonize the elder. Let me take the post! I am ten times better than him anyway!"
But Lord Bakerfield was having none of it, angrying spitting out in disgust,
"Bah! If not for useless brat would we even be in this postion? If he had even the skills of a pig, he could have destroyed Alexander before things had gotten to this point!"
The elder nobleman was of the mind that Lord Bernard had wasted multiple golden opportunities to get rid of Alexander when he was still in Caira with only 5,000 men, and it was that which had ultimately led to theter tragedies.
It seemed deep inside, the bitter old man med Lord Bernard partly for his family''s misfortunes.
Hence he turned to his advisors cum colleagues, and without giving them any time to retort, announced in a firm, didactic voice,
"Enough! I have made my decision! Stop wasting time. Bernard will lead the 2,000 men under him! This is a military order from hismander. If Elder Berand has a problem about his son....
he cane directly see me!"
"..." By that point, the two noblemen could only silently nod and obey, trying hard not to discourteously purse their lips in front of the elder
It was only after they were ear shot away from Lord Bakerfield that one of the noblemen self-deprecating chuckled to the other, "Well, look at it this way¡ at least Lord Bernard dying is much better than you. We will not lose a good officer this way!"
His colleague however did not take the joke lightly and after sending a subtle re, sullenly chimed, "...You go with Lord Bakerfield. I will stay here and help Bernard!"
"...Yo.. You!" The deration send the former nobleman into a slight shock.
But the reason for the decision came quickly,
"I cannot agree with Lord Bakerfield''s decision. The Margraves family is already crumbling! This is not the time for personal grudges. If Bernard were to die¡ no, to be killed like this, the elder will¡. *Sigh*, I do not wish to see us spill more blood!"
The words were uttered with altruistism, the gentle swaying of the man''s head giving much gravitas to them.
However that hardly seemed to be a good reason for his partner, whose eyes suddenly turned sharp and his voice very harsh,
"Bah! What are you talking about? Killed? Who said killed? Lord Bernard was ordered by the armymander to hold the line! How dare you say Lord Bakerfield killed him?
Watch you tongue here brat!As for Elder Bernard''s reaction¡ this is war, people die! If he cannot ept this reality then¡ the Margraves family hassted for hundreds of years and will itst for hundreds of years more¡ with or without him!"
"....." The younger nobleman initially only stayed silent at this outburst, not arguing, but also not changing his decision, as he repeated
"You go! I will stay!"
And then quickly added without giving his older colleague a chance to argue,
"There is no problem here. Lord Bakerfield did not forbid me from joining the rear guards. He only said that Bernard should lead the rear guard. And I cannot let my cousin just die like that!"
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Chapter 1288: Turning Around (Part-2)
"*Sigh!* You brat..."
Upon hearing the younger nobleman''s firm determination to stay and basically sacrifice himself like that, the elder noble could only ruefully shake his head.
It was apparent the former was very dissatisfied with Lord Bakerfield for letting his personal grudges get in the way at such a critical point.
But he did not outright argue with him because the younger nobleman was someone who stuck closely to the army tradition.
And there, it was unthinkable to dismiss yourmanding officer''s orders outright. It was considered mutiny,
But ording to tradition dealing with your rivals during a battle using one''s military authority was also considered in very poor taste.
After all, if such a thing were to be prevalent, would the nobles ever be willing to battle with each other? Then the
Which noble family that did not have some kind of friction with other factions. In life, whatever you did, you were bound to piss off someone or another.
Hence the younger man was caught in a dilemma between the twomandments.
Then ultimately unable to choose between the two, he simply decided to rebel against Lord Bakerfield.
While his elder counterpart who sensed it could only internally sigh ruefully at the decision, feeling mournful over losing such an experienced officer.
''Lord Bakerfield is going to tear me a new one when he hears I let the to be husband of his most treasured granddaughter die like this!'' Hempooned,
But looking at the man''s face and given the time crunch, he did not argue, and only lightly tapped the man''s shoulders and agreed with a gentle nod.
"Good! Bernard will indeed need someone to help him hold the lines. He has never done this before."
"Fucking Bakerfield! That old fart! How dare he! I will tear his asshole a new one when I¡" One person who did not take his appointment as graciously as the other was Lord Bernard, who upon hearing the suicidalmand spun off into a slew of damning curses.
Now, he could understand the military necessity of this order.
It was like a lizard shedding its tail to save his main body. He had no problem in taht.
His only gripe was that Lord Bakerfield had chosen him.
Given he was no military expert, there were many far more qualified men than him.
So this was clearly a political move than a military one, designed to punish him by execution.
Hence Gritting his teeth and waving his arm wildly, Lord Bernard looked as if looks could kill, Lord Bakerfield would likely be killed with his entire generation.
"Right, my lord! You must protest! This is suicide! How dare Lord Bakerfield do this¡ your father must hear of this!" And his adjutant was very quick to agree, nodding his head like a chicken with righteous indignation.
Although his reaction had far more to do with him being deathly afraid of battle than any real vendetta against Lord Bakerfield or amentary on the lord''s decision.
That adjutant perhaps did not even understand why Lord Bakerfield had made that decision from a military point of view.
But after Ser Robert and Anon had left Lord Bernard, he was left with only the dregs to fulfill the required posts.
So it was only natural that the recement quality would leave much to be desired.
However, the younger nobleman who hade to personally give Lord Bernard the order informed him of his talks with Lord Bakerfield and added there was no point in protesting.
The decision was final and further talks would only antagonize Lord Bakerfield, even leading to a court martial.
"By militaryw, he has that right!" Lord Bernard was firmly told.
"Men! Come with them! Let us dye our spears with the blood of these brutes!"
"Soldiers! To think you would run from these barbarians! Are you not ashamed? Are you not children of Galiosos? Come! Take back yournd!"
"If we let these ck worms win today do you know what will happen to your women and children? They will soon be carrying ck bastards! Can you ever stand for this? As a husband, as a father, as a man?"
As the order came from the highest authority, Lord Bernard knew he had to obey, no matter his personal thoughts.
So he and his officers gathered the man and tried their best to sell themand, giving the above speech as a way to prep them.
And while it was unknown what the grassroots men thought about being left as cannon fodder for the rest of the army, at the end of the day none of themined, some due to a sense of duty, some out of fear of reprisal, some for the sake of their family and some just because they were bought up that way- to always obey their lord.
Hence as the rest of the army journeyed on towards Lord Parker, Lord Bernard and his 3,000 men lunged in the opposite direction like a cornered beast, roaring out with heartfelt malice.
Shields locked and spears pointed outward, they charged in formation toward the attacking Helvati and¡ it was a bloodbath for the natives.
The fear that Alexander had came true.
Scattered, disorganized, and out of formation, these ''primitive'' brutes that were still stuck with outdated military tactics were caughtpletely off guard by this fierce counterattack and, "Wha¡ what! What is happening?"
"Aghhhhh! No! Brother!"
"Damn these cunning swine! It was a trick!"
"Shit! No! Don''te! Sto¡. ugghhh!"
"Attack! Attack! Enemy atta¡ mmmm!"
The natives let out surprised and horrific screams, their shouts throwing a much greater part of the army into panic.
Now on paper, Lord Bernard''s 3,000 fleeing men should have posed little threat to the 10,000 mad and ferocious Helvati by all means and be nothing more than a stopgap in their path to decimating their most hated enemies.
Yet when steel met steel, the result waspletely the opposite.
Properly supported by surrounding soldiers in formation, Lord Bernard and his men were able to pick off all the isted groups of attackers one by one in a piecemeal fashion.
All those groups of natives that were madly chasing after the retreating Margraves were only now waking up to the dangers they had ced themselves in, finding themselves to be utterly isted from the rest of the group.
And there were some mad bloodhounds that were yet to wake up even now, yet blindly chasing Lord Bakerfield''s main body till now.
These stranglers would be dealt with by the elderly lord once he neared Lord Parker''s camp, turning a small part of his force around to destroy those natives down to thest man.
As for the greater mass of scattered Helvati held up by Lord Bernard, they were in full blown panic mode, running and screaming in all directions under the hunt of the agile Margraves.
"Regroup! Regroup! The outsiders are counterattacking! Regroup!"
"To me! Come to me my men! In formation! In formation!"
"Bunch up! You idiots! Run to the nearest formation and bunch up!"
And realizing the danger they were in, some of the native officers and highly renowned warriors tried to rally the troops around them.
These were the men who still had a modicum of sense in them. But the problem was this was far too little and the effect was almost negligible.
The chief problem was that the Helvati were quite primitive in their fighting style and had no real way ofmunicating with the grassroots soldiers except for a very few simple instructions delivered using drums and trumpets.
But these instructions were only capable of giving very broad instruction to the whole or at best, a veryrge part of the army, saying things like- charge, retreat, or turn around right or left.
Complex orders such as in the case of Alexander were yet to be viable.
And the only way the Helvati had to give those were by verbally shouting them, and hoping the people around them would pass the message along.
Needless to say, this was far from ideal, as there was no way anyone could hear anyone shouting and giving orders on a battlefield spanning a few kilometers.
The enormous noise and chaos of the ce made it hard to even hear the person next to you.
Hence all these shouts asking the natives to restore order and discipline went over their heads, and Lord Bernard tore through his prey like a wolf would through a herd of sheep.
''Haha, I thought I would not get to see the day my father avenge me!'' Lord Bernard gloatinglyughed as he led his men through the battlefield, massacring natives by the scores.
Equipped with lighter shields and shorter spears, Lord Bernard''s rear guard was showing just why the Margraves dressed themselves like they did- it allowed them to move across their hunting ground at great speed, enabling them to chase and kill their scattered enemy.
And indeed, this was a great way to maximize damaged against the troublesome natives, by first letting them tire themselves out against a solid shield wall and causing them to break, then killing them with fast shock troops before they could escape.
And while the order here might have been a little different, the result was the same.
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Chapter 1289: Alexanders Teaching
Lord Bernard''s great sess in his counterattack had as much to do with the ipetence of the natives as it had to do with another man- that young nobleman who waa his cousin.
In fact, it was he who had done the majority of the work here, nning and directing the men on how to attack and tear their opponent apart.
For example, it was he who divided the 3,000 men into 6 much smaller, more manageable 500 men chucks and let them lose into the world.
These units were far more effective at hunting the smaller five to ten Helvati group across the battlefield, and at one point, three such groups even managed to surround a huge contingent of more than 1,000 Helvati from three different directions and ughtered them to the tee.
In that particr case, that young nobleman had even used himself as bait, using his shiny armor to taunt the enemy and lure them to the trap.
To do something like that even in the best of circumcenter took immense courage.
Never mind doing it in a case where his 500 men were surrounded on all sides by so many mad marauding Helvati, itching to get a piece of him.
Maddened by battle lust, any one of the suicidal forces attacking his nks would have been enough to foil his n and even destroy him.
But given the direness of the situation, his young man felt little scalps.
While the soldiers were also confident in theirmander''s ability to follow him unquestioningly and stood their ground.
It was unknown whether the same would have happened if the verdant Lord Bernard were to take his ce.
And for this, the clever politician was very quick and vocal to praise his cousin.
"Ho¡ how is this happening? No! Not again!"
While Lord Bernard''s counterattack decimated his foes like a hot knife through butter, the Helvati chief who was riding high up in his cloud suddenly felt like he was being yanked down into an abyssal nightmare.
He could not believe the macabre sight that was unfolding and it brought up some very unpleasant memories.
If he were to lose here aftering so close¡ at that point Metztil''s wound in his heart was more for his people than the potential loss of his political position.
Such a defeat would subject the natives to perhaps another century of abject poverty.
''No! We cannot stand that! We must win! We must! We must win!'' The great chief venemously swore in his heart, his eyes turning red with fury and hurt, even some tears filling them.
"Aghhhhhhh!" Then with a gigantic roar he and his small entourage of bodyguards rode straight towards the enemy, wishing to give them battle no matter the consequences.
"Alexan¡. My lord, shouldn''t we go help?" Seeing Metztil''s distinct banner move straight towards Lord Bernard''s position, Remus finally could no longer keep quiet and posed in a greatly urgent manner.
Until now he and his 1,000 riders had been watching the entire fiasco unfold from the back of the formation with Alexander''spany.
They had also followed the retreating Margraves army but much more slowly as the hollow square formation was also not the easiest formation to march in since you had to make sure you kept a certain distance between the three other lines.
In addition, they also made sure to keep an eye out for traps or ambushes,
So until now, they had been waiting for their lordmand''s allowing them to go chase the enemy.
For that, they had even watched the Margraves surround and destroy a huge 1,000 strong contingent of the natives, although at that time they were really too far toe offer aid. In the shifting chaos of the battlefield, they had noticed them toote.
But now¡the young general felt that time hade!
If they dyed any longer, their allies might be in truly serious trouble.
"No¡ just keep your eyes and ears open for the Heeat army. They have to be close." Alexander''s negative reply was one of boredom and nonchnce, repeating his previous instructions with dim eyes.
"Wha.. what?" However to Remus, this was almost like a bolt from the sky.
Judging by what he knew of his friend and lord, he had assumed getting permission for this no brainer of an attack was a mere formality.
He had even started preparing his horse to head out.
"B¡but there is no Heeat army! If there were, they would have been here by now!" He thus cried out, finding Alexander''s caution now passing over to paranoia.
Remus also did not believe Alexander did not know the unlikelyness of his worries.
The battlefield by now had grown much too chaotic for the 10,000 or so Heeat forces to join and produce any effect- the Margraves were split into two, one of that part had buggered off, while the other was madly hunting the wild Helvati.
There was no sense of formation on the battlefield, with each side basically being inside the other''s ranks.
So if the Heeats were to make a move here, it would turn into a chicken race, with all three factions getting themselves totally lost and confused in the ensuing chaos.
They would not even know who were friendlies and who were the target because many of the marauding units had no banner with them and both the natives and Margraves wore dark clothing that from a distance appeared ck.
So the perfect chance to attack the natives had already passed- one which should have happened just as the Margraves were retreating and the Helvati were chasing.
And Remus was damn sure Alexander knew all of this.
But after seeing Alexander still just keep observing the deteriorating situation without blinking an eye, in the interest of giving the young lord the benefit of the doubt and thinking he was having a slow day, Remus still decided to spell it out for him,
"If there was indeed even such a plot, they should have appeared to rescue their allies just as me and my men appeared. Or at least they should have tried to help cover their retreat. Given none of those had happened, it means either they have retreated or the Heeats did not evene in the first ce."
"......" Yet despite the very detailed analysis, Alexander still initially only lightly nodded¡ as if only acknowledging he heard Remus.
''Good job. Take a pat on the back,'' Alexander''s body seemed to sarcastically say.
But this ''p on the shoulder good job'' reply did not satisfy Remus.
"......" He kept that usatory gaze squarely locked with Alexander, demanding a real reply.
It was very apparent that he could not ept this order.
Now, in any other military of the world in this time period, such a thing would have likely gotten a civilian like Remus hanged for court martial.
An officer had limits to how he could he could act with his superior, even if he vehemently disagreed with him, especially when that superior was as high ranking as Alexander.
In all other cases, Remus would have sullenly nodded and kept quiet.
But Alexander''s organizational structure was not like the likes of Lord Bakerfield''s, it was unique.
Argument, discourse, debate and even outright quarreling were not only allowed but even subtly encouraged.
And since Remus had made quite a good point, Alexander knew he had to give the brash kid a reply lest he got really jittery.
Alexander hence opened up his mped mouth,
"You are right! Lord Parker is not here. Most probably he did not evene. I just don''t like to work with idiots. This is me punishing them."
"????" The frank sinct answer stunned Remus.
He could not believe the reason Alexander was letting the Helvati get masscared was just to get back at Metztil for refusing to heed his warning and not destroy the formation.
"Surely there are better times to teach them a lesson! Like not during a war!" Remus involuntarily cried with heavy sarcasm, his eyes bulging with incredulity.
"No! These brutes will never listen to us ''outsiders'' in civilized ways. The only way to stick it to them is through blood and death!" Alexander simply retorted, his voice cool and dry, devoid of any trace of rage or anger.
Rather it was tinged with cruelty and barbed disregard,
"Even if the Helvati break, there is no problem. That rear guard formation is only a few thousand men strong. Our 10,000 legionaries will be more than enough."
"...." Remus was once again left speechless.
True, what Alexander said was likely correct.
Given that the bulk of the Margraves army was nowhere to be seen, the rear guard was likely abandoned here as a dying sacrifice.
Meaning they could take their sweet surrounding and destroy them.
But that was not the point here, as indicated by Remus,
"But what use is teaching Chief Metztil a lesson if he dies before he can use that knowledge? Look! His banner is headed straight towards the Margrave main force! Wouldn''t he dying throw off all your deals?"
It was quite funny to see the eternally apolitical Remus giving such advice.
"Hmmm!" While hearing it Alexander lightly hummed, for a second even thinking, ''The foolish Metztil dying might not be too bad.''
"Fine... go rescue that fool!" But then he atst acquiesced.
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Chapter 1290: Taking Captive
As the Metztil joined the battle, from atop his horse, Alexander ced his gaze on therge man situated some distance away.
And the young pasha would have to admit, watching the very eye catching chief fight was a marvel to behold, and he felt great appreciation at how Metztil was able to tear through every Margraves soldier that dared to get in his way like a bear tore off meat from his prey.
The tribal chief had a very unique way of fighting.
In line with this disdain for Alexander''s defensive tactics, this man at least not only talked the talk but also walked the walk.
He wielded no shield, but forego all defenses in favor of pure, raw offense in the form of a pristine giant double ded two handed steel ax, a de that Alexander''s keen eyes noticed to have been undoubtedly made in his own workshop in Zanzan.
The high quality de had a certain sheen to it that other steels of this time simply did not have, making Alexander guess this was likely smuggled to the Helvati leader through the ck market.
But Alexander would have to concede, this de suited Metztil like perhaps no one else- his face scarred with strips of war paint, his giant statue and his ferocious nature perfectlyplementing the weapon.
Alexander thought the man fit the perfect stereotype that was conjured whenever the word ''barbarian'' was uttered.
And true to that word, the valiant chief also fought like that- one feral like beast than the much more disciplined and orderly nature of the legionaries.
Wielding the frightening sword, he swung, trusted, and smashed the heavy weapon that must have weighed at least 10 to 15 pounds like it was nothing like it was an agile sword.
But anyone whoid their eyes even once upon the muscr man would never dare to underestimate the danger he and his mammoth weapon posed.
This was no mere prop.
Very much to the contrary, the ''heaviness'' and the speed of ease with which Metztil moved this ''heaviness around'' was enough to shockwaves deep into the hearts of every man around the vicinity.
And for those close enough to hear that whizzing noise the deadly de made as it sliced through the air, it made all the hairs on their skin stand up with goosebumps.
And their heart nearly jumped out of their chest each time it smashed against their shields, the strike being so hard that it seemed to cause a small boom every time.
Any soldier caught off guard by Metztil''s attack would have his armor, flesh and bone all at once cleaved through like butter, dying on the spot, and even those that managed to defend against the hit would not be left in a much better position.
They would find their hands going numb after only a few hits and some unlucky ones who were unable to parry the strike well enough even had their bone broken just from the sheer impact.
Metztil had even managed to tear through and destroy three shields through sheer muscle power, this trusty ax of his taking the life of the equipment and his wielder.
"Hah hah, paying 100,000 koptaks for ''Sexy whore'' was worth every darn coin! I should not have killed that ratter!" The chief, ovee with battlelust, roared out such vulgarities into the wind as he tested out his new weapon, whose nickname was.. ''that''- quite imaginative you would have to agree.
And in the process, he inadvertently even revealed some hidden secret.
The requisition of the weapon was just as Alexander had suspected.
Some time ago, Alexander had sent a batch of weapons grade steel to the Margraves for a weapons order that his own capacity was having trouble filling.
This weapons grade steel was different from the typical export variety as it was refined further in the Bessemer process with additional elements rather than being only manufactured in the st furnace.
It was during this time that one of the Margraves merchants had managed to smuggle some of it to a secret cksmith and then have him produce this masterpiece.
It was then sold to Metztil for about 10,000 ropals, the medium of exchange being of course ''koptak''- which was a bronze based currency the Helvati used.
It was just too bad that the same merchant would only a few weekster get caught in Metztil''s witch hunt to stop outside traders and then promptly get executed to make a point.
Anyway, there was little point in crying over spilled milk now and the chief quickly forgot his regret as he brought back his focus to the current situation.
The job at hand was to cleave through the enemy and once he put in mind to it, he began to produce results that were astounding by every measurable metric, having by now already raked up as many as ten men killed.
''
While Alexander was certainly impressed by the tribal chief''s prowess, at the end of the day there was only so much a single man could do.
And there was certainly no way he could turn the tides by killing and fighting with that small entourage.
Eventually, he was going to get tired, then surrounded and finally killed.
"Metztil dying might not be too bad. At least someone smarter will rece him!''
Alexander for a second could not help but feel he was okay with it.
After seeing the valiant chief''s performance, he felt that it might be best for Metztil to die here, on the battlefield.
It would suit the simple, bellicose man to the tee.
It was very apparent that Alexander was more than a little peeved at the unfolding chaos urring right in front of him, where the frontlines risked imminent total copse,
And for this, he med the tribal chief in no small part- mainly for his refusal to heed the warnings.
Hence he hoped that perhaps with Metztil gone, a far morepetent or at least a much more politically malleable figure would take his seat.
But of course this was just a momentary sh of thought, not something Alexander seriously ruminated.
He had no real desire to see the Helvati get into any kind of political turmoil until the deal got passed through.
Thus with a resigned sigh, he let the rather eager Remus take charge of the reinforcements and go rescue the ''drowning'' men.
The addition of a thousand fresh shock cavalry quickly proved decisive as the tide rapidly tilted against Lord Bernard.
Against such an agile enemy who could dart in and out of range, throwing arrows, and javelins andunching cavalry charges from all sides, there was really no way for the much less mobile infantry formation to win.
Not to mention the rear guard was already quite scattered due to them hounding and chasing the Helvati.
Remus the daredevil was thus able to even ride in between the gaps of Lord Bernard''s units and outnk them, while the lightly armored and equipped Margraves could only hunker down and get peppered with missiles from sides.
Twice, they were even smashed by a good cavalry charge, almost snapping their lines in half.
"Surrender! And you will live!"
Then, after running circles around the enemy for a while, Remus produced this ultimatum, asking the Margraves to raise their spear high up into the sky instead of pointing it horizontally should they agree.
The beaten and bruised Margraves formation, finding themselves being surrounded on all sides by the agile cavalry, also had no qualms in immediatelyplying, with the ordering directly from Lord Bernard himself,
"Surrender men! Surrender to Alexander! We have done our best."
Given who was making the offer, the man who had already written himself as dead desperately tried to grasp this chance.
That bright blue uniform had never been so attractive to him.
Remus and his men thus quickly got busy themselves disarming and breaking the Margraves units into smaller, much more manageable chunks of war prisoners, while the tattered remnants of the Helvati formation tried as best as they could get themselves back together.
But given the sluggish and dejected way they walked and gathered themselves, it was apparent these men had suffered a grave trauma.
And who could really me them?
They had gone from having victory right on the tips of their finger to being nearly defeated.
Thousands of their brothersy scattered on the ground, dead or dying, beside which many could be seen kneeling down and weeping over their loss.
And perhaps the greatest tragedy was all this could have been avoided if they had not just let their own greed consume them.
But if you thought they learned from their grave mistakes and improved themselves, well then you would be dead wrong!
If these natives were such malleable people, they would not be in the abyss they were in in the first ce.
They were in reality rather intractable, and perhaps the greatest evidence of this could be seen in the following words uttered by Metztil just as he met Alexander afterward,
"Lord Alexander, why did it take so long for you to rescue us? Why did you let so many of my men die!"
There was no thank you, no remorse for his own ipetentmand, and certainly no self reflection.
Only shifting the me.
"....." Alexander had to try very hard not to blow up.
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Chapter 1291: New Information
The usations thrown by Metztil towards Alexander right as they met were enough to make the man feel very angry.
For a moment, he even regretted rescuing these wastes, and venomously swore in his mind.
''Even after so many deaths and so many losses, they still refused to take lessons and improve themselves. There seems to be indeed a reason why the Margraves called these natives ''barbarians''. In terms of learning cognitive, these men really seem¡ handicapped!''
Then, seeing this kind of response, Alexander suppressed his urge to point out the mistakes in Metztil''s words, thinking that an ''outsider'' like himself was not capable of getting through the thick skull of such a brute of a man.
Thus he simply replied in a cool, sinct manner, "It''s slower to march in formation. We also had to cross the river and then keep an eye out for any possible ambushes along the way. I told you to wait for us!"
Needless to say, Alexander''s cautious exnation did not sit well with Metztil, getting him a disdainful look.
"We are true men! We don''t sit and shit all day like you!" Metztil was very rude in his rapprochement to Alexander, causing many in the pasha''s entourage to be very angry.
They wanted little more than to go and beat this man up, and only stopped themselves because Metztil had changed the topic by then, holding out his palm and snarling the demand,
"We want all the captured prisoners! Hand them over to us!"
It did not take someone too smart to understand what would happen to those roughly 3,000 men afterward,- heads were going to roll.
"....." While on the other side, seeing the extremely inconsiderate man''s actions, the regret Alexander was feeling over saving Metztil was now beginning to multiply.
This was their loot.
They had captured these men and the ransom they would gain from them would go to the soldiers.
So dare the Helvati try and snatch their meat?
Especially when without Remus''s help, the Helvati would have even likely had their linespletely broken and perhaps even taken in chains instead!
The livid faces around Alexander said it all, with one of the men finally being unable to hold it in any longer,
"You scoundrels! You dare? Without us you¡." This man did not get to finish his threat as he was cut off by an enraged bark from the other side,
"Heh! Don''t think I bought that shit of an excuse. Don''t think I did not see you guys waiting in the back seeing us get ughtered! So don''t you dare ask what I dare do or not!"
The revtion was snarled out with great vehemence.
Naturally, he was angry over Alexander''s previous inaction, especially because of what it led to,
"This is yourst chance to hand over those men. They must pay for my sons! Or else I will turn my army around right here and now." the ultimatum was made with a greatly twisted face.
It seemed Alexander was wrong about the reason behind Metztil''s ask.
It was not made due to greed for more loot in the form of ves. The natives already had enough of that.
In fact, there were some who were so satisfied with the amount of booty they had looted that they did not even want to take part in the battle.
They would much rather take what they had gained and return home to enjoy it than risk it all.
So in some sense, it could be said that the Margraves were right.
It was just that they did not foresee Alexander promising themrge swathes ofnd too. The Helvati were drawn to battle like a moth to a me fueled solely by this greed.
Which was perhaps why Metztil''s acrimony over losing two of his sons in the attack was so much greater. They were so close to enjoying the good things in life but now they were gone.
The man thus demanded his blood debt.
While Alexander stared back at the demanding man''s furious gaze with a cool countenance.
He was certainly not going to give the man what he wanted.
Never mind the morality of sending the 3,000 to their execution, even just by the principle of wars of this times, these men were his property by right.
So towards Metztil, Alexander really just wanted to reply with a snort,
''You sons would be still alive if you had just listened to me. They are dead because of you, don''te crying to me!''
But he knew better than to poke a wounded man at his sore spot like this,
So after trying hard to sound sympathetic, Alexander lightly chimed,
"My condolences for your loss Chief. I know this is war but losing a child for any parent is heartbreaking.
As for my dy ining to your aid, I can only apologize. By the time we reached here, your lines had be so chaotic that we had a hard time distinguishing you from the attacking Margraves.
We were afraid that the family was feigning a retreat and had to stay on guard for a counterattack. It was only after we confirmed there was no such threat that we dared to move."
Alexander might have sounded like he was consoling Metztil but in reality, he was simply covering hide while subtly reminding him that in wars, deaths happened, it came with the territory.
Then without giving Metztil time to retort, he swiftly proposed,
"If you want to avenge your fallen brothers, then do not look at me. Look there!" Alexander pointed towards the direction of the fleeing Margraves, "They are chief architecture. Defeat them and I will let you have theirmander and any camp loot!"
This proposal for much great loot and blood was finally enough to get Metztil off Alexander''s back, and as the man left with a sharp but gleeful glean in his eyes, it was unknown who came out on top here.
Because the wealth the Margraves camp should have wouldfortably dwarf the ransom the close to 3,000 prisoners Alexander had now would bring.
But the man was willing to forego this future return in favor of what he had now and be just happy to get the chief off his back.
As soon as Metztil left, Alexander turned his attention to the much more relevant captured Margraves, and there he quickly met Lord Bernard.
As themander of the rear guards, the very handsome man was personally escorted by Remus to meet Alexander and answer any questions.
"Lord Bernard! It''s you!"
Then, as soon as he approached, a shout of recognition rang out from somewhere in the back of Alexander''s formation and it was none other than Ser Robert- who by luck got to march close to Alexander, There was no way the former subordinate would mistake his boss''s eye catching face.
"So you are him?" The recognizing name also caused Alexander to instantly jog his memory, "I have heard quite a lot from your subordinates about you."
Understanding Alexander was talking about Anon and Ser Robert, Lord Bernard did not know whether that was apliment or not and only produced a sheepish smile, "My lord, I have some critical news to tell you."
Lord Bernard was worried what his men might have said about him and so afraid of being looked down upon, tried to appear very forting in his eagerness to disclose all that he knew to Alexander.
Given the politics involved, this abandonedmander felt no qualms about betraying his former. rades''.
"Oh?" It was thus Alexander listened with great enthusiasm about the reason why the other side had left Caira, the bad blood between the two families, why they hade here with half their forces andstly the most concerning note, "Lord Parker is waiting for 20,000 reinforcements from his father!"
It was thatst detail that caused the most panic in Alexander because he did not want to have to deal with thirty or even forty thousand men.
"Where are they? How far are they away? When will the two meet?" He thus instinctively posed, wanting to get a time.
It was just too bad that Lord Bernard could not properly answer any of this,
"Nobody knows my lord. If we knew, we likely would have stayed in Caira and waited for them. The only reason why the nobles sought a battle from you now is because we did not know when, if ever aid was going toe.
But I am fairly sure they should be on their way. Duke Heeat mentioned that in his letters."
"....." Lord Bernard''s answer made Alexander understand that the relief fleet should be on their way here. It was just that they might have experienced some kind of problem at sea.
Now this was hardly umon for the era.
Naval forces numbering in the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands have been lost to thest men due to storms, bad weather like fog causing the fleet to run into reefs, or even diseases.
But Alexander could hardly count ondy luck favoring him. He had to take the worst possibility into ount.
"Order the army to break formation and start marching as quickly as possible. We cannot let the Margraves reach the foot of the hill."
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Chapter 1292: Lord Bakerfields Last Stand
ording to the captured Lord Bernard, although he did not know exactly when the fleet had set sail, he could confirm that they did and that judging by the rough timeline, they should be getting near.
This was enough to set a furious fire under Alexander.
He wasted little time ordering his army to make haste, evenmanding them to leave most of their supply wagons and siege equipment behind with the servants.
The possibility of impending enemy reinforcement was too great to ignore.
Of course, the best case scenario would be for the relief force to get swallowed up by some disaster at sea, thus allowing Alexander to take his sweet time here.
And his hopes for this were not too exaggerated either, as in this era, the chances of wooden ships getting overtaken by the waves were somon that it was hardly worthmenting.
During the first punic war, Rome even lost two fleets this way, each carrying a hundred thousand men in this way. That was equal to twenty percent of all their able bodied men. And if not for their entire popce being not quite right in the head, just that loss might have likely won Carthage the conflict.
But although Alexander could certainly take inspiration from such events, he could hardly put too much stake in them.
They were far too mercurial event and a far wiser move would be to prepare for the worst.
Hence with Lord Bernard''s assurance that the Heeat family was still at the top of the hill, Alexander finally dropped his suspicions over any possible ambushes and ordered his men to break formation and immediately start a rapid march to try to catch up to the retreating Margraves.
He wanted to force them to give battle before they could reach the foot of the hill and call for Lord Parker''s help.
As for the possibility of Lord Bernard lying about it all, Alexander found that very unlikely.
From the way the man acted to the fact that all the things, he revealed till now matched quite well with the rest of the things Alexander observed independently here today.
Hence now his top priority became to solve his conflict before Duke Heeate join the fray.
.....
"My lord, our scouts report enemy forces are just a few kilometers behind us! They seem to be chasing us! What do youmand?"
The rapid progress of Alexander''s roughly 25,000 men was naturally quite hard to miss for anyone in the vicinity.
After observing the enormous cloud of dust that was being whipped up, the scouts Lord Bakerfield ced in the rear quickly informed theirmander of the impending danger.
"Dammit!" It was unknown just how many times the elderly lord had pronounced this curse within the short time today.
First was Remus''s sudden appearance, then the mad chase by the Helvati, and now this.
Everything seemed to be going from bad to worse for him as he could not believe their enemy had caught up so quickly.
''We wasted too much dealing with those brutes''. Lord Bakerfield first cursed to himself, referring to how thest remnants of the chasing Helvat had just been dealt with- first baited into attacking them, then surrounded, andstly struck down to thest man.
But despite the wasted time, the nobleman could not reallyin since the sight had brought some much needed soothing relief to his wounded heart.
Rather, Lord Bakerfield turned to hastily order,
"Order the men to initiate a rapid march. We are close to the hill! Let''s not stop now!"
Lord Bakerfield''s quick march strategy would indeed pay off, managing to reach the foot of Lord Parker''s camp some decent time before Alexander''s expected arrival.
Even though the Margraves had various stumbles, the fact was Alexander also experienced many hups, taking a lot of time marching his army slowly and carefully, rescuing the Helvati, and hearing Lord Bernard out.
Thus on paper Lord Bakerfield should have had plenty of time to slowly regroup his forces and put up a good defensive position.
However the problem was¡.
"What? The brat refuse to send aid?" Lord Bakerfield''s roar sent the reporting scout''s heart beating like a wild fawn''s as he almost fell on his butt in fear.
But the elder noble was not in any mood to care.
Rather he roared with great vehemence, "Did you properly tell them that Alexander will be here any moment now? Did you¡ you little brat?"
In his moment of immense need, the desperate lord would rather hope that his messenger was ipetent than believe his close ally was stabbing him in the back like this.
While facing this interrogation, the scout quickly sensed that his life might be in mortal danger of being forfeited if he continued to dally.
Hence picking up his voice, he bravely insisted,
"Yes! Yes lord. I delivered the message just as you asked. I personally met Lord Parker to inform him that we could not risk scaling the hill due to fear of Alexander''s rider catching up and then asked the ducal lord to send a few men to hold back the enemy while we marched up.
However, the lord refused to deploy his men citing they were needed to defend his own camp."
"*Bang*!"
No sooner that messenger had finished repeating his report, he got a tight p on his cheeks for his efforts, delivered by the now enraged and irascible Lord Bakerfield.
Not daring to me Lord Parker given his status, this elder nobleman resorted to venting his anger on his lessers.
Now, the man was not usually like this and usually was considered the model nobleman by his peers.
Which perhaps also went to show just how much Lord Parker''s rejection had affected the man. It was like seeing hisst lifeline get severed or finding that thest lifeboat he was counting on was not there.
If Lord Bakerfield had the time, he would have cursed and huffed at Lord Parker''s fourteen generations for being such traitorous scoundrels.
For now though, Lord Bakerfield could only swear, ''I will never let the Margraves ally with the Heeats,'' before turning his attention to the impending battle.
"Order the army to take over the nearby town! We will defend there until sunset!" He ordered, thus swiftly taking shelter behind the walls of a town situated on the western side of the hill''s foot.
"Dammit"
But although taking the town for the eleven to twelve thousand men army was a piece of cake, Lord Bakerfield gravely wondered if he could hold it from Alexander''s encroaching forces.
This doubt was generated upon seeing the ce''s defenses, which for all tasks and purposes might as well not have existed- situated in a t, wide ground without even a ditch or moat to protect them, there was only a singleyered wooden wall that was more like a fence, designed in a fashion much like Lord Janus''s ce.
But then again, what could Lord Bakerfield have realistically expected? This was a typical small town out in the boonies, not some grand metropolitan.
All rural settlements were like this- their defense really only designed to handle wild beasts and the asion thieves and bandits.
If anything major happened, like facing an invading army, these people would usually abandon the ce and run to the safety of the walls of Caira, which was less than a day''s march away from here.
For this time period, that sort of distance was like being just across the pond.
Hence Lord Bakerfield had toe back to the second part of his statement, not to fully stop Alexander but only stall him until dusk.
It was already approachingte afternoon by now and given the still shorter days, sunlight was expected to disappear within a few scant hours.
Once that happened, Lord Bakerfield could finally pray for rescue once again.
He did not believe Alexander would dare to chase him at night up the rocky hill, especially not under the threat of a possible ambush from Lord Parker''s forces.
Or at least that was what the old man forced himself given the abject circumstances.
........
"Lord Pasha, we have spotted the Margraves troops garrisoned in a nearby town. The Heeat forces however are still up the mountain." Alexander''s forward scouts were quick to get him information about the enemy''s deployment.
"It seems Lord Bernard was right! The Heeat and Margraves alliance have basically broken down."
The one to make this gleeful remark was none other than a very excited Remus. Because given their marching speed, he thought that the enemy would have already slipped through his fingers by now.
Menes was there to quickly agree too, humming out from the other side,
"Mmmm! By all ounts, the Heeats should have helped the Margraves save their forces. Divided they number half of us. But it seems Lord Parker has hedged all his bets on this hill, not even willing toe down to save his allies. Heh!"
The usually taciturn ck man''s thick lips curved into a disdainful smirk as he snorted thest bit of his lines, his eyes turning equal parts disgusted at Lord Parker''s behavior towards his allies and mirthful at the man''s foolish assumption.
"Have the Helvati charge the garrison. The legionaries will attack the hills!" Alexander''s orders on the other hand were swift and sinct.
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Chapter 1293: Alexanders Uphill Battle
Upon having located the enemy, Alexander wasted no time in ordering his scattered, in-marching formation army to reform their ranks into a much more coherent manner before deploying them in two parts.
The Helvati were tasked with assaulting the small town garrisoned by the Margraves, where they were told they could kill and loot the entire ce just as Alexander had promised.
As for Alexander''s legionnaires, they were tasked with the much more daunting aspect of climbing up the hill and taking the Heeat camp.
"Are we really just going to fight up a hill? Seems¡.. unwise."
Faced with this head on confrontation, even the usually war loving Remus began to sound some skepticism.
The man was not stupid enough to look forward to climbing up such rough grounds under enemy fire and covertly urged Alexander to reconsider.
But driven by Lord Bernard''s information Alexander was adamant.
"Just because the enemy has better terrain does not mean we will pack our stuff and go back. Sometimes you need to fight through the difficulties," He simply dered, reasoning, "This was what the legionaries were designed to do. They can take the camp."
Alexander''s clear, unequivocal order douched any moreints from the officers, while the higher ups who were in the know understood that this was their pasha''sst ditch effort to finish the campaign before the Heeat relief could join them.
Apparently, they were due any time and they nned to rendezvous via the river, something the legionaries were powerless to stop.
''Let''s hope the men are as mobile as we thought they were. We need to encircle them as quickly as possible,'' They hence prayed.
¡..
"The bastards are actually attacking! Hah hah¡ good! Good!"
Watching the blue lines steadily make their way up the hills from his ''throne'' atop the hill, LP gave this pleased chuckle, his eyes twinkling with delight.
This was one of the scenarios Lord Kite had envisioned and also the one LP was most looking forward to.
Because with such a terrain disadvantage, Alexander was sure to atst suffer some true losses.
''Hah hah¡ finally some revenge!'' The ducal scion pumped himself up, before soon deploying his men to meet the iing enemy led by Lord Kite himself.
"Charge down men! Hurry! Do not let the enemy get a foothold!"
"This is your chance! Atst, the gods have given you a chance to avenge all your losses."
"Show these cowards what sons of Lynica are made off."
"Spears forwards. Keep your spears steady and pointed forward!"
Shouting many such morale boosting statements and barking out somest minute instructions, the Heeat officers led their men speeding down the hill like a malevolent freight train and
*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*, smashed into Alexander''s legionaries with a huge bang.
Now usually the legionaries would have charged and unleashed their volley of javelins just as they made contact, thus blunting the blow by causing many casualties.
However due to the steep incline of the hill, many of them were unable to get a proper footing to be able to do this.
Rather the units were forced to simply lock shields and absorb the majority of the blow head on, thus leading to many points along the lines to buckle and stretch.
Alexander''s officers were forced to take the reins seeing this, urgently shouting to their men to rally and not lose ground,
"Do not falter! That was the enemy''srgest punch. He cannot do this again."
"Why are you stepping back? Remember your oath! You swore to follow the pasha''s order! Forward¡ forward!"
"Do not lose ground! You have already defeated these cowards before. And then you were several times weaker. So what excuse do you have now?"
"Officers, use your formation''s greater mobility. Have your men spread out and surround the enemy!"
"Do not just blindly meet them head on. We are fighting on rough ground¡ but so are they! Make them work! Try and open up gaps!"
¡.
In this way the fighting at the center devolved into a bloody, grinding melee, where both sides stabbed, poked, thrusted, and bashed their opponents, hoping to break them through sheer casualties or exhaustion.
The problem was this was a painfully slow process as reported to Alexander by one of the scouts returning from the frontlines.
"My lord, the lines are solid and holding with no problem. Our casualties are nothing to be rmed about. We are even seeing some¡ limited advancements along a few points.
Haha¡ haha,our legionaries formation is truly giving the best in the world¡Even when the enemy upies the higher ground, they are no match for us. As expected of a formation invited by Lord Pasha yourself! We can expect a breakthrough soon."
Looking at the pleased face of the messenger, Alexander was quickly able to separate the wheat from the chaff of what he was told.
After taking part in so many battles, he hade to know most of the scouts not only by name but by nature as well, and he recalled this particr man had a very particr way of dressing up his report.
Now, they were never false or fabricated, but just that instead of a cut and dry answer, the man would ther his words like a touch of sycophantic honey.
It was a form of ttering done to curry favor with Alexander.
So discarding the unnecessary additions, Alexander focused on reading between the lines to figure that the true state of the lines was that while the legionaries were proving quite effective against holding back the Heeat forces, it would take quite some time to produce any appreciable breakthrough in the strategic level.
Basically the battle had only begun.
And this was understandable too.
The legionaries were no miracle superweapon that could instantly turn the tide of any battle after all.
Whatever advantages they might have in terms of mobility in the current terrain, it was only marginal at best, and thus needed time to show its effects.
And this was especially true here as the Heeat forces also unfortunately did not use the heavy phnx formation like their Adhanian counterparts.
Rather, as already said earlier, due to the steppe like nature of their homnd which also favored mobility, the Heeats tended to don much lighter or medium armor- made of leather, cloth, or thin tes of metals and augmented with shorter shields and spears.
This was bad news for the legionaries, as their formation was super effective against the heavy phnx with their giant shields and spears.
Alexander specifically created the legionaries to counter this threat because it was the most prevalently used formation around his home city.
But the Heeats had unknowingly due to their inherent geography countered it.
Meaning Alexander would most likely have to fight his way through the bulk of the formation the old fashion way- a bloody, grinding war of attribution.
Needless to say, he was not chaffed about these prospects.
Primarily as he muttered to himself, "The sun will be soon setting."
This was made with great distress, as Alexander turned to look at the once yellow sun which was now looking much paler.
Alexander did not even need to squint whereas most of the time during the day it would be ufortable to even directly face it.
Judging by this space on the sky, the young pasha judged there to be one, at most two hours before he lost all light.
''Dammit! I lost so much time dilly dallying during the march and taking prisoners,'' Alexander then cursed himself using hindsight, before musing to himself, ''Should I call off the attack for today? Marching at night time is never pleasant. Too many chances of ambushes or simply getting lost.''
But the prospect of once again marching back 20 km to camp for the food and lodgings before making the exact same journey tomorrow morning felt too exhausting to even think about.
Due to a variety of reasons Alexander wanted a decisive win now!
The problem was- it was easier said than done to have one''s cake and eat it too.
Given the time crunch Alexander thus could not help but once again turn his gaze to the battlefield, where by now his men had formed a checkerboard formation and were trying to outmaneuver the Heeat forces.
But the other side did not seem to be biting and even when they did, the returns proved marginal at best.
And to add to the matters, the Margraves had already joined the battlefield here after being driven out of the towns by the Helvati.
Instead of standing their ground and fighting to their death as Alexander had thought, it seemed Lord Bakerfield had chosen to retreat from the disadvantageous position ande to joined the left nks of the Heeat near the foot of the hill, thus making an attack through there also unviable.
"This can''t go on!" After judging all his current options, Alexander swore this through gritted teeth, so he turned to propose to the nearby Remus,
"Remus, I will order Menes to initiate a feigned retreat. This will hopefully draw the Heeats out. That will open up a gap between their center and the Margraves nks. I want you to take your thousand riders up the hill through that and then turn around to attack the rear.
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Chapter 1294: Alexanders Uphill Battle (Part-2)
"Come on you brats! March faster! Those Margraves dogs are hiding in that kennel!"
"You bastards! Why are you cking? Go! Go! Faster! Faster!"
"You dare call yourself sons of the Helvati? Hurry up and charge! Do not let up!"
"Climb up the walls! Climb up the walls without any fear! Avenge your brothers!"
"ughter these outsiders! For the centuries of humiliation! Kill them all¡and take no prisoner!"
Such and many more scary curses were shot out loudly into the air as Metztil and other high level warriors urged their men into a battle frenzy, rushing towards the lightly walled small town that garrisoned the Margraves army.
The bloodthirst and malevolence this roughly 8,000 remaining men had was something to behold as whereas a loss of 20% of your army would have crippled most of the other forces in the world, for the Helvati it seemed only to enrage them.
Whipped up into a torrent of battlelust by their elders and heroes, these glory seeking men seemed to have lost all sense of longing for this world or its possession for the time being and madly dashed to repay a blood debt owed.
And the attack''s ferocity was such that despite having nearly 12,000 men and a wooden wall to slow them down, the Margraves got a very bloody dealing with these bulldozing savages.
The green uniformed officers had urgently shouted towards their levies,
"Shields together! Stand shoulder to shoulder with your shields locked together!
"Do not be scared. You take a step back and these brutes will tear you apart! So.. attack! Attack! Attack!
Swing your spears and attack!"
"Archers! Where are the archers in the back! What are you doing? Shoot! Shoot your volleys now!"
The Margraves managed to put up a good defense¡. for a bit.
But the problem began to show as soon as one of the sections of the thin wall was smashed apart by Metztil personally, using his giant axe.
Yes, the chief had decided to join the very frontlines personally, where he was able to use brute force topletely overwhelm his enemy.
Perhaps he was among a few very men in this world, but this giant had almost a miraculous power to punch a hole through an enemy formation all by himself, thus opening up opportunities for the men following him.
Of course, he could only do this when he was supported by his bodyguards who protected his nks, but when it happened, that potent core of a few men was able to hack their way through an enormous amount of grunts.
Thus when facing Metztil head on, not even three or four ordinary soldiersbined was enough.
This made the man perhaps the closest thing to a medieval te armored knight, who could cut through scores of peasants using his honed skill and imprable armor.
Metztil hence appeared like a hurricane to the Margraves on the frontlines, utterly unstoppable and so wherever he went, the chief would leave behind only a field of corpse and mangled limbs, a not so subtle proof of his power.
And as this titan took to the frontlines here, his fierce appear and even more ferocious acts was enough to single handledly change the course of that particr section of the lines.
Just looking at that face that was painted so menacingly and seeing him wildly iling that giant, godly weapon, many of the men''s courage crumbled and they broke, letting the rest of the Helvati pour into the town.
"Hah hah! Get out of father''s way! My son! Which one of you killed my son! Raw¡. Where is yourmander!
I will kill you! I will ughter all you outsiders! Come! Fight! Hah haha haha! Cowards!
Run! Haha that''s right! Haha,
While the chief seeing the enemy break let out this euphoric roar, as it appeared he had lost most of his sanity, letting the thrill of battle consume him.
There was a reason why he loved the battlefield- it made him feel so free, hacking and stabbing and killing his way forward.
Thus he was seenughing, crying, roaring and weeping all at the same time, spewing out whatever that came to his mind without even thinking if it made any sense.
And perhaps this added to his aura of fear and madness, causing the enemy Margraves formations to cower like a new born fawn upon facing the giant man.
While Metztil''s same wild roars and bloodthirstyughs boosted the morale of these men to the sky and beyond.
They shouted among themselves,
"Come on men! What are you waiting for? Are you going to let the chief get all the glory? Charge¡ Aghhhh!"
"Right! We cannot let the chief do all the work! Aghhhhh!"
"Bastards! Die! For my brother! For the chief! For his son! Aghhhh!"
The Helvati men were gripped by such frenzy that some of the crazy one even began to scale up the wooden walls using bare hands to climb over it.
Now usually this was not that hard. Since it was made of wood, climbing these walls was basically the same as climbing trees.
The problem came from the fact that these walls were being actively defended with archers and stone throwers, who rained down various missiles and projectiles to their heart''s content.
But depsite this mortal danger, the Helvati showed no signs of backing down.
If one got shot, another took his ce.
If one had his head spilt over by falling rock, another took his ce.
If one got stabbe, another took his ce.
If one slipped and fell, another took his ce.
"What are these freaks!" And the defenders were so astounded by this suicidal charge that many of them cried out with such amazement and horror.
Ultimately the Margraves positions were overrun by the desperate Helvati, with the walls being either taken by the daredevil climbers or simply broken down using sheer power.
And seeing his position be untenable, Lord Bakerfield decisively ordered, "Retreat to the foot of the hills. Join the Heeat lines!"
As the Heeats and Margraves ughtered each other, Alexander was much more concerned about the setting pale sun, understandably feeling the pressure of the time crunch.
For a moment he even cursed his own slow marching pace.
But he quickly got over crying over spilt milk, and his eyes regained focus to order Remus the following dangerous maneuver- ''the center would pretend to fall back and bait the Heeats into give chase, thus opening up gaps between them and the Margraves in the nks which would then be exploited.''
But towards this, Remus first noted some appreciable problems,menting with a slight frown,
"Feigning retreat? Isn''t that dangerous? What if our men really starts running? You know some of the men are green peasants that Camby¡ Lady Cambyses picked up from the fields. Theyck discipline!"
Needless to say, retreating backwards a steep slope was never an easy thing to pull off.
Hence Remus feared that once the order to back off was given, many of the inexperienced levies would truly break, turning the fake retreat into a real rout.
His worries were certainly not unfounded and thus produced quite a few supporters among the officers, one of whom also made sure to add,
"Right! And what about the Helvati. What will they do when they see us running? If this is to work, they have to stay and pin the Margraves down."
"....." Alexander produced a thoughtful look on his face as he listened to his officers opinion.
And seeing this doubt, some of the others also began to sincerely advise him,
"My lord, why don''t we camp in the nearby town for tonight. Then we canunch an attack first thing in the morning!"
"Mmmm, our legionary formation is undoubtedly better than their. It only needs a bit of time to work its magic. If we start at dawn, we can have the enemies'' heads on a pike before noon!"
"Right! Let us stay the night here! You also don''t have to worry about food or shelter. The man can bear to go hungry for one night."
"They also won''t mind sleeping under the sky. Spring is already here and its warming up. These are peasants, hardy men."
"If you want my lord, we can even order the servants in the back fetch some food from the nearby viges. It should be enough for yo¡ for the officers."
"....." Once again Alexander showed no visible preference to either of the options.
But to say that he was not tempted hearing all this would be wrong.
When you are surrounded by so many people echoing the same idea, it was hard to resist and not just go with the flow.
"No!"But Alexander ultimately was not cowered, and although presented with many valid concerns, he did not change the final calctions in his mind.
He rather bullishly insisted, "I have already told you¡. the Heeats need to be defeated by today. All of you should know why!
There will be no change in the ns. I will deal with it if the lines starts to break! If it is in truly such danger, the three thousand man I have in reserve will step in to plug the gap.
As for the Margraves¡ rest assured Metztil won''t let his men run. Now you go do your job. I order you!"
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Chapter 1295: Alexanders Uphill Battle (Part-3)
Upon listening to his officers make some good points, Alexander initially considered staying at the foot of the hill for the night.
But then soon thought better of it as he found numerous problems with it.
For one- say nothing of staying outside basically naked in the cold night, without a tent or some kind of shelter, the spring night was not nearly as warm as his men were making them out to be.
If he wanted his men toy on the cold ground with perhaps their cloak as the bed, it was going to be torture.
Two- such open grounds were a prime invitation for the Heeats tounch night raids. They did not even have time to set up a ditch.
Hence if Alexander followed his officers'' advice, he would have half of his men staying awake the entire night on guard duty and the other half catching a cold by the next day, and all of them being very hungry and angry by the end of it.
Not the best condition to be in when fighting a decisive battle the next day.
So rather than taking the safer route and marching back, once again Duke Heeat''s imminent arrival put such pressure on Alexander to make him willing to roll the dangerous die.
He sinctly addressed all the men''s concerns in an imperious tone, and hearing their lord''s unequivocal order as well as the promise of aid should things go south, the officers went ahead carrying out the order all while praying urgently that the operation went smoothly.
...
"Retreat! Retreat slowly!"
"Fall back! Slowly fall back!"
"Get the enemy in t ground. Let the enemy in!"
"Steady! Keep steady! Do not form gaps!"
"Keep your shields together! Don''t be hasty! Take your time!"
Alexander''s orders were soon transferred to Menes and Scorpyo who were leading the center and left nk respectively, who then passed it along to their officers.
And thus sometimeter, their lines began to visibly ''buckle and give away'', with the legionnaires slowly but steadily backing up the hill.
This sight naturally caused a great deal of joy and jubtion among the attacking Heeats as they took the bait hook, line, and sinker, giving chase without suspecting a thing.
The officers leading them cheered with great grins,
"They are breaking! Push brothers! Break them!"
"Hah hah finally! For the general! Come!"
"Show these barbarians what we are made of! Avenge all your losses!"
"Look for gaps! There are sure to be many gaps as these cowards run! Look for them and drive your spear through!"
Naturally, as the legionaries tried to retreat, some of them failed to keep their rank and file in order, thus getting caught outside of their formation and attacked.
These lone fishes were surrounded and decimated.
But generally, Alexander''s officers were experienced enough to be able to hold the lines in rtively good shape.
Sitting perched high up their horse in the back, they had the height advantage to be able to keenly detect any significant gaps in the lines and quickly bark out orders to plug them.
While the best of the best did not explicitly even give the order to retreat, but onlymanded the legionaries to give away when the Heeats pushed, thus letting them get gently shoved down the hill in an even manner.
For now, Alexander''s n seemed to be right on track.
....
As Alexander''s lines were pushed back down the hills under the paradoxical grins of both the Zanzan and Heeat camps, the only side that was not pleased by the development was the Helvati.
"Bah! These useless women! All they are good for is talking!"
Metztil even spat in such disgust once he got the report of the frontline, clearly showing his disdain for the quality of Alexander''s men.
"Should we send help?" While one of his close advisers quickly chimed so, very clearly worried about the oue.
"Leave these outsiders! The more they die, the better! But Metztil only dismissively waved his hand and snarled, finding it beneath him to even consider helping such people.
Just like Alexander had acted before, there was really no love lost between the two.
Since Alexander had simply sat back and watched his men, the chief was more than happy to do the same.
"......" As for Metztil''s advisors, they did not quite feel the same way for they thought it would not be wise to abandon their ally like this, if for nothing but their own good.
Once the center fell, the nks would have no reason to exist.
They also felt that the giant chief was not quite in the right state of mind, letting himself get lost in the frenzy of battle too much where he relished in the feeling of his de smashing armor, tearing flesh, and snapping bones.
But given Metztil''s prestige on the battlefield, none dared to quibble.
There was perhaps no man in the entire tribe who was as skilled or powerful as the chief, so usually whatever he said.. went.
"Right! We don''t have the manpower anyway! Let''s focus on the enemy in front of us!"
Hence when one of Metztil''s supporters voiced this, the others quickly nodded like obedient chickens, more concentrating on trying to defeat their own hated foe.
The trouble for them was what was easier said than done.
Lord Bakerfield had decisively decided to give up on defending the small, constricting town once it was breached and instead taken to the foot of the hills where he could use his greater numbers to morefortably fan out and push the Helvati using thicker lines.
In this way, the 8,000 natives were forced to fight on rough ground against 12,000 men.
And then soon the situation began to turn worse, as the fierce, glory seeking men found their adrenaline slowly beginning to wear off, making them feel tired and their attacks to lose steam.
And this presented the much more disciplined Margraves with the chance to rally and counterattack, thus causing much grievous injury to their enemy.
In a one on one fight, the Margraves were more than a match for these natives.
Thus soon it became that even if Metztil had wanted to send Alexander help, he was unable to.
In fact, the Helvati might be lucky if they just managed to win that fight on their own.
.....
As the Margraves and the Helvati engaged in perhaps the most brutal melee on the battlefield, at the center, Alexander''s theory was soon beginning to manifest.
"There! Quickly.. there is the gap! Follow me!" As the center had moved away enough from the nks, Remus hastily let out this great cheer, before wheeling his horse personally towards the gap.
The battle loving daredevil nned to lead from the front.
And seeing theirmander bolt off towards the enemy formation with nary a thought, the rest of the riders naturally followed suit, galloping towards that mountain pass like a bolt of lightning.
Speed was the name of the game here as they had to hit the nks before the enemy could wake up to this vulnerability and send men to plug it.
Hence they approached their target with deadly silence, making sure to not make any loud cheers or blow trumpets, thus leaving only the rapid,
*Thud*, *Thud*, *Thud* sound of the hitting hooves to give away their approach.
In this way when the thousand men passed by the Heeat nks in a sh, so much so that many of the men there did not even understand what they saw, thus catching them totally off guard.
Some even mistook the riders as theirs own, whispering to themselves,
"What the¡ was that was ours? Did the lord send reinforcements?"
They thought that Lord Parker had sensed Alexander''s lines about to imminently copse and thus sent the two thousand cavalry to pick off the routing enemy, finishing him once and for all.
Hence many of the more foolish soldiers even cheered at Remus''s men, not even asking why these ''allies'' were moving in the opposite direction.
In the heat of the battle, all logic seemed to have left their mind.
Thus Remus''s pration into the enemy''s hearnds was fairly anti climatic, shooting right into the thick of it like an arrow without any problem.
The problem however came as Remus approached the time to turn around and hit their target on the rear, as shouted by one of Remus''s riders,
"Commander, the ground here is too rough and the gap too small. We cannot turn!"
Naturally, it took arge area for a thousand riders galloping at quite arge speed to turn and as Remus turned to look at the rocky, inclined grounds, he concurred with his man''s judgment.
''Dammit! If we turn to turn now at these speeds, I will break my horse''s legs!''
The young man cursed at this unforeseen circumstance, finally understanding why the Heeats had not sent out their famed cavalry to meet them.
There was no way those horses could have charged down such a steep hill without breaking all their legs.
And now a simr problem was facing Remus, forcing the young man to try and think of a way out right on the fly,
''What do I do? Attack anyway? Turn back? Slow down and then take my time?''
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Chapter 1296: Remus Up the Hill
Looking down at the very uneven grounds, Remus cursed at how he could have missed such an obvious fault.
But the answer soon came to him.
The ground was previously obscured by the fighting men from both sides so that when Alexander and the others came up with the n, they had simply extrapted what they had seen near the foot of the hills over onto the whole hills.
Needless to say, over time the foot of the hill had been much more smoothed out by tear and wear as well as the general actions of the people living around it.
Thus, seeing the upper terrain for the first time, Remus was forced to reevaluate his strategy.
''What do I do? Attack anyway! Turn back! Slow down and then take my time!''
All three opinions had their drawbacks.
The first one where they stuck to their n was quickly ruled out as it had the least chance of sess and most likely chance of the formation breaking apart by themselves.
Even if only a few of the horses tripped and broke their legs, the rest of the galloping riders behind would not have the time to stop but stumble over these fallen beasts, creating more obstacles and thus causing a domino effect.
The second option was also uneptable as not only would that mean failing Alexander, but Remus also doubted whether it could even be done.
After all, they could not even take a roughly 180 degree turn, so how were they doing to do a full 360?
As for the third and final one¡ well that was also easier said than done.
Stopping now on this rough, steep hill without slipping was needless too hard, and Remus doubted he had the time or space to be able to pull that off.
And even if he did, he would have to once again regain that speed once he started his charge on the enemy''s rear. As already said earlier, charging down the hill carried significant risks of the horses breaking their legs.
Lastly, all this was not to mention the threat of Lord Parker responding to Remus''s sluggish maneuvers by simply sending his own forces to attack the young general''s own rear.
Remus could already see the heads of many horses peeping out from the camp atop, presumably getting ready for just that.
So whatever Remus wanted to do, he needed to hurry¡
''The problem is my men are going to die if I push any faster!'' Remus cursed his conundrum, trying to rake his brain to decide which least bad option to pick.
When suddenly he recalled something that made his eyes glow like two small suns.
"Let''s go up! We will attack the enemy main camp directly!"
The loud shout shook the men next to Remus immensely.
They could of course see where the man wasing from.
Since they were behind enemy lines, why hit the rear when you could take out the headquarters, especially when it was right there straight ahead of them?
All they needed to do was charge up the hill in a single file and smash into it.
"Bu¡ but isn''t the ground too steep? And surely there are many guards protecting Lord Parker!" However, the decapitation strike that could end the battle in one go also had its challenges as revealed by such cries of fear and apprehension.
The officers around Remus knew the man to be somewhat crazy but this was on another level.
Just by their eyeball estimate the enemy was bound to have at least 2,000 men up there in reserve. So how were they going to break through with half the numbers?
Realizing this some of the officers thus even half believed that Remus had not really given this suicidalmand but all this was a result of mimunication created amidst the chaos on the battlefield.
"There''s no problem! Follow me!"
Their optimistic hopes were however cruelly dashed when Remus shouted so, and he then shut all of them up as he took the lead in speeding up the hill.
The young general refused to waste any time exining his thoughts and decided to lead by example.
While seeing theirmander take the front, the rest of the officers, no matter how reluctant, were forced to follow.
They could not let the man go at it alone, and thus as they sped up along him, they could only pray the young man had not lost his mind.
''It''s easier to control the horse climbing up than climbing down! Hopefully, they won''t trip! And if we can get up there¡. Those loose guards won''t be able to stop us in time!''
While in his mind, Remus reasoned this as a method to his madness.
Yes, the boy nned to use his horse''s momentum to simply smash through the static guard formation, pping them out of his way with his hugence in order to expose the soft camp core.
*Thud*, *Thud*, *Thud*
It was with that thought that Remus and his men thundered their way up, much to the first puzzlement and then horror of Lord Parker!
Initially, the young scion did not even understand what he was seeing, and looking at the billowing dust cloud thought to himself,
''Did a part of the army break? Why are they running towards me?''
It was only after he blinked a few times and confirmed the bright aqueous color of the uniform that Lord Parker finally figured out who these trespassers were.
He could not believe it, causing him to exim, ''How did they get here?''
The feeling Lord Parker was feeling was perhaps the exact one Lord Bakerfield had felt when he first spotted the same group outnking him.
And like Lord Bakerfield, Lord Parker''s first thought was to run.
"Men! To formation! Get in formation!"
But it was Lord Macht''s urgent booming voice that pierced the calm veil of the camp, as the giant, veteran man tookmand of the situation at their most dire point.
And seeing the ck, prestigious man take the helm, the rest of the panicking soldiers also suddenly found their courage suddenly returning to them.
"Right! Get in position! Get in position!"
"Hurry¡ Stand together! No need to get your horses! Simply stand together!"
"Enemy behind lines! Enemy behind lines! Hurr¡. Arhhhh"
Unfortunately for the Heeats, despite Lord Macht''s best efforts, the tragedy unfolded just as Remus had envisioned.
He had struck too fast and the distracted guards who were expecting nothing of the sort were caught too off guard.
Many of them did not even have their horses with them, leaving the beast in their stable or letting them graze by the nearby fields.
This was because it had been generally assumed they were not going to be deployed due to the unfavorable terrain.
So rather than sitting ufortably atop a bored beast for hours on end without any reason, it was far more logical to let both the rider and beast rest and recuperate.
The tragedy of this innocuous action only revealed itself when Remus, equipped with his longnce hit them.
On top of them being able to only hastily form a few lines, most of that wasprised of dismounted infantry, and as such, these thin lines were unfortunately grossly inadequate to present even a token resistance to Remus''s enormous blow.
*Bang* , *Neigh*, *Crash*!
The moment the two sides met, the lines snapped with a thunderous crack as Remus''s metal tips dug into both men and horses of the enemy, skewering through flesh, muscle, and bone and lifting them off the ground before throwing them back down.
Remus''s lines were much too thick and had much too much momentum from the mad gallop that they had started with when climbing up the hill.
Couple this with the cavalry''s unique heavy charging tactic, with their specialized equipment designed to break through other enemy formations, and these poor men did not even have a ghost of a chance of sess from the start.
The first three lines which were mostlyposed of cavalry were basically decimated, as they were forced to just stand there and take the full brunt of the impact, causing the ground to be dyed with blood, spilling organs, and mangled bodies of men and beast, each furiously crying out theirst death throes.
And the amount of talent and expertise the Heeats lost just from these three echelons would have been enough to make even Duke Heeat wince in regret.
It took a lot of time and money to produce such elite troops, yet, now they were sacrificed like cannon fodder just to slow the enemy down a bit.
But Lord Macht did what he had to do. And at the end of the day, he was correct in his deployment.
Because if he had used the much lighter, dismounted infantry to soak in the damage¡. well let''s just say even with the barricade of much heavier cavalry, Remus''s initial charge was able to produce such an enormous, grievous, bleeding wound that most of the remaining defenders found putting up any defense had bergely moot.
If the line was the ship Titanic, then Remus was the iceberg that sunk it.
Thus when the second wave of riders came for them, the enemy guards, as gant as they might have been, decided to abandon ship!
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Chapter 1297: Remus Attacks the Camp
"Run! We can''t hold on!"
"We are too few! Disperse! Disperse!"
"The enemy is too fast! We can''t take such heavy hits!"
"Move away! Move away! Don''t let those huge spears hit you!"
Having seen how their mounted riders were dealt with such rapidness, the rest of the infantry could hardly be med when they chose to abandon their position en mass to save themselves.
The fact of the matter was Remus really had struck out of nowhere, catching these elite riders totally off guard.
Disorderly and caught out of formation, even if they stayed and did not run, it was highly unlikely they would have been able to stop Remus.
Especially since these men were not even proper infantry, but really dismounted cavalry with much lighter armor and smaller shields.
Not the ideal gear to face a group of heavily d horsemen.
The only thing they had going for them was their javelins, and to their credit, they did use that to the best of their abilities, turning around tounch volleys of the deadly missile.
The problem was¡ that only by itself was always destined to fall short.
First of all, not all these dismounted men dared tounch them in fear of hitting their own men. There were still some riders fighting to thest breath.
And secondly, even those who threw the projectile and were lucky enough to make contact did not always score a kill due to the thick armor the men and horses wore.
The riders were issued the standard infantry armor, while the horses had special barding made of chainmail and thick linen glued together.
This mass of heavy cavalry formation was surprisingly hard to stop with a few simple javelins and instead required ratherrge volumes of heavy arrow fire.
That was naturally something the hastily formed Heeat lines were unable to produce.
Thus once Remus finished dealing with the remaining stragglers, he menacingly turned his attention to these irritating mosquitoes.
And the outgunned and outnumbered infantry, as elite as they were, finally could not bear the pressure of such an outmatching foe.
They ran!
"Stop! Don''t go! Protect the lord! Protect the lord!"
"Why are you running? You are the best of the best! Where is your honor?"
"Brothers! Stay with me! Fight with me! Death is better than dishonor! Death is better than dishonor!"
Of course, some of the most ardent officers did try to stop this copse, desperately shouting to the men to sacrifice themselves to the god of war.
But no matter how elite a formation was, there was no way they would be willing toy down their lives like that.
Not when most of their death would have been pointless anyway, their death struggle proving at best an irritating nuisance to the thousand blue cavalrymen.
Thus despite their officer''s urgings the men scattered, and soon the desperate pleas of the men who stayed behind also died down, cut down by the advancing cavalry.
Hence, under the orange hue of the setting sun, the road to Lord Parker''s campy wide open for Remus, paved with hundreds of mangled and dismembered bodies of his enemies.
...¡
"Leave the fleeing men. Our prize is in the camp ahead! Remember to capture Lord Parker! Don''t kill him! I repeat capture Lord Parker and his entourage!"
Remus was initially afraid that his men were going to learn the bad habits of the Helvati and go off chasing these scattered men to hunt for kills.
Hence he repeated his order twice, trying to dispel any thought of breaking discipline. He even announced a bounty of 10,000 ropals on Lord Parker''s capture to make them stay their hand.
But his fears were mostly unfounded here as these thousand riders were perhaps the sharpest de Zanzan had and by now very drilled in the art of war.
They might not have run off after the fleeing enemy even if ordered to given the terribly uneven slopes that the men were escaping along as well as the general exhaustion of their horses.
It had to be known that horses of this time were nothing like the huge sizes they were during medieval Europe.
Those had been selectively bred over generations and generations to produce that kind of monstrous physique, one that was capable of charging into battle with over a hundred kilos like it was nothing.
However, during Alexander''s time, most of the horses were more like ponies in size whenpared to thetter destriers.
So to have those small beasts carry a man in full armor and as well its own barding up a steep hill at full gallop, needless to say, it was very hard.
It basically had taken the beasts everything they had and more, as seen by how many of them were rolling out their tongue with heavy pants.
Some of the riders had even gotten off their steads and were seen gently stroking them in an attempt to calm them down, while others even poured their water pouches into the tired beasts'' mouths.
As for a few of the unlucky riders, they were seen standing over their dead, lying horse casting a sad, forlorn look.
These beasts had died from over exhaustion, their hearts giving away from the intense demand of the climb. Such events were nothing extraordinary, but they still tore at those cavalrymen''s hearts.
To all the men here, their horses were no mere beasts of burden that they simply went to war with.
No, they were their partners,panions, and perhaps for some even half family.
The bond they shared was a unique one and it could be said that if it was not them specifically urging their steads up the hill but some unknown, verdant rider, Remus perhaps might not have been able to even get up here.
A horse would never exert itself to death for a person it did not fully trust.
And this was perhaps also one of the reasons why cavalry was so difficult to master.
Horses were not unfeeling machines like tanks or aircraft you could train on a few weeks or months and master it.
These were living, breathing animals who needed to be coaxed and cajoled into the battlefield, something that took a long time to develop.
And if that master servant bond was not there, you could not effectively deploy horses on the battlefield. They would run the risk of bolting at the first loud bang or even the general chaos.
From that standpoint, it was really much easier to use chariots, as they were missile tforms able to perform some distance away from the main fighting forces.
The horses would be much easier to control when they were not made to face the tips of spears or swords head on in melee like Remus had just done.
Anyway, having used all their horses'' stamina in the attack, Remus and the others gave up all thoughts of pursuing the fleeing enemy and dismounted to offer some much needed relief to the tired steads.
Then leaving behind a small token force of only 100 men to take care of their beasts, the 900 strong force quickly made their way towards the wooden camp, whose door by now had be strangely ajar!
"What the¡." The surprising sight even caused Remus to let out a small gasp of surprise, but he quickly understood what was going on.
Seeing his lines get smashed and their guards run, it was all too understandable that Lord Parker had chosen to tuck tail and run.
After all, even if the camp''s wooden walls, ditches, and palisades were as durable and formidable as they said, and Lord Parker had enough men to defend the ce¡ so what?
The moment Remus had made his way through the gap and shattered the Heeat reserve force, the result of the battle was already written.
With him now being inside Lord Parker''s lines and there being nothing to pin him down and restrict his movement, Remus could literally strike out in any direction he wanted.
For instance, the rears of Lord Kite or the Margravesy open to him, so even if somehow Lord Parker transformed his camp into an adamantine shell that was too hard to crack, Remus could easily instead go help destroy his army and thene back with the full might of Alexander and the Helvati to crash into him.
Lord Parker had no relief force to look forward to and so staying in camp could not win him the battle, only dy the inevitable.
And this was what Lord Macht had tried to exin to Lord Parker as Remus tore through their hastily builtst line of defense, finally pleading to him,
"My lord¡ we need to leave now! The battle is lost! Quickly! Get on the ships! Let''s go back to Caira and wait for the duke!"
"......" Lord Parker neither replied yes or no to the urgings.
Rather a somewhat cold, vacant look shrouded his eyes, as if he could not believe he was having to relive the same nightmare once again.
Again and again, they had fought, and again and again, they had lost.
"Alexander!" Somehow the name brought an intense wave of fear and apprehension in him, causing his heart to shiver and cry.
"*Sigh*" While from the side, Lord Macht could only ruefully shake his head.
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Chapter 1298: Lord Parkers Escape
Lord Parker did not object to Lord Macht''s insistence that they leave the battlefield and sail as quickly as possible to Caira.
Given the circumstances, this was the only logical thing left to do.
But for the time being, the only thing that seemed to upy Lord Parker''s mind was the humiliation of tucking tail and running once again.
"Alexander! Achis!" He thus uttered with extreme bitterness, each having a very different meaning.
Towards Alexander, it was bitterness over the loss.
While towards Achis, it was the bitterness over not being able to save him.
And it was particrly thetter point that hounded the young lord the most as Lord Parker could not help but feel his heartache at the thought of his lover having to spend even more time with the hated enemy.
At this point, he even somewhat hated Lord Kite for he was the mastermind of the entire battle n. And since the battle had failed, it stood to reason that the fault had to be also borne by him.
''I told Lord Kite that we should meet Alexander with the Margraves. If we had met them together, we would not be in such a mess! I could have even rescued Achis!''
Suddenly Lord Parker even began to change the tune he had sung, wishing to dump all his fury onto the innocent man.
If Lord Macht could hear his thoughts, he would have certainly gravely disapproved, his opinion of Lord Parker falling to a new nadir.
He and Lord Kite might have had their differences, but as a proud warrior, he would never attack his opponents with such vileness.
But the ck, giant did not and was rather far more concerned with escorting Lord Parker out of this death trap.
"My lord, hurry¡ the boat is ready! Let us set sail before the enemy can catch up!"
His loud and crisp order broke the dejected scion out of his morbid thoughts and caused him to lift his head up to look at the hastily mooredrge boats.
But to his sinking heart, Lord Parker found that there were only a few boats avable for his and his men''s escape, causing each to be filled to the brim with panicking men.
Now, Lord Parker had no shortage of ships. He hade here with around 25,000 men after all.
The shortage however came in the form of avability.
Due to the extremely short notice, most of the ships could not utilize the necessary crew to operate the ships.
In fact, given it was nearing dusk, most of the sailors hade offshore to cook their meals and finish their supper before light was lost.
They did not do it in their boats because it was a fire hazard that they always liked to avoid as well as many of their supplies being stored in camp.
Plus, many of them simply wanted a change of scenery, feeling stuffed after having to stay in their rickety wooden dinghies for so long.
This however tragically left the ships woefully undermanned for the time being, thus when Lord Macht called for all ships to report to the foot of the hill upon facing Remus''s attack, only a few were able to effectively respond.
And even those that came, many times were woefully undermanned, requiring them to take men from other vessels to make up the numbers, thus decreasing the number of sea worthy vessels even further.
All this meant that currently there was a small scale civil war going on between the fleeing men and servants as they tried to get onto the limited number of ''lifeboats'', pushing and shoving each other like madmen to make way for themselves,
"Move! Let me through! I''m yourmander!"
"Filthy ves! *Bang*, out of the way! Go die somewhere else!"
"Don''t our lives have no value just because we are ves? Aghhh¡. Move aside. I want to live! I want to live no matter what!"
"Look! They are here! The enemy is here! Hurry! Hurry! Set sail!
Set sail!"
In this chaos, many of the hot blooded soldiers were even not above using their weapons and shields to strike and hurt all those that stood in their way, brute forcing their way through onto the deck, thus leaving behind a bloody carnage behind.
But the ves should also not be discounted here in this fight, as many of them used hidden kitchen knives and small daggers they picked up from fallen soldiers to backstab their way onto the vessels.
The entire thing was quite like a much more bloody version of fleeing the Titanic, one where men, women, and children were all equal.
Lord Macht was also not above using force to make way for his lord, vehemently barking out loud shouts to make way for him and his entourage,
"You idiots! How dare you get on this boat? This is reserved for the Lord and hisdy! Scram you worthless bums!"
Lord Macht was properly incensed to see the boat he had just requisitioned and even left two men behind to guard to make sure nobody got on it was now crawling with panicking men, those two guards included.
Lord Macht''s eyes zed with immense anger at seeing such a breakdown of discipline.
But it seemed that the fear of death had overtaken even those two elite men and when they were confronted by a mass of rmed men moring to get on the empty vessel, they flipped.
And who could really me them?
What were two mere men realistically going to do against a tide numbering hundreds if not thousands?
If they tried to resist, they would be stomped to death by the marauding half mad men.
In that case, a far smarter move would be to just give in and join the other side, thus also securing a ce in the ''lifeboat'' for themselves in the process.
It was a win win.
It was just that Lord Macht nned to court martial the two for disobeying orders once he got back to Caira.
But for now, the giant man decided to leave it, and simply had his men push, shove, and even throw men overboard to make as much space as possible for Lord Parker.
And hearing the loud shouts and seeing therge, heavily armored group of soldiers approaching them, the rest of the squabbling men tried their best to give away, thus opening the way for Lord Parker.
"My lord, Quickly! Come to your quarters!"
Then once they were on, one of the bodyguards attempted to take Lord Parker to a secure room below deck, but that was easier said than done.
The entire ship was simply too jammed packed to in any way make way down.
Lord Parker and his entourage thus made do staying on top.
"Go! Raise the anchors and go! Hurry!"
And that was good enough, as no sooner they got aboard, Lord Macht let out this bark towards the captain.
He could see just as they had finished boarding, all the men that had just been cowered were once again rushing from behind, hoping to get a spot.
These desperadoes might have been willing to give up some space for Lord Parker, but that did not mean they were willing to let even a single piece of nk space go to waste.
Hence they cramped and shoved themselves into every nook and crannies they could fit themselves into, making the vessel dangerously overweight.
"Dammit! These foolish swines. Kill them! Kill them and then throw them aboard!" And seeing this, Lord Macht even angrily roared out thismand, since he felt the boat was tilting dangerously to one side.
But as much as he wished to rectify this, Lord Macht and his men could not really massacre their way out of this one.
Even if one did not care about the ethical dilemma or the fact was they were too few and thus risked getting ughtered themselves, once they bared their weapons, the panic and intense movements would likely capsize the ship even faster.
So Lord Macht could only hope and pray that the ship stayed its course while barking orders to have everybody stay still.
Unfortunately for Lord Macht, the gods would not listen to his prayers, as the sailing boat would be suddenly caught in a rapid current and hit by a heavy gale about a quarter of its way.
The former was a result of the rivers thawing from their winter hibernation, while thetter was due to an approaching storm.
For an over encumbered vessel, this was perhaps the worst of both worlds, and the already perilous journey now began to get deadly.
The whole thing began to dangerously swing back and forth like a pendulum, causing many to go overboard.
"My lord! Hold on to the ropes! Quickly!" While Lord Macht urgently shouted, finding himself also to be desperately clutching onto the riggings.
"Ahhh¡ Urghhhh¡ Mmmmm," But unfortunately that was very difficult to do as all the people were being thrown from side to side all at once.
So even if you managed to grab something, holding on to it was near impossible given you were going to be rammed by the weight of a few tonnes.
"No!" And that was exactly what happened as suddenly, during one fateful swing Lord Parker fell!
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Chapter 1299: Lord Kite’s Surrender
Remus, from his top vantage point, was able to easily spot Lord Parker¡¯s very eye catching entourage running for the boats with all they had, scrambling onto the vessel as quickly as they could before hurriedly setting sail.
"Dammit! They are escaping!" The sight instantly caused the young general to curse as such.
"Laykash, have your men take control of the camp. The reste with me!" So turning to his unit, the man then decided to split his forces, a part of him still wishing to give chase.
Even if the chances of him catching up to Lord Parker were slim, Remus still had to try and hoped that perhaps a miracle would grace him.
Perhaps the boat would face some kind of problem and be forced to makendfall somewhere nearby.
Unfortunately for him, such prayers however would ultimately go unanswered as the quarry would escape his clutches and the man would be forced to be satisfied with catching only those unlucky few left behind.
The crowd of hopeful escapees were a mixed batch, ranging from very good, trained horsemen who had fled when Remus broke through the lines, to free men hired from Caira as temporary camp servants, to lowly servile ves that Lord Parker had brought from his home city.
¡¯Well, some ransom is better than nothing!¡¯ But given the choice, Remus was not going to say no to any of them.
"Surrender! And you will live." He thus imperiously shouted.
Remus¡¯s domineering appearance and loud order were enough to cower all of the present men into submission.
Looking at the roughly six to seven hundred armed to the teeth menacing men in front of them, they understood their escape path had just been cut off.
The sailors could no longer make for their boats while those already lucky enough to have gotten on one chose to cleverly set sail without further ado, leaving behind the crowd on the banks that were waiting for them like thirty crows to their own devices.
As Remus brought the camp under hisplete control under the threat of absolute ughter otherwise,
"Lord Kite! The camp! Look at our camp! It¡¯s on fire!"
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It did not take too long for the Heeat army fighting in the frontlines to also spot the enemy pration of their rear, especially since Laykash had set fire to the walls and many of the empty tents as a type of menacing smoke message.
"Oh no!"
And the fighting Heeat men instantly panicked, their morale falling into a new nadir.
"....." The sight was enough to even leave the experienced Lord Kite paralyzed, struggling to fathom even what had happened, much less how.
¡¯Did we somehow get attacked? Or was there some kind ofrge fire ident?¡¯ The nobleman asked to himself, praying with all his heart that it was thetter.
But deep down even he knew that was a fool¡¯s dream. There was no way such arge fire could have been allowed to spread if everything was alright.
With a few thousand men and servants present, Lord Kite believed they were enough to be able to stomp out even a volcano if they really wanted.
So the only reason Lord Kite could think of why their headquarters was on fire was undoubtedly because something major had happened.
His true fears were soon affirmed when one of his messengers brought forth a panicking soldier, the man first identifying himself as someone from Lord Parker¡¯s close guard units.
"My lord enemy riders have breached our camp! The lord has fled!
Those three short, sinct sentences smashed into Lord Kite¡¯s ears like a dreadful gong, seeming to him as if he was hearing his death sentence being read out.
No, perhaps he would have preferred dying over experiencing the shock that was reverberating across his whole body, shaking him to his core.
The poor man¡¯s face went so visibly pale that it could be even seen through his full face helmet, and his eyes¡ rather than bulging outward in terror, instead turned very small and dim, as if all hope had been sucked out.
"...." While next to him, all the other officers also found themselves lost for words, their lips quivering in horror and despair.
Some of the more angry ones even wanted to snap at the screaming and hysterical reporting soldier, court martialing him for spreading panic and false information.
But the man quickly defended himself by sinctly describing how a thousand riders had slipped through the gaps created by the shifting lines and smashed into their unprepared lines,pletely decimating their rear.
The report at first sounded incredulous to the officers since they could believe they had let not one or two, but a thousand riders go past them without being none the wiser. It was a level of ipetence that demanded a great blood debt to be repaid.
But no matter how fearful they were of losing their head, they just needed to take one look at the back of their shoulder to find the veracity of the news- by now a tide of ck clothed men were screaming down the hills, disorderly and very distressed.
The officers had not detected even this disturbance till now since they were too busy, concentrating on leading the fight against Alexander.
But now that their focus had been drawn on them¡.
"What do youmand, my lord?"
Sadly, the query wasrgely moot as they very well understood the battle was lost.
Even if they somehow could discount the fact that the enemy had a thousand cavalrymen ready to snap their necks from the rear, perhaps the far more damaging news was their lord¡¯s escape from the battlefield.
Hearing Lord Parker had left the battlefield, not only the general soldiers, but even many of the officers felt aplete copse of their will to fight.
".... Surrender."
Hence Lord Kite¡¯s order came hardly as a surprise to any of them, although that did not mean it hurt any less.
Even for the man himself, the bitterness behind that single word might have been enough to drown all the seas in the world.
While in the case of Alexander¡¯s side, the sudden and almost spontaneous destruction of the enemy lines was naturally cause for enormous joy and jubtion.
To them, it appeared as if one moment the officers were shouting and urging their men to keep fighting with all they had and not ck in any way, yet, the next second, the enemy before them was crumbling like a loose pile of wet sand.
The sight was such that many of them even doubted what they were seeing, eximing to themselves in incredulity, happiness, and for some even suspicion,
"What? They are breaking? So quickly?"
"Right! They did not show any such signs before.. their lines were solid. How can they crumble so easily!"
"Are they trying to trick us? Is this a fake retreat?"
"Hah hah, how cares why¡ the thing that only matters is that they are breaking! Charge men! Charge!"
"That¡¯s right! Don¡¯t overthink it! All that matters is they are running! Now attack!"
"Mmmm! Their morale must have been lower than we thought! Now stop yapping and attack! Break them!"
"Hah hah, go, go! Victory is ours! Victory is ours!"
The behavior of many of Alexander¡¯s officers unfortunately showed that if they were presented with arge enough bait, they too were willing to give up all logic and go madly after the prey, just like the Heeats had.
So it was good that the enemy¡¯s retreat was a genuine one.
...
As the retreating trumpet bells began to ring out across the Heeat front, its once tight formation began to buckle and disintegrate like dew under the sunlight.
And for the legionaries, this was as if the floodgates had been opened, letting them ¡¯flow¡¯ into the enemy ranks effortlessly like flood water, hacking, killing, and capturing their way forward.
While for the Heeat soldiers, now, it was every man for himself, each taking his destiny into their own hands.
Some predictably ran, by themselves or in small groups, while shouting various panicked and even useful tidbits:
"Run! The battle is lost! Run brothers!"
"To me brothers! Stick to me and let us run together. There is strength in numbers!"
"Don¡¯t clump together! Spread out! Spread out! It¡¯s too easy for the enemy to catch you if you lump together! Run away in every direction."
Others, receiving such contradictory information, felt overwhelmed and simply stood there like they had gone dumb.
And these men were actually in the majority as they were also apanied by many of their brothers, by men who understood the true extent of their loss and thus found trying to escape futile.
Rather than taking their chances trying to survive in the cold, damp wilderness with nothing to their names, in and whosenguage they barely understood, being actively hounded by a furious scouting party, these men found it far more clever to simply drop their spears and shields, and surrender.
Raising their arms high into the air or evenying down on the ground, they thus made themselves as easy as possible for Alexander¡¯s men to gather and tie them up.
Among them were Lord Kite and his officers, who were soon taken to have an audience with Alexander.
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Chapter 1300: Margraves Collapse
It was Lord Kite and his men¡¯s great fortune that they had decided to surrender themselves to the far more civilized Alexander, one who was willing to take all surrendering prisoners.
Fate was far less kind to the Margraves who were fighting the Helvati on the left wing,
When the center disintegrated, the staunch defense that the Margraves were putting up suddenly also lost all steam, as seeing their allies run, the men fighting here too understood there was no point in spilling blood.
Hence the Helvati who were just a few moments ago under a real threat of breaking suddenly found the pressure on them dissipating like thin air.
Then, seeing the enemy¡¯s center gone, the experienced warlord was soon able to sniff out the fact the enemy¡¯s nks had just disappeared.
"Go around! Go around! Attack the left nks" And so personally led a small band of the most bloodthirsty warriors to quickly smash into Lord Bakerfield¡¯s right nk (because they were standing on opposite sides ¡ their sides were reversed).
This very predictably created another rout as under this heavy tactical hammer of a blow, the Margraves saw no hope for victory, and broke like a failing dam, scattering themselves to the winds.
And this time, not even the staunchest officers bothered to order his men to stay and fight. They were all too concerned trying to save their own hide.
Especially as they found it particrly hard to scatter like the winds.
The main problem was the terrain.
They were surrounded on the front and right by the furiously attacking Helvati, while the left was upied by the wide and fast flowing river, and the back by the steep hill.
The Heeats at least had their nks open as Alexander had drawn them much ind, separating them from their nks in order to create a gap for his riders.
So the same fault that had lost them the battle now had be their very narrow path to freedom.
But the Margraves had no such luck and were effectively trapped like fish in a barrel. And the Helvati had their guns locked and loaded.
"Surrender! We surrender!"
"We give up! Look! We have let our spears go! We give up!"
"Spare us! Spare us! We have families! I have an orphan sister."
"We ask you to follow the rules of war. Take us prisoners! We will pay the ransom!"
Some of the Margraves, seeing no way out thus gave up resisting and tried to submit.
"Hah hah, kill them all!"
But all their hopes were cruelly smashed into a thousand pieces by the boisterously grinning Metztil. There was no need to go any more into the deep grudge between the two parties.
Just like how the Margraves would have never let these marauding, looting barbarians off, these oppressed for so long natives also had no intention of sparing a single one.
There was just so much bad blood between them that the grounds today were destined to be dyed with one side¡¯s or the other.
"Ahhhhh!" Metztil¡¯s permission hence wasrgely unnecessary as the rest of the army rushed in to exact their vengeance regardless,ughing, crying, and roaring out to their heart¡¯s content.
After a few centuries of having their heads constantly pressed into the dirt, it felt too good to be able to finally extract some revenge.
"This is for our ancestors!"
"Die! For my brother! For my father! For my uncle!"
"Outsider scum! This is our revenge! Hahaha¡ after so many centuries! This is where our revenge starts!"
The poor Margrave men, most of whom were simple innocent levies were thus ughtered like pigs in an abattoir.
Some tried to run away by recklessly jumping into the river and swimming away, but that was hardly the best idea.
The nearby Helvati were always there to give chase and once you were on the water, you truly were like a fish trapped in a barrel.
At least onnd, the Margraves had their weapons to try and maybe take one or two with them before being eventually overwhelmed.
However when they tried to escape by swimming through the river, well the attacking natives were able to skewer the floating Margraves men like they were trying to skewer fish for dinner.
It was a deadly sanguinary sight to behold and caused the water that was painted orange by the setting sun to turn bright, rusty bed.
And perhaps even more macabrely this was one of the easier ways to go.
Because the other alternative was getting swept away by the raging currents and drowning due to the heavy armor they were wearing.
Perhaps this was the only case in history where the poor peasant levies that were issued little to no armor possessed any sort of advantage. Find more adventures on NovelBin.C?m
Thus a handful of them who had chosen to take the chance actually seeded in crossing the perilous waters and making it to the other side, although that hardly meant they were out of the woods.
Surviving the frosty, cold nights with no shelter in those soaking wet clothes with no food or kindling nearby was a very challenging aspect to say the least.
And this was not even counting the ever present threat of Helvati hunting parties chasing after their fled quarries.
Thus ultimately, only a very few lucky, lucky Margrave men would be able to evade capture or death and make it back to their loved ones.
And even fewer would be able to return to their normal lives, as many would suffer lifesting injuries from the intense physical toll.
But one man who was willing to take all that gamble and more was the senior nobleman that had apanied Lord Bakerfield this time.
Seeing the Helvati tear through his lines this it was made of paper, he desperately called out to hismander, "Lord Bakerfield, the battle is lost. To the river! Let us try and cross the river!"
They were still rtively safe now, so he thought that if they tried, they might, just might be able to wade across the river.
"Bah! This old sack of bones is done running. You want to go¡. go! I will die here with my men!"
The absolute firmness in Lord Bakerfield¡¯s tone said it all.
After what had happened to his family, the old man could never return to them empty handed.
"......" Seeing this, the senior nobleman also did not try to convince the elder man otherwise. It was apparent he had made his decision and time was of the essence.
The man could feel the Helvati already breathing down his neck.
Hence silently giving an understanding curt nod, he and his bodyguards were away.
"......." While Lord Bakerfield, seeing his ally so swiftly abandon him, strangely did not feel too great of any emotion.
There was neither anger over the ¡¯betrayal¡¯ nor ¡¯relief¡¯ at the chances of him surviving the ordeal.
Instead, there was a kind of nd nonchnt eptance, as if the battlefield had sucked all the grievances out of the old man, leaving now behind only eptance.
"Victory or death!"
Then suddenly raising his sword high up into the air as ast hurrah, Lord Bakerfield fearlessly charged towards the attacking Helvati on horseback, apanied by only a very small remaining entourage.
Seeing the gaudily dressed man in expensive, shiny armor make such an aggressive appearance, the eyes of every Helvati on the frontlines suddenly glowed with extreme greed and excitement.
Riches, glory, revenge¡ all and more if they could kill this nobleman.
"Come!" And the martyr like Lord Bakerfield weed these gazes, weed these brutes to try and get him, weed them to madly charge towards him.
The grave, deep cry was thus followed by a thunderous gallop of his trusted stead and soon, the two sides shed with a dreadful bang.
.... Needless to say, it was the Helvati who came up on the top of that engagement.
As valiant and skilled as Lord Bakerfield was, he was still no match for an entire army, and after taking down three foes with three swift shes of his long sword, his chest suddenly caved in when a skilled Helvati warrior urately threw a short ax.
These types of axes were usually thrown right before a melee kind of like how a javelin was used, with the former¡¯s advantage being that since it was much smaller and shorter, it could be thrown in much more congested spaces, like from inside a fighting formation.
And the one to hit Lord Bakerfield so urately was a prize thrower of the Helvati, who had been saving hisst throw for a truly worthy opponent.
The immense strength behind the throw and the subsequent trauma was enough to instantly incapacitate Lord Bakerfield, and as the broken shards of his ribs punctured his lungs, the elderly man lost all vision and fell from his horse.
"Hahaha, who knew my Xiti would be destined for such greatness! A nobleman, hahaha¡" While seeing the results of the hit, the native men let out this boisterous cry, before sprinting towards the sight afraid that someone else would steal his prey.
Lord Bakerfield¡¯s head was thus soon taken as a trophy, while his armor was torn and hacked apart between a few more men due to all the gold and silver decorations it had.
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Chapter 1301: Alexanders Loot
Alexander woulde to find out that by the time he finished trying up all the loose ends on his part, the Helvati had massacred all the Margraves down on thest man, the orange hue of the setting sun casting a gloomy shadow on the river banks.
Those green clothed corpses were strewn all over the bank of the river, and many were even heaped over each other into bloody piles, the bodies suffering from all kinds of dreadful wounds,
These corpses were sometimes buried, sometimes burnt and some simply thrown into the raging currents, to be washed downstream.
The appearance of so many corpses floating by their water source would cause great panic and fear among the vigers there, especially since many of the more learned men would be able to recognize the soldiers as bearing the emblem of their lord.
Combine that with news of marauding natives nearby and a rumored battle taking ce somewhere close by, they were able to correctly deduce that something must have gone terribly with their forces.
Hence soon a dark cloud hung over them as they dreaded what was to be of them ordinary folks now that their protector was gone.
The feeling was of course theplete opposite for the Helvati, who had relished each and every second of the bloody experience.
They had heard so many poems and stories from their elders about how the outsiders ughtered entire tribes after a victory, taking the women and children captives, so now, this was simply settling the score.
Thus the sanguinary acts did not seem to affect the Helvati even a tiny bit, instead shing a great, victorious grin they busied themselves looting the now dead corpses- stripping them off armor, weapons, boots, small jewelry like gold or iron rings, coin pouches and even false teeth if the dead was rich enough.
And the man being looted did not need to be necessarily dead either, as many of the Margraves were not yet dead but simply grievously wounded, lying on the ground groaning in pain as death slowly stalked them.
Some of the natives would mercy kill these men before looting them, while others would simply leave them to slowly bleed out or die from an infection, quickly stripping the man for all that he was worth before moving onto fresher pastures.
"Chief, here! We got him! Hah hah!" Among the spoils taken by the Helvati were also the heads of Lord Bakerfield and his entourage, with the dismembered parts being presented to Metztil by a group of grinning men.
It had naturally taken a group to deal with Lord Bakerfield and his bodyguard''sst desperate charge, and so after they were killed, the spoils were predictably ''shared'' among the participants.
And currently, the roughly dressed men were showing the valuable severed heads to their chief, holding them up to their shoulders with manic grins stered all over their faces as bloody, pungent viscera dripped down from their open necks.
It was a macabre sight only seen perhaps once in a century.
But the bloody sight seemed to only greatly please Metztil, as revealing his pearly whites, he nodded and congratted them for their valor, promising them arge reward for killing a ''great'' outsider.
While the men in return also gifted Metztil Lord Bakerfield''s armor, although by now the thing had been mostly hacked to pieces and all the decorations stripped off their valuables.
But at the end of the day, it was the gesture that mattered and so Metztil took it graciously.
...¡
Alexander watched from the back of his formation how the Helvati reaped the surrendering Margraves like farmers reaped wheat. And seeing this vition of the generalw of war, sighed in regret.
If Alexander could have, he would have taken at least the noble''s captives as then, he could have forced them to swear loyalty to Lady Miranda or at the very least neutrality as part of their ransom.
That would have made all future nned events a lot smoother.
But now¡. these houses would have to choose a new head or at least recover from having a lot of their top echelons being decimated. This would take a lot of time and effort.
However, Alexander also knew trying to stop the natives here would be an exercise in futility. They were determined to cut the Margraves here down to the stalk.
"Menes, you clean up here. I am going up to meet with Remus."
Hence, unwilling to keep watching the bloody ughter, Alexander left his trusted general to look after the prisoner of war while he galloped up the hill to the camp with a few thousand of his men.
"My lord! You are here!" The soldiers posted around the perimeter of the camp as guards had no trouble recognizing their own standards and seeing Alexander''s unit''s unique design quickly ushered him into therge wooden area atop the hill, before informing, "Officer Laykash is waiting for you by therge tent in the center!"
Alexander was impressed by the disy of professionalism here, as looking around, he could see that arge part of the camp had remained yet unlooted.
A section of the walls had been burned down but most of the empty tents seemed rtively untouched.
That was not an easy temptation to resist, given the amount of riches stored there.
Granaries full of grain, shiny weapons, and armor, piles of gold and silver coins, metal pieces, livestock of all kinds, and even beautiful ves bought for the pleasure of the nobles, all were right there for the taking.
So seeing none of them had been enough to lure his men into a looting frenzy, Alexander''s heart turned very d, since it validated that all the time and money he spent training these men had not gone to waste.
They were still capable of exercising discipline in spite of the allure.
Entering the inside camp, Alexander was able to quickly locate Laykash and from him got the gist of how things had gone and why things were the way they were.
"Commander Remus is chasing after the fleeing Heeat officers. We think Lord Parker is with them." Laykash sinctly chimed, sounding very hopeful of catching the big fish, before suddenly he produced a very sly smile, "Ah my lord, in the meantime you will want to see this! This way!"
Laykash mysteriously waved his hands towards arge, very heavily guarded before swiftly escorting Alexander.
And as soon as the tent ps were lifted, Alexander''s curiosity was sated.
"He did not take you?"
Alexander could not help instantly blurt out the words without a moment''s thought as soon as heid his eyes on the beautifuldy sitting on a nearby chair, her eyes full of both anger and bitterness.
Yes, it was Miss Linda, and she was also apanied by her elder sister, Lady Adele, who was seen tending to her infant nephew just next to her.
"..*Crack*..." Alexander''s words seemed to stoke some great buried me in thedy, as that beautiful face suddenly turned pitch ck and Alexander thought he heard a mr snap.
"The lord was ambushed by the enemy riders outside the camp and was barely able to escape with his life. Unfortunately, he had no time to take us."
It was ultimately Lady Adele who filled Alexander in, although her version differed wildly from what Laykash had told him.
ording to the cavalry captain, Lord Parker was situated quite rear of the lines so technically should have had enough time to snatch his most precious possessions.
This to him said that Lord Parker had run in such a cowardly fashion that he did not even stop to take his wife and son with him.
For a man, could there be anything more cowardly?
''Heh! Are you trying to save your little sister''s face?'' He thus chuckled.
But then again, perhaps Laykash was wrong about it all.
Perhaps Remus had struck so suddenly that Remus was caught off guard too much, so much so that Lord Parker really had no time to fetch his family.
Either possibility was quite difficult to judge given the fact it was a battlefield.
And besides, who cares how it happened?
The thing that truly mattered was that it had, that Alexander had Lord Parker''s wife and much more importantly his pride and joy, his son under his custody.
''Hahaha, the next round of negotiations will be interesting.'' Thus chuckling with immense pleasure to himself, he grinned at the twodies,
"Mydies, it is great to see that both of you are safe and unharmed. I do not know what would have happened if anything happened to you. Do not worry¡ with me here, nobody ''else'' will dare touch you!"
Alexander intentionally put an emphasis on the word ''else'', as if to say while others were forbidden, he could still touch them. His eyes even turned lecherous, roaming particrly vulgarly around ML as he said.
This instantly got an intense reaction from the arrogantdy, her body tensing up like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.
And Alexander chuckled amused at those fiery eyes.
Of course, he had no intention of doing anything to thedies, but it was simply his way of frightening the pair a bit, poking a little fun.
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Chapter 1302: Cleaning Up the Battlefield
Alexander left Miss Linda to simmer in thatrge yet lonely tent amongst fear and apprehension about her future with a slightly twisted glee in his heart.
After all the trouble this ambitiousdy had made him go through, this amount of difort was the least she deserved.
Hence Alexander also refused all her requests to let her meet with her sister or even answer questions about what was going to happen to her.
Rather, stepping out of the tent with a breezy gait, he first lightly tapped Laykash on the shoulder with a gentle smile,
"You did well in securing the camp without hurting anyone. Take any two ves from here you like¡. And let your officers have one each. "
Alexander here of course referred to the fact that Miss Linda and Lady Adele were captured without any sort of humiliation. Resisting the great allure of forcefully taking such beautiful nobledies where there were basically no consequences for doing so could not have been easy.N?v(el)B\\jnn
And if it were the Helvati to scale the hill first or even Alexander''s own levied troops, their fate would have been likely very bloody.
So Alexander was d that he sent his very well trained and trained cavalry as the shock force, as these people had been taught as part of their military drills how to detect people of high value, and thus differentiate between people they were allowed to touch and those who were off limits.
These types of people were of course always nobles and if you paid even some attention, it was not that hard to separate these pampered, soft cushioned folks from the rest of the chaff- their appearance, clothes, and temperament were ny percent of the time a dead giveaway.
And indeed, Laykash had spared not only thedies but many of the other nobledies belonging to various Heeat nobility in this way. They hade to Galiosos as wives, finances, or even hidden mistresses of their now captured or killed partner.
Alexander''s appreciation got the cavalrymander to produce a veryrge grin, where he first humbly confessed that he was only doing his job before thanking the generous lord for his great gift.
"My lord, my officers will surely praise you for your generosity when they hear this! Let me thank you once again on their behalf," Laykash appeared almost overly ttering over his adtion, making Alexander feel a bit sick.
"¡ But my lord¡ the thing is¡. Ummm¡ I do not want any ve. There is a foreign nobledy that has quite caught my fancy. I want to take her as my mistress."
However, the reason behind the buttering was soon made clear as after quite a few awkward pauses and slightly ashamed looks, he revealed his true demands.
"....." While hearing this Alexander out on a rather pensive face.
He did not go into detail asking who this woman was, but got thinking there was little chance of a nobledy agreeing to be the concubine of a rtively small time cavalry captain.
Laykash might be quite liked by Alexander and thus earned quite a modest stipend, but whenpared to a true blue blooded noble, his status was still nothing to be envious of.
Not to mention, Layaksh did not even want to take this woman as his main wife, but as a woman barely better than a maid. This for a gooddy brought up in a monogamous society must be mortifying.
But Alexander did not raise these issues with the hopeful man.
Laykash had just given a great gift, and so with a curt nod, simply dered,
"Go ask her if she is willing to go with you to Zanzan. If she says yes¡ then congrattions. You can take her tonight. But if she refuses¡ don''t push her. Simply bring me her name and other details. I will try to get her for you during the next negotiation."
This promise of a mere possibility was more than enough to send Layash to the moon, as he let out a great big grin and took his oath once again in front of Alexander.
While Alexander''s heart twinged a bit in regret for that nobledy.
Now that Alexander had set his sights on acquiring her, unless she was directly rted to the ducal family, such as being Lord Parker''s sister or aunt, her fate might as well be sealed as the mistress of a small military captian.
And worse, it was evident that Laykash''s fondness for her was a fleeting one. He liked what he saw at the spur of the moment, so now, he wanted a taste.
But what would happen once he had his fill? Would hee back for more?
No one knew for sure¡ but Alexander was willing to bet no.
Laykash was bound to go into many more battle, and meet many more fanciful beauties, perhaps taking them all one at a time as his new prize.
Then, the fate of this nobledy would surely be one of neglect and poverty, discarded to make space for new toys.
But despite knowing all this, Alexander would not deny Laykash his prize, because the tragic reality was that Laykash''s loyalty was much more important to him than the fate of some unknown beauty.
And this would not be thest time Alexander would ink the fate of those under him, thus creating a tragic set of circumstances.
...¡
The aftermath of the battle and its subsequent cleanup would take a few days during which a lot of things would bepleted.
Firstly, the battlefield would be cleared of the dead and wounded, the former buried in mass graves dug by the Helvati after the corpses were stripped of anything and everything valuable, while thetter was either captured or taken to the clinic depending on whose sides they fought.
Secondly, special hunting parties on horses would be sent out to track and kill or capture any fleeing Margraves or Heeat forces remaining around the vicinity.
And all the nearby towns and viges became suspects of harboring fugitives during that time. As for what these searching parties did when they entered these towns, well let''s just say Alexander turned a blind eye to them.
As the victorious forces, even Alexander''s most trained and well disciplined forces were not above entering taverns and leaving without paying or visiting shops and taking a few things they liked as free mementos.
As for the barbaric Helvati¡. well Alexander was just d to see they did notmit mass rape or raze the ce to the ground.
They usually took a few women, willing or not, for their officers to enjoy and some livestock to feast as meat was always very rare at home. And if they found a Margraves or Heeat soldier hiding that vige''s chief head woulde top.
This amount of trampling, the surrounding towns and viges, although angry and bitter about it, could still ept.
Alexander would also have to admit that even if he did not agree with the method Helvati used to ''collect'' their prisoners, he could not argue with the results.
Only two days after the Helvati started killing chiefs for the crime of harboring fugitives, the escaping enemy suddenly found they had no safe haven.
Thus within the next few days, nearly all of them were caught.
In this way, a total of nearly 11,000 prisoners were taken from there, almost all Heeat. And whenbined with Lord Bernard''s nearly 3,000 contingent already in custody, Alexander had to admit, he got himself a nice harvest.
Even if they were sold as regr ves, each of these good, young, hot blooded men would fetch him around 5,000 ropals, or 70 million ropals total.
And if Alexander counted the vast number of nobles included in there, realistically, it was very much possible to push that number up to an even 100 million!
''Haha, taking this dangerous trip has not been a waste!'' Alexander thus could not help but grin.
In the following days, these captured forces were also moved from the wilderness of the hill into Caira city, where the men were tallied and divided ording to their identity- i.e.- peasants and nobles.
Then needless to say, the peasants were left to linger inrge, open air penned fences with only a small nket for warmth, while most nobles were givenrge luxurious tents and good food that made it almost seem as if they were not prisoners of war, but honored guests.
Only the fact they had to share the tent with a few of their colleagues and they were not allowed to leave at will gave away their true state.
Another thing that was moved was the loot from Heeat''s camp, which too granted Alxx a huge harvest, including the money that was swindled off of him all those months ago.
Andstly, there came the news about Lord Parker, whichdeemed¡. Inconclusive!
ording to Remus who had spent the entire night searching for his prey only to return empty handed,
"We have found remains of quite a few capsized boats down the river. They were all likely taken down by the bad currents and over capacity. So the lord also probably drowned in his heavy armor. We are searching for the body."
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Chapter 1303: The Fate of the Campaign (Part-1)
Despite his best efforts, Remus would ultimately fail in his search for Lord Parker''s body. Thus, it would be assumed that the poor man had perished by drowning in the river along with Lord Macht and his entourage.
This would leave Lord Kite the highest living noble from the Heeat sides.
While on the Margraves side, this distinction would be a toss up between Miss Linda, Lord Bernard, or that senior nobleman who had ditched Lord Bakerfield to try and save his own hide.
Yes, he had been captured by the hunting parties a few dayster, though he appeared as only a hollow and sunken shell of his former self.
He had been lucky to cross the raging river in his horse, but after two days of staying outdoors without any proper food or shelter, he was hungry and dehydrated nearly to the point of unconsciousness.
He felt like he had lost half his weight and by that point, he was almost happy to get captured, as it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off him.
Alexander would not be too concerned about the Margraves as by this point, they were beaten down to the point of being little more than meat on a chopping.
So whatever negotiations were going to happen, it was going to happen with the Heeats.
Hence Alexander would meet with Lord Kite a few days after the battle, looking to discuss the terms of his surrender.
But the nobleman would simply state that he had no such authority and instead ask,
"Lord Alexander, let us contact the duke. He will send you the appropriate delegation to discuss the terms of our ransom."
The captured nobleman was clearly very eager to earn his freedom.
And fortunately for him, the man would not have to wait too long as Alexander''s men would very soone to report the sighting of a fleet numbering around 15,000 approaching them. Needless to say, these were the reinforcements that Lord Parker had been pinning so much of his hopes on.
The reported numbers would however instantly make all the allies get together to try and figure out what they were going to do about it.
"We should get the fleet ready and attack!" Came as one of the obvious options.
But given his men''sck of expertise in naval battle, Alexander was very reluctant to do this. The battle for the bridge had shown him what his chances of such a victory were- very low.
And many of his officers also shared his concerns, thus countered, "No, we should let the enemyndfall, then strike just as they are getting on shore!"
Alexander was surprised to hear some of his men read out the plot of the Battle of Thermope, where the Greeks attacked thending Persians just like that, thus catching the enemy formations in total disarray.
As for thest group of men, they had another very controversial take, where they called for a diplomatic approach, iming,
"We should send a delegation to the fleet. Inform them of their main army''s defeat. This should make them back down. Remember, they are here to reinforce their forces, not fight us."
Alexander also found thest option the most attractive.
Not only was he frankly sick of fighting, but in this way, he could also effectively use the 11,000 Heeat forces he had as hostages.
Thus he dered, "Send a ship with Lord Kite as a guest. Let him seek an audience with the fleet''smander and ry all that has happened. Then invite him ashore for negotiations."
Alexander ordered this without any fears of Lord Kite running because such a thing was too shameful to do.
He was Alexander''s prisoner of war being sent out as a messenger to discuss terms for their ransom and thus it was simply expected that he should return until his ransom was paid.
For viting it would incur the wrath of the gods themselves.
In fact, there was a fun little story about such a thing during the First Punic War.
During one of the battles, the Carthaginians had captured a Roman general, who was then sent to Rome with demands of their surrender.
The Roman senate of course threw the proposal out, but the general who came to deliver the messenger did not stay despite pleading from his fellow senators, as doing such a thing would break his oath and anger the gods.
So he instead willingly went back to Carthage, where he was horribly tortured to death.
And for his heroic deed, he was venerated as a man of immense virtue in Rome for centuries toe.
While although Alexander did not think Lord Kite was that virtuous, he at least trusted the man enough to deliver such a small message. Not to mention, even if Lord Kite ran, it was not like he was the only noble among his prisoners.
So unless the reinforcing Heeats wished to lose so many nobles and then be the main attacking force and conquer the Margraves by force, Alexander was fairly confident this situation could be resolved at the table instead of the battlefield.
It was with that thought that Alexander quickly made the proposal to Lord Kite, who, upon taking an oath with the gods, quickly agreed.
"I''m not sure who the Duke sent as themander of the relief forces, but I am sure it will be someone very high. I am sure he will be able to negotiate on behalf of the family. It''s just that¡ the lord is quite fond of his son¡ *sigh*."
The hidden meaning behind thesest words was not hard to grasp.
Hearing his son''s plea, Duke Heeat must have sent someone experienced and with authority to aid in his campaign, and yet¡. the young man had tragically died.
Even if Alexander had nothing to do with it and was simply caused by a force of nature, Lord Kite seemed to suggest to Alexander that he should expect great anger from the family.
"...." Towards this, Alexander did notment on his outright, but only thought they should take one step at a time.
"Mydies, what should I ask for in the negotiations?"
As Lord Kite got ready to bring his superior to shore, Alexander quickly sought a private audience from the two queens, wishing to hear their thoughts on how to proceed from here.
"Hahaha! We have gained much more than I originally thought!" The one to speak out first was Lady Parthia, her plump, red lips curving up to reveal a very pleased expression, "I thought at best we would get Lord Parker to surrender. But for him to die so conveniently¡ heh heh!"
That sweet, low chuckle was so soft yet so cold, as the queen first congratted Alexander on his win.
Then suddenly straightening hernguid, curvy body, Lady Parthia announced in a memorized, dictatorial tone, "From what I see there are four options for you to choose!"
"One- You can insist on the original terms¡. i.e.- the Heeats leave the ind, you let Lady Miranda take over the Margraves and the two of you return to simply being business partners with a simple free trade agreement. I believe I do not need to tell you why this is also the worst option."
Lady Parthia was very sharp in herst few words as if childing her son over even thinking about this option. And indeed, after what he did and how much risk Alexander took, a simple ''back to the status quo'' was too little for Alexander.
"Mmmm!" The curt nod from the man thus pleased the immacte mature woman.
The former Tibian queen then continued, now raising her dainty long finger and showing her long, shapely fingernail that was painted bright red,
"The second option is for you to marry Lady Miranda and make the Margraves a part of your family."
And Alexander''s lips instantly twitched a bit at hearing the option.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
This was perhaps one of the most obvious options but also one that he was most reluctant to do.
There were too many personal and political reasons for this.
Personally, he did not find Lady Miranda that attractive. Personality wise, there was her indecisiveness and general demeanor.
And in terms of looks, not only was she rtively ordinary, but more than that, even since the death of her son, she had also started letting her figure go.
She was too plump in his opinion.
But if that was the only barrier, Alexander still might have swallowed his pride and bit the bullet, swearing to himself that political benefits must always trump personal likes or dislikes.
The problem was the political challenges of such a union were perhaps even higher than the opinions of the two individuals.
This was also understood by Lady Parthia.
Hence as soon as she proposed her option, she quickly added before Alexander would get any words of objection,
"But I also do not rmend this option. It is hard to imagine the monogamous Margraves family epting their head be not only married to another country''s lord, but even be just one of several wives. The elders will never ept such an unfair deal."
"Mmmm¡ not to mention the problems of where we will live, here or in Zanzan." Another problem was swiftly added by a muttering Alexander.
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Chapter 1304: The Fate of the Campaign (Part-2)
Alexander and Lady Parthia quickly knocked off two of the four options regarding how to deal with the Margraves and thus moved on the third option.
"Next, if you so want you could marry Lady Linda and take over the family from there."
Then, just as Alexander was about to ask how this was different from the second option, the Tibian queen quickly chimed,
"From what I have seen, she is different from her elder sister. I believe she will be more amenable to such a deal. Also, the Margraves family was willing to have her marry another lord. So why should they not ept you?"
"..." Hearing this exnation, Alexander also felt this might actually work- as the precedence was there.
It was just that¡.
"The youngdy hates me. And I don''t like her either. I don''t think we will be a good match." Alexander gently shook his head as he rejected the option too, thinking even if he swallowed his dislike and took Miss Linda, this alliance would be too fragile tost.
"Mmm, it''s also not good to backstab your allies. It ruins reputation." And Lady Parthia too supported the decisions, although her concern seemed to be more about the consequences than the results.
Hence they came to thest option,
"Then the only option is really the one that we discussed earlier- split the Margraves into three, divided among the Heeats with Lady Linda as the head, Lady Miranda and her loyalist forces, and¡ you."
Alexander also preferred this option the most, even having considered it beforeing here.
The problem was¡. selling it to the other side.
"I like this option too. Trouble is¡ how do I do this without flipping Lady Miranda off? It would have been one thing if Lord Parker was alive and his army only defeated. But now, with the marriage annulled and his entire army captured ¡. with such an overwhelming victory, how can I propose the Margraves family be split? Everyone will clearly see that I am plotting against my own ally."
Alexander, for the first time in his life, regretted winning his battle so decisively, as it meant the other side was too weak to negotiate.
And how was he going to fish for advantage, if there were no powerful shes?
So he went onto continue,
"For all intents and purposes, we should kick the widowed Miss Linda to her husband''s family and have them deal with her. While here, we let Lady Miranda take full control. Then we can also use the captured nobles and soldiers as hostages to work out a solution to the trade blockade from the federation."
As Alexander pointed this out, Lady Parthia produced a rather bitter looking face, pursing her lips with a sort ofplicated feeling in her heart.
Indeed, from a purely moral standpoint, they should do this. As allies, it was only natural to lend a helping hand without any strings attached.
"Bah!"
But if you thought such a ''small'' problem like morality was going to stop the blue blooded queen, well then the decades of experience in statecraft she had under her belt would have been totally wasted.
Clearing her heart with that small hump, her eyes turned sharp and angry,
"What has that got to do with anything? After all you have done, do you want to just give it all away? If you have such a bleeding heart, then the people are going to suck you dry. If you simply let Lady Miranda have everything, mark my words¡ she will start taking you for granted! What! Are you going toe wipe her ass every time she cries wolf?"
"..." Looking at the immacte face sporting her sneering expression, Alexander could not exactly counter her rhetoric.
"Ahem¡ Mydy, I believe Alexander did not say he was not willing to split the Margraves family." And seeing his unease, it was Lady Nanazin who finally came to her lover''s rescue, chiming up from the seat next to her.
She had been quiet up until now because frankly, Lady Parthia was much more experienced than her when it came to politics. So there was nothing she could add¡. until now, as she reminded the enraged queen,
"He was simply asking how to convince Lady Miranda without angering her. Our situation is too favorable to warrant such painful partitions."
"You are asking me how you are going to ask her fornd? Simple! Tell her this is your remuneration for your services. Either she pays up or you put someone else on the throne!"
Lady Parthia''s answer was as swift as it was imperious, carrying a hint of invible imperial decree.
"....." While Alexander''s lips twitched visibly at the shameless extortion.
If it was the enemy Alexander would not have batted an eye, but towards an ally¡
''You would have made a great Praetorian guard, mydy,'' Alexander could not help but murmur inside, alluding to the time when the elite bodyguards of the Roman emperor killed their master and then sold the throne to the highest bidder¡i.e.- the one who could give them the highest sry.
"Heh heh, you were not like this when I met you, mydy," Alexander thus could not help but first produce a hollow chuckle.
ording to his memory, the former queen of Tibias was a soft spoken, smart woman who appeared almost aloof in the realm of politics, letting her eldest son deal with almost everything.N?v(el)B\\jnn
Her greatest trait back seemed to be her knowledge of when to retreat when to advance and how to make sacrifices for the greatest benefit of his family.
But clearly, Alexander had misjudged her.
While towards thisment, Lady Parthia simply sneered back,
"Heh, I was your prisoner back then. How was I supposed to act? Like this? You think I could have kept my head? You would do well to remember that people act differently in different circumstances, boy."
Alexander thus understood that this was Lady Parthia''s way of opening herself up, that this strong headed, blue blooded, ''me before you'' woman was the real Tibian queen.
"...."
Following this round of talks, there came a sudden long bout of silence, as all three digested all that had been said until now.
Alexander was particrly quiet, as he tried to think of the best way to break the news to Lady Miranda.
He certainly could not be as crude as Lady Parthia had suggested, feeling that his skin was too thin.
''Hmmmm, maybe I can use the excuse that the Margraves army has been decimated and can no longer protect the whole fief. So¡ummm that''s why it should be broken up?'' He then thought of one way of attack, although the rhetoric sounded a bit weak even to him.
And then, Alexander quickly thought of another problem, as he turned to the Tibian queen to point out,
"Ummm¡ about me taking a third of thend¡ who do I choose to oversee thesends None of them speak thenguage here."
"And given the distance from here to Zanzan, thisnd needed to be governed by someone trustworthy, someone who will not flip sides just as my grips loosen a bit or just as an opportunity presents itself."
"Not only that, but he will also need to be clever enough to be able to navigate around the many political pitfalls dotting these troublednds- the Margraves, the Heeats, the natives, and even the Straus family. This will be a challenging position to fill even for me."
As Alexander exined his predicament, he quickly found that he was having a very hard timeing up with anyone even remotely suitable.
"Heh! Will you trust me if I nominate myself?" Lady Parthia chuckled the reply with her sharp eyes turning slitted like a crescent, and lips curving up into a devilish grin.
"...." While hearing this Alexander''s lips once again twitched as if he felt a thousand horses galloping across his heart.
This was too unthinkable.
''Was this her true n all along? To try and form a safe haven for her family¡ away from my prying eyes?''
Given Lady Parthia''s unique identity, Alexander instantly became very cautious of thedy, afraid that she was plotting the Tibian royal family''seback.
''I should have nipped them in the bud!'' Alexander even somewhat crazily swore to himself this, turning half paranoid even at the mere possibility of a betrayal.
"Hahaha, oh look at you! Turning so afraid! Hahaha," It was Lady Parthia''s high pitchedughter that broke Alexander out of his self paranoid reverie, and then his heart turned a bit ashamed as he heard the Tiban queen sneer, "What! Did you want just to kill me? Hahaha, you are as easy to read as a book!"
"Of course not! I only...." Alexander quickly attempted to defend himself, but Lady Parthia simply cut him off with a swift brush of her hand, "Don''t worry, I was only joking. There is no way I can stay so far away from my family," before continuing,
"I cannot help you nominate the person to be in charge here. But I think you are putting your expectations too high. There is no need for them to speak thenguage... trantors work fine. As for the political situation... after so deaths, I think the situation will be cool for the foreseeable future."
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Chapter 1305: The Fate of the Campaign (Part-3)
Lady Parthia appeared much more optimistic about the future of Galiosos Ind than Alexander, thinking they had already passed the hard part.
So with regards to Alexander''s worry about finding a good candidate to look after the ce, she did not think it should be too hard.
Alexander however had seen how the various forces interacted with each other up close and thought otherwise.
''There is no way the sisters are going to y ball. Linda is too vindictive. And even if ¡ by some miracle that happened, there is still the Heeat family. And I don''t even want to think about Metztil!''
From what he had seen, the youngerdy would never be satisfied with just taking half of her share. She would always be afraid of her more legitimate elder sister taking her portion back and kicking her out.
Also from what Lord Kite had said to Alexander regarding Lord Parker''s death, it was very unlikely the Heeat family would simply let Lady Miranda and he be.
Andstly, from how the natives acted during the battle, Alexander could see there was a burning hunger in them to take much more. He was even beginning to ask himself if he had just invited a tiger to drive out a wolf.
But Alexander did not expand upon his doubts here, feeling Lady Parthia could contribute little to his worries.
''Unfounded concerns of a worrywart!'' He could already see her dismissing him with a wave of her hands, unwilling to buy the gravity of the situation.
Alexander would thus have to solve these doubts with other people.
"Okay. Thank you for your advice, mydy. Let me think about it." Thus with an agreeing nod, Alexander attempted to end the meeting for the day here.
"Ummmm, there is onest thing I have been thinking about¡" But before Alexander could start on his ruminations, a somewhat meek, whispering voice shot out from Lady Nanazin, "ummm¡ why don''t we kill the Margraves and¡ why don''t we split the ind with the Heeat family directly? Cut out the middle man."
Lady Nanazin''s face appeared slightly flushed even as she made thement as if she was ashamed to even say this out loud about their own ally. To the still morally aligned woman, it just felt wrong.
"Because he has a bleeding heart!" Lady Parthia''s answer was curt and crisp, dripped in disdain.
"...." While Alexander first produced a helpless smile at such a naked evaluation, before squeezing out this excuse with some difficulty,
"Ahem.., the problem is this is too extreme. First of all, we do not know thesends well enough. Thus killing such an ancient Marquis noble family will not only be easy but also very problematic. We will have to deal with many die hard noble rebels for a long time toe."
"Then there is the fact how this will anger the entire Sybarian nobility in the maind. So the distance from here to Zanzan will make it hard to hold on to thend."
"Bah! Excuses!"
However despite Alexander''s reasonable sounding excuses, Lady Parthia was not buying it, as she quickly went on to point out the ws with his way of thinking,
"There is no problem that these being unknownnds. Land isnd People are people. And the local nobles will always bow their head to the one above them¡ names don''t matter!"N?v(el)B\\jnn
Indeed, if everyone was afraid of conquering newnds just because of the political difficulties involved, there would never be anyrge scale conquests.
But such conquests did happen¡ because after the head honcho of the ce was knocked down, the local leaders would always pragmatically bow their heads to their new rulers. No ss fought itself to the death, they chose to follow thew of the strongest.
Sinctly citing this, Lady Parthia then continued her chiding,
"As for killing a Matbar¡ a Marquiss family, that is simply sophistry. The Margraves are hardly anything save for a thorn in the sight of the Sybarian noble. They would not have gotten where they are now if they were not¡ if they had friends in high ces.
I do not believe anyone will shed tears for them¡. or at least anyone significant. If it really happened, worst case scenario, we can ask the Heeat to smooth things out with the council as part of giving them half of the Margrave''snds. This is not a hard problem to solve."
Alexander was beginning to feel increasingly red at having his excuses torn apart like wet tissue paper and it reached its apex when Lady Parthia finished by pointing out,
"The same goes for defending thesends. The solution is too easy. All we have to do is ce a small garrison of our troops from Zanzan here and augment them with local auxiliaries. If we wanted to we could even sign a ten year treaty with the various neighboring forces. No doubt Alexander can easily afford all of this."
True, if Alexander was willing to open up his coffers and bribe his way in, many of the stated problems would be obsolete.
Give money and you could cate the local nobles.
Give money and you could cate the Heeats and the Sybarian Council.
Give money and you could cate the natives.
And give money, and you could hire people to defend the ce.
Thus to say Alexander was not tempted by this offer would be disingenuous.
And as if sensing this change in sentiment, the Tibian queen once again nudged Alexander, shing a devilishly alluring smile,
"So how about it? Changed your mind? I hear you have always liked the Margrave''s metallurgy and ship building skills. You can all the men you want¡."
Somehow this, frail looking woman was even more greedy and bellicose than Alexander, wanting to annex thend by hook or by crook.
Thus when Alexander ultimately refused this on grounds of mortality and reputation, saying he could not bring himself to harm his ally in such an unscrupulous way, she snapped at him with a click of her tongue,
"*Tsk*, I can''t believe we lost to a spine¡. I can''t believe our luck was so bad to have been your first target. What did we do to deserve that?"
Lady Parthia had held her tongue at the veryst moment, stopping herself from calling Alexander ''spineless'' as she feared this would be going too far.
The clever queen was very conscious of how much she could push this good natured man before he snapped. Alexander might respect her opinion greatly, but at the end of the day, he was still far above her, possessing an enviable amount of power.
While Alexander was also d to see Lady Parthia was self conscious of there being a red line that was not meant to be crossed, and thus did not shoot back with the fact that it was her husband who had attacked him first, even when he had paid him arge amount of war reparations.
Tibias was destroyed, because of their own hubris.
.....
The meeting ended shortly after that, with both parties leaving on amicable terms without having their painful pasts dug up.
Then in the next two days, Alexander got ready to meet with his Heeat counterpart in the manor.
Among this, was first an initial show of goodwill, as Alexander allowed some of the Heeat soldiers toe in small batches.
The majority of the foreign reinforcing fleet was of course not allowed to dock for obvious security reasons.
But every day, up to ten ships, or around a thousand to fifteen hundred men were given ess to the city, letting them visit the markets, the famous bathhouses, and much more attractively the pleasure dens.
Alxx knew the Heeat soldiers in those ships must have been bored out of their minds after being cooped up in a basically floating wooden prison for so many days. The food they ate was dry and tasteless, the water was almost state, there was little room to move around and of course, there was little ess to bodily relief.
So by giving them ess to them, Alexander hoped to show the Heeat higher ups he had no real enmity with them.
And in exchange, Lord Kite did his job quite well too, embellishing Alexander in quite a ttering light to his superior.
ording to him, Alexander was simply here to protect his trade for his people and had no real ideological conflict with the Heeat.
He imed,
"The main troublemakers are Lady Linda and those old coots behind her. Young master had always wanted to negotiate with Lord Alexander and avoid any unnecessary battles¡ toe to peaceful terms with each other."
"... But that witch bewitched him. The straightforward and honest Lord was too enthralled by his newlywed wife, who pushed him to fight her sister''s enemy for her own vindictive pleasure. Then once the battle started¡. *sigh*, at some point we had lost too many men to make peace an option."
Needless to say, Alexander had not sent Lord Kite on his way without any preparation, merely hoping and praying that he would say the ''truth''.
No, he needed Lord Kite to say their version of the ''truth''.
And part of that ''truth'' was pushing arge part of the me onto the poor recent widow.
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Chapter 1306: Dividing the Family Spoils (Part-1)
As soon as Alexander had captured Miss Linda, there were naturally voices calling for her and her son''s death, particrly by Lady Miranda.
But Alexander had held off on that because one, he needed thedy to split the Margraves, and two because he did not know how the Heeat family would react to having their daughter inw and grandson decapitated.
So Alexander got to work finding out.
He wanted Lord Kite to embellish thedy in a sort of negative light in front of her inws, wishing to cause a fracture, hoping that a deep enough crack would see the youngdy see her lose her biggest supporter.
That would then allow Alexander to covertly usurp her at ater time. Because he only needed here for only a short while.
And Lord Kite also had no problem wielding this ammunition because it conveniently let him shed all the battlefield failures onto this poor woman.
It was a win win, thus by the time the Heeat fleetmander put his foot on shore, he had a very bad impression of this new daughter of his family.
...¡
"Lord Alexander, let me introduce you¡ This is Lord Castell Heeat, the younger brother of Stanne Heeat, the Duke of Lynica. Lord Castell¡ this is Pasha Alexander of Zanzan, Adhania."
Lord Kite acted as the mediator when the two parties finally met, introducing each other as they took seats opposite a long table inside one of the Margraves manor''s guest rooms.
''Sure enough, they have sent a big shot to help Lord Parker,'' Alexander muttered to himself while quickly scanning the man before him, taking a good look at his adversary.
He was of typical build- tall, well built, muscr, clean shaven with sharp eyes and a chiseled, handsome face.
A perfect example of how a well to do noble should look.
And likewise, he was dressed like how a noble should too, in an all ck, heavily embroidered robe that was stitched with golden threads in fantastical patterns.
The whole fabric fit him like a glove and elevated the already handsome middle aged man into someone who exuded a great aura of sophistication and prestige.
This was worlds apart from Alexander, who was sitting opposite him almost looking like a pauper in his simple grey tunic under amon light red linen jacket that he usually wore at home when it got a bit chilly.
The difference between the two was simr to the difference of a man turning up to an interview in a full formal suit and tie while the other showed up in shorts and slippers with messy hair like he had just woken up from sleep.
The contrast was visually too striking.
And Lord Castell noticed Alexander''s impoverished state too, hence could not help sneer, "Ahhh¡ so you''re the famous ve. I heard a bit about you. Why are you digging your nose in ces where it does not belong?"
Even the innate arrogance he spoke those words with greatly reflected his lineage.
While Alexander simply produced a light, cid smile towards the scornful gaze, as if had heard a funny joke.
What insults had he not heard after taking his seat? They were so many that by now these barbs simply slid off him like harmless water.
Not to mention, he had intentionally dressed so poorly.
It was a subtle way of insulting his opponent, to make the other side show that they were being forced with a beggar.
Alexander loved these ironies.
Thus not showing any reaction to Lord Castell''s jibe, the young pasha moved the topic with a simple chime in his voice,
"Lord Castell, I understand we might have gotten on the wrong foot. But I promise you, I never had any intention of foiling your n or harming your nephew. It was all the will of the gods."
"......" The handsome lord''s face instantly shed a dangerous chilly light the moment Lord Parker''s fate was brought up, clearly showing he was very angry over the death.
And it was not only due to the familiar loss.
There was also fear of his elder brother''s reaction once he learned of this.
Because Lord Parker was his most treasured son.
There was no doubt in that im because it was something that the Duke clearly and openly proimed regrly, much to the two of his younger son''s chagrin.
No one liked being constantlypared to their much talented and favored elder brother.
And not only did that, the father son duo even looked almost the spitting image of each other, just one a bit older than the older, as well as acting and behaving in very simr ways too.
This was also why the Duke sent Lord Parker personally to the ind and oversee such an important matter.
But now that he had died¡ even though Lord Castell had nothing to do with the matter, he could not help but grimace at the thought of the scolding he was sure to get.
''You should have gathered the army quicker!'' The familiar roar appeared to already echo beside his ears.
However, given how Lord Parker died, he was also unable to shift the me or vent his anger.
Rather, he very arrogantly replied,
"My nephew died a hero bravely fighting his enemies. As his uncle, I can only be proud of him."
Sitting on the opposite side, Alexander could see the man was being disingenuous here but did not bother to poke that balloon.
Instead, he also started to agree with Lord Castell, nodding and praising Lord Parker''s various battle tactics.
"Mmmm¡ your nephew once had he dead to rights. My water supply was cut off and food was running out. If not for the bad weather that concealed my escape, I would have been never able to leave Caira. Trapped here¡. the oue might have been very different!"
Lord Castell''s eyes seemed to significantly soften upon hearing this, and thus with a few such tepid greetings that could be interpreted as barbed insults, the two parties finally got down to business.
...¡
"Lord Kite has mentioned you have some of our men with you. As ransom, we are willing to offer 1,000 wesa for a noble, and 500 for the riders."
Wesa was thergest denomination of currency that the Sybarians used and it was typically 10 times the value of a ropal.
"Haha, I believe our offer was twice that. What you are quoting is the price of a regr ve, my lord."N?v(el)B\\jnn
Alexander amusedly shook his head as he declined the offer, expecting much more.
Naturally, there was some haggling when it came to price, but because Alexander had already sent Lord Kite with the range he was expecting, Lord Castell came here with a number in mind.
Thus after a few rounds of back and forth a sinctly agreeable amount was set.
Each nobleman was to be sold for 15,000 to 20,000 ropals depending on their rank and wealth, while the roughly one and a half thousand elite riders were sold off in bulk for 8,000 ropals a piece, plus another 3,000 ropals for their horse.
Lord Castell had almost spat out the water he was having when Alexander made thatst demand, giving the man the same scornful gaze one would give to a greedy, unscrupulous pauper.
He could not believe he was being charged for something that was basically always implied.
But under signals from Lord Kite as well as the other officers apanying him, the unhappy lord stillplied.
Those horses were the best their region could produce and as already demonstrated earlier in Remus''s attack up the hill, one should not neglect the bond between a horse and its rider.
Thus if the Heeats still wanted those riders to perform as an elite shock unit when they returned, they needed those horses.
''Paying almost two million wesas for a couple of wastes who could not even protect their lord! Bah!''
However although Lord Castell was willing to pay the money, that did not mean he was happy about it, and thus swore to himself, ''I will make sure this gets cut from their property!''
The reason Lord Castell said this was because these horsemen were not regr citizens or peasants.
Rather all of their status in society was very simr to medieval knights, not quite full fledged nobility, but also not negligible peasants.
They consisted of either sons of rich,mon folks who owned a lot ofnd or businesses like workshops, inns, brothels, etc., and wanted to step into the ring of true nobility.
Or noble bastards who had no real position in their family and this was the best alternative for them.
The hope for all of them was that by joining such an illustrious unit they would be able to make enough military contributions to catch the eye of a high ranking noble who would then gift them some hereditarynd for their services.
It was also because of their high status that Lord Castell even bothered to redeem them, as evidenced by how the lord did not seem interested in offering the same price to the infantry.
These men, although simrly well trained were socially too far down thedder for him to care.
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Chapter 1307: Dividing the Family Spoils (Part-2)
Lord Castell would only choose to ransom the elite riders and nobles because socially they were the only ones that mattered.
There was really no need to exin why he had to rescue thetter- they were nobles, end of argument.
While the former also had considerable wealth and thus power in Sybarian society.
Without that, they would not have been able to even be those elite riders because the cost of everything during their training - their food, lodging, the horses and the feed and care for these horses, the wages of the instructors, etc. had to be borne by each trainee themselves.
This was a massive expense that a peasant would have a hard time affording even if he worked his whole life without spending a dime.
Not to mention, at the end of the day, it was possible they would not be even chosen for the unit.
The mostmon reason was injury, like breaking an arm or leg.
But sometimes, even if they all sessfullypleted their training and passed the test, if there were too many applying, then only the amount required to form the unit would be taken,
Because maintainingrge numbers of such elite units was taxing even for a ducal family like the Heeats.
So then those men would be put in reserve, i.e.- they would be asked to return to their work with the promise they would be the first ones to be called if something happened.
Knowing this Lord Castell at one point had even wanted to leave these captured men. But refrained because traditionally, these units were always redeemed no matter what.
The Heeat family did this because this knowledge allowed the riders to fight with high morale, knowing their employer had their back.
But given how these riders broke and ran thus resulting in the death of their lord, Lord Castell nned to at least shear the fat sheeps for their mistake once he got home.
The Heeat family might not kill them for ipetence, but they were also certainly not going to foot the bill for their freedom.
And the same deal went for the nobles, although given how much their family was worth, that roughly 20,000 ropals was not as bad as the 11,000 ropal was for the riders.
Knowing this Alexander had wanted to charge 50,000 ropals for each of those moneybags, but Lord Castell objected, and given they numbered less than forty in total, Alexander frankly found the subsequent haggling too much of a hassle to bother.
Besides, whatever tiny amount he lost in that exchange, Alexander more than made up for it with the roundabout 8,000 regr grunts he got for ''free''.
"We cannot afford to free the infantry. They are yours." Lord Castell simply told Alexander, his voice cold and detached.
Alexander''s heart almost panged hearing this.
Because as a militarymander, he found it hard to ept that one could so easily discard so many loyal men who were willing to fight and die for him.
If Lord Castell did not buy them, these men''s only fate was to be ves.
But at the end of the day it was not Alexander''s ce toin, nor would he look a gift horse in a mouth.
He thus graciously epted the gift, then with a small smile asked,
"Then my lord I would like also to buy the immediate family members of these men. You can deduct the expense for this from the ransom amount I owe."
Alexander''s n was very simr to how he had families of his retainer from Thesos brought over to Zanzan.
This way these men would get a continuation of their lives, and hopefully be loyal to Alexander when he formed them into two new legions.
Why let good soldiers go to waste after all?
"I''m sorry, we do not sell our people." However, all of Alexander''s ns were immediately dashed by Lord Castell''s instant objection, who sharplymented, "They are our people and no foreign lord can simply buy them willy nilly."
And although sounding heartless, there was indeed some logic to his words.
Imagine your father became a prisoner of war in a foreignnd and then after a few months, you, a free man also ended up joining him because your lord sold you like a ve.
This would be outrageous for even the very docile people of this era.
It was also because of this that even when Alexander offered a premium, reasoning that without a male to earn coin, those people left behind would be more burden than they were worth, or that given how these men had fought for the Heeat family, they should be allowed to join their family, Lord Castell refused to budge.
"If you have such a bleeding heart, just free them. You are asking for too many people and this is too much work. Keep them and your money!"
Lord Castell refused to budge despite mary concerns.
"....." While Alexander could only helplessly purse his lips at this, understanding he will need to find a new way to buy the loyalty of those new men.
So, with the ''pleasantries'' done, the two sides finally moved on to the main issue they were here to discuss- what to do with the Margraves.
"My lord, Lady Miranda is the chosen head of the family, as dered by her grandfather, the former head. We hope your family will respect that." Outwardly Alexander presented a very strong pro Lady Miranda stanch, as if wanting to restore the Margraves to their intact glory.
But aftering so far, Lord Castell would be a fool to leave empty handed just because Alexander said so.
He argued fiercely with power,
"From what I have been told by Lord Kite, she was only a regent, a stand in for her son, who is¡ unfortunately dead¡ my condolences. Now it should be Lady Linda''s son, my grandnephew, who is next in line."
This kind of talk went on back and forth for a while, with each other presenting their own version of the events. But nothing there was said that had not been already said earlier as the crux of the matter was that when the Old Margraves lord had died, he did not leave clear instructions to the chain of session.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Alexander and Lord Castell would spew words all day long withouting any closer to a definite, logical answer.
Meaning they had to discuss in terms of strength.
And given Alexander had just won that exchange, he got to dictate the terms first.
He proposed, "My lord, we are willing to give a quarter of the Margrave''snds to Lady Linda and her son. The rest should belong to us the victors."
"A quarter is too little. The least we can ept is half. And in exchange, we will also petition for the Federation council to reinstate the Margrave''s ess to our secure routes¡ both of them."
Lord Castell''s counteroffer was not bad, especially when you considered thest part that was added to sweeten the deal.
Was that not the main reason why the Margraves were in such a bad spot?
Now, if you thought the negotiations were going too smoothly and Lord Castell knew exactly which buttons to press, well once again, it was because Lord Kite had already spoken to Lord Castell about the matter privately, giving him a brief outline of Alexander''s demands.
Alexander had hinted at agreeing to a split of thends if he got to keep his free trade agreement with the Margraves.
And Lord Castell also knowing what his limits were chose to cleverly ept it.
Given the size of the disaster, being able to return with half of the Margrave''s territory was already good enough, able to sufficiently offset his elder brother''s fury.
But after a bit more haggling from Alexander, the Margraves was broken more be like forty, forty, and twenty, with the twenty percent going to¡. you guessed it, Alexander.
And the excuse he gave for this split was almostical, stating,
"I believe there should be a buffer region between the areas controlled by the two sisters¡ controlled by an impartial, neutral party This will prevent any hostile party with malevolent intentions from trying to falsely pit the two blood kin."
This statement was wrong on so many levels that it was not even funny.
First of all, Alexander was perhaps the farthest from being impartial in any way imaginable. Not only had he fought against Miss Linda openly in favor of Lady Miranda, but his interests on the ind were heavily joined.
Secondly, and the much more ridiculous part, was that thend he wanted was all along the eastern coast of the ind, overlooking Tibias and Zanzan.
If he had truly wanted a buffer state, he should have ced hisnd along the boundary of the two sisters.
Now the reason why he wanted hisnd along the sea was obvious. It would be far easier to reinforce it from his homnd this way, and many of the men living around there were also expert sailors and fishermen.
But strangely enough, Lord Castell did not point this ring inconsistency out and instead actually agreed!
Because he took this as Alexander taking his piece of the pie, his reward for the victory.
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Chapter 1308: Dividing the Family Spoils (Part-3)
"So we are agreed then¡.," Sensing the negotiationsing to a close, Lord Castell looked at the notes his scribe had taken and reiterated the terms they had agreed on onest time.
He wanted to make sure there was nothing they missed.
He read,
"Both sides agree that¡
1. All the hereditary nobles and the elite horsemen who served Lord Parker, thetter also belonging to the unit colloquially called ''Firefield,'' would be ransomed at the discussed rates set jointly by the two parties.
2. The agreed amount will be given in full by abination of Margraves and Heeat funds.
3. General Achis will be ransomed at a special 100,000 wesa (1 million ropals).
4. The various wives, mistresses, and otherpanions of the nobles as well as servants such as cooks, servants, bodyguards, etc. have to be redeemed by the individual nobles themselves.
5. There will be a ten year peace treaty between the Margraves family, Lord Alexander, and the Heeat family.
6. In the meantime, none of the four parties will be allowed to interfere in the other''s conflict with a third party unless specifically asked to.
7. The Heeat family will work to allow both the rulers of the Margraves family ess to the safe Sybarian trade routes.
8. The Margraves family will be henceforth jointly ruled by Lady Linda Margraves and Lady Miranda Margraves.
9. Lady Linda Margraves will rule everything from Caira to the western bank of the river Lublio, and Lady Miranda Margraves will take everything from the eastern bank of Lublio to... ( at that point Lord Castell went on to name quite a few natural features and town detailing the bounds of Lady Miranda''s jurisdiction.
This had been already ''pre cut out'' by Alexander and the offer was generous enough for Lord Castell to ept without much haggling.)
10. Pasha Alexander will get the regions...(once again Lord Castell named a lot of regions).
11. Crimesmitted by individuals will be judged by thew of thend where it wasmitted unless they are hereditary nobility.
Andstly,
12. The Margraves family can only be reunited with the support of both Lord Alexander and the Heeat family.
There was really no need to discuss why thatst point was added. It was neither in the Heeat family''s or Alexander''s interest to see the powerful Marquiss family once again get together, such as through the marriage of the two sisters'' children.
Hence when Alexander brought up the issue using the excuse- bating malicious influence by third parties wishing to create friction between the two sisters,'' Lord Castell quickly picked up on the clue and signed the use in.
The handsome lord was frankly quite happy with the result he managed to obtain- even with the total destruction of his main army, he managed to get forty percent- around 80,000 sq km ofnd.
Yes, losing his nephew was a tragedy, and yes, the ''conquerednd'' technically belonged to Lady Linda, but these were mere semantics.
In the grand scheme of things losing Lord Parker was hardly more than a flesh wound for the Heeat.
The family had two other candidates, both reasonably suitable. And even if the worst scenario came and both of them died, there were three more daughters.
So crying for Lord Parker was little more than spilling crocodile tears.
As for Miss Linda, well Lord Castell had to thank Alexander for giving him such a golden opportunity.
With the total decimation of the Margrave army, this youngdy had nothing to defend herself with.
So the ones who would be ''protecting'' her from now on would be the Heeat and as they say, who has muscle, has the say.
The moment this treaty was signed, Miss Linda''s destiny was written to be little more than a puppet.
Thus thedy who had dreamed such grand dreams¡ of even bing the next duchess found all of that suddenlying crashing down.
From that perspective, Lady Miranda''s fate was much kinder. Alexander was neither as oppressive nor could he project power so far from his homnd, thus letting the plumpdy have much greater autonomy.
Thus with thepletion of the negotiations and the signing of the terms, Alexander''s campaign for Galiosos came to an end¡ at least the formal part.
Because there were still a lot of informal things to iron out.
....
Theplete drawing of the treaty took a few days and in the following days after that, as the terms were announced and the relevant people asked to carry them out, Alexander was inundated with requests from all over the ce asking to bend, if not outright change the entire thing.
Miss Linda, Lady Miranda and surprisingly even Lord Kite of all people wanted a piece of his ear.
Alexander would meet the Heeat nobleman first because he could already guess what the two sisters wanted.
He would deal with themter.
Hence letting Lord Kite into his study, Alexander greeted,
"Lord Kite, to what do I owe the pleasure? Ahhh¡ first let me once again thank you for all the hard work you have done... I suspect Lord Castell would not have been such an easy man to talk to without your hand." Alexander was neither courteous nor disrespectful towards the man but kept a professional attitude.
"Hehe, I also did it for myself. The faster I was freed, the better. And you have also been quite generous with yourpensation. I thank you for that. I am actually here for a different reason, my lord."
With the pleasantries out of the way, Lord Kite quickly got down to business.
"I am actually here at the behest of many of the nobles you see. They want you to¡ amend point 4 of the treaty- the one concerning the nobles paying the ransom for their personal entourage. They wish for you to pressure... ummm... ''insist'' that Lord Castell ransoms them all altogether."
The details of the point was finally enough to make Alexander jog his memory of what was being discussed.
He recalled that this was not something that Alexander had proposed but actually insisted on by Lord Castell.N?v(el)B\\jnn
"I only want to redeem the nobles and their immediate family- wife, and sons," The strongly built man said.
And there was some logic behind this ''selfish act''.
You see there was an existing social contract between the Heeat family and the nobles serving them.
The terms of that ''employment'' were that- the nobles would fight for the Heeat family, bringing their valuable financial and manpower resources as well as greatly desired leadership and expertise to the battlefield, and in exchange, the ducal family would promise to help guarantee their safety during campaign¡ to the best of their ability.
The Heeat family was basically those nobles'' protectors, so Lord Castell was currently obligated to rescue the captured men as it was one of his duties.
However this ''pseudo insurance'' was only applicable to the nobles and their immediate family members, it did not extend to their whole entourage of¡ ''boisterous rabble,'' as Lord Castell put it.
Because that would have been ridiculous. The nobles could have gamed the system by asking the ducal family to save every Tom, Dick and Harry they knew.
"Oh, and how do you suppose I do that?" Alexander understood this, which was why he was a bit surprised by Lord Kite''s issue, "If I truly insist on such a thing, I suspect, even a family as wealthy and powerful as the Heeat family would have to bankrupt itself to ''buy'' them all."
"Of course, we are aware of the challenges. We are not asking Lord Castell to ransom all of the captured men¡. Only a selected few. You know the people the lords¡. need the most." As soon as Alexander finished, Lord Kite was quick to reassure the skeptical man to keep him from raising his eyebrows.
"....." Alexander''s lips first curved with an ambiguous smile upon hearing this.
Then, as if he was humoring Lord Kite for the fun of it, smirked,
"And how do you suppose I convince Lord Castell? The treaty has already been signed. Modifying it will be ten times the hassle. Not to mention the question of whether the lords can even afford to rescue all the umm¡ ''people they need the most''."
Alexander used the same words Lord Kite used, bringing along them the real main reason why Lord Castell and the Heeat family never rescued everyone from a noble''s house- many of the noblescked the ability to pay such a huge sum back.
Lord Castell was not doing charity here and the ransom he was paying Alexander to rescue them was not free money.
It was a loan that the nobles would have to pay back once they got it back.
The only advantage of doing it this way was that these nobles got to return home early and there was no interest on the amount.
But despite Alexander''s nitpicking, Lord Kite insisted, "Lord Castell cannot afford to leave so many of us behind. It would cause too much chaos. As long as we stick together, we will have to have to relent. Besides, at the end of the day, it will not even be his money, it will be the Lady Linda''s!"
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Chapter 1309: Deal with Lord Kite (Part-1)
Alexander was initially interested in hearing what Lord Kite had to say when he asked for a meeting.
Who knew it would be pleading on behalf of the nobles and asking him to put pressure on Lord Castell?
Alexander was not interested in doing all that tedious work for free.
Not to mention he also did not think Lord Kite''s suggestion of swindling the Margraves for more money was worth any merit- they were even more broke than the current Lord Castell.
So with a gentle scoff, he gently shook his,
"My lord is only saying this because you do not know the true state of Lady Linda''s finances. There is no way she can help you even if she wanted. I suggest you and the nobles give up here¡Victory and defeats are natural in battle. Take it as part of losing the war. A debt paid to fate." Saying this Alexander paused a bit as a way to put pressure on Lord Kite and then finished by saying,
"Losing even a single battle is sometimes enough to bankrupt even ancient noble houses and even entire countries. The main thing here is to learn from this and grow. I insist you focus on that."
What Alexander really was asking Lord Kite was not to push it.
Lord Castell had made it clear that his family''s coffers were not a charity ''bursary'' and by now, Miss Linda''s stuff was basically his.
Thus for all intents and purposes, the defeated nobles were left to themselves, requiring to rescue the people they valued out of their own pockets.
"....." And hearing this Lord Kite gritted his teeth in frustration.
He had originally hoped Alexander would be more malleable to his persuasion given their previous coboration.
But despite the objections, Lord Kite was unwilling to back down. The various nobles had promised him perks too lucrative to pass up provided he could get them out of this bind.
Hence with a pleading face, he chimed, "My lord, I do not understand why you would be so against this deal. It helps you too. These people will sell for far less in the ve market than they will get you as ransom!"
"I''m sure that if you insist, Lord Castell will relent! The Heeat family is far more prosperous than what you actually think! And he really can''t afford to antagonize so many of us at once. So you should push Lord Castell more." Lord Kite repeated his line as a way to emphasize his point, believing that as the victor of the conflict Alexander had been too lenient in the negotiations.
He wanted him now to squeeze Lord Castell down to his true bottom line, thus extracting the most amount of concessions possible.
"...." While hearing this, Alexander did not know where tough or cry.
''Why are you pitting against your own ally? Aren''t you supposed to serve them?'' He mused, although recalling how Lord Castell had thrown the lot of them under the bus, it was hardly surprising for them to try to repay in kind.
But despite Lord Kite''s bait, Alexander was not interested in biting.
The fact of the matter was he was hardly moved by the allure of ''only a few more million ropals''.
When Lord Kite said Alexander did not know how rich the Heeats were, the same thing could be said for him. The man had no idea how rich Alexander was.
Hence the young pasha found the whole thing too tedious to consider.
Not to mention Lord Kite''s gross underestimation of the value of the captured men and women.
Given they were the entourage of noblemen fighting so far away from home, undoubtedly they were among the best their households had, they would not have been selected otherwise.
Hence Alexander would have no problem putting these skilled prisoners to good use.
The beautiful women could be given as gifts to his retainers and military officers.
The same could be done with the servants, who were well trained in not only their job but their etiquette and speech as well, thus highly desired as mid level employees, in charge of looking after a group of lesser maids and ves.
The bodyguards could be sent to join the army or if they were deemed untrustworthy to the fields or mines where their good, strong bodies would be put to good use.
If there were any experts in a rare field such as military engineers or cartographers or the like, they would be of course snatched up without a second thought.
Andstly, there was a ss of people who most might have overlooked yet were surprisingly very sought after- cooks!
This might sound strange or even weird but many nobles highly desired good chefs.
This was because they were always looking to expand their taste buds with new and never before tasted vors and without the existence of virtually any cookbook, each chef from a region was truly unique.
No one outside their own very small, eligible by only birth, exclusive circle would know the techniques that were developed and refined over centuries by their ancestors, thus leading to all kinds of brand new dishes.
And the nobles always highly appreciated these delicacies because they knew if they were able to show off such never before seen dishes to their peers during a feast or party, they would be the main topic of conversation for at least a few months.
This was a great honor even dukes and kings would be unwilling to give up.
It seemed the concept of celebrity chefs existed as much in this time period as it had in the modern 21st century.
It was even something that Alexander had experienced himself given his ''bold'' idea when it came to cooking,ing up with dishes such as ravioli, ice cream, carbonara, pasta, and various barbecued and smoked meats to name a few.N?v(el)B\\jnn
The nobles who were able to attend and taste these never before seen foods would be the envy of their peers while those who could not had to hide their faces in shame for weeks on end.
ording to the gossip Cambyses sometimes shared, being invited to Alexander''s party was a very prestigious thing even when putting aside his inherent status. The spectacle of new food and vors carried formidable weight in itself.
Thus many close to Alexander would asionally plead to him privately to let them ''hire'' his chefs whenever they were hosting a banquet of their own.
''We have a chef from the Pasha''s kitchen,'' was apparently the way to advertise your party in Zanzan.
Hence it was verymon to gift or lend these culinary to various powers as goodwill gestures.
All in all, these captured men were hardly the burden Lord Kite was making them up to be.
Thus with a firm face, Alexander re-iterated,
"I''m sorry my lord, the treaty has been signed. We are both happy with it. And I would feel disingenuous to bring it back up again with Lord Castell. A gentleman does not break his word."
If Lord Kite was drinking, he might have spit his water.
''You swindled your own ally of more than half hernd even when you won and you talk about credibility¡'' The lord sneered at the back of his mind incredulously, barely stopping his tongue from wagging a bit too much.
Then he wanted to argue how Alexander was wrong about the entire thing and how it could be done without changing anything in the treaty. Lord Castell just needed to pay Alexander cash for the men and women and then retrieve them from the camp.
But soon understood he was missing the main point- Alexander was not interested in discussing this with Lord Castell.
".... then my lord how about we buy them directly from you?" Thus quickly thinking on his feet, Lord Kite proposed with gritted teeth, although his voice sounded a bit hoarse.
The reason why he had not done this before was naturally because theycked the funds.
And when that dilemma was quickly pointed out by Alexander, he first pleaded,
"Please give us some time to gather the funds, my lord! It will not take long."
But this was quickly rejected by an impromptu snort, "You want to wait as you go all the way back to Lynica, gather the required funds, and thene back once again? Who knows what will happen in the meantime? Am I to house, feed, and cloth so many men and women till then for free?"
There were many examples in history when prisoners were sold or even simply executed to save costs.
"My lord, we are willing to make up for that cost in the subsequent ransom price," And Lord Kite knew this, which was why he was quick to add that cause.
But Alexander was not buying it, posing, "Heh, how many of you can afford your own ransom? Worry about yourself first."
Now, what Alexander was implying was actually not urate because even though these nobles might not be that rich, they at least could afford to redeem some of the men.
And that was especially true given the ''discount'' Alexander was giving them, his asking price was quite reasonable.
Lord Kite was also about to argue when suddenly, Alexander smirked, "Although¡. There is something I want!"
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Chapter 1310: Deal with Lord Kite (Part-2)
When collecting ransoms, hard currency was not the only thing nobles had to exchange.
If things were tight and they were short on coin, there were many precedents to them paying it back in other ways- such as political concessions, agreeing to certain policies even if it hurt their own interests, marrying their children to form various alliances, etc.
And as Lord Kite kept constantly bugging him, Alexander suddenly found he could use the desperation to get quite a few things like this from him.
Hence just as the nobleman was giving up, Alexander made this offer.
And it instantly made the other side''s eyes light up with joy! As long as Alexander was willing to talk, it meant there was hope.
Thus letting go of all his weariness, Lord Kite made the offer with a crafty grin, "Then what does my lord have in mind¡ something like our ''goodwill?''
Alexander was d to see he was working with a clever man.
"I want the family members of the roughly 10,000 infantry I captured." He frankly revealed without further ado.
Yes, these were the same men Lord Castell refused to redeem, Alexander had not forgotten them.
"......." But Lord Kite, hearing this suddenly felt like he was being electrocuted!
He appeared stunned, which soon turned to immense anger as his eyes zed.
He spat out with a flushed face, "If you want to treat me like a clown, then I guess this meeting is over my lord!"
Alexander was a bit caught off guard by this sudden show of hostility, unable to figure out where he went wrong.
''Isn''t this how you are supposed to negotiate? Make a sky high ask and then slowly drop down?''
It seemed he had made the ask a bit ''too'' sky high making it go past anything reasonable and bing rather ridiculous.
And Alexander quickly found out why that was.
The family members of the roughly 8,000 men would go number anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000, which was hundreds of times higher than the number of prisoners Lord Kite wanted in return.
Even if Alexander had asked for that many cats and dogs in exchange that would have likely been too much.
Hence to Lord Kite, this sounded like Alexander ying with him.
Alexander quickly called back Lord Kite recognizing his mistake, "My lord, please, please, I believe there has been a trantion error. I am serious about the deal."
Fortunately following that small debacle, the duo managed to hash out a much more reasonable agreement.
Alexander offered, "The nobles can have the guards and other servants they wish to be freed. But I would like to take twenty of the most beautiful women from them¡ as well as some of the engineers or others with special talent. I also wish for Lord Kite to covertly arrange for the families of all the captured seniormanders to be sent to Zanzan."
"This¡." Initially, Lord Kite thought Alexander was asking for too much while offering too little.
So gritting his teeth he grumbled,
"The families of such seniormanders are not easy to ''buy''. Forget me, not even the Duke would dare to disce so many of them at once.
The same problem applies to women. I highly appreciate that these nobledies have not been harmed by your men but¡ many of them are wives of nobility. Let me thank you profusely on their behalf. And we can give you twenty no¡ even a hundred women in gratitude. But just not the twenty most beautiful ones here." Lord Kite was sure many of the married women would rank high on that list.
Not to mention the word ''beautiful'' was too subjective. It not only involved looks and figures but illusory things like temperaments and family background as well.
So how could he not worry that Alexander would take only the most ''precious'' ones?
But when it came to the young pasha, thistter part was hardly the gross dilemma Lord Kite was making it up to be.
He had really asked these women because of the favor Laykash had asked him- to get the cavalry captain that woman who caught his fancy. Alexander himself was really not interested in bedding any of the captured women.
Thus with a casual fling of his palms, he let out,
"Okay fine! I will only take the women who are not officially married to the nobleman, i.e.- mistresses and lovers. They should be statusless right?"
Lord Kite was caught tongue tied at this point.
Indeed, almost none of the women that were with the noblemen here were their official wives. Sybaris was a monogamous society and the nobleman could only marry one so naturally their official consort would be from a simr, high ranking noble family. These women were hardly fit to bear the hardship of campaigning, nor would most noble ever dare to bring such prestigious women to such ''filthy'' grounds.
''A battlefield is no ce for any respectable women,'' The Sybarian high society staunchly believed.
And this was in addition to the fact that for most of the nobles, wars were also a kind of getaway escape.
They could use this opportunity to easily hide from their wive''s prying eyes and take pleasure in things they truly enjoyed, with the people they truly enjoyed being with.
Marriages between nobles were of course almost always of political convenience first and everything else second, thus many of them found their partners far from being ideal.
Which is where their multiple mistresses and lovers came in, these desperate, nearly statusless women were willing to go down and get far more dirty than any respectable noblewoman from a powerful family background ever would.
This type of ''red'' culture was an open secret among the Sybarian nobility, but it was still frowned upon if it was ever revealed openly.
So where could there be a more convenient ce to hide these illicit activities than a battlefield thousands of miles away from the gossiping metropolis of Sybaris?
Virtually all the noblemen practiced this and with everyone doing it, no one ever dared to poke the other.N?v(el)B\\jnn
The nobles could do whatever they wanted in their tent as they wished.
This was of course a very convenient thing for them¡ most of the time.
The problem was unfortunately this time, the same tacit understanding stumped Lord Kite here.
He could neither say yes or no to Alexander''s point.
He did not dare to lie to the pasha and im all the women were the actual wives as it would be too easy to expose his fib.
Alexander would not even need to go through 3 questions before some of the women gave themselves away.
Many of these mistresses were not the most refined bunch andcked that feeling of aristocracy. And that was forgetting the fact that some of the more foreign lovers who were taken as pleasure ves could not even speak thenguage or spoke it with a heavy ent.
But at the same time, saying no was also detrimental to Lord Kite because those nobles really wanted their beautiful lovers back.
However, after weighing the scales, Lord Kite chose the lesser of the two evils.
"Okay! You can have the women my lord!" He produced a solemn nod, saying to himself,
''I can just tell the men that Alexander was too lustful and wanted them all. All Adhanians are like that!''
Thus Alexander managed to get that woman for Laykash.
His luck however ran out when it came to the other issue- the reallocation of the family members.
Even when Alexander was willing to pay arge portion of the ''purchase and shipping price,'' to make up for whatever funds Lord Kite mightck, the nobleman was unable to guarantee he could deliver all the intended goods in the intended volume.
As he said, it was very risky to trafficking humans since he was technically breaking thew.
If Lord Kite tried to be too aggressive, even a nobleman like him would get implicated.
Not to mention, many of those families were not even in his fief. Lord Kite would have to start cutting deals with other friendly nobles to get them¡ which would pose its own security challenges, with not even heavypensation guaranteeing their mouths.
For some nobles, it was always more profitable to take whatever money Lord Kite was offering and then rat him out for their own or their faction''s benefit.
Hence the best Lord Kite could promise was, "I can send some of the men''s wives and any unmarried daughter if they are willing to go. The sons¡. I will try."
The reason behind this statement was self exnatory.
A lord might turn a blind eye to the departure of ''unproductive and burdensome'' widows and young girls, but the men who worked the fields were a different story.
If arge number of them were to start leaving, most would start asking questions.
Hence the best Alexander could do was ask Lord Kite to try his best and get as many families out as possible, whatever rank their men may hold, promising to exchange some of the noblemen''s leftover entourage in return.
"Haha, great, great! I knew Lord Alexander was a man of great generosity!" Lord Kite boisterously cheered.
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Chapter 1311: Lady Lindas Fate (Part-1)
Alexander''s offer to exchange the captured group at ater date sounded like music to Lord Kite''s ears.
It was something he could sell to the rest of his group
''We can''t afford to ransom them free now but the Pasha is willing to give us some time,'' He already thought of what he was going to say.
Thus the man let out a boisterous cheer and proposed to share a few happy drinks with Alexander as a way to toast to their sess.
Alexander naturally had no reason to refuse, so brought out the best bottle he had.
And as they drank, Alexander also made some very vague efforts to form some kind of small alliance with Lord Kite, such as inviting the lord toe visit Zanzan and witness some of its unique products.
"You will like it there my lord. We have things like clear ss, sweet sugar, a new kind of papyrus, aqueducts the size you have never seen, and many more!"
Alexander''s intentions behind all this was to form some kind of contact with the Sybarian noble so that he had someone to get at least the bare gist of the things happening around there.
Alexander had no use for it before but now, he could no longer afford to be blind as a bat.
The problem was developing an intelligencework inside a country that spoke apletely differentnguage was very hard for the time period.
However, if he could develop a pathway through Lord Kite, then it would open up many opportunities for Camius to send his spies without much trouble.
Unfortunately, despite Alexander''s intentions and efforts, Lord Kite appeared only lukewarm in his reception. It was understandable given the short duration of their meeting but still¡ the man only perfunctorily imed that he would consider all the things Alexander alluded to after he had finished cleaning up this current mess.
Alexander had little recourse but to ept it.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
....
Having dealt with Lord Kite, the next day, Alexander chose to meet with his next appointment- Miss Linda.
He looked forward to hearing what this defeated vixen had to say.
The stunningly beautifuldy would enter Alexander''s study with a stunning dress, a jewel encrusted bright red gown that seemed to almost lighten the entire room.
The full sleeved, high cored resplendent custom was made withyers of frills cascading around the lower half, while the sleeves, the hem, and the prominent chest area was iid with intricate gold embroidery, thus giving its wearer almost an ethereal feeling.
If not for the frosty facade that was ring coldly at him, Alexander would have almost mistook the youngdy as a fairying to visit him from the heavens.
"Mydy, wee. You look stunning!"
Appreciating the beautiful sight in front of him, Alexander very cordially invited thedy in with a warm smile stered on his face, although given their bitter past, he also could not help but send some jibes along her way.
He wanted to gloat about his winning.
Hence as the immactedy was taking her seat, Alexander smirked, "But isn''t it a bit too inauspicious to dress so gaudily right after your husband died? His body is not even cold yet!"
"......" The frosty face instantly turned dark, almost stormy hearing this, an extremely hateful chilly sh zing across Miss Linda''s face.
But much to her credit, the young Margraves did not explode as Alexander thought she would.
"My husband is yet to be officially dered dead. He is simply missing." Miss Linda announced in a cool, almost mechanical tone, quickly restoring her facade.
What she just said was reiterate the official position Lord Castell and by extension, the Heeat family had towards Lord Parker''s fate.
By taking advantage of the fact that his body was yet to be found, it was decided for now it would be more convenient for Lord Castell to im this.
It would make it easier for him to face his elder brother.
''Heh!'' Alexander only snickered hearing this, finding the whole mental gymnastics used to get this result tooughable.
''There is no way Parker could have survived the shipwreck. The heavy armor he was wearing was basically a straitjacket. He had to have drowned. And even if the waters could not take him and he somehow swam ashore, he would still have to deal with the outside elements.''
Alexander was quite confident in his assessment of the man''s fate because he had spent no small amount of search parties to hunt and capture all fleeing personnel.
So if Lord Parker had somehow washed ashore or was taking refuge in some vige, he would have known about it.
Alexander however did not poke at Miss Linda''s inted hopes, letting the young widow live out her fantasy.
Miss Linda too seemed to forget that Alexander was the chief reason for her current miserable state and unceremoniously slouching her back on the chair coldly chimed,
"It seems I am not weed here. So I will keep it brief my lord. I would like a loan from you."
The sudden ask was surprising enough to even catch Alexander a bit off guard.
Before meeting her, he had envisioned a lot of reasons why thedy would want to meet him- to curse him, to seduce him, to plead with him to reconsider, to reconcile with him, etc.
But he never thought the prouddy woulde to him for something so¡ mundane.
"Loan? If you need money to rebuild yournd whye to me? Aren''t the Heeat family your patrons? Go ask them?" Alexander sounded genuinely confused.
"...." However just as he produced the Heeat name, he keenly noticed Miss Linda''s eyes produce a chilly sh of hatred, as if that name hit a sore spot, though thedy hid it quickly and tly revealed,
"I need the money to pay the ransom my men you captured as well as pay the bereavement for those that died. Lord Castell has emptied our treasury to pay for his own men."
This let Alexander finally connect the dots.
Lord Castell did not have the cash at hand to ransom all the nobles at once. After all, he came here as originally a relief force, not the bank.
So when faced with this dilemma, his first instinct was to ''borrow'' whatever he could from his niece inw to make up for the shortfall, with the word borrow being obviously in heavy quotation marks.
It was clear as day to anyone that Lord Castell had no intention of giving this amount back ever again.
And worst of all, in exchange, the man did not even offer to free the prisoners belonging to the side that was lending him the money.
So the level of rtionship between Miss Linda and the Heeat could be imagined.
''It seems Lord Kite''s poisoning had worked. The uncle inw hates his niece inw for killing his nephew. Heh heh,'' Alexander thus had to try very hard from letting out a snarky chuckle.
"Ahhh¡ I knew I was forgetting something when I was signing that treaty. Lord Castell only wanted the nobles and riders. There was no mention of Lord Bernard or his men."
He then mused out loud, recalling that in the heat of discussion, this rtively insignificant force had slipped his mind.
"...." While sitting opposite to him, Miss Linda''s face grimaced with pain hearing how disdainfully Alexander was talking about her family. She had been always proud of her lineage, yet now¡. they had been regted to such a pathetic role.
''Ahhh.. howmentable!''
However, there was little she could do but keep all thoughts to herself and hope Alexander was truly as generous as his men called out to be.
"How much are you asking for?"
Thedy thus felt a sudden surge of happiness when Alexander made this statement, relieved that she had not been shown the door out right away.
"Not much! Just 3 million wesa. Half for the ransom and half to pay the grieving families." Miss Linda kept her demand short and reasonable, afraid that Alexander might flip if she stretched her hand too much.
''Hmm¡ Thirty million ropals'' Alexander quickly converted the sum in his head to his local currency and like thedy actually found the amount to be also ptable.
The 3,000 men would roughly go four to five thousand ropals a pop and the family of the roughly 10,000 that died would get about half a year''s worth of their man''s sry.
Alexander then traced his chin as he weighed the pros and cons before suddenly nting his eyes to go slightly off topic,
"I did not know the Margraves family paid its soldiers so well. A death benefit is very rare right?"
He said this because typically soldiers who died in battle got nothing, their families left to fend all by themselves.
Most of the time, they would not even get to see the body because of the distance.
Some forces at least paid for the funeral through a kind of coborative fund everyone could chip in, but usually, very very few forces bothered to give the dead even their barest amount of respect.
But it seemed in that respect, the Margraves were quite respectable.
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Chapter 1312: Lady Lindas Fate (Part-2)
Miss Linda watched Alexander rub his chin with that smug look on his face and felt a bubbling anger grow in her heart.
He looked at her the same way she would look at those beggars on the streets in the rare times she went to the city- equal parts scorn and amusement.
But that anger soon turned into helplessmentation as Miss Linda recognized her powerlessness.
This was quickly followed up by shame as she recalled just how happy she had been just because Alexander did not outright reject her petition for the loan.
Her face felt flushed, and she whispered to herself, ''Oh how far I have fallen.''
But Miss Linda quickly masked these insecurities before Alexander could detect them and tried to strengthen her case for the loan by appealing to Alexander''s own sense of camaraderie with his soldiers,
"We Margraves have always treated those who fight for us with respect. We could not have gotten where we are now if we did not. I''m sure my lord can sympathize."
Alexander first produced a gentle smile at Miss Linda''s words, thinking, ''You could probably only do it because you were a rich, mercantile family. But now?''
Alexander had his own thoughts on what Miss Linda was trying to do, but for now, he kept that to himself.
Instead, he gently chimed,
"The money that you asked for is no small amount. Have you tried asking others for it? What about the surrounding nobles? Or even the city''s various guilds? Don''t they support you?"
"Heh! Support me¡ *Snort*!" Miss Linda instantly let out a mock chuckle as if she had heard a very bad joke, "Why should they support a loser like me? If they want, they will simply support the Heeats! That''s what all those old farts are doing."
Alexander was a bit surprised by how frank Miss Linda was in revealing her current, weak position.
He had assumed she would at least try to mask herplete loss of support among the elders of her family and rather, try to show Alexander she was still in charge.
That seemed the most logical way of getting the loan from him.
But Alexander appeared to be proven wrong here, while Miss Linda was not finished and went on to further vent,
"Even the nobles who might have supported me now cannot! Those northern barbarians slew half of them and plundered the rest down to their breaches. Heck, they areing to me asking to save them! So where will they save me¡ hahahah!"
Thatst bout ofughter was tingled with such sadness and desperation that it made even Alexander''s cold heart beat a few bits faster in sympathy.
''So you have been abandoned?'' He lightly mused inside, recognizing Miss Linda''s position in the family.
"What about taking from Lord Castell''s men? 10,000 men so far from home. Surely each of them must have some significant funds. I reckon you could get even a million wesas if you squeezed them dry enough!"
Then suddenly Alexander made this bold statement while doing a few simple calctions in his head.
Assuming that the Heeat men were paid simrly to his legionaries and that for this campaign, these men would have to be paid at least six months of their pay, they stood to gain roughly 1,200 ropals or 120 wesas.
Multiply that by the total number of men and vi- you got a significant amount of money there.
However, contrary to Alexander''s expectation of a cry of joy from Miss Linda at this amazing answer, thedy initially only appeared stunned, before soon turning somewhat angry,
"Sailors are always paid six months of their sry in advance before they set sail. If the deploymentsts more than that, they will be paid the remaining amount after they get back. This is general knowledge!"
The way Miss Linda said it, it appeared as if she was a bit peeved that Alexander made such a foolishment.
"Paying six months of sry at once ismon? Are all navies in the world that rich?" However Alexander did not seem to get that memo, as widening his eyes, he inquired so curiously.
Needless to say, the amount of money involved here was quite substantial, and ording to what he knew, there were not many in the whole world who had so much cash on hand.
This was because in this time period, most nobles and even countries ran quite thin budget surpluses, and even then that would be more in the form of goods like precious stones, gold items, paintings, clothes, food, etc., not usable tenured coins.
Treasuries filled with heaps of gold, silver, and gems did exist and they were all very eye catching to see, but whenpared to the total wealth in a country, even the king''s personal stash fell short.
While hearing the question, the scowling Miss Linda felt a sudden strange kind of joy.
Atst, there was something she knew more than Alexander''s.N?v(el)B\\jnn
Hence she could not help but show off.
"Yes, that''s right. Giving out sries each month is considered too much of a hassle. It is much more convenient to pay semi annually."
"It also helps us lighten the burden on the treasury because we do not need to maintain so much cash for the whole time of the year, only for two months- September and March. Those are the autumn and spring harvest months and the time we have the most amount of money on hand."
Alexander was quickly enlightened by this piece of new news and found it very reasonable.
Such an arrangement was indeed much better for letting the families ride out many mary difficulties.
He had not thought about it like that because- one- his logistic chains were much more robust than most forces in the world and could efficiently give out the sry, and two- because he was not that dependent on ie from his fields.
In fact, although sugar was his most profitable good per kilogram, his biggest source of revenue actually came from selling iron.
The st furnaces could be run twenty hours a day seven days a week without really caring if the outside was warm, wet, dry, or windy, and as long as Alexander was diligent, the quality of this produce would never deviate too much.
This was in much contrast to the sugar production where there were many times Alexander had to discard vast tons of the beetroots because either the weather did not y ball, or there was some kind of insect germination, or the produce caught a blight, or small rodent took a bite of it or a million other different things.
Sometimes it would be so bad that Alexander would have to discard almost the whole batch as it was deemed unfit for human consumption, turning it into low quality animal feed.
There were two times when even the animals got sick eating the thing, the disease transferring from nt to them.
Relying on agriculture for one''s ie really was subjecting one to the whims of mother nature. Sometimes she graced them with her bounties, and sometimes with her fury.
Alexander was able to circumvent all this risk by having a steady stream of ie from other more reliable sources but most noblehouses could not- they were still very agrarian in nature.
Hence the preference for periodic payments.
And this was also not the only reason as Alexander heard Miss Linda continue,
"And this also helps lighten the weight of the ships. I am not only talking about the weight in terms of precious metals here. More than that, there is less need for security to safeguard the coins. I hear theft in the army is one of the greatest challenges it faces in maintaining discipline."
As Miss Linda said, thatst bit suddenly caught Alexander off guard because he initially thought thedy was talking about pirates.
But he found that thought preposterous the moment he gave himself a second to think about it.
Not even all the pirates in the whole Central Seabined would have the guts to attack a 10,000 strong navy fleet. There were easier ways tomit suicide.
So what Lord Castell was really afraid of was his own men stealing the coin.
Indeed, theft and robbery among fellow soldiers were usually rampant in all militaries during the time.
It was because of this that Lord Castell and his men ultimately carried only a few hundred thousand wesas with them, just enough to cover everyday costs and deal with typically seen problems along the way.
The trouble was having to ransom a few thousand high value targets did not fall into ''typical'' problems category.
And as Alexander realized this, he could not help but muse, ''Hmmm, maybe I should do the same!'' The logistics of his army would indeed be simpler this way.
But for now, he shelved it to the back of his head and instead, turned his attention to thedy opposite of him, posing with a tone of appreciation,
"I must say I am surprised you know so much about all this mydy! Did your husband tell all this to you?"
Womenfolk were generally quite sheltered in affairs such as warfare and so Alxx thought Lord Parker must have shared such secrets.
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Chapter 1313: Lady Lindas Fate (Part-3)
As Alexander sat opposite thedy and talked, he found that conversing with her was actually quite pleasant.
The defeateddy appeared to have let go of a lot of her inborn arrogance and with a face as beautiful as her''s, it made any man feel ttered to have her attention.
While Miss Linda for her part also kept talking in order to try and make a better impression on Alexander.
Thus she kept talking, recounting how she knew so much about how soldiers were paid.
"It was my grandfather. He wanted to prepare me for the family''s takeover. So he personally taught me many things¡ including how to lead and finance an army."
At this point, Miss Linda''s eyes went a bit misty as she recalled her grandfather''s many pieces of advice. One of which was that as a mercantile family, coin was always their favorite weapon and that they should splurge on it without restraint when it came to defending it.
And from the opposite side, Alexander also noticed the pause and clearly sensed that thedy had much love for this elder man, undoubtedly much, much more than even her former husband.
Miss Linda managed to quickly bring her heaving heart in check, and using fast talks to try to dampen her rising emotions, quickly concluded,
"He also told me that this type of arrangement benefited the fighting men too. The pay boosted fighting morale and for many, this ''capital'' was arge necessity. Especially the men with families¡ sometimes they would not even leave their homes without it."
"These men would leave their wives with a significant part of their paid wages to keep the house running while they were away and then also have arge part of the remaining amount deducted as weapons, lodging, and provision expenses by the military."
"So most would be left with just enough to make their ends meet- such as asionally buying liquor, good food like meat from nearby markets, pleasure women and gambling."
The story was simr for unmarried men too, only here the ''wives'' would reced by ''parents and brothers and sisters'' or simply ''pleasure''.
But whichever it was, at the end of the day, most soldiers would be considered quite poor, very different from the juicy targets Alexander was making them out to be.
That was also why Lord Castell could not just take the money for himself. Instead, he had to ''borrow'' since otherwise, the nobles would start to object to remaining Alexander''s prisoners for too long.
...¡
Hearing all this, Alexander was able to atst determine that Miss Linda indeed had no way to raise capital other than him.
Then, after keeping Miss Linda on the hook for so long, Alexander finally dered this verdict,
"Mydy, although we have had your ups and downs, I can agree to give you the money. You will find me to be a generous man in that regard. But before that, I ask you to exin one thing¡. Why should I? We are technically still in opposite camps. I do not believe you still harbor any goodwill for your sister, someone I still support. So tell me, what is it in for me?"
What Alexander made was the most natural question.
And the answer frankly surprised him, because instead of pleading or swearing some kind of allegiance to Alexander as he had guessed, Miss Linda''s eyes suddenly went from frosty to very furious,
"Because this is the least you can do! You have destroyed our lives, split our family, taken half of ournds, and then even shamelessly dered yourself a ''neutral party''. You owe us this much- to both me and my son."
Beforeing here Miss Linda had of course rehearsed what she was going to say when Alexander asked her why she should give her the money.
And needless to say, this was not what she had practiced.
But when she looked at him and saw that ''sanctimonious'' smile, all her memorized thoughts went down the drain and her tongue seemed to gain a life of her own.
She only wanted to vent.
"Hahaha, you really did not hold back your tongue mydy¡ haha!" Alexander for his part did not feel even a bit offended at the usation, and humorously chuckled, "Well at least you are honest. I would have been more worried if you tried to bend the knee and suck up to me."
Miss Linda''s beautiful face however only twisted seeing Alexander''s nonchnt reaction and soon even her teeth began to produce a grating sound when she heard the man''s defense,
"I admit I am guilty of all that you use me of. Indeed I had a hand in your husband''s demise, as involuntary as it might have been.
Indeed I split the Margraves family with the Heeat family for my benefit.
And indeed I took arge portion ofnd in the guise of peace as payment of my services to Lady Miranda. I make no excuses for that. Neither do I ever intend to. This is my prize for putting my neck on the line¡ many times literally."N?v(el)B\\jnn
Alexander''s tone here was firm, almost just and sage like, betraying not a hint of regret over how he had screwed his ally over.
Rather, he cleverly shifted the me to the opposite side, saying,
"But before you go off pointing fingers, please recall that I initially offered genuine peace. I only wanted a guarantee of my interests and apromise- your sister gets to rule until your sones of age. This should have been a no brainer for you."
"You already had the support of the family''s elders and if you then added your husband''s position in the Heeat family, it would have made your son''s position unshakable even if Lady Miranda had ten more sons. You should know better than me what unconditional support from a ducal family meant.
They could have helped your family far more than what an outsider like me could have ever given as Lady Miranda''s supporter."
"But youcked the patience or foresight. You could have straggled your elder sister out slowly but you grew arrogant. So you refused to take my hand. And look what that has gotten you?"
As Alexander destroyed Miss Linda''s point to smithereens, he noticed a pair of very clear teardrops slid past the fluffy rosy cheeks, bitter regret crystallizing right in front of him.
Now to be fair to Miss Linda, what Alexander said was not exactly scrupulous. Many of his points relied on the power of hindsight.
At the time, Miss Linda or more specifically Lord Parke had held such an overwhelming advantage, outnumbering Alexander 4 or 5 to 1 that it would have been quite foolish for them to consider the offer.
It was only after they found out about Alexander''s military prowess that they even began to think of a negotiated settlement.
But by then they had lost so much that the ball had pretty much left the court.
Alexander watched Miss Linda''s dams break with some surprise and soon felt a slight pang in his heart seeing the sad state of the beauty, ''Damn! She really is something!''
Seeing such a doll really made the man in him feel hurt, as an overwhelming desire to protect her bloomed in him.
Thus figuring that perhaps he might have pushed her a bit too hard, Alexander quickly raised his hands and switched to a more soothing tone,
"Okay, okay, let''s not get bogged down on who did what. What has happened has happened. Let it be. But let me ask you onest thing¡ say I give you the money. Then what? How will you pay back the amount?"
"Do really you believe a merchant family can''t pay back the amount? Even if the interest is 10 percent, it will be no problem for us. You will get your money within 3 years!" For Miss Linda, the answer to Alexander''s dilemma seemed simple.
ording to her, she only needed the money to get started and everything else would fall in order.
"Hmmm¡" But the hum told that Alexander was not convinced, as narrowing his eyes, he chuckled,
"Mydy, who are you trying to fool here? You said it yourself, didn''t you? All your elders support Lord Castell now. So whatever your family earns from now on¡ it will end up in the Heeat family''s coffers, not yours."
Alexander quickly noticed Miss Linda''s eyes dim as the man before her easily pointed out the w in her n, as he went on to expose her n,
"I can see what you are trying to do here. And let me be frank, I did not think there is any point. The Margraves family¡ at least for the time being has been for all intents and purposes defeated."
"So if you are hoping to buy back the loyalty of your men using money¡ then sorry, I have some bad news for you. Whatever you can give them, the Heeat family can give better. I suggest you give up "
"....." Alxx saw thedy once again lose her voice, at which point, he dropped the bombshell,
"In fact, if you want the best for your family, the best thing for you to do is marry Lord Castell!"
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Chapter 1314 Lady Lindas Fate (Part-4)
''Marry my uncle inw?''
As Alexander made the incredulous statement, a sudden bout of silence descended over therge study as Miss Linda struggled to process what she just heard.
This was not something she had even dared to contemte.
Marrying her brothers inw¡. sure!
But now that she was forced to think of this alternative option¡. a sudden surge of anger filled her heart!
This was because she recalled the few interactions he had with her, where Lord Castell spared none of his angry or nasty looks.
Due to Lord Kite''s efforts, the man med her for all the troubles, so he bore no goodwill towards this rebellious niece inw.
Vice versa, given Lord Castell''s recent actions, Miss Linda also saw the man in a very negative light.
"What nonsense are you spewing? Lord Castell cannot even stand me!" Thedy hence spat at Alexander with a re.
The man however was not discouraged by thedy''s outburst.
On the contrary, he was quite pleased, chuckling to himself, ''Hehe, so you would be okay if he could stand you?''
Nitpicking at Miss Linda''s words like this, Alexander then reinforced his point,
"And why not marry Lord Castell, mydy? After all, you are still very young. And from what I heard, he is single. Given your current position, it is already written you have to re-marry. The elders of your family will never let such a fine¡ ''political pawn'' go unused."
"So rather than wait like an obedientmb on a chopping block, why not take the initiative yourself? At least that way you will have some say in whom you are forced to spend the night with every day."
Alexander keenly noticed Miss Linda''s mood go from anger to bitterness and then atst helplessness as he said his piece.
She clearly loathed the term ''political pawn'' but was also unable to deny the fact she was exactly that, with no hope in sight of being anything otherwise.
"Is this your condition for loaning the 3 million? That I marry that old fart?" Then as Miss Linda came to grips with her state, she suddenly opened her mouth to pose this, her tone t yet acrid.
"Hahaha, of course not. I am not ''that'' generous. That is that this is this." Alexander very candidly proved her assumptions wrong, the humorous chuckle cutting through the heavy atmosphere of the room like a mellow breeze, "I remember what happenedst time I gave you money. How could I repeat the same mistake twice?"
Alexander''s eyes turned sharp and unyielding as recalled how he was swindled.
"That was all my husband. I had nothing to do with it!" Miss Linda however was very quick in her defense, dumping all responsibility on the poor, missing man, even though in reality it was actually her grand design.
After all, dead men tell no tales.
And then, in an effort to swing the subject elsewhere sharply added without giving Alexander to interject, "But if you are going to bring up that excuse then why are you bothering to stretch these talks? Stop wasting my time and just say no. I will be on my way!"
''This woman¡..'' Alexander once again found himself surprised by the cockiness of thedy in front of him.
Even though she was drowning in trouble, even though she was trying to pretend to be polite to him to save herself from mortal peril, there were times when her innate pride could not help but burst outward.
She was like a proud peacock, unable to hide her true colors no matter how much she tried.
And Alexander hated to admit it, but he did find this mercurial, moody woman very attractive.
''She is like a wild, untamed tempest! Any man would love to challenge her! To bring her under control.'' Alexander thought while gazing at that immacte face, feeling a sudden surge of desire to conquer her and bring her to his hill.
But Alexander was not conversing with Miss Linda just because he found her struggles fun to watch.
There were potentially many political advantages to what he was suggesting, the main one being to cause a fracture between Duke Heeat and his younger brother using trouble over session.
And in order to incite such a thing, Alexander chose to pretend as if he did not hear Miss Linda''s acrid remark, and he gently chimed,
"Of course, I know mydy nothing to do with the theft. That is why I did not bother to bring up the past."
Now the main reason was because he had already retrieved most of the lost money when he raided Lord Parker''s camp, thus dampening some of the fire in his heart.
But Miss Linda did not need to know that as Alexander continued,
"I am only proposing this marriage because I think that is the best way for you to pay me back the loan. I believe any husband will pay back the debts his wife owes."
"......." Miss Linda found the reasoning hard to counter and an air of stillness enveloped the room as the gears in her head worked overtime to process the information.
It was a whileter when she opened her mouth,
"But what makes you think Lord Castell will want to marry me? Or that I even want to marry? And what is stopping me from marrying one of my brothers inw? That makes much more sense. They are clearly the far better options. One of them is even the one next in the line of session."
At this logical question, Alxx silently mused to himself, ''If you do that, then how can I cause trouble?'' before quickly rebuffing these apparently greedy thoughts,
"Hehe, and what makes you think they will want to marry you?"N?v(el)B\\jnn
And then before the prideful woman could reply, he answered his own question, Enjoy exclusive content from empire
"Lord Castell will want to marry you for the same reason you think Duke Heeat''s sons will want to marry you- to obtain your family''snds. And before you go off day dreaming there, I suggest you take your eyes off your forehead and bring it back to reality."
"Your brothers inw are not here. No one knows when¡ if ever they will be here. In fact, you two have barely even heard of each other. So to hope that you will catch their eye¡ and the correct one at that¡ is nothing but pure folly."
"......." Miss Linda''s eyes once again lost a bit of their luster as she heard Alexander''s analysis, who was iming that her hopes were a long shot among long shots.
There was no guarantee that that would ever happen.
And even if it did,
"That is not to mention how any marriage with them will take a long, long time to finalize. There will be too many things to work out. The very first of which would be determining the sessor. Remember¡ the Heeat family has not even officially dered your husband dead. So your two brothers inws should have their hands quite full already, fighting each other! Where will be have the time to look for a wife?"
Now, Alexander did not have any intelligence regarding this and really made up the whole thing on the spot using his logic and imagination.
But the fortunate thing was Miss Linda was in the boat as him and had no real idea of the ducal family''s session troubles.
Thus as Alexander cleverly pointed out many of the hurdles, Miss Linda thought that she really could not afford to stick to her own ns.
"So your wish is that I take the bird I already have in my hand?" She spookily spoke, atst, her teeth clenched in unwillingness.
"Yes. Lord Castell is here in Caira. He told me he will remain here until things fully stabilized. That should take a long time. Long enough for him to change his thoughts about you." Alexander spoke not so euphemistically about Miss Linda flirting to seduce the man during his stay here.
However it seemed that Miss Linda was still very reticent about taking Lord Castell as her spouse, and thus sought more excuses,
"Then¡ what if I were to throw my support for one of my brothers inw? With my status and family¡. I am sure I will be more than wee! And then¡"
''*Tsk*, there is really no going around you is there?''
Looking at thedy''s dreamy, longing look, Alexandermpooned a bit inside a bit, finding it problematic that thedy kept finding ways to dodge his proposal.
So to push her once and for all, the pasha spoke hurriedly as a way to dismiss her idea,
"I am afraid the decision to support Duke Heeat''s sons will be made by your family''s elders¡ not you. This is too big a decision to leave to a weak widow like you. And who do you think controls the elders now?"
"......" Miss Linda grimaced at the answer, the nameing up being the same name as her to be husband.
"Like I said¡ the only way for you to get even some token semnce of independence is to marry Lord Castell. And I suggest you start doing it as soon as you can. Because your people cannot wait too long"
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Chapter 1315 Lady Lindas Fate (Part-5)
As Alexander ended his speech to Miss Linda with the words, ''....your people cannot wait too long'' thedy understood this was a not so subtle threat.
It alluded to the fact Alexander was not willing to feed and care for all those captured men indefinitely.
The original n for Alexander was to take the majority of them as war ves back to Zanzan, sparing only Lord Bernard and a small entourage for their voluntary divulging of information regarding Lord Parker.
Without Lord Bernard''s very eager recount, Alexander might not have been able to reach the hill before sunset, and from then on, who knew how the story would have unfolded?
But even without Alexander''s ''strong urging'', Miss Linda knew she would have to move quickly.
Because she needed those people''s support to stabilize her own rapidly plummeting position.
Thus as her mood to helpless eptance, Alexander heard thedy open up onest time, in a voice that sounded t, yet was filled with so many upheaving emotions,
"So let me get this straight my lord. You are willing to give me the loan¡ provide Lord Castell promises to marry me. Am I getting that right?"
"Yes! I heard from Lord Kite that despite Lord Castell''s age he is still unmarried. So if you can charm him, he can readily ept. There is no family to causeplications." Alexander quickly expanded, reassuring thedy.
As for any societal taboo regarding an ''awkward'' union, there was no need to even bring it up. There were records of far more bizarre marriages happening because of political convenience.
Even a monogamous society like Sybarsis was not immune from that gue.
In fact, it could be argued that because men were allowed to officially marry only one woman, the limited choice sometimes made their rtions even more twisted.
Apparently, there was even one record of a son marrying his mother in order to strengthen ties between his and his mother''s house¡ although that record''s veracity was quite contested.
But still, just given that it even existed, spoke volumes to the types of unions that were still agreeable to the Sybarians.
This was also why Miss Linda never brought up their kinship as any sort of barrier.
Instead, hearing Alexander''s reply, she curiously quizzed, "Then do you why did he not marry yet? Is there something wrong with him?"
"Haha," Alexander could not help but let out an amused chuckle at the innuendo, before shaking his head, "I''m afraid mydy will have to find out the extent of his bedroom prowess by yourself. I do not know."
"But Lord Kite did say it was because he has many mistresses all over Lynica and does not want to get tied down with only one woman. This also lets him avoid posing any threat to his elder brother. The truth is probably somewhere in between."
Alexander had gotten this information during his short drinking time with Lord Kite, where the two men also discussed various general knowledge of the two countries.
"......" Alexander''s answer made Miss Linda enter into another spell of rumination, as she worked on deciphering the new information.
''If he really has many lovers¡ there is impossible for him not to be able to get it up!'' She thought with a heavy sense of disappointment.
To her who already had a son, a powerful yet impotent husband seemed to be the best candidate.
But since that was not possible, she would have to make do with the former and not thetter.
"*Sigh*," Thus releasing a long, held in sigh, Miss Linda atst curtly nodded her head, "Okay, then I agree my lord. I will try to propose a union with Lord Castell."
This sounded like music to Alexander''s ears, making him feel like he had just managed to take a great step forward.
''With this many things will be easier!''
However before he could burst out into congrattoryughter, Miss Linda suddenly mmed him with another question,
"But how can you be sure that he will ept? As you said, he already has many lovers, and yet no legitimate heir, because he does not wish to raise any conflict with his brother. But if he were to marry me¡ with my son''s identity. I have already noticed some very unfriendly gazes being sent to him! That''s why I thought marrying my brothers inw would be better."
For the first time, Alexander sensed fear in thedy''s voice as she confided in him, her eyes darting furtively as if very confused.
It did not take a genius to figure out where this wasing from.
Which is why he once again insisted Miss Linda follow his n,
"That is why you should marry Lord Castell. Duke Heeat knows his younger brother has no love for the seat. Otherwise, if you were to marry one of your brothers inws¡ there is no guarantee they won''t kill you and your son once they get the position."
"I know that ording to Sybarianw, if the father dies, the son should automatically take over. And you could try to argue that. The problem is Lord Parker died too early. He was not even officially crowned the Duke."
"So the seat will now go to the one the current Duke dered as his next sessor and his progeny, not Lord Parker''s. As for the chances of that sessor happening to be your son, well I don''t need to tell you how small that is do I?"
The present Miss Linda and her son were not only totally unknown to the vast majority of the nobles there but the contender was also literally an infant.
Someone who it was not even known would even make it past childhood. Child mortality during this time was fifty percent after all.
So if Duke Heeat were to even consider such an unknown candidate, most nobles would be very displeased.
Especially when he had two strapping sons already by his side.
All this was told to Alexander by Lord Kite during their conversion, during which the man highlighted the challenges the Heeat family was bound to face.
"The biggest mistake Lord Parker made was not fully concluding the marriage," He imed while taking a long sip of the drink, before quickly adding when noticing Alexander''s inquisitive face,
"Now, don''t get me wrong my lord. Of course, they are married as husband and wife. And their child is legitimate, no doubt about that."
"The problem I am talking about is that Lord Parker never took Miss Linda to his home. This is a big taboo in our society¡ for a woman to not visit her house. Because of this most nobles will never ept her as their own no matter how much she tries. She will continue to be an outsider¡ always."
Alexander quickly grasped the issue here.
In this time period, and even in modern times to some extent, as soon as a woman was married, her husband''s house became her home, and she became a guest in her own father''s house.
This was also the way Sybarians transformed ''outsiders'' into their own kin.
But sadly, Miss Linda never got to go through that ritual. And now with her husband dead¡ there was really no house for her to return to, only an empty room.
''"No one will ever ept such an outsider as their new duchess." Lord Kite thus very prominently pronounced.
And needless to say, Miss Linda was well aware of that.
Which was why she originally wished to marry one of her brothers inw. It would solve a lot of her problems.
But as Alexander pointed out, this was hardly a sound move.
The w in her logic was beginning to unravel, and Miss Linda''s face started to fall.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
This was exactly the result Alexander wanted.
So he kept pushing,
"Also as a man, I can also confidently tell you we do not like to take care of other men''s children. It hurts our ego. We always want our women to belong to us and only us."
"So what happens when your son has a younger sibling from one of his uncles? Won''t he be neglected? He might even be seen as a threat by his now stepfather and stepbrother. And your new husband will surely favor his blood over his brother''s! Can you ept that?"
"...."
"In that respect, Lord Castell is much better. Clearly, he has no love for having children. So he is either childless or even if he has some, they are all illegitimate. Much less threatening for you pair!"
"......" As Alexander finished he noticed Miss Linda''s eyes shifting a couple of times from one corner to the other, as if desperately trying to find a way out.
¡.Until finally it settled.
"Okay! I will try to get Lord Castell to marry me!" She announced with a resigned voice, her eyes appearing almost pitiful,
But before the happiness Alexander felt from hearing the agreement could spread, her demeanor suddenly changed, and producing a mocking sneer she added,
"However then I want 6 million wesas! 3 million for my dowry!"
"And more than that... I want to know the truth! The truth of why you are so concerned about getting me married to that old fart. Heh! What''s in it for you? " Explore more stories with empire
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Chapter 1316 Lady Lindas Fate (Part-6)
Alexander''s lips visibly twitched hearing Miss Linda''s demand and even felt his heart do a small leap.
''60 million ropals!'' He cried inside, the joy he felt upon hearing her agree instantly dissipating at the premium ask.
And that was not even the worst bit.
What she wanted him to answer was perhaps even more damning.
''How did she figure it out?'' Alexander found himself a bit rmed, trying to figure out where he had messed up.
And as if sensing Alexander''s incredulous gaze, Miss Linda let out a pleased chortle that reverberated across the whole room, "Hehe, what''s wrong my lord? You look suddenly a bit pale! Did I say something untoward?"
Those narrowing eyes looked down at Alexander like a bird of prey, sharply cutting into him like fearsome talons.
"Isn''t mydy asking a bit too much?" The young pasha atst decided to open his mouth with a slightly forced smile.
"To answer your question¡ the reason why I want you to marry Lord Castell is simple¡ I believe it will bring peace to thesends. This is something I would very much like to see¡ at least for the duration of the treaty." Alexander imed while straightening his back, before ending with a simple brush of his hands,
"As for the money¡. 6 million is really too much. At best I can do 4. Take that extra 1 million as a wedding present!"
Alexander was rich enough to throw that extra 10 million ropal without feeling too much pain and
thought that this incredible show of generosity would be enough to sway thedy.
But Miss Lindapletely bypassed his ''suggested gratuity'' like she did not even hear it.
"I thought I asked you to be honest my lord. I want the truth. Why do you really want me to marry Lord Castell?" Miss Linda''s eyes zed as her cold voice told Alexander she was not going to ept the deal without finding out what Alexander was really up to.
She reasoned, "If you really wanted peace, the best thing you could have done was simply ship me off to Lynica. There I would be unable to do anything. Out of sight, out of mind. Those old farts will be certainly more than happy for to me go.
And then after a few years¡., maybe you could even have my ''new husband'' kill me and my son¡ just like you said earlier. That would have been the best way to clear the way for my elder sister. So why go through all the hoops and make me stay?"
"...." Miss Linda''s words suddenly made Alexander''s plot be see through like perforated cheese and caused the man to produce a serene poker face, as an eerie bit of quietness descended upon the room.
Then for a while the two man and woman found themselves staring at each other with a disquieting ambiance.
Until¡.
"Hahaha¡" the stalemate was broken by a low, frank chuckle from Alexander, causing Miss Linda opposite of him to scowl.
She heard a bemused voice address her with a very mirthful undertone,
"You indeed have a better head than your sister. She might not have been clever enough to notice this." Alexander judged before his voice suddenly turned hard and business like,
"You want to know why I favor a union between you and Lord Castell? Fine, I don''t mind¡ it is not anything malicious as you might think anyway."
"I want you to marry Lord Castell because I believe it will distract you from causing trouble to your sister and thus by extension me. I want this because I do not have confidence in the peace treaty terms we signed. Ten years is probably too long for you to stay your hand."
"..." Alexander quickly noticed Miss Linda''s eyes flicker with a chilly light as he made that statement as if she was angry at having her thoughts exposed.
But thedy said nothing to deny this because, at that point, she would be just insulting Alexander''s intelligence. Alexander had already made up his mind and she decided to let him be without making any furtherments.
While pleased with not being interrupted, Alexander continued,
"And the way I want you to distract yourself from picking on your sister is by letting you¡or more specifically your son have a chance to contend for the seat of the next duke."
"????" The bold statement instantly made the scowl on the beautifuldy''s forehead turn into a surprised grin, as her ears quickly perked up.
She might have not been very interested in what Alexander was saying till then¡ but now¡ it was as if fresh life giving water was being poured over her shattered dreams.
And noticing that he finally got his audience''s attention, Alexander lightly grinned before continuing in that maic tone,
"In order to allow your son any chance at bing a duke¡ the best helper you can find for him is Lord Castell. This union will make it invaluable to both the pair of you."
"First of all- it will help you get back into the good graces of ¡'' both your husband''s'' family. Meaning you could make the Heeat family stop stripping you of all your wealth. The taxes earned by your family will remain in Caira, rather than being used to please some unknown lord living in some unknownnd."
"This ''ungiven'' tithe can then be used to help you quickly recover your war tornnds and let you get back up on your feet."
"With that considerable resources at your disposal¡I believe you could then substantially affect the moods of the nobles there. Combine that with Lord Castell''s political symbol as the current duke''s brother and you will undoubtedly be able to throw your son''s name into the lot for the duke with considerable might."N?v(el)B\\jnn
"Even if you need some time to get going and Duke Heeat chooses one of his sons as the next sessor in the meantime, it will still be possible for you to contend that decree¡. if you are sufficiently powerful enough. If you are powerful enough you could even have the ''new duke'' be announced illegitimate! And that your son- as the progeny of the first son of the ''former Duke'' is the one and only legitimate heir!"
"All kinds of impossible things can suddenly be possible¡ if you are powerful enough."
"......." Each of Alexander''s honeyed words sounded like the whispers of the devil of Miss Linda, yet she found she could not get away.
She was like a moth to a me, drawn to it despite the clear perils involved.
The embers of her broken heap of dreams that she thought had been thoroughly extinguished began to smoke and rise up, her soul waking up with a strange, inextinguishable me.
''Right! Just because I lost that waste does not mean I need to give up. There are still others!'' Miss Linda med the mes of her soul even more, using Alexander''s words as crackling firewood.
And as Miss Linda thought about it more and more, she soon came to realize that she would now marry Lord Castell now even if Alexander objected!
While from the opposite side, although unable to guess her exact thoughts, Alexander sensed that thedy had started to pant a bit in excitement.
And when she opened her mouth to speak, the young pasha clearly noticed a very excited undertone to her voice,
"Hehe, so you are asking me to let Lord Castell be the stepping stone for my son? I seem to have underestimated you, my lord. Hehe, even though I thought I had judged you highly, it seems I have still underestimated you!"
Miss Linda repeated the words like great admiration, and the sharineced words sounded like the songs of a bird to Alexander''s ear.
The man stared back at the excited face with that wide grin and those twinkling ck eyes shimmering in the light with some awe, as his heart could not help but jump a bit at the beauty.
Miss Linda seemed to genuinely worship him at this point, and looking at the gorgeously dressed red fairy, a sudden urge to obtain her overwhelmed Alexander.
It took no small amount of willpower for Alexander to maintain the cid look on his face, only letting out a thin smile to curtly nod,
"I''m d I could make you see things in the best way, mydy. As long as you can make Lord Castell bring him over to your side¡you can go anywhere. I am confident you have the necessary charms."
Miss Linda gave a wild grin at this, not denying her capabilities.
In fact, she was rather confident in her skills and even seriously mused,
''The fact that the man has so many mistresses means he is not a wood. That''s all I need. Hehe¡ once he gets a taste of me¡ Hmm, maybe I should get elder sister here too! Give him a two for one!''
The elder sister here of course referred to Lady Adele, the middle sister, and given the kind of ''bonding'' the two shared with their husbands together very recently, it was only natural for this scheming youngdy to think like that.
Miss Linda was reluctant to let her go just like that and even figured using her to rope General Achi to her side.
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Chapter 1317 Frank Talks (Part-1)
As Miss Linda thought about making hereback to the grand stage andpeting for power, she quickly found herself wanting more allies.
And who was it that came up to her mind at the very top of the list?
Her ''bosom'' sister of course.
After how much they shared with each other in the past few months, Miss Linda naturally thought it would be a waste to let go of her just like that.
''Me with Lord Castell and her with Achis¡ together¡''
Undoubtedly Lady Adele and more importantly her husband would make a great ally, especially given the kind of feelings the warrior general held for histe lord cum lover.
Surely some of that affection would trickle down to the infant son.
Miss Linda was thus determined to get her sister into bed with her, both literally and figuratively.
As the schemingdy was already cooking up ways to make hereback, from the other side, Alexander also opened up to offer his support,
"Although Lord Castell has several mistresses, mydy will have no trouble in earning his affection. You and he will be spending a lot of time here in Caira after all. There will be plenty of chances for you two to get to know each other.
I will even ask Lord Kite to drop some alluring stories about you into Lord Castell''s ears. That should help further smooth out much of the misunderstanding he has for you."
This produced a grateful smile on Miss Linda''s face, which then turned to an amused chuckle,
"Thank you. Any other advice you might have, oh great and knowledgeable lord?"
"Yes, actually!" Alexander replied to the small joke with a serious face, as he went on to list,
"The most important thing I would advise you about is pregnancy. In short, I do not think you should be pregnant¡ at least until your son passes the infancy stage and bes a full child. So five to six years old. This will help your son avoid any unnecessarypetition and also let Lord Castell develop true fatherly feelings for him."
The matter was grave enough for Miss Linda to wipe her smile a bit and let her solemnly nod her head, "I already intend to do that. I understand that men do not feel the same way about their stepchildren."
"Mmm¡" The response pleased Alexander enough to hum, as he went on to add,
"I do not know exactly how Lord Castell feels about this subject but given he is officially childless, it should not be too hard. Still, I suggest that you tactfully approach it in your own time. It would be best if Lord Castell has no intention to breed¡. to bed you.
"But if he insists and you cannot stop him¡ then tell me. I will send you some contraceptives from home. Take them before or immediately after to have done the deed and you should be fine."
Alexander was of course talking about the almost magical legummum herb.
And the mention of the salve appeared to pique even Miss Linda''s interest.
"Oh? Are we talking about those famous medicines from Adhania?" She very charmingly raised one of her sharp eyebrows, "I have heard there you have a magic herb that can prevent pregnancy without any failure. Does it really exist?"
"Yes, it really works without fail. Otherwise, the nobles there would not have been able to¡ ''lead the kind of life they do''."
Alexander''s euphemistic statement did not go unnoticed by Miss Linda, and as a curious itch formed, she swiftly piped with gleaning eyes,
"Then is it true what they say? The things about you people? That you and your wives¡ with all kinds¡. of men¡.that.."
Alexander noticed that Miss Linda was struggling very hard to articte all the rumors she had heard about his hometown without sounding too offensive or judgmental, causing her speech to be jumbled and awkward.
Seeing which Alexander smirked a bit inside,
''It is only during these times I remember the woman is still really young- a girl in her early twenties at best!"
"Hahaha," Thus he first gently chuckled as a way to reassure thedy, before pleasantly chiming,
"I do not know what they tell you about us, but I can say most of what anything the people say is one part truth, four part rumors, and five part total bullocks!"
Miss Linda seemed to be a tab bit offended at being called out like this, so Alexander quickly added.
"Let me give you an example of what I heard about your own selves, mydy."
"When your eldest sister and Lord Janus first came to me, one of my advisors advised me to execute them immediately as spies!
ording to him, all Sybarians were foreign agents trying to infiltrate our realm.
You first disguised yourselves as merchants looking to do business before slowly bankrupting the ce using deceitful practices. First local businesses are run out of business by your cheaper, lower quality goods.
Then you cause various wars and strife forcing the lords to borrow money from you at exorbitant interests to deal with these rebels.
Lastly, once things have reached a tipping point, you either arm themon masses or send your own army to dispose of the nobles, supnting them with your own!"
"Apparently every country you visited has been turned to ruin in this way!"
"...*Pssssk*...:" As Miss Linda heard these ridiculous ims, she found it impossible to stop herself from letting out this small, very unwomanly chuckle and had to quickly bite on her lips to forcefully swallow it.
Now, this was not something that actually happened to Alexander per se.
But many of the nobles in Adhania did feel this way about engaging in foreign trade- ording to them they werepletely self sufficient and so did not need to deal with the rest of these ''barbarians''.
To those high nosed individuals, anyone not from Adhania was a barbarian.
Miss Linda appeared a bit embarrassed following her breach of her etiquette and as she tried to regain herposure, Alexander continued with a mirthful, light tone to his voice,
"So you see mydy, it is not wise to trust most of the rumors you hear. You should learn to take them with arge pinch of salt. The same goes for what you heard about us."
"Yes, many of our nobles do exchange mistresses and lovers¡ but very rarely their own wives. There is a lot of etiquette and customs involved in the whole thing. Plus, for as many nobles as there are who were willing to do this, there are many more who are not. It is really a personal perfect and¡ something that is really too long to go into detail here."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Alexander was very careful to sidestep this minefield without engaging too much because, for a monogamous society like Sybarsis, those practices were considered taboo too, something truly alien.
He did not want Miss Linda to have a negative of him just due to what some of his retainers allegedly did.
So he painted the Adhanian nobles in a much ''nobler'' light, making the whole thing sound innocuous, like the choice of being vegetarian or not.
Whereas in reality, it was much moreplicated, and instead of a purely personal choice, society and peer pressure yed a much bigger role.
To many who were brought up this way, the act was as natural as the modern equivalent of pre-marital sex, drinking in public, or smoking pot.
While others soon found if they wanted to exist and stay relevant within the Adhanian noble circle, they had to suck up to their higher lords using such ''gifts''.
Thus many bent- willingly or unwillingly.
Only Alexander''s province was spared from this outward pressure and that wasrgely because its most powerful lord as well as a lot of his closest retainers eschewed the practise.
This only left the original, much smaller and weaker lord to continue tradition among themselves. However, since they were unable to speak up in support of this or twist other''s arms into joining them, this practice till now remained a marginalized thing.
The scale of those ''adult'' parties held under Alexander''s rule was perhaps not even a tenth of those produced during Pasha Muazz''s reign.
But Miss Linda did not need to know the nitty gritty of such things. Alexander would rather she gave a very clear picture of hisnds.
"Hehe, so it seems like that!"
And credit to him, Alexander seemed to have been sessful in his efforts.
Miss Linda believed Alexander''s exnation, although it was not only because of what he said, but also because it matched what herte husband once told her- at that time when thedy tried to seduce Alexander in the tea garden.
And as Miss Linda recalled that incident and all that transpired next, suddenly she began to understand how things suddenly changed with time.
When she had entered the room a few while back, she still saw Alexander as her enemy, but after getting to know him¡ she suddenly found the man to be quite charming,
So she turned to Alexander and let out arge grin out of nowhere, "We seem to have gotten quite close my lord!"
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Chapter 1318 Frank Talks (Part-2)
Alexander was initially a bit surprised hearing Miss Linda''splementaryment.
Given the rotten way they had first met, he did not think it would be this easy to raise her ''likeless'' meter.
But it seemed he had underestimated Miss Linda''s love for power and authority.
And since Alexander was willing to help her obtain more of it, she had no problem transforming this foe into a friend.
Alexander also had no reason to turn down this call for friendship, so turning to face the grinningdy he gave a slight nod,
"Indeed we have. It seems we might have simply gotten on the wrong foot. Now that I think about there was never any true conflict of interest between us, haha."
It was unknown how much of that Alexander actually meant or even how much of it Miss Linda bought.
But thetter also did not have the mood to break the congenial atmosphere and thus nodded in agreement, "Indeed you are right Lord Alexander!"
However thedy was still a bit unhappy about her defeat and subsequent loss of position, so she also could not help but add a not so subtle jibe,
"Hahah, then I believe you wanting me to be the next duchess of Lynica is somehow to also in some way to ount for that?"
Those mirthful eyes suddenly curved into a sharp, prating gaze as she said this.
''...As expected, even though she is willing to go through my n, she still has reservations. And if she senses any danger she is going to flip on me anytime.''
Feeling himself ced under the scrutinizing sight, Alexander fully kept hisposure and judged the situation calmly.
Then with a subtle curve of his lips, he smartly replied,
"You could see it like that. As I already said mydy, we have no conflict of interest. I have no problem with you and your son bing powerful figures of the Heeat family. In fact, I wee it.
Because then in return you can also help me with my enemies. For example, we can work together to keep the Strauss family in the south in check, prevent the Kaiser family supporting them from causing trouble, and even deal with the northern barbarians menace together should the need arise."N?v(el)B\\jnn
As Alexander said this, he noticed Miss Linda''s fierce gaze soften considerably, realizing the mutually beneficial effects.
So he continued to oil the wheel, adding,
"I also do not think you will be any threat to mynds here. Becausepared to what I have in Zanzan, this amount ofnd is really not worth fighting over. It''s too far from my home and defending it is too much work for too little gain. I am not even sure who I will put in charge here."
"I only asked for it because I did not want your sister to cry wolf every time she faced the tiniest problem. I am a very capable man and I did not want her to think I was cheap."
"But if you prove yourself¡ I do not even mind switching my support from your sister to you in time Lady Linda!"
As Alexander trailed off saying such ''scandalous'' words, thedy in question visibly shivered. She did not even think such grand promises were on the table.
Hence her ears listened with rapt attention as Alexander softly grinned,
"I cannot do it right now of course. We still have the free trade agreement and unterally breaking it would be unwise¡ I have a reputation to hold after all. But once the treaty expires in a few years¡ and you have dered yourself to be a strong yer in Duke Heeat''s court, I can consider signing the deal with you instead."
Alexander''s voice at this point then suddenly turned from soft and maic to very powerful and intense, sounding like the temptations of a devil to Miss Linda.
"Just think about it, mydy! Why fight over this small spit ofnd on a tiny ind that is divided in a thousand different ways when you can have a whole duchy? With Lord Castell''s connections and my endless coin of support, you can certainly seed. You can be the proud ruler of a mighty dukedom! It will not be toote to decide the fate of Galiosos at that point!"
"...." Initially, Miss Linda did not say anything about Alexander''s ''impassionate speech. She only kept staring at the man with a sort of slightly confused eyes.
But as she managed to finally process what was said to her¡. suddenly those onyx like began to ze with the mes of a thousand suns.
"Hahaha¡. good! Then I will try my best to get the old fart in between my legs! Hahaha, this should be fun!" Miss Linda let out a very loud, confident cackle before her tone suddenly changed to a much more mischievous, yful kind, "But before that¡let me offer you a reward for all you support my lord!
"....!!!..." Alexander was caught a bit off guard by this sudden announcement and so watched with muted astonishment as the youngdy leaped out of her chair and presented herself right in front of Alexander, unabashedly lifting the hems of herplicated dress up to her hips in one quick motion, thus exposing her underwear for Alexander to clearly to see.
"..." The man found them to match thedy''s dress, a pair of red short knickers, and saw the drawer like hot shorts were snuggled closely to her alluring crotch, tantalizingly outlining her delicate features, even forming a vague cameltoe.
"Come, Lord Alexander! You know what to do!"
While noticing Alexander''s zing gaze that seemed to nearly burn through her forbidden zone, Miss Linda remainedpletely unfazed and even charmingly grinned the invitation.
"..." The abruptness of the amorous sight and the sudden pink development made Alexander''s mind go nk for a while, wondering whether he was missing something.
"I do not think that that would be quite appropriate mydy!" But Alexander also quicklyposed himself and putting on a straight face, politely noted, "You meeting me alone like this is already troublesome. If you stay any longer, people are sure to talk."
"People always talk! Everyone already thinks I was gang-raped by your men when you captured us back at the camp! So one more cock won''t hurt!"
Alexander noticed a clear undertone of bitterness as Miss Linda said this, her eyes turning equally angry and hurt, hernguage turning base and filthy, much too different from her usual proud, aristocratic way of speaking.
This certainly false usation had made her feel quite hurt.
And because it also involved Alexander''s men and thus his own reputation, it made him angry too- it would not do good for his future campaigns if word got out that his men abused nobles.
He had no idea about such rumors being circting around him as he never put his ears to such filth.
But now.
''Hmmm, who was it? Miranda? To get revenge on all that has happened? Or is it the Margrave elders¡ wishing to put the girl down for their defeat? Or maybe it''s Lord Castell hoping to ruin her reputation and stop her from ever entering his family.''
Several candidates swiftly came into Alexander''s mind, and he then and there decided he would do something about it as soon as he could.
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So turning to the still lifting her gown up semi nakeddy, Alexander promised with a sincere face,
"I''m sorry mydy¡ I never knew. I have been too busy with so many other things that my retainers probably did not want to distract me with such filth. But rest assured, now that I am aware¡ this will stop! I promised you my support and you can take this as my very first token!"
Alexander''s somber look and staunch support seemed to be quite efficacious on thedy, as much of the indignation in her eyes dissolved away¡ but Miss Linda still did not drop her gown.
Rather, producing a slightly helpless smile, she curtly nodded,
"Thank you, my lord! But many of the rumors have already spread far. Perhaps you speaking up against it will only aggravate them."
Alexander quickly understood what she meant- if a powerful figure like him were to dip his fingers into the mess, others might see the denial as only confirmation of the rumors, as Alexander trying to cover his men''s own misdeeds.
''Is this why you want to do this with me? To smooth the wound? Since you have been already dered guilty you decided you might as well prove them right?'' Alexander thus thought to himself.
And realizing this, he suddenly felt much of his lust towards the woman dissipate.
Instead, he chimed in an understanding tone,
"Mydy I am sure you are grieving right now¡ but this is the right way. You are clearly not thinking properly."
"But don''t worry, with my power I can indeed make those rumors disappear. I will issue a gag order on the matter for the whole Margraves family and I will even personally talk to Lord Castell and Lord Kite to dispel any misconceptions. My men would never do such a thing!"
However, despite Alexnader''s promise, the ze in Miss Linda''s eyes refused to die down.
Rather they seem to increase!
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Chapter 1319 New Alliance (Part-1) (R-18)
Alexander was surprised to see that despite his reassuring calls to deal with the rumor, Miss Linda remained rooted in her spot, refusing to lower her ''red curtain''.
Rather her eyes, which seemed till now mncholic suddenly burst into a ze of anger,
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"I do not need you to do anything about this, my lord. If I wanted to, I would have asked already"
Reading between the said lines, Miss Linda was basically saying she nned to get revenge on those spreading these malicious rumors herself, making them an example for going against her.
"....." And since she asked, Alexander was courteous enough to give her that herself, agreeing with a subtle nod.
As for Miss Linda, seeing Alexander still had no intention of moving to take her, felt her ego hurt.
Given she had made the offer in such an open way, she felt it would be too humiliating if she were to simply back down now.
It was a matter of pride and hence she was adamant about getting a round with him be it through hook or crook.
So speaking up in a spooky voice, Miss Linda almost growled,
"I wanted to do this with you because I felt happy about the help you promised. But since you feel it this way¡ then let''s make a deal my lord. I will agree to the 4 million loan if you take me here. If you refuse¡ I want that full 6 million!"
"..???.." This was perhaps one of the very rare times in his life that Alexander felt truly confused.
''Is this a case of a prostitute paying to getid? No! I am the one that is being bought!'' He thought with some amused rm, finding the situation both funny and incredulous.
The young pasha also remembered that they had not actually settled on the exact amount of the loan he was to give out.
So Alexander could not help but let out a chuckle, "Hehe, paying 20 million ropals for one session¡. I am not that expensive mydy!"
To give you a context of how much this amount of money was- it was roughly half of Alexander''s weight in gold, about 40 kg.
"No, you underestimate your worth, my lord! You are much more valuable than merely 2 million! Many might not be able to buy you for even 20 million!" The youngdy however knew how to tter men and indeed, thosest words stoked Alexander''s ego despite knowing the other side''s y.
Thus he could not help but consider it!
Now, Alexander was not going to just give Miss Linda an extra 20 million regardless of what happened next.
He might be nouve rich but he was yet to be a total wastrel.
However¡. thedy before him was practically begging like this¡. still standing there half angrily scowling at him while exposing her underwear in that manner¡
''Hmmm¡ maybe making Miss Linda forcefully leave when she is asking for it so intently is not such a good idea. It couldpletely turn her against me. And after we havee so far and made so much progress¡" Alexander thus subconsciously started making excuses for himself, feeling his defenses beginning to crumble.
Then, as he lifted his head up to take onest look at thedy, he found himself half stunned by that newscivious grin gracing her face.
It felt like he was looking at a subus that had descended onto the earth¡.
And perhaps that became the straw that broke the camel''s back.
''Since she is asking¡ what''s wrong with it? She is a free woman now.'' Alexander atst decided.
¡..
"*Sigh*... if that''s the way you want to y, mydy¡"
Getting up with such a resigned sigh, Alexander started to approach the invitingdy slowly with strong, steady steps, keeping his serene eyes squarely locked onto the now a bit confuseddy.
Perhaps somewhere deep inside, Miss Linda had started questioning what she had gotten herself into. She clearly sensed that the aura around Alexander hadpletely changed, going from restrained and reserved to wild and domineering.
But it was toote to back out now even if she wanted to.
''What is the worst he can do? He is just a kid a bit older than me! I have had worse!'' So she quickly took refuge in her twisted experience with Lord Parker and General Achis, reasoning that if she would handle two simultaneously, she could definitely handle a measly one.
However as she felt Alexander''srge, warm hands grasp her, due to some unknown reason, her body seemed to suddenly lose power and soon her instincts would prove even more right than she could have imagined.
Alexander did not approach Miss Linda from the front and take her directly, finding it too crude and ''unromantic''.
Instead, keeping thedy still in that awake posture, he slowly made his way to the back, where he growled right next to her ear, "Stay just like that! Don''t move!"
The manly voice made Miss Linda skip a beat and subconsciously let out a small hum of acknowledgment as she sensed something awaken inside her.
She could not help but lower her head and obediently tightened the grip on her held up gown as a subtle tingling sense of anticipation ran through her spine.
Miss Linda quickly felt Alexander''s strong, rough, muscr palms sweep past her slender shoulders, loving its smoothness, before gliding over to her pristine, white neck, where the man''s fingernails tenderly caressed her soft, wless skin, leaving the tiniest dent.
Thedy even felt Alexander take in a deep breath of her sweet, mellow natural scent from there and the hot, musky air made Miss Linda''s body involuntarily tingle as she felt like amb, being sniffed by a big bad wolf.
Leaving the beautiful, proud looking neck Alexander''s hands then towards the supple arms, tenderly pinching the taut yet tender muscle thatid underneath, before suddenly grabbing Miss Linda''s armpits and strongly pulling them, stretching the soft skin.
The man loved the beautiful texture even through the clothes and made a mental note toe back to them.
For now, though, the hands shifted over her modest breasts, giving the small bunnies a few loving kneads and making Miss Linda leak out another silent moan at having her sensitive zone touched.
Untilstly he came to her soft, t belly, which he began to stroke for some time. It was slim, without any bs, and emanated a kind of motherly warmth that Alexander quite liked.
In this way, Alexander softly explored all the hidden areas of Miss Linda''s body, and it actually felt quite lovely to her, to be so gently treated.
Thus soon a lustful heat started to emanate from her lower half and thedy could feel herself starting to get off.
"Ahhhhh!"
Hence she could not help but let off this heaty, sexy moan as Alexander''s hands suddenly went down from her belly to intrude upon her exposed knickers, grabbing the tender garden under it with great firmness.
"You are wet!" Miss Linda then heard Alexander whisper in a musky tone, as he pushed the cloth against her crouch, thus making her feel the moistness with greater exactness.
"Mmmmmm!" Miss Linda could only moan a bit higher while biting her lips with blushed shame.
Lord Parker had never been thismanding with her, treating her like a piece to be ''examined''. Unlike what Alexander was doing here, she had always been treated like a queen by herter husband in the bedroom, having all her lusts and desires filled without dy.
But that did not mean she disliked this new experience.
It was simply different and so she obediently stood still while the man explored her!
While Alexander, having made his way ''to the core'', then began to strongly pinch theher lips over the pants, relishing in the soft, juicy feel.
The moistness, the heat, and the sensation of knowing where he was touching quickly made him rock hard.
"Your pants are getting wetter and wetter. Why is that? Have you no shame?" Alexander started to jokingly mock, knowing in this time period it was almost always the man who initiated the sex.
Women who asked for pleasure out of their own volition were seen as promiscuous and immoral by society.
"...." And although Miss Linda could tell by Alexander''s tone he was joking, she still lowered her head in shame. This was a cultural aspect that she was unable to shake herself off, given she was brought up that way.
So Alexander continued, bing more vigorous with his teasing, while Miss Linda desperately tried to keep holding the posture she was told to through all this.
''Ahhhh¡ my lower half feels like it''s on fire! And he has not even gotten into my pants!
Mmmm¡ what the hell was I thinking? How could I let myself get washed away by those words? Sure I was very happy but opening my legs to another man like this¡ ughhh!''N?v(el)B\\jnn
The nobledy thus oscited between pleasure and regret, finding Alxx far more skilled in bed than she ever thought.
He made her garden so wet that it almost felt like she was peeing.
But what was done was done.
Now she could only try to endure.
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Chapter 1320 New Alliance (Part-2) (R-18)
Miss Linda tried her best to stand still while Alexander''s hands freely roamed all over her covered secret garden, tugging at her flowery lips, tracing over her slit, digging into her wet hole, and asionally even lightly pping the delicate ce.
All of these produced various pangs of subtle pain apanied by immense bouts of pleasure for Miss Linda, as evidenced by her forbidden flower releasing copious amounts of lewd nectar.
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There was so much that Alexander''s finger soon became drenched even through the cloth, and the wet patch expanded to the point it almost looked like the youngdy had peed herself.
Yet Miss Linda did not shift from position, but obediently kept holding up her gown!
''She is surprisingly diligent!'' Alexander thusmented, thinking that given Miss Linda''s usual fiery demeanor and how confidently she had made the offer, she looked like she was going to be a wild mare, kind of like Mikaya.
Initially, Alexander thought he was going to have to spend quite some time bringing her to heel, using his ''strong tool''.
Who knew he would need none of it?
It gave Alexander both a sense of aplishment for oveing the challenge so easily, but also a bit of a sense of loss as if he had been denied that pleasure of conquest.
''Well, I guess people act differently when facing different situations¡'' In the end, Alexander could only reason using this, recalling people had all kinds of various faces.
Such as you certainly would not expect a military general to keep the same staunch face in front of his family as he did with his soldiers!
Alexander slowly moved his other free hand over to Miss Linda''s ass while thinking this, stealthily slipping through the gown without the girl even noticing and giving a tight squeeze on that springy bundle of joy.
It was firm yet soft, almost like freshly kneaded dough, letting his palm sink into it for a bit before pushing it back up again.
Alexander found it exquisite to the touch even through the cloth and thus soon began to roughly y with it.
He roughly pinched, pressed, crushed the fluffy buttcheeks, before trailing his long fingers over the ''thin chasm'', andstly pressing his digits against the forbidden door, poking at the tender entrance through the cloth in an effort to make Miss Linda squeal.
And due to how wet she was, her fluids had already leaked all the way down to her butt, so it let Alexander even get tiny bits of his fingers momentarily inside that taboo canal even though the cloth.
And when this was done in concert with what he was doing in front¡
"Ahhh¡ No¡ ahhhh¡ too much! Not there! Two at the same time¡ mmmnn!"
The simultaneous pinching and prodding were finally enough to break Miss Linda out of her silence, causing her to arch her back in pleasure while letting off this mellifluous moan.
"Hehe¡ having an outside man do this to you in broad daylight¡ What will the people say? Hmm? Is this how a duchess supposed to act? Fraternizing with men outside of marriage? Tell me!"
Fueled by that honeyed call, Alexander could not help but then bite on Miss Linda''s delicate earlobes strongly, and then after one too many pinches¡. this seemed to be one that broke the dam.
"Mmmmmmm!" Miss Linda let out a soul stirring moan that ignited the air around her, her entire body suddenly violently shuddering.
Her eyes were slightly rolled backward, her tongue slipping out and Alexander''s front hand suddenly got wet.
Thedy had juste.
And as unbridled pleasure streaked through her, in her moment of utter please, Miss Linda got distracted and suddenly let go of her gown, causing it to fall!
".... Did I allow you to do that?"
She did not get to soak in that gentle pink atmosphere for long because an instantter her focus was tugged back to reality by this angry heated growling from right next to her ear.
It sounded like the gnarl of a wild beast!
"Ahhh!"
And before Miss Linda could even understand what was going on, she felt her body being gently but firmly thrown against therge, heavily furnished study table in front of her, causing her to fall face first and thus making her lower torso face the ravenous man.
"Wait! Let me take my dress off! I cannot leave the room with a ruined dress!"
Quickly understanding she was going to be taken in this way, Miss Linda regained enough rity to shout this request, one that wasced with a very clear sense of urgency.
Theplicatedyered dress Miss Linda was wearing was very beautiful but it also got crumbled quite easily.
So if Alexander were to raise her the dress up to her hips and then grab onto her waist with the cloth still on to ram into her¡.
It would clearly tell what they have been up to.
And although Miss Linda said she was okay with others finding out about their affair, in reality, she was being hyperbolic.
At the moment, such an alliance with Alexander would not be seen in a good light by anyone-
her inw family would see her as loose and fickle, while her family elders would be even harsh, branding her as a traitor.
So although Miss Linda did not mind being taken in this way umon way, she certainly objected to what she was wearing while Alexander took her.
"Pah! I said how dare you let it go!"
However none of these appeared to be Alexander''s concerns, and treating it like empty wind, he gave a tight spank on the bent overdy''s shapely butt, making it jiggle like jello.
"Mmmmm!" That really hurt and was enough to shut Miss Linda up.
"Good!" And seeing the girl chime down, Alexander softly caressed the struck area, soothing the pain before chuckling, "Now be obedient and do as I say!"N?v(el)B\\jnn
Miss Linda had never been dominated like this before and felt a sudden unknown sense of shame.
She felt humiliated being treated like this.
But despite that she still instinctively obeyed the strong Alexander and stayed still, letting him do whatever he pleased.
Hence a deep blush began to soon spread from her face right up to her ear as she felt her gown being lifted up to her hips, thus bringing her underwear once again out to the forefront.
Only this time it was noticeably much more damp near one end, making that part feel quite cool.
"Let''s get this off!"
The blush then got significantly deeper as Alexander yanked the pants down to her knees in one single motion, thus exposing her tender organ for the whole world to behold!
The sight was as beautiful as he remembered- Miss Linda''s long silky raven hair was still fashioned in a very stylish way, her supple back was still covered by that intricately embroidered dress and most charmingly of all her premium grade rear was staring him in the face.
That ass was white as snow, looking almost like a freshly peeled boiled egg, with a subtle shade of pink that was covered by the most delicate soft skin.
Beads of tiny sweat droplets were starting to form on that gossamer skin, reflecting the bright ambient sunlight and making it shine almost like a polished mirror.
In the middle of that charming valleyid the pink bud, the wrinkles around it huffing and puffing ever so slightly like they breathing.
But the most charming sight was right under it- the fair, pink garden nested underneath.
Appearing only as a single delicate line down there, the entrance to the garden was closed off so tightly that Alexander thought Miss Linda might be able to even pass herself off as a virgin, much less a mother who had given birth
The plump, fleshy garden also did not have a single hair anywhere as Miss Linda meticulously plucked each and every single one out, thus it glistened like the moon.
And from the tiny crack in between, naughty spring water slowly seeped out, creating a lewd string that slowly dropped down, its end shining due to catching the midday sunlight.
Alexander imagined a fruity, fragrant smell emanating from there and his lust filled brain urged him to just smash his face between the two glorious valleys and start licking off the water right from the source.
Only the fact that doing this would diminish his standing with Miss Linda prevented him from partaking in such a delicacy, and so had to sate himself by getting as close as possible and loudly breathing in, thus taking in the steamy pheromones being released.
The sniffing noise did not escape Miss Linda''s senses and she squirmed in shame at such a private act.
But remembering Alexander''s warning did not dare move.
Even when she felt Alexander''s fingers pince her bare pussy and scoop up some of her juices, she stayed still.
''Mmmm, musky with a hint of fruitiness¡'' While licking off the sample from his fingers Alexander made hisment.
The taste was healthy and had no bad odor, but other than it was ordinary. However, just knowing where it came from suddenly made it special.
And as Alexander cleaned his fingers, suddenly his eyes became excited!
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s
Chapter 1321 New Alliance (Part-3) (R-18)
Looking at the otherworldly charming scenery in front of him- a ravishing beauty bent over with her naked butt pointed towards him, Alexander had a hard time controlling himself.
Rustling out of his pants quickly, with a practiced motion, the man soon had his organ pressed against the delicate, wet pink flower, the tip dipping itself into the moist, hot nectar that was constantly spewing out of the pristine hole.
"Mmmmm!" And feeling the heat emanating out of the bulbous head pour into her lewd canal, Miss Linda mewled out this soul stirring moan, sensing a great tingling sense of anticipation.
After being so thoroughly teased, she was thoroughly aroused, and cried out inside her, ''Ahhhhhh! Yes! Fill me up! It''s been so long since I had a good fuck! I feel so itchy!''
It was good that the woman was unable to see the size of Alexander''s organ from the front when she made this wish, or else her reaction might have been much different.
That misconception was however soon rectified as Alexander began to slowly push his way in, using his precum and thedy''s copious water to lubricate his way in.
"Ahhhh! God¡ it''s so big! What are you! Ohhh¡ Ahhhh! Too much!... Ahhh"
Even when it was just the tip entering her, Miss Linda felt her small pouch getting stretched like it had never been.
And despite keeping her voice to herself for so long, the youngdy was finally unable to swallow it any longer.
She screamed out like a wild animal, causing even the air inside the room to shake and for the voice to drift outside, where the guards posted outside the door could only produce a helpless smirk.
They were no longer green to such sounds and its given innuendo due to Alexander''s frequent such activities with Lady Nanazin.
But contrary to expectation, they did not actually enjoy hearing it.
It instead more felt like torture.
It felt like they were being made to smell the most delicious food but with the knowledge of never having the slightest chance of tasting it.
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But as soldiers what could they do other than shut their ears and focus on their job?
While inside the now adult room, Miss Linda could not give a damn about how her voices were making others hard and ufortable.
She would not have cared even if those elders were standing outside listening to her wild, unrestrained moans. For the moment, all her serious concerns about the family finding out seemed to have gone out the window.
This was because she was currently in a whole new different world, where pain and pleasure seemed to exist simultaneously and in abundance.
"Stop! It''s too big! Ahhh¡ it won''t fit! No! Ahhh¡ it hurts! Ohh¡my tiny pussy¡ oohhh you are going to ruin my cute pussy! Ahhhh!"
Despite Alexander taking it slow, pushing his way in slowly, Miss Linda felt her lower half getting stretched and pulled like it was being ripped apart.
Her lower hole which had seemed empty and lonely till now suddenly appeared too full and big, thus causing her to thrash her arms and legs wildly in protest.
It still felt pleasurable as Alexander hit many of her sensitive spots along the way, but the pain was starting to slowly overwhelm the pleasure, letting her tongue to roll out and eyes to lose focus.
''Hmmmp! Perhaps this was not the best position! I thought she was wet enough!''And noticing all these signs, Alexander wisely decided to slow his invasion down a bit.
He found that due to how Miss Linda''s belly was pressing against the table, it made her canal a bit squished and narrowed, making it harder for him to tunnel through.
Alexander initially figured the forey had lubricated the ce enough to let him slip through regardless, but after entering the ce quickly found that was not the case.
Miss Linda''s pussy was also somewhere in the smaller size and so it was genuinely having trouble taking his long, veiny, thick dragon in.
However, this problem did not stump Alexander for long.
Remembering quickly, he raised his right hand high into the air, before swiftly bringing it down hard on one of the girl''s sublime asscheeks, spanking her,
"*Pah! Be quiet and take deep breaths! Rx!"
The sharp stinging pain and the short loudmand momentarily broke Miss Linda out of her pained stupor and she quicklyplied.
Given the hot, enormous drill was still slowly moving forward with no signs of stopping, she knew she had to do just asmanded unless she wanted to start crying again.
This was also one of the reasons Alexander refused to stop moving his hips despite Miss Linda''s pleadings.
Alexander was quite experienced with wielding his oversized tool and this was not the first time something like this had happened.
Many of his maids and one night stands sometimes had simr problems and after some trial and error, the best way Alexander found to solve the problem was to just try and go through it- literally.
The goal was to get the whole thing inside the pussy as soon as possible in order to make the difort as short as possible.
Stopping otherwise meant getting bogged down, the canals contracting to instinctively stop any further incursion and so repeating the painful process of drilling open the baby canal all over again.
The girls far more preferred a short, one time burst ofrge difort rather than many repeated pulses of stinging pain.
"*Huff*, *Puff*!" And Miss Linda soon began to feel the same way, as she loudly panted with gritted teeth while Alexander''s hips continued their conquest in a slow and meticulous manner, expanding her brand news that made her feel spots she did not even know existed.
''Bastard! Ugghhh! What was I thinking? Even two of those bastards taking me together never hurt so much! Ahhhh¡. he is going to ruin me! My pussy is never going to be the same!''
As Miss Linda tried her best to amodate the enormous organ, by now she started to seriously regret thinking she could dominate this man using her lower mouth.
She was quite proud of her figure and especially loved how tight her canals were, as repeatedly praised by herte husband during their sessions.
But now¡ she was worried the kind of state it would be left under after Alexander was finished.
''If I knew he was a horse there, I would have obediently taken the money and left!'' She cried, although no tears came out.
Given the man was already literally inside her balls, there was little point crying over spilled milk.
She thus chose to bite down and try and let him enter her as quickly as possible.
"*Pah*! Yes, good! That''s it! Keep going!" Alexander soon felt Miss Linda''s efforts, her walls significantly bing looser, so to encourage her, he produced another crisp spank on the other cheek, producing a nice, red symmetry, "You popped a baby out of this nasty hole! You can easily take two of me!"
This statement was perhaps among the scariest things Miss Linda had ever heard and caused thedy to instantly constrict her muscles, heart gripped by an extremely tumultuous fear.
She imagined that if she were to meet two Alexanders and be taken the same way she was taken with her husband and her lover, in both her holes simultaneously, she would likely faint from the pain of being so much stretched out.
And if the Alexanders were to both prate her tiny canal at once¡
"No! I will die!" Thedy subconsciously shouted out this aloud at the mere possibility, her voice painted with a kind of fear that Alexander had never heard.
It caused the man to devilishly smirk from the back, pleased to see such a reaction from the arrogantdy.
"*Pah, *Pah*, *Pah*," He gave thedy another good couple of hits on the ass as a reward, ordering her to loosen up.
Needless to say, being an ass lover, he loved the sensation of spanking women.
Especially when it was an ass as premium grade as the one before him.
The bubbly, firm butt felt fantastic to hit, it made that beautiful puckered pink hole above open and close like shing lights each time he did and the walls around his penis repeatedly contracted and expanded with the smack.
And speaking of the walls, for Alexander, this young mother''s canal felt fantastic- hot and humid and deliciously moist.
The pristine noble grade pussy tightly wrapped around his stiff cock like it was the most precious thing in the world and despite how much thedy screamed in the front, as Alexander moved, the soft, meaty folds trembled, wriggled, rubbed, and sucked every part of the sensitive organ like they could not get enough of him, bringing him intense pleasure.
So Alexander kept going forward, looking for even more pleasure!
Until¡.
"Ahhhh!"
Thedy suddenly felt the mushroom tip hit the very back of her womb- her cervix!
Alexander had finally reached the end of the tunnel and was fully inside.
And as soon as the meaty cannon kissed the door to her baby room, it sent an unimaginable pulse of pleasure coursing through her spine.
Miss Linda dreaded to think what would happen when Alexander started banging against it!
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Chapter 1322 New Alliance (Part-4) (R-18)
An unimaginable pulse of pleasure coursed through Miss Linda''s spine as she felt the invading meat cannon greet the door to her baby room, "Ahhhh!" causing her to produce another lewd moan from the depth of her throat.
''It''s even bigger than I thought!''
Now that Alexander was fully inside her, thedy was able to much better appreciate just how enormous the package inside her was.
While Alexander, having made his way to his final destination, wasted no time in iming his prize.
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He had been patient enough till now, pleasuring thedy to the best of his abilities.
Now it was his turn to enjoy.
"Then I will move¡ fwap¡ fwap¡ p¡.p"
Hence giving the shortest of notices, he started moving his hips, starting off slowly before picking up speed, producing a loud, lewd, meaty pping sound as he went.
"Ahhhh¡ No¡ let me rest¡Mmmm¡. A bit¡ Aghhhh¡ so big ohhhhh¡."
While from the front, Miss Linda soon began to sing like a canary, having lost all inhibitions.
Her mind was currently only filled with all sorts of sting colors streaking across her eyes as bursts of pleasure overloaded her senses.
''Ahhhh! What is this! It feels so good! Ahhh¡ every time he moves, it feels like my insides are being dragged out and then again filled in! Ahhhh¡ he is screwing me so hard! Ohh¡ how does he know where to poke? He is scrubbing all my sensitive spots! Ahhh¡ I never felt like this! Mmmm¡''
The sensation of the hot organ screwing her insides open like this soon caused Miss Linda to roll her eyes and she almost lost consciousness from the extreme pleasure.
While in the back, Alexander kept his piston moving without stopping, finding that the walls had almost developed a new will of their own and were mping down on him even tighter as if they wanted to rip his thing off.
''Aghhhh, this pussy feels brand new! Did she really give birth?'' It was almostparable to how snug Mean was.
"*Pah*! Why are you so tight? Did your husband not do his martial duties properly?" So to loosen her up a bit, he made this jokingment, figuring Miss Linda really did not care much about Lord Parker.
He thought like this because in all the talks they had till now, Miss Linda only mentioned the man in passing with the barest of emotion. She also showed no resistance to taking a new consort despite having lost one so suddenly.
And indeed true to Alexander''s guess, thement produced no objection from Miss Linda, but only caused her to tighter her lower half even more as if she was excited by the perceived immorality, bringing Alexander even more pleasure.
So kept smashing his hips into the meaty ass, his heavy thighs making the bubble butt ripple each time they hit, and turning that whole area soon salmon pink.
"How is it, mydy? Good right? Hehe!"
Alexander angled his tool to plow every nook and cranny of the tight tunnel while thedy answered the question in mostly incoherent moans, too busy letting herself get lost in the pleasure.
"Ahhhh¡yes! Too good¡ ahhh so deep¡ aiiiii¡. Can''t¡ ahhhh¡ not there¡. my cervix¡.mmmmm!"
This let Alexander find one of Miss Linda''s most sensitive spots, and discover that she loved getting knocked there- right at the door of her womb.
"Hehe! I''m d!" He smirked in pleasure at the finding, before his eyes suddenly caught something that caused it to flicker in a mischievous light.
It was that tiny, cute pink hole above her secret garden, one that had decided to secretly peep its head out of the luscious fleshy valley.
Alexander could not help himself chuckle, "Then¡ I''m sure mydy will enjoy this as well!"
"Ehhhh!" Miss Linda let out this shrilled cry as soon afterward she felt a pair of thick digits press against her forbidden entrance, circling around it while spreading some of her love juice over it.
"Ahhhhh! No, not there! That¡ eehhhh!"
Her concerned and ashamed screams were naturally ignored by a smirking Alexander, who managed to quickly slip one of his fingers into her ass after a bit of effort.
It was hot, moist, and rubbery with a slimy, mucus like coating.
*Clench*, *Clench*, *Clench*
And as he started dancing his finger in there, scratching the folding walls and pressing down from there onto her baby canals below.
Needless to say, this drove Miss Linda into a new state of frenzy, causing her to frail her arms and legs and soon,
"Mmmmmmmmm!" Alexander heard this swallowed moan, and felt the body under him shudder intensely like a bolt of electricity had run through it.
"*Pah*! Naughty girl! How dare you! Did I allow you toe!" The strong p to the butt only got a muted mewl from the front as Miss Linda once again found herself drowning in that warm, cozy feeling.
It felt too good to leave that heavenly afterglow.
She was only yanked out of this blissful stateter when she suddenly felt her head being pulled up by her hair and heard Alexander say,
"Here! Taste this! It will wake you right up!"
Miss Linda then felt two of Alexander''s wet fingers burrow into her mouth and they tasted ''strange''.
It took a while for the disordered woman to understand what Alexander had ''fed'' her.
It was her own intestinal juice.
Amidst the constant pounding from the back and the dizzying amount of pleasure coursing through her brain every second, she had missed the fact that those intruding fingers were no longer invading her privacy.
Although that relief was short lived as thedy became far more concerned about the ce where the taste in her mouth wasing from.
Miss Linda might not be unknown to anal, but she had certainly never tasted her own ''stuff''.
And understanding its origins, thedy wanted to retch.
But Alexander''s strong grip on her hair prevented her from even trying.
And soon, she felt the man dip into her rear again for seconds.
"Ahhhh! No! I don''t like it! It''s disgusting!" Her mouth, finally free of those fingers quickly let out this groan of protest, trying to shake off Alexander.
However such things naturally fell on deaf ears.
The man silently moved his hips, ramming his cock deep inside her in every direction while keeping a solid grasp on the woman to stop her from thrashing as he pierced her butthole one more time!
"I thought this was my reward from you! So how cares what you like?" Alexander''s domineering growled while expanding the rear hole and even making some of the juices drip down to her lips below.
By now, Alexander could see the squelching pink muscles of the rectum and smell the new musky, lewd smell emanating out of the ce like white mist.
"Mmmmmm!" While being attacked from both the front and end, Miss Linda soon lost all capability toin.
This was very much simr to the times when she was taken by ''those two men'' and those memoriesbined with now to make Miss Linda very excited.
Hence as she was fed a second round of the juices, she heard Alexander chuckle, "You say you hate this, but then why is your pussy contracting like crazy? Your lower lips are more honest than your upper ones. Hehehe!"
"Mmmmm!"
Given Miss Linda''s tongue was being grabbed by Alexander''s finger and yed with like a toy as he said this, she could only moan in protest, saliva dripping out of the edge of her lips.
Although if she were to speak out her true thoughts, she would admit to enjoying this brand new experience- being dominated like this.N?v(el)B\\jnn
It was a brand new type of sex for her.
And so soon, her walls began to once again violently spasm, indicating she was close to another orgasm.
This time Alexander was also willing to apany her, finding himself quite close to the edge.
"*Pah*! I''m cumming! Tighten up and don''t let a single drop spill! Or else your dress is going to get spoiled!"
"Wai¡ ahhhh¡okay, go ahead!" Miss Linda initially wanted to protest and ask Alexander to release outside as getting pregnant now would be disastrous.
But those words soon got stuck in her throat as she imagined what would happen if Alexander released his seed outside.
The back of her dress was sure to get a brand new paint job.
And she would rather risk conceiving than walking out of her with apletely ruined dress that would give herself away at once.
''I will have to sneakily ask Ser Kaile for that medicine!'' Miss Linda thus steadied her mind.
And with that, as Alexander knocked on her sensitive cervix onest time, she felt her world nearly go white at the feeling of that white sludge like release fill her up.
"Ehhhhhhhhhh¡.!" Miss Linda thought her insides had been set on fire, the thick goo sshing and scalding everything it touched, and causing the mother of one to squealed out at the top of her lungs with no regards to anything.
Her face twisted into the most unnatural contours and Alexander felt her pussy greedily suck him even more.
Before¡ *spasm*, *spasm*, *spasm*,
Her body began to shake like she had been hit with a cattle prod and then suddenly she went all limp, as if she had fainted.
The only thought running through Miss Linda''s mind at that point was- ''This is, without doubt, the best fuck of my life''.
Chapter 1323 New Alliance (Part-5) (R-18)
Alexander was surprised by how violent Miss Linda was in her cheers as they both came.
The shout was so loud that he feared half the manor house might have heard her if not for the thick wooden doors all the rooms had.
While in the case of thedy, she was no longer in any state of mind to care.
Producing a face that no mother should ever have, Miss Linda was unable to stop herself from wildly letting out breathless squeals as the zing hot ns sprayed his white cloudy juices inside her, each wave sending a far greater sense of pleasure than the preceding one coursing through every part of her body.
''Ahhhh¡ he just keeps cumming! Why is there so much? My womb¡ ahh¡ it feels like it''s being drowned in it. Mmmm, It''s too much!''
''Ahh¡ no don''t keep pounding me while cumming! Cumming! I am once again cumming! No ¡ Ahh¡ I''m gonna get pregnant! Ohhhh¡ I''m definitely going to get pregnant from this! Ahhh¡ I can''t get a body now¡ mnnnmmmm!''
Miss Linda found her consciousness slipping between reality and dream as she felt her womb inte to rarely seen before sights, and all her thoughts became jumbled up.
"Stop! No more! Pull out! It''s too much! Ahhh! It''s leaking!" She mewled half consciously, while lying on the table spread eagled, basking in this orgasmic sensation and wanting nothing more than to just take a light nap there,
While at the back, Alexander too was panting loudly, a sense of calm relief washing over him.
He naturally felt lighter after unloading, as too did his little brother.
It was still currently inside there, snuggly nested in the warm, moist afterglow, getting a nice, rxing massage from all the still crazily contracting walls.
Thus the man and woman stayed in that state for some time, unwilling to break that pink silence.
Until Alexander''s lower half began to once again stir up and he decided to quickly pull out.
"Mmmmm!" And even though the extraction was very gentle, it still left Miss Linda feeling like a gaping hole had been left open in her crotch.
She involuntarily let out a soul stirring moan feeling the emptiness and cooed, "Ahhh¡ Help me get out of my clothes! Please! I am feeling too hot!"
Indeed, Alexander could see her back had grown a much darker wet patch, clear evidence of heavy perspiration.
Miss Linda might not have been moving that much during their vigorous mating ritual, but the mere act,bined with all the teasing and pounding had raised her body temperature to very high levels.
This time Alexander decided toply, not willing to keep thedy in clear difort.
But before that¡.
"*Pah! First, close up that hole! How dare you waste my gift!"
Alexander''s huge organ had naturally left a huge gaping hole down there and now that it was no longer in ce to plug it, copious amounts of his white milk could be seen flowing out.
"*Pah*, from here it looks like you are peeing! Have some shame!"
Needless to say, these strikes did not help Miss Linda''s case and even though she was rapidly trying to close her muscles, she felt much of the sloshing liquid inside her leak out due to the vibrations.
"Ahhh¡ Bastard!" Thedy hence muttered under her breath with greeted teeth, although the blush on her face spoke of an entirely different set of emotions.
Her butt might be red and sore and her pussy stretched and in pain, but the misty eyes and slightly curved smile said that she could not deny the fact that she enjoyed the experience even if she tried.
Thus after quickly mping up her lower lips and stopping any reminder fluid from running down her long, shapely legs, thedy let herself soak in that warm feeling after sex, while enjoying the feeling of the man behind her starting to move his finger and undo all theplicated knots on her back.
These were ced in such a position that it was basically impossible for her to untie even if she wanted to.
One needed help, like from a maid.
This was how Miss Linda got into the damn thing in the first ce.
Alexander managed to get most of the knots open in a surprising time, making Miss Linda even a bit astonished.
When she had been with her husband, the man was basically inept at this. She would either have to ask her elder sister Lady Adele, or if they were the only two, have her handmaiden get it off first.
However, Alexander was not like Lord Parker.
One of his hidden likes was to see his wives in beautiful dresses and then undress in bed as a loving gesture.
So over time, he came to know almost every trick these dresses could have.
Once Gelene even intentionally designed an especially obtuse dress filled with all kinds of nonsensical knots andces just to y with Alexander. This way the couple helped spice things up between them.
So the fittings in Miss Linda''s dress were nothing to look twice at for Alexander, and he soon had that fair, pristine white back exposed.
It was shaded the most beautiful of pink and felt smooth as ice, with not a single blemish, simmering with a dim golden aura due to the thinyer of sweat coating it.
"Mmmm!" And as Alexander opened up the back, Miss Linda let out this relieved moan from the front, loving the sensation of cool air brushing past her heated body.
Thedy however did not get to enjoy this for too long, as she suddenly felt getting flipped over and thus made to once again face the man.
And now, for some unknown reason, Miss Linda suddenly felt a bit shy to look at him in the eye.
Perhaps it was because of the intimate act they had done, perhaps it was because of how ''specially'' Alexander had treated her, or perhaps it was the fact that now, her lower half could be seen leaking his white semen down her magnificent thighs, but which the case was, Miss Linda, did not want to look at Alexander.
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Those calm yet zing eyes seemed to awaken a tender, puppy like love in her heart, making it throb.
So she justy on the table, her head ced at one side while Alexander undid the front of her dress.
He too was soaking in the beautiful scenery, as he once again appreciated just how beautiful the youngdy under him was.
Miss Linda seemed to have gained a brand new halo, a pink blush covering her face and turning her cute cheeks into rosy dimples.
A few small strands of sweat slowly trickled past her ear, making the nearby hair a glossy ck, which then seemed to give off a healthy, fruity scent.
Alexander noticed that ear already bearing his bite mark from before and wanted nothing more than to start sucking on it again.N?v(el)B\\jnn
But he held off on such overly disys of love as he did not want to develop any romantic feelings for thedy.
So he concentrated on opening the knots of the dress until the whole chest area was loosened and Alexander could peek into the red corset Miss Linda was wearing underneath.
Then he undid the knots around the arms and he was done.
"Thank you, my lord! That will be all!" As Alexander slowly stepped back a bit, feeling much better, Miss Linda slowly stood up, fanning her hands and letting out cool pants, while also inadvertently covering herself up with her gown.
And that action was apanied by a tone that sounded like she was done with the whole thing and was just cooling off before leaving.
"What is ''that''s all''? No! We are just getting started!" Of course, Alexander was there to bluntly smash any such naive ideas and barked out the im in a zing, lusty voice.
"Wha¡ kyahhh!" And then even before Miss Linda could grasp what was going on, she had her gown quickly stripped off in one go, leaving thedy in her heels with only her red corset and a leaking pussy!
She did dare to struggle with the much stronger man in fear of tearing her dress and causing a new set of problems, so could only shout,
"What are you doing Lord Alexander? This was not what we agreed on! Unhand me at once!"
However, this protest fell on deaf ears and only got a chuckle of vulgarughter from Alexander, "Hehe, no, we agreed you were going to reward me with your body for my support! And I am not done iming my reward! Look!"
As Alexander grinned, he nodded downward, towards his member!
And with Miss Linda following the clear innuendo,
"Kyahh! What is that?" soon let out a cry of clear horror, her eyes bulging outwards.
Due to the time past and the beautiful scenery in front of him, Alexander''s thick organ had naturally gained back its former glory, something that Miss Linda in her still afterglow stupor somehow missed.
But now that her attention was finally brought back to it, she could not help but feel her heart thumping wildly.
''No wonder it hurt so much! No human could take this and feel good!''
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Chapter 1324 New Alliance (Part-6) (R-18)
Alexander felt an unmistakable sense of pride upon noticing Miss Linda''s incredulous gaze on his turgid member.
After all, which man would not?
It was a magnificent species to behold after all- a dragon among dragons!
Unbelievably long, unimaginably thick, and standing tall like almost a tower with menacing blue and purple heavy veins all around, Alexander believed there was possibly no woman who would not be impressed by this.
''That was inside me?''
However contrary to Alexander''s thoughts, Miss Linda''s feelings were much more of shock than admiration, as if she could not believe she had just been skewered by this.
"What is that? Did you mother fuck a horse?" She could not help but blurt out in a moment of utter incredulity.
"Hehe!" And although it sounded derogatory, Alexander only let out a proud chuckle, before silently approaching thedy and beginning to take her corset.
Which initially Miss Linda tried to protest by pleading, "Stop! My lower half really can''t take it anymore! You are too big. I''m too sore down there! Let''s stop today¡ I¡ I wille back again tomorrow¡"
"*Pah!* Shhhh!" However, Alexander shut that all down with another p to that bubble butt.
Miss Linda did not dare to disobey the man afterward.
So with a bitter yet somewhat hidden anticipating face, thedy was stripped off all her clothes and turned fully bare.
Needless to say, the end product was a marvel to gaze at- a masterpiece crafted by the gods themselves.
Thus Alexander tried to burn the sight in front of him into his memory forever - the sight of the naked, somewhat scowlingdy.
She had a regal, swan like fair neck, fine, soft, delicate corbone, rtively modest yet perfectly shaped breasts, small delicate fully turgid excited pink cherries, a slim belly with thin purplish birthmarks, andstly a cute dark navel.
All these were meticulously ''scanned'' and stored in his memory in ultra HD.
After which Alexander''s eyes naturally made their way downward, towards the sexy, motherly hips and then the most alluring part of a woman''s body- a shaved, blemishless secret garden.
Although perhaps this ce was not as secret anymore, for a milky white like froth covered the area, from where multiple thin trickles of semen slowly slid down along those long, healthy, shapely thighs, before culminating at the feet that were fashioned with a pair of very stylish red heels.
Alexander repeatedly went over these sights to make sure he had not missed any and then even went as far as to move his head to take note of her fair back and that delicious looking reddened, peppery butt.
This was not like anything that Miss Linda had ever felt before, not even with herte husband and it made her feel like she was a meat at a butcher''s table.
So gritting her teeth she chimed in a half aggrieved, half regretful voice,
"You did not fuck me when I was spreading my legs and practically whoring myself out! So why are you so interested now?"
And indeed, this was not Alexander''s first time seeing thedy in her bare state.
This was in fact his third.
The first time was at that small garden where Miss Linda had him serving some of her breast milk, freshly squeezed from the source.
And the next time was when Alexander went to meet his captive after taking control of the manor.
That time, Miss Linda was even more extremely, going as far as to even greeted him fully nude and then even bent over a table and pleaded him to fuck her from the back¡. just like he had done to her now.
Of course, the answer to why he agreed now but not theny in the surrounding circumstances.
At the time Miss Linda made those offers, Alexander was still weary of touching this poisonous flower in fear of getting prickled by any hidden thorns and unknowingly dying.
And indeed, if Alexander had taken the bait back then, history would have surely irreversibly altered not only for Caira but perhaps the entire world.
But now¡. Alexander was confident he had snipped off all the pointy bits.
So he could not help but take a good sniff of such an alluring flower. Explore new worlds at empire
Alexander did not bother exining these things to Miss Linda because he believed she already knew, this was more of a rhetorical question.
But then, as if suddenly being reminded of something, he suddenly turned to Miss Linda to hum,
"Hmmm, I almost forgot about that but now that you mention it¡ what was up with you and getting nude in front of me like that? You seem like a decent, chaste woman. So why did you try to seduce me despite having a husband? Especially the first time when you were free and had no concerns?"
Alexander remembered feeling an intense sense of crisis for his life but never thought much of it because he had no leading clues.
But now that he had the main conspirator might him and he got to know her enough to understand there might have been a problem with the offer, he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Thus in the blink of an eye, Alexander''s eyes had lost all its lust and became sharp as a razor.
This extremely sudden change took Miss Linda by surprise, making her feel almost as if the man before her had been reced by a much more dangerous doppelganger.
She also did not think they would start talking about such a serious topic given the naked state both of them were in, and so it caught herpletely off guard.
However given that she was being pressed for an answer and seeing nowhere to run, Miss Linda quickly blurted out the memorized bit,
"I wanted to seduce you to make you my ally!"
She of course did not dare tell the truth- that she and her husband nned to assassinate him there using the excuse of touching her.
The problem with Miss Linda''s answer however was it was too simplistic.
Alexander had already thought of it and hence did not buy it.
So getting close to Miss Linda such that the man was towering over her, Alexander very slowly and deliberately lowered his eyes to meet the much shorterdy''s gaze, before producing a very menacing hooded look,
"This does not make any sense. Because you never tried to seriously negotiate after that. I was willing, yet¡Did you give up just one try?"
Miss Linda''s heart start to beat faster with fear at having such huge plot holes poked into her reply.
In reality, they had never pursued that way because it was never the n in the first ce.
However, she did not dare say for fear of what Alexander might do to her.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
He had already invaded her personal space so aggressively that it made her very nervous.
Which unfortunately also made her unable to think of a quick, on the spot answer.
"That was the reason Parker gave me! I don''t know anymore! He nned it all and just told me to follow him!" Miss Linda could thus only repeat the lie with even more vigor, at the same time appearing very afraid.
This feeling was genuine too, as she feared the aura Alexander was emanating- it was like that of an enraged beast, ready to snap her neck if she took just a single wrong step.
But although perhaps it would have been a clear admission of guilt at some other time, this time it inadvertently ended up helping her- Alexander stopped pressing her.
This was because he did not want to push the frighteneddy too much in fear of breaking this pink atmosphere or worse, the deal they had just reached.
Plus there was also a small part of him that actually believed her.
Typically women in society were never given much power by their husbands, which was especially true with regards to politics.
So Alexander thought it was very possible that Miss Linda was a simple pawn.
"Hmmp! Is that so?" Thus he only hummed this in a very nonchnt manner, not betraying any signs of whether he believed her or not.
Before suddenly¡ he grabbed Miss Linda by her lower lips, gently yet firmly, and started to tug at them.
"Mmmmm!"
It was a very masculine power y and the pressure on the still sore and sensitive ce quickly made Miss Linda slip a groan.
This was literally a man grabbing her by the pussy and initially, she felt humiliated.
But she soon understood this was Alexander''s way of seeing if she would slip up.
And credit to the young girl, she did not lose her focus but fiercely turned to meet the man still teasing herher regions, and answered with a firm,
"Yes! That is the truth!", all while keeping a cool gaze locked on to him
"....." This gazing stalematested for perhaps only a few seconds, during which Alexander lovingly yed with the soft garden, all while keeping a fixed lock on the shorterdy.
Naturally, Miss Linda''s eyes asionally flickered at the lewd stimulus but all the end of the day, she stood her ground and Alexander could detect no overt sign of lying.
A thin pleased smile thus soon crept by his face.
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Chapter 1325 New Alliance (End) (R-18)
Miss Linda''s ''honest'' reply made Alexander decide to let the matter go and so he backed off with a very charming refreshing smile, letting thedy breathe easily once more.
Having her personal space restored, she felt a huge pressure being lifted off her, although deep in her heart, she had grown a bit wary about Alexander.- she found him to be a bit too mercurial.
There were very few people in her life she knew who could change faces so quickly. And none of them were easy to deal with.
Miss Linda kept such thoughts to herself and all in, things quickly reverted back to normal almost as quickly as they had turned serious.
"Thank you for being honest!" Alexander even pretended to extend an olive for his behavior, wishing to hand thedy ''a present as an apology''.
And in trying to do so, he brought his right hand towards her mouth with a grin,
"Here, have a treat!"
Miss Linda slightly grimaced at the sight, one because of Alexander''s dangerous smile but more so because of what the ''treat'' was.
That hand was the same one that had been teasing her sore lower half, so naturally, it was coated in both their love juices.
Miss Linda wished to instantly move her head away to refrain from tasting that abominable white and cloudy mixture.
It looked too unappetizing.
However, quickly recalling a simr incident involving her other hole and how Alexander had ''lovingly'' fed her from that, she figured there was no use resisting.
''It is like I am his toy.''
Slightlympooning and afraid Alexander was going to mix something more in if she waited, Miss Linda thus obediently opened her mouth and took the inviting fingers in, eagerlypping up the gift.
"Mmmm, good kitty!" Alexander proudly smirked at the sensual sight, relishing the way those red luscious lips sucked and caressed him and especially how that small, hot tongue painted his digits with its fluids.
Hence he kept a scalding gaze at the sight, savoring every minute of how aggrieved thedy looked as she cleaned him off.
The taste of the concoction that Alexander had served was definitely an acquired one and needless to say Miss Linda was still getting ustomed to it.
But nevertheless, she did a job enough job, causing Alexander to hence tease her,
"You seem quite good at sucking. Did you also do this with your husband?"
"....." Miss Linda initially stayed quiet, concentrating on swallowing the thick, musky, jello like globs as soon as possible.
"My lord seems quite interested in knowing what I did with my husband. What? Did you wish to join him?"
"....." The tart response left Alexander his lips twitching a bit.
Indeed, he did feel a bit jealous about the fact that Lord Parker got to savor this stunning beauty before he could.
But the prideful man would never admit to such a thing.
Rather¡.
"Kyahhh¡.!" Miss Linda suddenly felt Alexander''s anger as he lifted her up by her thighs, before gently pushing her back onto therge study table, once again lying the beauty down.
"What are you¡ No! I said it already¡ I am too sore there!" Miss Linda quickly raised her head to spot Alexander''s turgid tool approaching her and sensing what was about to happen, Miss Linda quickly moved her hand to cover her spot. Experience new stories on empire
This was Alexander''s way of retaliating and thedy was really regretting letting her momentary anger get the better of her.
While Alexander seeing that thedy was genuinely terrified of her muff getting ruined decided to halt for a moment.
He would not take her if it truly hurt.
But that also did not mean Alexander was going to just end the session here.
''Who knows when will be the next time I will ever get a chance like this? I need to taste every nook and cranny.''
And as he said those words, suddenly his eyes flickered as he noticed something pink peeping out of the spread leggeddy.
It was Miss Linda''s soft, still pristine rear hole.
"... nook and cranny!" Alexander could not help but smirk to himself.
"Ahhhh!"
And thus soon Miss Linda left her long legs being lifted up until her knees were right up against her face and her long heels were pointing high up into the air.
Alexander had just put Miss Linda into a jackhammer position.
And when thedy once again protested at being taken, he charmingly chuckled, "Don''t worry! There is another hole I can use!"
"Wha.. you?... Filth!" Miss Linda appeared genuinely surprised upon feeling the hot, bulbous tip poke around her forbidden hole, and venomously spewed out such,
"You¡ Pervert! Degenerate! Ahh¡ How could you even think this! That ce¡ Mmmm¡."
This acrid reaction however very much pleased Alexander''s ego, causing him to vulgarly chortle, "Hehe! I am guessing your husband never took you there!"
In reality, Miss Linda had of course been taken there.
But she acted like she had not because she was not a big fan of taking it there and also because she thought it would please Alexander.
Just as Alexander was learning about her, she too had been learning about him.
So she kept up the y, shouting out aloud in a pretended distressed voice,n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Of course not you pervert! Only those heathen barbarians would do something so filthy! Get out! That ce¡ Don''t you da¡ mmmmm!"
Thedy''s ''struggles'' naturally proved futile as keeping the thrashingdy steady by firmly holding onto her legs, Alexander first lubed the hole with a bit of his precum, and then slowly inserted himself without further ado, much to the suppressed moan of theyingdy.
''Mmmmm¡ it''s so thick! And strong! Ahhh¡ it feels like he''s burning my asshole! Noo¡''
Deep inside, Miss Linda''s true feelings were much different from her outward outburst and thedy had to try very hard to not let her face twist in pleasure and let the lie slip.
Something that was made considerably harder given the fact she was directly facing Alexander, unlike the previous time when she could burrow it on the table and hide.
While for Alexander, as he pushed through, he found that other than the strong initial resistance right at the entrance, there was not that much resistance aspared to the front hole.
The whole thing smoothly expanded and let him in without any further trouble.
This ''experienced'' entrance initially made him a bit suspicious, but Alexander ultimately figured it was likely due to how aroused Miss Linda already was.
Besides, he had much more enjoyable matters to attend to.
The sepia colored creases on the tight anus were squeezing down on his little brother with immense pleasure and as he moved in search of more, the frictional resistance of the incredibly soft yet springy intestine walls made his mind ze with primal lust.
He could not wait to get enough.
"p¡p¡ p¡:" Hence Alexander soon started moving, settling into a nice rhythm of swinging his hips against the trembling ass while firmly holding thedy''s raised legs in ce.
This jackhammer position also let Alexander directly gaze into the marvelousdy''s face and scrutinize each and every expression she made while he poked and prodded in all the various ces.
The sight of such a beautifuldy squirming under him, producing all kinds of blushing faces and moanful sounds was of course a grand wonder to behold.
The way thedy bit her lips as a way to swallow her moans, the way she avoided Alexander''s lustful gaze, the way her entire body had this pink flush due to the heat and sweat produced by their activity, the way her chest raised and fell due to her heavy panting and most charming of all, the way her nipples stood erect and solid.
Alexander loved every and every inch of it.
"Hehe, for someone who has never been fucked in the ass, you sure have an experienced hole, mydy." He could not help but make this jokingment.
But who knew such an innocuous statement could produce such an intense reaction in thedy, causing her to yell,
"No! You are wrong! How can a nobledy feel good from such a filthy thing? Stop sprouting rubbish!"
In Miss Linda''s mind, she thought Alexander was beginning to suspect her ''virginity''.
But Alexander only took the statement as Miss Linda feeling shy, and so smirked while speeding up,
"What are you talking about? It''s clear your asshole has gotten the hang of my cock. I can move through it much smoother now, yet your anus remains quite tight. It''s incredibly soft."
"No! Ahhhh¡. Too fast! It''s turning me inside out! Don''t! Stop! You ruined my pussy¡ now you are going to ruin my butt too!"
At some point, Miss Linda lost all her inhibitions once again and started to let out immense, lewd screams, thrashing her arms and rolling her tongue out like a slut.
This transformed sight greatly ignited Alexander''s passion for thedy and then noticing how the garden above was spewing lewd water mixed with his semen that was dripping down, Alexander could not help but once again pinch those bullied lips,
"Look at how wet you are! And you dare say you don''t want a good fuck!"
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Chapter 1326 Very Far Goals
Alexander would finally release inside Miss Linda''s forbidden hole with a great burst, pumping the delicious ass full of the heat that was swirling around his dick and causing thedy to scream and twist her face in ways that Alexander wished could photograph for memory.
She coulde with Alexander too and even greedily suck his sweet gift right into her anus, before suddenly goingpletely limp, overwhelmed by the intense pleasure.
But for the couple, this would hardly be the end- it was only the second round after all.
So soon, Alexander had the stunningdy moved from the table and kneeling in front of him, thrusting into her tiny mouth and making his clean up.
The exotic mixture of juices on his cock was a brand new experience for Miss Linda, as was trying to take such a huge thing into such a small thing.
At the end of the day, she would be able to take only half without instantly gagging.
But it was the effort that counted and given how beautiful Miss Linda''s face was, Alexander found just the experience of such a beautifuldy doing such a thing more than worth of his gift.
She would get a fresh coat of white paint on her face as her reward.
Afterward, Alexander would her move to the bed, where he would once again take her in the front hole, this time in a missionary position.
The much more convenient posture would let thedy amodate Alexander much more easily, and it also let the man savor some of the parts he wanted to but did not get a chance yet, such as drinking her breast milk and getting to lick her smooth, shaved armpits.
The former tasted sweet and sinful, while thetter was soft, salty, and naughty.
In this way, Alexander would enjoy his reward, finally finishing after four whole rounds, by the end of which Miss Linda would be left lying limp on the bed like wet mud.
It took a while for thedy to get the strength to even speak up.
....
After some time passed, the pair found themselves still lying side by side on therge bed, each drowning in their own thought.
For Alexander, it was soaking in the thrill of bringing this proud peacock to his heel, an exquisite experience to say the least.
Turning his head to look at the gorgeous girl next to him, he still could not believe he got to make a free, no strings attached score with this babe.
While Miss Linda, as if sensing his gaze, opened up to chime with a slightly panting voice,
"*Huff*, *huff*, You were too much! My poor pussy is never going to be the same. And why did youe so much inside me? What if I get pregnant?"
The bitterness in the aggrieved tone was clear, which then turned into a firm statement when Miss Linda asked,
"Take responsibility!"
Even Alexander was not immune to the sudden jump his heart did upon hearing those two dreaded words.
In a rtionship, they were perhaps only secondary to the most feared- ''I''m pregnant'' phrase.
It made Alexander wonder what Miss Linda truly meant here.
''Are you asking me to marry you, recing Lord Castell? Or do you wish to be my lover while keeping him as a husband?''
No matter which way Alexander thought about this, it seemed Miss Linda was now having ideas about having her feet on both boats.
This was not a wise choice in Alexander''s option because trying to get everything at once was usually always a recipe for disaster.
So it was good that Alexander had a solution to the dilemma without going into lengthy negotiations with this moodydy.
"Don''t worry. I have a medicine that will not only prevent any pregnancy, but it will also help your organ regain its shape back. You will be as tight as new."
"Something like this exists?"
Naturally, Alexander''s bold im had the youngdy with bulging eyes, feeling it was too good to be true.
Now, being one of the biggest noble families quite close to Adhania, the Margraves were originally able to buy some of the miraculous herbs in the ck market, but in recent years, due to their faltering books, their stock had run out and they were unable to fill them up again.
Miss Linda thus never got to use it for herself and only heard about it from her teachers and governesses- who listed pages and pages of all kinds of miraculous effects it possessed.
However, the proud woman never bought these hyperbolic records and thought them to only exist to impress gullible children.
For the proud as a peacockdy, it was too embarrassing to think her familycked something the others had.
She refused to even entertain the idea.
And secondly, it was also because there really were too many listed uses of legummum and some were indeed quite foolish and nonsensical.
For instance, one passage imed that it was able to regrow cut limbs if used regrly enough, which it obviously could not.
Needless to say, the schr who wrote this was on something quite strong that day.
Hence, given there was a man next to her who actually regrly used the stuff, Miss Linda chimed up to seek some rification,
"Is that also the same medicine you nobles in Adhania use for abortion? Are all those things they say about that herb true?"
Making this question, Miss Linda was quick to add this in partial defense of her family''s pride,
"We also have something simr here called twilight wine¡. the problem is it''s not always effective. We need to take it twice or thrice with a day of the sex and even then it sometimes does not work."
Her tone became bitter near the end,menting the fact that her family did not have something to stand toe to toe with the Adhanians.
But in truth, the fact was, the efficacy of the native medicine that Miss Linda mentioned was actually the norm in nature.
Most birth control contraceptives were only effective to a certain extent, even the modern ones.
The reason had to do with the way they worked.
The medicine prevented pregnancy basically in two ways.
One- by inhibiting the release of certain hormones that cause ovtion and thus pregnancy, or
Two- by thinning the ovum walls so that even if the egg is fertilized it cannot stick, thus allowing for a ''safe'' miscarriage.
The trouble with this was, that each body was different and so the exact amount of hormone needed to cause these changes also varied.
And given how subtle these hormonal doses had to be so as to not cause any side effects to other parts of the body, a miss by even a tiny fraction could cause the medicine to lose its efficaciousness.
It worked for most women most of the time, but if one''s hormone was off just for one month, such as due to things like increased stress or a change in diet or even a type of mild illness, it was possible for the medicine to fail.
Thus even the modern pills only guaranteed a sess rate of 99% and even that was with the caveat that you took the pills every day for their whole prescribed period (3 to 4 weeks) without missing a date.
Meaning in the best case scenario, 1 in 100 women could still be pregnant even if she was on the pill.
And more realistically where most women skipped some days, that rate fell to somewhere in the lower 90s.
Now put that in contrast to the legummum and suddenly, its hundred percent sess rate became even more astonishing.
What modern medicine with so much future tech and tests and trials could not do, this seemingly ordinary herb did without any fuss or hassle.
You did not need to even take it continuously like the other one¡ just rub it around the private parts before or another the act once and vi! You were done!
And this was not to even mention the miraculous muscle restoration effects.
Alexander''s hand itched to know how this miraculous drug worked.
He had no idea how the drug restored the vaginal muscles to their former glory but for the contraception part, he had several guesses.
Among them, two of the most promising ones were that the salve perhaps acted as a kind of extremely potent spermicide, destroying the male seed before it couldplete the long, arduous swim.
Or that maybe it was a kind of hormone controller like the pill, only this was directly absorbed by the skin instead of needing to be ingested.
Or perhaps both.
However, these were all only hunches with no concrete proof of anything.
Neither did he hold out much hope about knowing its secret in his lifetime because the science of finding the mechanism of how a medicine worked was very, veryplex.
One needed an extremely in depth knowledge in many different fields- physics, chemistry, and biology to even know where to start.
And even modern medicine only managed to make significant progress in just the recent years, aided by powerful supeputers and enormouslyplex simtions.
Which seemed quite out of Alexander''s reach even in the distant, far flung future
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Chapter 1327 Loans
It was one thing to figure out which medicine to eat depending on the symptoms you were showing, it was another thing entirely different to figure out why that medicine worked the way it did.
The former was something that could be done by simple trial and error, while thetter needed magnitudes more effort and knowledge.
Alexandermpooned realizing this, forcing himself toe to terms with the fact that perhaps the mysteries of that magical herb would perhaps remain forever unknown to him.
"What? Is there a problem?"
It was Miss Linda''s sudden chime next to his ears that finally jolted Alexander back to the present.
"No! I was simply thinking about how to get you the herbs. It grows only in tiny quantities around a very special area in the capital and its distribution is strictly controlled by the king."
He was quick to make up a convincing excuse.
"Hmmm¡ I see!" Miss Linda also did not press him after hearing that.
She figured that since it was him who had promised her his support and it was him in charge of making sure she did not identally get pregnant, this was his problem to solve.
Rather Miss Linda became much more focused on the other information Alexander had revealed, realizing the dream of growing this precious herb in her family estate was impossible.
She had originally assumed it grew all over that country like weeds, so she wanted Alexander to send some over but now understood that it was likely suited to only grow in a very particr soil and climate.
Her family could not have everything in the world.
This thought initially made her feel a bit crestfallen, and so bringing herself closer to the lying Alexander, she whispered in a testing voice,
"You seem to have thought about everything. Are you so confident that I will seed?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
It seemed she was still a bit apprehensive about getting herself involved in this ruthless game.
Alexander on the other hand felt a very different set of emotions, as blood started to slowly boil inside him upon feeling the warm nubile body pressing against his strong arms.
''Shameless seductress!'' He lightly cursed.
However the experienced man managed to quickly seal his lust from affecting his thinking and quickly reassured,
"Don''t fear. As long as you can make Lord Castell support you¡ make him fall in love with you, there won''t be any trouble. You will have me too!"
"Even if you somehow fail to win the bid for your son¡ I do not believe you will face too much bacsh. You will still be the new duke''s ''aunt'' after all."
"If your family''s resources increase enough in the meantime¡ you could even still y kingmaker for the two men. I do not believe either of your brothers inw will dare refuse your coin."
"Being second and third sons of the family, they should not have even a tenth¡. or perhaps even a thousandth of your family''s resources under them. I do not need to tell you how to take advantage of such a thing, right?"
Alexander guessed that since Lord Parker had been already named the next sessor, his brothers should have been left quite neglected, with hardly the coin needed to finance their ''bids''.
So if a Marquis family like Miss Linda were toe up to support them, it would surely get them a huge advantage.
"Hehehe!" These convincing words appear to dispel almost all the second thoughts Miss Linda was having and she unreservedly hugged Alexander, wrapping her dainty arms around his broad chest and letting her modest, warm breasts squish into him.
This pink sensation apanied by the charming, very sensual peal ofughter ringing right next to his ears quickly made it hard for Alexander to stay soft.
And Miss Linda seemed to sense this ''pleased'' mood, so cunningly took a bold move.
"Then how about you lend me the full 6 million? It will certainly help me y ''kingmaker'' better hehehe¡."
"......." Alexander could not believe how shameless the woman next to him was being.
The agreed 40 million ropals was already a huge sum of money. By all ounts, Alexander should not have even entertained the idea.
But he did.
Yet now she wanted more!
Alexander did not want to even grace that ask with an answer.
While sensing Alexander''s incredulous mood, Miss Linda did not back down but actually rified her demands, sexily wrapping her long, bare legs around his waist and whispering in a soft, steamy voice,
"My reward was for only the first time. You took me for four! Take responsibility!"
"....." The sexy, silky tone of her voice made Alexander''s heart soften once again and he felt did not have the skill to argue with such ''great logic''.
Especially since he was struggling far more to keep his blood from rushing to make a certain part of his body and making him ''very excited''.
Thus suppressing his rising lust, he tried to answer in as neutral a tone as possible,
"As discussed earlier I will give you 1 million wesa (10 million ropals) each year over the span of the next four years. If you still need more¡ we can discuss it then."
It went without saying Alexander was not going to just give the 40 million ropals in one big lump just because thedy asked.
He had learned from his previous mistake and was determined not to repeat it. If Miss Linda wanted to run away with his money, she was going to have to wait.
He also feared she was going to whirl it all away at once if he did so- because there was nothing easier to use than someone else''s money.
Of course, this counteroffer made Miss Linda''s cheeks lightly puff up as a clear sign of unhappiness, and she haggled,
"I need more than that¡ at least to get things going. Give me 3 million in the first year, and the
rest in two years. I will pay it back in 10 years!"
"......" Once again, Alexander found a new level of shamelessness.
The way Miss Linda said it, it sounded like it was her who was being ''gracious'' to concede the 10 million ropals.
Whereas not only was the amount much higher than what was previously agreed, but she also wanted the whole thing much faster.
And to top it all off, she did not even seem to want to pay any interest!
''Could you have even asked for more?'' Alexander seriously wondered.
The only thing reasonable there was the promised return period, and even that Alexander thought was highly unlikely to be honored.
He believed that given Miss Linda''s shady nature, he would not get even half of his money back.
But as he settled his mind down, he found that this actually did not bother him too much.
He remembered that he was not here for the money- he far preferred to get paid in more ''exotic'' means, such as in the form of various political benefits and influence.
Hence after a bit of adjusted negotiations, the duo settled for a new deal-
5 million wesa to be loaned over a 4 year period.
The first year Alexander would give half of the total amount- 2.5 million wesas, among which 1 million would be in hard coin, and the remaining in the form of 3,000 released prisoners of war.
The next two years it would be one million respectively, followed by the remaining half a million in thest year.
As for the interest, well given Alexander did not hold any real hope of getting his money back in cash, he decided to give Miss Linda a very sweet deal.
He asked her to pay him back a mere 5.1 million wesa or just 1 million ropals in interest, and that too over the next ten years.
This came at an annual interest rate of a bit less than 0.2%, which was not only low, it was Bank of Japan levels low.
It was basically a token amount.
And if all that was not good enough, Miss Linda would not have to start paying him until she got the whole 5 million loan. Meaning she was effectively getting a 15 year deal.
As for what would happen if she still failed to pay¡ well- if Miss Linda was truly unable to pay him, then it would mean their gamble for the duke''s seat had utterly failed.
Then, Alexander nned to just settle for that fixed 5.1 million.
But if Miss Linda ''refused'' pay after getting what she wanted, well that was where her sister Lady Miranda came in.
Alexander would not mind funding her enemies should his investment ''turn a turncoat''.
But when discussing the matter, he skipped this ''consequences'' part because he did not wish to bring up such a sour topic.
He would rather show that he fully believed in thedy''s integrity and that there was no way his investment could go bad.
While thedy, having gotten an extra 10 million ropals just by acting coy was naturally overjoyed.
Thus a stunning face suddenly bloomed in front of Alexander, and his heart quickened as felt the nakeddy sensually get up on him,
"Hehe, then my lord, let me give you another reward!"
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Chapter 1328 Loans (Part-2)
The reason for Miss Linda''s ''celebrations'' could be easily understood when one learned how loans were given during this time period.
First of all, even the most generous loans of the time usually came with 5 to 10% interest, although the far moremon rate was closer to 20%- loan shark amounts.
Sopared to that, Alexander''s deal was basically interest free.
In fact, the only reason he even charged that small amount had more to do with the principal than any motive for profit.
He just did not want to appear like an endless ''coin well'' to Miss Linda.
And secondly, given Alexander had not brought it up, Miss Linda seemed to sense there might not be too much of a repercussion if she was unable to repay the borrowed amount.
Now if a lord refused to pay back his loans, there were a few things that happened, broadly depending on who they borrowed it from.
If the money came from nearby lords or the temple and clergy, the failing nobles could lose their social standing and credility, be forced to make certain political concessions, or be asked to allow certain religious practices and privileges to priests among other things.
While if the amount you owned was to the royal treasury, well the results could turn from just embarrassing to outright disastrous.
If that happened, then amongst the above listed things, they could also have theirnds sieged, which ifrge enough could even make that noble lose his peerage due to going under the minimumnd threshold needed to be owned to hold his title.
While in the worst of the worst case scenario, they could bepletely rooted out through all out war.
Now thetter two options were of course very very rare but still, it did happen from time to time, especially if that noble house had powerful enemies or made them thoroughly enraged.
Hence a far better source of coin for most nobles were the wealthy merchants residing in theirnds.
Not only were they sometimes even richer than some of the nobles, but the interests on these loans were also quite small, many times even absent.
Many times nobles could simply take that enormous amount of money from the merchants and then refuse to pay it back.
If that happened, the nobles would still suffer a hit to their reputation but given this ''crime'' wasmitted against amoner, it would leave a much lighter stain.
Some of the nobles even thought they were doing the right thing, ''putting thesemoners in ce''.
As for the ''rich yet poor''moners, well they had little choice other than to swallow the loss, chalking the whole thing up as simply a necessary expense for doing business here.
This type of mindset was cultivated by the thoughts and ideas of the time period, where money did not make the world go around, but God did.
And who did God appoint to rule on earth on his behalf¡ all those noblemen of course.
So the best these merchants could do as retaliation was refuse to lend them money in the future.
Of course that was easier said than done given all thend they lived on belonged to the man.
If yourndlord wants something and he has an entire army backing him, would you dare to refuse?
And the lords understood this too, thus they could sometimes be particrly oppressive, trying to leverage their privileged position to repeatedly fleece those beneath them.
When that happened, those merchants would either grit their teeth and try to endure until they went out of business or simply leave and set up shop elsewhere.
But that was far easier than done when one''s entire production base was here, all the suppliers were here, and all the loyal customers were here.
So to leave it all and start all over again almost from scratch¡ the difficulty could be imagined.
Plus it was not like the businesses in those newnds were going to wee this newpetition with open arms.
And all this was to even mention the familial and societal aspects of all this.
People in these times were far less geographically mobile than their modern counterparts and preferred to spend generations in thends they grew up in.
So many chose to simply bear through the tyranny.
While others tried to middle ground- i.e.- join a guild!
The tyranny of the nobles was indeed one of the reasons why merchants tended to join guilds- for there was strength in numbers.
A nobleman might have no problem angering a single or even a small group of merchants, but to aggravate an entire guild or even a group of guilds- well that was a whole another thing.
Their entire manufacturing economy could grind to a halt.
Now this did not mean it never happened.
If the lord was especially greedy and ipetent or if he was pushed right to the edge, drowning in debt from wars, rebellions, or some kind of natural disaster, he would forcibly seize assets regardless of the consequences.
However in general this ''repeated fleecing'' was rtively umon.
Most lords preferred to keep these merchants happy because they brought various necessary goods from distantnds that their ownnds could not produce but still required.
This could involve essentials like enough grains and vegetables to feed the popce, luxuries like cloth, timber, stone, and even exotic fruits and spices, or critical things like salt and iron.
The sale of all of which produced significant ie for thendlords.
In fact, the revenue collected from sales taxes was usually only eclipsed by what they got from working the fields, a typical statistic for an agrarian society.
So most nobles tried to keep merchants if ''not happy'' then at least ''not angry''.
.....
As the new round of negotiations came to a close, Alexander saw a twinkling with delight Miss Linda slowly mount him, a resplendent grin stered on her ce.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"My lord, to be so generous with your gifts¡ the interest is so low that it feels like you are giving me your dower! Hehe, are you sure you do not want to marry me?" The fully bare youngdy cooed while nting her eyes charmingly, "I would not mind you know!"
"....." Alexander did not bother to respond to such teasing, feeling too drawn by the alluring sight in front of him to care.
He subconsciously swallowed a dry gulp at the gorgeous nudedy towering over him and soon found his loins be red hot as Miss Linda began to grind wet, hot sex over his crotch, painting it with her and his mixed fluids.
The sticky, sticky turbid liquid was like an aphrodisiac to his skin.
"Mmmm!" Alexander thus felt his hands being maically drawn to that warm body, and as he grabbed her by that thin, willow waist tightly, it became clear in his mind that he would not let thedy dismount now even if she wanted to.
Then understanding what he was about to do, Alexander loudlympooned onest time,
"To pay 10 million ropals extra for one session in the bed. This will definitely go in the history books as the most expensive sex in the world. If my wife were to know, she would tear my ear off!"
"Hehehe¡." Miss Linda did not seem at all bothered that the man she was about to have sex with was thinking about another woman. She was far too busy thinking about the high evaluation Alexander just gave her- ''most expensive woman in the world.''
As a reward for saying such things, she started to grind her hips in a much more sexy manner, rotating them in a dancing motion that seemed to almost hypnotize Alexander.
He heard her chuckle in a mesmerizing tone,
"Rest assured my lord¡. I am more than worth it. Soon you will be telling the world that the Duchess of Lynica, Linda Margraves Heeat is your bitch! That you even took her in the ass! How many can im to have pumped a duchess''s ass full of his nasty cum!"
It seemed that when it mattered, this woman really could talk dirty, having no shame in presenting herself in the most bae way.
And credit to her¡ it worked as intended.
Alexander''s lower half practically jumped up in anticipation upon hearing such provocative words, or at least tried to given it was still firmly held under Miss Linda''s heavily wet, juicy lips.
And feeling the sudden jolt on her sensitiveher regions, thesciviousdy''s smile only turnedrger and she even began to confidently show off her nude body, moving her slender arms along the entire length of it to emphasize each and every part,
"Look at me! Am I not the most beautiful woman you have ever been with Lord Alexander?"
"My face is perfect! Even the gods are envious of my beauty!"
"My breasts are the most sublime¡ perfect to hold in your palms! And if you squeeze¡ ahhhh, see¡you can even drink the freshest juice!"
"I have no fat on my belly! And my stretch marks paint it in the most exotic colors."
"My hips are so narrow you can snap them with one hand. And my pussy¡ well I do not need to tell you about that my lord, right?"
"....." Discover exclusive content at empire
Once the couple was finished with their torrid affair, Alexander was truly finished for the day, so much so that that night he skipped his rendezvous with Lady Nanazin.
And the scenery kept shing before him even when he met Lady Miranda the next day.
Chapter 1329 Deal With Lady Miranda (Part-1)
Miss Linda would sneakily go back to her room only after dusk had fallen, when the state of her slightly crumpled dress would not be easily noticed in the dim, soft candle lightning.
And she would leave Alexander with an unforgettable memory, to the point he would feel a bit reluctant to see her go.
He would not get to taste this great delicacy at least for the foreseeable future.
The nostalgia was to the point that in honor of the memory, he even refused Lady Nanazin''s advances that night, and chose to reminisce fondly about the day''s activities.
He recalled how he had chuckled while the woman got on top of him during the second round, "I thought you said your front hole hurts too much?"
"Heh! Who said anything about the front?"
Thedy would curve her eyes in the most sexy way possible before very shily lifting her hips and impaling herself on the rear hole in one single go.
''Ahhhhh! ''She''s definitely not a virgin there!''
The way her pink hole opened its entrance and swallowed his gigantic tool was more than enough to reveal its secrets to Alexander.
But he did not get to ask thedy about it because the clenching and twisting he was feeling from back there soon took over his attention and when Miss Linda shouted,
"Ahhh! y with my pussy! I feel so empty there!"
He began to concentrate teasing the overflowing garden in front of him, pinching and tugging the soft lips into a bright red color.
Miss Linda howled in pleasure from that, letting her excitedly jump up and down his pole in search of more.
In this way, the insatiable woman would squeeze Alexander dry three more times, leaving the man nearly shriveled up!
Perhaps that was also why he decided to go straight to bed that right, much to the otherdy''s annoyance.
...¡.
"I''m sorry that it took so long to meet, mydy!"
Alexander would meet with Lady Miranda the next morning in his study, finding the plumpdy quite frosty in her demeanor.
"No! I''m sure you had many important matters to attend to my lord! What is used up little old me to you?" The anger in her voice made the words appear almost red to Alexander.
And in Lady Miranda''s mind, she had every right to be like this
She had been looking for an audience with Alexander for days, wanting to discuss how to split up their spoils of victory, yet he kept constantly ghosting her.
Whereas as his closest ally, she should have been his first priority.
"..." Alexander only lightly smiled at the angry outburst, before subtly turning his gaze down to thedy''s swollen belly.
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The sight caused aplicated feeling to rise inside him.
The baby inside belonged to Lady Miranda and herte husband, as admitted by thedy herself during the initial signs of her conception,
"I did not want to conceive another child till Marcus came of age. But after he¡ left, we decided to try. And the gods have answered!"
She had a motherly glow as she chimed this.
But although it was very good news for her, Alexander thought itplicated his ns for her.
A widow with no child was far easier to ally with.
But Alexander had no idea of this as Lady Miranda was quite plump and hid the growing life using heavy,yered winter clothing
So by the time Alexander noticed, the turkey was already too far done.
''Well let''s hope it''s not a boy!''
And as he scanned it again now, he could only pray this, for he did not want to deal with the two sisters going at each other once again.
Alexander would atst bring his mind back to the poutingdy, and producing an apologetic nod, chime,
"Indeed, I have neglected you, mydy. I should have met with you first. It was my mistake and for that, I apologize." This sincere bow and show of remorse was quite unexpected for the waiting Lady Miranda and it softened her countenance by quite a lot.
She appeared to sense that Alexander was being true here.
While Alexander, noticing this chink, quickly added,
"The reason I chose to meet with the Heeats first was because I was advised by some of my noble officers to do so. They passed me a message during their interrogation some of the officers saying that some Heeat representative wanted to meet me in secret.
There were some things they wanted to discuss that were too inconvenient for them to write on paper. Hehe¡ you know what I mean right mydy? A ducal family like them could never officially agree or admit many things. They have a reputation to hold."
Of course,, this was mostly nonsense, but it was sprinkled with enough truth that the rtively youngdy, who did not know all the ins and outs of the situation was unable to find any major faults.
She only angrily thought those ''military officers'' that Alexander had thrown out as scapegoats were being too pedantic, sticking their noses where it does not belong.
Without them, she could have been the first
"What did you discuss?"
But given it was already done, she then became more focused on what Alexander was talking about behind her back, adding a bit sulkily,
"Don''t you think you should have had me in that meeting as well? Whatever that family does affects me as well!"
Towards this ''chastisement'', Alexander scoffed internally, ''Heh! You think you still matter to me? You are a second rate force! Whatever we decide, you have to follow!''
He certainly did not think Lady Miranda was qualified to sit at the table with him and sneered at the naive woman''s thoughts.
But externally, in much contrast to his true arrogant attitude, he was much kinder, once again submissively nodding his head,
"Yes, yes, it was my mistake! It was just that the Heeat delegation wanted a single audience with me. And they seemed mostly interested in discussing trade deals with me.
They had apparentlye hearing of all the new things I had. But given the recent wars and how the sessor of their house died fighting against me, they were a bit apprehensive about so openly shaking hands with the enemy."
Alexander was not tantly lying here- Lord Kite dide to discuss trade with him, only it involved prisoners of war and ves, but his produce.
"....." But Lady Miranda did not know this, neither did shement upon learning what Alexander said although she did purse her lips as if still feeling a bit peeved.
On one hand, she was d nothing ''important'' had been discussed while she was absent, but at the same time, she found herself hoping that would have discussed her situation too.
Alexander sensed this paradoxical feeling too, which is why he quickly added with a bit of mysterious re,
"Of course, as we were talking, your matter also came up at some point naturally. And I am d to inform you that the Heeat family has expressed strong conviction in honoring their ten year treaty. We even discussed ways to prevent conflicts from ring up around your and Miss Linda''s border."
This was good¡ no.. great news and it quickly made Lady Miranda''s eyes light up.
Securing her borders was perhaps her biggest concern.
She might not be any greatmander, but she at least knew where her greatest vulnerabilityy.
"Oh what did you discuss exactly? Why did you not tell me sooner?" Lady Miranda hence extended her head excitedly, her eyes looking both expectant, but also a bit guilty.
If she had known this, she would not have been so rude to the man.
''Because we did not do any such thing!'' While Alexandermpooned inside, his lips twitching a bit at having produced a bigger than nned lie.
But given he had already said it, and what the consequences would be if he backed down, he could only go with it.
He thus tried to be as vague as possible without sounding too insincere,
"I¡ we have not worked out the exact details¡ but one of the suggested conditions was restricting the number of troops each side has on the ind. Such as¡ limiting our garrison to only at most 5,000."
This got a great grin from Lady Miranda as her nights were constantly filled with worry about the 10,000 strong navy Lord Castell had just sitting out her harbor.
If they decided to make a sudden attack using under the cover of darkness¡ Lady Miranda did not dare to imagine what would happen if they somehow seeded.
She thus became very excited and her enthusiasm was only dampened upon learning Alexander was still only on the talking phase, with nothing concrete determined.
"Do not worry mydy, I will not anyone destroy this hard earned peace. These talks will seed. And peace willst¡ at least for the discussed time."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Her mood only improved upon hearing Alexander''s gentle reassuring tone.
Of course in reality there were no talks and the real reason why Alexander was so confident because he intended to shift Miss Linda and Lord Castell''s attention elsewhere.
But he did not think Lady Miranda needed to know this.
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Chapter 1330 Deal With Lady Miranda (Part-2)
Alexander''s swift exnation for meeting the Heeat family first was fortunately bought by Lady Miranda hook, line, and sink, as she appeared very excited by the promise of the treaty.
A guarantee of ten years of peace was too precious to her.
Hence thedy quickly expressed her hope that the talks would go smoothly.
"I will try my best, mydy. I would also love for you to join the talks, but Lord Castell is a proud man. He only finds me as his equal and wishes to talk to me directly. Hehehe.. perhaps the truth is that he is too embarrassed to talk face to face with you- defeated by a woman from a Marquis family."
Alexander''s tteringment appeared to make Lady Miranda''s face notably glow up and caused her to break off into arge, almost sarcastic grin-
"Mmmm, I also do not find it wise to go against such a ''powerful'' man. I will leave the talks with you, my lord."
¡..
Then with that topic closed, Lady Miranda quickly moved to her target, "And Linda? What did my dear scheming sistere to want from you?"
The tone with which she made this ask was quite light and fluffy, although Alexander did not miss those eyes suddenly bing sharp like talons.
Alexander would not have dared reveal the truth even if he had ten lives.
So instead, keeping a t face, he lightly noted,
"I''m sure mydy can already guess why she was here. She asked me to show her some leniency in the negotiations and hopes I can support her rule."
"Losing the war and bing a young widow has apparently put her in quite a disadvantageous position. The elders me her for the loss and worse, her uncle inw seems to especially dislike her."
"Hehehe¡. This is actually because under my ''persuasion'', Lord Kite has shifted some of the campaign blunders to her! This saved his hide and now Lord Castell believes she is responsible for his nephew''s death! That she plotted to have him killed.. hahaha!"
Alexander revealed some of the backhanded dealings he had with the Heeat family in order to pit the youngdy as a way to cate the irritateddy in front of him.
And it worked, as Lady Miranda became extremely excited.
"Hahaha¡ good, good! Serves that bitch well! Tell me more¡ how did she beg? What did you do to her?"
The way she manically joined herughter with Alexander''s and the way her eyes twinkled in anticipation, Alexander figured he could tell her he peeled Miss Linda''s skin off and salted her wounded, and yet Lady Miranda would still chuckle and p enthusiastically at it.
And this realization actually made Alexander feel a bit bitter, for he wished for the sisters to, if not get along, well at least to not be so hostile to each other, if not for maintaining familiar ties, then at least in the interest of peace on the ind.
"I simply told her that all her problems were between herself and the two families. What could an outsider like me do?"
Alexander''s sinct answer however seemed less than exciting for thedy and her face turned a bit gloomy.
"Oh¡ nothing else?"
"...." Seeing the lukewarm reception, Alexander did not know whether to embellish his story with ''details'' of her younger sister kneeling and groveling, reveal the prison of war exchange or simply say no.
"I''m sorry but that was all! She also wanted to borrow some money and even offered a lucrative interest rate but of course, I refused."
In the end, Alexander decided on thest option of revealing nothing because he was afraid that any other would be seen as him being favorable to the youngest sister and flipping Lady Miranda out.
While Lady Miranda appeared to have lost interest in Alexander''s story somewhere along mid way, and unpleasantly pursing her lips suddenly, made the following query out of the blue,
"Then¡ when you refused her¡ did she try to bed you?"
"....."
Alexander at first did not even want to grace this insulting query with an answer, but seeing the other side turn silent, Lady Miranda yet pressed with cool yet zing eyes, "Some of the maids said she stayed here with you some quite a while. And when she left, her clothes looked very disheveled! So did you sleep with my sister!"
Thosest words seemed to beced with perhaps half the world''s venom, all ready to be spat out at a moment''s notice the instant Alexander said yes.
"...."
''What am I, your soft rice husband? You think I need your permission to do what I like? Whatever woman I have in my room and whatever I do with her is my personal matter. Stop poking your nose into it.''
Alexander naturally did not appreciate this interrogation type of questioning and felt especially angry because there was no one in the world, not even Cambyses who would have dared to question him like this.
At most this main wife would have puffed her cheeks andined to Alexander for being too lustful.
So for a basically unrted woman to be lecturing him like this¡ well if it was any other time, Alexander would have just angrily brushed aside theining woman and asked her to keep her mouth shut.
But given this was a unique situation and taking an understanding tone after recalling the very different societal values the two regions had, Alexander managed to atst pull a cid face and a very light thin smile,
"Mydy knows your younger sister better than. Indeed that was the third time she has willing showed her body."
The instant Alexander revealed this, Lady Miranda''s face turned from just frosty to almost cier like.
She knew of the first two instances when Alexander was offered the chance- the garden and Miss Linda''s room, and had also confirmed nothing happened.
But that and this were different, at least her dress was not crumbled in those instances.
Hence to her, this sounded like Alexander was basically admitting to sleeping with her sister.
The man in question however did not seem to notice this dropping mood, and simply continued nonchntly,
"When I asked Miss Linda what she had to exchange for getting my support, the poordy admitted she had nothing of value at hand and at first wanted to just swear to the gods that she would pay me back. Hahaha, what a joke! After she had swindled so much money from me! Hahaha, you should have been there mydy. I had notughed so hard in a very long time!"
Alexander broke off into a convincing chortle as he said, and theughter and story were infectious to even affect Lady Miranda, whose lips could be seen curling up a bit too.
Indeed this was too ridiculous, no sane man would agree to such an illusory promise.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
While Alexander then added,
"Then seeing she was not going to get anything, Miss Linda offered herself. She got naked right in front of me¡.right where you are sitting¡ albeit with some difficulty. That dress she wore was quite hard toe out of by oneself. I imagine that was where all those crumbles and creases came from."
Alexander cleverly added the hypothesis on the go, before ending with a strong emphasis,
"Of course, I refused her no matter how much she tried to jump her body onto me. I would not take such a losing deal even if she promised to sleep with me for the rest of her life. Hah, as if her body was worth the tens of millions of ropals I would have to spend! "
The disparaging way Alexander described Miss Linda seemed to greatly please Lady Miranda, as her face bloomed into a vengeful smile,
"Hehe, I don''t think you know how much you missed out on my lord. The number of men that hounded grandfather looking for my sister''s hand would have enough to run from here to the main gate. Heh.. even my first husband¡"
Lady Miranda suddenly stopped at this, a stunned look appearing on her face as if she realized she let spill something she was not supposed to.
''Hehe, so both your husbands were taken by your younger sister?'' While quickly picking on this tidbit, Alexander mused a bit amusedly, finding another reason why Lady Miranda was perhaps this hostile towards him getting it on with her younger sister.
She had lost to Miss Linda twice, with the second time her husband being even caught cheating with this vixen.
He could understand where the teeth gnashing hatred wasing from.
But at the same time, as Alexander internallypared the two sisters, he also could not fault the men.
In terms of beauty, Lady Miranda and Miss Linda were not qualified to be talked about in even the same sentence, much less in the same breath.
It even made him wonder how two sisters who shared the same gic pool could be so wildly different as he felt that Miss Linda had definitely won the lottery there.
Of course, Alexander kept all these thoughts to himself and outwardly appeared very reserved.
He acted as if he did not even notice the foible and patiently waited for the otherdy to cool down.
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Chapter 1331 Deal With Lady Miranda (Part-3)
Alexander''s recount of the ''embellished'' events with Miss Linda seemed to greatly energize the sulkingdy, causing her to let out almost a manic grin.
"Hahaha, I think it was a great shame that you turned her down my lord. You should taken her! And then throw her out into the corridor without anything, letting the soldiers take her. Hahaha, that would have taught her"
"......" Alexander could not believe how deep Lady Miranda''s hatred of her sister went, to pray for such a painful fate.
This was even much contrary to when Alexander talked to Miss Linda- she did not seem that bothered with her elder sister, hardly bringing her up during her time.
It almost made one think she was the one who won the war.
''Its the pregnancy making her have such mood swings?'' Alexander wondered to himself, but keeping his opinions to himself.
Instead, leaving Lady Miranda to celebrate her sister''s imagined humiliation, Alexander began to go through what thedy had said to figure out how this information got leaked.
It did not take long for him to understand what was going on and he cursed,
''I will cut my arm off if that scheming vixen has nothing to do with this. How else could this get revealed way too soon.''
As for the question why¡. well Alexander quickly found the answer to that too.
The most usible exnation he could think of was that clues of their tryst were intentionally leaked by Miss Linda as a way to try and strip him of his ally and force him to join hands with her.
It might have been a long shot but Miss Linda still had not given up trying to ce her feet on two boats.
"That idiot! Does she think her sister is going to give up on me just because I slept with her once? And wasn''t she the one most afraid of getting this out? Is she not afraid of this spectacrly backfiring on her?''
The realization made the man once again internally curse this foolish move, and for a brief second, Alexander even seriously considered breaking off the deal with Miss Linda.
But as he calmed and shifted through all the clutter of the events, he began to see many missed things,
''Hmmmm¡ she is cornered and likely thinks the gamble is worth the risk. And¡. I cannot say I totally disagree!''
''Her meeting with me was likely to produce such rumors whether she liked it or not. No, they already exist! Many believe she was vited by me and my soldiers back in the camp! So there was indeed little harm in re-telling this again!''
At that point, Alexander could not help but even feel a bit impressed at Miss Linda''s way of thinking, and mused with some appreciation,
''Damn. she moves fast. It was already dusk when she left yesterday. Yet it reached her sister''s ear by today morning¡ maybe even as soon as yesterday night! She knew I was going to meet her sister today and knew exactly when to take advantage of things.''
''Heh! That old Margraves coot did indeed have a good reason to choose her over Lady Miranda. The will to struggle and fight fate even when it is so stacked against her is a fantastic wonder to witness indeed.''
Coming to this conclusion, Alexander even wondered if one of the reasons why he had chosen to shake hands with her in such a dangerous move was due to Miss Linda''s personal charm and charisma, over the realistic feasibility of it seeding.
Alexander did not have an exact answer there.
He brought his attention back to the present a whileter, and turning to face thedy still relishing in her sister''s distress,mented in a testing, prodding sort of voice,
"I must say, I did not think the maids of this manor were such experts. It could not have been easy for them¡ finding everything out so quickly. Haha, but I guess that is totally expected of an ancient family a few centuries old, even the walls have eyes. I am impressed."
"....." Lady Miranda at first thought Alexander was taking a dig at her for spying on him.
But as she thought a bit deeper, she suddenly found that his words sounded a bit odd for that.
And that suspicion soon became clear when Alexander finished by sarcastically saying,
"I am especially impressed those maids could know so much given this part of the house is entirely controlled by my men. So how could they have seen Miss Linda leaving my room? And so clearly in such darkness?.... Hmmm, I wonder¡"
"..."
That nagging feeling in Lady Miranda instantly bloomed like a red, poisonous flower hearing this as beads of cold sweat dripped down her cheek.
"I¡ am sorry my lord. I let my suspicions get the better of me. That girl¡ to think she would plot to divide us even now! Even after she was so thoroughly defeated! I¡ we¡should¡ um¡"
The eyes quickly turned to give Alexander a pained, ashamed look.
While watching the plump, pregnantdy struggle to articte her sister''s behavior into words, Alexander only produced aforting face, lightly reassuring her with a gentle chuckle,
"It''s okay, mydy. As a lord, I too can be sometimes misled by such whispers. Many like to spew unfounded whispers just to get my attention¡.. While many others¡ have their loyalty elsewhere!"
Alexander made thatst sentence in a slow, deep, voice, with flickering lights in his eyes.
Lady Miranda''s ones soon zed with fury afterwards.
Then in the following days, many of her maids would mysteriously suffer extremely pitiful deaths, with many begging to the gods for it all to be over.
Alexander''s men would report these findings to him, noting hearing mysterious screams at night and without going into the gory details, finding females mutted corpses with missing limbs, eyes, facial features, and skin too dark and tortured to look at.
Alexander would not be impressed by this.
He might have led his men to kill tens if not hundreds of thousands in the name of war and conquest, but other than very special, unavoidable circumstances, he had never tortured anyone.
It was one of his staunch principals.
Even if someone betrayed him and turned turncoat, he would have usually just executed him.
But this was his personal opinion and at the end of the day, this would not affect his rtionship with Lady Miranda.
He might not condone such heavy handed way of rooting out spies, but the alliance was too strategic to fall over for such an unrted issue.
Hence he would simply note to himself, ''It seems all the things that have happened here have scarred thedy. In many areas she has turned¡ extreme!''
He could only hope this bloom of cruelty was restricted to only a small part of her life.
Now back to the present, upon receiving Alexander''s sincere advice, Lady Miranda''s cheeks suddenly turned flush and she quickly shed a frank grateful smile, and repeated her apology,
"Thank you, my lord. It was my mistake to doubt you, my lord!"
At that point, she even courteously lowered her head a bit.
Alexander once again yed the gentle host, just gently shing his palms and smiling,
"It is okay mydy. These are cheap tricks only used by the weak and defeated. It will never work against us. We are in this together as allies and as long as we stick together and properlymunicate with each other¡ we will continue to flourish!"
The words appeared to greatlyfort thedy, creating a huge grin,
"Right! The fact that she is trying to use such an underhanded technique tells us everything about her true state."
Nothing seemed to please her now as much as learning of her sister''s predicaments.N?v(el)B\\jnn
"Mmm, I will also tell you here the reason why my meeting with Miss Linda took so long." Alexander had not also forgotten about that other matter, and worked topletely erase all suspicions from thedy, saying,
"It was because I was interested in knowing a few things from her. For instance, I was curious to know what Lord Parker had told her about his family. We have precious detail on the details of the ducal family after all."
"I also made her retell the entire plot of her marriage with Lord Parker, including your grandfather''s role in it, as well as what happened in Lord Parker''s tent while we were fighting each other. I will tell you about thatter."
"And after that¡ I also asked about her current standing within the Margraves family and why was she so desperate. As you know, both the family elders and her inws hate her. It seems they want her to turn her into their puppet or worse, even send her away. Hahaha!"
Thatst revtion seemed to make Lady Miranda''s countenance go from happy to ecstatic, and she almost begged to Alexander try and somehow make it happen.
"I will try and bring it up in the next talks." Alexander only weakly assured, appearing quite conflicted.
Of course, he had no intention of doing that. In fact, he wanted to do theplete opposite.
But Lady Miranda would remain oblivious to these thoughts and straightening her back, move on the real reason she came here,
"Ahhh, it seems we got a bit side tracked here my lord. I wanted to see you because those 3,000 men of my family you have¡. I would like you to gift them to me!"
Chapter 1332 Deal With Lady Miranda (Part-4)
Lady Miranda''s ask for the 3,000 prisoners to be freed caught Alexander somewhat off guard.
That soon turned to quite a bit of anger as he understood what thedy was really asking.
Lady Miranda did not want to pay anything for them, be it in coin or other ways, she just wanted them as gifts!
Alexander found it too incredulous to even consider.
''A gift of 15 million ropals! Are you kidding me? When your sister came to me she at least had the courtesy to spread her legs and let me do her in the ass!''
Even if Alexander was going to reject Lady Miranda no matter the offer she made, he at least wanted her to bid seriously.
Alexander chimed with a difficult tone to his voice,
"The matter of your family''s prisoners has yet to be finalized, mydy. One of our points of contention with the Heeat family even lies here. They want us to release all of them as part of the peace negotiations."
"No! I need those men." Lady Miranda however seemed to insist, "Our forces were destroyed once in that tsunami. Now they have been destroyed once again, leaving only the 3,000 behind. I need them¡ they are good seeds."
It was apparent Lady Miranda nned to use these men as the core of her newly built forces.
''Hmmmm, this does not seem like you talking,'' Alexander on the other hand found the wording a bit too different to be Lady Miranda''s own and figured there must be someone else dictating her moves.
However he did not press her on his suspicions, and simply warned,
"Even if it means the Heeats not honoring their full ten year peace treaty?"N?v(el)B\\jnn
"...Yes!" With a pause, Lady Miranda still insisted, much to Alexander''s surprise, "Linda has taken thends where all my best men live! I have been left with nothing. So please find a way for these men, my lord."
It seemed she really, really wanted or even needed the men.
This put Alexander in a difficult position, as he struggled toe up with a way to satisfy both his ''clients''.
Until he atst slouched back on his chair and proposed with a thoughtful gaze,
"I think I have a better solution for youdy. Those 3,000 men loyalty is highly subject. We should not give Miss Linda any more chances to spy on us."
"Let me give you a 500 garrison of my soldiers instead. They are much better trained and equipped than your men. And they have actually won wars. I will have them train up a 5,000 standing force in a year¡ at my cost!"
"....." Although Alexander''s disparaging the quality of her family''s men hurt Lady Miranda a bit, hearing his offer, she was unable to instantly refute him.
She mentally calcted- ''6 months¡5,000 no 5,500 men when the garrison is included¡ about 25 wesa in food, and equipment each¡.. that''s close to a million!''
Needless to say, that was a huge amount of money to Lady Miranda, especially now.
This promise also made Lady Miranda notice her ''partner''s'' hidden difficulty in handing over the prisoners.
''Hmmm¡ clearly there are some backroom shenanigans going on with the Heeats. Alexander seems to be implying that he is not going to antagonize the ducal family to get me those 3,000 prisoners. Did those old coots move to ask the Heeat to rescue the men on their behalf as part of the peace deal? Hmmmm¡. I would not put it past them!''
Lady Miranda came up with her own hypothesis behind Alexander''s strange actions but ultimately did not poke her nose to try and verify any of it.
Because Alexander wanted topensate her with 5,000 newly raised, loyal troops in return.
Lady Miranda thought she would have been a fool to not keep her mouth shut and take the deal.
Alexander and the Heeat family could do whatever they liked with the soldiers as long as she got her legion.
"Okay! Then we will do it your way!" Hence she quickly promised.
...¡
"Great! Let us toast to it!"
Seeing the thorny issue resolve itself so quickly, Alexander shed a big quick grin, going over to personally pour a drink for him and thedy in celebrations.
Anything he could solve with money was not really a problem to him.
"Ahhh! Perhaps mydy should not drink." He only stopped pouring upon noticing therge bulge on his guest''s belly.
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The ill effects of drinking on pregnancy were considered a credible myth by people of this time, pronounced in various allegories by philosophers and poets.
Thus putting his ss down too, Alexander flipped over to the next topic he had in mind,
"There was another thing I wanted to discuss with you, mydy. Mynd here¡the one I got¡ I am having trouble deciding who to have as the steward. Could you advise what type of man I should have? Are thosends peaceful or do you expect there will be¡ problems?"
The problems Alexander here alluded to included everything from local resistance by peasants, merchants, and guilds, to social troubles like the prevalence of pirates and bandits, to of course the biggest one of all- political bacsh from the surrounding nobles and elites.
"It is yournd, my lord! Why ask me? Go see it for yourself" Lady Miranda however proved less than helpful in this regard, providing a very curt, bitter answer.
"....." While Alexander was actually more surprised by how quickly this mercurialdy''s mood turned, going from happy and over the moon to depressed and extremely bitter in the blink of an eye.
He thought that with all the promises he made and all the benefits he had just given her, she would at least try to show her more diplomatic side.
But on the other hand, since they were speaking frankly, Alexander also thought it made things easier for him.
"I take it mydy is unhappy with how your familynds were divided?" Alexander hence got straight to the point of the issue, posing in a cool tone.
"Darm right, you are! How could you do this to us, Alexander? I invited you to my home as an ally! And you¡ you¡ at least you could have had the decency to tell me about it beforehand! You¡you¡ you gave too much!"
Lady Miranda spat thest words with great anger and indignation.
Initially, she did not even want to bring this matter up because it hurt so much. She saw it almost as Alexander betraying her.
And so Alexander''s words now felt like a trigger causing all the grievances she had buried deep into her heart toe bursting forth like a volcano.
*Gulp*, *Gulp*, *Gulp*,
She thus suddenly grabbed the nearby fully filled wine cup and began to chug it down in one go, as if to numb that pain.
Lady Miranda needed this, otherwise, she felt she would just start screaming.
While from the other side, Alexander watched thedy drown herself in thefort of alcohol with aplicated look.
''Think of the baby! Don''t drink so much! And not so quickly. It''s not going anywhere!'' Hempooned, thinking the worst nightmare for him now would be if Lady Miranda suddenly choked and died.
But in fear of startling the poordy, he also did not dare to speak and warn her of the danger.
"Bah! Good wine!"
So He was quite relieved to see thedy atst get off the ss, although her face by now was flushed red, a slightly intoxicated look shading her eyes.
Her eyes only regained their rity when they heard Alexander defend the way he did things,
"I am sure mydy has already been advised on why your family''snds had to be divided like they were. The Heeat family has already set their sights on yournds and many in your family support them¡ including your grandfather! Their im here is¡ too strong to ignore."
In this way, Alexander attempted to show that given the circumstances, this was the best possible oue, adding,
However,
"But¡ but we won! Who cares what they want? We won a crushing victory! The Heeats lost all their soldiers including their general andmanding lord here. If we wanted, if we had pushed harder¡ we could have had all those old coots by the balls! We¡ we could have ruled by force!"
Lady Miranda refused to buy Alexander''s exnation and seemed to think he had given in the Heeat''s demands too much.
The young pasha disdainfully snorted at this inside,
''Who''s this ''we''? What did you do? I won the war! It was my victory. While you did nothing butin and cause obstacles!''
If Lady Miranda was not so much pregnant and if he did not think this was one of her emotional outbursts made in a drunken state, then Alexander would not have simply monologued these thoughts, he would have let her have the full earful of it.
But in the interest of keeping good rtions, Alexander only gently but firmly pointed out,
"I''m sorry. Such a thing would have been impossible. My forces here are not strong enough to quash all the resistance and keep you on the chair by force. Remember¡ we simply won one war with the Heeat family. We have not destroyed them."
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Chapter 1333 Deal With Lady Miranda (Part-5)
''..... we simply won one war with the Heeat family. We have not destroyed them.''
Alexander''s reminder of the naked truth made the sightly drunk Lady Miranda finally wake up from her disillusioned stupor.
''The only way to ensure peace¡. is to give them something¡ something significant.'' She then seemed to lightly mutter, as if repeating something she had been told before.
This whisper was probably intended for only Lady Miranda herself, but Alexander''s ears were sharp enough to catch it.
He thus expanded upon it,
"Yes, given the hugend and resources the Heeat, if we did what you said and forcefully pushed them out, they would have at best kept quiet for a few years, licking their wounds. Losing ten or twelve thousand men might be damaging for a ducal family but it is hardly crippling."
"Once rested, they would soon be back again. And that time, they will not be so coy¡ they wille with a full invasion."
"I believe I already told you mydy, but Adhania is in the midst of a session war. My men are much more needed there¡ guarding my home cities and helping my king. I cannot promise toe to your aid every time something happens."
"..." Lady Miranda remained quiet for a long time after hearing this, understanding that Alexander was subtly drawing a line here.
He would not be her knight in shining armor, her guardian angel, someone she could summon at a whim.
Lady Miranda would begin slowly, atst, speaking in a low, spooky tone,
"What you told me here has also been mentioned to me by Lord Janus. That I should be happy to even keep what I have."
"*Grit!* But I disagree! Because what both of you are saying is that we got lucky this time! That the Heeat family could be back anytime! So if the Heeat family decides to suddenly attack me¡. will youe to my rescue?"
"..... It will indeed take some time for me to arrive." Alexander did not try to paint the matter in a colorful pattern, both because it was the truth and because he knew this was what Lady Miranda wanted to hear now.
Thedy too seemed to appreciate the honesty, and gave a quick, curt nod,
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"Mmmm, that''s why I believe we should have pushed them out. I would feel much better knowing my enemies were a thousand miles across the sea than lying right next to me.
So tell me¡ what is to stop them from killing me before you can get here?"
Alexander would have to admit that when Lady Miranda showed her work like that, it made a lot of sense.
Perhaps in some ways, it would have been better for them to antagonize the Heeat family. At least that way they would know clearly who their friends and foes were.
But Alexander was not ready to plead guilty yet, and cleverly posed the following in a warm, agreeing tone,
"Indeed, many of mydy''s words make sense. But what about the trade route blockade? How would you have convinced the Heeat family to intervene in the council on your behalf?"
"There were many ways my lord!"
If Alexander however thought this was going to stump the youngdy, he was very wrong.
For at the question, a very enthusiastic Lady Miranda broke out,
"There are also other sea routes you know. Sybarsis does not own the Central Sea. Thesos, Tibias, various barbarians, and many small nations and city states all move and trade with each other through the lesser explored routes! We could have simply used those"
"Or we could have used lifting of the blockage as one of the conditions of the ransom deal.
"And if all that failed, we could have just used your much bigger, better ship design to brave the rough waters head on. I believe they would have had any problem."
When it came to business, Lady Miranda really had her ce in the right ce.
Indeed, just as she figured, if Alexander wanted he might have been able to work out a much better treaty for Lady Miranda.N?v(el)B\\jnn
So why did he not?
Well, Lady Miranda''s only real w was that she was not that shrewd when it came to politics.
Otherwise, she could have answered the simple question herself- It did not benefit him at all.
Her inability to understand this made Lady Miranda''s tone turn bitter and her eyes misty, which began to swim with rage and regret.
"Perhaps¡ I was indeed a bit hasty." So seeing this, Alexander decided it might be better to ''confess'' some of his crimes.
"Bah! What is done is done! I just wished you had talked to me before deciding it all by yourself!"
And surprisingly it worked!
Lady Miranda seemed to take the admission rtively as if having already resigned herself to the result.
The only clue of her frustration showed when she suddenly grabbed the other wine filled wine ss meant for Alexander and drowned it again in one go, wishing to dull the pain.
"Mydy, it is not wise to drink so much. It will harm the child."
Alexander in good consciousness could not sit by and watch Lady Miranda damage both her and her infant like that, and so tried to stop her.
However that kindness backfired spectacrly on him, as Lady Miranda drunkenly spat,
"Bah! Don''t try to act so coy with me. You have given Linda all thend that mattered. And left me with nothing that matters! Who are you trying to fool? You just won a crushing victory. And yet you gave them half of all thends? Were you born yesterday? You swindler! I know you slept with her! That¡slutty *hic*.. vixen!"
"......" Alexander''s lips twitched imperctively at being called out like this, as he felt Lady Miranda''s true thoughts beginning to rise up under the influence of alcohol.
She looked clearly flushed and was beginning to even slur a bit, but that did not seem to inhibit her mind, rather it seemed to enhance it.
She thus continued, now almost cursing Alexander,
"And what was that bullshit about forming a buffer zone? Why does it belong to you? And why is that buffer zone facing the sea? It should be between me and her! Heh! Who are you trying to fool? Just admit you have swindled me out of my birthright!"
"..." Alexander to his credit did not appear the least bit fazed towards these grave usations, true as they were.
He showed no guilt, and neither did he be angry or defensive.
But seeing things had gotten to this point, he also decided not to let this slide and got a bit more honest.
Producing a rather amicable facade, he only gently chuckled,
"Hahahaha, so that''s it. It seems there has been some misunderstanding, and mydy is unaware of the reasons behind the exact proportions of the division. Well¡ then did you know the first choice I was given?"
The mysterious way Alexander spoke was enough to pull some of Lady Miranda''s attention towards him,
"When I first started the talks, some in the Heeat family proposed that we divide your family''snd half and half! Cut out the middle man!"
Lady Miranda fully snapped back to reality upon hearing this bombshell, "Wh.. what?" as her face went from flushed to pale.
"Yes!" Alexander gravely nodded, "I did not want to tell you this because I thought it would stress your body out at such a critical time for your baby¡ but given your family''s weakness and our rtive strength, many wanted to simply¡ to do away with you. I''m sure you understand what that meant."
"It was I who convinced them otherwise. Using my strength! So please¡ continue to curse me for rejecting half of thend and only taking a fifth!"
"....." This was a bolt out of the blue for Lady Miranda and learning of such a plot and Alexander''s subsequent actions preventing it, appeared very ashamed, her cheeks bing hot and her head lowered. Alexander gloated to himself at this- at having made himself a ''martyr''.
Of course, there were no such talks with the Heeat, although that sentiment was very prevalent.
Everyone saw it was Alexander''s rightful reward.
Only the politically naive Lady Miranda could not see and ept it.
So Alexander fed her the result in another, more ptable way.
And then seeing thedy go silent, continued,
"Thend was ultimately divided like this because the Heeat family wanted like so. They wanted you and Miss Linda to have equal parts of the family. And they also demanded the richer western parts because they faced Lynica, making thesends easier to reinforce. This was a part of the peace deal."
"Then as a sort ofpensation, they decided to let both of us get abined total of three fifths of thend, one third bigger than them. That buffer zone was only an excuse for the Heeat to save face! They were reluctant to openly admit they got that badly thrashed by me!"
"In fact, that was the reason why I had brought up the matter of my new fief''s governance in the first ce. It was because I wanted to hand its reins to you! The steward would simply be responsible for making monthly reports to me!"
"I have no greed for yournd. I only needed to have it on paper to convince my nobles back home that it was worth the cost of deploying soldiers here! It was only an excuse. So thanks I guess¡."
Chapter 1334 A Marriage Deal (Part-1)
¡.. It was only an excuse¡.. I only needed to have thend on paper to convince my nobles¡ I wanted to hand its reins to you!
These words reverberated inside Lady Miranda''s ears like thunder and stunned thedy to the point that her entire body felt cold and numb.
"...So thanks for all that¡."
And as Alexander finished, he noticed her lips start to imperceptibly twitch.
But no reply came, only the appearance of a very pallid, pale countenance.
Lady Miranda suddenly felt she did not have any face to speak to Alexander.
Especially because this time, what Alexander said was indeed the truth.
Alexander had been trying to figure this problem out from the day he had that conversation with Lady Parthia, and after thinking about it for way too long trying to find the best man, he suddenly had an epiphany.
He found that he was looking in the wrong direction.
Rather than putting an inexperienced foreigner so far away from his own base of control, Alexander figured it would be far easier for him to let a local like Lady Miranda run the show on his behalf.
In this way, Alexander could leave the day to day heavy lifting to thedy while he would only need to send a trusted steward or butler to work under her and make monthly reports on the happenings back to him.
Thisst part was to ensure that thends were operating smoothly and Lady Miranda did not simply grab the entire ce for herself while Alexander was looking away.
But now¡.
"If mydy is agreeable to such a thing, I am still open to such an arrangement. Are you interested?"
Despite the acrid remarks, Alexander was still willing to proceed with the prepared ns.
He could not think of a better recement so quickly.
"Yes! Of course! I would be honored." Lady Miranda naturally jumped at this second chance, before quickly trying to make up for her earlier words, "Ahhhh! Before that let me apologize. I let my ignorance get the better of me. I¡"
"Haha, don''t worry¡ I am sure that was only the wine talking. We all have our bad days. I have already forgotten all about it."
Seeing thedy''s flushed, hurt face, Alexander quickly pretended that those words had no effect on him and humorously chuckled to lighten the mood.
And this generous disy did indeed let Lady Miranda improve her sullen countenance, following which she heard Alexander chime,
"We can draw up a detailed contract on the terms at ater date. I would also advise you to move your ''capital city'' to mynds. As I said, I cannot promise the size of help I can send if something happens. So staying in the buffer zone will be the best way to ensure your security. The other side won''t dare rashly invade mynds!"
"Thank you, my lord. This was actually one of my requests when meeting you today. The further I am from Linda, the better I will feel!"
It was unknown if Lady Miranda truly meant this, or was just pretending in front of Alexander to make up for her earlier behavior.
But Alexander did not care, as long as she did what he said.
The truth was if something did happen on the ind, it was unknown how he would react.
It would all depend on how things unfolded with Miss Linda and her bid for the duke''s position along with other evolving factors.
In the meantime, Alexander wanted to concentrate on exacting the maximum value from this ce- i.e. keeping his trade agreement in ce, the trade routes opened and ess to the skilled men he needed to build and man his navy.
What happened after Alexander became sated or found other alternatives- well that all depended on his mood.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
So in a way, giving Lady Miranda a ce in his fief for protection was perhaps hisst favor on her, given upon looking back at the good old terms.
But such heavy thoughts were concerns for ater time.
For now,
"Haha, let us drink my lord. This is a great cause for celebrations!"
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This time it was Lady Miranda who offered to pour, pushing the two cups to opposite ends of the table before taking arge quaff by herself without further ado.
She needed this!
If her previous want was to numb her angry nerves, this time it was to forcefully calm herself and stop from overtly showing her euphoric state.
Not even in her wildest dreams would she have dared to imagine that Alexander would just give her his portion forpletely free!
Before meeting him, the best she could have hoped for was toin that Alexander had taken too muchnd and ask for more support in return.
So this sudden pie from the sky spanning tens of thousands of square kilometers was more than enough to make Lady Miranda be drunk with joy.
"Mydy, drinking so much is not good for your child''s health!"
And not even Alexander''s warning could snap her out of this revelry, as she continued to chug her portion portion without stopping,
"Ahhh! The brat can endure! This is too big to not celebrate!"
"...." Alexander was beginning to understand that Lady Miranda perhaps did not have the best tolerance.
Once she started, she had difficulty putting down the ss.
Thus Lady Miranda only freed her mouth upon emptying the ss, and lifted her head to drunkenly grin,
"Good wine! Better than anything we have here."
Alexander was not surprised by thisment, this was his own special brew.
It followed the same recipe as the one he had given Camius, but he also added a bit of white sugar, giving it a simr sweet kick to modern soft drinks.
It did not affect him much, but for people of this time who never had processed sugar, even this slight fermented taste was intoxicating.
"Thank you. I will leave you a bottle before I leave.¡.. Mydy, have you thought about marriage?"
Alexander made the two very unrted sentences in quick session, catching Lady Miranda a bit off guard.
"Hmmm?" Thus initially her brows creased and she appeared a bit puzzled.
"I¡ well¡. Umm¡ you see¡" But after Lady Miranda broke out of her intoxicated state and understood what was being proposed here, her face became even more flushed, as she struggled to articte her thoughts.
"Would¡ would you have someone in mind, my lord?" She atst mumbled.
The coyness in her voicebined with the shy, flushed face revealed all her immediate thoughts to Alexander.
And towards this Alexander actually felt a bit disdainful,
''*Snort! What are you thinking? Do you think I am going to propose to you? Do you think this is the price I want for letting you oversee mynds? Do you I am trying to tie the knot to cement our alliance? Heh! Fat chance!''
Now this type of thinking was certainly very arrogant of the man.
If it was the stunning Miss Linda who was sitting in front of him putting such as face instead of the plump, less attractive elder sister, Alexander would have had a very different reaction. He might have even seriously considered having her a mistress or concubine.
This reaction hence revealed perhaps one of Alexander''s greatest character ws.
The only silver lining here was that he kept these dark thoughts deeply buried inside, rarely giving them a chance to surface.
Thus despite his true colors, Alexander replied to Lady Miranda in a very professional tone,
"I have a few names in mind¡. a Tibian prince, a few of my generals who fought here, nobles from my retinue! You can choose any one of your liking."
"...Oh."
The way Lady Miranda said this single word upon hearing Alexander''s answer said all that needed to be said.
It sounded as heavy as the earth itself, and her face turned downcast as if saying-
''My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.''
Then as a tacit rejection of Alexander''s offer, Lady Miranda spoke in a somewhat difficult, monotone voice,
"Actually Uncle Janus has asked me to marry his eldest son. And after all he has done for me¡ I could not refuse."
Now this convenient resume of course sounded like the most made up on the spot excuse to Alexander, and so he gently prodded further, expressing his ''surprise'' at the existence of his eldest son who had been nowhere till now.
"Where was he when his father was at war?" He lightly asked, looking forward to Lady Miranda tripping up.
"Uncle Janus and he is¡ a bit estranged. That''s why you did not see him in Giant City. He actually lives¡ rules a city called Hamson¡ a few days south of here."
However Lady Miranda surprisingly had a solid story to back up her im, as she went on to reveal,
"His name is John. And apparently¡ the reason for their estrangement is because he married a woman he liked, breaking off an engagement he already had."
"This made Uncle Januspletely furious and at first he wanted to disown him. But grandfather strangely interfered, and made John a noble of his own right. At the same time, he gave Uncle Janus a brand new fief- Giant City."
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Chapter 1335 A Marriage Deal (Part-2)
There were only a few moments in life when Alexander found himself to be stunned.
And after listening to Lady Miranda''s story, he felt this was one of those times.
"Your grandfather¡ gave Lord Janus two fiefs?" Even Alexander could not be that luxurious with hisnd division.
And the example of the extravagance was also not lost on Lady Miranda, whose plump lips helplessly curved up a bit, as she expounded on the previous sinct reply,
"Hamson was the original fief grandfather gave Uncle Janus. Then a few years back, Lord Janus gave this over to his eldest son- John because apparently he found ruling it too tedious. It''s said that Uncle Janus wished to enjoy the openness of the countryside, rather than be cooped up in the city."
"However about two years ago, Brother John¡ ahhh¡ I guess it''s Lord John hahaha¡ suddenly married an unknownmoner out of the blue, breaking off his marriage engagement with Adele!"
"This shocked and infuriated Uncle Janus perhaps even more than it did us¡ to the point I heard the moment he saw the couple, he tried to charge both with his sword drawn, wanting to end it all then and there. Luckily the surrounding guards stopped him."
"So he then petitioned to grandfather to allow him to disown his eldest son and let his second son take over Hamson."
"But who could have expected that grandfather would deny it! Not only that he even rewarded John, making him a hereditary baron. It shocked our entire family to the core. And Adele.. *sigh*... Adele¡ I heard from her handmaid that there were times in those days that she even contemted suicide."
Lady Miranda here paused a bit to ruefully shake her head.
And although Alexander was touched by this tragic recount, he was not really surprised.
In this time period, and in a society like Sybarsis, for a woman to have her engagement broken like this went way past a social faux pas and became almost taboo.
No matter what really happened, society would always see it as the woman''s fault, branding her unfit to marry.
Of course, as a bone a fide Marquis''s daughter, Lady Adele would not have suffered such a great shame, but still- it hurt her.
As for the reason why her dear grandfather did her dirty like this, even going as far as to reward her unfaithful ''fiance'', well-
"We of course asked grandfather for an exnation, demanding justice for Adele. But he only brushed it aside saying Brother John deserved this much leniency. He was one of my father''s squire and apparently once helped fend off a bandit attack."
"That was¡ even if true of course wholly insufficient. Everyone could see this was only a contrived excuse. However, no matter how much we pushed, grandfather remained adamant to thest day."
"He even gave Uncle Janus his ancestral fief to convince him to forgive his son. I heard Giant City once long, long ago belonged to some rtive of his¡ although the details on that are really muddy."
"While seeing grandfather be this bullish¡ the others simply had to ept it."
At this point of her monotone recalling, Lady Miranda''s face suddenly turnedplicated,
"Of course, grandfather''s actions made it quite obvious that that girl was someone special. And we all had our guess. The most probable one is that she is one of my illegitimate aunts! Grandfather must have had her with a whor¡ a low bornmon woman while grandmother was still alive. So he had to hide her. Hehe¡. You see if my grandmother knew¡ well it''s not good to speak ill of the dead. So let''s skip it."
''It''s not speaking ill if it''s the truth..''
As Lady Miranda shed her palms in a dismissive manner, Alexander lightly snorted thisment in his heart.
He could easily guess how the legitimate noble wife would ''cut down'' on the peasant chaff.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Such infanticides sadly were all toomon in all parts of the world, and especially true here given Sybaris''s strict monogamy rules.
If the wife had a formidable enough background, many times a husband would not even be able to do anything about his children being harmed.
Because technically he was in the wrong for having an illicit affair.
And illegitimate children throughout the nation were considered nearly at the level of ves- as objects with no status.
So it was not a crime to abuse them.
Alexander sighed at the sad state of affairs, and then let Lady Miranda finish,
"Our guess is that it was grandfather who probably arranged the whole thing. He wanted John to marry the young girl and promised him a title in return. *Sigh*, It really makes me want to know who the mother was¡. for grandfather to favor her child so much." Explore more at empire
Lady Miranda atst ended her long speech with a curious and anticipated sigh.
"It seems your grandfather was old but not cold, hahaha."
Alexander attempted to break the heavy atmosphere with a small joke, referring to the fact that Lady Miranda''s ''aunt'' was likely younger than her.
This got a small guffaw from the other side as a sign of agreement.
"Do you know of any other illegitimate uncles and aunts?" Alexander then posed, hoping to glean if there was anything special about this girl- like if she was the only one of her kind,
"Not really. We know some of them exist¡. but they are basically nobodies. Bastards in Sybaris are just that¡ bastards. Otherwise, I, a young widow would not have been chosen as my father''s sessor after the disaster. Grandfather would have summoned them instead."
"Hmmmm¡" This made the young ''aunt''s'' situation even more mysterious to Alexander.
As for asking the girl herself- well Lady Miranda added that they naturally asked her and found that she did not know anything.
So all these inconsistencies swiftly made Alexander quite interested in the mysterious origins of this young girl.
However, as much as he would have liked to poke at this, he had much bigger fish to fry.
So turning to face the still reminiscing Lady Miranda, Alexander posed the most obvious question,
"So how are you going to get married to John if he already has a wife? As a mistress?"
However, the way he posed the question was perhaps the worst approach Alexander could have taken.
It struck an enormous nerve in Lady Miranda.
"*Snort! I am a Marquis''s daughter! Not somemon street whore you findying by the road!"
She spat with zing fury, as the mere illusion that Lady Miranda could be anything but a dignified, proper noble wife was enough to send her eyes burning.
Recognizing this, Alexander was just about to apologize, but never got the chance as suddenly like the mercurial summer noon, that dark cloud on Lady Miranda''s face abruptly disappeared, to be reced by a cold, cruel smirk,
"Grandfather is dead!"
That three worded answer was more than enough to let Alexander understand the whole story.
"So the ''love'' is dead too." He instantly rhymed the reply, finding great pity for the poor girl.
Her ''husband'' was only using her.
And now that he had what he wanted¡. and her guardian angel was dead¡ Alexander could only helpless smirk.
"..." While Lady Miranda returned that with a sneering silence, her eyes sharp and pitiless.
It was very clear that ''aunt'' meant less than dirt to her.
Alexander quickly put this matter at the back of his mind, no matter how sad he felt for her, and turned to instead address Lady Miranda''s condition,
"I see. So Lord Janus has patched things up with his son and wishes to strengthen his house bybining with yours. This is indeed a good move. As expected of a steward with decades of experience running the house. But tell me, mydy, are you not afraid Lord John will ''divorce'' you like he did your aunt once he has what he needs?"
Alexander squinted his eyes as she asked.
"Snort! I am a Marquis''s daughter! Not somemon street whore you findying by the road!"
However, the rhetorical question was sted apart in the blink of an eye by this arrogant repeat of the remark.
Indeed, the difference in status between the two women was sorge it was basically night and day.
There was no way Lady Miranda was going to get divorced like her aunt.
If anything, she would be one to initiate the divorce, kicking Lord John out of her bed in favor of a better suitor.
So if Alexander''s intent was to try to cause a chasm in the deal using this argument, it was quite a low yield effort.
And he understood this.
Hence clearing this throat, he offered her exactly that-
"I will be frank with you mydy. Given what I am giving you in terms ofnd and privileges, I would prefer if you married one of my men instead. I believe this will be better for you in all kinds of ways in the long run."
"In terms of status, they are all viscounts or even counts, much better than a mere baron. If you marry them, Zanzan will have another mouth to speak on your behalf. Lastly, I am willing to give you a 40 million ropal line of credit."
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Chapter 1336 Famous Bathhouse
Alexander''s grand offer for a marriage alliance made Lady Miranda pause for a long while, as she weighed the pros and cons in her head.
In terms of pros- well Alexander had listed it all.
Lady Miranda would be able to ess much more of his resources and it would be seen as her returning the favor for thend he was giving her to rule.
As for the cons, well, it would basically mean angering Lord Janus, one of her staunchest supporters, someone who did not leave her even when the entirety of her family did.
Loyalty vs future benefits.
Needless to say, it was not an easy choice to make.
".... Who are the men you have in mind, my lord?"
Eager to get the full picture, Lady Miranda hence asked this, warily sending Alexander a guarded gaze, "I will never be the second wife of anyone."
''You and your younger sister have more inmon than you realize!'' Alexander mumbled hearing this condition,paring the two''s pride, ''I''m d I do not have to marry you.''
Feeling that he had dodged a bullet there, he then replied, in a refreshed tone,
"Like I said, there are several men for you to choose from. But if you are concerned about monogamy, then I can suggest several well suited Tibian noblemen. They are like you Sybarians in that aspect."
"One of them is the youngest prince of Tibias- Perikles. Another one is Theony¡ his father is the southern warden of Tibias, ruling half of the country on my behalf. I believe either of them is more than a match for you in terms of status. Both of the men are also in their early twenties¡ simr to you."N?v(el)B\\jnn
"Of course, I would have taken you myself, but as you know I already have many wives. It is not possible for me to leave all of them ande live with you here. Not to mention all the otherplications. You know what I''m saying¡. the whole nine yards "
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Listening to Alexander, Lady Miranda automatically discarded that excuse of ast paragraph, instead focusing more on the above made offer.
Indeed, if that was what on the table, Lady Miranda would have a hard time saying no.
As for Alexander, he was not finished yet, and added a touch of his own preference,
"But personally, I would prefer if you chose one of my close advisors mydy. I naturally trust them more than men from the recently conquered Tibias."
"As for your concerns about monogamy, well I can at least promise you that you will be the main wife, your children the next sessors. And given that you will live here in Galiosos for most of the time, you will not likely even see the other women¡ just like you do not see the men''s mistresses here."
Alexander very naturally equated the two, while Lady Miranda kept her lips pressed and silent.
Her mind was off wandering, trying to make sense of all this.
".... Is the offered loan also tied to this?" She then suddenly changed the topic to quiz this, her eyes a bit skeptical,
"Yes and no." Alexander charmingly answered,
"If mydy wants to marry Lord Janus''s son, then I''m sorry, I will only be able to lend you 20 million ropals. And I would expect 22 million returned within 8 years."
"If mydy marries from Tibias, I will be able to lend you 40 million, and you will only have to return 42 million in 10 years."
"But if mydy marries from my close retinue¡ I will only ask for the principal amount to be paid back in 15 years."
The loan conditions Alexander was offering here was light years ahead of what he had promised Miss Linda, but that was because Lady Miranda was more important to him.
So this was his way of trying to buy thedy''s loyalty, and thus expounded on its advantages,
"If you want to turn around quickly, 20 million will not really be enough, you will need the 40 million. With that, you will be able to help your loyal men move to their newnds, and start a new life."
"You can also use the money to bribe the local nobles and bring them over to your side. You can reduce taxes on the farmers and let them recover from the pige Metztil and his men brought. You can even improve thend by having new roads, new shops, and lower sales tax to bring new business."
"With my help, you will be able to make the ce better than even Caira! And then¡ it will not be toote to even once again reunite your family!
"..." It was thosest words that perhaps ignited the biggest spark in Lady Miranda''s heart, causing it to burn like a fiery ze.
Alexander had hit her at her most ardent desires.
"....I...Let me think about it for a few days my lord..." But ultimately Lady Miranda was unable to make any promises then and there and asked for an extension.
"Sure. Just tell me before I leave." Alexander too had no problems with this as he did not expect her to choose immediately.
He only added, "I will also send you a detailed list of the men I think will be suitable. You can decide then."
...¡..
With these three major appointments finished, Alexander felt he could finally let out a breath of relief.
These past few days had been too hectic for him, causing him to mumble,
"And I thought winning wars was difficult. Who knew cleaning after it is even harder!"
Alexander honestly felt trying to keep his gains and not letting hostilities re up was harder as he had to juggle all those different forces and somehow keep them all pleased.
It was exhausting.
"Then my lord why don''t we go visit the bathhouses for a bit of fun? I heard from Lady Miranda that the bathhouses here are the most famous ones in the world!"
Thus Lady Nanazin suddenly made this sweetment, catching wind of Alexander''smpooning nagging.
And the way she managed to do this was of course because she was swooped next to him in bed, crushing her soft, warm body against him.
"That will help you wash off all your worries, right?" The maturedy whispered right next to his ears, pressing herself closer and letting her dainty fingers caress over his broad, muscr chest.
"Bathhouse?" The word seemed to jog some memories back in Alexander, and he soon remembered seeing the tall, spire of the grand bathhouse from the manor a few times before and hearing Lady Miranda sing its praises.
He then at once became interested because he had never entered such a ce before, in either of his life.
''Hmmmm¡ there is nothing like this in Zanzan. I''m sure I can copy it!'' Alexander even cheered this in his mind, before turning to promise Lady Nanazin, "Okay. Let''s go tomorrow!"
"Great!" Arge, happy grin greeted him back.
Thus Alexander and his entourage made their way to thergest bathhouse in Caira around mid tote noon the next day.
And as he appeared in front of its gates, he could not help but look around to take in the breath of the structure.
Despite having seen many impressive buildings of the time, such as the Grand Temple of Ramuh in Adhan and the Ancestors Temple in Tibias, this was still quite impressive, if he said so himself.
The outer walls of the impressive and elegant building were made of massive marble bs, and coated with white limestone to give the ce a shiny, glimmering appearance.
The various columns and pediments holding the building were decorated with red, earthen brickworks, and the huge gates leading inside were formed inrge arches decorated with intricate mosaics.
The roof was domed and also adorned with various colored terracotta tiles, almost making it look like a valued rainbow and there wererge open sections all around it to allow for natural light into the interior spaces.
The whole ce was abuzz with activity as crowds of people could be seen entering and exiting it, as Alexander hade during the rush hour.
Most people came to use the facilities during this time after being done for the day.
They would get up at the crack of dawn, work till lunch, have their meal, then either take a short nap if they were wealthy or continue working if they were not until the sun turned soft, after which they closed down and came to visit one of the tens of bathhouses scattered all across therge city.
To the people of Caira, bathhouses were far more than a ce to simply wash and clean oneself. Perhaps more than that, it was a social hotspot where they met with friends and family to chat, discuss politics, gossip or even just watch other people going in and out.
This behavior extended to all strata of society, from the poor peasants and dayborers to even the rich nobles meeting with their distinguished peers.
And because many nobles could be seen mingling with themoners even as Alexander appeared, his small group of only ten or so people hardly drew any attention.
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Chapter 1337 Famous Bathhouse (Part-2)
"My lord! Mydies! Wee! Wee!"
As Alexander and his group approached the grand bathhouse, he was quickly greeted by the supervisor of the ce.
He was a portly fellow of quite a consideration proportions, fair skinned with ps of folded fat ringed around his neck and cheeks that almost hid all the meat.
He was dressed in a luxurious blue and gold dress, and as he walked down therge number of marble carved steps to meet Alexander, the young pasha feared the wobbling man might lose his bnce anytime and starting tumbling down.
Fortunately, that tragic ident was avoided and the sweating man hurriedly bowed in front of Alexander,
"My lord, my name is ude! It is an honor to meet you, sire!"
Alexander had of course arranged for a guide beforeing here, to get an interrupted tour of the whole ce with sufficientmentary, and Lady Miranda rmended the man before him.
"It is a pleasure to meet, Mister ude. Lady Miranda has greatly praised your ability."
Therge man broke off into a toady smile hearing this, nodding his head until the ps on his cheeks were ''dancing'',
"Yes, yes, praise thedy. We opened the bathhouse as soon as we got her message." before he turned slightly bitter, "Yet¡ as you can see the people started to enter before we could stop them."
But that facade was quickly reced by a cordial invitation as he gestured Alexander to follow, "Please! Please! Let us not stand outside my lord. Come! After you!"
And on the way upward, he expounded on the mishap, saying that bathhouses like this were usually opened from lunch to dusk. So by the time he hurriedly opened it upon getting word from Lady Miranda, it was already close to the regr opening times.
And in a world without clocks, people just assumed this was the scheduled time.
"Haha, it''s okay, I do not mind. In fact, I am quite interested to see how the people use the ce."
Alexander naturally brushed aside the tip toeing man''s concerns and soon they entered thergeplex.
It was as spacious as one would think while looking at it from the outside, and adorned all over with various intricate relief sculptures and friezes, depicting both scenes of daily life and of mythological figures.
More specifically, the lower half of the walls were colorfully painted with pictures of both men and women drinking, bathing, exercising, ying, etc. while the upper halves were seen having gods of various animal and anthropological nature and men d in magnificent gold and silver armor fighting various divine wars.
It was perhaps no Sistine Chapel, but even Lady Nanazin and Lady Parthia, who was visiting upon the former''s insistence would agree the work was world ss.
And both these queens were no strangers to magnificent works of art or architecture.
As for Alexander, he too was too impressed by the scale and the vibrant colors, not only was this a testament to the artisans'' skills but also of the Margraves family''s riches.
Because to paint such a huge canvas in such detail- well paint was not cheap in this time period- in fact, some colors could be said to be quite the luxury.
And neither was it very waterproof.
So given they were inside a bathhouse with steam rising from many ces, Alexander was sure everything had to be re-painted regrly to make it appear as bright and colorful as it did.
Now, although he was impressed by the scale of the paintings, one thing that struck him was what those paintings depicted, for all the men and women in the lower half of the pictures were fully nude in whatever activity they were doing.
Now this was not too umon in the ancient time, but what really bothered Alexander was the fact that even their genitalia was shown in great detail, to the point he thought perhaps some of the artisans worked a bit too long to get a man''s organ just the right girth or a woman''s slit''s just the right color and texture.
Worse, he could see many small children apanying their parents into the bath at this time, in full view of such images.
This was in no way appropriate.
So Alexander instantly decided if he were to build a bathhouse in Zanzan, it would be void of such lurid images.
''I will rece them with natural scenes of nts, animals, rivers, mountains, etc, or even various types of calligraphic art.'' He noted.
At that moment, he heard ude chime while gesturing towards a man dressed in a very simple, servant''s robe behind a counter near the entrance,
"My lord, this is the payment counter. The entrance fee is 2 copper pennies for men, 1 for women, and free for children!"
Copper pennies were the smallest denomination of currency Sybarsis used.
For context, a loaf of bread cost around 2 copper pennies, while the daily sry of a dayborer was around 20 to 25 copper pennies.
"Oh? That''s quite low is it not?" So the small quoted number quickly caused Lady Nanazin to chirp curiously from the back.
And seeing such a beautiful, regal woman willing to talk to him, the ordinary ude felt immensely ttered.
Thus quickly shing his most charming smile, he excited nodded,
"Yes, mydy it is. In fact, we operate the bathhouse almost on a loss here¡. well based on only the entrance fee that is."
"Ummm¡ you see, the Margraves lord who built the bathhouse imed that its main purpose was not to make a profit, but act as an amenity for the people, to help them rx and enjoy life.N?v(el)B\\jnn
''Both the rich and poor should be able to use my bathhouse wherever they like!'' He had proimed. So the prices are always kept as low as possible. It is actually more symbolic than an actual price. We even offer it for free during holidays and celebrations."
From ude''s exnation, Alexander understood these bathhouses were treated more like modern day parks and stadiums, meant to keep the popce happy and content with entertainment.
Profit was secondary.
While by this point, ude seemed to have gotten over his nervousness over addressing such a high ranking and beautiful woman like Lady Nanazin and kept excitedly adding to his answer,
"It was originally 1 copper piece for both men and women. But a few years it was raised to 2 for men. They are the majority of our customers."
"But even that is hardly enough to cover just our wages, forget paying for the heating facilities and other maintenance. Most of our money actuallyes from the drinks and food we serve as well as the rent of private rooms. Many nobles like to meet with their friends and family there, away from the crowdedmon baths."
"As for any shortfall even after that¡ well Lady Miranda has been a great patron of us. It is a great shame she could not be here."
ude did not forget to add thatst bit of ttering at the end.
"Lady Miranda is a bit too busy¡ we have won a great victory and she is busy carving her winnings." Alexander nonchntly added the excuse, although the real reason was that thedy was in herst stages of pregnancy and it was really not suitable for her to make such an adventurous journey.
But ude did not need to know that, instead learning that thedy in question was getting more powerful, let out an ever more fawning smile, praising both her and Alexander for their great achievements.
In this man''s mind, sucking up to your boss was the fastest way to rise up thedder.
At this point, Alexander tried to pay the fee for his and his entourage''s entrance, but seeing this, ude first became frightened and then nearly tearful.
"My lord, please¡ this¡ you cannot! Did I do anything to offend? Please forgive me! Please, give me another chance¡" He started crying almost incoherently, to the point that Alexander thought the man was going to get down on his knees and start begging.
He really could not see what the big deal was, but to ude, letting someone as noble and powerful as Alexander was too mortifying to even consider.
In ude''s mind, this was how things simply worked and he would never dare to ept Alexander''s coin.
While the young pasha was also adamant about not having anything for free.
He atst managed to convince the man by iming, "Okay, okay, take this as a tip, a gift for showing me around."
Following this unnatural event, ude led the group into the true interior of the ce and Alexander found the ce strangely designed like how a modern bathhouse would. Enjoy new adventures from empire
Or perhaps it was better to say, that modern bathhouses were designed like their ancient counterparts.
The main bathing facilities were ced in the center of the building, upying almost the entirety of the space, leaving only small corridors to the sides, which were dotted with many doors, leading to various external rooms.
And these rooms were the first choice of ude''s visits
"My lord, please through here. As you can see, these lead to several exercise rooms, massage parlors, gymnasiums, and even a few gardened courtyards. The men usually love to work up a sweat before a bath, or meet over a cool drink after."
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Chapter 1338 Famous Bathhouse (Part-3)
ude would go on to show Alexander and hispany that for Cairians, bathhouses were far more than simple utilitarian establishments.
It was a way of life, covering all aspects of it.
"My lord, this way," Thus therge man first gestured towards arge pair of oak doors ced in the corridors, introducing, "This is the gymnasium."
Entering through the gate, Alexander found the interior to be much bigger than it appeared from the outside.
It was nearly the size of a whole football field, with bright natural lighting illuminating every speck of it courtesy of the massive holes in the roof.
Beneath, the stone tiled floors were painted bright red, and being tread upon by a bustling crowd of both men and women of all ages.
"Ahhhh! Ancestors!" And it was the state of the people they were in that caused Lady Parthia to suddenly let out a gasp of utter incredulity.
Because the people here were all semi, if notpletely bare!
The men at most wore a kind of linen wrapping around their privates, while the women had a type of makeshift bikini made of simr linen wraps.
Although this perhaps revealed more than it hid, showing off just enough to get one''s imagination tingling. It made anyone anticipate to know what magicy underneath that flimsy cloth.
Many however chose to not even have that,pletely forgoing everything and letting it all ''hang''.
So the men and boys freely let their ''little brother'' dance around as they walked, while the women and girls unabashedly allowed both their upper and lower magnificent curves to jiggle and spill out without a care in the world!
For the very conservative Tibian queen, this went past being just too shameful to look at and reached the point of mortifying.
She wanted to instantly cover her eyes and run out.
Even Lady Nanazin who was next to her felt her horizons being broadened seeing this.
And this was despite her being far more experienced than most in seeingrge groups of people without clothes. The wild and ''mature'' parties held in the capital pce were rarely thisrge and even the bathing ceremony during the annual pilgrimage- Jtaama would be more reserved.
The only person who did not seem at all bothered by this was ude, who nonchntly continuedmenting on what was going on here,
"This is the gymnasium. This is where people first usually enter after paying the fee. They take their clothes and ce them in one of those lockers there."
As ude said this, he pointed towards the lower half of the walls, which were fitted on all sides with veryrge wooden cabs that were divided into many small boxes.
From there, Alexander and his group could see both men and women getting undressed right in front of each other and then simply storing their belongings in one of those boxes.
It was very simr to how bags and other belongings were stored in many modern day shopping malls or parks, only here there were no tokens or locks on the boxes.
People simply left their things unattended, mostly trusting one another to be honest.
And as if sensing Alexander''s thoughts on this matter, ude suddenly ttering chuckled, "These lockers are very safe my lord. Stealing is severely punished and so the order in the city is very good. Hehe, it is all thanks to Lady Miranda. So at most, we have patrons mistaking each other belongings."
"But if one still has reservations, he can pay one of the attendants a tip to look after it. Or if the patron is wealthy enough, they will usually have their personal servants carry the clothes with them while they change into something some appreciate. Look there, there are some noble kids doing this."
ude pointed toward a boy and girl, mostly likely brothers and sisters, wearing half sleeves tunic and shorts.
"Either way, after taking off their outer garments, the people will move to oil themselves in those benches. We sell the oil here, but most prefer to bring their own!"
The portly man swiftly shifted his stubby finger towards the many benches that wereid out in series along the perimeter of the gymnasium and Alexander could not help but marvel at the beautiful scenery that bloomed in front of him.
Be it the man rubbing the oil on his woman, vice versa or sometimes the same gender, mostly servants, Alexander still appreciated the sight.
First there were the lockers, where a whole host of beautiful women bending over and stripping out of everything without any care for the stares being sent towards them.
And now another group giggling and oiling each other up while sitting orying on the benches, in bare or half bare states, touching in all kinds of ces and giving the toned bodies a very alluring, healthy shine.
When ude told him that the bathhouse was already packed with people, Alexander was at first a bit peeved because he wanted to see the entire thing without any distractions.
This would have let him take his time observing all the nitty gritty details and thus better copy it back home.
But at thest minute, Lady Nanazin insisted that Lady Parthia should apany them causing them to be a bitte.
This had predictably made him a bit annoyed, but now¡ well he was very d at what had happened.
The pink scenery that was enough to make his throat perched was certainly worth the slight inconvenience.
As for the men and women who were oiling themselves, they hardly seemed to care.
Nobody other than the newly arrived Alexander''s entourage gave them a second nce, letting the pasha understand this was somethingmon for them.
It seemed that despite Caira being quite a conservative society, the bathhouse was one ce where the people did not mind the state they were in.
Husbands and wives, parents and children, cousins and uncles, all naturally bared themselves in front of each other without any worry.
And Alexander guessed the reason for this discrepancy was probably due to the inadequacy of plumbing in their day to day life.
He knew that despite Caira''s very impressive underground water system that was perhaps even better than what he had at Zanzan, still more than ny percent of the homes in the city had no indoor plumbing.
So for these poor folks, the water taken from the nearby river by the water system was only avable through wells located all around the city.
The difficulty of collecting and transporting water meant that cleaning and bathing were usually done in the open, in less than private ces that were more designed for maximizing the efficiency of the limited resources, leading to most people developing a kind of nonchnt attitude to such things.
As for those who did have arge amount of shame over showing skin, well they were usually wealthy enough to be able to afford so.
They hadrge private, single bathrooms, and enough servants doing all the heavy lifting that came before and after doing such things.
And indeed, as Alexander''s eyes roamed around the crowd, he spotted a couple of such people.
Men and women much more modestly dressed, their clothes and temperament pretty much instantly giving away their identity.
And the rest of the people too sensed this, thus usually giving them a wide berth.
As for what these noblemen and women along with many of themoners were doing here- well they were exercising!
Many, mostly men and young boys, were seen lifting various light wights that were made of stone, wood, or even iron- no prize for guessing where that came from.
While others were going freestyle- doing squatting, bench presses, sit-ups, and even chin ups on the nearby bars to name a few.
As for the women, many were lightly jogging, letting the jiggle physics take fully over, while some of the most adventurous bunch were ying catch with what looked like an Amercian football.
It was made of perhaps wood or cloth, wrapped up in leather, and was being thrown in a circle while being around apanied by peals of giggles.
Alexander was surprised by how free the women were being and thought he was watching beach volleyball as it existed two thousand years in the future- sexy and a great eye candy.
And others seemed to too agree, as the games seemed to have gathered quite the crowd, consisting of both men and women, all of whom were cheering for their favorite yer.
This made even Alexander wonder if he should introduce this sport to Zanzan.
Anyway, seeing the people moving around like this, he finally understood why the room was called a gymnasium.
As it was then also pronounced by ude,N?v(el)B\\jnn
"After oiling, most of us like to work up a little sweat! As my lord sure knows, sweating is the body''s way to squeezing out disease and illness! Like how you squeeze the bitterness of fruits!"
Yes, this was also one of the medical misconceptions of the time.
Sweating a lot was genuinely thought to be a way to cure diseases and even a well known prescribed method.
Alexander did not know exactly how this idiotic idea came about, but it did, which was also the reason why the bathhouses all had a gymnasium. Continue your adventure with empire
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Chapter 1339 Famous Bathhouse (Part-4)
Alexander listened to ude go on about the marvels of sweating as a kind of miracle cure for perhaps a bit longer than he should have.
By now therge man had gone past his duties as a mere guide and was beginning to sound more like a snake oil man, recounting all the various healthy benefits the ce brought. Read thetest on empire
ording to him, the fact that the people of the city rarely ever fell sick was all thanks to bathhouses and all the amenities it provided.
Now this was perhaps true to a certain extent, as staying clean and healthy did make one more resistant to illness.
But then ude also retold how one of his sons had gotten a really high fever and did not look like he was going to make it, but ''miraculously'' got better upon using the bath a couple of times, destroying much of his credibility to Alexander.
"..."
The young pasha was not a stranger to such tales.
In fact, as a man who ran a clinic and oversaw many of the medical procedures, he had heard of all kinds of bizarre remedies, among which was also this- the ''remedy'' of curing a sick person by making them run and exercise.
The idea was to ''expel'' the disease out of the body by sweating it out.
Of course, this rarely ever worked, and most of the time only hastened the already weakened body to death.
As said earlier, in this time period, it was often better to not get any treatment than follow the mad howlings of these witch doctors.
But people still believed in them because they had no alternative, and diseases were seen more as curses from the gods than something treatable.
Alexander could onlyment at such beliefs.
As for how the doctors came up with bizarre treatment, well Alexander had his guesses.
He assumed this idea came from a wrong inference upon observing a particr phenomenon.
He figured that many saw how exercising helped keep the body fit and then equated the sweating that urred as a result to something efficacious- like a ''salve'' that retarded illnesses.
While in reality, this was the same as thinking since chocte tastes good and beef tastes good- so beef with chocte must taste divine.
Alexander did not bother to correct ude regarding the misconceptions, knowing he had no authority in the field.
The fact that his son had survived the ordeal after visiting the bathhouse was enough to make the supervision stick to his thoughts even if the sky fell on top of him.
...¡.
So instead he asked ude to move the tour on, and their next destination became a few more private gymnasiums located adjacent to thergemon one.
These were pretty much the same, only smaller and with better quality equipment, reserved for the truly elite.
They were not free like themon gymnasium and the prices sure reflected that as renting one of these rooms for the whole day almost equaled amon man''s daily sry.
No wonder ude said they made most of their money from renting rooms.
''As expected! Owning thend was always the most profitable business,'' Alexander wouldment this upon learning the prices.
Following the memorable trip to the gymnasium, the group moved to the opposite side of the gymnasium, which ude introduced as,
"My lord, this is the garden. Pleasee¡ this is where people usually like to rest after their baths¡ chat and rx with friends, have a bite to eat."
As Alexander entered, he became surprised by the size and greenery of the ce- it was about the same size as the gymnasium, and seemed almost like an indoor botanical garden, with numerousrge fern like trees reaching almost a dozen meters in height, lines of beautiful spring flowers that were beginning to bloom, and many potted nts and shrub dotted along the many stone walkways.
It made him wonder how so much greeny could be cultivated and then maintained this well indoors given the primitive technologies of the time.
He soon had the answer as he raised his head- the roof waspletely open, letting the natural sun and rain nourish the ce on its own.
Thus the entire ce was currently flooded with light and also why the various stone benches scattered all around the ce were shaded with wooden canopies- to protect its upants from the elements.
Both men and women sat on these benches, now fully dressed, drinking, eating, and casually chatting, while children of various ages yed around them.
Alexander was not expecting to see such a harmonious sight inside of a bathhouse and was slowly beginning to understand that the ce indeed had arger than utilitarian value.
It was a gym, sauna, and garden all put together.
Alexander could not resist taking a light stroll across the cool, refreshing garden that was filled with the sweet scent of spring flowers before he was finally escorted to the rooms beside it, which functioned simrly to the ones adjacent to the gymnasiums.
They were smaller, better furnished, and maintained gardens meant for the rich and famous, and filled with many more amenities such asfortable couches drinks parlor, and some even arge bed- just in case one wanted a nap after the rxing baths.
After this, ude led Alexander to a series of rooms in the very back, which wererge massage parlors, all attended by very big, muscr men.
If you wanted to have muscles really stretched and tenderized after a bath, these were your guys as advertised by a shy ude,
"My lord, we have the best massagers on the whole ind. Once youe here after your bath and let them show you their skills¡ hehe trust me¡ you will feel so rxed and rested, that you will not be able to even feel your bones."
"Many of our patrons have trouble even walking out of here. Some even fall asleep on the benches, forcing us to gently nudge them awake by the end hahaha!"
The supervisor reported this in a very exaggerated manner, as if telling a story too absurd to believe.
And both the queens seem to also think that, not believing that anyone could fall asleep upon seeing how roughly some of the attendants were handling their patrons.
The strong pping sounds as therge hands pped the muscles and the way many of the limbs and flesh were twisted to the point they turned red made it very hard for them to believe that this was even enjoyable.
Lady Nanazin wondered why the men would willingly put themselves through such an ordeal while Lady Parthia who suddenly remembered of her own ''massage'' at the hands of Alexander and what transpired afterward grimaced at the painful disy.
Only Alexander who had experienced simr service back on Earth found it too usible, and he was even eager to give the thing a try.
He was feeling a bit stiff around the joints.
His onlyint was that this seemed to be a only male service, offered and used by only men. It appeared that despite all their advancements, the Cairans had yet to discover the concept of ''happy time''.
And perhaps it was due to the absence of women masseur that there also no women there, as also pointed out by ude,
"Ahhh¡ it''s too bad my lord¡ if we only could get a few women attendants. Many of the men even told me that their wives are interested¡ *Sigh*, this would also lessen the burden on Lady Miranda."
Given these massage parlors were extra, the man felt he was also losing out on a lot of untapped revenue.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
However Alexander could see this was another of ude''s ways of sucking up to him and really, he was not really interested in this.
Else he would have already found another way.
So the pasha humorously chimed, "Then you will have to dress men as women, or else they won''t be strong enough!"
"Haha, right, right, my lord. It takes a lot of strength to work here. Any woman would have her twig like arms broken in a few days! I don''t want to get sued for mistreating my workers."
...¡.
Having finally finished the tours of the corridors, ude then atst turned to Alexander to pose,
"My lord, before we enter the main bath, why don''t we go to the back? I remember Lady Miranda mentioning you were interested in knowing how the whole bathhouse worked. Well, the heart of the building is there."
Alexander naturally had no problem with this and was thus soon taken to the very end of the huge building, which opened up to arge open field.
The ce a filled with numerous huge fireces, being attended by nearly a hundred men tirelessly feeding logs and other firewood into the fiery inferno.
"My lord, the water for the bathses from the river and is first stored in thirty two huge reservoirs underground. They are right below us. This is the water used in all the baths, pools, and saunas.
"And beneath the entire building are a series of copper chimneys and pipes that stand on small, stone pipes, through which we move the hot air produced from these furnaces, thus heating the whole ce."
"It took us 10,000 men to build the whole thing!"
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Chapter 1340 Famous Bathhouse (Part-5)
Alexander listened to ude exin how the bathwater was heated with great fascination.
When he first saw the huge furnaces and heard of the huge quantities of water stored in the reservoirs, he had assumed the fire was used to directly heat up the bathwater stored underneath.
That was the most logical conclusion.
But his eyes soon felt open upon hearing how it was actually done- by using pumped hot air to heat up the bathhouse''s floor which then transferred their heat to the water above.
And the reason why this was such a genius move was said by ude himself, Find your next read at empire
"If we directly heated the bathwater¡ then we would lose the heat as soon as we drained the dirty water. It would be impossible for us to reach even half of the temperatures we can reach now. Not to mention we would have long gone bankrupt from just the firewood bills."
Indeed, unlike the dirty water, the hot air kept in the pipes could be constantly recycled many times, letting them stay in contact with the floor for a long time and thus achieve quite good efficiency.
It was also because of this mechanism that the chimneys these furnaces had did not actually produce that much smoke!
Alexander guessed that the way the heating worked was that first, cold air was sucked through the shoots to ignite the firewood, after which thebusted gases were allowed to escape downward through vents or perforated floors, filling the pipes below.
These flu gases would then flow around theplicated system of pipes for god knows how long, constantly letting off heat to their surroundings while at the same time absorbing more from the newly injected gases, until they were able to slowlyplete their trip and make their way out through a few outlet vents as noticed by the thick plumps of smokeing out from a few odd ces by Alexander.
These vents were there to ensure that the air did not be totally trapped and turn underground of the bathhouse into a giant pressure cooker ready to burst anytime.
''Hmmm, you could have used hot water instead of hot air and I think that would have been better. Water has a better heat capacity so it retains heat better and its flow is much easier to control than hot air¡ but still, the core principle is really quite marvelous.''
At the end of seeing it all, this was Alexander''sment, mostly filled with genuine praise.
Although he felt that there might be a few ces the Cairan engineers could have improved on, which would have let them cut down on cost or made maintenance easier, overall, the skills on disy were quite sophisticated.
Alexander would even go as far as to say that in some way they were far more advanced than their Adhanian counterparts.
...¡..
With the secret of how the water was heated revealed, Alexander was finally ready to be led to the main part of the facility- the actual bathhouse.
Thus the group once again made their way to the front of the building, where pointing to arge, nearby foggy door, ude suddenly turned a bit awkward, stammering a bit awkwardly-
"My lord through there is the sauna. Ummm¡ it is generally considered¡ bad luck to enter there with clothes on. The people believe it spreads disease. So¡."
ude did not dare finish the sentence and only darted his eyes around, giving Alexander an ugly, forced smile.
Alexander could not tell if the man was really asking him to just follow protocol after being peer pressured by the rest of the crowd, or if he had other ulterior motives- such as wanting to see the two voluptuous queens in their full glory.
But given he had been quite apetent host, Alexander decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and not make things too hard for him.
So rather than bing angry and domineeringly insisting or even bringing up the matter of shame and inconvenience, he instead only cooly posed with pointing to his bodyguards-
"Do you expect my soldiers to leave all their weapons here? What if something untoward happens? I think it will be better if you make an exception for me."
Surprisingly, ude did not object after hearing this.
Rather,
"..... Right! Right! My lord is right! The city is full of many scoundrels. We cannot let them have even the slightest chance. Please! Please! Enter as you are! The people will understand."
Recovering from his stunned state after a quick pause, ude cleverly gave away without resistance and allowed Alexander to enter as he was.
The only thing he asked was for Alexander and the group to change into a special pair of very thick leather sandals before they went inside so as not to bring any outside dirt.
Alexander entered through the misty door into the front section of the bathhouse and found it to be a giant sauna.
Steam was bubbling out of the huge central pool in front of him, around which sat rows and rows of fully naked men and women on long, huge benches, sweating profusely like a pig.
They at best had small towels to wipe down some of the sweat from time to time, but most of the time, they appeared content to just let it all hang out as their skins turned red and tanned, casually chatting with each other about anything and everything- from politics to business to what they hadst night.
The people really took the whole sweating as being therapeutic to a whole new level and found the act of suddenly cooling offter really fun.
Alexander would have certainly enjoyed the ''natural'' scenery in front of him if not for the thick, steamy mist obscuring much of his view and much more importantly the overwhelming heat that suddenly pressed down on him like a boot to his chest.
In fact, it was thetter that had hit him the hardest.
''Ahhhh! No wonder ude asked me to take off my clothes. I am starting to feel dizzy just from standing here!'' Alexander gritted ufortably, feeling his body turn itchy and be filled with the desire to simply take everything off.
And the same desire was magnitude times stronger in the twodies following him since they wore much thicker clothes.
The outside weather was still a bit cold given it was spring but inside here- the heat and humidity made them want to almost take their skins off, it was that hot.
Thus as soon as they entered the sauna their faces turned ruddy and they could be seen quickly fanning their exposed necks and napes to try and cool down as much as possible.
But the ones who had it the hardest were undoubtedly Alexander''s bodyguards, who in their full fledged armor felt like they were in a literal metal can, boiling away.
Their faces hence soon became almost like a tomato and a few of them even began to take the sps of their outer bronze cuirass instinctively without even waiting for any permission from Hemicus.
Such a breach of discipline usually would have gotten them a huge scolding from the man himself, but this time, he himself was having a very hard time keeping hisposure, the stoic facade threatening to shatter under the heat.
The rest of the people in the sauna quickly noticed this unnatural reaction and turned to look at these strangely dressed foolish madmen with a mixture of surprise, amusement, and awkwardness.
''Who are they and what are they doing here?'' They wondered with a clear gaze of caution and suspicion.
It was thus good that ude quickly ushered the group to the next room, he himself suffering from the extreme heat.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
If he stayed there any longer, the fat man felt he might start to melt like wax.
Thus he breathed a great sigh of relief upon entering the much cooler next section of the bathhouse.
Entering through arge, double door, this part, located in the center of the building could be said to be the actual bathhouse, where the people actually washed themselves.
The ce was huge, Alexander guessed it was almost twice as the garden or gymnasium, and was filled with tens of pools of a variety of shapes and sizes- able to amodate anywhere from a small group of four to perhaps fifty.
They were all made of stone like marble, granite, and onyx, and shapes like huge bathtubs, withrge carved walls separating each other, although if one looked closer, they would find that all of the pools were really connected to each other via small, intricate channels, the waters spilling over to them from the huge central ''reservoir'' in the middle.
The entire ce was filled to the brim with men, women, and children, all bathing in the open mixed bath together naked without any sculpts, being too focused on using various tools like scrubs, brushes, and weird looking metal tools to bring out any and all hidden dirt and grime, and then washing it away usingrge scopes of water taken from the bath usingrge woodendle like jugs.
Thus the sshing of the hot water over one''s head and body would be heard repeatedly echoing throughout the room.
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Chapter 1341 Famous Bathhouse (Part- End)
Alexander spotted most of the people in the pools were too busy washing themselves to notice his and his ''strange'' group''s arrival.
Rather the entire ce gave a sense of busyness and business, as despite how everyone waspletely naked, people rarely spent any time looking at others.
Alexander felt pleased that there were no wary gazes and breathed a sigh of relief at the much cooler temperatures.
This also gave him a rare opportunity to observe the people in the pools and the first thing he noticed was that there was much less talking or other noise here.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
People did not really chat or linger but seemed much more concerned about getting their baths done as quickly as possible and then moving on to the next room.
And as they cleaned themselves, Alexander noticed that the people did not use any soap. but simply their hands, or a best a small cloth to scrub off the oil they had put on before bathing to pick out the dirt.
Now this effectively did the same thing, as soap was basically solidified fat with a few chemicals added in.
But still this peeved Alexander a bit because initially seeing the bathhouses he had thought he found a great new market for his soaps.
However the pasha soon understood his thinking was too wrong- without mechanization, soaps were really a luxury product, costing anywhere from two to even three days of amoner''s wages.
This was an impossible expense to afford in a regr basis, especially when the thing could be gone within a week given the frequency of baths the people took.
"My lord, as you can see this is the main ce of the bathhouse- the ce where people bathe. Unlike the sauna, people rarely like to stay here more than it''s necessary! It''s mostly because it gets crowded. But also, the pool ground gets scalding hot. Look! Everyone is wearing those same thick sandals I gave you. It''s so that the feet never need to touch the ground. But still, most do not like to stand on what feels like burning coal. If anyone somehow falls down¡."
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While Alexander was thinking about making more money, ude suddenly chimed up behind to introduce the ce like this, and suddenly painting a grimacing picture, before lighting the ce with a frank chuckle,
"This is also where we use the most amount of water. Even I don''t know how much we use. So we try to make the people move along to reduce wastage, hahaha."
At these mentions, Alexander eyes subconsciously moved to the floor and imagined therge number of red hot copper pipes right underneath it.
Combine that with noticing the thick sandals everyone wore, Alexander suddenly felt that despite how ingenious the heating system of the bathhouse was, there were still some safety concerns to solve.
"I see. It is indeed very impressive." But Alexander kept these thoughts to himself and outwardly coolly nodded to ude, his toneced with an impressed chime.
"How frequently how do clean the water and scrub the ce?" He then asked.
"Everyday! We let the water drain into the rivers at dusk and start the furnaces right at the crack of dawn. It takes us till noon to get the new waters up to temperature. We clean and scrub the floor within that time. Lady Miranda has always urged us the importance of cleanliness you see my lord."
"Mmm¡ impressive." Alexander mechanically repeated.
Although he did not know much of the ttery was true, but if ude really did what he said, then he could see running a bathhosue was really not as easy as it seemed.
The maintenance and manpower involved was quite a hassle.
''And yet with all this widespread cleanliness, you still had a gue. *Sigh*'' Alexander then additionally mumbled, as he thought of the probability of the same thing happening to him as well.
The mantra of staying clean and tiny was no true cure for stopping a gue.
It was more like a speed bump, meant to only make it harder for the contagious disease to spread and increase the intermission between each re up.
...
Alexander finished touring the hot, humid bathing pools after a while, feeling he had seen enough naked people after a while.
So he was finally escorted out through the back- where theirst destination waited.
"My lord, this is thest of the rooms. We call it the cold room."
ude generously introduced, although perhaps it was a bit moot as the cool air hitting Alexander on the face the instant he stepped inside gave it away.
It was another hugeplex, filled with various kinds of pools and baths, made and designed pretty much like the previous hot room. only here the water was entirely unheated, letting the air feel almost chilly.
There were also rows of washrooms for the people on the sides to refresh themselves, as ude sinctly exined the purpose of this ce,
"My lord, the peoplee here after their hot baths to cool off. There are no heating pipes underneath these floors, it is just raw river water. In fact, in the summers we sometimes use ice from the storehouse to keep it as cool as possible. After a good sweat, it is important for the body to cool down as soon as possible."
Alexander really did not need this exnation as he could see the workings of the ce in real time.
The entire ce was filled with people, talking and chatting with each other like soaking themselves in the cool water while attendants dressed in uniforms sold them stuff like nuts, juices, and wine in wooden bowls or cups.
But given the people here were bare, Alexander saw there was no money being paid. He guessed the people had to pay the tab when they attempted to leave the ce.
This made the man quite impressed at those hawker''s memory- to be able to so urately remember both the face and bnce of payment for so many different customers at once.
Alexander also understood why the people in the previous were so eager to get their baths done in the previous room- after the hot, humid temperatures of the past two room, the coolness here flet like the gentle waft of the heaven to Alexander''s soaked back.
His onlyint about the ce was a bit too cold,
''Going from such heat and sweat to such coolness so quickly¡ it surely puts quite a shock to the body. That''s how most people catch a cold. The contrast should be a lot less and a lot slower!''
But naturally, he kept such thoughts to himself.
...¡.
The cold room was thest ce people visited before drying themselves up, returning to the gymnasium to retrieve their clothes, and finally exiting the premises.
So with this Alexander''s tour of the bathhouse appeared toe an end.
Or that was what it seemed, as upon exiting the cool room through the back, instead of bidding Alexander farewell, ude mysteriously gestured with a grand smile,
"My lord, it is a pity you have not been able to enjoy the bathhouse with so many people. I feel very responsible for this. So I have arranged for a private room usually reserved for nobles. Please through here!"
Alexander was both surprised and a bit d at the arrangement because he indeed felt like he was missing out on the experience.
He would have loved to know how the whole thing felt for himself.
Who knew when he would get to experience the thing ever again?
Thus he eagerly followed ude through an inconspicous door located right beside the cold room, which soon opened up to a small, four to five man wooden sauna.
The bubbling, boiling water was in the form of a small puddle but that was not what caught Alexander''s eyes the most.
It was the three naked women who were waiting for him there on the wooden bench!
ude from the back very obviously chuckled, "My lord, this a small gift we have prepared for you as an apology. Please! Enjoy them to the full of your liking. We will wait."
And at the invite, Alexander could not help but subconsciously take a second look at these presumably working girls.
Then upon inspecting the goods, he found that he would have to give some credit to therge man- ude had really taken into ount all his potential preferences, as the three girls were not simply cookie cutter cements of each other- they had their own charms.
Each was in a different stage of maturity.
One looked like she was in her mid tote twenties, quite mature for the time period. She had a plump, round face, withrge, mirthful eyes, thick red lips, and generous curves both on her chest and hips.
The second girl looked like a teenager, youthful and energetic, with a tanned face and an excited look in her eyes. Slender build, she had healthy limbs and modest breasts, with a thin waist.
As for thest one, well Alexander felt she was almost too scandalous to look at- she looked like she had barely crossed puberty.
Big, baby doll eyes that turned to look at Alexander fearfully, the entirely t chested girl had long, ck hair that made Alexander think she was strangely simr to his ''wife in name'' Fabiyana.
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Chapter 1342 Lady Parthias Assessment (Part-1)
"..." Alexander.
"....." Lady Parthia.
"....." The bodyguards
Looking at the three women ude offered up to Alexander, the three groups produced a rather nonchnt look.
The man himself had little interest in the women, and Lady Parthia had an even smaller interest in what Alexander did with his time.
While some of the men apanying him did give the bare girls a second look, despite finding them quite attractive, kept a very poker face, masking all their desires. Read new chapters at empire
They were professionals and currently on duty. Pleasure would have to wait.
"!!!!" Only Lady Nanazin''s eyes zed with weariness and jealousy as she hastily stepped in between the sweating girls all smiling alluringly at her man and posed,
"Ahhh¡ I have long heard of the famous bathhouses of Caira even back in Adhan. It would be a pity for us to leave without getting a bit of your feet wet. What do you say Lady Parthia?"
"!!!" The sudden mention of her name caught the former Tibian queenpletely off guard as she was not expecting to be drawn into this fight.
There was no way she was going to enter those baths after what she had seen, be it public or these so called ''private''.
''Do whatever you like want to do with your lover. Don''t drag me into this!'' The mature queen wanted to scold the much younger Lady Nanazin.
But s!
She was out in the open to make such a crude outburst and this hesitation let the man next to her chuckle with great amusement,
"Haha, right! I think so too! Since we are already¡ let us take advantage of it. Who knows the next time we will be in Caira together? Lady Parthia, you have already helped me twice! I would be honored if you lent me aid one more time!"
The ''idea'' had greatly attracted his attention.
The much more conservativedy furiously blushed at Alexander''s not so subtle innuendo.
She could not believe he said this kind of thing out loud.
If not for the fact they were in a strange building in a strangend, she definitely would have stormed off after giving him a tight p.
Too bad she was all alone here and needed Alexander to escort her back to the manor.
So instead, gritting her teeth in extreme rage, Lady Parthia coldly turned Alexander down, "I am feeling a bit tired after all the walking my lord. I will stay here! You go enjoy the baths with Lady Nanazin."
She intentionally said thest sentence out aloud as a tit for tat response.
"Nonsense! How can nobledies like us stay alone withmon men!" Lady Nanazin seeing her n get so explicitly exposed, blurted this with a slightly guilty look.
The Adhanian queen had no problem with her rtionship being an open secret, but would never outright admit it.
That was a bit too soon for now.
And it was also because of this that she wanted to drag the Tibian queen with her.
That way, instead of a man and woman bathing naked together, there would be an extra ''witness'', just in case anything happened.
The problem was- how could Lady Parthia be willing to y such ackey to another''s n?
She was just about to roast the young queen for being shameless in front of so many men when fortunately Alexander stepped in at thest moment, gently smiling,
"Lady Parthia I really meant when I said I needed your help¡ particrly about a marriage alliance between your family and Lady Miranda. I believe you know some suitable suitors."
"!!!" These surprising words caught not only the recipient''s ears, but also all those around.
Lady Nanazin''s eyes turned sharp with envy while ude felt his ears perk up- he longed to know this secret but at the same time also feared what he might learn.
As for Lady Parthia, ''Bastard! Is this your way to get me naked? Couldn''t you have said it earlier or waited till we got back?'' after recovering from her initial surprise, cursed like so under her breath.
Reading between the lines, it was clear what kind of condition Alexander was putting in order to facilitate such talks between her son or even grandson.
However, despite her anger, Lady Parthia found the bait too hard to pass up.
''I have already sunk myself to the lowest to the low. What is one more?'' The regal queen found telling herself, ''Since I havee so far¡. I must make sure to squeeze every bit of benefit from this brat!''
Thus gritting her teeth, she made Alexander see the two of the girls off, each receiving arge tip.
As for the third girl- the youngest of the bunch, well Lady Parthia requested her to stay to help her with the clothes.
Basically, she was to take the clothes out of the sauna after the two queens changed and then bring them again after they were done with the baths.
Entering the sauna, Alexander clearly relished the sight of the two mature queens shedding outer garments, his eyes unabashedly roaming over theirrge chests, fair backs, healthy thighs, and fluffy nks.
Lady Nanazin proved especially flirtatious in her endeavor, intentionally stripping in a way that exposed most of her curves.
While Lady Parthia proved far more bashful and hesitant, hiding as much of the flesh as she could with her arms and other body parts.
Both techniques had their charms.
These techniques were also seen by the waiting young girl whose eyes were filled with both admiration and a bit of inferiority and jealousy.
Perhaps she was admiring their beauty, perhaps she was wishing she too could have a figure like them, or perhaps she wasmenting how she would never be this beautiful.
Alexander would never know what the girl was thinking but if he had the time, he would have loved to know how such a young girl got into such a dirty business.
Too bad, he had bigger things to deal with.
And speaking of ''bigger things'' just as Alexander was inspecting the young girl, she too was scanning the man close to her- or more specifically that particr ''thing.''
The sight and thickness of Alexander''srge organ instantly made the young girl shudder.
She was not that experienced to begin, as expected given her age, and so seeing Alexander''s huge organ, which had already be hard¡. well the young girl frightfully imagined the thick, veiny with its grotesque red mushroom head going inside her and then instantly splitting her in two.
She thanked the gods that the man was not the slightest bit interested in her, to the point she even ''thanked'' the two mature for ''stealing her client''.
They could have him every day of the week.
The girl hastily left the sauna with a bow after collecting the three clothes, and no sooner did she close the door behind her¡ Lady Nanazin practically jumped onto Alexander.
"My lord, you seem quite happy!" She grabbed the turgid tool with great firmness, and then with a cold grin, suddenly dug her well manacured nails into the tender flesh, "Did you enjoy ogling at all those naked women in the baths?"
The query wasced with great bitterness as Lady Nanazin made it clear she had noticed everywhere Alexander''s gaze went during the tour, and thus her nails pressed with great strength, showing her displeasure and causing him to grimace a bit in pain.
''This women¡..'' Hempooned at the jealousy but at the same time felt amused at the thing. If a girl epted everything he did, Alexander would long grow tired of her.
Thus shing a charming grin, he snaked his arms around thedy''s willow waist and tugged her closer, "Of course not! It is only because of seeing you! You look too sexy," before proceeding to give her a long, hot kiss.
"Mmmmm¡. Mmmmm¡ Ahhhhhh!" And Lady Nanazin would certainly never reject such an offer, as she quickly epted the invitation and then drove her own tongue even deeper, wrapping around it like a snake and tasting every nook.
It was only broken after Lady Nanazin had enough to the point she turned nearly breathless.
After which she turned to triumphantly smirk at Lady Parthia, "It''s your time now mydy. Come! Beg master!"
Lady Parthia''s lips visibly quivered at the state of address, but nevertheless, she approached Alexander did the intention.
Given she had voluntarily entered here, any further ploy to act coy was simply a waste of time.
Thus she was quite surprised when Alexander suddenly shed his palms, "Ahhh! Not right now. I really did mean we had some things to discuss."
Then gently sitting on the damp bench, he invited the two, sweating women to either of his side and chimed,n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"Over the past few days, I have talked to both Lady Linda and Lady Miranda about a lot of things. I was hoping to hear your opinion on the matter."
At this point, Alexander went off to list all the things discussed and at the end of it all, this was what the experienced Tibian queen had to say-
''Your deals with Linda is... unpredictable. I cannot say whether it will work or not.... but I do agree it is better to distract her with such castle in the cloud ideas."
"As for Lady Miranda... that is a bitplicated. "
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Chapter 1343 Lady Parthias Reward
Inside the sauna, Alexander found himself in a very charming position, sitting in between two very bare, and curvydies.
All three of them were sweating quite profusely, but none of them seemed to mind all that much.
Alexander was struck by a sweet smell wafting out of thedies while the mature women felt the man''s strong musky scent invading their nostrils.
It soon made Lady Nanazin unable to resist her desires, and being in a private room, thedy wasted no time in showing her amorous side.
Her hands began to nimbly glide across the man''s muscr body, going across the broad, damp chest, then the muscr arms and the thighs, before beginning to edge towards the upturned mast.
While sitting on the opposite side, Lady Parthia was a lot more reserved, scrunching her arms and legs close to each other to appear as small and diminutive as possible.
However, this only led Lady Nanazin to sneer, "What''s the point of acting all shy now mydy? Whatever you really do, do you think others will believe anything otherwise?"
The truement made Lady Parthia grimace a bit, and caused Lady Nanazin''s grin to be bigger.
"So you might as well enjoy it! Come on!"
Saying this, the Adhanian queen shamelessly spread her legs, letting the steam hit all her private cracks and crevices, and then even guided one of her man''s hands to explore her revealed snowy garden.
The shaved flesh was soft and damp, although he was not sure if the ce was wet due to the sauna''s sweat or something more lewd.
Whichever it was, Alexander was notining and gave theher lips a light pinch,
"Ahhh!" causing thedy to let out quite a soul stirring moan before hearing Alexander tell her to behave.
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Withdrawing his hands from the ce, the man then turned to discuss serious matters with Lady Parthia, much to thetter''s relief.
The Tibian queen crossed her legs over one another as she focused her attention, and after hearing it all, turned ruminative.
"I do not have anything to say about Lady Linda. What you want to do with her relies too much on luck." She began after a bit of silence, "I personally do not think she has any chance of seeding. But¡ I guess it is better than her causing trouble for us. Whatever happens next is up to the gods."
"As for Lady Miranda¡ hmmm well letting her develop her own forces and govern yournd¡ I guess it could work. But in that case, I would highly rmend you have a very trustworthy steward here! Land is the most corrupting force in the world!"
"In such a case I would not rmend Perikles. The boy is too young to be able to deal with theplex political shenanigans here. Not to mention hecks any true status. What about Phillips instead my lord?"
Alexander''s lips visibly twitched the moment he heard the name.
It was one thing to give power to a weak, youngest of the bunch prince. It was a wholly different matter to give it to a crown prince.
However Lady Parthia pretended to not notice this dilemma and continued to push this name,
"I understand that Philips is already busy overseeing the northern part of Tibias, but this is hardly a real problem. He and Lady Miranda can live separately and meet up once or twice a year just to catch up."
"Many noblemen who attend the royal courts all typically do this. They stay in the capital city alone while the family looks after the fief back home. They usually meet a few months in a year."
Indeed, given the way Lady Parthia said it could make the deal work.
And someone as Philips was certainly a much better suitor than his practically powerless brother, making it far more alluring for Lady Miranda to ept.
''This would make others think twice about looking down on Lady Miranda and make things difficult for her.'' Alexander hence mumbled in half agreement,
''No! I cannot!''
However despite the advantages, Alexander quickly decided he would never seriously consider giving Philips such a long leash.
The Tibian royal family was no friend of his.
They were at best his rivals, and worse potential rebels and revolutionaries. He would not forget that just because Lady Parthia was a bit ''chummy'' with him.
So gently but firmly shaking his head, Alexander clearly stated, "Although I appreciate the thought, I fear the former crown prince already has too much on his te back in Tibias. I am not confident it will be wise for him to divide his attention like this."
"Not to mention he also likes men!" This frank addition was spat out by thedy sitting on the opposite side, her dark eyes swimming with jealousy.
The fact that Alexander wanted something from Lady Parthia instead of her irrationally made her peeved.
"..."
Her outburst produced a subtle bout of awkward silence between the other two because they had tacitly decided to avoid that point.
Lady Parthia did so because although her son''s preference in bed was an open secret, it was also nothing to wave the g around. She also personally did not approve of such a thing and, as she had nothing good to say about it, she kept quite about it.
As for Alexander, this was nothing to get worked up about.
Given the political nature of the matter, whether Philips could perform in bed or not was of little point.
In fact, that inability might actually be a plus point in some ways because then Lady Miranda''s ''to be born'' son would have nopetitor.
And if it was not a son or he too unfortunately died in his infancy¡ well Lord Theony had already told him about the shameful secret of Philip''s father bedding his daughter inw to produce a ''grandson''.
Alexander would not mind repeating something simr with Lady Miranda.
Thuspletely ignoring Lady Nanazin''s remark, he instead turned to reassure Lady Parthia, "I have little interest in your son''s preferences. This happens to many men. So if not for the fact that he was already burdened with many responsibilities, I would have indeed supported his union with Lady Miranda."
"..." Lady Parthia had a hard time believing this despite Alexander''s very sincere tone. However at least outwardly she appeared grateful, producing a graceful smile and a light nod.
But then quickly added with a twinge of surprised in her voice as if remembering something,
"My lord, didn''t you say you wanted Perikles in your senat¡ parliament representing Tibias''s interest? Well if he gets married¡ how will that work?"
It appeared as if the queen was presenting an insurmountable conundrum.
''Didn''t you give the solution yourself?'' Alexander however found the answer quite quickly, mumbling so to himself.
Not to mention, the original intention of giving the young prince such a post was to keep him more as a hostage than an actual position.
But given he and Lady Parthia had grown much closer by now, he had no problem seeing the boy depart for Galiosos,
It seemed the real reason the former queen was bringing this up was because she was not yet willing to give up on trying to get a daughter inw for her eldest son.
Understanding this, Alexander did not argue with thedy and tactfully changed the topic, "Then what about Theony¡ Lord Theony''son? He also seems like a good match."
Lady Parthia quickly replied with a grave shake of her head,
"Lord Theony does not like him that much. I doubt he will like to see his son get such a nice offer. He will object.. not to mention the boy also likes men."
Alexander found the answer to be quite hypocritical and full of excuses.
So he started to lose his patience thinking Lady Parthia''s advise was being marred by personal interest.
It was at this time the regal queen somberly chimed,
"Let me save both our time and be frank my lord. I believe I have quite heavily contributed to the sess of your campaign. I even dare say you would have hardly gotten anything without me strong arming you. So in light of all my contributions here¡ I would like Philips to marry Lady Miranda!"
"You! You greedy bit¡ How dare you?" The one who was most riled up by this was none other than Lady Nanazin, who instantlyunched this cry of indignation, "Alexander was the one who won the war, not you! How¡ could you¡"
Hearing the giant, unreasonable demand, her eyes lost all that mirthfulness, and could barely stop herself from outright cursing out aloud.
If Alexander allowed, she would not hesitate to tear her a new one.
"......" The other side also did not bother to defend herself and only waited for Alexander to speak.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"Hahaha! True¡ true¡" It was a good thing that the man himself did not appear at all offended and instead seemed to even agree with Lady Parthia to some extent,
"The tens of square kilometers I have gained is indeed in no small part due to mydy''s ideas. And that is why I would like to offer some of thend as a reward to your family. I can make Perikles a Baron... no a Viscount here."
"As a mother, I believe you will always want the best for your children."
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Chapter 1344 Lady Parthias Reward (Part-2)
Alexander''s offer to make Perikles a viscount made Lady Parthia''s eyes instantly flicker with an imperceptible light.
But contrary to what one might think, this was not made because of desire, but out of caution.
As a mother, she of course had no objection to her son bing anded noble in principle.
The trouble was she imagined this particr deal would be a trap for Perikles to ept Alexander.
This was because Lady Parthia felt her boy was not the right fit for the job and worried he would suffer greatly if suddenly thrust into the ind''s murky political affairs.
And after experiencing the terror of being invaded by Alexander and almost getting her whole family wiped up, Lady Parthia''s sole wish now was for her family to safely pass their day without any great upheavals.
Thus she did not want her youngest boy to be ''hanging out with the wrong crowd''.
This was also not to mention that Lady Parthia also did not think the pair''s personalities were a good match, as both were introverted.
She did not think an unhappy marriage was worth the title.
However, the crux of the matter was-
''If Alexander makes this offer to the brat directly, how will he dare resist?''
Perikles was a prince who was greatly honored in status yet utterly powerless in actual terms.
So how could he not instantly jump at the offer? This was a hereditary title.
Lady Parthia felt even she would be tempted if she was in the same shoes.
Which was also why the fact that she could judge things so impartially even when presented with such a desirable offer made it all the more impressive.
It really proved her prowess in such a matter, showing she truly deserved to have Alexander''s ear.
Something that became even more apparent when put into contrast against Lady Nanazin''s reaction, who hearing the offer immediately had her eyes turn green.
Viscount was thergest peerage Alexander could offer to thesends as the Margraves themselves were a Marquis.
And it was a level of status she pinned for herself or at least her daughters with all her heart.
So seeing her rival get something she wanted so much so easily made the maturedy''s face nearly torn up with regret.
The only reason she had not burst out with a shriek was because it was Alexander who made the offer and not the other way around.
Any other thoughts about the matter were instantly thrown out of the window.
This was perhaps why the next bit came as an even greater surprise for her than it did for Alexander, as Lady Parthia rejected the offer with a grateful, but firm reply,
"Ahhh¡. thank you for your sincerity, my lord. I am honored and I am sure Perikles would be overjoyed. But like I said, I do not think he would be appropriate. I still believe Philips is the better candidate, he can handle both Tibias and here."
"....." Alexander was honestly a bit angry at the rejection, feeling Lady Parthia was deliberately making things harder for him.
He did not believe there was any way the experienced queen did not understand that he was not going to give Philips the deal.
Experience more on empire
Thus in a frosty voice, he chided,
"Is mydy not satisfied with my reward? I would also like to remind mydy that although it was your idea that let me win thesends, an idea is worth nothing if not executed properly. You would not have anynd without my army."
"So I think letting your family have some of the annexation is quite appropriate. My offer is truly sincere."
"...." Lady Parthia remained adamant despite the pressure, wanting to force Alexander to ept this ''payment'' as his only option.
While Alexander was also bullishly determined to not give thedy anything if she insisted on strong arming him to agree.
Lady Nanazin clearly felt the temperature in the sauna ''drop'' at the standoff, causing her to developplex feelings on the matter.
On one hand, she was quite happy to see Lady Parthia make such a ''foolish mistake''.
But she also did not want to see Alexander get too angry due to her greed, not here.
She was here for a good time so if things blew up and the two exchanged heated words that could not be taken back, well it would totally ruin the mood.
So before things could get things ''heated'', and blow her chances of ''getting it'', the frustrated Alexander suddenly felt his little brother being tenderly grasped and then tugged by a few dainty fingers,n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"Ahhh I''m so hot my lord! Let''s get to the actual baths! I want to cool off!"
Lady Nanazin''s way of getting attention was quite the novel one and credit to her, it worked!
The rubbing on his sensitive part and the heated moan next to his ear quickly made Alexander realize that he might have been in the sauna for a bit too long and his head was starting to buzz a bit from the umted heat.
So as the curvydy reminded of the time, Alexander decided perhaps it was high time they moved on to the next room and cooled off.
"Indeed! This heat is making it harder for us to think. Let''s cool off a bit!" He nodded saying.
"Yes, there is no need for us to fight over something so trivial. I am sure I can think of something better!" Lady Parthia also agreed, feeling she might have been a bit too pushy.
Thus as the two queens stood up to follow suit, Alexander was presented with a ravishing sight.
The two bare, curvy bodies were naturally drenched in sweat, to the point it looked like they juste out of a downpour, and thus had a very attractive glowing sheen to their skin.
A raw musky smell emanated from there and each time they moved,rge dollops of sweat droplets dripped down every sharp contour of their body.
Alexander was forced to swallow a gulp watching those drops gather around the snowy peaks and deep valleys, and soon could not help but stretch his hands to give Lady Parthia''srge breasts a naughty squeeze, feeling the wet, sticky surface and pulling on the thick, stumpy nipples.
They were hard!
"..." At this, thedy gave Alexander a small re, but still stood still without any protest.
This was because one, she came here with the eptance such things were going to happen to her.
And the much bigger two, because she was also a bit distracted now.
Just like Alexander was checking her out, the mature queen too could not help but be attracted by the sight in front of her.
Alexander''s muscr chiseled body was also glowing due to the sweat, and as the numerous streams surreptitiously flowed across the cracks and crevices created by the tight muscles, strong pheromones assaulted her senses,
Her eyes began to roam around Alexander''s body, especially his strong and thick arms and legs and thought how she was going to be embraced by them soon, before finally, her sight rested on ''that''.
The dragon was already turgid and the dreadfully long and thick organ made Lady Parthia both fearful and a bit excited.
It felt good to know that as a woman she still had it despite her age. But at the same time, she was also afraid of the urge building up inside her.
If Alexander ordered her to kneel here and submit, Lady Parthia did not think she would be able to resist, for the shameful thought of what the sweat covered organ would taste like had already bloomed in her.
Hence it was unknown whether Lady Parthia felt relieved or a bit peeved when Alexander''s attention was quickly taken away by a much more shy Lady Nanazin, who guided his hands to be even more naughty, letting him feel her abundant buttocks and even ''squeeze'' out the juices from herher lips.
If Alexander''s attention was not so taken by the Adhanina queen, he would have certainly noticed Lady Parthia biting her lips a bit in anger and jealousy.
But now Lady Parthia only haughtily turned on her heels and was the first to enter the actual bathing rooms.
As the cool, refreshing air hit her and her eyes got ustomed to the much brighter light, she found the level of opulence in the disy to be here was much greater than she had ever anticipated.
The huge room was fully marbled, with its huge, pir decorated with intricate patterns of animals and other motifs.
There were all kinds of reclining chairs made of the highest quality wood and leather to sit and rx, tables filled with many types of drinking pitchers and fruits like apples, oranges, grapes, and nuts, andrge,fortable mats on the floor to lie down and rx.
There was of course the centerpiece of it, not one but two baths, ced right in the middle and dotted with tons of ss oil bottles, thick towels and every type of soap avable.
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Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
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Chapter 1345 Lady Parthias Reward (Part-3)
Seeing therge amount of amenitiesid out in the room, Alexander could not help but get a brand new appreciation for the Cairan nobility- they really enjoyed tasting the finer things in life.
The room was filled with all sorts of drinks, gym equipment, and expensive furniture, all illuminated by natural sunlight drifting in through the many open holes on the roof.
And this golden light particrly shimmered off the two baths, sparkling against the rising steam.
Alexander recalled ude telling him about this.
The two baths were not on the same level as each other but connected with a small channel at a nted angle that allowed water from the heated pool to slowly pour down to the cold pool.
That way the nobles could enjoy baths at different temperatures, from piping hot to mild lukewarm depending on their mood.
...
Alexander and thedies wasted little time in jumping into the hot and surprisingly there was little frolicking involved there.
The trio were so hot that all they wanted to do was just get their bodies washed of all the sweat and then move on to the actual rxing pool.
So using the wooden mugs near them, they quickly washed themselves from head to toe with the quite warm water, washing off all the grime.
As the flowing water took away all the sweat and ufortable stickiness, the heavenly sensation once again made Alexander see why the people here loved to sweat¡ the payoff was definitely worth it.
Then when he got out and rinsed himself dry, he found his skin to be also glowing a healthy red as the heat and friction had stimted the blood vessels underneath.
It made his entire body feel like it had just woken up.
¡..
Once the trio were dried, they quickly dipped their bodies back into the much cooler second pool, initially slightly shivering as the stimted muscles suddenly contracted.
"Ahhhh! So refreshing! This is why I came here for¡"
But it was afortable kind of shiver, as Lady Nanazin moaned while arching her head back until it went below the water, finding the cool sensation on her nape very pleasant.
"Mmmm! There is also no need to wear those thick sandals. It feels good to stand on the cool floor," Lady Parthia standing next to her agreed, wiggling her toes underwater in joy.
"*Ssh*, it''s just a shame we don''t have this in Zanzan. Alexander, you really have to build one as soon as we get back!" Lady Nanazin then quicklymented, her eyes turning bright with anticipation.
"Yes, I already intend to." Alexander lightly nodded in a matter of fact tone, "It is not only healthy but also provides a good distraction for the people."
"Indeed!" Lady Parthia chose to focus on thetter part of the sentence more, taking a big gulp of sweet, diluted wine from a nearby copper ss, "I then also suggest you ask Lady Miranda for the blueprints of the ce before your leave. It will make things much faster."
Alexander turned to give the drinkingdy a surprised look hearing this- he had not thought about that.
Then as the trio settled down in the pool, with Lady Parthia instead of Alexander in the center, the man decided to return to the topic at hand,
"Is mydy really that against Perikles marrying Lady Miranda?"
"...." Facing Alexander''s impassive face, the queen in question only took arge sip, thus causing the temperature in the room to drop.
"Alexander, if you are so worried about Lady Miranda, why don''t you promise one of your own children to marry hers? Alexandria or Ophenia can marry if it is a boy and Philip¡ no that''s not appropriate, Afsan can marry if it is a girl."
So Lady Nanazin decided to step in with this idea, trying her utmost to keep things from going downhill.
"...." Alexander did not immediately react to this.
In principle, this was not a bad idea.
Even if the timeline was a bit long, it was not unheard of for children as young as five or six to get engaged.
Alexander did not believe anything would happen in such a short time- the Margrave''snds were far too ravaged.
The only hup in the whole matter was his stance on the matter.
"No! I will never promise an engagement with any of my children without their consent. I want my children to be able to choose their own partners. Or at least have a say in it." He seriously announced.
This was a child''s basic human right he believed, to be able to choose the partner they would spend the rest of his life with,
Thus he personally detested how many parents used their children as mere political pawns.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
The problem with this kind of thinking was although this was verymon knowledge in Alexander''s era, here, it was theplete opposite.
Children simply took it as a fact that they had to always follow their parent''s arrangement for that was what they were taught to do from the day they entered this world.
While parents believed it was their god given right to determine their child''s fate for bearing, clothing, feeding, and housing them till adulthood.
The whole thing was the most basic transaction in the world.
Hence hearing Alexander''s ''novel'' perspective, both Lady Parthia and Lady Nanazin gave him a very weird look.
Lady Nanazin''s lips quivered like crazy as she desperately struggled to keep a straight face to not appear rude while Lady Parthia had to quickly hide her disdainful smirk under the guise of taking a drink.
"Your children are lucky to have a father who spoils them this much, my lord." The Tibian queen then humorously mumbled, the tone very clearly filled with sarcasm and ridicule.
"..." Alexander certainly did not bother to argue about his choice with the two, recognizing their perspective were far too different.
The only thing that surprised him was how even Lady Nanazin seemed to agree with Lady Parthia, thinking he was being too naive. Continue your journey with empire
Alexander had thought after being forcefully married to Ptolomy and the unhappy life that followed, she would be the one most sympathetic to his idea.
But he was wrong- Lady Nanazin did not think there was anything wrong with how she was married, only who she was married to. Her father had simply miscalcted.
Following Lady Nanazin''s offer, there ensured a long drawn out silence, as the three parties simply rxed their bodies and ate and drank.
To Alexander, it seemed that he was not going to able to reach a deal with Lady Parthia today.
That was why when Lady Parthia released a small spooky sigh, Alexander instantly turned around to pay attention,
"My lord, you said all mothers want what is best for their child. Heh¡ not necessarily. There was many mothers who would sell their child for the most trivial of benefits."
"But you are right. I do feel ufortable letting Perikles marry Lady Miranda. I think it is far better that he stays in Zanzan with me and simply remains as part of your parliament."
"You know what¡ let''s forget about the whole marriage thing. You can choose someone else as Lady Miranda''s suitor, like Theony. Rather, in exchange for helping you here, I would like a seat in your private council!"
Lady Parthia had thought about it for quite a long time before making this demand.
And the one who reacted most strongly at this was Lady Nanazin, whose eyes instantly lit up with zing anger and she gritted her teeth in anger.
She could not believe she was trying to befriend such a ''dragon''.
Alexander on the other hand had a much milder reaction, simply lightly smiling, "Perikles already is part of the senate. He can easily bring up any concerns you have. So why ask for the same thing twice?"
"*Snort*, do not take me for a fool Lord Alexander. That parliament of yours is exactly the same as the royal court just with a different name. Do you expect me to believe that the true decisions are made there? It is your personal council that holds true power¡. the other part is just for show. And I would like for my family to have a say there!"
"......." Alexander''s face did not change at the ask, but the gears inside his head started to rapidly turn.
Letting the royal family attend his council meetings had its problems, but at the same time, Tibias made up thergest chunk of his territory, so it was almost necessary for him to give them a voice if he wanted to rule the ce peacefully.
Lady Parthia and Lady Nanazin kept a close on Alexander as he ruminated on the matter.
The former was sure Alexander would snap for such a bold ask while thetter was readying herself to defend and argue her case following the inevitable rejection that was sure toe.
"Mydy, given the skill you have shown in statecraft, I was already considering having you as one of my advisors. I havee to value your advice that much! So are you sure you want to give up on your son''s marriage? I can offer both!"
Hence Alexander''s extremely generous response made both of them thunderstruck- they could not believe how easily he had given in.
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Chapter 1346 Bath Celebrations (Part-1)
"......"
Seeing Alexander so easily acquiesce to her great ask, Lady Parthia suddenly found herself in a bit of an awkward position.
She was not at all expecting this- she assumed that Alexander was going to t out reject her and then, she could use that as an excuse to get her eldest son the marriage deal.
But now that she had what she wanted¡ Lady Parthia for a split second did not know how to respond.
A seat at Alexander''s council meeting was certainly invaluable, but at the same time, she also felt having a third party like the Margraves on their side was too good to pass up- it would work wonders in bncing Alexander and preventing her family from turning into a true puppet.
However, these thoughts and uncertainty onlysted an instant.
What Alexander was granting here was undoubtedly a good thing as with this many things in the future would be much easier for Lady Parthia.
Thus producing the widest grin, the gracefuldy epted this pie from the sky,
"Thank you for your trust in me, my lord. I will do my best to live up to your expectations."
Alexander was left a bit speechless seeing how the very beautifuldy''s face suddenly glow up.
"Congrattions¡ mydy!"
While Lady Nanazin seeing the deal close so quickly, without even giving her a chance to intervene, could only grit her teeth and pretend to be happy about it.
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Her heart also pinned for something simr but she did not dare ask Alexander directly because shecked any real aplishment as capital.
Hence her words were overflowing with great jealousy.
Alexander was broken out of his light trace by the Adhanian queen''s word and pretended not to notice the expectation in Lady Nanazin''s eyes.
Instead, taking arge sip of the drink, he turned to nod to Lady Parthia with a light heart, "Good! Then we will do it your way. Let us drink to it!"
Finally, all the favor he owed to her for her timely advice was paid back.
...
Seeing the heavy topics finallye to a close, Lady Nanazin quickly took a few gulps of the drink and then with a slightly flushed face cheered,
"Hehehe! Great! We should celebrate!"
Finally, the time she had been waiting for had finallye.
Thus Tibian queen suddenly felt a hand scoop up and naughtily grab her heavy breast from underneath, squeezing it and saying,
"Ahhh! These are truly something else! They are almost twice as big as mine!"
Lady Parthia blushed at this intimate act, both at the unfamiliar girl on girl action and also because Lady Nanazin was not being nearly as gentle as she was making it out to be.
Her hands were quite violently twisting and wringing one of therge globules, turning it bright red and making the ce sting.
Clearly, the woman was taking some of her frustration out here.
And this sensation soon doubled as Alexander, also eager not to be left out, joined the fray, feeling the soft melons and smirking, "Mydy indeed have been blessed by the gods¡ able to feed many young."
And hearing this Lady Parthia felt somewhat ttered despite the crude words- thinking she still had it at her age.
"Ahhhh yes! I noticed Alexander sneak a peek several times while he was talking to you. Ohhh, I am so jealous," While Lady Nanazin sounded a bit bitter, and she pulled on the other''s stiff peak as a sign of protest.
"Hahaha, that is not true! I find both of you equally attractive," Seeing the other side puff her cheeks, Alexander quickly chuckled to cate her, frankly revealing, "You will not believe how hard it was for me to keep a cool face! You two curvydies are simply too sexy. I could barely stop myself from staring at those two pairs of melons. They sway too much!"
Saying this Alexander expertly pulled out one of Lady Nanazin''s sleeping nipples, twisting it with some force and causing her to moan out.
This was one of her weak points and afterying with her so many times, Alexander knew ying with it always turned Lady Nanazin on.
The Adhanian queen thus soon felt many of her grievances melt away and she began to transfer some of her love to Lady Parthia as a kind of apology.
She repeatedly kissed the back of the long, fair neck, leaving quite a few hickeys, before slowly going down on the beautiful cor bones and nibbling on it.
Then she reached the soft breasts, first licking the soft, full flesh repeating and making Lady Parthia almost shiver with anticipation,
"Hehe your nipples are so hard! This is how you get a girl into mood, mydy!" Lady Nanazin proudly smirked, before finally gently lifting the thick bud into her mouth and suckling on it.
"Mmmmm!" The expert way Lady Nanazin navigated her body made Lady Parthia feel both very excited and a bit ashamed.
She had never been this intimate with a girl and socially it was considered a taboo in her country.
But under Lady Nanazin ''s caress, the queen found it surprisingly hard to resist.
Alexander simply watched the whole interaction from the side with great enthusiasm, not wanting to interrupt.
There was just something about girl on girl action that was so hot.
He was just happy to observe
But soon the heat in his loins got harder than ever before and unable to resist, Alexander decided to join the fray, roughly kissing the other side of the neck and then joining Lady Nanazin.
Thus Lady Parthia was soon assaulted by double the sensation, as both her breasts were sucked, licked, bit, and nibbled by the two.
The attacked queen found that Lady Nanazin was the gentler of the two, simply swirling her hot tongue over her erged buds and asionally sucking them.
While the man was much more beastial, strongly biting and pulling on the sensitive ce and making her shiver.
"Ahhhhh! No! Stop!" The two types of pleasure soon made it impossible for Lady Parthia to withstand it, forcing her to break her silence and let out a shamed moan.
She did not know how much longer she could hold on.
''Hehehe!" But naturally, her words only caused the other two to re double their efforts, knowing their hard work was paying off.
They wanted to hear the quitedy sing more.
Thus not only the teasing intensified, but soon Lady Parthia felt being grabbed in the butt by Alexander and groped, while Lady Nanazin began to approach her snowy garden, gently ying with the fluffy hair there.
The Tibian queen was really starting to regret sitting in the middle of the two.
"Mmmmm!"
But that regret soon turned to blinding pleasure as finally pushed over the edge, thedy came.
"Huff! Puff! Huff!"
Her chest rose heavily as Alexander and Lady Nanazin allowed her some relief, while the pair themselves silently moved toward each other.
Then without needing any words, Lady Nanazin promptly turned her butt around and put her upper torso over the edge of the pool, thus allowing Alexander the easiest ess to her private parts.
The man grabbed the reddened, wet butt with great enthusiasm, finding the flower slit dripping with nectar and the pink hole above moving excitedly.
He had no problem sliding it in and as he started to move, he found the act of doing it underwater to be a brand new experience.
He had never done this before, so found that every time he pulled out, some of the water would enter the fleshy tunnel filling the ce up and then quickly push out when he thrusted inside.
But before they left, they would push down on Lady Nanazin''s tunnels from all sides, transferring the pressure and stimting every sensitive part of the organ at the same time.
It drove Lady Nanazin crazy as could be seen by how loudly she was moaning,
"Ahhhhhh! Yes! The water is entering my womb! So good! Push harder! My pussy feels like it''s melting!"
Lady Nanazin said as she moved her hips to match the rhythm, rolling her tongue out in utter bliss.
Lady Parthia was initially too ashamed to watch the rough mating and turned her head away.
But the sound of Lady Nanazin''s unrestrained moans soon caused her to be unable to restrain her curiosity.
She had to see what they were doing to make thedy scream her lungs out without a care in the world who heard it.
And so there she saw it all, Alexander pulling Lady Nanazin back by the wrist and smashing his solid hips into that luscious ass with all his might.
His monstrous organ stretched the flower almost painfully to its limit, but thedy receiving it only had her face warped with pleasure.
It was a face Lady Parthia rarely saw and wondered how good it must be feeling for the usually prim and proper Lady Nanazin to be like this.
Unknowingly a heat escaped down to the observingdy''s loins as she too desired to know.
Lady Parthia furiously blushed a momentter, unable to believe she was having such nasty thoughts.
And then as she saw Alexander approaching, she found her heart suddenly racing.
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Chapter 1347 Bath Celebrations (Part-2)
Lady Nanazin did notst long under Alexander''s merciless attack, letting out arge, heated moan as she was filled up, the white fluid scalding her inside and making her turn numb.
She fell down onto the edge of the pool like a broken doll the moment Alexander let her go, a blissful smile stered on her face.
From the side, Lady Parthia watched with a blushing face as Alexander then slowly pulled out his still hard organ, glistening with all the covering juices and causing the butt that was lifted high up into the air to slightly shiver and leak out arge trail of the good stuff.
''Lady Nanazin would definitely regret if she knew she was leaking,'' Lady Parthia judged using her previous experience.
The Tibian queen however did not have much time to appreciate her ruinedpanion as her sight was soon overcast by towering Alexander, his mast still fully upright.
"One time was definitely not enough. How about you clean me up, mydy?" Alexander asked as he pushed it forward, the tone far moremanding than a simple request.
The scent of the mixed fluids emanating from the organ quickly made Lady Parthia''s heart skip a heated beat.
"Wait! Stop! Alexander, I have another thing to ask!" But instead of following her whims and obediently taking the present, Lady Parthia managed to restrain herself and suddenly cried,
"You said that you were already thinking of asking me to join your council. So I believe I have been underpaid. I would like you to forgive my third time¡*mmmmmm*!"
Lady Parthia was unfortunately cut off by the hard and impatient Alexander who was hardly in the mood to hear such drivel.
"*Snort*! What nonsense are you talking about aftering so far,"
He grunted dismissively before forcefully grabbing the sitting queen by her hair and pushing his member through her hot luscious lips and into her mouth.
Lady Parthia almost teared up at the huge organ stretching her mouth to almost beyond its limit at the taste of it.
Mixed with Alexander''s fluids and Lady Nanazin''s juices, Lady Parthia found it to be a ''acquired'' taste, and something she had yet to acquire.
Hence if not for Alexander firmly holding her in face, she would have definitely not been able to keep it in.
Alexander enjoyed the hot mouth and the swift tongue work until Lady Parthia nearly went blue fromck of air when he finally decided to let her go.
"Haaaaaa! Haaaa! Lady Parthia let out great pants in relief as the polished spear let her mouth, hearing Alexander''s praise'',N?v(el)B\\jnn
"Good! Your mouth has gotten better. A few more years and you will be as almost as good as Lady Nanazin!"
The insensitive, almost taunting words naturally ticked off Lady Parthia, while Lady Nanazin who had by now recovered smirked a bit in pride.
The skills she had in bed had not been acquired in just a few days but in a few decades. It was good to see Alexander acknowledging that.
....
With his spear cleaned and ready, Alexander began to prepare himself to take Lady Parthia, making her take the same position as Lady Nanazin when the regaldy once again cried,
"Alexander! I already asked you¡ forget about this third time for the sake of the deal we just had. You know it is only fair. I am not interested!"
"...." Alexander was forced to turn to see at this insistence and found Lady Parthia really believed what she said.
The loyaldy still had great reservations about doing the actual act and wanted to use it as an escape.
''Hmmm¡ how do I do this?'' Alexander asked himself.
He could of course forcefully take her, but it would be such a bad idea on so many levels that there was no need to even go over them.
Lady Parthia might not stab him in the literal sense but their personal rtion would bepletely ruined.
The easiest route would naturally be to let thedy be and take his enjoyment to Lady Nanazin.
But looking at therge, fair butt facing him, and the fuzzy lips peeking out, Alexander felt it would be a great shame to leave empty handed just like that.
He found himself in a bit of a conundrum.
But it onlysted a moment, as the troubled look was quickly reced by a cunning sh in his eyes.
He grinned,
"Hmmmm, indeed, it is as you said mydy, you deserve more than just a seat in the council. But exchanging it for something like this is too trivial! Look! You have alreadye so far. What will refusing to lie with me achieve?"
Lady Parthia turned around with a slightly bitter smile at this.
Indeed¡. she was selling, or ''not selling'' herself for a paltry price.
Thus Alexander''s following offer made her almost go crazy,
"How about this mydy? Lay with me and I will gift any person you choose the title of a viscount here. All you have to do is y a little game with me!
Lady Parthia naturally turned to look very warily at thest part, but Alexander pleasantly reassured her,
"Don''t worry it''s nothing insidious! All you have to do is count every time I thrust into you¡from one to a full one hundred."
"If you can do it without making any mistake such as skipping a number or missing a thrust, I will give you three such positions. Count to fifty and you will get two! One is guaranteed!"
"....."
Despite being the queen of a kingdom for a few decades, Lady Parthia had never heard of such a grand offer being made anywhere in the whole world, not even for winning a war, forget for something as trivial as sex.
And to make it even more unbelievable, she did not even have to win!
There was a participation prize.
Such a rich, unheard of participation prize!
She at least thought Alexander was going to make her win the game to im the prize.
The whole thing really broadened her mind, to the point she momentarily went deaf, and wondered if she was hallucinating.
While Lady Nanazin on the side reacted even more strongly, jumping up with clenched fists and almost a crazed look on her face.
If eyes could burn and looks could kill, there would been an inferno by now.
''I gave him my body so many times! To the point, I became his bitch! And he gives everything to her! Argghhh!''
The jealousy made her turn the fairdy nearly green.
But what could she do here except stand and seeth and boil with anger?
"Fine! Deal!" While Lady Parthia was predictably unable to reject the giant offer.
It was so big in fact that she agreed the moment she confirmed what she heard was indeed true.
She was afraid that Alexander might renege it after figuring out that he might have had a slight slip of the tongue.
So to distract him, she hastily and obediently lowered her body and lifted herrge ass up, offering herself to let Alexander take her in any way they wished.
The extremely servile act made Alexander proudly chuckle to himself.
As they say, everyone has a price, even a proud and loyal queen like Lady Parthia.
And the fact that Alexander could really ''buy'' her, made him quite smug.
"Good! It is a deal!"
Then without further ado, he quickly positioned himself behind therge, raised luscious butt and tracing his n over the fuzzy, wet lips, gave the starting gun,
"I am entering mydy. Be sure to keep a proper count."
"Mmmm!" As the time approached for the actual thing, Lady Parthia suddenly felt too ashamed to give a clear reply, so only let out a determined hum and clenched her whole body up.
She knew from her previous experiences that even rxing a little bit might cause her to slip up.
And she was determined to get all three titles.
While seeing the body underneath suddenly tense up like this greatly humored the man, this was an acknowledgment of his prowess in bed.
Alexander thus slowly carved his way through the wet passage, taking his time to feel every fold and crevice, stretching the hot, slippery passage and making Lady Parthia almost lose her mind.
''How! How is this so different? Why does it feel so good? Ahhhh, my ce feels like it''s being set on fire!''
Perhaps it was the pressure of the bet, perhaps it was the watery setting, or perhaps it was simply Lady Parthia''s body getting ustomed to Alexander''s huge organ, whichever it was, somehow the act this time felt unnaturally good.
So good in fact that Lady Parthia almost lost the first count, "Ahhhh¡ One!" only managing to catch it at thest second.
But instead of feeling relieved, Lady Parthia cursed with a misty look in her eyes, ''Oh no! That was only the first one! How am I going to take a hundred more!''
She had made a calction error in her despair, although there was little difference between ny nine and a hundred here.
She would not be able to withstand it either way.
It was only now that Lady Parthia was beginning to suspect that she might have fallen into a trap.
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Chapter 1348 Bath Celebrations (Part-3)
"Ahhh! That''s a nice squeeze there mydy. Did you suddenly realize something?"
Just as Lady Parthia was beginning to suspect that she might have been baited, Alexander taunted like so, as if he could read her mind and confirm her thoughts.
But before she had any chance to regret her decision, he resumed the attack, swinging his hips and forcing thedy to focus all her attention there,
"Ahhh¡ Two¡Mmmm Three¡ Four¡ Five¡"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Soon therge room was filled with the cries of a mature woman apanied by the lewd *pah*, *pah*, *pah* sound of wet flesh hitting each other.
Each thrust made Lady Parthia see shes of white as an overwhelming wave of tidal pleasure threatened to swallow her whole.
All she could do was stay as still as possible to reduce the sensation as much as possible.
And to some extent, it worked!
After recovering from the initial surprise, Lady Parthia found her footing and was able to quickly grab hold of her count and got to around twenty.
However, things then started to change!
It seemed the tutorial part was over and Alexander decided to turn up the tempo, angling his attack and bringing down the fluffy butt into the water for a different experience, began to smash into that cave with all he got, knocking his battering ram right against the baby room.
"Ahhh¡ twenty one¡ ohhh.. twenty¡ mmm.. two.. twenty¡ kyahhh¡three," Lady Parthia soon began to let out sweet songs after that, the feeling of the slippery water rippling inside her and hitting her sensitive clit making her feel too good.
''Oh no! What shameful voices I am making! Oh, what face I must be having? I must look just like Lady Nanazin did!''
Lady Parthia of course wanted to stop, but found it too hard.
"Hehe! Mydy has quite the voice. *Pah*, sing some more!" While Alexander naturally encouraged her to continue, smashing her fair butt with a loud thud and leaving a red handprint.
However, the hit that should have hurt only fueled Lady Parthia''s lust even more, ''Ahhh¡ Wh¡ why? Why does it feel so good? Ahhhh! It is so hard to keep my voice straight? Ahhh! It was never this hard before!''
This answer was soon given by Alexander, who chuckled,
"Hehe, do you know why I asked for such a strange bet? It is because, in all the previous times, you would just grit your teeth and mp up, swallowing all the moans. I wanted to hear it. Hahaha, and this was so worth it¡ who knew you had such a nice voice. *Pah*, nowe on mydy, keep singing¡ *Pah*, and don''t lose count! *Pah*!"
Lady Parthia''s body reacted violently to Alexander''s frank reveal, and she wanted to turn around and curse, but her mind was too filled with pleasure to do anything like that.
The stinging blows made her nks feel like they were on fire as it turned bright red filled with handprints all over and after one too many hits, the Tibian Queen suddenly let out bursts of nectar, as her whole body suddenly shivered in delight.
"Ah! No more¡ahhh¡ slower¡ thirty three¡ aahhh thir¡four¡. Mmmmm¡ ehhhhh!"
Lady Parthia violently came, arching her back and gritting her teeth as hard as possible to swallow the moan.
Alexander watched this from the back without moving, a knowing smirk stered on his face.
He was damn sure that Lady Parthia would never be able to reach the count of a hundred when he had made that offer.
He was skeptical whether she could even reach fifty, which she would not have been if he had continued thrusting.
So to reveal his generosity, after a short time, Alexander chuckled from the back,
"Wasn''t it nice of me to stop as you came, mydy? Hehehe, you did not lose the count. So what do you say? Do you think you will be able to reach a hundred?"
"...." Lady Parthia''s only reply were a few rhythmicrge pants, as sheid on the edge of the pool like a rag doll, as if her string had been cut, a misty, unfocused look zing her eyes.
But her insides were anything like her outer facade, as Alexander felt the walls squirm and grab him even more tightly, wanting to squeeze the life out of him.
The sensation was both pleasant and agonizing, making it hard for him to simply stay still.
So seeing no response, Alexander gently moved his thumb over to the pink bud, and firmly pressed down on the wrinkled hole, grinning,
"Ah¡ are you too tired to even move? Welle on, we don''t have the time. Get up!"
"Mmmmmm!" Lady Parthia felt like she had been suddenly stung by an electric prod as the thick finger invaded herher hole, causing her spine to shoot up and her eyes to bulge out.
She was sensitive there.
"Hahaha! That''s a nice squeeze! Who knew the Tibian queen liked a finger in her bum?" Seeing the reaction Alexander crassly chuckled, while continuing to screw inside deeper, using the seeping water to lubricate the passage.
He only stopped when Lady Parthia was forced to break her silence after the pleasure became too much to bear.
"Wait! Say what do you want?".
By now, she had figured out how Alexander operated.
He did not stop her from missing a count out of the goodness of his heart.
"Hahaha, I like smart people. Let''s say that I will let you reach the count of fifty. In return, I want to be able to still bed you!" Alexander frankly chimed, his eyes swimming with a mirthful grin.
"..."
Alexander thought he heard the sound of a tooth breaking, as she gritted her teeth so hard that she almost bled. If she had the power to punch Alexander, she would have knocked him unconscious.
Thus turning around with great anger, she first let out this vehement outburst,
"Bah, you stinky brat! You could have all the finest whores in the world! So why are you so interested in an old hag like me? Does my loose cunt feel that good? Do you have a liking for grannies? Or are you just sick in the head?"
Lady Parthia''s eyes seemed to ze with great vehemence at being toyed like that.
"Hahaha," Alexander only amusedly chuckled, showing no sign of being offended, before gently saying,
"You sell yourself too short mydy. Your figure still holds up and your looks are not inferior to even Lady Linda. You still very much deserve the title of the most beautiful woman of Tibias. Don''t underestimate yourself."
"Remember! Every stage of a woman''s life has its charms. My wives'' one are young and full of energy. Lady Nanazin is mature and supple. And you are experienced and motherly.
Lady Parthia''s heart skipped a beat hearing such praise because she truly believed she was a bit too old, even whenpared to Lady Nanazin, who was almost a decade younger, forget the likes of Cambyses and Ophenia who were in their young twenties.
Thus the ttery made her walls begin to squeeze crazily like never, as suddenly Lady Parthia felt too good.
With the mental barrier removed, sex with Alexander had be very pleasurable.
And ovee by this rash desire that even Lady Parthia did not know existed, the Tibian queen suddenly gritted her teeth and blurted out with a fiery look in her eyes,
"Fine! I ept! But I will only do it once a month!"
"One month is too long. For the title for a viscount, I expect at least once a week!" Alexander counteroffered by shaking his head.
"No! One month! No less!" Lady Parthia remained adamant.
"Two weeks. That''s the least I can do! Any more I will start missing you!" Alexander turned a bit pitiful as he gently patted therge, fair, ass, squeezing and rubbing the reddened flesh.
It was like he was trying to coax her into agreeing by soothing this stinging part.
Too bad it did not work at all, as Lady Parthia spat venemously,
"Brat! I said one month! You think I am some gullible country girl who can be bought with those sweet talks? Why don''t you say the real reason why you want to bed me? It''s because I am the queen of the nation you destroyed and fucking me helps boost your tiny ego! You enjoy the thrill of taking me!"
"So one month it is! Any more and you will find this old granny too stale!"
"..." Alexander was a bit caught guard by how ''aware'' Lady Parthia was here.
He of course wanted to deny it, but at that point, he felt would be only insulting her intelligence.
So with a hollow chuckle, Alexander epted, "Good! Now let me show you what I can do!"
With this, the brakes were off, as Alexander began one of his most merciless attacks, moving his hips with a blur and causing Lady Parthia to sing like a canary.
It made the enter bathing room echo with her loud, depraved moans.
"Ahhh! Yes! Fuck me hard! You young brat! You got something good down there, haven''t you! Ahhhh¡ you are screwing my womb! Ohhh¡ what are you, are a horse?"
Something seemed to have snapped inside thedy as she violently shook her hips to match Alexander, letting go of all moral inhibitions.
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Chapter 1349 Bath Celebrations (Part-4)
"Ahhhh! Ahhhh! Ahhhh!"
Lady Parthia let out soul stirring moans as Alexander took her, fiercely moving her curvy butt and smashing into him with all she got. It was like a starving beast had woken from her slumber.
And this sudden bout of extreme libido astounded Alexander, making him wonder if something had snapped inside her.
''Did I push her too much?'' He worried as up until now, Lady Parthia had always been very timid and demure in the bedroom,
She always let Alexander take charge and just mped her mouth shut.
So to go from never once taking the initiative to now suddenly lustfully matching, if not exceeding Alexander''s movements¡.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
She appeared like apletely different person.
"Ahhh! What! Why are you slowing down? Are you even unable to keep up with this old thing?"
But thedy in question did not seem to have any such concerns, as sensing the sudden slowing of the tempo, Lady Parthia turned around to taunt this, before giving a crazed,scivious grin.
"Since I have taken a sip, might as well drink the whole bowl! Soe on! Fuck this old hag to death!"
Thus soon the joyous hymns of the songbird began to reverberate across the whole room as Alexander left no stone unturned in enjoying his prey.
Lady Parthia''s tunnels were explored fully and thoroughly, and the expert movement caused her to orgasm multiple times, all while she continued to let out such vulgar sounds and words that even those three working girls ude hired would have had their ''ears opened'' if they could hear it.
No mannered woman would even curse so badly, much less a regal noblewoman.
So hearing theme from the mouth of a queen, a queen who was usually so reserved and proper nevertheless, drove Alexander crazy.
Hence fueled by such a potent stimulus, It did not take long for him to reach his limit.
"Ahhh! I can feel your cock pulsing! Fucking brat¡ you are about to cum, aren''t ya? Ahhh¡ I fuck yeah! Okay! Screw me! Screw me like I am ving bitch! Break this filthy fucking sow! Ahhhh¡"
There could have been no greater invitation, so grabbing the dainty waist that was pistoning him like crazy, Alexander pulled therge, wet butt towards him, firmly locking it in ce and burying his heated spear as deep inside the pussy as it would go.
Then aiming his gun at the cervix which had dropped down to its lowest point,
"Aghhh!" he shot everything he had with the force of an erupting volcano.
"Ahhhh¡so hot¡ so much¡. Arghhh¡ yes! Fill my dirty cunny you stinky brat! Ahhh¡ing¡ing¡ I''m fuckinging¡. Fuuckkk¡.ing while being fucked so hard¡ahhh¡ feels so good."
Lady Parthia shouted out vulgar songs like a mad woman, letting them echo across the whole room and causing some to even drift outside, not that thedy cared about any unwitting listeners even an iota by now.
And that same damn care attitude went downwards too, as despite havinge, her insides continued to squirm like mad, mercilessly sucking out even the tiniest of the release from the undting meat, causing Alexander to feel a bit empty and weak like his body was ''melting''.
It made him never want to move, nor could he.
The pair thus remained in that connected position for a long time afterward, each recovering from the feeling of their own tempestuous tryst.
The man was intoxicated with the pleasure of cumming inside thedy, while the feeling of the hot creampie moving around inside her made thedy continue to mewl out low, satisfied purrs, with a misty, satisfied look in her eyes.
Sex had never felt so good.
Hence as Alexander slowly pulled, Lady Parthia let out a sweet, reluctant moan, "Ahhh! No! Stay! It''s going to leak!"
But she was already filled out a bit too much to begin with, so unable to hold all of Alexander''s excess discharge in her snatch, the water around them soon began to turn turgid.
"Ahhhh! No!....What a waste!" Lady Parthia then cooed out when feeling herself ''emptying'' out, in a voice that suspiciously sounded like Lady Nanazin''s.
It was clear she was trying to copy her, her only reference.
For Alexander, the sight of his semen oozing out of those gaping fuzzy lips was a sight to behold, especially how they formed tiny bubbles due to the ambient water.
These leaking streams then slowly rolled down the fleshy, hairy lips, dying then milky white before making their way towards the water, then finally dropping down, forming long, thin strings of cum as they went.
It was too lewd to watch.
Which was why Alexander had such a hard time looking away, as he felt himself getting harder and harder with each passing second.
And sensing the scalding gaze, Lady Parthia''s turned around to give also Alexander a heated gaze, as her lips suddenly turned mischievous and yful.
Raising her huge butt from the bath high into the air, she then began to sway it, like she was shaking off the excess water and more strikingly the semen inside her, letting the huge globs of sludge like cum flow out of her pussy like a leaky faucet.
Lady Parthia was so ashamed by this that her face turned from blushing to burning red.
She naturally had never done something even a hundredth of this lewd before and some part of her still could not believe she was doing this now.
But just like she said, ''since she had taken a sip of the poison, she might as well go all out!''
So she continued to put up this obscene show, and when she noticed Alexander''s astounded look and that fiery, uninterrupted gaze, suddenly a subtle, proud expression bloomed on her face.
This reaction proved that Alexander was not simply ttering her before, he truly found her attractive.
So despite feeling incredibly embarrassed, she continued to tease her man, using her strong vaginal muscles to squeeze out the slimy goo, like one squeezes out toothpaste.
These lewd rain droplets then slowly dropped onto the tepid water below, making an almost imperceptible sshing sound, before quickly dissolving away, leaving only a turbid white suspension of the semi solid bits behind.
The entire surrounding water around Lady Parthia thus soon turned cloudy and muddy, while her once patch dark garden had now turned white, his cream coating the thick, curvy hairs.
So by the time Lady Parthia had severed thest of the semen dangling from her pussy hole, Alexander''s dragon was up and fully wake, curving up to his navel and glistening with a thick sheen made from a cocktail of their juices.
Lady Parthia felt smug seeing the fruits of her hard work, ''Hahaha, I still got it!''
"What are you waiting for brat? You will only get to use this cunt once a month! Hurry up and re-fill me!"
...¡..
Lady Nanazin watched the nearly animalistic mating ritual from the side silently with a bitter heart and a frosty ze.
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If it was any other time, she would have certainly jumped up and demanded her share, but seeing Alexander shower Lady Parthia with suchvish gifts that no one even in the whole world had seen before whilepletely forgetting about her¡ made her feel very hollow.
''A viscount title for just once a month! Utterly absurd! For such a thing even the most prim virgins would be the lowliest whores. Has that bitch eaten Alexander''s soul?''
Lady Nanazin could only bitterlyin while drifting off her own world, as she sat by the pool all alone and drinking, drinking so heavily that it looked like she wanted to get totally wasted.
It was just too bad the wine was too diluted to numb her pain.
So after getting none of that strong, ''strike on the head'' buzz even after downing half a pitcher, Lady Nanazin naturally became ticked off, thinking she had been served subpar wine.
And in her half intoxicated she thought of going out as she was and grabbing ude by the neck for cheating her.
She only stopped herself when the tiny bit of rationality left in her sparked and recalling how submissively ude acted in front of them, he would never dare do such a thing- the paltry few coins were not worth his head rolling.
It was also then that Lady Nanazin remembered that in Sybarian''s culture, it was not proper to serve guests strong, pure wine, in fear that they might be intoxicated and make a fool of themselves.
So it was always watered down.
This exnation however did not help lesser Lady Nanazin''s pain.
So she continued to fill her belly as a substitution for the hole in her soul, thus by the time they were on their way back, her dder was bursting like it was going to go any moment.
The insides of the usually spacious carriage suddenly began to feel very stuffy and every small bump or turn made her feel like she was being pricked by countless needles down on her abdomen.
Of course, the easiest solution to this would be for her to ask to Alexander to stop the carriage and let her do her business.
But Lady Nanazin was feeling too bitter to want to go to talk to Alexander.
So she decided to grit her teeth and endure- the manor house was close after all.
Unbeknownst to her, this innocuous action would lead to an outburst that would greatly affect her standing with Alexander in the long run.
Chapter 1350 Preparing For Home (Part-1)
"You could have been a bit gentler!"
On their way back, Lady Parthia shot Alexander a ''wounded'' look in the carriage, rubbing some of her parts as if they were sore.
"Hehehe!"
Alexander only gave a hollow pleased chuckle as he recalled all the things they had done afterward, moving from the bath to the floor mat, and letting Lady Parthia mount him, thus fully enjoying the sight of the swinging melons as she bounced.
Those sweet puppies were squeezed, stretched, pinched, pulled, and yed with until they were bright red and hurting.
"I hope it was worth it."
His thoughts were only broken by Lady Parthia''s affirming voice.
"It was! It was!" Alexander happily nodded, "To be able to bed an honorable queen such as yourself for only a thousand sq kilometers ofnd was more than worth it! Hahaha!"N?v(el)B\\jnn
Lady Parthia however was not so easily bought by the exaggerated ttery, ".....You were already thinking of giving up somend here, weren''t you? You need some ''Zanzan'' local here after all."
So in a cool tone frankly revealed Alexander''s ns, "I am guessing I will not be the only one to get thesends?"
"..." This nearly made the man cough out in embarrassment.
Indeed he nned to hand out a few titles to some of his men- like Remus, the boy had worked hard and performed quite well in the campaign.
In addition to this being a reward, Alexander also hoped that this way there would be a few voices within the army supporting the defense of thesends if things ever turned sour.
"Hehehe, mydy is truly keen eyed. You are right¡ I would have considered giving you thends if you had just asked!" Alexander said thest piece as he wanted to see how the reticent Lady Parthia would react to their personal ''deal'' knowing this.
"*Snort! We never beg!"
The sharp, curt response both pleased and stung Alexander, he had wanted to see how a bitter Lady Parthia would look, but a ''too proud to be hurt'' look was also good.
"I also know that you have probably given me a seat at the council anyway," Lady Parthia then added her guess, before reaffirming in a regretless voice, "Don''t worry! Our deal will stand as is."
¡..
Lady Nanazin listened to the pair of lovebirds speak such casually with each other with a disgusted heart.
If she was given the deal, she imagined she could have counted even to a thousand if Alexander could keep up.
Then suddenly in an outburst that came out of nowhere, she violently interjected,
"If you are so generous with thend my lord, why don''t you give me some? I have been whoring myself for you every day!"
This snub rubbed Alexander entirely the wrong way.
He believed he had done enough for the woman, from rescuing her to taking care of her to pampering her to the best of his abilities.
Yet, she dared to talk to him like that?
Finding her manner very vulgar and ungrateful, Alexander imperceptively frowned and made a certain decision in his mind.
"I will reward you once we get back!" He then frostily replied, which only sought to aggravate thedy in question.
Where had she heard that before?
.....
Alexander spent a few more days in Caira afterward, taking care of a few loose ends, the vast majority of which involved details of seeing the city be handed over to Miss Linda and the elders just as promised.
Alexander also took the opportunity to meet with Lord Castell onest time, greeting,
"My lord, I hear you will remain here for the foreseeable future. This is good. Our two families can continue to flourish with you here."
This was Alexander''s way of subtly reminding the man of the treaty and asking him not to cause trouble.
"Haha, rest assured. That loan you promised the family is enough to keep that sassy girl in check. She has be a lot more obedient, hahaha."
The way the man fondly looked and spoke of ML was very different from just a few days before, making it clear the girl had made her move.
This was of course good news for Alexander, and thus he worded a few ttering praises to help her.
It just remained to be seen how effective this would be in the long run.
After Lord Castell, he then met up with Lord Kite to remind him of their prisoner deal, and got a promise that everyone would be sent with the next year.
The only thing that Alexander missed was Lord Castell standing on the walls and looking at the legionaries march for Lady Miranda''s new home when his second inmand came up to report in a very professional tone, Enjoy exclusive content from empire
"My lord, the thing you asked¡ it is done. They are in ce."
"...Good."
Alexander might not have understood the context of those words even if he was there.
Not to mention he was preupied with many more mundane stuff.
The marching from Caira to Lady Miranda''s new city of Prizzle was a boring one, especially given he and Lady Nanazin were in a sort of cold war.
So no hanky panky.
This made the long, seven to eight hour marches almost unbearable.
Sure Alexander was intrigued by the greenery and open countryside for the first few days, but that got old pretty fast.
It was all the same thing over and over again- a continuous stretch of farnd, woods, and rivers asionally dotted by scattered settlements and viges.
Only two good things came out of this.
First, Alexander got to see the local specialties and a snapshot of how some of them lived. And he found that many of them actually had a better lifestyle than say the likes of Tibias and the hilly parts of Zanzan.
The
Two, he used all the free time he had to finalize the reward and loot distribution for the soldiers in his head.
He would not have been able to do this if he was fooling around with Lady Nanazin.
Hence on their way to the city, Alexander gave Remus a baron title, made a few officers the equivalent ofnded knights, and promised many of the high performing soldiersnd once they reached the end of their service, were discharged honorably due to injuries, or died, in which case their children would get it.
Everyone else got a share of the looted booty- which came to around 600 ropals worth of goods or coins, or three months of sry for a regr grunt.
This was perhaps not as great as the reward for taking Tibias, where many got a ''bonus'' worth two years of their wages, but the scale between the two campaigns waspletely different.
And the soldiers understood this, which was most of them were pretty happy with their gains.
As for who was deciding the exact amount of the gains, well, the credit had to go to Remus and Menes, both of whom had to work day and night like madmen to prepare the reports for Alexander.
The reason for such pressure was because taking inspiration from his previous life, Alexander hade up with a ''survey like'' report.
But navigating such an unfamiliar format proved very difficult for the admin officers.
Remus even openly cried out,
"Fucking hell, what is this crap? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, rate each of the officers in the following categories-
1. Taking charge of his unit.
2. Leading them to battle.
3. Following orders.
4. Keeping up troop morale during morale.
5. Reacting to a sudden nking attack
6. Spotting breakthrough opportunities
7. ¡..
8. ....
13. Giving out proper battle signals using trumpets.
14. .....
Pleasement on why you choose to give the number citing at least two examples."
Remus had his eyes turn almost red by the amount of work being asked of him.
Who said being a general was easy? Safer perhaps... but easy... definitely not, not when you worked for Alexander.
There was even an incident when Remus ran up to Alexander and screamed,
"Fuck you, Alexander! You think you can make me ve away just using the excuse of a noble title? Ask me to do this bullshit and I swear I would rather be a grunt!"
Shouting like so, he then threw the scarp of paper he was waving towards a dumbfounded pasha.
Alexander had no idea what he had done to tick the young boy so much.
It was only after asking around a bit that he understood many were finding it too hard toplete his report.
"My lord, this is asking for too much information. And we are too few in number. We need more time." One of the officers in charge timidly admitted.
Alexander had forgotten the number of men who could read and writeprehensively within his army was at best twenty.
The rest could only do the bare minimum, like writing their names or a few numbers.
So asking them to ''defend'' their number in essay form was really stretching it a bit.
"Ahh! The importance of general education!" Hencementing like so, Alexander waved thement section and asked for only one example and the name of the battle it happened in,
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I
L
Chapter 1351 Prizzle
Lady Miranda''s new city- Prizzle used to be one of the family''s earliest settlements, before they moved to the much more geographically advantageous Caira.
This history was shown through the existence of arge, magnificent marbled mausoleum built right at the center, housing the remains of many of Lady Miranda''s ancestors, including her grandfather, and a ceholder piece for her father since his body was never recovered from the sea.
Alexander would enter the ce as a sign of their alliance, as well as mundane curiosity- he had never entered such a huge ''temple for the dead'' before.
The inside of the stone mausoleum with its huge arches and thick pirs was perhaps even more spacious than it appeared from the outside, with a huge antechamber or hall serving as a gathering ce for visitors right behind the huge enormous wooden door.
There were many huge altars built around the walls, all adorned with tes filled with offerings for the dead- which included fruits, bread, honey, and other delicacies, used for the appeasement of the deceased.
The walls were colored with beautiful and borate artworks and reliefs depicting various stories of the deceased, while many ves and servants attended to the ce, sweeping and cleaning the ce and taking care of the lighting- lighting and maintaining the huge braziers inside.
The other half of the mausoleum led down to the crypts through a spiraling staring, where stone sarcophagy was stacked row upon row, a few stories high, each decorated intricately using gold and jewels, and clearly showing the identity of the man buried here.
Courtesy of this huge mausoleum, much of Prizzle''s economy had also developed around it, as observed by Alexander while on a tour of the city.
The vast majority of the shops were overflowing with various religious stone, wood, and metal idols of the gods the Sybarians worshipped or with trinkets like charms, beads, and bangles that seemingly that magical properties such as bringing good luck, warding off disaster, healing the sick to name a few.
And if they were not selling these, then they sold the next most popr thing- food that was offered to the deceased- be they raw like fruits or cooked and baked.
All these shops were designed to cater to the many of the grave worshippersing to visit the mausoleum since it was not only the Margraves who came to receive the blessing of their ancestors and obtain the favor of the gods- but people from all over their fief.
The deceased lords had the same status as saints in the people''s eyes.
Thisst part was also why grave digging and corpse stealing were rampant in the city, as people believed the bodies of these bodies had magical properties.
So many would try to bribe the guards and servants to get them a small piece of the older, decaying corpses, using them to make the aforementioned charms.
While others would cook and ground up the bones as healthy powered medicine, capable of healing all illnesses, and injuries and even improving the performance in bed when ingested or sprinkled over the top.
As for the most daring of all the grave robbers, they would actually try to dig tunnels and get into the lowermost chambers directly, outright stealing the corpses from right underneath the family''s noses.N?v(el)B\\jnn
If sessful and they could prove their medicine was truly the genuine one without getting caught, then even a single corpse would be enough to set each man for at least half their life.
But if they were captured, these men would face one of the most brutal executions Margraves had- being bound and buried alive in a stone sarcophagus along with two rats and a few of its babies.
These sarcophagi would have a few slits for them to breathe through, so the way these men would die was by being eaten by the starving rats.
Alexander''s body shivered when he was shown one of such ''coffins'' by the attending priest who was showing them around, the dusty, moldy smell apanied by a heavy, stink of rotting flesh making him a bit retch.
He would definitely not want to go that way.
The priest however did not at all notice Alexander''s reaction and instead turning to Lady Miranda happily grinned,
"Mydy, it is good that you came when you did. These filths are getting more and more daring each passing day. We caught three just the other day. It seems just the pit is not enough for them!"
The ''pit'' was a general burial ce of the Margraves family.
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It was used for those that were not deemed not high ranking enough, or when the mausoleum ever ran out of space and the lesser ancestors had to be taken out.
It was the most basic graveyard in all sense of the word.
And also the best ''mine'' for the grave robbers.
"*Sigh*, I am aware! I have repeatedly asked the elders to allow me to build a second mausoleum to solve exactly this, but they have always fiercely declined!" Lady Miranda shook her head in irritation.
As for the reason behind this refusal, well the clues could be found from the fierce reaction the overseer of the mausoleum had just hearing it.
It was the most basic of knowledge among the people here that there could only be one official mausoleum- suggesting a second one be built was tantamount to sphemy of the highest degree.
And alongside the religious reason, there was also the economic one, as ny percent of the people in the city depended on ie from the pilgrims for their livelihood.
And it was very good ie, as observed by Alexander when approaching the suburbs of the city.
Most of the houses around here were made of red bricks or at least fired y, whereas at any other time, they would mostly consist of thatched roofs and y.
The people also wore much more colorful and fancy clothes than their counterparts and the number of luxury goods being sold like incense, ointments, oils, high quality fabric, and various exotic delicacies was much higher than what you expect from a city of only twenty to twenty to twenty five thousand.
It was apparent that business was booming.
So although not as big and prosperous as Caira, the city was not a slouch either.
Which was also why opening a second mausoleum was seen so problematic for the people here.
The priests felt it would be like opening Pandora''s box.
Because if a second one could be opened, what was to stop a third, fourth, and fifth one?
After all, the number of deceased would only ever increase.
And at one point, mausoleums in other cities could be opened.
This was uneptable for the people here and thus vehemently opposed by every strata of the society.
In fact, after staying here for a few days, Alexander found that the people here vehemently opposed nearly every kind of change.
They did not even want to improve the dpidated roads leading to the city because apparently, the slow speed favored the roadside inns.
The reason was that if it took the pilgrims longer to reach the ce, it meant they needed to stop more frequently, thus more business.
Alexander was astounded by the business like minds of these ''holy'' people,
''Weren''t you people serving the gods? Why do I feel like he''s actually called gold?''
Of course, although surprised, Alexander was not shocked.
''Working to decrease the suffering of the people and show them the path of eternal life'' was perhaps the most hackneyed slogan for every religious group anywhere in this world.
For most of them it was just a means of money and power, or preferably both.
Alexander was very d he would not have to deal with these crazies.
That problem of developing the surroundingnds solely belonged to Lady Miranda.
...
Alongside touring the city and advising Lady Miranda on some of the ways she could develop it, Alexander also attended a few weing parties there, involving a few of the local nobles.
And since Prizzle was also very close to Hamson, he also got to see Lord John there- one of Lady Miranda''s potential suitors.
The man was quite handsome, but what really caught Alexander''s attention was thedy apanying him.
Dressed in a fine dress that covered everything from neck to toe, her looks were quite extraordinary.
She was heavily pregnant, although the trouble was she only looked about twelve or thirteen and wore a somewhat vacant and distraught face.
Combining all this, Alexander quickly recalled an identity- Lady Miranda''s illegitimate aunt.
ording to what he was told, this young girl was brought up in an orphanage till the age of six, before getting hired as a cooking maid at one of Lord Janus''s kitchens, serving food for the guards at the mansion.
It was also there she met her current husband- John, serving as one of Lady Miranda''s father''s guards before the two fell in love and eloped.
Of course, all sounded too convenient for Alexander.
The most natural question was how could a nameless, nobody with nothing get hired at such a ''prestigious'' ce like the lord''s manor so easily?
The answer was probably her father had arranged this.
Which was also why Alexander became a tid bit know her better.
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Chapter 1352 New Sailors
"That girl¡ she looks very much like me!"
At one point during the party, Lady Nanazin took the time to suddenly approach Alexander and chime this next to his ears while pointing at the young girl apanying Lord John.
Alexander recognized her as the man''s wife,
"Hmmm? Why do you say so?" So sensing the bitterness hidden within the words, Alexander decided to engage thedy.
This was the first time she had initiated a conversation after their little row.
"She¡. just feels like it. The way she is dressed¡ feels very simr to how I would dress." Lady Nanazin spoke in a lightly ethereal tone as if she was imagining herself being back at the pce. Enjoy new chapters from empire
Alexander could not help but give a second nce at thedy in question after this was pointed out.
And now that he looked, indeed he found the high cored, full sleeved gown seemed a bit too much.
It was already starting to warm up and many of thedies attending otherdies wore much more low cut and half sleeved, thinner clothes.
As for it being a personal choice, well Alexander highly doubted that given the thick trails of sweat he could see dripping down the youngdy''s ears and cheeks and how she frequently tried to air herself by fanning her palms without appearing too inelegant.
She looked visibly very frustrated.
This made Alexander quickly suspect the heavy clothes were worn to hide something much more sinister.
And recalling what he had seen with Lady Nanazin, the conclusion very much rubbed him the wrong way.
This was a young girl hardly twelve or thirteen years and already made pregnant, yet she had to suffer like so.
Alexander swiftly recalled how most people drooled at the thought of being able to work in their respective lord''s manor but never thought of the downsides.
They only saw the honor of having ess to the ce which held life and death over them, where the pay was usually quite good, and where one got to rub shoulders with god''s representative on earth.
And if one of those representatives took a liking to them- well they thought that the sky was the limit.
While in reality, such fairy tales were very small outliers.
Most of them ended with heartbreaking tragedies and betrayals, just as he was seeing now.
It was just that the people chose to overlook them.
Alexander did not know what came over him looking at the tender girl.
It was not like he had not seen child brides before- the sight was in fact a dime a dozen.
But somehow, seeing the girl who should have been at the peak happiness of her life appear so forlorn, made him want to act.
So after seeking a bit of advice from Lady Parthia, he approached both Lord Janus and his eldest son together.
"My lords, I would like to once again extend my appreciation for all the help you have given us. Without it, I might not be standing here, hahaha. You have earned the eternal friendship of Zanzan. Let us toast!"
"And as a way to continue this special rtionship, I was thinking of marrying a Tibian princess to you. What say you Lord John?"
"!!!" The sudden out of the blue offer made both father and son widen their eyes in shock, as their mouths went a bit ck.
For ''low'' born lords like them, such an offer was considered not only fantastical but borderline absurd.
While disregarding the unnatural reaction, Alexander continued his pitch with a smug tone to his voice,
"Yes. She is the granddaughter of the former king of Tibias. And it seems Lord John has caught her grandmother''s eyes. Hehehe, congrattions! So do you agree?"
"We¡"
"Of course, of course! It would be my honor! Hahaha, of course, of course."
The elder, much more prudent Lord Janus had wanted to be much more cautious, wanting to weigh the benefits of marrying a powerfuldy like Lady Miranda against a princess of a defeated nation.
But his much more impulsive son was instantly blinded by the blink of the word ''princess.'' and agreed at a speed that surprised even Alexander.
Alexander was confident the man would ept given what he was told about him- greedy and hankering after status, but the crity with which he took it still surprised him.
But seeing the fish take the bait, Alexander was more than happy to reel him in, giving no time for the father to intervene,
"Great! Great! Then as a wedding gift, I will ask Lady Miranda to make you a viscount, and give some of mynds!"
This promise basically cemented the union as a smile soon bloomed on Lord John''s face.
It refused to dim even when Alexander made a remake about the princess wanting to be monogamous, as Lord John promptly promised to divorce his current wife.
And when Alexander followed this up with being interested in taking his to be divorced as one of his maids, the man put a slightly difficult face, but ultimately remembering the peerage he was being offered, quickly promised her to him.
"Hahaha, Pandria is indeed quite beautiful my lord. No wonder she caught your eye. As a secret between us men¡ she is even quite the slut in bed! She even lets you take her in the ass. Hehe, and it is quite good. So please enjoy her to the fullest."
The fact that a man made such vulgar words about his own wife made Alexander almost retch, while the disdain he had for him turned to half anger when the heartless man added with a hearty chuckle,
"Oh also my lord, I have heard Zanzan is a great city. Let the child stay there. Maybe he will learn a few new trades."
Alexander was pretty sure the bastard would not be able to do one good thing about Zanzan if he asked.
Clearly, this was just an excuse to prevent his ''illegitimate'' child from interfering with his sweet life with the princess.
But Alexander did not argue.
He got what he wanted and who knows, perhaps it would be a blessing in disguise for the unborn child- not having to grow up with such an uncaring father.
"What is your true intention behind this boy?"
Only Lord Janus could sense Alexander''s true feelings behind the matter, which was why taking the pasha to a secluded side, he posed this in a sharp tone,
"My son is an idiot who knows only how to swing a sword. You are not. So there is no way he caught the fancy of a princess. And there is no way he deserves to be a viscount."
It seemed that Lord Janus was well aware of his eldest progeny''s shorings.
In fact, if he was not his eldest son, Lord Janus would have never let him inherit hisnd.
"Hahaha," And hearing this frank assessment, Alexander could not help but let out a small guffaw.
He did not know whether to taunt Lord Janus for feeling jealous over his son''s advancement or praise him for his keen sight.
Alexander ultimately replied with a small wave of his palms, "Lord Janus, you are thinking too much. This is just my way ofpensating you. I understand that you are feeling acrid over me breaking the engagement between Lady Miranda and your son. Take this as my apology!"
"....." Lord Janus suddenly turned a bit flushed at this, his bitter, wary face changing to a much mellower tone before he firmed up his voice, "It''s good that you are aware. I will forget it this time."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"Great! Then I also hope to hire some of your sailors for my ships. I want them to teach my men how to properly handle the boats."
"....." It did not take a great genius to figure out this was also one of Alexander''s payment demands.
He had not just given out a viscount title out of the guilt in his heart.
And finding he was being led to this kind of shadowy, extortion type y visibly angered Lord Janus, who wanted to immediatelysh out.
But remembering who he was dealing with and how keeping a good rtionship would help him and his family, Lord Janus gritted his teeth and nodded,
"Fine! I will give a thousand men! They can stay in Zanzan for five years and teach your men the basics."
Learning the ropes of being a good sailor took generations to master, which was why Lord Janus made thatstment.
And he even thought he was quite generous here- not haggling and acquiescing to all that was asked instantly.
Who knew this would be far from enough for the ever greedy Alexander.
He opened his maw like none other and greatly demanded,
"I want three thousand! I have nearly a hundred ships and thirty officers is the bare minimum I can ept. Any less and my rowers will learn nothing. They will also have to stay in Zanzan for ten years. I will pay for everything."
"You greedy¡." Lord Janus barely managed to keep the word ''swine'' inside as his eyes went red with fury.
For a newly appointed lord like him, ruling over quite an improvisednd, these numbers were simply impossible.
He felt like reaping all the deals and simply storming off.
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Chapter 1353 Metztil and His Tribe
The numbers asked by Alexander were simply infeasible for Lord Janus.
Not only was he asking for too much, but the time frame was also too short.
So after a bit of haggling, they settled on a much lower number of 2,000 sailors, with 1,000 of them being sent straight away with the following ships and the other thousand to be sent within the year.
In addition, Alexander was also required to pay an additional 5 million ropal in lost tax revenue to Lord Janus for the eight years they would stay with him.
This came to an average of about 300 ropal per man per year, which was actually on the reasonable side- a peasant for instance typically paid anywhere from 200 to 250 ropals a year, and thus a skilled sailor who earned more was naturally worth more.
...¡..
During his stay in the city, Alexander also got to meet with Metztil the tribal chief, although in a much more casual setting.
"I am sorry we have to do this chief, but many of the nobles would not look kindly to us meeting openly," Alexander lightly apologized while addressing the man in arge, yet sparsely popted room located fairly at the back of the manor.
It was like he was too ashamed to see the man in the official guest rooms.
"Bah! You outsiders are all the same. You do not need to move your honey tongue." The gruff chief however only spat out this in a disinterested voice, seemingly not caring about theck of hospitality.
He had no love for the people here despite their recent co operation and so also expected none.
Hence quickly finishing the few niceties, he got to eagerly report the recent happenings at his tribe.
It was mostly good news, with the biggest windfall being Metztil firmly cementing his position as the chief of the tribe with the victory.
Alexander was hardly surprised by this- given the amount of freend Metztil obtained and the abundant loot he had taken back with him after sucking the surroundings around Caira bone dry, if the chief still could not buy the people''s loyalty, then he deserved to get his head kicked in by a donkey and be deposed.
Hence as the people''s lives there significantly improved by this flood of goods and promise of ess to much better qualitynds, they were d to swear to tear anyone who threatened their chief to shreds.
Removing Metztil through an outward ploy had be basically impossible by now.
Not that any of the elders had much time to do such a thing anyway.
They were far more upied with choosing and overseeing their people move to their allocatednds beyond the walls.
This had to be done as quickly as possible, lest any of thends remain empty. Not only would be a waste of resources, but emptynds also invited ''squatters''.
Fortunately for the Helvati, this ''immigration'' waspleted with minimum trouble as the ''invaded'' Margraves lords had little strength toin even if they wanted to.
Both Miss Linda and Lord Castell had told them very clearly they were not going to interfere here- courtesy of an agreement reached between them and Alexander.
So the only thing these elders had to worry about was making sure their own people did not cause needless trouble.
The only slight ''hup'' if you could call it that, was that the offerednds were a bit too much for the Helvati to swallow easily in a short period of time. Theycked the poption.
And this was frankly chuckled out by the chief himself,
"Hehehe, I have to say Lord Alexander, I did not expect to have such a good problem. Most of my tribesmen do not know what to do with all the newnds they have. We are having trouble keeping enough men in to defend our tribe!"
Everyone wanted to ''manifest their destiny'' and migrate to better pastures.
Alexander gave a light, pleased smile at this,
"I am d to hear things worked out for you Hopefully with this, the bitterness we have for each other will slowly fade and it will be the start of a brand new alliance between us."
Thergely fluffy stuff was then followed by an actual question in the end, "How has the other tribes reacted to your new sess?"
"Hahahaha! What do you think? Hahaha," Metztil made a very pleased boisterousugh, "Those old bastards are all green with envy. They still cannot believe we have so muchnd. Hahahah¡A few even came with marriage proposals to me, wanting somend. Hahaha!"
"Oh? And did you ept?" Alexander thought he would if he were in his shoes.
This was a good opportunity to forge some good alliances.
"Pfffttt!! As if! How can a few pussiespare tond? Those girls will grow old and rotten in just a decade! What will I do then? Eat shit?" However Metztil''s vulgar and dismissive answer said it all.
He would rather choke on the abundantnd he had than share even a tiny inch of it.
And Alexander seriouly thought on whether to advise the man about this decision. Explore more at empire
If he did, he was worried it would enable the Helvati to rally many of the other tribes under its banner, making them be quite strong.
This was concerning for obvious reasons- nobody liked morepetition, especially not in a ''tiny'' ind that was already so full.
But on the other hand, if the Helvati were somehow disced from their throne by an alliance of greedy, jealous tribes, well, things would get even more messy.
He did not want to have to deal with a band of marauding natives fighting over thends here.
Alexander had seen the kind of trail of death and destruction the Helvati left behind in such cases and he had no reason to believe the other tribes would be any diffrent.
So after weighing the pros and cons, and for the sake of maintaining the hard earned peace,
he ultimately decided that it would be better for him to let the man he knew remain on the top, even if that man could be troublesometer on.
Hence turning to face the very smug looking man, Alexander sincerely advised
"Chief Metztil, we have a idiom back home, I wonder if you have heard- ''Jealousy begets greed, greed begets conflict.'' You clearly have more thannd than you need. Why don''t you consider giving them to some of your allies?"
"And along the way also make some new ones. Bury the hatchet with your old rivals. I am sure they will be grateful for your generosity."
"This way you might even be able to unite all the tribes! Just like your legendary ancestor."
Alexander thought he was being very diplomatic and polite here, but unfortunately, Metztil saw it as somethingpletely different.
Suddenly twisting his face in great anger, he venemously spat,
"Bah! You sound just like my wife. I know she has no balls, but I did not think you had neither! Sharend! Sharend you say! What did those worms do to deserve it? It''s my men that bleed and died! While those cowards hid in their tribes, sucking pussies and fucking donkeys! And you want me to reward them withnd! Land we took from you. Land¡. "
Alexander''s eye visibly flickered as he heard the chief go off in this tirade of a rant, his heart darkening.
''I was a fool to think I could reason with these barbarians.'' He rebuked to himself.
But still, for the sake for the greater picture, Alexander patiently sat and took the abuse.
And after chief Metztil was finally done, he still once again urged, reiterating his points and enticingly said aloud,
"Chief Metztil, I think you misunderstand me.I simply think that thesends will be far more useful if you gave some of them to the other tribes. Only united under a single g can you natives face the forces of the Margraves and Heeat family. And you can be the old holding that g! You can be the new Coatl!"
Coatle was the name of the legendary man who had once banded the tribes together, posing a great threat to the invading Sybarsis forces.
And Alexander thought Metztil would be mighty tempted to follow in this heroic man''s shoes.
Which he was.
Just not in the way Alexander expected.
At Alexander''s clever deduction, instead of being impressed, Metztil appeared very angry and scornful, sneering with disgust,n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Bah! Do not think I do not see throught you outsider''s schemes. You could not swindle us out of ournd directly, so now you are resorting to this. Just as I thought¡ all of you are the same¡ backstabbing bastards."
"Give up ournd? Bah! Over my dead body."
"If those old coots want it¡ well they cane and take it! We Helvati never shy away from a fight. I will even wee it. I am always looking for a good excuse to annex those wastes. I will be the new Coatle like that! Not by pampering to the wishes of those cowardly worms!"
Alexander said nothing after hearing that, understanding the decision had been made.
However this gave him a lot to think about.
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Chapter 1354 Midshire
Metztil''s bellicose attitude towards others coveting hisnd clearly told Alexander that he was not only afraid of a fight, he weed it.
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And when Alexander put himself in the man''s position, the decision became easily clear.
He understood that Metztil was not being intentionally foolish nor was he hoardingnd like a dragon would horde gold- just for the sake of it.
The fact was the Helvati were not only the strongest tribe now but was sure to get only stronger in the future.
So why should theypromise with their weaker counterparts?
The most logical action would be to take advantage of their position and gobble the others up, taking over theirnds and turning them into ves.
This was far better than to try and amodate every one of the tribe''s needs.
After all, even the legendary chief Coatl fell exactly because of this, he tried to please too many people and then inadvertently ended up antagonizing everyone.
And Metztil had clearly learned from that mistake.
He would crush all dissent before they could even sprout.
Of course, this sound logic only worked if the Helvati existed in a vacuum- and Metztil was allowed to do all this without any outside interference.
The trouble was Alexander had no intention of letting the Helvati go on this ''EXP grinding'' spree.
Metztil was already proving much more bellicose than he imagined and he could not rest easy knowing the man very might well be a new Coatl.
Judging by how disdainfully he spoke with Alexander, it was almost a written guarantee that once Metztil was done swallowing the other tribes, he would turn his attention to the Galiosos ind in proper, wanting to retrieve ''his ancestor''snds''.
''It seems there will be no cooperating with him. I need to change my allies.'' Alexander thus pursed his lips in displeasure,mpooning on whether it was right to bring this man into this mess in the first ce.
But what was done was done.
Now he had to decide if he should assassinate the man right away and cause a brand new conflict, or wait for things to settle down before poking the ho''s nest.
It did not take long for Alexander to reach a decision and it was overwhelmingly in favor of the former. He was in no shape to get caught up in another conflict- he needed to be in Zanzan.
So given that Metztil was still in his cated state, he decided to wait and see how things pan out, while also asking Lady Miranda to send out her fellers into the other tribes, offering them support against the truculent Helvati should the need ever arise.
During the time, Alexander would also learn of a name- Tepin, who imed to be Metztil''s biggest rival, He had apparently fled his tribe at night, and after taking a detour, managed to evade his escort to reach his true destination.
But before Alexander could decide to support the man and fan some mes, he found a truly funny report- the tribe he was in had apparently offered to hand him over to Metztil in exchange for some of thend. But the Helvati chief refused, vulgarly sneering, "You can keep that waste. Make him suck your dick! He is nothing to me."
Clearly after his victory, the man was seen to pose no threat to Metztil''s seat.
This made Alexander wonder if this Tepin fellow was worth supporting- he was both disdained by his enemy and betrayed by his ''allies''.
...¡.
Alexander would leave the matter about the natives for ater time.
For now, as his stay in Prizzle came to an end, Alexander and his army marched east, eager to see his newly conquered fief for himself.
Alexander would take shelter in thergest port city around there- a settlement of thirty thousand called Midshire.
This was also where he wanted Lady Miranda to eventually move after she was done taking care of some of the administrative stuff back in Prizzle.
Alexander nned to stay in the city for a month, during which he took care of quite a few things.
Among which was of course getting to know the bureaucrats of the city, learning how things worked here, what kind of businesses operated here, the tax system used, andstly the rtions the city had with its neighbors.
Speaking of business, being a major port city, it had arge number of skilled artisans, producing all kinds of iron products, good quality furniture, intricate pottery as well a special kind of wheat.
All of which was exchanged for various types of exotic goods bought from all parts of the Central Sea.
But the city''s chief specialty was salt!
There were apparently a fewrge scale salt mines nearby that provided the white powder for most of the surrounding regions as well as exporting arge portion.
This was also the city''s greatest source of ie, followed naturally by taxes.
And oh boy how there were so many of them!
Even Alexander felt his eyes being opened by the many creative ones.
There was the expected annual feudal tax meant for the Margraves family- be it in the form of military service, goods, or money, as well tithes for the temples used to support the clergy and set at one-tenth of a person''s produce or ie.
Then there were things likend taxes- which were basically rent the lords collected for letting the peasants use theirnd.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Inheritance tax, taken during a transfer of wealth, although imposing this was surprisingly harder than one might think.
Most people during the time lived in a joint family and so determining exactly whom owned which part of the familynd was quite difficult and tedious.
Thus given thebor involved, only the rich yet not so powerful people could be taxed without incurring a loss.
After this came the customs duties imposed on goods imported and shockingly even those exported.
As well as different types of sales taxes depending on the specific good- essentials like grain was rtively less taxed, while luxuries like wine and cloth and exports like salt were taxed so heavily that it caused them to in some cases double in price.
Now, all this, although excessive, Alexander could barely tolerate.
But it was thetter list that really angered him.
Because in addition to all these expenses, the poor people had the following costs further heaped onto their already stooping shoulders-
Merchant taxes- which were applied to artisans who did not belong to any specific guild and farmers who did not belong to arge syndicate.
Citizen tax imposed on all to support local governance and infrastructure.
Bridge, road and gate tolls to enter the city and collected using guards and checkposts.
A poll tax which was an asional fixed tax levied on individuals, regardless of ie or wealth to fund military campaigns or even pay the city garrison.
Andstly ''special'' levies which the city lord could impose basically any time he wished as a ''temporary'' measure.
But as they say, for governments, there is nothing as permanent as ''temporary''.
An example would be a tax on metal buckles which wasid fifty years ago as a punishment for some of the guilds protesting against the local lord.
And although the issue had been resolved, long, long ago, the tax was still there.
There was also a rubbish tax where the poorest of the city were taxed for ''littering''- i.e.- throwing their rubbish to the streets.
The problem was the city had no waste disposable system.
Well, technically there was a huge open airndfill site, but that was almost half a day''s away by foot.
So how could a poor man, who earned day to day, and lived hand to mouth afford to make the trip?
He would have to waste the whole day just throwing rubbish. At that point, he might as well just stay there.
So they simply lived with it.
Alexander was understandably very angry with such a system and summoned all the administrators and magistrates, roaring,
"Why are the taxes so excessive here? Why are you making the people pay over and over again for the same things? Why do they have to pay rent for thend, pay for the government, pay for the roads, and pay for the security all at the same time?"
"I thought the social contract was that they worked thends, paid taxes from it and you governed and protected them? So what use do you have here?"
The people gathered in the room however hardly moved, and producing an oily smile, the lord- a baron named Lamp grinned,
"My lord, please calm down, we have just divided the taxes into a lot more categories. That''s why they appear so long. We assure you, these are all necessary expenses."
Alexander might have considered this if not for the extremely fine clothes the man wore, or the gaudy jewelry he showered himself with, or how fat and plump he looked.
It was clear where these ''necessary'' expenses went.
Plus when he asked to see the books, it was obviously filled with all kinds of discrepancies or wild impossible estimates.
For example- the cost of buying a single table for the city hall was written at 1,000 wesa, which was at least ten times its usual value.
Alexnader had to do something about it.
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Chapter 1355 Midshire (Part-2)
1 table- 1,000 wesa or 10,000 ropals
1 chair- 50 wesa, or 500 ropals
1 set of wine cups- 500 wesa or 5,000 ropals¡
Sry for 1 guard- 125 wesa¡ the list goes on
"As you can see mydy everything here is at least ten times the normal prices. I wonder what advice you can offer me about this?"
A visibly angry and frustrated Alexander showed the city''s ount books to Lady Parthia, hoping that being an experienced queen, she could give him some idea on how to deal with such rampant corruption and mismanagement.
Surely she hade with something simr if not worse in her long career.
"Did you point these out to them? What did they say?"
While ncingnguidly at the bound book made of sheepskin, the gorgeously dressed radiantdy slowly asked this, her voice t and cool.
"They either said that the things were of high quality, that this was the standard price and I didn''t know any better, that many taxes and hidden costs were involved, or that they simply paid their workers much better! Bullshit!"
Alexander was unable to keep the neutral by the end, his frown worsening. It was clear they were taking him for a ride.
"So it seems they have no respect for you. Heh!" The disdain in Lady Parthia''s voice was clear, "This is all because of how you dress! Look at what you are wearing. Did you go meet them wearing these rags? I have always been telling you¡ dress like a beggar, get treated like a beggar! Hmmmp serves you right!"
"....." Alexander was suddenly struck mute by this sudden change in tone.
Sometimes Lady Parthia really acted more like a mother than a nobledy, chiding Alexander like she would her son over many of his bad practices.N?v(el)B\\jnn
It really created a ring disconnect with his ''other experiences.''
Having his wardrobe pointed like so, Alexander also could not help but subconsciously nce down at the simple linen tunic he was wearing and he thought it was of good quality andfortable- not too thick to make it hot but thick enough to resist the upational chill.
Its only drawback was that it was neither gaudy nor shy to dazzle others.
And this was the main problem- this type of ''stealth wealth'' really did not work in this time period.
Here, the more wealth you unted and showed off, the more the people respected and admired you.
''No wonder that Baron Lamp looked at me like they were looking a pauper. He must think I am some small time mercenary who got there kissing Lady Miranda''s ass.'' Alexander gloomily realized, recalling a ring contrast between his and the man''s dress and the looks he had sent him upon first meeting him.
Hence the pasha did not dare argue about his clothes with the irritateddy, letting her chastise him until she was satisfied.
Fortunately, Lady Parthia managed to quickly get back to the point, thus leaning on her chair, she lightly tapped on the table to ruminate with a murmur,
"Hmmm, but this is indeed surprising. Usually, when any one shows up with such a huge army of 20,000 men everyone falls into ce. They should at least appear courteous on the surface. Did they send men to meet you outside the city?"
"..*Shake*..." Alexander gravely shook his head.
"What about gifts? Maids or ves to warm your bed?"
Once again the answer was negative.
Lady Parthia''s eyes turned sharp and cold after hearing this, "So they are saying they did not bother to show even the basic courtesy? Who made them this bold? Who gave them the courage to do this?"
Alexander''s heart lurched a bit hearing this.
Because if that was true, there was only one logical name that came to his mind, the only power on the ind that had remained untouched in all this chaos - the Strauss family.
''I really don''t want to deal with them now'' Alexander quicklympooned, wishfully mumbling to himself, "Perhaps we are overthinking Maybe it''s just that the baron is an ipetent hack. He certainly looks like it. Or even maybe he is insane!"
"....." Lady Parthia did not bother to entertain such impossible low musing when it entered her ears and simply kept ring at the boy.
"*Sigh*, okay! Okay!" Until Alexander finally decided to let go of his unrealistic thoughts, and straightened his back, seriously asked,
"So let''s say it was the Struass or even the Kaiser ducal family? What do you suggest I do? Find out what they offered the baron? Why they are interfering here? Bargain with the man?"
"Depends. Do you want to rule this city like you do Zanzan?"
Alexander keenly noticed a sudden change in Lady Parthia''s tone as she asked this.
It had gone from angry yet casual to deep and frosty, bone chillingly frosty.
It made him swallow a dry gulp, as he guessed an inkling of what this blue blooded queen might be about to suggest,
"No. Midshire is too far away from my capital. And I already have my hands full trying to develop Zanzan and Tibias. This is nothing but a port to make sure my goods reach the Margraves¡. At least for the foreseeable future."
"Then there is no reason toe to anypromise. Simply arrest every one of them and have them executed!"
"......" The speed and decisiveness with which Lady Parthia made thisment caused Alexander''s curved lips to visibly twitch like they had been electrocuted, making him produce a very ugly face.
''What did I expect?''
"Wouldn''t¡ wouldn''t that cause a lot of problems? Who is going to run the city without them?" He managed to atst squeeze out the question, barely keeping his incredulity in check.
"That''s why I asked if you are willing to rule this city¡ properly rule it! If you are, then you need to find a way to deal with all these problems that do not involve paralyzing the whole ce. But if you n to hand it over to Lady Miranda at the end of the day¡ heh then that will be her problem," Lady Parthia cruelly smirked.
Then producing a didactic tone, patiently exined her whole idea,
"Here is what I think of the city.. the corruption here runs too deep. Unless you n on staying here for the next six months, fixing and overseeing everything, I suggest you don''t even bother. Sending a buffoon or two from Zanzan is worthless. With their backing, these men don''t even put you in their eyes, why would they even nce at any other?"
"So the best thing for you to do is suck the whole city dry and leave! Invite these scoundrels for dinner and then arrest them using corruption charges. Extract confessions from them and then hang them in the market square. Raid their treasuries and forcefully take all cksmiths and sailors back to Zanzan as ves."
"....." It was like a small bomb had gone off in Alexander''s head and he slightly shivered.
''Yo¡ you can do that? That is possible? Should I be writing this down?''
Alexander found himself being surprised over and over again at just how heartless and utterly without mercy Lady Parthia could be.
There was not a trace of regret in her as she gave the idea, and Alexander subconsciously could not help but think what would happen if one day she turned her attention to him.
But at the same time, he could deny the potency of the idea.
This was indeed the easiest way to solve his problem and maximize his gains.
He had once thought about overhauling the tax code, developing roads, building a brand new sewage system and even setting up a small school here to develop the ce using his steward but now that Lady Parthia had pointed it out he had a far better option.
He could make his money back far more quickly by simply taking everything he needed and leaving Lady Miranda to deal with the aftermath.
So that was exactly what he did!
After a week of gathering information, he invited all the relevant men to a party held at the military camp garrisoned outside the city and¡.
"I thank you could attend the party, my lords," Alexander began the party with a toast, and then once dinner was done, ended the most Stalin like way, announcing to his guests with a straight face,
"I have found significant corruption in the city''s ounts books! All of you are under arrest!"
Most of them did not even get a chance to understand what was going on as a horde of soldiers burst from all sides of the garden, ''escorting'' the man under swordpoint to the tents at the back.
And while the men there beat the living shit out of Baron Lamp and his goons for information, another groupunched a city wide raid, busting doors and knocking down gates to capture literal heaps of gold and silver.
The total value of the seized goods, which included only not precious stones and metal, but also wood, clothes, incense, and ivory would amount to nearly 10 million ropals, an astronomical amount for a city such size.
Alexander would use them as an example to execute most of the captured men.
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Chapter 1356 Alexanders Generosity
"People of Midshire! I am your new lord, Alexander!"
Standing on a podium at the marketce surrounded by an escort of armored blue legionaries, a very shy and gaudily dressed man in golden, mboyant armor addressed the gathered crowd with this opening.
He found the crowd to be made of people from all walks of life, from regr dayborers wearing coarse linen and with callused hands and feet, to beggars and urchins with ckened, impoverished faces, wearing little more than rags, to plump and radiant merchants and nobles garbed in their finest, surrounded by their personal guards so as to not be touched by these ''lowly'' masses.
And each group had a different expression when looking at the handsome young man standing high and tall.
Arge number of them were understandably fearful and weary.
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Alexander was a totally unknown entity to them, one who had arrived at their city out of the blue one day with 20,000 fully armed men, who were still camped right outside their thin, short walls.
So without knowing the man''s intentions, how could they not be wary? How could they not worry about the strong rowdy men stirring up something?
Others on the other hand were more curious than afraid.
These kinds of people were mainly merchants and peddlers, people who were used to traveling a lot more than the average peasant and had a lot more knowledge of the outside world.
So they knew why Alexander was here and looked forward to this once in a decade spectacle.
They could not remember thest time a city lord had never addressed them openly like this, at best they would be sent a few criers to notify them of things like tax increases, the birth of the lord''s new son, some distant victory against the natives, etc.
So given that the new lord had weed nearly the entire city, these shrewd men were easily able to tell that something grand was cooking.
Andstly, there was the smallest yet most angry bunch in the crowd, consisting of powerful attendants from the nobility and other wealthy affected party.
They wanted¡ no they demanded to know why many of their family members had been arrested at the party, why they were not allowed any contact with them till now, why their homes had been raided in the middle of the night, and why their treasuries had been plundered by marauding soldiers.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Many of their women were even humiliated in the process, despite strict orders from Alexander to not touch anyone.
It seemed the soft flesh and alluring faces proved too much for some of the most hot blooded men, as they were willing to even brave potential military disciplining just for a chance to taste this rare meat.
¡..
Perching himself up on the stage, Alexander did not keep the crowd hanging for long, knowing these poor folks had very little patience.
So slightly clearing his throat, he decided to keep his speech short and to the point,
"People of Midshrine, by orders from Lady Miranda Margraves, the Head of the Margraves family, I have been appointed to rece Baron Lamp as the head of the city. I am your new Lord!"
He strategically paused here to see the crowd''s reaction and found there was little surprise among them.
There was some murmur and confused whispering, but mostly there was a sigh of relief.
It seemed most of the people had by now gotten the memo that theirnd had changed hands and were mostly worried about getting disced by their new overlord like it had happened so many times over so much of history with newly conquerednds.
So with Alexander iming himself as their lord and indicating he wanted to rule over them¡ that fear mostly went away.
As for Alexander iming himself as Baron''s Lamp''s recement and the city''s direct administrator, well he decided not to sweat the small details here.
This would not matter to the people¡. until he was gone anyway.
But as for a sort ofpensation, Alexander then decreed with an insane order,
"And as my first act as Lord of Midshire, I announce an exemption of all taxes for the city and its surrounding viges for the next three years!"
"!!!"
If the crowd was not paying attention before, they were certainly now.
It took a while for the people to react to his deration as Alexander did not speak their tongue, so they had to wait until the trantor conveyed his meaning.
But once they understood it¡
"Woooooo!"
"Is it true? Did I hear it correctly?"
"Three years! No taxes for three years. By the gods!"
"I cannot believe it! I¡ I can finally breathe! Hahaha, father can finally breathe!"
"The new lord is magnanimous! Hail Lord Alexander! Hail his rule!"
"Glory to Lord Alexander! Glory to his rule!"
Massive cries of jubtion swept across the entire city to the point one might be mistaken for thinking the very air and sky were shaking.
Alexander had of course been up to his old tricks here too, inserting some paid cheerleaders to pump up the crowd.
But this time, he really could have skipped on this expense.
Because nobody liked paying taxes, and especially not the rates people here put under.
So they naturally were beyond the moon to see them go.
People jumped, cried, andughed with wild abandon, a look of near disbelief stered on their faces.
While the nobles and their affiliated parties in the crowd wore a simr face yet different face, their disbeliefing from horror, astonishment, and even fear.
"Did I hear it right? Did he say ''all'' taxes? All taxes! Thi.. this¡"
"Absurd! Ho.. how will we run the city then? Who will pay the guards, the clerks, the servants, the¡"
"Ridiculous! Where did this bumkine from? Wasting your time!"
"I heard he is a ve from the free cities! Hmmp! It shows!"
"What a farce! Does he think we will just let him drive us bankrupt?"
"As if we would ever agree to this! Let''s go! There''s nothing here!"
"Shhh! Be a bit more patient son! They still have your father. We need to demand an answer!"
"Right! We are here to demand our lords and treasures back. Hmmp! Does this brat think he can simply take everything because he has an army? He has his backers, we have our own!"
"Mmmm¡ the others won''t simply sit by if he dares do this! There is nothing to fear!"
The chorus of the nobles pumping each other up rang across the whole vicinity, each sentence adding to their collective courage.
They might not have the guts to oppose Alexander by themselves¡ but together, the sky was the limit.
It was just their words were overshadowed by the tens of thousands of more cheering voices, which suddenly went into a far bigger crescendo when they saw what was happening at the podium.
Chest after open chest, each filled to the brim with gold and silver, thick rolls of colorful fabric, expensive scent, and many things the people did not even recognize like ivory or clear ss, were being stacked around Alexander until he was almost ''walled in'' by it.
"Woooooo!"
Themon people had certainly never seen wealth and spectacle before.
So the joyous roar they subconsciously made was so loud and incredible that it even forced the furious nobles to turn their head away from each other and see what was all themotion about.
And even they were stunned to see all that wealth piled up in such a visually striking way,
But this surprise was utterly dwarfed by what they heard Alexander say next,
"My people¡ this is all the wealth I confiscated from the homes of the greedy lords and officers¡. taken unjustly from you as taxes! Taxes that ording to the head of House Margraves herself- Lady Mirandaares illegal and not sanctioned by her family. So I have decided to give all of it back to you."
As the trantor finished delivering these words, the reaction from both parties was as expected- utter jubtion and utter shock respectively.
And they both reached an even ''higher crescendo'' when Alexander revealed the amount-
"Yes! That''s right! With the end of this month, every free man and woman in the city will get 100 assas."
An ''assa'' was a Sybarian denomination worth around 1.2 times that of a ropal- depending on the exact purity of the coin used.
So Alexander was offering them around three weeks of pay.
This was huge!
To put it into context, when Julius Caesar died, he left 300 sesterces to every free adult man in Rome- this was about 3 to 4 days of a skilled worker''s sry (80 to 100 sesterces daily).
So Alexander was offering ten times the amount or twice that if you counted the fact that he was offering the money to both men and women!
Hence the tsunami like tidal wave of happiness gushing around the crowd was quite understandable.
Only the nobles were incensed to the point their faces turned bright red, to the point many of their eyes turned bloodshot.
They hade to demand Alexander their treasures back, but if he were to throw it away like that to the whole city¡.
"We must stop this!"
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Chapter 1357 Alexanders Generosity (Part-2)
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Lady Parthia silently watched Alexander addressing the crowd from the sides with aplicated look, the sound of enormous cheers smashing into her ears to the point it almost hurt.
Excited words like ''food'', ''clothes'', ''wine'', and ''whores'', new vocabry which she had recently picked up entered her sense, telling her the ns people were already starting to make with their new promised bonus.
And although she did not like to admit it, she recognized Alexander''s much softer approach was quite a bit better than her own coarse n of just snatching and dashing from the city.
It left fewer people anatogized and still left the door open for future development- even if Alexander stabbed these people in the back, as long as it was a grievous wound, they would likely forget in a few years.
And this ''modification'' to her n, clearly told the queen that Alexander was no puppet who simply swallowed whatever she fed him.
This left her feeling both impressed and a bit peeved.
While Lady Parthia was assessing her new boss over his decisions, another group in question- the nobles, were totally enraged by them.
If before they thought Alexander was simply trying to put them in their ce by trying to extort them, well this tant theft put thatforting idea fully to rest.
"We must stop this!" One of the leaders shouted out aloud, waving his fist almost as a rallying cry.
"Right! Let''s¡."
"Wooo!"
But before they could gather themselves, anotherrge cry rang out from the crowd, and this time it was because of the appearance of three new men!
Hunched and bound at the hands and feet, they were dirty and disheveled, wearing clothes that were ragged and filthy.
It was clear they were in very bad shape, struggling to even stay still without falling over.
However such ''small'' details hardly detracted anyone from the main point- that they instantly recognized them.
They were too famous here as not to- Baron Lamp and his two most trusted lieutenants.
Both the people and nobles were shocked to see them and felt their eyes almost pop out at the state of their appearance,
"Is that¡ the lord? By the gods! What happened?"
"Wha¡ what is going on?"
"Why are they like this?"
"Ho.. how is this happening?"
"He dares! He dares insult us like this!"
"Alexander told us he and father were just talking about how the city worked! Wh¡ why?"
"Quick! Get the guards! We must stop this!"
While themon people only expressed disbelief, the nobles let out gasps of utter rage, with some of them even asking their family guards to make a path toward the podium.
All while Alexander continued on with his n, addressing the people as the three were made to kneel facing them-
"My people! I am sure all of you recognize these men. They are Baron Cuttle Lamp, Ser Rick Grave, and Kyle Moment. Together they have ruled for Midshire like kings!"
"But under my expert questioning, they have all confessed to numerous crimes, be they colluding with enemies of House Margraves,mitting rape, being essory to murder, banditry, eptance of bribes and in general exhorting the people of Midshire for their own personal gain."
Alexander dramatically waved a piece of paper as he said, dazzling the crowd with his evidence.
Themon men had perhaps heard, but never actually seen a lord be judged in front of them like this.
So they were astounded by the grievous charges brought for him, finding it too hard to equate the men in front of the kneeling and weeping as capable ofmitting so many heinous crimes- the same men they saw as almost gods, high and unfible.
As for what was actually written on the paper itself- well it was simply a list of crimes Alexander came up with on a whim and then had them ''signed''.
As for how the three were made to give up their initials- well I will leave the creative process to the readers.
Needless to say, it was certainly not pleasant.
But Alexander did not care.
After knowing some of the things they actually had done- Alexander even felt letting them die with ''dignity'' like this him being lenient.
ckmail, extortion, driving people out of their livelihoods, miscarriage of justice- although these might not sound as grand as the official charges, they were still grave enough to make them damned.
Thus these were no innocent sheep Alexander was sacrificing- but sinful snakes.
Revealing the charges, Alexander did not keep things hanging and dered the climax of the performance,
"Thus by the decree of Lady Miranda, Head of House Margraves, on charges of corruption and treason, I order all three of them to be executed¡ right away!"
"Stop!"
"What you doing?"
"This¡ no!"
"Father!"
The nobles were astounded for the umpteen time this morning at the sudden turn of events, their eyes bulging to the point of popping out at the eye sockets.
They could not believe their eyes as three swords were raised above the heads of their closest kin and ally, and
*Chop!*, *Chop!*, *Chop!*
*Plop*, *Plop*, *Plop*,
Before any of them could do anything, all three were decapitated with single, skilled shes- not at all an easy feat given you had to cut through the tough spinal bone in smooth swing.
So the actid testament to the sharpness of the swords and the skill of their wielders, leaving the entire crowd breathless- in equal parts awe and shock.
Alexander watched the bloody heads slowly roll off the makeshift stage with a nonchnt facade as if it were the mostmon sight.
He showed no pleasure or satisfaction over the execution.
While the surrounding people were far more affected, their eyes soon waking up to the incident and widening in shock.
They were perhaps more afraid than angry or dissatisfied, as seen by how they leaped away from the head that fell to the ground in front of them like it was some kind of bomb.
.....
Up until that point, everything had gone ording to Alexander''s n.
And he was just about to start a second batch of executions with the rest of the captives when¡
"Ahhhh! What are you doing?
"Murder! Murder!"
"Run! Run! There is a madman! Madman!"
"It''s the guards! The guards have all gone insan¡ ahhhh!"
"Run! Run!"
Even Alexander could not see what was happening exactly, but it seemed some of the nobles were so utterly enraged by the death of their lord that they had roared to their guards to get Alexander''s head no matter what, even if it meant cutting through the crowd.
And some of the idiots actually listened, crazily swinging their swords and hacking one of the bloodiest routes possible.
This instantly caused massive panic among the packed men, who began to wildly try and flee the carnage.
Problem was everyone was packed like sardines- 20,000 almost 30,000 men rammed into the tiny marketce.
And this was done not just because of the limited space, it was also by design.
Without modern microphones, everyone needed to get as close as possible if they wanted to hear anything Alexander was saying.
All this led to the whole thing suddenly developing into a crushing stampede as people pushed, shoved, punched, knocked down, and shoulders their fellow men, trying to make as much distance as possible from the approaching mass of doom.
"Alexander! We need to go! Now!" And as the manic tide of men chaotically turned towards him Hemicus fiercely grabbed his ''target'' by the arm and yanked him off the stage.
He did not even give Alexander any chance to protest, instead quickly cocooning the man and a few others apanying him like Lady Parthia in ayered ring of roughly 60 armed men and ordering them to ''breakout''.
Now, to be honest, there was no realistic chance of Alexander getting assassinated here.
He had always taken his own security very seriously, never being without at least 10 men with him when he was out, such as when he was visiting the bathhouse while increasing that number anywhere from 50 to a maximum of 500 men when he was attending a public event.
And when youbine theserge numbers with the thick shields and drawn swords these elite soldiers wielded and the goal of getting Alexander''s head for the attacking guards was little more than a fool''s errand.
Hemicus was not worried about that.
What he was worried about was getting caught in the middle of the stampede and being literally crushed to death.
This was a real possibility- 50 men were little more than a peddle in front of an ocean of tens of thousands.
The only got news was that given the whole crowd was standing facing the podium, it left the back totally ''open''.
So with enough speed and decisiveness, Alexander andpany were able to carve a path through the still sparsely popted side rtively easily.
I said rtively because many of the swords in the outer rings were still dyed with crimson blood- containing the essence of many maddened or heedless men who in their confusion had tried to approach Alexander, only to be mercilessly cut down.
"This¡ this is not what I had in mind!" Alexander bitterly cried after seeing the aftermath.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
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Chapter 1358 New Blacksmiths
The sudden attack on the people and the resulting stampede left a great impression on Alexander, making him realize the dangers of outdoor meetings.
No wonder so many lords did not like getting out of their castles, preferring the safety of the cold, hard walls.
It even gave him an urge to follow in their steps.
Especially given Alexander also found the piles of treasure he had shown to the crowd to be lost in that way, most likely looted by the nobles andmon people alike.
Yes, do not think just because they were fleeing themon city folk would let go of the opportunity to plunder.
The vast treasures were enough to make most men literally die for it.
But that loss was not what truly bothered Alexander. The money could be as easily earned as it was lost.
No, what really stung for him was the loss of the captives- the ones Alexander nned to make an example out of.
In the chaos of the retreat, these men had naturally been forgotten.
As for their fate, well, Alexander did not exactly know.
Whether they were trampled by the stampeding hoard, whether they managed to run to the alleys and seek cover, whether they were lynched by the angry mob, or whether they were rescued their allies- all four oues were possible.
"Find the names of all the noble and wealthy families who attended the meeting. And arrest all male members."
Alexander would give this order the moment he returned to the temporary manor he was staying in, furious over what they just did.
But unfortunately, it would take until the day after for the soldiers to carry out the order.
Given the ensuing chaos, Alexander''s forces needed to be bolstered with supplements from the army camped out of the walls because they were hardly familiar with the local families and needed time to find their target.
This dy however would give many of the charged parties the chance to quickly flee the city under the cover of night, sensing the other''s wrath.
Frankly, even they did not expect such a huge thing to happen when they gave their guards their order, many had even spoken in simple hyperboles.
How could they know some of the men were loyal to the point of being fanatics?
Even most of the nobles would confess they did not want to ughter themon people like that- so openly and so cruelly. They had a reputation to hold after all.
But at the end of the day, what was done was done.
Those clever enough to understand this and able to sense Alexander''s fury, fled the city as fast as they would, leaving the man with only a few, foolish leftovers to capture as scapegoats.
But these were nobodies.
So even though Alexander wanted to execute them publicly as the main culprits behind the massacre, his advisors quickly talked him out of it.
"My lord, these people are insignificant. Themon folk do not even know their names. This will do nothing to cate and only make the surrounding lords think you are just bloodthirsty and looking for an excuse to attack them. Killing them might very well have the opposite effect."
"Yes, please be patient a bit longer. I already have sent hunting parties after them. I am sure they will be back with good news soon.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
"You still want to go out after what happened? Just stay inside and forget about this dump. Three years of tax exemption- you have done more than enough!"
Thatst sentence was predictably made by a cautious and enraged Lady Parthia.
She too had been there during the chaos and barely escaping it, seemed to have developed a great dislike for the people here.
Alexander would ultimately heed his advisors, and scrap the nned execution, only dering to the people of the city that this was the work of the nefarious nobles and his army was in hot pursuit and they would be at once brought forth for execution once captured.
As for the promised money¡. well Alexander attached the same condition- it was with the escaping nobles and the sum would be distributed once retrieved.
Now technically Alexander had the cash reserves to pay out the amount from his own pocket- it was after all only around 2 million ropals and the loots he had plundered was more than enough to cover this.
But at the same time, Alexander was finding he had a great talent for losing money in the most hair brained ways possible.
So finally waking up to the dangers, he decided to tighten his belt a bit.
The only exception he made was for the cksmiths and sailors, for whom he sent out his troops carrying special orders.
Visiting each metal workshop, these men would cry,
"We are soldiers under the new city lord- Lord Alexander. Is this your shop, cksmith? Our lord has decreed that you muste with him and stay there for the next five years. Here is a sum of 1,000 ropals¡ 100 wesas for your family. You will also receive a monthly wage of 30 wesas for the duration of your stay."
When presented with such a decree, the cksmiths were naturally taken aback.
Many epted on the spot- the money being too fragrant of a lure.
While others were far less tractable, iming various reasons why they did not wish to follow.
There were the obvious familiar ties, with many not wishing to leave their alone family for so long. And it was not only always of love, but also security!
Leaving a woman alone with small kids was simply too dangerous in the city. At least in the viges, the tightly knitmunity as well as the man''s extended family could keep an eye on their daughter inw.
Life in the city was much more nuclear and alone- making them prime targets for harassment, bullying, and even ve traders.
Aside from familiar troubles, there was also the fact that all cksmiths were also businessmen- so the fear was, if they just closed shop and left for five years, they would likely lose all their loyal customers.
Customers they spent half their lives trying to woe. This was too big a hurdle for many.
Another big hurdle was the issue of apprentices.
Many cksmiths had anywhere from one to three to sometimes even five or more apprentices working for them and the question naturally arose- what would happen to them?
Apprentices were not just extras- they were assistants and a pair of extra hands that a cksmith simply needed, especially to make high, qualityplex metal works.
All these and many more were raised by the cksmith guild when they went to meet Alexander a few days after the decree was made, wishing to protest.
And after hearing their cases, Alexander considered it for a while and then revealed,
"Let me first begin by telling you that already a thousand cksmiths from your ind work in my city. So I am not unfamiliar with your demands."
"Those who want, you can take your whole family as well as the apprentices with you to my city. You will just have to bear all their expenses."
"And those who do not want their families to move or there are some other obstacles, that is okay too. We will send a ship every month here, carrying a portion of your wages to your family. You can send and receive letters in this way! If that is not enough, we will even give you a set number of days of leave in the case of an emergency. I believe this is generous enough, right?"
Alexander paused there to turn and look at the various expressions, and indeed, many had visibly changed colors, going from bright red with fury and indignation, to paler, much softer contours, as if slowly epting the oue.
The grand words they had started with- "We are not ves you can simply chain and ship off, my lord! We are free men, free to choose whatever we do," had lost a lot of it ''umpph!''.
But still, there were a few remaining detractors, who brought up the mention of losing their business.
Towards them, Alexander countered with a disdainful wave of his palms,
"Hmmp! What business! I already promised to pay you 30 wesas a month for five years without any condition attached. You think there is any ''business'' better than that!"
"Plus... the concerns about your business failing are utterly groundless¡ let me assure you my city has more than customers for you. I am sure you have heard of my city- Zanzan, the high quality iron ore you use alles from there."
"So I dare say instead of wasting your talents here, you will be able to serve in a much better ce. And once you are back, your products will be much better!"
"If you still do not like this..." At this point,, Alexander''s voice suddenly began very hard and cold,
"Remember who you are talking to. I am your lord. You do not have the right to refuse. Not if you want the people to know it was the cksmith guild who angered the lord and made him extract the three year tax exemption!"
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Chapter 1359 Setting Sail
The total number of individual cksmiths in Midshire came to about five hundred men.
This might not sound like a lot, but considering this was a city of only 30,000 people, this was extremely high- almost 2 percent.
Clearly, the ce was a great hub for all metal works.
This was why Alexander had made the generous enticement of money and benefits,bining it with the threat of eviction or worse if denied.
And it proved a deadlybination for the cksmiths.
Given the size of the stick as well as being given a way out- at the end of the day very few dared to defy their lord.
Only those who had their own agenda- such as the leader of the guild leader, the treasurer, and the like tried to haggle.
These were the people whose true concerns were not for their fellow artisans but over the fact that they would lose all their power and influence should this happen.
It was just too bad they failed to gain any real supporters for their battle- because at the end of the day, they had nothing to give them that Alexander could not.
All the regr cksmiths understood antagonizing the city lord was simply not worth it over ''sticking together and defending the guild'' as the leader of the guild put it.
In fact many even intentionally taunted and sneered at the man seeking their support as the guild was not any flowery pce to begin with, there were lots of old grudges and hidden politics there too.
For example, remember that there was an extra tax for merchants not affiliated with a guild- well this was something heavily lobbied for by the cksmith guild, all in order for them to hold on to their own power.
This had of course made many cksmiths very disgruntled but since they were also facing Baron Lamp, they could only swallow their grievances.
So that now they were given an alternative...
Even though the intractable members tried to rally more men in the following days after meeting with Alexander, as the days for their inevitable departure approached more and more, their ranks only began to appear more and more hollow.
The regr cksmiths chose to use their time much more wisely, such as being busy packing for the trip.
ording to Alexander, the men woulde with him first alone.
After they settled down and got a hold of things in Zanzan, they could invite their family if they should wish.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
This was done both due to a currentck of enough ships to amodate them all and also because Alexander wanted to let the men see the city for themselves and then decide on what to do next.
The cksmiths as a whole had no problem with this n.
The lump sum of 1,000 ropals that Alexander handed them as a direct deposit to help the family tide through the ''tough'' times made sure of that.
Even those cksmiths who were murmuring indignantly about Alexander only permitting one apprentice toe with them changed their tune after seeing the gold.
After all, it was one thing to be promised money, it was wholly another thing to see it in the flesh.
Many were even surprised to see Alexander keep to his words, they half thought the man was speaking in hyperboles.
The weight of the money filled sack hence seemed to change the scales in most hearts.
As for why Alexander only permitted one apprentice per cksmith, it was of course to open up more opportunities for theds back in Zanzan- to enable them to learn these techniques instead of the Margraves cksmiths monopolizing them.
....
Alongside the cksmiths, anotherrge group who were readying themselves for a brand new voyage were the city''s sailors, much to the pleasant surprise of the former. At least they would not be alone, they thought.
These seafarers were roped in by Alexander with a simr deal, the only difference being there was no guild to deal with
They were simply told they were being recruited for the navy and thus given no choice in the matter.
As for any bacsh, well given the pay promised, most nodded their heads very quickly.
Being a sailor was hardly as lucrative as a cksmith.
...
Following the debacle with the nobles, Alexander''s stay in Midshire became unusually quiet, as he simply concentrated on organizing his forces and getting ready to get back home.
Even the hunting parties he had sent out to arrest the fleeing nobles were recalled after a few days of fruitless searching- being in an unknownnd with no idea where to go, these mencked their usual sharpness and were unable to effectively lock on to their prey.
All while the various forces around the surroundingnds became predictably incensed after learning what the man had done and chose a variety of options.
Some simply ran- knowing there was no way they could do anything to a man wielding 20,000 soldiers even if he wanted to.
Others shut up and acted like they did not even notice Alexander, going about their business as usual.
Some chose to grit their teeth and pretend to buy Alexander''s excuse, swearing their loyalty.
While the majority sent strongly worded letters to Lady Miranda asking what the hell was going on and much more importantly, what was Alexander''s ns for them.
The plumpdy upon receiving the letters was equally confused by this development.
If Alexander wanted to move his own men here, then this might have made sense- driving out the old to make way for the new.
But she knew Alexander nned to leave his estates at her hands.
And she needed those men.
Hence she found the act utterly baffling, unable to believe it was the work of a shrewd man like Alexander. She had always found him very astute in statecraft.
So she made sure to question him for the reason when they finally met.
But Alexander gave a very lukewarm response, simply saying the former baron had offended him and was plotting with outside force.
The problem was Alexander was quite scarce on the details, causing thedy to atst purse her lips and ask the man to not make things harder for her than it already was.
Given their power dynamic, this was the best admonishment thedy could offer.
Thus over the following weeks, Lady Miranda concentrated more on taking over the reins of the city, while Alexander waited for his ships to finally make their way halfway across the ind from Caira to Midshire, taking arge, arching, almost semicircr route.
During this time, Lord Janus also very hastilypleted his end of the bargain, sending the thousand agreed sailors on 30 newly built ships for Alexander- the ones which used iron pegs instead of wood to hold their nks together.
This proved to be a surprise for Alexander because he had kind of forgotten about those ships as he did not have any use for them till now.
But upon seeing the vessels, and the quality and the craftsmanship in disy, he quickly began to regret a bit not taking the carpenters and other experienced artisans with him instead of all the sailors.
But this was only a momentary sh of thought- Zanzan as well as Tibias also had its fair number of carpenters and thetter''s shipbuilding industry was particrly decent.
So Alexander did not have too much of a headache about copying these new designs.
His true concernsy in having enough good men to use them.
Impressed by the vessels, Alexander would promise to buy each of the vessels for 50,000 ropals from Lady Miranda- which was considered a bit on the premium side.
And the cash strappeddy would certainly not refuse.
She would also receive one of those ships as a gift of friendship when she gave birth to a healthy baby boy a few days before Alexander''s departure.
With all of that done, Alexander would find there was truly little left for him to do here.
He was finally ready to get back to his estate.
Hence leaving around 500 men as a garrison under Synodas, one on summer morning, Alexander set out, much to a cheering, somewhat tearful crowd.
Alexander''s stint in Midshire might have been short, but he had left a good impression on the people.
His tax exemption still remained and he even gave out free food for a limited time every day as a propaganda y.
The people thus had nothing but good things to say about him.
As for how Alexander himself felt about his newest city, well overall, the things he had done on the ind over the past eight to nine months were certainly very memorable.
But rather than feeling mncholic over the left behind scenery, he was much more excited about his return, return to his seat of power, return to meet his family, and return to share his spoils with the others.
However¡
.....
"Captain! We have spotted the target! Should we pursue?"
While Alexander was leisurely resting in his cabin, unaware of any dangers, a lone scout ship disguised as a merchant''s vessel slowly trailed behind them, trying its best not to act suspicious.
"Of course! We must lead them to the ambush point!"
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
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Chapter 1360 Crimson Sword Pirates
"Keep shadowing them without giving ourselves away. We must not be detected until they reach the ambush site!" The owner of the voice was gruff and firm, giving away a telltale sign of his profession.
Due to all the yelling the job entitled, almost every sailor tended to develop a deep, raspy tone, the throat having been repeatedly ''broken'' and then ''reformed''.
"Bu¡ but father, that''s an entire army! Just look at their numbers!" The ''son'' however remained unconvinced of their route and tried to convince his father otherwise, "There must be at least a hundred, maybe even two hundred ships. We will be cut down to thest man before we can even board a single ship!"
And the man was undoubtedly right.
With roughly 20,000 men as an escort, Alexander was virtually untouchable. You needed a force of simr parity to even have a chance of seeing him.
"Just listen and do what I say!" However, the father remained adamant and boomed with a thunderous roar.
The son could do little except clench his fist and obey while cursing in his heart that whatever bounty they might have been promised, it was useless if they were dead.
...
Alexander''s gship was ced in the safest ce of the formation, right in the middle.
And given the size of his escort, the only danger he considered was getting unlucky and running into any storms or other natural disasters.
Because if there was any naval fleet huge enough to pose a threat to him, well putting aside the unlikeness, he would see the huge fleeting from miles away.
Hence Alexanderpletely let his hair down and chose to enjoy the free time he had. And in an era with very limited entertainment, this left him with very few options.
This meant he mostly spent his time ''catching up'' with Lady Nanazin, especially as thedy had be increasingly sullen in thest few days.
It seemed the closer they got to Zanzan, the more bitter and mncholic she got, as she understood their little ''honeymoon'' wasing to an end and that she would probably never get to monopolize Alexander like she was able to ever again in her life.
Once they stepped off the ship and returned to their usual routine, it might even be too hard for her to get a chance to meet Alexander privately, there were too many prying eyes.
Hence she was very adamant about getting the most of it while the good timessted.
Thus in the following days, it became almost a feature for unrestrained noises to drift out of Alexander''s cabin, its tone too scandalous to bear.
Thedy gave Alexander not only the deluxe experience there but also the brand new hardcore mode.
And Alexander was stunned at all the painful things thedy asked¡ no demanded he do to her.
Alexander had some prior experience in this field, but the extent here left the man stunned.
From choking, to bondage and to various extreme acts, Lady Nanazin let Alexander take her in ways that appeared as novel as it looked painful.
There were even times when Lady Nanazin''s body would even haverge blue, painful looking patches all over her body, causing the man to be stunned by how great her pain tolerance was- Alexander doubted he could bear it if their positions were switched.
Alexander obliged Lady Nanazin''s requests within reasonable limits, eager to also enjoy this brand new experience.
However then came a most extreme demand, with Lady Nanazin asking Alexander to brand her nks with an iron hot poker.
The man had no idea where she got that piece of intricate headed metal, but this was one step too far even for him.
He at first refused, but after thedy threw a small tantrum, managed to talk her out of it by iming such a mark would be hard to hide from Ptolomy. He even promised to do it at ater, more suitable date.
.....
Alexander was busy with one such steamy session, when there was a loud thud on his door, followed by a slightly nervous call,
"My¡my lord, pardon me but we have noticed nearly two dozen shipsing to us from the right! Commander Kadius has already sent ships to meet them!"
It was unknown if the man was worried about the sudden sighting or for interrupting his lord''s ''special'' time.
''Two dozen? That''s nearly 2,000 men!''
Alexander was indeed ''busy'', but quickly snapped out of it when he heard the report.
He recognized there was no way all those ships could turn up identally at the same time. It had to be the intentional.
He had to see the situation for himself.
Thus ending the session earlier and asking Lady Nanazin to get dressed, he quickly left for the decks.
And as the fresh, sea breeze hit him, Alexander turned his head to see a few intruding ships in the distance, waving a crimson red g with two criss crossed swords.
They had yet to breach the formation perimeter, and as Kalidus''s contingent approached, Alexander thought these ships acted quite strangely, taking no evasive actions and simply allowing themselves to get surrounded.
For now, these ships were like harmless gifts that had just delivered themselves into his mouth.
Alexander naturally became suspicious of the act and wondered what kind of ploy he was facing.
Thankfully he did not need to wait long to figure out the mystery.
"Greeting, Lord of Zanzan, my name is Vidiyan, captain of the zing Sword Pirate!"
Kalidus would bring the leader of the enemy fleet to Alexander upon the former''s request, where the sharp looking man with a full thick beard would address seeing the pasha as such, with a bow and in broken Azhak.
Alexander found the man dressed in crimson red leather armor to be quite an unknown surprise and naturally turned to Kalidus to ask for details,
"He offered to surrender his entire fleet to us on the condition he gets to meet with you my lord." The militarymander revealed with a slightly surprised voice of his own.
When he mobilized his forces against this encroaching threat, he had expected either of two oues- chasing them away or defeating them in a bloody battle.
Who knew there was always a third option- a peaceful, conditional surrender?
So when the pirate captain made his offer, Kalidus was simply unable to refuse.
"That is correct. I have always wanted to meet you, my lord. It is an honor!"
Sensing the gazes falling on him, the pirate captain very naturally inserted himself into the conversation, fearlessly stepping forward to once again greet in a very charming, soft voice,
"My lord, Ie bearing great news. Let me first introduce my crew- we are pirates serving under the Heeat family. I presume you know how the Sybarsis families work?"
"Yes! They use your kind to punish ''unruly'' merchants. Go on!" Alexander impatiently waved, eager to know the real reason behind this meeting.
"Hahaha, yes, that is us," Vidiyan let out a very frank proudugh, "We are the executioners of the family, carrying out their dirty work."
"And that is also why we are meeting like this.
"You see my lord, a few weeks ago, we received an order from the highest echelon of the family telling us to attack your fleet en route to Zanzan. The n was, a Baron Lamp would offer you a guild, with the premise of leading you through supposed ''dangerous'' waters. But he would actually lead you through a narrow choke point through the reefs, where your fleet''s numbers would mean little!"
It was at this point Alexander finally woke up to what was being revealed, his eyes losing their impatience and his ears turning up- the broken Azhak he had found ear scratching just a bit before now sounded perfectly clear as ring rm bells began to go off inside his head at the revealing information.
Alexander could easily see where the man was going,
The captain however pretended to not notice the other''s shock and simply continued in his monotone voice,
"As the guild would let you into the trap, we were going to be hiding around the surrounding inds'' alcove, waiting for the signal. This would tell us the ship you were in had entered the narrow strait. The moment we got it, we were to use our fast skiffs to rapidly board your ships and¡. Well I am sure you can guess the rest."
Vigayan let out a cold, cid smile, his eyes darkening,
"..." While Alexander''s countenance turned frosty.
"Unfortunately the contact that was supposed to meet us from that Baron Lamp never arrived. I understood something must have happened. So after waiting for a while, I sent some men to the city.
And there I learned of your deeds. It was also at that point, that I realized we had no chance to seed. You were already openly recruiting sailors and I understood any one of them would expose our route."
"So I asked the Heeat family that it was not possible. However, they refused to listen. I was to find a way and attack you no matter what, even if meant utter annihtion. Which brings us to where we are now. I havee to beg asylum.
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
Pleasee Here!N?v(el)B\\jnn
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Chapter 1361 Crimson Sword Pirates (Part-2)
The pirate captain''s revtion shook not only Alexander but the rest of the crew nearby as well.
They each turned around to look at each other with stunned shock, feeling their backs be drenched with cold sweat.
If things had truly gone as the man said¡.
Of course, they also had little reason to doubt him given the circumstances, but that only made his story and all that could have been all the more terrifying.
Alexander too produced a wary, frowning look, "Captain Vidiyan¡ was it? Your ims are certainly grave. I will let you know I have very good rtions with the Heeat family. So I hope you have some proof."
However, before the suspected captain could respond, he was quickly gestured with a wave of the hand,
"But this hardly the ce for such conservations. Why don''t we take it somewhere more private? Please, apany me below decks, Captain Vidiyan."
Alexander had also noticed the nearby reactions of his crew and felt interrogating the pirate on the spot was not a good idea.
Who knew what the man would reveal? He would rather not risk letting any sensitive revtion float freely in the air.
Thus the pirate captain was quickly led into one of the ship''s empty rooms, and once seated on a simple chair was quickly asked, "Now, ¡. why don''t you go over all that you said once again? Please don''t miss any detail."
The bearded stoic captain took arge, gulp of the sweet wine he was served, and with a simple nod quickly retold the matter, showing little inconsistency in his recount.
"¡. and that''s how the Heeat family wanted us to foolishly attack you no matter the cost. But I could not in good conscience lead my men to such a fate." The thick beard heavily swayed as if to show the man''s defiance,
"However if I disobeyed¡ I knew I would be surely hunted and made an example of. Even if the sea is huge and I can hide¡ I would still be barred from most of my regr ports. Hehehe, even just that would be enough to kill me. I cannot ept that. So this is why I decided to meet you, my lord. I¡. we wish to serve you."
"....." Alexander listened to the man''s detailed ount with a cid face, although the calm exterior hid a very turbulent myriad of emotions right now, the biggest of which was shock, shock at the outright betrayal.
He could not believe Lord Castell would try to pit him like this. Especially when they had gotten off on such good terms.
He could see no reason behind it, no logic.
But at the same time, he could not see any reason for the man before him to lie. The pirate captain did not even know him before today.
As for any proof behind the usations, Vidiyan frankly chuckled when asked,
"Hehehe, I am not a learned man milord. So don''t go asking for letters and such. And the Heeat family also does not like to leave such obvious evidence. They still have a face to save."
"But I swear to the gods all that I said was all true and nothing but the truth! May the gods smite me if I lied."
To Vidiyan''s credit, this was perhaps the greatest proof one could provide in this time period in the absence of material evidence.
The fear and reverence of the gods was ingrained into the hearts of every man, and it was doubly true for sailors, who found faith to be the only source of pass'' in this boundless stretch of blue.
The list of superstitions sailors held towards the sea and the various ways they tried to please the gods in order to ensure their safety during voyages could be a subject for study on its own.
Hence as the pirate captain made his promise, Alexander was forced to give weight to the man''s words just based on that.
Which sent him into a ruminating spiral as Alexander tried to make sense of all that was said. But try as he might, he was unable to reach anything concrete.
He simplycked enough info to verify it all.
Thus when his gaze suddenly returned to the man sitting in front of him, Alexander thought it would not be a bad idea to first get to know the man, and judge his character.
Perhaps his credibility could be gleaned from that.
Slouching back in a rxing pose, Alexander lightly curved his lips,
"Forgive me that I have not asked till now, but.. Vidiyan¡ that is not amon name around here. Where are you from captain."
"Iyizarid, my lord. My mother is from House Vidiyan." The pirate captain frankly replied with a hint of pride, as if showing off his noble roots.
While for Alexander this was his first time meeting someone from that country in the far north face to face, so he could not help but take a closer look.
And as he scanned the man''s facial features, he began to notice some of the telltale signs.
Iyizaridians were said to be famously beautiful, both men and women, with their most striking feature being their typical trapezoid body shapes (wide shoulders, broad chests, and slim hips).
They were also generally quite tall, a good few inches than the average Adhanian, and men tended to keep thick facial hair as it was a sign of masculinity.
Just like Vidiyan before him was sporting.
And if you were curious, women also had a definite way of styling themselves- which was curling their hair as much as they could, the bigger and thicker, the better.
"Oh, I did not expect you from and such so far away. And from a noble family at that, I would guess. How did you end up¡. here, if you don''t mind me asking?"
Alexander was truly curious- to know how a blue blooded aristocrat could go from that to a lowly pirate- considered by all to be one of the basest professions- in line with banditry and thieves.
"Hehehe, there is nothing to hide my lord." The pirate captain however only nonchntly chuckled at the request and then in broken Azhak sinctly retold his entire life story,
"I am a noble from my mother''s side. She was the eldest daughter of her house but fell in love with a stable boy."
"She got pregnant and knowing my grandfather would never approve, they decided to run away. They managed to sessfully evade their pursuers and settled down in a small fishing vige far away. There my father worked as a fisherman and my mother a seamstress, taking care of me and three of my younger siblings."
"We lived there for ten years. Then one day, the vige was raided by pirates. My parents were killed and me and my siblings were taken as captives."
"We were put to work as deck boys and slowly I climbed up the crew ranks, bing the quartermaster and then the vice captain. Atst, when the former captain decided to retire and return to his home, the crew chose me as their leader! And that''s how I got here." The man simply finished.
And listening to the short summary of the man''s life, Alexander found his story to be quite the stunning one, even much resembling his own.
From a ve to a pirate captainmanding 2,000 men, and even serving under the protection of a legitimate name- the Heeat ducal family, it was all quite thrilling.
Alexander thus was not shy with his praise, although at the same time, deep inside he also wanted to ask if the man ever wanted revenge on his pirate crew for killing his family.
However, Alexander quickly shelved that idea not only because it was too personal and they were only strangers, but also because he could already guess the answer.
Given the man''s current position, it was very likely he took the whole thing from back then as simply business.
It was even possible he had done simr things in the following years, and many in his present crew were like him.
So eschewing such unpleasant queries, Alexander simply moved on to the core issue, "You say you came to me fearing the Heeat family''s retaliation. What do you expect from me?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"We can do what we did for them, my lord. Protect your ships, patrol your trade routes, and attack your rivals."
"...."
The offer was so simple, yet strangely there was such a long pause afterward.
This was because Alexander chose to enter into a deep silence as a myriad of considerations flooded his mind.
The first being- ''was it even necessary?''
Being from an era ofplete free trade, where piracy existed only in the fringest part of the world, he had always had a hard time wrapping his head around this whole piracy, or more urately privateer thing.
Why bother going after your rival''s cargo ships as a way to put him down? Why couldn''t you just trade with each other what you each needed?
This would lead to more goods for both sides, benefiting each other.
But Alexander guessed many mercantile ideas were yet to develop, and the lords found it far too lucrative to steal rather than pay for the goods.
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
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Chapter 1362 Crimson Sword Pirates (Part-3)
The existence of piracy in these times was due to a variety of factors.
For one- there were various actors all wishing to pull their enemies down by straggling their trade and thus revenue.
Two- for many, this was a major source of their revenue as the cost of acquiring the stolen goods was much, much less lower than their original selling price. The poorer lords lived on these ''cheap imports''.
Three- there was a great, thriving industry surrounding the servicing and catering to the needs of these pirates, which made scaling down these activities now all the more impossible. There were not just cities, but entire regions rted to the ''services'' these pirates provided.
And four, and perhaps the most important of all- the vast majority of the ve trade was done by these pirates.
These men would regrly raid coastal settlements and other unprotected parts of the whole Central Sea''s coastline, where tragedies like Vidiyan''s would ur every day as if they were a dime a dozen.
After all, how else could all the countries get to sate their ever unquenchable thirst for more and more ves?
Other than massive wars, there was very little chance to obtain ves in everyday urrences.
And this was how ves, numbering as much as a hundred thousand to sometimes even half a million passed through their hands every single day!
Not in a month, or even a week, but in one day. This was a number too mind boggling to even think about.
And that too without Adhania''s participation, which was one of the most populous countries in the world.
All of these reasons meant that without a global blue water navy like the United States patrolling the world''s seas, in ships that were impossible for any independent actor to build and operate, the opportunities and incentives for piracy to not only exist but also thrive and flourish were too great.
The only way to root them out would be for Alexander to advance shipbuilding technology to such an extent that these wooden vessels became virtually useless so that not anyone with a dingy could hold merchants at swordpoint.
But until he reached that stage¡.
"Hmmmp, indeed what you said makes sense Captain Vidiyan, I should better protect my ships. But at the same time, I have also never been attacked in any meaningful way. My convoys have always left and reached with their cargo mostly intact. So as you can see¡. why should I bother?"
The fact also was that the majority of Alexander''s exports went to only two ces- the Margraves and Pasha Farzah.
And they always left for those ports in veryrge convoys of anywhere from fifty to a hundred ships that naturally made them very hard to attack.
Most pirates preferred to bite something much smaller.
"No my lord, you underestimate the greed of us pirates." However Vidiyan seemed to have a very different view, solemnly shaking his head and pointing,
"The reason why your trade routes have not been attacked is not because they are safe. It is because most of the pirates have not realized their value yet!"
"Forgive me if I am wrong, but I believe that you only started trading two or three years ago. This is too short a time for us to take notice. Especially since Adhania rarely trades with other countries in the first ce. So the only ones aware of your ships till now are likely the few local pirate forces and they are too small to dare attack a Pasha!"
"But this only works when it is them. In the central sea, there were truly big pirates with crews numbering as many as 10,000 men. And if a few of them were to join forces¡. they would be capable of attacking even yourrge convoy!" Vidiyan''s voice shook a bit as he made this great prediction, but before Alexander countered with his own thoughts, solemnly warned,
"I do not know how much you are aware of the worth of your own goods my lord, but there have already been rumors about the values of ships. It''s just that they have been mostly ignored till now. Hehehe, they seem to think they are ridiculous. No, even I thought they were ridiculous¡ until the Heeat family confirmed them."
"But once they confirm it¡ the sharks will certainlye looking for blood!"
"....." Listening to the man''s grave warning, Alexander took the threat into consideration, but with a pinch of salt.
Indeed, perhaps the dangers had not manifested themselves- and that perhaps after their assassination failure, the Heeat family would have a hand in promoting Alexander''s values.
Perhaps many powerful pirates would have their eyes pointed at his ships, leading to significant trade losses in the future.
However at the same time- Alexander also understood this pirate captain had strong reasons to advertise his own services, and what better way was there than to show off the potential dangers?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
So instead of agreeing on the spot, he got to digging further,
"Hmmm, theserge pirate crews you speak of¡ are you one of them? How big is your crew? Can you deal with these pirates if they attack my ships?"
"Hehehe, I might not be one of the biggest pirates out there, but I also have some fame around these parts. Protecting your convoys against most small and medium attacks will not be a problem."
"As for those 10,000 strong crew pirates I talked about¡ in reality, they are always spread out all over the sea. The central sea is beyond huge my lord and each of them usually covers a specific part. They almost never gather in one ce."
As the man sheepishly made thisment, Alexander understood that between the lines he had been talking in hyperboles till now. The threat of his cargo ships being ganged up wasrgely theoretical.
But he did not point that out because at the end of the day, the principle of it was still true- the threat existed.
"I see. It seems Captain Vidiyan knows a lot about your fellow ''colleagues''" Alexander thus terselymented, getting a frank nod from the other side, after which he asked,
"So tell me, should I expect your offer, how much would it cost me to hire you?"
The query instantly made the man sitting opposite bloom into a great grin, as he excited listed,
"I will offer you the same deal we asked from the Heeat family, my lord."
"Duty free ess to all your ports. Reduced prices on goods and personnel needed for maintenance of the ships. Sum equivalent to half of all booty taken and all of the captured ransom. Andstly 10 acres ofnd for all my men after twenty years of service and a noble title for me!"
"......" Alexander was predictably shocked by this giant ask, very visibly raising his eyebrows as the eyes became clear and wide.
He could not then help but curve his lips and sneer, "Should I cry out in shock at this? Or praise you for sticking true to your profession Captain Vidiyan? As expected of a pirate, heh!"
He would be a fool to believe the Heeat truly offered a mere captain so much.
"Hahaha, on the contrary, me and my men believe this is quite reasonable, my lord." The man in question however showed no weakness and after emphasizing the justness of the pay, even cleverly pointed, "Aren''t your soldiers also promisednd at the end of their terms? Aren''t your officers also given peerage and nobility? So what is the difference?"
But Alexander only internally scoffed at this sophistry
''The difference is they are my soldiers, under my fullmand. You are just a hired killer, a loose cannon.''
There was of course no way Alexander was going to ept such tall demands.
And he let it be known clearly, waving his palms very dismissively,
"This is too much. Even if what you say about the Heeat family is true, that was then and this is now. Everything is different. You admitted it yourself. You are desperate."
"In fact, it is I who is taking a big risk trying to shield you from such a ducal family. So let''s not waste any more time and make a real offer."
The air of impatience Alexander gave was like he could not wait to get up and walk off.
And this indeed caused a brief panic to sh through the pirate captain''s eyes as he clenched his teeth,
"We.. we can forget about the reduced prices in maintenance. But the rest¡."
There was a look of defiance as he trailed off.
While Alexander casually matched that gaze, lightly humming as he scanned the man for any weakness.
Until with a trace of his chin, he narrowed his eyes and mused,
"Hmmm, I also forgot to ask, but what is stopping me from using my own navy to protect my ships? Why do I need you? They will surely be more loyal."
The pirate captain did not take thest words into heart, neither did he falter one bit at the rivaling question.
He just straightened up and chimed,
"You can have both- me and your navy, my lord. We offer different services. Particrly, we are useful when the situation calls for¡. Anonymity."
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
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Chapter 1363 Crimson Sword Pirates (Part-4)
Alexander was well aware that hiring the pirates and building his navy were not mutually exclusive.
He could use them both- just for different purposes.
Or even together if he should wish, such as bolstering each other''s numbers in the event of a battle.
"I see. So you wish to both guard my ships and destroy mypetition." Alexander atst chimed with a light nod, not showing any real objection to this arrangement.
Although he was pro free trade, Alexander was also not averse to kicking his enemies in the nuts if he could.
But before epting the pirate captain''s demand, he wanted to clear a few more things.
"Captain Vidian, if I hire you, how much can I expect to get from your plunders?"
Alexander wanted to get an idea of the rate of return on his investment.
"Last year we made the family about one and a half million wesas milord." Vidiyan stated in an almost memorized tone, "I can promise a simr amount in a few years."
This was about 15 million ropals, which to Alexander was frankly¡.
"That low? I thought being pirates was good business," The man made no attempt to hide his surprise, or more than that, his disappointment, "Did the Heeats not let you plunder much? Or is the ve trade not going well?"
Now don''t get me wrong- 15 million ropals was an astronomical sum in any sense of the word. Arge city like Zanzan used to produce only 10 million ropals in taxes before Alexander took over.
It was just that given the number of ships Vidiyan wielded, and the rich ''clientele'' he served, Alexander thought the returns would be far more luxurious.
While seeing Alexander''s genuine surprise, the captain first let an understanding, almost self depreciating smile, "Hehe, it seems my lord is not aware of our true state. Yes, most only see the enormous booty we catch, not the costs."
No one liked to be called poor, and especially not so tantly to their face.
But it seemed the Crimson pirates were not as shy as their captain''s getup might suggest, as the man confirmed,
"What we make is normal, my lord. Actuallyst year we made more than the average. Typically the average pirate our size makes about 1 million wesas a year."
"Hmmm¡" Alexander gave a small hum hearing this, understanding piracy was not the money making machine he thought it was.
It was clear there were obstacles and risks.
So Alexander curiously posed,
"Then Captain Vidiyan, if you do not mind, could you tell me how you made that money? And your various costs?"
"Of course!" The thick beard slightly swayed at the d nod,
"For the first part- we earned our money by attacking rival merchant ships- particrly from Iyizarid, but really from any other country that was not Sybarsis. The goods were sold in ck markets to designated fences and the men ransomed, if not sold.
In the same way, we also took ves from raids- attacking various fishing hamlets and small coastal towns all around the Central Sea. Last year we sold around 5,000 men." The man paused here a bit to proudly show off his numbers.
"As for costs- hehehe.." But then his tone suddenly turned a bit sullen, "They are so numerous that just the list might be a whole book."
"First there are the obvious ones- food and drinks, port charges, and ship maintenance fees. Hehe, let me tell you, my lord, you will not believe how frequently these ships tend to break down. There is always a cracked mast that needs propping up, a sail that needs patching, broken oars that need recing, and always, always hulls that need wood fitted and barnacles cleaned."
The captain almost sounded like he was venting as he listed all the things that always seemed to go wrong with his ships, and hence paused to take a deep breath here.
"*SIgh*... these are all the ship''s operating costs. Then there are the¡ what I like to call ''pirate'' costs." The man unhumourously smirked,
"First there are fees for brokers who sell information on potential plunders out in the sea, ships that are actually worth attacking.
We need to buy this because we do not want to target a ship carrying things that were not really valuable, things like ves, grain, ore, or¡ in general, bulky goods that are difficult to move. We always prefer to take gold, silver, precious gems, fabric, and increasingly everyday sugar!"
Alexander''s lips visibly twitched at thest mention, while the pirate captain pretended to not notice his subtle hint,
"Half of the booty is immediately given to the family as payment. The rest we have to find a fencer to sell it through. They take a cut, anywhere from thirty to sometimes even fifty percent of their regr market price.
After that, therees the hundreds of bribes andmissions we have to give to various navy captains and watchtowers soldiers for them to look the other way when we attack settlements."
"There is pay for spies and other contacts. Andstly, of course, the biggest expense- crew wages."
"We do not give the men any sry, thank goodness for that¡ but they do get a part of the loot. It is first evenly divided into shares and then distributed. I, the captain get two shares, the quartermaster one and a half, then the carpenter and doctor one and a quarter, and the rest of the crew one share each.
All in all each of my men expects to make around four to five hundred wesas a year. I cannot remain a captain if I can''t give them at least that much."
"So when everything is done and deducted, I barely make anything for myself. Maybe a few thousand wesas in a good year. *Sigh*... it is not easy being a pirate captain, my lord."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
As Vidiyan finished his recount with a sort of helpless air of weakness around him, Alexander noticed the pirate captain''s eyes had be slightly bloodshot, as if he could see all the red numbers being deducted from his ck revenue column right before him.
Every time he made those substractions, it made him feel like his heart was being ripped out.
And listening to the cost breakdown, Alexander would agree.
Although Vidiyan making the equivalent of tens of thousands of ropals was quite handsome by any metric, remember Alexander paid Cambyses only 10,000 ropals yearly for her position as head of the city guards, but when taken into the context of the risk and amount of plunder involved, it was really quite small.
Just take those 5,000 ves Vidiyan capturedst year- they alone were worth at least 15 million ropals in the open market.
But the vast majority of the value was eaten up by all those costs.
Alexander found the rate of those fences especially egregious.
''Taking fifty percent! Are you kidding me? What did you do to get these? You sat there on your bump and waited!''
Now granted it might be harder to sell stolen goods and the quality might be slightly lower due to some incurred damage but shing the price a third to half¡. this was too much.
And thus as the pirate captain slumped back and slightly heaved out his frustration, Alexander asked this very question.
"These fences¡ take so much! You are actually okay with it?"
"Hehehe, this is the going rate, my lord. Everywhere it is the same," The ''poor'' man solemnly shook his head, then revealed,
"Actually almost every reputable fence has a noble or even a few nobles backing him. So as much we pirates hate it¡ there is nothing we can do."
This let Alexander guess that these pirates might be contractually obligated to sell to these ''designated'' fences or the like.
As for why this arrangement by the nobles,
"So they take half your loot at the very beginning and then buy the other half at half the price. Heh!" Alexander frankly sneered, revealing the ploy.
"....." The pirate captain responded to this with only a helpless sneer of his own
.Such were the shackles of being a pirate, even the freest of man were bound by something.
But then Alexander made the obvious ask,
"So if you are dissatisfied, why not sell the goods in the open market? There are so many cities and port towns around the Central Sea. I do not believe you cannot find a single merchant to trade with?"
This was obviously impossible.
These greedy businessmen would do anything, even if it was morbidly evil if it meant there was a chance to make a profit.
And needless to say, buying these stolen goods and re selling them should have been quite profitable.
The Crimson Pirate captain also agreed with Alexander on that, heavily nodding,
"Of course we can. Many free pirates do exactly that. But these are usually small time pirates dealing in small numbers. To trade in bulk¡. traders who are willing to work with pirates so openly are rare."
"And there are also very few neutral ports that are friendly to us pirates. Most would rather hang us the moment we get onnd. You see, most lords do not like us, pirates, on their fief, hehehe.
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
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Chapter 1364 Crimson Sword Pirates (Part-5)
The pirate captain was quite self aware when he exined to Alexander why they could not just sail onto any port and dump their ill gotten goods there.
It tended to cause a lot of trouble.
Plus they themselves tended to cause a lot of trouble when onnd, harassing businesses and being a menace to women.
It was thus little wonder their sights were a difficult thing for the local lord to swallow.
And this was not to mention the far bigger problem of trading with pirates.
Doing it so openly was not just frowned upon, it was massively problematic.
And this was because of how the lord used these pirates.
They let these ''detectable'' proxies attack other cargo ships instead of using their own navy as a way to give themselves a veil of deniability, in order to not directly go into a war with the other party.
But this did not really work if you were actively buying their plunder.
Because naturally, you would only buy from pirates that were friendly to you, you would not let a rival pirate restock and sell their plunder at your ports because that would be like a robber selling you back your own goods.
You would sooner hang these rascals.
The problem was if you did that, well you might as well use your navy to raid the seas because the curtain was gone.
This was one of the reasons why Vidiyan did not dare enter neutral ports.
Another one was, as then added by him,
"We also could not do it even if we wanted to. We serve the Heeat family and they have always made us sell to their particr fences. This is also how they mainlymunicate with us."
"I see! It seems the world of pirates is moreplicated than I thought. It is not easy being one," Alexander gave a slight nod as the pirate captain finished, and then smoothly asked,
"By the way, how did you enter under the Heeat family''s services? And what did they offer you? Only safe ports and reliable fences?"
"It was my predecessor that entered a deal with Duke Kane¡ that is the former Duke Heeat." The pirate captain showed no reluctance in his answer, fluently revealing,
"It happened just when I was taken captive. We were approached by one of our regr fences offering us to take on a particr job. It was to attack a moderate convoy."
"We did it, and then a few more afterward. The family then noticed our sess and approached us with a contract."
Alexander was a tad surprised by how ''generic'' the recruitment was- it was all like a big office interview. He thought the Heeat family would be a little more covert about airing their dirtyundry.
But he did not interrupt the still speaking pirate captain for any specific details and just let him continue.
"As for the details of the contract, well one, yes, they did promise us ess to many ports and harbors that are not usually friendly to us pirates and even promised immunity from thew while we stayed there."
"We would just have to switch to the gs given to us by the family as we approached those docks and no one would make trouble for us. Hahaha, they all knew we were pirates, but they still just made way for us. We were treated as the Heeat navy, hahaha."
It was unknown whether the man''s slightly muted chuckle was himughing at the event or at the ridiculousness of how the powerful could color ck into white like it was nothing.
Like here, where all they needed was just a piece of cloth and one or two well ced officials to erase all their crimes.
Letting theughter pass after a while, the man resumed,
"But this should not distract you from underestimating the value of these ports offer my lord. The abundance of easy to reach ports meant we could easily restock after each voyage. So we could afford to carry a lot of fresh food and water with us."
"I know this might sound a bit¡ummm.. different to you my lord, but you will not believe how great it is to have fresh food at sea. After staying out for months, those dry, salted meat, fish, and fruits tend to taste really¡ bitter. I dare say many mutinies have started or been entirely avoided using just fresh food. So getting fresh food regrly is an unmatched boon!"
The man subtly licked his lips as he said this as if he was already missing the taste.
Then without giving Alexander to interject, once again resumed, determined to show how important these ports were to him.
Vidiyan chimed,
"In addition to this ess, these regr ports were also usually much better furnished. The carpenters were better and maintenance dock workers like cleaners and unloaders were much faster. Their prices were cheaper too despite that."
"And best of all, there was no long wait time. Back in those pirate ports, due to the number of ships waiting by the docks and a limited number of carpenters, even getting a nail hammed into the hulls took three days."
"But here¡these men knew who we were and so he could get some of the maintenance done in half the time or less as some of the other ces."
"We also had regr, trusted fences at those ports. So we could always be sure that whatever we plundered, we could sell it."
"This is not true for many of the free pirates. The fences they relied on might only deal in a select number of goods- gold, silver, gem, porcin, etc. the popr stuff. But if you have something unusual, like paintings, spices, or statues, those were usually very hard to sell if you did not have the right channels. We had no such problem."
"In the same way, we also had no fear of our fences disappearing or moving. This is a whole different topic my lord but there are a lot of things that could happen to these men. From simple assassinations by rivals to getting captured by local lords for smuggling, to being forced out of the market bypetition to the worst of all, kidnap and torture. Everything is possible in this dark side of the world. I have seen it."
"And when that happens, for the pirate crew attached to that fence, it is surprisingly hard to find a new channel. Because there is only so much these traders can smuggle. So you cannot just go sell your things to them. They have to ept. This always takes some time since they have to open new channels."
"The trouble for the waiting pirates is that while they wait, their ships just sit at the docks doing nothing. They can not set out for the sea when they already have unsold loot with them. And there was also nowhere to leave it securely on the docks. So many times the loot would just start to spoil if it was perishable like spices."
"And even when they finally managed to find a fence, it usually came with a high percentage cut. For example, the Heeat family''s fence only took twenty five percent from us. But if other rival or new pirates wanted to sell to them, it was fifty percent!"
Hearing these varying rates, Alexander understood what these families and nobles were ying at.
They wanted to have the pirates under their control.
But it was not feasible to force them by using their navies, as they were too scattered.
So they built these economic barriers as a way to try and coerce them into somewhat of a straight line.
Alexander also understood that the port esses the pirate captain was asking for were far more extensive than he thought.
And he was not even done, as he atst finished by saying,
"Finally, the men also liked the taverns and whores there better. The drinks were only slightly watered down and the cunts were tight! Not like those in the pirates'' ports, all used and loose fan¡ ahem."
Just as the pirate captain was going to reveal some very embarrassing intimate details, he suddenly shrieked to a full stop mid sentence without any warning, letting off a giant cough as his face turned bright red.
He had been trying really hard to appear noble and aristocratic in his speech till now, in order to show off his lineage to Alexander, to portray himself as a fellow noble, and thus perhaps be treated as an equal.
And credit to him, he had been doing quite a good job till now.
The Azhak he used was heavily ented and sometimes a bit broken, but it was always grammatically correct.
But it seemed he had slipped atst.
The regr vulgarities he was used to addressing the men with finally bled out, making him desperately work to readjust his speech, as he forcefully added,
"Ahemm¡ I mean, the security and various entertainment facilities are much better in many of the family''s ports. My men far prefer them."
Alexander found the man''s utmost efforts to be civil worthy of praise.
Hence keeping his poker face intact, he simply nodded, "I see. Okay, you have convinced me Captain Vidiyan, you have a deal!"
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
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Chapter 1365 Crimson Sword Pirates (Part-6)
"....Okay, you have convinced me Captain Vidiyan, you have a deal! I will give you everything you want."
The pirate captain was frankly surprised by this frank response, the simple way Alexander agreed sending a slight tremor through his heart.
Honestly, he thought there would be a bit more haggling. He had even made his demands a bit excessive based on that.
But given that he got what he wanted and more¡. of course, he was not going toin.
Hence that surprise quickly turned to momentous glee, as he excitedly got up to sh a wide grin,
"Thank you, my lord. I swear you will not regret it! I swear¡"
Alexander only gave aposed nod as the man went off pleading his allegiance, the cool eyes greatly constantly the shining pair.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
It was once the man finished that Alexander then suddenly asked in a low tone,
"Did the Heeat family also promise your mennd and title like you wanted from me?"
"...." This instantly produced a slightly awkward pause as Captain Vidiyan''s eyes shifted sheepishly.
The answer was obvious but he instinctively wanted to say yes.
However given Alexander had already epted his offer and it was too easy for this falsehood to be sniffed out, Vidiyan decided toe clean and nodded with a bit of a struggle.
"To an extent yes my lord. The captain and the quartermaster were indeed promisednd and titles. The rest of the crew were only promised to be treated as free men within the family''s fief."
For pirates who were deemed criminals just like bandits, this was already lucrative enough. The former captain and his crew had epted it with minimum resistance.
"Well¡ did the Heeat family live up to its name then? Where is your former captain now?"
So Alexander then followed with this.
Given the family had betrayed him virtually the same day they shook hands with him, Alexander definitely had reasons to suspect otherwise.
"Yes. He is the lord of a small city called Mynia. It''s south of Galiosos." The pirate captain however easily dispelled the doubt, even naming the ce should Alexander want to verify.
In fact, there was better evidence of the family''s honesty.
If the Heeat family had not fulfilled its promise, Vidiyan would have surely broken up with them long ago.
So Alexander followed to his next question,
"Do you think the family will retaliate on him now that you have ''betrayed'' them? Strip him of his title? Send him to hunt you down? Or the likes¡."
"This¡.:" The pirate captain was unable to reply.
Was it possible? Certainly.
But he did not exactly know and frankly, he did not want to think about it.
Whatever happened to the old man, he would still prioritize him and his crew.
However, he also did not want to sound heartless by saying this aloud, so kept mute.
But as Alexander still kept looking at him for an answer, and as the room started to be ufortable, Vidiyan understood he could not avoid this and atst, gave a vague reply,
"I¡I do not think so. At least I have never heard of such a thing happening."
"I see. That''s good. I was only asking because I did not want your crew to have to decide between you and your former captain." Alexander sounded neither pleased nor peeved by the Heeat family''s supposed integrity.
And simply moved on to the next question,
"You told me your men demand four to five wesas a year. I believe this is minus their food and lodging. How is that possible? That''s more than double what I spend on my soldiers, wage, food, and equipmentbined!"
The surprise in Alexander''s voice was palpable as it was something he had wanted to touch upon the moment he heard about Vidiyan''s expenses.
"Hehe, that is because we pirates are different my lord." The pirate captain softly replied in defense of the amount, stating,
"Most of us pirates just want to make some good money as soon as possible and retire. Buy somend in a small vige or forgotten town and forget the past. That is the dream."
The man sounded a bit ethereal as he said like he too longed for such a fate.
And then continued,
"I do not think you know my lord, but most of us pirates have a very short life span. We only work for a few years, mostly half a decade before retiring. Like my two younger brothers."
"They worked for five years as deckhands until the captain freed them, and then as soon as they had saved enough, both left. One of them died of fever long ago but my youngest brother is still alive. He owns a nice inn in a small city."
Alexander was a bit surprised by this revtion because he thought piracy to be a profession like any other- farmers, miners, cksmiths- i.e.- something you worked at for decades and then finally retired when your bones became too old to work.
But from what Vidiyan revealed, this sounded more like a side gig you did to earn a bit of extra money.
"Is it so easy to give up piracy? You can just buynd anywhere you want? Is no one looking for them?" Alexander naturally asked.
He imagined that if he heard a pirate was trying to settle in his fief, he would immediately arrest the man. Even if he did not care about his previous crimes, there was still the high possibility of him causing a lot of trouble.
Pirates tended to be troublesome men, both on sea andnd.
"Haha, the world is so big, who can find them?" The pirate captain however in response casually shrugged, then slightly nodded,
"Some do indeed get caught, my lord. And they are swiftly hanged. But most disappear into the wind. Many are able to disguise themselves as traveling merchants, new ve traders, or even sessful mercenaries. Men with money looking to settle down."
"All they have to do is bribe a few vige chiefs and elders, and they can get and without much trouble. And even if someone suspects something, most don''t care. The money keeps them shut."
Now Alexander understood where this great demand for money came from.
Indeed, if you wanted to show yourself as someone with a heavy purse, and do it within a few years, you needed to be very greedy.
But then the question came,
"Why do pirates retire after a few years? If the pay is so good, why not stay longer? And why do you captains just let them leave whenever they want?"
The obvious solution here to the ''workers'' demanding greater wages seemed to be making them work longer.
"Hahaha," However this natural question only produced a frank, amused chortle from the other side, with Vidiyan slowly nodding his head,
"Indeed, just as I said, my lord, you do not know much about us. Like I said, we pirates are different from your soldiers. If one of my crews decides to run away or even goes into hiding at one of the docks, there is little I can do to bring him back. Even if I just try to rough him up a bit, the guards will show up."
"But if one of your soldiers deserts, hehehe¡ I am sure you know what happens."
It was then that Alexander understood what the man was trying to say.
"Hmmm, I see. For a soldier serving in my army, there is the whip of thew to keep him in check. No matter where he runs, there is always the possibility of being found out by my men or the relevant authorities."
"But a pirate group obviously can not wield such deterrence. The only thing you can provide is money and this can only tie them to the ship for so long."
"My lord is truly astute. You are correct!" Vidiyan heavily nodded, "Nobody likes to take the kind of risks we do. We regrly have to put our lives on the line in ways most would not ever do in their entire lives. Cut, shes, lost limbs, and of course death¡ we face them all."
"And despite all that risk, we still have to live in fear for the rest of our lives, ever afraid of our past surfacing."
"Whereas your soldiers can return to their homes without any worry. They don''t have to lie awake at night worrying about you suddenly catching them in the darkness and then hanging them by the marker center the very morning."
Vidiyan spat half venemously, sounding like he was speaking from experience.
"So that is why we practice what is called an open contract. Any crew can ask to leave anytime they want and the captain has to give him all his dues no matter what. We have to do this even if they go join a rival group."
"The only way for a captain to stop this is to show his crew that he can earn them more loot."
Alexander understood this was also one of the reasons why Vidiyan hade to him.
With the Heeat family hunting him and blocking his ''fishing'' spots, his crew would quickly start to desert him.
They were no chivalric group that would go down with their captain.
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
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Chapter 1366 Crimson Sword Pirates (Part-7)
It was listening to Vidiyan about his crew that Alexander understood that most pirates had a very short shelf life, wishing to only stay as long as it was needed.
The prospect of death, injury, or worse capture at the hands of authority and being made an example of was enough to motivate most to limit their stint to as short a time frame as possible.
"Then what about you Captain Vidiyan? Why did you stay when your brothers left?"
So figuring out this equation, Alexander naturally asked about the man himself in curiosity.
"Hahaha, because I like it!" The candid answer came very easily and lightly, as the bearded man jovially waved his hand
"That life on thend is not for me. I tried it once for a few weeks, and it was suffocating, like having a noose constantly tied around my neck. You could not leave your house at night, you could not drink in the morning, and you had to pay for everything in full. Hehehe¡"
"No, I like the sea much better. I like the feeling of wind hitting my face. I like the smell of the salty breeze. I like the soft sway of the waves, like a mother cuddling her child to sleep. I like how I am the lord of my own destiny. I like¡ just staying on my ship."
Alexander could sense the heavy love and nostalgia held in those words, the eyes even turning misty in reminiscence.
It was clear the man could go on for days why he chose this life.
But if one were to sum it up in a single word, it would be - freedom.
The freedom to do whatever one wanted.
And as he came from a simr background, Alexander could certainly sympathize.
He as a lord was simr to the pirate captain in many ways, only he had the power to legitimately do whatever he wanted.
If he plundered other ships, it would be simply kicking down thepetition and improving the lives of his people.
But if Vidiyan tried to do the same for his crew, well, he would be branded a criminal and hunted down.
The irony of just how thin and fine the line between good and evil was was not lost on Alexander, and he found it quite funny.
This musing was suddenly broken by a gruff cough from Vidiyan, who suddenlymented on a different topic,
"I appreciate my lord for not bringing it up. But actually, before my brothers left, they had once asked me if I wanted revenge against the captain for my parents. Hehehe, I threatened to hang them if they dared to speak this ever again."
"You see, I do not hate the captain for what he did. It might sound very shameful, but in fact, some part of me is actually d that he came when he did. When I see all those peasants andborers toiling away, with no end in sight, and when I know I too could have been easily one of them, I¡ I make sure to count my blessings."
The man instantly took a veryrge and long swig of his drink as finished this, so it was unknown whether that red blush on his face was due to alcohol or simple shame over the admission.
Alexander was also surprised the man would reveal such a close secret to someone who was basically a stranger to him
Perhaps this was him revealing why he could not give up his post as the pirate captain.
Not because he loved the power and authority that came with it, but something more primal, more dear- the ship was Vidiyan''s reason to live, his way of life.
Alexander did not judge the man''s actions. He did not condone such thinking, but at the same time, he could understand where he wasing from.
In this age, being a peasant was no glorious profession, it only got you regrly pressed under the heel of a brutal heel of a cruel lord with barely a chance to breathe.
So Alexander could not help but ask the next natural thing that came to his mind,
"How many people in your crew think like that? Like you. People who will stay with you no matter what."
"About 200 my lord." The pirate captain frankly revealed, then swiftly added, "But your question is also not quite right."
"You see, I have about 2,000 men in my crew. Among them, 1,300 are regr crew. They all get one share of the loot. The rest are¡ kind of ves- deckboys, cleaners, sweepers, and cooks, servants who do all the menial chores."
"I say only ''kind of ves'' because in many ways they are equal to us. They get the same food, the same quarters, and sometimes even weapons if we are short on men during battles."
"The only thing they don''t get is a share of the booty. Rather, they are promised a lump sum of five hundred wesas (5,000 ropal) after five years of service and to be made into regr pirates. That is how me and my brothers started."
"So if my lord you are just asking how many of my crew I canmand without question, then I guess it would be close to a thousand."
Alexander appreciated that the man was able to take in the context and reply with the genuine number.
"Hahaha, I see, so that''s how it is. Thank you for clearing my misunderstanding." He nodded, but then soon a bit frowned,
"But then can''t these v¡ servants run away like your crew when you dock?"
Alexander thought he found a loophole in the argument.
"Hahaha, and go where? They don''t have any money." The pirate captain however was very quick to smash Alexander''s worries, sneering, "The only ce they can go is ''starvation''.. if not straight to the gallows. Those guards in the docks are surprisingly sharp at telling us pirates apart frommon vagabonds. And trust me, they do not like pirates that can''t bribe them."
And if that was not enough of an obstacle, Vidiyan further hammered home the difficulties,
"And even if the ves could get some money, like by stealing, most would not leave out of their own choice. You see my lord, these ves actually live far better than most peasants. They get a good solid bed, guaranteed food, yearly new clothes, and when we go ashore, sometimes we take them with us as fun."
"Wine, meat and good whores¡ they can enjoy it all. Tell me, where can a poor peasant sod with a nagging wife and ten bawling children get that? So most pirate crews actually have very little to worry about their ves. They are always eager to join the crew, and get a share of the loot."
The new information caused Alexander''s eyes to light up with understanding, and he traced his chin with a nod,n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"Hmmmp, I see. Since the kingdoms don''t care about whether you are a pirate or a pirate''s ve, it makes more sense for them to stick with the crew and make some money. At least that way they can enjoy life before being hanged. "
"....." The frank evaluation made the pirate captain twitch his lips a bit awkwardly, but he did not object.
So Alexander took the opportunity to further inquire,
"But did none of the crew stay and fulfill the Heeat family''s offer? Didn''t you say if they served for enough years, they could be free men? Why take all this risk?"
"Some did stay with the crew till the end my lord. But most did not have the patience." The pirate captain here paused a bit to heavily shake his head in disapproval
"For most, the terms were too long and the family only offered a free man status. So after the initial enthusiasm about the deal died down, they figured they would rather take their chance hiding in some remote ind vige in the Central Sea."
At this point, the heavy head shaking became even more pronounced, as if Vidiyan wasmenting the fate of many of his crew for their untimely and sometimes unsightly fate while trying to chase this dream.
Not all got lucky.
"I see." While Alexander only gave an acknowledging nod, before quickly losing interest and suddenly shifting the topic,
"So about the people that stay with you permanently, those who have no wish to settle down¡ do they also demand the same payment?" He posed out of nowhere.
Vidiyan did not understand what Alexander''s obsession was about their pay.
In his eyes, this was their internal affairs, detached from the boss''s concerns.
But he did not reject the query and nodded with a kind of forced amused smile,
"Yes! In fact, sometimes they want the most. Good liquor, loads of meats, the finest prostitutes, and most of all gambling, all my close men love to spend on the good things in life. ''Life is too short to enjoy! Let''s go broke!'' they love to shout!"
"Every port we dock, these wastrels go ashore with purses thick as their balls. And when theye back, they look like shriveled grapes. Darm wastes!"
Although it sounded like he was berating them, judging from the tone Vidiyan spoke, it was clear he actually held them in great endearment.
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Chapter 1367 Crimson Sword Pirates (Part-8)
Listening to Vidiyan speak about the spending habits of his close men, Alexander thought he detected a hint of amusement.
Perhaps this was due to the pirate captain recalling many of the weird excesses they had done in the spirit of partying.
Or perhaps it was because he liked the fact that these men were broke- that way they could not leave him even if they wanted to.
Either way, Vidiyan was notining.
As for Alexander, giving an understanding nod at these extravagant expenses, then slowly added,
"Hmm, so how do you n to pay for all your men now? You need to make at least 1 million wesas a year to keep them, don''t you? Will you be able to find the time when you are also protecting my ships?"
"No, I do not need that much money now, my lord," The pirate captain however corrected Alexander''s assumption with a light shake, then with a ttering grin and shining eyes reminded,
"Remember, you have promised usnd after retirement. This is huge! I can cut their wages in half and no one will dare leave, hahaha!"
"..." Indeed the allure of real estate was magnitudes greater than the status of a mere free man as Alexander recalled.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Even the way Vidiyan looked at Alexander had changed after he made that promise.
This suited the pasha just fine, letting him feel assured that the pirate crew he just hired would not be hollowed out within a few years.
"That is great. And I guess you will get the remaining expenses from plunder?" He thus chimed.
"Yes. We crimson pirates might not be the biggest crew in the Central Sea, but we have our own fishing spots, hehehe!" Vidiyan dangerously chuckled with dripping greed.
Many of the bigger pirates had parts of the sea solely they controlled, refusing to let anyone in.
This let them have an easy source of steady ie.
"Hmmm, but are you sure the Heeat family will simply let you¡ fish in your usual parts? Won''t they send hunting parties or ambushes?"
Alexander however seemed to find a w in this approach for Vidiyan. It was easy to get sniped if the other side knew where you were camping.
"Hehe, rest assured my lord, the ocean is vast. There are lots of other ces I can fish," The pirate captain thankfully reassured him otherwise, his eyes glinting with a light filled with low cunning, "I can even attack the family''s vessels now. I used to guard them. So I know a lot of their usual routes hehehe."
The tone was filled with as much greed as a desire for revenge.
However Alexander visibly frowned at this suggestion, severely warning,
"I do not like that. I am not interested in causing any trouble for the Heeat family¡ at least not for now. Sheltering you is already pushing that. If the family suspects you are attacking them on my behalf¡."
As Alexander trailed off, the underlying meaning behind those words was clear- if the Heeat family traced back their connection, he would disavow all knowledge.
"....make sure they do not know you are working for me." He then finished with a wave of his hands
This order made the pirate captain produce a great struggle in his heart, as he originally thought he had ess to an untapped gold mine.
He wanted to attack the Heeat family ships left, right, and center and then bring the loot back to Zanzan for profit and adoration from his boss for helping him get revenge.
But now¡.
"....Yes my lord."
Well given how generous his employer had been till now, Vidiyan was hardly ever going to say no. So although it took a bit of effort, he epted.
''I will only attack a few good ones here and there. The ones carrying gold or ss,'' He just sneakily added the addendum, unable to hold his greed.
And at the same time, he added a few more words to ay many of Alexander''s worries about the Heeat family, starting in a sweet, smooth voice,
"Actually my lord you do not have to worry so much about the family harming me. Theyck arge navy like the otherrge families. One of the reasons is that theirnds don''t have good timber for building ships. You need long, sturdy trees like firs and pines, they don''t grow in Lynica."
Vidiyan''sment was followed by a slight pause as he took a sip of his drink, and then answered the question of why the family did not simply import the timber,
"But greater than that, the family is actually stretched really thin on money. Hehe, it might not seem like it, but actually, most of their money goes to maintaining their army. They need it to keep out the various native wandering tribes around them."
"I hear those guys are a true menace for the family,unching regr raids into the interior and taking livestock and ves. They then sell many of the loot back to us, haha."
"So the family only keeps just enough sailors to guard its ports and coastal city, while depending on the council and us to protect its convoys. If not for that, I might have been out of a job!"
The part about the natives was an additional bit of information that Alexander did not know, and it suddenly made his eyes light up.
He thought he had just found a way to make trouble for the family.
"Did you also trade with those natives? They must be quite powerful to be able to cause trouble for the Heeat family."
Hence wanting to verify his thoughts, Alexander eagerly followed with the asked.
"Hahaha, well we are pirates, my lord." Vidiyan was in a good mood, so did not hide his covert dealings with his employer''s rivals.
Then with a nonchnt nod borated on the second part of the question,
"And yes, those wandering tribes are truly fierce. They ride their horses like the wind and their mastery of the bows is something that needs to be seen to be believed. The family has tried again and again to deal with them, even asking for help from other simr families, but¡ the natives still live and thrive."
"The real trouble when ites to them is that these tribes have no fixed settlements, no towns or even viges that the family can attack. They simply roam the steeps in their tents, moving wherever the season takes them!"
Indeed, Alexander could guess how vexing such an ever mobile enemy could be.
Whenever things were not going their way, they could just pack up their entire poption and just run, leaving any pursuing army in the dust.
And this information only reinforced the thoughts in his head even further, as he gleefully noted,
''Good! I will have Vidiyan covertly sell food and weapons to those natives for ves or hired mercenaries. Let''s see how Lord Castell likes enemies with chain mails, crossbows and catapults!''
Alexander however kept such future thoughts to himself for now, and finding he was nearly at the end of things to discuss, in a sort of penultimate tone chimed,
"This is great news then. Hopefully, the family will not fuss too much upon finding my survival. "By the way Captain Vidiyan, forgive me if this is a bit personal, but did you ever meet your maternal family? Does your¡ grandfather know about you?"
"Ah!" The surprising out of topic query seemed to catch the man out of the blue, as he produced an almost look of shock.
He could see no reason why this mattered.
But rather than feeling offended, the thick beard soon parted to reveal a great grin,
"Hahaha, no, no, I do not dare to set foot on Iyizarid. No pirate does. That country of dragons is notorious for punishing us. All I know about them is from what my mother told me."
"But I am sure it is all true without a doubt. She used to tell me she named me Vidiyan after her family''s surname and I know there is indeed a famous house with the same name. My mother also used to have a golden ring with a signia that matches that family''s crest. I checked."
As a man who was told he had noble blood in him, it was only natural for him to verify this no matter what.
"Oh, do you have that ring? Perhaps I can use it to arrange a meeting for you." Alexander then eagerly chimed, a look of sincerity masking his face.
However,
"That¡. the ring was lost when we were attacked that day. I¡ do not have it." The bitterness in those words was palpable, as Alexander noticed the jovial captain''s face suddenly turning almost bitter ck.
It was unknown whether he was angry over the attack or just the loss of the ring.
Alexander did nothing to soothe the man''s feelings, and instead ruefully shook his head,
"That is regretful. If you could have proved this, I would have been able to use the excuse you are anoble to promise you a higher peerage."
The lost opportunity naturally made the man only clench his fist even harder, but then he suddenly chuckled,
"Hehehe, no, no, perhaps it is for the best. My grandfather would likely never want to see a pirate like me anyway."
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Chapter 1368 Crimson Sword Pirates (Part-End)
"The Iyizardians are notorious for their brutal hunting of pirates. The shores of the country are lined with the skeletons of hanged me. If my grandfather learns of me¡ he will never ept it."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Hehehe, no before that, who knows if he is still alive? It''s been almost forty years since mother ran away. I guess never meeting was best for the both of us."
Vidiyan half stated, halfmented this fact, as perhaps a small part of him still thought he had some im to that family.
At least he could have been a noble then.
While Alexander listened to this with an almost pallid mask of disconcern.
He was surprised to know the man before him was nearly forty- he did not look a day over thirty, the sea surprisingly making him appear more youthful, not aged.
But more than that, he found this was a bit regretful.
If you have not guessed it already, Alexander did not want to connect Vidiyan with his family out of the goodness of the heart.
He wanted to do it because he thought this would give him an easy way for his spies to infiltrate the country.
He wished to have at least some intelligence on what was going on there.
But clearly, that was not going to happen.
So finding he had no other matters to discuss, Alexander got up and generously smiled at the captain,
"I see. Well, thank you for sharing your experiences with me Captain Vidiyan. I learned a lot about pirates from you. Pleasee see me at Zanzan in a few weeks. I will give you the details of your duties."
The pirate Vidiyan silently let out arge sigh of relief hearing this, understanding the meeting was finally over.
He passed!
"Yes, yes, of course, my lord. Here is to us working long into the foreseeable future." Eagerly raising a toast with a great grin, he gulped the entire thing down.
He needed this to cool his excited nerves, or else he feared he might start jumping for joy.
He had really not expected to get this much.
"I have also prepared for a small gift my lord. If you would allow me to bring her to you." So he then chimed, a suggestive look shing over.
And the wording used left Alexander in no doubt as to what this present could be.
He wanted to reject this as a knee jerk response. He had enough women to deal with in his life.
But then suddenly felt this might be seen as a bit rude.
It was consideredmon courtesy to ept any gift no matter how small when graciously presented.
So as to not start off on the wrong foot and since the other side was offering, he decided to ept it with a grateful smile.
If he did not like her, he could always set her free or give her away as a present.
Thedy in question was led by a man very simr looking to Vidiyan, his son no doubt.
And as the two bowed, Alexander found his gift to be breathtakingly beautiful.
The girl looked to be in herte teens, with an innocent face and flushed rosy cheeks, thin luscious lips, and a cute dimple on her chin.
But what really caught his eyes was her hair- it was golden wheat in color and so silky that it looked like golden thread when under the summer sun.
They were only perhaps a tad bit lighter than Ophenia''s natural color and were curled into expensive ringlets just like practiced in Iyizarid making her look like she was the epitome of aristocracy.
Alexander thought she only looked slightly worse than Ophenia, and even then it was such a small difference that he could not help but swallow a small gulp, ''Man, I did not Tayin had a younger sister.''
And as he said this, his eyes suddenly roamed around to the girl''s lower half with a spark of lust, a particr sight he had once seen back in one of the city states of Thesos rushing back to him.
On that day, one ve merchant was showing off exactly these kinds of curls of a captured high borndy.
He was even brazen enough to unabashedly show her lower half, pointing at her thick, well groomed patch down there and showing off how curly and thick it was.
ording to the man, noblewomen in Iyizarid spent more than half the day with theirb and clips, trying to curl their hair more and more every waking second.
And apparently, they did this for even their hair down there- with the longer and denser it was- the higher quality it was.
This was also what the man was trying to show, that his ''product'' had the best hair.
And even though most of the gathered people could tell the man was exaggerating, it did not stop them from being enthralled by this disy.
Something which the ver also took full advantage of, crying out to the gathering crowd,
"Come! Come! Do not be shy. Look as much as you like. This is a nobledy from Iyizarid! Her family was destroyed by the Sybarian army and she was captured."
"Come! Come! See! Such a fine piece¡ there is none like her! Just don''t touch if you are not going to buy! Bidding starts at¡."
Alexander remembered watching how the bounddy tried her best to bite her lips to stop herself from breaking down at the utter humiliation of being shown like this.
Alexander had truly felt sorry for her- and thought back then if he had the money, he might have even considered buying her.
She was certainly attractive enough, with her curly hair adding a sort of novelty that Alexander had yet to see.
Even when he took his post in Zanzan, he asionally yet his eyes open, but never such a girl.
So now that he had¡. he genuinely wondered if the blonde hair down there was like her top.
¡.
Vidiyan introduced the girl as ''Arrya''.
She was apparently traveling to meet some of her rtives but was unlucky enough to get caught in one of Vidiyan''s raids.
She was nned to be sold to one of the pirate captain''s known vers but it seemed fate had other ns, as Vidiyan finished by gently smiling,
"My lord, rest assured, she is a virgin. We would never spoil such a preciousmodity."
Alexander thanked the pirate captain for his gift, seeing the man off with a barrel of his special wine as a return gift.
Then as soon as the man left¡
"What do you think mydy?" He ran to consult Lady Parthia about all that had happened.
Although he was confident about his decision to recruit Vidiyan, he still wished for a second opinion.
"....Hmm!" And hearing all that had transpired, thedy in question hummed a bit in thought, before atst mumbling,
"Well¡he has the motivation. His men surely need the money. He also surrendered his entire crew to you beforeing here, that seems sincere enough. Let''s see how this goes."
ording to Lady Parthia, there seemed little problem in shaking hands with Vidiyan even if things did not pan out in the future.
This was also Alexander''s exact thought, which was why with an agreeing nod, he moved on to the real topic,
"Then what about the Heeat family? What do I do with them? What happens to all my deals?"
"Isn''t it obvious? Pretend like this did not happen and y along," Lady Parthia''s advice was the same as Alexander thought.
And although he did not like it, he could not argue it.
So he turned silent with arge frown.
And this let Lady Parthia take her turn, "Have you found from the pirate why the Heeats wants to kill you?"
"No. They only got the order, no one asked for an exnation. Perhaps only that baron knew." Alexander sounded a bit bitter as hemented, perhaps thinking he should have kept the man alive for further interrogation.
"Unlikely. He was just likely told he could keep his city if he killed you," Lady Parthia however seemed to disagree, urately judging the man to be as much a pawn as the pirate captain, and chiming, "I am more interested knowing how they managed to do this right under our nose."
"It had to Linda! Or at least one of those old coots!" Alexander solemnly dered, his eyes zing with anger.
He could think no one else with the necessary political clout needed to make the two previously unknown parties work so seamlessly so quickly.
"Do not count Lady Miranda out as well. She might not have a strong motive¡ but she could have done it," While Lady Parthia additionally warned, urging him not to overlook anyone.
"...." Alexander did not refute her, only frowned. Yes, she was also a possible candidate.
Which only sent his mood further into a nadir
And perhaps sensing this, Lady Parthia suddenly chirped up in a consoling tone,
"Actually we might be considered lucky. Logically the order to assassinate you should have been retracted after Baron Lamp''s demise. There is no one it could be done. But I suspect someone in the middle insisted without Lord Castell''s knowledge. Hahaha."
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Chapter 1369 Planned Response
Alexander took note of Lady Parthia''s guess with an agreeing nod.
Indeed, now that he thought about it, it made no sense for the Heeat family to force Vidiyan into such a suicidal attack.
Without Baron Lamp luring him to the ambush, an attempt on the life had virtually no chance of sess.
Alexander did not believe a ducal family would be this dumb- to discard such a core force in such a reckless manner.
There were much better ways to plot against him.
So the much more likely exnation was some mid level bureaucrat had gotten these orders and then decided to follow it to the tee no matter what.
The order was to kill Alexander and it was Vidiyan''s headache on how he was going to do that- through hook or crook, which baron died and which baron lived was not his concern.
Alexander let out a small snigger in his heart upon reaching this reasonable conclusion.
A small part of him was actually impressed by that man''s loyalty, he had stuck to his order despite everything going to ruin in the blink of an eye.
But a muchrger part of him only mocked the man for his intractable ways.
The only thing his blind obedience managed to do was hand the enemy of his family a free ''experience boost'' and ''level'' up.
"If what mydy says is true, then I should thank him, hehehe. If the attack had been called off, I would have remained grossly unaware of the plot. I really underestimated the Heeat family''s speed and will for vengeance. *Tsk*, who knew they would they this determined?"
Alexander might not have shown it, but thement was made with both praise and immense anger. Thinking back to how Lord Castell had made all those promises, he found that he was just being taken for a ride.
"Yes, that pirate could have also done a lot of harm to your convoys," And Lady Parthia agreed, suggesting with a thin, curved smile,
"I also think you should try to find the man who gave the pirates their order. He can surely lead to his other men operating in your territory."
"...." Alexander initially gave a slightly surprised look hearing this.
He did not think of this before because he thought with Vidiyan''s defection that contact had been lost.
But now that Lady Parthia mentioned it, this was quite wed.
The family did not yet know that their pirate captain had just flipped so at best they thought he failed or just disobeyed orders.
As such if they were smart enough, Alexander was confident there was still a chance to get hold of something.
"I will have him try. It should not be too hard." He promised.
"Mmmm. I am also interested to know who wanted to do this. It was so fast. They must be very decisive," Lady Parthia then chimed with an undertone of praise, analyzing each of the suspects,
"The Heeat family''s motive is obvious. They want you dead a hundred times over just for that Parker boy. But what puzzles me is who helped them."
"Linda needs you, so it was unlikely her. The same goes for Miranda. And most of the Margrave elders seem to want peace. So how did the Heeat arrange such an borate ambush in just a few months?"
"Did that Baron Lamp say anything before you killed him?"
"....." Alexander produced a sort of forced smile at the query because when he had taken the man on charges of collusion, he did it only as an excuse.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
He just wanted the man gone.
So at the end of the day, most of the charges were faked, and very few real questions were asked.
But Alexander did not dare reveal such oversight to herdy in front of him. He was sure to get a sharp scolding.
"He¡ he did not reveal anything about this attack with the pirates. I did not know I even had to ask those." Thus he dressed his answer a bit better, "The baron mostly confessed to the various ways he bullied the people and only imed that he got some money from the Strauss family to cause some trouble for me." before lightly assuring,
"But now that I think about it, that might have been all a lie. He probably acted so brazenly because he thought I was going to die soon. Heh!"
That single smirk was filled with a myriad of emotions, from disdain to mockery to even a bit of relief.
Because if that baron was just a bit more level headed and patient, ttering his new boss''s ego for just a few days, well, Alexander might not be standing there today.
He would not say he would have definitely died because did not know the exact details of the ambush, but given it was being led by an experienced pirate skilled in raids, Alexander was sure it certainly would have been very dangerous.
Even if he managed to scrape through it, many of his men would have died.
Lady Parthia''s worsening frown also lighted up a bit hearing this,ing to the realization of how close her own life hade.
So she dropped the hard attitude and turned to a softer tone, "What do you wish to do about the Margraves and Heeat now?"
"Nothing. The deals with the Heeat and Margraves will remain as." Alexander sinctly replied, "This was likely theirst chance to cause trouble. I have more pressing matters to take care of and don''t want to escte."
"I see." The Tibian queen did not express any objection to this n, tacitly also thinking it was best to y dumb for now.
Although she also added this tart response, "I imagine you also want to keep those loans to the sisters. Heh, I very much want to see what bes of them."
It seemed she was hinting for Alexander to walk back on some of his promises due to his attack.
But the man did not react.
He simply added with a gentle smile, "I wish to wait until I capture those who gave Vidiyan the order and learn the details before making any decisions, mydy."
He also kept his n to finance those natives in the steeps to cause trouble for the family to himself, wishing to keep some cards hidden.
Lady Parthia could know about it like the rest of his council.
And hearing the decision, the Tibias queen also did not urge Alexander on the matter, only cooly remarking,
"I see. Then I wish you good luck. Hopefully, your fragile peace will not be suddenly broken,"
And then before Alexander could figure out if she was cursing him or wishing him, she extended the same bit of caution to the hunt for the spy,
"Also that man you are trying to catch¡ he might not be as easy to catch as you think. His actions might seem foolish to us, but it may also be that he forced the pirate captain because it was best for covering his own back."
"It might have been that the Baron''s death was too sudden, so the man could not hope to receive new orders on time. He had to make a decision there."
"He might have thought about calling off the attack, but perhaps he has an unreasonable superior. Perhaps he feared that taking such a decision was too above him and could end him in the gallows. So he chose to go through it regardless! It was not his head after all."
Alexander strongly sensed that Lady Parthia was likely speaking from experience as she said this.
This was just that he was unable to determine if she was once that unreasonable superior or if her subordinates acted like that around her.
Either way, this also let Alexander detect amon w in the spy or in general any bureaucratic system.
In any government agency, you on one hand wanted loyal servants who followed your orders without many questions, thus maximing your hold on power.
But on the other hand, you also wanted smart people who could act as the situation demanded. Because the reality on the ground was rarely as it was on a paper report.
The trouble was these were two diametrically opposed ideals.
If the people beneath you are smart and resourceful and could the job done perfectly, well then the next logical questiones, why did they need you? Why should they be beneath you and not vice versa?
But if you had a group of blindly loyal men, well, then you got the example such as with the Russian Tsar when he ordered the construction of the Trans Siberian Railway.
The story goes that he used a ruler to draw the railway on a map to show its intended direction.
But the ruler he used had a small bump on it, which was then reflected on the drawn line.
And when the railway line was actually built, the engineers made sure to even add that small bump because they thought it was a design feature and were too afraid to ask otherwise.
Now, Alexander did not know how true this im was, but given what he knew of Russian history and all the crazy things that happened, it was totally possible.
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Chapter 1370 Returning to Zanzan (Part-1)
Alexander''s ship made port around midday on a warm, summer noon, closing in towards arge crescent shaped bay made of white shimmering concrete floors and robust wooden quays.
From his deck, he found the ce to be filled with numerous ships of various sizes- tall, square-rigged merchant vessels, smaller colorful fishing boats, and even some medium sized triremes and quadrimes belonging to vers and raiders were currently docked, rocking gently with the ebb and flow of the waters, their huge masts towering overhead like giant trees in a forest of sails and rigging.
All these ships were being attended to by a small army of hurriedborers, porters and dockworkers, shouting all kinds of orders and even crude curses as they loaded and unloaded the goods.
Zanzan was a great importer of things of like spices- with pepper, ginger and a mint like nt called rea being the biggest ones, various exotic wines and drinks, high quality and colorful linen and fur clothes, various type of grains- wheat, oat, barley,rge, high quality cuts of timber and even gold and gems¡ª thest item usually belonging to either jewelry merchants or nobles receiving taxes from theirnds.
These goods were ced in various types of wooden crates and barrels, linen sacks, or even earthen pottery, all of which were slowly and manually unloaded one by one by hand.
These were all being unloaded.
While things like various metal tools- hammers, nails, plows, saws, pots and pans, knives, refined iron ingots, ss, porcin, and luxury soap were being loaded onto the waiting ships using huge manual cranes.
Alexander had long ago standardized his crate sizes, allowing for his products to be easily attached to the thick crane hooks and lifted into ce like wooden containers, making the entire process such efficient.
¡..
Given the sheer size of Alexander''s fleet, most of the docked ships were asked to stop their operations and either leave the port or at least make way to the sides for the time, giving precedence to the arriving army.
while the dockworkers were put to work unloading the various loots and gifts he had brought.
And as the ships unloaded their cargo- both men and material, the ce soon began to teem with people.
Many of the gathered people were the families of returning soldiers, eager to meet them, while many more were there to see the spectacle.
They did not know even why their lord was gone for nearly a year or that he had made new conquests, but that did not matter.
They were here to see the ''show'' as tens of huge warships lined against the wooden pier, extending their ramps and letting thousands of men disembark in their full regalia, d in heavy blue armor from head to toe with shield on one hand and a shining sword as their hips.
That heroic sight alone would cause many children in the crowd to join the army in the future.
Following the soldiers were some of the camp servants, carrying various eye catching gifts and loot- like gold and silver tes, many types of ss products, and even various religious relics.
Beautiful ves, livestock, and even the new cksmiths and sailors were shown off as proof of Alexander''s great victory.
This unting of wealth caused earth shaking roars to erupt from the crowds, as they eagerly waited for the taverns and bars to be filled with tales of their lord''s heroic victory.
It had to be said, that Alexander really knew how to put on a show for his people.
And in return for this entertainment, they also treated him as a celebrity.
Their roars thundered across the sky as his personal ship finally made port, and it reached a deafening crescendo when they saw him disembark alongside a stunningly dressed maturedy with luscious curvy hair.
"Is that the lord''s new concubine?"
"Possibly! She sure is pretty. I wish my wife was half as beautiful."
"Heh! Keep dreaming bastard. As if your old thing could everpare to the pasha''s mistress."
"Right brother. You know sister inw''s temper. You are lucky she is not here to listen."
"Hmmp! If you ever want to enter my house you better keep your mouth shut. But really, why does she look like I have seen before? I could swear I have seen her before."
"Hmmm, now that you mention it, she does seem a bit familiar. Is she one of the Lord''s wives?" "Perhaps she is Lady Cambyses."
"Possibly! Possibly! Look! Look! They are getting down side by side. It has to be her!"
"Tsk, she really is ten times better than mine. I don''t think she even looks at the lord wrong."
"Heh, of course, of course, the lord is a dragon among men. How can he be like an old thing you?"
"I don''t see why you are gloating. Didn''t youe tails tucked between your legs to my home when she threw you out for sleeping with that whore."
"Shhh! Shhh! Don''t talk about that so loud!"
As many of you could have guessed, thedy apanying Alexander was certainly not his wife- it was Lady Nanazin.
And the reason for the crowd''s misunderstanding was because one, they rarely saw Alexander''s wives and could hardly tell them apart.
And two, the pair descended from the wooden ramp together.
This might have been extremely improper at any other time- for ady to apany another man like this who was not her husband.
But this time Alexander was actually following proper protocol for the queen of Adhania, being part of the royal family, and was always expected to walk side by side with any nobleman.
This was because walking behind them was seen as throwing shade at the royal family.
The misunderstanding only arose as this protocol took for granted that the queen would never be traveling alone, that she would always be apanied by her husband- the king, son, or even just a close fatherly figure like an uncle.
So without that presence, many in the crowd mistook the pair as an item.
Lady Nanazin was more than happy to let these rumors spread, and as she descended, she even waved her hands toward the crowd, a stunning and equally calcted smile stering her face.
While feeling her overtly friendly manner in front of the crowd, Alexander put on a far more forced face, a small headache hammering into his head.
He had no idea that Adhania had such a rule about nobles and disembarking ships.
So when Lady Nanazin initially came to tell him about the whole thing, knowing the stir it would cause, his first instinct was to think she was making the whole thing up.
But thedy swore it was true, and looking at her face, Alexander knew she was telling the truth. Besides if she lied, it would have been all too easy to find outter and the repercussions of that were clear as day to anyone.
Lady Nanazin''s entire livelihood depended solely on Alexander''s grace.
So although he was a bit ufortable, he followed the protocol that was expected of him, and hand in hand with the queen gently stepped onto the solid concrete docks.
"Wee my lord. Wee Your Highness. We are all d to see you in both health!"
There he was instantly met by the city''s entire delegation of nobles led by the elderly Menicus.
"We congratte the Pasha on your great victory. We at Zanzan have been toasting day and night at your miraculous triumph."N?v(el)B\\jnn
"Yes, the temples have been filled with prayers of gratitude and offerings, Hahaha, you are truly blessed by the gods!"
"Haha, yes, yes, this is the first time our country has extended its borders towards the Central Sea. The Lord is truly blessed. And we are blessed to follow you."
Even Alexander was a bit taken back by the sheer sweetness of the ttery here.
It was like many of the nobles could not wait to kneel down and grovel down in sycophancy.
The extent of the whole thing made it somewhat baffled, and he thought his ears tasted bitter.
But what Alexander did not know was that the reports of his victory were grossly exaggerated by Cambyses, who was under the impression that Alexander had fought off thebined might of the Margraves, Heeats, and the natives and taken over half of the entire ind.
Now, this was not due to any real fault of her own.
Alexander''s only method ofmunication withZanzan was using carrier pigeons and because of the sinct and very condensed nature of the messages, she and even the entire council just misunderstood them, thus leading to this hrious encounter.
And unaware of this, Alexander simply chalked up the whole thing to them being a bit too emotional after seeing him after so long.
"It is good to see you too, my lords. I hope Zanzan has been peaceful with your presence?" Alexander chimed, and then for the next few minutes tried to get a handle on the most basic of developments.
Until Menicus decided this was hardly a ce for such discussion and gently offered,
"Hahaha, my lord is truly a paragon among men, caring about his city the moment he set foot. Why don''t we take you for a tour tomorrow?"
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Chapter 1371 Returning to Zanzan (Part-2)
The lords let out abined sigh of relief at Menicus''s intervention, as they were understandably taken aback by Alexander''s on spot interrogation.
After all, who could tell the extent of their project or everything that had happened in thest eight to nine months just from the top of their head and in one or two lines to keep the conversation short?
Alexander fortunately understood the hint,
He also found that light was quickly fading and his presence alone was holding a significant amount of the people, so he decided to leave the council meeting for another day.
Instead he turned to the fourdies behind him- the two queens, the recently rescued Pandria, and his prize- Arrya, and cordially gestured, "Mydies, you take the carriage. I will ride with my men on horse."
He said this because the carriage arranged for Alexander could only hold up to four people and as the lords had no knowledge of Alexander''s extra guest, they were naturally unable to make the required adjustments.
The lord in charge of the carriage however still profusely apologized for his mistake seeing this and even pleaded to let him arrange for a bigger vehicle.
''My lord, a thousand apologies, I have a bigger one at the ready. It will only take me a small while."
He had chosen this carriage because it was faster to pull and easier to turn around tight corners."
Alexander of course did not me them for this, and simply waved his request with an understanding wave of his palm,
"It''s okay, I prefer to ride on horseback anyway. This will also let me see what all of you have been doing in the past year that I have been gone."
Alexander probably said thest sentence as a thrown line, but for all the gathered nobles it sounded like a venomous warning.
And this was despite none of them having done anything majorly wrong.
It seemed his prestige seemed to have grown to newer, never before seen heights after his supposed conquest of half of Galiosos.
¡.
Because it was already turning dark and most of the people were either in their homes or following him, Alexander did not get to see a proper look at the state of his city on his way to his manor.
It seemed that would have to wait for tomorrow.
The long procession of eager citizens finally ended when Alexander reached his home''s ces, and his bodyguards had the people dispersed using loud whistles and trumpets.
This finally let Alexander enter the ce with peace of mind.
"Wee, master! It is great to see the Great Mother has kept you in good health"
"Yes, we have always kept you in our prayers. I am d to see they have not been in vain! We all rejoiced at the news of your victories. Praise master, praise the Great Mother."
The first two to greet Alexander were Ophenia and Gelene respectively, followed by Mean and Cambyses who kept a bit more respectable distance, sending more of an understanding nod and a light smile.
Of course, this was not because the other two were angry or anything with Alexander.
On the contrary, they did this because they knew Alexander very clearly favored them over the other two.
So instead of fighting over such a small greeting, Cambyses was gracious enough to let the other two have this one, winning some favorable points in the process.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
As for Mean, instead of wasting her breath on words that had been already said, the much less tact girl craned her head to side and turned her attention else.
Bulging her eyes a bit wide, she asked in surprise at the twodies following Alexander,
"Alex, who are they standing beside you? Your new mistresses? And¡ Ahhh by the gods, did you get one of them already pregnant?"
"....." The triumphant, grinning face Alexander had upon seeing his family instantly copsed upon this unfair usation, and struggled to keep himself from producing the most ugly smiles.
The four women however paid little attention to this change and having this pointed out, instantly turned their eyes onto the sights there.
They could not believe they had somehow missed them, possibly due to their great glee upon seeing Alexander, thus blocking out any periphery sights.
So with Mean''s lead, the four naturallyid their eyes upon Pandria first, and immediately caused the young, pregnant girl to involuntarily shiver.
She was barely eleven, with still a generous amount of baby fat around her face, which visibly trembled upon feeling all those scalding gazes scan every inch of her body without restraint.
They contained a mixture of curiosity, surprises and even anger and hostility, as all four of them quite disliked the fact that their husband had just gotten a girl pregnant.
Cambyses even quite acidly mocked,
"Heh! I did not know your tastes changed so quickly Alex. Is this your new favorite? Did you forget us in just nine months? Hmmmp, indeed, I guess our cunts are not as tight as they used to be. What say, sisters?"
The sneering tone and vulgarnguage she used so openly right in front of everybody really showed her stance in this matter.
And worse, she got two quick nods as her backing, only Ophenia choosing to hesitate for a second before even she turned to give Alexander a slightly hurt, pitiful look.
It seemed even the blindly loyal priestess had a hard time supporting her master''s acts this time.
And this intense reaction camergely from an unwritten rule¡ no expectation between Alexander and the four.
It had been tacitly agreed between them that they would give Alexander absolute freedom to sleep around with whoever he wanted and do whatever crazy things took his fancy without even the slightest utterance ofint.
But in exchange, they drew the line with children.
If Alexander wanted one of his mistresses to conceive, he would have to at least consult and nominally get approval from them.
The four did this after secretly agreeing to cutpetition and wanting to only let their children inherit Alexander''s wealth.
And although Alexander could clearly see the ploy, at the end of the day he still agreed.
This was because for one this let the man have all the fun he wanted without causing any problems at home.
And the much more important two, because he also was not interested in letting his lovers or mistresses conceive willy nilly.
It might sound very cruel but those girls that were gifted as ves or presents, other than being very pretty and having a good time in bed had very little value to offer Alexander.
They were politically.. inert..
So Alexander would be doing nothing but increasing the amount of conflict in his house if he sired children with them- who would then inevitably start wanting things to better their lives and the lives of their mothers, leading to conflict with their siblings of more legitimate birth.
The good news was the presence of the miracle drug legummum made the deal between the two parties very easy to implement, even if they got identally pregnant, they could be made to safely abort even during the advanced stages.
Which was also why the fact that this youngdy¡ no young girl was so heavily pregnant made the four so incensed.
They saw this as Alexander clearly and very intentionally viting their drawn boundary.
The rising tensions also did not go unnoticed by Pandria, for as green she might be in such affairs, she was still able to sense those hostile states and she felt very hurt and afraid.
From her side of things, her traitorous husband had just sold her to the highest bidder like some lowly ve, to a man she did not even exist until a few weeks ago, who then took her to this utterly foreignnd even whosenguage she did not speak.
All to which she did have not the slightest say.
The whole sudden change was thus utterly alien to her.
Hence in response to the ''attack'' from the four powerfuldies, Pandria quickly broke off eye contact and submissively lowered her head in fear, clutching the hems of her red, flowery dress with everything she had so that her small fair fists turned nearly crimson while desperately not to let out the drops of tear that were pooling around her eyes.
"*Sigh*, you are misunderstanding. Let me introduce you to the two,"
The concentrated attack only broke upon this intervention from the man of the house, who sinctly revealed why they were with him,
"She is Pandria, Lord Janus''s daughter inw and a guest of ours. She is here to see our great city on behalf of them."
"And this is Arrya- she¡ um belongs to a new ally I made at sea. She was given to me as a token of our bond."
Alexander''s rification made the quad''s look towards Pandria turn significantly softer, while they also now had the time to turn their attention to the second target.
Standing at the very back d with a full ck vein and a scarf over her head, Arryan seemed to be able to almost blend into the ambient darkness.
And when detected, she responded with very broken Azhak,
"Gre.. grateings,"
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Chapter 1372 Alexanders Family
With Pandria out of suspicion, Cambyses and the others quickly shifted their attention to the inconspicuousdy standing in the back, thoroughly scanning her.
The way Alexander addressed her and the fact that he had brought her to his home instead of gifting her away clearly revealed his intention.
He wanted to keep her, which naturally meant newpetition for the four.
And given they were already at each other''s throats trying to win Alexander''s time, it was only human for them to want to know this new girl.
Arrya was dressed in a loose, ck robe like gown that covered her entire body, etched with colorful red and yellow designs around the sleeves and chest to entuate her beauty.
Her head was wrapped with a headscarf in arge voluminous fashion that made sure not to ruin her ringlets and her face was covered by a ck opaque veil that only showed her eyes.
This was the traditional way Iyizaridian women dressed, and despite being covered head to toe like this, it did little to hide her inherent charm.
Especially her pair of crystal clear blue eyes, they appeared to glow like shimmering diamonds under the soft candle lights, mesmerizing anyone who looked at them.
But if anyone looked a bit further, they would have found the pair to be gazing back with a sort of inborn defiance, as if thedy still refused to ept her capture.
It was something Alexander had also noticed and even found cute. Conquering such a girl was always more gratifying than someone who simply ''melted'' away.
While sensing the four pair of curious gazesnding on her, the tall, curvy girl quickly hid her bitterness and lightly stepping forward with an air of nobility, introduced herself to the four madams of the house in as best Azhak she could.
Although the words were so butchered that it almost made the others hurt to hear it.
However, that was hardly Arrya''s fault as thenguage she spoke- the dominant tongue of Iyizadians was vastly different from Azhak.
It was called Hirish, and unfortunately, neither Alexander nor possibly anyone in the whole of Zanzan possibly knew how to speak it, as a result of the two ces'' great distance and Adhania''s istionism.
And so that also led to the situation where even though Alexander tried to get to know the girl back on the ship, thenguage barrier only caused all the endeavors to end in a very awkward situation.
They could only use signnguage and point at things to express what they were trying to say, but predictably that only got them so far.
''I should have asked for a trantor.'' In the end, Alexander even mumbled so in a slightly peeved manner, finding a small w in epting the gift.
Since Vidiyan spoke some Azhak and Arrya never opened her mouth, Alexander had missed this concern.
So without any help, in thest couple of days, Arrya was able to only pick up some very basic vocabry - yes, no, hello, etc.
However, the people in the room soon forgot about her slight disability as all their thoughts were captured by the reveal of that beautiful face and stunning hair.
Cambyses and the others instantly understood why their husband wanted to keep her and even wished the girl had not taken off her veil and headscarf.
The soft round face with rosy cheeks, the curvy figure, and the most alluring of all, that never before seen noble hairstyle made every woman except Ophenia feel terribly inferior.
Even Ophenia could not help but turn to look at that hair with a touch of nostalgia, finding the silky golden like waterfall too beautiful to look at.
She had gotten so used to dying her hair ck that by now she almost forgot how she looked in her original color.
Even though the threat of her real identity causing trouble had mostly ebbed, she still kept dying her hair because that was what the people around her got used to seeing.
She only sometimes showed it when sleeping with Alexander and even then, she did not think her hair was this luscous.
Thus she felt that if Arrya was just a bit more beautiful, her silky hair and proud demeanor might have even allowed her to surpass the high priestess of Zanzan to im the title of Zanzan''s most beautifuldy.
¡...
Arrya''s beauty naturally made Cambyses''s and the other''s looks turn from just curious to much more guarded and hostile, for they felt threatened by her.
Especially since this was the first woman Alexander had brought home that directly challenged them in their own house.
Other nobledies like Lady Nanazin, Mikaya, the Queen Mother, and others were mostly outsiders who had nowful connection with Alexander, so could not stand in front of the four under any real light, while Fabiyana and Princess Camelia were either too young or too unfavored to matter.
The proof was in the fact that both of them were still virgins.
Hence as the only exception to the rule, Arrya was destined to draw a lot of hate.
However given the time and ce, Alexander had just arrived and they were still in the hallway of the door, the four still acted civil, with Cambyses even taking a step forward to greet her with a ''pleasant yet so fake'' smile,
"Wee to our humble house sister. I am the main wife of the house. I am sure you will find everything you need here. But if you still need anything, please free to ask me."
Although Arrya did not need to understand Azhak to figure out what thisdy was really trying to say- her looks and tone very clearly told Arrya that she was being asked to behave and notin over what she was given or there would be consequences.
In fact, the message was so transparent that even a man like Alexander understood the message.
''*Sigh*, what did I expect? All women are jealous by nature. Cam has the power here so it must be almost an instinct for her to want to suppress any new rival.'' He bitterly smiled to himself.
Alexander could quite well guess the political shenanigans in his harem and how cutthroat they might be. But he typically let the women work it out among themselves because he thought it was better this way.
If he were to insert himself and somehow started favoring one of thedies, the situation would only get worse.
So he chose a hands free approach and onlyid out some ground rules for all of them to follow- such as not harming the other, not causing trouble for the whole family, etc.
As long as Cambyses followed these rules and did not intentionally bully and cause trouble for Arrya, Alexander was content to let things y out as is.
So decided to move things along, changing the topic and curiously asking, "Where are the kids? And Fabiyan and Camelia?"
"They are waiting at the back. Come."
It was Adhanian tradition that lords returning from a campaign should be greeted by his main wife right at the door, while the much less significant concubines stayed in the back behind closed doors.
As for the children, if they were too small, they too were asked to stay behind in case they acted in improper ways in front of the public.
"Daddy! Daddy! Hehe! Daddy!"
The first to run towards Alexander as he entered the children''s room was his eldest daughter- Alexandria, who was dressed in a fine emerald dress with a beautiful tiara.
She had wanted to meet her father in her best attire.
And Alexander also gave a huge grin as the girl hugged his knees, picking her up with a loud, unrestrainedugh, "Ahhh, my dear princess. You have grown so big. Ohhh, daddy almost did not recognize you!"
Alexandria had not only gotten taller but perhaps more than that, she had got much ''wider'', bing plumper than ever before.
In fact every time she took a step, her entire body appeared to ripple and wobble, the excess soft, baby flesh jiggling around.
Thus she felt like a soft ball of flesh to Alexander and as she nuzzled his nose against her fair neck, the little girl burst into a high pitched squeal of glee.
It was a while before the father daughter pair separated.
Alexander''s reactions towards his other three children- Philip, Ahsan, and Ophenia were far more reserved.
The two boys dressed in beautiful ck and brown tunics seemed to have grown up quite a bit, and as they elegantly bowed towards their father, got a few polite smiles and light pats on the head.
While his most beautiful daughter dressed in a golden gown to match her long blonde hair got a kiss on both her cheeks.N?v(el)B\\jnn
Alexander then atst moved to find his two mistresses, who were waiting in a room further back, each greeting Alexander in a very mature and reserved manner.
Princess Camelia, now fifteen, appeared to have bloomed into a far more mature flower but looking at her, Alexander could only feel a pang of guilt.
He was after all sleeping with her mother.
As for Fabiyana, honestly he half expected to find her ying with Alexandria.
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Chapter 1373 Arrya (Part-1)
The once childish Fabiyana now appeared far more mature than when Alexander had left her.
Aged twelve, almost thirteen, she was much taller and her body had started to disy all the secondary female characteristics, as evidenced by how snuggly her body fit the elegant flowery pink dress she was wearing.
It seemed puberty had finally hit her with all its force and she was beginning to grow increasingly healthy.
This was also perhaps in part due to the all rich food she was having- meat, eggs, fish, sugar, butter, you name it. Most of these high calorific foods would be present in almost every one of her meals, a luxury that her father could have never afforded even if he had tried.
Combine this with all the ytime she had running around outside with Alexander''s children, and it was little wonder she was starting to bloom.
And along with her body''s development, Fabiyana seemed to have also grown a bit in terms of the mind.
She no longer outright greeted him as ''Big brother'' with thatrge candidughter, but followed Princess Camelia''s example to greet him with his proper title and a reserved smile.
Her onyx eyes were also no longer what they once were- those limpid pool sparkling with curiosity. But instead, they were reced by a cool, calm gaze that seemed to hide endless mysteries.
The change both gratified and a bit hurt Alexander, because he actually preferred that childish girl.
...¡.
Alexander would then bathe and invite all thedies to dine with him, while his kids busied themselves with the new toys their father had brought for them.
The boys got two beautifully maderge wooden soldiers, red and blue, while the girls each got an borately designed stuffed doll.
The excited giggles of them ying with their new toys would spread far past their ying rooms and it would take the maids in charge of the four quite some effort to get them back to their bed that night.
And speaking of going to bed, Cambyses, as the first wife naturally got the dibs on being Alexander''s first, excitedly meeting him in his room as soon as dinner was over.
Passionate, hot kisses soon ensured, as the couple seemed to want to swallow the other''s tongue, but just as things were starting to get steamy,
"Wait!" a small cry came from the girl herself.
"!!!" Alexander, who had his hands all over her, and was just starting to get to the fleshy bits, naturally frowned.
"Get that new girl. I want to see her." Cambyses chimed, her voice a bit anticipating.
"Why? What do you n to do?" Alexander''s frown naturally deepened a bit hearing this.
Right now he wanted nothing more than to enjoy his time with his main wife.
Why did Arrya have to be here?
"Just ask her toe. You will see." However Cambyses only insisted with an innocent smile, unwilling to give anything away.
But Alexander of course knew his wife quite well, and taking a guess, stated in a much firmer voice,
"*Sigh* I do not know what you think about her and me, but let me say it clearly- Arrya is simply a guest here. I do not n to keep her here."
"The pirates that captured her told me she is a noble from Iyizarid. I wish to return her to her family in exchange for some kind of benefit- opening up their ports, making trade concessions, or even just a small ransom."
"The only reason why I haven''t sent her away already is because she can''t even tell me where she is from till now, she doesn''t understand Azhak. So I n to ask that pirate captain to find her family the next time we meet."
When Alexander had asked Arrya about her family, the girl only let out a string of phrases that sounded like gibberish to him.
She could not even confirm whether the name Arrya was her surname, her first name, or even just a name Vidiyan had given his new captive. So Alexander could not even use that to start to search for her family.
Thus, as Alexander was scheduled to meet the pirate captain in a few weeks, he intended to have the well traveled man look into this, or if even he could not, at least bring him some trantors to let him do it himself.
Hearing Alexander''s intention about Arrya suddenly made Cambyses''s chilling eyes turn much warmer, and her lips turned into a much gentler smirk,
"Is that so? Haha, still, like I said, I just want to see her."
However, it was very clear that although Cambyses made the same request, her ns had significantly changed.
Originally she wanted to bring Arrya here to show this new girl who this man truly belonged to, perhaps if Alexander allowed, even make love in front of her as a way to brag.
But now¡
"*Sigh*, you want to just y with her, don''t you? You are so¡ okay, just don''t do anything extreme."
Alexander was finally unable to deny his love''s request after meeting her after so long, and asked one of the guards stationed outside to fetch the girl.
While Cambyses stood there a bit shocked, finding it a bit scary just how urately her man could read her mind.
Indeed, given how beautiful Arrya was she wanted a look.
¡.
Arrya entered Alexander''s bedroom with somewhat unsteady steps, wearing a baggy, white one piece gown and constantly rubbing her drooping eyes.
She was exhausted after her long journey and had already hit the bed when the men knocked, thus forcing her to yank herself out of her sweet sleep with great difficulty.
And perhaps it was because of this still drowsiness that she had yet to understand the significance of being called into a man''s room at this time of the day.
She just stood in front of Alexander with unfocused eyes, trying hard to swallow all the yawns constantly rising out of her.
Honestly Alexander felt sorry for forcing her out like this.
But before he could make any concessions, Cambyses''s eyes suddenly zed with contained anger.
Thenguid, sleepy demeanor was certainly very improper, but at the same time, this attitude somehow made Arrya even more sexy.
Those long, thick curly blonde ringlets, that fair neck, those dainty arms, and even the slight reveal of her cleavage,bine all of that with such a candid,id back attitude, and the innocent girl unknowingly exuded a charm that even Cambyses found attracted to.
Thus feeling slightly jealous, Cambyses stepped forward with an imperious gait, and greeted the sleepyhead in a loud, domineering voice,
"Ahhh! Sister Arrya, so good of you toe. Were you sleeping? *Tsk*, *tsk*, how could you? Leaving your master behind? What a discouteous girl!"
"Now why don''t you take off your clothes and let us see what we bought?"
Cambyses really did not minch her words with her demands, and the amount of venom contained in them stunned even Alexander. Even though he could roughly guess what she was going to say, he thought Cambyses was going to at least try to coax this maiden a bit.
But she really treated Arrya like a ve, some ''thing'' she had simply bought.
"!!!" While the blonde girl in question did not quite understand what she was being asked off, but the loud brash voice and the disdainful, childing tone was certainly enough to snap her out of her sleepy stupor.
It was perhaps only then she also realized where she was and what the guard truly meant when he escorted her to this room.
Due to her sleepiness, until now she took the request literally, that Alexander simply wanted to meet her.
But with Cambyses repeating her words and then even making signs by pointing at her dress and making an undressing motion, Arrya quickly got the message.
''That day'' hade
And it made her heart instantly skip a beat.
She immediately jolted her body awake, before quickly sending Alexander a pleading look, her eyes turning both defiant and afraid.
Arrya as a prideful nobledy certainly did not want to give her chastity like this, as a ve servant.
Iyizardians valued their chastity almost as much as their life, much more than even the monogamous Sybarians. It was one of the core pirs of their faith.
And this was also one of the reasons why they were so against pirates. The raids cost many of their women their dignity.
But at the same time, Arrya knew if Alexander insisted, other than biting her tongue and killing herself, she could do little to stop him.
And if she had that will, Arrya would have done it long before. In fact, when they were about to be captured by Vidiyan, many of the women traveling with her had done exactly that, including her two personal maidservants.
But Arrya, try as she might, was simply unable to will herself to produce that dreadful bite.
Her heart wanted to still live
So the same thing unfolded now.
Facing a demanding Cambyses and a helpless looking mute Alexander, the girl was finally unable to withstand the pressure, and her heart willed her hand to unsp the thin strings on her shoulder, thus letting her dress drop like a curtain.
Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!
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